The last time Yoora saw his younger brother frantic and uneasy was when his mother was rushed to the hospital due to .

Since then, any sudden call from his sister would make his emotions go haywire, his anxiety off the roof, then suddenly he would dread on whatever kept him busy as of that moment. Thankfully, Yoora’s calls are now usually about him being invited for a dinner in their home or when he’s asked to look after her baby while she runs errands for the weekend. His elder sister knew of this quite admirable trait: compassion. However, Yoora had noticed that although his natural compassionate being has molded him to be kind, this ultimately became his fatal flaw. There were times that he would sacrifice his time that was so precious to help someone, anyone, that needed it. Yoora loved her brother for being selfless but all the while, it scared her if a sudden turning point would make him miserable.

She prayed that day wouldn’t come. But boy, she was wrong.

“PD, is this… is this confirmed? Where did you get this information?” Yoora kept her eyes on the script that she was hurriedly rehearsing. She was going to be the substitute news anchor and on top of that, she was assigned to deliver any breaking news on television.

The production director of the daily news segment gave her a curt nod, “Why would we give you unverified reports, huh? That’s just unethical and you know that.”

“I know,” She bit her lip for a moment and released a heavy sigh, “God, what am I going to do?”

“You report it, obviously,” PD scoffed, “You’ve got about half an hour before we go on-air,” then he went to a cameraman to assess the equipment. She could only close her eyes and curse inwardly. This will break him apart, she thought. She reckoned that the news has probably reached to him but the lead that they’ve gathered was a major scoop. Setting aside the paper, Yoora decided to call him and tell him about this news – no matter how she perfectly predicted already of what his reaction might be.

She pressed his name on her contacts and automatically dialed his number.

It didn’t bother Sehun at all if she didn’t reply to his messages because Seulgi was ultimately busy for the week. They both were. He knew about his girlfriend’s group schedules after all and today, Red Velvet was set to rehearse and record for their performance of their newly released hit single. Seulgi was already used to Sehun’s cheesy messages. It’s just that she doesn’t reply to it immediately just to . But today, he sent the last message to her thirty minutes ago, and now, Seulgi has finally replied. Hun, u there? Was her response, Sehun smiled and typed in his reply, yea babe y? A few seconds later, she said good let me call u a bit ok im calling u now. “Okay, she probably misses me or what…” he muttered. By the first ring, he instantly picked the call, “Hey, my Seulbear, how’s my baby girl doing? Did you eat your lunch already? How’s your – ”

"Sehun, I'm fine. Yes, I miss you, alright but I'm sorry because my call right now is urgent and I – "

“Hey, hey, Seulgi-ah, slow down. Is something wrong?” Sehun sat up properly on his bed, bracing himself of what Seulgi has to say. He knew her well when she babbles like a rapper being chased by a mad dog, it’s either she’s excited or she’s feeling anxious. By the sound of her voice, it was the latter.

“Hun, are you with Chanyeol?” she asked on the other end of the line.

“No, Chanyeol hyung probably went outside,” he paused then playfully scowled at her as if to display his non-existent jealousy, “Yah, Kang Seulgi, why are you looking for – ”

“Wendy. It’s about Wendy.” Sehun felt the concern in her voice and just as he was about to probe her, there was a loud series of knocks on the door. He said a quick excuse to her and dashed towards the door and opened it. He was greeted by Suho and Kai as they hurriedly went inside the hotel room.

“Why are you here all of a sudden? I was in the middle of a phone call with Seulgi!” he brought his phone again near his ear when Kai suddenly blurted out, “You already knew?!”

“If it’s about Wendy, how am I supposed to know when you guys just barged in here? Seulgi was just getting to the point,” Sehun reprimanded the two men.

The leader just shook his head and heaved a sigh before breaking the news to him, "Wendy got into an accident and it's not just an accident, it could have been the worst scenario we can ever imagine but she got lucky," Suho deadpanned and the three of them fell silent.

Sehun spoke to his phone, “Seulgi-ah, is it true?” he softly asked. Seulgi answered meekly and he knew how his girlfriend and her group members were feeling devastated by the unprecedented event that happened today. Sehun didn’t fail to tell her reassuring words and asked her to keep them posted before Seulgi decided to hang up. Soon after, Baekhyun and Chen entered the room and looked after Chanyeol.

“We came here because Chanyeol is probably still asleep when we found out about this post in a fan forum,” Baekhyun started and showed to them the long thread of fans talking about the latest incident on his phone. He scanned the room and was puzzled to find out the giant wasn’t even there, “The person we needed the most isn’t even here right now, where is he?”

Sehun ruffled his hair in frustration, “I woke up and I found out he was gone!”

“Maybe he knew of the situation already,” Chen implied, “And just went straight to the airport?”

Kai flopped on the couch and folded his arms, “That’s absurd. The incident only happened around late morning plus his luggage is still there.”

Suho, who was mostly calm on any given situation, was just in disbelief, “We came here to discuss this personally but if Chanyeol isn’t here, you mean to tell me nobody even initiated to message him?”

Then they suddenly heard the sound of the door closing.

Hands tucked inside his pockets, wearing his favorite knitted black sweater (which happened to be the one she brought for him when she and Seulgi visited Austria) Chanyeol was whistling his way back to his shared hotel room with Sehun. Earlier that morning, he wanted to take a stroll around Miyagi alone and try out the town’s delicacies. Of course, his manager was against it because there might be obsessive fans following him around but Chanyeol just wanted his freedom, even just for this moment. Removing the face mask by his left hand, he opened the door of the room, and apparently, Sehun wasn’t alone but the sight of his fellow members all flocked to the small space adjacent to their beds surprised him. They seemed to be bickering, their faces painted with worry and contempt. Chanyeol didn’t mean to loudly close the door behind him but it was too late as they all turned their heads to his direction, their voices dying down.

“Hey, what are you all doing in Sehun and I’s room?” he asked. The EXO members were all looking like a poor deer caught in the headlights without answering the group’s main rapper and it made him growingly irritated. Chen was about to answer when Chanyeol’s phone vibrated inside his pocket.

It was his sister calling.

Chanyeol answered the call and he suddenly became chipper, “Oh, noona! You called…” his bright face when he heard his sister’s voice instantaneously became gloomy and blank. The boys were now looking at him intently, bracing themselves of what his reaction would be. Of course, how would he not miss this news when his sister, Park Yoora, is a newscaster? After that torturous phone call followed by a deafening silence, Chanyeol ran to his closet, ignoring the presence of s, pulled out his backpack, and placed inside a few clothes haphazardly; he didn’t care if his clothes weren’t even neatly folded.

Taking long strides, he was about to reach the door when he was blocked by Kai, “Yeol, please let’s talk this through. You can’t just go back to Korea right now,” he gently persuaded him but to no avail, Kai only saw how his eyes glistened with tears, practically begging to let him go after her. 

“Kai, you don’t understand! I need to see her,” his voice began to crack. Chanyeol looked back at all of them then back at the man in front of him, “Please. Let me pass through.”

“But – ”

“Don’t you all understand?!" this time, Chanyeol didn't care if he was raising his voice at them, "My sister is set to deliver the news of her accident. Noona said that she fell off the stairs and fractured her hip. Her wrist, even her cheekbone… God, don't you all realize that she could've… she…,” at this point, he was struggling to say the exact word that could have happened to her. He refused to say it. Suho slowly walked towards him and comforted him, this time, all of them were engulfing Chanyeol in a solemn group hug and with that, he finally broke down. Waves of fresh tears continuously flowed down his cheeks and sobs racked his body as his thoughts were always on Wendy, his girl, the love of his life.

“I could have lost her. I could have lost Seungwan.”

Sehun tapped his shoulder and said, “I already informed our manager. He already knows because he was also notified by his fellow managers at the company. He understands. A van is waiting for you so that you'll be brought to the airport. Your earliest available flight back to Korea is now being processed too. She’s now at the hospital. You can go home first today.” Chanyeol’s face slowly brightened with hope as he wiped his tears with the back of his hand.

“Don’t worry about us,” Baekhyun added, “We’ll follow you home tomorrow morning, anyway. Now, go! Be with her!” He wanted to pay his respects and say that he was sincerely grateful for them but time was running out.

Without any more second thoughts, he bolted out of the hotel room, ignoring the couple who weirdly looked at him along the hallway as he went straight to the elevator.

Time does stretch far too long when you’re waiting to come home.

Seoul may probably the place but he wasn’t referring to it, it was a certain someone.

The whole flight back to his home country, Chanyeol was restless. He was tired, yes, but he could barely catch a wink because whenever he closes his eyes, the possible image of his girlfriend in her worst state right now haunted him. s messaged him not to read any posts regarding her news on SNS or it will only make him more anxious. He heeded their advice and instead, read the previous messages Seungwan sent him. He prefers they use voice messaging so that even when they're far away, hearing words of affirmation would ease them, and at least, they could both listen to it whenever they feel their morale is so low.

Chanyeol-ah, he tried not to shed a tear again just as soon her soothing voice reached his senses, we’re up early coz we’re set to rehearse our performance for Gayo Daejun. I miss you so much. It feels like you’ve enlisted already since we’ve been apart for so long. Then she let out a chuckle after. It was true that for several months now, both of their groups were busy with their respective world tours and comebacks that they could barely even sneak a decent date in between breaks. Even Sehun and Seulgi felt the same way. But I know, you’ll be back soon. It’s a holiday after all. Chanyeol remembered that he would take her somewhere in the countryside where the probability of them getting caught by the paparazzi or sasaengs was fairly low. He promised her that as soon as EXO comes back home and before they will perform at the last stop of their world tour, they would spend those free days for their post-Christmas celebration just cozying around and cook together with their favorite dishes. He missed her dearly and he wanted nothing in this world but to hold her again in his arms.

Anyway, it’s already 4:30 am here and I have to take a shower. You’re probably still asleep by now. I know you’re snoring loudly because poor Sehun, he’s been whining about that to Seulgi since you both share the same hotel room, you big baby. Chanyeol smiled unconsciously as he heard her say one of her endearments for him. Take care of yourself, eat well and a lot, understood? Change your shirt right away when your back gets sweaty.

“Still the classic and caring Seungwan," he said to himself, "You nag like my mother though.”

And stop worrying about me, okay? I promise, no more unhealthy diet methods and reading mean comments. I’ll see you soonest, Peter Pan. Merry Christmas. I love you.

When Wendy admitted to Chanyeol that he was her first “proper” boyfriend on the night she finally said ‘yes’ to him, his heart was soaring high that he could shout to the world about it and so he did. It made her laugh so hard, not caring if someone else could hear them with their silly antics until she had to sit him down. They were on some midnight rendezvous, something that they had to do especially when they’re both public figures who just happen to have fans who are too sensitive if they dated someone. He brought them atop a hill located on the outskirt of the city and from there, they saw the overview of the Seoul skylines and city lights. It felt like straight out of a romantic film that she liked to cry over.

“Time flies so fast, don’t you think?” Chanyeol inserted the straw inside the bottle of their favorite banana chocolate drink, “It felt like it was only yesterday when you confessed to me that you had a crush on me,” that earned him a light punch on his shoulder from Wendy.

“What? Don’t even turn the narrative around when it was you who made the first move years ago,” she playfully glared at him and sipped on her drink. Wendy was telling the truth, though. They barely knew each other when she was still a trainee and Chanyeol was already a rookie in the industry by then. But when fate in the form of their company's music producers decided that the two of them should collaborate in the Dream Concert, it was already a new chapter in their lives that was slowly unfolding. 

Perhaps, the rest is history. And another story to tell.

Chanyeol momentarily smiled at her then wrapped his arm around her neck and tussled her hair with his other hand, “Ow, my neck! Yah! Park Chanyeol! Stop! You know I just dyed my hair brown and you’re ruining my style.” She then tied her hair into a ponytail and pouted, “I swear, I’m still more like your buddy than your girlfriend.”

He cupped his hand around his ear, grinning, “Come again? What did you say? I didn’t quite catch the last word." Wendy knew that he was enjoying how he teases her but played along with it anyway, "G-I-R-L-F-R-I-E-N-D. Girlfr – " Nothing more pleasant than to hear that word and from Wendy no less. Because she was too adorable, Chanyeol closed the distance between them. It was slow and gentle, in ways that words could never be. His hands settled under her ea