As mentioned earlier, this is all based on real life events that I've experienced. What happens below actually happened to me when I was 15. I hope it makes the reasons behind Baekhyun's feelings a little clearer.

"My mom died in a car accident last month," Kris had whispered when Baekhyun ran into him on the first day of that year's scholastic competition and asked how Kris had been. Baekhyun was 16 and this was the first time he'd encountered death.

He'd been horrified and heartbroken on Kris' behalf; just because the elder was sometimes a little too intense in his romantic interest didn't mean Baekhyun didn't still see him as a friend. "I'm so sorry, Kris," Baekhyun had said, lifting a small hand to pat comfortingly against Kris' much wider shoulder. Jongdae had caught his eye across the large conference room and raised a questioning eyebrow, but Baekhyun had ignored him for once and stayed focused on making Kris feel better.

"You should have given yourself more time to mourn," Baekhyun told Kris the next day. They'd spent the entirety of that first day together, at Kris' request, and Baekhyun was surprisingly comfortable in the elder's presence. It was awful, but somehow losing his mom had made Kris less clingy and aggressive about wanting Baekhyun. As such the younger was happy to do what he could for comfort. Today they were hanging out again, and Baekhyun had ignored more than just a curious look from Jongdae--his flip phone still vibrated every once in a while in his pocket as proof.

Kris looked up from where he was counting out the money he'd won in the Monopoly game they'd just finished playing and smiled sadly at Baekhyun. "I wanted to see you," was all he said. The "You make me feel better" was implied.

"I'm glad," Baekhyun told him. And he was. This summer's competition was turning out much better than Baekhyun had expected and he really was genuinely glad that Kris seemed to have grown out of his weird obsession. His phone's alarm went off then, just as Kris was finishing up his tallying and concluded that Baekhyun had won, again. Baekhyun was apologetic but he was supposed to leave for a practice session with his coach and the rest of his team.

"I can walk you back to your room though?" He suggested after watching Kris' face fall when Baekhyun said he had to go.

Kris seemed happy with Baekhyun's idea, though Baekhyun thought he also glimpsed a fleeting moment of nerves in Kris' expression. Vainly Baekhyun wrote this off to the lingering effects of Kris' crush on him and stuck out a hand to pull Kris up once he himself had stood. Baekhyun shouldn't have been surprised when Kris took his offered help but then didn't let go once he was standing, but Baekhyun was still sort of flustered by the whole thing. Kris' hands were much larger than his own, stronger too, and Baekhyun couldn't figure out a way to get his hand back without making things awkward.

He decided to just leave his hand in Kris' grip until they reached Kris' room in the hotel where the scholastic competition was being held. This would have been perfectly fine if they hadn't passed Jongdae in the lobby and if Kris hadn't grinned smugly at the other boy from over an oblivious Baekhyun's head. Baekhyun would never have known about that if Kris hadn't taken things too far--like he always seemed to do--and pulled Baekhyun a little closer to his side. Baekhyun finally saw Jongdae then, but by that point it was too late and Kris was already dragging him into the elevator.

"Thanks for sticking with me," Kris thanked Baekhyun sincerely. "I know you don't really like me all that much," he added, and Baekhyun instantly felt horrible for how he'd acted toward the older boy in the past. Yes, Kris often made Baekhyun feel uncomfortable but that wasn't an excuse for how Baekhyun had basically blown Kris off every time they saw each other.

As they walked, still hand-in-hand, from the elevator to the room where Baekhyun would drop Kris off, Baekhyun resolved to be kinder toward Kris in the future. He regretted this decision instantly when the door open and a head poked out of the hotel room to greet both boys.

"Kris!" The woman called out to her son cheerfully. "I was wondering where you'd run off to! I should have known you were with that cute little boyfriend of yours."

Kris colored a violent red and his grip on Baekhyun's hand tightened just as Baekhyun started to put all the pieces together and wanted nothing more than to yank his hand away.

"That's your mom," he murmured in breathless shock. "She's not--I mean, she's--that's your mom."

"Hello, Baekhyun dear," the woman in question said to him. "So lovely to see you again. You two have been together so long that I'm surprised I've not seen you more."

Baekhyun gaped at here silently. Kris' grip tightened even more.

"Ah well," Kris mom continued, oblivious to the tension between her son and Baekhyun. "I'm heading out to lunch." She waved goodbye to the two boys as she left the room with the door propped open and traipsed off down the hallway. "Have fun, you two!"

Baekhyun didn't know what to say but he did know that he didn't want Kris touching him. He pulled his hand from the other's grasp with as much strength as he could muster. Kris was visibly upset by this and tried to get Baekhyun's hand back but Baekhyun took a wary step back.

"You're delusional." Baekhyun's voice wavered pitifully as he spoke. "You told me your mom was dead, Kris. And I fell for that." He raised a hand to smack his own forehead. "Such an idiot, Baekhyun. Jongdae was right."

Kris opened his mouth to protest at any mention of Jongdae, but seemed completely unapologetic at being caught in his own lie. "It's not a delusion, Baek," he told the younger patiently. "Just an eventuality."

It wasn't clear whether Kris was referring to his mother's fatal car accident or to dating Baekhyun, but Baekhyun took another step backward regardless. He would run away down the hall if Kris' legs weren't so much longer; as it was, the older boy would catch him in an instant if Baekhyun made a run for it.

"I am never going to be interested in you," Baekhyun managed eventually, once he'd gotten his very real fear under control enough to speak. "Especially not after all this."

Kris didn't look like he understood. Baekhyun wasn't going to stick around long enough to explain it to him. The moment a couple of other guests emerged from their own room and started to walk down the hall to the elevator, Baekhyun took advantage of Kris' temporary distraction and bolted.

The last thing he heard as the door to the stairs closed behind him was Kris' forlorn call of "Baek! I'm sorry! Don't go!" The last thing he saw was Kris standing alone in the hallway, one hand outstretched to grasp at Baekhyun's wrist as he ran away.