A Distraction // Bangchan

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chan had stayed the whole night with Lauren, keeping true to his promise. They spent the night cuddling, kissing, and talking about everything that came into their minds. They had only fallen asleep for a few hours before Chan's alarm went off around 7 AM. He had to leave early to go to some meetings and then more dance practice for the day.

Lauren's eyes fluttered open at the sound of the alarm, feeling groggy. "Chan," her voice cracked. "Your phone."

He rolled over sleepily and grabbed his phone, turning off the annoyance. "Fuck I'm tired."

Lauren felt a pang of guilt from his words. She shouldn't have kept him up so late. She rolled over and lifted herself up. "I'm sorry."

He was rubbing his eyes of the sleep when he heard her soft tone. He let out a cute smile and leaned forward to place a gentle kiss on her lips. "Don't be, I had an amazing time."

She smiled too, that familiar flutter in her chest creeping back up.

"I just wish I could stay here and keep sleeping with you. I'm jealous." He laughed and slipped out of bed, grabbing his shirt from the night before.

"Me too," she laid, wrapped up in the warmth of the covers, taking in the sight of him.

He grabbed his phone and slipped it into his pocket, before facing back toward her. He smiled and stepped toward her side of the bed, leaning down to her height. "You are really tempting me right now to just climb back into bed and turn off my phone."

Lauren laughed, her head falling deeper into the pillows. "A lot of people would be very upset with me."

Chan's eyes crinkled as he smiled, his fingers brushing back a strand of hair from her eyes. He looked like he wanted to say something, but his lips stayed closed. He lightly cleared his throat before giving her one last kiss. "I'll text you okay?"

She nodded as he stood up and walked toward the door.

"Bye Chan," she smiled.

"Bye babe," he smirked before he slipped out the doorway.

She heard the front door quietly close before she let herself fall back into her dreams.

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The next few days passed and Lauren stayed busy in work. She had been messaging with Nicole all week about the party, which was now tomorrow. There was apparently a lot more people coming now — friends of friends of friends had heard through word of mouth. Lauren wasn't sure what to expect at this point, but she knew it would be crazy. In the back of her mind, she still held a slimmer of hope that Chan would change his mind, especially after their intimate night.

Her actual birthday was two days later, on Monday. Felix had already told her they were all going out to BBQ on Sunday, whether she wanted to or not. She figured it would be a good hangover solution anyway.

As she wrapped up her last emails of the day, she closed her laptop, feeling the breath of the weekend filling her lungs. It was going to be a good one, she would make sure of it. She wasn't going to let any disappointment of Chan's absence get her down. Not when her friends were going out of their way to plan all of this for her.

Her phone buzzed as she nuzzled into the couch.

Nicole: okay it's officially birthday weekend!! Be at my place tomorrow by 4 to start getting ready 🥳

Lauren grinned, feeling thankful for such great friends, especially with her family far away. She knew her mom would call her tomorrow to check in, but it was still hard to not feel the homesickness. As she slipped deeper in the couch, she let her thoughts focus on a random movie on her TV. Here's to another birthday.