Phoenix

this chanyeol… well, he’s probably the complete opposite now.

his eyebrows arched. “did they?” he asks almost too casually, eyes still fixated upon the table as he arranges the plates and the utensils. after everything that happened a couple of months ago, truthfully kyungsoo isn’t surprised that chanyeol’s parents really threw him under the bus. chaebols and politician are pretty much the same despicable creatures. “is that why you hid for the past six months?”

a ‘ding’ interrupts before he could raise another question. setting the fork and spoon in front of the other he left for the kitchen, returning with a medium-sized pan filled with his signature kimchi spaghetti. kyungsoo is still upset at his underclassman, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to ignore the other’s rumbling stomach. chanyeol looks awfully pale and thin too, causing the doe-eyed male’s nurturing instincts to go into overdrive.

chanyeol nods his head softly, still unable to look at the other, feeling guilty. kyungsoo probably thinks that he was only using him for a space to stay. sure he was using him for a space to stay, but that wasn’t the only thing. chanyeol also wanted to rebuild the bridge he burned with the other. he rather liked the short, doe eyes, heart lipped hyung of his. 

but when the other asked him if that was why he disappeared he started to shrink in his seat, lightly scratching at his arm. “no...” he says softly before scowling softly. “well...partly the reason.” he says biting his lip softly. “they sent me to rehab as a final goodbye present...that’s where i was for six months, and these last few weeks i’ve been living in a homeless shelter.”

closing his eyes he takes in a deep breath. he can’t believe he just told the truth to the other. no one else knew what happened to him, well they knew up to the point of the professor sleeping with him and then killing herself...but other than that, chanyeol had just fallen off the grid. “i have a job though,” he says trying to make up for his horribleness, his eyes moving up to look just under the other’s eyes, still unable to make eye contact. “i work as a cashier at the grocery store around the corner...” he says with a small half hearted smile before shifting in his seat. 

WKorea `EXOclusive` Project (Full Vers.)

CHANYEOL PLEASE STOP.

he was nothing to him, just a place to go when he burns down and need someone to build him back up. and probably still is.

so instead kyungsoo bit down onto the inner part of his lower lip when he stepped aside to the door, mumbling a “get in” while he cocks his head towards his apartment. his chest starts to hurt at the idea of letting chanyeol back into his life, except he never really quite left, even with the help of his cousin or those people he tried to go out with for the past six months. none of them actually sprout into a genuine feeling like the one he has for this male in front of him.

he’s a fucking ghost. the type who still roams in the earth after death because they still have an unfinished business to tend to while they were alive. in this case chanyeol’s was to ruin the life he had build back after those excruciating six months of reassuring himself that it was his own fault for the wishful thinking to have chanyeol for himself. normal people would start screaming on the top of their lungs by now, cussing and swearing at the other with hurtful words, or at least demand where he had been all this time. but seeing the state chanyeol is in right then, kyungsoo’s heart-shaped lips were locked instantly.

he had always been his weakness.

“i just made dinner.” the walk back to kitchen is rather heavy with him turning his back to the uninvited guest. it’s too painful. the wound was still raw when he pried it open once more. nevertheless a steady tone accompanies his words, contrary to the stinging that began to prick his eyes. "grab a plate and eat. you know where they are, right?”

and then something unexpected happens...he’s told to get in. 

at first Chanyeol doesn’t move, he stands there awkwardly for a moment, processing what just happened before making a small step into the apartment. he carefully takes off his shoes and he hugs his duffle bag to his chest, not sure of where to put it, or to just hold onto it. he still has a hard time meeting the other’s eyes and he keeps glancing down at the ground. maybe it was the guilt he had for just up and leaving...but then again it was never his choice, so he wasn’t completely to blame was he?

food? Chanyeol’s head moved up just a little bit so that he was now staring at the other’s chest, still unable to move the few more inches up to the other’s eyes. was he really going to feed him? just like that welcome him into his home and give him his food that he paid for? finally the scent of the dinner hit his nose and his mouth started to water as it smelt so good. Chanyeol had been living off of ramen as it was really the only thing he could afford and now...he wanted to eat all of it, whatever the other had made. 

taking his bag with him he makes his way into the kitchen and blushes softly as his stomach makes all these loud noises. he was starving. ramen wasn’t a great satisfier and god this all looked so delicious. swallowing thickly he glances over to the other and shifts a little bit. he doesn’t want to take anything without the other already having a plate made. he didn’t want to be rude or a jerk...Kyungsoo was nice enough to welcome him into his home and feed him. it was torturing waiting if he was going to be honest, but he sat himself down in one of the chairs, playing with his duffle bag. 

how do you get over a relationship that almost become a thing until the other person left you just out of the blue, without any trace or any way to reach them out even after all the sacrifices and struggles you had overcome for them?

kyungsoo knows the answer to this question all too well; you don’t.

well, to be fair they were pretty far from being a thing. if someone were to explain their relationship, it’s probably ‘person B thinks of person A as nothing but a big brother figure while person A is breaking his own fucking heart over the fact that his feelings will never get returned but still takes good care of person B anyway’. kyungsoo was merely an upperclassman that unfortunately has (yep, present tense) a massive crush on the first year student that asked to be tutored by him. the other male was… everything. he had always been something to someone, someone to something like the party those so-called ‘party animals’ throw to burn their parents’ money.

to be quite honest even until this day kyungsoo still ponders why the younger male ever bothered to approach him that fateful day in the library. why did he make his life harder than it already was? why did he has to confuse him of his own sexuality?

but now that he has the very person standing in front of his doorstep, looking down at him with a small duffel bag in his hand why bother dying in curiosity when you can ask the person himself?

at least that’s what kyungsoo thought, but the doe-eyed male is still too busy shooting the other a dumbfounded look, jaw hanging slightly that he must look so ridiculous right then. he didn’t even bother making himself look decent or taking off his glasses after cooking dinner. no. he just stands there like a deer caught in the headlights.

“…chan…chanyeol?”

living in a homeless shelter was...exactly how it sounded, horrible. curfew, strict rules, one of them being you actively had to be searching for a job if you were unemployed. soon enough Chanyeol landed a job in a grocery store as one of the cashiers, it was a mindless and numbing job, but it gave him enough money to buy ramen each night. Chanyeol’s life went from being at the top to suddenly crashing down and burning in the ashes of the mess he made. the adjustment was hard and straining on his mental health. he was lonely, ashamed, broken. taking his bags with him he left for work, planning on never returning to the shelter, he’d find something better. it was that day at work that something better came around. 

it all started with a name.

Do Kyungsoo.

Chanyeol’s head lifted up at the name, it was a faint whisper of the other’s name, he probably wasn’t around, listening more carefully it sounded like gossip more than anything else. there was a mention of an apartment building...Banjeom. those threee words are what kept him going, Do, Kyungsoo, Banjeom. 

he couldn’t help but remember the cute nerd who always studied in the exact same spot at the exact same time in the library. he had been dared to go and talk to him, and what was supposed to be a harmless prank turned into a little something more. that was until his life came crashing down. 

fiddling with the straps on his bag he made his way to the northeast, finding a rather lavish looking apartment complex. somewhere he might have been living in if his parents hadn’t disowned him. 

taking a deep breath in he rings the doorbell and waits for the other to open the door, trying to formulate what he’s going to say to the other. how has the last six months been? sorry I fell off the face of the planet? sorry I never called? maybe he should just leave, it was a stupid idea in the first place...

too late, the door opened and there stood a rather confused and shocked looking Kyungsoo. He still had those round doe eyes that only got bigger with his glasses, the heart shaped lips. he was still the same old nerd he found in the library.

his name caught his attention and he quickly diverted his gaze down to his shoes.