---

 

 

“DAMN SKIRT! DAMN BRA! DAMN EVERYTHING!”

 

Chanyeol stared wide eyed at the bathroom door, hands covering Yuan’s ears.

 

Baekhyun was at it again.

 

Whatever the ‘it’ was.

 

Sometimes, Chanyeol thinks that excess use of eyeliner can bring harm to one’s brain. And is it sad to think that it’s probably the only valid explanation he’s not willing to attest or object at any case because it perfectly defines the principle relationship between eyeliner and the rise of Baekhyun’s pitch whenever he decides to throw tantrums without any warning at any given time of the day.

 

Any given time of the day.

 

It’s 8 AM. 8 ing 8 AM. People don’t wake up until 9.

 

And he’s wondering what the hell Baekhyun is doing inside the bathroom, having a verbal argument with damn everything.

 

Chanyeol told Yuan to go do something, anything, as long as he keeps his earphones on before walking closer to the door. He knocked three times. “Baekhyun?” The silence is scary, to be honest. “Are you okay?”
 

There was a looooooooong moment of silence.

 

Until the sound of the doorknob clicking open echoed through the walls.

 

Baekhyun stood there, his face screaming all kinds of infuriation. Chanyeol trained down to his hands and saw them occupied with the black dress he took with him earlier to change, now torn into pieces.

 

Chanyeol blinked in surprise. What happened?”

 

“A little accident.” Baekhyun shrugged.

 

A little accident means he finally realized he has more black than black coffees. It started when he lost his black eyeliner somewhere in between the black blouse and the black dress he brought with inside the bathroom. Then it continued with him staring at the clothes. And here comes the forbidden word Hara has introduced to him last night—funeral.

 

I don’t look like I’m going to a funeral, am I?

 

Another minute of staring.

 

Okay maybe a little bit.

 

And slowly picking up the clothes from the hangers.

 

Fine, maybe a little bit more.

 

Then he pushed the clothes to his chest to see how they fit.

 

ASDFGHJKL.

 

Apocalypse.

 

Tear. Tear. Tear.

 

Pull. Pull. Pull.

 

Throw. Throw. Throw.

 

Kick. Kick. Kick.

 

That’s what happened.

 

Baekhyun walked lazily to the bed and let his body fall.

 

He was not in the mood to talk, explain and elaborate so he was kind of thankful Chanyeol didn’t ask anymore. From his position he can hear Yuan’s game console sound effects—bullets, explosions and more bullets. He concludes that’s where he got his violence. He ought to sit up, grab the game console, lecture the kid about limitations in violence but he was too lazy to even raise his own and someone’s rummaging through the clothes inside the walk-in closet, so carelessly, he can hear himself yelling unappreciative words of profanities inside his head, flowing down to his veins, then at last to his mouth.

 

“CHANYEOL, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”

 

Okay, so the profanities will come soon.

 

“Nothing! Just,” Chanyeol shouts from behind the closed door. Baekhyun crooked his eyebrows. “Just looking for something!”

 

“And it’s something you can find inside a walk-in closet?”

 

The door opens and Chanyeol stands beside with a large grin and hands behind him.

 

“Please tell me you’re not hiding some kind of bazooka.”

 

Chanyeol lifts his hands and shows him a dress with no black at all.

 

Well, at least it wasn’t a bazooka.

 

“Maybe you can wear this?”

 

“Why would I wear that?”

 

Chanyeol shrugged. “Because then you wouldn’t have to worry about looking like a mistress attending a funeral.”

 

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow. “I do not—“

 

“Oh please, Baekhyun. You were so hurt last night.” Chanyeol argued.

 

“I was not—“

 

“Just wear this.”

 

Baekhyun stared at the dress, the frizzy pink-ish or tangerine-ish girly flowery dress Chanyeol’s holding. He never really imagined himself wearing anything not black, or without a shade of black, without the black dominating.

 

Who am I kidding?

 

I never imagined myself dressing up as a girl anyway but here I am having a crisis over choosing the right clothes.

 

Pathetic.

 

He was too engrossed with conversing with his brain that he didn’t notice Chanyeol walking towards him, shoving the clothes to his chest and pushing him to the bathroom. “Wait—“

 

“Just shut up, go to the bathroom, wear that and look good. Go princess!” Chanyeol closed the door shut, ignoring Baekhyun’s protests.

 

He chuckled to himself and turned around, feeling prideful and proud of nothing to be quite honest, and noticed Yuan shaking his head. “I thought I told you to put your earphones on?”

 

“I don’t have earphones.”

 

Chanyeol sighed. “Alright. I’m buying you one.”

 

--

 

Baekhyun sighed, staring at his reflection on the mirror, shook his head, and sighed again. The dress is frizzy, and the skirt is too short, only reaching above his knees—or above the above of his knees—but the velvet stockings that came with it saved his damn life (or legs). At least it could cover up his chest area and his shoulders.

 

He wore the wig and crooked his eyebrows when straight cut doesn’t really suit the dress he was wearing. So, he grabbed the iron and curled the wig. When he wore it back, it looked better and he pushed the ends slightly and scattered them around his shoulders. Perfect.

 

Just a little bit eyeliner and lip gloss. Okay.

 

It’s 9:30 AM. They still have a lot to do for the day so he doesn’t have time to reflect on what he has done to himself. He nodded, screaming all sorts of good luck phrases in his head, before finally deciding to go out.

 

He expected some uncalled over-reaction from Chanyeol but he heard nothing. Chanyeol was just standing there, frozen, hands gripping the camera slung on his neck. Baekhyun thought he might have looked horrible because he can’t really decipher what Chanyeol’s expression means, shocked because he looked ugly or shocked because he looked ugly. Two different things, do not question.

 

“You look…” Chanyeol started. Baekhyun leaned slightly. “…gay.”

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “You .” He stomped away from the bathroom to grab some boots to match his clothes.

 

“N-no! I meant gorgeous!”

 

“.”

 

“I-it’s like what happened before! I was going to say gorgeous but my tongue always slips—“

 

“Yeah, whatever.” Baekhyun mumbled while slipping in the boots. “Yuan! Let’s go!”

 

Chanyeol watched Yuan run to Baekhyun.

 

“The day you will say I’m gorgeous is probably the day the world will end,” Baekhyun opened the door. “For the sake of judgment.”

 

“Wait—but—“

 

The door slammed shut on his face.

 

Stupid tongue.

 

Stupid mouth.

 

Stupid brain.

 

Why do I screw up every time?!

 

He grabbed his jacket and immediately followed them outside.

 

--

 

Chanyeol doesn’t really feel the winter spirit, probably because all the way to the ski site, no word was expressed to the world. Literally. Okay, maybe from Baekhyun. Chanyeol repeated, for a million raised to the power of a million times, that he didn’t mean to call him gay, he doesn’t even use that word often—okay maybe there’s no excuse for that because Baekhyun heard him several times—and that he was overwhelmed at how gorgeous he is that he was staring at him with incoherency and at loss of words—excluding ‘gay’.

 

 It felt like all the things he said entered Baekhyun’s right ear and immediately ran through his left, flying away, as if he heard absolutely nothing. Nothing. NOTHINGGGG.

 

Chanyeol parks near the entrance.

 

Lucky for them, they came at a time when most people are already tired of skiing since morning came. He forgot how fun it was to ski. Actually, he doesn’t even know the fun of skiing.

 

Because…

 

I

 

DON’T

 

KNOW

 

HOW

 

TO

 

SKI

 

DAMMIT.

 

It completely slipped off his mind. He was probably too distracted with thoughts of spending the weekend with Baekhyun that he wasn’t able pinpoint the part about skiing. As a man, it’s a big embarrassment to now know how to ski. It’s like the simplest sport besides golf. (For me, at least.)

 

And since he doesn’t really feel the need to talk to the staff himself because he doesn’t even like skiing and since Baekhyun is blessed with too much initiative, he just sat at the bench, watching other people ski, while waiting for Baekhyun who took Yuan with him to have a talk with one of the staffs to cater their needs. LOL.

 

So anyway, approximately 15 minutes after, they’re standing on the snow field, feeling icy cold, wearing really thick jackets that doesn’t even seem to be effective because Chanyeol is thinking of frost bites and Baekhyun struggling to carry all the skiing equipment all by himself because excuse me, Prince Chanyeol should be served.

 

Not.

 

A kick on the knee.

 

“Aw!” Chanyeol turned around, body slightly bent due to the pain on his patellar muscle.

 

Baekhyun stared at him with zero amusement and dropped the equipment on the ground. “Are you going to be a gentleman and help or stand there and be an ice statue with really ugly hair?”

 

Chanyeol touched the hair. “Hey! My hair’s not ugly.”

 

“Says the bird on your hair,”

 

Chanyeol’s eyes widened. He touched his hair again, not because he’s considering Baekhyun’s statement which is impossible to the highest level but because he needs to and—holy it’s a freaking bird. He picked up the tiny bird and placed it carefully on his palms. This is unbelievable, not the fact that there’s a bird on top of his head but the fact that Baekhyun said the truth.

 

“I think your hair is a suitable habitat for freezing birds,” Baekhyun walked first. “Tweet tweet tweet,”

 

“That is not funny,”

 

“Tweet tweet tweet!” Yuan echoed.

 

“Seriously,” Chanyeol sighed and stared back at the bird on his palms, watching how it twitches because of the cold and how it looked so homeless and pitiful. “Oh for Christ’s sake, I need to get going.” He grabbed the ski and the boots Baekhyun left for him and followed the two to the slope.

 

--

 

Nature should’ve warned him about the rule no skirts when skiing. Baekhyun remembered the stares he got when he walked into that shop and then it him that no girls are wearing skirts and then it hit him again how it makes perfect sense that no girls would wear skirts to ski.

 

How should I know?

 

I’m not a girl.

 

PSH.

 

“Are you cold?”

 

He almost jumped in shock when Chanyeol suddenly spoke beside him even more shocked when he saw the bird making itself comfortable on top of Chanyeol’s head.

 

“No, I’m okay.” Baekhyun stared. “What the is that?”

 

“What?”

 

“That,” Baekhyun said. “What’s a bird doing on your head?”

 

“Oh, Sheldon?”

 

“You gave it a name?” Baekhyun asked in disbelief.

 

“Yeah, it’s a cool name, isn’t it?”

 

“It’s not a cool name and don’t change the subject!” Baekhyun sighed. “Why is there a bird on your head?”

 

Chanyeol shrugged. “Well, he looked so homeless. And I think it would be really insensitive for me if I kick him out of my head.”

 

“Really?”

 

“What?”

 

“Really, Chanyeol?”

 

“Don’t do that double question thing on me!”

 

Baekhyun shook his head and went first, pushing his whole body down the slope, finally getting rid of all the stress Chanyeol and this damn skirt has been giving him.

 

Okay maybe he spoke too soon.

 

The sounds of constant aw’s behind him were extremely distracting.

 

He stopped and turned around, only to see Chanyeol tumbling down the slope, his limbs tangled in a disoriented knot with the ski board slapped on his face.

 

“Seriously?” Baekhyun murmured. “Seriously, Chanyeol?”

 

“I said don’t do that!” Chanyeol pushed the ski board away from his face.

 

Baekhyun crossed his arms. “Please tell me you know how to ski and you’re just acting stupid.”

 

“I don’t know how to ski.”

 

Well, that was fast.

 

--

 

“Okay, so before skiing, you need to be physically fit. Basically, you need to do some exer—CHANYEOL!”

 

Chanyeol looked up and grinned guiltily.

 

“Give me the bird,”

 

“What? No!” Chanyeol hid the bird behind him. “He’s hurt!”

 

“And whose fault is that?”

 

“….the snow.”

 

“Right, cause the snow was skiing and accidentally hit the bird.”

 

“Sheldon.”

 

“What?”

 

“His name’s Sheldon.”

 

“Do you see how many s I give?”

 

….

 

“Am I supposed to count or…?”

 

“ARGHHHH!!!” Baekhyun turned around and walked away.

 

“Wait! Where are you going?”

 

“I’M GOING TO PICK UP YUAN AND LEAVE! NO SKIING ANYMORE!”

 

--

 

Chanyeol admits, he feels slightly guilty for—

 

Choosing Sheldon over Baekhyun’s happiness.

 

I did not pick Sheldon over—okay maybe that’s what it looked like but that’s not what it was. Shut up Brain.

 

Oh great, another round of silent treatment inside the car.

 

It never felt so awkward driving a car until now.

 

No noises, no talking.

 

Only Sheldon tweet-tweeting.

 

Like, he never stops.

 

And Chanyeol is kind of worried because—

 

“Make it stop.”

 

Yeah, Baekhyun is getting really annoyed.

 

Tweet tweet tweet—

 

“Chanyeol.”

 

“Uh…I-I can’t really talk to birds—“

 

Tweet tweet—

 

“Chanyeol.”

 

“I would if I could but—“

 

Tweet—

 

Baekhyun leaned in, snatched the bird from Chanyeol’s head, opened the window and threw it out.

 

Chanyeol hit the brakes with le gasp. “YOU THREW HIM OUT!”

 

Baekhyun smirked.

 

“YOU MONSTER!” Chanyeol hopped off the car immediately. “SHELDOOOON!!!”

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and sighed. Meanwhile, Yuan kept on laughing hysterically while watching Chanyeol run around in corners in hope to find Sheldon. He turned back to Baekhyun who was too calm.

 

“Hyung,”

 

“Hm?”

 

“You didn’t throw him out, did you?”

 

Baekhyun turned to him and revealed the bird hiding on his chest. “He’s stupid,”

 

--

 

“Seriously guys, that wasn’t funny.”

 

“You should’ve seen the look on the lady’s face when you tried to describe a missing person,” Baekhyun said in between laughter.

 

Yuan leaned in. “Hey miss, have you seen Sheldon? He’s a small furry and cute being with eyes like this.” He pouts then, making Baekhyun laugh even more.

 

Though, instead of getting annoyed, Chanyeol found it interesting to stare at Baekhyun’s face while laughing. He looked so happy, relaxed and carefree. Even though it’s cold, Baekhyun’s smile kind of warmed him up.

 

He, too, is happy.

 

“Alright, laugh all you want then,”

 

Because really, spending a day with normal people like this is kind of fun.

 

--

 

“A skating rink?” Baekhyun asked when they finally reached their next destination.

 

“Yeah,” Chanyeol smiled. “I was kind of guilty for ruining your skiing fun earlier so—“

 

“Uh, you don’t have to do this, really!”

 

“I insist,” Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun’s wrist. “Come on let’s go!”

 

--

 

There are no words to explain this situation.

 

Code Red Emergenshi!

 

Emergency.

 

Emergency!

 

“Okay, we’re good! Let’s go skating!” Chanyeol yelled enthusiastically.

 

Hehehehehehe.

 

NO.

 

“Um Chanyeol, I don’t think I can join you. I really need to pee,”

 

“There’s a comfort room at the back!”

 

“Uh…I’m also very very hungry, can’t we eat first?”

 

“There’s a snackbar over there! And the staff said we can bring food inside the rink only if we don’t spill them. Come on let’s go! This is going to be fun!”

 

“Okay…uh…I’m just going to the comfort room first and then I’ll join you later, okay?”

 

“Okay! Don’t take too long! Come on Yuan,”

 

--

 

I’d like to take my time inside the comfort room, thank you very much.

 

Because really, he doesn’t want to go back out there ever to skate.

 

But due to certain cicumstances like accidentally walking in the wrong room, even though he’s a man but in this case he’s not, he was forced to go back to the rink to hide from the men who actually saw him inside the men’s comfort room. I think it would be safer if he’s got Park Chanyeol beside him. He’s not stupid to not notice hungry stares. Yep.

 

“Hey! You’re back!”

 

And he’s not stupid to not know that Chanyeol can skate which is why he is so enthusiastic to be here which is a 360 turn of his attitude at the ski site earlier. Yuan was already playing with some of the kids at the corner. It was kind of nice to see Yuan interacting with kids and not computers or adults like themselves. A kid is a kid. A kid needs to be happy too.

 

“Hey Baekhyun look! They put Rilakkuma stickers on my shoes!”

 

Which reminded him that this idiot never had a childhood.

 

Baekhyun smiled. “Wow, that’s cute!”

 

“I know right?” Chanyeol said. “Come on! Let’s go skating!”

 

By that, did he mean get some bruises? Because Baekhyun is doing a really good job.

 

And Chanyeol is doing a great job laughing at a certain puppy sitting on the floor after rounds of falling down.

 

“Luhan and I didn’t have time to go skating back in China,” Baekhyun reasoned.

 

Chanyeol is still laughing. “And you had time to go skiing?”

 

“Skiing is a basic skill for humans,”

 

“So is skating!”

 

“No, skating needs balance!”

 

“So does skiing!”

 

They continued to bicker for over 15 minutes until Chanyeol finally decided to teach Baekhyun how to skate properly (because who wouldn’t want to teach someone how to skate when they get to rely on you and you get to hold their hand, hohoho). So maybe he’s doing this in the context of skinship.

 

That sounded creepy so it’s never going out of his mouth.

 

“Just relax, okay? I’m not going to let you fall.” Chanyeol told Baekhyun as gentle as his voice can get.

 

“You say that but you were dying of laughter earlier.” Baekhyun snarled. “And is this necessary? Do I have to hold your hand or something?”

 

“If you want to fall again then it’s not,” Chanyeol retorted. “Okay, so I’m going to pull you slowly, just stand up straight, keep your balance and remember I’m right here, okay?” Baekhyun nodded. Chanyeol started pulling him to the rink, skating slowly to give time to Baekhyun to familiarize the whole setting. “You’re doing a good job,” Chanyeol smiled and nodded. “Except you look like a goat with its sticking out. Stand up straight, Baekhyun,”

 

“I can’t stand up straight! What if I suddenly fall?”

 

“Again, I’m not going to let you fall, now stand up straight.”

 

 Still nothing.

 

“Baekhyun, I swear we’re never going to be done with this if you atleast don’t stand up straight,”

 

“Easy for you to say. You’ve been skating for years,”

 

“I haven’t been skating for years. If I have I would be a professional figure skater by now, competing in the Olympics along side Kim Yuna, wherein my mom would never let it happen because she thinks I’m not gay and that male figure skaters are all gay,”

 

Baekhyun snorted. “Your mom’s quite the homophobic. I’m really wondering how you managed to hide your love for all these years.”

 

“For the record, it’s not love for , it’s just that I don’t like ies,”

 

“We have man s,”

 

“I don’t like that either,”

 

“I think I could sum it up to you not liking humps in general,”

 

“That’s a simpler way to put it but it sounds inappropriate so I’ll stick with the ies and the man s, as you say,” Chanyeol retorted. “Besides, I like butts. Those are humps too.”

 

“Uh huh. Okay.” Baekhyun nodded. “So, why don’t you just tell her you’re gay? I mean she’s your mom, she’ll probably love you still. You obviously came from her womb which was the result of your dad’s entering your mom’s , then suddenly your dad’s cells are racing to your mom’s eggs and the winner happened to have produced a 185 foot tall and noodled-hair man who knows how to skate.”

 

Chanyeol stared. “Sometimes I forget how bold you are,”

 

“Yeah well, that’s what people’s misconception of me is. I’m innocent as long as you don’t bring up the topic about gay pride and how mothers get pregnant,” Baekhyun nodded. “And how I happened to look as feminine as this—“

 

“Stop.”

 

“—okay. Anyway, my point is that you should tell her.”

 

“I think the effect of you jumping from country to country and adapting every culture is that your head got screwed,”

 

Baekhyun crooked his eyebrows in confusion.

 

“This is Korea. Probably the gayest homophobic country ever. You don’t suggest a gay to come out especially when that certain gay is the CEO of the Park Industries, which happens to be a multi-billion corporation and is owned by none other than my mother and was started by my deceased father so coming out would be very disrespectful to his soul.” Chanyeol breathed for air. “Besides, I topped Business Weekly’s ‘who do you want your daughter to get married with’ poll. Coming out would mean crushing my mom’s dreams of procuring a grandbaby…or babies. I remember her saying she prefers twins.”

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Why don’t you just try? It might not turn out so bad,”

 

“It’s not an option,” They stop near the railings to Baekhyun can lean on it because Chanyeol’s hands are getting sweaty with this conversation.

 

“You might have a chance to gain freedom, you know? You don’t have to do what everybody wants you to do.”

 

“Funny how that’s exactly why I’m born.”

 

Baekhyun hit his arm playfully. “You could be happy.”

 

“I’m happy now. I’m happy talking to you.”

 

“Really? Does it also make you happy that I have to dress up as a woman so you could talk to me?”

 

Chanyeol lowered his head. “Yeah, sorry I dragged you into this.”

 

“Well, we’ve come a long way,” Baekhyun grabbed his hand. “I think this call for some comfort food,”

 

Chanyeol looked up at him. Again, Baekhyun’s smile never failed to make his heart skip a beat.

 

“Come on,”

 

“Why do we need comfort food?”

 

“To cheer you up!”

 

“Huh, guess I’ll have to pay for the betterment of my mood then,” Chanyeol joked.

 

“Silly.” Baekhyun turned around before reaching the concrete. “Yuan! We’re leaving! Come on!”

 

Chanyeol proceeded to the counter for the payments and stuff. “We’re logging out,” The counter lady smiled at him. “What?”

 

“You’re a lucky man,” The lady said while pressing some tabs.

 

“Why do you so?”

 

“She’s got a very genuine smile. She’s the type who lies when she has to and doesn’t when she knows it’s an important matter. She’ll choose friends and family over fame and money. She’s not there for the gold even if that’s what she told you before.”

 

Funny how Baekhyun came knocking to my door for that reason.

 

Chanyeol chuckled. “You’re a fortune teller too?”

 

“No, I graduated psychology. I think I know how other people’s minds work.”

 

“Oh really? How does my mind work then?”

 

The lady looked up at him for a second then looked back down to the computer. “You want to do a lot of things that are forbidden you to do. I see longing in your eyes. You want something but you can’t have it because of a certain reason. I tell you, that’ll kill you soon,” She chuckled. “Here’s your change and your receipt,”

 

Chanyeol nodded. “Uh…thank you.”

 

“Take care of her, okay?”

 

Chanyeol turned to where he left Baekhyun earlier. He was sitting down to level Yuan.

 

“Aish, why didn’t you tell me you have wounds? You should be more careful. This kid, really…”

 

“Sorry hyung,”

 

Baekhyun fixed Yuan’s hair. “We’re going to buy some band aids for you later. Your hair’s all messed up too. Are you trying to copy Chanyeol?”

 

Yuan laughed.

 

“Yeah…” Chanyeol breathed. “I will.”

 

--

 

Well, for the record, despite their lovely confrontation earlier, the atmosphere inside his care is better as compared to the last two events which had absolutely zero interactions between them. Baekhyun had turned the radio on is now jamming to Miley Cyrus’ Party in the USA.

 

“SO I PUT MY HANDS UP THEY’RE PLAYING MY SONG THE BUTTERFLIES FLY AWAY! NODDING MY HEAD LIKE YEAH!”

 

Baekhyun headbangs.

 

“MOVIN’ MY HIPS LIKE YEAH!”

 

A minute later after he got bored.

 

“NOW YOU’RE JUST SOMEBODY THAT I USED TO KNOW!”

 

A minute later.

 

“OH MICKY YOU’RE SO FINE YOU’RE SO FINE YOU BLOW MY MIND HEY MICKY!”

 

A minute.

 

“I GOT A POCKET FULL OF GOT POCKET FULL OF SUNSHINE! I GOT A LOVE AND I KNOW THAT IT’S ALL MINE OH! OH OH OH—“

 

A half a minute.

 

“TAKE ME AWAAAAAAAAAY! A SECRET PLAAAAAAAACE! A SWEET ESCAAAAPE! TAKE ME AWAAAAAY! TAKE ME AWAAAAAAAAAAAY! TO BETTER DAAAAYS! TAKE ME A—”

 

Stop.

 

Chanyeol stopped the engine.

 

“Hey! Why did it stop?”

 

“We’ve reached our destination.”

 

“We had a destination?”

 

Chanyeol chuckled and hopped off the car. “Comfort food comin’ right up,”

 

Baekhyun followed outside. “Hey, I’m really getting tired. Can we order a take out?”

 

“Sure,”

 

“Stay there Yuan,”

 

--

 

It always amuses Chanyeol how short and thin people can eat so much yet doesn’t even grow tall or gain weight like how the normal body metabolism works. Or maybe it’s just genetics.

 

Oh well.

 

Or maybe it’s just that the cell that won’s package came with an abnormality called fast growth, which in his case since he’s neither a doctor or a surgeon or whatever, is called rapid growing because he’s abnormal. He thinks it’s not normal because all the other kids are at least 5 inches shorter than him and he often got bullied with his tall stature. He didn’t come to love his height until middle school wherein most teens would stop growing, again it’s an abnormality in his side because he was still growing, but on the bright side, research proved that women, or people in general, prefer tall well-built men and think they’re hot.

 

It’s something that kept his self-esteem on the top for a few years now.

 

The only problem is that is hair is naturally curly.

 

It’s not so flattering to be called noodle-head everytime.

 

Especially by a certain someone.

 

“Wow, you ordered a lot,” Chanyeol said while starting the engine and while Baekhyun was staffing the take-out bags on the open space beside Yuan.

 

“It’s not a lot. We’re sharing. It’s your comfort food.”

 

“Oh it is? I didn’t realize when you were ordering and I was standing near the counter, waiting for the amount to flash on the screen.” Chanyeol started driving.

 

“Huh, well, I have better tastes.” Baekhyun defended himself with a shrug.

 

“I want ice cream,” Yuan suddenly blurted out.

 

Chanyeol looked around. “Okay, let’s look for a shop—“

 

“No, we’re not getting ice cream. Keep driving.” Baekhyun interrupted.

 

“What?”

 

“But I want ice cream!”

 

“We’re not getting the kid some ice cream?”

 

“He’s had ice cream this morning and when we were going to the skating rink. No more ice creams.” Baekhyun turned to Yuan. “No more ice creams for today, okay? You already had too much. Too much of everything can kill you. Not to mention sweets. Sweets are bad.”

 

“Sweets are bad? Too much of everything can kill you?” Chanyeol mocked. “You’re not very good with the parenting stuff, aren’t you?”

 

Baekhyun crossed his arms. “Now we’re talking about my parenting skills. And what does that have to do with anything? I’m not even his mothe—father.”

 

Chanyeol chuckled. “I think mother suits you better.”

 

Baekhyun sighed. “Tell me about your parenting skills then. Spoil him? Buy him ice creams and lollipops? Earphones?”

 

“The earphones were the cheapest one.”

 

Baekhyun snorted. “Yeah, like everything here is expensive,”

 

“So what are you suggesting? We don’t give him what he wants? He’s a kid. A kid have a lot of wants.”

 

“Exactly why we don’t. I’m trying to do him a favor. At least this way he’s not going to grow up as an arrogant spoiled bratty kid from a wealthy family. That’ll save him from crazy sterotypes in the future and people will actually respect him.”

 

“We get a lot of respects!”

 

“Yeah, because of your money and not because of who you are. You know what’s wrong with you wealthy people? You have the chance to change. You’re humans too. You can change how people view you. But you don’t! Because you accept what you are labeled to be and you just live with it because you think that’s the easiest way out of this cycle called surviving. You think when you already have a role you’re done but you’re not. You still grow, you live, everything changes, and you do too.”

 

“Baekhyun, I don’t think this conversation is getting us anywhere. Even if you tell me this, it’s too late for me. I’m Park Chanyeol. I can’t change who I am anymore. And maybe you’re right. Maybe we do live with the stereotypes people defined. But maybe that’s just how the world is. That’s how it’s supposed to be. People label us with sterotypes, they misjudge us, but maybe that’s how it should work. That’s what makes life interesting. It makes life complicated as if it wasn’t complicated enough by just living.”

 

“You’re too close-minded.”

 

Chanyeol smirked. “People always don’t agree on things. But you’re right. I’m right too. It’s just that our rights are different. Just like how I view your left arm as my right and your right as my left. Physically false but visually true. See? That’s the beauty of life. People always have different views and opinions. Just like you an me.”

 

Baekhyun leaned on the seat and sighed. “You can always change.”

 

“Yes, you can. But you don’t have to.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

“For the record, I wouldn’t want any of you to be my parents anyway.” Yuan said. “I wouldn’t want to spend my life with gays.” Yuan said.

 

…

 

“I think that’s the Yunho in him talking right there. He’s still got some Yunho after all the days of fun, huh?” Chanyeol inquired,

 

“He’ll always have some Yunho inside of him, they’re brothers!”

 

 

“Well, you could be my parents and then I get to live with you until I decide our house isn’t that impressive anymore and move out and those years living with you could pluck out the Yunho inside of me and be replaced with Baekhyuns and Chanyeols.”

 

“That’s the weirdest thing that had ever entered my ear drums.” Chanyeol whispered.

 

“Me too.”

 

“That’s not such a bad idea. I can just make a call and hire you two, beter yet, buy you to be my parents.”

 

 

“We should pretend we’re not listening,”

 

“Works all the time. Keep driving,”

 

--

 

They arrive at the hotel’s parking lot quarter to 6, which is quite ideal since it’s almost dinner time and they bought loads of foods. Yuan was happily slipping to the door when Baekhyun stopped near the vending machine outside. Chanyeol turned back to see what he was up to. He was staring at some poster.

 

“A fireworks display? Cool!” Baekhyun said.

 

“You want to see it?”

 

“Of course I do!” Baekhyun read even further. “Ah.”

 

“November 3^rd. It already passed.”

 

Baekhyun frowned. “That’s too bad. It could’ve been my first fireworks display. Oh well.” He shrugged and continued walking.

 

Chanyeol followed, eyes crooked in confusion. “Wait, you had never seen a fireworks display before?”

 

Baekhyun shook his head. “Nope. The closest I got was at the roof of our apartment back in China. It wasn’t that amazing since they looked like sparklers on the sky in the size of M&M’s.”

 

Now, Chanyeol is very confused. How can someone who knows how to have fun never saw a fireworks display before?

 

“Not even once?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“What about that time at Yunho’s party?”

 

“What time? I don’t remember watching fireworks. And I wasn’t that wasted to start imagining fireworks. So I’m sure nope.” The elevator dinged. Baekhyun and Yuan walked in first while Chanyeol is stuck outside, thinking about something deeply. “Chanyeol, aren’t you coming in?”

 

“No…” Chanyeol looked up with a light bulb on his head. He threw the other bags he was holding inside the elevator. “There’s something I have to do! You guys stay inside the room until I come back, okay?” Then he turned around to run and leave.

 

“Wait—“ Baekhyun called but the elevator door was slowly sliding close. “What just happened?”

 

--

 

“Okay, you heard what Chanyeol said, we stay here until he comes back,” Baekhyun reminds as he pushes the door close with his foot which is really hard since the bags are occupying his arms and he can’t see what’s down there. “And I know you’re going to try and convince me to buy you an ice cream with a puppy face. I’ll tell you what? That’s not going to work. I have a puppy face too. I do it better than you do.”

 

“Geez,” Yuan lazily climbs on the bed. “Fine.”

 

Baekhyun placed the bags on the table. “Alright, since Chanyeol’s not coming back anytime soon, I’m going to take a shower. Now be a good boy and stay here. If someone knocks, it’s probably the cleaning lady. I’m sure they don’t let burglars inside this hotel. You heard me?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“Okay.” Baekhyun stretched his arms. He grabbed a towel and walked inside the bathroom. “Finally! I can get out of these ruffles!”

 

When the bathroom door closed was when the knock on the door came.

 

Yuan had ignored it since he was busy with his iPad when he remembered Baekhyun telling him something earlier about the cleaning lady. So he jumped down the bed, eyes still fixed on his iPad, and opened the door. He was sure someone talked but oh well. He can see the cleaning lady come in but she was too tall so it’s quite a problem to look up. Baekhyun and Chanyeol are too tall for him too but they atleast sit to level with him. It’s kind of a problem for a kid to keep on looking up. Their neck hurts. Or atleast Yuan’s neck’s hurts.

 

Anyway, somewhere in between his hungry stomach and the opened door, it became quite interesting.

 

--

 

The cleaning lady hums while placing the last pillow on the bed. “Okay, I’m done.” She picked up the cleaning materials and placed them carefully on the cart. She did a last check on the room before pushing the cart to the door to leave. And…she pauses. “Wasn’t there a kid here?” She thought for a moment and then shrugged. “Oh well.” She opens the door to leave.

 

Five minutes later is when Baekhyun comes out of the bathroom, hair still wet. He hums his way to the walk-in closet and pulled out comfortable shirt and pants. He walks out of the closet, checks the time, walks to the bed, checks the time again and then it hit him.

 

“Wasn’t there supposed to be a kid here somewhere?” He looked around on every corner. “Holy —YUAN!”

 

He checked the bathroom, the walk-in closet, under the bed, and in the trash can but there were no signs of Yuan anywhere. Then he thought that maybe he went out to play or something. The small gap on the door just proved his guess. He immediately grabbed his jacket and the key card and put in a pair of shoes. He ran through the hallway in hope to find Yuan somewhere.

 

After a few minutes of running around the floor, he decided check the lobby.

 

“Come on, come on,” He whispered while waiting inside the elevator. When the elevator reached the ground floor, he immediately ran outside, stopped to look around, and continued running around the lobby. He finally decided to ask the reception lady about the missing kid.

 

“Uh, hi, excuse me.”

 

“Yes sir?”

 

“Have you seen a kid here somewhere?”

 

The lady smiled. “I see a lot of kids here, sir.”

 

“No, I mean…like this tall and his hair is like this and…he’s carrying an iPad.”

 

“OH! Right! I saw that kid! He went outside. I thought he was with his mother or something.” The lady said. “I’m sorry. If I had known, I would’ve stopped him. I can call some men to help you look—“

 

“No, it’s okay.” Because the last thing he wants is to tell Chanyeol Yuan is missing. “I can manage.”

 

“Are you sure—“

 

“Thanks!” Baekhyun immediately ran outside. “He’s a kid, he probably hasn’t gotten far.”

 

--

 

It’s nearly an hour of walking and Baekhyun’s feet are starting to feel numb. Not to mention he wore heels earlier and the numbness from that still hasn’t recovered. He took a quick rest on the bench, looking around in case Yuan will appear somewhere. An ice cream cart stopped across him and that’s when the realization dawned on him.

 

“Of course! Why didn’t I think of that?” He clawed his hair. “He was looking for ice cream earlier!”

 

So he walked around to check all the ice cream stalls and shops.

 

He was back at the place where he and Chanyeol bought food earlier. He stopped when he saw a familiar figure of a kid standing beside an ice cream stall.

 

“Yuan?” He called. “Yuan!”

 

Yuan turned. “Hyung?”

 

The man beside Yuan also turned.

 

“What are you do—holy —“ Baekhyun froze. “K-Kai?!”

 

Kai smiled. “Hey! What a coincidence!”

 

Baekhyun. “W-what are you doing here?”

 

“I had some business to attend to. This is amazing. You’re here too. Chanyeol and Baekhee are here too. I was asking Yuan where they are but he said he doesn’t know. Oh that’s right, what are you doing here? You were looking for Yuan?”

 

Baekhyun gulped. “I…I came a long…to…watch over Yuan. That’s right. It was a favor.” He smiled stiffly.

 

Kai seemed to have bought the lie. “Well if they’re nowhere, might as well spend the rest of the night with me. I know some great shops in here.”

 

“I don’t think that’s necessary. We should go home,”

 

“Come on. You can’t let Chanyeol and Baekhee have all the fun right?” Kai turned to Yuan. “How about it Yuan? Do you want to play?”

 

“Yeah!”

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and whispered. “This kid.”

 

“It’s settled then!”

 

--

 

“Your girlfriend’s lucky that you’re willing to pay as much as this just to make her happy,” The man incharged of the events said. “And luckily for you, we’ve got fireworks still stored in here,” He opened the boxes.

 

“Cool,” Chanyeol breathed. “It should be done in 30 minutes right?”

 

“Sure, we’ll make sure this will be memorable,”

 

“Thanks, man,”

 

“Anything for a lover boy,”

 

--

 

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”

 

If Yuan was in the appropriate age to punch someone, he would’ve already punched Baekhyun by now. They’re watching a kid’s puppet show. The only people who are allowed to laugh like that should be kids. And it’s a puppet show. A PUPPET SHOW FOR CHRIST’S SAKE.

 

“And I’m a pirate! Rawr!”

 

“HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!”

 

“Make him stop.”

 

Kai ruffled Yuan’s hair and chuckled. “Well, seems like men really don’t grow old. They only get bigger.”

 

“But he’s annoying,”

 

“Let him be. There aren’t puppet shows like this in the city anymore,”

 

Their next stop after that was the Igloo House set up in the middle of the park. Baekhyun wouldn’t have agreed since he doesn’t like the cold but the glowing lights inside the house were fascinating that was forced to come and see more of it. Lights really interest him and he can’t really explain why. He likes the fact that it travels really fast, it gives the world the glow it needs and it’s a protection from the dark.

 

They’re amazing.

 

Baekhyun seemed to be stuck on one particular dancing lights, travelling in the ice, creating magic.

 

“They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” Kai asked beside him.

 

“Yeah,”

 

“Hey, remember when we just first met? When I told you you always shine?”

 

Baekhyun smiled and blushed. “Yeah, what about it?”

 

“You’re shining now.”

 

Baekhyun chuckled. “How’s that seduction technique working for you?”

 

Kai shrugged. “I’ll tell in my bed,”

 

Baekhyun punched Kai’s arm lightly and they laugh. “If you’re trying to flirt with me, don’t. I’m not really good with relationships.”

 

“Why? Someone broke your heart?” Kai smirked.

 

“You can be a jerk sometimes,”

 

“Well, men are naturally born jerks. It’s what makes us y,” Kai leaned in. “Besides, I wasn’t flirting. I was telling the truth.”

 

Baekhyun pushed his face away. “Hm-mm. Get a life,”

 

--

 

Chanyeol walked inside the lobby, placing his keys back inside his pocket, while humming something that can greatly describe how good his mood is. When he reached their room though, and when no one answered after knocking 10 times, his mood dropped to zero. He tried to call their room phone with his phone but no one answered, making him even more worried. He went back to the lobby to check at the reception if his companions surrendered the key card.

 

“No, there wasnn’t any key card surrendered, sir.”

 

It was an immediate reaction to think they went somewhere in such short notice since nobody notified him. He immediately ran outside to his car to start looking for them.

 

He’s got 5 minutes.

 

--

 

Their next stop was the bazaar near the frozen lake. It’s quite interesting for Baekhyun, to be honest, since he’s never been to a bazaar before. Luhan doesn’t like bazaars so he never got to visit a bazaar back in China. Another thing that’s interesting is how much food Kai and Yuan can digest. They have basically bought food from almost all the food stalls they passed by.

 

He checks his watch. He really needs to go back.

 

Yet when he turned around, he saw how Kai and Yuan were smiling so wide. Kai, especially. He had never seen Kai smile like that before, normally there are always hidden agendas behind his smile but this time, he looked so carefree—like a child.

 

What he doesn’t understand is why he’s always getting reminded of Chanyeol’s smile.

 

He inhaled, He’s just confused. This happens.

 

“Hyung!” Yuan called while walking to him. “Here! Try this!”

 

Baekhyun smiled. “What’s this—“ He stopped just before he can finish his phrase when an unfamiliar yet familiar sound graced his ears. Fireworks. He turned around, eyes wide as he tries to fit in on one picture all the fireworks set out on the sky, right before him, and he was standing so close to it. His first fireworks display.

 

Chanyeol.

 

He unconsciously turned beside him, too relieved, too happy and too confused, feelings that words couldn’t explain, when he saw Chanyeol walking to him, face wet with sweat.

 

“You’re here,” Chanyeol breathed. There are many things Baekhyun wanted to say but due to certain circumstances, he couldn’t seem to open his mouth. They turned back to the fireworks in unison, both in awe at what seemed like a perfect symbolism of how beautiful love can be.

 

“So pretty…” Baekhyun whispered.

 

“I can’t see!” Yuan yelled in between them.

 

Chanyeol chuckled and decided to carry Yuan on his shoulders. “Waaa!” Yuan exclaimed. “Fireworks!”

 

--

 

Kai felt his phone vibrate. He took the call, not even bothered by the fact that there was a sudden fireworks display. “Yes? Hello? What? The representive? Later? I can’t pick him up. I’m not in town right now. Wait…I know someone who can pick him up. I’ll call you back.”

 

He glanced back to Baekhyun and stopped. Chanyeol was there. He knew just by looking at the stature.

 

And the fact that there are no signs of Baekhee anywhere made it intriguing.

 

--

 

“I don’t get it. Why do I have to pick him up?” Sehun whined over the phone.

 

“Stop complaining. You’re only going to drive him to the office. I’ll be meeting him there.” Kai answered.

 

Sehun looked around the people who arrived and then checked the picture Kai faxed him. “Wait, I think I see him.”

 

“Really? Are you sure?”

 

“Yeah, I’ll call you back.”

 

--

 

Baekhyun thought of a lot of things while staring at those sequences of lights. One led to a realization.

 

“You did this didn’t you?”

 

Chanyeol smiled and held his hand. “I can’t change how people see me,” He looked down on Baekhyun, forced to admire the brunette’s glorious side profile. “But I can change how you see me,”

 

Baekhyun squeezed his hand tighter. “You’re still a jerk,”

 

“Yeah, I can be the most romantic jerk,”

 

The warmth was undeniably peaceful.

 

--

 

Sehun immediately ran to the person who seemed to be starting to get lost. “Hi, welcome to Korea! I’m Oh Sehun and I was asked to pick you up.”

 

“Park Industries?”

 

“Yes, yes,”

 

“Okay. Nice to meet you Oh Sehun, I’m Zhang Yixing,” Yixing smiled.

 

---

 

a/n:

 

UNBETA-ED.

HAPPY LATE VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE! MWAAAHHH! :***

 

Anyway, I'm going to throw a party tomorrow so wish me luck. LMAO

 

And i hope you liked this chapter.

I really had fun write Baek and Yeol's conversations. XD

 

*gives my heart*

 

- gelie