October 1st had been the first day of the year that had a bit of a bite to it. Baekhyun was eternally grateful. He had done some research about his condition that pretty much told him, "If it's hot, ya ed."

 

This is what was running through my mind as I lay nearly passed out after the Sannam meet, a relatively small, local event that was held at a hay farm. I couldn't imagine it being a degree hotter than it already was, a comfortable 58 degrees. I was pissed because I only improved by 12 seconds. I passed the finish line at 22 minutes flat. 

Chanyeol again crossed the finish line with me, despite having a sneezing fit during the whole race from all the hay. One thing on my mind often these days is just how good Chanyeol actually was his freshman year. We were still best friends back then, but I thought Chanyeol was high as a ing kite when he told me he wanted to race cross country. 

"Good luck with that," I remember telling him all those years ago. I opted to join theatre that term instead.

And then I was convinced to join him our sophomore year. Chanyeol would make a good lawyer.

 

I heard people tell me he was good, but it's just now that I'm starting to understand how fast he actually was. 

All this and much more was running through my mind while I absentmindedly watched Chanyeol rub his large hands all over my numb legs, a strange heat building in my stomach whenever he looked up at me and smiled.

 

"Hey kid! Are you Byun Baekhyun?" A cheery lady called to me, walking up with another man behind her holding a clipboard. 

"Uhh, yes?" I said cautiously. 

"Would you mind answering a few questions for us? It's for an small column in the Busan Gazette about how you're rising through the ranks despite being diagnosed with MS," she happily explained. 

"Oh yeah, that's fine," I sighed. Chanyeol was giving me weird, side smiles so I lightly socked his arm.

 

———————

 

"Ok, that about covers everything. Wow! What a fascinating story you have Baekhyun! You won't be disappointed with the article!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"Thank you," I responded, dipping my head towards her.

"And your boyfriend takes such good care of you afterwards, how cute!" She chirped as she snapped a picture of me and Chanyeol.

 

"Oh, he's not my boy-"

"Be sure to look out for it in next week's issue!" The reporter lady said as she walked away with note-taking man. 

 

I turned my head to look at Chanyeol, assuming I would see a boy trying his hardest not to crack up, instead I found burning, red cheeks and zero eye contact.

"Do we look like we're dating, Chanyeol?" I asked him, a bit befuzzled, and I know it wasn't the MS.

"I don't know, some people might think so," still not making eye contact with me. 

"Hey! What's up with you? You're being all weeeeeird," I laughed, snaking my arms around his, pushing my face up in front of his and driving a few fingers into his side.

 

"BAEK!! BAEKHYUN STOP I CAN'T BREATHE!" Chanyeol laughed-sobbed as I was mercilessly tickling his side.

Finally he broke away and pointed a finger down at me. 

"Okay Byun, have fun dragging yourself to the bus. You lost Chanyeol-Taxi privileges," he sighed, trying to recover from being brutally attacked. 

 

"What?! You can't just leave me here!" I wailed, cursing my useless, numb legs. 

"Aww, don't worry Baekkie, I'll help you," I heard my girlfriends voice from behind me.

"Ming! I didn't know you were here! Did you watch me finish?" I exclaimed in surprise as she threaded her thin arms into mine, hauling me to my shaky feet, then promptly falling into her short, small frame. It would still be like 15 minutes before I could use them again. 30 minutes seemed to be the defining timeframe for recovery. 

 

"OOF! Wow, you're heavy! Chanyeol, help me!" She laughed.

I noticed the smile Chanyeol had earlier was all but gone.

"Hey! I'm not fat!" I said indignantly, as Chanyeol hauled me up onto his back. 

Ming just kept laughing at me as I looped my arms around Chanyeol's neck to get some hold and balance.

"But yeah! I convinced my host family to drive out here and watch you race!" She said as she walked beside Chanyeol. 

"Then that means you saw me at yet another race," I huffed, resting my chin in Chanyeol's soft, jet black hair.

 

"Um Baekhyun, I don't know what you were seeing, but I saw someone who got yet another PR, and an article in the local newspaper," Chanyeol reassured me, rubbing his hands up and down my legs. 

 

"Aish, whatever," I pouted, holding back a small smile. 

 

"Ok well, I have to go shopping with my host family, kiss goodbye?" She asked cutely.

Ming hopped up onto a small hay bale so she could reach my face now that I was suddenly 186 cm. I pecked her quickly on the mouth. Simultaneously, Chanyeol tensed underneath me. I was a little euphoric from Ming's presence to give much thought to it.

 

The short half hour bus ride home was strangely silent. I didn't know what was up with Chanyeol. It was a lazy Saturday afternoon. Since the meet started at 9AM, they were done by 2 and back home by 3. 

 

I was sitting on my bed with Chanyeol and trying to focus on my math homework, but Chanyeol kept ticking next to me. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have full-blown Tourette's, but he definitely geeks out every now and then. After one final tongue click, I snapped. 

"God can't you shut up?! Ok I'm sorry, I know you can't help it, but oh my god Chanyeol, I've gotten one problem done in the last 20 minutes!" I exasperated. 

 

Chanyeol looked like he was about to cry. 

 

"Oh god, come here you giant man baby," I sighed, patting my lap. Chanyeol silently slid his head into said spot.

If Chanyeol is quiet like this, it's because he's mad. 

 

"Ok," I huffed, closing my math book. Obviously no homework was going to get done right now. 

"What's wrong bub?" I said, running my fingers through his hair. 

The faintly warm sunlight was streaming through the window in my bedroom right onto Chanyeol's face, making him look like a fairy. A very manly fairy.

 

"Nothing," he mumbled.

 

Scratch manly fairy, because honestly, Chanyeol was such a girl sometimes.

 

"Nothing, sure. Are you mad about Ming being there?" I asked him, placing my fingers under his chin and pushing his face up to meet my gaze. 

 

He furrowed his eyebrows and remained silent. 

 

Ah, so I got it spot on. 

 

"Yeolieeeeee, look I'm sorry, but she's just gonna be around now, ok? She's really nice and she told me she really likes you and Luhan. You just have to give her a chance," I reasoned with him. 

"Baekhyun, I don't understand. This girl literally runs right into you, you don't even know her name, suddenly you're in love with her and you're dating-"

"Woah woah woah, I don't love her. I like her sure, but I just don't feel like that about her. Stop jumping to conclusions. Hey! I have an idea! We need to find you a girlfriend too!" I exclaimed. 

 

"I don't think that's the best idea," Chanyeol sighed, finally turning his face towards me voluntarily. 

"But it's a great idea! What's not to like? You're a fast runner, funny and soooooo handsome!" I bubbled, making my voice falsetto on the last word. 

 

Chanyeol visibly blushed, smiled, then proceeded to groan as he pushed his face into my shirt, wrapping his arms around my waist.

"So then it's settled. You, Park Chanyeol, will have a girlfriend by the end of the month," I stated matter of factly.

"Fat chance," Chanyeol muttered. 

"It was weird. I had my first kiss with her, but it wasn't like, amazing ! You know what I mean?" I pondered aloud to Chanyeol. 

 

"WAIT!" I yelled. 

Chanyeol flinched so hard he fell off the edge of my bed.

I poked my head over the edge to stare down at him. 

"Have you had your first kiss yet?" I asked him curiously.

I feel like I would've known if my best friend of forever had had his first kiss yet, but then again, something could've slipped my mind.

 

"No, you spastic fool," he flatly replied, rubbing a spot on his head. 

 

"Shoot, I was gonna ask you for kissing practice. Maybe my first kiss was bad because I'm bad at kissing," I huffed, flopping onto my back. 

 

Chanyeol's head suddenly popped up from the floor so I could only see his seemingly floating head.

"Well I might've had my first kiss. I-I-I mean, I don't really remember, it was kind of a blur. I do um, remember that it was uh, it was pretty great. Yeah I've got loads of experience!" Chanyeol stuttered out. 

"Really?!" I said excitedly, "Can you show me how to then?"

 

Chanyeol's eyes looked very glazed and dazed. 

 

Gladazed!! Baekhyun thought to himself.

 

"Uh y-y-yeah, of course, I can do that," Chanyeol said, wiping his hands on his shirt. 

He eagerly clambered up onto Baekhyun's bed. 

 

I rotated myself to face Chanyeol. I scooted closer to him and moved my hands to cup his face. He was absolutely still, I think he even stopped breathing.

I moved my face closer and closer to his, starting to tilt my head. I felt Chanyeol's hands start to grab at my crossed legs when my lips were inches from his, before I jerked to a stop. 

 

"Chanyeol! I have an even better idea!"

 

Chanyeol looked like a sad, space boi.

 

———————————

CHANYEOL's POV

 

Chanyeol had no ing clue what Luhan was doing at Baekhyun's house 10 minutes later.

 

"Ok so here's the deal. I'm a really bad kisser, at least I suspect I might be. It's not that I don't trust Chanyeol's judgment, but I feel like he'd be biased and just tell me I'm good anyway," Baekhyun explained to both of us.

"So why the am I here?" Luhan asked.

 

I was kind of wondering the same thing myself.

 

"Alright so here's my idea. Luhan should make out with both of us, and then tell us which one is better and why. That way, it's fair," Baekhyun finished explaining.

 

Ok so I have 2 issues with this.

 

1. I have not, nor have I ever, had any desire to kiss Luhan. 

2. I even more do not wish to see Luhan kissing Baekhyun, or anyone kissing Baekhyun for that matter.

 

"Count me out," I said saltily. 

"What? Chanyeol come on! Luhan has loads of experience and he's too dumb to lie to either of us!" Baekhyun complained.

 

"Hey! Yeah no wait, you're right," Luhan said, "Ok, I'll do it."

 

Chanyeol physically could not watch Luhan kiss Baekhyun. When they were finally done and he heard Baekhyun calling him over, he adamantly refused and got up to leave. 

 

Suddenly, I felt 2 pairs of hands grab me and yank me to the ground.

"Ok I'll sit on his legs and hold him down. You hold his arms and kiss him," Baekhyun calmly instructed Luhan, like ing me was just an everyday occurrence. 

I soon enough felt a pair of lips press against mine that were obviously very experienced. 

 

I didn't know how long it was until the worst was over. I think I out or something. 

 

"Ok my final verdict iiiiiisssss....... Chanyeol!" Luhan proclaimed.

"What?! No! I thought I did everything right with my tongue and everything," Baekhyun sulked.

 

"Sorry Baek, Chanyeol clearly has a ton of experience over you. Even through all the resisting," Luhan said. 

 

So much for my first kiss.

 

——————————————

BAEKHYUN's POV

 

When Chanyeol and I walked to school together Monday morning, we passed one of those public newspaper stands, one of which was the Busan Gazette. 

"Chanyeol wait, let's see if my article is in the paper yet," I said, halting him in his tracks.

Chanyeol and I both grabbed one out of the bin and searched for it. I was just about to give up when Chanyeol spoke up.

 

"Oh, I don't think you're gonna like this Baek," Chanyeol said in a very strange tone.

"Wait what? Let me see!" I said, snatching it out of his hands.

 

Right there in the corner, a small column that hardly took up any space with the headline, "RUNNING AGAINST THE ODDS", along with a small black and white photo of him and Chanyeol. 

And right below that picture was a small caption that read, "Byun Baekhyun pictured to the right with his boyfriend."

 

"My WHAT?!" I exclaimed, squinting my eyes to make sure I read it correctly. 

"I told you you wouldn't like it," Chanyeol said, very clearly trying not to laugh. 

"No! I'm ed! Everyone already thinks I'm gay! Trust me if I were gay, it would definitely be with you, I'm not worried about that, but even my own mother questions my ual orientation! Is there something that I'm just not seeing???!!" I exasperated.

 

Chanyeol had this weird look on his face. He has been harder to read recently, and I'm usually a pro at deciphering Chanyeol faces.

 

"I don't know Baekhyun, I mean you did willingly make out with Luhan-"

"Oh shut the up Yeol, you know that was for practice. Ok if you don't have anything productive to say, we gotta fix this situation," I huffed.

"How would you fix-"

 

"Excuse me? If I were to buy all of the Busan Gazette copies, how much would that all be?" I asked the newspaper vendor. 

"All of the copies here? Or all of the copies distributed throughout town?" The vendor asked me. 

 

I'm ed.

 

"You know what, nevermind, thank you anyway," I said, my resolve chipping away. 

 

Chanyeol nudged my arm. "Hey, I'm not sure why you're so worked up, it's not that bad."

 

"You're right, I have a girlfriend. Everyone will know it's a typo," I conceded.

 

Just then, two boys from our school turned up our street, holding a newspaper that looked strangely familiar.

"Hey Park! Are you on your way to plug your boyfriend's ?" One boy laughed from down the street.

 

"EAT MOUTHBREATHER!" I screamed back at him, knowing full well Chanyeol wouldn't defend himself. 

I angrily grabbed Chanyeol's arm and stepped off the sidewalk to cross to the opposite side of the street.

"You should've just ignored them Baek," Chanyeol said quietly.

"Nah, no one messes with my best friend," I said bitterly.

 

...........................................

CHANYEOL's POV

 

"BYUN BAEKHYUN! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU'RE CHEATING ON ME!" Ming yelled as soon as she saw Baek and me during lunch time. 

At this point, the entire cafeteria was staring at us.

my life.

"Ming! I swear it's not-"

"Hahahah, I'm just ing with you, I just wanted to see your face," she laughed as she walked towards us with that cursed newspaper in her hand.

 

As they embraced and kissed, I chose to direct my eyes elsewhere.

 

"You're so mean to me! Anyway, before I was brutally harassed, I was gonna invite you to lunch with me and Chanyeol, hmm, but now I'm not so sure," Baekhyun chided with Ming.

 

Their interactions made me sick honestly. I wanted to like Ming, I really did. She has never done anything to me, except take Baekhyun away. Which was a big deal in my book. God, I'm so ed in the head. 

The deafening noise of the cafeteria drowned out of rest of their conversation, thankfully. 

 

"Hey Chanyeol! We're going to Panda Express! Let's go!" Baekhyun called out to me with his melodic voice, bringing me back to reality.

I thought we were gonna stay on-campus for lunch, it was dumpling Monday!!!

"Baek, what the ? It's dumpling Monday, plus Panda Express isn't even real Chinese!" I complained, knowing full well Ming was behind this.

"I'm Korean, I don't give a !" He shot back.

 

, he had a point. 

! I have homework to do that I failed to complete over the weekend. my life, ADHD, Ming, ing .

 

The second we sat down with our food, I pulled my homework out of my bag and began hastily busting it out. I made sure to leave Ming zero room so she'd have to sit across from me and Baekhyun. 

 

"Chanyeol no, 2a is inside the square root, not outside of it. How do you not have the quadratic formula memorised by now? And why didn't you do your homework over the weekend?" Baekhyun scolded me.

"I was busy, ok?" I huffed. 

Even though all I did was lay staring at my ceiling for 24 hours thinking about how much I wished I was Luhan the day before.

 

"Chanyeol, your math class starts in 15 min-, aish, I don't know what you would do without me," Baekhyun sighed, grabbing my homework out of my hands and quickly writing all the answers plus the work on my paper in record time. I would never understand how his mind works, or anyone's that understands this .

 

"Ok now eat, we have cross country practice after school," he directed me after sliding my finished homework back to me.

 

Ming was laughing uncontrollably at the whole situation. I thought it was primarily because of me being stupid at math, but when I felt her foot rub up against my leg, I realised she was laughing because she had been playing footsie with Baekhyun this whole time. 

"Um, Ming that's my leg, but by all means, continue," I said, trying to feign straightness.

 

She retracted her foot instantly and her face went completely red, as did Baekhyun's. 

 

"Is that the bell? I think I hear the bell," Baekhyun said quickly, getting up. 

"The school is like a mile away-"

"Yep, it's definitely the bell," he continued, throwing his trash away and gathering his things.

 

.............................................

 

Later that day at XC practice, Baekhyun seemed to be back to his normal self.

"Ok team, we're gonna do some pace training on the track, and then a 4 mile run with a buddy. Before we split off into groups, I want to share this article with you guys. Our very own Baekhyun has an article talking how he found the motivation to push through his diagnosis and run faster than he's ever ran before. Baekhyun, would you like to say anything?" Our coach beamed at him.

 

His face was redder than it was in Panda Express earlier.

 

"Umm, uh, believe in yourself..?" Baekhyun choked out after being put on the spot. 

I snickered beside him, until I felt a sharp pain in my side and a glare from said boy.

 

"A round of applause for Baekhyun! I think our team could use a little motivation right now, keep up the good work Baekhyun!" Coach Harlee applauded.

 

Baekhyun respectfully dipped his head towards him.

 

..........................................

 

Later on our run, I was dying. Like actually dying, usually I can hold my own on runs with Baekhyun, as I'm slightly faster than him, but today he was kicking my . A little too much actually.

 

"Baekhyun!" I gasped, "Slow down! You're going way faster than your pace time!" 

 

It was a particularly warm October afternoon, probably around 70 degrees. I know heat makes Baekhyun's condition flare up, so I wasn't sure why he was purposefully trying to hurt himself by running way faster than our given time. The dried, brown leaves on the ground told me it was mid-autumn, but the heat told me something else.

 

"No! I can't let coach down, I have to be even better for the race next week. It's not districts, but it's still a huge race. I have to be better!" Baekhyun said, also gasping for air.

 

He did not look too good. His face was the usual flushed red that it would be after a hard run, but it also looked pale and sickly around his eyes and mouth. 

 

"You will be better! Baek, we're gonna walk a little bit," I instructed him, pulling him back into a stop.

When he turned around, I was shocked to see him crying.

 

"Maybe you don't get it Chanyeol. I might never run again after this XC season. If I don't seriously start knocking back minutes off my PR right now, then I will never have the chance to do so again," he choked out, promptly turning around and returning to a brisk jog. 

Aish, this ing kid.

 

"Baekhyun, I know you want this and it's clear that you are on your way there, but even the doctor said that you-"

At the mention of the doctor, he stopped dead in his tracks and his face was angry when he faced me this time.

 

"Chanyeol, I swear to god, I'm gonna be the fastest damn runner in Busan, no that, in Korea. No matter what some damn idiot with framed pieces of paper on their wall says, and I need you with me every step of the way. If you can't support me, then I have nothing," he said with all the bravado he could muster in his exhausted state.

 

His words shocked me. I always knew Baekhyun was a tiny firecracker, but he never sounded off on me. Well, for the most part. But that was usually because I would be desperately looking for misplaced items that ended up being in my hand.

 

"Ok then Baek, I'll be there with you every step of the way."

 

About 5 minutes after some more hard running, Baekhyun just suddenly keeled over. 

 

" Baek! Are you ok?" I asked as I ran over to his form crumpled on the ground.

 

He was still conscious, but he looked absolutely furious.

" ing !!! I can't feel my ing legs and, and, huhhhh, I can't breathe and my head hurts!!!! I'm not getting any better! I'm ing hopeless!!" He just started yelling from his spot on the ground.

 

I'm no XC coach. I'm not one for convincing speeches, even though Baekhyun would say otherwise. There was nothing I could say to him while he was like this. 

 

"Hey, let's get up," I said softly, looping my arms through his and hauling him to his feet.

He looked up at me and said nothing, but kept his sparkling eyes trained on mine. 

 

He still couldn't walk right now, so I hauled him on to my back like I always do. He was silently sobbing and I let him have his fit, anything I said would've made it worse, I know better. 

 

Walking through the cool forest with Baekhyun nearly passed out on my back allowed me to reflect on things. There was a heavily used forest trail, that s through the woods surrounding our neighbourhood in South Busan. We called it the CZ Trail, not sure why.

I've known for a while that I was gay. It wasn't something I ever fought against internally, it was just something I felt, and I knew it felt right. With that being said, I still haven't told a soul, Baekhyun included.

But even now, with Baekhyun's body pressed against my back, it sparked thoughts and emotions that I had to will away. 

And it hurt.

 

..........................................

BAEKHYUN's POV

 

When Chanyeol shook me awake, I could see that we were back in town. I could walk at this point, so I hopped off his back and walked beside him silently. I was pissed at myself. 

I just feel like a complete failure, even though everyone around me is constantly telling me how amazing I am. But I know if I allow myself to become complacent with the constant praise, I'll start falling behind. 

 

Surprisingly, we arrived at the same time that all the other people on my team were returning as well. I suddenly heard someone calling my name.

 

"Hey Baekhyun! Come over here for a second!" Kai called out to me.

Thoroughly puzzled, I walked over to Kai, Chanyeol trailing close behind.

"Erm, can I talk to just you?" He said, eyeing Chanyeol behind me. 

 

"Um, I guess," I said, feeling more and more uncomfortable by the second. 

"Yeah, I just wanted to say congrats and everything, you seem like you really got your head in the game this year," Kai said sincerely, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. 

"Oh yeah, thanks!" I said brightly, still not sure why Kim Kai of all people was talking to me. 

"Hey, I honestly don't know what you've heard about me, but just know I give props where it's due. People like to talk," he said, giving me this low-key adorable half smile. 

 

Is this my new life in the spotlight? I get a girlfriend, Kim Kai talks to me, articles in the newspaper, what's next?

 

"Anyway, the reason I wanted to talk to you was to invite you to my annual Halloween party in a few weeks! Oh, and feel free to bring Chanyeol if you want, I know how close you guys are," Kai said, nodding his head towards Chanyeol.

 

So apparently the biggest parties of the year are what's next. Welcome to your new life Baekhyun. Maybe this whole MS deal wasn't too bad.

 

"Oh wow thank you! Can I bring Luhan and my girlfriend too?" I asked him excitedly.

"Erm, let's just keep it to the team, ok?" He said, scratching the back of his head cutely.

 

"Oh yeah that's fine," I said, with the full intention of bringing them anyway.

 

.....................................................

 

Over the course of the month, I found myself neck and neck with Chanyeol at the top of JV. The rest of the JV team was clearly pissed at me for disrupting the natural balance of the cross country team. Me and Chanyeols new PR was 20:41 and Halloween was upon them before no time. 

 

Being in choir came with some perks. Some of those were getting to skip class the whole day for both Halloween and Valentines Day. For Halloween, we would do these things called Spook-A-Grams (SAG as the choir secretly called it and VAG for Valentine's Day! Now you know why it's secret.)

Anyway, I always buy one for Chanyeol and Luhan. I almost always get the solos, except that ing Chen steals them from me half the time. When I do get the solos for Valentines Day, it's more than amusing to serenade Luhan and Chanyeol. I usually take it up a few notches and slide across their desks or give them s, whatever I'm feeling at the time. Everyone usually goes nuts for it. 

Halloween is a different story. You can't really do y for Halloween until after school.

Which is exactly what I was planning to do. Unfortunately, the one person I wanted to be very y for wouldn't be able to come to Kai's party later. So it would just be me, Chanyeol and Luhan.

 

...........................................

 

Chanyeol and Baekhyun's favourite band EXO, just released a new song called "Monster", which is obviously perfect for Halloween. So they all picked members from the band to dress up as from that music video. Couldn't be more fitting for the occasion. 

 

I was sporting some chains and a suit. Chanyeol temporarily dyed his hair red and had like fake cuts on his face. if I'll ever say this to him, but he looked damn y. 

 

I can tell we made the right choice when we walked in because most of the other people at the party also went the y route rather than your orthodox Halloween costumes. Of course Luhan had to show up dressed like a ing deer, so I made a mental note to steer clear of him at the party. 

 

"Baekhyun! You came! Uhh, is the guy dressed like a deer with you?" Kai asked, bouncing up to me immediately. 

 

"Oh no, I have no idea who that is haha," I said nervously.

 

"Ok, I wonder who he is, Lay will probably kick him out later. ANYWAY, I'm super glad you and Chanyeol are here. So Baekhyun, tell me, what is the secret to knocking 7 minutes off your PR in a few months? Guy like me could use some information like that," Kai asked.

 

"It's just like coach says honestly, it's all in your head. I mean, I'm sitting here thinking I may not be able to run soon at all, so I gotta give it everything I got right now," I replied.  

 

"Of course! You're totally right! See I'm a senior, this is my last chance to make it to state, so I've got the same sort of motivation as well. It's guys like you and me who make it. Now your friend Chanyeol over there, I'm not sure what his deal is. I know he's fast. He always beat me back in my sophomore year. But yet, he just hangs back now. It's dudes like that who have no motivation in life that bother me," Kai said while looking at Chanyeol. 

 

"Oh it's not that he doesn't have any motivation, he just always wants to run next to me," I laughed. 

 

"Interesting, very interesting. Well that is some valuable information. Hey, why don't you and Chanyeol join me for a few shots, let's get this in party started!" Kai said. 

 

(cue "pursuit of happiness" on spotify)

 

I nodded and followed him to the kitchen where all of us took 3 back to back shots of tequila. 

 

Within five minutes, I could feel it hit me. Chanyeol completely let loose and won about five games of rage cage in half an hour. 

 

" Chanyeol, didn't know you were an absolute party animal," I laughed, hanging off his back.

 

"Baekkieee, come on, play another game with me!" Chanyeol yelled into my face. 

 

"Oh no haha, I don't know how alcohol affects my condition so I'm just gonna take it easy," I laughed back. 

 

The blur of lights, people and music were definitely off putting to my sense of balance, and I didn't need to go and cause another flare up in the middle of cross country season. I'm gonna be smart about this. 

 

Whereas Luhan had already taken off, and was currently close to being dancing on the center coffee table with kids scream cheering him on. 

 

"Nevermind, that guy can stay!" Kai laughed next to me. 

 

......................................

 

It had just ticked past midnight and I was coming down off my initial alcohol consumption. My environment started to make more sense and the people were less of a blob and more like individuals now. However, everyone else was definitely getting more and more drunk. 

 

I was sitting on the couch alone in the living room when Lay came up to me looking nervous. 

 

"Hey you're Baekhyun right? You need to come with me, your friend Chanyeol just fell off a flight of stairs and I think he needs to go to the hospital," he said hurriedly. 

 

"Wait, what?!"