His fingers unclenched, slipping out of their rigid grip and now allowing his hands to shake freely, representing his current anxiety.

“You can’t give up and go home without taking at least some sort of risk…”

His chest noticeably rose and fell as he drew in a deep breath, resilience driving him forward and enabling him to take step after step after step until he was standing directly in front of the boy he’d desired ever since he was fourteen.

Sehun slowly, painstakingly turned to face him, tilting his head down so that he met Baekhyun’s gaze straight on. His tempting lips curved into a pleased, amiable smile before parting to question his presence.

Baekhyun was rooted to the spot, fear gradually stealing over his features as Sehun’s voice began to pierce the suddenly silent atmosphere.

“Hey, Baekhyun. What’s up?”

The greeting should have sounded friendly, and maybe it did, but Baekhyun took it to be a query as to why he was there at all.

‘What’s up?’ Or, rather… ‘Why are you here?’ You don’t belong here, Baekhyun. Go back to your corner.