PART TWO
"I W A N T Y O U"
II : X

Baekhyun's next days were probably the most relaxed that he's had in a while, his sleeping and jogging schedules returning to normal as his dad's newbies disappeared and the need to avoid Chanyeol vanished.

He felt completely at ease, no jealousy or fake boyfriends or stupid jobs weighing down on his shoulders. If only he could feel like this every day.

Baekhyun stretched and set the book he had been reading down, standing up from his couch to get some water. He was in complete comfy mode, dressed in only his shirt and boxers, not even bothering to cover anything as he was the only one in his apartment. He checked himself out in the mirror, happy with how he had dyed his hair. Instead of his purple strands, he now had light brown hair that he preferred much better, since it made him look younger.

While he was drinking some water, he heard his phone go off and he padded his way over, picking up his phone with his cup still in hand.

 

chanyeol 
Hey
Are you free today?

baekhyun 
depends
what do you want to do?

chanyeol 
Watch a horror movie ;)

baekhyun 
are you sure that's healthy for you? last time i checked you nearly destroyed your vocal chords. 

 

They talked for a while, flirting shamelessly and before Baekhyun knew it, his cup was set aside and he was curled up in the corner of his L-shaped couch, typing away at Chanyeol's words. He laughed when the giant made one of his stupid jokes, reminding him of the old days and making his heart clench at the memories.

However, the thoughts quickly flew away when Chanyeol suddenly started talking about how they still hadn't planned a date yet. Baekhyun joked about spending it at his place but Chanyeol shocked him with his next text.


 

chanyeol
I'm at your door

 

What the hell?!

Baekhyun scrambled to stand up, nearly kicking his toes into his coffee table as he ran to his door, stopping short and nearly slipping on his sock-clad feet as he glanced at his attire.

"," he hissed, doing a quick turn and tumbling into his room when he heard a series of knocks on his door.

He liked that Chanyeol had decided to drop by as a surprise, but couldn't he have chosen a time where Baekhyun was actually fully dressed?

He slipped on some sweatpants and mentally cried at how he looked but decided that Chanyeol had probably seen worse, making his way over to his door and unlocking it.

"Hi," Baekhyun said, a little breathless (and no, not because the sight of Chanyeol took his breath away or something).

Chanyeol grinned and gave Baekhyun a once-over, "You look cute."

"Are you trying to get into my pants right now? Because I'm pretty sure my clothes are the opposite of cute."

The taller laughed as Baekhyun let him in, slipping off his shoes as Baekhyun gave Chanyeol his own once-over, the way he tucked his lip under his teeth an obvious answer to Chanyeol's next question of: "How do I fare in your fashion expertise?"

He was wearing light blue jeans and a black shirt, red and black plaid over his shoulders. Once Baekhyun's gaze was back on Chanyeol's eyes, he decided that it was too dangerous to keep looking at Chanyeol's appearance, since he was sure that he'd be roped in and he wouldn't be able to hold back from giving him multiple kisses.

"Do you want something to drink?" Baekhyun asked and Chanyeol shook his head, shuffling into his place and settling onto his couch.

"You wanna watch something?" the taller questioned as he picked up the remote on his coffee table, turning it on and navigating to Netflix. "How about we watch Annabelle again? I didn't really focus on the story."

Baekhyun scoffed as he sat down one cushion away from Chanyeol, lifting his legs onto the seat so that he was sitting comfortably. "You wish."

"Okay, how about a rom-com? Ooh, Life As We Know It, a classic."

The shorter shrugged and Chanyeol decided that they'd be watching that one, clicking on it and waiting for it to play. The movie started soon after and Baekhyun could detect that both of them weren't focusing on the movie, with the way that he could feel Chanyeol's stare boring into the side of his face.

"Have you watched this before?" Baekhyun asked a fourth into the movie, wondering why the idiot wasn't even looking at the TV. He didn't take his gaze off of the TV, knowing that he'd he flustered when his eyes met Chanyeol's.

"Plenty of times," Chanyeol replied and Baekhyun bit back a smile, not knowing that Chanyeol would watch a chick-flick like this so many times.

After another ten minutes, Baekhyun's thoughts strayed right over to the male sitting beside him, his attention caught on whatever movement the giant made and whatever noise he made—whether it was a sigh or just his breathing in general. When Baekhyun turned over to look at Chanyeol, he realized that the taller was now engrossed in the movie, probably not even noticing the way the shorter was staring at him.

Baekhyun observed his side profile, his perfect nose, cute round eyes, large ears and soft jaw line. The brunet suddenly felt guilty—for taking Chanyeol when he had thrown him away before. Chanyeol could've been with someone better, someone who hadn't been stupid enough to be manipulated by his friends and surroundings; someone who had their own dreams and was actually brave enough to follow them. Someone who wasn't such a coward in face of the real world.

It was in that moment that Baekhyun realized that he hadn't even properly said sorry for all of the harsh words and actions that he had done to Chanyeol all those years back. Baekhyun knew that Chanyeol said he wanted to restart, but somehow he also knew that forgetting about what Baekhyun had done was a little hard.

"Chanyeol..." he spoke up, snapping the said man out of his trance as he turned to stare at Baekhyun. When he tilted his head, the shorter bit his lip, his gaze lowering to stare at the square separating them. "I'm sorry—for all of the things that I did before. I was stupid and I only listened to the people around me, excluding you..."

He was suddenly feeling entirely too emotional about this, but he soldiered on even if all he wanted to do was bury himself in his blankets to sleep away the onslaught of his feelings. "I really don't deserve you, then and now. I'm—I'm a really bad person..."

"Baekhyun, it's okay," Chanyeol said, his voice calm and gentle, inclining Baekhyun to stare up at the giant again, "Restarting means that we forget about all that stuff."

"B-But I know that you'll never be able to—"

"I want this, whatever it is," Chanyeol gestured to their situation with his hands and the shorter felt as if his heart was about to burst out of his chest. He blamed it on the movie he wasn't watching, even when he knew that deep down it was because he was amazed at how Chanyeol could be someone so... so perfect.

Maybe it was because even after Baekhyun had made all of these terrible mistakes, Chanyeol was willing to overlook them—for what reason, Baekhyun didn't know.

He wasn't a big catch, sure he was handsome and he was rich, but he was also stubborn and he demanded lots of things, plus his selfishness was the thing that ruined their entire relationship. It was no wonder why all of his ex-boyfriends all hated him.

But Chanyeol, he was different. For some reason, he looked at Baekhyun as if he could see the amazing in him when Baekhyun believed that that part of him was already lost long ago. He made him think stupidly and act rash but maybe that was why Baekhyun was addicted to being with him. Chanyeol made him feel as if he was some senseless idiot in like (love) but he also made him feel safe and invincible, a concept that Baekhyun thought was impossible since love in itself was dangerous.

"You really mean that?" Baekhyun asked, having to hold back his tears as he wondered if Chanyeol really was willing to start something with him.

Baekhyun wasn't asking for something extreme like a guaranteed marriage and eight children, but he wanted something from Chanyeol. He thought that after all these years, he'd only want the taller's pardon, but Baekhyun was slowly figuring out that that wasn't the case.

"Yeah," Chanyeol reassured and Baekhyun smiled so hard it hurt, wasting no time as he moved over to the other side of the couch to catch Chanyeol's lips in his own.

It was in that moment where the protagonists would usually confess their undying love, but both of them knew that it was way too early for that. This feeling that they had—they didn't want to call it love, even when it encased everything that defined that word.

They thought it was too early—a few months since they had met again... falling in love was impossible.

But little did they know that even after they had gone separate ways back when they were teenagers, they had never fallen out of love.

And not voicing it now had been their biggest mistake.

~

The infamous phrase of "honeymooners on steroids" made another comeback as Chanyeol and Baekhyun had their fill of each other, never spending more than a day without seeing each other.

Baekhyun felt the happiest that he's ever felt in his life (he wasn't exaggerating) and the kisses Chanyeol would give him in front of the vending machines just made him feel as if he was already floating on cloud 9. Luhan obviously noticed this change and wiggled his eyebrows at Baekhyun every now and then when he saw Chanyeol near him. Baekhyun would hit him but wouldn't object to any of Luhan's words, since he was legitimately "head over ," like Luhan had said.

It had been only two weeks since they had decided that restarting meant going out on dates outside or inside, laughing with each other and holding hands whenever was possible. During that time, Chanyeol had taken note that Baekhyun liked kisses much more than anything else, portrayed when they were cuddling on the couch and Baekhyun would kiss him anywhere and everywhere, which the taller would return by kissing those pink lips of his.

"You at this game," Baekhyun said and he felt the rumble of Chanyeol's laughter on his back, turning to him and placing the infamous kisses on his cheeks. Distracting him, Baekhyun shifted and the taller's lips as if he was a puppy, and Chanyeol couldn't hold back a smile because these were one of the moments where Baekhyun craved attention. When Chanyeol got to a checkpoint, he nuzzled his face into the crook of the smaller's neck, placing a few kisses onto the junction between Baekhyun's neck and shoulder.

They were sitting on the floor in front of Chanyeol's PS4, the taller's back against his couch as Baekhyun sat nestled in the giant's crossed leg's, his boyfriend's arms wound around his waist to hold the controller comfortably as he played NieR: Automata.

"I'd like to see you do better," Chanyeol said, referring to how he had died three times to finish off a boss, nipping at his neck.

"Okay, then watch and learn," Baekhyun said, grabbing the controller from Chanyeol's hands and going back into the saved files, returning to the scenes right before the boss fight. Chanyeol's arms wrapped fully around Baekhyun's waist, distracting him the entirety of the time as he placed hickeys on the smooth expanse of his skin, making Baekhyun squirm. "That's not fair," Baekhyun said as he felt one of Chanyeol's large hands travel to his thigh, massaging it through his dark jeans.

Just as Baekhyun met the boss, Chanyeol bit him on the spot that he had mapped out as Baekhyun's sweet spot, making the shorter moan, his head involuntarily tipping to the side as he tried hard to focus on the game. The giant's unoccupied hand slipped under Baekhyun's shirt, the shorter jerking when he felt the contact of Chanyeol's warmth on his skin.

"I'm going to kill you," Baekhyun hissed before he accidentally let slip a moan, the adventurous hand climbing up his toned stomach and dancing on his abs.

They had never gone further than kissing even when Baekhyun always felt hot and bothered after making out languidly with Chanyeol on a daily basis, settling for awkwardly readjusting his pants instead of doing anything about it. He was afraid of how fast or slow Chanyeol wanted to go, wanting the taller to take the reigns on the ual part of their relationship.

Baekhyun tried to focus on pressing the controller's buttons and maybe, not dying, but that was a little impossible with how Baekhyun died a little in real life when Chanyeol's fingers tweaked one of his s, his head falling back onto Chanyeol's shoulder with a whimper.

But even if he wanted Chanyeol in control, Baekhyun didn't mind doing a little something that would help them along, tossing the controller out of his hands and repositioning himself to face Chanyeol, his behind in the space of Chanyeol's crossed legs and his thighs overlapping Chanyeol's as he straddled him.

Baekhyun connected their lips as he wrapped his arms around Chanyeol's shoulder, immediately into the kiss as Chanyeol's hands went to rest on Baekhyun's hips. He pressed himself into Chanyeol, groans leaving him as he felt temporary relief from the friction of Chanyeol's hard on against his own.

He separated from the kiss, panting hard as he searched Chanyeol's eyes. Chanyeol leaned in and pressed fleeting kisses onto his jaw, reveling in the way that Baekhyun shivered against him. "Chanyeol—"

The sound of Chanyeol's door unlocking pulled them away from whatever Baekhyun was about to say, the taller swearing a million times in his head as he was blue-balled yet again, and by his best friend too.

"Hey Yeollie! We just got permission to keep Toben in your apartment!" Wendy called as she casually walked through the door, not seeing the two who were hidden by the couch, the TV on standby mode. The lights on her side of the place as she took off her stuff, looking around for Chanyeol. "Where the hell did he go?" she talked to herself, the sound of a cage being set down on the wooden floor signaling the two that they should probably not be caught in such a position.

Baekhyun wanted to shove Wendy out the door and continue what they were doing, but as he remembered how excited Chanyeol was for Toben to live with him, he mentally sighed as he slowly untangled himself from the taller's hold, missing the disappointment on Chanyeol's face.

He pulled his shirt lower as he hoped that the dim lighting would mask the hard on he was currently having to deal with (maybe thinking of Luhan and Kris together would help). He stood up and Wendy immediately saw him, looking a little surprised but happy that Baekhyun was there.

"Oh hey! Where's Chanyeol?"

"He's here," the shorter said as he ruffled his brown hair, wondering how weird the situation looked.

Nonetheless, Baekhyun helped Chanyeol up, noticing how the taller was not in a better state than he was, watching with amusement but also frustration as the giant pulled his sweater down over his crotch.

"Hey," Chanyeol spoke.

His tone was unforgiving.

Wendy paused as she glanced at their appearances and she mouthed an "oh," slowly backing up as she realized that she had interrupted something.

"You might as well stay," Chanyeol said as he made his way over to the cage Wendy had set down. He wasn't at all embarrassed with Wendy interrupting them, since she had a knack for disturbing most situations. Baekhyun, on the other hand, seemed like he wanted to hide behind his refridgerator, shuffling awkwardly on his feet and biting his lip.

Kneeling down with difficulty, Chanyeol unlocked the cage and felt his mood lift as he saw the dark ball of fluff tumble out of the confined space, slipping over the wooden floors as Toben ran around the room.

He had already met Wendy so he swerved right past her but he stopped at Baekhyun's feet, the tallest in the room watching as Baekhyun stared wide eyed at the dog smelling his legs. Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol for permission and Chanyeol waved his hand, watching as the shorter male knelt down immediately after and started petting Toben, running his fingers through his fur and subconsciously smiling when Toben tried jumping on his knees.

"Hey," Wendy suddenly whispered, making Chanyeol turn to her with an unamused look, "Can we talk?"

Chanyeol's expression changed from ticked off to confused, nodding his head slowly as he gave Baekhyun one more glance, following Wendy to his room further inside the house. She closed the door behind her and the lights, sitting down in his desk chair as if she owned the place.

"Let me just get to the point," she paused, worrying her bottom lip as she tried to find the best way to word things. "Are you sure? About this whole... relationship thing?" Wendy began, lightly spinning in the chair with a contemplative look on her face. "I thought you'd break up with him a few weeks after to get payback or something but so far it doesn't seem like that. Why did you suddenly forget about your entire grudge on Baekhyun after you guys kissed a few weeks back?"

Chanyeol sighed when she brought this up, making his way over to his bed and flopping down onto it, his back against his comforter as he looked at the ceiling. "Probably because I never really got over him... and when we kissed I guess those feelings just... exploded? I don't know, Wendy, but he's changed."

"But what if he hasn't," Wendy argued, looking at the door as if she could see Baekhyun who was most likely still playing with Toben. "What if he breaks your heart again?" she asked with a whispered tone, as if afraid that Chanyeol would lash out if she mentioned that.

Chanyeol did, but on the inside. He felt his heart clenching at the mere thought of her words as he imagined more days where he'd have to think about what he did so wrong for Baekhyun to say all of those things to him, act so cold hearted when Chanyeol had believed that he was getting to him.

"Can we not talk about this right now?" Chanyeol questioned, looking stressed as he threw an arm over his face, covering his eyes from the light above.

"Look, Chanyeol. Do what you want. I'm trying to protect you from heartbreak again," Wendy stated, her gaze softening when she saw Chanyeol's clenched fist and feeling a little guilty for saying this stuff. "I'll probably take my leave now... Try not to think about it too much, okay?"

She got up but forgot one last thing, mumbling her next words. "If Baekhyun really did change then I'm happy for you guys—but just remember; he fooled you just as good in high school."

Chanyeol groaned when Wendy closed the door behind her, leaving him there with his thoughts in turmoil. How did she expect him not to think about her words every second of the day?

This was the problem with being in a relationship with someone he had already watched crash and burn. There was always that fear that the same thing could happen over again—that his brain was fooling itself into thinking that everything changed when in reality the results would always end the same.

Chanyeol took his arm away from the front of his face, opening his eyes to the blinding light that vaguely reminded him of Baekhyun. The past few weeks of dating Baekhyun and becoming boyfriends again was amazing—but that was the problem. The word again.

It felt the same as the first time, all twinkling lights and fuzzy feelings, the brush of his hand on Chanyeol's, his smile warming up his morning...

He was afraid that it would end the same too.

He stood and made his way out of the room, standing at the edge of the hallway as he watched Baekhyun who was curled up on the ground on his side, with Toben laying in the curve between his knees and his chest. His back was facing Chanyeol, and the taller could vaguely hear Baekhyun saying a few words to the dog, petting behind his ears fondly.

Suddenly, he was remembering all of the times where Baekhyun had smiled to him just as he did now, his eyes filled with a sparkle that Chanyeol couldn't help but become fixated on, the happiness making him forget about smiling all perfectly and settling for a rectangular smile instead.

The thing that had haunted Chanyeol the most when they separated was that look in Baekhyun's eyes, the one that told him that the giant had been the only person to ever make him feel this way—the only one to have ever made him feel so alive.

It was the worst feeling when Chanyeol had realized that Baekhyun only smiled at him like that to get ready for someone like Sehun, "for relationship experience" as he had said. It felt a million times worse than if he had said "it was a dare" because Baekhyun had been using him to get somebody else, to wipe his mouth on him like he would a tissue before tossing him away.

Chanyeol didn't think he could ever get over that feeling, no matter how many times he told himself that they were restarting.

The giant stepped a few paces closer, making sure to not make so much as a creak as he listened in on Baekhyun's words.

"I bet you like Chanyeol a lot, don't you?" Baekhyun asked the dog who did nothing but chew lightly on his shirt. He laughed and took his shirt out of the animal's grasp, letting out a wistful sigh as he draped an arm over Toben.

Everything could end up the same...

But Chanyeol wanted to trust that things would end up fine, even if the feeling of uncertainty was brooding over him like a dark cloud.

He wanted to trust that the past wouldn't repeat itself, and that he could keep Baekhyun by his side for more than just a couple of months.

Chanyeol wanted to trust Baekhyun.

"I like him a lot, too."