❝ At night when I couldn't sleep because of my worries
I looked at you and made a promise to the sky. ❞
Third Person's POV
The sunlight was so bright that Sehun had to take his hand out to block the sun rays falling right on his eyes. It was a new feeling for him, a burst of emotions radiating nothing but utter joy and happiness. He held the other pillow close to his chest, imagining as if it was Amelia and pushed his face into the pillow when he found his own thoughts itself to be embarrassing. He was shy, so shy about her that even his friends found it totally new about him.
He was purely head over heels for his wife.
The thoughts of the day before rushed through his mind, drifting back to the moment when he confessed her on the same altar they got engaged in and he was this close to locking his lips with hers. But he held himself back because for some reason he felt like it wasn't the right moment and he was afraid that Amelia might actually look away or something like that.
Last night felt magical to him and he slowly lifted his head to stare at his phone for a moment, turning it on just to stare the lockscreen of his phone; a picture of him and Amelia during their wedding reception, his arm protectively wrapped around her waist. She was smiling at one of the guests but he was staring at her. He was a little surprised to see that moment being captured, deciding to keep this picture to himself and the photo album he kept hidden from every one (except Vivi) which consisted of the pictures of their wedding.
Amelia, his wife. The word felt so different whenever he says it in his mind. He could get used to listening that title, but he could never get used to her presence. He could never take her presence for granted and the days when she avoided him killed him from the inside and he was going to make sure to treat her like she deserves; like his queen.
With a smile etched on his face, he slowly got up from bed and ran to the bathroom to do his business and quickly brushed his teeth.
It was a beautiful Sunday morning. The weather was amazing but very humid. Bright sunlight filling their home.
Sehun low key expected the normal noise of the water tap in the kitchen and the light thrumming of the washing machine in the laundry room, followed with Amelia softly humming and singing some of her favourite songs in between. But the moment he stepped out of the bedroom, he was met with silence in the house. The only thing he heard was the calming chirping of the birds outside but then it did nothing to calm him down.
He looked around, his chest feeling a little heavy at Amelia's absence but he nevertheless called out her name.
"Amelia?"
Nothing. It was totally silent. Even Vivi did not come trotting down the hallways towards him.
His eyebrows furrowed in confusion and he quickly ran towards her room, ignoring the dull ache in his chest and twisted the doorknob to her room and noticed that it wasn't locked. Upon entering her room, her scent filled his nostrils and he bit his lip when he realized there was no sign of the girl. She seemed to have suddenly disappeared as if the day before was only a dream; as if she was only a vivid memory living in his mind.
But then her clothes lay on the neatly tucked in bedsheet, beside it sat her brown leather jacket. It was a little momentum which proved that she was real after all. He chuckled bitterly at his thoughts.
Her car keys weren't there and so were her everyday shoes, indicating that she went out. But after noticing the little details, the bile in his throat made him stop looking around.
••••••
Renjun raised an questioning eyebrow at Amelia when she appeared in front of his door early morning with Sehun's beloved puppy, Vivi, in her arms. She smiled sheepishly when she realized Renjun must have just woken up.
"What suddenly brings you here?" He didn't want to sound rude or anything, he was just curious at the sudden appearance of the girl.
She placed Vivi down as the puppy happily sat on her feet, as if he was preventing her from leaving.
Amelia dared not meet his eyes and chuckled to not make him worry, "Why, am I not allowed to come over?"
Renjun scoffed and shook his head though he knew she couldn't see him. He sighed, staring at her back as she stood up, gently placing Vivi on the carpet and ran towards the kitchen. He followed her suit, "It's nothing like that. You're free to come over."
Amelia hummed and looked through his kitchen, lips pursed in a thin line when she noticed the lack of snacks on his fridge and cabinet. She turned around to meet his deep gaze and she had to look away because of how he was staring at her. For Renjun, it wasn't new for her to come over to his house for playing games or hanging out. But she always made sure to inform him about it, not that he was complaining about it that time. But for some reason, her sudden appearance made it unsettling for her to just randomly hangout with him on a Sunday. He very well knew how much she loved being home on weekends and only sleep and be lazy. However he brushed off those thoughts, holding onto the hope that whatever she was going through, she'd trust him enough to open up about it.
"Have you had breakfast?"
"Nope." He answered, drawing out the letter 'p' and walked to her side to see her readying a waffle mix. He smiled warmly and shook his head, remembering her absolute love for waffles, specifically Belgian Waffles .
After their chatty breakfast and Amelia coughing in between because of talking so much, avoiding the mention of Sehun's name no matter what, even if she wanted to blabber all the events of the day before and cry out her feelings of how special he made her feel, the two casually talked and washed the dishes. However, her avoidance of mentioning Sehun didn't go unnoticed by Renjun. He was aware of how she avoided topics where Sehun could come up.
"Avoiding him, are you?"
Amelia's eyes travelled up towards Renjun who stood with a frown decorating his features, hands on his hips. He looked hilarious but that was no time to joke around because when Renjun was serious, he was dead serious about things.
"Something's wrong, isn't it?" He suspected yet again when she didn't say anything.
Amelia was aware that it was almost an hour and a half since she came to his house but as she stared at the television ahead of her, she was thinking ideas of what to say to him. She shook her head, trying to muster up a smile, "Nothing's wrong. And why would I avoid Sehun?"
Renjun raised an accusing brow at her, "I didn't mention Sehun."
Busted.
She grunted at herself for even mentioning him and for wavering even a little in front of Renjun.
"It's nothing serious."
"Then why are you here?"
"I just wanted to hangout with - "
"Cut the bullshit and tell me what's going on, please."
Renjun cut her short and looked at her as her confident front mitigated under his scrutinizing gaze but he softened when he saw tears pooling her eyes. He sat by her side and pulled her into a hug which she gladly welcomed. Her silent cries broke his heart as she explained to him about what happened the other day.
Renjun was perplexed and pulled away from the hug when she was done explaining, "Then... Why are you pushing him away? He made you feel special, right?" His voice was soft as silk, he was being careful as if he was walking on ice, making sure not to say anything which will hurt her.
"I'm scared, Renjun... I'm so scared. He made me feel so special, I don't think I'll even be able to let go of him, ever." She admitted, looking down at his shirt as tears cascaded down her cheeks but roughly wiping them away with the sleeve of her shirt.
He caressed her hair, an action she always calmed down under, and made her look at him, "Sehun confessed his feelings for you. He freaking told you that he loves you. Why would you even want to let him go?"
Amelia shook her head, her heart clenching and the tears made it difficult for her speak without trembling, "That's the problem, right? What if he's doing this only to save this marriage? What if the moment he sees Yuna, he realizes his feelings for her? What if - "
He held her by her shoulders and shook her a little to pull her out of the poisonous thoughts filling her mind, "Listen Amelia, you're starting to assume a lot many things. Those things are something he'll decide, or some of which he might not even have an answer to just yet. But you'll have to trust him. You will have to give him a chance to prove you how much he loves you."
"But what if he breaks my heart and walks away with Yuna?"
"Then that will be his fault. It will be his fault if he chooses someone else instead of you. But that's his problem. He still has a choice, see? If he was so adamant on going to Yuna, he would have done that right away. But he waited to confess you, giving you his time and love instead of spending time with someone whom you think he loves."
"Okay, let's just assume he really went to Yuna— "
"Then that is his fault," Renjun repeated, "In order to give him a chance and stop yourself from getting hurt even more, you'll have to put your heart in line. Amelia, you'll have to trust him for him."
The words caused Amelia to break down and silent sobs escaped her lips.
"Do you trust him with your heart? Do you think he's worth of your love and even the risk of heartbreak?"
Amelia nodded vigorously. Of course, she trusted him more than she trusted herself at times.
She hiccuped and looked up Renjun with teary eyes causing the latter's eyes to stinge, "But I don't know if I'm strong enough to lift the both of us... I'm such an idiot and a fool."
Renjun shook his head, closing his eyes to stop himself from crying, "My love, you aren't an idiot and a fool. You're so brave and confident to even accept the arranged marriage in the first place. If it was someone else instead of you, they would have ran away or shit their pants the moment they'd have heard the news, " His answer caused her to chuckle a little but he nevertheless continued,
"And who said about you lifting the two of you in your relationship? There's you and Sehun. The two of are together for the rest of your life, you tied a knot, you vowed in front of the Gods above for what? For a commitment you'll both carry forever. The two of you will be tied for the rest of your lives walking together hand in hand. That's what's life partners are for, remember? You aren't in this alone, Amelia. Sehun is there, right here with you. He won't leave you alone." He finished and stared at her shocked face.
For one fact, Renjun knew that he stated straight facts. May be deep down Amelia knew about this but for some reason it felt so good to hear it in person, the exact words she wanted to hear from someone who would understand her. It was like a guarantee and her heart paced erratically, suddenly wanting to run to Sehun.
Amelia looked down at her lap guiltily, tears trickling down her face, "I was thinking that I should just ignore him and run away. I didn't know what to say to him or how to face him so I came here..."
Renjun continued staring at her as if he was waiting for her to continue. She bit her lips and looked away, "I didn't inform him."
A shocked gasp escaped Renjun's lips. He already knew that something was wrong and the most he assumed was her ignoring Sehun but not to this extent. It made him sad when he realized that she was truly afraid of getting her heart broken and how she really felt lost.
Amelia's lips turned down, almost looking like a baby as she looked up at him with glossy eyes and tear stained cheeks. His heartstrings tugged at her adorableness and he pulled her into another hug, letting her rest her head on his shoulder.
"Do you realize one thing?" Renjun questioned, more like, stated as he softly brushed her hair, "Sehun wasn't aware of how you would react. It necessarily doesn't mean that only because you love him, you will forgive him for what mistakes he has committed and after him confessing you would immediately accept him back. Even with the uncertainty of your answer and the situation, he still took the chance to let you know of his feelings. That's him risking his heart and feelings to let you know about how he feels about you.
"He is willing to take the risk, see? If he wasn't, he would have tried to run away from you just like this. But he put his heart in line for you. You know why? Because he trusts you enough to know that whatever decision you'll take, you're worth everything."
The two went silent for some moments, basking in the warmth and comfort beside Renjun started to talk again, "Amelia, you can't live your life considering all your assumptions to be real. There are thousands and thousands of what ifs out of which none of them turns to be reality because life has a way to surprise us. You're going to run into an dead end if you were to run away from reality." He sighed, letting her hug his torso as she buried her face onto his shoulder.
Realization seemed to hit her harder than the stone she got hit by in her head when she was little, courtesy to one frenemy during kindergarten. The moment Amelia heard the longest speech from Renjun to her in quite some time, she realized the mistake she was committing. She felt so stupid and like a bad person for leaving Sehun in the house without any explanation whatsoever. And the way she left was bound to confuse him. But deep down she was hoping that he probably wasn't worried about her because she left in a very questionable manner and was actually wishing that he was sleeping or probably chilling in the living room.
But Sehun was no stupid, so she was wrong for thinking otherwise.
Her eyes travelled to Vivi and she internally screamed. Why the heck did she even accept to bring Vivi?! He was the green pass for Sehun to over think everything.
"You know, no matter how much I think of it, your action is pretty cruel. What, did you even pack your bags and come here?" Renjun scoffed, a tinge of anger lacing his voice.
Amelia shook her head, "No, I only got my purse and nothing else."
"You actually believed you would be able to run away from Sehun?"
She wiped her cheeks and glared at him, totally accepting defeat of her impulsive decision, "Listen, I didn't think anything okay? I wasn't even thinking straight while driving up here."
Renjun snickered, "I don't know about you but Sehun loves Vivi a lot. So whether he comes searching for you or not, he'll definitely search the world for his loveliest puppy." He laughed at his own words, throwing his head back to laugh even more at her reaction to his words.
She pouted, staring at the television, "You don't have to rub that in my face, okay?"
"Sehun is smart and stubborn, he wouldn't let you go so easily," Renjun shrugged as if what he said was just like breathing air but not at all aware how the realization of Sehun's feelings for her caused her heart to palpitate to the highest, her stomach invading with butterflies.
Amelia kept a straight face, "I know, that's why I didn't go to Jeno's."
"Why?"
"Because Jeno would clearly be against my idea and he would call Sehun immediately."
"What makes you think I'll not do the same?"
He eyes widened as that of saucers, her cheeks warm at the sudden realization dawning upon her, "Did you call him...?"
Renjun 'tsked' and shrugged, "Who knows?" He teased but she was so serious she missed the tone of his voice because of extreme agitation flowing through her veins at the thought of Sehun on his way to Renjun's house.
"Tell me!" She cried out, throwing a pillow at his direction which he caught immediately.
He shot her a serious look which shut her down immediately. He sighed, "Geez no. I didn't call him. And answer me, what made you think I'll play along?"
"Because I thought Jeno is too smart and he'd catch on immediately. But turns out you're much smarter and you caught on too early." Amelia muttered, feeling a smile force on her lips no matter how much she tried to keep a straight face on.
Renjun chuckled in disbelief, "Hey, isn't it too harsh?"
Amelia laughed at his face, "Nah, you've always been smart. And I was thinking of visiting you and sharing this anyway. So you should feel honoured!"
It was a light joke but Renjun did feel honoured to know that he was already the one she was planning on to share what was going on in her mind. He felt happy that she did lean onto him when she needed a hand. And he was there to help her always as she was to him.
He suddenly remembered something and turned to face her, "Hey, you've got to do something because I'm sure your phone is full with missed calls and messages."
"It's in my trunk and I kept it on silent mode. But why?"
"Because our friends contacted me saying that they can't get ahold of you and Sehun called me as well."
Amelia's eyes widened and her nervousness grew even more, "Did you pick up his call?" Her voice trembled by just thinking about him being worried.
He shook his head and answered no but the moment was cut short when his phone rang loudly in the living room. The two froze at the caller ID to see that Jeno was calling for the seventeenth time. Renjun was going to pick up the call but was stopped by Amelia to do so.
"What happened?"
"I'm not ready yet... I'm sort of afraid..."
Renjun shook his head slowly, "I understand, Amelia. But I need to pick up this call because I feel like it's a chaos back there and Sehun just deserves to know if you're okay. He's afraid to lose you as well."
When she didn't answer him, he gently tilted her head up to look at him, "You don't want Sehun to worry about you, right?" She nodded at his words, "Then let me tell Jeno that you're fine. I won't disclose it where you are but at least that will make him relax a little may be, right?"
She took a deep breath to calm her nerves and nodded eagerly, "You're right... You can pick up Jeno's call. But please don't tell him or anyone that I'm here. I'll... Go home myself after some time, okay?"
Renjun nodded, picking up the second Jeno called again.
"Oh thank God, you picked it up? Were you asleep? Nevermind. I don't know what happened but Amelia's missing. I feel like I might lose my mind but Sehun is panicking even more."
Her chest clenched at the mention of his name and her eyes stung. She bit her lip and looked up at Renjun who was already staring down at her.
"Jeno," Renjun started, clearing his throat, "I'm sure wherever she is currently, she is fine."
"How can you say that? Sehun is sick worried about her!"
Jeno sounded angry, and the two could almost imagine him clenching his fists tightly because of the elevating frustration.
"What did Sehun say?"
"He said nothing to be honest. He only called me asking if I knew where Amelia was and when I said that I had no idea what he was talking about, I kid you not, he broke down."
Words were not even needed to be shared between Renjun and Amelia. They shared a look and they immediately knew that Sehun was aware of her sudden disappearance for a reason, only he didn't say anything about it to the others probably. Sehun wasn't that of an idiot and with the way Jeno said that the former broke down proved a lot more than just to be searching for someone who might have casually just went out.
Renjun sighed, "I'll call you back later when I get any updates on her. Okay?"
He didn't give any second for Jeno to answer and immediately hung up, throwing the phone away on the sofa. He looked at Amelia worriedly, "You'll have to be faster in whatever you're planning. Because Sehun is already aware."
"I know..."
"What will you do now?"
"What should I do? Should I lie to him for now?"
Renjun looked at her incredulously, "What? No way!"
Amelia shook her head in panic, "Only for now in order to not create any more drama. I've already created enough chaos and drama for a few hours. I'll need to hold it down."
Renjun sighed for the nth time, "Okay fine. But you'll need to tell him the truth because he deserves an explanation. And also to know the truth. Because only then the two of you will be able to open up to each other and come clean slowly and steadily. You understand what I'm saying, right?"
She took Renjun's words to her heart, remembering his life advices.
"I'm so sorry you're involved in this." She whispered, her voice wavering a little due to overwhelming emotions clouding her mind.
Renjun smiled, "Don't say that. I'm more than happy to help you always. You're free to talk to me."
"That goes the same for you too."
The two smiled but their smiles faded when they realized they had to come up with a little lie for a brief moment.
"How about you say you were hanging out with me? That wouldn't be a complete lie but a white lie... Sort of?" Renjun suggested but she declined immediately.
She pursed her lips in a thin line, "You just talked to Jeno and almost pretended like you didn't know where I was. No wait, you pretended to not know where I was. You'll fall in trouble for that. If I told them that, it'd make things worse and I might even get accused... Not a nice idea."
The two raked through ideas after ideas for simple lies when they finally decided for a very easy but not an absolute believable or confronting one; Amelia took Vivi to the dog parlour.
They had to take the risk.
"But like... He didn't get shampooed nor did he get a haircut. How can I make it believable?"
"Do you want me to cut his fur?"
"Nope, I still want him to look and be fluffy, okay? I don't want him to look like he'll be serving in the military soon."
Suddenly a light bulb switched on inside Renjun's head,
"I have temporary spray highlighter for hair!"
••••••
Renjun drove her car instead, immediately stopping her from driving in that state of mind. She nervously bit her lip, her breathing heavy as she stared outside.
"I'll drop you home, okay?" She spoke to Renjun mindlessly.
He declined, "I'll handle that, don't worry about me."
Amelia nodded and clasped her hands tightly in worry. For a moment she wanted time to slow down so that she could gather her thoughts and get ready to face Sehun. But obviously, when do things even happen the way we want it to be?
When they reached the familiar street, Amelia felt the brunch rise up in her throat.
"I'm scared beyond words." She muttered aimlessly, throwing her hands in the air to express her anxiety.
Her gaze fell the on the cars parked on their driveway and she groaned, Renjun almost swore that she was close to breaking down and before he even knew it she choked on her own spit. She didn't admit it but deep down she knew that people were actually worried about her disappearance and the sight of the familiar cars of her friends as well as Sehun's just magnified her gushing anxiety.
Renjun placed a hand on top of hers, "Relax, Amelia. Don't worry. For now just tell him that you went to the dog parlour with Vivi— "
She cut him off abruptly, "It would have been better if you just trimmed his hair or made him bald but this, this is an abomination. SERIOUSLY!" She panicked and looked behind to stare at the puppy on the backseat, "I told you to apply the highlight on his tail only and not all over him!"
Renjun flashed her a look, smiling sheepishly. For one fact, he knew that she was right, but Vivi didn't look that bad (according to him anyway). He made sure to use the temporary highlight with the guarantee that it didn't cause any harm to dogs.
"Hey, he doesn't look that bad and it's safe..." He argued softly.
Amelia let out a exasperated sigh, "I know that it's safe, but I'm talking about the colour..." She decided that it was no use arguing about things which were already done, "I should slowly get going... I'm afraid for my life now. Whether Sehun will be upset with me or not, he'll definitely go ballistic if he sees how Vivi turned out to look like."
"Well, Vivi isn't complaining, see?" Amelia looked at the puppy who was busy staring outside intently.
Renjun stared the girl's slightly panicked gaze, "Hey, don't worry. Sehun is your husband, he wouldn't be mad at you. Come on, you can do this!"
••••••••••••••••
A/N: Unedited.