"Don't flirt, every day I am nervous

because of you,"

- Winner, 끼부리지마

Soundtrack: (x)

It was a Thursday night, and Baekhyun and Jongdae were huddled together, fingers busy ramming into the buttons of their respective Xbox controllers. They were playing a game of Tekken, letting shouts, screams and curses fill the atmosphere. Chanyeol’s parents were at first not accustomed to the ruckus they bring into the usually quiet house of four, but five years have passed and they have gotten used to the noise. Chanyeol’s sister, Yura was probably out with her boyfriend again, or she would be the one banging the door to her little brother’s room in anger.

“What was that move for, you little !”

“Language, boys!”

Chanyeol snickered at the sound of his mother shrieking from the kitchen. His two best friends have been visiting and sleeping over his house so often that they are as good as his mother’s own sons. She scolded whenever she needed to, and offered hugs and kisses whenever she wanted to.

“Argh, I lose. That’s it, I don’t want to play anymore,” Jongdae sighed, chucking his controller to the side before flopping down onto the floor. Ignoring Baekhyun who had a dirty smirk on his face whilst performing some sort of victory dance, he turned to his other best friend who was sprawled on his bed, thumbs busy tapping onto the keyboard of his mobile phone.

“Would you look at this lover boy,” Jongdae teased, scooting Chanyeol over for his own space on the bed.

“Don’t bother Lover Boy, Jongdae-yah. He’s writing a sonnet for his girlfriend,” Baekhyun plopped on the other end of the bed, chuckling at the boy who was too busy with his mobile phone, smiling to himself like a lovesick puppy.

“Stop that, she’s not my girlfriend,”

Jongdae could only snort. “Please, our love lives maybe a wreck, but we both know a budding relationship when we see one,” He peered over Chanyeol’s shoulder with inquisitive eyes. “What are you typing, Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol scowled in response, shielding his phone away from his friend’s vision. “Didn’t your mother teach you anything about respecting someone else’s privacy?” He got up, leaning on his elbows as he read the last text message sent to Mina just a few minutes ago.

            [5:37 pm] whatever, as long as you’re happy mina-yah kkkkk

They were arguing about which beaches to go to, with Mina insisting to go to Sokcho beach while the other wanted to go to Naksan beach. Everything was all set for this Saturday- Chanyeol extended his invitation to both Jongdae and Baekhyun (only because Baekhyun’s father owned a van big enough for all of them to sit together comfortably), and he promised his mother to help her with the extra chores if she prepared lunch for all of them. All that was left was Mina’s permission to participate in their little weekend escapade- which meant that Minseok (and his ridiculously pretty boyfriend, Luhan) would have to tag along as well.

[5:40 pm] Gonna ask permission from my parents. And persuade Minseok oppa to follow suit. Wish me luck~

Chanyeol read the text that just came in, smile etched across his lips. He could hear Mina’s voice saying that very sentence in his head, shaking his head.

“Oh dear, you do look like a lovesick puppy. Like a lovesick beagle,” Baekhyun sighed, supporting his chin with both his palms. “Yah, Chanyeol, you really like her, don’t you?”

Chanyeol finally lifted his attention from the handheld device to the boy questioning him, and sighed. Truthfully, he didn’t know- Chanyeol felt little to no butterflies whenever he thought about her, but the thought of Mina did make him smile like an idiot. It was almost scary how that girl grew on him, and how close they got within a short span of time.

“Of course I like her, or I wouldn’t be friends with her. But I don’t like her like that, I think. I- I don’t know…”

Jongdae merely watched his friend, a smile playing on his lips. He offered an arm around Chanyeol’s shoulder, pulling the taller boy closer to him. “Chanyeol-ah, I honestly don’t think you don’t like her like that. I think you’re confused with your feelings,”

Chanyeol threw a skeptical look over his shoulder. “How do you know what I feel?”

“Well, we think you’re confused because you always… you know, grieve over Hana’s passing. It has been what, three years now? For those three years, you’re so caught up with your grief that you block out any possible feelings and now that you’re starting to open up with this Mina person, you’re just… confused. You have not felt this way for a very long time,” Baekhyun explained, crossing his legs as his hands moved animatedly, explaining himself with the various motions in his limbs.

“Yeah, and it has been a while since we’ve seen you like this too. Not that it’s a bad thing or whatever,” Jongdae added.

Chanyeol exchanged glances between the two of his friends. No matter how much they annoyed him, at the end of the day, they were always there for him, and their opinions mattered to him. They wanted nothing but the best for him, and Chanyeol might not see that in anyone else.

“I don’t know… Mina- I don’t want to have feelings for her just because I feel lonely, you know? I don’t want to like her because I miss the way I felt towards Hana. If I want to like her, I want to like her as herself, and not be haunted by Hana. I don’t want to lead her on like that… that’s just too cruel. And besides, you guys don’t even know if she likes me in the first place…”

“Oh, shut yourself. You didn’t know whether Hana liked you back then, but you still had a humongous crush on her anyway. Look where it brought you,” Baekhyun moved closer, sitting next to Chanyeol.

“Yeah, and Chanyeol… to be frank- there’s nothing wrong with opening yourself up once more. There’s nothing wrong having feelings on someone that is not Hana. Hana loved you till her last breath, and I feel that in the end of the day, she just wants you to be happy,” Jongdae placed a hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder, squeezing it reassuringly. He offered one of his famous heartwarming smiles- Jongdae has always been about warm hugs and comforting smiles and that was something Chanyeol respected so much about him.

“Just don’t be so afraid to fall for someone. You only deserve so much. And everyone deserves a happy ending like you said, right? Even Mina- you should be a part of her happy ending. And it starts with this bucket list,” Baekhyun shrugged his shoulders, scratching the back of his head. “And I know it’s rich coming from us whose love lives are as goo