Lights Out [Chanbaek]

Why is the Darkness, Brighter than the Light?

Long fingers slowly start to close around my throat. As it gets harder to take a breath, the only thing I can think of is, what did I do wrong? The last thing I saw before blacking out are his cold, dark eyes. 

Baekhyun arrives just before his boss takes a seat at his desk and quickly walks to his cubicle. It's the third time this week that he has been late so he can’t afford anymore trouble. Piles of paperwork surround the cramped desk, leaving just enough room for Baekhyun to place his coffee down. 

He silently grabs the first sheet and starts proofreading. At least this job keeps him busy enough to keep his mind off of things. There is something about working for an editing company, they always have enough work to keep them busy for days on end. 

A voice from the cubicle next to him, breaks his concentration. 

"Hey, Baek, it's supposed to be like 70 degrees today, why are you wearing a turtleneck?" 

"I, uh, just woke up with a bit of a cold chill. I'm fine, I promise." Baekhyun smiles slightly in response to his coworker, Minho. Minho seemed satisfied with that answer and returned back to his work.  

This isn't the first time a coworker has commented on his wardrobe. It's easier to cover up everything than to tell the truth that no one would believe. 

He focuses back on his assignment and blocks out the world for a bit. After what seems like an eternity, Leader Kim announces. 

"Alright everyone, time for lunch. You know this week is a big week, so please eat quickly and return so we can leave on time today."

"Are you going to eat with us today, Baekhyun? Don't tell me you're skipping lunch again to catch up on more work?" Minho asks.

"Sorry, Minho, I'm not very hungry today. You all go enjoy," Baekhyun replies with a small smile on his face.

"Ok, but maybe sure you at least grab a snack. See ya in an hour," Minho replies back before going to the cafeteria. 

Minho is always nice enough to ask every day, even though he receives the same reply most days. It's not out of the ordinary for Baekhyun to skip lunch to catch up on work. He doesn’t mind eating with them but people do like to stare and it always makes him feel a bit uneasy. 

Once everyone leaves Baekhyun stands up and stretches a bit before returning to the article he was reading. The longer he stares at the paper the heavier his eyes feel. He places the paper down and smacks his cheeks a few times to wake himself up. Despite shaking his head a few times, his head gradually slides down to the desk and the paper floats down to the ground, darkness closing in.

'Black. All I see is black. My heart is beating out of my chest but not because of the darkness. It's because of what is in the dark. I slowly feel my way along the wall, with my hands guiding me. Suddenly I bump into something big causing an object to crash loudly to the floor. Frozen in place, unable to move or breathe, I wait. Hopefully he didn't hear it. After 30 seconds, I let my breath out quietly and begin to move around the large object. Just as I round the edge and hand grabs my shoulder and quickly spins me around. I can feel his breath getting closer and closer…'

Baekhyun flies out of the chair in a panic. Looking from side to side to make sure no one was here to witness it. Cold sweat trickles down his forehead into his eyes, he wipes it away and takes a few deep breaths.  'It was only a dream, it was only a dream.' This was the mantra he did after every nightmare, not that it made him feel any better. What was he thinking, falling asleep at the office? Why did he think that this place would be the exception? 

With his heart still beating irregularly and the sweat starting to stick to his forehead, Baekhyun decides it's probably a good decision to wash his face and get some fresh air. Standing up from his desk, he takes a right instead of a left to use the restroom in the corridor since several people had started to return from lunch. 

Once stepping out of the office, he walks down the corridor to the public bathroom. He goes to the sink and splashes a few handfuls of water on his face then looks at himself in the mirror. His dark circles are getting more and more noticable, hopefully people just think that he overworks himself. After a few more seconds of staring, he steps out of the restroom and walks across the way to the elevator. His destination is on the 20th floor, the rooftop.

Baekhyun’s office was located on the 8th floor of a modern business building in the middle of Seoul. The architect wanted this building to blend in with the surroundings so the building sat pretty unnoticed amongst the skyscrapers. The redeeming factor to the building was the beautiful rooftop garden. It was what had drawn Baekhyun to this specific building.

The elevator dings letting Baekhyun know that he has reached his destination. The doors open to a beautiful garden filled with lush grass and many different kinds of colorful flowers. There are a few small trees placed throughout the garden with benches surrounding each tree. 

Baekhyun takes a seat at the closest bench and closes his eyes, letting the sun whip away the leftover darkness . After last night's "episode" and his nightmare it felt good to feel the warmth on his skin. The sun could take care of the small chill but it did nothing to melt the coldness that he always felt. The darkness never seemed to truly fade.

The darkness was always there. Maybe it was his curse to always see the sunlight but to never be able to fully touch it. 

Enough of those thoughts, Baekhyun didn’t come up here to not think. After what only seemed like 5 minutes, his phone chimed a reminder that lunch break was over.  He walked slowly back inside, staring longingly at the sun then took the elevator back to the office. 

The rest of the work day went by in a blur. Baekhyun completed more manuscripts than he needed but it being Thursday, it would be better to stay a bit longer just to make sure everything can be completed by tomorrow. 

5 o'clock came and everyone began to leave one by one, leaving Baekhyun alone in the office. 3 more, just 3 more manuscripts then he would feel a lot better about leaving. It wasn't very often that he stayed late at work, he didn't like to be out late, especially when the sun began to set.

After finishing the last page and with a quick stretch of the muscles, he gathered all of the loose papers and tidied up the remaining mess around the desk. Just as Baekhyun reached down to gather his briefcase, the building suddenly went dark. 

Frozen in place, unable to take a breath, Baekhyun squeezed his eyes together and opened them again to only see more darkness. Finally able to move enough to look down at his phone, the screen read 7 o'clock. Why would all the lights suddenly shut off at 7? 

Working at this place for 5 months, he knew the way around pretty well, but he never had to navigate it in the dark. He needed to get out of here! With the help from the light of the moon, he carefully made his way around the maze of chairs and desks until he reached the door that led to the corridor. With the lights being out, using the elevator was out of the question so he opened the door to the left which led to the staircase.

Upon entering the stairway, Baekhyun noticed it was pitch black. Usually in these situations buildings have back up lights just in case but there was no illumination whatsoever. 

He grabbed his phone to use the flashlight so he could see to ascend the stairs. Being on the 8th floor wasn't horrible but it didn't feel so great to walk down 8 flights of stairs in the dark.

Just as he made it down to the 5th floor, suddenly the flashlight turned off. Dang it, he forgot to charge his phone while he was working. Not wanting to stay in the darkness any longer, Baekhyun grabbed the railing carefully descending going as fast as he could without tripping. 

Just as he hit what he thought was the 2nd floor, a sound came from above. It wasn't the sound you would normally hear in a stairwell but a low growl and the slow steps of someone ascending the stairs. Now would be the perfect time to move, yet his feet stayed planted in place. The steps grew louder and louder until they were nearly on top of Baekhyun. 

Suddenly, the walking stopped. Goosebumps lined his body and his hands trembled uncontrollably, something leaned toward Baekhyun in the dark and a warm breath pierced his cheek. Suddenly a deep voice broke through the silence, "Did you think you could escape me?"