Counting The Steps With You (EXO Chanyeol) - HIATUS/EDITING

Chapter 5

Chanyeol's POV

I started the day with a big smile. Not only did I get her number, but we became closer by the night. It was like how we used to be when we were kids. She was my best friend. I strolled happily to school, hoping to see her again. As I reached the school gate, I saw her walking lifelessly with an annoyed expression. At least, she wasn't late to school today.

I quietly approached her and tapped her shoulder. She looked like she was drifting into her deep thoughts which I didn't know of. I tapped her shoulder once more and she flinched in surprise. She turned her head around and after realizing I was behind her, she cursed under her breath and walked away quickly.

I was confused. I followed her to her locker. "Yah Jinnie-ah, what's wrong?" I worriedly asked her. She sighed. She ignored my question, not even looking at me, and stormed away. I caught up to her and held her wrist. "Jinnie-ah, why did you ignore me??"

The students were now paying attention to our small chat. I instantly let go of her wrist and stood there, waiting for her answer. "Stop calling me that. We're not kids anymore. And why does it matter to you??" she scowled, still not facing me, then walked away again. People were gossiping about us right at that moment. I ruffled my hair frustrated at her sudden act.

There was still about 25 minutes left until the bell rings, so I decided to go to the rooftop, my favorite place. When I got there, I saw Jinse sitting on the bench, closing her eyes with an earphone plugged inside her ears. I stepped closer towards her. She seemed to be sleeping. I slowly sat beside her trying not to wake her up, and stared at the sky.

I have been here countless of times. Everyday, actually. But I only came up here before school started. No one dared to come up here during school lunch breaks. It was her 'territory'. She was never early enough to sit here before school.

As she was still sleeping soundly, I whispered softly to her ears,

"I think I like you, Jinnie-ah~"

Ten minutes passed with her head on my shoulder. When she woke up, she was shocked. She stood up immediately and ran to the door.

"Wait!"

She was still not listening. I hurried to her and forcefully grabbed her wrist. Turning her around to face me, I stared deeply into her eyes. We glared at each other for a while, before she spoke up, "let go of me."

"Not until you tell me why. Why did you ignore me, why did you avoid me,.."

Jinse's POV

There was a pause,

"..,and why did you abandoned our little friendship when we were kids."

I scoffed at him. Abandoned? Friendship? "You're being so immature right now. Let go of me and ask yourself," I sternly said. I released my hand from his grip,and went downstairs, leaving the scene.

The past, when we used to hang out a lot. Life without him was bitter. After that incident with the drunk shitheads, I was banned from going out alone without adult supervision, and was always escorted anywhere by car. I was also transferred to another school. I even took taekwondo lessons, to ensure my mom that I could take care of myself. But it was mostly because of the promise I made.

I couldn't meet him in our usual place by myself, so I sneaked out from house and went there once. But he was nowhere to be seen. Then everyday, after taekwondo lessons, I went there. Hoping that I could see his smile. But no, he wasn't there. I didn't know where his house was either. He never told me anything.

However, I waited. I kept going there, waiting for him. No matter what happened, even if the rain poured, I would still stay. And that made me friendless, because they saw me as a freak.

I gave up three years later, when I realized that we were never seeing each other again.

I was a fool. Why did I even care? It was nothing special. A fool I said. A moron. Dwelling on a such useless matter.

I was heading towards the class, since the bell had rung, when Hae Jin and her gang prevented me from doing so. She yanked my hair and shoved me at a random locker. "Stay away from my oppa you freak," she scolded.

"Tch. Is he your next target now?" I mocked before walking away, only to earn myself another hard slam on my back.

"Listen to me carefully while I'm talking!"

A slap landed strongly on my cheek, causing me to stumble upon the cold hallway floor. I fixed myself up. Rubbing my cheek, I felt a drip of blood from the corner of my mouth. I wiped it away, and kicked her shin angrily while shooting her and her little friends death glares. She was now kneeling down right before me.

"Fuck! If you want him, then go get him. I don't care, so don't come looking for trouble over some stupid targets of yours bitch!" I shouted.

Fortunately, there was no one in the hallway. Everybody was in their classes, so there were no witnesses of the nonsense slap. Or else I would have been embarrassed.

She got up and furiously strangled my collar, "how dare you!" She gritted her teeth. "You'll see, everything precious to you will soon be mine, especially Chanyeol!"

Chanyeol's POV

After she left just like that, I stood still, debating with myself whether should I go after her or not. I decided to look for her. While I was lurking around the hallways, I saw Hae Jin strangling her collar. I had the urge to stop them, but my mind said,"it's Jinse, she had always beaten the crap out of Hae Jin, so what's there to worry about?"

I rushed towards them without them noticing-I listened to my heart-and was about to open my mouth when something unexpected came out from Jinse's mouth.

"What? Chanyeol? Tch. Look, like what I said before, if he's the one you're after, go to him instead of disturbing me. He's not precious to me. He's not even my type. He's just an annoying little freak show to me. I don't know what the hell are you talking about, but he certainly isn't mine. So go ahead, release you grasp and do whatever you want but not on me."

Well, that hurt. Her words were really harsh. I wished I hadn't been here to hear that.

She slapped Hae Jin's hand away, and as she turned around, she couldn't help but notice me. Her gaze softened and guilt was all over her face. "Yeollie...." she mumbled silently. She shook her head and abruptly sprinted to class. Hae Jin was just standing there, speechless, when she realized what had just happened. She then had her smirk on and approached me.

"Annyeong oppa," she greeted,

"You're mine!" Hae Jin exclaimed as she tiptoed in attempt to kiss me. Instantly grossed out, I backed out a little, dodged her and ran to class.

As I arrived in front of the room, I saw Jinse squatting with her hands on her head. One thing for sure flashed through my head: We're getting punished for being late. The two of us did our punishment outside the class within the distance of 1 meter between us. Apparently, Hae Jin knew about this and she successfully ditched the teacher. Lucky her..

I opened my mouth to say something, but words didn't come out from it. She had also been avoiding me. Silence was all I heard for the rest of the day.