pairing: BaekLay
length: 622 words
Part Two: Dream Come True
Part Three: Acceptance

Day after day, Byun Baekhyun thought about Zhang Yixing.

Night after night, Byun Baekhyun dreamed about Zhang Yixing.

Every moment, Byun Baekhyun lived and breathed Zhang Yixing.

It was…agonizing to say the least. Because Byun Baekhyun knew he would never ever tell Zhang Yixing how he felt about him. How could he?

Byun Baekhyun was as ordinary as ordinary gets. He lived life as an average student: getting average grades, being average at everything he tried his hand at, and looking as average as can be. His family was average, his lifestyle was average, and his goals were average.

Except for one.

Which was to be with Zhang Yixing one day.

To be able to love him wholeheartedly while being loved equally as much. To wake up every morning in those toned arms and see that beautiful face with the sun rays beaming through the thin, fluttering curtains. To gently caress those angled cheeks and stare lovingly into those deep brown eyes. To lightly touch those perfectly full lips before diving in and kissing them until he couldn’t breathe anymore.

Byun Baekhyun had never wanted anything more than he wanted Zhang Yixing.

Ever since he had first laid eyes on his classmate, several years ago, Byun Baekhyun found himself fantasizing about what could have been, what could be, and what never will. He sought, longed, thirsted for Zhang Yixing.

Because he was everything Byun Baekhyun ever wanted in a person.

Zhang Yixing was perfection incarnate.

He was everything that Byun Baekhyun wasn’t. He came from an extraordinary family, he lived in the lap of luxury, and he was one of the top-ranked students in the school. Everyone lauded his many accomplishments and he stood at the pinnacle of the school’s student body.

He was everything anyone could ever want.

So everyone wanted him. Not just Byun Baekhyun.

Which possibly made Byun Baekhyun’s supposedly unique dream not so unique anymore.

Others probably lusted after Zhang Yixing just as Byun Baekhyun did. They probably imagined building a home together with him and spending the rest of their lives together with him. They probably yearned for the day when Zhang Yixing would solely look at them and say in his god-sent angelic voice, “I love you.”

Because Byun Baekhyun certainly knew he wanted all of this and more.

He wanted everything that was Zhang Yixing.

But despite having such strong feelings for him, Byun Baekhyun didn’t know how to approach him. He didn’t know if he was worthy enough to be Zhang Yixing’s. He didn’t know if he was over his head in believing that one day, Zhang Yixing would look at him and love him. Only him.

Byun Baekhyun was afraid of rejection. He was afraid of his dream shattering into millions of jagged pieces of glass. He was afraid of ruining the precious friendship that had been meticulously cultivated between the two. He was afraid of losing Zhang Yixing. Forever.

So he never voiced what he truly felt inside. He acted as if the only feelings he had for the other male were platonic. He admired the boy who had stolen his heart from a distance.

Because it was safer that way.

It was easier to assume that Zhang Yixing would never love him back, even if that felt like sharp needles piercing through his heart. It was better for the both of them if Byun Baekhyun never ever mentioned his unspoken infatuation.

So he held his tongue. He kept his silence. And wordlessly let Zhang Yixing slip through his fingertips.

Even if all he wanted to do was grab Zhang Yixing, and smother him with passionate kisses and declarations of love.

But instead, Byun Baekhyun left his love for Zhang Yixing unrequited.

♈♈♈