“Is Baekhyun here?”

An undeniable look of shock crossed the young waiter’s face as Chanyeol barged in through the restaurant’s front doors and immediately asked for his friend. Maybe it was the huge grin he had plastered on his face from the prospect of surprising Baekhyun with his visit, but the waiter standing by the door looked almost scared, or even terrified, of his sudden entrance.

The waiter merely shook his head rapidly, as if telling Chanyeol to please leave as soon as possible.

“Oh...” Chanyeol frowned dejectedly, realizing he had never asked Baekhyun what his work schedule was, and in retrospect, it probably wasn’t a good idea to have just assumed Baekhyun would be working when he came over to visit. “Is he coming in later today?”

Once again the waiter shook his head, this time, his gaze directed at the floor, as if afraid to even look at Chanyeol.

Noting the waiter’s terrified appearance and not wanting all his questions to sound like an interrogation, Chanyeol tried his best to sound polite as he asked hesitantly, “Do you think you could you tell me when his work hours are?”

The waiter’s eyes widened, his lips pressed together, as if unwilling to speak, but knowing he would have to now. As his gaze lowered to the floor once more, still not having answered Chanyeol’s question, Chanyeol took the time to gather his thoughts, getting over the disappointment of having messed up his surprise for Baekhyun, as he absentmindedly found himself studying the young waiter’s face. He really was young, maybe even younger than Chanyeol, but other than that, there was something else Chanyeol noticed about the waiter. Something felt familiar.

With a slight stutter and a faint curl at the ends of his words, the boy murmured a quiet, “He only works on Saturdays, 10AM to 6PM.”

Chanyeol froze, hearing the boy’s voice.

It can’t be...

But there was no doubt about it. He knew why the boy looked familiar now. It had been years, but it didn’t matter how long he had been away from his best friend.

“Shixun!?” Chanyeol burst out, his low voice resounding off the walls of the restaurant. His smile spreading even wider than it had been before. “It’s you, isn’t it? It’s really you!” He grabbed his friend by the shoulders, feverishly shaking him out of excitement.

Sehun’s look of terror only grew worse as dread and horror began to seep into his expression as well.

“I-I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Sehun retorted quickly, pushing Chanyeol’s grip off his shoulder. “My name is...” he cursed inwardly, knowing his lisp would only be more noticeable if he tried to say his name. He just couldn’t pronounce the stupid “S” correctly.

“Shixun, don’t try to lie to me! I can tell by your voice, and your lovable lisp. You’ve changed your hair to be so normal-looking now, though! I almost didn’t recognize you for a moment there... It’s been so long, we have so much to catch up on! How have you been lately? How come you just disappeared one day? Where do you go to school now? Do you normally work here every day?”

With a deep sigh, Sehun’s shoulders sagged as he realized it was no use. He couldn’t hide from Chanyeol.

Why did this have to happen...? I knew Chanyeol would recognize me if I spoke... I should’ve just run away as soon as he entered the restaurant...

I can’t deal with this... Seeing him again...

Does this mean... I'll have to run away again.

If both Baekhyun and Chanyeol can find me, anyone else from my old school can find me... 

I can’t let that happen.

I can’t be found.

I need time to think.

Biting his lip, Sehun mumbled, “I’m really sorry, do you think this could wait, Chanyeol? I’ll be off from work in two hours. I can talk to you then.”

~~

With a weak smile, Sehun joined Chanyeol at Table 2 after his shift had ended, slightly surprised the older boy had been willing to wait for him for the past two hours, but at the same time, knowing Chanyeol was Chanyeol, Sehun wasn’t really surprised at all.

Chanyeol had always been just a little crazy.

Greeting him with that eye-twitching, excited smile, Chanyeol was practically bursting with energy as his questions started pouring out once more.

Taking a deep breath, Sehun decided he would try to give his answers honestly, one by one.

There was no point in trying to hide the truth from someone like Park Chanyeol.

Slowly, he began to speak. “I normally only work here over the weekends, like Baek, but I’m filling in today because they’re short-staffed... I go to a school in the area around here, but I’m surprised you and Baek found me, since you guys live in the next town over.” 

Sehun paused, trying to decide what question to answer next, and Chanyeol took the chance to reply, “It’s because one of Baek’s friends owns this restaurant.”

Sehun raised an eyebrow in surprise.

One of Baek’s friends... Luhan?

Making a mental note to ask Luhan about this later, he continued, “Oh... and as for why I left...” Sehun bit his lip, dread sinking into his quieted voice. Upon instinct, as if he was too used to trying to hide, Sehun's gaze drifted to the floor as he mumbled, “I just wanted to get away, I guess. It was all getting to be too much."

The familiar feeling of Chanyeol’s large hand gripping Sehun’s shoulder gently drew the younger boy’s attention back to the giant.

“It wasn’t because of your...” Chanyeol didn’t want to say it. He didn’t have to.

“Yeah. It was getting to be too much,” Sehun repeated, his tone dry. He still wasn’t sure if he was mentally ready to talk to anyone about it, anyone other than Luhan. But Chanyeol had been his best friend at the time, and he had never judged Sehun before. He had to keep telling himself, he could trust Chanyeol.

“I knew people bothered you about it, but I didn’t know... Shixun, they were just bullies! You should’ve told someone about it when it got serious. You should’ve told me...”

Sehun felt the giant’s hand patting him gently, heavy with long-overdue comfort. But it already too late to change anything now.

“You let it get to you,” Chanyeol stated flatly, his tone unwavering. “You let them get to you,” he corrected. “But you shouldn’t have,” he sighed, his grip relaxing as his gaze softened with regret. “I should’ve been there for you. I’m so sorry I was too stupid to realize what you were going through... I would’ve done anything to help you, I swear, Shixun.”

“It’s... okay.” Sehun murmured. “I survived, didn’t I?”

He breathed in slowly, a deep breath of fresh air.

“But thank you, Chanyeol.”

A sad smile curved at Chanyeol’s lips as he was about to say something more, but Sehun quickly interrupted, “And please don’t call me Shixun anymore. I go by Sehun now, I changed my name.”

Chanyeol furrowed his brow. “You changed your name? It’s like you got rid of your whole identity...”

“Yeah, I kind of wanted to just start over. I begged my mom to give me permission to change my name, but in the end she just chose a name that sounded almost the same as my original name anyway. But I think she only let me change it because I told her I would dye my hair to a normal-looking dark brown.” Sehun smiled weakly at the thought. “I sometimes wonder what led me to decide to get rainbow hair in the first place.”

“Your craziness?” Chanyeol teased. “That craziness that we share,” he smiled. “But really, I know it’s too late to change your decision, and I respect what path you chose, but honestly, Shi-Sehun,” he corrected himself quickly. “Please promise me you won’t do this again. Please promise me... you’ll be proud of who you are from now on. You don’t need to change anything about yourself. And I promise you, I will do whatever I can to make sure I will always be here for you. Don’t be afraid to tell me when things are bothering you! We’re best friends, remember? Or