The Names I Call Chanyeol || Chanbaek

Lozenge

Song to listen to when reading this chapter: Laughter by SEVENTEEN

On their graduation day for the end of primary school, Chanyeol came down with a cold.

It wasn't a bad one, just a sore throat, stuffy nose and a lot of coughing. Baekhyun could tell that he wasn't going to stay at home no matter what happened and so he was forced to walk his sick friend all the way to school, while dodging the mucus he spewed everywhere every time he sneezed.

It was gross, obviously, but what are friends for?

Chanyeol was a bit slow, and he kept pulling out lozenges from his pants pocket every couple of minutes, but they made it to school before WWIII so Baekhyun thought it wasn't so bad. If the weather had been just a bit colder, he would have been running his mouth and complaining about walking a sick friend to school but despite the sky being painted in grey clouds, it wasn't snowing and the wind was relatively nice. It didn't bite into skin as it usually would in the other days of winter. In fact, the snow and ice was finally beginning to melt away, revealing the patches of a promising spring.

Baekhyun wondered how Chanyeol managed to get sick when it was finally beginning to warm up.

The sight of the school was a relief (for once) and as soon as they entered through the doors, Baekhyun took in the early morning school life for the last time. There were kids a lot younger than him who were running down the halls, screaming and laughing like he used to do and kids around his age joking about some drama they had watched the night before.

This was what it was like every day and that day would be the last time he'd ever see it. He was a little sad that he'd be leaving this place and all of the memories behind but when he looked at Chanyeol and thought of the new adventures he'd have with his friends, he assumed that all of these memories would just be something he would think about in the middle of the night when he had nothing else on his mind.

There was a lot more to look forward to, he couldn't be hung up on primary school - how messed up would that be?

Chanyeol gave out an ugly cough that sounded like it was meant to pull his lungs out of his chest before nudging Baekhyun forward.

"I don't have all day," he said while he pushed him again.

The shorter rolled his eyes and used his elbow to create some distance between them. He didn't really mean to, but he knocked yet another lozenge out of Chanyeol's hands.

"Says the one who was dragging his feet through the snow." Baekhyun crouched down and picked up the individually wrapped candy from the floor, his finger marking an indent into the parchment paper around it. There was a hole right in the middle, one of Chanyeol's favourites.

Chanyeol swiped the candy back and unwrapped it with inhumane speed. He had done it so many times that morning, that Baekhyun was sure he could do it while blindfolded with his hands tied above his head - a mental image that Baekhyun had a difficult time getting rid of.

"Shut up, I'm sick," he coughed again, and it was by some miracle that the lozenge managed to stay in his mouth.

"Yeah," Baekhyun nodded while he turned away. "and absolutely nasty."

"If you say one more thing, I'm coughing into your lunch."

Baekhyun gave him a dismissive wave and wandered into the crowd of chaos. Kids were all checking the schedule last minute and it made it hard to maneuver around them. While he passed, a notice caught his eye and he was reminded of the dance.

Was he really going to go with Chanyeol?

Baekhyun shook his head. Why should it bother him? If they went, they'd go as friends; if not, they'd be paired up with some random girls.