"Chanyeol is being weird."

It is quite a lovely day, to be honest; the sun shines brightly, the wind breezes softly through the small gap of the window, the perfect amount of low whispers and flipped book pages come from every direction, not to mention the melodic chirping birds just outside their window (this last one is only to make things look more dramatic, though), and Jongin thought it was going to be his perfect day if it’s not because of his best friend’s sudden remark.

Hiding his panics inside, he pretends to be completely focused on his phone. Or not really. In fact, he has been texting Sehun for the last ten minutes so it’s not necessary for him to pretend anyway.

He knows perfectly it’s only a matter of time for Baekhyun to find out that Chanyeol is straight. He could’ve told him, but he chose not to, for the sake of their friendship.

See, there are certain secrets that even best friends keep from each other; things like “Hey, I’m a kleptomaniac and I befriended you so I can steal your things without feeling bad!”, or “I’m actually a secret FBI agent sent to protect you from a gang of Russian Mafias. Ha.”, or “I actually have an identical twin. We have been swapping places for the last 18 years to troll people.”, or just simply “I’m 18 and I still wet my bed.”. But things like “Your crush is straight. You have no chance whatsoever so why don’t you just give up?” lies at the very top of the Things-I-Will-Never-Tell-My-Bestfriend-Even-Though-I’m-About-to-Die list.

A teeny tiny cold sweat starts to roll down Jongin’s temple. He can’t even lift his head to steal a glance at Baekhyun without feeling guilty—even though it’s not really his fault. He calms himself by pretending that tapping a super long- reply to Sehun’s texts are the most interesting thing in the world. (Again, still he doesn’t need to pretend. Replying to Sehun’s texts are the most interesting thing in the world for him. Well, other than Sehun himself of course. Sorry, Baek.).

"He got really quiet and he doesn’t do that creepy laughs of him anymore. Don’t you think it’s weird? I think it’s weird, Chanyeol and quiet shouldn’t be in the same sentence."

Taptaptaptaptap.

"He even barely smiles! Well, he did, but it looked so… awkward and forced. He just sat there working on his equations like I didn’t even exist. He still asks me stuff about the equations and all but that’s it. He sometimes even fidgets when I touch him..."

Taptaptaptaptap.

"Do you think I did something wrong? Am I being too straightforward?" He asks, concern is obvious in his words.

Your very being is an epitome of straightforwardness, Idiot, is what Jongin has at the tip of his tongue, but he decides not to let it out. The apparent sadness in Baekhyun’s voice is far too heart-breaking for him. But still, taptaptaptaptap.

"It is rude to ignore people when they’re talking, Kim Jongin."

Taptaptaptaptap.

"Jongin?"

Taptaptaptaptap.

Baekhyun’s pen flies mid-air as he catapults it and lands painfully on Jongin’s head.

"Ow! The , man?!" Jongin hisses, never expecting a brutal Baekhyun and his pen as an outcome of his perfect(?) acting. His hand massages his poor scalp, but he bends down and picks the pen anyway.

"I am pouring my fragile heart out right here, dude, you’re supposed to be a good friend and listen to me, not ting Sehun. Give me back my pen."

Jongin feels his cheeks and ears flare up red. "We’re not—"

"Give me back my pen."

"You threw it away and I found it lying helplessly on the floor. Founders keepers."

"I found it first in the stationery downtown, and that’s the only pen I have. Give it back." He ignores, not really in the mood of joking around.

Jongin shakes his head with eyes narrowed. But just as he thinks his stupid perfect distraction plan is working, Baekhyun leans his forehead on the table and murmurs "Fine, do whatever you want, I don’t care."

And that is all Jongin needs to realize that Baekhyun’s being too serious. His playful smile disappears right away, replaced with a worried, concerned face. It’s really rare for the forever-happy-and-mischievous Baekhyun to be this gloomy and Jongin has no idea of what he should do. He’s never trained to deal with this side of Baekhyun as this is probably his first time being like this.

For a brief moment they fall on silence, and Jongin just hopes he won’t see Baekhyun’s shoulder bobs up and down indicating he’s crying. Fortunately, he doesn’t. But he sighs. A lot.

"Do you think he’s straight?"

Jongin can hear his heart cracks in two.

"I thought he’s not, but then again I’m not really good at telling people’s ual preferences apart, and I sometimes spot him with this beautiful girl..." Baekhyun lifts his head and sits back rightfully on his chair, eyes roam into nothingness. "But he asked me out for coffee a couple of times, so I think it’s just normal to think that he’s at least, I don’t know, interested too? I guess I was just imagining things, then…"

"Hey, hey..." Jongin reaches out his hand and squeezes Baekhyun’s to comfort him. He starts to dislike Chanyeol, but he knows saying bad things about him, even right now, will never please his bestfriend. "Some people are just so stupid, Baek, and he's one of them. Doesn’t matter whether he’s straight or gay, he’s really an idiot to ignore the most amazing guy he probably will have ever encountered."

The older laughs. "I wish that’s true…"

"It is!" Jongin slaps Baekhyun’s hand lightly to emphasize his point. "You are an amazing guy, Baekhyun, I’m glad I have you as my bestfriend."

"Are you saying that if you’re not my bestfriend and Sehun doesn't claim you, there's a chance you'd fall for me?"

Baekhyun laughs get harder when Jongin immediately pulls his hands away from his with a loud "Ew.", but that laugh is all the younger needs to confirm that Baekhyun is back on track; at least for now.

Jongin takes a mental note to confront Chanyeol later today.

★ ★ ★

A/N

Un-beta'd. Worst chapter EVER. Biggest writer’s block conquers my whole brain. I really don't know what the heck did I write ;A;
I'm really really really really sorry for not updating for weeks and this is all I got to offer you. I deserve to die. Please kill me. /hands you butcher's knives.

Buuut, double updates today. Currently writing the next chapter. Will probably be out within the next 24 hours. Yay?