Chapter 2

“Hey dude,”

“I’m working you idiot,”

“Last time I checked with Jongdae, almost everyone has left the office-”

“That was 5 minutes ago!!”

“- and you are working overtime again.”

“Look Chanyeol-”

“You listen to me Wu Yifan, stop killing yourself with all the work you’re doing. I’ve set you up with one of my good friends tonight and being my best friend I hope you turn up and not embarrass me after all the effort I’ve put in for you,”

“You WHAT?!” Yifan yells into the phone.

“Ugh, stop yelling. Jeez, it’s just a blind date, you need to stop working your off and relax. And don’t worry about Zitao, I’m going to pick him up. So just have fun!! I’ll text you the address of the meeting place in a few! Bye~”

“Wait hold on you -” the beep from the other end of the phone cuts him off and he scowls at the screen before tossing his phone on his table. Stupid best friend, he mutters under his breath. Whatever gave him the idea of a blind date oh god.

Stretching his limbs, he gives a loud yawn, almost knocking the papers on his desk off.  But Chanyeol is right though, he needs time to himself, especially since his life mainly revolves around work and taking care of Zitao.

Besides, he needed to move on.  It wouldn’t hurt to meet new people and perhaps put the past behind him.  

Yeah it certainly wouldn’t, he decides firmly, as he grabs his jacket and phone and steps out of the door. He tries to ignore the hesitation in his steps and the slight twinge in his heart as the image of a dimpled brunette floats into his mind. Let it go and move on already Yifan.

---

“Be careful children!!” Yixing shouts as the kids run around the playground, chasing each other. It’s the end of the school day and the children are playing amongst themselves while waiting for their parents to pick them out. He looks over to Luhan who is attending to some of the other kids. Yixing is worried for the older man. After Zitao and Yixing’s reunion this morning, he had been acting weirdly all day, consciously avoiding Yixing and busying himself with work. As if sensing his gaze, Luhan looks up, his eyes meeting Yixing, not before it flicks away a second later. Yixing sighs, he'll definitely worm it out of Luhan  later. His attention is diverted as he watches Zitao wave goodbye to Minseok, a Korean boy whom he had befriended over chocolate-flavoured Hello Panda biscuits. He smiles to himself, amused at the memory of how Zitao was excited at the new-find of panda biscuits. His son had an obsession with anything related to pandas, and it was no wonder he could make fast friends with Minseok, a chubby little kid who was always wielding snacks in his hands. 

“Papaaa!!!” the dark hair boy screams happily as he runs into Yixing’s outstretched arms. “Minseok likes  Panda-bear!” he exclaims excitedly, waving his plush toy around. Yixing smiles fondly at him and hugs him to his chest, while inhaling the familiar scent of his son. It’s been so long since he last saw Zitao and he misses him, a lot. Yixing doesn’t know whether he should be happy or terrified, now that Zitao is studying here. It only means that it’ll be a matter of time before he sees Yifan again.

“Papa,” Zitao whines, while tugging on his shirt sleeve, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“Are you coming home with me today?” the little boy asks, looking dolefully at his father. The question takes Yixing by surprise as he gapes at his son, unable to give him a proper answer.

“Daddy misses you a lot,” Zitao continues, fiddling with the panda plushie in his hands.  Yixing feels his heart ache at the mention of Yifan. He badly wants to see Yifan, but he knows that he shouldn’t. After all, he was the one who left the both of them in the first place, and he isn’t sure how Yifan would react upon seeing him again.

“Ahem,”

Both father and son look up at the sound of the tall man standing in front of them.

“Zitao, it’s time to go home,” Chanyeol says as he nods stiffly at Yixing. The action sends guilt running through Yixing. Yixing knew Chanyeol as Yifan’s best friend. He had known Yifan for a long time, even way before Yixing had met Yifan in college. Chanyeol was known to everyone as the Happy Virus and he had the ability to make people laugh with that deep, booming laugh of his. Being Yifan’s best friend, Yixing knows why Chanyeol is treating him this way, and he doesn’t blame him for it. It was his fault for leaving Yifan and Zitao in the first place, without giving any proper explanations.

Yixing sighs as Zitao buries his head into the crook of his neck, refusing to let go.

“Zitao, be a good boy, Daddy is waiting for you at home, you won’t want him to be worried right?” When Zitao doesn’t answer, Yixing angles his head to look at his son. His son has a look of sadness written on his face, and it pierces his heart, seeing his son like this.

Bending down and setting the dark-haired boy on the ground, he cups his face gently, thumbs gently caressing the smooth baby skin.

“Okay, Papa promises to go home with you, but just not today okay? Papa needs some time, but Papa promises Zitao he will do it.” At those words, the boy looks up happily and then he holds out his pinky finger. Yixing laughs, hooking his own finger around his son’s smaller one, before pressing their thumbs together. A promise.

 “Now go, Uncle Chanyeol is waiting for  you,” he says, pressing a kiss on his son’s forehead and then gently pushing him towards the direction of the tall red- haired man. Yixing smiles to himself as he waves at Zitao’s retreating back, before he completely disappears in the distance.

---

Yifan sighs heavily, rubbing his neck tiredly. He closes the door behind him and trudges into the house, dropping his briefcase onto the couch and loosening his tie at the same time. His date with Baekhyun had gone well, and he had found the black- haired male rather interesting and dinner was an enjoyable affair.

“Oh, you’re back,”

Yifan whirls around, startled at the sudden voice.

“Jesus, you scared me Yeol. You could have announced your presence you know,” Yifan says, as he moves past the male to step into his son’s room.

He smiles fondly to himself, as he watches Zitao sleeping peacefully, his small hands, curled tightly around the panda plush toy. Gently caressing his head, he pulls the thick blanket over the small boy and tucks him in. He simply adores Zitao and he cannot imagine his life without the small boy by his side. In other words, Zitao is his everything. Just like Yixing.

“So, you had fun right?” Chanyeol asks, as Yifan quietly closes the door to Zitao’s room. There is a hint of excitement in his voice and Yifan looks at him with a raised brow as he shuffles to the kitchen in search for a glass of water.

“It was okay I guess. He is a nice guy, funny and all…” Yifan shrugs, raising the glass of water to his lips.

“Stop lying, you enjoyed it. I saw you kiss him!”

“Wha-what??!” Yifan chokes on his water, spluttering and sending droplets of water everywhere. “I didn’t kiss him, he did!” he shoots back, in an attempt to defend himself, while busily wiping himself dry. “And how would you know anyway”

“Your house has windows you know,” Chanyeol responds snarkily, clapping his hands like a seal, excitedly proclaiming how “Yifan would get banged-up in no time”. Yifan throws a wet cloth at him, but Chanyeol dodges, heading out of the house in a hurry, laughing on his way out. Yifan buries his head in his hands, as he recalls how the Baekhyun had reached up to press a kiss on his lips as they parted ways after dinner. It had completely taken Yifan by surprise, and he felt that it was going too fast. He feels guilt settle in his stomach as he remembers how a certain brown-haired boy used to tiptoe and plant shy kisses on his lips after every date.

Now, it almost feels like a betrayal.

in a really bad mood today and tmr is going to be a really nerve-wrecking day for me cos i'll be getting back the first part of my A level results tmr asldkfn so worried ;~~; anws, sorry i took so long to update, school is really exhausting this year. i'll post every week though! and don't worry, i'll be updating Forgetful Minds every week as well~ comments are loved! thank you all for reading ^^ <3