Part 13 ⧫ Dissension

dis·sen·sion

dəˈsen(t)SH(ə)n/

noun

Strong disagreement; a contention or quarrel; discord.

Difference in sentiment or opinion; disagreement.

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“Move it,” someone to my right growled, while shoving me aside in the process. “Walk faster, you idiot.”

Saying move it and shoving me aside is like knocking and ringing the doorbell at the same time, I thought, too tired to even care. A waste of energy and completely stupid. It was hallway rush anyways; it was never escaped without pushing or shoving or a handful of profanities. As long as I didn’t drop the armful of books I had again, then I would be good.

From amidst the crowd, I caught a familiar glimpse of a rectangular smile and crescent-moon eyes, marking Byun Baekhyun’s signature smile. He was talking to a girl and a guy, both taller than him, both smiling too (couldn’t blame them -- Baekhyun’s laugh was freaking contagious), and I had the sudden urge to catch up to them. I quickened my steps… and stopped as they turned down another corridor and disappeared.

The moment Baekhyun disappeared out of sight I felt an almost dizzying wave of emotions wash over me. First disappointment, then relief, then… jealousy? -- I had probably gotten that one wrong -- then finally, horror, at myself. What was I thinking, catching up with him and acting like we were friends or something? The only reason we were even acquaintances was because Choi had ordered me to tutor him on chemistry, and that was over and done with, as established last Sunday. There was no reason I should associate with him anymore, really… was there? The amount of thoughts Byun freaking Baekhyun’s presence brought was already making me ready to bang my head against something. Maybe I was crazy, I decided. That made everything explainable, even if it’s not a comforting thought.

If Jongin wasn’t wrong, you’re one of his “only girl friends,” my ever-so-treacherous brain whispered. Which means you’re friends, which means you talk to him, hang out with him, etcetera.

Shut up, I told myself.

I was currently talking to myself -- maybe I really was crazy.

That explained everything, I decided firmly. I had officially lost my mind.

I was still considering the fact when a now familiar voice sounded from behind me. “Iseul?”

I almost jumped out of my own skin, whirling around to be nose-to-nose with Park Chanyeol. Well, we would technically be nose-to-nose if I had been taller or he shorter, because at the moment, I barely came up to his neck. But other than that, the unnervingly close proximity made me stumble back, shriek in a rather Baekhyun-sque way, and then drop my extremely heavy bundle of textbooks onto my feet (which I had been trying to avoid doing). Which produced another yelp.

In the end, I ended up on the floor, my textbooks messily strewn around me, my foot almost numb with pain. Three textbooks; well over a thousand pages in all. And very much painful, as my now throbbing foot was saying.

“Do I scare you that much?” Chanyeol asked, sounded more curious than apologetic as he bent down and picked up my textbooks. “You seem to fall over every time I try to say something to you.”

“You freaking jumped on Baekhyun and I last time,” I couldn’t help to add as I struggled to my feet with shaky legs. “Anyone my size would’ve fallen over.” Baekhyun’s my size, and he didn’t fall over, I realized immediately as the words came out of my mouth. But instead of correcting me, Chanyeol’s face darkened at Baekhyun’s name.

"Speaking of Baekhyun, have you talked to him in the past couple of days?" Chanyeol asked. "I know I came off as harsh, but he was just really getting to me. He's also been completely ignoring me." He paused, as if thinking. "And also, I never got to say this. He probably didn't thank you, so I'll do it for him; thanks for taking him in that night. It wouldn't be the first time if he fell asleep or passed out somewhere on the streets."

"Uh, I stuffed him in my closet," I muttered, trying to grasp a clear image of Baekhyun passing out on a random street. It wasn't too hard to imagine. "Not quite sure if that's any much better…and no. He's waved at me once or twice in the hallways, but other than that, I haven't talked to him since he called the tutoring off. Which was last week." Odd that I could remember how many times he had waved at me, I thought absentmindedly. In all, five times. Not enough, a small voice complained.

"He called the tutoring off?" Chanyeol frowned. "Yeah, I don't know anything that’s going on with Baek at the moment. He's giving me the cold shoulder— I'm pretty sure he hates me now. The last time he was mad at me…” Chanyeol tilted his head, apparently thinking. “Yeah, the last time he was mad at me, it was for two days.”

I frowned, trying to recall a conversation that seemed to be really alike to this one. "Baekhyun said he thought you hated him, too," I finally remembered. "Last Monday."

Chanyeol looked positively distressed now; something I had never seen on his face. He was, like Baekhyun, smiling most of the time, and when he wasn't, he had an extreme poker face on. Or he was mad. But distressed? This was new — eyebrows furrowed, mouth slightly parted, meeting my eyes...yet his gaze was still elsewhere.

"Where did you last see him?" he finally questioned.

"Uh…" Last time I had seen Baekhyun, he had been in the main hallway, turning down one of the smaller corridors that branched out. But the fact that I knew that so we'll seemed rather stalkerish, and besides, it kind of mortified myself too. "Chemistry," I said instead. "Like, two periods ago."

Chanyeol’s face dropped, and I began to feel really bad for him. I hadn’t talked to Baekhyun in a fair while, but Chanyeol seemed rather bent on apologizing and he looked similar to a kicked puppy right now. And I didn’t want to kick puppies, so hurriedly, I added, “I can ask him if you want. I think he’s too stubborn to talk to you. He probably wants to apologize… but you know Baekhyun.” I had absolutely no idea how I was supposed to find Baekhyun and tell him because I didn’t know how to even approach the boy, but Chanyeol’s crestfallen expression was too much for me to take in one day. “Why me, though?”

His face brightened ever so slightly. “Because you’re Baekhyun’s friend, and Jongin looks really horrible with his black eye and I think Baek knows that because he hasn't talked to Jongin either. Either he's guilty or... mad too. And really? Tell him I’m sorry for all the things they said, even if the can’t see that they’re true -- wait, don’t say that part -- and…” he frowned, as if thinking. Then, finally, decidedly, he said, “And that you two look cute together.”

Chanyeol grinned and handed me the bundle of textbooks (well, more like stuffed them in my arms forcefully). He bounded off before I could respond or throw a textbook at him, and I didn’t need a mirror to tell me my cheeks were red.

***

The one time I talked to Baekhyun, I forgot all about the fact that Chanyeol wanted me to apologize for him. I also didn’t tell him we looked cute together, because, well… there didn’t really need to be an explanation for that.

It was him who ran into me in the hallways, and since it was chemistry, we ended up walking to class together. And I was pretty sure Chanyeol saw me enter the classroom with Baekhyun, because he sent me an expectant look which I tried to avoid. Which also wasn’t easy because he sat next to me.

Just my luck. Not only did my memory completely , but Chanyeol happened to ask me right after if I had had any luck talking to Baekhyun -- who seemed to have rolled out of bed and sleepwalked to school, because he was wearing a freaking superman shirt underneath the school uniform (which was very visible), and his hair was sticking up all over the place (not that it wasn’t always like that, it was just that this time, it looked a lot worse than normal). He kept on rubbing his eyes like he hadn’t slept enough, which the dark circles under his eyes seemed to suggest.

“You look horrible,” was the first sentence that I