Like Night and Day

Business

The atmosphere was seemingly down, but only to those who were keen enough to spy the feeling crawling beneath their skins. Chanyeol felt more distracted than he knew he ought to have been, but the heaviness in his head clouded the events around him. The calling of his name jerked him out of his thoughts and he soon remembered his place in that moment in time.

"Chanyeol, you're up next."

Nodding at his group's instructor, Chanyeol cautiously stepped forward, peering upwards at the high wall. Rock climbing, in all its glory, never seemed like such a difficult feat, but with his focus jerked from its placed, Chanyeol began to doubt. He checked the safety harness once, then twice.

There were four stations on the wall, but Chanyeol had stepped into the line with the most difficult lean. If it was to distract himself from the fact that Baekhyun had been pulled away from the group activity to tend to Kyungsoo's sudden return and request for the brunet, then it did the supposed job.

Burning arms and burning thighs went unnoticed. The thought of his physical pain was unconditionally masked with the anger and irrational annoyance that drenched him in their passion. Physically present, but not in mind, Chanyeol was the last to be aware that he was nearing the top by a sheer, insignificant margin of space. He tuned in on the cheers below him for a split second before turning his head back with the intention of giving those on the ground a smile of assurance, but he muddied his efforts with the accidental glance in the far distance where he could see the camp's main office and the figure of a small brunet walking slowly to accompany a male with crutches.

Chanyeol physically slipped from his grip and his hold the way his mental being diminished as quickly as he saw the distant image. As the groans and saddened mumbles ensued from under him, his jaw locked as he threw his head back, cursing at nothing, without a clue as to who to curse.

The rest of the forty-five minute activity dragged its claws on the hands of time, unwilling to move faster than time permitted. Chanyeol, impatient as he was, was haste in his enthusiasm to walk back to the main area. Those around mistakenly understood his attitude as that of one who was eager to eat their meal, but late lunch was not at the top of Chanyeol's prioritized agenda.

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The quiet winces were enough to convince Baekhyun to silently make the judgment that the prescribed painkillers were not sufficient in keeping Kyungsoo away from the hands of agony. A moment came about in which the time was correct in addressing the matter, but he heeled, catching the underlying message in Kyungsoo's gaze to keep quiet about his condition. Pride was the factor, and Baekhyun understood, so he kept silent on the issue.

As Kyungsoo moved at a steady, but yielding pace, Baekhyun did the same as the male beside him crutched by the distance. His eyes traveled from Kyungsoo's casted leg to his pale lips, drawn of blood from the excessive lip biting. Baekhyun had the urge to touch him, the fragile and broken human that persevered to be present in his life despite his physical state, but decided against the idea.

"Did you eat on your way here?" The latter's luggage was light, and by the severe persistence on Kyungsoo's part, an adult was following behind a fair distance after the president argued against the idea. With his lips in fine, thin line, Baekhyun gave a smile over. "The food actually isn't bad. I survived pretty okay."

"Did you?" Kyungsoo passively replied, eyes focused on the dining hall where he had taken the tragic fall. With his hands tightly gripping the crutches, he heaved a rough sigh. "So, will you tell me or will you keep it to yourself?"

Drawing his brows slightly inward, Baekhyun frowned. Kyungsoo, in turn, made fierce eye contact with him before glancing back to approximate how loudly he should speak with the presence of a third wheel following closely behind.