Yellow Tulips 

Unrequited

It was almost 1 in the morning when Baekhyun found himself stirring in his sleep, unable to shut his eyes for more than 10 seconds before he snapped them open again. Everytime he finds himself drifting off to sleep, his mind wanders to a girl clad in a bright yellow summer dress with flowers surrounding her. He could even hear her laugh, so bright and melodic, and he couldn't escape from it. 

He turns to the side of his bed, the studio apartment he’s occupying echoing his lonely thoughts. For almost an hour now, he’s unable to get the same image out of his mind, this girl and her beautifully bright smile haunting his soul. It fuels something within him, possibly longing? Or desire? He wasn't sure.

He hasn’t seen Hyemi in almost 2 days now, and it already feels like an eternity to him. They were both busy with work and their own schedules, and the only time they interacted was in the big group chat while they were discussing about their weekend trip. Even then, Baekhyun tried his best not to sound like a goofball, but his friends made sure that facade was destroyed before he could even attempt to build it. Jerks.

There’s suddenly a burning sensation at the centre of his palm and fingertips, and suddenly he’s reminded of the time when Hyemi grabbed his hand and latched onto it. The warmth settled in his stomach and mind since then, and he’s unable to think about anything else but finding another opportunity to reignite that fire again. 

He groans for the tenth time, and grabs onto his phone by the side table. He’s driven by impulse as he dials Hyemi’s number, and it rings for three times before she finally answers. 

“Hello?”

Baekhyun could feel the warmth filling him up again, suddenly a smile stretches out wide across his face. 

“Baekhyun? Did you -dial me?” 

She sounded very much awake, and it made him frown. “Why are you awake?” 

“Um,” she went silent, and Baekhyun hummed in response. She continues, “I couldn’t sleep. So I made cupcakes.” 

Baekhyun didn’t know it was even possible for his smile to grow wider, but it did. 

“Why are you baking in the middle of the night?” 

“I just told you I couldn’t sleep!” 

Baekhyun laughs, finding it adorable when she whines like this. “Why are you awake?” She counters.

He stiffens, because surely he’s not stupid enough to tell her the real reason why. So he decides to change the topic instead, “Are you excited for tomorrow?” 

“Kind of, I’ve never been to Kaohsiung.” There were noises followed after, like bedsheets crumpling. Baekhyun assumes she’s now tucking herself into bed. “I wanted to go to Jeju though.”

Baekhyun hums in response, having an inkling that she was about to gush about something. And he was right.

“Did you know that Jeju has the prettiest cherry blossoms? But too bad, because even if we did get to go, we won’t be able to see them.”

“Why not?”

“It’s August, Baekhyun. Cherry blossoms only bloom early in the year.” 

There was a hint of disappointment in her voice, and Baekhyun wishes he could take it away. “We can go another time. Maybe next year.”

“Yeah, hopefully a man might come and rescue me from this lonely hell by then.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun dejectedly says, “I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.” 

For some reason, he could feel her smiling on the other line. “I’m not. But it’s not really your business now, is it?” 

“It is so my business.” Baekhyun scoffs, unable to match her playful tone.

“Why?” 

He falls silent, because frankly, he doesn’t know why but all he knows is that from the moment he met her, it became his business whether or not she was seeing someone. Call him toxic for this kind of thinking, but he just can’t help it. He was extremely protective of her already, though he wasn't sure where this protectiveness even came from.

“Byun Baekhyun.” 

“Huh?” 

“I asked you, why.” Hyemi chuckles on the other line, “Are you getting old now, grandpa?” 

“You’re only two years younger than me, you know.” 

“Okay and?” 

A light bulb moment strikes him, and he smirks. “And you haven’t called me oppa once.” 

“I’m going to bed now, bye!” 

“Yah, Kim Hyemi!” Baekhyun starts laughing when Hyemi fake snores, and after a while she starts laughing along with him too. “You should sleep.”

“We should sleep. Our flight’s early in the morning.”

“No lullaby?”

“I’m going to kill you tomorrow.” 

And he laughs again, unable to stop himself from laughing whenever he’s with her. He hears her yawn, and he knows he should let her sleep. 

“Hyemi?” He calls out, and she responds. “Mm-hmm?” 

“Can you sit next to me on the plane tomorrow?”

“Why?”

 

“Because god said so.”

“Byun Baekhyun!” 

“Please?” 

There was silence for a while, and Baekhyun assumes she must have fallen asleep until she actually answers, “Go to sleep, Baek. Good night.”

“Good night, cupcake.” 

Byun Baekhyun slept like a baby that night.

Meanwhile, Kim Hyemi was unable to, drowning in her own sea of emotions that were consuming her slowly. It haunts the night completely, and she knows she's ed when she finds herself thinking about Baekhyun the whole night.

“Hyemi, come on, we wanna stop by for coffee first!” 

“Why did you even offer to grab coffee for everyone when you know you’re always late, stinkface?”

“Because I’m a nice friend!” Jongin snaps. 

Hyemi rolls her eyes, grabbing two of her white duffel bags on top of her bed and walks out of her bedroom door. Her room was almost empty now, everything packed into boxes and suitcases. Her plan was to officially move into her new apartment after they get back from their weekend trip. They’ve made plans to go to Kaohsiung, a place they all went to before in their previous boys trip.

This time, Seri and Hyemi joined as well, the former being glad that there was another girl who could accompany her now. 

It was 6 in the morning when Jongin started to cause a ruckus in the house to wake her up from her slumber, and Hyemi knew it was intentional since she was the only one home. Kim Jongin’s favourite pastime was to piss her off, and it works every time. 

It’s now 7 a.m., and Hyemi was really sleepy. She makes her way downstairs to the living room, and sees Jongin leaning against the main door waiting for her. He looks at her disapprovingly, “Is there anything else you wanna bring?”

She shakes her head, and Jongin rushes towards her immediately, grabbing her stuff. Hyemi bites back a smile, because although they fight a lot, Jongin would always do these things for her. 

“I checked everything already, you just need to lock up.” Jongin says, and Hyemi raises an eyebrow. “Are you sure you checked everything?” 

“Yes! Twice! Now hurry up.” 

Hyemi doesn’t waste a second longer and follows behind him, locking the door securely before she walks towards the passenger seat of Jongin’s car. She was so focused on mentally beating Jongin up in her head that she nearly jumped when the passenger side’s door opened, revealing a playful looking Baekhyun clad in a white oversized sweater and black shorts, smiling at her. 

“Oh my god!” 

“My name’s Baekhyun, sweetheart.”

She reaches out to slap his shoulder, and from the corner of her eye, she sees Jongin snickering while putting her bags into the trunk. “What are you doing here?” 

“I asked Jongin if I could carpool with him, I don’t wanna waste money on parking space at the airport.”

“But you are chipping in for my parking ticket, right? Or I’m leaving you here.”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes, “Yeah, yeah, whatever.” 

“Why did you ask Jongin?” She asked, curious. Baekhyun steps out of his seat and opens the backseat door for her, as if it was the most natural thing to do. “No particular reason.” 

She hops into the backseat, resting comfortably against the cushioned chair while Baekhyun leans against the door, watching her. She feels her lungs start to restrict under his stare, and it makes her a little uneasy, so she clears and looks away. Baekhyun notices this and finds it odd, but he doesn't push it.

“I thought you live closer to Jongdae-oppa, you could have asked him instead.” 

“He said he has to pick up something first, so I asked the next best thing.” 

“Gee, glad to know I'm the second choice.” Jongin scowls, settling into the driver’s seat and Baekhyun follows suit to his own seat. 

“Kaohsiung, here we go!!” Jongin hollers excitedly. 

“You okay back there, cupcake?” Baekhyun turns to look at her, flashing a bright smile.

Hyemi gives him a curt smile in return, looking away almost immediately. She feels the emotions within her slowly reigniting into a fire she has to put out, again. She resists the urge to grumble at her incapability of keeping her emotions in check, but she doesn't want to risk the unwanted attention. So she curses herself mentally, since that was all she could afford in this situation.

She doesn’t notice the confused look on Baekhyun’s face over her behavior, but he doesn’t question anything further.

She had one goal in mind for this trip: to avoid Byun Baekhyun at all costs. It wasn’t out of ill feelings or spite, in fact, it was the opposite. If she manages to avoid Baekhyun this weekend, she’ll be able to avoid her emotions from running wild all over the place. She needed the space from him, and she’ll do whatever she can to achieve it. 

However, the day wasn’t starting exactly as she planned. So she decides to put on her headphones and drift off to sleep, hoping they won’t attempt to disturb her this way. 

“Must be her first day.” Jong