He sat in front of the stand, guitar in his lap with a pencil in his hand, scribbling down notes be plucked on the strings. Chanyeol sat on the edge of his seat and read over the music once more before sighing in frustration, scratching out what he just wrote. It was hopeless; he couldn’t compose the perfect song for her. He needed to do something good to make up for last year, otherwise he was doomed.  He adjusted his glasses and dropped his head onto his arm that rested on the acoustic guitar. He looked back up to the lined paper that was covered with black smudges and crossed out notes and lyrics.

                Chanyeol sighed at his work, or lack thereof, and let his head fall again only to have his thoughts interrupted by the slight vibration coming from his pocket. He manoeuvred his position to pull out his phone to see the words ‘incoming call’ appear on the screen. Puzzled by the unknown number, Chanyeol slid the lock button across and held the phone to his ear.

                “Hello?” he said as he fiddled with the pencil in his hand.

                “Hey you!” a voice chirped on the other end. Chanyeol showed off his famous tooth-rich smile the instant he heard her voice. ­­­­____, the light of his life. Cheesy as that sounded, it was the truth.

                “Where are you babe?” Chanyeol asked.

                “At my parent’s house,” ____ said. “Mum wanted me to babysit the ‘little man’ for a bit while she went shopping.” Chanyeol knew that ____’s ‘little man’ was actually her three year old brother.

                “Oh yeah, remind me to thank him next time I see him, ok?” Chanyeol laughed.

                “Andy why’s that Channie?” she joked.

                “You know why, ____.” It’s thanks to him that they met in the first place. He chuckled into the phone.

                “You’re thinking about how we met, aren’t you?” ____ questioned.

                “You know me too well,” he laughed once again. “I’ll see you later alright?”

                “Yeah, I just wanted to remind you about tomorrow. I love you.”

                Chanyeol never got tired of hearing that, “I love you too.

                “I know,” she said before she hung up, leaving Chanyeol to his thoughts once again.

                He was officially doomed now, but Chanyeol knew he shouldn’t be down. Tomorrow was supposed to be a happy day. It was their second year together and Chanyeol promised himself to make it a day to remember.

                Chanyeol exhaled deeply and placed the guitar on the stand next to him. He was at a stump; writer’s block was the worst. Having a writer’s block for over two weeks was just straight up aggravating. Since last year, he had always wanted to make up for an anniversary that never was. Yet who knew that writing a song for his girlfriend, who he loved with his heart and soul, could be so difficult.

                He stood up and left his small studio, heading towards the kitchen. Distress made him hungry so a bite of something was what he needed then. He opened the fridge and stuck his head in to find something to eat. He managed to settle with an apple and took a large bite as he settled on the bench top, facing away from the kitchen. He stared out the window of his apartment, taking in the view of the park across the road and sighed. How he yearned to be out there with ____, just like old times. Biting out another chunk of apple, he stepped down and walked over to the window and saw the brilliance of what the park had to offer. The park had special meaning to him, and to ____. Not only was it the place Chanyeol had grown up, it was also the same place where him and ____ first met.  Chanyeol smiled at the memory of their first meeting, gazing down at the exact location where he saw her for the first time.

~~~

                It was a warm spring day. The sun was high and the park was crowded with families soaking up the fun in the spring air. Chanyeol had only recently moved into the neighbourhood, and already knew he had made the right decision. Chanyeol loved the atmosphere of the area, but most of all, how could he say no to the cheap apartment’s right across the road. He came down almost every weekend with his guitar, with the hopes of creating a hit song he could perform in the future. 

Chanyeol raised his hand, shielding the sun from his framed eyes and scanned the park for a good spot to it as he gripped the handle of his black guitar case in the other. Eventually, he spotted his favourite spot in the park, underneath the giant cedar tree in the middle of the space. Its branches large and covered with leaves, enough to shade at least ten families. He sat himself down and leaned against the large trunk, breathing in the smell of the wood the tree gave off. Chanyeol opened the case and brought out his light brown acoustic guitar, a present for himself for graduating high school the year before, and began to play with the strings with the guitar pick.

The noise it made was smooth and cheerful at the same time.  People who passed by watched Chanyeol as he drifted off into his own world and enjoyed the sweet music that travelled throughout the park. There were other musicians as well, all working to make a few bucks for their performances.  Chanyeol didn’t care for that though; all he wanted was to make music.

After a few minutes of playing, he paused and placed the small red pick on his crossed knee. He looked around at the moving world around him. Couples walking hand in hand, children playing tag in the distance, the sounds of babies giggling in his ear. At the last one, he looked down to see a child. A small toddler not even two years old, munching on his guitar pick. Chanyeol’s eyed widened and naturally reacted to the small male by his side.

“Whoa little man,” he laughed. “I may not know much about kids, but I know you cannot eat this.” He took his pick away and wiped it on his dark blue jeans, only to have the boy’s eyes start welling with tears.

“Hey, I- I’m sorry, don’t cry,” Chanyeol stuttered, anxious of the crying boy next to him. He tried to calm him down only to be interrupted by the voice.

“Juhyun!”  The boy reacted to the call, which made Chanyeol realise that as his name.

“Juhyun, who’s that?” Chanyeol asked, thankful that he didn’t have to find his parents himself. However he didn’t expect someone as young as the woman who came around the corner.

“Goodness Juhyun, I turn my head for one second and you’re crawling away from me. My mother would kill me if I lost him.” Chanyeol stared in awe at the girl in front of him. Her purple jeans were faded at the knees and half covered by a large bag that hung from her left shoulder. Her black hair stopped just below her shoulders and flicked slightly at the ends, framing her pale oval face. Chanyeol was mesmerised by the girl in front of him, so much that he didn’t even pay attention to what she said to him.

“I’m sorry what?” Chanyeol said with a daze.

“I said sorry. Seriously, I ever since he started crawling he hasn’t stopped moving. I swear this kid is part cheetah.”

“Too many gears and motors ey?” Chanyeol laughed.

“Exactly my point.” The mystery girl laughed along with him. “Thanks again for minding my brother for me. We need to head off anyway.”

“You’re little brother,” he sighed with relief. “No prob-” Chanyeol was cut off again by Juhyun giggling. Again he had Chanyeol’s pick in his mouth, away.

“Juhyun,” the girl said as she took away the pick, now covered in Juhyun’s saliva. The instant the pick left his mouth; the tears began to rise in his eyes again.

At that moment, a light bulb appeared above Chanyeol’s head. “Hey little man, listen to this,” he said as he placed his guitar on his lap and began to pluck the strings with his fingers. The sweet sounds of the guitar filled the boy’s ears, making his eyes dry instantly.  Chanyeol’s eyes travelled from the boy to the girl’s face, whose brown eyes softened at the sight of them.  She smiled at him and sat down in front of Chanyeol, pulling Juhyun onto her lap, holding him close. In the midst of all this, Chanyeol started to sing softly a lullaby to Juhyun, causing the boy’s eyes to close. He kept playing until he was sure he was asleep and softened the notes until there was no music left. He gazed at the sleeping Juhyun who snored softly through his open mouth.

She looked up to Chanyeol, “I applaud.”

“Sleep well Juhyun,” Chanyeol smiled.

“Thanks,” her eyes moved from Juhyun’s to the man across from her. “I’m ____.”

“Chanyeol,” he reached over to shake her hand. They smiled at each other with a silent conversation emitting between the too. It was then, that a friendship grew. Then something more.

~~~

Chanyeol smiled at the memory as he finished off the last of his apple. He remembered that day all too well and will forever be etched in his mind. Two years later, the two had never split.  That’s what Chanyeol liked about ____; she was always up for anything and never minded about the big things. No matter how far away, he knew that she would love him unconditionally.

Chanyeol cleared his mind and moved out of the kitchen, throwing out his finished apple core, and headed back to the dreaded studio. He sat down in the chair and stared at the paper. Scrunching his eyes, he balled the paper and threw it behind him in the corner.

“Why is this so hard,” he sighed as he pushed his glasses above his head. He needed inspiration, badly.

For the second time that day, Chanyeol pulled out his phone and searched through his photos in a desperate attempt to find inspiration. He searched through two years’ worth of selcas and couple shot of him and ____, including a few with Juhyun who grew older by the day. As he swiped his finger through each of the pictures, one caught his eye. He brought his glasses back down to observe the photo more clearly. Chanyeol grinned at the picture of him and ____, with a two year Juhyun sitting on her lap. This was taken last year, on their first anniversary. Chanyeol remembered he had something special planned for ____, but it was the case that family had to come first. Chanyeol didn’t mind of course, as long as ____ was happy he didn’t care at all.

~~~

It was spring again, one year after ____ and Chanyeol first met. It was only a few months after that day that Chanyeol made ____ his girlfriend, which she happily obliged. It was their first anniversary, and much to Chanyeol’s disappointment, ____ had to babysit Juhyun for the day.

“I know you wanted to something special for our anniversary,” she had said over the phone. “But mum got called in for work and she couldn’t watch Juhyun, so I couldn’t say no.” She sounded upset that she couldn’t spend the day alone with Chanyeol, but how could he say no to the ‘little man’.

“I guess I can manage the day with you and your brother.” Chanyeol said.

“Yay! Channie!” Juhyun yelled happily.

“Good, because we’re right outside your door now.” With that there was a knock on the door. Chanyeol walked over and opened the door to see ____ holding Juhyun close to her side. Chanyeol smiled at the two siblings, but his eyes mostly travelled up and down ____’s frame. The purple and blue patterned dress hugged her body and the grey cardigan covered her small arms.

“I have taken the liberty of planning our day. There is a play on down at the park, I was thinking we could go watch.” ____ shrugged as she spoke, pointing down at the picnic basket at her feet.

Chanyeol chuckled at the sight and grabbed his jacket from behind the door. “Let’s go kids,” he said with a smile.

The park was crowded with children in front of the stage built up in front of the cedar tree. Chanyeol, ____ and Juhyun sat in the shade of their favourite spot under the branches. They sat in the best spot as the stage was right in their view, as well as the other children who sat in the front row.

“Isn’t this fun Channie?” ____ asked.

“Everything is fun as long as I’m with you,” he joked. Juhyun giggled along with him which made ____ smile as well, just as a lady with programs walked towards them and handed them a piece of paper.

“Ooh they’re going to show Peter Pan,” ____ exclaimed. “I love that story.”

“Do you?” He said as the music began to play, indicating the start of the show.

                “Mum used to read it to me almost every night when I was his age.” She pointed to Juhyun, who was infatuated with the scene taking place in front of him.

                Chanyeol sighed as the two of them fixed their eyes on the play; she was just like a big kid. Chanyeol didn’t mind though, that’s another reason why he liked her, for her childlike personality. That’s when he got an idea. “Hey babe,” he whispered.

                “What?” she asked in return.

                “Say cheese,” he said as he held is phone in front of their faces, snapping a shot of the two of the together. Juhyun was oblivious to the two of them and continued to watch the play. ____ leaned back into Chanyeol’s chest, smiling wide along with Chanyeol as he snapped the happy shot.

                “Happy anniversary ____.” Chanyeol smiled.

                “Happy anniversary Chanyeol. I love you.” She grinned.

                Chanyeol took the opportunity to reach down and kiss her cheek. “I love you too.”

                “I know.” She said as they both turned to watch the rest of Peter’s adventures in Neverland.

---------------------

Authors Note:

Next chapter coming soon :)

Doesn't he look amazing in glasses? Sigh.