The notebook was completely untouched, the pencils still in mint condition, retained by an elastic band and kept in Baekhyun’s pencil case. With his head in his hands, Baekhyun stared blankly at Chanyeol’s finished canvas, his legs kicking back and forth under the kitchen chair.

His head ached from the effort it took to think, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t seem to find a solution. With a soft sigh, Baekhyun pouted, shoving his notebook into the middle of the dining table, the cotton tablecloth sliding with it.

Muttering to himself, Baekhyun continued to stare at the canvas, as though inspiration would hit him at any given time, and he would welcome it with open arms. But inspiration did not come, and with each worried glance up at the clock above the fridge, Baekhyun grew worried.

His homework was not going to get finished and his tutor would be irritable. This was the first time Baekhyun had been assigned such a task and at first, he could not wait to start. But the more he thought about it, the more he found himself stuck.

A short story. That was what he was supposed to write. Baekhyun wasn’t sure how many words he was required to write, but he wanted his story to be something that his tutor would be proud to show Chanyeol at their next meeting. ‘Baekhyun is a very talented writer!’ seemed a lot more appealing than ‘He brought a dog into my classroom.’

But perhaps even more so, he wanted to show Chanyeol something that he would be impressed with. Baekhyun’s lips curled upwards into a small smile as he imagined just how the scene would play out. First, he would come home, his short story hidden in his backpack. When Chanyeol would ask him how his day was, Baekhyun would brush it off with a simple ‘it was fine.’

Only then, would he show Chanyeol the story, a great big A+++ scrawled across it, a smiley face, too. Just so Chanyeol could be extra sure that he had done well, Baekhyun had decided.

Pulling a blue pencil from his pencil case, Baekhyun dragged the pristine notebook back towards him and practiced drawing the smiley face – it was perfect.

But when Chanyeol read the short story for the first time, Baekhyun would watch him carefully; Chanyeol’s heart would swell with pride and he would pull Baekhyun in for a hug. “Well done, Bunny. You make me so proud. I love you so much.”

Yes, thought Baekhyun. That was exactly how the scene would play out. Perfect. All that was left now was to write the short story.

Baekhyun glanced down at his notebook, the first three pages filled with blue markings; wonky, misshapen attempts at the perfect smiley face. His brows knitted together, his lips pressing into a thin, determined line.

This was harder than he thought, but Baekhyun knew he wasn’t going to give up.

“What are you doing, Bunny?” Chanyeol asked after dinner. Gripping onto the back of the dining chair in which Baekhyun sat, he leaned forward, peering over the other’s shoulder. Baekhyun had not moved since he had gotten home from his classes earlier that afternoon and Chanyeol was slowly becoming concerned.

“Homework,” Baekhyun replied, doing his best to try and shield the notebook from Chanyeol’s view. He wanted its contents to be a surprise.

“Homework?” Chanyeol asked in surprise. The most Baekhyun had been given in the way of homework was pictures of farm animals to colour and label, of which he decided to complete entirely in yellow highlighter, pausing only to draw capes on the animals with permeant marker.  “Do you need any help?”

“No,” Baekhyun said, answering a little too quickly for his liking. Play it cool, he reminded himself. Play it cool.

Turning to offer Chanyeol a polite smile, Baekhyun waved his hand towards the living room. “I’m fine, thank you. You look like you have had a rough day. Go relax.”

With a shake of his head, Chanyeol acquiesced Baekhyun’s command and made his way slowly into the lounge. How strangely thoughtful of Baekhyun, Chanyeol thought with an outwards sigh. Something is definitely bothering him.

Chanyeol sat in his armchair, a steaming hot cup of tea clasped in one hand, the television remote held loosely in the other. Try as he might to focus on the television screen, Chanyeol’s mind kept wandering back to Baekhyun.

What was he doing? Did he need help? What sort of homework was it? Why did Baekhyun cover his notebook when Chanyeol tried to see it?

Clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth, Chanyeol slumped his shoulders in defeat. Placing his tea cup on the coffee table, he crept soundlessly from the living room. If Baekhyun wasn’t going to tell him what the homework was, he was going to find out himself.

Closer and closer to the kitchen table Chanyeol crept, trying his best to remain as quiet as possible. This sort of thing he would have once been embarrassed about, but now, with Baekhyun, Chanyeol didn’t care; he was willing to make sure his Bunny got all the help he could need.  

“Mister Giant,” Baekhyun said softly and Chanyeol felt the breath catch in his throat. How had Baekhyun known he was there?

Chanyeol straightened himself up, his eyes darting around the room, feigning to look for something. “Yes, Bunny?”

“Can you help me with my homework, please?”

With a small smile, Chanyeol took a seat next to Baekhyun at the kitchen table, his eyes quickly scanning the still empty – save for the array of distorted smiley faces – notebook. “What do you need to do?” he asked.

Baekhyun did not look up from his notebook. “I need to write a short story. I know what I want to write, but I don’t know how.”

“Is that so?” Chanyeol asked, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “What sort of story are you trying to write?”

“A romance,” Baekhyun said quietly.

Chanyeol frowned. “A romance?” he asked. “That is certainly different from your Doctor Seuss books. What sort of characters do you have? A princess?”

“Prince,” Baekhyun corrected, his ears slowly turning pink. “And a knight.”

“And a knight?” Chanyeol said in surprise. “Wow, this is turning out to be quite the story! What do they look like? Maybe that can help you think of something to write.”

Baekhyun bit his lip and hesitated. “The knight,” he said softly, his face heating up, “is a wolf. The prince is, um – a bunny.” Baekhyun looked away, waiting for Chanyeol’s laugher. But when none came, he chanced a look at his Giant.

Instead of laughing at Baekhyun’s plot, Chanyeol sat in stunned silence, his cheeks dusted in a light pink. It took quite a long time for Chanyeol to compose himself, and even longer to find his tongue once more.

 “Well,” he managed to say. “We can work out a starting point for this story. What are their names? How did they meet?”

“Names?” Baekhyun asked softly, a small smile on his face. “Well, the bunny’s name is Baekh- er, Hyunnie. The knight in shining armour, the wolf’s name is, uh – “ his cheeks flushed a deep shade of scarlet and he searched his mind desperately for a way of changing the subject. “They met when the wolf rescued Hyunnie from a dark, dark room. Kind of like a box. Yes, a box.” He nodded to himself, satisfied with his answer.

Chanyeol drew in a deep breath, trying his best to clear his mind.  “That seems like quite a romance,” stammered, his eyes darting from the empty notebook to Baekhyun’s face. “Why do you want to write about that?”

“Because,” Baekhyun said quietly. “That’s the only happily ever after I know.”

Feels strange working on something like this
after so much time planning my Psychological Horror/Thriller.
No gore. No blood. No character death. Puh.
Fluff feels strange now, haha.

Jee mentioned this as a chapter idea ages ago.
Sorry, it took so long, dear.
Novelist (kinda) Baekhyun is finally here.
 

Whatchu reading, Pinkie?