One Shot: EMPTY (EXO Chanyeol)

PART ONE

It had been 2 weeks since Chanyeol talked to you. All you did was touch about how he had been spending too much time on his work and neglecting the family and that got him all angsty that he actually showed you the side of him you had never seen before for all the 5 years that you married him. You knew that he cherished his job more than his life and it was always his dream to be someone he was. With the comeback drawing nearer, he had been going home lesser and lesser and your daughter kept asking for her dad every time night befell. Both of you had fought before in your marriage life but this was the worst fight ever. 

“You are complaining about me spending so much time on my job but don’t you realize that what I am passionately doing is so that I could feed the family?!” He bellowed, nearly raising his palm and swinging it across your face. You looked down, trying to hold the tears back because you noticed your daughter peeping from her room. Chanyeol began to notice as he turned around grabbing the mug on the table, on the verge of smashing it. He took a deep breath and went to the kitchen instead, slamming the mug hard into the sink. He walked back to the dining hall furiously and grabbed his coat and headed out to cool off his chest. 

As the door slammed behind him, your tears finally fell and your daughter ran over in your embrace, comforting you, saying that she will give you a candy if you stop crying. You hugged her tightly and forced a laugh.

“Mummy is okay. Don’t worry!” You smiled looking at the innocent child who didn’t know what was happening. After all she was only 2 years old. She was bright and at that age, she knew how to hit the little drum set that Chanyeol bought for her when she was one. Chanyeol was a very proud Dad and ambitious. When your daughter was 5 months old he would play his drumset while piggybacking her. By 8months when she took her first steps, the first thing she grabbed was her dad’s drumsticks. Chanyeol was more than excited and boasted to his members that his child will be a music prodigy when she grew older.

Soon he got busy with schedules, flying in and out of the country and spending a lot of time in his studio together with the other boys. He seldom answered his calls and would spend less than 5 minutes talking to his own daughter when he would previously talk to you and your daughter for at least half an hour. That was not the Chanyeol you knew before you walked down the aisle. He was never a bad tempered person. But circumstances changed everything that you hope it did not. 

Chanyeol sped to the area of Gangnam towards the dorm that he left years ago after he got married. Slamming the door hard, he walked up and pressed the door code of the dorm hastily. His face was red and he was still fuming over what happened earlier. As the door opened he was greeted with Jongin’s stunned face with a chicken bone in his mouth.

“Hyung?”

Baekhyun and Junmyeon who were preparing their dinner popped their heads out of the kitchen upon seeing Jongin’s reaction and gasped. 

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun frowned. “Yah, you are in the wrong house. In case you forgot, you moved out years back when you…”

Junmyeon nudged the beagle boy signaling him to keep quiet. He observed how Chanyeol sank his butt onto the sofa and sighed. He knew that something was not right because he had not seen the rapper being so agitated and fuming hard for so long. He called Jongin over to look after his food while he sat with Chanyeol.

“So… what’s up?” Junmyeon handed him a glass of iced water.
“Nothing. I just need a breather,” Chanyeol replied.
“You can’t lie to me, Park Chanyeol. Spill it out. You won’t be here so suddenly if you are okay.”

Chanyeol sighed and scratched his head. “Ugh I don’t know where we are heading to in this marriage, hyung. How could she not be understanding and accuse me of being ignorant about the family when I am practicing hard for our comeback? After all, the money I earned I use them to buy things for the family!”

Yixing who was listening to their conversation silently at the back came to sit beside him. “Yes, comeback is near and we have to practice a lot. No exception for you though you have a family already. Look, as much as I do not want to get involved in your family issues, I guess as a close friend of yours and your hyung, I have to agree that you look like you are caring lesser about your baby and your wife, Yeol ah.”

Jongin and Baekhyun came to sit together and listened quietly. Junmyeon patted Chanyeol’s back to comfort him. There was a second of silence before the leader started to share his input. “I am not siding your wife or Yixing, Yeol ah. But I, as the leader, I need to tell this to you. You have been neglecting your family without you realizing to the point that your wife calls me sometimes to ask if you are doing well and why you are coming back lesser and lesser. And I had to lie to her and say that I didn’t let you off till you get your entire comeback steps right.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened. “She… My wife did what? She called you?”

“How can you say that she is not understanding when she has been there for you for 5 years and staying alone when she was heavily pregnant while you went out to work and flying all around the world for the fans?” Junmyeon raised his voice slightly. “If she didn’t understand, she would not even have married you in the first place.”

Chanyeol’s face began to soften because whatever Junmyeon just said was true. It hit him hard for being stupid. It hit him hard for nearly slapping your face earlier. 

“Hyung, you have a daughter and a wife. You should organize your time better. Your daughter is still young and she needs your attention so she can grow up well,” Jongin chided in. “You should go home and settle your misunderstanding with her. There isn’t any point you come here cause we cannot help much.”
Jongin was young but he had a point that did not cross his mind though he was older. He began to feel remorseful and began to wonder how you were feeling right now. He thanked the boys and ran out of the dorm. He felt so guilty that he needed to see you and tell you he was sorry. 

Sadly, Chanyeol came to an empty home. He called out your name and your daughter but only the walls bounced back the echoes. He found the note you left on the dining table with his dinner neatly covered with a plastic wrapper.

Don’t forget to eat your dinner if you come back for the night.
I’m going somewhere with our child so we won’t bother you.
All the best for comeback. We will be back when I feel that it is time we do.
Forgive me for getting on your nerves just now.

Upon reading the note, he began calling your phone but it was turned off. It made him feel worse – worry over guilt. He wanted to sit and cry if he could but he could not waste any more time. He called your parents asking if you were there but they ended up scolding him for not knowing where you were. 

Chanyeol grabbed his keys to find you that night but he gave up since he could not think of a place you could be at. The dinner you made he put it in the fridge and stayed up thinking about places you might be at to no avail.

The next day he came for the album jacket photo shoot looking like trash. “Hyung,” he called out to Junmyeon lifelessly and handed him the note. “What should I do, hyung? I am such a dick,” he lowered his head, trying to hide his puffy face away from the other boys. 

Junmyeon dragged him to one side and asked him in detail about what happened when he came back last night. Chanyeol could not take it and started weeping like a small child. “I don’t know where I should find her, hyung. I feel so lost knowing that she is not at home.”

“Maybe if this is what she wants, you should just… give her some space too, Chanyeol. Ladies are fragile. She is not an exception. Give her time like she gave you time. That is probably the best for you two.”

“How can I live knowing that they are not with me? I really took them for granted, didn’t I, hyung?” he cried. 

Junmyeon just rubbed his hand on his back asking him to feel better soon and telling him to get ready for the shoot since they had other schedules after that. 
It had been almost a week since you and your daughter left home and for the whole week, Chanyeol had been dragging his feet back home after spending hours outside driving around places to find you. He soon found it hard to wear his smiles outside for the fans. He could not focus on everything he was working on. He realized the importance of having you and his baby by his side. 

After all, the songs that he wrote were inspired by you. He would dance the choreographies in front of you to get your honest opinions. He was still a child deep down. A child who always strive for perfection. 

But where were you?