✾

Baekhyun’s first visit to Parkside’s only pet shop resulted in his friendship with Lady, and he failed to consider that he would definitely have to return to the store. He entered with the jingle of a doorbell, and the owner behind the counter’s head perked up.

“Hello,” Baekhyun said, bowing slightly.

“Ah, hello again.” The owner smiled. “Back so soon?”

Baekhyun smiled. His hair was slightly damp and he’d changed his clothes from the last time he’d come, in the same day but just a few hours before. “I had to get some toys for Lady.” The puppy, who was on her leash and wagging her tail at his heels, yipped. “Thank you for the sprinkler.”

“Don’t mention it,” the owner said. “I’m glad I could help you out.”

“Do you mind if Chanyeol and I hold on to it for a while?” Baekhyun asked. “I don’t think he’ll let go of it too easily.”

The owner chuckled. “Keep it for as long as you’d like, I don’t mind.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry for any trouble.”

“Really, it’s okay.”

The owner went back to a pile of papers on his desk and Baekhyun wandered off into the aisles, waiting for Lady to bark at something she liked so he could get it for her. He’d used the toy shopping as an excuse to escape when their fiftieth almost-kiss was interrupted once again by Jongin, who needed to kill time at Chanyeol’s house.

Baekhyun left quickly and quietly, and now he was here, at the pet store, and Lady had finally found a toy. She barked like mad and the shop owner laughed as Baekhyun knelt down and told his beloved terrier to shut up, because he was sure the kittens in their pens were terrified.

He took the toy from the shelf – it was a small rubber ball that would’ve been mediocre if he’d actually had any toys for her in the first place. But Lady had been surviving off Chanyeol’s company as her only entertainment, and Baekhyun needed to get her some real pass-times. 

He took the ball to the counter and the owner checked it out, sending Baekhyun off with a ‘Have a nice day’ and a cheerful wave to the puppy, and Baekhyun stepped back out onto the street.

The sun had started to set, it was almost seven o’clock now and the day had been hectic, starting with a panic attack at the idea of his missing (or deceased) puppy, another kiss-gone-wrong with his new neighbor, a breakfast date/party/hangout with Kyungsoo, some home-made ramen on a staircase, a quest to find a sprinkler and then about seven games of tag under the sprinkler, and, finally, a retreat to the pet store.

He wondered what more could possibly happen to him that day, just as Lady jumped up at the sight of a rodent scampering behind a bush.

She pounced, forgetting that her owner was tied to her, and Baekhyun was tripped into the tangles of the twigs and leaves, face-first, of course. Lady escaped him, her leash trailing behind her as she hurried behind a tree, and Baekhyun tried to recollect himself.

He hoisted himself up, and that’s when he felt the pang in his leg. It was a sharp sting, and he braced himself before folding up his jeans’ leg and facing the cut on his ankle.

His skin had nearly peeled off in a large patch, leaving a clump of blood on it’s way to pour out.

He cringed; he’d been cut by a sharp rock about a foot away. He glared at it and cursed.

“Are you okay?” Someone asked, and Baekhyun looked away from the rock at a tall stranger who looked even more messed up than he did. The stranger’s shirt was ripped from the shoulder, exposing a strip of bare skin, and there was dirt on his face and blood on his lip. He looked like he’d been punched repeatedly, one bruise on his face and three on his arms, where his sleeves were rolled up past his elbows. He didn’t, however, seem to have a single blond hair out of place on his head.

Baekhyun bit his lip. “Just a cut,” he said. He felt a nudge on his ankle, the same bloodied one, and looked down at Lady’s drooping eyes. He looked at her pitifully and then back at the stranger. The man pursed his lips.

“Can you walk?”
“Probably.” Baekhyun took a step forward and winced as his leg burned. He started to wobble but the man swooped under and held out his arm for Baekhyun to hold. “Thank you.”

“No problem. Which way are you headed?”

Baekhyun pointed the shopping bag in his hand towards the street of his house, and the man nodded. “I’m sorry to inconvenience you,” Baekhyun said quickly, because he always started with the formalities.

“Not at all,” the stranger said, and Baekhyun wondered who he was, because he looked like both a millionaire and a street rat, and Parkside was a small place; the man could be from anywhere.

They didn’t really talk, but somewhere along their silent tread down the sidewalks, Baekhyun heard the stranger whisper to himself, something that sounded like “He’s going to kill me.”

✾

♛ 

“Relax, Seaweed, we were eighteen.” Chanyeol rolled his eyes and dug his hand into the pack of potato chips at his side. He was sitting on the couch, feet on the coffee table and Jongin’s parallel to his. The TV played Mr. Bean and the two watched with equal attention to their conversation. “It was a long time ago.”

“If you’d died, where would I be right now?” Jongin argued.

“Employed.” Chanyeol said.

“Explain it again,” Jongin shifted in position. “I need to process this .”

Chanyeol sighed. “In the last year of high school. Class trip. Hiking.”

“Yeah, I got that part. But what was up with Prez?”

“He had to take some weird pill or something and it was making him dizzy.” Chanyeol explained. “So he was kind of…out of it, when the truck came at him. And he jumped out of the truck’s way, pushed me, and we both landed like a meter away.”

“And the truck went spoof.”

“And the truck went spoof.” Chanyeol said. “But you should’ve seen him. He was shaking. I’ve never seen anyone that scared before.”

“Baekhyun?”

“Who else?” Chanyeol took another handful of chips. “Anf he keef faying iff noffing,” he said with his mouth full.

“That’s heavy ,” Jongin concluded.

“But it was not nothing. He saved my life.”

Chanyeol remembered it a lot better than Baekhyun, the trip where Baekhyun was sick the entire time, getting by on painkillers and cough syrup, and for some reason he still had to participate in every activity, stumbling through each obstacle course and teamwork exercise. He was the VP and it was expected of him, but Chanyeol wished they would let him sleep a bit. During the hike, Baekhyun was a tragedy of dizziness and Chanyeol found himself stopping countless times as the rest of the group walked ahead. He’d stayed back and watched Baekhyun carefully, on guard in case he had to slip in and save him from falling onto the pavement. It was then, that Baekhyun saved him, diving suddenly to push Chanyeol and himself out of the way of an impending roadkill.

It was only because Baekhyun didn’t remember it well, Chanyeol thought, that he had the grounds to say it was no big deal.

Jongin’s phone beeped, and they both jumped. “People text you?” Chanyeol wrinkled his nose.

“Oh, please. No. It’s my alarm.” Jongin stood up. “I have to go the university.”

“Parkside University? Why?”

“To pick up Kyungsoo, obviously.”

Chanyeol the salt off his lips but proceeded to scarf down potato chips. “Have fun. Don’t freak him out anymore with that stalker .”

“I’m not a stalker, Yeol. I’m dedicated.”

“Get out of my house, Seaweed.”

Jongin scoffed but left with a laugh, and Chanyeol looked up at the clock and sighed. He heard the door of his place open and close, and then the front door of the house open. He waited to hear the clicking of the door shutting, but all he got was a thump and the sound of a gasp, and a “Damn.”

It was followed by a cough. “Uh…Yeol?” Jongin’s voice called through the walls.

“What?” Chanyeol yelled.

“I’m leaving now, but…help Prez, will you?”

“What?” Chanyeol shot up and opened the door. The entrance door was closed and Jongin was gone, replaced by Baekhyun leaning against the wall.

They had a moment just to stare at each other – both with still-damp hair from their ‘rain’ and wide eyes at the sight of the other. Chanyeol looked surprised to see the gash on Baekhyun’s ankle, and Baekhyun, surprised to see Chanyeol in general.

“Oh, hey Park.”

“What happened?”

“I fell.”

“Oh.” Chanyeol rubbed the bridge of his nose and wiped the chip crumbs off his lips. “Do you need ice?”

Baekhyun cracked up. “Just help me get upstairs, will you?”

Lady ran past Baekhyun and into Chanyeol’s living room, her leash trailing after her, and Baekhyun watched her go exhaustedly. Chanyeol blinked.

“Should I carry you?”                  

“Sure.”

“Bridal style?”

Baekhyun’s eyes became those half-moons that they liked so much. “Sure, but the staircase is too small for that.”

“Piggy back?”

“That works.”

Chanyeol turned around and bent down. “Hop aboard, princess.”

With a barely audible giggle, Baekhyun wrapped his arms around Chanyeol’s neck, the shopping bag in his hand hitting the taller’s face. “What’s that?” Chanyeol asked.

“I got Lady a toy.” Baekhyun said. “Are you sure you can carry me?”

“Please, Byun.” Chanyeol stood up and Baekhyun was lifted along with him easily. He could sense Chanyeol smirk. “You weigh the same as your puppy.”

Baekhyun tensed as Chanyeol started up the steps, but Chanyeol had no troubled taking him up the stairs and into his living room. He smelled like shampoo, as he always did.

“Thanks for the lift, Park, I owe you.”

“Don’t bother,” Chanyeol grinned, helping the limping Baekhyun to the couch. “Consider this me no longer owing you.”

“Since when are you indebted to me?” Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows.

“Well, there was the cliff thing.”

“Ah, that.” Baekhyun shrugged. “That was me saving myself. You were just a side effect.”

“I thought so.” Chanyeol laughed, falling onto the couch beside Baekhyun. “Well you saved me either way, so I owed you, Byun.”

“You should do more than just carry me up a flight of stairs. I expect roses on my doorstep tomorrow morning.”

“I guess you can expect that, then.”

“Red.”

“Red roses it is.”

“How committed you are, Park Chanworm.”

“Only for you, Byun Baekcute.” the songwriter smiled. “Only for you.”

The day was strangely quiet, simple, and eventless. They’d played in the sprinkler, sure, and it was fun, of course. But there was a certain tranquility in the way they just sat there, a good distance apart, but so closely, that both their hearts were dancing waltzes in the silence.

 “Are you hungry? Should I get you something?” Baekhyun asked suddenly.

In the moment, you’d wonder if either of them remembered that Baekhyun didn’t have a morsel of food in his apartment.

Chanyeol blinked. “You can barely stand up, .”

“Right.”

“Relax, I’ll get a donut from the sweet shop on my way home.”

Neither of them were thinking.

“Okay.”

“So about those roses…”

“Yeah?”

“Can I give you chocolates, too?”

At that, Baekhyun threw his head back in laughter. “Knock yourself out.”

Chanyeol flashed a thumbs up along with a toothy grin and his left eye closed in a scrunched up wink. “Count on it. While I’m at it, I should ask you out to dinner and buy you a house.”

“Go crazy,” Baekhyun giggled. It was a cute, lovely peal of laughter. Chanyeol’s eyes widened – just a little – and he coughed.

“So a villa on the mountains or an estate by the sea?”

“By the sea, definitely.”

Chanyeol’s heart did one of those Japanese Kagura dances, the kinds with lots of spinning and easy flowing and then sudden jolts of action and graceful twirling.

“Then for you, I’ll do just that.”

“God, Park Chanyeol, you’re still as greasy as ever.”

“Well,” Chanyeol got up, completely against his will. “I’m gonna go back to work. Call me if you need any help with your injury.”

Because Chanyeol wasn’t like Jongin, he wasn’t a gentleman and he knew nothing about how to act, he left Baekhyun sitting alone on the sofa, and the puppy was still downstairs, too. The parting was wordless after that, and Baekhyun waited until the songwriter was back in his pavilion before letting out a sigh and slumping into the cushions.

As the silence got thicker and the ticking of the clock that read 9:00 got louder, Baekhyun realized that if Park Chanyeol lived downstairs, he couldn’t get himself anything to eat from the sweetshop on his way home.

♛ 

♝

What Jongin liked about Kyungsoo, it could probably be defined by the way the student walked out of the university that evening, holding his textbook to his chest and hiding his ears under the oversized hood of Jongin’s sweater and looking around sleepily at the street until his eyes saw Jongin’s lean frame under the streetlight, and by some strange force, Kyungsoo smiled.

“Ah, seeing you now, I think I should’ve brought another jacket.”

“It’s okay,” Kyungsoo said, walking over and they stepped into their way home without so much as a signal. “It was warm. I’m alright for now.”

“You sure?”

Kyungsoo nodded.

“I forgot your cookie.” Jongin said. “I kind of ran here.”

“Don’t worry, I only needed one in the morning.” Kyungsoo pulled the hood over his eyebrows shielding his eyes. His textbook was balanced on the palm of his hand, and Jongin dove to rescue it before it could start to fall to the concrete. “I have to-”

“I’m not letting you study this time.” Jongin interrupted. “The evenings are my only real chance to talk to you.”

Kyungsoo looked blank. “I was going to s