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Following the Broken Road Back To You (3/4)
Part 3
As Baekhyun entered the chicken pen to feed the chickens as usual, he watched all the birds exit out of their house to eat. All except one.
In the very back of the house, he noticed one lying on the ground. Once he dumped all the feed on the ground, he dropped the bucket and walked closer, peering into the house until his eyes focused and he froze.
He screamed.
In the chicken's house was a gray scaled snake, big enough to strike fear in Baekhyun’s heart. It was clear to him that the chicken was dead.
Quickly grabbing his bucket, he ran out of the pen with the intention of searching for help, but suddenly, he hit something. A second later, he felt arms around him and it took a staggering second to realize he had just ran into Chanyeol.
“What happened!?”
“I—” Baekhyun couldn’t speak. He didn’t run that far, but he was breathless, probably from the panic he felt. “There’s—Yeol, in the—”
“Speak clearly!” Chanyeol snapped, but it was clear that he was immensely worried. He held Baekhyun’s shoulders and pushed him far away enough to look over him. “Are you hurt? What happened?”
“A snake,” the brunette managed to stutter out.
“A snake!?” Baekhyun could see the muscles in the man’s jaw tighten. “Were you bit?”
Blinking, Baekhyun tried to think. Was he bit? Of course not! But the chicken probably was. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “I wasn’t.”
It was apparent in Chanyeol’s features that he was relieved to hear the news. Baekhyun forced himself not to think about it too much.
“Where’s the snake? Show me where you saw the snake, Baek.”
Nodding, Baekhyun held onto Chanyeol’s hand and pulled him back to the chicken’s area, jabbing his finger straight at the house. “In there. You see it?”
“Where?” Chanyeol asked, squinting.
“In the back!” Baekhyun opened the pen’s gates and pulled him in. “See? The dead one in there? It’s white. Oh, Yeol, it’s so sad, but how’re you going to get that thing out of there?”
Craning his head, Chanyeol frowned. “I see it… It doesn’t seem like it’s poisonous. Probably just killed it by striking at it. I can see some blood on the ground…” He paused, thinking about his options. Then he let out a sigh, pulling his hand from Baekhyun’s hold. “Go get a shovel.”
“Okay.”
Baekhyun immediately complied. He left the pen and ran to the storage house, quick to jumble through all the tools hanging on the side of the walls until he found a heavy iron shovel. Then he sprinted back to Chanyeol, careful not to slip and fall. His jeans would’ve suffered.
When he got back to the scene, he was terrified of what he saw. Right in front of him, Chanyeol was dragging the snake by its tail. They were out of the chicken pen and out in the open field. The snake, in its fury, was making every attempt to bite Chanyeol, but with every strike, the giant dodged.
“Are you fucking crazy!?” Baekhyun shrieked, hugging the shovel in his possession. “What the fuck are you doing!? You’re going to get bit!”
“Give me the shovel!” When Baekhyun moved as though he was about to toss it, Chanyeol snapped at him. “I said give it to me, not throw it! Come here! I won’t let it bite you!”
Baekhyun trusted him and quickly moved by his side. Once Chanyeol had a good grip on the shovel’s staff, he waited for the perfect opportunity then slammed his boot’s heel on the snake’s head. Lifting the shovel’s end, he stroke it at its spine multiple times until the head became displaced. Then, just to be sure that he had cut through the snake’s flesh, Chanyeol used the shovel’s end to push the body away.
Chanyeol stepped back and handed Baekhyun the bloody shovel, which he held in slight horror. “You killed it…”
“I had to.”
“But why?”
Turning his head towards the brunette, Chanyeol gave him an incredulous look. “Didn’t you want me to kill it?”
“I-I don’t know!” Baekhyun exclaimed. “I didn’t think you’d… I just…”
Tired, Chanyeol’s chest heaved. “Well, like I said I had to. Whether or not it was poisonous, we couldn’t have a snake around killing live chickens. It could’ve come back if I let it go, and I didn’t want that thing around you. You’re the last person I know who can deal with a snake.”
“They’re just scary.”
“They can be if you’ve never dealt with them.” Chanyeol gave him a long hard look before asking, “Are you sure you’re alright? Didn’t lie to me about being bit, did you?”
“I didn’t,” Baekhyun replied back adamantly. “And what do you care? You’d probably love it if I were bit by a snake. A poisonous one at that!”
Rolling his eyes, Chanyeol scoffed as he approached Baekhyun, closing the distance between them. “If I would’ve wanted you hurt in any way, I wouldn’t have run out the barn so fast that I accidentally hit the door and injured myself just to get to you.” He raised his left arm to show Baekhyun the patch of blood beginning to seep out from the wounds inflicted by the rough door’s edges. “But if I’d known that the snake wasn’t even moving, just trying to eat its kill, I probably wouldn’t have been so terrified for you.”
It was supposed to be a joke, but it fell short of its humoristic goal. Baekhyun glared at him, but nonetheless, took him by his arm. “I think my mother has an aid kit in the kitchen somewhere.”
“It’s actually under the sink in the bathroom downstairs.”
“Do you want me to help you or not?” Baekhyun shot back.
“Honey, you wouldn’t be helping me at all if you didn’t know where to find the things that you needed,” Chanyeol told him.
Scoffing, Baekhyun’s lips drew into a thin line. “Whatever. Let’s go.”
“Lead the way.”
—
Chanyeol’s physique was something to be admired. It truly was.
From the ground, Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol diligently fixed the chicken house, occasionally handing the giant a nail or taking a cracked piece of wood from him and tossing it aside. Although Chanyeol kept going on and on about how running the farm was to be Baekhyun’s own duty, he usually did the harder physical work for some reason.
Baekhyun figured it was because the man pitied him. If that was the reason, fine. He’d let Chanyeol whack away every nail. It wasn’t like he really wanted to be up there, fixing a house for chickens to pop eggs in.
Shielding his eyes from the sun, Baekhyun found himself bored. He knew he couldn’t just walk away. Chanyeol had the habit of throwing certain requests like “Give me that hammer” or “Hand me the drill” and Baekhyun didn’t know when those were going to happen. He’d also rather avoid the lecture.
There was some guilt in doing absolutely nothing. Chanyeol only took half credit for everything so Baekhyun’s parents were under the impression that their son was doing a fabulous job being the handy man he wasn’t.
Thinking back to the old days, Baekhyun figured that perhaps it made sense. Chanyeol always took the fall for the brunette’s faults and gave credit to him in times when he was the least deserving.
Baekhyun softly laughed to himself thinking back to the time when Chanyeol baked the sweetest cookies he had ever tasted. And when Chanyeol took a bite out of the brunette’s batch, he gagged so hard he cried. Their teacher came around to take a taste, and Chanyeol saw from the look of sixteen year old Baekhyun’s face that the latter was feeling pretty awful about his baking skills.
Doing what any good friend would do, he switched their plates. Chanyeol went home with a low C for trying, and Baekhyun was asked for the recipe, which Chanyeol gave to him, too.
There was also another time when—
“Did you hear me?”
Baekhyun blinked. “Huh?”
“I said hold the ladder. I’m coming down.”
“Oh.” Reaching forward, Baekhyun held on to the ladder and waited until both of Chanyeol’s feet were on the ground. “Finished?”
“Yeah. It’ll hold up for a really long time.”
“Great.”
Holding out the tool box for Baekhyun to take, Chanyeol said, “Can you take this back to the barn? I’ll take the ladder.”
“Maybe I can carry the ladder?”
Chanyeol looked at him and laughed. “I don’t think so. Now come on.”
Taking the box into his hands, Baekhyun frowned. “I’m going to have to do things on my own once you’re out of here, you know.”
“Right, but not today,” Chanyeol said, fixing the ladder down to its standard form. “I’m responsible for you while I’m still here. How am I going to explain to your father if you get hurt? I’d feel guilty, too. So I’d rather you pick up heavy things when I’m gone so I won’t be held accountable.”
The brunette huffed. “You’re only thinking about yourself, then.”
“Liability is important.”
“Hn.”
—
-
“Why is this so sudden…”
“Is it really sudden? It’s been fourteen months since I’ve seen you. We rarely talk anymore because I’m so busy. Plus with all my traveling, there’re always time differences.”
“Those are excuses, Baek.”
“No, they’re not. I’m—”
“Tell me the real reason why you want to break our engagement. I don’t want your lies or your excuses. I hate when you dance around the subject because why can’t you just get to the point—”
“I met somebody else.”
-
-
“Okay. So, I’ve been thinking,” Baekhyun started as he set his plate on the porch floor to sit where Chanyeol usually sat alone and by himself. His presence wasn’t unwelcomed, but it was expected by the way Chanyeol reacted. “About that black card, actually. Are you in the black market? I have a few questions about the illicit trade of certain illegal items, because—”
“Will you ever stop being so nosy?”
Baekhyun drew his brows together intently. “I’m just asking so I understand. My dad told me you’re not getting paid at all to come over here every day to help me. Obviously it’s because you have money. I just want to know—”
Chanyeol cocked his head, holding the sandwich in his hand loosely. “I did tell you I was doing this to help out your father, right? I mentioned it to you a lot.”
Skeptical, but lenient, Baekhyun let his suspicion on that matter die for the moment. “Yes, but the money, Chanyeol. I want to know.”
“Are you honestly dying to know?”
“Yes!” Baekhyun almost screamed it. He restrained himself.
Snorting, Chanyeol looked away for a second. “Take a bite of your sandwich and I’ll tell you. You’re skinny as hell and you barely eat any breakfast.”
Begrudgingly, Baekhyun opened his mouth and took a third of the sandwich in his mouth. Although he hadn’t swallowed yet, he couldn’t wait, muffling out, “So?”
Chanyeol paused, giving him an amused look before the teasing play in his eyes died a fraction of its total gleam. Then, he shrugged. “I married a rich girl. She took an interest in me, and she wasn’t bad looking. What did I have going for me anyways? I don’t know if you heard, but my father’s lot went into foreclosure a long time ago. So, I married her. Not for her, really. Her money, more like.”
In the beginning, Chanyeol seemed like a stranger. But as the days went by, Baekhyun began to become acquainted with his attitude and speech, finding familiar traits between the man and the boy he once knew. But, in that moment, Baekhyun was at a loss.
Quickly, he swallowed his bite and paused in silence for a moment. Then he asked, “You’re…married?”
The word came choking out and Baekhyun found that he couldn’t hold his meager sandwich. So he put it down on his plate.
“No, she decided she didn’t like me. Decided to divorce after two years and gave me a settlement. Said she felt sorry for me, but I didn’t care. She gave me more than what I needed so that’s what I live off of now.”
There have been plenty of times when Baekhyun found himself fuming in anger towards the man who sat beside him, but none of those times compared. The swelling taking place inside of him was much more dangerous, and it was because of the fact that Baekhyun was genuinely, and completely, angry for a reason he couldn’t explain without sounding like a big, fat idiot.
He wanted to know things past the card. The question in his mind was “why?”
Why had Chanyeol settled for someone? According to his story, it was because he had no choice, but that wasn’t the man Baekhyun knew—or used to. Despite hardships, Chanyeol was able to pull through anything, never settling for less than what he deserved. Was that time so bad that it crippled him?
It was infuriating. Baekhyun sat there, void of anything else but himself and his own anger. Who was this girl? Scratch that, why did Chanyeol marry her? Why did he waste such a precious thing on someone he just confessed he wasn’t even remotely attracted to? He married her for money rather than love? The subtly romantic man from years ago wouldn’t have agreed to marry someone for such a motive, so why?
Baekhyun hurt. He knew that for sure. What he felt was beyond what he was justified to feel. Part of him was angry that Chanyeol wasted away his first marriage, but another part of him felt like dying at the thought that Chanyeol hadn’t used his first marriage on him.
It was a silly thought. Why it ever surfaced was a wonder, but Baekhyun couldn’t lie to himself. He had no idea why he gave a damn about the fact Chanyeol married. He cared more about that than the actual divorce.
Hiding his feelings was one thing. It was another to completely tuck them away.
Chanyeol reached for him, barely grazing his hand against Baekhyun’s shoulder. “Are you okay there?”
Baekhyun’s lips failed to function. He swallowed only to feel the dryness in his throat. Nodding, he responded physically, unable to do so verbally. Averting his eyes to the ground, he failed to notice Chanyeol’s concerned look before the giant fully took hold on his shoulder, pushing him so that the brunette’s face was clear in his view.
“Are you crying?”
Slapping Chanyeol’s hand away, Baekhyun shot up, taking his plate with him. “No,” he sharply said, trying to escape back into the house.
Chanyeol was jerked from his composure. He went after the escaping brunette, leaving behind his plate and the sandwich that fell onto the ground. Throwing open the screen door, he stepped inside, marching into the kitchen where Baekhyun had disappeared to.
“Tell me what you’re crying about, Byun.”
It seemed like an order rather than a comforting gesturing. Baekhyun dumped his plate into the sink, shoving the half-eaten sandwich in the trash can.
“I’m not crying about anything, you blind bat.” As he was washing his hands under the running faucet water, Baekhyun made sure to do quickly. “Where’s your plate?”
“Don’t change the subject,” Chanyeol bellowed, determined to keep Baekhyun from evading him. He stood by the kitchen island, but began walking slowly over to the sink area. Baekhyun’s territory. “You’re sad about something. What? What’re you sad about?”
“Nothing!” Baekhyun snapped. God, how thankful he was to have the house empty with his father and mother out for an appointment with Doctor Kim. Slapping the faucet off, Baekhyun walked the other way around the island. Though he knew Chanyeol would do nothing if he ever caught him, it was the threat of what Chanyeol could do that frightened him.
“Are you crying because I got married?”
The question kept Baekhyun from leaving out the back door. His body froze and his heart raced. Unbeknownst to him, he wasn’t the only one rendered frozen by the question. Chanyeol stood behind him, craving an answer as he watched the shoulders of the brunette tense.
“Are you sad because I got married to someone who wasn’t you—”
Baekhyun’s sorrow-filled rage blew. “I’m not sad, I’m angry, you senseless idiot!” he yelled, turning on his heel and striding towards Chanyeol’s peering height. Taking a finger, Baekhyun first jabbed him before the act escalated and he was slapping Chanyeol’s broad chest with his fair hands. “Why would you do that!? How could you!? How could you marry someone you didn’t even love? You married her for money? Oh, fuck you, Park! Fuck you to hell!”
Chanyeol grabbed his wrists and held on tightly as the latter struggled against his hold. “For fuck sake, calm down—”
When one of his hands broke free from the hold, Baekhyun took the opportunity given to him. He slapped Chanyeol. “What’re you? An animal? Why would you do that? You took marriage vows for love and commitment because you wanted to get paid, Chanyeol. How could you do that to something so precious? What about love?”
“What about love?” Chanyeol repeated incredulously. “Baekhyun, let’s face it. In the real world, that’s shit. Every fucking thing about love and marriage is absolute crap. Is it so hard to believe that people marry for other interests? She wanted to marry me for looks, and I wanted her money. People make compromises all the time. Why’re you so god damn overly dramatic about it?”
“Of course some people marry for money!” Baekhyun stepped back with every advancing step Chanyeol took. “But not you! Weren’t you the one going on and on in high school talking about how love should be the basis of every relationship!? That’s Chanyeol.”
“When will you realize that you’re stuck in the past?” Chanyeol said. It came out harshly, but it dripped of subtle hurt. “That kid died when you left here. He died when you came back after a year in Seoul to break off your engagement and flaunt your new fucking boyfriend in his face.” He paused. “So whether I married for money or not is none of your business. You don’t get to talk to me about how relationships should be when you’re the one who abandoned everything… At least this girl left me with money after our divorce. The one who would’ve been my first spouse left me before we even got to the damn altar. And him? He didn’t leave me with anything. No money, no land. Nothing. Just an engagement ring. A ring that was a slap on the face.”
Baekhyun’s lips wobbled. He felt angry and hurt, all mixed into one fuming burst of uncontrollable emotion. Chanyeol’s eyes were searching through his. What they were trying to find out, Baekhyun didn’t know, but they made him feel helpless. He had to fight back.
“I had a reason for that, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said. His voice was soft, but it quickly gained steel. “I’m sorry, but I had a reason for that and for everything else I did in the past.”
“Oh, I know,” Chanyeol snapped harshly. “It was because you ‘met somebody’. I remember your reasons clearly, honey. You don’t need to reopen closed wounds, because the scars are there to remind me.”
His fists were clenched so hard, they were drained of color. Baekhyun was shaking. “I didn’t meet someone, Chanyeol. You did.”
“Me!?” Chanyeol made a grab for Baekhyun’s wrist, but the brunette swerved to the side, walking straight to the back door again. “Byun Baekhyun, if this is one of your stupid games where you try and blame me for everything, then god damn you—”
Baekhyun shut the screen door behind him. He could hear Chanyeol curse behind him followed by the crackling of the screen as it shut again.
“Tell me!” Chanyeol yelled it at the top of his lungs. He dug his heels to the ground, determined not to chase after, hoping that Baekhyun would stop and look at him. And he was right.
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said. His voice was beginning to lose its toughness. “Let’s drop it.”
Gritting his teeth, Chanyeol let out a frustrated growl. “You can’t just say to drop it right after you say something completely wrong!”
“Can’t we just go back to work!?”
“No! You told me you met somebody else!” For the first time, Chanyeol’s voice cracked. Baekhyun’s eyes widened, but the man in front of him seemed unaffected by his show of weakness. “You said you didn’t love me anymore. Do you fucking remember that!? ‘Long distance relationships never work out and it’s not working for me anymore.’ Does that ring a bell to you!?”
It did. All of it did, but not for the same reasons Chanyeol remembered. “I had reasons,” he said meekly. “I had them.”
“You keep saying that and all I’m thinking is how that’s complete bullshit!” He walked straight towards Baekhyun, but the brunette stood his ground as the latter approached. “And now you have the fucking nerve to turn the tables out on me!? You have some guts, I can tell you that.”
“It’s true.”
“What’s true?”
“You met someone. I know for a fact that that’s true, because I saw you…” Baekhyun didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He was beginning to hyperventilate. It had been years! And yet, everything was pouring as though it were all events of yesterday. “I decided to surprise you eight months after I left. I had some time after Milan so I went back to Korea and I came down here… Then I just saw you. With him…”
Chanyeol’s eyes revealed his confusion. His anger, slightly defused. “What’re you talking about… I never—”
“You were practically on him…” Baekhyun took in a breath. “Then I saw it. You kissed him. I saw it… It happened right in front of me. I was across the street from that restaurant you were at with that woman days ago. That’s where you were, Chanyeol, and that’s where I was. That’s the spot where we ended.”
He was shaking, hand on his forehead just seconds away from grabbing a hold of his hair in frustration. “Can we please just stop?” he pleaded. “I don’t want to think about that moment. I don’t want to think about it at all.”
Chanyeol stood with his shaking fists. “Well, I don’t give a fuck about what you think. I want to talk about it right now.”
“It’s been years!”
“Exactly! For years I let you go thinking I was fucking fine just as long as you were happy! And now you’re telling me that after all this time, you lied back then!? And that I’m the reason!? I never kissed anybody!”
“You kissed Kyungsoo, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun told him. “Or did you forget that already?”
In that moment, Chanyeol’s forward rage ceased. His shoulders slumped and he took a step back. Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol’s face contorted into an expression of blank confusion and he couldn’t determine what all of that meant.
“I never kissed him, Baekhy—”
“Yes, you did!” Baekhyun was so angry, he could feel his throat beginning to dry. “You did, too, Chanyeol.”
Frustrated, Chanyeol put his hands on his waist, jaws locked. Baekhyun could see his entire body tense. “This isn’t over,” he muttered before turning on his heel and walking away.
“Where are you going?” Baekhyun asked in a strained voice.
He waited, but the answer never came, and he stood there, watching Chanyeol leave the premises. There wasn’t a reason to explain why his heart sank when he heard the man get in his truck, or why he felt so empty and unfinished with the fading sound of the vehicle.
Alone, he finally felt the first drop of salty water drop from his eye. Quickly, Baekhyun wiped it off, calling it a day as he walked back into his house, retiring to his bed where he screamed into his poor mattress as he did years ago.
-
-
The next day, Chanyeol didn’t make an appearance. Or the next day after that. By the time the fourth day rolled around, Baekhyun pushed all thoughts of him aside and he stopped waiting for the man to appear from the horizon with that stupid, stupid truck.
The animals were all happy except for the horses. With no one to remind him, the hay supply had run out. Taking his dad’s truck, which was so much better and nicer than Chanyeol’s own, he drove over to Junmyeon’s farm and paid upfront for four bales.
Carrying it all by himself was like slave labor. How Chanyeol even managed to lift it up to his shoulders, Baekhyun would never know because he refused to think about the masculine man at all. After thirty minutes passed and all of it was loaded on, Baekhyun felt a sense of pride.
He found that he could do things all by himself. All he needed to do was do everything like Chanyeol would and—Baekhyun stopped himself. He wasn’t supposed to think about him. Not him. Not the tall and handsome man who would’ve been his husband. Not the dork he once was or the annoying, demanding overseer that he was then. Anything that had to do with him was off limits, but Baekhyun couldn’t stop it all.
There was an urge to hit his head on the steering wheel, but that’d mean losing control of the truck and possibly dying, and Baekhyun didn’t want to die for him…At least not in that way—Baekhyun screamed at himself, stepping on the gas pedal even harder. What did he mean at least not in that way? He didn’t want to die for Chanyeol in any way! To hell with that guy!
Baekhyun kept muttering curses to himself under his breath until he reached the house where for a split second, his anger died at the sight of Chanyeol’s truck parked on the side of the road. Then it spiked again. If he could, he would’ve rammed his father’s truck into that trash, but that would do nothing except bite him on the ass.
He drove the truck onto the property, steering it towards the barn, but just as he was about to pass, his father and Chanyeol stepped out on the porch. His old man waved at him to stop, and Baekhyun was irritated. Didn’t the man have any sense!?
Rolling down his window, he tried to keep his voice neutral, pretending as though Chanyeol wasn’t standing near his father. It was a difficult task considering he was about a foot taller. “What?”
“Chanyeol’s here!”
Baekhyun could see that perfectly fine. If his father wasn’t on crutches on anymore, the brunette would’ve been out of there quicker than a lightning strike.
“Okay? So what?” he yelled back.
“He’ll take care of those bales for you.”
Chanyeol was stepping off the porch and walking towards him. Was there an option to switch into reverse and maul him over? Baekhyun was tempted.
“I can do it by myself. You can tell him to go home!”
Much to his disappointment, his father couldn’t sense his irritation or the electrical tension between him and the man approaching the truck. That or the old man was ignoring it. If so, curse him, too.
As Mr. Byun hobbled back into his home, Baekhyun stepped on the gas and left Chanyeol behind. The distance wasn’t very far however, so by the time he turned off the engine and jumped out, Chanyeol had reached the end of the truck.
Baekhyun had no intention of accepting his help, however. When Chanyeol moved to unlatch the tailgate, Baekhyun slapped his hand and pushed him aside. “I can do it.”
“Fine,” Chanyeol conceded, sounding in no mood to fight anymore. “I’ll take the bales.”
“No.” Sending a glare in his direction, Baekhyun frowned, making sure Chanyeol knew that he was serious. “I don’t need your help. I’ve been doing fine without you.”
There was a point to be made, but Baekhyun failed executing his proof when he tugged on the first bale and made no progress. Without waiting for permission, Chanyeol gently moved him to the side and heaved the bale. Reluctantly, Baekhyun kept his lips shut and opened the barn doors to make himself useful.
One by one, Chanyeol took care of the job, and Baekhyun was left to no devices. He waited in the barn, uselessly counting bale after bale to occupy his mind so they wouldn’t inevitably revert back to the giant. His back was turned against the door, in rebellion to seeing Chanyeol’s face and everything that had to do with him physically.
“This is the last one,” Baekhyun heard from behind him. Following after, he heard the thud of the bale hitting the ground.
Crossing his arms, he sighed. “Okay,” he sighed, rubbing his eyes as he turned around. “You can—”
Coming to an immediate halt, Baekhyun was met with the unexpected situation of being faced just inches from Chanyeol’s lean body. The minute he raised his eyes, he knew he had made a mistake. “What?”
He knew he should’ve ran when he felt Chanyeol’s rough hand gently caress the side of his face; screamed when the man dragged his thumb along his bottom lip. But Baekhyun didn’t.
“Baek…”
Chanyeol’s lips were soft against his. Caught by a whirlwind of emotions, Baekhyun had no mind to fight the minute he felt the warm contact. He felt himself leaning into Chanyeol’s touch, melting as he felt a hand travel down his back, gently, but firmly holding him by the waist and pulling him in closer.
Slanting his head, Chanyeol deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue easily past Baekhyun’s willing lips. Baekhyun groaned, moving his hands on Chanyeol’s neck, practically enticing the man to edge closer. Their bodies were pressed onto one another’s, and Baekhyun was almost sure he would’ve fallen to the ground if Chanyeol wasn’t keeping him up.
It was all in bliss and the moment was sweeter than anything Baekhyun had ever experienced in the course of his time alone, but when the need for arose, his mind clicked and he slowly began to pull away, resting the palm of his hands on Chanyeol’s chest.
Chanyeol didn’t push him, granting his silent wish to stop, but he understood by the lack of force given to him that Baekhyun wasn’t about to push him away as though nothing had happened. His heart beat was pulsing at a faster rate than he could fully realize. Broken and uneven, his breathing was as erratic as his heart. Closing his eyes, he lowered his head against the curve of Baekhyun’s neck, holding onto the small brunette as securely and gently as he could.
Moments passed without a word said, but Baekhyun felt no sort of embarrassment or regret. He did, however, feel the disappointment in him rise as he quickly came to terms with how easily and hastily he gave into the passion, but it did not last long.
“Come to my house.” The giant’s voice was husky, low and luring. Baekhyun could feel the vibrations from that deep alto tone, and he bit his bottom lip. “Tomorrow. We’ll take a day off and ride my horses. We can just talk. We don’t have to argue…”
Baekhyun swallowed. “Chanyeol, I don’t know…”
“Please.”
Moaning, Baekhyun shut his eyes. He held Chanyeol by the shoulder but made no move to push his suckling lips away from his neck. “Okay,” he gasped, letting go and clinging to the man’s thin white shirt. “Tomorrow…”
Satisfied, Chanyeol lifted his head and planted a kiss on the edge of Baekhyun’s lips. “Let’s get out of here. There are still a lot of things to do.”
As Chanyeol began pulling away, Baekhyun sighed, dropping his arms. “Alright…”
Following the man out of the barn, Baekhyun straightened his posture and clothes as if reverting back the event that just happened. Chanyeol opened the driver side and waited for the latter to catch up. “I’ll head back and check up on the fencing near the end of the property. Go park your father’s truck back in the driveway.”
Nodding, Baekhyun followed his orders. He tried to go about it professionally as they once were, but Chanyeol’s gaze broke his trial. “Be careful.”
At that, Baekhyun scoffed. “Okay,” he said rather sarcastically before adding a genuine, “I will.”
-
-
For the remainder of the day, Baekhyun felt as though he was walking on multiple clouds, hop scotching time until it was the following morning afterwards. It slipped his mind all of Chanyeol’s faults until the afternoon as he waited for Chanyeol to come around and pick him up.
What was he doing with his ex? The question floored him, and the giddiness of the kiss that happened the day before staggered. Baekhyun questioned why he seemed so happy and excited for the man that broke his heart all those years ago. He should’ve trashed the feelings that were rising from their ashes, but he couldn’t. It was a simple fact of the matter that he couldn’t, and Baekhyun felt himself weak and unbending to his own will.
It was all about chances, and chances were meant to be given. The fact that he was standing on that porch waiting said something about his choices, and Baekhyun found that he was willing to just talk without fighting and arguing over arrogance and pride.
He saw Chanyeol’s truck coming from the east and he began walking back and forth until the man parked along the side. Before Chanyeol stepped out of his vehicle, Baekhyun unconsciously fixed the bangs of his hair and the thin unbuttoned flannel that he wore openly.
Walking down the steps, he smiled as Chanyeol opened his side of the door. “Good afternoon.”
“The weather could be a little bit nicer, but yeah. Good afternoon to you.”
Baekhyun could’ve punched him for that killer grin. All those times when he wondered how it’d feel to have the stone-faced man smile at him were not in vain. The moment was rapturing.
“So, horseback riding?”
“Yep. You and me and the great outdoors.”
iv
As Baekhyun entered the chicken pen to feed the chickens as usual, he watched all the birds exit out of their house to eat. All except one.
In the very back of the house, he noticed one lying on the ground. Once he dumped all the feed on the ground, he dropped the bucket and walked closer, peering into the house until his eyes focused and he froze.
He screamed.
In the chicken's house was a gray scaled snake, big enough to strike fear in Baekhyun’s heart. It was clear to him that the chicken was dead.
Quickly grabbing his bucket, he ran out of the pen with the intention of searching for help, but suddenly, he hit something. A second later, he felt arms around him and it took a staggering second to realize he had just ran into Chanyeol.
“What happened!?”
“I—” Baekhyun couldn’t speak. He didn’t run that far, but he was breathless, probably from the panic he felt. “There’s—Yeol, in the—”
“Speak clearly!” Chanyeol snapped, but it was clear that he was immensely worried. He held Baekhyun’s shoulders and pushed him far away enough to look over him. “Are you hurt? What happened?”
“A snake,” the brunette managed to stutter out.
“A snake!?” Baekhyun could see the muscles in the man’s jaw tighten. “Were you bit?”
Blinking, Baekhyun tried to think. Was he bit? Of course not! But the chicken probably was. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “I wasn’t.”
It was apparent in Chanyeol’s features that he was relieved to hear the news. Baekhyun forced himself not to think about it too much.
“Where’s the snake? Show me where you saw the snake, Baek.”
Nodding, Baekhyun held onto Chanyeol’s hand and pulled him back to the chicken’s area, jabbing his finger straight at the house. “In there. You see it?”
“Where?” Chanyeol asked, squinting.
“In the back!” Baekhyun opened the pen’s gates and pulled him in. “See? The dead one in there? It’s white. Oh, Yeol, it’s so sad, but how’re you going to get that thing out of there?”
Craning his head, Chanyeol frowned. “I see it… It doesn’t seem like it’s poisonous. Probably just killed it by striking at it. I can see some blood on the ground…” He paused, thinking about his options. Then he let out a sigh, pulling his hand from Baekhyun’s hold. “Go get a shovel.”
“Okay.”
Baekhyun immediately complied. He left the pen and ran to the storage house, quick to jumble through all the tools hanging on the side of the walls until he found a heavy iron shovel. Then he sprinted back to Chanyeol, careful not to slip and fall. His jeans would’ve suffered.
When he got back to the scene, he was terrified of what he saw. Right in front of him, Chanyeol was dragging the snake by its tail. They were out of the chicken pen and out in the open field. The snake, in its fury, was making every attempt to bite Chanyeol, but with every strike, the giant dodged.
“Are you fucking crazy!?” Baekhyun shrieked, hugging the shovel in his possession. “What the fuck are you doing!? You’re going to get bit!”
“Give me the shovel!” When Baekhyun moved as though he was about to toss it, Chanyeol snapped at him. “I said give it to me, not throw it! Come here! I won’t let it bite you!”
Baekhyun trusted him and quickly moved by his side. Once Chanyeol had a good grip on the shovel’s staff, he waited for the perfect opportunity then slammed his boot’s heel on the snake’s head. Lifting the shovel’s end, he stroke it at its spine multiple times until the head became displaced. Then, just to be sure that he had cut through the snake’s flesh, Chanyeol used the shovel’s end to push the body away.
Chanyeol stepped back and handed Baekhyun the bloody shovel, which he held in slight horror. “You killed it…”
“I had to.”
“But why?”
Turning his head towards the brunette, Chanyeol gave him an incredulous look. “Didn’t you want me to kill it?”
“I-I don’t know!” Baekhyun exclaimed. “I didn’t think you’d… I just…”
Tired, Chanyeol’s chest heaved. “Well, like I said I had to. Whether or not it was poisonous, we couldn’t have a snake around killing live chickens. It could’ve come back if I let it go, and I didn’t want that thing around you. You’re the last person I know who can deal with a snake.”
“They’re just scary.”
“They can be if you’ve never dealt with them.” Chanyeol gave him a long hard look before asking, “Are you sure you’re alright? Didn’t lie to me about being bit, did you?”
“I didn’t,” Baekhyun replied back adamantly. “And what do you care? You’d probably love it if I were bit by a snake. A poisonous one at that!”
Rolling his eyes, Chanyeol scoffed as he approached Baekhyun, closing the distance between them. “If I would’ve wanted you hurt in any way, I wouldn’t have run out the barn so fast that I accidentally hit the door and injured myself just to get to you.” He raised his left arm to show Baekhyun the patch of blood beginning to seep out from the wounds inflicted by the rough door’s edges. “But if I’d known that the snake wasn’t even moving, just trying to eat its kill, I probably wouldn’t have been so terrified for you.”
It was supposed to be a joke, but it fell short of its humoristic goal. Baekhyun glared at him, but nonetheless, took him by his arm. “I think my mother has an aid kit in the kitchen somewhere.”
“It’s actually under the sink in the bathroom downstairs.”
“Do you want me to help you or not?” Baekhyun shot back.
“Honey, you wouldn’t be helping me at all if you didn’t know where to find the things that you needed,” Chanyeol told him.
Scoffing, Baekhyun’s lips drew into a thin line. “Whatever. Let’s go.”
“Lead the way.”
—
Chanyeol’s physique was something to be admired. It truly was.
From the ground, Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol diligently fixed the chicken house, occasionally handing the giant a nail or taking a cracked piece of wood from him and tossing it aside. Although Chanyeol kept going on and on about how running the farm was to be Baekhyun’s own duty, he usually did the harder physical work for some reason.
Baekhyun figured it was because the man pitied him. If that was the reason, fine. He’d let Chanyeol whack away every nail. It wasn’t like he really wanted to be up there, fixing a house for chickens to pop eggs in.
Shielding his eyes from the sun, Baekhyun found himself bored. He knew he couldn’t just walk away. Chanyeol had the habit of throwing certain requests like “Give me that hammer” or “Hand me the drill” and Baekhyun didn’t know when those were going to happen. He’d also rather avoid the lecture.
There was some guilt in doing absolutely nothing. Chanyeol only took half credit for everything so Baekhyun’s parents were under the impression that their son was doing a fabulous job being the handy man he wasn’t.
Thinking back to the old days, Baekhyun figured that perhaps it made sense. Chanyeol always took the fall for the brunette’s faults and gave credit to him in times when he was the least deserving.
Baekhyun softly laughed to himself thinking back to the time when Chanyeol baked the sweetest cookies he had ever tasted. And when Chanyeol took a bite out of the brunette’s batch, he gagged so hard he cried. Their teacher came around to take a taste, and Chanyeol saw from the look of sixteen year old Baekhyun’s face that the latter was feeling pretty awful about his baking skills.
Doing what any good friend would do, he switched their plates. Chanyeol went home with a low C for trying, and Baekhyun was asked for the recipe, which Chanyeol gave to him, too.
There was also another time when—
“Did you hear me?”
Baekhyun blinked. “Huh?”
“I said hold the ladder. I’m coming down.”
“Oh.” Reaching forward, Baekhyun held on to the ladder and waited until both of Chanyeol’s feet were on the ground. “Finished?”
“Yeah. It’ll hold up for a really long time.”
“Great.”
Holding out the tool box for Baekhyun to take, Chanyeol said, “Can you take this back to the barn? I’ll take the ladder.”
“Maybe I can carry the ladder?”
Chanyeol looked at him and laughed. “I don’t think so. Now come on.”
Taking the box into his hands, Baekhyun frowned. “I’m going to have to do things on my own once you’re out of here, you know.”
“Right, but not today,” Chanyeol said, fixing the ladder down to its standard form. “I’m responsible for you while I’m still here. How am I going to explain to your father if you get hurt? I’d feel guilty, too. So I’d rather you pick up heavy things when I’m gone so I won’t be held accountable.”
The brunette huffed. “You’re only thinking about yourself, then.”
“Liability is important.”
“Hn.”
—
-
“Why is this so sudden…”
“Is it really sudden? It’s been fourteen months since I’ve seen you. We rarely talk anymore because I’m so busy. Plus with all my traveling, there’re always time differences.”
“Those are excuses, Baek.”
“No, they’re not. I’m—”
“Tell me the real reason why you want to break our engagement. I don’t want your lies or your excuses. I hate when you dance around the subject because why can’t you just get to the point—”
“I met somebody else.”
-
-
“Okay. So, I’ve been thinking,” Baekhyun started as he set his plate on the porch floor to sit where Chanyeol usually sat alone and by himself. His presence wasn’t unwelcomed, but it was expected by the way Chanyeol reacted. “About that black card, actually. Are you in the black market? I have a few questions about the illicit trade of certain illegal items, because—”
“Will you ever stop being so nosy?”
Baekhyun drew his brows together intently. “I’m just asking so I understand. My dad told me you’re not getting paid at all to come over here every day to help me. Obviously it’s because you have money. I just want to know—”
Chanyeol cocked his head, holding the sandwich in his hand loosely. “I did tell you I was doing this to help out your father, right? I mentioned it to you a lot.”
Skeptical, but lenient, Baekhyun let his suspicion on that matter die for the moment. “Yes, but the money, Chanyeol. I want to know.”
“Are you honestly dying to know?”
“Yes!” Baekhyun almost screamed it. He restrained himself.
Snorting, Chanyeol looked away for a second. “Take a bite of your sandwich and I’ll tell you. You’re skinny as hell and you barely eat any breakfast.”
Begrudgingly, Baekhyun opened his mouth and took a third of the sandwich in his mouth. Although he hadn’t swallowed yet, he couldn’t wait, muffling out, “So?”
Chanyeol paused, giving him an amused look before the teasing play in his eyes died a fraction of its total gleam. Then, he shrugged. “I married a rich girl. She took an interest in me, and she wasn’t bad looking. What did I have going for me anyways? I don’t know if you heard, but my father’s lot went into foreclosure a long time ago. So, I married her. Not for her, really. Her money, more like.”
In the beginning, Chanyeol seemed like a stranger. But as the days went by, Baekhyun began to become acquainted with his attitude and speech, finding familiar traits between the man and the boy he once knew. But, in that moment, Baekhyun was at a loss.
Quickly, he swallowed his bite and paused in silence for a moment. Then he asked, “You’re…married?”
The word came choking out and Baekhyun found that he couldn’t hold his meager sandwich. So he put it down on his plate.
“No, she decided she didn’t like me. Decided to divorce after two years and gave me a settlement. Said she felt sorry for me, but I didn’t care. She gave me more than what I needed so that’s what I live off of now.”
There have been plenty of times when Baekhyun found himself fuming in anger towards the man who sat beside him, but none of those times compared. The swelling taking place inside of him was much more dangerous, and it was because of the fact that Baekhyun was genuinely, and completely, angry for a reason he couldn’t explain without sounding like a big, fat idiot.
He wanted to know things past the card. The question in his mind was “why?”
Why had Chanyeol settled for someone? According to his story, it was because he had no choice, but that wasn’t the man Baekhyun knew—or used to. Despite hardships, Chanyeol was able to pull through anything, never settling for less than what he deserved. Was that time so bad that it crippled him?
It was infuriating. Baekhyun sat there, void of anything else but himself and his own anger. Who was this girl? Scratch that, why did Chanyeol marry her? Why did he waste such a precious thing on someone he just confessed he wasn’t even remotely attracted to? He married her for money rather than love? The subtly romantic man from years ago wouldn’t have agreed to marry someone for such a motive, so why?
Baekhyun hurt. He knew that for sure. What he felt was beyond what he was justified to feel. Part of him was angry that Chanyeol wasted away his first marriage, but another part of him felt like dying at the thought that Chanyeol hadn’t used his first marriage on him.
It was a silly thought. Why it ever surfaced was a wonder, but Baekhyun couldn’t lie to himself. He had no idea why he gave a damn about the fact Chanyeol married. He cared more about that than the actual divorce.
Hiding his feelings was one thing. It was another to completely tuck them away.
Chanyeol reached for him, barely grazing his hand against Baekhyun’s shoulder. “Are you okay there?”
Baekhyun’s lips failed to function. He swallowed only to feel the dryness in his throat. Nodding, he responded physically, unable to do so verbally. Averting his eyes to the ground, he failed to notice Chanyeol’s concerned look before the giant fully took hold on his shoulder, pushing him so that the brunette’s face was clear in his view.
“Are you crying?”
Slapping Chanyeol’s hand away, Baekhyun shot up, taking his plate with him. “No,” he sharply said, trying to escape back into the house.
Chanyeol was jerked from his composure. He went after the escaping brunette, leaving behind his plate and the sandwich that fell onto the ground. Throwing open the screen door, he stepped inside, marching into the kitchen where Baekhyun had disappeared to.
“Tell me what you’re crying about, Byun.”
It seemed like an order rather than a comforting gesturing. Baekhyun dumped his plate into the sink, shoving the half-eaten sandwich in the trash can.
“I’m not crying about anything, you blind bat.” As he was washing his hands under the running faucet water, Baekhyun made sure to do quickly. “Where’s your plate?”
“Don’t change the subject,” Chanyeol bellowed, determined to keep Baekhyun from evading him. He stood by the kitchen island, but began walking slowly over to the sink area. Baekhyun’s territory. “You’re sad about something. What? What’re you sad about?”
“Nothing!” Baekhyun snapped. God, how thankful he was to have the house empty with his father and mother out for an appointment with Doctor Kim. Slapping the faucet off, Baekhyun walked the other way around the island. Though he knew Chanyeol would do nothing if he ever caught him, it was the threat of what Chanyeol could do that frightened him.
“Are you crying because I got married?”
The question kept Baekhyun from leaving out the back door. His body froze and his heart raced. Unbeknownst to him, he wasn’t the only one rendered frozen by the question. Chanyeol stood behind him, craving an answer as he watched the shoulders of the brunette tense.
“Are you sad because I got married to someone who wasn’t you—”
Baekhyun’s sorrow-filled rage blew. “I’m not sad, I’m angry, you senseless idiot!” he yelled, turning on his heel and striding towards Chanyeol’s peering height. Taking a finger, Baekhyun first jabbed him before the act escalated and he was slapping Chanyeol’s broad chest with his fair hands. “Why would you do that!? How could you!? How could you marry someone you didn’t even love? You married her for money? Oh, fuck you, Park! Fuck you to hell!”
Chanyeol grabbed his wrists and held on tightly as the latter struggled against his hold. “For fuck sake, calm down—”
When one of his hands broke free from the hold, Baekhyun took the opportunity given to him. He slapped Chanyeol. “What’re you? An animal? Why would you do that? You took marriage vows for love and commitment because you wanted to get paid, Chanyeol. How could you do that to something so precious? What about love?”
“What about love?” Chanyeol repeated incredulously. “Baekhyun, let’s face it. In the real world, that’s shit. Every fucking thing about love and marriage is absolute crap. Is it so hard to believe that people marry for other interests? She wanted to marry me for looks, and I wanted her money. People make compromises all the time. Why’re you so god damn overly dramatic about it?”
“Of course some people marry for money!” Baekhyun stepped back with every advancing step Chanyeol took. “But not you! Weren’t you the one going on and on in high school talking about how love should be the basis of every relationship!? That’s Chanyeol.”
“When will you realize that you’re stuck in the past?” Chanyeol said. It came out harshly, but it dripped of subtle hurt. “That kid died when you left here. He died when you came back after a year in Seoul to break off your engagement and flaunt your new fucking boyfriend in his face.” He paused. “So whether I married for money or not is none of your business. You don’t get to talk to me about how relationships should be when you’re the one who abandoned everything… At least this girl left me with money after our divorce. The one who would’ve been my first spouse left me before we even got to the damn altar. And him? He didn’t leave me with anything. No money, no land. Nothing. Just an engagement ring. A ring that was a slap on the face.”
Baekhyun’s lips wobbled. He felt angry and hurt, all mixed into one fuming burst of uncontrollable emotion. Chanyeol’s eyes were searching through his. What they were trying to find out, Baekhyun didn’t know, but they made him feel helpless. He had to fight back.
“I had a reason for that, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said. His voice was soft, but it quickly gained steel. “I’m sorry, but I had a reason for that and for everything else I did in the past.”
“Oh, I know,” Chanyeol snapped harshly. “It was because you ‘met somebody’. I remember your reasons clearly, honey. You don’t need to reopen closed wounds, because the scars are there to remind me.”
His fists were clenched so hard, they were drained of color. Baekhyun was shaking. “I didn’t meet someone, Chanyeol. You did.”
“Me!?” Chanyeol made a grab for Baekhyun’s wrist, but the brunette swerved to the side, walking straight to the back door again. “Byun Baekhyun, if this is one of your stupid games where you try and blame me for everything, then god damn you—”
Baekhyun shut the screen door behind him. He could hear Chanyeol curse behind him followed by the crackling of the screen as it shut again.
“Tell me!” Chanyeol yelled it at the top of his lungs. He dug his heels to the ground, determined not to chase after, hoping that Baekhyun would stop and look at him. And he was right.
“I don’t want to talk about this anymore, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said. His voice was beginning to lose its toughness. “Let’s drop it.”
Gritting his teeth, Chanyeol let out a frustrated growl. “You can’t just say to drop it right after you say something completely wrong!”
“Can’t we just go back to work!?”
“No! You told me you met somebody else!” For the first time, Chanyeol’s voice cracked. Baekhyun’s eyes widened, but the man in front of him seemed unaffected by his show of weakness. “You said you didn’t love me anymore. Do you fucking remember that!? ‘Long distance relationships never work out and it’s not working for me anymore.’ Does that ring a bell to you!?”
It did. All of it did, but not for the same reasons Chanyeol remembered. “I had reasons,” he said meekly. “I had them.”
“You keep saying that and all I’m thinking is how that’s complete bullshit!” He walked straight towards Baekhyun, but the brunette stood his ground as the latter approached. “And now you have the fucking nerve to turn the tables out on me!? You have some guts, I can tell you that.”
“It’s true.”
“What’s true?”
“You met someone. I know for a fact that that’s true, because I saw you…” Baekhyun didn’t want to talk about it anymore. He was beginning to hyperventilate. It had been years! And yet, everything was pouring as though it were all events of yesterday. “I decided to surprise you eight months after I left. I had some time after Milan so I went back to Korea and I came down here… Then I just saw you. With him…”
Chanyeol’s eyes revealed his confusion. His anger, slightly defused. “What’re you talking about… I never—”
“You were practically on him…” Baekhyun took in a breath. “Then I saw it. You kissed him. I saw it… It happened right in front of me. I was across the street from that restaurant you were at with that woman days ago. That’s where you were, Chanyeol, and that’s where I was. That’s the spot where we ended.”
He was shaking, hand on his forehead just seconds away from grabbing a hold of his hair in frustration. “Can we please just stop?” he pleaded. “I don’t want to think about that moment. I don’t want to think about it at all.”
Chanyeol stood with his shaking fists. “Well, I don’t give a fuck about what you think. I want to talk about it right now.”
“It’s been years!”
“Exactly! For years I let you go thinking I was fucking fine just as long as you were happy! And now you’re telling me that after all this time, you lied back then!? And that I’m the reason!? I never kissed anybody!”
“You kissed Kyungsoo, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun told him. “Or did you forget that already?”
In that moment, Chanyeol’s forward rage ceased. His shoulders slumped and he took a step back. Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol’s face contorted into an expression of blank confusion and he couldn’t determine what all of that meant.
“I never kissed him, Baekhy—”
“Yes, you did!” Baekhyun was so angry, he could feel his throat beginning to dry. “You did, too, Chanyeol.”
Frustrated, Chanyeol put his hands on his waist, jaws locked. Baekhyun could see his entire body tense. “This isn’t over,” he muttered before turning on his heel and walking away.
“Where are you going?” Baekhyun asked in a strained voice.
He waited, but the answer never came, and he stood there, watching Chanyeol leave the premises. There wasn’t a reason to explain why his heart sank when he heard the man get in his truck, or why he felt so empty and unfinished with the fading sound of the vehicle.
Alone, he finally felt the first drop of salty water drop from his eye. Quickly, Baekhyun wiped it off, calling it a day as he walked back into his house, retiring to his bed where he screamed into his poor mattress as he did years ago.
-
-
The next day, Chanyeol didn’t make an appearance. Or the next day after that. By the time the fourth day rolled around, Baekhyun pushed all thoughts of him aside and he stopped waiting for the man to appear from the horizon with that stupid, stupid truck.
The animals were all happy except for the horses. With no one to remind him, the hay supply had run out. Taking his dad’s truck, which was so much better and nicer than Chanyeol’s own, he drove over to Junmyeon’s farm and paid upfront for four bales.
Carrying it all by himself was like slave labor. How Chanyeol even managed to lift it up to his shoulders, Baekhyun would never know because he refused to think about the masculine man at all. After thirty minutes passed and all of it was loaded on, Baekhyun felt a sense of pride.
He found that he could do things all by himself. All he needed to do was do everything like Chanyeol would and—Baekhyun stopped himself. He wasn’t supposed to think about him. Not him. Not the tall and handsome man who would’ve been his husband. Not the dork he once was or the annoying, demanding overseer that he was then. Anything that had to do with him was off limits, but Baekhyun couldn’t stop it all.
There was an urge to hit his head on the steering wheel, but that’d mean losing control of the truck and possibly dying, and Baekhyun didn’t want to die for him…At least not in that way—Baekhyun screamed at himself, stepping on the gas pedal even harder. What did he mean at least not in that way? He didn’t want to die for Chanyeol in any way! To hell with that guy!
Baekhyun kept muttering curses to himself under his breath until he reached the house where for a split second, his anger died at the sight of Chanyeol’s truck parked on the side of the road. Then it spiked again. If he could, he would’ve rammed his father’s truck into that trash, but that would do nothing except bite him on the ass.
He drove the truck onto the property, steering it towards the barn, but just as he was about to pass, his father and Chanyeol stepped out on the porch. His old man waved at him to stop, and Baekhyun was irritated. Didn’t the man have any sense!?
Rolling down his window, he tried to keep his voice neutral, pretending as though Chanyeol wasn’t standing near his father. It was a difficult task considering he was about a foot taller. “What?”
“Chanyeol’s here!”
Baekhyun could see that perfectly fine. If his father wasn’t on crutches on anymore, the brunette would’ve been out of there quicker than a lightning strike.
“Okay? So what?” he yelled back.
“He’ll take care of those bales for you.”
Chanyeol was stepping off the porch and walking towards him. Was there an option to switch into reverse and maul him over? Baekhyun was tempted.
“I can do it by myself. You can tell him to go home!”
Much to his disappointment, his father couldn’t sense his irritation or the electrical tension between him and the man approaching the truck. That or the old man was ignoring it. If so, curse him, too.
As Mr. Byun hobbled back into his home, Baekhyun stepped on the gas and left Chanyeol behind. The distance wasn’t very far however, so by the time he turned off the engine and jumped out, Chanyeol had reached the end of the truck.
Baekhyun had no intention of accepting his help, however. When Chanyeol moved to unlatch the tailgate, Baekhyun slapped his hand and pushed him aside. “I can do it.”
“Fine,” Chanyeol conceded, sounding in no mood to fight anymore. “I’ll take the bales.”
“No.” Sending a glare in his direction, Baekhyun frowned, making sure Chanyeol knew that he was serious. “I don’t need your help. I’ve been doing fine without you.”
There was a point to be made, but Baekhyun failed executing his proof when he tugged on the first bale and made no progress. Without waiting for permission, Chanyeol gently moved him to the side and heaved the bale. Reluctantly, Baekhyun kept his lips shut and opened the barn doors to make himself useful.
One by one, Chanyeol took care of the job, and Baekhyun was left to no devices. He waited in the barn, uselessly counting bale after bale to occupy his mind so they wouldn’t inevitably revert back to the giant. His back was turned against the door, in rebellion to seeing Chanyeol’s face and everything that had to do with him physically.
“This is the last one,” Baekhyun heard from behind him. Following after, he heard the thud of the bale hitting the ground.
Crossing his arms, he sighed. “Okay,” he sighed, rubbing his eyes as he turned around. “You can—”
Coming to an immediate halt, Baekhyun was met with the unexpected situation of being faced just inches from Chanyeol’s lean body. The minute he raised his eyes, he knew he had made a mistake. “What?”
He knew he should’ve ran when he felt Chanyeol’s rough hand gently caress the side of his face; screamed when the man dragged his thumb along his bottom lip. But Baekhyun didn’t.
“Baek…”
Chanyeol’s lips were soft against his. Caught by a whirlwind of emotions, Baekhyun had no mind to fight the minute he felt the warm contact. He felt himself leaning into Chanyeol’s touch, melting as he felt a hand travel down his back, gently, but firmly holding him by the waist and pulling him in closer.
Slanting his head, Chanyeol deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue easily past Baekhyun’s willing lips. Baekhyun groaned, moving his hands on Chanyeol’s neck, practically enticing the man to edge closer. Their bodies were pressed onto one another’s, and Baekhyun was almost sure he would’ve fallen to the ground if Chanyeol wasn’t keeping him up.
It was all in bliss and the moment was sweeter than anything Baekhyun had ever experienced in the course of his time alone, but when the need for arose, his mind clicked and he slowly began to pull away, resting the palm of his hands on Chanyeol’s chest.
Chanyeol didn’t push him, granting his silent wish to stop, but he understood by the lack of force given to him that Baekhyun wasn’t about to push him away as though nothing had happened. His heart beat was pulsing at a faster rate than he could fully realize. Broken and uneven, his breathing was as erratic as his heart. Closing his eyes, he lowered his head against the curve of Baekhyun’s neck, holding onto the small brunette as securely and gently as he could.
Moments passed without a word said, but Baekhyun felt no sort of embarrassment or regret. He did, however, feel the disappointment in him rise as he quickly came to terms with how easily and hastily he gave into the passion, but it did not last long.
“Come to my house.” The giant’s voice was husky, low and luring. Baekhyun could feel the vibrations from that deep alto tone, and he bit his bottom lip. “Tomorrow. We’ll take a day off and ride my horses. We can just talk. We don’t have to argue…”
Baekhyun swallowed. “Chanyeol, I don’t know…”
“Please.”
Moaning, Baekhyun shut his eyes. He held Chanyeol by the shoulder but made no move to push his suckling lips away from his neck. “Okay,” he gasped, letting go and clinging to the man’s thin white shirt. “Tomorrow…”
Satisfied, Chanyeol lifted his head and planted a kiss on the edge of Baekhyun’s lips. “Let’s get out of here. There are still a lot of things to do.”
As Chanyeol began pulling away, Baekhyun sighed, dropping his arms. “Alright…”
Following the man out of the barn, Baekhyun straightened his posture and clothes as if reverting back the event that just happened. Chanyeol opened the driver side and waited for the latter to catch up. “I’ll head back and check up on the fencing near the end of the property. Go park your father’s truck back in the driveway.”
Nodding, Baekhyun followed his orders. He tried to go about it professionally as they once were, but Chanyeol’s gaze broke his trial. “Be careful.”
At that, Baekhyun scoffed. “Okay,” he said rather sarcastically before adding a genuine, “I will.”
-
-
For the remainder of the day, Baekhyun felt as though he was walking on multiple clouds, hop scotching time until it was the following morning afterwards. It slipped his mind all of Chanyeol’s faults until the afternoon as he waited for Chanyeol to come around and pick him up.
What was he doing with his ex? The question floored him, and the giddiness of the kiss that happened the day before staggered. Baekhyun questioned why he seemed so happy and excited for the man that broke his heart all those years ago. He should’ve trashed the feelings that were rising from their ashes, but he couldn’t. It was a simple fact of the matter that he couldn’t, and Baekhyun felt himself weak and unbending to his own will.
It was all about chances, and chances were meant to be given. The fact that he was standing on that porch waiting said something about his choices, and Baekhyun found that he was willing to just talk without fighting and arguing over arrogance and pride.
He saw Chanyeol’s truck coming from the east and he began walking back and forth until the man parked along the side. Before Chanyeol stepped out of his vehicle, Baekhyun unconsciously fixed the bangs of his hair and the thin unbuttoned flannel that he wore openly.
Walking down the steps, he smiled as Chanyeol opened his side of the door. “Good afternoon.”
“The weather could be a little bit nicer, but yeah. Good afternoon to you.”
Baekhyun could’ve punched him for that killer grin. All those times when he wondered how it’d feel to have the stone-faced man smile at him were not in vain. The moment was rapturing.
“So, horseback riding?”
“Yep. You and me and the great outdoors.”
iv