Chapter 15

“Kyungsoo!”

Chanyeol’s heart raced wildly as he sprinted over to the shivering figure by the tombstone.

“Kyungsoo, hey, it’s me!” When no answer came, he took Kyungsoo’s face and turned it gently towards him. He was met with the sight of tear tracks and nearly-purple lips. Shocked, he took Kyungsoo’s hand and shuddered.

“You’re freezing!” Taking his coat off, he draped it around his friend and pulled him closer.

“Let’s get to the taxi.” Laying Kyungsoo’s arm around his shoulders, he stood up, helping Kyungsoo up as well and brought him to the waiting taxi.

As soon as it was moving, Chanyeol turned to Kyungsoo, whose lips had turned to a more normal shade, and intertwined their hands.

“What were you doing out here, Kyungie? It’s way too cold for this. Are you okay?”

“...I’ve done something very bad,” Kyungsoo admitted raspily, speaking for the first time since Chanyeol had found him. “So bad that you might never forgive me.”

“What did you do?” Chanyeol prompted, his voice soft and gentle. And Kyungsoo thought, that since he’d left home, nobody had spoken to him so sweetly.

“...This might take a while to explain,” Kyungsoo whispered, looking down.

Chanyeol only squeezed his hand. “And I’ll listen for the entire thing.”

Around nine, Baekhyun woke up to find Jongdae hugging him and snoring. And then the hunger hit him.

Stomach grumbling, he tried to gently remove Jongdae’s arms, but they only flopped back down as Jongdae continued snoring.

This continued for five minutes until Baekhyun got desperate enough to simply wriggle forwards and off of the couch. Which, unfortunately, woke Jongdae up.

“...Hmm? Baek?”

“Hi,” Baekhyun whispered, his face next to Jongdae’s chest from wriggling forwards.

“What are you doing?” The amusement in Jongdae’s groggy voice was embarrassing him further. Luckily, his stomach decided, at that moment, to growl like a rabid bear.

“So you’re hungry, huh?” Jongdae chuckled, and Baekhyun’s face couldn’t have been pinker.

“...Yes.”

“Well, let’s go have dinner,” Jongdae said cheerfully, standing up sluggishly and wrinkling out his clothes.

Dinner turned out to be amazing, Jongdae having had cooking lessons from his aunt, an experienced chef.

“This is great,” Baekhyun admitted shyly.

“Well, expect more, since I’m now moved in and all,” Jongdae laughed, cheekily leaning forwards to dab at Baekhyun’s face with a napkin.

Though Baekhyun smiled slightly on the outside, he felt a pang of regret.

I’m sorry that I’m doing this to you.

“I’m really sorry,” Kyungsoo mumbled, his voice hoarse from explaining and crying at the same time.

The two sat across from each other in a booth at Vera’s, where nobody could hear or see Kyungsoo’s crying. Chanyeol thanked the heavens for that as he leaned across the table and enveloped Kyungsoo’s tiny hands in his larger ones.

“It’s alright, Kyungsoo. From what I’ve heard, you had a few drinks before this. Your mind must’ve been pretty hazy.”

“You’re forgiving me?” Kyungsoo wiped his eyes on his sleeve. Truthfully, he didn’t know what he would’ve done, had Chanyeol not forgiven him.

“Of course,” Chanyeol promised. “Besides, I wasn’t exactly the best friend last night. I should’ve called; should’ve done something to make sure you were alright.”

“Thank you,” Kyungsoo said quietly. “You’re… you’re amazing, Chanyeol.” And he meant it. Chanyeol’s sweet side made him fall more in love every second.

“Now the real question is, what happened to your hands?” Chanyeol ran his thumb over the bandages that seemed to swallow up Kyungsoo’s palms in a sea of clean, white cloth.

“I…”

Chanyeol took Kyungsoo’s other hand and widened his eyes, seeing the red spots on the bandages.

“You’re bleeding! We should see a doctor.”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Kyungsoo assured him shyly. “I’ll check it later in the week.”

Chanyeol sat back, smiling.

“You’ve changed, Kyungie. You’re less cynical.”

“So are you,” Kyungsoo retorted playfully. “And I think…” Here he blushed. “I think I like your sweeter self a lot.”

“I think I like yours too.”

Kyungsoo didn’t have time to blush harder as a memory resurfaced, a memory that he’d hidden away and then retrieved and hidden again.

‘“You know, Luhan just makes my… er… how should I say this…” Chanyeol pondered as the laughter died down. “He makes the cruel part of me melt away.”’

Does this mean that he likes me?

Do it. Do it.

Do it or he’s gone.

Listening to his conscience, Kyungsoo leaned forwards, capturing Chanyeol’s lips in a short kiss.

It was probably the most blissful moment of his twenty-something years.

When the three seconds of ecstasy were over, Kyungsoo sat right back down and hid his face in Chanyeol’s large jacket.

“...Um. Wow.” Chanyeol looked dazed, but was grinning. “That was… pretty sweet.”

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo mumbled happily, eyes twinkling. Then suddenly, realization punched him in the face.

“...You have a boyfriend.”

“...Not anymore, I won’t,” Chanyeol said decidedly, and Kyungsoo froze.

“...What? No, I don’t want you to make him sad-”

“I suspect that maybe he won’t be sad,” Chanyeol told him, a determined look in his eyes.

“...Oh.” Kyungsoo sat back, bewildered. “But who wouldn’t be sad after breaking up with you?”

Chanyeol blushed, and so did Kyungsoo after realizing what he had just said.

“O-oh. I don’t- that is-”

And he was silenced with a kiss.

“Baekhyun, are you okay?”

“Hmm?” Baekhyun looked up wearily from his spot on the couch. “Yeah, just thinking, I guess.”

“Well, it’s eleven and we don’t have work tomorrow, so why don’t I put on a movie?”

Baekhyun made an attempt to shrug, and Jongdae looked at him sympathetically before beginning to browse through the DVDs.

Eventually, he settled on a cute little rom-com, lightening the mood, before sitting beside Baekhyun and smiling at him.

Baekhyun didn’t seem to be paying much attention, though; choosing to stare blankly into the distance instead of at the screen. Jongdae was thankful when, at around five minutes into the movie, the doorbell rang.

Baekhyun blinked lethargically, inclining his head at the sounds of the puppy barking at the door.

“I’ll get it,” Jongdae offered, standing up. “You stay here.” Baekhyun made no opposition as Jongdae headed to the door, opening it cautiously to be greeted with a couple.

“Hi,” the shorter one said softly, ducking his head. It was then that Jongdae noticed the colourful bouquet he was holding.

“We’re looking for a Byun Baekhyun,” his friend added helpfully, noticing that his companion wasn’t exactly willing to speak.

“Um. May I know who’s asking?” Jongdae queried, eyeing them cautiously. He swore he’d seen the taller one before, but he had to be sure he wasn’t letting robbers into Baekhyun’s house.

“Oh! I’m Park Chanyeol, and this is Do Kyungsoo,” replied the taller one enthusiastically.

As the name ‘Kyungsoo’ struck a chord in his mind, Jongdae narrowed his eyes hostilely, but a soft voice from behind him cut in.

“Chanyeol; Kyungsoo.”

“Baek!” Chanyeol called brightly. “Who’s your friend?”

“Oh, this is Kim Jongdae,” Baekhyun introduced absentmindedly. “My… roommate.”

“Oh, yes, the fiance you told me about,” Chanyeol nodded, yelping when Kyungsoo hit him on the head.

“Yeollie! Don’t be so rude!”

As the ‘couple’ fought, Jongdae watched a gentle smile touch Baekhyun’s cheeks.

“Anyways,” Chanyeol coughed as the noise died down, “can we…”

“Oh, yes, come in,” Baekhyun responded, seeming brighter by the second.

“Yeollie?”

“Mmhm?” Chanyeol whispered back, half-watching Jongdae and Baek chat, the ‘roommates’ bringing out snacks for their guests.

“I need you to distract Jongdae for me.”

“Wha- ohh.” Understanding, Chanyeol nodded. “Leave it to me.” He stood up and began to speak with Jongdae, something about music, with Jongdae responding twice as eagerly.

“Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo called softly, capturing his attention.

“Yes?” Baekhyun answered cautiously.

“Can we… can we talk somewhere else?”

“Oh. Y-yeah. Just follow me.” As Baekhyun turned away and began walking, Kyungsoo tucked the bouquet into his jacket and followed.

They reached the kitchen, where Baekhyun nodded at him.

“You wanted to talk?”

“Baekhyun, I’m sorry,” Kyungsoo began, feeling the words start to gush out uncontrollably. “I was crazy, I was drunk and mad and jealous and I didn’t know how terrible and horrible it was at the time to do something like that to you and I-” he breathed in shakily, trying to keep the floodgates closed. “I’m a bad, bad person- Jongin never cheated on you ever and he never even liked me I swear. Just don’t, don’t hate him or Chanyeol or me.” Kyungsoo looked down, his chest heaving as tears blurred his vision.

Suddenly, a gentle warmth enveloped him and he turned to look tearfully at Baekhyun, who was embracing him loosely. The older man had all sorts of emotion in his smile- grief, loss, happiness, relief, and something that looked like regret.

“I couldn’t hate you, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun whispered. “I just hope you could say the same for me.”

“I could never, ever hate you,” Kyungsoo murmured, pulling himself together and retrieving his somehow-intact bouquet from the depths of his coat.

Baekhyun’s eyes widened. “Is that-”

“Pink and purple sweetpea,” Kyungsoo confirmed shyly. “I saw it at the florist’s on the way home.”

“You don’t know how much this means to me. Thank you.” Baekhyun set the bouquet on the table and started searching for a vase, though Kyungsoo suspected that it was more to distract himself than to actually preserve the flowers.

On impulse, Kyungsoo headed closer and grasped Baekhyun’s shaking hands.

“I hope that we can be good friends, and meet more in the future. You promise you won’t forget me, right? You’ll call me over for parties and I’ll call you over for dinners, and vice versa and everything!” Kyungsoo grinned excitedly, but in a moment of confusement for Kyungsoo, Baekhyun began to cry, clenching tightly onto the flowers.

Kyungsoo, I’m so sorry.

“What?” Kyungsoo asked worriedly, hugging Baekhyun again. “Is something wrong? Do you not want to meet me?”

“No, no,” Baekhyun laughed through his tears. “I’m just very emotional right now, and you’ve been a great, affectionate new friend. Funny, you’re so much different than how I envisioned you.”

“I guess a special someone ‘makes the cruel part of me melt away’,” Kyungsoo quoted, smiling.

“You guys alright in here?” Jongdae poked his head in. “Oh, you’ve both been crying!” He glanced protectively for a second at Baekhyun, but Chanyeol poked his head in before anything happened.

“C’mon, let’s quit this girly stuff and watch a rom-com!”

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo laughed before following Jongdae and Chanyeol out of the room.

If I had a wish, it would be for the three of you to have your own, beautiful happy endings.

AN: Calm down pplz, there are still a few more chapters ^^

Also...W00T W00T CHANSOO