Sehun slowly opened his eyes, his senses gradually coming back to him. He analyzed his surroundings and realized he was laying in bed, his body wrapped in bandages. The room was dark, it must have been in the middle of the night. He noticed someone was laying next to him and rolled his head to look over at them.

Baekhyun's face was close, he was sleeping peacefully with his eyes shut. Sehun was surprised to see him.

"Byun...?"

Baekhyun stirred at hearing Sehun's voice, he blinked a few times before he noticed Sehun was staring at him.

"Shi Xun!!"

Sehun started to sit up, but stopped as he cringed in pain. Baekhyun quickly sat up to help him.

"Where am I?"

"Take it easy. You're in our dorm room at our new school."

"Why'd you save me? I was supposed to die."

Baekhyun paused as he stared at Sehun with an upset expression, "...You shouldn't just throw your life away like that, there are other solutions..."

Sehun remained silent, Baekhyun knew he wasn't going to answer him.

"In OZ's eyes, you're already dead. One month has passed, and OZ hasn't touched the colonies. They're just conquering pacifist nations on Earth."

Sehun's eyes widened a little, "A month has passed?"

"Yes, but there hasn't been one mission since that day."

"I see."

"You're no longer attached to the colonies, but my case isn't that simple. I'm not sure what to do. What if OZ used the colonies as a shield again?"

Sehun paused in thought, and Baekhyun stared at him happily for a long moment, overjoyed that Sehun was finally awake.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine."

Baekhyun stood up and started detaching the tubes attached to Sehun, "Let me go make you some food."

Once Baekhyun had detached them all, he left to go into the kitchen. Sehun's eyes had adjusted to the darkness by now and he started to look around at the room. He noticed his clothes were washed and folded nicely on top of the dresser. A first aid kit sat on the table, and lots of clean bandages. There were boxes filled with medical bags for his nutrients and urine placed on the floor.

Sehun slowly stood up and stretched his body, but stopped once he cringed in pain again. He paused for a moment before he walked into the kitchen and watched Baekyan cooking.

"I'm going to wash off."

"Oh, of course, go ahead. This should be done by the time you're finished. Will you be ok on your own?"

Sehun nodded and then walked off. Once he was done, he came out to see Baekhyun placing the food on the table. Sehun sat down and Baekhyun smiled at him.

"Here, go ahead and eat."

Sehun paused, staring at the warm delicious looking food, "...Thank you."

Baekhyun smiled in surprise at Sehun't words, he wasn't expecting any appreciation from him.

"You're welcome."

Baekhyun pointed at some pills sitting on the table, "These are some painkillers if you need them. You should eat first before taking them."

Sehun looked at the pills temporarily before he started eating. Baekhyun went to grab some clean bandages and came over to Sehun to carefully change them. It was much easier now that he was awake. Sehun continued eating as Baekhyun wrapped him up.

When Sehun was finished eating he picked up the pills sitting on the table and swallowed them. Baekhyun watched him, realizing that Sehun really must have been in a great deal of pain. After witnessing Sehun tumble down a cliff and break his leg, he wondered what Sehun's pain tolerance was.

Baekhyun took Sehun's plate and brought it back into the kitchen. Sehun slowly got up from the table and made his way back over to the bed. Baekhyun came out to see Sehun crawling back into the bed and cringe in pain again as he moved. Baekhyun hurried towards him to help him lay down. Once he was comfortable Baekhyun sat next to him.

"Sorry, we've been sharing this bed this whole time, I hope you don't mind."

"I don't."

Baekhyun smiled and stood up to go turn off the light. He returned to get under the covers next to Sehun. Baekhyun stared at Sehun as Sehun looked up at the ceiling.

"...I'm really glad you're all right."

Sehun remained silent.

"Goodnight Shi Xun, rest well."

"Don't call me Shi Xun."

Baekhyun's paused anxiously, fearing that he had used Sehun's personal name without permission.

"My real name is Oh Sehun."

Baekhyun paused again in surprise, a bright smile slowly grew on his face.

"Goodnight Sehun."

Thump thump

Sehun noticed the sporadic beat of his heart. It was unusual for him, he wasn't sure what to think of it.

Baekhyun smiled as he stared at Sehun for a long time, enjoying the thought that Sehun was conscious again. Eventually Baekhyun closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off into a happy dream.

————————

Sehun awoke early, just like he always did, and found Baekhyun still sleeping next to him. His hand was resting on Sehun's arm. Sehun looked down at Baekhyun, and then down at his hand touching his arm.

An alarm started sounding and Baekhyun's eyes blinked a few times before he was fully awake. Baekhyun sat up and reached for his phone to shut off the alarm before he noticed that Sehun was staring at him. Baekhyun smiled at him as he rubbed his eyes and yawned.

"Good morning."

Sehun also sat up, continuing to stare at Baekhyun silently. Baekhyun stretched for a moment before he stood up. He grabbed his uniform and started getting ready for class. Sehun sat in bed and continued watching him until Baekhyun disappeared into the bathroom.

After a little while Baekhyun came back out and went into the kitchen. Sehun could hear him making something, he waited patiently for Baekhyun to return. Eventually Baekhyun appeared and put two plates on the table. He smiled as he looked over at Sehun.

"Are you hungry?"

Sehun stood up and came over to the table, this time with a little more ease. He noticed more pills placed next to his plate. They ate in silence together and Baekhyun smiled to himself as he watched Sehun.

"Do you like it?"

"Mm."

Baekhyun's smile grew larger, it was a simple response, but enough to make him happy. Sehun took the painkillers again once he was finished. Baekhyun grabbed the plates and brought them back into the kitchen before he picked up his bag and made his way over to the door.

"I made you a lunch, it's in the fridge. Stay here and concentrate on getting better. I'm off to class!"

Baekhyun opened the door and smiled one last time at Sehun, "Have a good day Sehun!"

The door closed and Sehun stared at it blankly.

Thump thump

—————————

After resting, Sehun eventually got out of bed and made his way over to the window. He watched the students walking around campus for a long while, until he spotted a familiar face. It was Baekhyun. He kneeled down in front of some flowers and took a picture of them. He spent a moment looking at his photograph before he stood up and walked away.

Sehun opened the fridge and found a dosirak sitting inside with a post it note attached to it that read: For Sehun. Sehun stared at the words for a long moment.

Thump thump

—————————

"I'm back! Did you rest well?"

Baekhyun looked around the room to see the washed and empty dosirak sitting on the counter to dry. He smiled to himself as he turned his attention to Sehun, who was sitting at the computer. Baekhyun happily bounced towards him to stand next to him.

"You're not here to save the colonies, are you?"

"What?" Baekhyun asked as he curiously stared at him.

Sehun turned in his chair to look at him, "You're here to save the Earth, am I right?"

Baekhyun smiled and lowered his head before he looked over at the window. Sehun watched him as he stared tenderly at the trees.

"I didn't expect you to notice."

"How did you get a hold of an Exo Suit?"

Baekhyun sighed, "...That is kind of a long story...I won't bore you will I?"

"I've been curious ever since you told me who you really are. How did someone like you end up becoming a soldier?"

Baekhyun smiled, "...Well, it's certainly not something I imagined was ever going to happen. I'm sure you can tell by looking at me, my physique isn't ideal for a soldier. I spent my childhood learning etiquette and the proper way to hold a teacup."

Baekhyun paused as he laughed a little, "...I probably should have been content with that life...But I was always so jealous of the Earth. I spent a lot of time looking at books and watching videos, but it was never enough."

Baekhyun walked over to the window to get a better look outside, "I vowed that I would experience the beauty of nature for myself one day, but I had no idea how I would get to Earth. OZ's control over the colonies made it impossible even for royalty to visit this place."

Baekhyun turned his head to look over at Sehun, who's eyes were still watching him closely, "It took me a while, but I finally discovered a way to get here. After stealing some of my family's fortune, I ran away from home at the age of eleven to become a soldier. I took on the name Bian Boxian to make sure no one could find me. I always thought I would go back to visit my family...but I haven't seen them since that day."

Sehun remained silent, Baekhyun lowered his head shyly and smiled, "I bet you think that's pretty silly, running away from home for a reason like that."

"There's nothing wrong with acting on your emotions. At least that's what I was taught."

Baekhyun looked back up at him in surprise.

"How did becoming a soldier help you?"

"Well, I thought once I became a soldier I might get stationed here on Earth, but the opportunity never came up. That is until they started to look for a pilot for Operation Meteor. I was selected as one of the candidates to become an Exo Pilot, and was intensely trained for a time. Of course I never planned to follow through with it, my goal the entire time was to sabotage the mission. In the end however, I wasn't chosen. They selected a man named Wu Yifan, a real psychopath with a crazy lust for blood. As they continued his rigorous training, I spent 6 years training myself. I knew he fully intended to follow through with the operation, I couldn't let that happen."

"Did you assassinate him?" Sehun asked with a monotone voice.

Baekhyun laughed, "No, I probably should have though, but I didn't want to make a scene. My main goal was getting to Earth. I stole the Exo Suit, but Dr. G caught me in the act. Luckily, he was supportive of my actions. He is the one sending me my missions. My original intentions may have been just to visit the Earth, but I fully intend on using my suit to protect this planet and stop OZ."

Baekhyun went over to the bed to sit down, Sehun watched him as he stepped across the room. He let out a sigh as he got comfortable. There was a long moment of silence before Baekhyun looked back over at Sehun.

"Well, I've told you pretty much everything about me. What about you Sehun? ...Can you tell me about your past?"

Sehun paused, "Why do you care?"

"I want to know more about you." Baekhyun answered with a smile, "Do you mind telling me?"

"I'll tell you if you want to hear it. No one has ever asked me before."

Baekhyun stared at him with a sympathetic expression, "No one?"

Sehun shook his head slowly.

"Please, I really want to hear it."

Sehun suddenly stood up and came over to Baekhyun to sit down next to him. Baekhyun stared at him in surprise at the unnecessary move.

"Since I was very young, I've been taught a wide range of battle strategies. I was brought up as a professional assassin."

Baekhyun paused, remembering the vision of Sehun as a child sitting inside the Exo Suit, "What happened to your parents?"

"I was raised by my mother and her husband. They were both agents working for OZ."

"What about your father?"

"My father was also an OZ agent, my mother was in a secret relationship with him. Her husband found out about them once she became pregnant with me."

"...But her husband still raised you?"

Sehun paused, "Yes, but he hated me."

Sehun's mother knelt down next to Sehun, only a small child at the time. Sehun's head was lowered, staring at the baseball he was tightly holding in his hands. The window behind them was shattered, broken pieces of glass scattered on the floor. His mother held onto him and looked over at Sehun's Stepfather, who was standing in front of them.

"It was just an accident."

"No it wasn't! He's always doing shit like this, he just wants to piss me off!"

"Liang!"

Sehun dropped the ball and ran into his room. He dived into his bed and hid himself under the covers. The door to his room was still cracked open, and he could hear his Mother and Stepfather continuing their argument.

"I can't take this anymore! That little bastard isn't even mine! Why should I be expected to help raise him!?"

"Liang please, I thought we went over this."

"You go off and fuck some random guy while I'm off on a mission, and I'm just suppose to be OK with all this?!"

"Look, it's not like I wanted a kid either! It just happened."

"It didn't 'just happen' you whore! How many men do you 'just happen' to fuck when I leave?!"

"It was only Kwong-Ku! It's over now, ok?"

Sehun curled up into a ball under his sheets, covering his ears as tears began rolling down his cheeks.

Baekhyun stared over at Sehun in shock, he reached out his hand to touch Sehun's leg, "...Sehun, that's so horrible...I'm sorry you were raised in that kind of environment..."

Sehun ignored him as he continued his story, "They both died in battle. I was six when I went to live with my father."

Baekhyun wondered how Sehun could tell him all these horrible things without even a slight fluctuation of his expression.

"Sehun, I'm so sorry."

"My father and I made a contract, he used me as an alibi. He's the one who first taught me how to use a gun and survive on my own."

A young Sehun stood next to his Father inside a space shuttle port. Kwong-Ku put down a violin case to be checked and handed over his ID to the security guard.

"Kwong-Ku. You're a musician?"

"Used to be, now I just carry it around as a hobby. I'm traveling with my son."

The security guard didn't even bother checking the violin case, and began typing on his computer.

"Your destination is X-18999. I thought that colony wasn't completed yet?"

"Like it says. We're not going there for a vacation."

The security guard handed him his ID back, "A former musician, doing hard labor like colony construction?"

"I've been told I'm an odd one."

Kwong-Ku grabbed the ID from the guard and picked up his violin case. He looked down at Sehun.

"Let's go."

They walked off, and Kwong-Ku leaned over to put his arm on Sehun's shoulder. He spoke to him quietly.

"Hey, try to act a bit more like family, eh? That's our contract."

"Hm...Okay Dad." Sehun formed an artificial smile.

Baekhyun paused, he spoke slowly in disbelief, "...I can't believe he made a contract with you..."

"I was a good asset to him. No one suspected him of being an assassin if he had a young child with him."

Sehun and Kwong-Ku were standing in a hotel room together. Sehun was looking out the window into space as Kwong-Ku dealt with their luggage. Kwong-Ku opened his music case and pulled out the violin, revealing a hidden gun underneath.

"Why did you come to this colony?" Sehun asked as he continued staring out the window.

Kwong-Ku picked up the gun from his case, "To abandon you. Soon there will be a coup d'etat here. You'll take advantage of the confusion to settle down at this colony. You know how. I've taught you everything you need to survive."

Sehun turned to look at him, "Who are you going to kill this time?"

"Septem, a pacifist. This will be my last job. So you should go to school and live a normal life."

"I'll decide what I'm going to do."

Kwong-Ku laughed, "Yeah, well, here's one last bit of advice. No matter what happens, follow your feelings. However carefully you plan something, you never know if some fool is going to change the future. So, you may as well do what your heart tells you, so you won't regret it later. That's the right path, for people who live life in the present."

Baekhyun paused thinking to himself, "That's the advice he gave me earlier..."

"I'm sure you realize that Kwong-Ku failed his mission in assassinating Septem. I never saw him again. After that I tried to survive on the colony on my own."

Sehun wandered the colony, his clothes were tattered and dirty. He held his stomach in pain from his desperate hunger and paused as he looked into the window of a small grocery store. He thought for a moment before he decided to go inside. He pulled some food off the shelves and hid them inside his shirt. He walked out without getting caught, and ran into an alley to quickly pull out the food to begin eating it.

He sat down to eat his small meal, and quickly devoured it. Finally satiated, he was able to concentrate on falling asleep. He huddled into a corner and wrapped his arms around himself as he shivered from the cold. Closing his eyes, he was eventually able to drift off to sleep.

When he awoke, something flashing caught his eye. He looked over and spotted someone standing around the corner a good distance from himself. They were holding a small mirror, shifting it around in their hand to cause the light to bounce on it. Sehun knew they must have been using it as a signal. Without making a sound, he carefully climbed a stack of boxes to watch from above. Sehun noticed an old man at the other end of the alley, he walked along using his cane for support.

The two men met up with each other and the younger one handed a large box to the elderly man. He opened it to check it's contents, and Sehun saw that the box contained some small rare parts used for a mobile suit. After examining it, the elderly man handed a wad of cash to the other man.

The younger man disappeared, and the elderly man smiled as he turned to face the stack of boxes.

"Hey kid, you're pretty good at sneaking around."

Sehun sat up, no longer trying to hide himself, "Apparently not good enough."

The man laughed, "I may be old, but I have a pretty sharp eye. I know talent when I see it...You're no ordinary kid."

Sehun stared at the man silently.

"It would be a shame to put that talent to waste, what do you say, want to become an Exo Pilot?"

"Sure."

Baekhyun started to rub Sehun's leg a little, "...Of course you agreed...anything is better than starving on the streets."

Sehun remained silent, still carrying his usual blank expression. Baekhyun paused staring at him.

"...Sehun...How can you tell me all this with such a straight face? It doesn't seem like any of these painful memories bother you."

Sehun hesitated for a long moment, "...I screwed up one of my missions."

Baekhyun stared at him curiously, wondering what that statement had to do with his question.

Sehun, now around the age of eleven, was inside an OZ base located on the colonies. After planting a few explosives, Sehun snuck out of the base and leapt over the wire fence to escape. A small girl spotted him hopping the tall fence and let out a sound expressing how impressed she was. Sehun hid behind a wall to catch his breath, smiling a little to himself pleased with his success. The small girl followed him and stared up at him. Sehun looked down at her in surprise and the girl giggled.

"Hi there! Are you lost?"

Sehun noticed she was holding a leash attached to a small dog. Sehun spent a moment staring at the young puppy.

"I said, are you lost?"

Sehun stared back at her with a cold expression, "I've been lost ever since the day I was born."

"Oh, that's so sad. Well, I'm not lost at all. I'm taking my puppy out for a walk."

The little girl leaned down to pet her dog and giggled when it jumped onto her lap to lick her face. Sehun smiled slightly as he watched them. The puppy suddenly pulled the girl off in another direction and she followed it laughing.

Later that night, Sehun returned to the base and stood next to the tall wire fence. He was holding a detonation switch in his hand, and pressed it with his thumb. Explosions began cascading throughout the OZ facility.

"Mission accomplished."

Sehun turned to walk away from the destruction of the base, the buildings burning and mobile suits exploding behind him. A loud explosion caused Sehun to turn around, and his eyes widened as he saw a mobile suit collapse over the fence and crash into a nearby residential building. A large explosion occurred, and Sehun covered his face with his arms.

Once the fire had died down, Sehun walked through the cooled rubble and bent steel of the building, ash falling all around him. There were many dead bodies laying on the ground, all innocent civilians. Sehun examined the wreckage until his eyes landed on a charred brown teddy bear, and then the dead body of a young girl. Sehun went over to the girl and bent down next to her, recognizing her from earlier that day.

"...I remember...feeling sad...That's when Dr. J genetically altered my genes to suppress my human emotions."

Baekhyun stared at Sehun in dismay, tears in his eyes from the horrible story Sehun had told him, "...Suppress your emotions?"

"It is unnecessary for weapons to have human emotions like empathy and kindness."

Baekhyun grabbed onto Sehun's leg as he leaned closer to him, "You're not a weapon Sehun! You're a person!"

Sehun's face remained blank, he didn't seem affected by Baekhyun's words. Baekhyun swallowed deeply, trying to cope with his own emotions. Baekhyun couldn't believe the idea that feeling sad was only a faint memory to Sehun, even if it was an unpleasant emotion. No wonder Sehun acted this way.

Sehun continued, "...I couldn't handle it...The guilt...The sadness...I tried to kill myself."

Baekhyun paused, staring at him, "...Sehun..."

"Dr. J stopped me. He told me that if I wanted to die, I should make my death useful. That's when he performed the operation on me to suppress my emotions."

Sehun woke up inside what looked like a hospital room, lying in a small cot. There were many sensors attached to his head.

"All right, lets see if this really worked. Go ahead, sit up." Dr. J instructed him.

Sehun sat up, staring blankly. There was a projector in the room, Dr. J started pushing a button and images flashed on the wall. Sehun witnessed pictures of people who were crying, people who were happy, people who were angry, people kissing, people hitting each other, people celebrating. The slideshow ended with a vision of dead bodies. Sehun continued staring blankly. Dr. J was watching his brain waves, there was no fluctuation.

Sehun thought to himself as he stared at the images, "...I feel...nothing."

Baekhyun scooted closer to Sehun and wrapped his arms around him, still with tears in his eyes.

"...It's not fair...I'm sorry Sehun..."

Sehun remained silent and Baekhyun gripped onto him tighter.

"...I'll show you...I'll show you what real life is like."

"That's not important. I need to focus on my mission."

Baekhyun moved away from Sehun to look into his eyes, "Forget your missions, this is way more important!"

"People's lives are at stake." Sehun answered as he turned to look into Baekhyun's eyes.

Baekyan paused staring deeply at Sehun's cold blank expression. The idea that Sehun didn't feel anything...Baekhyun couldn't imagine what that was like. Of all the senses to rob from someone, there was nothing worse than that.

Baekyan's lip trembled a little as he spoke, "...Do you really feel nothing?"

"My emotions are just suppressed, not completely gone."

Baekhyun's voice shook a little as he spoke, "...Do you feel anything right now?"

Sehun paused, "Yes. Sometimes I feel small fluctuations in my mood, but most of the time I don't know what they are."

Baekhyun looked back and forth between Sehun's eyes, "Do you think it's possible to wake them back up?"

"I don't know."

"...Is there anything that made you feel especially emotional lately?"

Sehun thought for a moment, "When you said my name."

Baekhyun's heart tightened at those words, he wasn't expecting something he had done to have an effect on Sehun.

"...Did it make you happy?"

Sehun paused thinking again, "...Yes."

Baekhyun pressed his lips together, he wondered how long it had been since Sehun even felt the small amount of happiness received from hearing his own name.

They sat in silence for a long moment as Baekhyun thought to himself about everything Sehun had told him. Sehun stood up from the bed, feeling like they were done talking. He made his way back over to the computer and Baekhyun watched him curiously. He took a deep breath and wiped his eyes before speaking.

"What are doing?"

"I've been tracking down the Noventa family."

Baekhyun grimaced at hearing the name, remembering how Sehun had been tricked into killing the pacifist Marshall. He wondered if any similar feelings resurfaced for Sehun from the time he destroyed the building full of innocent people.

"What for?"

"There's something I need to do."

Baekhyun stood up and came over to Sehun, standing behind him to look at the screen.

"That's Sylvia Noventa. She's in Paris." Sehun informed him.

"You want to speak with her?"

"Yes."

Baekhyun paused for a long moment staring at the picture and then nodded, "I'll go with you."

Sehun reached for the USB drive to remove it, but flinched in pain and dropped it onto the floor. Baekhyun knelt down to pick it up, handing it back to Sehun with a concerned expression. Sehun grabbed it from him as he gripped onto his arm in pain.

"Here, let's have dinner so you can take some more medicine."

Sehun nodded as Baekhyun left for the kitchen.

———————————

Wow, this chapter was a real challenge to write. I've never dabbled with writing flashbacks like that interspersed between conversation. I hope it wasn't confusing or awkward. Like I said, I originally wrote this story in a basic movie script format, and movies work like that, but not really novels lol. I hope it was ok, I tried my best ('Д｀)ヾ

This chapter finally gave us a look into the main point of this story: Baekhyun helping Sehun become human again. It's going to take a little while though before Baekhyun can start working on this.

How will Baekhyun help Sehun? You'll have to keep reading to find out~