To Be Replaced

Part 1

"I'm so sorry, babe... You know I want to be home more than anything, but it's unfortunately not up to me..." your boyfriend sadly tells you through the phone.

"I know, Baek... It's okay. It's just one more week and then you'll be right back home with me." You hide the sadness you're feeling from your voice, so he doesn't worry about you and feel guilty for the toll his career sometimes takes.

He suddenly whines in your ear. "Why does a week feel so long all of a sudden?"

You listen as your boyfriend of three years continues to pout into the phone. Of course, you were sad that he was going to be gone longer than the two of you had originally planned, but you had learned long ago to be understanding in these types of situations. You've grown used to dealing with traveling delays when it came to your boyfriend's schedule. He was an idol and he was certainly "booked and busy", and often being pulled in eight different directions. You had learned to just go along for the ride to make it easier on him.

This time it was no different. EXO had just wrapped up another world tour, and SM had found time to schedule more appearances for them before they came home. The only upside you could find in this scenario was more exposure for the boys and more interviews for you to watch online which is exactly what you would be doing in your now open week.

"Oh! Babe, I gotta go. There's this stylist here who has shown me some really cool design ideas, and I think we're going to collaborate for Prive! I'll call you later! Love you!"

Your boyfriend suddenly hangs up and you pull your phone away from your ear to look at it. A small smile finds its way on your face thanks to your boyfriend's antics. Prive was his baby and he had been eager to find inspiration for a new line for his clothing company. Fortunately, it sounded like he had finally found some.

A week later

You pick up the throw pillow on the couch and fluff it up for the third time while you wait for your boyfriend to arrive home. It was an anxious habit you had somehow developed. Whenever Baekhyun was gone for long periods of time, you wanted him to come home to a neat and tidy apartment. It lowered his stress levels and opened up time for the two of you to be together instead of worrying about a dirty house.

You at least hoped he was coming home today. You had hardly spoken to him in the past week, assumingly because he was busy with schedules and trying to finally catch up on sleep. The last you heard; his plane was arriving at 5 pm. Which was 20 minutes ago, you note as you look at the clock on the wall.

Your phone rings and you pull it out of your back pocket and check the caller ID. A smile crosses your features as you glance at the name before answering the phone.

"Hello, Oh Sehun."

"Hey, we're just about to leave the airport and I'm already thinking about food. Want to go get dinner?"

"My boyfriend, who I haven't seen in months, is about to be home. I promise you; dinner is the last thing on my mind right now."

Sehun makes a disgusted sound in your ear. "I definitely don't need to hear about you and Baekhyun's dirty sex life. A 'no' would've been fine."

"I wasn't..." you sigh and glance around the apartment while trying to find patience. "Whatever... No, thank you, Sehun. Please, eat something delicious for me."

You can almost hear the smirk in his voice when he says, "There's a joke there... but I'll let it slide this time. Let's get together soon, okay?"

"Absolutely, but before you go... Baekhyun is with you, right?" you can't help but ask.