Hello~

As promised, here's the tenth chapter, the second one of tble update :D If you haven't read the previous chapter, go and read that first! This chapter is a continuation of the nineth chapter.

I hope, you'll enjoy reading this chapter. It's a bit emotional and has a surprise in it. So be ready ;)

That's all. I'll stop my nonsense right here! Happy reading~

The Contract.

Jongdae saw his car moving and that's when it hit him that Baekhyun had stolen his car keys!

"There he goes, again! When is he going to stop doing that!?" Jongdae said, exasperated.

That's when Luhan noticed Baekhyun driving out of the college gate and immediately he was on his feet, running with all his might! Jongdae's brain refused to process anything but his legs were faster than the processing speed of his brain!

"Why the hell are YOU running now?" Jongdae asked whilst running behind his friend.

"Are you on drugs or something? Baekhyun just drove out of here!" Luhan unlocked his car and hopped in. Jongdae followed him and took a seat in the passenger's seat.

"So?" Jongdae was confused now.

"Kim Jongdae, that guy doesn't have a license and you know how he drives!" Luhan snarled.

Jongdae's mouth fell open when he realized it and started hurrying Luhan to follow Baekhyun. They were definitely not surprised to see that Baekhyun was already out of their sight within minutes!

"He's going to get into trouble, again." Luhan sighed while pressing hard on the accelerator.

"There!" Jongdae pointed out the racing car, dodging the traffic expertly.

"Jongdae, I'm pulling over. Take over the wheel and drive. I can't chase a racer like him." Without waiting for Jongdae's reply Luhan stopped the car and jumped out to run to the other side. Jongdae immediately slipped into the driver's seat and accelerated in the direction where they had seen Baekhyun for the last.

Not paying attention to any of the traffic rules, Baekhyun drove towards his house, with heaving breath. He was agitated at his mother but he was worried too!

Kicking open the front door, he ran through the living room and went upstairs taking three steps at a time. He was about to rush off into his father's bedroom when he was stopped in the middle. He looked down to see his mother's strict face and something told him that he was tricked. Before he could give everything a little thought, he was pulled in into a nearby room and this action confirmed his doubts.

He glared at his mother and opened his mouth to say something when she unceremoniously threw a phone at him. A bit puzzled at this, he looked down at the phone he had successfully caught. The phone was ringing and it was from an unknown number. Not very sure of what his mother had gotten him into, he accepted the call.

"Hello."

"Baekhyun oppa?" he heard a sweet voice from the other side. His face scrunched in confusion and he had no idea about what to do. So he decided to talk.

"Yes. Who's this?" He asked.

"Oppa, it's me, Chaerin." The girl replied. His brows furrowed further. He didn't have to think a lot because his mother handed him a picture of a girl. He recognized the picture, the girl, she was very familiar and then remembered about the girl. Immediately he ended the call and turned to his mother.

"I TOLD YOU ALREADY! I'M NOT INTERESTED. WHY DON'T YOU LET ME LIVE IN PEACE!" Baekhyun shouted at her.

"Calm down Baekhyun. You have no option. Only Chaerin has a say in this." An important fact slipped out of but she tried covering it up by hurriedly continuing.

"This marriage is a contract and I've already signed it. You have no escape."

The phone started ringing again. Baekhyun ignored it and continued to glare at his mother.

"You can sell yourself off if you want. Don't bother me!" Baekhyun's voiced dropped octaves lower. His eyes grew cold and his glares were scaring Mrs. Byun. But she stood her ground.

"That is no way of talking to your elders, Baekhyun! Is this what your mother taught you?" She seethed.

Baekhyun scoffed at her and whispered painfully.

"Mother!" And the next moment he was out of the door.

The phone started ringing again and he could no longer ignore it. He didn't want to blast at the girl, who was younger than him! But he had to let her know that he is not interested. His thoughts conflicted and he couldn't get anything straight. Soon his friends barged in through the door and came rushing to him.

"What the hell were yo-" Luhan stopped the moment he saw the troubled expression on his friend's face. All worries about getting into trouble for breaking traffic rules were forgotten. Jongdae who was just behind Luhan, who was facing Baekhyun, took note of the ringing phone in Baekhyun's hand, which surely wasn't his own.

"What's wrong? Why are you not answering the call?" Jongdae asked.

"I can't... I'll hurt her if I talk to her... I can't..." Baekhyun was whispering now and his eyes were teary. Jongdae snatched the phone and put it on the table beside the bed. Luhan pulled Baekhyun to sit down and hugged him tightly, rubbing his arms, trying to soothe him. Jongdae kneeled in front of him and pulled his hands from around Luhan to make him turn around and face him.

"Calm down, Baek. Everything's gonna be fine. Just tell us what's wrong." Jongdae said while drawing circles on Baekhyun's palms to make him feel better.

"Chen!" Baekhyun had calmed down a bit but still the worries lingered in his brain, refusing to go away!

"Do you remember what happened yesterday morning?" Baekhyun asked when he was completely okay.

Jongdae scoffed.

"So this is about your mother. What is she up to now? Tell us everything. Right from the scratch, hmm?" Jongdae said. Luhan was not aware of these events and Jongdae wanted him to know.

"Yesterday, that envelope, it was a marriage proposal. It had a photo of the girl and other related details. Today, she tricked me to believe that Dad met with an accident and she asked me to hurry back home... When I got back, she pulled me away into her room and handed over that phone. I didn't understand anything so I received the call and asked who it was on the other side. That's when mother held a photo to my face and I came to know what this was all about. I cut the call and told her that I was not interested. But she remained stubborn and after a few minutes, she revealed that it was a contract. Sh-she si-signed... a con-contract. I am stu-stuck... No way ou-t... She also..." Not completing the sentence, Baekhyun continued to cry, burying his face in Luhan's embrace.

Jongdae sighed and decided to answer the call. When Luhan tried to stop him, he gave a reassuring nod and proceeded towards the ringing phone.

"Hello."

"Hello. Baekhyun oppa?" He heard the girl's worried voice.

"Hmm... It's Chen here. Baekhyun's not feeling well. Can you call later?" Jongdae told the girl.

"What? What happened to him? Should I come over? Should I-" Jongdae cut her off.

"No no. You don't have to. We will take care of him. For now, please don't call. I'll ask him to call you later okay?" Jongdae sweetly said and stopped her from rushing over to Baekhyun's place.

"O-okay. Please take good care of him." He heard the girl's soft yet worried voice before the call ended.

Jongdae turned around to face Luhan with a shocked face, eyes opened wide to their limits. Luhan didn't understand the look and also he wasn't very sure of why Jongdae even bothered to cajole the girl. He questioningly looked at Jongdae and waited until Jongdae started speaking.

"She is- she is a small girl Luhan! I'm-I'm not even sure if she's 18!" Jongdae held his face in his hands and sighed heavily.

She is not. She is not 18, yet! Baekhyun felt like yelling.

"I-I couldn't bring myself to tell the t-truth. She sounds innocent and for sure the news will break her heart. She wouldn't even understand if we tried to explain things. Damn it!" Jongdae stomped his foot and tugged at his hair to get his brain to forget the little girl's sweet voice.

By now, Luhan was completely out of it and seething in anger.

That woman is such a heartless ! He cursed Baekhyun's mother in his mind.

"Guys, I need to tell you something else too. There's more to this mess that I am in right now!" Baekhyun said while trying his best to stop the tears from rolling down.

Luhan and Jongdae were surprised about it. They were his best friends and there was nothing the duo didn't know of. Any secrets of Baekhyun was known to either of them and by the looks of it, whatever is Baekhyun going to unveil now was kept from the both of them. Both of them unsure, looked at Baekhyun who was looking back at them, determined to reveal everything.

Not waiting for their response anymore, Baekhyun starts speaking.

"This was a long time ago. Around 8 years back from now, I'm not very sure. This contract, it was signed by mother back then, I suppose. I'm not certain about that either. I thought that topic had died down right when it had popped up. This is going to be a bit sudden and much more shocking, but please try to understand the situation. Please okay?" Baekhyun had taken to begging now. And unable to see him in such a way, the other two nodded assertively.

Baekhyun then continued.

[Flashback->]

A young Baekhyun walked excitedly alongside his father, into the mansion. They were welcomed warmly right at the entrance of the bungalow. Baekhyun's eyes met a familiar pair of round and wide eyes. A slight smile took over his lips, which was ignored! He felt bad but held himself back from voicing it out. Once they were settled down in the leaving room, he again tried smiling at the other boy who again ignored him. Noticing the slight interaction between the boys and knowing very well about the two, the boy's mother called out to him.

"Kyungie, don't you know Baekhyun here? I'm sure you do." She paused for a few seconds and again resumed talking.

"Son, take him over to your room and play with him. Go." Her voice sounded strict but definitely not harsh or cruel.

The little boy made a face at that but nonetheless, complied with his mother's orders. He passed a brief look to Baekhyun and started moving up the stairs. It was an enough signal to Baekhyun, so he followed the other to his room. Once they reached the room, Baekhyun burst out laughing, causing the other to scrunch up his face in confusion.

"Kyun- Kyung- Kyungie?" Baekhyun laughed out again now eliciting an angry growl from the other.

"Kyungie~ It's nice~" Baekhyun said as soon as he recovered from his laughing bout.

"Don't you dare!" he heard a warning from the other boy.

"Kyungie Kyungie kyungie kyungie~" Baekhyun sang his name, now making him disappointed. The smaller dejectedly walked to his bed and sighed. He looked very sad.

Probably because I too much about the endearment. Baekhyun thought. He walked over to the bed and sat beside him while holding his ears and apologizing.

"I'm sorry. I was just doing it for fun... I was kidding~" By the end, he had taken to whining cutely while still holding his ears.

He was soon forgiven and this lifted Baekhyun's mood back up. He moved over closer to the other and said,

"If you don't like me calling that, then I'll call you Soo. Soo~" Baekhyun sang again.

"Shut up, Baekhyun! I hate you!" He heard the other's reply.

"What did I ever do to you? Why do you hate me, Soo~" Baekhyun whined again, enjoying the expressions on display.

"Don't call me that. And don't tell me you don't remember what you did!" Kyungsoo replied angrily.

"What! What did I do?" Baekhyun was serious now. He doesn't remember anything.

"Who was the one that focused on tripping me over while I walked out of the classroom? How do you explain that?" Kyungsoo asked haughtily.

Baekhyun's mind started working with over speed and in seconds he remembered that one time Kyungsoo was tripped over and Baekhyun had been around the fallen boy.

"What? That wasn't me? Who told you that?" Baekhyun asked utterly shocked.

"Who told me is not important. Who did that to me is very much important." Kyungsoo growled.

"That's what I'm saying! That wasn't me... It was Taemin!" Baekhyun said, still surprised for being accused of doing something that he would never ever do in his lifetime!

"What? It wasn't y- Oh, please! Don't try to lie now." Kyungsoo refused to believe him.

"I swear, Soo. It wasn't me... I was the one trying to stop that from happening..." Baekhyun replied earnestly.

Kyungsoo looked at him for a few minutes with scrutinizing gaze and then sighed again.

"Okay. I believe you." Kyungsoo finally decided to trust the guy for once and let the matter slide away.

"Thank you." Baekhyun smiled.

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