Title: The Only One
Genre: drama, romance, heartbreak
Format: oneshot
Characters:  Chanyeol (EXO), Krystal (f(x))
Song : One by Ed Sheeran
Author: luxicity
Requested by: amusingmurdermachine/Margaux

 

 

The cellphone clock registered 3:00 AM.

It was either 'answer' or 'end', Chanyeol thought. And he himself was either drunk or sane. He couldn't tell. These days he could never really tell anything at all anymore. Should he wear black or white? Should he go up or down? Should he go to sleep or stay awake?

Should I tell her or not?

The phone rang again. 

The bar was at its usual pace at that time of the night. It wasn't crowded (it can never be crowded anywhere at 3AM), and the customers were all individuals. Among them was Chanyeol, by the front bar, staring at his half-empty glass of whisky. Chanyeol never drinks. But tonight was different. There's something he needed to do tonight that needs to be done before everything collapses. Before everything disappears.

"Aren't you gonna answer that?"

Chanyeol looked up from his phone to look at the female bartender. Her name tag read 'Taeyeon'. She was wiping some glasses as she talked, and she didn't look like she was about to flirt. She actually looked a bit pissed, ready to snatch the phone and throw it to the wall. That would have been a quick answer for Chanyeol. If that could only solve it.

Chanyeol did his best apologetic smile and rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, it's just that–"

"Don't know what you're supposed to say?" Taeyeon quickly finished his sentence.

He breathed a light laugh and nodded as he watched his phone, continuously ringing with her name. Krystal's name.

Taeyeon sighed and rolled her eyes. "You know, you're gonna have to answer that sooner or later."

Without looking up from the phone, he answered. "Everyone here does the same anyway."

"Well, I beg you to differ." Her eyes went to the phone, then back at him. "You're not gonna like it when your girlfriend stops calling you. You know what it means when she stops calling. She's mad. So you really should get that. The ringing is getting on my nerves."

It was Chanyeol's turn to sigh. "She's... she's not my girlfriend."

Taeyeon shrugged casually. "My mistake. But please. Answer that." She then left him to his phone.

Chanyeol's heartbeat started to crank up the notch. It was beating faster than a racecar running ten miles per hour. The phone was persistent. Krystal was persistent. It kept ringing. And the ringing was also starting to get on his nerves just as how it did to the lady bartender.

He swallowed and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Chanyeol?"

Her voice. Clear as midday. Melodious like the sound of birds singing. Sweeter than an ice cream with a cherry on top.

Krystal's voice.

"Hey," was all Chanyeol could say. He probably didn't drink enough whisky.

She suddenly laughed. And it made Chanyeol's heart run wild and crazy. He, too, found himself smiling as he listened to her sweet-sounding laugh, the lilt on her chuckles quite distinct from anyone he has ever heard. "You don't sound drunk. I thought you were drinking yourself to death."

"I am," he replied, glancing at his half-empty glass of whisky, thinking that he should have gotten a whole bottle. This conversation could have been over and done from the get-go.

Krystal laughed again. "No, you aren't. But I really don't think drinking yourself to death would change the fact that your boss scolded you. You don't drink."

The morning earlier was a disaster at work. Chanyeol couldn't seem to get a grip of himself and has gotten a file missing. So he got reprimanded in front of all those other workers. But Chanyeol only used that reason as an alibi. He had another reason for drinking. And it couldn't seem to take effect on him. Probably because he couldn't even bring himself to finish a whole glass.

"Anyway, why did you call?" Chanyeol asked.

Krystal's laugh faded, and her voice went drop dead serious. "You know why."

He did. Their last encounter wasn't a good one. Not exactly a bad one, but it wasn't good either.

Chanyeol swallowed. "And?"

"And..." Krystal started.

Chanyeol waited. He was nervous. And... what?

"We have to meet."

"But–"

"It's still in the evening. I need to see you."

The urgency in her voice confused him. It confused him more than he confused himself these days. He was amping himself up, trying to get that drunken state he badly wanted to be in so that he could say what he needed to say. But glancing at his glass once again,