By the time Kyungsoo had woken up that morning Baekhyun was nowhere to be seen.

He had slept on the couch again, passed out halfway through the movie, on Kyungsoo’s shoulder. Trying to get off him without disturbing him was a challenge but he managed to pull it off without waking the man up.

Kyungsoo had slept in an hour later than he normally does, way too exhausted from the night before to want to follow his regular morning routine and waited until the very last minute to get ready and open up shop.

To his surprise, Baekhyun has left just as quietly as he did the first night Kyungsoo had let him stay, blankets folded on the couch, ready to be put away.

Kyungsoo didn’t miss the silence that he would be sitting through all day. He didn’t even open up when he got down stairs, instead getting his rent and deposit out of the safe and taking them to the bank. It isn’t like anyone would be waiting for him anyways.

Kyungsoo only prefers silence when it’s necessary, when it’s comfortable for him. During his operation hours, he hates it. Even the music he puts on in the shop doesn’t fill that gap that should be filled with what he heard last night. People talking, people enjoying themselves.

He wanted to thank Baekhyun way more than he did last night. He was able to pull off his entire objective without making Kyungsoo feel totally guilty in the end. It was in an honest way, memorable way, and he really wishes he wasn’t so awkward about it, but he’s thankful.

He really wishes he wasn’t so soft about it, either. Baekhyun was a stubborn CEO that knew how to get his way. Kyungsoo should not be okay with that. He shouldn’t be letting it grow on him like it has been for over a week now.

But it has grown on him. Baekhyun has grown on him, and Kyungsoo hates it. Counting the number of times he manages to get Kyungsoo to crack a smile and giving him stupid nicknames that fluster and frustrate him.

Baekhyun is a CEO, a clever CEO who is trying to find his way around with Kyungsoo for some reason other than what Kyungsoo thinks, and he hates that he’s making himself oblivious on purpose.

He hates that he’s allowing himself to stick around. Maybe it’s the lack of people he’s had in his life over the years that he’s sensitive to Baekhyun’s generosity. Maybe he’s genuinely interested in knowing more about the CEO, Kyungsoo can’t really pin it, he just knows that the next time Baekhyun mysteriously shows up at his door he isn’t going to close it on him, and he wants to hate that, but he can’t.

Kyungsoo made it home in time just as rain started to fall. He watches the open sign flicker to life in blue and red as he pulls chairs down from the table and straightens them up. He goes to the kitchen, moves to put away some stray pots that he doesn’t remember leaving out last night but pauses when he hears something clink from inside the metal.

His eyebrows press together and he tilts the pot to one side, hearing another small clink, then the other side, same thing. Kyungsoo slowly opens the lid as if something unearthly was about to jump out at him, and peeks inside.

It’s a box, with a small note attached.

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes as he picks up the box, puts the pot away, and stands up.

“

I meant to give this to you before you made me become your unofficial waiter, so I’m leaving it here since I had to leave !

Please use it, I really can’t stand you with that ugly brick of a phone…

- Your favorite CEO !!! (Baekhyunnie♡) “

Kyungsoo sighs and rolls his eyes, ripping off the note and sure enough, under the paper is a box with a company logo and a picture of a really nice, no doubt expensive smartphone.

Kyungsoo’s heart may have burst with happiness just a little as he cuts through the tape and pulls the box apart, revealing a sleek black cell phone, all for… Him. It feels wrong to hold it and turn it on, to marvel and take everything in.

It is wrong. He shouldn’t have said anything to Baekhyun about this, he should have just kept it to himself. This thing is like, top of the line, brand new tech and it’s in the poor hands of a restaurant owner whose life is literally falling apart in front of him.

Doesn’t he need to make payments on this thing? Unless Baekhyun bought it for full price, which he probably did, which makes Kyungsoo jump into his next move, and that’s doing an search on the thing and seeing the retail price, which he almost falls out of his chair when he sees it.

Stupid, this guy is totally insane and if Kyungsoo doesn’t manage to get to the bottom of his motive, he’s going to be the next to lose his mind. He can’t hate the CEO no matter how much he tries. Sure, Baekhyun hasn’t done anything to make Kyungsoo hate him, but he’s worming his way around and poking and prodding at all of Kyungsoo’s soft spots that it just makes him question what he may be up to in that charming- no, stupid head of his.

To: CEO Bastard

1:30 P.M

> I can’t believe you

> But I also shouldn’t be surprised by now.

> …… Thank you…

Kyungsoo didn’t even get a chance to set the phone down. An immediate response from Baekhyun pings, then another, and one more before Kyungsoo can even get a chance to read through the first one.

1:30 P.M

MISTER ??????  <

You know I half expected you to burst into my office and raise hell on me for being nice and then throw that back into my face  <

Claim your love for your cringey 2009 ….. Thing …..  <

Then leave. <

1:31 P.M

>  That was one time.

>  I know you’re pretty persistent. As if I’d have a chance anyways.

Kyungsoo had just managed to finally save Baekhyun’s number into the smartphone. It took way longer than he expected it to because he was bombarded with texts from the CEO in the process. It turns out smartphones are way more complicated than he thought they were and by the time he moved onto his mother’s number and then Jongins, a half hour had passed.

He’s getting the hang of it. Tapping around and looking at the different apps. He takes it upon his curiosity to open up the news, since it something he only accesses from his computer, and blinks twice when he tries to read it.

Top headline:

G-Light Media CEO Byun Baekhyun Found to Be Anonymous Donor of 10 Million Won to Local Children’s Orphanages

Of course. Of course he donated ten million ing Won to multiple children’s orphanages. Of course this would be the first headline he sees when he opens the news. Baekhyun is everywhere now and he can’t hide from him.

Kyungsoo goes one step further, clicks on the article and reads it from top to bottom.

Everything starts to make sense as he reads through. Baekhyun was interviewed briefly on the situation and only said that it was a mission that meant a lot to him, and that he wants to be able to use his name for something good. It was a shock, honestly to see that Baekhyun used his own money to give back to something big like this. Almost like he’s tried to do it before…

Another search. He refrained from doing this for a long time because he never really thought the CEO would ever come back here after the night he showed up. He types in Baekhyun’s name in the search, hits enter, and is faced with a million different articles on G-Light itself and interviews with him as a CEO. Pictures and videos of him at conferences and shoots.

Articles dating back to a few years ago still talk about how Baekhyun made anonymous donations to charities that supported victims of abuse and helped kids grow and pursue careers in business, now top that with donating to children’s homes and Baekhyun makes out to be the opposite to what Kyungsoo had originally thought was a sleud, selfish, tricky CEO.

Kyungsoo is half tempted to ask about Baekhyun’s hefty donation but he keeps it to himself for another time. Chances are Baekhyun is bound to show up at the front of his restaurant sometime within the next few days for absolutely no reason to and Kyungsoo is bound to open up the door and call him an idiot for showing up, then follow up by telling him to come in.

Pretty soon, give or take a few months after all this paperwork goes through and he finishes with all the complicated stuff, he’s probably never going to be seeing Baekhyun again. Chances are, when Kyungsoo closes down, his memories, along with all of his connections will disappear too.

That’s a thought he knows he shouldn’t bear. Chances are he’ll still be in touch with everyone he’s met over the years that he’s been in business, but this place, all of his memories, his childhood, his entire life, will be gone.

Kyungsoo managed to go about his day looking for a new start. A new beginning, of sorts.

It’s not here, though. No where will ever be here. Kyungsoo hates that this part of him needs to grow up and finally come to terms with the fact that this was how it was supposed to be, that this was more than likely going to happen but he could never accept it.

Mostly because the mere idea that his family, especially his father, despite how long it’s been, would be disappointed in his attempt to try and run the place that he was so passionate about. Kyungsoo tried, and he kept trying, but now he doesn’t have a choice anymore.

His entire life, he waited for this moment, and only three years was he able to make it last. Three years and hardly any of what he thought would happen, did, and now he’s being forced to say goodbye to it all. All of his parents hard work and dedication and passion is about to be locked away to sink into the floorboards, ready to awaken with a different future.

Kyungsoo feels like a bad son. A disappointment, at the worst. All of his time he spent trying to make this place what it was when he was a kids was wasted because he spent too much of his time trying to recreate the nostalgia rather than trying to be creative and just change.

All he had to do was change. It’s a simple word that weighs such a heavy burden on his back. It’s something he’s never been accustomed to, something that he has never really committed to just because it’s never applied to his life. To him.

Now he’s looking for openings at restaurants where he can apply his skills and hopefully earn a decent living.

“You had quite the party here last night. I’m surprised.”

Go away.

Kyungsoo sends a glare over in the direction of that soft, yet shrilling voice. He quickly closes the tab of the job search page he’s on so Junmyeon can’t see and possibly give him hell for that on top of whatever else he’s about to lie on him.

“Either you eat or you leave.”

“I’m hurt.”

“Good. Now leave.”

“I can’t.” Junmyeon sings, “I actually have some stuff for you to sign for me. Get these back to me as soon as you can.”

Kyungsoo holds his gaze on the manila folder in Junmyeon’s hand before he sighs and takes it, “It’s just a few contracts confirming that you’ll be handing this building over to me in three months.”

“Wait what?” Kyungsoo drops the folder onto the table and looks back up at Junmyeon,”I thought we agreed on six?”

The man shakes his head, “Three, now. Considering the rate you’re falling, it’s best we finish this quickly. I’m going to have an evaluation done on the building next week to make sure it’s in good shape at no cost to you. The sooner we can get this over with, the easier it is for the two of us.”

Kyungsoo breathes a sigh as he slumps back in his chair. Tis was unbelievable. Junmyeon turned things around without him knowing and now he’s on an even shorter time limit to get things together.

“You’ve already submitted the legal stuff, now all that’s left-”

“I still have a debt to pay off. That was why I drew this out for so long.” Kyungsoo says quickly, hoping that there was some way to try and change the man’s mind. He knows he can’t, but that piece of him that denies the change in his life is screaming to say no, to try and change his mind.

“You ever consider filing for bankruptcy?” Junmyeon’s tone is sincere, making Kyungsoo shiver. “ I mean at this point, with the assets and everything, it would be your best option. Especially if you were considering starting fresh.”

Kyungsoo shakes his head, “I’ll sell the assets first. See where that goes, and then… Go from there. Chances of me starting fresh don’t seem likely.” Kyungsoo shrugs. He hates this. He hates talking business and law and technical terms. It’s all too confusing and messy to deal with. A tedious process that he doesn’t like to handle but if Junmyeon has cut his allotted time in half, he’ll really have no choice. Pretty soon his life will be back to talking with creditors and dealing with more paperwork.

Junmyeon is selfish. If he wants to play this way, so be it. Kyungsoo doesn’t know how much more of this he really can take anymore. Filing for bankruptcy was an option somewhere in his mind at some point. It was even one his mother suggested some time ago but the idea of having to file and go to court and deal with more frustrations doesn’t seem like it’d be taking any weight off of his shoulders.

But, it’s always an option.

“The inspection will be on Friday. I’ll take those then.” Junmyeon says, striding across the room and pausing as he opens the door, “Fair warning, depending on how the evaluation goes it will affect the offer I made originally to buy this place. I’d make sure everything was up to date until then, otherwise you might get below your asking price.” He waves and slips out the door leaving Kyungsoo to stare slack jaw at the empty space that Junmyeon was standing.

It’s a good thing he's started looking for new work.

--- --- --- 

Kyungsoo would rather be dangling on the edge of a cliff than watch one single guy sniff around his restaurant with the sole purpose being to find something wrong. Kyungsoo knows that the equipment in this place is fairly new. His dad replaced it a few years ago, it wasn’t detrimental. His customers wouldn’t be breathing in natural gas or be leaving with food poisoning. Kyungsoo knows how to run a business, even if he did get the short end of it.

He’s had to repeat himself three times about the heating and cooling system. Then talk about the stoves and freezer. Hell, he even had to go over the last time he replaced the light bulbs. They’ve been going over the flooring, the wiring, the ventilation, the plumbing. It’s all just a very long question and answer that is wearing Kyungsoo’s patience to a thread.

Junmyeon had been standing off to the side the entire time, reviewing all of the work that Kyungsoo spent more than enough sleepless nights looking over and deciding upon.

He keeps having to remind himself he has no choice. That this is the only option he really has at this point and everything here isn’t worth trying to save.

He glances down at his phone for the time.

Kyungsoo hasn’t heard from Baekhyun in a week. At this point, it’s probably a good thing. Kyungsoo has been under way too much stress to deal with anyone. Much less a CEO who is really good at getting past his barriers.

He hurries to send a quick text to Jongin, telling him that this thing is probably going to go on for a while as the guy hasn’t even looked upstairs yet. THe younger sends back a sticker of a pouty bear. It’s all Jongin’s been sending to Kyungsoo ever since he learned he got a new phone. Endless bear stickers.

It’s another hour to go through the upstairs. Double checking to make sure it was rodent free and suitable for living. In that time Kyungsoo ended up receiving an entire text thread of pouty bears, to sad bears, to angry bears. He really doesn’t stop.

By the time the inspection was over, and Kyungsoo had been told by the man that he had passed, with only a few minor issues, he was left to hear out what Junmyeon had to say.

“I had no idea this place was in such good condition, Kyungsoo. You’ve really held this place together.” Junmyeon smiles. Kyungsoo looks around at the empty tables and chairs and nods, “Yeah. I tried.”

“I’ll go on to submit all this for review then. I’ll let you know when everything is finished.” Junmyeon says, clapping the smaller on the back and walking towards the door, leaving Kyungsoo to stand in silence.

It doesn’t really hit him until now. Looking at all of this when it’s quiet and he’s the only one here. He sees memories of his childhood, his youth in flashes as his eyes snac across the room. People sitting and laughing, his mother scurrying between tables and greeting families as they come inside. His father tripping over his own feet as he comes to say hello to neighbors and him, a smaller, scrawnier him, getting red in the face when his voice breaks in the middle of a sentence and walking way too slowly for only two bowls of ramen.

He can almost hear it. Everything he’s grown up with, all the people he’s come to know that have moved on with their lives, the sounds of chairs being pulled across the wood and the laughter and conversations from young people and elder couples.

They all moved on without hesitation.

Why can’t he?

It’s another week of silence. Jongin had come in from time to time, but not everyday like usual. He’s been in more of a rush to get out the past few days, Kyungsoo has suspected that work has started to get in the way, and didn’t question it.

It’s been a lot of playing games on his phone. All games that Jongin had showed him. A lot more of going through records of his assets, taxes, all of the dirty number stuff that he hates. A little bit of submitting his resume and applications to more restaurants, silently crossing his fingers that maybe he’ll hear something.

Kyungsoo has been going about this process strategically, but even so it still muddles his mind to go over. It’s times like this when he wishes he wasn’t doing this alone, but then again, he’d rather save anyone the trouble. God forbid anyone ever go through this.

He’s lost track of time again. He’s lost in what he’s reading. It’s dark out, late, his head keeps rolling off of his palm making him sit up suddenly. The air is cool from the rain falling outside the open window, the traffic all the way out here is minimal, so there isn’t a whole lot of noise, especially with how loud the rain is.

Kyungsoo hates how used to this life he’s gotten.

It’s a Friday night. People his age are out drinking and having meals together, going over their work week and complaining about little things while bitter shots of Soju make them mindlessly laugh.

Being alone has gotten old now. Maybe, if he wasn’t so busy doing everything in his life wrong, he wouldn’t have to worry. But instead, he did it backwards, thinking it was right, and now caused himself more harm than good.

Kyungsoo wishes he could crack open a bottle of Soju right about now. He wishes it would ignite his thoughts and make him forget about assets and investments and debts for a little while. It’d be better than cheap beer and a stack of papers.

It’s a lot to take in. Especially now that Junmyeon is making the decision, agreed upon by his landlord, and now himself, to cut his time in half. He knew Junmyeon had tricks up his sleeve, but he never thought it would be this. He never thought Junmyeon would turn things around on him like this. He doesn’t have any idea what Kyungsoo has personally fought with, how many years he truly has gone head to head with creditors and bankers and his landlord.

Kyungsoo exhausted now. Now that he’s given himself up. He doesn’t want to. The more he thinks about this the more is makes his heart ache in his chest. He curses himself endlessly for being so selfish. Fore never really thinking things through and for trying to keep things the same even though he knows they were going to change. That everything changed the day he had to say goodbye to his father. The same day that his mother told him that she couldn’t bear to walk into that place anymore.

The same day Kyungsoo said, “I’ll do it. Don’t worry.”

He doesn’t realize his phone vibrates off to the side. Kyungsoo stares mindlessly, thoughtless at the papers scattered beyond recognition along his desk. It’s when it starts ringing that he jolts up and goes to answer without thinking.

“Kyung… Soo?” There’s a familiar grunt on the other end. A lot of background noise.

“Baekhyun?”

“Did… Did you get my - My text?”

“Uhm… Hold on.” Kyungsoo says, holding his phone back to look at the text message he somehow never heard from Baekhyun. It was just a map with a pin. Kyungsoo has absolutely no idea what that means.

“What is this?” He asks, still staring at small mapped image.

There’s more shuffling, “My location… Need you… Mh, to come here.” He grunts again. It’s strained, almost painful sounding.

“Did something happen?” Kyungsoo sits up a little straighter this time. He doesn’t sound right, but Kyungsoo doesn’t want to begin jumping to any conclusions.

“Hurry… Please.” He breathes, there’s a click, and Kyungsoo is cut off.