I stared at him in horror, my expression probably matching those of all our friends as they gaped with wide eyes and open mouths. So far, the school year had been quite an adventure, and it was only the second day. Suho, our smallest but oldest friend, looked as if he was going to have an aneurysm at any moment, all color gone from his already quite pale face.

Chanyeol looked down sheepishly, trying to hide behind his hair, but I wouldn’t have any of that. Screw what I’d said before, I needed to know where he’d been for the past few months and I was going to find out now.

“Chanyeol, look at me,” I snapped. My stern voice caused him to peek up at us, and seeing our faces, he pouted once more, his eyes pleading with us to leave him alone.

“Guys, it’s no big deal,” He muttered quietly, the guilt on his face evident.

“No big deal?” Suho repeated, surprising all of us by raising his voice. “No. You disappearing for two months, that is a big deal. You disappearing for two months, then coming back with an engagement ring, that’s a ing huge deal.” Everyone stared at him in shock, surprised that such a word would come from the usually smiling boy, and he blushed quickly. “Too much?”

“No, I think it sums up our feelings,” Kai, said with a shrug. I had to scoff; Kai, being the second youngest, was the most unruly of our group, and his opinion didn’t mean much when it came to wrong or right.

Chanyeol sighed, reaching up to play with the ring that was dangling from his neck. We hadn’t noticed it until this morning when D.O., easily the most observant of us, pointed it out. Now, it was all we could notice. “Can you please just forget it?” He asked, stabbing at his lunch insistently, obviously uncomfortable with all the scrutiny.

He looked so distressed that I almost wanted to back off. Almost “No. Tell us where you went,” The command came out with more venom than I’d intended, and I immediately regretted my words the second the boy teared up like his favorite pet had died.

He stood up immediately, stumbling as he rushed to get his long legs out from under the lunch table, and left without another word. Everyone just stared at each other in a stunned silence, unsure of what to do. Had we gone too far?

A quick glance at Kai and Suho reassured me. They both looked concerned, but unapologetic. I sighed. Chanyeol was the one who had disappeared into thin air; it was only natural for his friends to be worried about him. It wasn’t our fault that he was being unreasonably secretive about everything.

“Guys, what are we going to do?” Sehun finally spoke up from his corner where he’d been sitting silently for the whole exchange. Suho patted the youngest boy on the back, knowing that he looked up to Chanyeol quite a lot.

“I don’t know,” I responded dejectedly. It hurt that he was hiding things from all of us, especially when those secrets were obviously huge. I thought back to when we were kids, when Chanyeol would tell me everything. Even as the years passed, Chanyeol remained an open book. Right up until his disappearance, I trusted that he would never hide anything from me.

“Maybe it wasn’t an engagement ring, or it wasn’t his?” D.O. suggested hopefully, trying to remain optimistic.

“Then why would he hide it from us?” Kai snapped, glancing back towards the door that our tallest friend had disappeared behind.

We all fell silent then, unsure of what else to say. In the back of my mind, I hoped that Chanyeol wasn’t too angry with us. The last thing I wanted to do right now was potentially lose my best friend over some stupid trust issues.

Suho seemed to sense my worry and squeezed my shoulder comfortingly. “He’ll come around,” He said, although we both knew that Chanyeol could be very stubborn when he wanted to be and there was a chance that we would never find out anything. “He’ll tell us the truth sooner or later,” He added, pulling me into a one armed hug and smiling reassuringly.

***

It had been a month and it seemed like Suho’s assumption was wrong. Chanyeol disappeared for the rest of the day, causing everyone to fly into a frenzy of worry again, but the next day, he was seated in our first period class, smiling at me like nothing had happened. He sat with us at lunch, not mentioning the little incident from the earlier day at all, and likewise, none of us wanted to bring it up. The weeks continued like that, with the unanswered question hanging over everyone’s heads like a pendulum.

Our once bright and smiley friend was now aloof and distracted, often zoning out. And unfortunately, that wasn’t the only change in him. It seemed that as the tension grew, so did Chanyeol’s beauty. I hadn’t realized the transformation at first, but as the days went by, it slowly dawned on me. That ethereal glow that surrounded him now lit him up entirely, like a flame. He grew less and less suited for us mere earthlings every day, D.O. had joked one day, earning a forced smile from the taller boy.

With every day, he grew more beautiful and more distant, the space between us reflected by a chasm in my heart. Now, as the last bell rung and we all gathered outside to say our goodbyes before heading home, it seemed like that chasm was ready to rip me in two.

Chanyeol ran a hand through his hair, the ring that was now being worn on his finger glinting in the sunlight. It was quite beautiful and expensive looking, I noticed, a silver band sparkling with what looked like diamonds and rubies. “Well, bye guys,” He said finally, turning on his heel and walking away briskly, before any of us could mention it.

“He’s wearing it now,” Kai stated flatly, annoyance clearly written across his features.

“Way to state the obvious, Kai,” Sehun spoke sarcastically, earning a scolding look from Suho.

The tension was getting to all of us now, draining our patience quickly. I couldn’t follow Suho’s advice anymore and just wait for Chanyeol to open up in his own time; if my best friend wasn’t going to tell me anything, I would have to take matters into my own hands and find out myself.

I quickly made up my mind and hoisted my bag higher on my shoulder. Turning and following the same path Chanyeol had only moments ago.

“Baekhyun, where are you going?” Suho asked in alarm. “Your house is the other way.”

I continued walking determinedly, knowing very well that my intentions were quite obvious. I sped up, fighting to keep the dark brown head of my friend in my sights as I wove through crowds of students as they left the school.

“Baekhyun, wait!” I heard four sets of feet rushing after me, hurrying to keep up with my pace.

“You’re going to follow him?” Suho hissed, finally reaching my side. “Baekhyun that’s a horrible idea.”

“I think it’s a great idea,” Kai defended me, grinning in excitement.

With the young troublemaker’s approval, I began to wonder just how well my plan would turn out, feeling more than slightly alarmed that we were on the same page.

“If Kai’s with you, you know it’s a horrible idea,” D.O. spoke, voicing my exact thoughts.

“I think we should do it,” Sehun spoke up, “We won’t find out any other way.”

“Guys, I’m going to do it whether or not you want me to so either be quiet and hurry up, or go home,” I finally spoke, rushing to cross a street before the light turned red.

As expected, Kai and Sehun were on my heels, and surprisingly, Suho and D.O. weren’t far behind.

The five of us continued trailing our secretive friend down the street, the oldest of the group continuously muttering about how this was a terrible plan, but it was all worth it when Chanyeol continued walking, going right past the street he lived on.

“Where’s he going?” Kai whispered, his eyes following the movements of the taller boy as he turned into the less inhabited part of town.

“We’re going to find out,” I muttered, trying to be less conspicuous as the number of people around us dwindled and died out, and we were the only ones left on the street.

Our chase lasted for another ten minutes, Chanyeol weaving through and around buildings and streets, until he came upon a street that was littered with houses which looked more or less deserted. The only house that stood out from the others was one at the very end of the street, looking more like a mansion than something that belonged in this area of the city.

Chanyeol walked through the metal gate, the creak it made as it opened causing my eye to twitch violently. Was anyone even taking care of that place? The garden was overflowing with flowers and weeds of every variety, the path up to the front door nearly covered with green growth that I was amazed Chanyeol didn't trip on.

He reached up to touch the front door, but before his hand could meet the doorknob, it swung open. The grin that erupted onto Chanyeol’s face in that moment, causing the flame in him to burn even brighter, was enough to make me sick as he reached up and threw his arms around the man before him, greeting him with a passionate kiss.