Southpaw | Chanbaek

All's Fair In Love And War

Chanyeol wanted nothing to do with his own friends. If they were going to put all of their problems on his shoulders, fine. He didn't need them anyway. Instead, he decided to spend the start of summer with the rest of the team - the boys who deserved more of his time than the three who always leaned on him for support but never reciprocated the effort.

When the last bell of the year blared through the halls of UN Village High School, Chanyeol didn't stop at the usual meetup place in the parking lot. He walked on with his eyes refusing to look at the three pairs staring back at him, annoyed but not surprised. It would be the first year since middle school they wouldn't be going out to celebrate the summer together. Chanyeol didn't know why he put up with them for so long.

He met with Luhan and Xiumin instead. They had plans to visit the mall, where most high school students could be found late in the afternoon. Chanyeol didn't normally follow the crowd to the most popular places, but he needed to get his mind off of certain people and the bustling of a mall should suffice as a distraction.

Speaking of certain people, buzzing from his phone prompted enough eye rolls to make him dizzy. One glance at the screen to determine it was indeed not worth his time, then he put it away and didn't think about it again. Baekhyun would get the memo eventually.

All that mattered to him was enjoying himself. It was summer vacation, he had two weeks of peace before baseball camp began. It was the time to have fun and alleviate his stress. The boys promised him a good time. He'd take the opportunity.

So, they took Xiumin's car and drove down to the mall. The amount of cars in the parking lot meant the place was more crowded than usual. It also meant he might run into people he didn't want to, because luck was never on his side when it came time to focus on himself.

They went to the food court first, looking to get a snack before browsing the selection of bathing suits and summer clothes. The place came to life with students of various schools packing tables and booths to the brim and waiters hustling to and from the kitchen. It smelled of french fries and waffle cones, making Chanyeol's mouth water.

It did enough to guide his mind to other places. Focused on the menu and the waitress standing at their table, he didn't react to the ding of his phone. Not the one after that, or the next one, or the next...

"Who's texting you?" Xiumin asked upon putting in his order. Chanyeol had his phone out on the table in case something genuinely important came up, allowing the two to see his notifications appear every few seconds.

"No one important." He mumbled with his straw between his teeth, sipping on lemonade.

"Why don't you block the number then?"

If only it were that easy. If Baekhyun found out he blocked his number, Chanyeol might have his face beat in with a trophy next.

"Just forget about it."

As if they could. Ding, ding, ding was all they heard for hours on end, watching Chanyeol's phone intently in anticipation for an end to the disruption. Xiumin and Luhan looked at each other with the same thought in mind; what kind of lunatic had their friend given his number to?

"Why don't you just answer it?" Luhan finally asked while they walked down the rows of clothes. They were getting impatient. Chanyeol was getting impatient.

"I don't want to."

"It's been going off all day. At least silence your phone."

He went to hit the volume button when another text bubble appeared on screen. His eyes merely glazed over it, but a brief glance was all it took to grab his attention. A twisting feeling settled in his gut. The joy he tried holding onto while enjoying his day off fled in an instant. There was no ignoring this. Not anymore.