Just like a song on repeat it began again. Slowly but surely Chanyeol became wrapped up in work again. He spent more time in the office and less time with his family. Baekhyun became accustomed once more to leaving aluminum foil wrapped dinner plates in the oven. He started to only see his husband in the mornings when he was still sleeping and Baekhyun was beginning his morning routine. Weekends were spent not seeing Chanyeol at all usually.

Just like the time before Junmyeon was there to reassure him that things would be alright. That he just needed to give it time and things would work out. He’d see. Baekhyun believed his friend because the last time he’d been right. Perhaps all Chanyeol needed was a reminder that he had a family waiting for him at home. Then he’d remember his promise and keep to it again.

So Baekhyun made plans. Junmyeon was happy to have Jongdae over for a sleepover. So that day Junmyeon stopped by to pick up Jongdae’s things before going to pick up the boys. Baekhyun thanked him before returning to his preparations. The house was clean, the preparations for dinner were made, and their room was tidied up. The dark blue satin sheets they’d bought on a whim adorned their large bed.

Baekhyun donned eyeliner for the first time in a while, slipped on a pair of skinny jeans that always made Chanyeol look twice. A top that accentuated his small waist. Did up his hair in such a way that it looked like it needed a good tousle. He texted his husband and asked him to come home immediately. Chanyeol asked him what was wrong but he simply insisted that he hurry home. Chanyeol sent his agreement and then Baekhyun’s phone was forgotten.

He set about preparing dinner. All of his husband’s favorites. It took him very little time to set everything out on the table. Once done he waited at the table, his phone in hand once more. His hands spinning it around and around as he waited for his husband to come home. He looked down at the phone. 7:48 pm. He sighed before locking the screening. The phone was spun around a couple more times. The food was getting cold now. He pressed the lock button again to show the screen. 8:14 pm.

He chose not to let it bother him yet. Maybe Chanyeol was held up in traffic. He did work in the busiest part of the city. The likelihood of that was rather high. So he put the food in the oven so it could be warm for when his husband walked through the door. He sat back down at the table and pressed the button on his phone to flash him the time. 8:29 pm. Nothing to worry about. Traffic at this time was ridiculous.

8:48 pm. Chanyeol still wasn’t home.

8:59 pm. Baekhyun checked the time he’d received Chanyeol’s text of agreement. Received at 7:07 pm.

9:30 pm. He went to their room and changed out of his clothes. He began to wipe the makeup from his face in their bathroom.

10:00 pm. He laid in their bed alone. He waited for his husband to come home.

10:35 pm. He set his phone down on his nightstand. Turned the light off. Closed his eyes.

1:02 am. The key turned in the lock. Chanyeol was home.

~~

In the morning Baekhyun woke up as usual and went about his day. He showered and dressed for work. Made breakfast. That was where the routine ended. He left the breakfast in the oven and took an apple and a bottle of water for himself. Just looking at the food made him want to be sick. It reminded him of the food that had been left to sit in the oven all night, uneaten.

The door slammed behind him and he drove off. It was still six in the morning. He didn’t need to be at the school till seven fifty. He ended up at the park where he and Junmyeon brought the boys to play after school. He took a seat on a bench overlooking the duck pond and munched on the apple he’d brought.

He’d waited and he’d waited. Chanyeol hadn’t come home. He couldn’t fathom why this had been the case. Why his husband had agreed and then not kept his agreement. It wasn’t what Chanyeol did. Chanyeol was the man who kept his promises. Had always been that man but now things were different. Now he made promises that he couldn’t keep for long.

It was worrisome. Now Baekhyun couldn’t deny his worry. His husband was changing and he was a part of it. He couldn’t seem to make it stop though. He was being set aside and with him so was Jongdae by extension. Sure his son hadn’t complained about his father’s renewed absence yet but it was only a matter of time. Jongdae wasn’t oblivious. He noticed things and when he finally worked up the desire to ask he would.

When he did Baekhyun had no idea what he would say.

~~

The old routine of became the routine. Time continued to go by. Things didn’t change.

~~

Then Jongdae’s birthday approached. Things began to change. Chanyeol was home more often for dinner. Jongdae was counting the days till his birthday. Always saying how he liked this toy or that one. How he couldn’t wait to eat cake and have a party with his friends. The little boy would ask his parents if he could invite all his friends.

Baekhyun couldn’t say no to his son. The only one who always had something to smile about in their house. Chanyeol couldn’t say no to his son. He wasn’t around enough to know who these friends were anymore. Not outside of the Wu’s sons at least.

A few days before the birthday party that Jongdae had helped his Daddy plan, he popped the question. It gave both adults at the dinner table pause. For different reasons Baekhyun couldn’t help but think.

“Appa, you’ll be at my party right? The whole time? Not like a couple minutes before it ends. You’re always tardy Appa! If you were in school they’d give you time out for that.” Jongdae was too innocent and young to know just what his words meant. Because Baekhyun surely wanted to give Chanyeol time out for never being around. The urge to do so grew with every day that he didn’t come home in time for dinner and was only held back on the days he did show up in time. It never lessened.

“I promise I’ll be there Jongdae-ah. Appa is always going to be there.” The words were laced with the reassurances that Baekhyun hated. His son was too young to know that Chanyeol’s reassurances were the same thing as lies. Baekhyun wasn’t about to tell his son the truth though. It would break the boy’s heart and more than anything else Baekhyun didn’t want that to happen.

“Yay! We’ll play and I’ll introduce you to my new friends! I have more friends than just Xing and Tao Appa! They’re all really nice and really fun!” The pure unadulterated happiness in his son’s voice brought a smile to Baekhyun’s face. Even if Chanyeol was slowly but surely turning him bitter, his son was still there and his son was the only thing that mattered now.

~~

The birthday party was in full swing. There were little kids running all over the place. The backyard had been decorated in a dinosaur theme and the bouncy house had just arrived to make for even more of a fun time. The children stopped running around in the house so they could jump around instead. Baekhyun watched all of it from the door.

“Jongin and his boyfriend are on their way with the cake. We’re still hiding it in the kitchen right?” Junmyeon asked as he came up behind him, steps quiet but still distinguishable. Baekhyun nodded without looking away from the children playing. Someone had to watch them after all.

“He’ll be here. He promised.”

“I most certainly hope so. Not so much for my sake but for my son’s.” Junmyeon patted his shoulder before walking away. No doubt to watch out for his brother and his boyfriend who were bringing the dinosaur cake Jongdae had fallen in love with.

The children played around in the bouncy house until Baekhyun called them in half an hour later. They all hurried in quickly upon hearing the words ‘cake’ and ‘inside.’ The dinosaur cake that Jongdae had picked out of the pictures Jongin’s boyfriend, Kyungsoo, had showed him was a grand cake.

Three different round cakes of varying sizes were stacked. The perfectly smooth fondant covered a vanilla base cake, a middle layer of chocolate, and a top layer lemon. All frosted down with sweet vanilla bean frosting to make the fondant stick. The fondant had been sprayed down to look like the imagined habitats of the dinosaurs and perfectly scattered about were dinosaurs made out of fondant. At the very top a T-Rex holding a piece of dark chocolate wished Jongdae a Happy Birthday in white swirly writing.

Needless to say Jongdae threw himself into his Daddy’s arms and thanked him a million times before turning back to the cake with a bright grin on his face. His friends were all aahing and oohing over the amazing cake.

“So when I was making your cake Jongdae-ah I thought that maybe the only way for you to have candles would be to have dinosaur candles. So I went out and found some so that you could have candles and the perfect cake. What do you think?” Kyungsoo asked with a soft smile on his face. The little boy nodded his head rapidly as he watched Kyungsoo arrange the candles at the top of the cake in front of the T-Rex. There were six tiny dinosaur candles.

With care Kyungsoo lit each one before stepping back out of the way.

“Pictures everyone! Huddle around our birthday boy!” Junmyeon called excitedly and raised his camera to snap a couple pictures once everyone was in place and smiling. The obligatory father son picture was taken and then Jongdae was making a wish and blowing out his candles.

Chanyeol hadn’t arrived all the while and Baekhyun had noticed. Despite that bothering him Baekhyun smiled every time he caught his son’s eyes. He encouraged Jongdae to open his presents before they all went to play outside in the bouncy house before it was picked up.  Jongin and Kyungsoo volunteered to watch the kids while Baekhyun and Junmyeon prepared the party favor bags for the kids to take home.

“He’s still not here.” The words were cold. They made him feel numb because this wasn’t even about him. It was about Jongdae having his day and getting everything he asked for. Wanting his Appa around shouldn’t have been such a big deal as it was. It shouldn’t be something that made Baekhyun want to scream in frustration and yet it was.

Because. Chanyeol. Wasn’t. Here.

“He’ll come. I’m sure he will.” Junmyeon responded, ever the positive thinker. Baekhyun scoffed and finished his half of the goody bags. He glanced at his phone to check the time. The party would be over in a couple minutes. Parents coming over to pick up their children and take them home. Maybe just maybe Chanyeol would show up just before. To keep his promise of meeting his son’s friends.

Maybe just maybe Park Chanyeol was the biggest liar on the planet.

All the children were picked up. Junmyeon said his goodbyes and led his boys to their Range Rover to go home. Jongin and Kyungsoo drove off to their apartment. Chanyeol still wasn’t there.

~~

Baekhyun had put Jongdae to bed alone. The boy had thanked him for everything and had been out like a light. Baekhyun had stayed in the same spot, sitting on the edge of the bed his son’s hair, for half an hour after Jongdae had fallen asleep. His thoughts on his husband and what he was doing right then instead of being home with his family like he should be.

Baekhyun wonder how Chanyeol lived with himself. Did it bother him at all that he was rarely around to see his son? Did it bother him that he only really saw his husband when he was asleep? Did it bother him he spent more time at work than at home? Baekhyun sincerely wanted to know what Chanyeol’s answer would be to those questions because his were all a loud resounding yes.

He couldn’t sleep that night. It hardly mattered it was a Saturday the next day anyway. He stayed up. In their room, back against the headboard of their bed as he waited. Chanyeol would come home eventually. He always did. The only time he really spent home was sleeping after all. He occupied himself with a book he’d set aside to finish while he waited.

At twelve thirty their door creaked open and his husband slipped into their room. He was looking down as he ed his shirt before slipping both the blazer and shirt off. Baekhyun set down his book and waited for his husband to look up. The view in front of him was in no way tempting and that gave Baekhyun a brief moment of pause. Since when had Chanyeol become unattractive to him? Now he felt nothing at the sight of his half husband. He set the thought aside, there were more important things to think about.

“Do you know what happened today?” He asked and Chanyeol looked up. Eyes wide with surprise that Baekhyun was still awake.

“Today? Just a normal day right?” The words slipped out of Chanyeol’s mouth and immediately fueled the fire that had been simmering all day. It burst into violent flames. Baekhyun jumped off their bed and strode over to his husband in a couple steps.

“Today, or well yesterday, technically given that it was September 21st. What special day is that? Hmm?” The words were sickly sweet just like the smile on Baekhyun’s face. Watching the words register on Chanyeol’s face was satisfying in an awful sort of way. The way Chanyeol’s face fell made Baekhyun want to smile. A true smile not the farce currently residing on his lips.

“Jongdae’s birthday…”

“That’s right and where were you? At his birthday party like you promised you would be?” Baekhyun pretended to think. He brought a finger to his chin and made the grand effort of seemingly being in deep thought. The expression of eureka that took over his face a few seconds afterwards was gruesome. “Oh that’s right. Not here. Not with your son like you promised. I believe you said you would never leave him. You weren’t here to begin with.” The words were sharp like knives and meant to wound.

The kicked puppy expression on Chanyeol’s face gave away just how successful they’d been. Baekhyun smiled, no longer sickly sweet, just satisfied and walked back to bed. He slipped under the covers and closed his eyes. Nothing else left to say.

~~

Chanyeol made it up to Jongdae with an expensive toy that he had been talking about for ages but that no one had gotten him because his gift list had been long and Baekhyun had forbidden the Wu’s from buying more than one item off the list. The little boy had been ecstatic and very forgiving. Baekhyun had watched on, arms crossed and purposefully oblivious to the sorry looks Chanyeol sent his way every so often.

He wouldn’t be so forgiving. He couldn’t be. Not when it had started to come to this.

~~

A/N: I feel for Baekhyun. Don't you all? Well here's part two. I hope the wait wasn't too long for those who were waiting. Thanks for reading~ Comment, subscribe, upvote. Whatever you like! Till next time.