God, did Chanyeol like to talk.

It didn’t matter what the topic was, where they were, or who was listening (which often happened to be no one). Chanyeol could talk for hours about absolutely nothing in particular, his voice booming and bass tone reverberating in the ears of those around him.

It wasn’t so bad when the twelve of them were trainees, still in that awkward stage of “Hi my name’s _____ and I guess we’re going to be best friends now”. He would make occasional silly comments in that surprisingly deep voice of his, laugh loud enough to make the walls rattle, and engage in short conversations, but that was it.

And then…he became roommates with Byun Baekhyun.

It was if the moment he stepped within the confines of their bedroom, he made it his life goal to drive the older boy absolutely insane by using him as his personal talking target. Which, he succeeded in. Greatly.

And soon after, he became even more talkative with the other members too, sprouting contagious grins and bubbly laughter out of nowhere with scattered speech. There was only so much of it the other members could handle.

But he saved most of it for Baekhyun. What could he say? His hyung was special.

“Baekhyun-ah, do you think this shirt looks better, or this one?” Baekhyun looks up from his phone and narrows his eyes in frustration.

“Uh, I don’t know, the blue I guess? Does it really matter? They both look okay to me.” Chanyeol chuckles and rolls his eyes playfully at Baekhyun. He holds each shirt up to his chest and Baekhyun instantly regrets his response.

“Of course it matters, silly! If I wear the blue one, I might spill something on it because you know how Sehunnie always tends to elbow his bubble tea when he starts talking with his hands and knock it in to my lap because I always get seated next to him by Suho and,” he pauses, taking a breath, “if I wear the black one, people will think I’m dark and moody and hard to talk to and might ignore me the whole night and then I’ll have no one to talk to and-”

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun cries in exasperation, tossing his phone down mid-text onto the bed. “I don’t think anyone would ever think that. Could ever think that. You talk too much to ever be ignored. Just wear the black.”

That’s a good enough answer for Chanyeol, and he shuts up for all of four minutes as Baekhyun resumes his text.

“Baekhyun-ah, should I wear the blue jeans or the gray jeans? Because-”

“Chanyeol.”

As if it isn’t bad enough that Chanyeol has a mouth so stuffed with words that he can barely keep it shut, he’s also very…touchy.

His hands always find a comfortable place on Baekhyun, picking at his hair or resting on his shoulders or wrapping him in a breathtaking hug. And occasionally those hands of his sneak their way under the covers of Baekhyun’s bed when there’s still a few hours until sunrise and Chanyeol will say Baekhyunnie I can’t sleep can I stay in your bed tonight yours is so much more comfortable and who could say no to that?

It’s not necessarily that Baekhyun doesn’t, well, enjoy these things, because Chanyeol’s still his best friend. But sometimes the touches tend to make him blush a little too much and leave his skin tingling in a strange way and he has to take a step away, focusing on breathing, and get stupid Park Chanyeol out of his head.

In other words, he has to do the impossible.

“Baekhyun-ah, what if you were in M and I was still in K and we had to video call all the time like we have to do with the other members. Wouldn’t that be terrible? I would never get to sleep in your bed anymore and we might miss each other’s birthdays and we’d always be separated and-”

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun starts uneasily as he rubs at his eyes in exhaustion. He loses his place in his book and glances up in frustration at the other boys shining smile. He doesn’t feel like having this conversation for the fourth time in two weeks. “That doesn’t make sense. I don’t even speak Chinese.”

“Shh Baekhyun-ah! That’s rude, you’re going to offend Xiumin and Chen. They don’t speak fluent Chinese and you don’t see them complaining, do you?” Chanyeol tries to whisper in his ear but his voice is so boisterous and deep that it doesn’t work in the least. Xiumin shares a look with Chen before raising his eyebrows at Chanyeol from across the kitchen table and his lips twist into a soft of confused half smile.

“Um, Chanyeol, we’re right h-”

“But just think about it hyung,” Chanyeol persists to Baekhyun, abandoning his “whisper.” He lolls his head against Baekhyun’s shoulder as D.O stirs a pot on the stove, hissing when he tastes the too-hot liquid and spitting in distaste. “I wouldn’t be able to talk to you nearly as much. That would be so terrible,” he says, pouting.

Baekhyun fights the urge to say it would actually be a bit of a blessing to get some peace and quiet once in a while, and maybe even a break from the way he pulse tends to speed up whenever Chanyeol buts in. “Absolutely terrible,” Baekhyun murmurs halfheartedly, giving up the argument with a sigh. He tries to scan his book for where he left off but Chanyeol’s hair is tickling his neck and his voice is vibrating through Baekhyun’s bones in a way that isn’t entirely unpleasant.

He sighs, because it’s hopeless anyway.

Baekhyun is getting tired of it. He’s exhausted of feeling like he’s going absolutely insane.

He doesn’t know why, doesn’t know how. All he knows is that Chanyeol is driving him crazy with his voice and his touches and the way he says Baekhyun-ah and he just wants it to stop. He wants the quivering in his stomach to go away, the burning blush on his cheeks to fade, the tremor in his fingers to disappear. He doesn’t want to hear another word from Chanyeol because everything he says makes Baekhyun’s heart beat like crazy and he can’t stand it because he doesn’t even know why.

Well, he has an idea of why, but he’d never ever never ever never admit that. 

Chanyeol steps into their room after a hot shower and Baekhyun literally has to force himself to tear his eyes away from the way that warm, quivering droplets are still clinging to Chanyeol’s torso, dripping in sequence and flickering in the light of his desk lamp. He swallows hard in an attempt to clear the uncomfortable lump in his throat, choosing to focus on his bedspread instead of Chanyeol’s skin.

“Baekhyun-ah, have you seen my favorite boxers? I could’ve sworn I saw them next to your bed yesterday but-” Baekhyun shakes his head like his life depends on it because Chanyeol is getting closer and oh god he still has that towel just barely clinging to his waist.

“N-No, I’m pretty positive I saw them over there,” he stutters, pointing to Chanyeol’s side of the room with a trembling hand. He keeps his eyes averted and prays that Chanyeol doesn’t notice the crimson shade of his ears.

“Hmm, maybe you’re right!” The other boy rifles through a pile of clothes and Baekhyun winces when he hears the towel hit the floor.

Don’t look, idiot. What the hell is wrong with you? He tries to clear his throat again and nearly chokes on air. “Oh yeah, I forgot to ask you, I heard that there’s this new movie coming out in the theater down the street and I think if would be a really good idea if we-”

Baekhyun presses his palms to his ears and grits his teeth. “Oh my god, Chanyeol, could you please just shut up for once? I can’t even hear myself think.”

The words hang in the air and Chanyeol’s face falls immediately, eyes wide and sad. Baekhyun almost reaches out to try and catch what he’s said, tug it back and crush it into little bits and pieces. He can’t believe he actually just said that. All he wanted was some peace and quiet, and break from the rush of blood in his head; he didn’t mean to be an absolute jerk.

“Look, Chanyeol. Chanyeol-ah, I’m sorry, really sorry, I didn’t mean to say that okay? I’m just, I don’t know, I’m…” He trails off as Chanyeol opens his mouth but shuts it just as quickly, squeezing his eyes shut. He looks as if he’s on the brink of tears and Baekhyun feels as if he’s just kicked his dog down a flight of stairs.

“No, um, I’m sorry, Baekhyun, I’ll just…go talk to hyung.” He rushes out of the room, not even acknowledging the fact that he’s only wearing a pair of boxers and an old t-shirt. Baekhyun swears that there are wet tracks trailing down Chanyeol’s cheeks when he slips out of the room and he groans.

Why was he such an idiot?

For the first time ever since Baekhyun met him, Chanyeol is absolutely silent.

Sure, he’ll utter a few words here and there to the other members, give a weak smile or a bland response when it’s required. But his rumbling laugh and contagious smile are wiped completely from existence. It makes Baekhyun’s heart clench painfully and he feels like a criminal whenever him and Chanyeol accidentally make eye contact.

Well, he is a criminal; he’s stolen Chanyeol’s happiness. He never realized how painful words were; how deep they could cut, especially when it came to someone as joyful and innocent as Chanyeol.

Sometimes he hates himself for opening his mouth.

Chanyeol tries to avoid him however he can, keeping his gaze trained on the floor and spending time with the other members rather than Baekhyun. Everyone knows something is wrong; Baekhyun can tell by the way they flash him confused glances whenever Chanyeol shies away from his touch or answers his questions with indecipherable grunts.

Baekhyun has to fix this.

It’s three am when Baekhyun finally puts his plan into action.

Chanyeol is curled in a lanky ball on his side of the room, snoring softly into the fabric of his pillow. Baekhyun creeps across the room, holding his breath and praying silently that he can convince the other boy to forgive him.

He reaches Chanyeol’s bed and reaches out to shake him awake with a tentative hand. “Chanyeol-ah,” he croons. “Chanyeol?” The other boy shifts slightly and smacks his lips. Baekhyun bites his own, reaching out to shake him a bit harder. “Chanyeol-ah!”

His eyelids flutter open in surprise and he squints in the darkness, propping himself up onto his elbows. “B-Baekhyun? What’s wrong?” Baekhyun doesn’t answer, just slips under the covers before the other boy can protest.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers against Chanyeol’s chest. “I’m so sorry.” He wraps his arms around Chanyeol and pulls him so close that there’s not a breath of air between them. Chanyeol freezes, unsure of what to do with himself. “I never meant to snap at you. I love your voice and I love talking to you, it’s just that…” He trails off, shutting his eyes and nibbling at his bottom lip. “God, I don’t know how to say this. I guess I…I don’t know. You just make me feel so strange and I don’t know what to do. My heart beats too fast and my palms get clammy and it’s like you steal the air right out of my lungs.”

Chanyeol is silent for a few long moments and Baekhyun fears he said something horribly wrong. He cracks open an eye and peers up at Chanyeol, only to find that his wide, contagious grin has returned to his rosy lips.

He timidly starts again. “Do you…do you know what I mean? Or, um, what I’m trying to say? Do you hate me now? I understand if you never want to speak to me again, but you’re my best friend, er, were, I don’t blame you if you hate me, but I just need you to know that I’m really really really sorry and I just-”

“Baekhyun-ah,” Chanyeol drawls sowly. Baekhyun shivers as the other boy’s arms lock around his waist. “Could you please just shut up for once?” Baekhyun’s eyes widen as Chanyeol’s gaze falls to his lips just before it happens.

For a long, antagonizing moment, his heart leaps up into his throat as threatens to burst because Park Chanyeol is kissing him and god he’s never felt this perfectly happy in his entire life.

Baekhyun twines his fingers gently into Chanyeol’s hair and tugs at the strands in want, letting out a small sound reminiscent of a whimper between the intricate tangle of their lips. Chanyeol pulls away for air with his hair mussed and eyes glazed over and Baekhyun feels a swell of pride in his chest because he’s the reason that Chanyeol looks like that, all happy and well-kissed.

He glances away from Chanyeol’s eyes and his voice in almost lost in the fabric of the other boy’s shirt. “Does…does this mean you forgive me?” Chanyeol laughs; Baekhyun realizes how much he’s truly missed that sound.

“Of course it does, silly,” he chuckles. He leans close to Baekhyun’s ear and his lips trace the shell almost teasingly. “It also means I like you too, Baekhyun-ah.”

Baekhyun’s blush says it all.