Cursed Freedom

Outside

(Story under construction  🏗)

   Chanyeol woke up to find his arms empty and his bed cold. He usually woke to find the naturally nocturnal Baekhyun still asleep next to him, but something felt different today. Something felt off.

   Baekhyun loved, and insisted on sleeping in, despite the many attempts from Chanyeol to get him to wander down to the gym with him or attempts from Baekhyun to get him to skip the workout altogether and stay in bed with him. They both always declined with a smile, Baekhyun drifting back to sleep after a kiss on the cheek from Chanyeol and a hint of a smile gracing his lips.

   Chanyeol checked his watch only to sit up swiftly in his bed and fling his thick duvet aside.

    It was well past noon and Chanyeol had no idea how that had happened. He naturally woke early every morning, his internal clock set in stone years ago.

   Yes, something was very off in the mansion. He could feel a tingling at the back of his neck. He tried not to look too desperate to find Baekhyun and restore their day to its relative normalcy.

   First, he fast walked a few doors down and knocked on Baekhyun's bedroom door, then listened quietly for the sound of the shower or the wardrobe doors creaking, or even the slight sound of Baekhyun's light footsteps, but he was met with silence. So he cracked the door. Baekhyun did like to take naps in the afternoon. But he found an empty, neatly made bed, a closed wardrobe and a dark bathroom with the door only open a crack. The drapes were drawn across the window tightly, as the night owl preferred. The only sign that Baekhyun had been there at all was Pride and Prejudice (which had turned into one of his favorites quite quickly) open face down sitting under his reading lamp at his bedside.

   Chanyeol couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. His skin was now crawling, spreading from a twinge in his neck to a blooming anxiety deep in his chest, his hands shaking. But why?

   Then, he thought and suddenly couldn't stand on his own two feet anymore. He was soon collapsing haphazardly, messing up Baekhyun's neatly made bed, feeling a ringing in his ears, his vision going white at the edges. 'What if this had something to do with last night?' He wondered to himself. 'He had told Baekhyun that he loved him. They had said the words. But... they had both said them, hadn't they?'

   He put his now pounding head into his hands, his ears ringing, his limbs numb. What was going on? Was this natural? Or was it the mansion? He stayed like that for a minute or two until his vision cleared and his ears stopped ringing, until all he could feel was that simple creeping feeling at the back of his neck.

   Then, like the crashing of a dumbell on the floor of the basement, a thought occurred to him. Baekhyun's in trouble. Something's happened to him. And his chest tightened at the fear tearing at his mind.

   'Yes...' something whispered to him. The mansion. This was its doing. He knew it in his bones. He had a sudden rush of adrenaline and tore out of Baekhyun's room, slamming the door behind him, checking one more time in his own room and bathroom, only to find it empty, all the while calling Baekhyun's name in an increasingly frightened tone.

   He descended the steps, opening doors as he went, but all he found was silence and dusty, empty rooms, he hit the second-floor landing and saw the door to the library wide open. He called more gently this time as he pushed open the door, "Baekhyun? Baek?" But the room also was empty.

   Now grunting in frustration, he closed the door to the library and continued to open doors to long-dormant rooms. He continued to call out to Baekhyun, now with an edge of emotion in his voice as he descended finally to the first floor.

   As he reached the kitchen, he saw a box of Lucky Charms on the counter and an empty bowl and spoon in the sink. He sighed, relieved just a little bit. He had woken up. He had breakfast. He had been here.

   Chanyeol proceeded into the long hallway, past the grandfather clock in the main sitting room, but still no Baekhyun. He was starting to become desperate until he edged his way into the front parlor and finally saw the petite man, he breathed a sigh of relief and slowly approached Baekhyun.

   He was sitting on a receiving bench near the grand entryway, his head resting on his hands folded up under his slightly tilted chin as he stared out the window through a sliver in the heavy curtains.

   "Baekhyun?" Chanyeol said softly, approaching him slowly and quietly through the thick carpet in his bare feet. The whole mansion slowed to a quiet actually, until all he could hear was the ticking of the grandfather clock and his own heart pounding in his chest. "What's wrong, Baek?"

   He only sighed deeply and continued his contemplative stare out the window.

   Chanyeol continued his approach until he was right up against the smaller man. He reached up slowly and put a hand on his shoulder. He sensed a tensing of Baekhyun's muscles when skin hit skin, he didn't pull away, but Chanyeol's heart fell nonetheless.

   "I just wanted some air..." he whispered in a raspy voice. He sounded as though he had been quietly sitting there for hours and his voice betrayed him. There was almost humor in it though, as if the whole situation was somehow funny. He sat there, letting that little sentence fester in the stale air of the mansion.

   Chanyeol knew where he was going with this now, and he let his head fall, turning it away from Baekhyun, but never removing his hand from his shoulder.

   Neither man moved, for about 10 minutes. That's when Baekhyun sat up and pulled the drapes closed. He moved his body to face the taller man, laying his delicate hand gently on top of Chanyeol's and nuzzled against their now intertwined fingers.

   Feeling this, Chanyeol now turned his face back towards him.

   Baekhyun closed his eyes. Hard. And a single tear spilled out and ran slowly down his cheek and onto their conjoined hands.

   He cleared his throat and looked up into Chanyeol's eyes and finally elaborated on his earlier musing. "I tried to go outside, Chanyeol."

   Chanyeol gasped.