Chapter Two: Baekhyun

I sprint, racing towards the goal, adrenaline coursing through my muscles with every motion. I pay close attention to the pressure of the black and white ball against my cleats as I move it down the field, careful not to over or under compensate. The flash of blue appears in the corner of my vision, it’s Chen, and he’s moving towards me with that familiar determined expression he used to always wear at our Tuesday night games. Except now I’m on the other end of his gaze. 

The next few moments are a blur, yet so clear in execution. Our feet battle, doing something that looks like a dance, the ball weaving between our steps. I hear a rushed curse escape from Chen when he miscalculates my next move, opening the door for opportunity, and I take it. The ball moves forward, and I with it. I’m only a couple lunges away from the goalie, who is prepared, but I can sense the anxiousness in his pupils. I can also hear the heavy breathing and steps of Chen closing in on me from behind. It was now or never. With a deep breath, the side of my cleat collides with the ball, passing on its momentum to it. I watch with confidence as it flies, easily nestling itself into the back net. Goal. That’s game. 

“Yah, not all of us have played soccer for the past decade, go easy on us next time, huh?” Chen calls out, tossing his arm over my shoulder to tackle me with all his sweat.
 

“Nobody told you to quit.” I snicker, earning me another tackle.
 

“Not everyone is lucky to be Byun Baekhyun, ya know?” He laughs, finally releasing me from his hold. 

I’m dabbing my face with the towel, letting it absorb my sweat. Occasional grins and goodbyes being shared as the other players leave one by one. I feel a nudge in my side, undoubtedly, it’s Chen. He gives me a weird, yet familiar look before turning his head. I follow his directing gaze until my own reaches an approaching girl. She has short, dark hair, chopped off right above her shoulders and sports a peach dress. Her steps are hesitant, yet with a mission as she comes closer.
 

“You’ve just returned and you're already getting your fangirls again.” Chen teases. I roll my eyes with a smile. He had always made fun of me for my well… popularity with the girls. It wasn’t like I asked them to show up everywhere I go, they just did. Honestly, it was kind of a burden, but what could I do other than awkwardly smile. It was draining. 

She stops just a few feet away from us and I want to pretend like I didn’t notice her, but I had already looked in her direction just moments before, it was too late to go back now. It would take some help from Chen to avoid this encounter, but knowing him, he was enjoying this too much to give a helping hand. That prick. In preparation, I inhale, putting on a blank expression on my face as I look up. It’s then that I find my saving grace.
 

“Excuse me,” I bow my head slightly, quickly slipping past the stranger.
 

“You came,” I loudly proclaim, my grin stretching wide. I slightly chuckle when I see the confused expression sprawl across Boreum’s face. My arms move, enclosing her small frame in a sweaty hug. Her sweet scent of clean linens instantly infiltrates my senses, momentarily blinding my thoughts.
 

“W-What?” Boreum stutters, utterly confused by my actions.
 

“Please help me, hm?” I whisper into her ear before tilting my head to indicate the situation I left behind. Boreum glances over my shoulder and I can see her brain connecting the dots. 

This wouldn’t be the first time anyway. Boreum had often stepped into the role of my girlfriend in high school, specifically at away games. She knew how I felt about constantly being followed by hordes of girls. She was a great excuse at the time, and again now. Although, I’ll admit I’m guilty of enjoying our little show we always put on. 
 

“Ah, right.” Boreum nods her head, a nervous laughter escaping her. I give her a reassuring and appreciative smile as I suddenly take the grocery bags from her fingers. She moves to stop me, but it's to no avail.
 

“I got it.” She insists, a small pout forming on her peach tinted lips. Gosh, she is adorable.
 

“What kind of boyfriend would I be if I made you carry these by yourself?” I counter with a wink. The subtle pink erupts onto her cheeks like it always did. She was always the easiest to fluster. Cute. 

By the time we make it back to Chen, the girl has already made her exit and he’s shaking his head in disbelief.
 

“Stop using my sister for your love life excuses. You’ll end up dying alone at the rate you avoid girls.” Chen chastises.
 

“I can’t help it, she’s just the perfect girlfriend.” I say, causing another round of rosy cheeks to take over.
 

“Don’t make me vomit.” Chen fake gags, resulting in a punch in the shoulder from his sister.
 

“Hands to yourself, I have a family to take care of.” Chen retaliates.
 

“I can’t believe a child like yourself has children.” Boreum mutters. Chen only mocks her with her own words. I just laugh. The Kim siblings always were a special duo. As someone who grew up as an only child I always envied their relationship, even if they were at each other’s throats 99.9% of the time. 

“What’s with the groceries?” Chen points to the bags in Boreum’s hands. We both look to Boreum for answers. She was never a cook, so why would she be the one grocery shopping. Unless that’s changed and she’s the chef of the house now. That would be hard to believe though since the first and only thing she cooked for me was fried eggs and it was absolutely burnt to no return.
 

“I was going to text Chen about it, but our parents invited you over for dinner today.” Boreum explains.
 

“A heads up sooner would’ve been helpful. My family is free, but Baekhyhun has-” Chen sighs.
 

“I’ll come.” I cut him off, earning myself a look from the latter. What did I have? Just work meetings that could definitely be rescheduled. I was the boss anyway.
 

“If you’re busy, you don’t have to come, Baekhyun.” Boreum’s chocolate irises lock with mine. Instantly, I feel like she’s piercing right through me. She always had that effect with her stare, at least with me. I always felt like everything was on an open table when it came to her, but I know that’s not the case. There's a secret that she would never be able to read off of me. 
 

“And what? Miss out on your mom’s cooking?”

asdfghjkl; Thanks so much for already giving this story so much love. 
Good news for you all: Similar to When the Stars Align, I actually have a plot for a good portion of the chapters created so you hopefully won't have to wait 3 months in between updates. We'll see. I said "hopefully", so no promises.

Also, completely me just being in my feels, but I'm so happy that I have EXO-L here who love EXO as much as me. I've been the only EXO-L (outside of my sister) that I know for the past four years and coming back to AFF after taking a few year hiatus is just an amazing reminder that we are all still here and going strong. My heart <3

On another note: I just realized I've been on AFF since 2013. That's nine years. WTH? When did time fly by so fast? I cry.