_{July 2008.}

Baekhyun met Chanyeol at the tender age of fifteen, way back in high school. They were of the same year, despite Chanyeol being a couple of months younger.

It was a hot summer's day, barely July when the Park family moved in their neighorhood. The youngest son of the Byuns was on his way to the table for breakast when he heard his mother ask Baekbom if he could "kindly bring these rice cakes over at the house next-door" and the respond of his older brother that he was "supposedly on his way to Lotte to meet Jisoo. Why can't the maids do it?". His mother answered with "we want to keep our image of being friendly and down-to-earth if we want to look good in front of people."

A new neighbor? They lived in a high-class subdivision in the heart of Gangnam wherein old money resided and new neigbors were almost unheard of. Thus, the arrogant Baekhyun offered to go, wanting to see for himself if the Parks were, as he suspected, new money. If they were, well, Baekhyn had to make sure that they are aware of the presence of the Byuns-- a long-running lineage of money, power and arrogance. The last trait being the present the most, when one looks at the youngest son.

His mother Sunhee agreed, and, with a warning glance at Baekbom, handed the rice cake to the shorter of the two.

Baekhyun decided to go and check out the Parks' firstly, breakfast being out of the question now that his attention span was fully on dominating the new neighbors so, after making sure he looked presentable despite being in comfortable clothes, he made his merry way towards the new chaebols.

--

The Park mansion was good, Baekhyun deemed. It wasn't as big as the Byuns'. A little more home-like and less dominating, more modern compared to the classic Spanish-villa vibe that his own house offered.

He was greeted by the mistress of the house, a certain Choi Sooyoung. Tall, lean and pretty, Choi Sooyoung was a mother of two. The well-known ulzzang news anchor Park Yoora and a younger son who was appearantly around Baekhyun's age, Park Chanyeol. The boy was tall for his age, taller than Baekhyun, that's for sure. With fairy-like protuding ears and a baby face, when he opened his mouth to greet him, the Byun was startled.

In contrast to his baby-ish face, the boy had a deep, velvety voice which made Baekhyun's husky voice pale in comparison.

--

The Parks turned out to be old money, after all. Not as old as the Byuns but still old, nonetheless, but unlike the Byuns who were famous in the Asian and European scene, these new neighbors are well-known in the United States.

Baekhyun's family excelled in fashion and make-up industry. If you ever heard of Pur Blanc, Pur Elite, Noir, Lumiere and Prestige (I'm sure you heard of Pur Blanc, they are the long-running competition of Chanel) ... well, they are some of the few businesses that the Byun family owns.

Chanyeol's family turned out to be the owners of a hotel and restaurant chain called Feu. One night in one of their hotels costs the entire paycheck of an average Korean, so, despite being smaller in comparison to the Byuns, the Park family fares well on their own.

Baekhyun deemed Chanyeol appropriate to be in his tiny group of friends. If Baekhyun were to be honest, though, he would welcome Chanyeol as a friend even if he came from an average family in terms of profit but Baekhyun never said a word.

--

"Come on in! Do you want anything to drink?" Baekhyun asks Chanyeol who visited today, in the hopes of getting to know him better.

"Coffee would be nice." It was a cold day in autumn and it was the perfect opportunity to drink soup and coffee, so Baekhyun nodded and proceeded to tell the kitchen maids to prepare it, just the way Baekhyun likes it.

Appearantly, though, Chanyeol doesn't like cappuccino and the taller's face scrunches up as the offensive drink was placed in front of him and the shorter took the hint but instead of asking Chanyeol about his coffee preference, he says, "Don't be such a wuss and drink up." So Chanyeol did-- but being lactose intolerant, this sends him home a couple of hours later, and was only to be seen again three days after the incident.

--

_{September 2008}

Baekhyun's group of friends consists of Do Kyungsoo and Kim Junmyeon. They were the only people who Baekhyun trusts, for the Dos and the Kims have been very good friends of his family and the two were the most honest people that Baekhyun knew, so, he never looked for more friends when he met them.

"Kyungsoo, Junmyeon hyung, this is Park Chanyeol." He introduced his newfound friend and the latter bowed as low as his height lets him, before saying: "It's a pleasure to meet you."

Thanks to Chanyeol's naturally silent and honest front, he was immediately welcomed by both of Baekhyun's friends and the our had been stuck all together ever since.

They all went to business parties together, they travelled all together and they graduated high school together. In all of those four years that his friendship remained constant with Chanyeol, there were a lot  moments wherein Baekhyun would find himself alone with Park Chanyeol and during those rare moments, his heart beat speeds up and his palms becomes sweaty, but Baekhyun being Baekhyun, he never said a word.

-

_{May 2012}

After their high school graduation, Kyungsoo decided that they should go out to drink, despite Junmyeon's protests, Chanyeol's shocked look and Baekhyun's sputters of no's, and our reputations.

How they found themselves inside the Feu's casinos, Baekhyun doesn't know. They were in skinny jeans and graphic tees, attires that wouldn't be considered appropriate for Feu's naturally glamorous interiors but bringing Chanyeol along does its job and the four were sitting on the bar, glasses of mary in hand.

"We are so screwed if somone finds out." Junmyeon mumbles and Kyungsoo snorts at him saying, "Hyung, live a little. And so what? We're nineteen. The press needs to it up and be reminded that we are also teenage boys needing fun before our parents slap their stupid business in our faces."

One would normally assume that Kyungsoo is silent and a goody-two-shoes but his group of friends know that he's the snarkiest and sassiest of the bunch and such words coming from the shortest's mouth is a pretty normal occurence in their day-to-day lives.

"Lucky you, Baekbom hyung's probably gonna inherit Pur Blanc and Pur Elite." Baekhyun tells them and the three snorted, Chanyeol answering him with a "Baekhyun, Pur Blanc and Pur Elite is only a couple of your many businesses. You're gonna inherit something. You never bothered with your companies, though."

"Those two are the biggest of the bunch though, and I really wanted to handle Pur Blanc." The brunette told his friends as his finishes his cocktail before continuing, "Baekbom hyung can have all of those companies. I just want Pur Blanc."

Junmyeon, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol all knew how much Pur Blanc mattered to Baekhyun. Pur Blanc was the Byun family's staple source of income. Grandpa Byun favored Baekhyun the most out of the Byun brothers because Sunhee and Baekho were hell-bent on making Baekbom a fine businessman and Baekhyun was left alone to figure things out on his own. Grandpa Byun loved Pur Blanc and Baekhyun wants to manage it so that his Grandpa would be proud, but before he could voice this out to his grandpa, the elderly died from a heart attack.

Chanyeol wanted to comfort Baekhyun right there and then, but Chanyeol never showed a sign.

-

_{September 2013}

 It was their second year of college. The quad took up courses corresponding to their families' businesses along with a couple of units for business management. Kyungsoo took up medicine, for the Dos owned the biggest hospitals in Asia, Junmyeon took up Law, being the heir to Kim Law Firm, Chanyeol took up Business and a minor in HRM and Baekhyun, of course, took up Fashion.

Despite loving his course, hardships are inevitable. So, when Baekhyun saw his first COG for his second year, he was shocked. How and why did he fail in one of his major units? He worked hard and studied harder and he was so sure he was going to nail that 1.25 grade but when he saw a solid, black 5.0 in his COG, he broke down.

Baekhyun found himself in the hospital and it turned out that he was in under too much pressure and stress, balancing out his studies and his internship at Noir.

When Baekho found out about his son's failure in one of his subjects, he stomped his way to the hospital and gave Baekhyun an earful about how useless he is and how he should be more like his brother. It was quite the scandal, really, and it left Baekhyun in tears. Junmyeon and Kyungsoo comforted their friend and Chanyeol stood petrified, how could one be like that towards his own son?

Baekhyun was hurt that his father would tell him such harsh words but he never said a word.

Chanyeol was so worried but he never gave a hint.

--

_{December 2014}

"So, how's Seohyun?" Kyungsoo once asked Chanyeol during lunch and Baekhyun was taken abac-- Chanyeol never mentioned a Seohyun to Baekhyun and from the looks of it, Junmyeon hasn never heard of the name too.

"I'm sorry? Who is Seohyun?" Junmyeon asked the two, gaze shifting over to Baekhyun who sat frozen.

"Don't tell me you didn't tell them yet, Chanyeol! I thought you would have  told Baekhyun first, knowing that he's your best friend!"

"Must have slipped my mind.." Bull.

"I'll fill you guys in, then. There's this girl, Seo Jihyun who goes by the name of Seohyun-- she's perfect. What happened was, Sooyoung ahjumma got irritated by the fact that Chanyeol's already in college but has never introduced a girlfriend of some sort! So she asked this blob of height over here to meet that girl. This Seohyun person is not just your typical spoiled brat--- I can see why Sooyoung ahjumma really likes her. She's hard working and polite! Shy, too. She's the perect child." Kyungsoo finished his rave and Baekhyun stabbed his chicken.

"So is she your girlfriend now?" Baekhyun asked through gritted teeth and Chanyeol shook his head before saying. "Not really, we went to a couple of dates and I escorted her to a couple of her family's events, nothing much."

--

It was Pur Corporated's gold anniversary and all of the most important businessmen and their family was invited. Baekhyun needn't to memorize all of these people, because Baekbom was probably going to inherit the largest companies in P.C but he still did. Byun Baekhyun, just like Baekbom, was a true businessman by blood. He memorized every single family that was invited, but he somehow missed one.

He was standing right in front of Park Chanyeol whose arms were around a pretty girl who was almost as tall as Baekhyun, with long, black wavy hair, wide, innocent eyes and a shy smile.

Dates were not unheard of in these types of business functions but this girl beside Chanyeol screamed of class, money and sophistication and Baekhyun was absolute that this girl came from a well-to-do family. He must have missed her profile.

"Chanyeol-ah! Were are the others?" He knew that Kyungsoo and Junmyeon were going to be late but he needed some excuse to talk to Chanyeol, to be introduced to this... to this girl.

"They're going to be slightly late. Kyungsoo's date isn't ready yet and Junmyeon... well, he got stuck in traffic. I told that guy to leave early because he always takes wrong routes and ends up in heavy traffic!" The taller answered and Baekhyun chuckles, sipping on his wine glass and his eyes wander to the girl beside his friend. "Who's the lovely lady?"

Chanyeol's eyes dilates a little but this goes unnotcied by Baekhyun who was staring with his date curiously. "This is Seo Jihyun, my date."

Baekhyun felt his heart stop, but he forced a smile and said: "You must be Seohyun! Chanyeol has mentioned you. I didn't expect this guy to hit such jackpot!"

Chanyeol was about to speak up when a couple of girls steals Baekhyun's attention and Chanyeol was left with mouth wide open, Seohyun shyly telling him that they need to find her parents and greet the Byun family altogether.

--

_{November 2017}

When Seohyun was first mentioned into their group of friends, Chanyeol told them that her presence was nothing much but he was proven wrong.

Today was the day of their wedding and Baekhyun was currently dressed into a tuxedo, Kyungsoo fixing his hair for him-- he was the best man for today.

They left the hotel at two-thirty in the afternoon, for the wedding was to start at three. Baekhyun drove and Chanyeol sat next to him. Junmyeon and Kyungsoo situated at the backseat, looking geniuinely happy for the first man who was going to get married in their group of friends. In the passenger's seat sat Chanyeol whose face was unreadable, yet his hands were shaking.

Baekhyun longed to reach out for that hand, but as usual, Baekhyun did and said nothing.

The venue was at a church, because Seohyun's belief in God was extraordinary and she wouldn't want her wedding to be any other way. It was a minimal wedding, as requested by the bride-- they only invited their closest of friends and families, business partners well-forgotten.

It was an intimate wedding, and as Seohyun walked down the aisle, she gave off the image of a victorian bride. The sleeves of her gown were  made of lace, starting from the edges of her shoulder, reaching all the way to her wrists. The neckline was modest, barely showing any skin and the veil almost reached the floor in the front and spreads out much wider than the trail of her gown. Her black hair done up, a flower crown made up of white flowers adorned her head, instead of the usual tiara.

When she took her place right beside Chanyeol, Baekhyun's heart clenched because they looked like a match made in heaven and Baekhyun lost all the hope. Even if Chanyeol did love him, assuming that he is not straight, (despite the evidence standing right in front of his very eyes) they were obviously bound to fail. They were too different.

--

Reception was held at one of the restaurants that the Parks owned. It closed in celebration of the Park's heir marriage and they were in the middle of dinner when the host, no other than Chanyeol's own sister, Park Yoora, called for their attention and told them in her loud, reporter voice: "Dear friends and family, today we witness the marriage of Seo Jihyun and Park Chanyeol! We would love to hear their massage but first, let's learn a little bit about the bride and the groom from their closest friends! Im Yoona, if you may--"

Im Yoona was the maid of honor and she took her time. She spent a good seven minutes telling them that they met in the park, and Seohyun was lovely and well-mannered even as a child at the age of seven. Yoona was starting to tell them about how Seohyun used to tell her stories about Park Chanyeol when Baekhyun blocked her out, only resurfacing when Kyungsoo started jabbing his ribs: it was his turn to make a speech..

He stood up and straightened out his suit: he rehearsed his speech well. If he went impromptu like Yoona, he would probably confessed right there and then so, like the born businessman he was, he prepared his speech.

"I met Chanyeol back when we were fifteen. His family moved into my neighborhood and I only had my first good look at him when I brought rice cakes over. We struggled to become good friends because this lump of sunshine was too different but I thought, friendship is no good fun if we were too similar. I already had a brother who I always get compared to because we wee so similar, even in looks-- I didn't need a new one. I was in need of a friend, a friend to introduce to my friends, a friend to have a fresh start with." He paused and smiled at the married couple before continuing, "Seohyun-sshi, I must tell you that you are a very lucky woman. Chanyeol never looked at anyone even in high school despite the confessions dropping left and right, even to Kyungsoo, Junmyeon hyung and I. You must understand that you married a man that is one of a kind. Chanyeol likes his coffee black, but you may be naughty and drop a couple cubes of sugar and watch him sulk. Chanyeol is allergic to cats, he sneezes and gets bloated whenever he's near one. Chanyeol likes eggs and he got the nickname Eggyeol back in nursery, he told me once when we first met. He's lactose intolerant so never let him have milk and dairy, but he loves it neverthless. Chanyeol-ah, Seohyun-sshi, I sincerely congratulate you on your marriage." Baekhyun was about to confess but like all the other times, Baekhyun never said a word.

--

Much to Baekhyun's surprise, he was to inherit Pur Blanc and Prestige, and his older brother, Baekbom, was to inherit Pur Elite along with the remaining other companies, but, if he fails to get married before the age of twenty-seven,  he forfeits Pur Blanc and was to take over Noir and Prestige alone. Seeing that Chanyeol was already married, Baekhyun had nothing more to lose. He went to marriage meetings and when he found a woman that is of a good standing and had similar passions to him, he went and  befriended her. It was not long when he decided to test the waters and go on more dates with her, and alas, a couple of months later, proposed to her in the fifth month of their relationship.

Byun Baekhyun and Kim Taeyeon's wedding was held on March 9 2018, Taeyeon's 29th birthday. It was tagged by the press as the wedding of the century. The ceremony was held  only held in Korea but they flew to Jeju, booking an entire five-star beach hotel for all the guests.

It was a beach wedding at nighttime, businessmen and friends attended, and it was one huge ceremony. Vows were exchanged and you can see that Taeyeon was, at least, happy that she was marrying Byun Baekhyun.

But if Baekhyun was to be completely honest, his eyes were only for Park Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo served as his best man, getting the task of giving the speech to the guests and Junmyeon and Chanyeol both respected Baekhyun's decision. On Junmyeon's part, he was no good at speech-making and he would always get clammy, though, he was happpy for Baekhyun. On Chanyeol's part, it hurt way too much, and he would probably break down. But since he was already married to a lovely wife and Baekhyun was, now, too, Chanyeol never gave a hint.

--

Somewhere down the road, Kyungsoo got married to business tycoon, Kim Jongin, defying his parent's expectations and the society's norms. It was 2018 when South Korea and the rest of the world opened for gay marriage, but people were scared to speak up and finally settle down with the people they love, so, Kim Jongin and Do Kyungsoo broke the ice and were the first married gay couple in South Korea. It was quite the scandal-- Gucheon Hospital's only heir was written out of his father's will and stockholders from Kai Corps were withdrawing left and right but Baekhyun was happy for his friend. He stepped up when Taeyeon was telling her pregnant stomach that Byun Taehyung was not to turn out gay, telling his wife that she should love their son no matter what, that love should know no gender boundaries and that she should be proud of who her son was, because Baekhyun would be.

Junmyeon also got married, to a certain Bae Joohyun. She wasn't from a well-known family unlike how Seohyun and Tayeon was, but she was just as beautiful as the wives of the Park and Byun families. She was honest and she loved Junmyeon dearly, that the Kims had no choice but to allow the wedding to happen. Baekhyun was, yet again, best man.

--

It was April 2019: Baekhyun was in the middle of an important meeting when Miyoung, the head maid at the Byun mansion called and that the little madame was on her way to the hospital with madame Sunhee, for the youngest of the Byun household was on his way to the world and when he told Baekho and Baekbom that his wife was in labor, he was left off the meeting with cheers and greetings of congratulations from the board of directors.

Baekhyun was on the edge of his seat when he snapped at Doyoung, his driver, to drive faster when he saw the yellow light and despite being a good driver, Doyoung valued his job so he steppped on it, giving Baekhyun what he wanted. This would have been fine, and they weren't technically breaking traffic rules, they probably would have reached the hospital but there was a little bit of a problem.

None of them spotted the enormous truck that was crossing the intersection even before the stoplight on his road turned green causing the hood of the sixteen-wheeler to slam into the passenger's seat, and the black mercedes was dragged by the impact of the collision, Baekhyun's side taking most of the damage and Doyoung was screaming his lungs off when the truck stopped and pulled back, only to run away from the scene as the car topples upside down.

Doyoung felt the pain in his legs shards were buried deep into his left arm and he knew he was never going to be able to walk again by the way the hood of the car pressed against his legs but he chose to look over at the passenger's seat and a scream got stuck in his throat when he saw the young businessman's body-- a long shard of glass right into his chest, eyes wide open and phone right beside his face.

--

Byun Baekhyun's death spread like wildfire.

On the day of his funeral, there were many different expressions on people's faces. Family and business partners' faces were solemn and sorry, but on the faces of Sunhee, Baekbom, Baekho, Taeyeon, Kyungsoo, Junmyeon and Chanyeol tells a different story each.

Sunhee and Baekho were agonizing over their younger son's death.

Taeyeon was holding Taehyung who woke up, crying, wailing, just in time when Baekhyun's coffin was starting to lower into the ground. It was no secret among the family that Taeyeon really did love Baekhyun, even though she knew that Baekhyun had eyes for no one. The younger took care of her like no man ever did, not even her dad. Baekhyun showered her with affection and care, and that was all she asked from her husband. Baekhyun never cheated, nor raised his voice at her. So, the now-widowed Kim Taeyeon stood distraught, tears silently rolling down her cheeks.

Baekbom was in pain, his brother who always had his back was now gone.

Doyoung who was in the accident himself was in a wheelchair,  his brother Jaehyun standing right next to him. The driver lost his legs in the accident and was never to walk again.

Jongin had his arms around Kyungsoo's shoulders. The man was distraught, for it was Baekhyun who stood up for him and stopped the news papers from publishing any more degrading articles and stories about him and Jongin.

Junmyeon was holding his wife, Joohyun's hand. To Junmyeon, Baekhyun was his favorite younger brother. It was too much pain all at once.

But no one ached the way Chanyeol did.

No one cried the way Chanyeol did.

No one hurt the way Chanyeol did.

Seohyun was rubbing his back as he cried into his hands, tears falling continuously as his heart almost stopped beating. He barely stopped himself from jumping into the pit as Baekhyun's coffin was lowered six feet underneath.

--

The trio of friends were in Baekhyun's room in the Byun mansion after the funeral, Taeyeon locked herself in the guest room and people understood. Her son was born on the same day her husband died. All she has now was Taehyung. She was doomed to raise a child on her own for the rest of her life.

It was Kyungsoo who opened his mouth first.

"Chanyeol, Junmyeon hyung. I have something to tell you." The youngest stood up and took a thick, hard-bound book from underneath Baekhyun's nightstand and passed it to the tallest among them.

"Chanyeol, please read this on your own." Kyungsoo closed his eyes before continuing, "you see, B-baekhyun loved you very much. He told me so when he announced to us that he was going to get married. I downright refused his offer to be his best man because that should be your position, Chanyeol. But he told me how much he loves you and how much it would hurt if you said, in front of so many people that he was your best riend. That he was only ever your best friend. H-he told me exactly how he wrote so many unsaid worsds, and how he kept it in the same place, and how he personally cleans the room so that no one will find it... P-please read his feelings with an open mind, Chanyeol. He did love you very much." With this, Kyungsoo stood up and left, with Junmyeon behind him and Chanyeol opened the journal.

The spine was stiff, leaving Chanyeol to assume that it hasn't been used for a very long time.

He started reading the faded ink, Baekhyun's neat handwriting greeting him, telling him that Baekhyun started to get confused when he was with Chanyeol back in high school, how he frustrated he gets when he always chickens out when he prepares himself to confess, how he hated never saying a word.

The journal was filled with Baekhyun's thoughts about Chanyeol, and sometimes, the neat handwriting would turn into scribbles, adorned with stains of ink that were probably from tears, smearing the ink.

The last entry was on Chanyeol's wedding day.

Chanyeol-ah, today, you're getting married. Congratulations!

It hurts so much. But I know you're happy with Seohyun. You never mentioned anyone to me, but when you did, she was the person you married in the end. Maybe it is just right that I never confessed, because had I told you about my feelings, I would probably have ruined our friendship, you might have been disgusted of me. It's better this way.

I prepared well for my speech today because I don't want to embarass you, it is your wedding day after all.

Chanyeol, there's so much I've never told you but I'll sum it up in three words. I love you. I forgot when and how these feelings started but I do, I love  you so much. This will be the last time I can say that. I love you so much that it hurts. My world stops when you smile. I just know, that heaven is empty because Michael is here. I never believed in angels, but then I saw you. You are my most beautiful downfall, Chanyeol. Your smile lights up my entire world, and nobody else can ever make me feel like this the way that you do.

I'll probably get married down the road, for the company's sake. But Chanyeol-ah. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye You'll always be in my heart. My heart beats fast for you, my tears will fall for you. You are my one beautiful rose.

Congratulations on getting married. I wish you all the best.

I hope she treats you well, for she's holding my entire universe. I hope she makes you happy, because my happiness is you. You're my happiness and delight.

-Baekhyun.

If only Chanyeol had the guts to tell Baekhyun how he really felt, twelve years ago, they wouldn't end up like this. Baekhyun's journal wouldn't have told a story of a pair of star-crossed lovers.