Unbreakable [4/4]
Title: Unbreakable
Pairing: Baekhyun/Chanyeol, hint!Kai/Baekhyun
Genre: Angst, Fluff
Word Count: 27k+
Summary: When Baekhyun breaks, everything else does. Or so he thinks.
--
Baekhyun woke up extra early to warm up. It’s the last day of practice. The previous days didn’t feel so good because his leg kept on hurting, giving him a hard time to practice his swimming. But he wanted this day to be different. He wanted everything to be good today so that tomorrow will be better.
After his warm up, he went back to the dorm to wash. When he got out, he saw a message popping on the screen of his laptop and clicked to open it. It was a picture of Chanyeol protruding his lips to give him a kiss along with the captions ‘Good morning kiss for my angel’. Baekhyun blushed. This day will definitely be good.
The weather took a turn from being sunny to rainy while they were practicing. It didn’t bother him that much but it was hurting his leg, even more than before. He tried suppressing the pain while working on his breast stroke but the style required a great use of pressure on his legs. He snapped midway.
He curled under the water, gripping his hurting leg, worrying the others who saw him. Jongin is one to be exact. After being given an approval from Jaekyung, he dived down the water to pull Baekhyun up. Baekhyun was biting his lip when he was pulling him to the side of the pool until they bled. “Baekhyun, what’s wrong? What happened?”
“My leg hurts-ah,” Baekhyun curled around, his hands clenching and slamming the tiles.
Jaekyung arrived behind him. “Jongin, take him to the clinic,”
The walk to the clinic took years. Baekhyun would stop every minute just to punch anything because of the pain his leg was causing him. Jongin was worried. He had never seen Baekhyun in this state before and judging from the way the latter’s reacting, he has never been in this state before. He never experienced anything inflicting this much pain on him, making it hard for him to cope.
Thankfully, the pain seemed to have lessened when they arrived at the clinic. Doctor Singh didn’t look so good. He ordered Baekhyun to sit still while he examines his leg. One good thing about this clinic is that it has an X-Ray Machine, making it easier for the doctors to monitor injuries, since the hospital is quite a long drive from the school.
Baekhyun was sitting lifelessly on the sofa, afraid that a little movement might inflict pain on his leg again. Doctor Singh walked out, holding the results. He sighed deeply. “I did remind you to be careful and not to push it too hard. Baekhyun, the bones on your ankle are badly damaged, not to the point of disability, but even a kick would trigger the pain. It’s still on its healing state, and it doesn’t seem to end.”
“What are you trying to say?”
Dr. Singh hesitated. But his eyes found Jongin’s and he knew that if Baekhyun couldn’t accept what he was about to say next, Jongin could.
“You can’t swim anymore, Baekhyun.”
Time stopped for him then.
“You’re kidding…” He breathed in disbelief, his eyes searching for any hint of lies on the Doctor’s eyes.
Dr. Singh lowered her head. “I’m sorry.”
“YOU’RE LYING!” Baekhyun stood up.
“Baekhyun!” Jongin came up behind him and restricted his arms.
“HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?! THAT’S MY DREAM! YOU CAN’T JUST SAY I CAN’T SWIM ANYMORE!”
“Baekhyun, calm down.”
“NO! JONGIN I WORKED HARD! I WORKED HARD TO GET HERE! I LEFT EVERYTHING TO GET HERE! YOU CAN’T JUST TELL ME IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING! YOU CAN’T…” He broke down into cries, his helpless screams ringing on the corners of the room. He pushed Jongin away and ran for the door, slamming it shut and ran further away. He doesn’t even care that the rain has fallen down, that the thunder was breaking the skies.
His life was fucked up.
He’s fucked up.
He kept on running and running, as if his leg can take him to that one place he wants to be, that one place he can call a sanctuary; Chanyeol’s arms. But there was no Chanyeol. There was no one around him. No one.
He stopped at the sidewalk, his hair and clothes dripping wet, and fished the phone out of his pocket. He was violently pressing on the screen to call Chanyeol. He just wants to hear his voice, listen to him whisper sweet words, try to make him feel better.
“Chanyeol, please…please answer the phone…”
But at the fifth attempt and still nothing, he knew he was fucked up bad. He screamed crying, helpless, broken. There was no one to calm him. No one to fix him.
He threw his phone on the ground, causing it to break. He knelt on the ground, his knees glued to his chest, his head buried in between, and his arms hugging the coldness out of his legs.
At the middle of his cries, he stopped feeling the rain drops on his skin. He looked up and found an umbrella carried by a man. “Come on, you’ll catch a cold here,” He said. The water on his eyes made it hard for him to see.
Baekhyun looked away stubbornly.
“Baekhyun,” Jongin warned, pulling his arm up. “Come on,”
He needed a pull.
Right now, the closest thing he has for comfort was Jongin. He wouldn’t refuse that. There’s no Chanyeol. But there’s Jongin. He felt warmth on his hand and found Jongin’s hand gripping his. He was in no state of judgment but Jongin sure is warm. Very warm.
He started swaying to the side until he blacked out and the last thing he heard was Jongin’s call for his name.
--
The sun was hot on his skin when he regained consciousness, or rather, woke up. His head ached a little but not something he couldn’t take. He sat up slowly, trying to determine the foreign feel of the bed. It wasn’t his bed. He wasn’t in his room. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get a clearer vision. The smell was oddly familiar but the place wasn’t the slightest. He pushed the blanket off his chest and found himself wearing unfamiliar set of clothes, they were big too. The slight pain on his ankle when he dropped his foot on the floor triggered a memory and he wished he hadn’t woken up. He stood up quite abruptly that he lost balance and fell on his knees.
“BAEKHYUN! ARE YOU AL-” The door slammed open, revealing a worried and half-naked Jongin with tousled hair. Baekhyun blinked at him from the floor, unsure of how to react. “-right?”
“Um,” Baekhyun crooked, still unsure how to react.
“You’re awake,”
Baekhyun nodded.
“Thank god. You were out for two days.”
Baekhyun’s eyes widened. “WHAT?!”
--
The apartment was nice. If it wasn’t for what happened, he wouldn’t have known where Jongin lived. It’s an apartment good for two people, not too small but not too big. Jongin said earlier that he wanted to live away from his parents. His sisters are gone, living their own lives, and he wanted to do the same. His mother visits him twice a month while his father…as he said, “It would be a miracle if he came knocking on my door”, so yeah. What surprises him the most was that it was clean, not the Kyungsoo kind of clean, but it wasn’t an eye-sore.
Baekhyun likes it here.
Jongin actually didn’t know how to explain the events that followed his fainting, the part where he undressed Baekhyun and changed his clothes twice at least. But he figured he has enough time to formulate a proper explanation judging from how messed up Baekhyun looks right now after two days of sleep. “So the competition’s done,” Baekhyun murmured from his seat on the table.
“Yeah…” Jongin didn’t want to add any information to avoid hurting Baekhyun.
“So who-“
“Here!” Jongin cut him off, placing a cup of coffee on the table. “A nice cup of hot coffee,”
Baekhyun took it. “It’s cold,”
“A nice cup of coffee,”
Baekhyun shrugged. “I don’t feel so nice,”
“A cup of coffee,”
Baekhyun took a sip. “It doesn’t taste like coffee,”
Jongin glared. “A cup,”
Baekhyun sighed heavily and looked at Jongin. “Why so long…”
“I know, you’ve been out for two days,”
“I meant your hair. You should cut it.”
Jongin resisted the urge to elbow him.
Baekhyun smiled slightly. Those were old jokes so it was quite amusing that Jongin knew exactly how to respond.
“Hey Jongin,”
“Hm?” Jongin looked up from the eggs he was trying so hard to cook.
“Thank you for taking care of me,” There was something odd about the way Baekhyun said it, Jongin noticed. Like he wasn’t expecting any help from anyone at all when in fact, anyone who knew him would’ve given him a hand. No one would want to see a friend in pain like that. At least, for him.
“It’s nothing.”
Two days. Baekhyun thought. Our anniversary’s passed.
And I ruined it.
He thought of checking Chanyeol earlier but he remembered he threw his phone on the ground. It’s probably in pieces now. He’s got nothing. His laptop is back in the dorms but he didn’t want to go back. He doesn’t want to see Sungyeol pitying over him, bombarding him with questions like ‘Where were you?’ or ‘We came to cheer for you but you weren’t there’ and he doesn’t want to answer him with the sad truth that there’s no one to cheer for now. He didn’t want to see him disappointed. He’s one of the people who looked forward to his success.
It’s like he wants to keep himself away from the world for a while. It hurts when you see people smiling and yet there’s you, who’s dying inside. And it’s probably the best way to recover.
He doesn’t want to see Chanyeol too. If Chanyeol sees him like this, he’ll be sad. It’s not going to be the same anymore. Chanyeol might already be in Seoul. But he can’t face him like this.
“Here, some eggs,” Jongin said while pushing a plate of scrambled egg to Baekhyun.
Baekhyun sniffed.
Of all the things…
It had to be an egg…
Jongin raised his eyebrows. “Hey? Are you crying?”
Chanyeol…
Baekhyun covered his face with his palms to hide his sobbing, although he was as loud as an elephant.
“B-Baekhyun? Why are you crying? Are you allergic to eggs? Did I say something wrong?”
“No, silly,” Baekhyun chuckled in between his sobs. He wiped the tears away and smiled. “I just miss him,”
Him. Jongin thought. Chanyeol.
“I understand,”
--
When Baekhyun woke from an afternoon nap that day, he was surprised to see a box of his favorite chocolate drink on Jongin’s bedside table. If it wasn’t for the sticky note that said ‘Step 1 to recovery’, he wouldn’t have thought that it was for him. And in fact, he still doesn’t believe it was. There’s only one person who would do this for him and it was Chanyeol. Chanyeol always do this. During highschool, Baekhyun used to spend the afternoon at Chanyeol’s house, only going home at dinner time. He would fall asleep on Chanyeol’s bed, sometimes he would fall asleep to Chanyeol singing a song for him. He was skilled in guitar, not so in singing, but his honey-like voice do enough justice to his songs.
He smiled sitting up and took the box.
--
(“I’m not doing this anymore!” Baekhyun yelled while stomping out of Chanyeol’s car, slamming the door shut. Chanyeol immediately followed after parking the car to the side.
“Mine! Where are you going? Come back here!” Chanyeol called from behind.
Baekhyun pretended to hear nothing and sped up his pace. It wasn’t his idea in the first place. Okay maybe it was but it was normal for people to want to learn how to drive. It’s just not for him. It confuses him. And he hates how exasperated Chanyeol gets whenever he does something wrong.
“Mine,” Chanyeol caught his hand and they stop. He forgot Chanyeol’s legs are long enough to keep up with him. Baekhyun was still pouting angrily while avoiding meeting his gaze. “Come here,” Chanyeol pulled the shorter to a tight embrace, his arms circling around Baekhyun’s petite frame, and his chin resting on top of his head. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to yell at you.”
Baekhyun stiffened in his hold.
“I was just worried,” Chanyeol combed Baekhyun’s hair with his hand, his large fingers sliding down the brunette’s smooth hair. “If you were to drive your own car and you don’t know how, you could get yourself killed. I don’t want to lose you. I’m sorry.”
Baekhyun hated how much of a sweet-talker Chanyeol was. But he loves what it does to him.
“I hate you,” He murmurs on his chest as Chanyeol plants a kiss on his forehead.)
“BAEKHYUN!”
Baekhyun snapped. He turned beside him and saw Jongin staring at him. “I called you a myriad of times.”
“Sorry, I just remembered something.” Baekhyun replied, shifting his sitting position on the couch. “What is it?”
Jongin was back early today, actually ever since he took refuge in his apartment. “Do you want pizza? I don’t know how to cook. I only know how to cook eggs, wherein you cried. So,”
Baekhyun shook his head. “How do you survive?”
Jongin shrugged. “The noonas are nice. They give me food sometimes.”
Baekhyun stood up. “Come on. I’ll cook,”
Jongin followed Baekhyun to the kitchen. “You can cook?”
“Just a bit. I can cook curry. Do you have ingredients here?”
“Check the fridge?”
Baekhyun opened the fridge. A grocery shop presented itself. “Why do you have this much ingredients and never cooks?”
“My mom brings them. And I can’t cook. Sometimes I ask the noonas to come and cook for me,”
Baekhyun rolled his eyes while taking some from the fridge.
Jongin watched him as he cooks. He always had people coming over to cook for him before. But Baekhyun was different. There was something special about the way Baekhyun graced his kitchen. It’s like he was used to cooking for someone. Then it hit him.
“Chanyeol’s a lucky guy,” He blurted out of nowhere, disturbing Baekhyun who was carefully cutting onions.
“Why do you say so?”
“He has someone who loves him as much,”
Baekhyun stopped.
Kyungsoo smiled. “And I’m sure he knows that he’ll love you more than you will ever love him.”
“Is that so?”
The phrase sounded like a lie.
--
“Here,”
Baekhyun looked up. Jongin was standing in front him, offering a laptop. “What?”
“You miss him, don’t you? Why don’t you check on him online?”
Baekhyun looked away. “I can’t.”
Jongin placed the laptop beside him, on the couch. “I’ll leave it here in case you change your mind. I’m going to practice,”
Baekhyun didn’t say anything even until Jongin closed the door and left. He contemplated for a bit. But he knew he couldn’t resist the urge to want to check on how Chanyeol was doing. This was the longest time he hasn’t heard from him and it was slowly eating him inside. The restlessness, the anxiousness, the worry.
He opened Jongin’s laptop and logged in to Facebook. While scrolling down the newsfeed, he saw Chanyeol’s latest status dated yesterday, the location still his hometown.
“He didn’t leave?” Baekhyun asked himself. There was nothing on Chanyeol’s posts that said he left for Seoul. Maybe he changed his mind. The thought saddened him. Everything is starting to become a blur.
He saw Kyungsoo’s photo post titled ‘Chanyeol’s ring!’ with a photo of himself showing off the ring on his middle finger.
His heart sank.
What the hell is happening?
Chanyeol bought him a ring?
Baekhyun shut the laptop off. He knew he shouldn’t have. He isn’t sure if Chanyeol was cheating on him with Kyungsoo, his best friend, but the events don’t change the fact that he’s slowly dying inside with longing for Chanyeol and jealousy. It was breaking him. The uncertainty about everything around him was killing him. He hates this kind of feeling. He hates hiding. He hates losing. He hates failing. He hates everything. His tears started falling.
Maybe Chanyeol did change his mind.
Maybe he did wander away from him.
It just took him this long to realize that he wasn’t fit for the amount of love he gives.
He was breaking.
He ran away.
--
He came.
Chanyeol carefully hopped off the bus, his backpack heavy on his shoulders. He hoped Baekhyun wouldn’t be so mad because he wasn’t able to come sooner. He was supposed to come on the day of his competition but he failed to do so. He called Baekhyun numerous times to explain but he couldn’t reach him. Something was wrong. He felt it. But the longing to hold the latter in his arms again dominated. He was excited to see him, to finally see him again after two months. Yes, two months maybe short, but for him it’s long enough that he misses everything about his lover.
He took a paper out of his pocket, containing the complete address of the school and Baekhyun’s room number at the dormitories. He grabbed a taxi and gave the paper to the driver. It wasn’t his first time in Seoul. He’s been here several times already ever since he was a kid. But this time was different. He actually felt like he was a kid again.
The ride wasn’t that long, probably because there wasn’t that much traffic. The school surprised him. It was huge. He wondered how the hell he will find Baekhyun. He entered the school, after getting checked by the security and hanging an I.D around his neck that said ‘VISITOR’. He tried to fit into the students walking around, but with his height, he was sticking out like a sore thumb.
He saw a guy hanging around the vending machine as tall as him, probably even taller, that he was glad. “Maybe I could ask him,” He said to himself. He walked to the guy, who was also sporting a blond hair, only it was more yellowish than his. “Excuse me,”
The guy turned to him angrily…or was he smiling? Either way, he still looked angry even when he smiled. “What?”
“I just want to ask something. Where’s the dormitory?”
“Which one? There’s a lot of dormitories here. Dorm A, Dorm B…”
Chanyeol panicked. Baekhyun didn’t say anything about alphabets. “Uh…” He fiddled with the paper. The guy snatched it and looked. Rude.
“Baekhyun?” The guy said in surprise after reading his name on the paper. “Ah, your Baekhyun’s friend?”
Chanyeol lit up. “You know him?”
“Yeah. You’re lucky. Come on. I’ll take you there.”
“Thanks!” Chanyeol yelled while following. “I’m Chanyeol by the way,”
The guy smirked. “So it’s you,” He murmured.
“What?”
“Nothing,” The guy shook his head. “Kris,”
“Oh, nice to meet you!”
--
Jongin went home extra extra early that day, bringing a box of cake to surprise Baekhyun, but found his door open. He immediately ran inside, checking if Baekhyun’s fine, but there was no sign of him anywhere. He couldn’t have been robbed, but nothing was stolen. His apartment looked the same.
“Baekhyun!” He called while running to the bathroom from the kitchen. Baekhyun was nowhere.
He was back in the living room. He noticed his laptop and opened it.
“He must be upset,” He concluded after seeing what was on the screen and ran out to look for Baekhyun.
--
Sungyeol stared at Baekhyun’s bed. It’s been empty since the day before the competition until now. He tried calling the latter but it was to no avail. He asked Jongin several times but he always got shrugged away. He was getting irritated. He heard a knock on the door and lazily opened it. “What?”
He blinked at Kris and some tall person beside him who looked oddly familiar.
“Someone’s looking for Baekhyun,” Kris said, stepping aside.
“Uh, hi, I’m Chanyeol,”
“Oh,” Sungyeol finally remembered where he saw that face before. He doesn’t always look at Baekhyun’s picture frames he wasn’t that familiar. “Baekhyun’s lover,”
Chanyeol smiled. “Is he there?”
“He’s not,” Sungyeol said. “He hasn’t come home for three days,”
Chanyeol’s smiled disappear. “What? Why?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t even participate in the competition,”
“What? Didn’t he say where he was going?”
“He went to practice but never came home. I don’t know where he went.”
“Did you ask Jongin?” Kris interrupted.
“Yes, several times,”
“Jongin,” Chanyeol repeated. “Do you know where Jongin is? Maybe he knows.”
“He said he doesn’t,”
“Well, he has to. There’s no other person in this school Baekhyun trusts other than his roommate and Jongin,” Chanyeol argued. “If he’s not here then he has to be with Jongin,”
Sungyeol was appalled. His phone rang on the table and he walked over to answer. “It’s Jongin,” He said as he presses the button. “Hello?”
“Sungyeol! Is Baekhyun there?”
“No, why are you asking me that? I told you he hasn’t come home.”
“Shit.”
“Jongin, what’s wrong? Chanyeol’s here. He’s looking for Baekhyun.”
There was a pause.
“Ch-Chanyeol?”
“Yes, he’s looking for Baek-hello? Hello Jongin?” Sungyeol pulled the phone away. “He hung up,”
Chanyeol clenched his fists. “Do you know where he lives?”
--
Jongin was panicking. Baekhyun was nowhere. Really nowhere this time. Where would he go? The city is big. He’s not in the school. He doesn’t know any other place Baekhyun would go to. He asked almost everyone he knew if they had seen him. And now Chanyeol’s in town. Of all the times he decided to appear, it had to be now.
Like he can just kick Chanyeol back to where his hometown is.
He almost jumped when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He fished the phone out and looked at the message.
From: Jongup
Sent: 5:25 PM
I saw Baekhyun at the coffee shop earlier!
Of course. Jongin thought. Why didn’t I think of that?
He started running to the coffee shop. It was only a 10-minute run from where he was standing. He silently prayed that Baekhyun’s fine or else he wouldn’t know what to do. He felt responsible for him in a way…
Even though Chanyeol’s here.
He can see a crowd from the distance, approximately in front of the coffee shop that it confused him. The coffee shop doesn’t really announce promos or anything so the crowd looked strange. Until he got close and saw the shop’s glass windows broken, the metal lining each bent inwardly, and a car stuck on the side, its windows also broken into pieces.
He dropped his phone.
Baekhyun was lying on the ground, body twisted painfully and covered with blood. “BAEKHYUN!” He yelled and dropped beside Baekhyun. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING STANDING THERE?! CALL AN AMBULANCE!” He screamed to the crowd, crying, while cradling the latter’s head carefully and praying mentally. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. Why did it turn out like this?
--
(“Doe-eyed! Doe-eyed! Hahahaha!” The children yelled in repeat while circling around five-year old Kyungsoo.
Kyungsoo hugged his legs, sniffing silently.
“YA! Stop teasing him!”
Kyungsoo looked up as soon as the yells stopped. He saw a boy, older than him, shoo-ing the other kids away. His cheeks were rosy pink.
“You okay?” He asked.
Kyungsoo blinked at him.
“I’m Baekhyun! What’s your name?”)
Kyungsoo snapped when he heard glass breaking. He turned and saw a picture frame on the floor, the broken pieces of the glass scattered around. He must’ve hit it when he was wiping the table just now. He shook his head and lifted the picture frame, pausing when he saw Baekhyun’s picture, posing with a big smile and a V-sign.
Something’s wrong.
Later, he packed his clothes and took every bit of money he had saved.
--
The blow on his cheek when he received that punch was enough to wake him from his state of carelessness. He’s been trying to reflect his actions. This is what he needed, Chanyeol punching the living daylights out of him. “YOU TOLD ME YOU’LL TAKE CARE OF HIM! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!”
Jongin slowly sat up from the fall and spitted the blood out of his mouth. He never knew Chanyeol, never knew how nice he is, never knew how patient he is, but he knew that he has never gotten mad like this. Baekhyun never mentioned something about that before. “I TRUSTED YOU!”
Jongin tsk-ed. “I know. And I’m sorry. I did everything I could. But the pain you were causing him was unbearable.”
“What?” Chanyeol asked, panting.
“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING TO HIM?”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“BULLSHIT!” Jongin stood up and walked away.
Chanyeol was going to follow him if it wasn’t for Sungyeol who stopped him. “Leave him,”
“What the hell is he talking about?”
Sungyeol tapped the space beside him. “Sit,”
What am I a dog? Chanyeol ignored his thoughts and sat beside Sungyeol.
“You’re quite oblivious given that you’re his lover,”
“I’m not oblivious.”
“You knew that he injured his leg right?”
“Of course I do. I even called your clinic to make sure that Baekhyun’s fine.”
Sungyeol crooked his eyebrows. “O…kay. Before the competition, the doctor said his leg’s fine so they took off the bandage that’s why he was able to join the official team. But the day before the competition, his leg started hurting again. He went back to the clinic with Jongin. His ankle was badly damaged. He can’t swim anymore.”
Sungyeol remembered what he felt when he first heard it from Jongin earlier.
Chanyeol felt out of breath. “I…I didn’t-“
“That pain was bearable,” Sungyeol informed. “You gave him something unbearable,”
“What?”
“He thinks your cheating on him with his best friend.”
“Cheating? What? No! I would never-“
“I know,” Sungyeol chimed. “But that’s what he thinks. That’s what you make him feel. He said you don’t have time for him anymore. When he calls you, your mom would answer, sometimes you leave your phone at home. He knows you go to Kyungsoo’s house. That’s why it hurts him because you never told him.”
“Chanyeol, you’re away from each other. It’s not easy for him.”
Sungyeol looked up to check the time. 7:00 PM. They’ve been in the hospital for over an hour now.
Chanyeol never realized the pain he was inflicting on Baekhyun these past weeks. He’s been too absorb at his job that he forgets the main reason why he was in the first place. He thought he was doing Baekhyun a favor when in fact, he was only doing himself a favor. He never wanted to hurt him. And he would never. He was being selfish to the point that he was slowly breaking Baekhyun.
The doctor came out five minutes later.
“He’s fine. You don’t have to worry. He just hit his head but it wasn’t badly damaged. He’s awake now if you want to see him.” The Doctor informed. “Who should I talk to regarding the patient’s information and the bills?”
Sungyeol volunteered himself for obvious reasons.
--
Kris was hanging around the vending machine back at the school. He didn’t come to the hospital mainly because he didn’t want to witness another drama. He’s experienced it before, he doesn’t have to know how it’s like.
“Excuse me,”
He turned to see a guy, quite short, staring at him with his large eyes. “Can I ask something? Do you know where the dormitory is?”
“Which one? There are a lot of dormitories-“ Kris stopped when a realization came in. “You’re Baekhyun’s friend.”
Doe-eyed blinked at him. “How did you know?”
“That’s not important. Come on. I’ll take you to where Baekhyun is.”
Looks like he can’t avoid the hospital after all.
--
The world moved slowly around him. The air was cold when Chanyeol entered the room, the curtains on the windows swaying with the wind. This isn’t how he imagined his meeting with Baekhyun will be like after two months of being separated. He imagined it to be perfect, with Baekhyun running to him happily, jumping to hug him, and whispering sweet words. Not like this. He didn’t imagine Baekhyun lying on the hospital bed with a bandage on his head. Broken.
Baekhyun sat up when Chanyeol entered. He stopped just at the foot of the bed. His hair was still blond but it was a mess. He was wearing a black leather jacket with a white top inside, matched with black pants. His backpack was hanging loosely on one shoulder. He looked the same.
“Mine, I-“
“You don’t have to explain.”
Because he knew this day would come. The day where Chanyeol would choose to leave him.
“I know you think I’m cheating on you but I’m not. Mine, can’t you just let me explain?” The question hurt him. For four years, he had never heard himself ask that question because he never had to explain anything. Baekhyun knows everything. He tells Baekhyun everything.
Baekhyun looked away.
“Baekhyun, please!” He sounded almost desperate. “I love you. For four years I never stopped loving you! You can’t just forget those four years because of this! I’m not cheating on you!”
“That’s not the point!” Baekhyun yelled. “Chanyeol, you weren’t there when I needed you the most! We promised we’d make this easier for us! But why do you have to lie?! I call you but your mom would answer! You never tell me about your visits to Kyungsoo’s house! YOU NEVER TELL ME ANYTHING!” He slammed his fists on the foam in exasperation, biting his lip to resist the urge to cry in front of Chanyeol.
“That’s not true!” Chanyeol defended. “Mine, I-“
“GET OUT!”
“What?”
“GET OUT CHANYEOL PLEASE.” Baekhyun lowered his head so he doesn’t see the hurt on Chanyeol’s face.
There was a long silence.
“Fine. If that’s what you want. But remember this Baekhyun. I love you and I will never stop loving you. I know you know that.”
The door slammed shut.
Baekhyun continued crying. Whether they were cries of regrets, or pain, or love, he doesn’t even know himself. He just told the person he loves the most to leave him, thinking it was for his own good. He was broken. He can’t let Chanyeol love someone as broken as him. The events had turned the tables around. He wasn’t the same Baekhyun anymore, not the same Baekhyun Chanyeol loves. If he continues this relationship, he will just end up hurt if Chanyeol decides to leave him.
He’s not that Baekhyun anymore.
It’s never going to be the same again.
--
Jongin was letting his mind cool off at the benches near the hospital’s entrance. He started to wonder what would happen if he pursued Baekhyun, if he didn’t give up when he knew the latter already have a lover. Would he still be hurt like this? Would everything change? He’ll never know because he never tried. And maybe he should’ve.
His train of thoughts was interrupted when he saw someone come in running, followed by Kris. Kris looked at him, not even bothered by the bruise on his cheek. “Who’s that?” Jongin asked.
Kris shrugged. “Baekhyun’s best friend. Kyungsoo.”
The name rang a bell, several types of bells. He jolted out of his seat to run after the best friend.
“Hey!” He called.
Kyungsoo looked behind him but didn’t bother stopping.
Kyungsoo was only a door away from Baekhyun so he had no choice. He grabbed his arm.
“What?! Can’t you see I’m in a hurry?! And who are you?!” Kyungsoo exclaimed.
“I’m Jongin.”
“Oh.”
“And where do you think you’re going?”
Kyungsoo pulled his hand back. “What do you think? I’m going to see Baekhyun of course. I know everything that happened. I heard from Kris. And I’m going to explain everything to him!”
“Nope,” Jongin said. Kyungsoo crooked his eyebrows in confusion. “You’ve done enough.”
“You can’t tell me that! I’m going to explain-“
“It’s not something for you to say. If there’s nothing going on, what’s the need of explaining? Let them deal with this.”
“What do you expect me to do now? Stand here? Do nothing? He’s my best friend!”
“Fine. Let’s say that I’ll let you walk through that door and explain everything to him. What would you tell him then?”
Kyungsoo inhaled deeply. “That there’s nothing going on between me and Chanyeol!”
“Right, like that’s a very insightful.”
Kyungsoo pushed Jongin away. “You don’t know anything! MY PARENTS GOT DIVORCED! WHAT DO YOU THINK IT FEELS LIKE TO HAVE NO ONE TO TALK TO?! MY BEST FRIEND IS NOWHERE! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET THROUGH THE DAY WITHOUT ATTEMPTING TO CUT MY WRISTS OR SLIT MY THROAT?!”
Jongin stared helplessly.
“CHANYEOL WAS JUST BEING A FRIEND! I never wanted for this to happen…I didn’t want Baekhyun to see me like that…” Kyungsoo ignored the tears coming off of his eyes.
They turned in unison when they heard a door crack open. Baekhyun appeared behind the door, standing and staring at Kyungsoo. “You’re lying…” He whispered, his face lacking emotions.
“Baekhyun-“ Kyungsoo followed Baekhyun inside the room.
Baekhyun fiddled with the hem of his shirt. “Why didn’t you tell me…?”
“I don’t want you to worry. I want you to focus on achieving your dreams here.”
Those dreams are gone.
“I’m sorry. I know I should’ve told you but I don’t want you to see me like this. Broken.”
We are all broken.
“But Baekhyun, please believe me. There’s nothing going on between me and Chanyeol. He often leaves his phone at home because he forgets it. He lacks sleep. He’s been working over-time at the shop to earn money in time for your anniversary so he could come here. He didn’t tell you that he often visits me at home because I asked him not to. Baekhyun, he loves you.”
Baekhyun started crying.
“I told you, didn’t I? He’ll love you more than you will ever love him.”
That phrase doesn’t sound right anymore. Actually, it should never have been. Baekhyun just don’t know why he can’t love Chanyeol the way Chanyeol loves him. But he loves him. He really loves him. He’d do anything to make him stay. But why was he willing to give up his happiness by pushing him away?
The door creaked open. Jongin walked inside hesitantly, with Kyungsoo watching his every move. “Baekhyun,”
Baekhyun squinted at him.
“Here,” Jongin revealed a phone on his hand, Baekhyun’s phone, fixed. “I fixed it when you broke it. Chanyeol kept on trying to reach you. I didn’t tell you because you looked like you weren’t ready. I’m sorry. I knew I shouldn’t have. I have no right to decide anything between you two.”
Baekhyun took the phone from him, his hands trembling.
“He e-mailed me before, asking me to take good care of you. He’s also told me about that chocolate drink you always look for when you wake up from a nap. As much as it hurts me to say this, I’m going to have to admit to myself, because first of all I have no place in this circle of relationship…he loves you, Baekhyun.” Jongin said with a mix of sadness and guilt. His actions brought the worst out of the two.
Baekhyun clenched his fists and started running out of the room. He needs to find Chanyeol before it’s too late. He’s done avoiding the truth when it has presented itself. He may not love Chanyeol more than Chanyeol loves him but he knows in his heart that he will never stop loving him, no matter what happens, no matter how broken he is, his love will remain as it is. He kept on running and running and running, feeling as if the corridor is endless. When he finally reached the entrance, he saw no sign of Chanyeol’s presence anywhere. He saw Kris leaning on the vending machine, slowly sipping coffee from the can. “Kris!” He called. Kris turned to him, not even surprised. “Have you seen Chanyeol?”
Kris raised his eyebrows. “He left.”
“What? Where did he go?”
“I mean, he’s going back home. He said he has no reason to stay here so he decided to go home.”
“What?” Baekhyun took his phone out and pressed on the screen aggressively, praying that this time when he calls Chanyeol will answer it. Just. Please.
“You should go to the bus station. He might still be there.” Kris informed.
Baekhyun took the suggestion and ran out in a speed of light, ignoring the strange looks the people has been given him because he didn’t even bother to take the bandage on his head off or if he was wearing hospital clothes. There are more important things than other people’s judgments. The nearest bus stop is a 5-minute walk from the hospital. How he got pass the security, he doesn’t know. Maybe the guard took pity on him and let him out. But who cares. He needs to find Chanyeol. He needs to tell Chanyeol.
He can see the bus stop now. The bus just arrived so he quickened his pace, ignoring that slight pain on his ankle. He reached when all the passengers have gone inside so he searched the windows frantically. When the bus started to drive away, his shoulders went down with disappointment, his hope faltering into pieces. He was in the verge of crying when he noticed someone standing a distance beside him. He turned to see.
Chanyeol was standing there, staring at him.
“Y-you’re here…” Baekhyun breathed in relief.
“I couldn’t leave.”
“Chanyeol, I-“ Baekhyun started, pausing to remember what he really wanted to say. “I’m sorry. I knew I shouldn’t have doubted you. I knew you wouldn’t do anything to purposely hurt me…but I…I just can’t seem to give you a hundred percent of my trust. Because I’m scared. I’m scared that if I did, that if I give you every trust I have, I might end up getting hurt. That you might do something to break that trust. That you might leave me. And if that happens, I don’t know where to pick up myself from. But not anymore. I break. And I might not be the same anymore. But I know that I’ll love you nonetheless. And I’m going to be selfish this time. Please…stay.” It sounded almost like a plea of helplessness, his heart trying to seek refuge back into Chanyeol’s. He’s willing to take a risk, he’s willing to break even more for the sake of this love he couldn’t give up. He lowered his head. “I know…someday you will leave me…you’ll realize that I’m not the same Baekhyun you loved and I know that you’ll always love me more than I will ever love you but-“ He stopped when he felt Chanyeol wearing his jacket on him.
“Idiot. I will never leave you.” Chanyeol said, pulling Baekhyun into a tight embrace. “There’s no such thing as someone loving the other more. As long as the love is there, that’s all that matters. We don’t measure the amount of love a person gives. We just accept them and give it back. Mine, for four years, I’ve seen you change. I’ve seen you grow from the person you used to be to the person you are now. And I’m still here. Doesn’t that prove anything?”
Baekhyun buried his face on Chanyeol’s chest to hide his tears.
“Broken or not, you’re mine.” Chanyeol added in a whisper. “I’ve been with you in your ups and downs. What makes you think I’ll leave you now?”
“I’m sorry.” Baekhyun murmured, sniffing silently, his hands covering his face. “I was just so unsure…so confused…”
“It’s okay, I understand.” And he really does. Baekhyun always overthink things. Chanyeol once thought it was a natural trait smart people possesses. And that’s one of the things he loves about him.
Baekhyun wiped his tears. He lifted his head and looked at Chanyeol, blinking away the tears that remained. Chanyeol loosened the hug to wipe it for him, gently pressing on his eyelids, and smiling lovingly. He missed every bit of Baekhyun. His long eyelashes, his pink lips, his cheeks, his soft hair and his height, adding to his charms.
“Why didn’t you leave?” Baekhyun asked.
Chanyeol smiled. “I figured you’d come running back to me. I’ve seen you like this before. You always take your words back. Remember how we got the nickname ‘Mine’?”
Baekhyun blinked, his head suddenly doing a mental flashback.
That time, when he almost woke the whole neighborhood because of his stupid tantrums.
(“Who said I like you?” Baekhyun asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You don’t?” Because how is that possible when they’ve spent so much time together already, even more than the time he spent playing with his pet dog? Chanyeol was suddenly nervous.
“Of course not. You’re stupid, an idiot, dumb, always clueless, doesn’t even think first before talking, always pranks people, doesn’t close the bottle of water whenever you borrow, always gets hurt climbing up the tree in front of my room, would just randomly barge in the house even when my parents are there and lastly, you always do something unexpected at school, claiming your love for me!” Baekhyun stated as-a-matter-of-factly, crossing his arms.
“Okay.” Chanyeol turned around to leave, leaving Baekhyun dumbfounded.
“But you’re mine,”
Chanyeol stopped but didn’t turn around.
“So you can only be stupid with me.”
This time, Chanyeol turned around and looked at him with a big grin on his face. “I’ve claimed you mine a long time ago,”)
Baekhyun blushed at the memory, remembering how blunt he was that time.
Chanyeol saw it and pinched his cheeks. “Don’t do that again, okay? I was worried sick. Don’t you ever pull the disappearing act again.”
“It’s your fault.” Baekhyun pouted.
Chanyeol pinched the bridge of his nose, wherein Baekhyun scrunched. “I know. I promise I won’t let that happen again.”
Baekhyun remembered something. “Did you really buy Kyungsoo a ring?”
“Did I?”
“Chanyeol!”
Chanyeol laughed. He pulled something out of his pocket. When he lifted his hand in level with Baekhyun’s eyes, there was a ring, a silver ring, in between his thumb and point finger. Baekhyun’s eyes widened in shock. “Happy late Anniversary,”
Baekhyun jumped up and circled his arms around Chanyeol’s neck, hugging him tightly, slightly pulling him down because of his lack of height. He likes that ring. There was a word carved behind it.
Unbreakable.
“I love you, Mine!” Baekhyun yelled behind Chanyeol’s ears while giggling happily.
“I love you.” Chanyeol whispered sweetly, his long arms tight around Baekhyun’s petite body, savoring the moment. He longed for this. And he was happy. Everything’s fine and all those minutes he contemplated whether to leave or not was for nothing.
Because like the ring, they were unbreakable.
--
“So, did he really buy you a ring?”
“He didn’t buy me a ring. I only borrowed it.”
Jongin shook his head. “Next time, don’t go borrowing things,”
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “Speak for yourself,”
-
A/N:
I CAN'T EVEN ASDFGHJKLWHATISTHIS
IDK I THINK THIS IS BASED ON BIEBER'S SONG 'OVERBOARD'
i can't believe i wrote a fic from a Bieber song. LOL BUT IT'S NOT JUST BIEBER
MY PLAYLIST ALSO INCLUDES SAFETYSUIT'S 'GONE AWAY'. defensive.
this is not beta-ed so.
Happy birthday again baexian ie! HAHA THE FLUFFIEST PERSON IN THE WORLD.
This maybe not have turned out how you wanted it to be but, I slept late for this. OKAY.
Here, have my heart. <3
Pairing: Baekhyun/Chanyeol, hint!Kai/Baekhyun
Genre: Angst, Fluff
Word Count: 27k+
Summary: When Baekhyun breaks, everything else does. Or so he thinks.
--
Baekhyun woke up extra early to warm up. It’s the last day of practice. The previous days didn’t feel so good because his leg kept on hurting, giving him a hard time to practice his swimming. But he wanted this day to be different. He wanted everything to be good today so that tomorrow will be better.
After his warm up, he went back to the dorm to wash. When he got out, he saw a message popping on the screen of his laptop and clicked to open it. It was a picture of Chanyeol protruding his lips to give him a kiss along with the captions ‘Good morning kiss for my angel’. Baekhyun blushed. This day will definitely be good.
The weather took a turn from being sunny to rainy while they were practicing. It didn’t bother him that much but it was hurting his leg, even more than before. He tried suppressing the pain while working on his breast stroke but the style required a great use of pressure on his legs. He snapped midway.
He curled under the water, gripping his hurting leg, worrying the others who saw him. Jongin is one to be exact. After being given an approval from Jaekyung, he dived down the water to pull Baekhyun up. Baekhyun was biting his lip when he was pulling him to the side of the pool until they bled. “Baekhyun, what’s wrong? What happened?”
“My leg hurts-ah,” Baekhyun curled around, his hands clenching and slamming the tiles.
Jaekyung arrived behind him. “Jongin, take him to the clinic,”
The walk to the clinic took years. Baekhyun would stop every minute just to punch anything because of the pain his leg was causing him. Jongin was worried. He had never seen Baekhyun in this state before and judging from the way the latter’s reacting, he has never been in this state before. He never experienced anything inflicting this much pain on him, making it hard for him to cope.
Thankfully, the pain seemed to have lessened when they arrived at the clinic. Doctor Singh didn’t look so good. He ordered Baekhyun to sit still while he examines his leg. One good thing about this clinic is that it has an X-Ray Machine, making it easier for the doctors to monitor injuries, since the hospital is quite a long drive from the school.
Baekhyun was sitting lifelessly on the sofa, afraid that a little movement might inflict pain on his leg again. Doctor Singh walked out, holding the results. He sighed deeply. “I did remind you to be careful and not to push it too hard. Baekhyun, the bones on your ankle are badly damaged, not to the point of disability, but even a kick would trigger the pain. It’s still on its healing state, and it doesn’t seem to end.”
“What are you trying to say?”
Dr. Singh hesitated. But his eyes found Jongin’s and he knew that if Baekhyun couldn’t accept what he was about to say next, Jongin could.
“You can’t swim anymore, Baekhyun.”
Time stopped for him then.
“You’re kidding…” He breathed in disbelief, his eyes searching for any hint of lies on the Doctor’s eyes.
Dr. Singh lowered her head. “I’m sorry.”
“YOU’RE LYING!” Baekhyun stood up.
“Baekhyun!” Jongin came up behind him and restricted his arms.
“HOW COULD YOU SAY THAT?! THAT’S MY DREAM! YOU CAN’T JUST SAY I CAN’T SWIM ANYMORE!”
“Baekhyun, calm down.”
“NO! JONGIN I WORKED HARD! I WORKED HARD TO GET HERE! I LEFT EVERYTHING TO GET HERE! YOU CAN’T JUST TELL ME IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING! YOU CAN’T…” He broke down into cries, his helpless screams ringing on the corners of the room. He pushed Jongin away and ran for the door, slamming it shut and ran further away. He doesn’t even care that the rain has fallen down, that the thunder was breaking the skies.
His life was fucked up.
He’s fucked up.
He kept on running and running, as if his leg can take him to that one place he wants to be, that one place he can call a sanctuary; Chanyeol’s arms. But there was no Chanyeol. There was no one around him. No one.
He stopped at the sidewalk, his hair and clothes dripping wet, and fished the phone out of his pocket. He was violently pressing on the screen to call Chanyeol. He just wants to hear his voice, listen to him whisper sweet words, try to make him feel better.
“Chanyeol, please…please answer the phone…”
But at the fifth attempt and still nothing, he knew he was fucked up bad. He screamed crying, helpless, broken. There was no one to calm him. No one to fix him.
He threw his phone on the ground, causing it to break. He knelt on the ground, his knees glued to his chest, his head buried in between, and his arms hugging the coldness out of his legs.
At the middle of his cries, he stopped feeling the rain drops on his skin. He looked up and found an umbrella carried by a man. “Come on, you’ll catch a cold here,” He said. The water on his eyes made it hard for him to see.
Baekhyun looked away stubbornly.
“Baekhyun,” Jongin warned, pulling his arm up. “Come on,”
He needed a pull.
Right now, the closest thing he has for comfort was Jongin. He wouldn’t refuse that. There’s no Chanyeol. But there’s Jongin. He felt warmth on his hand and found Jongin’s hand gripping his. He was in no state of judgment but Jongin sure is warm. Very warm.
He started swaying to the side until he blacked out and the last thing he heard was Jongin’s call for his name.
--
The sun was hot on his skin when he regained consciousness, or rather, woke up. His head ached a little but not something he couldn’t take. He sat up slowly, trying to determine the foreign feel of the bed. It wasn’t his bed. He wasn’t in his room. He rubbed his eyes, trying to get a clearer vision. The smell was oddly familiar but the place wasn’t the slightest. He pushed the blanket off his chest and found himself wearing unfamiliar set of clothes, they were big too. The slight pain on his ankle when he dropped his foot on the floor triggered a memory and he wished he hadn’t woken up. He stood up quite abruptly that he lost balance and fell on his knees.
“BAEKHYUN! ARE YOU AL-” The door slammed open, revealing a worried and half-naked Jongin with tousled hair. Baekhyun blinked at him from the floor, unsure of how to react. “-right?”
“Um,” Baekhyun crooked, still unsure how to react.
“You’re awake,”
Baekhyun nodded.
“Thank god. You were out for two days.”
Baekhyun’s eyes widened. “WHAT?!”
--
The apartment was nice. If it wasn’t for what happened, he wouldn’t have known where Jongin lived. It’s an apartment good for two people, not too small but not too big. Jongin said earlier that he wanted to live away from his parents. His sisters are gone, living their own lives, and he wanted to do the same. His mother visits him twice a month while his father…as he said, “It would be a miracle if he came knocking on my door”, so yeah. What surprises him the most was that it was clean, not the Kyungsoo kind of clean, but it wasn’t an eye-sore.
Baekhyun likes it here.
Jongin actually didn’t know how to explain the events that followed his fainting, the part where he undressed Baekhyun and changed his clothes twice at least. But he figured he has enough time to formulate a proper explanation judging from how messed up Baekhyun looks right now after two days of sleep. “So the competition’s done,” Baekhyun murmured from his seat on the table.
“Yeah…” Jongin didn’t want to add any information to avoid hurting Baekhyun.
“So who-“
“Here!” Jongin cut him off, placing a cup of coffee on the table. “A nice cup of hot coffee,”
Baekhyun took it. “It’s cold,”
“A nice cup of coffee,”
Baekhyun shrugged. “I don’t feel so nice,”
“A cup of coffee,”
Baekhyun took a sip. “It doesn’t taste like coffee,”
Jongin glared. “A cup,”
Baekhyun sighed heavily and looked at Jongin. “Why so long…”
“I know, you’ve been out for two days,”
“I meant your hair. You should cut it.”
Jongin resisted the urge to elbow him.
Baekhyun smiled slightly. Those were old jokes so it was quite amusing that Jongin knew exactly how to respond.
“Hey Jongin,”
“Hm?” Jongin looked up from the eggs he was trying so hard to cook.
“Thank you for taking care of me,” There was something odd about the way Baekhyun said it, Jongin noticed. Like he wasn’t expecting any help from anyone at all when in fact, anyone who knew him would’ve given him a hand. No one would want to see a friend in pain like that. At least, for him.
“It’s nothing.”
Two days. Baekhyun thought. Our anniversary’s passed.
And I ruined it.
He thought of checking Chanyeol earlier but he remembered he threw his phone on the ground. It’s probably in pieces now. He’s got nothing. His laptop is back in the dorms but he didn’t want to go back. He doesn’t want to see Sungyeol pitying over him, bombarding him with questions like ‘Where were you?’ or ‘We came to cheer for you but you weren’t there’ and he doesn’t want to answer him with the sad truth that there’s no one to cheer for now. He didn’t want to see him disappointed. He’s one of the people who looked forward to his success.
It’s like he wants to keep himself away from the world for a while. It hurts when you see people smiling and yet there’s you, who’s dying inside. And it’s probably the best way to recover.
He doesn’t want to see Chanyeol too. If Chanyeol sees him like this, he’ll be sad. It’s not going to be the same anymore. Chanyeol might already be in Seoul. But he can’t face him like this.
“Here, some eggs,” Jongin said while pushing a plate of scrambled egg to Baekhyun.
Baekhyun sniffed.
Of all the things…
It had to be an egg…
Jongin raised his eyebrows. “Hey? Are you crying?”
Chanyeol…
Baekhyun covered his face with his palms to hide his sobbing, although he was as loud as an elephant.
“B-Baekhyun? Why are you crying? Are you allergic to eggs? Did I say something wrong?”
“No, silly,” Baekhyun chuckled in between his sobs. He wiped the tears away and smiled. “I just miss him,”
Him. Jongin thought. Chanyeol.
“I understand,”
--
When Baekhyun woke from an afternoon nap that day, he was surprised to see a box of his favorite chocolate drink on Jongin’s bedside table. If it wasn’t for the sticky note that said ‘Step 1 to recovery’, he wouldn’t have thought that it was for him. And in fact, he still doesn’t believe it was. There’s only one person who would do this for him and it was Chanyeol. Chanyeol always do this. During highschool, Baekhyun used to spend the afternoon at Chanyeol’s house, only going home at dinner time. He would fall asleep on Chanyeol’s bed, sometimes he would fall asleep to Chanyeol singing a song for him. He was skilled in guitar, not so in singing, but his honey-like voice do enough justice to his songs.
He smiled sitting up and took the box.
--
(“I’m not doing this anymore!” Baekhyun yelled while stomping out of Chanyeol’s car, slamming the door shut. Chanyeol immediately followed after parking the car to the side.
“Mine! Where are you going? Come back here!” Chanyeol called from behind.
Baekhyun pretended to hear nothing and sped up his pace. It wasn’t his idea in the first place. Okay maybe it was but it was normal for people to want to learn how to drive. It’s just not for him. It confuses him. And he hates how exasperated Chanyeol gets whenever he does something wrong.
“Mine,” Chanyeol caught his hand and they stop. He forgot Chanyeol’s legs are long enough to keep up with him. Baekhyun was still pouting angrily while avoiding meeting his gaze. “Come here,” Chanyeol pulled the shorter to a tight embrace, his arms circling around Baekhyun’s petite frame, and his chin resting on top of his head. “I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to yell at you.”
Baekhyun stiffened in his hold.
“I was just worried,” Chanyeol combed Baekhyun’s hair with his hand, his large fingers sliding down the brunette’s smooth hair. “If you were to drive your own car and you don’t know how, you could get yourself killed. I don’t want to lose you. I’m sorry.”
Baekhyun hated how much of a sweet-talker Chanyeol was. But he loves what it does to him.
“I hate you,” He murmurs on his chest as Chanyeol plants a kiss on his forehead.)
“BAEKHYUN!”
Baekhyun snapped. He turned beside him and saw Jongin staring at him. “I called you a myriad of times.”
“Sorry, I just remembered something.” Baekhyun replied, shifting his sitting position on the couch. “What is it?”
Jongin was back early today, actually ever since he took refuge in his apartment. “Do you want pizza? I don’t know how to cook. I only know how to cook eggs, wherein you cried. So,”
Baekhyun shook his head. “How do you survive?”
Jongin shrugged. “The noonas are nice. They give me food sometimes.”
Baekhyun stood up. “Come on. I’ll cook,”
Jongin followed Baekhyun to the kitchen. “You can cook?”
“Just a bit. I can cook curry. Do you have ingredients here?”
“Check the fridge?”
Baekhyun opened the fridge. A grocery shop presented itself. “Why do you have this much ingredients and never cooks?”
“My mom brings them. And I can’t cook. Sometimes I ask the noonas to come and cook for me,”
Baekhyun rolled his eyes while taking some from the fridge.
Jongin watched him as he cooks. He always had people coming over to cook for him before. But Baekhyun was different. There was something special about the way Baekhyun graced his kitchen. It’s like he was used to cooking for someone. Then it hit him.
“Chanyeol’s a lucky guy,” He blurted out of nowhere, disturbing Baekhyun who was carefully cutting onions.
“Why do you say so?”
“He has someone who loves him as much,”
Baekhyun stopped.
Kyungsoo smiled. “And I’m sure he knows that he’ll love you more than you will ever love him.”
“Is that so?”
The phrase sounded like a lie.
--
“Here,”
Baekhyun looked up. Jongin was standing in front him, offering a laptop. “What?”
“You miss him, don’t you? Why don’t you check on him online?”
Baekhyun looked away. “I can’t.”
Jongin placed the laptop beside him, on the couch. “I’ll leave it here in case you change your mind. I’m going to practice,”
Baekhyun didn’t say anything even until Jongin closed the door and left. He contemplated for a bit. But he knew he couldn’t resist the urge to want to check on how Chanyeol was doing. This was the longest time he hasn’t heard from him and it was slowly eating him inside. The restlessness, the anxiousness, the worry.
He opened Jongin’s laptop and logged in to Facebook. While scrolling down the newsfeed, he saw Chanyeol’s latest status dated yesterday, the location still his hometown.
“He didn’t leave?” Baekhyun asked himself. There was nothing on Chanyeol’s posts that said he left for Seoul. Maybe he changed his mind. The thought saddened him. Everything is starting to become a blur.
He saw Kyungsoo’s photo post titled ‘Chanyeol’s ring!’ with a photo of himself showing off the ring on his middle finger.
His heart sank.
What the hell is happening?
Chanyeol bought him a ring?
Baekhyun shut the laptop off. He knew he shouldn’t have. He isn’t sure if Chanyeol was cheating on him with Kyungsoo, his best friend, but the events don’t change the fact that he’s slowly dying inside with longing for Chanyeol and jealousy. It was breaking him. The uncertainty about everything around him was killing him. He hates this kind of feeling. He hates hiding. He hates losing. He hates failing. He hates everything. His tears started falling.
Maybe Chanyeol did change his mind.
Maybe he did wander away from him.
It just took him this long to realize that he wasn’t fit for the amount of love he gives.
He was breaking.
He ran away.
--
He came.
Chanyeol carefully hopped off the bus, his backpack heavy on his shoulders. He hoped Baekhyun wouldn’t be so mad because he wasn’t able to come sooner. He was supposed to come on the day of his competition but he failed to do so. He called Baekhyun numerous times to explain but he couldn’t reach him. Something was wrong. He felt it. But the longing to hold the latter in his arms again dominated. He was excited to see him, to finally see him again after two months. Yes, two months maybe short, but for him it’s long enough that he misses everything about his lover.
He took a paper out of his pocket, containing the complete address of the school and Baekhyun’s room number at the dormitories. He grabbed a taxi and gave the paper to the driver. It wasn’t his first time in Seoul. He’s been here several times already ever since he was a kid. But this time was different. He actually felt like he was a kid again.
The ride wasn’t that long, probably because there wasn’t that much traffic. The school surprised him. It was huge. He wondered how the hell he will find Baekhyun. He entered the school, after getting checked by the security and hanging an I.D around his neck that said ‘VISITOR’. He tried to fit into the students walking around, but with his height, he was sticking out like a sore thumb.
He saw a guy hanging around the vending machine as tall as him, probably even taller, that he was glad. “Maybe I could ask him,” He said to himself. He walked to the guy, who was also sporting a blond hair, only it was more yellowish than his. “Excuse me,”
The guy turned to him angrily…or was he smiling? Either way, he still looked angry even when he smiled. “What?”
“I just want to ask something. Where’s the dormitory?”
“Which one? There’s a lot of dormitories here. Dorm A, Dorm B…”
Chanyeol panicked. Baekhyun didn’t say anything about alphabets. “Uh…” He fiddled with the paper. The guy snatched it and looked. Rude.
“Baekhyun?” The guy said in surprise after reading his name on the paper. “Ah, your Baekhyun’s friend?”
Chanyeol lit up. “You know him?”
“Yeah. You’re lucky. Come on. I’ll take you there.”
“Thanks!” Chanyeol yelled while following. “I’m Chanyeol by the way,”
The guy smirked. “So it’s you,” He murmured.
“What?”
“Nothing,” The guy shook his head. “Kris,”
“Oh, nice to meet you!”
--
Jongin went home extra extra early that day, bringing a box of cake to surprise Baekhyun, but found his door open. He immediately ran inside, checking if Baekhyun’s fine, but there was no sign of him anywhere. He couldn’t have been robbed, but nothing was stolen. His apartment looked the same.
“Baekhyun!” He called while running to the bathroom from the kitchen. Baekhyun was nowhere.
He was back in the living room. He noticed his laptop and opened it.
“He must be upset,” He concluded after seeing what was on the screen and ran out to look for Baekhyun.
--
Sungyeol stared at Baekhyun’s bed. It’s been empty since the day before the competition until now. He tried calling the latter but it was to no avail. He asked Jongin several times but he always got shrugged away. He was getting irritated. He heard a knock on the door and lazily opened it. “What?”
He blinked at Kris and some tall person beside him who looked oddly familiar.
“Someone’s looking for Baekhyun,” Kris said, stepping aside.
“Uh, hi, I’m Chanyeol,”
“Oh,” Sungyeol finally remembered where he saw that face before. He doesn’t always look at Baekhyun’s picture frames he wasn’t that familiar. “Baekhyun’s lover,”
Chanyeol smiled. “Is he there?”
“He’s not,” Sungyeol said. “He hasn’t come home for three days,”
Chanyeol’s smiled disappear. “What? Why?”
“I don’t know. He didn’t even participate in the competition,”
“What? Didn’t he say where he was going?”
“He went to practice but never came home. I don’t know where he went.”
“Did you ask Jongin?” Kris interrupted.
“Yes, several times,”
“Jongin,” Chanyeol repeated. “Do you know where Jongin is? Maybe he knows.”
“He said he doesn’t,”
“Well, he has to. There’s no other person in this school Baekhyun trusts other than his roommate and Jongin,” Chanyeol argued. “If he’s not here then he has to be with Jongin,”
Sungyeol was appalled. His phone rang on the table and he walked over to answer. “It’s Jongin,” He said as he presses the button. “Hello?”
“Sungyeol! Is Baekhyun there?”
“No, why are you asking me that? I told you he hasn’t come home.”
“Shit.”
“Jongin, what’s wrong? Chanyeol’s here. He’s looking for Baekhyun.”
There was a pause.
“Ch-Chanyeol?”
“Yes, he’s looking for Baek-hello? Hello Jongin?” Sungyeol pulled the phone away. “He hung up,”
Chanyeol clenched his fists. “Do you know where he lives?”
--
Jongin was panicking. Baekhyun was nowhere. Really nowhere this time. Where would he go? The city is big. He’s not in the school. He doesn’t know any other place Baekhyun would go to. He asked almost everyone he knew if they had seen him. And now Chanyeol’s in town. Of all the times he decided to appear, it had to be now.
Like he can just kick Chanyeol back to where his hometown is.
He almost jumped when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. He fished the phone out and looked at the message.
From: Jongup
Sent: 5:25 PM
I saw Baekhyun at the coffee shop earlier!
Of course. Jongin thought. Why didn’t I think of that?
He started running to the coffee shop. It was only a 10-minute run from where he was standing. He silently prayed that Baekhyun’s fine or else he wouldn’t know what to do. He felt responsible for him in a way…
Even though Chanyeol’s here.
He can see a crowd from the distance, approximately in front of the coffee shop that it confused him. The coffee shop doesn’t really announce promos or anything so the crowd looked strange. Until he got close and saw the shop’s glass windows broken, the metal lining each bent inwardly, and a car stuck on the side, its windows also broken into pieces.
He dropped his phone.
Baekhyun was lying on the ground, body twisted painfully and covered with blood. “BAEKHYUN!” He yelled and dropped beside Baekhyun. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING STANDING THERE?! CALL AN AMBULANCE!” He screamed to the crowd, crying, while cradling the latter’s head carefully and praying mentally. This wasn’t how it was supposed to happen. Why did it turn out like this?
--
(“Doe-eyed! Doe-eyed! Hahahaha!” The children yelled in repeat while circling around five-year old Kyungsoo.
Kyungsoo hugged his legs, sniffing silently.
“YA! Stop teasing him!”
Kyungsoo looked up as soon as the yells stopped. He saw a boy, older than him, shoo-ing the other kids away. His cheeks were rosy pink.
“You okay?” He asked.
Kyungsoo blinked at him.
“I’m Baekhyun! What’s your name?”)
Kyungsoo snapped when he heard glass breaking. He turned and saw a picture frame on the floor, the broken pieces of the glass scattered around. He must’ve hit it when he was wiping the table just now. He shook his head and lifted the picture frame, pausing when he saw Baekhyun’s picture, posing with a big smile and a V-sign.
Something’s wrong.
Later, he packed his clothes and took every bit of money he had saved.
--
The blow on his cheek when he received that punch was enough to wake him from his state of carelessness. He’s been trying to reflect his actions. This is what he needed, Chanyeol punching the living daylights out of him. “YOU TOLD ME YOU’LL TAKE CARE OF HIM! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!”
Jongin slowly sat up from the fall and spitted the blood out of his mouth. He never knew Chanyeol, never knew how nice he is, never knew how patient he is, but he knew that he has never gotten mad like this. Baekhyun never mentioned something about that before. “I TRUSTED YOU!”
Jongin tsk-ed. “I know. And I’m sorry. I did everything I could. But the pain you were causing him was unbearable.”
“What?” Chanyeol asked, panting.
“YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’RE DOING TO HIM?”
“You’re not making any sense.”
“BULLSHIT!” Jongin stood up and walked away.
Chanyeol was going to follow him if it wasn’t for Sungyeol who stopped him. “Leave him,”
“What the hell is he talking about?”
Sungyeol tapped the space beside him. “Sit,”
What am I a dog? Chanyeol ignored his thoughts and sat beside Sungyeol.
“You’re quite oblivious given that you’re his lover,”
“I’m not oblivious.”
“You knew that he injured his leg right?”
“Of course I do. I even called your clinic to make sure that Baekhyun’s fine.”
Sungyeol crooked his eyebrows. “O…kay. Before the competition, the doctor said his leg’s fine so they took off the bandage that’s why he was able to join the official team. But the day before the competition, his leg started hurting again. He went back to the clinic with Jongin. His ankle was badly damaged. He can’t swim anymore.”
Sungyeol remembered what he felt when he first heard it from Jongin earlier.
Chanyeol felt out of breath. “I…I didn’t-“
“That pain was bearable,” Sungyeol informed. “You gave him something unbearable,”
“What?”
“He thinks your cheating on him with his best friend.”
“Cheating? What? No! I would never-“
“I know,” Sungyeol chimed. “But that’s what he thinks. That’s what you make him feel. He said you don’t have time for him anymore. When he calls you, your mom would answer, sometimes you leave your phone at home. He knows you go to Kyungsoo’s house. That’s why it hurts him because you never told him.”
“Chanyeol, you’re away from each other. It’s not easy for him.”
Sungyeol looked up to check the time. 7:00 PM. They’ve been in the hospital for over an hour now.
Chanyeol never realized the pain he was inflicting on Baekhyun these past weeks. He’s been too absorb at his job that he forgets the main reason why he was in the first place. He thought he was doing Baekhyun a favor when in fact, he was only doing himself a favor. He never wanted to hurt him. And he would never. He was being selfish to the point that he was slowly breaking Baekhyun.
The doctor came out five minutes later.
“He’s fine. You don’t have to worry. He just hit his head but it wasn’t badly damaged. He’s awake now if you want to see him.” The Doctor informed. “Who should I talk to regarding the patient’s information and the bills?”
Sungyeol volunteered himself for obvious reasons.
--
Kris was hanging around the vending machine back at the school. He didn’t come to the hospital mainly because he didn’t want to witness another drama. He’s experienced it before, he doesn’t have to know how it’s like.
“Excuse me,”
He turned to see a guy, quite short, staring at him with his large eyes. “Can I ask something? Do you know where the dormitory is?”
“Which one? There are a lot of dormitories-“ Kris stopped when a realization came in. “You’re Baekhyun’s friend.”
Doe-eyed blinked at him. “How did you know?”
“That’s not important. Come on. I’ll take you to where Baekhyun is.”
Looks like he can’t avoid the hospital after all.
--
The world moved slowly around him. The air was cold when Chanyeol entered the room, the curtains on the windows swaying with the wind. This isn’t how he imagined his meeting with Baekhyun will be like after two months of being separated. He imagined it to be perfect, with Baekhyun running to him happily, jumping to hug him, and whispering sweet words. Not like this. He didn’t imagine Baekhyun lying on the hospital bed with a bandage on his head. Broken.
Baekhyun sat up when Chanyeol entered. He stopped just at the foot of the bed. His hair was still blond but it was a mess. He was wearing a black leather jacket with a white top inside, matched with black pants. His backpack was hanging loosely on one shoulder. He looked the same.
“Mine, I-“
“You don’t have to explain.”
Because he knew this day would come. The day where Chanyeol would choose to leave him.
“I know you think I’m cheating on you but I’m not. Mine, can’t you just let me explain?” The question hurt him. For four years, he had never heard himself ask that question because he never had to explain anything. Baekhyun knows everything. He tells Baekhyun everything.
Baekhyun looked away.
“Baekhyun, please!” He sounded almost desperate. “I love you. For four years I never stopped loving you! You can’t just forget those four years because of this! I’m not cheating on you!”
“That’s not the point!” Baekhyun yelled. “Chanyeol, you weren’t there when I needed you the most! We promised we’d make this easier for us! But why do you have to lie?! I call you but your mom would answer! You never tell me about your visits to Kyungsoo’s house! YOU NEVER TELL ME ANYTHING!” He slammed his fists on the foam in exasperation, biting his lip to resist the urge to cry in front of Chanyeol.
“That’s not true!” Chanyeol defended. “Mine, I-“
“GET OUT!”
“What?”
“GET OUT CHANYEOL PLEASE.” Baekhyun lowered his head so he doesn’t see the hurt on Chanyeol’s face.
There was a long silence.
“Fine. If that’s what you want. But remember this Baekhyun. I love you and I will never stop loving you. I know you know that.”
The door slammed shut.
Baekhyun continued crying. Whether they were cries of regrets, or pain, or love, he doesn’t even know himself. He just told the person he loves the most to leave him, thinking it was for his own good. He was broken. He can’t let Chanyeol love someone as broken as him. The events had turned the tables around. He wasn’t the same Baekhyun anymore, not the same Baekhyun Chanyeol loves. If he continues this relationship, he will just end up hurt if Chanyeol decides to leave him.
He’s not that Baekhyun anymore.
It’s never going to be the same again.
--
Jongin was letting his mind cool off at the benches near the hospital’s entrance. He started to wonder what would happen if he pursued Baekhyun, if he didn’t give up when he knew the latter already have a lover. Would he still be hurt like this? Would everything change? He’ll never know because he never tried. And maybe he should’ve.
His train of thoughts was interrupted when he saw someone come in running, followed by Kris. Kris looked at him, not even bothered by the bruise on his cheek. “Who’s that?” Jongin asked.
Kris shrugged. “Baekhyun’s best friend. Kyungsoo.”
The name rang a bell, several types of bells. He jolted out of his seat to run after the best friend.
“Hey!” He called.
Kyungsoo looked behind him but didn’t bother stopping.
Kyungsoo was only a door away from Baekhyun so he had no choice. He grabbed his arm.
“What?! Can’t you see I’m in a hurry?! And who are you?!” Kyungsoo exclaimed.
“I’m Jongin.”
“Oh.”
“And where do you think you’re going?”
Kyungsoo pulled his hand back. “What do you think? I’m going to see Baekhyun of course. I know everything that happened. I heard from Kris. And I’m going to explain everything to him!”
“Nope,” Jongin said. Kyungsoo crooked his eyebrows in confusion. “You’ve done enough.”
“You can’t tell me that! I’m going to explain-“
“It’s not something for you to say. If there’s nothing going on, what’s the need of explaining? Let them deal with this.”
“What do you expect me to do now? Stand here? Do nothing? He’s my best friend!”
“Fine. Let’s say that I’ll let you walk through that door and explain everything to him. What would you tell him then?”
Kyungsoo inhaled deeply. “That there’s nothing going on between me and Chanyeol!”
“Right, like that’s a very insightful.”
Kyungsoo pushed Jongin away. “You don’t know anything! MY PARENTS GOT DIVORCED! WHAT DO YOU THINK IT FEELS LIKE TO HAVE NO ONE TO TALK TO?! MY BEST FRIEND IS NOWHERE! HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET THROUGH THE DAY WITHOUT ATTEMPTING TO CUT MY WRISTS OR SLIT MY THROAT?!”
Jongin stared helplessly.
“CHANYEOL WAS JUST BEING A FRIEND! I never wanted for this to happen…I didn’t want Baekhyun to see me like that…” Kyungsoo ignored the tears coming off of his eyes.
They turned in unison when they heard a door crack open. Baekhyun appeared behind the door, standing and staring at Kyungsoo. “You’re lying…” He whispered, his face lacking emotions.
“Baekhyun-“ Kyungsoo followed Baekhyun inside the room.
Baekhyun fiddled with the hem of his shirt. “Why didn’t you tell me…?”
“I don’t want you to worry. I want you to focus on achieving your dreams here.”
Those dreams are gone.
“I’m sorry. I know I should’ve told you but I don’t want you to see me like this. Broken.”
We are all broken.
“But Baekhyun, please believe me. There’s nothing going on between me and Chanyeol. He often leaves his phone at home because he forgets it. He lacks sleep. He’s been working over-time at the shop to earn money in time for your anniversary so he could come here. He didn’t tell you that he often visits me at home because I asked him not to. Baekhyun, he loves you.”
Baekhyun started crying.
“I told you, didn’t I? He’ll love you more than you will ever love him.”
That phrase doesn’t sound right anymore. Actually, it should never have been. Baekhyun just don’t know why he can’t love Chanyeol the way Chanyeol loves him. But he loves him. He really loves him. He’d do anything to make him stay. But why was he willing to give up his happiness by pushing him away?
The door creaked open. Jongin walked inside hesitantly, with Kyungsoo watching his every move. “Baekhyun,”
Baekhyun squinted at him.
“Here,” Jongin revealed a phone on his hand, Baekhyun’s phone, fixed. “I fixed it when you broke it. Chanyeol kept on trying to reach you. I didn’t tell you because you looked like you weren’t ready. I’m sorry. I knew I shouldn’t have. I have no right to decide anything between you two.”
Baekhyun took the phone from him, his hands trembling.
“He e-mailed me before, asking me to take good care of you. He’s also told me about that chocolate drink you always look for when you wake up from a nap. As much as it hurts me to say this, I’m going to have to admit to myself, because first of all I have no place in this circle of relationship…he loves you, Baekhyun.” Jongin said with a mix of sadness and guilt. His actions brought the worst out of the two.
Baekhyun clenched his fists and started running out of the room. He needs to find Chanyeol before it’s too late. He’s done avoiding the truth when it has presented itself. He may not love Chanyeol more than Chanyeol loves him but he knows in his heart that he will never stop loving him, no matter what happens, no matter how broken he is, his love will remain as it is. He kept on running and running and running, feeling as if the corridor is endless. When he finally reached the entrance, he saw no sign of Chanyeol’s presence anywhere. He saw Kris leaning on the vending machine, slowly sipping coffee from the can. “Kris!” He called. Kris turned to him, not even surprised. “Have you seen Chanyeol?”
Kris raised his eyebrows. “He left.”
“What? Where did he go?”
“I mean, he’s going back home. He said he has no reason to stay here so he decided to go home.”
“What?” Baekhyun took his phone out and pressed on the screen aggressively, praying that this time when he calls Chanyeol will answer it. Just. Please.
“You should go to the bus station. He might still be there.” Kris informed.
Baekhyun took the suggestion and ran out in a speed of light, ignoring the strange looks the people has been given him because he didn’t even bother to take the bandage on his head off or if he was wearing hospital clothes. There are more important things than other people’s judgments. The nearest bus stop is a 5-minute walk from the hospital. How he got pass the security, he doesn’t know. Maybe the guard took pity on him and let him out. But who cares. He needs to find Chanyeol. He needs to tell Chanyeol.
He can see the bus stop now. The bus just arrived so he quickened his pace, ignoring that slight pain on his ankle. He reached when all the passengers have gone inside so he searched the windows frantically. When the bus started to drive away, his shoulders went down with disappointment, his hope faltering into pieces. He was in the verge of crying when he noticed someone standing a distance beside him. He turned to see.
Chanyeol was standing there, staring at him.
“Y-you’re here…” Baekhyun breathed in relief.
“I couldn’t leave.”
“Chanyeol, I-“ Baekhyun started, pausing to remember what he really wanted to say. “I’m sorry. I knew I shouldn’t have doubted you. I knew you wouldn’t do anything to purposely hurt me…but I…I just can’t seem to give you a hundred percent of my trust. Because I’m scared. I’m scared that if I did, that if I give you every trust I have, I might end up getting hurt. That you might do something to break that trust. That you might leave me. And if that happens, I don’t know where to pick up myself from. But not anymore. I break. And I might not be the same anymore. But I know that I’ll love you nonetheless. And I’m going to be selfish this time. Please…stay.” It sounded almost like a plea of helplessness, his heart trying to seek refuge back into Chanyeol’s. He’s willing to take a risk, he’s willing to break even more for the sake of this love he couldn’t give up. He lowered his head. “I know…someday you will leave me…you’ll realize that I’m not the same Baekhyun you loved and I know that you’ll always love me more than I will ever love you but-“ He stopped when he felt Chanyeol wearing his jacket on him.
“Idiot. I will never leave you.” Chanyeol said, pulling Baekhyun into a tight embrace. “There’s no such thing as someone loving the other more. As long as the love is there, that’s all that matters. We don’t measure the amount of love a person gives. We just accept them and give it back. Mine, for four years, I’ve seen you change. I’ve seen you grow from the person you used to be to the person you are now. And I’m still here. Doesn’t that prove anything?”
Baekhyun buried his face on Chanyeol’s chest to hide his tears.
“Broken or not, you’re mine.” Chanyeol added in a whisper. “I’ve been with you in your ups and downs. What makes you think I’ll leave you now?”
“I’m sorry.” Baekhyun murmured, sniffing silently, his hands covering his face. “I was just so unsure…so confused…”
“It’s okay, I understand.” And he really does. Baekhyun always overthink things. Chanyeol once thought it was a natural trait smart people possesses. And that’s one of the things he loves about him.
Baekhyun wiped his tears. He lifted his head and looked at Chanyeol, blinking away the tears that remained. Chanyeol loosened the hug to wipe it for him, gently pressing on his eyelids, and smiling lovingly. He missed every bit of Baekhyun. His long eyelashes, his pink lips, his cheeks, his soft hair and his height, adding to his charms.
“Why didn’t you leave?” Baekhyun asked.
Chanyeol smiled. “I figured you’d come running back to me. I’ve seen you like this before. You always take your words back. Remember how we got the nickname ‘Mine’?”
Baekhyun blinked, his head suddenly doing a mental flashback.
That time, when he almost woke the whole neighborhood because of his stupid tantrums.
(“Who said I like you?” Baekhyun asked, raising an eyebrow.
“You don’t?” Because how is that possible when they’ve spent so much time together already, even more than the time he spent playing with his pet dog? Chanyeol was suddenly nervous.
“Of course not. You’re stupid, an idiot, dumb, always clueless, doesn’t even think first before talking, always pranks people, doesn’t close the bottle of water whenever you borrow, always gets hurt climbing up the tree in front of my room, would just randomly barge in the house even when my parents are there and lastly, you always do something unexpected at school, claiming your love for me!” Baekhyun stated as-a-matter-of-factly, crossing his arms.
“Okay.” Chanyeol turned around to leave, leaving Baekhyun dumbfounded.
“But you’re mine,”
Chanyeol stopped but didn’t turn around.
“So you can only be stupid with me.”
This time, Chanyeol turned around and looked at him with a big grin on his face. “I’ve claimed you mine a long time ago,”)
Baekhyun blushed at the memory, remembering how blunt he was that time.
Chanyeol saw it and pinched his cheeks. “Don’t do that again, okay? I was worried sick. Don’t you ever pull the disappearing act again.”
“It’s your fault.” Baekhyun pouted.
Chanyeol pinched the bridge of his nose, wherein Baekhyun scrunched. “I know. I promise I won’t let that happen again.”
Baekhyun remembered something. “Did you really buy Kyungsoo a ring?”
“Did I?”
“Chanyeol!”
Chanyeol laughed. He pulled something out of his pocket. When he lifted his hand in level with Baekhyun’s eyes, there was a ring, a silver ring, in between his thumb and point finger. Baekhyun’s eyes widened in shock. “Happy late Anniversary,”
Baekhyun jumped up and circled his arms around Chanyeol’s neck, hugging him tightly, slightly pulling him down because of his lack of height. He likes that ring. There was a word carved behind it.
Unbreakable.
“I love you, Mine!” Baekhyun yelled behind Chanyeol’s ears while giggling happily.
“I love you.” Chanyeol whispered sweetly, his long arms tight around Baekhyun’s petite body, savoring the moment. He longed for this. And he was happy. Everything’s fine and all those minutes he contemplated whether to leave or not was for nothing.
Because like the ring, they were unbreakable.
--
“So, did he really buy you a ring?”
“He didn’t buy me a ring. I only borrowed it.”
Jongin shook his head. “Next time, don’t go borrowing things,”
Kyungsoo rolled his eyes. “Speak for yourself,”
-
A/N:
I CAN'T EVEN ASDFGHJKLWHATISTHIS
IDK I THINK THIS IS BASED ON BIEBER'S SONG 'OVERBOARD'
i can't believe i wrote a fic from a Bieber song. LOL BUT IT'S NOT JUST BIEBER
MY PLAYLIST ALSO INCLUDES SAFETYSUIT'S 'GONE AWAY'. defensive.
this is not beta-ed so.
Happy birthday again baexian ie! HAHA THE FLUFFIEST PERSON IN THE WORLD.
This maybe not have turned out how you wanted it to be but, I slept late for this. OKAY.
Here, have my heart. <3