Chanyeol spends the rest of the day panicking. 

Every time he looks to the right, Baekhyun's prescence is overwhelmingly clear. Sehun tries to speak to him, but everytime he turns around, Chanyeol is so out of it that he gives up. The day passes slowly, much to Chanyeol's dismay. 

It's during fifth hour, when Chanyeol gets up to go to the restroom, that he accidentally knocks something off of Baekhyun's desk. He turns and feels blood rushing to his cheeks, too embarrassed to make eye contact with him again.

"Sorry," Chanyeol mumbles. 

Baekhyun looks up at him, dark bangs falling into his eyes. Chanyeol reaches down to grab the paper and put it back on his desk, Baekhyun's somber eyes following his every movement. 

"It's okay," the smaller boy responds. He sounds confused, somehow. 

His voice shocks Chanyeol. It's not deep, but it's definitely not high, and it's smooth. 

Just as Chanyeol snaps himself out of the trance and moves to walk away, Baekhyun grabs his sleeve softly. Chanyeol doesn't know if it's real or if he's imagining it, but his grip seems to tighten after a second. 

Wordlessly, Chanyeol turns back around. Baekhyun's eyes are boring into Chanyeol's, his expression something like desperation and anxiety. 

"Can you help me?" his voice is soft now, so soft and melodic. 

Chanyeol wants to throw off his hand and go to the bathroom like he'd planned to, but something about the look in Baekhyun's eyes makes him falter. The throbbing of his erratic heart isn't helping much, either. 

"With what?" Chanyeol asks hesitantly. It's then that he notices Sehun side-eyeing them, seemingly uninterested. But Chanyeol knows he's fully invested in the conversation between him and the new student. 

"I don't know where to go," Baekhyun answers softly. He's shining again, Chanyeol notices, and he has to drag his eyes off of the other's features in order to nod dumbly. 

"I can show you around the school," Chanyeol offers, words spilling out in a choking way. He wants to die. "If you want, I mean." 

Baekhyun only nods softly, a kind smile spreading across his lips. Chanyeol takes that back, now he wants to die. How is he so ethereal? Chanyeol wonders. 

Chanyeol avoids eye contact with Sehun as he leaves to go to the bathroom, fearing that the blush on his cheeks will give too much away. 

-- 

After a brief pep talk to himself and three handfuls of water splashed onto his face, Chanyeol is feeling more alive. He sits, thinking too hard about the events of today. 

If he's a real person, then have I met him before? No, he answers himself, I don't recognize him from anything else. And he doesn't know me. 

Why won't he tell the teachers where he transferred from? Chanyeol doesn't have an answer for that one. And it makes him nervous because at this point, he should know if Baekhyun gives off any sort of bad vibe. All he can detect is the faint scent of honey and an overwhelming warmth in his eyes and face. 

Why does he make me so nervous? Chanyeol can only guess that it's because he'd never expected to actually meet him, but something deep inside him says otherwise. He knows that the boy has always left a warm feeling in his heart, but he doesn't want to face any other possibilities.

The thing that bothers Chanyeol most is the question of whether Baekhyun is the same as the boy in his dream. They have the same face, but are they the same person? Why did he appear to Chanyeol all those years ago, and why does Baekhyun, someone he's only just met, give him such a familiar feeling? 

He sighs loudly -- too loudly, he realizes, when he remembers there are other boys in the bathroom -- and decides to just show Baekhyun around and try to forget the questions for now. 

All the tiredness from earlier that day had vanished and he was certain that no matter how hard he tried to sleep that night, it'd be useless. He knows he'll have hours to stress over those questions tonight.

He suddenly pictures Baekhyun's soft face, his eyes closed, sleeping peacefully. His heart throbs in an uncomfortable way, and he heads back to class feeling like he's going to explode. 

--- 

The bell rings and Sehun turns around expectantly. 

"Are we walking home together, Yeol?" he asks innocently. Chanyeol knows it isn't. He's only ever called Yeol by the younger when he wants something, or when he's being mischevious. 

"No--" 

He's cut off by the soft touch of Baekhyun's hand on his sleeve again. He can't finish his thought, much less his sentence, as he stares into the pitch black eyes. 

Sehun seems to sense that something about their interaction is off, and he waves before jogging to catch up with Jongin. Chanyeol thinks it's a blessing for Sehun to give up that easily, but he's also doubly scared because now it is just him and the boy he's been dreaming about for years. 

"Yeol?" Baekhyun's voice isn't as soft anymore, but it remains smooth and sweet. Chanyeol thinks it sounds like honey, just like he smells. 

Chanyeol is also going into cardiac arrest. 

"Chanyeol. My friend's just being dumb," he explains quickly, almost too quick, and knows he sounds like a nervous wreck. 

"Oh. Okay." 

It goes really silent then. He can't think of anything else to say, so he watches Baekhyun pack his pencil and three sheets of paper into his backpack with his free hand. Baekhyun tugs his sleeve almost impercetibly, but Chanyeol is so sensitive to everything he does that he notices anyway. 

Chanyeol moves slowly, letting Baekhyun trail behind holding his sleeve. He thinks it's cute how soft Baekhyun is, but he also wishes Baekhyun would be loud and act like a normal teenage boy for a second because he really can't deal with his heart jumping like this anymore. 

"That's the cafeteria, and that's the gym, and over there is the door you're only allowed to use to leave for driver's ed, but I think you're old enough to not have to take that, right?" Chanyeol knows he's rambling, but Baekhyun is watching everything with wide eyes and no comments. 

"Chanyeol, do you know a lot about astronomy?" 

He doesn't, besides the fact that he's a sagittarius. It hits him then that that's astrology, and so he really doesn't know what he's talking about. Does Baekhyun want him to know about astronomy?

"No, not really, why?" is his carefully thought out answer. It sounded better in his head. 

"Oh, just checking. I had some questions, but it's fine." 

Chanyeol nods awkwardly, inwardly reminding himself to buy some books on astronomy soon. He doesn't want to seem stupid in front of Baekhyun, especially now that he knows that he's real, willing to talk to him, and so beautiful. 

"Chanyeol, what time does school start?" Baekhyun lets go of his hold on Chanyeol's sleeve for a split second. Chanyeol feels like he can breathe a little bit easier now. 

"7:30. And it ends around 2:30, but there's a lot of after school activities, so most don't leave until around 4." 

Baekhyun looks up in shock and tightens his grip again. 

"Are you missing after school activities right now? Isn't that bad?" The concern in Baekhyun's voice startles him, but he shakes his head no. 

"I'm not in anything, don't worry!" Chanyeol blushes bright red. If he didn't sound like a weird, dumb loser to Baekhyun before, he knows he does now. 

Baekhyun sighs in relief and smiles the same smile Chanyeol has seen so many times before. The way his cheeks plumpen and his nose scrunches brings a wave of familiarity to Chanyeol, and he suddenly realizes that it's not a dream. If he wanted to, he could smile back, or tell Baekhyun that he has a beautiful smile. He could do anything. 

He doesn't, but it's enough knowing that he can. He's still having too much of a mental breakdown to say anything out loud yet. Baekhyun seems to realize that he's tired very suddenly, yawning and completely letting go of Chanyeol. 

"I'm going to go and nap. I'm so tired," a yawn, "Thank you, Chanyeol. I will see you tomorrow." 

Before Chanyeol can respond, Baekhyun is walking away, short legs surprisingly fast. 

Maybe it's for the best, he thinks, because being around Baekhyun makes it hard for him to function like a normal person. 

-- 

Three days pass. Each day, Baekhyun comes to school at exactly 7:29, says hello to Chanyeol, and then sits there quietly for the rest of the day. He never eats, or jokes, or talks to anyone. 

It kind of scares him. 

"Why is he like that?" Sehun whispers during lunch, right as they leave the classroom. Baekhyun is the only one staying behind because he's "not hungry" and would rather sit alone in silence. 

"I have no idea. I guess he just likes being alone," Chanyeol punctuates this with a shrug. Sehun squints at his best friend, unsure of the legitimaticy of his answer.

"You know, I see the way you look at him," Sehun says pointedly. Chanyeol chokes on air. "Just because you have a little crush on him, are you ignoring the fact that he's a total ing weirdo?" 

Chanyeol punches Sehun's shoulder at that, disapproving of everything his friend just said. He doesn't know whether he's offended for Baekhyun's sake or if he's embarrassed for himself.

"I don't have a crush on him."

Chanyeol knows he blushes when he says it, but Sehun lets it drop. Instead, he seems to turn the focus of their conversation to the first day Baekhyun had showed up to school. 

"What exactly did you show," he stops to make a suggestive hand gesture, "him on the first day?" 

Chanyeol splutters and ignores this question's real meaning. His mind flashes to Baekhyun's small hand around his sleeve, the look on his face as he observed the entire school, the feeling of walking next to the shorter boy.

"I showed him the gym and the cafeteria and where to go for certain classes. Can you ever stop?" 

Sehun shakes his head gravely in a way of saying No, I will never stop. 

--

This is it, Chanyeol decides. That afternoon, he realizes that maybe Baekhyun is a little weird. And so he decides that he must investigate, sans Sehun, into why Baekhyun is the way he is. The list of adjectives that Chanyeol can come up with are as follows: quiet, ethereal, confused, otherworldly. 

And that's why he's walking very quietly and very far away from the literal boy of his dreams down the street. He follows closely enough to watch the way Baekhyun's soft hair shifts with the wind, but far enough away that he can never hear the sound of his feet on the concrete. 

I feel like a stalker. If Sehun were here, he'd say "because you are a stalker," but Chanyeol decides to ignore that. That's one of the reasons he decided this mission was specifiically without his younger friend. 

After what feels like miles of walking, Chanyeol watches Baekhyun take a sharp right into the public park. However, he walks past the park and into the small stretch of woods behind it, disappearing completely into the brush in a matter of seconds. 

Chanyeol is intrigued and slightly terrified. He follows as quietly as he can. About fifteen feet into the brush, he sees Baekhyun sprawled out onto the forest floor, sleeping. 

Chanyeol checks his watch; it's barely even three. Why would Baekhyun need to sleep so suddenly? And here of all places?

He notices that Baekhyun really does sleep like an angel, soft features accentuated by the complete relaxation, and his cheeks light pink despite the chilly weather. It's then that he also notices the fact that Baekhyun is laying a on a blanket, with his backpack as a pillow. And that the grass around the spot seems to be flattened, as if Baekhyun frequented this place for an afternoon nap. 

He knows he can't leave now -- not when he knows that Baekhyun is sleeping in a forest, during November, for no reason. 

Chanyeol sits down on the pile of cold leaves next to him, heart set on waiting for Baekhyun. 

Three hours later, Baekhyun finally wakes up. Chanyeol had moved back to the edge of the trees an hour before so that he wouldn't be noticed when the boy did awaken, and the taller watches with anticipation. His hands are frozen by now, and so he knows the shorter boy must be freezing. 

He sits, waiting for Baekhyun to jump up and run home, ready to act as if he'd just been passing by in the park. 

Except, he doesn't. It's already six, and natural light was fading quickly. Chanyeol begins to panic. Why won't he go home? It'll start getting frigid soon, and he's so worried, and Baekhyun is just sitting quietly on his blanket, staring up at the sky. 

After fifteen minutes, Chanyeol realizes that Baekhyun isn't going home. With frozen hands and a heart that feels like it's combusting into flames, Chanyeol stands. 

"Baekhyun," he calls quietly, trying hard not to scare the boy. 

Baekhyun jumps anyway, suddenly aware that there's someone around him. He looks over in shock, his cheeks and nose red with cold. 

"Chanyeol?" his voice is scratchy. It makes Chanyeol's heart drop a little. 

"Why aren't you going home?" he asks, half watching Baekhyun's face and half focusing on making his way thorugh the brush. Baekhyun blushes then and looks away. 

"Uh, it's a long story," he laughs awkwardly, rubbing obviously cold hands together. "Don't worry about it." 

"Baekhyun, it's really cold out here. Aren't you freezing?" 

Baekhyun's eyes betray him as Chanyeol sees them quiver slighty. No matter what face the shorter is making, Chanyeol knows that he's cold and in pain. 

"Why aren't you going home?" Chanyeol is close now, close enough to lean down and sit on the blanket, too. Baekhyun stares at him with his dark eyes. 

He looks conflicted Chanyeol realizes. As if it's a way to help Baekhyun get over his internal conflict, Chanyeol reaches out to feel Baekhyun's cold hand with his own. 

"I," Baekhyun swallows and looks away again. "I don't really have a house?" 

Chanyeol doesn't know what to say as he feels Baekhyun's chilly hand begin to tremble. 

"Let's go to mine, then," he doesn't know why he's saying this. He's not even sure if his mom will let him have Baekhyun over for dinner, but he knows he has to do somehting. "Come on, let's go." 

And Chanyeol helps Baekhyun fold up his blanket, pick up his backpack, and leads the way out of the trees. 

The entire time, dark eyes follow Chanyeol with wonder and something tender. 

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sdkfjdslkfsldkjflksajflsj i h8 myself bye i hope this is decent !!!!!!! gnight yall its 1am im Tired and wrote two chapters in one night Bye