Chapter 2

Awkward

 

 

Chanyeol doesn’t say much through the entire lunch period. This isn’t completely unusual, due to the fact that he’s usually preoccupied with shoving as much food in his mouth as he can in the span of 30 minutes. Today though, he’s barely eating at all, and his face is scrunched up into an unhappy expression.

Baekhyun notices, but there’s not really anything he can do. He knows Chanyeol pouts sometimes when something doesn’t go exactly the way he plans, and if it wereanyone else other than Kim Jonghyun, Baekhyun would’ve definitely taken him up on his offer.

But it is Kim Jonghyun, and Chanyeol’s just going to have to deal with it. He’ll be over it by tomorrow, Baekhyun is sure of it.

Because he knows Chanyeol better than anyone else.

They’ve been friends for a long time. Chanyeol had moved in next door to him nearly ten years ago. At first, Baekhyun hated the kid, because he was clingy and he always followed him around, begging him to play with him. Baekhyun remembers asking Chanyeol why he never played with any of the other kids and he would always say the same exact thing.

No one else wants to play with me.

Even as a six year old, when you’re supposed to be wild and free and mean to whoever the hell you want, Baekhyun really couldn’t deny the kid. So he put up with Chanyeol. When the other kids wanted to play with Baekhyun, he would bring Chanyeol along and suddenly, no one would want to play anymore. He wondered what it was about Park Chanyeol that made the other kids turn away.

Of course, he was weird, but aren’t all kids weird? Of course, Chanyeol was taller than the average six year old and his eyes bugged out of his head nearly 24/7 but Baekhyun didn’t think he was that strange.

He guessed Chanyeol was just that unlucky one; the one the kids all ganged up against just because they could.

Baekhyun tried to play with the others. He would hang out with Chanyeol for a while and then not so subtly try and sneak away to the other side of the playground, but then Chanyeol would give him that pout. And his weird eyes would droop and he looked absolutely pitiful so Baekhyun would retreat back to him with his head hung in defeat.

Baekhyun recalls spending most of his childhood just trying to get away from Chanyeol. He always found himself wishing the boy would move away or magically find another friend so Baekhyun would finally be free to do what he wanted. Looking back, he really can’t believe how much of an he was, even at six years old.

Then, he remembers when Chanyeol did move away, at the end of elementary school. He remembers that summer being the loneliest summer he’s ever spent. He actually missed the constant pestering of the stupid kid.

And then, as fate would have it, the first day of middle school arrived and there was Chanyeol. And when he saw Baekhyun, he was all rainbows and smiles. And Baekhyun couldn’t help but smile either.

Since then, were almost always together. Baekhyun really liked the fact that at the end of the day, he knew Chanyeol washis best friend and no one else’s and it would stay that way for a long, long time.

But then, things started happening that Baekhyun could’ve never foreseen in a million trillion years.

Chanyeol actually became sort of… popular.

He was still a head taller than everyone in their year. Everyone was begging him to try out for the basketball team and Baekhyun, who smugly thought his clumsy best friend would never do such a thing, got the shock of his life when Chanyeol not only made the team, but became the leading point guard.

Needless to say, Baekhyun was not pleased with this development. He had found of few friends of his own but that fact that Chanyeol, the kid who trailed behind him like a puppy for years, was now practically ignoring him did not sit well with the older boy.

As soon as basketball season was over, Baekhyun made sure to swoop in a take Chanyeol back before anyone else could even get a word in. He knew he was being selfish, but for years Chanyeol had depended on Baekhyun as his only friend and he just couldn’t let go of the fact that he didn’t feel needed anymore.

Do you like basketball that much, Yeol?” Baekhyun had asked him. “Because I think next year, we should do something else during winter quarter.”

He had successfully guilt-tripped his best friend into never playing basketball again. He felt like a demanding, jealous girlfriend when he thought about it now, but he was glad he did it because Chanyeol was his and his only and he’d be damned if he let anyone take him away from him.

Baekhyun needed Chanyeol. He admitted it to himself long ago. He was fairly certain he wouldn’t have survived middle school without him. . Baekhyun had struggled with his uality upon entering 6th grade. In a time when all boys wanted was to think about girls, look at girls, and maybe even touch girls, Baekhyun found out he couldn’t care less.

Byun Baekhyun forgets a lot of things. But he would never, ever forget the day he came out to his best friend.

He was fourteen and he and Chanyeol were walking home like they always did and suddenly he felt this really heavy weight on his chest like he was suffocating and he opened his mouth and it just sort of spilled out. Then, after he realized what he had said he kind of just started crying and crying Baekhyun was not a good look at all and Chanyeol was patting his back and they were in the middle of the ing street and people were shooting them weird looks. Then, and this is the part that Baekhyun remembers crystal clear, like it was yesterday, Chanyeol put his hands of Baekhyun’s cheeks and gave him the brightest smile he can ever remember seeing on anyone and even though Baekhyun was still crying and sniffling, Chanyeol laughed. And then he said, “Why are you crying, pabo? As long as well still be friends, I dont mind!

Yeah, Park Chanyeol was the best friend anyone could ever ask for.

Now, everyone knows not to mess with him. Chanyeol’s social skills are not the best; he’s too loud and he’s very touchy so a lot of people steer clear of him. If anyone tries to berate him, they know they’ll have all of Baekhyun’s 173 cms on their case. Chanyeol hangs out with Baekhyun’s friends, and his one weirdo friend from Applied Calculus that Baekhyun doesn’t see any harm in.

He knows it’s selfish and sometimes he feels guilty, but Chanyeol assures him that Baekhyun is the only best friend he’ll ever want or need.

Which is why Baekhyun feels sort of maybe a little guilty for so blatantly ignoring him earlier.

He turns to where Chanyeol had been sitting earlier only to find that the boy is long gone. He turns to Kai and Sehun quizzically.

“Where’d Chanyeol go?”

Kai snorts and Sehun shrugs.

“He left like ten minutes ago,” Kai says smartly. “But you were too busy in Jonghyun Land to even notice.”

They're both giving him that look. The one that says you’re a bad friend that they always do when Chanyeol is pouting about something or other. Baekhyun’s protectiveness over Chanyeol has definitely rubbed off onto everyone else.

He’ll get over it. Baekhyun tells himself. He always does.

So he wonders why he’s suddenly lost his appetite and the euphoria from his earlier interaction with his crush has worn away completely.  



 

WOW. i really didn't exepct to update this early but i had time before i left for school so uhm... here you go.

it's a past chapter yay. those are always fun. just sort of stuff that had to be put in there but it's not very interesting so... idk. 

yay. my AN is short for once. there might even be another chapter tonight! idk. whooo knowws. 

~Ari

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jinkirei
first chapter will probably maybe hopefully be up tonight~

Comments

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qinwang #1
thank youui
idk----
#2
thank you for the story!
Aezxmin
174 streak #3
Chapter 18: Ohhh another case of "miscommunication"

If you love someone, you have to say and prove it.
itzmeguyz
161 streak #4
Chapter 19: this is so beautiful... thank you >333
xiaonara
#5
Chapter 19: This story is beautiful im crying......