"And suddenly you know: It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings."
— Meister Eckhart

Tapping the key card repeatedly against his palm, Byun Baekhyun set his eyes on the brass knob of his hotel room and sighed. He knew the odds of him being welcomed in his own suite was little to none, but he also felt, at the very least, that Chaeyoung deserved some form of an explanation. However, this late into the night and with sleepiness knocking on his door, the hesitant man couldn't help but contemplate whether pushing through the storm of murderous glares, deafening profanities, and possible waterworks was worth the trouble.

"," Baekhyun cursed with a click of the tongue before unlocking the door and heading inside. He had listened to the whispers of his conscience, but the stillness in the room was making him reconsider his decision.

With careful steps and on high alert, the Lothario cautiously made his way to the bedroom. There had been plenty of instances where past lovers would appear from thin air, cling on to him, and beg for another chance in tears. But there had also been times when brokenhearted women chucked inanimate objects his way and yelled at him with a sailor's tongue—so he needed to be prepared for whichever of the two Go Chaeyoung would turn out to be.

Stopping at a respectable distance, Baekhyun stood by the door with both hands resting in his pants pockets. "You can have the room you know," he commented as he watched his former mistress arrange her luggage on the king sized bed.

Chaeyoung looked up with her toiletries bag in hand and released a disdainful scoff. "Are you ing kidding me?" she replied as she met his unaffected gaze with daggers visible in hers. "Why in the world would I be the one to leave?" she continued then nudged her head towards the bastard's belongings sitting to his right, "I felt nice enough to pack your things without damaging a single item, but seeing you stand there is quickly making me regret my kind act."

Taking her cold response as his sign to leave, Baekhyun nodded without protest and grabbed his slate Rimowa luggage. But as he turned to go, he caught a glimpse of Chaeyoung's expression—an expression that caused his lips to curve up slightly. She definitely held herself better than his previous flings, but like them, she was still an easy read.

Hatred was written all over his former mistress's body, yet the glint of curiosity in her piercing glare made him smirk. "Ara wanted to tell you," he confessed, responding to the question he knew she wanted to ask.

"That much I know," Chaeyoung barked back, "But why didn't you let her?"

Baekhyun released the leather handle and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms in the process. He usually skips the "why's" and "how could you's" when parting ways with someone, but he figured Chaeyoung could be an exception. "Our marriage has an expiration date, so there was no point in letting other people in on the secret," he explained casually, expecting the follow up that he had no answer to—or rather, one his pride would prevent him from answering honestly.

"But you did it anyway," Chaeyoung countered almost immediately, "Now, why is that? Jealousy, perhaps?"

A poker faced Baekhyun pushed himself off the wall and summoned a wider smirk. There was no way in hell he'd ever admit his actions were influenced by that distasteful noun—so, as much as he didn’t want to hurt Chaeyoung more than he already had, he had no choice, but to add salt to her fresh wounds. "Not jealously. More like…a declaration of interest?" the young executive replied calmly, "I'm sure you're smart enough to guess what I mean, so I'll save you the heartache and not go into details."

Chaeyoung scoffed at his arrogance. "You mean, more like you felt threatened by Secretary Oh? And his ability to win Ara over?" she corrected, hoping to bruise his ego even just a little.

Aware of her intentions, Baekhyun maintained his unaffected façade. "Believe what you must, but I apologize for how things ended. Goodnight Ms. Go," he replied and once again took hold of his luggage.

But as he exited the room, his former mistress called out her final message. "Ya Byun Baekhyun," she started, her voice ice cold and threatening, "If you hurt her in any way, I'll kill you."

|| The Following Morning ||

Baekhyun released a heavy breath as he slid his Hyundai Black Card across the granite counter of the hotel's front desk. Though money was no issue, the adjusted bill the young woman handed over made him do a double take. Never in his twelve years of working in hospitality had he seen a gratuity as generous as the one in front of him.

"Wooo," Yixing whistled as he peeked over his best friend's shoulder. "Is it Christmas already or is this your way of atoning for your sins?" he comme