Phantasmagoria

21 | Strangers

From that day on, Baekhyun began avoiding the giant.

Chanyeol would try to get his attention by throwing shit at him but nothing worked. He would either get ignore or brushed off and he was starting to get tired of it.

A week went by with Baekhyun not talking to him.

It started to piss the hell out of Chanyeol.

He started to get used to eating alone now. It was sad honestly. Chanyeol would spot Baekhyun in the lunch room every now and then but whenever their eyes met, the smaller would run off somewhere. The giant had to admit, for someone so small he was pretty fucking fast. Just when he thought he had caught Baekhyun in their little cat and mouse game, the older was simply gone. Either he was damn good at hiding or just fast as fuck. Chanyeol grunted and shuffled up to the roof top, mumbling strings of curses directed towards Byun Baekhyun.

When the latter was sure the other was gone, he'd get out of his hiding spot (either inside a closet, an open locker or plainly hiding behind someone) and make his way back to the cafeteria to sit with his friends.

They were surprised to see Baekhyun sitting with them again. And for a full week too.

"What happened to your little boyfriend?" Sehun blurt out one day. He got a poisonous glare sent his way by Baekhyun. The youngest raised his arms, giving up with the topic.

"But seriously, why aren't to you eating with him anymore?" Kyungsoo mumbled, clearly annoyed by Baekhyun's sudden presence so often on the table.

To that the latter simply shrugged, he didn't want to talk about, he didn't know how to. He figured Sehun and Jongdae kept their mouths shut about what happened back at Chanyeol's house.

Kyungsoo frowned. "You take up too much space." He muttered as he began munching on his food. Jongin pat his little boyfriend's back twice before whispering something in his ear. Baekhyun could only guess it was about him. He mentally rolled his eyes, he placed his elbow on the table and began eating. The lunch room wasn't as quiet and peaceful as the rooftop, where he was used to eating at, it was loud and stuffed with people.

Chanyeol ate his lunch quietly on a bench. If Baekhyun we're here, they'd be filling the silence with random topics or random stories that'd come to mind. The giant hadn't noticed how he was used to Baekhyun's presence all the time at school, he had to admit it, he missed the little idiot and his stupid stories.

He had to do something about this, two weeks had slipped by and Baekhyun didn't even look his way anymore.

Kris was Baekhyun's current substitute. It wasn't like Chanyeol invited him to eat with him he just showed up one day and after that he showed up everyday.

The giant would always greet him the same way, and everyday his frown grew, "You aren't Baek."

"And you aren't my bed. Byun was kicked out from Kyungsoo's table, he now eats his lunch in some empty classroom."

"How do you know this?" Chanyeol raised a brow, how could Kris know Baekhyun's new routine? Could he be stalking Baekhyun?

Kris shrugged, "I saw him eating while doodling inside a classroom when I was looking for Junmyeon."

"Is he always in the same classroom?" Chanyeol suddenly got up from the bench, setting his food aside.

"I think so– I always saw him in room 402." Kris mumbled as he sat down on the bench and began eating his food.

"I'm gonna go talk to him right–" Chanyeol was cut off by the school bell. This wasn't the first time he was cut off by that damn bell and it probably wouldn't be the last either.

"Dammit! I didn't even get to eat properly!" The oldest groaned but it didn't look like he was going to stop eating to go to class. Chanyeol grabbed his unfinished lunch and headed towards the exit. "Aren't you coming?"

"I don't feel like looking at numbers right now, just go before you're late to class too–" Kris shooed him away, Chanyeol shrugged and walked back to class and as expected, Baekhyun still wasn't talking to him.

＊

"Baekhyun? What are you doing here?" A voice called out from the entrance to the isolated room said male was at.

"Just eating my lunch. Is there something you need, Minseok?" Baekhyun looked away from the window to finally met the older's eyes. "Nothing in particular."

"Then why are you here?" The younger tilted his head a bit as he stuffed some rice in his mouth.

"I heard Kyungsoo kicked you out, I came to ask if you wanted to sit at my table; With Luhan, Junmyeon and Jongdae." The slightly shorter male strolled around the room, his destination being the desk in front of the younger. "I also came to ask you why you aren't speaking to Park anymore. You two were always together, it would be a shame to lose a friendship or whatever you two have going on."

Baekhyun froze at the sudden question but soon shook his head. Minseok was now leaning on the desk in front of the latter. "It's nothing really... I just want sometime alone I guess..." The latter trailed off at the end, turning his head to look out the window again. "To think things over..."

"I see, I have to go now but you're welcome to come sit with us tomorrow if you want." The older swiftly leaned off the desk and slowly made his way to the door, Baekhyun watching his back as he left the room.

The bell rang soon after, signalling Baekhyun to get off his ass and get a move on. He sighed and thought over Minseok's kind offer.

"Might as well... Better than sitting here by myself anyways..."

As Baekhyun made his way to class, he thought about why he was ignoring Chanyeol, avoiding him like the plague. He came to the conclusion he actually didn't know why himself. Could be maybe because he was scared, afraid of what would happen next, what would happen to their friendship. Relationships aren't his specialty, he has never been in one so he doesn't know how the damn thing work and honestly, he's too scared to find out at this point.

He swept all those thoughts away when he had reached the door to his homeroom, back to ignoring the giant it is then.

To Be Continued...