Taeyeon sighs in content as she enters her room, a towel around her neck, pushing some strands of still damp, dark hair out of her face. She plops down on her bed with a sigh, stretching on the mattress and soaking in the fresh smell of her sheets. She’s given her all for the last day of her concert in Seoul and, while she’s buzzing with excitement at the prospect of meeting fans from all over Asia, starting with the Taiwanese ones in a couple of days, right now she wants nothing more than to relax.

The dorm is quiet. She doesn’t know whether the other girls are asleep or not, though them being already far off in dreamland at barely midnight is pretty unlikely, but even if they were still up Taeyeon is sure they wouldn’t ask her to join them. She loves them for it. No one knows the effects of that post-concert euphoria as well as they do, that strange mix of happiness, melancholy and pure exhaustion twined deep in mind and bones, and Taeyeon is nothing but grateful that they’re letting her as much space as she needs to deal with it herself. She couldn’t wish for a better family.

Her phone screen lights up, the screen saver blocked by a myriad of Instagram notifications. She smiles at all the videos her account is tagged to, some captions easily readable while others are a mess of English, caps-lock and, as Tiffany puts it, fans asking her to step on them. Taeyeon doesn’t really get that last part, but she doesn’t think it’s important as long as Sones, her biggest strength and allies, are happy with it. Honestly she doesn’t know where she’d be without them or her members, doesn’t want to think about it either.

Body tired but mind still wide awake, Taeyeon scrolls between tags and posts, liking and saving some of them before her eyes focus on one particular name. She pouts at it. She’d quickly come to terms with the fact that Baekhyun, for reasons much bigger than simple work, couldn’t have attended her concert even if he had wanted to, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t upset about it. Between different time-zones and general exhaustion, they barely have the chance to hear from each other.

She browses through his tag, watching bits of his performance and remembering their last conversation, something silly about an hamburger place he and Sehun had found in Inglewood and how amazing it was, so much that “I’m going to bring you there someday, Taengoo, I promise”, and it’s enough to make the void in her chest enlarge a tenfold.

Ding!

A ringtone chimes right on cue, four times in a row, and for a moment she can only blink at it, dazed as she is. Once she realizes what just happened, however, there’s nothing that could help the giddy smile spreading on her face on its own as she reads the contact name that comes along with the notification. Speak of the devil...

From: Koong 

  i’ve been watching “I got love” fancams for the past hour and I’m pissed

  first of all, how dare you?

  second, just how dare you?

  ... hi, by the way

Taeyeon snorts, scooting back on the bed a bit to lay her head on her pillow. Baekhyun has a flare for dramatics, that she knows, and his whiny side is one of her favourites. Especially if she’s the cause.

To: Koong 

  Hello to you too <3

  I’m guessing you like the performance?

The reply comes barely five seconds after she’s pressed “send”.

From: Koong 

  oh, no. I hate it. I totally don’t want it burned to the back of my eyelids forever

  and you are totally not the most beautiful thing I’ll ever lay my eyes on

To: Koong 

  Flatterer <3

  Are you watching it on Instagram?

From: Koong

  twitter, it’s easier to avoid liking it on accident.

  a lot of people want this played at their funeral

  could you arrange that for me as well?

He's such a Sone. She loves it.

To: Koong 

  Will do

  Should I worry that you’re watching the fancams just now? They’ve been up since two days ago

  Am I not your ultimate bias anymore?

From: Koong

 i beg your pardon m’lady, I’m a busy man

To: Koong 

  No, that's not what I meant

  It’s just, you know

Taeyeon hesitates a bit before typing again, but it only takes her a moment before she realizes she doesn’t care. It’s Baekhyun. If she can’t be honest with him, then with who?

To: Koong 

  You said you were going to tell me what you thought about the concert as soon as you could

  When you didn’t say anything I was worried you didn’t like it

She doesn’t have to wait long for an answer.

From: Koong 

  taeyeon, it’s you. I’d love it even if you sang the telephone book.

  you could make an album called “” with zero songs and I’d still buy ten copies of it

  i wanted to see the concert in full and only got some alone time now

  figured it’d be better to get the whole experience and gush about it later

It’s amazing how he does it. One joke, one line, sometimes his presence alone can manage to turn her mood upside down in a heartbeat. This time, she thinks, giggling at how absurd he is, it’s no different. It takes him a few seconds to continue, and Taeyeon patiently waits for his response. She has this weird feeling that he’s either going to come up with something cheesy or embarrassing or both.

From: Koong 

  and I’m not crying over your ballads in front of the guys, I have an image to keep.

Bingo. It’s actually endearing how far gone for her he is. It only makes her want to love him more.

To: Koong 

  Which one, the whipped boyfriend or the whipped fanboy?

From: Koong 

  i’m being sentimental right now, put away the sarcasm

  and you don’t have the right to sass me while I’m trying not to fanboy in my hotel room at 8 a.m.

That piques her interest; if there’s something Baekhyun loves, it’s sleeping in. Especially when he has to stay up late.

To: Koong 

  Now that you mention it, why are you up already?

  You should be resting for tonight

From: Koong 

  i am. nothing better than some kim taeyeon to lay back and relax to

  the real thing would be better but, as you may have noticed, we can’t have that at the moment

To: Koong 

  Don’t remind me

  I don’t know whether I should appreciate how cheesy you are or just cringe

From: Koong 

  only for you

  and I’m just stating the truth

To: Koong 

  You still haven’t told me what you thought of it

  Of me

  I mean, I know the girls sent you pictures and clips, but since you saw it

  What didn you think??

The other line remains silent. Taeyeon won’t admit to herself that it’s actually making her antsy, especially when he leaves the chatroom, leaving her fully alone. As soon as she’s about to send him another text, however, his ringtone fills up the silence in the room and a picture of the two of them takes over the screen. Giving a resigned chuckle, because of course Baekhyun would call her to talk about how amazing he thinks she is and inevitably embarrass the life out of her in the process. And on Face-Time, at that.

With a sigh that borders between amused and incredulous, she turns around on the bed, laying down on her stomach and holding the screen in front of her face. A swipe of her finger and they’re connected.

“I’m so proud of you,” he blurts out as soon as she comes into his vision. It’s a hushed whisper, and his room is still pretty dark, but she doesn’t need to see his face to know that he has a full smile plastered on his face. She can make out the edges of his upturned lips in the feeble light coming from what must be his window. “Seriously, you are so good. So talented. Makes me want to shout it from the rooftops.”

“Oh my god, Koong-ah,” she groans, palm readily hiding her warming cheeks from him. She can’t do anything about the smile that’s trying to escape her, but that doesn’t mean he has to see it.

“I’m serious,” he insists, and suddenly there’s a gleam in his eyes that he gets when he comes up with an idea. The smirk on his face, however, screams that he’s about to do something stupid. Taeyeon knows by experience that it’s a dangerous combination. It’s what got them to make out in a broom closet at the company building. On working hours. She still feels sorry for that poor janitor who was just looking for a mop.

 Before she can even ask him what he’s about to do, he’s on his feet, front camera targeting the large window of his hotel room. It takes her two seconds to understand what he’s about to do. In hindsight, she probably should have seen it coming, even from a continent away. He opens the window in one swift movement.

“Baekhyun no. No no no no, don’t you dare-“
 

The shutters come next. Honestly, how did she not see it coming? It’s Byun Baekhyun she’s dealing with after all. “Extra” doesn’t even begin to categorize him.

“I love Kim Taeyeon!” he yells to, as far as she can see, the sunny sky of Los Angeles, empty of clouds. There must be people around on such a beautiful day, even this early, and the thought of Americans staring up at a random Korean man screaming in the air is enough to get her in stitches. “I love her so much and I think she’s super talented and sweet and smart!”

“Oh my god shut up!” it’s hard to scold him when her sides hurt from laughing. The butterflies in her stomach aren’t helping either.

“And she’s super hot, like, you should see the stuff she does in be-!“

“That’s it, we’re done,” she cuts him off, putting as much seriousness in her tone as she can. It’s hardly convincing, given how hard she’s chuckling, but it will have to do. "I'm breaking up with you."

“What, you don’t like grand, romantic gestures?” he quips, voice cracking with repressed laughter as he steps away from the window to the centre of the room. He turns the camera to his face again, looking at her with a practiced angelic expression. “Is it a bad time to tell you about the mariachi band that’s about to knock on your door?”

“Stop,” she whines, laughing still and burying her face in the mattress to cover her, inevitably at this point, burning cheeks. “I’m going to hang up.”

He grins at her then, flopping back on the bed with ease to rest on is back. The morning light is filling the room and now she can see the top of his chest, collarbones peeking out from the loose collar of his t-shirt. His hair looks soft even through the screen, with some reddish curls falling in front of his eyes, and Taeyeon’s fingers itch to push them back out of habit. Without makeup he looks a bit younger, less refined around the edges and more handsome than pretty. She thinks it’s the lack of eyeliner. When he doesn’t have it his eyes remind her of a sleepy puppy, drooping and warm. She finds it unfair how beautiful he is.

They look at each other for what feels like an eternity, unabashedly staring. They’ve avoided calls because of the time difference, relying on texts or pictures on their private Instagram accounts, and as much as Taeyeon doesn’t want to sound clingy to herself, she’s missed this. She’s missed Baekhyun so much it hurts and she’s still missing him because he’s not there with her. Not in the flesh at least.

“Hi,” he whispers, looking at her so fondly it’s actually painful.

“Hey yourself...”

“I really want to see you. We got a few days before you have to leave for Taipei, right?”

“Yeah,” she nods, mentally reciting her schedule in her head. They haven’t had a decent date night in months, kept apart by her rehearsing for the concert and him being gone for the Exo’rdium tour, and Taeyeon wants nothing more than being with him for a couple of hours. “I wish we could go somewhere fun though. I like our movie nights and driving around, but for once I’d like to go eat something out. Like an actual couple.”

“I know,” he says softly, reaching up to brush his hair back. He lets his arms rest over his eyes, sighing deeply. “Watching your VCR made me think that we’ve never gone to karaoke together,” Baekhyun smiles, then, looking back at her with familiar excitement and affection in his eyes. If she thought he was gorgeous before, it was nothing compared to now. “We’d have so much fun. I’d sing you a lot of songs and we could dance and duet. Oh, we could order food in and have a rap battle! Though it’d be a bit unfair, I mean, by now I’m sure you know I’m a killer MC.”

Taeyeon rolls on her side, collapsing on the mattress and bringing the collar of her shirt up until it covers her face. She has this weird urge to laugh and cry at the same time and god just what has he done to her? “Stop,” she mumbles, peering at him a little, and Baekhyun’s looking at her like before, only now he’s also worried. Her heart actually aches.

He frowns, genuinely confused. “Stop what?”

“Saying things that make me want to kiss you when you’re a continent away,” she sighs, head hanging in defeat.

Hi cheeks dust a fair red and Taeyeon mentally pats herself on the back. Two can play this game. “I want to kiss you too,” he says softly, eyes falling from hers briefly before backing up. They both know he’s refraining from looking at her lips. The thought is weirdly electrifying, sending a rush of confidence down her spine. “I want to kiss you all the time, it’s like an addiction. You should come with a warning sign. Get it printed on a shirt or something.”

“I’ll see what I can find. Maybe we can match,” she chuckles, rolling back on her stomach and smiling sadly at him, “it will remind us of how pathetic we get when we are far from each other.”

“I’m past the point of blaming myself for it,” he offers, flashing his best smile in her direction. “With such an amazing girlfriend I can’t help but to get homesick. Or Taeyeon-sick if you want.”

“You’re never going to stop, are you?” she beams back at him, teasing, and laughs at the exaggerated wink she gets in return. “Same goes to you by the way. But it’s not like we can do anything about it.”

Baekhyun’s breath gets caught in his throat and she looks at him curiously, head tilted on the side. It makes her hair fall from her shoulder, exposing some skin left bare by her night shirt. He gulps in return. “Well...” Baekhyun begins, tentatively, and the screen shakes a little. She assumes he’s fiddling with his phone.

“Well?”

Baekhyun gulps again. He folds an arm under his head, doing a terrible at making it appear casual. Eyelids dropping half-closed, he gazes at her with the best smouldering expression he can make, no doubt honed and improved according to the demands of his job. She knows it all too well. “There’s actually something we could try...”

Taeyeon decides to block him before he can make it too awkward. “Baekhyun I love you, I really do. But I have no energy left in my body.”

She’s dead serious. While the definite curve of his bicep is extremely distracting, she doubts she’d have the strength to think about what to say to turn him on, much less act on it. “I’d just ruin it. I don’t think you want to have our first attempt at phone with the equivalent of a dead log.”

"Wha-me? Suggesting such lecherous activities? I'd never,” he huffs, squeezing a pillow to his chest in a mocking show of modesty. She laughs at him and he smiles at the desired reaction. “But now I really can’t wait to see you again. How about tomorrow night? Are you free?”

“Sure, I have a recording at six, but we can meet up at the company. It will save us time.”

“I’ll get takeout. My place or yours?”

“Mine. I hope you don’t mind,” Taeyeon says, lifting herself on her elbows so she can see him better. When the movement, deliberate and languid, makes her shirt fall from one shoulder, she lets her brain brush it off as a complete coincidence. “But I was planning on having you all for me. Just picture it: you, me, my room, nobody else for hours and hours..."

“Taeyeon...”

His cheeks have turned a nice shade of crimson, the flush spreading on his ears and neck. “You might as well tell your members you won’t be home tomorrow night,” she whispers, batting slowly her eyelashes for him to see. She leans her head on a palm and his eyes immediately rake over the alabaster skin of her collarbones. A subtle bite to her lower lip and his mouth hangs open in a soundless gasp. “I want to show you just how much I missed you.”

Baekhyun groans weakly, pupils as wide as saucers, and he scrambles to drag a pillow over his head. His voice is muffled and she can barely hear it, but the desperation in it is hard to miss. “You can’t tell me you have no energy and then say things like that.”

“I’m sorry!” Taeyeon giggles, slumping down with a fond, amused smile. She rubs an eye tiredly and, as if on cue, she turns her head to muffle a yawn against the back of her hand. “But I really am. I’m trying my best to keep my eyes open.”

At that his messy head of hair peaks out from under the pillow. He glances at her worriedly and leans a bit out of the screen to grab something. She guesses it’s his watch. “Crap, I forgot it’s almost 1 a.m. there, I’m so stupid,” he mutters, looking back at her with apprehension covering his face. “I should let you go. Sorry I kept you up this long.”

“Don’t worry, I needed this,” Taeyeon shakes her head in reassurance. “Don’t go yet,” she pleads him, but still moves to scoot under the covers. His voice is balm for her ears and she craves more of it. If she’s lucky, she’ll manage to fall asleep to it. “What are you doing today? Before the concert I mean.”

“I’ll just finish the fancams, work out a bit and then go out with Chanyeol and Jongin. Trust that free elf to give two henpecked boyfriends a good time.”

“You should ask Soojung about the city. Where to eat and stuff.”

“I’m sure Jongin’s got that covered,” Baekhyun says, smiling at the way her eyes get steadily more shut. He start to hum a familiar tune, soothing and slow like she always asks him to do when he sleeps over and she wants to fall asleep to his voice, and she hears him laugh at the way she falls into the mattress, a pleased smile on her face. “Taeyeon just go to sleep. I’ll be there tomorrow. Maybe even in time to grab some rice cakes at that place you like so much.”

Taeyeon sighs, aching for him to be there, next to her, warming her up so much that she can forego her covers. “Alright,” she concedes, turning on her side so the light from her bedside lamp can make him see her better. “Have a great day, Koong-ah. I love you.”

“Love you right back. Sleep well, Taengoo.” He blows a kiss and she pretends to cut it in half. His laugh closes the call.

Sinking beneath the covers, Taeyeon snuggles in her pillow, ready to get some well deserved rest. She closes her eyes, softly humming to herself the melody Baekhyun was singing to her earlier. Her mind, still half-awake, keeps replaying the events of the last few days: the concert, the fans, her members and friends, Baekhyun and his stupidly charming smile and face and even more stupidly soothing voice and their date and what to wear and - no there’s no way she’s sleeping. Not in the immediate future at least.

She scoffs, actually angry at herself, and delivers a few weak blows to her head, pressing her palms on her eyes. The clock on her bedside table glares at her with its red numbers, and Taeyeon finds herself scowling back at it for a while before her attention lands on her phone, already left to charge. Baekhyun’s stupidly soothing voice comes back to her mind. It takes her all of three seconds to decide what to do.

“Ah, what the hell,” she mutters to herself, opening the YouTube app and plugging her earphones in. “Baekhyun” is the only thing she types in the search bar.

Sleep will come, eventually. She has all morning to snooze anyway.