Chapter 42

“Where have you been for the last two days?” Luhan questioned, letting the guy inside his warm home. “You wouldn’t answer my text or calls, so I went to your place and your maids said that you haven’t been home since two nights ago.”

Baekhyun kept his mouth shut, his hands deeply dug into his pockets. He shuffled into the cozy house and took off his red converse shoes.

“America,” he replied briefly, not wanting to take his jacket off, but tearing it away from him anyways. The coldness was seriously getting to him.

Luhan raised his brows. “Are you serious?”

Baekhyun nodded and hung his jacket on a hanger, hanging it up. He pressed his hands against each other and slid them upon each other to keep them warm. He headed towards the living room, sitting on the couch, grabbing a couch pillow and hugging it close to him. Turning on the channel, he browsed the many shows that were on.

Luhan followed suit, not believing his friend’s words.

“I’m serious,” Baekhyun replied blandly as he could feel the gaze Luhan was giving him. “I really went to the states.”

“Why?” Luhan turned away from him and faced forward, looking at the TV. It wasn’t often when Baekhyun would go out of city, so hearing that he took a huge step into leaving the country was quite surprising.

“Business.” And there he went again with his short answers.

Luhan crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the couch.

“What kind of business?”

“Out of country business.” Baekhyun settled the remote down. “Do you have something warm to drink? I’m freezing.”

“You don’t like green tea, and that’s pretty much the only warm thing I have here. Unless you want just plain warm water,” Luhan suggested.

Baekhyun snickered with a frown. “That’s all you have? Don’t you have coffee?”

He earned a shrug for a response. “I don’t know if my dad’s coffee is out or not. You can go check if you want.”

Baekhyun gave him a flat stare.

Luhan glanced at him. “What?” Silence. Luhan shrugged it off. “My house, your house.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and threw the pillow at Luhan in which the said male caught it swiftly. Baekhyun stood up and stomped his way into the kitchen.

At least the house was warm. It was, at least, warming Baekhyun up, but he was still cold.

He stood in front of the coffee maker and placed his hands on his hips. He bit his lower lips before he started searching the cupboards for extra coffee powder.

None.

The only thing he spotted during his search was Luhan’s favored green tea.

If girls found out that the mighty Luhan deeply favored green tea, they would die of shock. Like many others would think, green tea didn’t seem like his type’s cup-of-tea.

Baekhyun sighed heavily, reaching for the packet of green tea. He was freezing, and he didn’t want to drink just plain hot water. At least green tea had a flavor.

Baekhyun brewed the tea for a good two minutes before returning to the living room with two cups of warmly brewed tea. He handed a cup to Luhan, who took it with surprise.

“You’re actually going to drink green tea?” He asked as he blew softly on his drink.

“Go to the store later today. Your dad’s out of coffee,” Baekhyun spoke slightly bitterly as he could smell the stench the tea gave. He really didn’t like green tea.

“I know, I was going to go anyways.” Luhan sipped his tea slowly and carefully.

“You said you didn’t know if you still have coffee!” Baekhyun groaned.

“I just remembered.” Luhan managed a light laugh.

Baekhyun sighed. “I’m surprised someone like you even likes green tea.” He brought the cup up to his lips and gave a careful slurp, only to have the fluid burn both his lips and tongue. He gave a distasteful hiss, pulling the cup away with hatred. “I’m not going to drink this!”

Luhan gave a laugh as Baekhyun settled the tea down on the table.

“How do you even drink this stuff?” Baekhyun yapped with dislike. “It tastes horrible, and it’s too hot to drink. It should be rated as the worst drink ever.”

“It’s completely healthy for you,” Luhan reasoned, carefully sipping. “If you’re smart enough to know how to drink it, you should be fine.”

“Then what about the taste? Its taste is absolutely disgusting.” There was no way Baekhyun would be drinking it ever again. “You finish it for me.”

“I figured you were going to say that.” Luhan gave a slight roll of his eyes and set down his cup. “So, what kind of out-of-country business did you go to the states for?”

Baekhyun poked the insides of his cheeks with his tongue. “To talk to Taemin.”

At the mention of Taemin’s name, Luhan frowned. “Why would you go all the way to the states for him? Don’t tell me you tried convincing him to let Soyoung go.”

He was found guilty. “I just told him some possible outcomes of some things.”

Luhan sighed, “Why did you waste your breath for that? I told you already. They like each other, let them be.”

“But Soyoung doesn’t return the feelings,” Baekhyun pointed out.

It wasn’t the first time Luhan had heard of this from Baekhyun, and he was sure it wouldn’t be the last, so he brushed it off. “Don’t even mention it.”

Baekhyun frowned deeply. “She likes you, Luhan. I’m about one hundred percent sure that if you tell her you like her, she’ll come to realize her feelings for you pretty soon. She’ll come to see that the feelings she holds for Taemin aren’t true.”

“Just give up,” Luhan waved off the matter. “Don’t give me useless hope.”

Baekhyun pursed his lips, but didn’t say anything else. Sometimes he wished his friend wasn’t so stubborn and hard headed.

“I have something to tell you and the guys,” Luhan announced. “So gather up at Kris’s place around 6PM.”

“What do you have to tell us?” Baekhyun moved on from the matter. “And why Kris’s place?”

“Just go there if you want to know. I’ve already texted the others.” Luhan picked up the tea and turned his attention away towards the TV. “And don’t bring Soyoung along.”

Something about that bothered Baekhyun. Did even seeing Soyoung’s face hurt Luhan that much?

Baekhyun only gave a grunt. He wondered, what would Luhan be telling?

“Here’s your early Christmas present,” Kyung grinned, handing Soyoung the box. “Zico and I both pitched in for it, so it’s basically from both of us.

The female smiled warmly and took it with no objections. “Thanks, guys.” She went in for a hug, in which the two returned immediately.

“Make sure to stay warm, alright?” Zico pulled back and ruffled her hair. “And don’t skip meals.”

“Don’t open our present until the 25^th,” Kyung informed. “Got it?”

“I’ll make sure to stay warm and eat every single meals, and I promise I won’t open this until the 25^th,” Soyoung gave a light laugh as she held on tightly to the light box. “I have something for you guys too. Wait here. It’s in my room.”

She ran up the stairs to her room and retrieved two of the many boxes in her room. They were of the same size. Soyoung quickly traveled downstairs. “Here you go!”

She gave the neatly wrapped boxes to the two males in front of her. “I’ll give you guys permission to open it now.”

Kyung and Zico didn’t hesitate and tore down the wrapping papers. Opening up the box, they were surprised with what they were given. Brand new shoes, and it was the exact ones that they wanted. Kyung received a black colored high-top, and Zico received the white version of Kyung's.

"Okay, this stuff is really expensive. Are you sure this is from you?" Kyung glanced at her.

The female rolled her eyes. They were right, it really was expensive, but that didn't mean she couldn't afford them. "Positive."

"Thanks, Soyoung," Zico grinned, plastered a kiss on her cheeks.

"Thanks, honey bunny," Kyung ruffled her hair before taking the shoes out and putting them on. "It fits me perfectly."

"We gotta go," Zico announced as he closed the lid of his shoe box, not bothering to try it on, knowing that the shoes would already fit. "Our flight is in an hour."

At the reminder, Soyoung frowned. This would be the first Christmas without her two most bestest friend in the world since they met. "Have fun," she managed.

"We'll be back by the time second semester of school starts," Kyung rolled his eyes. "So stop being a baby, and don't miss me too much."

Zico shook his head with a roll of his eyes. "We'll miss you." He went in to give another hug to the female. "Have fun with Sehun and the others, alright?"

Soyoung inhaled and nodded. He was right, she'll have fun with the other guys who would be staying for Christmas. They became just as comfortable as Zico they had gotten. "Make sure to tell your mom and sister that I said hi," she spoke to Kyung.

The guy nodded and put on his coat, grabbing his suitcase. "I'll tell them. They'll be glad to know that you gave them fresh ginseng."

Zico and Kyung headed towards the door. Zico wore his shoe while Kyung put his old shoe in the shoebox. "I'll be wearing these new shoes you bought me," Kyung grinned happily. "Bye, Soyoung."

"Be a good girl, alright?" Zico gave her a smile before opening the door. "We'll call you when we get to America."

This time, Soyoung wore a genuine smile and nodded. "I'll be here to pick up all your calls. Make sure to stay warm and really have fun there. It's not every year that you get to go places like this."

The two male nodded, and with heart-warming good byes, the two left her house and headed their way to the airport.

"Lucky," Tao gave a flat expression. "I would want to go back to China for a holiday visit."

"Me too," Sehun agreed, though the guy wasn't necessarily paying attention as he was focused on the game screen in front of him on his mobile device.

Kris ignored the two and faced Luhan. "When is your flight?"

"At 4AM on the 26th," Luhan informed.

"Why are you going to leave so early? It only takes about 2 hours to get there," Chanyeol shook his head. Sometimes, he found Luhan to be so illogical.

"I want to surprise Mei Lien." Luhan gave a shrug. "I mean, I think I make the best late Christmas present."

"Please," Baekhyun rolled his eyes.

"You're too much." Kai pretended to throw up.

Suho gave a light laugh. He patted Luhan's back. "I think your idea of surprising her isn't bad. So are you planning to go to their place before you go to your relatives'?"

Luhan gave a slight nod. "Just for the morning, then probably head to my aunt's place around noon."

"No invite?" Kyungsoo gave Luhan a flat stare as he approached them from the stairs.

"He's kidding. No hard feelings," Yixing followed right behind Kyungsoo. "Just have fun, and give our greetings to everyone."

Luhan smiled at the two and nodded. "Don't worry, I will."

"You're giving them a visit for the holiday break. You do have a gift ready for them, right?" Chen raised his brows. "Because if you go empty hand, that defeats the purpose of even going."

"I have something prepared," Luhan rolled his eyes. "Don't worry."

"So this was all you wanted to tell us?" Baekhyun sighed, slightly irritated. "You seriously didn't have to gather all of us here just for that."

"Hey, at least I'm letting you guys know, unlike you who went to the states without even telling a soul." Luhan had let the cat out of the bag.

Eyes were staring down on Baekhyun, who was mentally killing Luhan over and over for letting them know, not that he meant to keep it a secret. He just wasn’t planning to have anyone know.

"When did you go to the states?" Tao frowned even deeper now.

"Was that why you didn't pick up my calls?" Sehun sent a glare.

"Why did you suddenly go to the states?" Xiumin perked up.

"Yeah, why?" Suho was just as curious.

"Since when do you go out of country?" Kai found himself asking.

"And you didn't tell me?" Chanyeol feigned hurt.

"How come Luhan knows?" Yixing raised his brows.

"I won't even ask why," Kris mused.

"Because others are already asking why," Chen finished for Kris.

"No invite?" Kyungsoo gave a dead-panned, yet, serious expression.

All the questions shot at Baekhyun sure gave him a headache as it did come straight out forward. He massaged his temples. "I only went because I wanted to, okay?" Baekhyun rolled his eyes.

"No. Invite?" Kyungsoo put emphasis on his words. Of course, he hadn't necessarily meant his words. Hopefully. Then again, he wasn't sure himself if he was being serious--

"It's not like it was anything important. I'm already back. That's all that matters." Baekhyun forced on a grin, not wanting further questions. He didn't want them to question him. It would be hard for him to tell them about Taemin, mainly because it wasn't his problem to talk about. Second, they would question why he needed to meet Taemin, and that would lead onto Luhan's crush on Soyoung and Soyoung's feelings towards Taemin, then to Taemin's feelings towards Soyoung also, and like mentioned, it wasn't his story to tell.

The boys snickered before returning to their usual activities, such as speak of other random stuff, and for some, returning to their mobile devices was their main daily activity.

Baekhyun shot Luhan a glare in which the guy shrugged innocently.

Baekhyun sighed and turned away, pulling out his phone.

Everyone was on their own again.

Whether they were speaking about some school stuff, or the upcoming party and someone's place, or the new store that had just open, everyone was speaking about their own thing, doing their own thing.

Baekhyun glanced over at Luhan.

Regret was painted over his face, and sadness. Baekhyun could see it on Luhan's face, and he came to wonder why.

Then it hit him. The possible reason to why Luhan seemed to be down.

Oh boy. No way. Baekhyun wasn’t going to let that happen at all.

*Just wait till we’re alone, Luhan. I’ll persuade youre stupid, love-struck self to change your mind!* And he was determined. But before he could do that, he needed to take another route first, because Luhan was more stubborn than Soyoung.

"Are you still mad at me?" The male questioned quietly, not wanting to peer over at the female just in case she didn't want to see his face.

"I was never mad at you, to begin with," Soyoung gave him a friendly smile.

Well, at least now he knew that Soyoung wasn't mad at him.

"Really?" Baekhyun managed a smile, feeling slightly better.

Soyoung nodded. She had to admit, it really was sudden that Baekhyun came over without a call. The last time they spoke was a few days ago when Baekhyun brought up an unexpected topic, one that Soyoung wasn't necessarily pleased to hear of. "So . . . Did you come all the way here just to ask that?"

Baekhyun formed a soft smile and shook his head. "I'm actually here for a different reason."

Soyoung raised her brows.

"Remember when I told you that I would know how it feels to wait for someone like Taemin?" Baekhyun questioned carefully.

His question caused Soyoung to slightly frown, but she still nodded, indicating her answer.

"I've been thinking about it, and I realize that I owe you an explanation about that." He pursed his lips, filled with guilt. "Would you want to hear me out?"

"I do, actually," Soyoung spoke. "I've been thinking a lot about what you told me, and about that. What did you mean when you said that?"

"I'll be very honest, I have never gone through such a tough relationship in my life. The person who I know chose a similar route was so close to me that I felt as if I was going through their pain. That’s why I said that a few days ago.” Baekhyun pursed his lips. It’s been quite some time since he last spoke about this, but for both his sake, Soyoung’s, Luhan’s, and Taemin’s, he was going to bring it up. He didn’t want history to repeat itself. “That person was my older brother.”

Soyoung was taken aback by his response. She never knew Baekhyun had a brother. She knew he had a younger sister who was only in her first year of middle school, and she went by the name of Jihyun, but never had she heard about his brother. “You have an older brother?”

Baekhyun managed a smile. “I used to have an older brother.”

And his choice of words made Soyoung understand why she never did know about this older brother he was speaking about. “Oh, I’m sorry.”

Baekhyun shook his head. “It’s fine.” He kept quiet for some time before continuing on. “He was 6 years older than I was. Even though we shared that , we were very close. He was the perfect brother. He always had me do things with him, things that he knew I would enjoy. We had many good memories together. Not only was he the perfect brother, but he was also the perfect son. My brother had always been kind and respectful. He knew what was right and what was wrong, and he knew to never cross the line. He always made sure people around him were safe and happy. I really looked up to him. We did everything we could together. We were practically glued together, but by the time he entered college, we started drifting apart. By the time he entered his first year of college, I had only entered my first year of middle school. I had thought that maybe he didn’t want to spend time with me anymore because he was in college now, and being in college meant more responsibilities. I used to think that maybe he was embarrassed that he still hung out with me, and maybe that was why we started drifting apart.”

He was looking down at his fidgeting fingers. “There was one day after school when hyung called me in to talk in his room. Then he called me stupid after I told him about what I thought. He told me that the reason he had unknowingly became so distant towards me was because he was in love. At the age of being only a middle schooler, I didn’t even know what love meant, but I knew hyung was happy with being in love, because he did become more happy over the months. Two year after that, I asked him about the girl he loved, and he admitted that he was still in love with her, and she was also in love with him as well, so I became curious and asked him why he never brought her home. He said that it was because she was too busy with her family and school, so she didn’t have much free time to herself, but he promised me that he would show her to me one day. . . That day never came.”

His last words seemed to have struck Soyoung straight in the heart. There was something about those four words that really shocked her, although she didn’t know why.

“Hyung really loved her, but she never loved him.” Baekhyun gave a rigid sigh. “After leading him on for so many years, she stopped everything with him, and told him the truth about her feelings, about how the feelings were never mutual and that she never loved him. She made him wait all of those years for her. They even promised each other to get married once they finish their fourth year of college, but after all of those years making hyung wait for her, she ended up marrying another guy. Because of her wedding with that guy, she decided to tell hyung the truth.”

Soyoung could tell that Baekhyun was still angered about the matters of the past. His fists were clenched tightly, and the invisible venom that he was coating against his words was definitely there. Knowing that Baekhyun had a brother who went through such a tough love, she hurt for him. No one should go through such a painful thing, and she could only guess what had happened afterwards.

Baekhyun paused, and his fists loosened. He pursed his lips and tightened his jaw, then looked down. “A month after suffering from depression. . . hyung committed suicide.”

His words ran through Soyoung with freezing substances. She had guessed that maybe that was what had happened, and she had been right when Baekhyun confirmed it, but she didn’t know hearing it from someone she cared for so much could hurt her in this way, especially when Baekhyun seemed very hurt as well.

“I’m sorry,” was all Soyoung could manage to say. Her words came out as a bare whisper. She shouldn’t have questioned him in the first place when he told her that he knew what waiting felt like. She should’ve known better.

Baekhyun shook his head and glanced back up at her. She saw his eyes brimmed with tears as he forced on a smile. “You have nothing to be sorry about.”

His words only caused Soyoung to frown, and eventually, her eyes brimmed with tears as well. This was the first time seeing Baekhyun so broken, and it definitely broke her heart. “Your hyung was a beautiful and kind person, wasn’t he?”

Soyoung’s choice of words caused Baekhyun to give a heart-felt laugh.

“How did you know?” He joked with a smile. His tears were going to spill at any second, and his smile he masked on was going to slip off at any moment.

Soyoung’s tears had fallen before his, and her next words sent warmth through Baekhyun’s body. “Because he left that mark on you.”

That was it. That was Baekhyun’s limit.

Before he knew it, his tears spilled, and his smile slipped off with a replaced frown.

It had been quite a while since the topic about his older brother came up, and usually, when the topic came up, it wasn’t a pretty situation. Today was the first time that Baekhyun had experienced such beautiful words that came out of the topic.

“You’re beautiful and kind, just as much as your brother was,” Soyoung cried softly.

Baekhyun’s face was buried in his hands, his back slightly bent over so that his elbows were propped onto his thighs. His cries weren’t loud, but they weren’t quiet either. He was crying. He was weeping. He hadn’t done so in such a long time. The last time he had cried about this was a few days after his brother’s funeral. He hadn’t cried like this since then, but crying like this now, in front of someone who he had never expected would be seeing him cry, Baekhyun poured out his crying heart.

Soyoung sniffed and scooted closer to him, then embraced him. She patted his back with one hand, and cupped the back of his head with the other as Baekhyun cried on her, and as she cried onto him as well. She didn’t know he was hurting this bad. So this was what had bottled up inside his heart.

Baekhyun didn’t push her away. In fact, he was grateful that she was here. Soyoung’s words had brought him so much warmth, and so many memories of his brother and him came at him.

Baekhyun missed him so much. He missed his older brother so much. Byun Baekhyun missed Byun Baekho so ing much.

Author's Note♥:

Finally updated after 38954729487 unoffical updates! Haha! But yes, this chapter was mostly dedicated to Byun Baekhyun, because he deserves it.

Beautifuls, do we have any Starlights & Best Friends here? Because I'm certainly one, and can I just express how proud I am to be VIXX & Boyfriend's fan? :') Their comeback were definitely perfect! I've got to admit, I'm more of a Starlight than I'm a Best Friend, but still, both songs were definitely nice! Boyfriend's song, Witch, was definitely eye catching! I love the concept, maybe because it's fantasy(?), but the MV really caught my attention & the song itself was great! Plus, the choreography was really unique, I loved it! VIXX's Error was super good! I loved it so, so, so much! The choreography, the song, and MV, EVERYTHING about it was perfect, and the concept was definitely uncommon! The MV was just perfect. Hongbin & Youngji were so beautiful :') I don't often ship idol couples if they're not really dating, but I can't help but to ship them. I've been watching Roommate recently, so I came to love Youngji & her beautiful self, so when seeing her in the MV, I was really excited for it! The MV was super touching, really! I love VIXX & their beautiful ideas, Haha. I've got to say, VIXX's song Error has got to be my favorite comeback so far for 2014, and they won 1st place on Show Champion! I'm so proud of them! Every single win, their leader tears up & I can't help but be happy for them :')

By the way, if you guys haven't read the unofficial update from before about EXO's My Turn To Cry, I worked with the song, putting both the Korean & Chinese version into ONE song, so check that out if you want. The Link will be below :) ♡

EXO K&M - My Turn To Cry

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