Except You (EXO Fan Fiction)

34

34th Chapter

Baekhyun rose up from bed slowly and stared out into his window. Summer was over but the sunlight was still blinding. He was going back to school again today. After their summer trip, the days went by in a blur. For weeks, he occupied himself with different stuff to do: finding a summer job at a nearby store for extra credit, played sports with his friends to burn up more calories than necessary and hanging out on the park to meet new people. All of this he did just so the memory of his last night in Busan won’t flash inside his mind. But when night comes, as he lied on his bed, he can’t stop thinking about the possibilities and what-if’s. What if he made his presence known before Sehun could even confess to the Princess? Could things have been different? What if he stepped forward and snatched her away from Sehun so that he was able to tell her his side? Was there a chance that she would listen to him?

But no, even if he had the chance, he still wouldn’t do it since it seemed like Sehun had something going on with him. It was hard to admit but he felt sad seeing Sehun cry like that. He didn’t have the heart to add more to his sorrow by taking away Eun Mi at that time. Why did he have to be so kind?

But somehow, he was a little grateful that he wasn’t able to talk to Eun Mi that time. Because truth be told, he wasn’t that ready to tell her his past. He could still feel shivers just from recalling it and he worried if he was going to be alright. He had stopped his medications for a year now but he wondered if he has to take them again. He didn’t know why it had to come back again at this time.

Autumn, the most beautiful season for him, finally came. But he dreaded that day because he didn’t want to go back to school yet, since it means he has to face the Princess again. He knew that she was wondering why he hadn’t made contact with her the rest of the summer. Chanyeol told him that he met the Princess somewhere and asked if there was something going on with him. His friend told her that he was having a part-time job so maybe she thought that she was being a bother so she stopped contacting him. Ironically, that made him more depressed. He just didn’t want to hear from her that Sehun had confessed and maybe, she was planning to or might be going out with him now. But dating Sehun seemed unlikely to happen immediately considering their family issues.. except if they chose to keep it a secret.

Baekhyun let out a tired sigh and went to the bathroom. It was no use pondering about these things over and over again. Maybe he’ll just go back to his strategy on the first day of school: pretending that she doesn’t exist. Cruel move, ByunBaek. Not to mention cowardly. He chastised himself.

-

There was already an excited buzz around the school when Baekhyun got inside the gates. He occupied his self with a lot of things for the past weeks that he hadn’t listened much about the current news around.. because he was afraid of hearing something related to ‘dating’ or ‘going out’ or other synonymous terms.

“Hey, hey! Did you know? They’re going out already!”

“Who are they? Tell me!”

“I knew it! By the way they stick together during the trip, I knew there was something going on.”

“But I thought she was going to be with the other rumored guy?”