No. Baekhyun didn't believe in soulmates. Why should he believe in something as stupid as a soulmate? And why did Park Chanyeol ask him such a question? Did he make fun of him? Was he crazy or something? Probably.

 

“Don't be stupid, Chanyeol. Do I look like I believe in something like that?”

 

The giant looked at him with big eyes, Baekhyun could literally read the disappointment. “How do people who believe in soulmates look like?” Baekhyun neither knew the answer to this question nor could he tell whether Chanyeol was serious about this point or not. Well, he looked kind of serious in the end.

 

“Let's go back to the classroom, Chanyeol. Lesson starts in a few minutes.” And with those words Baekhyun stood up and walked towards the door while Chanyeol stayed where he was. “Baekhyun, wait.”

 

But Baekhyun didn't want to wait. He didn't want to talk about this any further, not with a guy he had known for such a short period of time, not with a guy he knew nothing about. Not with someone like Park Chanyeol with whom Baekhyun befriended with within one single day. He had never done this before.

 

The brunette stopped immediately but didn't look at his new won friend. “What is it?” Chanyeol finally stood up and walked towards the smaller. He rested his arm on the other's shoulder and whispered in his ear. “I didn't mean to sound weird, ok?”; His deep voice let a shiver run down Baekhyun's spine and the latter jerked slightly. “But think about the possibility that someone like a soulmate may exist.”

 

With these words filling Baekhyun's head Chanyeol went out of the library while Baekhyun stood still for a moment, unable to move.

 

Soulmates? Bull.

 

 

 

In the evening, when Baekhyun was at home and about to clean his room he couldn't forget about Chanyeol's words. He couldn't forget about this soulmate bull.

But think about the possibility that something like a soulmate may exist.

“Pff, soulmates my .”

 

No, he couldn't believe in something like this anymore.

Believing in soulmates, believing in love, believing two people could be ideally suited for each other was a weakness people had created. And Baekhyun didn't want to be hurt. Baekhyun didn't want to be weak.

 

 

 

 

“Noona,who is that?”

Seulyi took her eyes from the picture in her hands, smiled at her little brother. “I finally found my soulmate, Baekhyun.”

“What is a soulmate?”

“When two people are meant to be with each other and there is a bond between them that's even stronger than love... those two are soulmates.”

The 12 years old Baekhyun looked at his sister with wide eyes. “Woah! That's so cool, I wanna meet my soulmate, too!”

“You will someday, Baekhyun,” His sister laughed and continued looking at the photo in her hands.

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun shook his head to get rid of these thoughts.

How was he supposed to get done when his head was full of thoughts? He decided to take a walk to clear his mind so he grabbed his keys, cellphone and headphones, put his leather jacket on and left the apartment. Since he had had some difficulties with his parents after some incidents he lived alone in a small apartment a few streets away from them.

 

He didn't hate his parents but he knew that they get along way better when they don't see each other every day.

 

 

 

The evening breeze was very pleasant – not too hot anymore but not cold as well. It was just perfect for a little walk through the empty park. The music in his ears was calming him down a bit, he didn't have to listen to other people's conversations when they walked by and he could get lost in the lyrics of the singer.

 

If he hadn't been outside he would have sang the lyrics he knew by heart as loud as he could.

 

While he was walking, the sky turned into a beautiful shade of red so Baekhyun sat down on a bench to enjoy the sunset. Although there was no other person than him around, the brunette was embarrassed when he suddenly felt a warm tear running over his face.

He cried.

He hadn't cried for a really long time but on that evening in the park Byun Baekhyun cried.

He cried bitterly.

 

“Baekhyun?” The male didn't hear someone saying his name.

“BAEKHYUN?” The male still didn't hear some yelling his name.

However, he suddenly felt a weight on the other half of the bench he was sitting on so he looked to the right to see someone staring at him. Chanyeol. The brunette took out his headphones and looked surprised at the other – without realizing the tears still running down his face.

 

“Baekhyun, are you crying?”

Quickly, the smaller wiped away his tears and shook his head. “No I don't.”

“Yes, you are.”

“I don't.”

 

Why did the the giant have to appear in the worst time of all? Why did the stupid giant have to appear in Baekhyun's weakest moment?

 

His friend suddenly put his arm around the smaller. “It's okay to cry, you know...”

 

“I've already told you I didn't cry, idiot. What are you doing here anyway? Don't you have better things to do than wandering through the park alone in the evening?”

 

The giant raised one of his eyebrows. “I could ask you the same, you know that...”

 

“Never mind,” Baekhyun turned his head to his lap so he didn't have to look at Chanyeol. “Don't tell anyone, okay?”

 

“Your secret is save. Are you okay?”

 

“I'm fine.”

 

“Hm.”

 

Baekhyun wanted to disappear – disappear like this whole scenario didn't even happen. However, he stayed. Leaving in a moment like this would have only been a prove that he was weak; that he couldn't handle something like this.

 

Chanyeol seemed to understand that Baekhyun didn't want to talk about what happened in that moment. Quietly he was watching the sun going down.

 

The silence between them got a bit awkward after a couple of minutes and when the sun was completely gone, Baekhuyn bit his lower lip and glanced over to the taller next to him who was still looking straight forward. “Hey... uhm... thank you for caring.”

Chanyeol didn't answer. Instead, he looked up into the now dark sky and smiled slightly.

 

Suddenly, he stood up and turned his body to Baekhyun. “Let's go.”

 

The smaller looked at him a bit confused. “Where should we go at this hour?”

 

“I'm walking you home, it's late and we have school tomorrow.” The giant reached his hand for Baekhyun but the latter refused to take it. “I can go by myself; I'm not a little child anymore.” He stood up as well and began to walk with Chanyeol following him.

 

Baekhyun didn't want Chanyeol to walk him home. He didn't want Chanyeol to see his small apartment and he particularly didn't want to explain him the reason why he lived alone. “Why are you following me, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asked the giant behind him without even looking back. Though he felt sorry for being so rude in that moment, he really wanted to be alone right now. Alone with his thoughts.

 

“I told you I'd be walking you home, remember?”

 

“And I told you that it wasn't necessary. Really. I'll be fine.”

 

Chanyeol stopped his walking and nodded. “See you tomorrow then, Hyung. Take care and greet your parents!”

 

Without a reply, Baekhyun put in his headphones again, his music and walked home as fast as he could.

 

But he couldn't deny that he felt sorry for being so rude to his friend.

 

 

 

When he arrived in his apartment, all his thoughts came to his mind again. They even got worse.

 

He shouldn't have gone out.

He should have stayed at home.

If he hadn't gone out he wouldn't have met Park Chanyeol.

And Park Chanyeol wouldn't have seen him crying.

 

Baekhyun hated himself for letting someone see his weakness.

And he hated Chanyeol for appearing in the worst of all the moments. Was that guy some kind of stalker? Did he follow him on purpose?

 

“I should go to sleep,” Baekhyun said to himself and put on his pajamas and went to his small bathroom. He looked at himself in the mirror, his eyes weren't exactly swollen but you could clearly see how tired he was. His hair was a mess but he didn't really care about it as he knew that people still found him pretty. Although he heard it a lot, he was still convinced that people were lying when they told himm that he was pretty, handsome or even beautiful.

 

 

“Oh, look at that beautiful boy.”

 

“I'd date you if you were a girl.”

 

“Ugh, why are you prettier than me, oppa?”

 

“You must have a lot of admirer with your pretty face.”

 

“Baekhyun-ah, so handsome~”

 

 

Liars.

 

 

 

Before going to bed, he checked his phone to see a message of that idiot he had met that evening.

 

'”If you see a friend without a smile; give him one of yours”

(that's a proverb, I found it on google and I thought about you.)

Rest well, Hyung. :)'

 

Attached was a selfie of Chanyeol smiling bright into the camera.

 

Baekhyun's lips formed a smirk. Stupid Chanyeol.

 

'Remember to keep what happened today as a secret, ok?

Rest well, too, idiot.'

 

 

 

 

 

The next day, Baekhyun and Chanyeol had their second date in the library. Well, it wasn't actually a date but Chanyeol had called it like this before and Baekhyun wasn't very pleased about it. However, he went with him anyway – maybe because he was head over heels for those delicious masterpieces of sandwiches the giant had made.

 

They didn't talk about the night before, Chanyeol made it seem like they hadn't even met in the park the other day and Baekhyun was really thankful for that.

 

“Hey, you wanna come over the weekend? My parents aren't home and I'm planning to invite some people...”

The smaller wasn't much of a party person. He didn't like too much social interactions in general but on the other hand, he hadn't planned anything for the weekend. “I don't know, Chanyeol, I...”

“Oh, I can get you home later if your parents don't want you to come home too late alone, I'll totally understand if they are worried about you and-”

Baekhyun shook his head, interrupted Chanyeol's words. “No. No, it's not that. My parents actually don't give a about that. I just don't know if I have time or not, you know...”

 

The giant looked at him with big puppy eyes. “What do you mean with your parents give a fu-”

“I live alone, Chanyeol. We talk on the phone once or twice a week and sometimes they bring food and money. It's okay though.”

 

“I'm sorry, Hyung,” Chanyeol whispered. “You can always call me when you're lonely, you know that, right?”

Baekhyun nodded in response, smiling at the other. “I know that. Thanks.”

 

“You really have to come to my party. There won't be many people as I just moved here and haven't met a lot of people yet.”

 

“Maybe.”

 

“Come on, you have to!”

 

“Why do I have to?”

 

“Because I really want you to be at my party.”

 

“We'll see.”

 

Baekhyun took the last bite of his sandwich, forcing himself to smile.

 

 

 

 

He went to that party after he had to tell himself several times that he was old enough to go to parties and that socializing wouldn't kill him.

And how bad can a party of Park Chanyeol get? He himself said that there wouldn't be a lot of people as he didn't know many so Baekhyun will be just fine. He will be okay.

 

 

 

After taking a shower, brushing his teeth and doing his hair – he decided that he'd wear it as usual, nothing too excited as he was perfectly fine with his hair – Baekhyun stood in front of his closet. “What should I wear? What do people wear at parties? Do I have to wear something special or are jeans and shirt just fine?”

 

In the end, he chose a black skinny jeans and a casual white t-shirt with a black cardigan. It was basically what he usually wore but nobody had ever complained about his fashion sense. The brunette also found a black eyeliner so he went into the bathroom and put on some on his waterline – and he had to admit that it suited him. He smiled at himself one last time until his phone started to ring.

 

It was Yixing. “Come out of your apartment, Baek. I'm waiting.”

“Give me a second!”

 

 

Baekhyun was glad that Yixing had his own car so he could pick him and Kyungsoo (of course with his beloved company) up to Chanyeol's place. None of them had an idea about where Chanyeol was even living so they had to trust the navigation system. The robotic voice led them to a street with big houses, people who lived there seemed to be really rich and Baekhyun hoped that Chanyeol's family didn't live in one of these houses.

 

But the house the navigation system had led them to was indeed one of those big ones. Baekhyun thought about his own small apartment and felt a bit embarrassed. What would the giant think about when he found out that Baekhyun lived in a small apartment with barely furniture while he was living in a huge house with wealthy parents?

 

“Woah look at that villa!” Yixing couldn't believe his eyes and stopped the car. After finding a place to park the vehicle, the four went to the Park's house and rang the doorbell. After a few seconds a true happy virus opened the door and greeted them with a warm hug. “Nice to see you, guys! Come in.”

 

Baekhyun had to admit that Chanyeol looked really handsome that day. Like the smaller male he wore black skinny jeans, some sneakers and a grey tank top. Moreover, he had straightened his hair but Baekhyun found that the curly hair suited him better. He wanted the curls back.

 

They followed Chanyeol through the big corridor into the even bigger living room where some of their classmates had already made themselves comfortable on the huge, black leather sofa or stood in the room, chatting with each other. There were also some people Baekhyun had never seen before; were those people even from their school? All of those people were drinking beer or something colorful in small plastic cups. Alcohol. Of course. He soon wished that he could just leave now – there were way more people at this party than he had expected. And they had alcohol which made them all even more talkative and probably more intimidating, too.

 

“You alright?” Baekhyun heard Kyungsoo asking him and he looked at his friend, nodding. And he knew that Kyungsoo knew that he was not alright but was just pretending to be alright because he didn't want anyone to know about his anxiety, about his weakness, about his stupid thoughts.