Screams were heard in the apartment. Not a scream of horror or of happiness but screams of anger, confusion and sadness. This concerned the people in the other apartments as this was as rare as a blue moon in the night sky. If any loud noises were from that apartment it would of love and laughter. There was never a fight between Byun Baekhyun and his girlfriend, Jessica Lee. This was the first fight that they have ever had, excluding those little ones that ended in a small pout of the lips and and an ‘I love you.’

Inside, Jessica, her eyes threatening to let down more tears, looked at her boyfriend of 5 years as they both stood in the middle of their living room, the TV still playing in the background.

"Leave me alone, Baekhyun. Please," she pleaded with him. Baekhyun shook his head, his brows furrowed.

"Not until I explain to you-"

"You did enough explaining on that variety show, Baekhyun," she replied coldly. She sighed. Their relationship has been public for 2 years now. They managed to stay together despite the sasaeng fans, the hectic schedules and little time together. Baekhyun was ecstatic to talk about his lovely girlfriend at variety shows and show her picture to others. Byun Baekhyun sighed.

“Jagiya, please stop this. Listen to me.” He attempted to get closer to her, to see her crying face, to kiss it and kiss it over again until she stopped so that he could hold her tenderly in his arms. Jessica’s head collapsed into her hands, burying her face in her arms to cover her face from the downpour of tears. She didn’t know what to believe, she didn’t know if she has the right to cry or, instead, to get up from her seat and run into his arms and cry “I’m sorry jagiya. Please forgive me.” Even so, no matter her thoughts, she knew that what she heard and saw were completely true and it upset her. She was still in shock of it all, overcome with emotion by just looking at him.

“No, I don’t want explanations right now, Baekhyun. Just leave, please.” A tear began to fall down from Baekhyun’s small face. His nose began to get red as well as his eyes as the reality of the situation set in. She doesn’t understand, he thought. She’s blinded right now by confusion. It’s best to leave her, just for a little while, as much as it pained him. It’s best to help her understand slowly, ever so slowly.

    Baekhyun sighed, wiped a tear from his cold cheek and ran a skinny hand through his dark chocolate colored hair.

    “Alright,” he said softly, looking at her, exhausted.

    “I’ll leave, Jessica.” Jessica’s head lifted slowly, meeting his gaze. He never calls her Jessica, not even when they were just friends. He always had a pet name for her, always smiling both from his small lips to his innocent eyes. Yet now, as she looked at her boyfriend, there was no smile, no small glitter in his eyes, no more ‘jagiya’ coming from his sweet voice.

    “What?” Jessica asked softly.

    “I’ll leave, Jessica. I’ll leave you alone,” he said, trying so very hard to force a cold attitude toward her. “That’s what you want, right?” he said. Without waiting for her reply, he simply took one last look her and proceeded to the door of their apartment. His steps were heavy, pulsating through the floor as he walked closer to the door. It felt, for Jessica, as if he would never make it there. Time seemed to go by so much slower for the two, making each tear and pain of the heart last longer than expected. Baekhyun turned the knob of the door, pushed the door open and closed it behind him. He walked mindlessly down the hall, his face blank. As he left the building, he sat down on the side of the road. His tears flooded up in his eyes as they gave way and fell down his cheeks. He buried his face in his hands, to cover his tears and face from the public. Remembering that he is an idol, he quickly took a breath, stood up, wiped his tears and reached for his phone that laid in his front pocket. He dialed the first number, who picked up on the second ring.

“Yeoboseyo?” Baekhyun couldn’t reply, his vocal cords were shot, sore from the tears and unable to produce any sound.

    “Hyung,” was all that Baekhyun could muster in a soft cracked voice. He knew that he sounded desperate and weak, but it’s exactly what he was, oh so very weak. His legs wobbled slightly as he walked down the streets of Seoul with his head down and a hood to cover his face from the possible fans lurking around and about, phone still in his hand to his ear.

“Baekhyun?”

“Neh, Joonmyeon hyung.” The leader’s voice, full of concern and maturity, slightly calmed down the hysterical Baekhyun.

“Baekhyun, what’s wrong?”

“It’s Jessica,” he paused, allowing the gravity of the his worst nightmare plummet around him. “We broke up, hyung.” There was another pause, a long, agonizing pause.

“I’m on my way,” Joonmyeon said simply, his voice softer as if he was hurt by the blow as well.

    ----

    Jessica broke down when the door closed behind Baekhyun.

    “He left,” she whispered to herself, staring at the ground where her tears lay. He really left. Was he going to come back, sweep her off her feet telling her ‘This was a joke and you didn’t fall for it? You’re no fun~.’ But no matter how many minutes she waited for that door to open again, it didn’t happen. She sighed, trying to pick herself up from the floor and stand on her own two feet. She looked around the room, tears colliding with her skin. She was still angry at her boyfriend, her heart still burned in pain, but it hurt even more knowing he wasn’t there to comfort her. She, not looking at the clock that ticked away as it hung on the wall in front of her, walked to her - their - bedroom and crashed against the soft sheets. She held them in her hands, breathing in Baekhyun’s scent that still remained on the sheets from the last time he stayed. Her tears and her negative thoughts made her eyes become heavy and droop shut, hopefully taking her away from this reality. However, all it did was bring her back to the scene of the crime, behind the scenes of the variety show, ‘Hello Counselor’.

----

    Jessica, earlier in the day, arrived at the studio where ‘Hello Counselor’ was being filmed. She walked happily, with lunch box in hand, to meet the security guard who would guide her to EXO’s dressing room. He led her through the corridors of the studio. She followed the guard wearing a pure white dress with brown flats to compliment her light brown summer hat, clasping a box of lunches tightly in her hands. She wanted to surprise him and bring him and the other members lunch during one of their breaks. It wasn’t a special occasion but Jessica still felt a small leap in her heart every so often as she neared the room. She simply ignored it, believing it to be the nerves of actually surprising Baekhyun, something she planned very carefully. She finally came to the door that read ‘EXO’ and heard voices coming from the room.

    “I really want to try this,” Jessica recognized Baekhyun’s voice. “Please?” She heard it again.

    “But you should do it to your girlfriend first, Baekhyun oppa,” Jessica heard a female voice say, “It’ll be uncomfortable knowing you have a girlfriend.”

    Jessica’s eyebrows became furrowed, keeping her ears close to the door as her thoughts went on a rampage in her brain. She didn’t hear any of the other members voices, why is that? Where were they? Were they there and simply watching as this conversation continued on? Her heart began to beat like a fast drum, she was confused as to what the two were talking about. Of course Baekhyun had a girlfriend, why would he want to try something with a woman other than his girlfriend?

    “It’s ok, just pretend you’re my girlfriend for right now, please?” After a long pause, she heard the girl come to a conclusion.

    “Ok oppa.” Jessica waited for one of them to speak but she heard none. What was happening? Her heart felt as if it was going to fall out of her chest from her nerves. She looked around her, hoping not to see a staff member or other idol coming towards her and seeing her in that state, she saw none. Jessica did see, however, that the door was slightly opened. She saw the white wall of the dressing room and on it a mirror for the stylist. From her angle, she saw the reflection of the mirror. In it, she knew she saw the back of Baekhyun in his stage outfit. She could make out his smooth brown hair and broad shoulders. In front of him, still in the reflection, she clearly saw a woman with straight black hair and glasses so very close to him.

    But she couldn’t see what they were doing. She had to see, she had to find out or the nerves she felt would eat her alive. Jessica reached for the door knob and slowly pushed it open. The room, slowly, came into full view as well as Baekhyun and the woman.

    The woman’s hand were in his, clasped lovingly and laid on his heart. Their faces - their lips so close to each other it broke Jessica’s heart entirely into small invisible pieces. Is this what he wanted to try? To break her heart? To have another relationship behind the eyes of his “loved” girlfriend?

“Jagiya, you know you’re the only one in my heart, right?” At the sound of the soft serenading voice coming from Baekhyun, Jessica’s throat became inflamed from the pain. He wasn’t speaking to her, to his beloved girlfriend of 5 years. No, instead he was speaking to another woman, someone he’s known for God only knows how long. As he was about to open his small mouth again, Jessica couldn’t stop her vocal cords from interrupting him.

“No,” she said, causing them to jump in fright and turn in her direction. “I had no idea she was.” Baekhyun saw his one love look at him with such betrayal and confusion. It tore at his soul, it ate at him slowly to the point where he thought he might die, right then and there.

“Jagiya,” he began, the only words that he could think of. He saw a small tear from her perfect eyes and it broke him, it finished him.

“Save it,” she said coldly, “Just take your lunches and tell the other members I’m sorry I couldn’t stay longer. Byun Baekhyun,” she said in a cold hurt tone, “We’re through.”

She, with careful steps,  walked towards the table in front of her and set the lunches down and fled the scene. She walked down the streets of Seoul, until she felt a hand grasp hers tightly. With tear stained eyes, she looked up to see Baekhyun, his eyes red and watery. She tried to let go of his hand, but his grip was strong. He leaned next to her ear, walking with her.

“Don’t fight, we don’t want to start a scandal, jagiya.”

“Let go of me, I don’t want to be near you. Go back to your show and your woman.” He tightened his grip as they walked calmly to their apartment not too far away from the studio.

“Stop this, please baby. The other members can cover for me. We’ll talk about this when we get home, I promise,” he reasoned desperately, rubbing her hand with his thumb softly. The tears ran faster down her face. She felt weak; she felt anger towards Baekhyun; she felt the desire to be safe in his arms. She wanted to turn back time.

    ----

Two weeks went by with no word from the EXO members or Baekhyun. They were truly over, Jessica constantly thought over the course of the weeks. She woke up, again with tears and makeup ruined from another night of crying herself to sleep. Thankfully, it was her day off of work, she could sulk all she wanted today. She, mindlessly, walked out of her bedroom and into the bathroom where she look a long warm bath to calm herself down. As she rose from her bath, she looked at herself in the mirror and touched her pale face in concern. It was so lifeless with dark circles and pale complexion. No, it was lifeless without Baekhyun in her life. She was lifeless without her jagiya. She looked down at herself, now changed into one of Baekhyun’s shirts that he always leaves after he stays the night or two and a pair of jean shorts. She exited her bathroom and dragged herself to the kitchen and force herself to eat, something she’s been avoiding for so many days.

As she made her way to the cereal box to make her bowl of cereal, the doorbell rang. She paused, confused as she wasn’t expecting any company. Jessica walked cautiously to the door. She opened it slowly, expecting to see her co workers or her boss, concerned for her depressed behavior. When the door was fully opened, there was no one in the doorway. She looked further down the hall, there was no one. Jessica slowly began to close the apartment door again, continued that it was the little boys in the apartment next to hers. But, when she was about to close it completely, she noticed something on the floor. She looked closely and saw a box, a large box, decorated like a present. She looked at it curiously before dragging it inside, heavy as can be. She successfully brought the present into her living room and opened the box, carefully. Inside, there was only a letter, a note at the bottom. Jessica reached in the box and took the note. It read:

Jagiya, my beautiful jewel, turn around please.

A confused Jessica turned around slowly, expecting to see a psychopath. But, she found her Byun Baekhyun, in a handsome black suit and tie, smiling at her sweetly.

“You still forget to close the door after you open it, jagiya. That’s very dangerous.”

“Bae-Baekhyun?”

“Hm? You didn’t know it was me? Aw, Kkaepsong~” he said, hoping to get a laugh out of her, to see her smile again, to see the smile that he missed for 7 long days. But there was only the continued sadness and confusion. He tried to get closer to her, closing the door behind him. Jessica was motionless; he came close to her until they were face to face.

“Say something, Jessica. Please,” Baekhyun asked of her. She finally managed to her find her voice.

“Baekhyun, what are you doing here?” He smiled sweetly at her again.

“To see you, of course.”

“But, what about that other-” Before she could complete her sentence, she was interrupted by the sweet hard pressure of Baekhyun’s lips as they suddenly pressed against hers and the feeling of his arms around her, She missed this feeling, this familiar action. As quickly as the passionate kiss began, it stopped. Baekhyun broke the kiss, his lips lingering close to hers. He looked at her with fiery dark brown eyes. His right hand gently cradled her cheek, it softly.

“Jagiya, listen to me please. There is no other woman; there never was another woman.”

“But then what-”

    Another kiss was placed on her lips, silencing her next question. Every night, every day Baekhyun longed to feel her lips against his, to hold her like this, to call her his own. He couldn’t give up on love, on the woman he fell head over heels for. He waited for her to relax, to get over her initial anger, and then he went through with his plan, this plan. Baekhyun broke the kiss again.

“I wanted to practice and see her reaction, so I can get an idea of yours.”

“Practice what?” She kept her words to as little as possible. She needed to know why she’s been crying for two weeks, why the love of her life wasn’t with her, she had to know. He smiled, taking her hands into his.

“Well, I had to practice my proposal somehow,” he said pausing, chuckling, “I needed a woman’s reaction.” He smiled again when her brows became furrowed and a confused expression came on her face. Did she hear that correctly? His what? She looked at Baekhyun as if she was begging him to tell her what he meant. He simply smiled and brought her hands to his lips, kissing them gently.

    “But,” he began, “You saw it that time and so it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore. So, I had to change it,” he said smiling nervously.

    His heart began to beat a million beats a minute, his breathing began to shake as he reached behind him and took out a red velvet case, away from her view but clutching it in his hand. It took him the whole year to save up for the perfect one but, with the help of his family and his EXO members, Baekhyun could finally afford the perfect one. The perfect ring for the perfect girl in his life. He looked back at Jessica, who watching him with curious eyes. With one hand still holding hers, he brought it to his cheek.

“Living without you,” he sang softly in English, her native language.

“Living alone, this empty house seems so cold, wanting to hold you, wanting you near. How much I wanted you home,” he finished singing. When he stopped, he smiled nervously, kissing her hand.

“Jessica, jagiya, I missed you so much. Every second you were on my mind when we were separated. That day, I felt as if my heart had disappeared, my soul was gone. You,” he said, pausing to take a deep breath to calm his nerves.

    “You are the source of my smile, my laugh, my funny jokes, my happiness. The entire year, I had my mind made up. For a month, I planned what I wanted to say and I wanted to see if it was good or not, so I asked our stylist to help me. I imagined she was you, and I got too into character practicing. I was stupid to do that but I didn’t want to,” he paused again, “I didn’t want to sound silly,” he finally said with a chuckle, looking at her with his beautiful eye smile. His eyes softened, lovingly gazing at her.

    “Jagiya, I love you. I love you, Jessica Lee. I never want to be without you again.” His heart felt as if it was going to burst when he slowly got on one knee and opened the velvet box, showing it to her and revealing a silver diamond ring that shined in the eyes of Jessica.

    “Stay with me forever, baby. Will you please marry me?” Her heart skipped a beat, her body froze. Marriage. Marriage. The word made butterflies flutter up in her belly. She finally managed to nod, smiling for the first time in the long two weeks, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.

    “Yes, Byun Baekhyun. Yes, I’ll marry you.” He breathed a sigh of relief, rising immediately with the widest smile. He held her tightly, holding her tenderly in his strong arms as he kissed her again and again.

    “Just promise you won’t do something like that again. I don’t think I can go through it a second time,” she said smiling brightly, looking into his deep brown eyes that she loved. He grinned and nodded.

    “Never again, my wife, never again.”

    “Jagiya, we’re not married yet,” she corrected him. He pouted cutely then chuckled, kissing her head.

    “Kkaepsong~ Oh well, you’re already my wife in my eyes, jagiya.” They laughed together. They loved each other, as they always have.

                                                

 

                                                 ...There was finally love and laughter in the apartment again...

                                                                          ...Always and Forever...