What If... [EXO Suho and Apink Eunji Fanfiction]

Chapter 28

Junmyeon slowly walked along the pier overlooking the Han River, whose banks were crowded with people of all ages waiting for the countdown to the New Year. He stayed away from them, and it seemed it was crowded enough that people wouldn't notice him. And luckily, there were no saseangs around. 

This gave him the opportunity to take a small walk in peace and isolation. As he observed the dark waters reflecting the brightly lit up capital city, he ran his hand along the cold metal of the railing.

He raised his head when he heard the countdown going on and moved a little further away to get away from the crowd and also see it happening.

He leaned on the railing as the crowd excitedly hopped and hyped and counted down the seconds.

"Five, four, three, two one!"

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Fireworks lit up the sky as the sounds of cheering filled the air, welcoming in the new year. 

On the other side, in Busan, Eunji stood at a similar pier and leaned on a railing herself, watching the crowds of excited people shouting and cheering.

She turned her eyes up to the fireworks display lighting up the dark skies.

Both of them watched the fireworks in their respective cities.

And the two absentmindedly wondered whether the other was also seeing these fireworks.

***

He barely steps into the living room and he finds himself engulfed in a massive hug.

"Hyung, you're back!"

"Junmyeon-hyung's back!"

"He's arrived!"

"We missed you so much!"

"Hyung!"

He tried to pull away from the group hug but found himself being squashed further. "Guys," he squeaked, "I didn't even leave Seoul!"

"But you didn't join the rest of us on our vacation, did you?" Minseok pointed out.

Kyungsoo nodded. "We really missed you in Jeju."

Finally pulling himself away from the death hugs given by the rest of his members, Junmyeon dusted his jacket off. "Seriously, guys, we just didn't see each other for five days." 

"Yeah, FIVE days," Chanyeol said, holding up his palm. "That's five days without our beloved leader."

"Oh, so now I'm beloved, huh?" He crossed his arms.

Jongin stepped in at that moment. "Of course you are, hyung," he said. "You know how much we all love you. We just missed you incredibly."

"Yixing went to China," Junmyeon pointed at the person in question. "How come you're not smothering him?"

"Actually they already did," Yixing sheepishly scratched the back of his head, a grin on his face.

Junmyeon turned to him. "You too?"

Yixing nodded. "Yeah," he chuckled. 

The nine members made their way into the living room where they sat down on the couch to reminisce about their recent holiday. Over the New Year, the members had been given the opportunity to head over to Jeju for a small vacation, as long as they performed at three locations. Junmyeon had opted out since he needed to spend the time with his family, and even Yixing was unavailable to go since he was in china for some promotional business. Kyungsoo was already in Jeju filming his movie and so just joined the remaining members during the performances. 

He seriously hadn't expected that kind of welcome when he finally returned to the dorm after the holidays. 

As they chattered away about how they spent their holidays, he smiled, nodded and laughed along, yet his mind began to wander. It wandered over to the new statue in the lobby of the building, the idea that he could try to ask for another part in a drama or movie, his parents' new dog...

...and made its way to a familiar face with brown hair...

He absentmindedly wondered when he'd get to see her again.

What would he say once he saw her again though? Would he apologize? But why would he need to apologize? He'd done nothing wrong. Ask her what her decision was? He didn't want to pressurize her in any way. though. Should he just allow her to say what she wanted to say?

"Hyung! Hyung!"

He snapped out of his thoughts to see them looking at him. "G-go on, I'm listening," he shakily said.

"Hyung, I asked you how the display was over Han River..." Baekhyun said, the last of his sentence trailing off.

"Uh, it was good, it was good." Junmyeon furiously nodded his head as he struggled to recollect the night a couple of days ago.

After a few impatient moments, they jumped onto another topic, however, Baekhyun kept staring at him occasionally.

Oh, how he missed that stare...not.

At one point, Minseok took a look at his watch. "Oh, we need to go and get ready if we need to be at work on time," he said. "Let's go get ready."

They split up and went to their separate rooms to change into more appropriate clothes since they'd be meeting the CEO for a performance review. A few of them hadn't gotten the chance to shower since it was still early in the morning and went into the bathrooms to do so.

Junmyeon waited in the living room since Sehun decided to occupy the room to shower and change. As he flipped through the internet on his phone, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he found it belonging to Baekhyun.

"Hyung, how did it go?" he asked.

Junmyeon raised an eyebrow. "What did go?" he asked.

Baekhyun came over to sit down next to him. Junmyeon sighed. It looked like he wasn't going to get out of this one.

"You know what I mean," Baekhyun said. "Did you get anything over the holidays?"

Junmyeon shook his head. "Not a word," he simply said.

Baekhyun leaned back. "No wonder you were elsewhere with your thoughts," he commented.

Junmyeon glowered at him. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Baekhyun shrugged. "Nothing much," he said. "I just kind of hoped you'd have gone somewhere with her during the vacations."

"She was in Busan, Baekhyun-ah," Junmyeon pointed out.

"She still has a cell phone," Baekhyun countered.

Junmyeon opened his mouth to argue but closed it when he realized his argument was solid. He let out a frustrated breath. "I don't know what to do, Baekhyun-ah," he admitted. "I don't know what I've done, whether I've screwed it all up or whether she even actually likes me."

Baekhyun leaned back in the couch, putting his hands behind his head. "At this point I really have no advice for you, hyung," he said. 

Junmyeon visibly deflated. "So do I just give up?"

Baekhyun shook his head. "I wouldn't give up just yet," he said. "Giving her space was the right thing to do. Maybe the new year might bring some surprises with it?"

Junmyeon turned to him. "Are you still optimistic?"

Baekhyun shrugged again. "I don't know either, hyung," he said. "Things aren't going exactly the way I imagined it would go between you two, but I think that something did change these holidays." 

He shot Junmyeon a sideways glance. "Who knows? Maybe the two of you watched the fireworks display together?"

***

A/N: I feel emotionless with the second part of this chapter. I had absolutely no idea how to end it...

Is it visible?

It's not my best work, but I do think the next few chapters will be really good!

Enjoy!