pairing: BaekChen
length: 1375 words

“Happy birthday again, Baekhyun!”

“Happy birthday, Baekhyun! Thanks for hosting!”

Junmyeon and Chanyeol both waved as they quietly stepped out of Baekhyun’s apartment, and headed down the hallway to the elevator.

As Baekhyun blearily walked over to his couch to reorganize the messy cushions, Jongdae softly asked, “Did you have fun today?”

“Yeah,” the newly thirty-two-year-old man answered with a sigh. “It’s always nice having people over and I haven’t had friends over since last summer, so this was fun.” The ends of Baekhyun’s thin lips quirked up in a lopsided smile as he noted, “I was surprised that people ended up staying late though.”

“I think Junmyeon planned on leaving after Minseok did, but then we all started talking more and he enjoyed the conversation, so he stayed,” Jongdae said as he watched Baekhyun lay down on the couch after tidying everything up.

The older male let out an exhausted sigh as he shifted to a more comfortable position on his side while Jongdae knelt down by the couch so that the two were face-to-face.

“You know, you can always tell us to leave when you get tired and want us gone,” Jongdae quietly reminded Baekhyun. “I always tell you to tell me when you want to kick me out.”

“No, it’s fine,” the older male replied, exhaustion lacing his tone after an entire day of cleaning and socializing. “It was fun. I just hope everyone else enjoyed hanging out tonight.”

Jongdae nodded, resting his right hand on the couch arm near Baekhyun’s face. “Don’t worry. They did. You did a great job hosting and taking care of all of us,” the younger male said, smiling tenderly.

“I get it from my mom,” Baekhyun sleepily said, causing Jongdae to chuckle softly. “She’s really good at hosting.”

“I know.” Jongdae wore a gentle smile as he proudly gazed at the other man. “You made sure everyone was comfortable and fed, and no one had to worry about anything.”

“I’m glad.” Baekhyun then let out a tiny snort as he commented, “As much as I love Junmyeon, he at hosting.”

“You were an awesome host tonight, so don’t worry about that at all,” Jongdae reassured the older male again, knowing that he was recalling the stress of having to cook all day and night at Junmyeon’s previous parties.

As much as their extroverted friend loved hosting parties, Junmyeon often invited too many people to fit inside his tiny one-bedroom apartment and focused more on conversing with his guests than organizing everything in an efficient manner. And Baekhyun, being the perfectionist that he was, usually bore the brunt of keeping things running in the background and providing high-quality food to uphold the reputation that had been bestowed upon him as a great chef within their friend group.

Even tonight, the charcuterie board that Baekhyun had prepared for his own birthday celebration had been pristine, elegant, and befitting a Michelin-star restaurant with the high-quality cheeses and meat cuts he had bought and arranged on a custom-made board gifted to him by his cousin. And Jongdae made sure he had eaten a good portion of the food, knowing that it was important to the older male that there were no leftovers to signify dissatisfaction on the guests’ end.

“You did a great job,” Jongdae reiterated once more. Then, upon seeing Baekhyun’s eyes gradually start to flutter shut, the younger male asked in an amused whisper, “Are you planning on sleeping on the couch tonight?”

“No,” Baekhyun answered with a loud yawn. “I’ll move to my bed soon.”

Jongdae nodded as he began standing up. “Alright, then I’ll order my Uber now and—”

A slender hand suddenly grasped his, halting the younger male in his tracks.

“Baekhyun, what’re you—”

“Stay.”

And that single word was enough to cause Jongdae’s knees to buckle and bring him back down to the ground, kneeling next to the couch again. “But, Baekhyun…it’s almost five in the morning,” the younger male weakly pointed out, unable to pull away.

Baekhyun only let out a noncommittal grunt in response.

“Don’t you have a script to finish writing tomorrow?”

“It’s fine. I’ll work on it when I wake up,” Baekhyun carelessly answered.

Jongdae didn’t look convinced, but the selfish part of him also didn’t want to press the Confirm button to order his ride-share. “When is it due?” he asked, the logical part of his brain still taking the lead. But just barely.

“End of today, but it’s fine. As long as I send it in before midnight, it’ll be okay. I’ll just explain that I had a fan-sign on Saturday, so I needed a few extra hours.”

“I don’t want you to get in trouble though,” Jongdae whispered, his fingers outstretched and ghosting over Baekhyun’s cheek.

“I promise I won’t get in trouble,” the older male said, slightly cracking open one eye to blearily look at Jongdae, who was biting down on his lower lip, clearly torn on his decision.

Then, a loud meow sounded from the side of the couch and both men swiveled their heads towards the black cat perched on the ground, bright blue eyes blinking owlishly.

Baekhyun let out a soft chuckle before resting his cheek against Jongdae’s hand and saying, “See? Even Kuro wants you to stay. Don’t you always say how you want her to let you hold her? If you stay, you two can bond more.”

“Now you’re just getting my hopes up, Byun Baekhyun,” Jongdae said in mock exasperation as he tenderly caressed the older male’s face.

Baekhyun chuckled again, not even bothering to deny his motives. Then, his voice dropped an octave as he quietly asked again, “Please stay?” There was a slight pause before he added, “It can be my birthday gift.”

“The One Piece blind box and the face masks weren’t enough?” the younger male reminded him with an amused smile. “You even won the Robin light that you wanted.”

Baekhyun cutely pouted. “So you should help me set it up.”

The longer Jongdae looked at the older male’s face, the quicker he could feel his already weak resolve dissipating. “What’s in it for me?” the younger male asked, matching Baekhyun’s low tone.

“I’ll make you breakfast tomorrow. It’ll be the best homemade breakfast you’ve ever had.”

Jongdae raised an eyebrow while trying­—but utterly failing—to ignore the speed at which his heart was beating within his chest. And he knew that Baekhyun could sense his resistance steadily crumbling away.

After all, this was always what Jongdae wanted for ages.

To be wanted by Baekhyun. To be needed by Baekhyun.

To be by Baekhyun’s side, the two of them, in the calm and comfort that the older male’s ambient apartment provided.

It was almost…to good to be true. That Baekhyun was asking him, right here and right now, to stay.

“If you leave in an Uber now, I won’t be able to fall asleep until I know you got home safely,” Baekhyun continued, yawning loudly again. “And…I’m so…tired now…”

“C’mon, you should get to bed before you fall asleep here.”

Baekhyun let out a long sigh as he tiredly pushed himself upright and stood up from the couch.

Jongdae carefully held his arms to keep the older male from toppling over from exhaustion and led Baekhyun to his bedroom. After gently leading him onto the bed, Jongdae was about to head back out until he felt those same thin fingers wrap around his wrist once again.

“You… You’re really not going to stay?”

There was a sharp intake of breath as Jongdae looked back at Baekhyun, whose eyes were now wide open and staring straight at him. Longingly. Pleadingly.

And, in Jongdae’s delusion mind, lovingly.

That was all it took to break the final thread of restraint in half.

Ten minutes later, after both of them had washed up and changed into pajamas—Baekhyun had dug out an extra pair for Jongdae to borrow­—both men were snuggled under the blankets with Kuro taking her usual spot on the floor by the mirror next to the bed.

And there were peaceful, joyful smiles on both of their faces as the pair finally drifted off to dreamland, arms loosely draped around each other.

♈♈♈