Summer Kitchen (3/3)
Part 3
Not entirely against his will, Chanyeol leaned against the chimney with a nervous, tight smile on his face. The sun was beating down on him and the hike wasn’t as easy as he thought. Unlike how they went down to the other side of the lake, there wasno downhill pathway. Everything was entirely uphill, which killed his thighs, but it was good exercise according to Baekhyun who didn’t even break a sweat. Of course.
“Can you, uh, take the picture already?” Chanyeol asked tightly. The chimney was creepy, let along really dusty and old. “It’s not hard to tap on the button, you know.”
“I accidentally clicked the home button,” Baekhyun muttered, his head tilted to get a more focused view of the cell phone. “I’m trying to get the camera app back up.”
“Here, let me--”
“No. Stay there.” After a few seconds, Baekhyun straightened his posture and motioned for Chanyeol to stand closer to the chimney. “Ready?”
“I’ve been ready for the last minute, but yeah,” Chanyeol said through grinning teeth. He changed his pose when he noticed Baekhyun tapping multiple times. “Got it?”
“Yeah. You look really lame, though,” Baekhyun told him, handing the phone back. “Who actually leans next to old, burnt down chimneys?”
“Are you kidding me? Taking a photo with it was your idea!” Narrowing his eyes at the laughing male in front of him, Chanyeol clicked his tongue as he looked through the photos which were bad orawkward, as Baekhyun put it. “All I wanted was a photo of the thing and here you are making me take a photo with it…”
“No better way to get over your fear than to face it head on, right?”
“Yeah, but I never said I was afraid of this chimney.” Scoffing, Chanyeol put his phone away. “This chimney’s not even part of anything…”
“Cause it burned down, Chanyeol. I told you,” Baekhyun said, sighing as he picked up a rock. “See this? It’s not supposed to be black. It ended up being that way after the fire. Here. Catch.”
Jumping out of the way, Chanyeol cursed, throwing Baekhyun a glare. “Don’t throw haunted rocks at me!”
“See? You’re scared of anything supernatural, though I’m not saying that the rock is supernaturally significant.” Pointing at the black rock on the ground, which Chanyeol promptly kicked away right after dodging it. “Act of fear right there.”
“Act of…” Bending down, Chanyeol picked up the cursed rock and flung it back in Baekhyun’s direction, hitting the male square on the chest. “Did that hurt?”
“Not really…” Raising his brows at the giant, Baekhyun snorted. “Did you think it would? Is that why you jumped out of the way? Tch. Really lame.”
“Why--” Pursing his lips, Chanyeol made a face. “Anyone ever told you that you play really mean sometimes?”
“Often.”
-
-
With his legs swinging back and forth, Sehun accidentally kicked dirt and pieces of wood over to his dad, sitting just a few feet away on a stump with a popsicle stick that he had snuck from the kitchen, or so he told the kids. In truth, Baekhyun rolled his eyes when Chanyeol even asked for the favor.
“Sorry,” Sehun muttered, popping his popsicle out of his mouth. “These swings are too low.”
“Then why do you keep swinging?”
“Because it’s fun.”
Luhan gave his twin the narrow eyes before turning his head to his father. As always, he felt like something was missing, and he always felt sad when they were all together. Though a family, it seemed like Sehun was more like his companion and vice versa, but their dad didn’t have anyone. Lazily sitting on the swing set, Luhan smacked his lips together, licking the sticky popsicle residue off his lips. “How’s the summer fling thing?”
Chanyeol looked at him like he was caught right off guard. “What summer fling thing? Who’s having a fling?”
“You?” Luhan gave him a weird expression. “You’re working on it with Kyungsoo’s uncle, right? Baekhyun?”
“Who told you this?” Chanyeol could feel his face warming up.
“Kyungsoo,” Sehun answered. “He started talking to us about you.”
“And what did he say?” Honestly, he was curious what mother’s little “superstar” had to spill. For a kid that didn’t like to talk very much, he was really nosy.
Grinning, Luhan’s eyes glistened. “Why? Are you worried that he spilled some incriminating truth about you and Mr. Byun?”
“Luhan, stop being an ass,” Sehun muttered.
“Dad, he cursed.”
“But it’s true!” Defending himself, Sehun tried to kick back in Luhan’s direction, ultimately failing and losing one of his shoes in the process. “Ugh.”
Getting up from his tree stump, Chanyeol walked over to the lost shoe and picked it up, handing it back to Sehun who muttered a thanks.
“Okay, cursing is bad. Sehun, don’t let me hear that again. Luhan, stop being one. Now, both of you, what did Kyungsoo say?” Chanyeol asked, exasperated as he sat back down. “You don’t exactly have to tell me what he said from word to word, because...because I know he talks weird.”
Rolling his eyes, Luhan began to push himself back and forth. “He said that you hung out with his uncle a lot. He also said that his uncle likes you. And then, he said he had friends, which, is alright? I don’t know.”
“Then he came back, remember?” Sehun added. “He came back, and he said that it’s not fair that you’re spending that much time with his uncle.”
Chanyeol awed. “He’s jealous?”
“Yeah, so you better fight him,” Luhan goaded.
“I’m not going to fight a ten year old.”
“Lame, dad. What’re you going to do when he starts occupying Baekhyun’s attention?”
Looking down, Chanyeol focused his eyes on the bare popsicle stick. “Well, you know, Baekhyun’s only here because of Kyungsoo, so obviously, that’s inevitable.”
“Dad, you can’t let a ten year old cock block you!”
“Luhan!”
Sehun shook his head. “Dad, I think this is a good time to tell you that Luhan saw some things online.”
“Oh my god.”
Taking his hands to his head, Chanyeol closed his eyes for a moment. So his sons discovered porn. Not exactly the best day of his life, but it was bound to happen. Puberty was inevitable. He went through it. With two boys, of course he would’ve had to deal with this. Looking up, he saw Luhan with his head down, ears red.
Inhaling, Chanyeol tried to put on a face. Parenting was embarrassing sometimes. “Okay, well… We’ll deal with this later. Um, okay. Alright, uh…” Being saved by the bell (more specifically, Junmyeon’s voice over the camp intercom), he stood up and looked back at the playground full of kids walking back to their camp leaders. “This was good talk, you guys.”
Sehun hopped off the swing set and started walking back, not waiting on Luhan who was trudging slowly along, trying to keep his facial expression cool. Sighing, Chanyeol walked by him, slinging an arm around Luhan, pulling him close.
“It’s okay. I’ll pretend I never heard anything.”
“Whatever, just focus on yourself.” Luhan said, muttering under his breath before nudging Chanyeol on the side with his elbow. “Ask Baekhyun out or something… We’ll handle Kyungsoo.”
-
-
Did he even wantto get involved with Baekhyun? It was a question that needed to be addressed. Immensely focused on snipping bags of flour, Chanyeol never noticed the way his name was being called by the very same person occupying his brain.
“Chanyeol.”
Snapping out of it, he lifted his head and blinked. Baekhyun was looking at him with his head cocked, curiously wondering why it took so long for the giant to notice that he was being called.
“Yeah?” Baekhyun… Did he always look at him like that? Chanyeol tried to shake away the thought. “What? Did you say something?”
“I did…” Baekhyun replied, slowly. “I said that we don’t need flour, and you just started cutting open four bags.”
“Oh… I thought muffins needed flour?” It was a shit excuse, but nothing else popped into his head. Chanyeol put down the scissors and stared at the open flour bags. “What should I do with these?”
Moving closer to him, Baekhyun took a bag and dropped it in on the corner of the counter behind him, next to a mixer. “Just put them here… I’ll think of some way to make use of them later for lunch or dinner.”
“I’m sorry, Baek,” Chanyeol apologized, hurrying with the task. “I’m just a little out of it? I don’t know.”
“Penny for your thoughts, then?”
The kitchen was empty, besides them, so it put more pressure on Chanyeol to try and avoid any type of conversation or answer that would lead to an awkward silence. It was four in the morning, and they were prepping for the day. It was something Baekhyun did religiously for the last month and a half of camp, but Chanyeol only began joining him a week prior to that night.
Ever since the twins revealed Kyungsoo’s loud mouth gossip two weeks ago, Chanyeol found it hard to focus on anything else besides the fact that the little superstar said that his uncle liked him. For all he knew, it could’ve been “like” as in how a man might like another man as a friend. But then again, it could’ve meant that Baekhyun likedliked him. There was no real way of determining any of it. Kid's had a weird lingo. They used words with double meaning without specifying which definition they meant to use in context, but there was nothing Chanyeol could do about that.
In that moment, he did have the urge to outrightly ask Baekhyun if he did like him--then ask whybecause who the hell would like a thirty-three year old single father architect, awkward and lame (according to his own sons)? But then, he thought that it would make things exactly what he didn’t want. Awkward.
Reaching up, Baekhyun rubbed his thumb along Chanyeol’s jaw line, concerned about the flour powder that he made a streak on his face. It was an innocent gesture, but Chanyeol felt his heart sky rocket off to nowhere, and it was a feeling he hadn’t felt since he met the boys’ mother.
As Baekhyun laughed at him for his startled expression, Chanyeol opened his mouth to say one thing, but accidentally said another. “Do you like me?”
Gradually, the laughter stopped, and Baekhyun’s lips settled in a line. It wasn’t a cold or upset expression. There was interest and a hint of teaseful play in his eyes. “Why are you asking, Park Chanyeol?”
“Because Kyungsoo said you do.” He was blaming the ten year old. It took Chanyeol a second to realize it.
“And?”
Baekhyun was crushing him like a walnut. It was obvious how the latter would not let that slip of the tongue go away so easily. Kyungsoo couldn’t save him.
“And…” The proximity between suddenly became painfully obvious. “And I wanted to know if it was true.”
Baekhyun smiled. It was wrecking Chanyeol. “Why?”
“Okay, can you stop with the one worded replies? I answered two of your questions,” Chanyeol said, trying to get the heat off of him and onto Baekhyun’s court. “Answer mine.”
“After you answer me,” Baekhyun retorted.
“That’s not fair.”
Snorting, Baekhyun grinned. “We’re not kids. Adults don’t have to play fair.”
Stumped because comebacks were never really his thing and Baekhyun always knew what to say, Chanyeol shrugged, struggling to maintain eye contact. “Okay, then… What was the question? Why? Because... I don’t really have a clear answer, to be honest.”
“Then make one.”
“You’re asking for a lot, Baek,” Chanyeol said, giving a small laugh. He ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t. I’m not good with thinking on my feet.”
“That’s a really lame excuse.” Baekhyun paused. “Speak from your heart, then.”
Making a face, Chanyeol scoffed. “That’s embarrassing--Hey. Answer my question. Is it true or are you just grilling me because it’s fun?”
Giving up on Chanyeol’s ability to speak clearly, Baekhyun shrugged. “Maybe. Who knows.”
Narrowing his eyes, Chanyeol glared. It wasn’t a genuine answer. Baekhyun, unlike him, knew what to say, but he chose to avoid saying it--not because he was unsure, but because he knew it’d make the man in front of him annoyed. And he was right. Chanyeol was annoyed.
“I’m going to take that as a yes,” Chanyeol announced, hoping that his words would corner Baekhyun to either admit or vehemently deny the statement.
“Are you sure about that?” Baekhyun asked, avoiding the trap and putting the spotlight back on the giant. “Actually, first of all, elaborate on what you mean by ‘like’. Maybe I do like you. Maybe I do see you as a friend.”
“Just a friend?”
“Maybe.” Chanyeol was beginning to hate that word. “Or, I dolike you, except it’s more like I see you as someone who could possibly be more than just a friend. Maybe someone that I do have an interest in because you’re interesting, funny, attractive, cute, clumsy, dumb, and attractive--Wait. I think I said that twice…Hm. Never mind. You understand, don’t you?”
No. He did not understand. In fact, if anything, Chanyeol was ten thousand steps behind where he used to be. He wasn’t even on the planet anymore. He was in space, in a black hole, in the fourth dimension where nothing made sense.
“I don’t...understand.”
“See?” Baekhyun said with that dumb smile still on his face and his lips still curved in a waythat was just asking for Chanyeol’s immediate attention. “Clumsy. Funny. Dumb. And attractive while being all three. That’s you.”
All the hints were like atomic bombs and the explosions were too big for Chanyeol to ignore. He got it. He understood. It was like the lightbulb in his head finally came on and he could see everythingfrom the way Baekhyun was reallylooking at him to the way his head was tilted up, just ready--and waiting--to be grasped and cupped, to be pulled into a kiss to see whether or not sparks would fly, and it was something Chanyeol thought he’d never feel again, but it was there and he couldn’t ignore it anymore.
Carefully, he lifted his hands and cupped Baekhyun’s face in between them. Chanyeol pursed his lips, almost shaking in the moment before he leaned down to kiss him, but just as Baekhyun closed his eyes, Chanyeol pulled back for a split second.
“Wait, this is okay, right?”
“Are you fucking--” Baekhyun never cursed. Rarely, he did. Then again, he never pulled Chanyeol down and slanted his lips over the thirty-three year old’s either.
It had been so long since Chanyeol ever really kissed anybody like that before, but with Baekhyun, it felt right and comfortable. He tried to be gentle, but the younger was demanding, so Chanyeol kept up to speed, licking the baker’s lower lip and earning a gasp from him when his hands snaked behind the male’s waist, giving an experimental squeeze to his cheeks.
Picking Baekhyun up, Chanyeol set him on a clear counter, careful not to put him in a place where his head would hit the hanging pans from the ceiling. When his lips parted, he was taken by surprise when Baekhyun took the opportunity to slide his tongue in his mouth, but he welcomed it, grazing his tongue against his.
Putting his hands on Chanyeol’s chest, Baekhyun dragged his hands down until he felt the hem of the shirt. Riding it up, his fingers touched Chanyeol’s skin, breaking the older man from the state his racing heart and hormones put him under.
Immediately, Chanyeol pulled away, leaving Baekhyun’s lips unattended and keeping the small male at arm’s length with his hands still gripping his waist.
“Hold on--” Was he thinking clearly? Chanyeol bit his bottom lip. It was still tingling from the contact.
“What? What’s wrong?” Baekhyun’s breathing was ragged, something Chanyeol had to try and ignore.
“Nothing--I just…”
Giving him a confused look, Baekhyun drew his brows together and frowned. “Is it cause I--”
“No. It’s not that--specifically.” Frustrated, Chanyeol let go, stepping away and turning his back against Baekhyun’s view. “It’s just the we’re here. In this kitchen. Making out. And that’s so--”
“Unsanitary?” Baekhyun tried to make light of the situationthat was starting to feel a little...off. “I agree. We can--”
“No, Baek. That’s it. I don’t think we should,” Chanyeol said quickly, turning around to face him. “I mean, it’s nothing against you. I do like you. You’re great and everything--you can cook and deal with kids really well, and everything, but…”
“But what?”
It was difficult to say. Chanyeol didn’t even know what he was doing. All he knew was that kissing Baekhyun felt great, but there was something about that line that Chanyeol wasn’t sure if he wanted to cross or not. First of all, there was the age factor. He was half a decade older than him, which wasn’t extremely extreme, but still. Baekhyun was younger. That six year difference might’ve only been a little jump over a sidewalk crack for the baker, but it looked like the Grand Canyon to Chanyeol, who couldn’t really see past it.
Then there were Sehun and Luhan. His kids. His, as in, he was a single dad, and for him to date Baekhyun, that meant Baekhyun being tied to his thirteen year old boys. Most young adults date, get married, then have kids. Chanyeol felt like he’d be stealing that precious tradition. Maybe Baekhyun could have that with someone else, because he’d automatically get thirteen year olds if they continued on this path.
He was also busy. That was another thing. Between his work and the boys, he barely even had time to eat. Where the hell was he going to be able to fit Baekhyun in his life without rearranging everything, maybe even putting off some work to make some time, but work was important as hell becausethat was how he provided for Sehun and Luhan’s needs and their well-being.
But then again, the boys also needed a stable home, and despite how hard he tried, he knew their house would never be stable enough for the two. With him gone and busy all the time, the boys mostly kept to themselves. They were social with other kids and had multiple friends, but whenever they came home, they only had each other because hewas always off in his office or sleeping from working too much.
Everything was a mess, but Baekhyun was right in front of him. The kiss was amazing, and God only knew how amazing everything else could be if it ever happened. It felt right. For the first time since forever, something felt right, and he was doing something for himself.
He wanted it. It was in his eyes and in his burning chest, but Chanyeol couldn’t do it. Maybe it was out of fear, or low self-esteem due to the age gap and the fact that he had kids while Baekhyun was absolutely perfect, but there wasn’t enough to push him into grabbing the moment and making it his.
Hanging his head, Chanyeol drew his eyes down, avoiding Baekhyun’s gaze for just a few seconds. “I’m sorry,” he managed to say. “I shouldn’t have kissed you. I shouldn’t even have brought this up.”
“Do you not feel the same way?” Baekhyun asked, his voice quiet before picking up. “If you never felt the same way, you should’ve said something before I pulled you down and kissed you. Wasthat was you hesitated? You weren’t sure?”
“It’s not that, Baek. It’s something entirely different.”
Getting off the counter, Baekhyun set his feet on the ground. His hands were hanging by his side. “Then what is it? Stop stalling, and tell me what’s wrong.”
“Everything.” Chanyeol pursed his lips, hoping the word would scare off the latter.
It didn’t. Pushing the envelope, Baekhyun took a step forward. “Everything could mean a lot of things. Tell me what you mean.”
“When I say that it’s everything, I really mean that it is.”
“What does ‘everything’ mean to you, Park Chanyeol?” Baekhyun was starting to sound hurt, despite how Chanyeol knew how hard he was trying to maintain his cool. “You’re not giving me a clear answer.”
Chanyeol looked at him, feeling cornered. “I don’t need to explain why I’m rejecting you. This isn’t high school.”
“You’re right. This isn’t high school, and we’re not kids. I said this before, but I’ll say it again. We’re adults.” Baekhyun clenched his jaw. “And you know what adults do? They talk. They explain. They work things out without playing childish games. If you’re going to kiss me back and let me touch you, then you better explain why you suddenly had a change of heart.”
It waschildish. It was also childish and immature of Chanyeol to leave and never look back.
Sighing, Chanyeol took a step back until his waist hit the counter behind him. “I’m significantly older than you--for one.”
“Six years isn’t significant. Next excuse.”
Chanyeol blinked. “Baekhyun, it’s significant. And no, it’s not an excuse. Don’t say that it is.”
“But that’s exactly what it is.” Running a hand down his face, Baekhyun groaned. “You’re so… ugh. Dumb.”
“It’s not just the age, which, you have to understand. It’s just… To me, right now, it’s something that I can’t get over.”
“Bullshit. You knew how old I was when you kissed me back.”
“Which was a mistake. Just...a mistake. I shouldn’t have. I don’t know why I did.” He knew he was breaking him, but Chanyeol had no other choice. He didn’t know how to let him down easily or say his reasons clearly. Part of him knew that if he ever said them, it’d come out sounding like--as Baekhyun said--excuses… And they weren’t excuses. “I like you, but I can’t do it. This. I can’t do this.”
The silence was more painful to Chanyeol’s ears than anything Baekhyun could’ve said. The kitchen wasn’t small by any means, but it was beginning to make him feel closed off and claustrophobic.
Baekhyun could’ve pushed on. He had the power to and Chanyeol was well aware of that, but he didn’t. He finally tore his eyes away from Chanyeol and walked away without even saying a word, which would’ve been a hell of a lot better than saying nothing at all.
Silently, Chanyeol painfully watched as Baekhyun picked up the used bowls and sugar bags, cleaning up the area they used in the corner.
Wincing to himself, Chanyeol tried to approach him with the decision to try and force himself to forget whatever just happened. But there was no helping him when all he could do was stand there with a hand on the counter.
“Baekhyun.” No answer. “Baekhyun, I’m--”
“Stop apologizing and just forget it.” Baekhyun didn’t spare him a glance. “Let’s get these cleaned up and put into the sink. I have other things to prep.”
“But--”
“Listen, you’re right. It was a mistake. You said you were sorry. Okay. I’m sorry, too. Now can you just pretend with me?” Baekhyun asked, moving briskly around the kitchen with his shoulders indicating how tense he was. “Let’s just go back to how we were before that. At least it’s easier than trying to get you to talk…”
He should’ve argued and defended himself, but Chanyeol deserved it. Nodding, he mumbled a word of compliance and did as he was told.
-
-
The last two weeks of camp were hurtful--at least for the thirty-three year old. As Baekhyun said, they pretended like nothing happened and went about to their usual friendship, but Chanyeol noticed the slight differences, from the way Baekhyun always made sure to never touch him accidentally or on purpose to the way he kept things brief and cold between them. Even when he asked if he’d like to go skinny dipping again (though, thinking back, Chanyeol didn’t know why he ever suggested something like that after what happened), Baekhyun politely refused but offered information about the next “meet up” to which Chanyeol dismissed.
While the boys’ singing abilities got louder (and better, much to Chanyeol’s saving grace), his relationship with Baekhyun got quieter, almost to a point where they avoided each other at every chance. To be fair, it was mostly Chanyeol avoiding the younger. Baekhyun would never say anything about his behavior, only to merely watch Chanyeol change directions when walking or listen to him make excuses about why he couldn’t stop by the classroom.
The situation was pointless as hell and Chanyeol didn’t know what to do so he didn’t deal with it at all.
-
-
“These are all of your bags in here, right?”
“Yeah.” Luhan stood by while Sehun walked around and opened his side of the car, climbing in. “Did you remember to take food from the kitchen like we asked?”
Rolling his eyes, Chanyeol laughed. “Of course. I got you guys, uh, some juice boxes. I also got some leftover fruit in a plastic container.”
“Ugh. Why didn’t you take the leftover cookies or something not lame…”
“Yeah, dad!” Sehun cried from inside the car. Chanyeol glared at the back of his head. “Unless it’s cantaloupe.”
“Are you sure you’re not dad’s twin?” Luhan threw, earning him a middle finger, which Chanyeol had to bit his tongue on. Teenagers. “Anyways, dad, I was wondering, can we--”
“Mr. Park! Mr. Park. Mr. Park!”
Luhan turned around to the voice first, making a face. “It’s Superstar…”
Looking back, Chanyeol noticed Kyungsoo waving at him with his small hand. He looked like he was trying to pull his way closer to him, but the adult Kyungsoo was holding hands with, Baekhyun, was stubborn and continued trying to get him to walk towards their own car.
“Come on, Kyungsoo. Your mom’s going to be waiting,” Baekhyun said gently, putting a hand to the ten year old’s back, but failing in trying to get him to walk without resisting. “Kyungsoo.”
“I want to say bye to Mr. Park.” Adamantly, Kyungsoo pulled away and ran over to Chanyeol and Luhan who was frowning at the kid. Sehun peeked over his seat to watch. “I’ll see you next year.”
Chanyeol smiled, glancing up at Baekhyun before looking back down at Kyungsoo. “Ah, I don’t know if I’ll be coming back next year. The boys might.”
“But--”
“Okay, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun said, interrupting him with a touch to the shoulder. “That’s enough. We’re going to be late.”
“Mom can wait.”
Shaking his head, Baekhyun remained clear. “She’s going to yell at me, Kyungsoo, and you’re going to get grounded.”
“But I--” One look from Baekhyun gave Kyungsoo his final warning. Sighing, he hung his head, lower lip somewhat wobbling. “I have to go now…”
Smiling sympathetically, Chanyeol nodded. “I’ll see you next time, Soo.”
This time, Kyungsoo didn’t tell him that only his mom could call him that.
Nudging Luhan by the arm, Chanyeol cocked his head over at Kyungsoo. “Why don’t you walk him to the car, Lu?”
Surprised by the request (it didn’t even sound like a question), Luhan gave his dad a look. “What? I don’t want to--”
Before he could refuse any more, Kyungsoo reached over happily, grasping the thirteen year old’s hand. “I want to show you my trucks.”
Luhan desperately looked back at Chanyeol. “Dad, I--”
But it was too late. He was already being dragged over to Baekhyun’s black sedan with Kyungsoo happily telling him, “I have red trucks, pink trucks, fire trucks, tow trucks-- What’s your favorite truck? I like trucks.”
Glancing back, Chanyeol noticed Sehun curiously watching. With one grin, Chanyeol raised his hand up and pulled down the SUV’s lift, closing Sehun off.
Turning his attention to Baekhyun, Chanyeol stuffed his hands in his front pockets. “Leaving early, too?”
“Yeah,” Baekhyun replied steadily. “Kyungsoo’s mother’s expecting him by noon. He has his first dance practice today, coincidentally.”
“What about your things?” Chanyeol asked.
“I have my personal belongings in the car. Same with Kyungsoo’s. Jongin’s taking the van back to the bakery later. I’d go with him, but Kyungsoo’s a priority.”
Chanyeol stalled for a moment, not being able to find the right words. Then, he relaxed. This was Baekhyun he was talking to. He wasn’t something to fear, despite their shortcoming.
“I guess this is good-bye, then?” Chanyeol said with a small smile.
Baekhyun did nothing but stare back at him for a few seconds before shrugging. “Maybe,” he replied, looking back at Kyungsoo for a second before making eye contact with the giant again. “You know, if you ever change your mind...if ever...then call me. I’ll forgive you for being dumb.”
The chance given to him was like a hot potato. Chanyeol just had to make sure not to drop it.
Gulping, he nodded, whispering, “Okay.”
-
-
- 3 Months later -
Walking past and briskly nodding to a few associates in the lobby, Chanyeol gripped the cup of coffee in hand as he headed to the elevators. He let a full ride go up without him and waited for the next one.
He took a sip from his cup and cringed at the bitterness. It was fucking terrible, but it was what he needed after an all-nighter drafting possible designs for a short meeting that afternoon. Yawning, he covered his mouth with his sleeve, closing his eyes for a moment to rest them, but always raising his head when he felt himself nodding off.
The elevator rang, signalling his stop on one of the higher floors. He was greeted by the usual people, assistants, interns, and what not on his way to his office. It came to no surprise that when he walked in, Jongdae was sitting in his chair, fiddling with the tiny trinkets that Sehun and Luhan often bought for him whenever they felt like entertaining their dad with stupid, but cute items.
“Morning,” Chanyeol said, yawning as he set his coffee down on his desk and put down the tubes carrying some of his rolled up work. “What’re you doing in here? Did something happen upstairs?”
“No,” Jongdae said, putting the items down and getting up from Chanyeol’s chair. “I actually came here for, let’s say, personal reasons?”
“The answer’s no, then,” Chanyeol muttered, setting his bag down on the table as well. “I’m not interested, and this is the fourth time in the last few months you’ve been bothering me about this ‘personal reason’ that you have.”
Rolling his eyes, Jongdae stepped aside as Chanyeol passed him. “One date is not going to kill you. Working like a slave will, and I’d rather go to your wedding than your funeral.”
“But that’s the thing, I don’t have time to care about dating,” Chanyeol said, spouting one of his ancient old reasons. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead and then, maybe I’ll think about being with someone. In the next life.”
“You’re always depriving yourself,” Jongdae said, picking up a picture frame of the boys that decorated Chanyeol’s dark desk. “See this? They want their dad happy, and as much as you are an asset to me, as their uncle, I can’t have them sad because of you think that putting them first means you have to be unhappy yourself.”
“Jongdae, I--”
Shaking his head, Jongdae set the photo back down, looking straight into Chanyeol’s tired eyes. “Get off work at three, pick up your kids from school for once, and get yourself ready. Your dinner date’s at six-thirty. I’ll send you over the details, and this time? Don’t ditch and come running back here at seven. I’m telling everyone to boycott your services until further notice.”
“Jongdae!” Chanyeol looked at him, annoyed. The lack of sleep and the sudden announcement that he was going on an actual date was making his mood moderately low. However, his cry was ignored with a wave as Jongdae let himself out.
Sitting back in his chair, Chanyeol rubbed his eyes. It was a nuisance. This date. A datethat was forcedon him, and guilted into actually wanting to go.
Of course, Jongdae had to mention the boys. It made Chanyeol feel pretty fucking terrible when the asshole mentioned that he was actually making his sons sad with his own misery. The boys did make it clear that they wanted him to be happy, even going as far as to encourage something like a summer fling, but Chanyeol never knew the extent.
This date...with some stranger he didn’t even know felt, in the slightest bit, wrong, because it just felt like he was being unfaithful to someone. Baekhyun, for one. He still hadn’t forgotten about the baker even after so months had already passed. His wife? No… He knew that she would’ve wanted him happy, too. Chanyeol sighed, leaning back. He felt like he was cheating himself. In the end, he wanted Baekhyun, but this date with a stranger that wasn’tBaekhyun made Chanyeol feel so...half.
But apparently, it was set. And Chanyeol couldn’t be a date-ditching-asshole for the second time in a row. He’d never hear the end of it. The jokes, however, he could deal with, but knowing how sad the boys would be behind closed doors was his biggest push factor.
Groaning, Chanyeol looked at the clock. It was nine, meaning six hours until he had to pick up the boys and nine hours before the date.
-
-
Calling Baekhyun was exactly what he wanted to do two and a half weeks after they returned from Camp Note. After mulling it over and over in his head and hating himself for being so stupid--and afraid-- Chanyeol finally picked up his cellphone, ready to say whatever vomit his mouth wanted to say just to get Baekhyun to forgive him. But the second he pulled up the dialing screen, he realized something.
He never got Baekhyun’s number. Baekhyun never gave it to him. At the time, Kyungsoo was screaming about trucks and Luhan, tired of it, was yelling for Chanyeol to give him permission to leave Kyungsoo in the car. It was a chaotic-ish end that didn’t leave room for anything else but a brief good-bye.
Then, he thought he’d look up the baker’s name in the telephone book. But Baekhyun wasn’t registered, which meant he probably didn’t own a landline. Just a cell phone. Which is fine, but not in Chanyeol’s case.
He tried to search up the man’s bakery, however, but Seoul had hundreds of them, and Chanyeol didn’t have time to personally visit each and every single one of them to asked, “Is there a short stump here by the name of Byun Baekhyun?”
After some time, he gave up, leaving everything to fate even though he didn’t really believe in fate in the first place. Does something exist if you don’t believe in it? Chanyeol didn’t know. Butthat was what he did. If he accidentally met Baekhyun at the grocery store, then great. If he never saw Baekhyun again, then so be it.
Chanyeol felt really lame about it, but what could he do.
-
-
Sehun kicked his feet up, putting them against the headrest of the passenger seat. He was tired. Physical ed had drained him of everything, especially when the teacher made them run four laps around the track as punishment for a stupid prank someone did, but that didn’t stop his mouth from teasing his father.
“What happened to Kim? Did you fire her? Is that why you’re picking us up today?”
Rolling his eyes, Luhan reached over and swatted Sehun’s feet off. “You’re going to get the seat dirty, you moron--but Sehun’s right, dad. Did you fire her?”
“No, I didn’t.” Chanyeol sighed. He’d never fire Kim, simply because he felt sorry since the eighteen year old liked the job anyways. Easy money for driving two boys to and from school while living in the same complex. “Your uncle just thought it’d be nice if I picked you guys up for once.”
“Ooh,” Luhan cooed, glancing over at Sehun who looked back at him with the same gleam in his eyes. “Dad, are you finally gonna go on that thing?”
“The date. The date.” Sehun made sure to enunciate very specifically. “Don’t ditch dad. I ditched on my marshmallow girlfriend at camp and we broke up. You can’t do that.”
“I won’t, I won’t,” Chanyeol promised, eyes on the road. “I’ll be nice this time.”
“Good!” Luhan said. “Make sure you like them and bring them home. Marry them. Okay? Be happy if you like them. You’ll like them, right?”
Chanyeol gave the both a look through the rear view mirror. “Well, I haven’t met them… but we’ll have to see. You’re a little too excited about this, you know that?”
Shrugging, Luhan settled into his seat. “Maybe.”
Sehun wriggled, leaning forward. “Dad, are we gonna have to sleep at someone else’s house? Do we get to stay with Kim tonight?”
“Why’re you asking?”
“Adults need their space right after dates right?”
Scoffing, Luhan pulled him back. “That’s if they like each other, remember? Dad hasn’t even met them yet.”
“Oh, right.”
Seriously, they were teens. Of course sexual innuendos were bound to happen. Everything was bound to happen. Parenting isn’t always a walk in the fucking flower garden.Chanyeol was about to cry. His kids weren’t kids anymore. They were teens.
With that being said, it felt like a chapter was closing and a new one was beginning to open. From their transition from kids to teens in his eyes, maybe it was a sign that it was okay to start looking at himself. Maybe this date could open doors to more possibilities. At least, he had to start trying and stop with his reasons not to.
Sighing, Chanyeol pursed his lips. “No. I won’t bring anyone home. You’ll stay at the condo.”
“Ah, okay… So, we don’t have to wait up for you.”
Luhan snickered with his brother along side of him, leaving Chanyeol jaw dropped, ears red. When made a mental note to talk to his sons properly about sex and other things he used to cringe about whenever he thought of the inevitable fact that he’d have to give them the talk (and several other talks) later. The time had come for everyone.
-
-
Chanyeol parked his car not too far from the restaurant venue Jongdae had texted him, but it was still far enough that he had to walk and withstand the chilly air that accompanied the oncoming night. He dressed casually, not too business-like and not too casual Friday. A long coat and a scarf with jeans and dress shoes was enough for him to look nice, though when he looked in the mirror, his appearance screamed “Dad” louder than Sehun who was in the living room actually screaming for him because Luhan had stabbed him on the elbow with a fork for trying to take his chicken wings.
As he walked with his hands in his coat pockets, Chanyeol tried to get his boys out of his mind. He needed to be focused and not think about them all the time despite the fact that it was a force of habit. But after he tried, he realized that the closer he got to the venue, the more he thought about what the hell Baekhyun might’ve been doing at the moment. Was he eating? Still working at his bakery, which Chanyeol had no idea where it was even at? Maybe he was prepping like he always did. Or maybe he was babysitting mom’s little superstar.
Chanyeol lost track of how many times he tried wishing on the stars to meet Baekhyun again. There were a lot of things to apologize for. He was an ass. Even his kids thought so when they found out. Hell, they even stopped talking to him for a few hours, upset that their dad could be thatstupid.
Age did matter. It mattered a lot, but if it didn’t bother Baekhyun, then why should he have cared so much? Baekhyun knew he was a single dad. He knew he had two kids, teens, at this point… That didn’t stop him from liking him and accepting that by kissing him, it meant that his kids, his background didn’t mean shit at all.
It took some time after camp ended for Chanyeol to realize how stupid he was in thinking that Baekhyun would’ve been blind sided by having to also talk on two sons. It was staring at Chanyeol in the face for two months. Baekhyun was fucking greatwith kids! He knew how to handle Kyungsoo and all the kids in his small class. Baekhyun also knew what they liked to eat and what their habits were when eating.
Chanyeol almost walked into a pole, catching himself at the second. Looking up, he saw the venue across the street. When the pedestrian signal flashed, he walked across, holding his breath and preparing himself for a dinner that could go in any direction. Maybe this date would make him forget about Baekhyun. Maybe it’d close that summer chapter of his life. Maybe he would find the one, and if not, maybe this person would remind him that it’s okay and it’s actually niceto get back into the dating scene--even if he missed his chance with Baekhyun.
Or maybe his date wasBaekhyun and he was sitting at a table just beyond the glass windows, staring at his phone.
Chanyeol might’ve jumped to quick conclusions, but his heart began to race and he broke out into a cold sweat. There he was. Sitting there. On his phone with a cell phone number he never gave that summer when they parted which delayed their entire reunion and--Shit.
He took a step back away from the window, away from being seen. This was what he was waiting for. A coincidental chance, and yet he was freezing his feet to the ground, and turning in the opposite direction.
Panic set in. What could he say? Did he even have anything to say? Chanyeol had a truckload of things to say, but now that the opportunity was right there, he was turning into a coward. With his head down, he started walking, quickly, in the other direction, going straight back to his car--until he realized what the hell he was actually doing.
Giving up again. Letting his cowardice and embarrassment and awkwardness win like it did last summer.
“Goddamn it.”
Chanyeol turned on his heel again, striding quickly back to the restaurant. He hesitated for a second at the door, but pushed past his doubts and went inside, greeted promptly by the waiter who asked for his reservation. After giving Jongdae’s name, he was led into the dining area he saw Baekhyun in. With his eyes transfixed on the distracted male, Chanyeol accidentally bumped into the waiter who stopped just a few tables away from where Baekhyun was beginning to yawn and put away his phone.
“Please have a seat, sir.”
Chanyeol blinked. He looked back at Baekhyun, who hadn’t noticed him yet, and then to the empty area where he was being directed. Then it dawned on him. Baekhyun wasn’t his date.
God, he felt sostupid. Now he was going to sit there, alone, and Baekhyun was going to notice him being alone. Why that even mattered, Chanyeol couldn’t explain, not even to himself.
It was embarrassing to even think that Baekhyun was his date. Why did he even thinkthat!?
Begrudgingly, Chanyeol sat down and the waiter gave him a menu with a glass of water for his wait. After he left, the giant felt like putting his head down and slowly fade into dust because that’s what embarrassment made him want to do. Just disappear.
He tried to stop himself from looking in Baekhyun’s direction, but apparently, he was doing a better job at pretending Baekhyun wasn’t there than he initially thought. When his head was turned in the direction of the restaurant door, he felt a soft whack on the back of his head, down thoughtfully by the menu he had neglected and put off to the side.
“Not even gonna say hi to me?”
When Chanyeol turned his head to the voice, he could already feel himself melting away. “Oh, I didn’t see you there,” he said weakly.
Scoffing, Baekhyun pulled out the seatthat was supposed to be for Chanyeol’s date, but the giant didn’t care. “I would actually believe that if I didn’t see you walking back and forth on the sidewalk or hear your dumb, nervous voice at the entrance…” He stopped for a moment, looking over Chanyeol’s appearance. “You look good.”
“Thanks… You, too.” There was a lump in Chanyeol’s throat and it was the need to ask Baekhyun what he was doing there. Luckily for him, Baekhyun satisfied that curiosity.
“I’m supposed to have dinner with Jongin. It’s like an employee of the month kind of thing. I take them out to dinner. Bill’s on me,” Baekhyun said, eyes never leaving Chanyeol’s. “But my reason for being here is boring. Tell me. What brings you here on the romantic side of town?”
Pursing his lips, Chanyeol debated whether to lie or not. How would Baekhyun feel if he was on a date? He knew how he’dfeel if it was the other way around. Terrible.
“Uh, for business,” Chanyeol offered, trying to sound serious. “Just business.”
“Oh, really?” Baekhyun said with a smile that told Chanyeol that he saw right through him. “Business at this cute, little romantic Italian bistro? This is where you take your clients? I’d believe that if it were day, but with the lights dimmed and all these plants in the room, I can’t exactly say that this is the most appropriate place to hold a business meeting.”
Playing back, Chanyeol cocked his head. “And you expect me to believe that you’re only here at this ‘cute, little romantic Italian bistro’ with Jongin for an employee of the month dinner award?”
Baekhyun laughed, shrugging. “He likes it here and it’s based on the employee’s choice. What can I do? Saying no would go against everything my promise stands for. So, really, though? You’re here for a date, aren’t you? Look at you, dressed in your jacket and scarf. So grown up. I’m almost offended you didn’t call me at all, Park.”
“Tch…” Chanyeol gave him a sour look before giving Baekhyun a look for feigned anger. “Whatever--You shouldn’t even be almost offended. You didn’t give me your number! All that talk about calling you and you didn’t even give me a number?”
“What are you talking about? Yes, I did,” Baekhyun said, the smile on his face disappearing.
“When?” Chanyeol demanded.
“You left to get Luhan from my car because he was screaming about Kyungsoo holding onto him so I went around and gave Sehun a piece of paper with it on it. I told him to give it to you when you guys got home.”
“What--” Chanyeol was speechless. “Of all the people you gave your number to, you gave it to Sehun!?”
Taken aback, Baekhyun frowned. “What’s wrong with Sehun?”
“He loses everything,” Chanyeol said, frustrated. “He even came home one day with no shoes on because he forgot where he left them!”
“Oh…” It settled on Baekhyun that it might’ve been his fault for the lack of calls between them. “Well, didn’t you try to look up my bakery?”
“There are a lot of bakeries in Seoul, Baekhyun--”
“I’m the only Byunny Bakery on Chungmuro--Remember? The place you said you helped build something at? I told you that it was a bother trying to walk to my supplier while you guys were building. I wouldn’t walk to my suppliers if they weren’t close to my shop, Chanyeol.” Sighing, Baekhyun looked back and saw Jongin coming from the men’s bathroom. “You know what? Come here.”
Grabbing Chanyeol’s hand, he pulled him up and led him to the table where he was sitting the first time Chanyeol saw him in the restaurant. After placing him down, Baekhyun went over and pulled Jongin aside. It took a few minutes for the baker to convince the man to take Chanyeol’s place in his blind date, but eventually, things were settled.
When Baekhyun rejoined him, Chanyeol asked, “Is he really okay with it?”
“He’ll be fine. I told him everything’s paid for and he can have whatever he wants. The date thing doesn’t really bother Jongin,” Baekhyun said, taking a sip from his water. “He’s what you call a playboy? Charming. Too charming. But enough about him because I didn’t just take you away from your date to talk about Jongin.”
“Then what did you want to talk about?” God, he was lame. Really lame.
Baekhyun gave him a soft expression. “I don’t know. You tell me.”
Chanyeol was just nervous a few minutes ago when he thought Baekhyun was his damn date. He was a wreck outside the restaurant when he sawBaekhyun. All of a sudden, those feelings were gone. Everything else around him from the bustling waiters to the other individuals there to wine and dine began to fade in his eyes, all except Baekhyun.
“I…”
Nodding, Baekhyun waited. “You…?”
“I shouldn’t have stopped kissing you back there,” Chanyeol said, a little too loudly. Even Baekhyun glanced to the side at the people around them. “I should’ve just kept on kissing you and not even thought about stupid things like age and kids--Well, okay. Those aren’t stupid things. Those are good things to think about, but you know what I mean. I should’ve just…”
“Stayed. You should’ve just stayed.”
Chanyeol opened his mouth, but found that nothing came out. In the end, he merely bobbed his head. “Yeah… I guess you could put it that way… I shouldn’t have judged the gap between us based on age alone. You’re obviously really mature. Even more than me. I was just thinking that you might be bothered by my single dad status. I mean, yeah. You’re into this, but what about Se and Lu? Would you want them, too?”
“Chanyeol, I have no issues with your sons. In fact, I like them. Judging by the looks that they gave me on the playground back then, I can only guess that they’re fine with us,” Baekhyun said, running a hand through his (perfectly soft--damn) hair. “If I was bothered by them, I wouldn’t have let them into the kitchen after lunch and dinner to grab whatever was left of the desserts you and I made.”
“Really? You did that?”
Baekhyun shrugged like it was nothing, unaware that it was making Chanyeol’s heart swell up with a shit ton of feelings. “In the beginning they said that the desserts were kind of weird, so I blamed it on you. Sorry. Then, after a while, they started saying it was good, so they were indirectly giving you credit for improving your baking skills.”
Chanyeol made a note to hug his kids later--after making pinching Sehun on the cheek for losing Baekhyun’s number.
“Baek…” Chanyeol said, starting weakly. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
“It’s in the past--in a good way. Now that you know I’m fine with your sons--and vice versa-- what do you want to do?”
“Talk about our schedules.” It was an important thing. He was a workaholic, apparently. Everyone knew it. “I work... a lot.”
“I know.”
“But I don’t mind cutting back. I don’t think my boss minds either because he’s actually the one who tried setting me up on a date with…” Turning around, Chanyeol turned to point at Jongin, but found the young man happily laughing (and courting?) the woman seated across from him. She was damn well attractive, but he had no regrets leaving the table at all. Not when Baekhyun was right there.” Her.. I was supposed to go on a date with her.”
Glancing down, Baekhyun placed his finger on the rim of his cold glass. “Well, I’m not going to apologize for taking you away.”
“I wouldn’t want you to.” Sighing, Chanyeol straightened his posture, appearing a bit tenser than before. “Can I just...formally ask you out right now? Is my timing awful?”
“It’s really awful, Park.” Giving a small laugh, Baekhyun smiled. “But go on. I like to see you struggling.”
“Really mean of you…” Chanyeol muttered.
“Well, it was really mean of you to avoid me for so long. Even here when you could clearly see me from over there.”
Shots fired. Chanyeol was hit.
Putting his hands up in front of him, Chanyeol took what Baekhyun had to say. “Alright. I deserved that. Let me make it up to you?”
“How’re you going to make up three months to me?”
Good question.
Moving around in his seat, Chanyeol thought about it for a while before giving up on a clear and detailed answer, instead asking, “I don’t know yet, but can I start by asking for your number this time? It’d be really helpful with the rest of my plan, which is still in progress.”
Scoffing, Baekhyun leaned over and motioned his hand for the phone. After Chanyeol handed his device over, he watched the baker quickly enter in his info (with selca attached--bless) and gladly took the phone back when given back.
“I don’t have a free day until Friday this week,” Baekhyun said, giving Chanyeol no chance to speak. “So tonight can be our first date because Jongin and I never ordered before you got here. Is that fine with you?”
“Yeah--Really fine. Absolutely,” Chanyeol stumbled. Over ecstatic. This must’ve been how the boys felt when they first arrived at camp. Really, really excited for the future. “Oh, but about Friday… You said you’re off that day?”
“Well, not off,” Baekhyun said, bobbing his head in an iffy way. “I just get off earlier. Planning to, actually. Why, Park? Do you want to invite me somewhere?”
It was obvious that that’s what Baekhyun wanted, and Chanyeol would’ve been super dense not to know it. In that case, he really didn’t deserve Baekhyun at all.
Nodding quickly, Chanyeol took the opening he was being given--for once. “Dinner. At my place. With the boys. This time, I’ll cook for you.”
“Hm… No.” The look on Chanyeol’s face fueled Baekhyun’s amusement. “How about you get the ingredients ready and we can cook together. Besides, I’d like to get to know them better aside from the fact that I don’t think you’re a master chef in the kitchen. It might kill the romance--and all of us.”
“I should be really offended, but I’m feeling really touched,” Chanyeol said, wheezing as he clutched his chest, making Baekhyun roll his eyes. “But okay. It’s a second date.”
“Glad you finally came around, Park.”
Hanging his head to hide the smile on his face, Chanyeol nodded. He felt more at peace knowing that what he was feeling was happiness, a type of happiness that his kids could never fill. It was a type of happiness that even his most beautiful architectural design couldn’t make him feel. This happiness was reserved for certain people and Baekhyun was it. Knowing this, Chanyeol made a very, very, very important note to himself to never be dumb and let him go so easily again.
“I am, too.”
-
-
-four months later-
Baekhyun burst through the bedroom doors in a hurry, catching Chanyeol in the midst of trying to fix his tie. Alarmed that something might’ve happened, the giant stopped what he was doing and walked over. “What’s wrong? Did something happen? I said I’d be done in a second.”
“No,” Baekhyun said, shaking his head. “Everything’s fine. I just-- The twins said something that caught my attention.”
Knowing Luhan’s history with “adult things” and other teenager topics that Chanyeol tried to educate on, the thirty-three year old’s ears perked. “What? What’d they say?”
“They said that you ditched someone on a date once?”
“Oh, no...Baekhyun, I swear, I’m not a playboy or something. I’m not Jongin,” Chanyeol said, defending himself. That happened so long ago. He already forgot about it.
“It’s not that,” Baekhyun said, waving him off. “They also mentioned an Uncle Jongdae. Is it Kim Jongdae from the JDKim firm? Your workplace?”
His mouth was hanging, but Chanyeol nodded. “Yeah? He’s my boss…”
The look Baekhyun gave him was hard to read. Shocked? Confused? With a slight hint of annoyance?
“So, you’re the mystery date who stood me up a year ago.” Baekhyun put his hands on his waist. “I’m surprised...but knowing you now, not so much.”
Poking their heads at the door way, Sehun and Luhan watched with their eyes looking extremely apologetic to their dad.
“Are you going to break up with dad?” Luhan asked.
Sehun’s lips were in a thin line. “Please don’t. He’s not an asshole.”
“He’s just dumb.”
Giving Chanyeol a look before turning around to the teenages, Baekhyun smiled, walking to the door. “I’m not. We’re just going to have a talk about etiquette for a bit, okay?”
“You don’t have to be PG with us, Baek,” Luhan whispered before pulling Sehun away by the collar. “We got it.”
“We got what?”
Rolling his eyes at his brother, Luhan waved. “We’ll be in the living room with Kyungsoo.”
“I don’t want to be in the living room with Kyungsoo anymore!”
“Shut up! Dad’s getting it!”
“You’re really gross! Ugh.”
After closing the door behind him, Baekhyun walked over and quickly fixed the tiethat was beginning to be a problem for the architect. Fixing buildings, he could do. Ties, not so much.
“Are you mad?”
Baekhyun raised his eyes to him. “Why would I be? I didn’t even know you back then.”
“Honest?”
“Honest. Besides, I think meeting you at some singing camp in the middle of nowhere is better than some blind date set up. More fun. More...naked sort of fun.” Pulling Chanyeol down with the use of his tie, Baekhyun grinned as he whispered into Chanyeol’s ear. “I lied. I saw it back in the lake. Forget Jaws. It’s the Loch Ness Monster.”
-
-
“What was that?” Kyungsoo asked, raising his head when he heard his uncle’s shriek.
The twins looked at each other before giving the superstar their weary answers.
“It’s nothing,” Luhan said, turning the volume of the television up.
“Yeah. Just...play with your trucks.”
Kyungsoo took no offense in their lack of interest in his toys, going back to crashing his pink truck and his purple truck together over and over and over again.
previous
Not entirely against his will, Chanyeol leaned against the chimney with a nervous, tight smile on his face. The sun was beating down on him and the hike wasn’t as easy as he thought. Unlike how they went down to the other side of the lake, there wasno downhill pathway. Everything was entirely uphill, which killed his thighs, but it was good exercise according to Baekhyun who didn’t even break a sweat. Of course.
“Can you, uh, take the picture already?” Chanyeol asked tightly. The chimney was creepy, let along really dusty and old. “It’s not hard to tap on the button, you know.”
“I accidentally clicked the home button,” Baekhyun muttered, his head tilted to get a more focused view of the cell phone. “I’m trying to get the camera app back up.”
“Here, let me--”
“No. Stay there.” After a few seconds, Baekhyun straightened his posture and motioned for Chanyeol to stand closer to the chimney. “Ready?”
“I’ve been ready for the last minute, but yeah,” Chanyeol said through grinning teeth. He changed his pose when he noticed Baekhyun tapping multiple times. “Got it?”
“Yeah. You look really lame, though,” Baekhyun told him, handing the phone back. “Who actually leans next to old, burnt down chimneys?”
“Are you kidding me? Taking a photo with it was your idea!” Narrowing his eyes at the laughing male in front of him, Chanyeol clicked his tongue as he looked through the photos which were bad orawkward, as Baekhyun put it. “All I wanted was a photo of the thing and here you are making me take a photo with it…”
“No better way to get over your fear than to face it head on, right?”
“Yeah, but I never said I was afraid of this chimney.” Scoffing, Chanyeol put his phone away. “This chimney’s not even part of anything…”
“Cause it burned down, Chanyeol. I told you,” Baekhyun said, sighing as he picked up a rock. “See this? It’s not supposed to be black. It ended up being that way after the fire. Here. Catch.”
Jumping out of the way, Chanyeol cursed, throwing Baekhyun a glare. “Don’t throw haunted rocks at me!”
“See? You’re scared of anything supernatural, though I’m not saying that the rock is supernaturally significant.” Pointing at the black rock on the ground, which Chanyeol promptly kicked away right after dodging it. “Act of fear right there.”
“Act of…” Bending down, Chanyeol picked up the cursed rock and flung it back in Baekhyun’s direction, hitting the male square on the chest. “Did that hurt?”
“Not really…” Raising his brows at the giant, Baekhyun snorted. “Did you think it would? Is that why you jumped out of the way? Tch. Really lame.”
“Why--” Pursing his lips, Chanyeol made a face. “Anyone ever told you that you play really mean sometimes?”
“Often.”
-
-
With his legs swinging back and forth, Sehun accidentally kicked dirt and pieces of wood over to his dad, sitting just a few feet away on a stump with a popsicle stick that he had snuck from the kitchen, or so he told the kids. In truth, Baekhyun rolled his eyes when Chanyeol even asked for the favor.
“Sorry,” Sehun muttered, popping his popsicle out of his mouth. “These swings are too low.”
“Then why do you keep swinging?”
“Because it’s fun.”
Luhan gave his twin the narrow eyes before turning his head to his father. As always, he felt like something was missing, and he always felt sad when they were all together. Though a family, it seemed like Sehun was more like his companion and vice versa, but their dad didn’t have anyone. Lazily sitting on the swing set, Luhan smacked his lips together, licking the sticky popsicle residue off his lips. “How’s the summer fling thing?”
Chanyeol looked at him like he was caught right off guard. “What summer fling thing? Who’s having a fling?”
“You?” Luhan gave him a weird expression. “You’re working on it with Kyungsoo’s uncle, right? Baekhyun?”
“Who told you this?” Chanyeol could feel his face warming up.
“Kyungsoo,” Sehun answered. “He started talking to us about you.”
“And what did he say?” Honestly, he was curious what mother’s little “superstar” had to spill. For a kid that didn’t like to talk very much, he was really nosy.
Grinning, Luhan’s eyes glistened. “Why? Are you worried that he spilled some incriminating truth about you and Mr. Byun?”
“Luhan, stop being an ass,” Sehun muttered.
“Dad, he cursed.”
“But it’s true!” Defending himself, Sehun tried to kick back in Luhan’s direction, ultimately failing and losing one of his shoes in the process. “Ugh.”
Getting up from his tree stump, Chanyeol walked over to the lost shoe and picked it up, handing it back to Sehun who muttered a thanks.
“Okay, cursing is bad. Sehun, don’t let me hear that again. Luhan, stop being one. Now, both of you, what did Kyungsoo say?” Chanyeol asked, exasperated as he sat back down. “You don’t exactly have to tell me what he said from word to word, because...because I know he talks weird.”
Rolling his eyes, Luhan began to push himself back and forth. “He said that you hung out with his uncle a lot. He also said that his uncle likes you. And then, he said he had friends, which, is alright? I don’t know.”
“Then he came back, remember?” Sehun added. “He came back, and he said that it’s not fair that you’re spending that much time with his uncle.”
Chanyeol awed. “He’s jealous?”
“Yeah, so you better fight him,” Luhan goaded.
“I’m not going to fight a ten year old.”
“Lame, dad. What’re you going to do when he starts occupying Baekhyun’s attention?”
Looking down, Chanyeol focused his eyes on the bare popsicle stick. “Well, you know, Baekhyun’s only here because of Kyungsoo, so obviously, that’s inevitable.”
“Dad, you can’t let a ten year old cock block you!”
“Luhan!”
Sehun shook his head. “Dad, I think this is a good time to tell you that Luhan saw some things online.”
“Oh my god.”
Taking his hands to his head, Chanyeol closed his eyes for a moment. So his sons discovered porn. Not exactly the best day of his life, but it was bound to happen. Puberty was inevitable. He went through it. With two boys, of course he would’ve had to deal with this. Looking up, he saw Luhan with his head down, ears red.
Inhaling, Chanyeol tried to put on a face. Parenting was embarrassing sometimes. “Okay, well… We’ll deal with this later. Um, okay. Alright, uh…” Being saved by the bell (more specifically, Junmyeon’s voice over the camp intercom), he stood up and looked back at the playground full of kids walking back to their camp leaders. “This was good talk, you guys.”
Sehun hopped off the swing set and started walking back, not waiting on Luhan who was trudging slowly along, trying to keep his facial expression cool. Sighing, Chanyeol walked by him, slinging an arm around Luhan, pulling him close.
“It’s okay. I’ll pretend I never heard anything.”
“Whatever, just focus on yourself.” Luhan said, muttering under his breath before nudging Chanyeol on the side with his elbow. “Ask Baekhyun out or something… We’ll handle Kyungsoo.”
-
-
Did he even wantto get involved with Baekhyun? It was a question that needed to be addressed. Immensely focused on snipping bags of flour, Chanyeol never noticed the way his name was being called by the very same person occupying his brain.
“Chanyeol.”
Snapping out of it, he lifted his head and blinked. Baekhyun was looking at him with his head cocked, curiously wondering why it took so long for the giant to notice that he was being called.
“Yeah?” Baekhyun… Did he always look at him like that? Chanyeol tried to shake away the thought. “What? Did you say something?”
“I did…” Baekhyun replied, slowly. “I said that we don’t need flour, and you just started cutting open four bags.”
“Oh… I thought muffins needed flour?” It was a shit excuse, but nothing else popped into his head. Chanyeol put down the scissors and stared at the open flour bags. “What should I do with these?”
Moving closer to him, Baekhyun took a bag and dropped it in on the corner of the counter behind him, next to a mixer. “Just put them here… I’ll think of some way to make use of them later for lunch or dinner.”
“I’m sorry, Baek,” Chanyeol apologized, hurrying with the task. “I’m just a little out of it? I don’t know.”
“Penny for your thoughts, then?”
The kitchen was empty, besides them, so it put more pressure on Chanyeol to try and avoid any type of conversation or answer that would lead to an awkward silence. It was four in the morning, and they were prepping for the day. It was something Baekhyun did religiously for the last month and a half of camp, but Chanyeol only began joining him a week prior to that night.
Ever since the twins revealed Kyungsoo’s loud mouth gossip two weeks ago, Chanyeol found it hard to focus on anything else besides the fact that the little superstar said that his uncle liked him. For all he knew, it could’ve been “like” as in how a man might like another man as a friend. But then again, it could’ve meant that Baekhyun likedliked him. There was no real way of determining any of it. Kid's had a weird lingo. They used words with double meaning without specifying which definition they meant to use in context, but there was nothing Chanyeol could do about that.
In that moment, he did have the urge to outrightly ask Baekhyun if he did like him--then ask whybecause who the hell would like a thirty-three year old single father architect, awkward and lame (according to his own sons)? But then, he thought that it would make things exactly what he didn’t want. Awkward.
Reaching up, Baekhyun rubbed his thumb along Chanyeol’s jaw line, concerned about the flour powder that he made a streak on his face. It was an innocent gesture, but Chanyeol felt his heart sky rocket off to nowhere, and it was a feeling he hadn’t felt since he met the boys’ mother.
As Baekhyun laughed at him for his startled expression, Chanyeol opened his mouth to say one thing, but accidentally said another. “Do you like me?”
Gradually, the laughter stopped, and Baekhyun’s lips settled in a line. It wasn’t a cold or upset expression. There was interest and a hint of teaseful play in his eyes. “Why are you asking, Park Chanyeol?”
“Because Kyungsoo said you do.” He was blaming the ten year old. It took Chanyeol a second to realize it.
“And?”
Baekhyun was crushing him like a walnut. It was obvious how the latter would not let that slip of the tongue go away so easily. Kyungsoo couldn’t save him.
“And…” The proximity between suddenly became painfully obvious. “And I wanted to know if it was true.”
Baekhyun smiled. It was wrecking Chanyeol. “Why?”
“Okay, can you stop with the one worded replies? I answered two of your questions,” Chanyeol said, trying to get the heat off of him and onto Baekhyun’s court. “Answer mine.”
“After you answer me,” Baekhyun retorted.
“That’s not fair.”
Snorting, Baekhyun grinned. “We’re not kids. Adults don’t have to play fair.”
Stumped because comebacks were never really his thing and Baekhyun always knew what to say, Chanyeol shrugged, struggling to maintain eye contact. “Okay, then… What was the question? Why? Because... I don’t really have a clear answer, to be honest.”
“Then make one.”
“You’re asking for a lot, Baek,” Chanyeol said, giving a small laugh. He ran a hand through his hair. “I can’t. I’m not good with thinking on my feet.”
“That’s a really lame excuse.” Baekhyun paused. “Speak from your heart, then.”
Making a face, Chanyeol scoffed. “That’s embarrassing--Hey. Answer my question. Is it true or are you just grilling me because it’s fun?”
Giving up on Chanyeol’s ability to speak clearly, Baekhyun shrugged. “Maybe. Who knows.”
Narrowing his eyes, Chanyeol glared. It wasn’t a genuine answer. Baekhyun, unlike him, knew what to say, but he chose to avoid saying it--not because he was unsure, but because he knew it’d make the man in front of him annoyed. And he was right. Chanyeol was annoyed.
“I’m going to take that as a yes,” Chanyeol announced, hoping that his words would corner Baekhyun to either admit or vehemently deny the statement.
“Are you sure about that?” Baekhyun asked, avoiding the trap and putting the spotlight back on the giant. “Actually, first of all, elaborate on what you mean by ‘like’. Maybe I do like you. Maybe I do see you as a friend.”
“Just a friend?”
“Maybe.” Chanyeol was beginning to hate that word. “Or, I dolike you, except it’s more like I see you as someone who could possibly be more than just a friend. Maybe someone that I do have an interest in because you’re interesting, funny, attractive, cute, clumsy, dumb, and attractive--Wait. I think I said that twice…Hm. Never mind. You understand, don’t you?”
No. He did not understand. In fact, if anything, Chanyeol was ten thousand steps behind where he used to be. He wasn’t even on the planet anymore. He was in space, in a black hole, in the fourth dimension where nothing made sense.
“I don’t...understand.”
“See?” Baekhyun said with that dumb smile still on his face and his lips still curved in a waythat was just asking for Chanyeol’s immediate attention. “Clumsy. Funny. Dumb. And attractive while being all three. That’s you.”
All the hints were like atomic bombs and the explosions were too big for Chanyeol to ignore. He got it. He understood. It was like the lightbulb in his head finally came on and he could see everythingfrom the way Baekhyun was reallylooking at him to the way his head was tilted up, just ready--and waiting--to be grasped and cupped, to be pulled into a kiss to see whether or not sparks would fly, and it was something Chanyeol thought he’d never feel again, but it was there and he couldn’t ignore it anymore.
Carefully, he lifted his hands and cupped Baekhyun’s face in between them. Chanyeol pursed his lips, almost shaking in the moment before he leaned down to kiss him, but just as Baekhyun closed his eyes, Chanyeol pulled back for a split second.
“Wait, this is okay, right?”
“Are you fucking--” Baekhyun never cursed. Rarely, he did. Then again, he never pulled Chanyeol down and slanted his lips over the thirty-three year old’s either.
It had been so long since Chanyeol ever really kissed anybody like that before, but with Baekhyun, it felt right and comfortable. He tried to be gentle, but the younger was demanding, so Chanyeol kept up to speed, licking the baker’s lower lip and earning a gasp from him when his hands snaked behind the male’s waist, giving an experimental squeeze to his cheeks.
Picking Baekhyun up, Chanyeol set him on a clear counter, careful not to put him in a place where his head would hit the hanging pans from the ceiling. When his lips parted, he was taken by surprise when Baekhyun took the opportunity to slide his tongue in his mouth, but he welcomed it, grazing his tongue against his.
Putting his hands on Chanyeol’s chest, Baekhyun dragged his hands down until he felt the hem of the shirt. Riding it up, his fingers touched Chanyeol’s skin, breaking the older man from the state his racing heart and hormones put him under.
Immediately, Chanyeol pulled away, leaving Baekhyun’s lips unattended and keeping the small male at arm’s length with his hands still gripping his waist.
“Hold on--” Was he thinking clearly? Chanyeol bit his bottom lip. It was still tingling from the contact.
“What? What’s wrong?” Baekhyun’s breathing was ragged, something Chanyeol had to try and ignore.
“Nothing--I just…”
Giving him a confused look, Baekhyun drew his brows together and frowned. “Is it cause I--”
“No. It’s not that--specifically.” Frustrated, Chanyeol let go, stepping away and turning his back against Baekhyun’s view. “It’s just the we’re here. In this kitchen. Making out. And that’s so--”
“Unsanitary?” Baekhyun tried to make light of the situationthat was starting to feel a little...off. “I agree. We can--”
“No, Baek. That’s it. I don’t think we should,” Chanyeol said quickly, turning around to face him. “I mean, it’s nothing against you. I do like you. You’re great and everything--you can cook and deal with kids really well, and everything, but…”
“But what?”
It was difficult to say. Chanyeol didn’t even know what he was doing. All he knew was that kissing Baekhyun felt great, but there was something about that line that Chanyeol wasn’t sure if he wanted to cross or not. First of all, there was the age factor. He was half a decade older than him, which wasn’t extremely extreme, but still. Baekhyun was younger. That six year difference might’ve only been a little jump over a sidewalk crack for the baker, but it looked like the Grand Canyon to Chanyeol, who couldn’t really see past it.
Then there were Sehun and Luhan. His kids. His, as in, he was a single dad, and for him to date Baekhyun, that meant Baekhyun being tied to his thirteen year old boys. Most young adults date, get married, then have kids. Chanyeol felt like he’d be stealing that precious tradition. Maybe Baekhyun could have that with someone else, because he’d automatically get thirteen year olds if they continued on this path.
He was also busy. That was another thing. Between his work and the boys, he barely even had time to eat. Where the hell was he going to be able to fit Baekhyun in his life without rearranging everything, maybe even putting off some work to make some time, but work was important as hell becausethat was how he provided for Sehun and Luhan’s needs and their well-being.
But then again, the boys also needed a stable home, and despite how hard he tried, he knew their house would never be stable enough for the two. With him gone and busy all the time, the boys mostly kept to themselves. They were social with other kids and had multiple friends, but whenever they came home, they only had each other because hewas always off in his office or sleeping from working too much.
Everything was a mess, but Baekhyun was right in front of him. The kiss was amazing, and God only knew how amazing everything else could be if it ever happened. It felt right. For the first time since forever, something felt right, and he was doing something for himself.
He wanted it. It was in his eyes and in his burning chest, but Chanyeol couldn’t do it. Maybe it was out of fear, or low self-esteem due to the age gap and the fact that he had kids while Baekhyun was absolutely perfect, but there wasn’t enough to push him into grabbing the moment and making it his.
Hanging his head, Chanyeol drew his eyes down, avoiding Baekhyun’s gaze for just a few seconds. “I’m sorry,” he managed to say. “I shouldn’t have kissed you. I shouldn’t even have brought this up.”
“Do you not feel the same way?” Baekhyun asked, his voice quiet before picking up. “If you never felt the same way, you should’ve said something before I pulled you down and kissed you. Wasthat was you hesitated? You weren’t sure?”
“It’s not that, Baek. It’s something entirely different.”
Getting off the counter, Baekhyun set his feet on the ground. His hands were hanging by his side. “Then what is it? Stop stalling, and tell me what’s wrong.”
“Everything.” Chanyeol pursed his lips, hoping the word would scare off the latter.
It didn’t. Pushing the envelope, Baekhyun took a step forward. “Everything could mean a lot of things. Tell me what you mean.”
“When I say that it’s everything, I really mean that it is.”
“What does ‘everything’ mean to you, Park Chanyeol?” Baekhyun was starting to sound hurt, despite how Chanyeol knew how hard he was trying to maintain his cool. “You’re not giving me a clear answer.”
Chanyeol looked at him, feeling cornered. “I don’t need to explain why I’m rejecting you. This isn’t high school.”
“You’re right. This isn’t high school, and we’re not kids. I said this before, but I’ll say it again. We’re adults.” Baekhyun clenched his jaw. “And you know what adults do? They talk. They explain. They work things out without playing childish games. If you’re going to kiss me back and let me touch you, then you better explain why you suddenly had a change of heart.”
It waschildish. It was also childish and immature of Chanyeol to leave and never look back.
Sighing, Chanyeol took a step back until his waist hit the counter behind him. “I’m significantly older than you--for one.”
“Six years isn’t significant. Next excuse.”
Chanyeol blinked. “Baekhyun, it’s significant. And no, it’s not an excuse. Don’t say that it is.”
“But that’s exactly what it is.” Running a hand down his face, Baekhyun groaned. “You’re so… ugh. Dumb.”
“It’s not just the age, which, you have to understand. It’s just… To me, right now, it’s something that I can’t get over.”
“Bullshit. You knew how old I was when you kissed me back.”
“Which was a mistake. Just...a mistake. I shouldn’t have. I don’t know why I did.” He knew he was breaking him, but Chanyeol had no other choice. He didn’t know how to let him down easily or say his reasons clearly. Part of him knew that if he ever said them, it’d come out sounding like--as Baekhyun said--excuses… And they weren’t excuses. “I like you, but I can’t do it. This. I can’t do this.”
The silence was more painful to Chanyeol’s ears than anything Baekhyun could’ve said. The kitchen wasn’t small by any means, but it was beginning to make him feel closed off and claustrophobic.
Baekhyun could’ve pushed on. He had the power to and Chanyeol was well aware of that, but he didn’t. He finally tore his eyes away from Chanyeol and walked away without even saying a word, which would’ve been a hell of a lot better than saying nothing at all.
Silently, Chanyeol painfully watched as Baekhyun picked up the used bowls and sugar bags, cleaning up the area they used in the corner.
Wincing to himself, Chanyeol tried to approach him with the decision to try and force himself to forget whatever just happened. But there was no helping him when all he could do was stand there with a hand on the counter.
“Baekhyun.” No answer. “Baekhyun, I’m--”
“Stop apologizing and just forget it.” Baekhyun didn’t spare him a glance. “Let’s get these cleaned up and put into the sink. I have other things to prep.”
“But--”
“Listen, you’re right. It was a mistake. You said you were sorry. Okay. I’m sorry, too. Now can you just pretend with me?” Baekhyun asked, moving briskly around the kitchen with his shoulders indicating how tense he was. “Let’s just go back to how we were before that. At least it’s easier than trying to get you to talk…”
He should’ve argued and defended himself, but Chanyeol deserved it. Nodding, he mumbled a word of compliance and did as he was told.
-
-
The last two weeks of camp were hurtful--at least for the thirty-three year old. As Baekhyun said, they pretended like nothing happened and went about to their usual friendship, but Chanyeol noticed the slight differences, from the way Baekhyun always made sure to never touch him accidentally or on purpose to the way he kept things brief and cold between them. Even when he asked if he’d like to go skinny dipping again (though, thinking back, Chanyeol didn’t know why he ever suggested something like that after what happened), Baekhyun politely refused but offered information about the next “meet up” to which Chanyeol dismissed.
While the boys’ singing abilities got louder (and better, much to Chanyeol’s saving grace), his relationship with Baekhyun got quieter, almost to a point where they avoided each other at every chance. To be fair, it was mostly Chanyeol avoiding the younger. Baekhyun would never say anything about his behavior, only to merely watch Chanyeol change directions when walking or listen to him make excuses about why he couldn’t stop by the classroom.
The situation was pointless as hell and Chanyeol didn’t know what to do so he didn’t deal with it at all.
-
-
“These are all of your bags in here, right?”
“Yeah.” Luhan stood by while Sehun walked around and opened his side of the car, climbing in. “Did you remember to take food from the kitchen like we asked?”
Rolling his eyes, Chanyeol laughed. “Of course. I got you guys, uh, some juice boxes. I also got some leftover fruit in a plastic container.”
“Ugh. Why didn’t you take the leftover cookies or something not lame…”
“Yeah, dad!” Sehun cried from inside the car. Chanyeol glared at the back of his head. “Unless it’s cantaloupe.”
“Are you sure you’re not dad’s twin?” Luhan threw, earning him a middle finger, which Chanyeol had to bit his tongue on. Teenagers. “Anyways, dad, I was wondering, can we--”
“Mr. Park! Mr. Park. Mr. Park!”
Luhan turned around to the voice first, making a face. “It’s Superstar…”
Looking back, Chanyeol noticed Kyungsoo waving at him with his small hand. He looked like he was trying to pull his way closer to him, but the adult Kyungsoo was holding hands with, Baekhyun, was stubborn and continued trying to get him to walk towards their own car.
“Come on, Kyungsoo. Your mom’s going to be waiting,” Baekhyun said gently, putting a hand to the ten year old’s back, but failing in trying to get him to walk without resisting. “Kyungsoo.”
“I want to say bye to Mr. Park.” Adamantly, Kyungsoo pulled away and ran over to Chanyeol and Luhan who was frowning at the kid. Sehun peeked over his seat to watch. “I’ll see you next year.”
Chanyeol smiled, glancing up at Baekhyun before looking back down at Kyungsoo. “Ah, I don’t know if I’ll be coming back next year. The boys might.”
“But--”
“Okay, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun said, interrupting him with a touch to the shoulder. “That’s enough. We’re going to be late.”
“Mom can wait.”
Shaking his head, Baekhyun remained clear. “She’s going to yell at me, Kyungsoo, and you’re going to get grounded.”
“But I--” One look from Baekhyun gave Kyungsoo his final warning. Sighing, he hung his head, lower lip somewhat wobbling. “I have to go now…”
Smiling sympathetically, Chanyeol nodded. “I’ll see you next time, Soo.”
This time, Kyungsoo didn’t tell him that only his mom could call him that.
Nudging Luhan by the arm, Chanyeol cocked his head over at Kyungsoo. “Why don’t you walk him to the car, Lu?”
Surprised by the request (it didn’t even sound like a question), Luhan gave his dad a look. “What? I don’t want to--”
Before he could refuse any more, Kyungsoo reached over happily, grasping the thirteen year old’s hand. “I want to show you my trucks.”
Luhan desperately looked back at Chanyeol. “Dad, I--”
But it was too late. He was already being dragged over to Baekhyun’s black sedan with Kyungsoo happily telling him, “I have red trucks, pink trucks, fire trucks, tow trucks-- What’s your favorite truck? I like trucks.”
Glancing back, Chanyeol noticed Sehun curiously watching. With one grin, Chanyeol raised his hand up and pulled down the SUV’s lift, closing Sehun off.
Turning his attention to Baekhyun, Chanyeol stuffed his hands in his front pockets. “Leaving early, too?”
“Yeah,” Baekhyun replied steadily. “Kyungsoo’s mother’s expecting him by noon. He has his first dance practice today, coincidentally.”
“What about your things?” Chanyeol asked.
“I have my personal belongings in the car. Same with Kyungsoo’s. Jongin’s taking the van back to the bakery later. I’d go with him, but Kyungsoo’s a priority.”
Chanyeol stalled for a moment, not being able to find the right words. Then, he relaxed. This was Baekhyun he was talking to. He wasn’t something to fear, despite their shortcoming.
“I guess this is good-bye, then?” Chanyeol said with a small smile.
Baekhyun did nothing but stare back at him for a few seconds before shrugging. “Maybe,” he replied, looking back at Kyungsoo for a second before making eye contact with the giant again. “You know, if you ever change your mind...if ever...then call me. I’ll forgive you for being dumb.”
The chance given to him was like a hot potato. Chanyeol just had to make sure not to drop it.
Gulping, he nodded, whispering, “Okay.”
-
-
- 3 Months later -
Walking past and briskly nodding to a few associates in the lobby, Chanyeol gripped the cup of coffee in hand as he headed to the elevators. He let a full ride go up without him and waited for the next one.
He took a sip from his cup and cringed at the bitterness. It was fucking terrible, but it was what he needed after an all-nighter drafting possible designs for a short meeting that afternoon. Yawning, he covered his mouth with his sleeve, closing his eyes for a moment to rest them, but always raising his head when he felt himself nodding off.
The elevator rang, signalling his stop on one of the higher floors. He was greeted by the usual people, assistants, interns, and what not on his way to his office. It came to no surprise that when he walked in, Jongdae was sitting in his chair, fiddling with the tiny trinkets that Sehun and Luhan often bought for him whenever they felt like entertaining their dad with stupid, but cute items.
“Morning,” Chanyeol said, yawning as he set his coffee down on his desk and put down the tubes carrying some of his rolled up work. “What’re you doing in here? Did something happen upstairs?”
“No,” Jongdae said, putting the items down and getting up from Chanyeol’s chair. “I actually came here for, let’s say, personal reasons?”
“The answer’s no, then,” Chanyeol muttered, setting his bag down on the table as well. “I’m not interested, and this is the fourth time in the last few months you’ve been bothering me about this ‘personal reason’ that you have.”
Rolling his eyes, Jongdae stepped aside as Chanyeol passed him. “One date is not going to kill you. Working like a slave will, and I’d rather go to your wedding than your funeral.”
“But that’s the thing, I don’t have time to care about dating,” Chanyeol said, spouting one of his ancient old reasons. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead and then, maybe I’ll think about being with someone. In the next life.”
“You’re always depriving yourself,” Jongdae said, picking up a picture frame of the boys that decorated Chanyeol’s dark desk. “See this? They want their dad happy, and as much as you are an asset to me, as their uncle, I can’t have them sad because of you think that putting them first means you have to be unhappy yourself.”
“Jongdae, I--”
Shaking his head, Jongdae set the photo back down, looking straight into Chanyeol’s tired eyes. “Get off work at three, pick up your kids from school for once, and get yourself ready. Your dinner date’s at six-thirty. I’ll send you over the details, and this time? Don’t ditch and come running back here at seven. I’m telling everyone to boycott your services until further notice.”
“Jongdae!” Chanyeol looked at him, annoyed. The lack of sleep and the sudden announcement that he was going on an actual date was making his mood moderately low. However, his cry was ignored with a wave as Jongdae let himself out.
Sitting back in his chair, Chanyeol rubbed his eyes. It was a nuisance. This date. A datethat was forcedon him, and guilted into actually wanting to go.
Of course, Jongdae had to mention the boys. It made Chanyeol feel pretty fucking terrible when the asshole mentioned that he was actually making his sons sad with his own misery. The boys did make it clear that they wanted him to be happy, even going as far as to encourage something like a summer fling, but Chanyeol never knew the extent.
This date...with some stranger he didn’t even know felt, in the slightest bit, wrong, because it just felt like he was being unfaithful to someone. Baekhyun, for one. He still hadn’t forgotten about the baker even after so months had already passed. His wife? No… He knew that she would’ve wanted him happy, too. Chanyeol sighed, leaning back. He felt like he was cheating himself. In the end, he wanted Baekhyun, but this date with a stranger that wasn’tBaekhyun made Chanyeol feel so...half.
But apparently, it was set. And Chanyeol couldn’t be a date-ditching-asshole for the second time in a row. He’d never hear the end of it. The jokes, however, he could deal with, but knowing how sad the boys would be behind closed doors was his biggest push factor.
Groaning, Chanyeol looked at the clock. It was nine, meaning six hours until he had to pick up the boys and nine hours before the date.
-
-
Calling Baekhyun was exactly what he wanted to do two and a half weeks after they returned from Camp Note. After mulling it over and over in his head and hating himself for being so stupid--and afraid-- Chanyeol finally picked up his cellphone, ready to say whatever vomit his mouth wanted to say just to get Baekhyun to forgive him. But the second he pulled up the dialing screen, he realized something.
He never got Baekhyun’s number. Baekhyun never gave it to him. At the time, Kyungsoo was screaming about trucks and Luhan, tired of it, was yelling for Chanyeol to give him permission to leave Kyungsoo in the car. It was a chaotic-ish end that didn’t leave room for anything else but a brief good-bye.
Then, he thought he’d look up the baker’s name in the telephone book. But Baekhyun wasn’t registered, which meant he probably didn’t own a landline. Just a cell phone. Which is fine, but not in Chanyeol’s case.
He tried to search up the man’s bakery, however, but Seoul had hundreds of them, and Chanyeol didn’t have time to personally visit each and every single one of them to asked, “Is there a short stump here by the name of Byun Baekhyun?”
After some time, he gave up, leaving everything to fate even though he didn’t really believe in fate in the first place. Does something exist if you don’t believe in it? Chanyeol didn’t know. Butthat was what he did. If he accidentally met Baekhyun at the grocery store, then great. If he never saw Baekhyun again, then so be it.
Chanyeol felt really lame about it, but what could he do.
-
-
Sehun kicked his feet up, putting them against the headrest of the passenger seat. He was tired. Physical ed had drained him of everything, especially when the teacher made them run four laps around the track as punishment for a stupid prank someone did, but that didn’t stop his mouth from teasing his father.
“What happened to Kim? Did you fire her? Is that why you’re picking us up today?”
Rolling his eyes, Luhan reached over and swatted Sehun’s feet off. “You’re going to get the seat dirty, you moron--but Sehun’s right, dad. Did you fire her?”
“No, I didn’t.” Chanyeol sighed. He’d never fire Kim, simply because he felt sorry since the eighteen year old liked the job anyways. Easy money for driving two boys to and from school while living in the same complex. “Your uncle just thought it’d be nice if I picked you guys up for once.”
“Ooh,” Luhan cooed, glancing over at Sehun who looked back at him with the same gleam in his eyes. “Dad, are you finally gonna go on that thing?”
“The date. The date.” Sehun made sure to enunciate very specifically. “Don’t ditch dad. I ditched on my marshmallow girlfriend at camp and we broke up. You can’t do that.”
“I won’t, I won’t,” Chanyeol promised, eyes on the road. “I’ll be nice this time.”
“Good!” Luhan said. “Make sure you like them and bring them home. Marry them. Okay? Be happy if you like them. You’ll like them, right?”
Chanyeol gave the both a look through the rear view mirror. “Well, I haven’t met them… but we’ll have to see. You’re a little too excited about this, you know that?”
Shrugging, Luhan settled into his seat. “Maybe.”
Sehun wriggled, leaning forward. “Dad, are we gonna have to sleep at someone else’s house? Do we get to stay with Kim tonight?”
“Why’re you asking?”
“Adults need their space right after dates right?”
Scoffing, Luhan pulled him back. “That’s if they like each other, remember? Dad hasn’t even met them yet.”
“Oh, right.”
Seriously, they were teens. Of course sexual innuendos were bound to happen. Everything was bound to happen. Parenting isn’t always a walk in the fucking flower garden.Chanyeol was about to cry. His kids weren’t kids anymore. They were teens.
With that being said, it felt like a chapter was closing and a new one was beginning to open. From their transition from kids to teens in his eyes, maybe it was a sign that it was okay to start looking at himself. Maybe this date could open doors to more possibilities. At least, he had to start trying and stop with his reasons not to.
Sighing, Chanyeol pursed his lips. “No. I won’t bring anyone home. You’ll stay at the condo.”
“Ah, okay… So, we don’t have to wait up for you.”
Luhan snickered with his brother along side of him, leaving Chanyeol jaw dropped, ears red. When made a mental note to talk to his sons properly about sex and other things he used to cringe about whenever he thought of the inevitable fact that he’d have to give them the talk (and several other talks) later. The time had come for everyone.
-
-
Chanyeol parked his car not too far from the restaurant venue Jongdae had texted him, but it was still far enough that he had to walk and withstand the chilly air that accompanied the oncoming night. He dressed casually, not too business-like and not too casual Friday. A long coat and a scarf with jeans and dress shoes was enough for him to look nice, though when he looked in the mirror, his appearance screamed “Dad” louder than Sehun who was in the living room actually screaming for him because Luhan had stabbed him on the elbow with a fork for trying to take his chicken wings.
As he walked with his hands in his coat pockets, Chanyeol tried to get his boys out of his mind. He needed to be focused and not think about them all the time despite the fact that it was a force of habit. But after he tried, he realized that the closer he got to the venue, the more he thought about what the hell Baekhyun might’ve been doing at the moment. Was he eating? Still working at his bakery, which Chanyeol had no idea where it was even at? Maybe he was prepping like he always did. Or maybe he was babysitting mom’s little superstar.
Chanyeol lost track of how many times he tried wishing on the stars to meet Baekhyun again. There were a lot of things to apologize for. He was an ass. Even his kids thought so when they found out. Hell, they even stopped talking to him for a few hours, upset that their dad could be thatstupid.
Age did matter. It mattered a lot, but if it didn’t bother Baekhyun, then why should he have cared so much? Baekhyun knew he was a single dad. He knew he had two kids, teens, at this point… That didn’t stop him from liking him and accepting that by kissing him, it meant that his kids, his background didn’t mean shit at all.
It took some time after camp ended for Chanyeol to realize how stupid he was in thinking that Baekhyun would’ve been blind sided by having to also talk on two sons. It was staring at Chanyeol in the face for two months. Baekhyun was fucking greatwith kids! He knew how to handle Kyungsoo and all the kids in his small class. Baekhyun also knew what they liked to eat and what their habits were when eating.
Chanyeol almost walked into a pole, catching himself at the second. Looking up, he saw the venue across the street. When the pedestrian signal flashed, he walked across, holding his breath and preparing himself for a dinner that could go in any direction. Maybe this date would make him forget about Baekhyun. Maybe it’d close that summer chapter of his life. Maybe he would find the one, and if not, maybe this person would remind him that it’s okay and it’s actually niceto get back into the dating scene--even if he missed his chance with Baekhyun.
Or maybe his date wasBaekhyun and he was sitting at a table just beyond the glass windows, staring at his phone.
Chanyeol might’ve jumped to quick conclusions, but his heart began to race and he broke out into a cold sweat. There he was. Sitting there. On his phone with a cell phone number he never gave that summer when they parted which delayed their entire reunion and--Shit.
He took a step back away from the window, away from being seen. This was what he was waiting for. A coincidental chance, and yet he was freezing his feet to the ground, and turning in the opposite direction.
Panic set in. What could he say? Did he even have anything to say? Chanyeol had a truckload of things to say, but now that the opportunity was right there, he was turning into a coward. With his head down, he started walking, quickly, in the other direction, going straight back to his car--until he realized what the hell he was actually doing.
Giving up again. Letting his cowardice and embarrassment and awkwardness win like it did last summer.
“Goddamn it.”
Chanyeol turned on his heel again, striding quickly back to the restaurant. He hesitated for a second at the door, but pushed past his doubts and went inside, greeted promptly by the waiter who asked for his reservation. After giving Jongdae’s name, he was led into the dining area he saw Baekhyun in. With his eyes transfixed on the distracted male, Chanyeol accidentally bumped into the waiter who stopped just a few tables away from where Baekhyun was beginning to yawn and put away his phone.
“Please have a seat, sir.”
Chanyeol blinked. He looked back at Baekhyun, who hadn’t noticed him yet, and then to the empty area where he was being directed. Then it dawned on him. Baekhyun wasn’t his date.
God, he felt sostupid. Now he was going to sit there, alone, and Baekhyun was going to notice him being alone. Why that even mattered, Chanyeol couldn’t explain, not even to himself.
It was embarrassing to even think that Baekhyun was his date. Why did he even thinkthat!?
Begrudgingly, Chanyeol sat down and the waiter gave him a menu with a glass of water for his wait. After he left, the giant felt like putting his head down and slowly fade into dust because that’s what embarrassment made him want to do. Just disappear.
He tried to stop himself from looking in Baekhyun’s direction, but apparently, he was doing a better job at pretending Baekhyun wasn’t there than he initially thought. When his head was turned in the direction of the restaurant door, he felt a soft whack on the back of his head, down thoughtfully by the menu he had neglected and put off to the side.
“Not even gonna say hi to me?”
When Chanyeol turned his head to the voice, he could already feel himself melting away. “Oh, I didn’t see you there,” he said weakly.
Scoffing, Baekhyun pulled out the seatthat was supposed to be for Chanyeol’s date, but the giant didn’t care. “I would actually believe that if I didn’t see you walking back and forth on the sidewalk or hear your dumb, nervous voice at the entrance…” He stopped for a moment, looking over Chanyeol’s appearance. “You look good.”
“Thanks… You, too.” There was a lump in Chanyeol’s throat and it was the need to ask Baekhyun what he was doing there. Luckily for him, Baekhyun satisfied that curiosity.
“I’m supposed to have dinner with Jongin. It’s like an employee of the month kind of thing. I take them out to dinner. Bill’s on me,” Baekhyun said, eyes never leaving Chanyeol’s. “But my reason for being here is boring. Tell me. What brings you here on the romantic side of town?”
Pursing his lips, Chanyeol debated whether to lie or not. How would Baekhyun feel if he was on a date? He knew how he’dfeel if it was the other way around. Terrible.
“Uh, for business,” Chanyeol offered, trying to sound serious. “Just business.”
“Oh, really?” Baekhyun said with a smile that told Chanyeol that he saw right through him. “Business at this cute, little romantic Italian bistro? This is where you take your clients? I’d believe that if it were day, but with the lights dimmed and all these plants in the room, I can’t exactly say that this is the most appropriate place to hold a business meeting.”
Playing back, Chanyeol cocked his head. “And you expect me to believe that you’re only here at this ‘cute, little romantic Italian bistro’ with Jongin for an employee of the month dinner award?”
Baekhyun laughed, shrugging. “He likes it here and it’s based on the employee’s choice. What can I do? Saying no would go against everything my promise stands for. So, really, though? You’re here for a date, aren’t you? Look at you, dressed in your jacket and scarf. So grown up. I’m almost offended you didn’t call me at all, Park.”
“Tch…” Chanyeol gave him a sour look before giving Baekhyun a look for feigned anger. “Whatever--You shouldn’t even be almost offended. You didn’t give me your number! All that talk about calling you and you didn’t even give me a number?”
“What are you talking about? Yes, I did,” Baekhyun said, the smile on his face disappearing.
“When?” Chanyeol demanded.
“You left to get Luhan from my car because he was screaming about Kyungsoo holding onto him so I went around and gave Sehun a piece of paper with it on it. I told him to give it to you when you guys got home.”
“What--” Chanyeol was speechless. “Of all the people you gave your number to, you gave it to Sehun!?”
Taken aback, Baekhyun frowned. “What’s wrong with Sehun?”
“He loses everything,” Chanyeol said, frustrated. “He even came home one day with no shoes on because he forgot where he left them!”
“Oh…” It settled on Baekhyun that it might’ve been his fault for the lack of calls between them. “Well, didn’t you try to look up my bakery?”
“There are a lot of bakeries in Seoul, Baekhyun--”
“I’m the only Byunny Bakery on Chungmuro--Remember? The place you said you helped build something at? I told you that it was a bother trying to walk to my supplier while you guys were building. I wouldn’t walk to my suppliers if they weren’t close to my shop, Chanyeol.” Sighing, Baekhyun looked back and saw Jongin coming from the men’s bathroom. “You know what? Come here.”
Grabbing Chanyeol’s hand, he pulled him up and led him to the table where he was sitting the first time Chanyeol saw him in the restaurant. After placing him down, Baekhyun went over and pulled Jongin aside. It took a few minutes for the baker to convince the man to take Chanyeol’s place in his blind date, but eventually, things were settled.
When Baekhyun rejoined him, Chanyeol asked, “Is he really okay with it?”
“He’ll be fine. I told him everything’s paid for and he can have whatever he wants. The date thing doesn’t really bother Jongin,” Baekhyun said, taking a sip from his water. “He’s what you call a playboy? Charming. Too charming. But enough about him because I didn’t just take you away from your date to talk about Jongin.”
“Then what did you want to talk about?” God, he was lame. Really lame.
Baekhyun gave him a soft expression. “I don’t know. You tell me.”
Chanyeol was just nervous a few minutes ago when he thought Baekhyun was his damn date. He was a wreck outside the restaurant when he sawBaekhyun. All of a sudden, those feelings were gone. Everything else around him from the bustling waiters to the other individuals there to wine and dine began to fade in his eyes, all except Baekhyun.
“I…”
Nodding, Baekhyun waited. “You…?”
“I shouldn’t have stopped kissing you back there,” Chanyeol said, a little too loudly. Even Baekhyun glanced to the side at the people around them. “I should’ve just kept on kissing you and not even thought about stupid things like age and kids--Well, okay. Those aren’t stupid things. Those are good things to think about, but you know what I mean. I should’ve just…”
“Stayed. You should’ve just stayed.”
Chanyeol opened his mouth, but found that nothing came out. In the end, he merely bobbed his head. “Yeah… I guess you could put it that way… I shouldn’t have judged the gap between us based on age alone. You’re obviously really mature. Even more than me. I was just thinking that you might be bothered by my single dad status. I mean, yeah. You’re into this, but what about Se and Lu? Would you want them, too?”
“Chanyeol, I have no issues with your sons. In fact, I like them. Judging by the looks that they gave me on the playground back then, I can only guess that they’re fine with us,” Baekhyun said, running a hand through his (perfectly soft--damn) hair. “If I was bothered by them, I wouldn’t have let them into the kitchen after lunch and dinner to grab whatever was left of the desserts you and I made.”
“Really? You did that?”
Baekhyun shrugged like it was nothing, unaware that it was making Chanyeol’s heart swell up with a shit ton of feelings. “In the beginning they said that the desserts were kind of weird, so I blamed it on you. Sorry. Then, after a while, they started saying it was good, so they were indirectly giving you credit for improving your baking skills.”
Chanyeol made a note to hug his kids later--after making pinching Sehun on the cheek for losing Baekhyun’s number.
“Baek…” Chanyeol said, starting weakly. “I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”
“It’s in the past--in a good way. Now that you know I’m fine with your sons--and vice versa-- what do you want to do?”
“Talk about our schedules.” It was an important thing. He was a workaholic, apparently. Everyone knew it. “I work... a lot.”
“I know.”
“But I don’t mind cutting back. I don’t think my boss minds either because he’s actually the one who tried setting me up on a date with…” Turning around, Chanyeol turned to point at Jongin, but found the young man happily laughing (and courting?) the woman seated across from him. She was damn well attractive, but he had no regrets leaving the table at all. Not when Baekhyun was right there.” Her.. I was supposed to go on a date with her.”
Glancing down, Baekhyun placed his finger on the rim of his cold glass. “Well, I’m not going to apologize for taking you away.”
“I wouldn’t want you to.” Sighing, Chanyeol straightened his posture, appearing a bit tenser than before. “Can I just...formally ask you out right now? Is my timing awful?”
“It’s really awful, Park.” Giving a small laugh, Baekhyun smiled. “But go on. I like to see you struggling.”
“Really mean of you…” Chanyeol muttered.
“Well, it was really mean of you to avoid me for so long. Even here when you could clearly see me from over there.”
Shots fired. Chanyeol was hit.
Putting his hands up in front of him, Chanyeol took what Baekhyun had to say. “Alright. I deserved that. Let me make it up to you?”
“How’re you going to make up three months to me?”
Good question.
Moving around in his seat, Chanyeol thought about it for a while before giving up on a clear and detailed answer, instead asking, “I don’t know yet, but can I start by asking for your number this time? It’d be really helpful with the rest of my plan, which is still in progress.”
Scoffing, Baekhyun leaned over and motioned his hand for the phone. After Chanyeol handed his device over, he watched the baker quickly enter in his info (with selca attached--bless) and gladly took the phone back when given back.
“I don’t have a free day until Friday this week,” Baekhyun said, giving Chanyeol no chance to speak. “So tonight can be our first date because Jongin and I never ordered before you got here. Is that fine with you?”
“Yeah--Really fine. Absolutely,” Chanyeol stumbled. Over ecstatic. This must’ve been how the boys felt when they first arrived at camp. Really, really excited for the future. “Oh, but about Friday… You said you’re off that day?”
“Well, not off,” Baekhyun said, bobbing his head in an iffy way. “I just get off earlier. Planning to, actually. Why, Park? Do you want to invite me somewhere?”
It was obvious that that’s what Baekhyun wanted, and Chanyeol would’ve been super dense not to know it. In that case, he really didn’t deserve Baekhyun at all.
Nodding quickly, Chanyeol took the opening he was being given--for once. “Dinner. At my place. With the boys. This time, I’ll cook for you.”
“Hm… No.” The look on Chanyeol’s face fueled Baekhyun’s amusement. “How about you get the ingredients ready and we can cook together. Besides, I’d like to get to know them better aside from the fact that I don’t think you’re a master chef in the kitchen. It might kill the romance--and all of us.”
“I should be really offended, but I’m feeling really touched,” Chanyeol said, wheezing as he clutched his chest, making Baekhyun roll his eyes. “But okay. It’s a second date.”
“Glad you finally came around, Park.”
Hanging his head to hide the smile on his face, Chanyeol nodded. He felt more at peace knowing that what he was feeling was happiness, a type of happiness that his kids could never fill. It was a type of happiness that even his most beautiful architectural design couldn’t make him feel. This happiness was reserved for certain people and Baekhyun was it. Knowing this, Chanyeol made a very, very, very important note to himself to never be dumb and let him go so easily again.
“I am, too.”
-
-
-four months later-
Baekhyun burst through the bedroom doors in a hurry, catching Chanyeol in the midst of trying to fix his tie. Alarmed that something might’ve happened, the giant stopped what he was doing and walked over. “What’s wrong? Did something happen? I said I’d be done in a second.”
“No,” Baekhyun said, shaking his head. “Everything’s fine. I just-- The twins said something that caught my attention.”
Knowing Luhan’s history with “adult things” and other teenager topics that Chanyeol tried to educate on, the thirty-three year old’s ears perked. “What? What’d they say?”
“They said that you ditched someone on a date once?”
“Oh, no...Baekhyun, I swear, I’m not a playboy or something. I’m not Jongin,” Chanyeol said, defending himself. That happened so long ago. He already forgot about it.
“It’s not that,” Baekhyun said, waving him off. “They also mentioned an Uncle Jongdae. Is it Kim Jongdae from the JDKim firm? Your workplace?”
His mouth was hanging, but Chanyeol nodded. “Yeah? He’s my boss…”
The look Baekhyun gave him was hard to read. Shocked? Confused? With a slight hint of annoyance?
“So, you’re the mystery date who stood me up a year ago.” Baekhyun put his hands on his waist. “I’m surprised...but knowing you now, not so much.”
Poking their heads at the door way, Sehun and Luhan watched with their eyes looking extremely apologetic to their dad.
“Are you going to break up with dad?” Luhan asked.
Sehun’s lips were in a thin line. “Please don’t. He’s not an asshole.”
“He’s just dumb.”
Giving Chanyeol a look before turning around to the teenages, Baekhyun smiled, walking to the door. “I’m not. We’re just going to have a talk about etiquette for a bit, okay?”
“You don’t have to be PG with us, Baek,” Luhan whispered before pulling Sehun away by the collar. “We got it.”
“We got what?”
Rolling his eyes at his brother, Luhan waved. “We’ll be in the living room with Kyungsoo.”
“I don’t want to be in the living room with Kyungsoo anymore!”
“Shut up! Dad’s getting it!”
“You’re really gross! Ugh.”
After closing the door behind him, Baekhyun walked over and quickly fixed the tiethat was beginning to be a problem for the architect. Fixing buildings, he could do. Ties, not so much.
“Are you mad?”
Baekhyun raised his eyes to him. “Why would I be? I didn’t even know you back then.”
“Honest?”
“Honest. Besides, I think meeting you at some singing camp in the middle of nowhere is better than some blind date set up. More fun. More...naked sort of fun.” Pulling Chanyeol down with the use of his tie, Baekhyun grinned as he whispered into Chanyeol’s ear. “I lied. I saw it back in the lake. Forget Jaws. It’s the Loch Ness Monster.”
-
-
“What was that?” Kyungsoo asked, raising his head when he heard his uncle’s shriek.
The twins looked at each other before giving the superstar their weary answers.
“It’s nothing,” Luhan said, turning the volume of the television up.
“Yeah. Just...play with your trucks.”
Kyungsoo took no offense in their lack of interest in his toys, going back to crashing his pink truck and his purple truck together over and over and over again.
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