Calling On My Angels [ Chanrosé ]

12. Lukewarm

As the laws of the world go, all good things must come to an end. Well... not entirely. Yes, Chanyeol hadn't regressed to the point of being rude to her again, but he was distant, no longer searching for her eyes as they passed each other, and no longer flashing small smiles in her direction. It was as though she didn't even exist to him, apart from the times when he so boldly claimed that he needed her.

The past couple of days had been so good, but as they approached the halfway point of the tour, Chanyeol seemed to draw further and further away. The show that marked the halfway point was in New York, the bus rolling into the big city in the early hours of that morning.

From the moment she rolled out of her bunk that morning, Chaeyoung knew that the tension had reached its peak within the bus. Upon entering the living area, she saw all the boys were already dressed, sitting solemnly on the couch. None of them acknowledged her presence as she made herself a cup of herbal tea, Jongin, Sehun and Lay all shooting tentative glances Chanyeol's way.

Just like he was the first night of the tour, Chanyeol looked sick to his stomach. His skin was back to the greenish tinge and his fingers were nervously drumming on his knees. She thought she had seen him bad on the first night, but this was much worse, Chanyeol looking like he might actually be sick.

Chaeyoung's face twisted into worry when Chanyeol's eyes flickered up to her, seeing just how unwell he looked. But before she could so much as open her mouth to speak, Chanyeol stood up, heading towards the exit of the bus.

"I fucking hate New York." He muttered just before the door slammed closed, Sehun already moving to chase after him like always.

A canon of sighs were heard through the room, the first being Jongin's and the next being Lay's, the both of them moving to the exit as well. Utterly confused by the tension in the atmosphere, Chaeyoung gripped at Jongin's upper arm, turning him to face her.

"What the fuck is going on that I have no clue about?" She whispered, a little angry at being left out of the loop. It was clear that all the boys knew the exact reason why Chanyeol was acting the way he was. But she was in the dark, feeling like she at least deserved to know why she had been being ignored the past couple of days.

Jongin paused, glancing back to Lay in search of advice. It seemed as though neither really knew what to tell her.

"New York is Chanyeol's hometown show. That's all." He explained simply, nodding before gripping the straps of the bag that housed Sehun's drumsticks.

"What, are his family coming to see him or something?" Chaeyoung joked exaggeratedly, flopping herself down on the now vacant sofa. She wasn't expecting to be in such a bad mood as soon as she had woken up, but somehow Chanyeol always found a way to bring out the worst in her, even when they weren't even talking.

"Let's hope not." Jongin muttered, glancing wearily over to Lay before exiting the bus, giving Chaeyoung no room to press the issue further.

Chanyeol was certainly secretive, that she knew all too well. But she couldn't fathom just how much she didn't know about him, and likewise how much he didn't know about her. It was crazy how much time they had spent together without really even scraping the surface of each other. All she knew about him was that he was in a band and had some sort of girlfriend back in the day.

And then there was the information she was just exposed to, a potentially shitty family situation to add to the slew of things she was unaware of. Chaeyoung blew gently on her tea to cool it down as her mind ran wild, developing the most radical situations involving a dramatic family backstory.

It was just going to be another mystery she was dying to solve.

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