A/N: wow... I think this is the fastest I've gotten an update out lolol. Anyways, here is bffs! Chen and baekhyun w pining Chen, jealous baek, and a happy ending all in one lmao. I think everything happens fairly fast, so forgive me for that, but hopefully you are happy with this! enjoy <3

October 7th was the day Jongdae felt his heart crack because of a text message.

There were no classes for the weekend, popcorn and juice boxes were set on the coffee table (because Jongdae didn’t like the taste of alcohol), and Jongdae and Baekhyun were having a battle to the death via Mario Cart.

“Goddammit,” Baekhyun cursed and groaned, stomping his feet like a child, “how did Bowser manage to catch up to me so fast?” 

Jongdae snickered and adjusted his legs that were currently stretched across the couch they were on and in Baekhyun’s lap. 

“Maybe because you’re blind. He was literally behind you for, like, a good half of the game. .”

The other boy shoved Jongdae playfully, a sheepish smile creeping across his face despite his annoyed expression. 

There was a light jingle sound that came from Baekhyun’s phone, the device buzzing on the coffee table as it announced the notification. Both of the college students ignored it, too engrossed in their current battle for first place. 

It sounded again, this time, the noise drowned out by Jongdae’s deafening screams of victory as he leapt into the air, haphazardly throwing his controller onto the couch as he jumped up and down. 

“IT’S JUST A GAME!” Baekhyun yelled, crossing his arms in a huff and sinking lower on the couch as he sulked. “Congratulations, you won a freaking game of Mario Cart- how about a statement from the winner?” He said mockingly, pretending to interview Jongdae as the blond laughed and sat back down next to the other. 

“Feels great. Not that you would know,” he said teasingly, smile growing when the other shoved him back with his foot. 

Baekhyun’s phone sounded again, and this time they both turned their heads toward it.

Jongdae, being closer to the table, reached forward and grabbed it for his friend, quickly scanning the contents lit up on the screen as he did so. 

Jongdae felt a little squeeze in his heart and it pounded a little too hard as he swallowed thickly and arched an eyebrow.

“Who’s Yeollie?” He asked cautiously, eyebrows popping up when the phone was suddenly snatched out of his hands by Baekhyun, whose face was unnecessarily red. 

Unless he was hiding something. 

“Uh, just a guy I met in my intro to design class. He transferred schools last semester so he’s new,” Baekhyun said quickly, but the little grin on his face as he tapped away on his phone didn’t no unnoticed by Jongdae. 

The blond pursed his lips and grabbed a pillow to hold close to his chest as he propped his chin on it. 

“Ok. Just wondering,” and then after a beat, “do you like him or something?”

“What, no! I mean, I barely even know him,” Baekhyun said flusterdly, but the sinking feeling in Jongdae’s stomach just got worse. Baekhyun was always straightforward with him, never shy about his feelings, and definitely never hid anything from Jongdae.

But… he had also never seen Baekhyun develop a crush on someone. That’s what it was, wasn’t it?

Because Jongdae wasn’t so sure someone who “barely even knew” another person would text them if they were still on for Sunday night. 

“Uh huh,” Jongdae said sarcastically, grabbing a juice box from off the table and stabbing the straw through the opening on top, “so I’m sure this date for Sunday night is strictly intro to design related, right?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” Baekhyun said pompously, making a show out of tossing his hair to the sidein an exaggerated manner, extending his arm and flourishing his hand regally like a king. “Now fetch me a nectar contained in a rectangular carton, peasant!” He said jokingly in a posh accent.

Jongdae flung a juice box at him, making sure to aim for his stupid, cute, obnoxiously perfect nose. 

 

---

 

The gross, ugly, jealous feeling inside Jongdae grew like crazy when he found out Baekhyun and this so- called Chanyeol were dating. 

It was Tuesday afternoon, and Jongdae had just finished his morning classes. He was a music major, but despite what most people thought, his work load was overwhelmingly heavy. It seemed every other day, he had a music theory paper due, or composition to turn in, or a vocal test the following week. 

So needless to say, Jongdae wasn’t thrilled when his otherwise peaceful afternoon was interrupted by the sound of the apartment door opening and the sound of two, not one, but two people laughing as they entered. 

Jongdae looked up from the notebook he had been scribbling in, taking in first Baekhyun’s joy- filled face, ears and nose slightly red from the chilly autumn air, and then the second person, who was much taller than either Baekhyun or Jongdae, much more toned and muscled, and was holding a guitar case with one hand and a plastic bag with the logo from the one Chinese takeout place that Jongdae and Baekhyun always went with their Chinese friends.

And Chanyeol, now, apparently. 

“Jongdae! I didn’t think you’d be home,” Baekhyun said pleasantly, as if he hadn’t known Jongdae had always had Tuesday afternoons off.

The blond set down his notebook, train of thought completely derailed.

“Uh, yeah. I always have Tuesdays off after my morning classes. It’s literally always been like that, Baek,” he didn’t mean for his words to come out harsh, and they really didn’t. They tasted more bitter in Jongdae’s mouth than anything. Because it was clear from the way that Baekhyun giggled when Chanyeol nudged his side and whispered something in his ear and how they kept sneaking looks at each other, as if Jongdae wasn’t in the room. As if he was totally blind to their affection for each other. 

“You’re Jongdae, right? Baek’s told me a lot about you,” the red- haired stranger suddenly said, smiling widely at the blond, who didn’t return the smile. It was slightly off-putting how intensely Jongdae stared at him, as if trying to see through him. 

 

“And you are?” He asked monotonously.

“Chanyeol! Yeah, sorry for not introducing myself sooner. I’m Chanyeol. Uh,” Chanyeol turned to Baekhyun and handed him the takeout bag, “you good? I have a class in half an hour so I gotta run.” He smiled apologetically and Jongdae almost threw up when Baekhyun pouted sadly. 

“Ok. Hey, today was fun, though,” he smiled and then Chanyeol leaned in to brush a kiss against Baekhyun’s lips before he was shuffling back out the door. 

Jongdae’s mouth was still hanging open by the time Baekhyun was done staring lovingly down the apartment hall and had closed the door. 

And it stayed open, even when Baekhyun had grabbed a water from their small fridge and made himself a spot on the couch right next to Jongdae.

Noticing his best friend’s shell- shocked expression, Baekhyun’s face reddened and he elbowed the other. 

“What! Stop looking at me like that,” Baekhyun whined quietly, fidgeting under Jongdae’s gaze. 

Jongdae, on the other hand, couldn’t quite believe it. He knew he’d been due for a vision test sometime in the next month, but he was seriously considering moving it up because he couldn’t possibly have seen right. His eyes had been deceiving him, right? Because how could Baekhyun actually be dating Chanyeol, and how could Chanyeol have even kissed Baekhyun, and how could Baekhyun have acted like that was totally normal? 

The thought of someone dating Baekhyun made Jongdae’s heart hurt and he suddenly felt like crying. Granted, he didn’t think he even had the right to cry, because it was his own damn fault for not telling his own best friend about his feelings in the beginning. It had just been so easy to pretend that’s all they were- best friends. And then Baekhyun would cry to him when stress got too much to handle and laugh with him when they both did well on their midterms, and they would do couple things like buy matching ugly Christmas sweaters, or go out to a cafe together in their spare time. 

So Jongdae had somehow managed to deceive himself into thinking that no one would ever actually like Baekhyun and date him, because in his world, him liking Baekhyun but not plucking up the courage to tell him meant that no one else could either. 

Too bad the real world didn’t quite work like Jongdae’s world. 

“So… I was right. You guys are dating, right,” Jongdae said, finally. 

“Well,” Baekhyun shrugged, as if the question was anything but a yes or no one. “I guess.”

“Hm,” Jongdae nodded thoughtfully, trying not to cry. This is so unfair! he wanted to scream. 

“What?” Baekhyun said suddenly. “Don’t worry, I won’t be like one of those friends that drop everything for their boyfriends! We’ll still be best friends and everything, don’t worry!” 

It wasn’t staying best friends that was the problem for Jongdae. It was the fact that he was the best friend.

 

---

 

And so the only logical way for him to cope with the fact that Baekhyun was dating someone that wasn’t him was getting a boyfriend of his own, of course. 

He hadn’t even really meant for it to happen. Really. After Chanyeol had stopped by their apartment, Jongdae had lounged around for about an hour before he’d decided it was too much to even be in the same room as Baekhyun while the other was giggling every two minutes at something Yeollie~ had texted him.

And actually, from an objective point of view, it was a bit ironic how everything happened on the same day. Jongdae had sat down at the little diner he and Baekhyun used to go to together, and he supposed he’d silently cried enough in his seat all alone and had looked sad enough for someone to take pity on him and slide into his booth in front of him. 

It was someone he knew, too. The tall and pretty quiet guy in his social science class that he’d always found pretty attractive but had never had a real reason to talk to. Sehun, Jongdae vaguely remembered being? 

And them not having known each other prior was fine, of course, except for the fact that Jongdae hadn’t really wanted his first impression of himself being alone and sniffling pathetically and crying over a sad and melting ice cream bowl, fries laying untouched and cold next to the bowl. 

Jongdae quickly rubbed his eyes with the sleeves of his slightly oversized sweater and straightened up in his seat. 

 

“Um. Can I help you?” Jongdae said quietly, cringing when his voice cracked from his pity party prior. 

Sehun shrugged and adjusted the thick scarf wrapped around his long neck. 

“You looked sad. You looked like you needed someone,” he said simply, and offered a small smile. Jongdae just sniffled in return. 

“I mean… I’m fine, really. Have we ever talked before?” He asked. Sehun shrugged with one shoulder and picked a fry off of Jongdae’s plate. Jongdae let him. 

“Nope,” he replied, popping the fry in his mouth and reaching for another. “But now we have.”

And that was how Jongdae spent the rest of the day- in a cheap little dinner with a melted bowl of ice cream and a plate of half- eaten fries between him and Sehun. 

---

“Are you dating Oh Sehun?” Baekhyun asked suddenly, without lifting his head up from his computer, breaking the silence between the two while both continued working on their respective assignments. 

Jongdae frowned slightly. “Why do you ask?”

“I’m just wondering. I saw you guys walking together the other day.”

Jongdae grinned lopsidedly and made a confused expression. “So? That doesn’t mean we’re dating.”

Baekhyun looked up from his screen with a deadpan expression that made the smile slide off of Jongdae’s face. “You guys were holding hands.”

Jongdae shrugged and got out of his chair, heading toward the kitchen area to get a drink of water. 

“Maybe? I don’t know. Does it really matter?” He called out from the kitchen.

Back in the living room area, Baekhyun pressed his lips together and leaned back in his seat.

“Does it matter? I mean, you don’t have to tell me everything about your life, but it would’ve been nice to hear it from you instead of finding out myself,” Baekhyun laughed, but the sound was anything but warm. 

Jongdae came back to the table with a cup of water in hand and eyebrows raised. 

“Really?” He said incredulously. Baekhyun stared back with equal intensity.

“What?”

Jongdae scoffed and shook his head, picking his pencil up and continuing where he’d left off on his assignment.

“Nothing. I mean. Don’t you think that’s a little hypocritical? It’s not like you told me when you and Chanyeol started dating, either,” Jongdae retorted, and the words sounded angry and accusing as soon as they left his mouth, but he realized he couldn’t find it in himself to feel apologetic.

Baekhyun’s eyebrows wrinkled together and his mouth fell open and closed as he looked around indignantly. 

“Me and Chanyeol? Why are you talking about me and Chanyeol now? This has nothing to do with him!” Baekhyun yelled back, unnecessarily defensive, getting out of his seat and throwing his hands up. 

Jongdae set his cup down and ran his hands through his blond locks. 

“I’m not saying you need to only hang out with me, ever, but when was the last time we went out since you started dating Chanyeol a month ago? Not once!” Jongdae spat out.

“I’ve been busy with school! You’ve been busy with Sehun!”

“Busy with school my ,” Jongdae scoffed, “I’m pretty sure I’ve heard Chanyeol’s name come out of your mouth more than your own.”

“Well you seemed happy and dandy as with Sehun! And last time I checked, Chanyeol was the one I dated, not you!” Baekhyun screamed back, and he didn’t notice when their argument had risen to such levels until Jongdae didn’t scream back and they were left with a gut- wrenching silence, so thick they’d need a knife to cut through it. 
And the worst part of it all was when Baekhyun saw tears well up in Jongdae’s eyes. 

“Jongdae, I-“

“Baekhyun, for some fancy digital graphics design major, you sure can be pretty ing stupid sometimes,” Jongdae laughed out bitterly and looked up to the ceiling. “Maybe if you’d just opened your eyes sometimes and noticed all the things I did for you, things would be a little clearer.”

And then he was grabbing his cell phone and wallet from off the table and rushing out the door with tears in his eyes for the second time that month. 

Baekhyun sat alone at the table, his lips slightly parted. He’d never wanted to mistake Jongdae’s friendliness and comfortableness had been anything but them being best friends. Because best friends shared everything, their thoughts, their food, and let one another into their hearts. They’d always been just that- best friends.

Had Jongdae… just confessed to Baekhyun? 

 

---

 

“Why is it that every time we meet each other here, you’re always crying?” Sehun joked as he made his way to Jongdae’s booth.

The blond removed his head from where it had been sandwiched between his hands, staring gloomily at the slightly grimy table as tears dripped from his eyes.

“Baekhyun and I got into a fight.” And then, “I don’t think this is gonna work out, Sehun.”

“Oh,” Sehun said, and it made Jongdae squeeze his eyes shut because now he was hurting Sehun and why couldn’t he just stop ing things up for himself?

“It’s ok,” Sehun shrugged and Jongdae blinked. “I never really expected much out of this relationship anyways,” he explained and then hastily added, “In the best way possible, of course.”

“Sehun,” Jongdae said sadly, eyes watering again and the taller boy ushered him to calm down. 

“It’s fine, really. I don’t think what we had could even be considered dating. We’d started hanging out, what, two weeks ago? I think we’d be better as friends, to be honest. And you’d be better off with someone else,” Sehun smiled in that small, assuring way of his that made Jongdae feel not as guilty as he had. “And speaking of which, Chanyeol told me he and Baekhyun had cut things off a few days ago,” he said. Seeing Jongdae’s shocked expression, he added, “you didn’t know?”

“No?” Jongdae said in a questioning tone because he couldn’t believe Baekhyun had broken up with Chanyeol and he hadn’t even noticed. What kind of best friend was he, anyways?

Sehun nodded. “Yeah, they did. But apparently it was on good terms. Destiny, don’t you think?” He smiled and then Jongdae’s heart leaped into the air. 

“What do I do, Sehun? I feel like I’ve really just screwed it all up,” he said hopelessly. “The things he said just…hurt and I wanted to yell back.” 

“I think you should talk to him,” Sehun laughed and he sipped his soda through the plastic straw and chewed on it afterwards. 

“I just got done slamming the door in his face, though.”

“Well then you can just march right back and un- slam it,” Sehun said matter- of- factly and Jongdae straightened himself out in his seat. 

“It’ll be so awkward… I kind of confessed to him before I left,” Jongdae groaned, reluctant to leave the comfort of Sehun’s presence and back into the rocky, uncharted territories with Baekhyun.

Sehun rolled his eyes and stared into Jongdae’s eyes. 
“Yes. Go.”

“Ok. I’m going to go, then?” Jongdae repeated uncertainly, slowly rising out of his seat and Sehun nodded furiously. 

“Yes, go, go!”

“Ok, Sehun, I’m sorry! I love you! We’ll see each other in class on Monday, ok?” Jongdae called out behind him and was relieved to see Sehun chuckling, cheek propped against a hand as he waved to Jongdae.

The chilly autumn air hit his face like a wall, but he ignored the cold and pulled out his phone, fingers shaking as he scrolled to find Baekhyun’s number and pressed the call button. There was barely three rings when the other side picked up and Jongdae took a deep breath to speak.

“Baek-“

“Jong-“

An awkward silence as both sides spluttered to allow the other to speak first. Jongdae took another deep breath and seized the moment.

“Baekhyun, I’m sorry. I like you. Like. I really like you. I like you so much and I’m just now telling you this and I’m sorry I never told you before but I’m always so happy with you but then you started dating Chanyeol and I didn’t get the chance to say anything so I met Sehun and I just-“ once the words came out of his mouth, it was like a waterfall that he couldn’t stop no matter how hard he tried. He didn’t even know where it was coming from, because it really had only been recently that he’d realized his feelings for Baekhyun. They’d been friends for years, but it seemed his brain had just now decided to drop the bomb on him. It was like it was suddenly saying, congratulations, you’re in love!

“Jongdae it’s ok. Calm down.” Baekhyun said evenly. Jongdae stopped blabbering and swallowed hard, not even realizing that he’d started crying again until he tasted his salty tears in the corner of his mouth. 

“I’m sorry Baekhyun.” He’d ruined everything.

“It’s ok.” It wasn’t.

“I just needed to tell you.” They could never be the same again.

“Turn around.” Baekhyun’s voice came from behind him. 

Jongdae did so slowly, eyebrows knit in confusion as he stared at the softly smiling boy in front of him. 

Baekhyun put down his phone and closed the distance between them, warming his cold hands on Jongdae’s flushed cheeks and sweetly pressing his lips against Jongdae’s quivering ones.

 

And when Baekhyun smiled into the kiss, Jongdae could feel the acceptance radiating from him.

 

And when Baekhyun deepened the kiss with his tongue, Jongdae could taste the beginning of something wonderful.