Chapter 14: Withdrawals

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

The morning after, reality hit again and Baekhyun was consumed with the desire to sink into the nothingness.  He turned his head to the sound of Chanyeol shuffling around his room, gathering his clothes off the ground. Watching as the giant paced in this room , he sighed, pushing himself off the mattress into a sitting position. "Such an early riser, aren't you?"

"I have training in the morning."

"Right." Baekhyun couldn't help but stare, admiring the latter's body. How he'd miss it... "Say good morning to Jongin for me, will you?"

Scoffing, Chanyeol rolled his eyes as he slipped on his shirt. "No."

Baekhyun laughed, pushing his hair back. "I didn't expect anything less from you."

"Anyways," Chanyeol said, changing the subject. He wasn't too fond of talking about Jongin at the moment. "What's happening now?"

"What do you mean?" Baekhyun replied, rubbing his eyes.

"I mean, what are we?" Chanyeol turned around, giving Baekhyun a piercing look before striding over.

The smile on Baekhyun's face was soft, but gave off the clear sense that he was being heavily guarded. All of his walls were up again and Chanyeol knew it.

"We're...acquaintances. Friends, at most—" Baekhyun's eyes dropped down to Chanyeol's lips. "But that's it. As unfortunate as it is, I meant what I said. Last night was... well, the last night."

"Right, right," Chanyeol muttered, cocking his head. "After all that talk about  how you felt and what-not."

"It's probably best if you forget all of that—"

Ignoring him, Chanyeol leaned forward, enough to be at eye level. "Unfortunately, I'll have to decline that suggestion," he said, frowning. "I still don't understand why you're being like this."

"Here's the thing, Chanyeol," Baekhyun said, sighing as he heaved his shoulders. "I dated someone once. It ended badly. So, then I realized maybe I shouldn't invest all this time and energy with one person. After all, isn't that the unspoken rule of making a good decision in finances? Diversified investments makes for less risk. And about that—"

Putting a hand against Baekhyun's mouth, Chanyeol shook his head. "I'm going to stop you before you keep rambling," he muttered before releasing him. "I can't force you to be with me, but I figured that you'd at least have the decency to tell me an explanation that makes sense without bull excuses."

"Well, the truth hurts a lot more than being told a white lie," Baekhyun argued. The smile on his face had since disappeared. "Sometimes, it's just better to pretend like there's nothing more to tell."

"Unlike you, I don't feel the same way." Chanyeol clenched his jaw.