It all but took Baekhyun not to jump on Kyungsoo the second he stepped out of the room, and it only took a glance from Kyungsoo for the latter to envelop him in a hug—not minding the people who were looking at them.

“Baby,” Kyungsoo whispers on his ears as the crowd dissipates. “What happened?”

Baekhyun shakes his head in response but holds him closer. “Wha-what do I do, kyung?” he stutters out, “I try to forget but it... I can’t.. I just..” Baekhyun closes his eyes and all he could see is Chanyeol and the different emotions that Baekhyun had made him feel and he knew then that hurting Chanyeol was for the best, that the latter would hate him but maybe that was his intention, that maybe through all that hate Chanyeol wouldn’t forget him.

That even if he wasn’t the only person Chanyeol loved with all his might, he was one of the people Chanyeol could never forget because of how much of a he was.

Kyungsoo tightens his hold on the latter, “Sometimes,” Kyungsoo begins, “Moving on is not about forgetting. Sometimes it’s about learning, baby. I don’t know how hard it is, but I know for sure that you will overcome this, B. You always did and you always will.” He kisses Baekhyun by the temple and feels the latter relax against him.

Kyungsoo was always there for him.

“I’m here for you, baby.” Kyungsoo assures him, “No matter what happens.”

Chanyeol looks at the door when he hears it open and sees two figure entering the room. His eyes travel down to their linked hand and almost scowls in disgust. Why he had engaged in a relationship with him was beyond him. Really.

“That was fast!” Chen booms out, a smirk written on his face. Kyungsoo scowls at him and flipping him the bird. He looks at Chanyeol for a brief, flittering moment before he bows, the former doing the same. Even though he wasn’t sure about Baekhyun’s, at least this Do Kyungsoo still had manners.

Kyungsoo squeezes on Baekhyun’s shaking fist as he walks them towards the opposite end of the room, away from Chanyeol. He continues to hold Baekhyun’s hand under the table as they both take their seats. “So…” Kyungsoo begins, “Any update?”

Jieun raises her hands and Kyungsoo nods at her, “The principal wants us to perform for annual talent show.” Jieun looks at Baekhyun who was looking at her, “No exemption.” Baekhyun visibly scrunches his face at this. Great. Another problem to add to his list of problems.

Kyungsoo nods at her before looking at Chen who was too excited to relay his news, “This guy” He points at Chanyeol who was looking at his cake, his appetite already gone. “Wants to join.”

Chanyeol whips his head up, looking at the finger pointed at him before scrunching his brows, “wha—“ He starts, “and we’ll be very pleased to have you!” Jieun claps her hands and give her a dazzling smile and Chanyeol knows he can’t say no. Not even when he could practically feel daggers from the other side of the room.

“Very well.” Kyungsoo says, “I’m sure Jongdae has told you by now but you must have solid As in all Music classes, I don’t really give two s about it but the principal says that as a representative of the department, it is a must. As for the other subjects, pass them, fail them, i don’t really care just as long as it doesn’t jeopardize your stay here in the club.”

Chanyeol could only nod his head because even if he was annoying and cocky, he speaks with pride when it comes to the club. Kyungsoo nods his head at him before he breaks eye contact, looking at the figure beside him instead and Chanyeol could see the slight twitch of his lips as he looks at the latter.

Chanyeol rolls his eyes at the scene and his eyes lands themselves on a pair of brown ones. His feline-like eyes looking, judging him before a smirk covers his lips and Chanyeol remembers that he’s breathing the same air as that piece of . He pushes his chair back and gains the attention of Jieun and Chen who were engaged in a talk, “I…” He starts, his eyes still on Baekhyun’s and he could see Kyungsoo also eyeing him. “I need to go.” He gathers his things, breaking eye contact and hears chen call his name. “Yah, chanyeol. You better show yourself at literature or I will kill a .”

Chanyeol smiles at his newly found friend, not having the motivation to fake a laugh because Baekhyun Baekhyun Baekhyun Baekhyun.

“See you, then.” Chanyeol smiles, “Bye. Jieun-sshi.” And his heart skips a beat as Jieun smiles at him.

And he closes the door, almost giving the bird at 2 pairs of eyes.

“Are you dumb?” Yixing asks as he looks at his friend clutch his mop of a hair and pulls it quite harshly. The latter gives him a scowl and flips him the bird before opening his mouth, “Well, Jieun was there and why would I let my chance to be close to her slip just because of that ?”

Yixing raises his eyebrow at him, “Then why are you complaining? To me?” Yixing had met Chanyeol at the end of his senior year in high school. He had transferred to the younger’s high school and through Kris, his cousin, they became close. But yixing begs otherwise. They weren’t that close for Chanyeol to ruin his image, or what’s left of it, in Yixing’s mind. He used to be this who always drank and goes to bar and with yixing being a country bumpkin, he had thought the latter was cool.

Boy, was he wrong.

“Well,” Chanyeol starts, “You’re my friend and Kris is busy with his test papers and you’re supposed to help me in cases like this. And just… I just want to kill that every time I see his smug face and I don’t want to do something rash because it seems that Jieun and him are close.”

Yixing thins his lips before opening them, a slight, forced smile on his lips. “Chanyeol, you have two options.” He starts, Chanyeol leaning closer to him. “You either ruin your chances, what very miniscule of it, at Jieun. Or” His face, serious “You pretend he’s not affecting you, like nothing had happened. It seems to me that he finds your reactions amusing and he lives for it, which kind of is evil but with the amount of profanities you’ve described him, I’m pretty sure he is.” Yixing sighs as Chanyeol bites his lips in contemplation, “look, I don’t know what happened between that baeksun kid or whatever but you’re never going to move on and be happy if you’re stuck in the past.”

Chanyeol releases a sigh, “I want to pretend it doesn’t affect me but every time I hear or see anything to with him I just want to kill someone…”

“Well,” Yixing says, scrolling through his phone. “I’m not bailing your sorry ”.

Chanyeol scowls at him, why he even bothered to tell yixing his problems, he doesn’t even know.

“B,” Kyungsoo starts, “If you’re not fine with him being in the club, just tell me.” Kyungsoo worriedly looks at Baekhyun who was standing near the window, reading a book.

“It’s…” Baekhyun starts, his voice almost inaudible, “It’s fine... I… maybe if I see him happy with someone else, I’ll forget.” Baekhyun looks at the scenery below, some of the students seated at the lawn. He repeats the words ‘it’s fine’ in his head because he knows that’s his only motivation to not gravel at Chanyeol’s feet and tell him how he misses him and how much he's hurting.

Kyungsoo walks to him from behind, snaking his hands on Baekhyun’s back and putting his head on the crook of baekhyun’s neck, hugging him from behind. “You can do this, love.” He places a kiss on Baekhyun’s temple.

It’s one week after that, Chanyeol finds himself in the same music club that he has been avoiding and it’s one week after that he feels the frustration coming back—after without much difficulty in ignoring the that is Byun Baekhyun.

Seems like he was on a roll for the past few days because the hadn't been attending lessons and that was pretty ing great.

“You don’t really need to audition to the Dean of the music department anymore because when Kyungsoo had sent in your application, the Dean was impressed with your audition,” Chen says, his mouth stuffed with burger that Chanyeol cannot comprehend the taste of. “Also, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun already told me that since they saw you perform the other time, you don’t have to perform again.”

“So,” Chanyeol starts, “I’m officially in the music club?”

Chen takes a big gulp of his water and finishes, “Yes, no turning back now.”

Chanyeol was sure the odds are never in his favor.

Baekhyun looks straight on, his face rid of emotions as if he does not care. Chanyeol proceeds to envelope the latter in his arm, placing his head on the crook of Baekhyun’s neck and he could feel the latter visibly ease down.

“Baby,” He starts, “You’ll do great.”

Baekhyun doesn’t answer for a little while before he removes Chanyeol’s hold, turns around, and envelops the latter in tight hug. “What if everyone laughs at me?”

Chanyeol places his head on Chanyeol’s crown, and takes in the mint and slight strawberry scent that Baekhyun always used. “No one is going to laugh at you, love. You have the most amazing voice I have ever heard.”

“But that’s biased, yeol.” Baekhyun pouted, “You’re my boyfriend so obviously, you’re going to have to compliment me.”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes before crouching down to Baekhyun’s level, intently looking at the pouting latter before he takes Baekhyun’s face in his hands, the latter looking at him. He slowly moves forward, his lips touching Baekhyun’s ever so slightly and even if he had kissed Baekhyun a thousand of times, he still feels the shiver run down his body, electrifying him.

He moves his face away and smiles at Baekhyun who was looking at him lovingly, “I’ve seen people get enthralled by you whenever you sing, Baek. And I’m always so jealous. So when you sing out there, know that I will kill if someone else touches you.”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes but smiles anyway. He flinches when the MC says his name and everyone’s cheering could be heard, his smile faltering but Chanyeol squeezes his hands and gives him another peck and everything was okay.

“I’ll be at the front, hm?” Chanyeol says, “Just look at me if you’re nervous.”

Baekhyun smiles at him and squeezes back, “I’m always looking at you.”

Chanyeol wakes up at his alarm and notices that his hands were balled up into a fist, he recalls the dream—or the memory—and he just scowls. Trying to forget the memory, he looks at the clock only to find that he woke up too early for his 9am class. Sighing at the loss sleep, he starts getting ready and hoping he doesn't see or hear him.

AFTER A VERY LONG TIME OF NOT UPDATING I'M BACK!!!!! THESIS AND DEFENSE IS DONE I MEAN I'LL PROBABLY STILL BE BUSY FROM TIME TO TIME BUT MAYBE NOT AS MUCH WHO KNOWS???? BUT HI IM BACK I HOPE YOU'RE STILL HERE THO!!!!

REALLY REALLY REALLY SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING THO SIGH

WELL, HERE YOU GOOOOOO!!! I'LL TRY AND UPDATE THIS WEEK AGAIN BUT IDK I STILL HAVE SOME LAST MINUTE REVISIONS TO DO BUT HEHEHEHEHE

TAKE CARE AND STAY HEALTHY <3