AN: Second update in a week WHATTT

Chapter 17

“Baekhyun, I made breakfast!” Jongdae walked into the bedroom cautiously, having knocked a couple of times already. “...Baekhyun?”

He was greeted with the sight of a nearly-empty room.

All the little trinkets, all the photos of Jongin and Baekhyun were gone. The shelves were empty; the bed made- with a small piece of paper on the bed.

Shifting the warm plate of pancakes onto one hand, Jongdae picked up the note with the other, dread growing in his stomach.

The sound of a plate shattering echoed through the empty halls.

“Good morning, Kyungie.”

Kyungsoo blinked his eyes open to find Chanyeol smiling sleepily at him.

So I wasn’t dreaming.

“Do you want breakfast?”

“Nah,” Chanyeol yawned, snuggling closer to Kyungsoo. “I just want to cuddle.”

Blushing (how many times had he done that in the past 48 hours?), Kyungsoo placed an arm around Chanyeol as he played with his phone.

After a few blissful minutes of cuddling, Kyungsoo poked Chanyeol in the side.

“Hey, Baek sent me a voicemail. Let’s listen.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol mumbled, still half-asleep. Smiling, Kyungsoo played the message.

‘Hey, it’s Baekhyun… I just wanted to let you- well, you and Chanyeol, really- let you guys know that you can have Pup back. Since…’

‘Since I’ll be in China,’ Jongdae whispered, horrified. He flipped the paper over, trying to find out more, but there were only a few lines left.

‘This house is my gift to you; you can sell it if you want. The contracts and everything are in the bottom left drawer of my desk. Pup is to be given to Chanyeol and Kyungsoo, unless they don’t want it, in which case he is yours. Goodbye.’

“There has to be more!” he shrieked aloud, absolutely hysterical. He can’t just leave me with four sentences; there’s a reason, a reason for everything! Wait… my phone, my phone, my phone!

Desperately, he grabbed his phone and nearly jumped with joy at the text message. No, wait… this is…

Unknown number (xxx-xxx-xxxx)

hello, this is baekbeom, baekhyun’s older brother. Call me when you get this message.

“What is this?” Chanyeol whispered, but Kyungsoo shushed him.

‘If you want Pup, just go to Jongdae. I’ve told him that you’re coming. If you don’t want Pup, just leave him to Jongdae.’ Here there was a pause. ‘Listen guys, I’m really sorry, but...’

‘...but he had to do this,’ Baekbeom’s voice insisted, slightly muffled over the phone. ‘It was the only way.’

“Only way to-”

‘To move on from Jongin. To move on from everything. That’s why he left everything behind: his house, his job, his life- Jongin was such a big part of everything. He kept the photos, of course.’ There was a low chuckle. ‘Moving on doesn’t mean completely forgetting, after all. It just means to accept what happened- but Baekhyun shared everything with Jongin. Everything I mentioned before- house, job, life- and the two were practically inseparable. That is, of course, until they were separated.’

Jongdae bowed his head. “But...why? Why would he keep the photos if he left everything else behind?”

There was a scoff from the other end.

‘You’re a bit daft. I just told you,’ Baekbeom sighed. ‘I guess I’ll have to spell it out for you.

‘The only reason Baekhyun stayed in the same house and had the same job was because he wanted to pretend like Jongin was still there. Moving on meant moving out. Keeping the photos- Hyunnie didn’t want to completely forget. But he did want to move on.’

Jongdae shook his head, then sighed when he realized that Baekbeom couldn’t see it.

“There are so many contradictions in-”

‘Look,’ Baekbeom cut in rudely, ‘I don’t need you to analyze everything, and neither does Baekhyun. All I need is for you to listen.’

Jongdae fell silent, and Baekbeom continued.

‘He wants you to know that you’re a good friend. He’s sorry that he couldn’t tell you, but you weren’t that close to him anyways. Not his exact words, of course,’ Baekbeom chuckled, ‘but I’m great at paraphrasing.’

“Did you make him go to China?” Jongdae snapped, at the end of his line with Baekhyun’s older brother. It had been a rough morning, and he’d been looking for real answers from Baekbeom, not subtle insults.

‘Listen, Kim Jongdae,’ Baekbeom hissed suddenly, ‘do you think I wanted my little brother to move two thousand miles away? No! Don’t you think I would’ve wanted him to be here for the birth of his niece?’ He sighed again, suddenly sounding weary. ‘But he’s not a little boy anymore. This is his own decision.’ Baekbeom’s voice broke on the last syllable, and Jongdae had the impulse to give him a hug.

‘But that’s enough. He’s on the plane already, heading to friends in China. Escaping from our parents, who aren’t exactly the greatest.’

“And he’ll never be back?” Jongdae whispered, half-sure that the other person couldn’t even hear him.

‘Of course he’ll be back. But for visits. You’d be crazy to believe that he’d come back forever.’

“It’s not impossible.” Jongdae’s voice wobbled slightly.

‘Oh, silly you. Forever isn’t real.’

“It was Baekhyun’s own choice,” Kyungsoo said decidedly, sighing as he put down the phone.

“Aren’t you sad?” Chanyeol queried, looking like someone had killed his puppy.

“I am, but this was better for Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo soothed, patting Chanyeol’s head. “And he’ll call us. We can meet up with him when he visits!”

And Chanyeol was consoled by the spark of life and hope in Kyungsoo’s eyes.

“Do you want Pup back?”

“Well…” Chanyeol paused. “Yeah. Okay.”

“Well, then, let’s go!”

Jongdae put down the phone and sighed, suddenly feeling empty.

But it was good- a fresh start. Free from dead brothers and fiances and drama.

He didn’t have that much of a life before he’d gotten a sudden engagement. His friends were all rich ones that had been introduced to him by his mother; his love life nonexistent. The past few months had more drama, grief and pure emotion crammed into it than had been existent in his entire life.

But it was time to grow up. Get a real life, with real friends and a job of his own choice.

It was a fresh start.

Baekhyun breathed out heavily as he settled down in the airplane seat, by a guy that looked about as miserable as him. As his eyes unconsciously looked over his seat partner, the guy looked up and gave him a tired smile.

“Hi.”

“Hi.” Baekhyun unconsciously flushed a deep crimson as he averted his gaze, and the guy chuckled.

“Hey, it’s okay, don’t be shy.”

Flustered, Baekhyun glanced over again and then looked down at his lap, at a complete loss.

“My name’s Minseok,” the stranger told him after a while, looking a little cheerier, as well as slightly amused.

“I-I’m Baekhyun.”

“Nice to meet you, Baekhyun,” greeted Minseok, extending a hand, and as Baekhyun shook it hesitantly, he realized that Minseok’s other hand was clenched around something.

“Oh, yes,” Minseok exclaimed as he saw Baekhyun gazing at his hand. He unclenched it to reveal a ring.

“That’s the same engagement ring that my ex-fiance gave to me,” Baekhyun noted, somewhat wistfully.

“I saw it fall out of your pocket,” Minseok told him, placing it in Baekhyun’s hand with a warm smile. “I would hate to have you missing it.”

“And I would have hated to had lost it,” responded Baekhyun, returning the smile for the first time as he clutched onto the ring. “Where are you going?”

“Oh, Guangzhou. I have a friend there.”

“I’m going there too!”

“Well, y’know, the plane’s going there…” Minseok teased.

“Pshh…” Baekhyun giggled, swatting at his new acquaintance playfully.

“Oh look, there are pretty clouds!”

“There are clouds everywhere, dumbbutt,” Baekhyun teased.

“But these are pretty clouds! The light’s illuminating them,” Minseok swooned.

Baekhyun seemed to be smiling a lot this evening.

END

1. This is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! Please comment with any questions that you may have.

2. Thank you guys so much ^^ I hoped you loved this little journey as much as I did! You guys are all sweethearts, no matter whether you’re a silent reader or if you comment. Love all of you! <3

3. ...Sequel? ;) Or did I drag this out too much already?