Chanyeol doesn’t even realize he’s fallen asleep until he’s woken by a gentle pressure against his eyelids, and he groans and rolls over to escape from the weird sensation, only to be forced onto his back again. He opens his eyes then, first instinct to raise his hand to block out the blinding sunlight directly above him. It takes him a few more moments to process his surroundings, and once he comes to, the first thing he realizes is that his entire left side and back are uncomfortably damp. He squirms and sits up, and that’s when he notices Baekhyun kneeling beside him, looking at him concerned.

“Baekkie?” He questions, hiding his yawn behind the same hand he’d raised to block the sun. Baekhyun looks about as tired as Chanyeol feels, so it’s easy to come to the conclusion that his friend had woken barely moments before Chanyeol did. “Woops, guess we fell asleep,” he chuckles, getting to a stand and dusting off his jeans. He’ll definitely have to go and get changed before he heads to school for his exam, he thinks. Even though his friends and classmates are used to his messy appearance, he’s sure showing up covered in mud and damp from head to toe will turn more than a few heads in his direction.

“Your eyes,” Baekhyun mumbles, looking shy as he takes the hand Chanyeol offers to help him to a stand. “They were a little open while you slept. I didn’t mean to wake you up, I was just trying to close them.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol’s expression drops and his cheeks start to feel warm. He suddenly feels rather foolish for allowing himself to fall asleep around his crush when he’s always known about that (rather terrifying) sleep habit. “That’s embarrassing. Did it scare you? Please don’t think I’m a monster or anything it’s just that my eyes are too big and my eyelids don’t close all the way around them and—oh god my mom says it makes me look possessed, please don’t hate me—”

“Chan,” Baekhyun cuts him off, an amused sparkle in his eyes. Chanyeol realizes vaguely that this is the first time Baekhyun has used any sort of nickname on him; the first time he’s called him anything other than just Chanyeol. “I was only worried. Because your eyes could dry out from it…”

“I usually use drops before bed,” Chanyeol grumbles, and Baekhyun laughs quietly, causing Chanyeol to squirm again, but for a whole new reason this time. Desperate to change the topic, he hurries over to his guitar case and digs around in the front pocket for his ancient phone. “I should probably get going!” He says. “My exam. I have to catch the bus, it starts in—” he groans loudly when he sees the time on screen, 1:05pm. “It started two hours ago. And ended five minutes ago.”

“Ehhhh,” Baekhyun rushes over and grabs a hold of Chanyeol’s wrist, pulling it so he can look at the phone screen properly. “Did we really sleep that long?”

“I guess so,” A rock seems to drop in Chanyeol’s stomach but he swallows thickly, trying to dispel the feeling of discomfort taking over him. There’s nothing he can do now, so he forces a smile onto his face and catches Baekhyun’s hand in his. “This means my afternoon is free.”

 Baekhyun stares down at their entwined hands for a few moments in silence, before releasing a shaky breath and struggling out of Chanyeol’s grip.

“Aren’t you going to fail?” He asks nervously. “You should go and see if they’ll let you take it this afternoon instead. Why aren’t you worried?? I shouldn’t have fallen asleep, I’m so stupid,”

“Baekkie, calm down,” Chanyeol plops down on the grass where he’s standing and pulls Baekhyun down with him. He grins at his friend until the nerves seem to make way for amusement, and Baekhyun whines, reaching over to give his shoulder a shove. “I won’t fail! I can’t fail,” he says, and then leans over to his case, pulling his guitar out and settling it in his lap. He strums a few chords experimentally, and doesn’t fail to notice how Baekhyun gulps thickly as he watches Chanyeol’s every move. “I’m the best songwriter in the world. Missing one exam won’t change that.”

“You’re so cocky,” Baekhyun protests, but Chanyeol merely smiles at him. He’s been told often before that his music is capable of making anyone fall in love with him if he tried, and he hopes that will prove true one day, when he finds the courage to show his skills to Baekhyun by writing him a song of his own.

-

They spend so much time down at the river that day that it’s almost dark by the time they start to pack up and get ready to leave. It’s quite chilly; Baekhyun seems to retreat deeper inside his parka, so Chanyeol takes off his own jacket and wraps it around Baekhyun’s shoulders, holding it closed at the front until he stops struggling in protest.

“You’ll be cold too, Chan,” he says, a slight hint of exasperation in his voice, but Chanyeol shakes his head, beaming wide.

“I have more natural protection than you, Baekkie,” he pats his stomach as proof and Baekhyun rolls his eyes, but doesn’t fight it any further, just holds the jacket tighter around himself and buries his face into the collar. He looks kind of like a lumpy turtle now, and Chanyeol can’t help but find the sight incredibly endearing.

They walk slower than usual on their way back to the village, and it kind of hits Chanyeol then how hungry he is. They hadn’t brought any food along to the river, thinking they’d be leaving a lot sooner, so Chanyeol hasn’t eaten anything since breakfast and he has no idea when the last time Baekhyun ate was. He looks down at his friend and sees his face contorted in discomfort, and so he grins, grabs hold of Baekhyun’s wrist and sets off on a faster pace, dragging Baekhyun in the direction of his house.

“You must be hungry, Baekkie, so I’m going to feed you before I send you home. My mom makes the best japchae and there’s always so much extra, so—”

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun says weakly, but Chanyeol only tightens his grip and pulls him faster, not leaving any room for argument. He wants Baekhyun to learn to feel comfortable coming to his house—how else are they supposed to spend time together over the winter, once the weather gets too cold to spend much time outside?  

His mother is already in the kitchen when he bursts into the entry way, still half dragging Baekhyun, who is struggling to kick off his shoes at the doorway. She gives them a weird look as Chanyeol waves at her, unable to contain his excitement that he’s finally managed to get Baekhyun inside.

“Mom! I brought Baekhyun for dinner. Is that OK?” He practically yells at her, making both her and Baekhyun jump.

“I guess I don’t have a choice, now,” she says jokingly, ushering them into the kitchen and then dragging a stool over to the table for them all to sit. “Hey Baekhyun! It’s nice to finally meet you. Chanyeol talks about you a lot, doesn’t shut up about you, actually…”

“Mooooooom,” Chanyeol whines. Baekhyun shrinks behind him, fingers clutching weakly at the back of his shirt. Chanyeol leads him over to the table, and half forces him into one of the chairs while he takes the stool for himself, scooting as close to Baekhyun as he can without completely taking over his personal space. “Just feed us, will you. We haven’t eaten since morning!”

“You didn’t eat at school?” Chanyeol’s mother wonders briefly as she starts scooping generous helpings of noodles into three separate plates. Chanyeol nudges Baekhyun to keep him quiet about the missed exam, but the action was pointless—Baekhyun looks very incapable of forming any kind of sound at the moment, let alone coherent words.

“Baekkie,” he nudges his shoulder gently. “Baekkie, are you okay?”

Baekhyun gulps and gives a tiny jerk of his head, which Chanyeol can’t actually tell if it’s a nod or not. He gets up to help his mother carry the plates and utensils over to the table, lets his fingers brush against Baekhyun’s as he hands him a pair of chopsticks.  

Things are more than a little awkward as they eat, Chanyeol and his mother filling the silence with small talk about Chanyeol’s school and village gossip, while Baekhyun pokes and prods at his food with his chopsticks, eating as slow as humanely possible. He’s glad his mother at least has tact—immediately understanding his silent pleas not to drag Baekhyun into any kind of conversation to make this even worse.

Eventually, though, Baekhyun seems to visibly relax, and once they’ve all cleared their plates, he’s even leaning against Chanyeol slightly, looking very sated and well-fed. Chanyeol suddenly becomes very aware of himself, and his eyes drop to the table, where Baekhyun’s right hand is still curled elegantly around his chopsticks.

He really does have pretty fingers, Chanyeol thinks. If only he could come up with some excuse to touch them, because all the other times he has, he never really appreciated—

“So, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol’s mother startles him out of his line of thought and he’s very grateful for that. He lowers his hand which he’d been unconsciously lifting and stuffs it in his pocket, hoping to avoid that happening again. “Chanyeol tells me you know sign language,”

Baekhyun nods mutely and then looks down to hide his face. Chanyeol rocks against him and then beams at his mother, nodding too. “Yeah he does! He’s so good at it too. He’s going to teach me, you know?”

“Is he?” His mother looks skeptically amused, and Chanyeol just continues to grin, finally letting his hand loose so he can tug on Baekhyun’s sleeve in excitement.

“Yeah! He already taught me one thing. He won’t tell me what it means, but, it seems to cheer him up when he’s sad,” he repeats the sign to his mother, only to have Baekhyun grab his wrist out of nowhere and push it back down towards his lap. He looks horrified, and Chanyeol tilts his head curiously at him as his mother looks back and forth between them, for some reason, stunned.

“You have absolutely no idea what that means?” She asks, and Chanyeol shrugs. “You’ve never tried to look it up?”

“Baekkie doesn’t want me to,” he nudges Baekhyun again, who completely recoils from his touch, and then gets up from his chair. His face is so red Chanyeol’s sure it would burn at the touch, and he’s starting determinedly at the floor, refusing to meet anyone’s gaze.

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol’s mother begins, making Baekhyun flinch. He bows low to her and then gives Chanyeol a weird look before dashing from the room. Chanyeol gets up immediately to follow, but his mother grabs hold of his wrist and forces him to turn to her. “Do you like him?” She asks seriously, voice low. They can hear Baekhyun thumping around in the entryway, trying to get his shoes on as fast as possible.

Chanyeol opens his mouth and closes it again, not exactly sure how to answer. He hasn’t even come out to his mother, and her serious expression isn’t giving anything away as to how she’d react if she found out her only son is gay.

She seems to read his mind, though, and she gives his hand a squeeze and offers him a careful smile. “Don’t think I don’t know about your fling with Kyungsoo last year,” she whispers. “Do you like Baekhyun or no?”

“I do,” he replies, just as quietly. He wants to pull his mother into a hug to show just how grateful he is that she accepts him, but the front door slams shut and he realizes he’s out of time.

“Well, why are you still standing here? Go be a gentleman and walk him home.”

Chanyeol doesn’t need telling twice. He bolts through the door, ignoring his running shoes in lieu of his house slippers, much easier and faster to put on. Baekhyun hasn’t gotten very far, and Chanyeol’s suddenly very grateful for his height—his long legs make it ten times easier to catch up.

“Oi,” he calls, and Baekhyun turns to look at him, eyes wet with tears and as wide as saucers. Something churns in Chanyeol’s stomach, but he ignores it as he grabs hold of Baekhyun’s wrist and starts to lead the way down the gravel road towards Baekhyun’s house. “Don’t think you can just walk out like that. You’re still wearing my jacket, you know? Silly Baek.”

Baekhyun doesn’t say anything at that, so they walk along in silence, Chanyeol wishing he had the courage to ease his grip from Baekhyun’s wrist and take his hand, instead. Maybe it’s too soon for that, though. But he doesn’t mind—when he finally looks down towards Baekhyun’s face and sees the way his lips are curled up ever so slightly, sees the faint blush covering his cheeks, he thinks this is fine for now.

More than anything, he wants to be the one to make Baekhyun happy. 

-

holy crap that kind of snuck up on me but its been almost a month o_o I was busy focusing on my challenge fic for serenade

sorry guys T__T 

<3

this one is for nov

love that girl SHES CRAZY (dont deny it, you)