Last Chance

Chanyeol wishes he weren’t so tall. If he hadn’t been so tall, the other students never would have paid attention to him running down the hallway. And then they never would have told Baekhyun where he went.

After storming out of the room, he goes to hide underneath the stairwell since it’s a nice and quiet place where he can capture his thoughts. At least, it’s quiet for a little bit.

10 seconds. That’s all it takes for Baekhyun to find where he is. It’s quiet for another 10 seconds until Baekhyun’s voice floods the stairwell from above, echoing off the walls.

“I didn’t mean it, you know,” says Baekhyun, sitting down on the stairs above Chanyeol’s head. “The, uh, homosexual thing. I mean, yeah, I did mean that Jongdae is one. But I didn’t mean the comment. I promise. You know, the ‘don’t touch my phone, you homosexual!’ one,” continues Baekhyun. Chanyeol can’t help but smile a little bit. Baekhyun’s rambling which means he’s nervous. Chanyeol snorts. He means it as a sound of him listening, but Baekhyun sees this a sign of anger. He hears Baekhyun moving around anxiously on the steps.

“It just slipped out; I can’t believe that came out of my mouth. I swear. Pinky promise.” Baekhyun’s words practically tumble out of his mouth. Finally there’s another silent pause. “I’m really sorry, Chanyeol.” Another silent pause. Baekhyun fakes a cough. “Chanyeollie?” he prompts Chanyeol for a response.

An acceptance.

One that Chanyeol isn’t quite ready to give. As touched as Chanyeol is that Baekhyun cares enough to chase after him, he’s still not quite ready to accept Baekhyun’s apology. Because Baekhyun hasn’t apologized for everything yet. He hasn’t apologized at all for completely ditching Chanyeol, avoiding him for his new friends.

“Hmm?” he responds absentmindedly, still lost in his debate of whether to forgive Baekhyun. He hears Baekhyun shift his weight uncomfortably on the stairs.
“I’m really sorry,” Baekhyun repeats, hoping for Chanyeol to respond that it’s ok. Chanyeol is silent again. Waiting. Waiting for the full apology, before he accepts the measly one before him. He supposes at some point Baekhyun figures out that he’s not going to respond the way he wants.

It’s silent in the stairwell, except for the sound of them breathing. It’s silent for a long time. First bell rings and then second. The pair of them will be getting tardies for sure. After some time, Chanyeol hears Baekhyun standing up, getting ready to go.
“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun’s voice lilts, sounding nervous. Chanyeol sits up, wondering if this is the apology he’s been waiting for. Baekhyun takes the sound of him sitting up as a sign to continue. “Are you sorry?” he asks.

What the fuck?

“I mean...well..” starts Baekhyun uncomfortably. He takes a deep breath. “Did you mean it?” The pain in Baekhyun’s voice startles Chanyeol, but it’s nothing compared to what happens next. “When you said...when you said ‘We’re not best friends. I don’t see you that way anymore.’” Baekhyun’s voice breaks as he quotes Chanyeol, and it nearly rips out his heart to hear him like this. “Did you mean it?”

“Yes.”

Notes

ok so we're dealing with a moody Chanyeol which is honestly so weird to write about since he's so not moody.. but this is fanfic and I can do whatever I want so muahaha!

I think I meant to update this yesterday, but since we all know that I'm incredibly inconsistent as an author...oh well. See you next update!