It Began With A Bet

8

"I do stay with you and the others too. Kyungsoo, Luhan, Ka-"
"You only talk to them at lunch and you just say very little words. But I actually meant before...we were together. You were always alone. You didn't have anyone to be with you all the time. It's just......I-" Chanyeol instantly stopped when he saw that Baekhyun was looking down at his ice cream and he seemed somewhat....hurt.
"Baekhyun, I'm sorry, you don't have to tell me. I won't ask a-"
"No. It's okay, I can tell you."
Chanyeol remained quiet. What could he say in this situation?
"I actually had a friend before, long time ago, but he, " he murmured sadly."...left."
"Why... why did he leave?"'
"Because..w-when I told him that...I was gay-"
"That is not a true friend Baekhyun! You shouldn't give a thought about that basta-"
"No! He was a great friend, but they forced him to leave."
"Sorry." Chanyeol felt bad for bursting out like that."Who's they?"
"His father and brother."
"Oh. Why?"
"Because when I told him.....his brother overheard us." Baekhyun swallowed and closed his eyes."His brother was about 10 years older than he was. Their mother died when he was nine, leaving them with a father that smoked weed and drank beer every single day. As if it was water."
"May I ask his name?"
"His name?" Baekhyun paused."Tao. He was Chinese by the way."
"Tao? Isn't that some kind of fruit in Chinese."
"Yes, it's a peach." Baekhyun smiled."You're learning Chinese?"
"Nah. Just picking up a few words from Luhan hyung."
"That's good, you could actually learn the whole language if you want."
Chanyeol smiled and shook his head for a 'no way'.
"Did Tao talk to you in Chinese?" He asked hesitantly.
"He had taught me a few basics but we didn't have much more time together anyway." Baekhyun gazed at the ground. He didn't even know why he was talking about Tao. He hadn't talked about him for quite a long time and now here he was, telling Chanyeol the whole story. His mouth suddenly felt like it was running on electricity because he was actually talking, way more than any other time. And not to just anyone, but to Chanyeol.

"Anyways, I'll tell you everything. I think it's about time to let go..." He mumbled timidly. He took one last breath and began, with a heavy heart.
"We've known each other since he was eleven. I was thirteen then. We met when my family moved to the house next to his. He was a very kind kid, I liked him a lot so I went to talk to him. I found out that he was really shy around new people but we became very close anyway, and didn't have any other friends but each other."
Chanyeol gazed at nothing in particular in the air in front of him, his ears were listening to every word that came out Baekhyun's lips.
"I had always known that his dad and brother weren't good people. Lots of nights I would hear them arguing and it made me want to go pull Tao out of his house at times like those. And I did, he would cry and tell me how much he missed his mother and how everything went wrong when she left. I was always there for him."
Baekhyun bit his bottom lip and tried not to cry at the bittersweet memories that were flowing into his mind. He didn't want Chanyeol to see him cry.
"It was the second year of high school for me, when I told him my secret. His maniac brother was right behind us and he pulled Tao away from me then left while calling me names, like faggot and stupid basic things like that."
Chanyeol heard a soft sniffle.
"For one whole week I didn't see Tao. I was beginning to believe that he hated me then, but he was a good friend that didn't really care what I did as long as it didn't hurt me." silence for a moment."I knew that when he snuck up from behind me one night with a smile and hugged me tightly."
A tear finally fell out of Baekhyun's closed eyes but he was still smiling. Chanyeol didn't know what to do, he wasn't good at comforting people when they cried, he only sat there awkwardly and feeling dumber than he has ever felt.
"He was ranting about how much he missed me. Then he began to cry.....he wouldn't let go of me when I tried to pull away. And that's when he said it."
Chanyeol took a look at Baekhyun. He regretted the second he did that, Baekhyun was now shedding much more tears with his eyes still screwed shut, as he struggled to stay silent. It broke Chanyeol's heart seeing the older cry that way. Baekhyun's pretty lips were trembling as he tried to speak again. Chanyeol felt stupid and useless, he wanted to hold Baekhyun but his body wouldn't move.