The Day We Wore Makeup + Other 'Bad' Things | [chanbaek / baekyeol]

Strange

[date: 10/11/1987]

Chanyeol skimmed the vinyl covers, barely registering the album art anymore. He scanned the titles and names, fingers moving like finger-picking along his guitar strings. The tip of his sneaker beat against the wood flooring, causing a rythme to develop.

The store manager knew him by name and waved a hand at him dismissively when he attempted to drop a few loose quarters on the counter.

"Just take it, Chan. You're one of the few youngsters I know who still appreciate the classics." The older man winked, raising his white over grown eyebrow.

"Thank you, sir." He smiled warmly, waving as he left the old dusty store.

His walk home was cut short by the echo of loud bass music blaring through expensive speakers. He pulled his hood over his head and and continued with the album tucked under his arm.

Laughter emanated from the convertible vehicle, as it pulled up beside him on the road. The boys inside were rowdy, taunting him with their sneers.

"Need a lift, sweetie?" One of the boys whistled, causing the others to erupt into laughter.

Chanyeol ignored them, wishing he'd grabbed his headphones. He walked faster, willing them to keep driving. He thought the teasing would stop after sophomore year, yet here he was.

"Nice pants!" Another yelled.

He kept walking.

"Hey, stop the car." One of the boy's voices rose above their hollering. His voice was soft but deep. The boy slung his slender legs over the side of the hot red vehicle and sprinted toward the much taller boy who was ignoring him. "Hey!" He yelled, trying to catch up on his shorter legs. Chanyeol finally stopped walking. Exhaling heavily. He stopped walking and turned, surprised to see the school's star student prancing toward him. The boy hung his shoulders. A feeling of smallness came over him, despite his large frame. Byun Baekhyun was possibly the most liked boy in his school, rightfully so, academically and athletically. The shorter boy caught up, running a hand through his brown hair. "Woo," he exhaled, bracing his hips with his ringed fingers. His high waisted jeans hugged his hips perfectly and the white shirt he had tucked into it displayed his well toned arms. "I'm sorry about them. They're stupid." He kicked a lone pebble off the pavement. Realizing that he didn't even recognize the stranger who they were insulting.

"It's fine. I'm just going home now." Chanyeol cleared his throat, embarrassed by how deep his voice already was.

"Who cares anyway? They're just idiots." He stepped forward, looking up at the taller, who removed his hood.

"Yeah, thanks. I didn't know you were this nice."

"Do they not say I'm nice?" Baekhyun teased, smiling sideways. Sorry, my friends are all perverts." He said, laughing softly. His laugh caused Chanyeol's cheeks to blush. "Well, uh-"

"Chanyeol."

"Well, Yeol, it was nice to meet you." Baekhyun bit his lip, using his fist to bump against Chanyeol's bicep. "See ya around?"

"Yeah, see ya." Chanyeol watched Baekhyun turn and make his way back over to the stalled car, disappearing with it down the street, along the loud music.

+ two weeks later +

Baekhyun slammed Xiumin against the locker's wall before getting shoved away from the strong male, who he called his best friend.

"There's no freaking way a shrimp like you could make defense." Xiumin shook out his wet black hair, running a short towel through it.

"Don't have to since I'm the quarterback." He bragged, smirking. "Besides, how can you call this a shrimp?" Baekhyun pulled the back of his shirt up, pulling it all the way up and over his sweaty head. His chest and stomach were toned with muscle.

"I'm sure there are plenty of nice shrimp with abs, ya know, cuz of the swimming."

Their conversation was cut short by the rest of the team coming in to shower. "Xiumin, stop being gay and shower with us. Why do you always run in here to shower first, huh?" One of the lineman asked, slapping his back playfully. "We won't bite."

"I enjoy having the showers to myself, thank you." He said, dressing himself.

Baekhyun frowned a little. He didn't want to say anything to embarrass his friend, but sometimes the other boys got on his nerves.

"Hey, I'll catch up with you later." Baekhyun promised, sprinting into the shower room to clean up.

The other boys started getting undressed at the same time as he started to shower. He let the cold liquid press over his tense shoulders and onto his back. He kept his eyelids pressed tight and mouth agape. A few moments of peace ensued before the rush of boys came in to join him.

"Byun, still having your party next week?" One of the guys asked, standing clear of his preference for icy water.

"Always do. It's senior year!" He cheered, running his hands through his grown out hair.

"Yeah! Who are you inviting?"

"You'll see, you'll see." He turned off the head and wrapped up, hoping to escape before a thrall of more questions ensued.

A small thought had been bugging him the past few weeks, ever since his last year began. He didn't have any close friends besides Xiumin, yet, he still put on these elaborate parties because it was expected at this point. Not that he necessarily wanted to host these people. He was starting to not enjoy the spotlight, half because it all felt fake. He wondered if people actually liked him or just pretended to.

"Hey, Baekkie!" A petite brunette ran up to meet him once he started walking to his car.

She was the cheer captain for their school, and as you can probably guess, his girlfriend. Sort of. They went on dates and they were always each other's choice for any school dance. But He hadn't actually asked her to be his girlfriend. It was all a bit loose.

"Hey, Yeri." He kissed the top of her head. "How was your day?" He asked, running a hand down her braid. She walked beside him with a grin on her face, knocking her hip against his.

"Good!" She grabbed his hand, entwining their fingers. "I'm going to go buy a costume for your party today. Any ideas for me?"

She stopped in front of his car, backing up against the side door, pulling him by his hand until he was standing in front of her.

"Hmm." He thought, knowing exactly what she was doing. "A bumble bee! Everyone always calls you the Queen Bee!" He started laughing, as she began frowning and hitting him.

"That's not very funny, Byun!" She yelled, whining.

Baekhyun wiped under his eyes, noticing a figure walking in the distance. He recognized it as the boy he saw on the street the other day. The tufts if soft waves stuck up on his head and his glasses were pushed up, while he was fiddling with the walkman in his large hands.

"Hey, you know that kid?"

"You never answered my question." She pouted, folding her arms in annoyance.

"Yeri. Please? I really want to know."

He side stepped around her to inspect him further. His jeans were rolled at the ends, exposing his socks and surprisingly clean white sneakers. He wore a thick teal jacket that had a yellow stripe. The colors looked nice close to his warm skin.

"Ugh. I don't know. He's in my History class. He's always answering questions and acting like a snob." Yeri felt defeated and leaned on his car door. "I've never seen him with any friends and he never eats in the cafeteria. People say he's odd and strange for dissociating with everyone. But maybe he's just a loner. Who knows. He is a Junior though."

"Hm, thanks." He was half paying attention and only snapped back to reality when he felt two hands circling his waist. He looked down at her sad expression and softened. "C'mon, I'll take you to the mall, baby." He hugged her to his chest tightly before opening the passenger door for her.

"Thank you! I'm so happy, Baekkie!"

That's all he wanted to hear.