“Yeol?”

I poked my head out of my bedroom to look at the kitchen. Chanyeol was behind the stove, flipping the pancake he made for snack time. I told him I was hungry and wanted to go to the cafe nearby to buy something light to eat. He stopped me before I could get my coat. He said he will make pajeon for me. He refused when I offered my hand to mix the batter and told me to continue to make up my room. I pouted before he lightly chuckled and playfully pulled my nose.

“Hm?” He responded without turning away from the flat pan.

“Can you help with something in here, please?” I asked him. “After you’re done though.”

“Okay. I’ll make another two and then I’ll help you.” He turned away to look at me. “Okay?”

I happily nodded before waving to him to continue his work. I went back inside and resumed my work on my ‘Wall of Fame’. It’s something I did when I was staying abroad. I printed the photos of most important people in my life into 3R sized and placed it on one side of my bedroom.

“Woah.” Chanyeol said after seeing the wall when he entered the room. “You really did it.”

“Did what?”

“Wall of Fame. You told me you wanted to do one if you ever work outside of South Korea.”

“That was a long time ago.” I felt the blush creeping up my whole face.

“I remember everything though.” He looked at the photos on the wall. “You think it’s easy to forget anything about you?”

I felt flushed again. Hearing it directly from Chanyeol made my heartbeat went faster than ever. I mentally slammed my chest to stop it from hammering rapidly. I reminded myself he still regarded me as his close friend. We continued to work on my photo wall.

“There’s a line just for me?”

I looked up from the photo of me in Italy with Josh and Brian. Chanyeol was looking at the photos I have neatly placed on the floor.

“There is more than one line actually...” I said slowly. “I’ll show you when we’re done.”

When Chanyeol agreed, we resumed our work placing all the photos accordingly. I took care of the bottom part while he did the upper part since he’s taller. After we have completed the photo placement, we sat cross-legged beside each other on the floor. I excitedly pointed out at all the photos and shared all the stories behind those photos while Chanyeol quietly listened to me with some questions in between. I really wanted to avoid telling why I have special lines for him but a promise is a promise.

“Lie down on your tummy,” I instructed him.

“Why?” He questioned me but followed what I told him to anyway.

“See this picture?” I pointed out at one of the most bottom photos on the wall.

“Hey, we took this in Namsan right? That night after you had five shootings?”

“Yes.”

“I remembered your face when I dragged you there. You’re like in between crying, killing me and laughing at the same time.”

“I was so tired, dude. I’m not gonna lie.”

“I know. I just wanted you to release tension by hanging out with me.”

“You mean by dragging me from Hongdae all the way to Namsan just to cheer me up.” I pulled his hair making him whine. “You could just take me to eat yanno.”

“I know. But you’ve been whining to me how much you missed the fried twisted potato there. So I, trying to be a good dude, kindly brought you there.”

“Okay, fine. I, thank you, my dear knight in the shining armour for making me happy.”

We laughed before he came out with another question.

“So, why are they here though? At the bottom?”

“You know how I always am when I’m down right?”

“Yeah. Just like this.” He pointed out at his current position on the floor. “I was always worried when I found you like this back then. Thought you passed out or something.”

“Yeah.” I nodded bitterly before continue to explain. “Whenever I feel down when I was in NYC, I will look at these pictures and I’ll remember how you made me happy again. I remembered feeling tired when we took these pictures but you managed to cheer me up again. Your arms were around my shoulders in every photo right? I can feel your warmth whenever I cry. It’s like I’m in your arms from miles away.”

I gently caressed the photo, remembering all those days and nights when I cried in my loft back in New York. I felt like tearing up again but I just fight it with a smile. A warm hand grasped mine, telling me everything is okay. I can feel him staring at me. I just ignored it and told him to sit up again. This time, I pointed out the line that is parallel to his vision while sitting down. It was another line dedicated to him. All of them were the pictures of us, playing snow fights, going to ski, playing basketball, all those fun times we had. Just the two of us.

“When I feel better, I will sit down like this and look at these pictures. Recalling every good memory with you.”

After that, I pulled him towards the bed and make him sit on it. I took a place by his side and showed him other pictures of him that could be seen directly from that position.

“Aren’t those...?”

“Yeah.” I grinned at him. “During our breakfast together.”

“Remember I barged in a lot just for you to make pancakes for me?”

“Yeah. One day you ended up making pancakes by yourself and brought it to bed for me because I was sick.” I pointed out a picture of us on my bedside with a pale-looking me and too-bright-for-morning Chanyeol.

“Oh my God.”

“What?”

“We really did that?” He pointed out at a picture of us having breakfast in McDonald's. “Oh man. I miss this. Let’s do this again.”

“Really, Yeol? You’re an international supermodel now. You wanted to be seen like that?”

“Hey, supermodels can have fun too.”

“Wearing pyjamas and eat breakfast in McDonald's is a fun idea?”

“And bare faced. You game?”

“Game on, man. I’m not helping you if your image got tarnished because of this.”

He blew raspberry before letting me continue to explain.

“If I get very lazy one day and just want to stay in bed, I will look at those pictures and it will remind me how I will miss a fun day if I didn’t get my off the bed. Just... It’s just my mood booster.”

Chanyeol remained silent beside me. We quietly admired the work we had done before he spoke again.

“Why?”

“Hm?” I turned to him.

“Why do you have lines for me? I don’t think I’ve done enough good things in your life that make me have lines.”

I turned back to the photos with a smile.

“You may say that, but just so you know, ever since God made us met each other, my life changed. A lot.” I calmly said even though my tears threatened to fall. “I cried a lot for the past seven years because of what happened between us, yes. But that doesn’t mean you never bring anything good in my life. You mean a lot to me. You make me have a lot of emotion in one go. Happy, excited, nervous, shy, upset, mad, jealous. Yes, we fought a lot but we still have a great time with each other. Even when you said you can't be there because you're busy, you still make time for me even a little. You're not always there but when you're there, I will have the greatest time of my life. Your presence can make me feel alive. Remembering our time together can make me smile and cry when I'm at my lowest even we are miles apart.”

I turned back to him to find him staring at me with teary eyes. Cupping his right cheek with my hand, I smiled at him.

“Trust me, Chanyeol.” I softly said. “You’re the best damn thing happened in my life.”

***

“Kibum hyung will kill me if I added any weight. I’m mentioning your name before he slits my throat.”

“Park Chanyeol, you could eat the whole Myeongdong streets and still have that washboard tummy.”

Said washboard tummy owner pouted. Chanyeol and I just finished our dinner in one of his favourite restaurant in Hongdae. I treated him dinner as a thank you for helping me with my apartment. Nothing awkward happened after we had the talk about my wall of fame. He just smiled and chuckled lightly when he realized he cried. We continued our work until 7 pm and went to dinner after we cleaned ourselves. We opted to walk since it’s nearby to our apartment. Chanyeol and I enjoyed the comfortable silence between us while walking home. I was looking around our neighbourhood when suddenly Chanyeol stopped walking. I turned to where he was looking and the recreation park came into my view. We used to play a lot around here when we have the time or we just lie down on the grass, enjoying the night sky and talk about everything.

“Yeol?” I asked. “Why did you stopped?”

“You’re up for a race?”

“Yeol, we just had dinner.” I deadpanned.

“The last one to reach the swings will have to buy the winner ice cream.”

“Game on. Go!”

“Hey! No fair!”

I just continued to run despite Chanyeol’s cry of protest at the back. It’s hard to run when your stomach is full of pork ribs, lunch box, and cola. The swing set is a few feet in front of me now and I can feel my victory. Unfortunately, I raced with a guy blessed with a pair of very long feet. He easily passed me when I was thinking what flavour Chanyeol should buy for me. I pouted when he took the only swing available since the other one has broken.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank my family for raising me well until I’m able to run this fast with long legs. I would like to thank the grandma from the restaurant too for making good food. And I want to thank—”

“Brag,” I said monotonously while hugging one of the swing’s frames. “Brag all you want, Park. Go on. Brag.”

Chanyeol just flashed his creepy (but adorable, not that I will say it out loud but yeah) smile before gesturing me to come near him. I walked towards him slowly before standing in front of him with my arms crossed.

“What?”

The tall guy chuckled before gently pulling me towards him by my arm. He adjusted himself on the swing to be more comfortable before letting me sit on his lap. I blushed a little when he wrapped one of his arms around my waist protectively. My hand automatically went on his when he started to swing both of us.

“Are you sure this is safe, dude? I mean—”

“It’s okay.” He said softly while tightening his arm around me. “I’ll keep you safe in my arms if we fall.”

I just stayed quiet, enjoying his warmth around me. No words were spoken, so it’s just the creaking sound from the swing accompanied both of us. Feeling much stable, Chanyeol pulled his hand away from the swing and adjoined it with the other arm around my waist. I myself rested my back against his chest before softly caressing his arms.

“Yeol?”

“Hm?”

“When did you start to work for Star Museum?”

The swing stopped. I heard him sigh. I wanted to tell him it is okay if he didn’t want to tell but he just started to recall the history and shared it with me.

“It was five years ago. I went to the casting as the company was recruiting new models. You know how I did a lot of freelance modeling before right?” When he saw me nod, he continued. “I used the shots and close-ups as my portfolio and here I am now.”

“I really thought you’ll become a musician though. I mean, you always told me you wanted to be one. I kinda waited for some news about you debuting as an idol.”

“I still play music though. Luhan hired me to perform at Shine & Howl whenever I am free. I composed some songs too. For some big companies, film production and indie production house. None of them are title tracks though. Just some OST and album tracks.”

I nodded before asking him again.

“Why modeling over music though? You live for music. So why are you putting your modeling career on top?”

“There are a lot of reasons behind it.”

“And they will be?”

“I enjoyed it. I'm tired as hell after every shootings and event but I love doing it. I met a lot of people too even in the music industry. That's how I got some great deals for my music production. But the main reason," He shyly peeked at me from my shoulder. "Is you.”

I froze in his arms. What the heck?

“I love modeling, hands down. I enjoyed every single moment in front of the camera and on the stage. But to be honest, Sky, I worked hard to be on the international runway stage because I wanted to meet you.” He calmly spoke. “My world crashed when Sehun told me you went to NYC. Without even saying goodbye to me. Not even a text. I really missed you and I really, really want to meet you again. I can’t wait for you to come back to Seoul because I know you won’t and I can’t wait for another year. So instead of you coming back to me, I came to you. I’m the one chasing now.”

My grip on his arms became tighter. I can’t believe what I’m hearing now. My head went everywhere listening to what had come out from Chanyeol’s lips. I can feel tears welling up in my eyes. Suddenly, I felt him resting his forehead on my shoulder.

“But I’m afraid. Afraid of you not accepting me back in your life after all these years. When I met you at Kim & Co. the other day, I was really nervous. Not to mention Sehun’s constant glare on me. I remembered Baekhyun and Jongdae threatened me that they will end my life if I hurt you when they knew I was going to NYC. I feel like pulling you to me and keep you in my arms for the rest of my life. But I was so afraid that I'll hurt you. I was so afraid you’ll push me away again.”

I can feel his hiccup, knowing that the man is in tears now. I just let him talked.

“You know, when Sehun told me you went away, I just realized I still dated her because of you. You really want us to be together even though you love me. I did it for you. Because you said it will make you happy if I get back with her again. I got back together with her because I wanted to make you happy. You always say that right? But I didn’t know that decision made me lose you that day. Before, no matter how many times I broke up and get back together with her, you’ll still be there. Even if seeing us hurt you. Even if you said you need time and space for you to be okay with us being a couple again, you’ll always come back to me in a few days. How stupid I am to take you for granted for years.”

“Where is she now?” I muttered.

“Still in Seoul. I still visit her sometimes when she said she’s sick.”

“She’s still not well?”

“Yeah. You know her condition. It’s not like it can be cured in a few years. I still bring her to her regular medical check-up since I’m the one who knows about her history the most. The doctor told us she’s getting better.”

“That’s good.” I turned to him and smiled. “I hope she’ll be okay.”

“Yeah.” He gave me a warm smile. “Me too.”

After playing with the swings for a few more minutes, we continued our journey home quietly. Both of us were probably tired after a very long day and a very long confession session that we didn’t even talk during the whole journey. When we entered the elevator, he only pressed ‘9’ and not ‘12’ but I just kept quiet about it. As soon as we arrived at the door of my unit, I turned to him.

“Thank you for today. I probably won’t finish it fast if I do it alone.”

“No problem. And thank you too. For the dinner.”

I smiled at him before bidding him good night. However, when I was about to enter my unit, he pulled my arm causing me to halt. I looked at him confusedly.

“Sky?”

“Hm?”

He took a deep breath before pulling me closer to him. He cupped my cheeks for a while before pressing his lips on my forehead. I have no idea why my heart doing flip flops and I can feel my eyes getting watery. I felt so warm and safe when he proceeded to give me a bear hug. I tried really hard to ignore his rapid heartbeat as well as my own. He kissed my crown and temple alternately as I circled my arms around his waist. He caressed my hair before whispered to my ears.

“I’m sorry it took me five years to realize everything. But I really want to give us a shot. I know how much I need you. How much I want you. How much I love you. Give me a chance to make up for all those years I’ve wasted. We’ll take it slow, I promise. I don’t mind if you don’t want us to be in a relationship yet.” He pulled back to look into my eyes. “Please? I received so much love from you. Now let me give you all the love you deserved. I’ll give you more than you gave me.”

What’s there to lose right?

“Okay.”