Chapter 11: Control

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Chanyeol had been distancing himself. That much was clear since the day Baekhyun had asked to be driven to Kris' residence, but he couldn't fathom why that would've bothered the football player as much as it did. Park Chanyeol hardly knew Kris, let alone Baekhyun's business. They'd known each other for a year as acquaintances, in the very least, and Chanyeol had never acted so strangely before.

The professor was out for the day, leaving a shoddy replacement who was nothing more than just a poor graduate student left at the helm to lecture the class of eighty students by himself. Baekhyun didn't pay attention much to the explanation about beta coefficients and regression, all of which were categorically more like review than actual new material. 

Sitting a few rows behind him, Chanyeol sat with full focus on his notes. There were several times when Baekhyun would turn and stare, as if tempting the latter to return the action... but it only happened once. It surprised him that Chanyeol knew where exactly where he was sitting despite never looking up to search for him. The interaction only lasted for a few moments. Baekhyun grinned in an attempt to get a reaction out of him, but Chanyeol only seemed to visibly exhale before turning his eyes back to the board.

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Kris' existence was a scarring reminder that loving someone exclusively did more damage to Baekhyun than anything else in that world. Deflecting and repressing past traumas of guilt, manipulation, and lies until they slipped so easily past his lips in the form of humor took almost a year after the older man had left him, but he could tell that was still flawed by his history.

Chanyeol was different. 

Baekhyun knew he couldn't offer him more than just the physical. The thought of tearing down walls and letting someone in again was terrifying. Chanyeol was nothing like Kris, nor was he like his father; both career-driven men who saw others as disposable if and when they saw it as a beneficial advantage. 

And yet, Baekhyun was also aware of his own selfishness in wanting to keep Chanyeol by his side but never giving enough of himself to be considered exclusively his. 

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It was a Saturday night and Baekhyun wanted to play. His finger had automatically scrolled to Chanyeol's name in the phonebook, but he snapped himself out of it before thoughtlessly calling. There was no reason to be so hesitant, but he couldn't do it.

In the end, he had decided to call another man, Kim Jeonghwa, one of Chanyeol's teammates; a runner for the team. They had fought about him before, mainly pertaining to Chanyeol's hatred of him, especially upon finding dark, purple bruising along Baekhyun's neck once.

He didn't know why he had chosen him or all people, but the man agreed and Baekhyun found himself standing outside his apartment. Knocking on the door twice, he was beginning to feel annoyed by the slow response, but decided to hide it with a smile the second it opened. 

Without any greetings exchanged, Baekhyun stepped inside the space without peering behind him. He already knew the built jock was following behind. "So, where do you prefer we ? I don't care where it is. I just want to be quick about it."

"We can go to the bedroom," Jeonghwa replied with a grin on his face so wide, Baekhyun had to question it. "The best place for all the neighbors to hear you."

"Why do you seem so excited? Don't tell me this is the first time in a long while for you," Baekhyun snorted as he walked down the short hallway. The answer didn't take long to register. As soon as