"Know what?" Baekhyun raised his head as Jongdae slid to a stop at the base of the stairs.

"Who broke your..." he looked up. "Oh hey Chanyeol." He flopped down on the stairs.

"Didn't you already tell me? In that case, why are you so peppy about it?"

"Yeah," Chanyeol cut in. "Who are you screaming at?"

"Where's Jongin? Shouldn't he be here?"

Baekhyun shrugged. "Haven't seen him at all."

"Strange. Where's Minseok?"

"Are you still dating? Even after..."

"It wasn't his fault!" Jongdae defended fiercely. "Kyungsoo forced him to!" He deflated suddenly. "I'll let him tell you, if he shows his face."

"And if he doesn't?"

"He better."

***

He didn't.

Jongdae rolled his eyes. "Even my boyfriend doesn't listen to me."

Baekhyun snickered as the bell rang. He jumped up, then fell as his leg gave way again. Chanyeol stood up quickly, grabbing Baekhyun's arm and supporting him with his knee. "Woah. Slow down." He steadied Baekhyun, then placed his things into his hands. "Come on."

The two of them left a very confused Jongdae at the bottom of the stairs, who was wondering just when they became so close.

The same could be said for another individual in particular, who caught a glimpse of them just before they turned the corner.

***

"Come on! Go!" Baekhyun pushed Chanyeol towards the front entrance of the school.

"I don't want to," the giant murmured pitifully.

"I..." Baekhyun shut his mouth. I don't want Kyungsoo to get mad, start assuming that it had something to do with me, then be even more determined to make my life a living hell. But Baekhyun knew that he really had no right to tell Chanyeol what to do. He was too scared to even influence Chanyeol's decision, to scared to be selfish. "Rip off the bandaid, just get it over with."

Chanyeol stared at Baekhyun for a long, long while. Then without warning, he grabbed Baekhyun's collar (seriously, the collar grabbing was starting to get out of control) and smashed their lips together.

And then as quickly as it had happened, it was over.

"Sorry." Chanyeol looked like he expected Baekhyun to run. To run far far away from him without looking back.

"S'okay. Now go!" Baekhyun pushed Chanyeol towards the door.

Chanyeol stumbled forward and out into the sun. He looked back, but Baekhyun was gone.

He had no choice but to tread forward. As soon as he took a few steps forward, Kyungsoo spotted the giant and waved him over. "Chan!"

Oh boy. Chanyeol forced himself to jog over to the gate. "Yeah?"

"I..." Kyungsoo suddenly seemed nervous. "I like you Chan. A lot," he stated bluntly.

Chanyeol shouldn't have been surprised. He was expecting it. He told Baekhyun his prediction. But hearing Kyungsoo being so blunt about was like a slap to the face. "Wha?" He took a step back, grabbing onto the gate.

"I like you." Kyungsoo seemed to gain confidence. "I want to date you. Can we just try?"

No! No! No! No! No we cannot! I don't want to date you! Chanyeol wished he had the freedom to say that. But instead, something else came out. "Sure."

"So you'll give me a chance?" Kyungsoo's eyes brightened. Chanyeol hadn't seen him so happy since... ever really. Who was he to go and crush that? "Thank you so much Chanyeol!" He had recovered from his heartbreak so quickly... Chanyeol stood there wondering just how much Jongin had meant to him.

Three years ago...

"Kai!"

Jongin looked up at the sound of the familiar voice. There was only one person that called him Kai anyways.

"Soo!" He allowed the shorter boy to crash against him, his arms circling around his waist protectively. "Why are you so excited?"

"I might- I have a chance at the scholarship this year! Kai, I have to get it, it's my last year to!" Kyungsoo blabbered on, his eyes alight with hope.

"That's wonderful. Surely your parents are proud!" Jongin picked the older boy up and spun him around slightly.

"You know my parents are never going to be proud of me." Kyungsoo murmured. His chest was heavy, and suddenly, it was hard to breathe.

All twelve-year-old-Kyungsoo wanted at the time was his parents' approval. Not even love or affection. Just approval.

And it wouldn't be so hard... if his parents actually spent the time to properly look at him for once.

Kyungsoo had an amazing voice and acting skills. He easily made the lead roles in every play he tried out for.

But his parents didn't care. His parents never cared about the things he was good at. Instead, Kyungsoo was supposed to be good at math. He was supposed to be a good student. He was supposed to be good at filling in the little bubbles on standardized tests. He wasn't. At least, he wasn't good enough.

Well, not at first. But with much harsh discipline and suppression, Kyungsoo gradually improved. The yelling, the hitting, the "if you don't do your work properly, you can't do blah blah blah" (Kyungsoo had stopped listening a long time ago.) They never really left visible scars, per-say, but it was the ones that harmed his mental state that hurt the most.

They were also the ones that were permanent.

And that, was a deadly combination.

So when Kyungsoo found that two individuals in particular had received his award, it was only downhill from there.

Gone was the insouciant little boy that had friends.

Instead, in his place, stood a menacing figure that viewed everything in black and white.

You were either his benefactor or his opponent. There was no in between.

Good luck.

And it was Chanyeol who was there to pick up the remainders and piece them back together. Not Jongdae, not Minseok, not Baekhyun, and definitely not Kai. It was Chanyeol who made him love himself again. It was Chanyeol who taught him that there was more to life than what he had known. Kyungsoo realized he gradually started to fall in like with the giant.

But the giant never looked at him the way he looked at Baekhyun. Baekhyun was his world. Not Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo couldn't believe it when he heard that Baekhyun actually believed that Chanyeol hated him.

Ha. Kyungsoo wished.

Baekhyun was so blind. So so blind. He was so blind to not accept Chanyeol. He was so blind to not see Chanyeol.

So he could only blame himself when Chanyeol gets snactched from right under his nose.

- § -

I have no idea what I'm doing anymore... lol.

ChanSoo is official... whoop whoop? *gets mobbed by angry readers*

(Excuse the terrible art skills.)

Peace out.

042418