Kyungsoo sat at home as he waited for Baekhyun to message him that he was ready. He put on his usual black attire and sat on the sofa by the door. Baekhyun had asked him if he wanted to go out to eat after they both got off work. Kyungsoo agreed right away, leaving Minseok to cook a meal for one.

“You’re already by the door?” Minseok asked as he peeked in the living room.

Kyungsoo looked towards him, “Baekhyun said it would only be a minute.”

Minseok rolled his eyes, “Yeah, sure.”

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door. Kyungsoo stood up and practically sprinted towards it, causing Minseok to laugh.

He opened the door and there was Baekhyun, his hair was now black and he wore a blue long sleeve combined with light blue jeans. “Hi.” He greeted.

Kyungsoo smirked, “Finally.” He grabbed onto the elder and pulled him in for a kiss. Baekhyun smiled into it and grabbed onto Kyungsoo’s waist as he pulled him against himself. At this moment, it was just the two of them, nothing else mattered. As long as Kyungsoo knew that Baekhyun was with him, he didn’t care about anything else.

Minseok cleared his throat from behind (or at least he thought he didn’t care about anything else).

They both parted and Baekhyun giggled, walking inside, “Hey hyung.”

“Nice to see you Baekhyun.” Minseok answered sarcastically.

Baekhyun chuckled, “Don’t worry hyung, we won’t be out long.”

“Yeah, right.” Minseok scoffed.

Baekhyun sent him a mischievous grin and pulled on Kyungsoo’s arm, “But he may not come home until tomorrow.” He sent a wink in the elder’s direction.

“Ugh. I wouldn’t be surprised.”

Baekhyun pulled Kyungsoo away, the younger shut the door after giving Minseok a quick smile. They both walked down the steps and headed towards the parking lot for the apartments, Baekhyun quickly moved his hand to interlock with Kyungsoo’s. The younger didn’t mind, if anything it felt right to have Baekhyun like this. It was actually a very simple gesture, but it felt like so much more. Their fingers slid easily into each other’s as if they truly were meant to be. The thought had Kyungsoo’s heart skip a beat.

“Where are we going?” Kyungsoo asked to try and drive the thought away.

“To my car.” Baekhyun responded confidently.

 “What?” Kyungsoo asked in disbelief.

Baekhyun snickered, “I bought a car.”

 

“What?! When?”

“I got it yesterday. Why do you think I was gone from the apartment all day?”

Kyungsoo shrugged, “I thought you were at work.”

Baekhyun scoffed as he clicked the button on his key. “You’re so attentive.”

It feels like so much has happened since their lawsuit ten days ago. He and Minseok had gotten their money back with the 20% interest and signed the contract to the space that Sandara showed them. Not only that, but the money they had received, they used it as a deposit towards the space. Sandara’s team was remodeling the interior and exterior according to what they said they had wanted. They also came to the agreement that they would pay the rest in payments. Life was looking up for them.

Baekhyun walked towards a small black car and opened the door. It was clean and looked relatively new.

“Where did you get it?” Kyungsoo asked as he stepped inside.

“At a used car dealership. I’m still paying it off, but it’s not too bad.” Baekhyun adjusted his mirror and put on sunglasses.

Kyungsoo eyed the car, it looked like something Baekhyun would drive. It was roomy, but not big.

Baekhyun got out of the parking lot and onto the street, “Oh, by the way, what’s your lawyer’s name again?”

“Zhang Yixing, why?”

Baekhyun shrugged as he took a left, “No reason. Just curious.”

“No one is just curious to know about a lawyer.”

Baekhyun snickered and gave him a mischievous grin, “I promised Jongdae I wouldn’t tell anyone he’s been asking for him.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened, “He’s been asking?”

Baekhyun shook his head, “Nope, I didn’t say anything, remember?”

Kyungsoo laughed, that was unexpecting.

They arrived at their destination and got out of the car, “Sushi?” Kyungsoo questioned as he shut the door.

Sushi in this area was not cheap, if anything it was very expensive. To think that Baekhyun would be willing to spend so much on him.

Baekhyun ran in front of the entrance and waved his arms, “Surprise! It’s to celebrate you winning your lawsuit! Just the two of us.”

Kyungsoo chuckled at his antics. To think that such a small gesture could have his chest swelling up with emotion was amazing. He walked towards the elder and moved his hair away from his face. He leaned in and shut his eyes as he placed a tender kiss on his forehead. He pressed their foreheads together and looked into his eyes, “Thank you.”

Baekhyun crinkled his face as he smiled, “You deserve it for working so hard.”

They walked inside, hands intertwined together. They got a table for two and ordered off the all you can eat menu.

“So, what’s new?” Baekhyun asked as he took a sip of his water.

Kyungsoo shrugged, “You know everything already.”

Baekhyun smiled, “Nothing I don’t know?”

Kyungsoo pondered, “Not really, you know we got the space already.”

The waitress came back and placed the sushi they had ordered onto the table. “Is there anything else I can get for you?”

Kyungsoo eyed the food and felt his mouth water.

“That’s all for now, thank you.” Baekhyun answered.

She bowed and walked away.

Kyungsoo eyed one and picked up his chopsticks to grab it. He put it into his mouth and savored it before grabbing another. 

“I actually have news.” Baekhyun said as he looked up from his plate.

Kyungsoo looked up at him, “What?”

Baekhyun swallowed down the sushi, “Well…you remember the flyer you gave me?”

Kyungsoo nodded as he chewed. How could he forget? It happened the same day that Baekhyun became his for the first time.

“I went to the music hall where the audition’s gonna be held and I got more information in terms of characters and scripts.”

Kyungsoo felt a smile wanting to creep up, “Uh huh?”

“I decided to audition and signed up for it.”

Kyungsoo wanted to jump out of his seat and kiss him. But he remembered he was in a public place, “That’s great!” he exclaimed.

“I been practicing my dancing.”

“What role are you going for?”

“A friend of the lead’s. I been practicing my singing too. I’m really rusty.”

Kyungsoo shook his head, “At the karaoke we went to, you sounded great.”

Baekhyun smiled, “Can I ask for a favor?”

“What happen?”

“Can you come to the audition with me?”

Kyungsoo was mid chew when he decided to swallow instead. Baekhyun had sincerity in his eyes as he looked at him. Of course Kyungsoo would go! He wanted to go. He would always be there for Baekhyun when he needed him.

“Yeah.” He answered. Kyungsoo extended his hand and placed it on top of Baekhyun’s slowly. “I would love to go, when is it and at what time?”

Baekhyun beamed, “It’s the day after tomorrow at 7 in the evening. Luckily it’s after work for the both of us.”

Kyungsoo nodded as he gave him a heart shaped smile, “Then I’ll be there.”

Baekhyun smiled wider, “We can go together! I can drive.”

Kyungsoo loved seeing Baekhyun happy. He may still be broken, but he was healing and it was amazing to see. This could be the thing Baekhyun needed, to see that it was alright to continue what he loved.

“It’s a deal.” Kyungsoo replied.

***

The next day after work, Kyungsoo went out with Baekhyun. They both went to a karaoke place and Baekhyun sang his heart out. Kyungsoo listened and applauded after each time the song finished. It was easy to see that singing is something Baekhyun loved to do. He took it seriously as he hit high notes and low notes.

“Is this the song you’re planning on singing to the audition?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Yeah, I been practicing it over and over. And memorizing the lines too.”

Kyungsoo chuckled, “Keep practicing until you feel ready.”

He isn’t sure how long they stayed in the karaoke place, but what he did know was that Baekhyun had a lot of talent.

They left sometime in the evening and both drove home in Baekhyun’s new car.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Baekhyun said as they stopped in front of Kyungsoo’s house.

Kyungsoo smiled as he leaned in to kiss Baekhyun, “Yeah.”

Baekhyun smiled, “Do you want to sleep over?”

Kyungsoo laughed, “Tempting, but I promised Minseok to be there when the real estate agent calls us.”

Baekhyun pouted, “It would be nice to sleep next to you.” He clung onto Kyungsoo’s hand tighter as he swayed side to side.

Kyungsoo smiled tenderly at him as he flicked his nose, “You need to sleep without distractions to prepare. But I promise, tomorrow after your audition, I’m all yours.”

Baekhyun grinned wide, “You promise?”

Kyungsoo nodded, “I promise, after your audition, I’ll do whatever you want.” Kyungsoo was always honest. He would do anything to keep Baekhyun happy. He would keep his promise no matter what.

“Tomorrow, after my audition, we come home and watch movies until we sleep.”

Kyungsoo laughed, “Yes Baekhyun.”

“Or, we come home and I snuggle in your arms.”

Kyungsoo gave him a quick peck, “Whatever you want.”

Baekhyun jumped in glee, “I’m more excited for after my audition.”

Kyungsoo laughed, “You need to get some rest for tomorrow.”

Baekhyun chuckled and then he leaned in to place a kiss on Kyungsoo’s lips, “Goodnight Kyungsoo. You need to keep your promise.” He scolded as he waved a finger.

Kyungsoo nodded, suddenly missing the pressure of Baekhyun’s lips on his own. “I promise and you know I keep my promises. Goodnight Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun disappeared into his home after giving Kyungsoo another peck, Kyungsoo walked into his own.

Minseok was in his pajamas on the sofa. He was snickering at his phone screen and it wasn’t until Kyungsoo got closer that he saw his friend was video calling with Luhan. Kyungsoo let out a snort, “Hey.”

Minseok looked up, “Hey.” He looked back at his phone, “Lu, I actually gotta go.”

Kyungsoo half smiled and went into the kitchen to make himself some tea. He needed to wait until Minseok hung up on Luhan if he wanted to talk to him properly.

Minseok came into the kitchen ten minutes later, “Hey.”

Kyungsoo closed the cupboard where he was getting a mug from. “Hey, isn’t Sandara going to call?”

Minseok nodded, “Yeah, she messaged me to say that when she got home she would.”

Kyungsoo nodded as he shut the stove off.

Minseok smirked, “Where were you?”

“Out with Baekhyun, his audition is tomorrow.”

“How is he doing?”

Kyungsoo shrugged, “He seems confident. He said he has been practicing a lot.”

“And what do you think?”

“Honestly, I think he’s good enough to get the lead.”

Minseok snickered, “You’re bias though.”

Kyungsoo grabbed his mug, “A little bit.”

Minseok sighed, “I wish I could go.”

Kyungsoo poured the hot water into his mug, “Yeah, too bad you agreed to overtime already.”

Minseok pouted, “I’ll call him before he goes on.”

“It would be nice if Chanyeol and Jongin could come too.”

“You know they can’t.”

Chanyeol and Jongin had gone to spend time with Jongin’s parents. Chanyeol confided in him that Jongin’s parents were the ones that invited them. That meant that they were finally coming around. Kyungsoo knew they would love to come if they could, so he asked them if they could send Baekhyun an encouraging message instead. They agreed instantly.

“When Baekhyun gets the part, we can tell them the good news.” Kyungsoo said, a hopeful tone to his voice.

Minseok smiled, “Definetly.”

“So,” Kyungsoo leaned against the counter as he blew on his tea, “how’s your boyfriend doing?”

Minseok took in an inhale then cleared his throat. Kyungsoo waited for the correction, but it never came. Minseok instead got fidgety.

“What?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Well…you’re not wrong.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes widened, “He’s your boyfriend?”

“I asked him and he said yes…so yeah.”

Kyungsoo laughed, “Wow…” He knew it was coming but it suddenly seemed so soon.

“Well you and Baekhyun are practically together too!”

“No, he isn’t my boyfriend, not yet.”

“You’re in love with him though.”

This Kyungsoo couldn’t deny, instead he opened his mouth and shut it.

Minseok grinned triumphantly.

“You—shut up!”

The phone rang and it got both of their attention. “How should we greet her?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Just normal.” Minseok walked up to it and answered the call from Sandara.

***

Baekhyun sat in the back seat as he muttered the song he was going to sing. Jongdae sat in the driver’s seat and Kyungsoo sat next to him as he looked at Baekhyun through the rearview mirror. The elder was a sputtering mess as he did his best to remember the lyrics.

“Baekhyun, you’ll be fine. Don’t be so nervous.” Kyungsoo tried to comfort.

Baekhyun shook his head, “I don’t want to mess this up.”

“You won’t. You’ll do fine.” Kyungsoo said as he tried to lighten the mood.

Baekhyun let out an exhale and shut his eyes. “Okay, I’ll just meditate for a bit.”

Jongdae turned off the car, “Can’t, we’re here.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened, “What?!” he looked out the window and sure enough he was outside of the music hall.

The trio climbed out of the car and walked towards the music hall.

 “Wow, it seems bigger now.” Kyungsoo said as he looked at the building he was walking towards.

Baekhyun looked extremely nervous, and Jongdae put his arm around him. “Hey, you’ll be great. I promise. And remember, after this we’re going out to eat and then Kyungsoo made you a promise too.”

Kyungsoo laughed, “Just think about the positive.”

Baekhyun smiled as they walked inside the main hallway. There was a table by the corner that a lady was running. Those who were going to audition needed to sign a paper that confirmed they showed up. Baekhyun printed his name neatly.

The lady behind the table handed him a name tag, “Wait to be called.” She told him. “Oh, and here is what you will be saying.” She handed him a paper that had a paragraph on it.

“What’s that?” Kyungsoo asked as he eyed the paper.

“It’s a line from the script, I need to say this once I hit the stage.” Baekhyun responded as he focused on it.

They waited outside for Baekhyun to be called. The crowd began to disappear as others left. The sun began to set, and night fell on them. An hour past, then another. Who knew it would take so long to be called? Baekhyun didn’t seem fazed, he studied the sheet of paper over and over.

“How long have we been here?” Kyungsoo asked Jongdae.

Jongdae shrugged, “A while.”

They were the only ones outside and eventually, Jongdae began getting fidgety.

“I gotta go to the restroom.”

Baekhyun shot him a glare, “You can’t! They may—“

“Byun Baekhyun!”

Baekhyun’s head shot up as he heard his name.

“The judges are waiting for you.” The man held the door open and Baekhyun swallowed.

He grabbed onto Kyungsoo’s hand and squeezed. Kyungsoo smiled at him and placed a kiss on his forehead, “You’ll be fine.”

“We’re not going anywhere.” Jongdae assured.

The trio walked inside. The outside looked big, but the interior was huge! They walked through the hallway into the concert hall. There was a lot of seats, some close up and some up high. Kyungsoo’s eyes scanned the area and admired it. It was beautiful.

“Byun Baekhyun?”

A voice called out from the front of the stage. Kyungsoo and Jongdae took a seat behind the judges and Baekhyun took his place on stage.

Baekhyun took in a deep breath and then released it. He smiled wide at them.

“Hello, I’m Byun Baekhyun.” He bowed and stood up straight.

“There will be three parts,” a female judge announced, “a line reading, a singing portion, and finally a  dance portion.”

Baekhyun nodded, “Alright.”

“Whenever you’re ready.”

Kyungsoo bit his lip in anticipation, he suddenly felt nervous.

“Don’t doubt him,” Jongdae began. “He’s really good.”

Kyungsoo looked over at Jongdae, who had nothing but hope in his eyes.

“He was born to do this.” There was no hesitation in Jongdae’s voice. He sounded confident.

If Jongdae was this sure of Baekhyun, then there was no reason to worry. Kyungsoo looked back at Baekhyun, he knew the elder possessed a gift and had tons of passion.

Baekhyun recited the lines perfectly, and the scene came out beautifully, full of emotion and confidence. He didn’t even use the script! He memorized every single line and even got the facial expressions right. When he was done, the judges wrote something down, then spoke, “Sing please.”

Baekhyun nodded and opened his mouth. He sang the chorus of “Like Music, Like Rain”. He began with gentle honey like vocals, but then built up to strong stable vocals that had Kyungsoo’s mouth dropping wide open. Baekhyun also had a cute little habit when he got into singing, he crinkled his nose and shut his eyes. The judges wrote vigorously on their sheets of paper.

Baekhyun ultimately opened his eyes and smiled, the judges nodded. “Ok, we will now play a random song and we want you to freestyle.”

They played a song that sounded old fashioned with a bit of a bounce to it. Baekhyun got the rhythm easily and began to dance playfully, but kept it professional.

So, not only could Baekhyun sing, but he could dance too! Kyungsoo scoffed as he looked down, how did he get so lucky?

The judges turned the music off and wrote on their sheets of paper again, “Ok Mr. Byun. Thank you so much. We will definetly be calling you.” The female judge looked up at him and smiled.

Baekhyun bowed and walked towards his friends, who were clapping loudly as they waited for him.

“That was amazing!” Jongdae cheered as he hugged him.

“Really?” Baekhyun asked.

“You did great.” Kyungsoo added.

Baekhyun gave them both a smile as they walked out of the music hall.

“Okay, to celebrate, we can go out to eat! Baekhyun’s choice!” Jongdae yelled.

Kyungsoo nodded in agreement, “Whatever Baekhyun wants.”

“Yeah! But…let me just go to the restroom.” Jongdae said as opened the door again.

“Why didn’t you go before we walked out?” Baekhyun asked as he chuckled.

Jongdae began to fidget again, “Just wait for me, okay?” He ran inside and the door shut behind him.

“Don’t be long!” Baekhyun shouted back.

Kyungsoo laughed, “We passed by it too, on our way out.”

Baekhyun smiled wide, “It’s alright. We can just wait for him out here.” Baekhyun looked up at the night sky, then back at Kyungsoo. “Hey, Kyungsoo?”

“Hm?”

“Did I really do well? Or are you just being nice?”

Kyungsoo grinned at him as he held his hand, “We agreed never to lie to each other, remember?”

Baekhyun’s eyes shined under the stars, “Thank you.”

“Nice to see you’re doing well Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened as he turned towards the sound of the voice, Kyungsoo’s eyebrows furrowed and followed Baekhyun’s gaze.

There was guy standing a couple of feet away. He wore a bucket hat and long, black, oversized coat. He had his hands buried in it.

“Wha—how—what are you doing here?” Baekhyun stuttered out as he squeezed Kyungsoo’s hand.

Kyungsoo looked in between Baekhyun and the stranger.

The stranger took a step forward and Baekhyun pulled back. Kyungsoo’s eyes landed on the elder. The atmosphere was becoming tense and Baekhyun held terror in his eyes. Kyungsoo’s eyebrows furrowed as he thought…could it be possible that this guy was Baekhyun’s—

“Baekhyun,” The stranger called out.

Kyungsoo averted his gaze towards the stranger.

“Baekhyun, what are you doing with this guy? Come back to me.” The stranger opened his arms as if for Baekhyun to walk in them. It was beginning to add to the growing agitation in Kyungsoo.

Baekhyun tugged on Kyungsoo’s hand. “We need to go, now.”

Kyungsoo glared at the guy in front of him. This had to be the one that Baekhyun had feared for so long. The one that had brought him agony and pain.

The stranger walked closer to them, “Baekhyun,” He raised his voice and it was as if he was getting impatient. “Don’t keep me waiting. Be a good little—“

“Back up.” Kyungsoo demanded, his voice monotone. He shot daggers at the guy and stood his ground.

The guy’s eyes flickered towards him, “Am I talking to you? This is none of your business.”

Kyungsoo scoffed, “You made it my business.”

Baekhyun pulled on his arm again, “Kyungsoo please, let’s go!”

The stranger’s eyes flickered anger, but went back to normal. “This doesn’t concern you! Who do you think you are anyway?” the stranger took a step forward, closer to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo lifted up his hands and pushed the stranger away, causing him to stumble backwards. “I said back up.” He told him sternly. “I’m his boyfriend.”

The guy’s eyes radiated fury as he clenched his teeth together, “What was that?”

Kyungsoo put himself directly in front of Baekhyun, “He’s mine.”

The guy trembled in outrage and threw a swing at Kyungsoo, he ducked just in time and threw a swing back, landing on the guys face.

“Kyungsoo!” Baekhyun yelled. He grabbed onto the younger’s waist, but Kyungsoo slipped away easily. He ran towards the guy and punched again, this time the guy dodged and hit Kyungsoo instead.

“Don’t touch him!” Baekhyun yelled as he threw a punch at the guy from behind. The guy let out a grunt and turned around, quickly grabbing Baekhyun’s fist before it could land again.

He hit Baekhyun across the face, sending the elder onto the floor.

Kyungsoo saw red as he aimed for the guy again. Kyungsoo had never been in a fight before, but he didn’t need to be. He simply needed to let his instincts take over. He swung left and right, sometimes missing and getting hit, but he didn’t care.

“Please help!” He heard Baekhyun yell.

“I’ve had enough of your !”

The guy landed another blow on Kyungsoo, causing him to stumble. The guy grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in. Kyungsoo shut his eyes and waited for another punch to the face, but it never came. Instead, he felt a sharp pain coming from somewhere in his abdomen. He felt as though something was wiggling inside of him, he let out a grunt and nearly vomited. A sudden weight was taken off of him and he opened his eyes to see security had grabbed the guy and were pulling him off. Baekhyun’s ex struggled to be let go. He yelled out obscenities and security held him tight to keep him from doing further harm. Kyungsoo stayed staring at him, but from the corner of Kyungsoo’s eye, he saw what seemed like a shiny object on the floor. Kyungsoo placed his hand on the lower area of his abdomen, where there was slight pain radiating. Jongdae ran towards him, “I called security once I saw what was happening, are you—“ Jongdae’s sentence cut off as his eyes locked on Kyungsoo, then they widened in shock. “Kyung—“

“NO!” Baekhyun yelled out loud, he sounded distressed and Kyungsoo’s eyes shot towards him. Baekhyun’s eyes were watery and they held fear again. He followed the elders gaze and looked down towards his stomach. The hand that was resting on it had a pool of red underneath it. He lifted his hand up towards his face to see blood, he felt his own eyes tear up as throbbing pain began to pulsate. He panted and looked next to him, the shiny object from before was a knife that had blood on it, his blood. Kyungsoo felt his knees go weak as pain overtook his senses.

“Kyungsoo!” The elder was by his side in an instant holding his head so it wouldn’t hit the floor. Kyungsoo scrunched his face as the pain shot again. Baekhyun looked down at the wound and placed his hand over it.

Kyungsoo hissed in pain and Baekhyun’s hand went up again. “Ok, ok. It’s going to be ok. I’m here.” He dug his fingers into Kyungsoo’s hair as tears began to fall.

Kyungsoo let out steady breaths as he placed his hand on the wound again, that’s when he realized the blood was pouring out profusely.  

“How…how bad?” Kyungsoo asked in a hushed whisper.

Baekhyun shook his head, “Shh…don’t talk okay? It’s going to be okay.” He caressed his cheek gently, leaving a small trail of red on it.

Jongdae kneeled next to him, “Security called paramedics. They’re on their way. They told me to keep him awake.”

“What is security doing? Why aren’t they doing more!?” Baekhyun sounded desperate, Kyungsoo wanted to comfort him.

“They’re containing that er.”

“Baekhyun—“ Kyungsoo tried speaking.

The elder looked back down at him and rubbed his cheek lovingly. “It’s going to be okay, I promise.”

The pain shot up again and Kyungsoo made a face as he shut his eyes. He let out heavy pants as he kept from screaming.

“He’s losing a lot of blood!” Jongdae yelled as he looked back down.

“Jongdae, use your sweater!” Baekhyun commanded.

Jongdae quickly obeyed and shrugged it off.

Kyungsoo suddenly felt dizzy and his vision began getting blurry.

“Jongdae! He’s turning pale!”

At least, that’s what he thinks Baekhyun said. It was getting hard to hear. He saw fuzzy and it seemed like their mouths were moving, but he couldn’t make out the words.

“Kyungsoo! You can’t leave me, please!”

Jongdae placed his sweater over Kyungsoo’s wound and pressed down on it. Baekhyun was crying hysterically, eyes puffy and tears everywhere. Kyungsoo wanted to sit up and cradle him in his arms. Tell him that everything would be fine, but he didn’t know that.

“Kyungsoo, stay awake buddy, come on.”

That was Jongdae’s voice. They were beginning to sound far away.

“He’s bleeding too much!”

Kyungsoo felt his eyelids getting heavier.

“I don’t want to press too hard! What if I hurt him? ”

Kyungsoo shut his eyes.

“Kyungsoo please! I love you!”

Darkness.