It was our third day on the road.

Of course, the waking up part had been rather hard that morning. My muscles ached because of the last night’s training as well as the lack of sleep. I was drained both physically and mentally. All I wished was to stay in bed, head hidden under the blanket, so I could sleep for days and days without interruption. Of course, Baekhyun wouldn’t be very pleased with the idea. He had to force me out of bed by removing the blankets and threatening me “to throw a bucket of cold water at my damn face if I didn’t get my out of bed in the next five minutes.”

I complied rather quickly and after a few complaints and retorts well kept for myself, I was up, dressed and ready to go. Baekhyun was one that seemed not to be joking around and I guessed he really would follow his words if necessary. I preferred not to play with his mood and simply did as told, fearing the freezing shower.

I sat in the car with a loud sigh and rested my head on the window as I heard Baekhyun start the engine. He left the parking lot without a word and we were quickly back on the highway for another 10 hours or so of the incredibly long ride. I watched absent-mindedly as the car sped up, leaving behind us only the memory of our presence. I closed my eyes after a while, wishing to rest some more.

“Do you really not know when we’ll get there?” I asked with a sleepy voice, keeping my eyes closed. The vehicle stayed quiet for a little until Baekhyun spoke.

“Well, I was only told how to get to the coast, not how much time it would take to get there. We’re getting close, I think, though. If we don’t arrive tonight, it’ll probably be tomorrow. Or maybe after tomorrow, I have no idea.” He explained and I sighed.

“Alright..” I mumbled, feeling exhaustion get to me again and before I even realized it, I fell asleep against the window.

When I woke up, Baekhyun wasn’t on the highway anymore. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around, noticing we were in some city and I frowned a bit. The other was seemingly searching for something until he smiled and turned to enter the parking lot of a small group of restaurants. The car came to a stop and I saw the sign of a sushi restaurant.

“Sushi? Really?” I asked and looked at the clock on the radio. It was already noon. Had I slept this much? At least I felt a bit less tired now, and since I didn’t have any breakfast, the idea of sushi made my stomach growl.

Baekhyun stopped the engine and took his wallet on the back seat. “I’m getting tired of always eating on the go. And, since we didn’t have any bad for a while, I guess taking our time to eat could be more fun than stopping to a drive-thru like we always do. Plus, I’m really in need of sushi.” He said before getting out of the car and I followed him, a frown still lingering on my features.

“Well, not to break your bubble or anything, but someone here doesn’t have a huge bank account and would prefer something less… expensive.”

“Who said you’d need to pay? Don’t worry, I got you.”

My eyes widened in shock and I followed him more closely. “What? No no no no you’re no-” Baekhyun interrupted me with a sigh, raising his hands in the air to stop me.

“Come on, just this time, ok? Your wallet took a hard hit yesterday, so let me do this for you? I mean, if you don’t want to, you can just go wait for me in the car while I eat those delicious and well-deserved sushi. It’s your choice.” Baekhyun said with a shrug and I groaned.

I couldn’t simply wait in the car knowing he was eating sushi. No way.

He opened the door to the restaurant and motioned me to walk in, his arrogant smile making me groan again as I passed the door, mumbling a small ‘thank you’ since even though he wasn’t being nice about it, he was still paying for my sushi.

We were brought to a table with the menus and I my lips, feeling my stomach growl some more as I checked up all the choices. I always had a thing for sushi, and since Baekhyun was paying for me, I guessed I could give myself a little treat… It surely wouldn’t hurt anyone.

We ordered after a while, Baekhyun’s brow raising slightly as I gave my paper to the lady. He probably noticed how many I ordered and when our eyes met I simply smiled at him.  He chuckled dryly at that and rested his chin in his hand, staring back at me. I looked away and tapped on my thighs with my hands, trying my best to think about something else than Baekhyun staring at me with that smile of his so I wouldn’t have to find an excuse as to why I was blushing.

We both stayed quiet for a while, the silence filling our table. It felt like the whole restaurant was quiet, yet all the other customers at the occupied tables chatted actively. I looked around, observing the various decorations of the place. My eyes caught the big aquarium and I smiled a bit, looking at all the fishes swimming actively. There was at least one of every color in there.

I continued looking around until I saw Baekhyun still staring at me with the corner of my eyes. I raised an eyebrow and locked eyes with him. He didn’t bulge at all, staring back at me. I couldn’t really figure what he was thinking about. His orbs were completely unreadable. I continued looking at his eyes, seeing the sparkles of yellow starting to shine. When he spoke, though, my concentration, just as the golden in his eyes, faded away.

“You know, if you keep staring at me like this, I might consider charging you.” He said, his voice nonchalant and another of his arrogant smile painting his face.

“Oh really now? And who has been staring at me since we arrived here? Where’s my money?” I asked him, stretching my hand to him, showing him my palm and waiting. He chuckled again and shook his head, leaning back on his chair with his arms crossed over his chest.

“I’m pretty sure you’re the one who’s been staring at me the most since I came to get you, though. Stop acting over it and just admit I’m your favorite in the group.”

I exaggerated a scoff at that, looking away and crossing my arms over my chest as well. There was nothing to answer to that. He would find a way to reword any of my replies to his advantage. What a brat. I watched as he his lips and smiled in victory. I decided to let him savor his success a bit more, looking around before leaning a bit closer to him.

“I don’t want to disappoint you, but Chanyeol has been my favorite since the beginning. I tend to fall for the big wolves, not the small poodles.”

I sent Baekhyun a wink before leaning on my chair again, watching in extreme satisfaction as his expression switched from proud to shocked and then to completely butthurt. It was very hard not to laugh at his face but I managed to control myself, smiling innocently at him.

“Harmful wolf my . Chanyeol can’t even shower alone.” Baekhyun mumbled quickly, probably more to himself than to me. I chuckled and stared at him as he looked down at the table, a small frown glued on his face. It was getting even harder not to burst out in laughter.

I noticed how he seemed to think for a while, probably reconsidering his offer to pay for my sushi. Or maybe he was realizing that he truly was a poodle sometimes. I couldn’t really know, but whatever it was, it soon flew away and I was brought back to reality when he way too abruptly changed the subject.

"Eh, anyways. Tell me more about yourself" Baekhyun asked me suddenly and I frowned a bit, finding the question rather odd. Especially after the edgy retort I just shot at him.

"And why do you want to know?"

Baekhyun shrugged, resting his chin in his palm once again, "Well it when you're stuck with someone you know nothing about for a really long time, no? And I figured you probably know some stuff about me, so it should be normal