Hey guys! Sorry it took so long ,I WAS SLACKING THIS TIME ,I apologize ,hopefully this is long enough to make up for it T_T

OTL

# 22

"I don't really understand it,why didn't he just tell me about it?" Lay sighed as Tao asked him this question for the twentieth time that night,after that rather eventful day with Baekhyun's shocking marriage announcement Tao had been oddly silent the rest of the day after the argument with the smaller boy.

Lay had mentioned to Kris that he would take Tao with him for the night so he wouldn't be alone,and then had gotten a call from Suho who was with Baekhyun and learn the whole story,he wish he hadn't heard the truth but now that he had,he would have to make the hardheaded Tao understand, as soon as Tao had gotten settled he began to question Baekhyun's reasoning for keeping it to himself,Lay moved over from his spot at his desk ,so that he was sitting on the bed where Tao laid staring at the ceiling ,he grabbed Tao's hand and sighed,pulling Tao into a sitting position ,the younger just stared at the comforter.

"Tao listen,Baek has been having family trouble,remember his twin brother Daehyun?" Tao nodded bringing his dark eyes up to meet Lay's "What about him?" The way Tao spoke was unnerving the younger was more upset at this than they thought. "Well see I learned from Suho,that  Daehyun had a boyfriend named Youngjae,when Baek and Dae's father found out,he blackmailed Youngjae and promised to protect Youngjae's family but Daehyun would have to make Youngjae hate him in return." Tao nodded to show he was listening,his heart racing at Lay's words,was there a possible connection to Daehyun and Youngjae's story to his and Baekhyun's problems?

"What happened?" Tao asked shakily after a moment,his hand in Lay's gripping slightly,Lay thought back to what Suho had learned from Baekhyun a few hours ago after school. "The blackmail was that if Daehyun ever contacted Youngjae again,he would see to it that Youngjae's family would be stripped from their home,their business shut down and Youngjae's family on the street." Tao's eyes widened at the cruelness of Baekhyun's father.

"So Daehyun did as asked and got Youngjae to hate him. Though it broke him." Tao looked down and remembered how Baekhyun started ignoring him suddenly,he shot up and was standing in the middle of the room with wide eyes.

"So you mean Baekhyun was trying to make me hate him so his father couldn't hurt me?" Before Lay could speak Tao kept on. "Then the marriage? Is that a farce or for real? Did his father force him into the engagement? I can talk to him,tell him that I love him and maybe his dad will acc-" Lay stood and placed his hands on Tao's shoulders.

"Stop right there TaoTao. Look I know you like Baekhyun and we know he likes you,but please don't give Baekhyun trouble,he's trying to protect you from his dad,don't mess it up for him,and you heard what happened between Daehyun and Youngjae,do want that to happen with you and Baekhyun if he finds out you like each other?" Tao bit his lip and his eyes began to water up..

"But...I...I miss him..."He spoke ,his voice quivering with unshed tears,Lay pulled him into a hug. "It'll be okay,Baekhyun is a smart kid,he'll think of something,just don't give up on him and keep quiet okay?" Tao nodded his head and sat on the bed looking at the floor,Lay sighed and hoped Suho was faring better.
~
Suho felt like slamming his head against his wall,if Baekhyun said there is nothing he can do one more time,he was ranting, raving and ignoring all advice,he was being a stubborn headed pig right now,Suho was gonna strangle him,honestly this kid is so worried about keeping Tao a secret from his dad,he hasn't stopped to figure out a way to stop his father's reign of terror. What Suho was about to say next he knew he would feel sorry towards Chanyeol for using him in such a way,but he knew Chanyeol would've done the same.

"Do you want to end up like Chanyeol?" Was all he said,Baekhyun looked up with wide eyes and stood. "What do you mean 'end up like Chanyeol'?" Suho stood and grabbed a photo in a photo album. "Remember this Chanyeol? This one before the bullies,this one before Kris ignored him,this one before his father left him and his mother became a drunk?" Baekhyun shut his eyes tight at the memories of Chanyeol's unknown pain.

"Stop! What's happening to me is nothing like Chanyeol's problem!" Baekhyun yelled.

Suho clenched his teeth together and walked closer,shoving the picture of Chanyeol smiling like an idiot into Baekhyun's face. "Do you want to end up like him? Keeping your problems quiet? letting your parents ruin your life,having the one you love ignore you or hate you?"

Baekhyun shook his head as Suho grabbed his phone with a recent picture of Chanyeol.

"Take a good long look at what it did to him Baekhyun!" Suho shoved the phone at Baekhyun,he didn't want too look,so he  tightly shut his eyes. Suho grabbed his hand and placed the phone into Baekhyun's hand. "Look Baekhyun! Look at what keeping his problems to himself and letting them run his life did to him!" Baekhyun gasped as tears flooded his eyes at the picture.

Suho had taken it when Chanyeol was in the hospital before he had talked to Kris,Chanyeol's eyes looked empty,there was no smile just a small upturn of his lips,he was pale, skinny and had dark circles under his eyes,his usual fluffy hair was stringy and worst of all Chanyeol looked dead trying to force himself to smile.

 Suho sat beside Baekhyun who had sat down staring wide eyed at the photo and placed an arm around his shoulders.

"The happiest one of our group ,the one who always has advice and will help anyone if he can,he'll give someone the shirt off his back if he can,and he tried to kill himself because he did nothing about it,and now you're starting to act just like him,hiding your troubles,if only he hadn't tried to keep his bullying a secret,maybe then would Chanyeol still smile as brightly as he use too,he wouldn't have tried to..to..." Suho couldn't finish his words but Baekhyun understood him clearly. 'Then Chanyeol wouldn't have tried to commit suicide'.

~

Chanyeol sighed as he sat on his bed in Kris's house,everything was a disaster ,it seemed things kept going on with everyone ever since his incident,he couldn't help but feel if everything that was happening was his fault,when he had expressed this to Kris,the older has hugged him tightly and assured him nothing was his fault,but that small grain of doubt was still implanted into Chanyeol's head.

There was a strain on their friendship,all twelve of them,Xiumin and Chen were acting distant lately,Lay and Suho had been keeping a relationship secret,Luhan, and Sehun decided until things with Chanyeol,Baekhyun,Tao and Kris were worked out they've kept to themselves,Kai got mad at them for 'abandoning' the group though they tried to assure him it wasn't like that and Kyungsoo was strangely silent,Kris tried to act like everything was okay but Chanyeol could see the way Kris's eyes would sadden when the boys would sit at seperate tables and what not during lunch.

Chanyeol's cousin Sungyeol had been hanging out with his boyfriend and friends lately so they were hardly ever there,of course Sungyeol made sure to keep his eye on Chanyeol. And Chanyeol himself felt like he may have ruin lots of lives with his decisions.

He sighed and broke from his thoughts,pulling his knees to his chest and locking them in place with his arms,he laid his head back against the wall and his cheeks puffed up and he blew out a sigh. "Chanyeol?" He looked over to see Kris in his open doorway,he nodded and motioned for Kris to sit down beside him. Kris said nothing but felt a warmth spread across his neck as Chanyeol laid his head on his shoulder. He looked down at the top of the slightly shorter male's head from his view. "What's wrong?"

Chanyeol sighed. "Hyung,have you ever felt that you were responsible for ruining someone's life?" Kris inwardly sighed,they had been through this,he pulled away from Chanyeol and turned to sit in front of him,luckily the bed was large enough to do so.

"Chanyeol,listen when you....when I found out that you...." Kris was trying to find the right words,he couldn't bring himself to speak those words,but he knew he'd have to make Chanyeol stop blaming himself for the way their friends were acting. With the exception of Suho,Lay and Kai,those three had stuck by them and not got involved in other problems.

"Kill myself?" Chanyeol asked innocently,he was the one who was still able to say the words without much flinching or hesitation,Kris figured it was Chanyeol's way of coping,by joking.

"Yeah that,when that happened. I had been ignoring you,going to games and parties,when your mom called I had been drunk,I was annoyed at first,then she told me what you did...and I felt a crushing guilt ,a guilt so bad I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy and felt that what happened to you was all my fault."Chanyeol shook his head with widened eyes and made to speak but Kris held a hand up,he needed to get this out.

"Then I saw you and I felt horrible,I had thought to myself , I ruined his life,I couldn't protect him,what hurt the most is when you forgave me and finally smiled at me. I couldn't take it,I was horrified that you could still smile at me after everything I had done to you,but you said it was your own decision,that it wasn't my fault. So Chanyeol listen to me,our friends are all holding their own problems that they need to work out.

It's not in our control Chanyeol, happens and we have to fight through it. What is going on with Baekhyun and his engagement,was his father's fault,not yours,Xiumin and Chen's problem seems personal,so not your fault,Kai and Kyungsoo are acting weird as well,but nothing involves us,Luhan and Sehun will come around,they're just not sure what to do about everyone's on end tempers lately." Chanyeol nodded listening carefully to Kris's words.

He then smiled,Kris gave him a confused look,Kris's eyes widened as Chanyeol pulled him down,Kris let out a 'oof' sound, with his eyes closed , he opened his when he felt arms wrap around his neck,he looked down to see Chanyeol smiling up at him,he then realized he was laying on top of Chanyeol,he stared at Chanyeol for a moment,taking in the boy's feminine features and big eyes,he slowly began to smile back,slowly his head lowered to Chanyeol's.

He stopped just over Chanyeol's lips,his eyes still staring into Chanyeol's,he watched Chanyeol playfully roll his eyes and he felt a tug on his neck as their lips melted together,he sunk in on top of Chanyeol comfortably without squishing him,they didn't notice the sound of the front door opening or the sound of footsteps on the stairs.

"Oh my Chanyeollie I have a surprise fo-" Sungyeol's eyes widened and he let out an awkward cough as Kris and Chanyeol broke apart blushing,Sungyeol let out an awkward laugh and held up a box. "Chocolate cake?" Chanyeol just glared at his cousin,mortified at being caught,Kris looked red but pretended to not be affected,Sungyeol inwardly snorted.

He sighed when they said nothing. "Oh come on,how many times have you walked in on me and Myungsoo? It's not that weird, cuz!" Chanyeol's blush deepened. Sungyeol sighed and rolled his eyes. "Look why don't you two stop being embarrassed and collect yourselves,Myungsoo and I will start cutting some cake,come down when you've calmed down." They blinked confusedly at that and he pointed down,both looked at their own pants and their blushes multiplied,Chanyeol pulled a blanket over himself as Kris crossed his legs and placed a pillow atop himself. He laughed loud and hard as he left downstairs.

Chanyeol and Kris looked everywhere but at each other,Chanyeol not able to handle it sighed. "That was awkward.." The way he phrased it was so random the two burst out laughing,awkward moment over,Kris looked over at Chanyeol who was still laughing and smiled that kid always knew how to handle such situations,Kris supposed it was one of Chanyeol's gifts.

"Alright we better go down there before Sungyeol goes on a rampage..." Kris mumbled and stood up,luckily his problem had went away due to his embarrassment as had Chanyeol's,he looked at the wall as that thought crossed his mind,why the hell was he looking at Chanyeol's crotch?
Just as Kris was about to leave the room,he turned to face Chanyeol who was still slightly red from having been caught in such a situation,Kris wanted to ease the younger boy's mind and held is hand out,Chanyeol looked confused for a moment but managed to break into one of his breathtaking smiles and grab the hand.

Kris's grip tightened slightly as he led Chanyeol downstairs. "It's about time lovebirds!" Sungyeol yelled. A sigh was heard as they entered the kitchen. "Sungyeol,leave them alone,you hated it when Sungjong teased us." Myungsoo mumbled. "Yah Myungsoo ,I'm teasing my cousin here,Sungjong teased us in class!" Myungsoo just looked tiredly over at Kris and nodded in greeting. As Chanyeol and Sungyeol started arguing as they cut some cake,Kris sat beside Myungsoo.

"How can you handle him? He's like a wild cat." Myungsoo chuckled. "Only in public,besides he's a lot like Chanyeol,he stayed with us for three months,these two are scarily alike in some aspects,better get used to it if you're planning on being with Chanyeol." Myungsoo spoke as he nodded to the two idiots still arguing. He then glanced over at Kris whose eyes widened,sparing a glance at the two boy oblivious to their conversation Myungsoo leaned in. "You are going to be with him aren't you? You aren't going to leave him are you,so help me if you hurt Cha-" Myungsoo began,his eyes hardening,he felt like Chanyeol was his family,having known him so long through Sungyeol. Kris held up a hand. "Don't worry,I would never hurt Chanyeol,ever." Myungsoo sighed. "But haven't you already hurt him once?"

Kris winced at this. "Yeah but that was before,and it was a stupid mistake on my part for not paying him attention,it won't happen again,not to him." Myungsoo nodded. "Fine,look sorry for being hard on you but Chanyeol,he's fragile,there are things that happened with his family that messed him up,his school life didn't help any,I just...I can't see him or Sungyeol suffer like that again." Kris nodded in understanding but said no more as the two cousins who were still arguing brought over the cake. "Cake?" Chanyeol said looking at Kris with a bright smile,he looked at him for a moment and smiled a little. "Sure." Chanyeol's smile grew and Kris inwardly nodded. Yeah..I won't leave Chanyeol ever again. Kris thought as he took his plate of cake.

~

Xiumin sighed as he and Chen pulled into Xiumin's driveway,Xiumin cut off his car and looked over at Chen who was fiddling with his bracelet and looking down,Xiumin bit his lip. "Jongdae...you don't have to do this today." Chen looked up and shook his head with a hesitant smile. "No,I need to meet her,I can't keep avoiding her Minseok. If I wait,I'll lose nerve." Xiumin nodded and unbuckled his seat belt.

"Let's go then,I promise you Jongdae,you'll learn to love her." Chen just nodded,he wasn't sure if he could but it was for Minseok,he would meet Minseok's daughter even if she didn't belong to them together. He let out a shaky breath and got out,slowly following  Xiumin to his front door. Once inside Chen was taking off his shoes as Xiumin mumbled a 'be right back'.

"Jin Ae,daddy's home!" Chen took in a sharp in take of breath as he heard a little giggle,he could hear Xiumin's father asking who came with him. "Jongdae did." He could could hear Xiumin answer. Chen stood up straight as Xiumin poked his head out from the living room and motioned for Chen to come in. Chen took a breath and slowly took steps towards the living room,his hands were shaking so he clenching them to stop shaking.

He slowly entered the room and stopped as his eyes locked onto the cute little girl wobbling around in her crib,she spotted him and held onto the edge of the crib to stand up and Chen suddenly didn't know what to do when she broke our into a wide grin at him.

Xiumin gently nudged him forward,Chen looked at him and then back to the child,walking over he was still hesitant,this was Xiumin's child with someone else and not him. But as he looked at her,he knelt down trailing off thought,his hand placed carefully on the crib's edge,she clutched one of his fingers with her small hand and grinned a toothless grin at him and he cracked,his eyes began watering,he suddenly felt like the biggest in the world.

To think there was a time when he thought he would hate this child because she wasn't his,he looked down and started to cry,Xiumin walked over to him and knelt beside him,Xiumin's father smiled at them and decided to give the boys some privacy with his granddaughter. "Jongdae?" Chen just kept crying.

"I...I'm a horrible person how could I even consider hating her.."He stuttered out ,he looked up when Jin Ae began patting his hand as if sensing his sadness,Chen stared at her for a moment and began to smile at her,though tears were still in his eyes.

Xiumin wrapped his arm around Chen and smiled as he watched his boyfriend and daughter finally start to bond. "But you didn't hate her right?" Chen shook his head still watching the baby girl in awe. "Then you aren't horrible,considering the reasons of her birth and you still accepted her,you aren't horrible Jongdae." Chen just nodded too entranced by the child.

Xiumin just smiled,he felt relieved that he knew the love of his life and his precious daughter's bond would only strengthen from here on.

~