It was a cold winter night when Chanyeol found himself downing a glass of soju.

It was a fancy restaurant, Alphas, Betas and Omegas occupying table after table. They made the reservation a few months back, maybe 3 months ago, he doesn't recall.

He laughs with classmates, old time friends and ladies who used to trail eyes after him, now comfortable with their lives, claiming marks brandishing their pale white skin.

"You haven't changed, Chanyeol," Junmyeon, their class president laughs heartily, patting him on the back.

"Of course not, I wouldn't be me if I did." He mutters under his breath, a smile forming at the corner of his lips.

"Knew you'd say that." Jongin, one of the well-loved Alphas hoots from a table, arm circled on a person Chanyeol doesn't seem to know.

His eyes jumps from one person to another, trying to match faces with those he remembers from years back. There's Minseok at one table, quietly seated across the Beta, Jongdae. Old jokester from the class next to his in junior year... And then there was Yixing, quiet as he remembers him to be.

All these familiar faces, but Chanyeol still hasn't found the one he's been looking for.

"If you're looking for him, he left half an hour before you arrived." Someone mutters behind him. With an unamused look, the male stares at Chanyeol as he looks over his shoulder. "You're looking for Baekhyun." It wasn't a question, it was a fact.

Chanyeol doesn't say a thing about this, but if him stopping from looking around was any clarification; it was more than enough.

 

Byun Baekhyun...

The name alone brings tons of memories back... Most of them fond, though some of them painful.

 

Chanyeol excuses himself after they served the dessert. Went straight outside and stood at a corner. Looking up at the night sky, the Alpha wonders just what he was hoping for, coming here.

With long sigh, the Alpha fishes out his lighter and cigarette. He lights it up fast and takes in the joint. It's cold out tonight, Chanyeol thinks.

Just like that time.

It's been years since then... Sixteen long years ago. Chanyeol knows he should've forgotten it by now, but something in him wouldn't let it go.

 

It was in Junior year when it happened... Baekhyun was absent for more than two weeks, no communication with anyone in class, teachers were mum for a while about his absence.

They were childhood friends, next-door neighbors until they entered middle school; Baekhyun's family moved further down to the next neighborhood which put a strain on their friendship. If the distance was anything to go by, Baekhyun all of sudden wasn't allowed near Chanyeol as much as he used to, his mother picked him up from class, which further reduced their time together.

It was a weird period of their lives growing up, Chanyeol as an Alpha had been oblivious to the changes that were occuring to Baekhyun then.

Then Baekhyun ree day, and everyone understood his long absence the moment he did. Long gone was the innocent aura he carried... Baekhyun was... Different.

He was the same but Chanyeol knew there was something in him that was never coming back... Like youth reaching its peak; Baekhyun who was goofy and teethy and innocent, turned heads- Alphas, Betas and Omegas alike.

Everyone wanted to have a look at what he had become...

That day, Chanyeol realized that it wasn't his childhood friend that had returned. Instead it was an Omega, one who had experienced his first estrus period... An Omega who seeks a mate.

The Alpha knew that this was nature taking its course.

But it was too early, Chanyeol thought.

He wasn't prepared to lose his childhood friend yet.

Baekhyun swooped in as though nothing happened though. He smiled, but it didn't appear like it did before. To Chanyeol it wasn't the innocent smile that he liked, who stood before him wasn't his childhood friend- but an Omega.

"Hi Chan!" Baekhyun chirped.

Chanyeol didn't know why- it was supposed to be his usual greeting, but he hated the sound of it. The way he said it frustrated Chanyeol to no end, heck even his presence just seemed to annoy him.

 

In the Alpha's vague memory, he stormed off without greeting Baekhyun back despite him being gone for so long.

It was when he began to distance himself from the Omega for reasons until now, Chanyeol hasn't figured out.

 

As soon as he finishes, Chanyeol flicks the cigarette and steps on it. Everyone's started coming out, one after another they came and began heading to the next destination.

"KTV!" The ladies giggled, some of them red on the cheeks, but happily enjoying the evening. Nostalgia was at an all time high, and it was a one-night event that wouldn't probably be happening again soon.

"Did you contact your partners? We agreed to bring our partners after dinner, yes?" Junmyeon asked. Even until now, the Alpha took on the role to lead them.

Chanyeol chuckles under his breath, "you guys go. I have to say my farewell here."

"Aw! But we were just starting!"

"Early start tomorrow." Chanyeol smiles, teeth and all. It was an excuse, knowing that Baekhyun wasn't around was enough for him.

"Alright. Well, we got each others' number anyway. Those who can't join the next round, feel free to go." Junmyeon dismisses.

With a nod, Chanyeol wishes them good night.

"Chanyeol," Junmyeon calls out, "don't be a stranger!"

The words makes him smile, and he promises that he won't.

 

"Sehun, you too! Keep in touch."

Chanyeol turns to find him, it was the guy who sat behind him a while ago.

"I'll try." Was all he offered.

 

Chanyeol walked quietly down the street. Long ahead of him, Sehun... Was quietly on his own way. Chanyeol barely remembers the guy. Was he ever part of their class, the Alpha wondered.

"Sehun..." Chanyeol found himself muttering the male's name.

"Sehun..."

He vividly remembers someone with the same name- but... Could he be the same person? Chanyeol found himself standing there, trying to think back on it.

He's 32 for pete's sake... He can't possibly remember this now.

 

"Ah." Chanyeol utters to himself. "That short kid?"

Occupied by his own thoughts, Chanyeol walks forward, not noticing that the other Alpha had stopped at his tracks.

Only when Chanyeol could vivildly make out his voice did he find himself backing into a corner, as though he had just interrupted a private conversation.

"Where are you?" Chanyeol could hear the other Alpha. He was standing poised in the middle of the road, the convenience store was the only source of light at that moment.

"I'm alone, everyone went ahead." He assured. "C'mon, babe. You promised." He chuckles.

Chanyeol feels as though he should get out quickly, not wanting to be a bother... The Alpha lets out a small sigh, thinking of excusing himself and apologizing for eavesdropping, but before he could do so, he makes out another person approaching from the corner opposite where he stayed hidden.

 

Chanyeol felt his heart drop as he made out who it was.

 

Meekly, he came forward.

With his brown-chocolate hair, and pink-tinted cheeks.

It was Byun Baekhyun, smiling as he shyly approached the man that Chanyeol came face to face with.

Chanyeol peeked his head out.

"Sorry I made you wait." The Alpha muttered, holding the Omega close.

The petite male shook his head gently and responded, "it's fine... I'm sorry I went ahead."

"Hey, it's okay. I understand completely." The Alpha assured him.

Chanyeol watched the exchange between them, soft, gentle and full of understanding. It was warm, and beautiful.

"Are you still keeping that promise?" Chanyeol continued to eavesdrop, "he was looking for you. I sat behind him."

He felt a prick in his heart- no, a stab. He knew immediately who it was that the other Alpha was referring to.

"I am." Baekhyun, with his soft voice, meek and smooth, "I promised that I'd never cross paths with him ever again."

"But Baek," Sehun tried.

Chanyeol ached just by hearing what he said. He barely even remembers making that promise with him. He felt a tear slip out, as he tried to recall.

"It's in the past now, Sehun. I've put all those things behind me." Baekhyun says, "but this promise... It was something we both decided on back then. It was the last promise we're still keeping."

 

Ah. Chanyeol feels the gaping hole in his chest. He can see it, what happened that night.

The night when Baekhyun confessed to him. That night, when Chanyeol rejected Baekhyun with all of his being, and made him swear to never come near him again.

It was the evening when Chanyeol, for the very first time, felt what it was like to lose control.

A vicious night that changed him, and made him fear what he was, for the thoughts that he held deep inside of his heart; the urge to claim, the urge to monopolize, the urge to own someone... And all this was because of sweet Baekhyun.

 

Chanyeol didn't want to lose control.

 

And for that to never happen, he had to stay away from Baekhyun.

 

If only he knew what all those feelings meant.

 

Chanyeol breathes heavily, in and out. He's sitting on the ground, by the same corner, memories fresh, the wounds in his heart peeling.

"If anything's still bothering you, you know you can always tell me, right?" Chanyeol hears.

"I do." Baekhyun says, his voice, the happiness there...

How Chanyeol wished it was him who'd have made him happy.

 

"I love you, Baek." Sehun says.

"I love you, too."

 

He's happy, Chanyeol tells himself. He sits there, just waiting to be sure that they're gone.

That night, Chanyeol sobs into his sleeves, his heart burning. He could feel every muscle in him ache, as he comes to fully understand what he has been garnering all these years.

By himself, he continued the love he forced Baekhyun to give up on...

On his own, Chanyeol was hoping for an ending where they ended up together.

"I love you, Baek." He murmurs into the cold night.

 

It's left unheard... He's too late now.