ephemeral | baekxing

Prologue: Autumn

The crisp air was displaced by the city that slowly bustled to life. Autumn had begun, a season that Baekhyun cherished. The vibrant shades of orange, yellow, and red floated past him as he stepped through the decaying leaves. They crunched beneath the force of his rubber soled boots.

Baekhyun stopped, his eyes mapped the positions of the swaying branches that once held luscious green leaves. A few leaves scattered the bare branches of the looming trees but they barely hung on by a thread. One by one they all fell delicately to the ground, soon to be stepped on or blown away.

Sighing, he tugged his blue scarf closer to his neck. The beauty of autumn could never be captured in a single moment. Perhaps the best way was to admire the season as it ran its course.

From the bench he could see a squirrel nestled in the leaves by a tree which was less than 5 meters away from him, Baekhyun pulled out his camera. Slowly, he creeped forwards, hoping that the leaves wouldn't prevent him from taking the photo. Holding his breath, he crouched down and took a snap. The squirrel instantly leapt and bounded up a tree.

"Please, please, please." He whispered.

He sighed in relief. Satisfied with his luck, Baekhyun got up and started to make his way to Cafe Momo. Admiring his photography skills, he smiled. The colour orange dominated his photo, but the squirrel brought a vibrant colour difference.

Just as he put his camera away, he bumped into a stranger. A small gasp escaped his mouth to emanate the pain of the collision.

"Sorry! Are you okay?" A concerned voice asked him.

"Yeah, don't worry about it!" Baekhyun mumbled.

His first instinct was to reach for his camera and inspect it. After reassuring himself that nothing was broken, Baekhyun was surprised to see the stranger still standing there.

"Can I help you?" Baekhyun asked confused.

"Yeah, yeah, I was wondering whether you could point me in the direction of the nearest coffee shop?" The boy requested, looking lost.

"Do you want a particular coffee shop?" Baekhyun questioned.

He thought for a moment, his brown eyes darted frantically. Running his fingers through his blond hair, the boy seemed to tap on his head. Baekhyun observed the stranger intently, he could tell he naturally had black hair by the roots of his hair.

"Momo's coffee? Yes! Momo's coffee." The boy exclaimed.

Baekhyun smiled at the boy's excitement, he managed to look happy even when lost. An eternal optimist he thought to herself.

"Well, I'm Byun Baekhyun, and I have the pleasure of meeting..." He trailed off.

"Yixing. Zhang Yixing."

"I recognise that name..." Baekhyun spoke aloud.

"Oh you do? Thats peculiar." Yixing nonchalantly said.

"Hm...so what is a Chinese person doing in Busan?"

"Ah! What gave it away?" Yixing sighed dramatically.

Baekhyun chuckled. He liked him, he was a refreshing difference to the mundane atmosphere. Certainly a change to the gloomy faces that he would see every day.

"The accent." Baekhyun smiled.

"It's always the accent." Yixing shook his head "And I'm here because I have an important meeting that could make or break me."

"Are you sure you should be telling strangers that ?" Baekhyun whispered "I could be one of the people that could make or break you."

"Maybe you could but let's become friends. Cafe Momo?" Yixing asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Cafe Momo." Baekhyun reciprocated.

Yixing nodded. They continued to walk through the park in blissful silence. At one point their hands brushed, Yixing looked down but Baekhyun looked away. The leaves weren't the only colour fiery red.

Eventually they made it to Cafe Momo, Yixing opened the door and gestured for Baekhyun to walk through first. He smiled graciously at Yixing and thanked him.

As he walked up to order, Baekhyun noticed that Yixing had gone. He felt a sinking feeling in his heart, a flush of disappointment. It was obviously too good to be true. Why would an attractive man like Yixing be interested in him?

Waiting in line, Baekhyun repeated his order over and over again in his head. Finally he reached the front of the line, the barista looked at him expectantly. Baekhyun took a deep breath and spoke his order without stuttering or backtracking. He felt a personal triumph.

Pushing the doors open, Baekhyun walked out of Cafe Momo. The ice cold air swooped past his face, a slight chill creeped up his spine.

"Baekhyun?"

Baekhyun turned around, his black hair flailing in the wind.

"Yes? Oh, Yixing."

"Hey, sorry. I had to step out for a minute as I had an important call, not that you're not important or anything but uh..." Yixing blushed "I have to leave now but I was thinking, seeing as I'm new to this place I was wondering if we could exchange numbers?"

Yixing sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Yeah, here." Baekhyun grinned.

Baekhyun handed Yixing his phone, he typed in his number and gave it back to him. Baekhyun sent a quick text saying hello.

"I'll see you around?" He questioned.

"Of course."