Prince Park Chanyeol & Guard Byun Baekhyun - ch. 2
Royal!AU
Pairing: Chanyeol x Baekhyun
Status: Ongoing
Park Chanyeol. Park Chanyeol. Park-effing-Chanyeol.
You’d think after hearing that name so many times one would get tired of it.
But the world wasn’t.
And neither was I.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3
It was the next morning and Baekhyun was very weary. He hadn’t gotten an ounce of sleep last night. His conversation with the Prince had been running in circles throughout his mind. It made him question everything. Everything he was protecting. Everything he, as a guard, was standing for. And it especially made him question everything he had thought about the Prince.
Baekhyun stood still at the doorway of the dining hall, barely noticing as another guard came to stand at the other side of the doorway as well.
“Psst.”
Baekhyun turned his head to see Jongdae, “Jongdae!” he said, with a slight smile. “I didn’t know you had the same post as me?”
“Yeah,” he said, with a smile on his face, “I’m here only for the morning, after this I go to the surveillance room.”
Baekhyun made a face, “God. I hate the surveillance room.”
Jongdae chuckled, “I know, but I love it.”
Baekhyun squinted over at him, “Of course you do. I bet all you is hack into the system and watch porn.”
Jongdae walked towards him and punched him arm the arm, “The hell?”
Baekhyun laughed, “You look mad-so it’s true?”
Jongdae stepped back to his post, “How’d you know?”
Baekhyun’s eyes widened, “Wait-really? I was joki-“
Suddenly they heard someone clear their throat and turned to see Kyungsoo looking at them unamused.
Kyungsoo spoke quickly, as if he would rather be anywhere else but here, “I just wanted to inform you that Head Guard Junmyeon is back from his temporary break, so you all may return to reporting to Sir Junmyeon instead of Sir Jamenson.”
Baekhyun stared Kyungsoo down, expressionlessly, before giving him a dismissive nod.
“Thank you, sir.” Jongdae said, with a firm nod.
Kyungsoo huffed slightly before walking off. The moment he was out of sight Jongdae turned to look at him.
“Dude-I know you hate the guy but do you really have to be that obvious?”
“Yes.” Baekhyun said, without a second of hesitance.
Jongdae raised a brow, “You do realize that he is the Head Guard’s Assistant, right? That he is legit the eyes and ears of the Head Guard and gives him daily updates about the each of us. And that if he tells the Sir Junmyeon that one of us isn’t acting the way that we should be it could drastically reduce our chances of being promoted?”
Baekhyun nodded, “I’m aware.”
Jongdae sighed, “I love you but you kill me sometimes, bro.”
Baekhyun tilted his head, “That sounds familiar.”
Jongdae furrowed his brows, “Really?”
“Yeah,” Baekhyun said, thoughtfully, “I think a woman once said that to me once after sex.”
Jongdae turned to look at him with an expression of someone who just heard something that they didn’t need to, “What the hel-“
Suddenly they heard footsteps coming down the hallway and they both straightened up. Baekhyun looked slightly aside to see a few guards headed their way, behind them were the King and Queen. Baekhyun and Jongdae pushed open each of the double doors of the dining hall and bowed their heads as they passed. Once they passed Baekhyun and Jongdae pulled the doors closed.
Baekhyun nodded, vigorously, “Oh, yeah. I’d be fired a million times over.”
Jongdae squinted at him, “What happened to you-Why are you in such a weird mood? Did you not get any sleep last night?”
Jongdae knew Baekhyun too well, “Yup.” Baekhyun said.
Jongdae nodded, “Ah.”
Suddenly they heard another step of footsteps and a pair of heels. The boys didn’t need to turn their heads to see that it was Chanyeol’s older sister, Princess Yoora, flanked with 2 guards. She sauntered over in a mesmerizing indigo blue velvet dress that trailed the floor behind her and her shoulder length wavy black hair shone flawlessly. The girl always knew how to look noticeable but elegant at the same time.
Baekhyun and Jongdae bowed before opening the double doors for her and closing them once she passed.
Jongdae whistled, “She is stunning.”
“You say that every time you see her.” Baekhyun mumbled, with a slight grin.
Jongdae blushed, “Yeah, well, She is.”
“The day you build the balls to actually tell her, I will congratulate you.”
Jongdae’s head snapped up, “Are you trying to get me killed?”
The boys straightened up again when they heard another set of footsteps down the hall. Baekhyun swallowed before looking up to see Prince Chanyeol, on either side of him were Xiumin and Sehun. Chanyeol wore a plain white dress-shirt, tucked into black grid patterned dress pants. His silver hair looked untamed and his eyes…well, his eyes were on him.
Baekhyun froze when he realized that Chanyeol was staring dead at him. Chanyeol didn’t remove his gaze from Baekhyun until he passed through the double doors. The moment Baekhyun and Jongdae closed the doors of the dining hall, Baekhyun sighed in relief.
Jongdae frowned, “What was that?”
Baekhyun stuttered, “I-I don’t know.”
Jongdae raised a brow, “Are you okay?”
Baekhyun swallowed, leaning back against the wall. “Not really.”
Baekhyun was having heart palpitations. Why was he staring at me? Does he remember the stuff he said to me last night? Is he mad? Is he going to fire me?
Jongdae asked, “What happened?”
Get yourself together, Baek. Baekhyun straightened up, “Nothing. I was just being stupid.”
Jongdae looked Baekhyun up and down for a second, “As always.”
Baekhyun grinned slightly before standing in silence and keeping watch, as every good guard should.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, they were allowed to open the doors of the dining hall to let the Queen and King leave, with their entourage of guards around them. Since it was the week of Elyxion’s anniversary, there were a bunch of guests over, and so as an extra precaution each of the royals were to double their size of body guards just for this week. Like for example, Prince Chanyeol, normally would have one bodyguard-Sehun-but for this week Chanyeol will have two bodyguards, Sehun and Xiumin.
Baekhyun and Jongdae watched Princess Soora walk out of dining hall with her guards. And then finally, whom Baekhyun was anticipating, he saw Sehun and Xiumin walk out but to his disappointment Chanyeol was not with them. Baekhyun frowned as he thought it over, Chanyeol must’ve dismissed them early.
Suddenly Chanyeol appeared in the middle of the doorway. He had a handkerchief in his hands and appeared to be wiping his hands with it.
“You’re dismissed.” He said, calmly, looking at no one in particular.
Jongdae’s eyes widened, before bowing, “W-who, your majesty?”
It wasn’t normal for a guard that wasn’t one of the royal’s bodyguards to be dismissed by a royal themselves.
Chanyeol smiled genuinely, a smile that would warm any person’s heart, “You.”
Jongdae bowed, again, “Yes, your majesty.”
Then Jongdae turned around and disappeared down the hall. Baekhyun was still, his heart racing, but his face was emotionless. He watched Chanyeol slowly walk in front of him.
Baekhyun couldn’t help but notice how dark Chanyeol’s eyes were at this proximity. Chanyeol’s voice came out calm and even, “The things I told you last night…they weren’t true.”
Suddenly a spark of anger flared within Baekhyun, those were the exact words he wanted to hear but knew that Chanyeol didn’t mean them-there was no conviction in his words. And it made him angry. What’s the point of guarding someone that isn’t doing their job of helping this country? And instead he is living off of taking credit for others ideas? That’s what he said last night wasn’t it? That all his speeches are pre-written and all the charity programs he supposedly created were someone else’s idea? And that all his charisma was fake and he was just using it to save face?
Baekhyun scoffed slightly, “So it is true then.”
Chanyeol took a double take, “What?”
Baekhyun looked up at him, “If it wasn’t true, why would you take the time to tell me?”
Then, for the first time in Baekhyun’s life, Baekhyun walked away and dismissed himself.
Everyone was preparing for the luncheon. Baekhyun walked through the large dining hall to see the walls becoming decorated with a delicate shade of gold and white banners and flowers in representation of Elyxion. The tables were covered with a white table cloth while the rest of the tableware was also gold. In the middle of each table were vases of with simple white roses. The sun was shining down on the dining hall through the patterned, glass windows. Baekhyun couldn’t help but notice that the light coming from the window gave the whole dining hall a pearl like glow.
Baekhyun looked over at one of the maids setting up a table and smiled slightly when he recognized her as Seulgi. He wandered over to her.
“Instead of holding a royal lunch for all these guests, why don’t they just hold a royal breakfast? That way all the guests could leave earlier.”
Seulgi turned to look at him, her flowy bangs moving across her forehead as she grinned at him, “All the guests are hungover from the Anniversary Ball, that’s why.”
Baekhyun chuckled, “Right.”
Seulgi turned back to fixing the tablecloth, “What are you up to?”
Baekhyun slipped into one of chairs at the table she was decorating, “I have Guard duty in this hall.”
Seulgi smiled, “You’re taking time off of your guard duty to talk to me? I’m flattered.”
“You should be. It’s not every day that you have someone as stunning as me approach you.” He said, with a jokey grin.
Seulgi chuckled before raising a brow, “Stunning?”
Baekhyun pouted, “I thought we were friends.”
Seulgi smiled before looking over her shoulder at him, “We are. Friends don’t lie remember?”
Baekhyun’s mouth dropped open.
Seulgi laughed. “Shouldn’t you be standing against the wall guarding everyone like every other guard?”
She motioned her chin towards the couple of guards standing alongside the wall of the dining hall but several other guards were also helping the maids and organizers decorate the walls as well.
Baekhyun stood up, “Wow, first you insult me and now you want me to leave?”
He shook his head and began to walk away from her.
Seulgi began laughing, “Baekhyun-wait!”
He dramatically wiped his eyes as if he were crying and continued to walk away from her, “You hurt my feelings.”
Seulgi suddenly ran after him and grabbed his arm before spinning him around, “I was joking,” she said, while laughing at his terrible acting.
She then stuffed his hands with a bunch of white tablecloths, “If you want to stay and talk with me at least help me out.”
He frowned as he looked down at the tablecloths in his arms, “When did I say that I wanted to talk with you?”
She rolled her eyes before dragging him back to the table she had been fixing up before, “I heard that you were guarding Prince Chanyeol last night?”
Baekhyun shifted, “How’d you find out?”
“I saw you with him in the gardens.” She said, glancing at him before moving on to the next table.
“Yeah.” He said, plainly.
She took a tablecloth from his hand, “How was he? Was he drunk like last year?” she said, with a light laugh.
Baekhyun tilted his head, “Ah-well-yes. He was kind of tipsy.”
“Wasn’t it your first time meeting him face to face?” she inquired, her dark eyes glittering with lively curiosity.
Baekhyun nodded, “Yeah… it was not what I expected.”
Seulgi looked at him, “Really? Is he mean?”
Baekhyun furrowed his brows, “Mean? No…Ominous, yes.”
Seulgi looked at him, “Ominous? How?”
Baekhyun shook his head, “Ah-that’s not the right word,” he murmured, “Forget it. I don’t know how to describe him and nor do I want to.”
Seulgi tilted her head at him before moving on to the next table. He followed her.
“Why not?” she said, with a curious look. “You are probably the only person who doesn’t look ecstatic after meeting the Prince.”
“I-yeah-I don’t know.” Baekhyun said with a nonchalant shrug.
Seulgi finally turned to look at him straight in the eye, she was silent for a second before her face turned into a look of concern, “Are you okay?”
Baekhyun nodded, “Yeah, I’m fine.”
She took a step towards him, her voice quiet, “Baek, is everything really okay? Did something happe-“
Baekhyun interrupted her, “No-really, nothing happened,” He said, with a carless chuckle, “What could happen anyway?”
Seulgi shrugged, “I-I don’t know. Your whole…tone just changed so I got a little worried.”
“Don’t worry about me.” He said, smiling his wide, convincing smile. “You should be worried about you.”
“And why should I be worried?” She said, while placing her hands on her hips.
“Because you still have quite a lot of tables left to fix up and I have to go do my outdoor shift now.”
“Outdoor shift?” she questioned.
“Yes. Guarding the palace gates is a good way to get a free tan.” He said, informatively.
She shook her head, “Don’t forget your sunscreen.”
Baekhyun wriggled his eyebrows, “Of course! I don’t want to look like burnt orange.”
Suddenly they heard someone clear their throat behind them. Baekhyun and Seulgi turned around to see Jongdae standing there with his arms crossed.
“Have fun getting a tan. The sun’s out today just for you.” Chen said.
Baekhyun smiled before dumping the pile of table cloths in his arms into Seulgi’s hands.
“My outdoor shift is waiting for me. See you soon, Seulgi.” He leaned over and ruffled her bangs.
She pouted, “Why do you have to mess up my bangs? Do you know how long they take to style in the morning?”
Baekhyun winked, “That’s why I mess them up.”
He turned to look at Jongdae. “You’re shift is in this hall during the Luncheon right?”
Jongdae nodded, “Yep.”
Baekhyun grinned, “See you then.”
Just as Baekhyun was about to leave, Jongdae stopped him. “Wait.”
Baekhyun turned around, “Yeah?”
Jongdae pursed his lips, “Ah-never mind. It can wait. See you.”
Baekhyun paused before nodding, “Alright. Bye.” Then he strides out of the Hall unaware of the several heart-struck gazes of the maid’s flickering up to him as he passed.
Jongdae turned to look at Seulgi whose hands were full with a pile of table covers.
“Oh, let me help you with that.” He reached out and took the pile of table covers easily from her arms.
She blushed, “Oh-um-Thank you. Baekhyun was just helping me out for a bit but you don’t hav-“
Jongdae shook his head, “Don’t worry, I have dining hall duty now so I might as well help you.”
Seulgi nodded before looking away, unable to look at him straight in the eye. “Thanks.”
Jongdae smiled slightly, “Don’t think anything of it.”
Baekhyun walked into the dining hall to find all of the pearl white and golden decorations complete and the hall to be bustling with people. The Luncheon had already started 15 minutes ago but Baekhyun had been busy taking a cool shower, after having stood in the sun long enough to cause sweat stains to seep through his guard suit. He had changed into the second pair of the same uniform he owned, which was an all-black suit.
Baekhyun stepped into the dining hall, managing to navigate through the dining hall to his watch point. Baekhyun’s eyes effortlessly found themselves searching through the dining hall, his gaze running over the goblets of golden wine clinking and rich fabrics of the sundresses that these privileged, high class women wore and the sharp, brand name, brightly colored suits the men wore. The smell of the vast collection of delicious, lunch foods being served morphed together as the maids began to set up the food bar.
Baekhyun’s eyes furrowed when he realized that he kept on glancing around to look for a specific someone. He shook his head, Stop it, he scolded himself.
Suddenly someone slid next to him and shoulder bumped him. Baekhyun looked over in surprise to find Jongdae standing beside him with a pleasant smile on his face.
“Hi there, you look happy.” Baekhyun said, calmly.
“That’s because I’ am.” He said, with a tilt of his head, “Guess who was able to taste test the foods in the kitchen?”
Baekhyun pouted, “Lucky.”
“I’m fuller than a bull but god I don’t think the cooks in that kitchen get enough credit for the food they make. It’s actual heaven.”
Baekhyun nodded, a little withdrawn. “Yeah.”
Jongdae stared him before frowning, “Baek…are you good?”
Baekhyun nodded, “Yeah-I just-no actually. I just need to know if you have ever did something really rude to one of the royals-a-and you’re supposed to get fired immediately-but for some reason you haven’t been fired yet. What would you do?”
Jongdae’s eyes widened, “What did you do?”
Baekhyun shrugged, “I-no-it wasn’t me. I did nothing. I was just curious for a friend.”
Jongdae raised a brow, “Which friend?”
Baekhyun shook his head, “Forget it.”
Jongdae frowned, “What’s going on, Baek? Why did the Prince pull you aside earlier?”
Baekhyun shrugged, “I..er…I’m not allowed to say.”
Baekhyun knew that one of the most valued rules of being a guard is that if a royal requests you to do a private duty for them, you must comply and mustn’t say a word about it unless the royal requests otherwise. Baekhyun looked at Jongdae to see Jongdae nod affirmatively.
“Of course.” Jongdae murmured, before straightening up his posture.
Baekhyun pursed his lips. He felt bad for lying but what else could he say? Oh yeah, I just told the Prince that he was a phony in his face and walked away.
Suddenly the talkative mood of the ballroom died down and turned into gasps and awe filled murmurs. Baekhyun turned his head to see the King and Queen enter. The King was his usual expressionless self and was dressed in sharp white suit, with a gold rose pin pinned into front flap of the suit blazer. The Queen had her black hair twisted into an elegant braid bun that accentuated the golden crown that shimmered on her head. She wore a simple creamy white, ankle length dress that showed her matching heels. Her gentle smile left a warm impression in everyone’s heart.
Behind them walked Princess Yoora and Prince Chanyeol, dressed to stand out as always. Princess Yoora had a classic cocky smile on her red colored lips as she walked with her daring high low dress trailing behind her. Baekhyun could feel the guests gaze on her stunning slender legs as she clip clopped her way through.
But behind her was the real spectacle, Prince Chanyeol. He wore a creamy off white suit that was embroidered with tiny gold details on the collar and sleeves. The sharp white color of his suit gave his silver hair an icy cold touch, making his hair look icy white. His hair was gelled back with a few strands hanging loose over his forehead, his crown shimmered brightly on his head-the diamonds on it reflecting all the bright lights of the dining hall. Baekhyun heard a loud pounding in his ears as he felt the guests in the hall stare at Chanyeol in captivated awe.
Jongdae shook his head, “Imagine being that handsome.” He murmured.
Suddenly the sound of someone clearing their throat echoed throughout the hall and everyone was forced to pry their eyes off of Chanyeol. The attention shifted to the King who stood in the middle of the ballroom was a tiny hint of a smile on his face.
“Hello, everyone. I hope you enjoyed your night’s stay at the palace, it has truly been quite the honor to have all of you here for Elyxion’s Annual Anniversary Ball. This is the 100th time that this event has occurred in the palace and I hope for it to continue on in the palace for a 100 more. This luncheon is our bittersweet goodbye gift to you as a thank you for attending.” He raised his champagne glass, “Until then, see you next year!”
Applauds and clanks of glasses resounded throughout the hall as the people returned to their excited talking. The maids began to run around the hall serving the guests as they chatted loudly about the plans that they were to return to once they returned home. Baekhyun’s eyes scanned the dining hall to find-
“Ha-look it’s Seulgi.” Jongdae said, lightly.
Baekhyun turned his head to see Seulgi pouring champagne into one of the guest’s goblets.
“You can tell that she is nervous.” Jongdae commented.
Baekhyun raised a brow, “How?”
“She’s biting her lip.”
Baekhyun looked closer to see that Jongdae was correct. She was biting her lip.
Jongdae made a random hand gesture, “Whenever she gets nervous she bites her lip, you know…” he trailed off.
Baekhyun raised his brow, “What-you got a lip biting kink now?”
Jongdae looked at Baekhyun incredulously but before Jongdae could say anything the sound of musical laughter nearby them made them both turn their head.
It was Princess Yoora, she was smiling widely at the group of girls she was with. The way she laughed, with her dimple exposing itself and her narrow shoulders moving back slightly and her head tipping back. Everything about her just screamed flirtatious.
Baekhyun didn’t need to look at Jongdae to know what he was thinking. Baekhyun began counting down in his head. 5….4...3..2..1
“God, she is so pretty.” Jongdae muttered. “Her husband is going to be a lucky man.”
Baekhyun chuckled, “Sadly, it won’t be you.”
Jongdae smacked his arm, “Would you shut up?”
Baekhyun laughed.
Suddenly Jongdae’s phone buzzed and Jongdae looked at it to find a text from the Head Guard’s Assistant.
Jongdae frowned, “It’s from Kyungsoo.”
Baekhyun raised a brow, “What’d he say.”
Jongdae looked at Baekhyun, “He said for me to get away from you since we keep on fooling around like a bunch of children.”
Baekhyun glared, “God, I hate that dude. I swear he is trying to make my life hell on purpose.”
Jongdae chuckled, “Later bro.”
Jongdae walked off and Baekhyun was left to guard and observe his watch point all alone. Baekhyun eyes swept the dining hall, once again absentmindedly searching for a specific someone-that speicifc someone being the Prince.
Suddenly Baekhyun felt an invisible pull in the back of his mind to turn and look at the other side of the dining hall, and he did so and was surprised to find that Prince Chanyeol was staring dead at him. Baekhyun froze once again staring firmly back into the Prince’s dark doe shaped eyes.
Suddenly Prince Chanyeol began to walk in Baekhyun’s direction. Chanyeol stood before Baekhyun with a comfortable distance between them.
“We meet again.” Prince Chanyeol said, his tone unreadable.
Baekhyun blinked, “I suppose so.”
Chanyeol tilted his head, “You know what you did earlier today,” he paused, “walking away from me without being dismissed? That is a punishable action.”
Baekhyun wanted to scoff. Is he threatening me? But instead he kept his face clear of any emotion. “Yes.”
“Then why did you do it?” Chanyeol asked.
Baekhyun replied bluntly, “I’d rather not talk a Prince that has done nothing to deserve his title.”
“But I am your superior.” Chanyeol replied, his tone was crisp but it sounded slightly withdrawn.
“So what?” he spit, “You may have a crown on your head but it might as well just be a cheap accessory to your show of entertaining the country.”
Chanyeol looked subtly distraught, “But how can I? What can I do?”
Baekhyun was so surprised that Chanyeol was asking him this of all people, “You can take charge of your own decisions. You can write your own speeches. Be honest to the people of what you think and feel. Make changes to this country that you find unjust. Don’t just be a pretty face for your people, be a face that can assert power and change for the better. You have that power in your hands, so use it.”
Chanyeol replied with bitterness laced in his tone, “But how can I do that when my father is constantly stopping me?”
Baekhyun furrowed his brows but didn’t have the chance to reply when Xiumin suddenly appeared by Chanyeol’s side.
Xiumin muttered, “Sorry to disturb your conversation, Your Majesty, but the Queen has required your presence for a royal family photo.”
Chanyeol nodded, “Of course.”
Chanyeol’s dark eyes held Baekhyun’s gaze for a moment before turning around and walking away with Xiumin by his side.
Baekhyun released a breath that he didn’t realize that he had been holding. The King is holding him back? What does that mean? After being in the palace for 6 months this had to be the first time he had heard something remotely bad happening within the royal family. The royal family always put off such a happy family image that no one ever questioned if the royal family ever had any disputes.
Baekhyun watched the royal family from the distance, each of them were smiling so brightly, as the photographer in front them snapped away. That picture was bound to make the newspaper. People would look at that picture wistfully and wish to be part of this royal family.
No one would ever think the King to be a power hungry, alcoholic who hates the Prince with a burning passion. No one would ever think the Queen never loved her husband. No one would ever think the Princess only wished to run away from the palace with her secret lover. No one would ever think that the Prince was being held back from making good reforms to the country by the King, himself.
Especially, no one would never, ever, think that Chanyeol was not the true heir to the throne.
But that’s exactly what it was.
hey guys ik it’s been a while! but I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! your comments will be very well appreciated and I hope this story is something that intrigues you!
hey guys i don’t know if you remember or completely forgot who this account was but i think i owe each and everyone of my followers an apology because i have taken the longest break of my life from continuing my fanfic(s)
but i swear the reason isn’t as big as you think it is so ill split it up into 2 key points
(1) reason why i was inactive was because of SCHOOL !1!!!11! i know that people still manage to write and stuff during school but for someone like me that’s hard to manage and as much as I love this account we always need to make time for our priorities and obviously a big thing for me-that will always come first-is school
(2) the second reason why-which is probably the main reason-was WRITERS BLOCK ! literally out of the blue i just got this huge ass piece of writers block stuck in my brain so i had no creativeness to motivate me to write.
so yes-i am sorry to any of you who have been waiting-or are still waiting-for the next chapter(s) of my story but to those of you didn’t unfollow I’am grateful. sO please stayed tuned for more of my work because now that this explanation post is done and over with i PLAN TO GET MY HEAD IN THE GAME YA’LL and SO SHOULD YOU !!!
p.s. the gifs down below are major uwu and i had to insert them bc its baekhyun how could i noT
Hi!! I know that I have been inactive for a while but hopefully I will be updating on both stories (Lost & Found and PCYxBBH Royal AU) that I have soon, because my final exams and midterms and such, are over--FINALLY ! SO please look forward to the release of that and thank you for your time!!
I don’t have much on here right now but maybe one day it’ll be fuller! And also depending on what it is & if the mood I’m in really calls for it - I don’t mind writing requests!! Just drop in my messages or anonymously ask and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can!! <3 stay golden!
Fanfics:
Lost & Found
Pairing: Reader (Marion oc) x Kim Minseok / Xiumin
Status: Ongoing
Genre: Angst, Smut
Summary: Marion’s life was going perfectly well before it had fell apart. She had moved out from her family’s house to New York City almost a year ago to attend her dream college. She had gotten a small job and had a great group of friends to keep her happy. Then everything went downhill the moment she found out that her father had died. What made it worse was the fact that her father’s bank account was mysteriously empty, leaving her and her family completely broke. Marion suddenly didn’t have any time to go to college anymore or even grieve her father’s death as she was thrown into working multiple jobs to support her family. Her happy college days were gone, instead replaced with working at a Chicken restaurant during the day and serving people drinks at a bar by night. It wasn’t until a rather handsome man walks through the Bar doors that lightens things up in her life. He’s attractive, charming and likable-everything a girl would want in a man-until he does something that leaves her never wanting to see him again…but he still wants to see her. Sometimes you live with memories that you wish you could forget, but not always regret.
Prince Park Chanyeol and Guard Byun Baekhyun
!NOTE! Even though this was originally a one shot I noticed that this post had gotten a lot of notes and comments saying that they would like me to continue this. So I have decided to make this into a fanfic!!! woot woot
Pairing: Park Chanyeol x Byun Baekhyun
Status: Ongoing~and in the works
Genre: Tbd
Summary: Crown Prince Chanyeol, is adored by many for his talents, manners and good looks. Among them is his bodyguard, Byun Baekhyun, who watches from the sidelines. (creds to (@) promptcentral on twitter for giving me the idea to write this)
Royal!AU - Pairing: Park Chanyeol x Byun Baekhyun - One shot (unless more is requested)
edit: more was requested so now I’m continuing the story! check out the links to the next chapter below
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3
Park Chanyeol. Park Chanyeol. Park-effing-Chanyeol.
You’d think after hearing that name so many times one would get tired of it.
But the world wasn’t.
And neither was I.
Baekhyun stood by the front palace gates with his hands on his hips, his finger tapping the spot where his gun was, patiently. The guards were all on high alert today since Prince Park Chanyeol himself was going to say a speech on the grand front steps of the palace.
The hollers of people had already started-even if the main guest of the event hadn’t appeared yet. Baekhyun could feel the anticipation and excitement in the air as the people around him chattered loudly. Baekhyun rolled his eyes when he saw a girl wearing a shirt that had a picture of Chanyeol on it-with a big heart shape around his head. The people loved Prince Chanyeol. They loved his demeanor. They loved his looks. They loved his charisma.
It was almost impossible to not love something about Prince Chanyeol.
There wasn’t one person that Baekhyun had met that didn’t like him and sometimes it triggered Baekhyun because he didn’t want to hear it.
“I can’t waittttt for Prince Chanyeol to come out!! EeeeEEEEEeeee!”
“Watch him come out and look soooooooo handsome!”
“Well-obviously.”
“PRINCE PARK I LOVE YOUUUUUUUU!”
Baekhyun looked down at the girls standing before him in distaste before realizing that they all had started screaming. Baekhyun turned his head to see the large double doors of the palace open and Chanyeol step out. Chanyeol was wearing a jet black suit that made his tall muscular frame look elegant but masculine. His bright silver hair stood out against the darkness of his suit and if it hadn’t been for the dazzling reflective diamonds on the silver crown he wore-the crown would’ve merged with his hair.
Chanyeol smiled handsomely at the crowd before stepping up to the podium that had been set up for him at the top of the grand palace steps. Baekhyun recognized the two body guards, in their uniforms, flanking either side of Chanyeol, Sehun and Xiumin.
Chanyeol smoothed down the front of his jet black suit before adjusting the mic on the podium to his towering 6’1 frame. He just held out his hand and all the screaming and camera clicks stopped.
“Hello, citizens of ElyXion. I’m so happy to see so many of you gathered here today in front of my home.” He suddenly chuckled, before tilting his head. “I’m sorry-Did I just say my home? I meant our home. Because we are one, and ElyXion is ours!”
Baekhyun muttered, “Of course he said we are one.”
Baekhyun hadn’t realized that a girl beside him had overheard him. “Of course he did-It’s the country’s motto! It wouldn’t have been an ElyXion speech if he hadn’t.”
Baekhyun turned his head to look at the girl who had replied him, to see her smiling brightly as she looked passed him at Chanyeol with fondness in her eyes.
The crowd hollered and cheered. More people whistled and hooted while others stared with adoration in their eyes as they looked at Chanyeol. Chanyeol smiled widely-unleashing the strength that he didn’t know his shiny white smile held as the crowd began to cheer louder. Chanyeol scanned the crowd before holding out his hand once more, making everyone fall silent. Baekhyun mentally questioned how he did that.
“We have gathered here to celebrate something that I feel very-very-very honored to say,” He paused, his voice echoing through the speakers, “It is our country’s,” He paused again for effect, before yelling, “ELYXION’s 100th ANNIVERSERY!”
Sprays of confetti fell throughout the sky as fireworks sounded in the air. The color of the fireworks was gold and white-the colors of ElyXion. The hollers of the crowd were twice as wild as people yelled obnoxiously. Baekhyun stared in amazement at the different patterns of fireworks that exploded in the air, the gold and pearly white designs glimmering against the multicolored sky. The sunset was almost over, but the light pink and purple color of the sky made the fireworks all the more beautiful. The crowd was thrilled.
Baekhyun suddenly noticed that the crowd had fell silent and he turned his head to see that Chanyeol had held up his hand again.
“This is a very important moment for us. Our ancestors helped fight for this place. Help fight to build this place up brick by brick and make it ours. We fought for this place because we knew that we needed it. We knew that we wanted to make a new place. Raise our kids in a better society-an equal society that provides an equal opportunity for everyone. We are here-and alive-because those soldiers who fought 100 years ago in the Great War for us to be living the life that we are today! And you know what?” He paused, reaching his hand to grip the mic, tightly, “We’re not going to disappoint them-those soldiers, those people, My Great, Great Grandfather. We are not going to disappoint them. How? Because we-are-one and we are forever!”
The crowd went berserk as more fireworks exploded into the sky and gold and white confetti sprinkled the air once more. Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol removed the mic from the podium and yell, “MAY ELYXION REIGN FOREVER!” The crowd hollered and screamed in agreement. Even from the distance that Baekhyun stood, he could tell that the Prince was smiling. He could tell that the smile on Chanyeol’s face was truly real and the appreciation in his eyes for his people was absolutely captivating. The people started chanting. ELYXION! ELYXION! ELYXION!
Baekhyun saw Prince Chanyeol join in the chant as he beamed, while blowing kisses-it was as if he was trying to blow a kiss to as many people as he could. In the midst of everyone’s chanting Baekhyun noticed Xiumin, who had been standing beside Chanyeol the whole time, lean towards him and mutter something while pointing down at his watch. Chanyeol nodded, before raising his hand in the air to wave a goodbye. The people’s chants suddenly transformed from ELYXION! to PRINCE CHANYEOL! PRINCE CHANYEOL! PRINCE CHANYEOL!
Prince Chanyeol smiled widely, waving his goodbye to the crowd once more before turning around and walking back into the palace, his two guards followed closely behind. The palace doors closed and people continued to chant. Baekhyun watched as the front palace stairs became showered with roses that were thrown after Chanyeol’s presence. Baekhyun watched.
Baekhyun was weaving his way around people in the palace. The palace was especially full today, due to all of the events that were going on for Elyxion’s 100th anniversary. But now that it was night-the main event had come-Elyxion’s Annual Anniversary Ball.
It was held in the outdoor ballroom that was in the middle of the huge garden-the pathway to the ballroom was a great way to show off the variety of rare flowers and the incredibly landscaped garden that the palace had. Over hundreds of royals were invited from kingdoms all over the world to celebrate. The celebrations usually lasted for a week-which made it one of the busiest weeks in the palace.
Baekhyun felt a hand pat his shoulder and turned around to see Jongdae. Jongdae flashed him a smile, “Hey, man.”
Baekhyun grinned before continuing walking, “Hey.”
Jongdae raised a brow, right at his heels, “Are you heading towards the Garden Ballroom?”
Baekhyun nodded, “Yep.”
Jongdae matched his stride, “Same here.”
Baekhyun stopped and bowed before letting a group of ladies in extravagant dresses pass. One of the woman flushed as she looked at Baekhyun, she then turned to whisper something in the girl beside her ear. They both eyed him before smiling shyly as they passed. Baekhyun just looked away, uncaring, as he continued to walk down the hallway once they left.
Jongdae questioned, “Wasn’t that the Princess of Monaco?”
Baekhyun muttered, “I don’t know.”
Jongdae eyed him before squinting, “How the hell do you get girls that fast?”
Baekhyun grinned, glancing at him, “Maybe because I’m attractive?”
Jongdae looked Baekhyun up and down, “Where?”
Baekhyun chuckled, “Shut up.”
Jongdae teased, “It’s not like it matters to you-”
Baekhyun interrupted, smoothly, “It does matter, I’m bi. Remember?” Jongdae tended to forget sometimes.
Jongdae looked shocked for a second before sighing, “What I was going to say was that, it doesn’t matter to you because you weren’t looking for a relationship but I guess that works too.”
Baekhyun grinned as he looked over at him, “Whoops.”
Baekhyun nodded at the two guards that stood beside the doors, that led to the outdoor garden the palace. The guards nodded back at him and Jongdae before opening the double doors to let them pass. The boys stepped out into the luxurious garden that glittered under the moonlight and the sounds of the fireworks high in the dark night sky only made it better. Chen glanced in wonder as they passed a multicolored pastel rose. Baekhyun and Chen made their way along the pathway to the Ballroom. The music from the Ballroom wafted through the garden as they got closer.
Chen spoke hastily, while adjusting his tie, “I hate wearing ties.”
Baekhyun smiled a little, “You should get used to it now that you’re a guard.”
Chen continued complaining, “This is why I hate when formal events happen at the palace.”
Baekhyun patted his friend’s shoulder, “If you didn’t wear a suit you wouldn’t be able to blend in the party. We’re guards, we’re not supposed to stand out. We’re supposed to blend in, watch and protect.”
Chen grunted, eyeing him, “Ugh, you remind me of my Guard Training Coach.”
Baekhyun grinned, “That’s exactly why I said it.”
Baekhyun dropped his hand from Chen’s shoulder once they arrived in front of the gates of the spectacular glass cut ball room. Baekhyun nodded at the guards at the double doors before slipping inside with Chen. Despite the large size of the ball room-it was packed. Baekhyun looked around at the comfortable chatter that was going on throughout the ball room as celebrities and royals from different countries clinked their glasses and talked about how Balenciaga was sooo much better than Versace-not really, but you know what I mean.
The people around him looked phenomenal in some of their long trained dresses and outdone extravagant jewelry. While others looked simply stunning and elegant as they sat on the tables, chatting with each other joyfully with glasses of champagne in their hand.
Baekhyun loved the vibe of the Palace’s night parties. They were never as strict or formal as the day events-only unless the occasion was meant to be. But usually the night parties were always the best. Baekhyun looked up to see that some of the ceiling had been decorated with gold and pearly white paper origami doves that were hanging off the ceiling with imperceptible clear string. And he also noticed that most of the lights that were in the ballroom was coming from long lit candles that were placed at every table and the front and back of the ballroom. The whole view of the garden could be seen from the clear glass windows, which only made the ballroom more captivating.
“They really did outdo themselves with decorating this place.” Baekhyun muttered.
Jongdae tugged Baekhyun’s suit sleeve, “Man-look! That firework is a heart!”
Baekhyun turned his head and looked out the large ballroom glass walls to see-an indeed, gold & white heart shaped firework glittering in the sky.
Baekhyun looked over at Jongdae with a frown, “Have you never seen one before?”
Jongdae grinned at Baekhyun before shrugging, “I have. But I still like pointing it out.”
Baekhyun chuckled before rolling his eyes. “Whatever.”
Jongdae looked around curiously as they walked around the sidelines of the ballroom together. “You think he’s here?” Jongdae asked.
“Who?” Baekhyun said, distractedly-as his eyes had just found the dessert table.
“Prince Chanyeol.” Jongdae replied.
Baekhyun glanced around before mumbling, “He should be.”
Jongdae smiled, “Remember when he drunk at the last Anniversary party? When he got up on one of the tables and started singing Congratulation by Post Malone?”
Baekhyun shook his head. How could he forget? It had been the first time he’d ever touched Prince Chanyeol, since he had to help the other guards get him down. The Prince had gotten so drunk that he started jumping from table to table to get away from the guards. “Yes.” Baekhyun said in monotone.
Jongdae shook his head, chuckling as he remembered. “That was great.”
Baekhyun nodded dismissively before running his hand down the front of his suit. Baekhyun opened his mouth to speak but Jongdae suddenly asked, with genuine curiosity, “What’d you think about his speech?”
Baekhyun thought back to Chanyeol’s speech earlier today at the front of the palace-that had just happened hours ago but it felt longer. Baekhyun would be lying if he said that he didn’t get a little galvanized. Baekhyun shrugged, “Ah, yeah. It was good, I guess but anyone could’ve said it.”
Jongdae shook his head, “Did you see the way the crowd was cheering for him? I’m telling you that that man has a way with words.”
Baekhyun tilted his head, “Or a way with looks.”
Jongdae chuckled, nodding, “That too.” Then he added, with a small smile, “But I still want to meet him.”
Baekhyun looked over at Jongdae curiously, “Why?”
Jongdae shrugged, “I don’t know. I just…really want to see what he’s like. If he’s cocky or really just as charismatic as he puts himself off to the world.”
Baekhyun just rolled his eyes but didn’t admit the accuracy of Jongdae’s statement. Baekhyun had thought about that a lot, probably an unhealthy amount of times but after seeing the Prince so many times he just couldn’t help it.
Despite living in the same palace he still hadn’t had the opportunity to talk with the Prince yet. The closest he’d ever been to was when the head guard had ordered him to give Sehun a letter. And since Sehun is one of the Prince’s body guards he was always with the Prince, so when he had given Sehun the letter it had been directly in front of him. He could swear the Prince had been staring him down the whole time but couldn’t be sure since the whole memory was a blur.
Suddenly a man stepped beside them, the man had a deep rumbling voice. “Hello, guys.”
Baekhyun and Chen turned to see Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo was also a guard, but he had been the most competitive guard in their trainee class. He would always make sure his rank was first in both of the mental, emotional and physical classes they had taken-people say that he would stay up every night to practice or work out to make sure that no one beat him. No one was really friends with him, so no one knew what his story was. But whatever drove him paid off well because now he is the Head guard’s assistant.
Kyungsoo motioned with his chin towards the ball before slipping his hands into his suit pockets, “Do you think…” Kyungsoo questioned, with his deep voice as he looked the two of them in their eyes, “Do you think Sir Jamenson would like it if I told him that instead of keeping an eye on the guests of the party that you two were chatting like you were guests?”
Baekhyun wanted to punch the guy in the face for being so fucking annoying but just as Baekhyun had straightened up Jongdae patted Baekhyun’s shoulder, while chuckling lightly, “Ah-of course not.”
Kyungsoo smiled tightly, eyeing Jongdae’s hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder, “Why don’t you two separate yourselves to prevent this occurrence from happening again?” Kyungsoo’s tone held the authority of someone who would not take no for an answer.
That only triggered Baekhyun more. Jongdae squeezed Baekhyun’s shoulder tightly before releasing it, “I’ll see you later then, Baek.” Jongdae said, flatly, before walking away from the two of them.
Baekhyun turned his head slowly to look at Kyungsoo, who had a slight grin playing on those beautiful big lips of his.
Kyungsoo raised a brow, “Something wrong?”
Baekhyun tilted his head, before leaning his back against the wall in way that let his hips jut out slightly. Baekhyun reached his hand up, purposely slow, to play with his own tie. Baekhyun saw the way Kyungsoo’s eyes ran down his body and smiled inside of his head. The man is so gay, but he’ll never admit it.
Baekhyun grinned slightly before saying, in a rather velvety tone, “No, nothing.”
Kyungsoo blinked before clearing his throat, “Good.”
Baekhyun smiled a bit as he watched Kyungsoo turn around and disappear somewhere near the other end of the ballroom. He knew that he had made Kyungsoo uncomfortable, but he didn’t care. That was Baekhyun’s way of revenge for giving him and his friend’s hell.
Baekhyun sighed before looking around the ball. After a couple minutes of doing just that, he realized that his eyes kept returning to the dessert table and after a moment of debate he decided to fuck it and just get some cake. He knew it was highly not recommended for guards to eat anything during the parties that the palace held but he was super hungry-just craving for a slice of cake.
Baekhyun walked over to the dessert table, eyeing the variety of different desserts from different countries. He sighed in delight when his eyes landed on the huge layered cake that sat in the middle on a small bejeweled cake stand. He noticed that there had already been a couple slices taken out of it.
Baekhyun looked at the maid who stood by the cake with a small smile, “Can you just get me a slice of that cake, dear?”
The maid flushed before nodding.
“Nope, sorry, man. You can’t do that. That cake is only for me.” Someone from behind him casually said.
The maid froze and looked at something behind Baekhyun with wide eyes. Baekhyun turned around and to see Prince Chanyeol’s tall frame standing behind him. He had a smug grin on his lips as he stood with his hands in his suit pockets. Baekhyun noticed that his silver hair seemed more ruffled and that the top 3 buttons his jet black suit were left unbuttoned.
Baekhyun was saved from having to reply when Sehun appeared, looking ruggedly handsome as his hair had been slicked back with a couple strands hanging over his forehead. “Are you drunk?” Sehun asked, as he looked at the Prince with furrowed brows.
Prince Chanyeol rolled his eyes, “No.” he said, firmly.
Baekhyun didn’t notice that Xiumin was standing behind Chanyeol until he spoke. “He is.”
Chanyeol turned around and looked at Xiumin accusingly as he replied, “I’m not!”
Sehun and Xiumin shared a look and Prince Chanyeol frowned as he saw them both do so. “I want to go to the garden.” Chanyeol said, suddenly.
Xiumin and Sehun spoke at the same time, “I’ll go with you.”
Prince Chanyeol held up his hand as he shook his silver haired head, “Nope. Not with either of you.” He said, firmly.
Xiumin stated, “But you have to go with someone.”
Prince Chanyeol looked angered for a minute before his eyes landed on Baekhyun, “I’ll go with him then.” He motioned, “He’s a guard, isn’t he?”
Xiumin and Sehun both turned around. Sehun recognized Baekhyun immediately.
“Oh-hey, Baekhyun.” Sehun said, with a small smile as he patted Baekhyun’s shoulder.
Baekhyun blinked, “Hi.”
Xiumin replied, slowly, “Yes…he is.”
Chanyeol looked over at Xiumin, “Exactly. I’ll have him, so I don’t need either of you. You both are dismissed.”
Sehun leaned down and muttered in Baekhyun’s ear. “We’ll still be here in the ball room. Just contact us if he gives you any trouble.”
Baekhyun nodded at Sehun, with his eyes still planted on Chanyeol.
Xiumin shrugged with a small smile tugging the edge of his lips, “Whatever you say, Prince.”
Chanyeol shot him a look before walking out in the direction of the back exit. Just as Baekhyun moved to follow him he heard Xiumin call out, “Keep an eye on him!”
Baekhyun’s heart raced as he walked out of the back exit, his eyes scanning the garden. Chanyeol wasn’t that hard to find. A man with such height and silver hair-that was glowing due to the reflecting moonlight-was impossible to miss. His dark all-black suit made him look like a strikingly handsome dark knight. Chanyeol turned his head to look at Baekhyun, his dark eyes glittering with an emotion that Baekhyun couldn’t explain. Baekhyun stepped forward.
Prince Chanyeol tilted his head slightly, raising a brow, “Are you going to follow me or what?”
Baekhyun sauntered over to him, “You want me too?”
Prince Chanyeol shrugged as he started to walk, “I wouldn’t mind some new company.”
Baekhyun was silent as he walked beside Chanyeol, turning over that phrase in his mind. Baekhyun decided not to fully trust everything the Prince was saying due to fact that he might be slightly drunk.
Baekhyun looked up at his tall frame. “Would you now?”
Prince Chanyeol raked a hand through his silver hair before nodding, “Yeah. Sometimes I feel like Sehun and Xiumin are the only ones that get me, although they can be super fucking annoying sometimes.”
Baekhyun chuckled, “Ah.”
Chanyeol and Baekhyun walked down the moonlit garden pathway. The intricately landscaped garden and flowers left a pleasant scent hanging in the air as a light night breeze passed through every 5 minutes or so. Baekhyun felt at ease for some odd reason. It was an unexpected feeling for him to feel after anticipating meeting the Prince for so long.
Chanyeol stopped, and turned to look down at him, “You know-I’ve seen you before. In the halls-working-I know I’ve seen you.”
Baekhyun slipped his hands into his pockets, “Really?”
Chanyeol shrugged, “Yeah-well you’re hard to miss.”
Baekhyun furrowed his brows, surprised, “I’m hard to miss? If anyone’s hard to miss it’d be you.”
Chanyeol smiled slightly, “That’s because I’m the Prince-everyone has to notice me. But even without a label, people notice you.”
Baekhyun shook his head, his way black hair falling over his forehead in the process. “How can you say th-“
Chanyeol suddenly stopped, he looked down at Baekhyun intently. “Because I’ve seen it.”
Baekhyun looked up at him. Well this conversation took an interesting turn. Baekhyun raised his brows before chuckling, incredulously, “What?”
Chanyeol nodded, “Yeah-people around you become aware of you immediately. The maids, the guards and even the royals. You have a good name in this palace, and it’s not only because of your looks but it’s because people actually respect you.”
Baekhyun wanted to laugh unexpectedly, “Respect me?”
Chanyeol nodded, his eyes wide, “Yeah-what you did for maids by making that program that helps give poor people more opportunities by working in the palace-“
Baekhyun flushed, shaking his head dismissively, “Oh-that-that was nothing, besides it was mostly Jong-”
Chanyeol interrupted, “Yeah-Jongdae helped you put it into action but it was your idea, wasn’t it?”
Baekhyun was silent for a second, unsure of where this conversation was going.
Chanyeol shook his head, laughing dryly, “You don’t even realize your impact.”
Baekhyun looked up at him, furrowing his brows in confusion. “What are you trying to say?”
Chanyeol took a step towards him, “I’m trying to say that I envy you.”
Baekhyun was absolutely stunned-not only by his words but the closeness of how they were standing. All he needed to do was reach his hand out and grab ahold of Chanyeol’s collar and go on his tip toes-and he’d be sharing a kiss with Prince Chanyeol.
Baekhyun looked away-the intensity in Chanyeol’s chocolatey brown eyes was too much to bear. Baekhyun took a step back, he couldn’t think straight standing that close to Chanyeol.
Baekhyun scoffed-muttering, “What do you have to envy? I could never have as much charisma as you.”
Chanyeol chuckled, dryly before running a hand over his face, “Charisma? You think I have charisma? Well you should know now that it’s all fake. All my speeches are pre-written. All those charity programs that I’ve made were all someone else’s idea. All my smiles are fake and all people love me for is my face. Charismatic yeah?”
Baekhyun stood still in stunned silence. Baekhyun wasn’t sure what he was arguing for anymore.
“Fine.” He said, flatly but straight forwardly, “Maybe nothing you did is original but at least you still did it. Your charisma-or fake charisma-is still keeping the people together. And the people do respect you and it’s not just for your looks. I don’t know you well enough-but I’m sure there must be something...something that you have done on your own that makes you worthy of your title.”
Chanyeol shook his head, a small smile slowly spreading across his lips. “That’s the thing, Baekhyun. I haven’t.”
This was just a one shot I randomly created because I was feeling a little inspired when I saw that prompt post. I don’t really know what I expect to come out of this but I hope you guys enjoyed it!! edit: so I was requested to continue this-so i decided that I will make this into a full fledged fanfic so follow me to stay tuned for the rest of this story-thank you!
I feel bad for both of them tbh. And that ending in chapter 22, my goodness! Enjoyed the chapter!
jeez im late at replying to this but Thank you!! I appreciate your thoughts!
I’ll tell you beforehand that the next chapter may come out a little late because I have a lot of midterms and state tests to take within the upcoming two weeks. I’ll have to see how it all goes down-wish me luck!! byee
Summary: Marion’s life was going perfectly well before it had fell apart. She had moved out from her family’s house to New York City almost a year ago to attend her dream college. She had gotten a small job and had a great group of friends to keep her happy. Then everything went downhill the moment she found out that her father had died. What made it worse was the fact that her father’s bank account was mysteriously empty, leaving her and her family completely broke. Marion suddenly didn’t have any time to go to college anymore or even grieve her father’s death as she thrown into working multiple jobs to support her family. Her happy college days were gone, instead replaced with working at a Chicken restaurant during the day and serving people drinks at a bar by night. It wasn’t until a rather handsome man walks through the Bar doors that lightens things up in her life. He’s attractive, charming and likable-everything a girl would want in a man-until he does something that leaves her never wanting to see him again…but he still wants to see her.
Sometimes you live with memories that you wish you could forget, but not always regret.
Minseok swung open the door of the Chirping Chicken, his eyes scanning the restaurant before rushing up to the front counter. Jasmine stared at him with a raised brow.
“Where is she?” he demanded.
“Woa there, sir. I know you’re worried about your girl but no need to yell at me.” She said, raising her hands up.
“I’m not yelling-I just-“He closed his eyes for a moment, intertwining his hands together on the counter before him. He breathed in slightly, trying to bring himself to relax.
He opened his eyes. “I just need to know where she is.” He said, evenly.
Jasmine shook her head, “She’s not here.”
His shoulders sagged, “God damn it.”
He suddenly looked at her urgently, “Do you have any idea of where she could go?”
Jasmine stared at him for a second. She related to try searching for a lover that was missing.
She sighed, “Damn-I wasn’t supposed to tell you this-but she left to her Mom’s place. She just came in here this morning to get permission from the boss and tell me. She didn’t tell me why she was leaving but she told me that she wouldn’t be back here until next week.”
“Next week?” he questioned with dismay.
Jasmine nodded.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” He muttered, while raking his hand through his black hair.
“What is it?” Jasmine asked.
“I’m going to be gone by next week! I’m leaving this Friday!” he said, before glancing down at his phone.
“She’s not even answering any of my calls.” He muttered.
“She didn’t tell you that she was leaving?” Jasmine asked.
“No,” he mumbled, “I can’t expect her to tell me anything now.”
“Why not?” Jasmine asked.
“Cause we broke up.” He said, with an impassive expression but the look in his eyes was enough.
Jasmine was silent for a second before asking, “Why?”
He ran his hand through his hair again, “Why don’t you ask her the next time you see her? Also ask her why she can’t pick up any of my calls while you’re at it.” He said, dryly.
He suddenly tilted his head, “Wait-is there any way that you know where her Mother’s address is?”
Jasmine blinked, “It’s in Jersey…3 hour drive.”
He looked at her intently, “I don’t mind.”
Jasmine shook her head, “I just know that. I don’t know the exact address, sorry.”
He leaned against the counter, “Is there any way that you could get it?”
“I don’t know her Mom’s number…sorry.” She apologetically as she saw his hopeful expression disappear.
“Can you call her? I’m sure she’s not ignoring your calls.” He questioned.
Jasmine itched the back of her neck, “Ah-yeah. I actually did try to call her earlier but she didn’t answer me either. I don’t know what’s wrong with her-I mean, well, now that you told me that you all broke up I guess I get why she would want to get away.”
“Yeah but it’s not over. It can’t be.” He replied almost immediately. The intensity in his eyes was mixed with frustration and anger.
Jasmine stared at him, “What?”
He ran his hand over his face, “Nothing,” He shook his head, “I need to go. If she comes back here earlier just give me a call. Bye.”
“Bye.” Jasmine said.
He turned around and walked out of the restaurant, resisting the urge to slam the door behind him.
Marion was staring out the window of the bus when she suddenly got a call. She looked down at the Caller ID and recognized it as Jasmine. She answered it.
“Hey-“
“Yo, if your man is anything he is persistent.” Jasmine said, sounding awed.
Marion closed her eyes, “He came?”
“Yeah, honey, he came. He bombarded my ass with questions too…I’m sorry, Mars, I had to tell him. He looked so worried.”
Marion leaned her head against the window, “Yeah, it’s fine,” she said, “It’s why I’m leaving. I knew he wouldn’t let me break up with him…I knew he would keep coming back.”
“Girl, you have got yourself quite the man. He don’t wanna let you go.”
“Sometimes,” she paused, unable to say it, “Sometimes you have to let things go, whether you like it or not.”
“Preach, girl, preach. Now can someone go tell Javier that?”
Marion laughed before hearing Jasmine say, “Now I gotta go back to work. While you sit there on the bus or whatever, your girl while be frying up chicken with the world’s biggest flirt, Darius.”
Marion chuckled, “Good luck.”
“Bye.” Jasmine said, before ending the call.
Marion sighed as she tucked her phone back into her coat pocket. The bus ride would be long and tiring-which also gave her a lot of time to think.
To think about things.
A lot of things.
Like him.
Minseok had just boarded the plane. His arms were taut as he gripped the seat handles. He was not okay. In fact, he was really far from okay. He was worried, angry and frustrated. He hated the nagging feeling in his stomach. He needed to see her.
Suho suddenly stood up from his seat, pointing at each of the boys as he counted aloud.
“1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7…where’s the eighth one?” He said with a frown.
“Oh wait, that’s me.” He said, before cracking up.
Somewhere from the back of the plane Kai sighed.
Minseok zoned out as the plane attendant went around checking to see if everyone was seated properly and explained the rules and safety precautions. Minseok had heard this so many times it was almost drilled in his memory.
Chen suddenly plopped into the seat across from him. He buckled himself in quite exuberantly.
Chen wriggled his brows at him, “Can you believe it?”
Minseok smiled slightly, “Believe what?”
Chen clasped his hands together, “We’re going back! We’re going back home.”
Minseok nodded, slowly. He wasn’t sure if he could identify the word home with Korea anymore.
Chen shook his head, leaning back in his seat. “I can’t believe we got so much done in 3 months. Hand wrote and produced 6 songs and memorized two whole song dances. We did it all on our own, man. We got everything done.”
Minseok nodded. He was right, they did get everything done.
Then why do I feel so incomplete?
Weeks later, all of the members self-produced songs had been reviewed by the SM staff and producers. The conclusion had come down to their mini-album to be released sometime in the middle of February. Some of the songs had been tweaked and rearranged according to the SM Producers liking-the boys didn’t mind. But what the boys did mind was when they found out that their chosen Title song had been completely rearranged-which meant that the boy’s self-choreographed dance had gone to waste.
The boys had to memorize a whole new dance with the hired SM choreographer-they had no choice. They had a lot to do within the next month before the mini album release. They had to film teasers. They had to film a music video. They also had to have separate and group photoshoot for the album photobook. They also needed to record the Chinese version of each of the songs in the studio. Then the most time consuming of all, was that they had to start memorizing the rest of the dances to the other 5 songs of the album before tour time came around—which usually comes faster than anyone thinks.
The members were all in the dance practice room. Their choreographer had just called a 5 minute break and so all the boys were sitting down, huffing and puffing as they drank down their water bottles and took ahold of the front of their shirts and shook it, to try air out the sweat from their bodies.
Minseok was sitting hunched on the bench in the back of the large dance room His eyes scanned over all the boys. Suho was standing, drinking down his water bottle so fast that trickles of it dripped from his chin, down his shirt. Suddenly a washcloth hit Suho’s face and Suho turned to see Kyungsoo standing beside him, straight faced. Suho chuckled, wiping down his neck with the small cloth, “Thanks.”
Chanyeol was sitting with his back against the mirrors, his breathing loud and heavy. His broad shoulders visibly hunched and retracted with each breathe in and out his body. The tall man may not have the best of dancing ability but he sure as hell poured his heart out to try doing the best he could. Minseok looked over to Chen, who sat not too far away from Chanyeol. Chen had just set down his water bottle and grabbed ahold of the front of his shirt to try air out the sweat.
Baekhyun lay on the ground in the middle of the dance room. His arms and legs spread out like a starfish as he laid there on the floor. Sehun stood over him, smiling cheekily as he looked down at Baek. Sehun raked a hand through his hair-which was slick with sweat-before nudging Baek with his toe, “Ya-get up.” Baekhyun made a complaining sound before shuffling slightly away from Sehun while keeping his back to the floor.
Minseok looked in the mirror to see Kai sit down on the bench beside him. Minseok turned around and looked over at him. Kai was drenched in sweat, his hair stuck to forehead and his shirt pasted onto his body, shaping out his muscular frame. Minseok couldn’t help but envy him for a second, within the first two to tries of the choreographer showing and explaining the dance-Kai had got it. Then each time the boys had practiced-trying to remember each move-he would go along easily, perfecting each move every time he did it. When Kai dances he moves like liquid, power and ease just oozes off each of his movements.
Minseok pat Kai’s back. The tan, brown haired male looked over at him-flashing him a smile. Minseok returned it. Suddenly all of the boy’s attention was refocused when the dance instructor reentered the room.
The dance instructor glanced down at his watch, “Alright, boys. I’ve decided that we have done enough practice for today. It’s late so rest up and make sure you’re ready to practice again tomorrow. Bye, guys.”
The boys stood up, the relief could be seen in their faces as they each walked out of the room. Minseok was about to leave the room when the instructor suddenly called out, “Minseok-do you mind if I speak with you for a minute?”
Minseok turned around, his dark eyes wide as he looked at the dance instructor. “No-not at all.”
Minseok sat back down on the bench and leaned back against the wall. He knew what this was going to about already.
The dance instructor folded his arms, “Minseok, I don’t know what is going on with you. You used to be one of the most energetic dancers I’ve ever seen-and ever since you came back from that trip it seems like you have no energy at all. What’s going on, man?”
Minseok closed his eyes, raking his fingers through his hair. His dance instructor was only 2 years older than him and he had worked with each of the members for a while. “I-I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” The dance instructor said with a slight chuckle, “Since when did the Minseok I know not know anything?”
Minseok smiled slightly before the instructor gave him a light punch in the shoulder. “Come on boy, get your game on! Get that energy back in ya-use an energy drink if you have to. If you dance like that the day of your comeback that’s going to be damn right embarrassing! You got this!”
Minseok stood up, “I’ll try harder.”
The dance instructor nodded, “You better-Oh crap I forgot to tell the rest of the boys but make sure you brush up on your dance skills from Ko Ko bop. Even though that was from your old album you got that show coming up and they want you to perform it. I don’t want to waste any of our dance practice time reviewing old stuff so make sure you practice that on your own. Okay?”
Minseok nodded, “Alright.”
The dance instructor pat his shoulder, “Tell the rest of the boys for me will you?”
Minseok nodded again. “Yeah.”
The dance instructor clapped his hands together. “Alright-Bye, Minseok.”
Minseok waved good bye as the dance instructor left the room. Minseok stayed in the dance practice room for a long time that night. Practicing and practicing until he felt numb.
Minseok stared in the mirror. He would be lying if he said it didn’t feel weird. After months of not having worn makeup here he was-full face-his eyelids dusted with a matte light brown shade and his eyes lined with liner. His eyebrows felt raw from having just been threaded but he had to give the makeup artist props for completely blocking out the redness. He shook his head slightly to move his long black hair out of his eyes. The hair stylist had asked if he wanted to cut it and he had said no-and so upon his request they had worked with his long hair quite nicely. They had middle parted it and waved it slightly-giving it texture but not so much that it didn’t look unnatural.
Suddenly Baekhyun popped up behind Minseok, “Peek a boo!” he said, with a happy child-like grin.
Minseok half-heartedly chuckled, “Baekhyun.”
Baekhyun smoothed down one side of his hair, “Ready to go?” he said, in a sing song voice.
Minseok nodded, jumping off the chair, “Yup.”
Baekhyun followed Minseok as he walked towards the rest of the boys standing behind the wall of the set. Suho looked over to Minseok.
“There you are.” He said, with a slight grin.
Minseok nodded, smiling slightly as he saw the looks of anticipation and excitement on some of the boys faces. This would be their first Korean show appearance in a while-it would also be the day that the boys would be allowed to announce their upcoming album. The voice of the interviewer could be heard throughout the whole set, due to his rather loud mic.
The members waited anxiously to hear themselves being called. Minseok smoothed down the front of his shirt. He suddenly wondered if there was something wrong with himself. He didn’t feel anything-he just felt numb. No excitement. No anticipation. No nervousness. He ought to be all those things after not having been performing for so many months-but yet there was nothing. He was just going to go in and blow it, right?
He suddenly felt someone elbow him. He looked over to see that it was Chen. Over the sudden clapping that had erupted he hadn’t heard what Chen had asked. He frowned, wondering why Chen looked so concerned. But before he could ask Chen to repeat his question the set managers were telling the boys to go out onto the stage-in Minseok’s daze he hadn’t heard them get called.
Minseok was the 3rd to last of the boys to step onto the stage and just as his eyes met the bright stage lights and the hoots and hollers of the fans screaming-his emotions hit him. He suddenly felt overwhelmed and extremely uncomfortable. He didn’t understand-he clenched his jaws hard to maintain a neutral expression as he managed to bow to the host like the rest of the members.
He didn’t hear a single word that came out of the interviewer’s mouth but the moment he motioned towards the stage Minseok knew it was time to dance. He sucked in a sharp breath before bringing himself to formation. Seconds into the music started, he moved along into the dance forcing himself to glide into the dance even though his legs suddenly felt heavy and each movement felt taut and stiff.
He accidentally collided into one of the members. He turned to see Kyungsoo’s eyes wide and Minseok opened his mouth to apologize and move but suddenly his legs couldn’t work. Exhaustion hit his body like a bell banging against his head. And suddenly everything was black.
Minseok heard snippets of conversation as he drifted in and out of consciousness.
“I should’ve known.”
“Don’t blame yourself, man.”
“He hasn’t been acting like himself lately.”
“-sleep deprived-”
More murmurs.
“-over working his body-”
He didn’t have enough strength in him to fully realize what he was hearing or who the voices belonged to but in the darkness of his unconscious state of mind the words seemed to echo within his head.
Kyungsoo slipped into the chair beside Minseok’s hospital bed. He looked over at Minseok’s frame on the bed. Minseok’s eyes were closed but there was a flushed to his whole face that made it look as if he had just come back from a run. Kyungsoo reached out to flick the man’s rather long hair out of his forehead and eyes. Kyungsoo’s eyes suddenly went wide when Minseok suddenly grabbed his arm.
“Is she here?” Minseok demanded, his voice low but desperate.
“What?” Kyungsoo asked-relieved and shocked at Minseok’s sudden awakening. “Oh you mean your Mom and sister? They are coming-they’re on their way.”
Minseok looked lost for a second before shaking his head sharply, “No I mean her,“ His grip on Kyungsoo’s arm suddenly tightened. “Where is she?”
Marion was scrubbing the counter when the front bell chimed-signaling that someone had just entered the restaurant. She stood up, looking over at the front counter to see if Jasmine was there to assist the customers. To Marion’s disappointment, she was not. Marion stood up walking towards the two teenage girls.
Marion smiled kindly at them, “A table for two?”
The girls nodded.
Marion motioned for them to follow her as she led them to one of the tables that was available. Marion handed the girls each a menu, explaining the combo meal and special deals before going to the back of the restaurant to return the cleaning supplies. Marion glanced at Darius, who was peeking over the front counter at the two teenage girls. He whistled, “Je-sus. The one on the left is cute as hell.”
After all the unnecessary commentary and flirting he did in the restaurant, Marion finally snapped, “Not that I give a shit about your life, but don’t you have a girlfriend?”
Darius turned a bit red, “Ah…yes.”
Marion made a face expression that full of annoyance. After having dealt with dishonesty in her relationship she couldn’t stand the idea of it happening to anyone else. “If that’s the attitude you plan on having in relationships just don’t even bother with them then because you’ll just be wasting everyone’s time.”
Marion grabbed the mini notepad from the front counter and walked towards the girl’s table. Marion reach the girls table to see both of them staring down at their phones. With this generation she couldn’t be all too surprised.
Marion cleared her throat, “Have you guys-“
Suddenly one of the girl’s gasped loudly and showed her friend her phone, “Bro-oh my god-look what happened to Minseok!”
Marion’s eyes went wide with surprise at the sudden mention of his name. For a second his image popped into her head-he was smiling…until the image fade and she felt her gut churn with longing. She blinked, snapping out of it as she repeated-rather sharply, “Minseok?”
The girl with the phone extended to show her friend looked at her in surprise, “Yeah-you like EXO too?”
Marion didn’t know how to reply but she knew that EXO was Minseok’s band name. She nodded a bit, “Yeah.” She said.
“Oh my god-did you see what happened to Minseok already?” The girl asked with wide eyes.
Marion frowned, “No-I didn’t. Wha-“
The girl shoved the phone in her face, “Just watch this.”
Marion looked down at the girl’s phone, she felt the girl’s friend look from over her shoulder at the video. Marion was surprised to see all the boys standing together in a formation-then the music started and they all began to dance. She was astonished by the boy’s fluidity and harmonization as they sang and danced. She couldn’t believe that the guys could work together so well—despite how immature they acted.
But suddenly she was left breathless when Minseok’s face appeared on screen, he looked absolutely stunning. But there something was wrong-deeply wrong and she could see it in his face. Suddenly, in what seemed like a blur of motion Minseok’s body collided against the floor. She heard the crowd gasp through the phone as he laid there in what looked like a pretty hard fall.
She saw the boys look completely shocked as some of them cluelessly tried to continue. Then she saw Chen freeze before Suho, Baek and Kyungsoo dropped down beside Minseok looking extremely worried. She heard the audience cry out for someone to help him. She saw Chanyeol run off the stage and return with what looked like a few other staff members-and then suddenly the screen cut.
Marion didn’t realize that she had been holding her breathe until the girl took back her phone.
She didn’t notice the girls looking at her as she covered her hands with her mouth.
“I know right?” One of the girl’s said to her as she shook her head. “That’s insane. That’s the first time that any of the EXO members actually fell unconscious on stage. Apparently he’s in the hospital-“
“This happened today?” Marion asked, sharply.
The girl nodded. “Yep. It was a live show but they cut it short-“
“I need to go.” Marion said, tightly before swiftly turning away from them and walking to the back.
The girls watched her leave before looking at each other.
One of the girls spoke, “I can’t believe we met another Exo-l.”
The other replied, “She’s definitely a Xiumin stan.”
Marion hastily entered the staff belonging room, searching through her coat to retrieve her phone. Suddenly Jasmine was right behind her.
“Dude-what’s wrong?” Jasmine asked, concerned.
Marion didn’t reply due to being completely engrossed in trying to find her phone. Jasmine stepped closer to her.
“Yo-what happened? You look so…pale.” Jasmine said, worriedly.
Marion finally pulled her phone out of her coat. “I just need a minute-I didn’t ask the girls sitting by the front for their order so could you do that for me? Thanks.”
Jasmine stared confusedly as Marion zipped past her up the steps to the rooftop. The moment Marion pushed open the roof door the cold hit her. But it was nothing compared to the uneasiness that she was feeling in her heart.
She used one arm to wrap around herself as she shook her head to get the snow off, due to the slight flurries that was occurring outside. She looked down at her phone, looking through her contacts in frustration when she couldn’t find Minseok’s number. Then it hit her belatedly that she had blocked him.
She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment to catch her breathe. The ache in her stomach was growing again-the ache that she had beaten down and ignored ever since Minseok had left. She didn’t know how to unblock someone and nor would she try to unblock him because she knew that would tempt her further.
She pressed Kyungsoo’s number, pacing nervously as she waited for him to pick up.
He picked up on the first ring, “Hello?” Except it wasn’t Kyungsoo-it was Sehun.
“Sehun?” Marion questioned. “What are you doing on Kyungsoo’s phone?”
“Huh? This is my phone.”
Marion frowned before looking down at her phone to see that she had indeed accidentally pressed Sehun’s number. She put the phone back to her ear.
“Oh-um-it’s fine. Can you just tell me-“ She sucked in a sharp cold breath, “Is Minseok okay?”
She couldn’t see it but Sehun was smiling a little-of course all the members knew about their break up. But to Sehun-who had wanted them together for quite a while-her calling to check up on Minseok was very good news. It showed that she still cared and that was all Sehun needed to come up with a plan.
“Well, he’s okay now,” He paused-dramatically, “Other than the fact that he’s sleep deprived and has been over working his body.”
Marion gasped, “What?!”
Sehun suddenly grinned, “Can you just give me a second? I’ll be right back.”
Minseok was lying down on his hospital bed. His head was hurting slightly when he suddenly heard a phone buzz nearby. Minseok’s eyes cracked open slightly and his eyes were met with Sehun’s-who flashed him a warm smile, before standing up from the chair beside his bed to leave the room because someone had given him a call.
Minseok sighed, rubbing his eyes. He knew the members were drifting in and out of his room but all his mind felt like doing was sleeping. He was about to slip back into sweet pull of sleep when he heard someone enter his room again. Minseok forced himself to open his eyes and see who it was.
It was Sehun again. Sehun made his way over to Minseok’s bed and stuffed his phone into his hand.
“Hold onto my phone. I have to use the bathroom.” Sehun said, hastily before disappearing from the room.
“Huh?” Minseok said, with a confused frown before holding up the phone. Minseok blinked as realized that the phone was in a call.
“Hello?” Came a female voice from the phone. “Sehun?”
Minseok froze.
That female voice was familiar.
Too familiar.
Minseok suddenly sat up, pressing the phone to his ear, as everything around him spun and there was only one name on his mind. “Marion?”
He heard a hitched breath from the other line in the phone. “Minseok.” He heard her whisper quietly. He almost didn’t hear her due to the bustling car beeps and voices of the city in the background.
Her voice. God, her voice. It filled him with the feeling that he had missed so much. Why’d she have to say his name like that?
He closed his eyes as he furrowed his brows, “Marion-I-“ his voice suddenly cracked.
He suddenly heard her talk-she sounded breathless but firm. “How are you-are you okay?“ she suddenly spoke gently, “I-um-I heard about the fall.”
He looked down, running a hand through his dark hair. He’d rather be standing in front of her and talking with her so badly. He wanted to see her. “I’m fine. I just slipped.”
She was silent for a moment before replying. “That-that’s good. That was-ah-that was mainly what I called to ask for…I didn’t know Sehun would give the phone to you.”
Minseok’s voice was suddenly tight, “Why-because you didn’t want to talk to me? Is that why you blocked me?”
Her voice sounded small, “Minseok.”
His grip on the phone tightened, “You didn’t even give me a chance to explain-“
She interrupted him, her voice sounding sharper, “Minseok!”
He went on, “I’m still in l-“
“DON’T!!” She yelled angrily into the phone before muttering a second later, “Don’t say anything.”
He clenched his jaw, speaking in controlled calm, “Why not?”
There was silence-for what felt like a long time. He could feel her presence through the phone-he could feel her thinking.
When she spoke again her voice was calmer, “Bye, Minseok.”
He sat up straighter, “Wha-“
“I hope you have a good day.” Then the phone clicked off.
“No!-“ He almost shouted, “Marion!”
He tried calling back the number multiple times before he finally realized that she wasn’t going to pick up. He sat there for a long moment, picturing her face in his mind and realizing that he might not be able to hear her ever again.
He shook his head, “No,” He murmured to himself.
He took grabbed his phone from the small table beside the hospital bed and jotted down her number from Sehun’s phone. He would call her number from another phone when he got the chance. Just the idea of that happening gave him some energy.
He couldn’t help but wonder how years ago if anyone told him he would care this deeply for someone, he would’ve laughed in their face and said something like yeah right. But here he was, sitting in the hospital feeling like another half of him was missing. And even if it made him feel stupid, he felt better.
I’ll find you, Marion.
I'll search the universe
Until I find you again
I promise.
Weeks had passed since Minseok and Marion’s last phone call and due to the amount of unknown calls on Marion’s phone (it didn’t take her long to figure out who it was) she had bought a new phone. Her life had been stable for a few weeks, everything was going smoothly until she started noticing a few odd things about herself.
That she was feeling weaker day by day. Some days she was more tired. Some days her body ached. And Somedays her head-ached-really bad even though she had been doing nothing different. Like today, she was in the middle of pouring a customer some water when her head suddenly pounded like someone had rang a bell against it.
Marion’s hand faltered, causing her to spill water all over the customers lap. The customer screamed.
Marion gasped, putting the jug down, “Oh my god! I’m-I’m so sorry!”
Suddenly Jasmine was there-pushing Marion out of the way. “Just go, Mars. I’ll clean it.” Jasmine muttered, annoyedly. It was surprisingly not the first time she had done something like this this week which made Marion feel even more embarrassed.
“It’s okay-“
Jasmine gave her a look, “Just go.”
Marion sighed before nodding and taking the jug with her as she went to the back of the restaurant. Marion ran her hands through her hair as she paced-her head throbbed. What is wrong with you? Get yourself together, dumbass!!! She thought to herself. Marion never considered herself as the ‘clumsy’ kind of her person before yet here she was.
Suddenly someone tapped her shoulder.
Marion turned around to see Darius. He looked concerned. “Are you okay?” He inquired.
Ever since her scolding him about his flirting he seemed to have actually listened and stopped flirting with girls at the restaurant. Which ended up coming down to a mutual feeling of begrudging respect between the two of them.
She blinked, “Yes-I mean,” She paused before shaking her head, “No-not really. I have no idea why but I’ve really been a damn mess these days-“
“Yeah! The biggest understatement of the week!” said Jasmine as she entered the kitchen with the mop in her hand. “What is good with you?! First dropping the whole entire tray of food-multiple times-and now spilling water all over someone? Are you trying to get fired?”
“Hey!” Darius said, with a frown, “Stop yelling at her-can’t you see that she’s not okay?”
Jasmine blinked, “What?”
Marion waved her hand, dismissively, “No-no-I’m fine, really. I just-I’m just-I don’t even know. It won’t happen again though-I promise.”
“No-you’re not okay. I saw you almost faint that other day when you were doing the dishes and that your hand shakes a lot whenever you hold things-even things that aren’t heavy. I didn’t want to say it before but I really think you need to go visit a doctor.”
Marion swallowed as she realized all he was saying was true. “I’ll figure it out.” She murmured.
Then suddenly her knees felt weak and she stumbled backward, her hand flying out to hold onto the counter but missed. She ended up falling-her head colliding hard with the ground. She fell unconscious.
Jasmine and Darius ran towards her too late. Jasmine gasped as she fell on her knees beside Marion. She pulled Marion’s head into her lap and tapped her cheek. “Marion! Marion?”
Darius looked down at the two of them, “Holy shit. She’s out like a light.”
“We need to bring her to the hospital. Now!” Jasmine yelled.
“When I told her that she needed to visit a doctor I didn’t mean now.” Darius murmured in shock.
Jasmine turned around and smacked Darius’s knee. “Just go get the god damn phone!”
Darius nodded, running hurriedly to get the phone.
Marion awoke peacefully, feeling like she had gotten a full nights rest when in reality it had just been a couple hours. Marion took in her surroundings, she looked around with wide eyes when she realized that she was in the hospital-laying down on the hospital bed.
She almost jumped up when she saw a nurse standing beside her bed-adjusting one of the IV tubes attached to her. But before Marion could sit up fast-the nurse was there-pushing Marion’s shoulders gently back against the bed.
“Don’t sit up too fast, okay? It makes the blood rush to your head.” The nurse said, with a small smile.
Marion blinked, frowning, “Why am I here?”
The nurse motioned to the chair beside her. Marion turned her head to see Jasmine sitting on the chair beside her hospital bed-passed out in what looked like a deep sleep.
“Your friend, Jasmine, is it? She brought you here after you fainted in the middle of work.” The nurse said, gently.
“Really?” Marion said, surprised. “I don’t remember…”
The nurse smiled a bit, “Most don’t. How do you feel?”
Marion replied, “I feel fine.”
The nurse pressed her hand to Marion’s forehead, “You sure? No head pains? You hit your head against the floor pretty hard.”
“I did?” Marion asked.
The nurse nodded, while replacing the ice pack-that Marion hadn’t even noticed was there-on her head.
The nurse looked back at her, “Have you been feeling anything odd these days? Fatigue? Headaches? Dizziness?”
Marion was about to say no but she suddenly frowned as she realized. “Yeah…I’ve actually been experiencing all of that.”
The nurse nodded, “Well that would be normal with the condition you have.”
Marion blinked, “What?!”
The nurse suddenly smiled-a very warm smile-one that Marion would’ve returned if the nurse hadn’t said, “You’re pregnant.”
Jonghyun was one of the most thoughtful artists I’ve ever followed. His support for the lgbt community and his advocacy for mental health has been a beacon of hope in an industry that denies both. I can’t even put in words how much he will be missed and how much this hurts.
Summary: Marion’s life was going perfectly well before it had fell apart. She had moved out from her family’s house to New York City almost a year ago to attend her dream college. She had gotten a small job and had a great group of friends to keep her happy. Then everything went downhill the moment she found out that her father had died. What made it worse was the fact that her father’s bank account was mysteriously empty, leaving her and her family completely broke. Marion suddenly didn’t have any time to go to college anymore or even grieve her father’s death as she thrown into working multiple jobs to support her family. Her happy college days were gone, instead replaced with working at a Chicken restaurant during the day and serving people drinks at a bar by night. It wasn’t until a rather handsome man walks through the Bar doors that lightens things up in her life. He’s attractive, charming and likable-everything a girl would want in a man-until he does something that leaves her never wanting to see him again…but he still wants to see her.
Sometimes you live with memories that you wish you could forget, but not always regret.
Marion was leaning against the front counter of the Chirping Chicken, watching Darius-the new dirty blonde, dark blue eyed high school senior that was hired since Mike had resigned. She scowled when she saw him making a group of teenage girls laugh as he took their order. She had heard him talking sweetly to a girl on the phone during his lunch break-so seeing him flirt and flash smiles at girls in the restaurant was downright disappointing. “I’m so glad high school is over.” Marion mumbled. “Everyone is so immature that it’s embarrassing.”
Jasmine-who had been talking beside her-frowned, “Hello! Marion are you even listening to me?”
Marion looked over at Jasmine blankly, “No-sorry-I zoned out.” She said, apologetically.
Jasmine rolled her eyes before her phone started ringing in her apron pocket. Marion watched Jasmine glance down at the caller ID before shutting it off.
Marion saw Jasmine’s dull expression before stating, “Javier.”
Jasmine reached her hands to readjust her brown haired bun. “Yep.”
Marion frowned, “Didn’t you guys break up though?”
Jasmine looked exasperated, “Yes! Yes, we did! I don’t know what he wants this time!”
Marion made a face, before turning to look at Darius-who was still chatting with the girls, “Why are men so problematic?”
Jasmine shook her head, speaking wistfully, “I wish I fucking knew, bro.”
Marion suddenly furrowed her brows and looked at her, “You know-Minseok is actually….is actually acting weird with me. It’s so…I’m not used it-and I never thought that would happen to us. I don’t know what to think about it.”
Jasmine snapped her fingers, “Oh yeah! So did he tell you?”
Marion looked at her, “Tell me what?”
Jasmine spoke nonchalantly with a raised brow, “About how they are all moving back to South Korea next week?”
“WHAT?!”
Jasmine blinked, “Oh honey, no wonder he’s acting weird.”
To say that Marion was mad would be an understatement.
She was furious.
Even more so because of the fact that Minseok wasn’t answering any of her several calls. She was sitting on the couch, her arms crossed as she stared at her phone resting on the coffee table before her. She stared at a few moments longer before standing up and shutting off the TV. There was no use of trying to distract herself when everything she was feeling was still taking up her mind.
Suddenly the doorbell rang and she ran over, swinging the door open wide. “You-“she quickly cut herself off when she realized that it wasn’t Minseok at the door. Instead she was greeted with two angry looking, black clad, muscular thugs holding her Uncle Calvin by each arm. Except Uncle Calvin wasn’t normal, his eyes were wide with fear and his nose and shirt were covered in blood. Marion gasped.
One of them spoke, his voice gruff and laced with annoyance, “You his niece?”
Marion looked at Uncle Calvin-his eyes were lolling and it looked as if it was hard for him to even be standing. “What the hell did you do to him?” she whispered.
The thug shoved him towards her and she staggered back as she caught him in her arms.
The thug pointed at her, his voice firm and dangerous, “Tell em’ not to pay up fucking late next time.”
The second man chuckled, his blue eyes running down her body. “Bye…sweetie.”
Marion slammed the door shut before placing her Uncle down on the couch. She stepped back from him, looking down at her shirt-which was now painted in red. She saw her Uncle’s eyes flutter as he slumped down on her couch.
“What the hell did you do!?!” Marion almost screamed.
Uncle Calvin tried to sit up but then-suddenly-smiled, “I did exactly what he said. I paid me dues late.” He chuckled.
Marion stared at him, disgusted, “Why the hell did you join a fucking gang?”
Uncle Calvin laughed, throwing his head as he did so.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN THE CITY?!” she yelled.
That seemed to get his attention. His eyes snapped back on hers.
His voice came out surprisingly clear, “I had to meet our gang leader. I was late so he did what he had to do.” He smiled, “At least he didn’t kill me.”
Marion looked at him, her face frowning in disgust, “He should’ve.”
Uncle Calvin glared, “Honey, you better watch your mouth or I-I-“ He slurred off.
“You’ll what? You’ll WHAT?!” she yelled.
Uncle Calvin suddenly sat up, his glaring intensified, “You hate me so much, huh? Suppose that’s right after all I done to your family-“
“Hell-fucking-yeah!” she said, before leaning close to him while pointing her finger at his chest, “There is absolutely no reason for me to help you. NO REASON!”
“I’m your family.” He said, before laughing in her face. And that was when she smelled the alcohol from his breath.
“Fuck you.” She said, staring at him with pure disgust before walking to her kitchen to find her first aid kit.
“Remember when your Daddy went on that business trip of his? He was tryna buy another grocery store some place or whatever be-before he got himself killed in a car crash?”
She tried to ignore him as she fumbled through opening her kitchen cabinets randomly. Where the hell is the First Aid Kit? She thought with a frown.
Calvin laughed, “Well-I was there with your Mom, you know? The day I found out he died I went to your Mom. She was a fucking mess, I’ll tell ya. She was sobbing all over the damn place-I tried to take care of her. I did. But how can someone who don’t even know how to care of emself’ take care of his sister?”
He laughed as if that was especially funny.
“Anyway, anyway-while ya mom was sobbing all over the damn place. I tried to keep her house in order, feed the boys, clean the house, collect the mail…I collected the mail, you see…Then there was this one especially interesting letter…letter from the bank, you see.”
Marion suddenly froze.
“And I took it home…and I opened it. It was from the bank tellin’ yo Mom that she had to sign few of these papers to receive your daddy’s life insurance and savings money get transferred to her account.”
He whistled, “And boyyyy, was it a good amount of money. And I did what the hell I had to do.”
Marion stood up, “What did you do?”
“I blasted from ya Mom’s house and went to the bank-I transferred all that fucking money to my account, baby.” He said, with a relieved smile.
Marion was frozen.
He waved his hand casually, “I had to plagiarize ya Mom’s signature here and there. Cause ya Mom had to sign saying she wanted me to have it for me to get it. Whatever-I owe people a lot of money, ya see? I paid em all back…but I paid em all back too late. They was mad…OoohhH they was mad.” He shook his head, sadly.
Suddenly her Uncle ran his hand over his face, looking down at his hand as the blood from his nose ran onto it, “Fucking bitch clocked me on the nose.” He mumbled.
Marion’s knees felt weak. She reached her hand out on the counter to hold herself up, “How could you?” she didn’t realize she was shaking. “HOW COULD YOU?!”
Her Uncle suddenly stood up, shaking his head, “No-no-don’t hurt me please-please.”
Marion tried to take a step forward but ended up stumbling and falling to her knees. She clutched her face in her hands and broke down. Her shoulders shook as she gritted her teeth and sobbed. Anger, mixed with sadness and frustration spilled down her cheeks in the form of tears.
She heard the front door slam shut and didn’t have to look up at know that her Uncle had left.
She removed her hands from her face to yell after him, “HOW COULD YOUUUUUUU!”
She covered her face again, before curling in on herself on the floor. She cried and cried until she felt hollow.
She
cried
and
cried
until
it
didn’t
hurt.
Minseok slipped the key inside and unlocked her apartment door. He stepped inside, closing the door behind him as he saw her sitting beside the kitchen counter on a stool. Her back was faced to him.
Minseok walked towards her, “Mar, you called me so many times-did you forget that I told you that I was going have a busy today? I turn my phone off when I’m in the studio.“
“You didn’t tell me you were moving back to Korea.”
He closed his eyes and sighed, “I was planning to-”
She turned around, “There is a difference between planning to and actually doing it.”
Minseok opened his eyes and was stunned when he saw her. Her eyes were rimmed with red and her undereyes were puffy. Her lips looked swollen from gnawing at them too much-it was a habit of hers he noticed that she did whenever she was anxious. This couldn’t possibly be because he was leaving.
“Marion-what happened?” he asked, his eyes searching hers.
She shook her head, “It doesn’t matter what happened to me. If you can’t even tell me something as big as you leaving you clearly don’t care enough about me.”
Minseok then noticed that all of her kitchen cabinets were open and that there was blood on her shirt.
He stepped towards her, “Marion-what the hell happened?”
She stood up, shoving him back. “Stop changing the subject!”
He pointed at her shirt, “Why the hell is there blood on your shirt?”
She scoffed, “It’s not mine-Tell me, how long did you know? How long did you know that you were going to leave?!”
He ran a hand through his hair, flustered, “I-I knew since the moment I came here that I was going to leave. Our management only gave us a couple months to make our own album. It was supposed to be trip.”
She smiled a painfully tight smile, “Is that what I was too? A trip?”
“NO-No!” he said, his dark eyes intent, “I was just-“
She suddenly shrugged, “It doesn’t matter.”
Minseok froze, raising a brow, “What?”
“It doesn’t matter because you’re not leaving.”
Minseok shook his head, speaking slowly, “I have to leave.”
The look in her eyes was suddenly desperate as she took a step towards him. “You can’t. Anything could happen to you and I-I won’t be there to…I won’t be there.”
Minseok hated the feeling that was plummeting through his stomach at her eyes, “Marion-I-“his voice broke.
He looked away from her, his voice firm, “I’m in a contract. I can’t break it.”
Marion’s voice was quiet, “You can’t leave me.”
Minseok looked at her-the intensity of her dark eyes holding his gaze. “I don’t want to.”
He took a step towards her, slipping his hand onto the side of her face, “I’ll come back.”
She placed her hand over his, closing her eyes as she let herself feel the warmth of his hand against her face. “When?” she whispered.
He closed his eyes, leaning his forehead against hers, “I-I don’t know. But I know I’ll be back. I come back for you.”
She shook her head, pulling his hand away from her face and stepping back. “No-I can’t do this.”
He looked at her, “Do what?”
“I can’t do a long-distance relationship. Long-distance never works out.” She said, while running her hands through her hair.
He took a step towards her. “We’ll make it work. I can call-“
She shook her head, stepping back from him, “No-no, I can’t-it’s not going to work.”
He moved to take another step towards her but she held her hand out.
“We can-“ He spoke, his desperate and wanting.
She interrupted, “I don’t want to do long-distance.”
He looked at her intensely, “Why?”
“Why can’t you choose me over your contract?” she asked.
Minseok looked at her for a moment before shaking his head, “Don’t put me in that position, Marion.” he said, quietly.
“Exactly-so don’t put me in the position of doing something I don’t want to do.” She said, her voice firm but broken.
He looked at her-his eyes hurt, “But why?”
“Because long-distance never works out, Minseok!” she yelled.
His eyes were suddenly demanding, intense, “How can you say that about something you haven’t even tried yet?!”
She shook her head, stepping away from him. “No.” she said, quietly, “I can’t do it.”
“Mar-“
“It doesn’t matter! We’re fucked anyway!” she suddenly yelled.
He looked at her, his dark eyes hard, “How are we fucked?”
She laughed, dryly-in the way he hated the most. “Are you really asking? You can’t choose me over a contract and I’m not willing to try long-distance because-because I can’t stand not seeing you every day and I’d rather not have that anxiety of thinking about you all the time…I know how I am, Minseok. I won’t be able to handle it.”
He shook his head, “You’ll get-“
“We’re over.” She said, abruptly.
He looked at her, taken aback. “No, Mar-you can’t-“
She shook her head, “Don’t you see it-it doesn’t even matter if I say it. We already are.”
“No, we’re not!” He said, helplessly. “This isn’t it!”
Marion shook her head, stepping further away from him into the kitchen.
When he moved to try follow her, he noticed the half-empty beer bottle on the counter. “Mar, you’re drunk. You don’t mean it.”
She shook her head, looking at him across the counter. “I’m not drunk.”
He leaned across the counter, his voice soft and unwilling, “You are.”
Tears threatened to spill out of her eyes, “I’m not. I’m serious. You’ll realize that I’m serious about this when I say the same thing tomorrow.“
“No! You’re drunk! You don’t mean anything you say right now!” He yelled, moving himself to walk around the counter to her.
She suddenly held up her phone, “Don’t come any closer! I’ll call the cops-I swear it.”
Minseok stopped, his eyes hurt. “Marion.” He pleaded.
“Go.” She closed her eyes and tried to even out her voice.
“Marion, please.”
“Just. Go.” She said, her voice cold.
“Mars.” He said, quietly-insistently.
“Go.” Her voice sharper than ice.
She felt him move slowly before hearing the door slam shut. He left.
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dededos
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