For quite a while, Baekhyun always imagined that Chanyeol was completely out of his reach. It was almost as if Chanyeol were an angel who had come down from the heavens to bless him, but untouchable. Wherever her was, he always seemed to radiate the sun, from his smile to his enthusiastic eyes. The fact that Chanyeol chose to spend time with him when he saw beautiful people everyday was a miracle in and of itself. However, Baekhyun realized that Chanyeol was just as human as he was.

One night, Chanyeol knocked on Baekhyun’s door rapidly and barely even waited for Baekhyun to properly let him in before showing himself through and flopping on the couch. Baekhyun hurried over ad noticed Chanyeol’s bloodshot eyes. He reeked of alcohol and cigarettes. Baekhyun noticed a bit of ash wiped on his pants.

"Chanyeol, what happened?"

Chanyeol shook his head, tears forming in his eyes. He put his elbows on his knees and propped his head in his hands. A shudder ran across his back and Baekhyun heard a quiet sob. Baekhyun felt his heart clench. Seeing Chanyeol in such a state was strange. The happy-go-lucky person he knew was replaced with someone completely broken. It was at this moment when Baekhyun realized that he hadn’t been aware of Chanyeol’s emotional state. He was so wrapped up in himself and what he was feeling that he never asked how Chanyeol was doing. A wave of guilt washed over Baekhyun.

For a while, Baekhyun’s apartment was filled with quite sobs. At some point, Baekhyun grabbed a box of tissues and the trashcan and a cup of tea. Chanyeol didn’t say a word the whole time and just gave Baekhyun a sad smile in thanks for his silent support. Over time, Chanyeol calmed down, but every time he wanted to talk, he would open his mouth but the words would be caught in his throat. Baekhyun would then tell him to take his time.

"I’m sorry about this…" Chanyeol whispered.

"It’s fine, really. We all have those days."

Chanyeol laughed softly and leaned back on the couch. "This isn’t a state that I wanted you to see me in, but yet here we are."

Baekhyun shrugged. "I mean, inevitable."

Chanyeol leaned his head on Baekhyun’s shoulder. "Sorry I smell bad. I usually don’t smoke. I broke that habit before college ended, but tonight… I just… needed to."

"It’s understandable."

"You’re too kind, Baekhyun."

"Everyone has those days, Chanyeol." Baekhyun gently patted Chanyeol’s knee and before he could take away his hand, Chanyeol took it in his own and squeezed it before letting it fall back into his lap.

A comfortable silence settled over the two as they sat there. Baekhyun was soothed by the rhythm of Chanyeol’s breathing and the warmth of Chanyeol’s bigger hand cradling his. Outside it started to rain. The pitter-patter of droplets on the windows set a soothing mood. Eventually, Baekhyun noticed that Chanyeol’s head dropped a little more and the grip of his hand loosened. He was asleep. Baekhyun wasn’t sure what to do. He didn’t want to get up, but they way they were sitting made his skin tingle.

Baekhyun shifted a little, hoping to get into a better position, but it woke Chanyeol who raised his head and looked Baekhyun directly in the eyes. Baekhyun averted his own gaze, suddenly acutely aware of every body part and how they moved.

"Do you wanna use the bed?" Baekhyun asked quietly.

Suddenly Chanyeol’s phone rang and he sat upright. He fished the buzzing device from his pocket and lifted it to his ear, "Hello?"

Baekhyun couldn’t hear what was on the other end. Just sounded like a garbled mess. Chanyeol nodded and bit his thumb nail. When he was done, he let out an exasperated sigh and tossed his phone to the other side of the couch. Then he put his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands.

"I have to go." Chanyeol stood up and lifted his coat from the chair.

"What’s wrong?"

"It’s nothing to worry about. Just some stuff at the studio." Chanyeol smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. The dark circles were more prominent than before and the sparkle left his eyes.

Baekhyun’s heart lurched. He wanted to comfort Chanyeol, to make him feel happy and to have him laughing and smiling like usual. But Baekhyun knows very well that it’s not that easy. If it were, his life would have been infinitely easier. Instead, he opted for a gentle pat on the back as he let Chanyeol out. Before leaving, Chanyeol pulled Baekhyun in for a tight hug, breathing deeply before just nodding and walking towards the stairs.

The following day, Baekhyun got a text from Chanyeol saying that he might not be over in the next few days. Baekhyun frowned. How strange. Usually Chanyeol would give a paragraph long explanation as to why he couldn’t do something, but this time it was a short, one line text. A few options went through Baekhyun’s mind. The first was that Chanyeol was getting bored of Baekhyun and that hanging out together wasn’t fun anymore. Baekhyun shook that thought from his head. If that were the case, then Chanyeol wouldn’t have come knocking on his door last night and wouldn’t have hugged him before leaving. The second option was that there were some family matters that were affecting Chanyeol to the point where he didn’t feel comfortable sharing them with Baekhyun. The third was that it was most likely work related. He wasn’t sure what the life of a photographer was like, especially since it seemed that Chanyeol was high status. He knew that even being a part time model for the company Chanyeol worked for was time consuming, so much so that Baekhyun was recieving angry texts and calls from his editor.

Baekhyun opened up his laptop and scrolled through the emails he neglected to check over the past few days. There were about two hundred of them. A good portion of them were from his editor trying to get him to respond or come to some meeting. Baekhyun sighed. He knew he shouldn’t get so caught up in doing the modeling and such with Chanyeol. It was only a part time deal, whereas writing was his career. He needed to get back on track. Since Chanyeol wouldn’t be around for the next few days, Baekhyun decided it was the perfect opportunity to do exactly that.

One long, angry phone call with his editor, two hundred emails, and thirty minutes planning out a writing schedule later, Baekhyun was set for the next month. On top of that, he worked in the vocal lessons and possible photoshoot dates sent from Jack. 

Baekhyun sat back in his chair and stretched. He hadn’t felt this productive in a long time. It was a good feeling. Whenever he felt he was having a particularly crappy day, getting his life together really set him at ease. Recently, he had been so captivated by Chanyeol and everything about him that he completely neglected his own life. Not that it was necessarily an issue that Baekhyun got to see such a wonderful human being everyday, but he did have a life outside of his love endeavors. He needed to figure out how to balance social and work. Ever since he could remember, he always had this issue. In high school, he had a few friends, but no good friends because he got so caught up in his schoolwork that he kind of forgot that they were his friends. They, on the other hand, were busy socializing and schoolwork always came second for them, so it wasn’t that much of an issue that Baekhyun never had good friends to hang out with. 

The issue came in college. He thought that he should spend his high school years studying to get into a good college for writing and language, and when he was in college, he could spend that time socializing a bit more and making new friends. That was the complete opposite. He had found himself falling back into the same pattern he did in high school. This time it was staying up past midnight to write an essay, read a book, and do the other homework for his general education classes. 

Being an adult now, he found that although he had more time on his hands, he didn’t really know how to go out and make friends. He was a writer, so he liked to stay in his apartment and the only other times he would go out was to Starbucks for a change of scenery if nothing was coming to his head for the next chapter. Heck, he barely even remebered how he ever even got Chanyeol as a friend. 

Thinking back on it, Chanyeol’s persitency was the reason. When they first met in Starbucks that one time, Baekhyun thoguth it would be the only time that one, he would meet such a handsome guy who wanted to speak to him, and two, that would want to see him the next day. It was such a strange encounter, too. They had met when Chanyeol needed to take a piss. Baekhyun chuckled to himself. Over time, Chanyeol grew on him along with Baekhyun’s massive crush on him. Baekhyun found himself more conscious of every move he made, every word he said, and every action he took. Time has really gone by quickly, he thought to himself. 

In the midst of his thoughts, he felt his cat brush up against his legs. He leaned down and scratched behind the cat’s ears before getting up and refilling the food bowl. Baekhyun knew his cat didn’t really want to be affection. He was truly just a fat cat wanting some food.

---

A week went by with barely any contact with Chanyeol. Baekhyun texted a few times to check in, but didn’t get more than a one sentence reply. The small voice in the back of his head kept telling him that Chanyeol didn’t like him any more. Chanyeol was out having fun with others and couldn’t be bothered to text back. Baekhyun kept shoving those thoughts aside. Chanyeol wasn’t that kind of person. He was honest and kind. Something serious must be happening that would make him not want to reply to texts. Baekhyun tried to keep himself from falling into a mindset of self pity and doubt. So, looking at his schedule, he decided to go to Starbucks and get some coffee before heading off to meet with Jack to talk about more planning.

Baekhyun checked the map on his phone and then looked at the restaurant. It was called "The Golden Elephant" and apparently was a phenomenal Indian place, though Baekhyun didn’t have much to compare it to since he never ate Indian food. Through the windows, he could see Jack sitting at a table scrolling through his phone and then answering a call. Baekhyun slipped his own phone in his pocket and headed it. 

By the time he got in, Jackw as already done with the phone call and smiled at Baekhyun as he sat down.

"Baekhyun! How are you? I feel like we haven’t talked in ages." Jack leaned forward in his chair, waiting for a response.

"I’m doing well. Been catching up on some writing. Otherwise my editor will give me hell."

Jack chuckled. "That’s good to hear. Seems like everything is swell. How’s Chanyeol?"

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow. "I was going to ask you the samet thing. He hasn’t really been texting me the past few days, so I assumed it was all work related. It seems you’re just as clueless as I am, though."

"I think it’s family related."

Baekhyun frowned, only now realizing that he had no idea about Chanyeol’s family. They never had a conversation like that, and it didn’t even occur to him that it was even that important. His family was pretty plain. His mother was kind, but also stern when she needed to get a message across. His dad kind of sat back and was relaxed and was indifferent about most things unless it’s acting. His older brother, on the other hand, is pretty rowdy. He was the partier. High school and college were spent going to social events and getting to know people. Baekhyun was pretty envious of his older brother. 

"I have no idea what his family is like." Baekhyun said, looking off behind Jack.

"I don’t know much either, but I do know that his relationship with his parents is pretty bad. They wanted him to major in economics and business, I think. Chanyeol wanted to do photography, though. It’s clear that Chanyeol got his way, but it probably made his parents very upset." Jack shrugged. "Anyway, let’s get to  our business and order some good food." He waved a waiter over and began ordering. 

After eating and discussing scheduling, Jack pulled out his cellphone and began to search sometimes. As he was doing so, he asked Baekhyun, "You want to come to a party tonight? Starts at 8."

"A party?"

"Yeah, there isn’t really a reason for it. One of my coworkers decided we had been working hard enough and deserved a celebration."

"Uh…"

"You don’t have come. But it’ll be fun. Just think about all the snacks."

Baekhyun laughed, "That’s a good point… but I still don’t know..."

"Well," Jack said, getting up, "I’ll send you the address and if you change your mind, just send me a text."

"Sounds good."

The two smiled at each other, shook hands, and then went their separate ways out of the restaurant.

—

Baekhyun stared at the clock. It was 7:00pm. He had been sitting at his laptop for the past three hours barely getting any work done. The steam he had at the beginning of his week was starting to run out. At this point, he was trying to do anything that would distract him from the almost empty page. He went back and forth between watching videos, a tv show, or picking a new song to listen to. He scrolled through his Instagram feed more than a few times, liking the same pictures for the fifth time that day. 

At 7:30pm, he recieved a text from Jack, asking if he still wanted to come to the party. Jack was about to leave the house and could pick Baekhyun up on the way. Baekhyun thought for a moment, then replied with a "Yes." If he had time to be bored, he had time to eat snacks and not socialize with some music and people. 

He stood up from his chair and quickly went to change into something more suitable. He chose a black bomber jacket on top of a white t-shirt and black jeans. As he was leaving his room, he picked up a black hat and put it on top of his unsightly hair. If part-time modeling taught him anything, it was casual fashion and how to make it look like you actually care about what you wear. In honesty, Baekhyun could have easily put on a pair of sweats or mismatching socks and it wouldn’t have made a difference to him, but he knew that everyone at that party would be fashionable and he wasn’t going to be the one that stuck out like a sore thumb. 

Jack came to pick him up at 7:45pm and they arrived at the party just before 8pm. 

The venue was held in an underground bar of somesort. It seemed pretty sketchy from the outside, but inside, it was quite clean. There was a stage at the right end, some tables around the edges, and a bar on the left side. The food table stretched along the far wall. Many people were already dancing and the DJ seemed to be having a blast up on stage. Baekhyun looked around more and found he was right. Compared to him, they were dressed so much better than him. Some of the females were wearing impossibly tall pumps, men wore jewelry and layered jackets and sweaters. Even Jack was weraing a casual button down with a sweater and a few jackets layered on top and sneakers that looked more expensive than Baekhyun’s whole apartment. Baekhyun was the least conspicuous one, and that was good. That meant he could steal as much food as he desired without being noticed.

Baekhyun nudged Jack, "I’m gonna go check out the food." Jack nodded and was quickly swept away by most likely his coworkers.

As Baekhyun made his way to the buffet, he was stopped by someone grabbing his arm. He turned around to find his stylist, Sehun standing there in a huge red jacket that fell off his shoulders, a dark blue tank top, glasses, and a choker. This time, his hair was black. Baekhyun had to do a double take, just to make sure.

"Sehun?"

"Hey, Baekhyun. Have you seen a girl, like this tall," he motioned to his shoulder, "wearing basically a blue tutu?"

"No? But I’ll let you know if I see her."

"Thanks. She’s almost thirty and as hyper as ever."

"Your girlfriend?"

Sehun raised his eyebrows. "That’s really funny Baekhyun. She’s my older cousin and even if she weren’t a relative, she is 100% not my type at all."

"Oh, well, good luck finding her."

"Thanks." Sehun patted Baekhyun’s arm. "And if you’re looking for Chanyeol, he walked in a minute ago." Sehun then disappeared into the crowd.

Tried to look over the heads of everyone. Chanyeol couldn’t be that hard to find. He was probably one of the tallest ones there minus Sehun and his hair was red. Baekhyun was proved wrong when he realized that there were a bunch of tall people, both guys and girls, with similar haircuts and color to Chanyeol’s. He eventually gave up and made his way to the snacks.

Displayed on the table were various things. They ranged from chicken nuggest and fries to ice creams and cakes. Baekhyun almost drooled. He quickly grabbed a plate and began filling it with as much as he could. Once he was done, he had a colorful array of vegetables, meats, and sweets. He grabbed a fork from the table and proceeded to dig into it. He only stopped when he heard a familiar laugh from behind him. He stopped eating and turned around to find Chanyeol standing there in a baby blue, pin-striped button down and navy blue slacks that nicely hugged his legs. Baekhyun looked up at Chanyeol’s hair and realized why he hadn’t spotted Chanyeol right away. It was because Chanyeol’s hair was a dark brown, nicely cut and styled back. He looked like a CEO of a massive company and was absolutely gorgeous.

Baekhyun gulped his bite and looked anywhere but Chanyeol, “Your hair…”

Chanyeol frowned and ruffed it up a bit. “Weird, right? I had to dye it back to my natural color.”

“Oh. I see.” Baekhyun stared at his food. He didn’t know what to say. They hadn’t talked for a whole week and suddenly he forgot how to talk to Chanyeol. 

“How have you been this past week?”

“Good. Got some work done.”

“That’s good. Sorry I haven’t been texting lately. I was dealing with some family business and my mother would’ve murdered me if I was on it. She even confiscated it at night for some unkown reason.” Chanyeol sighed. When he did, Baekhyun realized how exhausted he looked. There were bags under his eyes.

“You look tired.”

Chanyeol laughed tiredly. “Just a little. I returned from visiting family to here.”

“Why didn’t you go home?”

“Jack told me you’d be here, and I wanted to see how you were doing.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened. “See how I was doing? Chanyeol, you have to take care of yourself.”

“I know, but… I had a rough time with my family. Seeing you is a comfort, not an empty apartment.”

Baekhyun didn’t know how to respond to that. His heart fluttered and he tried to suppress a smile. “Well, now that we’ve talked, you should get going.” Baekhyun started leading Chanyeol to the door with his free hand. 

“Are you staying at this party?” Chanyeol asked as they reached the door. 

“I’m here for the food, but I don’t know how long I’ll stay.”

Chanyeol hummed. “What if you got another plate and came over instead.”

Baekhyun almost dropped his plate of food. Going to Chanyeol’s apartment? He didn’t know why, but it was definitely different from Chanyeol coming to his place. He wondered what it looked like. Was it big? Small? Was it decorated with paintings, posters, or was it sleek and clean?

“I… I guess so.” 

“I’ll drive the car up while you grab another one.”

“Okay…” Baekhyun smiled, ducked his head and rushed back to the buffet table. His heart was beating a million miles an hour as he filled his plate with more food. He would need a lot of chocolate to keep himself from going insane, so he grabbed cookies and cake. As he was filling up on cake, Sehun approached him with a small, beautiful girl in tow.

“Baek! Hi — wow that’s a lot of food — meet my cousin, Oh Mina.” 

“Sehun he is so much cuter than what you told me!”

“I’m bad at describing people, sorry.” Sehun scratched his head.

“Yeah, kind of.”

“Mina, it’s nice to meet you. I would love to stay and chat, but I have to go.”

“But you got here like ten minutes ago.” Sehun frowned. 

“I gotta get Chanyeol home. He’s really tired and honestly looks like he’s gonna collapse.”

“Park Chanyeol?” Mina interjected.

“Yes…?”

Suddenly the mood turned sour.

“Sehun, you didn’t tell me that…” Mina made eyes at her cousin and Sehun looked like he wanted to shrink in his coat and disappear.

“I didn’t think it was important.”

“You didn’t…? God I hate you sometimes.” Mina huffed and rolled her eyes. Now she didn’t look at Baekhyun and instead turned away. Sehun mouthed a quick sorry before dragging Mina away.

Baekhyun stood there for a moment, not sure what to make of that whole conversation. It seemed that Mina and Chanyeol had some sort of history, and Baekhyun was a little curious. At the same time, something must have gone wrong and it made Baekhyun wonder about Chanyeol’s dating history. He quickly shook the thoughts off and made his way to the door. It doesn’t matter what Chanyeol’s dating history was. The person he was back then is not a reflection of who he is now. All that mattered right now was Baekhyun going to see Chanyeol house.

A/N: I wrote way more than I expected holy moly. I have a better view of how this story is going. I can't wait to keep writing it. I hope you like this chapter. If you do, don't forget to comment and tell me what you think.

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