Baekhyun was inside the City’s public library.

 

YES. The Library. His second most hated place in this town, right after his highschool football team’s locker room, the stench he smelled when he went there to get Chanyeol out of on of the lockers because of damn bullies will forever be embedded inside his nostrils.

 

You might ask how the hell could a giant like Chanyeol be physically bullied and even fit into one of the lockers.

 

Well,  he knew Chanyeol way before the ‘Going Home Club’ was even created. Baekhyun was short, okay, IS short. But during his sophomore year in highschool, he befriended someone even shorter.

 

---

 

Park Chanyeol.

 

The class nerd, the class shortie. The one who always got bullied.

 

Unlike Chanyeol, Baekhyun had a big sharp mouth that repelled everybody who wanted to bully him and his shortness, and he could care less about school, so the taunt names  ‘nerd’ and ‘dweeb’ really wouldn’t suit him. You might think that he was the hero that saved Chanyeol from the pubescent cruelties that hightsschool threw at him, but no.

 

He was a bully. Actually, he even started it.

 

He laughed whenever poor short Chanyeol and his high voice would try to recite something in class, he made cruel jokes about the shortie that spread like wild-fire across the school. He even gave Chanyeol the infamous nickname: Hobbit.

 

Thinking back now, Baekhyun was, in a word: a douchebag.

 

An insensitive, cruel douchebag that hated the world, and himself.

 

He really wasn’t a bully by heart, he was just simple jealous. Chanyeol was smart, nice, and most of all, his parents loved him. Yeah, his mom made him wear ridiculously fluffy and painfully embarrassing sweaters during their Christmas parties, and yeah they didn’t allow Chanyeol to eat most of the food that was actually pleasing to eat because  apparently “Gluten can kill you”.

 

But the bottom line was: he was loved, and he loved his parents back.

 

Baekhyun on the other hand, had life as his mother and cruel realities as his father, because his real parents hated him.

 

He wasn’t their real son after all. He was just adopted to fill the void that was left when their real son died. He should be thankful, and he actually is, because his rich ‘parents’ still give him enough money to dress up in flamboyant  and colorful clothing that hides the black that is his homelife.

 

Chanyeol’s life was perfect, and his was not, it was as simple as that.

 

So he wanted to take the perfectness away from Chanyeol. He wanted to make Chanyeol feel outcasted at school, the same way he feels outcasted at home.

 

He didn’t know why he wanted to take Chanyeol’s happiness away, Chanyeol doesn’t to him, but whenever Chanyeol smiles, all he wants is to wipe it off.

 

It was one night when things changed.

 

Baekhyun was crying in the school’s bathroom in one of the stalls, because of another fight with his parents, that time was really bad, they threatened to disown him multiple times. Of course, he didn’t cry at home,  that was a sign of weakness, he cried at school, a place that felt more like home for him, a place where nobody knew he was adopted, a place where he can be allowed to smile.

 

“Hello?” came the voice of Chanyeol. from outside the stall.

 

Baekhyun was panicking, nobody could see him like this, especially Chanyeol.

 

“. . .”

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“Go away.” he said, voice distorted by bouts of crying.

 

“Do you want to talk about it?”

 

It appeared that Chanyeol didn’t recognize his voice.

 

He wanted to scream at the other to get the away and leave him in his misery and go home and be happy with his loving parents and just live perfectly.

 

But he couldn’t

 

“Yeah.” Baekhyun answered.

 

So they talked, with Baekhyun seated on a closed toilet and Chanyeol leaning against the stall’s door. Their voices the only things that were resounding in the room.

 

“. . .And then, they told me that adopting me was the worst thing that they had done, and if it weren’t for me, they could’ve given my sister, their real daughter, twice as many things. .and that, I’m just a waste of money.”

 

Chanyeol was silent and just listened to Baekhyun outside, and maybe that was a good thing, because if Chanyeol said anything, he probably would’ve cried and broke down again. Chanyeol didn’t make him feel pitied and pathetic, he just let Baekhyun vent out every single thing without feeling judged.

 

“Well,. .my problem is, the school practically hates me.” Chanyeol almost whispered.

 

“But I try to ignore it, I know I’m a geek, a dweeb, and I am short. .but sometimes I just can’t,  it hurts. .like literally.” he gives out a wry chuckle.

 

“This guy named Baekhyun keeps tripping me in the hallways.”

 

A metaphorical punch in the gut woke Baekhyun up.

 

“Wow. .h-he’s such an . He probably is just a no-good motherer that deserves to be miserable.” Baekhyun meant to say it as a joke, but deep down, he believed his words.

 

Baekhyun expected Chanyeol to agree and follow up with another wave of insults, but he didn’t, he was silent for a while before saying.

 

“Hmm. I don’t know about that .maybe he’s just. . lonely?”

 

Baekhyun felt another punch in the gut.

 

How could he bully such a guy?

 

“Yeah. .maybe he is.” Baekhyun said with a breath.

 

---

 

Every Tuesday night, Baekhyun stayed in the stall, Chanyeol would come, and they would talk again. Chanyeol didn’t even try to know who Baekhyun was, he was contented with their conversations. Baekhyun made him laugh, and vice versa. Baekhyun called Chanyeol Chipmunk because of his high voice, and Chanyeol called him Porcupine when he managed to sneak a peak on Baekhyun’s studded shoes.

 

“What the hell!” Chanyeol screeches from outside the stall, startling Baekhyun.

 

“What happened?”

 

“I just realized something.” he said a bit panicky. “I’ve been sitting on a BATHROOM floor every Tuesday.”

 

“Yeah?. . you’re only realizing that now?” Baekhyun chuckles.

 

“Like a bathroom floor, that people use, that people step on, that dudes that have horrible aim accidentally pee on.”

 

“lol.”

 

“Hey Porky! can’t you be more sympathetic? at least you have a toilet to sit on. .” he said. “Wait. .that sounds even more unsanitary, but you get my point, at least it’s covered.”

 

“Hey stop calling me porky, I maybe a lot of things, but I certainly ain’t fat.”

 

“But porcupine’s too long.” Chanyeol whined.

 

“Yeah, but it’s like if I called you Munky.”

 

“Hmm . .I actually like being called a monkey compared ro a Chipmunk.”

 

“I’ll call you Chipmunk then.”

 

Chanyeol chuckled. “I hate you.”

 

“!” Baekhyun raged as he immediately stood up from his seat/toilet, startling Chanyeol.

 

“H-hey.  .that was just a joke you know?”

 

“NO! THAT’S NOT IT!.”

 

“Then why?”

 

“I ING FORGOT TO PUT THE TOILET COVER DOWN!” he screamed. “! these are my favorite pants.”

 

Chanyeol laugher resounded thoughout the bathroom.

 

“’s not the only thing that’s probably in your pants.” Chanyeol snickered.

 

The next Tuesday, Chanyeol and Baekhyun each brought mats, and a lot of sanitizer.

 

Their meetings went on more often, once a week became twice a week, twice became thrice, until they met each other in that dank, pubescent-teenager smelling bathroom almost everyday.

 

Until there was one Tuesday when Chanyeol didn’t show up.

 

For some reason, Baekhyun felt something weighing him down.

 

Of course, it’s perfectly normal. Maybe he just has something important to do, like an essay or something, that’s totally Chanyeol-like.

 

Wait, even if he doesn’,t it’s not like he’s obliged to be here. He doesn’t even know who I am.

 

Chanyeol didn’t the next day either.

 

And even though Baekhyun told himself over and over again that it didn’t matter, that he’s not supposed to care, and that Chanyeol doesn’t have to care either. But he couldn’t help it, he ing cared.

 

Because he already treated Chanyeol as a friend.

 

Baekhyun and Chanyeol had one class together: Chemistry.

 

Not once did Baekhyun look at Chanyeol ever since they started talking inside the bathroom.

 

Because he couldn’t bear to look at how much he was being bullied.

 

The teacher momentarily went out of the room. The whole class immediately turned into a friggin zoo.

 

“Hey Yeollie! where the is the report I made you do?” One of the guys in the class demanded, slamming his palms on Chanyeol’s desk.  Making everyone, including Baekhyun look at them. The guy was a football player, Baekhyun remembers.

 

Chanyeol was panicking and shaking, checking his USB again and again for the file.

 

“I-I’m sure I put it here y-yesterday.” Chanyeol stuttered out, voice an octave higher than usual.

 

The guy’s eyes twitched ad was about to yell at Chanyeol even more when the teacher came back, making him immediately return to his seat and settling for giving Chanyeol deadly glares.

 

“Okay, Yongguk? It’s your turn to report today right? Can you give the powerpoint.” the teacher said to the football player.

 

Yongguk glared at Chanyeol, who looked like he was about to cry while typing furiously into his laptop, checking again and again for the lost file, until he nervously turned to Yongguk and shook his head.

 

. .

 

Come on Chanyeol!

 

“I see you haven’t prepared it?” the teacher sighed. “You get a zero then.”

 

Yongguk was red and was looking at Chanyeol like he was just a second away from castrating him, and he probably was.

 

“Since you didn’t prepare a report, I see no reason to continue this period so. Class dismissed.” The teacher declared as she went outside of the door.

 

Yongguk immediately leaped up form his seat and attacked Chanyeol, grabbing him by the collar so hard, Chanyeol’s feet were dangling on air. Chanyeol looked like a twig compared to Yongguk’s massive size.

 

Baekhun’s fist clenched.

 

“Listen dickwipe! You’re gonna pay for this.” He seethed, shaking Chanyeol for a while before dropping him back roughly to his seat, then leaving the room.

 

Chanyeol looked absolutely terrified, everybody started laughing at him.

 

“! The hobbit is so screwed.”

 

“Say goodbye to your fingers!”

 

Chanyeol kept his head low, in desperate need for someone. For a friend.

 

He momentarily lifted his head up, coincidentally meeting Baekhyun’s eyes.

 

Baekhyun should help

 

Baekhyun should go there and scream at Yongguk for bullying such an awesome person.

 

 Baekhyun should be the one suffering.

 

But instead, he immediately turned around, blinding himself from the cruelty that he started.

 

“Hah. .Chanyeol’s definitely gonna get it, right Baek?” a classmate of his said to him.

 

Baekhyun felt a knot constrict his throat.

 

“Yeah.” was  all he could say.

 

I . .

 

---

 

That night Baekhyun went to the stall as usual, hoping that maybe, Chanyeol would come, and that he could finally do what he couldn’t earlier: be there for him. But Again, Chanyeol wasn’t there.

 

After 2 hours of waiting Baekhyun stood up.

 

He decided to take a walk around school, it was already dark and he should probably go home and. . .study or something? But like him don’t deserve that.

 

He wants to walk and walk until his feet bleed, because that’s what like him deserve. His conscience led him into walking the entire football field. Letting the cold night air burn his skin and penetrate his lungs.  Okay maybe that wasn’t such a good idea because , his nose is gonna fall off at this point, and maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to just wear a hoodie during winter (damn you inconvenient fashion sense).

 

His moment of self-loathing was cut short due to the realization that this is just plain stupid, freezing himself won’t solve anything.

 

He looked for the small shed at the corner of the field, the one that’s being used as the team’s locker room and came in.

 

Maybe he can stay here for a while, he thought, but the second he smelled something vaguely like sweat, armpit sweat and all kinds of sweat float across the air, he motioned to get out.

 

But then he heard it.

 

A sob.

 

. .Ghost?

 

.

 

Another sob.

 

Wait, the sob sounded familiar.

 

.

 

It was something worse than a ghost.

 

It was Chanyeol.

 

Baekhyun immediately went to the source of the crying, one of the lockers and pressed his ear against it.

 

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun frantically banged his palm on the metal surface. His self-loathing quickly reappeared.

 

The sobbing stopped.

 

“B-Baekhyun?” Chanyeol’s soft and broken voice punched Baekhyun right in the face.

 

“WAIT I’LL GET YOU OUT!” Baekhyun wanted to cry. He looked for something that could tear open the lock. He found a piece of wood and jammed it on the locker’s handle repeatedly.

 

He hit it with full force, again and again, but it wouldn’t budge.

 

“B-Baek hiccup hyun. .s-stop. You’ll hurt yourself.”

 

Baekhyun wanted to scream and shout to Chanyeol to stop being so ing nice and care about himself for once.

 

“SHUT UP! I said I’ll get you out!” Baekhyun screamed, angry. Angry at Yongguk angry at Chanyeol and angry at himself. .just simply angry!

 

His arms were throbbing from over exertion but he still kept going at it, every swing filled with more power than the previous.

 

“I’ll get you *pant* out.”

 

*slam*

 

*slam

 

I’M

 

*slam*

 

SO

 

*Slam*

 

ING

 

*clack

 

The lock touched the ground.

 

Baekhyun slammed the locker door open without hesitation, he saw Chanyeol inside, eyes wide, cheeks tear-stained and absolutely distressed.

 

Baekhyun froze.

 

“Sorry.” Baekhyun said, voice barely a whisper.

 

A million thoughts went racing inside his mind. What should he do? What would Chanyeol do? How did this happen? Should he say something? Should he leave now? Should he let Chanyeol punch his face?

 

All his questions were answered when Chanyeol stood up from his fetal position and leaped straight into Baekhyun, burying his head into the crook of his neck. Baekhyun’s breath was put on hold as he just processed the fact that Chanyeol was hugging him instead of screaming and hitting him.

 

Chanyeol started to silently sob into Baekhyun’s shirt, and he just stood there, awkwardly.

 

This is his favorite shirt, and Chanyeol was getting it tear-stained.

 

But he doesn’t exactly care.

 

Trembling hands found there way to pat Chanyeol’s head.

 

 

There was only silence, the wind, and the sound of Chanyeol’s muffled sobs.

 

Baekhyun wanted to know who exactly did this, if he was hurt, if he’s been there long. .heck, he wanted to know what Chanyeol had for breakfast. He wanted to know. . he wanted to know Park Chanyeol, he wanted to say:

 

I’m here

 

But Chanyeol beat him into breaking the silence.

 

“Football players really need to stop putting their socks in their lockers.” he said, still crying, but kind of laughing at the same time.

 

Chanyeol managed to get Baekhyun from almost crying to absolutely hysterical.

 

Baekhyun laughed until his stomach hurt.

 

Really this kid.

 

Baekhyun helped Chanyeol out of the locker rooms, since he was slightly limping from squatting in that locker for hours.

 

“I’ll walk you home.” Baekhyun blurted out, surprising himself.

 

Chanyeol must be weirded out, that the one who started bullying him was suddenly offering to take him home.

 

But instead, Chanyeol briefly looked at Baekhyun, wiped his tears and beamed Baekhyun a genuine smile, and he wondered how the hell he did that despite what just happened to him.

 

“No, actually I want to go the bathroom,  since you know, I have a meeting there every tuesday.”

 

Baekhyun was stunned.

Oh my god.

 

Baekhyun just stared like a gaping fish at Chanyeol's smiling face.

 

“Y-Y-Y-You knew? t-the whole time?” he intensely stuttered.

 

Chanyeol smiled again.

 

“Of course.”

 

damn. .

 

 

---

 

After that Chanyeol clung to Baekhyun like glue, Baekhyun used his mouth to fend off Chanyeol’s bullies, and not in that dirty way guys.

 

 

 They were inseparable “The Hobbit Twins” they liked to call them; it was cute at first, cuz Chanyeol was short, nerdy, and had the voice of a pre-pubescent Bieber, but the guy grew taller and taller and even dared to pass Baekhyun’s height (by a friggin’ lot) and his voice started to sound like those of old boxing announcers.

 

So naturally even without Baekhyun, people stopped bullying him.

 

“Hey Chanyeol,. .” Baekhyun mumbled, kicking a random heavier-than-it-looked rock-which-hurt-his-toe-but-of-course-he-wouldn’t-let-it -show.

 

You don’t need me anymore. Was what he needed to say, but couldn’t.

 

“Where are you going for college?” Baekhyun asked.

 

Chanyeol stopped walking, pondering for a bit.

 

“Anywhere where you are.” he said casually like it was a given.

 

Baekhyun choked.

 

“ARE YOU KIDDING ME??” Baekhyun would’ve strangled Chanyeol if he could reach the giant’s neck without pathetically tiptoeing.

 

“uh. .no?” Chanyeol said, startled, it was weird how he could still be scared of a guy almost a foot shorter than him.

 

You should go to some fancy and hard to pronounce foreign school!

 

“What if I won’t go to college?” Baekhyun threatened.

 

“I know you wouldn’t do that.” Chanyeol laughed.

 

“What if. .what if I go to some crappy school?”

 

“I know you wouldn’t do that either.”

 

Baekhyun was, for the first time in a long time, silent.

 

“But. .you don’t need me anymore.” Baekhyun’s voice was barely over a whisper, but Chanyeol heard it.

 

Baekhyun felt a hand on his shoulder, and Chanyeol bended down to meet his eyes.

 

“I will always need you.”

 

Baekhyun’s eyes widened, his heart started pounding erratically from just one sentence, he awaited Chanyeol’s next words, maybe, maybe. .maybe. .

 

“You’re my best friend you know.”

 

Best friend. .

 

That was Baekhyun’s first heartbreak.

 

---

 

“Yah. .Yah. .YAH!” 

 

Someone was nudging his arm.

 

“Eat some grass, dodo-head.” Baekhyun nonsensically murmured back, closing his eyes more firmly.

 

“You’re getting eyeliner on a pretty expensive looking book.” the voice deadpanned.

 

“” Baekhyun’s head sprung immediately up “OW!” he winced as pain rippled through his neck, apparently a hard leather bound book wasn’t the most comfortable pillow. He looked at the book,you can’t believe how many times he had to pay for something absolutely useless because he got eyeliner on them, but it was eyeliner-free. 

The chair across from him got occupied.

 

“Damn you Kai, you could’ve woken me in a more pleasant way.”

 

“I did.” Kai shrugged. “but you told me to eat grass. . and that I’m a dodo-head.”

 

Baekhyun waved the the topic away. “Anyways, why are we even meeting in a library?”

 

Kai leant back into his seat. “Well, it’s the last place non-academic majors like us would be expected to be in.”

 

Baekhyun wanted to open his mouth and retort that ‘hey, distinguishing ecru from dirty white requires a lot of analytic thinking’ but he decided against it.

 

“I get your point.” Baekhyun lent in a bit. “So, what’s that ‘really important’ thing you wanted to talk to me about.”

 

Kai leant in, eyes looking purposeful, “Promise me, whatever you hear, Don’t strangle me.” he said, in a conspiratory whisper, still looking straight at Baekhyun.

 

Baekhyun swallowed thickly, what could it be?

 

“I promise.”

 

Kai immediately leant as far away from Baekhyun, covered his face and blurted out. “IneedhelpwithbefriendingKyungsooagain.”

 

Baekhyun threw a random book at Kai, hitting his square in the forehead.

 

“OW!”

 

“ you Kai.” Baekhyun said monotonously.

 

“You promised!” Kai whined.

 

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t strangle you, I threw a book at you.”

 

Kai winced as he touched his now reddening forehead, maybe getting strangled would’ve been less painful. “Couldn’t you have thrown a thinner book?”

 

“No. Serves you right for making me come here just for that.”

 

Kai glared at Baekhyun for a while before sighing.

 

“So. .” he said, looking at Baekhyun with pleading eyes. “Will you help me?”

 

uh. . Baekhyun really didn’t want to, but having Kai stare at him with those puppy eyes was starting to get on his nerves.

 

“Why not ask Xiumin?”

 

“You kidding? he might think this as an opportunity to pair Kyungsoo and I up or something.”

 

Baekhyun rose another eyebrow.

 

“Tell me for one second that you wouldn’t want to get inside Kyungsoo’s pants.”

 

“Okay, I wouldn’t want to get inside Kyungsoo’s pants.” Kai said easily.

 

Baekhyun’s eyes momentarily widened. “Wait. .Really?” he said in disbelief.

 

“Believe it or not. .I just, want our old friendship back.” Kai said truthfully. “I’m fine as hell and half of the school would sell their souls to get with me, but I honestly only have you guys as friends. .and I wouldn’t want to lose even one of you.” he added.

 

“Well damn. .that was the most conceited yet the mushiest thing I’ve ever heard from you.” Baekhyun said, honestly quite touced.

 

Maybe it was the defeated aura radiating from Kai’s usually energetic self, or maybe it was because of the fact that he just had a flashback about friendship that made him. .maybe, want to help.. just a teensy, tiny bit.

 

“I thought you guys were already cool, since you know, you got him back in the club.”

 

“Are you kidding me?” Kai says. “He flinches everytime I try to give him a high five.”

 

“Maybe that’s because high-fives are lame.”

 

“Baek.” Kai said exasperatedly.

 

“You know, just getting that out there.”

 

There was a moment of silence.

 

“What if you get him drunk, have him vulnerable and THEN get inside his pants.”

 

Kai looked at him and grimaced. “BAEK!”

 

“Fine, fine!” Baekhyun put his palms in front of him defensively. “ But I’m still not buying the whole ‘all I want from Kyungsoo is friendship’ thing" he said with furrowed brows. "I know you Kai.”

 

Kai looked down, and fidgeted a bit, looking conflicted. “You may not believe me but. .yeah, honestly I feel like, I can’t dare to think about Kyungsoo and me that way.. .Kyungsoo’s too nice, and I’m too. ..you know, me.”

 

Baekhyun kind of felt bad, no matter how douchy Kai is, Kai’s a good friend, and actually a pretty decent person, and he actually cares about the dude, so maybe it wouldn’t hurt to help.

 

“I think you both just need some time to talk to each other.”

 

“I tried  that a million times, but every time I try to ask whether he still have problems with me, he finds some reason to leave.”

 

“Then, let’s put him in a place where he can’t leave.” Baekhyun smirked, a figurative light bulb flickering to life right above his head.

 

“How can we do that?”

 

“I think maybe it’s time to finally use that free overnight stay for 12 in a resort Kris won in that lottery.”

 

~^*^~

OHYEAAHH! I see a vacation for the boys coming up. 

I plan a LOT, for that vacation. bwahahahahahahhahah!

I think I'm running out of funny, but since you guys are so awesome, I get inspiration to write hahahahah

And sorry if this chap was a bit angsty, but i had Baekyeol's story in my head for a while, so at least now you guys have an idea on how much they care for each other.

 

also please do comment and subscribe! =D