As he walked back past the nursery to head for home it happened. He had tried to avoid it but she saw him as she was helping load some pots with another lady into a vehicle by the road.

"Park Chaneyol. How dare you!" Like her son she hadn't aged a day. She radiated the gentle good health and caring aura of someone who worked outside doing what she loved. She put the pots into the car and grabbed Chanyeol by the arms. As he leaned down to hug her she kissed his cheek. "I knew you were here and I hoped you would come and see us. But you were just going to walk past without even saying anything!" Mrs Byun was excellent at catching Chanyeol out when he was a kid and nothing had changed now he was an adult. "I was going to come in and say hi." He shifted awkwardly. He didn't want her to know he was avoiding Baekhyun but she had to know. Everyone in this town knew everything.

"Well now you're here. So come in." She grabbed him by the hand and dragged him into the nursery. His childhood rushed back as the familiar sights and smells overwhelmed him. He found himself behind the counter with a cup of tea in his hand. Mrs Byun sat beside him and smiled as he sipped the tea and murmured about how nothing had changed. "I really missed this place," he said as he smiled at her and she smiled back. It warmed his heart. It was just like Baekhyun was smiling at him. 

"So...." She said as she put her cup down and squeezed Chanyeol's arm. "Everyone knows your personal business. Are you okay?" He smiled through tears as he nodded and she knew he was lying. "Poor baby." She whispered as she rubbed his arm soothingly. "Well everyone knows your business which means everyone knows your boyfriend is a cheating dog." Chanyeol burst out laughing. Mrs Byun, still as savage as ever, and it was just what he needed.

"Have you seen Baekhyun yet?" She asked and Chanyeol nodded. "How was he?" She asked and Chanyeol replied "as I expected." He put his cup down and ran his fingers through his hair. "It's nice. The red really suits you." He flushed at the compliement and she chuckled. "What sort of a famous idol gets shy at a little compliment. You haven't changed a bit, have you?" He shook  his head and her face turned serious. "You really hurt him Chanyeol. He couldn't work out why you left without saying goodbye and the last few years have been really hard on him. On us...." 

Her eyes took on a  faraway quality that made guilt burn in Chanyeol's chest. "I know. I promise I'll go past the house and see Mr Byun if he's well enough." Tears filled his eyes again as he got up from the chair. "But I'm sick of everyone saying how hard it was for him when I left. Hard on him? It was hard on me. I was the one who had to let go Mrs Byun. Not him. He had her...."

One tear escaped and Chanyeol moved as quickly as his six foot frame would allow. He was going to break and he couldn't be here in front of her when it happened. He'd already said too much. He rushed towards the door, his breath heavy in his chest, his eyes stinging from emotion. As soon as he was outside he caught his breath and shoved a cigarette into his mouth. He lit it and deeply on the smoke as he walked away from the nursery as quickly as he could.

——-

Chanyeol was humiliated. He'd been locked inside his room for two days. Only his family knew what had happened that day at school. The last day of school, supposed to be a day to remember, had turned into nothing but disappointment for Chaneyol. He had ran all the way home in tears and hid his heartbreak under his pillow.

On the third day his Mum had opened the door with good news. "You have a letter." She said softly as she sat on the bed next to him. His bedside table was covered in tissues and half empty glasses of water. He was in the same clothes he had worn the day before. She held the envelope out to him and when he saw it was from SM he finally managed a smile. His parents had taken him to do the audition rounds in the last school holidays and the rejection letters had started coming. He was just grateful his video audition had been accepted and he had passed the first round. Walking into the building for his second audition in the actual place where dreams were made was unreal. "Time to get rejected by the best." He smiled weakly at her through dried tears and opened the envelope.

His jaw dropped open. The words blurred together as he read them and he had to hand it to his Mum to double check. But they were there in black and white. He had been accepted to SM as a trainee and they wanted him to relocate to Seoul as soon as possible. The next morning he loaded everything important into one big suitcase, said goodbye to his brother and mother, and got into the car with his Dad.

There was something he couldn't bear to take and it was left behind with his memories and his heartbreak.

As they drove out of town, past the school and the library and the supermarket, Chanyeol vowed to never come back. He was going to make it. He just knew. He was going to show them all and he was going to regret nothing. He was never coming back here, there was nothing here for him now, nothing left but pain and humiliation and heartbreak. As they passed the nursery he craned his neck for one last view of the place that meant so much to him. They were moving pretty fast and he had to turn his head to look. And as they passed, and he turned to look behind him, he saw them outside on the street. Baekhyun and Taeyeon, holding hands, Baekhyun smiling down at her like she was the only thing in the world that mattered.

"Do you want me to turn around so you can go say goodbye?" His dad said softly as he watched Chanyeol look behind him. Chanyeol just shook his head. There was nothing left here for him in this place. Nothing.

——-

He shoved his hands in his pockets and walked quickly away from the place where his heart broke for the hundredth time eight years ago. He walked and he smoked and he remembered. And he regretted it. He regretted leaving, he regretted being too weak to say something, he regretted not telling Baekhyun how he really felt all those years ago.

This place that held his memories also held all his regrets. He would throw it all away for a chance to go back and make things different. 

Make things right.