Sanctuary | Chanbaek (2)

Twenty-One

It was finally time for the bandages that had been covering Chanyeol's eyes for weeks to be removed. Baekhyun worried that the surgery would be unsuccessful for Chanyeol's sake; however, he also had a crippling fear of what Chanyeol would think when he saw him for the first time after so many years.

Chanyeol was hopeful as always. He was so excited that he could hardly hold still. He kept squeezing Baekhyun's hand a little too hard.

"Chanyeol, could you please stop?"

"Stop what?"

"Crushing my hand."

"Oh, sorry," Chanyeol loosened his grip and kissed Baekhyun's hand. "I wouldn't want to crush such soft, delicate hands," Chanyeol bounced, "Oh! I can't wait to see them!"

Baekhyun smiled as the doctor came in, "Alright, Chanyeol, let's get those bandages off."

"Yes, let's," Chanyeol bounced even more.

"Let's cross our fingers and hope that it worked," The doctor couldn't help but smile at Chanyeol's child-like excitement. "I'm going to have to ask you to sit still for a minute though."

Chanyeol did his best to contain himself as the bandages were removed, but once they were off, his eyes remained tightly shut.

Baekhyun felt a stroke of bravery overtake him, inspiring him to stand in front of Chanyeol, "Open your eyes, Yeol."

"Now I'm scared."

"Why are you scared?"

"What if I still can't see you? What if this was all for nothing?"

As much as Baekhyun wished and hoped that Chanyeol would never see him, he hated to hear him worry like that, "Don't talk like that, you'll see me."

"Okay," Chanyeol let out a deep breath and opened his eyes slowly. "Oh my god."

"Can you see?"

"Yes, but no."

"What do you mean?"

"It isn't perfect," Chanyeol couldn't seem to find the words to describe his newfound blurred vision.

"Is it me?" Baekhyun asked softly.

"No, I just want to see you better."

"Here, let me help," The doctor pulled the phoropter over Chanyeol's eyes. "Tell me when it starts to become clearer."

Chanyeol sat worriedly as different lenses were placed in front of his eyes, after a while, it seemed he could see with no limitations, "There. That's good."

The optometrist found the prescription that was best for Chanyeol, placing the lenses in the glasses. Baekhyun couldn't help but giggle at the funny looking glasses.

"Now I can really see," Chanyeol stared at Baekhyun.

"Stop, that makes me feel weird."

Everything was so new to Chanyeol, but the only thing he was interested in looking at was Baekhyun, "I can't stop," He looked Baekhyun up and down before looking in the mirror. He was also intrigued by his own appearance, "Do all glasses look like this?"

"No, you can go pick out some actual ones."

"Can I keep these so I can see things?"

"No, those are property of the office."

"Then how am I going to see my Baekhyunnie?"

"Go pick out some frames and we'll get them made," The doctor said.

Baekhyun still couldn't help but lead Chanyeol into the lobby. Guiding Chanyeol was the most important job he'd ever had.

Chanyeol tried on different frames, asking Baekhyun which ones he thought were the cutest. 

Chanyeol couldn't be happier when he got his glasses. It was unreal to him that he could now see his boyfriend whenever he wanted to.

Baekhyun still led Chanyeol around on the way home.

"I can see where I'm going now, Baek. You don't have to guide me."

"What do I do instead?"

"You can teach me things, like colors. What color is this?" Chanyeol pointed to the sidewalk.

"Gray," He pointed to the grass. "Green"

He pointed to their house.

"That's our house. It's yellow," Baekhyun went inside. Chanyeol began to undress him as soon as the door closed. "What are you doing?" Baekhyun held his shirt down.

"I want to see all of you."

"I don't want you to."

"Why?"

"I have a lot of weird scars."

"I know, I want to see them," Chanyeol successfully undressed Baekhyun and examined every aspect of him. Chanyeol's gaze turned Baekhyun into a shy mess. "What are these scars from?" Chanyeol ran his fingers over the scars on Baekhyun's thighs.

"I don't remember," Baekhyun lied.

"Oh," Chanyeol flipped him onto his stomach. "Your butt is so cute and perfect. All of you is, actually."

"You think so?"

"Yes, I do," Chanyeol kissed him. "Oh, you're so perfect, my Baekhyunnie." Chanyeol couldn't hide how happy he was.

"I was scared you'd think differently."

"I wish you could see what I see. I see something so beautiful and special. I wish you could see that too," Chanyeol redressed the smaller boy.

"I see that when I look at you."

A smile formed on Chanyeol's lips and he removed Baekhyun's necklace. At first, Baekhyun didn't understand, until Chanyeol put the ring on his finger, "Byun Baekhyun, will you marry me?"

Baekhyun attacked him with a hug, collapsing on top of him, "Yes."

"I knew it."

"Whatever."

Chanyeol kissed Baekhyun again, "Do you remember our first kiss?"

Baekhyun nodded, "I think about it a lot. I still feel how I felt then."

"How did you feel then?"

"I felt like you were amazing and you had saved me from going down a dark path. I felt like you were my sanctuary."

Chanyeol looked at the pictures across the walls, "And you're mine."

"I am?"

"I guess I never give you enough credit for how great you are. You were the one who was always there when I needed it. Like when DJ died," Chanyeol stared at a picture of DJ, then turned around to stare at Baekhyun instead. "You're the reason I'm happy to wake up each morning. You're the reason I can never sit still because you bring so much excitement into my life. Being around you can just brighten my day and any of my moods. Maybe I never realized it, but all along, you were my sanctuary too."

(A/N: Ahh! It's finally over! I know I took forever to finish this but I just got a burst of motivation to finish this story. I hope everyone enjoyed reading this as I enjoyed writing it (for the most part). Also, if you haven't read The Boyfriend Project, that's the first part of this little series and I definitely recommend giving it a read if you have not. Thank you for reading!)