library at fourth street • chanbaek au

04; will grayson, will grayson

December 15, 2014 | 16:59
The Library at Fourth Street

"Maybe there's something you're afraid to say, or someone you're afraid to love, or somewhere you're afraid to go. It's gonna hurt. It's gonna hurt because it matters."
— John Green, Will Grayson, Will Grayson

Chanyeol finished the book a little early, sighing. He liked it, but his focus kept on averting to the boy in front of him. Silent tears falling on the boy's eyes while struggling to grab the tissues beside him as he continued reading the book.

He silently grabbed a tissue and placed it on a position Baekhyun can reach; their fingertips touching on the process of doing so. Chanyeol's heart fluttering on how soft Baekhyun's hand is.

"Oh, thank you." The other boy said, picking the tissue up and dabbing it on his eyes. "If you want your life ruined, read this one."

Chanyeol took a peek, it was The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. He saw it in the cinema, undeniably shedding tears too. Expecting more tears to be shed if he read the book tomorrow.

"Will do, I saw it in the movies one, I kind of cried."

"The book is better, I swear!" Baekhyun sniffled. "What were you reading, by the way?"

How did Baekhyun not notice? Chanyeol read in a position where the book cover is facing the table; hoping Baekhyun won't notice he's been reading all the books the other boy read since he first saw him.

Chanyeol let out an excuse, "Just a random one I found while searching. It's nice."

The other boy just let out a nod. Letting his doubts not get the best of him and just continued reading the final chapters of the book.

Chanyeol stood up and brought the book back on the shelf. He stood there for a moment. His mind is a mess as Minseok's words repeated in his head.

"Gather up the courage to, you wouldn't know when will be the last time you'll see him."

He didn't realize he has been staring at the shelf for too long, now Baekhyun was beside him once again. "You're going to read again? It's kind of late."

The feeling was the same ever since he first saw him in that exact position for the first time; Chanyeol was startled and suddenly faced the floor, trying to hide his now blushing face. "Oh no, I'm trying to decide what to read next." Nice excuse, he thought to himself.

"That's great! Well, I should get going now. Goodbye, Chanyeol!" The boy excused himself and left.

Chanyeol had an uneasy feeling in his chest and he couldn't point out why. Maybe because he still haven't asked him out? That's probably the reason why. He's been in this library for so long he still can't gather up the courage to ask the person he's fallen for. That bothered him every day. But this uneasy feeling is different from the rest.

So he finally decided. He faced the ceiling, letting out a deep sigh. "Tomorrow, I'll ask him tomorrow." He muttered to himself. He was sick and tired of chickening out, letting another day pass without knowing when will be the last time he'll see him. He realized he was wasting his time, and decided tomorrow will be the last time he'll be on a battle with his thoughts and be courageous enough to ask Baekhyun out.

Chanyeol returned to his seat and planned out tomorrow's event. He has planned this out in his head a lot of times, a date in a café talking about the books they read, a walk in the park, nothing too fancy but something memorable. But he felt like something is missing, so he turned to Suho for help, hoping to gather useful information.

"I have been waiting for this moment!" Suho excitedly said. "What would you think he would like?"

"I absolutely have no idea, hyung." Chanyeol sighed.

"Maybe the whole set of John Green's books? I saw it in a bookstore and it reminded me of you guys. But it's not complete, so you have to buy the other ones too." Suho stated.

Chanyeol let out a huge grin. "That's exactly what I needed, hyung. Thank you!" His smile turned into a frown seconds later, "But I can only afford 2 books."

"You can borrow my card. Just be thankful that I fully support you two." Suho replied without any hesitation. "Did you really talk to me on purpose just to borrow it?" He joked, handing his card to the boy in front of him.

"You're a lifesaver, hyung! I promise to pay you soon. Thank you!" Chanyeol said and left.

19:32

"The way to his heart is through his favorite books. You made the right choice, Yeol!" Luhan smiled, checking the books out. "Want me to wrap it for you?"

Chanyeol gave him a nod. "Yes please, thank you!"

"Ah, love and the things it does to you. Just wait a second." Luhan said as he started to wrap the box perfectly.

Relaxing jazz music filled the bookstore's silence. Luhan was supposed to be closing a while ago, but minutes before he turned the lights off, Chanyeol barged in, immediately looking for the gift he's going to give for Baekhyun. "You should be thankful because we're close." Luhan joked.

The relaxing atmosphere was interrupted when someone also came barging into the door.

"Sorry, we're actual—" Luhan was stopped mid-sentence, "Sehun?"

"I was worried because you wouldn't answer your phone and you weren't home as usual! I thought something happened!" Sehun exclaimed, his breaths were heavy and sweat was all over his body. He ran from their house to Luhan's bookstore.

"Sorry, love. I'm helping Chanyeol out in his own love story. Don't worry, I'm finishing soon!"

Chanyeol was just standing there, dumbfounded. He felt like a third wheel as of this moment. But in all honesty, he didn't mind. He loved the fact that the two deeply cared for each other. As soon as Luhan finished placing the neatly arranged books in a neatly wrapped box, he insisted to not let Chanyeol pay, saying that it should be his gift. Chanyeol waved goodbye to the two, who were closing the store together.

Chanyeol walked home, the books he bought are neatly kept in a box with a beautifully designed wrapping paper. The boy was both ecstatic and nervous to what might happen tomorrow.

Let's just hope for the best.

•

I actually didn't like this chapter much, I had a bit of writer's block. :/