(( The final chapter for this side story~ and the first one that takes place after Jongdae meets Chanyeol, and shortly before the 23rd chapter of Waiting(the first part anyway, the ladder part takes place somewhere during chapter 24's time skips)

Anyhow, enjoy~ ))
 

>I’m on my way, you better not have started drinking without me

Yifan had to read the text more than four times before he could comprehend what it said, a smile cracking across his lips.

>Too late

The letters swam on the screen and a giggle passed his lips as he managed to pocket the device with only a little trouble. He picked up his half-finished drink, making his way over to one of the couches in the lounge and dropping himself onto it. He draped one arm over the back of the couch, closing his eyes until he felt the cushion he was on shift and warmth press into his side. He looked down at the top of the other’s head, firstly noticing that they were blond.

“Hello?” He said, the blond looking up at him, a dimple poking into his cheek when he smiled.

“Hi,” He replied.

“Can I help you?” Yifan asked, and the blond shifted so his chin was on Yifan’s shoulder.

“I think so,” the blond replied. He learned forward and Yifan turned a little, bumping noses with the other who stopped just shy of meeting Yifan’s lips with his own. He met Yifan’s gaze and felt Yifan’s hand on his hip before the other’s lips pressed to his own. The blond smiled into the kiss, pressing his chest against Yifan’s and Yifan tightened his grip on the blond’s hips, pulling him as close as he could.
 

Jongdae ran a hand through his hair, sighing as he stepped into the club. He scanned the bar, frowning a little when Yifan wasn’t at his usual spot. He started to make his way past the bar and to the casual seating area, stopping when his eyes locked onto an all too familiar blond.

Why is Zhang here- The brunet’s eyes widened when Yixing pulled back a little from the light brown haired male he had been pressed against and Jongdae felt his heart stop. Yifan smiled up at Yixing, his tongue darting out to run across his lips before he reached up and place his hand on the back of Yixing’s neck, pulling his down for another kiss.

When they broke the kiss again, Yixing was the first to look Jongdae’s way and Yifan followed his gaze. There was a pause before Yifan seemed to realize Jongdae was there, tensing and pushing Yixing out of his lap so he could chase after he brunet who was already half way to the exit.

“Jongdae wait!” Yifan called, reaching for Jongdae’s hand. He managed to take a short hold of the other’s fingers before Jongdae yanked his hand back, smacking Yifan as he spun around to face him.

“Don’t. Touch. Me.” Jongdae growled, Yifan’s hand coming up to gingerly touch his cheek.

“J-Jongdae, I thought we were past that,” Yifan said, flinching when Jongdae took a step closer.

“No. You broke your promise,” He said lowly before turning and leaving.

“Another” Jongdae demanded, sliding the empty shot glass back to the bartender. The bartender opened the bottle Jongdae had already consumed a third of, filling the shot glass and before sliding it back to Jongdae.

“While you still have some of your whits, would you like to tell me when to cut you off?” The bartender asked as Jongdae threw back the golden liquid.

“If I pass out,” He replied, pushing the sot glass to her once again. She took a deep breath and let it out in a small huff, pouring his another shot then capped the bottle when someone down the bar called her over. Jongdae stared down at the shot for a moment, feeling the heat spreading through his stomach, and he closed his eyes. The way Yifan smiled up at Yixing flashed through his mind and he felt a painful throb in his heart, causing him to open his eyes and choke down the shot. He winced and glared down at the now empty glass. He hadn’t choked on alcohol since the first time he tried it, so why was he having trouble now?

“Jongdae?” The brunet tensed, feeling the hair on the back of his neck stand up. He looked down the bar, his shoulders tensing when he made eye contact with the copper-haired male. “It really is you. It’s been a while.” Jongdae swallowed hard, finding himself having to remember to breathe.

“Two and a half years,” Jongdae said in a small voce, his throat tightening when the other chuckled before looking down at the dark brown liquid in his own glass.

“Yeah, I guess it has been that long. I never thought we would cross paths after that night. Sometimes the memory of that night plays in my head.”

“Which night?” Jongdae asked, feeling his heart beating faster and harder.

“The night I broke your heat.”

“You broke more than that,” Jongdae muttered, venom trying to creep defensively into his voice and he wouldn’t have thought that Minseok had heard him if it wasn’t for the way the corner of his lips tugged up.

“I’m not surprised to hear that, you shut completely down when I said I didn’t love you.” Jongdae frowned, eyebrows knitting together and Minseok looked over at him. “Do you not remember? The look on your face makes me think not. You staggered back until you hit the wall and then you curled up. You wouldn’t answer me and when your mobile rang I answered it. The guy on the other end said he was looking for you, and sounded worried, so I told him my address and he came and took you away.” Jongdae swallowed hard, looking away from Minseok for the first time.

“I hurt you badly, and I know that. I didn’t have an understanding of what it was like to be in love with someone. But a year ago I found out what that was like, and he told me that none of it meant to him what it meant to me.” Minseok turned his body towards Jongdae. “I understand now, and I’m so sorry.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better!” Jongdae smelled, gripping the bar hard enough for the joints in his hand to hurt.

“I could.” Jongdae paused before easing his hold on the bar and looked over at Minseok.

“What?”

“I could,” Minseok repeated. “Make you feel better, I mean, That’s why you’ve been filling your stomach with whiskey, isn’t it? Looking for something to make you feel better?” Jongdae swallowed hard, the other cracking a smile. “You haven’t changed, have you?” Jongdae flinched when his mobile started ringing and he pulled it out. His eyes narrowed at the caller ID and he ignored the call, then turned his mobile off before looking to Minseok.

“Let’s go.”

The older pressed Jongdae’s back against the front door, stretching up to connect their lips. One hand was trailing up Jongdae’s shirt to trace his nails over the brunet’s ribs as the other unlocked the door and Jongdae stumbled a little when the door opened faster than he was expecting. Minseok backed him up and into his apartment, that still smelt just as Jongdae remembered, breaking the kiss to shut and lock the door behind himself before he pinned Jongdae to the nearest wall.

“Do you still like being bit as much as you did before, kid?” His breath brushed against Jongdae’s neck as he spoke, causing him to shiver. It had been close to two years since anyone but Yifan had been close like this, and even then Yifan was always so submissive to him.

“I’ve taken to doing the biting, no one has tried to return the favor,” Jongdae replied, placing his hands on Minseok’s hips as the other pressed them against Jongdae’s.

“Well then,” Minseok started before a sharp feeling at the base of Jongdae’s neck choked a moan from the brunet as he bucked his hips up. “We’ll just have to fix that, won’t we?” Minseok finished, his lips brushing against the indentation from his teeth and making Jongdae shiver.

“You planning to screw me into your wall or are going to actually make it to your bedroom?” Jongdae asked, not sure how he felt about how his breathing was already reduced to light panting just from the bite.

“I could take you against the wall, but I think we could get more creative in me room,” Minseok replied, trailing his hands down Jongdae’s arms to take him by his hands and lead him down the hall and past the door that was still all too familiar to Jongdae. The door closed behind Jongdae and he caught Minseok by surprise when he pushed the other to land on his back on the bed. Jongdae was rewarded with a mischievous grin from the older that made him shiver again as he knelt on the bed. Minseok reached out, catching the collar of his shirt and pulling him down so his lips ghosted against Jongdae’s.

“And here I expected you to be so sweet and submissive. It’s been a while since I’ve had a challenge,” he murmured against Jongdae’s lips before pulling him the rest of the way into the kiss. Jongdae pressed harder into the kiss, reaching out to start ing the other’s shirt and Minseok removed his in turn. When Minseok reached out again, running his hand up Jongdae’s chest to hook around the back of Jongdae’s neck he froze, seeing the hint of confusion enter Minseok’s eyes in response.

“I… I can’t do this.” Minseok’s eyebrows knitted together.

“What do you mean, kid?” He asked, Jongdae pushing his hand away.

“The only reason I agreed to this was because I got hurt, and before that only reason I wanted to be with you the way we were was because I was hurt and I wanted the pain to go away but…” He shook his head, hanging it as he shut his eyes tightly. “I can do this, it doesn’t feel right, you’re not…” He felt his heart throb, the image of Yifan kissing Yixing taking place behind his eyes again only to burn away, replaced by one of Yifan on his couch, book resting open on his chest as he had fallen asleep. The look on the blond’s face when he would tell Jongdae that he loved him, and Jongdae would stick his tongue out or roll his eyes in response. The time that he had held Jongdae to his chest after Chanyeol had had another relapse and Jongdae had gone to him for ual release and ended up crying.

“You’re not who I’m meant to be with.” Jongdae’s shoulders were shaking and he flinched when he felt something touch his back. Looking up he saw Minseok had draped his button up shirt over Jongdae, offering a small smile. “I’m so-” Minseok cut him off with the shake of his head.

“There’s no need to apologize. I get it. I just hope that it works out better between you and whoever it is than it did with me and who I thought I was meant to be with,” He replied. “Get dressed, I’ll take you home.”

It wasn’t until three days after Chanyeol had regained his memories that he spoke to Yifan. He was standing in front of the older’s door for close to half an hour before he willed himself to knock, and he was about to turn and leave when the door opened. Yifan looked like he had just woken up from sleeping in last night’s clothing, but maybe that could be attributed to the tired bags he had under his eyes as they widened.

“J-Jongdae?” The brunet pushed him into his apartment, slamming the door harder than it needed to be behind himself as his eyes were locked onto Yifan’s face. “I… I didn’t think I would see you again.”

“I thought that a lot the first year after Baekhyun’s death and you still forced yourself into my life,” Jongdae bit, and Yifan flinched, lowering his gaze. It made him look so much smaller than he was, and it made the brunet’s heart sting and he almost caved when the memory that caused all this mess tried to play in his head again. “What the were you doing with Zhang that night?” He snapped and Yifan swallowed hard, peaking up from under his bangs.

“Jongdae, you saw all that happened,” he replied and Jongdae grit his teeth.

“And there was no reason for what happened to happen! If you wanted out you should have said something rather than shove your tongue into some stranger’s mouth!” His hands balled into fists and Yifan’s eyes widened.

“Wanted out? Jongdae, no, that’s not at all what I wanted,” Yifan said, taking a step closer to Jongdae, though he took it back when Jongdae took one forward as well.

“It had to be! That’s the only reason why you would end up kissing someone else, because you wanted out, you wanted someone else because you’re done with me!” Jongdae’s fists came up, pressing against his eyes as they began to sting though it did nothing to keep back the tears and soon his shoulders were shaking, his knees soon to follow. “And I can’t deal with the thought of you being done with me, anyone else can cast me aside, not you… not you…” Jongdae’s voice cracked, his knees dropped him onto the floor and he heard Yifan settle in front of him. He lifted his head to look up at the blond, tears starting tracks down his cheeks.

“I love you, and that’s why I couldn’t stand what you did, it hurt… it hurt so badly that I didn’t know what to do. I haven’t felt like that since Baekhyun died, I wanted to scream, but I felt like I couldn’t breathe, someone special was being taken from me again…” he hung his head, tears making a small puddle on the floor in front of his knees. “I didn’t know what to do with myself, I didn’t want to see you, I wanted hit you, I wanted cling to you.” Jongdae tried to swallow, choking on the lump in his throat before he felt Yifan’s arms wrap around him and pull him against his chest. He fought with himself, trying to melt into the warmth while he beat his fist against it, his hits growing weaker and weaker.

“No amount of sorry’s will ever make up for how I hurt you, or be able to convey how sorry I am for what I did,” Yifan said when Jongdae finally stopped hitting him, and he held the brunet closer to his chest. “But I am. I’m so sorry. I broke my promise to you, and I’m the last person who should have ever hurt you like that,” He said before pressing his face into Jongdae’s hair. “I was starting to think that I would always be by your side, taking care of you however you let me and that would be as close as I ever got to you. The last thing I ever let myself hope for was you saying you loved me back.” He admitted once Jongdae’s breathing had calmed down and he wasn’t choking on his tears.

“I don’t know what you’re taking about,” Jongdae mumbled, shifting to press his wet face against Yifan’s neck, and the blond chuckled. He shifted Jongdae into his lap, taking a gentle hold of his face and pushing it back, Jongdae avoiding making eye contact.

“Come on now. You know exactly what I’m talking about. Since I’m sure that you won’t be the one to say it as much as I do, can I hear it once more?” Jongdae’s eyes flickered to meet his and he tried to turn his head away but Yifan held it firmly to stop him.

“…I love you.”