Minseok stood outside but just froze. He wanted to knock but he suddenly became hesitant. 

“What the hell Kim Minseok? Why are you holding back? You’re already here. Do it now” Minseok patted himself. 

After a few seconds of just standing outside Baekhyun’s apartment, Minseok left. 

________________

“You were this close but you didn’t make a move??? What the hell happened to my brave and confident Minseokie?” Jongdae whined while slicing the piece of cake through his fork. 

“I froze, Dae. What will I even say to him? Apologize? He hates me. He isn’t even responding to me. I guess it won’t make sense if I push myself hard, right?” 

“Min, I know you’re a very hardworking person and..”

”and what?”

”And, not really to judge you and your feelings from your past experiences, however, I guess fighting for him would make everything right for once. It will make you happier.”

”What if he rejects me? I’m so messed up, Dae” 

“From all your past decisions which lead to some ‘unfortunate’ and some inevitable happenings, I guess holding back right now would just make everything worse. There’s nothing wrong if you give it a try. Not that he’ll get soft to you in a day or so, but it requires patience. If you need to start from scratch just to win him back, then it will make you both at peace. But, it will still be up to you, Min” 

Minseok just stared blankly at his empty cup.

Jongdae’s words tarried Minseok’s mind. He needs courage. He is too broken and is afraid of being hurt more when Baekhyun rejects him. He needs a sign. 

____________________

An email from [email protected]

Greetings partners! Baejoo NGO is in need of volunteers for our “A day with the kids fair” this coming xxxxxx

Minseok’s eyes widened after reading the whole trail.

”Jongdae! Junmyeon! In my my office!” 

“Wtf are you so mad for man?” Jongdae sighed. 

“Sorry, just wanted to catch your attention so you’ll hurry. Hmmm. Did you receive any email?”

”From Baejoo? Ah yeah. Maybe it’s a send-to-all invite since you can’t see any names. It’s bcc-ed” Junmyeon answered. 

Jongdae smirked. 

“What are you smirking at?” Minseok glared.

”You’re coming, right?” Jongdae teased.

“No”.

“We will be coming anyways and will work closely with BAEKHYUN though. With BAEKHYUN though” Junmyeon really had to reiterate the name.

“You fools. Stop playing. You enjoy there then” Minseok scoffed. 

“We will go to work now, boss” Jongdae passed by him flashing a wide grin. 

“Bye for now, boss” Junmyeon uttered. 

As he passed by Minseok, he suddenly hooted

“WITH BAEKHYUN, THOUGH” 

There he ran as fast as he could for his life as Minseok was after him with a forming punch from his knuckles. 

____________________

— The day of the event

“Are you sure he’ll come? I didn’t bribe the secretary Mr Lu to send us an invitation just for us to fail” Sehun complained.

”He will. I’m sure about that.” Jongdae raised his brow. 

A familiar face suddenly approached them. Though, less lively than the usual.

“Gu.. Guys?? Why are you here? How did you know about this event?” Baekhyun approached them looking so confused. 

“You need volunteers, right? So here we are!” Junmyeon happily announced. 

Baekhyun scanned the room and felt glad after making sure Minseok was not with them. He doesn’t want to work with Minseok’s friends nor engage himself to any of Minseok’s ties either but he has to be honest, he needs moooore volunteers. He can’t reject an offer this time. 

“Alright, then. But no talking about—“

“Let’s gooooooooo” Jongdae grabbed everyone to the area of the packed food they need to distribute. 

The event went well and the boys had fun. But Minseok was not seen the whole day. 

They started to help cleaning while some of the other volunteers already left the venue. 

“He really didn’t come. I can’t believe our efforts were put into waste” Sehun pouted. 

“Babe it’s okay, at least we were able to help and at the same time we had fun. It wasn’t a waste after all.” Junmyeon brushed his boyfriend’s hair. 

“It’s really not a waste” Yixing pointed blankly at the door. 

There, the man, the legend himself was standing nervously examining the whole venue.

“JACKPOT!” Jongdae triumphantly high fived the men. 

“We should leave now while he hasn’t seen us, he might lose courage. Let’s use the backdoor” Junmyeon suggested.

_________________

Minseok was trembling. His friends might have left. He didn’t know what to do. 

“This is my chance. I have to make things right” He whispered. 

There, he saw Baekhyun sitting in the corner. He looked tired. He must have been exhausted from the event. Or with him in general. 

He finally had the courage to approach the man.

“Baek.. Baekhyun” he murmured.

”What are you doing here? Your friends have left. The event is done” 

“Baekhyun please let’s talk. I can’t do this. I can’t avoid you forever. I’m sorry for everything I have done but please let me make things our way” He pleaded. 

Baekhyun didn’t answer. 

“In this world full of mistakes and errors, from all my past experiences and wrong decisions, you are the only thing that is right Baekhyun. You’re the only right I want to fight for this time.” 

“But you’re the wrong thing in my life, Minseok. This isn’t right. It’s wrong to fall in..” he stopped. 

Minseok tried to grab him but he ran as fast as he could.