wrong step | baekhyun

+twenty-one+

NARRATIVE

baekhyun knew something was wrong.

evening had descended and the cobbled street was dimly lit by the glow coming from streetlamps and the moon that was peeking from the grey clouds. an irregular flapping sound came from moths and bats as they circled the city, frequently blocking out the light from the streetlamps. soft, even footsteps sounded on the cracked pavements as baekhyun walked across the otherwise quiet town, sticking to the shadows.

there were a few other people in the vicinity, but none that he should be concerned of. it was only when a different pair of footsteps sounded when he slowed down.

slow, controlled breaths.

baekhyun started walking again at the same pace. ditching his original route, he rounded the corner sharply and quickened his footsteps into the deserted alley. throwing a quick glance up, he found darkened abandoned rooms in a building with lots, and lots of shadows in them. upon his gesture, a sliver of darkness from one of the rooms passed through the windows and trailed behind him.

baekhyun sent it further backwards, careful to let it mingle with the other shadows, but at the same time allow him to have an idea of who's following him. in other words, shadows were like another pair of eyes for him.

he couldn't afford to slow down, however. walking further down the alley, he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. the shadow had informed him of the presence of his chaser. his mouth turned dry. his heart pounded.

the lights flickered.

he's coming.

//

lee sunmi wrapped her hand around the door knob and twisted it to the right, revealing a scene that she definitely did not expect. she was prepared to see a barren land, a no-man land maybe, but what greeted her was far from her imaginations.

the door had swung towards her soundlessly, allowing sunmi to catch a glimpse of what was behind it. chatters hit her almost immediately as people buzzed around in what seemed like a marketplace. everyone there was dressed in hanboks and the scene literally reminded sunmi of the past. it was as if she just traveled back to the 1800s.

it was definitely a huge contrast to the quiet and modern neighbourhood behind her. taking a deep breath, she took a step past the doorway and entered the other realm, aware of how people were not paying attention to her at all. no one seemed particularly concerned about the girl who, dressed in modern clothes, literally came out from a pastel pink door in the middle of the street.

what caught sunmi's attention was the fact that every single person was holding onto a pet. hamsters, puppies, cats, snakes even. all of sudden, a feeling of being outcasted washed over her and she glanced around. to her disappointment, there were no animals around for her to claim as her own pet. there was, however, an eagle perched on a tree branch with a few men surrounding the tree on their horses. to sunmi, it seemed like the eagle was injured and the men were aiming their crossbows at it.

she was about to walk away when she realized that eagle was the closest she would ever get to having a pet. passersby were also starting to stare at her empty hands and she hid them behind her back subconsciously while biting her lips.

"this had better be worth it." sunmi muttered, sticking to the walls of inns that lined the street, occasionally peeking to check her surroundings. reaching into her backpack, she pulled out a toy car and its remote control before setting them on the floor. it was one of the few things that baekhyun had brought back for her from her world. apparently, he had grabbed random stuff and this happy meal toy from macdonalds happened to be one of the things that he had taken.