“Are you, Byun Baekhyun, agreed to take Park Chanyeol as your husband and cherish him till the end of your life?”

Wedding vow were supposed to be an integral part of a wedding. It supposed to be perfect. It supposed to move you to the point that you let out few drops of tears because it moved you so much.

“Yes, I do”

But that the keyword,

Supposed

What Baekhyun was feeling at the moment was nowhere near there. He felt angry, sad, used. He clinched his fist into a tight grip, feeling it shaking with anger from the layer of patience that he put up with it.

“You may now kiss”

And there it was, the kiss that supposed to be shared with someone that he truly cherished. Not just a mere stranger that he just met that day.

But really, who was he to deny his father?

No one.

He opened the door with much force that made it cranked with protest before slamming the door closed, also with the same force he used before.

“Stupid,” he muttered, running his long, slender finger through his blonde hair, “This is all stupid.”

His mind reeled back to the words his father said the past two days and it made his blood boiled again.

“Stupid old man,” he curses, though not really meaning it.

He loves his father, really but there is a certain point that his father could not crosses and wedding is; without doubt, one of it.

He groaned, plopping down onto the soft mattress.

“You need to get married with this man, Baekhyun,” the voice of his father echoed through his ear as he stared at the white ceiling, feeling his eyes prickled with tears.

It didn’t even occurred to Baekhyun that one day, he would be in this kind of position.

To be the last card of his family’s company which was in the states of bankruptcy with getting married.

He didn’t see the point of what goods will came out by him getting married to a good friend of his father that owned lot of hotels and restaurant.

He just simply didn’t see it because married is a sacred tradition. Where he needs to fall in love before married but he guess it didn’t matter.

Well not to his father, anyways.

Because at the end of the day, he still married to a stranger, a stranger that he never meet once in his lifetime.

He wanted to laugh at how pathetic his life was and how his life changed drastically, going downhill.

The creaked of the door woke him up from the series of flashback and he threw his glance at the door curiously and his eyes immediately hardened at the sight of his ‘stranger husband’.

“What do you want?” he didn’t even tried to mask his annoyance when he saw the tall man hesitating in front of the door.

Chanyeol fidgeted in responds, “Are you okay?”

Scoffing, Baekhyun shook his head in disbelief, throwing his hand in air in an act of frustration, “Do I look like I’m okay?”

“Not really,” Chanyeol muttered.

Baekhyun watched as the man closed the door and he quickly glared at the said man and he saw how Chanyeol froze for a moments before resuming his action and sat at the edge of the bed’s silently; far away from Baekhyun.

“I’m sorry,” he heard his husband muttered, voice thick with sad and regrets.

Baekhyun bit his lips, hard, “Why are you apologizing?”

The latter shook his head, staring at him with a bitter smirk, “For ever dragging you to this mess.”

To say that he was confused was an understatement but he didn’t say anything. Just watching as the tall man fiddled with his thumb.

Chanyeol stared deep into Baekhyun brown eyes, silently asking permission from Baekhyun to continue or just stay in silence and pretend he was not exist.

When he got nothing but a small nodded in agreement, he picked up to where he left before, “My parent once said that if I didn’t get married at the end of the month, they would threw me out of our house and cut all ties with me. That’s why when they suggested me to marry you, I agreed,” Chanyeol sighed, “I’m so sorry.”

Baekhyun was speechless.

If before he was angry and sad, he felt even used now.

This man, right before his eyes was saying that he used Baekhyun for his own benefits. To avoid being disown by his family, he used Baekhyun.

“So you’re saying that you’re using me?”

Chanyeol didn’t answered but simply just sitting there, fiddling with his own finger, shrinking his overgrown body as he heard Baekhyun let out a series of sarcastic laughs.

“Wow, more reason for me to hate you.”

“But you use me too,” Chanyeol retorted, bit by bit his calm faded and turn into annoys instead.

“My father did,” Baekhyun replied, emphazing the word ‘father’, hissing like it was a venom.

They didn’t say anything after that. Simply just sitting there and fall in a deep silence, thinking what would happen if they didn’t agreed or forced to marry each other.

The next morning, when he woke up, he was alone in the room. He didn’t question where Chanyeol goes nor how he fall asleep, maybe it was between the silence that hang heavily over them last night that he got bored and ended up fall asleep.

It was evening when his phone rang and Baekhyun didn’t even looking at the name to know that the one that he was waiting for to call him finally did what his heart wish for.

“Hello?” he said, biting back a grin that threatening to break pass his face.

He heard the person he loves ‘oh so damn much’ chuckled at the eagerness in his voice, “Hey, what are you doing?”

Picking up the TV remote, he switched the channel, “Nothing, just watching TV. You?”

“I’m missing you.”

Baekhyun scrunched his nose but his cheek now red from the confession, “Really, Sehun?”

“I’m serious, Baek. I miss you so damn much.”

“I’m married, Sehun.”

It was silence that greet them after that. Both thinking about how wrong this planned wedding were. Thinking about how their relationship hanging on the air, between still being a lovely couple or simply a broken relationship.

“You know,” Sehun said after a moment of silence, “I never say how much I love you and how much I need you in my life.”

“Sehun-”

“Actually, yesterday I… uhm”

“What?”

“I’m married”

Baekhyun body felt numb all over just like his heart. Time seem froze to him as tears trickle down his cheeks and his finger gazing over the ‘end call’ button before pressing it.

So that’s why Sehun didn’t contact him for a week, and here Baekhyun thought that maybe Sehun was mad at him for not be able to turn down his parent’s order.

He was fooled by his own boyfriend, like, how much blind could he be?

He got plenty of missed call and hundreds of messages after that. It was all from Sehun but he didn’t even bothered to go through the messages.

You could call him a coward but how should he deal with it?

He didn’t need another heartbreak.

At the time Chanyeol back, it was already dark and Baekhyun was preparing to sleep. Baekhyun thought that Chanyeol wouldn’t talked to him and went to sleep but that definitely the case.

From afar, he could saw how the tall man stumbled on his way toward their shared room, standing at the front of the door, staring at him with guilt.

It wasn’t supposed to be like this, his heart shouldn’t felt that stinging ache but it did anyway. The taller didn’t say anything yet Baekhyun already know that Chanyeol have a lot of thing to say to him. Baekhyun didn’t want to be the one who talk first because it was supposed to be Chanyeol who said it first.

It was Chanyeol’s fault after all. Why would he accused him to ‘use’ him when in realities, Chanyeol was the one who used him because he was an for fearing that his parent cast him out from his family.

“What are you doing?” Chanyeol asked, finally breaking the heavy tension.

“Preparing to sleep, obviously.”

The giant stayed silent after that, clenching his fist in a way to think if talking to Baekhyun was right at the moment.

Baekhyun decided that enough if enough. The tension that was radiating from both of them started to suffocate him.

“You know what? If you don’t have anything to say, I’ll just sleep but don’t expect me to hear you if you ever want to tell me something ever again.”

“Wait, no-” Chanyeol said, reaching out his hand and it end up hanging awkwardly in the air. He cleared out his throat and nervously walked toward Baekhyun, “I’m sorry for accusing you earlier. I didn’t mean to.”

The short man stayed silent, not really knowing what to reply. What should he say? He can’t just said it’s okay when it’s clearly not okay. He is, by any mean, not a drama queen. Okay, maybe a little bit but he need to admit that what Chanyeol said earlier really hurt his heart.

It’s not like he want his family’s company to bankrupt nor he want to involve in this arranged married.

It’s not his choice.

“I…” Chanyeol trailed, walking even closer to the bed, standing beside his laying form, “Let start over?”

Baekhyun frowned, not really knowing what the giant was talking about.

“I’m Park Chanyeol, let’s be friend?” Chanyeol asked again, reaching his hand out.

He eyed the hand that was reached out in front of him. It’s sweating and Baekhyun could tell just how nervous Chanyeol was with his shanking hand.

Maybe it was because he could saw the sincere in Chanyeol’s eyes that made his hand to move on his own and brushed against Chanyeol.

Or maybe it was his heart telling him that there’s no use to hate this tall man because the damaged was already done.

Or maybe his mind thinking that it were both their parent’s fault that made him finally grasped the bigger hand into his palm and said, “I’m Baekhyun.”

Chanyeol grinned, clasping their hand together and squeezed it a little. Chanyeol got a blinding smile in return that have might made his heart skip a beat for a moment.

They still have a long way to go but Chanyeol would make sure to have Baekhyun open up to him. They’re friend after all.