Park Chanyeol was… something. He was persistent and stubborn and strong-willed.

 

When he said that he wanted the both of them to meet often, he meant it. Baekhyun wondered if the company wasn't own by his family, would he get fired for always leaving his office halfway through the day almost everyday.

 

I rather spend my time to disturb you than deal with a bunch of weekly report behind my desk, he said when Baekhyun asked him about his work. In conclusion, Baekhyun was beyond annoyed but it didn't mean he didn't appreciate the attention he got. He admitted it feel nice to have… someone.

 

Honestly, after two weeks of being officially engaged to the soon-to-be CEO, Baekhyun didn’t feel much different. Initially, he thought it would be overwhelming and annoying the whole time. But the lack of abnormality--like this was just as natural as it could be--was what had bothered Baekhyun the most. This felt way too comfortable.

 

It had become the second nature for him to wait for Chanyeol to pick him up when he was out of business meeting now, or for both of them to have lunch together. It was weird, yet strangely pleasant. Given the fact how rocky their relationship ten years ago and also when they met again recently, Baekhyun was surprised with this development. Although every time they met, all they did just bickering back and forth, Baekhyun enjoyed every second of it.

 

In a span of two weeks of the being “together”, they had shared practically everything. Chanyeol knew his schedule, knew the state of his company, knew how his business work, or just the mundane things, like how Baekhyun took his coffee, or his favorite music, or how Baekhyun had hard time to fall asleep every night but refused to call it insomnia, or some other things that no one other than Chanyeol knew.

 

If his past self of ten years ago knew about his situation right now, he would never believe it in a million years. But this was happening, for real. And his brain refused the acknowledged the absurdity of this absurd situation.

 

“So, next month we’re gonna have to make sure the list of the titles we’re going to take for the donation. Also the list of cities and countries we’re gonna donate them too,” Baekhyun said to his business partner, Mr. Cho, concluding the meeting.

 

Mr. Cho, a middle age man with his head already shown a sign of balding, was a founder of another popular NGO like Baekhyun's. Their partnership had ran for almost a year now and it had been great, although the man was kinda obnoxious sometimes, but Baekhyun could manage. After all, no matter how annoying people were, no one was more annoying than his fiance.

 

“Wonderful. I'll see you on Monday, then?” Mr. Cho got up from his seat after he finished his hot americano, prompting to leave. The coffee shop where they held the meeting was starting to get crowded as the clock slowly reached the lunch hour.

 

“Thank you for your time, Mr. Cho.” Baekhyun got up too and bowed to the man. “I'll make the timeline of this project and send it to you soon. By tonight, I hope.”

 

“No need to hurry. You could send it to me tomorrow. It's okay. Then I'll go--oh…” Mr. Cho stopped on his track when he spotted someone behind Baekhyun. “May I help you, sir?”

 

Baekhyun whipped himself around, only to be faced with his fiance's tall figure, forcing him to look up. “Great,” Baekhyun said, in a tone of voice which indicated that it was anything but.

 

The thing was, Baekhyun’s heart actually skipped a beat when he saw Chanyeol smile politely at Mr. Cho as he put himself beside Baekhyun, circling his arm around his waist while his other hand extended to shake the middle age man. “Good afternoon. I’m Park Chanyeol. Nice to meet you…”

 

“Cho Jaehyun.” Mr. Cho reached out to meet Chanyeol’s arm, and the man’s eyes dropped to where Chanyeol’s arm was holding Baekhyun. “Uhm, are you…”

 

Baekhyun couldn’t help but felt embarrassed everytime Chanyeol did this. It was always the same order. First, Chanyeol would smirk, then his smirk turned into a smile, then the smile became impossibly wide, before finally he said, “I’m Baekhyun’s fiance,” with a high tone, like he was proud of it. Genuinely proud to introduce himself as Baekhyun’s fiance.

 

Just how did he expect Baekhyun to react to that, honestly?

 

“Oh, wow,” Mr. Cho blinked, obviously didn’t expect the admission at all--most people were. Then he smiled. “Only a few months we didn’t work together and you’re already engaged, Mr. Byun.” Mr. Cho glanced at Baekhyun’s fingers, undoubtedly searching for the ring .

 

And Chanyeol obviously caught the brief glance. “Yeah, it was recent and a bit sudden,” he chuckled. “Didn’t even have the time to buy a ring yet.”

 

Which was a lie. Baekhyun was sure that Chanyeol probably couldn’t care less about buying him a ring.

 

Baekhyun started to squirm uncomfortably, hoping that Chanyeol could get the hint to get his hand off his waist. But to no avail…

 

“Well, better buy that ring soon, Mr. Park,” Mr. Cho laughed, as he began to pick his things up from their table, ready to leave. “Mr. Byun is pretty popular in our line of work. Even I thought he was dating Mr. Kim because they looked close and Mr. Kim was always so attentive towards him.”

 

Baekhyun flinched as he felt Chanyeol’s hold on him tightened. For Mr. Cho’s credits, the man probably didn’t think that his words were harmful. But, oh boy. He didn’t know that Park Chanyeol was a possessive kind of fake fiance either.

 

“Once again, thank you for your time, Mr. Cho.” Now Baekhyun forced himself out of Chanyeol’s grasp. He shook the man’s hand and turned his body, following Mr. Cho until he was out of the cafe.

 

And everything suddenly went quiet.

 

Baekhyun turned back to face Chanyeol. “Would you stop that?” he huffed.

 

Chanyeol’s sweet expression had vanished, replaced with something akin to an ugly scowl. “Stop what? And is the Mr. Kim he meant Kim Jongin, the guy you had a date with a few weeks ago?” he threw the question back, sitting at the seat where Mr. Cho previously seated.

 

See? What did he say before? Chanyeol was annoying. Full stop. “Stop declaring to everyone that I’m your fiance. And you didn’t have to know who Mr. Kim is.” Though he was completely right.

 

“But I am your fiance. Sit down. Have you eaten yet?” Chanyeol took the menu that was left on their table, not bothering to see if Baekhyun did what he told him to do. “Besides, you heard what he said. Turn out, you’re Mr. Popular .”

 

Baekhyun truly wanted to rip off the teasing smirk off Chanyeol’s face. “Shut up. I’m not popular. We’re having lunch here?”

 

Humming like he was thinking hard, Chanyeol tore his attention away from the menu. "You want to go somewhere else? There's only half an hour left before our lunchtime is over though."

 

The butterflies in Baekhyun's stomach were back as soon as he realized how comfortable they talked right now. So comfortable he started thinking that they could actually do this like a real couple. "Let's just go to some drive-thru and eat in the car."

 

"Fast food? Again?" Chanyeol arched his brows, not liking the idea, but he put down the menu anyway.

 

"Let's go to McDonald’s. I'm craving their fish and chips." Baekhyun started to pack his things while Chanyeol got up, standing beside him, waiting for him.

 

"You know, usually people go to a chicken restaurant for the chicken, but you--"

 

"Shut it."

 

Chanyeol chuckled, then he took Baekhyun's hand as soon as he finished putting his things inside his bag. Without saying anything, he pulled Baekhyun out of the coffee shop.

 

See? Too comfortable.

 

 

 

 

The amount of people who knew about their deal wasn't more than 2 people. They were no other than their own secretary, Kim Junmyeon and Bae Joohyun.

 

Chanyeol didn't know about Baekhyun and Junmyeon, but Joohyun was one of the key point of his plan to throw his step father away. After all, Joohyun was the one who he asked to search for South Korean CEO slash bachelor. So she already knew about his plan from the start. She was also the one who helped him to make their marriage slash business contract.

 

Basically, she was his right hand, and it was only natural that after a stressful meeting with the board of the company, when he was feeling a little more pent-up more than anytime, he blurted out the story of ten years ago when he was being an ultimate jerk to his now fiance. Joohyun only nodded once in a while, and frowned and scowled at him more often than not.

 

His secretary only confirmed what he already knew. He was an . And she worded it with absolute disdain dripping in her every word.

 

"Way to rub salt into my wound, Joohyun." Chanyeol ran his fingers through his hair, feeling even more stuffy than before he told the story to his secretary. Somehow, his workspace became so small.

 

"Well, I don't know what to say, Mr. Park." Joohyun cleaned all the scattered papers on Chanyeol's desk, looking tired and ready to go home since the hour was getting late. "With all due respect, Mr. Park, I'm surprised after all you've done to him he's still willing to go through this plan for you."

 

Damn, that stung. But Chanyeol couldn't help but wondered too. It was like a goddamn miracle how Baekhyun agreed to be married to him, and the way he acted around Chanyeol lately... it looked like he was willing to cooperate as civil as possible. Even normal. Which was weird, but definitely more than welcomed.

 

"Not only for me. He did this also for his company," Chanyeol corrected her. Because as much as he wanted to pretend that Baekhyun was doing this for him, he knew the reality was Baekhyun did this for the sake of his company. "The condition I gave him is too good. Only a fool would turn it down."

 

The petite female nodded, her expression blank. "I guess so, but..." Her piercing cold gaze looked straight into Chanyeol's eyes. "Shouldn't you tell him all the things you just told me, Mr. Park? About your feelings back then, and why you did what you did."

 

Chanyeol tapped his fingers onto his wooden desk, feeling conflicted more than ever. "You think?"

 

"Absolutely, Mr. Park. With that, maybe your relationship could be better, and maybe... become more." Joohyun took a step backward and bowed to him. "Excuse myself, Mr. Park. I'm heading home first."

 

Chanyeol nodded and buried his head in his palms, not watching his secretary getting out of his office and closing the door. He was too busy with his thoughts.

 

It wasn't that Chanyeol didn't want to be honest with Baekhyun about his feeling. The thing was, the relationship he had with Baekhyun right now was... safe. It was clear to him that Baekhyun put his absolute best to tolerate Chanyeol, accept him even, although there was a blatant elephant in the room. Multiple elephants, in fact. What would happen if Chanyeol opened the old wound? Joohyun said their relationship could take a better path, but what if it had an opposite effect? Then the perfect bubble they had right now would be busted?

 

Chanyeol didn't want that. Losing Baekhyun right now would be the scariest thing could happen to him.

 

The loud chime of his phone echoed in his office, and Chanyeol almost cursed loudly, but immediately smiled who the sender of the message was.

 

Byun Baekhyun [20.05]

I’m around your office. You still there?

 

Chanyeol didn’t care if Baekhyun would mock him later about how disgustingly fast he replied to his text.

 

Me [20.05]

Still here. U wanna come?

 

Byun Baekhyun [20.08]

I could if u want

 

Me [20.08]

Awh dont be like that. I know u want to see me

U miss me babe?

 

Byun Baekhyun [20.10]

…..I refused to reply to that

 

Me [20.10]

jk

just come here

bring food?

 

Byun Baekhyun [20.11]

will bring thai

be there in 15

 

Me [20.11]

Be careful on ur way here

 

After his conversation with Joohyun, honestly Chanyeol dreaded to meet his fiance. He supposed he should be concerned over the fact that he needed to talk to Baekhyun, but all he wanted right now was to see his face, and maybe if he was lucky, Baekhyun would let him hold his hand later when he accompanied him to his car. He would worry about the talk later.

 

Shoulders slumped, Chanyeol let himself to repax against his leather chair, at the same time trying to dismiss the thought about his past. But to no avail, he failed miserably. By the way he couldn't stop thinking about it, he knew that he would have to confess to Baekhyun tonight or else he wouldn't be able to sleep at all.

 

He sighed. The reason he talked to his secretary about it was so he could let out the steam in him but it just made it worse.

 

Chanyeol closed his eyes for a long moment, listening to the sound of honking cars and people yelling outside of his office building, willing himself to breathe. It became easier by the minutes and he felt himself calm down just a little. At least he wasn’t going to face Baekhyun with his heartbeat thundering out of control.

 

At some point, Chanyeol might lose track of time and the next thing he knew was that the door to his office was opened. Baekhyun’s white, thick coat was the first thing Chanyeol noticed before his fiance’s head popped out from behind the door, his eyes scanning the room until they found Chanyeol. Then his confused look turned into relief. The guy was probably relieved he had found the right office, but Chanyeol would like to pretend Baekhyun was so relieved to see him after a long day. Just like how Chanyeol felt right now.

 

How he could breathe easier yet harder at the same time with the sight of Baekhyun, he would never know.

 

“Uh, hey,” Baekhyun greeted awkwardly, making Chanyeol grin instantly.

 

“Why are just standing there? Come in.” Chanyeol sat straight. “You bring the food?”

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes as he entered the room and closed the door after. “Of course I do. Why would I come here if I don’t?”

 

“Wow, so you couldn’t eat dinner without me now? I’m touched, sugar.”

 

“Shut up. Don’t call me that.” Baekhyun threw him a glare, but he ended up looking cute instead. He exhaled loudly when he put the plastic bag containing food on Chanyeol’s table, not bothering to sweep all Chanyeol’s thing away. “I was just around this area, might as well…”

 

Chanyeol’s gaze softened. Recently, he wasn’t able to keep this teasing banter between them for long since his heart would often melt soon enough. Before he knew it, he just stopped talking and just stared at him.

 

Without asking for Chanyeol’s permission, Baekhyun took a seat across of him and started to rummage through the plastic. "So what do you want? I have pad Thai and and uh... fried rice, khao pad, I think? I also have the tom yum soup."

 

"Anything's fine," Chanyeol said, starting to help his fiance to arrange the food. "You bought the beverages, too?"

 

"Yup, Thai tea and ice tea."

 

"I'll take the Thai tea."

 

"Hey." Baekhyun's hand froze mid-air when he handed Chanyeol the fried rice, his expression looked sulky. "The Thai tea is mine, obviously."

 

"Give me half of it."

 

"No."

 

"Oh, come on. You can't possibly just give me ice tea."

 

"In fact, I can. And why should I give you anyway?"

 

Chanyeol shrugged as he took the fried rice dish. "Fiance's privilege."

 

"There's no fiance's privilege." Baekhyun sneered but instead looking like he was fuming, he looked cute when he was stirring his pad Thai. "If there was one, what is mine?"

 

Chanyeol decided to start eating too. In between his chews, he talked again. "I allowed you to come here even after the office hour. I never done that to anyone before."

 

Baekhyun narrowed his eyes, chewing religiously. The sight was one hell of a kind. Chanyeol had numerous chances to witness Baekhyun eating now after they became fiance, but he couldn't say that he was bored with cute sight. "Me visiting you right now isn't counted because I'm your... ."

 

Chanyeol forced to swallow the rice in his mouth before he laughed. His eyes started to water, as he could see Baekhyun's flushed face in between his tears. "See? Fiance's privilege."

 

" you," Baekhyun grumbled, looking embarrassed that he just tasted his own medicine. But in the end, he handed his cup of Thai ice tea to Chanyeol.

 

"Nah, you could have it, babe. I was just kidding," Chanyeol said nonchalantly. The term of endearment slipped without him able to stop it.

 

Now Chanyeol didn't know if the red blush on Baekhyun's cheeks was still because of the earlier tease or because he just called him embarrassing nickname. Either way, Baekhyun decided not to mention the latter. He got back to his pad Thai after he cleared throat. "You seriously never invited anyone here after work?"

 

The question was simple. But Chanyeol felt like there was underlying question behind that. "No, never. In fact, I never let anyone come here if it's not about work whether it was office hour or not."

 

"So your office is strictly for work?"

 

"Yes."

 

Baekhyun only hummed, seemingly thinking. Much later, after they had finished their food and drink, Baekhyun finally looked at him. Even without him uttering it, Chanyeol already had a hunch what kind of question his fiance was gonna ask.

 

"Something's bothering you?"

 

Baekhyun stiffened. He was so easy to read or maybe Chanyeol just put too much attention on him. "Nothing," he answered, fidgeting on his seat. "Just wondering about something unimportant."

 

That only made Chanyeol more curious. "Shoot. You can ask me anything."

 

Baekhyun looked hesitating for a while, but like he was fishing for the right words to say without making Chanyeol angry. "Yeah, I've been wondering." Baekhyun stopped to rub his nape. "So you ended up working for your step dad."

 

Chanyeol expected it, really he did. After all, this was one of the thing that they needed to talk about. So it wasn't out of nowhere that Baekhyun had been wondering about this and brought it up. But it didn't mean he wouldn't be taken aback by the statement all the same. His brain was short circuiting, making him lose ability to speak.

 

Fortunately, Baekhyun handled the silence, although his next words came out shaky, obviously nervous. "Since I know that you... hate him so much."

 

Well there he went. Of course baekhyun still remembered the incident that happened ten years ago at his father's study room. That's the beginning of their doom after all. And Chanyeol had been cursing that moment ever since. If not for that cursed coincidence that Baekhyun was there while he had a fight with his step dad, their relationship was probably gonna be better than this.

 

Chanyeol sighed before he raked his fingers through his hair. After a while, he finally found his voice. "Let's go somewhere else. We can't talk about that here."

 

Might as well laid himself bare tonight, just like Joohyun told him to.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun couldn't believe that he really did that. Stupid idiot . Why did he have to be so nosy all the time? Shouldn't he learn from the past about how his and Chanyeol's relationship work? He should've known that Chanyeol hated his private life--especially his family matter--being pried on.

 

This was the very reason why their new relationship as fake fiance had worked, because they had avoided any mentions about each other's private life, never crossing the line. Chanyeol never asked about his family whereabout, neither did Baekhyun. Baekhyun didn't know if Chanyeol had friends out there, and neither did Chanyeol.

 

They knew so much about each other but none of them were the things that mattered.

 

And Baekhyun had destroyed it, their comfortable fake relationship. He should've known his place, but Baekhyun was starting to get greedy. He thought maybe, just maybe, he could understand him better. He wanted to know Chanyeol better.

 

Now, he had crossed the line, and Chanyeol visibly looked like he was a second away from exploding, probably from feeling ashamed, angry, or... scared, Baekhyun didn't know. And he hated to be the one who did wrong.

 

"We don't have to talk about it," Baekhyun said quietly as the car Chanyeol drove passed probably the twentieth traffic light since they left his office. And at that long duration, not a word uttered between them. The silence between the was so suffocating especially after weeks of attempted normal relationship between them. It felt like they were back to square one once again, if not worse. "Chanyeol?"

 

Chanyeol's stoic expression which he had been sporting for the whole ride cracked for a second. He glanced at Baekhyun briefly and put his concentration back on the road, or maybe on the things storming inside his head. "No, it's just-- We're almost there." He exhaled a pent-up breath. "We'll talk once we arrive."

 

It was weird. Chanyeol looked nervous, when he should've not... right? Baekhyun expected he would be pissed. As pissed off as back then ten years ago when Baekhyun not-so-accidentally witness his fight with his step father.

 

Before he knew it, they had left the main road and entered small alley, went straight toward the slope. Baekhyun knew this route. This was the way to the Naksan Park, a park located on top of a hill. Baekhyun’s heart stuttered. If Chanyeol was mad and wanted to scream at him, he wouldn’t bring Baekhyun to a romantic place, right?

 

When the dark sky with thousands of shining light came to view, Baekhyun gaped without him realizing. It was like he was relishing the moment he visited here the first time. The view still took his breath away.

 

Chanyeol parked the car shortly before he stopped the engine all together. And in an instant, they were engulfed by silence. When Baekhyun peeked to the man beside him, Chanyeol was looking at his hands on his lap, all the while chewing his lips so hard until Baekhyun was scared it would bleed.

 

"Chanyeol?"

 

Chanyeol looked up, blinking as if he just realized that he was only sitting there in silent. "Yeah, uhm, let's go out."

 

This wasn't Park Chanyeol he knew. Chanyeol was always full of confidence, never unsure of anything he did. So, why? Why did he look so rattled?

 

And why everything in him wanted to comfort him? Baekhyun wanted to touch him, hug him, tell him that everything was okay. He had to hug himself to avoid his arms from reaching out to Chanyeol.

 

"What is it, Chanyeol?" Baekhyun asked as soon as they sat at one of the bench, with the entire night view of Seoul right in front of them. Baekhyun couldn't honestly enjoy it. His gut was twisting and it was hard to control his beating heart.

 

This time, Chanyeol finally faced him. Since the time Baekhyun uttered the bold statement at his office, this was the first time Chanyeol finally looked at him. And at that moment, Chanyeol was no longer looked worried, or confused, or puzzled. He looked... resolved. "I feel like I need to tell you this from the start."

 

Baekhyun swallowed. "About what?"

 

"About everything." Chanyeol's eyes turned crestfallen. "As my fiance, you deserve--no, I want you to know."

 

Baekhyun leaned against the bench. Okay, he was clueless and didn't know what the hell Chanyeol was going to talk about, but he kinda got it. So he just closed his eyes, as he felt a calloused, cold hand crept into his, lacing their fingers together. Suddenly, Baekhyun felt the urge to cry, but he held it in, and listened to Chanyeol's voice.

 

"My father--my real, biological father--died when I was eight. My mom was crushed, he was the love of her life. But Mom needed to go on, because he left a huge responsibility on her, our company. She was only one of the company board with little share. So you could imagine how mess our company at that time. Who would be the CEO? The madam? No, my mom only held a quarter of the share. And that's where Minhyuk--my step dad stepped up."

 

Opening his eyes, Baekhyun's brows snapped together. "Don't tell me..."

 

"Minhyuk was one of the shareholder just like my mom, although much fewer. But he was friend with another board who had major influence in the company since they had bigger share. Minhyuk made sure to be in their side, so other boards would vote for him as the new CEO. And those stupid boards ate his . They believed it when Minhyuk said that my mom was too emotional to handle the company, and he could do it better."

 

"Just like that?"

 

Chanyeol plastered a fake smile on his face. "Just like that," he repeated. "He became the CEO, and became my step dad. Wonderful, wasn't it? Honestly, at that time, I didn't understand about company matter. Hell, I didn't even understand when my mom said that he was going to be my new father. All I know was that I hate him, but not because he abused the company's power or my mom's fragile heart, but because..."

 

Chanyeol visibly swallowed, like the lump in his throat actually prevent him to talk, and Baekhyun could only squeeze his hand.

 

"He was kind for the first year they were together. But as I became older, I started to realize that he was... bad news. The things he did just rubbed me in the wrong way, and I was only ten at that time. So can you imagine how ty he was, if a ten years old kid could pick up on that?

 

"Then I started to not listening to what he said, not caring about his opinion, trying to pull Mom's attention to me when he was around, and so on. And he realized that. That I was starting to turn my back on him and it irked him so much."

 

Baekhyun felt his chest tightening and he really, really didn't like where this was going. "Chanyeol," Baekhyun said, his voice was a little thick. "Did he... was he..."

 

"It's exactly what you imagined." Chanyeol no longer could stare right into his eyes. "He became an abusive dad. He hit me, slapped me, pulled my hair, smack me. You named it, he did it all. I was ten, so I couldn't really fight him. I couldn't tell anyone either, including Mom. Since he said if I told anyone, he would make my mother suffer instead. And I can't... do that. My mom has gone through enough. So I just endured it, until I was fifteen. I grew bigger than him slowly, and I could take him. Though his abuse didn't stop all together, but at least, I could fight him once in a while. When I reached my eighteen birthday, that was when he knew that he couldn't mess with me anymore, because I literally could destroy him if I wanted that time."

 

A sob escaped Baekhyun's lips, pulling Chanyeol's attention to him. Chanyeol looked absolutely confused for a few seconds, like he couldn't for the life of him comprehend why in the hell Baekhyun would cry for him. Him--the boy who tortured him ten years ago. Him--the man who came back and crept into his life forcefully. Him. Him. Him. Chanyeol. Park Chanyeol.

 

"Baekhyun, you..." he broke off, smiling at him but his eyes looked vulnerable. "Why are you crying?" He laughed dryly before he cupped Baekhyun's face with his hands, sweeping the tears that fell to his cheeks with his thumbs. "Come one, don't cry."

 

"Because," Baekhyun choked out. He couldn't seem to stop his tears. "Because the ten years old you... the eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen years old you was crying... alone." He shut his eyes. "No child--no one should experience that."

 

"You're right. No one deserves that. But I'm okay now, so..." He rubbed his thumbs against Baekhyun's cold cheeks. "When you caught me fighting with Minhyuk back then, that was... one of my lowest moment and you witnessed it. Out of all people, it had to be you. It wasn't in my intention to hate you, but I was so embarrassed... I was just..."

 

Baekhyun shook his head. "It's okay."

 

"It's not okay." His voice rose an octave. Then as if he realized that he surprised Baekhyun, he sighed. His voice was barely a whisper when he started talking again. "It's not okay. At all. I pushed you away, I bullied you, and for what? For no reason at all. I just wanted to feel superior, to know how it felt to have a hold on someone's life. I was so, so low--"

 

"Hey, there. Don't beat yourself too much like that." Baekhyun raised his hands to hold Chanyeol's ones that still placed in his cheeks. "I understand. That was your defense mechanism. You were just a kid."

 

"I don't want your forgiveness if it's just because I was abused by my step father back then. You don't have to pretend that everything happened because I was broken or something. The thing is, I was aware of what I was doing, but I still did it anyway. I was an--"

 

"." Baekhyun smiled, and he put their foreheads together, until he was sure that Chanyeol must've felt his breath fanning his face. "And you were a bully, a jerk, a douchebag, a complete horse. And I hated you. Believe me, I hated everything about you, including your stupidly attractive face. But I understand. I understand, Chanyeol. That's all I'm saying." When Baekhyun pulled away, he tried his best to put a teasing smile. "Besides, how am I gonna forgive you when you haven't asked for my forgiveness at all?"

 

Chanyeol's own smile got wider. His concern was still there, but it died down slowly. And with that, also the tension between them. "I'm sure that you don't want a fiance who's all talk and no action."

 

"Oh? So you're going to prove it with your action, huh?"

 

"I'm going to earn your forgiveness and trust for no matter how long."

 

The statement made Baekhyun want to backpedal because suddenly this felt too deep, too intense. But he hold Chanyeol's gaze, and in the ended he nodded. "Okay," he said, so shaky and tight.