Baekhyun enters his house and takes off his shoes, hearing his mother briefly explaining her delicious muffin recipe. He smiles as suddenly the smell reaches him and envelops him warmly. It's been a while since his mother has made those.

"I'm home!" He announces cheerfully as he walks into the living room, eyes first meeting his mother's as she smiles. "Come sit with us." She says, and turns to introduce him to her guests.

His eyes then travel to the woman sitting on the sofa, a cup of some hot drink in her hand. He's about to bow and say hello when his sight lands on the boy sitting next to her. It takes him about 2 seconds to recognize the boy's face.

"Kris?"

"Baekhyun?"

They ask at the same time, confused expressions on both of their faces before they laugh and Kris gets up and moves forward to Baekhyun.

"Wait- you guys know each other?" Mrs. Byun asks.

Kris steps beside Baekhyun and turns slightly to Mrs. Byun. "You can say that." Kris answers first, his big fist hiding a shy smile. His reply seems to satisfy Baekhyun's mother and she doesn't ask anything more.

"Oh, that's so nice!" Kris' mother says. "Baekhyun, I heard so much about you from your mother, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." She giggles and looks at her friend. "You never mentioned he was so good-looking!"

"No," Baekhyun blushes and then bows. "Nice to meet you, Mrs. Wu"

"He has good manners, too!" She says. "Kris, what are you waiting for?" She jerks her head towards Baekhyun with a smirk and Baekhyun instantly blushes.

"Mom, please." Kris hisses in embarrassment and it seems to make both their mothers laugh even more.

"Alright, alright. Go hang out in Baekhyun's room. I need to talk here with my friend about some adult stuff." Mrs. Byun winks at Kris' mother.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes at his mother's lame attempt and leads Kris to his room.

"I had no idea you'd be here tonight." Baekhyun remarks as they go up the stairs, his body slightly turned to Kris' direction as he takes step after step up.

"I was just as surprised to see you here."

They reach Baekhyun's room's door and the smaller let them both in, turning on the light then smiling as Kris points at the chair, asking "Can I sit?" Baekhyun nods and the taller sits comfortably.

Baekhyun likes how Kris seems to not be so shy around him.

"So," Baekhyun pipes up as he sits on the front edge of his own bed.

"So," Kris repeats and they quickly find themselves sharing an awkward silence.

That is until Kris clears his voice and starts to talk, "Okay, let's just pretend we're on the first date we were supposed to have next week. I think it'll be much less awkward if we do that."

"Okay." Baekhyun nods.

"Do you want to go out on like, an actual date or like- you know, stay here?"

"Do you have a car here?"

Kris nods, "Yeah, my mom and I came in separate cars since I came from home and she was at work."

"Great! There's a nice restaurant not too far from here if you want." Baekhyun suggests.

Kris gets up. "Sure. Dinner's cool. Let's go."

"Umm, I need to change my clothes." Baekhyun explains, pointing at his casual outfit to reason.

Kris laughs. "You look just fine but okay, I'll be downstairs, then." And then he's out the door and Baekhyun closes it behind him.

He goes to his closet to choose a nicer outfit. After a few minutes of having a serious conflict with himself over whether he should wear his new buttoned white shirt or a simple but still appropriate t-shirt. He chooses the white button down shirt and changes into it along with a new pair of black jeans.

He pockets his wallet and hurriedly exits his room, taking the stairs two at a time.

-

"Wanna go for a walk?" Kyungsoo asks.

Jongin feels the inside of his belly doing swirls. Kyungsoo's question sounds much more intimidating that it should have. He answers a "Yes," anyway, because it's Kyungsoo and Jongin can’t say no to anything he says.

The night’s chilly air brushes against their faces and Jongin shivers slightly. They walk slowly, with no rush. Jongin likes it, and the weird feeling he got from Kyungsoo earlier is already forgotten.

They talk about this and that, or sometimes they just stay quiet for a few moments until one of them picks a new subject to talk about.

Jongin spots a park at the end of the street and smiles. "Hyung, let's go!" He pulls Kyungsoo by his wrists towards the park, letting go only to get on a swing. He throws his legs forward in the air and starts to fly back and forth on the swing.

Kyungsoo laughs at the sight. "You're so childish."

"What?" Jongin shouts.

"I said you're childish!"

"Why? It’s fun!" He pushes himself through the night air one last time before he lets the swing slow down to halt. "You should try it. It helps relieve stress."

"I'll pass."

Jongin pouts. "You're no fun." He mutters.

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and Jongin eyes him as he settles in the swing next to his, the smaller's feet barely touching the ground but enough to prevent the swinging motion.

"You know," Kyungsoo starts, eyes focused at the ground. Usually it's an act of shyness, but Kyungsoo still looks full of confidence in Jongin's eyes.  "I can read people quite well. I sometimes find myself staring at people, observing their actions and facial expressions. I was like that since I was a very young kid, even before first grade."

Jongin doesn’t know why Kyungsoo is telling him that, but he keeps quiet anyways and chooses not to question it for now. 

"In most cases you can learn about a person's personality or feelings a lot by doing that."

At this Jongin's eyes widen slightly and he gulps down his spit nervously. Does Kyungsoo know he likes him? What if Kyungsoo won't be his friend if he finds out Jongin really does have feelings towards him?

If that's the case, he understands why Kyungsoo chose to not look at him, and he's thankful for that. He feels his red-tinted cheeks getting warmer despite the cool weather.

Over the last year and a half Jongin has become so fond of his hyung that he doesn't know how he would survive without him. He knows he sounds obsessive and crazy, and maybe he is, but one thing's for sure- it's all Kyungsoo's effect.

Jongin is ready to learn to accept the fact that Kyungsoo will never like him back if it means they can still be friends.

"Jongin," Kyungsoo breaks Jongin's train of thought and the latter has a feeling Kyungsoo wants him to look at him. Nervous so much that he feels his palms start to sweat, he gathers enough courage to face his hyu