USED || (Chanbaek)

W i t h d r a w a l s

Chapter 14: Withdrawals

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The morning after, reality hit again and Baekhyun was consumed with the desire to sink into the nothingness.  He turned his head to the sound of Chanyeol shuffling around his room, gathering his clothes off the ground. Watching as the giant paced in this room naked, he sighed, pushing himself off the mattress into a sitting position. "Such an early riser, aren't you?"

"I have training in the morning."

"Right." Baekhyun couldn't help but stare, admiring the latter's body. How he'd miss it... "Say good morning to Jongin for me, will you?"

Scoffing, Chanyeol rolled his eyes as he slipped on his shirt. "No."

Baekhyun laughed, pushing his hair back. "I didn't expect anything less from you."

"Anyways," Chanyeol said, changing the subject. He wasn't too fond of talking about Jongin at the moment. "What's happening now?"

"What do you mean?" Baekhyun replied, rubbing his eyes.

"I mean, what are we?" Chanyeol turned around, giving Baekhyun a piercing look before striding over.

The smile on Baekhyun's face was soft, but gave off the clear sense that he was being heavily guarded. All of his walls were up again and Chanyeol knew it.

"We're...acquaintances. Friends, at most—" Baekhyun's eyes dropped down to Chanyeol's lips. "But that's it. As unfortunate as it is, I meant what I said. Last night was... well, the last night."

"Right, right," Chanyeol muttered, cocking his head. "After all that talk about  how you felt and what-not."

"It's probably best if you forget all of that—"

Ignoring him, Chanyeol leaned forward, enough to be at eye level. "Unfortunately, I'll have to decline that suggestion," he said, frowning. "I still don't understand why you're being like this."

"Here's the thing, Chanyeol," Baekhyun said, sighing as he heaved his shoulders. "I dated someone once. It ended badly. So, then I realized maybe I shouldn't invest all this time and energy with one person. After all, isn't that the unspoken rule of making a good decision in finances? Diversified investments makes for less risk. And about that—"

Putting a hand against Baekhyun's mouth, Chanyeol shook his head. "I'm going to stop you before you keep rambling," he muttered before releasing him. "I can't force you to be with me, but I figured that you'd at least have the decency to tell me an explanation that makes sense without bullshit excuses."

"Well, the truth hurts a lot more than being told a white lie," Baekhyun argued. The smile on his face had since disappeared. "Sometimes, it's just better to pretend like there's nothing more to tell."

"Unlike you, I don't feel the same way." Chanyeol clenched his jaw. "You don't owe anyone in this world anything, Baek. I get it. But it's better to just be honest than to smile and pretend like nothing's wrong—"

"That's easy for you to say," Baekhyun quickly snapped without realizing. "How could someone like you, who comes from a family that no one scrutinizes, understand?"

"Baek—"

"You're too honest." Baekhyun looked away. "You don't get it. That's the problem."

"If you gave me the chance, then maybe I would." Chanyeol said in a hard voice. "I might not come from a family with money and notoriety  like yours or whoever it is you see besides me, but I'd like to think that you trust me enough to see me differently."

Laughing bitterly, Baekhyun shook his head. "Why do you do this to me? Honestly," he said softly with his eyes kept low. "Chanyeol, I—"

The sound of Baekhyun's phone interrupted him. Its shrill tone only meant one thing, but Baekhyun was too far to grab it in that moment.

Chanyeol paused for a second before turning his head to the phone on the side table. He let it ring a few times, before reaching over and unplugging the wire from its charging port. Just as he pulled it away, the call ended and the screen reverted back to the locked screen.

It didn't take more than a few seconds to read the notifications list. Rolling his eyes up to the ceiling, Chanyeol held the cellphone out for Baekhyun to take. "You got a missed call from some guy named Kris."

"Thanks—"

"Also, something about an engagement."

Baekhyun stopped before immediately reading through the messages while, in the background, Chanyeol finished collecting all of his things. Gripping the device in his hand, Baekhyun snapped his attention forward, eyes trailing as Chanyeol grabbed his wallet off the desk. 

"Park." 

No response.

Pursing his lips, Baekhyun put the phone on the bed and threw the covers off of him. "This is what I was trying to..." His voice trailed off. For the first time, Baekhyun didn't know what to say. "Kris' family and mine are close, but this is business. I tried telling you that none of this--all of this-- matters. In the end, it's all the same. And I just don't want you to be--"

"You don't need to explain anything to me," Chanyeol interrupted, keeping his back turned. "It's not like I'd understand anyways. After all, who the hell am I compared to Kris whose entire family seems to be tightly knit to yours anyways?"

Furrowing his brows, Baekhyun frowned. "What're you saying?" 

"I'm saying that it sounds like he's some who would understand," Chanyeol retorted, turning his head around. The bitterness in his voice wasn't hard to notice. "After all, you're both from the same bunch. Who else would understand you better than another guy who's just as good at lying and pretending as you?"

To that, Baekhyun said nothing. There was nothing for him to say that wouldn't undo any of his words. If he wanted to defend himself, he would only be backtracking and, at this point, Chanyeol was ready to leave him. 

"Do you have anything to say to that?"

Things were better off that way...

After a minute of silence, Baekhyun closed his eyes before slowly opening them again. "No. You're right. I might not want him, but he's better suited to my lifestyle than you'll ever be."

Chanyeol looked hurt, but was quick to look away. "I'll see you around, Byun."

The door shut behind him before Baekhyun could say anything else.

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The peace in his room was broken by the the single wave of vibration  coming from his phone. Kyungsoo set aside the pen in his hand and picked up the device, smiling. 

[ Chanyeol ] : Hey, sorry for falling asleep on you...

[ Chanyeol ] : Breakfast?

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a/n: okay, now we can move onto bigger and better things.

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