fries with a side of love. baekyeol

아홉

⠀⠀Baekhyun was pretty damn sure he didn't like the stares he was receiving at school.

⠀⠀Nervously fiddling with his new bracelet, Baekhyun looked around with a blank face. Everyone was looking at him oddly like he had suddenly sprout a third eye or something like that. He was so, so confused. Even weirder was that nobody was talking to him. Baekhyun was the social butterfly of the entire school; he knew everyone and everyone knew him, and someone always talked to him. Always.

⠀⠀This was a change that was not welcome to Baekhyun.

⠀⠀When he caught someone rolling his eyes at him, Baekhyun's lips pulled down into a slight frown. No—literally everyone liked him except a few choice people. That was how he got by in life. He got by by knowing that he had every person in the palm of his hand, and knowing that he was liked. It was something he had developed in freshman year to cope with his life.

⠀⠀When Baekhyun saw it again, he decided that his jumbled emotions were angry and glared at the other popular girl who was doing it—Joohyun—before continuing his way to class, his feet hitting the ground a little harder than they were supposed to. It messed with his head. What had he done that was off, so out-of-the-ordinary that it was enough to make it seem to Baekhyun like his world was flipped up, down, round and round, and back? He tried to think back to see if he had done anything wrong in the past one or two months and eventually coming up with nothing.

⠀⠀His answer came in the form of Daehyun smoothly walking up to him, a lollipop sticking out of his mouth (no surprise there), and his tie half-done, like he had just had a quickie and didn't bother fixing himself up before their next class started up. Daehyun never looked threatening—he was a care-free sort of handsome, Baekhyun had to admit, and he always had some sort of snack on him after all—but as long as Baekhyun had known his friend, Daehyun always got this glint in his eye when he wanted something. It was something that Baekhyun had just picked up. Stopping cold in his tracks, Baekhyun hung tightly on the one backpack strap slung over his shoulder before opening his mouth.

⠀⠀"Daehyun, why is everyone acting so. . . Off?" Baekhyun asked, his brows scrunched together as he gestured around at the suddenly gathering amount of people. Daehyun gave him a lopsided smile and took the lollipop out of his mouth before twirling it around numbly in his fingers.

⠀⠀"Rumor has it that you've lost yourself, that's all," Daehyun said cryptically. He smiled at Baekhyun's completely dumbfounded look before continuing on, taking a step forward as well. "Baek, you're this school's party animal. You have been since mid-freshman year, remember? That's what made you known around these parts, now isn't it—'I'll party all night until the sun comes up to knock me down' you said that all of the time."

⠀⠀Baekhyun felt his face grow hot. Come to think of it, he hasn't gone to a house-party since he met Chanyeol all that time ago. His hand unconsciously going to play with his bracelet, Baekhyun began to say in a slightly weak voice, "I mean, I just said that in sophomore and junior year sometimes—"

⠀⠀Daehyun stopped his fiddling with his lollipop and stared at Baekhyun, his eyes' usual careless humor and ease gone as his smile dropped, only to be replaced by what could almost be called a look of concern.

⠀⠀"Baekhyun, you and I know that your party style is the reason why you're popular. You're fun, you didn't let other people tell you what to do," Daehyun sighed, dropping his arm to his side as he fixed Baekhyun with a look. "Emphasis on didn't."

⠀⠀A second of thinking had Baekhyun catching onto what Daehyun was implying. His blood suddenly began boiling while his fists clenched. How dare Daehyun dare to talk to him like this! Nobody has never and will never talk to Byun Baekhyun that way, and Baekhyun was not about to let this—this person start to.