Baekhyun sat on the edge of the bed. He wouldn't be able to text Kris until they were out at sea, which would be at least another hour. He tossed his phone down and flopped back into the big bed. He felt empty. He wanted to cry but the tears just wouldn't come. He had to face the facts that their relationship was ending. He held up his left hand looking at the engagement ring on it. He turned his hand from side to side letting the light reflect off of the diamond. He had never really liked the ring, thinking it a bit ostentatious, but Kris had insisted that the fiancé of the heir to his father's company couldn't walk around with a plain ring or people would think the company wasn't doing well.

Baekhyun decided against throwing the ring overboard and instead, decided to take a short nap before dinner. 'To hell with you Wu Yifan.' he thought as he drifted off to sleep. There were at least ten buffets and five restaurants on board and Baekhyun wanted to try them all. 'I'm gonna have some fun and eat until I get fat.' 

~~~~~

Meanwhile in the Captain's quarters, the Captain and some of the higher ranking officers were preparing for the arrival of a V.I.P. at the next port. Park Chanyeol, pop idol, was going to be joining them for the remainder of the voyage. The cruise line gave him free passage in exchange for performing for one night only on the ship's main stage. The cruise line knew that Chanyeol would be photographed all over their ship by not only paparazzi, but the passengers as well. (They couldn't have bought better exposure if they had wanted to.) The crew was excited to have such a well known celebrity aboard. However, the Captain reminded them, they still needed to respect his privacy, and let him enjoy himself. 

~~~~~

Chanyeol was travelling back home where he would meet his “fiancé”, a newly popular actor, Kim Junmeyon, or better known by his stage name, Suho. Their engagement was no more than a ‘deal’ made between their companies. Naturally it made headlines world-wide as Chanyeol was pretty much known as the world's biggest playboy.

(It wasn’t all true…he did date a lot, but it wasn’t his fault that he never felt that ‘certain something’ that he was supposed to feel when he met his soul mate. This resulted in many dates, but nothing serious, hence his reputation.)

Chanyeol's music company was finding it harder and harder to market his music with a ‘bad boy’ image and decided that they wouldn't support him anymore unless he settled down. Unfortunately, their definition of settling down was him being engaged. Coincidentally, Suho's company wanted to promote him as a rising star, and nothing would help his image more than being known as the man who tamed the "International Playboy's" heart. Chanyeol just happened to have finished composing and singing a song for Suho's latest drama giving the company higher-ups the idea to marry them off. Having little to no say in the matter, Chanyeol and Suho had gone along with it, not seeing any other options. Neither one of them had any real objections, both had discovered that they had some things in common, and were able to get along as friends. Plus, they found each other relatively good looking, so why not? They figured it could've been a lot worse.

~~~~~

Chaenyeol had just finished filming the video for his song when his company informed him that he would return home via cruise ship and that he would be performing on their main stage. Initially, he had refused, but then through negotiations and a heated arguement with his manager, he relented and agreed to a ‘one night only’ performance, (thinking that he could kick back and enjoy the rest of the cruise after the show). Throwing on some clothes, he headed to the local club to celebrate the video shoot. He figured that he may as well enjoy his last days as a free man.

~~~~~

Back at the ship, Baekhyun was unpacking his clothes when there was another knock at the door. "Yeobo?' he asked as he walked to the door and opened it. Once again, his heart sank as he was handed another envelope. It wasn't from Kris. Baekhyun opened it. It was an invitation to have dinner at the Captain's table. Baekhyun knew that he only got this invitation because he was the fiancé of the heir to the Wu Corporation. He wasn’t going to kid himself, he knew that this was an honor usually reserved for V.I.P.'s. Baekhyun was used to such invitations being engaged to Kris, and knew how to play the part. As much as he didn’t feel like putting on a show tonight, as far as the world was concerned, he still represented the Wu family, and he would do his duty.

Baekhyun went to the closet to pick out an outfit. The required dress for dinner was semi-formal so he chose a nice suit that he could personalize with a bright pocket scarf, tie, and a few decorative pins. Once Baekhyun was dressed, did his hair and makeup, he scooped up his phone (not noticing the missed call), and made his way to the main dining room. It wouldn't do to be late for a first impression. 

~~~~~

Baekhyun was escorted to the Captain's table by none other than the guy who had delivered his telegram,  Kai, he found out, who was roughly the same age. 

"Kamsahamnida" Baekhyun said as he bowed to the Captain before being seated. The Captain introduced himself as well as the other guests. Baekhyun obediently played his role as “wife” of Kris Wu, representing the Wu Corporation, apologizing to all that were present, explaining that Kris couldn’t be with them due to an emergency stockholders meeting. Baekhyun held his own making pleasant conversation, and making everyone laugh. Baekhyun was in his element. He knew how to put on a show and made sure that everyone was comfortable. The two years with Kris had trained him well.

The Captain managed to spend a little time talking with each guest individually. When it was Baekhyun's turn, to his credit, the Captain only briefly mentioned Kris. Instead, he asked what things interested him and they actually had a nice chat about dancing, art, and theatre. The Captain was thoughtful for a moment before giving Baekhyun his business card and asking to meet with him tomorrow morning.

"I have a business proposition that might interest you, Mr. Byun." The Captain had said.

 Baekhyun bowed his head, thanking him again for the lovely evening.

~~~~~

 Once dinner was over, the guests began to excuse themselves. Baekhyun didn’t really have any plans since he hadn’t planned on being alone on this cruise. Looking at the pamphlet that the cruise director had given him, he scanned down the list of available activities. Nothing really caught his eye. He didn’t really feel like gambling, he was too tired to watch one of the many shows available, and he definitely didn’t really feel like stargazing. In fact, he made a note to try and avoid the deck where he was sure all the couples would be out “stargazing”. Baekhyun briefly thought about joining a night swimming session, but then he remembered that there was a hot tub in his suite, which didn’t require him to be sociable. Sighing, he made the long trek back to his suite.

Once inside his cabin Baekhyun emptied his pockets. Only then did he see that he’d received a voice mail. Putting the phone to his ear he heard Kris say something, but it sounded muffled. Then he heard a giggle followed by some shuffling. After a loud bang and a jingling sound, he clearly heard Kris's voice. It was much clearer this time; “Don’t worry baby, he’s on a cruise right now.” Baekhyun heard more giggling and what he assumed were kissing sounds, before the message ended. If Baekhyun had suspected that Kris had been cheating on him, he was sure of it now. “That lying bastard! He never intended to go on this cruise!” Baekhyun yelled to the empty room. “I’ve been such a fool!” Baekhyun took the champagne out of the fridge and popped the cork. He was going to allow himself to waste one more night being upset about Kris, and then he was going to move on, to hell with the Wu Corporation!