Teddy bears become a tradition for the both of them.

Chanyeol buys a teddy bear for Baekhyun when Baekhyun's second birthday rolls around, and Baekhyun accepts it happily, his small arms grasping the soft toy tightly. The birthday celebration is short and concise, and Chanyeol doesn't stay long because he has extended band practice over at his friends' house.

Baekhyun looks disappointed when Chanyeol makes his way to leave the house, guitar slung over his back, but then again Chanyeol has never stayed longer than half an hour at Baekhyun's house lately. 

"Channie-hyung going out again?" Chanyeol sees the same crushed look on Baekhyun's face again, the same look he has seen for countless of times recently.

"Mmm, I'm already late for band practice." Chanyeol scoops Baekhyun into his arms. "I'm sorry, Baek."

Baekhyun's crushed look doesn't falter, even after Chanyeol kisses him on the forehead and apologises again.

"I'm sorry I'm late!" Chanyeol rushes in to his friend's house, his hair tousled from running.

"What the hell? You are almost an hour late." Jinki, the drummer (and also the owner of the house) asks lazily, sprawled out on the couch. "Where have you been?"

Chanyeol places his guitar down on Jinki's expensive tiled floor and carefully sits down on a cream coloured couch. To be honest, Chanyeol can never feel completely at ease when he is at Jinki's house. Or at any band member's house, actually. Jinki, Jonghyun and Kibum are all people from the high end of society, and Chanyeol knows better than to offend any of them.

"Sorry, I was at Baekhyun's birthday celebration." Chanyeol half-pants, still tired from all the running. 

"Who's Baekhyun?" Kibum, their keyboardist with crazy fashion sense and a wide network of (rich) friends, pipes up, eyes gleaming. "Is he from our school? Why haven't I heard of him?"

"Oh," Chanyeol begins, realising that none of his friends knew of Baekhyun's existence apart from Kris. "He's not from our school."

The other three in the room sport suspicious expressions on their faces, and Chanyeol can almost feel the edges of his body melting from their stares. Even though they have never explicitly said it out loud, Chanyeol knows that they, especially Kibum, are particular about the people they associate with.

And Baekhyun, a two year old boy, will never be accepted by the three of them as an "appropriate person to associate with".

Kibum narrows his eyes thoughtfully. "So he's from the other neighbourhood high school? Majima High?" Then he sends an intimidating look in Chanyeol's direction. "

Chanyeol gulps and shakes his head. "No, he's not from Majima High. He's... not really our age."

Kibum's eyes turn into narrower slits, and Chanyeol knows he's already being judged. "Not our age? You mean, like, he's already in university?"

Chanyeol goes through a brief inner debate about whether he should reveal the truth to them, but in the end he says, "Baekhyun's only two years old."

The stares from the other three of them range from incredulous (Jonghyun) to confused (Jinki) and mildy disgusted (Kibum).

"You were late because of a two year old boy?" Kibum's disbelieving voice hits Chanyeol hard. "What business do you have with a baby?"

Chanyeol turns defensive. "He's my neighbour's son. His parents are friends with mine, and they're practically like my second set of parents..." Chanyeol breaks off weakly, because from the expressions on their faces he knows that Baekhyun will never be accepted by the three of them.

"Ok then." Kibum shrugs,ignores Chanyeol's ealier confession completely, and reaches for the music scores. "So, are we starting band practice or what?"

As the first term examinations approach, Chanyeol barely gets any playtime with Baekhyun or even time for band practice with the others. He has about three stacks of notes to go through and he hasn't had enough practice with math and he is already contemplating if he should resort to coffee and pulling an all-nighter when suddenly he hears his door creak open.

Chanyeol jerks in surprise at the sudden creaking noise, and he breathes out a sigh as he realises that it's just his mum behind the door.

"Aren't you going to sleep yet?" His mum blearily asks in her bright pink pyjamas (the ones Chanyeol told her she looks childish in, but she still refuses to throw it away).

Chanyeol looks at the clock. It's 12am but he has barely finished two chapters of History, and he has about one and a half more chapters to go. "No, I haven't finished everything yet."

His mum sighs. "Don't push yourself, alright? Don't study last minute next time, staying up is not good for your health... Do you need me to get you anything? Midnight snacks?" 

Chanyeol shakes his head at his mum's offer. "Go to sleep, mum. I'm fine." He reassures. "I just need to finish this last bit, then I'll sleep."

Chanyeol's mum blinks a few more times, before she eventually gives in. "Ok. don't stretch yourself too much, alright?" Chanyeol nods. "Good night, darling."

The door softly clicks shut and Chanyeol goes back to scribbling notes furiously, before finally collapsing on bed at 12.45am out of exhaustion.

The next night (or early morning), Chanyeol finds a plate of chocolate biscuits and a warm cup of green tea at his table, with a small note scribbled by his mother.

Fighting for your exams! I know our Yeollie can do it~ :) 

Chanyeol smiles as he nibbles on the biscuit and sips on the green tea, being extra careful not to drop any crumbs on the floor.

Chanyeol slowly finds himself growing distant from the other band members.

Jonghyun and Jinki would often talk about the latest gaming console that usually costs one years' worth of Chanyeol's pocket money, while Kibum would often bring them to expensive places to "have fun", as he says. Thus, Chanyeol finds himself sitting out for many activities the three did, since his pocket money is barely enough to buy one glass of sparkling water at Kibum's favourite restaurants.

But what Chanyeol really hates is when the three of them makes fun of his "obsession" with Baekhyun.

"I have to reach home before three today." Chanyeol says as he adjusts one of his guitar strings.

"That early?" Jinki talks through his drum rhythm, and flinches when he gets one particlar sequence wrong again. "What for?"

"I promised Baekhyun I would visit today." Chanyeol states rather bluntly, and it comes as no surprise to Chanyeol when Kibum narrows his eyes at him and Jonghyun gives him a judging stare.

"Why does it have to be so early?" Kibum doesn't object to it openly, but the disapproving tone in his voice is crystal clear. Chanyeol averts his eyes from everyone as he tunes his guitar. 

"His nap starts at 3pm..." Chanyeol doesn't manage to finish his sentence when he sees Kibum roll his eyes in his peripheral vision.

"Ok, whatever." Kibum drawls. "You can go see that little baby of yours before he takes his little baby nap at 3pm."

He thinks he hears a tiny snort from Jinki and a concealed scoff from Jonghyun, but he can't really be sure.

At 2.00pm sharp, he walks out of their practice room curtly with a brief nod as a goodbye.

"Channie-hyung!" Baekhyun is already waiting at the doorstep, arms outstretched for Chanyeol, with a smiling Auntie Byun standing behind him.

Chanyeol feels the happiest he has been in a long time when he sees the sight, and he sprints over to Baekhyun's doorsteps immediately. He scoops Baekhyun up easily into his arms, and he asks, "Baek missed me?"

Chanyeol's heart do that thump-thump-thump thing again when Baekhyun nuzzles into his shoulder and wraps his arms around Chanyeol's neck. 

And his heartbeat quickens again as Baekhuyn answers "I miss Channie-hyung..." and wraps his arms more tightly around his neck.

"You have been really busy lately, Chanyeol." 

Auntie Byun sets out a cup of tea for Chanyeol and another one for herself, before pulling out a chair and sitting down. Baekhyun has already been tucked into bed and he is sleeping soundly in his cot, his puffy cheeks flushed and hands curled into tight fists.

Chanyeol nods and takes a sip of his tea, letting the warmth soothe his body. He has never felt this relaxed in ages.

Auntie Byun's home just has this effect on him. Even though their houses have the same layout, her house is more... cosy, and quiet, he supposes. Or maybe it is the colours, Chanyeol muses, because almost eveything in Baekhyun's house is either pastel coloured or neutral coloured, unlike the somewhat mismatched bright furniture in his own house (no thanks to his mum, who has no aesthetic sense). Everything matches well in Auntie Byun's house. From the light purple walls, white curtains, to the stylish, sleek baby cot, nothing seems out of place. From the difference in appearance in their homes, Auntie Byun seems to be more particular about aesthetic beauty than his own mum.

Chanyeol likes his own home too, of course. Even if those bright red armchairs his mum bought on a sale doesn't match with their cream leather sofa. Or even if their vintage dining table doesn't match well with their modern sliding doors. Or the fact that his dad painted their bedroom doors completely different colours (purple, orange and blue). Chanyeol doesn't mind a single bit, because his quirky mum is always there to welcome him home, and his (obnoxiously loud) dad is always there to make his day better when he laughs too hard at a joke on TV. 

But he decides maybe he likes Auntie Byun's home just a little bit better, because he always feels the happiest when he is around Baekhyun.

it wasn't going to be this short... i swear

but then i was typing and typing and it seemed like a good place to end

this is only 1.6k i'm so sorry T___T

sorry for any grammar errors and all those i am half dead and i am lazy to proofread

oh and i swear i have nothing against shinee

in fact key is like my all time ultimate bias (alongside baek) and omg look at that sassy diva i love him so much

i swear i love shinee pls dont hate on me i just needed a lil bit of villians for the story and shinee is like the only band i really know lol

and i love all of you *hearteus*