“Why did you have to come to my town?” Kyungsoo remembers yelling at the bar owner. He still can’t believe what had happened within a couple of hours.

Yifan didn’t say anything. His ‘soulmate’ made it clear that he wasn’t welcome in his life. The young male was so full of life.

Yifan just wanted to open a new bar in a new place and have a bit of peace in his life. Finding his soul-mate was something he never even thought about; that too in an interview for a new singer for his bar.

He can’t describe the feeling he had in his chest when the smaller man came into his view. The moment he laid his eyes in the eyes of the shorter male, he felt like his heart was melting most tenderly, an indefinable feeling filling his chest. But the sentiment those eyes were emitting made it clear, he wasn’t welcome. He wasn’t needed.

Yifan knew nothing about what Kyungsoo had in his life before him. What was his favorite singer? What things made him smile? What things make him cry? Was he the reason? Yifan didn’t know.

He just knew his soul-mate was known as Do Kyungsoo and he has a lover, Byun Baekhyun.

Kyungsoo just spat that on his face the day after meeting him. Yifan knew then, weirdly enough that he’ll never have the full space inside his other half’s heart.

“I can never love you! I love him!”

“Baekhyun! Byun Baekhyun!”

Ah..

Young love!

Not like Yifan knew much about love anyway. But he was curious to know.

A selfish request, he had thought. After all, was thinking of stealing someone else’s lover. Was that selfish though? But then he didn’t know much about this emotion anyway.

Love.

Kyungsoo looked at his lover, fingers gently combing through other male’s hair a soft melody vibrating in his throat. Baekhyun just had his hair bleached. The shiny brown hair now was a bit coarse and annoying to touch.

“Why are you humming a Christmas song? That too in the middle of summer!” Baekhyun asks looking at Kyungsoo, summer sun escaping through the leaves of the tree they were lying under. Baekhyun scrunched his eyes shut. His ashy blue eyes shine in the golden light. It looks so full of life. So full of love!

“Because I’m feeling happy,” Kyungsoo replies. Baekhyun gives off a snort.

“So you’re singing a Christmas song?” Baekhyun says getting up, his face leveling up to the male sitting previously. Baekhyun softly grabs Kyungsoo’s cheeks with his left hand and pulls his face forward. His lips slant on the other’s on in a smooch. The sound of the brief kiss rings in Kyungsoo’s ears. His heart twists seeing the smile Baekhyun gave after he pulled off. Can he love someone so much that is starts to hurt you like this?

“Are you happier now Soo-ya?” Baekhyun asks and Kyungsoo feels a bit lightheaded.

“Maybe, if you kiss me again.”

Kyungsoo looks at the entrance of the bar. It had the décor of a European bar, simple and chic. He felt a bit nervous. He wondered if he should call Baekhyun to talk to him for a few minutes. Even though he was sure that brat would only ruin his mood with his useless jokes. But his phone vibrated before he could even take it out.

New message: Baek <3

Penguin, I know you’re biting on your lips and worrying about how the interview will go, if you want, I can spare a few minutes of my busy time to talk to you but look at the time! Keke.

Kyungsoo smiles and puts his phone back. It was just a simple interview anyway. He pushes the door open, and the bell on the door frame jingles softly. His eyes fall on a tall man, his back facing him. Shoulders wide and seemingly relaxed. At the jingling sound, he looked back at him.

Don’t you always look in the eyes when you meet someone?

“How did your date with that guy go?” Kyungsoo asks, his back facing Baekhyun.

“I got dumped.” Kyungsoo just sighs.

“Why again this time?” He asks.

“You know… The same reason.” Baekhyun sways the glass of drink in hand.

“Said I wasn’t paying enough attention.” Kyungsoo lets out a deep sigh. Baekhyun got dumped for the nth time that too for the same reason.

“Soo-ya..” The artist suddenly calls out.

“Hm..?”

“Are you happy?” Kyungsoo craned his neck back to look at the male calling out to him. Walking closer to the stool where Baekhyun was sitting, the shorter male takes a seat just beside him.

“I am happy Baekhyun-ah.”Kyungsoo says with a small smile.

“Please be happy Penguin.” Baekhyun reaches out to hold the hand of the man sitting next to him.

“I gave up on you for you.”

“So… Please be happy.”

“Aunty, Baekhyun is in there, right?” Mrs. Byun looks at Kyungsoo, her mind unsure of what he should do.

“Please aunty, let me see him!” The boy’s voice was filled with urgency. Boy? Was Kyungsoo a boy anymore? Mrs. Byun, in that short time, couldn’t sum up the time when her son grew up like a sprout and so did Kyungsoo.

“Soo…”

“Aunty! I beg you! Please just this once let me go.” Mrs. Byun knew he’d be back tomorrow again. It’s been going for a whole week. Mrs. Byun would leave the house, unable to see the crying boy pleading to a closed-door like that.

“Baekhyun! Ya Baekhyun-ah!”

“Baby…Please open the door. Just let me see you once!”

“Just once! I promise! Please I’ll leave after that!”

But the door wouldn’t open. After Kyungsoo would retreat for the night, Mrs. Byun would find her son with bloodshot eyes, his lips bleeding from biting on them so hard. Often time it would be his arms filled with bite marks. She would be lost for words every day. What could have she possibly said? Didn’t she always teach her son that there are some roads of life he needs to walk alone?

Yifan hadn’t seen Kyungsoo for a month now. Was he anticipating his presence? Didn’t the younger make it very clear that he wasn’t welcome? Was it why he was having so few customers? He snorted at his own thought. Did it really matter to him? But there was a feeling in his chest, a foreign feeling, a feeling of longing. Was he longing for the person who was written to be his but wasn’t? Yifan sits on the stool, his left elbow propped on top of the counter and other hand nursing a small amount of rum in a glass. If anyone walked right in his shop now, they’d think of him as a customer; A shop with the owner as its customer. The pin-drop silence was rudely disturbed by someone barging right in. Yifan sees a petite male figure walking in heavy and rapid steps. Before Yifan could say anything, the intruder grabbed him by his face and slanted his lips against the bar owners.

1,2,3,4,5…. Yifan counted inside his head. Their first kiss lasted just 5 seconds like that.

“It feels nothing like him,” Kyungsoo said he a voice of terror.

“How the does he want me to love you?” Yifan looks at Kyungsoo. He looked ghastly pale, his eyes red and unfocused. If the police had seen him in this state, he sure had to do a drug screening test.

“Do Kyung…”

“He won’t even let me see him.” Kyungsoo let out before Yifan could say anything. The younger looked almost hysterical as he gave away his frustration to a stranger.

“How am I supposed to…..”

“Forget all these years like nothing?” Kyungsoo looked right into Yifan. The ashy blue eyes looked beautiful. But the pain swirling in them made his heartache. Did he commit something grave as killing?

But those eyes suddenly shut close and a loud thud bounced through the empty bar. Later when Kyungsoo woke up in the hospital, all he did was cry. Yifan just looked at the frail boy, in his late teens crying as if the world has ended. But wasn’t it what was the ‘End of the world’ for him? Clutching on his chest, Kyungsoo just cried.

“It’s hurting!”

“It’s hurting so bad!”

“Please make it stop!” At that time all Yifan could do was to pat on his head. He wasn’t wanted. He wasn’t welcome.

Yifan left the hospital after contacting Kyungsoo’s parents. And he didn’t see the boy for a long time after that.

Until on a day of relatively cold weather, the air was harsh; the warmth of the previous day was stripped off.

“Are you still on for the interview?” Was the first thing Kyungsoo said after seeing the man after almost a year.

Kyungsoo had a beautiful voice; a voice that had yet to be matured. A voice lacing the traces of the age he passed for adulthood. A voice that would sing songs that made his heartache.

“Wu-ssi” Yifan looks at the boy calling out to him.

“Can I get my payment early this month?” Yifan looked at him. It wasn’t early, per se. It was the 26th of the month. He gets paid on the 30th.

“Sure…” But none of them speaks anymore. Still, Yifan was somewhat happy to have the boy at least talking to him. The itch to know more of him was only growing stronger in his heart.

Later that evening, Kyungsoo had shown up again at his shop; wanting to treat him to dinner all of a sudden.

“I’m sorry.” Kyungsoo had said while sitting in a busy bustling barbecue house. Yifan thought he might have missed something before. But he didn’t dare ask.

With Kyungsoo, he knew to keep quiet.

Kyungsoo was on a leave. His finals were at his university. Yifan had left a best of luck text on his number, not expecting a reply.

Thanks.

A blunt and plain reply. Still, it did wonders to his heart.

Kyungsoo wouldn’t really say anything when he’d come in for his work. He’d head straight to the small stage and would do small warm-up sessions.

It was January 12, 5.45 in the afternoon.