Kris opened the door to his apartment expecting to be greeted by chaos or noise or simply by someone else living in it. But the silence that welcomed him was a reminder that he had been living alone again for a week now.

As soon as he told Kyungsoo that they should leave, the smaller male didn’t say any word and just started packing. He tried to explain to Kyungsoo that he only wanted them to leave because there was no reason for them to stay. The paternity test had clearly stated the he wasn’t Soojin’s father so they really didn’t have any connection to each other anymore. If they continued living in his apartment that would just feel wrong. He didn’t understand why he was so desperate in making Kyungsoo understand where he was coming from. It was not like Kyungsoo put up a fight about it. The smaller male had clearly understood based on how he packed his and Soojin’s things right away and didn’t say a word to him. But Kyungsoo having not said anything was actually what was bothering Kris. He wanted Kyungsoo to say something, anything really. He would have preferred it that Kyungsoo yelled at him, but if he did what would his reason for yelling be?

It was really complicated. Kris was really confused about his feelings. He wanted Kyungsoo and Soojin to be out of his life but the moment Tao arrived to bring them back to their old apartment, Kris felt that he didn’t want them to go. And it really ate at him that Kyungsoo hadn’t said a word, it was almost as if he was guilty. Whatever it was he was guilty for, he couldn’t point it out.

Surprisingly, Baekhyun didn’t say much about the issue with Kyungsoo. Kris knew that his fiancé was aware about the kiss and how he had announced that Kyungsoo was his fiancé, but Baekhyun didn’t breathe a word about it. Baekhyun was unbelievably calm about all of it and told him that they were going to start fresh with their relationship as soon as Kyungsoo was out the door. His fiancé told him that they would figure things out on how he could retract his statement about Kyungsoo as his fiancé. It was almost as if Baekhyun was anxious that he might leave him if the smaller male so much as reacted negatively about the whole situation. Was Baekhyun really in love with him that much that he was willing to overlook all of it?

Kris plopped on the sofa and heard something squeak at his weight. He checked the furniture and saw the Pororo squeaky toy beneath the cushion of the sofa. He gave the toy a squeeze and it made the annoying squeaky noise again. However, no matter how annoying the sound was, it was still the saddest thing he’d ever heard all day. It was because the owner of the toy didn’t live there anymore and he missed her. He missed Soojin. Most importantly, he missed her Uncle.

“You miss them too, right?” Kris asked the inanimate object which would clearly not answer him back. He squeezed the toy again and took the squeaky sound as a ‘yes’.

Kyungsoo and Soojin had settled back into their old, dilapidated apartment after they left Senator Wu’s. The first night they were back, Soojin was being difficult. She cried the whole night refusing to sleep, rendering Kyungsoo sleepless as well and tired because he had to figure out how to make the little girl stop crying. He got all her toys out, trying to distract the girl with the colorful objects but Soojin wouldn’t budge. She kept crying even when Kyungsoo had cradled her in his arms and rocked her to sleep.

Kyungsoo put her back again in her tattered crib (unlike the one she was using in Senator Wu’s apartment) and desperately looked for something that would make Soojin stop crying. He went through the contents of the luggage with their clothes and spotted a shirt that definitely didn’t belong to him. It was Kris’ shirt, the one he wore the day before their date at the opera house. Kyungsoo didn’t know how it got inside his luggage. Maybe it got mixed with his dirty laundry that he hastily gathered when he packed. He sniffed the shirt and it most definitely smelt like Senator Wu himself. Kris’ after-shave lingered on the fabric and there was that distinct musk that belonged to the Senator.

An idea popped into Kyungsoo’s head. It was a little superstitious but he was willing to try it out just to stop Soojin from further damaging through crying. He picked up the shirt, wrapped it around Soojin, and cradled the baby girl in his arms again, rocking and humming her to sleep. He didn’t care that he was wrapping dirty laundry around her niece. What he cared about was the fact that it actually worked and the angel was lulling to sleep.

Kyungsoo heard old people talk about how babies would cry if someone missed them or was thinking about them that a piece of clothing from that person would be the remedy to stop the crying. And it seemed that there was truth to that superstitious belief after all because Soojin was already in peaceful slumber after a few minutes of being wrapped in Kris’ shirt. But did that mean that the Senator was thinking about Soojin and was missing her? How about him? Was the Senator thinking about him too?

Kyungsoo was surprised to find Soojin out of her chair and into the arms of the person he least expected to be in the ramyun shop. Senator Wu was cooing at the little girl while Soojin giggled and responded rather cutely. It was very far from when they first met where Kris was awkward around the baby girl and Soojin would cry in distress if she was left in the room with only the Senator around. Before, the Senator and the baby acted differently around each other, but now, it was as if they were close even from the start judging by how they enjoyed each other now.

“Hey,” Kyungsoo interrupted, barely audible, but the Senator turned to face him.

“Hey,” the Senator greeted back.

“What are you doing here?”

“Tao said he wanted to try your ramyun so we came here.”

Kyungsoo could hear the snort coming from Tao’s direction who was sitting at a nearby table. He didn’t know why the bodyguard reacted that way but he ignored it.

“You don’t mind us eating in here, do you?” Kris asked, hopeful that Kyungsoo wouldn’t think negatively about them coming over so suddenly.

“Oh no, I don’t mind at all. Why should I? You’re the Senator. I’m sure you know there’s no law prohibiting anyone from eating where they want to eat,” Kyungsoo responded and reached up to get Soojin from the Senator’s arms but the latter backed away, keeping him from getting Soojin successfully.

“Can Soojin stay with us while we eat?” Kris asked, somehow an explanation to his brash action. Kyungsoo only nodded and motioned to get Soojin’s high chair and placed it where Tao and Kris’ table was. Who was he to deny the Senator from his request when his niece was all too happy to be with the Senator as well?

Kyungsoo brought Kris and Tao’s food and left them to have their lunch while he busied himself somewhere else. He kept an eye on the Senator and Soojin and he couldn’t help but smile at how the two were smiling at each other. Kris was feeding Soojin some of his food and the girl was eating happily.

The moment they were finished eating, Kyungsoo went to their table to also get Soojin out of the way.

“Hey, listen,” Kris started the moment Kyungsoo reached their table. “I found this in the apartment and I thought Soojin might miss it so I brought it here.” The Senator handed Kyungsoo the Pororo squeaky toy and the latter inspected it as if it was something that didn’t matter.

“You shouldn’t have come all the way here just to return a toy,” Kyungsoo said.

“Oh no, Tao wanted to eat here, remember? So we came here not just about the toy.”

“Okay. By the way, you are missing a shirt because I found one of yours in our luggage. It’s the only thing that makes Soojin fall asleep.”

For some reason, that piece of information delighted the Senator. It meant that Soojin had some form of attachment to him that his shirt was the only thing that made her sleep. “She can keep it. If it makes her sleep then I guess that’s a good thing.”

“It is. Maybe she missed you that’s why your scent relaxes her.”

“I miss her too,” and Kris may have said that not only to Soojin but also to Kyungsoo.

“You’re an idiot,” Yixing hissed the moment he entered Kris’ office at the House of Senate. The latter was sitting at his desk reviewing the agenda for the next Senate session.

Kris’ best friend slash manager had been on his throat since Kyungsoo and Soojin left. Yixing had consistently reminded him every chance the man got that he was a cruel bastard for letting Kyungsoo and Soojin go.

The manager of course was not for Kyungsoo and Kris being together because of Baekhyun. But he also didn’t want Kris to dump Kyungsoo and Soojin just like that as if they were playthings. Kris couldn’t just take them from their home and expect them to go back like nothing happened. The Senator could have at least offered Kyungsoo someplace else to stay, a more suitable one for someone with a baby.

“Xing, can you please spare me with your hostility for a moment and just give me my schedule,” Kris surrendered.

“Well, if you weren’t such an idiot then you wouldn’t have to deal with my hostility now, would you?” Yixing handed Kris his schedule and turned to Suho who was sitting across Kris. “And you have a problem with the schedule.”

“Oh, yeah? What is the problem?” Suho inquired.

“The National Movement for Young Legislators ball this weekend,” Yixing replied.

“Okay. I don’t see why that is a problem,” Kris interjected from his seat, leaning back to relax his back for a moment.

“Are you kidding me?” Yixing asked in disbelief. “Yifan, it’s the NMYL ball. That means you have to go with a date. And since you so conveniently announced to the world that Kyungsoo is your fiancé, you need to go with him.”

Kris and Suho exchanged looks upon realizing that it was a problem, considering that Baekhyun was already in Korea and Kyungsoo was, well, they were not sure if Soojin’s Uncle was still willing to play the part.

To be continued….

………………………………

Noona’s Notes:

The NMYL (National Movement for Young Legislators) is actually a legit organization of young lawmakers under 35 years old in the Philippines. It’s composed of city councilors, and congressmen, and senators. It’s an organization which aims to gather young legislators and look for ways to improve each member legislation-wise, more or less. If you’re a reader from the Philippines, then most likely you didn’t know that the organization exists. But now you know and if you’re local politician is under 35, then he/she is most likely a member of this organization.

Anyway, I didn’t wanna address this issue but knowing that this fic is somehow a chanbaek fic as well, I feel that you all should know that the news will not affect this story. To be honest, I was not heartbroken when the news came out and the way I look at chanbaek did not change. I can actually still see them together and ship them as well despite Baekyeon happening. Although somehow I was hurt about the news because of all those promises and words that have been said, but nothing that I cannot get over with. However, I am worried because the fandom has acquired a loss because of this. And I can’t blame those who left because it’s their decision and they left with a reason.

Cheerios! sunskyivee