Chapter 6

It was nighttime- around eleven, in fact- when Chanyeol finally returned to his and Luhan’s humble abode.

Chanyeol crept inside carefully, his eyes adjusting to the dark as he almost made it to the kitchen-

The lights flicked on.

Startled, Chanyeol looked up, and his eyes met those of a furious-looking Luhan.

Uh-oh.

“...Hi?”

“Where have you been?” Luhan spat angrily, and the younger man flinched.

“I was at Jongin’s grave,” Chanyeol answered truthfully, blinking up at his beloved hyung. Luhan’s eyes softened for a moment before narrowing again.

“You were at Jongin’s grave for six hours?”

“Well, I kind of… met someone there,” Chanyeol replied sheepishly, and Luhan scowled.

“So you talked to this person for six hours?”

“Well, we did talk for a long time. But then we noticed it was getting dark, so we went into a

coffee shop and had, obviously, a coffee,” Chanyeol snarked, purposefully leaving out the part

where he went to a pet shop, and then Baekhyun’s house.

“And then you slept with her, didn’t you?” Luhan hissed, undisguised accusations dripping

from his tone.

Chanyeol fought to get his temper under control. “No! Okay, first of all, ‘she’ is actually a he.

And why would I sleep with someone I just met? Do you think I’m some kind of-”

“No!” Luhan burst out, then looked slightly sad. “No. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it.”

Chanyeol gave him a half-smile. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that.”

There was a quiet moment before Luhan smiled at him. “You didn’t eat dinner, did you?”

“No,” Chanyeol admitted, grinning back.

“Well, I hope you like leftovers.”

“Is it your cooking?”

“Yes.”

“Then I still like it.”

“-up.”

“So, beloved brother, why have you met with me tonight?” a tall, shaggy-haired male drawled, waving his fork in the air lazily.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, but smiled affectionately nevertheless. “Can’t a guy see his own

older brother once in a while?”

The two were sitting in a cozy little 24/7 coffee shop, warm apple turnovers and macchiatos in front of them.

“What kind of person gets people to meet them at a coffee shop at midnight?” chuckled Baekhyun’s brother, sniffing the warm snack judgingly.

“A person who has a little sweet tooth and a whole lot of issues,” sighed Baekhyun. “Besides, the streets by my area are under construction and it’s actually so noisy; I can’t get a wink of sleep. Anyways, Beommie, how’s Taeyeon?”

After university, Baekbeom had married Baekhyun’s old babysitter (and crush), Taeyeon by cleverly pulling some strings and convincing his parents that marrying her would benefit the company.

“Taeyeon? She’s great. More than great, actually.” Baekbeom grinned. “She’s pregnant.”

“Omigod really?” Baekhyun squealed. “I’m gonna be an uncle!”

“Yeah, that’s great and all but I get to be a father,” Baekbeom boasted. “And I get Taeyeon as my wife,” he teased, remembering Baekhyun’s old crush on her.

“I’m not even straight!” Baekhyun protested. “It was just my preteen hormones.”

“Taeyeon-noona, OMG I love youuu,” Baekbeom imitated, grinning when Baekhyun scowled playfully.

Truthfully, Baekbeom was glad to see Baekhyun back to his old self, temporarily, at least. His

little brother hadn’t been the same since Jongin’s car accident, and the return of Baekhyun’s smile and diva-ness meant the return of Baekbeom’s true happiness.

“So how’s your life?” Baekbeom queried, his tone taking a bit of a serious tone.

“Well, no wife and baby on-the-way, if you’re asking,” Baekhyun responded snarkily. “But I do have an angst-ing new fiance. Oh, and I get to babysit my friend’s new puppy.”

“Which friend?” the older man asked curiously.

“Well, what friend do you think would be crazy enough to drop a little Jindo puppy at my doorstep at eleven p.m.?” Baekhyun retorted, and Baekbeom rolled his eyes.

“Hyunnie, all of your friends are crazy.”

“...True. But it was Chanyeol.”

Baekbeom laughed. “So he showed up at your door an hour ago, begging you to take care of his puppy?”

“No,” Baekhyun sighed. “Worse. He showed up, yelled ‘HAPPY EARLY BIRTHDAY,’ and I slapped him.”

“No way.”

“Yes way. And then I told him that if he wanted me to keep it, it was going to have to be his, because I wasn’t about to pay for like ten million vaccines.”

“Wow,” Baekbeom laughed. “So, where is it now?”

“Little pup is curled up on my bed, snoring.”

“You named it pup? I always knew you were creative.”

“What? No. I’m just calling it pup now, because I’m too lazy to scroll through puppy names.”

“Surrrrrre you are.”

“Pfft. I am a very creative individual.”

~Chanyeol’s Flashback~

“So, what’s going on between you and Luhan?” Kyungsoo queried lazily, his lips falling into a strange sort of smirk. He sipped at his macchiato, looking over it at Chanyeol with a curious gaze.

Chanyeol simply groaned. “Ugh. So in university, I had a bit of a problem with renting. I was majoring in music, you know and I had loud music, with a keyboard and a guitar and drums and all that jazz. Heh, funny, I sang a lot of jazz, which was probably what got me kicked out of my last apartment.

"So anyways, I needed a house, which was terrible and costly. Luhan and I were acquaintances, and he told me about this cheap deal that his aunt had. So we started renting one of his aunt’s houses. Y’know, just roommates trying to save money. But he started to help me cook, y’know and I taught him singing techniques and all and then we got

closer.”

“Wow. Great love story,” Kyungsoo snorted, and Chanyeol rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m not done. So anyways, one day he was singing with me and then suddenly it clicked. I felt-”

“Rainbows and sunshine and doves and unicorn feces?”

“Eww, unicorn feces?”

“They do poop candy and rainbows,” Kyungsoo pointed out, his face lighting up and Chanyeol chuckled.

“Yeah, okay. No. I felt...all protective inside, y’know?”

“...Yeah.”

“And then y’know, I flirted a bit with the bish and put us in seductive situations until stupid

Minseok- whose head is probably filled with unicorn feces- came along.”

“But since unicorns poop candy, you can hit his head like a pinata. Starbursts and skittles will come out and then you can eat his sugary brain like a zombie.”

“Eww. Gross. But the pinata part is a good idea, though I wouldn’t know how to hide a bloodied baseball bat from Luhan.”

“Okay, do you normally act like this in front of Luhan? ‘Cause I have a feeling that he’d ditch you if you spoke to him this way.”

“No, I don’t act like this,” Chanyeol replied, rolling his eyes. “Do you think I have a death wish?”

“You talk back to me, and you still don’t have a death wish?” Kyungsoo shot back, sneering playfully. They stayed silent for a few moments before bursting into laughter.

“You know, Luhan just makes my… er… how should I say this…” Chanyeol pondered as the laughter died down. “He makes the cruel part of me melt away.”

Instead of snorting at the cheesiness, Kyungsoo rested his head on his palms, looking wistful. “I know that feeling.”

“Baekhyun’s been a bit more sarcastic lately, because Jongin used to make him softer,” Chanyeol admitted quietly. “I wish I could make him feel better.”

“Get him a puppy.”

Chanyeol blinked. “Umm… what?”

“Puppies make things better,” explained Kyungsoo, waving his arms around.

“Well,” Chanyeol hummed, “why not?”

-End Flashback-

“Good morning, Minseok!” trilled Luhan cheerfully, placing a plate of pancakes on the table.

“Good morning, Lulu,” mumbled Minseok cautiously, staring at Luhan. “What are you doing?”

“Cooking pancakes for us, of course,” cooed Luhan, fluttering his eyelashes at Minseok.

“Uh-um, alright,” Minseok stuttered, wide-eyed. And in a split moment, enraptured by the eyes of his long-time crush, undefinable emotions rushed through him, setting off a bout of adrenaline.

“I love you.”

Without missing a beat, Luhan’s face lit up brilliantly, beaming at his old friend. “I was waiting for you to say it.”

Minseok sat, dazed, as years of longing came to an apex. “...I…”

“As a lover, yes,” Luhan confirmed, eyes sparkling as he leaned forwards and kissed Minseok, turning back quickly to turn off the stove. “Now, go get me some syrup from the store.”

As Minseok stumbled off, his mind still not processing anything, Luhan called after him cheerfully.

“Seokkie, I trust you to not tell anyone, especially not Chanyeol. He’d probably get so angry at me.” Luhan’s voice filled with fright, and Minseok’s heart thumped uncontrollably, suddenly feeling protective. “Now, could you go to that syrup store? The one near Baekhyun’s house, if you know where that is.”

“Yes,” Minseok mumbled, nearly swooning, and stumbled out the door.

As soon as he heard the door shut, Luhan sauntered over to the cups, grabbing one and pouring tea into it. He sat back down, sipping his tea and looked up over his long eyelashes as the door opened again.

“Hey,” Chanyeol greeted, grinning. Luhan smiled shyly, setting his cup down and skipping over to his roommate, throwing his arms around his neck.

“Channie, you’re back! I missed you!”

The tips of Chanyeol’s ears flushed bright pink as he gazed, enchanted, at Luhan. “Well…”

Luhan bit his lip and stepped back nervously, withdrawing his arms and wrapping them around himself.

“Is...everything alright? You seem nervous,” Chanyeol inquired cautiously, the blush retreating from his face.

“I have something to tell you,” Luhan whispered meekly.

“Go ahead,” responded Chanyeol curiously, and Luhan stepped forwards again, laying his cheek against Chanyeol’s shoulder.

“I really like you, Channie. Like, not just like friends. What I mean is...that I’ve loved you. For a really really long time,” Luhan murmured into Chanyeol’s ear, smiling as Chanyeol froze up.

“Really?” the younger whispered, awed. “You...really like me?”

“I do,” Luhan confirmed, flushing.

“Woo-hoo!” Chanyeol cheered suddenly, grinning at his new sort-of-boyfriend. “I’ve got to give you your birthday gift early, then,” he rambled, “and it’s at Baek’s house so I’ve gotta go get the bus and-”

Luhan put a finger on his lip lovingly, effectively silencing him. “Shh. The streets by Baek’s whole area are under construction; there’s heavy traffic there. If you go, you’re going to be stuck in heavy traffic. Why don’t we spend a little bit of time together?”

BWAHAHAHAHAHA. Sorry not sorry to Xiuhan/Chanlu shippers.

Don’t worry, Luhan has his reasons.

Anyways, now you get to vote on which shipping you want to end up together, or what shipping you want more of! Just take this survey and you’ve gotten your favourite ship closer to VICTORYYY.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/J2NNQBR