Ahhhh I Can't Wait To Read - Tumblr Posts
— Back into your arms ;
[ PAIRING ] : Baekhyun × female. Reader | Ft. Namjoon and Jennie | Kai in the last parts |
[ GENRE ] : ex-lovers au, ex-friends au, childhood friends au, wedding au, arranged marriage au, somewhat fluff but mostly angst. There are flashbacks and timeskips.
[ WARNING ] : swearing, fights, emotional manipulation, family pressure, kissing, making out, suggestive smut.
[ WORD COUNT ] : 10k
[ TAGLIST ] : @melonmochimoon @blahblahblah-boo @kpopsnowball @271101 @soleilsuhh @bluejaem @cupidluvstarrz
[ Networks ] : @k-library @supermwritersnet @lovesick-net
[ A/N ] : sorry, this one is hella rushed! But let me know what do you'all think about this. I will be waiting! Sorry if it doesn't match up to your expectations. I tried my best! I apologize in advance for any grammatical errors. The ending scene is kinda inspired by a movie; you will understand which one when you read it.
[ SUMMARY ] ;
You are getting married in a week. You have convinced yourself that Namjoon is everything you will ever need. But what happens when a certain ex creates havoc at your wedding?
For #theBBHday fest hosted by @supermwritersnet
"So, how are you feeling?"
You spin around to see your sister, Jennie, who so graciously accompanied you to review the place where your wedding ceremony will be held in a week. She was grinning while walking beside you, her right hand finding its place on your shoulder.
"Don’t ask. I have never been this nervous in my life." you sigh and she moves closer to you. "Don’t worry, Namjoon is a perfect guy, he will treat you well." you just grin at her.
Namjoon, your soon to be husband, is a nice guy. Smart, intelligent, lovely, not to acknowledge he is a pure gentleman. He is stable, has a respectable position in his father’s company. He is diligent and a delightful company to be around. From the time your parents introduced you to him, you both have been getting along well. Never in your entire life had you thought you would marry someone your parents had chosen for you. You were always against arranged marriages, but well, people change, things change.
Namjoon is an intellectual. Most of the conversations you both have, revolve around books and theories. In these few months of getting to know namjoon, you have concluded that both of you are really similar to each other.
After your break up a year ago, you were left devastated. You were seeing your best friend, your family, of course, didn’t know about this relationship as you both had decided to reveal it at the right time when you both had finally decided to commit to each other. But things didn’t turn out well, and you both split up with each other. After the breakup, you came back to your family, back in Seoul. And in a few months, your parents introduced you to namjoon, the son of your dad’s business companion.
[Flashback] : [ 6 months ago ]
"Y/n here!!" Jennie yells your name from the table to see your parents sitting with some new people you can’t recognize.
You walk towards the table, your heels making that click-clack sound. Your mother hugs you, and your father smiles at you with satisfaction in his eyes as his daughter looks as refined as ever. Bowing to everybody, you place yourself in between your sister and your mother. Looking around, your eyes find a pair of delicate but sharp eyes, which belong to none other than the man sitting in front of you. The stranger smiles at you, and you swoon as his dimples shine. You always had a thing for the ones with dimples.
Your father breaks the silence, "y/n, meet our business partners, Mr.Kim and his wife, Mrs.Kim," you bow your head in respect as the Kims smile at you. "And that’s their son, Kim namjoon." Your eyes meet again as you both bow in acknowledgment.
Sitting down, the conversation between the two families goes on. You and Namjoon keep glancing at each other once in a while and every time you do, your sister just smirks down at you. In between the conversation, Namjoon asks you if he could take you on a walk and you agree, because how could you ever say no to a gentleman like him. Your parents murmur something between one another as you both leave their sight.
When you both reach the lawn of the hotel, Namjoon turns towards you "So, y/n?" You look back at him "What do you do?"
"I just graduated from university, I was studying business, I plan to find a job soon here in Seoul" you kick a small pebble. "In your dad’s company?" he inquires. "Is it that obvious?" both of you chuckle and continue walking while looking down. The silence between the both of you is convenient as you feel the breeze blowing your hair. "He won’t allow me to work somewhere else," you say, making him glance at you, "I understand that" he smiles, "How old are you?" you grin and answer, "24, you?" "I am 26"
As the conversation continues, you encounter out that you both have identical tastes in music and books. While you ramble about your dreams, you come to recognize that he is an excellent listener as he pays attention to each word you say and adds something to encourage you once in a while. You listen to him talk about his intentions to extend his father’s business. The more you talk to him, the more you become comfortable with him.
When you both return to the table while beaming at each other, unbeknownst to the both of you; both of your parents exchange a look. "Seems like you both are getting along well," Mr.Kim says as you both sit back down. You both glance at each other and exchange a grin. "Lovely! Because we have decided that you both are getting married soon."
—————
When you had heard this at that time, you were beyond shocked. Deciding not to create any kind of tension in the presence of the Kim family, you spoke nothing. But it disturbed you the whole time. Returning home, you had quite an argument with your parents, particularly because of their decision - which they took without your approval. Understanding what you were going through, your parents didn’t push you. They urged you to give Namjoon a chance, to give this relation a thought, and if you still didn’t wish to get married, then they would call it off.
The next day, you spoke about all of this with Jennie. Patient and understanding, she listened to your concerns before answering. "Y/n, I realize this is a big decision. But Namjoon is a marvelous guy, I know him. We are not asking much, just give him a chance. If it doesn’t work out, then we would call this whole thing off"
After reflecting on it for two days, you decided to give this relationship a chance. What could go wrong, right?
After telling your family about this decision, you were pleased to see them so thrilled. It made you feel as if you were doing this for your family, not for yourself. Immediately after that, they started pushing namjoon towards you. He was all they talked about in your presence; it was annoying, but you said nothing. Suddenly he was everywhere where you were. Office functions, business deals, family functions, they all included him. You would regularly spot him in your dad’s office, talking to him about business. He spoke nothing about this setting too, making you feel he was also agreeing to this because of his family.
Namjoon was a fresh start, someone entirely different from your ex. You could understand why your parents loved him. Everything about him would describe 'a good companion'. He was the embodiment of perfection - rich, dedicated, intelligent. Handsome, amiable, warm-hearted, and extremely determined, he had a way with words and could deliver the right things at the ideal time. His responses calculated, he would always rock his signature smile, where his dimples would beam. He was well-liked among the opposite gender and you could see it in the way women would glare at you while you stood beside him during various company functions and gatherings.
"So, shall we return home?" you flinch, hearing Jennie’s voice after such a long period of silence, "They will be waiting for us" she goes on and you just throw her a tight-lipped grin.
You both return home to discover both the families sitting together. As soon as they see you and your sister, they voice their happiness by calling out your names. It’s chaotic in here, you think, with all the family members all together in one place, but you have learned to bear with it in the last six months. You show them a smile and excuse yourself by stating that you require some fresh air. And they willingly comply with it saying "all the preparations for the marriage must have tired Y/n", which is correct. This month has been extremely exhausting because of the marriage preparations. Running from the boutique to the spa, you were trying to manage everything. You had to take a one-month-long leave from your work because your parents were unusually persistent on it. Now that you consider it, you were really glad that you did because no way in hell would you be capable of managing work with these wedding preparations.
You pause at your front porch, instinctively tugging your cardigan closer as the wind blows faster. 'Just a week more, and I will be married to Namjoon' you think. This is what you have wished for, you persuade yourself. You have been convincing yourself for the last six months. 'You will be married,' 'everybody will be content,' 'life will be secure,' 'Namjoon is a nice guy,' 'he will keep you happy,' 'that’s all you will ever need,' 'your life will be settled,' 'and you will be happy,' 'right?'
As you feel a presence beside you, you turn around to find namjoon. He is sporting his signature dimple smile that you have learned to cherish in the last few months. Wearing a grey hoodie and a pair of black ripped jeans, he stands closer to you. He has been working out lately, which explains why he looks built like that. His presence has developed into a routine in your life. You are used to seeing him every day, whether it’s at your workplace or your house.
"hey" you start, receiving a short 'hey' back from him. "so you are all prepared for the evening?" you frown but it instantly broke into a look of realization. "I don’t know, I’m exhausted, but I guess I will manage" you sigh. Namjoon instinctively puts a hand on your shoulder, "You should rest," he smiles and goes back into the living room where everybody is situated.
He is right, you should rest. The evening is going to be more tiring.
Apparently, the point of holding a function this evening, a week before your wedding, was for you and namjoon to greet the people who are going to present at your marriage. It was also because they wanted you to meet the guests and relatives of the Kim family and for namjoon to meet the guests and relatives of your family. You were going to meet various business tycoons who would wish you and namjoon a happy married life.
As much as you would love to have a peaceful and quiet wedding in the presence of your families, you couldn’t argue with your family about this. It was their daughter’s wedding, the daughter of one of the most prosperous business owners in Seoul. It was deemed to be a publicly important marriage, as two of the most successful business owners combined their business by holding a marriage between their heirs. You realized the influence of this marriage directly. The sole purpose of this marriage was business. This marriage wasn’t supposed to make you happy. This merger was never about you. It was just a business deal. And you had accepted this reality. Yes, at first it made you boil with fury, but that didn’t last long as you thought about the advantage of this marriage for your family. Your family was happy with this marriage. If this wedding would make your family content, then it is okay to compromise your happiness, right?
Exactly three months prior, your wedding to namjoon was announced to the media. The business industry of Seoul went crazy because of the news of the union. The front pages of the tabloids and influential magazines had you and Namjoon posing together on its front page. Posters of the two of you were encountered here and there. Everyone in Seoul knew about this union. The whole month, you had to visit various interviews and press conferences with namjoon, answering the prying questions of the reporters about your marriage.
Sometimes the posters would present you both staring into each other’s eyes. Sometimes it would be you in a white robe identical to that of a marriage gown and namjoon in a black suit. Sometimes you both would hug, sometimes you both would be grinning. These posters and magazine cover tried all to represent you two as a happy couple who were finally getting married. The reality was, well, far away from that. After smiling continuously for the camcorders, you both would return to your respective residences, barely managing to say goodbye to each other. You both would only talk to each other in the presence of your families. If it wasn’t earlier, then it was unmistakable by now that you both were just getting married because of your families and business. You both didn’t dare to back out from this arrangement because of the pressure both the families had unintentionally put on the both of you.
Four months into this arrangement and two months prior, your father disclosed to the world that you would take over his business.
—————————————————————— [Flashback] : [ 2 months ago ]
"I would like to call my daughter, y/n on stage" the mention of your name from your father’s mouth had you widening your eyes. How the sudden attention from all the guests in the function made you uncomfortable did not pass unnoticed by your sister, who sat beside you. Making your way to the stage, you noted how you had the attention of everybody. You slowly climbed on the stage, feeling doubtful as your father peered at you knowingly. You glanced at namjoon, as if asking him what was going on, but he just shrugged his shoulders.
Your father looked at the crowd and beamed. That naturally made you more nervous.
"So I have decided that my daughter, y/n, will take over as the CEO of my business." he proudly declared, voice three times stronger than normal, apparently illustrating how proud he was feeling. You felt your blood drain from your face. You suddenly started feeling numb, as if everything was halted for a moment. Dumbfound, you glanced at the crowd, roaring, and clapping, but you couldn’t hear anything. The impact of the sudden announcement overpowering your senses. Feeling lightheaded, you peeked at your dad, whose beaming face was unintentionally urging you to smile as well. You delivered a timid smile at the crowd as your father engulfed you in a side hug.
Jennie found you alone at the bar, somewhat tipsy after the announcement. She scurried over to your side and dragged you by your arm into a corner. "Y/n! Why are you here? All the guests want to see the new CEO of the company! Come on! Hurry, clean yourself!" she scolded you, helping you fix your golden sequin dress. "Jennie, you knew about this?" she stopped her movements for a second, her eyes not daring to find yours. "Y/n they are expecting-," "I asked you a question sister, did you know about this?" Jennie looked down. "I knew about it. Dad told me about this decision a week ago." "And you didn’t tell me about this?" you asked, abruptly feeling betrayed. "Y/n it’s for your good-,"
"Why can’t I decide what’s good for me?!" you yelled at her, "This is my life, goddamnit! I didn’t want to be the CEO! Fuck! I didn’t even want to get married! I did this all for you all, for my family!"
"We didn’t force you y/n-" Jennie starts but gets immediately cut off by you. "Stop with the nonsense! Every time I would voice my displeasure about this arrangement, you all would start emotionally blackmailing me! Telling me how you all supported me to do everything in life, so I should indirectly pay you all back by marrying someone for business!" You were raging with fury now. Regret and guilt filling up her chest, Jennie moves closer to you. You move backward.
"y/n, I know you are agitated and overwhelmed about this entire ordeal, but it was obvious, you are the older child, and dad always wanted you to take over the company." she was right. Dad always voiced his wish for you to take over the company. "And about the wedding, we wanted it to happen naturally, but we knew you wouldn’t give namjoon a chance. We all know you y/n. You are stubborn," you see red at her explanation, "so now it’s my fault? Why don’t you talk about the day you, mom, and dad were sitting beside me informing me of the advantages this relationship would bring to our company? Face it, Jennie, all you all wanted was business from this marriage. This marriage was never about me! It was always about money and business!" Jennie feels guilt and regrets wash over her again. You were right, from the start; this arrangement was for business. And Jennie knew it.
From the moment you had agreed to this arrangement, your parents started pressurizing you. It was subtle at first, but gradually it became apparent. You were positive by now that Namjoon's family had also emotionally manipulated him to agree to this marriage.
"Sister, I’m certain this marriage will elate you all. As for me, I will despise you all for the rest of my life, " you declare and start walking towards the alternate exit, ignoring the frenzied calls of your name by your sister.
Sitting in your car, you let yourself cry it all out. Hands-on the steering wheel, head down, tears gushing out from your eyes, you think about how you should've objected to this when you still had the chance. The car honks coming from the main road fall on your ears as you rest in your car in the parking area. As you cry, you think about baekhyun. His beaming face makes its way into the back of your brain. The vision of spending nights at his place, lying on his chest, crying about your marks, travels in your mind. You hunt for your phone in your purse. Removing your phone, you find 10 missed calls from Jennie, 5 from namjoon, and 5 from dad. You avoid them and search your photo gallery for a picture of your ex. You encounter a picture of him laughing at a pool party arranged by your classmates with a plastic cup in his hands.
The images run wild in your brain. Holding hands, the joyful and loud laughter of your friends, boys playing ping pong, you can hear and see them in the back of your mind. You cry out stronger at the remorse.
'Maybe if we hadn’t broken up, I would still be with you now, in your arms. Maybe if I hadn’t returned to Seoul because of my persistent self, things could have been different now'
You want to call him, beg him to take you away from here. But you don’t.
—————
The next dawn, Jennie is sitting by your side on your bed. The tension is heavy and you are certain she can feel it.
"So, you don’t want to take over the company?" even though the tone of her voice appears harsh and hostile, but you know she is indeed genuinely concerned.
"It’s not that," you sigh, "it’s just that everything is going so fast right now," you shut your eyes, trying to calm yourself, "This was just so sudden, I-, I feel overwhelmed and scared because of how fast everything is escalating," you glance down, getting interested in your nails. "I am scared. What if-, what if I am not ready for such an enormous responsibility? What if I mess up?"
Jennie looks at you, feeling sad for her sister. "Y/n, you know why dad always wished you to take over the business?" you glance at her now, "because he knows you, he recognizes you can handle it without him. He was so overjoyed when you took up business as your major," she moves closer to you. "He knows that there is no one in this world whom he can count on well enough to hand over his company to. You are the only one he depends on and believes," you nod in understanding.
"And indeed if you run into any problems, he will be there to help you. Trust yourself, you can do this." she beams at you, receiving a grin back from you. "And for the wedding…" she starts, and you feel your smile fade from your face.
The visuals of last night hit you. The thought of telling your sister about baekhyun and you pass through your mind but you avoid them. 'This isn’t the ideal time and he must have already moved on.'
"Y/n if you don’t want to marry him, we can still talk to dad about it," she declares. "He will understand. Yeah, it might upset him but we can still try to persuade him" You sigh, "Jennie, it’s fine. I don’t want to make our parents upset. It’s the first time I have seen them so happy and content because of me" she moves to protest but you spoke before she can, "I don’t want to make them upset. If this marriage makes them happy then so it be," "what about you then?" Jennie asks, and you just respond with "Namjoon is a nice guy, I will be happy with him." "but-" Jennie protests again but you cut her off, "Not all marriages require love, right? You could just be happy with each other as friends. Makes sense right?" you answer as if reassuring yourself more than anything.
"Are you sure you will be happy?" she asks. "I can try." you grin at her. She replies with "Think about it again, there is still time now to disagree with this whole arrangement, y/n. our parents will understand." you shake your head. "There’s nothing to think about. We will be happy as friends in the marriage if not as lovers," you say.
"And besides, the announcement is already done now. Trust me, I will try my best to be happy with namjoon," you reassure her by holding her hands in yours and glancing at her straight in the eyes "And I’m sorry for yesterday, I wasn’t in my normal state of mind. I shouldn’t have lashed out at you," Jennie shakes her head. "I understand where you were coming from. I would have done the same if I were at your place."
"So everything is good between us now?" Jennie asks and you nod at her with a beam.
Right now you stand beside Namjoon, smiling in presence of the guests as you welcome them into the function.
Namjoon has his hand on your waistline as he introduces you to the lee family. "Y/n, This is Lee Dohyung and his wife, Mrs. lee. They are one of the shareholders of our company" You grin at them graciously.
"I can’t believe namjoon got himself a partner! With his nature, I thought that day was quite far away!" Both of the guests laugh and you just throw them a gentle laugh. "Wish you both all the best!" Mrs. Lee says.
Most of the time passes away in approaching the guests. You kinda feel irked at your family for inviting this amount of guests. But it only confirms your point further that your marriage was a politically important wedding. You look at the time as Namjoon excuses himself to go to the restroom. It’s late but the function has just taken off.
As you glance around the guests, you encounter a scarily familiar face in them. You widen your eyes and do a double-take just to confirm if it is the person you are seeing. And all thoughts are confirmed as baekhyun looks at you through the crowd. His gaze burns as he stares at you. But he swiftly moves his gaze away from you as the person in front of him talks.
You release a gasp that you didn’t realize you were keeping. To say you were horrified to witness him here was an understatement. In pure aghast, you try to look for namjoon for some unidentified reason. You are getting jittery as you look anywhere else but in his direction.
'Why is he here?'
But then you think about it. He was your childhood friend, both of your parents are exceedingly familiar to each other. Though living countries apart from each other, they are still in touch.
You first met Baekhyun when you were 8years old. Your hair left free and a pink dress on your frame as you attended the housewarming party of the new neighbors. The Byun family was wealthy and reputed. They had their own business. Both the families became closer and closer as the years passed.
Both Baekhyun and you were in the same school. He was the quiet kid in the back of the class and you were the famous kid. Years passed, and you both got accepted into the same university.
One midnight, at a party with one of your friends. After some drinks, you both were spilling out the love confessions that were embedded deep inside for each other. Which led to both of you dating.
Three years into this relationship, Baekhyun was informed by his father that he was going to Australia for his further studies and taking over the Australian subsidiary of the business. He tried to protest to his father but his parents were persistent; they required him to get into the business as soon as he could. And that’s why he left you.
The reason was dumb, and he knew it himself, but because of the overwhelming situation at hand; he didn’t recognize what he was doing. He told you why he was breaking up with you because you would be an interference for him. He was going there for work, and he was required to concentrate on that. You told him about being in a long-distance relationship, but he wasn’t thinking clearly. He was too overwhelmed and afraid of what was about to come. The only person he could think of before leaving Korea was you. You were the only one that mattered to him. But he knew you had the potential to distract him from work. You just had that power over him.
You remember the night he left you with no explanation why he was leaving for Australia and why was he breaking up with you. When things could’ve worked out even when you both were countries apart. You cried for weeks, even months. You tried to contact him. But to no avail. Even after coming back to Seoul, all you could think about was him. He just had that kind of power over you.
And here he was, breathing in the same place as you after a year of break up. And that too at your wedding.
As you were absorbed in your thoughts, you felt a presence behind you. Thinking that it was probably Namjoon, you spun around. Only to meet a familiar pair of eyes, which you were used to staring at before. Standing before you was Baekhyun. His face stoic, demonstrating no emotion. His jaw was slightly clenched.
He looked different…
As you were finding words to say to him, he started speaking.
“Long time no see y/n..” his deep voice falling into your ears, developed a feeling of yearning in you but you kept it at bay. Had his voice always been this deep?
“Ah Baekhyun, I could say the same for you,” you say, a hint of bitterness dripping through your speech. He knew you were angry. He could feel it radiate. He has known you for years.
“I have been busy,” he says and you practically scoff. “Understandable” you respond and it ticks him off. He clenches his jaw tighter. “So what’s up?” You feel your blood flare at his reply. After one year of your unexpected breakup, he shows up before you at your marriage and says ‘what’s up’. But before you can express anything to him. Namjoon appears beside you.
"I am sorry, I’m late" Namjoon says and you grin at him. Unbeknownst to you, baekhyun gets irked by the interaction between you two. He tongues his cheek in annoyance. Namjoon’s gaze settles on baekhyun as he glances at you.
"Oh yeah! Namjoon, this is Byun baekhyun, a family friend" Baekhyun raises his eyebrow at your choice of words. You go on "And baekhyun, this is namjoon-" namjoon beats you to finish that, "Her fiance" Namjoon stretches his hand towards baekhyun.
And you feel it. You feel the competitive looks that baekhyun gives namjoon before smiling and shaking his hand. Baekhyun glares at you before whispering, a 'excuse me' and leaves your sight. And you feel remorseful for missing his presence. You turn towards namjoon to catch him looking at his palm, looking somewhat bewildered. "What happened?" you ask him, "Is he just a family friend?" you feel your heart pump faster, many thoughts running into your mind before you deliver a 'what?' to which Namjoon replies "He clutched my hand rather hard," he says, a slight pout forming on his lips. You release a sigh of relief and answer, "We are childhood friends, he is kinda protective of me" you lie. An 'oh' leaves Namjoon's lips as he steps closer to you. "How come I have never met him before?" he speaks and you sweat internally. Namjoon is just being inquisitive, but you still feel nervous, "Ahh, we lost touch." you leave it at that. Namjoon nods before gently grabbing your waist again and carrying on to attend to the other guests.
After greeting about a thousand guests, you and Namjoon started advancing towards your dinner table, where you could see your family settled, with Baekhyun. The path to the dinner table is long, and it provides you time to study at Baekhyun properly. He exudes professionalism and confidence in a black suit, with side-parted hair and his forehead on show. He is sitting beside your parents and probably answering their one hundred questions.
As you near the dinner table, tension slowly creeps on to you.
“Here are the two lovers! Are you done greeting all the guests?” Your mom’s resounding voice gains the attention of everyone. Unbeknownst to everybody, Baekhyun shifts uncomfortably at the ‘lovers’ part. “Mom! Shh!” Namjoon chuckles at you and you gape at him. “Yes mom, we are done,” Namjoon says and sits on a chair, signaling you to sit beside him. You peer at Baekhyun before sitting beside Namjoon. He looked annoyed, and you suddenly felt great about it. “Namjoon, have you met Byun Baekhyun? Y/n’s childhood friend?” Your father says while embracing Baekhyun lightly. Baekhyun seems somewhat uncomfortable but provides a tight-lipped smile to Namjoon. “Yeah we met earlier, y/n introduced me to him” Namjoon smiles at your dad, and you just put on a civil smile as your parents look at you. “By the way, Baekhyun,” your father gains the full attention of Baekhyun, who was busy throwing daggers at Namjoon and you throughout the interaction. “Where are your parents? I haven’t seen them all night, ” Baekhyun just smiled politely before responding. “They missed their flight. They will be here, after two or three days.” His response convinces people.
As the night moves on, baekhyun’s glare directed towards you gets harder to ignore. You feel yourself getting more and more uneasy under his glare. When the family is busy chatting, you excuse yourself by saying you need fresh air. Namjoon just nods at you before you leave the table to make your way towards the balcony.
Looking at the moon from the balcony, you think about Baekhyun.
The moonlight is embracing your skin, the mix of blue and white hues of the moonlight dip in your skin, making it look a thousand times more delicate. But it’s not you who acknowledges this. It’s Baekhyun standing behind you. He is at a medium distance from you, so you don’t feel his presence. As he glances at you from afar. He feels his chest ache at the thought of you getting married to someone else in a few days. He wants to take you away, tell you to disagree with this marriage. There is still time. But what if you don’t love him anymore? What if you like Namjoon? He knew that leaving you that day was the most foolish thing he had ever done in his life. He could’ve managed things in a better way. This relationship would’ve still worked out. But he didn’t-
Before he can think more about this, you turn around. And as you turn around, you see Baekhyun looking at you. Your heart rate picks up, you look anywhere else but towards him.
Before you could think of running inside, Baekhyun starts speaking, “So, you are getting married, huh?” He steps closer to you, and in moments he is right beside you. There is a noble distance between you two and it slightly annoys you. There was a moment where you both couldn’t stay away from each other. The memories make you feel claustrophobic. Realizing you hadn’t responded to him yet, you just nod, not being apt to put faith in your voice. He just nods back at you, tonguing his cheek from inside. “Are you happy with him?” His question makes you nervous.
‘Were you happy with him?’ no one had asked you this question before. His question made you think as you stared at the moon with a frown on your face. Baekhyun raises his eyebrow at your silence. He feels relief and happiness filling up his rib cage. Even though he keeps his face stoic, he is reassured by your silence, which indirectly tells him that there is a chance and he shouldn’t give up yet.
“Hmm, I assume your silence means no..?” He asks with a smirk slowly appearing on his face.
“Who said that? I was just-, I was just caught off guard-d,” you curse at yourself for stuttering.
“Caught off guard?” He reads you and mocks, “you are getting married in a week, and you were caught off guard by this question?” His smirk just grows bigger when you don’t answer him.
No, he would not give up now.
“Ok, let’s switch the question!” He says, but that doesn’t help in minimizing the tension creeping on your face. You are certain he can see how tense you are.
“Do you like- wait it’s too late for liking him, do you love him, y/n?” He asks and you glare at him. Bastard dares to smirk under your glare.
“It’s none of your business!” You huff and move to go inside the hall.
“None of my business?!” He scoffs louder. “babe, you are getting married in a week, and you still don’t know if you love him. You realize what that means?”
You feel chills down your spine at the familiar nickname. He used to call you when you both were together.
But you quickly compose yourself and spin around to glance at him in the eye before answering, “I love him. With all my heart.” You go inside after stating that.
Baekhyun just smirks while staring at your retracting figure. “hmm, I see.”
He taps his chest, where his heart is placed. “You still have a chance, mate.” He grins, and for the first time in a while, he recognizes that it’s genuine. The moon somehow shines brighter when he smiles, as if taking part in his happiness.
‘He still has a chance’
—————
The rest of the night passes away in a blur. What was spoken by baekhyun rings in your ears again and again. You don’t see baekhyun with the rest of the function and you are glad.
Sitting in your bathtub, you stare into space and think about the entire day; processing every little thing that took place today. The water embraces your figure as you sink in your thoughts about baekhyun.
After seeing him for the first time in a year, your heart did a little stunt over there; which almost caused you to stop breathing. You couldn’t deny the attraction, longing, desire, passion you felt when you got to see him again. Maybe inside you still loved him. But it was too late.
You didn’t sleep at all that night. Every time you would close your eyes, you would see baekhyun’s face. Even if you didn’t close your eyes all you could think of was him.
Two days later you met baekhyun again.
You are at your house when you see him again. This time with his parents.
It is a chaotic day, what more can be expected from a family that’s going to have a marriage soon. All the family members are sitting together when the bell rings; a sign that you have taken to go upstairs. The door is opened by your mom and the first person who steps in is engulfed in an enormous hug by your mom. You feel your heart rate pick up when you see not two but three familiar faces. As soon as baekhyun enters, his eyes meet yours and for a while, you both just stare into each other’s eyes. You both quickly look away from each other when the family roars in celebration.
The byuns are smiling when they notice you, sitting on a couch. You smile at them politely and almost run towards you. Mrs. Byun engulfs you in a hug.
“Oh, my! y/n! Darling! How much have you grown up?!” she practically yells, but you just smile at her. “It’s good to see you here, auntie,” you say, and she rubs your back, still hugging you.
“I am so happy you are getting married! But I wish it would be Baekhyun that you were getting married to,” you widen your eyes at her statement, visibly uncomfortable.
“Mom!” Baekhyun seems embarrassed as well
“What?! You both were such good friends! I always thought we would marry you both off when you both are older.” She says, smiling merrily, oblivious to the blush creeping up on your cheeks. Baekhyun looks flustered too, as he tries to find words to say to his mom.
You are glad that namjoon isn’t present at the moment.
“Yes! I agree so much with you!” Your mother’s voice comes from the other side.
“If it wasn’t for the business deal, then we would’ve arranged both of their marriages” you are certain that your cheeks are extremely red by now.
“But anyway! I hope you are happy with namjoon! I heard a lot of praise for him!” she says and lets go of you to move on and greet your family members. Unknowing to everyone, your smile vanishes. These two days, you have been thinking. Were you going to be happy with namjoon?
Baekhyun looks at you and moves forward. You sweat instantly when he is right in front of you. “Y/n, can we talk?” he looks around to see everyone invested in the conversation they are having. “Somewhere else?”
You nod at him, hesitantly.
Once you both are out of the house, on the lawn of your house. Baekhyun turns around to look at you. “Y/n, I am sorry..” he says, eyes depicting pure emotions of guilt and regret. Because you say nothing, he continues. “I know it was foolish of me-,” “do you really?” you cut him off, “what?” “Do you realize how foolish your decision was?” your voice is laced with anger and he flinches. He doesn’t blame you, if he would’ve been at your place then he would have done the same thing. “Listen y/n, I know I was a dumbass to leave you like that” you look away from him, your tears on the verge of spilling.
Baekhyun moves closer to you. “Y/n, The decision my father took for me overwhelmed me. I didn’t know what to do. The only thing I was worried about was leaving you. I didn’t want to leave you-,” “But you still did,” you don’t look at him, but he realizes that you are crying. He instantly takes your hand in his. Even when you try to take your hands back, he is reluctant. “Y/n I am sorry, I am. I impulsively took that decision. I don’t know what I was thinking. I am sorry y/n. Please forgive me” You let out all the tears that you were holding inside.
Without thinking much of it, Baekhyun hugs you. He lets you cry in his arms. And god, did he miss this. One year, one entire year of not being able to look at you and touch you or be with you. Just because of his one foolish mistake, he lost you once. But he won’t lose you again. You stop crying for a while, touching his chest to create some space between you two. He visibly looks hurt when you do that and you almost regret doing that.
“One year, one-year baekhyun.” he looks down. “You decided for yourself and left me like that. Without even telling me what the reason was.” you stop to swallow the lump in your throat. “We could’ve worked- we could’ve been in a long-distance relationship! We could’ve worked on this together! Goddamnit!” you don’t expect yourself to yell, but you do. Now you don’t even try to wipe the tears flowing from your eyes. “For months, I tried to figure out where we went wrong!” Baekhyun looks up and you see tears in his eyes as well. “I tried to contact you but you never picked up or replied to any of my calls.” you sob miserably.
“Y/n I am sorry that you had to go through this because of my foolish decision. Fuck! I wasn’t in my right mind, I just- I have no explanation for my ridiculous behavior. And I am truly a jerk for doing all of this,” you cry harder, and his heartaches. “I am so sorry y/n, I am. I regretted it so much after I could come into my right state of mind. But then, the mistake was already done.”
He hugs you again, as you both cry. Just because of one foolish mistake, you both had to go through this shit.
“I already lost you once y/n but I don’t want to lose you again.” you look up at him with a frown. “Y/n, do you love me?” you nod a bit too eagerly, “Then cancel this wedding” You widen your eyes. “Y/n, please. I know you don’t love him, you never look at him the way you did at me.” you are frozen, your mind processing too many things at once. “Y/n please, if you get married, you know both of us will get hurt.”
“Baekhyun… I -, I can’t- you know I can’t,” you reply, but when you see a tear fall from his eyes, you instantly regret that. “Why?!” you flinch when he yells. “Because I can’t do that to namjoon and, and- my parents and everyone,” you say, “And you can do that to yourself? Tell me, Do you love namjoon?” you slowly shake your head at him, “then how do you know you will be happy with him?” you slowly look down, “Namjoon is a nice guy-” you leave it at that, “what? That’s all? That’s all you have to say about the one who will be your husband in two days?”
“I-”
“Y/n!! Where are you?! We have to leave now!” Your sister’s voice comes from the house, signaling you both have to leave for the appointment. You rub your tears and remove your hands from his hands. “Y/n” you turn back, looking hesitant as ever.
“Don’t do this to yourself. Give us a chance, don’t ruin your life because you were trying to please everyone”
You turn back and walk towards the house without turning back.
—————
That interaction is all you think about in the next two days. You had been ignoring him too. Whenever he would come over to your house, you would purposely be busy with things or you wouldn’t be there at all. He would try to text you, but you would ignore them.
Every second, this voice and words would ring in the back of your mind. Baekhyun was right; you would probably end up regretting it after a year or two. It’s funny how you have been with Namjoon for 6 months but yet you have no other adjectives other than nice to say about him. You were in a dilemma. On one side you had your family and their happiness in marrying you off to Namjoon and merging their business with the Kims.
On the other side was Baekhyun. He was the reason for your happiness for 3 years, and if someone would ask you if you would ever be happy with Baekhyun, you would say yes with no hesitation.
[Flashback]
“Y/n?” Baekhyun calls you softly. You look up at him.
The both of you are lying in his bed, staring at the night sky through the window. The curtains are blowing, showing that it’s chilly outside. The moonlight is falling on the both of you. Your eyes are shining because of moonlight’s reflection in them. Baekhyun finds himself falling harder for you in these passing few days. The way your eyes would magically light up in his presence would enamor him. He knew one- no, two things. That 1) he was whipped for you. 2) He wanted to marry you as soon as possible.
“Bae, you were saying something…” he looks into your curious doe eyes and he can’t resist kissing you on the forehead.
“What was that for?” You whisper to him with closed eyes.
“Just felt like it,” he said, his lips still resting lightly on your forehead. He intertwined his hand with yours. “Y/n, what if.. what if we got married?” He doesn’t look at you but feels your eyes widening as you stare at his side profile. He stays like that for seconds before looking at you with his eyebrows raised.
“You- we- marriage?” Your response comes, making him grin, but he nods at you. “oh my god are you serious?!” You say now looking at him. Your upper body is slightly raised as you do that.
He nods. “I plan to introduce you to my parents” “they already know me though- “you say and he rolls his eyes before responding, “as my girlfriend and my future wife.” You kiss his cheek in happiness. Your smile is wide when you look at him and go, “sounds like a plan, Mr. Byun” Baekhyun smirks. “I bet they would be so happy, especially because it’s you.” You kiss him again, this time on the lips and with such ferocity and passion that makes him light-headed. He loses himself again in your kisses.
Slowly the kisses turn into a full-blown make-out with tongue and teeth. You both kiss messy, but no one seems to care. He slowly hovers over you.
—————
You wake up, drowning in sweat. The flashback of Baekhyun making love to you 1 year ago and two weeks before he left for Australia makes you feel hot. This has been happening for two days now. Every day you dream of him. Even when you are not sleeping, you are still thinking about him. You look up at the clock to realize that it’s six in the morning. A new day. A whole 24 hours before you get married to Namjoon.
You get up from your bed. You get ready for the last 24 hours before your marriage to Namjoon, someone who you don’t even know properly.
—————
You go down to see the entire house eerily quiet. Which makes you feel at peace. One day with no chaos. You crawl out of the house, making sure the lock is done so that no one in your family freaks out. The chilly air of the dawn hits you. It’s been a while since you felt like this, peaceful.
You walk aimlessly down the street. The atmosphere is serene. The wind is cold upon your skin. The sound of the birds chirping brings a calmness to the mind, a soothing melody, and a natural lullaby.
You see some people on the street, walking, jogging, just living.
As you walk, you slowly near a banner that has the picture of a Kpop idol and it says ‘Do what makes you happy. You stare at the banner, the words sinking in with each passing second. You are pulled out of your blank stare when someone’s bicycle ring hits your ears.
You continue walking, your mind thinking a thousand things altogether.
—————
Baekhyun finally finds you alone after two days, when he comes over to your house.
There is no one in the house. Everyone is busy with the marriage preparations, as they check things for the umpteenth time. You should’ve been too, but you stayed alone at home by making a fake excuse for a headache.
There is a knock on the door, and you open it slowly to see Baekhyun. You want to close the door on his face, but you are too nervous to do that. You feel guilty for ignoring him. He steps forward and you instinctively step backward. He closes the door behind him as steps inside the house fully. He looks at you with an unreadable expression. Your heart is running at the speed of a thunderbolt.
“Y/n don’t do this.” you gulp at the sadness in his voice.
“Baekhyun I can’t- my family will feel betrayed- they will-,”
“What about you Y/n?!” You flinch when he yells. “Are you happy with him? Do you like him? Heck! Do you even want to marry him?!” You don’t need to answer these questions, he knows exactly what your answer will be.
“But my family-“ Baekhyun grabs you by your shoulders. You flinch when you see his eyes brimming with tears. “I know y/n! I know you are doing this for your family! But is it worth it? Is it worth compromising with your happiness?” He stops to look at you. You look at him with a guilty expression. “Y/n, this marriage is just for business. You will ruin your life y/n. Don’t do this, please.” He is crying right now and from what you see, he doesn’t realize that fact. You look down in guilt. He is right, you are ruining both of your lives.
He holds your hand, “Y/n I love you. I never stopped loving you. Don’t do this to me, don’t do this to yourself.” His tears fall on your hands, and your own eyes start watering. “Cancel this marriage, please. We still have time. Don’t do this”
“Baekhyun, I can’t. The announcements have been done. The people will laugh at our faces, the reputation of my family will be ruined. We don’t have time for this Baekhyun. You need to leave-“ you say, trying to keep your voice normal and tears at bay.
“No! Why do you care about others?! You will ruin two lives because of what people will think! You will ruin your happiness because of it! Don’t you love me anymore?!” You let out a few tears before holding his face in your hands. “I love you Baekhyun. I never stopped loving you. Even when you left me, I forgave you. But we are too late for this now, Baekhyun. I can’t do this to my family,” you say and start moving back. He tries to hold you and bring you back in his arms, but you are too fast. You are running towards your room, when you hear him yell, “you are going to regret this your entire life y/n!” You don’t turn back. Because you know, he will convince you once you let him. “I won’t be there tomorrow!” That makes you stop in your tracks. You look at him from the stairs before saying. “Please come. I will wait for you.” And then you run inside your room, closing the door shut and immediately crying.
“Y/n, you are hurting both of us!” Those are the last words you hear from him before a sound of what sounds like a vase shattering on the floor surrounds the house.
“Y/n? Are you listening?” Jennie asks, her hands settled on your shoulders.
“Ah yes, sorry.” You respond and give her a tight-lipped smile.
“Did something happen y/n? You are behaving weird for the past few days” her question makes you nervous. The thing is Jennie notices everything. You feel scared at the thought of her noticing something odd between you and Baekhyun.
“It’s nothing! It’s just- I am nervous.” She smiled at your answer. “understandable. But have a look at yourself! You look stunning! Namjoon is so darn lucky!”
You look at your reflection in the mirror. The white wedding gown is settled beautifully on your skin. The pieces of jewelry make you look even more ethereal. But you don’t feel beautiful in it. You feel rather uncomfortable in the dress. This wasn’t how you visualized your wedding. You visualized yourself smiling and being happily married to the love of your life, but the reality is far from your dreams. Your mind is somewhere else. You can’t give more than a decent smile at your Jennie, but she doesn’t mind. She fixes your jewelry before continuing, “y/n, thank you for doing this. You are doing such a big thing for us. I promise you will be happy with Namjoon.” Before you can answer, your mom’s voice comes from the door of the dressing room.
“Jennie! Is y/-“ your mom looks at you with her eyes wide as saucepans. “Y/n! My daughter! You look absolutely breathtaking!” She exclaims before moving forward and engulfing you in a hug. Her eyes are brimming with fresh tears as she looks at you with fondness in her eyes.
“I can’t believe my daughter’s getting married” you just smile at your mom, and you hate it because it’s not genuine.
Namjoon was waiting for you beside his cousin who is the best man. You have a bouquet in your hands, your heart is thumping; adding to your anxiety. Your father standing beside you smiles at you before whispering, "Can’t believe that you are going to admire and love a whole different man who isn’t me from now." In a normal situation, you would chuckle at his words but you just force a small smile on your face. Your sisters and cousins who are your bridesmaid at the moment are standing in front of you.
The door is opened; you raise your head in fake confidence. You can make out the figure of a namjoon standing at the end of the stairs. You slowly move forward, your father clutching your hand tight and smiling.
As you climb the stairs, you feel namjoon’s gaze on you. Your heart is beating frantically. "You look beautiful," your fiance mutters to you as he helps you climb the stairs. You want to return the compliment, but nothing comes out of your mouth. You force a smile and stand in front of him. You try to glance at the crowd. Your heart sinks when your eyes can’t find baekhyun. You wished to see him the last time before you got married to another man.
You don’t pay attention to the officiant as he mutters something about vows. Your eyes desperately search for baekhyun. And suddenly you see him. He almost trips while running to enter the church. He looks around before his eyes meet your eyes. You feel a relief wash over you at the sight of him. You see his parents calling out his name and gesturing for him to get aside. You also didn’t notice that the officiant had stopped his blabbering to see what was going on.
Your gaze never moves away from his. "Y/n I want to talk to you!" you flinch when he shouts. This stunt gains the attention of everyone in the audience. His parents shout his name from the side because they don’t want to create any kind of commotion. "You can talk to her afterward, son," Mr.Kim speaks. "No, I want to talk to her now" Everyone talks between themselves at that. You look over to see Namjoon giving you a questioning expression. "y/n, go over and see what’s up with him, everyone is talking," your sister Jennie whispers in your ear. You look at your parents before nodding and moving to go over the place Baekhyun is standing right now.
When you are standing in front of him, he mutters loud enough for you to hear, but not to the others. "Y/n let’s run away, there’s a car waiting outside. We still have time" You widen your eyes at his words, glancing over him slightly you see a car waiting just near the entrance. If you were to run, then you would reach in time before anyone would think of catching you both. "Baekhyun! I can’t, what will everyone say-," your whispering is cut off by baekhyun’s yelling. "Just because of some irrelevant people, you will ruin your life?!" you flinch visibly, looking over to see your parents and the guests looking worried and shocked.
"Y/n, there’s only one chance. If you don’t take this now, then you will regret it your entire life." he lowers his voice, looking at you with desperate eyes. "Every time you would only think that the car was there, your love was there, everything was set. Just because you couldn’t muster up a little courage to go against your family, you ruined your life and your happiness."
You look at him; you turn around to see the expression of your parents. You look at Jennie, who was holding your dad’s hand, trying to calm him down. You look at your mom, frowning. You look at namjoon who looks hurt. You look at his parents who look angry and then you look at Baekhyun. His eyes hold all the emotions that you are going through. You slowly look at the car standing at the entrance and you decide.
You slowly hold his hand, before looking at him straight in the eyes and saying "Let’s go" He doesn’t have the time to react as you are already running towards the car while holding his hand. When he realizes what’s happening, he runs faster. You are holding your dress in one hand. The wind blows away your veil but you don’t even notice it. You are running with everything you have towards the car. You don’t look back.
You immediately take Baekhyun's hand as he helps you climb into the car. You jump right into the car as the one sitting in the driver’s seat starts driving at an insane speed.
You look back to see your parents and the kims outside the church yelling your name. Baekhyun sees this and mutters, 'fuck them' before kissing you ferociously on the lips.
"Save it for the night," the driver says, his voice oddly familiar. You break this kiss, ignore the desperate whine of baekhyun before looking at the driver.
"Oh my god, Kai?!!" Kai smirks before nodding. "I didn’t know that you were back from London?!" Kai glances at you before responding, "I came back to Seoul a few days back. They invited me to your wedding. But when Baekhyun told me about this. We made this plan." You ignore baekhyun’s whine about kissing you back after a year and say "So you knew everything?" "By everything, if you mean your relationship and breakup and your choice of marrying namjoon for business then yeah," you slightly pout.
"Come on now, let’s get you both married"