PART TWO
"I W A N T Y O U"
II : II

"You're... You're Park Chanyeol?" Baekhyun asked incredulously and the other just grinned at him.

"So, I'm guessing since you only date the best boys, you'd also only want the best wine, right?"

"I—um... Yeah, I think?" Baekhyun answered, tripping over his words when Chanyeol fixed his collar ever so slowly, surely testing Baekhyun's patience.

"Price range?"

"Under five dollars?" Baekhyun answered warily, and Chanyeol laughed.

"Princess, if you want good wine, it can't be five dollars."

Baekhyun blushed, both from the embarrassment of not knowing and bashfulness because of the nickname Chanyeol had given him.

"Okay... Just give me whatever, then," Baekhyun suggested, and Chanyeol pursed those—regrettably—kissable lips, tapping his finger on the counter before he seemed to have made up his mind.

Grabbing a sparkly clean cup from the glass cupboard behind him, he pulled out a bottle of some type of chilled red wine (Baekhyun was no expert), pouring it into the cup somewhat gracefully. "I suggest you don't drink it all at once."

Chanyeol placed it in front of Baekhyun, pulling a stool that used to be beside him and sitting on it instead, leaning his chin in his hand.

"So, what brings you here if you had no idea what you'd be getting?" he questioned, watching as Baekhyun's slender fingers wrapped around the thin base of the cup, lightly pulling it closer to himself as he inspected the wine.

"Well," he began, mumbling as he avoided Chanyeol's gaze, "At first I came with Luhan..."

Chanyeol nodded, his gaze focused primarily on Baekhyun as he tried in vain to find any differences in the smaller. His face and figure looked exactly the same, whereas his hair was now a soft pastel purple.

"Kris recommended me to go try some wine," Baekhyun finished and Chanyeol briefly looked at the waiter from across the room, laughing when he saw the similarities between Kris and Sehun. Baekhyun seemed to have a certain type.

"Kris, huh? I'm guessing that you asked him out."

In his surprise, Baekhyun flinched and his hand managed to tip his cup, doing exactly the opposite of what Chanyeol had suggested him to do.

The taller watched, amused, as Baekhyun accidentally drank the whole cup in one go, slamming it down onto the counter and nearly coughing up a lung as the strong taste invaded his senses.

"You... Tried to poison me," Baekhyun gasped, coughing a few more times before he took in a deep breath, smacking his lips as he tried to rid himself of the taste. "...Can I get some water?" he asked desperately, still cringing.

"That will be ten more dollars."

Baekhyun glared at him and Chanyeol simply smiled, indicating that he was just teasing. Grabbing a new cup, Chanyeol opened the mini fridge behind him again, "Or would you like some milk? You seem like a milk person."

"Milk is only good when it's warm," Baekhyun stated matter-of-factly, causing another grin to form on the giant's lips.

"Warm milk... What a Baekhyun-like thing."

"As if you'd know anything," he scowled, pushing the cup of wine away from him, as if telling Chanyeol that he had terrible taste. Even if it was just a joke, Baekhyun saw the way that Chanyeol winced at his answer, clearly thinking back to old times.

"I know more than you think." Chanyeol recovered, looking weirdly apologetic, "Sorry, I don't have a microwave for your milk."

It was weird, Baekhyun thought, how Chanyeol was still nice to him after Baekhyun rejected him with scarring words all those years ago.

Not that Baekhyun was arguing—he just thought that Chanyeol was stupid... Or just... Infuriatingly nice to someone who didn't deserve it.

"I don't actually need the warm milk," Baekhyun muttered, grabbing the mug with both hands and raising it to his lips.

After that, the silence that surrounded them left time for both of them to think about the other, unable to deny the way that their hearts suffocated even after ten years.

Though their mood earlier was playful, it was only to cover up the fact that they hadn't forgotten about anything, no matter how hard they tried—yes, even if it was foolish, no matter how hard Chanyeol tried... he just couldn't forget the person that broke his heart.

He thought he was over it—thought that he'd put it past him seven years ago (he refused to reveal that it took him three years to get over Baekhyun to some extent,) but the moment that he saw Baekhyun again; appearing so different but familiar at the same time, his feelings decided to resurface.

As he watched Baekhyun take small sips of his drink, he wondered what Baekhyun remembered him as.

Did he think of him as the dumb nerd who fell for his trap?

A nobody amongst his multiple high school acquaintances?

Chanyeol examined his face and when he saw that he wore no eyeliner, he thought—for a small passing moment—that maybe he could've been someone who influenced Baekhyun to this day.

Of course, those thoughts were quickly discarded. Perhaps Baekhyun was just going through a phase in high school, and he grew out of wearing the makeup that he insisted "made him feel like himself".

"Is this your place?" Baekhyun spoke up suddenly, pulling Chanyeol out of his thoughts.

The smaller looked around the restaurant innocently, almost seeming shy as he shifted on his seat.

Chanyeol nodded, "It used to be my mother's, but it was given to me and I renovated the entire place."

Baekhyun was about to nod back but paused his train of thought when he registered what Chanyeol said, nearly raising an eyebrow at his words. If he remembered clearly, Chanyeol had said that his mother was unemployed.

He shook his head, deciding that he was wrong—it had been ten years, his memory was probably tricking him.

"Where are you living now?" Baekhyun asked before he could stop himself, feeling like a complete idiot for sounding like a stalker. He was just curious because he had never run into Chanyeol before now. "I mean—um—"

"Baekhyun!" Luhan came out of nowhere, hissing excitedly as he settled into the seat beside the said man. When he noticed that there was someone else listening, he leaned in and whispered, "I got his number!"

Baekhyun barely heard the words because he was focused on the way that Chanyeol chuckled, shaking his head as he began to clean up Baekhyun's cups.

He gave Luhan a thumbs up and Luhan was clearly disheartened at the lack of enthusiasm, until he saw what Baekhyun's attention was focused on. Luhan laughed then, making Chanyeol look between Luhan and Baekhyun with a raised eyebrow.

Baekhyun let out his own awkward laugh, turning it into a cough halfway through. "Thanks for the drinks," he began as he pulled out his wallet, forgetting what the price was and throwing thirty dollars onto the counter.

"It's just twenty," Chanyeol stated as he handed back the ten dollar bill.

Baekhyun tilted his head, pursing his lips, "I drank the milk though," he stated matter-of-factly, even if he knew that a cup of milk wasn't ten dollars.

"That was on me," Chanyeol said with a smile and Baekhyun vaguely heard Luhan snickering beside him, but he could barely focus because his heart was beating up a storm of its own.

Baekhyun lightly pushed Chanyeol's hand back to signal that he wasn't going to take it, trying hard to ignore how the skinship sent sparks flying through his fingertips. "I want to pay you... Since I bothered you and all," he answered with a smile of his own, grabbing Luhan's arm and dragging him to the front without giving the giant a chance to answer.

There, they paid for their meal with Kris who was still smirking at Baekhyun. Luhan insisted on paying the entire bill, shoving Baekhyun with his arm when he attempted to hand the waiter his card.

When Luhan paid for their food and when they were about to leave, Baekhyun found a hand on his arm, stopping when he saw that it was Kris.

"Will I see you again?" Kris questioned.

Baekhyun pondered on the thought, glancing at the bar to see Chanyeol leaned over the counter—his gaze still focused on Baekhyun—and he looked back at Kris with a grin.

"I think you will."

~

Baekhyun was confused. Or, more like perplexed.

He wasn't supposed to be feeling things for Chanyeol—heck, he wasn't even supposed to be thinking about him but... Here he was.

For the entirety of the week after the Viva Polo incident, Baekhyun couldn't stop thinking about the person he disregarded for the past ten years.

He couldn't stop thinking about how much Chanyeol had changed, and how much he hadn't changed at the same time. His personality seemed the same as Baekhyun had remembered it; he was kind, caring, compassionate and generous.

Even if Baekhyun had only talked to Chanyeol for less than half an hour, he could tell that Chanyeol was still the boy that he had dated back in senior year.

He wondered what Chanyeol thought of him now—was he the bully that broke Chanyeol's heart? A stranger?

All of those answers made his mind spin, and then there was Chanyeol's appearance (the thing that confused Baekhyun the most).

Although he was sitting the entire time, he could tell that Chanyeol was much much taller than before, to the point where he was probably a head taller than Baekhyun. And his build was something that Baekhyun couldn't ignore either.

He remembered the time after Chanyeol found him at the bar, where he pretended to be asleep and Chanyeol struggled to carry him up the stairs with his measly arms. Now, Chanyeol could probably carry three people the size of Baekhyun.

Baekhyun shook his head, slipping on his shoes and heading to the elevator.

And then there's his voice.

Who could've imagined that Chanyeol, resident geek with the voice of Bart Simpson, now had a voice that could make people fall to their knees a second after hearing it?

Baekhyun was bewildered and frankly overwhelmed, questioning why Life didn't give him a transformation like Chanyeol's. Just like ten years ago, he was 174cm and his limbs were average for a 27-year-old. He still had a curvy waist and his features looked as soft as before, not to mention that his voice didn't change a smidge.

The light-haired man left the elevator with a huff of malcontent, making his way over to the vending machines.

A few days ago, he had tried the water fountain in the park, only to spit the water out when it tasted of metal or other weird elements. Now, he had decided to stick with the water bottles that he got from the vending machine. Of course, Baekhyun wasn't one to ruin the earth, so he made sure to recycle every bottle that he drank from.

Though Baekhyun recycled his bottles, he wasn't so sure if Mr. Vending Machine did the same.

Every day at 8:30 AM, the guy would be buying the same drink from the apartment's vending machine, and he'd walk all the way back to his own apartment (the one opposite from Baekhyun's) without so much as a word.

Baekhyun was always curious as to who he was, because he swore that he had seen him somewhere. Maybe he was some undercover celebrity.

Today was the same as always—or so Baekhyun thought, because in the next second he heard a crash, and he saw the guy body slamming the machine as if it was some criminal.

Baffled, Baekhyun approached the other and peeked from behind him, having to stand on his tip toes to see that the drink he bought every day was jammed at the side instead of dropping into the pick-up compartment.

The taller punched the window and immediately pulled back, muttering a "," when it did nothing but hurt his hand. Baekhyun found it a little cute.

"Punching it won't help, you know," he finally decided to speak up, side-stepping the man and positioning himself on the side of the machine. He was too busy with his mission to look at the other who was staring intently back at him.

In one swift move, the shorter rammed into the contraption and the two heard as the bottle fell to the bottom, officially freed from the small mishap.

As the man was bending down to grab his drink, Baekhyun spoke up again. "I used to buy drinks from my ty high school vending machine. It got stuck all the time for no reason."

"Oh, I remember that old thing," the other spoke as he straightened up, opening his bottle and taking a drink. He leaned against the vending machine while staring at the smaller, and that's when Baekhyun finally got a good look at his face.

"Chanyeol?" Baekhyun questioned incredulously, blinking a few times to make sure that he wasn't dreaming.

"In the flesh." He lifted his bottle as if to salute Baekhyun, taking another big gulp. That was when Baekhyun noticed that not only was Chanyeol still kind, he was still a geek too.

He studied the taller's features and he noticed the drops of perspiration on his neck and the side of his face, coming to the conclusion that Chanyeol exercised every morning before coming here.

Baekhyun tried to ignore how the sight of Chanyeol in this state made his face heat up.

"Why do you buy drinks here?" Baekhyun asked, distracting himself as he proceeded to fish some change out of his pocket, buying a water bottle for himself.

For some odd reason, Chanyeol waited for Baekhyun to grab his drink before they made their way outside together, walking along the path in the park.

"My apartment doesn't have my favourite drink—which is unnacceptable, by the way—so I go over to your apartment to buy it," he said as they strolled casually, looking at the scenery around them.

"And what's this 'amazing drink' of yours?" Baekhyun questioned as he tilted his head, gesturing to the drink in Chanyeol's hands.

Chanyeol didn't say anything, instead handing the drink over for Baekhyun to inspect it.

Baekhyun took it from his hands and inspected the bottle, reading the name and letting out a gasp that Chanyeol heard as clear as day.

"I can't believe you like Glacier Freeze, out of all Gatorade kinds!" Baekhyun exclaimed, seeming a little offended.

Chanyeol frowned at Baekhyun's words, wondering why the shorter had such a hate against the only drink that he could repeatedly buy without regret. "You're over exaggerating," Chanyeol said as he took the drink back, and Baekhyun immediately thought that Chanyeol was offended, berating himself for being rude.

"I mean... If you like it then it doesn't matter if I think it's bad, right?" Baekhyun started, glancing in front of him as he realized that they were at Chanyeol's apartment. "You can like what you want... I guess..."

He missed the flash of surprise on the taller's face—because who would've thought that Byun Baekhyun would say something like that? 

Chanyeol found himself unconsciously smiling, realizing that maybe Baekhyun did change a little... 

The dark-haired man raised his arm and flicked Baekhyun on the forehead when they stopped at his apartment, as if telling him that he wasn't at all offended by what Baekhyun said. He gave Baekhyun a small grin before turning and striding into the building without another word. 

He left Baekhyun standing there with a hand to his forehead, a little awestruck at what had just happened. 

Baekhyun usually didn't care if anyone got offended by his words, but now, he was apologizing for something as dumb as a drink? 

And the feeling that he was getting in his stomach (it could be described as butterflies,) felt all too familiar. It had barely been a day since he met Chanyeol again, but it felt like he had never stopped seeing Chanyeol ever since high school.

Get yourself together, Baekhyun.

He shook his head, trying to find the piece of sanity that he knew he still had.

Chanyeol was his ex-boyfriend from ten years ago.

He wasn't supposed to feel this way.

Remember, you were the one who broke up with him.