That Time

Part 3

Will I let you go?"
You choked on your own saliva, coughing, you looked up at him and gave him surprised smile. "What?"
"Well, you are Charming after all." Yongguk said in a flirting voice. "Cute and beautiful, not to mention, talented. Perfect type of girls."
Blushing you shook your head in disagreeing, "No, no. I'm not and..." you sighed, giving him a sad look. "This is hard. To be honest, I can't."
Yongguk chuckled, lowering his head to hide his smile or the pain in his eyes. "What a shame. I'm dumped."
"I'm sorry." You said, giving him an apologized look.
"No, it's okay." He said smiling warmly at you. "Just don't let your fear blind you of your true feelings. It's not bad to take this adventure of love."
"Huh?" You looked at him blankly.
He chuckled, "Why don't you stop him from leaving this time?" He winked at you before walking off.
Looking everywhere around the party Chanyeol was nowhere to be found. You felt your breath, tightened as you feared of not seeing him again. Not after two years from not seeing each other. You wanted to be honest for the first time.
Spotting Sehun and Beakhyun, you took a jog toward them almost tripped on your steps. "Hey, guys."
"Ah Noona." Sehun smiled and Baekhyun waved at you. "Why aren't you with your sister?"
Ignoring his question, you returned it with another question. "Where's Chanyeol?"
"I don't know." Baekhyung shrugged and looked at Sehun. "You?"
"Have no idea."
Your lips twisted as you kept with your searching, but there was no sight of him. Feeling yourself about to cry again, you let out a heavy breath. Your head was looking in all directions for any glimpse of him but he disappeared.

~~
3 years ago
August - Tuesday, 4:16 PM
In Starbucks.
Lately, Chanyeol had been cautioning around you, as if he was trying to grow a distance. When you called him, he would always make an excuse: that he was busy with his practice. When you visited him at the dorm he wouldn't be there or even worse; sleeping.
The act he was showing around you, made things clear that he was avoiding you and trying to drift himself away. You couldn't deny that this hurt you, but you bit your lips and kept it down, watching him go away. Knowing that later he would come and apologize to you and even treat you to a delicious Ice cream, like he always did. But some fear inside of you, told you that this time he wouldn't.
You thought it was for the best, since you were going to leave soon.
Scratching the words that you wrote earlier in your notebook, frustrated. You sighed, running a hand through your hair, putting it to the side. Stress had been controlling your mind since the acceptance letter that you had been enrolled in one of the biggest music school in the U.S, arrived.
You were going to leave in a few days, but you didn't get the chance to tell Chanyeol yet. A lot of questions had occupied your mind, like would he care? He was already making distance, so it shouldn't make any difference, right?
Putting your hands in your palms, you wanted to scream except that you didn't want the people around you, think that you were some psycho kid, having some coffee in the early morning.
Jingle sounded, announcing new customer. Normally you wouldn't care, but that familiar laughter that you heard, made your neck snapped up to confirm that voice. But the sight was a bit unpleasing as you felt a sting in your heart. There was this smiling girl who was laughing too, along with Chanyeol as if they were... dating.
The girl kept leaning to Chanyeol, slapping his arm playfully. "You are silly." She said, her voice was a little too high so every corner of the café came to hear her.
The idea of Chanyeol flirting with another girl never crossed your mind and all of sudden you felt the ground beneath you shaking as your mind went dizzy. A burning feeling raised in your chest as your eyes glued at the happy couple.
Couple? You scoffed, thinking how the idea was so silly. The girl never looked so special for her to be with him. Her skirt was just a little bit too high and it stuck on her curves perfectly. Her face was filled with makeup as if she was a doll, not a human being. You slapped yourself inwardly, hating the idea of you getting jealous.
Jealous? He hopes for it. Despite your thoughts, you were burning inside. You never thought you would feel jealous over Chanyeol, because you thought he would only look at you and care for only you. You were his Cinderella after all.
Who rejected him, many times? Good for you, Y/N.
Your heart stuck in your throat when Chanyeol's eyes fell over you. You smiled and waved at him nonchalantly, expecting him to do the same or even, greeted you as he always did when you appear in front of him; warping his hands around you and tell you how much he missed you.
But he looked away, as if he didn't know you in the first place. As if you weren't best friend and knew each other's secrets, as if you knew every bad habit of the other, as if you were strangers.
You looked at your legs, trying to find where had your heart dropped. The shock stopped your thinking systems as you hurried to collect your stuff and go away. You wouldn't bear to see Chanyeol having fun with his date. Reaching for your notebook, your hand were shaking that you didn't notice the glass that was at the edge of your table.
It fell over the ground and cracked into small pieces.
You jumped slightly, looking at the shattered glass beneath you. You wondered if you opened your chest and looked at your heart, would it be shattered like those pieces of glasses. Would it look as pitiful as how those looked, wet with what remain with them? The glass with water while you with feelings.
"Are you okay?" A man that was standing behind your table asked you, bending next to you. You nodded, not finding your voice.
"It's okay, customer-nim. I will take care of them. Are you really okay?" The waiter said. But you knew that her boss would blame her for that shattered glass.
"I'm sorry." You apologized, starting to collect them with your bare hands. You didn't want her to the blame for you.
"No customer-Nim." The waiter said, panicking. "I will do it."
"It's okay." You said, more like for yourself. It's okay, you aren't hurt. It's okay, your feelings aren't damaged. It's okay, you aren't jealous. it's okay if Chanyeol wasn't around you anymore. Your hands were shaking so much, with anxiety and fear. No, it's not okay. Chanyeol no longer wanted you as his friend and that was clear. And like those glasses that you didn't want the waiter to take the blame for, you didn't blame Chanyeol.
You were the one wronged here.
"Ah~" you yelped as the blood ran down your finger.
"Customer-Nim, you are bleeding." The waiter said the panic was shown in her voice.
"I'm fine."
A hand reached your wrist before you could continue collecting the remains of the glass. Pulling you up on your feet, you looked at those familiar eyes. They were firing with anger. "Can't you see that you are bleeding?" Chanyeol snapped, making you jump a little. "She told you she would do it. It's here job."
"It's my fault." You whispered, feeling the pain in your finger.
Seeing the tears bricking the edge of your eyes, Chanyeol sighed as he pulled you out of the café, putting your bag over his shoulder. You let him lead you to the pharmacy in the opposite street of the café.
Having a look up at Chanyeol, he seemed angrier than normal. You could imagine the steaming of heat coming out of his ears.
"Band-Aid please." Chanyeol said to the pharmacist who gave him a box of Band-Aid, from a drawer in from of him.
"Chanyeol, don't panic." You said, seeing how his hand was shaking as he opened one of the bands. You suppressed a smile from creeping into your face. "It's just a cut."
"Then you should have listened to her, for you not to get it." He snapped, and you bit your lips. Avoiding his eyes, you knew that he was just worried about you. Covering the cut with the band. Chanyeol thanked the pharmacist, dragging you out with him.
His hand was holding yours firmly, but was careful not to touch your injure. Your heart was hammering in your chest so loudly that you wanted to scold it. You couldn't be selfish, you were leaving anyway.
He kept walking, passing by the shops and restaurant that were in that neighborhood, not even glance once at you. Not knowing how you could calm his anger, you never saw him like this before. You cleared your throat and tried to find any conversation to talk about. It had been a couple of weeks since you could to talk normally.
"I'm sorry." you chanted, but he never looked at you. So you tried something different. "Where are we going anyway?"
You couldn't bear his silence anymore as you snatched your hands from his grip. He span, looking at you with eyes filled with fire. "Yah, I'm sorry, okay? If I had destroyed your lovely date, I'm sorry." You threw your hands in the air. "You could have ignored me till the end. Instead of getting all angry and ... what? Do you care now?"
"Are you jealous right now?" Chanyeol snickered, eyebrow raised. He knew well that you would never be, right? You looked at him, surprised by his question. It took you off guard.
Clearing your throat, you looked at him with a glint in your eyes. "What if I'm?"
"Watch your words." Chanyeol warned, pointing a finger at you.
You scoffed, shrugging a shoulder. "Why? Am I saying something wrong? Do you know how many times I called you?"
Chanyeol fell silent, hands wrapping together over his chest, letting your words sink in his mind. He was analyzing your words. Trying to figure any kind of feelings for him. Even though it was so clear that you loved him, but you always rejected him and breaking his heart.
For him, you were like fire. Beautiful, colorful and warm. But if he touched you, you would burn him. But that burning was more hurtful, since it hit nothing other than his heart.
"Are you not going to answer me? Why are you avoiding me?" The calmness that you kept so far till now, fled away. You hated that Chanyeol was with another girl, laughing and talking as if she was his best friend, not you. You hated him, ignoring you. You couldn't deny it, you even missed him. The tears welled up in your eyes, the heat engulfing your chest. "Do you hate me now? Have you stopped loving me?"
Taking a deep breath, he found his voice. Knowing well the consequence of playing with fire. "You know that I would never stop loving you."
"Then why?" You asked, searching his eyes for an answer. "I hate it so much."
"What?"
"You and that girl-"
"Irena?" Chanyeol said and you rolled your eyes, sniffing "Yeah, whatever. I never thought I would hate it this much. What's good about her? Do you like her?"
Chanyeol suppressed a smile, loving how you were getting jealous. It was the first time he saw you this frustrated about him being around a girl. He took a breath and tilted his chin up as if he was thinking. "She's a good girl, to be honest. And yeah, I like her."
Frowning, you turned and walked away. The last thing you wanted to hear was him falling for another girl. Following you, Chanyeol almost chuckled at your cuteness. "Yah! Are you upset?"
"Why would I?" you shrugged, knowing that you were burning with anger. "Go. Go and have fun with her. I'm totally fine. Don't concern yourself with me."
Chanyeol increased his steps toward you and stopped you by grabbing your wrist. He smiled at you and your face relaxed a bit. His smile was like a cure for you "You knew that true fun is always with you." He said and you blushed, looking down at your legs.
"And if I didn't concern myself with you, then who would take care of a clumsy girl like you."
"Yah!" you glared at him and he chuckled. "You should have at least called me once."
"I'm sorry, I--" Before he could continue his sentence, you wrapped your arm around his waist and hugged him. Chanyeol's heartbeat with so loud in his chest and you were glad that you weren't the only one.
He knew that if he reacted to you, he would always lose at the end. Because he loved you more than you did. And he would always do. Throwing that to the side, he wrapped his arms around your shoulder, hugging you tightly. The love he felt for you made him weaker for you, easy to be tamed by you.
Looking up at him and resting your chin on his chest, you smiled, meeting up with Chanyeol's eyes. You should back away and tell yourself that you had no right to let your feelings out now. You had been hiding them all this time, why now, when you were about to leave in a few days.
This is going to hurt the both of us. You acknowledged that, but still took the risk.
"I like you, Park Chanyeol." You swore that you would never say Love until you found yourself ready for it. Loving chanyeol had always stopped you from doing a lot of things, like loving him. Because you had always thought that you were no good for him. You were weak, with no job and no work. Only a dream that didn't help you until now. Promising yourself that you would return back to him and confess your feeling probably when you became a person who he deserved to be with, you took it.
On the other hand, Chanyeol's heart was dancing. He almost forgot that you were the fire that would burn up his whole life. You were finally opening up for him, after all those years of asking you out. Couldn't control his feelings anymore, he was the one to cup your face and met your lips with his. Grabbing them, into a deep and passionate kiss.
This is wrong. You thought to yourself, kissing him back and wrapping your arms around his neck. Your fingers tangled with the ends of his hair strands. Despite being in the middle of the street, the kiss made you feel as if you were in heaven. But it feels so right.

~~
Saturday, 7:02 PM
In EXO Dorm.
"What?" Chanyeol jumped to his feet, eyes widening.
"You don't know?" Sehun asked, eyebrow raised. "She's leaving in two days. I thought she told you first, you guys stick together like glue and gum. How could you not know?"
Chanyeol let his body drop over the couch again, his expression was blank with shock as he hissed, "I didn't know."
Chanyeol felt betrayed. He had been waiting for the fire to burn him after the kiss you shared before but it didn't. You were extremely nice to him and lovely as if you were true couple, dating each other. He was ready for you to snap at him and tell him that was a mistake or even his fault for kissing her first but you didn't. You were completely different person, from the one he knew. You cooked for him and asked him for dates. He thought all of this because finally you were opened up completely, that you were officially a couple
It's only my wishes. He thought. The burn came this time too much for his heart to take. She was leaving which meant that he won't be able to see her again. Why was she doing this to him? He wondered many times but found no answer. When he was ready to let her go forever, she stuck to him and now, this.
Suddenly Chanyeol's phone rang, a notification of a new message. Holding the phone up, Chanyeol bit his lips as he read your message.
Y >> I have something to tell you. I'm in front of your house.
The last to know. Chanyeol though, feeling the anger rising within him.
The member felt bad, seeing the expression on Chanyeol's face. They started one by one slipping themselves away from him knowing that he would burst out some time soon.
Sehun closed his room's door behind him as he started to count down. "...3...2...1...0"
"AISH!" Chanyeol groaned as a loud bang, of a door shutting loudly, was heard afterward.
~~
You were kicking the ground slightly, leaning on the wall inside the entrance of the building. You couldn't take the risk to wait outside and draw attention to you. The sleep fled away last night since you had been thinking of how you were going to tell the news to Chanyeol.
You were scared and frightened of his reaction. You also hated that you were going to break his heart when you finally had him as yours. You didn't want to go anymore, but your future depended on this. I'm going to be someone who deserves you. You though, fingers playing together.
"Y/N..." You looked up, to find Chanyeol approaching you. You smiled as you decreased the gap between you, grabbing his collar and pecked his lips.
But the expression on Chanyeol's face when you pulled away, scared you. "What's wrong?"
"You have something to tell, don't you?" He said coldly, which sent shiver down to your spines.
"Yeah--"
"What's it?" Chanyeol asked, hands in his pocket. From the way he was talking and greeting you, you feared that he already knew what you was about to say.
"Well, you see..." you started, scratching the back of your neck nervously. "I'm going to U.S."
"Congratulation." Chanyeol said and your eyes widened at his reaction as your heart dropped to the ground.
"What is this?"
"I already knew that." He said, half smirked. "I want to hear something new."
"What are you talking about?" you asked, hating the way he was talking to you with.
"I need to hear what is next. You're breaking up with me!"
"What?" Your eyes widened more in shock as you shook your head. "No, I'm not."
"Really? Then what are you doing right now? Do you want to play another game? From the cold princess, to the lovely girlfriend and now what? Distance girl?" Chanyeol spat, warping his arms around his chest.
"Chanyeol, how can you talk to me like this?" You snapped.
"How do you want me to react then? Hug you and tell you how much I'll miss you? That I will wait for you?" Chanyeol's voice raised, making you jump from your place. Backing away and tears formed in your eyes. "Why are you playing with my feelings?"
"I'm not." You said, voice shaking and a tear slipped down your cheeks. "I really like you."
"If you did, you would have told me from the start, before making me believe that we really have a chance together." Chanyeol voice calmed when you looked at you with teary eyes.
"Chan..." You gulped, and tried to reach for his arm but he backed away. You felt a bang in your heart when you saw Chanyeol's legs talking backward steps away from you. It clenched and squeezed harshly that the pain was unbearable.
Taking a deep breath, your arms fell to your side again. You licked your lips as you looked up at Chanyeol, with tearless eyes. You wiped them off with the back of your hands. "I will leave this Monday. I hope at least you would say goodbye to me, before I go. You are my best friend after all."
"Yeah, goodbye." Chanyeol spat the words as he turned and walked away. Leaving you alone at the building entrance.
Your legs betrayed you as you fall to the ground. But the tears weren't coming up and you didn't know why. You should have been honest from the start. For real, you just had broken your friendship with Chanyeol.
Everything is over.
~~
Monday, 6:52 AM
At Airport
There was only 7 minutes until the plane set off and Chanyeol hadn't appeared yet. Since the big fight between the both of you, neither of you tried to call the other, even though you waited for Chanyeol to call you, like he always did before.
"I'm sure that he's just busy." Junmyeon said, he came with your sister to send you off.
"Huh?" you looked up at him and realized what he was talking about. You had been looking at the entrance door of the airport for a long time, waiting for him to show up at any moment. "Yeah." You nodded, giving him a tired smile.
"I'll miss you." Your sister had been crying since the day before, she threw her arms around you, into a bear hug. Your mother and father didn't like the goodbyes and that stuff so they were enough by sending you off from the house's door.
"Me too." You patted her back.
"I'll miss you too."Suho said, giving you a slight hug and you smiled at him. "Me too. Thank you, Oppa. And take care of Unni."
Final call, for Flight 3761 to Los Angeles
Taking a deep breath, you reach for you sacs. "It's my call, I have to go."
"Take care~" your sister cooed. "Call us when you arrive."
You nodded, putting your handbag over your shoulder as you walked away. You tried as much as you can to decrease your steps. To walk as slow as you can. Still hoping for Chanyeol to appear, to pop out of nowhere. But still it would only happen in movies and novels not in real life. Chanyeol never appeared that day.
Unknowing to you, Chanyeol was standing behind one of the walls, watching you from the far. Having eyes on you, but he couldn't approached. He wouldn't do that. He knew this was his last chance, but he gave it up.
A tear slid his cheeks as he watched you walking away, to a different destiny, different future away from him.
"Goodbye, Y/N."
~~
Present time.

Still looking everywhere there was no sign for Chanyeol. Your breath heaved from fear. Afraid that you had lost him for the second time.
This can't happen. No.
Going back inside the villa, you kept looking for him, but he wasn't there too. You stood, feeling hopeless.
It's really late!
You heard your phone buzzing, as you looked at it to find a notification that you didn't expect.
One message.
Opening the message, your heart started to beat faster when you read it.
C >> If I appeared, would you go out with me? For real?
Smiling, you wiped away your tears that started to form in your eyes. You kept staring at the message for so long, only returned to your right mind when another one arrived.
C >> Aigo, aren't you going to answer me?
Y >> Go to hell.
"Wow, your temper hadn't changed one bit."
You jumped when you heard a deep voice behind you, but it wasn't Yongguk's. This voice was so much familiar with you. Turning around you found Chanyeol looking down at you, his hands in his pocket.
"It's not too late, is it?" you asked and he smirked.
"It depends on when you are going to accept my feelings."
You approached Chanyeol slowly as you tiptoed but still didn't reach for his height. "I accepted them a long while ago. Would you accept mine now?"
"And what's yours?"
"I love you, Park Chanyeol."
Without wasting any more time, he pressed his lips over yours capturing them into sweet kiss. His lips brushed softly over yours as it worked its magic, melting you in his arms.
You were afraid that you wouldn't be the right person for Chanyeol. But Chanyeol proved you otherwise. You figured out that he wasn't your weakness, he was the force the pushed you for the better. The only time he let go of you was for your dream to come. And here you were living your dream, with Park Chanyeol.

The End