"Chanyeol," Baekhyun quietly said.

Everyone's eyes moved from the duo to Baekhyun. Sehun frowned and crossed his arms as he cried, "Seriously, Baekhyun! You just stole my spotlight!" Baekhyun rolled his eyes at his brother's childishness.

"How do you know—-" Jongin started to ask, when Luhan interjected.

"Baekhyun gave him a tour of the school today. Isn't that right, Baek?"

Baekhyun nodded. "Yeah . . ." Baekhyun coughed and cleared his throat, meeting Chanyeol's eyes. When he did, Chanyeol's eyes flickered away momentarily before settling in the space just above Baekhyun's head. Baekhyun frowned confusedly.

"Would you like to seat with us?" Daehyun asked as Sehun pulled out his chair, leaving Chanyeol standing there alone with a tray tightly gripped between his hands.

Chanyeol glanced briefly at Daehyun before glancing away as he muttered, "I don't think there's room for me . . ."

"Nonsense!" Junmyeon yelled as he shoved over Jongdae, making just enough room for Chanyeol to squeeze a chair between them.

He did so awkwardly and mumbled, "Thanks."

Junmyeon nodded with a smile and replied, "Sure thing! So, how are you liking it here?"

Chanyeol's brow furrowed and he glanced up from picking at his bread as he muttered, "It's okay. I had a good first impression . . ." Chanyeol's eyes met Baekhyun's as he spoke, and a shiver ran down his spine at the eye contact. Baekhyun quickly dropped his gaze. "But other things are . . . a bit of a let down."

Baekhyun squeezed his eyes shut. He could still feel Chanyeol's gaze on him, and it filled him with confusion and endless questions.

Why did you look at me when you said that? Baekhyun wondered. Why do I still feel you looking at me? Was I that let down? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to ruin your day. What did I even do?

When the bell rang for the end of lunch, Daehyun took his and Baekhyun's lunch tray up to be cleaned before saying goodbye.

Daehyun loosely wound his arms around Baekhyun's waist as he leaned in close. He kissed him on the forehead and muttered, "I can't wait to see you tonight cheering for me in the stands. It'll be our first real game together."

Baekhyun smiled. "Then make it memorable."

Daehyun nodded and chasely kissed him. "Of course! And after, let's celebrate."

Baekhyun nodded too and murmured, "I can't wait."

Daehyun softly laughed and kissed Baekhyun once more before he had to leave. Baekhyun smiled as he watched his retreating figure. He sighed as he left the now empty cafeteria, grateful he only had two more classes left —- art and P.E. —- which would both fly by.

* * *

When the bell rang for the final class of the day, Baekhyun walked to the gymnasium with Luhan. He hadn't seen Chanyeol since lunch, and a part of him was anticipating gym class even despite the fact that today he had to endure that horrible exam. An all because he knew for a fact that Chanyeol had been scheduled for P.E. the last hour of the day as well.

After walking into the air conditioned building, Luhan and Baekhyun made their way back to the locker rooms. They dressed quickly into their uniform before going out to the gym.

A numerous amount of different equipment was set up, spread across the whole length of the gymnasium. The teacher was droning on about the instructions for the exam, but Baekhyun couldn't focus his mind for a second to even listen. His eyes were too busy roaming around the room, studying every face and shade of hair color until he recognized that head of auburn curls and those strangely endearing ears and smile that lit up a room.

Baekhyun searched twice, but didn't see him anywhere. He was about to give up, figuring he must have read the schedule wrong when from his peripheral version he spotted a figure sitting in the bleachers. His eyes snapped in their direction, and he frowned, confused why he wasn't participating. But then again, he didn't seem to have the required uniform and today was only his first day. So maybe he was being exempted from the exam and would be doing it on a later date?

Whatever the reason, he was lucky he got the chance to escape the hell his other classmates would be forced to endure.

An hour later, with muscles sore that Baekhyun didn't even realize he had, he was in the locker room dressing in his clothes, relieved to finally be going home. He bid Luhan goodbye at the doors leading from the gym, only sticking around for football practice to end.

As Baekhyun waited, the doors opened behind him and he moved to the side to avoid getting in the way. He absorbed himself back into his phone, only realizing someone was beside him when he felt that hair-raising feeling.

His eyes flickered up, and he blinked in surprise.

"Chanyeol?" Baekhyun asked. "What are you still doing here?"

Chanyeol had his hands in his pockets as he glanced up to meet Baekhyun's gaze. As he did, he seemed to have less trouble meeting Baekhyun's gaze than he did back in the cafeteria. Baekhyun was confused as to why.

"Hi," Chanyeol smiled thinly. "Um, I have a question . . ."

"Yeah? What is it?" Baekhyun asked.

Chanyeol bit his bottom lip, then he slightly shook his head and said, "Nevermind. It's stupid," before pivoting around on his heel as he begun to walk away.

Baekhyun gasped, and acting on an impulse, he ran forward and grabbed the back of Chanyeol's jacket. He stopped him from leaving as he cried, "Chanyeol! Come on, you can ask me. It's okay."

Chanyeol bit his bottom lip and glanced over his shoulder, heaving a sigh as he said, "Okay." He turned around to face Baekhyun as he asked, "Um.... I was just wondering if you were going to the game tonight? I was wanting to join but since I don't know anyone I thought it'd be weird and I'd feel uncomfortable surrounded by strangers."

Baekhyun smiled, his mesmeric laughter floating through the air. It dulled Chanyeol's mind and submerged him into a pool of calm, to the point when Baekhyun spoke, Chanyeol was momentarily lost to what he was saying.

"Yes, I'm going. You can sit with me if you'd like? I'll be cheering for Daehyun and my brother," Baekhyun said with a smile. "Also, I'm more than positive everyone you met at our lunch table will be there too. Jongin definitely since he's playing tonight too. And I'm only saying this because I tend to like to stand on the sidelines, or as close as possible to cheer Daehyun on. And I wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable by doing that with me . . ." Baekhyun trailed off.

"O-oh," Chanyeol mumbled. "That's—-that's okay. I can cheer with you!"

Another smile, bigger than before, split across Baekhyun's face as he cried, "Really! Thank you!" He jumped forward to give Chanyeol a quick hug before pulling away, and continued by saying, "I'm glad I'll have someone else beside me cheering, since no one else ever does because they find me annoying." Baekhyun laughed.

Chanyeol smiled and he was about to say something along the lines of, "I could never find you annoying." When just then, the football team came jogging towards the gymnasium doors. Baekhyun's attention was instantly snatched away, but who was Chanyeol to complain over Baekhyun getting excited over seeing his boyfriend? He had no right.

Chanyeol sighed and gently touched Baekhyun's arm, saying, "So, I'll see you tonight then . . .?"

Baekhyun blinked and turned around to Chanyeol with a smile. He blushed sheepishly and nervously laughed as he said, "Oh, sorry. I'll just give you my number so we're not searching all night for each other." Baekhyun chuckled as he reached out for Chanyeol's hand, pulling out a pen from his bag as he began to write his number out on Chanyeol's palm.

"There you go!" he exclaimed. "I'll text you later, okay? We'll set up a meeting place!"

Chanyeol couldn't help but smile at Baekhyun's enthusiasm, and he softly chuckled as he replied, "Yeah, okay. See you tonight, Baek!"

A flutter stirred around in Baekhyun's belly at the nickname, and he frowned, shoving the sensation away before he called back, "Yeah! See you tonight, Chan!"

Chanyeol had to fight down the same feeling.

Word count: 1,394