Prompt: switching identities kyungsoo feat comeback hairstyles (final)

Word Count: 3179

1 YEAR LATER

Baekhyun lazily reads the report given to him before tossing it on the table in front of him, lifting his eyes and finally meeting eyes with the man in front of him. He sets his lips in a firm line, fingers thread towards each other on top.

“So you’re telling me, you failed?”

The man chafed his collar. “Technically, Mark’s team were the one who failed –“

“But you are in charge of the whole dispatch unit,” Baekhyun raised a brow. “Right?”

The man pushed his glasses against his nose. “I-I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“It won’t happen again because there’s no second chance.” He leans his back against his swivel chair. “A quarter of our daily earnings rely on that important shipment from China and yet you let the ing police get a hold of it. God – ing – dammit, Lee.”

Lee – full name: Lee Taeyong – bows in submission, face scrunched up. “Give me another chance at the shipment from Taiwan. Trust my word, I’ll do better.”

“You should.” Baekhyun waves his fingers in dismissal. “Now leave. I hope the next time you come back you’ll bring good news.”

Taeyong says words of gratefulness before leaving the room. Baekhyun ruffles his raven hair and turns his swivel chair around, pulling out a pack of cigarette in his coat pocket as he allows himself to succumb to the stillness of everything.

The mansion is quiet ever since everyone left.

Everyone expected D.O to take lead, but to everyone’s surprise, he stepped down and appointed Junmyeon as the new head – the new boss of the Cavanosa Empire. It’s no longer Cavanosa but EXO, and the name Suho is now the most feared name underground despite the man actually soft and mother like.

One by one, everyone left to go to main. First was Jongdae, because duh, dude couldn’t last a day without Junmyeon. Next are Sehun and Chanyeol, again not able to last without Junmyeon around them. Yixing was relocated at China, taking along under his wing, Kim Jongin or Kai as his student. Minseok asked for a break to spend more time with his partner in normalcy. He’s expected to come back around a month or two.

After lighting up the cigarette, Baekhyun opens his phone, frowning at the email Jongdae sent for the nth time. It’s about transferring to main along with the others because EXO won’t be EXO without the nine of them. But Baekhyun knows it’s because D.O kept on insisting he come, he’s not stupid.

From the other side of the room, Doggy sits there, staring at him with those blank beady eyes. Baekhyun raised a brow and blows a puff of smoke. “I can smoke wherever I want, you.” Doggy turns around, showing him his furry tail as if to spite him.

If there’s one thing that hasn’t change probably is his weird rivalry with this dumb bunny.

Baekhyun turns his attention back at his email, thumb already on the delete button when he hears a faint rustle. He raised his brows and sighs. “Jongdae, I swear you –“

“Are you really sure you’re not coming?”

Baekhyun froze.

It’s been so long since he last heard that voice.

He hates seeing D.O’s face. He hates seeing him especially if seeing him means reminding him of the sole reminder of his pain. Baekhyun quickly averts his eyes and clenches his hands, balling them into fists. And here he thought he’s finally over it. It looks like he’s still grieving.

“Wasn’t those emails enough answer?” Baekhyun lazily drawls. He takes a hit and blows a puff of smoke before crushing it on the ashtray, uncaring even if it’s unfinished. “I’m not coming.”

“Don’t you miss everyone? Because everyone misses you, especially Suho. You know, hyung.” D.O chuckles softly. “He keeps on giving me an earful. Keeps on worrying after you. If you ate properly or if you’ve been sleeping enough.”

“I’m fine.” Baekhyun waves away in dismissal. “I can do my job here perfectly fine. You can leave now.”

D.O raised a brow and slips his hands in his pocket. Baekhyun can literally feel the other’s gaze and it irks him to the point he wanted to take the nearest object on his desk and send it flying against his face. But he has to remember that D.O ranks higher than him despite stepping down as Boss. He releases a heavy sigh. “What?”

“You look pathetic.”

Baekhyun dugs his fingers against his palms. To avoid injuring himself, he takes the pencil near the ashtray and toys with it, playing cool. He managed to force out a smile. “D.O, the door is wide open for you to leave.”

But the other stood his ground, his face a dead-serious one but his tone laced with mockery. “I feel sorry for Kyungsoo after seeing you this way. He sacrificed himself for the greater good of this family and yet, here you are moping and hiding like a ing coward.”

The pencil breaks.

“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT I FEEL!” Baekhyun stood up, hands slammed on the table looking livid as .

“You don’t ing know what’s it like in my shoes so don’t ing give me a lecture about what I should feel.” He jabs a finger against his chest. “Call me pathetic, fine. I am pathetic. I’m a ing coward!” Baekhyun bites his lower lip, feeling the tears well up in his eyes. “I can’t help it.”

Memories of Kyungsoo running around the corridors of this place still haunts him, of Kyungsoo staring at nowhere in particular with his bed hair every morning looking so small in his pajamas, and of Kyungsoo at the backyard garden letting Doggy hop off on his own little world while he watches silently. But what haunts him the most is the memory of the first time they slept together on the same bed, of him staring at Kyungsoo’s dark irises and wishing to wake up every day with that sight. 

But even then, he could not find it within himself to leave. He prefers to drown into Kyungsoo’s memories. He doesn’t want memories of him to fade, not when he’s the only one who’s aware of what he really is.

“Kyungsoo invited me for coffee in his apartment even though he doesn’t know who I am. Even though his place had nothing to offer and it looked too cramped even for a person. Kyungsoo made sure to make me feel comfortable as possible.” D.O said. “That’s how nice he is.”

Inviting a complete stranger for coffee, Baekhyun’s fists loosens. That sounds definitely like Kyungsoo.

“You know… his last words to me was I’m sorry when in fact I should be the one who should apologize.” I broke my promise.

D.O looks up, a small smile etched on his face. “That sounds definitely like Kyungsoo.”

Baekhyun releases a shaky sigh.

“I don’t think he’s going to be happy seeing you like this.” He hears shoes clacking against the wooden floor, coming close to him. “There’s going to be very painful moments in your life, it’s inevitable. But it will totally throw you off axis; change your world in matter of minutes. But instead of making them your weakness, make them your reason to become stronger. Then you keep moving forward.”

Baekhyun finally allows a small hint of smile on his face. “It’s funny how it was like yesterday, Yunho got you to do a hundred squats for cheating off training.”

“Ah, I still hated him for it, but… I missed him.” D.O sighs. “That was what he told me when Mom died.”

They lost too many precious lives that day. It was marked as a dark year for them; everything was in shambles. Thinking about it now, he wasn’t the only one suffering. Junmyeon had been a wrecked then because everything came down all at once and he remembers Sehun trying not to break down at the news since he’s the one closest to their trainer.

He was too selfish.

“Listen to me, Baek.” D.O said. “I know how much you missed Kyungsoo now, but you can’t move on not when you’re stuck in this place wallowing yourself in despair. Its fine if you don’t leave here, I understand. I can’t force you to. But the least you could do is visit him.”

Baekhyun furrows his brows. “Visit him?” He echoes.

D.O cracks a smile. “People might not know this but Kyungsoo’s a hero. No one would have survived if