Baekhyun has always been a discreet and quiet boy. Lunchbox in front of him, chopsticks in his right hand and book in his left, he spends lunchtime at his desk instead of joining the swarm of little bodies walking excitedly toward the cafeteria where they will fill up their empty stomaches before afternoon classes start.

Even though the petite boy is aware of the fact that his middle school classmates think he’s hard to approach, Baekhyun never does anything in order for them to think otherwise. He never tries to integrate the rest of the group and yet, he doesn’t feel bad because he’s totally fine on his own. Therefore, he simply admits that they’re right.

However, more than once during these sixty minutes of free time, the petite boy contemplates abandoning his book and joining his classmates in the cafeteria but, every time, he reminds himself that he doesn’t mind the silence of the classroom, so he goes back to eating and reading alone.

 

.:.

 

Baekhyun is 11 years old when he realizes that he isn’t normal. On the first day of his summer vacation, the boy walks out of his house, schooldbag on his back and hands holding its straps tightly. He takes a right turn and heads for the library, a happy bounce in his steps.

Hopefully, when he’ll get there, the kind librarian who always helps him find the books he’s looking for will tell him that The Little Prince is now available for him to borrow. The simple thought of him finally being able to read Saint-Exupéry’s book has him floating in a bubble that no one can pop. Or so he thinks, because his bubble bursts and Baekhyun falls right on his when a boy comes out of the neighbourhood’s park and accidentally bumps into him while running after a girl.

Still on the ground, Baekhyun lets out a small groan because of the pain spreading in his bottom. Eyes shut in order to concentrate on mentally suppressing the pain, he doesn’t notice the girl who’s crouching in front of him and doesn’t hear her asking him if he’s okay either.

When the girl doesn’t get any reaction or answer from Baekhyun, the boy who bumped into him kindly pushes her to the side to take a look at the damage he has caused. He scans Baekhyun’s body quickly and releases a sigh of relief when he notices that the latter isn’t bleeding and doesn’t have scratches. With a relieved smile, he holds out his hand to help Baekhyun stand up.

When Baekhyun looks up to see whose hand it is, he sees big eyes, big ears and an equally big smile. The boy’s face seems familiar, but he can’t seem to put a name on it. He sees the other’s mouth opening and closing, tries to make out the words that the taller boy is saying, but he can’t. He doesn’t hear anything but the loud beat his heart creates by drumming violently against his ribcage.

Baekhyun’s doesn’t hurt anymore, but his heart does. The smaller boy feels as if his heart is going to leap out of his chest at any moment. Freaking out, beads of sweat roll down his face because what if he caught some weird disease? Baekhyun really hopes he didn’t.

One thing’s for sure – something’s wrong with him and the tall boy in front of him is the only one who can cure him. After all, he caught the said disease the moment he laid his eyes on the large-eared boy.

…

One of his hands still held out, Chanyeol apologizes for bumping into the petite boy whose face is hidden by his bangs. The latter lifts his head up and Chanyeol recognizes him instantly. It’s Baekhyun, the number one kid in his class.

Chanyeol believes that Baekhyun must also be the best when it comes to staring contests because, from the moment their gazes locked with each other’s, Chanyeol’s big almond-shaped eyes blinked at least ten times already, while Baekhyun’s eyes didn’t even blink once.

Time flies incredibly fast and the older boy is still watching him with round eyes, unblinking and unmoving, with his still glued to the ground. Baekhyun wears an expression that Chanyeol can’t decipher and it scares him. The taller boy starts to sweat profusely because he’s convinced that the hard physical contact between the two of them resulted in the smaller losing some of his intelligence. Or rather all of it, because the petite boy keeps looking at him creepily, surely trying to drill some holes in his head for knocking him down.

(Years later, with a couple of inches added to his height and grey cells to his brain, Chanyeol realizes that Baekhyun’s expression back then wasn’t the one of a creeper, but the one of a person who’s head over heels in love.)

…

Baekhyun snaps out of it when he feels a little tap on his shoulder. Feeling the embarrassment and heat creep up his face, he scrambles to his feet and dusts his beige shorts briefly. The little boy once again secures the straps of his schoolbag in his tiny hands before running off, ignoring the two other kids’ shouts of Are you really okay? and I’m sorry!.

Twelve seconds later and fifty meters farther, Baekhyun stops his sprint at the red stoplights in order to catch his breath. Slowly and hesitantly, he takes a look behind him and it’s a shame because Baekhyun can’t see Chanyeol’s features very well from his current spot. However, even if the distance separating the two of them doesn’t allow him to admire Chanyeol’s cute features, Baekhyun clearly sees the taller kid raising his right hand in the air before waving it at him.

Half a second is all it takes for Baekhyun’s normally pale cheeks to turn into an adorable shade of pink. Not knowing how to react, he turns back around quickly, ready to run again when he sees a white traffic light man instead of a flashing orange hand.

One day is all it takes for 11 years old Baekhyun to forget about Chanyeol making his heart go thump thump.

 

.:.

 

Baekhyun’s now a 16 years old high schooler and his social situation at school is pretty much the same as before. Although he still doesn’t interact much with other students, Kim Jongdae is the unique exception to the rule. Baekhyun doesn’t exactly know what he found appealing in the cat-mouthed boy’s personality – perhaps he liked how Jongdae approached him during the school’s opening ceremony despite his cold appearance or how the boy easily introduced himself by whispering into his ear as if they have always been close buddies – but he perfectly remembers having this weird feeling that they would grow to understand each other very well.

From day one, Baekhyun and Jongdae are always seen together. Where one goes, the other follows. Obviously, in a building where hormonal teenagers flock by hundreds, rumors spread at the speed of light and nicknames are inevitably given. Even if the two boys consider themselves as each other’s good friend, male students call them triple x buddies (because apparently, two guys can’t be that close unless they’re watching some together), while female students call them JongBaek, JB or even lovebirds. Teachers also join the trend by calling the male duo top 2 since Baekhyun scored full points in his midterms, assuring him the number one spot in their school year, while Jongdae got the second place, four points behind Baekhyun.

 

.:.

 

On a certain Monday afternoon, the bell rings and dictates the end of the classes. Baekhyun grabs his belongings – notebooks, pencil case and schoolbag – gets up from his chair and says goodbye to Jongdae, who was called to the teachers’ office because of his student council president duties, before making his way to the library. Final exams are approaching and if the small boy wants to keep his number one position, he’ll have to work for it and concentrate on his studies. However, these days, some things are distracting him.

To be honest, Jongdae is all he can think about and to top it all, his emotions are going haywire. Baekhyun can’t even find the right words to explain the situation correctly but, from the moment he met Jongdae, there has always been this strange feeling of comfort coming out from his best friend. When they’re together, Baekhyun feels completely at ease and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t like that sensation.

Moreover, something’s telling him that he can count on Jongdae and put his entire trust in him because the latter will always be there for Baekhyun. And that’s what scares him the most. They haven’t known each other for that long and yet, the number one student already feels this strongly about the student council president.

Still on his way toward the library, Baekhyun loses himself in his thoughts.

 

Do I like Jongdae?

How do I know if I really like him when I’ve never liked someone before?

Wait. I think I’ve liked someone before.

 

Baekhyun vaguely remembers liking a kid of his age when he was 11 years old, but that’s it. Nothing else, not even a name or anything.

As he climbs the stairs, the petite boy tries digging up his memories. His efforts are futile though, so Baekhyun comes to the conclusion that his first crush must not have been really important since he never forgets important things. Oh well, the details of his first love will forever remain unknown.

Baekhyun is about to turn around the corner when he bumps into a hard chest. A soft groan leaves his mouth and his right hand goes to his hurt nose, gently rubbing it in order to dissipate the pain. When the petite boy looks up, he sees big eyes, big ears and an equally big smile. There’s a familiar feeling, a kind of secretive déjà vu.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going. Are you okay?” the tall boy asks.

Baekhyun watches the other boy’s mouth as it opens and closes, but doesn’t hear a word he says for all he can hear is the wild pounding coming from the left side of his chest.

 “Uh… hi.” Baekhyun says lamely. It’s the first thing that comes to his mind and he’s perfectly aware of the fact that he sounds more than painfully stupid, but he can’t help it, not when his heart won’t cooperate with his brain.

“Hi to you too. I’m Park Chanyeol by the way.” The other boy replies swiftly before a low chuckle escapes his lips.

Baekhyun inwardly thanks his heart for finding a pace that allows him to understand what the other male is telling him. Even though he’s only heard it twice, the smaller boy swears that he could get drunk with Park Chanyeol’s voice. And judging from his next words, he probably already is.

“I’m Byun Baekhyun. Will you go out with me?”

There’s a short silence before Baekhyun hears Chanyeol’s reply to his impulsive confession.

“I know.” Chanyeol says with a smile on his face. “And yes, it would be my pleasure.”

Upon hearing the taller boy’s positive answer, tons of rainbows and unicorns pop up from Baekhyun’s imagination, light up his world and mercilessly kill the question that came up in the smaller’s head when he heard the first part of Chanyeol’s reply. Baekhyun’s previous thoughts about Jongdae also die in the back of his mind, pierced from all sides by the imaginary unicorns’ horn.

 

.:.

 

The next day, Jongdae finds himself seated at his usual desk, displeasure clear and obvious thanks to the scrunched up features of his face. Aside from the fact that he woke up late and had to take an ice-cold shower since his other family members used up all the hot water, two main reasons can explain the president’s current rotten mood.

First, Jongdae always dreaded the day when the things he despises the most would join forces to annoy the hell out of him and apparently, that day seemed to be today.

When Jongdae stepped on school grounds after passing through the front gates, he already knew that he would soon have to deal with a heavy headache. In front of him, female students were crazily running in every direction while shouting some stupid nonsense that sounded like Oh my god, the jock and the school nerd are dating! or ChanBaek is so cute!. Jongdae tried to block all the high-pitched screams by covering his ears, but it was too late. The last words he heard were haunting him to no end and even if his head was spinning, he tried to understand what was going on.

 

ChanBaek is so cute!

Huh?

ChanBaek is so cute?

ChanBaek?

Isn’t it JongBaek?

Wait, wait, wait.

Who the heck is this Chan- person who stole my precious spot?!

 

Kim Jongdae’s mental hate list includes girls, yapping and noise. The boy used to swear that he’d prefer getting shot in the head three times instead of fighting against these strong evil forces but, this time only, he convinced himself that he can’t die yet, for he has to kick that Chan- person’s to the other side of the planet and get these foolish fujoshi girls to scream JongBaek all over the place again, so he tightly grabbed his schoolbag’s straps and stomped his way toward his classroom where he’d wait for Baekhyun’s arrival.

Second, there’s a certain Park Chanyeol whom Jongdae learned to hate the instant he heard the other boy’s name.

Still alive after the noisy catastrophe in front of the school, Jongdae finally reached his classroom and slammed the door open, shocking every student inside. Not paying attention to his poor classmates who just survived a mini heart attack, his eyes instantly scanned the place in hopes of finding his best friend, but they didn’t find him. The president released a frustrated sigh, then a sad and dejected Guys, I’m sorry for slamming the door earlier came out from his mouth before he lowered his head and walked up to his desk. He let his schoolbag fall to the floor and sat on his chair with his shoulders slumped, silently hoping that Baekhyun would come soon and tell him that the rumors weren’t true, that everyone was spouting nonsense.

As if he heard Jongdae’s wish, Baekhyun appeared through the door of the classroom and walked in. Jongdae’s mind was running wild. He was looking for the right words to say, the bold questions to ask or to keep to himself. His thoughts suddenly died when he heard some annoying girls in his class squeak out He’s going out with Chanyeol! and Aww, so lucky! I’ve had my eyes on Chanyeol for a while! with their irritating voices.

Jongdae immediately understood that they were talking about the popular basketball player Park Chanyeol and the news pissed him off more than anything because the said boy was everything that he wasn’t. He was tall and… that’s about it. Chanyeol was too tall and Jongdae was too small, so small that he’d have to break his neck in order to look at the other boy in the eyes. Even though Jongdae was smart, charming and handsome, his only weakness dragged everything else down and his pride wouldn’t have it.

The cat-mouthed boy, who always believed that rumors had some truth to them, discarded the idea of getting information out of Baekhyun. Instead, he decided to solve the problem and get rid of the eyesore by himself. From then on, something like Park Chanyeol, you’re going down! was written all over Jongdae’s face and steam was practically coming out of his red ears.

…

Baekhyun supposes that someone heard Chanyeol and him talking in the corridor the day before because as soon as he sets a foot in his classroom, he hears little squeals coming from a group of female students, along with barely audible sentences such as He’s going out with Chanyeol! and Aww, so lucky! I’ve had my eyes on Chanyeol for a while!, followed by some sobs. He sighs, because he guesses that the fujoshi girls in his class, who shipped JB as hard as hard rock or heavy metal, will now turn the page and move on to ChanBaek or CB or something along those lines.

A quick side-glance thrown in Jongdae’s direction tells Baekhyun that his friend isn’t all too pleased this morning. The number one student blames it on Jongdae’s usual all-nighter of video games while shaking his head slightly in disapproval and making his way to his desk. His left hand goes up to his face to rub the sleep out of his eyes and his right one does a lazy wave to Jongdae.

Instead of waiting for his accomplice’s morning greeting that probably won’t come judging by the sour expression he’s wearing right now, Baekhyun slumps into his uncomfortable plastic chair, rests his head on his folded arms, closes his sleepy eyes and tries to get the most sleep he can get out of the four short minutes left before the bell rings and announces the beginning of his boring Korean History class.

 

.:.

 

Much to Jongdae’s displeasure, his best friend spends most of his time with his worst enemy. It’s inevitable and Jongdae’s perfectly aware of that because the honeymoon phase of dating consists of clinging, cuddling and sticking to each other at all times. Jongdae knows that and yet, seeing his crush doing all that romantic stuff with a boy other than himself inevitably frustrates him. And above all, it inevitably hurts him.

 

.:.

 

It’s been a week since Baekhyun and Chanyeol have started dating. It’s also been a week since Jongdae has been tossed to the side like an old toy that’s been abandoned by its owner, who went playing with a more sophisticated coloured piece of plastic. Jongdae hates the comparison and yet, he can’t do anything about it. He should have taken care and loved each and every one of his toys when he was a kid.

Jongdae never realized how long a week actually is and he curses his momentary stupidity because isn’t it obvious? A week is composed of seven days, a day contains twenty-four hours, an hour equals sixty minutes. Therefore, a week lasts ten thousand and eighty hours. The fact is too logical to be unknown, so how can he not have realized it before?

Or maybe the truth is that he never realized how long a week actually is before he lost Baekhyun to some giant basketball freak. Being away from the little ray of sunshine that lighted up his life for such a long time felt absolutely awful. In Jongdae’s mind, it was raining endlessly. It was raining tears that never escaped his watery eyes.

Yeah, that must be it, the president thinks while walking aimlessly around school. Baekhyun left a hole in his everyday life and cracks all over his once solid, but now fragile heart.

In fact, Jongdae’s heart was shocked by the news of Baekhyun and Chanyeol dating, but still fought the idea of giving up without trying and pumped furiously, fueled by the strong desire to win his crush back.

At first, the cat-mouthed boy stood by the sidelines and observed the new couple’s progression. If luck was on his side, Baekhyun would eventually get bored of Chanyeol and break up with him. However, as the days passed, Jongdae analyzed Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s genuine smiles and saw how their eyes would be reduced to happy crescents whenever the two of them spent time together.

Soon enough, the brokenhearted boy came to the conclusion that Baekhyun and Chanyeol made a great pair. They looked like they were having fun together and Jongdae sure as hell wasn’t wicked enough to get in between them and ruin their relationship.

Although feeling a bit reluctant, Jongdae decides that today is the day he will finally give up on Baekhyun.

However, when he sees Chanyeol at the end of the corridor, he can’t stop the jealousy that’s boiling inside of him like an awoken volcano’s red hot lava. Clenching his fists until his knuckles turn white, Jongdae makes his way toward the other boy with angry steps, eager to give him a piece of his mind.

 

.:.

 

Even though Jongdae’s tiny compared to him, Chanyeol has always been afraid of him. Not only is he incredibly smarter than him, he’s also Baekhyun’s right hand and the basketball player knows better than to mess with him.

Ever since he started dating Baekhyun, Chanyeol feels goosebumps rise on his skin whenever the three of them spend some time together. He has a feeling that Jongdae doesn’t like him all that much, so he searches his memories for something that he might have done to the other boy in the past, but doesn’t find anything.

Surely, Chanyeol’s memory isn’t the best one there is out there, but he’s convinced that he doesn’t have the guts to hurt a single fly, so how could he even dare to hurt a fellow human being?

Now that Jongdae is backing him to a wall in a corridor that isn’t frequently used, Chanyeol prays for his life. At the moment, what scares him the most about his boyfriend’s best friend is the look he’s giving him. Chanyeol sees a mix of anger, despair and hatred in Jongdae’s eyes. He wants to help him get rid of these feelings but he once again has a bad feeling telling him that he’s the one who’s currently making Jongdae’s life a torture.

“H-Hey, J-Jongdae. H-Hi.”

“Hey to you too. What’s up Chanyeol?”

“Uh, n-nothing much?”

“Nothing much?”

“Y-Yeah?”

“Nothing much?!” Jongdae screams and Chanyeol feels his heart jump right out of his ribcage.

“You dating the one I like is nothing much maybe?!”

The giant’s eyes widen in comprehension. , I get it now, he thinks.

Chanyeol believes that only two possibilities can explain Jongdae’s next words. One, his eyes must give his thoughts away. Two, Jongdae is able to read people’s minds. Chanyeol goes with number one.

“, you get it now, huh? It was about time, you bastard. I know that jocks are all muscles and no brains but still, how can you be so dense?” Jongdae hisses.

The smaller boy guesses that Chanyeol is too shocked to say anything, so he continues.

“From day one! I’ve liked Baekhyun from the moment I laid my eyes on him during the opening ceremony! And you, what about you? You pop up from nowhere, bump into Baekhyun and start dating him just like that?! You really have no – oof!”

Jongdae feels something bump into him from the back and his next words are forever stuck in his mouth for his lips are smashed against Chanyeol’s.

Three pairs of eyes widen simultaneously. Jongdae pushes Chanyeol away and curses his slow reflexes while the latter rubs his own lips with the back of his hand. Not even a second later, Jongdae snaps his head toward the cause of this whole disaster and sees the guilty school janitor whose right hand holds a wet mop while his left one holds a small device connected to earphones that are blasting music.  

Jongdae inwardly curses the stupid device for distracting the janitor during work hours. He wants to grab it and throw it on the floor or in the water fountain but instead, with fierce and menacing eyes, he glares at the janitor, who immediately runs away from the crime scene while muttering apologies.

…

Baekhyun is confident in his brains, not in himself. That’s why, when he sees Jongdae and Chanyeol kissing in that corridor that practically no one uses, he believes that the two brilliantly chose that remote place in order to avoid any interruptions during their private moment, to avoid Baekhyun himself. He doesn’t think about them fighting over him. That idea doesn’t even cross his mind once. Not at all.

 

.:.

 

Chanyeol doesn’t know what to do anymore. It’s been one week, four days, eight hours, eleven minutes and twenty-seven seconds since his boyfriend last talked to him. He’s never been a man of precision, always missing a couple of degrees or millimeters here and there when tracing triangles during his geometry exams in junior high, but now, he’s been diligently keeping track of the time they spent away from each other.

Time passes too quickly to his liking and it’s driving him crazy. The tall boy can’t help but want to smash the old clock currently resting on his bedside table, hoping that it’ll stop its hands from moving second after second, minute after minute and hour after hour.

At this very moment, Chanyeol is supposed to be preparing himself for his first date with his petite boyfriend. Or so he wishes, because without hearing it directly, he simply knows that their date has been cancelled from the day his boyfriend started giving him the cold shoulder. Therefore, on this early Saturday morning, the jock’s body lies lifelessly on his bed while hundreds of what if’s pop up in his head, earning him a headache. What a way to start the day.

After spending thirty-three long minutes trying to find a comfortable position in which he hoped he could visit Dreamland, Chanyeol gives up and gets up only to sit back down on his bed, elbows resting on his thighs and hands supporting the weight of his throbbing head. He wants to turn back time and relive the past few days in order to catch what he’s been missing all along and possibly fix whatever’s wrong.

Desperate and frustrated, he grabs the old clock with his left hand while the right one reaches at the back, searching for the T-shaped handle. Between his thumb and index, the handle rolls and rolls. Soon, the boy heaves a sigh of relief when the clock shows “Mon”, “23”, “Jun” through three square-shaped holes. He contemplates his work a little while longer before laughing at his foolishness.

It takes him an awfully long time to spin back the handle to “Sat”, “5”, “Jul”.

…

Truth to be said, Baekhyun didn’t only stop talking to Chanyeol. The 174cm tall boy went as far as doing everything he could do in order to avoid the giant, because Chanyeol sure as hell did not sign up for such a cold treatment. Moreover, the younger boy tried more than many times to get a hold of his boyfriend, in vain.  Baekhyun always managed to slip through his fingers, like sand in an hourglass.

…

Chanyeol wishes he won’t have to wait another minute before finally seeing as much as a glimpse of Baekhyun, or hearing as much as a simple word from him. However, judging by the noisy ticks and tocks that resonate in his room, he understands that his wish won’t be granted any time soon.

The basketball player perfectly knows that Time stops for no one, but his shoulders still slump helplessly when he sees the watch hands completing a first three-sixty degrees, then a second, a third and so on. In a blink of an eye, seconds become minutes, minutes become hours and hours become days.

Chanyeol swears that he’s never felt this empty before.

 

.:.

 

Baekhyun doesn’t know what to do anymore. He tried getting his mind off of the unpleasant situation he witnessed almost two weeks ago, but always failed to. Be it homework, projects, video games or anything else, flashbacks of that disagreeable scene keep popping up in his head, successfully invading his thoughts like poison spreading through his body. The petite boy doesn’t like being this moody, but he really can’t help it when it comes to his first love.

Today’s Saturday the 5^th of July, the planned day for their first date. But it’s not anymore, not after what Baekhyun saw with his own eyes. On this Saturday July 5^th, Baekhyun starts his weekend rolled up in his bed sheets like a sushi in algae. He rolls, rolls and rolls before violently falling on the floor of his room, pitifully dragging himself to the bathroom to see the monster’s that he’s become after a night’s worth of ugly crying. The rest of his weekend consists of him bawling his eyes out and drowning himself in his salty tears.

 

.:.

 

When Monday morning comes, Baekhyun gets up from his bed feeling like crap. He prepares himself at the speed of a walking turtle while mentally preparing himself to carry on with his avoid-the-giant-idiot-at-all-costs mission for another day.

As if God took pity on him and decided to lighten his hardships, morning classes aren’t too tiring and they pass by rather quickly.

The top student spends lunchtime in class with Jongdae in order to not bump into Chanyeol. Normally, he would scold his friend for eating bibimbap like an ogre who’s dying of hunger but, right now, he doesn’t have the strength to reprimand the other boy for his bad manners. Even though he’s hungry and the jajangmyeon in front of him looks delicious, Baekhyun has no appetite whatsoever, so he silently picks at his food.

…

On the other side of the desk, Jongdae stops stuffing rice into his mouth for a while and looks at Baekhyun with worried eyes. According to him, there’s a possibility that Chanyeol already told Baekhyun that Jongdae’s in love with the latter, so he watches his best friend in order to find some hint that will confirm his thoughts, but finds nothing interesting other than the fact that Baekhyun looks like the living dead.

After a few minutes of silent eating, the cat-mouthed boy chuckles out loud because even if Baekhyun is the top student, he’s still such a fool. Baekhyun might be restraining himself from seeing Chanyeol for his sake (and don’t get him wrong, Jongdae thinks that’s really admirable of Baekhyun to do so), but that doesn’t change anything to the fact that Baekhyun and Chanyeol both like each other. Hell, even a blind person could see that, so Jongdae accepts the outcome and decides to really back off this time.

After all, who is he to interfere in their lives when they’re already head over heels in love with each other? Furthermore, Jongdae’s convinced that he’ll eventually find someone who’ll be willing to accept all of his heart. He'll be someone's ing first choice someday, right?

With the ends of his chopsticks, he playfully taps Baekhyun’s cheek to get his friend’s attention before spilling his thoughts out loud.

“Baek, I know that you like him. And from the look in Chanyeol’s eyes, I’m pretty sure that he likes you as much as you like him, so will you please stop torturing your heart and put and end to your current Chanyeol-abstinence?”

Jongdae pauses for a while, but continues talking soon after without waiting for a reply from Baekhyun.

“Don’t worry about me, okay? I’ll be fine. And I’m sorry.”

Baekhyun sees a genuine smile stretch itself on his friend’s face before the latter grabs his things and gets up from his chair. Then, he feels a light pat on his shoulder and immediately after, his gaze follows the president’s back to the classroom’s door through which the boy disappears.

Baekhyun swears that he tried to understand Jongdae’s speech, but his efforts were apparently vain.

…

Puzzle pieces, once correctly assembled, create a comprehensible whole. However, Baekhyun realizes that solving this puzzle is a lot more complicated than what it looks like. Right now, he turns the pieces upside down, manipulates them over and over, tries to make them fit together in order to discover the truth they’re hiding, but it doesn’t work. The small boy feels as if he’s been thrown in a large maze in which each step he takes gets him farther and farther away from his goal.

 

.:.

 

After spending eight painfully long hours in school, Baekhyun uses the little strength left in his body to walk back home. It’s just enough for him to place one foot before the other without stopping until he dives into the comfort of his dear bed. Unfortunately, it’s nowhere near enough for him to also notice Chanyeol’s rather poor attempt at following him to his house.

Once he finally reaches the porch of his house, Baekhyun slides his slim fingers in the right pocket of his pants and slowly fetches his key. He inserts the piece of metal in the lock, turns it and hears a soft click before he gets inside. He says a quick I’m home even though nobody’s there to greet him back and focuses on getting rid of his shoes while his right hand is still holding on to the doorknob, leaving the front door slightly opened.

Sneakers messily discarded on the floor, he’s about to close the door when a large hand pushing on the other side of it doesn’t allow him to do so. Thinking that someone followed him to his house in order to rob him, Baekhyun gathers all his strength and pushes even harder.

When he finally hears a click, he slumps to his knees, catches his breath, feels his heart beating madly inside his chest and quickly searches for his cellphone in his left pocket. His trembling fingers stop dialing the police station’s number when his ears catch a familiar voice yelling outside, followed by some loud knocks on the poor front door of his house.

“Baek! It’s me! Please open the door!”

It takes a little while before the small boy comes down from his sudden fright. Chanyeol just scared the hell out of him so he’s going to have to wait for him to calm down because Baekhyun’s heart can’t handle so much at the moment.

When his chest doesn’t hurt as much as before, he wonders why Chanyeol’s right at the step of his house and then, a flashback of Jongdae and Chanyeol kissing stabs him in the heart. Baekhyun guesses the tall boy came here to break up with him.

Painfully, he gets back on his two feet, grabs his schoolbag by its straps and goes up to his room, Chanyeol’s shouts getting fainter and fainter with each step he climbs.

…

Baekhyun closes the door of his bedroom once he gets in. He gently tosses his schoolbag on the floor, next to his work desk on which open books are stacked one above the other. His right hand stretches over his desk and grabs his headphones while his left one searches for his smartphone in his pocket. His slender fingers work quickly and soon after, he doesn’t hear anything other than the music flowing into his ears. In fact, whether it be shouts, knocks or ticks and tocks, he doesn’t hear any of them because each and every one of them is drowned by the beats and rythms coming out of his headphones. The petite boy finally sits on his desk chair, wakes his sleeping laptop up and spends hours working on his Science project.

…

Not hearing anything doesn’t mean that there is nothing to hear. Behind Baekhyun’s blasting music, there are sharp sounds of tiny rocks hitting glass, but he doesn’t hear them for he fell asleep on his desk after turning off his laptop.

…

Baekhyun’s wristwatch indicates 9:47 PM when its owner wakes up from Dreamland. His head is ringing and he hears a song playing through his headphones. He takes them off and then, as if on cue, he hears a loud clink.

He blinks for a while, looks for some piece of glass that might have fallen on the wooden floor of his room when he got up, but there isn’t. He hears that clink once again and turns around to face his window, convinced that the sound came from over there. When he hears a third clink, he also sees a small rock that hits his window before gravity gets the best of it.

The small boy takes a few steps toward his window, a little bit afraid of what’s waiting for him when he’ll take a look outside. His hand pushes the white curtains to the side and only then is he able to see who’s trying to scratch his bedroom’s window.

Park Chanyeol is standing on the sidewalk in front of his house, uniform still on and schoolbag lying on the ground. Baekhyun softens at the sight because he couldn’t possibly have been waiting for him all this time when he got the door slammed right in his face, right?

His soft side vanishes with a poof when he once again remembers why he’s been avoiding Chanyeol in the first place. It’s been almost two weeks already and yet, the petite boy still doesn’t want to talk things out with his boyfriend.

Baekhyun isn’t ready, but it doesn’t matter anymore because more than that, he’s tired of all of this. He’s sick and tired of everything.

“What the hell do you want?” Baekhyun grits through his teeth as he furiously opens his window. He doesn’t say it loud enough for Chanyeol to hear though and he’s glad that he did so because the latter would have felt the storm of feelings poorly hidden in his tone of voice. Baekhyun is not allowed to show any weakness in front of Chanyeol. Not now, never.

“Talk to me, Baek. Please.” Chanyeol pleads and for a moment there, Baekhyun hears the despair in the giant’s voice. His heart melts momentarily and becomes ice a mere second after, when he closes his eyes and involuntarily replays, at the back of his mind, the kissing scene between his boyfriend and his best friend.

The small boy opens his eyes, but still doesn’t answer Chanyeol, who decides to continue his one-sided conversation in hopes that Baekhyun will, at some moment, accept to talk to him.

“Hey, Baek. Do you know that it’s been almost two weeks since I’ve last heard your voice?”

Right then, Baekhyun feels something wet and hot trailing down his cheeks. He quickly swipes his tears away with the back of his hand, silently hoping that Chanyeol’s eyesight isn’t sharp enough to have seen them.

“I miss hearing your voice, Baek. If I could, I’d want to hear it every second of my life. If possible, I’d prefer hearing you laugh all the time. And also, I’d prefer hearing you cry than hearing nothing from you. That way, I could ask you what I did wrong and repair my mistakes.” He finishes his last sentence before his ears catch soft sobs coming out from Baekhyun’s mouth.

“Why are you crying, Baek? Won’t you tell me what’s wrong?”

There’s a slight moment of hesitation on Baekhyun’s side. He wants to ask Chanyeol why he kissed his best friend but then again, he’s not sure that he wants to hear the answer to that question.

After a few long seconds, Baekhyun tells himself that he’s been hurting for almost two weeks now and that it’s time for him to let it all out, once and for all. He shuts his eyes tight, inhales and exhales, then shouts at the top of his lungs.

“You kissed Jongdae, you idiot!” Baekhyun yells, frustrated and most of all, hurt by his own words. Even though his eyes are tightly shut, some new tears find their way out before rolling down his soft cheeks.

“Huh? When did I ever-” Chanyeol begins, confused.

Then, the memory hits him hard like a truck. How could he have forgotten the disastrous episode at school when the janitor bumped into Jongdae, who lost his balance and placed his hands on Chanyeol’s chest to stabilize himself half in vain because his body did, but not his head. In fact, Jongdae’s head continued its trajectory toward his enemy’s and before he knew it, his lips landed on Chanyeol’s.

“H-How do you know that?” Chanyeol replies, surprise clear in his voice. He gulps nervously and waits for Baekhyun’s answer that comes right after a frustrated sigh.

“Hah, you don’t even deny it!”

“W-Wait! There’s a misunderstanding!”

“Oh really?” The unbelieving words come out of Baekhyun’s mouth even if the boy seriously hopes that there really is a misunderstanding.

“I swear, Baek! We didn’t ki-”

“Are you perhaps telling me that I’m a liar? Or that what I saw that day with my own eyes didn’t really happen?” Baekhyun snarls, unable to keep his feelings locked in the cage where they grew wilder and uglier for the past two weeks. The tears that left his eyes are long gone.

“Wait, Baek! Listen to me please!”

Tired of bickering with Chanyeol, Baekhyun decides to stay quiet. That way, the giant idiot two floors below him would finish saying what he has to say quicker and Baekhyun could stuff himself with chocomint ice cream sooner. Or so he tries to convince himself that it’s the reason why he shuts himself up but, on the inside, he knows and even hates to admit that he stays quiet in order to hear what Chanyeol has to tell him.

On the other side, the tall boy takes Baekhyun’s silence as a yes. Thus, he takes a deep breath and starts a long monologue that, hopefully, will reach his boyfriend’s stubborn ears.

“Listen, Baek. I know that what I’m about to tell you will sound ridiculous to you, but you have to believe me because I don’t lie. Not to you, not to anyone for a fact. So, almost two weeks ago, Jongdae and I were talking in a corridor. Well no, I was talking to him and he was shouting at me, but that doesn’t matter anymore. What matters is that he was getting back at me for stealing something precious from him. Or more like someone. Do you know who that person is?” Chanyeol asks while raising his head to take a look at the small boy.

Chanyeol doesn’t miss the look of pure confusion coming from Baekhyun’s eyes, so he decides to cut to the chase.

“It’s you, Baekhyun. Jongdae was mad at me because I took you away from him.”

It takes about seven seconds for Baekhyun to process the words that just came out from Chanyeol’s mouth. It takes another second and a half for Baekhyun’s eyes to grow as wide as saucers and for his jaw to fall to the floor. Right at that moment, the taller boy knows that both of them are finally on the same wavelength.

The jock doesn’t give his petite boyfriend the chance to say a word – in any way, Baekhyun’s current state of mind doesn’t allow him to say anything coherent for the time being – and continues his speech from where he left off, eager to clear the misunderstanding that has been bothering them for too long already.

 “Saying that Jongdae was furious at me is an understatement. He was enraged, Baek. He told me that he knew you for far more longer than I did, but isn’t he wrong? We’ve met once before, Baek. In fact, more than once because we were classmates when we were younger, do you remember?”

A small smile lights up Chanyeol’s face as he remembers bits and pieces of his childhood. He continues talking while his eyes look far away, too busy reliving the past and thus, not seeing how Baekhyun’s eyebrows are now furrowed.

“We’ve been in the same classes for multiple years but, somehow, I’ve never talked to you. If I recall correctly, the first time I talked to you was on the first day of my eleventh summer. I was playing tag with the neighbourhood’s kids and I was running after a certain girl. My eyes were locked on her, not because she was pretty, but because she was wearing an overly frilly dress and I thought that I’d have more chance to get to her.

What I’m trying to say is that I didn’t see you until I bumped into you. Sorry for that. You looked like you were hurting, but you weren’t crying or saying anything. I remember thinking in that big head of mine that your eyes were huge and creepy, but now that I really think about it, you were cute.

And then, you suddenly got up and ran away. My eyes followed you until I couldn’t see you anymore and I was really sad because I didn’t get to talk to you any more than that. Moreover, it was my last day in the neighbourhood since my family was moving in another town and yeah, I was really sad because I didn’t get to know you when I had the chance to, Baek.”

Chanyeol wants to say so much more, but fails to find the words that will convince the other boy that he’s not playing around.

Ever so slowly and hesitantly, he lifts his head up to see that Baekhyun isn’t at his window anymore.

Utterly dejected, Chanyeol’s shoulders slump before he unwillingly turns his back to Baekhyun’s house, ready to give up on his love. His mind’s all jumbled up and he can’t no longer think straight. The painful sound of his heart cracking into bleeding pieces covers the creaking of the front door when Baekhyun hurriedly opens it, along with the latter’s loud footsteps.

The younger boy gasps when he suddenly feels warm arms slipping around his waist and hugging him from the back. He also feels slim fingers intertwining above his abdomen to tighten their grasp on him, as if not wanting to lose him, not wanting to let him go.

Chanyeol turns his head to the side in order to take a look at Baekhyun, but the smaller boy hides his face in his broad back as he hugs him even more tightly. At some point, the basketball player knows that his boyfriend is crying because his school shirt is absorbing his tears.

“D-Don’t go.” Baekhyun’s voice is shaky.

“Okay.” Chanyeol replies, reassured by the other boy’s words.

Baekhyun releases a sigh of relief at the taller’s answer. Even if it takes him a little while to calm down, Chanyeol isn’t rushing him and he’s grateful for that. Once his breathing is back to normal, the taller boy speaks up.

“Baek?”

“Mhm?”

“Why were you crying?”

“I don’t know. Your last sentence was too heartbreaking. I started crying when I realized that I didn’t do anything to get to know you either.”

“Well… Now that I think about it, not being friends back then might have been a good thing.”

“Huh?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I would’ve made you fall in love with me and you would’ve been heartbroken when I’d have to move to another town with my family. And more importantly, you would’ve been crying nonstop for God knows how long.” Chanyeol smiles a little bit.

“Cocky bastard.” Baekhyun huffs. He doesn’t need to see Chanyeol’s face in order to know that the younger is smiling.

“I’d hate it.”

“Hate what?”

“Making you cry.”

“Oh.”

“Are you still crying, Baek?”

“I’m not.”

“Then let go of me so that I can see your face, will you?”

Baekhyun lets his hands fall down to his sides and almost immediately, he misses the basketball player’s warmth. Not even a second later, Chanyeol faces him and cups his face with his large hands before running his thumbs all over his cheeks and brushing away all traces of sadness.

“Chanyeol?”

“Yeah?”

“I still don’t get it.”

“What is it?”

“Why did you kiss Jongdae?”

“Ugh. Our lips just touched, Baek! I didn’t kiss him!”

“But still, how did it happen?”

“Don’t laugh, okay?”

“Do you want me to cry then?”

“No, don’t! Laugh at me all you want!”

“I knew you’d say that. Now tell me.”

“Well… There was a janitor who was sweeping the hallway and somehow, he bumped into Jongdae, who then bumped his lips onto mine. That’s all.”

“Pfft, really?!”

“Yeah, really.”

“That’s lame.”

“I totally agree with you. Jongdae’s lips are really lame.”

“And how are my lips?”

“I don’t know. Sweet, maybe?”

“Come here.”

“You won’t have to tell me twice.”

 

.:.

 

It was sometime during Chanyeol’s speech that flashbacks of Baekhyun’s childhood memories hit him like violent thunderbolts. Baekhyun then knew what was bothering him the very first time Chanyeol bumped into him.

It wasn’t a disease, definitely not.

 

♥

 

Hey, lovely readers! How are you? :3

I sincerely hope that my 4^th story wasn’t too bad. My English skills are far from being perfect, so if you find some mistakes (or typos, who knows?), don’t be afraid to tell me and I’ll correct them right away!

That being said, how did you find it? As always, feel free to leave comments below. l just love reading what you guys have to say and I’ll make sure to give each one of you a reply :)

Also, two mini “dialogue” sequels will follow the one-shot really soon, so make sure to subscribe if you feel like reading them. If you ever feel like upvoting, please do so! I’d be so happy :D

And if someone feels like talking to me, asking me questions (or requesting something?), you can always write on my wall or ask me on Tumblr. Here’s the link to my blog: http://slowdownheartbeat.tumblr.com

(Poor me has no follower whatsoever ; - ; I just reblog things for my own pleasure. Follow me if you’d like to!)

That’s it!
Thank you for reading~

Lia.

P.S. Here are the links to my other stories: 
Each Other; Detention; Borderline; Because Every Little Word Counts