XXIII

Days pass in a blink of an eye and before he knew it, Baekhyun's back at his university. It's been a full five days since the incident with Chanyeol and his-well, Chanyeol's brother. And while yes, Chanyeol sent him his number, he never had the courage to go and talk to him. No one can really blame him though for his feeling is all over the place up until now.

Speaking of Chanyeol, he never heard of the giant since that day. And while he's thankful at the given space, he can't help but miss the other's presence. There are times where he just wanted to call Chanyeol and demand for his presence. But he knows he can't do that. Not until he settles all his issues.

Work isn't any better. After the incident, Baekhyun still forces himself to do his jobs. It doesn't mean he's doing a great job though.

For the past couple of days, he managed to drop two cups of coffee, put five instead of two shots of espressos (the customer complained for a full hour before dumping the contents of cup on the counter), and served the wrong drinks to customers of the club.

Baekhyun knows Suzy's worried. Heck, even Siwon's giving him a look. But he never explained to them what's really going on. It's his problem, not theirs.

During these past few days, Baekhyun thought a lot of things. He even made a decision that he's been holding out for a long time now.

That's how he found himself at the moment, standing inside the administration office on the first day of the new semester, waiting for someone to talk about the offered student exchange program.

Yes, he'd decided to take the offer. At the back of his mind, there's a voice that saying he's rushing out things but also, another voice is telling him he's doing the right thing.

He won't leave though, not until he settles everything. That's a promise he made with himself. If he's leaving, he want to leave everything behind, okay. If he's starting anew to a foreign country, he needs to have fresh heart. A heart unfraid of anything, a heart ready for a new life.

"Mr. Byun, good morning."

An old but sweet voice cut off Baekhyun's thoughts and is met with a lady in his early sixties, smiling down at him.

"Good morning, Ma'am." He stands up, giving the lady a full 90° bow. "I'm here for the student exch-"

"-ange program." The lady finishes for him. "I know Mr. Byun. So if you would just follow me." The lady enters, to what Baekhyun assumes her office. He follows imside and was told to sit. For some reason, he felt a little bit of uncertainty as the lady opens a drawer, bringing out a folder file before passing it to him.

"These are the hard copies of the details about the program. But I assume you've already read it when we sent you an email."

"Yes ma'am, I did." He nods in confirmation.

"Good." The lady adjusted her eyeglasses then gives him a wary look. "Now Mr. Byun, I have to ask you, are you accepting it or not?" Baekhyun stills for a second. He bites his bottom lip, suddenly hit with anxiety. But when he remembers what big change could this program do to his life, he pushes away all his uncertainties and replies with a firm, "Yes."

"That's good to hear." The lady smiles at him with a motherly feel. "It won't be easy though, let me just warn you Mr. Byun. Standford is a very competitive school and not to mention to language barrier."

"I know ma'am. But I'm determine to do everything that I can to prove that the board of committee did not made a mistake with choosing me as a candidate." Baekhyun assures, but more to himself than the lady in front of him. The lady then writes something on a memo pad. She tears it away as soon as she finishes, handing it to Baekhyun.

"Every morning starting today, you'll be attending an English lesson for two hours for a month before we send you away in the states. The class number written there is where the class will be conducted." Baekhyun stares at the paper and wonders if he'll be able to learn a new language in such a limited amount of time. He has some basic knowledge, yes, he went to an internationl school during grade school after all. But still, it's not enough to be considered 'fluent'. As if the lady can read his mind, she speaks again. "Don't worry just do your best." Baekhyun smiles gratefully. "Now if you don't have any questions or inquiries, you're free to go young man. I believe your English teacher is already waiting for you."

"I do have a question, Ma'am." He says. The lady did not respond and he takes it as a que to continue. "Do I need to pay anything?" The lady stands up and motions for him to do the same. They walked to door and when the lady opens it, an answer is given to him.

"No, Mr. Byun. Just a good grade." The lady smiles and Baekhyun bows once again, thanking her before going out on his way.

It took more than ten minutes for Baekhyun to locate the classroom his English lessons will be held at and the first bell of the day already rang not too long ago. When he did though, he is surprised to see a lone figure sitting in the middle of the room.

Seemingly feeling his sudden presence the guy, turns to look at him and Baekhyun couldn't decipher whether he's being skinned alive or the other is just being socially awkward like him. Fortunately, the guy waves at him, motioning for to come closer before pulling a chair next to his. As soon as he flops down, a hand is extended to him.

"I'm Jongdae, Kim Jongdae." The guy, Jongdae, introduces. For a moment Baekhyun feels like he'd seen the guy before, but could't point out where. Brushing the thoughts away and not wmtimg to be rude, he took the hand and offers his name.

"Byun Baekhyun."

They shook hands for brief moment until they both retracted their hands at the same time.

"So I'm assuming you're my partner in crime on this student exchange program." Jongdae says grinning as he leans back on his seat.

"Yes?" It sounded more like a question than a statement.

"How come I've never seen you in class before?" Jongdae inquires and Baekhyun thinks for a moment but then a realisation hits him.

"Are you perhaps a regular student?"

"Yes I am." Jongdae confirms. "So that means you're a scholar or something?" He asks.

"Yes, I am a scholar."

"But I thought the program's only appicable to regular students?" Jongdae furrows his eyebrows in confusion. Baekhyun's about to answer but is put on a halt when a man clad in a working suit, enters the classroom.

"Sorry kiddos. Got held up at the faculty." The newly arrived man laughs. "Anyway my name's Henry Lau and I'll be your English teacher for a month." He bows. The two students did the same and introduce theirselves. When they sat down again, their professor didn't waste time anymore.

"Now let's head down to business. Shall we..."

₰₰₰

In the nineteen years of his existence, never, not even once, he feels suffocated than he is right now. Chanyeol is called down one early morning for him to have breakfast with his parents. A rare occurence since the elder Parks have their own villa that they live in.

He's really not up for it. He's still feeling emotional after everything that had happened between him and his Baekhyun. He wants to reach out. He wants to call out. He wants to say 'I'm sorry'. He wants to say 'I'm here'. He wants to be with him.

But he knows he can't. As much as he wanted to, Baekhyun needs time and space. Baekhyun needs some time to think. And although he, himself still has no full idea to what is really going on, that one thing his brother told him is enough for him to conclude that yes indeed, each and every one of them is connected one way or another.

His relationship with his brother undeniably went downhill after that incident. Besides the emotionless and cold greetings in the hallways, they never had a proper conversation. It hurts, for he treasures his brother so much, to ignore Suho. But until everything is settled, he had will to distance himself from his brother as much as he can. It's funny though, how it feels like life wants him to break so much.

A couple of nights ago, Kai came barging in in his bedroom. And while he's ready to reprimand the younger and tells him he's not in the mood to go party with him, he saw how broken and fragile Kai looked that he was left with nothing but an awful feeling. So awful that he wanted to hurt himself.

Kai, Kai is a brother to him. He might not mention it, but he's the closest with him. He treats him as his real brother and he loves him. So seeing him in a state like that made him forget his own miseries. That night, Kai cried on his shoulders for the very first time.

The younger had told him how much pain he was in and that he can't bear it. He told him how he didn't understand the concept of love. That he thought he did, but was all a untrue. He told him how he wanted to start again. How he wanted to forget Kyungsoo. How he wanted to be complete once more. How he wanted to be 'loved' and had asked him if it's too much to ask. Chanyeol could only do nothing but rub a comforting hand thru Kai's back and whispers of 'it's going to be okay', even though he knows it's far from that.

The very next day, he learned from Kai's crying mother that his friend was gone. Chanyeol never thought that even though he's alive, he'd feel how it would be like to be 'dead'. He wished he could've done more for Kai that night. And as he sits here, eating breakfast in a suffocating atmosphere with his family, he thinks; what would it be like if he too would be gone?

A loud clanking of kitchen utensils brought Chanyeol back from his daze. He looks up to see his mother tensing out and just like that, he knows they're up to something.

"Chanyeol." A raspy voice belonging to the the eldest Park caught everyone's attention. Chanyeol looks up from his untouched plate to his father and answers a hesistant, "Yes?"

"Your birthday is coming in three weeks." Father Park states matter-of-factly. "You'll be legal soon." Chanyeol is a bit puzzled to where his father's getting at but even before he can ask questions, his father speaks.

"I wanted you to meet my old friend's daughter. We've decided to arrange you for marriage." Chanyeol jaw drops at the statement and anger seeps into him faster than lightning.

"Excuse me?" He says incredelously. "What the hell are you saying?" 'Manners Chanyeol', his mother reprimands but he couldn't care less. Manners is the least of his worries now. "Are you insane?" He says, glaring at his father.

"Chanyeol, calm down. " Suho butts in.

"Calm down?" Chanyeol shouts not caring whether the whole house can hear him. "How the can I calm down when I'm being set up? It's ing 2014 already. Are you lost in 1950's?"

"Chanyeol, we're doing this for your sake. Please understand." Mother Park's slightly wavering voice says.

"For my sake? Are you serious now?" Chanyeol laughs mockingly not minding if he's being disrespectful.

"Chanyeol!" Father Park's voice vibrates throughout the dining room. "You're being disrespectful."

"I don't ing care." Chanyeol stands up from his seat. "Let me tell you this once and for all. You can't make me. Even if you disown me, do all those old s, I don't care. I won't live as your puppet."

"Chanyeol, just please listen to us. Let's talk about this calmly" Suho held his wrist.

" off!" He swipes away the hand. "You know about everything that's currently happening to me. With Baekhyun and Jongin. But still..." He pauses, feeling nothing but hatred in his heart. "You still have the audacity to agree with them. How very nice of you, brother."

"Chanyeo—"

"Why should I be the one? Why can't it be Suho? He's perfect." Chanyeol directed his question to his parents feeling horrible inside out. He wanted to cry but he held back the tears that are threatening to fall. Everyone fell silent and Chanyeol's quick to catch up.

"Is it because he's not your real son?" His mother looks at him wide-eyed, while his father can clearly be seen holding in his anger.

"Where did you get that information from?"

"Does it matter?" Chanyeol growls. "Listen here, all of you. I've got a lot on my plates right now. I can't deal with you guys." He says before turning around, ready to leave.

"You're still meeting her." His father says voice filled with finality.

Chanyeol's resolves starts to waver and the first tear escapes from his eyes. Why is this happening?, he asks himself. For once, can't he be happy? God. What have he done wrong to deserve all of this? Why is he punishing him?

He heaves a deep breath, turning around once more. And with all the hatred, all the loathing, all the resentment he could muster, he glares at his brother.

"This is all your fault." He venomously hisses before dashing out the dining room. He wishes that everything is just a bad, bad dream.

That he would wake up and realise nothing's wrong with him and Baekhyun.

That Kai's still here.

That he's back when everything's great.

But alas, this is not just a bad dream…

…Because it's more than that.

It is a living nightmare.

PREVIOUS AUTHOR'S NOTE[CHAPTER23] I have no excuse, whatsoever for being M.I.A (not really) for the past few months. It's been three months since I last updated this fic and I deeply apologize for making you wait. I'll be updating tomorrow so don't worry about not getting an update for a long time again. HAHA I miss you guys. :D

I've hidden Taking Chances... for a month to edit it. I've added some things here and there. Fix some errors (there still are though.) If you have time you can re-read from Chapter one to recap the things that happened so far. :D

Anyway, don't forget to comment and subscribe. You're free to upvote too if you like. :D So yeah, I'll see you on the next update. Bye. Thank you guys.

p.s. have you checked out my one-shot ChanBaek fic? If not, you can read it here. ^__^

PREVIOUS AUTHOR'S NOTE[CHAPTER24] As promise, another update! And woah, hold up, before you throw stones at me, let me tell you that I also do not fancy this chapter. I swear! >< But srly though, where is this story heading at??? '//I'm sorry my dear readers but I'm the only one who knows (atm at least) *winks*//'

Many are going to wonder what happened to KaiSoo, (even more to Jongin) but I'll give you answers soon. :D

Thank you to my new subscribers. :)) I hope you like this story. lol. I'm still sad though that you're not talking to me. T__T Anyway, thank you again. See you on the next update. :D Bye.

p.s. sorry for the excessive foul language. i think this got a lot of swearing than 1-23 chapters combined, lol

NEW AUTHOR' NOTE; Hey guys! I combined Chapter 23 and the previously Chapter 24. Don't get confused. Thanks!

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