Astrid grabbed her house keys and stormed out of her office, rushing down the stairs and meeting Baekhyun on the front lawn. He was admiring the neighborhood when Astrid patted his back, crossing her arms and waiting for Baekhyun to turn around. 

His eyes widened at her satin gown, a little shimmery, and covering the right parts. Baekhyun couldn't help but smirk and bite his lower lip which made Astrid roll her eyes at him. 

"What the hell are you doing here?" she said in a hushed voice, trying to avoid any attention from her neighbors. 

Baekhyun simply shoved his hands in his pockets and strode in circles, nodding as a sign of approval. 

"Yep, you sure made it big, As," he said, impressed. "I wonder what it'd be like if all of this was ours..." 

Astrid couldn't believe him. Did he come to her front house to make idiotic remarks? Not to mention calling her As, the same nickname he had given her in college.

She couldn't keep Baekhyun in her lawn for much longer.  

He had to go. 

"Baekhyun... get out of my lawn." 

Baekhyun half-smiled, scratching the back of his head. "You don't need to kick me out like that... I just came to apologize for earlier and see if the rumors were true."

"Rumors?" Astrid was unsure of what he meant. 

"People said you're living your best life out here and I didn't want to believe it but now I see that coming here only messed things up, eh?" he chuckled, kicking an invisible pebble. 

Astrid hated herself for making Baekhyun feel bad. He was an idiot for proposing a cheating scam but deep down he had a kind heart. And now Astrid felt like the villain. 

"Baekhyun..."

"Nah, it's okay," he grinned. "I better go. I just came to apologize for that ridiculous idea..."

Astrid pursed her lips, unable to say a word as she watched Baekhyun turn and leave, and minutes later he was out of her sight. 

Maybe forever...

---

"Thanks for letting me stay, man," Baekhyun said as he greeted Chen with a hug. 

Chen waved off with a smile. He was more than glad to have Baekhyun in his apartment. 

"No problem, Baek, my wife was okay with the idea, so I'm okay too," he said. 

Baekhyun grinned and then made an "awe" face when he peeped into Chen's arms. His beautiful baby girl had fallen asleep after hours of being lively. Baekhyun felt like the proudest uncle in the world as he asked Chen if he could hold her. 

"Have you ever held a baby before?" Chen squinted at Baekhyun, protecting his daughter with all of his might. 

Baekhyun chuckled. "Yeah yeah, I've held you and all of our friends so gimme her, I can handle."

Chen wanted to protest but gave in, carefully allowing her precious baby into Baekhyun's arm. The latter started to gently sway the baby in his arms and Chen watched them with his heart in his hands. He was so scared that Baekhyun noticed. 

"Yah, relax...I'm not gonna drop her. She's too precious to be dropped, and not on Uncle Baek's watch," he reassured with a big smile, and Chen believed him. 

Baekhyun beamed, unable to contain himself because Chen's daughter was so precious and adorable that Baekhyun nearly cried. At least baby's made him feel happy while grown women only seemed to confuse him more as days went by. 

"Gimme her, I have to put her in her crib," Chen didn't even give Baekhyun a chance to say yes as he was already taking his daughter back into his arms. 

He took her to her crib and then came back with bedsheets, pillows, and a comforter. Baekhyun helped him make his bed, and then, when the lights were out, he slowly drifted to sleep wondering what to do next. 

---

Astrid was a nerve-wreck. Tonight was the wedding rehearsal dinner, and in the back of her mind, everything had to be perfect. The hours and days spent putting things together had to pay off. She had to impress Henry's parents because they were used to big things, lavish events, exquisite menus, and expensive wine. Astrid made sure to call the catering firm and ask for the best of the best. She kept calling her assistant every five minutes to know how things were going on the salon. And she kept texting her friends to not forget about tonight. 

Everything had to be perfect. 

"Make sure the flowers don't wither away...a-and check the tables, the chairs, ahem..yeah, yeah," she said as she balanced her phone between her ear and shoulder, typing frantically on her computer keyboard. She was submitting her presentation to Vogue because yesterday, she couldn't focus on anything. 

She spent the entire night thinking about Baekhyun and wondering if he had gone back to Korea.

He was probably ten thousand feet away by now. 

After she finished submitting her work, she grabbed her purse and rushed to the parking lot, heading to a boutique to grab her dress. This was something she wanted to do personally to ensure the dress fits correctly because she tended to gain and lose weight super fast, and last night she ate some cake that she had hidden in the pantry. 

As she arrived, she saw Chen standing by the front door of the boutique. He waved and smiled as soon as he saw her. 

"Chen, what are you doing here?" Astrid smiled as they greeted. 

Chen sighed but the smiled again. "You know women, always getting things last minute. I came with my wife so she could try on her dress for tonight, she's been there for ages. Can you please go get her?" 

Astrid chuckled and nodded. "Sure, I'll go get her for you."

Chen thanked her, but then remembered. "Oh, and did you meet up with Baekhyun yet? He's in town."

Astrid froze for a second as she was about to enter the boutique —she turned back to Chen. "Oh? He is?"  

She wasn't sure why she had said that. 

"Yeah, he's staying at my place for a while," Chen informed. 

Astrid felt happiness when she heard that. 

"That's great, he should come tonight," she said, regretting the next minute.

"I'll talk to him," he promised, and Astrid nodded, half-smiling. 

Chen's wife walked out of the boutique, smiling from ear to ear as she carried a few bags. Chen promptly helped her, thanking the heavens. 

"Oh,unnie!" she said, her face lighting up.

"Hey, Ms. Kim," Astrid said as she gave her a warm hug. 

"You should come over sometime, Baekhyun is staying with us, he'd love to see you," Chen's wife said. 

Astrid smiled although she felt a little uncomfortable with Baekhyun's name popping out every second. She knew that everyone would want her to see Baekhyun for the sake of old times but Astrid had seen enough of him. 

"Yeah...sure." she felt a little awkward. "I'll see you guys tonight?"

"Of course, you will," Chen assured.

When they left, Astrid went inside to try on her dress. Baekhyun was taking up her every thought and Astrid couldn't focus on the beautiful dress she was wearing. It consisted of a white satin gown with tiny shoulder straps. It went down to her feet and had a pearl white shimmery finish, and white roses embroidered on the sides. Astrid snapped out of her daze and focused on the moment. 

Everything had to be perfect.