Sunday.

So many things have happened on Sundays- the first real conversation with Baekhyun, being given the name “Chanyeol”, going to the landfill to meet Jongin and Sehun . . .

For the past weeks and months, he had always looked forward to Sundays. They promised bad jokes, bickering and a chance to see B- . . . but now Baekhyun was gone from his life and everything was back to normal.

He sighed and kicked a pebble down the street, wondering if he should go back to calling himself “Ten”. It's the name he'd been- and still was- responding to, but it felt wrong, as if his brain couldn't wrap itself around the three letters.

“Hey, Chanyeol!”

He jerked and spun around. “Hi, Jongin,” he greeted, putting a smile on his face as he waited for the other to catch up.

“Hey,” Jongin said again when he was close enough. “Going to the landfill today?”

Chanyeol wasn't planning on it, but he found himself saying yes anyway.

“Do you want me to go get Twelve?” he asked when they start walking.

The other didn't laugh, but sighed instead. “Chanyeol,” Jongin said, sounding more serious than he had ever heard him be. “Do you know about . . .”

“Yeah.”

The Entertainer sighed again. “What did he tell you?”

“Just that he's going to live with the Elite.”

“That's it?” Jongin exclaimed in disbelief.

“Yeah?” Was there more to be said?

“I can't believe it was so easy. They just let him go like that?” Jongin mumbled, talking to himself.

“Huh?”

Jongin glanced over. “Do you like him?” he asked. “Like, as in more than just friends?”

Chanyeol furrowed his brows at the sudden question. “I don't know,” he replied truthfully, chewing on his lower lip. “Sometimes, I feel like I do. But then I feel like maybe I was curious about him and then I felt . . . grateful? I don't know.”

Jongin chuckled dryly. “You know, he always called you a dumb poodle.”

“I guess that's kind of true,” Chanyeol replied, a hint of sadness tinging his smile. “But mostly I'm just a happy virus.”

The tanner boy's expression darkened at that. “A happy virus,” he echoed. “You know, when he told me he was leaving, I asked what about you.” Chanyeol blushed, despite everything. “And he said it's okay because you're always happy.”

“I told him I was happy for him.” Chanyeol's lower lip felt raw and he thought he tasted blood. “And I am, because I want the best for him, b-but it seems like I'm happy all the time, but I'm human too. It's not possible to always be happy." The blush on his cheeks died down. "This is probably kind of selfish, but I wish he could stay here. I don't like that I'll probably never see him again and what if he gets caught? I-”

“How is that selfish?” Chanyeol peeked at Jongin, who was staring straight ahead, fuming. “The only one who's selfish is that son of a ,” he spat.

They walked for two beats, their footsteps too loud in the silence. "He called me 'Kai'. That was the last thing he said to me," Jongin mumbled.

"Huh?" Chanyeol asked, glancing over.

"He called me Kai," Jongin said again, sounding frustrated. "I told him before that that's the name the Elites call me and that 'Jongin' is reserved for friends. It's like the part of me that those assers can't get to."

"Oh." Chanyeol didn't know how to respond, or if the other even wanted him to.

"But I guess it would be worse if he called me Eighty-eight."

There was nothing left to say and they walked, weighed down by the terse atmosphere.

Jongin suddenly stopped. Seemingly caught in his thoughts, he began walking again after a second, shaking his head and muttering, “, , .”

“What?” Chanyeol asked, worried.

“I still have to tell Sehun. He's not gonna take it well. ing .”

“He won't be mad at you,” Chanyeol tried awkwardly.

“No, he's going to feel abandoned again. , , .”

Chanyeol wanted to ask, but decided to wait for a better time. But maybe there's never a right time to ask those type of questions.

The rest of the walk was silent, save for Jongin's quiet cursing.

~ ~ ~

“Where's Baekhyun?” was the first thing Sehun said when he arrived and Chanyeol felt his heart squeeze a little. “Uh . . . Jongin?” Sehun asked worriedly, glancing at the two older boys.

“He left.”

“Baekhyun died?” Sehun asked in a voice that Chanyeol knew meant he was trying to lighten up the mood.

Jongin grimaced. “He left us. To go live with some Elite,” he forced out.

“Wait, what?”

“What don't you get? Goddammit, there's nothing else to say,” Jongin snapped. His expression immediately softened though when he glanced at Sehun. He pulled the younger into a hug, murmuring, “Sorry, but don't worry. I won't ever leave you. And Chanyeol won't either.”

He shot a glance over Sehun's head and Chanyeol quickly added, “Yeah, yeah. I won't leave.”

“I'm okay,” Sehun said, pushing Jongin back. “But seriously. I'm gonna beat his if I ever see him again for not even telling me.”

Chanyeol waited for Jongin to scold Sehun for the bad language, but it never came.

He left early- way before curfew- telling himself that Sehun and Jongin needed some alone time. But really, he just couldn't stand being there without Baekhyun. Everything felt so stifled and the walk home was so quiet and lonely too.

I hope you're happy now, Chanyeol thought.

I hope it's all worth it.

♔ A  u  t  h  o  r  '  s    N  o  t  e ♔

Chanyeol, you dumb . why are you so nice T_T