Baekhyun

As I approached Chanyeol’s house, I felt my heart beating fiercely inside my chest. I was nervous and could feel myself sweat. It hadn’t even been that long since me and Chanyeol had met but it was just shocking to suddenly being close to him again, and to get a glimpse in to his normal life, outside the bonding.

The house in which the Park family lived was exactly what I had imagined. Big and flashy, exactly like those pictures that I had seen in magazines of famous people’s homes. This place was drenched in wealth, and that came from someone who had a dad with endless amounts of money. The difference between my house and Chanyeol’s was that my family made an effort to blend in, to seem like any other family. Chanyeol’s, on the other hand, had seemed to make it a contest with their neighbors as to which house could look the most luxurious.

I had taken a car over here and parked it outside on the driveway. As soon as I excited, a man approached, looking professional, and asked me if I wanted help with parking my car in a garage. I refused him politely, not really knowing the neighborhood and therefore not being truly sure as to where my car would be parked. Better to leave it where I could find it again.

As I walked up to ring the bell, I suddenly felt like I had underdressed somehow. It wasn’t that I was wearing anything shabby, just regular clothes, jeans and a nice T-shirt, but the whole atmosphere around here seemed to demand that you match it.

I hesitated a while at the door before finally getting some courage and ringing the bell. I waited patiently but as I heard footsteps on the other side of the door, I began to fidget a bit. The door clicked and suddenly, there we stood again, face to face. I had a quick flashback to our matching and how we’d ,much like now, stood before each other, both filled with anticipation.

I could see, contrary to back then when this had all started, that Chanyeol’s face lit up slightly as he saw me. But mixed in with that light was nervousness, matching my own, but also something darker, something much more serious. It put me in a state of anticipation.

I hadn’t really registered that we had stood there staring at each other for at least ten seconds, not saying a word.

“Hi…” I said shyly. This seemed to shake Chanyeol up a bit because he smiled and that dark seriousness toned down a bit, though it was ever present.

“Hi,” he said “it’s good to see you again, come in!” He stepped aside so he could let me inside his house.

“Everyone is out right now,” Chanyeol said as I began untying my shoes “my parents are working and my sister… well, I kind of chased her out.”

“Why?” I laughed, appreciating Chanyeol’s candor. Some people would have lied and told me that they just also happened to be out, but Chanyeol stuck to the truth.

“I just didn’t want her here to scare you off…” and then he mumbled something that sounded like: “I might do that on myself just fine with what I’m about to ask.”

“Scare me off?” I asked “How could she?”

“Well, she can be intense sometimes.”

“Then you haven’t met my mother, the embodiment of intense.”

Chanyeol laughed, then added, “I’d still love to meet her, and the rest of your family, too, of course.”

“You can!” I said “But they might truly scare you off.” By this time, I had removed my shoes and stepped in to the house. The inside matched the flashy outside perfectly.

“They could never.” Chanyeol said and turned to me. We were standing closer than I had expected, something that seemed to happen more often nowadays. “It’s like you said, nothing will scare me off from you. It will always be my own choice if I go or stay, no one else’s.”

He then got that strange, dark look upon his face and before I could ask him about it, he sighed deeply, closing his eyes, as if he was contemplating something serious.

“We have something very serious to discuss, I’m afraid.” Chanyeol said, his eyes still closed, as if it hurt too much to look at me when he said those words.

“What?” I asked, instantly becoming nervous as well as curious. Chanyeol opened his eyes again and asked me to follow him in to his living room to talk about it.

I sat down in an armchair while Chanyeol took the seat opposite me, a small table laying between us. He looked serious and his seriousness made me even more nervous. I had never seen him with this look upon his face, the only time coming close to it was right after the paparazzi had found us for the first time. There was something conflicting battling inside of him and I could tell just by looking at him.

I patiently waited for him to speak, letting him take the time he needed.

“You know I met with my father earlier today,” Chanyeol said to which I nodded.

“What of it?”

“Well, he told me that all of this pressure from the press has totally ruined his image and his future career.” Chanyeol said “My family is pretty much reliant on both my dad and mom bringing home large sums of money and since this whole thing about my dad’s homophobic approach have turned people away from him, that also means that people have, without knowing it, turned away from the rest of his family, too.”

“And…?” I said, knowing that there was an ‘and’ there somewhere.

“And,” Chanyeol said “my father have asked me to help me fix this whole mess he’s made. Or, well, he has asked me personally and I am now asking you in his place to help, too.”

“Sure,” I said “I’ll do whatever if it will help your family. I don’t want things to go south for you just because you’re father messed up.”

“Not so fast,” Chanyeol said “it’s kind of you to offer that, but I don’t think what my dad had in mind is something you agree on just like that.”

This made me a bit worried. What could he possibly mean by that? What horrible thing did his father want me to do?

“O-okay then.” I said “So tell me what he’s asked us to do so I can decide for myself.”

“He’s convinced,” Chanyeol said with a sigh “that you and I need to show that we’re allowed to be together, that my dad isn’t stopping us from going forth with our matching. If you and I were to cut our ties, as we had originally planned, the press would take that as my dad’s fault, which would only make matters worse. And if we were to stay as we are now, people would still get suspicious of it after a while.”

“So…” I said, my heart beating a little “your dad wants us to d-date or… something?” I said, feeling nervous just saying the word ‘date’. I could feel myself blushing.

“Kind of.” Chanyeol said “Umh… how do I say this without sounding really strange. People… people who get matched usually have a course of which they take. Like, they meet, they bond, they date and then… they marry.”

My eyes widened in surprise and I could feel my mouth falling slightly open. I had not expected this to turn in to a conversation about marriage.

“Hold up.” I said, trying to sort out my feelings. “So… for the press to leave us all alone, you and I need to…” I couldn’t get the word out. I just couldn’t. It wasn’t that it was disgusting or anything, and it wasn’t that I definitely didn’t want to get married. It had always been my dream to one day get married to the one I had been matched with. But that dream had shattered once I was matched with Chanyeol and I believed that I could never fall for him.

But now, here he was, being all kind and wonderful, talking to me about the one and only thing I had thought I would never get. Marriage.

“Yes.” Chanyeol said “I said that I would go through with it, though with your reaction I’m guessing that this will be impossible. If you don’t want to, I will not force you to and not let anyone else force you to, either. I know it’s a big thing, and I’d understand if you don’t want to. It’s all so sudden and it’s not even your family. We don’t even know each other that well, after all, let alone love each other.” At the word ‘love’ I blushed again.

“Stop talking, please.” I said “I need to let this sink in.” Chanyeol decidedly shut his mouth and stayed that way.

I couldn’t quite believe this. It was, almost, a dream come true. The marriage I had wanted for such a long time, right in my reach. But Chanyeol was right, we didn’t really know each other, and he wasn’t exactly the girl of my dreams. But could he one day be the guy of my dreams? I had no idea how such a man would even be. Kind, I expected. Which Chanyeol was. Considerate, warm, honest, all the things I had always looked for in my partners. Did Chanyeol possess all of these qualities, too?
 

“If I were to say yes to this,” I said tentatively “purely theoretically, of course,” I added hastily.

“Of course.” Chanyeol said.

“When would this wedding take place? What would be the story?” I asked “People will wonder about who proposed, and when. They will want to know a date.” My heart beat like crazy by now. This whole thing felt much more real when I asked these questions, and with Chanyeol answering, it felt even more real, making my whole body grow hot.

“Well, if you were to say yes,” Chanyeol clarified “one of us are to propose tomorrow during the press conference. We’d have to practice on the other one’s surprised face, so we make it seem genuine. It’s not like we can say that it was something we had discussed beforehand, that’s not what people want to hear.” I nodded numbly at this, a bit shocked that Chanyeol had already checked up on all this, that it was probably a team of people who were figuring out all the details right now in case I said yes.

“As regarding the date,” Chanyeol continued “my dad’s manager recommends for the wedding to take place in about… two weeks’ time.” I pulled sharply in at that, to which Chanyeol quickly added “though this can probably be negotiated to fit our own preferences. It would be our wedding, after all.”

I sat quiet for a while longer, letting all of my million questions build up inside of me until the more important one’s seemed to stick out.

“And what if…” I said “After all this, we realize that we can’t stay together for the rest of our lives? What then?”

“Then we divorce.” Chanyeol said “I will not force you in to a love-less life.”

I met Chanyeol’s eyes and saw the sincerity in them, how he truly wanted what was best for everyone. How he wanted to help his family, but also wanted to make sure I didn’t become unhappy. It left me wondering if this was truly something that would make he himself happy.

“And you truly want to go through with this?” I asked “If we were to take away the fact that it will save your family hardships, is this something that can make you happy, too?”

“Well,” Chanyeol said, looking a bit embarrassed. I was expecting a ‘no’ from him, but instead I got something completely different “before meeting with my father today, I had actually intended on asking you this afternoon if you’d want to try going out with me… like… for real.”

My heart leapt and I suddenly felt even hotter than before. It felt like I was burning, but in a good way. The shock mingled about along with a feeling much resembled relief. It was as if something inside me had wanted him to ask me this, as if my brain needed a confirmation before even letting itself truly believe in me and Chanyeol ever being a reality.

But now, with Chanyeol telling me that he had actually previous to this wanted to try going out with me, everything seemed so much clearer.

“I’ll do it.” I said, feeling adrenaline rush through my body as the words exited my mouth.

Chanyeol looked incredibly surprised, but mingled in with the surprise was a sense of happiness. It was that happiness that told me that I wasn’t doing a mistake. This was something that might have happened anyways one day if Chanyeol’s dad hadn’t interfered. It might not be the ideal but since the matching was arranged by others, why not let others arrange the marriage itself if there would be benefits from it.

“Really?” Chanyeol asked, something bright coloring his voice “You sure?”

“Absolutely not,” I said “but are people ever sure about getting married?”

“Probably not.” Chanyeol laughed “Oh God, I had been so certain that you would say no. Wow, I’m just… we’re getting married.” He said the last sentence with a bit of wonder mingled together with slight fear and pure shock.

He stood up, and began walking around the room.

“We’re getting married.” He said again and laughed “I never thought that I would get married, to be honest with you.

“Hey,” I said, getting a bit nervous now when he was saying it out loud. I reach out towards him with my hand to stop him from walking around. He stopped right beside me “are you sure you’re fine with this?”

“Yes.” Chanyeol said, smiling to me “I’m okay with it, so long as you are.”

“And I’m okay with it so long as you are.” I said to which we bother smiled at each other at.

Chanyeol

There was so much that needed to be organized, now that me and Baekhyun had decided to go through with this. It still hadn’t really sunken in right yet but it probably would during the next few hours, or maybe it would take longer than that.

Baekhyun and I were still sitting in the living room, deciding on who of us were to propose (me, we agreed on since I had much more experiences with big crowds), and whether or not we would fill in other people close to us as to what was going on.

“I’m not telling my parents.” Baekhyun said “They are romantics and would not want to hear about this being pre-arranged. They will be better of believing that you proposed to me as per usual.”

“That sounds reasonable.” I agreed “My mother is probably already informed about the real circumstances so I don’t really have any choice but to let her know the truth.”

“What do I tell my friends?” Baekhyun asked “I haven’t had the time to meet with any of them yet, and would it be weird to tell them the truth right off the bat?”

“Maybe you should wait, and tell them later.” I said “I will tell my best friend, but no one of my other friends will know the full story.”

“Then I’ll tell my brother, and maybe some of my close friends.” Baekhyun said “I know I can trust them.”

I nodded in agreement, and then my phone buzzed. I checked it and saw that it was my father’s manager, checking in with me to ask if we are to proceed with wedding plans or not. I quickly wrote back that Baekhyun had agreed.

“We don’t need to worry about anything,” I said, filling Baekhyun in “my dad’s people are already on to the planning. All we have to do is float along.”

“That’s one good thing!” Baekhyun said, visibly sinking a bit further in to his armchair “Many people who are to get married have so much pressure on them with finding a place for the wedding, booking people to work, ordering food and finding the perfect cake. But you and I, we only have to deal with some reporters.”

“There are some perks to being the son of a rich family.” I said. “But there is one thing we need to sort out before tomorrow.”

“Which is?” Baekhyun asked.

“The proposal.” I said “What we are to say, how you are to react. What do people usually say when they propose to people?”

“How should I know?” Baekhyun laughed lightheartedly “They usually get down on one knee, and say something romantic before asking.”

“One knee, right.” I said, falling down on one knee before Baekhyun. He, in return looked incredibly shocked at what I had done.

“Great expression.” I said “But save it for tomorrow.” I smiled.

“What are you doing?” He asked, blushing.

“We need to rehears, right?” I said “we need to make sure it looks right, that we convey the right message.”

“Umh…” Baekhyun said, then standing up “Okay. People… umh… people usually stand when proposed to, I have noticed. At least in movies.”

“Oh! I said “And I should hold your hand or something.” I put one of Baekhyun’s hand in to mine, as if I were to kiss it “and then say something romantic, right?”

Baekhyun nodded, but looked pretty embarrassed. I felt a little bit embarrassed too, but still went on with it.

“Umh…” I said, not really knowing what was romantic “So, something like… Since the first time I saw you, I knew you were the one.” I said, trying to sound honest. It didn’t seem to work because Baekhyun was cracking up.

“Now you sound like some kind of Disney prince!” He giggled “Come on, do something much simpler like: will you make me the happiest man on earth and marry me?”

“Shouldn’t I say something before that?” I asked “Doesn’t it seem too abrupt to just get right to the question.”

“Okay, maybe something more.” Baekhyun said “But if we make it too cheesy, people will probably not believe it.”

“How about this, then,” I said and cleared my throat “Baekhyun, when we first met I had thought someone was playing a prank on me, that there must have been a mistake. In the beginning, we were convinced that we weren’t meant to be together, but now, that has changed.” I felt the truth well up and out, truths that I hadn’t truly realized myself yet “I’ve gotten to know you a bit, and in doing so I have realized that the matching is never wrong, it never falters. We might not have believed it at first, but now I realize that whoever brought us together truly knew what we needed. I needed you, and you needed me, so will you make me the happiest man on earth, and marry me.”

I felt breathless, having put way too much honesty in to my sentences. Baekhyun was silent and I knew that this speech wouldn’t work either.

“Too much of the real story in it?” I asked “I know, we shouldn’t tell them that we doubted the match in the beginning, we can change it-

“No.” Baekhyun said, and I looked up in to his face to see that he, too, looked breathless “it was perfect.”

“Really?” I said, standing up. I still held on to Baekhyun’s hand, it felt like it belonged in mine.

“What did you mean by ‘too much of the real story’?” Baekhyun asked me then “Did you… did you mean all of that? Do you believe that we should be together?” There was a pause, and I could see the small hope inside of Baekhyun’s eyes. A small light that hadn’t been there before.

“I did.” I said, a piece of his hair away from his face with my free hand. It had fell in to his eyes and looked like it would irritate him “When I said it out loud like that, It rang truer than I had previously realized. I can’t really explain it, but it’s just that a part of me feels… completed now that I’ve met you. I know we barely know each other, but this is just how I feel.”

Baekhyun looked at me then, simply looked, and it was as if an invisible force pulled us closer together. I had never before felt anything like it with anybody else. It was truly like the universe were trying to tell us that what we were doing was the right thing.

“I-“ Baekhyun said, tentatively tugging at my shirt, making me step a little bit closer, my face coming up towards his “I can honestly say that I felt the same way. When you said that to me, it was as if I myself realized something, too. It’s as you say, very hard… to… explain…” he said, and while his last words uttered his mouth, I let my free hand carefully bury itself in to his hair at the nape of his neck, making him loose out big breaths.

Our eyes met and both of us were breathing shallowly, my heart beating inside my chest. Our noses suddenly touched and it was as if I got electricity running through me, my whole body tingling and burning at the same time.

“I really want to kiss you right now.” I said, feeling like I could speak my mind, let him know what I was feeling. I didn’t want to be the only one wanting this and then pretty much force a kiss on him.

“I’m not going to stop you.” Baekhyun whispered and I felt something break loose inside my body at his words. As if there had been some kind of break I had been putting my feet on all this time, and now, I could release it.

I was tentative, even though I knew that Baekhyun didn’t mind me kissing him. It was just that I had held back for so long, sometimes knowing I held back and other times doing it without realizing, that it now felt so strange to be allowed to do it.

Carefully, as if he was made of glass,

I let our lips brush against each other.

His was so soft, softer than I had expected. The electricity that I had previously felt increased by tenfold and once that first careful kiss was made, I couldn’t help myself from kissing him again, this time harder. I was still tender but a bit rougher. As I kissed Baekhyun a second time, I could feel him awake under my touch, his arms who had previously only tugged at my shirt now snaking around my waist.

I felt my way through his hair with both of my hands as I kissed him for a third time, becoming bolder and bolder with every passing second. At the fourth kiss, I opened my lips slightly, bringing Baekhyun’s lips with me in the motion.

He gasped a bit in surprise as I opened our mouths more on the fifth kiss, daring my tongue to cross over to meet with his.

He pulled me even closer urging me on, though in the pulling, our weight shifted which left us falling for a short second before we both landed in the vacant sofa none of us had touched before this. I fell on top of him, which he didn’t seem to mind, and the new position drove my mind slightly crazy. From this angle, I could kiss him much smoother than before and I let my tongue lightly touch his, our kiss becoming even wilder than before.

Baekhyun responded without hesitation and I let myself be swept away by the momentum, let myself kiss him like I had never kissed another human before. Without all those shields put up, without being afraid of doing something the other person wouldn’t enjoy, without really thinking at all.

Baekhyun

I had no idea of what I was doing, my body just acted on its own and with Chanyeol taking the lead, it was easy for me to tag along, to be swept away.

As soon as his lips had touched mine, it had been as if a balloon inside of me popped and from it came all of the pent up feelings that had been filling its insides. All the worry about what my uality was, all my nerves about the situation the two of us were in, all the uncertainty of what my feelings for Chanyeol were. They all just exploded and out came the truth, smashing me in the face as if it were a ferocious wave.

This kiss was the type of kiss that changed worlds. My world, to be precise. I knew, from that point on, that there was no doubt in the world that the government had been right about everything. I had never felt like I did right then, as if something clicked inside my brain and told me that, yes, this was how a kiss was supposed to be. That before this, all I had been doing was touching my lips to another’s.

My whole body was tingling by the time we fell on to the sofa and I felt myself slowly get more and more eager to have more. But at the same time, that scared the hell out of me. I had heard people talk about lust before, but had never really felt it myself. I had gotten , but never from just kissing. I had needed a lot to get in the mood to ever go further than a regular kiss, but now, in the arms of Chanyeol, I finally understood. It was like a pulling, as if something were urging me on, wanting me to go further and further.

I felt Chanyeol’s tongue lightly play with mine and the motions he did with his made my mind go blank for a short moment. Tongues hadn’t really seemed that exciting to me before, but now the feeling of it made my head slowly boil.

Chanyeol seemed to notice how heated we both were getting and slowly started to slow down. He pulled his tongue back and instead used only his lips. Though those lips didn’t stay put on the same spot. Instead, he left my mouth all by itself and planted butterfly kisses down my jaw and over my throat, each touch making me shiver.

“Chanyeol…” I half mumbled, half gurgled, my voice feeling weak. Chanyeol, who had just put his lips to my jawline, smiled so broadly that I could physically feel it against my skin.

“Yes?” he asked, his voice a husky whisper caressing my skin.

“I don’t think this should be something we repeat in front of all of those reporters tomorrow.” I said, Chanyeol letting out a genuinely happy laugh.

“I stopped rehearsing a long time ago.” Chanyeol said, finally returning from his little trip down my throat. He looked in to my eyes, a broad smile on his lips. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.” He said, and his words made me want to melt all over again.

“How long?” I asked, curious.

“Probably since that first time, when the reporters interrupted us.” He answered.

“Then you’ve been way more honest with yourself than I ever was.” I said.

“Is that so?” Chanyeol asked, giving me the look that he wanted me to go on.

“Well,” I said “I’ve just been so confused. I never knew what to think or what to feel, and if I ever felt something, I instantly tried to explain it away to myself. I don’t know, I think I was just… afraid?”

“And now?” Chanyeol asked to which I smiled.

“Now everything feels much clearer.”

 Chanyeol

I was feeling dizzy by the time Baekhyun left. I contemplated giving him another kiss before leaving, but restrained myself. I knew that anybody could walk past and I didn’t want the drama of having people photograph us kissing, not now when we were about to drop the biggest bomb ever on the press tomorrow.

Instead, I walked him out to his car and then waved him good bye. As soon as he turned the corner, I felt as if someone had pulled out my plug and all energy left me. I hadn’t realized how exhausted I had been the last couple of days with everything that was happening and it seemed to hit me right then when everything seemed to solve itself.

I trotted back to my house, and to my surprise, I found my sister waiting for me there.

“Was that him in the car?” She asked excitedly “Don’t tell me I just missed him.”

“It was,” I said “and you did.”

“Damn it!” Dara said “I wanted to meet him!”

“You can meet him another day.” I said and then, my sister got a strange look upon her face. She stalked towards me to stare at my face before breaking out in to a grin.

“What?” I asked.

“You’ve been kissing, haven’t you?” She said gleefully “And you told me that he was your friend!”

“What!?” I said “How… no! He is my friend but… can’t you be both!?”

“Of course you can be both.” She said “So is that confirmation or what?” she continued. “You do like him?”

A thought struck me then: Had my dad told her about his plan? Was she aware of what was going down tomorrow.

“Have dad been in contact with you?” I asked.

“Don’t change the subject!” Dara exclaimed, but then answered my question anyway “He has, and I know all about everything about the wedding and whatever, but I don’t care about that. I care about how my brother is totally falling in love!”

“What do you mean you don’t care?” I asked “I’m getting married! Why wouldn’t you care?”

“Because it was bound to happen sooner or later.” Dara said “It’s not like people who are matched truly go their separate ways or stay as only friends! They get married, always.”

“Not always!” I protested, even though I had never heard of anybody who hadn’t married their match. Some may wait a few years, but it happened anyway.

“Yes, always.” Dara said “But back to the falling in love-part, are you falling in love with him?”

“Dara!” Jiyong’s voice rang out from behind me “Leave the poor kid alone, will you?” he laughed “Do you really believe this is how you will get him to talk?”

“Well…” Dara said “No.”

“Great, so let’s leave it at that.” I said to which Dara faked being grumpy and walked in to the house.

“Thanks.” I said to Jiyong who looked amused.

“Don’t think I did that for free.” He said and as he passed me he added “I want all the details, or you’ll regret it.” He ruffled my hair even though I was taller than him.

“I can see why you two are matched.” I mumbled as I followed him in to the house.

Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to share all of these ‘details’ that night but instead was left alone. This made for a perfect opportunity to call Sehun and tell him all about my crazy day.

“So, base line:” Sehun said when I finished “You kissed the guy you like and… you’re getting married!?”

“Yes.” I said “If you want it to put it simple.”

“And I thought my day was eventful” Sehun said “and I only went to the park!”

“Yeah, it’s been pretty crazy.” I said “But good.”

“Hell yeah it’s been good!” Sehun said “Screw all those things about your dad, did you really kiss the guy you earlier didn’t even know how to feel about?”

“I did.” I said, and then I sighed, feeling totally like a girl who was gossiping with her best friend. “And do you know what? It was pretty nice.”

“I’m going to stop you right there.” Sehun said “I do not need to know details about your love life, never have and never will.”

“Fair enough.” I laughed. “But dude, just wait until your matching. It was like no other kiss before, totally messed with-“

“Hey, hey, hey!” Sehun said “No details, remember?”

“Right, sorry.” I laughed, and I could tell that if Sehun knew I really needed to share details, he’d sit patiently and listen. We were always there for each other.

We were silent a short while before Sehun spoke.

“Are you nervous about tomorrow?” He asked, which I realized then that I was.
 

“Yes.” I said “But I’ve been told that all I need to do is read out the statement they’ll give me, and then just… propose.”

“Oh, only propose!” Sehun said “Then it’s nothing!” his words dripped with sarcasm, but then he became more honest “To be frank, dude, this is a really big thing. Not only with all of the reporters there, but this whole ordeal. You’re really getting married?”

“I am.” I said “I figured that it probably would happen sooner or later, right?”

“Probably.” Sehun said “But I don’t want you to be going too fast in to this and then regret later. I’m concerned about you, okay?”

“Thanks.” I said “But I’ve thought this through. And also, it will save me a lot of wedding hassle in the future.”

“Okay, bro.” Sehun said “Just looking out for you.”

“I know.”

Baekhyun

“HYUNG!” My brother called as soon as I entered the house. “THANK GOD!”

“Wha-“ I began but then looked down as I untied my shoes and instantly knew why my brother was freaking out. I saw three pair of shoes there that I recognized all too well.

I had only the chance to put down my own shoes and look up before I was hurled to the floor in a big hug.

“Baekhyun~” Came Jongin’s honeyed voice as he held me down to the floor “I’ve missed you so so soooo much!”

“Hey, Jongin,” I said, barely able to breath “Can you… get off me?”

“Oh!” he said, seemingly only then realizing what he was doing. He sat up, taking hold of my hand and bringing me up with him. “I can’t believe you hadn’t invited us over as soon as you got back!”

“I can.” Came Taehyun’s voice from the living room. My brother wasn’t a big fan of my friends, especially not Jongin since he had a way of being way too touchy with people he liked, which included me and my brother, as well as the rest of my closest friends.

“Maybe he’s been too busy being a star?” Kyungsoo’s voice came from behind Jongin and I turned slightly so I could see both him and Jongdae standing there, both with a grin on their faces.

“Or perhaps too busy being in looove?” Jongdae said “I knew I was!”

“Hey, don’t go bragging about your girlfriend again!” Kyungsoo said “Some of us have to wait two months more.”

“At least you don’t have to wait alone!” Jongin chipped in, throwing his hand over Kyungsoo’s lesser frame. The two of them had gotten the same date for their matching and were hyped to go together. It wasn’t too unusual for friends to get the same date, especially not when they were the same age. Sometimes, you could even request it and the government would grant it if possible.

“What are you guys doing here?” I asked, finally getting my voice back.

“We’re here to listen to you, of course!” Jongin said “Listen while you tell us everything about this Chanyeol-guy you’ve been matched with.”

“Yeah!” Kyungsoo said “You barely talked to us while you were away and now when you’re home we hear nothing from you, what’s up with that?”

“Sorry,” I said, feeling a little bad for them “I have been a bit busy with other things.” I said apologetically.

“Oh, we know.” Jongdae said “You’ve been in the papers. And words have it, you’ll do some kind of press conference tomorrow?”

“About that…” I said, then stopped myself and called out to my brother “Is mom and dad home, Taehyung?”

“No, why?” He called back from the living room and I gestured for my three best friends to come along with me. They followed, Jongin planting himself as close to my brother as possible as we all sat down in the sofas. He knew Taehyung hated it and did it just to spite him.

“Get away from me!” My brother cried out but Jongin threw his arms around him to keep him from running away.

“Come on!” He said to my brother “Soon, I will get matched with someone and I will give them all my love! You should be treasuring the little time you have left with me!”

“Hyuuuung!” Taehyung complained to me, but it was Kyungsoo who intervened instead.

“Leave the kid alone, Jongin.” He sighed, to which Jongin pouted but did as he was told, to Taehyung’s big relief.

“Are we gonna get the story now?” Jongdae asked me.

“Maybe some other day, I have more pressing things to tell you.” I said to which they all shut up and looked to me. I must have sounded more serious than I had intended because they all got a really serious expression on their faces.

“Tomorrow, me and Chanyeol will hold a press conference,” I said “and during this press conference, he will propose to me.” Jongin let out a gasp while the others simply looked stunned until they composed themselves enough to ask questions.

“Not to get you down,” Kyungsoo said “but with you knowing that he will propose, will that not defeat the whole purpose? Isn’t it supposed to be a surprise?”

“No,” I said “because we’re kind of getting married to calm down all the bad rumors, so we’ve already discussed this.”

“What?” Jongin asked “That’s not romantic at all, man. I had higher hopes for you!”

“I hate to say this, but I agree with the moron.” My brother said to which Jongin smiled broadly.

“Maybe not.” I said, then broke out a smile “but I’ve thought about it and I know that it would have happened sooner or later, and if it’s sooner there will be many positive side effects as well.”

“I’ll support you no matter what.” Jongdae said “If it had been up to me, I would have married May as soon as we got back home.”

“We know…” Jongin and Kyungsoo sighed. We’d heard about Jongdae’s girlfriend way too much by this point that we knew exactly what he was going to say whenever he started talking about her. He never talked about anything else besides her nowadays.

“I’m just saying,” Jongdae continued “So long as you love him, I don’t care if you were to marry him today or in five years, no matter what the circumstances around it were.”

“You do love him, right?” Kyungsoo asked then.

“I-“ I began, but Taehyun interrupted me.

“He totally does,” he said “but he just can’t realize it himself.”

“How adorable!” Jongin exclaimed.

“I can talk for myself, thank you very much.” I told my brother off. “And to answer your question, I… well, I do like him…”

“Have you kissed him yet?” Jongin asked to which I blushed.

“Jongin!” Jongdae said “Have more tact.

“Or maybe you’ve already had ?” Jongin said “If not, I’ll tell you now, Baekhyun, gay is the best.”

“I do NOT need to hear this.” Taehyung said, putting his hands over his ears.

“Neither does we,” Jongdae said. Jongin’s dalliances were well known in our little group by now, our friend being even more touchy with people that found him as interesting as he found everyone else. He was the type of guy that if you showed him any interest in doing something racy, he’d be up for it.

I heard a car turn in to the driveway then and guessed it was my parents coming back from wherever they’d been.

“Guys,” I said, getting their focus back “It’s important that what I’ve told you stays between us. I don’t want my parents to know that we’ve arranged things beforehand, and if the press gets to know, it won’t be pretty. So please,” I put up my finger to my mouth and pretended to draw it shut, lock it and throw away the key. To my delight, the others mimicked the gesture and like that, the five of us had made a small pact.

It felt good to know that these four people would have my back whenever. I knew that I could always speak to my brother if I wanted to, and my three friends would also never deny me their support. I loved them all incredibly much for that. Tomorrow would be a strange day, but I knew that with them at my back, and Chanyeol smiling at me, holding my had along the way, I knew I would be alright. 




A/N
So I'm baaaaack~ I hope this chapter made up for my abstence and also for the long wait we've all been in! Finally, they kissed, yaaay! *Does a happy dance* I almost didn't have them kiss in this chapter but then I was like "You've written eleven chapters, come on, let them kiss for F* sake! 

As you ahave noticed, I'm not able to update very often but rest assure, I will NOT abandon a story so no need to worry, even though I might not have updated in a while! I will finish every story I start, that's just how it is! I refuse to be like one of those cruel writers who abandon a story and there you are like: but... but... WHAT HAPPENED!? I hate it when that happens T__T

Love you lots, byeeee~ xx