Featuring: Chanyeol & Baekhyun (EXO K)
Genre: happy
Title: I Can Be The One

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I was 7 and she was 6 when I first saw her in the neighborhood playground. The moment I laid my eyes on her, I was overcome by the fluttery feeling in my stomach. As a kid, I didn’t know yet that I had fallen in love. When the bullies surrounded and threatened her, I just had to go over there and save her. They beat me up, but I didn’t care; Jaemi and I didn’t get as close as I wanted to be. But from that moment on, I kept trying to make a place for myself in her heart. And I sometimes think she got annoyed by me a lot.

I’m Chanyeol, by the way, and this is a story of how another’s mistake became a blessing for me.

I live with my friends in an apartment home, and my favorite spot in the whole place is that tall low-branched tree in the backyard. Sometimes my best bud Baekhyun joins me, but most of the time I’m on my own, daydreaming and zoning out. In that particular spot did I get my first heartache, because nothing had been the same since I saw Jaemi and her boyfriend kiss on the bench across the road. Talk about a stupid coincidence. The boys tried to cheer me up in every way they could, but I just can’t feel any better. Till that one day…

There I was, in my usual spot on the tree. I always came to sit there even if it meant seeing Jaemi with that guy of hers; just seeing her happy kind of lifts my mood a bit. Anyway, so there I was, daydreaming as usual, when I saw a girl run up to the bench across the road and sit down with her hair all over her face. I instantly knew it was Jaemi; I just know her that well to tell her apart from other girls. She was obviously crying: she always hid her face behind her hair when she did. I quickly (and literally) jumped over the fence and ran over to her to comfort her.

“Jaemi, hey…” I started, but then she cut me off.

“Go away, I’m not in the mood,” she snapped without looking up. She looked so miserable that it broke my heart. I took out a hanky to offer to her.

“C’mon, you can tell me,” I whispered as I reached to wipe her tears away. Good thing she didn’t slap my hand away.

“Ch-Chanyeol…” she sobbed. I was surprised when she suddenly leaned on me, but being the good guy, I hugged her back tightly. Sometimes, when a girl cries, all she needs is a tight hug.

“There, there… Everything’s going to be okay…” I whispered again, caressing her hair as I did.

“No, it’s not,” she continued sobbing. Her hiccups made it difficult for her to speak straight. “He… He b-broke up with m-me…”

“What?” I was outraged. First, that jerk steals my girl, and then second, he just dumps her?! This is atrocious! “How dare he? Never mind; just forget him, then, Jae. He doesn’t deserve you.”

“But I love him, Chanyeol! Present tense! It’s not that simple. I still want him… I still need him…” she just sobbed.

I could my heart being ripped to pieces. She was unraveling, and I have to stop her. This could be my only chance. I have to grasp it now, or regret it later.

“Sung Jaemi, look at me.” I cupped her cheeks with both my palms. Her eyes were red from all the crying. There still tears sliding down her cheeks. I used my thumbs to wipe them away, but they won’t stop.

“Listen well; this may sting a bit. But from now on he’s just that dream you could never reach. But I’m here, Jaemi. I’ve always been here, for you. I never left you. And it’s your choice if you would accept this heart that’s been beating for you from the moment it saw you.”

I could see the sudden changes in her face. First was confusion, and when realization hit her, her cheeks burned pink. I chuckled softly.

“I… I don’t know, Chanyeol… It’s too sudden. I have to think about this,” she said softly, her eyes trailing down to her hands. I let go of her face and let her think.

Then, I don’t know what came over me, but I suddenly tilted her face up and the next thing I know was that I was kissing her. Even now that I remember it, I still feel the sweet sensation of finally getting to do what I’ve always wanted to.

On that same night I sauntered home with an idiotic smile on my face. If one saw me they’d interpret the expression as a result of my long-time crush finally becoming my girlfriend, when it truth, I just kissed her. I am a very weird person, I know.

Just then my stupid daydreaming got interrupted when Kyungsoo suddenly yelled out loud and made me jump in shock. As the vocal, he had a very powerful voice. It didn’t help that the others were yelling at each other and making unnecessary noise as well.

“Stop messing around in my kitchen, Jongin! Get out and wait patiently for dinner!”

“Hyuuung I’m hungryyyyy!” whined Sehun. “When are you gonna be done?”

“I’ll be done when I’m done, okay? Be patient! Suho! Could you please?”

“Alright, alright, now Sehun, c’mere and get your mind off food. There’s a good show on TV,” said Suho, carefully prying Sehun’s hands from the kitchen doorway.

Only Baekhyun wasn’t talking. He was cooped up on the sofa, reading another of Jongin’s comics. I plumped down next to him.

“Crazy night again, huh?” I said and grabbed a magazine off the coffee table.

Baekhyun didn’t even grunt and he wordlessly turned the page, scooting away from me.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you?” I asked. I could read him like an open book; he’d been my best bud since kindergarten, anyway. And something was clearly not okay.

“Nothing,” he muttered.

“Come on, what did I do?” I probed, poking him to force him to spill it.

“Stop that,” he suddenly snapped. He stood up and dropped his comic on the sofa. “Don’t you have to go to Jaemi or something?” Then he just got out of the living room and slammed the door to his room.

“What’s wrong with that guy?” I wondered aloud. I didn’t notice Suho come on and flinched when he suddenly spoke.

“He saw you guys a while ago,” our eldest said. “You and Jaemi.”

“He what?!” I don’t know why I had to react like that, though. I just did. I stood up to go to him, but Kyungsoo stopped me.

“You’re not going anywhere till you’ve had your dinner,” he scolded me like a child. “You already lost your lunch because you were snogging some girl in public.”

“Great, so the whole world saw me and didn’t even bother mention.”

Later, after dinner, I went looking for Baekhyun. I found him on the rooftop, looking up at the moon. It was a full-moon night, I remember it so well. His back was to me, and even when I called out to him, he didn’t respond.

“Hey, man, what’s the matter with you?” I kept asking. I moved closer to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“It’s none of your business, okay? Get away from me,” he snapped and shrugged my hand off.

“I know you better than that, you greasy Bacon,” I said, getting frustrated. “You make it so obvious that I’ve got something to do with this. Tell me.”

“You want me to tell you? Fine! Now that you’ve got that Jaemi girl you’d stop hanging out with me!”

“What the hell is wrong with you? You know I’ve liked her since forever, damn it! You should be happy for me! Why are you so selfish?”

He turned away from me. His shoulders started quaking. And I just stood there like a mushroom, not being able to understand why Baekhyun was suddenly acting all weird. Then he spoke, and I swear my memories are forever scarred by what he said that night.

“I’ve always loved you… the way you loved Jaemi…”

I was stumped. Who knew, right? “I… I… I’m sorry, Baekhyun. I d-didn’t know…”

He sniffed and tried to hide his feelings with a proud and confident voice, the way he always did when he knew he was on the losing side. He scoffed.

“Never mind; I knew it never could be, anyway. I saw how dedicated you were to Jaemi even if she never returned your feelings, and now that you finally got her, you must be so happy.”

I really didn’t know what to do; it’s not every day your best friend confesses his extraordinary love for you, is it? But my feet seemed to know, because they started walking towards Baekhyun. My arms must have known as well, because they wrapped themselves around Baekhyun’s waist. So did my mouth, because I don’t remember saying what I said.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t return your feelings. But I know there’s someone out there who’s better than me; someone who’s going to take care of you the way I can’t.”

Unconsciously, tears rolled down from my eyes. I gripped Baekhyun tighter and cried on his shoulder. As I look back, I really can’t say I did all that; my body did all the drama work.

“I’m sorry… I’m so sorry, Baekhyun…”

I felt his soft hands patting my own. “I’m sorry too. I must have scared you a lot. I just… Aish. Never mind. Hey, let go of me. You’re so gay, dude.”

I let go of him, and laughed. “Now you’re calling me gay.”

We both laughed like a pair of hyenas. And I thought I was going to lose my best friend that night.

The next day, Jaemi still hasn’t confirmed her feelings for me. Just have to push her a little bit more. So I asked for the members’ help and all the guys’ cheesiness oozed out of them. When did they become this sweet? (When they’re not acting like that children, maybe)

That night, we hiked over to Jaemi’s place. She would probably freak out if she found out the boys hid behind her strawberry bushes. But anyway, so the boys sang this song Suho hyung and Kyungsoo wrote, while I went up to the front door to knock. After our little performance, I took out a bouquet of flowers I was hiding behind my back and held it out to her.

“Jaemi, will you be the one for me? Will you accept this heart that’s beating for you? Because I know that I can be the one for you. I am the one for you.”

Jaemi’s face obviously lit up with joy and she threw her arms around my neck. And I have never been happier in my whole life (except when I marry her, of course) than the time when she said ‘yes’.

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A/N: This is longer than usual. Yey. I've written this story a couple of years ago (I used Key before, and the JongKey ship).