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“Monsieur, I am so sorry to tell you this, but we don’t have any reservations under the name Do...” the man looks down at Kyungsoo’s business card once again, lips trembling as he tries to pronounce his name.
“Kyungsoo, yeah,” he scratches his temple with his index finger, jaw clenched. He hates it when people don’t do their jobs properly. “And you are sure you don’t have any rooms available?”
The hotel manager nods his head slowly, “It’s late, monsieur. We are always fully booked by this time of the day or, may I say, night.”
Kyungsoo chuckles, and he can pretty much feel the blood boiling in his veins. One more word will send him over the edge which will only result in him making a scene. Probably a fool out of himself, as well. And he can’t afford to embarrass himself in front of anyone, even the meaningless nobody who can’t even pronounce his name properly. And they call this the most luxurious hotel in Paris.
“Have a good evening,” Kyungsoo says with a forced smile, gripping the handle of his suitcase. He doesn’t wait for the latter to reply, turning around on his heel as he walks out with what dignity he has left.
Kyungsoo ends up taking the metro to Montmartre. He looks ridiculous going around with his suitcase at this late hour, and the people around him make sure to let him know with eyebrow furrows and weird glances. He ends up ordering coffee in a small cafe. The night still hasn’t gotten cold so he sits by the table in front of the cafe, observing as the artists draw under the streetlamps. He doesn’t get it. Their smiles as they try to replicate the faces of strangers who can’t sit still for even two seconds, the easiness with which their hand drags over the paper. How can they be so calm? So happy? So content knowing that this is their only source of income, or that there is another job waiting for them probably too early in the morning. Kyungsoo pities them.
A sudden figure approaching him tugs him out of his thoughts. He looks up to see a man holding a violin on his shoulder, smiling warmly at him.
”Puis-je jouer quelque chose pour vous, monsieur?”
Kyungsoo is confused for a second, he can’t quite figure out why is this man talking to him, nor can he translate whatever he is saying to him with his very limited French vocabulary. “I’m sorry, I... don’t speak French.”
“Oh,” the latter replies, “Anglais? Coréen?”
Kyungsoo’s eyebrows rise in surprise. “Yeah, I do speak Korean.”
The man smiles even brighter, and somehow it makes Kyungsoo’s heart warm seeing him so excited.
“That is so great. I am Baekhyun, by the way,” he shakes Kyungsoo’s hand, “I saw you from afar and you seemed a little lonely so I thought you could use some company. Wait, that sounded kind of rude. It’s not like I came here out of pity or...” He stops abruptly as soon as he sees the slightly annoyed look on Kyungsoo’s face. “Am I talking too much?”
Kyungsoo just nods, and the man sighs, looking as if he’s mentally scolding himself. Kyungsoo doesn’t like it when people talk more than necessary and as a CEO of his own company, every day he has to deal with people asking way too many questions, explaining their ideas in ways that are pure torture to his ears, and complain about every single thing in their lives. The one person he loves talking to the most is his mother. She always knows exactly what to say and at what moment. That’s probably the reason she’s the only person he voluntarily engages in a conversation in besides when it’s needed.
“Sorry,” he looks down, “I asked if I could play something for you.”
Kyungsoo should make him go away, leave him alone. Maybe even tell him to get an actual job instead of relying on tourists’ mercy. But it’s been a long day, and perhaps he could even use some music to calm his nerves.
“If you don’t mind, I would like to hear you play.”
Baekhyun’s face immediately lights up, and Kyungsoo feels that, were they ten years younger, the latter would be jumping in his place from excitement.
As soon as the man brings the violin to rest on his shoulder, his facial expression changes. His eyebrows furrow in concentration, but he takes one more look at Kyungsoo before his bow drags across the strings. His instrument looks old, one string has broken probably months ago, and for some reason, Kyungsoo just knows the violinist has his name carved on the back of it.
The entire cafe watches in silence as Baekhyun plays a song they have probably never heard before. But Kyungsoo has and, in fact, it’s been one of his favorites ever since his father made him take both violin and piano classes back in high school. But the way this man plays it, it’s like if he were the one who wrote it, like he has deep emotions attached to it and every time he hears it, he’s consumed by that sole feeling. And just the way in which he handles his violin, as if he’s making love to it, thin fingers pressed over tense strings, chin resting on its lower part, lips slightly twitching as if he’s sweet-talking to it.
Kyungsoo’s attention averts to the stranger’s appearance - his dark jeans and a beige coat over a black turtleneck. His knuckles are red and hands dry, but he still fits so perfectly in his surroundings, the night that’s getting darker, the artists in the background, the passerby’s that decided to stop and listen to his song for a few moments. And yet, he plays as if there is no one around him, no man to judge the tiny hole near the pocket of his jeans, his windswept brown hair and his cheeks flushed from cold. He plays as if he was completely alone in a room with only four walls as the audience, he bares his soul with the beautiful melody so confidently and freely. Kyungsoo doesn’t admit it to himself, but he admires Baekhyun.
When the song is done, the people cheer and clap, but Kyungsoo stays still as the violinist bows to the audience, thanking all of them. Once they have all moved on and Kyungsoo has Baekhyun’s full attention, he says, “Küchler... That was wonderful.”
“Yes! It’s my favorite piece, Concertino in G major,” the latter says happily, a hand resting on his chest. “I’m glad you recognized it.”
“I used to play for some time myself. That isn’t as easy as you make it seem. You are talented.” Kyungsoo suddenly reaches into the pocket of his jeans, opening his wallet.
“Wait, stop. I don’t want your money. I have a job, I just do this for entertainment, yeah.”
Baekhyun looks down at his feet, and Kyungsoo isn’t so sure if it’s the cold that made his cheeks so red.
“Oh, I apologize. I thought...”
“It’s fine. Aren’t you bored here in Paris by yourself?” He quickly asks an innocent question to change the subject, but then the realization washes over him and it’s obvious on his face. “Which I just assumed you are... I’m sorry. I see too many couples here every day.”
Kyungsoo knows he should probably be bothered by a stranger’s bold assumption about his personal life, but instead, it brings a laugh out of him, and maybe he’s glad that their conversation hasn’t ended with the song.
“I am, actually, here by myself. But I arrived only two hours ago, so I can’t tell you yet whether I’m having fun or not.”
“You wanna say my performance wasn’t entertaining?” Baekhyun asks, fake gasping, and Kyungsoo realizes his cheeks hurt from smiling.
“I think I need to hear more to decide,” Kyungsoo says cheekily, and he feels his heart skip a beat when he realizes that the latter might take this in a way different from what Kyungsoo intended. And he does, if the corner of his lips tugging up and an eyebrow rise are enough indicators.
“Buy me a drink and I’ll consider,” Baekhyun suggests, head tilted to the side, teeth digging into his lower lip just like he knows exactly how to win him over, and Kyungsoo is afraid he might actually do.
“Alright,” Kyungsoo nods, pulling his wallet out of his pocket, “but not here, I need to see more of Paris.”
Baekhyun shrugs, “That’s fine with me. I know a great place. By the way, are you really gonna drag that thing around,” he points to Kyungsoo’s suitcase.
“God, I’ve completely forgotten about it.” Kyungsoo sighs.
“It’s fine. I know the owner of this cafe so you can leave it here and we will just come back later to pick it up if that’s okay with you.”
Kyungsoo considers the offer for a minute, but then realizes that there aren’t any valuable possessions of his in the suitcase beside his clothes, all his money is in his wallet and on his credit card, so he doesn’t have anything to worry about. Maybe the stranger is just genuinely being polite.
“That’s a great idea. Thank you.”
Kyungsoo watches as Baekhyun goes to pack his violin and bow, and then talk to the owner of the cafe, right before he drops both of their baggages behind the bar. He puts on a pair of fingerless gloves as he walks towards him.
“I have to say, you fell for my charms easily.” As Baekhyun says that, Kyungsoo turns to look at him while they walk beside each other, and he feels like he can see all the Paris’ lights in his dark eyes. He thinks that maybe, yeah, he did.
“I’m doing this just because I love music, okay? I want to hear more of it.”
Baekhyun laughs so loudly that some tourists turn around to stare at them, and it’s something Kyungsoo will learn to love about him, his joy and unforgiveness about who he truly is and how he presents himself to those around him.
“So, why Paris?” Baekhyun asks once they settle for the table by the window in a restaurant he had suggested. Kyungsoo easily agreed since the entire city could be seen from that spot. It was beautiful just like Seoul but in a completely different way. He finally realized how relaxing it is to know that he’s miles away from responsibilities that were crushing him back at home.
“I don’t think anyone coming to Paris has ever been asked that,” Kyungsoo replies honestly with a smile, “It’s gorgeous here.”
Baekhyun hums, “Do you have any reason for traveling, though? From what I’ve learned you’re a busy man.”
Kyungsoo looks down at the table, tracing imaginary patterns with his index finger. “I needed to get away from work and my family for some time. I took my mother’s position at the firm two years ago and they haven’t let me breathe for one second since that. Recently, they started pressuring me with getting married and having kids. They never run out of things to complain about.”
When he looks up to meet Baekhyun’s eyes, the sadness in them is apparent. Kyungsoo doesn’t want anyone to pity him, and he immediately regrets opening up.
“I’m talking too much, sorry.”
“No, no,” Baekhyun says quickly, “I can listen. And I’m here because I had obviously wanted to continue talking to you.”
Kyungsoo chuckles, “I don’t know. I don’t want you to think that I’m a lost cause. When people talk about their problems, they sound way worse than they actually are."
Baekhyun opens his mouth, ready with an instant reply, but the waiter interrupts him, placing a cup of tea in front of Kyungsoo, and a glass of hot chocolate for Baekhyun. He gives the waiter a smile warmer than his beverage and it secretly makes Kyungsoo’s heart pick up its pace.
“I don’t think you’re a lost cause just because you have work and family problems just like everyone else does, including myself.”
That sentence is enough to make Kyungsoo rethink his words and his entire attitude towards being open about his vulnerabilities. It has never been easy for him to talk about the difficulties he faces every day, and that’s mostly because he was always expected to flourish at everything he did, and when he didn’t, the punishment that he gave himself was worse than what he got from others. When he grew up, he slowly became to realize that the life he had was nowhere near perfect as he was taught it was. Kyungsoo had so many things to be grateful for, but there were emotions and pressure that were tearing him up from the inside, and the thought that he wasn’t thankful for what he was given just made it worse.
“Do you wanna get married, though?”
Kyungsoo thinks about it for a second, but there isn’t much thinking to do; he has always had the same opinion.
“No. And I’ve never met anyone who changed my mind about it. I don’t want kids either, and my parents especially love making me feel bad about that one.”
“It’s okay that you feel the way you do. You know how families say Oh, but we just want what’s the best for you? That’s fine, but you should never let someone make you believe that they are the ones who know what’s good for you, and not your own self. I mean, the entire world thinks that marrying and having kids is the sole point of our lives, but fuck them, you know, I think you’re the one who decides what’s your purpose,” Baekhyun says, waving his spoon in the air, and he only pauses to taste his beverage when it has cooled down, but it doesn’t stop him from talking, “Like, who are you to tell me that life has any meaning at all. The world is a shithole, anyway.”
Kyungsoo laughs, taking a sip of his tea, but it burns his tongue slightly. “Well, I guess you are right. I like the way you said that.”
“Thanks, I took philosophy classes in high school,” Baekhyun jokes, and Kyungsoo watches as his tongue darts out to lick the corner of his mouth where he noticed a drop of chocolate a few seconds earlier.
Kyungsoo clears his throat. “And what’s your purpose, if I may ask.”
“Playing music. Painting. Getting handsome strangers like you to take me out...” he teases at the end, winking at Kyungsoo who blushes.
“You’re terrible,” Kyungsoo shakes his head, “But seriously? That’s all? I expected you to have way bigger dreams, you just seemed like one of those people.”
Baekhyun shrugs his shoulders, taking a look through the window. “I learned how to enjoy the life that I have. I will accept opportunities with open arms, but it’s not something my happiness depends on. My purpose in life is to enjoy every breath I take in, and look forward to the ones that are coming.”
“You make it sound so easy.”
“Because it is. The road is hard, but once you’re there, living is simple. You take a deep breath,” Baekhyun does, and Kyungsoo, without much thinking, imitates him, taking in the smell of coffee and fresh air coming from the open window, “and learn how to appreciate it. I learned that being at peace with yourself and your surroundings means being grateful for every little thing in your life, beginning with the breath we both just took, to the money that helps us afford joys such as this.”
“You are so different from anyone I have ever met,” Kyungsoo says simply, resting his chin on his hand. He realizes the man in front of him holds as much complexity as the city below them, and he’s suddenly interested in a view other than the one through the window.
“I will gladly take that as a compliment,” Baekhyun smiles contently. “So tell me, how did you end up roaming alone around Montmartre.”
Kyungsoo sighs, remembering the entire story gives him a headache, but he can’t believe that a part of him feels happy that they didn’t have a free room because, otherwise, he wouldn’t be right here with Baekhyun.
“When I arrived I was told that they didn’t have any reservations under my name, and that they were fully booked. God, I dragged my suitcase for an hour until I found that cafe, I could’ve been resting in a warm bed.”
“You probably just didn’t make your reservation properly, like you didn’t fill in all the important info. It’s okay, though, it happens to everyone.”
Kyungsoo’s eyes narrow, he was pretty sure it was the hotel staff who messed something up, he didn’t even think about looking at it from this perspective.
“I planned on getting a room somewhere else, but I just needed to have a cup of coffee first, I was completely worn out from the flight.”
“Are you better now? Because I thought of showing you around the city a little, I mean, it’s not like either of us has anything better to do, right?” Baekhyun raises an eyebrow, and Kyungsoo bites his lip; does he want to spend the evening roaming through the unfamiliar city with a man he has known for barely two hours? Something inside of him makes him call over the waiter to pay and tip him generously, and once they are out of the cafe, Baekhyun takes Kyungsoo’s hand in his own as they drown in the crowd of tourists.
“Do you know where are we?” Baekhyun asks as they walk through the streets.
Where they are currently at, it doesn’t look anything like the Paris he has seen so far, or on the pictures before he decided for it to be the destination where he will be spending his vacation. There aren’t many tourists here, and it doesn’t smell like fresh coffee and paint. It seems as if he’s in any other city in the world, rushed people and noisy cars crowding the streets.
“I have no idea, this wasn’t in the brochure.”
Baekhyun laughs, ”La Chapelle. A lot of people say this is one of the most dangerous parts of Paris.”
“Is it?” Kyungsoo turns to look at him, and Baekhyun laughs at the way his eyes seem comically big.
“Your eyes make you look like an owl. And yeah, I guess it could be for tourists like you.”
Kyungsoo wants to complain, about either Baekhyun’s comment on his appearance or the fact that he brought him to somewhere unsafe, but an unfamiliar voice gets Baekhyun’s attention first.
“Mon cheri! Cela fait longtemps que je ne t'ai pas vu!” Kyungsoo sees a woman, dressed in a skirt probably too short for the current weather and a fur with leopard print. She pinches Baekhyun’s cheeks as the latter wraps his arms around her, bringing her in for a tight hug.
“Je vous ai manqué,” Baekhyun says, his voice muffled in her fur. “Wait. I need you to meet someone,” he continues in English, taking his, what Kyungsoo assumes, friend by her hand and leading her towards him. “C’est mon amie, Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo, this is my friend, Nadine.”
“It’s very nice to meet you.” Kyungsoo shakes Nadine’s hand, and her smile is the same type of warm as Baekhyun’s was when they first met, but her eyes are blue, way colder than Baekhyun’s own.
“You too! Any friend of Baekhyun’s is my friend.” She turns around to face Baekhyun, “Do you wanna come in for a show?”
“Oh, no, I’m just showing him around. We gotta go now, see you around, love!” Baekhyun waves at her before wrapping his cold fingers around Kyungsoo’s warm wrist.
“Il est mignon. Bon courage!”
Baekhyun rolls his eyes, but Kyungsoo notices the slight tug of his lips.
“What did she mean by ’a show’?” Kyungsoo asks when Baekhyun still hasn’t let go off of him, and it’s more because he feels as if he will go crazy unless he forgets the sensation of Baekhyun’s skin against his own.
“Nadine is a stripper. We met a few years ago at a friend in common’s art show. She wanted to see some of my art, so we hung out at my place and have stayed friends ever since that. She’s a wonderful human being.” Something sparkles in Baekhyun’s eyes as he talks about the woman, and it’s not just light coming from the cars passing through the streets, it’s something beautiful, genuine.
“Do you come here for, uh, shows often?” Kyungsoo bites the inside of his cheek.
Baekhyun chuckles, shaking his head immediately. “No, I don’t have time for that. But I support Nadine’s work, she’s amazing. When I watch her perform something she has been practicing patiently for months, it’s as beautiful as ballet, you know? I wish those men appreciated her and her colleagues more. What they do is art.”
Kyungsoo nods in agreement, but he doesn’t say anything for a while. They walk in silence for some time, Baekhyun occasionally pointing to candy stores and some other shops he believes Kyungsoo will find interesting.
“Isn’t everything around us some kind of art, though?” Kyungsoo finally asks.
“I wonder what in you did provoke that thought?” Baekhyun says teasingly, and Kyungsoo has gotten to know him in the past few hours well enough not to think that he doesn’t have an answer ready, but he’s asking because he’s genuinely interested.
“Because I realized that I’ve never thought of stripping as art, but when you talked about it, it made so much sense. Everything we create has a certain value and could be art in the eye of the right crowd.”
Baekhyun suddenly pulls him down the stairs that lead underground. They walk into a crowded white hall, its walls covered in movie and concert posters, the sound of trams in the distance bouncing off of them.
“I could agree on that, and I do understand where you’re coming from,” Baekhyun says as he stands in front of a machine Kyungsoo has never seen before. “But as an artist, I love to nitpick. When I mentioned stripping, I didn’t call it art because it sounds so grotesque comparing a job many consider immoral to something as sophisticated as ballet, it’s because I truly think so. Those women put hard work into their performance, just like actors and musicians do, and sometimes even more. So, I wouldn't call just anything art, but you're right, for the right crowd, a banana glued to a wall could be art, yeah?”
When Baekhyun turns around to face him, he’s holding two tickets in his hand. “I’m taking you on a cruise. We don’t have a lot of time and it’s the best way to get into the heart of Paris, to experience it in the best way.
Kyungsoo would agree on it anyway, but it’s not like Baekhyun gives him enough time to before he’s leading him into a tram. As soon as he starts getting pushed by the people trying to move past him, Kyungsoo realizes he’s growing tired of crowds. There are no empty seats and there’s barely any space for him to stand.
When they finally move, Kyungsoo almost loses his balance, but Baekhyun’s quick to grab him by his waist, pulling him closer.
“Careful,” he says, voice barely above a whisper.
“Sorry, I’ve never traveled by metro.”
Baekhyun raises an eyebrow, and his grip on Kyungsoo’s waist tightens. “Oh, so you’re rich rich?”
Kyungsoo chuckles. “It's just that crowds make me nervous.”
At this moment, though, he isn’t sure whether it’s the crowd or the tiny space between himself and Baekhyun that he could easily close by taking just one step further. But the unfamiliarity of it all stops him, as well as the old man who has been staring at them weirdly from his seat ever since they entered.
“I’m here, don’t worry,” Baekhyun says that in a tone so gentle that it reminds Kyungsoo of his mother, a friend he has known for a long time, someone who genuinely cares for him. When their eyes meet, Baekhyun tilts his head, cheeks no longer reddened and a smile on his face that never seems to go away. Kyungsoo should know better than to trust someone he met not even a day ago, but that’s something about Baekhyun that had him whipped from the second they met; his caring personality, the way in which he communicates that makes you feel as if you’ve known him your entire life, like you can trust him with anything you carry deep within your soul. And it’s exactly how Kyungsoo feels when he returns the smile, looking shyly at their feet.
“Thank you for saying that. You really have a way with words, don’t you?”
Baekhyun bites his lower lip, and it’s obvious by his cheeky expression that he has been told this before.
“Let’s see. It only took me a song and a few sweet words to get you to take a stranger you had never seen before on a date, so yeah, maybe I do.”
Kyungsoo stares him for a few seconds, waiting for Baekhyun to realize what he has just said, but the latter doesn’t even twitch, and it’s clear that he has no regrets in his words.
“So it’s a date?”
“If you want me to just take you sight-seeing, that’s alright, too. But I was thinking of having some fun tonight.”
Kyungsoo’s heart skips a beat, and he realizes his hands have been sweating too much for this cold weather. But that’s fine because in front of him stands Baekhyun, and under all of those layers of confidence his heart is also hammering against his chest, and if Kyungsoo leaned in just a little bit, he could feel it, along with hot breath that would fall all over his cheeks, lure him in even closer.
When they make it to the surface, the sky has gotten even darker, and Baekhyun comments on how the Eiffel tower’s light show will look gorgeous, how he can’t wait for Kyungsoo to see it. But for him, the stars reflecting in Baekhyun’s eyes might be just enough.
“One of my friends works here, he won't let us wait in line since they can be pretty long. Also, if you wanna eat something, dinners here are crazy expensive so I suggest we wait until the cruise is over.” Baekhyun tells him, and it’s almost funny just how much he sounds like a tour guide. He offers Kyungsoo a hand as they board the ship, right after he waves to someone who is probably the friend he mentioned.
“It’s freezing here,” Kyungsoo comments, burying his hands in the pockets of his coat. Baekhyun just laughs, stroking his arms, as if that’s supposed to help, but he still appreciates the touch.
“You’ll forget the cold once the ship sets off. I was ten when my mom first took me on a cruise, it’s still my best memory of Paris. I didn’t know anything about it since we had just moved, and I was just so mesmerized by the sight. I realized why they call it The City of Lights.”
They are at the front of the ship, pretty much alone beside some couples; everyone else is inside either dining or hiding away from cold. Kyungsoo leans over the board, watching the restless Seine beneath them and all the Paris’ lights reflecting in it.
“Look, that’s Pont Mirabeau.”
Kyungsoo looks up, following Baekhyun’s finger which is pointing to a green bridge in front of them.
“What about it?”
“Under Mirabeau bridge, the river slips away, and lovers...” Baekhyun pauses suddenly, and Kyungsoo looks at him expectantly, waiting for a continuation, but the latter starts laughing. “I’m sorry, I forgot the rest of the poem. I was confident in myself before I started, though.”
He’s so cute, Kyungsoo thinks. The way the wind threads through Baekhyun’s hair, messing it up, makes him wonder what it would feel like if it were his own fingers, tangled in brown locks.
“It’s about the passage of time and breakups or something. Does it ever make you restless? The fact that nothing is permanent and that all of us will be gone once?”
Kyungsoo hums, looking at the distance. One day, the man next to him, the people on this ship, the couples taking a walk by the river, all of them will be gone, including Kyungsoo himself. This moment, right now, is just a second in the history of humanity’s existence. But Kyungsoo is living it with his entire heart; he has never felt more aware of his presence in this world than now. He knows it’s all going to be over soon, and that he will never be able to return it, but when he looks at Baekhyun, a man so strange, yet his hand on Kyungsoo’s back feels more familiar than anything, he realizes that the future doesn’t quite matter when the present looks like this.
“If you asked me that while I’m sitting in my office working fourteen hours every day, I think I’d have a breakdown. But right now? I couldn’t care less. I feel like this is the best possible way I could spend a moment that I can’t ever go back to.”
Baekhyun bites his lip, taking that one step closer that Kyungsoo was so frightened by. He wonders what it would feel like to sink his teeth into Baekhyun’s lower lip, to kiss the mole in the corner of his mouth, lick his pretty cupid’s bow. He’s dizzy, completely intoxicated by Baekhyun’s presence.
“And letting a complete stranger drag you through Paris is it?”
Kyungsoo laughs, but he doesn’t reply for a few moments. He takes his hand out of his pocket just to let the tips of his fingers graze Baekhyun’s arm resting on the board of the ship. Everything seems to quiet down.
“I think everything I could’ve ever wanted is here, right now. Paris, the stars, the beautiful view...” Kyungsoo turns to look around but Baekhyun doesn’t take his eyes off of him for a second, and when he turns back to face him, he says, voice barely above a whisper, “...you.”
“I think I know what you’re missing, though,” Baekhyun replies, his chest heaving under Kyungsoo’s hand which he gently places over his heart when the latter comes close enough to prove that they’re both looking for the same thing. He is so warm and Kyungsoo was right when he wondered if he could feel his heart beating against his chest if he just crossed some boundaries that two strangers should most probably have.
But Kyungsoo has cared too much and for too long. He has wasted so much time wondering if he had been doing the right thing. At this moment, the only right thing he could do is lean in just a little more, wrap his arms around Baekhyun’s neck and let him warm his own beneath Kyungsoo’s coat, on his waist. So he does exactly that, but Baekhyun’s lips are chapped and he grips his hips harsh enough to say that he has been waiting for this the entire night. Kyungsoo wouldn’t want it any other way.
Neither of them cares if someone is staring enough to pull away. Baekhyun’s tongue is so hot as it coaxes his lips open but his hand is so cold as he moves it to the nape of Kyungsoo’s neck. He feels too many sensations all at once, and it makes him light-headed, lost in Baekhyun’s gentle but needy touch and his sweet strawberry smell.
Kyungsoo completely stills when he feels his phone vibrate in the pocket of his jeans. Baekhyun opens his eyes, admiring Kyungsoo’s eyelashes falling over his flushed cheeks, covering the exhaustion under his eyes. That could easily be the most beautiful sight he had ever gotten a chance of witnessing, and he lives in Paris.
“Answer it,” Baekhyun whispers against his lips, nudges him with his the cold tip of his nose, and that almost makes Kyungsoo throw his phone in the river and kiss Baekhyun again until they can’t even breathe anymore, because he knows it’s his father calling, or his brother, or anyone who is ready to nag him about work during his vacation, and somehow, everyone he has in his life would.
Kyungsoo sighs, managing to answer the call before the person on the other end of the line gives up. He doesn’t even look at the name displayed on the screen; whoever it is, he doesn’t want to hear a word.
“Hello? Kyungsoo? Why did it take you so long to pick up? I’ve been trying to...” Kyungsoo gets lost in the middle of his brother’s sentence, right when Baekhyun leans in to press his lips to his jawline, his chin, the corner of his mouth, and when he reaches his lips, he just gazes deeply into his eyes. Kyungsoo tucks a few strands of hair behind his ear, and Baekhyun smiles so sweetly. It’s almost as if he doesn’t even want Kyungsoo to pay any attention to the call he made him answer.
“What?” Kyungsoo suddenly says, and even Baekhyun takes a step back, eyebrows furrowed with worry; the moment is broken.
“I don’t care. I am not coming back before Sunday evening. I deserve this.”
Baekhyun notices the way Kyungsoo is trying his best to resist shouting and cursing. His jaw clenches with every word coming from the speaker of his phone.
“I’ll let you speak,” Baekhyun whispers, and Kyungsoo just nods. He leaves to give the latter some privacy.
“How’s dad?” Kyungsoo asks, watching as Baekhyun walks to the opposite side of the boat and greeting his friend.
“He’s not well, Kyungsoo. This is why I need you here, I can’t manage everything by myself. Minseok is in Japan negotiating with our possible new partner and I’m here alone. It’s fucking crazy. And mom has been crying non-stop since dad got hospitalized, she keeps asking for you. I didn’t want to disturb you at first, but it’s an emergency. We all need you.”
That’s the only time you call, anyway. Kyungsoo pulls on his hair harshly, and he isn’t sure whether he wants to scream or cry, maybe both at the same time.
“This has happened before, though, dad will be fine, please tell her that.”
“Kyungsoo...”
If he had to be completely, brutally honest, he doesn’t care as much as he probably should. Not about his father, nor his brother, nor that company burning to the grounds, it’s only the well-being of his mother that made him tolerate the rest of his family his entire life. He knows better than to think that he owes anything to the people who had never truly been there for him, despite the same blood that runs through their veins. But his mother, the one who raised him to respect himself as much as those around him, the one who told him it was okay to love whoever he wanted to, the one who wiped his tears every time his father shred his heart into pieces, she who loved him with every fiber of her being, she deserved anything Kyungsoo could give her. And not because he feels like he owes her for all that she has done for him, but because he genuinely wants to.
“Tell mom that I’m returning tomorrow morning. I’m coming just because of her.” With those words, Kyungsoo hangs upon his brother. His hands are trembling as he puts his phone back in his pocket, and it’s not because of the cold anymore. There are tears in his eyes that he doesn’t want Baekhyun to see, so he takes a few breaths, just like Baekhyun had said, and he decides to make the most of the night that’s in front of him.
“Didn’t you say you painted?” Kyungsoo asks as he wraps his arms around Baekhyun’s waists after he found him at the other end of the ship. The latter just chuckles, leaning over the board enough for his back to press into Kyungsoo’s body in the ways that haven’t crossed his mind yet. “I kind of want to see it.”
“Yeah,” Baekhyun bites his lip, “but weren’t you in for the music?”
“And weren’t you in for the free drinks? I thought you were gonna ditch me as soon as you wiped that glass of hot chocolate clean.”
Baekhyun laughs, throwing his head back onto Kyungsoo’s shoulder. His teeth shine in the dark and his eyes twinkle when he tilts his head to look up at Kyungsoo.
“I do paint. But I feel like you’re using that just as an excuse for me to take you home.”
Kyungsoo smiles, pressing their foreheads together. “You got me.”
“I could paint on you. You’d make such a pretty canvas,” Baekhyun whispers and his breath is so hot as it falls over Kyungsoo’s cold skin. “Do you like red? It’s my favorite color. It’d look beautiful on your skin.” Baekhyun drags his finger over Kyungsoo’s neck, watching as his eyes flutter closed, loving the effect his touch has on him.
“I prefer blue, but you’re the artist here, right?”
Baekhyun just nods, and they end up simply admiring the view as the ship makes its way down the river. Kyungsoo debates in his head whether he should spend more time looking at the city in front of him or the man in his arms, and he concludes that the Eiffel tower’s light show can’t even compare to Baekhyun’s bright smile.
“How did your call go? You seemed pretty upset.”
Kyungsoo sighs, the thought of it just hurts his head. He buries his face in the crook of Baekhyun’s neck, and maybe that’s where he wants to stay forever.
“I’m leaving for Seoul tomorrow morning. My mom isn't feeling well. She's old and... I'm afraid that every moment with her is my last.”
Baekhyun’s hand comes to stroke his arm reassuringly. “Don’t say that. Everything will be alright, I promise.” Baekhyun turns in his arms, hands cupping Kyungsoo’s cheeks, and his heart swells just a tiny bit when Baekhyun presses a short kiss to his lips.
"Help me get rid of these thoughts, please. I want to use the time we have left."
Baekhyun smiles, "I'll make you forget. All of it."
With that promise, Baekhyun holds his hand as they walk next to each other, he lets Kyungsoo rest his hand on his thigh as they sit in the metro, and he kisses him deeply as soon as the door of his apartment is shut.
Baekhyun lives in a studio apartment, and Kyungsoo enjoys watching him run through it, trying to make it appear more decent, even though he doesn’t mind the mess that much; it fits Baekhyun’s personality in ways that he can’t explain.
“You have a beautiful view,” Kyungsoo says as he walks over to the window. The moon can be seen above the Eiffel tower, and the buildings in this street are as equally gorgeous as the one Baekhyun lives in.
He melts into Baekhyun’s body heat when he comes from behind him, wrapping his arms tightly around Kyungsoo’s waist. “Don’t I?” He asks, looking at Kyungsoo fondly.
Kyungsoo pecks his lips, and Baekhyun complains about it with his lower lip jutted out. “Stop looking at me like that,” Kyungsoo laughs, pushing him away. “Show me your art.”
“Come with me, then.” Baekhyun takes his hand leading him through the white door. They enter a room much smaller than the previous one, but it’s an equal of a mess, if anything, even a bigger one. There are canvases and white sheets all over the floor, and the beige walls are covered in paint, just like the windows. There is a desk in the corner of the room and not even an inch of its surface can be seen under the piles of white paper and sketchbooks.
“This room is the definition of Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo jokes.
“You wanna say that I’m a complete disaster?”
Kyungsoo laughs, shaking his head. He takes careful steps in order not to ruin anything as he walks over to the easel in the corner with an unfinished painting that grasped his attention the moment he saw it.
“You are a mess. In the best ways possible, though. What’s the meaning behind this one?”
Baekhyun comes to rest his head on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, hands on his hips as they both look at the painting in front of them. In Kyungsoo’s head, it’s just a series of black lines over a yellow-painted canvas. There are red dots that look like they ended up as a part of the painting by mistake. Kyungsoo never understood modern artists.
“Whichever you give it. What does it look like to you?” Baekhyun says as his lips ghost over Kyungsoo’s skin where his shoulder meets his neck. It feels like sabotage, asking him such a deep question and then clouding his mind with thoughts he shouldn’t be having right now.
“It looks like a fruit salad with bananas and strawberries. And chocolate on top, yeah.”
Baekhyun laughs but doesn’t add anything, so Kyungsoo continues, “It could also represent a clouded mind. Maybe someone who worries about everything way too much that they have no idea what to focus on. You, know, like someone so disoriented and confused about everything, maybe even a little sad. I don’t know. Am I talking too much? I’m sorry.”
Kyungsoo turns his head to look at Baekhyun, but the latter is simply staring at him with eyes wide and a slight smile on his face. They drag over Kyungsoo’s face, connecting his moles, admiring the pretty skin, and he can feel his cheeks heating up as he lets out an embarrassed chuckle.
“Let me paint on you.”
Kyungsoo stares at Baekhyun blankly for a few seconds after those words leave his mouth, and he isn’t quite sure why he agrees and only does he wonder that when he finds himself stripped out of his coat and shirt, sitting on the floor with Baekhyun straddling his hips, holding two cans of paint in front of him.
“How sure are you that this isn’t dangerous?” Kyungsoo asks, looking up at Baekhyun suspiciously.
“What’s dangerous is that you let a stranger bring you to his home. I figured you wouldn’t mind since you are clearly feeling a little adventurous tonight.” Baekhyun raises an eyebrow and Kyungsoo knows that was supposed to shut him up, so he does, silently dipping the tips of his fingers on both hands in the can of blue paint. Baekhyun does the same thing, his fingers covered in red, and he leans in until their noses are almost brushing.
“Kiss me,” he says, a gentle whisper, urging Kyungsoo forward, making him sigh into the kiss as Baekhyun grabs onto his shoulders, and he can only imagine the paint smeared over his skin. Kyungsoo grips Baekhyun’s waist harshly, and the latter doesn’t expect it, if the quiet whimper he lets out as Kyungsoo bites onto his lower lip is anything to judge by. Kyungsoo doesn’t care when Baekhyun threads his paint-covered fingers through his hair, pulling on it as he sucks on the skin of his neck, covering it with blooming red marks that almost resemble the color on his own skin.
“Take off your clothes,” Baekhyun orders, his voice so breathy that it has Kyungsoo’s head spinning.
Kyungsoo complies, taking off his jeans as Baekhyun stands up to hover over him. His eyes are filled with pure lust as he follows every movement of Kyungsoo’s hands.
Kyungsoo knows he shouldn’t feel this carefree, especially not in front of someone who he hasn’t known for a full day, but the look on Baekhyun’s face has him so obedient, so willing to please as he strips himself completely out of his clothes, laying bare, skin against the cold floor.
“Turn around.”
Kyungsoo complies and complies, and completely surrenders to Baekhyun, his warm, colorful touch. He connects the dots on Kyungsoo’s back with kisses and a wet tongue. He grins at the way Kyungsoo trembles beneath him every time he sinks his teeth into his skin.
“The things I would do to you...” Baekhyun whispers as his lips drag over Kyungsoo’s neck until they press softly behind his ear, making him sigh with the warmth that spreads through his chest. Baekhyun kneels behind his spread legs, hands traveling across the gentle curves of his waist, the arch of his back, all the way to his broad shoulders. Kyungsoo is like a piece of fine art under his touch, and he almost feels like a sculptor, having him bend and twist in all the ways Baekhyun needs him to.
It seems strange, how this should be nothing but a one night stand, but there’s Baekhyun staring deeply into Kyungsoo’s eyes as he fills him up, over and over again, and strangely, it almost feels like making love. But Kyungsoo hasn’t been in love in years, he isn’t even sure what’s that supposed to feel like anymore.
But this, what’s Baekhyun doing, with his hands on Kyungsoo’s thighs and the soft kisses peppered all over his neck, has him craving more, making him want to ditch his future just to stay here forever, with this strange man and in this strange, magical city.
Baekhyun brings tears to his eyes and his hips stutter when Kyungsoo’s entire body trembles beneath him. He slows his pace, dragging his cock in and out of him in a way that seems as if he’s taking his time to appreciate Kyungsoo’s warmth and how tight he is around him.
Baekhyun is so touchy, far more than what Kyungsoo is used to. He is so greedy; grabbing, biting, and licking every inch of Kyungsoo’s skin he can reach with his mouth and hands. Sex with him is like a sweet torture, he takes it slow, completely destroying Kyungsoo until he’s nothing but a mess in his hold, and then he puts him back together, piece by piece, whispering in French into his ear, calm as Kyungsoo dissolves on the floor under him, tipping over the edge.
“There is so much about you I haven’t had an opportunity to find out,” Kyungsoo says later after he had Baekhyun pressed against the cold tiles in his shower, washing the blue paint off of his skin as he fucked into him in an erratic pace. Baekhyun’s shower gel smelled like vanilla and his damp hair like strawberries as Kyungsoo lets it tangle around his fingers. He didn’t have an actual bed, just a mattress on the floor beneath a big window that had a gorgeous view, and Kyungsoo couldn’t imagine this night ending any better.
Baekhyun hums, resting his head on Kyungsoo’s chest. “My name is Baekhyun. I’m twenty-five and by day I work as a waiter. Sometimes I go to Montmartre to play for tourists and friends, and in my free time, I paint. I like jazz and men who easily fall for me,” he presses a kiss to Kyungsoo’s chest, “like you.”
Kyungsoo laughs. “I see I’m not the first clueless stranger you talked your way into taking them home.”
“Certainly not. But somehow I like you more than any of them.”
“I bet you tell everyone that.”
Baekhyun throws one leg over Kyungsoo’s hips, straddling him as his hands travel across his bare chest.
“Maybe I do. But I’m all yours now, am I not?” Baekhyun raises an eyebrow but he doesn’t give Kyungsoo a chance to reply before he continues, “Your turn, tell me more.”
“I don’t think there’s anything intriguing about me. I’m twenty-nine, two years ago I took over my mom’s company. I used to play the piano and I like watching movies when I have time.”
Baekhyun sighs, “Are you trying to make yourself sound boring on purpose?”
“No,” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes, hand slapping Baekhyun’s thigh, “I’m just not used to talking about myself. There’s nothing interesting to be said, anyway.”
“Bullshit. You might look a boring rich fuck but you certainly aren’t one. I know enough about you not to think that.”
Even after those words leave Baekhyun’s mouth, and he’s looking down at Kyungsoo in expectation, the latter doesn’t reply, just quietly rubbing circles with his thumbs on Baekhyun’s hips.
Baekhyun sighs, rolling back on the other side of the bed. “When are you leaving tomorrow?”
“Six in the morning.” His brother has booked a flight for him even before he called, he knew Kyungsoo would never take his mother’s health for granted. “Wait, fuck. I’ve forgotten my suitcase.”
“It’s okay. Paul closes around two am, I’ll just tell him to bring me the suitcase, he lives next door.”
Kyungsoo rolls over to Baekhyun’s side, hand splayed over his chest. “The owner of that cafe? You are neighbors?”
“Oh yeah, he’s the reason I play at Montmartre. He said something like It’s a place for true artists such as yourself. The French are so strange, but I’m grateful for him. I’ll text him to bring it after he closes.” Baekhyun takes his phone he dug from somewhere beneath the mattress, “Oh, it’s one am. We should go to sleep.”
“Sleep? I’ve never felt more awake.”
Baekhyun laughs, “I thought I wore you out.”
“I’m constantly worn out, but this... this is not it. I feel alive, I want to do things.”
"Such as what?”
Their eyes lock, and it has Kyungsoo’s stomach turning in ways he had never experienced before.
“I don’t know. I just...” Kyungsoo bites his lower lip, and against what his common sense is telling him, he continues, “You make me want to do things that I’ve never even thought of before. I don’t understand how or why but, you just do.”
Baekhyun smiles, and he shuffles around the bed until his head is resting on Kyungsoo’s shoulders, their legs intertwined and hands all over each other.
“Tell me, I want to know.”
Kyungsoo is so glad Baekhyun can’t see the way his cheeks heat up. He has never been open to anyone about his emotions. It just wasn’t something he considered necessary, as if it would affect their relationship in any way. Also, there was something quite embarrassing about it Kyungsoo couldn’t exactly pinpoint. But with Baekhyun, as cheesy as it sounds, it was different. He wanted to bare his soul to him, let him know every little thing that he made Kyungsoo feel.
“I’ve never traveled before this, I thought Seoul was enough, it was the only thing I needed. When I was a kid my life was just books and a few friends, then I grew up and it was just college and my family preparing me to work at mom’s firm. Then it became work, fourteen hours a day. I didn’t care about anything else, but I wasn’t happy. I had all that money, I got a great job right after college when many others ended up working at supermarkets and fucking McDonalds. I had a home, family... yet I was so sad all the time. I didn’t want to acknowledge it because I had all that privilege but also the audacity to complain about my life. Even if it was just in my head.”
Baekhyun’s chin is digging into his chest as he stares at him from what probably is an unflattering angle, but his hand is gently stroking Kyungsoo’s side, encouraging him to continue.
“Then I came here, and it felt like an entire new world was exposed to me. You...” Kyungsoo looks down at Baekhyun, his thumb gently stroking over his cheek, “You are something so chaotic, yet beautiful. I want to do things I was always told not to because of you. You, Baekhyun, made me fall for you so easily and then took me home and fucked me on the floor of your atelier.”
Baekhyun smiles, “It’s kind of poetic.”
“Maybe, but it’s not what I’m used to. Way out of my comfort zone.”
Baekhyun hums, moving up to straddle Kyungsoo again, and he probably should, but Kyungsoo thinks he will never get tired of this sight.
“But it’s clearly in you. That spirit that you were forced to suppress your entire life. You’ve been good for too long. It’s okay to let go of that perfection you were forced to achieve, you are a human being - you can feel sad, lost, and confused. It’s normal that materialistic things and your family’s approval aren’t enough to make you happy. There are so many other things in this world that could turn that little spark inside of you into a real fire.”
“Yeah, like you do.”
Baekhyun laughs, and his warm breath tickles Kyungsoo’s neck. He tilts his head up to look at Kyungsoo, his eyes so warm and skin glowing softly under the moonlight.
“I have a question.”
Kyungsoo nods, but Baekhyun doesn’t immediately answer, instead tracing every detail of Kyungsoo’s face with his curious eyes, just as if he’s hesitating. But Baekhyun has always been fearless.
“Is it too out of your comfort zone to fuck me against the window?”
Kyungsoo groans, covering his face with his hands. Maybe Baekhyun is too much for him to handle in just a single night, but it certainly doesn’t feel like that once the clock hits three am and he’s falling onto the mattress breathlessly, followed by Baekhyun who clings onto him as his heartbeat goes back to its normal pace. And when he kisses him goodnight and buries his face into Kyungsoo’s neck, it’s almost too perfect to be real.
When the sun rises, Baekhyun is already carrying Kyungsoo’s suitcase, waiting for him at the door as he puts his shoes on. They had only gotten barely two hours of sleep, and exhaustion is apparent on both of their faces. Kyungsoo tucks his hands in the pockets of his coat, and so does Baekhyun as they walk in silence to his car.
Kyungsoo’s brother calls to check on him, but he doesn’t answer, instead letting the ringtone drown in the background as he stares at Baekhyun’s profile.
“I’m sorry for bothering you this early,” he says.
“Don’t worry about it. What kind of host would I be if I let you roam Paris alone in a search for a taxi? Plus, they are expensive as hell, so yeah, it’s fine.” Baekhyun’s hand squeezes his thigh and Kyungsoo enjoys the warmth, the affection, but suddenly the latter retreats it to the steering wheel, and the moment is gone.
Kyungsoo clears his throat. “Thank you.”
“I told you, it’s no-”
“No,” Kyungsoo sighs, “Thank you for spending the night with me. You were right, back at the Montmartre, I was lonely.”
Baekhyun stops at the red light, and he turns to look at Kyungsoo, hand on his shoulder. “I don’t know a better way to spend the night than with you.”
Kyungsoo chuckles, and when he turns around, Baekhyun’s mirrors his smile. He almost leans in to kiss him but the car behind honks at them.
“Branleur!” Baekhyun shouts as if the driver can hear him, and Kyungsoo laughs, looking at him in a way that’s a little lovesick. For one night, he was given heaven on earth, a person he could talk to, who he wanted to talk to, someone whose chest he could curl up in and let the rest of the world crumble away because, why was he the one always supposed to be fixing everything? Who was there to hold him together when his strength runs out? No one. No one except a man he met under a starry sky in one of the most romantic places in the world, and it is as cheesy as it sounds, but Kyungsoo savors it, still clings to it even now as they travel to the spot where their roads are supposed to part.
“I have this feeling... in my chest. It’s suffocating me.”
Kyungsoo holds his hand over his chest where his heart is, it feels like he’s running out of the air and his head is dizzy. He doesn’t want to go back. Please don’t let me go.
“Kyungsoo, are you okay? Do you want me to pull over?”
Kyungsoo shakes his head, keeping his eyes locked on the road in front of them. It’s so hard not to look at Baekhyun, but if he does, he feels like a part of him will instantly die.
“Why do I care about you and this city so much? I have never cared about anything in the world like this. I feel like, if I leave now, I... I don’t know what could happen to me.”
Baekhyun’s jaw clenches and his knuckles turn almost white from gripping the steering wheel, and for someone who’s always ready with a response to anything, he lets a few moments on silence pass between them before he says anything.
“It’s called love. And freedom. Something you haven’t been granted back at home.”
Kyungsoo closes his eyes, his head in a mess of thoughts. He doesn’t know what to think, what to feel, anymore. What to worry about.
“You deserve so much, Kyungsoo.” As Baekhyun says that, Kyungsoo suddenly turns around to look at him and sees his eyes twinkling, and not with the beautiful city lights mirrored in them but with tears, the corners slightly reddened. It feels like an arrow straight through his heart. “I wish more than anything that you could stay here. We could get you a job at fucking McDonalds and I’d paint the walls in my apartment blue for you. I’d play Küchler for you every single night until you’re asleep. Fuck... I need you here with me. But it’s selfish to beg you to stay. I know you need to be with your mother.”
Kyungsoo lets his hand rest on Baekhyun’s thigh, and he wants to kiss him so badly when Baekhyun inhales sharply, to take that breath away from him.
“I’m so lonely, Kyungsoo. Since my parents passed away, I have no one. I mean, yeah, I do have friends, but we’re not close, not even slightly as I’ve gotten with you in just one night. Isn’t it crazy?” Baekhyun chuckles, but a tear still rolls down his cheek, and once he parks in front of the airport, Kyungsoo leans in to place a kiss right there.
“I really, really like you, Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo whispers against his skin, and Baekhyun smiles so wide his cheeks hurt. “And I’ll come back to you. One day.”
“Okay, sappy,” Baekhyun says, “Let’s go so you don’t miss your flight.”
“Hey, give me your phone number,” Baekhyun says once they are inside the building. Kyungsoo takes his phone and types his number in, looking hesitantly up at him.
“What if we turn out to be one of those couples who text all the time and eventually get bored with each other?”
Baekhyun smirks as he puts his phone back in his pocket, pulling Kyungsoo closer by the belt loops of his jeans. “Oh, so we are a couple now?”
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes, hands abandoning his suitcase to rest on Baekhyun’s shoulders. “You know what I mean.”
Baekhyun pouts, looking up as if he’s thinking deeply. “Nope. Have no idea.”
Kyungsoo sighs. “I just mean that people get tired of each other with time. Once you know everything about me, there’s nothing to be excited about anymore. Nothing to have your heart racing.”
Baekhyun hums, “Yeah but, I feel that’s exactly when I’d know that I’m in love. When I know everything about my lover - how he’s going to part his hair, or what shirt he’s going to wear that day, knowing the exact story he would tell in a given situation. I’m sure that’s when I’d know I’m really in love. What excites me is that I’m the only person in the world that has the privilege of loving, and being loved by that person.”
Kyungsoo lets his hands lock behind Baekhyun’s neck, and he leans a little more into him, enough so that the latter has to hold him steady with his hands on his hips.
“You’re right. How could I ever get enough of you?”
Baekhyun smiles gently, closing the gap that separates them, filling Kyungsoo with pure joy as he presses their lips softly. But he can’t resist digging his teeth into Kyungsoo’s lower lip, biting so hard the latter whines into his mouth.
“Something to remind you of me,” Baekhyun says as he swipes his thumb over the bruise on Kyungsoo’s lip.
“Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo says, hands cupping his cheeks, “I’ll come back. I promise.”
Baekhyun nods silently, and Kyungsoo knows he doesn’t believe him. But he will make it happen.
He wanted to say something more, but suddenly a female voice can be heard through speakers, and Kyungsoo just looks around, unable to catch a single word the woman said.
“That’s your flight. You have to go.”
Kyungsoo inhales deeply, and he almost doesn’t want to let that breath go - for this moment to pass.
“Oh, yeah.” Kyungsoo takes a step back away from him, grabbing his suitcase. "Please wait for me, Baekhyun."
Baekhyun bites the inside of his cheek, trying his utmost to keep the tears away.
Kyungsoo’s jaw tightens and he feels his own tears coming, so he turns away quickly on his heel, walking away from Baekhyun. He knows it, he knows that if he turns around now, he will end up in Baekhyun’s arms, in his loving touch, he will drown in it and never come back. He will be once, and for all, truly gone. So he doesn’t, but nor does Baekhyun call out his name just one more time, lets it roll down his tongue once again, just to remember how it feels. Their roads part for what seems like an eternity.
Kyungsoo finally lets his emotions get the best of him after the plane takes off. He drowns in his own tears as rain pours from the clouds below him. He dreads seeing his family, going back to his empty cold apartment, living every day as if he was a programmed machine. He needs back the pure joy he felt on that cruising ship, the gentle wind, Seine’s beautiful song, Baekhyun’s warm breath.
Suddenly, his phone buzzing tears him away from his thoughts.
(1) new message
Bon voyage, mon amour. I'll wait.
The years shall run like rabbits.