Chanyeol feels her fingers itching to draw something. Well, not just something, a specific thing. A specific someone. She doesn't often draw portraits, preferring the stability and permanence of still life, but Baekhyun is something else, and she would love to draw him, because then she'd have an excuse to stare at him for a long time without being creepy. And also she just wants to have a drawing of him, it'll be like an acheivement somehow, she thinks.

The only problem now is how to bring it up, as it isn't something you would just say in the middle of a normal conversation, although they've been having a lot more of those lately. 

In the canteen for example, they sit and eat together frequently. Their friendship groups have merged into one big group of people and luckily they all seem to get along great,  except Kris and Jongdae, who have some kind of bickering comedy act going on.

As much as Chanyeol loves the fact that everyone is happy,  she's positive she would prefer it if it were just the two of them. Even though Baekhyun is undoubtedly more confident and outgoing with his best friend next to him she needs to find a way to get him alone without scaring him off.

She conjures up this ridiculous fantasy, of them in the art classroom after school hours- the room is tinted orange and red because the sun is setting, bathing Baekhyun in flaming hues and the atmoshphere is romantic as Baekhyun sits languidly on a stage draped in white cloth. He's not wearing any clothes, and just one corner of the cloth is covering his modesty. Chanyeol is sat behind her easel and they make eye contact, then Baekhyun gets up. Chanyeol drops her pencil as Baekhyun cups her cheek and leans in to kiss her-

"Chanyeol, I swear to god, if you're daydreaming about lover boy I'm gonna hit you," Kris reprimands her. She's at her house again, freeloading and eating all her food. Her mother apparently doesn't mind, because 'she's such a lovely girl' but Chanyeol is annoyed at how often she has to change her bedsheets because Kris has sprinkled crumbs everywhere.

"I'm not," she insists, colouring a rosy pink and looking away. Kris nods slowly, obviously not believing her.

"Yeh, I could tell by the drool," she teases,

"Shut up, I'm not drooling," she snaps, trying to wipe discreetly, much to Kris' amusement. She takes a biscuit from the packet on the bed- chocolate chip ones, the kind she only gets to eat when there's guests over- and makes a face at her best friend.

What was she thinking anyway? Baekhyun would never be so forward, but she guesses that's part of his charm. Maybe in a year or so, when they're so close they could almost be one person (Chanyeol wishes) maybe then he'll initiate something, but for now it's up to her. Of course, first she's got to make him her boyfriend. She stands up abruptly, trying to remember where she left her sketchpad- the one she uses to draw things that aren't for school, and locates it under a pile of papers on her desk.

A little more rummaging around and she finds a pencil, then she sits next to Kris on the bed, with her legs bent at an angle so she can prop the pad up on them and stares at it for a moment. Kris budges over, knowing not to deliberately disturb her when she's drawing. Chanyeol had one goal in mind when she went to find the sketch pad- drawing Baekhyun- but now that its in front of her she can't see anything more than a blank piece of paper.

A few minutes later, there are a few lines that outline what is supposed to be Baekhyun's jawline, but they don't look quite right, because drawing from memory is always difficult. She keeps goibg until she's missing his eyes and his hair, and she feels like her grasp on him is slipping away from  her.

"Kris, who does this look like to you? " She asks, holding the paper up for her to see.

"Hmm. Not Baekhyun," she laughs when Chanyeol smacks her shoulder with it.

"I really think you should just ask him. Send him a text, " she waves Chanyeol's phone in front of her face the way a hypnotist might dangle a pocket watch.

"But," she tries to protest, bit before Chanyeol can get any more out Kris covers with her large hand.

"Ah-ah-ah! " she berates her, "no 'buts' just do it, "

Chanyeol lets out a humongous sigh but takes her phone out of her friend's grip. Before she can talk herself out of it-something she finds herself doing a lot lately- she texts Baekhyun to see if he's free after school. He usually is, so she isn't worried, but then the awkward bit is asking permission to draw him.  Not everyone is comfortable with being drawn, and to be honest Baekhyun strikes her as the type to not like it. But a few minutes later, to her relief, he texts back wanting to know where. 

"See? He clearly likes you, no guy would agree to this unless he liked you. Too much man pride or something, " Kris snorts.

"You're so gay," Chanyeol wrinkles her nose jokingly. Kris laughs at her, 

"Have you ever actually seen a ?" Chanyeol stares at her, not impressed, "they are the weirdest looking things ever. Trust me, " Kris makes a face, and Chanyeol rolls her eyes, turning her attention back to her phone and therefore Baekhyun. 

She decides to use her usual art classroom because it's free for at least an hour and a half after school hours until the cleaners come and all of the equipment is in there, like easels and the light, if she can remember how to use them. She'll just have to hope the memories of her fantasizing won't come back to her and fluster her.

After bidding both Kris and Baekhyun goodnight, she falls asleep anticipating the next day, bedsheets curled in her pink manicured hands. 

-

She daydreams through almost all of her lessons, and is delighted by the embarrassed flush that arises on Baekhyun's face when she reminds him, although that might have been more to do with how Jongdae hooted and howled with laughter at his friend's expense. 

Chanyeol was sure it was just an inside joke because she didn't really get what was so funny. 

So now she's waiting outside an empty classroom for Baekhyun, her sketchbook ready in her hands and one foot crossed over the other. 

Baekhyun suddenly skids around the corner, red faced and panting. 

"Sorry I'm late," he breathes. 

"You forgot, didn't you?" Chanyeol jokes, pretending to be stern and waggling a finger. Baekhyun rushes to explain himself, spluttering and protesting. She laughs and opens the classroom door with her shoulder, inviting him inside with a jerk of her head.

Baekhyun follows her in like a cat might, cautious and careful, but his tentative footsteps are sweet in Chanyeol's eyes.

The easel is heavy, and makes an agonised shriek when she drags it across the floor, until Baekhyun lifts it off the ground entirely and lets Chanyeol lead him to a space near the centre of the room.  He drops it with a precarious sounding clatter, but they are sturdier than they seem.

"Whew, those are heavy, " Baekhyun complains,  rubbing his hands. 

"I know," she agrees, "thanks for carrying it for me," 

"You're welcome, " Baekhyun smiles genially. Chanyeol grins back, getting lost in his pretty eyes. She shakes her head- she has work to do.

 She rests her sketchpad on the easel and readies her pencils. She peeks around the edge and looks at Baekhyun who's sat on a chair with his hands fisted together in his lap, staring at the floor.

"Can I just fix your hair?" Chanyeol asks, pointing at his fringe. Baekhyun clears his throat and nods.

"Yeah, "

Chanyeol rises to her feet and takes the three steps to where Baekhyun is sat, his heading tilting back gradually with each inch she draws nearer.  

It was a lie. She lied.  His hair is perfect as always, she just wanted a chance to touch it. She extends her arm, her long spindly fingers stretching out towards his hair-slightly wavy and surprisingly shiny for a boy. She makes a show of patting and smoothing his locks down, when she's actually just revelling in the texture running through her fingers.  She reaches around the back, even though she won't be able to see that part when she's drawing, but Baekhyun squeaks. 

Chanyeol retreats immediately, apologies on her lips, and finds Baekhyun with his eyes wide, staring at a spot in the distance, and face such a deep red he looks hot to touch. 

"I'm so sorry!" She exclaims, "are you alright?" She asks, concerned. Baekhyun nods jerkily,  leaving Chanyeol to wonder what she did to make him blush like that.

It twigs later, once she's started drawing him. It's because she'd put het chest right next to his face.  Oh god, she hadn't even noticed! She bites her lip and focuses on getting the shape of his cheekbones right, and tries not to thing about him and her s in the same context. Only, the problem with trying not to think thoughts is that they have an annoying tendency to come back even louder and in Chanyeol's case more graphic. She coughs, trying to ignore the twisting churning she gets in her gut every time she thinks about Baekhyun like this. 

But she needs to stop! This is not appropriate, especially with him right there. She finishes up with the preliminary sketches and starts adding a few bits of shade around Baekhyun's eyes, since they're one of his best features, she figures she should do those first, in case she runs out of time and has to do some from memory. He still seems nervous, as she changes to a darker pencil, a 4B, and draws the line of his lashes, adjusting it when he blinks and tilts his head.

It's when she starts to draw his lips that the inappropriate thoughts begin again. Although Chanyeol must've imagined it a thousand times, she wonders once again what it would feel like to have those lips on hers, how Baekhyun would kiss her.

 But she knows that probably won't happen, she needs to get a grip. She continues to draw, using the connection between the pencil and paper to keep her grounded and stop her from floating away on a fantasy.

The next thing she knows, its past six in the evening and the drawing is done. In the zone, she had completed the whole thing without realising it. The main shape of his face is slightly wonky, but it's obvious that it's him at least. And the hair is a mess on paper, she didn't do him justice at all-

"Wow! It looks amazing," Baekhyun breathes from somewhere in the vicinity of Chanyeol's right ear, making her jump and drop her pencil. 

"Baekhyun! " She laughs to recover from the shock. When did he get up? After surprising her, Baekhyun stepped backwards, hands up innocently but wearing one of his wide smiles that makes her want to keep him forever. She wants a photo. 

Quick as lighting, she whips out her phone and switches on the camera app, snapping a photo before poor Baekhyun can even register what's going on. It's a pretty nice picture she admits, and she would be tempted to set it as her phone background if it weren't so weird.

"Hey!" Baekhyun squawks, mock outraged. He reaches for the offending object, but Chanyeol uses her height to her advantage, holding it way above her head. He jumps to try and reach it, but Chanyeol is just too tall, so he resorts to squinting up at her, standing far too close for Chanyeol's heart to withstand. 

"What if I want to draw you again?" Chanyeol tries to explain, lying through her teeth.  Baekhyun scowls, and retreats,  digging into his pocket for his own phone, 

"In that case it's only fair if I have a picture of you too. Just in case I feel like trying my hand at something arty."

"What?" Chanyeol was not prepared for this, and only has a moment to conjure up a smile. Baekhyun laughs, showing her her awkward expression, 

"No! Delete it!" Chanyeol whines, grabbing at it pathetically.  The short boy fends her off, laughing smugly.

"No, we're even now, " Baekhyun shoves his phone into his pocket. 

A knock on the door interrupts Chanyeol's retort, along with a call from the cleaning lady, voice harsh from smoking, 

"I need you to leave now, alright kids?" 

"Yes, yes, we'll be gone in a minute," Chanyeol rushes to gather up her things. Baekhyun helps by carrying the easel back to where the others are while Chanyeol efficiently rolls up the drawing and holds it in place with an elastic band.

Baekhyun doesn't hold her hand on the walk to her house, but he does ask her if she's free on Saturday, his face crimson once again and stuttering to get the words out. Chanyeol beams at him and starts looking forward to spending the whole day with him.

ayo finally

an update from me whooo

so i just started at art college, and while i have about 1.2 hours each day on the train to write, im pretty tired at those times so not much writing actually happens....sorry but updates may now be EVEN SLOWER T_T im so sorry BUT i will not give up!!! 

if you comment you are my friend /hugs/ <3