A/N: not much to say, but to enjoy. As always let me know what you thought!!

Your chest burns as you run down the small hall into the main office. Quick as lightening, you clock into your job, the time changing to the next minute mark soon after pressing the button.

You exhale in relief, wiping sweat off of your forehead as you try to regain your lost breath. You had a bit of a late start and ended up running behind, nearly sprinting the entire way to your job. You work at The Eve, which is a swanky upscale restaurant that is rather prestigious. One thing your employers did not tolerate is tardiness.

“You’re late,” a deep voice bellows from above and you jump from fright before registering who is addressing you. Rolling your eyes, you turn towards the hovering figure that is leaning against the office doorframe.

“If you must know, I clocked in with seconds to spare,” you inform.

He chuckles. “We both know that being here even five minutes before your shift counts as late, but nice try.”

“Leave me alone, Park Chanyeol,” you whine. Ever since you first started working at The Eve, Chanyeol has made it his job to annoy the living hell out of you. Whenever you both so happen to share a shift you know no peace. He harasses, teases, taunts, and straight up pisses you off. The worst part is that he is the one who got you the job in the first place, so you have to endure the grueling hours with the thinnest shred of patience you have left—your paychecks rely on it.

“You’re on dishes duty today,” he informs. He isn’t a manager or a head chef or anything, yet he bosses you around like he owns the place. You pout before stomping out of the small room, trailing behind the giant. You pass through the double doors entering the bustling kitchen. Steam, shouting, and delicious smells fill the place. It is nearly dinner, the busiest time of the day, so everyone is focused.

You both stop on your way to the huge double sinks when Zhang Yixing, the head chef, crosses your path. He is ridiculously handsome, with a soft warm face, but looks are deceiving. Yixing is one of the most intimidating people you have ever met in your life. Whenever his apathetic eyes acknowledge your presence you feel like shrinking. It is no different right now as his gaze lingers on you as you and Chanyeol both bow respectfully.

“You’re late,” his soft voice rumbles with authority and you wince.

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” you reply, still bowing your head.

He’s silent for a brief moment before turning his attention to Chanyeol, getting him up to speed on the dinner menu. When he’s done, he turns back to you. “Your jacket is ed.”

With that he walks away. Chanyeol instantly begins laughing hysterically as you fumble with buttoning up your white jacket. You glare up at the annoying brunette before stalking over to your station at the sinks, imagining each dish you dunk under the scorching hot water is his head, drowning out his mocking chortles.

You took this job thinking you would be a waitress or hostess, but instead you are the kitchen lackey. Your job consists of washing dishes, fetching food from the fridge, prepping ingredients, and grabbing drinks and snacks for the crew. You’re like a glorified intern. You gain no reward, no hopes of promotion. You are immensely underappreciated, but it is an honor to work at such a distinguished restaurant and it will look amazing on your résumé. 

The rest of your shift goes by without incident. Dinner shifts are the most grueling and after close, everyone files out sluggishly, exhaustion weighing down limbs. You push back the hair stuck to your damp forehead and sigh as the cool night air hits you.

“Do you need a ride home?” Someone asks and then Chanyeol is falling into step beside you. His Jacket is off, folded across his arm, and he now only wears a black undershirt that sticks to his chest.

“That’s alright,” you decline off handily. 

“It’s too late to walk home and you live pretty far,” he insists. You side eye him, but know he won’t take no for an answer, plus you’re too tired to wait for the bus. Rubbing your eyes tiredly, you huff out a ‘fine’.

He grins slightly and leads you to his black SUV, which is as big as him. He doesn’t bother opening your door and you don’t expect anything less from the gentleman.

Despite him never giving you a ride home, he drives off without asking for directions and you don’t offer to give any. You both know he knows exactly where he’s going.

“You did well today,” he starts after a long moment of comfortable silence.

You scoff in reply and he laughs. “What? Nobody washes dishes like you do!”

“Oh my god, Chanyeol, shut up!” You groan as his boisterous chuckles fill the otherwise silent car.

“Thanks for the ride,” you say once he’s parked outside your apartment complex. You glance at him and catch him nod stiffly. His hands grip the steering wheel tightly and his full lips have thinned into a hard line. 

“See you tomorrow,” he replies, not meeting your eyes. You don’t question it as you slide out of the car and head to your home.

He doesn’t drive away until he sees you go inside.

Chanyeol meant what he said about seeing you the next day. You both go to the same school and even share a few classes being that you both are music majors.

Spring is in the air. Everything is blooming to life, the weather is lovely and the world feels and looks beautiful. You are sitting on a patch of grass on the campus lawn, leaning back on your elbows, allowing the sun to soak into your flesh. Beside you sits your best friend in the entire world, Jung Jisoul, who is talking animatedly to another good friend, Byun Baekhyun. You adore the two, but their shared interests varies vastly from yours, so you aren’t paying any attention to their conversation. Your feet rest comfortably on the lap of Kim Jongin, who is silently playing on his phone.

These are the moments worth living for. Hanging out with your close friends, talking about nothing—or not talking at all—and just basking in the moment. Despite being at school, calmness seeps into your spirit. Your eyelids grow heavier by the second and chirping of birds sing to you like a lullaby.

Your peace is ripped to shreds by a familiar unnecessarily deep voice.

Chanyeol plops right beside you, his knee brushes your thigh as he greets everyone with a wide smile. He’s always smiling and it bugs you to no end.

“Bout time you made it,” Baekhyun says with a dramatic eye roll.

“I got held up.”

“Yeah? By another one of your ‘girlfriends’?” Jongin pulls away from his phone long enough to ask, earning a playful shove from the big-eared giant beside you. It causes the boys to laugh good-naturedly. Chanyeol has recently acquired quite the reputation around campus as a playboy. From the rumors you’ve heard, for the past couple months, he has hooked up with any girl that has enough nerve to approach the intimidating man. You’ve noticed him talking to different girls from time to time, but didn’t really pay him enough mind to know if the rumors were based in truth.

Jinsoul has grown silent at Chanyeol’s arrival. You check on her worriedly. Her long crinkled platinum blonde hair drapes her face so that it curtains it from view, but her hands have curled into fists in her lap. 

“You’re gross,” you snap at Chanyeol and his big eyes—everything about Park Chanyeol is big—widen innocently at your statement.

“What?” He asks, clueless. “I didn’t even do anything!”

“I’m sure,” you dismiss with a scowl. Everything about him gets under your skin. His lower than low voice, his overwhelming height, his up to date fashion sense, and most importantly, his damned smile make you itchy and you hate it.

“Wow, is that jealously I hear?” He asks. His relaxed smile shifts slightly, turning mocking. He leans forward, eyes never leaving yours as he speaks again in a low sultry tone. “If you wanted to be with me, all you had to do was ask.”

He is now the one to be shoved. Even at school, he never ceases to annoy you. You can’t stand it, neither can you stand the way your body reacts to the close proximity, reacts to the strange glint in his eyes.

“Trust me, there is nothing to be jealous about.” You retort once you can breath fresh air instead of his strong cologne again.

“I’m sure,” he repeats your words from earlier and you ignore his flirtatious tone.

“Why are you even here?” Jinsoul intrudes suddenly. Her eyes narrow thinly at the man in question.

“Because.” Baekhyun answers cautiously. “He’s our friend.”

She turns to him and he flinches from the anger in her expression. “No. He’s your friend. He’s nothing to me.”

“I wasn’t nothing to you three months ago, Princess,” Chanyeol pipes up and you mentally face palm.

Jinsoul laughs once humorlessly and stands up, tossing her backpack over her shoulder before simply strutting away.

“You’ve really done it this time,” Jongin sighs.

“But I didn’t really do anything,” Chanyeol shrugs and takes a sip of his iced coffee.

“Can the two of you go one day without fighting?” Baekhyun asks, exasperation coating his voice. “As you said, it’s been three months.”

Chanyeol doesn’t answer, instead tugs at blades of grass.

You stand up. “I should go after her.”

It takes you ten minutes, but you finally find her sitting in her car. Without a word, you join her, sitting in silence for a while.

When she can’t take the quiet anymore, she sinks into her seat. “I’m sorry.”

“What for?” You ask.

“For yelling like that.”

“You had every right to,” you defend. “That’s ed up of him to dangle other girls in front of you like that. You had every reason to get mad.”

“Yeah, but he’s kind of right. I mean, it has been three months…. Still, he was totally flirting with you and like, why would he do that? Was he trying to make me jealous? I don’t understand.”

You bit your lip, trying not to be hurt by the implications of her words. You never talk about Chanyeol with Jinsoul so she has no idea that he always talks to you that way.

The idea of Chanyeol talking to you just to get to Jinsoul stings. If you are a light bulb, Jinsoul is the sun. Her nickname around campus is Barbie Fairy, because of her otherworldly beauty. Since you first befriended her in middle school, boys practically threw themselves at her. Park Chanyeol as well, is undeniably handsome. Girls grow obsessed with him, you are sure he gets confessions all the time.

That’s what had made them such a great couple.

They are beautiful both together and apart, and you are sure that was what drew them to one another in the first place. For eight months, Jinsoul and Chanyeol were the campus couple. They appeared absolutely perfect to those on the outside and for a moment they were. But six months in, Jinsoul grew paranoid and was sure the man was cheating on her. In her words, he had grown distant and flirted with anything on two legs—you included. Two months later, he was breaking things off with her, claiming she didn’t trust him and that he didn’t feel the same about her anymore. She grew furious and resentful. The two went from sickly lovey dovey to ticking bombs whenever they were in each other’s presence. They couldn’t be in the same room without an argument arising and it had become rather complicated for their friends.

Jinsoul sighs. “How did things turn out so bad between us? How did I get him to hate me so much?”

“He doesn’t hate you,” you counter quickly.

“Yes he does.” She shakes her head; a small sad smile spread her cherry red lips. “I ruined everything between us. It’s my fault.” 

It hurts your heart seeing your best friend like this. Self-pity doesn’t suit her well and is so unlike her. It amazes you that a man made her this way—Park Chanyeol specifically. The Jung Jinsoul you grew up with learned the game rather quickly. Boys were merely toys to her, objects at her disposal she used to get what she wanted and once she had no more use for them, she tossed them aside without a blink of an eye, moving on to the next.

Park Chanyeol was different.

He didn’t start off that way. Jinsoul saw a beautiful man who could play the guitar and wanted him instantly, and whatever Jung Jinsoul wanted she got. But Chanyeol wasn’t like the other guys she dated before. He wasn’t infatuated by her beauty alone, he treated her like an equal, like an actual person and that made her sincerely fall for him. He was probably the first guy you ever saw make Jinsoul genuinely smile. But, he wasn’t obsessed with her. He was the first person who didn’t worship her feet, the first to end things before she did and that’s what made their breakup so hard on her. She wasn’t used to being left.

He was the one that got away.

It but you have to work with Chanyeol later in the day. You’re surprised when the first two hours go by with him not saying a word to you. It’s both relieving and bizarre. But, to be honest, you have grown so accustom to his teasing that you find yourself kind of…missing it.

That is until he corners you in the fridge while you’re trying to grab some cucumbers for Kim Jongdae, another cook you work with.

“Missed me?” He asks, blocking the only means of escape.

“Actually, I was really enjoying you leaving me alone for once. It’s nice.”

“Oh, please,” he scoffs. “You live for the moments I bother you. I know this whole ‘not being able to stand me’ is just an act.”

“But I’m so good at it.” You pout. Your attention is then brought back on the task at hand, reaching for the cucumbers, but they’re sat on a shelf just out of range.

“Here, let me help.” Chanyeol stretches over you, his chest brushing your shoulder and you shiver—from the cold, of course. He hands over the vegetables with a smug grin. “For you.”

“Thanks, I guess.” You snatch the food from him and quickly head to the door, but it doesn’t budge when you push it. Confused, you push it again, putting more force behind it, but it remains sealed shut.

You’re attention is given to the other person in the cramped cold room. “What did you do?”

He tilts his head like a puppy. “What?”

“The door? What did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything.” He moves past you, trying the door to no avail. Dramatics on full display, he turns back to you. “It appears we’re locked in.”

“No.” You deny, shaking your head fervently. The idea of being locked in a small confine with Park Chanyeol made panic crawl under your skin. “No, no, no.”

You begin banging and pushing the door, yelling in desperation in hopes someone walking past will hear. 

“It’s useless,” Chanyeol says. “You’re stuck in here with me.”

You slide down the door until you’re crouched on the cold ground. “We’re going to die in here.” You whisper brokenly.

Chanyeol shuffles around behind you before letting out a huge sigh. “There’s no reception either. Looks like we have to wait it out.”

“Jongdae will be searching for his cucumbers soon. Then we will be free.”

Jongdae must not have needed the cucumbers that badly, because ten minutes later you are still locked inside the fridge.

The two of you are sitting beside each other, but on opposite sides. The space is small and cold, so there really isn’t much room for you both. You actually pity Chanyeol, his legs are so long, his knees are practically up his nose.

Maybe it’s the cold seeping into your brain, but your mouth opens and you’re talking before you even register it. “Do you hate Jinsoul?”

Chanyeol blinks down at you with confusion. “No? Why would you think that?”

“Well,” you begin. “There are many reasons. You were the one to break up, you don’t ever seem particularly happy to see her whenever she’s around—”

“Well, how am I suppose to feel around my ex girlfriend?” He asks. He doesn’t sound angry, more curious, as if he’s humoring you. “If anything, she’s the one that hates me. Always starting the arguments and just angry whenever I’m around. I can at least play nice.”

“You were the first guy she ever dated who wasn’t obsessed with her; the first guy to ever dump her. She doesn’t really know how to handle it.”

Silence fills the tight space as Chanyeol absorbs the new information, but you’re chastising yourself. Why are you revealing Jinsoul’s personal thoughts like that to him? It is like an invasion of trust.

“The reason I broke up with her,” Chanyeol begins softly. “Was because we didn’t have anything in common. We viewed the world differently and there were times I felt she was only with me because we looked good together.” He frowns, staring ahead of himself blankly. “Not to mention how insecure she became. I couldn’t breathe near someone without her thinking I was cheating on her with them. It was exhausting.”

Surprise shook your frame. Chanyeol just opened up to you and you are left in awe, but also understanding. It is nice to hear his side of the story, makes you dislike him a little less.

“You should tell her that,” you suggest. He throws you a skeptical look and you laugh. “I know it sounds crazy, but it would bring both of you some closure, allow you both to move on.”

“I have moved on,” he says, eyeing you. He relaxes a bit, resting his head back against the boxes he’s leaning on. “But I’ll think about it. Are we having a moment?”

“Blame it on the cold,” you say, shivering at the mention of it. You’re freezing and the thin jacket your wearing for work isn’t helping much to fix it.

“I’m going to do something,” Chanyeol starts in a cautious tone. “Don’t yell at me.”

He’s moving before you can even question him, sitting beside you and wrapping an arm around your shoulders, pulling you into his firm chest. He rubs your arm in an attempt to create friction to warm you up a little more.

“Better?” He asks. Your voice is lost somewhere in your throat so you just nod, focusing on your breathing and not the delicious scent of his cologne. He’s talking, words leave his lips, but you can’t hear them over the vibration of his voice rumbling off his chest, the deep tone tickling your ear.

“What?” You ask once he’s silent. He sighs and pulls back far enough to lift your face up so that the two of you are making direct eye contact.

“I said,” he starts off slowly. “About those girls, the one’s I’m apparently hooking up with all the time?”

“What about them?” You urge softly. The two of you are merely centimeters apart and the distance is causing your heart to race frantically. You can make out every indent of his soft looking skin and feel the breath leave his slightly chapped full lips, hitting your cupid’s bow, leaving damp heat. You your dry lips and catch his eyes follow the muscle briefly. Both anticipation and fear twirl around in your stomach; slowly creating a tornado that will only leave destruction in its wake.

“I don’t,” his voice is just as quiet as yours, not wanting to break whatever atmosphere you both are creating. “They don’t….” His voice carries the longer he stares at you, as if your face is distracting him.

“Chanyeol?” You call and he blinks hazily.

“Yeah?” His voice is so soft you can barely hear it and maybe it’s your imagination but his face is a lot closer than it was a moment ago.

“The girls?” You press.

“What girls?” He asks; his eyes locked solidly on your lips.

“I’m wondering the same thing,” you laugh breathlessly, drawing a smile out of him.

“They can wait,” he says and the hand on your arm tightens, dragging you closer to him.

You hold your breath as he rests his forehead against yours, leaning in to close the distance between you.

Your lips barely brush when the fridge door rips open.

You jump, causing your head to bang painfully against Chanyeol’s. He grunts and you use the distraction to shove him roughly away from you, making him fall onto his back.

“Ow!” He howls as you gaze up at Zhang Yixing and Kim Jongdae. Yixing only has an eyebrow raised while Jongdae is trying so damn hard not to laugh hysterically.

“It’s about time!” You yell to cover up your embarrassment. Scrambling onto your feet, you snatch the discarded cucumbers and shove them into Jongdae’s chest. He whines immediately, but his chuckles still ring.

“The fridge is not a place to hide,” Yixing says and you bow apologetically as Chanyeol finally stumbles onto his feet, hand rubbing his forehead and a pout pulls his bottom lip.

“We got locked inside,” he defends. “We almost died of hypothermia and that’s the first thing you say to us? We should sue!”

“All the same.” Yixing throws you a look and you stare at your feet. “Get back to work.”

The three of you watch him leave and once he’s gone Jongdae elbows you. “What were you two doing in there, hm? Were we interrupting something?” He wags his eyebrows suggestively.

“We were trying not to die!” You shriek. “We were locked in there for almost twenty minutes!”

“You two looked pretty warm when we opened the door,” he counters, chuckling at the red blooming on your cheeks.

“Leave it, Jongdae,” Chanyeol says tiredly. You both lock eyes, but you can’t read his at all. “We’re both really behind now, so let’s get a move on.”

You head back over to your station at the sinks and begin scrubbing the glass of the dishes, the last couple minutes replaying in your mind.

You almost kissed Park Chanyeol.

The same Park Chanyeol who dated your best friend and, as much as you’d like to blame it on the cold, it had nothing to do with the fridge. No, the harsh reality of it all was what made you scrub so vigorously.

You liked Park Chanyeol. You always have.

It’s time to be completely honest with yourself.

Time to address something you have been ignoring for the last nine months, shoving way far back into the dark depths of your mind so that you could pretend it didn’t exist.

But, you couldn’t pretend anymore.

Yes, you liked Park Chanyeol. Ever since the first day of your shared Intro to Music class when he stumbled in four minutes late and had to sit in the seat right beside yours because it was the last empty one. He asked to borrow a pen and the moment you looked into his eyes, you knew you were a goner. It only grew when you two ended up having close mutual friends and started hanging out outside of school. Some time passed and you believed it to be a mutual feeling.

But then, one day, Jinsoul barged into your bedroom in your shared apartment and confessed that she had the biggest crush on the cute giant guy who knew how to strum a guitar. Soon after that, you started noticing the way Chanyeol would watch your best friend, and it was nothing even close to the way he looked at you.

It bruised both your ego and your heart to see them grow closer, see them fall steadily for one another, but that’s what a good friend did—put aside their feelings for those they cared about, and you cared so much for Jinsoul.

After some time, you forgot what you ever saw in Chanyeol, forgot there was a time when you wished to switch spots with Jinsoul. You interacted with him, but there was no more longing in your chest. You were over him.

That was until you almost kissed in a fridge.

Now all those feelings you had repressed for so long are resurfacing, nearly choking you with the urgent way they claw at your throat, begging for release.

You gulp them back down, back into your chest. You have to be strong—for yourself, but also for Jinsoul, because she is your best friend and didn’t deserve that. No man is worth losing a friend over, no matter how infuriatingly handsome he is.

The one thing you are sure about is you need space from Chanyeol. Being near him would only cause you more confusion and temptation and you didn’t need nor want either. So for the rest of the week, you go through great lengths to avoid him, hoping the distance will allow you to forget the way you feel for him.

He puts up a fight. He apparently wants to talk to you and tries repeatedly, both at work and at school, but you always find a way to get out of the situation.

That is until you have to work a Sunday morning shift.

Sunday mornings are by far the slowest shifts to work. Literally only three people work the back and this Sunday they are you, Kim Jongdae, and—big surprise—Park Chanyeol.

You’re able to ignore him for the most part. You catch him glancing over at you from time to time, but there are enough orders to keep you all too busy to chitchat.

Twenty minutes before your shift ends, Jongdae asks you to prep some vegetables for the dinner menu before you leave while he takes a break. At the farthest counter in the room, you quickly and precisely slice all the food needed.

His presence is felt before he even makes noise.

“I can help with those,” he offers. He’s a few feet away, keeping his distance, and you’re grateful for that.

“It’s alright,” you decline. “I’m almost done anyway.”

He watches you for a while before taking a deep breath. “Why have you been avoiding me?”

You nearly cut your finger from the question.

Taking a deep breath, you compose yourself before continuing cutting as if nothing happened. “I haven’t been avoiding you, Chanyeol.”

He comes closer now. “Yes you have. I tried numerous times to talk to you, but you always found a way out of it. We need to talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” You are impressed by how aloof you sound.

Chanyeol pauses in shock before laughing humorlessly. “You can’t be serious.”

Maybe it’s his tone, or how his presence makes your body hum, but you get pissed. Just simply tired of the situation you are in.

“Fine. You want to talk? How about ‘I don’t want to talk about it because it was a mistake’?”

His eyes go aflame at your words and his smile twists into something dark. “A mistake? Kissing me would have been a mistake?”

You cut a carrot with more force than necessary. “Who said we would have kissed, Chanyeol?”

“You can’t be that delusional. It was obvious what was happening. I at least know when I’m about to kiss somebody.”

“Of course you do! You kiss any girl that locks eyes with you.”

“We both know that’s not true. There aren’t many I want to kiss.”

“If that’s the case then it makes it even harder for me to believe you would kiss me.”

“Why do you find that so hard to believe?”

“Because!” Your voice rises to a shout. “We can’t stand each other! So how could you have wanted to kiss me when you’ve made it your life goal to rile me up at any opportunity?”

“How else am I supposed to get you to talk to me?!” Chanyeol asks, voice rising just as loud as yours. “Ever since Jinsoul and I broke up, you’ve been avoiding me like the plague! The only way I can get you to talk to me is by teasing you! And don’t kid yourself, Sweetheart, because all that back and forth between us is flirting and you know it!”

“Flir—flirting?” You screech. You finally finish slicing so turn around to face him head on. He’s a lot closer than anticipated, his head low so that it’s hovering right next to yours and by the fury in his eyes, you can tell he’s pissed. Well, two can play that game. “Please! We. Don’t. Like. Each. Other, Chanyeol! I think we both made that obviously clear!”

“Why would I try to kiss you if I didn’t like you, huh? How does that make any sense?”

“It was a moment of weakness! We were in a weird situation! We weren’t thinking straight!”

“No. I know how I feel—how I’ve always felt. That wasn’t a moment of weakness for me. Quite the opposite.”

And suddenly you two are kissing. Teeth clash from the force, hands claws as you tangle them in his hair, him gripping your waist painfully tight. The kisses are rough and angry, the two of you practically fighting each other with your mouths. You are angry. Angry at the situation you’re in, angry at how stupid you are, angry at how ing amazing his lips feel as he harshly on your bottom lip.

There is a sense of desperation in the way Chanyeol’s hands roughly scale your ribs, leaving bruises in their wake. You both want each other desperately, but you are also desperately clinging onto denial, because this is wrong, so wrong. 

He lifts you up onto the counter; vegetables tumble off the surface as you yank his plump bottom lip with your teeth. He moans at the action and you swear you’re going to shatter then and there.

As you tumble down the rabbit hole that is Park Chanyeol’s mouth, something grips you from the surface, keeping you from falling completely into the unknown.

It’s Jinsoul’s face. Tear stained and red eyed as she barged into your bedroom, sobbing into your neck too distraught to even tell you Chanyeol had broke up with her.

The memory slaps you back into reality and you realize who you’re making out with. You pull away, studying Chanyeol as he blinks at you with heavy lids, appearing completely blissed out. He whispers your name and you don’t think you’ve ever realized how beautiful it is until he says it like that.

You really need to go.

“I—I can’t. I’m sorry!” You shove him away again and run out of there, not even bothering to clock out.

You run all the way home.

“You’re being super quiet tonight,” Jinsoul comments later that night. You’re both sitting at the dining table, eating dinner. Well, Jinsoul is eating; you don’t have much of an appetite.

Your stomach whirls with guilt. You can’t even look directly at your best friend. Chanyeol’s mouth still lingers on your own, haunting you like a ghost. He texted and called a few times, but you didn’t bother replying, not wanting to think about him any more than you already are, not ready to hear what he has to say.

You still aren’t sure what any of it means.

And you’re too terrified to know because, either way, somebody is going to get hurt.

You rather it be you than Jinsoul.

“I’m not feeling very well,” you lie.

“I can tell. You’re not eating and I made your favorite.” She pouts and you nearly burst into tears, nearly confess everything to her. Instead, you dismiss yourself and head to bed, tossing and turning all throughout the night.

The sound of banging wakes you up from a dreamless slumber. The sun sits low in your window, bathing you in a golden hue and you briefly wonder what time it is. The banging is insistent and you groggily get up, stumbling about with eyes barely open as you answer the door without even checking who’s there.

“Hello?” You croak, rubbing the sleep away as Chanyeol’s massive form comes into view. “Am I still asleep?”

Chanyeol’s mouth is open as if he’s about to say something, but after taking in your sleepy self, he leans back. His once furious expression softens to amusement.

“Can I come in?” He asks, biting his lip nervously.

You hesitate, but Jinsoul isn’t home, you can tell because she’s never silent and you can’t hear her. With a sigh, you open the door wider, allowing him access.

You lead him back into your bedroom, crawling onto the edge of your bed and wrapping the blankets around you like a cocoon.

You watch Chanyeol as he glances around, taking everything in with an amused smile. He’s wearing a black Adidas tracksuit. His dark long strands curl haphazardly around his head, windblown. It’s as if he ran all the way here, the thought makes you anxious.

“I’ve never been in your room before,” he says, eyes still soaking in every little detail.

“Yeah, because you were always in Jinsoul’s.” You reply. He winces before leaning against your wooden desk that sits across from you.

“You didn’t go to class today.”

“I slept in,” you admit.

He takes a deep breath. “Because of me?”

For the first time ever, he isn’t smiling. The corners of his mouth dip down causing him to look hurt, wounded, and you want so badly to kiss his pain away, but that urge makes the guilt that sits uncomfortably in your belly cramp, bringing a wave of nausea. 

“Chanyeol….”

“Look,” He starts in a rush. “I meant what I said yesterday. I really do like you. I don’t want to pressure you or anything, but I don’t want you to keep thinking that I don’t. Cause I do. A lot.”

“Since when?” You ask, disbelieving. “For how long? Chanyeol, where is this coming from?”

“I should start from the beginning, huh?” He takes another deep breath, preparing himself as he tilts his head back so that he’s staring at your ceiling. “Since we first met, I liked talking to you. I’ve never met another person that loves music the same way I do, who’s as passionate about it. It was refreshing and you’re cute and it’s always been easy to be around you.

“But then Jinsoul happened. She’s obviously very beautiful and having someone like her give me attention was something new to me. Her and I, we were good together physically, but as I already told you, we didn’t really have much in common. She never wanted to talk either. Whenever I would try to have a real conversation with her she would either change the subject or tell me I was being weird. Some time passed and I helped you get the job at The Eve. You were just Jinsoul’s friend until then. When you first started, you were always so confused and shy and cute. We would have real conversations about deep meaningful things that I couldn’t even imagine bringing up with Jinsoul. We were growing closer, right? I considered you a friend after a while. We spent so much time together, between having the same classes and job, and Jinsoul noticed. I would bring you up sometimes and she didn’t like it. I think that’s where a lot of her jealousy grew. When her and I had that final fight—the one that ended us—you took her side and I was hurt. You stopped talking to me altogether, pretended that I didn’t exist and it made me angry. I was angry that I was losing friends over a relationship, angry that I was losing you.

“It took me a while to realize why it irked me so much. After the breakup, I became really popular with girls. I think a lot of them just wanted what Jinsoul had, but, I’ll admit, for a few weeks after, I rebounded with quite a bit. That stopped after about a month because that was the first time I talked to you after everything happened.

“It was at work. You had accidently dropped and shattered a ton of plates and got chastised by Yixing. I said ‘way to go’ and you told me to, and I quote, ‘shut up and go to hell’. My want for someone was never stronger. I was speechless but also super . Also, excited because you had talked to me and I finally found out how to make you. So from that day on, I proceeded to tease you whenever the opportunity appeared. I loved your reactions, loved this side of you. You would get all worked up over me, get affected by me even if only by my words and I lived for it. Every day I woke up wondering how I could get under your skin that day. It became a game and after awhile, it just became shameless flirting—at least, I thought it was shameless. I also thought it was mutual. You would blush so easily and get so worked up over the littlest things I said, the tension was obvious, even Jongdae felt it. There had been many times when I wanted to ask you out, but there was a huge obstacle in my way. That was Jinsoul. You hide behind her.” 

“Hide behind her? What does that mean?” You question, puzzled by his statement.

“She’s your friend who you care about and I’m her ex boyfriend. It goes against every rule in the book for you to want me.”

He lurches off your desk, coming right up and leaning over you, his hands plant firmly onto the mattress, causing it to groan under his weight as his face levels with yours, just a breath away. “But you want me just as much as I want you, don’t you?”

Your gaze bounces back and forth between his eyes. He’s waiting for your reply expectantly, and although his smile is confident, cocky, his eyes are glossy with nerves.

“Chanyeol,” you begin quietly and his smile falters for a second. “I can’t. We can’t. Because you’re right, I can’t do that to Jinsoul.”

“Forget about her for one second.” He requests. “Just think about you. Just be selfish this one time. Just be honest. What do you want?”

You gulp, still staring at him with worry. The answer is obvious; he can probably see it in your eyes. All the same, you let out in a small voice, “You.”

As soon as the word is out, his lips are on yours. Unlike last time, there is no urgency, no desperation. Instead, his lips caress your own sweetly, softly, passionately. It’s slow, as though you have all the time in the world. Your smaller hands grip tightly onto the collar of his jacket, pulling him in as you lean backwards onto the mattress, dragging him on top of you.

Every time your mouths separate, however briefly, your name falls from his lips. He says it so tenderly it leaves you shaking with want. Over and over again, your name is spoken into your flesh until you’re positive you’re the only person he knows.

You’re lying on your back, hands gripping the sides of his head, holding him in place. Your legs are wrapped tightly around his narrow hips as you on his tongue, drawing deep pleasurable moans out of him. The only thing you can think of is how badly you want him, how badly you’ve always wanted him and it drives you to yank his jacket back off his shoulders. He gets the hint, pulling it off and tossing it haphazardly to the side. He growls, pushing your shirt up, revealing your tender skin that he doesn’t waste time marking up, claiming your body as his with harsh red marks that would soon settle on a lovely lavender. A loud gasp leaves your mouth when he rips your pajama shorts. He swallows the noise greedily, your kisses becoming more heated and hungry as he dips a hand into your underwear earning a surprised yelp that he swallows as well, chuckling darkly at your reaction.

“What the ?”

Chanyeol rolls off of you so fast it takes a moment to comprehend what happened.

With his body off, your surroundings are open and you lock eyes with Jinsoul, who’s standing in your doorway with open and eyes watering.

“Jinsoul,” you call weakly, lost for words.

She shakes her head before leaving, the front door slams so hard behind her your walls shake.

“Jinsoul, wait!” Chanyeol yells. He hops off of your bed, following after her in a hurry.

You stare disbelieving at your now empty doorway. Why did Chanyeol just chase after Jinsoul? Did he…? But he just confessed to you, didn’t he?”

Your bed is now cold, as if he took all the warmth with him. You feel small, sitting disheveled around blankets that, for some odd reason, reek of Chanyeol. It hits you that he left you. Left you for his ex girlfriend and you burst into tears.

You are now questioning everything. What was the point of the past couple days? Was it a play to get back Jinsoul? Did he even mean a word of anything he just said, did kissing you actually hold any real meaning? Or were you just another girl he hooked up with? Was he playing you? 

You cry yourself to sleep.

The pressure of someone sitting on your bed startles you awake. Your eyes jerk open to darkness until they catch white strands of hair shine in the moonlight peeking through your window.

“Jinsoul?” You call, jerking up so that you’re sitting.

She nods and murmurs your name. You can hear the tears in her voice, as if she had been crying for a while.

“What time is it?” You ask, rubbing your eyes.

“Eleven, almost midnight.” You both are talking quietly.

The air is tense, full of unanswered questions and lingering frustration. As you gaze at your best friend, you realize you’re upset with her, upset at her being so perfect all the time while you’re just you. But, that guilt that’s been festering in your stomach for two days now is still there, still making you nauseas and that’s what ultimately wins.

“I’m so sorry, Jinsoul,” you apologize, tears instantly springing in your eyes.

“No, I’m sorry,” she says, already crying and you watch her, confused.

“Why—why are you apologizing?”

“Because!” She hiccups. “I’m a terrible friend! I’ve been so absorbed in myself that I haven’t been paying any attention to you and your feelings.”

“Of course you have—”

“No.” Jinsoul protests sternly. Your eyes are adjusted to the dark by now and you see the fierceness in her stare. “It’s always about me. Always! We never really focus on you and I’m sorry about that.”

“That’s simply not true,” you counter, getting up so you’re legs are curled underneath you.

“Had I not been so focused on myself, I would have known you liked Chanyeol. Had I known that, I wouldn’t have pursued him. You know that, right?”

You nod. “Of course. It was all my doing, not yours. This—everything—is my fault, Jin.”

“You should’ve told me,” She says brokenly. Her cheeks are red and wet from tears and she appears so hurt and deceived, it pains your heart.

“I know,” you whisper, focusing on your hands in your lap.

“I’m not mad.” She admits and your head shoots up to look at her. She laughs halfheartedly. “That’s a lie. I’m angry. I feel betrayed. But, I understand.” She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly, collecting herself. She repositions herself so that she’s facing you completely and grabs your hands in hers. “Let’s promise to not keep anything from each other from now on. Our friendship is the most important thing to me. I love you. It hurts me to think you don’t trust me enough with these things.”

You agree full heartedly. “And I’m sorry for going behind your back, for hurting you like this. What I did was wrong and I should’ve just told you. I can’t fully express how sorry I am.”

She smiles as more tears fall and you both laugh breathlessly.

“Let’s get some rest,” you say, pulling her with you under the blanket.

You both drift off into a deep slumber, Chanyeol out of your mind for the rest of the night.

But when you wake the following morning, the emptiness in your chest brings him back.

You want to stay in bed all day again, but you already missed one day of school and couldn’t afford to miss more.

With a sigh you crawl out of bed and head to the bathroom. Your feet catch onto something and you spot the Adidas jacket Chanyeol wore yesterday on the floor. With a tired sigh, you pick it up and toss it with your bag.

An hour later, both you and Jinsoul are dressed and ready for class. She’s moving about in the kitchen as you sit at the dining table, swirling your soggy cereal around distractedly.

Jinsoul appears to be in an amazing mood. She hums quietly to herself, her steps are light and bouncy, her hair shines brighter than normal. It makes you suspicious. What had the two of them talked about last night? They had been gone for hours, had they gotten back together? You are dying to ask, but can’t bring yourself to. The fear of the unknown is too strong and you didn’t have it in you to face rejection just yet.

So instead, you head to class with Jinsoul. On the way to school, you decide that if the two of them did indeed get back together, you would be happy for them. You wouldn’t blame Jinsoul for it, although you would definitely be giving Chanyeol a piece of your mind. 

Once on campus, you blindly follow Jinsoul, not paying attention to your surroundings.

You’re snapped out of it once you hear your name being called.

You spot Baekhyun, Jongin, and Chanyeol huddled together. Chanyeol is the one that had called you. He quickly runs over to you, stopping dangerously close and the scent of his cologne makes your eyes gloss over.

He’s in complete disarray, the chunky glasses he’s sporting are askew, the jean jacket he’s wearing hangs off his broad shoulders and his hair is thrown every which way. He swallows thickly; his eyes wander over your features as you both stare at one another silently.

“I’ll… be over here.” Jinsoul says, dismissing herself to join the boys who are watching you both curiously.

“You left your jacket,” you murmur, handing him the article of clothing. He takes it hesitantly, fidgeting with the fabric. “I guess I’ll be going now.”

You make a move to leave, but he grabs your arm, keeping you in your spot.

“Please, just talk to me,” he begs, voice hoarse. 

You sigh. “I can’t help but to wonder if all of this was just some sick play to get at Jinsoul. To get back Jinsoul.”

“No!” He denies instantly. “No, that’s the furthest thing….”

“Then what is it, Chanyeol?” You hiss, trying hard to control your volume. “Why did you chase after her seconds after kissing me?”

“Cause I was taking your advice!” He groans, rubbing his face. “I admit, the timing was off, but I was listening to you.”

Your eyes narrow at him. “What are you talking about?”

“In the fridge, before all this happened, you told me to talk to Jinsoul, to clear the air. She saw us kissing and I realized that was my opportunity to do so. I thought if I explained everything to her, she wouldn’t be mad at you, the blame would be shifted all on me.”

Your breathing hitches at his explanation.

“I know that you don’t want to lose her and I don’t want to lose you because of her. So, I thought if her and I could finally have a real conversation about our relationship—where we went wrong, why we didn’t work, and how you and I will—then she wouldn’t feel so hurt by us dating.

“I’m an , I know. It looked really bad and I wanted to go back to your apartment with Jinsoul, but it was late and she told me she would take care of it. I could barely sleep last night, I was so afraid you would push me away.”

He gnawed on his bottom lip with worry, observing you nervously. “Do…do you hate me?” 

“Do you know how terrified I was this morning? I was so scared that you got back together, that you were playing me this whole time, that I was just another girl on your list.”

He opens his mouth in protest, but you silence him with a hand. “I thought that all those things you told me yesterday meant nothing to you. But now I know that you meant every word. You went out of your way to make sure Jinsoul wouldn’t get upset with me because you understand how much she means to me and I appreciate that. So, no, Chanyeol, I don’t hate you.”

He lets out a relieved breath and he smiles so big you can see all his teeth.

“So what now?” He asks.

You grab his hand, intertwining your fingers with his. “I don’t know. I’ve never really been in this situation before.”

“Well, I like you and you like me. There’s really only one thing to do.”

You raise an eyebrow at him and he laughs murmuring a ‘cute’ before talking. “We go out on a date.”

“You? Dating? Park Chanyeol doesn’t date.”

He squeezes your hand before drawing you nearer. “If you can break some rules for me, I can do the same for you.”

He leans in, using his free hand to cup your cheek. “Can I kiss you?”

“Oh, now you ask.” You roll your eyes. “Of course you can.”

He doesn’t waste another second, bringing his now familiar lips down to press gently against your own. He sighs with content before stealing another from you, this one a bit deeper.

When you finally pull away, your eyes are brought over to your friends watching you with dropped jaws, except Jinsoul who is smiling to herself.

“I knew there was something going on with you two!” Baekhyun barks, his hand comes up to point at you accusingly. “I could practically smell the !”

You groan. “Please, stop. ? What are you talking about?”

“I felt it!” Baekhyun says, his face set on betrayal. It quickly falls into worry as he glances at Jinsoul. “Are you okay with this?”

She shrugs. “I’ll have to be. It’ll be weird, but who am I to hold them back, you know?”

“I…did not expect that,” Jongin admits. She shrugs again before turning her attention back at you and giving you a thumbs up. 

“I got it.” You hear Chanyeol murmur close to your ear before he’s taking the juice you’re currently struggling to open from your hands. He pops the lid open without any difficulty throwing you a smug smile as he hands it back.

You roll your eyes. “Show off.”

“I’m just trying to impress you,” he says, talking into your neck so his lips tickle the sensitive skin.

You jerk away from his touch and he laughs, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you back so you’re leaning against his chest. He’s leant against a tree with you snuggled between his legs.

There’s pressure on top of your head where Chanyeol presses a kiss to it and Jongin makes a noise in the back of his throat, garnering your attention.

“It’s been six months and you two are still grossly affectionate.”

“Don’t be jealous,” Chanyeol sings as you glare.

“I am,” Baekhyun sighs, chewing thoughtfully on a straw.

Somebody’s phone pings and Jinsoul, who’s sitting beside you, checks her phone. An enormous grin lights her features after reading the message.

You all notice, but Baekhyun is the one to bring it up. “Who ya talkin’ to?”

She shifts uncomfortably, gaze flickering quickly to you and Chanyeol. “Nobody.”

“You don’t smile like that for nobody,” you insist.

She groans in defeat. “Fine. Remember that one day I had to pick you up from work and you were taking forever?”

You nod, hoping they would all ignore the blush that coats your cheeks at the memory of why you were taking so long.

She continues. “One of your coworkers kept me company while I waited. He even gave me a piece of cake! We kind of hit it off and have been talking ever since….”

“Who is it?” Chanyeol asks curiously.

She attempts to suppress a smile, but there’s no hiding it. “…Yixing….”

“What?!” Both you and Chanyeol yell in unison, leaving the other two confused, having no idea who the guy in question is.

She shrugs. “It’s no big deal, guys. He just wants to grab lunch.”

“Zhang Yixing? The stern head chef, wants to take you to lunch?” You clarify and she nods excitedly.

“Stern? He’s like the cutest person I’ve ever met!” She gushes beside you. Chanyeol and you share a glance. Yixing? Cute? Where?

“If you say so,” Chanyeol relents. He drags the both of you to your feet. “Speaking of Yixing, we have to go to work. I’ll see you all later.”

You wave goodbye as Chanyeol drags you over to his SUV. Before you can open the door, he has you pressed against the vehicle, kissing you eagerly.

“God, I’ve wanted to do that all day,” he moans against your mouth, causing you to giggle as you wrap your arms around his neck, keeping him close.

“You didn’t have to lie to them,” you say. “We both have today off….”

“I know, but this way they won’t interrupt us,” he says, wiggling his eyebrows. Typical Chanyeol.

The past six months with Chanyeol has been both the best and most awkward time of your life. Being with Chanyeol is living in complete bliss. Chanyeol makes sure to show you with both his actions and words how much he cares about you. The times your conversations only relied on teasing are over, the two of you only expressing acts of love. He’s always careful with you, as if you’re a fragile doll and you adore it.

The awkwardness comes around whenever Jinsoul does. She promises she’s now completely over him, that seeing you together doesn’t bother her as much as she thought it would, but you both make a point to not be overly affectionate in her presence.

“Let’s go home,” He says, opening the car door for you like the gentleman he is before going around to the driver’s seat. “We now have the rest of the day to be alone.”

“This was your evil plan all along,” you say, getting comfortable in your seat.

“You know me so well,” he gushes, leaning over the center console to kiss your cheek. Grabbing your hand, he pulls out of the parking lot, driving towards his place.

You watch him drive, watch how focused his is on the road and the fact that he actually is yours stuns you. He actually likes you and is with you. This fact causes butterflies to flutter restlessly in your gut, but in the best way possible. A proud smile breaks onto your face and Chanyeol must sense it, because he peeks over at you.

“What?” He asks.

“Nothing,” you dismiss, squeezing his hand. “I just really love you.”

The smile you receive is blinding. He comes to a stop at a red light and turns towards you, giving you his full attention. “I really love you, too.”