Byun Baekhyun, a freshman at Seoul University, always falls asleep in the corner of his campus' library after midnight.
One night, a curious guard wakes him, and Baekhyun is stunned. No one ever cared about a sleeping student in the library after ho...
And so maybe it was time to end things. Life certainly wasn't the books, and Chanyeol honestly couldn't see the two of them lasting. He had often wondered how those people back in his higher school years managed to date ten people in a month. He could see why now.
And the thoughts of leaving Baekhyun was something akin to leaving a school for the last time. There was nothing crushing about it. In fact, if Chanyeol was being honest, it was a relief to have the thought of a weight taken off his shoulder.
He instantly felt guilty for thinking such things... but what else was there to do? Just hope that things would work out? As if. But how was Chanyeol even supposed to break it to Baekhyun?
He decided to talk to Kyungsoo about it.
"Hey... Kyungsoo... I have a favor to ask of you. I- I'm..." he stuttered awkwardly, unable to meet his friend's questioning gaze.
"What?"
"I'm... goingtobreakupwithBaekhyun," he murmured in a rush.
"What? Why?"
"It's not working. I thought it would work... I tried to make it work... and the thought of being away from him... doesn't scare me..." Chanyeol's breathing hitched. "I think we're better off as friends..."
"Well, what do you want me to do about it? You don't need my blessing to break up. Just... talk to him."
"How? Over text?"
Kyungsoo grabbed the taller male by the collar. "You-do-not-break-up-with-people-over-text." Kyungsoo's eyes flared. "Talk to him in person." He let go of Chanyeol's shirt, "have a nice life." Kyungsoo walked away.
***
Chanyeol caught Baekhyun in the library, studying. When Baekhyun saw Chanyeol, he ignored the terse look that Chanyeol had and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "How are you?"
Numb. "I'm okay."
"You look nervous."
"I have a test coming up."
"You'll be fine, you'll always be fine." Baekhyun grinned. "I have full confidence in you."
Chanyeol's eyes sparkled dimly. "Thanks for the confidence, Baekhyun." The name was as dry as sandpaper on his tongue.
"I'm going to go get some water. I'll be back soon." Baekhyun stood up and walked away.
Chanyeol's eyes darted to the stack of sticky notes that were laying beside Baekhyun's textbook. Without giving himself time to change his mind, he grabbed two of them and wrote four simple words, put them in Baekhyun's textbook, and ran out the door, eyes welling with tears of guilt. What a coward you are Park Chanyeol. What a coward.
When Baekhyun came back, he spotted no Chanyeol and a bright blue sticky note in his book. Thinking that Chanyeol must have needed to be somewhere, he grabbed the note and read it.
I'm sorry.
What? What is he sorry for? Baekhyun ignored it, flipping the page.
On the second page was another sticky note, and on it were two more words in the same rushed script.
Goodbye, Baekhyun.
Chanyeol quit his job as a library guard after that, not taking the chances of bumping into Baekhyun again. He didn't think he could ever face the boy again, let alone be his friend. When Kyungsoo found out, he was furious.
"WHAT THE HECK, PARK? ARE YOU DEMENTED!? YOU COULDN'T EVEN DO IT IN PERSON. WHAT A COWARD."
Chanyeol had tried to defend himself, but it was a feeble effort. "I... didn't want to see him heartbroken." He had walked away quickly, with Kyungsoo yelling at his backside.
"YOU'RE SO SELFISH."
Chanyeol couldn't disagree.
***
Baekhyun didn't feel much of anything either. People come and go. Some stay longer than others... but the only person you're guaranteed to be with is yourself.
In the end, he was wrong. Chanyeol wasn't that different after all.
And in the library, all alone at four in the morning, Baekhyun wished desperately that there was someone to help him through the night.
Fin.
- § -
The ending was a lot shorter than I had intents for it to be...
Idk where I was going with this book. I was backing myself up into a corner with it... eh
It's a shorter book than usual... and I have to say I'm not really proud of this.
So, now that this is finished, I can turn my attention to Normal. (It's releasing on the fifteenth of June.) I promise that it actually has a plot... :)
Thanks for giving this book a chance! <3
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
