*THROWS CONFETTI* HERE'S SOME BAEKYEOL TO CELEBRATE 10 CHAPTERS

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Here they were again, bodies pressed together and the tips of their noses touching. Their mouths were far too close for Baekhyun's liking, and Chanyeol's (accidental) tight grip on his wasn't much of a  help in this situation. His droopy eyes glared at Chanyeol's closed eyelids. At this point the vocalist didn't even have the strength to yell, let alone be mortified from the feeling of the other's large, warm hands on his bottom. Baekhyun raised his head back, and then moved forward, his forehead slamming into Chanyeol's with a loud crack.

The rapper winced and let out a cry of pain, hands releasing their grip on the other to reach for his own forehead. Baekhyun rolled over on to his stomach and stared at the mirror. His gaze shot daggers at the reflection of Chanyeol holding on to his head. The vocalist wiped sweat from his temples and sat up, legs crossed and palms pressed against the cool wooden floor of the dance studio. 

They had been practicing the glow stick waving routine for TENDER LOVE. The video for the EXO-Ls was set to be released the following morning. Because of the recent events involving BaekYeol, the manager decided that it would be best for the two of them to be featured in the video. "Do it for the fans." Their manager said as he drove them to the studio. However, what was supposed to be half an hour of filming because four hours of practicing the simple choreography. 

The problem was that the vocalist and rapper had failed to synchronize their moves. Baekhyun moved too quickly for the clumsy Chanyeol to follow. The rapper's movements lagged behind the others. It wasn't that Chanyeol was bad at the simplest of dance moves, it was because he was dreadfully clumsy and wanted to prevent a repeat of that unfortunate event that happened at the concert. He took great care as they went through the routine. 

Despite Chanyeol's discretion, he still managed to put both himself and Baekhyun in an awkward position. The movements of his limbs were also a bit more impaired because his mind was distracted. Instead about thinking about the routine, he had been think of all the Pokemon he was going to catch with Sehun. It also didn't help that his mind was still occupied with the feeling of Sehun's hand in his. 

Chanyeol's distraction caused him to stumble over his large feet and knock poor Baekhyun down. In that brief moment of panic, the vocalist had grabbed the rapper in a failed attempt to push him away. 

Baekhyun was tired and annoyed. He didn't understand how the other couldn't keep up with him. All he wanted was to be finished with this video and go home. They hadn't even started practicing with the glow sticks yet. Their manager strictly ordered them to stay at the studio and perfect the routine. They would only be allowed to leave once their moves were flawless. 

We could be here for hours if that dumb giant doesn't get his together. 

"What the , Baekhyun?" Chanyeol groaned, gently rubbing the red spot on his forehead. 

"I should be asking you that question, Park." Baekhyun spat back at the other, meeting his gaze in the mirror."What the are you doing keeping us here like this? Why are you so ing clumsy? Why are you always messing with me like this? What the do you want from me? Stop messing with me."

Never in his life had Chanyeol even come close to punching another person. Not because he believed that violence only made problems worse, but because he was aware of just how capable he was of beating someone up. At the moment, Byun Baekhyun was making it really hard for Chanyeol to restrain himself. 

"It was an accident," Chanyeol stated calmly. He was a bit surprised by Baekhyun's words, firstly because of his overusage of the expletive '' and secondly, how the other seemed to think Chanyeol was messing with him(?).

Baekhyun's hands curled into fists as he stood up. His untrimmed fingernails dug into his palms as he angrily made his way over to Chanyeol. "Do you honestly expect me to believe you, Chanyeol? How many times has something like this happened? First the concert, then when we were both sick, and now-- This is not some unfortunate coincidence."

"Baekhyun--"

Chanyeol was cut off after Baekhyun landed a hard punch on his jaw. 

"I am straight and I have a girlfriend. Do not push your gay agenda on to me, Park Chanyeol."

A punch to the other side of his face. A punch to his stomach. A slap to his cheek. 

Not only did Baekhyun hit hard, but so did his words. Chanyeol hadn't heard anything like that since his high school days. Back when everyone was a lot less accepting of the LGBT community, rude comments like that always found their way to Chanyeol. He'd told one persson and then by the next day, half the school knew, even faculty members. Years of bullying followed, leaving Chanyeol friendless and fearful for his safety during and outside of school. 

However, Chanyeol always kept his mouth shut when classmates called him terrible names as he walked through the halls. His head was down whenever upperclassmen made lewd gestures and passed at him. Even when he was ganged up on and roughed up, Chanyeol remained calm and stayed quiet. He was weak back then and was too afraid to fight back. But just because he was weak, it didn't mean that he would show everyone else so.  Never let it show that they get to you, Chanyeol. He'd tell himself. 

It was only when he was alone, locked up in his room, that Chanyeol would let his emotions overtake him. He'd cry himself to sleep, his body aching where he'd been punched, slapped, and kicked by the other kids. Though it was common knowledge that Chanyeol was the target of bullying, no one ever stepped in, not even a teacher. As a result of this, the boy's parents never found out. It also helped that Chanyeol was good at hiding his pain, along with all the ugly bruises that littered his pale skin. 

Now, even with Baekyun's fists pounding into his skin and his words searing like hot flames, Chanyeol kept his head down. He pressed his lips together and stared at his feet. He would never fight back. Chanyeol would rather let himself be hurt than Baekhyun. It would be bad enough if one of them was covered in bruises and scolded by the managers and makeup artists. If two of them were all roughed up, it would be even worse. 

But that wasn't it. Chanyeol would never hurt Baekhyun, despite the vocalist's cruel treatment to him recently. How could he bring himself to hit his best friend? Even when they were on speaking terms, Chanyeol hadn't so much as slapped Baekhyun. After all, nothing should come in between friends, right? 

Maybe, just maybe this is what Baekhyun needed to get over the kiss. All the talk about the kiss had faded from the media and had been replaced by new scandals, none involving BaekYeol. Almost two weeks had passed since the concert. They were old news now, that unfortunate happening left only as digital memories for their shippers to relive as probably the greatest BaekYeol moment in EXO history. 

Chanyeol had mostly come to terms with his embarrassment and mixed feelings. He'd forgiven Sehun too. Though it bothered him at the time, there was nothing more to the kiss than an accident, well, on his part of course. Whatever Baekhyun's  reason for reciprocating it would mostly likely stay unknown to Chanyeol, be it fanservice or something else, something more. Chanyeol had decided to stick with believing it wasn't the latter.

For the briefest of moments when their lips met, Chanyeol felt a thousand emotions rushing through him, but none more prominent than that glimmer of hope. However, considering everything, most importantly the facts that Baekhyun was only a friend, he was straight, and was dating Taeyeon, Chanyeol dismissed that feeling. It was unhealthy to remember it and long for things that would never be. 

Chanyeol let the smaller boy hit him and hit him and hit him. Each punch brought back a traumatizing memory from his high school days. Those horrible names, the threats on his life, being assaulted in the locker room, and being beaten until he couldn't breathe.  It hurt, it hurt so bad. It was as if his heart were a punching bag and Baekhyun had hit it until it fell off the chain and on to the floor. But even then, Baekhyun didn't stop. He pounded his fists into it until he broke through the leather surface, leaving a big gaping hole in the punching bag. 

Baekhyun panted in exhaustion. The vocalist slumped forward slightly, but caught his balance after curling his fists into Chanyeol's shirt. Baekhyun's vision was shaky, his heart was thudding, and he was perspiring more from hitting Chanyeol than from dancing. It was only when Chanyeol let out a soft whine of pain and asked,"Are you alright, Baek?" that the vocalist realized what he had done. 

Slowly, he looked up and was met by Chanyeol's wide, teary eyes. The vocalist was shaken to the core. A cold sweat dripped down his back and face. His hands were sore and his knckles felt as if they were on fire. He could only imagine how much the other was hurting. There was a pained smile on his shaky lips. 

Baekhyun's stomach clenched. He tore his gaze away from the other's and pressed his head into the giant's heaving chest. "Dammit Chanyeol," he said under his breath. "God dammit why didn't you fight back?"

He could feel Chanyeol's heart. It was beating almost as fast as his. Baekhyun wanted to hug Chanyeol, but push him away and yell at him for not doing anything to stop him. Baekhyun lightly hit his forehead against Chanyeol's chest. 

"I'd never want to hurt you, Baekhyun."

Baekhyun felt his heart drop.

"Chanyeol..."

"You're my best friend after all. And my partner in fanservice, right? I never meant to make you feel uncomfortable. There are things I can't control, on account of my clumsiness. I'm sorry, but nothing was intentional. I'm not a ert or a jerk who wants to mess with you, please don't confuse me for one. I'm sorry for all the awkward positions I've gotten us into lately. I tried to fix things with the ITA interview and I've been giving you space. If you're still angry, be my guest and continue to hit me. I'm sorry and I hope you will be able to forgive me, Baekhyun. Please hit me. "

Baekhyun could hear the pain in Chanyeol's voice.

I'm such an . Was all Baekhyun could think as he buried his face into the rapper's shirt and cried apologies into his strong, warm chest. The guilt of hurting Chanyeol is a heavy weight on his shoulders. Remorse, guilt, frustration. The vocalist was a hot mess, his feelings all jumbled up inside him. He was a ticking time bomb, just waiting to explode. And when he did, Chanyeol was the one who had to face the aftermath.

I'm so sorry, Chanyeol. I'm really, the worst. 

I can't belive I did this to my best friend. 

I didn't realize I had been treating you like this. 

Baekhyun's hands came up to cradle Chanyeol's face. The rapper winced at the slightest touch of the vocalist's fingers. He closed his eyes and wrapped his fingers around Baekhyun's wrists. Slowly, his hands slid down Baekhyun's arms until his long arms were around Baekhyun's waist. This time, Baekhyun didn't yell. He didn't run away and he didn't hit Chanyeol. His own arms found their way around Chanyeol's neck. He had to stand on the tips of his toes, but that was okay. It was if he could tell how badly Chanyeol needed this hug. 

"You silly giant," Baekhyun sniffled. "I forgive you."

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I had to rewrite this chapter three times until I was satisfied. At first I had planned for BaekYeol to talk out their whole situation, but that seemed boring. This spiced up the drama a bit and gave you insight to Chanyeol's feelings. This story was mainly set to revolve around Chanyeol and Baekhyun. Somehow, Sehun managed to sneak his way in (: jk i'm sehun trash and i need him in all of my stories /kicked to outer space lmao

ALSO IS ANYONE ELSE FREAKING OUT ABOUT BYUN BAEKHYUN'S DELICIOUS ABS?

IM DYING

Anyways thank you all for reading and subscribing! Please leave me some comments~ I'd love to hear what you think of this chapter <3 Love ya!

~FlamerLocket-