O N E  Y E A R  L A T E R

“Happy birthday!”

Everyone cheered as soon as the birthday song reached its end. Baekhyun and Jiwon had each twin in their arms as they guide them to blow the candles on their cakes. They held a small, intimate party for them at home, the couple knew Hansol and Hana would prefer being with familiar faces instead of having a huge party with a bunch of people they don’t recognize. Mr. and Mrs. Byun gave their grandchildren kisses on their cheeks. “You guys can go ahead and eat now, please feel at home.” Jiwon offered and gestured the guests towards the long table with all the food they prepared, most of them being store-bought.

Baekhyun maintained a smile on his face as he leaned down to his wife’s ear. “Why’d you invite that Ryan Liu here. We agreed to only invite close relatives.” He mumbled with an irritated tone. Ryan Liu is Jiwon’s co-worker. Jiwon had only started officially working part-time recently with Arirang as a correspondent in the Lifestyle and Entertainment segment of the news show and she’s been working with Ryan Liu. Baekhyun’s jealousy over the guy worsens for every segment the two of them share live on TV.

Jiwon’s only in a contract with Arirang and she’s not even on the segment that frequently but every time she is, Baekhyun sulks because of the guy.

“He’s a close friend, alright? I don’t have any relatives, I only have Kyungsoo and now him. Can you not?” Jiwon hissed back before faking a smile to guests passing by. “You know how I feel about that guy—ugh, whatever.” Baekhyun groaned before putting Hansol down on the playpen at one corner. Mr. Byun came and patted him on the back. “Time flies fast, huh? Look at them.” The old man watched Hansol play with some new toys in the playpen. Jiwon followed and also put Hana down to let her rampage the new toys.

“You two lovebirds can eat first, I’ll go look after my angels.” Mr. Byun persuaded the couple while grabbing a chair and dragging it right across the pen. “Oh, okay. Thanks, Appa.” Baekhyun chuckled in amusement before dragging Jiwon to the table. “Babe, you go eat first I’ll walk around to check on everybody, I’ll come eat later.” Jiwon patted Baekhyun’s back before walking away. “Alright.” Baekhyun sighed and was about to grab a plate for himself when he saw Jiwon walk towards one corner near the door leading to the backyard where Ryan was standing at while having his drink on one hand. “Oh wow, nice.” He grunted in annoyance.

“Hey dude, everything good?” Jiwon asked and nudged Ryan who immediately reacted with a smile. “I’m surprised I got recognized by some of your relatives, not a lot of locals watch Arirang.” The guy grinned while looking around. His eyes landed on Baekhyun who was giving him a deadly glare. “Oh my god, he’s looking at me. Do I look okay?” Ryan mumbled while covering his mouth. Jiwon held her laugh and lightly slapped him on the arm. “Yah, are you happy now? You said if I invite you and let you meet him, you’ll stop crushing on him.” Jiwon hissed. “Sis, I seriously don’t know how you got such a guy. I mean I understand when he was with Han Soojin but you? What poison did you ing give him?” Ryan joked earning another hit from Jiwon.

Ryan Liu is gay. One thing Baekhyun had no clue about.

“I’m pretty hot too, okay?” Jiwon defended with a big pout. “Yea yeah, alright. You’re cute.” Ryan gave in and pinched her cheek, pretending to be manly. “Okay, that sounded so awkward, at least try to look sincere when you say that.” Jiwon laughed but immediately stopped when she saw Baekhyun walking towards them with a big frown. “, you go away. Let me have this moment.” Ryan whispered giddily making Jiwon stifle a laugh.

“Hi.” A monotone Baekhyun came standing in front of them.

Ryan cleared his throat and adjusted himself. “Hey, nice to meet you. I’m Ryan Liu.” The guy professionally introduced and offered a handshake. Jiwon looked away to refrain herself from bursting out of laughter when she heard Ryan’s sudden change of tone. Baekhyun eyed his wife and folded his arms. “You should get your food, babe. I just want to have a talk with your new friend.” He said, not even hesitating anymore. “O-oh, okay. . .” Jiwon forced a smile and eyed Ryan meaningfully before walking away.

Once the two men were left alone in the corner,

“I won’t play nice here since you’re in my territory. What was that cheek-pinching I just saw?” Baekhyun asked sternly. Ryan tried to maintain his composure while scratching the back of his neck. He feared that his cheeks have turned red and that Baekhyun could see it. “I know the two of you work together well and I get it that my wife naturally prefers befriending guys more than girls cause that’s just the way she is. Her last guy friend took advantage of her and I won’t allow another one to do the same. So back off, Mr. Liu, while I’m being reasonable. Once I’m not? I get really bad.” Baekhyun warned.

“O-oh, like how bad?”

Baekhyun blinked in confusion upon that sudden question. Ryan coughed while waving a hand. “I mean—no, that’s not what I meant. I mean, I’m sorry but I’m really not trying to do anything with Jiwon.” He corrected himself and looked down while tucking his hair behind his ear unknowingly. Baekhyun cleared his throat and looked around. “W-well, it’s good that we’re clear here. I’m not going to lie, I get jealous really easily so as long as you stay true to your words then I shouldn’t be worried. But please don’t touch my wife like that again. Whether it’s friendly or whatever, I’m not comfortable with it so you need to stop.” He requested with a straight face. “Yes, sir.” Ryan answered immediately and pursed his lips in a tight line.

Baekhyun’s tone full of authority made him blush even more and this time, he couldn’t help but to smile awkwardly.

“Uhm. . . okay.” Baekhyun cleared his throat while looking at the grinning guy, giving him a skeptical stare. “Your twins are adorable by the way. Especially Hansol, he looks just like you. Such a very handsome little boy.” Ryan randomly spoke again.

Eventually, Baekhyun slowly comprehended the uneasiness he’s been feeling whenever the guy looks at him. “Y-yea, thanks—I’m gunna go, thanks for coming, enjoy.” He awkwardly mumbled before walking away as fast as he can.

He bumped into Kyungsoo who was getting food from the table. “Woah, slow down.” Kyungsoo mumbled with his mouth full. “What’s wrong?” he asked while gazing at the direction where Baekhyun came from. “I don’t know, that Ryan guy is giving me creepy stares and he’s acting kind of weird. I don’t know what I did.” Baekhyun mumb