Stay | CHANBAEK

part. ii

After the festival had died down, Baekhyun sat up in the town's water tower, drinking a bit with a few of his friends. From up there, they could see everything. Baekhyun, however, had his eyes on the lone wandering individual with no direction on what to do. Sehun, who caught him watching, nudged him.

"I see you looking at him," he said. "You're really conflicted."

Baekhyun scoffed. "I wish I wasn't." After watching Chanyeol walk around, he said, "I think I'm gonna have to call it a night."

-

-

Chanyeol left the festival grounds and walked a little farther down the road he was on. A small cemetery caught his eye and he realized that it was a pet cemetery. Having been gone for so long, it took a while for him to realize what pulled him to that spot.

Back when they were together, Baekhyun and he had a dog together. It wasn't the one Baekhyun had at the moment. It was a different dog. Walking through the number of graves for small critters, Chanyeol knelt down the one whose name he recognized. For a short time, he talked to the site but talking to something that was willing to listen did more than Chanyeol bargained for.

"Hey, buddy," Chanyeol said in a ghost-like whisper. "I haven't been around here much," He paused. "I'm sorry I wasn't here when you died, ole boy. Did you wait for me to come back?"

The silence answered him.

"Were you waiting with Baek? I didn't mean to forget about you... You didn't do anything wrong." Chanyeol pursed his lips. "We messed up... I wasn't there when you died. I'm sorry..."

"They found a tumor in his lungs."

Jolting from the unexpected company, Chanyeol turned around. "Baek..." Wiping his face, Chanyeol made sure not to let a single tear fall.

"They said I could put him through chemo, but I didn't want him to go through that," Baekhyun mumbled. "The success rate was low, too."

Chanyeol kept quiet. "I'm sorry.... Why didn't you tell me?"

Baekhyun gently looked at him and shrugged, offering a small smile. "You were too busy. I didn't want to bother you."

Chanyeol gave him a hopeless look. "I'm sorry," he repeated.

"It's already in the past," Baekhyun said. "Nothing's going to change."

"Where'd we go wrong?" Chanyeol whispered.

"I don't know."

"Was it my fault?"

Baekhyun blinked. "What?"

"My fault," Chanyeol said. "I was the one who left. I was the one who never looked back."

"But I'm the reason why you left," Baekhyun said softly. "I'm the reason why you never looked back. Isn't it my fault, too?"

Chanyeol stepped forward, remembering Luhan's words. "No. It's not," He paused. "Stop looking at me like that."

"Stop looking at you like what?"

"Like there's still a part of you that loves me," Chanyeol said. "It'd be easier if you hated me."

Baekhyun pursed his lips. "You're seeing things," he mumbled. "And even if I was, what's so wrong with that?"

"What's wrong with what?"

"Being in love with you still."

Chanyeol stopped. "I--"

Baekhyun cut him off, his voice rising. "What's wrong with still loving the idiot I married eight years ago?"

Chanyeol's breath was caught in his throat. "Baek--"