Chanel's Fics

PurgaTorio for Two - Baekyeol

PURGATORIO FOR TWO

Summary: Baekhyun goes searching for someone important and finds himself on a bus that takes him into a future that leads back to the past.

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PART 1

In Baekhyun’s first moments, he’s cracking an egg over a bowl of freshly steamed rice. A bright orange yolk is drowned in exactly three tablespoons of soy sauce. Chopsticks dive into the center and everything mixes together.

He has a resolution, especially today.

He's going to find him. No matter what.

He's going to bring him home.

Baekhyun is skipping classes today. Its not as if missing a couple lectures will actually do any damage, and since high school graduation, his parents don't give him flack for anything.

He has one bowl of rice, piping hot enough to steam the egg. One cup of roasted green tea, purchased from their next door neighbor, and then Baekhyun quickly rinses his dishes. Then, he puts them in the drying rack.

He slings his backpack over his shoulder just as his mother is coming down the stairs. He pauses to glance back at her.

"Sometimes I wonder if we should have let you dorm with your friends," she hums. Her hair is a mess and she's in her berry red bathrobe. "Maybe you would have more fun."

Baekhyun smiles weakly, but reassuringly, "It was for the money, and dorm life isn't for everybody. This way I never miss home."

Baekhyun's mother just sighs, "I don't think I'm ever going to be quite ready to let you go."

Baekhyun laughs as he yanks on his sneakers. He takes a couple steps out of his path to pat his mother on the head. She seems so small and frail compared to before.

"Have a good day in class."

Baekhyun kisses her on the cheek, walks out the door, and shuts it behind him.

The walk to the forest is slow. He does not rush, just one foot in front of the other, carefully bringing him to his final destination.

There are gates surrounding everything. Seven feet of fence, topped off with swirls of barbed wire. There’s contrast between the rigidity of the metal against the old trees held within, stretching up into the sky.

There are pamphlets and a plaque explaining the forest. There are warnings and phone numbers plastered onto the corkboard right by the path.

Baekhyun ignores it all, adjusts the bag on his shoulders, and walks right through the open gate.

There is no other option.

There’s a clear path that visitors are meant to follow, but this forest, although surrounded by civilization, is an island of genuine wilderness. The path only goes so far before things start becoming less clear cut.

The paths begin to branch off, offering options, and no matter which one Baekhyun decides to take, every single one feathers off into a much narrower dirt track.

He has a map in his backpack, but things are already so muddled that he knows instructions won’t take him anywhere.

Then, the fog settles in.

He staggers forward, following the small path of stepped on greenery, the closest option to a designated walkway.

He can’t turn around now.

He came here with a purpose. Baekhyun is determined to find him, no matter at what cost. He’s scared, the fear clouds more and more as the fog thickens.