Baekhyun knew everybody in the tiny apartment building he lived in. On his floor, there was Oh Sehun, the quiet teenager that rarely talked to anybody, and Do Kyungsoo, the one that owns a bakery down the block. Down a floor were the Kim brothers that occupied the whole floor for themselves. Four Chinese people lived on the floor below and below them were the elderly neighbors that Baekhyun occasionally visited. All in all, Baekhyun knew every single one of them.

Except for one.  

Baekhyun lived a daily routine. At 7AM, Sehun would already be at school and Kyungsoo would be at his bakery. The Kim brothers would probably be doing their own things – it was always something different everyday – while Baekhyun’s Chinese neighbors would be at work. Some of the elderly on the floors below would probably be taking a morning stroll or be watching television. Baekhyun would be heading to work right now too but when he opened the door that morning, the door didn’t swing open completely.

The door created an opening that Baekhyun could barely get his small frame to slip past. The only things he saw on the other side of the door were boxes. Tons and tons of boxes. He was beyond done with the day already (he had woken up late and ran out of toothpaste and there was only one piece of toast left which wasn’t enough to fill his stomach) and it was, sadly, only the morning. These boxes weren’t helping with his mood.

Baekhyun let out an annoyed breath that lifted his bangs from his face. Whoever did this to his apartment was seriously asking for trouble. Baekhyun figured it was one of the Kim brothers (Jongdae was his name) that just couldn’t get his hands off of trouble. 

Baekhyun picked his way through the boxes and glanced at the clock hanging in the hallway. Ten minutes until his shift would start. He was going to have to run to his car.

Baekhyun briskly walked around the corner, not taking his eyes off the hallway clock just in case five minutes would fly by if he did. He was taken aback when he crashed into another person. Nobody would be up on this floor at the moment and he knew that it couldn’t be the deliveryman (that would be an 8AM thing and it was definitely not 8AM). Maybe it was Kim Joonmyeon apologizing for his brother’s mess of boxes, Baekhyun figured.

What Baekhyun didn’t expect was a tall, shorthaired, and cute male with a startled look on his face. Joonmyeon was none of the above (well, the shorthaired part and maybe the cute part but definitely not the tall part). Baekhyun stood there, frozen in shock at the newcomer. 

“Oh, I’m sorry!” The deep voice that burst out of the male had Baekhyun’s stomach doing flip-flops. 

It had to be the toast this morning. It couldn’t be anything else. He convinced himself.

“It’s fine,” Baekhyun found himself saying.

“You live on this floor, right? I’m sorry about the boxes. I just moved here and I haven’t exactly cleaned up.”

Well, that solved the problem about the boxes. Baekhyun apologized silently for blaming Jongdae in the first place. 

“It’s fine,” he repeated. 

“Oh yeah, I’m Park Chanyeol. Apartment 402,” the male stuck out a hand.

Baekhyun stared at it blankly. Chanyeol had long, calloused fingers and large palms that enveloped Baekhyun’s smaller ones when they shook hands. When he glanced up, there was a sheepish smile planted on Chanyeol’s face, his pink lips parted to reveal a perfect white set of teeth. Baekhyun felt his stomach continuously turning and cursed the damn toast he ate that morning. Which reminds him-

“I’m late for work,” Baekhyun blurted out.

Chanyeol let out a loud laugh and Baekhyun can’t help but feel weird all over. He didn’t like how Chanyeol’s face scrunched up adorably or how he cutely shook his head or how a small, inconspicuous dimple popped out because Baekhyun wasn’t supposed to feel this way. Not when he just met him.

“Hi, late for work,” Chanyeol answered childishly. 

“I’m Byun Baekhyun. Apartment 401. Nice to meet you. I’m late to work so I really have to go,” Baekhyun bounced on his toes, glancing at the clock, which now read 7:15 AM. He was late, oh so very late. He knew he shouldn’t have taken his eyes off it.

Without taking another glance at Chanyeol, he rushed down the stairs, hurried to work, and soon forgot about boxes, new neighbors, and beautiful, heart-melting smiles.

It was 6PM when Baekhyun saw Chanyeol again. The taller was hesitantly standing next to Sehun’s door, a hand raised to knock while the other held a box of cookies. 

“Sehun likes bubble tea,” Baekhyun walked up to Chanyeol.

The latter jumped a little in surprise, placing a hand over his heart. “Baekhyun! I didn’t see you for a second.”

Baekhyun didn’t know what to say. What was he supposed to do, apologize for scaring him? Or should he remark that Chanyeol actually remembered his name? 

“Sehun likes bubble tea,” he repeated pathetically.  

Chanyeol gave him a strange look and Baekhyun cursed himself because damnit, he’s done it again, embarrassing himself wherever he goes. Then, Baekhyun remembered he bought two bubble teas – he so wasn’t going to give one of them to Chanyeol as a welcoming gift – and he handed one to Chanyeol.

“Give this to him,” Baekhyun motioned at the door and quickly hurried towards his apartment.

Only when he slammed the door shut to his apartment did he realize that he just gave his favorite bubble tea flavor (chocolate) away.

Baekhyun was doing paperwork when there was a knock on his door. He thought about choosing to ignore it but after a few more insistent raps, he got up to see who the hell was at his apartment at 9PM.

When he swung open his door, there was a loud smack and Baekhyun let out an unmanly shriek. Chanyeol was standing at his doorway, holding the left side of his face. He was groaning and his mouth was formed into a semi-pout that made Baekhyun’s stomach do cartwheels. 

“I’m so sorry!” Baekhyun exclaimed. “Come in. I’ll grab an ice pack.”

Baekhyun rushed towards the refrigerator and searched for an ice pack. Not finding one, he grabbed a bag of peas instead and hurried out of the kitchen. He found Chanyeol sitting at his kitchen table, his hand no longer covering his face but playing with the salt and pepper shakes on the table. He occasionally touched the red spot forming on the place where the door had hit him.

“Here. When you leave, put the bag of peas on the table,” Baekhyun curtly mumbled, shoving the bag of peas in front of Chanyeol. He walked towards his table, sat down and buried himself among the paperwork left on his desk. After a few minutes, Chanyeol’s deep voice broke through his wall of concentration. 

“Hey, Baekhyun?”  

“Yeah?” Baekhyun spun around in his chair.

“Thanks,” Chanyeol smiled, the same smile from that morning. Baekhyun’s stomach started doing flip-flops again – he knew he shouldn’t have eaten ramen for dinner again – and he hastily faced his paperwork again. There was a screech of chair against floor and a slight thump. 

“I’m leaving now, see you soon,” Chanyeol called from the door.

Baekhyun mumbled a small ‘Okay’ before he heard the door shut. He let the blush that was fighting its way to his face settle down. Okay, maybe it wasn’t the ramen. Maybe he might be crushing on his next-door neighbor.

He didn’t realize he never found out why Chanyeol was at his apartment in the first place.

“So, what do you guys think about our new neighbor?” Kyungsoo remarked as he tossed another batch of cookies into the oven.

Sundays were cooking and baking lessons with Kyungsoo in Baekhyun’s schedule and, well, some other people in the building’s schedule too. Right now, they were working on baking chocolate chip cookies, one of Kyungsoo’s specialties.

“New neighbor?” Yixing and Luhan, two of Baekhyun’s Chinese neighbors, chorused. Baekhyun ignored them. It was old information to him, anyways. 

“Yeah, his name’s Park Chanyeol. He’s a family friend,” Joonmyeon said, picking a piece of lint off his sweater.

“Wait, what?” Baekhyun stopped what he was doing. Now, this was new information.

“Yeah, we’ve known him since childhood. He’s fun to be around,” Jongin replied, his gaze fixed on Kyungsoo, who was bustling around in the kitchen. 

“I think he’s a bit odd,” Sehun scowled. He took a quick glance at Luhan. When the latter didn’t show any reaction, Sehun continued, “But he got me bubble tea so I guess he’s cool.”

Well, I think he’s tall and charming. And has a nice smile. Baekhyun thought, helping Kyungsoo put the cookies in the oven.

Baekhyun saw the tall, charming Chanyeol with the nice smile a few days later. He was just leaving his apartment to head down to the post office to mail a birthday gift to a friend when Chanyeol stepped out of the apartment across from his.

“Hi! Haven’t seen you in a while,” Chanyeol smiled with all his teeth. “Funny since I live right across from you.”

Baekhyun had trouble regaining his words after seeing Chanyeol’s smile again. “Uh, yeah, um, I’ve been busy. Yeah.”

Chanyeol didn’t seem the least bit fazed by Baekhyun’s stuttering and just continued to stand there with that wonderful smile.

“So, uh, doing anything?” Baekhyun awkwardly asked.

“Yeah, actually. Going to pick up something from the post office,” Chanyeol quickly glanced at Baekhyun and he guessed he was eyeing him strangely because Chanyeol quickly added after, “I like to personally pick up certain stuff. Can’t trust those mailmen sometimes. Where are you going?”

Baekhyun finally found his voice and words. “Same as you. Well, I’m sending something to a friend.”

“Great! Let’s go together, then!”

Baekhyun thought the silence was about to suffocate him. He and Chanyeol were only walking for two minutes and they haven’t even exchanged a single word. He was more than sure that he wouldn’t be able to handle three more minutes of that silence.

“So, how’s the apartment?” Baekhyun felt the urge to facepalm. What kind of lame question was that?

“It’s great. I never see any of you guys around, though.”

“What time do you get up?” 

“Around nine or ten,” Chanyeol sheepishly scratched the back of his neck.

“What?” Baekhyun stopped in his tracks. As somebody who had to wake himself up at the crack of dawn (6:30 AM, close enough), he was jealous of anybody who didn’t have to get to work early.

“I work at the nearby restaurant,” Chanyeol hurriedly explained. 

“The one that sells that amazing bibimbap?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“What do you mean, you guess? That stuff is amazing. If you don’t take the opportunity every day to eat that stuff, what in the world do you do with your life?”

Chanyeol side-eyed Baekhyun, causing the latter to slap a hand over his mouth. He didn’t even realize he was starting to rant and he had somehow indirectly insulted the object of his affections in the midst of it. Then, Chanyeol started chuckling, low and deep, and Baekhyun’s breath caught in his throat.

“Do you like the bibimbap there that much? I can just get you some.”

“I- um, it’s okay.” 

“I really doubt it’s ‘just okay’,” Chanyeol brought his fingers up to make air quotations, “I’ve never heard anyone talk about bibimbap so… happily.”

Baekhyun blushed and ducked his head. He never exactly revealed to anybody that he had a small - lies - obsession with bibimbap. Yet, he somehow found himself comfortably talking about it to somebody he’s only seen a few times.

“Hey, we’re here. I didn’t even realize.” 

Baekhyun lifted his head and was slightly disappointed when he saw the building with Post Office in big letters above the door in front of him. He wanted to know a little more about the one person he didn’t know about in his apartment building. He wanted to know more about the person he managed to have a crush on in the span of one day. He wanted to know more about Park Chanyeol, the tall, charming man with a nice smile.

“Oh. We’re here,” Baekhyun tried not to express his disappointment.

“Hey, let’s meet back here,” Chanyeol grinned at Baekhyun, letting a hand land on top of his head.   

“Uh, yeah. Sure,” Baekhyun nodded.

Chanyeol’s grin grew even wider (Baekhyun wasn’t even sure that was possible) and he moved his hand back and forth, messing up Baekhyun’s carefully styled hair. He started up the couple of steps to the post office and turned back to Baekhyun. 

“You coming?”

Baekhyun glanced down at the package in his hands and glanced back at Chanyeol, slowly smiling back. “Yeah, I’m coming.”

It was 7PM (dinnertime) when there was a knock on the door. Baekhyun turned away from the kitchen where he was deciding if he should eat ramen or just go out to eat and headed to the door, reaching it in a matter of seconds and opening it. Chanyeol was standing at the doorway again, this time slightly towards the left, a bag of takeout in his hand.

“Hey,” Chanyeol waved, giving a short but beautiful smile.

“Hey,” Baekhyun greeted back, inviting the taller inside. “What are you doing here?" 

“Dinner,” Chanyeol lifted up the bag for emphasis, “I bought bibimbap for the two of us.”

The two of us. Baekhyun liked the sound of that phrase. It made him feel wanted, like he wasn’t just another human in the world, like he held some importance to someone out there. It wasn’t often he heard the phrase and specifically hearing it from Chanyeol made his stomach do a quick flip-flop. 

“You have great timing. I was about to go out to eat bibimbap,” Baekhyun weakly joked, pairing it with an equally wimpy smile.

Chanyeol didn’t respond and started taking out the contents inside the takeout bag. Baekhyun mentally facepalmed at his lame, not funny at all joke. His terrible sense of humor was about to cost him another friend. He was actually surprised Chanyeol managed to stick around him for this long.

“The bibimbap’s ready!” Chanyeol pumped a fist into the air, smiling crazily at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun glanced at said food in front of him, scooped out a little bit with the provided spoon, and tasted it.

“What do you think?” Chanyeol leaned over the table, “I’m not that good at mixing things so it might taste a little strange.” 

Of course, Baekhyun had noticed that it was hastily tossed – the mushrooms were clumped in one corner together and the bean sprouts were spread unevenly and some parts of the bibimbap had more hot sauce on it than others – but otherwise, it tasted perfect. Park Chanyeol perfect.

“It’s perfect,” he echoed his thoughts, already scooping more into his bowl. 

“Really?” Chanyeol’s face lit up with happiness. “Let me try some!”

Baekhyun expected Chanyeol to take the other bibimbap bowl and eat from that. Actually he would’ve expected anything else besides Chanyeol leaning forward and eating from the spoon that was raised to his mouth.

“I-” Baekhyun sputtered.

“Wow, it tastes good. I understand why you love bibimbap so much now,” Chanyeol smiled.

Baekhyun felt warmth creep up to his face and he quickly ducked his head. “Hurry up and finish the bibimbap before it gets cold.”

They finished dinner with quiet chewing and occasional small talk.

Baekhyun always bought bread on Tuesdays around 6PM. He would visit Kyungsoo’s bakery then go back to the apartment with him. However, wanting to know a little more about his tall neighbor’s schedule got the best of him and he found himself driving over to the nearby restaurant. He assumed it would be around the time that Chanyeol would get off of work.

He was right because Chanyeol was just exiting the restaurant, waving at some of the people inside before walking down the sidewalk towards the apartment building. Baekhyun breathed in and slowly drove after him. He rolled down his windows, took another deep breath, and called out Chanyeol’s name.

At his name, Chanyeol quickly looked around for the source. Baekhyun thought he looked like a lost child, a tall, handsome lost child. When Chanyeol’s eyes finally met his, his breath hitched. That was strange; he always offered a ride to his new neighbors (he always made it a point to find out their day-to-day schedules so it would help him in the future) but he never reacted to it like this. Then again, none of his neighbors made his stomach flip-flop from a mere smile. 

“Hey,” Chanyeol jogged over and leaned through the window, “What are you doing here?” 

“I was, um, just going to Kyungsoo’s bakery when I saw you. You wanna come?” 

“But isn’t his bakery in that direction?” Chanyeol asked, pointing in the other direction.

Baekhyun’s face started heating up in embarrassment and he quickly sputtered a “I was going to make a U-turn at the next light are you getting in or not,” before rolling up the window. Chanyeol grinned and opened the car door. Baekhyun could only gape at him, his mouth moving up and down as he processed everything.

“Are we going to Kyungsoo’s bakery or not?” Chanyeol teased.

Baekhyun blubbered an incoherent reply and the ignition. He just couldn’t go a day without embarrassing himself around Chanyeol.

Baekhyun was about ready to pound his head on his steering wheel. Today wasn’t exactly the best day for him. He woke up early but managed to convince himself to go back to sleep for five minutes (those five minutes turned into an hour), almost ran through five red lights on the way to work, forgot a few very important documents at home, got yelled at by his boss for being late and forgetful, left his wallet at home so he had nothing to buy for lunch, and sat through a boring meeting with nothing but a pen, paper, and an empty stomach. Now, he was stuck in traffic, the cars around him not moving at all. Baekhyun groaned again, tapping his fingers impatiently on the steering wheel.

Finally, the cars moved forward and he almost yelled in victory. He moved about two inches more before the car in front of him stopped abruptly, making him groan again. This time, he did smash his head against his steering wheel, a loud honk erupting from his car. More honking followed and Baekhyun threw his head backwards, hitting his headrest as he sighed in frustration. Stupid jammed streets. He was behind schedule because of them. A sudden realization hit him. Baekhyun quickly pulled out his phone and dialed Sehun’s number.

There were three rings before Sehun picked up. 

“Hey, hyung. You’re late,” Sehun stated.

“I realized that,” Baekhyun had to take a quick glance at the clock anyways, “I’ve been stuck in traffic for about half an hour. I don’t think I can pick you up from class. Is that okay?”

There was a pregnant pause on the other end before Baekhyun heard Sehun mutter a quick ‘ok’ before hanging up. Baekhyun stared at his phone’s black screen for a while longer before placing it onto the shotgun seat. His stomach growled and his eyes flew to the clock. It was 7:00. He patted his stomach, making a small promise that he would feed it soon, before glancing around for the nearest restaurant. His eyes immediately landed on the restaurant up ahead. He straightened up and grinned, noticing that said place was the restaurant Chanyeol worked at. He glanced back at the time (it was 7:02 now) and his shoulders deflated a little. Chanyeol would be off work by now. Oh well, there’s still bibimbap to cheer me up, Baekhyun thought.

It took him another five minutes before he could finally veer off the road and drive into the restaurant’s parking lot. It was another two minutes until he found a decent parking space. He cursed the damn traffic once more and entered the restaurant.

When Baekhyun entered, he was greeted with polite smiles and the wonderful aroma of Korean food. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. He didn’t care if he looked somewhat crazy; he felt at home here.

“Um, sir, how many people?” The waitress asked patiently. Baekhyun guessed she had asked him that question countless time because he could see that behind her professional waitress shell, she was getting a bit exasperated. 

“Just one.”

“Okay. Right this way, sir.”

Baekhyun absentmindedly followed the waitress. It’s been a somewhat long time since he actually stepped foot inside the restaurant and he couldn’t help but relish the atmosphere. When was the last time since he was here? Not since Chanyeol came, that’s for sure. He was too busy trying to figure out his schedule (which he’s been quite unsuccessful in finishing since he somehow always forgot the time whenever he saw Chanyeol’s charming smile).

“Your server will be right with you,” The waitress told him. She handed over a menu, grabbed the extra table setting, and left shortly after.

Baekhyun didn’t even glance at the menu, knowing full well what he was going to order. He kept his hands busy by playing with his chopsticks and spoon. Right when he started drumming his chopsticks against the table, somebody cleared his throat 

“Can I take your order?”

“Yeah, just bibimbap please,” Baekhyun said without looking up, starting a rhythm with his chopsticks.

“Of course you would.” 

“Of course I would what-” Baekhyun finally spared a glance at his server and almost choked on his saliva. “Chanyeol? What are you doing here?”

“I, uh, work here? I thought you knew that already,” Chanyeol tapped his pen against his pad of paper. 

“Y-yeah, but aren’t you supposed to be back at the apartment by now? It’s, like, 7 now.”

Chanyeol tilted his head to the side in confusion. “I’m supposed to be here, though." 

“O-oh, um, okay. 

“Can I get you anything else?”

Yes, I would like a Chanyeol. “No, nothing else.”

“Alright then,” He leaned down to grab the menu from the table, brushing their hands together, and grinned at Baekhyun. Baekhyun stopped breathing at how close Chanyeol’s face was to his.

“I’ll get your bibimbap out as soon as possible,” Chanyeol lifted a hand and ruffled Baekhyun’s hair before leaving.

He had to remind himself to breathe afterwards and to stop imagining how it would feel if Chanyeol kissed him instead.

Baekhyun learned in the next few weeks that Chanyeol’s schedule was horribly unpredictable.

On weekdays, Baekhyun would purposely drive down the road where the bibimbap restaurant was and glance inside to see if Chanyeol was there. On the first few days, he wasn’t but soon it became a ‘now I’m here, now I’m not’ game. It irritated him to no end. 

Since his weekends were free, he took some time on Saturday to follow Chanyeol (it’s not stalking, really). He was very meticulous about Chanyeol’s schedule and noted the time Chanyeol left the apartment (11:00), what time he arrived at the restaurant (11:05), what time he got off work (9:00), and all the things in between.

The next day, Sunday, Baekhyun noted what Chanyeol did (thankfully, his schedule didn’t interfere with Baekhyun’s cooking class). Chanyeol would go to the post office in the morning, eat lunch at the restaurant he worked in, and then start his shift. He returned home by nine, just like the previous day.

The week after, Baekhyun took some time to check if Chanyeol followed the same schedule. If he was, Baekhyun’s job was done for Saturday. To Baekhyun’s horror, Chanyeol left for work an hour earlier and instead of driving to work, he walked, and he worked longer hours. Baekhyun had to rewrite his schedule that night.

On Sunday, Kyungsoo didn’t exactly feel well so cooking class was cancelled. Although Baekhyun was worried for his neighbor’s wellbeing, he silently thanked him since it provided more time for Baekhyun to figure out Chanyeol’s schedule. Plus, Baekhyun believed Kyungsoo was in good hands, considering Jongin was knocking anxiously on his neighbor’s door in the morning. Baekhyun found out that Chanyeol wandered around rather aimlessly that Sunday. He didn’t leave for any mail, he bought takeout for lunch, and he didn’t leave for work until it was nearly Baekhyun’s dinnertime. Baekhyun remembered to throw out Chanyeol’s supposed ‘schedule’ that night.

Baekhyun was an organized person. He liked everything alphabetical, everything numbered, everything in a specific order. There were schedules and a place for everything. Chanyeol, on the hand, was the definition of spontaneous in Baekhyun’s books. He did whatever he wanted and had no complete schedule. One day, he would run to work while the next, he would take his sweet, sweet time. One day, he would peer inside the shop windows on the way to work and the next, he wouldn’t even spare a glance at them. One day, he would make Baekhyun’s stomach do all these acrobatic tricks while the next, he would leave him feeling empty. Baekhyun wished Chanyeol would stop being so spontaneous. He wished he would stop giving him a hard time. Heck, he just wished he would stop. But then Chanyeol would flash one of those goddamn amazing smiles and Baekhyun would think that maybe, maybe, it’s okay for him to continue what he’s doing.

Baekhyun always made it a point to take some time off for a calming walk in the nearby park. Recently, with figuring Chanyeol’s schedule out and all, he hasn’t exactly done that in the past few weeks. After practically throwing his list of potential schedules for Chanyeol in the trash, though, he decided that this calming walk in the park was very much needed. He didn’t care if the weatherman said it was probably going to rain today. He just needed to walk off everything. 

However, once he arrived at the park, he didn’t think he could walk off anything. The source of his problems was sitting on a park bench, only his left side facing him. He was puffing his cheeks like a little kid. Baekhyun just wanted to turn away and act like he never saw him but that was impossible because something about Chanyeol always drew him in. He blamed that stupid smile.

Baekhyun walked closer and noted that Chanyeol’s side profile was handsome. Heck, he looked handsome from any direction (he had quickly learned this after following the taller male around for his unpredictable schedule). He also noticed that Chanyeol was holding a guitar and strumming it hesitantly.

“Hey,” Baekhyun called out nervously.

“Oh, hey,” Chanyeol grinned at him as he sat on the bench next to him.

There’s a pregnant pause that Baekhyun wished he could somehow break without letting any of his awkwardness show. His eyes drifted back down to the guitar Chanyeol was still holding.

“Can you- can you play that?” Baekhyun pointed at the instrument.

“Oh this? Um, yeah. Do you have a specific song you want to hear?” Chanyeol shifts the guitar in his hands.

“Live High. You know, the one by Jason Mraz?" 

Chanyeol tilted his head in confusion and Baekhyun almost took back what he said. But the taller male suddenly broke out into a grin and nodded.

“Yeah, I know that song,” He tilted his head once more before tuning his guitar a bit and playing the first few notes. God, Baekhyun loved a person that could play guitar. 

Baekhyun fell into the smooth notes that were produced. He started humming a little before softly singing along. He giggled a little when he butchered up one of the lyrics and Chanyeol turned his head towards him, an eyebrow raised. Baekhyun didn’t think somebody could make raising an eyebrow seem so handsome.

When Chanyeol neared the chorus, Baekhyun didn’t hesitate to start belting out some of the lyrics (the only part of the song he actually knew). The notes abruptly stopped flowing out and he found himself singing acapella for a few lines before he covered his mouth in embarrassment. Baekhyun glanced at Chanyeol next to him. His mouth was wide open in shock, his fingers still hovered over the strings. Baekhyun blushed deep and hard. What if Chanyeol was shocked because of how awful his singing was? Maybe he went off key or – even worse – off-tune.

“I, um-” He started to apologize. 

“You can sing?” Chanyeol interrupted him.

“Well, um, I don’t know for sure, I guess I can? Like I never really tried singing in front of anybody and nobody has really heard me sing- oh my god, I’m just embarrassing myself,” Baekhyun buried his face in his hands.

“No, no. It’s fine,” Chanyeol beamed at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun didn’t think he could be any happier that day after finding out that Chanyeol could play guitar. And that goddamn smile. Could he be any more perfect?

He smiled back at Chanyeol but it retreated almost immediately when he felt something wet on his face. He touched the wet spot and looked at it questioningly.

What the heck?

He glanced up and realized that the skies were dark and stormy. Great, just great. More wetness rained down and then, it started pouring. Baekhyun couldn’t help but let out a tiny unmanly squeal. Chanyeol started cursing beside him, placing his guitar in its case. If he weren’t being rained upon, Baekhyun would note that it was really cute cursing because Chanyeol would always cut himself off and glance nervously at Baekhyun before replacing the word. It was as if Baekhyun was a five-year-old that should hear words like ‘fudge’ and ‘ship’ instead of ‘’ and ‘’. Baekhyun glanced up at the sky once more, regretting it almost immediately when a raindrop decided to plop straight onto his eye.

 The world hates me.

There was the sound of an umbrella opening and said object was soon placed above his head, shielding him from any more attacking raindrops. Baekhyun glanced to his right. Chanyeol was standing with his umbrella outstretched, his short hair soon matted to his forehead because of the oncoming rain. Baekhyun realized in horror that the taller male would be soaked in water in no time.

“You take the umbrella,” He shoved the umbrella back in Chanyeol’s direction.

“You’re going to be wet, though.”

“Well, it’s not like you’re not going to be wet, either.”

“But I’m a strong male, I can handle some water,” Chanyeol shoved the umbrella back at him.

“Are you saying I can’t handle any of this rain?” Baekhyun said indignantly although, on the inside, he wanted to melt into a puddle of goo.

“You’re like a kid,” Chanyeol motioned, resulting in a pointed look from Baekhyun, “You’re so short and you just squealed when it started raining and you’re just like a- like a puppy.”

Baekhyun stood there in shocked silence for a bit before he found the coherent words to reply. “Well, you’re a- a giant. And you have a guitar and uh, I’m wearing more than you! I’m fine.”

It was true. Chanyeol only had on what seemed like a thin jacket while Baekhyun was dressed in- oh my god. He realized he really did look like a kid in his oversized hoodie. He also realized he just made a really, really weak comeback to Chanyeol’s remarks.

The two of them stood there, drenched head to toe with the umbrella being shoved amongst the two. Baekhyun realized how ridiculous they might’ve looked now.

“You know what? Let’s just share an umbrella,” Chanyeol and Baekhyun said at the same time.

“Oh, um,” Baekhyun hesitated and blushed again.

Chanyeol just smiled a bit and grabbed Baekhyun around the shoulders and pulled him close.

“Let’s go,” He motioned and walked forward with a dazed Baekhyun.

Baekhyun grinned up at the giant and only then, did he notice the design on the umbrella.

“Pororo, huh? Who’s the kid now?” Baekhyun jabbed at Chanyeol’s ribs.

Chanyeol just laughed and pulled Baekhyun closer. Baekhyun thought he could get used to rainy days.

It was on a lazy holiday morning (aka no work) when there was a knock on Baekhyun’s door. He was somewhat stuck between dream and reality and only managed to roll over and glance at his clock (it was 8 in the morning, goddamnit, he just wanted to sleep) before the knocks on his door were no longer knocks but pounds. 

“I’M COMING. GOD. BE PATIENT, WILL YOU?” Baekhyun yelled, ignoring how his voice cracked from sleep.

He stormed through his apartment and practically ripped the door off its hinges in irritation. Baekhyun swore whoever was on the other side was about to meet their death for ruining his precious sleep. Maybe it was going to be Jongin, complaining about how he didn’t know how to deal with his feelings for Kyungsoo. Or maybe it was going to be Sehun, complaining that Luhan was ignoring him. Or maybe it was going to be Luhan complaining that Sehun was ignoring him. Or maybe it was Tao complaining about the lack of food in his apartment (not like Baekhyun’s apartment was any better). Or maybe it was just flat out Kim ing Jongdae because he was a little prick that loved ruining everybody’s lives.

However, instead of any of the above people, it was a tall, charming male with a nice smile. Baekhyun, not being in his right mind (hey, it was still too early to deal with this), squinted at the male.

“Who the heck are you?” He continually blinked the sleep away.

“Uh, I’ve been your neighbor for a decent amount of time.”

“Oh, yeah. Chanyeol. Heh, sorry. Sleep does weird things to me,” Baekhyun grinned.

Chanyeol laughed, deep and low. “Oh?”

Baekhyun nodded a bit and shook some of the hair out of his eyes. A realization suddenly hit him and his jaw went slack. Chanyeol stared at him in worry, bending down to make sure Baekhyun was okay.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I just realized I was planning murder in my head for whoever just woke me up and really, I don’t want to kill you and I just yelled at you and you probably just heard my voice crack and I’m wearing these pajamas,” Baekhyun took a small breath and gestured at his My Little Pony pajamas (curse his younger cousin for getting him into that damn series) that he was sporting, “And I look like a mess, I’m so sorry.”

Baekhyun proceeded to bury his face in his hands.

“Breathe,” Chanyeol joked, slapping his back. 

How can I when you’re here?

And just his luck, Baekhyun choked a little while inhaling and started coughing uncontrollably. It took him a little over a minute to finally stop.

“I think we all need to take a breather. Oh, and I’m inviting myself in since you’re not capable of doing so right now.” Chanyeol stepped into Baekhyun’s apartment, closing the door behind him.

Baekhyun choked once more.

Kyungsoo was up and running his cooking classes soon. Baekhyun thinks it’s thanks to Jongin’s worrisome state over the other’s wellbeing that made Kyungsoo better in no time. He made it known to his big-eyed friend when they were alone in the kitchen, watching the pots on the stove so they won’t boil over. The other people in the cooking class were playing around in Kyungsoo’s living room, surely making a huge mess that Kyungsoo (and Jongin because of guilt) would have to clean up later.

Kyungsoo had Baekhyun with his signature wide eyes and Baekhyun had to resist the urge to laugh.

“What the heck are you talking about?” 

“Well, don’t act like Jongin didn’t go to your apartment everyday for, like, the past week or two,” Baekhyun couldn’t help it and he doubled over in laughter at his friend’s ever-widening eyes.

“Hey, I saw you and Chanyeol talking on Friday in front of your apartment. Don’t act like something like this hasn’t happened to you.”

Well, .

Baekhyun’s laughter was cut short and it was his turn to stare all wide-eyed at his friend. Kyungsoo just shrugged, devious smile on his face. 

“Oh, hey. The pots look ready to boil over. Let me check on them,” Kyungsoo got up from his seat and sauntered over to the pots that looked nowhere near boiling. 

Kyungsoo: 1 Baekhyun: 0

Smackdown.

Baekhyun ran a hand through his hair in frustration. After working on paperwork for about two and a half hours, he was very tired. His eyes burned and his throat was dry and he was only halfway done with his stack of paperwork. Oh, how he hated work.

His phone vibrated violently on the table, interrupting him from his work. He silently thanked whoever just texted him because he really needed a break from all these words and numbers.

From: Charming Chanyeol

hey

Baekhyun’s heart leaped a little at the text. He had momentarily forgotten that he had exchanged numbers with Chanyeol – finally – on Friday. He clumsily fumbled with the keypad on his phone.

To: Charming Chanyeol

hi ^^

From: Charming Chanyeol

so doing anything right now?

To: Charming Chanyeol

paperwork =.= you?

From: Charming Chanyeol

nothing much

The conversation went downhill after that. It wasn’t much but it was able to get Baekhyun’s spirits back up. He managed to finish most of his paperwork with vigor after that. 

Chanyeol seemed to make it a point to always eat bibimbap once a week with Baekhyun. Always. 

It didn’t surprise Baekhyun when there were a few insistent raps on the door around 7PM, Tuesday. God, he could just taste the heavenly food. Problem was, he couldn’t eat any bibimbap today. His schedule called, it wanted Baekhyun at that stupid business dinner.

He fixed his suit and hair before opening the door. Chanyeol was standing on the other side, wearing a gray hoodie and sweatpants. Baekhyun felt awfully overdressed. 

“Hey,” He murmured, leaning against the doorframe a bit self-consciously.

“Whoa,” Chanyeol stared at Baekhyun very intently. The latter went into a small panic attack, checking if there was anything wrong with his attire, or even worse, his makeup. He swore he spent hours perfecting the wings of his eyeliner. And his hair, god. His hair took forever to style.

Chanyeol’s large hands stopped his from fiddling with his clothing. He looked up and was met by the most brilliant smile from Chanyeol yet.

“You look fine. Amazing even. I didn’t know our bibimbap dinners were so special to you,” Chanyeol teased. 

Baekhyun was still stunned from Chanyeol’s smile that he had to register everything. Right, bibimbap dinners with Chanyeol. How could he forget just from that one smile?

“Sorry, Chanyeol. I have a stupid business dinner I have to attend. No bibimbap today,” Baekhyun pouted a bit in disappointment.

Chanyeol’s smile kind of died on his face. Baekhyun cursed the stupid, stupid dinner party. He just wanted some good old bibimbap. And maybe some time to hang out with Chanyeol. 

“You’re free after 6PM Friday, right?” Chanyeol blurted out.

“What?” Baekhyun choked on his spit. “How did you know?” 

“Well, your schedule was really easy to figure out. Like you went to work and then spent most of your free time following me around-”

“I do not follow you around,” Baekhyun retorted.

“-So I kind of just picked up on what your schedule was. You’re free, right?”

Baekhyun nodded. 

“Alright. You owe me for this time. I’ll pick you up here,” Chanyeol smiled.

Baekhyun didn’t have the heart to mention that his schedule said that he had paperwork to do around that time because god, of course Baekhyun couldn’t say no to that smile. Actually, he was inept to say no to Chanyeol even without that smile. And what was a goddamn schedule when there was a Park Chanyeol, anyways? 

“Yeah, see you.” 

“Okay,” Chanyeol grinned and ruffled Baekhyun’s hair, earning him a good whack and a whine that sounded vaguely like ‘my hair is ruined, I spent too long on this and you go around and ruin it’.

Chanyeol just grinned some more and added, “It’s a date.”

Baekhyun turned red and his stomach couldn’t help but flip-flop from Chanyeol’s choice of words.

Baekhyun spent most of Wednesday and Thursday freaking out about his appointment with Chanyeol. It was definitely not a date, regardless of what Chanyeol said. Kyungsoo had tried to help him with his troubles but he had little time in between being at the bakery and having Jongin hang around like his shadow. 

When Friday finally came, Baekhyun was in full panic mode. It was here, the dat- appointment. What should he wear? A simple hoodie wouldn’t cut it but he couldn’t appear overdressed either. Should he put on makeup? Considering Chanyeol’s reaction last time, he had liked the eyeliner but the stupid eye makeup was a pain in the to put on. Should he, like, bring anything? What do people even do on dates? Baekhyun wasn’t even sure. Sure, he dated other people before but they were merely flings; he hasn’t dated a person long enough to go on dates. Heck, he didn’t even have his first kiss yet. Well, unless that time his younger cousin (the same one that got him into that stupid cartoon ponies series) snuck up on him and pecked him on the lips counted. Wait, maybe he did have a first kiss with somebody. Was her name Taeyeon? Baekhyun didn’t even remember and he didn’t give a damn either. He was too busy stressing about the dat- appointment to remember much. 

When 5PM rolled along, he was stuck in traffic. Great. Of all times, it just had to be one of the most life-changing events of Baekhyun’s life.

He made it back to his apartment by 5:10. It was a miracle, really, because the congested streets were cleared up five minutes after Baekhyun cursed the heck out of them. He remembered to thank whatever greater being – be it God or not; he wasn’t religious, damnit (although his use of the word god was a bit questionable) – that controlled the universe. He believed he had enough to decide anything before 6PM. 

He was horribly wrong. It was a few minutes before 6 and Baekhyun felt very unprepared. He was still in his business attire and was busy making sure every last strand of hair was in place and that his eyeliner wouldn’t smudge.

6PM arrived at his doorstep with rapid knocks, a bouquet of flowers, and awkwardly said words. He was still in his business outfit and he felt overdressed. Again. Chanyeol was wearing a simple, blue button-up and skinny jeans that made him look very, very attractive. Baekhyun bit his lip and accepted the bouquet of flowers held out towards him. Chanyeol looked him up and down and raised an eyebrow.

What wonders an eyebrow can do.

“Um, I haven’t exactly changed yet. The traffic was bad on the way home and I was busy doing some, uh, other stuff and uh-” The ability to make coherent sentences left Baekhyun in a babbling, stuttering mess. How, he hated his nerves.  

Chanyeol didn’t say anything and grabbed Baekhyun by the shoulders and turned him around. 

He leaned down and ghosted his lips over the shell of Baekhyun’s ears, leaving the shorter slightly shivering. “It’s okay. Go get dressed. I’ll wait.”

Baekhyun nodded like a bobblehead and stumbled into his bedroom. He emerged a few minutes later with a graphic tee and skinny jeans on and a shy smile on his face.

“Let’s go!”

“The bibimbap restaurant? Really?” Baekhyun stifled a laugh.

“What’s wrong with that?” Chanyeol pouted and fiddled with his table settings.

“Nothing. I just thought you were going to take us somewhere more special for our d-” Baekhyun cut himself off before he said date. It was not a date.

Yeah, keep telling yourself that.

Shut up, brain.

Chanyeol raised an eyebrow again and Baekhyun was torn between punching him in the face with either his fist or lips. 

“For what? And I thought this was special,” Chanyeol puffed out his cheeks.

Is it even possible to switch auras in a total of two seconds?

 “No, it’s fine. I like it here, anyways.”

Actually, Baekhyun liked it wherever Chanyeol was. They could be in a bathtub for all he cared and he would still be fine with it.

Okay, maybe the bathtub was a bit too far.

“Hey, Jihoon!” Chanyeol called, waving his hand crazily in the air. Baekhyun hid his tiny grin behind his arm. 

“Ayo, waddup, Chanyeol!” Jihoon, Baekhyun presumed, clapped Chanyeol in the back, “Who’s this?” 

“I’m Baekhyun,” He smiled and nodded.

A look of recognition passed over Jihoon’s face and he slapped Chanyeol again on the back. “So, this is the Baekhyun you’ve been talking about since you moved into that new apartment. Damn, he’s pretty just like you said. Nice job-”

Chanyeol kicked his friend’s shin and nervously chuckled at Baekhyun. “Don’t listen to him.” 

“Don’t you even ing dare deny it-” Another kick to the shin and a pained smile as Jihoon clutched his injured spot. “What can I get you?”

“One chocolate milkshake, one strawberry milkshake, and two bowls of bibimbap. Thanks, Jihoon,” Chanyeol offered his friend a sarcastic smile as he handed the menus back.

Jihoon rolled his eyes and winked at Baekhyun, earning him another kick in the shin, before he limped away.

Baekhyun laughed, “I think I like your friend.” 

“Don’t you even dare start,” Chanyeol buried his head in his arms. 

Baekhyun grinned again and leaned forward, “So you talk about me?”

“Shut up.”

Baekhyun never knew Chanyeol had such huge eyes or ears. They were currently engaged in a staring contest as they chugged down their drinks. Baekhyun regretted it so much because, god, Chanyeol was too damn attractive. And his eyes. They were so damn pretty, it put girls to shame. Maybe even Kyungsoo.

The slurping of air interrupted their intense staring and Baekhyun glanced down to find his strawberry milkshake gone and in his stomach. He let out an unmanly squeal – he didn’t even care anymore at this point.

“I won!” He pumped his fist up in victory. 

Chanyeol laughed, nodding his head, “Yeah. Guess you beat me.” 

Baekhyun grinned, bringing his eyes back from his now empty drink to Chanyeol’s eyes. They were done by dinner now and had brought their milkshakes in plastic cups to the park. They held eye contact for what felt like minutes, hours, until Chanyeol promptly burst out laughing, straw still in mouth.  

Baekhyun self-consciously brought a hand up only for Chanyeol to stop him and wrap his hand around his.

“You look fine. I’m just known for,” Chanyeol chewed on his straw in thought, “Random happy spazz attacks.” 

“Oh, okay,” Baekhyun still couldn’t help but feel a little aware of how his appearance mattered.

Then, he realized Chanyeol’s hand was still wrapped around his in one of the most natural ways possible and he couldn’t help but break into the dorkiest, stupidest grin ever. Man, he must’ve looked like a freak but Chanyeol was sporting a similar smile.

It’s okay, we could be freaks together.

“Where are we going?” He asked through his grin.

“Anywhere,” Chanyeol laughed and Baekhyun swore that his face was going to split in half from all that smiling.

“Then take me there,” Baekhyun whispered. He felt a rush of satisfaction after Chanyeol shivered a little.

Payback.

“Really?” Baekhyun felt like laughing again for the second time that day.

“What?” Chanyeol jutted out his bottom lip again, tapping the guitar in his hands.

“Of course it would be here,” Baekhyun laughed this time and slid into the spot next to Chanyeol.

“Hey, it’s special to me.”

The two of them were back on the park bench where they discovered two hidden abilities, Chanyeol’s guitar playing and Baekhyun’s voice. Chanyeol was nervously tapping on his guitar again, a small, hesitant smile on his face this time.

“Alright then. What are you going to play?" 

“Something you can actually sing along to- OW!” Chanyeol nursed the spot that Baekhyun just punched.

“Tell me the stupid song title already,” Baekhyun rolled his eyes but moved Chanyeol’s large hands over so that his fingers were now rubbing the taller male’s injured spot.

“You know that song that’s been circulating the radio recently?”

“Oh, yeah. Baby Don’t Cry, right?”

Chanyeol’s face lit up and he nodded excitedly, “Yeah, that one! You do know the lyrics to that, right?”

Another punch and a whimper. Fingers moving to massage.

“Yeah, I do. Are you going to play it or are you just going to keep insulting me?” 

Chanyeol guffawed but settled down and started strumming the first few chords. Baekhyun immediately fell into the melody and sang from his soul, closing his eyes. A baritone voice joined his and he opened them to see Chanyeol deeply singing with him. He grinned, the lyrics coming out smoothly. 

Did he also mention that he loved guys that could sing? Especially ones with big eyes and ears, an unpredictable schedule, and the ability to play a guitar.

Remember that ultimate being that helped Baekhyun before? Loads of bull. Said ultimate being decided that it was time to rain on his and Chanyeol’s dat- appointment.

Baekhyun groaned once more, his hand tugging at his now soaked locks. God knows what happened to his makeup. He was soaking wet from head to toe. Why didn’t he check the goddamn weather? Why did he have to wear a t-shirt out of all things?

Chanyeol was cursing under his breath again, more ‘fudge’ and ‘ship’ slipping from his lips. He safely tucked his guitar into its case and Baekhyun couldn’t help the sense of déjà vu washing over him. There was the sound of an umbrella being opened and Chanyeol smiled from underneath the Pororo print, gesturing for Baekhyun to walk closer.

“Pororo, still,” Baekhyun commented, stepping next to Chanyeol’s body in search for warmth.

“It’s all the protection you’ve got from this rain. Stop complaining.”

The two exchanged stupid grins. They walked through the park in silence, only the pitter-patter of rain and footsteps interrupting said silence. 

“You know, you’re like a puppy,” Chanyeol randomly said.

“Um.” Baekhyun didn’t know how to answer this.

“You’re short and whenever you’re happy and you smile, it’s really cute.”

Baekhyun provided him with the same response.

“Your obsession with bibimbap is also really cute,” Chanyeol stopped walking.

“Are you just insulting me now?” Baekhyun stopped with him, eyebrow raised and hip cocked.

“No, I really do find it cute,” Chanyeol defended, turning Baekhyun around to face him. The grin on his face was infectious and Baekhyun found himself idiotically smiling back.

“You know, you look really good in eyeliner,” Chanyeol murmured, leaning in close. 

“Uh-huh.” Baekhyun didn’t even bother acknowledging the fact that it was probably smeared by now. He had other problems like Chanyeol leaning in so close to him.

“And you have an amazing singing voice.”

“Oh yeah?” Baekhyun’s brain was short-circuiting now.

“You also have really pretty fingers,” Chanyeol pulled back just a little to remark, making Baekhyun sigh in disappointment.

“Yeah, I hear that a lot.”

Chanyeol’s lips continued its descent. Baekhyun shut his eyes in anticipation. Chanyeol’s breath was hitting his lips when he stopped for the nth time.

“Did you know you have a mole, like, right above your lips-”

Baekhyun’s eyes shot open in irritation, “God, Chanyeol. Just kiss me already.”

Chanyeol smiled that charming smile, Baekhyun’s favorite smile. “I think your hormones are raging a bit too much.” 

Baekhyun made a noise in the back of his throat and impatiently grabbed the back of Chanyeol’s neck, bringing him even more impossibly close. The air was thick around them and Baekhyun could see Chanyeol’s huge eyes sparkle. 

And then they were kissing, their lips melding perfectly under their shared Pororo umbrella, the rain pitter-pattering all around them. 

Somewhere among unpredictable schedules, bibimbap, smiles, and everything in between, they fell in love. 

Baekhyun thought this was all he ever wanted. To be loved and to be kissed in the rain. His head felt like it was going to explode because this was really happening. Baekhyun also thought he was screwing up his schedule big time and that pile of paperwork he has to complete was going to be stuck on his desk a little while longer. But the deeper Chanyeol kissed him, the more Chanyeol’s soft pink lips brushed against his, he stopped thinking altogether. 

Besides, what’s a schedule when there’s a Park Chanyeol?

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To all the people reading this that are subscribed to my other stories, this is the very important thing I was working on ^^ I'll try to update my other stories as soon as possible since this is done. 

Honestly, I think this is my best oneshot yet, heck my best story yet. 8k words and 27 pages OTL This oneshot took longer than I thought but it turned out way better too. I hope you all enjoyed reading this ^^