Romance is Not Dead (1/2)
romance is not dead
pairing: kris/baekhyun
rating: PG-13
genre: romance, humor
word count: 11k
note: written for krisbaek 2015. AO3 link if you prefer there.
summary: Baekhyun desperately calls onto Yifan at the airport, asking him to stay. Yifan has no idea who he is.
Romance is Not Dead
A lot of people think that if you were fated to be with that person then there’s no right or wrong, no maybes, no what ifs, just what is’ and what mights. That whatever you do, whatever choice you had, if that person is the one for you, then that person is the one for you. But not Byun Baekhyun. Baekhyun does not believe that love depends on fate. Love should not be cliche, it should not have scripts or outlines, it should be spontaneous, catching you off-guard, making you do things that are unthinkable yet reasonable, leave you with nothing to do but take a risk--something dangerous but worth it. And right now, he is feeling the exact same thing. It started too cliche though (for other people), realizing his feelings too late that he had to steal the cab his neighbor called and yell at the driver to drive straight to the airport. What’s cliche for him is giving right up when things doesn’t go the way he planned it to be. This wasn’t.
Finally after almost an hour-long of constant nagging, he finally reached the airport. He ran past the line at the check-in area and jumped over the divisions. He finally got inside. He kept running until he saw the end-line by the entry way of the escalators going to the departure area. And then he spotted him, walking towards the escalator. That was when he started screaming. “Don’t go!” He yelled helplessly. “Don’t go please!” He mostly got the attention of the crowd now. The murmurs will start getting obvious eventually but no, he doesn’t care. That didn’t bother him. The crowd somewhat avoided him and ended up making a pathway for him until the railings. When he finally reached the dead-end, he started yelling again. “DON’T GO, PLEASE!” It was so much louder now, he knew because he finally looked at him. He finally saw him. The people around him started whispering, probably also asking him if he knew Baekhyun, that small guy by the railings looking like a sad little dejected puppy. He looked confused. Of course. Baekhyun knew he would act like that.
“Don’t go...” Baekhyun intended to yell but he was disappearing behind a wall until he couldn’t see him anymore. He was gone. Maybe, it was for the best. Maybe not all love stories are meant to be worth the risk. Maybe he wasn’t just the man for him. Baekhyun looked back at the wall, taking a last look before deciding to turn around and leave. And that was when that familiar hair poked back from behind the wall. It surprised him. He was on the escalator again but this time going downwards. He was looking at Baekhyun, confused and bothered at the same time and that scared Baekhyun. So he did the first thing he thought of out of reflex.
He ran away.
“Shit!” He cursed as he he ran. There’s no going back now.
“Hey! Stop!” He heard a man yell and he looked back to see that man chasing him.
This was definitely not part of the plan.
He continued running, bumping passengers here and there and knocking out luggages accidentally. Fortunately, he knew his way in the airport. He ran to the most crowded are of the airport in hopes of the man losing sight of him but of course, he had to be stupid enough to not realize earlier that the man is too tall he can spot him anywhere. So he tried to break away from the crowd immediately, only to trip on a wire cord, sending him tumbling down the floor with his bag and everything on it flying out in Satan’s wish. “You have got to be kidding me!” He looked behind him and saw the man getting caught up with some tourists asking him questions. He took this opportunity to collect his things. However, not a second has passed when he looked back again to check and the man was already marching towards him. His eyes widened and immediately, he grabbed his backpack and started running. He crossed his fingers, hoping that he didn’t leave anything behind. The exit is only a few meters away from him now so he ran even faster.
Luckily for him, a group of friends pushing trolleys for their luggages passed by behind him and forced a gap in between him and the man. The man had to halt but he was able to walk out freely. He doors behind him closed and from his spot, he saw the man staring back at him behind the heads passing by in front of him. He still had that confused and bothered look. It was obvious even through the reflection of the sky against the glass doors. Baekhyun then smiled and turned around, humming as he walked away, leaving the airport with the announcement echoing behind him.
“Flight 0421 has departed. Flight 0421 has departed.”
--
Baekhyun arrived back home sweating. His mother wasn’t around, luckily, since he kind of left the house open when he decided to steal that cab from the woman next door. That woman will never greet him every morning from now on. He grabbed a chocolate drink from the fridge, promising to take a bath after finishing it. At that moment, the doorbell rang. He immediately went to open the door, thinking it was his mother, however he seemed to have opened a door to another dimension when a demon suddenly greeted him. He closed the door in reflex however the man was fast enough to grab the door and forced it back open as Baekhyun forced it to close.
“What the hell are you doing?!”
“I SHOULD BE THE ONE ASKING YOU THAT! GET LOST!”
“ME?!” The man replied in disbelief. “BYUN BAEKHYUN OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT THIS INSTANT!”
“WHA--” Baekhyun gasped. “HOW DID YOU KNOW MY NAME? AND HOW DID YOU FIND MY HOUSE?!”
“YOU DROPPED YOUR I.D. GENIUS!”
Baekhyun clicked his tongue, cursing himself.
“OPEN THE DOOR RIGHT NOW!”
“NO! I DON’T EVEN KNOW YOU!”
Unfortunately.
“EXCUSE ME?!”
Things are getting really out of hand but Byun Baekhyun does not back down, even when it comes to strength. So he pushed the door with all of his power until he was finally able to make it move and then slammed it close and immediately locked it. He was left breathless after that display of testosterone. The man also wasn’t making a sound. Baekhyun figured he must’ve decided to give up and go home. Well, if it was Baekhyun that’s what he’d do.
The doorbell rang again but this time, he knew better. “W-who is it?”
“Your mother.”
Baekhyun immediately opened the door. “M--” And froze at the sight of the man smiling behind his mother. “MOM!!!”
--
Baekhyun flinched when his mother served tea at the table. He can feel imaginary knives stabbing him repeatedly with how the man was glaring at him, arms crossed, and with Satan probably giving his guardian angel a good beating behind him. His mother served his tea and chuckled.
“So you’re Baekhyun’s latest victim, huh?”
Baekhyun flinched again.
The man,who goes by the name Yifan, sighed. “Victim, yes, but latest?”
Baekhyun’s mother glanced at him from the kitchen. “I’m sorry, my son has some rather unconventional interests that he randomly incorporates into real life. Movies, if I must say...”
Yifan snarled. “Movies?”
“Well, you see--
“Stop, mom,” Baekhyun says, holding up his palm. “You don’t have to explain it to this man. He’ll leave soon anyway, right?” That snarl definitely drew the line.
His mother slapped him with her slippers at that very moment. “Aw! Hey!”
“How can you be so rude to our guest? You caused him to miss his flight. We’re lucky he’s not asking us to pay back the expense for the ticket. Don’t you feel any remorse? You haven’t even apologized to him yet!”
As much as Baekhyun hated the word sorry to roll out of his tongue, his mother had a point. Well, his mother always had a point because he’s just an 18-year-old lowlife who has too much free time in his hands. He sighed. “Fine. I’m sorry.” He kept pouting afterwards. Especially when his mom refused to put extra cheese on his plate of spaghetti so that he can reflect on his faults. (It’s just cheese!!!) Baekhyun cursed the man in front of him for ruining his spaghetti.
“So, what are you gonna do about your trip? Was it something important?” Baekhyun’s mother asked while wiping some of the used glasses.
Baekhyun gets why his mom would worry over it. Yifan was dressed like a corporate worker or a businessman, he was on a suit and tie (that’s why he was so hellbent on running away because he felt like he was gonna get sued and, well, no one came after him before). Plus he doesn’t look Korean. And his Korean sucks balls.
“No. I was just going home. I just came to visit my girlfriend here.” Yifan answered. “I’m actually from Beijing. So...yeah.”
“Well, will you be able to get a ticket soon?”
“Since it’s vacation season, I think maybe in 3 days.”
“That’s too bad.”
Baekhyun has seemingly lost interest in the subject matter and walked out from the table. It’s not like it’s entirely his fault this man missed his flight. He’s a grown-up anyway so he must be pretty stupid to entertain a kid’s innuendos, especially when he doesn’t know that kid at all.
“Oh by the way, is there a hotel or a guest house nearby I can stay at? I know the hotels are pretty much fully-booked right now because of the tourists but guest houses are fine.”
Baekhyun stopped his tracks. By virtue of being his mom’s son for 18 years (forcefully), that moment of silence only means one thing.
“Oh, dear! You can stay here for the mean time, no worries!”
I knew it! Baehyun turned around. “Mom!!!”
“Yes, thank you for volunteering Baekhyun, you can share your room with him.”
“I DID NOT--”
His mother went back to washing the dishes. “Well, you seemed very eager about it.”
Baekhyun gasped. “That was an angry yell!”
“Just shut up and take him upstairs, will you?”
Baekhyun pouted. He glared Yifan before walking away. “Follow me.”
--
He turned around when he realized Yifan stopped by the door. “What, too small for your huge ego?”
“I hope you’re not referring to the other thing.”
Baekhyun settled on ignoring his reply while fixing his bed when the realization finally stormed in and he scoffed back at him. It only took him one smirk from Yifan before he went rushing out of the room, flustered.
“MOM!!!!” Baekhyun yelled like a firetruck as he scurried back to the living room. He found his mom sitting casually on the couch, occupied with a laptop on her lap.
“Mom! Are you really gonna let that pervert sleep in my room?!”
“What is it now?”
“Did you know that huge ego has a whole other meaning?!”
“Of course I do. Now why would you say that to him?” Baekhyun gasped in response to her mother’s indignant reply. “Oh relax, he’s not a pervert.”
“And you’re sure because...?”
“Because I searched him up on Facebook and it turns out that he’s a very successful Realtor.”
“How sure are you that that’s his facebook?”
“Oh come on honey, I’m not stupid. I can see his profile picture.”
Baekhyun leans down to take a closer look. Okay, that’s him alright. He sighed and stomped back to his room in defeat.
--
“Welcome back. I took the liberty of continuing your interrupted work earlier.”
Baekhyun eyes the well-made foam on the floor. “Of course. That’s grown up stuff. Here are some clothes by the way.” He says while placing the set of clothes on the table and then made a bee line towards his bed.
Thanks to Baekhyun’s little scene this morning, Yifan’s luggage is on that plane while the owner is stuck here. He takes a look at the clothes. “Are these your father’s?”
“No. I have no father.” Baekhyun notices Yifan’s distant stare and impeding silence. “Don’t worry, he’s not dead or anything. I just never met him. Mom got knocked up one night, was too nice to get rid of that thing in her belly and so here I am.”
“Oh.”
“You’re quite aloof for a grown man, aren’t you?” Baekhyun snickers. “Like Mr. Darcy.”
“Mr. Who?”
“Never mind.” The rest of the night was him busy with his journal and Yifan reading some book he borrowed from Baekhyun’s mother until one of them dozed off and the other following.
--
The next morning, after breakfast, Baekhyun was forced to go shopping with Yifan by his merciless mother. Okay, Baekhyun likes shopping, but definitely not with a stranger. But his guilt has kept him from acting out so that made him more miserable. Fortunately, shopping for Yifan isn’t that hard and by lunch time they’re walking in the park and eating ice cream.
“I have a question.” Baekhyun starts.
“What is it?”
“Why did you come here?”
“I came to visit my girlfriend.”
Baekhyun snorts at his answer. “Okay, I may be young but I’m not stupid.”
“Which means...?”
“You didn’t come here to visit your girlfriend.”
“Instead, I did.”
“Okay, maybe you did but you’re not in good terms right now. Or you’ve broken up. Or you just like hiding from your girlfriend. Or you don’t have one.”
“Do you want me to tell you?”
“Are you gonna be honest with me?”
“Maybe. I’ll tell you we’re in good terms though.”
“Liar.” Baekhyun says, walking past him. “Why else would you be sleeping at someone else’ house if your girlfriend didn’t kick you out?”
Yifan stops his tracks, stunned at the accusation. Baekhyun turns his head back to smirk at him, a little too proudly if Yifan must say. He shakes his head and follows.
Baekhyun’s favorite place turns out to be bar. Well, not those usual bars you see in movies and everywhere in New York--this bar is more toned-down, no alcoholic and non-smoking bar. Straight from Baekhyun’s mouth are the words “It’s still a school zone, so.” Yifan thinks he’s too overdressed.
“So?” Baekhyun says as soon as their drinks were served. “What’d you do that made your girlfriend kick you out?”
Yifan almost coughs it out. “Well, not exactly girlfriend.”
“What, fiance? Wife? Ooh, please don’t say wife because this isn’t the right place for that.”
Yifan shakes his head while chuckling before saying, “Not exactly girlfriend.”
This time, Baekhyun completely coughs it out. “Jesus.” The bartender offers him a tissue. “You’re gay?!”
Yifan subtly tilts in head. “Bisexual, actually.”
“No, no no no no,” Baekhyun finally puts down his drink. “I’m bisexual. He’s gay,” He says, pointing to the bartender who in turns winks at Yifan. “You’re straight.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Yes, you are. You’re not bisexual.”
“Except, I am.”
“No, you can’t be bisexual!”
“Okay, why are you being heterophobic right now?”
“Heterophob--” Baekhyun shakes his head. “How--how is that even possible?” Yifan shrugs his shoulders in response.“Oh, I feel so sorry for all the girls, for the women, for all the mothers and their daughters.”
“I’m not.” The bartender says, biting his lip towards Yifan.
“Okay, you need to stop that.” Baekhyun snaps at him and then turned back to Yifan and the problem at hand. “And I let you sleep in my room!”
“Wait, you slept with him?” The bartender asks.
“I did not--”
“Did you tell Chanyeol?”
“Why would I--”
“--tell Chanyeol what?” And of course, in the most cliche way possible, Chanyeol, for some reason, decided to show up at this perfect timing.
“Baekhyun’s sleeping with him.”
“You’re sleeping with him?” Chanyeol says, almost choking at his words. “I feel so betrayed right now.”
“Chany--”
“2 years Baekhyun, two years.”
“And I’m telling you I’m not--”
Chanyeol puts up his palm. “I’m not talking to you.” He turns to Yifan. “Hi, I’m Chanyeol, Park Chanyeol. Baekhyun’s victim. His very first, actually.”
“Oh,” It’s kinda weird that Yifan is familiar with the subtext now. “Nice to meet you. I’m Yifan. His...latest victim.” Chanyeol chuckles.
“I kinda own this place by the way.”
“Oh, impressive. Young and already a businessman.”
“Yeah,” Chanyeol nods. “It was my father’s but then he died so.”
“Oh my god, I’m sorry I didn’t know.” Yifan quickly retracts, almost stuttering in his words.
“It’s okay. You never met him anyway.” Chanyeol reassures. “I better get back to work.”
“Chanyeol--”
“Still not talking!” Chanyeol says as he disappears behind the door.
Baekhyun sighs in defeat. “And I’m dramatic.”
Yifan honestly did not know what to make of it since this was the first time he was surrounded by such people. But he imagines there’s never a boring day. “Come on.” Baekhyun grabbed his hand then and surprise came falling to his face.
--
“So, where do you wanna go?” Baekhyun asks but Yifan only gave him a look of confusion. “Well my mom said to tour you around the place so I’m stuck with you for the whole day.”
“Hm. You must be having so much fun.”
“Really. I couldn’t control my happiness.” Baekhyun says with a half-hearted smile.
“Well, this isn’t my first time in Seoul so I’ve been to most places tourists go to.”
“Yeah?”
“So surprise me.”
Baekhyun gives him a look of confusion. “You’re really gonna let an 18-year-old brat take you around places?”
“Your words not mine,” Yifan replies. “I don’t think you’re an 18-year-old brat.”
“Alright fine, but only if you tell me honestly what happened.”
Yifan hummed in deep thought before coming up with a solution that could benefit the both of them. “Fine. Let’s make a deal. I’ll tell you anything you want to know about me and you tell me the reason why you took me into that certain place.”
Baekhyun chuckles at his offer, probably relieved knowing that he’s not the only one who’s interested here. “You really know how to talk your way out of something, huh?”
“It’s a win-win situation.”
“Fiiine.” Baekhyun groans.
--
Yifan stops to read the sign as Baekhyun struts towards the entrance. Aunt Laurie’s. A bakery.
“Come on!” Baekhyun yells and Yifan immediately hurries over.
The place was swarming with students and professionals alike. Baekhyun was busying himself in the counter while Yifan notices how the place seems to be lively even though it’s almost time when people usually go home. He shifts his attention back to Baekhyun who is still one person far from the counter.
“Let me guess,” He starts. “First dates?”
Baekhyun chuckles just as the person before him leaves and he moves forward to answer the staff about his order before turning to Yifan. “No. I just love their blueberry muffins.”
“Here you go, sir.”
“Thanks, and oh, he’s gonna pay for it.” Baekhyun points at Yifan before skipping away, leaving Yifan completely dumbfounded in front of the staff.
Baekhyun was unwrapping the fork with a large grin printed on his face when Yifan finally finds him. “I think I just got robbed.” He says while taking a seat.
“Savor it and tell me it’s not worth getting robbed for.”
Yifan does, taking his time as he chews it bit by bit. “It’s delicious.” Although, it means nothing since he doesn’t have a source of comparison given that he doesn’t really eat sweets. Silence came after that and Yifan distracted himself with watching Baekhyun slowly finish up the blueberry muffins with a clear-cut smug look of satisfaction on his face.
“Okay,” Baekhyun starts, placing the fork down with manners. “Now for the good bits.”
“Wait, it’s not just because you like their blueberry muffins?”
“Of course not. Do you think I’m boring?” Baekhyun retorts, “I am 18 years old and fatherless, it is unacceptable to the society for someone like me to turn into--”
“Okay, okay, I get it!” says Yifan with his palms held up in front of his face. “You really like arguing don’t you?”
Baekhyun grins as he says, “My mom said it’s one of my best qualities. And also I’d probably go to jail because of it.”
“Have you?”
“No, never. Almost, always,” he says and then he leans closer towards the middle of the table. “Because I’m not boring.”
“And we’re starting.”
Baekhyun chuckles as he leans back. “My mom and I used to own this place. Well, not own but rent? Loan something?” He takes notice of Yifan’s crooked eyebrows and continues. “Anyway, my mom was running a business of her own and I helped. I was 14 at that time. We had a small convenience store. And then suddenly someone offered a higher pay of the rent so of course, we got chased out and we were forced to close our business. My mom had to find another job and it was awful. She doesn’t really like working for someone else or under someone. So, I went here to recon when it opened. I was 14, honestly I had no idea what I was doing,” Yifan snickers under his breath, picturing what Baekhyun looked like at 14. “They saw me and then gave me a blueberry muffin. They said they give free desserts to new customers. So I sat there, quietly, eating my blueberry muffin and started my recon. In the end, the only thing I gathered as I was walking home is that they make the best blueberry muffin I’ve ever tasted.”
“I imagine it would’ve been different now otherwise.”
Baekhyun nods saying, “They were lucky it was delicious,” Yifan chuckles and Baekhyun continues. “When I got home I told my mom about it. She said she has tried some of their desserts and she really loved it. It turns out every morning before going to work, she buys some pan there for breakfast. I think she knew I was really bothered by it so she didn’t tell me until after I saw for myself.”
“That’s a nice story.”
“The moral of this story is: Never judge someone before knowing them. Never jump into conclusions before getting an explanation.”
“18, fatherless, and learned some morals from a blueberry muffin? Boy, you have it really easy compared to kids in my time.”
“Oh, it’s not my fault you had a shitty life.” This kid is just brooding with confidence, Yifan thinks. “So, your turn.”
“What do you want to know?”
Baekhyun took a few seconds to think. Yifan is slightly amused by the interest he displays towards him, a 24-yeard-old stranger. “How about...how did you meet your girlfriend?”
“Boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend.” Baekhyun retracts.
Yifan chuckles before clearing his throat, starting with, “We met at a conference in LA.”
“Ooh, so grown-up.” Yifan gives him a look for interrupting. “Sorry.” Baekhyun says with an apologetic grin.
“He was already successful then. On his way to a promotion, if I remember correctly. He was there to accompany his boss, probably starting to introduce him as preparatory for that promotion. Anyway, I was introduced to him as one of the trainees by our employer. We were both from China so we had a conversation after all the introductions were done. He was younger than me but already on his way to success. That impressed me.”
“It turns out we’re both assigned in Hongkong. Casual conversations turned to intimate ones, one thing led to another and before we knew it, we both fell in love with each other. It’s almost too good to be true. He was the Vice President of his firm and I became a very successful Realtor. It was perfect.”
Baekhyun didn’t want to interrupt him this time but if he had a choice, he definitely would, because he looked so sad.
--
When they got back home, Baekhyun’s mom has already cooked dinner. Yifan apologized for coming back late with her son but she was so understanding, saying Baekhyun is street smart so she doesn’t worry much. Yifan looks at Baekhyun then and nodded. He definitely gave out that kind of impression. Baekhyun was setting up the table while Yifan stood there awkwardly. His mom scolded him for leaving out Yifan’s plate but Baekhyun argued it was out of habit. From Yifan’s point of view, the two of them looked like they share a special bond, more than mother and son--maybe like best friends. Yifan can only wish to have that kind of bond with his mother.
“Come on, sit down now, Yifan.” Come to think of it, it’s been a long time since he ate a meal with other people. It was always him alone. It made him happy but at the same time sad because when all of this is over, when he finally has to go back home, that only thing that will change is himself.
--
“Rise and shine, big guy.”
Yifan groaned when he felt a slight pain after Baekhyun kicked him. This boy really lacks respect for others. Baekyun turned on the light so he had no choice but to sit up and open his eyes. He immediately checks the time. “It’s 4 AM.”
“Today, we’re gonna watch all of these movies.”
“All of them?” Yifan exclaims.
“Yes. So we need to start early.”
“Seriously?”
“Now, which of these movies have you already watched?”
Yifan shakes his head into focus. “Uh, Friends with Benefits, Love and Other Drugs and...oh, Wanderlust.”
“Interesting.” Baekhyun says with a nod of approval.
“Okay, you’re not in the position to judge me.”
“I’m not judging you.” Baekhyun chuckles. “It’s a shame though.”
The list are: Say Anything, 10 Things I Hate About You, Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, Before Midnight, She’s All That, The Breakfast Club, Clueless, A Walk to Remember, He’s Just Not That into You, Cruel Intentions, and Pride and Prejudice. Twelve hours of nothing but romantic movies and chick flicks. Yifan reminds himself to grab some Y chromosome in the grocery store.
When the credits finally roll in Pride and Prejudice, Yifan felt like his head was squeezed physically and his eyes red like cherry--not from crying but from the over exposition of LED. He tries to remember why he agreed to this in the first place.
“It’s my favorite movie.” Yifan hears Baekhyun say in between his dramatic sniffs. He said the same thing halfway through Clueless.
Yifan thinks this has been the girliest day of his life--and that’s saying something given he’s babysat his nephews more than he visited his ex-boyfriend of the past year. It’s already past midnight. The room is a mess. They took 15 minutes break in between movies so fortunately they were at least able to take a bath. There were plates all over. Thank god Baekhyun’s mother checks up on then from time to time, bringing up food and snacks, or else Yifan will feel like a total freak with no one to talk to. He and Baekhyun’s mother converse for a little while which Baekhyun doesn’t notice because mentally, he is absent.
“I need a beer. Do you have beer?”
“Maybe a couple cans in the fridge? My mom stores them for emergencies such as my aunt coming over unannounced because of marriage problems. It happens a lot.”
Yifan did not hear anything after the word fridge. He comes down silently not to wake up Baekhyun’s mom. He only needed one for himself but figured he should stay there for a few minutes before coming back up. Who knows what Baekhyun is up to. So he grabbed two. He leaned against the counter beside the fridge and sighed, savoring the silence after 12 long hours of agony.
However, not a minute has passed and he heard Baekhyun coming down the stairs. “What are you doing? Turn on the lights.” He says, turning on the lights. He was carrying the plates from upstairs.
“You want some?”
“Okay, I may be fun but beer has its schedules,” Baekhyun replies while carefully placing he plates on the sink. Then he opened the fridge. “Plus, my mom will be in pain if she finds out I drank without her.”
“You two are really close.”
“Well, we only have each other.” Baekhyun takes out a few things, like lettuce and chicken and stuff. Yifan watches him until he placed those stuff beside the stove across him.
“Are you...going to cook?”
“Huh? Oh, right. I cook my mom’s lunch everyday. She doesn’t eat at work until someone tells her to. One time, she collapsed at work because she hadn’t eaten all day so since then I make sure to pack her lunch.”
“And you do it everyday?”
“Yeah.”
“I never noticed.”
“Well, you sleep like an old man.” Baekhyun teased.
The sound of lettuce getting cut distracted Yifan from noticing that remark. There’s something mature about watching Baekhyun cook from behind. “So what are you cooking?”
“Just chicken, fried rice and some vegetables.”
“Do you need some help?” says Yifan as he makes his way towards him.
“No, I’m good. You just drink your beer.” Yifan makes a detour towards the other side of the counter. He grabs a stool and sits across Baekhyun. “So, your turn.” Baekhyun subtly glances at him, careful not to get distracted from the knife.
“Ah, right.” Yifan says. “So, what do you want to know now?”
Baekhyun pours oil on the pan and then the cut lettuce and tomatoes. “Let’s see,” Afterwards, he put the rice and started mixing them while rocking the pan above the fire. “How about why he kicked you out or something? What did you do?”
Yifan clicked his tongue. “Well, he didn’t really kick me out.”
“Okay mister, you really gotta stop making up crap.”
Yifan chuckles. “I...broke up with him.”
Baekhyun turns off the stove and stares at him. “You flew all the way here from China to break up with him?”
“Well, I thought doing it on the phone is kind of disrespectful.”
“Okay, you have to understand that no lover would appreciate how respectful you are if you’re going to break up with them anyway,” Baekhyun says, almost enunciating every word and syllable, showing how perturbed he was at Yifan’s revelation. “You can still be sincere on the phone, you know.”
“Really, have you tried it?”
“No. Maybe. But I know how it works.” Baekhyun says while applying the dressing on the chicken.
“Yeah, movies.” Yifan snorts.
“Okay, I’m gonna ignore that disrespectful tone but observing also works excuse me,” Baekhyun argues, sticking a tongue out at him. “So? Why’d you break up with him?”
“Well, you know when everything’s happening so fast, after a while there’s no way out but to end it? Our relationship was too good to be true, in the first place. All words and no substance. The problem with career-driven individuals is that they mistake being impressed by one’s resume with love. When I started worrying about how our relationship is gonna go when something happens to one of us and our career I knew then it was never going to work. You sometimes fall in love with their achievements. It’s just bad luck we met when we were on our way to success. If we hadn’t, if we had met before that, maybe we could’ve shared more moments together.” Yifan clicks his tongue, pitying the potential he lost with that relationship. “So, to avoid more heartbreaks and exchange of profanities, I decided to end it, responsibly.”
The smell of fried chicken was spreading and Yifan couldn’t help but wonder how good of a cook Baekhyun is.
“That is the most boring thing I’ve ever heard.” Baekhyun says, without regards to respect, obviously. “Where’s the cheating? The ‘finding your lover in bed with another man’? The juicy bits?”
Yifan gives him a strange look and laughed. “Sorry, kid.” He ruffled Baekhyun’s hair. “Relationships don’t always end because of cheating or whatever, you know.”
“I’m really starting to feel like I’m getting less than I offered.” Baekhyun finishes up cooking, carefully placing the chicken inside the lunch box and then turning off the stove.
“Fine. If you really feel robbed, ask me another one.” Baekhyun carried the used plates on utensils on the sink to wash them. His back was facing Yifan now.
“What’s his name?” Baekhyun cursed in his head. Good thing Yifan wasn’t able to see his expression but he didn’t really mean to ask that. He slipped.
“Yixing.” Yifan says with a deep sigh. Silence came after that. Baekhyun can imagine how sad he looks right now. That is why he honestly didn’t want to ask that. He turned on the faucet to let the water repel the silence.
--
Today is not the same as the past days. After eating blueberry muffins at Aunt Laurie’s, Baekhyun suddenly became quiet. He headed straight to the bus station and Yifan only followed, confused as to where they’re headed.
“Are you okay?” Yifan finally asks but he didn’t get an immediate response. So he tapped his shoulder and Baekhyun almost leaped in surprise.
“Sorry. I was distracted. What is it?”
“I was just wondering if you’re okay. You don’t look too good.”
“No, it’s just, something about the weather maybe.”
True. It was kind of cloudy today. It may rain later but no one can tell when. But Yifan knows it’s something else. He saw it, how Baekhyun’s face changed when they walked out of the store. There was a poster on the wall and Baekhyun immediately stopped when he saw it. He just stared at it. That’s where it started. Yifan couldn’t ask. He’ll just have to wait for Baekhyun to take him to that place but this silence is deafening, especially around Baekhyun.
About half-an-hour later, they finally went off the bus. They seem to be at Myeongdong.
“You’ve been here?” Baekhyun asks.
“Couple times.”
After grabbing lunch from a fastfood chain, Baekhyun took him to a small concert hall. It was already around two in the afternoon.
Baekhyun said it was a local band. Yifan takes a quick look around the place. The band seems to be popular to attract this many people. They decided to stay at the back, near the entrance, so they don’t get squeezed between the crowds. The band had just finished one song when they entered and are now preparing for another one. Yifan glances at Baekhyun. He stayed still, staring at the stage. He looks as if he actually loathes being here. If he does, then why are they here in the first place?
Suddenly, Baekhyun’s face turned into shock, as if he saw something weird. “Let’s go.” He says, grabbing Yifan’s hand, and heading towards the entrance.
“Baekhyun!”
Ah, so that was it. That’s who he saw.
Yifan saw a guy taller than Baekhyun, wearing a leather jacket, and his hair styled up. It was the same guy who was singing at the stage earlier. “Baekhyun!” He calls again. They were almost at the sidewalk when Baekhyun gets pulled back, grabbing Yifan as well. The guy had Baekhyun’s wrist gripped. “Please talk to me.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Then why did you come here?”
“It’s none of your business!”
“You always say it’s none of my business but it is, alright?! Just listen to me!”
“I said I don’t want to!” Baekhyun tells while struggling to pull his arm back.
Yifan notices the crowd around them. Of course, doing this in public, especially with someone so recognizable is crazy. He grabbed the singer’s arm then. “I think we should do this somewhere private.”
The singer gives him a look. “We? Who are you?”
“What do you care who he is? Let me go already!” Baekhyun snaps.
“Is he your new boyfriend, huh?”
Yifan notices the pain on Baekhyun’s face and immediately pushed the singer away. “He said let go!”
“What do you think you’re doing?! This is none of your business!” The singer yells provokingly, pushing Yifan. “Don’t act so mighty just because he’s been blowing your dick! You-” The rest of that nonsensical sentence crumbled when Yifan punched him in the face. The crowd gasped and Baekhyun immediately pulled him away, leaving the singer unconscious on the ground with a large bruise coming his way.
--
part ii