Chapter 42

“What do you mean?” You heard your own voice quiver.

Kyungsoo was trying his best to find the right words to say when the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and students were already making their way back to class. He sighed and shook his head before taking your hand and leading you out of the cafeteria.

“Listen, I think you should ask him yourself about this. I-I don’t think I’m the right person for you to hear this from.” He said in a hushed tone.

Back in class you couldn’t get your mind off of it. Abandoned by his family? That didn’t make sense. Why would they abandon their own son? You then realized that there were still a lot more things about Chanyeol that you didn’t know. All these while you thought the two of you were closer than before but you still didn’t have any clues about his family except the little stuff about his adopted younger brother. You turned your head to look at the sleeping giant beside you; his carefree sleeping face didn’t look like someone who just got abandoned by his entire family.

Hold on a minute, isn’t it just a rumor? Am I thinking too much about this?

But Kyungsoo’s face, and the way he told you about it, was too serious for it to be just a joke or a rumor. Maybe you should ask him about it. If it was true that it was just a rumor, you’re sure he wouldn’t mind, right? And if it was true, then maybe, the both of you would become closer. You’ll find out more about his life. He knew almost everything about you, but you? You don’t even know what his favorite color was. You decided to ask him after school, since the both of you had shifts at the café that night.

The final bell of the day rang and the both of you made your way out of school together and headed for the café. Chanyeol was humming a happy tune with his hands in the front pocket of his pants while you were busy thinking of how to bring the issue up. You couldn’t just flat out and ask him about being abandoned by his family. And plus, his happy and smiling face was making it hard for you to ask him. You didn’t want to ruin his mood, let alone be on bad terms with him again right after the both of you had already forgotten about the previous issue. You sighed and decided to ask him another time.

“Yo Bacon what’s up? Is Sehun here?” Chanyeol chimed as the both of you walked into the crowded café.

Baekhyun shook his head and looked suspiciously at you while Chanyeol headed to the back room to get changed into the café’s uniform. He raised his eyebrows and gave you a look.

“So, where did the dead and lifeless Chanyeol yesterday? Did something good happen to him last night when he sent you home? Oh my god, did the both of you sleep together—“

Before he could finish his sentence, you covered threw a dirty rag at his face. He laughed and raised his arms in surrender.

“We didn’t anything last night except talk okay? Control your imaginations you freak.” You said to him and smiled. You didn’t plan on telling him about the kiss. He’d tease you about it and it’d just be annoying. There was something you wanted to ask him though.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” You asked him while looking at the back door to make sure Chanyeol wasn’t listening.

Baekhyun looked at you in surprised and scoffed. “What’s this? The ice princess has finally decided to start a conversation with me first. I am honored.” He bowed his head a little in sarcasm.

You rolled your eyes but continued to ask anyway. “Was there…was there any rumors going around about Chanyeol?” You looked at him and saw that his smile disappeared and he looked a little irritated.

“I think you should ask him about that yourself Hae Ra. I’m his best friend and I think this kind of stuff, it’s better for you to ask him yourself. I think you should go to the back and change soon. Your shift is starting.” He said coldly and walked away.

You clicked your tongue and sighed.

Maybe he’s right…I’m being too impatient about this. I should ask him when the time is right. And judging from Baekhyun’s reaction, I think the rumor might be true.

You shook the thoughts from your head and headed to the back to change into your uniform before starting your shift.

You were eating lunch at the rooftop the next day. Kyungsoo wasn’t in school because apparently Mr. Do wanted to teach him the ropes of their company as soon as possible as your marriage date was getting closer. You went home last night with your mother congratulating you on the wedding date. It was set to happen right after your graduation. You sighed at the thought. You really need to do something about it without causing a big controversy and scandal to both companies.

Just then you heard the door to the roof open and a loud voice.

“Hae Ra! Why didn’t you tell me you were eating here! I’ve been looking everywhere for you. I thought you were with the little runt.” Chanyeol’s voice boomed as he smiled and sat beside you. Just like old times, he handed you a carton of milk while taking out a roll of kimbab and taking a bite from it.

You laughed and shook your head. “He’s not a little runt Chanyeol. Don’t be so mean. And nope, it’s me alone today. Kyungsoo’s not in school today.”

“Really? That’s good then.” He said beside you.

You raised your eyebrows. “Why is that—“

You turned to look at him to know what he meant by what he said but instead you were greeted by a short peck on the lips from him. He withdrew his lips from yours and smiled goofily before continuing to take a bit from his lunch.

Your eyes widened as you sat there stunned by what just happened. You felt your cheeks burning in embarrassment and turned away to look around you. The first thing that came into your mind was if anyone else saw what happened. When you noticed that there was no one who could’ve seen what happened, you slapped Chanyeol on his shoulder.

“H—Hey what was that for?!” Your voice shook and you covered your lips with the back of your hand.

Chanyeol chuckled in delight as he looked at you. “A surprise kiss.”

You felt your face getting hotter. You couldn’t believe he just said something so corny. Suddenly, you didn’t have the strength to touch your lunch. You just wanted to crawl into a cave and never come out. He totally caught you off guard and acting like it’s normal.

How can he be so calm about this!? And it’s not even the first time.

Thoughts were flooding your mind. Does he like you? Wait, of course he does. You remembered what he said to you when the both of you were in the Ferris wheel. I think I like you.... So it’s true then? But then again, do you even like him that way? It’s true that he stole your first kiss and made you smile like an idiot by yourself whenever you think about it. But do you really love him? Love. Something so familiar yet so distant to you. And you still don’t know anything about his life. Maybe you could use that chance to ask him subtly about it?

“Can I ask you something?” You tried to sound casual.

Chanyeol nodded without suspecting anything. “Yeah, you can ask me anything you want.”

“Um, what’s…what’s your favorite color?”

That’s right Hae Ra. Start with the simple questions first.

Chanyeol paused whatever he was doing and looked at you with an amused smile. “That’s not what I expected. Why do you want to know such a minor thing about me?” He crumpled the used wrapper from his kimbab and tossed it into the trashcan nearby but missed.

You shrugged your shoulders and stretched your legs that seemed to have gone numb from sitting on the floor for too long.

“I feel like I don’t know much about you. And you know quite a lot about me so that’s unfair for me don’t you think?”

Chanyeol put a thinking face for a few seconds and nodded in agreement.

“I guess you do have a point. Why not I list out some things about myself that’d be faster right?”

You nodded and he scratched his head, deep in thought. “Let’s see now. Where do I start…”

After that, Chanyeol started to list down minor stuff about himself. His favorite color was surprisingly black. You expected him to like a bright color which was more suited to his personality. His birthday was in November, which was coming in a few more months, he could play multiple instruments such as the drums, guitar, the bass and djembe. He was also casted to be a child actor once but refused because he wasn’t the type who loves attention.

After hearing all the minor detail about him, you felt a little closer to him, except for the fact that you still had no idea about his family. Couldn’t bear the thought of not knowing anymore, you decided to be straightforward about it and ask. He did say that you could ask him anything.

“What about your family? You know mine, now I want to know yours.” You noticed how his face stiffened for a while before a nervous smile appeared on his face.

“Why would you want to know anything about my family? I told you about my brother Tao right?” He was starting to get restless but you pressed on.

“What about your parents? What kind of person are they? Do you still keep in touch with them?”

You suddenly remembered a similar conversation you had with him at the café. He was the heir to the company but he didn’t want to be. Why was that? It’s too early for you to know short stuff…That was what he said before but since the both of you were closer now, it should be okay for him to open up about it right? Heck, the both of you even kissed! He should be able to talk about it. You looked at Chanyeol and he was already lost in his thoughts.

Maybe I shouldn’t have asked him.

Just as you were about to apologize he opened his mouth to speak. “I guess you’re curious about the rumor too huh? Wow, news sure do travel fast in this school.” He let out a half-hearted laugh.

“You don’t have to tell me if you’re not okay talking about it.” You said.

Chanyeol shook his head and smiled kindly at you. “It’s only fair for me to tell you. I told you, you can ask me anything you want.” He played with your hair before clearing his throat.

“Just so you know, my family didn’t abandon me. I left them. Why? Well, like I said before, I didn’t want to be the next heir to my family’s company.  I told them that before I entered middle school and my dad got angry so he stopped sending me to school for the whole of my middle school years. I missed years of school.” He said in his deep voice.

You kept quiet and listened intently. Chanyeol was finally opening up to you about his family and you felt happy. Finally, you felt as though you really knew who he was.

“Instead, I started studying all the high school material since I was bored at home and had nothing to do.”

“Wait, wait. You studied ahead even before you entered high school?!” You said in shock and Chanyeol laughed while nodding his head.

Is that why he’s damn smart?! It was a lost battle for me to begin with…

“Anyway, when I heard you were attending this school, I just had to go back. I begged my parents to send me to school, only for this year, our graduating year just so I could see you. And here I am now, sitting beside you in class and having lunch together with you.” While he said that, he lovingly looked at you and you cursed yourself for having such a weak heart. But you snapped out of it and looked at him firmly.

“Hold on, you begged your parents to let you back into school because you wanted to see me? I didn’t even know you existed before we met! Why would you want to see me?” You folded your arms.

Chanyeol chuckled, as if he knew what you were about to ask and pointed his finger at you.

“We’ve met before Hae Ra. Come on, I thought you’d remember.” He pouted and pretended to be upset.

You tried your best not to crack your own head open while you think about when you could’ve met him.

This is useless. I can’t think of anything! Is he sure he met me? He must’ve gotten the wrong person.

Looking at how hard you were trying to remember, Chanyeol sighed and decided to tell you.

“Come on, try to remember. Twelve years ago. Airport. Crying boy. Bruised knee.” He said before taking out something from his school blazer and waving the object in front of your face.

Your eyes widened and your heart stopped beating for a second when you saw what he was holding. It was your grandmother’s napkin. Your favorite napkin; the one you thought you had lost a few years ago. You slowly turned your head to face him. He was smiling brightly at you; small wrinkles appeared at the outer corners of his eyes.

It’s him. It’s the crying boy from the airport I was searching for on that day. The day when Appa…

Just then, you felt a throbbing pain in your head and darkness started to cloud your eyes. You were starting to lose your strength and you could see the horrified look on Chanyeol’s face. You heard his voice but it wasn’t clear. You felt the darkness pulling you in. You tried to fight it but it was too strong and the pain throbbing in your head was starting to get worse. The word Appa managed to escape your lips before you surrendered, finally letting the darkness take over.