"Chanyeol, honey, slow down and chew your food properly." His mom laid her hand onto his. 

He listened and spoke after swallowing. "Sorry, but Yifan is so cool. He's really quiet which is good for me because I like talking and he just listens." 

"Are you sure you don't let him talk?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No mom, he really is just quiet and likes to listen to me and mystories, even if they are totally made up!"

"Well, I'm glad you made a friend you like."

"He talks about a boy named Zitao. He has bags under his eyes like he's sleepy all the time, but I've only seen him once." Confusion graced the face of the young boy.

"Maybe Yifan still has imaginary friends?" She suggested.

"Nope, because I definitely saw Zitao. He's real."

"Okay, sweetie. Maybe they can both come over one day, alright?" His mom offered with a small smile which he returned with an even larger one.

"Yeah! That would be awesome!"

-

Chanyeol was laying down on his bed and staring at the glow in the dark star stickers that littered his ceiling when he started to think about Yifan.

Yifan was kind of like a star, he was bright and there but Chanyeol couldn't really touch him and it was like his mind wasn't always in the present. Yifan was also everywhere in his mind and his eyes glowed like a star too despite his constant monotone voice and dull personality. There was a shine somewhere in Yifan that was being suppressed but Chanyeol couldn't figure out what it was. 

Yifan knew all the answers to any ridiculous questions he had, he also stopped him from making terrible mistakes. Like when he grabbed his wrist after Chanyeol decided it would be a good idea to chase a ball that had rolled into a heavy traffic area. Zitao had just criticized his level of intelligence bit it came from concern, he could tell. They hadn't know each other long but he could tell that they almost needed each other. One kept the other going.

Chanyeol never saw introversion as a character flaw, some people just liked being quiet. It was like Yifan was too scared to talk to him or Zitao sometimes, like he was scared that they would laugh at him or leave him. He also didn't like hugs either which bothered him at first until he realized Yifan's family may not be as affectionate as his own.

When he thought about it, Zitao was more distant that Yifan. He was like the white noise out of the three of them. He was always with them physically but at the same time, Zitao could vanish and he thinks that neither him nor Yifan would notice. He certainly did care about Zitao as much as he did Yifan. He would never tell them, but he did believe Zitao was cuter than Yifan but only by a little bit. He has a stronger urge to hug the panda eyed boy until Zitao glared at him like he could threaten him with his mind.

Yifan and Zitao were both hiding something and Chanyeol hoped that through the power of pure friendship that they would tell him one day.