Hard to Love - (chanbaek)

61

7:15 AM

Baekhyun walks with a hesitant pace. He looked around with a worried expression. He can feel himself tremble each time he takes a step forward. He turns to the rest of his classmates to see if he can spot any of his friends. He gathered up the courage to come to school, but he currently felt like running back home.

The sudden hand on his shoulder made him jump. He nearly tumbled over and dropped all of his books. He turned to see his boyfriend, who was smiling back at him.

"Don't worry. I can see how tense you are..." He reached for the smallers hand and kissed it lightly. Baek felt his cheeks turn red, the automatic heat that flushed his face in embarrassment.

"Do you need to go to your locker?" He shook his head before hiding his face. Chanyeol simply chuckled and dragged his boyfriend to the library. They were way too early, and class wouldn't begin until 8 o'clock. Going to a quiet place would hopefully help Baekhyun calm down.

The library was empty. The workers weren't paying attention as they clicked away on their keyboards, and the few students inside were either studying or looking for a specific book. Chan sneaked Baek to the history aisle, where no one was around.

"Feel better?"

"Yeah." Baekhyun took a deep breath and allowed his body to calm down. His tense shoulders loosened up, and his breathing had also improved. Chanyeol pulled him into a hug before kissing his forehead. The smaller looked up at him with a pout, Chan wanted to scream at the cute sight. He leaned down and connected their lips; the kiss was short and very sweet. Chanyeol put his lips together, the sudden taste of strawberry filled his mouth. He poked the olders cheek and smiled.

"Strawberry mouthwash?" Baek looked down with a red face. He wanted to hide, so that's what he did. He snuggled into the tallers chest, hiding his face from the chuckling giant. He blushed even more, when Chan leaned down to whisper a soft 'it's sweet."

"Did you check the group chat?" Chanyeol watched as Baekhyun shook his head. The smaller took out his phone to see a flood of messages. "The guys just said they wanted to talk at the roof." The older turned to him, confused and slightly shocked. He didn't think his friends wanted to talk to him. He thought he was going to be ignored all day.

"Meet at the roof first period." He read the text out loud, only making his thoughts more unbalanced.

First period?

"We have class-"

"Can I get everyone's attention! Please pay attention to the following announcements. All Seniors, first and second period will be switched to study hall due to a teachers meeting. Juniors, report to Ms. Declons office for the field trip permission slips. If you have gotten suspended or received more than three detentions, you will not be attending the trip as punishment. That is all for the rest of the day. Any other announcements that were missed will be made later on. Have a nice day." The voice stopped with a clicking sound, the intercom had finally stopped making noise. Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun with a teasing smile before dragging both of them to the roof level. They sat down on the hard floor, waiting for everyone else to arrive.

Baekhyun was afraid. He didn't know what his friends were thinking. He didn't know what they wanted to say to him. Chanyeol pulled him onto his lap, snuggling into the smallers warm neck. He left soft kisses, making Baek giggle at the ticklish sensation.

"If anything... remember, I'm right here." Baekhyun nodded. He had to be strong. He didn't want to be scared anymore.

His bravery lasted a few seconds.

Baek jumped once the door slammed open. Their friends entered with loud chatter surrounding them. The two loudest were Jongdae, who was complaining about class as usual, and Kai, who was whining because he didn't have time to eat breakfast. Sehun and Luhan were walking suspiciously close to each other, and Suho was holding hands with Yixing right next to them. Kris and Tao were arguing about 'what drama series is elite,' and Kyungsoo was throwing a granola bar at Kai's face to shut him up. The only quiet one was Xiumin, who was rushing towards the couple while holding a few bags.

Everything seems normal...

Xiumin smiled at the pair before putting down the slightly heavy bags. He took out all the coffees and checked to see if the donuts were still warm. Since he worked extra hours yesterday, his boss gave him some snacks to share with his friends... honestly a blessing to work at a cafe. Xiumin turned to the individuals who were still pouting and complaining.

"I brought food and drinks, so sit your asses down and eat." Although most of them complained about the sudden strict behavior, they still followed the instructions. Xiumin made sure everyone was seated before returning his attention to the frightened boy. He engulfed him in a hug before handing him a signature strawberry smoothie.

"I know you aren't a fan of bitter coffee, and the creamer machine wasn't working today either. I decided to make you the smoothie that you tried last time. You said you liked it, but it needed more milk, so hopefully, I made this one better."

Baekhyun was shocked. He was frozen after hearing the olders words; his eyes even began to slowly tear up. He sniffled and turned to his boyfriend, who was already rubbing his back in a comforting way.

"Thank you so much, min." Xiumin smiled and handed everyone else their specific drinks. Everyone got their breakfast and stopped talking. Silence filled the air, the clouds were still moving, and the wind was passing by. The tree branches moved against the harsh breeze, rattling against each other, dropping a few leaves that slowly fell towards the ground. The coffee bag ruffled in front of them, and suddenly the tension had begun to rise.

They all turned to Baek. Some were worried, some were confused, and some were interested. The smaller stared at his drink and snack with teary eyes. He looked up at them, his nose already turning slightly pink.

"Baek-"

"I'll explain what really happened."

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