Chapter Text
The lights in the park that night were dim, the bench occupied by a young man who looked barely 18, was now covered with a thin layer of snow, looking golden under the lamp post.
His suitcase stood on the ground, just a foot apart from him, his hand tightened around the handle, he was gripping it too firmly than needed, his veins protruding out. Even if he felt cold, he didn’t let it show on his face, his lips were tightly pressed as if he had a lot to say but he was trying hard not to.
It was past midnight already, and radio program he was listening to since an hour was coming to an end, he could hear the Radio Jockey bidding his goodbye for the night, saying the same sappy lines every single show does on days like this, “our show is coming to an end, I hope my listeners enjoyed it. Did you spend the first snow of Seoul with your lover?” a small laugh, pretentious one, “or did that someone special professed their love to you? I’m waiting for your postcards, don’t forget to send some love to your favourite RJ too. This is FM 90.7 and you are listenin ”
And his phone turned off before he could hear the ending credits of the show. The dim lights were now fluttering, every single one of them, as far as Baekhyun’s eyes could see. And in the very next moment, it all went dark.
Restless, he looked up in the sky, the moon was still beautiful, shining high, and the tiny flake of snow rested on his nose, his hand automatically moving up to touch it, only for it to dissolve into nothingness, Christmas was just three weeks ahead but he cancelled all the bookings and plans for it two hours ago. He didn't want Christmas to come this year anymore.
And at this moment, he just needed one person, Jongdae.
Jongdae, Baekhyun’s best friend since the last five years, the friend he made on the first day of college, his hardworking friend, who was always into music, a fresh trainee in a newly established music agency, working hard for his solo debut, which he indeed got just in 2nd year of his college life.
Jongdae had left college back then, but it didn’t affect their friendship, they always remained in contact, just not as much as they used to be, but enough for Baekhyun to head towards his condo in this snowy night where he had nowhere to go.
Baekhyun being in this side of Seoul was not a new story, even though working as a new employee in a small firm for a year, he could only afford to share the rented apartment with a fellow employee at first but only after six months he shifted to one of the super luxurious condos of his boyfriend, he didn’t want to, but he had no choice, he was too old to live with his family but his income was not sufficient to rent a room decent enough. So, for the time being, he stayed there but left this evening. It was over for them, no patch up, no make up.
He left that place a couple of hours ago, with no heart to return. It was over for them, full stop end. He definitely would not fall for those sweet lies.
Thankfully the lift in Jongdae’s building was working fine, which came off as a surprise for Baekhyun who believed nothing would go right today for him, the whole day had proven to be a mess and at this point, Baekhyun thought he had wasted his whole year, a sickening job full of deadlines and a relationship that had come to such an end that Baekhyun now had no plans of ever dating again.
Nothing could go worse than this, or so he thought, until the door whose doorbell he was constantly ringing for past 30 seconds unconsciously flung open and a woman who appeared to be almost thirty years old, extremely beautiful, stood in front of him, slightly annoyed. She looked dishevelled.
First snow indeed with her lover, Baekhyun thought but felt it was too impolite to mention it out loud.
“Kim Jongdae.. isn’t it his condo?” He knew it was too late to correct his mistake, he looked up and it was not Jongdae’s door, he resided in the next one. But thankfully, the woman didn’t have a bad temper, “I think you got the wrong place,” she answered politely, a small smile was plastered on her face.
“Who is it at this time?” Baekhyun heard a voice from inside a man’s, too familiar for his liking, he wanted to leave as fast as he could, but too late he was for the man was now standing in front of him, almost a head taller than him, he reeked of cigarettes and smokes, and honey shampoo.
“Don’t you think it is too rude to disturb people at two in the morning?” The man spoke, voice too deep, and before Baekhyun could reply, the woman gripped the said man’s arm and stood in front of him, “Oh c’mon, Chanyeol! Don’t you see how young the boy is? Don’t bully high schoolers, he looks too troubled already.”
“Right. Kids like you should go and sleep, or else your mommy will be worried,” there was no hint of sarcasm or mockery, the tone was flat, and before Baekhyun could retort back, the door was shut on his face.
“Oh Heavens, Baekhyun…! how can you get confused about my condo with my neighbours even though you have been here many times already?” were the first words Jongdae said as soon as Baekhyun entered his place, but there was no anger, just a little bit of sarcasm, but that was so much like Jongdae, he always liked to joke around with Baekhyun.
“Don’t tell me you faced the wrath of Mr. Song! He is a very angry man -- you know how the old editors are,” said Jongdae, pouring hot coffee in a mug and pressing it into Baekhyun’s frozen hands, “drink it up, you are freezing! Where have you been? I thought you are arriving an hour ago, I was about to go out and search for you.”
So many questions, but Baekhyun didn’t feel like answering any. And Jongdae understood it wordlessly, that’s why he didn’t press the matter and let Baekhyun be for the night.
“Mr. Byun, I understand that you had to take a full week off cause of personal reasons which you can’t mention here in front of me, but you don’t understand that your job is not in my hand right now, it is the decision of your unit head, he told me you were slacking since a month, and then dared to take a week off without any prior notice, you think this job is a joke? Or am I a joke for you to behave this casually? We can’t keep up with this nonchalant attitude of yours anymore..’’ was all Baekhyun could remember, it had been ten days since he had been staying as a freeloader at Jongdae’s and three days since he lost his job. And things were getting worse one after another for him everyday.
The year was ending and now Baekhyun was not only homeless but also jobless. He had considered going to stay with his family, but that would burden his elder brother, and not only that, no way was he ready to answer all the questions about his break up with Jongin.
He missed Jongin, utterly, but there was no turning back, they both knew at this point that their relationship was super toxic and unhealthy. Baekhyun asked for too much of time and Jongin had none to spare, as he was a growing model, this successful at the tender age of 21, he was a year younger than Baekhyun and Baekhyun swore he was the sweetest boyfriend that he ever had in life, he had four till now, but it just wasn’t working any longer for them.
He will get over it, not as it happened for the first time, maybe he won’t even need that much time, after all, Jongin wasn’t his first boyfriend, or his boyfriend for the longest time, he was just a phase of his life, and Baekhyun will be over it, he was sure.
Looking for a new job appeared tougher than what he had in mind, thanks to his previous employer for adding negative comments regarding his punctuality, everyone demanded only punctuality and efficiency in this economy, and Baekhyun failed to prove he had either of them.
He wondered whether he should be a part-timer somewhere, as he didn’t like freeloading at his friend’s place, even though Jongdae never complained, he just never liked it. So he spent most of his days outdoors now, looking for a job, and then just roaming on the streets until the lights are out. Jongdae was never home much anyway, and he didn’t feel like being alone there. It felt better and refreshing to walk out in the cold breeze.
Baekhyun even considered visiting Kyungsoo once, his other best friend since middle school, they were friends for almost a decade. But the city life didn’t suit him, he now lived in the countryside, and rarely come to Seoul, for once or twice a year. Baekhyun hadn’t seen him in three years, so that didn’t help him either in again dismissing the idea of seeing him.
He just wanted to be home.
Baekhyun was now listening to the 10:00 PM show, it was Sunday, and the RJ of this particular program, who normally played old songs and talked about retro music, stopped the broadcast to give important news.
“I hope our listeners are home already, the blizzard that started an hour ago in getting worse, be safe. Be warm. Don’t forget to clean the snow in front of your house the next morning or the pedestrians will be having a hard time tomorrow. Right? And it always better to work together in hard times, it divides our problems and multiplies the happiness…”
The weather was indeed getting worse, and Baekhyun took notice of it only after listening to the RJ, he instinctively wrapped his arms around his body, to feel a little warmer than he was, he could barely see the road now, Jongdae’s house was just 500 meters away but he decided to make a stop at the nearest 24/7 shop on the left, Jongdae wasn’t home anyway.
The boy on the counter barely looked eighteen and Baekhyun wondered if it was even legal for him to be working here, it wasn’t his business anyway. He quietly walked over to the instant noodles section and picked up a pack of cup noodles and a beer can and made his way towards the counter to check out.
The Boy was too busy on his phone, probably listening to some hip hop music as he was subtly dancing and singing along, not noticing Baekhyun at all.
Baekhyun knocked over the table once before pulling out an earphone from the boy’s ear, finally grabbing his attention too.
“Hey, I was- oh welcome, sir, how can I help you?” The frown on his face was instantly replaced by a robotic, fake smile.
“Just- check out these two pieces of stuff for me… that’s it,” said Baekhyun.
“That would be 10000 won.”
Baekhyun handed over the money wordlessly, and the boy handed him the bill. He picked up his cup noodles and was about to hold his beer in the other hand when the boy on the counter grabbed the other end of it.
“Well, are you legal to buy it? You look like a high schooler!” The boy was particularly excited while saying it, as if he got a partner in crime, “don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone, I'm the same as you after all. If they know I’m not of age, they will throw me out.” and only then he let go of his hold on Baekhyun’s beer.
Baekhyun felt anger running through his veins, he utterly hated this, kids doing stuff like this. “Give me the phone number of your boss.”
“What! Why? No!”
“So that I can let him know his employee is a minor who should be focusing on his studies instead of doing this.”
“No, you won’t do that "
“Oh, you think so?” Baekhyun warned, before picking up a business card of the shop lying in a stack on the counter, “then watch me!” he furiously started typing the number already, the boy panicked.
“I’m doing this job because I don't have a choice!” the sudden outburst made Baekhyun stop, “you think I am enjoying it?”
The boy’s expression suddenly changed and he looked miserable, and for the first time, Baekhyun felt guilty, maybe he shouldn’t have been so rash in his actions and instead should have let the boy speak first. Meanwhile, the door opened and someone else entered too.
“I only do this job on weekends because I can’t afford the extra tuition fees, I want to continue my studies after high school but my family isn’t well off.. They can’t pay for my cram school fees.. I really need to join one to prepare for entrance exams, that’s why I’m doing this… hyung.. I hope you understand.” his last words barely audible. And Baekhyun felt sorry for him.
He didn’t apologize in words but just passed his cup noodles in boy’s hand, “you should eat this, students should always eat well when they are preparing for exams.”
“But Hyung you must be --”
“I have my beer,” Baekhyun shook the can in his hand with a small smile and then made the way towards the seating place near the windows. He placed the can on the long table and adjusted his chair.
“I’m Sehun by the way!” The kid called back but Baekhyun didn’t give him a look back.
Baekhyun still felt a little guilty so he looked over the counter, the boy, whose name was Sehun who was thanking the customer who came after him.
Baekhyun undid the lid of the can and took the first sip, his face twisted in funny ways, as he would never get used to even beer, blame his low tolerance for alcohol.
The seat next to his was now occupied by an intruder who reeked of cigarettes. “Are you really that naive or were you just pretending to be?”
“What do you mean?” Baekhyun hadn’t heard this voice in person since the last encounter at Jongdae’s floor, never had he thought he would see Park Chanyeol there. He was seeing him after two years, if you didn't count the time they met shortly at Jongdae's ten days ago, there was no friendly greeting or any acknowledgment. Baekhyun expected him to be at least be civil with him, they weren’t teens, Chanyeol was a year older than him on top of everything.
“That Kid, Sehun. He was obviously lying to you,” said Chanyeol, taking a sip from his beer can and then looked outside, the snow blizzard was just getting worse every moment. “He was wearing a jacket of Louis Vuitton for fuck’s sake, he is obviously here for easy access to alcohol and cigarettes, just like the boys of his age.” Another sip, and no change in expression, Baekhyun almost felt embarrassed to take another sip in front of him, he knew how funny he would look if he does.
“Just like the boys like you, you mean. Not everyone is like you, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun tried to sound bitter but he honestly had no bitterness in his heart, and he was too tired to pretend.
“Not everyone is like me you say, huh?” Chanyeol was now clearly mocking him but his tone was still so flat, colourless and dull, “aren’t you trying to feel special and unique.. and great? Well, that’s so much like you, your superiority complex and self-righteous attitude.. It is so sickening Get a life, would you?”
Baekhyun was now fuming with anger, they hadn’t seen each other or contacted each other for two years and yet Chanyeol was so quick to judge him and throw nasty remarks at him.
“If you don’t have anything good to say then you may not speak at all to me. It would be better if you leave this instant,” Baekhyun still didn’t let his anger get the best out of him and decided to be the better person here.
“No need to act so civil with me,” a laugh, same old pretentious one, “you and I both know that if you get a chance you might just shoot me in the head.”
“I don’t hate you or anyone else to such an extent that I would wish they were better off dead.”
“I know, I know. I was just joking, no need to get so hyper.” Another fake laugh.
“Goodbye, Chanyeol. And If you know Jongdae as you are apparently his neighbor, then can you please in front of him act as if you don’t know me? Please do me this favor as an old friend.”
Baekhyun had left in such a hurry that his beer can was still lying on the table, and besides that, his earphones were curled up too.
Chanyeol picked up the earphones and reached the counter, and then he casually placed it on the top, catching Sehun’s attention.
“Give it to him the next time he comes, okay?”
Sehun was confused, he was too busy to look into others’ business or make a comment, he clearly didn’t catch the riot between the young adults. “Excuse me.. But. Give it to whom?” He asked earnestly.
“To Bae the boy who was….” replied Chanyeol while opening the door of the store and making his way to the apartment. His car was parked outside but he didn’t think he could drive even 500 meters in this weather, “a little underdressed for this weather.”