Baekhyun begins to refer to it as "the incident," at least in his mind. It's not like he meant to lean down and kiss Chanyeol, but he had this sudden, strong urge to taste the taller's lips. Maybe it had been how cute he'd looked stumbling around on his skates, sleepiness evident, small pout jutting out. 

He hadn't thought before he'd done it, but he can't say that he regrets it. He can't deny the tightness in his chest when he thinks about Chanyeol, can't think away the heat in his cheeks when they're together, but he tries his best to avoid contemplating the reasons. He has a lot on his plate, with finals and a competition coming up, so he refocuses from the leap his heart does when Chanyeol comes to mind. 

It'd been weird, the first day after they'd kissed. Baekhyun panicked and tried to avoid making eye contact in psychology, but Chanyeol seemed friendlier than ever, eyes never straying from his face, as if to prove a point. It got better as time went on and Baekhyun ignored it -- Chanyeol's eyes only wondered to him for lingering moments, and Baekhyun learned to control the thrum of his heart at Chanyeol's intense gaze. 

from: chanyeol 
Why do we not have practice tomorrow? I'm getting better, promise! 

Baekhyun wants to laugh at the amount of heart emojis in the next text, but it leaves a warm feeling floating in his stomach that sort of scares him, so he doesn't. Instead, he ignores the heart message and responds only to Chanyeol's question. 

to: chanyeol
i have a competition tmr. ill be gone all day 

It's not like he's trying to avoid Chanyeol -- he does have a competition, and he will get back early in the morning, with barely enough time to sleep before he's off to class. There's no way to squeeze in a practice with the taller boy. 

Jongdae lets out a choked laugh from his side of the room, and Baekhyun turns in time to see him rolling his eyes. 

"What?" Baekhyun asks, somehow feeling as if this laugh was at him. Jongdae's widening eyes and shaking head confirms this fact, and Baekhyun's on his feet in an instant. "What's so funny, Jongdae?" 

"Nothing!" he giggles out. Jongdae turns his entire body away from Baekhyun, laying on top of his phone to conceal it, and makes a screeching noise everytime Baekhyun tries to get closer to him. With Jongdae's shrill voice ringing through his ears, he gives up, slightly disheartened at the behavior from his roommate. It vanishes, however, when he sees his phone light up with a flash. 

from: chanyeol
Oh? Competition? Are you wearing that black silk outfit? And the red eyeshadow?

from: chanyeol
(If you are, you'll win. You look good in that. And you're the best skater.)

Baekhyun feels his cheeks heat up at the compliment, bursting red again with the next round of heart emoji texts. Why was he like this? He can feel Jongdae's gaze turn to him, observing the blush rising up his neck and cheek. He's embarrassed that his roommate has more fodder to make fun of him for, but he can't bring himself to will the smile away. Maybe he likes the way Chanyeol acts, even if it's just a little.

-- 

"Are you all ready?" the voice booms out throughout the dorm. It startles the boys for a second, but then they recognize it as their captain's voice, and suddenly their fears dissapate. There's nothing to be scared of, no matter how loud his voice is -- Chanyeol isn't very terrifying. 

"Yes, Chanyeol," an exasperated Sehun answers sleepily, gesturing to his outfit and backbag. "I'm completely ready to suffer on a road trip with you. For no reason." 

This earns the boy a smack on the head from the captain, as if he's feigning anger. 

"It's not for nothing," Chanyeol points out. "We're going to watch Baekhyun."

Sehun's thick eyebrows raise in a question, asking Chanyeol something silently. The pair's eyes flicker over to Kyungsoo's sleepy form, currently perched on the edge of his bed, completely out of it. 

"And Jongin," Chanyeol confirms in a hushed whisper. Sehun's eyebrows twist and he nods coolly. 

"Okay, let's go. We have a lot to do." 

The three boys make it outside in a few minutes, eyes puffy and hair mussed up. Even though it's barely daybreak and he wants to go back to sleep, the thought of shining eyes with red eyeshadow, of a shimmering smile, of silky fabric and graceful steps, it keeps him moving.

--

Baekhyun yawns as the early morning wind whips into his face, turning his nose cold and cheeks peachy. It's early, and he feels bad that Jongdae is awake with him, but he's eternally grateful that he has someone in the audience cheering him on. 

"Dae, are you sure you don't want to come on the team bus with us? The other skaters don't care. They all know you." 

Jongdae smiles his signature smile, hand ruffling Baekhyun's hair softly like he always does. He seems oddly fond today, as if he's more excited for Baekhyun's competition than Baekhyun himself. 

"No, I have a ride, I'm fine," Jongdae convinces. Baekhyun narrows his eyes at the tone he uses, at the implication that he's going with someone else to the competition. "Trust me, you'll see!" 

It's probably his mom, he reasons, and so he nods, allowing Jongdae to think he's being sneaky.

"Okay, fine," Baekhyun agrees, although he already knows what Jongdae has planned. "Be safe. I'm going!" 

He climbs up the stairs to the bus, finds a seat across from Jongin, and leans to stare out of the window. His performance music is blasting in his ears through headphones, and in his mind he leaps to all of the familiar dips in notes, to the melody. The sun is coming up now, in hues of red and purple, vibrant and abstract as if paint had spilled across the canvas of the sky that morning. It's a good sign, he hopes.

He's nervous about the competition today, especially since he's been using some of his practice time to hang out with Chanyeol, to teach the taller boy the basics. It probably wasn't the best strategy to distract himself in the months before a large competition, but it's fine, he reasons, he'll at least make it in the bottom tier of the top contenders. 

The song restarts and he checks his phone, only seeing an unread text from the night before, courtesy of Chanyeol, filled with at least eighteen heart emojis. It's excessive, and Baekhyun hates the way the hearts feel real when he thinks about Chanyeol. It's fine, he decides, he'll deal with everything after the competition.

He closes his eyes with the text fresh on his mind, determined to sleep on the bus and place at the competition. 

--

Luckily, Sehun has a car. If not, they would've all had to take the bus to the venue two hours away. But instead, they're all piled into Sehun's "baby," as he called it, though they all know that technically it belongs to Sehun's mom and that she only lets him drive it three times a year. It's fine, though, because Sehun is a good driver and Jongdae is a better DJ. 

Jongdae and Sehun make quick friends, since they're both loud and fond of embarrassing Chanyeol. Chanyeol hates the way they whisper about him, hates the way he can hear Baekhyun's name get thrown in, but he decides to be the bigger person. Today is about supporting Baekhyun, thanking him for everythig he's done, and he's not going to let the front-seat duo distract him at all. 

Kyungsoo falls asleep almost immediately, despite Jongdae's loud laughter and playlist. It's only halfway through Loonatic (Jongdae's favorite b-side loona track, as he'd explained before -- Sehun was interested, and they promised to plan a viewing party to teach Sehun more about the girls) that Sehun finally talks directly to Chanyeol. 

"What did you put in the trunk? I saw a ton of stuff back there," his voice is only slightly judgemental, mostly curious. "Are you moving into the arena?" 

Chanyeol blushes slightly, proud of what's sitting in the trunk. He'd spent an hour and a half on it last night after recieving Baekhyun's text about the competition.

He'd texted Jongdae immediately, asking where the competition was, asking if the shorter was going, asking if Baekhyun would kill him or swoon if he went, too.

Jongdae's immediate answer was swoon, and so here he was. 

"No -- it's for when Baekhyun is skating," Jongdae whips around, too, curious. "I made a sign."

Jongdae guffaws, which makes Kyungsoo grumble and turn to lean against the window in his sleep. Sehun makes some sort of high pitched noise that can only be described as excited, and Chanyeol blushes deep at the thought of Baekhyun finding it lame. 

"What does it say?" 

"It's lame. You'll make fun of me." 

Sehun nods because, yeah, he probably will, but then he makes eye contact with Chanyeol in the rear-view mirror.

"Tell us." 

"No," Chanyeol whines, shaking his head.

Jongdae mimics his whine and shakes his whole body, as if he's protesting, ending in a fit of giggles. This sends Sehun into shrieks of laughter, too, and he shakes behind the wheel while mocking Chanyeol. The whole car is moving at this point, the two boys in the front practically screaming over the already-loud music. 

"Just tell us, Chanyeol!" Jongdae whines, voice high pitched and nasally, much too grating for early morning car rides. 

"No, I --" 

Kyungsoo makes an exasperated noise, shifting back to glare at the other three boys. 

"I'm tired, guys." 

This only makes Sehun laugh more, though Jongdae looks a bit remorseful since he barely knows the shorter boy. Chanyeol pouts at his teammate, hoping to prove his innocence in the screaming match, but it's to no avail -- he only gets a glare back. 

"We'll be quiet," Jongdae promises, dropping the sign's contents from the conversation and turning Haseul's voice down a miniscule amount. Kyungsoo sighs, satisfied, and is asleep on the window in a second, obviously exhausted. Chanyeol can't remember the last time Kyungsoo was this tired, but he doesn't push it, doesn't ask Sehun when his roommate came home last night, or what he'd been doing. 

Once Kyungsoo is fully asleep, Jongdae breathes a sigh of relief, obviously feeling guilty, but Sehun waves it off with a hand, smiling in his reassuring way.

"He's just being grumpy because he needs his beauty sleep to look good in front of Jongin, don't sweat it." 

--

The rink is full -- everywhere Baekhyun looks there are people warming up, stretching, doing their makeup. Being here makes him nervous, if only because he knows that all of his juniors and friends are looking up to him to lead the way. He'd always excelled, always trained harder than others, and he was known in the competition scene for being graceful. But this is his last year in college, this was the last time he'd compete and have a group of people watching him. This is the last time to make his friends and coach proud. 

He watches Jongin practice his routine -- Jongin in all his tall, tan, charming glory. Jongin looks confident and at ease when he's on ice, like he was born to be gliding across, like the smiles he throws are completely natural. He's in all white, a stark contrast with his golden skin and dark hair.

He's pretty, Baekhyun knows, in a different way than Baekhyun is. When Baekhyun is on the ice, he's fierce, with sharp angles and calculated movements. He skates like it's all he knows how to do, like everything in the world depends on how he presents himself across the ice. They're visually striking when they're together, although Baekhyun sometimes wishes he struck people in the way Jongin does. 

But it's not about Jongin or his dramatic arabesque music -- today is about Baekhyun, about his light, airy Debussy piece. About the way his lined eyes and black silk cut across the soft piano, the way he becomes one with the gentle flow of the music, with the beat of his heart, with the melody.

He contrasts to Jongin in a way that makes him seem cold, but he contrasts with the music as if he's blooming on ice, as if he's never felt joy before this very moment. That's what he's here to do, and he's going to do it perfectly, he decides.

When his name is called, he takes one last deep breath and skates out, a haughty look in his eye. He needs to look arrogant -- and he does. He looks up at the crowd, spares a glance to the judges, and then the music starts. It's gentle, lilting, and he's off. He skates across the ice, focused on maintaining the look of arrogance and landing each one of his steps. 

He feels light as air as the music picks up, as his legs twist around each other, as he's pulled into a spin. He's turning quickly, naturally, with one arm up. It looks as though there's a phantom holding him close, as if he's dancing with an unseen partner. The music slows into something softer again, and it finally hits the point where Baekhyun can allow his face to match the song: rêverie. 

His face drops into relaxation, into bliss, into a daydream -- he's not on the ice, he's in a wonderland filled with warmth and sunshine. A world where the silk of his shirt is reflected in dew drops, where the red lining his eyes matches the flowers, the sky.

He's in a state of peace, his body motions fluid and soft, gentle as the touch of Chanyeol's lips to his, burning as the eyes he feels watching him from the crowd, fluid as his skates skidding over the ice as he lines up for a jump. 

He sticks the landing, though he doesn't recognize it at the time. He knows he's done well, knows that he needs to make it through the last section of the song, needs to show himself falling into peace, into sleep -- and so he does.

With gliding ankles and well-timed steps, he's across the rink, smiling brightly at the judges, extending arms fully to showcase how beautiful his fingers look when they're angled like they should be. He feels powerful, in his element -- there is no fear on the ice, just movement. 

The chords grow peaceful and soft, just like Baekhyun had anticipated, had known, and he allows himself to float back towards the center of the ice, as if the wind blew him there in a summer haze. The red on his eyes is smudged because he thinks he might be crying, but it's fine, he's done it. He's spinning in tight circles once again, this time with arms around himself -- he doesn't need a phantom partner, he's fully immersed in the dream; he is the dancer. 

Then the music drops into nothing, and he allows himself to stop, to do his final pose: a look of joy, wonder, of pride. And then it's all over. He hears clapping, is deafened by the sound of his own breathing, can feel tears dripping down, bringing little red droplets with them. He's done it.

He takes his bows, smiles at the judges once more, takes a second to wipe away the scarlet tears pooling in his eyes. Then he's gliding off the rink, just as quickly as he'd come on, as if it'd only been seconds since he began his routine. Jongin is smiling and jumping when he makes his way to his team, obviously elated that Baekhyun had pulled off the jump, had done well. 

Baekhyun smiles and then starts crying more because, , he's so happy. And then he notices that Jongin is also pointing somewhere to the right, in the crowd, and Baekhyun's heart leaps at the thought of Jongdae and his mother sitting there. He turns around immediately, searching for familiar faces, and his heart tumbles all the way into his stomach when he sees the group of boys shouting twenty feet away.

It's Chanyeol and Jongdae and Kyungsoo and Sehun, but Baekhyun mostly just focuses on Chanyeol because what the hell. 

He's holding a large sign that reads: "You skated into my heart, Baekhyun!" complete with poorly drawn hearts, flowers, and a cartoon version of Baekhyun.

It's almost laughable, but Baekhyun wants to cry again when he thinks about how much effort Chanyeol put into this, how they traveled to watch him. He covers his face in shock, blinking away more tears, too embarrassed to look back up right now. 

"Baek," Jongin's voice rings out, closer than before. "Chanyeol just yelled that you should check your phone." 

Baekhyun looks up again, cheeks fully red, heart jumping, eyes b with tears, and laughs out loud when Chanyeol waves cutely to him, suddenly embarrassed, too. 

"Thanks," Baekhyun yells to the group of boys, although his eyes focus on one in particular. He thinks he likes the way Chanyeol smiles at him like that, likes the implication of skating into someone's heart.

He receives a jumbled mess of yelling back, all excited at Baekhyun's performance and subsequent blushing. He hurries over to sit with the rest of the kids from his school, to nod at his coach and get a pat on the back. He did well, he's sure, and he can't stop thinking about how happiness feels when it bubbles up in his chest, how it feels to be jittery when someone looks at you. It's thrilling. 

When they announce that Baekhyun is now in first place, he sobs again, this time onto Jongin's jacketed shoulder, only stopping to gasp in a few breaths and whip around to make teary eye contact with a yelling Chanyeol. He screams something that Baekhyun can't make out, but Baekhyun thinks he understands the gist of it, and he nods excitedly, cheering for himself. 

When his excitement dies down and his heart is only thumping a thousand miles per minute, he gathers the courage to check his phone, seeing a notification for eight pictures from Chanyeol. His hands shake as he opens it, giggling out loud when he sees a selfie of Chanyeol holding the sign proudly in the parking lot. The next is of Kyungsoo and Sehun glaring at each other, obviously arguing over something, while standing in front of a concession stand. In the next, Jongdae has his mouth opened so wide that Baekhyun recognizes it as his laugh, but to most it would look as though he's in pain.

Four more are pictures of Baekhyun on the ice with varying amounts of zoom being used. Baekhyun looks tiny and grainy and blurry, but when he glances up at Chanyeol and sees how shaky his hands are, he understands. The last is in the arena, a selfie of Chanyeol just smiling -- something has changed, though, and Chanyeol is sporting (very badly done) red eyeshadow, as if to match Baekhyun. 

He snorts out a laugh through a few tears, feeling his pulse speed up and cheeks turn pink once again, too overwhelmed by his success and the way Chanyeol's red tinted eyes crinkle when he smiles. 

--

It's pitch black and cold by the time they leave the arena. The team bus is waiting, and it seems tempting, but then Baekhyun sees the group of boys running toward him, and his resolve flies out of the window. Sure, he'd ended up winning second place in the men's singles, but he didn't have to ride the bus back -- he has his best friend and his (god? what could he call him?) Chanyeol there, waiting for him, with a working car. There's no need, he decides, to go anywhere but with them. 

He bows to his coach, who nods in an understanding way, giving him one last, "Good job, Baekhyun," and a clap on the back. Then he's scurrying off to meet his friends -- do Sehun and Kyungsoo count? he wonders -- and jumping happily into Jongdae's outstretched arms. His best friend starts pinching him and placing sloppy kisses on the top of his head immediately, squeezing him so tight that he thinks he might explode. But, hey, that's just how Jongdae is, he reasons. 

"Our second place king!" Jongdae yells into his ear, making Baekhyun yelp out in feigned pain. "You invented ice skating!" 

Baekhyun laughs him off, shaking his shoulders until his best friend unlatches himself. He turns away from him, toward the other three boys, and comes face to face with a smiling, fond Chanyeol. His cheeks seem chubbier today, as if he'd smiled so much that they'd plumped up, and Baekhyun resists the urge to pinch them. 

"Congratulations, Baekhyun," he says it softly and sincerely, in a way that only Chanyeol would, with kind red-lined eyes. 

"Thanks," he manages back, pink creeping up his neck once again. Chanyeol has that effect on him, whether he likes it or not.

Baekhyun looks away in order to not end up looking like a tomato, noticing that Jongin has joined the group, smiling widely down at Kyungsoo. He'd gotten fifth, and Baekhyun had never seen his eyes glow like that when he looked at the crowd, not even the time he'd gotten first. 

He's about to point it out to Jongdae, but then Sehun speaks up.

"Let's go eat. I googled it, and there's a diner nearby," he gestures down to his stomach, as if to indicate that it's empty. "We need nourishment for the ride home." 

Everyone agrees easily and starts to squeeze into the car. There's an issue, though, because it's one seat short. Jongdae and Sehun are still in the front seat, but the three seats in the back are left for the four others. Jongin, Chanyeol, and Kyungsoo slide in first, leaving Baekhyun standing outside of the door, feeling like an idiot. 

"Just double buckle, guys," Jongdae says, exasperated. "I'm hungry. Get a move on."

Baekhyun shoots a glare at his best friend but nods anyway, moving to sit on Jongin's lap. Jongin makes a noise of protest, though, and Baekhyun can feel both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo's eyes boring into his head, and so he closes his eyes and moves to sit on Chanyeol's. It's awkward, and he knows it, but Chanyeol doesn't seem to mind. He puts his arm comfortably around Baekhyun's hip to rest, humming along to the song Jongdae plays, ignoring the burning blush making its way over Baekhyun's entire face. 

When they finally step out of the car, Baekhyun is completely grateful, legs wobbly for a different reason than being exhausted from skating. Not that he'd admit it to Jongdae and Sehun's smug faces, though. 

They get seated quickly since they're one of the only groups of people looking for food this late, and Baekhyun watches from across the table as Chanyeol reads the menu, pursing his lips and furrowing thick eyebrows in a way that makes his stomach flip. He'd been telling himself to deal with feelings after the competition and, hell, that was right now. Time to deal, he supposes. 

"What are you guys getting?" Kyungsoo asks doubtfully, and Baekhyun watches Jongin's eyes flick up instantly. Even though Baekhyun isn't sure what he's feeling when he sees Chanyeol, he's positive he knows what Jongin is feeling when he looks at Kyungsoo. It's so obvious that even Kyungsoo should be able to figure out exactly what's on the boy's mind. 

When their order arrives, it's almost shocking. There's so much food, although it's too be expected when six college boys are together. Baekhyun takes a sip of his strawberry milkshake -- it's divine -- and his eyes widen. Chanyeol seems to notice, raising an eyebrow as he takes a large bite of his burger. 

"Good?" Chanyeol asks sweetly, as if he's happy that Baekhyun is enjoying it, as if Baekhyun's food matters more than what he's stuffing in his mouth right now. 

"Delicious," the shorter responds, smiling back. He pushes the shake toward Chanyeol, offering it, and smiles when Chanyeol use the same straw to test it. It feels like something special, like something secret, although he knows it isn't. Chanyeol nods his approval, light pink dusting his cheeks and ears, pushing it slowly back toward Baekhyun.

Baekhyun watches his eyes go downcast, obviously embarrassed, obviously thinking of everything that had happened today. Baekhyun thinks back to the pun on the poster claiming that he'd skated into Chanyeol's heart, that he liked him. Maybe it was a joke, Baekhyun wonders, but then he makes eye contact with Chanyeol once again, a stuttering, burger-choking mess of a man, and he's reassured. 

He lets his foot sneak across under the table, resting on top of Chanyeol's softly. The taller doesn't look up, but Baekhyun feels Chanyeol move his feet slightly so that their legs are tangled together.

Are they flirting? Baekhyun panics. He's pretty sure they are, but he can't find it in himself to care when Chanyeol smiles at him and takes another drink of the shake, fondness reflected in the neon lights of their diner booth. 

--

AAA guys sorry i was gone so long. this chapter is the longest yet so....that makes up for it? haha 

i hope you liked!!!!!!!!! how are you guys feeling about the developments? feedback is always appreciated! bye bye!