“Bae uncle, do you know that Pa is going to propose to his lover today?”

Baekhyun was glad that Chanyeol was still busy cooking, giving his back to them because right now he looked so pathetic, gripping the edge of the kitchen island, gasping for air. Baekhoo’s statement knocked the air out of him, making him feel suffocated and breathless. He was wheezing as if someone had punched him right in the stomach. His heart nearly stopped beating for a while and he wanted to scream in agony when he felt it was ripped away violently out of his chest. It was so painful. His body went slack and numb, he could no longer feel his legs or hear anything around him. A gentle tap on his hand from Baekhoo snapped Baekhyun from his mental meltdown.

“Bae uncle, are you alright?”

Fighting the tears that threatened to gush out from his eyes, Baekhyun shook his head and ruffled his nephew's hairs. “C-congratulation,” he murmured, barely audible from everyone’s ears. But he didn’t care, it took so much for him to muster the courage to say those words because he was battling his inner conflict. His entire body was screaming no, no, no like a mantra inside his head.

‘,’ beads of tears started pouring down his cheeks, just like a broken dam, it was unstoppable and sadly, he couldn’t do anything to end it. Clumsily jolting up from his seat, Baekhyun quickly excused himself. The twins and Chanyeol’s attention were diverted at him when he accidentally knocked some of the eating utensils on the table, making it fell noisily on the floor.  

“I-I have some important call to make, you guys eat first,” he mumbled, not bothering to pick up the scattered spoon and fork from the floor as he rushed out from the kitchen.

After making sure that Chanyeol and the twins had left the house, Baekhyun decided to head over to his father’s shop. After he graduated, he was going to work with his father, helping the old man to manage their family’s legacy as an exclusive suit maker in Gangnam. Looking back at the shop’s history, his great-grandfather was a tailor for an American ambassador’s family. From them, he gained knowledge and experience in suit making.  Byun’s tailor was his father’s pride and joy, passed down from his great-grandfather. There was an internal joke made among the Byun’s that they were actually the hidden Kingsman agents.

Baekhyun gently pushed the big glass door that led him into the Byun’s tailor shop. He always loved the view of their posh boutique. Everything inside the shop looked so modern and elegant, using white as the main interior color pallets that contrasted with blotches of dark colored furniture and neatly arranged suit. Inhaling and exhaling deeply, he loved the smell of new clothes and fabric that lingered in the air that he breathed.  

“Mr. Baekhyun, welcome back!” a chirpy middle age man greeted Baekhyun and pulled him into his embrace.

“Miss you too, Pa,” Baekhyun smiled and patted the old man’s back. Mr. Kim was his father’s best friend and had been helping his father to manage the shop since they were young as they both shared the same passion for a suit. Making a perfectly tailored suit for a gentleman was their goal. “How is mama Kim doing?” he winced when Mr. Kim pinched his nose.

“She misses you, go and visit her when you have time, alright?”

Baekhyun smiled and nodded. Mr. Kim had to excuse himself when he was being called by his customer. With heavy steps, Baekhyun strolled further toward his workroom. He walked past his father’s empty room and by the time he passed Mrs. Kim’s room, his heart started to beat erratically inside his chest. Cold sweat started to form on his forehead. He was getting anxious as he stepped further toward the end of the hallway, to his own room. The room that he had left for years since he broke up with Loey. Since their break up and his overseas studies, he never had the gut to visit the room once. He did a very good job avoiding it.    

‘oh God,’ Baekhyun grumbled, hand trembling while twisting the doorknob to push open the thick mahogany door. The air inside the room made him whimpered. Mentally cursing, Baekhyun bit his bottom lip. After so many years, the room still smells like his Loey. Loey