Soft twinkling lights set the whole park a glow as Chanyeol walked through it.  He usually avoided the park at night since he didn’t really like looking like a loner among the couples that strolled the park at night. Tonight however, he couldn’t help it. The streets were busy with holiday activities and there was most traffic than usual, in order to avoid an accident or being around a lot of people, Chanyeol opted for a walk through the park to get to his apartment.

Chanyeol readjusted his cap on his head as he walked past a display of angels all in  brilliant white lights. The barren tree branches overhead twinkled above his head. He sighed at how whimsical and nostalgic the evening light display made him feel. The park did the same Christmas light event every year, getting more and more extravagant with each year and now expanding throughout the whole park with twinkling lights of every color.

Nothing compared to the first time Chanyeol came here for the light display.

-6 years ago-

Piping hot cocoa in his hands, Chanyeol entered the park alone. Kyungsoo and Jongin bailed on him at the last minute (no doubt Jongin had something to do with Kyungsoo cancelling, the guy can never seem to say ‘no’ to Jongin when he asked for help), and Baekhyun still refused to speak to him(no doubt still sour at them breaking up because Chanyeol couldn’t put up with his attitude and wanted to focus on music instead of him). Joonmyeon and Tao had mentioned they would be at the park for the lighting of the giant Christmas tree located in the center of the park, Chanyeol figured he would bump into them eventually if he walked around long enough.

Chanyeol took a sip of his drink, humming when he tasted the peppermint flavor mixed into the drink. The whipped cream was long gone and made a nice frothy color on top. Chanyeol took another sip and continued walking.

He was making his way around the light Angels when he heard someone call out his name from behind. Blinking, Chanyeol turned around and felt his insides do a somersault when he saw Kris waving at him from the wooden benches, looking cold but he still had a grin on his face as they made eye contact. Chanyeol stopped walking and waited for Kris to catch up to him. He bowed his head when Kris got closer, he could never look the guy straight in the eye whenever the older guy was near him.

“Hey,” said Kris out of breath, still grinning, “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Yeah,” chuckled Chanyeol nervously, fiddling with the cup in his hands, “I had some free time and decided to come check out the lights.”

“Where’s your usual entourage?” asked Kris lightly, as they walked side by side, “I never see you without that little guy who’s always scowling.”

“Kyungsoo?” inquired Chanyeol, chuckling at the comment, “He’s with Jongin, he’s helping him some notes for our finals next week.”

“You prepared for your finals?” asked Kris curiously as he glanced at Chanyeol, “You don’t seem that nervous.”

“If it's anything like the mock finals they made us prepare for in cram school, I think I can manage.” replied Chanyeol with a shrug, playing it cool when on the inside he was a complete wreck about taking the finals.

“You’re pretty confident,” noted Kris, smiling to himself, “If you need any help, I’m available, if anything.”

“Are you taking music production and engineering too?” asked Chanyeol curiously, glancing at the tall elder

“I’m actually in architectural engineering,” answered Kris with a nervous laugh, “I think I would be a little useless in the music department.”

Chanyeol nodded his head and stared down at his cup, thinking. No wonder he never saw Kris around, they were both studying entirely two different things, on complete opposite sides of the university campus.

“But if you ever want to exchange study playlist, I can help you out there.” added Kris quickly, smiling nervously

“Sounds good,” smiled Chanyeol, “That would be nice.”

The two carried on comfortable silence through the park, separating only when they came across a couple or a small group of people, mostly families and friends. Finally when they were walking down a deserted trail did Kris speak again.

“So,” said Kris awkwardly, “Do you like Bach?”

-end-

Chanyeol laughed at the memory. He remembered laughing then too when Kris suddenly listed a few classical composers, asking which was his favorite. Kris asked him a lot of questions that night, some were serious (‘What are you going to do after you graduate?’), some were ridiculous (‘You ever wondered what makes a rubber duck squeak?’). Needless to say, Chanyeol and Kris forgot about the lighting of the Christmas tree and walked around the park for hours til Chanyeol got a distressed call from Kyungsoo, stating that they ran out of ramen and they needed to make an emergency run to the nearest 24/7 grocery store. Chanyeol bid Kris ‘goodnight’ and left the park.

Chanyeol met up with Kris again after the frenzy that was finals, and this time didn’t have any interruptions, or met by ‘accident’.

-6 years ago-

The wind blew, making Chanyeol shiver even more than he already was. He glanced at his wristwatch and saw it was after 9, he sighed and buried his hands back into his puffy jacket. He was starting to second guess if it was a good idea to ask Minseok to ask Luhan if he could ask Kris to meet him back at the park again. Chanyeol kicked himself for not asking for Kris’s number when he had the chance. It would of made meeting up a whole lot easier, not to mention making him less obvious that he wanted to see the elder again. Minseok for hours till he eventually confessed that he wanted to see Kris again and not just to exchange playlists but to actually see him.

“It’s good that you’re seeing other people again,” encouraged Minseok warmly, patting Chanyeol on the back, “You need to start seeing other people instead of being cooped up in your room all the time.”

Chanyeol buried his face into his scarf, the cold was nipping at his nose and cheeks. His ears were aching from the cold, his furry wolf hat was doing nothing to keep them warm.

‘If he doesn’t show up in five minutes, I’ll go back to the dorm and finish packing’ Chanyeol thought to himself, bracing himself when another cold wind past by.

He ended up waiting 15 minutes. There were small snowflakes drifting down from the sky, when Chanyeol decided he had enough waiting. Shaking the feeling of embarrassment of being stood up, Chanyeol tugged his jacket hood over his hat and started to walk toward the exit of the park. If he was lucky, he would catch the bus back to the university without having to wait in the cold for the next bus. Staring down at the sidewalk, lost in his thoughts, Chanyeol didn’t hear someone shouting his name or see them running toward him. It wasn’t till he bumped into a solid chest did he look up and realized Kris was standing in front of him, looking out of breath.

“Ah my lungs,” groaned Kris, leaning forward and resting his hands on his knees trying to catch his breath, “Don’t run in the cold. Or just don’t run in general.”

“Wha-” sputtered Chanyeol, his insides doing that weird clenching and his face warming up at seeing the elder again, “Are you okay? Where, where did you come from?”

“I.” gasped Kris, breathing heavily still, “I ran, from the karaoke bar nearby. Luhan-that stupid-stupid deer, finally remembered you asked to meet me at the park.”

“Oh.” was all Chanyeol was able to say, bowing his head to cover his warming face

“I’m sorry!” said Kris quickly, hands resting on Chanyeol’s unsuspected shoulders, “I didn’t know! If I knew, I wouldn’t have made you wait in the cold!”

“It’s alright,” mumbled Chanyeol, still looking down,

“No, really,” insisted Kris, staring at Chanyeol, “I’m sorry. I should have gave you my number that night instead of having you rely on that idiot Luhan to relay your message. I should have asked you to meet me at the park instead of the other way around!”

“What do you mean?” asked Chanyeol nervously, peeking up at Kris

“I mean I like you,” replied Kris, letting go of Chanyeol’s shoulders and letting his arms drop to his side, “I mean, I have for awhile. I’ve been trying to figure out ways to get to meet you again, since the beginning of the semester but, the timing was all wrong.” he rambled on, a hand coming up and rubbing the back of his neck, “When I saw you the other night alone, I knew that was my one and only chance to get to talk to you without anyone around to make it weird or take you away.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol simply said, his face burning from embarrassment? Astonishment? Happiness?

“I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” continued Kris, “I really wanted to talk to you again and maybe get your number before we go off on winter break.”

“Oh,” repeated Chanyeol, forcing himself not to smile as he stared at the ground

“I know it’s freezing out and you're probably mad at me for almost standing you up but,” said Kris nervously, looking down at his feet, “Do you wanna maybe, try this again? We can go somewhere, where it’s warm and talk some more? I’ll pay and give you my number so you never have to wait in the cold again, or rely on Luhan to be the messenger.”

Chanyeol felt his heart do that funny fluttering thing and burst at the seams at the same time. He really wanted to spend more time with Kris, and Kris it seemed wanted to spend more time with him as well. Finally raising his head, Chanyeol hoped his face wasn’t too red or pink as he looked up at Kris, who was waiting for his answer with a hopeful expression.

“Okay.” Chanyeol said simply, nodding his head, he didn’t trust himself to speak more than two words at the moment.

“Wow, really?” asked Kris, taken back for a moment before he broke into a smile, “You want to?”

“Y-yeah,” stuttered Chanyeol, looking down at his feet again, smiling to himself, “I want to.”

“You wanna make a quick trip through the park before we go somewhere else?” asked Kris politely, “I sort of, wanted to walk through that tunnel of lights with you again.”

Chanyeol laughed quietly before he looked up at Kris and flashed him a bright smile that took Kris off guard.

“I actually wanted to walk through that tunnel with you too,” admitted Chanyeol, blushing again as he looked back down, “maybe even hold your hand?”

Chanyeol peeked up at Kris and gasped when the elder reached out and took his hand, intertwining their fingers.

“As long as I get to hold yours,” answered Kris, in a low voice

-end-

Chanyeol stopped walking when he came across the very tunnel of lights he walked through with Kris. The clear white lights lit up the night like a thousand candles. Every year after that first time, they walked through this tunnel, hand in hand, till they stopped three years ago.

His eyes couldn’t help but get sad as he stared at the tunnel. This place held so many precious memories. This was the same place where Kris whispered ‘I love you’. There were so many words that were said in this tunnel. Words of promise, words of love, words of encouragement, words of commitment, and words of sadness. Chanyeol blinked back the tears as he couldn’t help but remember the last time they walked through here.

-3 years ago-

“You’re being awfully quiet,” pointed out Chanyeol as they slowed their pace down so Minseok and Luhan could have some space, “What’s up buttercup?”

Kris made a sound of amusement as he glanced at Chanyeol, his hand reaching out and cupping his face. Chanyeol hummed in content and closed his eyes, leaning into the touch.

“Nothing’s wrong,” replied Kris after long pause, “I’m just enjoying the moment is all. I want to remember this, the way this place looks, the way you look, the way you make me feel every time I look at you.”

“You’re so romantic,” murmured Chanyeol, pulling away from his boyfriend’s hand, “no wonder Tao and Jongdae hate hanging out with us. You always out do them with your romance.”

Chanyeol smiled when he saw Kris laugh at his remark. Kris had been so distant lately it was worrying him. Than again the same could be said about Luhan and Tao. Minseok and Joonmyeon couldn’t figure out what was making their own lovers so distant and quiet, when they were the complete opposite. Kris stopped laughing at stared at Chanyeol, his expression almost sad like, like it hurt to look at him. Chanyeol looked down the tunnel to where their friends were, only they had left the tunnel. Luhan was holding Minseok from the back, engulfing him in hug as they walked. Chanyeol looked back to Kris and saw Kris was staring at them as well, looking almost sad.

“What are you thinking about?” inquired Chanyeol as he reached out and took Kris’s hand, tugging him along

“Life.” answered Kris simply, but that left a lot unsaid.

“That’s deep,” commented Chanyeol, swinging their arms lightly

“Life and where it’s going to lead us,” elaborated Kris as he let go of Chanyeol’s hand and wrapped an arm around the other's shoulders.

“It’s going to lead us wherever,” said Chanyeol gently, leaning into Kris, “It will lead us to where we need to go.”

“I suppose,” said Kris with a sigh,

“It will always lead us back to each other.” replied Chanyeol

“Do you believe that?” asked Kris suddenly, stopping and turning to Chanyeol, “Do you believe it will?”

“Of course,” answered Chanyeol quickly, “We will always come back to each other.”

They made it out of the tunnel. Chanyeol pouted when Kris let him go and dropped his arm to the side. Before Chanyeol could probe more out of his lover, Kris had already walked away calling out to Luhan and Minseok who were playfully running around the display of reindeers. Luhan yelled for the two to catch up so they can go get something to eat, his eyes twinkling more as he informed them that Minseok was getting hungry and he needed to feed his ‘baozi’ before he blew away. Kris urged Chanyeol to catch up, but stopped when he felt a hand on his arm.

“What about you?” asked Chanyeol suddenly, “Do you believe we will come back together if life takes us wherever?”

“Of course,” answered Kris, looking solem, “No matter what Chanyeol, I’ll always come back to you. Even if I have to fight my way to come back.”

-end-

Chanyeol stepped away from the tunnel, walking away from it. He took the extra route around the tunnel. Chanyeol stared at the tunnel as he went around, his heart clenching as he moved away from the tunnel that was so precious to him. He couldn’t bring himself to walk through it, even after these years alone.

If he had known that, that was going to be the last time he ever walked through it with Kris, he would of made the elder walk slower. He would of told him over and over again that he loved Kris. He would've held him, not letting go till he heard Kris swear that he would come back, he would stay. If he had known that was going to be the last time, he would of done things differently. He wouldn’t have let Kris go, he would of made him stay.

There are a lot of things Chanyeol wished he did differently, but more than anything, he wished he could have made Kris change his mind.

“We will come back together again in the end, won’t we?” he whispered quietly

Giving the light tunnel one more look, Chanyeol stayed on the path and quickly made it out of the park.

Oh my heart!

I had to stop writing this a few times because I teared up!

BaekXing was suppose to feature in this chpater but, I decided to give this chapter to KrisYeol.

They deserve a chapter to themselves.

But I didn't mean to make it sad! I blame it on "Stay With Me" OST

Will they come back together?

*cries*

Even yami doesn't know!

Sorry for the delay folks! Hopefully I pick up the pace and we get back on track!

See you guys in Chapter 6!

Talk to me in the comments!

yaminom out~!