I can’t wait to fall in love with you,
You can’t wait to fall in love with me.
This just can’t be summer love, you’ll see,
This just can’t be summer love.

“So … how’d it go?”

Baekhyun glanced up from his morning coffee, smiling as he saw Chanyeol perched on the railing. “How long have you been there?”

“I just arrived,” the summer spirit said with a grin, “I was doing my morning rounds and then I realized I hadn’t asked you how it went!”

“How what went?”

“The talk. With Tao?”

“Oh.” Baekhyun set his coffee down, looking slightly confused. “It went well, it was just a little weird because I wasn’t as upset as I thought I’d be. So maybe … maybe I wasn’t in love with him after all. Maybe it was just a silly little crush.”

Hope seized in Chanyeol’s chest. “You think so?”

“I don’t know.” Baekhyun sighed heavily, glancing down at the book in his lap. Chanyeol couldn’t see the cover. “I guess I was just kidding myself; I don’t know what love is.”

“Would you like me to tell you?”

Baekhyun blinked at the spirit. “Tell me?”

“What love is.”

“… How?”

“Well, it’s actually quite simple,” Chanyeol said matter-of-factly, moving so he was sitting on the railing with his legs over the edge, “But some people make it really complicated. Some base it all on feeling, and while feeling has a lot to do with love, it’s not everything. Love is …” he trailed off, glancing at Baekhyun and catching the brunet’s gaze. “Love is when you’ve seen someone at their absolute worst, you’ve seen their flaws and their mess-ups and their bad days, and yet you still want to be with them.”

Baekhyun was staring at him, his eyes wide, and Chanyeol smiled.

“Love is when you accept someone’s flaws and love them anyway.”

For a few moments, neither of them moved. Chanyeol thought he could see stars in Baekhyun’s eyes if he looked close enough. They were there, twinkling just on the edge, then suddenly Baekhyun looked away and cleared his throat. 

“Oh,” the brunet said, hiding his face behind his coffee cup. “That—that makes a lot of sense.”

Chanyeol resisted the urge to sigh and leaned back, kicking his feet a little. “Yep,” he said, popping the ‘p’ at the end. “That’s what my mother always told me, and I always believed her. She was a very smart woman.”

Baekhyun was staring at him again, and Chanyeol blinked.

“What?”

“You’re glowing.”

“… What?”

“You’re glowing.” Baekhyun gestured at him and Chanyeol looked down. Oh. He was glowing, with a soft, warm light. That wasn’t new.

“Yeah, I do that sometimes.”

“You glow sometimes?”

“Yeah.” Chanyeol smiled. “I used to get really freaked out by it, but Jack—that is, Jack Frost. Remember him? The winter spirit?”

Baekhyun nodded.

“Well, yeah, he told me that I do it, um … I do it when I’m talking or thinking about someone I love a lot.”

“Like your mother?” Baekhyun asked.

“Yes.” Chanyeol bit down on his lower lip, trying desperately not to add and you. Silence stretched between them, strangely awkward, and Chanyeol jumped down off the railing. “Do you have to work today?”

“Oh, yeah. In an hour.”

“Then I will see you there.” 

“Why?” Baekhyun asked, his eyes wide. Chanyeol almost thought he saw panic in them. “Where are you going?”

“It needs to rain later,” Chanyeol explained, “So I’m going to stir up a bit of a light shower. Make sure to take an umbrella with you!”

As promised, it was raining when Chanyeol slipped into the back of the Sunny Day Sweets bakery, laughing and shaking water from his hair. Jongdae was in the back, humming softly to himself. He smiled as Chanyeol came in.

“Hey, Chanyeol.”

“Jongdae!” Chanyeol moved to embrace the smaller man, smiling wide. “How’re you?”

“I’m good.”

“Good. Where’s Joonmyun?”

A light flush blossomed on Jongdae’s cheeks. “What do you mean?”

“Oh, don’t even. I noticed you two last night, Jongdae. You looked pretty nice sitting next to each other.”

Jongdae’s blush deepened. “We were just sitting.”

“You think he’s cute.”

“Shut up.”

“You dooo!”

“Shut up, Chanyeol!”

Baekhyun peeked into the back, looking confused. “What’s all the commotion?” He saw Chanyeol and grinned. “Hey!”

“Hey, Baekhyun!” Chanyeol laughed. “Sorry about that, I was just teasing Jongdae.”

“About?”

“Nothing!” Jongdae said quickly.

“About Joonmyun.”

Baekhyun blinked. “Joonmyun?”

“Yeah. Jongdae has a crush on him.”

Jongdae buried his face in his hands, looking extremely embarrassed.

“Awww, Jongdae,” Baekhyun moved over to put an arm around the taller man’s shoulders, “That’s so cute! And Joonmyun really seemed to like you.”

Jongdae looked up. “Really?”

“Yeah. I mean, Joonmyun is nice by default, but he was being extra nice to you. He even asked you to sit by him.”

“It’s true love!” Chanyeol exclaimed, pretending to swoon.

Baekhyun whacked him on the shoulder. “Oh, stop teasing the poor guy.”

Jongdae’s face was beet red, but there was hope in his eyes. 

“Ah, I have to get back to the front,” Baekhyun said, pulling away. “Jongdae, I’m going to take my lunch break in about thirty minutes, would you mind watching the register for me when I do?”

“Not at all.”

“Awesome.” Baekhyun smiled, giving Chanyeol an odd look before he left, and Chanyeol blinked in surprise.

“What was that?” Jongdae wondered.

“What?”

“That look Baekhyun just gave you.”

“I … don’t know.”

Jongdae stared at him a moment longer. “You know, you’re kind of obvious.”

“About?”

“About Baekhyun.”

Chanyeol sighed. He didn’t have it in him to deny it. “Yeah,” he said sadly, staring at the door Baekhyun had left through. “I know.”

It was kind of painful watching Baekhyun sometimes.

Chanyeol may have lived almost two hundred years, but that didn’t mean he was patient in any way. He was the exact opposite. Patience was lost on him. He didn’t get why Baekhyun didn’t realize how he felt, why Baekhyun didn’t realize that Tao had just been a silly teenager crush, why Baekhyun didn’t look at him. 

And Chanyeol knew it was selfish. It was selfish of him to want Baekhyun to hurry up, as if it was a guarantee that the boy would return his feelings. And Chanyeol’s gut twisted when he realized that it wasn’t.

It wasn’t a guarantee. 

Summer could pass, Baekhyun could never love him back, and Chanyeol could leave feeling like he’d lost a part of himself in that small town. 

Normally, Chanyeol would refuse to be so pessimistic, but he couldn’t deny that it was an option. He couldn’t read Baekhyun’s thoughts. He couldn’t force Baekhyun to love him. All he do was hope.

And that terrified him.

So when Baekhyun had given him that look—that unidentifiable glance, as if something was wrong, as if Baekhyun knew something Chanyeol didn’t—the summer spirit couldn’t help but worry. He worried about it the rest of that day and well into the night. He worried as he sat in his usual tree overlooking Baekhyun’s window. He worried as he saw Baekhyun pace back and forth in his room, sighing and running his fingers through his hair.

Does he know? Chanyeol wondered, fear clenching at him. Is he trying to figure out how to let me down gently? Does he not want to be my friend anymore?

When Baekhyun finally went to bed, Chanyeol called a breeze to his side and used it to propel himself into the air. The thoughts swirling in his head were too much; he needed someone to talk to.

Someone who understood.

Baekhyun woke to the sound of his alarm.

The noise surprised him a little, making him jolt out of bed and stand there in bewilderment. It was Saturday; he didn’t usually set his alarm on Saturdays because he usually didn’t have to work on the weekend. Did he have to work today?

Then Baekhyun remembered.

Right. Today’s the day.

He’d been fretting over it since Chanyeol had explained love to him the day before. The way Chanyeol had glowed, the look in his eyes as he stared at Baekhyun—it was unmistakable. 

Chanyeol was in love with him.

And Baekhyun didn’t know what to do about it, so he’d spent all night trying to come up with a solution, trying to figure out how to go about it in a way that didn’t make him seem superficial.

In the end, though, he’d decided that confronting Chanyeol would be the best thing.

Baekhyun got ready for the day, taking a shower and making himself a nice breakfast. Then he got himself a cup of coffee, went out on the front porch, settled in his chair with his book, and waited.

But Chanyeol never showed.

That was weird. Chanyeol always showed up in the mornings to greet him. Baekhyun glanced at his watch with a frown. It wasn’t particularly early, just ten o’ clock. He usually got up a little later on Saturdays, but that shouldn’t have been a problem, right? Chanyeol would just drop by whenever he saw Baekhyun sitting out on his porch.

Desperate to ignore the anxiety bubbling in his gut, Baekhyun decided to focus on his coffee and his book. Maybe by the time he was done, Chanyeol would get there. Or the summer spirit could interrupt him as he had the day before and that would be just fine with Baekhyun.

Hours passed.

Chanyeol didn’t make an appearance. In fact, the air seemed strangely still, as if all the life had gone out of it, and panic welled up in Baekhyun’s chest. Had something happened to Chanyeol? Had he left?

Unable to calm himself down, Baekhyun ran back inside his house and grabbed his phone, quickly dialing Jongdae’s number.

Thankfully, Jongdae didn’t waste any time answering. He picked up after the second ring. “Hello?”

“Jongdae. Hey, it’s Baekhyun. Have you seen Chanyeol today?”

“Today? Uh, no. Not that I can recall. Why?”

“I just … I can’t find him.”

“Find him?”

“Yeah. He usually comes by my house every morning to say hello, but today he didn’t.”

“Maybe he’s just busy? He is the spirit of summer, you know.”

“Yeah, I know, but—” but he always makes an exception for me. Baekhyun wanted to say it, wanted to make Jongdae understand why this was abnormal, but maybe Jongdae already knew. Maybe everyone had already noticed except him. Maybe Baekhyun was selfish for thinking that Chanyeol should give him special treatment.

“I’m sure everything’s fine, Baekhyun,” Jongdae said. “Anyway, I have to go. I’m … meeting someone in a few minutes.”

He hung up without waiting for an answer and Baekhyun sank onto his couch, his shoulders slumped. The fear that Chanyeol had just left without saying anything ate him up inside. Had he offended the spirit in some way? Had he hurt him? Baekhyun chewed at the tip of his fingernail and fretted, hoping—praying—that Chanyeol would return.

Wanting a distraction, Baekhyun spent the majority of the day in his garden, tending to his plants. But his heart wasn’t in the work as it normally was. Baekhyun felt heavy and lethargic, weighed down with the knowledge that Chanyeol’s absence was most likely his fault. What if Chanyeol knew that Baekhyun had found out about his feelings? What if he misunderstood and thought Baekhyun didn’t feel the same way?

Baekhyun hoped that wasn’t the case.

Engrossed in his thoughts, Baekhyun knocked over his watering can by accident and that was it. Something inside of him broke, the dam that had been holding back all his fears and insecurities, and Baekhyun’s vision blurred. 

Some part of him tried its best to be optimistic, to think that Jongdae was right and Chanyeol just had spirit stuff he needed to do, but with the sun setting, Baekhyun felt like he couldn’t afford to be that positive. A day had passed, an entire day, and Baekhyun had not seen Chanyeol once. That wasn’t normal. That wasn’t like the summer spirit with his bright, warm eyes and his golden curls and his sunny disposition.

Baekhyun was crying before he really registered it. His tears disappeared in the soil as he sat there on his knees, sobbing in the twilight. Overhead, the moon came out, but Baekhyun didn’t move. He couldn’t find it in himself to.

“Chanyeol,” he said, his voice soft. The wind picked up around him, cold and disconcerting, and Baekhyun hated the chill that swept over his skin. He hoped the summer spirit could hear him. “Chanyeol, where are you? Please don’t leave me. Please.”

The air around him stilled. 

Baekhyun bowed his head, hating the idea of waking up in a world where he didn’t get to see Chanyeol’s smile. It was an awful prospect. Chanyeol had become like a sun to him, his personal sun. He couldn’t lose that. Not now. Not because of a stupid misunderstanding.

“Baekhyun.”

With a gasp, Baekhyun looked up, his eyes widening as he saw Chanyeol there. The summer spirit was floating a little off the ground, his golden hair backed by the moonlight. Baekhyun could’ve sworn in that instant that he was an angel.

“Chanyeol,” he breathed, his voice cracking.

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said again, alighting down beside him and pulling Baekhyun into his arms, “What’s wrong?”

Baekhyun couldn’t answer for a moment, too caught up in Chanyeol’s warmth and Chanyeol’s life and Chanyeol’s everything. The summer spirit hadn’t left. He was there, right there, and Baekhyun held onto him like he was a lifeline.

“I thought you’d left,” Baekhyun managed after he’d calmed down. “I thought you’d misunderstood me and left.”

“No, Baekhyun, I just … I was just meeting with Jack because we hadn’t spoken since I’d arrived here. I didn’t mean to be away for so long, but Jack likes to linger far, far up north in the winter. It took a while to get there.”

“Oh.” Baekhyun felt stupid. Clingy and overemotional and stupid. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“… I didn’t want to bother you.”

“You wouldn’t have.” Baekhyun pulled back a little to look up at him. There were still tears on his face, but they had stilled now. “You’ve never been a bother. In fact, I … I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Baekhyun …”

“Chanyeol, this might come as a shock but I—I know how you feel about me.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened. Baekhyun could see the fear in his eyes and he quickly took the summer spirit’s hand, wanting to make himself clear.

“Look, this might sound kind of dumb and superficial, considering everything that’s happened, and it might not be the best of confessions but, well, I … I know how you feel, and I want you to know that I feel the same. Or close to it.”

“Close to it?” Chanyeol repeated, looking shocked.

“Yes. I realized yesterday, when you told me what love really was, that I had been stupid and naïve. I’d never experienced love before, and it had been silly for me to think I had. Even now, I don’t really know what love feels like, but I think I might be very close to figuring it out … with you.”

There were tears in Chanyeol’s eyes now. “Baekhyun,” he murmured, breathing the name like it was sacred. “Are … are you serious? You’re not teasing me?”

“No, of course not.” Baekhyun reached up, cupping Chanyeol’s chin in his hand. “Of course not.”

Happiness lit up Chanyeol’s face like the sun, spreading a smile across his lips that seemed to radiate a warmth all its own. Then he was standing and pulling Baekhyun with him, shouting for joy as he spun the shorter boy around in circles. Baekhyun laughed with him, surprised and exhilarated and giddy from the affection rising up in his chest, drowning him in emotion.

When Chanyeol finally put him down, Baekhyun could’ve sworn there were tears in his eyes. “Baekhyun, can I … can I kiss you?”

Baekhyun smiled. “Of course you can.”

Chanyeol’s lips were warm and soft, exactly as Baekhyun had expected them to be. The kiss was tentative at first, filled with all of Chanyeol’s nervousness and insecurity, but when Baekhyun kissed him back Chanyeol’s confidence grew. He pulled Baekhyun flush against him, deepening the contact. Baekhyun found himself breathless very quickly. Chanyeol’s fingers in his hair, on his waist, warm and comforting against his skin, were a little much for him to handle.

He pulled back when he realized he needed to take a breath, panting a little as Chanyeol held him close.

“I think I love you,” Chanyeol murmured.

Baekhyun smiled. “I think I love you, too.”



 

a/n: scREAMS I'm sorry this took so long to update!
I hope you guys enjoyed this! I'm glad to have it out of the way, but I will miss it
as I miss all of my stories.

Also, please don't ask for a sequel.