post #21

[exopromptmeme]

TL;DR RULES
1. post anonymously unless linking to a fill posted somewhere else
2. use the subject line to indicate pairing (in alphabetical order using stage names i.e.baekhyun/chanyeol) prompt details go in the comment.
3. use necessary content warnings
4. do not embed on meme. link to images/videos. label nsfw content.
5. do not repost prompts

Comments

[fill] (1/?)

[anonymous]

nowhere near done and not nearly as fluffy as OP probably wanted but

Chanyeol sighs, fixes the cap hiding his raven black hair, takes a peek at the crowd of girls waiting outside the building. He paints a smile on his face, puts his acting lessons to use and forces a sparkle in his eyes. When he steps out, some of the girls scream. Others whisper about how handsome he is, how big his eyes are. A handful take pictures of him on their DSLRs.

Chanyeol tries to look remotely happy, as if he wasn’t scolded just minutes ago because of his low energy and muddled mind, because he kept on spacing out in the middle of lessons, making mistakes during practice. He gets past them. He always does, even though it takes the whole way home for them to stop following him.

When he finally crashes on his bed, eyes shut closed and hands fisted, he screams.

Chanyeol laughs at another joke, nods along to another story, but his eyes keep on going back to Baekhyun, lingering on the small but rowdy group across the room. He wants what they have, wants the harmless fun and the undeterred freedom. He can’t and he knows that for the next few years of his life, he won’t.

He signed a contract, and no, he’s not allowed to speaking against it, not allowed to say that he got himself into something so much bigger than he is, that he’s stuck, clinging to the spiked walls because climbing to the top is better than falling.

So he forces himself to look away, back to his faceless companions and empty words.

Chanyeol tries. He really does, but with his late night practices, he can’t help but fall asleep in the middle of his classes. His teachers tolerate him, aware of his potential, his good looks. They ignore him, talk extra loud when they dismiss the class just so he wakes up. He’s grateful, mostly because he always wakes up right when Baekhyun and his friends stand up, grabbing their bags from underneath their desks.

They’re laughing, like they always are, and Chanyeol feels hope spark inside him. It’s weak but it’s enough to put a genuine smile on his face. He bows his head, hiding it, and waits until he’s the only one left in the room. He handles his smile with gentle hands and puts it away, building a special place in the brightest part his mind, the only one untouched, untainted by his pessimistic thoughts.

When he walks past his fans in the hallways and out by the school gate, all he gives them are sleepy yawns and lazy smirks.

Chanyeol doesn’t know it but Baekhyun sees him. He hides behind the throng of girls that follows Chanyeol around and looks at him as if he’s the embodiment of everything Baekhyun has ever dreamed of. He’s happy where he is, of course. He has the best friends in the world, he’s getting good grades, he’s happy. Or well, he was.

But when he sees Chanyeol, sees him improving, getting more and more confident with each passing day, something breaks inside him because even though Baekhyun’s happy for him, thinks that no one else deserves to train in SM as much as he does, he’s also jealous. Jealous because Chanyeol has the guts to do what he wants. Jealous because he can’t, for the life of him, go against the norm. He’s scared that maybe, once he decides to pursue his dream, everything will fall apart, disintegrate into ashes that slip past his fingers, too small to hold.

He sees Chanyeol struggling, sees him flopping when it comes to academics, sees him put on a mask in public, and that only discourages him more. So he hides from Chanyeol, tries his best to disappear into the crowd, waiting for something--anything--that maybe, hopefully, will push him to try.