'Look at him,' Chanyeol sighed whistfully , 'Grooving. This my life partner.'

'Chanyeol, stop nodding,' Jongin sighed wearily,  looking at his mentally peturbed best friend, 'You look like one of those bobble-headed dogsn that Joonmyun-hyung collects.'

'I do not collect them,' Joonmyun scoffed,  'I just. They're cute, okay.'

'They have demon eyes,' Chanyeol said, painfully tearing his gaze off of Baekhyun and wincing as the straw of his milkshake hit his nose, 'OH COME ON. You guys . What if it vacummed out my brain?!'

'... Do you know how straws work, Chanyeollie?' Joonmyun chuckled, his hand on his stomach.

Jongin whacked his hand away, 'Hyung, please. Grandpa time is for when we're home alone, and even then it's frowned upon.'

'Rude,' Joonmyun pointed at Jongin, 'Don't you think Chanyeollie?'

Chanyeol wasn't paying attention though, he was staring at Byun Baekhyun again. 

Byun Baekhyun. Chanyeol felt a smile pulling at his lips, even just at thinking the name. 

'Ew, what's happening with his face?'

A voice snapped Chanyeol out of his reverie, making him jump and knock his milkshake over. Chanyeol didn't know why he had got the milkshake, he didn't even like milkshake.

'Well done, dummy,' Chanyeol's eyes jumped up and searched for a name tag, why was this kid wearing so many badges? His mind cancelled out the possibilty of skinny boy in front of him being called H.O.T. because even by Korean standards that was a pretty weird name, his eyes eventually fell on his name tag, Sehun.

'Sehun-ssi, I'm so... So sorry.' Chanyeol apologised, falling to his knees and fishing out pieces of glass from the gloop of milkshake blobbed on the floor.

Sehun sighed, 'It's fine. I'm sure Baekhyun's impromptu trance dance party wasn't helping. You're Chanyeol right?'

'How do you know that?' Chanyeol asked, looking up at Sehun.

'I'm psychic.'

Chanyeol's jaw dropped.

'... You've been coming here for three years, you pick these things up,' Sehun laughed, as Chanyeol stood up.

'It would have been cooler if you were psychic,' Jongin stuck out his lower lip.

'If only,' Sehun smiled, 'You are... Jongkey?'

'Jongin! Jongin!' Kai corrected, 'I've been coming here for even longer than Chanyeol, and not even for stalking purposes!'

"YAH!' Chanyeol whacked Jongin on the arm, and glared at him.

Sehun raised his eyebrows, 'Eh?'

'I really like your mango mochi,' Jongin admitted.

'I doubt he's talking about your ice cream preferences,' Joonmyun sighed.

'Quiet, Joonmyun-aji!'

'... I was just. Stalking purposes?' 

'Yeah, Chanyeol over here,' Joonmyun smiled, swinging his arm around Chanyeol's shoulder, ' Has been stalking Baekhyun since the day he first saw him.'

'How romantic,' A dreamy sigh came behind Sehun.

Sehun whipped his head around, revealing a shorter shocked looking boy behind him, 'Kyungsoo...'

'Why do you look so scared?' Jongin asked, his curiousity piqued by the new addition to the conversation.

'D.O-hyung always looks like that,' Sehun smiled.

'I do not, and stop calling me D.O, Sehun,' Kyungsoo's brow furrowed, ' I don't call you O.H do I?'

'No, but mostly because that would sound stupid I'm sure,' Sehun shot back.

'AM I THE ONLY ONE WHO WORKS HERE?!' Baekhyun suddenly exploded from behind the counter, not literally though. That would be horrible.

'No, hyung, we're just talking to your stalker... Er., stalk,' Kyungsoo shot an apologetic look at Chanyeol, 'Sorry, there really isn't another word that's even similar.'

'Stalker?' Baekhyun's eyebrows shot up to his hairline, before he continued tiredly, 'Kyungsoo, Sehun. Just. Stop harrassing the customers and get back to work.'

--

He spoke to Baekhyun the first time that day, nervously toying with the loose thread on his t-shirt. He'd talked to Baekhyun before but today was different. Today he spoke to him. His lips moved apart for him.

Baekhyun looked into his eyes as he nervously rattled off his off script speech (he had no idea where this one had come from, it had lost all elements of his original speech that'd he'd been up all night practicing in front of the bathroom mirror).

The words tasted foreign, and flowed freely off his tongue. He wished he had been there for this first conversation. But all he heard was the sound of Baekhyun's smile and his laugh.

'Yeah, sure, why not? Let's hang out sometime,' he said, scrawling down his number on the back of his receipt. Chanyeol gazed appreciately at Baekhyun's hands, his long graceful digits and the way that even in the fluorescent light of the ice cream parlour they were just pure art.

Chanyeol was so happy he didn't even mind that he'd walked into the door three times in his attempt to get home and share his good news with his room-mates.

--

'He gave me his number,' Chanyeol squealed, waving the receipt in front of Jongin's face excitedly.

'That's great, call him,' Jongin replied boredly, 'You paid for it too huh?'

'Well, Joonmyun-hyung paid for it,' Chanyeol admitted, 'BUT I GOT HIS NUMBER? Isn't it just so exceedingly beautiful?1'

"I paid for what?' Miser-ajii popped his head out his bedroom door.

'UNIMPORTANT, JOONMYUN!' Chanyeol yelled boisterously, 'I GOT BAEKHYUN'S NUMBER! AND IT IS THE BEST NUMBER I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE."

"It looks like a pretty standard number,' Jongin shrugged, looking at the receipt Chanyeol was clinging on so tightly.

'Should I frame it?'

'Just call him, ugh. I'm busy!' Jongin groaned.

'You've never been busy in your life, Jongin,' Kyungsoo chuckled, throwing himself down on the sofa.

'Shut up old man, go back to your knitting,' Jongin glared at his hyung, pushing him away and off the couch with his feet.

'YAH! How old do you think I am?!' Kyungsoo slapped Jongin's feet away grumpily.

'HELLO, CAN WE FOCUS ON WHAT IS IMPORTANT HERE?!' Chanyeol bellowed, throwing himself into the fray.

'The shocking price of ramyun at the corner shop?'

'Me?'

'Shut up. No. Baekhyun's number. BAEKHYUN'S NUMBER,' Chanyeol stated grumpily, elbowing Jongin's stomach.

'... Call him,' Jongin rolled his eyes, 'What more do you want me to say? It's a sign from Shisus that you are meant to be together? I mean, you asked for his number and he gave it to you. That's definitely fate.'

'I hope your face falls off,' Chanyeol let his head fall back with a thud, 'Seriously. I hate you sometimes.'

'Write him a letter,' Joonmyun suggested excitedly, sitting on his knees and clapping.

'... Why are you so old?!'

--

'I've never  been to a place like this,' Chanyeol admitted, a small smile dancing across his lips as he marvelled in Baekhyun's presence.

'... What? A library?' Baekhyun laughed.

Chanyeol's cheeks heated up as he shot off an incoherent response.

At the quirk of Baekhyun's eyebrows, Chanyeol spoke again, enunciating each syllabyl with care, 'A library like this, it's huge. Like a castle.'

Baekhyun smiled, and put his hand gently on Chanyeol's shoulder, 'You don't have to be so nervous, Chanyeol. Books don't bite.'

Chanyeol. Chanyeol. He never wanted the words to be forgotten, the way he said it, the warmth of his hand. His heart beat so fast. He wondered if Baekhyun was even aware of what this one simple gesture had done to him. How it had changed his life.

'I like you,' Chanyeol blurted out, not thinking. Never thinking. He slapped his hand over his mouth,  and reprimanded himself for the tears that welled up in his eyes. His lungs felt like they had been filled with cement, and the tiled floor of the library seemed to be dragging him down deeper with each second of Baekhyun's contemplative silence.

'... You don't have to say anything, I just... I just wanted you to know,' Chanyeol whispered, feeling his heart slowly break as Baekhyun's hand travelled from his shoulder to his lips.

He blinked and tears escaped and ran down his cheeks. He felt so stupid crying, what was he expecting? Baekhyun barely knew him. He barely knew Baekhyun. All he knew is that he was the one he wanted, the one he'd give up every last breath for. All he knew was that it was in him to love Byun Baekhyun, and only Byun Baekhyun. It was in his chemistry.

Baekhyun wrapped his arms around Chanyeol's waist, and whispered apologies into his chest, 'Chanyeollie, I'm sorry. Don't cry. Don't like someone like me. I'm so sorry.'

Something about the way Baekhyun's hand rests on Chanyeol's shoulder blade is so comforing, that he smiles into the shorter boy's hair, 'Baekhyunnie, I'm getting tears in your hair.'

'I don't mind,' Baekhyun laughed, slowly releasing Chanyeol, his hand still lingering on his waist., 'Come, let's go get something to eay.'

Chanyeol smiled, even though his heart was beating painfully in his chest as he followed after his angel without wings.

--

They didn't speak about that day in the months that followed, not that Baekhyun had forgotten (to the contrary, it was almost all he thought about) or Chanyeol had moved on (he never would) - it just never came up.

--

'Chanyeol, are you drunk?' Baekhyun asked, looking at the swaying figure in his doorway.

'Why is your face blue?'

Baekhyun flushed, he'd forgotten about his stupid facemask, 'I just. Chanyeol, I don't understand. And stop swaying so much, you're making me feel seasick.'

'I should go,' Chanyeol whispered, 'I parked badly.'

Baekhyun looked past him, his car was parked right in the middle of the road and there was a pink flamingo on the hood. Chanyeol was waging a war against gravity, and losing it, 'Chanyeol, I'm not letting you drive in this state.'

'Silly Baekhyunnie, South Korea is a country, not a state!'

'Just. Come inside. Sleep on my couch.'

Chanyeol hesitated before taking a clumsy step into Baekhyun's inner sanctum, he looked at Baekhyun and smiled widely. 

'Sometimes you smile so wide, I swear you defy the laws of physics,' Baekhyun chuckled as he threw a duvet over to Chanyeol, not his brightest idea as Chanyeol just toppled over.

There were no lights on in Chanyeol's house, just the moon shining in brightly and painting his world in a silvery blue. There was nothing more exquisite about the moon, than the way it hit the marbled planes of Baekhyun's face.

Baekhyun chuckled as he watched Chanyeol leopard crawl over to his couch, he walked over and helped as he hauled himself up, even doused in alcohol Baekhyun wondered how it was that Chanyeol could still smell so good.

He tucked him in, and pulled the curtains shut. He was sure Chanyeol had already passed out as he retreated back to his room.

But Chanyeol's words rung out, bright as the moon that was hidden behind shrouds of material.

"Date me."

"No."

"What? Why not?!"

"Because I wanted to be courted. I want cliche, candy and starlight. I want it to not be three in the morning and I want to not have fallen asleep with a bright blue facemask on, partly because I'm sure I look ridiculous, but mostly because my entire face is numb."

"I think you're beautiful, Baekhyunnie."

"Chanyeol?"

"Yes?"

"It's dark."

"Oh... I just mean you shine from within-"

"Go sleep, I can't."

Baekhyun closed his bedroom door, smiling so wide his face hurt. His happy virus.

--

'How do I get him to fall in love with me if he won't even go on a date with me?' Chanyeol whined, bashing his head against the kitchen counter. He winced as his forehead connected with a wooden fruit bowl, sending it's content flying across the room in the process.

Ever sauve Jongin snatched an apple out of the air and took a bite, 'Dress ty.'

Chanyeol looked up at his room-mate, rubbing his head with a scowl painted across his features, 'You've been spending too much time our creepy neighbour again, Jongin.'

'Cherry-noona is cool, Chanyeol,' Jongin rolled his eyes and pulled himself up on the countertop, letting his legs swing freely.

'It's really weird that you call Heechul-ssi that,' Chanyeol muttered as he bent forward and began collecting the fruit from the floor, 'I worry about you sometimes.'

'At least I'm not harbouring one sided love for a guy who works at an ice cream parlour," Jongin remarked, "I mean. Chanyeol, you can only buy so much ice cream...'

'I like ice cream.'

'You're going to get fat, and then you definitely won't get the guy.'

'He's different lately, I think... I think his feelings are changing,' Chanyeol's eyes shon with the hope that Jongin's cocky expression would transform into a reassuring nod, though it never did, 'I had this dream...'

'Whoa, okay Martin Luther King.'

'Jongin, interrupt me again and I will not hesitate to throttle you with one of Joonmyun's bobble-headed dogs.'

Jongin gestures for Chanyeol to continue.

'Okay, so I had this dream. And this giant seagull flew into my window, and he started cawing. But his squawks had subtitles. And they said, "My name is Chengull, and I was sent by the Almighty Krisus with a message."'

"I know you're really enjoying telling me this , but please stop flailing and flapping your wings. You look like you're having a seizure."

Chanyeol gave Jongin a sharp kick, and continued, 'He said, "Your journey will be long and hard, and full of innuendo. Your companion, Jongin, is an idiot."'

"Hey!" A threatening glare from the taller of the two swiftly silenced him.

'"But do not be disheartened as things will change, as long as your love for Baekhyun does not." And then Chengull disappeared, and like. I was a mermaid. Cool dream, huh?'

'... And I'm the idiot.'

'You should give him a lizard,' Joonmyun stated, appearing next to Kai.

'... What?' Chanyeol looked at his hyung, confused.

'I thought about it a lot, you should get him a lizard,' and with that he wandered off to his room.

'Old age, huh?' Jongin chuckled.

--

'"Baekhyunnie, your stalker is back,' Sehun sighed, undoing his apron and folding it as he watched Chanyeol enter the store for the third time today.

'Chanyeol isn't a stalker, he's more like...'

'Yes?'

'A long-legged sheep with the eyes of a bride.'

'...'

'...'

"You need help, Baekhyunnie-hyung," Kyungsoo muttered, his eyes eyes wide, though they were always wide.

'What up D.O!' Sehun exclaimed, violently bro hugging a non-responsive Kyungsoo.

'You need to stop trying to be gangster, Sehun. And you,' Kyungsoo turned to face Baekhyun, 'You need to stop inhaling whatever toxic scents you seem to be sniffing out. Seriously. You're getting weirder day by day.'

'Baekhyunnie,' Chanyeol called out shyly, waving when Baekhyun turned and smiled, 'I got you a gift, Baekhyunnie.'

His heart beat too fast as Baekhyun's fingers brushed his in retrieving the small silver box.

'Why are there holes in it?' Sehun wrinkled his nose.

Baekhyun coughed loudly in shock as he opened the box, a small grey gecko was running around the bottom of the box.

Kyungsoo let off a high pitched scream and went to hide in the broom closet.

Chanyeol examined Baekhyun's shocked feautures, and sighed sadly, 'You don't like him, do you?'

'No,' Baekhyun smiled, 'No, I've always wanted a gecko. Thank you Chanyeollie, I'll call him Tallahasse.'

Chanyeol blinked, was he serious right now? Were Joonmyun's old man instincts correct? 

'Hyung, you're incredibly weird,' Sehun chuckled, 'You and Baekhyunnie suit each other.'

'Tallahasse, though??' Chanyeol quirked an eyebrow.

'Yeah, I watched that movie, Zombieland last night. Tallahasse was cool. This gecko is cool. Therefore, Tallahasse.'

'Sehun-ah, isn't my potential boyfriend the best?!' Chanyeol whispered, smiling.

--

Chanyeol sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, groaning loudly. Joonmyun was going to get it when he got home, he was going to get it and-

'Chanyeol?'

'Baekhyunnie, listen... I'm sorry about,' Baekhyun did not let him finish, he instead wrapped his arms around Chanyeol's neck and bit his lip.

'Chanyeol, I know I'm four months too late to be saying this, but I like you too.'

Chanyeol smiled so widely in that moment that Baekhyun was sure his face was made of elastic, he pressed a chaste kiss against the corner of his lips and laughed.

As Baekhyun's arms fell away, Chanyeol cradled his cheeks in his hands, 'Baekhyunnie, don't be a tease.'

Their lips met again, and again and again. Chanyeol was sure he was dreaming, but his clumsiness kept him connected to reality, he felt a blush creep across his face as their teeth bumped against each other. It didn't matter though, this moment was perfection within his flaws. 

--

'I'm home,' Jongin called, kicking the door closed behind him, he looked around the room, 'Where is Joonmyun-hyung?'

Chanyeol was smiling a little wider than usual, but Jongin discounted it as he always did. 

'He's at his book club meeting,' Chanyeol said, looking over to Jongin and pushing his glasses back up to the ridge of his nose.

'Ugh,' Jongin groaned, running his fingers through his hair, 'And what are you doing?'

Chanyeol looked down, as if he wasn't entirely sure what exactly he was doing, '... Reading the newspaper.'

Jongin let his head loll back as he exhaled sharply, 'WHY DO I LIVE WITH SUCH OLD MEN?! Yah! DO SOMETHING INTERESTING FOR A CHANGE.'

'"I'm thinking about investing in a pipe.'

An incredulous look appeared on Jongin's face, 'You're going to start smoking?!'

'What? No. Ew,' Chanyeol looked disgusted, 'What's wrong with you? It'd be purely for aesthetics.'

'Hyung, please. I implore you. Do something interesting,' Jongin pleaded, 'Please.'

'Sudoku?' Chanyeol suggested, yawning, 'It's pretty late but we could try one of those really hard ones.'

'I can't. This conversation is giving me wrinkles,' Jongin sighed, standing up, 'I'm going over to Cherry-noona's. Before I become a corpse.'

'But the sudoku!' Chanyeol called after him, but it was too late. Jongin had already slammed the door.

'Finally!' Baekhyun exclaimed, popping up from behind the kitchen counter and stretching.

'What were you even doing back there for so long?' Chanyeol asked, turning in his chair to face Baekhyun.

'It's private, Park Chanyeol. Private,' Baekhyun huffed.

In truth, Baekhyun had spent the past hour silently reorganising the lower shelves of the ChanJongMyun kitchen and wondering why nothing matched, He'd found three grapes, and a potato, but these he decided to question Chanyeol about.

'What's with the potato?' He waved it around, Chanyeol turned red. Curiouser and curiouser.

'It was in the fruit bowl I knocked over a few months back,' He laughed sheepishly, running his fingers through his hair.

'You keep potatoes in the fruit bowl?'

'And house keys, it's a multi-purpose fruit bowl,' He grinned, collapsing on the couch, patting the cushion next to him.

'You really are one of a kind, Chanyeol,' Baekhyun chuckled, curling up next to Chanyeol.

Moments like this, true bliss. Chanyeol had never felt more alive.

--

'Just because you two are dating now,' Jongin said, his eyes trained on the screen of his laptop, 'doesn't mean you can on the couch.'

'Jongin, they're holding hands,' Joonmyun whispered.

'Call it what you want- SH!' Jongin went silent, an insane grin that scrunched up his entire face appeared.

'... Explain?' Baekhyun nuzzled Chanyeol's shoulder.

'He's in love with this one idol from 3i3,' Chanyeol chuckled into Baekhyun's hair.

'Chanyeol,' Jongin looked serious no, 'This is more than love. Aria and I will get married and have tons of and have half Japanese babies and it will be awesome.'

'... Sometimes I wonder how I became friends with you,' Chanyeol muttered, 'You know he cyberstalks her right?'

Baekhyun laughed, his hand and Chanyeol's - linked. He could get used to this feeling.

--

The sun wasn't shining quite as brightly the day Baekhyun and Chanyeol decided to go to the beach, neither really liked the roar of the ocean - it was too loud. And it was wet, and damp - and not Chanyeol's room which the two had become accustomed to sharing (after a lot of cleaning on Baekhyun's part.)

'Baekhyunnie-ah, I like you more than tiny waffles.'

'Chanyeol-ah, I like you more than I like light switch dancing.'

'Baekhyunnie~ I like you because you make me the happy virus.'

'Chanyeol, I like you so much that I even like your nose hair.'

'I don't have nose hair.'

'Just because you can't see it. Doesn't mean it's not there. Come. Game on.'

'Baekhyun-AH.'

'Don't get so grumpy Chanyeollie~'

'Chanyeollie?'

Baekhyun looked back at Chanyeol, his eyes were closed and his chest was rising and falling slowly.

'Chanyeol?' Baekhyun walked back to Chanyeol's side and put his arm on his shoulder.

Chanyeol did not respond with words, only small tears that fell from his eyes against his will.

Panic began to build up in Baekhyun's stomach.

A/N: Added a bit to le ending, and 3i3 is a fictional group made out of awesome and rainbows. Hopefully you enjoyed~