Chanyeol opens his eyes and the first thing he registers is Baekhyun's relaxed features, the slight swell in his pink lips, and the piece of black hair that sticks up sideways from behind the smaller boy's ear. He breathes in sharply, the image of Baekhyun's smiling face fading slowly into the recesses of his mind. From the dream into reality, Baekhyun glows. 

He doesn't want to wake him, especially when he thinks about what happened the night before. He'd never kissed someone before, much less so intensely, and the thought of facing Baekhyun after that is daunting. Instead, he starts to slide out of the bed as quietly as he can, opting to sneak out. It's not an easy feat when said boy is sprawled on top of his chest and half the bed. Thus, Chanyeol goes into stealth mode and shimmies as far as he can toward the edge of the bed. 

Baekhyun, however, has other ideas. He instinctively clings onto Chanyeol, whining when the taller starts to wiggle free. Chanyeol freezes, breathing heavily, praying for Baekhyun to fall asleep again. 

"Chanyeol?" his voice is raspy, bleary eyes unfocused. 

"Yeah?" he responds carefully, quietly. 

Baekhyun looks up then, his eyes coming in to focus directly on Chanyeol's dark brown ones. A twinge of pink paints Baekhyun's cheeks and he sits up rather hastily, avoiding looking at Chanyeol again. 

It's too quiet. Chanyeol knows that the both of them are thinking of what happened last night. Was he really tired and out of it and regrets it and will never look at me again? He decides to avoid the agony of watching Baekhyun ignore him and instead stands abruptly. He can feel the forgotten sleeping bag under his cold toes and feels himself blushing deeper.  

"I'm going to go wash my face and make some breakfast," Chanyeol explains, rubbing the back of his neck. Baekhyun nods and coughs awkwardly, suddenly fascinated with the pattern of Chanyeol's bedspread. 

He leaves as fast as possible, not forgetting to grab his phone from the nightstand. Baekhyun watches him out of the corner of his eye, unwavering. 

Baekhyun has made up his mind. From the time last night that he decided he didn't care -- that letting his safety be known to Chanyeol was too important -- he knew. In the back of his head, his conscious kept reminding him: you need to tell him; it's the only way you can accomplish anything here. 

He's not sure why he asked Chanyeol to kiss him, or why he couldn't stop himself, but something in his brain was screaming for him to press his lips against the taller's. Some kind of instinct kicked in, urging him to kiss Chanyeol and let the boy know he was safe. That he was safe and sorry, and that he wouldn't leave. 

Yeah, that was a guarantee. 

No matter what happens, I won't run away. The way Chanyeol cried. . . he didn't deserve that. I won't ever hurt him like that again. 

Baekhyun had decided: tell Chanyeol the truth and stop doing things he's not allowed to do. 

He can hear Chanyeol walking down the steps now, heading to make breakfast, which Baekhyun is sure will consist of burnt toast and awkward glances. 

He hops up almost silently, mind set. Tell Chanyeol everything. Get yourself under control. 

--

to "dickhead sehun": help 

from "dickhead sehun": what? its almost 8 and ur not at school....... u skipping??? u sick?

to "dickhead sehun": baekhyuns back

to "dickhead sehun": and something happened last night. ill tell u tmr .... im just freaking out

from "dickhead sehun": im glad hes safe! have a y day off i guess 👅👅👅💦💦

Chanyeol sighs and ignores the tongue emojis, and most definitely the wet emojis, before turning to focus on breakfast. At least he can do one thing this morning without wanting to scream. 

Chanyeol hears the smaller boy pad down the steps only a few minutes after him, smelling of toothpaste and moisturizer. His heart catches at the sight of Baekhyun walking into the kitchen. He can't help it; today feels domestic. At the thought he pictures waking up next to Baekhyun everyday, a kiss on the lips as a good morning, sharing the bathroom, and smiling over breakfast. It shakes him to his core and he shakes his head to will it away. 

He takes a deep breath, willing himself to calm down. Baekhyun didn't mean anything by the kiss. It's okay. Just act like it didn't happen.

"Good morning," Baekhyun says slowly in his soft way. Chanyeol nods and refocuses on frying the two eggs in the pan. 

A somewhat comfortable silence ensues as Chanyeol finishes cooking.

They start eating the eggs and toast at the kitchen counter instead of sitting down, and Baekhyun nods to himself, knowing that if he's going to say anything, now is the time. He needs to speak up before his resolve leaves him. 

"I want to tell you something, Chanyeol," Baekhyun pipes up suddenly. Chanyeol pauses mid bite, nodding slowly, a muffled "okay" slipping out. 

"Well, I'm not from here." 

Chanyeol looks at him expectantly, waiting for more. It doesn't come, at least not within seconds, and Chanyeol raises his eyebrows. 

"I know that. You transferred," Chanyeol responds doubtfully after swallowing the bite. Baekhyun shakes his head, face scrunched in an uncomfortable way, as if he's contemplating something. 

"Not like that. I don't know how to explain it," he holds his head in his hands, ignoring his food. "I'm not from here."

Chanyeol watches Baekhyun uncover his face, gesturing wildly around the room. He doesn't stop there, and his arms wave above his head, gesturing to everything. It clicks. 

"Like here?" Chanyeol is in disbelief. 

"Not from here. Yeah," Baekhyun watches Chanyeol carefully, gauging his reaction. 

Chanyeol is actually shaking. He can't believe that Baekhyun isn't from Korea, isn't even from Earth, probably. Then was him dream some kind of prophecy? Was he going to get abducted by aliens? Would he die? Would Baekhyun die for telling him? 

"You're fine, Chanyeol! I promise. Your dreams were normal, I just didn't know about them," Baekhyun sighs deeply. "It explains a lot, actually." 

Chanyeol's eyebrows quirk up then. 

"What does it explain? Wait, why is it normal? No -- wait, where are you from?" 

Baekhyun feels like he might suffocate. It's getting hard to explain, to vocalize. He nods, taking a deep breath, and reminds himself of the decision he'd made: tell Chanyeol everything. 

"I," a pregnant pause. "I'm what you guys would call a fallen star. Like a shooting star, who shoots to Earth." 

Suddenly, all the times that Chanyeol had felt Baekhyun was glowing, that he radiated warmth and happiness, it made sense. The bright smile, the twinkling eyes, it all matched. Chanyeol nods for him to continue and Baekhyun blushes softly, pleased by the fascination evident on Chanyeol's face. 

"Well, stars normally don't fall to Earth. We stay up there for millions and millions of years until we die. Only a few get to come down here, and usually it's because of an eclipse." 

Chanyeol doesn't consider himself an expert on science, much less astronomy, but he's fairly certain that eclipses and stars have nothing to do with each other. Doubt creeps into the back of his mind, but he listens on. He thinks of what he'd promised last night, before the kisses, the whispered I trust you. 

"Okay, I know this won't make much sense, but I'll try to explain it." Baekhyun's soft voice is entrancing and Chanyeol nods gravely, ready for anything he could say. I trust him I trust him I trust him. 

"The sun is in charge of the people -- it gives the light, the warmth, the day that keeps everyone alive. The moon is in charge of the nighttime and rules over the stars. So, on an eclipse, when the sun and moon meet, they choose one from the realm of light -- a person -- and one from the realm of darkness -- a star -- to meet as well. It's their way of keeping peace -- it's a trade, a symbol of unity." 

Chanyeol processes this, although ever fiber of his being is screaming this can't be true this can't be true science would've known they would've figured it out! After a minute of repeating Baekhyun's words in his mind, he comes to a sudden, violent revelation. 

"Are we . . . are we the star and the person?" he asks cautiously, as if he himself cannot accept what he's hearing, what he's saying, what he's thinking. 

"I think so. When the sun has someone in mind, the person will start noticing. They'll see the image of the star's human form, they'll hear their voice as their conscience, they'll only be able to draw that one face, or they'll dream of the star, until they arrive. You got the last type, I suppose." 

Chanyeol nods, albeit slowly. Baekhyun snakes a slim hand onto Chanyeol's, giving the taller boy's hand a firm squeeze, as if to remind him that he's real. 

"I know you probably don't believe me, but I felt like I needed to tell you," Baekhyun explains, his eyes downcast. Chanyeol can see rejection dwelling in his eyes, can tell that he thinks he'll be kicked out and called crazy. 

Chanyeol squeezes the smaller, colder hand back. "Then why did you leave when I told you about my dream? Wouldn't that explain why you came here?" 

Baekhyun laughs sadly, shaking his head. 

"It's a long story. I was scared because I didn't know why I'd shown up here. I didn't know why, but I saw you standing outside of school, near where I landed. I saw you and something told me that you would be able to help me, so I followed it. I ing faked my way into school to follow you, when I should've known all along," Baekhyun looks up again, his dark eyes shining fiercely. "But that's the thing!" 

Baekhyun looks down at their hands, something soft blooming inside his chest. 

"No one knows what the stars and the humans are supposed to do." 

Chanyeol, who was also transfixed with their hands, looks up at that, alarmed. "What do you mean? There's no guide? The sun and moon don't explain that?" 

"No, they just drop the star here. That inkling that the sun planted is in you -- and I knew from the moment I saw you that you were different. But no star has ever come back to tell a story. They leave, and they never come back." 

Chanyeol wants to ask do they fall in love? but he stops himself, noticing that Baekhyun is near tears. He's obviously stressed over having what seems like no hope of return, and Chanyeol's heart breaks for him. 

"I love it here. There's constant changes in weather, there's people, there's sunsets! But -- but," Baekhyun's shoulders shake. "I don't even know what I'm supposed to be doing, and I know I can't go back home." 

Chanyeol's hold on Baekhyun's hand tightens, bringing the boy closer to him, although he can feel a sharp stab at his heart. He wants to ask why can't you just stay here? is earth not enough? am I not enough? 

Instead, he allows Baekhyun to wipe tears onto his shoulder, muffled sobs racking through the both of them. 

"Hey, hey, Baekhyun," Chanyeol pulls the smaller boy away from him to look him in the eye. "It's okay, I'll help you. I mean, that's what I'm here for, right? You knew that I could help you. And I've dreamt about you every night for my entire life." 

Baekhyun perks up at this, tears stopping briefly. 

"I'll help you go home, okay?" Chanyeol asks, smiling brightly. Baekhyun nods, a small smile breaking through after all, showing Chanyeol some of the brilliance he only now recognizes Baekhyun's natural glow. 

Chanyeol thinks his heart can't take much more. Not after he finally found the boy he'd been dreaming of, rescued him, and kissed him. He thinks about Baekhyun wanting to go back home and his heart aches, but he smiles anyway. 

"I got you, Baekhyun. Don't worry. You'll be the first star to make it back home." 

-------

jajajdsfkjfkalsdjf THE SECRET IS REVEALED + pcy being angsty but also extremely enamoured . poor boy

did u guys expect this? or did u think bbh was smth different????? i wonder if the truth lives up to the ~~expectations~~ you guys might've had lol 

comment upvote blah blah aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa i hope u guys like it !! let me kno ur thoughts!!!!!!! lov u smooch *sehun voice* bba bba