7.

Chanyeol stood watching in slight horror as Kris smirked at him while giving his bully a high five,Suho stood behind them shaking his head ,face full of pity but no longer warm...just pity.

"You didn't honestly think we cared did you?" Kai chuckled walking from behind him and joining Kris who was just smirking at him. It was not a normal teasing smirk Kris would give him.

No. It was a smirk to say 'You're a fool'. "Kris...Kai..." Chanyeol began as Kris sighed and held his hand up. "I don't want to listen to your whiny voice anymore. You're annoying and a burden. Go away for good." Kris said as he walked out the door,Kai following behind.

Suho just shook his head."Maybe it's best if you changed schools Chanyeol." He then followed Kris and Kai,meanwhile his bully stood there smirking at him.

"No one cares about you,your parents think you're a burden and now your friends...well so-called friends do too...it's best to just off yourself now." The bully then left,Chnayeol sank to the ground and cried,his mind was blank,his body numb,he walked over to the balcony of the classroom.

He looked down and then back at the door where his friends had abandoned him. He saw Baekhyun look in at him from the hall,then scoff and walk off. He looked back down.

And jumped.

~

Chanyeol jolted upright in his bed,sweat pouring off his face like he had ran a marathon on the hottest day in the summer season,he panicked looking left and then right and leaned back into his pillow and sighed.

Nightmares were becoming more frequent,it had been a couple of weeks since talking to Mac for the first time and learning about Mac's family,and he thought things would've gotten better but they didn't,it got worse,his friends though he knew they cared and other things to do now days,these nightmares Chanyeol was having was beginning to mess with his mind,his friends all had gotten busy with school and school clubs to even notice the dark rings around Chanyeol's bloodshot eyes,and last night after dinner was one of the worst fights his parents has had in a long time...his father hit his mother.

His mother said nothing but told Chanyeol to go to his room,so he doesn't know what happened much after that. Mac was still around. But lately Chanyeol noticed the old man had been breathing roughly,it worried him,he had grown close to the old man in those two weeks,he was like the father that his own father wasn't. Someone to listen to his worries and give him advice.

Whenever Chanyeol felt abandoned,Mac comforted him. Chanyeol sighed and looked out his window into the night sky with a snort. His own father would've told him to it up and get over it,friends come and go.

But his father never understood what friendship meant to Chanyeol,Mac somehow did understand.

He sat up in his bed and flipped the covers off,he slowly opened his door,all the lights in the house were off,it was quiet. He walked down to the bathroom and was about to go pee,when he noticed a light in the living room flickering. He noticed it was the TV.

He frowned,his mom always turned the TV off before bed,he walked in and was about to turn the TV off when he noticed his mom sniffling while staring blankly at the TV,her face was streaked with tears.

"Mom,you okay?" He asked in worry. She jumped with wide eyes,noticing her son,she hastily wiped her tears. "Chanyeol...why aren't you in bed sweetie?"

He gave her a blank stare. "I'm 17 mom." She smiled lightly.

"That's right,you'll be an adult soon." He sat down and took her hand. "Mom what's wrong?"

She sighed and grabbed his hand,as if searching for comfort. "Your father Chanyeol...he's gone." Chanyeol froze. "What?" She turned to look at him.

"Please don't hate him Chanyeol he does love you,but he met another woman at work. I knew about her for awhile now,that arguement last night was about her,it was never about you,I'm sorry we did this to you Chanyeol. I was only trying to hold the family together." Chanyeol just stared blankly ,not even seeing his mom now.

His father cheated on his mom? His mom was the sweetest woman he knew,even if she got snippy at times. And treated him like crap for the past three years? Because of some other woman?

His mother saw Chanyeol's eyes harden and she gasped. "Listen Chanyeol,he does love you,that's why he stayed so long,but he doesn't love me anymore." He pulled out of her grasp. "That man isn't my father." She stood up. "Chanyeol that's not true!" She tried but she just looked down at her coldly.
"You should go to bed and rest mom,we don't need that man,a man who abandons his family for another woman,is not a man..but scum,damn it mother,he hit you! And you expect me to fogive him for everything he's done? And the fact that I know he won't send you any money or anything to help you take care of me, pfft no...he's dead to me." She started crying,Chanyeol felt guilty for making her cry.

But in all honesty with everything going on in his life,he didn't feel sad about saying this,he and his father had a strained relationship as it was,he didn't need a man in his life that would hit a woman,and leaving someone as sweet as his mother? No he didn't care about his father anymore and it scared him to know that his father wouldn't even send child support to help his mother and that angered him.

He could drop dead for all he cared. "Chanyeol this isn't like you." He mother said softly through her tears. He sighed and walked to the hallway but before leaving the living room. He spoke.

"Don't worry mom,that man no longer has anything to do with us? Fine...I'll take care of you,I'll take care of us,don't worry..I'll be the man of the house now." She frowned,how was he going to take care of her.

She's the mother. 'I should be taking care of you Chanyeol' She thought. She let more tears slide down 'Oh god I'm sorry son,I'm ruining your life aren't I?'.
He walked into his room and slammed the door ,he plopped onto his bed and slammed his fist against his covers. Damn that man for breaking his mother's heart.

Chanyeol could be considered a mama's boy,but he didn't care.

He rolled over and sighed. Tomorrow after school he would go job hunting. His mother couldn't work to save her life,he had to be the one to take care of them now.

With that thought he pulled his covers over his head and willed for sleep to take him from his thoughts.

~

Chanyeol's eyes openeds warily when he heard his alarm,he sighed and scratched his head sleepily. He sat that for a few minutes to get woken up when all of last night's events came rushing back to him. His mom getting hit,the arguement,his dad leaving without so much as a word to him,his dad cheating,his nightmares,Mac's bad health.

He bit his lip and shook it off,he jumped into the shower and made quick work of breakfast his mom left for him. He looked in the mirror in the foyer by the front door and inhaled while walking out the door.

Walking down the street,his expression was blank ,almost as if he didn't feel anything,in reality he was blocking out all his thoughts,once he made his way into the school gates,he saw Kris,Baekhyun,Kai and Suho waiting for him,he winced slightly when he thought back to his nightmare.

But before they looked at him,his face schooled a smiling expression.

A fake smile.

The first of many fake smiles.

With fake smile in place,he went to greet his friends.

 Not noticing Hoya standing near a tree to the side of him,looking at him with an odd expression. Hoya watched as Chanyeol ran away to greet his friends. "Hoya!" Hoya turned to see Dongwoo. He smiled at him and gave him a hug.

"What are you looking at?" Dongwoo asked curiously,head looking around,Hoya stared and then spoke. "A classmate. He had your expression." Dongwoo stopped smiling and looked down ashamed. "Is he?" Hoya shook his head. "I don't know Dongwoo...I don't know."

Hoya sighed. "Lets go,we have to meet up with Sunggyu later,he wants to introduce us to someone."

Dongwoo watched as Hoya began to walk off.

"Please don't be like me."  Dongwoo thought thinking of Hoya's classmate.

'please.'