Chanyeol, after at least a half hour of self-motivation, finally got the courage to turn the knob of Baekhyun's front door and walk in, sliding off his shoes and moving as silently as possible.

He passed by the living room, and immediately felt uncomfortable as he knew Baekhyun's eyes were following him.

Okay, just play it cool.

"Baekhyun, you left the door open again."

Baekhyun stabbed a single piece of his mac 'n cheese, sliding it off of the fork with his tongue and chewing on it as slowly as possible.

"Well I was expecting you to come back. How's your mom?"

Chanyeol stared guiltily at his shoes.

"I didn't go see her."

"Really."

Baekhyun didn't sound the least bit shocked, digging a hole in the center of his remaining pasta and staring at it distastefully.

Ever since he had gotten back from school he had felt as if he were going to puke, and food like this definitely wasn't helping him any. Truth be told, all he really wanted to do was to run up to Chanyeol and give him a hug and maybe even kiss him but of course he couldn't do that. Things for both of them felt way too awkward and he had no idea how to get around the feeling.

"Look Baekhyun, about what I said before... I mean um, I'm sorry for springing it on you like that and if you want me to leave now then I can. I understand if you think this is awkward and yeah.. I'm sorry."

Baekhyun could cry, but instead, as Chanyeol walked to the center of the living room, all he could do was nod, and very awkwardly ask if he wanted some mac 'n cheese.

Chanyeol nodded, because the sun was already going down and he was absolutely starving.

He followed Baekhyun into the kitchen which was less than spacious, leaning against the counter and watching the boy boil water for another batch. Baekhyun hummed quietly, not daring to look up at Chanyeol although he was absolutely sure that the other was staring at him from behind.

"Uh, can I add some stuff to it?"

Baekhyun nodded, and Chanyeol pushed himself off of the counter, digging around in the fridge for a good two minutes before coming out with an extra package of cheese and a pack of hot dogs. He stood next to Baekhyun, almost painfully close, and began cutting things up, their arms brushing each other's slightly.

"Chanyeol, uh."

"Oh." Chanyeol looked down at the amount of space between them and moved back, clearing his throat. "Sorry about that, I uh, I wasn't doing that on purpose."

Baekhyun felt like running into the bathroom and curling up in a corner because there was absolutely no way he felt good about the way he was acting. He just didn't want to seem overly comfortable or happy or anything so that just caused him to become overly cautious about things he probably would have been absolutely thrilled about before Chanyeol had confessed.

"Um, where're your cutting boards?"

Baekhyun motioned above him and Chanyeol glanced at him, expecting the elder to step aside, but he didn't, so as cautiously as possible he stepped behind Baekhyun, reaching up to the cupboard and pulling it open. He could feel Baekhyun stiffen below him as his chest lightly pressed against the boy's back and he turned around, shockingly fast, causing Chanyeol to jump back, hitting his head on the shelf which proceeded to dump boxes of cereal over his head, one of which dumped the entire contents onto him and he was left to stare blankly at Baekhyun with Lucky Charms slipping down his shoulders while the other yelled.

"What are you doing?!"

Chanyeol couldn't help but to feel wronged in this entire situation. Sure, he hadn't given the news to him in the best way possible, but there was absolutely no reason for him to suddenly yell like he had tried to take his pants off.

"I was getting the cutting board dammit!"

Baekhyun looked as if a blush was spreading over his entire body, starting at the tips of his ears and traveling down his arms turning even his nail beds a bright pink, and he couldn't help but try to justify himself.

"Well you didn't have to be so about it!"

"Byun ing Baekhyun, you weren't moving, I didn't have any other choice!"

Baekhyun could see absolutely no way in which he could try to justify his actions so his first thought was to leave. He took a few steps toward the dining room, and Chanyeol immediately grabbed his arm, causing cereal to crunch underneath his feet as another set of marshmallows fell from his bangs and cascaded over his eyes like a sweet waterfall.

"Baekhyun, hold on." He glared at Baekhyun with more force than the elder thought was possible for the normally tame boy. "I'm just going to be blunt alright? I'm going to pour myself out to you so the least you can do is listen." Baekhyun stared at him, the blush gradually fading as remorse surfaced in his expression. "I have liked you maybe ever since I got here. I was stressing over telling you, because there's no way I could just sit in your room and not try to make something happen. You are the sweetest person I know - even if you do have an uncontrollable temper - and I didn't mean to make things awkward for us. If anything, I wanted more, but you obviously don't want me, so I can deal with it, just don't go running away and avoiding me like some sort of disease, please."

Baekhyun bit his lip, choking back a sob as he opened his mouth to speak.

"You don't understand." He stared at the kitchen tile, and thought about exactly how comical this scene would be to anyone else; an overly tall boy with lucky charms stuck in his tangled auburn hair, and a pitiful guy like him with too much jealousy for one person to have, both considering a relationship with the other. "Chanyeol,"

Chanyeol had never realized how beautiful his name could sound until Baekhyun said it like that, as if it actually had more meaning. Normally people would say his name as if he were a normal household object, referring to him as if he were a lamp or a chair, and some of the really awful ones would say his name as if they were saying a curse word in front of their mom, letting it hiss from their mouth in the most revolting way, but Chanyeol was the first to say it as if it mattered, whispering it under his breath with the most gentle tone, and Chanyeol hoped desperately this wasn't the kind of tone he used when telling someone to get lost.

He waited, letting go of Baekhyun's arm slowly and brushing aside some of the cereal with his foot, willing him to keep speaking.

"Chanyeol, I think..." I don't want to see you again, you should leave, you're kind of disgusting. That's what Chanyeol expected to come from him, but he didn't get any of that. Rather than some form of gentle verbal abuse, he got Baekhyun stepping closer, looking up at him as if he were a drowned puppy. "I think we should try it."

Chanyeol felt as if all of the wind had been knocked out of him. He looked down at Baekhyun, and for a split second thought about kissing him before the elder turned away, screaming as the water in the pot started boiling over and turning off the gas as quickly as possible before everything started spilling over the edge.

Chanyeol looked down at the cereal and couldn't help but to smile to himself - just a little - because Byun Baekhyun hadn't rejected him. It was the greatest compliment he had ever received.

                                                                              ✴ Never Before ✴