WARNING: Some crude language in the later part of the chapter

After that night, Chanyeol began to see Baekhyun everywhere he went. He saw him at the café when he went to get his morning coffee, he saw him when he went shopping, and he even spotted him at the movies. The sightings were frequent but brief, lasting mere seconds before Baekhyun would disappear in the crowd.

If he didn’t know any better, he would think that Baekhyun was stalking him. Sometimes, he even wondered if the Baekhyun that he had been seeing was simply a figment of his imagination. Baekhyun never displayed any signs of being aware of Chanyeol’s presence. He simply lingered in the background of Chanyeol’s life, like a ghost that was determined to haunt him from a distance.

It felt really weird, seeing Baekhyun again and again, when he had been sure he wouldn’t be seeing Baekhyun ever again. Not after that night at the club, when he had decided that it would serve as a proper severance of sorts. With Baekhyun appearing almost everywhere he went, it was even harder to truly move on with his life. Every sighting of his mysterious ex-lover took his interest and curiosity up a notch, and Chanyeol often wondered what Baekhyun was getting up to in his life.

However, Chanyeol was alright with having Baekhyun dance around the distant edges of his life. If Baekhyun wished to haunt him like that, then Chanyeol decided that he didn’t mind, for Baekhyun’s presence made him feel a strange sense of peace.

How ironic, for the one person he should hate with all his heart made him feel at peace.

“Do you think Baekhyun has an ulterior motive for appearing in front of you so frequently?” Irene had voiced her concern during a dinner date, brows furrowed cutely. “After disappearing completely for 3 months, he’s suddenly back again. You are seeing him too often for it to be coincidences.”

“An ulterior motive? I don’t know about that,” Chanyeol said uncomfortably. “He doesn’t even spare a single glance in my direction. It’s like he doesn’t know that I’m at the same place as he is.”

Irene sighed deeply and reached out to squeeze Chanyeol’s arm. “You cannot trust him. Remember how he betrayed you? The next time you see him, turn around and leave immediately, okay? You need to be more cautious! This all sounds very fishy to me.”

Chanyeol responded with a soft sigh of his own. “You’re right. I’ll be careful.”

However, his promise to Irene was broken approximately three days later.

Chanyeol was at the florist, hoping to order a special bouquet for a friend’s birthday. When he entered the store, he froze in his steps almost immediately when he recognized a very familiar back. For a crippling moment, he contemplated if he should just leave quietly and pretend that he had not just seen his ex-lover standing a few feet away from him. However, Baekhyun turned around at that very moment and their eyes met.

It was difficult to tear his eyes away from the shorter brunette, who had his lips parted in a display of surprise. They stared at each other for what seemed like eternity, their bodies frozen like statues. Chanyeol’s heart pounded so rapidly in his ribcage, he wondered if Baekhyun could hear it. Was he ready to face Baekhyun? Chanyeol wasn’t sure. He was a coward till the very end, and all he wanted to do was to run far away from the impending confrontation.

Surprisingly, Baekhyun was the one to break the tense silence, offering Chanyeol a small smile. “Hello, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol felt goosebumps all over his skin at the way Baekhyun pronounced his name, the syllables rolling off his tongue like a nostalgic melody. He didn’t know how to respond and simply settled on a stiff nod of his head.

“Baekhyun,” he said, feeling his mouth go dry at the situation he was facing.

Chanyeol could feel the familiar sting in his eyes, and he hoped that Baekhyun wouldn’t notice that he was on the verge of spilling tears. There were way too many thoughts running through his mind and way too many emotions to process. He allowed his eyes to trace Baekhyun’s soft features, feeling a painful wave of nostalgia assault his senses. Baekhyun, once the love of his life, was nothing but a stranger to him right now. He could barely recognize Baekhyun in his designer outfit, when his most enduring memory of the shorter male was of him in his favorite hoodie and ripped jeans. Just like the other night at the club, he realized that Baekhyun had changed.

Or maybe he hadn’t changed. Maybe this was what Baekhyun was really like beneath all of his lies, Chanyeol thought to himself bitterly.

Baekhyun put down the small pot of daffodils that he had been examining and took a step towards Chanyeol. “How have you been?”

Chanyeol averted his eyes, choosing instead to stare at a pot of white orchids. “I’ve been well. What about you?”

“I haven’t been well,” Baekhyun chuckled, his laughter a little too bright and forced. “But I’m coping.”

“Why?” Chanyeol asked sharply. “I would have thought that you would be leading a happy, comfortable life. You aren’t easily satisfied, are you? Or is Oh Sehun not treating you well?”

It was hard to miss the insinuations that Chanyeol was making, especially when coupled with his defensive stance and bitter tone. Hurt flashed across Baekhyun’s face, but it was quickly replaced by a look of quiet composure.

“Don’t assume things,” Baekhyun replied steadily. “Don’t assume things when you don’t know the full story.”

Chanyeol ignored Baekhyun’s retort and let out a sigh. “I think it is hardly appropriate for us to be standing here and making small talk, acting as if things are alright between us because it isn’t. How can you look me in the eye so confidently without feeling a single shred of guilt or remorse? Have you forgotten how you betrayed me?”

“Is guilt and remorse what you want me to feel?” Baekhyun said shakily. “That’s hardly fair, Park Chanyeol. That’s hardly fair, because you should be the one to feel those emotions.”

A wave of anger surged up in Chanyeol and his façade finally crumbled. “Why should I have to feel any guilt and remorse for your terrible actions? What have I done wrong? All I ever did was love you, Baekhyun,” he said, tears rolling down his cheeks. The floodgates have opened, and there was no stopping now. “I loved you so much, but you broke me. So don’t you dare say such things to me when you don’t even have the heart and decency to apologize.”

Baekhyun squeezed his eyes shut tightly, feeling the pain rip through his body and ripping apart old wounds. They had way too many misunderstandings between them, but that wasn’t going to stop him from obtaining closure.

After all, this way only the first part of his plan.

“You want to know what you did wrong? You assumed. That’s what you did,” Baekhyun replied with a note of finality, brushing past Chanyeol roughly to leave the store.

Chanyeol simply stood there, choking on silent sobs and wondering what Baekhyun had meant.

--

Baekhyun was not surprised when Irene contacted him a few days later, asking if they could meet up for a cup of coffee. In fact, it was precisely as he had planned and predicted. ‘A cup of coffee’ was definitely lingo for ‘we need to talk’, and Baekhyun prepared himself with a glass of scotch just before he left the house.

When he arrived, Irene was already there, sipping on a steaming cup of coffee. He settled himself across the table from Irene, offering her a tentative smile. To his surprise, Irene returned the smile warmly, eyes crinkling into half-moons.

“I ordered a latte for you. I hope it’s to your liking,” she said, gesturing towards the dainty cup in front of Baekhyun.

Baekhyun glanced at the cup but made no move to touch it. “Thank you,” he replied, pressing his lips into another awkward smile. “We both know we’re not here to drink coffee, so if you have anything to say, then please cut to the chase.”

Irene chuckled in surprise, taken aback by his bluntness. She leaned back into her chair with her arms crossed in front of her chest. “You’re right. I called you out today to speak to you.”

“And may I presume that this has something to do with Chanyeol?”

Irene hummed, tilting her head to the side. “Maybe. But more than that, I’m more interested in talking about you,” she said slowly. “Is there anything you need, or anything I can help you with? I realized that you have been hovering around Chanyeol lately, and I can’t help but wonder why. If there’s anything you need, I can gladly help you with that. Reappearing in Chanyeol’s life isn’t the best way to get things done.”

Baekhyun laughed loudly, fixing Irene with an unreadable gaze. “Does it really bother you this much that I’m back?”

“Of course,” Irene sighed heavily. “You are bad news for Chanyeol. I don’t want him to see you around and be reminded of all the pain that you put him through. Give it up, Baekhyun. No matter how much you hover around him like a fly, he won’t take you back. He has seen through your lies, and he won’t be tricked a second time.”

“My lies?” Baekhyun scoffed. “Or yours?” he said pointedly.

“What are you trying to say?” Irene replied defensively, straightening her back.

“Cut the pretense already, Irene. I know everything. I know you were the one who framed me. I know you were the one who planned everything, and I know you are the reason why I can’t even use a pair of chopsticks properly.” Baekhyun raised his right arm weakly and stared at his hands. “I used to play the violin. I loved the violin so much, I used to dream of joining a professional orchestra. Even if that dream fell through, I would have been okay, as long as I could still play. The violin was my passion, but I bet you knew that when you asked them to break my arm.”

Irene sat there silently, her face frozen in discomfort. She was not used to having her perfect façade crumble into smithereens right in front her face, but Baekhyun