Lunch time at your school was always chaotic. People rushing to get in line for food, struggles to get seats at tables, noisy conversations with friends; it was always the most hectic part of the day.

But it was also one of your favorites because it was when you and your best friend were able to unleash your best talent: pulling pranks.

"You put the salt in them instead of the sugar right," Chanyeol asks with a big grin.

"Yup," you reply and pull a cookie out of the container. You look up at him with a mischievous smile and he gives you a confused look.

"I didn't try them though," you say and you shove a piece of the cookie in his mouth. 

"Gah!" He turns away and tries to spit out the cookie, crumbs flying out of his mouth. You laugh hysterically while you watch Chanyeol struggle with the cookie. Meanwhile other people in the hall give the two of you weird looks.

You always enjoyed spending time with Chanyeol. The two of you became really close at the beginning of the year, and you always hung out together. Over time you even started to develop feelings for him.

Of course you wouldn't dare confess. You were almost positive he didn't like you back and you wouldn't have been able to handle the pressure and possible embarrassment.

But you were already happy with your relationship with him. The two of you spend almost all of your time together and you enjoyed every moment with him. There was no need to complicate things with love or romance.

"How is it," you say when you calm down. You try to hold back your laugh when he gives you a disgusted look.

"Ugh, that's awful," he replies. He shudders and shakes his head. "Did you add anything else besides salt?"

You shrug. "Just some vinegar."

"Ugh, that's disgusting."

You give him a thumbs up. "That's the reaction I needed."

He gives you a weak smile and a thumbs up back.

"Aw c'mon," you say as you pat his back. "Man up. It wasn't that bad." You head into the school cafeteria with the box of cookies with Chanyeol close behind, still trying to get rid of the taste of the cookies.

"We're so screwed when they eat those cookies," Chanyeol says behind you.

"I know, but it's fun." You turn around and give him a big grin and he gives you one in return.

The two of you reach the table with all your friends and plop down in the empty spots at the end. "Hey guys," you say with a big smile, slowly pushing the box of cookies near the middle of the table.

"Who do you think is the best looking out of all of us," Baekhyun turns to you and asks..

The question really catches you off guard. "Uhh, well I-"

"Pff, obviously I'm the best looking out of all of us," Tao suddenly says behind him.

Baekhyun gives him a disgusted look. "Oh please, if anythi-"

"If anything, I am," Chen says as he squeezes into a spot at the opposite side of the table next to Chanyeol.

You look at Chanyeol and motion your head towards the cookies. He nods and clears his throat as he pushes the cookies further down the table. "Hey guys, __________ made cookies and-"

"You didn’t answer my question __________," Baekhyun interrupts. "Who is the best looking?"

Everyone stops talking and turn towards you. "Uh..."

"Well obviously it's Chanyeol," Xiumin says matter of factly.

Your eyes widen at Xiumin's suggestion. You feel your cheeks get warm s you say, "N-No, of course it's not! Why on earth would I-"

"Ah, Xiumin hyung is right. __________ obviously likes Chanyeol. She's always spending her time with him. Look, she's even blushing" Baekhyun teases. The others tease in agreement.

"Yah, Chanyeol! Looks like you have a fan," Chen teases as he grabs Chanyeol by the shoulder. Chanyeol smiles, but it immediately fades when Chen lets him go.

You look at Chanyeol and you can see him shifting in his seat uncomfortably. You didn’t like this situation at all, and you wanted to cry from embarrassment. Not only did Chanyeol now know you liked him, but you could tell by his reaction that he definitely did not like it.

You stand up and all the others look up at you in silence. You look at the others and look back at the uncomfortable Chanyeol. You clench your fists as tears begin to form in your eyes.

You dump the box of cookies on the table. "Just shut up and eat the cookies," you say, your voice cracking in between words and you run out of the cafeteria.

~~~

You weren't able to get any sleep last night because your mind was spinning with thoughts. You were scared to face your friends after yesterday's incident, especially Chanyeol. You decided that you would try your best to avoid him as much as possible. You didn't want any questions about what happened, because you knew there would have been no other way to explain yourself except for admitting your feelings for him.

When you got into your classroom, you were very cautious of your surroundings. You saw Chanyeol with his other friends in the back of the classroom and quickly made your way over to your seat.

"__________-ah!"

Oh no, you thought to yourself. There was no mistaking whose voice that was.

Chanyeol bounces over to your desk with his usual dorky grin plastered on his face. You pretend to look for something in your bag to keep you from looking at him.

"Hi," you say in an uninterested tone.

Chanyeol peeks over your shoulder to try and see what you’re looking for “What’cha doing,” he asks, his face so close that you can feel his breath. You instantly jerk your head away to avoid the closeness of his face.

“Nothing,” you reply sharply.

“What’s wrong,” he asks. You still weren’t facing him and there was no way you were going to now.

"Nothing," you repeat in a harsher tone than before.

Chanyeol puts his hand on your shoulder. "__________, why can't you just tell me-"

"God Chanyeol, I said nothing's wrong! Just go away," you say harshly, almost yelling at him. You were now facing him and you couldn't stand looking at the expression on his face. You could tell that he was shocked with your reaction because the two of you have never fought before.

He slowly starts to walk backwards. "Alright, I won't bother you then." He turns away and goes to his desk.

You put your head down on your desk, covering your face with your arms to make sure no one saw the tears forming in your eyes. You really didn't like avoiding Chanyeol, but you knew it had to be done.

I'll just wait a few days, that way no one would he would have forgotten about what happened, you think to yourself.

The rest of the day you and Chanyeol didn't interact with each other at all. Whenever you saw each other, you would always be the first one to turn away and leave. There was always a pain in your chest every time you walked away from him.

At the end of the day, you had to walk home alone. Usually Chanyeol would let you ride with him on his bike since the two of you live near each other.

When you were about halfway home Chanyeol zoomed by you on his bike, not turning back once. You watched him bike away around the corner of the street.

When you turned the corner you stopped immediately. Chanyeol was leaning against the wall looking at his phone. He looks up at you and puts his phone away. He pushes himself off the wall with his foot and stands in the middle of the sidewalk, blocking your way.

"Hi," he says.

You look away and don't respond. You wanted to avoid him at all costs, but in this situation the only thing you could do is stay silent.

Chanyeol moves so that you're forced to look at him, his concerned expression making you weaker by the second. "Did I do something?"

Once again, you remain silent. You try to sidestep around him so that you could keep walking, but he quickly moves and blocks your way again.

He shakes his head in frustration. "Aish, __________-ah! Just tell me what the heck is wrong! Why are you avoiding me?"

You look up at him, feeling bad for not explaining yourself. You could tell that he was really upset about you avoiding him. You open your mouth to say something but nothing comes out. There was no way to explain yourself without telling him your true feelings, and you didn't want to face the rejection like the day before. So instead you quickly push him aside and run down the street.

"__________-ah!"

You run as fast as you possibly could, but you could hear Chanyeol catching up to you on his bike. Eventually he's biking at the same pace as your running.

"What the heck is wrong with you? Why aren't you talking to me," he yells.

You turn the corner of the next street as Chanyeol continues to pursue you. He swerves around a pole and continues to bike next to you at your running pace.

"You realize that I got sick from your cookies yesterday? I stomach was hurting when we were at the table," he suddenly yells. "If anything, I should be mad at you!"

Your eyes widen and you look at Chanyeol as you run. He looks back at you then back at the path and his eyes widen. "Watch out for that-"

You feel your foot trip on something and you fall on the ground hard, scraping your knees and hands. You sit up and wince in pain, your hands stinging from rubbing on the pavement.

Chanyeol brings his bike to a screeching halt and drops it on the ground. He runs over to you and gets down to your level. "Holy , are you okay?"

You look at him, his face inches away from yours. You feel your heartbeat quicken even more than after you ran, and you instantly stand up. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Chanyeol stands up and shakes his head. "And now you speak. Jesus, why wouldn't you talk-"

"Wait, did you say you weren't feeling good when we were with the guys," you interrupt, suddenly remembering what he said when you were running.

The question catches him off guard, and he slowly answers, "Yeah. And Chen shaking me by the shoulder didn't help either."

Your eyes widen. "Wait, so you weren't upset at what Xiumin hyung said?"

Chanyeol's eyebrows furrow. "What did Xiumin hyung say?"

"..."

You spin around and start to walk away, but the pain in your knees from falling slow you down. Chanyeol grabs your wrist and stops you. "What did he say?"

You turn around and face him. You see the determination in his eyes and you realize there's no way out of the situation. You look away from him and sigh.

"He said that I like you," you say, your back towards Chanyeol. "When they were asking me who I thought was the best looking, they volunteered you and my reaction made it obvious that I do really like you."

You turn back around and face him, his expression unreadable. "And then when I saw your face, I thought that you were reacting to what he was saying. It made me upset and embarrassed, and I was scared to face you today because I didn't think you would continue to-"

Chanyeol yanks your wrist and pulls you into his arms. Your mouth hangs open in shock and your face heats up, your heart beating out of your chest.

He lets you go and holds you out in front of him, a big grin slowly forming on his face. "You're blushing."

You look away from him and feel your face blush even harder. "Well, why did you do that," you ask. "Aish, this is so embarrassing," you mumble as you cover your face.

"Well I needed to confirm that the girl I like actually does have feelings for me."

You had to do a double take before you finally realized what he had said. You slowly lower your hands from your face and drop them to your sides. You stare at Chanyeol in disbelief and he gives you one of his stunning smiles.

He walks over to his bike and picks it up. He nods his head to motion you over to the bike. "C'mon, I'll give you a ride the rest of the way home. You're in no shape to walk."

You stay glued to your spot, still stunned by Chanyeol's words. "I don't believe you," you blurt.

Chanyeol chuckles and he walks his bike over to you. He parks it and gives you a sweet smile, gazing into your eyes. He suddenly pecks you on the cheek and goes back to his bike. "Convincing?"

You touch your warm cheek and silently nod, once again stunned by Chanyeol's actions.

Chanyeol smiles and gets on his bike. "Good, now let's get going and get your wounds cleaned," he says.

You stare at Chanyeol for a while, and finally convince yourself to get on the back of his bike. You grab his waist and he starts to pedal away.

You stare at his back as he continues to pedal through your neighborhood. You were still in shock by the turn of events, but extremely happy that Chanyeol felt the same way about you. You smile and lean your head against his back, hearing nothing but the wind and his soft heartbeat.