Chanyeol looks at the teacher in shock before slowly putting his head down, trying to be as unnoticeable as possible—considering his height—but to no avail.

“Mr. Park Chanyeol?” The teacher’s voice rings yet again.

He lifts his face up noticing that Jieun was looking at him before he slowly raises his hand, the teacher noticing almost too immediately.

“There you go.” Ms. Hwang smiled at him before moving towards the side, giving him space to perform.

“Uh..” he stammers out, standing “I…”

“Nope.” Ms. Hwang butted in. "You’ll perform one way or another.”

Chanyeol doesn’t hide the grimace on his face as he heads towards the back of the class taking his almost battered, maroon guitar case and walks in front.

“See,” Ms. Hwang chirped, Chanyeol doesn’t hide the irritation on his face when his eyes accidentally lands on Baekhyun. “You were prepared."

Chanyeol would have answered that he wasn’t. Not at all. The only complete original song he had ever sang was at the school audition and it was a song he didn’t expect to sing ever again.

Chanyeol freezes as he removes the guitar from its case and bites his lips, remembering what the song was all about. He looks at the expectant gaze of his classmate—sans big eyed and —and the teacher before another grimace covers his face.

“Uh…” he awkwardly starts, placing his guitar on his legs, not noticing the giggles and swoons from some of the girls that were ogling him. Feeling like he had to explain, he opens his mouth “This is the only complete song that I have so…” his eyes lands on Baekhyun’s for a fracture of a moment before he looks at Jieun and smiles at her.

“You can start whenever you want to.” Ms. Hwang nodded.

Chanyeol nods at her before taking a breather and mentally curses here and there before positioning his hands.

He closes his eyes and lets the first strum out and another and another before he gets the hang of it, forgetting his surrounding.

Baekhyun lifts his face up from the notebook he was doodling on—or trying to distract himself on.

He looks at Chanyeol as the first strum was released, engulfing him, he was as great as he could remember or maybe even better—always attracting attention. His lips are red from being bitten too hard and he feels Kyungsoo holds his hand and he continues to look and listen.

Chanyeol lets his eyes look at Baekhyun as he lets the first string of words out, before looking away and glancing at the students, glancing at jieun and then back to closing his eyes.

This was exactly what happened three years ago.

I see you from across the street

With cold eyes, you look at me

And you walk to me, you walk to me

Chanyeol looks at his shivering hand, he doesn’t know where it’s from. Maybe from the cold, maybe from the impending doom. He doesn’t want to think about it.

He lifts his face up, looking at the monotonous clouds before looking around. He balls his fist and blows on it as a cold wind surprises him, he should have brought gloves.

He shuffle his feet and look around again before it lands on the person he was waiting for, he flinches slightly and covers it with a smile, despite the coldness in the latter’s eyes.

“U-uhm” Chanyeol stutters out, trying to think of words that could possibly—hopefully—break the coldness in baekhyun’s eyes.

“What do you want?” Baekhyun spats out, his voice cold and his words sting.

Chanyeol bites his lips, “I…” He starts, “D-did you really went out with Se-seungjoon?”

Baekhyun lifts his face up from looking down, letting go of Kyungsoo’s hand and putting one over his left wrist trying not to cringe at the pain as the

memories that had been haunting flashes before him.

You spit out words that cannot be taken back

With a small voice, you take all our memories

And rip them apart, rip them apart

Baekhyun snickers a little before looking at him in the eye, “Where did you hear that? The rumor?” Chanyeol flinches from his tone.

“I… I don’t believe them…” Chanyeol stutters out, breaking eye contact, his voice weak. He thinks of possible things that happened why Baekhyun was acting like this, why Baekhyun was giving him the cold shoulder but it boils down to nothing. “B-baekhyun, I… Did I do something to upset you…?

Chanyeol sees Baekhyun closes his eyes before opening them back, “You know what,” he starts, his voice sharp and crisp and it almost made Chanyeol shiver, “It’s a good thing you asked. I want to break up, Chanyeol.”

Your eyes covered me with the blue ocean

And you spit me back out like white cigarette smoke

As if I'm nothing

Chanyeol whips his head to look at Baekhyun in the eye, “Wha-what…”

“We’re never really compatible, Chanyeol.” Chanyeol’s eyes are pooling before he even knows it. Was Baekhyun really breaking up with him? Just like that? After all this time?

He covers Baekhyun’s hand with his and looks at him in the eye, “B-baek, if you’re mad at something—“

“I’m not mad at something, Chanyeol!” He snarls, “Can’t you see that I’m tired of you? I’m tired of this?!”

“Damn it, Baekhyun!” Chanyeol yells, exhaust evident in his voice. This has been going on for a month now and Chanyeol doesn’t even know why he’s acting like this. “What the hell is your problem?! I’ve done nothing wrong and you keep acting like a .”

He doesn’t see the flinch in Baekhyun’s shoulder but his face turns to regret. “I-I’m sorry.. I mean…”

Baekhyun shakes his head at him.

“I guess,” Baekhyun begins, and Chanyeol feels like the world is crumbling. “It’s a good time to say this. Let’s end this. I’m tired of you.”

Chanyeol looks at him shock and hurt, he holds baekhyun’s arm again but gets slapped away, he tries again but to no avail. “What… are you…?”

Just like a sandcastle crumbling with the waves

Just like our memories were never there

You end it like that

“I’m saying I want to break up, Chanyeol.”

“Baekhyun, please stop joking.” Chanyeol laughs humorlessly as he looks at Baekhyun skeptical, not believing it.

He sees Baekhyun’s displeased face and closes his eyes at the words. “I’m tired of you Chanyeol. Can’t you see? You’re annoying me. God!” Baekhyun yells, exasperated. “You’re always baekhyun this, Baekhyun that.”

Chanyeol’s lips trembles, holding baekhyun by the arm tightly. “Please tell me you’re joking, baek… P-plea—“

“Well, I’m not.” He frees himself from chanyeol’s grip. “I’ve meaning to say this to you for a while now. But you looked so pitiful..”

“I don’t care if you pity me, Baek.” Chanyeol’s whispers, almost inaudible and really, he doesn’t. He doesn’t care if Baekhyun pities him because that where love starts anyway, he just… he just doesn’t want Baekhyun to leave. To leave him. “I don’t care, Baek… Just… Please, stay with me..”

“I regret it everyday, chanyeol.” Baekhyun looks at chanyeol in the eye, Chanyeol could see the anger in Baekhyun’s eyes. “Meeting you that is.”

Chanyeol lets go of his hold on Baekhyun’s arm as he sees the truth in the latter’s eyes.

So that’s what.

He regrets meeting the annoying, pathetic Chanyeol.

Chanyeol had always known he was annoying. Maybe that’s why kids from when he was in grade school bullied him.

Maybe he really did annoy Baekhyun.

I turn around first and get further from you

Although the tips of my hands are still toward you

I'm getting further, I'm getting further

He looks at Baekhyun one last more, lifting his hand up to brush the hair that was falling on his face, the latter flinching and he pulls back.

He turns around without a word, walking where his feet would take him. Chanyeol wanted to look back, he really did. But if he did… what would he see?

Would Baekhyun still be there? If he was, was he allowed to even hold him in arms?

Chanyeol doesn’t wipe the tears that were falling down his cheeks as he tries to hurry away from this place, it was suffocating him.

As I hold in this pain that I cannot endure

I try to close my eyes with the last image of you but...

He stops at the entrance of the park before sprinting to God knows where, his mind racing and his heart thumping.

It hurts.

He stops near the route to his school before crouching down, covering his face with his hands as his sobs echo from the silence that was swallowing him.

Baekhyun was gone.

Baekhyun did not want him.

Your eyes covered me with the blue ocean

And you spit me back out like white cigarette smoke

As if I'm nothing

He breaks out in sobs as his mind wonders back to the image of Baekhyun saying those words as a person asks him if he’s okay, he doesn’t answer.

The next thing he knows is their butler, holding him by the arm at sun down and dragging him to the car, his eyes swollen and his voice gone. His mother asks him what happened when he gets back but doesn’t answer, instead going up to his room, lying down on his bed, letting another set of tears escape from his eyes.

I see you from across the street

With cold eyes, you look at me

And you walk to me, you walk to me

Chanyeol closes his eyes for the last strum, feeling it echo at the silent room before a set of applaud comes from his classmate. He sees Chen giving him a thumbs up and Jieun smiling brightly at him. He doesn't look at him though. He won't even look at him again.

He forces a smile for them before he takes a heavy breath, staggering a little when he stands up.

He never wanted to remember that memory ever again.