~ Chapter Six ~

After a long day of students shouting and laughing, hot chocolate and a fail camp fire, the day came to and end. Chanyeol had been sitting on the same bench for most of the past hours deleting the hundreds of annoying texts that kept popping up on his screen. His back ached due to the uncomfortable hard wood it was pressed against and his thumbs were starting to cramp. Chanyeol wasn't able to fully enjoy the dark sky that was creating an extravagant view of the white glowing stars glittering the vast universe.

“Chan!” Jongin called as he ran up to his friend dropping down next to him. Chinsun jumped a little at the sudden action snapping out of her sleepy trance she had currently been in, but making sure to keep her gaze to her lap. She had been enjoying the beautiful scenery seated at a safe distance, until Chanyeol's friends came along. “Heard you had lots of fun!” Jongin teased as Kyungsoo caught up.

“Anything exciting?” Kyungsoo breathed as he caught his breath. Chanyeol stuffed his phone into his pocket and shook his head.

“No, nothing at all. It was really boring...” he grumbled, “Oh and Jongin,”

“Yeah?” Jongin cocked a brow.

“Some girl wants to hook up with you tomorrow,” he finished. Jongin smirked and jumped up to his feet.

“Aw yeah! Where did she want to meet me?” Jongin cheered as he looked down at Chanyeol. The boy shrugged his shoulders.

“I don't know, she said some apartment near the club,” Chanyeol continued.

“Seriously?! Oh my God yes!” Jongin grinned as he closed his eyes in ecstasy. Kyungsoo eyed the tanned boy suspiciously.

“I'm guessing you know her?” Kyungsoo stated as he watched Jongin smile wider.

“Hell yeah I do,” Jongin whistled lowly, “we met at the strip club I work-”

“I didn't say I wanted to know!” Kyungsoo cut him off, raising his hands in the air in defense.

“But you were sure thinking it,” Jongin chuckled while Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.

“Attention!” Miss Kim called. The three boys turned to the teacher as she began her speech, “everyone hurry to your rooms and get some sleep! We had a long day and we're going to be leaving bright and early tomorrow!” Most of the students grumbled while grabbing their skis making their way to the chalet. Chanyeol lazily got up to his feet as he followed his two friends to the building. As he was leaving, he noticed Chinsun's droopy eyes just staring at her lap while everyone else was making their way to the their rooms.

“Hey,” Chanyeol spoke up as he stopped in front of her. Chinsun's body jerked in surprise. She cautiously looked up to see the tall male gazing down at her with a confused look in his eye. “We have to go now,” he told her. Chinsun rapidly looked away and nodded her head shyly. She got up from the bench and waited for Chanyeol to go ahead of her. The boy curiously stared the girl before deciding to just go along with it and take the lead. After a couple of steps, Chinsun followed, being the last person to enter the building.

Everyone scurried into their rooms and got ready for bed. Miss Kim and Chinsun changed in the washrooms while the other two males took the initiative to do the same in their room.

Chanyeol covered himself up with his blankets. He was facing the door to the room allowing a strip of light to hit the side of his face. He pulled his phone towards his view and started texting his fellow friends.

Chanyeol :

You guys asleep yet?

Kyungsoo :

I just got in bed. Jongin probably took up Jessica's offer and snuck in her room...

Chanyeol chuckled at his friends response.

Chanyeol :

That guy is seriously going to be messed up when he's older.

Kyungsoo :

Tell me about it! Anyway, I don't want to feel like tomorrow morning so I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight!

Chanyeol :

Night.

He pressed the send button as he rested his phone on the free space beside his head. He glanced over at the empty bunk and sighed as he thought about what had happened in the cafeteria that morning. He didn't understand why, but what had occurred really bothered him. The look of pure humiliation and sadness that filled Chinsun's face was unbearably obvious. The way her voice wavered as she apologized to Jessica seemed so lost and broken. Chanyeol couldn't imagine how hurt Chinsun must have felt after having some ridiculous occurrence planned on her and being rejected by every one of her classmates. Just recalling it made his stomach twist with pity. He pursed his lips and rubbed his eyes to get it out of his head. Forget about it...Chanyeol kept on replaying in his mind as he shut his eyes and evened out his breathing.

--

All the students tiredly lined up at the front of the bus, this time, there wasn't any pushing and shoving. Which was very appreciated by all the staff. As the three busses started to fill, Chanyeol found his two friends lazily walking up the stairs while he had to wait for each student to enter. Chinsun was packing in the bags with Mr. Gim.

“How many did you count?” Miss Kim asked Chanyeol as the last kid climbed inside.

“Thirty,” Chanyeol answered as the other two staff members walked up to them.

“Alright that's good,” Miss Kim said back as she faced Mr. Gim and Chinsun. “Let's go in now,” Miss Kim walked up the steps and sat next to the window of the left booth, while Mr. Gim took the seat beside her. Chinsun visibly frowned when she realized she would be sitting alone again. So she chose the spot next to the window opposite from Miss Kim and placed her hand bag in the empty space beside her, knowing very well that it was unlikely for someone to sit there... As Chanyeol got on the bus and the door behind him shut, he realized the only spots left was the one next to Jessica all the way in the back, and the one beside Chinsun. Chanyeol didn't necessarily want to sit with the annoying girl in far far back so he decided to chose the latter.

“Can I sit here?” Chanyeol asked the lonely girl. Chinsun turned to him with a look of disbelief on her face. She opened to respond, but she was too nervous to say anything. Instead, she snatched her bag to her lap and nodded. The taller boy dropped down on the cushion causing Chinsun to scoot closer to the window in fright. “Oh, sorry about that,” he mumbled as he leaned his head against the seat rest and closed his eyes. He crossed his arms to get more comfortable. Chinsun clutched her purse closer to her chest for protection as the bus began to role.

The bus ride was a lot longer this time because of the traffic they got stuck in. Which didn't please anyone. The road was bumpy, there was a lot of honking and no one seemed to be able to shut up and stop complaining.

“...” Chanyeol groaned as he saw the line of cars crowded on the highway. Taking out his phone, he noticed Chinsun sleeping against the bus window. Chanyeol didn't know how she could have fallen asleep at the oddest of times, but she somehow found a way.

Her brown hair covered most of her face but Chanyeol was easily able to make out her features. She had this sort of glowing feature that complimented the way her eyes were gently shut, or the way her cheeks were slightly pink, the way parted the tinniest bit. The sun from the outdoors shined brightly against her face causing her glasses to have this white gleam fall across the lens. Chanyeol wondered how some selfish soul could make fun or laugh at something so fragile, something so...beautiful. Chanyeol's eyes grew once he realized he was staring at her and thinking strange thoughts. He quickly averted his eyes to his pocket while taking out his phone and texting his friends to distract himself.

Chanyeol :

Wassup?

He sent them as he tried his best not to look at Chinsun. His cell vibrated a couple seconds right after.

Annoying :

Nothing really, but I had the greatest time last night ;p

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow at that and quickly responded.

Chanyeol :

I heard you snuck into Jessica's room.

Annoying :

I did! Aw man it was so amazing! I can't even explain it!

Chanyeol :

You don't need to...I don't want to know...

Annoying :

Oh, but I did found something interesting from Jessica :)

Chanyeol :

Is it something stupid?

Annoying :

What?! No! It's about that Chinsun girl!

Chanyeol hesitated at the message. He turned to the sleeping girl beside him before quickly texting Jongin.

Chanyeol :

Okay, what is it?

It took his friend a while to answer back, probably because he was typing some long explanation, and since Jongin was never good at spelling it would take him a bit of time. After a couple minutes, Chanyeol finally got a reply.

Annoying :

Okay, so you know how I told about the thing? Well apparently it's true! Chinsun got when she was ten or something by some random stranger in the street. Jessica said that everyone at their elementary school avoided her because of that and she's never had a friend since. Lame right? Anyway, Jessica thinks that Chinsun allowed the guy to her because her dad was being an all the time and she couldn't take it. Also, Jessica said she was a big back in the day. But I don't know man, I'm pretty sure she's lying about the last part because if you look at her yearbook photos...there's nothing that screams y at all...

Chanyeol stared in shock at the message he just read. So it was true? Chinsun was ? He couldn't believe someone could do such a thing to an innocent soul like her. Practically all her life she was left out and made fun of by all the students, and her family. No one tried to be her friend or talk to her. They judged Chinsun her whole life and didn't take into consideration any of her feelings.

Honestly, Chanyeol never really noticed her. She was always hidden in the background far away from all the flashing lights and popularity. She never bothered anyone, so no one bothered her, well, sometimes. It seemed to Chanyeol like Chinsun wasn't interested in making friends. She never answered him when he asked a question and kept her head ducked low. Maybe she was acting that way because she was afraid of the people surrounding her. No one treated her nicely so why would she ever think that someone might as well be kind? Of course after all those years she would think otherwise and grow afraid of the people in her life. Chanyeol was feeling seriously sorry for the girl.

--

“See you later!” Jongin yelled as he closed the door behind him. Chanyeol peeked out of the kitchen with a confused look. Where the hell is he going? He thought to himself as the clocked ticked nine. Oh wait...the text...I remember now...Chanyeol sighed as he walked into the living room and fell on the couch. He heard their bathroom door creek open as Kyungsoo came walking out with a towel over his head and pajama's hugging at his body.

“Where did he head off to?” Kyungsoo asked as he dried his hair with the towel.

“Probably to meet that girl he was so excited about,” Chanyeol answered, watching Kyungsoo throw the towel over his shoulder. “Why don't you just shower at your place? You live next door,” Chanyeol inquired as the boy walked into the kitchen.

“Because my bill won't cost as much,” Kyungsoo responded, searching through Chanyeol's fridge. The taller male scoffed while getting up from his couch. Chanyeol leaned against the kitchen door and stared at the floor in thought. “Looks like you have something on your mind,” Kyungsoo chuckled as he poured himself some water.

“I do,” Chanyeol muttered. Kyungsoo cocked a brow and turned to his friend while leaning against the counter.

“Really? What is it?” he asked as he sipped on his drink. Chanyeol his lips in thought before answering.

“I don't know...I'm sort of worried about Chinsun,” he truthfully replied as he narrowed his brows in concern.

“You?! Worried? What has the world come to?” Kyungsoo joked as he placed the glass in the sink.

“I'm serious, she's been on my mind twenty-four seven,” Chanyeol sighed as he looked up at his friend.

“Is there any reason in particular?” Kyungsoo questioned with a smirk.

“Well...she's sort of bullied a lot and apparently the thing is true,” Chanyeol told him as he got off the door frame.

“Seriously? That's terrible...I would hate to be in her shoes...” Kyungsoo frowned as the atmosphere became tense.

“Yeah...” Chanyeol mumbled as he thought about what his friend had just said.