~ Chapter Sixteen ~

Chinsun looked down at Chanyeol's hand clutching onto her arm. She awkwardly cleared . Chanyeol immediately let go, taking in a deep breath as the loss of contact ripped a piece of his heart. They both remained in silence as the cafeteria chatter echoed through the hall. Just a couple mere centimeters from each other. Not taking a single glance, Chinsun sniffed loudly and bowed in thanks before scurrying away. Chanyeol couldn't move. He couldn't tell her to wait or continue the conversation. He couldn't smile at her or look her in the eye. He couldn't give her reassuring words or pat her back. He couldn't keep his hand in place and tell him what he had just realized. He couldn't explain to her how special she was to him. All he could do was ask her if she was okay and let her go. He wasn't able to keep his composure. He wasn't able to remain on the mature topic, instead he thought about how beautiful she looked and how her clothes suited her. He got side tracked and couldn't focus on what was important. His desires were not what was necessary, it was Chinsun's well being.

Chanyeol fell against the wall as he slid down to the ground, staring off into space. His heart was beating a mile per second. His blood was boiling with emotion and his head spinned in realization. The tall male could not believe what he just realized. Chanyeol, THE Chanyeol, the-broken-hearted-never-to-be-in-a-relationship-again-Chanyeol...was in love.

With Chinsun.

--

“Where the hell is he?” Kyungsoo muttered to himself as he searched through the school. Looking left and right, up and down. He was no where to be found.

As Kyungsoo turned down another hall, he noticed a large crowd of people talking away in whispers. Curious, the short boy quickly made his way to one of the boys at the edge of the group. “Um, excuse me,” Kyungsoo interrupted. The boy turned to Kyungsoo with a surprised expression edged across his face. “Have you seen Chanyeol anywhere?” Kyungsoo asked, oddly eyeing the guy in front of him. Just at his name, the student jumped in shock.

“Well, I think he went down there...” the boy trailed off as he pointed to another hall. Kyungsoo nodded in thanks, but didn't make a move to go anywhere.

“Hey, uh, what happened here?” Kyungsoo questioned him as he glanced around the individuals gossiping to each other. The boy blinked several times before answering.

“Jessica,” he pointed to the female in the center, “tripped Chinsun while she was walking down the hall.” Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes in anger at the girl. “It was pretty funny when she fell and stuff. Everyone started laughing, but then all of a sudden Chanyeol came out of no where and took her away.” Kyungsoo inwardly smiled at his friend's action. “Are they dating or something? Chanyeol seemed really close with that girl.” Kyungsoo thought about that for a moment while grinning in the process.

“I don't know,” he smirked, “you got to go ask him.” And with that, Kyungsoo made his way in the direction pointed to him earlier.

--

“Hey Chan!” Kyungsoo beamed to the boy sitting on the floor. “Whatcha doing down there?” he chuckled as he looked to his friend. His humor quickly vanished when he noticed the distraught look on the tall boy's face. “Chan?” Kyungsoo mumbled, sliding down beside him. He sadly stared at Chanyeol, worry creeping all over his body.

“I...” the other male spoke up as he kept his eyes glued to his lap. Kyungsoo swallowed in anticipation.

“You what?” he pondered, patiently waiting for a reply. Chanyeol pursed his lips in thought as one single thing raced through his mind. He couldn't find the words to speak, he couldn't find the right sentence to create. Just imagining her eyes, her talent, her presence, her clothes, her lips, her voice, her drawings, her skin, her cheeks, her hair, her everything was enough to make Chanyeol to go mad.

A long while of silence passed, Chanyeol sighed to himself, a small smile curving his lips.

Kyungsoo held in a laugh at his friend's action. The taller boy snapped his head towards Kyungsoo with confusion written all over his face.

“What's so funny?” Chanyeol inquired, a visible blush forming on his face.

“You're in love aren't you,” Kyungsoo grinned, as a playful glint crossed his eye. Chanyeol flushed even more at that, turning his head away from his friend.

“Um no,” Chanyeol defended. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes while nudging Chanyeol in the shoulder.

“Yeah of course not, that's why you're face is on fire.” Chanyeol's eyes grew extremely large. “It's Chinsun,” the tall male jumped to his feet glancing everywhere in embarrassment. “I knew you'd fall for her!” Kyungsoo chuckled as he got up as well. Chanyeol turned back to Kyungsoo looking redder than ever. He ruffled his hair in frustration while groaning.

“God...what the hell do I do?” Chanyeol panicked.

“What do you mean?” Kyungsoo cocked a brow. Chanyeol sighed, letting out a deep breath.

“Like,” Chanyeol began, “do I do something about it?” Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes in confusion while watching his friend have a mental explosion. “Should...I tell her?” After a couple moments of silence Chanyeol burned red as he shook his head. “Holy crap no, she probably doesn't feel the same. I mean, if I told her...what would happen after that?”

“You guys would be able to kiss and hug and hold hands and be all happily ever after.” Kyungsoo explained. Chanyeol swallowed at the image of them kissing. “You should go and tell her how you feel. I'm pretty sure you'd be happy with what she says back.” The tall male averted his vision to the shorter boy.

“How the hell do you know if she likes me back or not?” Chanyeol pondered, feeling quite curious. “I could be a complete loser to her!”

“Chanyeol who in their right mind would think you're a loser?”

“I don't know...Chinsun?” Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.

“Chan,” Kyungsoo muttered, “just listen, you love her right?” Chanyeol nodded his head, “then tell her how you feel.”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“Because!” Chanyeol flailed his hands in the air to add emphasis. “What if she doesn't like me?”

“What if she does?” Kyungsoo shot back with a satisfied grin. Chanyeol was left speechless as he thought over his friend's statement.

“She doesn't like me...” Chanyeol frowned, “I know it...” Kyungsoo gave his friend a suspicious look, thinking carefully to what he wanted to say next.

“Listen buddy,” Kyungsoo sighed, “you've finally gotten over Tiffany and now it's time to move on. If you end up with Chinsun, Jongin and I would forever support you.” Chanyeol slowly brought his gaze to Kyungsoo, smiling slightly in gratefulness. “Chinsun is a really nice girl and I think the only one who can help her is you.” The taller male furrowed his brows in confusion.

“Wait, help her?” Chanyeol repeated. Kyungsoo nodded while stuffing his hands within his pockets.

“Yeah,” he answered, “I was with Chinsun this whole weekend.”

“What why?” Chanyeol quickly asked.

“Calm down,” Kyungsoo lightly giggled, “when you were going to work on Friday, I decided to walk Chinsun to her house,” Chanyeol gave an unsatisfied look, but Kyungsoo ignored it and continued his story, “she told me she didn't want to go to her home just yet because her parents would still be around.”

“What does that mean?” Chanyeol in.

“Just wait till I finish.” Kyungsoo told him. Chanyeol nodded in embarrassment for him to continue. “While we were looking around town inside little shops and stuff, I asked her why she didn't want to go home,” Kyungsoo took a large breath while looking sadly in Chanyeol's eyes, “you see, Chinsun, her parents are alcoholics.” The other male stood there in shock as the news was heard. “She said every day was like a living hell at home, so most days she stayed at her grandparents house. They don't like her all that much though because she's very shy. Chinsun told me that her family always wanted a boy, but were unfortunate and got the complete opposite.” Kyungsoo paused, allowing him to catch his breath. “And about the thing, it isn't true. In elementary school, everyone used to spread rumors about her because of all her family issues.” Chanyeol gazed at the ground at Chinsun's sad past. “I'm not finished yet,” Kyungsoo spoke up again, “as we were walking around the city, I thought it would be a good idea to stop by your shop. I forgot that Tiffany was going to be there, so when we walked in, we sort of saw her...kissing you.”

“What?!” Chanyeol freaked out.

“We left as soon as we saw that,” Kyungsoo explained, “Chinsun didn't say anything for the rest of the way home. I asked her if she wanted to just hang out during the weekend to get away from her parents and she said yes. There is a lot of crap going on in her life and I think you're the only one who can help her.”

“How do you know that for sure?” Chanyeol questioned in a hushed tone. Kyungsoo ruffled his hair.

“Well,” he sighed, “before the kissing situation, we were talking about you. Every time your name came up she would just light up like no tomorrow. She said you were the first person who'd ever sat with her during lunch. She was so happy just thinking about you, I just, I don't Chan. You've really become the only thing allowing her to wake up every morning. She said the best part of her day was being with you.” Chanyeol had a big dorky smile across his face, blushing bashfully at his words. Kyungsoo lightly laughed but it died down very quickly. “Chan,” the taller boy looked up and nodded, “her heart is very fragile. You have no idea what she's been going through, so try not to break it. I know she means a lot to you, and you mean a lot to her.” Kyungsoo patted Chanyeol shoulder as he gestured down the hall. “Lunch is ending soon, I'll see you later.” With that, the brown haired boy left. Leaving Chanyeol to think to himself in the empty hall.

--

Did this mean that Chinsun loved Chanyeol as well? Chanyeol did not know, but he hoped that she liked him. Because he surely loved her, a lot. Even though he had just realized it, it had been while since he was feeling uncertain with himself. He had always been trying to convince his brain that all she was to him was a friend, but his heart thought otherwise.

It had been just over two weeks since he first officially met her. But time means nothing to love. Love pops up in the most random of places, it could take you by surprise, or could always have been there all along. It could be at first sight or it may have to grow from a friendship. However it happened, it happened, and he needed to speak up.

But how was he going to do it? How was he going to tell her? Should he make it special and romantic, or just plain casual? He was going to have to ask Dara how she and Jiyong all started out. Dara would be the expert in this field. Or maybe not...Dara did say that Jiyong's confession was the mushiest of confessions. Chanyeol didn't want that. He wanted to act cool around Chinsun, not look like an emotional clown. He wanted Chinsun to think of him as strong-y male, not a romantic-cute boy. He was a man. And men had to look strong and powerful.

Chanyeol inwardly nodded to himself as his self motivation piped up. He snapped his gaze to the clock, watching as the hand ticked closer to the twelve. Every second was getting slower though, and his strength was deteriorating. Every little movement made by the teacher was making him nervous and he was physically forcing himself not to look at Chinsun. But he really really needed to. He just had to take a small peek at the beauty. Just one little- no.

Chanyeol blinked cautiously at his desk, taking even breaths and focusing on its tempo to distract himself. He couldn't help but feel anxious at the thought of her. Even though he had spoken to her many times before, it was completely different now. She wasn't just a friend to him. She was the girl he loved.

Now he had to think about the way he sat and ate and spoke and walked and smiled and laughed and frowned and thought and breathed...he didn't want to look like a fool in front of her. Did his hair even look good today? Did it look good at all? What if he dressed terrible? Would she even care? No...of course not...if she loved Chanyeol then she would love him no matter what he wore or looked like. But Chanyeol didn't know if she liked him at all. According to Kyungsoo she seemed like his angel. But...after that kiss...Maybe that's why she was feeling let down? Maybe that's why she looked distraught and soulless?

Chanyeol almost jumped out of his skin when the bell rang. Should he...walk her home? Just to...start it off? He didn't have to tell her right away, he could just start getting closer to her and then tell her how beautiful she looked and then somehow fall into the conversation of love and stuff and then tell her.

“Hey Chan you look like you saw a ghost,” Jongin suddenly laughed as he smacked Chanyeol's back. The tall male shrieked in surprise almost falling off of his chair. Most of the students in the class eyed him oddly as his high pitched yelp echoed throughout the room. Chanyeol swiftly fell on Chinsun, shyly watching him like the other individuals. As their eyes locked, they both turned beat red and glanced away. Jongin cocked a brow, looking between Chinsun and Chanyeol with a knowing grin plastered on his face. “Dude,” Jongin chuckled.

“What?” Chanyeol muttered in embarrassment.

“Go walk her home,” Jongin smirked, “I know you wanna.”