Baek kept waking up through the night from thoughts of Chanyeol. Conflicting emotions of love causing a almost sleepless night. “Should I love D.O? Should I love Chanyeol? Should I love anyone at all?” Baekhyun thought. He started blaming himself for Chanyeol's pain. “If only I wasn't so touchy with him and kept my distance, this wouldn't have happened.” Baek thought. “Why must love be so complicated.” Baek asked to himself, almost waking D.O beside him. D.O moaned and moved slightly. Baek struggled to force himself to sleep, for the hours he had left to do so. He struggled to wipe away the thoughts and stress. He struggled to free himself of the cold chains of guilt. Trapped between two closing walls, it was choking him.

There was a pat on Baek's shoulder. “Awaken my sleeping beauty.” D.O said, smiling with a drink in his hand. Baekhyun rubbed his eyes, and yawning. “We have practice today, remember.” D.O said and took a sip of his drink. Baek blinked several times and slowly got out of bed to start his routine. D.O followed Baek as he went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. “You looked stressed. Are you still thinking about what happened yesterday?” D.O asked. Baek let out a sigh. “Who isn't?” D.O's eyes went down to the floor. “You shouldn't worry so much, Chanyeol is okay, he will return soon. The manager called us and told us about his condition and he said he just has a cold.” D.O said, looking at Baek and taking another sip of his drink. “But we will have to practice without him today, sadly.” Baek thought it was a good thing, but didn't show it.

They made it to the practice room, placing their belongings on the sides of the room. They got into position and started practice. First stretching, then they started dancing. It was different without the tall one there. It was not a good change. Baekhyun didn't glance at D.O like he used to during practice, he had a more serious look on his face. A face that was beginning to scare D.O a little. The other members didn't seem to notice, they were too focused on the dancing. D.O was beginning to lose his focus.

Once it was time for a break, everyone grabbed a bottle of water from the mini fridge. “Sure feels different without Chanyeol here.” Sehun said and then chugged his water. Everyone nodded and then there was silence. A silence no one wanted to break. The door opened, someone walked into the practice room. Everyone's eyes grew as they were speechless. “I'm here fools!” Chanyeol shouted. Suho smirked. “I thought you had a cold.” Suho said, tossing his bottle into the garbage. Chanyeol smiled and took out something from his jacket pocket.. “Cough drops, its all I need. You guys thought I was going to die or something, you silly fools.” Chanyeol said, shaking the bag of cough drops.

Silence filled the room as the members were still surprised to see Chanyeol standing before their eyes. “Guys, It's just a cold. I'll be fine, it must have looked a lot worse than it actually was.” Chanyeol said as he tossed his belongings to the side of the practice room, coughing a little. Chanyeol smiled as the other members just stared, finishing their bottles of water. “You all sure look like you just saw a ghost. Let's begin practice, shall we.” The other members broke themselves from their trance of confusion and began practice again.

Baekhyun glanced at Chanyeol throughout practice, wondering why he was here. Did he have something to prove? “He should be resting. This “Cold” might get worse.” Baek thought. Seeing Chanyeol today made him worry even more. Memories of last night flashed through his head, causing him to make a few mistakes. Chanyeol began glancing at Baek with a smile. The smile began to scare Baek. Why was he here?

Once practice was over, everyone went to do their own thing. Baek was left alone with Chanyeol and D.O. “Why didn't you go to the dorm to rest?” Baek asked in a loud voice. Chanyeol's eyes widened. “I thought you would be glad to see me.” Chanyeol replied. Baek rolled his eyes and then glanced at D.O, who was gathering his belongings. “I...I am, but you should be resting, this “Cold” could get worse.” Baek shouted. “Why are you so worried about me all of a sudden Baek?” Chanyeol said, tilting his head. Baek let out a sigh. “Cause I...I care about you, we all do. That shouldn't be a surprise to you.” Baek replied, trying to calm himself. D.O grabbed his things and turned to Baek and Chanyeol. “Should I leave you two alone?” D.O asked staring into Baek's eyes, taking Baek's breath away, making him unable to respond. Baek swallowed loudly. Chanyeol nodded. Baek looked at Chanyeol, then back at D.O and nodded. D.O smiled. “Baeky, why do you look so nervous? You're sweating.” Baek forced a small smile. “I'll be fine, go catch up with the others. I'll be with you once I'm done talking with Chanyeol.” Baek said in a mumbling voice. D.O gave Baek a concerned look and walked out of the practice room.

Baek turned to Chanyeol and was about to say something, but noticed Chanyeol staring at him and jumped. Chanyeol let out a laugh. “You look cute when your are surprised.” Chanyeol laughed. Baek gave him a mean look and turned away, folding his arms. “Why are you here?” Baek asked. Chanyeol gave Baek a confused look. “What do you mean?” Baek looked back at Chanyeol and got up close to him. “You want me, don't you? You see me with Kyungsoo and it hurts, I can tell. You went out in the freezing cold to cry about how much you want me. Why did you do that to yourself. I'm not worth it.” Baek's words echoed through the practice room.

Chanyeol stared at Baek with a look of shock. “I love you Chanyeol, but I am with Kyungsoo, I want to be with Kyungsoo.” Baek said as tears almost emerged from his eyes. “I don't want you to hurt yourself over me, I'm not worth it.” Baek cried. Chanyeol blinked several times and then took Baek into a comforting hug. “I understand Baeky, there's no need to cry. I have been selfish, I see that now. I should want whats the best for you as well, I shouldn't force anyone. But.... I still have feelings for you and... they won't just go away.” Chanyeol said softly. Tears fell from Chanyeol's eyes as they hugged, both filling the room with emotion as they released.

D.O looked through the door's glass, seeing them hug. He couldn't get himself to walk in, it wouldn't have been right. He wanted to give them their time. He glanced at the two, let out a sigh and began to walk back to the dorm, whistling.

“No more crying.” Baek said softly to himself, wiping away tears. Chanyeol did the same and forced himself to smile. “We still are best friends, right? Chanyeol asked, clearing his throat. Baek's eyes grew, “why wouldn't we be?” Baek said, nudging Chanyeol's shoulder.”Who else will I have to joke around with.” Baek laughed. Chanyeol put his hand on Baek's shoulder. “Shall we go have some Bubble tea as friends? Chanyeol asked. Their sadness vanished as if it never existed. All that remained was happiness.

The two walked to a nearby cafe, huddling close to keep warm. There breath visible, looking like they were smoking. “My lungs are going to freeze!” Chanyeol shouted as they made it to the cafe and quickly opened the door, The warmth of the cafe relaxed them as they found a table. “This is the same cafe D.O and I went to a few days ago. It's very warming here.” Baekhyun said, looking through the window. The two ordered their favorites and told jokes as they waited. Looking into each others eyes. Baek began to feel weird, he tried to cut away his gaze, but lost the fight. His feelings were winning and he was struggling not to show it.........To be continued.