It had started months ago.

"Pleaseee mommy," Chanyeol had said, in full pout and puppy eyes mode, "I swear we'll be good. And Baekhyunnie will be there to take care of me, right?" Said boy nodded forcefully, putting on an angelic façade that almost made Ms. Park believe him. Almost.

It wasn't as if she didn't trust the boys, because she did. Although that didn't stop her from being slightly worried about his not-yet seven years old son and his best friend going trick or treating on their own for the first time.

Turns out, both boys were really good at getting what they wanted, which is why she found herself standing in front of two disguised, overly excited kids that evening.

"You'll take good care of Yeollie, won't you Baek?"

"Yes mommy! I'm always a good hyung to my Yeollie!"

Ms. Park smiled at the words. She had to admit that the pair was quite a sight. Baekhyun, dressed as "that boy from the three musketeers", puffed out his chest, the spitting image of the hyung he attempted to be, as her son stood like a tower beside him, more than a couple of inches taller than his friend.

"Cahn whe gou nouh Baekghygnie?" Chanyeol asked, fake vampire fangs making it almost impossible for him to talk. It was kind of endearing, but mostly disgusting. Not that Chanyeol had paid any attention to his mother when she'd tried to reason with him to leave the prop home for the night. 

When she attempted to repeat herself, her son turned around, covering his face with his cape in a truly vampirical way and running towards the front door. 

"Baeghyunngii!" he called out, said boy fixing his musketeer hat with a flourish before running behind his friend to go get his candy bag. 

Their mother's reminders to be careful were soon lost to the ruckus that surrounded them as they stepped out of the house. 

Chanyeol looked down at his best friend, excitement practically bubbling from his pores. He really liked his Baekhyunnie's costume. He had his hat on, feather and everything, and the little boots went up to his knees, just like a real musketeer. He looked really cute. But Baekhyunnie always looked cute to him, so there wasn't really any difference. 

"Yeollie! Let's see who gets more candies by the end of the day! Like a competition!" Baekhyun chipped, swinging his still empty bag as he walked. 

Chanyeol nodded eagerly, before opening his mouth and pouting. Checking that his mother was nowhere to be seen, he removed the plastic teeth. He was tired of not being able to talk, but he would never tell his mom about it. 

"What does the winner get?"

Baekhyun frowned in thought, musketeer hat falling over one eye, "If you win... You can play with my ducklings puzzle. The one you like."

"Okay! If you win I'll let you play with my Superman, then."

"Deal, deal!" Baekhyun yipped excitedly, and Chanyeol smiled. He knew he'd always really liked his action figure. 

Baekhyun eyed his best friend. He was smiling again, too many teeth for it to be normal, and he looked like a real vampire. A very crazy one. Besides, his eye was doing that weird tick thing it always did. With his hair pulled back, it was even more noticeable than usual, the same as his huge ears. He looked pretty ugly, he thought. But also kind of funny. 

Baekhyun thought of mentioning it, but then he remembered his mom's words. She was always telling him to be nice with Chanyeol. He really liked the giant, he was his best and only friend. But sometimes he was mean to him without meaning to. That was why he didn't have many friends, he'd been told. Other kids usually left him alone, because he was always rude to them. But not Chanyeol. His Yeollie was always there with him, he didn't leave him even when he knew he'd hurt his feelings. To this day, Baekhyun wasn't sure if the boy was dumb, or just really really nice. Either way, he didn't want him to get tired of him, so he had made up his mind to be nice to the creepy vampire bouncing beside him. 

They finally got to the end of the street, Chanyeol pausing every few seconds to admire de spooky and colorful decorations. They got chocolates in the first house. The good kind. They left quickly after Chanyeol got scared of the mummy by the front door.

Moving towards the second house, they were given gummies by a nice lady. Baekhyun hated gummies, but Chanyeol offered him to trade them for some chocolates, although he didn't really like them either.

They got sour candies somewhere between the third and the sixth house. Baekhyun was already excited for the funny faces contest bound to happen as soon as they finished counting their plunder. 

Further down the road, they finally saw their friends. Jongdae had opened the door, Pikachu ears bouncing as he moved, as Minseok, a Pokeball, peaked from inside the house. Jongdae's granny gave them some unidentified candy, and seeing how his friends eyed them with distrust, he could already see they'd be yucky. When the woman went back inside the house, their friends approached them. 

Chanyeol thought the boys where almost in his Baekhyunnie's level of cuteness. Jongdae was in full yellow costume, red cheeks and everything, and his mouth made him look just like the real Pikachu. Minseok, on the other side, looked... Well, like a ball. In the good sense. His chubby cheeks peaked from the top of his red and white disguise, and he wobbled slightly as he walked because his costume was so big. 

"Duo!" Jongdae grinned as he approached. Chanyeol smiled back. Jongdae'd been calling them like that forever, as both boys were rarely seen without the other, "Be careful when you get to the house by the corner. It's Mr. Choi's!" he warned with a pout. 

"He didn't even give us anything, and he said he'd call the police if we kept bothering him," Minseok added, the corner of his lips pulled down as he hid his face inside his costume. Cute.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol shared a concerned glance before they both broke into identical grins. A challenge. 

Waving their friends goodbye, they ran all the way towards the dreaded Mr. Choi's house. 

They rang the bell, yelling "Trick or treat" with nervous excitement as they did so. 

"There are no candies in here. Go away kids!" came the gruff reply from inside the dark house. 

"Then there'll have to be a trick, Mr. Choi!" yelled Baekhyun in an innocent voice. 

The sound of footsteps running towards the door was soon heard, and not a moment later the door was violently yanked open, startling the boys, who took a step back towards the street. 

"I wanna see you try, you little... What are you supposed to be? Puss in boots?" he asked scornfully. 

Baekhyun frowned at him, mad for not being recognized. "I'm a musketeer. Sir."

"Whatever. And what is he? Dumbo? In a cape?" he said, laughing as he pointed towards the little vampire. 

And that was it. Baekhyun could handle this ugly man making fun of his costume. But no one, no one made fun of his Yeollie's ears. No one but him. 

He looked up at Chanyeol, his almost permanent smile already gone from his face, a sorrowful expression in its place as he covered his ears with his hands. No one hurt his Yeollie and got away with it. Facing Mr. Choi again, Baekhyun pulled his plastic sword from where it was pinned to his hip, pointing it towards the man. 

"On guard! You have insulted my friend and now you shall face the consequences, you villain!"

Mr. Choi blatantly laughed at him for a few moments, until the little musketeer got tired of it, and with all the strength he could muster, he pricked the man's fat belly with his sword. 

The elder's laughter died as fast as it had started, suddenly lifting his wooden cane towards the now scared boys. 

"You! Surly child! I'll teach you a thing or two about respecting your elders, you midget! Your parents will know about this!" he kept yelling at him as he grabbed Baekhyun's wrist, yanking forcefully as he tried desperately to get away from the harsh grip. 

Meanwhile, Chanyeol was in panic. This horrible man was hurting his Baekhyunnie, he had to do something to save him. Rummaging to his pockets, he took his plastic fangs out, throwing them as hard as he could at Mr. Choi's face. He knew they'd be useful somehow. They hit the man's eye with satisfying precision, and he finally let go of Baekhyun's wrist. The boy didn't need to be told twice as he got away from him, and Chanyeol took his hand, tugging him back to the street as the man shouted things at them that Chanyeol's mother forbid him to say. 

They ran and ran, until they were far from the house, far from that man and well, far from home too. Chanyeol's lungs hurt as he pulled his best friend to sit beside him behind a tree, trying to regain their breaths and listening for footsteps just in case the man had chased them. 

And then Baekhyun screamed. 

"No! Yeollie! This can't be! No! No!"

Chanyeol leaned closer to the boy, trying to see what was wrong. Had that man really hurt him? Had he seen a spider in his hair? Had his costume tore? But everything seemed to be fine. 

"What happened Baekhyunnie?"

"M-my my candy!" he said, close to sobbing, as he lifted the now obviously empty bag, "It's all gone! The bag was torn and... and my candy! It fell while we ran and... and I have nothing left!"

His eyes filled with tears that soon began flowing down his flushed cheeks. Musketeer hat long forgotten, it fell from his head with nothing to stop it, as inconsolable sobs wrecked the boy's slim frame. Chanyeol became desperate at the sight. No, his Baekhyunnie couldn't cry! Not now, not the first Halloween they spent trick or treating on their own! He looked back at his own bag, still filled to the top with all kinds of delicious treats. 

Pulling Baekhyun close, he let him hide his face against his shoulder, despite him being all wet and gross from crying. But it was his Baekhyunnie and he didn't really care. 

"Hey, don't cry Baekhyunnie!" he handed him his bag, showing him its contents, "Here. You can have mine. But don't cry anymore."

Baekhyun blinked up at him, stray tears drying on his cheeks. 

"Don't you mind, Yeollie? You'd have no candies for yourself!"

"It's okay. As long as you don't cry anymore, I don't mind."

Chanyeol smiled down at him, his eye ticking again. But now, for some reason, Baekhyun didn't find it ugly. It was more like adorable. 

Leaning closer to him, Baekhyun pecked the little vampire's red lips, fake blood almost completely gone, and finally smiled again. Chanyeol froze completely, eyes so wide Baekhyun was afraid they'd fall. 

"Mom thanks daddy that way when she's happy. Is it okay?"

Chanyeol nodded forcefully, a furious blush making its way to his cheeks. 

"Now let's go. We have to get home to eat!" Baekhyun chipped, grabbing his hat back from the floor as he got up, happy as usual, and pulled a still dumbstruck Chanyeol to his feet, lacing their hands together as he did so. 

It was a nice walk back home. The sky was already pretty dark, decorations shining in almost every house. They found their mothers waiting for them as soon as they crossed the doorway, wanting to hear every detail of the evening. The boys told them about the candies and the gummies, about meeting Jongdae and Minseok and about losing Baekhyun's candies. They had decided to leave the whole fight with Mr. Choi out, afraid their mothers would forbid them to go out again the following year. 

As soon as they were done talking, the boys run upstairs and into Chanyeol's room, sitting on the floor by the bed and emptying the bag between them. 

Baekhyun began counting the candies, separating them in two little piles, "I don't want to have all your candy. We can eat half of it each."

Chanyeol frowned, "But it's yours! Are you sure you don't mind?"

Baekhyun shook his head with a smile, and Chanyeol knew everything was fine again. 

"Besides, I'm your hyung! I was supposed to take care of you, but in the end you took care of me. So it's only fair."

And just like that it was settled. Jongdae's granny's candy ended up being as yucky as it looked, and was soon pushed away from the pile. Baekhyun cried from laughing as they eat the sour candies, Chanyeol's naturally funny face even more ridiculous than usual. And then came the chocolates. It wasn't long before both boys were completely full, pulling themselves into Chanyeol's bed with aching tummies and happy souls. 

Baekhyun took Chanyeol's hand in his, lacing their fingers together. 

A few minutes went by in complete silence. 

"Baekhyunnie?"

"Hmn?"

"I like you."

"I like you too, Yeollie."

Chanyeol scrambled to sit down, looking down at the sprawled boy. 

"No, not that way. I mean really like you. You know. Like daddies like mommies and so," he mumbled. 

"Oh," Baekhyun answered, checks flushing a bright red, "I... I guess I like you too. That way, I mean."

Chanyeol grinned, flopping down beside him again. 

"We have to do this again next year," he said. 

"Yep."

"And we'll trick Mr. Choi."

"Sure."

"And you'll kiss me again."

"Okay."