Chapter 16: Homecoming

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

The constant tapping of Chanyeol's fingers against the counter didn't go as unnoticed as he initially thought. His stressed nature took Kyungsoo's attention as he raised his eyes off the menu settled between his hands.

"Are you okay?"

"Hm?" Snapping his head upwards, Chanyeol met eyes with the boy sitting across from him. For a moment, he had forgotten that they were minutes away from deciding on their orders. "Oh, yeah. I'm good."

"You just seemed like something was bothering you," Kyungsoo said, smiling sympathetically. "Is it your midterms?"

"No, no." Chanyeol shook his head before consciously ceasing the mindless tapping of his fingers. Realizing how off he was acting, he took in a breath before straightening his posture. "It's nothing important."

"Listen, if you have something you need to do, then--"

"I don't," Chanyeol quickly dismissed. "I really don't mean to come off rude. I think I'm just stressed considering its halfway through the semester. Going about a bit stir crazy, if anything."

"Well, how about we get out of here then? We can do something else."

Chanyeol shook his head. "No, let's stay. You said you were hungry and so am I."

Cocking his head at the latter, Kyungsoo studied the expression on his face before relenting. The air around them still didn't feel completely right, but he understood that, perhaps, the territory of the topic was one Chanyeol wasn't willing to venture out towards.

"In that case..." Kyungsoo started, slowly as he moved his gaze away, "What do you feel like having?"

▂▂▂▂

Baekhyun's absence was first noted from his lack of in-class participation, but soon, Chanyeol realized that the male seemed to have left campus all together. The clubs the male had headed by himself that had given him nothing but a high public profile were left in stagnant as officers attempted to cover his absence with temporary chairs.  But all other instances were pale comparison to the loud silence that replaced the void that Baekhyun had previously occupied with late-night calls that softly whispered Chanyeol's name in the dark.

▂▂▂▂

A month and a half had passed and, for a while, Chanyeol had begun to forget about the boy who had once constantly occupied every waking thought. But upon re-entering the locker room post-practice , he stopped once his eyes locked on Baekhyun, who had drastically changed to a honey blond appearance, made him bitterly realize how nothing was different.

With his back pressed against the white-painted walls lecture building, Baekhyun's lips curved into an alluring smile, but it wasn't for him.

Following the boy's gaze, Chanyeol watched as Jongin, equally bewildered by the latter's sudden