Two months passed. I constantly bounced between hanging out at Chanyeol’s house, confinding in Minseok, and spending time with Eunmi. I had heard nothing from my father and nothing from his office. I wondered if he had maybe died in his drunken state, but I quickly realized that I would have been contacted. I also visited my mother’s grave frequently. I missed her, yet I didn’t want things to change. It was the most peace I had ever felt.

Except when it came to Chanyeol, our relationship was inconsistent. We'd have moments where throwing heaps of clothes at each other in annoyance was practically a custom practice, but it never meant harm. He annoyed the hell out of me whenever he refused to pick up his dirty dishes or left his used clothes strewn about our floor, making it impossible to take a step onto clean surface, but I couldn't think of living life in a more enjoyable way. I was comfortable around him, and the thought of him being away from me was unbearable. He had become my protector.

Our persistent bickering felt like nothing, but apparently annoyed the rest of the house. There were countless times where Mr. Park would come in and tell us to shut up because he was trying to sleep. After he would leave, Chanyeol and I would break out into hysterical laughter and temporarily forget our argument. Little did I realize that it had become a serious annoyance to the Park family, so I was shocked one evening when Chanyeol’s parents proposed the idea of Chanyeol and I getting our own place. I was even more appalled at the fact that they were offering to pay for it if Chanyeol or I got a job to help out with the simple things.

“I can’t accept that!” I shouted across the dinner table.

“Baek,” Chanyeol quietly warned in my ear.

“There is absolutely no way. I can’t.” I glanced over at Mr. and Mrs. Park who were content with eating, not bothering to look up at me. “I already feel horrible for living under your roof without helping! This would just add to my guilty conscious!” I claimed.

“Then let us help you get out from under our roof,” Chanyeol’s dad countered.

“It’s honestly for the best, Baekhyun,” Mrs. Park agreed.

“But…”

“Chanyeol already agreed and thinks that it is an excellent idea, don’t you sweet heart?”

I angrily faced Chanyeol. “You agreed to what?!”

“Umm,” Chanyeol accidently dropped his spoon back into his bowl of broth, causing his parents to nervously look in our direction.

“Umm?”

“It’s a good idea, Baek,” he tentatively started. “We both turn twenty next year, it’s time we moved out or did something ‘adult’ with our lives. Plus I’m tired of sleeping in that cramped bedroom with you. You stink at night.”

“Chanyeol!” I protested. “If you want to do something ‘adult’ go look at or something! Not move out hastily!”

I saw Chanyeol’s dad snicker to himself, but he never interfered.

“We’ve already started to look at apartments downtown, closer to Minseok’s office for you and closer to school for me. It’ll be easier on both of us.” The grin on his face continually grew until he was smiling from ear to ear.

“No!”

“Baek, please don’t fight this,” Chanyeol whispered in my ear.

“Chanyeol…” I paused. “I-I don’t know. I’ll have to think about it.”

“Yay!” all three Parks chimed.

“Ugh!” I groaned. I excused myself from the dinner table and ran into Chanyeol’s room, searching for my earbuds to tune the annoying family out.

The following morning began the job and apartment search. Chanyeol’s alarm sounded around seven a.m. and I was not ready to be drug out of bed.

They all thought that if they could find the perfect apartment with two bedrooms, a city view, and close to downtown that I would be more willing to cooperate and that me ‘thinking about it’ would turn into a ‘yes’. I was nowhere near their level of optimism and excitement. Mrs. Park looked for things like amenities, such as a dishwasher or washer inside of the apartment where as Mr. Park looked into security and how well the maintenance would take care of us.

While they were all eagerly thinking about us moving, I was more concerned with the idea of having responsibilities. I didn’t believe that I was ready to hold a job or live out on my own (even if it was with a roommate). I later found out that they had been talking to Minseok, without my knowledge, who apparently completely agreed with their shenanigans.

They were looking specifically in the city, as close as possible to be in the middle of our frequent destinations. The first one they picked was right along the beach. The view was incredible. It was the penthouse of a thirty story building with a lot of space. The view was half ocean, half city, depending on which window you were looking out of. The windows were large, comparable to the ones in Minseok’s office. The basic amenities were in there, a fridge, dishwasher, washer and dryer combo, but no furniture.

There were two bedrooms and bathrooms, which was ideal for me and Chanyeol. It would give us enough space to do our own thing and not constantly bicker, but close enough so that we would feel safe knowing the other was in the next room.

While touring the apartment, Chanyeol pulled me to the side as his parent’s talked to the realtor about renting the apartment. “So what do you think?”

“I like it...but…”

“But what?”

“It’s too expensive, Chanyeol! I don’t even want to think about the rent per month!”

“Baek, my parents are going to cover it. If it bothers you that much, you can pay for our food once you get a job.”

“Chanyeol, I can’t accept this!” I angrily whispered. I felt like I had repeated this a billion times, and it seemed to have no effect whatsoever.

“Baek, please…We’ve been over this a thousand times.”

I groaned and walked away from Chanyeol and towards the window that overlooked the ocean. The waves crashed rapidly against the beach. A few brave surfers were testing their luck out in the semi-chilled water, but other than that the sandy beach was unpopulated. I heard light footsteps trail behind me, but I paid no attention to them.

“If you just gave in, this could be our view every day,” Chanyeol hummed.

“Shut up.”

“Baek, I’m asking you to think about it. Forget the cost, forget your guilt, just think about how much better things would be. My parents literally have the lease in their hands right now.” He turned me to face him. His eyes locked with mine. “They’re waiting for your okay.”

I always found Chanyeol’s puppy eyes hard to give into, but they ripped right through me and I couldn’t bring myself to say no. I hung my head and nodded.

“Is that a yes?” Chanyeol’s voice was eager. I nodded once again, but refused to look at the taller man.

“Oh my god,” he spoke quietly before running off to find his parents. “MOM!!”

I sighed and looked out of the glass window once more.

Welcome home, Baek.

A week later, my phone buzzed violently at eight in the morning. I was asleep on Chanyeol’s floor still, surrounded by his boxes for our move.

“Hello?” I grumbled into the receiver.

“Is this Byun Baekhyun?” a cheery male voice greeted me from the other end.

“Yes?”

“Great! I’m Kim Jongdae from Kaehwa Flower Shop where you recently put in an application. I was wondering if you had time today to stop by for a quick interview?”

I sat straight up, making myself dizzy. “An...an interview?” I stammered.

Jongdae chuckled on the other line. “Yes, Baekhyun. An interview. Today if possible?”

I shook my head, trying to make sure that this was reality. “Yes, of course! What time?”

“Whenever works for you. I’m here until three today.”

I pulled my phone away from my ear to check the time.

10:55.

“Is noon too soon?” I asked.

“Sounds perfect! I’ll see you at noon?”

“See you at noon!” I smiled.

As soon as I hung up I realized that Chanyeol was still asleep and snoring next to me.

“Chanyeol! Chanyeol wake up!” I shook his broad shoulders. He grumbled, but gave no other response.

Why do you have to be such a pain in the to wake up? I decided my only tactic left to wake the sleeping giant was to jump on him.

I took a step back to evaluate how I would do this. I figured the best form of attack was to simply let go and land right on top of him. I closed the gap between myself and the bed. I lightly jumped and landed heavily on Chanyeol’s chest, causing to him wake up completely startled.

“Hi,” I smiled, just inches away from his face.

“Good morning to you too, Baek,” he grunted.

“So guess what?” I said and I rolled off of him. He rolled onto his side to face me.

“Chicken ?” he said sleepily, closing his eyes.

“No,” I started carefully. “I have a job interview at noon!”

Chanyeol’s eyes fluttered open. “Seriously?”

I eagerly nodded in response. “It’s at Kaehwa Flower Shop, just a few blocks away from the apartment.”

“Oh my god, good job, Baek!” Chanyeol sat up and checked his cell phone and saw what time it was.

“Baekhyun! You have less than an hour to get in the city!! What are you doing!” He shoved me out of the bed and into our mountain of clothes. “Get dressed! Something nice, preferably!” He clumsily climbed out of the bed and stumbled past me. “Now!”

I groaned and began digging through the mountain of clothes beneath me. The majority of them were Chanyeol’s, but somehow mine ended up at the bottom of the pile. I was curious as to what Chanyeol would define as “nice”. Maybe jeans and a button down shirt? Too casual.

“Chanyeol!” I yelled.

The tall man staggered back into the room. “Yes?”

“What the hell do you mean by ‘nice’?! I own nothing ‘nice’!” I shouted.

“Oh jesus. Khakis and a dress shirt? I don’t know. I’ve never had an interview before.” He looked at me, completely surrounded by the clothes and began to chuckle. I threw the closest shirt at him.

“Shut up, Chanyeol.”

-

-

I made it to the flower shop, just in the nick of time. Mr. Park dropped me off across the street just as the clock on my phone read five minutes until noon. The clouds that peaked over the tall buildings surrounding me seemed unpromising. They were a dark grey, almost black in some spots. I tried to take this as a good sign, since raining was my favorite type of weather.

I double checked the street, making sure it was clear for me to cross before I darted across the now vacant street. The building where Kaehwa was located was quite old and the white paint on the wooden border of the door was chipping, large chunks falling off at a time. The glass also looked like it hadn’t been cleaned in ages. The name of the flower shop was faded on the glass with ugly white lettering which was also chipping.

I opened the door, which creaked extremely loud and just as I did, it began to pour outside. I shut the door tightly behind me and I heard a voice chuckle from somewhere in the shop. I spun around frantically and found a tall, lanky man sitting on the counter.

“You got lucky, huh?” He chuckled again. “I’m assuming you’re Baekhyun?” I nodded in response. “Good. Follow me, I’ll take you to Jongdae.”

The tall man hopped gracefully off of the counter and began walking down a narrow pathway that had pots of flowers on either side of it. I sauntered behind him, not wanting to seem too eager, but not lazy. He turned his head around. “I’m Wu Yifan, but they call me Kris here.”

“Okay.” I muttered. I suddenly felt nervous. What if I’m not good enough for this? What if I can’t do this job? Oh god, what am I doing here? I can’t hold a job. I’m me. The negative thoughts invaded my mind. The slender man opened a door which led to a small room where a stocky man sat behind a desk with his feet propped up on the corner.

“Jongdae? Baekhyun is here,” Kris softly spoke.

“Let him in!” His voice sounded higher pitched in person in comparison to over the phone, which confused me. Kris stepped away from the door and granted me access to the small room.

I attentively entered the room where Jongdae was relaxing, but slowly removed his feet from the desk as I walked in. He reached his arm down and opened a drawer and grabbed some papers, setting them on the desk.

“Hello Baekhyun.” He nodded at me, then at the man who was still standing behind me. “Yifan, go back to the floor.”

The lanky man pivoted and returned to the front counter, grumbling something unintelligible.

“Please have a seat.” Jongdae motioned towards a chair across from him. I scurried to the seat and placed my hands in my lap. He picked a pen up off of the desk and began writing things on the packet in front of him. He asked me occasional questions about my job history and how well I work with other people, which I nervously stammered and mumbled through his questions. I wasn’t sure of the best way to answer his questions given I hadn’t been in school for almost two years and never held a job, so none of his questions actually applied to me.

Jongdae scribbled few more words before finally looking up at me. “I would like to offer you a job here, Baekhyun.”

My mind took a moment to process the words that just came out of his mouth. Me? With a job?

“R-Really?”

“Yes. I just need you to sign here and you can start on Monday.” Jongdae turned the paper around to me and placed a pen on top of it. With my shaky hand, I picked up the pen and squiggled my name across the line.

“Alright, and the number I called this morning, is that a good number for you?”

I nodded. “Yes, that’s my cell.”

“Alright. Sounds good, Baekhyun.” Jongdae rose to his feet and extended his hand towards me. “See you on Monday.”

I walked out of his office with a sense of satisfaction and excitement. I briskly exited the shop and bid a subtle farewell to Kris who I noticed had reclaimed his position on the counter. The rain had died down significantly, but not enough for me to be willing to walk anywhere far.

I pulled my cellphone from my pocket and dialed Mr. Park’s number. He answered on the first ring and was back in front of the shop in no time at all. I took off towards the car, narrowly avoiding the downpour which had begun once more.

“So how’d it go?” he asked me as I was pulling my seat belt across my chest.

“Well, needless to say, you’re going to be driving me back up here on Monday.” I flashed a grin at Mr. Park whose jaw was on the floor.

“Seriously? You got it?”

“Don’t act so surprised,” I mumbled.

“I’m not! This is amazing! Wait until Chanyeol finds out!”

“Actually, I have a different plan in mind.” I mischievously grinned up at Mr. Park.

-

-

We pulled into the driveway and Chanyeol’s father looked over at me. “So we tell Chanyeol nothing, right?”

I simply nodded in response. “Yes. Does it look like I’ve been crying?” I had began aggressively rubbing my eyes to give myself the mastered look of crying. I didn’t want Chanyeol to find out that I got the job right away. It was his turn to be messed around with. So I devised the master plan of having Mr. Park walk into the house and appear disappointed and I would trail behind him, almost completely falling apart and seem devastated. It’s time to prank Chanyeol for a change, I thought to myself.

“A little, but it’s enough,” Chanyeol’s father said, which brought my train of thought back to the present moment. When I initially told Mr. Park my idea, I was worried that he would shoot it down almost immediately, but he agreed and asked how he could help. I guess he was tired of Chanyeol’s constant pranking too.

We opened our car doors at the exact same moment and Mr. Park briskly exited the car, slamming his door behind him, whereas I lingered behind momentarily, preparing myself for Chanyeol’s joking demise.

Mr. Park walked through the front door first, and I trailed behind him, dragging my feet with my eyes glued to the ground. As soon as he got into the house, he swept his wife into the kitchen with her flapping her jaw the entire time. I slowly shut the door behind me, avoiding eye contact with Chanyeol, who was impatiently waiting for me at the bottom of the staircase and carelessly toying with his phone.

When I turned around and was greeted with his large puppy-dog eyes, everything inside of me wanted to cave and tell him the most exciting news, yet somehow I managed to trudge past him and march up the stairs, not speaking a single word to him. About half way up the stairs, I noticed that Chanyeol was trailing closely behind me.

At the top of the stairs, I took a sharp left and slammed open our bedroom door and flung myself onto our bed, face first.  

“Baek?” Chanyeol nervously asked from the door-frame. It took everything to stifle my laughter and not break to tell him prematurely. So I brushed off his worried tone and continued to ignore him.

“Baekhyun, answer me!” Chanyeol demanded, more annoyance flooding into his voice.

“Go away,” I harshly spoke into the pillow, which I assumed came out a mumbled mess.

“Tell me what happened.”

“I don’t want to. Go away,” I repeated.

“Baek,” he pleaded.

I didn’t respond to him after that. It was fun to torture him for a change. He just sat there, which I didn’t expect. I thought he would give up and leave me alone, but he didn’t. He stayed planted on the edge of the bed, while I remained on my stomach, face buried in the pillow. He sat there calmly without saying a single word.

After what felt like an hour passed, Chanyeol had only shifted slightly, and I had honestly began to feel guilty about the whole situation. Without giving any warning, I twisted around, sat up straight and faced Chanyeol.

“Chanyeol, I got the job.” I looked him dead in the eye with his eyes widened at my sudden movement.

“You…you what?”

“I got the job. I have a job. I start Monday.”

“Baekhyun!” Chanyeol exclaimed.

“Yes?” I snickered slightly.

“Why didn’t you tell me! I’ve been worried sick!” He was flustered and frustrated, and I fell back over onto the bed, hysterically laughing. “Baekhyun!”

I ignored him and continued laughing. Chanyeol stared at me, perplexed by my giggle fit. Little did I notice that Chanyeol’s parents were now standing in the open door frame looking at us, trying to hold back their laughter as well. Chanyeol was not amused in the slightest.

He shot a glare towards his father. “You knew too?”

Mr. Park broke out in laughter and came and sat next to me into the bed.

“Dinner is ready, kids,” Chanyeol’s mother giggled.