^AU.

Do Kyungsoo, and extremely sociophobe, was often very thankful to his two childhood best friends – Park Chanyeol and Kim Jongdae –, whom always showed him support, and allowed him to stay in his comfort zone, helping him through the most difficult times.

But that wasn’t always the case, and today was one of those days.

“Guys! I’ve just found something amazing!”

Chanyeol called out as he came through Kyungsoo’s apartment’s front door. The three lived in the same building, so it was more than normal that they each entered freely the others’ homes. Although, the more often one used for their gathering was Kyungsoo’s.

“What?”

Jongdae and Kyungsoo asked almost in unison, as the two were having a quiet normal conversation, and Chanyeol’s enthusiasm was too loud for both of them.

“You know my uncle, the one that goes to those AA meetings?”

Chanyeol started, with a very huge smile on his face.

“Yeah… He’s finally sober?”

Jongdae asked, trying to make sense out of the grin in his friend’s face, as Alcoholics Anonymous didn’t seem like and appropriate theme to go with such expression.

And with the question, the smile quickly disappeared, and his face became quite grim as he answered.

“Oh, no. I think it’s not really working, he started drinking in secret. The family is thinking about sending him to rehab, the whole thing it’s a terrible mess.”

And as he finished that, he returned the smile, clapping his hands excitedly.

“But that’s not what I was going to talk about!”

The man moved a bit with tiny little ridiculous jumps, trying to show the other two that this was a good thing, but all he managed to do was irritate them.

“Oh, just go on with it already! What is it?”

Kyungsoo complained, motioning for Chanyeol to sit down in the chair in front of them, so he would stop moving.

 “My aunt asked me to pick my uncle up from his AA meeting today, because she had to go to the city hall, to file her…”

The man was obviously about to go on about his aunt’s business, but while noticing the two irritated stares he got, he realized he was going off topic.

“Anyway, she was busy! So I went, and while I was there I saw an interesting flier! These places now have all sorts of therapy sessions you know, and I saw that there was a group that dealt with socio phobia and anxiety! It’s perfect for you!”

He pointed at Kyungsoo enthusiastically, and was a bit frazzled as to why none of the two seemed in any way excited. The two just stared at him with incredulity, trying to wait to see if he realized it himself.

“What’s wrong?”

He finally asked, and the two showed a mixture of surprise and disbelief.

“Dude, don’t you see what’s wrong with that?”

Kyungsoo asked, and he didn’t even need to explain it himself, as Jongdae happily took over for him.

“If he’s so screwed up-“

Jongdae started, and turned to Kyungsoo to say a quick ‘sorry’, to which the man just shrugged, completely acknowledging that he could easily be described as ‘screwed up’.

“So screwed up that he can’t even leave his house properly without feeling sick about the thought of meeting someone in the elevator, how the hell is he supposed to go to a room full of people, where he has to openly face them and talk about his problem?”

Jongdae continued, all while Kyungsoo nodded emphatically. After that, Chanyeol seemed to start to grasp what the trouble was.

“That seems like a failed concept, really.”

Kyungsoo started, and he even scoffed a laugh before carrying on with his point.

“Can’t you imagine? It would be the quietest session ever! The therapist would talk a bunch, and try to be inspirational and all, and when he stopped and asked ‘okay, who wants to speak first?’ the room would be filled with so much silence, you would be able to hear the crickets outside!”

He couldn’t help but laugh as he imagined it. He knew he would definitely not be able to speak up in such a situation, so he felt the whole thing would definitely be difficult. Even if there were people who were willing to fully face the problem and fight it – which he was most certainly not – they would still hesitate in such a moment.

“You’re right, that was a silly thing.”

Chanyeol laughed along. And unknowingly, they started to switch the subject, until that talk was all forgotten for the rest of the day.

But the three would still think about it at night, for the two supportive friends did try their best to help Kyungsoo solve his trouble, the best way they could; and the latter did wish that one day, he could sort himself out, and maybe life a less complicated life.

_{The End. 816 Words.}