Not Eactly an Epilogue but More Like an Extra Chapter.

 

A/N: Don't kill me please.

 

--

 

Nothing lasts forever. Baekhyun knows that.

 

--

 

They are twenty-five.

 

"I am going to die, I will die, holy I am going to die--"

 

"Shut up."

 

Baekhyun turns to look disbelievingly at Jongdae. "Did you just ask me to shut up?"

 

Jongdae sighs and walks over to Baekhyun. He takes Baekhyun by the shoulders and pushes him down into a sitting position onto the edge of his bed. "Calm down, Byun." He stands in front of Baekhyun and pats his shoulders.

 

"Jongdae," Baekhyun says weakly. "I'm going to die."

 

"You're just going to get married, Byun."

 

"Jongdae, I am going to get married."

 

"Honestly, you've had four years to prepare for this. Why are you going ape now?"

 

Baekhyun makes a choked sound.

 

--

 

It's a casual affair; held at their newly-bought house, only close friends and family are invited, and it's basically just a lively garden party, really. They just have to say a few words, exchange rings, and kiss. No big deal. The ceremony's not a big deal. It's technically just a house-warming party and wedding merged into one.

 

No big deal. He's just getting married.

 

He's just getting married to the love of his life.

 

"Jongdae, I need to throw up."

 

"Again?"

 

--

 

The ceremony goes by smoothly.

 

Jongdae and Junmyeon respectively give their own versions of their best man's speech. Baekhyun almost choked on his food when Jongdae gets to the part where they went on an impromptu road trip during their college days because Baekhyun was heartbroken when Chanyeol was seen making out with a rather attractive girl. He thinks it was when he was nineteen. He also remembers thinking it was because he's had his eyes on that girl since the start of the semester.

 

He glances to the side to see Chanyeol making a face. He snickers and nudges Chanyeol's foot with his own.

 

"What's with that face?" he whispers.

 

Chanyeol sighs and takes Baekhyun's hand. "Nothing," he mumbles. He interlaces their fingers together. "I love you."

 

Baekhyun smiles. "I love you too--"

 

"And then we found out that Chanyeol only made out with her because he found out Baekhyun liked her!" he hears Junmyeon say in excitement, earning a few cheers and catcalls from the others (particularly Lu Han and Jongin).

 

Baekhyun turns to Chanyeol.

 

"In my defence, I was young and in love."

 

"...fair enough."

 

--

 

Forever comes to their grasp in short steps.

 

They bought a house together; a simple two-storey with a garden space and white picket fences. It's what Chanyeol promised and more, and Baekhyun thinks forever wouldn't be so impossible after all.

 

"Chanyeol," Baekhyun says one day when they are doing the dishes together after dinner.

 

"Yeah," Chanyeol answers with a grim expression on his face as he tries his best to wash the dishes without dropping them (the last time that happened Baekhyun gave him the silent treatment for approximately half an hour before giving in when Chanyeol got on his knees and started making pitiful face expressions).

 

Baekhyun lightly bumps hips with him. "So I was thinking," he starts with a slowly-forming grin, "all these rooms in our house? We should officiate them somehow. You know?"

 

Chanyeol furrows his brows as he gingerly places his washed dish onto the countertop. "Okay... And how do we do that?" He turns to face Baekhyun.

 

Baekhyun, now with a full grin on his face, leans up and whispers into Chanyeol's ear.

 

Chanyeol turns red and starts spluttering and Baekhyun laughs so hard he almost dropped his plate. When he finally calms down enough, "Oh, but we don't have to if you don't want--"

 

"I do!" Chanyeol interrupts. And then he turns even redder and Baekhyun is wheezing with laughter.

 

"You're a--" he stops to laugh some more, tears already coming to his eyes. "You're a ert, aren't you?"

 

"Baek, I--"

 

Baekhyun interrupts him with a kiss. "What do you say we get all the dishes done first and then we start?" He smiles in a way that he knows always makes Chanyeol--

 

"," Chanyeol almost drops a dirty plate and Baekhyun tries very hard not to laugh again because they really need to get them done.

 

--

 

"Wait," Baekhyun suddenly gasps out later.

 

"Are you ing kidding me I am already inside--"

 

"Chanyeol," he interrupts him because even though he likes to hear Chanyeol's voice like that he still needs to-- "The other bedroom. We need to--we need to keep it as it is."

 

Chanyeol groans and Baekhyun feels it reach straight to his southern friend and dammit Byun concentrate.

 

"Baek, what the are you trying to say--"

 

"We can't have there, alright?"

 

"Fine, but can we have  now?"

 

And  then Chanyeol starts to move and--

 

--

 

"Baek," Chanyeol says much later, "why, though?"

 

Baekhyun shrugs before kissing him lightly. "Just because. Now let's just go to sleep, alright?" Baekhyun grins at Chanyeol. "Be my little spoon?"

 

Chanyeol chukles before turning to his other side and Baekhyun immediately shuffles closer before placing an arm over his waist.

 

Chanyeol doesn't question him further on that subject.

 

--

 

Chanyeol once promised him that they would live in a house with a garden, because Baekhyun said it reminded him of his mother. Baekhyun wasn't really that obsessed with that idea, so he didn't put much hope into it.

 

But then Chanyeol pulled through.

 

So it's only fair that Baekhyun keeps his end of the bargain, when they're ready.

 

--

 

They are twenty-six.

 

"I ed up."

 

"Why am I not surprised? At all?"

 

They're sitting at their usual after-work diner, with Jongdae sitting across him and Lu Han by his side. They're still waiting for the kids (as Lu Han fondly dubs them) to come from their own work places.

 

"Jongdae," Baekhyun whines and he knows he's supposed to act his age but he ed up real bad. "Help me."

 

"Should I be offended that I'm sitting right beside you and yet you're ignoring me in favor of whining at someone who may or may not care?" he hears Lu Han say.

 

Baekhyun groans. "I don't care, I just need help--"

 

"You know, it's pretty embarrassing to see a table of fully grown men in suits with one of them whining like a teenage girl."

 

All of them look up to see Jongin and Sehun standing in front of their table, with Jongin grinning widely and Sehun looking annoyed.

 

" you, Oh."

 

"No thanks."

 

--

 

"So you guys fought...over pets?" Jongdae makes a face. "You know what, I can't do this anymore. This just keeps getting more and more--"

 

"Why would you fight over pets?" Jongin asks incredulously.

 

Baekhyun sighs. "Chanyeol wants a golden retriever. I told him I hate dogs and told him to get a cat instead." He feels nauseous as he recalls the fight.

 

"Ah," Lu Han huffs out. "The classic cat and dog dispute." He grins. "ing dumb, but very real. What do you think, Sehunnie?"

 

Sehun grunts out an agreement, eyes focused on his phone as usual.

 

"I don't know what's so interesting inside that phone that you're like practically married to it, Sehun."

 

"None of your business, Jongin."

 

"Hey, you think maybe he's actually reading --"

 

"Wait, you're reading ?"

 

"I didn't say I was reading --"

 

"Ooh, Sehunnie. You dirty bastard--"

 

"What the actual , Lu Han--"

 

"Jongdae, help me. He stormed out yesterday."

 

"I am so ing tired of this ."

 

--

 

"Wait, isn't your anniversary coming soon?"

 

Baekhyun spits out his beer, earning a disgusted cry from Sehun. He hastily wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. ". And we're still on bad terms with each other, ."

 

Jongdae gives him a look. "How bad was it, the fight?"

 

Baekhyun winces. "I may have been a bit gracious with the plates."

 

Jongdae groans. "Byun--"

 

"He was throwing stuff too!"

 

"And so you decided to throw stuff back? How old are you?"

 

"I think," Lu Han adds in. "It's probably a kink. They probably have really hot angry after--"

 

"Oh my god, my ears."

 

"Lu Han, you need to stop comparing all the other relationships to yours and Baekhyun's."

 

"Shut up, Jongin."

 

--

 

You have to set things right.

 

Chanyeol comes home later that night (or early morning) looking slightly calmer. Baekhyun swallows to calm his nerves and walks over to him.

 

"Welcome home," he says and smiles weakly at Chanyeol. Without waiting for a response, he takes Chanyeol's suitcase from him and holds out his arm in his usual manner to ask for his coat because Chanyeol is too lazy to hang his own coat and Baekhyun needs to do everything for him. When Chanyeol doesn't do anything, Baekhyun slowly raises his head to look at his face.

 

Chanyeol's staring at him with questioning eyes.

 

.

 

And then--

 

"You're not mad at me anymore?"

 

Baekhyun blinks. "No. I mean. Uh. You're not mad at me?"

 

Chanyeol suddenly steps forward and pulls him into a bone-crushing hug.

 

"I am so sorry I was so mad yesterday and I didn't mean to be so violent and I'm so sorry please don't leave me I love you--"

 

Baekhyun is so glad he could only laugh in response and say I love you too.

 

--

 

Baekhyun ends up buying a dog as his surprise anniversary present for Chanyeol.

 

It's still a puppy, and the little is ing annoying. But it's a golden retriever puppy, and its shade of gold is just how he knows Chanyeol likes it (golden just like the buttercups under the sun, Baek. How could you refuse that?), and the puppy somehow, morbidly, reminds Baekhyun of his spouse.

 

So, inwardly, he calls it Park.

 

--

 

Park is the most annoying little Baekhyun has ever come across in his entire life.

 

The creature keeps trying to jump on him, and it keeps interrupting him from making the special dinner for that night, and it also has the tendency to bark at inanimate objects. And it runs around so much and keeps bumping into furnitures--

 

This is why he wanted cats.

 

--

 

It's already seven.

 

It's already seven, Chanyeol's about to come home from work since he said he'd come home early for that day, and dammit Baekhyun took a ing day off, and dinner's still not ready.

 

Because Park's secretly the spawn of Satan.

 

The whole kitchen's a mess, and the little is still ing energetic and--

 

"No, you are not taking a piss at my ing vase you little I spent a fortune on that--"

 

He hears the jingle of keys and the sound of their front door opening and thinks .

 

And sure enough, he hears footsteps and soon after, "I'm home!"

 

Baekhyun sighs and walks out of the kitchen to greet his spouse (although not before putting Park inside his temporary cage first). "Hey," he mumbles and leans up to kiss lightly on Chanyeol's cheek. "Welcome home."

 

Chanyeol smiles at him and Baekhyun notices he has his hands behind his back and then--

 

"Why are there scratches on your face?"

 

It's true; there are red gashes on Chanyeol's other cheek and even some on his forehead.

 

Chanyeol grins even wider. "It's a battle scar. And you're one to talk. You have flour all over your face."

 

Baekhyun blinks before recalling his failed attempt to bake a cake because Park kept trying to jump onto the counter and why didn't he put it inside the cage earlier? "Let's just call it a battle scar," he finally says with a tired sigh.

 

Chanyeol chuckles. "Guess dinner at home is a no-go, huh?"

 

Baekhyun scowls and Chanyeol laughs even harder.

 

"Oh, yeah. I got a surprise for you," Chanyeol suddenly says after somehow managing to calm down. At Baekhyun's questioning gaze, he takes his hands from behind his back and--

 

It's a cage.

 

Containing a kitten.

 

Specifically, a gray British short-hair that Baekhyun has always wanted.

 

"Happy anniversary, Baekhyunnie," Chanyeol says with a big grin on his face. "It was really hard to convince it to come home with me because it kept trying to scratch me, and it succeeded too and it even climbed up my head--"

 

"Chanyeol."

 

"Yeah?"

 

"Put the cage down."

 

Chanyeol's face immediately falls and he gently places the cage on the floor beside him. "Oh, I'm sorry. You don't like it? I mean, you always said you wanted this type and this shade of colour and I may not know much about cats but I'm pretty sure it's the right one--"

 

Baekhyun pulls him down and kisses him hard before pulling away. "I love you," he whispers and kisses Chanyeol once more and Chanyeol makes a happy sound and he already has his arms around Baekhyun's waist and is pulling him closer and--

 

They both pull away at the same time when they hear a howl from the kitchen.

 

"Baek, what's that?"

 

Baekhyun sighs and pats Chanyeol's chest. "Happy anniversary, sweetheart."

 

--

 

Chanyeol ends up gushing over Park, and the puppy seems just as fond over Chanyeol.

 

Baekhyun finally lets his cat out and proceeds to feel sympathy for it as Park literally runs it over and proceeds to attack it with and unnecessarily strong headbumps.

 

The cat looks exactly as horrified as Baekhyun felt when he first saw the little .

 

"So what did you name him?" Chanyeol asks him.

 

He turns to Chanyeol. "Uh. Isn't it yours? You name him."

 

Chanyeol snorts. "I know you, Baek. You always give names to stuff that annoy you."

 

"I do not."

 

"You call our faulty vacuum cleaner Kim, Baekhyun."

 

--

 

The cat and dog ends up being Byun and Park.

 

--

 

On their first wedding anniversary, Baekhyun and Chanyeol end up watching horror movies, cuddled up on their couch while eating take-out pizza with their new pets making noise in the background.

 

Baekhyun wouldn't change it for a thing.

 

--

 

They are twenty-seven.

 

Chanyeol comes home one day from buying the groceries when Baekhyun is folding the clothes and suddenly hugs him from behind.

 

Baekhyun knows it's an uncomfortable position, because he's sitting and Chanyeol's crouching and his knees are pressing uncomfortably into his back but still--

 

"What's wrong?"

 

Chanyeol exhales shakily into the crook of his neck and Baekhyun knows something's wrong. So he turns around so that he's facing Chanyeol and pulls him so that he's sitting cross-legged too and takes his hand. He squeezes it tightly and holds Chanyeol's face with his other hand. "What's the matter?" he asks again.

 

Chanyeol closes his eyes and leans into Baekhyun's hand and Baekhyun lets him, gently rubbing his thumb over Chanyeol's cheekbone.

 

Finally, Chanyeol opens his eyes. He clears his throat.

 

"So I have this cousin of mine..."

 

"And?"

 

"His friend recently passed away, along with his wife in an accident. And they left a child behind."

 

"Oh," Baekhyun frowns. "I'm really sorry to hear that."

 

"And." Chanyeol clears his throat again. "He has nobody to take care of him. Both of his parents are the only children, and the grandparents from both sides are dead."

 

Baekhyun quirks a brow, and he knows where this is going.

 

"And so my cousin suggested some stuff, and I thought it wasn't such a bad idea and I thought I would share it with you." Chanyeol visibly panics when Baekhyun doesn't say anything. "I mean, the kid's still young, and I'm fine if you're not ready yet or whatever but I still think it's a good idea. And we have many rooms anyway--"

 

Baekhyun ends up laughing and Chanyeol looks at him with a distressed expression. "Yeah, I don't mind."

 

Chanyeol stares at him for a moment. "You mean. You're okay with it? Even though you hate children?"

 

"Why do you think I always clean up that room at the end of the hallway? And why I always made sure that we don't have in it? Honestly, Chanyeol. Do you want our child to sleep on a bed where he had ?"

 

Chanyeol's gaping at him now. "So you mean you're totally cool with it?"

 

"Chanyeol, do you want to adopt the kid or not?"

 

"Yes. I love you."

 

Baekhyun smiles and kisses Chanyeol tenderly. "I love you too."

 

--

 

Baekhyun remembers a conversation they had in their final year of college.

 

I'll get you a house with a garden and white picket fences. Just you wait.

 

Look. I'm fine with an apartment. You don't need to.

 

No. I'll get you a house like that, and we can live there with our dog and maybe a cat and our kid--oh.

 

What's wrong, dreamt too much you hurt your head?

 

No. It's just that...a kid would be nice, you know? But nevermind that. And then by that time I'll be so rich our house would be overflowing with sports cars and gold. And then it would be full of servants and we wouldn't have to do a thing for our whole lives!

 

Do you want to get married when we're eighty?

 

Chanyeol never mentioned it again, but Baekhyun has always been preparing for the time when Chanyeol would say let's get a kid.

 

And Baekhyun has always wanted to say yes, a kid would be nice.

 

The conversation may not have turned out the same, but his feeling when he sees Chanyeol's expression of shocked happiness is definitely ten times better.

 

--

 

Nothing lasts forever. Baekhyun knows that.

 

But he will make sure that they have the next best thing.

 

--

END

(AGAIN. FOR REAL THIS TIME.)

--

 

A/N: Feel free to kill me now orz. Thanks to all the people who read this far! I love you! Have some hearts: <3333