4000 words, enjoy~ (*Swear words ahead)

“Baekhyun, what happened to your hand?” Chanyeol asks seriously, eyeing the gauze wrapped around the shorter man’s right hand.

"He tripped and the vase he broke cut his hand,” Kris deadpans. He keeps his eyes narrowed on the other, still unable to believe the words that had slipped from his mouth just mere seconds ago.

Without another word, Chanyeol goes over to his trembling ex-boyfriend and tugs on his arm.

“You’re coming home with me,” he says curtly, earning a surprised gasp from Baekhyun and a confused look from Kris.

“What the hell are you doing!?”

“Settling this like you wanted us to.” Chanyeol pushes past the towering man, dragging a dazed Baekhyun behind him.

Though Kris was uncertain about leaving Baekhyun in Chanyeol’s care, he knows that Chanyeol would never do anything to hurt Baekhyun, regardless whether they were together or not. Reluctantly, he allows them to leave after Chanyeol convinced him that he’d call once they had talked things out.

Instead of an awkward silence, there was a tension that hung in the air between the broken couple from the moment they left Kris’ place. Chanyeol had shoved Baekhyun into the passenger’s seat and buckled him up before going over to the driver’s seat. Before he closed the door, however, he took Baekhyun’s wrapped up hand in his own and carefully turned it over as he lost himself in his own thoughts. Baekhyun had watched him with wondering thoughts of his own but he kept his questions to himself by biting down on his lip. Afterward, they drove in silence that was punctuated by Baekhyun’s occasional hiccupping and the soft purring of the engine.

“Did you really mean it?” Baekhyun breaks the silence with a quiet voice. He sneaks a glance at the younger from the corner of his eye as he fiddles with the hem of his sweater.

“Mean what?” Chanyeol turns into a lot and parks the car, killing the engine before looking to the smaller male who quickly diverts his gaze down at his hands in his lap. Out of his peripheral vision, Baekhyun sees the scowl on Chanyeol’s face. It only made him feel more timid and afraid.

“That… That you, hic, don’t love…” Baekhyun trails off, finding that he’s unable to complete his sentence. The alcohol in his system is wearing off and he doesn’t like it one bit. What was he even doing here, sitting in a car with his ex-boyfriend? He should have never played the dumb game.

“You heard it, huh?” Chanyeol asks with a hint of weariness in his tone.

“Everything,” Baekhyun admits in a small voice, swallowing hard when the memory of it sends a sharp stab to his heart.

“I’m sorry you had to find out about it that way,” Chanyeol forces a reply after a minute of silence. Baekhyun lets out a shaky breath, feeling the tears pooling at his eyes once more. But he wills himself not to cry. Not again. He has already made enough of a fool out of himself in front of Chanyeol, he doesn’t need to give his ex-boyfriend any more reason to find him pathetic.

“The thing you told Kris… the one about me having to move on. You’re right.” Baekhyun finally finds the courage to look at Chanyeol, though it’s still an order too tall for him to look into those eyes. Those. Damn. Eyes. He knows all he’s going to get is pity and he doesn’t want that. it, he really needs to stop being so pathetic.

“I’m sorry to have, hic, wasted your time tonight. I’m sorry for making a fool, hic, out of myself. And most of all, I’m sorry for being the weakling I am and holding on to the, hic, past when it’s of no use anymore. I’ll try harder to forget about you,” Baekhyun continues as he makes to unlock the door.

A hand stops him from doing so.

“I won’t let you leave till you promise me. That you won’t pull something like this anymore,” Chanyeol says earnestly. Involuntarily, Baekhyun lets out a single humourless snort.

“I don’t need to promise you, hic, anything, Chanyeol. Just let me go and I’ll, hic, disappear from your life for good. I’ll even, hic, move out of town just so I’ll stay out of your way,” Baekhyun mutters bitterly, now bringing his eyes up to Chanyeol’s fidgeting gaze.

“You don’t have to do that,” Chanyeol mumbles softly, confusing the other even more. Baekhyun’s head starts spinning once again, just like it had right before he had tripped and broken the vase back at Kris’ place.

“I’m not having this argument. I can’t, hic, do this right now.” Baekhyun unlocks the door and stumbles out the car, the cold night breeze lightly caressing his cheeks. He pulls his sleeves down and wraps his arms around himself for warmth as he staggers away, trying his best not to fall over.

He doesn’t make it past the third step when a pair of strong arms circles themselves around his shoulders, making his knees buckle beneath him. He finds himself being pulled back into the broad chest he had once called home. His body must have forgotten that this was wrong, that he doesn’t belong in Chanyeol’s arms anymore, because he allows himself to fall limp in the embrace. His mind, though, was screaming and cursing at him to pull away before he gets deeper into a delusion he might never escape from.

It takes a minute for his limbs to finally register it before they’re cooperating like they should. He starts to thrash in the taller man’s hold, digging his fingernails into the forearm that locks him in a vice-like grip.

“, Chanyeol! Just let me, hic, go, please!”

“I can’t,” Chanyeol breathes hotly down the back of Baekhyun’s neck. His lips lightly grazes the exposed skin of it, easily recognizing the sensitive spot that always has the older by months writhing. The gesture causes every fibre of Baekhyun’s body to scream in want, but his eyes widens and mouth parts in protest.

Baekhyun knows he’s close, so damn close to losing it. There’s just so many emotions going through him all at once, it’s a wonder how he hasn’t combusted into flames. The feeling of confusion and anger trumps everything else, though, because why on earth would his ex-boyfriend, the same one who has just told him minutes ago that he should “ it up and ing move on”, be telling him that he can’t let go?

Baekhyun thrashes more violently in Chanyeol’s hold but the grip the latter has on him only tightens as he feels the rock-hard biceps practically constricting the movement of his chest. He should know better – that he could try a million times but he’d still be comparatively weaker to Chanyeol who has always had the better build. Baekhyun frantically racks his brain for a solution before it’s too late but then he is suddenly whirled around and he almost loses his balance only to fall forward and in the blink of an eye his body is tugged forward to close the distance between Chanyeol and himself and then—

It’s game over.

– he is breathing through the lips of his ex-lover whose hands are holding him with such aggressive care, his mouth moves against Baekhyun’s parted ones in a messy motion that only depicts one of hungry lust.

Baekhyun is thinking, oh my , because it’s the iest and most romantic and mind blowing kiss of his life but it’s not supposed to feel this way. Not at all.

But then he isn’t thinking anymore. He does what he feels, and that is to lose himself in the kiss. Their conscience pricks at the knowledge that they’re probably making several mistakes but neither seems to care of the impending consequences. They will deal with that later.

Baekhyun knows he has been missing Chanyeol’s kisses – because damn, the boy can kiss – but he doesn’t realise he has been craving for them till he feels an exterior warmness in his mouth before his tongue molds itself perfectly against another. Baekhyun’s hands move to tangle themselves in the short tresses of dark brown and the hands around his own shoulders drop to rest at each side of his hipbones.

The need for oxygen is long forgotten, both settling for gasping through each other’s mouth – breathing air into the lungs of the other.

But the moment Baekhyun feels a large hand moving to the small of his back in an intimate manner in favour of deepening the kiss, he harshly pulls away. Chanyeol has an unreadable expression on his face that’s only partially illuminated from the moonlight. He attempts to inch closer to the other, reaching a hand out in a pleading manner, but Baekhyun uses all his strength to shove him by the chest with both hands that causes him to stumble backward.

“Y-You shouldn’t have kissed me,” Baekhyun chokes on his words as a single tear escapes his eye. Chanyeol remains silent, briefly noticing that Baekhyun has his hands balled into fists at his sides.

“You shouldn’t have kissed me! You shouldn’t have kissed me! You shouldn’t have, hic, kissed me!” Baekhyun’s voice gets louder with every word and before he knows it, he’s breaking down in front of the one person he swore he would never let see his tears. Baekhyun has never been one to cry, always the one donning a lovely smile, but the night had been highly emotional and the hurt he had kept bottled up for the past six months since his breakup with Chanyeol is suddenly being poured out in the form of uncontrollable crying.

He doesn’t know when his knees had given way, causing him to squat like a little child on the asphalt ground but then he feels a presence looming over him. He buries his tear-streaked face in his hands on his knees, bawling his eyes out like the baby he is. He is vaguely aware of Chanyeol squatting down in front of him and prying his hands away from himself. This time, he is past the point of caring to fight back as he allows Chanyeol to envelop his hands in his larger ones. He isn’t supposed to, considering that Chanyeol is the reason why he is pitifully crying his heart out on the cold hard ground, but he feels slightly comforted by the act. Like it was some sort of reassurance that it was okay, and that everything will be alright.

Chanyeol watches with a strange calmness as Baekhyun’s chest heaves up and down at a regular pace. His ex-lover had passed out from sheer exhaustion in his arms after what seemed like hours of crying, and he had taken the liberty to bring him up to his apartment.

He tucks the seemingly fragile being on his bed under the covers, remembering to keep an arm out just the way the older likes it. Since it was a little creepy to be standing over someone watching them as they sleep, Chanyeol decides he’d come back to check on his ex-lover later when the latter awakes from his much needed rest.

Before he leaves, though, he takes the opportunity to place a lingering kiss atop Baekhyun’s head. It was a simple gesture that made him nostalgic of their time together in the past.

Chanyeol spends the time afterward staring out the window that overlooked a busy freeway. There was just so much going on in his mind. Images of the incident earlier, of the pained expression gracing Baekhyun’s features the moment he had heard those harsh words being spoken. Chanyeol finds that he is unable to rid the memory of the longing in Baekhyun’s voice that had shone through. It was prove enough that Baekhyun was still hung up over him.

“Uhm…Chanyeol…”

A quietly timid voice causes said man to be tugged out of his reverie. Chanyeol almost falls off the ledge of his window at sound but quickly balances himself on both feet. Not knowing where to place his hands, he rests them on the back of his hip as he looks to the small form standing in the archway.

“You’re lucky the window’s shut,” Baekhyun jokes lightly with a small smile to ease the tension, waving a hand towards the direction of the ledge the taller man had fallen from.

They hold each other’s gaze for a moment or two, each with a rapidly beating heart, till Baekhyun decides to break the awkwardness.

“I feel much better now that I’ve slept,” Baekhyun tells with a dismissive shrug.

“That’s good to know,” Chanyeol flashes the first real smile Baekhyun sees that night. Or in since their break up, for that matter, considering how they haven’t once bumped into each other. It wasn’t his usual bright and toothy grin, the one Baekhyun absolutely loves, but it still made Baekhyun tingle all over.

“Though, I’ve got a real bad hangover. God, I shouldn’t have drank.” Baekhyun  messes his already tousled hair with the hand that wasn’t injured.

“I made black coffee knowing you’d have one,” Chanyeol is quick to offer as he hurries into the kitchen to pour a mug for his ex-lover. Oh god, what is he doing, making coffee for his ex-lover just like before?

When he gets back outside, Baekhyun is still rigidly standing in the same spot he had been in, only now turning around to face him.

“Thanks,” Baekhyun mumbles as he accepts the mug. He drinks it as fast as he could without scalding his tongue but there’s still about a quarter of it left when his senses gradually start to come back. The feeling of hurt that had been numbed by the sleep was wearing off and he knew he had to get out of there. Baekhyun hastily hands the mug back to Chanyeol who looks at him funnily, having noticed the sudden change in emotion.

“I-I’ve got to go. Thanks again for the coffee, and letting me take a nap. Sorry for everything that has happened,” his words tumble out of his mouth.

“Aren’t you… uhm… going to stay? It’s nearly midnight,” Chanyeol asks expectantly but Baekhyun is quick to reject with the shake of his head.

“No, I’ll be fine,” Baekhyun says. He pauses for a moment as if contemplating on something.

“Chanyeol, before I go, there’s something I have to say.” Baekhyun finally forces himself to look into Chanyeol’s questioning eyes.

“Should we sit, then, or…?”

“No. I’m fine here. If I sit I don’t think I’ll be able to leave civilly,” Baekhyun chuckles humourlessly at his dry joke.

“I just need to get this off my chest once and for all, just like Kris told me, so I can finally move on.” When Chanyeol made no attempt to say anything, Baekhyun continued.

“I was so in love with you, Chanyeol, and I still am. , I loved you more than anything else, I would have traded the world for you. I’ve never known happiness in any other form besides being with you. I think the thing that’s bothering me the most is the fact that you could just break us without so much as an explanation. Okay, so you told me that we both needed to go our separate ways because our relationship was going “nowhere”. But you never said you… stopped loving me. So you left me hanging for six months thinking there was still hope that you’d come back to me. And when you finally do, you decide it’s the right time to break it to me that “oh, I just don’t love you anymore”. So basically I’ve been wasting my time waiting for something I could never have again.”

Baekhyun’s shaking so badly right then that it takes Chanyeol every bit of self-restrain not to go over to engulf his petite being in an embrace because he knows the older will just push him away.

Baekhyun swallows the huge lump in his throat and blinks away the tears forming in his eyes before he continues, “I’m sorry I can’t ever stop loving you. Call me a fool, call me whatever you want. But at least now I can accept the fact that you’re never going to love me the same way you did back then and that we’re truly over.”

Baekhyun lifts a hand to hastily wipe away a stray tear before taking a deep breath and forcing a smile.

“Can I at least have one last hug? For remembrance sake?” So I don’t forget what loving you feels like.

Chanyeol swallows thickly and nods mutely as he opens his arms in an invitation to Baekhyun who stumbles into them. Chanyeol wraps his arms tightly around Baekhyun’s shoulders and tucks the latter’s head under his chin. Baekhyun’s arms goes to circle around the younger’s waist as he feels himself being pulled closer against the chest that was once his safe haven. They fit together so perfectly, like two pieces of a puzzle.

“I should go now.” Baekhyun speaks up first, minutes later. Chanyeol makes no attempt to release the man in his arms, so Baekhyun allows himself to enjoy it just a while longer.

“Okay, I should really go now,” Baekhyun tries once again. This time, he’s sure that Chanyeol was holding tighter onto him, still trying to bring him closer though there’s virtually not much distance left in between their bodies.

“I can’t let you go,” Chanyeol whispers raggedly into Baekhyun’s hair. The latter’s heart starts racing when he picks up on a choked sob.

“Don’t make this any harder than it is, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun spits, his hands in the younger’s chest in an attempt to pry himself out of the embrace, but Chanyeol’s grip remains vice-like.

“Jesus Christ, Chanyeol, stop misleading me! That kiss was a mistake, and you know this is too!” Baekhyun cries, now hitting against the younger’s chest.

Chanyeol flares in anger at this and harshly releases his hold on Baekhyun, though he keeps his hands on the latter’s shoulders. Baekhyun winces at how his fingernails are digging into his skin before he is glaring at the taller man.

“It’s not a mistake! You know what is, Baekhyun? Breaking up with you was a mistake!”

“Wha—”

“—I’M STILL IN LOVE WITH YOU, OKAY!”

Baekhyun gaped at Chanyeol. He was at a loss of words. But more importantly, he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. Chanyeol’s still in love? With him?

“I-I—”

“—No, you shut the up, Baekhyun. Let me talk before I start caring again.”

Baekhyun frowns at the last part, but keeps his mouth sealed shut anyway. He lets out a tiny gasp of surprise when Chanyeol starts veering him by the arm to the couch and then forcefully sitting him down. Baekhyun could only watch with wide eyes in befuddlement as Chanyeol paces in front of him. The younger was rarely ever rough with him and he was curious as to what could have brought this on.

“I broke up with you because I’m leaving.”

Baekhyun swears he feels the disintegration of his heart all over again, the same way it had when Chanyeol had broken up with him, the second those words hit him.

“…Leaving?”

“Yes,” Chanyeol stops in front of Baekhyun and looks him dead in the eye, “My dad’s company got relocated to Singapore and I’m expected to head operations there. That means I’m leaving Korea.”

“But, you’re still here.” Baekhyun knits his eyebrows.

“I’m supposed to head over next week. I was given a six month notice. The minute I got the news, I knew I had to break up with you. Your life is here, and I can’t possibly make you leave everything behind just for me,” Chanyeol lets out a breath.

“But you didn’t even give me a choice. You could have told me, and then we could have sat together and discussed about it instead of you breaking my heart…”

“Would you have wanted to come with me, then? Would you have been willing to leave everything behind just for me?”

It was a difficult question and Baekhyun had no answer to it, so he kept silent.

“Exactly. Your life is here and I knew I couldn’t be selfish to want you with me. So the easiest way was to have a clean break.” Chanyeol sighs.

“I’m really sorry, Baek.” Chanyeol kneels down in front of the other and hesitantly takes Baekhyun’s hands in his own. At the realisation of the whole confession, from Chanyeol still having feelings for him to the fact that he was leaving in a week’s time, tears started to stream down Baekhyun’s cheeks.

“Gosh, I feel like such an . This is the third time I’m making you cry tonight,” Chanyeol huffs, angry at himself, as he cradles the elder’s face in his hands and gently wipes them away with his thumbs.

“It’s not your fault I’m emotional,” Baekhyun jokes, letting out a small chuckle. His hands move to cover Chanyeol’s on either side of his face.

“I need to ask something of you,” Baekhyun says suddenly.

“What is it?”

“Can we… can we get back together?” Baekhyun looks to the other expectantly. He pouts at the frown Chanyeol gives him as he hesitates.

“But I’ll be miles away. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to come home during the holidays. Hell, I don’t even know how long I’m going to be there. It’ll only break us, and the last thing I want is for us to start hating each other because we can’t make a long distance relationship work. “

Baekhyun ponders over Chanyeol’s words for a while before he realises the truth behind them.

“You’re right,” Baekhyun says in a small and disappointed voice as his hands drops down into his lap. He purses his lips and hangs his head low.

What happens next surprises him; Chanyeol leaned in and captured his lips in a kiss. This time, it was much less aggressive than the one they had had in the car park. It was soft and longing, and Chanyeol lets his lips linger for just about the right amount of time before he pulls away to face the older once more.

“I can’t believe you actually thought I could stop loving you,” Chanyeol says in mock disappointment.

“Well, you broke up with me for a stupid reason and then disappeared from my life. What was I to think?” Baekhyun starts caressing Chanyeol’s cheekbone as the latter’s hands went to rest on Baekhyun’s waist.

Baekhyun pulls Chanyeol in, letting him rest his head against his chest as the younger listens to the slow and steady beating of his heart.

“What do we do now?” Baekhyun asks quietly, now Chanyeol’s hair. The younger closes his eyes at the soothing gesture as he thought.

“It’ll be selfish of me to ask you to wait for me…” Chanyeol trails off.

“What if I want to?”

“I don’t want you to get your hopes up.” He burrows deeper into Baekhyun’s chest and circles the latter’s waist with his long limbs.

“I guess I should let you go, then.” It pained for him to say those words, but it was for the best. They pull away from each other and stood up. Baekhyun keeps one of Chanyeol’s hands in his own and starts playing with it, feeling a strong urge to kiss the fingers. In fact, he wanted to place kisses all over the man before him, in every place he could lay his lips on.

“Can you promise me something, though?”

“Anything for you, Baek.”

“Can you promise me that if we’re both still available when you get back, you’ll give us another shot?”

“I promise,” Chanyeol intertwines their pinkies together and pecks Baekhyun’s nose out of habit.

“My heart will be waiting for you.” The corners of Baekhyun’s lips curl into a smile as he brings the hand that’s intertwined with Chanyeol’s to his chest where his heart lay.

Note: As you can see, I was tired when I typed this but I wanted to complete it so I have less to think about.

Sorry :(

Also, next chapter up tomorrow! It has fluff and   and ... the ending. Don't want to give away too much but here's a sneak peek:

“What should we play today?” Sehun asks.

“How about Call or Delete?” Minseok suggests.

There was a general consensus as everyone whipped their phones out. Baekhyun was a little hesitant because the last time he played the game, he ended up drunk dialing his ex-boyfriend. Though they were on great terms now, that night had been rough.

The first round they played, Sehun had to call his mum. He ended up having a long chat with his mum who accidentally disclosed the fact that Sehun was taking yoga classes over the speakers. Of course, the old lady hadn’t known that there were five other people in the background trying to keep their laughter in.

Next was Minseok who decided he would delete his Aunt Jung-ah’s number, claiming that he never really liked the old bat anyway.

Finally it was Baekhyun’s turn. Baekhyun brushes away the thought that history would repeat itself, knowing it would be funny if it actually did.

Turns out, fate loves playing with him, because when he opened his eyes, he found himself staring at Park Dobby <3.