He looked down at the pen in his hand as his personal assistant and secretary spoke. Lately, he had been a bit off of his game, but it was no excuse. So as he looked up to his right hand man, he tried to focus as much as he could.

“How are the policy updates being taken?”

The tone in his voice forced as he tried to convince Kyungsoo or maybe himself that he was interested. However, the man across from him knew him much better. Therefore, as he placed down his tablet on the desk, he crossed his arms.

“Hyung.”

The younger man called, letting him know that his next words did not pertain to work, but instead as a friend to his long time colleague. 

“The policy is being taken well, but what about you?”

Kyungsoo was usually the conservative type, however, when the man spoke, he spoke with purpose. Therefore, Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel a bit uneasy as he shifted a bit and let go of the pen that he had been twirling in his hand.

“I’m fine.”

Baekhyun was fine. Maybe he had his head in the clouds from time to time, but the man was as fine as any man could be who had been taken advantage of and told that he just isn't interesting enough. He had always heard that nice guys finish last, but he refused to believe it. He didn’t want to villainize anyone. It was part of his family’s moral code.

Optimism will overcome pessimistic thoughts.

However, it seemed as if it was just taking a bit longer than usual. He hadn’t anticipated being this upset over Joori but on the other hand, he knew it was something else. Maybe it was the fact that he was growing hopeless. He was thirty two now and it seemed like everyone he knew was utterly in love. Even the younger boys of his group had someone, but he for some reason was just unlucky.

“I’m just a bit tired.”

He added to try and convince the younger man, but Kyungsoo was unphased as he raised an eyebrow before letting out a soft laugh. Nodding his head, the male took his tablet off the table again and held it in his lap.

“I’ll let you have that one since it is eight at night.” He said before adding, “However, let me know what I can do to make you less tired. Your employees are starting to notice.”

Baekhyun watched as Kyungsoo exited the room. Once he saw that the door had closed completely, he let himself sink in his seat. He knew it was only a matter of time before others noticed how he had been. He’d felt hopeless for the past two days while being plain cynical for the past three months since finding out that the innocent girl was anything but. For a while, he believed it was his fault for falling for a younger girl. She was only twenty four, why would she want to date a man in his thirties?

However, as the days went by, he had reasoned out that twenty four was not the age of a naive girl, but the age of a grown woman who should have known right from wrong. His parents had taught him well enough not to take advantage of others, but he had remembered the words Joori said when he confronted her about her real lover.

“We would never work because you wouldn’t ever be able to understand me.”

Or Sora’s,

“Baekhyun, please try to understand.”

However, Baekhyun couldn’t understand because he tried too hard to understand them. He tried so hard to listen to them, to be there for them, and to support them. However, it was a fruitless effort as it seemed as if everyone believed that he couldn’t understand them.

Therefore, he decided that he would just have to make himself feel better than fine. So he decided that he would have one last night full of self pity before getting back up on his feet. Closing his computer and grabbing his coat and keys, the man has made his way to the one place he knew he could wallow, the bar.

Upon entering the bar, he was greeted by a familiar face in the sky bar that had a 360 view of Seoul. So as he walked across the white marbled floors and sat at the bar, the bartender walked up to him with a knowing smile.

“Hyung!” He called out.

Baekhyun smiled at the younger man. It was Kim Jongin, youngest son of Kim Group and Suho’s younger brother after all. So as Baekhyun smiled back at him, he opened his mouth to speak, however, a hand was instead held up to his face.

“I know. I know. Starting drink is a Manhattan on the rocks.” 

Baekhyun closed his mouth and nodded his head while smiling. He watched as Jongin’s grin turned wide as he turned around and began to make the drink. It was his calling to be a restaurateur and it was made possible for the sole fact that he was the second son of the Kim family. Able to chase his drea