Present 

“Don’t give me that look.” Chanyeol said.

Kyungsoo had a sour look on his face the moment his friend stepped into the studio. He had noticed his friends distracted mood, his inability to focus on beats for music and looking into space. 

“You’re so out of it? Is Toben really sick? What did the Vet say?" He asked.

“No. It’s not that.” He waved off, going back to the keyboard and played a few tunes, but he was as blank as a white canvas. 

“Then what is it?”

“I saw Baekhyun.”

Kyungsoo’s head bobbed forward in interest. Though Kyungsoo had never met this infamous Baekhyun, he had heard a lot about him. A mix of good and bad from none other than Chanyeol himself. Kyungsoo liked to think Chanyeol would speak of him in a commemorative way, but as time passed, his friend was sure that Chanyeol and Baekhyun used to date. 

It was clear as day. Chanyeol was easy to read.

The tall music producer had told him about his old neighborhood and his friend, one of them being Baekbeom. He said he always had a strong connection with him. But when he talked about Baekhyun his tone changed, his eyes would get glassy. He would heave a breath of sorrow and regret. 

“So, what did you say?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Nothing, I just...walked away. I feel stupid about it now, but who knows maybe it was for the best?” He reasoned.

“Ugh, you’re so hard headed, you know that?” His friend pinched his sides.

“I feel betrayed. He knew I was trying to get in touch with him for five years and now he just shows up like a ghost, acting like nothing happened.”

Kyungsoo acknowledges his friend's logic, but he still feels on the edge about this situation. I mean, he had never heard Baekhyun’s side of the story to their broken ‘friendship’, he in fact didn’t know much about it to start with.

“I mean, if he didn’t want to reach out to you back then, why try?”

Chanyeol looked at him, griefstriken.

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October 2004

At school everyone was dressed up in their costumes for halloween. Chanyeol who was in his junior year and Baekbeom and him had made a plan to dress up because when would they ever get another chance like this? Chanyeol dressed up as spider man, his favourite marvel character while Baekbeom had resorted to Spongebob. They both looked like goofballs, Chanyeol costume was surprisingly too big for him and Baekbeom could barely sit on his chair with his square body.

Their other friends at school enjoyed the entertainment and the teachers made fun of them nonstop.

Chanyeol saw Baekhyun at school for the first time. He always questioned why he had never seen him before, but probably because they were in different grades. This time, him and Baekbeom were walking into the lunch room when he saw Baekhyun sitting alone at a table, eating peacefully. He had on earphones and kept flipping through music on his mp3 player.

Baekbeom had always told Chanyeol that his brother never had friends at school, but he didn’t expect it to be true. 

“That loner really needs to get friends,” Baekbeom said.

“Be nice,” Chanyeol replied.

This month he had grown a lot closer to Baekhyun. Chanyeol sometimes used his newfound nickname: Tinkerbell, but only when he was in a good mood.The kid was younger, yes, but it nice being the older one in a friendship, giving advice to a youngling and teaching them the ways of the world. He had also found himself defending his best friend's brother more and more. It wasn’t his fault, he was just a naturally polite person. 

He hated seeing Baekhyun helplessly trying to stand up for himself which usually just involved his fists. 

Chanyeol also noticed that he hadn’t worn a costume on Halloween. 

That afternoon, Chanyeol made his way to Byun's home, dressed up in his costume. His mother had to stitch a couple of holes that had formed at school, but for the most part he was ready to go trick or treating.

He knocked on the door in his spiderman costume and Baekbeom led him into the dining room. There, he greeted Beom's folks who told them to be safe and to take a cell phone with them. Chanyeol was excited to be trick-or-treating in a neighbourhood like Baekbeoms, all the rich people's houses always had the best candy. 

While they played games and waited for the sun to set, he noticed Baekhyun walking down the stairs. Chanyeol distractedly tried to go back to his video game. The boy was wearing blue sleeping pajamas with yellow stripes over them.

Baekhyun lazily got a bowl from the kitchen and filled it with a lot of ice cream. 

“You’re not going trick-or-treating?” Chanyeol asked him.

Baekhyun looked at him annoyed, “No, that's for kids.” He said. 

“You’re a kid, stupid.” Baekbeom yelled over his game.

“I’m fifteen, that’s a teen.” He retorted. 

Baekhyun ran back upstairs with his bowl full of ice cream.

Chanyeol looked back at the game, feeling a little disappointed that Baekhyun wouldn’t be coming with them.

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December 2005 - one year later-Senior Year

“Dude listen, me and you arcade and then the movies.” Said Baekbeom.

It was Christmas break and Chanyeol was excited to forget about school for awhile and spend time with his friends. They had gone bowling the last day of school and then the day after that went out to go eat wings. So far the break was going well however he knew something was missing. 

“I’ll go, but listen, Baekbeom you gotta study. We’re gonna be applying to colleges this year.” Chanyeol advised him.

His friend groaned in annoyance, “Really Chanyeol, I can’t have you acting like my parents right now.”

“I know, I know...but you told me you're stressed about it. I want to help.” He said,

“It’s going okay for now, but...I don’t know Baekhyun’s always been the one better at academics. I’m just...my folks keep comparing me to him, it's getting on my nerves.” He said honestly.

Chanyeol understood. He didn’t have any siblings of his own, but he knew how comparative parents could be, with cousins too. 

“How is Baekhyun? I haven’t seen him in a while.” Chanyeol said.

“Yeah he’s good, he’s been doing a lot of night school to get ahead.”

“Night school?” Chanyeol raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, he’s looking to graduate early.” Baekbeom told him.

Chanyeol realized then how time flies. Just two years ago Baekhyun had been this whining obnoxious baby, but now he was thinking about his academic success. Things change really quickly.

“We should invite him!” Chanyeol suggested.

Baekbeom narrowed his eyes, trying to read his friend's expression, “Are you kidding? That loser’s too busy to give a about us. Besides, I just wanted it to be the two of us like old times. I didn’t want to admit it, but Chanyeol you gotta stop acting nice to Baekhyun, it’s not your job to babysit him.”

To answer Baekbeom with something bitter would be death itself. He knew how aggressive his friend got in fights, so he decided to ignore the last comment, although he didn’t like it one bit.

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Somehow, he had gotten to see Baekhyun on Christmas night. The elder had come over to their house because his mom was out of town for a business trip. She would be back by 9:00 pm. So naturally, the Byuns accetped to look after an underaged Chanyeol.

Of course, he didn’t mind being baby sitted if that meant it was with his friends.

Baekhyun had come running into the house, his eyelashes and hair heavy with snow. He looked like he had walked on mount everest, Baekbeom was busy upstairs in his room attempting to finish his application letter for some college.

Chanyeol knew his best friend hated when he talked to his little brother, but now that he wasn’t in sight he didn’t take this meeting for granted.

“I haven’t seen you in ages.” Chanyeol said.

Baekhyun was surprised to see him on the family room couch, flipping through channels, he smiled knowingly.

“Life gets busy.” He shrugged.

The younger brushed off the snow from his puffy white jacket and slipped off his shoes. 

“I got this cool game for christmas. It’s upstairs.” Baekhyun said.

They ended up playing Final Fantasy, one of the games CHanyeol had yet to try. He wasn’t good at it, but Baekhyun wasn’t either so they both failed miserably until they got the hang of it. Chanyeol still, lagged behind, noticing how fast Baekhyun learned. The guy really was a genius like his brother said.
Under that great mind, is what was familiar with, was a child-like presence he always loved to tease. 

When the game grew irritating, Chanyeol found himself looking at a guitar leaning off the edge of Baekhyun’s window. He jumped in excitement, as he picked up the instrument with his strong hands.

“You play?” He asked. 

Baekhyun shook his head, “No, it was a birthday present from my aunt, but I never learned how to play.” 

Chanyeol grinned from ear to ear. He began to strum along the strings. It wasn’t perfectly tuned, but he managed to make it sound alright. After a few attempts to familiarize with the instrument, his fingers naturally letting loose, he tried to play a tune. 

Baekhyun’s eyes lit up in satisfaction after listening to it. They both sat on the bed, where Chanyeol leaned on the headboard, continuing to play because it seemed the younger didn’t mind at all. Usually, his own friends would shut him up, slap his hands away and tell him to stop annoying them. Yet, here was someone a year younger than him, encouraging him to keep playing.

“You’re literally amazing. How come I’ve never heard you before!” Baekhyun admired  in awe at the way his fingers move easily slide along the instrument.

Chanyeol’s could hear his heart beat in his chest, daring to come out of his mouth. He felt jittery, his stomach doing backflips at the sound of Baekhyun’s compliment. 

“I’m nowhere near as good as others. I’m just a rookie.” Chanyeol humbled.

Baekhyun scrunched his eyebrows together cutely.

“Well, if my judgment means anything I think you are the best I’ve ever heard.” Baekhyun said.

Baekhyun was being nice. He was being too nice to Chanyeol. He felt it now, a sensational feeling in his chest while staring at his junior. Sitting in his bedroom, on top of his bed, having Baekhyun so close to him. It felt so right. 

Chanyeol leaned in, ready to face his fears but he stopped himself. He looked at Baekhyun, perhaps clueless and too innocent for what Chanyeol wanted to do. 

“You have a piece of lint in your hair.” He picked it off.

“Oh, thanks.” Baekhyun said.

The awkwardness was defenitley Chanyeols fault and he felt bad for making such an amazing time feel like something Baekhyun was not comfortable with. So he decided to change the subject, placing the guitar back where he found it. 

“So I’m assuming you got new friends? You haven’t been hanging out with us for a while.” Chanyeol asked.

Baekhyun pouted, “No really. I feel like I’m more alone now.” He admitted.

Chanyeol felt bad instantly, a little guilty for listening to his best friend and ignoring Baekhyun because he didn’t want to be his ‘babysitter’.

“Do you wanna know why I have no friends Chanyeol? It’s because I’m always myself. I never try to be anyone I’m not.” Baekhyun said.

  The comment struck a chord. Perhaps a way of telling Chanyeol that he in fact had been deliberately ignoring Baekhyun for sometime now. The only reason he was, is because he wasn’t being himself, listening to what others had to say about him and ignoring his true feelings. 

“I’m your friend.” Chanyeol said confidently.

Baekhyun walked over to the T.V in his room, shutting it off and placing the controllers back. He didn’t seem as excited as before. 

“Would you still be my friend if I told you I was gay?”