Chanyeol's life was slowly changing. It all began when he had stopped being Mr. Chick, because the true Mr. Chick had coma back and he wasn't needed anymore.


Somehow he ended up being a drummer instead.


  The band was called "Heavy Noize". They performed three times a week at the amusement park that was owned by Dara's father. It was a new band, one of Dara's ideas to attract more visitors, although it couldn't be said that the place lacked visitors. As the future owner of the amusement park she didn't see any problems with some improvements though; as long as the true spirit of a business woman still ran in her blood, she would always shine with her innovations. Same thing applied to all members of her big family.


And what a coincidence, she had two jobless boys living at her house. And what a coincidence, one of the two was a curious not-so-little thing who happened to love wandering around inside the house like a lost puppy when he had nothing to do, the habit that had led him to a door he had never opened before. In that room he had found another small piece of his incomplete life, one little piece of the huge puzzle inside his head; he had found music.


  That day when Dara had just come home, what she had found the first thing had been the scared Baekhyun, crouching behind the front door with his hands covering his ears.


  "I- I think Chanyeol-ssi is destroying something in there," he had said, squeaking like a mouse.


  It had turned out Chanyeol had only been testing a set of drums. The new set of drums for the new band. The band that hadn't had a drummer at that time.


  "Chanyeollie, you're a drummer now," she had declared right away.


"Okay." Ba-dum-tss. "Can I play the bass too? Guitar? Piano? Sing, maybe? I've tried them all here."


  "You can only have one position, Yeollie. It's a band for an amusement park, not a circus."


  With that, Chanyeol had a new status as a drummer, while Baekhyun became "Mrs. Chick the widow". Yes, since Mrs. Chick was a new innovation, he was still stuck with the pizza stacks. The band had only needed a drummer and the place had been taken by Chanyeol, so Baekhyun didn't feel the need to prove anything to himself by trying to play those musical instruments. He might end up breaking them, having to work as Mrs. Chick for the rest of his life to pay for it.


So, whenever Chanyeol performed with his new bandmates, Baekhyun sat on one of the many chairs provided in front of the stage, together with Dara and a bunch of other people. Sometimes he shared some popcorn or cotton candy with Dara while they watched the performance. They were not that bad, for a rookie band. The first weeks after they had "debuted", the band had practiced everyday until night at the place Dara had provided. Since Chanyeol hadn't known any songs, his bandmates had taught him many songs, most of them were the old songs sung by some famous rock bands. Like Green Day and Nirvana, his favorites. He had found interest in those kinds of songs.


  But since they could only attract some teenagers with the same interest, they were trying to improve by also learning some other K-pop songs and were also accepting song requests, which they would gladly play if they knew the requested songs well.


  The noise of "Heavy Noize" wasn't so heavy anymore.


  That Saturday night, as usual, Baekhyun and Dara sat next to each other at the venue, third row from the front. As usual they had some popcorn with them, and as usual Dara cheered for his boys along with the others, mostly teenagers. And as usual Baekhyun was trying his best not to be seen by Chanyeol, not like he thought the giant would look at him while he was perfoming. That would only ruin everything. Not because they liked each other, but because they were still beyond awkward with each other.


  Baekhyun still believed that Chanyeol really really really hated him with all his heart; dead or alive.


  But, just in case, Baekhyun set his eyes on Heavy Noize's logo on the drum. That way, no eye contacts would occur between him and the giant drummer.


"Chanyeol oppa~!" Baekhyun flinched when suddenly a girl shouted behind his ears. He clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes.


  'Why does everyone have to scream his name??'


  It wasn't literally everyone, actually, but Baekhyun's ears had just become quite sensitive if it came to Chanyeol's name. He could even catch a guy's voice shouting it, not that loudly actually, probably four rows behind him and far on the right side. It annoyed him to the ridiculous extent.


  He didn't like Chanyeol being famous.


  "Baekhyunnie, cheer for your fellow puppy!" Dara elbowed Baekhyun, in result making Baekhyun almost drop his popcorn bag and fall off his seat out of surprise.


  "Yay, Chanyeol oppa," Baekhyun said with monotonic voice, his face utterly unimpressed.


"Ya, that doesn't sound sincere at all!" Dara laughed and pinched Baekhyun's cheek, causing him to smile shyly.


At the end of the mini concert, as usual the band let their spectators request a special song. The baby-faced vocalist threw a towel that he had used to wipe his sweat at the crowd. Some girls screamed as they reached out their hands to catch it, but the cloth ended up caught by a teenage boy. He stood up and grinned proudly, waving the small towel in his hand. The vocalist laughed and let him request the last song for the night.


  To everyone's surprise, the boy asked for a sad song as the closing. The vocalist didn't seem to mind though; he only turned to see Chanyeol, who gave him a thumbs up as the sign that he knew the song. They began the song and all of the spectators became quiet, drowning in the slow and sad intro. Baekhyun turned his head to see Dara's face; even she wasn't shouting and cheering anymore.



  Is it passing away?

Is our love a heartbreaking memory?

You are turning back

Is even tear not enough to hold you back?



  My Love... I love you, I love you

Are you listening?

My Love... Please don’t forget

Please don’t erase our love



  Baekhyun set his eyes on his popcorn. The vocalist's voice sounded really soft and sad, it made him kind of sad too. He didn't want to be sad though.



  Are my tears visible to you?

I long for you the whole day

Even the kiss that made my heart beat faster

Seems to be memory now



    Baekhyun bit his lip and lifted his head; that was when his eyes met with Chanyeol's. He wanted to look away but somehow he couldn't. Their eye contact lasted like forever to Baekhyun, until finally Chanyeol broke it and averted his gaze somewhere else. There was no smile on his face. Baekhyun dropped his head again and restlessly chewed on his bottom lip.



  My Love... I love you, I love you

Are you listening?

My Love... Please don’t forget

Please don’t erase our love...



  The song ended and soon the band waved goodbye before leaving the stage. The spectators left the place, but not Dara and Baekhyun. The boy was still sitting idle with his head hung low, while the other was trying to shake him back to consiousness.


  "Baekhyunnie. Helloooo. Are you still with me?" Dara grabbed the younger's shoulder and shook him back and forth.


  Baekhyun let out a soft, long sigh as he lifted his head to stare blankly at the empty stage. Just then was Dara able to see trails of tears on his pale cheeks, glistening under the lights of the stage. She gasped and turned his body facing her abruptly, and then brought her hands up to his face to wipe the tears away.


  "Baekhyunnie, why did you cry?" She asked worriedly, cupping the younger's cheeks in her hands.


  "I don't know," Baekhyun mumbled weakly and sniffed, "I just got sad hearing that song."


  "D'aww," Dara cooed, the other's hair and smiling understandingly. "Yes, that song was really sad, wasn't it?"


  Baekhyun nodded slowly and jutted out his bottom lip. "What song was that?"


"It's 'I Love You', sung by SNSD's Taeyeon," Dara beamed, "do you know her?"


  "Taeyeon?" Baekhyun cocked his head to the side. "I only know one of SNSD's songs, but I don't know the members that well yet. So she sings alone too?"


  "Yup. She's a great solo singer too. She's the leader of the group, I bet you'll like her later after you know her better," Dara giggled as she stood up and slung her bag on her shoulder. "Come on, let's get Chanyeollie and go home now."


  "Oh, the leader! I know the leader, but I forgot her name. Yes, she's really pretty!" Baekhyun said excitedly as he followed the other to the backstage.


  Dara laughed and pinched the puppy's cheek again. "Look, your square smile is back."


  "What? My smile isn't square."


  "Yes it is."


  Baekhyun was then nervous again. With the tall giant standing in front of him, wearing a sleeveless shirt that exposed his sweat-covered biceps, drinking from his water bottle in a very manly way; how could Baekhyun not bow his head like a shy teenage girl?


  "Chanyeollie! That was awesome!" Dara high-fived the tall drummer.


  "Of course, noona. That's because you were there to watch me," Chanyeol wiggled his eyebrows and smiled mischievously. He brought his face closer and tapped his cheek. "Would you reward me with a kiss? Here?"


Dara gasped and smacked his shoulder, while his other bandmates went "ewww~" and pretended to gag. Chanyeol cackled and smacked his own knee, his right eye twitching as the habit he had whenever he laughed.


  "You naughty you, not a chance," Dara crinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue.


  The tall lady dragged her two puppies away while waving goodbye at the rest of the band. Baekhyun was walking next to Chanyeol with his eyes locked on his almost-empty popcorn bag when suddenly a big hand invaded his sight, shoved into the paper bag and pulled away again after grasping a quite big amount of popcorn. Baekhyun turned his head quickly in surprise to see Chanyeol stuff his mouth with all the popcorn and munch the snack like a hungry giant. The smaller looked down again, and after pondering for a moment, he shoved the bag towards the other boy.


  "Here, have them all," he said sheepishly.


Chanyeol glanced down at the popcorn bag, looking rather surprised. He was hesitant for a moment, but since he was really hungry, he ended up taking the snack and eating it without even saying anything to the smaller boy. Baekhyun was surprised enough that the other took it, so he had no reasons to be disappointed.


  "Aww, my babies are sharing some popcorn," Dara giggled happily. "Now, because you two have made a progress, we should go out for a second dinner tonight! How about that??"


  "Awesome!" The two puppies answered in unison, but then awkwardly cleared their throats and averted their gazes from each other.


  They kept being awkward for the rest of the night. Dara tried to convince them many times to talk to each other but to no avail. In the end, she got tired of it and gave up, opting to brush the topic off and lighten up the mood instead by throwing some lame jokes. At least it could make the other two smile again.





        The next morning, Baekhyun woke up to find the house painfully silent. Assuming that Dara and Chanyeol were not home, he went to the kitchen to see if there was any food left for him to eat. What he found was only a baby blue sticky note, sticking on the fridge.



  Dear Baekhyunnie,


  Yeollie and I are out to get some food. He woke up early so I let him go with me. If you find this note before we return home, please don't go anywhere and wait for us! Go take a shower, we'll be back soon. Hope you won't get too hungry!


  xoxo,
Your pretty noona ;D



  "So motherly," Baekhyun chuckled and discarded the note into the trash bin. He shuffled his way towards the bathroom, unconsciously whistling the song he had heard at the mini concert the night before.


  "What was the singer's name again? Oh, right, Taeyeon," he thought out loud. "Pretty, pretty Taeyeon."


  He grinned creepily as he shut the door, stripped himself and stepped into the shower. He the water, closed his eyes and smiled as the warm water hit his face and fell trickling down his pale-skinned body.


  He hummed the song again while his hands worked on his head, massaging his scalp with the vanilla-scented shampoo that Chanyeol also used everyday. His mind involuntarily flew back to the time when he had his longest eye contact with the giant, which was only the night before. He had felt something back then, something stirring inside him, making him want to jump onto the stage and throw himself at the drummer. Strange enough, that idea didn't seem crazy at all to Baekhyun; it felt normal instead.


  His brain had lost its ability to remember, but his heart hadn't.


  Like, the night before, Baekhyun had spent about an hour staring at the other's sleeping face. He could have seen it quite clearly under the light of the lamp on the bedside table separating their beds. The bigger boy had looked really tired, drool coming out of his slightly parted plump lips, but seeing that Baekhyun hadn't felt disgusted at all.


  Instead, he had felt the urge to get off his bed and move to the other's, take a small kitten on those plump lips just to know how they tasted like. By thinking that way, was he a ert?


  His long train of thoughts was brought to a halt when the soap accidentally got into his eye.


  "Aish!" He sprayed his eye with the running water immediately, accidentally elbowing the shampoo bottle in process, causing it to fall right onto his foot. He whined painfully and held his foot, rubbing the red mark on it with his thumb to soothe the pain. An image of Chanyeol laughing mockingly at him flashed in his mind, making him pout hard at the shampoo bottle. He began to pity himself to the point that his eyes became hot with tears that were threatening to come out. Sighing sadly, he decided to distract himself by thinking about something else.


  He closed his eyes and sighed deeply. Opening his mouth, he let his soft voice out of his throat, echoing beautifully inside the bathroom.


  "My love... I love you, I love you~ Are you listening?"


His voice tremble slightly, so he paused and opened his eyes halfway. He sighed and stared at the floor sadly, the water still running down his back. My voice is so bad. I can't sing, he thought, but who cares? It's only me here.


  "My love... Please don't forget..." Was it what they had forgotten? "Please don't erase... Our love."


  He shook his head hard and fisted his wet hair, groaning mentally. 'What am I thinking?? Love? Chanyeol and I? That's impossible, that would never happen even in the past. I'm totally far from his taste.'


Somehow mad at himself, Baekhyun finished his shower quickly and dried himself with a fresh towel. Assuming that the house was still empty, he wrapped the towel around his waist instead of putting on some clothes, which he regretted right away after swinging the door open.


  His eyes were immediately greeted by two figures; a grinning Dara and a stoic-faced Chanyeol, standing right in front of the door.


  "Baekhyunnie, sing more!" Dara exclaimed, quietly clapping her hands, excitedly bouncing on her heels.


  Baekhyun blinked dumbly as his brain tried to digest what was happening. Strange enough, the first thing that entered his mind was not the fact that the two had eavesdropped him sing in the bathroom, but that Chanyeol was eyeing his bare torso with a bored look displayed on his face. The second he realized that, he slammed the door shut on the other two's faces.


Baekhyun pressed his back against the door, his eyes wide and his face somewhat flushed. He quickly put on his clothes, yet his pace gradually slowed down as he recalled Chanyeol's unimpressed face. He took a sad glance of his skinny body once again before covering it with his used shirt, since he hadn't brought a fresh one to the bathroom.


  'I'm not attractive, am I?' he pouted.


  "Baekhyunnie," Dara called, rapidly knocking on the door. "Hurry up and get out, I want to hear you sing again! Your voice is really nice!"


  A sad small smile found its way to Baekhyun's lips. He believed the older was only being nice and understanding again, like she always did to him. His voice was nowhere near nice.


  Baekhyun sighed once again before opening the door a little bit, just enough for him to shyly peek outside; the sight making Dara coo and smile adoringly. The eldest of the three pushed the door open by force and pulled the boy out of his hiding place, making him stand in front of her and the other boy.


  "Sing again," Dara commanded eagerly with a creepy grin splitting up her face.


Baekhyun stole a quick glance at Chanyeol's poker face before bowing his head deeply and nervously playing with his slender fingers. "I...I don't want to."


  Dara's smile faltered instantly. "Why not? You have a good voice though!" She whined, and then lightly elbowed Chanyeol's arm. "Don't you think his voice is good, Yeollie?"


  Chanyeol narrowed his eyes at the smaller puppy, taking his time to intimidate him with his icy cold gaze before looking away and rolling his eyes. "You're exaggerating it too much, noona. Nothing special about his voice. He couldn't even control it."


  Dara gasped and Baekhyun wanted to run away.


  "That's rude!" Dara scolded and gave a weak slap to Chanyeol's shoulder. Letting her motherly instinct take control, she wrapped her arms around Baekhyun's body and put his head on her shoulder, patting his back soothingly while glowering at the taller boy.


  "It's fine, noona," Baekhyun said hesitantly, squirming uncomfortably under Chanyeol's intense gaze.


  "Yeah, it should be fine because I was saying the truth," Chanyeol shrugged nonchalantly and Baekhyun hid his face behind Dara's shoulder.


  "But you might hurt him!" Dara defended her other puppy. "No, look how you've hurt him. Just because you can rap and sing well doesn't mean you can judge him that hard, Yeollie. Now apologize already."


  Chanyeol's eyes enlarged and his lips parted slightly, not expecting the older to make him apologize to the other boy. He jutted out his bottom lip and gave Dara his adorable puppy eyes, but the lady furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head firmly.


Chanyeol let out a big sigh and rolled his eyes. "Fine. I'm sorry, Baekhyun-ssi."


  Baekhyun turned his head a little bit to glance at the slightly younger boy with damp eyes, his hurt look catching the other boy off guard for a split second.


  "I-It's okay."


  Dara turned Baekhyun facing Chanyeol and moved his hand towards the big boy. "Shake hands," she commanded.


Chanyeol took the smaller hand and shook it hesitantly. It felt warm and fragile in his.


  Dara's annoyed face transformed into a happy one. "Now hug!" Without any warnings, she pushed the oblivious Baekhyun towards Chanyeol, face crashing on chest. They both widened their eyes and pushed each other away immediately, while Dara laughed and fleed to the kitchen.


  "Go to the kitchen when you're done, I'll prepare the food!" She shouted between her giggles from afar.


  Chanyeol cleared his throat and awkwardly smoothed his shirt, while Baekhyun stepped away and stood facing the wall to hide his red face.


  "S-Sorry," Baekhyun muttered at the wall. Chanyeol raised an eyebrow and shook his head. 'Weird guy,' he thought.


After a good minute without receiving any replies from the other, Baekhyun turned around slowly, just to find empty space around him. Chanyeol wasn't there anymore; Baekhyun wondered when he had left and why he hadn't heard his footsteps. He felt even dumber then.


  That day was Baekhyun's day off at the amusement park, but it was also his first day working at a bakery. Being the kind noona she was, Dara had found the job for him, so he didn't have to stay alone at home doing nothing and dying out of boredom on his days off. Lately she had been teasing him by calling him Byun Baeker, although he had insisted that the name didn't suit him at all since he was working as the cashier, not the baker. But, acting as if she owned the bakery, Dara promised a higher position to Baekhyun if he worked hard there. Baekhyun had been wondering, how could she promise that?


  Turned out the bakery was her cousin's.


And so, Dara dropped Baekhyun off at the bakery first before heading to the amusement park with Chanyeol. His shift was at noon until night. As Dara had told him, the bakery was still new, so it hadn't been that famous yet and there weren't that many customers. After meeting the boss and the manager, he was introduced to his partner at the cashier, a short chubby lady who apparently really loved staring at her nails and her own reflection in her small mirror. She was neither ugly nor pretty, but by the looks of it, Baekhyun guessed she was good at styling hair and applying make up. He wondered why she was working at the bakery and not the salon instead.


  The manager took him to her and left him just like that, awkwardly staring at the lady.


  "Hi?" The lady raised an eyebrow. "You should at least tell me your name, ya know. I can't just start working on your face without knowing your name, cuz dat's awkward, dude."


  Baekhyun widened his eyes and involuntarily touched his cheek. "W-Work on my...face?"


  "Well, aren't you here for that?" The chubby lady tilted her head and pointed at Baekhyun with a pencil in a sassy way.


  "N-No! I'm here to work as the cashier!" Baekhyun waved his hands frantically and the other's laugh boomed, an explosive one, knocking some stuff off the table she was sitting behind. Baekhyun just stood there baffled, staring at her as if he couldn't make it to figure out what kind of weird creature the round lady was. Her voice was big and powerful, Baekhyun guessed she could sing too.


  "I thought you were asking me to put on some make up on you!" She said between her incessant laugh. Baekhyun still couldn't understand what was so funny about it.


After she had calmed down a little, she finally explained with a grin, "I'm sorry, dude, that just happens a lot. Girls coming here and asking me to fix their faces and hair for their dates."


  "But I'm not a girl," Baekhyun said, bewildered.


  "Well, I thought you needed some help too because your face is just waaaay too plain, and with that expression that you've been making ever since you came here, you look like a lost kid suffering from amnesia losing hope and all that, no spirit in life, and is about to die sad and lonely."


  Baekhyun's eye twitched. "Do I look that pitiful?"


  The lady got off her seat and waddled towards Baekhyun, and just after she stood right in front of him did Baekhyun realize her head didn't even reach his chest. With the pink shirt she was wearing, she reminded him of the strawberry doughnuts displayed on the display case near where he was standing. Acting absentmindedly, Baekhyun placed his hand on top of the other's head and blinked dumbly at her shocked face.


"Hands off!" The lady slapped his hand away, causing him to retreat his hand immediately and hide it behind his back.


  "So- Sorry," Baekhyun said sheepishly.


  "Your name?" The shorter asked again, tapping her foot impatiently.


  "Baekhyun. Byun Baekhyun," Baekhyun said quickly. "You are?"


  "You don't know me?" The lady gasped, pretending to be extremely  surprised. The bewildered Baekhyun shook his head hesitantly. "I'm SNSD's Taeyeon! Oh my gosh, you must be a caveman for not knowing me!"


  "You are?" Baekhyun widened his eyes, and then scolded himself hard mentally. "Of course you're not. Taeyeon isn't round like you."


  "Ya watch your words or I'll cut your peepee and put it in a hotdog bun!" The short female snatched a paper fan from the table and slapped the other's arm with it repeatedly and mercilessly.


  "Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Baekhyun stepped back and covered his arm with his hand, laughing lightly at the funny faces the other was making. "Tell me your name then. You must be older than me, right, noona?"


  "Ya, who told you you could call me noona?" The shorter stopped her vigorous attacks and put her hands on her waist, yet her lips formed a grin that she was clearly trying to hold.


  "Oh then what should I call you? Ahjumma?" Baekhyun grinned and lifted his hands to cover his head, although he knew the other wouldn't be able to hit his head; she was too short for that.


  "This kid..." The older muttered between her clenched teeth, eyeing the other up and down impatiently. "Ya, I told you my name already! It's Taeyeon!"


  "Seriously??" Baekhyun widened his eyes.


  "No, just kidding. It's Han Byul," the shorter grinned, face changing in just a split second. "How old are you?"


  Baekhyun pouted and puffed his cheeks. "I'm nineteen this year."


  "Then you can call me noona. I'm twenty," Byul grinned cheekily. She grabbed Baekhyun's wrist, dragged him towards her chair behind the table and sat him there.


  "You look twenty four though," Baekhyun chuckled. He himself had no idea where he had gotten the courage to tease the chubby lady from; it was just fun.


  "Shut up, Byun Baekhyun. Now, I'll make you look pretty like a diva and you'll regret teasing me like this and later I want you to get on your knees and kiss my feet in return. Got it?" Byul asked flipping her hair, somehow making Baekhyun cringe.


  "Aren't we supposed to work?" Baekhyun asked doubtfully.


  "Oh, you want to work? Work then. Just look around, Byun Baekhyun. There are no customers here," Byul said, opened her paper fan and used it to cover her big yawn. She put it aside and grabbed a small black bag. Baekhyun eyed it curiously, while the other opened it and positioned herself in front of him. Baekhyun's droopy eyes widened as soon as he saw the content of the bag.


  Byul grabbed something that looked like like a pencil and smirked at Baekhyun. "This, Byun Baekhyun, is called eyeliner. You'll use this often now and I'll teach you how to use it. Okay?"


Baekhyun locked his eyes on the eyeliner and gulped nervously. "O-Okay. B-But, is it okay for a guy to use it?" He squeaked.


  "Of course! All K-pop idols use this," Byul beamed. "Now close your eyes before a customer come."





      Later that night, Baekhyun went home carrying an eyeliner in his pocket. As soon as he got back home and entered the room he shared with Chanyeol, he hid it between his neatly folded clothes, and then went straight to the bathroom. He had gone home by himself and the house was still empty, so it was the only chance for him to clean himself up.


Baekhyun stared at his own reflection in the mirror. Byul had been right about him looking pretty after she had fixed his face; he looked really different. His eyes didn't look that small and his eyebags weren't visible anymore. Byul had even styled his black hair up by applying some gel. He didn't look like a nerd at all; in fact, he had secretly caught some pairs of eyes staring at him all the way home, owned by some girls and erts. He wondered what Dara and Chanyeol would say if they saw him like that.


But since he wasn't ready for it, he cleaned his face using the stuff Byul had lent him and also had taught him how to use, and then took a quick shower because he was just too tired already.


  Even after Baekhyun had snuggled comfortably in his bed, Dara and Chanyeol hadn't come home yet. It was ten at night and he didn't know where they were.


  A question popped out in his mind.


  'Are they going out on a date?'


  The more he thought about it, the more he saw the possibility that it was true. Chanyeol was so clingy to their noona he might steal her heart. Baekhyun pouted at the idea. If that really happened, then he would be left alone at home more often. Dara's love for them wouldn't be equal anymore and Chanyeol would probably hate him even more because he might see him as a rival. Baekhyun sighed sadly and closed his eyes, and soon enough he drifted off to sleep.


  Just like the previous nights, Baekhyun had a similar nightmare. In that dream, Dara kicked him out and sent him back to the street, where he had to sleep on the hard, cold concrete, surrounded by smelly trash cans. While he was lying down helplessly, those two passed by, with Chanyeol's arm encircled around Dara's shoulders. Chanyeol's other hand was holding an ice cream that he was sharing with the other. They looked really happy, while Baekhyun's empty stomach grumbled in protest, wanting to be filled. When Chanyeol caught the sight of Baekhyun out of the corner of his eyes, he stopped walking abruptly and began to laugh at him incessantly. Dara too, after flashing a sympathetic smile, began to laugh with the other.


  "Are you hungry, Baekhyunnie?" Chanyeol asked mockingly, and then suddenly threw the ice cream at him, hitting him square on the face. "Eat that until you're fed up!"


The two laughed even harder and walked away, leaving Baekhyun sobbing alone while trying to clean his face.


  Baekhyun opened his eyes and the darkness of the alleyway turned into the darkness of his shared room with Chanyeol. He sat up slowly and turned his head to see Chanyeol's bed still empty. He bowed his head, buried his face in his hands and began to cry.


  He didn't know how long he had been crying until he finally calmed down. He wiped his tears away with the back of his hands and lifted his head. That was when his eyes fell on the door and he had to yelp in surprise.


Chanyeol was standing there, staring at him quietly while holding a cotton candy in his hand. Baekhyun felt his blood rush to his face, realizing that the other had seen him cry like a baby. He bowed his head and weakly squeezed his blanket in his hands.


  "H-How long have you been there?" Baekhyun asked with shaky voice, not daring to raise his head again.


  "...About five minutes."


  Baekhyun shot his head up in surprise, but immediately dropped it again. He answered my question!


  His eyes widened even more when he heard the other's approaching footsteps slowly come closer to him. By the time Chanyeol dropped his on the edge of Baekhyun's bed, the smaller boy's heart had been thumping madly he felt like jumping off the bed and running away to hide in the bathroom.


After a good minute staying in that position without exchanging any words, Baekhyun mustered up all his courage to raise his head until he could finally see the other's face. Were his eyes mistaken? The handsome face looked somewhat worried; he let his concern apparent on it.


  "...Are you okay?" Chanyeol asked, his voice low and hesitant. Baekhyun felt like crying out of happiness; so far the giant hadn't shown any signs of hate towards him.


Chanyeol bowed his head and stared at the pink cotton candy he was still holding, doubtfully biting his plump bottom lip. To Baekhyun's surprise, he shoved the cotton candy towards him and shyly said, "Here, to... To make you feel better."


  Baekhyun stared at the pink bundle with wide eyes, as if Chanyeol was offering him a box full of cockroaches. He tore his gaze off it to look at the other's face, which he couldn't read because there were just too many emotions on it; but one thing that Baekhyun could clearly see was his awkwardness. He couldn't protest about that, at least the giant was trying to be nice. Unless he had put something in that cotton candy that might kill him right after he swallowed it.


As if Chanyeol could read his mind, he quickly said, "I didn't put anything in it, I've already eaten half of it." To prove it, he took a bite and swallowed it, his lips and flashed a hesitant small smile. Baekhyun felt his heart drop to his stomach.


Chanyeol gave the cotton candy to the smaller boy and watched as he began to eat it shyly and quietly, taking small bites like a kitten.


  "Thank you," Baekhyun said, almost like a whisper.


  "No problem." Chanyeol rubbed his nape and squirmed restlessly, looking somewhat uneasy. He bit his lip and drummed his fingers on his thigh until he finally let out a long sigh.


  "Look, Baekhyun-ssi," he started, "I'm sorry for acting rude towards you, I just couldn't help it. I'm sorry if I hurt you earlier this morning, I really didn't mean to do that. But you shouldn't cry like that at midnights, it's not healthy."


  Baekhyun was surprised, but he kept eating to prevent himself from getting too emotional. He wondered if he should tell the other why actually he had cried, but since the other hadn't asked about it, he thought he shouldn't.


  "...It's okay. I understand, you just can't accept me yet," Baekhyun mumbled.


  "I'll try," Chanyeol said quickly, "I'll stop being rude."


  Baekhyun couldn't help but ask, "Why?"


  "Well," Chanyeol shrugged, "it's just not healthy for both of us to stay like this. No, actually because I've made Dara noona sad by acting rude towards you. I don't want her to be sad."


  Baekhyun nodded while and his sticky fingers. He put his finger in his mouth and it clean, slowly pulled it out and released it with a popping sound. Chanyeol's eye twitched seeing how the other was acting like a five-year-old.


  "Okay," Baekhyun finally said, "so it's for Dara noona."


  "Yes, for her," Chanyeol nodded before getting up and walking to the door. He turned his head and said, "I'll take a shower now, you should brush your teeth."


  "Okay."


  They entered the bathroom together; Chanyeol sat on the toilet and waited while Baekhyun brushed his teeth. Baekhyun couldn't understand why the other had to wait inside and make everything awkward, but he didn't want to think about it, so he brushed his teeth quickly. He stole a glance at the other and found him sitting with his head hanging and his eyes closed, sign that he had fallen asleep. Baekhyun chuckled quietly and wiped his mouth before reaching out his hand to tap the other's shoulder, yet stopped before he could touch him.


  'Will he get mad if I wake him up?' He bit his lip and let his hand hang in the air for a moment until he finally shrugged and decided to shake the other by the shoulders quite hard.


  "Uh? Ehh?" Chanyeol lifted his head and looked around with half-lidded sleepy eyes, his face making Baekhyun have to bite his lip to hold his laugh.


  Chanyeol stopped turning his head and stared right into the other's eyes sleepily. To Baekhyun's surprise, he chuckled quietly and grinned, making Baekhyun wonder if he was actually sleepy or drunk.


  "Baek...kie," he murmured, before yawning widely and closing his eyes again.


  Baekhyun's small eyes had turned wide they almost looked like Chanyeol's.


  "B-Baekkie...?" Baekhyun whispered, "Did you just call me Baekkie?"


  Chanyeol began to snore as the answer.


  "Aish." Baekhyun threw his hand over his face and groaned quietly. "What do I do now?"


  After spending a good minute pacing back and forth inside the bathroom, he decided to wake the other up by shaking him again.


  "Chanyeol-ssi, Park Chanyeol, wake up you can't sleep here," he said while lightly tapping the other's cheek. Instead of waking up, the giant puppy only snored even louder.


  Baekhyun straightened his back and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can't be doing this."


  He bent down and wrapped his arms around Chanyeol's body, making sure to hold him in the right position before struggling to pull him up to a standing position.


  "Ugh, oh my God, so heavy," he grunted as he tried to keep himself still and not to let both of them fall dramatically onto the bathroom floor. Chanyeol's body was completely leaning on him he felt like carrying a palm tree. Slowly but sure, he dragged the bigger boy out of the bathroom and back to their shared room.


  "You're that tired, huh? You shouldn't have come home this late. You don't even have the energy to clean yourself and you smell like butter popcorn," Baekhyun scolded softly, which he would never be able to do when Chanyeol was fully awake.


Baekhyun placed Chanyeol on his bed carefully and covered his lanky body with the blanket before returning to his own bed. He stared at Chanyeol's sleeping face for a bit, smiled to himself and finally closed his eyes. The smaller puppy turned around and began to make sounds he always made before falling asleep out of habit.


  "Sshhh..."


  Baekhyun opened his eyes and stiffened, not daring to move a muscle, but after what seemed like forever he could hear Chanyeol snore again and he could finally relax and close his eyes again. This time he tried not to make too many noises, but he just had to make some, he couldn't help it. He just hoped Chanyeol could get his beauty sleep without being bothered by his noises.





        The next morning, Baekhyun woke up few minutes earlier than the bigger puppy, so he could watch the process of Park Chanyeol waking up. His tousled black hair was a terrible mess and he looked like a drunk guy, sitting with his eyes closed. Baekhyun glanced at the clock and waited to see how long it would take the other to gather his scattered soul back into his body and wake up completely. Turned out five minutes was enough.


  Chanyeol cracked his eyes open and turned his head towards the other bed. Happy to finally get the attention, Baekhyun cocked his head to the side and flashed his square grin.


  "Good morning, Chanyeol-ssi," the smaller greeted cheerfully.


  Chanyeol cracked his eyes open wide and Baekhyun didn't understand why he looked so surprised. The giant forced a smile before getting off his bed and quickly making his way out of the room. Confused, Baekhyun shrugged and slid off his bed, going out to find their noona while he waited for his turn to use the bathroom.


He found Dara in the kitchen, preparing their breakfast while humming cheerfully. He walked to her and poked her back, smiling sweetly when she turned around to see him.


  "Oh, good morning, Baekhyunnie! How was your sleep?" the older beamed.


  "It was nice," Baekhyun chuckled. "Where did you go last night?"


  Dara turned around again, and while stirring something that smelled really good in a pot on the stove she eagerly explained, "Well, after work the band kept whining that they were hungry, so we went out to have some late night snack. We went to the park too, I was really tired but they dragged me there! Ugh, those boys. Yeollie even carried his cotton candy everywhere like a kid! They joked and laughed incessantly like some howling wild dogs while I fell asleep on the bench. Can you imagine that? My body still hurts a bit now. Guess I should just go home first next time. How was your first day at the bakery though?"


  Baekhyun grinned seeing the other nag like a mother. "It was great, I made a new friend. She taught me how to put on some make up and gave me her eyeliner."


  Dara almost knocked the pot off the stove as she quickly spun around and gawked at the younger. "Does that mean you can do your face on your own now?"


  Bekhyun chuckled bashfully and shook his head. "I'm still learning how to use the eyeliner. She said it'd make my eyes look a bit bigger and sharper if I used it right."


  "Aww," Dara cooed and clasped her hands like a proud mother. She giggled and pinched the younger's cheek. "That's right, but you're also pretty without make up. You just have to smile more."


  Baekhyun nodded and grinned shyly. "Thank you, noona."


  "And you'll be even prettier after you clean yourself and fix that messy hair," Dara laughed, smacked Baekhyun's bum and turned him around.  "Now go, take a shower. Don't waste too much time in there, unless you want to eat some cold food."


  "Okay, okay, umma," the puppy snickered, waved goodbye and walked away obediently, leaving Dara gaping in surprise and then grinning to herself.


  Before entering the bathroom, Baekhyun ran into Chanyeol, who walked past him as if he didn't see him there. Baekhyun closed the door and furrowed his eyebrows.


  'What does he want, actually? Didn't he say he'd stop being rude?' he thought. But if he thought about it again, Chanyeol hadn't been rude at all towards him since he had woken up that morning; he had only ignored him. He mentally whined, 'But why does he have to ignore me? Can't he act nice so we can be friends?'


  Baekhyun tried to cheer himself up, thinking that maybe later the giant would open up to him.


  But that didn't happen. For the rest of the day, Chanyeol acted as if Baekhyun wasn't there. The smaller boy wasn't sure if it was better than receiving his heartless rude comments and icy glares. Maybe it was as bad; he didn't know.


  It continued for a whole week, until one night Baekhyun had yet another nightmare and cried again at two in the morning. It woke Chanyeol up, but the big boy remained still so he wouldn't bother the other's crying session. Baekhyun's sniffles and quiet sobs left him wondering what kind of nightmares he had been having lately that could make him cry that much. Also why he had nightmares a lot. Was it because of him? Because he didn't treat his roommate nicely?


  Should he be a bit nicer then? Open up to Baekhyun and all?


  Chanyeol's brain began to work on finding ways to make their awkward relationship at least a little bit better. As Baekhyun's sniffles died down, a creepy smile grew on Chanyeol's face.


  'That's it. That's the only way.'