The campus cafeteria is bustling with action on a Friday afternoon. And somewhere within the sea of laughter and loud students a pair of bickering students could be found causing quite the commotion at one of the tables.

It all started with the loud and obnoxious Baekhyun running into the building, luckily not tripping on his feet this time around.

“KYUNGSOOOO~” The puppy like male skips happily to the table where he spotted the back of his best friend along with a few other close friends of his. At this point he could practically hear the younger’s groan and feel his eyes roll without really seeing him do so, only because that was the reaction Baekhyun received every time he made his presence known in public in front of the slightly shorter boy.

“Oh lovely, I think I’m practically blind now, no thanks to you-” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes looking at Baekhyun as the latter flung an arm around his shoulder, filling the seat next to him.

A cheeky grin curves at the corner of Baekhyun’s lips, “You’re welcome! Love really does blind huh?” he ends with a laugh, a teasing tone in his voice.

“No! It’s your dumb face that made me blind!” Kyungsoo argues back, kicking the ashy red haired boy under the table.

Baekhyun whimpers in pain, rubbing his shin to soothe the pain before replying in a flowery tone, “Oh I see. Love at first sight!”

“Nope!” The younger exclaims, clearly out of comebacks for the outrageous accusations his best friend was throwing.

“You’re just staring at my lovely face now, hhm?” 

“You mean glaring-”

“Don’t deny it, sweetheart~”

“I have nothing to deny, hon.”

“Ah lying to yourself now I see.”

“I must not tell lies-”

Their bickering gradually increases in volume, gaining more attention from the surrounding audience. However this wasn’t an uncommon occurrence, the two have always been known for their bickering nature. Some even question if the two were really all that close when all they do is annoy the other till no end every single day. But deep inside the both of them knew that it was due to their close friendship that they could do this without harm.

Baekhyun opens his mouth to bark back something but gets cut off by his phone emitting a loud ding signaling a new text, followed by several more immediately after. He pulls the phone out of his pocket. He smiles as he sees the sender of the multiple messages, but quickly furrows his eyebrows upon seeing the preview of the messages. He unwraps his arm around Kyungsoo’s neck, standing up from his seat as his eyes are still glued to his phone, his lips now pursed into a small frown.

“I-I’ll be back guys…” Baekhyun mutters under his breath, trailing off into a soft sigh as he quickly types a reply before putting away his phone.

“Did something happen?” Kyungsoo whispers only loud enough for Baekhyun to hear, noticing the sudden drop in the mood. 

Baekhyun flashes a small reassuring smile at the younger, shaking his head, “Nah, don’t worry about it! It’s nothing. Just… just the usual.” Baekhyun mumbles the last words under his breath just to himself.

And with that Baekhyun left the rowdy cafeteria.

With his head hung low, the normally loud and hyper active boy walked silently to a small area mostly hidden from the public. There was a beautiful school garden near the back of the school that not many people knew about. It had to be one of Baekhyun’s favorite places to stay here on campus since he found the hidden gem. No one really came there, so it was a nice and quiet place to stay when he needed a little get away.

But right now Baekhyun dreaded every step closer to the garden he took, knowing well what was going to happen once he got there. He glances at his phone again, staring at the messages he received not minutes ago.

‹ ‹ Baby girl ❤ // 1:15PM › ›

Baekhyun? Where are you?

‹ ‹ Baby girl ❤ // 1:15PM › ›

Are you… that busy?

‹ ‹ Baby girl ❤ // 1:15PM › ›

Are you planning to leave me?

‹ ‹ Baby girl ❤ // 1:16PM › ›

Talk to me please.

‹ ‹ Baby girl ❤ // 1:16PM › ›

Do you not want me anymore?

‹ ‹ Baby girl ❤ // 1:16PM › ›

You’re spending your time with the
others aren’t you?

‹ ‹ Baby girl ❤ // 1:17PM › ›

I want you here. You know where
I’m at anyways.

‹ ‹ Baekkie ❤ // 1:17PM › ›

I’m sorry, dear. I’m coming now.

Wow I really ed up this time huh?

He lets out another sigh, losing count of how many times he has done so in the last few minutes.

In all honesty, Baekhyun himself doesn’t know what crime he has done, but with this type of reaction from his girlfriend, it must have been a lot.

With a few more steps he finds himself surrounded by lovely flowers blooming under the sun. He spots a familiar figure standing with her back faced towards him.

“Sejeong-ah…” He calls out, his words barely a whisper as he walks towards the girl in the flowing pastel pink dress, slightly scared of what was about to happen.

The girl turns around, her expression unreadable to the boy, “Ah you’re finally here? Did you even miss me, Baekhyun?”

Baekhyun swallows hard at the blatant accusation hidden within the question, knowing well that with whatever he said, it was no use at this point, his girlfriend had already had her mind set on her own story.

Before Baekhyun has a chance to defend himself he’s shot with more words, words attacking straight at his heart, “I’m right aren’t I? You don’t care about me, you never did. All you want to do is spend time with your Kyungsoo.”

With the mention of his best friend’s name Baekhyun immediately responds back, still keeping his cool while he keeps his gaze trained down to his feet, not daring to look up, “Don’t bring him into this. None of this is his fault, baby. You know this. Besides, I already give up most of my time I used to spend with him for you. What more to you want from me, Sejeong? Every time I met him, you act as if I’m ignoring you all the time.”

And so it goes on like that. A back and forth conversation, seemly going nowhere as it just goes around in a circle as Baekhyun repeatedly shifts body weight from one foot to the other, not knowing what to say half the time.

This had been happening more frequently lately now that the end of the semester was approaching, his schedule had been filled with homework, studying for finals and club activities more so than ever. The problem here is that the boy simply doesn’t have time on his hands anymore. And his girlfriend certainly does not like that fact.

He tries for her, he really does. But with his partner wanting his attention solely on herself, he felt trapped. He always falls short of perfection in her eyes, he’s just never enough it seems. No matter how much he showers her with love and attention, it’s never enough.

Baekhyun can barely remember the times in which they were genuinely happy. Instead the only feeling he can recall is feeling suffocated. His outgoing personality was suppressed ever since he got with his girlfriend, and with that, his loud nature was slowly disappearing.

Byun Baekhyun was gradually losing himself. He wasn’t the same Baekhyun as he was before, at least most of the time. The only time where he felt at home, felt like his old self again was when he was with his best friend. He felt free in a sense, something he fails to feel when with his significant other.

As always, the conversation ends with, “I’m sorry, I’ll do better.” And a reassuring hug.

And with that, Baekhyun walks away, a heavy feeling in his chest as he holds back the tears threatening to fall down as he drowns himself in guilt.

It’s always me. It’s always my fault. God damn it Byun Baekhyun, why can’t you just be a good boyfriend for once?  

After locking himself in his room and indulging himself in tubs of strawberry ice cream through weekend, Baekhyun finally felt like he could be somewhat of a human being again.

By the time Monday rolls around Baekhyun finally replies to the numerous amounts of texts from his one and only best friend, asking if he was alright or possibly dead.

‹ ‹ Dumb // 11:35AM › ›

Hey. Sadly for you, I’m not dead and very
much ready to bother the hell out of you
today. Wanna come over to my place after
your last class? I’ll meet you at the library!

‹ ‹ Dumber // 11:37AM › ›

If I said no?

‹ ‹ Dumb // 11:38AM › ›

Oh that must be an auto correct for
“yes”, right?

‹ ‹ Dumber // 11:41AM › ›

Fine. Only because you literally
disappeared the whole weekend.

Baekhyun ended classes earlier than Kyungsoo on Mondays so he headed to the library after his last class, physics. Settling in one of the individual study spaces, Baekhyun sinks down in his seat and takes out his music notebook.

He gets out his trusty black pen, one his mother gave him for his 14^th birthday along with the notebook itself when he told her he wanted to pursue music, singing and song writing included. However as the years passed and school work overloaded him, his passion for music turned into merely a hobby he did on his free time.

But of course, once he heard the school was putting on a talent show to fundraise for whatever their student body council uses the money for, he knew he had to join. And he was determined to get into song writing again as well. Because what better thing to perform than your own self composed song?

However, he realizes a huge problem half way through as he composes his masterpiece. Besides knowing that be wanted a mellow while still slightly bittersweet and emotional sounding song, he didn’t know what exactly he wanted the song to be about.

He desperately needed inspiration but even through his numerous quiet walks around the park, he couldn’t think of one.

Wouldn’t the obvious choice be about my girlfriend?

He shakes his head at the thought, not wanting to think about the sorrow he drowned himself in the past few days.

He lets out a soft sigh before fishing in his pocket for his phone, unlocking it then clicking into his gallery of photos and videos containing his happiest of memories.

Maybe looking through captured memories will help.

As the puppy eyed boy scrolls through his phone, he realizes one thing.

What the hell…

Aside from the occasional club photos and photos of him and his girlfriend, he finds himself looking as hundreds, no probably thousands of accumulated photos and videos of none other than his best friend, Kyungsoo.

A smile never leaves Baekhyun’s pink lips as he looks through the old photos. They range from selcas Baekhyun forced Kyungsoo to take with him to secretly taken photos of Kyungsoo, used for blackmail material of course.

Ah, we look cute together.

Baekhyun startles himself with the sudden thought that crossed his mind. He blinks, putting down his phone before shaking the thought out of his mind.

Him with Kyungsoo? Outrageous. Though somewhere along the way, the boy had realized that he wasn’t as straight as he thought he was, he knew well that never in a million years would he and Kyungsoo be a couple. The pair could barely hold a civil conversation for 10 minutes without throwing insults or resorting to violence for crying out loud.

However, it would have been a lie to say this was the first time he had such thoughts about his best friend fill his mind. He hated to admit it, and he himself forces himself to believe otherwise, but in truth all his jokingly flirtatious comments to the younger were not only said as a way to annoy him. In fact, deep inside Baekhyun wished that one day Kyungsoo would reciprocate the words and actions he gave the other.

He hits his own head with the palm of his own hand, as if the action would force to thoughts to disappear suddenly.

Stupid. He literally rejects all your “advances”. Idiot, wake up, you have a girlfriend.

Baekhyun buries his face in his hands, silently groaning in frustration. If he weren’t stuck in the library he’d definitely be screaming out in frustration instead.

Suddenly remembering about his plans for the rest of the day, he glances the time from his phone and widens his eyes as he realizes that he’s late. He quickly packs up his stuff and rushes out of the quiet building.

“Ow-” Baekhyun whimpers as the younger had hit his shoulder hard upon seeing him walk out of the tall building.

“That’s what you get for making me wait outside awkwardly for a good 5 minutes.” Kyungsoo sticks out his tongue showing no sympathy for the pain he put his best friend in and simple starts walking towards the bus stop.

Quickly recovering from the pain, though a nasty purplish bruise was probably forming on his shoulder at this point, Baekhyun puts on his oh-so-famous cheeky grin as he rushes after his best friend, catching up quickly, “Oh, you’re hitting on me how huh? You should have done so earlier then, babe.” Baekhyun laughs right after his last word, not really knowing where the sudden form of endearment came from.

“You’re gay for me, I’m touched. But I have decided to become straight just now, like literally 0.2 seconds ago” Kyungsoo snorts, rolling his eyes as he pretends (or at least Baekhyun hopes he’s faking it) to be disgusted.

“Yeah yeah sure” Baekhyun mumbles under his breath, his lips pressing into his signature pout at the response.

It’s not like he expected another response. Of course Kyungsoo would shoot back with a snarky yet somewhat comical answer. But even knowing that, Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel a tiny pang in his chest when he heard it.

This is wrong.

Indeed, the feeling was wrong. Kyungsoo probably thought of him as an annoying brother, a loud and obvious to say the least. Besides, Baekhyun was nowhere near “available” at the moment, and this weird feeling he’s been feeling these days was only adding onto his already thick blanket of guilt.

The pair continued to walk to the bus stop, rushing onto the bus as it was already there when they arrived.

The bus ride back to Baekhyun’s home was like any other the two took together. They talked about their day, complained about crazy professors and shared crazy stories in their separate classes, laughing and happily enjoying the ride in the back of the bus, earning a few judging glances since Baekhyun was extra loud most of the time.

The sun was slowly setting as the two best friends were found sprawled out on the floor of Baekhyun’s room along with pens, pencils, rulers, random pieces of paper, a huge textbook and two brightly lit laptops.

“Kyungsoo, shut up I’m trying to finish our homework here!” Baekhyun groans as he nudges his best friend Kyungsoo’s side with his foot (a bit too hard) as the latter would not stop complaining about how math isn’t as interesting as art for the last 5 minutes.

“Well, I am an advocate for the eradication of math, can you blame me?” Kyungsoo shoots back with a glare as he rubs his side painfully before elbowing the other harshly at the rib.

“Excuse me, but math is a very interesting concept!” Baekhyun immediately argues back as he puts down his pencil with a soft whimper as he too rubbed his side in pain, “Art doesn’t even make any sense half the time, while math at least has answers.”

“Art has no limit, but math is confined to one single truth.”

“Not true. There are so many theories to math, some of which are open ended.” Baekhyun reasons, but it’s at this moment that he realizes that he sounded more like a nerd than ever. But it’s not his fault that he’s the president of the math club (the one club he failed to drag Kyungsoo into with him). He must stick up and stand up for his club, right?

“Then how come parallel lines and asymptotes are never allowed to meet?” Kyungsoo speaks as he shoots a challenging look at the elder.

“Well if you would listen in class for once instead of playing games on your phone, you would know that different asymptotes can cross over each other, and in fact, a graph can actually intersect with horizontal and slant asymptotes.” Baekhyun speaks in a voice where he usually only resorts during his tutoring sessions, his teaching voice as people call it, one that contracts his usually higher pitched and bubbly tone, “Now seriously, I’m not going to let you copy off my homework if you don’t shut your mouth.” Baekhyun clicks his tongue as he reaches out to flick the younger’s forehead making Kyungsoo wince in pain before picking up his pencil once again before scribbling formulas and solving equations on the already messy scratch paper.

The clock flashes 12:26AM when Baekhyun finally slams the textbook shut, startling the younger who was currently dozing off.

“Finished?” Kyungsoo mumbles, rubbing his eyes as he sits up from his previous uncomfortable laying position on the floor.

Baekhyun simply nods his head and hums positively in response as he gathers all the loose papers and pens laying around on the floor, “But I still have to work on something else too.”

Kyungsoo spares a glance at the clock before turning to the boy beside him raising an eyebrow in question “At this hour? What’s so important that you’re going to sacrifice your sleep for it?”

“The talent show is in less than a week.” Baekhyun reminds him as he takes out his small blue notebook from his shelf, frustration now evident in his voice, “And I wanted to write a song for once, but my mind seems to be totally blank with what it should be about. I mean I got the basic melody down at least. I even got Park to help me with the guitar chords!”

With the mention of their taller and deep voiced mutual friend Park Chanyeol, Baekhyun noticed the slight change of expression coming from his best friend’s face, shaking it off as the younger probably just being tired at such ungodly hour.

“Ah right, it’s this Sunday. I think I have the ticket somewhere in my bag.” Kyungsoo nods, his gaze shifting so that he would no everywhere else besides Baekhyun directly.

Baekhyun sinks down in his chair, laying his head down on his desk on top of his open notebook, still looking at Kyungsoo who made his way to the bed.

“You’re stealing my bed?” Baekhyun blinks, staring as Kyungsoo got comfy on the soft mattress.

“Well, it’s too late to walk home now, and I bet you that you’ll fall asleep on that notebook of yours in a few hours’ time.” Kyungsoo says, his words slurring together a bit as the drowsiness takes over and he pulls the blanket up to his shoulders.

Baekhyun parts his lips to respond, but stops as he realizes there was no need to since his best friend had already drifted off into dream land.

“Wow, you must have been exhausted.” Baekhyun mumbles softly to himself, making sure to keep quiet so he doesn’t wake up the younger from his slumber.

For some odd reason Baekhyun stays there, staring at Kyungsoo’s peaceful sleeping state which very much contrasted his evil and violent nature in his conscious state.

With the other not awake to , Baekhyun couldn’t help but admire the soft yet somehow sharp facial features of his best friend. From his smooth milky skin to his long lashes and heart shaped lips.

He had always been way too busy roasting and teasing the younger to notice such features, but now he couldn’t look away. Not when he had such a good chance to shamelessly stare without consequences.

Baekhyun shakes himself from his thoughts, eyes widening as he realizes what he’s doing.

No no no. Stop. You can’t feel like this. This… this just isn’t right.

With the overwhelming feeling of denial, admiration, confusion and possibly love, Baekhyun takes this opportunity to instead write down all this feelings into this one song. As if nothing else in this world mattered but the two in the room, as if nothing was in their way, as if all the problems in the world were gone, he wrote.  

The week passed by in a breeze, and before he knew it, it was the big day. It was Sunday, the day Baekhyun would perform in front of possibly hundreds of people.

His leg wouldn’t stop shaking, a habit he developed whenever he was extremely nervous, as he sat in the back room of the stage. His minor stage freight was not the only problem, but the fact that this is the first time he was permorning his own song got him even jumpier than normal. He was scheduled to perform in around 10 minutes as the final act.

“Baekhyun, get ready, you’re on deck!” He heard one of the organizers shout as they peeked their head into the room.

Baekhyun took a deep breath before standing up from his seat, then feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. He takes it out to see a message from none other than the devil himself, the inspiration and one whom his song was secretly dedicated to.

‹ ‹ Dumber // 7:26PM › ›

Good luck, Byun! I know you’ll
kill it. Show them what you got.

Baekhyun responded with a smiley face, not able to type more before he was pushed backstage, as he hears the MC introduce him, “And last but not least, Byun Baekhyun will be blessing us with his lovely voice with his self-composed song, Sing For You!”

Ah- That’s my cue to go on!

Baekhyun quickly rushes on stage, making sure he doesn’t trip on his own feet. He wanted to be remembered for his magical performance, not for his clumsy self falling face first onto the stage.

There was already a guitar set up on the stage, along with a stool and mic stand. Baekhyun quickly made his way to the tall seat and plays one cord on the guitar as a test.

Taking a final deep breath, he opens his mouth to sing.

Picking up my old guitar,
The confession that I couldn’t make
Pretending I made one song, I’m about to tell
Just listen, I’ll sing for you

His voice soft, but full of emotion right from the beginning, he sings each line with intent. The feelings from the past weeks, flooding his mind as he continues to sing. His eyes scan the audience, spotting the one he was looking for right there in the front, a small bittersweet smile appears on his lips, remembering that the other had no clue that this was all written for him.

I love you a lot but I don’t say the words,
It’s awkward that pride doesn’t allow me
Today I will take courage and tell you, but just
Listen to it carelessly, I’ll sing for you

I love you. It’s the words always on the tip of his tongue. Those words are already thrown around jokingly, but in truth, he wishes to say them fondly. But he can’t, it’s awkward and impossible. He’s sure that saying them truthfully one day would just lead to disappointment. But today, just today he wanted to say it, even if the one he’s directing it to doesn’t know, it calms him now that he can say it, even for a day.

The way you cry, the way you smile
I wonder how much they mean to me
The words I want to say, but missed the chance
I will confess but just listen,
I’ll sing for you, sing for you
Just listen once and smile

His voice crescendos as he starts the chorus of the song. By now his emotions were clear and over flowing into the song. The timing, it was wrong. So wrong. With their situation, he just can’t say the words he wishes to say, so today, he will sing them.   

It’s a bit funny to me, although you’re everything
To me, sometimes I am no better than a stranger
Actually I want to rub my hair
And be hugged in your arms

Imagining himself buried in Kyungsoo’s arms was defiantly a guilty pleasure of Baekhyun’s. He felt so safe there. Whenever he needed help or when he was in desperate need of comfort, Kyungsoo never failed to be by his side and calm him down. As crazy as it was, every time Baekhyun was at his darkest, the loud teasing, bullying, and roasting halted as the younger would put aside time to care for Baekhyun in any way possible. From gentle and reassuring words, to strong protective hugs, Kyungsoo provided it all.

The way you cry, the way you smile
I wonder how much they mean to me
The words that I regretted when I looked back
I will apologize but just listen,
I will sing for you, sing for you
Just act casually

By the second chorus Baekhyun looked up into the crowd and sees that many members of the audience have taken out their phone and their flashlight swaying the light from left to right to the gentle beat of the song. The sight was unbelievable, and one he would never forget even as the years pass.

Everyday I am thankful that you are with me
My gift that God gave to me
After today, I might act awkward again
But today I really want to say today
So listen

Thankful was an understatement when talking about just how much Kyungsoo meant to Baekhyun. However, there were no words to really describe the feeling that Kyungsoo gave him. Baekhyun wanted nothing more than to stay by the younger’s side. May it be as best friends or more, it didn’t matter as long as the other was there by his side, always. He really intended to keep Kyungsoo there with him forever. He will cherish this gift of god for a life time, that’s for certain. And today, only for these 3 minutes, he will openly admit to his now overwhelming feelings and let it all out. Because it’s just too damn obvious now that Kyungsoo is everything that Baekhyun ever wanted and needed in his life.

The way you cry, the way you smile
I wonder how much they mean to me.
The words I want to say, but missed the chance
I will confess and it’s a bit awkward, but
Just listen I will sing for you, sing for you
Just listen, I will sing for you

And with that, Baekhyun finishes, his eyes closed as he strums the last chord of the song, his eyes still closed as he feels his eyes brim with tears, and voice slightly shaky. The song truly putting him through a roller-coaster of emotions. He hears the audience clapping, cheering even as his song officially comes to an end.

He takes a deep breath once again to calm himself down before opening his eyes. His eyes immediately fall upon a short burette boy sitting there clapping in the front row.

Maybe one day I’ll be able to sing for you. This song, I’ll keep this with me till I’m brave enough to sing it. May it be in this life or the next, I’ll wait for the right time.

I love you, Do Kyungsoo.