Heartstrings

Chapter Twenty: It's Everything I Wanted, It's Everything I Don't

Byun Baekhyun has always been taught not to judge anyone. Different people have different choices and preferences. It is not necessary that they will like the same thing you do and Baekhyun respected that. Uniqueness is important for the world to function, his father has told him this once because it would be plain boring if everyone liked the same thing. And Baekhyun has always believed his wise words but right now, as he watched Irene laughing with her head rolled back, he wondered if they really were true.

"Are you serious??" Irene asked between her hysterical laughs and Baekhyun could only nod weirdly.

I mean, what was there to laugh about so loud if he said that he does not like the rain....or anything cold? It was not like he chose to be different intentionally, he was simply born with it. However, when he told this fact to his psychologist, she literally fell down the couch guffawing. So, Baekhyun concluded it was better to shut up and just wait till Irene finally decides to stop mocking him (if that's what she was doing). While she continued to laugh like a hyena, he watched her carefully wondering how could she always be this carefree and lively.

And even if he didn't want to admit, he knew he was jealous of her. He also wanted to be free and happy, smile like there was nothing wrong in his world. He wanted to live his life the way a person his age should. But he was scared. He wasn't strong enough to face things. He felt lost and weak. The fear of failing, falling scared him. And after today's event back at his office, there was this tiny spark in his heart that pushed him to be better and not let the darkness consume him.

So he came back to Irene.

There was this weird feeling telling him that the psychologist would send him away for misbehaving in their last session but much to his surprise, she took him in.

"I was waiting for the most interesting person to come." She had said to him when he turned up at her office and somehow Baekhyun felt happy.

But now he wasn't so sure.

"Are you done?" He asked impatiently making Irene chuckle.

"I am. Sorry but not really sorry," she said as she straightened her skirt and sat back on her seat.

"So, how was your day?" It was really a miracle how easily Baekhyun told her about his day given the fact that he was hating her yesterday. Today it felt much better and comfortable with Irene. He told her about the meeting with 8seconds, how his team bagged the project and their praises for him. He tried to talk about how he felt after hearing them appreciate him but then stopped because it felt really awkward. Also, he was not the kind to pour out his heart so he changed the topic to something else.

Throughout the conversation, Irene nodded and smiled at everything Baekhyun said. She even inserted a few comments of her own here and there, making sure that they were all neutral.

"Seems like you had a good day." The intern nodded happily. He really had a good day. In fact, more than good if you ask him to be honest. It was the first time in his life that someone has found him worthy of something and Baekhyun was not going to let them down. He will do his best and will shine, just like how he had wanted to when he was a child. He will make his life a better place to live.

I promise that.

"But you didn't tell me about the morning." The question dropped Baekhyun's smile and his body stiffened.

Why were they suddenly talking about the morning? Wasn't this enough? What was there to talk about the morning? Did she want him to talk about how he had hurt Chanyeol? Or how he liked seeing him sad and confused? How his heart felt at ease when he unintentionally hurt Chanyeol?