Baekhyun's Christmas
I'm Sorry It Was YouThe car purred along in the steady snow, headlights on because of the fading light. The sound of a quiet song could be heard playing on the radio, although it was not loud enough to be easily recognised.
Since handing the scarf to the man at the gate, neither Sehun nor I had said a word – at least not aloud. Don’t misunderstand though, it’s not like I didn’t have anything to say to him, I just didn’t know how to phrase it properly.
I peeked over at Sehun who looked like he was either putting a bit too much thought into driving, or he had something on his mind that was bothering him. The latter wouldn’t surprise me; my mind was the same right now.
Instantly distracting me from my train of thought, my phone buzzed in my pocket causing both of us to jump since it was the loudest thing to happen in the car for a while.
Pulling it out, I saw on the caller ID that it was my father; a rare occurrence indeed. I didn’t dare reject the call, but I didn’t think this was a particularly ideal time to speak with him. The fact that it was my ‘better’ phone hadn’t really occurred to me since I had now realised that I only stood out more by having the cheap phone. It seemed my father and I had underestimated the middle class.
“Father?” I answered timidly, finally relenting after turning down the call volume so Sehun wouldn’t be able to overhear.
“Mira, how is it going?” my father asked, his voice full of curiosity and a little greed. I brushed away the fact that he hadn’t asked how I was or wished me a happy Christmas. I was a little too used to such things being ignored for it to bother me. Well, not too much at least.
“Fine,” my voice squeaked, the lie sounding obvious even to me.
“What’s happening?” my father demanded, seeming to realise something was wrong.
“No, nothing. Everything is fine.” I noticed that Sehun looked a little stiffer at the wheel; it was obvious that he didn’t want my father to know what had occurred. I would tell my father about it though, just not here. For one, it would worry Sehun; and for another, it could become pretty awkward given what I was planning to say.
“Is Mr Oh with you now?” My father asked almost hopefully.
“No, we’re on our way back home now.”
“Already?” my father asked incredulously. I could almost envision him checking his watch with a raised eyebrow.
“E-eh, yeah. Mr Oh had a meeting so we had to leave early.”
There was a slight pause. “Ok, then. Fill me in on all that happened now.”
Glancing at Sehun right again, I saw that he kept glancing right back at me. “I’ll call you later.”
“What?” my father asked in disbelief. He sounded like he was about to get mad.
“Sehun and I are on our way home now so I’ll call you later,” I repeated, trying to emphasis the fact that I couldn’t speak now. I felt very uneasy right now; sneaky like a snake. I really didn’t like talking to my father with Sehun here with me.
“I understand. Call me at ten thirty-five,” my father instructed, hanging up before I could reply. With a small sigh, I stashed my phone away again and looked up to see that Sehun was eyeing me curiously.
“What?” I asked, sounding a little sharper than necessary.
“That ended abruptly,” he stated simply, the surprise evident in his face. Maybe he had heard the coldness in my voice, or perhaps the uneasy of the situation, or perhaps it was the fact that I hadn’t said goodbye or anything like that. Maybe I just wasn’t in the mood to act.
“Different time zones,” I mumbled feebly, hoping to pacify him. Before he could say another word my phone buzzed again. Grumbling, I took it out of my pocket again and checked the caller ID. Baekhyun. I definitely felt relief when I read that name instead of my father’s again.
“Baekhyun?”
“Mira! Thank goodness!” Baekhyun sounded a little hysterical. “Have you seen Sehun today? He usually comes round to mine for Christmas but he hasn’t shown up and I’m worried that his fath-” Baekhyun’s breath caught as he stopped himself from speaking, seemingly realising what he was saying.
I pretended not to notice his faux pas and calmed him by saying, “Sehun’s with me. He’s fine.”
There was a pause. “He’s with you?” Baekhyun sounded a little surprised.
“Yeah, you can speak with him if you want?” I asked, holding the phone out to Sehun who shook his head and pointed to his steering wheel like I’d just done the stupidest thing ever.
“Well ask him why he isn’t answering his phone.” Baekhyun sounded a little hurt, but definitely relived.
Placing a hand over the receiver, I passed the message along to Sehun, “He wants to know why you’re not answering your phone.”
“My phone?” Sehun brushed a hand over himself to feel if it was anywhere on his persons. “Could you check my jacket?”
Reaching into the back, I lifted his smart black jacket up and quickly searched the pockets until my hand landed on a phone-shaped object. Drawing it out, I confirmed that it was indeed the illusive device. It was switched off and was refusing to switch on for me.
“It’s off,” I mumbled to Sehun, tossing it uselessly onto his lap like that would somehow make it work again.
“Mira?” Baekhyun called from the other end of the line as if worried that he’s been forgotten.
“His phone’s off, that’s why he couldn’t be contacted,” I explained, glancing at the dead device.
“Oh, I see . . .” There was a little silence then. “Are you guys coming round now?”
“Pardon? Coming round?” I noticed Sehun sighing beside me and shutting his eyes over.
“I told him I would come round on Christmas weeks and weeks ago,” Sehun murmured. “I totally forgot about it though.”
Baekhyun interrupted from the other end. “You guys better come round. My mum and grandma have been making a cake for Sehun all afternoon and I won’t be allowed to eat it until he shows up.”
This time I sighed, but quiet enough for neither of the other two to hear me. “We’ll be round in about twenty minutes.”
Sehun gaped at me like I’d just announced I was secretly a man.
I hung up, rolling my eyes and pointing straight ahead, “Don’t give me that look. He wants cake and you being there is apparently the only way he’s going to get it.”
Shooting me a questioning look, Sehun raised an eyebrow at my words. I had forgotten that he hadn’t actually heard the whole cake conversation. Throwing my hands up in exasperation, I shook away his look. “Never mind. Just drive!”
As Sehun pulled up outside Baekhyun’s house just as the light had faded, leaving only the streetlights as a way of seeing the constant stream of snow. I unbuckled myself and was about to step out when he spoke, “Wait a second.”
I hesitantly glanced around at him. He was not looking at me, but instead looking straight ahead o
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