+ three

Narda was trapped in the lobby of her apartment complex with Baekhyun waiting for her outside. Every once in a while, people would come and go from the building, but each time he tried to sneak in, she was there to shut the door in his face. Narda looked down at the time on her phone screen with exasperation. If she didn't leave within the next five minutes, she would miss the train and be late for work.

But she couldn't be seen close to Baekhyun or she would get in trouble for it. Instead she decided to wait it out until he could get tired and leave on his own.

Minutes ticked by and the EXO vocalist didn't budge. Instead the other boys eventually made their way out of the building, to the waiting company cars. They were all headed to dance practices and afterwars each of them had their own schedules to get to. 

Kyungsoo was walking besides Chanyeol when he saw their group member posted outside the apartment building across the street like a security guard. There was a stack of mail in his hand and inside the building he could see the worried face of Guti, who was confined to the building as long as Baekhyun was there. The authorities would not care that he was the one approaching her. They would only care that she was close to him and would blame her for it. Knowing this, Kyungsoo felt bad for Narda and nudged his taller group mate.

"Look." He gestured across the street. Chanyeol had been on his phone, playing a video game when he tore his eyes away from it as he knew that he was pointing toward's Narda's apartment. "Baekhyun is over there stalking Guti. You should go talk to him. But don't start a fight. Everyone's watching and it'll be all over the gossip news."

Chanyeol immediately huffed in annoyance and stuffed his phone into his pocket, Kyungsoo's warning going in one ear and out the other. He stomped across the street, grabbing his group mate by the arm and turning him around to face him and confront him. The force of his pull had been enough to spill the letters from his hand, where they scattered in a mess onto the sidewalk. Narda only watched everything unfold before her eyes, from the safety of her apartment building.

"Leave Guti alone, Baek." Chanyeol warned through gritted teeth.

A rift in their friendship was obvious by now. Baekhyun glared at his former room mate. "Piss off, Chanyeol. I just want to talk to her and explain things. If she'll just listen, I know--"

"She doesn't want to talk to you. She doesn't even want to see you." Chanyeol assured him, a dark tone was evident in his words. "She told me herself. As soon as her contract is over, she'll return to her country and we'll never see her again. All because of what you did to her."

Baekhyun felt his heart drop at the news. He then shook his head in denial. "She can't leave. The only reason I did all of this was to protect her."

The taller of the two boys caught the name Narda Gutierrez Lozano written on one of the letters that was scattered on the ground. Some of them were bills that she needed to pay, while others were junk mail that had been sent to her. "What the hell, Baek? You're stealing her mail now?" He shot his group mate a dirty look.

Baekhyun dropped to his knees and began gathering the mail frantically as he explained, "I wasn't stealing it. I just needed an excuse to talk to her."

He stopped when one particular letter caught his attention. It was one with no return address and Baekhyun Oppa's Sasaeng written on it instead of her name. Baekhyun sighed and opened the letter, reading over what had been written on it in English. It was a threat that said that if she ever got close to Baekhyun again, something bad would happen to her. According to Nari, Narda had a varied collection of hate mail now, and Nari was worried for her friend's emotional state as well as her safety. Chanyeol was able to skim the letter from over Baekhyun's shoulder, and then snatched it from his hold.

"We have to do something about this." Chanyeol said to Baekhyun, his tone softening, but not for Baekhyun's sake. It was replaced with worry for Narda's safety.

"Talk to her and convince her to get the police involved." Baekhyun suggested, giving up on talking to her for the time being. "They can just be empty threats but what if they're not? There are really crazy people out there who might actually hurt her."

"Because of you." Chanyeol gave a reminder.

Baekhyun heaved a sigh, but didn't argue.

Everyone had already gotten into the cars and were about to head out when Nari entered the lobby of her apartment next. She would be heading out at the same time as EXO and would be getting a ride to the SM building with them. She saw her friend hiding in the lobby and looked outside to find Baekhyun there. She was immediately filled with fury and stormed over to him.

She walked outside and placed her hands on her hips in scolding mode. In many ways she was similar to Kyungsoo. She was small and appeared harmless, but when she got angry, she was like a hurricane destroying everything in its path.

Her victim then was Byun Baekhyun.

"What did I tell you, oppa?" She asked him, her eyes darkened with anger.

Baekhyun gulped, even though he was older and taller than her. But like Kyungsoo, she was more threatening and even potentially lethal. "You said not to even think about getting close to Guti if I wanted to continue living."

"Right." She nodded her head, soon adding, "So what are you doing here?"

"I just needed to tell her that I'm sorry for everything, and if she'll listen to me, I can tell her myself. Tell her--"

But Nari cut him off with a vehement shake of her head. Nothing he could do or say would change her mind. She now knew what he was capable of, and she didn't want him hurting Narda again. "You don't seem to understand that you ruined her life. If you get anywhere near her, she'll be the one punished. And if Guti is forced to leave Korea because of you, I'm going to snap every bone in your body like a twig. She's my best friend and I'll protect her from jerks like you. So piss off, oppa, before I call Soo over here to help me drag you away."

Chanyeol shrugged his shoulders and dropped a heavy hand on Baekhyun's shoulder. It would have otherwise felt like a reassuring gesture if it wasn't for the fact that he knew Chanyeol was siding with Narda on this as well. "Nari-yah basically covered everything I wanted to say to you. Lets go or we'll be late for our schedules."

-

Narda was cooped up in her room again. It was all she could do after getting home from work in the afternoons. She was too afraid to go out because of the threats and the restraining order. Chanyeol and Nari weren't around some times. Since they were filming for EXO Next Door, there were times when filming went into the late hours of night. Baekhyun and Jongin had been excused that day from their filming commitments and practices.

They would be appearing in a show called After School Club, where they would be getting interviewed and they would also be participating in various activities. There was also a segment where the fans could ask them questions. 

Before all of this happened, she might have participated, but now she wouldn't. As though trying to cause herself some self inflicted torture, she decided to watch the show that afternoon. She had nothing else to do. Narda sat on the couch with her knees to her chest to keep herself warm from the winter weather, even inside the apartment. Her eyes watched the screen intently, her heart wrenched as she saw him on screen. There was a smile on his face, yet a sadness in his eyes.

He and Jongin were there to talk about the new drama, and their upcoming album Exodus, which was expected to be released in two months. They were working hard with dances which they would perform once the album released. The releasing of the album would also open up into their next tour. Exoplanet #2: The Exo'luxion. It was speculated that the tour would expand over the course of an entire year because they were planning to include new countries that they would visit, including North America.

During one of the segments, they had a fan ask them a question. 

She wanted to know what they thought about the nicknames that the fans had for them. Nini for Jongin and Bacon for Baekhyun. Narda watched as Baekhyun smiled a genuine smile at the question. They both had a little flashback in their minds of the same memory.

It had been so long ago--over a year already--when it happened. Narda wanted to get Baekhyun's attention so badly that she pretended that he ran her over accidentally. She remembered so vividly the way he looked so worried that he was about to cry. How he picked her up in his arms and took her into the dorms to help her ice her injury. When he helped her back to her apartment, they introduced each other and her pronunciation of his name made it sound like she had called him Bacon. That was where it all started. One year later, it seemed like too many things had fallen apart.

Confirming that they thought of the same memory, Baekhyun began to explain the reason behind his smile. "I remember when I first heard that nickname was a year ago. A...friend of mine who is American couldn't pronounce my name fluently. So she accidentally called me Bacon." Jongin looked at his group mate, immediately knowing that he was talking about Narda. They didn't have many American friends.

The hosts of the show heard the story and then translated it for the international fans to understand what he said.

They continued with their next segment until they reached their final one for the show. It had lasted almost a full hour and Narda had spent all of it glued to her television screen, watching Baekhyun. It was a segment where the two had been asked to sing a little song for the fans. But Jongin had gotten shy and asked Baekhyun to do it by himself. Baekhyun agreed for his friend's sake and stood in the center of the studio with the camera focused directly on him. 

Narda thought he would sing an EXO song, which would have been the most obvious. But she was surprised when instead he sang something in English. An old song that she had heard before, but wasn't really one of her favorites. But in his voice, it took mere seconds to become her favorite song in the world.

He looked right at the camera as he began to sing, his words slightly broken with his Korean accent. "Once there was a way to get back homeward. Once there was a way to get back home. Sleep pretty darling, do not cry, and I will sing a lullaby." Narda felt her eyes pool up with tears because the way he looked at the camera felt like he was looking right at her. Like the song was meant for her--that he knew all the suffering she was going through after what happened and was asking her not to cry anymore. She would still continue to be mad at him and she would continue to ignore him, but he was well aware that she was hurting. At least that was what her heart told her. But her mind told her to stop being so stupid. He was just singing that for the fans, and that he probably had no remorse in his heart for hurting her the way he did. Baekhyun didn't care about her and he never did. She was pulled out of her negative thoughts by his melodic voice as he continued to sing, "Golden slumbers fill your eyes. Smiles awake you when you rise. Sleep pretty darling, do not cry, and I will sing a lullaby."

He finished the song and the hosts of the show praised him, complimenting him for having a beautiful voice. Baekhyun just smiled sadly and went back to his chair. 

The hosts gave a few closing comments and finished up the show, with Baekhyun and Kai waving goodbye at the cameras.

Narda turned off the television and went to her room. There she continued to tell herself that if Baekhyun cared about her, he'd have never hurt her. But even so, she went on youtube, where countless videos had already been uploaded of his cover of Golden Slumbers by The Beatles. 

She hit the play button and kept the song on repeat for the rest of the night.

-

so i've been obsessed with the song "golden slumbers" by the beatles all this week, and that is why i had to include it in the chapter. its such a beautiful song that makes me feel likee crying when i listen to it. in reality, paul mccartney got it from an old poem by thomas dekker that he read in one of his sister's notebooks. he just changed a few things and out music to it.

but still, he's a musical genius. my first beatles bias. now my ub is ringo because he's precious, but paul will always hold a special place in my heart.

anyway, thank you loads for reading.

i'll try very hard to write another chapter tonight. thank you so much for reading and supporting my stories!

-clary