Chanyeol's week without Baekhyun was torture. The entire time, he spent it feeling guilty and sad and hoping his negative feelings didn't affect his work performance. Sung-Woo assured him that he was keeping his feelings separate from work but Chanyeol wondered if the older man was just being nice by telling him what he wanted to hear. 

When they got back to America, Chanyeol would do whatever it took to make things right with Baekhyun. Not just for Mina's sake but for his own because he needed to be with Baekhyun. Regardless of whatever crazy thoughts had crossed his mind at one point, he just couldn't imagine being with anyone else. He didn't want to be with anyone else.

Soo-Hyun was a thing of the past and she knew it as well as Chanyeol did. He devoted his time spent away from Baekhyun to figuring out how to show him he still loved him rather than being unfaithful again.

On their last day in Korea, Chanyeol anxiously packed up his and Mina's things because the trial had finished sooner than Chanyeol expected and they were to be home sooner than expected. 

Chanyeol didn't know what to expect when he reunited with Baekhyun. The more he thought about it, the more anxious he became. Would Baekhyun accept him back at the drop of a hat? Or would it be awkward to be together again? He made the conscious decision not to tell Baekhyun they were coming back early and let whatever was going to happen happen.

"Daddy?" Mina wondered as she watched Chanyeol pack.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"Is mommy mad at you?"

Maybe furious, disappointed, or annoyed because Baekhyun was way past mad.

"We had a little disagreement. That's all. But somehow I'll make it up to him when we get home." Chanyeol smiled at Mina who smiled back. He sounded a lot more confident than he felt because the last thing he wanted was to show their daughter how worried he was about his relationship with her mother.

"Are you excited to go back home?" Chanyeol asked to change the subject. 

"Yes! I don't understand the people talking here." She pouted. The entire time she had been there, her parents had been her translators. It was quite frustrating for a young girl who didn’t speak a word of Korean.

Chanyeol chuckled as he finished packing and zipped up the suitcases.

The moment their packing was complete, Sung-Woo knocked on the door to ask if they were ready. 

"Do you have all your stuff?" Chanyeol asked Mina as he picked up his own luggage. 

She carried a small backpack on her back full of coloring books, crayons, snacks, and toys to keep her entertained for the long plane ride ahead. 

"Yep." She was more than ready to see her mother. Phone calls just weren't enough to cover the distance.

Having already said goodbye to their co-workers and taken care of anything else that needed to be taken care of, Sung-Woo and Chanyeol were on their way to the hotel lobby. They let Mina walk ahead and spoke quietly behind her.

"How is it going with Baekhyun?" Sung-Woo questioned. Of course, Chanyeol had already told him everything that had been going on with him and Baekhyun.

"Not good. I really don't know what to do."

"Have you officially broken up?"

"No. Baekhyun says I have to earn his trust back but I'm not sure how. My word isn't enough anymore."

Sung-Woo sighed. "No, it's not enough. I can't tell you exactly what to do or what you should do but you have to do something. If not, Baekhyun will just slip away from you. That's what happened to Minseok's mom and me, we just drifted apart."

Chanyeol sighed. "Mina being involved just makes it more complicated. She can't have us split up. We're her parents."

"If it comes to that, she'll learn to adjust. I know she's your main priority but you also have to think about Baekhyun's feelings and your own. You can't be stuck in a broken relationship. That's not fair to either one of you."

"I know. But I'm not giving up without a fight. I love Baekhyun too much. I have to get him back."

Sung-Woo nodded. "Confidence is good."

"So, would giving him flowers and chocolates be too cheesy?" Chanyeol wondered sheepishly. 

Sung-Woo laughed and patted him on the back. "You have to start somewhere, keeping in mind it's gonna take a whole lot more than flowers and chocolates."

Chanyeol nodded in agreement at the same time Mina turned around to hurry them up. They were walking too slow for her liking and she was eager to get back home.

"Come on daddy. Come on grandpa."

Sung-Woo smiled whenever Mina called him grandpa. She had jumped at the opportunity for someone to fill the grandfather role that was lacking and Sung-Woo just happened to be that person.

"We're coming, Mi-Mi." Chanyeol replied as they made their way down to the lobby where the taxi was waiting to take them to the airport. Before long, they were seated comfortably on the plane and well on their way back to the United States 

As expected, the flight turned out to be extremely long for Chanyeol because he couldn't stop worrying about Baekhyun. He wondered how Baekhyun felt when he had to fly back on his own. He wondered how Baekhyun felt when he arrived home all alone. He wondered how lonely he felt without both him and Mina by his side and he wondered how upset he felt about their relationship being on the rocks.

His most persistent worrying thought was whether or not Baekhyun would be happy to see him once they got back.

Towards the middle of the flight, Mina noticed how distracted Chanyeol was. It upset her a little and that was surely the last thing he wanted. To convince her that everything was okay, he played with her and watched movies with her for the rest of the flight.

When they arrived in Massachusetts 15 hours later, Chanyeol had successfully prepared himself mentally to see Baekhyun. The only drawback was that it was almost midnight in America and Baekhyun would probably be asleep. Chanyeol would have to wait to talk to him and settle things once and for all.

Before driving them home, Sung-Woo took them to the flower shop where Chanyeol spent a while deciding what flowers he wanted Baekhyun to see when he first woke up.

"Roses are romantic but too stereotypical." Chanyeol said to Sung-Woo. He wanted to get Baekhyun something nice, something he would really like and appreciate.

"That's true, but in this situation, I think simple is best." Sung-Woo spoke up.

"You think I should get roses?"

"Definitely." The 46 year old replied. 

Chanyeol opted for the roses because they really were beautiful and Baekhyun deserved something beautiful. For a bit of added personalization, he wrote a note.

Baekhyun, I know I have a long way to go to earn back your trust and that this relationship has a long way to go to become as strong as it once was. In the meantime, hopefully you will accept these flowers and let me start by reminding you how much I love you. I promise we'll work things out and go back to the way things were. It's always been you and me. It will always be you and me.

Love,

Chanyeol

With the flowers taken care of, the chocolates were next. Valentine's day was a ways away but Chanyeol was getting a huge head start. The chocolates were bought quickly, a delicious looking assortment Baekhyun was sure to love.

To end the night, Sung-Woo dropped him and Mina off at the campus. He wished Chanyeol luck and the 22 year old knew he would need all the luck he could get.

Chanyeol held the chocolates and Mina held the flowers while they trudged up to their apartment building at two in the morning.

"Do you think mommy will like them?" He wondered. 

Mina, wide awake at the early hour, nodded eagerly. She was ecstatic to see her mommy and would probably go so far as to wake him since he was most likely asleep. Whenever that happened, Chanyeol and Baekhyun would be face to face for the first time in a week. It was so nerve-wracking to think about.

Before Chanyeol unlocked the door to their apartment, he expected a lot of things. He expected Baekhyun to be fast asleep or to be up late watching movies with Jongdae and Kyungsoo. He expected Baekhyun to be pissed at him the moment he saw him or he expected Baekhyun to burst into tears when they saw each other. 

The one thing he didn't expect was to find a stranger in his kitchen. Oddly enough, that was exactly what happened. 

Chanyeol unlocked the door, the lights, and saw him.

The guy was reaching into the fridge to get a soda. He seemed harmless enough and not very threatening until Chanyeol noticed he wasn't wearing a shirt. His face resembled that of a deer in headlights when Chanyeol met and held his gaze.

"Um, who are you exactly?" The guy asked as he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. 

Chanyeol set down all of his things and glared angrily at the innocent looking man. He had never felt so angry in his life and didn't expect that seeing a shirtless man in his kitchen would send him over the edge.

In an instant, he pulled Mina close to him and covered her innocent ears, protecting her from his venomous words. "Who the are you and what the are you doing in my kitchen?"

"Your kitchen? I thought Baekhyun lived here alone with his daughter." The man gestured towards Mina. 

Chanyeol's eyes flashed angrily at the unfortunate revelation. He uncovered Mina's ears and knew he had to get her out of the kitchen. "Go to your room."

Mina looked at Chanyeol and the stranger, unsure of what exactly was going on.

"Daddy-?"

"Mina, go." Chanyeol hissed. Mina looked up at her dad with tear filled eyes as a result of his anger. She was utterly oblivious to the fact that it wasn't directed at her and was directed at the situation.

Chanyeol felt bad for a split second when Mina scurried away to her room, crying the whole way. Then the moment passed and he stared the stranger down. They were practically eye to eye because of their similar height statuses. 

The guy didn't shy away from Chanyeol's glare although he definitely wanted to.

"Who are you?" Chanyeol demanded.

"Kang-Joon."

"Where's Baekhyun?"

"He's in the bedroom." Kang-Joon responded. As if sensing someone was talking about him, Baekhyun emerged from the bedroom yawning. He wore a shirt that Chanyeol had never seen before and he wondered bitterly if the shirt belonged to Kang-Joon.

"Kang-Joon, who are you tal-?" Baekhyun caught Chanyeol's angry glare and his eyes widened in shock. 

"Chanyeol." He gasped. 

"This is your ex?" Kang-Joon asked Baekhyun. 

"Ex?" Chanyeol crossed his arms angrily. "I'm not his ex." 

Baekhyun paled. He was in deep . He had to be a peacemaker before Chanyeol decided to take a swing at poor Kang-Joon. He seemed really pissed off and just seconds away from doing so.

"Chanyeol, we never made it official but I thought it was obvious."

"Obvious?" 

"Wait." Kang-Joon interrupted and Chanyeol wanted nothing more than to tell Kang-Joon to shut the up. "You told me Mina's father wasn't in the picture and that Mina was spending the week with a friend."

"You did what?" Chanyeol fumed.

Baekhyun sighed. "Kang-Joon, I'm sorry. I lied and said Chanyeol was my ex and wasn't in the picture because I didn't want to have to explain how complicated our relationship is right now. At first, I didn't even think it'd matter. I didn't think we would become close like this."

Chanyeol shook his head at Baekhyun's apology. He was beyond furious, seeing as how he'd spent the past week thinking of ways to apologize to Baekhyun and Baekhyun had spent it getting ed by another guy.

"Don't you think this is all unfair? You made me feel like after I did what I did and then you go and get a new boyfriend before we've officially broken up."

"Chanyeol, I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd be home so early and-"

Chanyeol held up a han