Serendipity
Author: ANONYMOUS
Prompt #: 235
Title: Serendipity
Word Counts: 3,320
Side Pairing(s): chansoo
Rating: for all
Warning(s): crossroads
Disclaimer: The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Baekhyun and Chanyeol plays with fate and destiny now, it seems like fate and destiny are playing with them.
Author's Note: This is just a short one. I hope I satisfied the prompt you wanted. Enjoy, dear readers!
SERENDIPITY
The wind was cold and the breeze kept blowing that his heart began to feel as light as paper, it would’ve gone floating like a snowflake down on the grass at the park. He was reading comfortably under the tree, on a bench he had sat on for one too many times like when he found out he was going to have a little brother or that moment he saw his parents fighting and that time they eventually broke up; he was there when he received a letter saying that he got into this music program and when they told him he could now write a song for the artists he could only wish for then. The bench had kept him company when no one else was around, but why is he here then?
Isn’t he completely satisfied with his life? This is what he thinks - am I happy? He opens his phone and feels bombarded with the numerous congratulatory messages that have arrived. Junmyeon, one of his closest friends has texted,
“Congratulations, Chanyeol! You’ve finally found your man!”
Luhan, a friend whom he hasn’t talked with in years suddenly messaged him,
“I heard the news! You’ve grown a lot. Congratulations!”
He sees his brother’s too,
“Hyung, I hope you’re happy! Congratulations! I wish you all the best in your married life.”
He places his phone on the bench, just beside him. He leaves it unguarded - not caring if the snowflakes drown it or if it falls to the ground, he just wants silence. He just wants peace. He wants to understand what he is feeling.
What has gone wrong, Park Chanyeol? You’re going to marry your childhood friend. You’re lucky he’s going to marry you. I mean out of the other boys and girls around, right? He thinks this to himself until he shouts into the nothingness,
“Kyungsoo-yah! Why have you chosen me?”
Of course he gets no answer; he is alone after all - just him, the bench, and his phone slowly getting wet from the snow. Suddenly, a thought comes into his mind. It was a pair of eyes, little chinky eyes that turned into crescents when it smiles, a face with a tiny mole just above the lips and a pair of hands that seemed to be molded delicately by that of time. He remembers it all as if the neurons in his brain started to light up like Christmas lights dangling around a Christmas tree topped with a star and with the star comes the name of the boy he remembers. The name isn’t Kyungsoo. In fact, he was very different from Kyungsoo. He believed in love and in fate, he believed in the stars’ constellations, he believed that maybe - just maybe - if the universe permits so, they would meet again.
His name is Baekhyun.
Chanyeol rises from the bench and quickly runs to the nearest bar in town.
-
“If you see me sing again, whether in a bar, in the park, on stage, or even in planes, then maybe we were made of the same stars.”
“Who even sings in planes?” Chanyeol laughs
“I do.”
“You don’t.”
“You don’t even know me.” Baekhyun laughs as well.
“Why don’t we sit this through, don’t you think? I write songs and you’re a very good singer. We’re like a match made in heaven.”
Baekhyun mocks him, “We’re like a match made in heaven blah blah blah.”
“Excuse me?”
“Look, if we’re a match made in heaven then why aren’t we together now.”
“Because it’s going to be up to us to make that happen.”
“I have to go. If we are truly a match made in heaven then maybe the stars would realign. Maybe I would see you in my dreams. Maybe, maybe, maybe...” He was running out of maybe’s, “Maybe, we could meet again.”
“Okay, deal. When would you like to meet?”
“Have you gone mad? Of course you don’t ask me that question. Ask that to the universe.” Baekhyun crosses the street and Chanyeol follows him hurriedly - almost playing with death as a truck came through.
“I almost got hit and I don’t even know your name.”
“See, you almost got hit. Don’t you think that’s already a sign?”
“A sign for what?”
“That maybe you don’t really need to know my name. I bet someone’s waiting for you at home, you better get to him or her - or whomever really. I have to go back to work.”
“Can you just tell me your name?”
“Okay, if that’s what you want.” Baekhyun brings out a bill worth 10,000 won. “Write your name here and your number too.”
Chanyeol writes as fast as his heartbeat. It’s like the melody of the guy’s voice is fluttering into his ears. “Okay, here you go.”
“Wait here.” Baekhyun takes the money and walks into 7/11 just a few steps from them. Chanyeol follows as he stands outside and the next thing he sees, the 10,000 bill was gone.
“What the hell?”
“What the hell what?”
“I just wrote my...what did you do?”
“Look, if the destiny, fate, the stars or even the universe wants us to be together the bill will come back to me.”
“How would I find you then?”
“I’m everywhere. I sing from bar to bar, from stage to stage. It would be easy to find me.” He smiles. He leans on Chanyeol and gives him a kiss on the cheek with his feet tiptoed to its fullest, leaving the latter in awe. “I have to get back now.” He runs back across the street and looks at Chanyeol one last time. Chanyeol shouts from the other end,
“It’s Chanyeol by the way!”
“Baekhyun! Byun Baekhyun!”
Chanyeol lets him run back to the bar with the hopes that if there was truly this string attached to each person’s index finger, Baekhyun was the other end of his. Chanyeol didn’t usually believe in hope. He believed in logic, in science. He knew of chance encounters and fortuitous events but, serendipity is out of his vocabulary - well that was at least before it happened to him. It only took him a song, a few minutes, and a 10,000 bill to ignite the butterflies in his stomach that it already felt like they were also singing a song.
Baekhyun walked back to the bar shaking his head. Now, he learns to put his faith to test.
Maybe if we were aren’t set to meet again, I was bound to let him go after all, he thinks. He goes back to his microphone and sings with his eyes closed, remembering that tall boy who had swept him off his feet just a few minutes ago - that tall boy who would be just another bizarre story to tell to his future grandchildren.
That night, the two looked at the same stars, they’re just in the same city roaming around the same streets. Perhaps, it wouldn’t be that difficult.
Perhaps, it will. Perhaps it won’t.
-
Now, it has been 3 years and Chanyeol finds himself sitting the same bar where they have met. The singer’s name was announced but it wasn’t a Byun Baekhyun, it was something along Kim Jongdae. The singer had defined jaw and cheek bones - very different from the plump cheeks of Baekhyun. He asks a waiter who seemed to be a tipsy,
“Excuse me, is Baekhyun going to sing here tonight?”
“Baboon?”
“No, Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun...He’s a singer here?”
“Boon Baboon?”
Before Chanyeol could clearly ask his question, another waiter enters the conversation saying sorry for his colleague’s drunk behavior but before he could ask again. They were gone. He exits through the front door.
Baekhyun enters through the back.
If the universe permits so, they would meet again.
Perhaps they will, perhaps they won’t.
Baekhyun arrives a few minutes after Jongdae finishes with his last song. He sings a few songs and helps the owner clean the mess of a Friday night’s chatter. The place was filled but, if Chanyeol was there he would have seen him. He is tall and easy to spot besides, you don’t forget such a handsome face in a sea of people yet, he wasn’t there. There was no sign of him in the crowd.
It’s 4 in the morning, it’s too early for breakfast and too late for dinner so Baekhyun goes to the park to wait for the sunrise. He always loved the idea of a new day - hours of endless possibilities and happenstance. He buys a newspaper on his way home,
“Here you go.” The vendor hands his change.
He immediate shoves it into his pocket, “Thank you!”
He changes into his sweatpants and throws his slacks into the laundry bag and just as it flips into thin air, a bill falls off from the back pocket. It wasn’t just a bill, he would have shrugged it off if it was just another 10,000 won. He’s got more bills lying around in his room for months all falling from his pockets but, today, he sees it’s a different bill - it’s the bill with tiny scribbled letters in blue ink.
Park Chanyeol - 9921127
Baekhyun shakes his head in disbelief. It has been, what? 3 years and he only gets the bill now? The universe must really have played a trick on them.
He’s so famous now, how am I going to call him? This is what I get for playing with fate! He worriedly talks to himself but, before he could give him the most awaited call, his phone rings.
“Baekhyunnie! I think this could be the break you’ve been waiting for!”
“Sehunnie, no. I think I have the thing. I’ve got exactly what I’ve been waiting for! Sehun, I found the b-“ and before he could finish, Sehun, his friend, continues,
“Baek, they asked me to invite you to sing on this writer’s wedding day! There’s going to be a lot of press people and music people there and, you’re getting it! You’re going to get your big break.”
“I’m just going to sing at a wedding, Sehunnie. I also found the bill...” He says nonchalantly.
“The-the-the bill? You found the bill?!”
“Yes, I found it. I was thinking of giving him a call but...”
“But, you have to come to the rehearsal first. The groom’s going to play the piano in one segment so you have to rehearse with him. I’ll fetch you in awhile so go get cleaned up.”
“Should I give him a call?”
“Yeah, later you will!!!”
“Thanks, Sehunnie!” He drops his phone and gets ready as fast as lightning. He couldn’t believe that two good things could happen in one day. Maybe, fate was being kind to him.
Sehun rings his doorbell, “Ya! You smell good! Are you trying to seduce me?”
Baekhyun laughs, “What are you thinking? You’re like my little brother. Besides, everything seems like they’re falling into place. Why can’t you let your oppa be happy?”
“You are not my oppa!” Sehun complains as he drives to the studio in town. The place had been famous for many artists have recorded there. Baekhyun couldn’t believe his eyes,
“Is this really the place?” His eyes became wider and wider.
Sehun checks the address on his phone, “Yup. This is it. Text me when you’re done, okay.”
“Wait, whose wedding is it again?”
“It’s Soo something or maybe Spark? Chansoo Spark?”
“Huh?”
“Just get in! Enjoy, oppa!” He jokes.
“Bye! See you later and drive safe, okay?” He watches Sehun’s car leave as he enters the building.
“Excuse me, I’m here for the wedding rehearsal recording thing?” He tells the receptionist.
“You must be Byun Baekhyun, have a seat.” The receptionist smiles.
“Thank you!” He chooses the seat facing the window, his back turned against the elevator.
Baekhyun decides to give Chanyeol a call - it’s ringing.
He hears the elevator ding. He hears some shuffling of people alighting the elevator.
The ringing becomes louder.
And louder, and louder. The footsteps stop.
“Hello?” A voice welcomes him from the other line.
“Is this Park Chanyeol?”
Chanyeol sees the boy sitting right in front of him with a small frame and a sandy blonde hair. He takes a step closer,
“Hello, is this Park Chanyeol?” Baekhyun repeats.
And another step closer.
“Hello?” He says again.
And once he was just behind him, he knew it was him. He walks in front of him but Baekhyun was too busy staying on the line, he was too nervous to realize that the person whom he was calling is now standing right in front of him so he says, one more time,
“Hello, is this Park Chan-“ and before he could finish, Chanyeol cups his chin just so he would look up.
“Yes, it’s me.” He puts the phone down.
“Oh.” Baekhyun couldn’t say a word. He moves his face away from Chanyeol and puts the phone down. He looks discretely on his phone screen as Chanyeol sat beside him,
“Hey, Baekhyun. It’s me, Chanyeol...”
He looks at him as if the guy was an apparition - yes, it’s Chanyeol, dammit! He wasn’t dreaming. It was the same black hair and dimpled smile with eyes that took him to elsewhere.
“Hi, uh, what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to sing...”
“Wait, you’re the wedding singer?”
“How did you know?”
“This can’t be... Uh, I’m sorry, I, uh, I’m getting married.”
“Oh, well, congratulations...” The awkwardness made his voice sound frail as if he was going to burst into tears.
“You can’t say that... How can you say that?!” Chanyeol tries not to shout. He grabs Baekhyun’s hand - he feels they’re warm and soft, just as he expected it would be. They go inside the elevator and took a stop on the second floor. Once they landed, Baekhyun breaks the silence,
“What are we doing?”
“This is what you want, right? Okay, then let’s see if the universe would have a change of heart. Baekhyun, I’m getting married to a man that’s not you. I’ve looked for you in every bar but, it seems like the world is trying to set us apart so I’m giving it one last try.”
“Chanyeol, I...”
“You take that elevator and I’ll take this one. You could press any floor and I’d do the same, if we end up choosing the same floor then, maybe you were right. Maybe this - all of this - is real.”
“But, if we don’t...”
“But, if we don’t, well, I’m getting married and you’re going to end up singing for me there.”
“Chanyeol, we don’t have to this... You’re better off now. I mean, look at you!”
Chanyeol walks into the elevator, “Last chance, Baekhyun...One last chance.”
Baekhyun walks into his own and as the doors closed, they were both wishing for the same thing.
Baekhyun presses 6.
Chanyeol presses 6. On the 5th floor, his elevator stops and Kyungsoo walks in,
“Yeol?”
“Kyungsoo?”
“What are you doing? I’m going to get lunch. Come with me.”
Chanyeol nods and goes with him. Perhaps, this is their ending, he thinks. Fate has grown tired of being played with - it has grown sore of the many times that they have tried to fight it.
Baekhyun arrives on the 6th floor, he taps his foot until his patience outgrows him. Maybe, Chanyeol isn’t going to show up after all. Maybe he decided to go down - maybe, all of his maybes would run out and he would still have more theories on what happened to Chanyeol so he just decided to go down and walk himself to the park.
Ah, the fresh air. He whispers. He lies down on one of benches and stares at the empty cloudless sky - it was blue but, the kind of blue that’s dull, the blue that you could forget because you have already seen pink, purple, and gray. It’s just blue - mediocre, simple, replaceable. This is exactly how he thinks of himself. He thinks that Chanyeol is bound to marry a man whom he deserves - someone who doesn’t sing just in bars. He bets his lovely, and he is but, that doesn’t make Baekhyun less lovelier, right?
Kyungsoo’s eyes had been on Chanyeol since they sat down for lunch. Chanyeol couldn’t keep eye contact. He know there was something dying inside Kyungsoo with that look on his face,
“Yeol, I have to tell you something...”
“Kyungsoo, I’m sure of you.”
“I didn’t ask you if you’re sure of me or not but, it seems like you have it inside your head. You have it installed, wired rather, in your brain. The things you say to me...I want them to come from your heart. I know there’s something different about you or about this. I don’t want you to get stuck in whatever’s bothering you so...”
“Kyungsoo...”
“I’m letting you go.”
“You don’t have to...”
“I know...But, I need to. Thank you, Chanyeol!” He touches Chanyeol’s hand and looks at him for the last time, “See you around, old friend!” He chuckles a little then he stood up from the table and left.
Chanyeol has no urge to run after him because he thinks that Kyungsoo is right. He also doesn’t want to get stuck hence, he runs into the streets and looks left and right - there is no Baekhyun in sight. He walks to the bar but still he isn’t there.
There’s only one place left - the park. Out of desperation, he decides to go to his solace; his safe place.
They say that fate should not be tested for it could bring the harshest waves within a wrinkle of time but, if it works under your favour then it will continuously work for you - that is, if you believe so. They both believed.
Baekhyun and Chanyeol believed that fate, destiny or whatever and whomever would align their stars and fix their constellations.
And so, there, under the tree, on his favourite bench, he sees him. He lies there with snowflakes fluttering on his hear, eyes closed and breathing ever so peacefully. Chanyeol walks closer and as he puts his face closer to Baekhyun, the latter stands up and in shock, they nudge each other’s head. Baekhyun moves a little so that Chanyeol could sit, he lets out a sneeze; his nose reddening from the cold.
Chanyeol removes his coat and puts it on Baekhyun’s shoulder, “I’m Chanyeol, by the way. I write songs for a living, and you are?”
“I’m Baekhyun, I sing and I’m living.”
Chanyeol smiles - thank you, universe!
3, Baekhyun tells himself, 3 good things have happened today.
Perhaps today, out of all days, the timing is now finally is right. They wouldn’t have to let each other go this time because the universe has already agreed, the stars have aligned, and fate - destiny, chance encounters, happenstance, or whatever you call it - has finally worked its way to them. Maybe it was better to put it to a test after all.
Now, Baekhyun is going to tell a different story to his - no, their grandchildren.
You see if Baekhyun was a snowflake, Chanyeol would let himself drown in the coldness of it. He would chase snowflake after snowflake just to find the odd one out and that’s what he did after all - he tried to look for him and now that he has found his special snowflake, he wouldn’t let him go. To Baekhyun, Chanyeol was a fine flower in the summer, the kind of flower you want to pick so you keep it for yourself and the one you don’t want to pick because you want to see it grow beautifully - and well, he did. In his absence, he has grown.
Baekhyun, after all, did the right thing for if they had given each other a chance, it wouldn’t be as beautiful as today - oh, it wouldn’t be beautiful at all but, that’s another story to tell.
Prompt #: 235
Title: Serendipity
Word Counts: 3,320
Side Pairing(s): chansoo
Rating: for all
Warning(s): crossroads
Disclaimer: The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Baekhyun and Chanyeol plays with fate and destiny now, it seems like fate and destiny are playing with them.
Author's Note: This is just a short one. I hope I satisfied the prompt you wanted. Enjoy, dear readers!
SERENDIPITY
The wind was cold and the breeze kept blowing that his heart began to feel as light as paper, it would’ve gone floating like a snowflake down on the grass at the park. He was reading comfortably under the tree, on a bench he had sat on for one too many times like when he found out he was going to have a little brother or that moment he saw his parents fighting and that time they eventually broke up; he was there when he received a letter saying that he got into this music program and when they told him he could now write a song for the artists he could only wish for then. The bench had kept him company when no one else was around, but why is he here then?
Isn’t he completely satisfied with his life? This is what he thinks - am I happy? He opens his phone and feels bombarded with the numerous congratulatory messages that have arrived. Junmyeon, one of his closest friends has texted,
“Congratulations, Chanyeol! You’ve finally found your man!”
Luhan, a friend whom he hasn’t talked with in years suddenly messaged him,
“I heard the news! You’ve grown a lot. Congratulations!”
He sees his brother’s too,
“Hyung, I hope you’re happy! Congratulations! I wish you all the best in your married life.”
He places his phone on the bench, just beside him. He leaves it unguarded - not caring if the snowflakes drown it or if it falls to the ground, he just wants silence. He just wants peace. He wants to understand what he is feeling.
What has gone wrong, Park Chanyeol? You’re going to marry your childhood friend. You’re lucky he’s going to marry you. I mean out of the other boys and girls around, right? He thinks this to himself until he shouts into the nothingness,
“Kyungsoo-yah! Why have you chosen me?”
Of course he gets no answer; he is alone after all - just him, the bench, and his phone slowly getting wet from the snow. Suddenly, a thought comes into his mind. It was a pair of eyes, little chinky eyes that turned into crescents when it smiles, a face with a tiny mole just above the lips and a pair of hands that seemed to be molded delicately by that of time. He remembers it all as if the neurons in his brain started to light up like Christmas lights dangling around a Christmas tree topped with a star and with the star comes the name of the boy he remembers. The name isn’t Kyungsoo. In fact, he was very different from Kyungsoo. He believed in love and in fate, he believed in the stars’ constellations, he believed that maybe - just maybe - if the universe permits so, they would meet again.
His name is Baekhyun.
Chanyeol rises from the bench and quickly runs to the nearest bar in town.
-
“If you see me sing again, whether in a bar, in the park, on stage, or even in planes, then maybe we were made of the same stars.”
“Who even sings in planes?” Chanyeol laughs
“I do.”
“You don’t.”
“You don’t even know me.” Baekhyun laughs as well.
“Why don’t we sit this through, don’t you think? I write songs and you’re a very good singer. We’re like a match made in heaven.”
Baekhyun mocks him, “We’re like a match made in heaven blah blah blah.”
“Excuse me?”
“Look, if we’re a match made in heaven then why aren’t we together now.”
“Because it’s going to be up to us to make that happen.”
“I have to go. If we are truly a match made in heaven then maybe the stars would realign. Maybe I would see you in my dreams. Maybe, maybe, maybe...” He was running out of maybe’s, “Maybe, we could meet again.”
“Okay, deal. When would you like to meet?”
“Have you gone mad? Of course you don’t ask me that question. Ask that to the universe.” Baekhyun crosses the street and Chanyeol follows him hurriedly - almost playing with death as a truck came through.
“I almost got hit and I don’t even know your name.”
“See, you almost got hit. Don’t you think that’s already a sign?”
“A sign for what?”
“That maybe you don’t really need to know my name. I bet someone’s waiting for you at home, you better get to him or her - or whomever really. I have to go back to work.”
“Can you just tell me your name?”
“Okay, if that’s what you want.” Baekhyun brings out a bill worth 10,000 won. “Write your name here and your number too.”
Chanyeol writes as fast as his heartbeat. It’s like the melody of the guy’s voice is fluttering into his ears. “Okay, here you go.”
“Wait here.” Baekhyun takes the money and walks into 7/11 just a few steps from them. Chanyeol follows as he stands outside and the next thing he sees, the 10,000 bill was gone.
“What the hell?”
“What the hell what?”
“I just wrote my...what did you do?”
“Look, if the destiny, fate, the stars or even the universe wants us to be together the bill will come back to me.”
“How would I find you then?”
“I’m everywhere. I sing from bar to bar, from stage to stage. It would be easy to find me.” He smiles. He leans on Chanyeol and gives him a kiss on the cheek with his feet tiptoed to its fullest, leaving the latter in awe. “I have to get back now.” He runs back across the street and looks at Chanyeol one last time. Chanyeol shouts from the other end,
“It’s Chanyeol by the way!”
“Baekhyun! Byun Baekhyun!”
Chanyeol lets him run back to the bar with the hopes that if there was truly this string attached to each person’s index finger, Baekhyun was the other end of his. Chanyeol didn’t usually believe in hope. He believed in logic, in science. He knew of chance encounters and fortuitous events but, serendipity is out of his vocabulary - well that was at least before it happened to him. It only took him a song, a few minutes, and a 10,000 bill to ignite the butterflies in his stomach that it already felt like they were also singing a song.
Baekhyun walked back to the bar shaking his head. Now, he learns to put his faith to test.
Maybe if we were aren’t set to meet again, I was bound to let him go after all, he thinks. He goes back to his microphone and sings with his eyes closed, remembering that tall boy who had swept him off his feet just a few minutes ago - that tall boy who would be just another bizarre story to tell to his future grandchildren.
That night, the two looked at the same stars, they’re just in the same city roaming around the same streets. Perhaps, it wouldn’t be that difficult.
Perhaps, it will. Perhaps it won’t.
-
Now, it has been 3 years and Chanyeol finds himself sitting the same bar where they have met. The singer’s name was announced but it wasn’t a Byun Baekhyun, it was something along Kim Jongdae. The singer had defined jaw and cheek bones - very different from the plump cheeks of Baekhyun. He asks a waiter who seemed to be a tipsy,
“Excuse me, is Baekhyun going to sing here tonight?”
“Baboon?”
“No, Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun...He’s a singer here?”
“Boon Baboon?”
Before Chanyeol could clearly ask his question, another waiter enters the conversation saying sorry for his colleague’s drunk behavior but before he could ask again. They were gone. He exits through the front door.
Baekhyun enters through the back.
If the universe permits so, they would meet again.
Perhaps they will, perhaps they won’t.
Baekhyun arrives a few minutes after Jongdae finishes with his last song. He sings a few songs and helps the owner clean the mess of a Friday night’s chatter. The place was filled but, if Chanyeol was there he would have seen him. He is tall and easy to spot besides, you don’t forget such a handsome face in a sea of people yet, he wasn’t there. There was no sign of him in the crowd.
It’s 4 in the morning, it’s too early for breakfast and too late for dinner so Baekhyun goes to the park to wait for the sunrise. He always loved the idea of a new day - hours of endless possibilities and happenstance. He buys a newspaper on his way home,
“Here you go.” The vendor hands his change.
He immediate shoves it into his pocket, “Thank you!”
He changes into his sweatpants and throws his slacks into the laundry bag and just as it flips into thin air, a bill falls off from the back pocket. It wasn’t just a bill, he would have shrugged it off if it was just another 10,000 won. He’s got more bills lying around in his room for months all falling from his pockets but, today, he sees it’s a different bill - it’s the bill with tiny scribbled letters in blue ink.
Park Chanyeol - 9921127
Baekhyun shakes his head in disbelief. It has been, what? 3 years and he only gets the bill now? The universe must really have played a trick on them.
He’s so famous now, how am I going to call him? This is what I get for playing with fate! He worriedly talks to himself but, before he could give him the most awaited call, his phone rings.
“Baekhyunnie! I think this could be the break you’ve been waiting for!”
“Sehunnie, no. I think I have the thing. I’ve got exactly what I’ve been waiting for! Sehun, I found the b-“ and before he could finish, Sehun, his friend, continues,
“Baek, they asked me to invite you to sing on this writer’s wedding day! There’s going to be a lot of press people and music people there and, you’re getting it! You’re going to get your big break.”
“I’m just going to sing at a wedding, Sehunnie. I also found the bill...” He says nonchalantly.
“The-the-the bill? You found the bill?!”
“Yes, I found it. I was thinking of giving him a call but...”
“But, you have to come to the rehearsal first. The groom’s going to play the piano in one segment so you have to rehearse with him. I’ll fetch you in awhile so go get cleaned up.”
“Should I give him a call?”
“Yeah, later you will!!!”
“Thanks, Sehunnie!” He drops his phone and gets ready as fast as lightning. He couldn’t believe that two good things could happen in one day. Maybe, fate was being kind to him.
Sehun rings his doorbell, “Ya! You smell good! Are you trying to seduce me?”
Baekhyun laughs, “What are you thinking? You’re like my little brother. Besides, everything seems like they’re falling into place. Why can’t you let your oppa be happy?”
“You are not my oppa!” Sehun complains as he drives to the studio in town. The place had been famous for many artists have recorded there. Baekhyun couldn’t believe his eyes,
“Is this really the place?” His eyes became wider and wider.
Sehun checks the address on his phone, “Yup. This is it. Text me when you’re done, okay.”
“Wait, whose wedding is it again?”
“It’s Soo something or maybe Spark? Chansoo Spark?”
“Huh?”
“Just get in! Enjoy, oppa!” He jokes.
“Bye! See you later and drive safe, okay?” He watches Sehun’s car leave as he enters the building.
“Excuse me, I’m here for the wedding rehearsal recording thing?” He tells the receptionist.
“You must be Byun Baekhyun, have a seat.” The receptionist smiles.
“Thank you!” He chooses the seat facing the window, his back turned against the elevator.
Baekhyun decides to give Chanyeol a call - it’s ringing.
He hears the elevator ding. He hears some shuffling of people alighting the elevator.
The ringing becomes louder.
And louder, and louder. The footsteps stop.
“Hello?” A voice welcomes him from the other line.
“Is this Park Chanyeol?”
Chanyeol sees the boy sitting right in front of him with a small frame and a sandy blonde hair. He takes a step closer,
“Hello, is this Park Chanyeol?” Baekhyun repeats.
And another step closer.
“Hello?” He says again.
And once he was just behind him, he knew it was him. He walks in front of him but Baekhyun was too busy staying on the line, he was too nervous to realize that the person whom he was calling is now standing right in front of him so he says, one more time,
“Hello, is this Park Chan-“ and before he could finish, Chanyeol cups his chin just so he would look up.
“Yes, it’s me.” He puts the phone down.
“Oh.” Baekhyun couldn’t say a word. He moves his face away from Chanyeol and puts the phone down. He looks discretely on his phone screen as Chanyeol sat beside him,
“Hey, Baekhyun. It’s me, Chanyeol...”
He looks at him as if the guy was an apparition - yes, it’s Chanyeol, dammit! He wasn’t dreaming. It was the same black hair and dimpled smile with eyes that took him to elsewhere.
“Hi, uh, what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to sing...”
“Wait, you’re the wedding singer?”
“How did you know?”
“This can’t be... Uh, I’m sorry, I, uh, I’m getting married.”
“Oh, well, congratulations...” The awkwardness made his voice sound frail as if he was going to burst into tears.
“You can’t say that... How can you say that?!” Chanyeol tries not to shout. He grabs Baekhyun’s hand - he feels they’re warm and soft, just as he expected it would be. They go inside the elevator and took a stop on the second floor. Once they landed, Baekhyun breaks the silence,
“What are we doing?”
“This is what you want, right? Okay, then let’s see if the universe would have a change of heart. Baekhyun, I’m getting married to a man that’s not you. I’ve looked for you in every bar but, it seems like the world is trying to set us apart so I’m giving it one last try.”
“Chanyeol, I...”
“You take that elevator and I’ll take this one. You could press any floor and I’d do the same, if we end up choosing the same floor then, maybe you were right. Maybe this - all of this - is real.”
“But, if we don’t...”
“But, if we don’t, well, I’m getting married and you’re going to end up singing for me there.”
“Chanyeol, we don’t have to this... You’re better off now. I mean, look at you!”
Chanyeol walks into the elevator, “Last chance, Baekhyun...One last chance.”
Baekhyun walks into his own and as the doors closed, they were both wishing for the same thing.
Baekhyun presses 6.
Chanyeol presses 6. On the 5th floor, his elevator stops and Kyungsoo walks in,
“Yeol?”
“Kyungsoo?”
“What are you doing? I’m going to get lunch. Come with me.”
Chanyeol nods and goes with him. Perhaps, this is their ending, he thinks. Fate has grown tired of being played with - it has grown sore of the many times that they have tried to fight it.
Baekhyun arrives on the 6th floor, he taps his foot until his patience outgrows him. Maybe, Chanyeol isn’t going to show up after all. Maybe he decided to go down - maybe, all of his maybes would run out and he would still have more theories on what happened to Chanyeol so he just decided to go down and walk himself to the park.
Ah, the fresh air. He whispers. He lies down on one of benches and stares at the empty cloudless sky - it was blue but, the kind of blue that’s dull, the blue that you could forget because you have already seen pink, purple, and gray. It’s just blue - mediocre, simple, replaceable. This is exactly how he thinks of himself. He thinks that Chanyeol is bound to marry a man whom he deserves - someone who doesn’t sing just in bars. He bets his lovely, and he is but, that doesn’t make Baekhyun less lovelier, right?
Kyungsoo’s eyes had been on Chanyeol since they sat down for lunch. Chanyeol couldn’t keep eye contact. He know there was something dying inside Kyungsoo with that look on his face,
“Yeol, I have to tell you something...”
“Kyungsoo, I’m sure of you.”
“I didn’t ask you if you’re sure of me or not but, it seems like you have it inside your head. You have it installed, wired rather, in your brain. The things you say to me...I want them to come from your heart. I know there’s something different about you or about this. I don’t want you to get stuck in whatever’s bothering you so...”
“Kyungsoo...”
“I’m letting you go.”
“You don’t have to...”
“I know...But, I need to. Thank you, Chanyeol!” He touches Chanyeol’s hand and looks at him for the last time, “See you around, old friend!” He chuckles a little then he stood up from the table and left.
Chanyeol has no urge to run after him because he thinks that Kyungsoo is right. He also doesn’t want to get stuck hence, he runs into the streets and looks left and right - there is no Baekhyun in sight. He walks to the bar but still he isn’t there.
There’s only one place left - the park. Out of desperation, he decides to go to his solace; his safe place.
They say that fate should not be tested for it could bring the harshest waves within a wrinkle of time but, if it works under your favour then it will continuously work for you - that is, if you believe so. They both believed.
Baekhyun and Chanyeol believed that fate, destiny or whatever and whomever would align their stars and fix their constellations.
And so, there, under the tree, on his favourite bench, he sees him. He lies there with snowflakes fluttering on his hear, eyes closed and breathing ever so peacefully. Chanyeol walks closer and as he puts his face closer to Baekhyun, the latter stands up and in shock, they nudge each other’s head. Baekhyun moves a little so that Chanyeol could sit, he lets out a sneeze; his nose reddening from the cold.
Chanyeol removes his coat and puts it on Baekhyun’s shoulder, “I’m Chanyeol, by the way. I write songs for a living, and you are?”
“I’m Baekhyun, I sing and I’m living.”
Chanyeol smiles - thank you, universe!
3, Baekhyun tells himself, 3 good things have happened today.
Perhaps today, out of all days, the timing is now finally is right. They wouldn’t have to let each other go this time because the universe has already agreed, the stars have aligned, and fate - destiny, chance encounters, happenstance, or whatever you call it - has finally worked its way to them. Maybe it was better to put it to a test after all.
Now, Baekhyun is going to tell a different story to his - no, their grandchildren.
You see if Baekhyun was a snowflake, Chanyeol would let himself drown in the coldness of it. He would chase snowflake after snowflake just to find the odd one out and that’s what he did after all - he tried to look for him and now that he has found his special snowflake, he wouldn’t let him go. To Baekhyun, Chanyeol was a fine flower in the summer, the kind of flower you want to pick so you keep it for yourself and the one you don’t want to pick because you want to see it grow beautifully - and well, he did. In his absence, he has grown.
Baekhyun, after all, did the right thing for if they had given each other a chance, it wouldn’t be as beautiful as today - oh, it wouldn’t be beautiful at all but, that’s another story to tell.