Baekhyun POV

“Baek, I like you. Heck, I think I love you for a long time now.”

I am shocked to hear the sudden confession. Am I hearing it right? But, he can’t… I am dating Tae-noona now. If the public find out, Chanyeol will have bad image. I can’t do this to him. “Chan…I -…” Before I could say anything else, he cut me again.

“Baek, I have loved you since the first day you join SM. I know now might not be the best time but I can’t surpress my feeling anymore. Not after seeing you hurting like this. I want to protect you; I want to take away all your pain if I can. Please, can you give us a chance?”

“I- I…” I really want to say yes but I know I can’t. Not when I am still dating Tae-noona in the public eyes. Not when the issue with Chanmi is not resolved yet. “I can’t, Yeol. We can’t. I have girlfriend.” I balled my palm until it hurts but it is nothing compared to the pain in my heart. I look away to avoid his staring eyes.

“Bull! It is only publicity. She is not even your real girlfriend. Please, Baek. I can accept it if you reject me because you don’t have feeling for me. But, not this bull. I can’t…No, I refuse to accept it!” He tightens his grip on my shoulder.

“Yeol, you are hurting me.” I say and he immediately softens the grip and mumbles a quiet sorry. “I’m sorry Yeol but I really can’t. You can find someone better than me. I am too mess up for you now.” I quickly run to the door after saying that.

I am sorry Yeol. Please just wait for a little while. I promise I will come back to you once I take care of this problem.That is if you still want me by then.

I run to the bathroom and call Kyungsoo afterward. “Soo, I – I need you...” I say as soon as he picks up the call.

“Baek, where are you? Are you crying? I am coming now.”

I tell him my location and hang up the call. Kyungsoo arrives soon and he immediately kneels down in front of me and buries my head on his chest. “What happen? Did she do something to you again? I swear I will kill her.”

I tell him everything in between my sobs. Luckily, he is able to catch on what I said.

“You are stupid Baek. Why did you reject him?”

“I can’t Soo. It’s not fair on him. I have to break up with Tae-noona before I accept him. And I can’t do it now. The company won’t allow it. And…there is still Chanmi. I need to do something about her. I can’t put Chanyeol in the middle of our issue. It would be hard on him if I decide to date him now. I can’t make him turn against his sister too. It would be too much for him.” I pour out all of my feeling to Kyungsoo.

“Baek, you can be selfish for once. Don’t always think of everyone else. Think of yourself as well for once. Why do you keep hurting yourself? Do you ever think that Chanyeol would be hurting too because of your rejection?”

“Soo, I – I…”

“It’s okay Baek. You don’t have to answer me but just promise me you will think about it. Okay? Everything will be fine.” I nod as a response. “Let’s get you fix and go to practice now.”

***

The practice went pretty awkward for them. Chanyeol keeps on stealing glances to Baekhyun while Baekhyun tries his hardest to avoid him. Kyungsoo being the good friend he is to both of them, he tries to keep talking to them. But he is naturally not a talkative person, so it didn’t last long before no one is even talking anymore. Even the dance instructor feels awkward and dismisses them earlier than expected.

Three of them pack up their stuff and prepare to head back to dorm. Kyungsoo take out his phone to inform Manager-hyung so that he can drive them back to the dorm.

“Manager-hyung is not here yet. He will take an hour more to reach here with the car. Guess, we have to wait for him since he prohibited us to walk alone with out any guard for the time being.” Kyungsoo says once he ends the call.

“I brought my car here. I can drop you off at the dorm before I head to my studio.” Chanyeol offers them. Kyungsoo immediately lighten up by hearing that but drops his smile once he remembered the issue between the two of his friends. He looks over to Baekhyun who is still looking down at the corner of the practice room.

“Baek, what do you say? Do you want to wait or go with Yeol? I will follow whatever you want.” He smiles at Baekhyun.

“I- I..” Baekhyun looks up and meets Chanyeol’s eyes before diverting his eyes to Kyungsoo. He knows that his friend is tired and wants to reach the dorm as soon as possible. “You don’t have to keep me company all the time, Soo. You can go with Chanyeol. I will wait for Manager-hyung here.”

“Then I will also stay. You can go first, Yeol-ah.” Kyungsoo sits beside Baekhyun to show his determination.

“No. No…” Baekhyun immediately feels guilty.

“Just come with us so you can rest earlier, Baek. I can see that you are tired.” Chanyeol says quietly but enough for them to hear it.

“Yeah. I am tired too but if you want to stay then I will stay. I guess fainting here is not that bad afterall.”Kyungsoo says dramaticly. He wants their friend to reconcile as soon as possible. He can see that both of them are hurting.

Baekhyun looks at his friend for a while a