Hard to Love - (chanbaek)

64

The sight of his friends leaving was enough to worry him. Baekhyun knew they still needed to decide and give him an answer but... after hearing that they could die, would they even go near him? The better option would be to stay away from him. He couldn't force them to stay if they didn't want to be with him anymore. All he could do was wait. That was his only option.

A hand pulled him closer, the sudden warmth that rushed near his side. He felt a small kiss land on his head as the taller snuggled towards him. Chanyeol was trying to comfort the older; it was all he could really do. He wasn't in the position to decide for his own friends... but he could calm the smaller in the meantime. He didn't like seeing Baek sad, it made him feel bad. Baek was the fluff ball of the group. He could brighten up a dark room with his shining aura. If he was sad...

Who was supposed to light up the darkness?

They were all worried about Baekhyun, he wasn't saying anything, and they all knew how stressful this was. Their chatterbox friend was for once quiet... it was just wrong.

They heard a small giggle, and for a second, they thought a ghost had appeared near them. Luhan looked around, checking if anyone had come up to the roof floor. Another giggle was heard. It was slightly strained near the end. It was as if someone was laughing but also holding back a crawling sob. Baek let out a loud laugh and hid his face in his hands. As much as the group wanted to see him happy... he looked crazy right now.

The trio was shocked when they looked at the sad male. His shoulders were rising from the contagious laughter he was currently releasing. He looked at them with teary eyes, even though his laugh sounded happy... he didn't look that excited.

"Luhan, remember when we met Soo, Suho, Tao, and Min?" The memory was enough to bring both boys into laughing fits. Their companions, on the other hand, were confused. Sehun looked at Chan with a raised brow before shrugging at the situation. What was so funny?

The two kids screamed as they chased each other. Baek was running away from the angry Luhan. Their play date at the park was not going well. They had gone to get ice cream before going to the nearby park. The small boys giggled as they walked next to each other. Luhans mother strolled behind them, making sure the two boys didn't get hurt. They talked about which power ranger was better, a serious topic that was going to end in an argument.

"Red is obviously better-"

"You only like him because red is your favorite color!" Luhan watched as the younger boy pouted.

"That's not true! Red is super cool. He's like a leader!" Luhan shook his head and licked his ice cream cone.

"Blue is obviously better than red-" Baekhyun gasped at the childish insult. He didn't expect to have his favorite character disrespected on a play date.

"Take that back, Lu!" He stomped his foot, hoping it would frighten the older. Luhans mom cooed at the sight. The boy's puffy cheeks and the downward eyebrows. He did not look intimidating at all! He looked like a cute angry baby, absolutely adorable. Luhan stuck out his tongue like a brat.

"I don't wanna!"

He wasn't expecting the younger to push his shoulder. His body turned to the side, quickly losing his balance. The waffle cone slipped from his tiny hands, it was like everything was in slow motion. The cone floated out of Luhans hand until it fell onto the floor. The boy turned to look at his friend only to catch him already running away.

"Baek! Come back here!" Their tiny steps marked the sand ground; the fast running was enough to stir up some dust. Their screaming caught the attention of four boys. They ran to the pair with a confused stare. Why were they chasing each other?

"Are you playing tag?" One of them asked with an excited smile.

"No, I'm trying to kick him-"

"Isn't that bad?" The other boy tilted his head. Why were they fighting? His mom told him fighting was super bad... weren't they going to get in trouble?

"Do you want to play tag?" Another excited boy asked as Baekhyun ran to them.

"I'd love to-" His foot hit against the hard rock. He didn't go flying, but... his cone sure did.

"Watch out-" it was too late. His ice cream flew out of his hand, falling towards the quiet boy with doe eyes. Baekhyun screamed no as he fell face-first on the grainy floor.

The quiet boy felt the cold substance hit his face, the vanilla cream dripping down his nose. He looked at the boy on the floor and smashed the crunchy cone into his hair.

"Wait, that's cold-" Luhan pushed the doe-eyed boy away, and then chaos rose. The boys began pushing against each other, forgetting Baek was still on the floor. The smaller tried getting up only to have one of the boys push him back down. He came to realize that the sand ground wasn't that bad. It was kind of comfy. Luhans mom shook her head when she finally stepped in to stop the fighting boys.

The six kids sat on the high bench, their feet dangling in the air. They licked the ice cream with happiness in their eyes. The bruises on their bodies were completely ignored. A childish fight was the start of a new amazing friendship.

"We kept fighting, and they came to help only to start fighting too. In the end, we left with some bruises and went to get ice cream all together." Baekhyun wiped the tears coming out of his eyes. He didn't know if they were from sadness or all the laughing. He hoped they were from laughing...

He looked up at the cloudy sky, watching how they moved slowly against the chilly wind. The cold feeling against his arms made him feel even worse.

"I hope they decide to stay with me..."

————————