Chapter seven: Unexpected

Its been about a month since Baekhyun saw Chanyeol. He felt his chest form a weird feeling; it was heavy and somewhat lonely. It couldn’t be that he actually missed the taller, right? Baekhyun shook his head, walking down the route he evoked by heart. The rain continued to crash down, soaking through his hoodie. His hood draped on top of his red lined cap, trying its best to protect his face from the heavy downfall of liquid drops.

The bells above the door chimed as Baekhyun opened it. The sweet welcome of coffee and sugary goodness invades his senses. After ordering his regular, he shifted his body to walk down the aisle and into the secluded corner he simulated as his. If he didn’t yell at himself in time, he would've dropped his drink.

He didn’t expect to see that.

Heart thumping in painful erratic beats, he felt tears b the corner of his eyes.

Each step he took with his sneakers, was a new thought.

He never left.

He was supposed to leave and forget about me.

Why was he still here?

Was he waiting for me all this time?

Of course not.

Instantly, his mood was dampened. Oh… right. Reality really .

Baekhyun his heel, ready to leave when he heard a loud voice calling for him. Stopping his tracks, he turned around, surprised with the presence of Chanyeol standing right in front of him. Chanyeol's breathing is a little uneven and seemed to be somewhat edgy.

Their gazes lock into a moment of silent communication. It was the first time Baekhyun finally noticed the emotions Chanyeol held. How did he ever miss to see these? The shorter’s mouth opened up a little, feeling his words be consumed by the overriding fervor in the other’s features.

No words were passed between each other as Chanyeol grabbed the smaller palm and dragged him away: Baekhyun dropped his hot beverage.

“Chanyeol…”

Baekhyun glanced down at his wrist that was captivated by Chanyeol’s tight grip. He honestly didn’t understand what was going on. At one point he was in the coffee shop then the next he was dragged through the heavy drops of rain, only to discover themselves in front of an apartment complex. Chanyeol tugged him up the steps and through the front doors.

“Where are you taking me?”

He never received an answer.

It was starting to scare him.

“Chanyeol --stop.”

Sighing, Chanyeol abruptly stopped walking, pushing the elevator button and waiting for the doors to slide open. “Baekhyun, just bare with me.” His voice came out a little more wary than Baekhyun was used to.

Eyebrows connecting together, Baekhyun stared at the door ahead of them. For some reason, he was hesitant to look at the others face. Once the doors slid open, Chanyeol lead them into the elevator and pressed ‘floor 16’. Baekhyun didn’t even try to pry his wrist away from the taller. Even though it hurt when the pressure was enforced on his open wounds, he made a mental note to bare with it for the time being. He won’t let someone see the weak side of him.

You don’t even deserve pity.

Instead, he bit his lip and tried to act indifferent.

“Where are you taking me?”

Heaving another sigh, Chanyeol softened his grip on Baekhyun’s arm - not totally letting it free - and glanced over at the shorter. He was afraid that if he let him go, Baekhyun would suddenly disappear on him. That was something he never wanted to happen ever again. 'Cause little did Baekhyun know, Chanyeol was suffering every day, having worry chew out his inner being, as he waited for Baekhyun at the coffee shop for hours at a time.

Before Chanyeol could even get the chance to utter a single word, the elevator doors swiped open. Being lead again, Baekhyun felt frustration well up in him. Why wouldn’t Chanyeol speak to him?

They stopped in front of a door. Chanyeol entered a password in the padlock and the door clanged open. As soon as the door shut close, they found themselves elapse in a suffocating silence. Neither of them seemed to want to speak and break the barrier between them at the moment. After a few agonizingly long passing seconds, Chanyeol slowly slid his lean fingers off of Baekhyun's thin wrist. It felt so delicate and fragile under his touch that he was afraid to hold onto it much longer.

"Baekhyun... you're driving me crazy."

Baekhyun stiffened, glancing up at the other who was softly grazing down at him.

"What..." he responded, darting his eyes anywhere that wasn't alive and moving. The look in the taller's eyes formed an uncomfortable feeling in Baekhyun's chest. It wasn't something he could pinpoint himself, but he didn't like it.

"Why do you do that?" Chanyeol asked in a quiet voice. He leaned his back against the door frame. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, keeping his gaze set on Baekhyun's face. He didn't even dare to blink. What if he missed some sort of emotion he can decipher?

"Do what?"

"Avoid looking into my eyes. Why do you do that?"

"I ..." Baekhyun trailed off, not knowing how to answer the question without sounding stupid. His lips stayed agape, as his mind screaming different answers and solutions to come about this. It was so confusing.

After a minute of silence, Chanyeol sighed, lips curving up in a sad smile.

"It's okay, Baekhyun. Lets just get changed out of our wet clothes."

Baekhyun felt guilty. He grew attached to Chanyeol’s sweet smiling face, strong efforts, and sincere actions, that the sudden change of personality made him feel more upset. He opted with a nod, clenching the hem of his wet overhead hoodie and following Chanyeol down the hallway and towards a bedroom. As Chanyeol went rummaging through his closet for something that would fit Baekhyun (being 185 cm tall does come in a disadvantage at times). Baekhyun wandered around the bedroom.

And the weird thing is, he felt himself immersed in the other's things.

He now understood when they said you find out a persons personality by just looking at the contents in their room. There were dozens of posters on the wall, ranging from his favorite rock bands to pictures of instruments. There were bright fluorescent colors to heavy bland ones. It was just a splash of colors.

Baekhyun eyed each of them, taking in the obvious interests of the taller possessions. Glancing over at the other wall, he noticed there are more posters; they practically covered all four walls of the room. But there was something else he noticed. Curiosity indulging him, he walked over the corner of the room where a guitar case leaned up against the wall, right beside a small circular table. Reaching out his fingers, he felt the leather, tracing the small bumps and edges on the guitar case. It felt smooth under his touch.

"I don't have any clothes that are smaller," he heard the deep voice say in the midst of his analysis of the others bedroom, "so we will have to make do with what I got." Chanyeol's quiet chuckle sounded through the room as Baekhyun heard the footsteps get closer to him. "Sorry, I'm just anticipating to how big my clothes will look on you."

Retracting his fingers, he looked over at the pile of folded clothes in Chanyeol’s arms. Purple and grey. Those colors don't seem too bad to him although he would rather stick with red and black. But he guesses these colors will do for now. After all, he was in someone else's house so he couldn't really be picky.

“Thank you,” he said, taking the clothes Chanyeol handed to him.

“You can change over in the bathroom and I’ll just change here.”

Nodding his head, Baekhyun walked over to the bathroom.

Little did he know, Chanyeol watched him until the door shut closed.

Baekhyun sighed, looking down at the over sized clothes. It looked ridiculous on him. He had rolled up his pant leg, trying to make it at least fit him enough to not trip all over the place. He stared at his reflection in the mirror, seeing the purple wool long sleeved shirt contrast his slightly pale skin. Purple didn’t look bad on him -- it actually made him feel a little different.

Different is change... change is good right?

Swiping his pink muscle against his lips in one swift motion, he looked away from the mirror that did the deed of showing all of his imperfections. He didn’t need a object that didn’t think nor breath to start telling him he is a failure, a disgrace or absolutely nothing.

Instead, he just looked at the washed out white door. Realizing it wasn’t going to open itself, he hesitantly walked over and gripped onto the door knob.

Why was he so nervous?

That, he didn't know. There may be a reason, but he just didn't know it yet.

Once he opened the door, he found Chanyeol on the edge of his bed, staring at the wall in front of him. He must be thinking if he should have even brought me here.

I shouldn’t be here.

He’s probably regretting it.

“Chanyeol.”

Snapping out of his daze, Chanyeol looked over at Baekhyun. In that 2 secondtime span, Baekhyun could have sworn he felt this weird warmth spreading through his chest. The hue in Chanyeol’s eyes glistened like a nyan cat finding its long lost ball of yarn.

“You look…”

Instantly, Baekhyun's gaze hardened, hands clenched in a tight ball while his jaw locked in place.

You look like a .

Mentally deranged.

A loser.

“.. beautiful.”

Once again, Baekhyun found himself falling into another abyss of utter surprise. Beautiful? Did someone just call him beautiful?

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

Feeling air choke him up once again, he unclenched his tight fist. How could someone-- who he just met months ago -- suddenly effect him so much?

Have you forgotten Baekhyun? People like him don't exist. He’s just lying; hes just trying to manipulate your feelings to finally break you, give you the pain and suffering you deserve.

How could he forget? This wasn’t real.

He isn't beautiful.

“Hey,” Chanyeol voiced up breaking the silence, “do you want something to drink?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”