Baekhyun's arm shot out of the bed sheet right when he heard his alarm go off. He wasn't able to sleep at all last night; there were too many things that occupied his mind. It didn't take much thought for him to know that he does not want to go to school the next day. He had a feeling that something bad was going to happen, and he did not want to face it.

He got out of bed and tried to figure out what he would wear to school. He found the shirt that Tao had bought for him when they went shopping together. It was navy blue sweater; Tao said that it complemented Baekhyun's eyes and got it for him. He thought that it would be a bad idea to wear it that day and decided to wear his black shirt instead.

Baekhyun headed downstairs and tried to avoid his mom. He knew that she would ask him about his baggy eyes. He didn't want her to get worried about him; there were already enough problems as it is. He got to the door and was about to leave, until his mother asked, "Aren't you going to eat breakfast?"

He paused, but didn't even bother to answer; instead, he just left without a word to her. He didn't feel like eating breakfast, he hasn't eaten much for the last week.

As Baekhyun left the house, he looked outside the gate to see if Tao was waiting for him. There was someone waiting for him, but it wasn't Tao.

"Finally you're ready." Chanyeol said with an exasperated sigh. He gave Baekhyun a big smile and followed him to school. He was wearing his usual red jacket, he probably thought that he looked good in it, but really, he looked like an idiot.

Chanyeol is Baekhyun's best friend; they've known each other for years. Chanyeol was the popular kid that got along with everyone and was friends with everyone, while Baekhyun was quiet and wasn't very social. He didn't understand why Chanyeol was his friend anyhow. Though they were different, it didn't change their friendship.

Baekhyun went on ahead of him. Chanyeol followed quickly behind bombarding him with questions, "What's wrong? Did you not want to see me? Were you waiting for someone else? Were you waiting for…Tao?" Chanyeol said with a mischievous grin on his face, and an eyebrow raised up.

Baekhyun shot him a dirty look that meant, "If you don't shut up, I will kill you."

"I'm not in the mood to talk right now, just leave me alone, won't you?" Baekhyun said, as he started quickening his pace so he wouldn't have to talk to Chanyeol.

"Aw, come on, what's wrong? Tell me," Chanyeol urged him as he suddenly grabbed Baekhyun's arm, trying to stop him. However, Baekhyun pulled his arm away, and continued ahead.

He replied as he turned the corner, "It's nothing, there's just some stuff on my mind right no-"

Baekhyun spotted Tao ahead of him, after rounding the corner. He was walking alone to school. Why is he walking alone? Couldn't he have waited for me to walk with him? thought Baekhyun. He decided not to say or do anything and to just let him be, like he had for the last week.

Whenever Chanyeol sees Baekhyun down, he usually knew the reason. "It's because of Tao, isn't it? Was it because he wasn't waiting for you this morning?"

"I said I don't want to talk about it." Baekhyun said, looking at the ground while he walked.

"So it is, isn't it?" He said softly, looking ahead at Tao, "What's wrong with you guys?"

Baekhyun didn't reply until they got on campus. "I don't know what's wrong… He's been ignoring me; he doesn't even talk to me anymore. I called him last night to ask him why he's been this way, but he said that he was busy, and couldn't talk. He said he’d try to find me today so we can talk."

He kneeled down his locker to grab his books for first and second hour. They were the only classes he didn't have with Chanyeol. However, he had them with Tao. Chanyeol asked, "What do you think you guys will talk about?"

"I think I know…" Baekhyun said somberly. "I couldn't sleep last night. I was too nervous thinking about what would happen today."

Chanyeol bent over him and whispered in his ear, "Well, whatever happens, you know I'll be there for you… doing the things he did for you, if you know what I mean," he said with a wink as he ran off to his class.

"You're such a !" Baekhyun called after him, hearing him laughing; though talking to Chanyeol did make him feel a bit better. He got up with his books and turned around, but then bumped into someone behind him. "Sor-"

It was Tao.
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Chanyeol's POV

My alarm went off this morning. I heard it, but didn't feel like turning it off. Instead, I stayed in bed and hoped that today was going to be different compared to the other days.

For the last few months, I've hated getting up in the morning. Not because I wanted more sleep, but because I didn't want to see Baekhyun together with Tao. Even though they got together a few months ago, I still can't accept him being with Baekhyun. I hate that Baekhyun spend all his time with him, I hate how he smiles at him, and I absolutely hate how Baekhyun only looks at him. I just really hate Tao. Who am I to Baekhyun to not deserve those things? Have I not been there for him throughout all these years? Every person has a limit to how much they can stand; mine reaching there. As much as I didn't like Tao, I always acted cheery whenever I see Baekhyun with him, I didn't want to lose Baekhyun as a friend.

I eventually turned off the alarm and got ready for school. What should I wear? I think I'll wear my red jacket today, Baekhyun once said that I looked good in it. So I grabbed a pair of jeans and put on my jacket. I hurried eating breakfast, I couldn't be late today.

I walked quickly down the street leading to Baekhyun's house. Each step I took, I was hoping that Tao wasn't waiting there for him. For the last few months, whenever I go to Baekhyun's house to walk with him to school, either Tao was already waiting for him, or they were already ahead, walking to school together. Baekhyun doesn't even wait for me.

When I arrived, I noticed something different- Tao wasn't waiting for him! I was so happy. Wait, could they have left already? It was early so they couldn't have left together yet…. Hopefully he doesn't come anytime soon. Hurry up, Baekhyun!"

I was leaning against the gate, waiting for Baekhyun to come out. A few minutes later, I see Tao coming down the street; he was looking down on the ground as he walked. I stood behind one of the bushes so he wouldn't see me. If he was going to wait for Baekhyun, I would rather go to school alone than have to walk with those two together. However, when Tao got to Baekhyun's house, he didn't stop. He continued walking, without bothering to look up to check if Baekhyun was there. He went by me, and didn't notice that I was there either. That's odd, why didn't he wait for Baekhyun? Was Baekhyun not going to school today? There was something odd going on, I'll ask Baekhyun later.

I went back to the gate and I saw Baekhyun coming out. Why is he pausing at the door? His mom was probably talking to him, maybe breakfast? He gotten a lot thinner, I hope he's been eating alright.

"Finally you're ready," I said when he came near, it seemed like I've waited for forever. I smiled when I saw that he was wearing his black shirt, it was a nice contrast to his pale skin.

Rather than saying anything, Baekhyun ignored me and went on ahead. As much as I wanted to admire him from behind, I wanted to ask him about Tao. "What's wrong? Did you not want to see me?" Honestly, asking that disheartened me a bit, hopefully he won't reply to that one. "Were you waiting for someone else? Were you waiting for…Tao?" Trying to hide my real intentions, I tried to pass it off as a joke, and forced myself to smile.

Luckily, Baekhyun didn't see through my questions. Instead, he shot me a glare that most likely meant: If you don't shut up, I will kill you. He's given me that look many times before. It never worked on me. I think he looks even  more cute whenever he tries to be mad.

Baekhyun said, "I'm not in the mood to talk right now, just leave me alone, won't you?" and started walking even faster. Too bad his legs are short than mine, because it wasn’t very hard to keep up.

I wanted to know what was going on, so I got serious and tried find out why he was acting this way. "Aw, come on, what's wrong? Tell me."

We were about to round the corner when I suddenly remembered that Tao was ahead of us. I grabbed Baekhyun's arm to try to make him stop. I wanted Tao to get a far length ahead of us so that Baekhyun couldn't see him. However, he pulled his arm out of my grasp and turned the corner.

Baekhyun started to say, "It's nothing, there's just some stuff on my mind right no-"

He saw him. I saw the expression on his face when he spotted Tao in front of us. It was a slight grimace and a hurt expression. I should have stalled a bit earlier. Gosh, I'm an idiot. He tried to hide it a second later. It drives me crazy when he does this, if he's hurt, then he shouldn't try to hide it. It makes me feel useless, like I’m not even his friend.

Lately, he's been this way a lot; it makes me sad because I feel like I can't do anything about it for him. Why won't he talk to me like he used to? "It's because of Tao, isn't it?" I already knew it was because of him. This is why I hate that guy. "Was it because he wasn't waiting for you this morning?" Of course, it was. Tao is all he thinks about.

Baekhyun was looking at the ground; I knew he didn't want to talk about it. I don't care though. He should tell me about these things, what else are friends for? Baekhyun hasn't been the same because of Tao. He hasn't eaten because of him. He hasn't slept because of him; I could tell by the bags under his eyes. What's so great about that guy for Baekhyun to go through all of this?

"I said I don't want to talk about it," He said.

I looked at Tao in front of us, why does it have to be him...? "So it is… isn't it? What's wrong with you guys?"

Baekhyun remained quiet until we got near the school. He was looking at his feet the whole time; he probably didn't want to watch Tao from behind.

"I don't know what's wrong…" He finally replied. "He's been ignoring me; he doesn't even talk to me anymore. I called him last night to ask him why he's been this way, but he said that he was busy, and couldn't talk. He said he’d try to find me today so we can talk."

I don't know what Tao's problem was. What did they need to talk about? They've been fine for the last few months. Nothing's changed, it's always "Tao this, Tao that" whenever I talk with Baekhyun. I thought everything was ok between them.

We got to Baekhyun's locker. I didn't have classes with him in the morning, but I did after lunch. However, I remembered that he and Tao had their morning classes together. I was about to tell him to ditch class with me, but decided against. Instead, I asked him something I think I already knew the answer to, "What do you think you guys will talk about?"

Baekhyun's body was slouched over, getting his books from his locker. I heard the hurt in his voice when he replied, "I think I know…I couldn't sleep last night. I was too nervous thinking about what would happen today."

I knew that he was dreading to go to class. I wanted to make him feel better, so I said, "Well, whatever happens, you know I'll be there for you… doing the things he did for you, if you know what I mean." I gave him a wink, and ran off. I accidentally went the wrong way; I was going opposite way to my class. I just wanted to get away from Baekhyun as quick as possible. I didn't want him to see my red face, I was absolutely embarrassed.

From behind, I heard Baekhyun yell down the hall, "You're such a !" I was chuckling a bit. If only he knew that what I said was actually true, no matter how embarrassing it was.
. . . . .
The first two hours passed by like a blur. I wasn't paying attention during class; I was too distracted by the thoughts of what was happening in the other classroom. I was hoping that Baekhyun was okay. The situation was quite bittersweet on my end. Even though I don't know much about what was happening between them, I know how much Baekhyun loved him. And if Tao broke up with Baekhyun, I know how heartbroken he will be. On the other hand, I also wanted them to break up. Ugh. I’m a horrible person. But Baekhyun will never see how much I love and care for him when all he sees is Tao. This whole thing was giving me a headache.

When the bell rang to go to lunch, I ran over to Baekhyun's classroom and waited by the door, but he never came out. I started getting worried. As the other students were leaving, I saw Tao. When he saw me, he looked the other way, pretending that he didn't notice me. This was expected, he's done it many times before. When the last student came out, I went into the classroom to look for Baekhyun. However, he wasn't there.

I looked around the whole classroom, up and down the hall, but I still couldn't find him. I even went outside to look for him there; he was bound to be somewhere. A location popped into my head, "No, he can't be there…Why would he go there of all places?" but I headed that way anyways, knowing that there was possibility he was there.

It was chilly outside, and so no other students were out. I ran quickly across campus, looking all over. And there I found him, sitting on the bench where he and Tao first met. His head was lowered down and his knees were up to his chest, shivering; so I couldn't see his face. However, I heard sniffles coming from his way… he was crying.

I slowly approached him. I think he heard me because he said, "Don't come over here. I don't want you to see me like this."

I didn't care what he said. I sat down next to him and looked at him. He had tears streaming down his face. He tried to wipe them away, but they kept coming back. I put my hand on his back, and tried to console him. "It's okay. You were too good for him anyway, you deserve someone better," …someone like me.

"That's exactly what he said! He said that he wasn't good enough for him and that I deserved someone better!" Baekhyun cried out, as he buried his face in his hands, as his feet went back onto the ground.

Each tear that ran down his face made me more upset with Tao. Why would he do this to Baekhyun, doesn't he know how much Baekhyun cares for him? What did he do wrong for this to happen to him? I didn't know what to say to make him feel better. I gave him an awkward one armed hugged, but he pushed me away.

"Just go to lunch, I want to be alone right now…"

"Really? Do you really think that I would leave you alone when I know you're crying?!" I don't really know why, but I believe that I blew up. I think it was because was not only was I mad at Tao, but also at Baekhyun. He couldn't trust me as a friend and wouldn't even let me try to console him. From then on, there was no filter from what my emotions were and what came out of my mouth. "I can't believe you expect me to leave! Do you not trust me enough to talk about your feelings? Are we not friends?"

Baekhyun looked like he was about to say something, but he was too shocked to do so. So I continued on with what I was saying, "I've always been here for you. I've seen what Tao has done for you. But he left you! How can you cry because of a low-life like him? I know that you loved him, but can't you see how much I love you? Do you only have eyes for him? Why not me? Me, who has been by your side for all of these years? Do you know how much I've suffered because of you? Every day, I have to hear you tell stories about his great of a guy he is! What's so great out him?" Once I got started, I couldn't stop. This was my chance for him to find out what I really feel. I know that I got him when he was vulnerable, but I don't think that I could have told him any other time than now.

I don't know what else came out of my mouth at that point. When I was finally done with my rant, I found that I had tears down my eyes and that I was standing up. When did I stand up? When did I start crying? I looked at Baekhyun and saw that he wasn't crying anymore. Instead, he was looking up at me. I was flustered and so I looked away, wiping away the tears.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Baekhyun get up.  He’s mad at me, I know that for sure. He probably doesn't want to see me anymore. I thought he was going to walk away; however, he got up and pulled me back to the bench and forced me to sit down with him. We were on opposite sides of the bench and just sat there in silence for a while.

In the silence, the school bell rang, class was starting, but neither of us made a move. I guess that we were going to skip the rest of day. I didn't know what to do. It was cold out, whenever I exhaled, I saw my breath. I continued watching the vapors vanish as I breathed out as I replayed everything that just happened in my head. And then it hit me. Oh crap. I confessed to him! Ugh! I'm such an idiot. Why can't I keep my mouth shut?! I wanted to punch myself, but that wouldn't reverse time.

Baekhyun shifted a bit in his seat. I didn't know what was going to happen. Suddenly, he said something softly. "Is it true?"

At first, I didn't understand what he was talking about. What was true? I said so much that I didn't really know what part he was asking about. I looked over at him to ask him, but I noticed that he was avoiding eye contact. Oh. That.

"Yeah…" I didn't know what else to say, so I tried to make the answer as short as possible. The rest of the conversation continued that way.

"Since when?" Baekhyun asked.

"A while," I said, looking the opposite way.

"Before Tao?"

"Mm," I grunted.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"You were already with him."

"Why not sooner?"

"Scared I'd be rejected."

"Oh," was all Baekhyun replied.

"Yeah," I said. Our conversation ended that way, I was a little hurt when all I heard was "oh" from him. It probably meant that he would have rejected me.

Knowing nothing would happen now, it felt awkward between us sitting alone outside. I was about to get up to leave, when I heard him say, "Don't."

I got back on the bench, what else could I have done? I've done too much damage already; I can't make it any worse, if that was even possible.

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do or even say," Baekhyun said softly, "there're so many things that happened today, I can't keep my mind straight."

I remained quiet. He continued, "…but I want to be honest with you..."

Here it comes, my official rejection.

"I did have feelings for you once, before Tao. But so did everyone else. You were so popular with everyone. I didn’t understand why you were even friends with me when you could have hung out with the other popular guys. But I didn't know what you had feelings for me, so I never said anything. Then Tao came along. He told me that he liked me and I thought I’d use this chance to try to get over you. And I really did like Tao. But we just broke up, and I can't really think right now…”

I tried to shake it off and act like it was okay, even though it felt like my heart was being torn out. "It's alright, I kind of already expected this," I said with a smile.

"You didn't let me finish yet," Baekhyun said, looking forward, out towards the foggy field. "It may or may not work out… but we have to try first, right? I don't know if I'm completely ready for it right now, but it's worth giving it a shot later on."

Baekhyun looked over at me and smiled. It was the first time I've felt this happy in a long time. A chance was all I needed. I know that I could make him happy, happier than Tao could have ever made him.

I got closer to Baekhyun and I took his slender hand and held it tight in mine. I don't know what will happen later in the future, but all I know was that I am never going to let this hand go.