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I sighed.

 

The school day was over at last.

 

I held my backpack tight before heading outside, but I came to a halt. Chanyeol was sitting on the bench with his face buried into his hands. The same bench he spent those 'romantic' moments with his girlfriends. He looked up immediately, as if he felt my presence. His eyes were empty, yet filled with emotions. With a sadness, a longing. He resembled a lost child, crying out for someone to comfort him.

 

Without command, my feet decided to walk over to him and sit down on the bench. The atmosphere was silent and my words were struggling to escape my mouth. Finally, I spoke.

 

"I know this is a stupid question, but...are you oka-"

 

Before I could finish my sentence, I felt a weight suddenly drop onto my right shoulder and I could feel hot tears soaking my shirt. His face was cold and his ears were of a deep crimson shade due to the bitter December wind. His hands brushed upon my fingers in an attempt to lift himself up, but he eventually gave up and shuffled to try and get comfortable.

 

Somehow, his hands were warm. From those two seconds of brief contact, my heart was beating faster than ever. For a moment, there was a glimpse of his old self. The happy-go-lucky guy. The guy that would do anything for me. Not the guy he pretended to be around everyone else. I knew that better than anyone. 

 

"Can I just stay like this for a while, hmm?" he croakes. His lips were dry and cracked. "Just this once."

 

I paused and nodded.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We sat on the wooden bench for what felt like hours. I checked my phone and it was already 7pm.

 

"You can leave if you want to" he breathes. "You don't have to do this." With a deep sigh, Chanyeol got up from my lap and ruffled his dark, messy hair. He began to take long strides, but limped briefly.

 

"Chan wait." I called.

 

"Chan?" I haven't heard that in a while. You were the only one that called me Chan." Chanyeol gave out a tired chuckle. He turned around to face me and began to walk closer. "Thanks."

 

"Why are you so comfortable around me when you ignore me at school?”

 

Chanyeol stopped walking and looked at the ground.

 

 “When I say hi, you mumble under your breath. When I ask you a question, you answer with a grunt. Why are you even talking to me right now?" I asked. For a reason unknown to even myself, I felt anger rising through every inch of my body. But most of all, I was confused. Right now, he was acting like a completely different person. He wasn't the cold, emotionless Chanyeol that I've discovered over the years. This was Chanyeol at his weakest point. Because of this, I decided to stop and calm down.

"I-" He muttered as he began to walk forward. He looked tired and was clutching his arm. Chanyeol stopped in front of me and leaned over. He stopped at my shoulders and fell forwards.

Ahh, good old gravity. According to Newton's law of montion, every object in a state of uniform motion tends to remain in that state of motion unless an external force is applied to it. I was the that object, standing still. Chanyeol was the external force. Considering I had the strength of a weak baby chicken (MMMMM. CHICKEN. My favourite food.), It was no suprise that I fell backwards and hit the unforgiving gravel. But Chanyeol didn't move. Any other person would have awkwardly gotten up. but he didn't move.

"C-Chan...?" I muttered, "Chan get up, I can't breath."

It was then when I noticed that Chan wasn't alright. I got up from under him and laid his head slowly onto the ground. Fingers trembling, I dialled 199.

"Hello, how can I help?" recited the woman on the other side of the phone. Her words were comforting, but her tone of voice seemed cold.  Although, I don't blame her. This must have been routine and normal for her. 

"I n-need help quickly. My...friend collapsed suddenly."

"I need you to check if they're breathing for me, okay honey?"

I leaned forward and positioned my ear above his mouth. Thankfully, he was still breathing.

"Y-yes, He's breathing, but it looks like he has injuries.". My voice faltered as I saw several bruises on his arm.

"Where are you right now honey?"

"We're in front of Pyeonghwa High School."

"Sit tight honey. The ambulance will be there soon." 

I gave a short "okay" as I hung up. My eyes found their way to his bruises. I noticed a bleeding gash on his arm where he was clutching it so tightly. I sighed and laid down beside him, looking up at the stars. 

"Even though stars are alone, they are up their with millions of others. Sometimes, people can feel alone even with a large group beside them." I whispered.

After a while, the ambulance arrived. The paramedics placed Chanyeol onto a stretcher and wheeled him into the back of the ambulance. I followed and sat beside Chanyeol throughout the journey to the hospital.

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Until this moment, I had never thought that Chanyeol was 'cute'. Then again, he is sleeping and not giving me the cold shoulder. I studied at his face. His lips were full, but lost it's softness and was replaced by dull, dry lips. Every now and again, he mumbled a name under his breath and he shuffled and began to breathe faster and faster. He must be having one of those dreams. He is a guuy after all.  For a guy, he had abnormally long eyelashes that would occasionally flutter in his sleep. His hair was messy and rubbed against the cotton pillow everytime he shuffled, making it even more messier and a little...y? No, get a grip Yoonmi. Wait a minute...I've just seen his bed hair. He wore his trademark black studs on one ear. I scoffed. "Trying to look cool, eh?" I joked.

"Well I've got to look cool in my sleep. Flawless in fact. Enjoying the view?" he teased lazily. I abruptly stiffened and began to think of a witty answer. Think Yoonmi think. Don't let him get to you.

"Says the guy who can't bother to even put on chapstick once in a while." Urgh is that the best you can do Yoonmi?

"Ahh sorry. I didn't think someone would study my lips so carefully. Want a free sample?" Chanyeol breathed as he leaned closer. On instinct, and pushed my hand out. "Pfft think again. I'm not that easy."

What was I doing? Joking with...Chanyeol. I guess I must've hit the ground hard when this oaf decided to collapse. He stopped my train of thought when he groaned and made himself more comfortable. He was leaning on his left side, and on the arm with the huge gash. I gulped as I noticed that he was shirtless under his white sheets.

"Go. I'm tired.". What did I expect. Teasing Chanyeol disappeared and cold Chanyeol made his comeback. Instead, I swivelled around on my chair until I was facing the wall and put my earphones into my ears. The sound of Lee Hyori's 'Just one ten minutes' broke through and I couldn't help but hum along. In fact, I even knew the whole dance, but I knew better than to publicly humiliate myself. Satisfied, I slowly fell asleep.

 

 

 

I must have fell asleep for a couple of hours because when I awoke, it was already 11 o'clock at night. I decided to get up and get myself a cup of water, taking my stuff with me. You never know. There might be a thief. I texted my parents to tell them that I wasn't gonna come home tonight. I had to make sure he was okay, you know, as a caring human being. When I came back to the hospital room, I saw a figure of a woman sitting on my chair and resting her head on Chanyeols bed. She was her hands through his hair. I assumed that it was his mother wanting to check up on him. Not wanting to intrude, I made my exit.

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Yoonmi's log: I'm having weird dreams and being...nice to this guy. This isn't my style. I'm supposed to be the one no one talks to. The mystery in the corner. That girl with her heart closed and thoughts to herself. But slowly, someone is ripping the walls of my heart. They're demolishing the wall that separates my thoughts from reality. Without any effort, that someone is crawling their way through the tiny cracks, and not even cleaning up their mess. But I met them. Is this fate? 

Chanyeol's log: What am I doing. Was I even in my right mind, or did the pain get to me and mess up my emotions. I'm confused, and maybe that's why my emotions are running riot. No, I have more important things to worry about. I haven't got time for anyone else. But somehow, one person has got time for me. It's never happened to me before. I don't know how to respond other than putting up my facade and acting like the jerk everybody thinks I am. Maybe then will that person realise and become the same as everyone else. But is that what I really want? But I met them. Is this fate? 

A/N:

I hope you liked this chapter! I think it's quite a short chapter, but I don't really have much time.(revision....*sighs*) I'll try to update at regular intervals and make the chapters much longer. If I don't, feel free to bother me.

P.S. Don't forget to subscribe and upvote!

♥‿♥

love, author-nim