Chapter 1 (Part 1)

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Their time of courtship lasted only seven months. Their happiness was measured in the amount of laughter they shared, the amount of endless nights where they spent tangled in each other’s arms, and the amount of love they had for one another. Brief kisses on the college campus sufficed whereas the nights satisfied. It took Chanyeol two weeks to come down from his composed cloud to gather up the courage to approach the petite and lively brunet in one of his classes, but it only took Baekhyun a second to say yes to whatever the handsome tall guy was asking him.

Within a month, they learned about each other. Baekhyun was a writer majoring in English and journalism, though he didn’t have any plans on working for any magazines or newspapers. He preferred writing novels and being his own independent person. Chanyeol was in marketing and business. Everyone who saw them thought that the two were an unlikely pair. Baekhyun was open about his thoughts and constantly smiling, whereas Chanyeol always had this look on his face along with a quiet demeanor. Their differences went deeper than their majors and personality. Baekhyun liked his coffee with milk and sugar and wrote works of impossible situation and fantasies. Chanyeol, on the other hand, liked his coffee black and preferred practicality and realism over fantasy. People believed Baekhyun’s outrageous and fun personality would never click with Chanyeol’s collected and rational self, but they were wrong.

Seven months of absolute perfection, Chanyeol proposed and his petite brunet, Byun Baekhyun, said yes.

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They waited a few months before promising to love each other until Death would tear them apart. After their graduation and wedding, they found an apartment. It was small, but it didn’t bother them. Baekhyun’s touches made it into a home; a home that Chanyeol enjoyed returning back to at the end of a hard day at work. Every night he’d hold Baekhyun and whisper promises of a bigger house, one where he could decorate to a broader horizon. And every night, Baekhyun would smile into Chanyeol’s bare chest and thank him.

Chanyeol’s work ethic and charming personality at work enabled him to climb up the company ladder quickly. As his income rose, so did their bank account. One night, Chanyeol gently pulled Baekhyun’s laptop away from him and set it on a nearby coffee table. Then he kneeled before him, taking his husband’s hand in his.

“Baek,” he started slowly, keeping Baekhyun’s gaze, “I want to buy you that house I’ve always been promising to buy for you one day.”

With quivering lips, Baekhyun nodded profusely before gasping, wrapping his arms around his husband’s neck while thanking him. That night they entangled themselves in each other, savoring the touches and making love slow and deep.

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The house had to accommodate what Chanyeol thought Baekhyun needed for his line of work: peace and serenity. They found a small, but perfectly quiet estate out in a spaced out higher class neighborhood out near the country. When Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun and asked, “What do you think?” he already knew the answer.

“I love it, Yeol…”

Smiling, Chanyeol took Baekhyun’s hand in his. “Then let’s get it.”

Looking up at his husband, Baekhyun looked a bit worried. “But it’s an hour away from your work.”

Chanyeol shrugged. “If you love it then I don’t mind the commute. It’s only sixty minutes to and then sixty minutes back. It’s not an impossible feat to commute back and forth.”

After a moment, Baekhyun asked him again if it was really alright. Chanyeol nodded and soon after, the papers were signed.

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The arrangement was for Chanyeol to travel back and forth from work, but as time dragged on, work began to pile and pile, causing Chanyeol to work overtime. As the endless cycle continued on, he found it hard to commute on a daily basis. He often found himself tired and blurry eyed when driving. Because of this, he had to drink caffeine before driving, which would either cause him to crash during work or make him unable to sleep once he arrived back at home.

Baekhyun began to feel guilty for enjoying a quiet life while his husband labored to give him that type of lifestyle. Contemplating about other alternatives, Baekhyun came to one possible solution to the problem.

“Chanyeol, maybe you should get an apartment in the city,” Baekhyun gently suggested at the dinner table one night. When he raised his eyes to his husband, he saw tired eyes looking back at him.

“You want me to get a what?” Chanyeol said, sounding like he was in disbelief.

Sighing, Baekhyun gave him a concerned look. “I don’t like seeing you this way anymore, Yeol. Every day you go to work looking like you’re half dead. Then when you come back, you end up looking worse. You spend two hours just going back and forth. That could be time that you’d be using to get more sleep…”

In a bad mood, Chanyeol rubbed the corner of his eyes. “Baek, I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not!” Baekhyun argued. “Listen, an apartment could mean—”

“I said I’m fine, Baek,” Chanyeol repeated sharply. “Quit worrying, damn it.”

Baekhyun grew irritated at Chanyeol’s indifference. Setting down his utensils, Baekhyun stood up from the table. “Well, is it wrong to worry about you!?” he cried in a strained voice.

Unlike Baekhyun, Chanyeol kept himself in his seat. “Baek, sit down.”

With closed fists, Baekhyun glowered. “No. Chanyeol, you’re not hearing me out. I just want to help you.”

“Help me?” Chanyeol snapped. “No, Baek. To me, having you try and case the idea of me getting a separate place to live makes it seem like you want me gone.” The lack of sleep and the fact that he had been overworking himself did no good other than make him more irritable.

Taken aback, Baekhyun looked shocked. “That is not what I want!”

“Keep your voice down, Baek,” Chanyeol growled. “You’re being too loud.”

Frustrated, Baekhyun harshly pushed his chair in. “I don’t want you gone! You’re such a frustrating man, but damn it, I love you! So it hurts watching you add two more hours of stress onto your day just travelling back and forth.” Baekhyun bit his lips. “It hurts so bad, Yeol, but you don’t see it because the moment you step into this house, you fall asleep. You don’t even look at me anymore because you’re that tired.”

For a moment, Baekhyun waited for a response, but Chanyeol remained static. Then he said, “You’re being overdramatic,” he muttered.

Baekhyun felt as if he was just struck. It was obvious that there was no reaching Chanyeol. His husband refused to listen to him and even had the outlandish audacity to call him out for being “overdramatic” when in fact, he was just expressing his concerns. Shaking, he turned and left the table before Chanyeol could see the bitter tears forming in his eyes.

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When Chanyeol’s mind was finally in full clarity, he re-evaluated Baekhyun’s proposal the night before. He admitted his fault in not allowing Baekhyun the chance to present his case, but ultimately blamed the lack of sleep for causing his sour and disagreeable mood that night. Finally willing to hear out his husband, Chanyeol knocked on Baekhyun’s closed and locked office door.

“Baek, I know you’re in there. Open up.” As a minute passed by, Chanyeol knocked again. “Baekhyun, open the door. We need to talk and you letting me just stand out here is wasting time.”

It wasn’t long until Chanyeol heard Baekhyun unlock the door. Letting himself in, Chanyeol watched as Baekhyun turned his back to him to sit back down at his desk. Chanyeol wasn’t amused at Baekhyun’s decision to give him the cold shoulder, but he rationed that he probably deserved it. Neither of them spoke for the longest time until Chanyeol set his hands on the back of Baekhyun’s chair, leaning over him.

“Baek…” he said, softly. “You know I don’t like it when you ignore me…”

Turning his head around, Baekhyun gave the giant a sad, but angry look. “But when I actually care, I’m overdramatic, right?”

In that moment, Chanyeol regretted not biting down his tongue the night before. He knew that they were different. Baekhyun liked to voice himself out whether that meant moving his hands or straining his voice, whereas he liked to keep things settled. But sometimes he’d forget that Baekhyun’s habits made Baekhyun himself, insult those intricate details, and ultimately hurting his spouse.

With a solemn look on his face, Chanyeol swiveled Baekhyun’s chair around and pulled him up. When Baekhyun resisted, Chanyeol tugged a little bit stronger until Baekhyun reluctantly stood up. Engulfing him in his arms, Chanyeol nestled his face against the top of Baekhyun’s head.

“I didn’t mean that.” Slightly rocking their bodies from side to side, Chanyeol continued. “I’m sorry, Baek.”

It seemed like forever before Baekhyun finally moved his arms, slowly touching Chanyeol’s chest with the tip of his fingertips before wrapping his arms around his waist. “You’ve been really moody lately, Yeol…”

Chanyeol pursed his lips. He knew his mood was in the gutters lately—in fact, for weeks. Lack of sleep and overtime did its damage. It was clear to him, though, that the damage was not only done to himself and his body, but his relationship with his husband as well. “I know. I’m sorry.”

To Chanyeol, there wasn’t much he could do other than say he apologies. He couldn’t make promises. He couldn’t make promises to get home more early, to cut work, or to get more sleep. Promises like those were impractical because he didn’t know if he could even uphold them. It was better to give no promises at all rather than to give a hallow one.

If he hadn’t been listening or if the room hadn’t been as quiet as it was, Chanyeol would never have heard Baekhyun’s sniffle. When he tried to look at his face, Baekhyun only hugged tighter, pressing his face harder against Chanyeol’s chest, restricting him from seeing. Chanyeol stood still for a while and only moved to place a soft kiss on top of Baekhyun’s head.

“I shouldn’t have shut you down,” Chanyeol admitted. “You were just trying to help.”

A silent moment passed before Baekhyun lifted his head up. “I’m worried about you. You know that, right?” Chanyeol nodded. “Sometimes I think that getting this house all the way over here was a mistake. I feel so guilty at night, Yeol,” he cried with a breaking voice. “You did all this for me and now you’re like this. I—”

Chanyeol cut him off with a sharp look in his eyes. “Stop it. You have no right feeling guilty about anything. I love you. I did this for you. Why I’m like this has nothing to do with you, though. It’s because of work, so don’t go blaming yourself for my lows.”

“But if we had just picked some place in the city, then—”

“It’d still be the same,” Chanyeol argued. “It’d still be the same amount of work load and the same amount of unreasonable issues I have to go through on a day to day basis. Plus, you wouldn’t have the quiet life you need to concentrate on your books, and I know how important the one you’re working on right now is. It’s your debut novel and you don’t need any distractions. That’s why we’re here. That’s why I chose listed places where it’s quiet. I did it for you and if I had the chance to change anything back to when we were house hunting, I wouldn’t change anything, because I promised you something like this and I got it. It’s our little haven from the city, Baek.”

Biting his lips, Baekhyun glanced down. He dropped his hold around Chanyeol’s waist and, instead, held him by his shirt. “The commute is too long. It’s too long. You drive in the early morning and late at night. I don’t want you to get into an accident because you’re too dead tired to keep your eyes open,” he said. With a shaky breath, Baekhyun exhaled and looked back up. “Chanyeol, please consider buying a temporary apartment in the city. Just somewhere where you can go to if you find that you don’t have it in you to come home.”

Chanyeol unhinged his mouth to argue, but Baekhyun gave him a look. “I don’t want you gone and I don’t like the idea of us being separated, but if it’s easier on you and your body, then—”

“Baek, at least at the end of the day there’s you,” Chanyeol interrupted. “I might be tired as hell and I might look like hell, but at least I get to come home to you.”

“If you fall asleep driving, then no, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said in a stern, broken voice. “You won’t. You’d be dead and the next place I’d be seeing you is at the morgue, identifying your body!”

Chanyeol dropped his arms and put his hands on Baekhyun’s shoulders. “Baek—”

“Yeol, I did the math, alright?” Baekhyun said, trying to change the subject from something less morbid. “It’s easier and more convenient than having to check into a hotel over and over again.”

“Baek, I don’t care,” Chanyeol groaned. “If anything, you’re the only one keeping my feet on the ground—keeping me sane. Sleeping at some apartment in the city might mean I get an hour or two more of sleep, but that’d be fucking isolating me from you, damn it!”

“Then let’s sell the house!” Baekhyun said desperately.

Chanyeol looked at him aghast. “What?”

Baekhyun furrowed his brows. “Let’s sell it. Let’s move back to the city. It’ll be—”

“No,” Chanyeol said adamantly. “We’re not selling this house. I got this house for you because it’s perfect for you and what you need.”

“But, Chanyeol—”

“I said no, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said, giving Baekhyun an apologetic look. “I don’t want you to have to give this up. I don’t want to take you to a place where it’s always about the fast life—the loud hustling and bustling of the city.”

Moments passed before Baekhyun asked, “Then what do you want to do?”

Looking down at him, Chanyeol rubbed the back of his neck before cupping one side of Baekhyun’s cheek. “Fine. We’ll…” He clicked his tongue and heaved a deep breath. “We’ll look for something—but we’re gonna sit down and plan everything out,” he said sharply. “Like, if I’m scheduled to have a busy week, you have to come and visit me at least four times a week to cook for me something. Because I need you, too, Baek. Not just sleep. I need you in bed with me, whether that’s to just go to bed together or to do something more.”

Slowly, Baekhyun nodded, slightly happy that Chanyeol had agreed. “We won’t let distance be a problem. We’ll call—No, I’ll call. I’ll call during your lunch breaks and everything. You have to call me if you decide you want to come home for the night, but as for the weekends, you have to try and come back for at least those two days. Saturday and Sunday, I mean, because I need you, too.”

Catching and interlacing their hands together, Chanyeol relaxed his shoulders. “When do you want to go start looking?”

“Doesn’t everything we do depend around your schedule?” Baekhyun kindly reminded with an attempted smile.

The remark was true. Everything that they did together had to fit with Chanyeol’s schedule. It didn’t used to be. Back in their newly wed period, Chanyeol wasn’t as busy as he used to be and had more room to change his activities at work. Now, it was structured. Some things like meetings and presentations couldn’t be move, and it was very rare for anything else to be rescheduled just because someone wanted a day off with their spouse or lover. Even though things had changed, they had learned how to cope with these strained changes, especially Baekhyun. Chanyeol was slow at noticing, but it was only because he was part of it all. Baekhyun noticed more because he was the one sitting idly, watching his husband go up in rank and leaving him at the beginning.

“Let’s go when you have a day off.”

“I don’t have any days off, Baek.”

Baekhyun gave him a small laugh and a light punch on the side. “I know.” He sighed in an exaggerated fashion and shrugged. “I’ll look at listings and we can go together when you do have the time. If not, I’ll do it for you.”

After studying Baekhyun’s face for a moment, Chanyeol softly asked, “Are you sure about this?”

Gently, Baekhyun nodded his head. “Yes. It’ll just be like owning two houses. It’ll be fine.” Hugging Chanyeol again, Baekhyun buried his face in Chanyeol’s chest again as his husband wrapped his arms around him. “We’ll be fine.”

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10080 [(ChanBaek/BaekYeol Fanfiction) (Originally Written By EXObubz)]Tahanan ng mga kuwento. Tumuklas ngayon