It took Baekhyun exactly 3 hours, 46 minutes, and 27 seconds to finish getting ready for prom, the majority of that having consisted of standing in front of his bathroom mirror and assessing his appearance, wordlessly comparing himself to the boy he had desired for so long.

Baekhyun took one last glance at the mirror before deeming himself good to go.

As in, he wasn't going to look any better than he already did. He couldn't possibly amount to Sehun in looks- at least, not in his opinion- but he thought he looked pretty damn spiffy for someone who could generally be considered a wallflower.

"Oh, Baekhyun..." His mother exhaled slowly as soon as Baekhyun had come down the stairs, a delighted albeit slightly teasing smile growing on her rosy lips.

"You look fantastic! Who are you going with? That Sehun kid is kinda handsome..."

"Kinda!?" Baekhyun spluttered, appearing more than a little doubtful. He didn’t bother asking how his mother most definitely knew about his infatuation with Oh Sehun... she always seemed to know things he’d rather she didn’t.

Mrs. Byun shrugged her shoulders, now grinning cheekily. "Well, when compared to my Baekhyunnie, yeah. He can’t measure up to you."

Baekhyun scoffed- clearly believing otherwise- before pulling on his shoes and briefly embracing his mother.

"For your information, I'm actually going alone.”

Baekhyun didn’t mean to sound bitter, but that’s the way his words came across, and Mrs. Byun gazed after her son with a sympathetic expression on her face as he left the house, got into their shared vehicle, and sped away.

She could only hope for the best.

~

In contrast to the prolonged period of time taken to prepare for the damn thing, it only took a total of two minutes for Baekhyun to regret attending the prom at all.

He felt both incredibly out of place and unnoticed at the same time, getting jostled around as he attempted to make his way through the throngs of people and towards the table at the far end of the room which held a wide variety of drinks and an assortment of things to snack on.

He timidly lifted a single cup to his lips, eyes darting around the crowded room in search of the one and only face he had come to see.

Baekhyun spotted him in the center of a group of jocks- or jerks, as Baekhyun preferred to call them- head thrown back in laughter which had most definitely been in response to whatever joke his friends had just made.

His breath caught in his throat after witnessing an attractive cheerleader approach the boy he’d fallen for over the course of four dreadfully long years, unconsciously curling his small hands into tight fists as the girl undoubtedly requested for Sehun to dance with her.

He felt himself visibly relax as he watched Sehun shake his head while smiling gently down at the now crestfallen girl, obviously having turned her down. He was only graced with momentary relief, however, because seconds later he realized that this was likely the exact reaction he would earn if he were to ask Sehun the same question as well… the same question he had been preparing for months to ask in hopes of establishing some sort of connection with Oh Sehun before it was too late.

The courage he had accumulated over the days leading up to this dance slowly seeped away and was replaced with doubt- doubt concerning whether Sehun would consent to a dance, doubt as to whether he should even have come to the dance at all, doubt over whether he should remain in the room or if he should just take his leave now.

“Damn it, Baekhyun.” 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 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.

He couldn’t handle this. He had thought that he could, but he couldn’t. He just couldn’t face rejection, he could no longer look into Sehun’s understanding, beautiful warm eyes, and he most certainly couldn’t manage even answering the boy presently waiting patiently for a response.

That same fear crept up his throat before forming into words he hadn’t even thought he was capable of speaking.

Yes, the question he had planned so long to ask made its way past trembling lips, but sadly, they weren’t aimed at the person they should have been.

“Kris, will you dance with me?”

Baekhyun felt something akin to pride surge in his chest, but it just as quickly faded away when the towering Chinese-Canadian male replied simply, “No.”

Baekhyun fought to keep his disappointment from showing. Not only had he failed to ask the boy of his dreams to dance, but after deciding to ask someone else in hopes of a higher success rate- in hopes of earning a dance with at least somebody- he had failed even more tremendously.

He hastily spun on his heel before racing back to from where he had come, just as rapidly downing a drink before reaching for yet another.

If only it were alcoholic- Baekhyun certainly needed something to take his mind off of what had just transpired.

But yet again, he was out of luck.

~

“Can you believe that little asked me to dance?” Kris hissed, narrowed eyes fixating on the only boy who didn’t appear amused whatsoever at the little exchange which had just taken place.

“He obviously doesn’t know his place... I’ll show him.”

“Kris, don’t.”

Sehun stepped forward, outstretching an arm in hopes of catching hold of the other male but missing entirely.

He advanced at a quicker speed, but just at that moment, one of the latest hits boomed from the loudspeakers, and everyone converged in the middle of the room to collectively move to the beat.

In consequence, the crowd closed in around Kris’s retreating form and blocked Sehun from making any significant progress.

He cursed loudly, not caring any longer if he maintained his prestigious image as he all but shoved people aside, only focused on reaching Baekhyun before his douche of a teammate did something despicable.

Of course, it was all for naught. Sehun had just barely broken through the mass of students when he became witness to the horrific sight of Kris snatching the plastic cup right out of Baekhyun’s pretty fingers and dumping it over the unsuspecting boy’s head.

A collective gasp could be heard by the surrounding observers, but Sehun paid them no mind. All he could see was Baekhyun collapsing to his knees, head turned down to hide eyes most certainly filled with hurt, shock, and traces of tears.

Sehun darted forward to grip Kris by the shoulder, hauling him back and spinning him around before letting his fist connect with the boy’s smirking, self-satisfied face.

Kris followed Baekhyun to the floor, the faintest hint of red trickling down from his nose and passing over lips held wide open in complete and utter disbelief.

“You… you punched me!” He whispered, disbelief morphing into hatred as Sehun ignored him in favor of attending to the boy currently on the verge of a breakdown.

“Hey,” He murmured, kneeling down before cupping Baekhyun’s moist face in his large hands and tilting his head up so that he could look into his eyes. “You okay?”

It was a ridiculous and unnecessary question, seeing as droplets of juice were currently cascading down from the boy’s scal