Chapter 15

Baby's Breath

*Chapter 15;

When Baekhyun woke up the next morning, his heart still felt a little shaken up, like a tiny bird was thrashing for freedom inside it. He woke up to the sound of finches chirping outside. No matter how many times Baekhyun had told Chanyeol not to leave grains of rice on every windowsill in the house, Chanyeol never listened. It was because of Chanyeol that he'd wake up once in a while with birds pecking his window or just making so much noise outside that he didn't need a separate alarm clock.

Barely remembering yesterday's events, Baekhyun dragged himself out of bed, into the uniform he so despised by now. He half-expected Chanyeol to come bursting into his room with a cheerful smile that would turn his own frown upside-down, but his bedroom was quiet. He wondered if Chanyeol was even awake.

Buttoning up his uniform, he opened Chanyeol's door and found the taller male already up. His windows were opened wide, and there was a water bottle in his hand that he tipped over to sprinkle water over the cans of Baby's Breath flowers lined up on his windowsill.

"Aren't you going to school?" Baekhyun asked groggily, acting as if yesterday hadn't happened and this was just another routinely morning for the both of them, "Come on, they're doing an awards' assembly in the gym today. We'll talk to your teacher after that, okay?" He felt as if he was coaxing a child to leave the candy aisle of a supermarket, and it wasn't working.

Chanyeol still had his back facing him with his gaze set on the flowers.

Baekhyun sighed and left Chanyeol for a while, bringing back his brother's uniform that had been left on the couch the previous night. "Come on, let's go, Yeolkkong," he muttered, throwing the blazer over Chanyeol's shoulders and forcefully pushing his arms through the sleeves. Thankfully, Chanyeol was complacent and bended well like a marionette.

Then, he grabbed a permanent marker out of Chanyeol's bag and tilted the blank yellow nametag towards him. He printed the words "Park Chanyeol" on the cheap plastic in his own handwriting. It wasn't nearly as fancy as the way his was engraved then filled with black ink, but Chanyeol seemed to like it much more as he rubbed his thumb over the glossy surface. "See? You're a student now. Come on!" he smiled, maybe feeling a little sorry that this was all he could do for Chanyeol, but if his brother was happy, what more could he want?

 

 

"Hey, quarterbaek, paperbaek, humpbaek whaaaaaaaaaale!" Jongin sang off-key, almost spilling Baekhyun's lunch tray to the ground, "I heard you're tied for first place in honor roll with Luhan. Trust me on this one, I heard it from one of the student council kids." 

Baekhyun sighed. He doubted he would end up on the honor roll this year since his attendance wasn't perfect and his grades had been slipping because he was investing too much time into Chanyeol. It wasn't like he minded anymore. He wasn't even sure why he had suddenly gotten so discouraged, especially with the entrance exams coming up intimidatingly soon.

He brushed Jongin's hand off of his shoulder while balancing his tray with the other, quickly looking over the clusters of students eating lunch according to stereotypes. Most of the 3-3 kids ate together in the back, while the soccer team took up the best table closest to the vending machines, lunch line, and water fountain. "I don't know why you think I'm the one getting it, you know Dongwoo from 3-3 might get it this time," Baekhyun answered calmly, scouting the cafeteria for any sight of Chanyeol since he had forgotten to pack lunch for him that morning.

When he didn't see him, he wedged between Jongdae and Minseok at the soccer team table, across from Woohyun who had made partial recovery and Sehun who had his head tucked into his folded arms.

"What's wrong with him?" he asked Jongdae.

"Confessed to Luhan," Jongdae whispered back, "Didn't go so well."

"It's not fair!" Sehun bawled, "Luhan only likes Chanyeol and won't notice me at all! I gave him my affections! Who does he think he is, hyung, only the most gorgeous, perfect, beautiful guy in school and he... he... he rejected me!"

"Jesus," Baekhyun muttered, pulling his tray away from Sehun as the younger boy started blowing his snot into a napkin, "You sound like a little ." Speaking of Chanyeol, he saw the taller boy stick out like a sore thumb as he walked into the cafeteria. Some recognized him right away and they were snickering at Chanyeol's nametag and his dumb expression as he waited in line behind the others. A few girls just cut right in front of him and Chanyeol was docile enough to scoot back so the girl's friends could fit in. Baekhyun almost stood up, but he just watched while Chanyeol got his tray and wandered over to an isolated table to sit with another boy who had autism.

Chanyeol didn't even look for him.

"Hey, where're you going?" Jongin asked as Baekhyun moved to sit next to Chanyeol. Everyone stared as he took a seat next to his brother and moved his beansprouts onto Chanyeol's tray in silence.

Jongin came next, sitting on the other side of Chanyeol with a big ol' grin on his face. "No wonder you're so tall, you eat these nasty things," the tanned boy chuckled, pointing to the beansprouts with his chopsticks, then casually dropping one of his sausages on Chanyeol's tray, "Eat more of these; meat is good for ya."

One by one, the rest of the soccer team moved over until there was nobody sitting at the good table. They even sat with the autistic boy, Jinki, right in the middle. Lunch carried on as it normally did. When the bell rang, the students in the cafeteria dispersed, and Baekhyun sent Chanyeol off to class just in time to see a classmate talking to Chanyeol with a kind smile.

 

 

Right after fourth period was the awards' assembly, so all the third year students were herded into the gym and seated on the bleachers. The principal opened the ceremony with the anthem and a brief announcement about the soccer tournament being postponed to a specific date due to what they referred to as "minor troubles." They also talked about the graduation procedure before carrying onto the actual awards which were given to students who excelled in different fields.

Some were awarded medals and trophies for their accomplishments in academics, extracurricular activities, and/or community service. Then, there was a list of honor roll students who received scholarships from colleges depending on where they were ranked on the scale. Baekhyun had placed in the top three most of the time, with Luhan always as a runner-up.

Sehun, who still had puffy eyes from crying at lunch, won the award for a perfect attendance streak. Jongin actually won an award for the first time in his life, in a math competition (Baekhyun hadn't even thought Jongin could add or subtract).

Once the smaller awards were handed out, the principal stepped up to the podium and held a familiar scroll with a list of names, the names on the honor roll. The gym was absolutely quiet as she counted up from number ten, stopping at two with a bated breath.

"Our second student on the honor roll of 2012 is... Lu Han. First honorable student is Byun Baekhyun. Congratulations."

All ten of the honor students walked up to the podium to receive their wreaths and certificates while the crowd went crazy with applause. Luhan thanked his parents, teachers, and friends, then walked back to the line of honor students while the girls screamed like lovesick fans at a concert.

When Baekhyun came up to the podium, he had to adjust the mic to accommodate for his height. He tapped it once, then looked out over the sea of people staring back at him. He had never been much of a public speaker, so he was at a loss for what to say since he had said everything he needed to say in his previous years doing the same dumb thing and he couldn't be bothered with a speech anymore.

Then, he remembered Chanyeol, and his stomach churned at the thought of speaking about him in front of so many people.

"Um..." he said, the lump in his throat making him feel nauseous, "First of all, thank you for this award... You see... um... a lot of people asked me if I was always smart in the past, as if intelligence is something you're born with. I was so dumb when I was a kid. I'm not joking!"

The audience laughed.

"I couldn't add two plus two, I couldn't even write my own name... but I had a smart best friend who taught me that when all my teachers thought I was hopeless and retarded. Well, stupid Baekhyun made a huge mistake one day and pushed his best friend in front of a car," his throat was dry as he gripped the mic tight, "That best friend was my step... no, brother, Park Chanyeol. He wasn't born with mental retardation; he... was the smartest person I knew." He had to pause to take a deep breath when his vision started getting blurry with tears. "Chanyeol... Chanyeol loves school. No matter how badly people treat him, he's always the first one up in the morning because he wants to learn. Well, yesterday night, I came upon a note he had of the school dismissing him because he was too dumb, too uneducated, too retarded for school. I... believe my brother has a right to learn because he's taught me lessons I can't learn here, about kindness, tolerance, patience, compassion, and love. My brother, with an IQ of 65, has taught me, an honor roll student and varsity soccer team captain, things that are worth more than a crummy trophy and a tacky certificate. I'm saying this now, on this stage, because little people like Chanyeol don't have a voice. Honor roll students and varsity soccer team captains have a voice, but today, I'm speaking on behalf of my brother."

"He loves school. School should love him back."

 

 

All he knew when Baekhyun stepped off of that stage with a trembling heart was that the board of education had gone into panic mode because everybody was suddenly on Chanyeol's side.

Baekhyun had stopped caring about what those people had to say, so as soon as school was over, Baekhyun took Chanyeol out to the soccer field. The bruise on his leg had gotten better so it didn't hurt very much anymore.

Chanyeol was the first to speak when Baekhyun set the soccer ball on the grass.

"Baekhyun... talked about me..." he smiled shyly, pushing his hands into the pockets of his blazer.

"Yeah," he replied, trying to play it off with a casual chuckle, "I did."

The two didn't talk much after that brief, but meaningful conversation. They just played soccer like normal kids do after school, with Baekhyun teaching Chanyeol how to do different kinds of step-overs. The two skidded in the dirt until they were covered in mud, although that didn't stop them from finishing their match. Chanyeol always stopped playing whenever Baekhyun fell, and Baekhyun would pretend he'd be in excruciating pain before stealing the ball away: a classic trick.

Even when Baekhyun had shot a goal into Chanyeol's net, Chanyeol screamed in joy and grabbed Baekhyun under his arms to hoist him in the air, yelling "You did it! You did it!" at the top of his lungs.

Baekhyun couldn't remember the last time he had been so happy after his father bought him his first pair of soccer cleats, but this... this was more precious than that.

At the end of the day when the sun was gone and the sky was a brilliant canvas of red, purple, and orange, he held his soccer ball under his arm and walked home with Chanyeol.

It wasn't long until they passed the pet store, police station, and supermarket, when they saw their flower shop boarded up and chained shut with a sign that read "SOLD" in bright red.

 

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jindeul
Chapter 15 will be up tonight or tomorrow!

Comments

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27leialimel27 #1
Chapter 26: Please if someone can answer my question, I finished this story in one day and maybe it is because I am French but I don't understand something : what happened to luhan, why did he try to suicide ? Was he depressed or something and Chanyeol helped him ? and also for the author, do Chanbaek finish together as a couple at the end ? I love the story so much but I want to know more about luhan please
mahtao #2
Chapter 13: I think it's interesting.
It's not a common life for everyone but I can feel baekhyun feeling.
Thanks
Pinku2haru #3
Chapter 31: I read love this story and I'm so thankful to you that you put a happy end for items, it reminds me of :the letter c : which the couples were kai and kris, I love the both story so much
ramsha23
#4
Chapter 14: this is an absolute masterpiece. My heart hurts >.<
KpopFanficaddict #5
THIS WAS THE SADDEST STORY EVER!
chanbaekii #6
Chapter 29: IM IN TEARS THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST FICS I'VE EVER READ IN MY WHOLE LIFE
Ze_Lay #7
MY EYES HURT SO MUCH FROM CRYING QQ
real_cmh
#8
Chapter 29: woah, Jindeul, youre so mean! you made me cry! T_T
OceanicKey #9
Chapter 30: Is it still possible... perhaps to get a hard copy?
meurtrier #10
gets me all the time. forever my fave! <3