Park Chanyeol × Park Sooyoung
Park Chanyeol loved his wife enough to think she’d be blinded by love as much as he was when he took her for granted and started meeting another woman behind her back. He thought he, as a respected police officer, would be strong enough to take any damage given to his heart and mind-
The less was he prepared for the day his wife, Sooyoung, ended up leaving him. The day he had asked her out. The day he had proposed to her.
“And he was still hung up on her with every single fibre of his body.”
A bell chimmed as the door to the small bar was pushed open. Kim Minseok’s eyes left the wine glass he was polishing skillfully, shifting to the tall visitor who was just about to put off his long coat, greeting the few customers at the back of the room with a nod.
“Oh, you’re early today, Chanyeol.” Said man smiled weakly as he instinctively took his seat - really, if only you’d squint your eyes at his stool, you would be able to see his butthocks engraved from all the hours he’s spent sitting on it in the past years.
“Well, it’s not like anyone’s waiting for me at home”, he growled, immediately grabbing the whiskey glass Minseok had just placed on the counter knowingly, and took a sip. “No need to sit on an empty couch any longer when I know you’re opening up at 2 in the afternoon.”
Minseok sighed soundlessly as he put the glasses he’d just dried on top of the counter. He knew Chanyeol felt lonely all around the year, especially in December. “Listen, I know you’re still having your hopes up, but don’t you think it’s time to move on? It’s been four years, Yeol. I have the feeling living in this huge house on your own isn’t very healthy for someone like you.” He had thought about it for some time, noticing early how much Chanyeol had changed ever since Sooyoung had left him, and gave him a worried look as he poured him a glass of his usual.
“Someone like me?” Chanyeol didn’t answer his best friend’s stare, all his attention now lying on a group of women in their late twenties, laughing a bit too loud for his taste. He merely shuttered at the thought that they were nice to look at, but unbearable either way, and he shook his head when he caught himself comparing them to his ex-wive. They couldn’t compare. No one could.
“Someone who’s usually loud and all over whatever place he’s at”, Minseok smiled gently and chuckled a bit at the way his old acquaintance eyed said females disapprovingly. “Someone who’d mope around like an immature teenager whenever he’s not our center of attention for half an hour.”
"Maybe I’ve become more mature?“, Chanyeol pondered as his gaze returned to the glass in his hand, alcohol gently swaying inside as his hand spun the glass around on the table.
”-Or maybe you’ve become depressed?“
Chanyeol pulled a face when Minseok quickly took the whiskey glass away from him to prevent the precious item from falling off the bar table.“Listen, it’s not like you to come here to drink in the middle of the day. I’ve seen lots of different types of people come and fall in this bar over the past ten years, and believe me, I don’t want you to be on that list.”
For the first time in a while, Park Chanyeol remembered that this specific friend in front of him was a few years older than him. Minseok usually was a pretty chilled and rather soft companion, someone you could always call up whenever you needed someone to pour your heart out to- and Chanyeol was able to foresee the words that would come out of his mouth in a moment. He remembered having a similar conversation with Minseok back when Chanyeol had just graduated from High School and had decided to rather not go back home to his parents for a week and sleep under a bridge than tell his father that he’d not fullfill his dream of his own son following him in his footsteps as a renowned lawyer, but to chase his own dreams and become a police officer.
“You know that it irks me to see my friends being so down in the mouth. You’re not the type of person to come here and get drunk and mope around for the rest of the day-”
“People change, I guess."
Both of them raised their heads at the sudden sound of Do Kyungsoo’s voice that rang over to them from the front door. They watched said man as he walked over to them and occupied the seat next to Chanyeol, throwing his thick beige winter coat onto another bar stool.
"Wow, what a rare sight”, Minseok snickered and nodded at Kyungsoo to greet him. “I can’t say I’m unhappy about some help with this tough one we have here-”
“Guys, please. Can’t you leave me alone with this whole shit for a single day? It’s Christmas.” They both raised their eyebrows at the way Chanyeol hid his face in his hands and slouched down, his upper body now lowered to half of it’s actual height.
“-Christmas, the most romantic time of the year”, Kyungsoo added and his face lit up as he playfully hit his tall friend’s shoulder who’d been groaning at his addition,“that’s why the guys are all coming here with their better halves, including me… and sadly, excluding you, dumbass.”
Chanyeol, his head still face-down on the counter, murmured: “What does all mean?"
The one behind the counter threw in- "All of them- us. Kyungsoo, Jongdae, Baekhyun, even Jongin came here from New York with his girlfriend to-”
“–Wait, so Baekhyun’s not coming alone, either?” Chanyeol finally raised his head, eyes widened from the sudden shock the news had put him in.
“Yeah, her name is… Kyungri.”
It took a while for Minseok’s tone, oozing with irony, to sink into Chanyeol’s brain that still couldn’t deal with the sight of the blinking fairy lights behind the bar, when-“Wait, your sister and Baekhyun-”, he finally exclaimed, but was interrupted by Kyungsoo slamming his empty glass on the table.
“Don’t remind me”, he growled, “I still can’t believe my sister lowered her standards enough to hook up with this horrible excuse of a police-”
“Soo, please. Just a few minutes ago, Chanyeol stated that it is Christmas, the feast of love and joy”, Minseok snickered, and they heard the tallest among them mumble something close to “using my words for your own purpose”.
The three of them ended up downing a small shot of Bourbon in silence, giving Chanyeol some time to think. Again.It wasn’t like he hadn’t been thinking about this matter before- heck, there hadn’t been a day without him thinking of his wife, the smug looks on his face whenever his friends had pulled faces oozing with jealousy. He had been thinking about her non-stop, and whenever he was close to forgetting for a second, he’d been reminded of her absence by the smallest things- starting with the same bouquet of flowers he bought every two weeks at her favourite flower shop or the scent of the car air freshener he still bought every month because he couldn’t bring himself to change it. Change was something he had loved when he was younger, but it had become a nuisance when his luck walked out of the door of their shared house. Something that pained him when he knew that with every fibre of his body, he was still hung up on his previous wife.
Chanyeol noticed Minseok handing him another glass of liquor, downing it in one go when it hit him that he was still hung up on Park Sooyoung with every single fibre of his body.
“At least the chief’s still single as well”, he murmured, the image of Kim Junmyeon popping up in the back of his mind.
“Actually-” Kyungsoo was cut off the bright chimmng of the bell above the entrance and a mix of laughter and whinng that surely belonged to no other than Kim Jongdae.
“I swear, we tried everything to tag him along, but he said he was having plans!”
“Yeah, we tried bribing him by promising to behave in the office, but even that wasn’t enough to get him to come- I bet he’s visiting his parents for a family reunion”, Baekhyun added, rolling his eyes at the thought of their traditional chief.
“Well, I wouldn’t be surprised. He’s always been very fond of his family-”
Chanyeol, obviously happy to see his friends coming to brighten this evening (but also fairly annoyed by the noise and the happiness everyone was radiating), looked over to Kyungsoo, whose wife had just walked over to give him an affectionate kiss (Yeol noticed that his friend couldn’t supress the redness creeping up his cheeks and ears). He himself responded to her affectionate greeting with a mere nod and a week smile, and the moment she walked over to get a large table close to the counter occupied, Kyungsoo ruffled his hair and simply, but loudly stated:
“Wouldn’t be too surprised if Junmyeon’s far, far away from home at the moment.”
Chanyeol raised his eyebrows, getting up to greet the rest of the group. “Why’s that? Family trouble?”
The smaller guy snickered. “No, but I think he’s started dating someone again. That one team leader you worked with in division five.”
Kyungsoo grinned, while watching the faces of his friends and collegues fall one after another, Baekhyun’s mouth ripped open in disbelief while his girlfriend gently patted his back, and Jongdae being hit by his own female counterpart when he snorted.
The following two hours passed in what seemed like the blink of an eye. Jongin and his girlfriend had eventually arrived half an hour after everyone else had managed to get cozy. While everyone else was engulfed in talks about their plans for Christmas and New Years, Chanyeol was happily looking at photos of Jongin’s twins on his friend’s phone.
“They’ve grown so much since the last time you sent us a picture.”
Jongin’s nose crunched as he laughed. “That was like, a week ago,”
“-Still!”, Jongdae threw in, looking past Chanyeol’s shoulder to look at the girls. “How old are they? Two?”
“They’re turning three years next month.” Everyone could see Jongin’s chest swelling with the pride of a father. Something in Chanyeol stirred when he noticed his hand brushing the one of his girlfriend.
“9th January, wasn’t it”, he asked, voice suddenly a lot raspier than before.
Jongin’s girlfriend nodded, glancing at him lovingly, before her gaze took a turn to the sadness that overcame her whenever she thought of what a good father Chanyeol would have been. The softness washing past his features caused her to tear up, reminding her of the most beautiful moment she had shared with Jongin- the birth of their twins. She thought of the first time Jongin had held his baby girls in his arms, and the moment Chanyeol put his arm around her shoulder, congratulating her. She was sure she would never forget the first time she saw Jongin’s friend holding one of their girls, tears of pure joy trickling down his face while Jongin showered her face with kisses.
What a good godfather Chanyeol was.
“Is that the blanket I sent you as a present for their first birthday?”, Chanyeol exclaimed, face lighting up more and more with every photo.
“Yeah, though I have to admit Yena uses it as a napkin these days-” Jongin laughed, but suddenly raised his eyebrows, his grip on his girlfriend’s hand tightening when he saw Chanyeol’s face was taken over by confusion, his eyes wide and dark as he put Jongin’s phone on the table.
But neither Jongin’s voice, nor Jongdae’s hand on his shoulder could keep Chanyeol from jumping up, throwing his chair back in the process, and running out of the bar within seconds.
It had been nothing but a glimpse. An image that triggered various memories- dark hair falling down a naked back in waves; soft curves covered in blue, leaning into his touch; dark red lips, curving upwards, consuming his soul;
He managed to locate the waves of dark hair he had seen in the corner of his eye before, the blue bell coat that had seemed familiar.
He heard the bar’s bell chimming once more behind him, Minseok stepping out, Chanyeol’s coat in hand. Heard his friend calling out to him, repeating his name over and over, as the woman a few steps ahead turned around, glancing at the phone in her hand, before lifting her head. Her face was taken over by the most radiant smile Chanyeol had ever seen, and he managed to open his mouth to call out to her, when he felt something -someone- brushing past him, nearly knocking him off his feet with a single word.
Chanyeol’s gaze shifted from the woman’s face to the small ball of pink fur, sticking its arms up and jumping high, obviously wishing to be picked up, when a man around his age walked up to them leisurely, fullfilling the childs wish and hugging the female shortly after.
Minseok’s eyes, round and clear, shifted from the young family to Chanyeol’s face, and for a second, he thought he could hear his friend’s heart breaking anew, when Yeol managed to raise his voice.
The woman’s eyes focused on them, and as expected, her face fell.
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