Though this be the last pain that he makes me suffer,

and these the last verses that I write for him.

It was a cold afternoon and the city looked pale and lifeless in Baekhyun’s eyes. Turning left a few blocks further he found the park cutting short to Chanyeol’s favorite subway and smiled. The trees around the park looked alive in contrast to the sea of dying leaves. Crisp leaves resounded through the empty street as they gave under Baekhyun’s shoes and the cold autumn wind felt almost too harsh on his skin.

The subway was clear. A few people passed by, very few stayed. It was still early in the afternoon right after the rush of people during mid-day and right before the gush of people going home in the late afternoon. Baekhyun sat on the unoccupied seat beside Chanyeol’s claimed space and stared.

Chanyeol wasn’t here today, again, seems like it.

The moment Baekhyun finally looked up, there were more people. Some spared him a glance; some flew by him harried steps of most reverberating in the closed space.

“Hi.” A deep voice spoke to his right and he fought the disappointment when he realized it wasn’t as deep as he would have wanted to. Kris was towering over him when he glanced up, an easy smirk permanent on his face. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“Hey.” Baekhyun motioned to the space beside him if Kris wanted to sit. It would be preferable though because Baekhyun barely passed his hips the way he’s sitting and Kris standing beside him like that. “Same goes for you. Chanyeol said you have a car. Never thought of seeing you here of all impossible places.” He offered a soft smile not quite reaching his eyes.

Kris just shrugged taking the offered seat and making himself as comfortable as can be. “So, what were you doing? You looked like you were sulking. Were you sulking?”

“I was just sitting here, and I’m not sulking.” Baekhyun rolled his eyes at the other before chuckling. Kris was both the same and different from Chanyeol in so many ways. Given that he’s not very close with Kris, he’s not very hard to talk to. “What brought you here?”

Chuckling at the eye roll he was given, Kris stuffed his hands in the pocket of his jacket. “I thought you were waiting for someone.” He shrugged before showing Baekhyun a map of all the stations the train passes by. “Chanyeol told me to get a map of the train route and memorize it in a day. I get a new baby if I win.” He smiled and the smile widened when Baekhyun laughed louder.

“By baby, you mean another stuffed animal? I don’t really understand your obsession with them to be really honest.” Baekhyun got out after his good share of laughter and chose to ignore the comment about waiting.

“Hey, they’re my sons and daughters! Be glad they’re not with me, if they ever hear you saying they’re stuffed animals once again I wouldn’t know what I’d do to you.” Kris threatened, which might have been effective if not for the smile on his face he wasn’t even trying to hide.

“You’re ridiculous.” Baekhyun told him and reached out for the station map in Kris’ hand. “So, let’s see where you’re at now.” He waved the map and beamed at the other.

“I’ve only gotten the map just now, how would I know I’m supposed to memorize it all at once.” Kris said, raising and eyebrow and snatching the map back. So, what are you doing now? I’m hungry. Wanna eat something?”

“I don’t really have anything planned.” Baekhyun looked thoughtful for a while before smiling. “Alright, I’m getting pretty hungry.” He caught a glance of the bench across from where they were sitting and bit his lower lip before turning once more to Kris. “Just… give me another minute?” When Kris gave him a smile and a nod, Baekhyun closed his eyes briefly taking a deep breath.

When Kris found him, he wasn’t sulking. Baekhyun was grieving. Grieving for a loss, grieving for something that could have been. Grieving for a fruitless feeling that he was willing to die inside of him. This will be the last, he told himself. He opened his eyes and glanced at the bench longingly. Goodbye, Baekhyun whispered and took calming breaths for a minute, willing himself to face Kris and turn his back to the empty seat.

“I’m ready. Let’s go eat?” Baekhyun asked in what he wished a cheerful voice and chuckled when an English hip-hop song blasted from Kris’ phone.

“Just, excuse me for a bit.” Kris shook his head in amusement. Chanyeol changed his call alert tone without his permission once again. And speaking of the devil, “Hey,” He answered the phone and listened to Chanyeol babbling from the other line for a little while before he cut him off. “Okay, tell Kyumsoon congratulations. You sound more excited than you always are huh. Kyungsoo, right I knew that. Tell Kyungsoon congratulations. See you at home. No. I’m gonna call you later. Not now Chanyeol I have a date. Good.” Kris shook his head again and tucked his phone away before looking at the somewhat amused Baekhyun. “Ready when you are.”

“Was that Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asked, torn between amusement at how Kris dealt with an overactive Chanyeol or blushing by being called a date. “What got his tail in knots?”

“He said Kyumsoon was accepted in his university and… well that’s about what I understood before he started talking my ears off. I couldn’t really understand the rest, his voice too deep it was almost sounding like a phone on vibrate if I didn’t know he was talking. That and I can barely understand his Korean.” Kris whined not seemingly appropriate for his age and height. Kris was acting a bit out of the ordinary, but the melancholy he saw in Baekhyun’s eyes no matter how good he was in hiding it hadn’t been unnoticed.

Baekhyun chuckled at Kris’ antics. “It’s Kyungsoo. And that’s good news.” There’s a pang inside his chest the more the thought about it. Chanyeol and Kyungsoo will be attending the same university. That’s good news too, right? He took a deep breath to clear his thoughts and laughed once more at Kris when he whined. “His Korean is perfectly fine because he is Korean, one the other hand you should be the one with a defective communication skills.”

“I’m perfectly fine with communicating.” He told the shorter man in English before laughing himself. “I’m seriously learning. Just gets confusing at times.” He shrugged and scooted closer to Baekhyun as they stepped out of the subway, the chilly wind hitting him pretty well having an expanded body surface area.

It drew another laugh from Baekhyun when Kris hid behind him as if he’s enough shield from the wind. “We just have to work on your Korean skills then.” Baekhyun hugged his jacket closer as he felt the chill. He’s feeling a bit light-headed, in a good way due to excessive laughing. Kris’ efforts to make him feel better are much appreciated and so he gave the taller man a wide smile. “So where do you want to eat?”

Returning the wide smile, Kris just looked at the surrounding restaurants before turning back to Baekhyun. “I don’t know. I just want to eat. Where do you want to eat?”

“There’s a tent café two blocks from here, you fine going there or do you prefer a classier one?” Baekhyun bit his lip. He hasn’t really eaten out with Kris before and he doesn’t even know the other man well enough to know his taste in food.

“That’s fine with me.” Kris smiled and tugged Baekhyun’s sleeve. “Let’s go by car then. I don’t want to leave my car here if we can just bring it there. And maybe we can get some soju.”

“Sounds good to me.” Baekhyun let himself be pulled to the sidewalk, then across the street to Kris’ car parked in front of a bookstore. When they’re warm and comfortable inside the car Baekhyun remembered one thing and turned to Kris. “After, can you come with me to buy a bus pass?”

“Bus pass? Sure, but why? You’re not taking the subway anymore?” Kris asked as he started the engine and eased his car into the traffic.

“No.” Baekhyun smiled and watched as Kris worked on his car. “Not anymore.”

hi! im finally back. and the update after almost half a year is a KrisBaek lmao, just wait for a bit while I finish the chansoo one. and i'm sorry for going MIA but i don't regret anything. I'm graduating in two months guys (hopefully) so please be kind to me hehe i barely slept the past 5 months ;A; but now my sched's finally allowing me 8 hours of sleep n__n in two months i am graduating and then i'll be all yours after XD thank you for those who subscribed and commented and haven't lost faith that I will be updating... sometime hehe i love you all ♥