Baekhyun’s mind has been running a thousand kilometers already and it is only midday. His neck is aching from having to keep checking the time, only to find out that only three minutes have passed. It’s always the wait that is the hardest, isn’t it?

“Are you waiting for something to happen, or is it a new tick you developed?”

Baekhyun groans at his father who has just spoken, a teasing eyebrow raised at his behaviour of checking the time. The old man chuckles and leans back in his seat.

“Tell your old man what’s gotten your in a twist, son.”

“One, I’m not wearing and two, no,” Baekhyun grits out, rolling his eyes. He pushes in his chair and tries to focus on his work.

“You’re way past that whole ‘I’m too cool for my parents’ teen stage, Baekhyun,” his father sighs. “Just tell me what’s wrong. Maybe I can even help you.”

Baekhyun breathes in a deep breath to keep the annoyance at bay. He lifts his head, defiance clear in his eyes. But when he sees his old man staring at him with worry and concern in his brown eyes, the stubbornness just seeps out of his system. He sets his pen down and leans back in his chair as well, ready for the long and embarrassing account of his one-sided love. He tells his father everything for the first time, from the very first moment he saw his best friend not as a sister but as a woman (he left out the part where they made love of course) to the very last moment of this morning where he had to regrettably leave her to come to work.

His father is patient as he lends Baekhyun his ear. He never once interrupted him and when his son is done with his love story, he simply stares at him with a contemplating look on his face. Baekhyun sits there watching his father nervously, waiting for him to say something. Finally, the man lets out a sigh through his nose and shifts in his seat.

“Baekhyun,” he mutters. The boy stares at his father with unblinking eyes, waiting for wise words to touch his heart. But all his father says is, “I can’t believe I gave birth to such a wuss.” Baekhyun can only gape at his dad for saying something so crude. He sighs again. “Even a blind man can see how much you love her and how much she loves you. It’s just so sad that it took you guys so long to figure out something that obvious.”

Baekhyun’s tongue has swelled up in size so that he can’t even speak. He can only stare at his father like he is speaking in an alien language. Had it been so obvious that even his parents could see? Was Baekhyun just that blinded by his fear of rejection from the only girl that has ever caught his attention and held it for so many years?

“You know what, son?” Baekhyun swallows and faces his father. The old man is serious when he tells him, “Don’t come back to work until you’ve learnt to be a man.”

Baekhyun feels empty and foreign as he drives back home, seeing how the sky is bright and the streets are dotted with people. He hasn’t been out during the day much when he is constantly working, mostly cooped up in concrete buildings. Even when he gets home, the vibe is different. It feels weird to see his place with the afternoon sun shining through the windows. But even more so, the feeling of emptiness and loneliness is so overwhelming that he just knows that his best friend isn’t home. He suddenly doesn’t want to stay home anymore.

Leaving his car keys, Baekhyun leaves his penthouse and starts walking aimlessly. It has been awhile since he got to do this and it is nice to just be alone under the warm sun, soaking up its energy that Baekhyun knows is going to come as useful later. He has no idea where he is heading but it is as if his body just knows where to go, he finds himself approaching a familiar neon sign that reads Playground Bar. It only takes him a moment of hesitation before he makes up his mind to enter.

For an underground bar, Baekhyun thinks it is hilarious that Disney songs are playing through the speakers as he descends the stairs. He hasn’t even seen the Closed door sign on his way in. Which is why, he jumps when pushes the door and is greeted by a familiar scream.

“You did that on purpose!” a girl yells in anger.

A low, obnoxious cackle resounds above the background noise of a video game. “No, I didn’t. You’re just stupid enough to run into me.”

He frowns and enters cautiously. He follows the sound of the video game, turning a corner. Baekhyun sees his best friend sitting next to Chanyeol the lanky guy with wide ears, the both of them sitting in a bean bag each. The flat screen TV on the wall had Mario Kart on. Baekhyun’s lips tilt into a smile without even knowing. He leans against the brick wall next to him, his arms crossed over his chest as he watches the girl play animatedly with and barely with her hands. She has never been very good at video games but she always enjoy playing them.

He doesn’t know how long he has been staring at the back of her head when he hears a monotonous but firm, “What are you doing here?”

“Who’s that?” Chanyeol immediately pipes up from the front, turning his head slightly though his eyes are intent on the TV. screen.

Baekhyun turns to the side and sees Kyungsoo, carrying two plates of food. “Baekhyun,” he mutters, just loud enough for the other two to hear above the video game.

She abandons her future to being a winner for a moment as the girl whips her head around with wide eyes. Like a wooden block fitting nicely into its cutout, her eyes finds Baekhyun’s easily without even a moment of searching. He tips the corner of his lips in a slight smile, somehow making his eyes twinkle even more. She feels her heart racing as heat spreads from her chest to the very tips of her fingers.

“Ha ha!” Chanyeol shouts triumphantly. “Park Chanyeol wins, again!”

The girl gasps and immediately turns to the screen where she indeed sees Chanyeol’s avatar passing the Finish Line. She groans loudly and drops the controller on the mat. Baekhyun chuckles silently. Kyungsoo glares at him for a second longer before going over to Chanyeol and the girl, where he puts down the dishes on the table in front of them. As Kyungsoo goes back to get more of what he has cooked, Chanyeol turns his head and sees Baekhyun.

“Hey,” he greets chirpily, munching on a chip. “Have you eaten?”

Baekhyun unfolds his arms and checks his watch. He frowns. “It’s almost half past three. Of course I’ve eaten.”

He rolls his eyes. “Well, I’m sorry we work in the food and business industry so we don’t have a proper lunch time.”

“I cooked a bit too much,” Kyungsoo says now as he reappears with two more dishes of food. He walks past Baekhyun to get to the table. However, instead of walking back to the kitchen, he settles down on the ground next to Chanyeol. “Eat something,” he breezily says to the newcomer.

“Kyungsoo’s cooking is amazing!” the only girl exclaims, bobbing her head. Baekhyun turns to her, his heart swelling when he sees her grinning at him, holding out a fork in his direction.

Baekhyun, like he is under a spell, pushes off the wall and walks over. The girl scoots over to the side where she sits next to Chanyeol, giving Baekhyun space to settle down next to her. He sits with his kneecap touching hers and he thinks he is way too aware of that contact. He holds his fork in his hand, listening and watching his best friend interact with the owners of the bar.

“It’s a bit overcooked, Soo,” Chanyeol complains to the chef as he scrutinises a fried chicken wing.

The smaller male simply plucks the chicken off the end of his fork. “Don’t eat it then,” he grumbles.

The girl laughs even as she eats her winglet. “I think it’s yummy. Some people just aren’t that appreciative but it’s okay.” She beams at Kyungsoo. “I love your cooking!”

“Stop flirting with him,” Chanyeol growls at her in a playful manner. He sees her opening and taking in a breath to say something back, so he quickly darts his eyes to Baekhyun to avoid a long argument that he knows would go on for a long time. “So! What are you doing here, Baekhyun?”

The girl snickers quietly. She turns to Baekhyun to wait for his answer. He keeps his eyes on her, mesmerised by her beauty even in the bad lighting and her oily mouth as she eats. He swallows and flickers his eyes up to Chanyeol who seems to be deeply analysing his face.

“I have a few days off work,” he murmurs, noticing the brightening features of his best friend from the corner of his eye. But he continues, “Got home today and decided to take a stroll. I got here by coincidence.”

“And completely missed the ‘Closed’ sign?” Kyungsoo mutters, rolling his eyes at his wing.

Baekhyun frowns. What’s up with these two men who talk to him like they’re comfortable with each other despite this being only the second time they’ve met?

“It’s fine,” Chanyeol brushes Kyungsoo off. “We’re on break anyway.” He raises an eyebrow at him, subtly flickering his eyes between him and the girl. “So have you talked yet?”

Baekhyun doesn’t know what to say. A stranger he has only met twice is following up on him. For some reason, it feels nice despite all the subtly rude comments from him and his partner.

“Not really…?” He eventually answers.

Chanyeol gives him a look. “Do it now,” he says, almost like a stern father. Then he turns promptly to Kyungsoo, who is doing a great job in ignoring him when he says, “My throat feels scratched from the overly crispy chicken.”

“Talked about what?” the girl asks Baekhyun, turning to him now with a confused look on her face.

Baekhyun his lips and gulps. He clears his throat and shifts uncomfortably in his spot. “Well…” he starts, not quite knowing where to start. He looks at her and sees that she is staring at him with wide, intent eyes. He takes in a deep breath. No more being a coward, he tells himself firmly. “About where we left off this morning,” he says softly.

He watches as realisation dawns on her. Her face glows under the illumination of the TV screen. Baekhyun thinks she looks absolutely adorable, especially when she quickly looks down and starts nibbling on her chicken wing like a little rabbit eating a carrot. He takes a glance over at the other side of the table. Though he sees Chanyeol and Kyungsoo talking in low voices, their eyes only fixed on each other, he still moves closer to his best friend, slipping his knee cap under hers so he could feel more of her touch.

Dropping his voice to a soothing murmur, he confesses to her, “I told my dad about what happened.” She widens her eyes and gapes at him. “He gave me some time off.”

“For what?” she whispers.

His lips tilt into a small smile. “To court you.”

It feels weird to be sitting in a booth with an actual label on what this meeting is: a date. The girl is nervous and Baekhyun is equally, if not more, so. It is impromptu when Baekhyun decides that they should have their first date today, and even more so when he decides to have it there and then at Playground Bar. Chanyeol is extremely open to that idea, of course. He gives them the next best seats in the house (to his disappointment Baekhyun firmly objected to having the very best seats, which turns out to be the bar counter where Chanyeol would be within hearing range).

So the two of them are allowed to have the most secluded booth at the corner of the bar. They look up when Chanyeol comes over to place a glass of milkshake in front of the girl and a bottle of beer in front of Baekhyun. He eyes Baekhyun, who looks away quickly and takes a sip of his beer, hoping for the alcohol to give him enough strength to actually break through the awkward tension. He thinks that this is the first time that a date has ever felt so frightening. It is as if whatever he say would just embarrass him and the girl he is trying to impress will look at him like a crazy man. Never in his whole life has he wanted a date to go so well before.

When Chanyeol finally walks away, Baekhyun dares to spare a glance at the girl, who is sipping from her milkshake, plucking out the strawberry stuck on the rim of the glass. She lifts her gaze from her cup when she hears her best friend clearing his throat. He sniffles and his lips nervously.

“Do you actually come here everyday?” he asks, his throat scratchy and dry. He takes another big gulp of his beer.

She is glad that Baekhyun had been the one to break the awkward silence. She nods her head with a smile. “I really like Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. They’re really nice.”

He squints at her. “Yeah, that’s because you’re a girl,” he grumbles. She tilts her head as amusement floods her features. Baekhyun continues to explain, just so she doesn’t think he’s made up of jealousy, “They’re not very nice to me. Especially Kyungsoo.”

He stares at her, looking so much like she is trying to hold in her laughter. He frowns at her, not quite liking how she is keeping things from him. But she breaks into a smile eventually and shakes her head.

“Baekhyun,” she says with a little laughter in her voice. “Chanyeol and Kyungsoo are partners.”

He sighs. “I know that,” he mutters, nodding his head. “Chanyeol told me—” He stops when he notices the quirk of her eyebrow and slight widening of her eyes. He in a surprised breath. “You mean—?”

“Yes,” she nods, laughing slightly.

He immediately shifts to the end of his bench and tilts his body slightly to look for Chanyeol. Since it is only the starting of the evening shift, there isn’t anyone here to have dinner yet. He finds the two owners of the bar sitting at the bar counter, talking. Chanyeol’s frame is so much bigger than Kyungsoo, who is seated just next to him. The both of them are facing the kitchen that is behind the bar service area. Baekhyun watches as Chanyeol shakes his head despondently and drops it heavily. Kyungsoo heaves a sigh and reaches out to pat his back awkwardly. Baekhyun is about to move back to his previous spot and call out on his best friend’s lie when he sees the smaller male slip his hand between Chanyeol’s body and his arm, his inner forearm before sliding his hand into his big palm, intertwining their fingers.

Baekhyun holds his breath and quickly pulls his head away from the sight, surprised by what he saw. The girl has to bite on her bottom lip to stop herself from laughing out loud as she observes her best friend replaying the moment in his head. Then, she grins when he darts his head out again as if wanting to see more. And he does. This time, he sees the two men sharing a kiss on the lips, no tongue action or passion, just mere comfort and reassurance. His jaw drops.

The two men break the kiss and, very quickly, Baekhyun scrambles back to his spot just in case they see him. He is looking at the girl sitting opposite, a wide smile on her lips, with big, big eyes. His best friend chuckles softly.

“I didn’t know,” he whispers in surprise, feeling so terrible for actually being jealous of Chanyeol and Kyungsoo who have been the ones spending most of the time with the girl he loves. “God, I feel so stupid!”

She laughs. “Well, they’re not extremely affectionate in public.”

Baekhyun is still in shock by the revelation that he just sits there, staring at nothing. She gives him time to think but after a long while, she rests her chin on her palm that is propped up on the table by her elbow.

“Baekhyun?” she calls softly.

And as if her voice is the only thing he needed to hear to be brought back to reality, he blinks and darts his eyes to hers.

“So they’re not flirting with you but are actually nice to you?” he asks, sounding quite dazed still.

She chuckles softly. “Well, yes. Kyungsoo just isn’t that good with people, which works just as well since he’s in the kitchen, not dealing with customers anyway. Sometimes he’s mean to me too. He’d push me off the chair when he walks past, just for fun.”

“That’s not very nice,” Baekhyun grumbles, frowning. How dare he assault this beautiful girl like that?

She laughs. “Yeah, but I like him. He takes care of me in his own quiet way. Even though he has to clean up by himself, he’d always get Chanyeol to send me home safely.”

Baekhyun cannot help but sigh loudly. She drops her smile and blinks at him, worried by the change in his expression. He looks frustrated and upset.

“I’ve been such a bad friend, haven’t I?” he mumbles, running his fingers through his hair. He isn’t looking at her but he still catches the right moment before she answers to his rhetorical question. “I’ve been in love with you for all these years and never told you. Put you through so much anguish because of my cowardice. Didn’t even do my part in taking care of you even though I promised to when you moved in with me.” He heaves another bitter sigh. “I’m such a—”

“Baekhyun,” the girl stops him with a gentle murmur. He swallows but doesn’t say anything, wanting to just hear her speak with her soothing voice. “I thought we came to a conclusion that we’re both at fault.” At this, he lifts his head slightly to look at her. She gives him an encouraging smile. “I was in love with you too and I never told you, so I thought you didn’t like me back. I tried to get over you buy avoiding you and dating other guys.”

“Did it work?” he whispers.

She shakes her head. “You’re the only person who knows me the best, Baekhyun. And you treat me with so much respect that I could never find in any of my exes.” Then she tries to uplift the melancholic atmosphere by rolling her eyes playfully. “And you know what they say. Absence only makes the heart grow fonder.”

But Baekhyun doesn’t smile or laugh at her attempt in trying to lighten the tension. He is staring at her, his eyes fixed and unblinking. He finds it so hard to look away from her pretty face. Even in the minimum lighting the bar gives them, he thinks the shadows casted on her face makes her look beautiful, just in a different way. Even her hair that has fallen from behind her ear like a curtain, shielding her side profile, seems like a prop just to make her look breathtakingly magnificent.

Has Baekhyun ever taken notice of how she makes even the tiest lighting look like a camera filter? No.

Has Baekhyun ever wanted her as much as he wants her now? No.

And will Baekhyun do something about it now, finally, after all that torture he put himself through? Yes.

Despite his breathlessness, the girl manages to hear his sincerity and desperation behind his words if the adoring twinkle in his caramel brown eyes hasn’t showed her.

“Please be my girlfriend.”

Baekhyun wakes up early the next morning, so used to always having to get up for work. It is only seven in the morning and the blinds are closed in this room unlike in his, so he could have the natural sunlight to wake him up. He already knows who is lying next to him but he still has to hold his breath as he turns slowly onto his side.

Lying on his bicep is the girl of his dreams, sleeping so peacefully and adorably as she curls herself close to Baekhyun’s side though her face is now in his bare chest. He feels an overwhelming amount of love flooding his chest as he watches his best friend sleep with her small lips slightly parted, her long and thick eyelashes brushing her rosy cheeks. Letting out a controlled breath slowly, Baekhyun lifts a shaky hand and, very gently, brushes her hair away from her face. His lips tilt into a smile when she wrinkles her nose in her sleep and curls up even more into a ball.

Baekhyun watches her for a long while, tracing the outline of her features with his gaze, etching every bit of her beautiful face into his memory. He hasn’t seen her this close up since three years ago and he isn’t going to let this opportunity slip by even if he knows that there would be many more in the future. In the end, Baekhyun finds himself getting sleepy again. So he gathers his girlfriend in his embrace and hugs her close to his body. She hums in her sleep, sounding so content that when Baekhyun rests his cheek on the top of her head and closes his eyes, a smile is sewn onto his lips.

After the longest time ever, Baekhyun can finally rest all his love on his best friend, without the fear of her drifting away from him. This time, he isn’t just going to keep her close to his heart. Baekhyun is going to move her into his heart, lock it and throw away the key, never ever letting her out. He is going to hold on tight to her and never let go.