(13) Filtered

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Third Person POV

Sehun, Baekhyun and Chanyeol sat together in the dining room as they ate the food Chanyeol prepared beforehand. None of them said a word and only the sound of the metal cutlery hitting the plates could be heard.

Baekhyun kept an awkward look on his face, unsure of the next thing to do because he did not expect Sehun to join them at the dining table when he invited him. 

He decided to push on his progress to see how far he could go. "Sehun-ah, the next photo shoot is on Tuesday. Maybe you can already join us." he said. 

Sehun remained silent. As soon as he finished eating, he put his chopsticks and spoon down and brought the utensils to the sink. 

When he was walking back to go upstairs, Chanyeol spoke, "Director Shin also told us to look forward to other companies' outsource projects. We're basically the front liners already."

Sehun stopped at the base of the stairs and faced them. "Is that so? I'm surprised he hasn't kicked me out the team yet." he scoffed before proceeding to his bedroom.

Baekhyun lightly hit the table to catch Chanyeol's attention. "Yah, why did you even bring up Director Shin?" he complained. 

Chanyeol only shrugged in slight regret and leaned back on the chair, playing with his food. "I didn't know what else to say..."

Baekhyun mirrored his actions and breathed out of his mouth as he enlarged his eyes in frustration. "So who's gonna wash the dishes?"

The two of them decided to stay in the living room after fixing their things inside their old rooms. Baekhyun brought out his laptop and opened it. "Dobi-yah, the deadlines are coming up. We better finish the edits soon or Mr. Shin's gonna blow Sehun up." he said.

Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrows because of the nickname and subconsciously covered his own ears before agreeing to do so. "I'm not sure what settings Sehun uses in this type of concept but you know that the director wants a variety of options so it's a bit difficult."

While they were discussing, they heard Sehun's door open from upstairs which made Baekhyun immediately shut his laptop and stand in panic. 

Sehun went down the stairs in his usual winter clothes without bothering to style up his hair. "Where are you going?" Chanyeol asked.

"Just somewhere." he muttered before leaving the house. 

---

Sehun felt his head numb from the cold that he forgot how it had been aching for the whole morning. It was early February and he hasn't seen nor heard anything from Sejeong ever since telling her to leave. "If it wasn't for that phone call..." he whispered.

He sat on the swing and swayed it slightly, letting his left leg brush the ground while he lifted his other leg a bit. "Sejeong-ah, what are you doing right now? Baekhyun and Chanyeol are staying in my house just like old times. It's suffocating to see them but it's also a relief even though I'm not sure what they're doing."

Sehun stared at the faint sunlight, covered by the white cloud that seemed to engulf the entire sky. "Do you think I'm worthy of you?" He said.

As if on cue, he felt his phone vibrate. He quickly answered the call as it flashed the name of the person he's been aching to see. "Sejeong-ah." He muttered.

"Hm? How are you?" She asked.

His breathing became unregulated but strangely enough, he felt his heart calm down from her voice. "I'm fine?" He blurted out more like a question.

"I see. Are your scratches healed?"

Sehun curled his hand, brushing his thumb with his index finger as he mindlessly checked on his fully covered arms. "Yes, they are."

"Are you going to work?"

"Soon." He replied.

"Is the house clean?"

"Clean enough. You should visit some time." He laughed out, a small smile forming on his face as he looked down while swaying his seat again.

"Is it cold outside?"

"..." Sehun immediately turned his head up to catch where the voice came from, only to see her standing behind him just a few feet away.

He slowly brought his phone down, tears welling up his eyes. "Why did you even call me?" He said, before letting a tear slip out.

Sejeong smiled and stepped forward to take the other swing seat beside him. "To make it more dramatic."

"How did you know I was here?" Sehun asked.

"I didn't. I was supposed to complain how my boyfriend pushed me away but I think I forgot what to say once I saw you sitting there." Sejeong said.

He smiled from her words, a portrait formed in half reassurance of her affection and half regret of his actions. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She said, shrugging her shoulders as she breathed out. "But that phone call costs a few won so you better pay me back." She joked and smiled at him.

Sehun forgot how much he cherished that smile of hers.

It was regretful to have met her while he suffered under trauma from his own mistakes. But seeing her smile at him like this made him think that maybe he's fine with reliving his moments with her to regret it a thousand more times as long as she was okay with it.

"Yoona..." he muttered, causing the woman's shoulders to instinctively tense up a little. "Have they told you about her?"

She felt herself relax as she closed her eyes, letting the wind serenade her ears. "Mhm, I also walked past her a few times at work." She said.

Sehun paused to arrange his thoughts, careful not to make Sejeong get the wrong idea. "I'm... going to fix things with her- properly this time. I need to get my shit together before coming back to you. Will you wait? I'll make sure to fix it soon so you won't wait long." He said.

Sejeong smiled again, admiring him for the lack of better words. She leaned her head on one of the chains that supported the swing, glancing at Sehun. "I will. Though my patience is not everlasting, you can take advantage of my currently small circle of friends. I won't be able to branch out to other men so soon." She joked.

Sehun met her eyes, forming a smile of his from the contentment he felt despite the situation she implied. 'I'll do it right'.

---

Sehun went back to his house, hesitantly entering with his pride brought down. He took off his thick coat and hung it on the couch.

He stood in front of Baekhyun's door and heard muffled chatter inside, knocking a few times before opening it. However, he found himself in an unexpected situation. 

For a solid second, he thought that it would have been better to catch them in an intimate boys' love. At least, he would not be the one to handle the embarrassment. But things mostly turn out differently.

Baekhyun was holding a stack of paper that were print outs of his formerly taken photos that he could barely remember while Chanyeol was frozen in his spot, holding the top of the laptop screen, probably in an attempt to fold it shut.

Sehun stepped forward to look at the monitor and saw his former projects open in an editor with another project that fairly replicated the settings he used. The difference was it was their most recent client's shots.

"What is this?" he asked, turning to look at Baekhyun and Chanyeol with his eyebrows furrowed together in confusion.

The two were even more speechless. Baekhyun slowly held the pictures behind him while Chanyeol placed his arms on the floor, using it as leverage as he leaned back.

"You've been doing my work?" he asked.

Chanyeol nodded a few times as he absentmindedly stared on the laptop screen while biting the right portion of his lower lip.

"What did Mr. Shin say about it?"

"He said that it was fine as long as we can submit on time. You can go to work like you normally do..." he halted on his words as Chanyeol gave him a look not to continue. But it wasn't what he wanted. "It was the same thing when you stopped going to work the first time." Baekhyun explained.

Sehun stood still on his spot, dumbfounded. "So this..." he breathed out. "Why would he agree to that?" 

"Because we told him about what happened with Yoona."

Sehun could no longer take in everything that was happening. All he knew was the pressure arising on his neck, fighting the urge to break down in front of them.

Deciding not to prolong the moment of silence, Sehun crouched down to close the laptop. "There's no need to do this." he said and caught the papers that Baekhyun held.

"Sehun-ah." Baekhyun called, holding one of Sehun's wrists when he turned around for the door. 

Sehun carelessly struggled as he tried to shake off his hand but Baekhyun held tight. "Stop it." he muttered as he continued to resist but Baekhyun was stubborn and pulled him close.

Baekhyun's hand went to his head and bent it downward so it was beside his ear. He heard Sehun's ragged breathing and soon enough, he felt his shoulder wet with his tears. 

"Why are you crying?" Baekhyun asked, an affectionate tone to his voice.

Sehun sniffled a few times before speaking, his voice breaking. "I want to be angry that you told someone else about it. I want to be angry that you guys left me during the time I actually needed you."

"But now, I'm ashamed."

"How I've always been a burden to the two of you."

Chanyeol stood up to embrace them, patting Sehun's back as he looked somewhere else. "We're sorry for leaving. But we're here now, so please..."

"Let us carry your burden together one more time."

---

"You've met with Sejeong?" Sehun asked, pouring a drink to Chanyeol's shot glass.

Just like they used to, the three of them decided to sit a Soju night together to completely break the tension. 

"She's actually the one who suggested that we invade you here." Baekhyun laughed as he fell back, reminding Chanyeol and Sehun of his low alcohol tolerance.

They laughed at him as he climbed up to Sehun's bed after struggling to finish a single soju bottle. "Hyung-ah." Sehun laughed.

Baekhyun mumbled something incoherent which made them crack up again, letting the drunk man sleep. As the two of them recovered from their laughter, Sehun sighed as he placed his elbow on the small table and rested his chin on his palm.

He then turned to Chanyeol, bending his head to the side so his palm cups his cheek. "Hyung." he called out.

"Mhm?" Chanyeol responded.

"What do I do?" he whispered, his voice breaking once again.

Chanyeol stared at him before directing his gaze on a soju bottle, picking it up to drink from it. "That one is up to you, Sehun."

Bringing it down, Chanyeol turned to him again. "Yoona may already be over it while you're not. Just know that whatever it is that you decide to do, we'll support you better now."

Sehun turned his head as he rested his forehead on his palm, his fingers lightly curled between his hair. "Hyung-ah. Thank you." he said, closing his eyes in weariness. 

Chanyeol chuckled as he saw the alcohol kicking in Sehun's system. He stood up and lightly nudged his shoulder. "You're already drunk. Come on, go to bed." 

Sehun was dizzy so he assisted him to get on his bed beside Baekhyun. "Sleep well tonight." he whispered before exiting the room.

He took out his phone and dialed a number as he entered his own room. "Chanyeol hyung." Sejeong said as she answered.

His nose itched as he controlled his laugh. "He's asleep." He said and heard her sigh.

"Really? Is he okay?" 

"Mhm. He is so get yourself some sleep too." he told her.

Her breath was shaking but he could feel her relief through the phone. "Hyung." she muttered.

"Hm?"

"Thank you."

Chanyeol massaged his temples as he felt sleepy from drinking so he laid down his bed, not bothering to slide under the covers. "Anytime."

"Hang up now, Sejeong-ah." he told her and drifted off to sleep as soon as she did.

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Two chapters left, I think. Thanks for reading ^_^