It was like a whole new starting as Baekhyun took in a breath, closing his eyes to get ready. Once he opened them again, he let the ball drop, dribbling it up to Jisoo who stopped him in his tracks, leaving him bouncing the ball there dumbly.

Baekhyun took in another breath and looked at his surroundings closely, making up his mind and deciding to go left. He was succeeding, until Jisoo guessed and was following his every move, making him feel like a small puppy trapped in a corner. Every time he moved his foot, his check would do the same.

Just as Baekhyun was going to let negative thoughts flood through his mind, Chanyeol was suddenly there, blocking Jisoo on the right side. Baekhyun's eyes flicked to Chanyeol's determined ones and then he ran in that direction with the ball, taking two steps before shooting it at the net.

Once the ball made it in, Baekhyun couldn't help his smile of happiness as he looked at Chanyeol who was grinning at him.

But that point wasn't all, no. It was just the beginning of a long, tiring, but heart racing match.

The game ended well with the Ravens 10 points ahead.

The final score was 30-20 and Baekhyun felt something in his heart when he won for the first time ever with this team.

And as they stood huddled up in a circle- not caring if everyone was sweaty, Baekhyun knew that this was where he belonged.

"Good job. I'm proud of you guys, especially some people..." Chanyeol turned his head slightly and looked at Baekhyun. "This was a good match and I hope this quality of playing never drops," Chanyeol spoke as Baekhyun looked at the circle of shoes. Chanyeol patted Baekhyun and Junmyeon's backs before he pulled away. "Let's go shake hands."

Once the team finished up whatever they had to do, they changed in the change rooms, talking about the fun things about this match.

"At the beginning Baekhyun was so nervous, it was hilarious," Mingyu stated and the smaller punched him in the arm.

"After that, I got completely better, thank you very much," Baekhyun stated matter of factly and Sehun snorted.

"Not without the help of your boyfriend," he muttered and Baekhyun turned to him.

"What?"

"Nothing," Sehun quipped and turned away, shoving all of his things into his bag.

Chanyeol began walking away and Baekhyun tried to finish up quicker so he could catch him.

Placing the last thing in his bag, he ran out the change room door, trying to catch the man with long strides. Once he was finally beside Chanyeol, he was already panting.

"Why do you walk so fast?" Baekhyun asked as he struggled to match his pace.

"To get away from you," Chanyeol stated and Baekhyun gasped.

"What happened to the awesome Chanyeol in game? He was so nice..." Baekhyun wondered, pouting. They both exited the school into the cold weather, snowflakes coating their heads.

"I was only doing that because I love basketball, and look at that, it worked," Chanyeol stated and Baekhyun just grinned.

"I haven't really said it yet but," Baekhyun grabbed Chanyeol's arm and stopped him, making the giant turn to him. "Thank you. Without that, I think I would've crumbled as much as the Berlin Wall." Baekhyun smiled and Chanyeol turned away from his stare.

Chanyeol shrugged and looked in the distance absentmindedly, faking that this didn't affect him. "It's no big deal really, I had that sort of talk with everyone,"
Chanyeol lied, remembering what really happened.

Everyone was already really good when they first joined basketball, so that sort of talk wasn't needed until Baekhyun joined...

"Really? With everyone?" Baekhyun asked and Chanyeol nodded.

Baekhyun felt something shrink in his heart just a tiny bit, now knowing that he wasn't really all that special. But nonetheless, Chanyeol still helped him and he was grateful.

"The bus is coming soon," Chanyeol pointed out at the bus in the distance. They both began walking again, except this time Chanyeol was walking with smaller steps, taking a few looks at the midget beside him from time to time.

They stood beside the bus sign and waited, saying nothing as thoughts and feelings swirled through their heads.

Chanyeol suddenly laughed and Baekhyun turned to him, meeting his gaze and cocking his head to the side.

"You look like you have a white bowl on your head," Chanyeol stated, ruffling the puppy's hair and flinging all the snow away while smiling. When the snow was gone though, Chanyeol hesitated before he moved his hand lower, caressing Baekhyun's cheek for a moment. Baekhyun was surprised at this action, and also surprised at the warmth Chanyeol's hand gave off. He was tempted to lean into the touch and steal more of that warmth. "You did a good job today," he stated as he looked into Baekhyun's eyes. And even though Baekhyun tried, he couldn't stop the blush that crawled onto his face.

Chanyeol pulled his hand away when the bus came, climbing on like nothing had just happened.

Baekhyun stood there for a bit more, wondering what in the world that was. Eventually he knew he had to go on, so he went in after but this time instead of sitting on the opposite side of the bus like usual, he took a seat beside Chanyeol.

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow as he looked at him and Baekhyun shrugged.

"I've always wanted to know which type of music you listen to," Baekhyun stated and Chanyeol looked at him suspiciously before pulling out his earphones and phone.

He turned on a song and placed one earphone in his ear. Baekhyun thought Chanyeol completely ignored him before Chanyeol put one earphone in Baekhyun's ear, filling his mind with music instead of thoughts.

The music was nice, it had this unique melody although it was very different than what he played on the guitar.

"What is this song called?" Baekhyun asked, interested in the artist or artists.

"It's called Tender Love, by this group named EXO," Chanyeol stated and Baekhyun felt recognition in the name.

"Oh, I've always heard of them but I've never really listened to them," Baekhyun stated and Chanyeol nodded, keeping his gaze glued to the scenery outside.

"They're good. Mostly their rapping," Chanyeol mentioned and Baekhyun made a mental note to check out their rappers.

For the rest of the bus ride, they listened to music in silence and Baekhyun now understood why everyone listened to them. Their music was addicting.

~

"So... Our next game is Thursday?" Mingyu asked and Chanyeol nodded, poking at his food.

"Why aren't you eating, Chanyeol?" Baekhyun asked from a seat away, looking at Chanyeol. "What, has the big green ogre lost it's appetite?" He teased and Chanyeol glared at him.

"Don't make me start another food fight," he hissed and Baekhyun held up his hands in surrender, backing off.

"Since championships have started, each practice will go back to only two hours because we need rest," Chanyeol stated and Baekhyun felt a little disappointed. Baekhyun had gotten used to practicing and balancing his homework, but now he didn't need to anymore and he thought his day would be too free.

"What will you do though? Your life is basketball," Baekhyun stated and Chanyeol shrugged.

"I have places to be, people to see," Chanyeol said and Baekhyun nodded.

"What type of people, girlfriends?" Sehun asked and for some reason Baekhyun's attention is drawn fully to Chanyeol's answer.

"Maybe," he replied and Baekhyun bit his lip.

"Ooh, so that means you're making practices earlier to meet with her? Dedicated much," Sehun stated and Chanyeol grinned at him.

"I don't feel like eating." Baekhyun smiled and grabbed his food, making a move to sit out in the class he's gotten used to, not forgetting to grab his jacket.

He dropped off his backpack in his locker and grabbed his headphones, making his way to the familiar room.

He pulled open the door and closed it behind him, opening the window and breathing in the air.

Recently, he had been doing this much more, with or without Chanyeol.

Just at that moment, the door opened and Chanyeol froze for a second, spotting the small figure near the window. "What are you doing?" Chanyeol asked as he walked in. "I've been finding you here more and more, lately."

"I guess I understand what you mean now. This place takes away some of my stress."

"What stress? You always seem to be smiling at school," Chanyeol stated as he went to sit down in his chair.

Baekhyun went to sit in his own chair and leaned back, closing his eyes.

They sat like that for minutes, not really caring if they spoke or not.

They did this almost every second day, just sitting in each other's presence. The one who talked first always changed and they spoke about absurd topics that they wouldn't with anyone else. They talked about secrets or random theories and the other would always have something to say, offensive or supportive. Regardless, they enjoyed each other's company even if they didn't truly realize it.

"Hey," Baekhyun broke the silence, opening his eyes and staring at the ceiling blankly. "Did you know that I like fire?" The puppy-like student asked and Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrows.

"That was random. No, I didn't know you liked fire... Why?" He questioned, turning his head to look at Baekhyun.

"Well..." Baekhyun's eyes flickered to the window, watching the grey-blue sky, void of any clouds. "I just... I just want to touch it sometimes, you know? Even though I know it will hurt, my fingers itch to just touch the hot orange light. Sometimes I feel like it calls out to me... Is that weird? It looks so inviting and warm but when I do touch it, it hurts me."

"Well no shit," Chanyeol replied.

Baekhyun sighed and closed his eyes once more, letting darkness take him over. "Fire is such a mysterious thing. It hurts people; it burns down the things they love and yet... And yet it gives out warmth and casts out light, all while keeping people away."

"It's the same thing with just light in general. Light will guide the way, it will open a new path and show you wonderful things... Though at the same time, light will unravel things that can't be unseen and will haunt you forever. You also can't physically touch light, it's just there, either helping you or not... But fire, maybe it just likes to keep people away," Chanyeol spoke, looking at Baekhyun's closed eyes and porcelain skin.

Baekhyun once again opened his eyes, turning to Chanyeol and locking their gazes. Baekhyun stared at Chanyeol's features and for some reason, his mind went back to the first time he met Chanyeol, and also the times after that. He came to a conclusion in his mind, now knowing exactly what it was about Chanyeol that couldn't keep him away.

"You know what, Chanyeol?

I think fire is just like you."

------------

[A/N]

Hi it's been a while kehehehe... Wahhhh so yeah I wrote chapter 7 or 8 whatever. I hoped you liked it and lol, Baekkie was jealous
•w• so cute •'>.<'•

I'll C you later!