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23 > > >

Remnants of dried tears were obvious on Baekhyun’s cheeks as he insipidly wrapped bandages around his freshly wounded fist, blood immediately staining the white bandage. He flexed his fingers when he finished and stared at his injured hand. He felt nothing. There was no pain nor any discomfort, nothing, and yet his heart that wasn’t even injured throbbed in pain. It throbbed like a thousand needles were piercing it, leaving him almost numb.

He wasn’t even sure why it hurt so badly.

Was it because of the vow he was slowly breaking? Was it because of Soo Jung? Was it because of Yoona?

Baekhyun knew well enough that each one of those were just excuses he made in his mind; none of those were actually the reason why. The main problem was actually him, Byun Baekhyun, stupid old Byun Baekhyun that hasn’t change from his immature naïve self, Byun Baekhyun that could only put up a dauntless front to hide his pitiful self.

He was weak, far too weak that he was slowly killing himself already. It’s funny how just the other day he was lecturing Luhan about how the older boy was killing himself slowly when Baekhyun was doing just the same.

*But then again dying would probably be a better choice than all this,* he thought bitterly in his head.

He let out a shaky breath and let his gaze wander around the room. He made quite a mess during his bout. Fragments of shattered glass was all over the floor, and a small amount of his blood was also amongst the broken pieces. The full body mirror that once showed the reflection of the room inside its intricate designs, now only showed broken images of the tattered living room.

Baekhyun allowed an empty smile to play upon his lips as he thought about how his best friend would react when he saw the mess Baekhyun made.

*I’m sorry, Chanyeol. That mirror was probably expensive.*

He sank down on the couch and buried his face in his hands. He thought about everything he went through—the unrequited love, the tears, the pain, the laughter, the despondency, his screwed up life in general—and suddenly he was laughing.

He was probably going crazy—laughing when he was supposed to be in so much pain, but honestly, he was just tired, so so tired. He was tired of everything; he was tired of fighting himself. He was tired of stopping himself from letting it go. He was tired of trying to save the day.

His laugh gradually faded, and he was crying once again, salty tears dripping down from his tired, blood-shot eyes. The tears fell softly upon his open palms, and Baekhyun closed his fists over them.

Maybe he was right. Maybe it really was time.

Baekhyun wiped his stray tears away and stood up, looking at his shattered reflection. A twisted smile is upon his lips.

I don’t think there’s an answer to your question, Baek. We’re both as pitiful as each other; we’re the same person after all.

< | >

Chanyeol opened his eyes in alarm as the last of Baekhyun’s thoughts rang loudly in his mind. He wasn’t even sure if it was Baekhyun anymore.

*This can’t be.*

He quickly opened the door to their living room and stopped in his tracks.

It was empty. There was not a single trace of Baekhyun, no sign that Baekhyun was ever breaking inside, not even the broken glass nor blood. The living room was back to its original stat, and it scared Chanyeol.

He dropped his bags and hastily ran around their apartment, shouting for Baekhyun.

“Baekhyun! Yah! ByunBaek! Where are you?”

There was no answer, and Chanyeol knew there was something terribly wrong. He immediately palmed his coat pockets for his phone and dialed for Suho.

< | >

Yoona’s hand was held firmly against Luhan’s grip as they walked through the glass doors of her apartment complex. She liked it. The feeling of his warm palms against hers felt nice and comforting. She liked the feeling of being protected.

Whatever happened, happens, or will happen, I’ll protect you so don’t worry.

She felt her cheeks warming up again at the thought of his words and quickly bowed her head, afraid that Luhan would notice the reddening tint on her cheeks.

It was sweet, and Luhan’s words made Yoona want to believe in him. She felt like maybe this time it was actually true. Maybe this time someone will actually catch her when she falls.

She raised her head and was surprised to find Luhan gazing at her lovingly. And there it was again, the slight pounding inside her chest whenever Luhan looked at her, whenever Luhan leaned closer to her. The pounding quickened at the memory of what happened inside her flat, and she quickly diverted her eyes away from him and cleared awkwardly.

“W-where are we going?”

She heard Luhan’s soft chuckles, and he suddenly stopped to face her. He had a mischievous smile on his face, and his eyes were twinkling in amusement or excitement (Yoona didn’t know which.)

“You’ll see,” he answered with a on his lip.

His grip on her hand tightened, and they continued walking again, stopping only when they reached the bus station. Luhan led her to sit on the bench and sank down beside her with a smile.

“Is it cold?” he simply asked.

Yoona shook her head; Luhan leaned closer.

“Are you sure?”

There was a sudden constriction in Yoona’s throat, and she found herself unable to speak in the sudden proximity. The pounding in her chest was back. Her breath hitched when Luhan his plump lips. She inched away from him and took a nervous gulp.

“Um, Luhan? What are you doing?”

He tilted his head, “Luhan? Don’t you mean oppa?”

Yoona could feel her cheeks flushing again, and she diverted her gaze away from Luhan’s piercing stare.

“I-if you’re t-trying to get me to call you oppa again, it won’t work, L-Luhan.”

His warm laugh tickled Yoona’s face as he finally moved away and stood up.

“We’ll see about that,” he quipped as he took out his hand for Yoona to hold again, “Come on; the bus is coming.”

“Okay.”

She took his hand, and together they made their way to the back of the bus once again. It was like déjà vu. It felt like it was just yesterday when Luhan was waiting for her by the school gates, when he took her by surprise and dragged her to ride the bus to some coffee shop, when he put his coat around her and made her feel warm for the rest of the night. A smile played on her lips at the memory, and she suddenly had an idea where they were going.

She let her gaze wander to Luhan who just held her hand silently while staring out the foggy window of the bus. The sun streamed softly onto his face causing his lashes to cast flickering shadows upon his cheeks. She watched him carefully and noted how he looked more exhausted than usual. There were slight bags under his doe eyes, and his face was slightly pale. Yoona wondered what he was doing that he’s so tired.

“It’s rude to stare at people,” he suddenly said with a slight tremor to his voice, connoting that he was just trying his best not to laugh.

Yoona recognized what the older boy was doing and decided to play along, a smile making its way to her pursed lips.

“I wasn’t staring.”

Luhan laughed, “Sure, and I’m a girl.”

Yoona joined him in his laughter, and they bask in the comfortable silence that followed, simply staring at each other’s eyes. Luhan was leaning closer, and Yoona made no notion of moving away.

“You have good memory,” he whispered.

“It’s hard to forget a guy you barely know dragging you away,” she whispered in return.

The bus suddenly stopped, and Yoona found herself caught in Luhan’s arms.

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

Yoona quickly moved away but was held back by Luhan’s arms around her. Her heart was thudding again, and she was so sure that Luhan would hear it this time. She felt feverish at their closeness, a feeling she’s only felt once in her entire life. She avoided Luhan’s gaze and looked out the window to see that they were actually supposed to be going down if they wanted to go to the café. She hastily stood up and pulled Luhan along with her.

“Come on, Luhan!”

She heard him chuckle and say something along the lines of, “I thought I was supposed to be the one leading where to go,” but she pointedly ignored him.

Once they’ve hopped off the bus, Yoona breathed in the fresh autumn air and turned to face Luhan with a bright smile.

“Now, where was that coffee shop again?”

Luhan smirked, “Who said we were going to the coffee shop?”

Yoona blinked at him innocently, “Oh, we aren’t?”

“Nope.”

Luhan proceeded to take the lead again and started dragging her to who knows where, walking so fast that Yoona stumbled to catch up to him.

“Yah! Walk slower!”

Luhan’s head turned to face her with a mischievous grin, “Hm? Did you say something? I can’t quite hear you.”

Yoona panted and frowned at his childishness.

“I didn’t say anything.”

Luhan shrugged, “Okay then.”

He started speeding up again and dragged Yoona along with him, causing her to whine.

“Luhaaaan! Slow down!” she exclaimed exasperatedly.

The boy ignored her and walked even faster (if that was possible.)

Yoona puffed her cheeks as she struggled to keep up; she puffed her cheeks then suddenly used all her weight (which wasn’t much) to pull him back.

“O-oppa,” she softly called, embarrassment crawling all over her face in the form of a blush. It didn’t help that she was catching her breath from all that running, but it did effectively made Luhan stop.

“What did you say? You weren’t loud enough,” he asked with a smirk decorating his baby face.

Yoona noted in her head not to mess with Luhan despite his innocent exterior.

“I said slow down,” she softly whined, her breath coming in huffs.

Luhan smiled, “No, after that.”

Yoona realized what he was talking about and a blush decorated her face once again.

“Aish! I’m not going to repeat it. It’s your fault for not listening properly,” she scoffed and turned her blushing face away from Luhan who simply chuckled and ruffled her hair.

“Should we start running again then?”

Yoona perked in alarm and pouted at Luhan, “O-oppa!”

“Haha, that’s better.”

The boy seemed too amused for his own good while Yoona frowned at his childishness. She stepped closer to him and took him by surprise by suddenly stomping on his foot and running off.

“Ah! Jincha! You’re so dead, Yoona!” he shouted as he ran after her through the street, “Don’t let me catch you!”

The only response he got was her distant laughs from in front of the crowd and a face that was sticking out her tongue at him. People were probably looking at them, but Luhan didn’t mind, as long as Yoona was laughing the way she was now. It was nice to see the girl relaxed without her constant guard put up.

They stopped to catch their breaths when they reached a familiar playground, and Yoona sank down on one of the swings while Luhan sat one the swing beside hers.

“You—run—fast,” Luhan managed in between breaths. He only got Yoona’s staggered laughs as she stood up to go to the nearby water fountain; Luhan immediately stood up to follow her.

Her eyes twinkled playfully at him, and Luhan had an idea at what she was about to do.

“Why are you following me?” she asked as they walked towards the fountain together.

“Can’t I?”

She nodded and stopped just before the fountain.

“Why?”

“Because you’ll never know if I’d do this,” she started while she switched the fountain on and faced it towards Luhan, drenching him.

Luhan stood stunned while Yoona just laughed at him.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” he taunted as he raised his wet head, glaring playfully through hit drenched bangs.

He quickly faced the water away from him, using his hands to divert its direction to Yoona instead.

“Kyaaa,” she screamed when the cold liquid hit her and hastily scampered off.

“Aah, she’s running away. What a scaredy-cat!” Luhan called from beside the fountain.

Yoona pouted from the see-saw, “The scaredy-cat just recovered from her sickness, and she doesn’t want to be stuck in bed because she got sick again.”

She could see Luhan laughing at her and making his way back towards her where a few kids were already gathered around wondering what the two university students were doing playing around with water.  The kids were pointing at them, and Luhan simply waved hello.

Yoona chuckled, “I think the children thinks we’re weird.”

“That’s because we are, aren’t we?”

They both laughed and returned to their seats at the swing, simply enjoying the gentle breeze and ignoring their slightly wet clothes. Luhan looked at Yoona and smiled to himself. Her brown eyes were sparkling, and her pink lips were curved up into a beautiful smile. Luhan would’ve loved to see that every day.

“Oppa,” a small voice called, “is the unnie beside you your girlfriend?”

Yoona and Luhan both turned to the little girl in surprise. Yoona gaped at her and quickly shook her head in denial while Luhan only laughed.

“Well, it seems like your unnie here doesn’t want to be,” Luhan answered; the little girl beamed.

“Then, can I be oppa’s girlfriend instead?” she asked innocently.

Luhan chuckled and ruffled her hair, “Sure, at least you call me oppa.” Luhan pointed at Yoona, “your unnie over here is disrespectful and refuses to call me oppa.”

“It’s okay, oppa. I’ll be a better girlfriend than unnie!” the little child exclaimed.

“I’m not even his girlfriend!” Yoona berated. She turned to face Luhan with a scowl, “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

Luhan stuck his tongue out, “What if I am?”

Yoona simply huffed and was about to stand up from the swing when another child approached them.

“Taeyeon-ah!” a small boy called, suddenly grabbing the little girl by the arm, “why did you suddenly run off?”

“Oh! Leeteuk-oppa, I found myself a boyfriend!”

The older kid sputtered and finally seemed to realize to presence of two other people. He furrowed his brows and examined Luhan from head to toe.

“He’s not even handsome, Tae!” he exclaimed and added softly, “I’m better than him.”

The little girl, Taeyeon, scoffed, “You’re just jealous because you don’t have a girlfriend.”

The boy harrumphed and abruptly faced Yoona determinedly, “Noona, would you be my girlfriend?”

Yoona stared at them dumbly, and Luhan discreetly elbowed her to play along.

“Yes?” she answered hesitantly. *Great, my first boyfriend, and it turns out to be seven-year-old.*

The boy grabbed her hand and proceeded to drag her away, “Let’s go, noona. We wouldn’t want Taeyeonie over here to disturb our date!”

The little girl stuck her tongue out, “Same goes for you Teukkie!”

When they were finally away from each other, Yoona crouched down to meet Leeteuk’s height. She smiled at the boy charmingly while he pouted and crossed his arms over his chest.

 “What’s wrong, Leeteuk-ah?”

“Taeyeonie is mean,” he answered with a huff, “The truth is I don’t actually want unnie to be my girlfriend. You’re not my type.”

Yoona chuckled, “I know.”

The boy perked up and looked at her with wide eyes, “You knew?”

She nodded.

“I’m sorry,” the boy mumbled after a while.

Yoona simply ruffled his hair and chuckled, “It’s okay. You did that because you have a crush on Taeyeon, right?”

There was a pink tint on the boy’s cheek when he nodded.

“Then let’s go get her back, shall we?”

The boy nodded once more, and they set off to find Luhan and Taeyeon.

When they get to the swings, they find Taeyeon crying in Luhan’s arms. Leeteuk immediately let go of Yoona’s hand and ran towards Taeyeon.

“Taeyeon-ah! Why are you crying?” he asked worriedly.

The little girl sniffed and quickly ran towards Leeteuk’s arms, “I’m so sorry, oppa. Please don’t leave Taeyeon alone; don’t get a girlfriend. Taeyeon was just joking when she said she was dating the ahjussi over there.”

Luhan choked at the word ahjussi, and Yoona laughed at him before observing the sweet scene.

“Young love, if only they’d last,” she mumbled with a sad smile.

Her statement didn’t slip Luhan’s ears, and he looked at her curiously, “What’s wrong, Yoona?”

“It’s nothing,” she answered, “oppa.”

< | >

Author's notes: 
I'm baaaaaack! Okay, not edited as usual though it looked long enough in ms word but short in aff lol and dramatic start to the chapter yo (i feel bad for doing that to my baekhyun), but overflowing Luyoon Taeteuk (I don't actually ship them but /shrug) fluff in the end~ Part Two of their date will be on the next chapter; look forward to it :> Did you guys miss me? ahahaha, even if you didn't, I did!! >o<

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