Baekhyun’s quite sure that the coffee shop across their street used to be a book store before.

He even got to talk to the owner’s son last week, who didn’t seem to really like books but always seemed to be interested with the one tucked under his arm. How strange. Maybe he’s been so caught up with work, just like what Jongdae said. Even so, surely it doesn’t take just one week to replace an entire establishment?

He asks the guard about it when he finally reaches that turn and enters the condominium building. The man in uniform simply shrugs and asks him how he’s been doing, to which he smiles and replies positively, missing bookstore long forgotten. He doesn’t remember the guard being so cordial before. Losing the perpetual frown makes him look years younger.

Ah, maybe that weird neighbour finally stopped flirting with him. Or maybe it’s because management finally replaced his dingy old table. Baekhyun has heard him complain about it a couple of times before when he thinks nobody is listening.

He normally takes the stairs all the way up to his condo’s floor, taking every opportunity to exercise his muscles because his job has him sitting for more than five hours, but today he decides to take the elevator. Climbing up to the eleventh floor doesn’t seem so enticing when he’s suddenly craving to be in his boyfriend’s arms.

The boy in the lift is glancing at him, he can’t help but notice. Baekhyun thinks he looks like the nice old lady’s son from the tenth floor, except he’s much taller than the boy who he knows is still in primary school. Perhaps it’s a cousin coming over for a visit?

Baekhyun smiles at him when he catches the other’s eyes, to which the boy is visibly surprised but nonetheless smiles back. It looks just like the first smile he ever saw on his boyfriend’s face. Cute and boyish. It disappears quickly however, because the boy dashes out of the elevator the moment they reach the tenth floor. Oh, maybe Baekhyun is right? Maybe he is a cousin?

He stretches his arms and tries to massage the knot in his shoulders before fishing his keys out of his back pocket and punching the code in.

It doesn’t work.

“Huh? Why?” The tiredness suddenly seems to have left him with every additional attempt. Each one failing. Each one being more frustrating than the previous one.

The code doesn’t work.

His keys don’t fit.

“Yeol?” He calls out while he knocks on the door, brows raised slightly in worry. He would’ve known if the lock’s been changed. Chanyeol would’ve told him, would’ve given him his copy of the new keys. Unless something happened and even Chanyeol doesn’t know. “Chanyeol?”

There’s a soft click before the door cracks open, revealing his boyfriend’s curious expression. Chanyeol’s eyes widen upon seeing him. Baekhyun supposes he should’ve texted that he was getting off work early, knowing how the taller man liked to walk shirtless in their flat, but seeing Chanyeol’s appearance startles him as well.

Just yesterday Chanyeol’s hair had been a soft sort of auburn, reminiscent of their high school years when he still wore black, square-rimmed glasses instead of contacts and deceived everyone else into thinking he was nice and harmless with his goofy smile. Now his crown is back to black, styled and swept in a way that could only make him so much more handsome if he were in his suit. It has Baekhyun’s heart beating faster, making him gulp without realization when his eyes travel down to the delicious dip of those collar bones and those toned muscles. Chanyeol’s wife beater seems to cling tighter, much better around the taller man’s chest today.

“Baek? What are you doing here?” Chanyeol asks, and Baekhyun can’t help but take a breath for how lovely his boyfriend’s voice sounds. Always.

“I got off work early.” He replies, smiling.

Chanyeol’s simply stares at him, as if waiting for him to say something else. He steps out completely and closes the door behind him with the same soft click, running a palm through his dark locks. “Okay, but why are you here?”

“What do you mean? I came home early for you, silly.”

“Home? For me?” Chanyeol retorts, face becoming even more serious. “Baekhyun, you… are you feeling well?”

“Why are you asking? Why wouldn’t I be?” The smile disappears from Baekhyun’s features then, suddenly terrified of how the taller man is treating him. He would’ve remembered if Chanyeol had been angry with him that morning, if they’ve gotten into a quarrel for his boyfriend to be staring at him this way. “Why are you even so surprised to see me?”

“Baek,” The taller man sighs, as if wanting to be anywhere else than here. “You haven’t been here for a long while.”

“What the hell are you saying?” Chanyeol who would whine about not spending time together, Chanyeol who would corner him in the mornings and steal kisses so he’d come late to work, that Chanyeol is not the one in front of him right now.

“You don’t live here anymore.” Chanyeol tells him, exasperation turning into visible hurt at his own words. He looks up at Baekhyun’s eyes, taking a step forward when he recognizes the tell-tale signs of tears.

“What sick joke is this, Park Chanyeol? We’ve been together for six ing years.” He hisses, fists curling as he presses them against his mouth to keep his stupid boyfriend from seeing them quiver. “If you’re angry, ignore me like you always do, but this—going this far, you’re—” Why is Chanyeol doing this? Just yesterday they were talking about having a vacation in that resort his mother recommended. Just last night Chanyeol had brought up the embarrassing first time he had asked him out.

How can anyone be so cruel? How can Chanyeol change so much in less than a day? No, not so much, because just like before, all it takes is Chanyeol’s words to break him apart.

“I’m angry? We broke up two years ago, Baek! I haven’t seen you for that long!” Chanyeol retorts him off, voice unintentionally raising into a snarl. “You don’t live here anymore because we broke up and you left. Don’t you remember?”

Chanyeol regrets ever having opened his mouth the moment he sees the tears fall out of his ex-boyfriend’s eyes. Countless of times he imagined how their reunion would be. Spent so many mornings looking at himself in the mirror, pretending that his reflection was the smaller man while uttering his apologies. This is not how he wanted their first encounter in two years to be, with Baekhyun crying and pushing him away.

“Wait, you—you really don’t remember?” He asks, voice hopeful and almost pleading. “Baekhyun—”

“Get away from me Park Chanyeol!”

“No, Baekhyun, listen to me—” The ruckus might have garnered the neighbours’ attention, but none of them has bothered to open up their own door to look and even if one of them does, Chanyeol is beyond the point of caring. He’s not letting Baekhyun go so easily, not when he could just disappear from Chanyeol’s life just as quickly as he had done two years ago. He can’t believe he had ever thought, for even one small moment, that the longing would leave as long as he gave himself time. Arguing with Baekhyun is better than not having Baekhyun at all. “Listen to me first, goddamn it!”

He lets Baekhyun thrash in his arms, lets himself be called all the things he used to think he wouldn’t ever miss. It all ends when he catches the smaller man’s wrists, keeping them from clawing against his chest when he finally pushes Baekhyun against the condominium’s plated door and crushes their lips together.

He claims Baekhyun in the way he knows Baekhyun wants. Rough. Needy. Baekhyun’s delicious whimpers quickly turn into moans in his mouth, making Chanyeol wish he had pulled his ex inside to their old bedroom instead of closing the door.  “You don’t have to leave.” Chanyeol breathes, drawing back and admiring the way Baekhyun’s lips are red and swollen because of him. “I’m not letting you leave.” He mouths in between every short breath, in between every hungry kiss he continues to press against the other’s pliant lips.

He doesn’t let Baekhyun think of anything else. Not the bookstore that used be just across their building. Not the boy from the floor below who’s now in high school.

There’s no room for anything else when Chanyeol is reclaiming what’s his.

A/N: So there's the prologue. Yay? Nay? Fluff isn't really my forte, so you can expect a bit of angst here and there, with a dash of cute every now and then. Drop a comment if you liked the prologue. See ya next chapter.