Chanyeol couldn’t get the thought of Baekhyun wearing his jacket out of his head and it only led to misery. He tried. He’d been trying for weeks, but he always found his mind wandering down the same road. Why was his note--so carefully placed in the pocket of the jacket Baekhyun now found time to wear everywhere--ignored? Maybe the rumors were true. Maybe Jongdae was Baekhyun’s boyfriend after all and Baekhyun chose not to answer the note? No. That couldn’t be it. But, he had ignored the jacket on the ice. But, he ignored other things too! Maybe Kyungsoo had been right, maybe this really had been a bad idea. How could Kyungsoo let him do this?

Chanyeol leaned against the wall of the practice and idly plucked at the strings of his guitar, while the rest of his bandmates finished setting up his equipment. He was quiet, had been quiet for the last three days, which was unusual, and everyone noticed. Mentions of Baekhyun in any conversation ceased to exist. Even when Sehun had purposely asked about the numerous television appearances and magazine interviews as the season led up to Four Continents that Baekhyun did while wearing the jacket, The Jacket, Chanyeol simply changed the subject. After three days of contemplating, Chanyeol had made up his mind and his heart couldn’t handle the rejection.

“It’s weird to see you quiet,” Sehun said, plucking idly at the strings of his bass. He was still attempting to tune it and usually, Chanyeol would have just grabbed the instrument already, but he made no such attempt. “I didn’t think you ever stopped talking. You certainly didn’t that one time we shoved socks in your mouth.”

“And you still hadn’t that one time we found you giving a to...oh what was his name…” Minho teased, tapping lightly on his kit’s cymbals.

“Enough!” Chanyeol shouted. “I get it. Can we please just try and get this practice started instead of roasting me?”

“Dude, seriously,” Minho said. “You need to snap out of whatever this is.”

“If it keeps him from obsessing over his skater boy, I could get behind this,” Kyungsoo said, receiving a sharp elbow to the gut from Sehun. He glared back at Sehun.

Chanyeol groaned. “You’re all awful and I hate you.”

“No you don’t,” Sehun replied. “Now, shut it and play the guitar. I call this practice of SMACKS to order.”

“Who made you leader? I thought that was Chanyeol?” Minho retorted. “If we’re going to pick a new leader, we should have a proper vote on it!”

“We aren’t picking a new leader--” Chanyeol began, but was cut off.

“Chanyeol lost his spot as leader when he decided to mope,” Kyungsoo snarked, which only further irritated Chanyeol. “Sehun, call the song.”

“Ok. Let’s take it from the top of “Call Me Baby.”

Chanyeol stared at Sehun. “Really?”

“What? It’s a legitimate song we play,” Sehun retorted,  trying to fight the giggles that threatened to overtake him at Chanyeol’s misery.

“He is right,” Minho said, gesturing to Sehun with his sticks.

“Just because you’re waiting for someone to call you baby, doesn’t mean we have to skip it in practice,” Sehun continued.

“Exactly.” Minho nodded.

“Are you going to count us in or not?” Kyungsoo shouted, breaking the tension between the three.

“ Fine. Minho, count us in,” Sehun replied, smirking.

They played through the song, Chanyeol hit all of the right chords and stayed on beat, but the sound was off.

“Could you at least try?” Kyungsoo said after they finished the first run. “Hitting the right chords is fine, but it still sounds like if there’s no emotion.”

“Give him a break,” Sehun chimed in. “He’s heartbroken.”

“He can’t be heartbroken. He wasn’t actually dating anyone,” Kyungsoo fired back.

Chanyeol threw his hands in the air. “Fine. You’re right. Let’s take it from the top again and I’ll work on it.”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, shaking his head. Chanyeol’s phone vibrated in his pocket, but he ignored it as Minho started the countdown again. He took a deep breath, letting the feeling of Sehun’s baseline and Minho’s beat make their way into his body. He began playing, letting his fingers walk the familiar path of strings. He closed his eyes and tried to let his once flirtatious feelings for Byun Baekhyun make their way into his playing.

“Stop! Stop!” Kyungsoo called before the second verse had even finished. “Let’s just take a break.”

“But! We only just started practice half an hour ago,” Minho said.

“I’m aware of that, but someone needs to get his head together before we go any further.”

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol said. “It’s not like I anticipated this.”

“It’s fine,” Sehun said. “We’ll just take five and try again...Maybe...a different song this time...”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol agreed.

“But we only have the practice room reserved for another forty-five minutes,” Minho said, arms crossed over his chest.

“Chill, it’s not like the music department is going to kick us out if we run five minutes over,” Sehun responded. “Come on. Give him a minute to collect himself.”

The band dispersed and Chanyeol hopped up to sit on top of his amp, slouching against the practice room wall. His phone buzzed again, and he pulled it free from his pocket, looking at the notification on the screen from a number he didn’t recognize. He unlocked the phone and stared at the message.

‘So what’s the name of the mystery person I should be thanking for my new jacket?’ Chanyeol read the message over and over, the words on the screen in front of him not making any sense. There was no way this was real. Another joke at his expense. He knew his friends poked fun at his undying love for Baekhyun, but this was taking it too far.

He didn’t register the sounds of his bandmates returning to the room until a hand waving in front of his face, Sehun’s hand, brought him back.

“Dude, you’re still really out of it,” Minho said, patting him on the shoulder as he walked over to sit behind the drum kit.

Chanyeol took one more look at the message on the screen before pocketing the phone and sliding down from his amp. He’d deal with this later. He grabbed his guitar, throwing the strap over his head, and plucked at the strings. “I’m sorry,” Chanyeol said. “I promise I’ll be better this time.”

“You better be,” Kyungsoo said, he rolled his eyes. “Let’s take it from the top of ‘Love Me Right.’ Minho, count it down.”

“One, two, three, four…” Minho clicked his sticks above his head and hit the first beat on the bass drum and they were off.