The two were walking back from practice in silence. They were both heading towards Kyungsoo’s house to do homework together.Their arms were swinging next to each other and their breathing in sync. The silence was interrupted when the tall brunette said, “So why exactly did Baekhyun come?”

Kyungsoo groaned before smacking Chanyeol in the arm. “I already told you, I don’t know. I just saw him near the bleachers. Luckily for you, I made him stay.”

Chanyeol just ruffled his hair in frustration. He stopped walking to just think about this. He just wanted to know why Baekhyun suddenly showed up. The other male even left before Chanyeol could even do something. He tried to stop the male by calling his name, but he ignored Chanyeol’s call and kept on walking.

Kyungsoo stopped as well sensing Chanyeol’s frustration. “Look, how about you go talk to him tomorrow? You can get some answers and maybe rekindle the friendship.”

Chanyeol looked as if he was debating until he finally nodded, his fringe bouncing with every nod. “Okay. I can do this. I can go up to him tomorrow, and just...talk. I, I can do this.”

Kyungsoo raised a brow and gave him a weird look. He then continued to walk when Chanyeol resumed walking. “You act as like this is the hardest thing in the world. It’s Baekhyun. The guy we used to be best friends with for like the longest time. If you managed to charm his pants then, you can do it again.”

Chanyeol scoffed and replied, “Yeah, the Baekhyun we knew would always choose a good round of COD instead of reading ‘Ernest Hemingway’.” Chanyeol more mocked the last part.

Kyungsoo laughed and said, “Ernest Hemingway is actually a good author. Have you ever even read any of his books?”

Chanyeol snorted. “Totally. I, Chanyeol, have totally read a classic book,” he then turned to Kyungsoo, “Do you really not know me that well?”

They finally got to Kyungsoo’s house and Kyungsoo opened up the gate before he said, “Sorry, I forgot you were an idiot.” After Kyungsoo laughed and entered his house while Chanyeol glared at his best friend.

~~~

Baekhyun was doing some of his essay on his given topic “Are nuclear weapons peacemakers or killing devices?”. He was finishing up the first paragraph when he heard his notification tone go off. He turned his head towards his phone, which was lying on top of his nightstand. He sighed before standing up.

Once he got to his nightstand, he picked up his phone and unlocked it. When he saw it was Jongdae who sent him the message, he placed his phone down and ignored it. He knew Jongdae wouldn’t care. So he sat back down on his desk chair before resuming his writing.

After a while his phone kept going off and Baekhyun kept ignoring the notifications. He was going to the restroom and wash up since he did a good amount of his work, when his phone went off once again. He sighed, before he went to his phone. When he unlocked it, he saw a few were from Jongdae, few from his parents, and two were from unknown. When he touched the message thread from unknown, he finally saw who it was from.

They were from Kyungsoo. When he saw the wide-eyed boy’s name on his phone, he just froze. He didn’t know how Kyungsoo still had his number, or if anyone gave it to him, but either way his number is now out there.

From: Unknown

Hey Baek, it’s me Soo.

I just wanted to tell you thanks for even coming at practice. It might have not been obvious, but I’m sure the giant idiot tried showing off his non-existent skills. Anyways thank you.

From: Unknown

Also, maybe we can hang out again too?

After Baekhyun read the message, a wave of nostalgia hit him hard. He smiled when he saw Kyungsoo calling Chanyeol an idiot and Chanyeol showing off. He knew Chanyeol always tried to impress him. It’s just always been something the two always did. Did. That’s the past, Baekhyun. The past, Baekhyun thought. But, maybe it wouldn’t hurt if he dipped in the past just that one time.

The blonde man was sitting at a table alone when a black haired man joined him. When the blonde man saw the other sitting at his table, he smiled and rested his arms on the table. “And why am I graced with such presence?”

“Well, I haven’t talked to you in a while, so I decided to grace thee with thy presence. I have also come to miss my pup,” the black haired man replied, with a genuine smile.

When he heard the reply, the blonde man gave the other a smile, before getting up and setting his down near the other. His back faced the table, while the black haired man’s chest faced the table. They were both looking at each other before they got interrupted by a squishy male.

“When will guys just make it official? It’s really getting annoyingly cheesy,” the squishy male said, before sitting across the two other males.

Both males started to splutter and blush before one said, “Oh shut up Soo. Why don’t you just go to the tan god you’ve been talking about.”

Kyungsoo glared at him and replied with a smack of his bag on the arm and said, “Shut up Baek. We all know to not speak of his name during school hours.”

Baekhyun laughed before he turned his body around so his chest was facing the table. He shifted his body more towards Chanyeol and rested his head on the taller male’s shoulder. Chanyeol just smiled before turning his head towards Kyungsoo. “Where were you by the way? I’ve texted you the past hour trying to look for you, since we do have Mr. Jung next.”

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and started to dig through his bag. He then took out a notebook and packet before giving handing it to Chanyeol. “Here, you giant idiot. Maybe next you can actually do the work.”

Chanyeol grinned and started to take out his own packet and notebook before copying the information on Kyungsoo’s packet to his. “Why do that when I have two perfectly smart friends right here.” Baekhyun laughed and Kyungsoo rolled his eyes.

Kyungsoo then turned his gaze towards Baekhyun and asked him, “How did you survive Mr. Jung? I swear he is out to get us. It’s like he loves to torture his students.”

Baekhyun pretended to think and then replied, “Well maybe because I paid attention and did the work. I wasn’t his star student for nothing.” Kyungsoo groaned before he put his arms on the table and resting his head in between them.

Chanyeol laughed and ruffled Baekhyun’s hair. “Not surprised. You are a shining star anyway.” Baekhyun lifted his head from Chanyeol’s shoulder and smiled at the giant before resting his head back on his shoulder. Kyungsoo groaned and lifted his head to pretend to vomit before resting his head on his arms again. Baekhyun laughed and closed his eyes to get in a few minutes to nap.

~~~

When it was lunch, Baekhyun decided to go talk with Jongdae for a bit and then head to the library. When he exited the classroom, he navigated himself towards the fountain Jongdae usually sat on. When he saw the fountain in the distance, he saw a particular cheshire grin male sitting. He made his way towards the male and sat down.

Jongdae lifted his head from his phone and said a quick ‘hi’ before he went back to his phone. Baekhyun looked over to see what has the Jongdae’s attention and saw that the other man was browsing through this one person’s profile. When Jongdae noticed Baekhyun looking over, he quickly locked his phone and faced Baekhyun. “What are you doing here? You usually just go straight to the library and send me a text.”

Baekhyun shrugged his shoulders and stretched his arms out. “I just thought that since I didn’t answer your messages yesterday, I should at least talk with you for a bit.”

Jongdae nodded and grabbed his lunch to the right of him. He took one bite before he replied, “Oh, well it’s fine. I just said that next Saturday my parents are going on a trip. SO I was wondering if you wanted to hang?”

Baekhyun thought about the offer and nodded. “Yeah. I’m sure my parents would approve since they know you.”

Jongdae nodded before taking another bite from his sandwich. “So now are you going to the library?” Jongdae smiled and continued to chew.

Baekhyun gave him a sheepish smile before he nodded. “Yeah. I just wanted to talk a bit, but I’m still going to the library,” he got up and fixed himself, “I’ll see you later.” Baekhyun waved a goodbye before he made his way towards the library.

When he got to the library, he made sure to put his phone on silence and sent Jongdae a quick message before entering. He took out the book in his backpack and went towards the front desk. He smiled before giving the librarian his book. She smiled and got the book. Baekhyun then walked away from the desk, towards the books to look for a new book to read.

It took a while for him to find a book of his interest. When he checked it out, he went straight to his usual spot. When he went close to his spot, he saw that the chair next to his, was taken. He furrowed his brows and his steps got slower and slower. When he got close enough, he got a good view of who the male was.

Once he saw who it was, Baekhyun froze and stopped breathing. He didn’t know if he should walk back or continue walking. However he couldn’t make a decision since the male sitting made it for him. The male saw Baekhyun and stood up. The male made his way towards Baekhyun and stopped right before him.

Both males looked at each other, with emotions flying everywhere. The taller male finally broke the silence and said, “Hey Baek.”