EPHEMERAL || BBH

The Path Along the Trees ?

Ugh, this is unreasonable. I grunted.

I walked towards the door but stopped as soon as I passed by a full length mirror. I was wearing his grey shirt which was of course way too big for me paired with a navy blue plaid pyjamas.

I couldn't remember changing into his clothes last night. I closed my eyes and tried to recall but the last memory I had was us talking by the pool. It's weird. It's strange not being able to remember what happened. And maybe I forced my brain so hard, my head ended up hurting again. Not that it went away anyway.

I gave it up. I decided to just ask Baekhyun about it later.
But first, I need to find him.

I went out of his room, walked through the hallway and stopped on my feet when I was about to take the stairs. I heard voices talking but it was inaudible. I looked around, trying to determine where it's coming from. It took me about a few seconds to know where the sound was originating, his study room. My feet, having a mind of their own, walked towards the room on the right.

My heartbeat was starting to race as I neared the ajar door. My brain crammed as I was finally able to recognize Baekhyun's voice but still couldn't make out of his words. I stopped right in front of the door and about a second after, as if getting my rational senses back, I turned around dismissing the thought of eavesdropping.

"No hyung, tell them to fuck off!"

I almost jumped, stopping on my feet. I closed my eyes, my hands on my chest. I was so surprised by the volume of his voice.

"That's not gonna happen!" He said once more with the same amount of rage in his tone. "No one is telling me what to do."

There was a brief silence and I kept convincing myself to walk away but my feet seemed to be glued on the floor.

"I understand how mad you are right now, Baekhyun but we need to think this through. You gotta calm down."

I was a hundred percent sure that it was Manager Kang.

Silence. I could imagine Baekhyun taking a deep breath.

"From what I found out, Publisher Kim must've known about this all along." Manager Kang added. "I heard she was the one who contacted Ara and told her about your leaked photo with Haewon a couple of months ago."

"What?" The disbelief on Baekhyun's voice was so evident.

"I'm not sure but it seemed that she was the one who convinced her to come back and help out with the mess. I wouldn't be surprised if she was the one who pushed about you and Ara's photo shoot."

"Damnit!" He hissed. "I asked her to clean the mess not to make something worse out of it."

I was startled when I heard a loud thud, it must be his fists on the table or something.

"So, you're telling me..." It was Baekhyun. "You're telling me that this was a set up? That Ara kissed me on purpose and that someone was ready to take a photo of it?"

"Most likely." His manager's answer came is quick.

"Damnit!" He hissed once more, this time louder. "How could I be so stupid?! I can't believe I let them play me. Fuck!"

I heard his heavy breathing as I tried to keep mine steady as well.
Publisher Kim and Ara?

"Hyung..." His voice has softened. "All I want is to be with Hae Won..." I heard his footsteps. "Why does everything have to be this complicated? Is it wrong to fight for something that makes me happy?"

There was a quick pause and it allowed me to feel something gripping my heart.

"I love what I do but why does it seem like chasing after my own happiness is a crime?"