Free of deceit

Baekhyun cried his eyes out that night in Tiffany's comforting embrace. He cried, sobbed and almost screamed. It hurt. It hurt so bad to say those words to Chanyeol. But he knew that he had to if he wanted to spare the both of them from a ticking time bomb. 

He had no choice. His only way out of the endless cycle of lies was to be honest, even if it hurt this badly. 

"Are you really going to resign? What will I do without my best friend to help me flirt with the cute girls?" Tiffany sniffled. "Idiot, a gay man doesn't know how to flirt with girls.." Baekhyun muttered. "I can't see him every day and work alongside him. Not after all of this. I just.." Baekhyun fell quiet for a moment. He wasn't going to be working alongside Chanyeol anymore, meaning he wasn't going to see him every day anymore. "It didn't work out the way you hoped it would," Tiffany continued for him and he nodded sadly. 

"Sometimes that just happens. And it . It really, really . I know you feel bad for hurting his feelings, but you can't force yourself to be happy and pretend like everything is okay, especially when the entire public has their eyes fixated onto you. You need to be selfish every now and then and make choices for yourself, even if that means hurting the person you value the most."

They spent the rest of the night watching old movies and eating ice cream before finally becoming too tired to stay awake. 

"What about work?" Baekhyun asked. "Don't you have work tomorrow morning?" but Tiffany shook her head. "You're my best friend. And especially when you're going through something like this, you're more important. Don't worry about me."
 

Baekhyun woke up to his phone buzzing next to his head. There was a note on the coffee table next to the couch he slept on. 

I left for work. There is instant noodles in the cupboard and coffee in the bottom drawer. I'll be back at 6. x Tiffany 

He looked at the clock on the wall of Tiffany's living room. It was already late in the afternoon and Tiffany would be home in three hours. He wondered at what time she left but his thoughts were cut off once he remembered his phone was still going off from an incoming call. 

"Hello?" he answered without looking at the screen. "Hi, it's Jongdae. I, uh, I saw about the news.. I thought you were going to try and work things out?" Baekhyun raised his eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean..?" he asked. "You haven't seen it yet? Did you just wake up? Whatever, I figured you'd sleep in this late," Jongdae said. "What the hell is going on? Could you please tell me?"

"The entire internet and media is losing their mind because PCY Enterprises' CEO Park Chanyeol just announced that he and his husband, AKA you, are getting a divorce. What happened to talking things through?" Jongdae said with confusion. 

Baekhyun nearly dropped his phone out of his hand when he heard it. His management had probably called him over a hundred times by now. "I have to call you back in a few, I need to call my manager first," he said and hung up without waiting for a response and immediately dialed Taeyeon's number. 

"Baekhyun! Finally, you're answering your phone. You need to come to the company ASAP. CEO Kim wants to talk with you over PCY Enterprises statement this morning. Hurry up!" Taeyeon had answered the call within seconds and hung up as soon as she had answered. Baekhyun hurried to get himself ready before rushing out of the door and taking the bus to the company. 

It wasn't the same as driving a Lexus, but it did feel more down to earth for him. He hadn't taken the bus in so long.

He took the elevator to the highest floor of the building. KIM Ent. was a bigger building and he hadn't realized until now. CEO Kim's office was at the 20th floor, while Chanyeol's was at the 17th. Baekhyun shook his head. No. He shouldn't have Chanyeol on his mind anymore. He needed to move on from that. 

He knocked on the door and pushed it open when he heard the CEO say "Come in."

"Ah, Baekhyun, there you are. Please, take a seat," he said and motioned for Baekhyun to sit down in a chair in front of his desk. 

Baekhyun observed the office. Entertainment companies had a completely different feel to them. 

Kim Doyoung wasn't as powerful as Chanyeol, but he felt more classy. More modern and more formal. 

His office had the exact same vibe. Classy, modern and formal. 

"PCY Enterprises put out a statement that you and their CEO, Park Chanyeol, are getting a divorce and that you have resigned from your position. Is this true?" he asked. 

"Yes."

Doyoung sighed heavily. 

"I'm sorry to hear that. We have to put out a public statement confirming the news. Would you like us to give a reason or request for privacy during this difficult period of time?" he asked him. 

"I'd rather keep the reason private, if that is alright."

"Of course, we'll make sure that your privacy will be respected. You have a shoot and an event coming up for YSL, do you want us to cancel them?" Doyoung asked but Baekhyun shook his head immediately. 

"No, no. I'll still go. It's a good distraction and it'll help keep my head off of things. Feel