#mine mine:fanfic

[fictionalarsonist]

exo_baekhyun | HOAX pt.9

Hoax_ to trick into believing or accepting as genuine something false and often preposterous.

-

Requested by anon

pairing: baekhyun ⨯ reader ⨯ chanyeol feat. jongdae, minseok, suho, sehun content: angst, fluff, slice of life, gang au, high school au, some mature language, smoking, pinning, drinking, violence, blood, cheating rating: PG-13 type: fanfic, series word count: 2.9K

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

… As it has been said in a song series 04. “Well, isn’t this exactly where you like me? I am exactly where you like me, you know” - But It’s Better If You Do - P!atD a/n: I’m sorry this is not properly beta-read.

「 mobile m.list | desktop m.list | ask/request 」

[ part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part.8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11 ]

Only then he notices the car’s door open for him and Jongdae steps out after seeing him do so as well.

The night is dark and the drive to the condo Baekhyun knows from childhood’s something he rather not be doing. He likes even less since he had to cancel a date with you for this.

“Baek, no one likes to be called here”, Jongdae speaks up by his side, seeing his friend’s grumpy mood, “But we caused a mess in the organization. You think Mr. Kim would sit back and do nothing? Really?”

“His son caused this, not us.”

“You’re really going with that? Really?” Jongdae scoffs, “C’mon you’re smarter than this.” 

With a brusque move, Baekhyun, who had been staring out the dark tinted car window, turns to look at his friend seated beside him. 

“We’re doing everything better than before. The goods are much better than before, our business is secured, no rats, the cops are tamed. We fixed everything single thing” Baekhyun rants on, “If he wants to lose everything just he should just put that brat in his place and get over with it. He should see how many men will stay just for pure devotion to his family name and how many will waltz over to us.”

“Baek...”, Jongdae starts with a warning, “Promise me that even if Junmyeon provokes, you won’t pick a fight”, Baekhyun looks away, “Promise me!”

“Yeah, I guess”, Baekhyun careless answer with a wave of his hand has Jongdae sighing in frustration and worry.

When the car stops and the car’s doors are open for them, Baekhyun finds his other friends are there as well, waiting for him. Minseok seems worried and they greet each other briefly before walking down the path to the main door of the house.

“What is it?” Jongdae asks

“I don’t know” Minseok speaks up, “Everyone’s there”

“You mean..”

“Everyone, Baek.”

When the door opens Baekhyun walks in the house, sided by Minseok and Jongdae watchful eyes.

“My son!” Mr. Kim comes up to him with a proudful smile, extending his arms towards Baekhyun.

Jongdae and Minseok stop in place and Baekhyun is suspicious and much too aware of Suho’s burning glare directed to him. But, still he meets Mr. Kim where the old man stops and stay still as the man wraps an arm around his shoulders, bringing Baekhyun closer to him in a demonstration of affection and walking him deeper inside the house where the others were waiting, Jongade and Minseok followed short behind.

“I was worried you might not show up after all”

Baekhyun took the seat immediately at Mr. Kim’s right side. An honorable place that used to belong to the currently thumb-sucking Suho who’s sitting farther down the table.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

You couldn’t help but smile when you saw Chanyeol waiting for you somewhere close to school just so the two of you could have some time to be together. Your friend excused herself and you enjoyed your time with him and this time you forgot to look at Baekhyun while Chanyeol took the time to sit on the desk beside yours to keep on the conversation, leaving only when the teacher arrived.

“They really look good together”, Baekhyun hears sees the boy sitting next to him pointing at you and Chanyeol, talking to his friend.

“I heard they’re going to college together,” the other replies.

“I wish I could get a girlfriend too~”

Baekhyun couldn’t avoid the bitterness that bit him right there. As if something bit him, stirring some kind of anger he didn’t mean to indulge. It wasn’t true anyway. Baekhyun knows you’re much too focused on something else. Dating isn’t something you’d want.

He saw Chanyeol looking at you during class, Baekhyun wishes he could tell Chanyeol to piss off, stay away from you, but… Between them, Chanyeol would be the right choice for you. That doesn’t make Baekhyun feel any better about it.

“But, when they started going out?” A girl asked another and Baekhyun just couldn’t ignore the conversation as he usually does.

“Remember when they arrived together when we visited that other city during the trip? I heard that was their first date”, the girls squeal.

“Chanyeol is perfect. Y/n’s so lucky!” The other replies and Baekhyun manages to ignore whatever nonsense they add after that.

Baekhyun doesn’t think Chanyeol is perfect, but better than him in some ways. At least, he doesn’t have a mafia association to consider when he’s with you. He’s the selfish bastard who put your life on the line just because he can’t let go, not just yet.

If he chooses to accept Mr. Kim’s proposal to take the seat as the second-in-command being with you would be impossible, if someone found out… Someone dangerous. Baekhyun knows how careless he’s being, Jongdae warned him again and again while he played innocent when he shouldn’t.

“The person you’re dating-”, Mr. Kim said the night before during a private conversation while they walked through the garden while Baekhyun kept his breath held in his throat.

It wasn’t a surprise Mr. Kim would know about you, but he was worried what the man would say next.

“For now, it’s an advice, son. I know you care about her”, Mr. Kim turned to look at Baekhyun and placed a hand on his shoulder, looking at his adopted son’s eyes meaningfully.

“You gotta make up your mind. You either make her yours or don’t let her be a way to get to you when things get ugly”, Mr. Kim squeezed Baekhyun’s shoulder tightly, “You might not see me as a father, specially after what happened to your mother, but think about what happened and ask yourself… Are you willing to let the same thing happen?”

The answer is easy. He would never let anything happen to you, it’s not that you’re a way to him, it’s the other way around. To get to you he’d stupid enough to put himself in the line, obviously that’s Mr. Kim’s biggest worry. Maybe he should let you be.

That was enough to stir him up some more and before the class was over, he dismissed himself. He found himself standing before the vending machine. The others had stepped aside for him while he just stood there, playing with the money in his hand. Classes were dismissed, he supposed to meet you now, at the usual place.

When he snapped to reality he got something he knows you like and something for himself before walking away. Deciding to put any of those thoughts aside, of course people would talk about you and Chanyeol, the two of you supposed to take care of the group during the trip.

“Hey! Hyung!” Sehun greeted his friend and Baekhyun stopped as the other jogged to him right wearing his PE uniform all sweaty and dirty, “Where are you going? Can we have lunch together? Can I have this?”

Sehun reaches for your favorite drink, but Baekhyun shoves his in Sehun’s hand instead.

“I have to meet someone now. Go take a bath, you’re really stinking”, Sehun looks disappointed at the drink in his hand and looks thoughtfully at Baekhyun.

“Can I come over to play later? Your TV’s better than the one in my room...”

Sehun’s voice fades out into the distance as Baekhyun listens to someone else talking. The boiling anger inside him reacted before he could stop himself. The voice of his classmate again, the same boy who sits next to him.

It’s maddening how his heart beats so hurtfully against his chest, scratching its way up his throat just so he can’t breathe. A high-pitched, deafening noise buzzes in his ear. It seems like reality has folded itself in two and he delved into the worse version of it.

‘No.’, the word is drawn in big, bold letters in his head even though his heart and his whole body shakes, his thoughts are certain and definitive, ‘No. It’s not true.’ Baekhyun tells himself, stating a simple fact. His mind is what stops him from letting himself be taken by that desperation that has already taken the rest of his body.

Baekhyun knows you better than any of these stupid kids, so of course they’re lying. Before he knows it, he’s gripping the kid by the collar of his uniform's shirt and pulling the scared kid up close to him. The hurt in his eyes is taken by anger, that’s it! The reason why he’s body is running wild in adrenaline right now is anger. His image, the image he’s been keeping just for the sake of you. That’s gone, he can’t remember how to act in any other way.

“Who the fuck you think you are?”, he growls on the kid’s face.

He knows everyone's gathering around him, his knuckles are white and he can see the kid’s face run pale and his eyes glazed with fear seeing the fearsome face the infamous Baekhyun twisted in anger directed at him like this. No one wants to get on Baekhyun’s bad side, never.

Sehun tries a step closer. “Stay away, Sehun”, his voice is enough to make the younger stop in his tracks and Baekhyun turns to his classmate again, “I said”, Baekhyun’s voice is low and dangerous, “���who the fuck you think you are?” His pale white teeth grinds and the boy gulps down.

“I– I’m– I’m sorry, Baekhyun! I meant it”, the voice of his classmates trembles in fear trying to find in Baekhyun’s eyes some forgiveness in the middle of all the wilderness that makes him so scary, 

Sehun steps away and pulls his phone quickly, with his hands sweaty and unsteady is a hard task to make a simple call, Baekhyun’s hold gets dangerously tight around the younger boy’s throat, cutting his air supply.

“Speak properly!”

“I’m– sor—sorry–”

“You think I want your apology? You should apologize to Y/n not to me! Shit!”, the boy seemed to say something to set Baekhyun at some kind of peace, but bit his tongue, afraid, “Why did you say that about Y/n?”

“I didn’t I swe–”, before the boy could say much else he was stumbling back against the stairs behind him, he wouldn’t fall if Baekhyun didn’t push him again.

It’s not like the boy couldn’t fight for himself, it’s not how it looks like, but who would put up a fight against Baekhyun when everyone knew who he is and where he’s from? 

“Cut the bullshit!”, the boy stood up again, slowly, carefully, head hanging low in hopes that would make Baekhyun stop coming for him, but couldn’t stop trembling and it only worsen when Baekhyun stepped closer to him, “Be honest! Try it again!”

“I heard about it when I walked in the school today–”, the boy starts carefully, holding himself together for any advance from Baekhyun, “—the others were talking about it, so I just–”

“So you just didn’t mind in spreading this bullshit too? I should break your–”

Sehun’s eyes grow two sizes the moment Baekhyun has his hand on his classmate, he can’t understand the reason why Baekhyun was making such a fuss because of something everyone already knew. Why does it matter if you’re dating Chanyeol? Everyone seemed to cheer for that, much like they would cheer for their favorite couple in a TV show.

“Baek, stop!” Jongdae is breathless as he runs to his best friend, Minseok reaches him first, pulling away from the other boy who could barely put up a fight.

“What are you doing?” Minseok asks and Baekhyun shakes him away from his body.

“It wasn’t me-”, the boy tries again, Eyes wide open, as Baekhyun jolts toward him again and Jongdae helps Minseok hold him back this time.

“That’s enough”, Jongdae says

“It wasn’t me, I swear!” The boy tries again and Minseok motions for the boy to just leave.

“Why does he care so much?” Someone whispers to another.

“It’s like a stalker. Really. Y/n should be careful.”

“Like a psycho or something.”

Jongdae disperses the crowd and orders one of the Baekhyun and the boy’s classmate to take him to the nurse.

“We should go home-”, Minseok tries to reason with Baekhyun, but he pushes Minseok away when he sees you somewhere in the crowd and feels the tint of shame inside of him, under all of that suppressed anger. He promised himself you wouldn’t see him like that again. 

“Baekhyun!” You call after him even though there are some students in the corridor and, of course, they look, “Byun Baekhyun! Wait!”

He keeps walking fast and you have to run to catch up with him, but it’s not until the two of you are alone when he finds an empty classroom that he stops and drags you inside.

Baekhyun closes the door while you stand there, against the wall, not even knowing what to say anymore. You watch him stand before you and your eyes search for his, worried and hesitant as you see the anger dissipating.

Shame is the first thing that goes by when he turns to you, he never meant for you to see him like that. All that anger just… Seem to disappear now that he sees you here, all that restless feeling just simply goes away. He should’ve known better than this.

You work like magic, just being there with him is enough. He couldn’t bear the thought of Chanyeol. Even now thinking about it makes him hate the stupid guy who said it, the girls spreading rumors. 

“Why did you do that? What if you get expelled?” Baekhyun chuckles and that smile that belongs only to him, sweet and mischievous, pulls the corner of his lips into a smile as well.

“Hey! You really think they’d do this? Did you forget who I am?” You click your tongue playfully, crossing your arms between the two of you

“You really think you’re unbeatable, don’t you?”

“Me? Y/n, that’s an old concept”, he wouldn’t remind you that you’ve managed to change that concept easily not too long ago.

The old Baekhyun wouldn’t really stand up for anyone who’s not part of his feared group of close friends. He pulls your arms free, his smile growing wider, not minding to smile openly at you anymore.

“Besides, how could I just let someone speak like that about you?”

“What were they saying anyway?”

Baekhyun chuckle, amused by the bitter thought. “They said you’re dating Chanyeol.”

Baekhyun leans against the wall behind him, pulling you along with him. He doesn’t know what or how you’d say and settle his feelings down, but the distant look in your eyes wasn’t a good start. Your expression changes and your smiles simply disappears from your lips, he could hear the echo of his heartbeat in drumming in his eyes as he saw you look down between the two of you.

You look everywhere but him and it’s almost like he knows what you gonna say. An invisible hand suddenly takes a firm hold on his heart, he can hear, but can feel how it struggles to beat. It’s suffocating.

“He... wasn’t lying, Baek.”, you look up and him carefully. Baekhyun focused on the way his heart seemed to beat as fast as it could just so it could free itself from the deadly grip.

A bitter, strangled laugh leaves Baekhyun’s lips and he leans his head against the wall. His empty laughter fills the empty room even though it’s not loud, Baekhyun closes his eyes and covers them with his hand as you step away from him. Tears sting painfully behind his eyelids and he can’t show them to you, he won’t.

He never felt so drained out of energy, so beat up and tired. Him, it had to be him. Chanyeol of all people. Him.

“I’m sorry”, Baekhyun chuckles at his own misery and tries not to think of how soothing your voice sounds.

The tone of assertiveness in the apology doesn’t seem like regret. Baekhyun knows regret and begging as most people would come out with in a moment like this. But, of course, you wouldn’t.

It’s the first time Baekhyun feels his heart being crushed, it’s worst than anything. He can’t compare with something, he just knows there’s nothing that could be any worst than this. Why does he have to love you so much? Why did let himself? Why didn’t he stop? But he knew from the beginning, didn’t he? All addiction end the same way.

Baekhyun swallows hard and feels his throat dry.

“Then?” He asks with his heart pounding painfully. It’s hurting, it hurts bad and he wants to hate you, to be utterly angry at you. Baekhyun wants to attatch himself to the tough that this is for the best. You’re safe with Chanyeol. With him, you could end up…

“I can’t let you go”

Your words doesn’t really get to him, they don’t add up as if they’ve been said in a foreign language. Slowly, with a frown so deep his eyebrows almost meet and tremble, working his brain around the meaning of them. Baekhyun opens his eyes, trying to see through the numbing pain and the remaining tears.

“What?” His voice is hoarse, but he didn’t cry.

“It’s not that I can’t decide”, you explain and thought your voice is not cold nor empty, it’s not the one he’s used to, because you’re holding back, “I just can’t let you go either. Not Chanyeol, nor you. I’m sorry.”

“So you want me? You still want me?” He shouldn’t be saying this, not like this with a pathetic happiness overlapping all the right feelings he should have right now. This pathetic Baekhyun happens to appear naturally before you.

-

⇽ part 8 | part 10 ⇾

[kyloreyx]

love is a battlefield (down at mos eisley) by kyloreyx on ao3

The bell chimed as a customer came in and it made sense. The leather jacket in July, the sarcasm, his hot-headed nature… He was infamous in this part of Coruscant. He was Kylo Ren, the fabled future leader of the First Order gang.

Rey was having breakfast with a man in a gang. She let him buy her oatmeal.

Sensing her unease, Kylo’s mouth twitched into a trace of a smirk. He was enjoying watching her squirm. “You have a name?”

“Rey,” she breathes.

“Dumb name.”

I just published my first fic! I’m really excited to share this with everyone <3 I hope you like it.

[fictionalarsonist]

exo_baekhyun | HOAX pt. 5

Hoax_ to trick into believing or accepting as genuine something false and often preposterous.

Requested by anon

pairing: baekhyun ⨯ reader (gender neutral) ⨯ chanyeol feat. jongdae, minseok, yixing, suho, sehun, jongin content: angst, fluff, slice of life, gang au, high school au, some mature language, smoking, drinking, violence, blood, cheating rating: PG-13 type: fanfic, series word count: 6.7K

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

… As it has been said in a song series 04. “Well, isn’t this exactly where you like me? I am exactly where you like me, you know” - But It’s Better If You Do - P!atD

「 mobile m.list | desktop m.list | ask/request 」

[ part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11 ]

Baekhyun pulls the door of his Baby closed and turns the engine on with a smile on his face as he easily maneuvers a sharp turn.

“So, where are we going?”, you ask him in curiosity.

“You’ll see.”

Once the two of you are far away enough, out in an open highway, he stows the roof and watches you stretch out with a smile. The dawn chases the two of you and Baekhyun tries not to be caught as much as he tries to enjoy these little cheesy things that happens whenever he’s with you. It’s hard knocking out that smile from his face when you’re sitting beside him, reaching out your hand to feel the wind on your palm.

It’s a pleasant warm feeling he doesn’t understand that seems to take him from inside out. It makes him feel like someone different, the kind of person he’d like to be just so he could be with you whenever, hold your hand without being afraid of ruining your life in the process.

But, that’s nothing but a daydream, Baekhyun knows it well. He’s remind of it when you turn to him and pokes his cheek. It’s not bad because, bottom line, at least, even if it’s like this, he stills has you beside him. Baekhyun speeds up, trying to get a reaction from you, but aside from the initial surprise he gets nothing. You poke his cheek again.

“Trying to scare me? I’m not easily scared, you know?”

“I wouldn’t do that”, he speaks nonchalantly

“I’ll forgive you if you tell me where we’re going”, you try yet again

“Why are you so impatient?”, Baekhyun pretends to be annoyed, but his smile hiding in the corners of his lips gives him away.

“I’m curious”

You try poking him again and his response is trying to bite your finger before you pull away.

“This is just so you can relax a bit, how come I’m the one getting stressed?” You sigh at his question and he tries glancing at you

“Alright, then I’ll take a nap. Wake me up when we get there!” You stop him from reaching to the car’s panel, “Leave it like this! I like the wind, it makes me feel like I’m flying.”, he chuckles

“Your hair will get messy”

“A little late for that, captain obvious”

You joke faintly pointing the a cap you borrowed from him, although he already let you know it’s Jongdae’s, not his. This meaningless, playful banter is heartwarming for Baekhyun and he feels like he should have a souvenir out of this, so he pulls out his phone and snaps a photo of you. Messy hair, flushed cheeks and an easy, carefree small smile somewhere.

When you wake up, the car’s parked and you’re alone. You stir and Baekhyun taps your window, greeting you with a playful smile, a glance on the mirror tells enough about your appearance and you groan inwardly. Baekhyun tries opening the door and you pull it close again.

“Are you locking yourself inside?” He mocks you from behind the glass

“I’ll be right out”, and you don’t let go of the door until he goes back to lean on the side of the car.

***

It’s been a while since the last time you’ve been anywhere near a beach and you never knew there was a shore this beautiful near where you live. There’s no houses or hotel in view, the sound of the waves crashing on the rocks and beautiful sight of stars and moon reflecting on the sea like a mirror. It’s a lot to take in just by looking once, such beautiful sight with only a few things that comes together in a overwhelming view that is quite hard to describe.

“Where’s this?” You ask when Baekhyun comes back with a warm blanket from the car’s truck.

You’re standing on the side of the car now, wearing his jacket because the sight is incredibly beautiful, but the wind is salty and cold on your skin.

“We’re in a friend’s property”

“This is a private property? The beach too?”

“Well...”, he shrugs, wrapping the blanket around the two of you and securing you in a back-hug, “Kind of, yeah”

“How do you know people like this”, he scoffs

“You know him too”, surprised, you jolt, turning to look back at him

“Who? Jongdae?”

“Not even close”

“Who, then?”

“Suho”

“Your older brother? Is it okay?”

“It’s alright, don’t worry. He owns me a lot”

“Are you sure? You won’t get into trouble for this, right?” Baekhyun scoofs

“You have to learn to trust me”, he speaks up in a defensive tone and you pull away a little to look back at him.

“I let you bring me in the middle of nowhere, blindfolded, and you’re telling me that I don’t trust you”, he squints

“You weren’t blindfolded”

“I was sleeping, isn’t that the same?”

Baekhyun laughs openly at you and you turn back to face him and he wraps his arm around you again.

“It’s been awhile since I’ve been anywhere close to the beach”

“I know”, he speaks in a low tone, admiring you as you glance at the sea, “You told me that during lunch at school the other day”

You smile faintly, looking back at him you tip-toe to steal a kiss and Baekhyun takes advantage of you, carrying you to deepen the kiss. The cold wind touching bits of your exposed skin contrasts with the warmth of being embraced by Baekhyun’s arms under the cozy blanket.

Better than that is cuddling with him in the backseat of his beloved Porshe. You recall the day you met him, that is, the day you talked to him for the first time despite being in the same school for almost three years. He was laying on the backseat, careless and playing a bad boy image you’ve seen often before that.

Something quite different from now when he’s sharing this small, but not all uncomfortable, space with you. You rest your head on his shoulder, staring at the sky dotted with too many stars while the sound of the waves and smell of the breeze soothes you.

“Did you stop smoking?” You ask with a frown, finally noticing he doesn’t like cigarettes smoke anymore.

Baekhyun plays with your finger in his, something that’s becoming quite a habit for him now. Something he thinks about, and misses, when you’re not with him or when you’re around, but he’s not allowed to touch you without risking getting you in trouble. You let your fingertips wander up his arm, feeling the strange texture left from the cast he’s been wearing.

“You said you didn’t like it”, he replies simply

“You did it for me?” You push yourself up to look at him, surprised.

“Why else?”

“Why are you so stupid?”

You make yourself a little more comfortable on top of him when Baekhyun shifts to have a better look at you. However, despite your annoyed tone, you reach out to brush his hair from covering his eyes.

“You should do this for yourself”, you nag at him and he smirks, “It’s bad for your health! If I tell you to change your hair would you do it too?”

He chuckles, but doesn’t reply, but instead, with a playful smile, leans to press a kiss on your lips and your hand slides down his hair as you kiss him back.

“In this case? Can I decide what we’ll do next weekend?” He frowns

“Don’t you have volunteer work?”

“Don’t worry!” You wave dismissively, “So?”

“Do I ever tell you no?”

The kisses start playful, filled with laughter and giggles until Baekhyun can’t help himself, but whisper sweet nothings in your ear just to make you blush. It’s a rare sight and he likes it a lot and so the kisses turn into chaste apologies.

Somewhere along the way the two of you get too caught up and next thing you know Baekhyun is knocking the air out of lungs and pulling on your lips. You’re fisting on his shirt and pulling him closer without caring about being all that comfortable like before. Baekhyun can’t resist the urge to taste your skin and you don’t stop his lips from doing so, not his hands from wandering.

Baekhyun would do anything you want him to just to feel you in his arms like this, to see this smile and this unique expression of yours. To be surrounded and cared for by you. It’s by far the best thing life could ever promise him and he knows is just an empty promise, he knows better than to look forward to anything beyond what he can see, but-- Baekhyun is the worse stubborn bastard anyone could ever know 

By the way you let him hold you against him and kiss you breathless he can tell that he must be doing things right. He kisses your closed eyelids and forehead before pulling away, you give him that a sample of those smiles he adores so much and his heart swoons. He’s done for and he knows it.

He knows from personal experience, this is the very beginning of an addiction. Only that you’re clearly stronger than him and he won’t be able to beat you and he stubborn nature will gladly ignore all the red flags until he’s too far gone and lost with no way to turn back. That night, while Baekhyun drives you back home with you sleeping peacefully on the passenger’s seat he can’t help but wonder what’d happen when you end up seeing him as he really is, a cold-hearted crook with nothing to offer.

There are many new things that Baekhyun only knew he could feel after meeting you, but this desperation that seems to eat him inside out is the first bad one. When he looks at you peacefully sleeping, all cuddled up on the passenger seat, covered with that blanket, he knows he’d do anything to silently stay by your side like this because he knows all too well he’s nowhere close to deserve you. He reaches out to run the back of his fingers on your cheek.

***

The next day, when you walk in the classroom and glances over at Baekhyun, you have to hold back a gasp. His eyes locks with yours, he’s wearing that arrogant facade as always, but you can see that mischievous yet adorable smile he wears only for you hidden in the corners of his eyes.

You have to blink once or twice, doing your best to not smile at him, all the others has their eyes on him too, why wouldn’t they? Baekhyun is handsome enough to take their breaths away much like the kiss from the night before, but that’s just not the reason why. His red strands are gone and that ridiculous hair style too. You imagined he’d be good looking with his hair in its natural color and a different haircut, but your imagination failed miserably to picture just how much.

Baekhyun’s wearing his uniform properly, the tie too and his tattoos are duly covered, even the one that trails up his neck, you look away and take a sit and has to bite you lip when your friend comments about him because you do agree with most of the things she says beside all the things you can’t speak up yourself.

“It’s not just because he’s-- you know... That hot right now. But he’s different from before, isn’t he?”

Yes, Baekhyun is different from the beginning of that semester. You’ve seen him change a little every time you met him. You watch as the people from other classrooms comes by to look at him. They smile, squeal and look at him dreamingly. Their comments are tinted with a different kind of speculation, one that has them skeptical, but intending to approach. Only if Baekhyun himself allowed that instead of scaring people away with his still facade he never dismisses...

Even the homeroom teacher stops on his way in the classroom the moment he sees Baekhyun and you see as the man’s face fights back the urge to believe in what he’s seeing, in what it means.

“What in the world-- It can’t be--”, you hear him whispering to himself as he takes his usual position and you start the morning greeting before the exam starts and the attention is drifted elsewhere.

***

During the lunch break, that smile you saw in his eyes is plastered on his face when you meet him on the school’s rooftop this time, the weather’s perfect for something like this since the season is changing.

“You’re still surprised”, he points out with a sharp amusement tinting his words

He reaches out his hand and you let him pull you against him, tip-toeing to demand a kiss that he gladly complies to. This new image of him matches him much better and you deliberately ignores the feeling of accomplishment that tries to grow n you. The gentleness in his eyes stand-out much like his playful personality you got to know.

“I keep listening how handsome you are”

“Oh?” His smile is like one from a child who’s up to something, “Since when the Y/n I know is so attached to rumors?”

“I’m just saying”

“Ah, is that it? I heard you saying I’m hot”

“It– It wasn’t me!” He knows it, still he teases just to see you blushing and laughs at how adorable you look

The second term of the exam is harsh, and you’re completely worn out by the time you walk out of the classroom. There’s no club activity and the school’s quiet after most people leave, there’s still a few hours left to cram school and in the management room of the basketball gym, behind the locked door, nothing aside yours and Baekhyun’s heavy breathing is heard. He holds you carefully as always and he lets you kiss him, his skin tingle with your touch and his hands lack its usual confidence to hold you.

You’re mesmerizing, Baekhyun just can’t take his eyes off you, just a second could be a waste for him. It doesn’t matter if this happened on the backseat of his car the night before, it’s a sight to see and he wants to make sure to secure everything in his memory. The way your pulse quickens, the way you arch your back and press yourself up against him.

Your glassy, dark eyes staring at him, his skin burns wherever you touch him, the tingling sensation becomes overwhelming with the way you carefully traces your own patterns on his tattoos. Baekhyun loves the way you melt under him, but he feels way too much undeserving of it all. Of you.

***

Monday morning, the moment you walk into school, you see everyone rushing and gathering in front of the notice board much like the first day of the semester and, like a deja vu, your friend rushes to meet you even before ou could get anywhere near. This time she doesn’t drag you to the classroom, but you can’t quite make out what she’s saying even now. She’s a blabbering mess, moving her hands everywhere and panting. 

“What are you talking about?” You ask in frustration for the third or fourth time

”Just—”, she pulls you, pushing past the crowd of students, “See?” You stare at the school ranking, “Baekhyun’s at the Top 10!”

You blink at the papers and indeed, he’s name’s there and the moment you start to pay attention to the mess of comments all around you, you notice the pattern on the loud unapologetic disbelief in everyone’s tone. Of course, Baekhyun chooses that very moment to walk in the school from the parking lot, tucking the keys to his Porshe in the pocket of his neatly worn uniform jacket and doesn’t mind when all the eyes are on him, yet again.

“Byun Baekhyun!” He turns to look at the homeroom teacher standing there with range in his eyes and gripping tightly to a paper in his hand, “Follow me! Everyone else to your classroom”

The crowd starts dispersing with mumbles and whispers here and there as Baekhyun follows the teacher. You don’t listen your friend’s words as the two of you walk to class and mutter some poor excuse before walking away. That window from the homeroom teacher’s office is always half-open and you stop there to look inside, this time on purpose.

Much like the other day, Baekhyun’s standing there, but his posture is different, he does look like a model student rather than a rascal this time, but the teacher is not so different. If anything, the man looks more vicious than the last time.

“How could you cheat on such an important test? What about the students who work their asses off to get a good grade?  Do you think of this as a joke?”

The rage flowing from the man’s words stings even if it’s not directed to you and you wonder how Baekhyun can seem so calm and unfazed.

“Aren’t you gonna say anything? Do you want me to believe that you of all people got this grade? Huh? Answer me!”

“I didn’t cheat”, Baekhyun speaks quietly and respectfully to the man before him, “I studied like everyone else”, he explains simply and the teachers don’t hold back the bitter scoff as he looks down at Baekhyun

“Look at you! Do you think you can fool me?”

The teacher can’t contain himself and, gritting his teeth, grabs Baekhyun by the collar of his uniform jacket.

“You think just because you dress and behave well that you can trick me?”

Coming to his senses, the teacher lets go of Baekhyun and turns his back at the youngster. Baekhyun uses this moment to sigh and look away for a moment, his eyes finds yours as if he somehow knew you’re there. You see him gulping down and the seriousness that covers for the disappointment in his eyes, his eyes lingers on yours for too little time. Baekhyun shakes his head and you understand what he means, so you walk away.

When you walk past the notice board later that day, Baekhyun’s name is risked so angrily the paper is torn and the board behind is badly scratched, your eyes slide up to your name for the first time. It’s the first time you notice, it’s not enough, your grade. And Chanyeol is right at the top.

***

You haven’t seen Chanyeol in a while aside class, he hasn’t even been practicing with the basketball team. Apparently, he took some time off the team. He really started avoiding you after that event and he only talks to you when he really has to, rushing off as soon as he’s done. As much as you’d like to make things better and less awkward between the two of you, there’s another matter you pay attention to, instead.

Baekhyun doesn’t show up in class the next day and he doesn’t send you a text to meet him, but you find him at the rooftop with Jongdae and two other people you don’t know. Jongdae and Baekhyun are dressed in school uniforms, although you haven’t seen him in class all day, he’s neatly dressed much like the other days and his hair is as you saw the day before, that surprises you.

These two guys are obviously older than Baekhyun and even Jongdae, both are dressed in expensive tailored suits and they’re so engrossed in whatever they’re talking about that it takes a while for them to see you there and it’s Jongdae the one who notices you first.

“Baek—”, Jongdae calls, interrupting the conversation and Baekhyun looks first before seeing you.

“I’ll show up in the office later?”

Baekhyun can feel Minseok and Yixing’s knowing eyes on him and he tears his eyes away from you to look at them.

“I’ll have things ready by the end of the day”

“Call me if you need anything”, Yixing pats his back and the three of them leave.

“You shouldn’t come here. What if the other boys were here too?”

Whatever Baekhyun tries to say next is forgotten the moment your arms are around him and all he wants is to bury his face on your neck. It’s exactly what he needs.

***

The two of you don’t see each other much after that because you’re too busy chasing after that score you missed that time. You need time to concentrate and study. The desperation to chase the subjects you couldn’t understand dissipates as you delve further into them.

Even if you tried, you couldn’t sleep, your fingers and wrist hurt from writing, but you can’t really feel it since you’re too focused. Another chapter, just this last one, you need to get a better score at the cram school mock quiz, at least.

It’s past 2AM when you look at the time on your laptop, it becomes quite hard to focus anymore and the less you understand, the more frustrated you get. You lean back on your chair, your body hurts from staying there for so long, you try closing your eyes, but you can’t even think about sleeping. You look at the things scattered on your desk and reach for your phone, it’s been turned off to avoid distraction, but distracting yourself is really what you need at this moment.

There are too much ignored emails and notifications. For starters, your friend sent you message, Chanyeol sent you something about some class duties and you save it as a note to do it first thing on Monday. Then, there’s Baekhyun’s message, you blink and look at the time again before replying.

To Baekhyun: Sorry, I had to study and forgot about it

You supposed to meet him this weekend. Maybe you should think about a better answer, but you’re too tired. In fact, you don’t really expect for him to reply right away, but you don’t even have time to place your phone somewhere before it buzzes in your hand 

From Baekhyun: You studied the whole day? Until now?

You sigh.

To Baekhyun: Yes. 

His message pops up soon after.

From Baekhyun: Shouldn’t you sleep and get some rest. 

You sigh yet again, leaning your head on the chair and tilting a little.

To Baekhyun: I can’t sleep 

You send and your thumbs dance on the screen for a second before you decide to type again.

To Baekhyun: But I can’t focus on study either. 

From Baekhyun: Can you meet me now? 

Maybe you should give a better thought on this. Rationally, the best thing to do would be drinking a relaxing tea and trying to get a good rest before starting all over the next day. But you don’t feel like following your best advices at the moment.

To Baekhyun: Where? 

From Baekhyun: That park, a block away from your apartment 

From Baekhyun: It’s dangerous if you wait there. 

To Baekhyun: Okay. Text me when you get there, then 

You dress something nice, but comfortable and not too long after, there’s a new message.

From Baekhyun: I’m here. 

You chuckle at his message while replying and tiptoed your way out. You spot him leaning on the side of his Porshe, not as loved as you now that he thinks about it.

Wearing his flirtatious smile, Baekhyun sways you in his arms, though he allows you to trap him between your body and the car. His arms loosely around your middle and that smile he wears only for you plastered across his face. One that is not faked or forced.

“So–”, you ask, cocking your head in a way, you know, he think it’s adorable after you pulled away from his soft kiss. He leans down for a quick peck and raises an eyebrow, “—where are we going?”

“Hum?” The corner of his smile raise a little mischievously, “Thought you supposed to choose this time?”

“How can I? I was studying this whole time, I completely forgot about it”, he just smiled and nodded with closed eyes as if lost in thoughts

“Alright, alright. I’ll let you off the hook this time, class president. But...”

“But, what?” That playful smile of his and that secretly glint in his eyes when he opens them again

“While you’re with me, you can’t think about grades, school, studies... Any of this. Deal?”

“Deal!”

You try stepping away and he pulls you back.

“Aren’t you missing something?”, you frown

“What?”

Biting his lips with that same playful glint in his eyes, Baekhyun leans close, hovering his lips on yours and it’s a joke on him because having you so close is the reason why his heart is tripping on itself.

“When you make a deal with a devil, you have seal it with a kiss”

The sound of your laughter lights up the empty, dark night around Baekhyun, he’s convinced it’s the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard. Baekhyun kisses your laughter and his lips are easily wrapped around your smile until your arms are around his neck again. It’s so easy for him to get lost whenever he kisses you, it’s always the same as the first time.

He’s melting and surrounded by everything that is you and his heart never fails to pick up a dangerous pace, especially when your hands are gripping tightly on his shoulder, his arm, his shirt, just anywhere you reach out to first. The butterflies in his stomach persist when you smile at him when he pulls away and his hand naturally reaches down for yours, pulling you to walk along with him and away from the car.

“You won’t drive?” You ask, leaning against him and pushing him to the side while he walks playfully.

He tries to hold back a smile, trying to not get too swayed by this warm familiarity and sweet, but then his eyes smile for him and soon that smile is pulling on the corners of his lips easily. Baekhyun steals a glance at you smile and presses his lips to keep him from smile.

“Where are we going? Is it close?”

“You’ll see!”

“You’re really leaving your precious Porshe behind?” You look back and that’s when he lace his arm around you, while the two of you still walk, leaning to place a kiss your temple.

“I have something even more precious right here!” He speaks in a mocking tone and you glance suspiciously at him, causing him to pitch your cheek playfully.

“Just trust me”

Only with Baekhyun you could experience certain kind of things. He’s like your borrowed pair of wings, something special that you had to trim long ago to fit in a pattern to achieve your dream. But Baekhyun’s there, his wings are wide open and is always ready to fly when you ask him to. You need him, no one else can give this freedom and he’s stupid enough to only use them for you because he’s stupid enough to not see them.

That’s the reason why he can’t fit where you belong, the reason why his potential of achieving high scores easily, being a good student and having a bright future like everyone else in that classroom fails to be anything more than just a potential.

That’s something you suspected before, but tempted him with just to see if he’d really let himself fit in this pattern you place yourself or ignore completely. On the opposite way, there’s you and you won’t allow your wings to grow.

***

Running faceless around these streets tastes like freedom for Baekhyun and his heart flies because you’re with him, taking the risks with him, allowing him to be yours and being only his, at least for now, but he doesn’t want to think about this detail.

There’s never a time Baekhyun thought life could ever smile the way it does to him right now, he knows this town like the back of his hands, the good, the bad, the nasty and all the horrors people close their eyes to thanks to Mr. Kim’s family business. But when you’re are with him he discovers a different path even though he’s walking on the same sidewalk he did many times before.

What’s in you to turn this cold-hearted place into a perfect paradise for him, he can’t really tell, but he’s intoxicated by it. He knows this can turn into a bad joke, but the more he thinks about it, the more he tries to consider and in the end,  you win, you always win. This is far better than he could ever get in this crappy life of his anyway. That professor was right, his future is predictable and there’s nothing to expect besides what he already knows and Baekhyun doesn’t look into salvation any more than what you give him.

City lights, cars racing on roads, fresh air of early the morning. The city never sleeps, really. It’s magical when you’re at the right place, with the right person among the heartless concrete jungle. It’s cold, so Baekhyun lets you nest yourself against him, with his jacket and arms around you, your face hidden on his chest and arms under his jacket, palms pressing on his back against the fabric of his shirt.

The sky has a pale-blue color, something that resembles the sun peaks from behind the clouds. Baekhyun could never feel so blessed and it hurts to think it’s almost over, he wishes time could just stop, right here. He wants to save, to protect this happiness at all costs.

He kisses the top of your head and closes his eyes, trying to memorize the smell of your hair or the way you your warm hand on his back, how it feels to have your head leaning on his shoulder, the sound of your quiet breathing or the way you trace a tattoo he has on his ribcage, your fingertip traces it precisely even if you can’t see it. Baekhyun asks himself how many others you know so well.

“This one–”, you ask quietly and your voices almost fails to get to him, being carried easily by the wind, “Why do you have an hexagon tattooed?”, he hums and lick his lips, taking a deep breathe to reply without drifting into unnecessary memories

“Oh! It’s a symbol of friendship”

“I never heard that before. Are you making it up?”, he scoffs

“Hey, when did I ever lie to you?” You look at him and he’s already looking at you, his eyes are so easy for you to read

“Is it a bad memory? I’m sorry”

“It’s in the past”, that’s not what his voice says, “It’s a hexagon because we were six. We grew up together and all. We’re four now. Jongdae, Yixing, Minseok and myself.”

“So, I was right. You do have loyal friends. You’re really lucky, Byun Baekhyun”

And there it goes, his heart doing that thing again. When you look up and smile at him, Baekhyun can’t hold himself back and before he knows he’s tasting your lips again. This kiss is chaste and warm despite the coldness that surrounds the both of you. Baekhyun knows how lucky he is.

***

Monday is packed, even during lunch break you can’t meet Baekhyun since you’re busy with some chores. After school you leave for cram school, not too stressed or worried about the quiz anymore. The end of the first semester approaches and you see how the homeroom teacher is displeased but can’t say anything about Baekhyun’s presence.

Nothing changes much, but he doesn’t stop going to school and you see him every day in class like this, sometimes during the weekend when everything is too much and you need him to lend you his wings.

“The results came up today”, you told him when you met him on your way home from cram school that night, “I got first place. Thanks to you”

“I didn’t do anything”, he replied with a half-smiled, “You worked hard. Should we commemorate this properly?”

“Huh? With what?”

“You trust me, right?”

“Is that even a question worth asking?”

“I have to ask anyway. Because I want to introduce you to some people I trust”

“Oh, wait! Isn’t your family, right? I mean, your brother–”

“Hey~ I’m not that stupid! I mean my friends, those three people I told you about. You already know Jongdae, but I should introduce you to the others properly”, you notice the trouble expression he tries to hide with a weak smile

“Why do I feel there’s something about it?” He sighs

“Just in case you need help with something urgent and I can’t come. They’ll be there if you need too”

***

That was already a little odd, but it wasn’t until after you met his friends at the penthouse on a company building Minseok’s the CEO of that you really suspected something’s wrong, .you saw his worried expression that night when you slept over and again he started to show up injured soon after. He started to get in class late and leave early every now and then, until the point where he wouldn’t show up at all, but if you needed him, he wouldn’t say no.

Again, you focused on yourself and the end of semester’s duties, seeing him less than before when you saw the news about his father’s business finally being under serious investigation and something about his older brother, Suho. Baekhyun wasn’t mentioned, but you knew something was going on and you decided to keep your safe distance the moment you got better scholarship offers after scoring a good position at the national ranking along with Chanyeol and people started to look up to the two of you even more.

Baekhyun, besides his freedom to just be, what else can he offer to you? You caught yourself thinking during one of the self-study sessions in school, you glanced back at his desk, he wouldn’t come today either. It was becoming easy to not ask for him to come except when you really need him, even though he asks you, he can’t say anything back when he knows you’re busy.

***

The first semester passed really fast indeed, and school break came with relief and anxiety for those that like you and your classmates has a lot to look into. The last year the group would stick together after so long, after that everyone would go to different places, different lives. Things change too fast and the realization can come quite late, like your relationship with Baekhyun.

Someone in your class proposes a trip for the class, a few good, lasting memories before going different ways and, since everyone was together the homework could done much easily in group, but everyone knew the last one’s more like an excuse for the any of their parent’s questions.

There are a few rules to this trip, but the most stressed is the first one: Baekhyun can’t go. Something he knew before you told him and didn’t seem to lament about it not hold a rage. He even pulls up a few cards from his sleeves, helping you find a good and strangely affordable place for the group to stay during the trip to Japan. When you get there you realize that seeing pictures and videos online doesn’t make justice to the real thing and you wonder if a two weeks would be enough to enjoy everything the place has to offer.

To Baekhyun: We arrived safely. Your friend came to see greet us

You texted him once everyone else was settled and you managed to get some time to yourself. The studying could wait a little, there’s just too much to see, too much to buy and to do everywhere and you just prone to enjoy every bit of it. 

School break, like everything else, means different things depending on where you stand on in life. Whether if you have your future decided or not, if there’s anything you’re looking forward to it or not. For someone so young, being a senior in high school is all about being pressured to choose what seems like one path for the rest of their lives, it’s like standing in a crossword, forbidden to look back or look anywhere else that doesn’t mirror a promising, secure future.

At least that’s how it feels for most of your classmates, for you, your friend, the basketball captain and other players as well that are already having those gloomy expressions when they think that playing basketball is something from the past, since none of their scholarships are related to this passion of theirs. Choosing between heart and mind. It’s tough.

“Y/n! C’mon, I’m hungry!” You friend cries out as you try dressing up as fast as you can

“I’m almost done. Just a moment.”

“I thought everyone was coming”, she speculates, sitting in the middle of your bed and watching you coming back and forth looking for your hairdryer,

“Everyone who paid for the trip came, except for Chanyeol, but–”, you stop and point to the luggage behind her, “Check if my hairdryer is in that bag”

She pulls your bag and starts looking for it, “But?”

“But, what?”, she stops looking and looks at you a little bit annoyed

“About Chanyeol!”

“Ah, yeah! Him. He’ll be here by tomorrow. Why? Is the college boy out?”, you tease her

“It’s not here”, she announces, pushing your bag away, “Look at you! Talking about my love-life as if it’s a basketball game”, you frown playfully

“Actually, I was going for baseball”

“Just hurry up or I’ll leave you here.”

“He’s not out.”, she protests, giving you her own hairdryer, “I’m– just curious”, she shrugs, “He’s been a little weird, hasn’t he? Didn’t you say something about him avoiding you”, she follows after you, “People been talking about you and him. That the two of you should date”, she smirks, “That’d be a score”

You stop drying your hair and looks at her through the mirror.

“Not funny”, she laughs anyway, “And you already know he-- doesn’t to me properly”

“Ah, you’re right!”, she sits back down, her eyes wandering as she gets lost in her own thoughts, “Chanyeol’s not the kind of guy who’d ignore his girlfriend like this. He’s a gentleman”

“You still like him, don’t you?”

“No way! I have a boyfriend now!”

“Alright, alright. C’mon, I’m hungry too.”

The two of you arrive just in time for the food to be served. Everyone’s content and talking to each other happily and you think that, in the future, the next time you gather with these people like this, will be during reunions. You wonder how different your life will it be then, if you think carefully, this senior year is just the very start of a completely different life you’ll be leading the moment you choose your life path. But why are you thinking about something like this in a moment like this? Maybe this is one-in-a-lifetime feeling you have with everyone gathered like this outside school, having a good time. It feels like goodbye.

You blink and stop eating, chewing on the food slowly. Really though, next time you see them, who will they be? Who will you be? Will you ever meet them again for sure? It’s nostalgic. Your friend is going to the same college her current boyfriend is, which isn’t the one you have in mind.  Baekhyun... Well, you never talked about his with him, really. You don’t really know if he’s going to any college at all even if you encouraged him at first, these kinds of conversation fell back with time and you never attempted to touch the subject again. That’s just not where this thing you have with him goes.

Although this is something important for you, a place where your future belongs, you realize Baekhyun doesn’t fit anywhere. You try not to delve into those thoughts too much, but you find yourself unable to sleep at night because of it. Your friend sleeps soundly on the bed beside yours, but not even the tiredness of the trip nor from the organizational activity you had to do really gets to you.

Slowly, you crawl out of bed and dress something nice and comfortable before heading out of your room, you don’t know where you’re going. But, without Baekhyun to swept you off your feet, it’s only your feet whom you can rely on to set your mind in peace for the night.

⇽ part 4 | part 6 ⇾

[fictionalarsonist]

exo_baekhyun | HOAX pt.6

Hoax_ to trick into believing or accepting as genuine something false and often preposterous.

Requested by anon

pairing: baekhyun ⨯ reader (gender neutral) ⨯ chanyeol feat. jongdae, minseok, yixing, suho, sehun, jongin. kris (wu yifan) content: angst, fluff, slice of life, gang au, high school au, some mature language, smoking, drinking, violence, blood, cheating rating: PG-13 type: fanfic, series word count: 4.9K

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

… As it has been said in a song series 04. “Well, isn’t this exactly where you like me? I am exactly where you like me, you know” - But It’s Better If You Do - P!atD

「 mobile m.list | desktop m.list | ask/request 」

[ part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11 ]

To Baekhyun: The night in Japan’s countryside is beautiful. 

Before you notice, you’re sending the message to him without a second thought and, as always, his reply comes shortly after.

From Baekhyun: Why? Having problems with something? Is anyone giving you a headache over there?

You smile to yourself before typing a reply. Your footsteps matches other few strangers around you, family, friends and lovers that you see having fun with each other in the restaurants and stores that are still open for business even, though it’s late. You see a few of your friends, but you avoid them this time, deciding to keep this small talk with Baekhyun instead.

It doesn’t last long. Soon enough you’re finding a way, a poor excuse, to end the conversation, deciding that a quiet moment to yourself is what you need. Baekhyun isn’t really what you want when he’s not around and there’s nothing he can help you with at the moment. In short, you don’t need him, you need this, some quiet, peaceful and soothing time. Something Baekhyun never really offers to you, you just can’t see that in him.

It’s just when you stop to look back, to make sure you’ll remember the way back to the hotel, that you realize how far you came. Remembering the way won’t be a problem, the hotel is on the top of a hill, the way is safe even if it’s night, so you just keep walking ahead with the only difference of pulling your jacket closer to your body. The cold night wind has a particular smell that resembles something that makes you happy, though you can’t really tell what it is, the nice weather actually warms you a little, giving you this fuzzy feeling of welcome and gentleness. You really love this place.

The sounds of squeaking shoes on the floor and the particular sound of the ball hitting the floor are familiar to you, you grew accustomed to this kind of sounds since you’ve been the basketball team’s manager for so long. Something that started as a joke with the person that is now the team’s captain ended up being something you liked and took it seriously.

Without realizing you walk towards these sounds and you see just what you expect, two boys playing basketball. However, what you don’t expect is seeing them playing as if they’re at NBA’s playoffs or something, they’re so eager to win over each other. You walk closer, admiring their ability and can’t avoid a gasp of surprise when you recognize that one of them is none other than...

“Chanyeol?”

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Chanyeol tells himself that’s his mind playing tricks on him even when he’s so focused on the game. Your voice, carried by the wind sounds much like he remembers when you whispered his name that day. Then, he makes the mistake to look up and just dumly stare at you, which gives enough time to his opponent to score easily. As the other celebrates by himself, Chanyeol stands there, just for a moment, his eyes widen a bit when he sees you standing there, feeling his cheeks burn a little and something stuck in his throat. He’s panting, exhausted because of the game, the other guy, obviously older than him.

“I thought you said you were better than me now?”

The older smirks and hooks his arm on Chanyeol’s neck and drags him away, unaware of you or the way Chanyeol’s eyes has a hard time looking away from where you stand. The friend keeps provoking him, misinterpreting his silent. You barely listen what they’re talking and walks closer to make sure you didn’t see it wrong.

“Park Chanyeol?”

The older guy still has his arm hooked around Chanyeol’s neck, he stops talk to the all-too-quiet Chanyeol under his hold and both of them turn to look at you. While Chanyeol is still lost in his own feelings you look up at the other stranger, ready to apologize for the interrupting the game. It’s only then when you recognize him too, you couldn’t tell from afar when he’s dressed casually instead of that expensive suit you saw him wearing when he personally welcomed you and the group at the hotel earlier upon your arrival.

“Y/n!”

Kris smiles brightly, loosening his hold on Chanyeol,  enough for the boy stand straight, both of them out of breathe.

“Is there something wrong? Any problems at the hotel?” He frowns a little and looks behind around, taking a deep breathe, “Are you lost?”

“Uhm…”, you look around embarrassed, “Yeah, I guess so”, you scratch the back of your head,  “But I’m pretty sure I can find my way back”, you nod in reassurement, “And the hotel is great, I can’t thank you enough for having us”

Kris nods and his eyes slides to Chanyeol, following yours and his lips part in understanding when he sees the daze in his friend’s eyes. He has to hide his amusement, but a well-knowing, subtle smile appears on his lips.

“You don’t need to thank me”, he says in a polite, but business-like well-rehearsed tone, that different that one might think doesn’t sound annoying or forced, “I’m glad you’re enjoying your stay and if you really ever have a problem, don’t hesitate in letting me know, but--”

He trails off, smile a wider this time, just enough to seem more friendly and casual as he tone starts to imply. Kris pats Chanyeol’s back in a way that is casual to you, but reassuring and induces courage into his friend before pulling his hand away.

“For anything else, Chanyeol’s a much better company than me. He knows the place even better than me, so you’re in good hands”

He picks up his jacket and leaves, sparing a friendly wave at you and Chanyeol before walking into one of the gorgeous houses surrounding the park. You look at Chanyeol who avert his eyes away from you, licking the sweat off his lips and takes off his cap to push his messy hair back the best he can.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to spoil your game”

You don’t mean to stutter, but being alone with Chanyeol feels weird when you can see he’s looking for the best way he can to escape. It occurs to you if you should you use this opportunity to clean things once and for all between the two of you, but Chanyeol seems uncomfortable and you remember than soon enough this won’t matter since you probably won’t see him after the end of this next semester anyway.

“Ah, no!” He bites the inside of his cheek of being in such a hurry to talk, but his words just kept coming out, wavering in hesitancy. “We’ve been playing for quite a while. I was about to ask for a break--”, he scratches the back of his head a little embarrassed, “It’s not like I can beat him at an one-on-one anyways”

“It looked pretty tied to me”, you confess as you approach him, “I distracted you, I’m sorry”

Chanyeol looks away to hide the crimson red blush that spreads from somewhere under his loose shirt and despite the cold weather, he’s feeling quite hot. Busying himself with taking the ball off the ground he gives himself sometime to cool off and placing on his jacket, laying on the bench.

“No, it’s okay. Really”, he licks his lips and places the ball a little too careful on the bench on top of his jacket. He takes a second to turn and look at you, “How– How about a drink? Something warm since it’s cold”, his words are still hesitant and he cringes at them and he regrets right after, but you nod.

“Sounds good to me”

Silly enough, that surprises him. His eyes open wide and for a moment he doesn’t quite know what to do with himself.

“Ah, good! I’ll– be right back”

Chanyeol fumbles with his feet a little clumsily and he doesn’t quite know what to do with his hands

“The machine is right there”, he points at the vending machine standing at one corner of the park not too far, you can see part of it, the other part is hidden by one of the park’s toys for kids

He’s already walking away when he realizes the money he has is in his jacket. He stops and turns only to realize that you’re closer than he thought and his breathe gets caught in his throat making him choke. You frown in concern as he look away coughing, you reach to pat his back, but that only makes him a little more nervous. Chanyeol words are rushed and he can’t look at you as he speaks again.

“Wait here. I mean on the bench is more comfortable. I’ll be right back”

You hold the ball as he takes his jacket with him, taking large steps to the machine and as soon as he gets there he crouches on the floor, regretting and cringing at his childlike behavior. Why can’t he act like a normal human being when he’s next to you?

When he comes back, you’re sitting on the bench, playing with the ball in your hands. Chanyeol takes a deep breathe before approaching and sitting next to you.

“Here”, he offers you a hot cocoa drink

“Thank you”, you notice his soda then, “What if you catch a cold?” You point at the can in his hands while cupping yours in your hands to warm them a little.

“Ah, don’t worry. I’m not that cold. I’ve been playing for a while”

You watch him open and take a big gulp on his drink before opening yours too and Chanyeol tries not to seem obvious when looking at you while you’re drinking.

“Is everything really okay?” You hum questioningly and looks at him, “I mean… For you to be walking around like this”

“Ah! Yes, it’s fine”, you cup the warm can on your hands again and takes a deep breathe, looking away from him, “I don’t know why I’ve been thinking a  little too much lately and I can’t sleep. I thought it’d help if I walked around a bit”, when you look back at Chanyeol, he’s caught staring and looks away, drinking his soda and chokes again, and again you pat his back, “Are you okay?”

“Uhm. Sure, sure. I just–”, he has to let out another string of coughs, feeling stupid he clears his throat once he’s feeling better, “I’m okay”, he clears his throat again.

The cold soda can freezes his hands, so Chanyeol places it on the bench beside him and rubs his hands with his eyes on them, too worried to look dumbstruck yet again to you.

“I guess, the season and the fact that we are at a turning point--”, he starts, “These things gets to us easily”, hesitantly he looks at you, “I think about those things at night too”

“I thought I was overthinking”

“Maybe we are”, you chuckle and nod at the thought that someday you can think back and ridicule your own thoughts.

There’s a small pause and you don’t notice Chanyeol is staring at you again as you take another sip on your drink. He really doesn’t know what to do with himself when he’s with you.

“There’s something I wanted to tell you”, you speak up and he blinks

“Wh– What is it?”

“I want to apologize”, you look at him and he can feel his heart skip a beat

You turn to him a little and he’s glad there’s some distance between the two of you because it’s already hard for him to breath as it is.

“Apologize?” He frowns, “For what?”

“About that day when you took me off the way from those officers chase. I– I’m sorry if–”

“No. Wait. Why’d you apologize for that?”

“I thought, somehow I offended you back then. You’ve been avoiding me since that day.”

Chanyeol remembers that day clearly, how his heart stumbled when he realized how close you where. He never really tried to look at you and see how beautiful you are. He couldn’t understand why it was so hard to let go of you back then, how good it felt having you close to him or how tempting it was when you looked up at him and your breath fanned over his lips and he had to stop himself. Since then, everytime he sees you it’s the same thing and by now it hurts a little too much already, so he tried keeping his distance. As stupid as it sounds, he doesn’t want to get a ‘no’ for answer.

Honest to the heavens, Chanyeol didn’t thought what he felt that day would turn into anything. That night, at home, he thought everything would be back to normal the next day, but after a sleepless night where that moment kept replaying before his eyes, either if he kept them open or not, in many different ways… The moment you walked in class and his heart stumbled dangerously in his chest he became a little worried about it.

“You didn’t do anything!” He rushes to say, looking directly at you

What could he possibly say to you? There’s absolutely no way in hell he’d tell the truth and he looks at his hands, trying to make up a good excuse.

“I thought I overreacted that day. I thought maybe I offended you”

It’s partially the truth, he was afraid you heard his heart beating because he could hear, he though you noticed him blushing and somehow could make things awkward.

“If it weren’t for you I’d be hurt. I’m not offended.”

“Still, I’m sorry I avoided you”

“Apology accepted”, you say it playfully and he smiles at you, “The homeroom teacher said you had an urgent matter to attend before coming. Did everything turn alright?”

“Ah, yes. I was offered a scholarship and the conditions are... Well, they’re really one of a kind, but–”, Chanyeol pulls on his lower lip worryingly before sighing at his reasons.

“You couldn’t say yes?” He sighed and nodded, hanging his head low.

“They said I have time to decide, so they’ll wait until the applications are closed. Stupid decision, right?”

“If it’s an stupid decision what you did, I wonder what mine was”, he raises his head to look at you

“Yours?” You hum, tapping on the hot cocoa can in your hand with your nail distractingly

“The homeroom teacher called me in his room and the college representative was there. She proposed a lot, but I just– I couldn’t say yes to it. I mean, I’ve been waiting for that opportunity for so long, but--”

You gulp down and the weak smile you wear makes you took lifeless, but you don’t mind. You didn’t realize how much that has been bothering you and how nice it is to speak with someone who really understands instead of judging you like your parents and your friends, or tries to simply comfort and distract you as Baekhyun would.

“She said, they would wait for a proper response after the graduation ceremony”, you nod to yourself in a dismissive manner as you look up at the empty street before you, “But, somehow, I’m afraid I’ll make the wrong decision”

There’s a small silence, a mutual comprehension shared between the two of you. You realize all these bothering thought you’ve been having was born there, from this one. All your doubts, all your insecurities originated from this one thing and you know Chanyeol has been battling his own thoughts almost in the same way. You know, he’s feeling the same way you do, but it’s all too much to put in words, so this quietness is a mutual understanding that, strangely enough, don’t need words for each of you to be understood by the other. Both of you know the problem won’t disappear, but it’s less buderning, it heals the anxious feeling and the agitated state of mind both of you has been dealing with.

“It feels like a trap, right?”

“Huh?” You look up to Chanyeol and he pulls his cap higher, some droplets of sweat run down his face

“I mean, if you say yes, then you have all that and probably the career you want, but you wonder if there’s anything better”, he sighs and takes off his cap and stares at it without really seeing, “You keep asking: is this really what I want? Have I ever wanted something different?”

His damped hair with sweat stick to his forehead, a few strands falls on his eyes, you never saw that expression on anyone else but you when you’re alone, looking in the mirror. It’s the same sorrowfulness, same distress, same uncertainty, it’s all there.

“But then, if you say no and regret. How bad can it be? How fast can you recover? And people-- They’ll talk about it and that can be either the best or worst decision we could ever make--”, he trails off, “We start questioning too much.”

He looks at you and gasps in surprise with a shy smile, he scratches the back of his head while sitting back on the bench and you try pulling yourself together again because you’ve been staring at him this whole time.

“I’m sorry, I’m just blabbing here”

“No, you’re right. I have the same thoughts I just... Couldn’t voice them like you just did.”

“It’s good to know I’m not paranoid”

“Well, maybe we are”, you quote him and he chuckles

Despite him still being shy, it’s easy talking to Chanyeol. He understands what you mean with little words and complements them and you see yourself doing the same. It’s not long before the two of you are talking freely about less burdening topics, smiling and laughing to each other as if the two of you are picking up from before.

That night he walks you back to the hotel and has to go back to Kris’ house, but when you’re in your room and curiously walk to balcony, you see him glancing back and waving at you, you wave back.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

When you go downstairs for breakfast that morning you meet Chanyeol even if it’s bright and early in the morning. He helps you wake up the others and settle the schedule since he knows the place very well. Nothing else is really important during the rest of the day, it’s all laughter and good memories and it’s only almost by the end of the day when you remember to text Baekhyun again, he always replies right away.

You’re about to reply when you’re pulled by the others to team up with Chanyeol for a game since it’d be such a problem if he and the basketball’s team captain got together in a game that is basically that, so Baekhyun’s reply is left unread, your phone’s practically forgotten in the pocket of your jacket.

Chanyeol knows he’s good at achieving any goal as long as he sets his mind to it, but when it comes to you, he lacks confidence. You’re the only one thing that he just can’t get himself to try a little harder, his confidence fails everytime he sees you, he has never been so scared of a single word before. He can’t bear the thought of you saying ‘no’ to him and he doesn’t mind if, out of everything, he doesn’t mind being called a coward for pretending that everything is all right now that he supposedly cleared his reasons for being distant.

Obviously, as good teammates and friends they are, the basketball team just can’t get any of it. Not just them, but Chanyeol is obvious enough that everyone but you notices, even stranger, in a glance can see it how it looks like a one-sided love. Yes, it is that cringe-worthy and frustrating for them to just stand there and watch, especially when there’s no secret that they root for the two of you. Naturally, Chanyeol’s closest friend, his teammates, decides to help and soon enough they manage to get everyone away as an excuse to get them to explore the festival, leaving you and Chanyeol alone.

“I hope they don’t get into trouble”, you mutter to yourself as you pick up your phone, swiping Baekhyun unread message off your screen without really paying attention to it, “I’ll send them a text to keep their phone in hand and call if something comes up”, the two of you walk side by side down the a beautiful, yet crowdy surroundings, “Sometimes I feel like I’m looking out for a bunch of elementary school students”

“I’m sure it’ll be okay”, Chanyeol bites his lips seeing you send the message in the group’s chatroom and his own phone vibrates on his pocket.

He looks away and his eyes meet the team’s captain who’s leaving in a group with other boys.

“Do something!” The boy mouths to him, making wide gesture, his frustration is shown, “Guide her around!”

Another one of the classmates, points to a tent where there was some kind of game you’d probably like and both of them hurry Chanyeol to take action with wide, frustrated gestures. The ever so hesitant and shy Chanyeol starts taking you around, explaining little things about the festival and local traditions and his heart stumbles every time you smile to him. You take his hand to drag him somewhere and he wishes he wouldn’t tremble, but that’s a side effect of touching you, you say something about how you’ve wanted to try one of the festival’s local treat you heard about and he finds it for you.

The festival ends with beautiful fireworks and by then everyone’s gathered again at one spot to see the spectacle. The fireworks lights up the night and you stare at them, coloring the sky beautifully while Chanyeol found the perfect spot for the group to watch the show. But, he can’t really look anywhere else but you. The way those fireworks light up your features when you’re sitting right beside him… he just can’t look away and he’s too dazzled to even pretend he’s not staring when you look at him. He simply smiles, embarrassed for being caught, but all you do is smile back and look up again.

He can’t understand how easily he felt for you, he thought if he kept his distance, then someone like him, who’s bad at hiding his feelings, wouldn’t burden you. The problem is having this opportunity and being with you, he can hear his heart questioning him, he can feel himself getting greedy and he wants to hold back, but you’d probably never know how hard it is when you look so good just... Being there. Just smiling, just being yourself.

Chanyeol has to pull himself back, he has to step away from you and bite his tongue, he makes sure to not be close to you all the time when everyone is enjoying themselves. He sits with the other boys and thought he gets annoyed by their scolding for being slow, for not doing anything. Still, that’s better than being beside you, afraid he’d say something.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“No, wait”

The basketball team shifts on his feet, ignoring the fireworks and paying attention to Chanyeol instead after the boy told him why he won’t tell you he likes you.

“Are you… serious about this?” The other asks in disbelief as the rest of the team watches in curiosity, “Chanyeol! We all know you’re a freaking genius, but you’re being a complete idiot right now”

The boys are visibly frustrated with Chanyeol’s choice of just stay by your side like that.

“Hyung--”, one of the junior whines, “This doesn’t even work on TV”

“The two of you are thinking about different career paths. You said you might even study abroad, so it’s obvious this can be your last chance! What do you have to lose?”, the captain speaks up again

“Actually, we might end up going to the same college… Maybe”, Chanyeol says

“What? How?”

“The homeroom teacher told me”, he shrugs and one of his friends facepalm themselves

“So… You’re waiting for destiny or something?”

“What? No!”

“Then, what? Park Chanyeol! Come to your senses. You can’t do this to yourself!”, grabbing his shoulders, the team’s captain makes Chanyeol look at him, “This trip is an one-of-a-kind, golden ticket from life to you. You should just confess while we’re here and if Y/n says no, move on!” The boy tries to sound as convince as he can, but he sounds a lot more frustrated, “You can just leave everything behind when we get back home. If Y/n says yes, then I sincerely hope the two of you will be happy. We all do”

Chanyeol looks around and sees some of the others nodding or giving him a encouraging smile, but his stomach is turning just by thinking about it. The sounds of the fireworks is loud, but he can hear his heart hammering in his chest, his stomach turns and it kind of makes him feel sick.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

‘I must be out of my mind’ – at least that’s what Chanyeol says while he’s waiting for you.

The boys, and your friend, made this chance happen and he could call it off if he wanted, but for some reason, he didn’t, wants this. He wants this chance to hear distant possible yes from you, although the no is a constant fear, Chanyeol wonders how can a simple word be so threatening.

He wait for you at the balcony of this coffee shop you loved when he was with you in the group the day before, apparently calm and casual, but his leg’s shaking under the table and once in a while he licks his lip. On the table, in front of him, is sitting the third glass of water and the waiter serving him is already pitying him thinking he was dumped, but it’s not that you’re late, he came a little to earlier. He read the time wrong and the guy told him that if he wanted to order something, it’d be on the house.

‘Isn’t this too much?’ – he thought to himself for the tenth time that day. But forgot about it all and lost his ability to breathe properly the moment he saw you walking down the street and pulling the door to the coffee shop. CHanyeol swears his heart is about to jump right out at any given moment and his hands tremble, he only notices when he tries waving just so you’d notice him.

You do notice him and he pulls his hand back to his lap, squeezing them together and only them realizing his palms are sweating like crazy. He wants to make sure he looks nice, he wants to look good for you. Now his whole body is trembling as you step closer with a simple smile on your lips that is just perfectly fit and beautiful on you. Chanyeol’s certain to have never been this nervous in his whole life.

“Are you okay?”, you frown a little while sitting across from him and with the corner of his eyes he sees the waiter glancing, “You look a little… pale”

“N-No, I’m fine”, and now he’s stuttering.

“Maybe we should order something already”, you barely raise your hand and the waiter is already on his way. That kind of helps him a little because it gives him time to calm down

“Where’s everyone?”, you ask and Chanyeol when the waiter leaves, “I thought they’d be here”

“Uhm… They wanted to go somewhere else”, he managed to say without letting his voice waver, “We can leave too– if you want”, he adds soon after

“No, it’s okay. Did you wait too much?” You asks, looking at the glass of water in front of him

“No, not really”, he lies

“Chanyeol, are you sure you’re okay?” You sound worried and he feels terrible, but not out of sickness. Well, discounting his nervous state, “We can go back if you want--”

“I’m alright don’t worry”, he smiles and would pat himself on the back for sounding normal and because his smile didn’t falter, didn’t tremble

“Excuse me”, he waiter says when arrives at the table and lays the orders on the table.

There’s a pause where you focus on your food and Chanyeol wipes his sweaty hands on his jeans before, making sure their not trembling before reaching to his drink.

“Y/n, there’s–- there’s something I want to ask you”, he wets his lips and shift on his seat when you look up curiously at him

All of his hesitation and bottled up anxiety, you can hear it in his voice, he knows it and it makes it all worse. The way the others planned, supposed to be cool and smooth and easy. It is not. It’s anything but any of that. You put your hot cocoa down on the table to pay attention to what he has to say.

Being with Chanyeol is completely different than being Baekhyun. They’re completely different one from another, Chanyeol has gentle and expectant eyes looking for yours. He’s innocent and adorable instead of cocky and the he treats you, the way he understand you. It’s easy yet exciting, it makes you happy even when you don’t need to. It makes you smile wider without the need of you being worried or sad, or stressed. When he pauses to look in your eyes you notice how your heart vacillates unexpectedly.

“Y/n, I--”, he wets his lips, “I like you”

⇽ part 5 | part 6 ⇾

[fictionalarsonist]

ANOMIE: Children of Anarchism - Chapter II

feat artists: bts (ot7), ocs content: angst, fluff, gang au, mature language, smoking, drinking, murder, character death, violence, blood, implied non-con, drugs, mentions of anxiety rating: PG-15 type: fanfic word count: 6.4K

...

premise: A story of a group of young men that despite the different background and hardships they come together as friends, discovering a new way to survive in a world that seem to turn its back on them.

a/n: i did try proof-reading this myself this time and ended up writing a few more things in it, so I’m not sure how much of proof-reading actually was done. also, by the time this is up, i’m probably traveling somewhere w no internet.

「 mobile m.list | request |  wip 」

[ prologue | chapter I | chapter II | chapter III | work in progress ]

“I walked ten thousand miles Ten thousand miles to see you And every grasp of breath I grabbed just to find you I climbed up every hill to get to you I wandered ancient lands to hold just you

And every single step of the way, I paid Every single night and day I searched for you Through sandstorms and hazy dawns I reached for you” ( ALLY KERR: The Sore Feet Song. )

Loud bangs dragged Taehyung out of his unconsciousness and it took him a moment to even remember how to make his wobbly body function correctly, that’s when his mind rushed into reality and he sat up in an instant. Feeling sick and dizzy and extremely tired, Taehyung looks around for his phone, wondering for how long did he sleep?

Again! Loud bangs. It sounded like it was inside his head, making him feel even more sick to his stomach, maybe vomiting could make him feel better. The constant banging echoes louder in his head making hard to think clearly, did he had this headache when he went to sleep? His mind if rather foggy and confusing, but a thought forces its way past his headache and drowsiness: ‘These sounds’, it occurs to him, ‘Are they at her apartment?’.

Tripping on his feet, Taehyung steps off his bed, tripping on his blankets he rushes to the living room, nothing there, his feet take him to the door and the noise becomes louder, much for his surprise as soon as he opens the door and motion to step outside he almost bumps into the landlord. His heart is caught up in his throat, his head’s spinning and his eyes are unfocused, a couple seconds went by until he could see the surprised expression on the landlord’s face. The noise had stopped. Licking his lips Taehyung looks around the corridor, expecting for that to be a dream.

          - Kid! You look… Sick?! - The landlord mentions, face contorted in a disgusted expression without giving much importance to it. - I thought you wouldn’t wake up! You didn’t forget the heating engine, right? You said you’d fix it!

Taehyung’s mind took some time to situate him, he had to frown and squint his eyes, finally understanding.

          - Ah, that… - the landlord interrupted Taehyung while he sighed, obviously irritated by how casual the boy seems to be uninterested.           -  Yeah! That! You forgot, didn’t you? - Taehyung tries to shake his head, but it made him feel even more sick, his headache is back and it makes him feel like crap.           - No. I’ll do it later. – He sounded casual again and the landlord takes in a long breath, inflating his chest in anger.          - WHEN? - The man suddenly screams in anger and impatience. - Different from you, I endure the cold here all day. You have to fix it by today or just pay the rest of the rent you took!

The landlord doesn’t give any chance to say anything back and just walks away, mumbling offenses loud enough for Taehyung or anyone to hear. Taehyung closes the door with little to none sound, his head hurt so much, he rushes to the bathroom and with a hand on his stomach, he bents over the toilet and throws up and different from what he expects, he doesn’t feel good afterwards.

After washing the bad aftertaste from mouth with the icy cold water, Taehyung went straight to bed and took a quick look at his old-fashioned phone, he slept for barely an hour. His alarm is already set for when he has to wake up, but he adjusts it to a couple of hours earlier just so he can fix the heating engine, he figures it’s enough for a good rest and before he realizes he’s fell asleep.

Lazily, Taehyung reaches out for his phone to turn off the alarm before the annoying alarm sound went off and immediately pulls his arm back into his blankets. His eyelids refused to open, his body feels even heavier than before and numb, he’s all curled and lost in his blankets, no one would ever tell Taehyung apart from all the blankets over and around him and yet, he feels cold, and just by thinking of moving a finger he knows it’ll cost him too much energy, Taehyung can’t stop shivering, doesn’t the day supposed to be warmer than the night? Then, why is it so cold?!

He should hurry up and fix the heating engine before heading to another of his one-time jobs, but although his mind is set on it, his body refuses to cooperate. His headache has gotten worse and Taehyung can’t even open his eyes, he tries controlling his shallow breathing, but nothing really works. Yet, he forces himself to react, pushing his blanket off him and does his best to sit up, fighting against his own body that feels so heavy and his limbs feels almost numb, a sudden has the need to cough and is almost unable to stop once it starts, his throat hurts when he gulps down, a cold bath might not be the answer to it, but it was probably the best.

Passing by the mirror in the bathroom he frowns at his own reflection, he sure looks sick, his eyes are red and very much swollen, and he doesn’t understand how he could’ve lost so much weight in overnight. Taehyung’s body screams to be buried under those blankets again, just the thought of it is incredibly appealing, but he knows he can’t leave things to do it later or another day. He’s not sure if the landlord’s angry warning at the apartment’s doorstep really happened or if it was a dream, either way, that’s not the only reason, Taehyung really wants to fix the engine for her.

The moment he tried brushing his teeth with the icy-cold water, Taehyung was convinced that cold bath he planned wouldn’t be happening and, in fact, he didn’t even bother changing clothes before leaving the apartment. Aside from the weak attempt to brush his teeth, Taehyung didn’t even brush his hair properly, his ran his finger through it, not minding his appearance at all, nor mind picking up any snack for breakfast, aside from his tool box Taehyung doesn’t mind taking anything else.

This is a rare occasion when Taehyung passed by the neighbors while they’re still going about their lives in the building, a broken pattern in his life and it’s only when he’s crossing the hallway connecting the two buildings that he stops and looks back at the next door apartment, asking himself if he would be able to sleep through something that could happen there.

          - So, you’re finally here. Are you paying the difference missing from the rent? - The landlord asks scornfully.           - I’ll fix the engine. - His voice is rather breathy and hoarse.

The landlord looks suspiciously at him and considers something for a moment before disappearing inside the house, coming back not too long after, reaching his hand out to Taehyung, a key dangling from his fingers.

          - Here. – The landlord lets the key fall on Taehyung’s hand. – It’s too cold for me to go down there, just give back the key when you’re done.           - Sure.

Taehyung tucks his hand with the key inside the pocket of his hoodie, just now he realizes… he forgot to wear a jacket. The man closes the door with a ‘thund’ before he could even turn his back, but Taehyung doesn’t mind and makes his way to the basement, he already knows what the problem may be, so he convinces himself this will be over soon.

No matter how heavy his body feels or how every step that echoes around him in the silent, lonesome narrow corridor sends waves of pain to his head, making him feel sick to his stomach, Taehyung’s determinate to get this job done, at least. By now, he’s not so sure if he’ll manage to get to the next, but it doesn’t mean he won’t try. Part of him regrets a little when he walks past the door after unlocking, it’s much colder down there, but as he predicted, it doesn’t take him much time to fix the problem until it happens again, unless the landlord would invest in a new one, which, Taehyung acknowledges through foggy thoughts, it’ll never happen.

His condition makes him slow, but Taehyung is agile enough to finish the job earlier than expected and this gives him some time to get some medicine for whatever this sickness is in a nearby drugstore and maybe get better before going to his next job. Taehyung could very much appreciate a hot shower, that’s what he thinks as he pulls his hoodie tightly close to his body, climbing upstairs after closing the metallic door that causes him a painful agony with the high pintch sound of its rustiness when he locks it. A coughing fit assault him halfway to the landlord’s door and Taehyung finds it hard to stay standing or see through his teary eyes, but as soon as it stops he walks down to the first door one would see when walking in the building and once the landlord yanks the key away from his hand he’s ready to walk away.

          - Fixed? – The man asks him with disgust written all over his face.           - It’d be working properly in a few minutes. – Taehyung’s manages to say with his usual emotionless voice only betrayed by his hoarse throat that makes his voice sounds not just broken but also deeper than usual.           - How… - Taehyung was about to walk away when the man steps forward and he looks back. – How much time?           - About thirty minutes to an hour to get a warm shower. The engine is too old.

This time, the landlord doesn’t stop him from walking away. Taehyung wonders if he would be able to eat something and keep it in, the highest probability says ‘no’, but he might as well try it anyway. The grocery store he worked the day before is on the way to the drugstore and that’s where his feet take him, the rather familiar bell sounds when he pulls the door open and the owner, Mr. Han, smiles warmly at him just like the day before and he bowed his head without a word as the door closes by itself behind him.

          - Oh, Taehyung-ah!

The warm welcome is rather unusual to Taehyung, he bows again not really knowing how else to react, holding a basket, he walks between the rows to choose what he wants. But everything feels too cold to the touch, Taehyung tries his best to ignore the weakness of his body, holding on to maintain himself the best he can, but, at some point, he’s not even sure of what he’s picking up from the shelves and heads straight to the counter where the old man, Mr. Han, stills smiles warmly at him. Taehyung sets his basket on the counter before taking the products out one by one, his body feels rather heavy, so his movements are slow. He stands there as Mr. Han registers the groceries, shoving his hands inside the pocket of his pants to get his wallet, Taehyung barely notices when Mr. Han stops what he’s doing midway into and leans down to have a better look on him.

          - Son? You look sick.

Taehyung’s gulps down and his throat hurts, averting his eyes from anywhere close from Mr. Han because he feels quite uncomfortable, not exactly sure if it’s caused by the genuine worrisome intonation on the man’s voice or the way the old man just, oh-so-naturally, called him ‘son’ in such a tender way. Either way, those are things Taehyung doesn’t quite know how to respond to.

          - I was worried about you when you left without an umbrella yesterday…

Mr. Han sighs, frowning as he leans forward with his hands flat on the counter to take a better look at Taehyung. But the boy can’t bring himself to look in the man’s eyes.

          - Do you have a fever? Maybe you should go to the hospital.           - No, I’m fine.

Although Taehyung tries to avoid it, his voice betrays him and cracks in the middle of the sentence, but he ignores it and hopes Mr. Han would do the same. With another sigh, Mr. Han nods to himself, muttering a short, understanding something that is obviously against his will. It’s his need to get back in bed as fast as he possibly can that makes Taehyung packs the groceries while Mr. Han finishes registering, and he does notice how the old man would look at him every down and then in some sort of concern. There are only two or three pieces left on the counter when Mr. Han stops working and speaks up again.

          - Taehyung-ah. – Mr. Han calls him softly and rather hesitant.

The old man has long caught on Taehyung’s uniqueness and preference to keep things to himself even if they met no more than for a couple minutes each time they met. But caughting on another’s demeanors is something that comes with age, or at least that’s what Mr. Han believes in. He waits until Taehyung looks up at him and waits until he can speak again.

          - Just for a moment... Wait here a little, huh? I’ll be right back.

Mr. Han walks away as fast as his knee allows him to before Taehyung would express himself against, disappearing in the room that leads to the storage. And Taehyung takes in a deep breathe, gripping on the edges of the cold counter, hanging his head low, an attempt to stop the nauseating feeling that suddenly is building up.

Taehyung looks up when he hears the door to the storage’s room opening again and Mr. Han walks in with one of the store’s plastic bag. He doesn’t say anything as he places the bag on the counter and finishes registering the products.

          - These are on the house. I won’t take a refusal.

Mr. Han’s aggravated tone means what he says as he tucks that plastic bag in the one Taehyung’s packing the remaining things he bought. Taehyung would try refusing if Mr. Han’s eyes weren’t just… insisting, just as much as the old man’s warm small smile.

          - Thank you, Mr. Han. – Taehyung bows politely, and Mr. Han sends him off with a nod.

The pharmacy is just a few steps from Mr. Han’s store and Taehyung is quick at buying what he needs there before heading back home. This little time he spent outside the apartment quickly got to him and Taehyung can’t help but feel worn out to his bones and maybe this is not all about the sickness, he’s well-aware of the small amount of rest he gives himself to begin with and this just piles up and gets to him faster in moments like this.

Each step Taehyung feels his legs giving up on him a little bit more, bids of cold sweat and shivers runs through him. Through his foggy state of mind, he lets his feet take him back to the apartment instead and somewhere in his mind he’s still conscious he has a job one hour from then, though now he’s not so sure he can really make it. Maybe if he rests for a good twenty minutes or so, he tries convincing himself.

Honestly, all Taehyung can really think is that bed, still undone in the small bedroom. Every step Taehyung remembers himself that he just need to keep himself together just a little more, just a little and he’s be back in bed and rest. It’s all he can think about and when he stops at the front door of the apartment he needs to place his palm against the cold surface to steady himself while trying to get the key in the right place, but his hand is trembling a little too much and it takes him a lot more than he’d like in a moment like this when his body is about to give in and the sickness in his stomach is really threatening.

Once he manages to unlock the front door, Taehyung feels the view of the dark apartment before him tremble and spin like something in between an earthquake and a hurricane, it’s confusing, messy and this buzzing in his ears is just too loud and painful. Taehyung doesn’t remember anything except holding on to his door frames.

Storm-like voices, soundless screams. Everything’s confusing and amorphous in this abstract world he now belonged to… Taehyung can’t tell where he is or how he came here and he can’t really feel anything, but he’s not feeling better.

‘Where is this? How did he come here? Who were those people pushing and pulling him?’, he asks himself, trying to get by the blurry mess of faceless people around him.

For the first time in so, so long Taehyung is scared. His heart’s hammering hard and painful against his chest, begging him to run, to escape just anywhere as long as is far from here and so he does. Taehyung turns around and forces his leg to take him away with large, big and fast steps, running like he never ran before.

The thing is, his legs are stronger than his body, they don’t wear tired, but his body seems to be ready to fall apart at any given moment. Taehyung trips somewhere and he forces his arms pushes himself up and forward, his body bends forward and any more down and he’d be crawling. He runs fast, trying his best to get faster, everything he has on him, in him is doing nothing but focusing on this escape.

Taehyung is scared, he’s so afraid that he’s getting desperate. His legs are about to give in, he can barely feel them now and he trips, falling on the floor, the second he stops, he gets desperate to stand up or else it could get to him. Although his legs tremble and he falls again, Taehyung pushes himself up with all the straight he can, panting and struggling to breathe, he lunches himself forward again.

He could cry, crying never solved anything for him, he doesn’t remember the last time he cried even as a kid, but that feeling bubbles up in him and the wet taste of sweat mixes with salty tears as well or is it the rain? When did it start raining?

Taehyung’s body betrays him badly, trying harder, he pushes himself further on, praying he’d just get away, but that’s when he trips again, and his body is thrown somewhere. He can’t bring himself to open his eyes, knowing it’ll caught up to him really soon, desperation and fear swirls close around each other until he can’t tell them apart anymore, only the agony of waiting to feel the hard impact of his body on the rough ground. He waits for it, clenching his teeth and protecting his face with his arms.

When his eyes snap open in the comfort of his warm bed, Taehyung tries to move, just then realizing his sheets are now tangled around his leg. Something tells him he just had a dream, a nightmare maybe, but he can’t remember any of it. Taehyung tries stretching himself on bed, his mouth is dry and he can’t understand this feeling that keeps poking at his gut, maybe he should remember something that is really, really important. It feels like being threatened and even though he’s just a kid, he knows this kind of feeling well enough to tell it apart.

However, whatever it is, he’s awaken from that nightmare now and he’s at home. And, more importantly, he’s hungry, especially now that he can feel this familiar and delicious smell. It’s one of his favorites, it sets him completely awake and his stomach roar a protest as he sits up, untangling the blankets from his legs by kicking them away.

Taehyung hops off the bed, rubbing his eyes and puts on his slippers before reaching for the door. The smell of freshly cooked breakfast hits him harder then, making him smile in content and his stomach complains yet again. After closing his bedroom’s door behind him, Taehyung hurries down stairs. He makes as far as halfway down, but then, out of a sudden, the ray of sunlight that lighten up the house are gone, the clock on the wall shows somewhere past ten at the evening instead eight at the morning and it reminds him that, he should be in bed. It’s late and this is school night.

It’s just when he turns around that he suddenly remembers, he woke up because there was loud sounds around the house and somehow he knows it came from the kitchen. Maybe he’ll get his mom scolding him, but he should at least check what it is. Taehyung, takes on step at a time on his way down stairs, holding on the handrail, but stops abruptly when the scandalous sound of glass breaking echoes through the house deafeningly, he can hear the small pieces bouncing on the kitchen floor, he just knows it’s in the kitchen, and his heart skips a beat in a way he never felt before.

Taehyung carefully steps down again while the house goes silent, another step and is assaulted by another loud noise, he grips as firmly as he can on the handrail and on the thing in his other hand, he doesn’t really remember what it is, but he’s holding on to it to dear life. He hears as someone growls at another, the scary sound being throw across the room and hitting the walls, with poison dripping and contaminating everything. The thunder resounds throughout every fiber in his body and someone’s screaming, there are words e can’t understand, but it soaks deep into him.

His head turns to the only room that still has the light on in the house and hesitantly, walks down the remaining steps in a flash as if instead of running he flew all the way down. The sound of rain, hammering against the windows and his rushed, but afraid steps are one. Things just happens fast, so fast he can’t catch up to anything, the screams, the thunder-like voice, threatening and poisoning sets him on fire. Such a rage for someone so small. Taehyung sees nothing but crimson red, everything is colored with anger, his heart that should be rejoicing in such age is punching against his chest as if it’s begging to be freed.

The trembling voice whispering to him is colored with fear and sadness and whatever he’s been holding so tightly this whole time burns his skin like hot iron, though it doesn’t quite feel painful and is oddly satisfying, just as much as sickening. Taehyung doesn’t understand how his body moves, so agile, so ­not-him, pushing him forward, even his expression is designed significantly by someone else, his muscles are pulled in a way he never knew.

Hot blood pulses through his body and he doesn’t feel like a child anymore, even though that’s what he is, that thing is a little too big for his small hands, but Taehyung knows he’s strong enough, capable enough to hold it as he should, to use it as he supposed to. His puppet-like body, controlled by this something or someone, whatever it is, whoever it might be, whispers sharp and smoothly into his ears, drowning him in cold and welcoming warmth.

It confusingly pleasant and repulsing at the same time right from the start, only for him to forget somewhere along the way, as his body moves without him knowing how. His body is jolted forward in a sprint and a piercing content laugh makes every cell in his small body tremble with pure excitement.

Taehyung greet his teeth and feels something breaking, not a tooth or a bone, it’s way deeper and worse than any of it, he’s not sure if it can be fixed, it should be scary, but his body is jolting and reacting, that excitement and a wicked unknown smile is pulls the corner of his lips. He’s angry and sad and he couldn’t stop those tears from flooding his eyes, dripping from his chin and on the floor even if he wanted, like a waterfall. He can’t see a thing and even so, he’s not sure what he’s seen. Taehyung feels the room around him spin as he stands there, knelled on those broken glass pieces, his body feels like mush and small dots appears in this messy view as he starts to feel lightheaded.

Maybe he’s dead, or at least that’s what Taehyung thinks as he tries gulping down but there’s no saliva in his mouth, his muscles all around his body is somehow melting. Suddenly there’s nothing but a black canvas before him with faint abstract forms of green, yellow and white dancing in the distance, mocking him. Taehyung can’t really feel anything other than inexistence and emptiness, so maybe he really is dead.

Invisible strings pull him up, Taehyung can feel his feet trying to remember how they supposed to work, but the numbness doesn’t allow them to, the shaky wet floor is also sticky and slippery. One step, two… Taehyung hears a crack when he lips and falls on his knees and the sharp glass piercing through him hurts, he wants to scream at the top of his lungs like a crazy person, but he can’t bring himself to, it doesn’t hurt.

His right eye opens and Taehyung wonders when did he close them, he can’t open the left one no matter how hard he tries, something warm and sweet runs down his face very generously and aside from the storm outside, he can hear water running, inside. His head hurt, or at least he thinks so, he can feel some of it, just slightly at first, then it becomes unbearable and excruciating. His body is giving up on him as if those strings has been cut now, but now there’s someone holding him safely, a pair of protective arms had wrapped themselves around him, they’re trembling but strong. When, finally, darkness comes again, it’s welcomed. Just darkness and quietness, like a peaceful slumber.

There’s nothing but darkness, however, Taehyung feels light brushing on his eyelids, so it might be day time still. He can’t really tell where he is, although he tries, there;s nothing Taehyung can think of clearly, everything is messed up. It feels familiar, but something is still off. Something cold is pressed against his skin and something runs down his skin, is he crying? Why is he crying?

 Taehyung takes a deep breath and recognizes that delicious aroma, he feels hungry, but also nauseated, he tries opening his eyes and raising his head, but it feels heavy. The pillow seems to absorb some of the pain when he lays his head back down again as he slowly starts to feel somewhat conscious again. It takes him some time to get used to the light in the room, it’s quite uncomfortable for someone who’s been sleeping, Taehyung smoothed his hand over the sheets, comfortable and warm, he doesn’t feel like waking up or standing up for that matter, maybe he has a job later, but this feels like too much of a dream, too good to just waste it.

Taehyung remembers why he’s laying down when he starts coughing again and he closes his teary eyes as he feels someone touching his hand, the person is too cold to the touch and Taehyung shivers, he opens his eyes again when e hears someone speaking, but it sounds distant and he can’t make out what they’re saying at first, his blurry view doesn’t help either.

         - You should just rest.

Taehyung hears a gentle voice of a woman, he closes and opens his eyes again, trying to see who it is, but it only makes him feel drowsy. Whatever was pressed against his skin is taken away, he hears water running and when it stops, something cold is pressed on his forehead. Taehyung doesn’t know when he closed his eye, but when he opens it she’s leaning over him.

          - M—Mom? - His voice is weak and his throat hurts. – Mom?

She doesn’t reply. Taehyung’s arm feels heavy and numb as he weakly tries to reach up for her hand when she seats back. Her hand is soft and cold and she’s trembling, or is it him?

          - I—promise… - Taehyung licks his lips, the dryness in them makes them stick together when he tries to speak. - I’ll protect you. - He manages to say it weakly, his throat hurts, his voice is a little more than a weak, hoarse whisper.

The more he tries to focus on her face, the more Taehyung feels tired, his eyelids becomes too heavy, but it’s been so long, he misses her so much, he wants to look at her at least once. Although has always been here, it scares him not to see her now. Her voice is serene and soothing, but he can’t understand what she is talking, droplets runs down his face, but he’s not crying. Taehyung manages her image wavering before his eyes, blurry and uncertain. Taehyung doesn’t know when he closed his eyes, but when he opens again, it’s not his mother sitting there beside him, it’s her.

Against all he tries, Taehyung falls asleep without realizing, allowing his silent nightmares comes and goes in gore-some colors and forms, he can’t distinguish any of them. While he’s there reality is left somewhere he can’t reach out to, it’s something familiar, Taehyung’s been here so many times before that other than searching the patterns of everything that’ll lead him to the right place, he just recognizes as it happens.

Taehyung knows this isn’t real, it’s all happening inside his head. Stepping into this welcoming gruesome nothingness feels real even though it’s a dream and once the shadows and dull outlines start to form before him a strangely familiar landscape, Taehyung then let go of himself. Well, a part of him, the part that looks upon this as if it’s a dream, the part that would remember, the part that would be frightened, the oblivious and innocent Taehyung can’t go anywhere further.

The last thing he ever remembers is fear sipping through his skin but forgotten easily because he’s confident and a the corners of his lips are pulled sharply upwards in a wicked and mischievous smile that is never his. There’s nowhere to see his reflection on, but he knows he’s seen himself mirrored in his own eyes, it’s all him, but feels like someone else. Someone who licks his teeth and stands proudly upwards in a way he’d never, facing the danger that fears him because it should. Taehyung’s eyes are wide open, but can’t see a thing, however, he knows that this other part of him is admiring this world presented only to him, shaped perfectly for him to reign on.

          Taehyung can’t recall how he came to bed. Pushing himself with his forearm and hands, he sits up and something slides down from his forehead and onto his lap and that’s when he realizes why’s so warm. He recalls he fixed the engine this morning and yet he’s covered by various of his blankets, maybe all of the ones he owns. Taehyung looks at the wet towel that has been carefully fold and can’t tell when he took the time to do this. 

His whole body feels sore, his throat too but not as bad as before, he notices. Taehyung sees his phone near his pillow and reaches for it. It’s past midnight, which means, he probably already lost two jobs, a regretful sigh comes out involuntarily as he places the phone down, to rub his eyelids in distress before pushing all those blankets aside. Taehyung gets on his knees before standing up and sees, beside his bed, the medicine he bought earlier, some of them already used, although he doesn’t recall taking them. He sees the thermometer as well and checks his temperature, thirty-five Celsius, he’s safe.

Taehyung does feel tired, but much better, maybe if he sleeps some more he’d feel even better, but he remembers something about dreaming with food and the smell stuck with him, as strange as may sound, his stomach seems to remember it too and Taehyung understands as it grumbles loudly. On his way to the kitchen Taehyung glances at the front door, he blames the fever for blacking out all the memories of him walking in the house in the first place, but maybe it has gone too far, or at least he thinks so when he sees the homemade food poorly covered with one of his old kitchen towels sitting on the counter beside the sink and he sees a note next to it.

“I apologize for invading your house. I found you unconscious on your doorway, you had a high fever. I tried my best to make you feel better and used the medicine you have with you. I read through the pharmacist’s prescription and noted the times you took the medicine on the back of this note. I also prepared you something to eat, it’s best if you heat before eating it.

 Once again, I’m sorry for intruding. A neighbor.”

Taehyung flips the note and there it is, the description of when and which medicine he took, himself wouldn’t be so through with it. When he lifts the towel, although the food is cold, he can smell the how good the food might just be. Homemade food is something Taehyung haven’t had in a very long time, but he doesn’t debate over that because his stomach is again complaining as best as it can until he’s eating. Washing the dishes Taehyung looks for a name in them because they’re not his, but there’s nothing that identifies the owner.

“A neighbor”, the note said, but there really isn’t anyone who’d help him. She does come to his mind, the only person in the building that acknowledges him, but from that to helping him is quite a long way in her situation. It could get her in trouble and would she risk herself for him? Taehyung looks at the light bulb, but it’s untouched and his wallet is still in his pocket. Honestly, he doesn’t like the thought of having someone there with him without him knowing.

Not knowing who helped him means he can’t give it the dishes back, so he doesn’t bother drying them and locks the front door, just in case before going back to his bedroom. Now that he feels better, he doesn’t feel like sleeping again, but there isn’t anything else he can do. Taehyung’s not used to stay in and do nothing, he doesn’t even remember the last time he stayed in the apartment for more than an hour, maximum, while awake without looking forward to some job. What does a normal person do when staying in?

It’s unsettling to sit there, not having anywhere to go, nothing to do. Taehyung moves to the TV room with a couple of blankets and his pillow, he tries watching something, sitting back on his pillow and resting his back resting against the wall while the TV plays something by itself he doesn’t pay much attention to. Taehyung does try to get into whatever program it is at some point, but it all just seem like a fabricated and uninteresting absurd, he doesn’t even bother turning the sound on.

The people on the screen smile easily, apparently playing with each other, a group of girls act cute towards the camera, taking turns and people just swoon over them. Taehyung just can’t understand, that’s all obviously too forced and staged, he doesn’t know how people can possibly like something so untrue. That note in his hand, with a bad hand-writing is far more interesting and Taehyung tries to picture her writing this, the very idea of someone taking care of him seems untrue as well, practically laughable. His phone buzzes beside him and he reaches for it to read the message.

“Pier. 3AM”

Taehyung checks checked the time on the phone’s screen, excited to finally have someone to do. He turns off the TV and takes his pillow and blankets back to the bedroom and puts it all away, rightfully stored before swallowing dry one of the medicines as a prevention before going out. He understand he’s not all better, but staying might make him get worse. The warm shower cheers him up a little and washes away the remaining of the fever and dirtiness from working in that basement, it all still sticks to his body.

When Taehyung leaves the apartment, he wraps the dishes and utensils in a plastic bag and leaves at his doorstep. Might not be the best idea, but since he doesn’t know who it came from… And even if it was from her, he can’t just give it back. He debates with himself, but ends up leaving a note with a simple ‘Thank you’ written on it.

The whole building’s dark and silent, so the sounds of the door unlocking behind his back makes him stop on his track and his shoes squeaks loudly on the wet floor when he turns around to find her looking at him like a scaredy-cat. Her eyes are open wide, staring at him as she takes half a step back, not being brave enough to go any further back nor forward either, she stands there. She seems lost in what she’s doing, looking for his eyes that are hidden by his hoodie and the hair falling on his forehead.

She hesitates a lot, she re-does her actions, Taehyung looks down to see her holding a plastic bag tightly wrapped around something that Taehyung can tell just by the look that is that same lunch box that was left for him before. Her hand is trembling and so is the lunchbox in her hand, a small cloud blocks the moon, darkening the night and poor light provided by the flickering light bulbs here and there cast awkward shadows around them. She looks down and hesitates before taking the bag Taehyung left on his doorstep, leaving the one she was holding until then instead. Taehyung sees when she glances up at him before turning her back without saying anything and reaches out for the doorknob of her apartment.

         - Thank you! – His deep voice is just what normally is, his throat doesn’t hurt when he speaks anymore.

She doesn’t reply nor looks back at him, just turns the doorknob and pushes the door, and before he realizes, Taehyung’s alone again. The cloud that has been blocking the moon fades away and the pale light bathes the building again, Taehyung leans down and takes the plastic bag she left and is not surprised when he peeks inside and sees that same lunchbox, it’s rather heavy and he looks up at her door, his heart trips on itself and slams against his chest in a rather different way. Taehyung turns around and leaves, the lunch box wrapped around a plastic bag secured hanging from his wrist, exposed to the cold while his hands are typically curled inside the pocket of his hoodie.

⇽ Chapter I - A New Bitter Day | Chapter III - Alibi ⇾