part five

RED

He’s late.

It began with a text. How he couldn’t make it to my place. So, we both decided it would be better to meet at the restaurant.

I’d known he’d be late. So, I showed up at seven-thirty, but even with the hostess bringing us to our reserved table, he isn’t there.

A couple of minutes go by, and I stare out the window, sipping my wine.

Another hour passes by, and I’m almost done with the bottle of wine. It wasn’t like I had any plans today, but still, it burned me. I liked him more than any other guy I’ve ever had interest in, so maybe I romanticized him a little.

The waitress stops by every now and then. In the beginning, she probably could tell that it was a date.

I curled my hair, did a full-face, and wore something y in hopes that he would take it off later.

But the way that things are going now—it looks like my highly anticipated plans have evaporated into something of a pipe dream.

And every time the waitress comes to ask me if I need anything, there’s a flair of pity in her eyes. She tries to reassure me with another bottle of wine on the house. But I decline.

I refused to be that pathetic, getting wasted at a nice bistro simply because my date bailed on me.

My phone eventually bleeds dry and shuts off. So, I flag for the waitress, pay for the wine, and tip the amount that I would’ve ordered.

I feel the rush of the breeze when the door opens, chilling my bones and my heart. I should’ve known that it was too good to be true. I really should’ve expected it. Not that I wanted to go down that route of self-blame.

As I walk to my car, I get a bit misty-eyed, bitterly reflecting on my terrible taste in men.

Men that hurt me. Men that cheat. Men that don’t show up. Men like my -head father.

I go to shut my door but there’s resistance. So, I slam it hard, turning my head at the same time to gauge what the hell it is that’s preventing me from shutting my car door.

There’s somebody standing outside of my car, and when I tell you that my heart jumped out of my chest and flopped dead.

“What—Baekhyun?” I blurt, staring wide-eyed at him.

He smiles weakly, on the apologetic side. “I’m sorry for ruining your night, Dandelion.”

I’m not sure what to say. There’s a part of me that’s afraid I’ll say something irrevocable. Something that’ll drive him away.

When the thought floats by, I grab it by my fist and slam it into oblivion. To hell with that.

“You couldn’t have texted me?” I ask him, not bothering to hide my irritation.

Baekhyun sighs, gently pulling at my car door that’s still in the way of both of us. “May I?”

I don’t respond, merely staring him down.

After pulling the door back, he crouches to my level, pressing his palm to my cheek. “Sorry that I kept you waiting, Dan.”

I bite the inside of my cheek.

“How upset are you?”

I roll my eyes. “Why do you care?”

He tilts his head. “So I can fix it, baby.”

Not fair. So not ing fair. He can’t tilt that pretty head of his and call me baby. Not after making me wait on him for hours.

“You ,” I grumble. A childish tactic, I know. I couldn’t come up with anything else. He’s totally weakened me, and it’s only been five minutes.

“I know,” he says, “that’s no way to treat my girl.”

My. Girl.

Oh my god.

My cheeks flame. My blood roars. My pulse skyrockets.

“Since when did I become your girl?” I mutter, staring off into the distance because I literally can’t look at him without making it obvious.

He chuckles, his sounds animated and silvery in my ears. It makes my stomach do weird things. “Things just fall into place, baby. One day, I just decided that I couldn’t live without making you mine.”

“That’s presumptuous of you,” I say.

Baekhyun feigns innocence. “Is it?” He leans forward, brushing his nose against mine.

Just like that.

The ground opens up beneath me, and I fall. Straight through. Without a hitch.

“At least feed me, jackass.”

He kisses the side of my mouth and pulls back to say, “of course, I can’t let this pretty dress go to waste.”

“Yeah? Do you like it?”

Baekhyun presses his next words to my mouth. “I’m going to rip those tights off with my teeth. And by the time I’m done with you, you’ll understand just how much I adore you.”

 

 

###

 

 

Perhaps the most romantic date I had was under the stars, on the bench in an obscure park.

We got burgers. Wasn’t my first choice, but in a pinch, when most restaurants were closed, I would settle for anything.

My stomach was grumbling when he tugged me along as we dashed through the grass, slightly damp from the mildew.

My dress flew as we ran, and the paper bag rustled in my hand, echoing in the vast park—reminding us that we were the only living soul.

I let loose a laugh from the pure adrenaline rushing in my blood, clouding my inhibitions.

My guard, now completely gone, all thanks to his devious mouth.

I wasn’t easily manipulatable, but Baekhyun had a fascinating hold on words. And there was just absolutely no way of resisting him.

Baekhyun sits, pulling me down with him, and I sit halfway on the bench, the other half on his lap.

I can hear the crickets chirping in the distance and the sound of his breathing. Somehow, it makes me want to kiss him. A real one this time.

He grabs a burger out of the bag, unwraps it, and pushes it in my direction. “Ah,” he urges, waving it like I’m a kid that needs coaxing.

I snort, taking a massive bite on purpose.

Baekhyun’s eyes crinkle as he watches me. The heat returns.

Christ. I couldn’t even get through dinner without lusting over him. That was a new record.

He takes a bite out of the same burger, and we silently do a back and forth. There was something oddly endearing about sharing a burger with your crush under the stars.

I take in my surrounding, just now realizing that he’s wearing a suit. Was would be more accurate.

He’s not wearing a suit jacket, but he has a vest on, his tie is loosened and thrown over his shoulder, the tops of his buttons undone.

I clear my impure thoughts, smiling at him like I wasn’t just thinking about gobbling him up.

Baekhyun has an arm around my back, and with his other hand, he runs his palm over my cheeks, caressing and feeling—seemingly making up for the time he missed.

I stick a fry in my mouth, leaning in to offer it to him and wondering if he’ll take it.

He smiles at me, overestimating the distance of the french fry on purpose, so he could, in fact, brush his lips against mine.

When he pulls back, I kiss him again. Harder and deeper until I’m probing into wonderland. His tongue brushes mine, and I groan, dropping the container of fries to circle my arms around his neck.

It relieves me. In the comforting sense that he still tastes the same. That his calloused fingers feel the same way when they glide over my bare skin.

We kiss until my lips are bruised and raw. Still, it’s impossible to get enough of him. Impossible to not snuggle closer until there’s nowhere further to go.

“Will you tell me why you disappear or do I have to auction off for that information?” I ask playfully. But, really, the truth is I’m only half-joking. I do hope that he’s transparent with me. Now and in the future.

His expression grows morbid.

And it makes me want to take back my words. But I don’t. Because I really do want to know.

“Have you heard of Cardinal?”

“Uh…like the brand?”

“Corporation, yeah.”

I tsk. “It’s not like they’re one of the biggest names next to Johnson&Johnson.”

“My mother’s the chairwoman,” he says.

I laugh, still not processing whatever it is he just told me. And then it hits me, my jaw dropping to the ground. “What?”

Baekhyun’s once bright eyes are now jaded, and he just looks like he wants to do nothing but sleep for an eternity. “I’m—uh—helping out.”

“Define what helping out means.”

“I run the day-to-day operations at the main branch while she manages the rest of her businesses.”

I stare at him. “But what about school?”

“I’m managing.”

“What about sleep?”

His mouth twists into a good-humored smile, and he answers, “whenever I can squeeze it in.”

I blink once and twice, still in shock. “When was the last time you slept?”

Baekhyun shrugs.

I shake my head, trying to wrap my head around the world that he lives in. Suddenly, everything is so wide and expansive. My perspective of him shifting on its axis.

He playfully pokes my arm, trying to get a reaction out of me other than stoic silence. “Are you worried about me?”

“I’m trying to understand how you can be okay.”

“I’m not,” he answers, his voice a mix of mischief and boyish charm.

“Baekhyun,” I lament.

“Lighten up, Dandelion. Seeing you is the one thing I look forward to.”

His words set fire to my heart, but at the same time, I feel terrible. He should be in bed, resting and catching a break. Not out here, frolicking in the middle of the night and charming my pants off.

Baekhyun sees the face that I’m making, and he pulls me back into his chest, hugging me close. “Penny for your thoughts?” He asks.

“You don’t have time for me, Baekhyun,” I tell him. My thoughts are enjambed, so it’s frustrating because I don’t know how to say it. But I have to get it out. I have to tell him. He begins to say something in the wake of my silence, but I cut him off. “Not like that—I don’t mean that in a whiny, I want all of your attention, way. It’s a statement. The truth. And you know it. You can’t balance a relationship like this. It’ll blow up in your face later.”

He considers for a while before he asks, “what about you?”

“This isn’t about me.”

“It has everything to do with you,” he insists, “have you ever wondered how you’ve captivated me and continue to do so?”

I shake my head. “But this doesn’t have anything to do with—“

“A while back, I was writing my essay on the lawn by Wyman. And by some of luck, that’s when I saw you. You were with your friends, laughing and joking—you looked so carefree. Like you were living in an entirely different world than I was. Somewhere technicolor and not so muted. Then, when you passed me by, I noticed your lingering gaze. The wild look in your eyes, how shy you must’ve felt when I met them. I was enamored by you, and I wondered what kind of an idiot I was for not knowing your name or who you were.

“And I never could stop thinking about you. About your story. Maybe I romanticized you a bit. But I always put off finding you because my life kept getting in the way. Work. School. I do it again and again, but I just—snapped. The last day before the new year is always the roughest, do you want to know why? We have a board meeting to come up with plans and resolutions, review the year’s performance, and just this year alone—we’ve had to let go of a lot of people. Good people that I’ve known since I was a kid.

“Seeing those people lose their jobs made me irate. I wondered what the hell I was doing, and whether it was my fault—my uselessness. I went home, grabbed my guitar, and I went to that party, Dandelion. If someone turned back time and asked me if I wanted to do things differently, the answer is no.”

He really wasn’t making this fair for me. I fix my eyes on him, running a finger through his hair and just holding it there. “So you want to be with me?”

“Yes.”

“Even if you’re late to our dates and I end up screaming at you?”

“Yes.”

“Even if I want to steal every second that you can give me?”

Baekhyun doesn’t answer nor does he make an attempt to. He just looks at me, his eyes tracing over the length of me like he’s trying to memorize every detail that there is. And eventually, he says, “take it. I’ll give you everything.”

“Everything?”

“I’ll even steal the sun from everybody else and gift it to you.”

“That’s a big gamble even for you.”

“As long as it persuades you to say yes.”

“To what?”

“To being my girlfriend.”

 

 

###

 

 

I didn’t particularly enjoy my theater appreciation class. My professor rambled too much about her life. She’d talk about matters that didn’t relate to the course, and when it came to the exams, we were on our own.

I could’ve skipped her classes, studied from the textbooks, and very well passed the class with flying colors.

But you know what? In life, sometimes, you can’t have it all. She was such a stickler for attendance.

By the time I realized my distaste for this class, it was too late to drop the class because I would’ve wasted my mom’s money and my own time.

I also needed the credit because god forbid we don’t take obscure classes that have nothing to do with our major. The college experience was absurdly expensive as much as it was pretentious.

We were watching a musical in class today. Our professor was having a bad day, so she decided that she’d rather keep to herself. We left it at that.

Anyway, I was working on another assignment in the meantime. One can never have too much free time. It was between wasting time now or finishing my homework so I can binge sitcoms with Winter later on.

To my complete and utter surprise, I feel a tap on my shoulder. Flicking my eyes from my homework to the person who tapped me, I release a silent gasp.

“What are you doing here?” I ask, eyeing Baekhyun nervously.

He grins, dropping a kiss on the side of my head. You know, just casually, out of habit. “I finished my last class twenty minutes ago,” he whispers.

“You can’t be here,” I say.

He an eyebrow. Now, it’s dark in the classroom with the lights off and even more so with the blinds closed. So to think that I could see his expressions so well meant that we were definitely spending way too much time together.

Oddly, I’m not too bothered about it. It made me feel kind of happy.

“Who says?” He asks, biting my earlobe.

My eyes wander the room, checking for any lingering eyes. There are none. People are either napping or focused on the musical.

Sighing quietly, I bare my throat to him, letting him press butterfly kisses there and a line to the delicate skin on my neck.

“You smell so ing good,” he says it on my skin, “I missed you, Dandelion.”

My heart does sprints. “Say I want to ditch class,” I tell him, my mouth watering. I don’t think I’ve ever wanted to kiss someone this badly. “What would you do?”

“Whatever you want me to,” he says, bringing our faces so close that our noses touch. He nuzzles me.

“Okay,” I say, squeezing his shoulders. “Let’s leave.”

Baekhyun wastes no time. His eyes are bright, and they seem to twinkle in the distance. He hitches my bag over one shoulder and tugs me up to him, pulling me right into his side until we’re mashed together.

He buys me lunch, and we until the sun comes up.

Way better than binging 90’s sitcoms, if you ask me.

 

 

###

 

 

I have a deep hatred for love bombers. I hate them. I do.

But god. I really think that I may love him.

And one can say, how can you love someone in three months' time?

Turns out, it’s really easy if the guy, your former campus crush turned boyfriend, turns out better than your own fantasy.

He slips little snippets of poetry in my bag.

Original poetry.

Sometimes, when I can’t sleep, he’ll strum a tune on his guitar and sing in that soft, syrupy voice of his.

We don’t see each other often, but when we do, it’s like I’m at the center of his universe.

By the first month, I have my things lying around his apartment. He gave me a drawer.

And month number two, I got half of his closet.

He wishes me good morning and texts me goodnight when he knows he won’t make it back before I’m asleep.

So can you blame me?

He says he’ll give me everything, but I’ll rob the entire damn sky for him.

I’d gotten a text from him that morning that he’d be stuck all day because of some unforeseen event. I’d gotten used to it by now.

It didn’t necessarily bother me. I would never demand any more from him than I already have.

But even knowing that doesn’t erase the disappointment I feel when I wake to him donning a suit in the morning and brushing a far too short kiss on my nose.

Or when I miss him so much that I feel like I’m a fraction of myself when he’s not there.

It’s terribly dependent of me. I know that too well. This wasn’t my first rodeo. I’ve had obsessive relationships in high school.

But this.

My exes didn’t hold a candle to Baekhyun.

This was just one of those days. I was restless, and each time I felt this way, it just made me feel horrible. Like I was a succubus who couldn’t stop her hunger.

I couldn’t sleep, and usually, I could settle for snuggling under his covers because they smelled like him. But tonight was difficult, so I ended up shuffling to his kitchen.

I hadn’t realized how late it was because as I went to open the fridge, the light from it illuminated his kitchen, and that’s when I noticed that he was standing not far behind me.

Unfortunately, knowing that it had to be him didn’t save me from the scare that I had. I watch him die from laughter as I’m holding a hand over my thundering heart, scared half to death.

“Are you okay?” He chokes out.

I shove him away from me. “Ha. Ha.”

“You’re so cute, my sweet little Dandelion.”

“Couldn’t you make a sound to alert me that you were here?”

“Right because normal people make sounds when they’re standing completely still,” he snickers.

“One day when I keel over from a heart attack, you’ll see.”

“I’m CPR certified.”

“Oh, shut up,” I hiss, slapping a hand over his chest.

But he catches my hand and grips it tightly. I stare at him momentarily, taking in his appearance. I notice the weariness in his eyes. The exhaustion that seems to seep out of his pores.

“Why aren’t you in bed?” I ask, pressing my palm to his face.

He shakes his head. “Have you seen what you’re wearing?”

It makes me smile out of adoration. He was so darn cute sometimes. “So you were too to sleep?”

“And confirm your question so you can make a fool out of me?”

“Says the person who laughed after scaring the bejeezus out of me.”

He returns my smile, hugging me close to him—not without squeezing my though. Absolute tomfoolery.

“I should go commando when I sleep, huh?” I tease, nudging him.

He returns the answer by lifting me onto the island behind us. “You do that, and let’s see how long it takes before you lose the ability to walk.”

 

 

###

 

 

My little dandelion,

I’ll close my

eyes. Make a wish,

blow them out,

 

and I’ll wait. Until

my pretty dandelion

is tucked safely

in my

heart.

 

 

[a/n] dude i'm literally masochistic because there's no ing way i write these type of men. BYE. something about CEO baekhyun just makes him smooth. yall remember r u ridin' because this baekhyun is like that baekhyun but 100% less subtle. he's just smooth asl. 

actually. funny story. i did have guy write poetry for me. but uh that didn't work out. anyway enough about me. after writing the first two scenes. i NEEDED to get this out to yall. please why are they so ing cute im so damn sad that my was single for the third valentine's day in a row (in a relationship envy type of way but not realistically bc i have commitment issues <3)

this man is the ing blueprint. he will make time for you out of his busy schedule. don't settle for less,, yall

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baekyhoney
so. um. how are we feeling about ?? because cough cough it's happening. like if we're not comfortable, i can release it in its own separate chapter when the story ends?

Comments

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preciousloey61
17 streak #1
Chapter 6: Feeling happy but so emotional right now... love the whole story.. I really love her character... the whole time I thought she was quite in fault maybe that she didn't try enough to save the relationship with him maybe cause of situation and trust issues in relations .... but the ending and the revelation totally makes me speechless and it was quite shocking...the cause of their separation...despite their non-stop and unnecessary bickering and all other things, there were one thing for sure that both of them were in truly and deeply in love with each other... the love, caring, understanding and still keep other relationship like even if it was enemy like but still they stick together with each other's side... comforted and saved from the any obstacles like exes.. I really love her relationship with her friend circles..it was one of the amazing and heartwarming part.. also her mother was so friendly and understanding...quite cool...not like his selfish, greedy and heartless mother.. how could she just use him like that...what that woman did to Dan and even baekhyun was so heartbreaking... it's really hard to let go love but if it's true then it'll probably they'll be definitely come back to each other whatever the reason or circumstances... just like them.. but felt so bad that they had to endure and ho through this for a long time to reunite though... at least she didn't deny it that was so sweet and heartwarming... the way he comforted her after knowing all these was so sweet and lovely... also love the way he chose her over his mother and that professor..glad that both of them got to be together and also made their dream come true about further educational careers... the m part was so hot and y... after what they went through all those years gap that was definitely a bonus point for them... idk but I'm quite confused why did she said that in the last line... well written everything... the plot, plot twist, characters, events were so interesting and catchy... also so happy for sehun and winter..they were unexpected, unbelievable but miraculously amazing couple... taeyong and chanyeol ..such a good friends... really enjoyed reading the whole story from beginning till end...loved it..thank you authornim for writing such an amazing, catchy and lovely story... loved their relationship development from crush to lovers to exes to again strong bonding lovey-dovey couple... they deserved that happiness... so happy for them 💓
Sykrh_ #2
Chapter 6: Wow! I enjoyed it thoroughly! You wrote it really well! Thank you for sharing with us your beautiful masterpiece🥰
baekparu #3
Chapter 6: This was beautiful omg I loved it
Thankyou so much for sharing your works 💗
eiffel-mi
#4
Chapter 6: how do you write each story so perfectly well. thank you for this. you're now one of comfort author.
vero3lee #5
Chapter 6: Aww that was so lovely and touching and made me feel soooo alone!!!
bbbh04 #6
Chapter 6: this was so beautiful
Alaatoria
#7
Chapter 6: This was so beautiful 😭😭😭💕 i wish i had someone like baek in my life ☹️ thank you for writing this💕 and i will always wait for u to update between the devil😍💕
PuffTedEBear
#8
Chapter 2: Sometimes it's just not easy to let someone go. They have messed with your heart too much. You can deny that it's gone but you are only fooling yourself.
byunsugar
#9
Chapter 6: crying this is so good. i really really lovee your writing style
Baekkyoongja
#10
Chapter 6: Am crying like 😭😭😭 woah his mother seriously.. How I wish they talked but well I think she felt like he always had another world. So she got accepted at duke, did she accept it? Am so proud of her tho that she got that chance. Also thank you Baek for choosing her over that ty prof and definitely over his mom. Im kinda likw what kind of mom would take over his son inheritance? God, people is so selfish and greedy.
The authornim!!! Was so hot huhu like the pent up tension between them >\__<. Thank you for sharing this story. I also love her friendship and I also love the fact that Baek stays beside her despite annoying thru all those years. These two deserve the ❤️.