*Chapter 12;

Baekhyun was relieved that it was Saturday, and not Friday.

He would have guessed that that the whole school had found out about the incident now, which meant more gossip centered around him and Chanyeol. The only good news that came out of the entire fiasco was that the tournament had been postponed to a later date, most likely because a handful of Jeon-Il players were involved in the case and two runners of Hye-Seong's team were on a medical leave (not that the tournament was the most important thing on his mind at the moment).

Baekhyun went to a different hospital this time (it was more like a clinic than a hospital) and had his leg bandaged properly. The doctor told him he was lucky that none of his bones were broken after taking a sideways blow to his joint that would have naturally inflicted serious, lifelong damage. There was a dark purplish patch circling his entire knee that was unbearably painful when he applied pressure, but his bones were thankfully intact. If Chanyeol hadn't intervened, he would have lost a leg. He would have had to depend on a pair of crutches or a wheelchair for a long time.

If Chanyeol hadn't saved him, Baekhyun would have had to forfeit his dreams of becoming a soccer player, which... wasn't fair. He thought it was unfair how the world functioned so much in favor of those who didn't deserve miracles. He thought he didn't deserve to run on his two feet after everything Chanyeol had surrendered for him, because of him.

The two finally spoke again when Baekhyun's mother left for work after taking Baekhyun to the clinic, leaving him and Chanyeol at home. They hadn't exchanged a word since the incident (which Baekhyun felt more comfortable calling an accident) so the palpable tension was still thick in the air when Baekhyun walked into Chanyeol's room first.

He couldn't recall how many times he had stepped foot inside Chanyeol's room except for last night. Before Chanyeol had moved in, his room had been used mainly for storage, so there were still boxes and things still left unpacked against the thin walls. There was no mattress, desk, nor much room for anyone to walk around but on the sheets Chanyeol had rolled out on the cold ground. The heavy rainfall last month had made the flooring all waterlogged. Baekhyun thought he smelled some mold, too.

Yet, despite the poor living conditions Chanyeol had to cope with, he still managed to make a home out of the dingy room. Some packing boxes turned upside-down made Chanyeol's desk, and he had some newspapers tucked under the blankets so it wouldn't get damp. Chanyeol was sitting at his "desk" and Baekhyun sat down next to him, leaving some space between them.

"Is Baekhyun's leg okay?" Chanyeol asked first, much to Baekhyun's surprise (and relief).

Out of everything Chanyeol could possibly ask or say, he had chosen to worry about Baekhyun first.

He nodded, sticking the bandaged leg straight out so there was no pressure or strain on his joints. "It's okay. The doctor said I'll be completely fine in a week," he said as casually as possible, "Thank you. You were brave."

Chanyeol smiled bashfully, nodding his head after a brief pause. "Baekhyun... would have done the same thing for me..." he folded the corner of the page he had been practicing his sentences on, dog-earing it out of nervousness, "Because Baekhyun's my brother..." He smiled again, as if the thought in his head was heart-warming enough to muster up a laugh despite the mood.

Baekhyun had to question his conscience deep-down. Would he really have done the same thing for Chanyeol? It was too soon to tell, or maybe too late to admit it. The answer didn't matter anymore.

What depressed him the most was that Chanyeol had no idea that he was going to be taken away in a week. Chanyeol just reminded Baekhyun of an old dog not knowing it was going to be euthanized until the last moment. As soon as reality hit, Baekhyun's heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand.

He couldn't stop blaming himself; he wasn't sure how he could tell Chanyeol that they wouldn't see each other for a very long time, just like they couldn't tell Chanyeol that his father had passed away. According to Chanyeol's understanding, his father was on a long business trip, despite the fact the man had been jobless for a while, and...

dead.

He sighed, then peeked over Chanyeol's arm on his makeshift desk. His handwriting had gotten better after much practice, but some of the sentences still didn't make sense or were spaced incorrectly. He pointed over to a word. "Soccer is spelled with the bottom 'gi-eok' beneath the vowel. Chook-gu," he pronounced slowly, reading the entire sentence slowly, "Baekhyun likes... soccer..." His heart throbbed again.

"Chanyeol, you have to show everyone that you're smart enough... I know you are. Maybe they'll change the way they think if you show them that you can read and write like everybody else."

"Like... everybody else?" There was an unimaginable amount of pain and hurt in Chanyeol's eyes as he gripped his pencil harder and turned his intense gaze to the lined paper again.

"I meant..." Baekhyun sighed, "I didn't mean it like that, Chanyeol..."

"Then what do you mean?" Chanyeol's voice was low and deflated, lacking energy, "What do you mean?"

"I mean... I believe in you."

He hadn't noticed how late it had gotten until he looked up at the clock ticking on Chanyeol's wall. It was almost five in the afternoon. Baekhyun really wouldn't have noticed the time until he heard the doorbell, which was strange because they hardly had any visitors but any of Baekhyun's friends who came over once in a blue moon. Baekhyun was easily the type of person who hated unexpected visits.

"Who is it?" he called, more to stall than to actually hear an answer. He expected the mailman, door-to-door salesman, or even a debt collector, but never had he expected to swing the front door open to find Luhan staring at him. Baekhyun swore his heart almost jumped out of his throat in surprise, and his sore leg actually felt like jelly when the initial shock ebbed away. What was the Luhan doing in front of his house?

"Is Chanyeol home?" Luhan asked, getting straight to the point.

Baekhyun rubbed the back of his neck. "Err, yeah, he is," he answered the other male, "How did you..."

"Sehun."

"Oh." ing Sehun, giving away his address to complete strangers!

"I came here to tutor Chanyeol, if you were wondering," the doe-eyed Chinese boy said without a moment's hesitation or any hiccup between his words. It was no wonder Luhan had been nominated as class 3-3's president for three years straight. It still baffled Baekhyun that Luhan was more fluent in his mother language than he was. "I was worried about him after hearing the news," he said calmly, arching an eyebrow in a purposeful way that made Baekhyun feel like a kicked puppy, "Can I speak to him?"

"Yeah, my leg's okay, thanks for your concern," Baekhyun said sarcastically, hopping out of Luhan's way.

"I never asked about your leg."

Surprisingly, when Luhan and Chanyeol were reunited, Baekhyun felt oddly jealous. Chanyeol looked happier now that Luhan was sitting next to him, but he tried not to get so hung up over it. It wasn't right to feel something so petty like jealousy at a time like this, even if he was extremely confused as to why Luhan was Chanyeol's private tutor and maybe a little disappointed that Chanyeol hadn't even told him about it.

"Coach said he's cutting you out of the team if he doesn't find a replacement," Jongin mumbled between chews.

Baekhyun watched his friend scarf down his bowl of seafood ramen without touching his own bowl at all. The way his friend on the oysters and skinned the shrimp with his teeth was entertaining enough to watch. He felt a lot more comfortable just talking to Jongin in a small snack wagon with some plastic tables and chairs outside, their usual spot for a simple meal. Baekhyun felt at ease knowing Chanyeol was safe with Luhan, even if his concerns never left him despite being comfortable in Jongin's company.

He stirred his ramen boredly with a pair of chopsticks, only picking out the octopus legs to chew on. "Let him," he said.

Jongin nearly choked on his noodles. "What?" he asked in disbelief, "Aiyaya! Baekaramba, what do you mean let him? The doctor said your leg was going to be fine in a few days, right? If the tournament's postponed to next week, you can still run with us!"

"Chanyeol's being taken away."

A string of noodle fell from Jongin's plump bottom lip. "Taken away where?"

"To a mental hospital, because the police think he's the one that should be put behind bars."

"So it's true that Park Chanyeol smashed that guy's face in with a brick and crushed his skull until his brain couldn't be put together again?"

Baekhyun glared at him.

"I mean," Jongin shrugged, "So it's true that... Chanyeol hit him in the head with a brick, yeah?" The sun-kissed boy sat in silence for a while, and for once, he heard an apology from Jongin. Baekhyun had only heard an apology from Jongin a grand total of three times in his life, including this one. More specifically, three times he had ever thought before he spoke. "Well, Baekachu, we have to find a replacement in a few days tops or we're going to lose this hands-down," Jongin said, "It's serious."

"Since when were you ever serious about anything?"

"Shut up."

And so, an uneventful day passed, and they were one step closer to goodbye.

Author's Note: DOUBLE UPDATEEEEEEEEEEEEE YEAH! This feels more like a filler chapter than anything because I kinda wanted to wind things down and stress the details... hope you guys don't mind. ^^ Here's a cute Baekyeol gif as compensation. TAKE IT.