by the way, i'm sorry for how terrible this is. enjoy!

 

◦•◦❊◦•◦

 

"Baekhyun, what the hell are you doing here? We broke up three weeks ago—"

Baekhyun pushed past Chanyeol easily, swooping inside like the dry September air outside his apartment. He was visibly fuming, not even taking off his shoes and leaving tracks of mud and dirt on Chanyeol's floor (not that it even mattered, since the entire place was trashed anyway).

"What is this about—"

"You changed your Netflix password, !"

Chanyeol blinked, bewildered, as Baekhyun turned and crossed his arms across his chest. It took a moment for Chanyeol to collect himself, pushing his door closed and turning to his ex-boyfriend.

Baekhyun scowled, feeling as if it was a little unfair that the taller looked so damn attractive in his lounging attire—a black t-shirt and sweats. This guy wasn't supposed to be making him think about this stuff.

"Baekhyun," Chanyeol began, exasperated, "You only knew my password because I was dating you at that time and, you know, boyfriends usually share that stuff... But now..."

"Yeah, I know. We broke up."

"So then... why?" the taller questioned, walking over to his couch and landing on it with a flop. He stared at Baekhyun who wore clothes too warm even for fall, holding back a smile when he saw the older's telltale scarf.

"Well, these three weeks have made me think about our relationship and..." Baekhyun trailed off mysteriously. Trust Baekhyun to make everything into a k-drama.

"And?"

"I have a proposition."

 

~

 

"Let's break up."

Was what Chanyeol said three weeks ago.

"W-What?" A pause. "What the , Park Chanyeol?"

Chanyeol had looked away, hoping not to catch Baekhyun's heartbroken stare.

"This—We're not working," Chanyeol stated, fiddling with the napkin innocently laying on their dinner table. "I just... I don't feel it anymore, Baekhyun."

"This is a joke, right?"

"No."

"Then what is it?"

"A break-up—"

"You motherer!" Baekhyun exclaimed, standing up from his spot so quickly that his chair got pushed away, the taller staring wide-eyed as he feared the possible future of the object tipping over and landing on the ground. "You—You stupid ," Baekhyun seethed, wiping at the tears gathering in his eyes. "Your stupid donkey face was the one who suggested we try to 'date'."

"And we did," Chanyeol replied flatly, staring at Baekhyun who was taking the news badly. "It didn't work. I can't feel it anymore."

"I hate you." Baekhyun grabbed his jacket, trying hard to forget about his surroundings (he had prepared a romantic dinner for Chanyeol and him, candles and all) as he readied himself to leave. "After chasing me around for months and successfully dating me for half a year, you're just going to break it off like it never happened? Unbelievable." Baekhyun tripped over his—Chanyeol's—bunny slippers, and after noticing they were still on his feet, kicked them off haphazardly, hoping that it would cause destruction in the house.

Getting to the door was easy and slipping on his shoes was even easier, but when he grabbed the doorknob, something in his brain had screamed for him to stop. Baekhyun had, waiting for Chanyeol to come up behind him and comfort him like he usually did when he was overreacting; waiting for Chanyeol to wrap his arms around his waist and press his face into the crook of his shoulder and neck, whispering sweet words that would eventually turn him to goo.

Baekhyun had felt more tears coming to his eyes, the full realization that Chanyeol was breaking it off so efficiently and quickly causing him to nearly break down.

He waited for a few more seconds, wanting to hear Chanyeol's chair scrape on the ground as he at least stood up to try and stop him from leaving.

It never happened.

So Baekhyun pulled the door open and slammed it shut on his way out, wiping fruitlessly at the tears gathering in his eyes as he tripped down the apartment's stairs, having no care in the world for his safety.

What a ing idiot, that Park Chanyeol.







 

Baekhyun would've been fine without Chanyeol—yeah, completely fine—but the little er had to be everywhere in his life.

He couldn't get over their relationship like a normal person, because the moment he tried doing that, he recalled that wow, life was really cruel.

Because his friends were also Chanyeol's friends. His University was also Chanyeol's University. His classes were also Chanyeol's classes. Pretty sure 80% of the hoodies he wore were also Chanyeol's.

It wasn't always like this; his friends used to be only his friends, his classes used to be only his classes and the hoodies he owned were only his. But when they started dating, Chanyeol's friends became Baekhyun's and vice versa, and just this month (at the beginning of the semester) they had decided to take the same classes. Plus, who was the person who insisted that Baekhyun could use his hoodies whenever?

Yeah. This was all Chanyeol's fault.

'The hell was Baekhyun supposed to do when Chanyeol was literally everywhere in his life?

He knew that his friends would side with Chanyeol. They always sided with Chanyeol, because he was the cute puppy that became infatuated with Baekhyun and was rejected at first. They wouldn't believe him if he told them that Chanyeol was the one to break them up.

So, of course, Baekhyun did the only thing that a sane person would do.

Pretend that he didn't care.

It worked for a little bit—Baekhyun messed with Chanyeol, talking to him casually and pretending that they were still friends even if he thought the opposite. He was okay for a little bit—a little bummed that Chanyeol asked him for his hoodies back but...

Of course, that plan had fallen apart two and a half weeks ago, when Baekhyun, sitting down in front of his TV to watch some of his favourite shows, realized that no Chanyeol meant no Netflix.

It was already hard enough; pretending that their breakup had meant nothing to him. But now he had no Netflix to support him? Was Chanyeol Satan in disguise?

That was the last straw for Baekhyun, whose life had become that much harder without Chanyeol. Along with the lack of hoodies, he'd also have to move back into his parent's house, since his old roommate, Kyungsoo, had found a new roommate when Baekhyun started basically living with Chanyeol... and now he had no Netflix.

He knew he had to do something.

 

~

 

"What do you mean, a proposition?"

"What if we became something like... ex with benefits?"

Chanyeol's eyes had become as wide as saucers, obviously taking Baekhyun's words wrong as the shorter stood in the middle of his living room, waiting for his answer.

"You mean..." Chanyeol trailed off, now even more confused.

When Baekhyun looked back up at Chanyeol's face, he noticed his expression and now it was his turn to be shocked, gasping and shaking his head quickly. "No! No, not like that!" He turned a bright red and Chanyeol would've laughed (because leave it to Baekhyun to become flustered when anything ual was mentioned) but he was too curious to do anything of the like. "I meant like... Like... Partners."

This is way harder than I expected, Baekhyun thought, remembering how he planned out the entire thing. He was supposed to burst into Chanyeol's apartment, propose the deal and steal back all of his hoodies.

"Because... Without you, I don't have Netflix or hoodies and I have to walk three more blocks to get to the University... And without me, you have... this," he motioned to Chanyeol's living room, which was, as said before, trashed. There was garbage everywhere and his clothes were strewn all across the floor, papers covering everything like some kind of veil. "And I bet that you're eating ramen for every meal."

Chanyeol pursed his lips, because it was exactly as Baekhyun said. Those past three weeks had been incredibly inconvenient because he was losing every item in his house (which ended up under a shirt or something) and he never ate anything healthy. When Baekhyun was there, his apartment was basically spotless and his meals were at least good for him. Nothing fancy, but definitely better than eating ramen all the time. Plus, he didn't have a cuddle buddy anymore and there was no one waking him up when his alarm was thrown across the room by him.

"What exactly are you proposing?" the giant questioned, a little more than interested now.

"We continue like before," Baekhyun began, "But without the romantic feelings."

"So..." Chanyeol trailed off, trying to get this whole thing wrapped around his head. He was basically sold already. "Ex with benefits."

"Ex with benefits," Baekhyun hummed, "But without the ."

"But that's the good part," he joked.

"Just because you have a Netflix account doesn't mean it'll stop me from strangling you."

 

~

 

"Why do I feel like I'm getting the short end of the stick?" Chanyeol questioned as he came back to see Baekhyun balled up in the corner of his L-shaped couch, a blanket draped over his small frame as he stared at his phone. Some film was playing on the TV in front of him—Riverdale, it seemed—but Baekhyun was evidently not paying attention.

"How so?" Baekhyun questioned, finishing something on his phone before looking up at Chanyeol who was taking off his jacket. "Do you not see the transformation of your place?"

The brunet did have a point; Chanyeol's place was looking spotless and it even smelled like vanilla candles. A huge update from the humid and off smell he had been receiving lately.

Chanyeol heaved a sigh as he sat down on the opposite side from Baekhyun, feeling the shorter's gaze on him the entire time. "So, you told me that we would officially go over the 'rules' of our little set up."

"Oh, yeah," Baekhyun said, setting his phone down to get to business. He repositioned himself so that he was sitting cross-legged, facing Chanyeol now. "Okay so... I know what I'm getting from you: the privilege to sleep in your guest room, your Netflix password, and unlimited use of your hoodies."

"Uhuh."

"What do you want from me?"

Chanyeol shrugged—honestly, he should've been feeling cheated (because it was obvious that Baekhyun was getting more from him than Chanyeol was getting from the other) but he was oddly alright with that. "Free Starbucks?" Chanyeol questioned, recalling that Baekhyun had been working at their campus' Starbucks for a while now.

"Alright," Baekhyun accepted.

"This," Chanyeol waved his hand around, gesturing to the cleanliness of his place. Baekhyun nodded once more. "And..." the dark-haired man struggled to think of a third thing. Did he really need that much from Baekhyun? "Be my cuddle buddy?"

Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows when he heard this, struggling to decide whether or not he would allow that. It was entirely possible—Baekhyun didn't have some fear of cuddles—but he didn't know if he wanted to do that. Cuddle with someone he used to like, without liking him again?

"I... Um." Baekhyun thought about the entire thing and put it into perspective, deciding that it wouldn't hurt, considering that he was basically free-loading off of Chanyeol. "Sure."

"Well then, that's that."

They sat in silence for a few moments, the shorter noting that Chanyeol looked strangely satisfied for someone who was so unsure about it in the beginning.

"And no romance," Chanyeol spoke up, reminding the two of them. It seemed to be something that they'd have to remind each other a lot.

"...No romance."

There was a small, off smile on Chanyeol's face, and then he left when he decided that there was nothing left to discuss. Baekhyun was glad that he had, because he was already starting to regret his choices.

(Just seeing Chanyeol reminded Baekhyun of what they used to have.)

 

~

 

The first few days "back" with Chanyeol were weird, or so Baekhyun speculated. When extra blankets were pulled out and the guest room that Baekhyun had never actually used before—back in the day the only place he'd be spending the night would be in Chanyeol's bed—was beginning to fill with Baekhyun's stuff, the silence in the apartment was heavy. They avoided each other much more than they needed to, as if when they said: "no romance," it meant no talking or interacting, period.

Baekhyun was generally sitting on the couch when Chanyeol got back, and he'd always watch the taller out of the corner or his eye, forgetting about his show entirely and thinking instead about how Chanyeol would put his jacket on the same exact hook every time. If they were truly going by schedule, Chanyeol should've been getting back to his apartment at the same time as Baekhyun, but the taller seemed to try and avoid that (and probably for good reason, too). He was usually hanging out with Sehun, his best friend, and Baekhyun wouldn't doubt that he spent that hour hoping that he'd come back to an empty place.

Knowing the heartless bastard, he probably regretted the entire thing already.

Baekhyun sighed, stirring his cooled pasta idly as he leaned his chin in his free hand, staring at the plate across from him in distaste. It wasn't like he was sad that Chanyeol always avoided dinners with him—rather, he was just annoyed at the nerve of that guy. He knew that Baekhyun always made them both food because it was apart of the deal, but he, for some reason, always insisted on eating out. The fridge was beginning to fill with Chanyeol's portions, all packed up nicely.

That was when Baekhyun heard the front door open, and his frame perked up along with the noise, staring at the entrance of the kitchen quietly. When Chanyeol walked in, his eyebrows furrowed and Chanyeol caught his gaze, his hand stopping from where it had been running through his hair.

"Oh hey."

Oh hey, he says, Baekhyun thought, nearly rolling his eyes. After not talking to him for the longest time, that was all he had to say.

Baekhyun looked away from Chanyeol, poking at a sad noodle on his plate as he mumbled, "Have you eaten yet?"

It took Chanyeol a moment to answer, but Baekhyun got his response when the chair across from him was pulled away from the table and Chanyeol sat himself down.

They ate in silence for a while and Baekhyun tried to avoid any awkward eye contact—but it seemed that his actions only made things more awkward, if that was possible.

It was a little harder to bond with your ex-boyfriend than Baekhyun expected.

"What's up?" Chanyeol asked all of a sudden, and Baekhyun snapped out of his thoughts, staring at Chanyeol with a raised eyebrow. "I mean... like... why are you so quiet? You're usally really talkative."

Baekhyun almost scoffed in his face, trying to keep his face neutral. "I thought you didn't want to talk."

Chanyeol frowned then—Baekhyun swore he was pouting—and shook his head. "I never said that."

"Well... you avoid me all the time," Baekhyun pointed out, trying his best not to seem like some clingy freak. "It doesn't really matter though, I get it."

"No I just," Chanyeol trailed off, "I thought you wouldn't want to talk since you said the entire thing about... 'no romance' or whatever."

"No romance doesn't mean no friendship!" Baekhyun exclaimed and Chanyeol stared at him wide-eyed. "I mean—" Baekhyun sighed, "It's not... bad to be friends still, right?"

Chanyeol grinned at him and Baekhyun huffed, knowing that the taller was making fun of him in his mind.

"It's not bad at all."







 

It was Chanyeol's idea, from the start.

A year and some months ago, they were sophomores in college, the two of them having rumoured to break up with their high school partners. The news of Baekhyun sparked an interest in Chanyeol, and the giant idiot went after the shorter for a month out of curiosity, before he slowly grew a crush for the midget that liked to yell about his chocolate milk being warm because of the " air" in Korea.

After weeks of catching glimpses of Baekhyun and admiring the way he brushed his hair out of his eyes, Chanyeol had eventually grown enough balls to approach him and talk to him, the two of them creating a friendly relationship for around a week or two.

It was only until 5 months later that Chanyeol finally did something about his pining for Baekhyun, confessing to the other and getting flat up rejected.

Baekhyun remembered that day like it was yesterday.

"Are you kidding me? No, Park Chanyeol. Just no."

Baekhyun had only liked Chanyeol in a platonic way, finding his presence amusing but not even as amusing as Kyungsoo's. He couldn't imagine looking at Chanyeol as anything more than a friend, and the thought of the taller confessing to him made him freak out.

But Chanyeol was persistent, hanging around Baekhyun and doing things that strangely made Baekhyun's heart skip beats. At that time, Baekhyun thought that he had been a victim of some type of cancer, ignoring the signs even when they were as bright as day. (He had even been a self-proclaimed "straight". Ouch.)

Two months later, when Baekhyun found himself blushing like he would in front of his old girlfriend, Chanyeol asked him out on a date a second time.

Baekhyun accepted, saying something like "Okay fine. But we're only trying this, alright?"

Chanyeol had agreed way too eagerly, smiling like an idiot and making Baekhyun smile subconsciously.

That was when Baekhyun realized that he was in too deep for the whole thing to be just trying.

From then on, he only kept digging himself deeper into that hole, finding himself hugging Chanyeol way too often for it to be normal (at least, for someone who had been straight like, two months ago). His life was good; he'd go over to Chanyeol's apartment near their college and use the guy's Netflix account while he slaved over exams, and he met up with Chanyeol every lunch, the two of them sharing Baekhyun's homemade bento box, complete with the crappy chocolate milk.

Four months into their relationship, Baekhyun was sure that all mentality about "trying" had flown out of the window, because he was even quite sure that he... Maybe... Liked Chanyeol. More than just some guy he dated to test out the waters.

But apparently, Chanyeol never forgot about the "trying" part.

"Six months," Baekhyun grumbled under his breath, staring down at the papers on his desk begrudgingly. "The guy had just been 'trying' our relationship for six months."

And then, when Chanyeol decided it wasn't for him, he just threw it away so casually. Who did that? Who in their right mind said it so bluntly like that, mostly after their partner had spent the entire afternoon preparing them a nice dinner?

"Tried, just like an ice-cream sample."

Baekhyun shook his head slowly, being overly-dramatic while sitting in Chanyeol's guest room, having retreated from a dinner two hours ago where they talked about each other's day. Things were better between them—they weren't completely ignoring each other, but they weren't close either. Baekhyun was fine with that. As long as Chanyeol didn't act like he didn't exist.

 

"I need food!" Baekhyun exclaimed all of a sudden, feeling frustrated because he couldn't even solve one of his damn pre-calc questions, and he'd been staring at it for 10 minutes now. He was just too preoccupied with his thoughts, and if yelling about his misery would help, Baekhyun wouldn't even hesitate. Who cared about Chanyeol, who could've been sleeping in his room by now? Who cared if he woke up? Baekhyun made his breakfast every day.

He sighed, dropping his head onto his desk with a thud, barely even registering the dull ache in his forehead.

Baekhyun acted like their break up hadn't affected him but he remembered the few days following their break up, where he had spent the nights on and off crying (because Chanyeol I still really like you, vs Chanyeol you're an and I'll snap your neck in half), and where Baekhyun could barely breathe past the ache in his chest whenever he saw Chanyeol.

This whole Netflix thing. The proposition. Was it really just because Chanyeol was useful to him, or was it because Baekhyun just wanted him back?

Baekhyun bit his lip momentarily, before turning his head to the side and stabbing his paper with his pen, staring at the little dent he had made in the wood of the paper and most likely of his desk, too. A small bobble of black, randomly on his piece of paper. God, he would regret that so much later (perks of being a perfectionist).

And then, saying it all, Baekhyun placed the tip of his pen back onto that dent and dragged it upward, drawing some type of creature that on normal days, he wouldn't even care about. But no, of course. It had to be Patrick Star; aka the most annoying character in Spongebob, aka Chanyeol's favourite character from that childish show, aka what Baekhyun used to call him whenever he found Chanyeol asleep on the couch, looking like a starfish.

"You kind of look like him, you know? You're balding, you have the same bright green and ugly boxers, your face is always pink—"

"That's only because you catch me after I actually work-out, and that is the result of my body perspiring which makes warm, oxygenated blood come up to my face and—"

"Five points off of Patrick Star's house, for stepping out of character and becoming a geek."

"Five points off of Spongebob's house for being a !"

"Hey—stop running—get back here you tard!"

Lately, Chanyeol had stopped skipping their dinner but was instead leaving the place for hours on end during the weekend, going places that Baekhyun didn't bother asking him of because even if he was curious, he reminded himself that it wasn't his business. It was slowly turning into winter, anyway, and maybe Chanyeol was just hanging out with people before the winter break would happen. And then Baekhyun would think again, wondering why Chanyeol would all of a sudden start hanging out with his friends so much when he used to stay at home 24/7.

Baekhyun always scolded himself, remembering that just because he himself didn't have that much of a social life didn't mean that Chanyeol was the same. Him leaving wasn't anything special. When they were still in a relationship, the only reason he was usually always at home was because of Baekhyun himself—being a homebody and all.

Baekhyun sighed for the umpteenth time, crumpling up his piece of paper and blindly throwing it behind him, knowing that he'll put it away later since it was unbearable whenever there was something dirty on his floor. He pulled out the exact same paper from his binder, since he kept two copies of everything just in case some unfortunate event happened and he needed another one. It wasn't like it usually mattered, anyway. Whenever something "unfortunate" happened, he usually wasn't paying attention and was only on the first or second question, which meant recopying was easy peasy.

Closing his eyes and telling himself that if he finished at least 10 questions in the next half an hour, he'd order fried chicken for himself tomorrow, he set off to work.

Baekhyun was on his fifth question when he heard the doorbell ring, Chanyeol's telltale footsteps passing his door to get to the front. He stood up from his spot with curiosity, opening the door and hearing the taller speaking to someone.

"That'll be ₩16,000..."

When the door shut again, Baekhyun stepped out of his room and moved to the living room where Chanyeol was opening a container of colourful ice cream, the brunet smiling a little as he wondered why the guy was ordering ice cream at 12 AM on a Monday.

"I can't believe you're eating ice cream by yourself," Baekhyun spoke up, approaching Chanyeol and sitting down on the couch next to him.

Chanyeol rolled his eyes, continuing to eat his dessert that seemed to be cotton candy flavoured. Gross.

"Are you really not going to offer me any?" Baekhyun questioned after a few minutes just for the hell of it, watching as Chanyeol scowled around the spoon in his mouth.

"No, I bought this with my money, Swiper."

Really, what was with them and children's shows?

"Well sorry, Dora, have some mercy on a broke college student."

Chanyeol stared at him for a while, a glare on his face but a twinkle in his eyes, before he put down his spoon.

"Fine. Since you're so jealous, you can have this." Chanyeol reached forward and moved the bag that Baekhyun hadn't even noticed was there, pulling out another small-sized container of ice cream.

The brunet stared at the container for a few seconds, completely taken aback that Chanyeol had gotten this. (He may have seemed like he was mooching everything off of Chanyeol but he really didn't expect the ice cream.)

He gave Chanyeol a look that told him he wasn't buying any of his lies but Chanyeol just kept staring at him with that innocent look of his, still trying to fool him. "Thanks," Baekhyun said, taking the container and the spoon that magically came along with it—which only succeeded in confirming Baekhyun's suspicions, staring at Chanyeol from the corner of his eye.

The guy was watching him.

What a sneaky little bastard.

Did he really think he could play it off as "being generous" and giving Baekhyun the ice cream he had originally ordered for "himself"?

He could've at least chosen a flavour that wasn't Baekhyun's favourite, that idiot.

 

~

 

Weeks passed normally and it surprised both of them, but it was actually incredibly easy to fall back into their routine. The two of them would wake up together and have some breakfast that Baekhyun searched up online, talking about stuff that wouldn't cross the "boyfriend" level and proceed to walk to their first class together, their entire friend group forgetting that anything was ever wrong in the first place. When their first three classes were finished, they'd head to Starbucks where Baekhyun bought Chanyeol a cookie before eating at whichever fast food restaurant was appropriate for the day.

At the end of the day, they would take turns showering and mess around on Chanyeol's PS4 for a couple of hours before either heading to bed or doing their homework.

All in all, things were good again.

It was their fourth week together when Chanyeol stumbled into the living room, alerting Baekhyun who was (waiting) on the couch. Baekhyun had asked him whether or not he was drunk and Chanyeol proceeded to ask him if he wanted to go mini golfing with him. Baekhyun was confused but he accepted anyway, watching Chanyeol closely to make sure he wasn't drunk.

When Chanyeol grabbed his car keys, Baekhyun quickly stopped him, saying something along the lines of "Hey now, I don't want to die today" and Chanyeol had only scoffed, telling Baekhyun that he hadn't drunk anything other than coffee.

In the end, Baekhyun decided to trust him and they made it there all in good health, spending the afternoon laughing in each other's faces. By nighttime, Baekhyun had even forgotten about their awkward relationship standing and was instead focused on shooting the ball in Chanyeol's face.

He found himself enjoying Chanyeol's presence much more than he should have been, and those thoughts only reappeared the more Baekhyun hung out with Chanyeol.

It was during their second month together that the entire cuddle buddy thing was brought up again, the brunet sitting innocently on the couch with his phone next to him at the ready. Chanyeol had come back from his little dinner outing with his best friend, Sehun, seeming completely void of energy.

Baekhyun turned in his spot, greeting Chanyeol and frowning shortly after. "Did someone die?"

"Probably. But no one I know," Chanyeol stated, slipping off his shoes with the same downcast look on his face.

"Um... what's up?"

"Sehun's leaving."

"What?" Baekhyun questioned, growing worried. Sehun had become one of his close friends, too.

"He's just moving one city over but still. He's going to live with his dad."

"Oh."

And then there was silence, the two of them staying stock-still. Chanyeol was staring at the ground wordlessly as Baekhyun stared at him, just as zip-lipped as he was.

He wasn't used to Chanyeol being sad. It was always the other way around, with the taller comforting him and wrapping him up in his arms. It always made Baekhyun feel better when Chanyeol hugged him and cracked some stupid joke.

"Cuddle buddy?" Baekhyun suddenly spoke up, a little surprised that he had even brought it up.

Chanyeol looked up, taken away from his trance as he registered the words. Baekhyun gave him a friendly but tight smile, trying to tell Chanyeol that he could take it or leave it and he wouldn't be offended.

Baekhyun reasoned with himself that this was completely normal. It was one of the things in their little deal and he was just trying to cheer Chanyeol up. No biggie.

With the same amount of silence, Chanyeol stalked over to Baekhyun's side of the couch. It seemed like they were two awkward teens on their first date, wondering if they should hold each other's hand or not. Trying to change the awkward atmosphere, Baekhyun pretended that they were best friends and grabbed Chanyeol's wrist, pulling him down roughly and finding amusement in the way that Chanyeol's limbs flailed.

"Don't worry, your gay BFF is here to save the day," Baekhyun said, trying his best to wrap his short arm around Chanyeol's shoulder. He draped the blanket over both of them and patted Chanyeol's head, treating him just like he treated Kyungsoo (he was usually punched in the gut for doing this though). A second later, when he stopped moving, he heard Chanyeol snort.

"That doesn't work when I'm also gay."

"What? Okay," Baekhyun started, his fingers nearly about to wound in Chanyeol's hair—like he did in the past—but he caught himself just in time, balling up his fist and setting it on his lap, "Then... your straight BFF is here to save the day."

"Now I'm just uncomfortable."

"Can't you at least pretend that I'm cheering you up?"

"I don't tell lies, Baekhyun."

"I'll stop being your cuddle buddy!" Baekhyun exclaimed, peeling himself away from Chanyeol but letting a laugh betray him when Chanyeol grabbed his wrist and pulled him back, smushing his cheek against Chanyeol's arm.

"It was part of the deal."

Now that Chanyeol wasn't the one being comforted, the shorter had Chanyeol's arm wrapped around his own waist, the two of them oblivious—or pushing away the thought—that they used to cuddle exactly like that. Both of them had left over smiles on their face, renewed every time either of them introduced a cheesy joke.

The entire thing definitely screamed romance.

"What were you watching?"

"Your favourite. The DUFF."

Chanyeol gagged.





 

The next morning, Baekhyun woke up to Chanyeol snoozing on his shoulder, wondering how the tables turned because he swore that he was laying his head on Chanyeol's shoulder last night.

Shooing the thought away, he slowly got off the couch, grabbing Chanyeol's head and tilting it back so that it rested on the backrest (he was pretty sure that would give some great neck pain but he swore he'd only leave Chanyeol like that for 15 minutes. Or less). He made his way to the kitchen yawning, moving his head side to side as he raided the fridge for breakfast materials.

He decided on eggs benedict that day, grabbing the English muffins and the ingredients he had bought the day before. On any other day, it would've been too much of a bother to make eggs benedict but he had woken up an hour and a half earlier than his first class, so he decided to spend a little more time on breakfast, seeing this also as a thank you to Chanyeol for somehow bearing with him. After he had toasted the English muffins and cooked the bacon, he went back to the living room, shaking Chanyeol awake and laughing when he groaned loudly.

"Five more minutes," he said and Baekhyun smiled, shaking his head.

"Alright... but you said it yourself."

He set his alarm for exactly five minutes (even minus the 5 seconds that it took him to set the alarm) and skipped back into the kitchen, preparing the eggs.

He got the milk out and anything else they'd need (like apples or bananas or oranges) and the moment he set down the second plate of breakfast, his alarm rang and he ran to the living room.

Once there, he sat down next to Chanyeol gently, patting him on the head.

"Chanyeol? It's time to wake up..." he said as he raised his hand to squeeze Chanyeol's nose and suffocate him in his sleep (it wasn't as violent as it sounded).

"And what do you think you're doing, Baekhyun?" Chanyeol questioned, the brunet frowning when Chanyeol moved his head out of the way, wondering how he had already gotten caught.

"Giving you a little taste of karma."

"Baek, I did this to you four months ago."

"Not over it..." Baekhyun mumbled and Chanyeol laughed, pushing Baekhyun's hovering hand away with one of his fingers.

Baekhyun simultaneously glared and pouted, watching as Chanyeol stood up with a grin and proceeded to ruffle his hair, calling Baekhyun to go eat breakfast with him. Baekhyun followed quickly, still faking his anger as he sat down at Chanyeol's usual spot; the only difference being that it was closer to the window and an orange sat beside his plate instead of an apple.

Chanyeol smiled and didn't bother to tell Baekhyun to get out, only reaching over to switch his apple with Baekhyun's orange (since he hated apples) and sat down. The first few seconds were spent in silence before Baekhyun decided to give up on his childish grudge, speaking up.

"You know, I haven't checked my fridge back at home ever since I started crashing at your place again... Pretty sure all of my chocolate milk has gone bad," Baekhyun spoke casually, poking at the pieces of bread that he wasn't eating.

"Why don't you buy some and leave it here?" Chanyeol questioned.

"You'll drink it all."

"That stuff tastes gross anyway."

"Excuse me!" Baekhyun exclaimed, pointing his fork at Chanyeol, "How dare you insult my chocolate milk!"

Chanyeol raised his arms in surrender, looking all too amused. "You were the one always blaming Korea for the quality of your milk."

"Well... yeah," Baekhyun trailed off. "Whatever, you wouldn't understand the milk life."

Chanyeol smiled, a fond look in his eyes before he finished his breakfast. "Yesterday, I met some new people when I was saying goodbye to Sehun," he started a new conversation when things became silent, "They were in the same classes as him."

"How are you taking the news, by the way?" Baekhyun questioned, hoping that Chanyeol wasn't as upset anymore.

"It's... Alright. I shouldn't be so sad that he's going to do what he wants to do."

Baekhyun nodded, wondering when Chanyeol started seeing things with that mature mind set. Deciding to change the subject, he asked Chanyeol who the new people he had met were, and Chanyeol answered that he met someone named Kim Jongdae, an energetic and funny guy as old as him, and Kim Jongin, his best friend.

"Kim Jongdae is nice," Chanyeol stated and Baekhyun nodded absentmindedly, too busy cutting up his bacon into equal sizes to notice anything off, only paying attention once Chanyeol stood up to put away his dishes. "Since we're incredibly early, do you want to get a coffee before going to school?"

Baekhyun scoffed, "You're only saying that because you get it for free."

"Definitely."

 

~

 

Baekhyun tried not to let it happen again, but Chanyeol was just too persistent (and very good at making Baekhyun feel bad for everything).

They were on the couch, cuddling. because apparently Chanyeol was cold. You're a freaking heater! Baekhyun had exclaimed, but his reasoning had been dropped on deaf ears because Chanyeol had only grabbed his arm and forced him to at least sit beside him.

Baekhyun didn't talk for the entirety of the episode (Brooklyn Nine-Nine, his actual favourite show) and Chanyeol had only laughed about it, teasing Baekhyun even further as he pulled Baekhyun closer to him.

Baekhyun wanted to speak up and remind Chanyeol that there was supposed to be no romance involved, but that would've evidently revealed that Baekhyun felt something even when he shouldn't have. So he kept quiet, feeling the telltale butterflies roam around in his stomach whenever Chanyeol did anything to surprise him.

Eventually, without even realizing it, Baekhyun got comfortable, his head leaning on Chanyeol's chest as he curled up and watched Jake and Amy, the protagonists of the story, flirt the entire episode.

It reminded him of what Chanyeol and he were like when they first started dating.

"Baek," Chanyeol suddenly called and Baekhyun hummed, craning his neck so that he could look at Chanyeol without moving the rest of his body. The taller's lip twitched and Baekhyun raised an eyebrow, only to get an unsatisfying reply. "Nevermind."

"What?" Baekhyun asked this time, feeling as if he was missing something.

"It's nothing."

"I call bull."

Chanyeol shook his head and Baekhyun pouted, accidentally (or purposefully) pulling the puppy eyes that he knew always somehow got to Chanyeol.

It took only a few seconds of Baekhyun staring at Chanyeol like that for him to give up.

"Okay, jeez, stop acting like I stole your blanket." Baekhyun grinned. "You were just doing that cute thing where you put your fingers in your mouth."

Baekhyun blinked once, twice, before realizing that Chanyeol was right. He bit his lip, feeling his cheeks heat up when he replayed Chanyeol's words in his mind.

He pressed his cheek against Chanyeol's shoulder, hoping to hide the blush from the taller as he pretended to focus on the show again. "Well if you think that's cute, there's something wrong with you," he mumbled, his face now basically squished against Chanyeol when he realized he wasn't going to stop blushing anytime soon.

"Sure," Chanyeol answered, smiling because of how Baekhyun was acting. He always liked teasing the shorter.

Baekhyun, on the other hand, sulked for the rest of the time, because he was still angry at Chanyeol even if the taller was being stupidly cute. He wondered why Chanyeol was acting like this to him—acting like he actually liked Baekhyun when in reality he was awaiting the day of Baekhyun's leave. Is he suddenly Baekhyun's BFF again?

Baekhyun realized that he was acting like a lonely teen, inwardly sighing at his thoughts. He was probably just not used to being alone, since his earlier days had been filled with family, Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol, but he had left the first two for his stupid proposition and Chanyeol now had the liberty to go anywhere at anytime (read: he didn't have an annoying, clingy boyfriend who forced him to stay home). Baekhyun was in no way allowed to follow him around.

Baekhyun decided not to dig any deeper, ending his thoughts with the fact that he just liked attention, and Chanyeol had simply not been giving him any these days.

It wasn't because it was specifically Chanyeol.




 

An hour later, Baekhyun found himself nearly falling asleep, his legs draped over Chanyeol's thighs with the taller's arm still around his figure, positively stuck against Chanyeol because of the armrest at his back.

Baekhyun covered his mouth to yawn, his eyes falling shut naturally after, completely forgetting his settings as he sat there motionlessly. He told himself that he wouldn't fall asleep and would only rest his eyes, but his body seemed to want something else as he fell into a deep sleep soon after, head lolling to the side.

Chanyeol held back his laugh when he watched the process of Baekhyun's sleep, reaching over to slowly grab the remote from Baekhyun's hands. He achieved it without much fight, turning off the TV the moment he had it.

Hooking Baekhyun's legs and his back under his arms, he thanked the fact that Baekhyun was already in the perfect position to carry, standing up with a struggle. He carried Baekhyun to his room, nearly dropping him when Baekhyun decided to move but made it there nonetheless, setting him down on top of his covers.

Lazily throwing the edge of the cover over Baekhyun's figure, Chanyeol sighed when he saw how Baekhyun snuggled into the blankets, already looking more content because of the warmth.

The brunet was making it hard for Chanyeol to get over him.

 

~

 

"Hey Baekhyun," Chanyeol called, poking his head into his room, "Do you wanna go grocery shopping with me?"

Baekhyun turned his head, placing his book down when he saw Chanyeol. It was a lazy Saturday, and Baekhyun had been reading one of the books he had bought the other day: 'An Abundance of Katherines'. He rolled over and sat up from his previous laying position, his legs crossed.

Earlier that day, Chanyeol had left to another one of his rendezvous and Baekhyun was left with the entire place to himself, taking a redundant shower while singing his lungs out before jumping onto his bed with a nice book.

"Why...?"

"I don't know... We could buy some more chocolate milk?"

Baekhyun stared at him suspiciously but swung his legs over the edge of his bed, standing up to start searching for some clothes out of the little amount that he had brought over to Chanyeol's. It was weird of Chanyeol to be offering something like this, because lately, he seemed to be only distancing himself from Baekhyun. It had only been three weeks since they watched Brooklyn Nine-Nine together on the couch, but it seemed that those weeks had changed something.

Chanyeol didn't talk to him as often anymore, and he never ever requested cuddles. It was like he was suddenly taking the proposition's rules seriously and figured out that cuddling was a little too romantic-like. Baekhyun wondered what changed.

"Is this a plan for you to forget your wallet and make me pay for everything?" Baekhyun asked, obviously joking.

"Yes, totally. I'm going to make the broke Starbucks worker staying at my place; pay for all of my groceries."

Baekhyun laughed, quickly entering his washroom to peel off his—probably Chanyeol's—shirt and throw on a plain grey shirt, finding jeans to put on over his boxers. "Let's go, then," he said once he exited.

The two decided to take the bus to the nearest grocery store, the shorter all bundled up because of the fact that it was near the ending of December. They both stared out the window until Baekhyun noticed what he had just thought of, gasping when he realized that fact.

"Christmas is in a couple of weeks," Baekhyun stated, his voice filled with disbelief when he checked his phone's calendar again just to be sure.

"Yup. Another reason why we're going shopping."

"What, are you buying my gift at a grocery store?"

"Hey, who said I'd be getting you a gift?" Chanyeol questioned and the smile growing on Baekhyun's face stopped before disappearing altogether when he remembered that there was no reason why Chanyeol would get him a present.

Baekhyun was still just his ex who had created this unnecessary proposition because it would benefit himself. Why would Chanyeol get him a present?

He remembered the present Chanyeol had gotten for him last Christmas, when they weren't together yet. Baekhyun had been a little annoyed that the guy had went so far to even get him a Christmas present when they were barely friends, but after a while, the little, stuffed toy was one of his favourites. It now sat on his desk, the shorter having bought a small basket for it to sit in. The cute little polar bear had remained nameless when Baekhyun didn't care about Chanyeol—sitting in his closet worthlessly—until it was even more worthlessly named Star, three months into their relationship.

"There's no reason."

"Oh come on, everyone has reasons for calling their stuffed animal something!"

"It's really nothing, Chanyeol! His eyes just remind me of Stars."

If only Chanyeol knew that it was named after him, Baekhyun's own Patrick Star.

The rest of the ride was uncharacteristically silent, for a couple of idiots like them—but Baekhyun figured that with the circumstances lately, it was pretty normal. He spent those minutes staring outside, thinking about random things that he didn't even need to think about (like what he should make for breakfast the next day).

"We're here," Chanyeol announced, pulling Baekhyun out of his thoughts just as he did the same to Baekhyun and his seat.

Baekhyun scoffed, letting Chanyeol get off first before running ahead of him, entering the brightly lit store first. He grabbed a basket quickly, soon noticing that Chanyeol had chosen a grocery store with luckily more than just fresh foods. Chanyeol was right behind him, and Baekhyun eventually slowed down, the two of them browsing through random things together.

The brunet picked up multiple things, like cards that played music whenever opened, showing them to Chanyeol who was looking at cheesy Valentine's Cards. Baekhyun mumbled, "It's going to be Christmas soon, not Valentine's..." while he picked up a card with a giraffe neck extending from the top, deciding that it would be Chanyeol's. There was a dumb giraffe joke inside, and Baekhyun glanced at Chanyeol—who was still browsing through romantic cards—and tossed it into his basket face down.

Chanyeol did the same, a few minutes later, seeming to quickly regret it when he picked it out of his basket the next second. "Hey Baekhyun," he called, averting the shorter who was laughing at a stupid chipmunk singing in a card. Baekhyun walked over after setting the card down, standing arm-to-arm by Chanyeol and looking at the card he had just opened up. "Is this too disgustingly cheesy?"

A pineapple with shades.

The quote: If you were a pineapple, you'd be a fine-apple.

Baekhyun sighed, shaking his head before all of a sudden smacking Chanyeol's arm. "Are you serious?! That's been used like 800 times!"

"Who's to say it'll hurt one more time?" he asked without a hint of shame. Baekhyun wondered how Chanyeol could walk with his chin up everyday.

"I say! I'm already hurting right now."

"Well, this one's a keeper then," Chanyeol decided, throwing the card into his basket nonetheless.

Baekhyun gasped, seeming scandalized. "Fine. I'll just buy a big bag of Doritos and not give you any."

"I mean... I could just buy my own bag—"

"Pretend you're offended!" Baekhyun whined.

"Okay... okay..." Chanyeol gave in, no matter how much he wanted to distance himself from Baekhyun, "Ouch. That hurts me so much." Chanyeol had to hold back his laughter when Baekhyun pouted, watching with amusement when he turned with a flick of his opened jacket, stomping away. "Byun Baekhyun," the giant then said under his breath, staring at the other's retreating figure before he turned back to the cards he was browsing and grabbed another, specially-picked card, throwing it into his basket.

 

~

 

"What are your plans for Christmas and New Years?" Baekhyun questioned, plucking the strings on Chanyeol's guitar leisurely. Chanyeol hummed, not taking his gaze away from the homework in front of him (luckily, Baekhyun had already finished his own homework, so now, here he was, sitting in Chanyeol's room on his bed annoying him).

"I think I'll just have a day in. Make a Christmas tree out of a gingerbread house or something," Chanyeol explained, the shorter nodding. "For New Years, I'll be with my parents."

"I could stay back for Christmas, if you—" Baekhyun began, his tone insinuating that Chanyeol was a child who couldn't be alone for more than a day, but Chanyeol cut him off before he could even finish his joke.

"No, no... That's okay."

Pouting, Baekhyun grumbled, "Jeez, no need to reject me so harshly."

Chanyeol didn't say anything after that and Baekhyun eyed his back with a glare. Lately, Chanyeol had only been growing colder toward him. Nothing Baekhyun did helped, and sometimes he even offered to get Chanyeol the most expensive Starbucks drink with at least two cookies if he walked with him to class but Chanyeol always denied, leaving earlier than him every morning.

That crossed off breakfast from their daily schedule.

Apparently, he had been 'too busy' with school so he couldn't watch TV with Baekhyun anymore, even if he routinely went out 'just because'.

That crossed off TV-watching from their daily schedule.

Now, they didn't do anything together anymore. The only thing they even did at the same time was sleep, because otherwise, Chanyeol was in his room or gone somewhere. The guy was driving Baekhyun crazy.

"Alright, well, tomorrow, I'll be gone... My tests all happened these past three days, so my winter break is officially starting," Baekhyun said, standing up carefully to make sure that he didn't damage the guitar in his hands. "I'm assuming you'll be here for the rest of the day, so I'll see you later." Just as he set the guitar back on the stand again, he heard Chanyeol let out an exasperated breath, before the little squeak of his rolling chair filled the silence.

"Baekhyun, wait."

Baekhyun straightened up, turning to Chanyeol with a look that told him he didn't want to be pitied.

"Sorry, for being so... off, lately," he trailed off.

And there Chanyeol was, being the oblivious fool he was born as.

"Don't be."

"It's just that... I'm... nevermind," the taller finished, turning back to his homework.

"Don't worry about it. What are ex's for, right? You gotta be grouchy to someone." Baekhyun smiled at the back of Chanyeol's head, wondering why he had to turn back around. "I'll see you later."

 

~

 

"Chanyeol! It's Christmas you stupid-! Open the door so I can give you your joyous present!" Baekhyun called, slamming his fist against Chanyeol's apartment door. "I decided to come all this way to give you my gift!"

Baekhyun contemplated singing some carols like those groups of children, but figured that he already looked crazy enough, deciding that yelling for Chanyeol to open the door would be better.

A few minutes passed before the door opened to a surprisingly dressed-up Chanyeol, looking a little too put together to be just "lounging at home" like he had told Baekhyun he was going to be.

"Baekhyun? I thought you said you weren't going to be here for Christmas," Chanyeol said, surprised to see another one of Baekhyun's impromptu visits. And at the worst time, too.

"Yeah, but I left my favourite sweater here and I can't last Christmas break without that thing... Plus, I have some gifts," Baekhyun began, walking past Chanyeol without another word.

"B-Baekhyun," Chanyeol called when he continued his way inside.

"I get it," Baekhyun started, "You don't have a present for me but don't worry! Consider this as a present from a renter to its landlord." Baekhyun began to pull a box out of the plastic bag he had carried with him, stopping when he was promptly interrupted.

"Chanyeol? Who's here?"

Baekhyun turned to the source of that voice, finding a man as short as him with hair darker by multiple shades, eyes shiny and bright. He smiled when he saw Baekhyun, an attractive curve to his cat-like lips.

"Hi, who are you?" he asked and Baekhyun frowned.

"Chanyeol, who is this—"

"That's Kim Jongdae," Chanyeol sputtered out before Baekhyun could say anything more, rubbing the back of his head. "...My date for tonight."

"O-Oh..." Baekhyun trailed off, his eyes flicking to the side—and that's when he noticed the pineapple card sitting on the coffee table, next to an opened present box.

Of course. Why didn't he notice earlier? This past three months, Chanyeol was always gone somewhere and he always looked happy when he came back. It was probably to see this guy.

His grip on the box tightened before threatening to disappear altogether, and he took in a breath to try and ground himself.

"I'm... Yeah, I think I'm going to leave," Baekhyun started, feeling something indescribable clench at his heart.

Chanyeol started seeing someone else?

"Happy Holidays!" Baekhyun said quickly and forcefully, flashing an insincere smile at Jongdae before turning and rushing away, shoving the bag into Chanyeol's hands and forgetting to take the Doritos out with him.

"Who was he?" Baekhyun faintly heard when he was out the door.

And right before it closed, a deep: "My ex-boyfriend."

 

~

 

There was no other way to put it; Baekhyun wasn't okay.

The brunet sniffled pathetically, pulling his scarf up higher onto his face when other passengers stared at him curiously, wondering why there was a random man crying alone on the bus.

Well, Baekhyun wanted to exclaim, You didn't just go half an hour by bus to get to your ex-boyfriend's place to give him a present only to find out he's dating another guy.

Baekhyun shut his eyes, leaning his head onto the window as he tried disappearing into his seat, hoping for that to be his only wish granted this Christmas.

He wanted to tell himself that yeah, whatever, so what if Chanyeol was dating another guy now? Baekhyun didn't have feelings for Chanyeol anymore—at least, that's what Baekhyun kept trying to solidify in his head.

He kept trying to convince himself that he didn't like Chanyeol anymore, even after his world flipped upside down when he saw Jongdae with him. He kept trying to tell himself that he was crying out of happiness, even if the image of Jongdae and Chanyeol eating together, watching TV together, cuddling together, messing around on the PS4 together, doing anything together— pained him dearly.

He was surely: the king of denial.

Baekhyun sighed, recognizing the buildings outside and realizing that there were only ten minutes left before he'd arrive at his parent's house. He needed to stop crying before it would look obvious that he did.

His phone began ringing and he pulled it out the second it did, cursing everything in his head because of how much attention he was receiving.

He saw Chanyeol's name and his eyebrows furrowed, wondering why he would even bother calling him during his date with Jongdae. Nonetheless, Baekhyun took in a deep breath and clicked the green button, bringing the phone up to his ear.

"Oh hey, did you like my Christmas present?" Baekhyun asked, wiping at the dry tear-tracks on his cheeks.

He heard Chanyeol's laugh on the other side, betraying himself as a nostalgic smile appeared on his face. "Yeah, very creative. A $10 sweater in exchange for the $50 one you keep stealing."

"I accidentally left my Doritos over there. Consider that the second part to your present."

"I will..." Chanyeol trailed off, and Baekhyun prayed that he wouldn't bring up what had happened when he got there, simply because of how pathetic it made him seem. An ex-boyfriend randomly crashing a date because he still definitely liked the other? Great. "About before..."

"It's chill," Baekhyun said, cringing at his terrible word choice, "I'm sorry about randomly barging in without seeing any of the signs you were giving me."

"No, I'm sorry, I should've told you that I was dating someone else."

Baekhyun forced out a laugh, nearly getting choked up again, "There was no reason for you to tell me, so it's understandable."

"But—"

"Merry Christmas, Chanyeol," Baekhyun said, indirectly telling him that he didn't want to talk about it anymore, and was planning to hang up soon.

There was silence and Baekhyun nearly hung up, until he heard Chanyeol speak again.

"Merry Christmas, Baekhyun."





 

If Baekhyun thought sitting on the bus, crying, with a ton of strangers was difficult, then he certainly wasn't prepared for his family dinner.

One, because the entire time, Baekbeom was giving him this stare because he knew Baekhyun had been crying. Two, because the food was actually so good that he wanted to shed more tears. And three: because his parents had asked him how it was like to stay at Chanyeol's place again after their little 'break'.

They had asked this innocent question while eating the Byun family's signature black forest cake and Baekhyun had stopped, mid-way through shoving his spoon into his mouth. The kitchen went silent before Baekhyun swallowed and let out an awkward laugh, excusing himself with some lame apology like he needed to go to the washroom. When he made it there, he took a turn and went straight to his bedroom, jumping on the bed and trying his hardest not to scream out of frustration.

Byun Baekhyun, you're a ing idiot, he had told himself.

How could he have made it any more obvious?

"Don't worry, Kyungsoo!"

"I swear to god, Baekhyun! You still like Chanyeol, and proposing this whole thing is going to ruin you and your dumb denial!"

"Well I swear to you that I don't like him anymore!"

Yeah, right.

It showed, clear as day, that Baekhyun still liked Chanyeol.

Because his entire family had been informed that the two had only taken a break from each other.

He had convinced the people closest to him that they were still a thing, because yeah, he still liked Chanyeol. He still wanted Chanyeol by his side and he wanted Chanyeol to feel the same.

Proposition my .

Jesus, he knew that this would happen when he first proposed his deal. He knew he would end up being hurt—not specifically like this—yet he still thought that it was a good idea. Like an idiot, he went back to someone he, deep down, knew that he still had feelings for. Because he thought that he could handle it. Because he thought that his feelings weren't so important that they could overlap the other reasons of being with Chanyeol—the other benefits. If Baekhyun just thought about it for a second, he'd finally realize that Chanyeol was already over it, and the only reason he still talked to Baekhyun was because he had basically forced himself back into the taller's life.

He couldn't blame Chanyeol this time around. Of course, it was still his fault for breaking up with Baekhyun, but it was his own fault that he still liked Chanyeol when he was dating someone else. He was the one who proposed the entire thing—he was the one who insisted staying at Chanyeol's place—he was the one who's feelings ended up only growing after those three months.

The entire thing had been a plan that Baekhyun's true feelings had thought up of, putting on some huge excuse that it was only because of what Chanyeol's presence had given him.

Who cared about hoodies? Baekhyun had at least a hundred, gathering dust at the bottom of his closet.

Who cared about the location of his apartment? More often than not, Baekbeom drove him to school, and that shortened the commute to only 15 minutes, which was the time it took to walk to the University from Chanyeol's.

Who cared about damn Netflix? Before Chanyeol and he started going out and sharing things, Baekhyun even had his own.

But it was the fact that it was Chanyeol's hoodies that he was wearing.

Chanyeol's apartment that he was staying at.

Chanyeol, who was watching Netflix right there beside him.

"Dammit," Baekhyun cried.

Because he wasn't ever going to be in those scenes with Chanyeol again.

 

~

 

Baekhyun returned to the apartment on December 30 at night, when he was sure Chanyeol wasn't going to be there. He hadn't been lying when he said he couldn't survive winter time without a specific sweater (a dark green, oversized sweater that had 'what' sewn onto its front in white). And Baekhyun also needed to drop by Chanyeol's actual gift #2, which was an unreasonably expensive red plaid shirt—because he believed Chanyeol looked great in red, but unfortunately, he didn't have much red in his closet.

The moment he stepped into the apartment room his eyes subconsciously flicked to the coffee table, which had been cleared out entirely. The pineapple card was gone, and Baekhyun was a little glad because if it was still there, he'd be one-hundred percent confused. He made his way to the kitchen first, deciding to first check if Chanyeol had left anything moulding in there and was glad to see that everything fresh was gone. When he closed the fridge, he heard a little skittering sound and immediately stiffened, turning on the second light in the kitchen while mentally preparing himself for a mouse.

Instead, what he found on the ground was a sticky note, which must've fallen after he closed the fridge door. He picked it up, the handwriting on it unrecognizable.

'I enjoyed the date, Chanyeol. I feel sad that it ended the way it did but thank you for the gift (you better thank me for what I did, asshat!!!) Best of luck with him! -KJD'

Baekhyun held the note in his hand, wondering if Chanyeol had read it yet and deciding between crumpling it or placing it neatly back onto the fridge's door. Deciding not to ruin anyone's holiday, he did the latter, no matter how strange the note was to him.

"Him?" Baekhyun spoke under his breath, turning as he went to his room. He shuffled through his stuff as he thought about the note, wondering if him was referring to a person or an animal. Maybe Chanyeol's dog, or something? Or was it himself?

He shook his head, ridding himself of his delusions as he made his way over to his suitcase. He ruffled through it and found the familiar material, picking it up and smoothing his thumbs over its softness.

Chanyeol was probably off on another date with Jongdae—or someone else, for all that Baekhyun knew. He probably wasn't moping around in his ex-boyfriend's home, trying to search for a sweater that he had gotten from said ex-boyfriend—

"Baekhyun?"

Baekhyun froze, arms up in the air from when he was examining his sweater that he had found. He nearly wanted to laugh, because why did people always arrive at the worst times?

"Chanyeol..." Baekhyun said, trying his hardest to sound happy. "I thought you weren't going to be here for New Years?"

He was trying to act normal; as if he hadn't cried about Chanyeol for an hour on Christmas. He didn't want Chanyeol feeling awkward around him, but at the same time he kind of wanted Chanyeol to know.

"And I thought you weren't going to be there on Christmas," Chanyeol pointed out, already knowing that he won when Baekhyun pursed his lips.

"Alright, okay... point taken. By the way, I'm not breaking in to steal all your money or something, I just wanted to get the sweater from last time," he explained, watching closely as Chanyeol went to sit down on his—but really just a guest's—bed.

"I know." Chanyeol turned to look at Baekhyun, the shorter feeling as if he had to cover himself with the sweater because of how intense the gaze was. "You have the key to my place for a reason."

Baekhyun laughed under his breath. "A dumb reason."

It seemed like he was the only one trying to brighten the mood, whereas Chanyeol was sending cryptic stares as if expecting Baekhyun to know the meanings.

Baekhyun suddenly had a thought—what if he just cancelled the entire proposition thing right then? If he was just using it as an excuse to be around Chanyeol then he'd rather not go through with it for the rest of his school life, and when were coincidences any more beneficial? It was the perfect time to break it off; finally extinguish the feelings he had for Chanyeol by really kicking him out of his life. If he did it now, he could gather all of his stuff and bid his actual ex-boyfriend—even in his head and to his family—goodbye, using the few days left of the winter break to pick himself up before going back to school.

"U-Um. I wanted to talk to you, though," Baekhyun started off, preparing himself for the confrontation. He didn't stare at Chanyeol's expression throughout this, telling himself not to get swayed and tell another lie—like he told his family. "Because we're adults, and I don't just jump around —I mean, I've done that before but right now I don't want to and basically what I'm saying is that I don't think this whole proposition thing is working out," he said all in one breath, feeling nearly winded at the end.

And then, another thought.

Baekhyun realized that it was always himself holding the relationship back, in the past. It wasn't Chanyeol who said that they were only going to try to date. It wasn't Chanyeol who insisted not to call each other boyfriends until 5 months in. It wasn't Chanyeol who avoided him for nearly the same amount as how long their relationship lasted. It was himself.

Baekhyun realized that it was always Chanyeol trying, setting up the dates himself and calling Baekhyun randomly at night. Baekhyun acted like some privileged prince, receiving everything but not giving anything back. All he shared with Chanyeol were some inside jokes, the cleanliness of his apartment and the meals he prepared—which all benefitted himself anyway. There was never anything he did for Chanyeol, and only Chanyeol. He was always thinking about himself. He never once stopped to think of what Chanyeol was thinking, always rating things according to his own preferences. What if the entire time, he was the only one having fun on the dates whereas Chanyeol was only losing money from his pocket and wasting time?

Chanyeol was still staring at him—Baekhyun could feel it, but he could barely even gather his thoughts enough to form a proper sentence.

So, being the idiotic, overwhelmed person he was, he blurted out:

"I still like you."

The moment the words were out, Baekhyun felt like shooting himself in the foot. His brain sent at least one-thousand messages, all saying 'he's dating someone else, jackass!'. It was like that moment in the past where Baekhyun's computer freaked out and began opening eight-hundred tabs of Internet Explorer, and just like his ancient machine, his brain shut down.

"This proposition thing," Baekhyun began, barely even thinking about his words, "Was just something to use to stay close to you. I'm sorry. I know I wasn't honest and I never was—but please believe me when I say that I do, really like you." Baekhyun sighed, his arms dropping as he began to tear up. "So that's why... I think it should stop. You're dating someone else now, and, well, Jongdae will start using your clothes, and Jongdae will start to stay nights here, and he'll eventually know your Netflix password. But yeah, who cares about that stuff. All I really care about is the fact that you'll be there with him, and..."

Baekhyun bit on his bottom lip, his shoulders shaking as he tried to hold back his sobs, "Proposition or not... I don't think I can bear seeing that."

"Baekhyun, are you kidding me?"

He looked up, a little reluctant to stare at Chanyeol because of the mess he currently was, but he couldn't interpret his feelings without looking at him—it was probably the only way he could tell if Chanyeol was sad or not. It when he was on the phone with Chanyeol because the guy was a scarily good voice-actor, but if Baekhyun could see him, he usually knew what Chanyeol was thinking. And currently, he was angry and sad, but for some reason, Baekhyun couldn't tell whether or not it was a bad thing.

Chanyeol ran a hand through his hair, looking around the room in thought before he stood up so suddenly, taking the two easy steps to reach Baekhyun before he was enveloping the shorter in a hug.

Baekhyun stood there, shocked, his arms trapped by Chanyeol's chest and his own while his chin sat on the taller's shoulder.

"Believe me," Chanyeol spoke, "I wouldn't be able to see you with anyone too—and I nearly wasn't capable of seeing myself with any other person."

"Th-then why?" Baekhyun asked, moving his head so that his forehead now rested on Chanyeol's shoulder, face dropped to the ground so that his tears wouldn't drip on the other's shirt, "Why are you saying that now, after breaking up with me?"

Chanyeol sighed, his grip on Baekhyun loosening so that he could comfort the shorter, hand patting his back slowly. "I kinda thought that I was just keeping you stuck here. With me. You never really planned anything or talked to me first, so I always felt like I was the only one who wanted the relationship to happen... I dated Jongdae to try to keep myself away."

"Why the hell would an ex like that come back three weeks later to demand something stupid just to see you again?" Baekhyun asked, frustrated but a little angrier at himself than anything else.

"Exactly—exactly. You know, when you left on Christmas after seeing Jongdae and I, Jongdae asked the same thing. Then we kind of... talked. And he's a really good guy, so he didn't even care if there was a possibility we might end up still dating each other, and instead he asked me about you... That's when I realized that I was being dumb," Chanyeol confessed, "I actually kind of ran out while he was in the middle of talking, to see if I could find you but... you went straight on the bus and when I called you, you said goodbye so quickly. I thought I really ed up, Baek."

Baekhyun dropped the sweater in his hands, wriggling his arms out from Chanyeol's grasp and wrapping them instead around the taller. "No, it was also my fault," Baekhyun confessed, "I was really an . I see where you're coming from, and I'm really, really sorry. If I just—if I tried harder to show you that your feelings were returned, this never would have happened."

"Hey, if there's anyone to blame here then it would be me. I was the one that chased after you for such a long time, trying to get your number and sending you Snapchat pictures that I thought would make you laugh."

The brunet nodded, sniffling. "I'm sorry for that, too. For making you wait so long." Baekhyun then laughed under his breath, his arms tightening around Chanyeol. "By the way, nearly all of those Snapchat pictures made me laugh. They were just my type of dumb."

Chanyeol laughed too, his hand smoothing down Baekhyun's hair before the taller pulled away, wiping the tears on Baekhyun's face before planting a kiss on his lips.

"I love you so much," he declared, feeling like something heavy was lifted off him once he said those words. He had always been afraid in the past to say something more than I like you, because he was scared that he'd make Baekhyun run away. Now, he had to make sure that he told him not because he expected Baekhyun feel the same, but just because those were his true feelings.

Baekhyun, as expected, froze when he heard that and Chanyeol noticed, smiling softly. "It doesn't matter if you can't say it back, because I'm okay with whatever."

"No," Baekhyun protested, shaking his head. "I think... I think I love you too."

Chanyeol was about to say again that it wasn't necessary for Baekhyun to say that, until he spoke up again.

"Because..." Baekhyun bit his lip and started blushing, his face turning hot as he tried to avert his gaze from Chanyeol's. "I've never felt this way before..."

Chanyeol tried to stop the big smile from growing on his face, holding back all of his instincts to tease the shorter because he could just see Baekhyun pleading him not to , just through his eyes. Chanyeol could never say no when Baekhyun stared at him like that.

"Alright," he said, pressing a kiss to Baekhyun's forehead before grabbing his hand, leading him out of the room. "I also got you a present, you know?"

He brought Baekhyun to his own room, moving over to the mini fridge that he had installed there. He opened it and spent a maximum of two seconds looking for his gift, grabbing it quickly.

"After all of the money I spent on your present, this is what I get," Baekhyun said, his tone disappointed but his face the complete opposite. He grabbed the pack of milk chocolate that he was so accustomed to, a smile somehow appearing on his face even if he continued to complain verbally to Chanyeol. "This is like, what, $1 for a pack of four?"

"I know you love it."

"I do."

"Yeah you do—oh, that was easier than I thought." 

 

bonus

 

"You thought I wouldn't get you a card, too?"

"I didn't really know, considering the fact that you showed the terrible fine-apple one to me..."

"...Staring at it won't make it open."

"Alright, alright."

And then the sound of a disappointed sigh filled the room, along with barely contained laughter.

You are my butter-half.

Was what the card said.

Under it was a little clip-art of a slice of bread and a piece of butter, the two objects both sporting dumb smiley-faces on their fronts.

But over top of it was a layer of pen where holes were drawn into the butter man, along with a red tie, limbs, black shoes and finally, a nose.

"You're the Spongebob," he pointed out.

"I know!" 

 

◦•◦❊◦•◦