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Arguments. Listening to them all day long is tiring. Being in them is annoying. Sometimes, it’s to the point, where people don’t want to deal with anything anymore. Never again. Never with the same people. But what can one person do? They can’t do much. If you live in a family, where arguing could be considered as daily basis, you wish not to be part of that kind of family. No matter how much you are trying to hide, in a small house or an apartment, you will be always found. Isn’t it right? Your parents, siblings, friends.. They all know you and can find you. Why? Because you are close to them. Or at least were… Sometimes, this closeness just disappears, once you are old enough. Sometimes, it’s just better not to get close with anyone because you will get hurt. People, you once trusted to, are acting differently towards you and others. It makes you wonder – was this everything just a fake? Who knows. Maybe it was or maybe it wasn’t. No one can really tell. Only those people know why they changed. They probably have their own reasons. But with all these changes, you just can’t bear it… But then again, it’s just sometimes.
Park Chanyeol is a boy, who couldn’t bear all this. His friends at school have changed. They are not like they were before and don’t want to hang out with him anymore. There is one thing, however. He can’t blame them. He understands why are they acting like this on one side. But shouldn’t your friends be on your side whenever something bad happens? This thing, he finds it as a betray. Why is he left alone in this difficult situation? Ah yes… His family. It all started with his family. Chanyeol’s parents started arguing two years ago. Why? There is always something. They can find so many reasons and excuses to argue. The truth is, though, both of them were cheating on each other. It could be solved quickly. Of course.
A divorce. Why can’t they just get divorced? Because they can’t… They don’t want to. It’s something, that makes their children hurt a lot.
It is so hard, that Chan has decided. He won’t live like that, with this family anymore. He doesn’t want to. All he needs to do is to run away. Somehow, he needs to get to his uncle. Everything is planned already and agreed. His uncle can’t come to get him, however, because the bad relationship between him and the boy’s father. It shouldn’t be much of problem, right? The only problem is, he has no money. All he can do is hitch a car. He needs to stop someone and drive him to that town. The ride will take about two hours though. Will there be someone willing to take him? Well, there just must be someone. It can’t be hard, it’s like taking a taxi but more dangerous…
As planned, Chanyeol packs few of his things into his school bag. He can’t take many, since it would give out, that something is happening with him. He must not let anyone know about what he wants to do, not even his sister. In the morning, he just behaves, just like he always does. Eats breakfast, says goodbye to his parents and sister, and then goes on the bus. He has a student ticket, so it will take him to the main train station. From there, it all depends on him.
He walks out of the station, he looks around, spotting a nice black car. Some guy is leaning against it. Anyone can tell, he is very well off. That’s something, Chanyeol never had. The guy is tall, not much taller than him though. Anyone could say, they are in the same age, but different class. This guy must be very rich to afford this kind of car. Once Chan will earn money and becomes rich, which he will, this car is something, he really would like to buy. Simple but elegant. The boy smiles to himself and then starts walking, passing past the guy.
“Yes. Yes, I’m driving there soon. Come on, mother. It shouldn’t be that hard. I know where my school is and I know how to get there. It’s in Busan.” The guy is on the phone, probably with his mother. When Chan hears the name of the city, he stops walking, seeing his chance. But he won’t disturb the guy’s call.
“You know, I didn’t want to study here because there are many people like me here. Plus, everyone in this class knows me. I don’t want to be recognized everywhere by the people like me. I want to be completely ordinary…” the guy continues talking.
Ordinary with this car? You wish… Chan thinks to himself, looking at the car. Only now, he realizes that the guy has different accent. It sounds like Chinese? He isn’t sure but it could be it.
It doesn’t take long and the call is over. This is the time for Chanyeol to turn around and ask about the ride, but when he does so, the guy is staring at him. The boy just stands there taken aback, with heart beating so fast, he can’t calm it. He didn’t think he would be stared at. Or at least not so quickly.
“Eh.. Hi…” he says awkwardly, licking his lips. “Sorry… I didn’t want to listen to your conversation. I just heard you are driving to Busan and…” Chan rubs the back of his head, trying to explain this entire situation, however the guy is looking at him with an amused look on his face.
“You want a ride. Am I right?” he chuckles, tilting his head a bit, completing the sentence instead of Chanyeol.
“Yes.” The boy nods his head timidly. Why does he feel suddenly intimidated by this guy? Is it because he is from a completely different class and probably has anything he wants, but Chan doesn’t?
“Why would you want a ride from me, when you just walked out of the train station?” the guy asks, pointing at the station, genuinely curious. It doesn’t really make sense to him and is kind of amusing.
“I don’t have any money.” The boy shrugs, looking at the building as well, catching a glimpse of a departing train. Probably to Busan. “Student tickets can be used only on way to school.” He explains further, not actually really knowing why. But this fact won’t kill, if he tells that someone.
“I see…” the guy nods his head, understanding this kind of view. Now it does make sense. Though, he doesn’t need any student ticket since he always drives himself or has a personal driver to drive him somewhere. “But it won’t be for free.” He smirks, waiting for response of the boy. This could be very interesting.
“Like I said, I have no money on me… Or anywhere.”
“Forget about money. I have enough of that. You will pay with something else…” the guy waves him off at the mention of money. Instead, he looks at Chan from head to toes, his smirking going even wider. He kinda took a liking to this guy. Tall just enough. Though, he prefers a little shorter guys, this one is cute. From time to time, when gets tired of women, he hangs out and spends nights with guys. Sometimes, it’s really a very nice change. “What do you think?”
“If there is what you want…” the boy knows where this offer leads to. Watching the guy practically undressing him with his eyes. Of course, he does. Arguments at his home, started mostly because of this. Spending nights somewhere with someone. It makes him curious. What is it, that blinds his parents? He wants to know. It will take his innocence. But… Is he even still innocent?
“That’s all I want.” The guy nods his head, smiling contently. Actually, this helps him a lot. He was thinking about luring someone into bed tonight because finally he would be alone somewhere, where people don’t know him. Finding this cutie here, however, makes him even happier.
“Deal.” Chan simply nods.
“Get in.” the guy states, still with smile on his face. Before both, him and the boy get into the car, he remembers something. “Oh, by the way. My name is Kris.” How rude of him, where did his manners go?
“Chanyeol.” Once again, the boy simply says, getting into the car.
“Nice to meet you, Chanyeol.” Kris whispers to himself, not really caring that Chanyeol can’t hear him anymore. It wasn’t his intention anyway. He smirksto himself once again, getting into the car and driving to Busan.
The drive was incredibly quiet, however. It didn’t seem like the boy next to him would like to talk about something. This made him to turn on the music, for the silence go away at least a little. I really hope, you won’t be this quiet at night. That’s what he prayed for. Perhaps, he would hear some delicious sounds and words coming from the boy’s mouth. He would love to hear that. There was a plan forming in his head already. First, he could try and get Chan drunk a bit. It would be better to manipulate with him a bit. Things would be easier since those would come natural. It’s the easiest way, how to lose a virginity. Just by a single glance, Kris could tell, that the guy next to him is still a virgin. And anyone knows, it’s a honor to take someone’s virginity. With their content, of course. There’s no way, he would force someone.
His wish really came true. Delicious sounds and words indeed came from Chanyeol’s mouth. He didn’t think, however, that it will be the last thing, he would hear that night.
Early in the morning, when Kris wakes up. There is no one. He wakes up to an empty bed. All clothes and things that belonged to the boy disappeared. Not a trace of Chan. This is not what he was imagining. He was imagining lot of things but not waking up like this. At least, he wanted to meet the boy again. Not only once, twice or thrice. But more. Of course, he couldn’t promise to be only with him, but this is too much. How could he wake up to an empty bed? That doesn’t make sense at all. He expected the boy to beg him or something, to stay with him. Why does he feel like he should be the one begging right one? Like he should go and find the boy right now? He feels so very wrong. This just didn’t ever happen in his life. Should he feel offended or what? But wait, maybe he is still somewhere, right?
Kris jumps up of his bed, running around his apartment, his parents bought in Busan. But Chanyeol is nowhere to be found. His shoes disappeared as well. There is not even a single note. Then again, why there would be a note? That doesn’t make sense. A note? Tch… What is he thinking? Life isn’t always what person predicts…
Chan was walking along the streets, he knew from childhood. Finally, something he knows again. This is exactly the street, which leads to his uncle’s house. He is going to live there and study in one of local’s schools. Then, he will go to a college and finds a job. This is his plan for the future. There won’t be anything that would stop him, not even his parents. Last night… It gave him something and stole something from him. Kris showed him a way to a different world, which made a bit understand, why his parents are like that.
It’s actually pretty much exciting to spend a night with someone, you barely know. But there is always something taken away. Innocence. Purity. Confidence. With confidence… It’s kind of funny, it’s taken away but at the same time given to you. There is something else given to you. A regret. A feeling that is eating you up and you just can’t help it. Something in your chest which hurts. Regret. Guilt. That’s the point with this all. Point taken. With new situation, there are new experiences. It’s only on you, if you will learn from them or throw away chances that are given to you…
Timeskip – Six years later
There are only few things, that can bring you on the peak of your dream. Hard work. Trust. Determination. Ambition. And so on. These things brought Chanyeol to that spot, where is he now. In age of 25 years old, he is good looking, has a stable job, after he successfully graduated from college, and became rich. He was always dreaming big, but never in his wildest dream, he would think that he will be right here. When he was nineteen years old, he even didn’t actually know what he wanted to do. But today, he has his own company. Yes, at the beginning, he just started on his blog. A simple web side. That way his business got big. Well business. All he did was creating web sites. This kind of thing got him interested at school in IT class. He couldn’t help but to try it home and found out, that he actually enjoys creating web sites and that he is very good at it. In one way, it really got big.
Right now, he is sitting in his office, frowned in papers. Of course, with success, there comes responsibility as well. Not just for his work, but for his employees as well. He needs to be respected boss among people. That takes lots of patience. At first, it was very difficult because many things had to be done. First employees needed to be hired and Chan had a hard time choosing right ones. He was always a type of person, that couldn’t say no. Another thing, he had to learn… But now, everything is how it’s supposed to be. Well, maybe not everything…
“They didn’t do that… This is just a bad dream… No, nightmare…” Chanyeol groans to himself, reading over the papers. In his hands are very important documents right now. VERY important. Their biggest business partner is his client right now. This means, no mistake is acceptable. There is one big mistake, however. The order, the other company is waiting for, got completely switched. It is a very important and large order as well. Not just Chanyeol is very ashamed of this stupid mistake, because someone didn’t pay close attention. But all his company will be in trouble. The biggest sponsor can stop taking Chanyeol seriously, which practically is the end of this road. Finish.
Chan runs hands through his hair, thinking how to clear up this mess. A sincere apology should do. He needs to set a date for formal business dinner and explain everything what happened. The person, who created this mess won’t come undamaged, however. He must make sure, this won’t happen ever again. It’s not only his hard work after all.
He takes his phone and calls the manager of the department, who has this all as a responsibility. If there was a mistake, it must have went through this man, which means two people are at fault. The manager should have noticed the mistake.
It doesn’t take long, before there are heard voice from president’s office.
“How is this possible Mr. Kim? Care to explain please?” Chanyeol starts speaking, after short greeting with the manager. There is no point of yelling or getting overly mad at someone, because this problem needs to be fixed. If there was added something else to it, the whole order would have to be postponed. Something, even president Park doesn’t dare to do.
“I’m so sorry, sir… It’s my mistake. It shouldn’t have happened.” The manager bows deeply, not even trying to make any excuses since it’s his fault. If he was careful enough, he would send the project back to the person, who was working on it.
“Exactly. It shouldn’t. How will you fix this?” Chan acknowledges, nodding his head. Well, at least the man accepts his mistake. Picking honest and good people was one of Chanyeol’s priorities. He isn’t a boy anymore and he needed the best of best. People who will take responsibilities for their mistakes.
“I will call to our partner and apologize for my and my junior’s mistake.” Mr. Kim immediately thinks of a solution, how to explain the misunderstanding and his mistake. A proper apology on his behalf should do.
“Well, we both think the same. At least. I will do it. I will call them and arrange proper diner, where I apologize in the name of the company.” Chan nods his head again, talking to the man confidently. His employees take responsibilities for their mistakes. He takes responsibilities for their employees. That’s how it works. “All you need to do is fix the problem as soon as possible. I’m not accepting any excuses, buts, no… I want to have it clear on my table in three days. Got it? I don’t care if you and the employee will work overtime. That person is lucky enough, that I am busy right now. Make sure, it won’t happen ever again.” There must be a warning as well though. This can’t happen again.
“Yes sir.” The manager nods his head.
“You can leave now…” Chanyeol dismisses the man with motion of his hand, sighing and taking his phone in his hand again. He must work fast.
“Yes sir. Have a good day…” With the man leaving, Chan looks at him again with unbelievable expression. A good day? It really can’t get better… Just at that moment, he dials the number, introducing himself and explaining the reasons of the call.
Thankfully, things went well with the call. Chanyeol did what he could and managed to arrange the formal diner, where he apologizes for the mistake of the company. That was something strange about it, however. He didn’t think he would be accepted with the offer to diner so quickly, that soon. The diner should be today. It’s not like he doesn’t have time, but he sure was surprised how easy it was to get in touch with someone like that. The biggest surprise is, that the man who will he be apologizing to, is the president of the other company. It makes Chan wonder a lot. But there’s not much time to think about unnecessary things, he needs to get ready.
Gathering his things from the office, the man walks out of his office and informs the secretary of his plans and to cancel everything for the night. First his stop is his home. He needs to take a quick shower and gets dressed. On the way to his home, he needs to make a reservation in a nice restaurant, he knows of and knows about it, that many people don’t go there.
Doing everything just as he planned, Chanyeol arrives to the restaurant sooner on purpose because he wouldn’t dare to let his guest wait for him. An important guest. He walks up to the waiter with a smile.
“Good evening… I have made a reservation here under name Park Chanyeol.” He speaks formally, letting his gentle vibe do its work. No one would guess, this man grew up in a poor family or he was a runaway. He has changed. A lot. Since he ran away, no one has recognized him, no one came even looking for him. And he didn’t care. Why should he get troubled with those people?
“Ah yes, Mr. Park. Let me guide you to your table.” The waiter smiles, after he checks in the computer that the man has actually made a reservation. Motioning to follow him, the waiter leads Chanyeol to a table for two. Not in a private room, however, how he ordered. Perhaps, there was a mistake done? But Chan doesn’t say anything, first he wants to know what’s going on. Only then, he notices the man, sitting on a chair there. The man is sitting with his back facing them. Damn! Am I late?! That’s the first thing, he thinks. He looks at the waiter with question in his eyes.
“Ah, Mr. Wu was here first and requested this table.” The waiter explains, glancing towards the other man. “Is that a problem?”
“No, not at all. Thank you.” Chanyeol bows to the waiter and goes towards the table immediately. “I’m sorry for being late, Mr. Wu.” He apologizes quickly, bowing his head deeply, not looking at the man just yet. The next thing, he registers, the man stands up, bowing as well and reaching a hand up to him, possibly for a handshake, which he accepts.
“No need to be sorry Mr. Park. I was his way sooner. I came directly from another business. I hope, it’s not a problem.” The man says, smiling at Chan.
“No, not at all.” Finally, Chanyeol looks up. Right away, he is taken by shock. This… This isn’t the man he met six years ago, right? It can’t be possible.
“Is something wrong?” the man asks him.
“Ah no. Sit down please.” Chan gives an awkward smile, suddenly feeling very nervous. Never in his wildest dreams, he thought, he would meet this man again. Of course, they are business partners. But when it comes to big businesses, it happens that you don’t know the main person behind all of that. He feels like burying himself down.
On the other side, Mr. Wu… No, Kris. He isn’t surprised at all. He was looking forward to his day for a long time. He knew all along, who this Park Chanyeol is. Who is behind the big company. And of course, there is a reason why he is the sponsor. However, he didn’t think, that business with Chanyeol will go this well. At first, he helped out of pity, but it turned out to be a very successful partnership.
The truth is, six years ago, he needed to know why Chan ran away so quickly after the night. He needed answers to his unspoken questions. That’s why he hired someone to find the boy. Through all these years, Kris got questions. He could say, he knows almost everything about the boy. At least, up until this business started. Chanyeol is someone, who secures his privacy. It’s not easy to get something from him these days. His current life.
“I have already ordered a red wine. Is that okay?” Kris smiles, being very gentleman like. Chan knows the meaning behind the red wine though. It was something, they drank together that night. So they would be more in mood, at the thing that followed. Being here with the man, brought memories, which he forgot.
It’s not even five minutes since he is here, but his mind is already somewhere else. The man looks more stunning than before. More mature, being an adult. But it’s still him. Those gestured, that smile, the calmness. Everything is the same. What’s the strangest thing? It doesn’t make Chanyeol uncomfortable. Actually, he knows what to do in this situation now. Of course, sitting here with the man, who took his virginity is quite intimidating. Six years passed though and Chan knows already, what is this world about.
“It’s not a problem at all.” Channy answers the question with a smile now. It’s not that awkward smile anymore.
“Great then. What did you want to talk about? I guess, it would be about our order.”
“Yes. I want to apologize for what happened. It was out mistake, not checking the order properly. I’m so sorry, Mr. Wu.” Chanyeol stands up, bowing deeply. Well, keeping this business like is actually very good.
“Well, mistakes do happen…” Kris nods his head, smiling softly but then changes to a straight face. “But, I want everything perfect, Mr. Park. Do you think a simple apology will fix this?”
“We are working on fixing this problem them now. Your order will be in as soon as possible.” Chan explains about the order, sounding proud that he got it to work once again.
“What if I say it’s too late?” Kris looks at him, tilting his head a bit. Waiting for the response, he is very curious, if the boy is still as responsive as six years ago. He missed him. A lot. He wouldn’t lie about that. It’s not that he loves him. That would be too fast. A crush? No, that’s for kids. A secret admirer is for kids too. Let’s just say, he is interested in this boy.
“Is it?” Chanyeol widens his eyes, shocked. His apology is not going to be received? Is this some kind of revenge or what? Because he sincerely doesn’t get it. They are both adults now, their little one night stand could be forgotten by now. He, himself, did forget about it. Then why is he being punished for something that happened long ago and he did it because he was desperate of getting away from his home? He was a simple runaway back then.
“What if I offer something else?” Kris leans a bit forward in his chair, trying to think of something, that could actually fix this problem. The order, he was sure, it’s going to be fixed. But he can’t let anyone get away with a mistake like this. He is a neat man. A perfectionist, to be exact.
“What? My body again?” Chanyeol snaps, seeing the judging expression on Kris’s face. He doesn’t know what is going on in the man’s head. But seeing this look on his face, makes him think only about that. It happened once, why can’t it happen again, right? People don’t have to change easily anyway.
“You disappeared.” Just like a trigger, Kris grabs onto the topic. Finally, he can talk about that. He didn’t want to bring that up. At least not today. He wanted to start all over again, but Chanyeol started this. He will go along. He still doesn’t know the reason, why he left him just like that.
“You knew it was not my intention staying!” Chan says with a louder voice, throwing his arms. Right away, however, he realizes what he did and looks around, bowing to other customers for the interruption. So that’s why you picked this table… This way, we can’t be loud… Finally, it hit him. This was a part of Wu Yifan’s plan.
“No, I didn’t. I had a bit of hope.” Kris shakes his head. He didn’t know anything about the boy, how could he know that? He got to know about Park Chanyeol only from the hired person. It took some time as well.
“Hope? What is hope? I had my life, you had yours. Just like now. Can we leave it that way?” Chan looks away, crossing arms on his chest. He doesn’t feel like talking about it right now. He would only get a headache. That’s something, he really doesn’t want. Not right now. Not with him.
“What if I don’t want?” Kris asks, crossing his arms as well, as if daring Chanyeol.
“What now? Are you going to sweet talk me?” the boy rolls his eyes, chuckling sarcastically.
“You know, I’m not that kind of man.” Yifan sighs, shaking his head. He is not a man like this. How can he be romantic with a person, he doesn’t love? He is a type that doesn’t trust easily. Yet, he is risking his image right now with this guy. Man, how did he get into this position? That’s a mystery…
“No, you are not. That’s why I got startled.” Chan actually sighs in relief. That is the last thing, he wants. Someone telling him, how he loves him and all this sweet love bullshit. It’s not how it goes. Maybe, it’s like this between teenagers. But not people like him. Adults. Perhaps, he is scared of getting hurt again. His feelings can get hurt easily after all.
“That doesn’t mean, we can’t try to work things out.” Kris states matter of factly. He would really like to try. Just like said, he is interested in Chanyeol a lot. For a long time already. Of course, there were some relationships or one nightstands, through these six years. He is a man as well, after all and Mr. Hand doesn’t really satisfy enough.
“Why should I?”
“Since that time… I didn’t have a proper night sleep.” The man licks his lips nervously. He wouldn’t admit that. But when he is nervous, stressed, curious or just not rested, he can’t sleep. It’s hard for him to close eyes for more than half of an hour. Yes, it could be considered selfish. The only one he thought about, however, was the boy sitting of front of him. Then again, it’s not a boy anymore. It is a grown up man. He is the same age as him. Channy is still as cute as then.
“Just what does that to do with me?” Chan groans, leaning back his head a bit, not believing his ears. Why in the world should he be interested in that? It’s not his fault the man was thinking about him. “Can we just go back to our work?” he looks at Kris with pleading look.
“Give me a chance, will ya?” Kris whines quietly, narrowing his brows slightly. Why is he not taken seriously? It can make him really mad.
“What chance?” Chan whines as well, asking.
“To make you mine.”
“Don’t make me laugh.” The boy chuckles, shaking his head. If this a joke, then it’s really good. Just where did it come from? To make him his? How is that supposed to happen? That just doesn’t make sense. But it let him wonder, what would happen?
“I’m not trying to make you laugh.” Kris says with a serious, straight face.
“What exactly are you imagining right now?” Chanyeol calms down, putting on a straight face as well. He doesn’t know, he wants to see the end of this. It just makes him curious. Can the past be forgotten just like this? It’s not that easy, is it?
“Can’t we just be two people that met each other and get along well?” Kris asks, tilting his head again. He honestly thinks, it’s very possible. It can be like this. Like they didn’t meet in past whatsoever. Two complete strangers, that are only business partners.
“With our past?”
“Forget past. You forgot yours. Forget ours. It was just one night.” He talking with determination. They can just erase that memory, right? It shouldn’t be a big of problem.
Nothing can last forever. Regret. Guilt. Anger. Only memories do, but if you don’t want to remember, you just don’t remind yourself. With passing time, there are other opportunities and new chances. Memories, that are not stored in our dear memory are forgotten.
“Though, it was probably meaningful for both of us.” Kris adds, looking at the boy. “So? Can I invite you to a date?”
“What? When?” Chanyeol widens his eyes, once again surprised. Is the man really asking him for a date right now? Who does this?!
“Right now.”
“Here?” Once again, time to be shocked. This is just ridiculous, crazy and he totally likes it. He feels pretty much excited, to say the truth. There is some thrill put into his life now. Who knows? Maybe a relationship doesn’t have to be that bad. He didn’t have a proper relationship in these six years. One nightstands don’t count, since those can’t be considered as relationships…
“Yes. And then my house.” Kris nods, smiling again. It looks like something in Chanyeol broke down and it makes him more open. This fact makes the man very happy. He is given a change only like this right now. He will do his best to keep that chance and not to disappoint Chan.
“You want the past to repeat?” the boy chuckles, raising his brows. This just goes so quickly, he can’t seem to be more surprised. First, he is asked to be Kris’s. Second, he is asked to be more than business partners. Third, he is asked for a date. And now, he is invited to Kris’s house. This situation is turning out to be very interesting. But he can’t find himself rejecting this offer. More likely, he is looking forward to that.
“I don’t want to wake up to an empty bed.” Kris clarifies, smiling sincerely. That’s his wish. Not waking up to an empty bed. That’s all he wished for. He was waiting for this moment for six years. It’s a long time. But he wouldn’t mind to wait six years more, if it’s for Chanyeol. He wouldn’t mind living his life like that. He is just way too interested in this runaway.
“Deal…”