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It was the middle of the school day, four months into the second half of the school year.

Sitting at his usual table Park Chanyeol munched on his potato chips as he waited for his friends to appear.

Caught in a daydream, Chanyeol did not realize that his friends were already invested in a very serious conversation when they sat themselves down next to him.

He blinked back to reality at the sound of his friends' voices.

"Hey--"

"You think you can get his attention?" Sehun pointed his fork at Kris.

"Who--"

"Honestly speaking, you don't look like his type." Jongin stated. "I bet he likes guys that can actually dance."

Sehun nodded in agreement with Jongin. They were both dancers after all.

"What does that have to do with it?" Kris scoffed.

"It means we have the ability to perform erotic, fluid movements in alternative situations." Jongin sipped the milk carton on his tray, a suggestive smirk on his lips.

"Well, I'm tall and handsome. I'm sure he likes a guy that would be able to protect him and has looks that match up with his. Unlike some people..." Kris eyes Jongin and Sehun up and down.

"If anyone matches up with him. It would be me." Jongdae interrupted with a small smile before taking his spot next to Kris.

"His laugh is loud like mine. We are the same height and we have the same sense of humor."

"What sense of humor." Kyungsoo mutters. Everyone turns their attention to him.

"You don't even like him why are getting involved." Jongdae hissed.

"Who says I don't." He remarks, nonchalantly.

All eyes are on Kyungsoo while he continued to eat his food as if he isn't being watched.

"So, you do?" The boys leaned in, waiting for his answer.

"No but it was sure entertaining to watch you guys sweat at the idea of another competitor." He smirks.

"I almost thought it was game over for all of us." Sehun dramatically places his hand over his heart.

"Besides I'm already interested in someone."

Jongdae chuckles, "Seriously? Who?"

"A fucking idiot."

"That narrows it down." Jongin thinks aloud. "The only idiots I know are you guys."

"We can't be idiots. Baekhyun likes smart people."

"Wait, Baekhyun?" Chanyeol finally speaks up, breaking the silence that he has been keeping since this ridiculous conversation about some guy intrigued on his lunch.

"Yeah."

"Wait...you used to be friends with him." Sehun points at Chanyeol.

Although, Chanyeol didn't like the word used to. Sehun wasn't wrong. He used to be friends with Byun Baekhyun.

The reason behind their separation was the typical one of longtime friends drifting apart.

"What does he like in a guy?" Sehun asks.

"I don't know." He knew Baekhyun did like boys since he came out to Chanyeol in the 8th grade but the specifics of what he liked in a guy were unknown to even him.

"How can you know nothing? You guys were friends for a long time, how about his past relationships?" Sehun and the others had their eyes set on the taller boy in interest for any information on the guy they liked.

Chanyeol sighs, "He never dated anyone. I'm sorry but I don't know anything else."

The table suddenly turns quiet. Everyone goes back to eating their food with the sound of food packages opening.

"I got it!" Sehun snaps his fingers. "What if Baekhyun is waiting for someone to sweep him off his feet. He hasn't found the right guy yet maybe-"

"I'm the right guy for him." The four say in unison.

"No, I'm the one!" Jongin declares with a childish pout.

"I am." Jongdae states.

"I doubt either of you shorties is." Kris challenges.

"Wanna bet, Tree?"

"Tree?" The blonde guy laughs. "That's the best you got."

"Guys--"

"When I win a date with Baekhyun, the rest of you have to back off." Kris says with confidence.

Jongdae scoffs and rolls his eyes, "When you win? You mean if you do."

"It's a deal." Sehun cuts in with a mischievous smile then looks around the table. "If one of us gets Baekhyun to go on a date then the rest of us have to back off."

"Every man for themselves." The four exchange glances.

"This definitely won't go well." Kyungsoo mutters.

It won't. He knows that Kyungsoo is right more than Chanyeol likes to admit.

When lunch ended and they were heading back to class, Sehun pulled Chanyeol to the side.

"I know you know more than you let on." Sehun quietly says.

"I don't." Chanyeol tries to whisper back.

"Keep telling yourself that." Sehun replies smugly.

"Okay, what is it that you want to know?" Sehun is beating around the bush and Chanyeol just wants him to get to the point.

"Nothing, nothing at all..." The younger eyes him with mischief.

"Really?"

"I already know what I need to know, Park." Sehun leisurely stuffs his hands into his front pockets and walks ahead of the taller guy.

Chanyeol blinks a few times at Sehun's back then lightly shakes his head before he soon follows after Sehun.

Typical Sehun. He always alludes to knowing more than he does. It's his knack to get people to reveal more.

But Chanyeol wouldn't say it works. Maybe it did on the weak minded but not on him.

He could see what the brat wanted was for more information on his former best friend and to have an advantage.

And Chanyeol already knew he didn't want to be a part of their war of hearts.

He wasn't going to open that Pandora's Box.

His friends are on their own on this.

"Please tell me."

"No." Jongdae has been nagging him since last night through text for him to answer questions about Baekhyun.

Right now, they are meant to be studying for their biology quiz but Jongdae had other plans.

"Chanyeol, come on." He continued in a harsh whisper. "Tell me what his favorite movie is."

"Figure it out for yourself." Honestly if he likes Baekhyun so much he should be asking him rather than asking Chanyeol.

"Why when I can ask you."

"Because I won't tell you..."

"Fine..." Jongdae lets out an exasperated breath. Seemingly, giving up faster than Chanyeol thought. His friend usually won't take no for an answer.

For the rest of the time they are at school, Jongdae doesn't say a word. Not to Chanyeol, not to anyone. Jongdae's loud whining and deliberate sarcasm is missing in action during class and lunch.

With him and Jongdae having most classes together as partners, the taller can barely endure this new unbearable silence. It hasn't even been a full-on day, maybe only four hours.

Even though, Jongdae is annoying most days. That's the thing Chanyeol likes about him, he is unapologetically annoying.

It's part of his charm and he is sick of this.

Jongdae needs to stop this nonsense.

"So, if I happen to tell you what movies Baekhyun likes will you stop being so annoyingly quiet. It's honestly creeping me out."

Jongdae looks up from his phone.

A smile automatically spreads across Jongdae's lips, one side twitching slightly up. "I thought you would never ask."

This guy is something else.

Chanyeol glares at him then heaves a sigh of relief. He takes a moment to gather his thoughts together, sorting through his forgotten box of memories of his friendship with Baekhyun.

"From what I remember, Baekhyun has always liked comedy." He reminisces.

No matter how stupid and illogical the movie would be he always enjoyed them.

Chanyeol didn't care for those movies but somehow, he was able to tolerate watching them with his friend.

After all, how can he object to something that brought a smile to his friend's face.

"Why do you like watching these movies? They suck." Chanyeol asks once the credits of the movie start to roll. Baekhyun punches Chanyeol's arm.

"Hey!" Chanyeol shouts. "It's an honest question." He defends himself.

"I doubt it." Baekhyun mutters then turns to his taller friend, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why do you watch sci-fi? They suck."

The taller chuckles, "Because it's an escape."

"Exactly, life is serious enough, Chanyeol. Comedy brings fun back into it."

"Even when it doesn't make sense," He raises an eyebrow.

"Because it doesn't make sense..." Baekhyun smiles.

Chanyeol breaks from his memory when he notices that Jongdae is leaving him behind. "Hey, where are you going?"

"See you tomorrow." Jongdae says over his shoulder. "And thanks." He rushes off to who knows where.

"What happened to not getting involved?" Kyungsoo suddenly appeared beside Chanyeol, giving him a mini heart attack.

"I'm not!"

"Well I guess you have been from the very start, so it won't matter either way."

"Why do you say that?" Chanyeol asks even if he knows the answer.

"You know Baekhyun or used to." Why does everyone have to say used to.

"Your knowledge helps them get close to him and possibly get a date with him. Basically, you're the author of Byun Baekhyun for These Dummies." Kyungsoo sums up.

He didn't want to be the freakin' author.

Chanyeol internally groans.

"The thing is though those idiots don't even consider the possibility that Baekhyun might already be in a relationship or maybe even like somebody." Kyungsoo says as he watches Chanyeol intently.

"What makes you think that?"

"He is a likable guy and with the amount of people that like him. I wouldn't be surprised if he was already dating someone."

Dating?

Chanyeol couldn't imagine it.

After all, they are just high school students. In the matter of relationships, people don't entirely take them seriously. He couldn't count how many times he has heard of people going out one minute then breaking up the next.

He knew Baekhyun hoped for more than that.

Baekhyun wouldn't date or like just anyone.

"I would be careful if I were you." Chanyeol snaps out of his thoughts. "Jongdae might be our friend but he can be a real pain in the ass."

Jongdae being a real pain in the ass is the reason he is once again caught in the middle.

Is Kyungsoo ever wrong?

The following day, it wasn't hard to notice that Jongdae had help when he was suddenly chatting Baekhyun up, making him laugh and smile.

Jongdae hadn't talked to him before so the others immediately knew something was amiss.

Jongin, Sehun, and Kris set their eyes on Jongdae when he finally joins their table with a bright smile on his face.

At first the others don't say anything only silently eating their lunch until Kris decides that's not enough for him.

"What were you two talking about just now?" Kris starts, asking the question all on their mind. "You and Baekhyun..."

Jongdae knew exactly what Kris was talking about without the "You and Baekhyun" part but he couldn't deny liking the sound of it.

"About when our first date will be..." The air around the four becomes extremely heavy.

"You're joking." Jongin said with a deep frown.

"Of course, I am." Jongdae chuckles at the expense of the others. "At least for now..."

"What did you do to Baekhyun? Suddenly he is talking to you when just yesterday he probably didn't even know your name." Jongdae maintains an easy smile despite the mini insult from the jealous blonde.

"You could say it was divine intervention." He remarks.

"It was Chanyeol." Sehun rolls his eyes, obviously annoyed of the unnecessary back and forth between the three.

"He told you something about Baekhyun, didn't he?" They shift their attention onto Chanyeol. Their intense stares burning holes in him. He knows he probably looks completely guilty right now. In all honesty, who else would it be?

"He did." Jongdae threw him under the bus.

"That's against the rules." Jongin shouts causing everyone in the cafeteria to fall silent and stare at their table.

Chanyeol really wants to hide at this very moment. None of them try to speak until the attention diverts.

"There are no rules." Jongdae points out.

"It's still an uneven playing field." Sehun retorts. "You used Chanyeol to get ahead of us. Now, we have to even the odds." Jongin and Kris nod excessively along with Sehun's idea.

Chanyeol notices the frown etched on Jongdae's lips.

Then Sehun's determined gaze is on Chanyeol and an extremely uncomfortable feeling begins to stir in the pit of Chanyeol's stomach.

"That means Chanyeol has to tell each and every one of us something about Baekhyun."

"W-wait-"

"And he will." Kyungsoo declares, giving the taller boy the 'shut up and do it' look.

"Soo.."

"I told you." Kyungsoo mutters as he shakes his head, "Idiot."

After leveling out the playing field between Jongdae, Kris, Jongin, and Sehun, Chanyeol thought this would put an end to his involvement that none of them would try to talk to him about Baekhyun again but he was exactly wrong.

Individually without the others' knowledge, they would corner Chanyeol about Baekhyun.

From school to his house to the restroom, the restroom is where Chanyeol drew the line.

It was getting out of hand. And it got worse with each passing day as the countdown to the end of the semester continued. The desperation and frustration led to Chanyeol's friends to be constantly on his ass.

It was to the point that the taller schoolboy had to hide from his friends in the library. He didn't usually spend time in the library during school time since he normally liked hanging out with his friends. Lately, it was hard to enjoy their company when you have too much of it.

There's a first for everything.

He sighs to himself, his shoulder feeling extremely tense. He is currently sitting on the ground with his back against the side of a bookcase.

Chanyeol thought about studying while he is here but he instead decided to be unproductive and put on his earphones. When the music starts to enter his ears, he closes his eyes and drowns in the colorful sounds.

Once the song finishes out and it's silent, Chanyeol hears someone nearby mutter a curse. He hears some movement then a curse again.

Chanyeol pauses his music before it can continue. The last thing he wanted right now is for someone to discover his hiding spot.

Chanyeol peeks out into the row to see a short dark-haired guy struggling to reach a book on the second highest shelf.

"Why the fuck do they always place the books this high up." Baekhyun said in an exasperated mutter. He at once recognizes that it is Baekhyun. He could from a mile away.

Chanyeol watches his old friend battle against his inevitable height, contemplating whether to help him out.

He would always help him out whenever height was a factor even if Baekhyun wouldn't want it.

But he is also taking a risk. He could be potentially found out.

"Need help?" Chanyeol voices out then Baekhyun freezes.

"I'm guessing that's a yes." Chanyeol gets up and walks over to his old friend. Baekhyun moves to the side to allow him to get the book for him.

The taller boy reaches his arm up and tips the book slightly over in his direction to grasp onto it.

"Here it is." He hands it over to Baekhyun.

"Thanks, but I didn't need any help."

He expected that response from Baekhyun. He hasn't changed a bit. "I know but I'm not doing much anyways."

Baekhyun doesn't say anything.

"Well, I will get back to...it." Chanyeol starts walking back to his spot.

"How've you been?" Baekhyun suddenly speaks up. The taller looks back over his shoulder.

"The usual." Chanyeol fully faces Baekhyun. He stuffs his hands into his pockets. "Falling over my big feet. And you?"

Baekhyun lightly chuckles, "You've grown out of that. And I still have my horrendous taste in comedies...according to movie critic Chanyeol."

They smile at each other dismissing the appearance of longing flashing through both their eyes.

"Chanyeol?" An awfully familiar deep voice breaks the brief reunion.

Chanyeol's smile falls as his eyes widen and his whole body goes rigid.

"Sorry, I have to go." He quickly explained to a very confused Baekhyun.

"Where-" He starts but Chanyeol is already hurrying away from him.

"Oh, Baekhyun." A guy as tall as Chanyeol approaches him. He knows that he is one of Chanyeol's friends because he has seen them around each other. So why is he hiding from him?

"Kris, right?"

"Yeah..." Kris coolly leans his body against the bookshelf. Although, it was intended to be a smooth move on Kris' part, the tall blond accidentally knocks the books off the other side.

The blonde moves away from the shelf and runs his fingers through his hair, "I'm him."

Baekhyun almost wants to laugh at how similar he and Chanyeol are. Are tall people always this clumsy?

"Were you the one calling for someone just now?" He instead asks.

"Yeah, I was looking for Chanyeol. Have you seen him by any chance?"

Baekhyun doesn't know why Chanyeol would hide from Kris but he must have a good reason.

The shorter guy shakes his head, "Nope."

"Damn, where is-"

"Maybe he stayed in class."

"Maybe..." Kris thinks to himself. Eventually, the blonde shifts his eyes up at his crush. The thought of his seriously uncool moves makes him want to bang his head against a wall. At least no one else saw him. He would never hear the end of it.

"Thanks." Kris gives Baekhyun his rare smile before he hurries away for Chanyeol.

"Why did you cover for me?" Chanyeol finally reveals himself from his hiding spot. Baekhyun didn't have to lie for Chanyeol yet he did.

"Old times' sake," Baekhyun settles with a nonchalant shrug. "I'm guessing you have a good reason for avoiding him."

The taller boy nods his head slowly.

The very reason was standing right in front of him. Byun Baekhyun is the one that his friends want to get close to. He's the one they would risk their friendships to have by their side.

It's a bittersweet circumstance.

"What? You are looking at me all strange."

"I-I make strange faces all the time," Chanyeol quickly says without thinking.

"Very true," Baekhyun teases him.

The taller schoolboy pitches the bridge of his nose. He laughs while shaking his head. "I walked right into that."

He did.

"I should get to reading. Enjoy your match of hide-and-seek with Kris."

"We aren't playing hide-and-seek." He retorts.

"Whatever you say," Baekhyun waves him off.

Chanyeol seats himself comfortably back into his spot with a different feeling than he had earlier.

-

It's about midnight when Chanyeol locks his phone and sets it down near him on the bed. His eyelids are heavy from the days before and ahead. He turns onto his side falling into his thoughts, he lets it wonder.

A memory with Baekhyun fades in taking over his sleepy mind.

"Why didn't you ask for help?" Chanyeol comes up behind Baekhyun as he struggling to get a book. Their fingers thread together when Chanyeol manages to reach it.

"Because I'm prideful..." Baekhyun turns to face Chanyeol, clearly annoyed that he interfered.

"Wouldn't want you to get hurt..." He teases with a lopsided smile forming on his lips.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes and snatches the book away from his friend, "I'll rather hurt myself than my own pride."

"Are you sure?" Chanyeol looks into his eyes with a playful glint in them.

"O-of course, dumbass..."Baekhyun blurts out suddenly taken aback by Chanyeol's blatant flirtatious attitude towards him.

"Doesn't seem like it to me." Chanyeol whispers in a lower octave than usual.

Chanyeol notices Baekhyun's tongue peek out to wet his lips. He knows that it's his friend's nervous tenancy.

"Chanyeol..."

The taller blinks down at his friend, "Yeah...?"

"Don't you know the concept of personal space?"

"Well it's--" Baekhyun presses his palm against Chanyeol's chest, making him back away.

"It wasn't a question, idiot."

There is a deafening silence between the two friends.

"Anyways...ask for help next time..." Chanyeol trails off as he rubs his nape.

Baekhyun nods his head and slowly moves his hand away from his friend's chest, "Sure, whatever."

Before Chanyeol can even question this memory that was tucked away deep in his heart, he gives in to the comfortable arms of sleep.

His lips lift slightly into a sad, sleepy smile then fall away, "Whatever..."

-

Chanyeol escapes to the library after class. Although, it wasn't an easy escape since Jongdae was always by his side with them being in the same grade with the same class. It took both plan A and B for him to finally get away. At the mention of studying, Jongdae immediately waved him off without any hesitation and left him behind.

"Why didn't I think of that earlier?" Chanyeol mumbled to himself.

Once Jongdae's figure disappeared around the corner of the hallway, Chanyeol hurried away to the library. He quietly entered the expansive room with a warm light filtering through the tall glass windows. At a few of the tables, there were students scattered around, some wearing earphones while staring down at their books, and others speaking in hush tones to friends seated next to them.

Chanyeol scans the room to find the row that he was in yesterday. He quickly walks over and finds his spot.

"Back again." A voice says.

Chanyeol glances up to see Baekhyun standing by. His old friend is wearing a comfortable smile with a book in hand.

"Yeah, back again." Chanyeol replies then sets his eyes on the ground.

"The game must be tense." The taller snaps his head up at Baekhyun.

Does he know?

"I would think Kris would've found you by now." Baekhyun chuckles.

However, Chanyeol silently breathe a sigh of relief.

He must be losing it to think that his former friend might know.

"Mind if I sit?" Chanyeol nods.

Baekhyun sits opposite of Chanyeol. He fits in perfectly unlike Chanyeol, who has to bend his knees. Thankfully, it isn't extremely uncomfortable for him.

Chanyeol pops an earphone in his right here ear. Baekhyun flips the pages of his book open. The atmosphere is drenched in awkward silence. Neither of them says anything as they dive into their own thoughts, trying not to show how uninterested they are in their activities.

Chanyeol closes his eyes and forces himself to focus in on the music playing. While, Baekhyun tries to read one sentence without forgetting what he was just reading. However, it is difficult for both of them.

"Do you still compose music?" Baekhyun breaks his silence while the awkwardness remains.

The taller looks up at Baekhyun, "Not often. Time to time I do when inspiration comes."

"That's good. I'm glad you still do."

"Recently...I did write something new. I have it on my phone, do you want to hear it?"

"Sure." Chanyeol fumbles with his phone. On the outside, it might seem like showing his music is no big deal to him, but he feels extremely nervous. He likes his musical content. He is unsure if others will feel the same way.

Chanyeol finds the song in his musical app gallery. He plugs his earphones back into his phone. The taller hands his right earphone to the latter across from him. Baekhyun scoots closer to place it into his ear. He quickly glances at Chanyeol and nods for him to press play.

The song is only about two minutes long. Those entire two minutes Chanyeol tried to distract himself from what Baekhyun's reaction might be. It was even harder to determine what that might be because he couldn't see the latter's face at all.

The taller doesn't ask immediately once the song is finished instead, he wants him to say something first.

"I really liked it."

"Really...?"

Baekhyun nods and smiles, "It's not too over the top and your voice sounds great with the piano."

"Thanks..."

"When you are finished with the song, can I hear the rest?"

"Actually...I have a full version."

"What? Why didn't you show me it?"

"Because there are some parts, I'm not sure whether to keep or change."

"Maybe I can...help? I don't know much about music as you do but I can try, if you want?"

"Yeah, no, that would be nice."

Baekhyun moves from his side to Chanyeol's completely abandoning his book. Then he puts Chanyeol's earphone back into his ear, "Alright, show me what you got."

The days in the library continue like this. Every day at lunch, Chanyeol and Baekhyun meet in the library in the usual spot. Together, they listen and talk about music.

Although, Baekhyun doesn't know many musical terms. Chanyeol manages to understand what he is saying.

Sometimes, the two go off topic and talk about random things unrelated to music. Sometimes, they would quietly eat and exchange their food without a single word needing to be spoken.

Unbeknownst to them, the gap between them is slowly disappearing. Leaning a bit closer, there were incidents of contact. Their shoulders would accidentally brush, their hands would accidentally touch, and knees would accidentally knock.

One instance was when both Chanyeol and Baekhyun were fully invested in a video of some guy playing the horror game called Until Dawn.

"Have you ever played Until Dawn before?"

"I heard about it, but I barely have any time to play games. My mom is on me about grades. I play League of Legends sometimes." Baekhyun quietly explains. "Have you played this?"

"Nope," Chanyeol keeps his eyes on his phone. "I prefer watching other people play them."

"Oh, that's right," He nudges Chanyeol as he looks at his side profile. "You don't like horror games." He teases.

The taller tries not to react to Baekhyun's teasing and rolls his eyes instead, "You aren't even watching."

Baekhyun finally decides to go along with Chanyeol and watches the video.

"I don't trust Josh." He expresses his inner thoughts wholly, "He's acting kinda strange."

"How can it be him? He is literally at the cabin. The guy can't be in two places at once." The latter argues in a low tone.

"Point taken unless he has an accomplice," He raises his forefinger.

The two continue to watch the plot unfold while trying to contain both of their laughter when the guy playing makes a decision that seems to backfire for the worst.

Despite the tense music playing in the background of the game, Chanyeol watches intently as one of characters is running in the ominous woods for his girlfriend. In the game, the girlfriend suddenly appears creating a classic jump scare moment.

Chanyeol jumps in his spot. The taller of the two, jumps in fear in his spot. Thankfully the jump scare wasn't too intense to the point of making him yelp.

"You really are a scaredy cat..." Baekhyun whispers close to his left ear. The taller looks over to Baekhyun. He is surprised to find that him and Baekhyun's faces are only a few inches apart from each other. Chanyeol is at a loss of words as he stares at the latter's soft features that contrast from the smirk on his lips.

A blush begins to crawl up his neck at the realization that Baekhyun's upper body is also pressed against his left arm. When did they get this close?

He gulps, "I-I'm not...I'm just in touch with my Spidey senses."

The knowing smirk on the shorter schoolboy's lips gradually transitions into a smile. The taller just stares at Baekhyun unsure of what to do with himself as his veins fill with a rush of adrenaline like he is high on sugar. He was caught between wanting to remain close to the shorter or move slightly away from him.

In the past, he wouldn't have given their proximity a second thought. Heck, he used to sleep next to the boy when he slept over at his house. Why does he suddenly feel anxious now?

"Just this once..." Baekhyun leans in a bit further. "I will believe you...Park." Thereafter, Baekhyun turns his attention back to the video still playing.

It was like before yet at the same time it wasn't.

Smiles bashful, chuckles more private, and gazes more prolonged.

The dynamic was a bit different but neither of them seemed to mind it.

Amid their time together, Chanyeol would pause and wonder how long this would last.

How long they will last.

Just the thought of their relationship reverting to them living separate lives made Chanyeol question why it happened in the first place.

-

"Mom, did you ever wonder why I don't hang out with Baekhyun anymore?" Chanyeol found himself asking as he helped his mom put away the clean dishes.

His mom slowed her work, a thoughtful expression gracing her features.

"Sometimes..." She glances over at Chanyeol. "But its normal for friends to drift apart."

"That's what I used to think." He says under his breath.

When they finished putting the dishes away, the taller headed up to his room.

Closing his door, he drops down onto his comfortable bed and throws his arm over his eyes.

Now that he thinks back on it why did they drift apart?

They were friends for years. They were like brothers.

And he slowly went away. Baekhyun started hanging out with Junmyeon and Minseok more than him. Chanyeol started hanging out with Kyungsoo and the others.

The taller did try to keep in contact with Baekhyun. He texted him sometimes about hanging out but the shorter would answer back with a really vague, "I'm busy."

Chanyeol tried to resist the urge of calling or texting Baekhyun. If he was busy, he didn't want to risk bothering him too much.

Next thing he knew, he was no longer talking or hanging out with Baekhyun anymore.

Neither of them said anything to each other not at school or the phone.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun used to be friends.

So, he settled for the usual story, they drifted apart. It was easier to say and think.

Harder to feel.

It was a lie to say that Chanyeol wasn't hurt by Baekhyun's rejections to hang out. He was upset with the situation, with himself, and with Baekhyun. Most of all, he missed the latter's bubbly and over-the-top personality.

Luckily, his new friends were around when they stopped talking.

Chanyeol lets out a heavy sigh, his shoulders fall. The unpleasant memories and emotions weighing down on his spirit, "It was a long time ago..."

You mean two years ago...

The schoolboy's head hit the pillow and he closed his eyes.

"Who are you kidding..."

-

"You're really quiet today."

"Just tired..." Chanyeol couldn't sleep well with all the shit on his mind. He spent most of the night trying to remember where things took a turn in their friendship. 

All that thinking only made him increasingly confused. At that point, Chanyeol thought about just being straightforward and asking Baekhyun but that would only open the possibility of a hurtful truth or worse a realization that he didn't want to be around him, all over again.

"You look like your head is about to explode." Baekhyun's light melodic chuckle fills the quiet spot. "Why are thinking so hard?"

Baekhyun's laugh slowly fades away.

The taller closes his eyes and breaths out a sigh, the question on his mind since last night finally sliding off the tip of his tongue.

"Park...?"

Chanyeol opens his eyes and lifts his head up to look at an awaiting Baekhyun. The ends of his lips are slightly down in a frown. His stare is full of concern and his brows are pulled in at the center.

"Why did we stop being friends?" The question is subtle and swift. It is easier for him to say than he expected.

Baekhyun's features gradually soften except for his frown.

"What you mean is why I stopped being friends with you." He explains with a tight smile and his eyes downcast.

"The reason is actually simple. At first, I didn't know it...how different we were from other friendships. I thought it was normal to feel so close to you until I found myself..." Baekhyun glances over at Chanyeol for a split second before he quickly diverts his eyes back onto the ground.

He thought that Baekhyun wasn't going to continue as the two boys resort to complete, utter silence. The nervous hum in Chanyeol's body increasingly grows with the ever-extending silence. Chanyeol peeks over at the shorter boy to an undeniable look of conflict across his face. Baekhyun's eyebrows are pulled together at the center. His lips are pressed tightly together, and his eyes are unfocused as if in deep thought.

It was a rare sight to see Baekhyun so unsure of himself, to be lost.

Was his curiosity worth putting Baekhyun in this kind of state of mind?

"Baek, it's okay. You don't have to-"

Baekhyun shakes his head, "I do. You deserve to know."

Once again, silence falls onto them. Chanyeol is about say something when the latter begins.

"I...I-I wanted to hold your hand, hug you, and...kiss you, everything a normal friend shouldn't be wanting, I wanted. When I realized that no matter how hard tried that these feelings might not ever go away, I knew I couldn't be friends with you anymore. It was my fault. I didn't want to burden you with my feelings."

"I would've rather you burden me." Chanyeol expresses honestly. No matter how difficult it would've been, he selfishly would've rather had Baekhyun by his side. The taller looked down at his lap. "All this time I thought I did something wrong."

"Instead, I did. Even now, I'm still wrong. Chanyeol, I... I still like you."

Chanyeol's eyes instantly widen, unable to comprehend the image of a red-faced Baekhyun openly confessing to him, him.

He likes him.

The guy at the center of his friends' rivalry likes him.

No. Baekhyun is more than that. He is Chanyeol's first friend. A longtime friend that bought out a side of himself that he wouldn't have known without Baekhyun being a part of his life.

His best friend likes a tall, clumsy schoolboy that is a major scaredy-cat, a nerd for science fiction, and has a burning passion for music.

Baekhyun likes Chanyeol.

"I'm sorry--"

Chanyeol snaps out of his thoughts at once when he hears those two words exit Baekhyun's mouth. "Don't be sorry for having feelings, Baek." The taller shakes his head vigorously, "Never be."

Baekhyun stares at Chanyeol in disbelief.

"How can you say that so easily?" Baekhyun found himself asking out loud.

"Because it's true."

This wasn't the reaction he was expecting from the taller. Although, it wasn't out of character for Chanyeol to be understanding. He should've expected it from years of knowing him. But Baekhyun always seemed to forget that quality of Chanyeol when he thought of what his reaction might be if ever found out.

Baekhyun let his fears get the best of him and his belief in Chanyeol. His fears painted Chanyeol as a type of person that would disregard Baekhyun entirely for his feelings. He can't believe that he allowed himself to think badly of Chanyeol. After all these years, he still knows the taller. This is him.

And he isn't going to let the taller schoolboy down again. No matter how hard it will be, he will try his best for himself and this newly rebuilt friendship, "I'll try."

Chanyeol nods his head with a soft smile spread across his lips, "Good..."

-

The next day, Chanyeol and Baekhyun are unable to hang out during lunch because of a group project that Baekhyun is working on for history class.

Chanyeol sits in their usual spot for about twenty minutes until he decides that maybe seeing his friends won't be so bad.

He would be lying if he said he didn't miss spending time with those obnoxious idiots and Kyungsoo.

After all, it could be very much possible that his friends might've moved on from their competition.

Chanyeol enters the cafeteria to the wonted loud chattering and the aroma of pizza in the air making Chanyeol's stomach growl.

He searches for the table in the wide room decorated with their school colors.

To Chanyeol's surprise, only two of his friends are sitting at their lunchroom table. The taller sees Sehun shift his eyes to him as he approaches. Kyungsoo is still talking until he notices that Sehun is no longer paying any attention to him.

"Yo." Sehun waves at the taller.

Chanyeol slides his body into the spot directly in front of the two.

"Where've you been?" Kyungsoo asks after he finishes eating the chip in his mouth.

"Hanging around..." The taller doesn't give the duo a chance to wonder about his vagueness so he asks, "Where are the other three?"

"Probably making embarrassments of themselves." Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. "They were arguing about who is better than the other two, blah blah blah. One thing led to another and they left to race each other on the track field to see who is the fastest."

The taller shakes his head. Kris, Jongin, and Jongdae are really letting their ego get the best of them.

Chanyeol looks at Sehun and furrows his eyebrows, "How come you're not with them?" Last time he checked Sehun was also interested in winning over Baekhyun just as much as the others.

Sehun crosses his arms over his chest and shrugs, "I'm over it. Baekhyun is cute and all but there are other fish in the sea."

The taller stares at the younger surprised by this sudden display of maturity. It seems too sudden. It was only just yesterday that Sehun was blowing up their group chat about how his brother was evil for bring home bubble tea for himself without bring home one for him. Apparently, the betrayal was up there with the top 10 anime betrayals.

"His brother bought home a friend two days ago and he has a crush on him." Kyungsoo clarifies nonchalantly.

"Hey!" Sehun pushes out his lower lip.

"It's true, isn't it."

"If I'm going to go after him, I have to place all my cards in." Sehun explains matter-of-factly, acting as if he wasn't just exposed by Kyungsoo. "Besides, I already know no one is going to win that bet. Baekhyun is obviously dating someone."

"How would you know you've never had a boyfriend or girlfriend?"

"But I've watched movies. If he was remotely interested, he wouldn't be missing in action. When do we see him around? Rarely, he doesn't even hang out with his friends during lunch. Who wouldn't hang out with their friends during the only time of freedom we have?"

Chanyeol wants to say, "People that have friends like ours." but decides against it.

"He is taken, I know it."

"Who's taken?"

"Definitely, not you." Jongdae chuckles as he settles onto the spot right next to Chanyeol.

Kris sits beside Jongdae with a permanent glare on face.

"Don't sit next to me! You make me look short." Jongdae pushes on Kris's shoulder with no progress, completely fruitless in his efforts.

"But you are..." Sehun mumbles without Jongdae's notice.

"We can't help that you didn't grow." Kris smirks as he purposefully looks over the top of Jongdae's head to Chanyeol.

"I can't help that you are an idiot that can't dance." Jongdae snaps back.

"I can dance. I'm an example of genetics at its finest."

"And being delusional is a part of your genetic structure."

"Chanyeol, do you hear something?" Jongdae elbows Kris in the gut. Kris retracts into himself and tries not to groan in pain. Then, Kris rests his forehead against the table as he holds himself.

"Can you hear me now, ass."

Kris nods his head slowly and in a struggled breath, "L... Loud and clear..."

The others continue with their lunch through Kris and Jongdae's annoying feud.

"By the way, where is Jongin?" Jongdae looks around their table.

Kyungsoo and Sehun glance over at one another with furrowed eyebrows, "Didn't he go with you guys to the track earlier?"

"He did but he changed his mind about racing and said that he was coming back here."

"The only one to make an appearance after you guys left was Park." Kyungsoo says.

Kris raises his head up from the table, "He probably got stuck on the toilet, knowing him."

"Maybe he went to make a move on Baekhyun without you two knowing." Sehun suggests. "I know I would if I was him."

Jongdae laughs at the idea, "Yeah, right. He wouldn't even know what to say to him."

The bell rings, piercing the group's ears. The remaining people in the cafeteria began to clear out through the two double doors to walk to their next class. Chanyeol's friends begin splitting off down different halls to their classes. As for Chanyeol, he remains with Kyungsoo since his class is near his they have more time to talk. At least, they normally would. However, today Kyungsoo is quieter than he would be during their walks.

Chanyeol glances over at Kyungsoo and notices his tight expressions with a slight frown on his face. If he wouldn't had known Kyungsoo, he wouldn't have detected the downturn.

"Do I have something on my face?" He says with a bit of a bite in his tone.

"No." Just a frown.

They continue to walk in silence with the bits and pieces of other people's conversations keeping Chanyeol temporarily entertained.

"Sorry..." Kyungsoo mumbles. The taller would've missed his quiet apology if it wasn't for his ears. "I didn't mean--"

"Don't worry, I'm used to it." He smiles.

"They're just so annoying sometimes even more so with this whole thing with Byun Baekhyun."

Tell me about it.

The taller can feel Kyungsoo's eyes lingering on him like he is waiting for him to say or do anything.

"It will blow over soon." He simply remarks.

"It better or I'm going to lose my goddamn mind." Kyungsoo directs his eyes forward.

Chanyeol chuckles, "Not unless Kris or Jongdae do first."

"Those two I swear to--" His words abruptly stop, falling short. He grabs a hold of the taller's wrist and tugs him slightly back. Thankfully, he doesn't trip on air from the sudden stop.

"Dude-"

"Quiet."

Chanyeol sighs and decides to follow Kyungsoo's line of sight. Not too far away from their spot in the shadows, there are two figures in the distance standing a bit off from the hallway.

Is that-?

"Baekhyun..."

"Jongin..."

They say in unison.

Both know without a doubt in their minds that this is a confession.

Jongin is a wearing a sweet hopeful smile while facing Baekhyun. The shorter one of the two looks a bit confused.

Chanyeol watches as Jongin slowly starts moving his mouth then seemingly speeds to the end. Jongin bites his lip and rocks in his spot watching for Baekhyun's reaction.

Baekhyun's eyes widen and he says something back to Jongin, who is equally if not more surprised to whatever Baekhyun told him. Jongin furrows his eyebrows together as he directs his eyes to the ground.

Baekhyun pats Jongin's shoulder a few times. The shorter speaks to Jongin for a few more minutes before they exchange eye contact and unexpected smiles.

Kyungsoo squeezes Chanyeol's wrist before he fully removes his hand.

"I got to go." He mutters with an edge of dejection in his voice. "I'll see you after school."

Chanyeol doesn't have a chance to say anything because Kyungsoo is already gone from his side.

Looking back, the schoolboy can see his old friend leaving Jongin behind.

The young dancer places one hand over his eyes with neither a trace of a smile or frown something somewhere in the middle.

Chanyeol is about to walk away when Jongin's chuckle reaches his ears.

How could someone laugh after a confession? Maybe Baekhyun took his advice and decided to accept Jongin.

However, he wasn't sure what to make of the whole situation that played out in front of him and Kyungsoo. Was it a rejection or acceptation?

Jongin stuffs his hands in his pockets and starts to walk off with a soft smile on his lips.

What did Baekhyun say to Jongin?

The younger abruptly stops his steps and stands still. He locks eyes with Park Chanyeol from across the way. He furrows his eyebrows at the taller.

"Did you just see..."

"I-I... did." He didn't want to lie to Jongin. Jongin's face fell and Chanyeol scrambles to explain, "I didn't mean to. I didn't hear anything."

"It's okay, Chanyeol." Jongin tries to smile at him.

Chanyeol is at a loss of words.

"Can you do me a favor...? Please don't tell anyone about this."

"I wouldn't even if you didn't ask me."

"Thanks...I'll see you later." Jongin brushes pass him.

He stands still for a few seconds then walks aimlessly to his class with a mess of thoughts and emotions in his mind and chest. The guy is down the hall of his class when the bell rings again.

"Shit!" He says under his breath.

Chanyeol runs off to class knowing that being late to class was the least of his problems.

The taller tugs the straps of his backpack further up onto his shoulders. However, the adjustment doesn't seem to relieve the tension in his neck or shoulders. Chanyeol rubs his neck as he walks out of his last class, finally. The hallways are filled with students. Some are in groups, others alone and one their phones.

Chanyeol fishes out his phone and earphones from his pockets. The schoolboy places his earphones into his ears and resumes the current playlist on a music app. Despite the blaring music beating against his eardrums, his mind manages to wander back to Baekhyun and Jongin.

Chanyeol tried not to think about it during class because the more he thought, the more confused he was. Before he can fall further into his thoughts, Chanyeol changes the song. It is another song just like the one previously. The song is in the stark contrast to the feeling in his stomach.

Once again Chanyeol changes the song and it is yet another hype song. After two more skips a somber tune fills his ears. It is enough to temporarily ease his stomach, enough to forget the pain in his neck.

The taller exits the school's main building to the wide grounds of the entrance of the school proceeds to the front gates, up ahead, Chanyeol can see multiple groups of students hanging out and chattering with friends about the latest gossip. Beyond the tall black gates, he can see his friends talking among themselves.

"Chanyeol!"

The music in his ear blocked out the familiar voice that is calling out to him. Baekhyun's hold on his forearm finally gets his attention.

Chanyeol furrows his eyebrows as he turns to person trying to get his attention. The smaller comes into his line of sight.

"Oh! Baekhyun."

"Still in daydream mode?" He says with a smirk.

"A little." Chanyeol runs his nape. "Sorry..."

Chanyeol wouldn't describe his state as a daydream. It was like a burning image was imprinted on his mind. One demonstrating Jongin's confession to Baekhyun.

He knew it was no use to pick apart what he saw because in the end the truth of the matter was only known between Jongin and Baekhyun.

"It happens. Anyway, how was it today?" Confusing and frustrating. "Bored without me?" Not exactly.

"I should be asking you that question. How was the group project?"

"It went surprisingly well. Thank goodness. You know how group projects can be. There is a chance someone does all the work and another person will do nothing at all. This time it is split evenly between everyone."

"That's good."

"Yeah." The shorter sighs out and maintains his smile.

"Are you alright, Park?" He blinks up at him.

"Yeah...I'm just a little worn out. I'm ready to head home and sleep."

"I wish I could. I have to work on the project tonight--speaking of which I should get home." Baekhyun starts walking away from the taller. Chanyeol can only see Baekhyun's back.

"Good luck."

Baekhyun turns his head and scoffs, "I don't need it but thanks anyways. I'll see you tomorrow in the library."

"Yeah...I'll see you then."

Chanyeol starts walking towards the gate. He could clearly see Baekhyun's back and his friends still conversing.

Without anyone else noticing he catches a fleeting exchange between Baekhyun and Jongin. Small, brief smiles on their lips. Jongin slightly bows his head before jumping back into his conversation with our friends.

What was that?

Chanyeol shakes his head to himself, trying to force away his speculations about Baekhyun and Jongin.

It doesn't matter, right? They are both his friends if they were to date that's a good thing, right?

The taller shakes his thoughts away as he approaches his group of friends, huddled in a circle.

His previous confused expression replaced with a visible wide smile. Chanyeol can tell that his friends are invested in conservation since Kris is waving his hands around like a madman.

The first people that catch sight of the oversized male is Kyungsoo and Jongin. Both quickly avert their eyes from him when he enters their little circle.

Per usual Jongdae, Kris, and Sehun completely ignore the new addition. Chanyeol tries to listen in on the bickering three.

Even so, Chanyeol couldn't deny the look in both Jongin's and Kyungsoo's eyes.

The look between him and Jongin was obvious because he knows about his confession to Baekhyun.

As for Kyungsoo, Chanyeol couldn't figure the reason for his eyes.

They might've been on the latter, but they were unfocused and distant. His head slightly lower and shoulders droopy. The most concerning change was that Kyungsoo wasn't even insulting or threatening to kill one of them at the moment. He was completely out of it, silent.

What's wrong with him?

"Guys?" Jongin mumbles out unsure. His soft voice only catches the attention of Kyungsoo and Chanyeol. The other three are still talking up a storm unaware of the coming revelation.

"Guys!" Jongin tries again with a raised voice, directing their attention to him. "I need to say something."

There are five pairs of eyes on him. Jongin closes his own and begins to open his mouth, "I-"

"I have to go." Kyungsoo quickly cuts in before he turns to walk away.

"Wait you have to hear this." Jongin catches the hem of his shirt. Kyungsoo slowly turns to look at the younger with a blank expression.

"Let go, I have to leave." He calmly and firmly instructs. Jongin reluctantly releases his hold on Kyungsoo's shirt.

"Sorry..."

The shorter of the two nods then coldly treads away from the group.

"So, what is it?" Jongdae snaps the male out of his ongoing thoughts.

"I-I...um...uh." Jongin rubs his nape, "I confessed to Baekhyun."

"What!?" Kris and Jongdae yell in unison. The remaining students on campus give them funny looks.

"He rejected me." Jongin explains with a small smile pulling at his lips.

The two lover boys stare incredulously at the boy. Kim chuckles nervously at the two. Sehun eventually elbows Kris out of his state.

"How are you smiling about that?"

"Because you two don't stand a chance." He says then shakes his head, "Actually, its cause Baekhyun made me realize that I never had a chance with him."

"If that means one less competitor, I'm good with that."

"So, it's only this shorty and I now."

Jongdae glares up at the blonde. "For someone that spends some much time staring at himself in the mirror you seem to have no sense of perception. I have more of an in with Baekhyun than you do."

"Then why hasn't he expressed an interest in you."

"He has."

"I wouldn't call talking about choir to be the same as showing an interest in you."

Jongdae and Kris start arguing with each other.

"Maybe we should make a break for it." Sehun whispers.

"Definitely."

Sehun, Chanyeol, and Jongin slowly walk away from the duo.

They walk for three blocks until they reach the corner stop sign.

"See you guys later," Sehun salutes to them. Both Jongin and Chanyeol cross the street when Jongin breaks the silence.

"Hey, Yeol," Jongin nudges him. "Can I come over to your house?"

"Today? I'll have to ask my mom, but I don't think she will mind."

"Cool."

The walk from their school to Chanyeol's house is quiet and awkward. Jongin is keeping to himself with his hands in his front pockets while Chanyeol has one earphone in his ear.

Neither of them brings up anything about the confession as if it never happened. It could be for the best considering he got rejected by Baekhyun.

The taller cannot deny that he felt slightly relieved when Jongin told them that Baekhyun didn't return the feelings.

At least, he doesn't have to worry about Jongin trying to ask him about Baekhyun anymore.

The boys reach Chanyeol's house and the first thing they do is look for snacks in the kitchen. After they devour a whole bag of barbecue chips, both head up the stairs to the taller's room to play video games.

In-between online battle royale matches, Jongin reaches for his phone and starts texting someone.

Apart of Chanyeol wonders if he could be texting Baekhyun but then he reasons with himself. What doesn't it matter if he is? Jongin can talk to him. It's fine, right?

Jongin releases a long sigh and leans back against the wall, "What the hell."

The taller is about to ask what's wrong when the match starts. The match ends after 30 minutes with a different winner this time.

"I think Kyungsoo is mad at me." Jongin blurted out as he stared down his phone.

"Mad at you?"

"Yeah, I keep texting him and he won't answer." He says with a frown on his lips.

"Do you think he is okay? He was acting...distant earlier."

"Maybe he just had a bad day." The taller knows it's more than just a bad day. Kyungsoo started acting strange when they saw Jongin confessing.

"I don't know about that. When he was going to leave, I tried to hold onto his shirt, and he flinched away from me like he...like he didn't want me to touch him now he won't answer me. He has to be mad at me."

"Give him some time. Tomorrow could be different."

Jongin doesn't listen to a single word he is saying instead he is staring down at his phone, "Between lunch and the end of school, I must've did somethi-" He cuts himself off and shifts his eyes away from his phone screen to the former, frown more prominent, "He was there, wasn't he? With you. He saw me confess to Baekhyun."

Chanyeol doesn't answer him; his silence is enough of an answer for Jongin. He did hope he was wrong that Kyungsoo didn't see his confession, but he did, "This is so messed up. I have to go to Kyungsoo's house," The boy jumps off Chanyeol's bed and begins gathering his stuff together. The two ignore the game play going on without them. Thetaller boy watches as Jongin frantically moves around the room. Chanyeol istrying to wrap his head around the reason for Kyungsoo's distance and Jongin'sdismissal of Baekhyun.

Jongin darts out the door and down the stairs. Chanyeol follows suit when he realizes how oblivious him, and the rest of their friends have been.

"You like him."

Jongin freezes in his steps near the front door. The boy visibly sighs, the single statement relieving the weight of his feelings held within him. Honestly, Jongin really did think he liked Baekhyun when he decided to confess to him, but he was incredibly wrong.

"I do." He declares then glances over his shoulder at his friend, his trademark gummy smile on full display, "I like Kyungsoo."

It has been hours since Jongin suddenly left his house. The teen is laying in his thoughts.

The remnants of light from the settling sun spread in-between the shades into the room. The game system sits quietly under the TV screen. In the middle of the large bed is Chanyeol resting on top of blue covers, staring at the beige ceiling with the low humming of the fan, white noise to the teenage boy's thoughts.

"I guess I always have, and I just didn't realize it. Baekhyun, he opened my eyes," Momentarily, an image of Baekhyun's smile flashes in his mind. "He made me rethink my relationship with Kyungsoo. After I confessed to Baekhyun all I could think about is Kyungsoo. The way he smiles when he thinks no one is watching. How he pretends to not give a shit when he teases or insults us because that's his own way of showing that he cares. He's flawed but his flaws aren't all he is. His flaws make him more interesting. He is my friend, at the same time; he is also more than that. Gosh, I probably make no sense to you."

Jongin's words stuck to his brain like super glue.

Although, Jongin was talking about Kyungsoo the entire time, Baekhyun was at the back of Chanyeol's mind.

Their eyes reflected the same sincerity within them. This fondness and yearning for a person that is near yet far from your grasp. Bittersweet to the taste buds.

Are these the type of feelings Baekhyun had for him when they were close?

"I... I-I wanted to hold your hand, hug you, and...kiss you, everything a normal friend shouldn't be wanting, I wanted."

A swarm of flutters fill his empty stomach. He was starting to get used to this feeling. Would it be okay if he decided he didn't want it to go away?

The front door of the house squeaks open then shuts, "Chanyeol! I'm home."

-

Today looked like it was going to be a nice sunny day. In the morning before school, Chanyeol asked his parents' permission to drive his white scooter to school. He couldn't take his scooter to school very often because of the on and off weather. The air is warmer than normal today, so he decided to take the chance to ask. Luckily, he got a yes and he was on his merry way to school.

Chanyeol's morning classes go with an ease with teachers cramming the remaining lessons into the student's minds before spring break.

Thetaller takes a glance at the time on his phone as lunch time nears. The low hum of nervousness that has been there since he woke up this morning heightens.

Upon entering, Chanyeol walks his way through the tables filled with students to his spot down a row of bookcases. Immediately, Chanyeol takes note of a figure sticking out from his spot.

The taller slows his steps and slightly leans against the bookcase. The shorter is completely obvious to the other boy's presence as he scrolls through his online document. Baekhyun is softly humming to himself to a familiar tune to Chanyeol's ears. Before Chanyeol can register the tune, the rhythm of his heart has already come alive. His burning hot cheeks spread to his ears.

He really shouldn't be surprised to hear Baekhyun humming his song. After all he did let him listen and help him with it. How it is any different from those times?

It is the fact that Chanyeol's old best friend that he admittedly likes is the one that has his song stuck in his beautiful head. Or it is simply because it is Byun Baekhyun right in front of him.

When the humming stops, Chanyeol snaps out of his thoughts and decides to reveal himself.

"Hey." He strolls into Baekhyun's line of sight with one side of his lips pulled up, "Your sitting in my spot."

The surprised look on Baekhyun's face is swiftly replaced with an amused grin, "Really? I thought this was my spot."

"What made you think that?"

Baekhyun tries to resist the pull of the corner of his lip, "I've been coming to this library longer than you. So technically, this is my spot."
Baekhyun crosses his arms over his chest, "Unless we make a compromise, and this can be our spot."

"A compromise, huh? I could be interested in that."

"Take it or leave it." The shorter says nonchalantly.

"You have yourself a deal, Byun." The taller reaches his hand out to him. Baekhyun stares up at Chanyeol then his hand, a chortle escapes his lips.

"You're in for it, Park." He slips his hand into its warm grasp. They both break into light-hearted smiles.

Chanyeol sits himself next Baekhyun. He keeps an appropriate distance between them, but it comes across as a little awkward.

"What are we watching today?"

"Watching?"

"Yeah, I was hoping we can finish watching that horror game series. I really want to know what the hell is happening at that cabin."

"Oh, but don't you have to work on your group project?"

"I worked on most of it last night so I can take a small break right now."

Chanyeol shrugs, "Then yeah, we can watch it."

"Great!" Baekhyun looks back down at his online document, exiting out of it.

At the same time, Chanyeol is opening YouTube on his phone, "Since the last time we watched it, two more videos of game play were uploaded. He searches for the series playlist. The taller tilts his screen away from Baekhyun when the red line under the two latest videos appear. He doesn't want to admit to Baekhyun that he has already wanted the videos without him.

Honestly, he didn't think he would enjoy the game play to the point of wanting to watch the videos with him.

He clicks on the one Baekhyun hasn't seen and holds the phone comfortably up between the two of them.

"Two? We won't have an enough time. I guess we can watch the other one tomorrow." Baekhyun absentmindedly answers as he focuses his attention on the video. It is only the intro and Baekhyun is invested.

Chanyeol hums as he nods along with his words. Baekhyun scoots closer to the taller, leaning his head near Chanyeol's shoulder.

An urge bubbles inside Chanyeol, an urge to move slightly closer so Baekhyun can put his lonely shoulder out of its misery and lay his head of soft dark curls against it.

He is lucky that he saw the video nights before because he could not for the life of him focus on it right now.

Another benefit from him already watching the video is that he can expect the jump scares and the one gory scene.

However, Baekhyun does not have that luxury when he sees that one of the characters must decide between hurting one friend or the other with a saw.

The guy playing is freaking out about which character to choose. Chanyeol's grip on his phone tightens when the large saw proceeds towards Josh and Ash.

He closes his eyes at the scene then attempts to open them. He quickly shuts his eyes once again when the saw machine is close enough to break the character's skin.

Chanyeol tries to balance the phone on his knees while his other hand is covering his face. The boy feels a hand on his neck guiding him to rest on a broad shoulder.

"Sorry." He breathes.

Instead of Baekhyun either answering him back or teasing him for being bothered by video game graphics.

"It's over."

Chanyeol moves his head away from the boy's shoulder.

"Thanks."

"Why do you watch gameplays of people playing horror games?"

"I don't know" Chanyeol wraps his arms around his pullled in legs. "I guess it is nice to know there are other people scared like me."

"Strange philosophy," He teases.

Chanyeol nudges him in the shoulder then sighs, "That was really...something."

"It was. Well Josh is out. He is definietly not the one killing people."

"I can't believe the guy chose to kill Josh. I thought he was going to sacrifice Ash."

"Me too! I thought he was going to save the guy and let the girl die. He chose so quickly...I don't think I would've been able to make a choice that quick."

The warning bell for the end of lunch resounds through the library. The two boys gather their backpacks together.

"So someone else is doing it? But who else would have more motive than him."

"The parents?"

"That would be too easy. Maybe the person in the sessions in-between the chapters is the one causing all this."

"We will have to wait until tomorrow to know more."

"Don't cheat and watch ahead. I'll see right through you, Park and know."

The two reluctantly part ways for class once they leave the library. The quick beating of their hearts and brilliance of their smiles pushing them forward to reach tomorrow to see each other at the same time and place.

-

"Dude, where were you? You missed Kyungsoo and Jongin." Kris stops Chanyeol near the entrance of the lunchroom followed by Sehun and Jongdae.

"I was studying." He lied. It was like second nature for him to conjure up an excuse for his absence. Besides, there was no other choice.

"Again? "The tall blonde rises a brow and crosses his arms over his chest, "That's all you do these days."

"Grades are important."

"Yeah but you-"

"What happened with Jongin and Kyungsoo?" Chanyeol cuts Kris off. If he said anymore, the others will just jump on the bandwagon.

"You won't believe me until you see it."

Just then Kyungsoo and Jongin exit the lunchroom. Jongin's arm is wrapped around Kyungsoo's shoulder as he whispers something into the older's ear. A bright grin is spread across the older's lips with a fade blush dusting his cheeks.

The two are completely invested in one another that they don't notice the tall lanky standing nearby. Jongin presses his lips against Kyungsoo's dark locks.

The latter glares at him yet he is met with a wide grin from the younger.

"They are going out now." Sehun announces.

He never imagined Kyungsoo and Jongin being together but them dating wasn't out of place in his eyes. Just because he never imagined it does not mean it was wrong to him. Seeing his two friends pass by with genuine smiles and stars in their eyes made everything make sense.

He's happy for them.

Jongin has both a lover and friend at his side. Who wouldn't want something like that?

"I'm glad they have each other."

"It's going to be hard getting used to Kyungsoo smiling."

Sehun rolls his eyes and waves his hand, "Don't be dramatic. Kyungsoo smiles time to time."

"Only at others' misery."

"Don't let Jongin hear you say that he will kick your ass."

"Not unless Kyungsoo gets to him first." Jongdae snickers at the thought of Kris getting his ass whipped by Kyungsoo.

"That's for sure."

While everyone is laughing and catching up with Chanyeol, Kris is starting to wonder why it is that Chanyeol is always missing during lunch. What is he doing for an entire hour? There is no way in hell he is studying. Maybe he is fucking with someone?

Chanyeol bursts into laughter and slams his hands onto Sehun's shoulders.

Nah, Chanyeol is too much of a softie to do that.

"Are you coming, Blondie?" Jongdae calls out in his annoying voice. Damn, he hates when he raises it into that annoying ass tone and he fucking knows it.

Kris rolls his eyes and stuffs his hands into his pockets, "Yeah."

-

The moment Baekhyun sits behind him on the scooter. He finds himself regretting his decision to offer him a ride in the first place. He honestly didn't think of the fact that Baekhyun will be this close to him. He already has a hard time with Baekhyun sitting close to him in the library. How did he not think of this situation beforehand?

Chanyeol thinks back to the single event that led up to Baekhyun being on the back of his scooter.

The day, it started like it normally does for the teenager. He got up and drove his white scooter to his high school. The morning air still cool against his skin, he entered his first period class. The first class of the day and the boy was already thinking about spending time with his shorter friend. The day started and ended in a flash without a hitch.

Okay, maybe one.

Chanyeol might've been a little late to first period.

"20 minutes late, seriously?"

"Yeah...I guess the power went out last night and my clock reset." The giant rubs the back of his neck.

"Why can't you put an alarm on your phone like a normal person?" Sehun looks at him with disgust.

"My mom got me that clock for my birthday last year. I have to use it." Chanyeol tries to explain. "Anyways, I have detention so don't wait up for me."

"You'll be fine." Jongdae nudges his shoulder. "You will only be in there for 30 minutes."

"I should probably get going. See you guys later." He drags himself away from his friends back into the school.

"Where is Kris?" Jongin asks Jongdae.

"Blonde is in history class doing exam corrections."

The last time he was in detention was in middle school when he forged his dad's signature to get out of the After School Program early.

Now, he can tell that detention hasn't aged well. It is still the same boring hell.

The silence in room is punishment enough for a half-hour.

Chanyeol hauls himself out of school along with a few others that got in trouble for being late to first period as well. Exiting through the front doors, the taller sees Baekhyun is sitting at one of the blue benches, staring down at his phone.

The school was mostly empty with only a few students hanging around for extracurricular activities. Some are still waiting for their ride home.

"Waiting for your ride?" Chanyeol asks.

Baekhyun snaps his head up at him. "Yeah, my brother actually, he was supposed to be here already but he got swamped with work."

Chanyeol sits on the bench with Baekhyun.

"What about you?"

The taller sighs, "I had detention."

"You had detention." Baekhyun smirks, "Badass."

"Yup, I'm officially a bad boy now." He leans back in his spot, lifting his leg onto his knee.

Baekhyun chuckles at his attempt to pose as a bad guy. Chanyeol could never.

"You're too nice to be bad."

"How could you be so sure?"

Baekhyun begins to laugh out loud, "Because I know you, Park." The boy shifts his gaze to Chanyeol then the ground. His deep and melodic laugh slowly subsides as his face morphs into a pensive expression. "Not just anyone would be okay with their friend having a crush on them."

It doesn't take much for Baekhyun to dismiss what he said and resume the conversation causally.

"Besides you can't be a bad boy with those ears." They share a look and laugh a little.

Chanyeol peers over at the road that is void of any cars,"It doesn't look like your brother is coming anytime soon."

Baekhyun looks down at his cell phone. "I swear I'm going kill him."

"I'm about to head home. I can give you a ride home on my scooter if you want."

Baekhyun has long known about his scooter since he saw him driving it a couple of times to and from school for the past week.

The smaller takes a moment to think through Chanyeol's offer. He doesn't think his mother would be too happy with him sitting on the back of a two-wheeled motor vehicle. It wasn't a motorcycle, but it was damn close.

"I understand if you don't want to."

"No, I do. I mean do you have an extra helmet?" Chanyeol beams, showing off his pearly whites.

Baekhyun doesn't want to wait any longer for his brother. He is going to take a chance on Chanyeol's driving skills and the possibility of getting in trouble with his mom. It is worth it.

Baekhyun quickly sends his brother a text telling him that he got a ride from Chanyeol. He hasn't talk about Chanyeol in his house for so long that he is surprised when his brother simply texts back, "K?"

"Do you remember where I live?" Baekhyun asks from behind the taller boy. The two are now in the school parking lot preparing to take off. Baekhyun has seated himself onto the back of the scooter.

"I think so. You still live near our old elementary school, right?"

"Yup!"

Chanyeol starts up the engine of the scooter. The teen looks both ways before leaving the safety of the school. He drives slowly down the road than he normally would. This is Baekhyun's first time on his scooter after all. He doesn't want to freak him out.

"Hold on." He warns before he turns onto the main road. The shorter instantly places his hands on Chanyeol's hips. His heart begins to race from the grip that Baekhyun has on his uniform coat.

Whenever they stop at a light Baekhyun removes his hold on Chanyeol. Once it is green and he speeds off, he takes a hold of his coat frantically. Baekhyun does this every time.

"You know you can hold on to me? I really don't mind."

The shorter doesn't say anything in response. Chanyeol decides to focus his attention to the traffic. The row of cars diagonal to him are passing by. Some turning onto a different road or going straight through. His focus on the flow of traffic is interrupted as Baekhyun steadily places his hands on his hips. The light turns and he is holding him more firmly without hesitation. The last half of the trip is less awkward and more comfortable between them.

The schoolboy finds himself smiling the rest of the way. He reaches Baekhyun's street and gradually decreases his speed as he nears the familiar home, stopping at the very front of the place.

The latter gets off the scooter and stands near struggling to unbuckle the safety device.

Chanyeol turns off the small vehicle and brushes Baekhyun's hands away to help Baekhyun take off the white helmet.

When Baekhyun's hair falls out of it somehow his hair is perfect despite how messy it got. The latter is trying to fix his dark locks when Chanyeol holds onto the helmet in one hand.

The taller leans forward and lightly press his lips against Baekhyun's smooth cheek. The soft fringe of his hair brushes his nose.

A warm ticklish feeling bursts and lingers in both the pit of their stomachs, sweet and scary.

Chanyeol leans away after what seems like a timeless moment.

"Sorry, I should've asked. I just--"

"Yeah, you should've asked." Baekhyun's entire face was stone cold serious. He steps into Chanyeol's personal space. Next thing he knew Baekhyun's lips were against the corner of his mouth. So close yet so far.

"Now we're even." He whispers into a intermix of breaths, their noses barely touching. Neither of them bothers to move away as they hold each other's gaze.

Chanyeol closes his eyes and leans into Baekhyun like their magnets that can't be separated. His lips meet Baekhyun's lips in a chaste kiss. The taller hears the latter's surprised breath then a content sigh.

They pull away for a split second before Baekhyun places his hands on either side of Chanyeol's helmet. In full control, the shorter boy moves into the space between Chanyeol's legs and kisses him first.

It is surreal how much Chanyeol likes kissing Baekhyun. Then a thought occurred to Chanyeol, he's kissing the guy his friends made a stupid bet to date.

A bet that is now biting him in his ass because he wants to ask Baekhyun out and he can't.

The shorter of the two pulls away from their lip-lock. "Is something the matter?" It wasn't hard to notice that Chanyeol was suddenly tense.

Chanyeol looked down not meeting Baekhyun's gaze, "I have to tell you something."

"My friends...they like you. They made a deal that if one of them wins a date with you, the others would back off. That is the reason why I started to hang out in the library; I didn't want to get involved. I understand if this might upset you. I know I would be too."

Baekhyun steps away adding some distance between him and Chanyeol. The taller avoids Baekhyun's stare.

"I should probably tell you that I knew what was going on."

"You knew?"

"Well, I suspected something was going on. I kept seeing them around school and whenever I would find a note in my locker. Let's just say your friends were blatantly obvious."

Chanyeol closes his eyes and cringes at the thought of his friends arguing over who gets to put their note into Baekhyun's locker.

"I also noticed that you weren't hanging out with them like normal. You were spending all your time in the library, hiding away but I didn't know exactly why."

"I'm sorry."

"You haven't changed at all, apologizing when it isn't your fault."

"I should've told you..."

"It wouldn't have changed anything, Yeol. Regardless of their bet, I still wouldn't pay any mind to them because I would still be looking at you."

Chanyeol begins to feel a mild burning sensation spread over his cheeks.

"Are you blushing?"

"N-no..." Chanyeol turns his head away from Baekhyun's stare.

"We just kissed for the first time, yet you blush at what I said."

Chanyeol remains silent as his face reddens.

Baekhyun can't help himself from smiling at the taller's cute reaction.

"Will you go on a date with me?"

"What-"

"After everything--when things are figured out with your friends. Will you go on a date with me?"

"Only under one condition." Chanyeol finally looks at the shorter, his cheeks only slightly pink now. "Not a movie date."

"Fine, only for now. I know I will eventually change your mind, Park Yeol." Baekhyun grabs the latter's hand.

"Never, Byun Baek." Chanyeol teases then he tugs Baekhyun by their link hands and hugs him, "But I'll like to see you try."

-

Chanyeol doesn't know why but he feels like everyone is looking at him strange. The past few days, random girls and boys that he had never seen before would be following him with their eyes like they were Mona Lisa. When he would look in the direction of whomever it was this time, they would look away as if it never happened. He hadn't noticed that people were talking about him until he accidently overheard a group of girls walking while walking the hallways during lunch.

"I think they are dating." One of the girls said to four other girls.

"No way...!" One of them says in a high pitched whine, "I really liked Chanyeol."

"Me too..."

"Really, I liked Baekhyun. He's so cute."

"Chanyeol is so charming. I heard that he once nursed an injuried bird back to health in elementary school."

"I heard that too. Baekhyun is soooo lucky."

"More like Chanyeol is lucky."

"You know, I kinda ship them together. They will definitely be the cutest couple on campus."

"Hey, didn't Kris and Jongdae want to date him?"

"Where did you hear that?"

"That was only a rumor."

"I don't think so. I heard from Sooyoung who heard from Yeri that Kris, Jongdae, and Jongin were trying to date Baekhyun."

"Jongin is going out with Kyungsoo so that can't be true."

"No, it is true. I saw them a few weeks ago trying to put notes into Baekhyun's locker. They were even arguing over him."

"I wonder if they are dating behind their backs."

"That's so messed up."

"Tell me about it."

The taller continues down the hallways. An occasional group of girls pass by him as they stare and whisper to each other. Sometimes, Chanyeol sees a couple hiding in a nook stop what they are doing to look at him.

Everybody knows.

Finally, he reaches the library. There are a few students in there that watch him make his way to his spot. Baekhyun is already there sitting and waiting for him. The boy has a inviting smile stretched across his lips as he focuses his attention onto the taller male in his vision. He's still unaware of the impending storm to come.

"Are you alright?" The boy asks with worry written all over his face.

"The school knows."

"Knows what?"

"About us..."

Park Chanyeol could not wait for the day to be over. People were looking at him wherever he went. Not to mention. He has to face Kris and Jongdae some time. Actually his last class is with Jongdae so he can't avoid him for very long.

Chanyeol walks into class with his fellow classmates talking to each other. Immediately, they fall silent as he walks between the tall desks to find his regular desk. Jongdae isn't here yet.

That gives him some time to figure out what to do, of course expecting Jongdae to be upset with him. 

He is expecting Jongdae to be upset. Chanyeol is going into this with his eyes closed. The only thing he can do is be honest with the latter. Lost in his thoughts, he doesn't notice him making his way over to him. The chair next to the taller screeches against the floor, pulling him from his thoughts. He peers over at the chestnut-haired boy.

"Jong-" He starts.
"I want to know. Is it true?" His friend cuts him off.

Chanyeol takes a breath, "It is."

"You two are dating." He says thoughtfully then the ends of his lips curl up, "I guess I can be okay with that. You aren't bad looking." He ends of his lips curl up.

"Does...does Kris know too?" He decides to ask despite having a good idea of what the answer might be.

"Yeah, he does." The latter looks down at his hands atop of the desk. "Kris is pretty upset."

He shakes his head, "This is not how I wanted this to happen. I was going to tell you guys when it was the right time."

"This is it." The two friends look at each other.

"I wouldn't call this the right time."

"It might not be but here it is. Make the best of it, Chan."

-

Ever since this sorry-of-an-excuse competition has started, Chanyeol has been different. Things were off with him. At first, Kris didn't pay much mind to it. Sure, the teen didn't hang out with them at lunch as much because he was "studying." The tall blonde knew it was a bullshit excuse. But if Chanyeol wanted to go off and do his own business, who was he to stop him?

He wasn't the type to press matters that are none of his concern unless they were made so.

However, the scene he witnessed after walking out of school of Chanyeol and Baekhyun sitting next to each other outside of the school building, bothered him. Their smiles were matching in brilliance. The two best friends' chuckles a type of song to the ears, a mix of depth and vibrancy, holding years of familiarity.

The dynamic between them told him that there was more to the scene. He just didn't know it was to this extent.

Sehun mentioned from the start that Chanyeol and Baekhyun were friends. As far back as Kris could remember, Baekhyun was no longer hanging out with Park.

There was also the fact that whenever he asked Chanyeol about Baekhyun so he could get close to him. The boy refused to tell him anything about him.

"Ouch!" Kris yelps out with Jongdae elbows him in his arm. "What the hell was that for?"

His eyes are zeroed in at the obnoxious boy. Jongdae isn't even looking at him as he shrugs his shoulders. "You had a dumb look on your face."

The boy hears a not-so-subtle snicker from their youngest member, Sehun.

Kris internally sighs; he didn't have the energy to deal with Jongdae. On any other day, he would argue with Jongdae to no ends. Today was not that day.

He had questions, a lot of them.

When the blonde heard the rumors that Chanyeol and Baekhyun were dating, he dismissed it as a misunderstanding. It took his partner from Biology to mention it for him to start to realize that there was truth to it.

"I heard that Chanyeol and Baekhyun are dating."

"Where did you hear that from?"

"It's all over the school."

"Did you not know?"

"Of course, I know." He lied. Even though, it was obvious to him and his classmate that didn't.

The latter awkwardly coughs then presents a tight smile to the Blonde, "I should've thought so. Sorry..."

Kris felt nothing short of humiliation from finding out the relationship status of his good friend from someone else's mouth.

What irked his mind the most was why didn't Chanyeol him?

-

Kris has been avoiding Chanyeol around the school for weeks. The rumors and gossip that had been going around the school about Baekyun and Chanyeol's relationship status finally died down weeks ago. The week long break causing some other drama to be the new juicy gossip of the school. The new hot topic enticing the school as of late is the foreign exchange students from China.

Seeing him sitting at their lunch table, Chanyeol takes his chances to confront the taller guy. The rest of their friends are busy getting some food in the lunch line. Surrounded by many people, he can feel eyes on him but he tries to ignore them.

He settles down on the other side of the table in front of Kris. The exhausted schoolboy has waited weeks for this. The two are immediately bathed in silence. Somewhere in in distance, Chanyeol can hear Jongdae's "Ah wae."

"You have to say something at some point." He sees him clench his jaw.

"I won't date him if that's what you want." Chanyeol really doesn't want to do that. Nor does he want to lose his friend either. That sentence alone is enough to make Kris talk.

"I would never make you do that."

"I know." The boys says under his breath.

"Why didn't you tell us you were interested in Baekhyun?"

"Because I didn't know." He pressed his lips together, "Up until recently, I wasn't aware that I had feelings for him. When you guys made that bet, I was still thinking that Baekhyun was nothing more than an old friend I grew apart from."

"That explains why you were uptight when I would ask you about him."

"Yeah...you guys were practically forcing me to think about him and remember our friendship, good and bad." He couldn't hide the pain that was losing the closest friend he ever had. He missed him for a long time.

"You guys? You mean to tell me that I wasn't the only one that was pumping you for information." Did he only latch on that information alone and ignore everything else I said?

"We all got caught up in this mess." Chanyeol ignores his question.

"I know that Jongdae got to you so Sehun and Jongin did too." Kris crosses his arms over his chest and clicks his tongue, "So much for an even playing field. We lost the minute we got you involved."

"Not to mention the fact that Baekhyun already had eyes for Chanyeol." Sehun infers. "It was so obvious; he used to look over at our table a lot."

"You were the one who suggested that we compete for Baekhyun. Was that supposed to be a joke?"

"I guess we will never know."

"You little..."

"Don't pretend like you knew what was going on. You were a love-sick puppy for Byun Baekhyun until you met Luhan."

"I was not!" Sehun shouts with his lower lip jittered out. "I was trying to help out, hyung."

"More like cause trouble."

Sehun crosses his arms over cross. His lips pulled into a baby-like frown.

Kyungsoo begins to pat Sehun's back until he is finally done being a big baby.

"Are we good?"

"Yeah, we are. Just next time tell me what the hell is going on. There is nothing more I hate than being ambushed."

"Wow, I thought you hated me." Jongdae mocks.

"Don't worry you're a close second."

"You're an ever worst liar than Chanyeol." He laughs in his high-ptiched tone.

"Hey!"

-

It was the middle of the school day; it has been two weeks since the start of the new semester. Sitting next to his charming boyfriend at the usual table Park Chanyeol bites into a fresh, cool strawberry from his zip block bag as he waits for the rest of his friends. Mesmerized by his boyfriend, Chanyeol fails to realize that his friends, mainly Kris and Jongdae are bickering about a guy. 

"As if he would go for you," Kris scoffs. "He probably likes guys that don't talk too much."

"Who says there will be any talking?" Jongdae raises a brow, suggestively. "I'll be too busy--"

"Please do not finish that sentence. I'm trying to eat food not vomit."

"I was going to say that I'll be too busy admiring his good looks, pervert."

"That's a straight up lie."

"Prove it."

"I will when you prove that Minseok is hotter than the new exchange student."

"So, we are fighting a losing battle."

"Do they always argue like this?" Baekhyun whispers to Chanyeol.

"Yeah but we try to ignore them. Don't worry though if they go too far Kyungsoo puts them in their place."

Just then Kyungsoo kicks Kris under the table. The tall blonde clenches his teeth together then reaches down to rub his ankle.

Out of nowhere, Jongdae sits himself down on the other side of Chanyeol. Rather closely enough that Chanyeol has to lean against his boyfriend. Jongdae then looks across to Baekhyun from his side.

"Hey, Baekhyun, my incredibly good friend's boyfriend," The corners of his mouth turn upward as he glances from Chanyeol to Baekhyun.

"What do you want, Jongdae?" Chanyeol gets to the point, partially obstructing his view of the shorter for a minute before Baekhyun pulls him back.

"Is Minseok single?" He asks, overtly.

"My friend, Minseok...well, he's-"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Kyungsoo interjects with a knowing smile etched on his lips.

"Kim Jongdae, is it?" A male voice starts from behind Jongdae and the couple.

Jongdae's cheeks turn instantly red like the entire group has never seen before, a whole new side to the notorious Kim Jongdae. The schoolboys turn his head to look up at none other than Kim Minseok, himself. In stark contrast to Jongdae's untucked look, Minseok is wearing his school wear in a clean, proper manner with his white shirt fully buttoned up. Minseok is also wearing round glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Yeah..." Jongdae plays off the embarrassment displaying on his cheeks.

"Kim Minseok, Baekhyun's friend. Yes, I'm single but I prefer my potential boyfriends to be more forthcoming. Find me when you are ready to take on the challenge, Kim Jongdae." Minseok finishes then leaves back to his table.

"Did that just happen?" Sehun whispers to Jongin.

"What are you going to do?" Kris teases the shorter to which Dae glares at him. "Will you take him on?"

"I don't know, are going to take on the exchange student?"

"I will if you accept the challenge."

"Any day if that means I get front row seats to your tall, flat ass struggling to get Zitao."

"You have a deal." The duo shakes on it.

The rest of the boys at the table roll their eyes at the ego driven duo. It wouldn't be a normal lunch without these two running their own show.

"They do realize that they can talk to their crushes without challenging each other, right?"

"Who knows?" Sehun shrugs.

"Only those idiots would make a deal to argue over two different guys."

"It's like the world's best idiot contest."

"Jongdae and Kris challenge each other because they are too chicken to do it themselves." Jongin chimes in. "Come to think of it. Have you guys been to the new fried chicken restaurant on 4th and 61st?"

-

Chanyeol takes Baekhyun by the hand.

"Let's go to the library today. We haven't been there for a while."

"Okay, sounds like a good idea."

They haven't been able to be truly alone since the time that Baekhyun's mom walked in on them kissing in his room. Now, their visits to each other houses are supervised by the parentals.

Baekhyun is eating some dark chocolate and when he kisses Baek he can taste the bittersweet taste. It remains him of the bitterness of losing him to the sweetness of reconnecting with him again.

"I really like you." He whispers into Baekhyun's lips like his feelings are a secret only meant of his boyfriend's ears.

The two exchange smiles and stares before they seal the deal with a long kiss.

Baekhyun pulls Chanyeol into a tight hug, his arms fully wrapped around his neck. Chanyeol can feel their hearts racing in time with one another. The shorter's lips brush against his left ear, "I really really like you too." Baek finishes with a tiny peck to his ear.

The taller chuckles, the simple kiss making him tingle from within. "Are you trying to top my "really"?

"No..." Baekhyun giggles and cups his cheek, "I just really like saying that I really like you."

Chanyeol raises a brow, "Really?"

"Stop it, already." Baekhyun lightly hits his chest and they quietly laugh together.

"Okay, okay but I can't promise that I will stop saying how much I like you."

"Good thing cause I'm not planning on stopping either."

The taller leans down to capture Baekhyun's lips when a hand covers his mouth. His eyes look down in confusion.

Baekhyun proceeds pick up his candy bar near him with his free hand. He breaks a piece off the dark chocolate candy and pops it into his mouth, the look in his eyes playful. The latter slowly moves his hand away from his mouth. Chanyeol doesn't say a word as he follows Baekhyun's movements.

Although, Baekhyun is a few inches shorter than him. He doesn't feel like he is in anyway less than him. Baekhyun is his as much as Chanyeol is his. In equal parts, they make each other whole.

In this space at the back of the library between the bookcases, they have shared both new and old memories and he can't wait to make more with him.

Baekhyun takes a step forward and Chanyeol does the same. The two close enough to feel each other's breath on their lips.

The first press of lips leads to more eager ones. Eager ones lead to open mouth kisses, every gentle lick into Baekhyun's warm mouth gathering the leftover taste of that piece of dark chocolate. Bitter then sweet.

The brief moment of separation filled with shallow breaths. All Chanyeol can think about is the taste.

...Bittersweet

Without the bittersweet memories of their friendship, Park Chanyeol wouldn't have known how to appreciate the sweetness of the reconnection, of a newly discovered blend of friendship and love between him and Baekhyun.

As for the rivalry, well it made it all the more interesting for Sehun to watch.

|🍨|

I just had to bring Sehun back because he made everything happen in the first place. Everyone say thank you to the king.

Anyways, thank you for reading this long story filled with nonsense. If you want more nonsense, check out No F**kboys Allowed.

See you in the next story update.

-Jiselle