Chapter 3: Feelings

Baekhyun spent the next day lying in bed staring at the ceiling. He didn’t do anything but think. He thought about food, about books, about animals, about anything, anything, but Chanyeol. Anything but Park Chanyeol and his soon-to-be wife Seo Joohyun. The beautiful, flawless, Seo Joohyun.

He groaned and buried his face into his pillows as the two of them crept stealthily into his mind again. He had no idea why he felt so irked when he heard about Chanyeol’s marriage, but he did. He would do anything to prevent it. Anything.

But he wasn’t even sure why he didn’t want the wedding to take place. Chanyeol was his best friend and-

Oh. That was why. It was because Chanyeol was his best friend. He didn’t want his best friend to be hampered down with marriage so soon.

Baekhyun nodded to himself, thinking that must be it. However, the more he mulled over that thought, the more illogical it seemed to him. Why in the world would he care if his best friend got married or not? It wasn’t as if Chanyeol would stop talking to him and hanging out with him, right? …Right?

Or maybe he would. Maybe he’d be in bed with his wife 24/7 and completely disregard Baekhyun’s presence.

Baekhyun tried to imagine Chanyeol ignoring him. He tried to imagine life without Chanyeol bounding over to him, eager to try out a new game with him. He tried to remember how he was before he had met Chanyeol, before he was 12. It was a misty, vague memory, one that was just about to fade away completely. He remembered the sullen boy who would stand silently, looking at his parents work hard in the field. He remembered the boy who nobody would hang out with, just because he was from a low class family.

But Chanyeol had changed all of that. After Chanyeol declared Baekhyun his best friend, Baekhyun’s family took a turn for the better. His own status rose higher than he would ever believe. Thanks to Chanyeol, his life became nearly perfect. He hung out with Chanyeol, met more people and made new friends, and most importantly, his family wasn’t working their butts off for money that wouldn’t even go to them.

He had no idea why he was complaining about Chanyeol getting married. Being the good best friend he is, he should be offering Chanyeol his condol- congratulations. He shouldn’t be lying in bed sulking all day, undoubtedly making Chanyeol worry about him.

With that thought in mind, he sighed and finally got out of bed, trudging over to his closet. He threw on a set of randomly picked clothes and headed towards the Royal Palace. However, the second he set foot out the door, he collided with a tall pillar outside his house that he swore was not there last night.

“What the ?” He muttered to himself as he rubbed his forehead. He looked up and gasped, stumbling back and hitting the door.

“!” He cursed again, glaring at the person he had just bumped into. “What are you doing here, Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol gave him that same goofy grin before reaching past Baekhyun and grabbing the doorknob.

“Visiting. I heard my best friend wouldn’t get out of bed, so I was worried.” Without even asking permission, Chanyeol let himself in Baekhyun’s house.

Not that Baekhyun minded or anything. He was used to it. In fact, there were times when Chanyeol would appear at his doorstep two in the morning, completely wasted. He’d just let himself in and crash in the living room, some behavior that was definitely not suited for the Crown Prince.

“Do you have anything to eat?” Chanyeol asked, absently wandering into the kitchen.

“Oh. Yeah,” Baekhyun replied, rummaging around in the cupboards before throwing together some suspicious looking fried rice. He served it to Chanyeol, who looked at it for a second, before digging in.

“You know, this tastes like , but I’m still going to eat it. ‘Cause I’m hungry,” Chanyeol said, his mouth stuffed with food.

“Yah, if you’re going to criticize other people’s cooking, do it when you’re not eating it like you haven’t eaten in days,” Baekhyun snapped, taking a seat in front of Chanyeol at the kitchen table.

“Close enough. I didn’t eat yesterday because of the terribly boring welcome ceremony,” Chanyeol grumbled.

“Was it that bad?”

Chanyeol nodded furiously. “It was really the worst! I’ve never met such a boring girl!”

“Really?” Baekhyun perked up at Chanyeol’s comment.

“Pretty, but boring. She didn’t speak at all!”

Baekhyun chuckled, shaking his head at his best friend’s pout.

"So what'd your father say?"

"Oh, my father loves her. And my mother adores her," Chanyeol said, rolling his eyes. "I'm never going to get out of this marriage."

Baekhyun didn't say anything and simply stared at his hands, playing with his fingers under the table.

"Baekhyun? Baekhyun, did you hear me?"

Baekhyun blinked. "W-what? Did you say something? S-sorry."

Chanyeol chuckled and poked Baekhyun on the forehead. "Whatcha thinking about? It must be very important, since you're ignoring even me."

Baekhyun scoffed. "I'm not thinking about anything. What were you saying?"

"I was just asking if we should go on a trip with everyone before the freakin wedding. I'll probably have no time after the wedding..." Chanyeol grumbled.

"Oh. Should we?"

Chanyeol nodded, a grin spreading on his face.

"Oh, yes we should!"

Baekhyun and Chanyeol both turned to the intruder who had just spoken. Jongin sauntered into the kitchen and sat down at the table next to Chanyeol.

Baekhyun stared at him. "How'd you get in?"

Jongin shrugged. "The servants let me in."

"Why're you here?" Baekhyun said with a scowl.

"Chill, I'm not the only one here."

"What? You're not the only-"

"Hey Baekhyun! How're you doing?" Sehun, Chanyeol's youngest brother, said cheerfully, entering when his servant Luhan in tow.

"Hi..."

"Hello Baekhyun! I heard you weren't feeling well, so I made some chicken soup," Kyungsoo said, carrying a canteen.

Baekhyun stared wide-eyed at everyone. Jongin, Sehun, Kyungsoo, Luhan, Tao, Kris. They were all gathered in his house. "...Why are all of you guys here?"

"Oh, I called them here so we could plan the trip," Chanyeol said, grabbing the canteen from Kyungsoo.

"Hey! That's for Baekhyun!" Kyungsoo protested. Chanyeol waved away his words and immediately began drinking it at an incredible speed.

"Yah, Park Chanyeol. How come you told them to come to my house?"

---

"Where. Are. We. Going?" Baekhyun huffed as he placed his hands on his knees, panting.

Chanyeol, who was at the front of the group, turned around and made his way towards Baekhyun.

"You okay?" He asked, placing his hand on Baekhyun's shoulder. Baekhyun shrugged it off and nodded.

"Seriously, Chanyeol, where're we going?" Jongin asked, plopping down on a large rock by the side of a trail.

"Up the moutain," Chanyeol replied, digging into his backpack and retrieving a water bottle, handing it to Baekhyun.

"What for?" Sehun moaned, sitting down next to Jongin.

"For sightseeing, duh!" Chanyeol said.

"Dude, man, we don't have to climb the freakin mountain. Can't we just get a plane to fly us there and then let us off? Why in the world are we climbing it?" Kris asked, struggling with his own water bottle. Tao, the only person who seemed unaffected by the climb, helped him uncap it.

Chanyeol stared at Kris and didn't reply.

"....You didn't think of that, did you?"

"Of course I did! I-I just thought that it'll be funner to climb it, you know!" Chanyeol said self-righteously.

"Yeah, I think it's nice climbing it. We get to admire the scenery, you know," Tao offered.

"What scenery? There's nothing, I repeat, nothing, to look at. There're rocks. Rocks. Dried sand. Rocks. And more rocks. Freakin' beautiful, I tell you. And just 'cause you're all fit and able to climb some steep mountain without resting doesn't mean we can," Kris snapped.

"Calm down, dude. Someone got out the wrong side of the bed today," Jongin said, laughing.

Kris gave him a glare before sighing and drinking more water.

"Let us just quit whining and get going, okay?" Chanyeol said finally.

"Where exactly are we going?" Baekhyun asked, recovered.

"There're cabins at the top. It's really beautiful up there. It may not look it right now, but when you get to the top, the scenery is super pretty," Chanyeol replied dreamily.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and started up the mountain again. "...Let's just go."

With many groans, everyone stood up and followed Baekhyun's lead.

When they got to the top, it was already dark and they were all too tired to 'admire' the scenery. They stumbled into whichever cabin they found first and collapsed onto the bunks.

Baekhyun found himself in the same cabin as Chanyeol.

"What do you want?" He grumbled as he saw Chanyeol staring at him.

"Are you tired?"

Baekhyun rolled around on the bed to glare at Chanyeol.

"What do you think? We climbed a freakin' mountain!"

"...Maybe I should've chartered an airplane..." Chanyeol muttered, getting up and walking around.

Baekhyun groaned as he became dizzy from Chanyeol's constant moving around.

"Can you just sit?"

"Sorry." Chanyeol immediately sat with incredible poise on his bed.

Baekhyun sighed and covered his eyes with his arm, trying to control his still uneven breathing. Who knew climbing was so tiring.

"Wait... shouldn't it be me ordering you around? Not you ordering me?" Chanyeol asked suddenly.

Baekhyun sat up and glared at Chanyeol.

"Sorry?" Chanyeol laughed nervously. "Talk about PMS," he muttered quietly to himself after Baekhyun laid back down.

"I heard that!"

"....Sorry."

"Yah, Baekhyun, Chanyeol! The fire's ready. Let's go eat," Kyungsoo said, popping his head in the cabin door.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol got up silently and shuffled obediently outside.

"You okay?" Kyungsoo asked, leaning over to feel Baekhyun's forehead.

"I'm fine. I didn't sleep last night because Soojung was sick," Baekhyun explained.

"Whaaaat? You didn't sleep last night? Why didn't you tell me?" Chanyeol turned around and shook Baekhyun's shoulders.

"What the hell! Park Chanyeol, let me go! That hurts!"

"Oh. Sorry. You should go sleep right now!" Chanyeol immediately turned Baekhyun around and began pushing him towards the cabin. He mentally cursed himself for not paying attention to Baekhyun's well-being. If he had told him that he stayed up all night tending to his little sister, he would've immediately chartered a plane, even if the only one was half-way across the country.

"Wait." Kyungsoo placed his hand on Chanyeol's arm. "I think he should eat. We must all be hungry."

"Yeah." Baekhyun threw Chanyeol a look before shrugging his hands off. "I'm hungry. Let's go eat, Kyungsoo."

He dragged Kyungsoo to the campfire that Tao and Kris had just set up. Chanyeol huffed and followed them.

"The hell do you think you're doing?" Tao was screaming when they reached them.

"Why the do you keep yelling at me?" Kris shot back.

"Don't freakin put that there! It's going to burn!" Tao immediately rescued Sehun's backpack.

"No it won't! Not unless someone's stupid enough to throw it in the fire!"

"The goddamn embers will drop on it. Did you not learn science?"

"Are you calling me stupid?"

"Well, maybe I am!"

"....Can you both shut up?" Sehun asked, stuffing his mouth with crispy brown marshmallows he had just toasted. Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Kyungsoo, Jongin, and  Luhan were all sitting around the fire, already eating. They were staring at Tao and Kris, the only two still standing.

"No, no, Sehun. This is terribly amusing. Do continue," Jongin said in a mock polite tone.

"Shut up, Jongin," Tao muttered, also sitting down. Kris gave Tao a glare before moving halfway around the fire to find a seat that wasn't next to Tao. Everyone stared at him as he made two circles around the fire, unable to find a spot to sit.

"Goddamit!" He cursed as he dropped down next to Tao, scooting as far away from him as possible.

Tao scoffed and shook his head at Kris's immaturity.

"Are marshmallows our only food?" Baekhyun asked, squeezing his, not really wanting to eat it. He wasn't a big fan of sweet stuff.

"There're some sweet potatoes. Here." Kyungsoo reached over to the pile of potatoes and handed one to Baekhyun. Baekhyun smiled his thanks before immediately stabbing the stick into the potato.

"Let me help," Chanyeol said, taking the stick and potato from Baekhyun. He expertly stabbed the stick in and handed it to Baekhyun, motioning for him to raise it over the fire.

Chanyeol smiled to himself as he watched Baekhyun's face light up with a childish grin as he eagerly and carefully roasted his potato.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Baekhyun asked, as he turned his stick around.

"Sure. Feed me," Chanyeol replied, a glint in his eyes.

Baekhyun blinked at him for a few seconds before pulling a scowl on his face.

"In your dreams."

Chanyeol pouted. "But you did it last time~ And more than once too!"

He inwardly smirked as he noticed Kyungsoo's shocked eyes flash towards him and Baekhyun.

"...T-that was 'cause you were drunk a-and y-you were sick!" Baekhyun stuttered, his face flushing.

Chanyeol stuck his tongue out at Baekhyun, grabbing the potato and shoving it in his own mouth, nearly choking when he began laughing at Baekhyun's stunned expression.

After finishing it, he patted Baekhyun on the shoulder. "Thanks, honey~"

".......Go to hell. Cook me another one."

"Okay, honey~"

"......Stop calling me that."

"Alright, Hyunnie~"

".......Just.... just stop."

"Aww...."

"I SAID STOP! THAT MEANS SHUT UP!"

"......Jongin, Hyunnie's being mean to me... should I go file a divorce?"

"There, there, Yeollie. Hyunnie, you shoudn't be so mean to your husband!"

"B-both of you.... Aww, forget it! I'm going to bed!"

"Waaaiiit! I'll join you!"

"No!"

-sniff sniff-

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A/N: Bleh. This was written when I had writer's block, so it wasn't so good... But I promise there's going to be more BaekYeol action during the trip, but it may not be coming up for a few more chapters :) If I slow my updating, it might be because of school and the fact that I still have writer's block and I have issues writing these fluffy parts because I think people find it boring, cuz I surely do. Yeah, I'm rambling right now because I'm trying to watch "Queen In Hyuns Man" and do my math hw and post this at the same time. Apparently, it's a very, very good drama.... According to my friends :)