It was a common sense for a certain group of adolescents in Sooman High School that Park Chanyeol's mind could drift away faster than a blink of an eye. Yes, Chanyeol got distracted very easily that he needed to remind himself constantly of what he should be doing. Chanyeol could turn his attention from the bright lamp on the ceiling to a random old man's beard to dinosaurs to Skittles to Luhan to aliens to Jongin to anything, really, and his friends understood this condition very well.

But lately (for the past week to be precise), Chanyeol had been too quiet for their liking. Normally, he would be a little bit louder than this. He would talk to anybody about anything like 'Look, Sehun-ah! Kimchi jjigae! And... oh, Baekhyun! Where is Baekhyun? Sehun-ah, did you see Baekhyun? Oh, there you are Baekhyun!' or sometimes like 'Say, Minseokie. Do you think birds fart?'.

Kyungsoo, especially, felt worried because he had known Chanyeol since junior high. They weren't so close at first, even though they had been classmates for two years. Chanyeol barely had or made friends; the students kept talking about him being weird and stupid and such. Kyungsoo didn't really pay attention to him but one day, on his second year in junior high, he was 'destined' to do a science project with Park Chanyeol.

It was awkward because they barely talked and Chanyeol seemed to put himself away from the others. Not to mention that Kyungsoo was one clumsy (but cute) kid as well. During every class and every break, Chanyeol would always be in his own world. Sometimes he would just be on his seat, sometimes he would disappear to God knew where and came back when the class was over. Kyungsoo wasn't even sure whether he actually studied. He seemed to pay attention to everything except the class itself.

It was Tuesday noon and the school was over. Kyungsoo was about to go when he saw Chanyeol struggling with his locker; he couldn't open it. If it wasn't for the science project, Kyungsoo might just leave him be. But no. Do Kyungsoo was a nice kid, to begin with, and he somehow pitied the lanky weirdo.

"Need some help, um, Chanyeol-ssi?" Technically, that was the first time Kyungsoo talked to him. Using honorific would be necessary, wouldn't it? Chanyeol turned his head and stared at the petite boy. Kyungsoo started to regret his decision because the weird kid just kept staring and all and that was awkward! If Kyungsoo thought he was the epitome of awkwardness, then Chanyeol was the God of it, he summed up. "I guess not then..."

"...you look like an owl."

"Yeah, sorry. I was just— what?"

Kyungsoo was about to take a step back because the other kid seemed to be responding slowly but halted when he realized what Chanyeol was saying. Did he really just insult him? Yes, Kyungsoo knew that he had a pair of big and round (and adorable) eyes but did he need to say that?

"I had an owl once and he looked like you. He was really, really cute! But now I have a ferret and he's really cute too!" Chanyeol accidentally dropped the key he was holding but seemed not to be bothered of it and clasped his hand instead, in a gesture which Kyungsoo referred to as 'fanboying'.

"...what?" Seeing Kyungsoo's annoyed expression, Chanyeol's previous hysterical smile faded in an instant. He lowered his head and muttered his apology. Kyungsoo regretted his decision at the moment, but then Chanyeol lifted his head and with a pair of wide, panic eyes he asked Kyungsoo,

"Did you see my key?"

Somehow, that silly encounter became the turning point for both of them to be closer. Kyungsoo noticed that Chanyeol was indeed different from the other kids in their school. However, he wasn't a bad person either; Kyungsoo didn't see why he deserved such cold treatment from the other students. The more Kyungsoo talked to him, the more interesting it became (because with Chanyeol, you could really talk about anything).

Instead of leaving Chanyeol alone, Kyungsoo's motherly instinct was kicking, and he decided to help the poor kid.

Friday came and Kyungsoo planned to ask Chanyeol about their science project after school. Like it or not, it was their responsibility and they needed to work on it as soon as possible (please take note that Kyungsoo was a very diligent person, thank you). And once again, Kyungsoo found Chanyeol stuck with his locker.

"Hey, Chanyeol." Kyungsoo waved as he walked toward the latter. "Same old problem, I see."

"This locker really hates me." Chanyeol chuckled as he handed the key to Kyungsoo. Without much difficulties (Chanyeol's several efforts to open it with a not-so-tiny bit of force kind of broke the slot), Kyungsoo opened it for him and Chanyeol seemed to be really amazed of him. "Wow! Thank you, Kwangsoo!"

"It's Kyungsoo, actually."

"Oops, sorry. I mean, thank you so much, Kyungsoo!"

"No problem. Anyway, Chanyeol, are you free today? We should start working on our science project, you know." Kyungsoo wasn't sure if Chanyeol could do the project. He had even thought about doing all the works by himself but that wouldn't be a good thing to do. Chanyeol had feelings too, of course, and Kyungsoo didn't want him to feel offended or something.

"Today? Uh..." Chanyeol looked up as if he wrote his schedule on the ceiling, "It is Friday, isn't it?"

"...yes?" Kyungsoo furrowed his eyebrow.

"I have to meet Ms. Lee first. Maybe we can do it after that!"

"Ms. Lee? You mean the English teacher?"

"No, not her. Ms. Lee is my... uh... what do you call it... uh... doctor?"

"Your doctor?"

"Yes, yes!"

"Hmm... can I come with you then? I'll wait until you're done and then we'll go to my house to do the project."

"To the hospital?"

"Yeah. Oh, do you want to call your, uh, mother first, perhaps?"

"Uh... yes?"

"Alright then."

So, is Chanyeol having therapy or something?

That was the only thing Kyungsoo could think of while his eyes were glued to the metal plate on the door. 'Lee Hyori - Psychiatrist' was written on it.

"Uh, Kyungsoo... do you want to come in too?" Chanyeol hesitated because no one except his parents had ever gone to this place with him. He usually came alone. Furthermore, it was someone from school. A new friend, if he could say so.

Kyungsoo just nodded because he was simply curious.

It was a big surprise for Ms. Lee to see Chanyeol coming with a friend. She quickly scribbled something like 'Aug 4th: Chanyeol made friend :D' on her agenda, while Kyungsoo greeted her and quickly excused himself to wait outside. He walked back to the waiting room and sat on his previous seat with Chanyeol. There were some brochures on the table and they seemed enough to feed Kyungsoo's curiosity about this place.

Kyungsoo took one of the tri-fold papers. 'Seoul National University Hospital' was written on its front page. He read some more information before a loud cry was heard from somewhere near his seat. A little girl was sitting on her father's lap, and she was crying really loudly that another kid, a little boy wearing a white cap, started to cry as well.

Just then, a certain thought popped on Kyungsoo's mind.

How long had Chanyeol been through this? Had he been doing this since he was the same age as those two crying kids?

"Yah, Do Kyungsoo!"

"Huh?" Kyungsoo looked up to see Baekhyun standing in front of his desk with his arms crossed, ruining Kyungsoo's nostalgia of the beginning of his friendship with Chanyeol and all his ridiculous fellas. "What?"

"The class is over, Soo. Are you going to stay here forever and haunt this school?" Baekhyun rolled his eyes.

"Already? Sorry, I was just... too deep in thoughts."

"Yeah, whatever. Hurry up, the others are waiting!"

"Say, Kyungsoo," Baekhyun broke the silence as they were walking through the hall, "Do you think Chanyeol is hiding something? I'm starting to worry, seriously. He obviously has a problem and you know he won't share unless we dig it."

"Dude, I was thinking the same thing. He is really quiet and all lately, and we had no idea what's actually going on with him."

"Do you think we can help him? I mean, we don't really know what's going on but at least we can try to do something, don't you think so?"

"Well, let's find out what's been bothering him first." Kyungsoo sighed.

"Hey Baekhyun, do you think it has something to do with, you know, his condition?"

"But he's doing good, isn't he? I don't think that was it. He seems to be thinking of something complicated like he's caught between a rock and a hard place."

"Wow, Byun Baekhyun is using idioms!"

"Shut up, Soosoo."

"But that makes sense. Maybe he needs to decide on something, uh, serious?"

"Who knows?"

The two of them cut their conversation as the boys came into their sight. There were Luhan and his beloved junior Sehun arguing about God knew what, a half-asleep Minseok, and there was Chanyeol, waving excitedly at both of them. Kyungsoo and Baekhyun looked at each other before they ran to catch up with the boys.

"Soosoo~ Baekhyunnie~" Chanyeol hugged both shorter boys. "Luhan said it's her mother's birthday!"

"Right. Mom told me to bring you guys home. She'll cook for us. Well, except you little brat." Luhan glared at Sehun.

"Hyung!" Sehun whined and glared back at Luhan.

"You two should stop." Kyungsoo shook his head.

On the other note, Chanyeol looked a bit better today. He didn't frown or space out or something. He was smiling, laughing and all, and that was the usual Chanyeol they knew. It was quite relieving, but still, they promised to find out what Chanyeol's been hiding.

Or maybe, they were just too worried.

Author's note:

Hello, readers! Finally, I could post this chapter TT

My internet connection's still acting like a b*tch but at least I got to update this story haha

There are sooo many things that I want to write, so many that I am confused about which one comes first and so on lol... which is why this chapter might seem... uh, how should I say this... trashy? I'm so sorry TT

And yes, here we have some tiny bit of ChanSoo because who else fits 'the always worried, mother-like type of friends' the most except Kyungsoo? Plus a slight BaekYeol too!

I want you guys to see how his friends care about Chanyeol, and I think Kyungsoo and also Baekhyun could represent them. And I ship ChanSoo. HAHA.

Oh, and sorry guys. I promised you some Kaiyeol / Krisyeol in this chapter but then I think it'll be better to put those on the next chapter instead :p

Thank you for subscribing and upvoting (shout out to schokojeti, this story has 4 votes now yeaaay). Also, thank you for all your lovely comments! Sorry, I can't reply them all one by one :(

Until then...