“I guess your dad’s not home?”

Kyungsoo stifled a groan, instantly regretting inviting the person he was – unfortunately – third closest to over. It just so happened that that person was also someone he couldn’t stand, but beggars couldn’t be choosers, right? Nevertheless, it would be a very good idea to expand his network of friends, preferably ASAP.

“And I guess neither is Chanyeol,” Baekhyun continued, stepping around Kyungsoo to enter the house. He took a brief look around before commenting, “I remember the last time I was here.”

So did Kyungsoo, and that particular memory brought him another surge of deep, agonizing regret. Sighing, he closed the front door and asked, “Do you have plans for today?”

“No.” Baekhyun turned around to face him before adding in a suggestive drawl, “Do you want to continue where we left off?”

“You might want to consider getting grief counselling,” Kyungsoo retorted, but his voice was missing its usual bite.

Seeming to have picked up on his dour mood, Baekhyun asked, “Did you say you want to talk about something?”

Kyungsoo slowly walked over to the living room and sat himself down on the two-seater sofa, having no idea where to begin. Should he start with the post-it note on the fridge, the missing clocks, Chanyeol’s disappearance, last night’s conversation, Tao’s advice, what happened at the rave, that fateful argument with Chanyeol, his previous conversations with Tao, or should he just start from the very beginning when he kicked Baekhyun out of his house more than a year ago so he could figure out the implications of everything himself?

“I remember this sofa pretty well too,” Baekhyun remarked, plopping himself down on the sofa and throwing an arm on the backrest behind Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo shifted forward, still struggling to think of a way to tell an abridged version of everything that had happened. The end result was a combination of bits and pieces of his whole life so how on earth was he supposed to unburden himself to someone who knew absolutely nothing? He sighed. “It’d be so much easier if Tao came instead of you.”

“Then why didn’t you call him?”

“I did. He said he was busy.”

“I just saw him five minutes ago and he wasn’t busy then.”

Kyungsoo hesitated. Apparently Tao was simply making excuses not to see him. This day was definitely getting worse at every turn. His list of companions was short to begin with and now it seemed like he was losing every single one of them.

“Unless you count dragging your stuff down a few streets as being busy.”

Or not. Some people were worth the benefit of the doubt, but Kyungsoo couldn’t decide who they were. “What would you think if somebody decides to just vanish off the face of the earth after you told them something?”

“What did you tell Chanyeol?”

“No, I’m not talking about me,” Kyungsoo said quickly. “I’m talking about a hypothe-”

“I knew you two weren’t going to last.”

“But we’re still-”

“Man, I could’ve gotten heaps of money if you broke up just a few months earlier.”

“I told you, we didn’t-”

“I always thought you would dump him though.”

“He didn’t dump-”

“But does this mean that you’re now hurt and wallowing in self-pity and looking for someone to help you with the number one don’t in Break Up 101?”

“No. How do you even remember-”

“You know, I don’t like you and everything but you’re not bad looking and I’m pretty well-known for being a good rebound,” Baekhyun said, inching closer to Kyungsoo.

“I’m not looking for a-”

“I think we have some unfinished business anyway so we’ll be killing plenty of birds with one stone.”

“We don’t have any unfi-”

“It’s about time you get over your celibacy act anyway.”

“Jesus ing Christ, can you just shut up?” Kyungsoo snapped.

“Hey, leave Jesus out of this.”

“I did not break up with Chanyeol, and I’ve had enough of your shaming, aual shaming, anybody and everybody except for yourself shaming bull.”

“I’m just saying that you’ll end up with many a broken relationship if you keep it up,” Baekhyun said, giving a nonchalant shrug.

“You…” Kyungsoo sputtered, beyond offended, but there was something about this situation that reminded him of something else, a memory lurking on the horizons of his mind, sending his subconscious mind plunging into ice cold water.

“I’m surprised Chanyeol stayed for as long as he did. Unless he was getting some on the side, of course. That’d make sense.”

Multiple things irked Kyungsoo: the fact that he had actually spent a week of his life dating someone so miserably ignorant, not receiving the moral support he was hoping for when he made that phone call, but most of all, losing sight of the iceberg after only a glimpse. “You don’t know anything.”

“Apparently I know more than you. Really, how long do you think a relationship can last without ?”

“Forever, if it’s with the right person. You might want to get it through your thick skull that love doesn’t equal .”

“If you actually believe that then you might as well believe in angels and unicorns.”

“What makes you think you’re an expert on relationships when you’ve had zero, and I repeat, zero lasting relationships?”

“Lasting relationships, which means that I’ve played the field and I have a pretty good idea of what people are like.”

“The only thing you have is your opinion.”

“Fair enough,” Baekhyun said, leaning back in the sofa and making himself comfortable. “By the way, have you ever heard of Junmyeon and Yixing?”

Kyungsoo frowned, recognizing the faux segue for the argument that it was. “Neither of them are As. Junmyeon’s effing straight. That relationship was obviously doomed from the get go.”

“Like you and Chanyeol.”

“What the hell is your problem? Do you get a kick out of being a typically ignorant, offensive sod of a ual?”

“You’re dating one of us ignorant, offensive uals, remember?”

Kyungsoo hesitated. What if the problem had been lying dormant all along? What if he was the reason Chanyeol disappeared, instead of the elephant? What if their conversation last night simply gave Chanyeol an excuse to do something that he had wanted to do all along? Or worse, what if it wasn’t even that conversation that drove him away, but rather that invitation in the bathroom that they both knew was never going to be fulfilled? Was a ual dating an aual really all that different from a straight guy dating another guy? Who was he supposed to turn to for answers when the only people he knew were bitter cynics and benighted s?

“Or should I say dated?” Baekhyun continued. “But sheesh, who died and made you the rep of all aces? We should find another A to join Yixing’s club. Maybe then you wouldn’t feel so entitled all the time.”

Kyungsoo quickly pushed his thoughts to the back of his mind. What did Chanyeol always tell him when he brought this issue up? “Just because you think that is everything doesn’t mean that he does too. If he does we wouldn’t even last more than a week, and I’m obviously speaking from experience.”

“Ever heard of Junmyeon and Yixing? I think they dated for two years.”

“What the hell do you have against those two?” Kyungsoo asked, frowning.

Baekhyun shrugged. “I got dragged into their mess.”

“Whatever your problem is with them, they’re them, I’m me, you’re you, and Chanyeol’s Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo said, regurgitating the same pep talk that Chanyeol had given him countless times even though his heart wasn’t in it. “You shouldn’t generalise.”

“I wouldn’t bring it up at all if you didn’t invite me over because your mirror image has apparently disappeared.”

Kyungsoo had to admit that he would feel so much more at ease arguing about these things if he actually knew what was going on, be it why Chanyeol left if he really did, or when he was coming back if he meant what he wrote. ‘A bit’ seemed like a stretch now that it was past noon, especially since Kyungsoo had no idea when the note was actually written. Chanyeol could have left last night for all he knew.

“By the way, did you know that he talked to Luhan yesterday and told him that he was going to help him move today and then didn’t show up?” Baekhyun said. “Whatever you told him must’ve sent him running for the hills.”

“He talked to Luhan?”

“Yeah, apparently Luhan called him or something.”

Kyungsoo didn’t remember seeing Chanyeol on the phone the previous day and Chanyeol didn’t tell him anything about it either, but that wasn’t important. What he should be focusing on was obviously the fact that Chanyeol’s phone was working fine just yesterday. Maybe it was working fine today too. What kind of message should blocked callers hear? “Try calling him.”

“Huh?”

“Call Chanyeol from your phone.”

“I did this morning but I couldn’t get through. I think it said something like the number’s not in service.”

“Just give it another try.”

“I don’t think it’ll make a difference, but alright.” Baekhyun pulled out his phone from his pocket and handed it to Kyungsoo.

“Shouldn’t you lock your phone?” Kyungsoo asked distractedly, keying in Chanyeol’s number from memory.

“Why bother?”

“Your call couldn’t be connected. Please check the number and try again.”

Kyungsoo didn’t think an automated message could give him so much relief, but it was good to know that at least he wasn’t the only one Chanyeol was trying to avoid – if that was what was happening. “I can’t get through.”

“Told you,” Baekhyun said, taking the phone back. “Maybe he’s dying somewhere with his phone smashed to pieces.”

Kyungsoo stared at him, horrified. He had been so focused on himself that the thought that something might have happened to Chanyeol didn’t even cross his mind.

“That would be dramatic,” Baekhyun continued, chuckling. “While we’re all busy trying to call him, he’s lying on the side of the road somewhere-”

“What if it’s true?” Kyungsoo interrupted. “What if he went out to get batteries for the clocks and got into an accident? What if he was actually planning to come back ‘in a bit’ but can’t?”

Baekhyun gave him an odd look. “And they say I’m suggestible. What does clocks have anything to do with it anyway?”

Kyungsoo didn’t pay him any heed. If he had been a little bit quicker on the uptake, he would’ve realised what everything that happened yesterday was foreshadowing. Chanyeol’s famous last words, his insistence that of course nothing was going to happen, his uncharacteristic excitement about living together, his sudden use of the L word, the ease with which he accepted what happened at the rave; everything was simply leading up to a depressing, tearjerking ending. Kyungsoo knew that it was all too good to last.

“Anyway, didn’t you say you want to talk about something?” Baekhyun asked. “I don’t think you’ve told me anything.”

Kyungsoo stood up abruptly. The elephant could trumpet and dance and be as flashy as it wanted for all he cared. It didn’t matter anymore if the person he was trying to guard it from was gone. “We need to find him.”

“Huh?”

“We need to find Chanyeol.”

“Don’t tell me you actually think he’s bleeding to death somewhere.”

“What if he is?”

“Then our calls would’ve gone to voicemail. Why would he go out of his way to cancel his number in the throes of death?”

Kyungsoo hesitated before slowly sitting back down on the sofa. That was a good point, but now he was back to having nothing to work with except for the missing clocks, the vague note on the fridge, and the possibility that Chanyeol had left him with unforeseen psychopathic malice. Baekhyun was proving to be of no help except to add more unnecessary burden and Kyungsoo could make use of a good brooding session. “Can you leave?”

“Huh?”

“Can you leave? I want to be alone right now.”

Baekhyun frowned. “You invited me over just so we can bicker for a bit and that’s it?”

“I have a lot on my mind,” Kyungsoo said, getting off the sofa and waiting for Baekhyun to follow suit.

“You didn’t even give me anything to drink. Just because we dated once doesn’t mean that you can be churlish to me.”

“You’re saying that?”

Baekhyun paused for a moment before standing up with a mumbled, “Fair enough.”

Kyungsoo led him to the front door. “This didn’t turn out the way I thought it would but I don’t know why I’d expect anything different. You’re an all around crappy person who says the most horrible things and I hate everything that you stand for-”

“The feeling’s mutual.”

“-but I appreciate you coming here.”

“Are you trying to thank me? Now that’s a first.”

Kyungsoo didn’t know why he bothered. “If you manage to get in contact with Chanyeol, let me know.”

“Sure thing,” Baekhyun said, stepping out of the house. “And if you decide that you need a rebound after all-”

Kyungsoo pushed the door shut, cutting him off. The only thing he could do now was to wait for ‘a bit’ and see how long that actually was.