Day 1 (The first evening)

It was late Sunday afternoon when Baekhyun was sure that his mother wasn’t just joking around with the honeymoon, since she was packing her luggage all day long. She was never the spontaneous type, so he was quite surprised to say at least. But that didn’t mean he disliked it. Two weeks alone.

Just him and Chanyeol. Yes, that sounded good. His secret acts of “body appreciation” would be much easier in that time. Looking at his handsome stepbrother was one of his new favorite things to do, but getting caught staring at him by his mother or - even worse – his stepfather, wasn’t something he wanted to happen.

That’s maybe why Baekhyun had a hard time, trying to not look too happy when his mother was leaving later that day. She and her newly-wed husband were taking their time to say their good byes however.

“I’ve put some food in the fridge, make sure to eat it. And don’t stay up too long, especially on school nights!”

“Mom.”

“Call me if something happens! I’m going to take my phone with me. And pick up when I call you!”

“Will do…” Baekhyun almost rolled his eyes.

“Don’t do anything stupid, okay? And good luck with your test. I know you’ll pass this time”

“…” And while a heavy sigh left his mouth, he couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes any longer.

“Yes, I love you too!” She gave him a last hug, and a quick glance at Chanyeol’s directions showed him, that Chanyeol had a similar conversation with his dad, or so it seemed. “I’ll call when we land! Be sure to pick up!”

“You’ve said that already like what? A thousand times?” Baekhyun eventually smiled, thinking that it was so typical of his mother to worry that much. “Have fun, okay? Just think about yourself for once, hmm?” His mom slowly nodded.

Baekhyun’s glance wandered to Chanyeol for a moment, and the other boy wasn’t in a better situation than he was. Finally, with a few more good byes the two of them took their suitcases and left for the airport.

Baekhyun took a relieved, long breath and ran his fingers through his smooth hair. The two boys stared at the closed door for a few seconds, before Baek turned to Chanyeol, “I thought they’d never leave.”

“2 weeks from now” The taller nodded, an adorable half smile on his lips. Baekhyun hoped that he would be able to see even more of those smiles the next days.

“Thank God. Let’s hope they won’t pass by too fast.”

Chanyeol agreed to that. “That’s why I’m not going to waste time. I’ll be in my room if you need me.”

Baekhyun felt a bit disappointed at that, but there was nothing he could say. ‘No, let me admire that nice body of yours a bit longer?’ Well, it wasn’t like he had nothing to do anyway. His driving test would be soon. His second try at that. And he absolutely didn’t plan to fail it again. Taking the test a third time? No thank you.

Being that lazy he was, it was his own fault to fail the theory part. Baekhyun knew that himself. This time though, he studied a lot more, and he was pretty confident that he would pass the written test…But he wasn’t sure if that was going to help him much. Unfortunately, driving wasn’t his specialty either.

‘Whatever’, Baekhyun thought as he was lying on the couch in the living room, with the workbook in his hands. ‘Better to what I can’.

---

An hour or so passed since Chanyeol was working on his song. He wasn’t too happy with it though. No matter what he did, no matter how he arranged it, it didn’t seem to sound right. He knew that Baekhyun liked to listen to music as well, so he decided to ask him for his opinion about it. Maybe he would give some honest feedback, which Chanyeol would appreciate very much. Baekhyun didn’t seem to be in his room, that’s why he made his way downstairs. He didn’t have to look for Baekhyun long, because as soon as he entered the living room, he saw his stepbrother sprawled out on the couch with a book resting flat on his face. Silent, steady snores were coming from underneath the pages.  

It made the tall boy smile to see Baekhyun sleeping like this. With slow steps he walked over to him, thenl squatted down beside him, only after he put the guitar on the table. He tried to make as little noise as possible doing so.  

Now he had to decide whether to leave Baekhyun be or to wake him up. It didn’t take him long to decide for the latter.  

He knocked on the book cover and Baekhyun let out a displeased moan instantly, trying to slap away Chanyeol’s hand, but he was far too slow to do so. “Nggh… Go away” he mumbled.

“Aww,” Chanyeol fake pitied him, “Shouldn’t you be studying?” He removed the book from Baek’s face, just do be able to look at his bothered expression. Chanyeol had to admit that his stepbrother looked cute with his brows knitted, his eyes tightly shut and his lips slightly parted.

Baekhyun quickly covered his face with his hands, though. “Why.” An almost angry groan escaped his mouth. “Why did you wake me up? I had a nice dream.” His muffled voice sounded deeper than usual and a bit scratchy. 

“You wanna go back to dram land or what??” Chanyeol played offended and threw the book on Baek’s stomach, which made the older boy wince in slight pain.

“Chanyeol”, he whined, but then he finally gave up and slowly sat up. He blinked a few times but his eyes needed some time to adjust to the light in the living room. The first thing he noticed was the guitar, which Chanyeol was picking up again at the very moment. “If you’re going to play me a lullaby I might will.” Baekhyun replied.

“A lullaby?” Chanyeol laughed and the next moment he was sitting beside Baekhyun, now that there was enough space. Without a second thought he started to play a few chords.

Baekhyun seemed to recognize the song in an instnt. “You’re kidding, right?”

Chanyeol just shrugged, before he was starting to sing the first part of the lyrics. “Tale as old as time~” 

“That’s not even a lullaby!” Baekhyun started to laugh. But it. It was a Disney song, he simply couldn’t stop himself from continuing it.

“True as it can be.” And he was continuing the first verse, not even the slightest bit embarrassed that he knew each and every word of it. When the “Beauty and a Beast” part came, Chanyeol tried his best to sing the second harmony. They eventually had to stop at that point, because both of them burst out laughing about themselves.  

Chanyeol calmed down first. “Oh my god, are you secretly a Disney Fanboy, Baekhyun?”

The older one shook his head, still grinning. “You’re one to talk.”

Chanyeol’s smile grew, but then his face got serious again.  “But seriously, I never realized you could sing… well… like that. I’m almost lost for words, and I’m not easily speechless.” It was true. Baekhyun’s voice control was unbelievable.  

Baekhyun shrugged. “Don’t exaggerate.”

“I mean, you didn’t sing much just now. But you sing like it’s the most natural thing for you.” He sounded impressed, “Why are you hiding such a talent? It’s such a waste.”

“I’m not hiding it. I just don’t like singing in front of others.”  

“There’s no reason to be insecure about your voice!” Chanyeol quickly answered.

“It’s not because I don’t have confidence in my voice.” Baekhyun assured.

“So you’re saying that you know that your voice is bomb?”

Baekhyun sighed, but a grin spread on his lips nevertheless. “I’m just saying that I know I’m not half bad. And I really do love singing.” He paused for a moment there, before he added, “For myself.”

Chanyeol raised a brow, “…but why?”

“Just because.” Baekhyun made a pause, and watched at Chanyeol’s unsatisfied expression. “But thanks for the compliments anyway.” He didn’t give Chanyeol a chance to question him any further about it. That’s why he changed the subject quickly. “So what’s the reason for waking me up in the first place?”

Chanyeol was really curious about the whole thing, since Baek was making a big secret about it. It was obvious that there was a reason as to why Baekhyun acted that way. Maybe he experienced something embarrassing, while singing in front of others? Or maybe he really was just that insecure about himself, and just denied it. Baekhyun didn’t seem like the insecure person though.

It was pretty clear that Baek wouldn’t give him an answer that quickly, that’s why he eventually decided to let it go. For now. Sooner or later he would be able to make Baek talk about it.

“I actually wanted to hear your opinion about the song I’m working on right now… But I guess I’m not going to play it for you.” Chanyeol’s half smile was back, and Baekhyun thought he was going crazy. Unnecessarily handsome and bothersome stepbrother.   

“You’re even worse than a little kid.”

“I know.” Chanyeol answered. “No, but I just had some new ideas for the song… so wait just a little longer, and you’ll be the first one to hear it. Promise.”

Baekhyun’s eyes turned into crescents shapes, when he couldn’t hold back his own smile any longer. The two of them looked at each other for a moment or two, before the book on Baekhyun’s lap caught Chanyeol’s attention once again.

“Please tell me you’re planning to pass this time.”

Baekhyun looked at the book as well, and a deep sigh left his mouth. He slumped into the couch, before he threw the book on the table with a loud thud. “Since I started dreaming about that damn book and those stupid questions in it, I think I’ll pass the theory part.” He gave Chanyeol a side glance. “But the actual driving part is a whole nother story.” He mumbled, Chanyeol barely made out the words.

“It won’t be that bad, believe me.” Chanyeol patted Baekhyun’s shoulder in a comforting manner.

“It’s easy for you to say that. You already have your license.”

“Hmm…” Chanyeol stretched the sound a little while. He was thinking about how he was able to help his stepbrother. “Should I give you some driving lessons tomorrow?” He offered. “Maybe you’ll get used to it a bit more, so you don’t have to worry so much about it.”

“Is that even legal?” Baekhyun raised a brow, as well as the right corner of his mouth. “You don’t have your license that long either.”

Chanyeol laughed. “Do you actually care about that?”

“Not really, no.”

“Then let’s go for a drive tomorrow.” Chanyeol beamed, “But in exchange you’ll have to sing my song when it’s finished.”

Baekhyun didn’t need long to think about it. Singing in front of Chanyeol wasn’t so bad anyway. He was able to look at his pretty face while doing so, so why not?  And most of all, wasn’t it a big honor to sing something that nobody ever sung before? Something completely self-made by Chanyeol.

“Okay, deal.”