It was Sunday morning. The sun shone into through the window and woke up a sleepy Baekhyun. His eyes were more swollen than before, causing him to squint and blink multiple times. He looked around the room and noticed that he wasn’t in his own.

Oh right…I fell asleep at Kai’s house yesterday…

Kai was sleeping next to him on the bed, lost in his dreams. Baekhyun got off the bed as quietly as he could and exited the room. He decided to go home in case his mom was wondering where he was for the night. He took out his phone and left Kai a text saying that he was going to go home. The house was quiet. It was 8:00 in the morning and since no one in Kai’s family had to work that day, everyone was sleeping in their rooms. Making no noise, he left the house and walked home at his own pace. He fiddled with his phone in his hands, tossing it from one hand to another to distract him from what happened yesterday. Baekhyun didn’t really feel as angry as he did towards Chanyeol today, but he was a little upset.

“I wonder if I should attend the next class…I just wish I never told him where I was…then all this wouldn’t have to happen.”

He was just metres away from his house when he saw a giant male sleeping in front of his house. It was Chanyeol and he had still been wearing the same clothes from yesterday.

Don’t tell me…he was looking for me yesterday!

Baekhyun rushed over to Chanyeol’s side and shook his body to see if he was still alive. Luckily enough, Chanyeol opened his eyes slowly. His eyes grew wider after seeing the sight of Baekhyun in front of him.

“Baekhyun! You’re okay!” shouted Chanyeol, pulling Baekhyun into a hug.

That morning the weather was warm, but Chanyeol’s hands weren’t. They were freezing cold because he spent the whole night outside.

Baekhyun pushed him off and glared at him, “What’re you doing in front of my house, you creep.”

Chanyeol hesitated to speak, seeing that Baekhyun was still mad at him, “I-I was looking for you yesterday… I was worried about you.”

“If you were worried about me you wouldn’t have tried to drown me yesterday.”

He was right; Chanyeol always seemed to be worried about Baekhyun but if he really was worried he wouldn’t have done such a thing.

“I’m sorry hyung… I don’t know why I did such a thing to you yesterday. It wasn’t funny at all and I’m sure you were really scared. I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

“I wasn’t scared… I was terrified. I thought I would die.”

“I would never let you die!” said Chanyeol grabbing a hold of Baekhyun’s arm.

Baekhyun brushed it off and moved further away from him, “You almost did yesterday. I saw my life flash by… you’re a swimming instructor but you let that happen…”

“W-what can I do to get you to forgive me?” Chanyeol pleaded as he stared straight into Baekhyun’s eyes.

Baekhyun’s eyes wandered the street for a while until he finally found something to say to Chanyeol, “Never do that kind of thing again…and teach me how to swim…properly…without harming me of course.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened at Baekhyun’s request. It made him happy that Baekhyun still wanted to learn to swim from him even after what he had done. He couldn’t help but hug the other again, tighter this time. It felt like time had stopped. Baekhyun’s heart started racing. The hug felt long, but it felt good. Baekhyun didn’t mind that Chanyeol’s arms were around his body. He actually liked Chanyeol hugging him. He was like a big teddy bear that wanted love.

Baekhyun held onto Chanyeol’s hands in his, they were much bigger than his and much colder. “Your hands are cold…do you want to come in?”

“Yeah!”

They went inside to Baekhyun’s house where it felt warmer to Chanyeol. His hands started to warm up quickly. It was Chanyeol’s first time inside Baekhyun’s house and he wanted to see every corner of it.

“Your house is much bigger than mine.” Chanyeol laughed as he took himself on a tour around the house.

“Yeah…it’s pretty big for just a family of two.”

“Family of two?”

“Mmm…my mom and me. My parents got divorced 3 years ago…they didn’t get along.”

“Aah, I see.”

“What about you? Who do you live with?” asked Baekhyun, showing some curiosity towards Chanyeol’s life for once.

“I live alone. My parents abandoned me a long time ago. I was raised in an orphanage until I found a job and started to live on my own.”

Baekhyun didn’t realize that Chanyeol’s life was so hard. He had to pay for his house, tuition, clothes, food, and much more with his own money. Something that Baekhyun could never do on his own. It was difficult listening to Chanyeol explain his life. He was abandoned and raised in an orphanage, yet he could still keep that bright smile on him.

“Don’t you have any relatives to move in with?” Baekhyun asked, eager to learn more.

“I was never close to any of them. My friend’s parents did offer to let me stay with them but I’d just be a bother to their family. It’s better for me to just live alone without bothering everyone else.”

Life was difficult for Chanyeol. He had to support himself by working while going to school as well.

“What do you want to do in the future?”

Chanyeol thought hard, but couldn’t really come up with a good answer, “I don’t know…I don’t really find any subject in school interesting so it’s difficult to decide.”

His answer was completely different from what Baekhyun had thought he would say. “I thought you would want to do something with swimming.”

Laughter flowed out form Chanyeol’s mouth and spread throughout his room, “I just like swimming, but swimming doesn’t give you a lot of money.”

They moved their way into the kitchen. Chanyeol sat by the table and Baekhyun went to the refrigerator to fetch the other a drink. It was silent until Chanyeol opened his mouth and started to talk about things…deep and meaningful things.

“I’ve never really told anyone about this but…I just feel like I can tell you. You’re probably thinking that my life is hard since I’m living all by myself. It is hard. Damn hard. There’s no one around you when you need them and there’s no one around when you don’t need them. The only place I can actually be myself is in the swimming pool, but there are days when even I need to put on a mask. School is starting to become a pain and sometimes I just want to give up. It’s tiring to go to school and then go to work after that. I’m tired of having to work more than I need to because I want more money in my pockets to spend. I want to be able to spend time with friends, but I’m always thinking about whether or not I’ll have money for the week. I know I’m all smiley and happy most of the time, but even I have times where I cry by myself. Baekhyun… since I met you, I wanted to be friends with you right away. You’re different from me…in many ways…but you never tried to push me away. You never found me annoying…you never stopped replying to my texts, or calls…you never…”

Tears rolled out of Chanyeol’s eyes. It was his turn to cry now. Baekhyun never expected to see Chanyeol cry. He thought that he was the brightest and happiest guy he’s ever met in his life, yet he had so many painful days behind him. Baekhyun took out a drink from the refrigerator and handed it to Chanyeol, along with a tissue box. He moved a chair next to him and pulled him close to his shoulder.

“I’m sorry…I’m sorry.” whispered Baekhyun.

He wiped away the tears and brushed Chanyeol’s hair with his fingers, “You’re not alone anymore Chanyeol…you’ve got me now. I won’t leave you.”

Baekhyun brushed the hair away from Chanyeol’s forehead and left a small peck against his skin, “It’s alright now…”

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i feel like everything is happening too fast T.T
hope you enjoyed this chapter~