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Baekhyun absolutely adored Kyungsoo.
Kyungsoo, who might as well have hung the stars and the moon from the amount of love and devotion Baekhyun has from him. But then again, who wouldn't love Kyungsoo this much? He was everything Baekhyun could ask for, and more.
His Kyungsoo who is talented, smart, kind, and beautiful. His Kyungsoo, who loved him with just as much fervor. And that's all that he needed. Baekhyun would give Kyungsoo anything he wanted, and dispose of anything he didn't like. He was willing to do anything just to keep the heart shaped smile on his beautiful lips.
And he thought he was doing a good job up until the moment he saw Kyungsoo kissing another man outside the building where Kyungsoo worked. He was supposed to surprise his boyfriend by picking him up from work but it was him who ended up being surprised.
Kyungsoo's pretty lips, on another man that wasn't Baekhyun.
Baekhyun's chest shakes, and there was a tight pain on the back of his head. He only realized he was home when he was already pouring two fingers worth of whiskey down his throat. His head was somewhere else, in utter disbelief that Kyungsoo - his Kyungsoo - could've done this to him.
The alcohol lit a line of fire down his throat, but not enough to burn the image he saw in the parking lot.
Without thinking much, he pulls out his phone and texts a trusted friend.
With that, Baekhyun pours himself another glass and heads to his study to boot his laptop. He quickly scans the file that Jongdae sent him. A painter. Tall and pretty. He was commissioned to paint murals on a couple of buildings next to Kyungsoo's office. For how quick Jongdae and Chanyeol made a background check, they were pretty thorough and included a few pictures of him with Kyungsoo captured from various security cameras.
A single, heavy, humorless laugh went past Baekhyun's lips, before skimming the edge of the screen and slamming it shut with a force that almost broke it. He runs a hand through his hair while leaning back on his leather chair. Everything felt shaky; his limbs, his lungs, his sanity. The last of which only being tethered by one thought and that was: Kyungsoo. He'll wait for him to get home, hear him out, and let him decide how everything else will pan out.
His Kyungsoo will make the right decision, he was sure of it.
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Baekhyun is in their living room, holding yet another drink when Kyungsoo arrives a few hours later. He forced himself to smile and reckoned that he probably looks stupid but he was too inebriated to care at this point. "Welcome home," he ran a hand through his hair and leaned back on the sofa.
Kyungsoo looks a bit startled, but he doesn't say anything and starts heading to his room.
Something in Baekhyun's chest shakes in anger once again. "Where have you been?" he asks, the end of his sentence punctuated by the ice cubes clinking in his glass.
This stills Kyungsoo. He looks to the side, and Baekhyun can't make out the expression he's wearing. "You know where I've been."
Baekhyun wanted to laugh.
"Come here, darling," he says, colder than he intended, but not cold enough to truly express how he felt. Kyungsoo just turns his head to look at him. "Kyungsoo." Baekhyun repeats when his lover doesn't move, this time more of a command. Kyungsoo was in front of him immediately. He pulls Kyungsoo closer and sets his glass on the table. Pressing his face against Kyungsoo's stomach, he breathes in and out slowly. Baekhyun doesn't like the way that he smells; like another man.
"Do you love him?" Baekhyun finally asks.
"No," was Kyungsoo's immediate answer.
"Do you like him?"
Another "no."
"And me?" Baekhyun looks up as he asks this, chin digging on Kyungsoo's torso in order to meet his eyes.
Kyungsoo cradles his face with both hands. "You're the only one I love, Baekhyun.”
Baekhyun looks at him, searching for any sign that he was lying or saving face. Finding nothing, Baekhyun decides that that's all that he needed and presses a kiss on Kyungsoo's pretty lips. A silent vow, to give Kyungsoo anything he wanted and to dispose of anything he disliked.
It took a little while but Baekhyun made it happen.
On a Monday afternoon, both Baekhyun and Kyungsoo were home. Baekhyun was about to enter their living room to sit with his boyfriend when he heard something from the local news. Something about an artist falling off a building while working on a mural that was pretty high up. He doesn’t even try to hide the joy that bloomed on his face. The news segment about the incident was almost over when Baekhyun finished sending a text to his hyungs, thanking them for their help.
Finally, he enters the living area and walks towards Kyungsoo who was standing in the middle of the room with disbelief written all over his face. Kyungsoo meets Baekhyun’s eyes, before the latter takes the remote controller from his hand to set it on the table.
Baekhyun smiled and hugged Kyungsoo. “I love you too, darling.”
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Kyungsoo absolutely adored Baekhyun.
From the moment they met, Kyungsoo knew that he would love Baekhyun and vice versa. He was everything he could ever wish for, caring and devoted, his twin flame. And he was happy. But a question has been gnawing and clawing its way from the back of his head to the forefront of his brain.
Just how much did Baekhyun love him? His passion for Kyungsoo, how deep did it run?
It was the flaw in his bones to want to know. To need to know.
Despite his friends' warnings, Kyungsoo was determined to follow through. They already knew deep inside that he would.
As if cued, a can of spray paint lands on the ground in front of Kyungsoo, almost hitting his shoe. He looks up, and locks eyes with a man on a scaffolding. “Shit, sorry!” The man climbed down as fast as one can off the rickety platform. Kyungsoo scanned him briefly; tall and puppy-like.
He will do, Kyungsoo thought.
“I’m really sorry, butterfingers,” he does jazz hands for emphasis.
Kyungsoo picks up the can by his feet, then gives the stranger a sweet smile. “It’s okay, I’m fine.” Turning his head, Kyungsoo finally noticed the half-done mural on the wall. “This your work?” he asks, handing him the spray paint. Kyungsoo brushes his fingers against the artist’s paint smeared ones. More smiles were shared, and with that, his plan commenced.
In just a few weeks, he’ll get his answer.
Baekhyun won’t disappoint him, he was sure of it.
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The moment Kyungsoo stepped foot in their threshold and met Baekhyun's gaze, he could tell that he knew. Of course he knew.
Kyungsoo made sure that he did.
Baekhyun was sitting on their couch, hand swirling a glass of scotch and looking uncharacteristically messy. It's obvious that he already started drinking a while ago. Not that Kyungsoo is any better, all mussed up and drowning in another man's scent. Which is, again, on purpose.
"Welcome home," Baekhyun greets with a smile. This wasn't what Kyungsoo expected. He thought Baekhyun would be losing his mind with anger right now, seething and looking for something or someone to break. The way Baekhyun's leaning back on their plush sofa, still brimming with confidence; this isn't what Kyungsoo wanted.
So he just trudges his way to the bedroom, heart heavy with disappointment.
"Where have you been?" he stops in his tracks.
"You know where I've been."
A brief pause.
"Come here, darling." a shiver went up Kyungsoo's spine. For the first time, he felt Baekhyun's anger seep out the cracks of his perfect image. Cold, cold anger. So cold that it burned. "Kyungsoo." he called out again when Kyungsoo didn't move.
Kyungsoo was already standing in front of Baekhyun before he knew it. The latter sets his glass on the table before wrapping an arm around Kyungsoo's waist and pulling him closer. Baekhyun nuzzles his face on Kyungsoo's stomach and sighs. "Do you love him?"
"No," Kyungsoo doesn't even blink.
"Do you like him?"
"No."
"And me?" Baekhyun meets Kyungsoo's eyes this time, and Kyungsoo can't help but cradle the other's face in his hands like a precious jewel.
"You're the only one I love, Baekhyun."
Baekhyun rises at this. Stares at Kyungsoo with a pensive look on his face before leaning in to kiss him. "Okay," he says with a smile. "I already drew you a bath. Go in before you head to bed."
Kyungsoo nods and does as he's told. While in the warm and bubbly bath, Kyungsoo's head reels, and his heart is crushed with disappointment. Baekhyun, loving, devoted, forgiving, the picture of a perfect lover. But it just wasn't enough. Kyungsoo needed something else. He needed a love akin to a sundew; sickly sweet and suffocating.
And Baekhyun couldn't give him that.
At least that's what Kyungsoo thought before hearing the news a few weeks later.
On the television screen was the local news, reporting a gruesome incident. An artist unfortunately fell off the scaffolding while working on a building mural. Kyungsoo stands up so quickly that he feels his knees lock. But it wasn’t just his knees; his entire body stiffened up with shock. He didn’t even have to think twice to know who it was.
Baekhyun strides into the room just in time. Kyungsoo's eyes flicker to him, the television, then back again. He walks towards Kyungsoo and gingerly takes the controller from his hand to the coffee table with his usual gentle smile. Then he wraps Kyungsoo in his arms.
"I love you too, darling." Baekhyun whispers, and Kyungsoo forgets how to breathe for a moment. Baekhyun did that. His loving, devoted, forgiving Baekhyun. The picture of a perfect lover; Kyungsoo’s perfect lover.
Kyungsoo pushed at Baekhyun's chest, just to pull him back by the lapels of his jacket to kiss him so hard that it bruised. Baekhyun matched his fervor happily as Kyungsoo thanked his lucky stars that finally, after searching for so long, finally, he found the love that he was looking for.
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