"I already accepted the offer." Baekhyun said as he entered the kitchen.

"Are you sure you're going to accept it? Don't you want to think about it more?" Jongdae asked as he stirred his coffee. He sat there by the kitchen table, staring at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun sat across Jongdae and started to pour his own coffee. "I thought about it last night. I think I need a change of scenery for a while."

"You do know that you're always welcome to stay here."

"Yeah. I just...I just need some time off, I guess."

Jongdae sighed. As much as he would like to stop his friend, he knew how hard it is to be reminded everyday of what he lost. "Okay. Just don't be a stranger."

Baekhyun laughed. "It's only 2 hours drive from here. You can pester me every day if you want."

"Ehh. That's still 2 hours. I don't love you that much."

"What kind of friend are you?" Baekhyun sulked much to Jongdae's amusement.

"Your best friend." Jongdae said as he stood up to ruffle Baekhyun's hair before striding off to wake up Minseok.

Baekhyun was left alone in the kitchen to dwell on his thoughts. He really thought about it a lot last night. Once his phone stopped ringing continuously, he realized how hard it would be to avoid Chanyeol as they are living in the same city. He's not running away. He just want to forget. He sent an email to work last night to accept the assignment to another branch that they've been proposing to him for the past months. He kept putting it off because of Chanyeol but right now, he doesn't have any reason to put it off anymore. He already got the details for the transfer and everything is already set. He'll be moving to the allocated apartment near the office soon so that he'll be ready to start on Monday. It's a good thing today's Saturday so he has time to prepare.

"Have you told ?"

Baekhyun stopped arranging his things and turned to look at Minseok who's standing by the door. "Why should I tell him?"

Minseok shrugged. "I don't know. I just want to be sure what to say just in case he ask us atleast we know what he knows."

"I don't intend to tell him. It doesn't concern him anymore." Baekhyun continued stuffing his things in the bags. It's not hard to pack his things as he almost did not unpack when he got here. He stood up to collect the few knick knacks strewn across the room as Minseok sat on the bed.

"Are you running away from him?"

Baekhyun paused by the window, gazing at the mundane scene outside. Everyone is going on with their lives and there he was, stuck in a limbo, unable to move and suffocating at the thought of all that he lost. Being in the same place seemed to mock him of what used to be. He need room to breathe. "Maybe."

Minseok laid his palms on the bed and started swinging his legs, quietly watching Baekhyun pack his things. He's not really fond of the idea of Baekhyun moving so far away but he'd seen how miserable Baekhyun was for the past months. Maybe he really needed this change. No matter what, they got Baekhyun's back.

"How long will you stay there?"

"'Atleast six months. Just enough time to set-up the new branch." Baekhyun answered.

"Why do they need you for that?"

"Hello. You're talking to the Assistant General Manager. I need to set-up everything related to the business, which I will not bore you with the details, and ensure that the operations manager there will be familiar with the protocols."

Minseok just nod his head, thankful that Baekhyun did not go to the details of his new work. Out of the four of them, Baekhyun's is the most boring. Jongdae works in PR, Kyungsoo's a chef, and Minseok owns a cafe. It was really a shock to them when Baekhyun and Chanyeol became an item. Chanyeol is as outgoing as Baekhyun's an introvert. Chanyeol's always at the center of the parties while Baekhyun prefers to stay at home, watching movies or reading books. Chanyeol's a realist while Baekhyun's a romantic. But they seemed to make it work until the past couple of months. At first, Baekhyun just stayed quiet. No matter how much they prodded him about it, he doesn't want to talk about what's bothering him. For some, it might be easy to hide their emotions but Baekhyun's emotions reflects in his eyes. For the past months, the usual half-moon eyes was replaced by dull gazes. It was only when they sat Baekhyun down and Kyungsoo almost pleaded him to talk to them that Baekhyun gave in and told them what's happening between him and Chanyeol- the late nights, forgotten celebrations, the smell of smoke, alcohol and women's perfume on Chanyeol's clothes, the unanswered messages and calls, and a lot more.

"Just don't be forget us, okay? We'll drag you out of that apartment if a week goes by without hearing from you." Minseok told Baekhyun, knowing the other's tendency to "hibernate".

"Yes, Mom. You sound like Jongdae."

"Be thankful Kyungsoo's not here or you won't hear the end of it."

Baekhyun zipped his bag and patted it to make sure that everything's set. "When will they be back?"

Minseok thought for a while. "Last that I know, they'll be back two weeks from now but with Jongin's love for adventure, I'm not sure. They might get side-tracked on the way home and end up extending their vacation. Apparently, Kyungsoo racked up a lot of unused leaves and Jongin's dance school is on a break so that might be a possibility."

Baekhyun's happy for Kyungsoo and Jongin but can't help but be bitter about it. All he wanted was someone to love and love him back. He thought he had that with Chanyeol. When things started to change between them, he rationalized with himself that it's Chanyeol's work. He really tried to understand. He tried to keep it in. He tried to wait for Chanyeol to realize how much he's hurting as he's so afraid to speak up. He's happy that Chanyeol became succesful in his chosen field but he did not expect the price to be this high.

He just want everything to be back to the way it was before.

But he's hurt.

It hurts a lot.

Chanyeol gave it another day before he grabbed his keys and strode to the door, intending to barge into Jongdae's to talk to Baekhyun. He's not answering his messages and calls and Jongdae kept on slamming the phone whenever he calls. He knew Jongdae has a caller ID so he knows it's him calling but Jongdae still keeps on answering the phone, only to slam it after saying hello. Jongdae seemed to take glee in hurting his eardrums.

Sehun, who has been staying with him for the past days to 'look after you, hyung', jumped up from the sofa to race after him. "Hyung, where are you going?" Sehun asked as he tugged on Chanyeol's arm.

"I'll bring Baekhyun back or atleast make him talk to me. I can't take it anymore. I need him back." Chanyeol whispered the last sentence softly and Sehun can feel the pain behind those words. No matter how much Chanyeol messed up, it seemed that he really love Baekhyun. He was just too dumb and oblivious how much he hurt Baekhyun.

"Hyung, I don't think you should do that. Just give him space."

"I can't. Any minute that I am not talking to him feels like he's slipping farther away from me. I know I messed up. I know. I want to make it up to him. I can't lose him, Sehun." Chanyeol tugged his arm back and strode towards his car. Sehun watched as he drove away and hoped that things will be better. He's not used to the raw pain in Chanyeol's eyes. This situation is hurting both Chanyeol and Baekhyun.

Chanyeol rushed up the steps to Jongdae's home and knocked rapidly on the door. A minute passed and no one's opening the door so he knocked again, louder this time. He heard someone unlocking the door and Minseok poked his head thru the slightly opened door.

"What do you want, ?"

Chanyeol dismissed the name-calling. They can call him whatever they want as long as he can talk to Baekhyun. "Let me talk to him, please."

Jongdae poked his head below Minseok's. "He's not here."

"I know he's staying with you." Chanyeol argued in frustration. He really need to talk to Baekhyun.

"He's not here." Jongdae repeated.

"Do you want me to kneel? Because I'll do. Just let me see him. Please."

To Jongdae and Minseok's surprise, Chanyeol really knelt in front of them. Minseok sighed and decided to take a pity on him. "He's really not here. He just left an hour ago." Minseok's heart clenched at the crestfallen look on Chanyeol's face but he can't do anything about it.

"His company relocated him to their new branch. They gave him an apartment for the duration of his stay there which is more or less 6 months. That's all that I'll say." Jongdae said to Minseok's disbelief. Earlier, Jongdae was cursing Chanyeol's name and saying that hell will freeze over before he could let Chanyeol speak to Baekhyun.

"Thank you." Chanyeol stood up and walked back towards his car that he parked hastily infront.

The two stood by the doorway as they watched Chanyeol drove away.

"Why did you tell him?" Minseok asked as they went inside.

Jongdae sat down on the sofa and looked at Minseok. "Because I saw how much he's hurting and as much as he hurt Baekhyun too, I know Baekhyun will still be happier with him. They just need to talk and work this out. I just gave him a nudge. It's up to him. It won't be easy but if he really proved himself, I know Baekhyun will let him in again and I know, this time, he won't mess up again."

A/N: I am so sorry for the loooong wait. This one is a bit longer so I hope you'll forgive the long wait. ;p Please leave an upvote, comment, and subscribe if you like this fic. Thank you! Again, this is not proofread so please forgive any typos or grammar errors. ;p