Cursed Freedom

The Mansion

(Story under construction  🏗)

   Out of the shower and dried off, the two were dressed and cuddling later that night, ready to go to bed. Chanyeol was in his usual sports shorts and Baekhyun was wearing nothing but one of Chanyeol's oversized shirts.

   He hadn't had the heart to leave Chanyeol even for a moment, and therefore had not gone back to his own room all day.

   "So.... how does this all work?" Baekhyun asked while he and Chanyeol lay there together in the dark. He was all snuggled against the taller's chest and was drawing circles on his chest and stomach with the tips of his fingers.

   "How does what work, baby?" Chanyeol asked sleepily. Baekhyun running his hands across his skin never ceased to relax him, and it was extremely late at night for the giant's normal schedule. Needless to say, he was already half asleep.

   Baekhyun tilted his head up to look into the face of the handsome man beneath him. "The house!" He exclaimed."I mean, obviously you have electricity, heat, running water... but it's not like the power company is checking on things, keeping it all running, ya know? Plus, where did you get all your fancy gym equipment and your food, your clothes... where does it all come from?"

   Chanyeol just chuckled humorlessly. "Oh, the mansion has a mind of its own. I'm convinced. It's almost as if it's alive. When I want something... well depending on what it is... or when I need something, it kind of just... shows up." He shrugged his shoulder casually. "I've kind of just accepted it over the years, but I guess it would be kind of weird to a newcomer...

"The gym just kind of appeared one day, actually. That was one of the weirdest things the mansion ever did.

"One day there was suddenly a door where there previously wasn't one, and I was young enough to lack the proper caution back then, so I went through the mystery door.

"But it turned out to be the gym. I had been doing exercises on my own at the time. Just to deal with the boredom and the anxiety, ya know? It was bad back then, and... I don't know, maybe the house was feeling generous or something," he chuckled, "because there it was, a perfectly clean, brand new, state-of-the-art gym in my basement!"

   Baekhyun continued to listen intently to Chanyeol's explanation, still running his fingers gently across the latter's firm abdomen.

   "Like when you showed up, it replaced all the clothes in your wardrobe with one's that fit you. It filled my kitchen with lucky charms." He smiled lovingly down at Baekhyun, "And," Chanyeol giggled, "all of the cucumbers disappeared out of my refrigerator. That one was kind of funny." He sighed. "It's a shame though, I really liked cucumbers in my salads.

   "It even gave me new clothes when you first got here, like it wanted me to impress you." He laughed heartily in his deep baritone voice.

   "I started to get worried though, the longer you were here, because the longer you stayed, the more the mansion adjusted to you. It made me worried that you were stuck here too. I guess I had every reason to be..." his words trailed off and he averted his eyes from Baekhyun, even though he stayed in his position, one arm wrapped tightly around his shoulder pulling the smaller against him, and he continued to stroke his skin with his thumb.

   "Yeollie, how many times do I have to tell you that I don't mind being in the house?

   "I would mind if you weren't here with me... if I was alone... but I'm not, and you're not." He hesitated for a moment before pulling Chanyeol by the chin and forcing him to look into his hazel eyes. "Is it so bad to be here with me? Even if we are 'stuck'? Even if it is just the two of us?"

   Chanyeol's face softened. "I'm sorry, Baek. You're absolutely right. There's no one else I'd rather be here with. The years that I was alone..." he trailed off and looked down at the duvet.

   "Channie? Stay with me Chanyeol!" Baekhyun said with genuine worry in his voice. He was terrified that the other man would zone out into that alternate universe again.

   But Chanyeol lifted his eyes back to Baekhyun's and smiled, even if it was bittersweet. "Don't worry Baekkie, I'm here. I'm not leaving again. As long as it's us together..." he leaned down and placed a kiss on the smaller's lips, and whispered against them, "I love you Baekhyun. I could never leave you. I need you."

   "You have me." He whispered back. Baekhyun laid his head on Chanyeol's shoulder and said quietly with a sigh, "you don't realize that I need you just as much."

   He looked back up at the man he had come to know and love and smiled with half-closed eyes.

   And they fell asleep, as usual, looking into each other's eyes until their eyelids drooped closed, breath intermingling.