shout it out for the people at the back!

They say high school is a significant part of your life; Park Chanyeol, star player of the basketball team, crowned prom king, and desired by both girls and boys, claimed this to be a fact.

Being the center of attention whenever he simply walked down the hallway or having the loudest cheers whenever he earned the team a point during games left a damn good feeling inside his chest. Although he remained humble, Chanyeol won’t deny that this recognition made him feel special and helped him with some of his self-esteem issues.

However, the person he would be thankful to the most (other than his parents, of course) was his childhood best friend and up-until-now best friend, Byun Baekhyun.

Unlike Chanyeol, Baekhyun was more reserved. He would laugh at Chanyeol’s jokes and maybe crack one of his own, but that would only occur when he was extremely comfortable with that person, which was the problem because there were only a few people who he felt this kind of comfort with. This made people think that Baekhyun was an introvert, indifferent, nerd-ish person. It didn’t offend Baekhyun (because it was somehow true), but it made him feel like he wasn’t worthy of Chanyeol’s attention. Like a mere glance is too much for a low-level person like him.

Most importantly, it made him feel like his feelings would never stand a chance of being reciprocated because who was he anyway to be very ing honest?

Baekhyun could only sigh as he watched Chanyeol run across the court, dribbling the ball and protecting it from the guest team. He watched as he did his awesome turns and whatnots. He didn’t know what they were called because he spent majority of the time staring at Chanyeol rather than listening to him when he explained all those moves.

He glanced at the time, “Twenty seconds left what the ,” then he turned back to Chanyeol who had this serious expression on his face, eyes calculating his next moves. He stepped to fake, which the opponent pathetically fell for, and with a quick jump, he shoots.

It seemed to slow down for a few seconds as the entire student body held their breaths as the ball swirled around the hoop until,

“WOOH!” The roar of the students echoed throughout the gymnasium as they stood up to celebrate the victory of their team. Baekhyun was one of them.

He stood up, mighty proud of his best friend for making the winning shot of the team. He kept clapping his hands until they were bright red from the friction, but Baekhyun couldn’t care less. He felt a nudge on his side and he turned to find Kyungsoo, his second closest friend, smiling at him.

“He did it again.”

Baekhyun nodded excitedly, “Like he always does.”

The basketball team crowded around Chanyeol, lifting him up as he held the big trophy with his similarly big hands. He lifted it above his head and the crowd cheered once more. The guest team approached them after to congratulate them with back pats and firm handshakes before taking their leave. The students were still so energetic, but it all died down when Park Chanyeol walked up to the commentary table and grabbed the mic.

“Um, hello, excuse me,” he said, tapping the mic repeatedly to make sure it was working. “I just wanted to say something, if that’s okay with everybody, so can you all sit down for a bit?”

Instantly, as if hypnotized by the MVP’s voice, everyone took their seats, albeit a bit confused. However, among all the people in the room, Baekhyun was the most puzzled. He knew everything about his best friend! If he was dared to do something like this, he would have known… but it didn’t seem to be a dare. Yes, the basketball team was looking at him, but they were smiling, as if they were proud and expectant of Chanyeol’s big announcement.

“You see, there’s this particular person who has been inspiring me and motivating me to do my best in these games, because I’m always 100% sure he’s watching,” Chanyeol continued.

Baekhyun’s heart dropped and he turned to Kyungsoo with watery eyes. “I didn’t know this,” he mouthed.

Surprisingly, his friend only offered him a small smile as if he didn’t pity Baekhyun’s broken heart at all, “Just wait,” Kyungsoo mouthed back before turning back to Chanyeol.

Baekhyun reluctantly did the same and found the object of his unrequited love looking around the venue as if he was searching for someone. He could feel his heart breaking into bits, but paid attention because this was his best ing friend after all. No matter how hurt he is, Chanyeol’s happiness is his damn happiness.

“I’m not really sure where he is, but you could all help me,” the star player continued. “He’s short, about this tall,” he put a hand beside his ear.

“He has brown hair right now, but one time he dyed his hair pink and it was the cutest thing I’ve seen.”

Slowly, all eyes turned to Baekhyun because news flash! Byun Baekhyun was the only person in school who dyed his hair pink and actually pulled it off. Yeah, he was quiet, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t good-looking and didn’t have several people admiring him for his ethereal features.

“And he has the most amazing eye smile I had ever been blessed to see every single day,” Chanyeol’s ears were beginning to turn a shade of red from his shyness, but he continued.

“But the greatest blessing is having him as my best friend.”

Okay, so now everyone was surely looking at Baekhyun, whose eyes were wide and cheeks splashed with a strong shade of pink. He turned to look at Kyungsoo and mouthed, “What the ?” Kyungsoo, of course, only replied with a smile and wink.

“Have you seen him? Because I need to tell him that I’ve fallen for him since the day he spent the entire night looking for my missing ferret because I couldn’t stop crying about it,” Chanyeol slowly approached the section where Baekhyun was (thank God for wireless mics).

“Or since the day he gave me the last piece of strawberry even if it was his favorite snack,” the star player was now climbing up the bleachers towards a very flustered Baekhyun.

“Or since the day he first smiled at me, asking me to be his friend, because he didn’t want me to feel alone in class.”

Baekhyun looked up at Chanyeol and quickly regretted it because if his heart was breaking a while ago, it sure was just melting now. The latter stretched his free hand out and said the words Baekhyun thought he would never have the pleasure to hear in his whole life.

“I love you, Byun Baekhyun,” Chanyeol confessed, his words loud and clear as it reverberated around the place until it reached the deepest corners of the gym.

“Would you go out with me?”

The crowd was silent, as if another ball was shot and they were all waiting for it to fall inside the basket. Baekyun slowly reached out his hand, and everyone’s breaths hitched in anticipation.

“Yes.”

And the students cheered, rising from their seats. Howls and screams were heard and a few claps resounded from here and there in celebration as their star player hoisted his most valuable trophy up, arms wrapped around Baekhyun’s waist as he looked up with pure adoration and love in his eyes for the man he was holding.

Park Chanyeol was truly a winner that day.

fifteen — loud, so everyone can hear