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The Letter 43
Chapter 43
Meet the Parents & the Ex
Friday night came around and Baekhyun couldn’t settle the fuck down. After he showered, he got dressed in an outfit that he scrutinized and looked over a billion times just to see if it was truly appropriate with meeting his boyfriend’s parents for the first time.
He waited outside his front porch for about ten minutes. During that time, Baekhyun was shivering, even with the jacket he had on. He had it zipped all the way up, but nothing was keeping his ears from turning red.
Around twelve minutes, Chanyeol’s car finally pulled up and Baekhyun walked quickly, yet stiffly, over to him. His teeth were chattering and his fingers moved mechanically over the door handle before he swung it open.
When Baekhyun got in the car and slammed the door shut, he shook himself for a minute, fully aware that Chanyeol was watching him. From the corner of his eyes, Baekhyun saw Chanyeol’s hand move over and turn the temperature to a more moderately warm one. Baekhyun silently appreciated the gesture. “Thanks,” he mumbled once he could muster the capabilities to speak again.
“No problem,” Chanyeol said. He didn’t move the car yet. He continued to watch Baekhyun wriggle around. “You should’ve waited inside. I was going to ring your door bell and everything. Like one of those romantic guys on television.”
“You’re tacky and I hate you.”
“Are you quoting movies now?” Chanyeol laughed. “Anyways, I’m serious. You should’ve stayed inside. It is a little chilly tonight.”
“I was actually hoping that the cold would kill me before you got here to take me to meet your parents.”
Chanyeol grinned, lightly pushing Baekhyun by the shoulder. “It won’t be that bad. You don’t have to be so nervous, Baek.”
Baekhyun scoffed. “I’m not nervous—What? What’s that look for?”
Chanyeol shrugged as he switched the car’s gears. “I’m just saying. There’s nothing to be nervous about, baby—”
“Shit, don’t call me ‘baby’ or any of your cheesy as fuck names in front of your parents, okay?” Baekhyun quickly ordered.
Chanyeol raised a brow at his tone. “Oh. Not nervous, are you? Are you sure about that?”
“Mhm.”
“Super sure?”
“Yes.”
“Positively s—”
“Damn it, Yeol! Fuck you! I’m not nervous! Shut the fuck up!”
Chanyeol did everything in his power not to burst out into a laughing fit and run the car into a tree. When he trusted himself enough, he wheezed out, “Okay. My baby’s positively super sure that he’s not nervous.”
Waiting for that front door to open was hell in Baekhyun’s mind. Chanyeol kept glancing down and couldn’t help but notice Baekhyun’s jittering feet movements where his knees seemed to be micro-bending up and down at fifty miles per hour. Chanyeol thought it was cute, but at the same time, he felt bad. He wanted the night to be over with.
The door finally opened and the maid let them in. Chanyeol took Baekhyun’s jacket off, though it seemed like he had to pry them off because Baekhyun wasn’t paying attention and kept a hold of the stupid thing.
After all was done, it seemed like that was Chanyeol’s parents' cue to make their appearance—which they did. Chanyeol’s mom was the first one to greet them. “Well, hello there!” she said in a very high and elongated voice. “I’m Chanyeol’s mother. This is his father. And what’s your name because Chanyeol failed to mention it.
Baekhyun, despite the erratic beating of his heart, smiled. “Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun.”
Baekhyun felt some sort of relief when he received a smile from Chanyeol’s mother. “Beautiful name for someone with a beautiful face,” she said. She caressed his face like a child before gently taking him under her wing, leading Baekhyun to the dining area. “They just finished cooking so all we need to do is sit and down and eat.”
When everyone entered the dining area, Baekhyun didn’t know where to sit. He wasn’t sure if there was some sort of formal way to sit around Chanyeol’s parents. Luckily for him, Chanyeol took him by the arm and gently took him to the seat next to where he was going to sit.
The conversations between Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s parents were short and small before the main course was served. After it was served, that was when the questions and conversation got heavier.
“So,” Chanyeol’s mother started. She hadn’t even gotten a second word out before Chanyeol was rolling his eyes. “How long have you and Chanyeol been dating?”
“Um…It’s been a few w—” Baekhyun stopped himself when he felt Chanyeol’s hand tap him from under the table. “—Ah, sorry. It’s been a few months.”
“Oh, so it’s serious,” she said. “How did you two meet?”
Chanyeol was going to cover the question, but when he glanced over, he decided he was going to let Baekhyun take it. He was curious as to what his vixen was going to make up—for his own amusement.
“We met during the school retreat through mutual friends. His friend Kai was roommate with my friend Kyungsoo so we all ended up hanging out with each other.”
As each question was launched, Baekhyun couldn’t help, but notice how withdrew Chanyeol’s father was. He seemed less interested in interrogating his son’s boyfriend than his wife.
“Baekhyun, so tell me, what do you plan on doing after high school?”
Baekhyun blinked. He hadn’t really thought about it. He, personally, didn’t envision something big and super spectacular in his future. Baekhyun just wanted something safe and stable. He liked things to be safe and stable.
“Uh, I’m going into accounting or maybe an office job,” Baekhyun replied truthfully.
“That sounds reasonable, Baekhyun,” she replied, smiling. “Good for you.”
Baekhyun pursed his lips, shitting on himself for lacking a bigger, better and more colorful dream. “Thank you.”
Before any more questions could be asked, the butler entered the room and interrupted. “Excuse me, but your house guest has arrived.”
At that moment, both Chanyeol and Baekhyun saw a light spark up in the woman’s eyes. “Wonderful! Send her here.”
When the butler left, Chanyeol went on to being indifferent of the situation, not caring whoever this “female guest” was since he figured that it was just one of his mother’s friends. Baekhyun, on the other hand, was curious as to what sparked the interest of Chanyeol’s mother.
Though Chanyeol was indifferent, when the guest entered the room and his brain rendered what his eyes were seeing, he dropped the utensil in his hand and it made a clattering sound as it hit his plate. “What the hell…”
“Yoona!” Chanyeol’s mother cried. “You’re here! Perfect. Come and sit down—ah, where’s you luggage?”
Yoona looked around. She saw the look on Chanyeol’s face. Then her eyes shifted to Baekhyun, who she assumed was a friend. From all their expressions, she guessed that she had interrupted something intimate. “Uh, I’m actually staying at a hotel just for tonight, Mrs. Park. I just came in from the airport, actually. I—Um, should I leave or—”
“No, no,” Chanyeol’s mother insisted. She rose from her chair and motioned to the seat next to Chanyeol. “Please. Take a seat and eat dinner with us.”
“Oh,” Yoona said, nervously laughing. “I-I couldn’t, really—”
“Please, though, honey.”
Unable to wriggle her way out of the situation, Yoona smiled and nodded. As she passed by Chanyeol and the look her was giving her, she gave him that flawless smile of hers before taking the seat next to him.
It was as if the input of Yoona changed the entire purpose of the night. Baekhyun was no longer interrogated since the entire dinner spotlight was put on Yoona and the work she did in various countries. As she talked, Baekhyun began to grow envious of her. She went to other countries to help other people—medically— and there was no helping Baekhyun when he began to berate himself for not having big dreams and ambitions like she did.
When the night was over, Baekhyun was more than relieved to go. The night went okay, but he felt a little empty in end, unsatisfied with himself and the entire meeting. As he stood by the doorway putting his jacket back on, Baekhyun sighed, telling himself that at least the night was over. As Chanyeol joined him, Baekhyun was forced to put that smile back on his face as Yoona and his parents followed behind.
Chanyeol saw that smile of Baekhyun’s and knew point blank that it was fake as fuck. He felt guilty for Baekhyun having to put up with the act of being happy. When Chanyeol was close enough, he gave Baekhyun a pat on the back. “At least tonight’s over, okay?” he whispered in Baekhyun’s ear.
Momentarily, with Chanyeol’s shoulder shielding his face from his parents and Yoona, Baekhyun let the smile drop and nodded. When Chanyeol pulled away to grab his own jacket, Baekhyun’s facade was back on.
“Chanyeol, honey. Walk Yoona to her cab,” his mother strongly suggested.
Baekhyun pretended like he didn’t give a shit that she practically ignored him in terms of telling Chanyeol to take care of him too. He wanted to sigh, but he couldn’t. He honestly thought that Chanyeol’s mother was a nice woman—just one with very strong preferences. And in Baekhyun’s case, she favored Yoona over him. Fine.
“I’ll do that once I walk Baekhyun to the car,” Chanyeol said in a tone that said he didn’t want any arguments.
Chanyeol fixed Baekhyun’s jacket right and made sure he was ready to be out in the cold again. Then he opened the door and with Baekhyun under his arm, he began to walk them to his car. When Chanyeol set Baekhyun inside, he gave him an apologetic look. Sorry, Baek, he wanted to say. He didn’t though. He thought he’d reserve the words for when they were alone, driving their way to Baekhyun’s house.
After Chanyeol was done checking if Baekhyun was fine, he said, “Stay in the car, okay? I’ll be back.”
Baekhyun gave him a nod and watched as his boyfriend went back to the house.
Chanyeol didn’t even reach the front door before he just said, “Come on. I don’t have all night.” He saw the look on his mother’s face behind Yoona, but he didn’t give a slight fuck at the moment.
He saw Yoona smile at him as she made her way down, turning back to wave good-bye at his parents. Then, as he was told, Chanyeol walked Yoona over to the cab.
When they reached the cab, Yoona finally turned to him and said, “I ruined something, didn’t I?”
Chanyeol scoffed. “Essentially, yes. But really, no. You didn’t ruin anything necessarily”
“What if I asked that question again, but in terms of us?”
The cab driver parked a few meters away from the back of Chanyeol’s car. In effect, the headlights made it hard for Baekhyun to see what was taking Chanyeol so long. He saw two figures walking to the cab a while ago, but that was it. It was a while ago.
Curious as to what was holding up the idiot, Baekhyun opened the car door and got out. He walked a meter or so until he could see sufficiently enough. But, the moment that Baekhyun could see what was going on, he regretted being able to actually see.
In front of him—though he wasn’t sure if any of them knew he was there—Yoona had her arms tightly wrapped around Chanyeol. And, instead of pushing her away, Chanyeol had his head turned to the side, with an arm around her.
Baekhyun didn’t want to see it, really. He stepped back and went back inside the car. He was sure that Chanyeol didn’t know that he was aware of his relationship with Yoona, but Baekhyun decided that it didn’t matter. The hug was nothing, he told himself. He kept repeating it in his head.
No matter how many times he told himself that it was nothing though, Baekhyun couldn’t help, but hate himself for feeling agitated. Afterwards, Kris’ words flooded back in.
“…Don’t ask questions about whether or not your boyfriend is still in love with his ex-affiliations. Especially ones that aren’t even here anymore.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s a sign of insecurity.”
Baekhyun slouched in his chair and sighed. “You should’ve stayed in the fucking car, Baek…”
Meet the Parents & the Ex
Friday night came around and Baekhyun couldn’t settle the fuck down. After he showered, he got dressed in an outfit that he scrutinized and looked over a billion times just to see if it was truly appropriate with meeting his boyfriend’s parents for the first time.
He waited outside his front porch for about ten minutes. During that time, Baekhyun was shivering, even with the jacket he had on. He had it zipped all the way up, but nothing was keeping his ears from turning red.
Around twelve minutes, Chanyeol’s car finally pulled up and Baekhyun walked quickly, yet stiffly, over to him. His teeth were chattering and his fingers moved mechanically over the door handle before he swung it open.
When Baekhyun got in the car and slammed the door shut, he shook himself for a minute, fully aware that Chanyeol was watching him. From the corner of his eyes, Baekhyun saw Chanyeol’s hand move over and turn the temperature to a more moderately warm one. Baekhyun silently appreciated the gesture. “Thanks,” he mumbled once he could muster the capabilities to speak again.
“No problem,” Chanyeol said. He didn’t move the car yet. He continued to watch Baekhyun wriggle around. “You should’ve waited inside. I was going to ring your door bell and everything. Like one of those romantic guys on television.”
“You’re tacky and I hate you.”
“Are you quoting movies now?” Chanyeol laughed. “Anyways, I’m serious. You should’ve stayed inside. It is a little chilly tonight.”
“I was actually hoping that the cold would kill me before you got here to take me to meet your parents.”
Chanyeol grinned, lightly pushing Baekhyun by the shoulder. “It won’t be that bad. You don’t have to be so nervous, Baek.”
Baekhyun scoffed. “I’m not nervous—What? What’s that look for?”
Chanyeol shrugged as he switched the car’s gears. “I’m just saying. There’s nothing to be nervous about, baby—”
“Shit, don’t call me ‘baby’ or any of your cheesy as fuck names in front of your parents, okay?” Baekhyun quickly ordered.
Chanyeol raised a brow at his tone. “Oh. Not nervous, are you? Are you sure about that?”
“Mhm.”
“Super sure?”
“Yes.”
“Positively s—”
“Damn it, Yeol! Fuck you! I’m not nervous! Shut the fuck up!”
Chanyeol did everything in his power not to burst out into a laughing fit and run the car into a tree. When he trusted himself enough, he wheezed out, “Okay. My baby’s positively super sure that he’s not nervous.”
Waiting for that front door to open was hell in Baekhyun’s mind. Chanyeol kept glancing down and couldn’t help but notice Baekhyun’s jittering feet movements where his knees seemed to be micro-bending up and down at fifty miles per hour. Chanyeol thought it was cute, but at the same time, he felt bad. He wanted the night to be over with.
The door finally opened and the maid let them in. Chanyeol took Baekhyun’s jacket off, though it seemed like he had to pry them off because Baekhyun wasn’t paying attention and kept a hold of the stupid thing.
After all was done, it seemed like that was Chanyeol’s parents' cue to make their appearance—which they did. Chanyeol’s mom was the first one to greet them. “Well, hello there!” she said in a very high and elongated voice. “I’m Chanyeol’s mother. This is his father. And what’s your name because Chanyeol failed to mention it.
Baekhyun, despite the erratic beating of his heart, smiled. “Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun.”
Baekhyun felt some sort of relief when he received a smile from Chanyeol’s mother. “Beautiful name for someone with a beautiful face,” she said. She caressed his face like a child before gently taking him under her wing, leading Baekhyun to the dining area. “They just finished cooking so all we need to do is sit and down and eat.”
When everyone entered the dining area, Baekhyun didn’t know where to sit. He wasn’t sure if there was some sort of formal way to sit around Chanyeol’s parents. Luckily for him, Chanyeol took him by the arm and gently took him to the seat next to where he was going to sit.
The conversations between Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s parents were short and small before the main course was served. After it was served, that was when the questions and conversation got heavier.
“So,” Chanyeol’s mother started. She hadn’t even gotten a second word out before Chanyeol was rolling his eyes. “How long have you and Chanyeol been dating?”
“Um…It’s been a few w—” Baekhyun stopped himself when he felt Chanyeol’s hand tap him from under the table. “—Ah, sorry. It’s been a few months.”
“Oh, so it’s serious,” she said. “How did you two meet?”
Chanyeol was going to cover the question, but when he glanced over, he decided he was going to let Baekhyun take it. He was curious as to what his vixen was going to make up—for his own amusement.
“We met during the school retreat through mutual friends. His friend Kai was roommate with my friend Kyungsoo so we all ended up hanging out with each other.”
As each question was launched, Baekhyun couldn’t help, but notice how withdrew Chanyeol’s father was. He seemed less interested in interrogating his son’s boyfriend than his wife.
“Baekhyun, so tell me, what do you plan on doing after high school?”
Baekhyun blinked. He hadn’t really thought about it. He, personally, didn’t envision something big and super spectacular in his future. Baekhyun just wanted something safe and stable. He liked things to be safe and stable.
“Uh, I’m going into accounting or maybe an office job,” Baekhyun replied truthfully.
“That sounds reasonable, Baekhyun,” she replied, smiling. “Good for you.”
Baekhyun pursed his lips, shitting on himself for lacking a bigger, better and more colorful dream. “Thank you.”
Before any more questions could be asked, the butler entered the room and interrupted. “Excuse me, but your house guest has arrived.”
At that moment, both Chanyeol and Baekhyun saw a light spark up in the woman’s eyes. “Wonderful! Send her here.”
When the butler left, Chanyeol went on to being indifferent of the situation, not caring whoever this “female guest” was since he figured that it was just one of his mother’s friends. Baekhyun, on the other hand, was curious as to what sparked the interest of Chanyeol’s mother.
Though Chanyeol was indifferent, when the guest entered the room and his brain rendered what his eyes were seeing, he dropped the utensil in his hand and it made a clattering sound as it hit his plate. “What the hell…”
“Yoona!” Chanyeol’s mother cried. “You’re here! Perfect. Come and sit down—ah, where’s you luggage?”
Yoona looked around. She saw the look on Chanyeol’s face. Then her eyes shifted to Baekhyun, who she assumed was a friend. From all their expressions, she guessed that she had interrupted something intimate. “Uh, I’m actually staying at a hotel just for tonight, Mrs. Park. I just came in from the airport, actually. I—Um, should I leave or—”
“No, no,” Chanyeol’s mother insisted. She rose from her chair and motioned to the seat next to Chanyeol. “Please. Take a seat and eat dinner with us.”
“Oh,” Yoona said, nervously laughing. “I-I couldn’t, really—”
“Please, though, honey.”
Unable to wriggle her way out of the situation, Yoona smiled and nodded. As she passed by Chanyeol and the look her was giving her, she gave him that flawless smile of hers before taking the seat next to him.
It was as if the input of Yoona changed the entire purpose of the night. Baekhyun was no longer interrogated since the entire dinner spotlight was put on Yoona and the work she did in various countries. As she talked, Baekhyun began to grow envious of her. She went to other countries to help other people—medically— and there was no helping Baekhyun when he began to berate himself for not having big dreams and ambitions like she did.
When the night was over, Baekhyun was more than relieved to go. The night went okay, but he felt a little empty in end, unsatisfied with himself and the entire meeting. As he stood by the doorway putting his jacket back on, Baekhyun sighed, telling himself that at least the night was over. As Chanyeol joined him, Baekhyun was forced to put that smile back on his face as Yoona and his parents followed behind.
Chanyeol saw that smile of Baekhyun’s and knew point blank that it was fake as fuck. He felt guilty for Baekhyun having to put up with the act of being happy. When Chanyeol was close enough, he gave Baekhyun a pat on the back. “At least tonight’s over, okay?” he whispered in Baekhyun’s ear.
Momentarily, with Chanyeol’s shoulder shielding his face from his parents and Yoona, Baekhyun let the smile drop and nodded. When Chanyeol pulled away to grab his own jacket, Baekhyun’s facade was back on.
“Chanyeol, honey. Walk Yoona to her cab,” his mother strongly suggested.
Baekhyun pretended like he didn’t give a shit that she practically ignored him in terms of telling Chanyeol to take care of him too. He wanted to sigh, but he couldn’t. He honestly thought that Chanyeol’s mother was a nice woman—just one with very strong preferences. And in Baekhyun’s case, she favored Yoona over him. Fine.
“I’ll do that once I walk Baekhyun to the car,” Chanyeol said in a tone that said he didn’t want any arguments.
Chanyeol fixed Baekhyun’s jacket right and made sure he was ready to be out in the cold again. Then he opened the door and with Baekhyun under his arm, he began to walk them to his car. When Chanyeol set Baekhyun inside, he gave him an apologetic look. Sorry, Baek, he wanted to say. He didn’t though. He thought he’d reserve the words for when they were alone, driving their way to Baekhyun’s house.
After Chanyeol was done checking if Baekhyun was fine, he said, “Stay in the car, okay? I’ll be back.”
Baekhyun gave him a nod and watched as his boyfriend went back to the house.
Chanyeol didn’t even reach the front door before he just said, “Come on. I don’t have all night.” He saw the look on his mother’s face behind Yoona, but he didn’t give a slight fuck at the moment.
He saw Yoona smile at him as she made her way down, turning back to wave good-bye at his parents. Then, as he was told, Chanyeol walked Yoona over to the cab.
When they reached the cab, Yoona finally turned to him and said, “I ruined something, didn’t I?”
Chanyeol scoffed. “Essentially, yes. But really, no. You didn’t ruin anything necessarily”
“What if I asked that question again, but in terms of us?”
The cab driver parked a few meters away from the back of Chanyeol’s car. In effect, the headlights made it hard for Baekhyun to see what was taking Chanyeol so long. He saw two figures walking to the cab a while ago, but that was it. It was a while ago.
Curious as to what was holding up the idiot, Baekhyun opened the car door and got out. He walked a meter or so until he could see sufficiently enough. But, the moment that Baekhyun could see what was going on, he regretted being able to actually see.
In front of him—though he wasn’t sure if any of them knew he was there—Yoona had her arms tightly wrapped around Chanyeol. And, instead of pushing her away, Chanyeol had his head turned to the side, with an arm around her.
Baekhyun didn’t want to see it, really. He stepped back and went back inside the car. He was sure that Chanyeol didn’t know that he was aware of his relationship with Yoona, but Baekhyun decided that it didn’t matter. The hug was nothing, he told himself. He kept repeating it in his head.
No matter how many times he told himself that it was nothing though, Baekhyun couldn’t help, but hate himself for feeling agitated. Afterwards, Kris’ words flooded back in.
“…Don’t ask questions about whether or not your boyfriend is still in love with his ex-affiliations. Especially ones that aren’t even here anymore.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s a sign of insecurity.”
Baekhyun slouched in his chair and sighed. “You should’ve stayed in the fucking car, Baek…”
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