Chanyeol had somehow fallen asleep in the Daeryeong’s bedroom after their ‘lesson’. He won’t deny it but he was practically in cloud nine right now. He never in his wildest dreams thought he’d be sleeping on the same bed as the apple of his eye yet it was happening. But he had a quick reality check – he was still a recruit and he knew he had to go back to his quarters sooner or later. He turned in his place and sensed that the elder was no longer at his side. He opened his eyes slowly, cheek rubbing onto the soft pillow. Once seeing the empty space beside him, he let out a sigh, ready to drift back to sleep when…

“Chanyeol?” Yifan’s velvety voice called out from his side of the bed. Chanyeol jolted and quickly his other side, partially up as he supported himself with his elbows.

“D-Daeryeong!” He squeaked, his hair all over the place and he was still . Yifan had already some clothes on and Chanyeol’s heart melted seeing the elder in casual clothes. A plain white v-neck and sweatpants graced his mentor’s body who was holding a water bottle in his hand.

Yifan coolly tilted his head and Chanyeol thought he was imagining things. “What was that?”

Chanyeol was fazed but he realized what Yifan meant though he was still nervous to actually do it. He pursed his lips and took a gulp before he croaked out, in his sleepy voice, “Yifan-sshi…”

Yifan looked pleased as he handed out the water bottle to Chanyeol, “Here. You were asleep for a while.”

“Ah, I-I’m sorry.” Chanyeol blushed slightly, taking the bottle. “How long was I…?”

“You missed morning roll call.” Yifan smirked, walking back to some area in his room as Chanyeol choked on his water.

, , ! Morning roll call! That’s about 10 laps from the drill sergeant! Chanyeol wailed in his head as he tried to clear his throat. He was going to have to get out of here and catch up to the rest of the group. He knew the officer on duty for morning roll call had no idea he was invited to the Daeryeong’s room so he was going to have to make up some excuse for his absence this morning. He tried to get out of the bed, only to remember that he was still and his clothes were nowhere to be seen.

“U-Um, Yifan-sshi?” Chanyeol inwardly squealed at being able to call the elder his name, “What… Where are my clothes? I have to go back and meet up with the officer today and—“

The younger male stopped abruptly as Yifan returned carrying his clothes, neatly folded and fresh-looking. Chanyeol stared blankly. “I had them washed.”

Chanyeol tensed. His clothes had gone through the senior officers’ laundry service! D-Daeryeong…!!!! Chanyeol wanted to cry tears of joy as he took his clothes that smelled of wonderful detergent soap and some kind of spring time flower.

“And there’s no need to rush, I talked with your officers this morning.” Yifan added casually, sitting beside Chanyeol on his side. “So take your time.”

Chanyeol gaped at him. He’s so gentle... Chanyeol couldn’t help but blush as he hugged his clothes. They were soft and warm like the elder himself. There was a hanging silence between them that followed a shy exchange of smiles.

“I… I should go… and change…” Chanyeol stammered, trying to leave the bed but felt a little embarrassed to walk all the way to the bathroom in the . Yifan blinked and nodded his head awkwardly.

“Ah, yeah…” He turned away giving Chanyeol a chance to bolt to the restroom. Once the elder heard the click of his bathroom, he let out a sigh as he waited, now alone in his room. He had been holding it in but he couldn’t suppress a happy smile grace his lips. “Control yourself.”

How could he be so happy just after one night? He never, ever imagined that spending so much time with Chanyeol, a recruit he barely knew and only knew of because he was constantly bugging him, would make him so giddy – so... lovestruck?

Yifan ran a hand through his hair as he sighed. Honestly, he didn’t know what to do after what happened. He was just trying to fake this calm façade because Chanyeol obviously didn’t know anything at all. He had to be the Daeryeong till the end in Chanyeol’s eyes, he felt that he should. Yifan smiled to himself again, suddenly, his infatuation with the younger male was almost too much to explain.

Click.

The bathroom door creaked open and Chanyeol shuffled himself back in the room, Yifan still sat on the bed and was now looking at him, his thoughts abruptly cut. Chanyeol cleared his throat, “Have you had breakfast, Yifan-sshi?”

Breakfast? Oh, right. Breakfast. Yifan was in a daze as well and he shook his head at the question, “No… I, uh, I haven’t eaten yet.”

“Ohh….” Chanyeol played with his fingers as he stared at the elder who was staring back at him. Somehow, the two of them could no longer continue a conversation – even though they rarely had proper conversations to begin with. “Um….”

Yifan stared on and figured that it was ridiculous of him to do so. He stood up and Chanyeol tensed. As he walked over to the younger male, he knew that probably a dozen of things were running through Chanyeol’s head. Once he was close enough, he gave the recruit a smile to calm him down but it sort of gave the opposite effect. Chanyeol’s eyes darted from one side to the other before resting on the floor.

“Are you hungry?” Yifan asked softly and Chanyeol shyly nodded his head but then apologized just as soon as he did.

“Ah, no, sorry I didn’t mean…” Chanyeol fidgeted.

Yifan took a deep breath before he moved his hand and cupped Chanyeol’s cheek. When the younger male looked up in response, he kissed him. Man, I must really be a kissing type.

“Relax, Chanyeol.” Yifan whispered against his lips, leaving Chanyeol breathless.

“U-Uh…” Chanyeol nodded as Yifan pulled away, taking his hand. “Wha?”

“Wha?” he said… Yifan chuckled at the informal speech, not really minding it. “Breakfast.”

“Will we have it together?” Chanyeol asked, following after the elder and noticing that he was still in his casual attire. “A-Are you all right going out dressed like that?”

“Hm?” Yifan stopped as they left his room. “What? Is there something wrong with how I look?”

Chanyeol blinked and took another look. Something wrong? There’s nothing wrong. In fact, Chanyeol pretty much believed that Yifan could just come out in his pajamas and still look great. The recruit shook his head, “N-No. But…” They’ll be going out into the senior officers’ lounge and who knows what’ll happen then? Chanyeol didn’t want to think about it.

Yifan guessed what was running in his head. He must be worried about having breakfast here. This is his first time in the senior officers’ building, after all. “Don’t worry about it. If there’s something you don’t like, just tell me.” And he pulled Chanyeol along the hallway. Chanyeol was at a loss for words and his admiration for the elder was growing every second.

The two came down the stairs and Chanyeol realized why Yifan didn’t mind being so casually dressed. It seemed that the senior officers have better mornings than the recruits (well, that’s pretty obvious enough). While recruits did their morning routines and exercises in their uniforms every morning, the senior officers on the other hand, had more lax and laidback mornings. Most of the officers in the building wore jogging attires that meant they went for a stroll while others wore t-shirts, shorts or sweatpants.

“The dining area’s this way.” Yifan directed Chanyeol’s attention back to him with a tug on his hand. Chanyeol flinched, nearly forgetting that he was holding hands with the elder. Chanyeol nodded his head and followed him, trying to ignore some of the officers staring at the two of them.

“Morning, Yifan.” One officer who looked much like a young dad greeted them. “Who’s this?”

“P-Pa—“ Chanyeol tried to introduce himself when Yifan got ahead of him.

“Park Chanyeol, my student.” Yifan replied, holding Chanyeol’s hand tighter. “BOB.”

BOB? Chanyeol raised his eyebrow, confused. My name’s Chanyeol, Yifan-sshi! In fact, you just said it! Chanyeol tried to open his mouth to correct the elder but the young dad got ahead of him and clapped his hands, his eyes wide.

“No kidding.” Young dad replied, grinning. “Guess you’re a DH now huh, Yifan? RHIP, indeed.”

DH? RHIP? Chanyeol stared on before it hit him. Oh, they’re using slang terms... And suddenly, he felt nervous. What could they be talking about? What are they saying? He wanted to just tug at Yifan’s hand to inquire but had to stop himself from doing so considering that it wasn’t just them in the room.

“Nice SWAG.” Yifan smirked and pulled Chanyeol along, knocking him out of his reverie. “We’re going ahead then.”

“Right,” Young dad patted Yifan on the shoulder and gave Chanyeol a knowing smirk before heading the opposite direction. Chanyeol was in a daze as he followed the elder. Before long, they entered the dining area and Chanyeol knew exactly then that he was probably the luckiest recruit ever in the camp right now.

The area was nothing like their creaky, messy cafeteria. It was furnished with fancy wooden tables and clean white lights. Along the side was a long table of foods watched over by the senior officers’ own cafeteria staff that looked better dressed than the ones in Chanyeol’s cafeteria. Chanyeol had to remind himself on how to breathe as Yifan brought him along the table to check out the food prepared.

“You can have and take as many as you like.” Yifan said as he handed out Chanyeol a plate. They weren’t the only ones along the table; there were other senior officers too who were busying themselves with picking out the finely baked and golden brown breads and well cooked eggs and sausages. There was even some salad and coleslaw. Chanyeol forgot the last time he had salad.

“I – uh – er – um...” Chanyeol spoke haltingly, eyes darting at the different kinds of bread in his line of sight. “Wow.”

Yifan smiled at his reaction. “If you’re tired of cafeteria food, you can come here once in a while.”

“Wha?” Chanyeol replied with his informal question again but he was out of it to bother correcting himself. “C-Can I? Really?”

“Sure.” Yifan smiled and proceeded to get some food. Chanyeol blanked out for another second before he followed the elder, picking out some breakfast for himself as well. When they finished, they sat on one of the wooden tables near the side of the room, where Yifan usually sat. After getting comfortable, Yifan turned around to look at one of the cafeteria staff while asking, “Coffee?”

“Y-Yes, please.” Chanyeol stared on and Yifan gave a hand signal that seemed to only be reserved for senior officers and their staff members for two cups of coffee. The coffee arrived in record time and Chanyeol had to pinch himself because he was finally having a legit breakfast. There were some senior officers that were looking at them once in a while but no one seemed to bother questioning about what was going on. It seemed that there was already some kind of silent agreement in the air. As Chanyeol bit on his bread, he found the courage once again to ask Yifan about earlier, just to start a conversation. “Yifan-sshi, what were you and sunbaenim talking about?”

Yifan’s fork clattered on the plate. A first. “What?”

Chanyeol had the same expression Yifan had – wide eyed and questionable. W-Was I not supposed to ask? “Ah – n-no... I.... It’s because... I thought... it was about me, so....” He lowered his head. “Sorry.”

Yifan cleared his throat, “No, well, you’re right about what it was about.” He sighed with a smile, “And don’t apologize, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol blushed, still feeling giddy every time Yifan called him by his name. “It’s because I got curious since you and sunbaenim were using slang. So... I thought... of asking.... but if you don’t want to then it’s fine!” He hurriedly added and chewed on his bread some more.

Yifan chuckled, playing with his sausage. “It’