[UNION] Always Yours, Master || BAEKYEOL/ CHANBAEK

11

"The union meeting is tomorrow," Kyungsoo informs Baekhyun in a quiet voice.

Jongin looks at Kyungsoo and Kyungsoo looks back, but they break eye contact immediately. Chanyeol is sitting at the edge of the table they are currently in, looking like he doesn't care about his surroundings as he is only looking down at the table, not raising his gaze even once.

Kyungsoo clears his throat, looking up at Baekhyun. "About Chanyeol.."

"We're not talking about a slave here. We're talking about important matters," Baekhyun interrupts.

"Yes, we are. And we're going to talk about Chanyeol. He's an important concern."

"Fine," Baekhyun says reluctantly.

Kyungsoo sees what he has done so clearly, so vividly and it makes him feel bad for something he can't ever turn back time for.

"He's not yet an official member of our union. So as the representative of our main leader, Junmyeon, I officially pronounce him as our member."

Baekhyun looks at Chanyeol. "What now? Aren't you going to say anything?"

Chanyeol doesn't move.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes in annoyance. "See? He doesn't deserve it."

Kyungsoo furrows his eyebrows in concern on Chanyeol's unexplainable behavior.

He doesn't smell stubbornness in the air.

"Chanyeol? Chanyeol," Kyungsoo calls. Are those large ears of his not functioning now?

Kyungsoo goes between Baekhyun's and Chanyeol's mind link and calls Chanyeol through it. It takes a lot of energy but he succeeds anyway.

'Chanyeol.'

Chanyeol looks up immediately and his eyes widen. "I-I'm sorry, were you saying something..? I'm so sorry, it's j-just that I-I can't h-hear—"

"Shut the fuck up!" Baekhyun hisses in annoyance as he slams the table, standing up. "The way you talk.. I fucking hate it. Go back to your room..!"

Chanyeol only stares at Baekhyun, his mouth open as if he wants to ask something.

'He said go to your room, Chanyeol. He's only mad at me for asking. It's okay, go to your room,' Kyungsoo says and reassures him.

Chanyeol nods and scurries off.

'Thank you, Kyungsoo.'

'No, thank you, Chanyeol.'

Thank you for making me realize how forgiving love is.

Chanyeol is so kind, good, and obedient, even with what people do to him. He's too good to be true.

Kyungsoo has never looked up to anyone like this before. But now he does.

Chanyeol's love for Baekhyun. . . Kyungsoo feels it, and it stirs his blood to no end.

Kyungsoo has been looking at love with the wrong binoculars all along.

Now he realizes, love isn't all about what is right. Love is seeing the right thing in everything. And focusing on it, capturing the best moment and keeping it in your heart. And if you go through the pain your loved one is giving you, you can only look at that moment, hope it goes right, even if it won't, even if it seems impossible.

Love is what will make you strong. Because instead of getting you away from pain, it makes you know how much of it you can endure as long as you know the love is there.

Even one-sided.

* * * * *

Baekhyun winces as his head begins to hurt. There is something that tells him he should make Chanyeol feel safe, but something else tells him he should make Chanyeol suffer.

He doesn't understand what is happening, his blood as if circulating all around his body in a fast, weird way. He tries to fix it by bringing out his claws and scratching his own wrist with it, making blood drip out. The wounds heal so fast that he needs to open another over and over again to ensure that blood continues to drip. He feels as if something inside him is going better through it and so he continues.

The nostalgic pain of hurting himself again makes him screw his eyes shut and cry, but he proceeds doing it anyway.

"Master..? I just want to ask if I should—Master!"

Chanyeol runs to Baekhyun and grabs his hand to stop him.

"What the hell?!" Baekhyun shouts as he glares at Chanyeol before yanking his hand back. "Don't bother me!"

"You can't hurt yourself! You don't deserve to be hurt..!"

Baekhyun snarls at Chanyeol as the younger still tries to stop Baekhyun's hands even if his own hands are being scratched by Baekhyun's claws accidentally the process.

"Let. Me. Do.. This..! I'm not hurting myself for nothing now! I'm trying to fix my problem..!"

Chanyeol looks up at Baekhyun and shakes his head furiously.

"You can't do this to yourself, Master. If you want to use your claws to scratch something, just do it to me.." Chanyeol says as he looks up at Baekhyun with fresh tears of concern in his eyes.

Baekhyun looks at him and still yanks his hands away from Chanyeol, furrowing his eyebrows at the way Chanyeol tries to save him from what he sees as Baekhyun causing danger to himself.

Chanyeol is still the same.

"It's nothing like that.. I only want to feel better.. A certain thing in my bloodstream is not going right, slave. I appreciate your effort but please..! Just let me.." Baekhyun's voice dies down to a whisper as he's being weakened from rapid blood loss from earlier. All the cuts have healed completely by now but the sudden loss of a part of that certain thing that's causing problems to his body is making him weak.

"I'll take care of it, Master.. You can take a rest now if you want. I won't bother you anymore.. I'm sorry.." Chanyeol softly says as he lets go of Baekhyun's hands and helps Baekhyun up to let him sit on the couch.

Chanyeol is about to go to the kitchen to search for rags and clean up the blood that Baekhyun has drawn out of himself but Baekhyun grabs his hand, making him stop in his tracks.

"N-No.."

Chanyeol isn't hearing what Baekhyun is saying but he has known that one word for so long.

"Master.. I'm just gonna clean up the blood there.." Chanyeol says as he points to the blood on the tiled floor.

"No.. just leave it there. Stay here.." Baekhyun says as he tries to pull Chanyeol to his side weakly.

Chanyeol doesn't understand. "Master, I'm gonna clean it because that's what slaves do.."

Baekhyun grunts and slowly lets go. Chanyeol smiles weakly, bows quickly and heads to the kitchen. Baekhyun has caught sight of all the cuts he has induced on Chanyeol's arms, and he knows that those won't be healing so fast because they're caused by a hybrid, which is Baekhyun himself.

Baekhyun appreciates the bravery, the concern and how Chanyeol still cares for him even after everything.

". . . but thank you.." Baekhyun says.

Baekhyun doesn't know where the courage to say that comes from. But while Baekhyun has taken out the fresh hybrid blood and while it still hasn't started spreading itself across Baekhyun's bloodstream again, all Baekhyun knows now is Chanyeol deserves to hear that.

Unfortunately, Chanyeol can't hear anything and Baekhyun still doesn't really know about that.