What determines how fast a year goes by?

Some say it depends on the level of your happiness. If you’re unhappy, you suffer through it at a grueling pace. If you’re what they would call “happy” then you’d get through it just fine.

Just fine, they say.

Well for Park Chanyeol, he has been anything but happy yet he got through his year just fine. Watching your twin brother and his boyfriend do sickly couple things before you was downright cruel. The absolute worst was most definitely sitting next to your loved one but being unable to have them. Chanyeol will vouch for anyone who believes in this as well.

But why are we discussing the end of the year when we still have to discuss the wonderful news the Wu’s has for Baekhyun.

This particular Saturday seemed unlike any other, the sun shone not as bright as it usually would seem. The sky was cloudy, looming with the foretelling of an oncoming storm and something unpleasant makes itself home in the pit of Baekhyun’s stomach as he stares out of the large floor to ceiling glass window, made door that leads to his balcony. Something was most definitely amiss this dreadful weekend morning.

The brunette padded down to the dining room, where the rest of the family seemed overly prepared. Kris was on the grumpier side this morning, picking at his eggs with a distasteful look on his face. Mr. and Mrs. Wu were quietly stealing glances here and there, after having brief, hushed conversations with each other. Their pairs of eyes seem to size him up. It was not ten minutes later till Mr. Wu finally spoke up with the terrible news that all overly clichéd stories seemed to deem necessary for a dramatic life.

“Baekhyun.”

The said male tore his gaze away from his bowl of oatmeal and gave full attention to the man speaking to him, his adoptive father, Mr. Wu. “Yes?”

The man cleared his throat, looking for a prompt to continue from Mrs. Wu, who nodded at him. “Well, there’s no need to keep it from you. Sooner or later we’d like you to start attending marriage councils to find you a perfect and suitable partner, someone of our class.” The grip Baekhyun had on his spoon loosened till the silverware fell back into his oatmeal bowl. “In fact, by soon, we mean this afternoon at one o’clock. Try not to run late, okay dear?” Mr. and Mrs. Wu excused themselves from the table after deeming they were done with the one sided conversation.

Kris only sighed before getting up and patting Baekhyun on the shoulder. “I’m sorry.” The tall blonde whispered before padding out of the room.

Baekhyun sat the at table for a long while, frowning at his oatmeal.

There are a couple things that piss Chanyeol off in the morning.

The couple being Hanyeol and Sungyeol. The others would be having neither sausage nor bacon for breakfast. It’s absolutely sinful.

Another thing that pisses him off would be the fact that Hanyeol took his sausage. Hanyeol stole his sausage and left none for him. Chanyeol could feel his blood boil. So, maybe his anger didn’t just stem from the last sausage Hanyeol was currently shoving into his filthy mouth. Maybe this also involved the fact Hanyeol stole a different kind of meat from Chanyeol.

And by meat, Chanyeol means Baekhyun. Yeah, Hanyeol is a ing man stealer. His thoughts go on like this for a while in this horrible morning and it’s taking all of his willpower not to shove an entire bread roll down his twin’s throat but all of his strength drains out of him when he realizes he ed it up. He was the one that ed it up and he was the one that didn’t fight enough.

The annoying shrill of Hanyeol’s cellular ringtone sliced through the morning air, beeping an annoying yet catchy tune. The idiot decided to hum along to it before answering with an overly happy, "Hey, mom!” So maybe it’s true Hanyeol wasn’t as annoying and childish as he used to be and being with Baekhyun had most definitely taught him how to take leadership position and brought out his caring side, but it all, Chanyeol still felt the strongest urge to deck him in the face. These are the thoughts the word “mom” had invoked.

If you further analyze it, this really was their mother’s fault. If she would’ve just minded her own damn business and left him to go to school and apologize to Baekhyun with an enthusiastic , instead of kidnapping him, Chanyeol wouldn't be the pathetic single guy he was right now and Hanyeol would still be with Bo Young instead of being with the love of his life--maybe not the love--actually it, Chanyeol will call Baekhyun the love of his life if he wants because he probably is.

“A meeting at one?” Hanyeol asked in a curious tone, humming in response to whatever their mother was explaining to him. “Okay then, I’ll make sure I’m not late. Bye, love you.” Then he hung up.

Chanyeol eyed his twin rather unpleasantly. Sungyeol just rolled his eyes, wondering if the Vice President would like to go out with him tomorrow, if the weather isn’t ting out again, like today. While Papa Park, Papa Park was in his room for a counseling session with Sugar about the well-being of his children.

Gran Mama had ditched Sungyeol and left while he was at school. The old hag.

At one o’clock, Baekhyun stumbled into the secluded restaurant room, half a second late. He drew an unsteady breath when he saw who he his first marriage counselling was to be with. With unsteady steps, he marched forward, clearing his throat just slightly to let his presence be known. The former who was previously staring out the window turned to him and grinned widely. “Baekhyun,” Spoke with deep voice. In that moment, every hope Baekhyun had shattered. It wasn’t Chanyeol.

“Hanyeol.” He smiled just as wide, it hurt his cheeks and he wanted to cry, hoping he didn’t seem too fake.

The meeting lasted for only an hour but the two decided to hang out the rest of the day, considering their status of boyfriends needed to be upheld. Hanyeol was the one to offer they go to a karaoke bar together and with Baekhyun’s consent, they set forth together.

Luhan and Sehun forcefully dragged Chanyeol out of his house, though the giant didn’t fight much but that didn’t mean he wasn’t heavy. They had the van running and the rest of the Student Council were waiting inside. According to Kyungsoo and Suho’s tracking device, Baekhyun had gone to a karaoke bar in town and since Chanyeol wasn’t doing anything about his slowly deteriorating love life, they were going to have to do something about it because it was just plain sad to watch the giant. He looked as if he could break at the mention of Baekhyun’s name if they were all being honest.

As soon as the half-brothers had the giant buckled in between them, Suho was ready to pull out of the driveway but an unwelcomed passenger had thrown the van door open and invited himself. Kris raised an eyebrow at the new face. “Did Sehun and Chanyeol have a baby?” The blonde asked, earning a kick from Luhan. “He just looks like them.”

“Nah, I’m Chanyeol and Hanyeol’s younger brother.” The younger took a seat next to Kris who didn’t mind at all. They were both directly behind Suho, who was in the driver’s seat.

“Triplets?”

Sungyeol shook his head. “Just a half-brother. Different father.” The younger quickly changed the subject. “So, where are we heading to?”

Kris pursed his lips. “If I heard Kyungsoo and Suho properly, we’re heading to the karaoke bar.”

“Which one are we heading to again?” Yixing piped up, throwing questioning glances at Kai who was hugging Kyungsoo against his seat in the passenger side of the van.

Since no one was answering, Xiumin put his game on pause to answer the Student Council Historian. “We’re going to Karaoke Dokie. Or some like that.”

“It’s Karaoke Oh Key!” Kai corrected the bunch.

Luhan and Sehun nodded. “Key and Jjong got back together and so Key quit his business and eliminated competition on the street for his boyfriend. So he’s running a karaoke bar now.”

“Oh, who cares? Suho, drive faster. I’m ready to hear my baby sing.” Kyungsoo griped.

“I’ll sing for you, Kyungie.”

“Don’t call me that, Kai and let go of me, you’re gross.” Kyungsoo squirmed in Kai’s hold. “Kris! Kris! Help me!” The Student Council Advisor hollered for the tall Chinese-Canadian’s help.

Kris snapped out of staring lovingly at the back of Suho’s head to help Kyungsoo get Kai off of him and lecture the tan male about personal space. Kai glared at him the whole time, like a mother bear guarding its baby.

“Key.” Baekhyun lets out, a little surprised to see his former boss running a karaoke bar. “What happened?”

Key grinned at him, looking as fabulous as ever. “Well, Jjong and I got back together so I quit my business because I love him and want him to succeed. And I see it’s going well with Chanyeol, seeing as you two are holding hands. Finally got him on your hook, huh?”

“Er,” The President fidgeted in his place, not quite sure how to explain to Key that the person he was currently with was not Chanyeol.

Luckily, Hanyeol was one step ahead of him. “Ah, I know it’s easy to mistake us but I’m not Chanyeol. I’m Hanyeol, his younger twin brother.”

“What kind of knock-off name is Hanyeol?” The sharp tongued fashionista let out and memories flooded into Baekhyun. Suddenly, he wished he had never smacked Chanyeol in the face with fluffy pink bunny paws and instead, pulled him in for a kiss.

“I think it’s a good name.” He tells Key with a small, pained smile.

Hanyeol nods. “It’s Chanyeol with no C.” Even for a stranger, you wouldn't have to strain you ears to be able to tell that Hanyeol's laugh was fake with a slight hint of dejection.

Hanyeol wanted nothing more but to spend some alone time with Baekhyun but it would seem the world will never let him have what he wants. The lot, also known as the Student Council, plus Sungyeol and Kris, had barged inside their karaoke room. Kyungsoo claimed he had paid extra for more time and called dibs on the first song to have a duet with Baekhyun. He would be lying if he says he resents Kyungsoo for stealing the first song with Baekhyun from him but he does not because their rendition of What Is Love was flawless.

Up next were Luhan and Sehun who had sang to A Whole New World passionately. Sehun as Aladdin and Luhan as Jasmine. It was interesting, to say the least. They sat on top of the table and pretended they were soaring, tumbling, freewheeling through an endless diamond sky.

“Who’s next?!” Luhan enthusiastically threw his hands up in the air, still clutching onto the mic very tightly. “I pick Baekhyun again! Sehun, pick someone!”

“Chanyeol.” Sehun eyes the giant sitting in the far corner of the room. “And I pick song number 0627.”

“What song is that?” Luhan asked curiously, punching the code in while Sehun pulled Chanyeol up to stand next to Baekhyun before handing over his microphone.

Sehun shrugged. “I don’t know, I just combined the day of their birthdays.” The familiar tune startled everyone, once the simple piano notes were played. Everybody in the room knew this was from the soundtrack of Anastasia. “.” Sehun whispered under his breath, quietly backing away to plop on the seat next to Kyungsoo. Luhan quickly surrendered his mic over to Baekhyun who barely had a grip on it, staring at the screen, still in mild shock. It wasn’t until Chanyeol nudged him that he started singing.

“We were strangers, starting out on a journey. Never dreaming, what we'd have to go through. . .” Just ing fantastic. The greatest song to ever grace their current position.

Chanyeol cleared his throat, starting out rather roughly but smoothing it out near the end of the line. “No one told me I was going to find you. Unexpected, what you did to my heart. . .” Because he was slapped with the truth.

“Knew there was somebody, somewhere. A new love in the dark. Now I know my dream will live on, I've been waiting so long. Nothing's gonna tear us apart. . .”  Baekhyun and Chanyeol glanced at each other for a fraction of a second, forgetting there were others around them while they sang together. “In the end I want to be standing, At the beginning with you. . .” By the end of the song, the President and the Giant were staring into each other’s eyes, a little pained. Their moment is short lived when claps from their friends wrenches them away from the tender moment, snapping them both back to reality, like a cold bucket of water to the face.

Not a lot can be changed in one song number.

From Hanyeol’s perspective, his heart had stung at the sight of the look Chanyeol and Baekhyun shared at the end of the song. He knew what that specific look meant but it doesn’t mean Baekhyun would never look at him like that one day. Just a little more and the President would be all his. He won’t let his brother have what he threw away. Baekhyun was his now and Chanyeol just has to accept that.

Author's Note

Suho's solo in the karaoke bar. Come punch me @Overlord_Nim and like drown yourself in ChanBaek in my Tumblr.