“I wanted to tell you because I wanted to destroy you.”

The weather is an exact replica of yesterday’s monstrosity of a night.  Rain, dark clouds, and thunder can be heard in the background as Wu Fan and Chanyeol converse. Chanyeol fidgets in his seat and asks doubtfully, “You disliked me to that extent?”

“Not just dislike, Chanyeol. I truly resented you,” Wu Fan mumbles with eyes shut. “Every day without fail, you would be smiling that careless smile of yours… and it was infuriating.”

Chanyeol weakly brings his hand to Wu Fan’s knee and tries to look him in the eye. “I still don’t understand.”

Wu Fan slowly opens his eyes and looks past Chanyeol. “Your mother…does she still take her pills?”

“Pills? Yes, her vitamins. Fish oil, Vitamin B6, B12, C, D…”

“I don’t mean those.” Wu Fan flicks Chanyeol’s forehead with purposed force and Chanyeol doesn’t even complain.

“No…I’ve never seen.”

Wu Fan sighs. “Maybe she’s getting better. Or perhaps she really does make a marvelous conman.”

Chanyeol is still dubious in the face so Wu Fan proceeds. “My father is a workaholic. Work consumed all his time. And I guess they weren’t a good match when your mother has always been dependent on companionship. I’m pretty sure that is what inflamed her depression.”

“Mom’s depressed?” Chanyeol yelps and his concern for her sends shivers down Wu Fan’s spine.

“Bipolar, to be exact. For my parents, marriage counseling was worthless. All the money spent on therapy was a sham. So for her sake, my father and she filed for divorce with irreconcilable differences. I was too young to understand at that time, but now, I am certain that it is your father who saved her. He gave her the attention and love that my father could never provide. In her progress towards health, even the doctor recommended that it was best for her not to see my father and me. So just like that, she was gone...”

“Wu Fan, I had no idea…” Chanyeol sympathizes, hand holding onto Wu Fan’s knee tighter. Wu Fan bats his hand away angrily and stares into Chanyeol’s frightened eyes.

“Yes, I’m sure you had no idea. And yet, you continued to provoke me for numerous years. Was it all coincidental when you joined student body in intermediate school? Did you not know I was planning to join as well? How about cross country? You had to compete with me in all the track meets, didn’t you? And this applies to girls as well! Why is it that you pursue practically every girl I have an interest in?”

“Wu Fan! I can explain!”

“I heard Sae Rin wants you back. Are you going to accept her offer since she has interest in me, Chanyeol?”

“No! I wouldn’t! Wu Fan, please just listen to me!”

Wu Fan stands up, laughing slightly hysterically. “It is as if everything I have, you have to take away from me, Park Chanyeol. Family, social life, relationships…you have to have it all and leave me with nothing. There is nothing left for me! What do I have, Chanyeol? What do I have?!”

Chanyeol stands up, shaking in the legs and grabs Wu Fan’s hands tightly. He is quivering, desperation written all over his face. Wu Fan has to look away before he surrenders. “Wu Fan…” Chanyeol cries out, “You have me!”

Wu Fan doesn’t blink. His eyes watch Chanyeol for a moment as if he was empathetic. But he soon comes to his senses and breaks away from Chanyeol’s grip with a loud grunt. “I’m going to bed. I told you everything you wanted to know. And it is raining outside so you may sleep on the couch if you wish…”

Wu Fan has his head lowered as he walks away. Chanyeol desperately calls out to him. “Wu Fan! I need to talk to you, please let m-”

“By the way,” Wu Fan stops without looking back, “Your mother is still precious to me. And since she is too fragile of a person, I will do what is best for her. And if it means I cannot be part of her life, so be it. But that is why I want you out by next morning. If you have any respect for her or me, this is the last time we meet.”

Wu Fan does not look back. He runs up the staircase instantly and Chanyeol collapses on the couch in frustration. It was too much to absorb in one night, now knowing that his step-mother is Wu Fan’s biological mother. Knowing that his mother has kept this secret from him all these years. Knowing that she is selfishly living a happy life while her true son is abandoned and neglected.  And not only that, but any chance that Chanyeol could have had at befriending Wu Fan is now completely nonexistent.

And so, Chanyeol hates himself. Even if Chanyeol had good intentions, wanting to keep Wu Fan company in this big, empty house of his, he feels guilty. He convinces himself that years and years of Wu Fan’s lonely nights were of his doing.  He covers his face with the throw pillow and screams into it, kicking and screaming rambunctiously. “I have to fix this…” he whispers, choking on his tears. He starts to sob harder, but he tries to silence himself with his hands, too afraid that Wu Fan may hear. He cries himself to sleep that night.

The next morning, Chanyeol slowly wakes up to a pair of big, brown eyes only a few inches away from his own. His eyes open and he sees Luhan staring at him at an uncomfortable distance. “Holy moley, you are Park Chanyeol!” he shouts, pointing at Chanyeol’s nose with his rude little finger. “What are you doing in Wu Fan’s house?”

Chanyeol springs up from the couch. “Luhan! I did a bad. A bad, bad thing!”

Luhan gasps childishly. “Did you make a Venn diagram comparing the similarities between Wu Fan and an angry bird? Because I did that once and it did not turn out pretty.”

Chanyeol raises an eyebrow. “What? No, no, no. I did something much worse. You have to help me, Luhan! Please help me!”

Luhan duplicates Chanyeol’s confused look and squawks. “Help? Help with what? I’m still wondering why you were sleeping on Wu Fan’s couch…”

“I need to gain his trust. I have to talk to him, but he doesn’t even want to see me.”

Luhan wears a devious smirk on his face and Chanyeol remembers how scary that look on Luhan’s pretty face can be. “Seems like fun. I will help you!”

Chanyeol smiles back at him and he stands up to look down upon the shorter boy. Luhan sticks out his chest and stands on his tippy toes to match Chanyeol’s height.

Chanyeol giggles, but his face becomes serious soon after. “In order to gain Wu Fan’s trust, I have hatched a plan. I call it Project Adonis.”

Luhan trips backwards. “Project…Adonis?”

“Yes, because Aphrodite tries to seduce Adonis. Luhan, know your mythology,” Chanyeol says while rolling his eyes.

“S-seduce? Chanyeol, do you actually like Wu Fan?”

Chanyeol scrunches his nose, turning a vivid shade of pink that almost matches his pajamas. “It is none of your concern, Luhan.”

Luhan rolls his eyes. “You sound just like Wu Fan right now…but this plan of yours. You sound so confident. How you so sure that you can gain Wu Fan’s trust?”

Chanyeol smiles timidly. He laughs lowly, touching the nape of his neck and replies.

 “Because…at the end, Aphrodite succeeds.”

PFFFT- Project Adonis. Hopefully with this, there will be more comedy because the chapters have been so serious lately. OMG FAST FORWARD TO AI TIMEZ OR JUST GET MARRIED ALREADY GDI ASDFGHJKL. Pwahahaa~  Everyone's comments are so nice and funny and cute, I like having conversations with you all <3 Bye bye now, Thank you so so very much for supporting A&A <3 <3

Merry (almost) Christmas,everyoneeeeeeee!