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Sprawled all over the bed, the kids left almost no space for Baekhyun to sleep on, leaving him clutching for dear life by the edge. That is what wakes him this morning, nearly falling face down to the floor after attempting to turn his body. But all thoughts of an unwanted abrupt awakening and muttering of curses are all thrown out the window the instant he takes a look at the boys that slept peacefully. Adorable, was the only word his sleep fogged mind could think of as he cooed in silence.

Beside him, he fondly pats Sehun’s hair, who slept flat on his tummy. Lightly chuckling at the big wet spot just underneath the six year old’s open mouth. After then, he leans in across to fix Luhan’s ridden up shirt, whose limbs were a mess all over his side of the bed it was too comical as it was too cute.

For a while, he watches them. Letting the early morning pass as Baekhyun lied back down and placed an affectionate hand on Sehun’s back. He hummed in joy, a smile lighting his face that brightened with the faint tingling sounds of cutlery that echoed through the small gap of the opened bedroom door.

What has him rising, sitting straight on the bed, was the morning sky. A view that had been overcast by thick clouds the past days have now thinned, leaving only puffs of white moving towards the hazy horizon. It was still early enough to catch the sun just inches above its line. Its bright ball covered enough by the clouds to not hurt the eyes, yet its rays scattering vastly across it. After days of a gloomy weather, finally, it is starting to clear.

Baekhyun watches it – as the clouds moved, as the sun rose, as the horizon clears – like the world has stilled for him as the ever beauty of the sky presents itself. He will never get tired of this. And with joy bubbling within him, he leaves short pecks on each of the boys’ head before he finally stands up.

While the wounds have healed greatly and the pain has subsided compared to the last few days, Baekhyun still scrunches in pain and almost groaned audibly as he felt the sting shoot up his legs the moment he placed pressure on his feet. It still hurts, and if anything, he would rather stay still unmoving. But what kept Baekhyun going was the blanket of warmth that have encased him for days now, the attention he had received from not only one person but of several.

Growing up, Baekhyun had only received such loving care from his Grandmamma; vivid memories of her singing lullabies as he cried, sweet kisses to his wounds and soft caresses from her calloused hands. He missed her, always. But now he has Minho and Junmyeon, who showed him such similar care yet also different. It made his heart churn in a way like no other. Their soft touches and heartwarming embraces, like he was a child again, but this time – surrounded of a longed parental care.

Pausing every now and then to hold onto something before moving forward, Baekhyun made slow and awkward steps. Although he staggered his way around, he was still able to cross the big distance of the living room without any trouble. And it is Chanyeol’s fleeting figure from the kitchen that made him toss out the last amount of pain and took the last few steps needed.

By the time he reaches the kitchen, Baekhyun was already panting. But it was worth it, when he finally sees Chanyeol up close cooking by the stove. It made his heart giddy; when the aroma of his lover’s deliciously cooked meal filled the air. He doesn’t move to him right away, though, keeping his presence unknown as he chose to silently watch Chanyeol move around.

And as the clock ticks by, Baekhyun is finally succumbed to the negatives that plagued his mind. For as long as his secret is kept, he cannot escape the fear that jailed him. All the events of yesterday began reeling in. The conversations he had with Minho and Grandma replayed like a broken record. Their words echoing in his head like a thousand shadows of evil. It doesn’t help to know that just yesterday Chanyeol had also met with his ex-girlfriend, who also happens to be the only person who knew of his deepest darkest secret. A past of his lover who had secrets and told lies of her own. A past, who broke Park Chanyeol and his overall being.

With these thoughts – of what if’s and the fear of abandonment – coiling and crushing his already weakening wall of strength, Baekhyun turns restless, eager to know what had happened between Chanyeol and Yejin.

But a deep voice bellowing startles him from thinking further.

“Baekhyun?!” The next thing he knew was Chanyeol standing before him. His arms flailing comically lost on what to do – carry him, hold him, leave him be? “What are you doing here? You walked here? You’re not allowed to walk, remember?!”

Chanyeol’s panic-stricken state distracts Baekhyun’s thought-filled mind. He erupts in a fit of laughter. It was a first – to see Chanyeol out of his usual calm and collected demeanor.

“Why are you laughing?! You’re still injured--!” Chanyeol continues to ramble, throwing the ladle on the table recklessly as he moved his arms to support him by his waist.

“Chanyeol, stop. I’m fine, see? I can walk now, don’t worry,” Baekhyun chuckles. He closes himself far in to embrace the tall man tightly around his chest, and his heart flutters at the same time a smile returns to his lips when he places his ear just above his lover’s rapid beating heart, for he was the cause. “It doesn’t hurt anymore, just stings.”

It takes a few long seconds in Baekhyun’s embrace that Chanyeol finally calms down. He circles his arms around the shorter as a sigh of relief is let out and snuggles his nose on Baekhyun’s neck.

“G’morning,” he hums softly.

At Baekhyun’s muffled reply, a smile tugs on his lips. Chanyeol breathes in heavily, and the familiar scent of Baekhyun’s that has since been mixed with his own flips his heart in many beats of glee. Not a moment too soon, Chanyeol laughs when he abruptly hoists Baekhyun up in his arms to move him to sit on the kitchen island, eliciting a loud squeak in surprise.

“I would still prefer if you’re seated.” He explains, playfully poking Baekhyun’s nose at his confused wordless expression.

With a short peck on his cheek, Chanyeol leaves to go back to his cooking.

As Chanyeol continued to move about the kitchen, Baekhyun watches him yet again but now silently mused about how different things were just yesterday, how different it was with Minho. It was amusing, he thought. Trying to hold back his giggles as he observed the contrasting ease in Chanyeol’s movements compared to Minho’s clumsiness. Then a blush creeps on his cheeks: for he was invisibly embraced by two different kinds of security, two different kinds of warmth, yet both made his heart melt into a pile of goo.

But his joyful musings do not last long when a voice whispers to him.

Tell him, it said. The truth, tell him, it repeated.

“Chanyeol?”

“Hmm?”

When he gave no reply, Chanyeol turns around to face him, and fear instantly rises clogging his throat. “Yejin…” Baekhyun’s voice trails. And just like that, the little courage he tried to build vanishes. An unfortunate unsure timid-ness unwantedly radiated out of him.

Baekhyun’s heart was already racing twice fast from feeling anxious, but it beats ten times faster when Chanyeol suddenly drops everything he is doing only to stand in between his legs. When Chanyeol rests his hands on the counter’s surface on either side of his hips, locking him, his mind blanks; even more so when he catches the little smirk the tall man unexpectedly had on.

“What about Yejin?”

Utterly confused, Baekhyun ends up stuttering his words. “Y-y-yester.day..you.. you met her.”

“I did. What about it?” Chanyeol said slowly, too nonchalant for Baekhyun’s liking.

“H-How…how--”

“How did the meeting go? It went well. Better than I expected.”

“Oh,” is all Baekhyun’s reply before looking away, his face now a beet red. “She didn’t say.. anything?”

“Well, apparently, you both know each other. She told me you were friends.”

“Ye-yeah, I didn’t know.. she was your.. ex.”

Chanyeol was completely amused, his smirk blooming to a full grin as he answered. He was silently cooing at how adorable Baekhyun is at the moment, that endearing deep blush on his cheeks spreading to his neck that was coupled with his timid voice. Cute. When Baekhyun took a peek at him through his messy fringe, he tried to stop the bubbling laughter that willed to escape. Chanyeol was just utterly enamored at the moment.

“Why?” He asked with a little tease hinted in his voice. “Were you afraid I wouldn’t go back to you?”

Finally, when he received a quick loud ‘no!’ and a strong expression of denial on his lover’s face, Chanyeol bursts into peals of laughter. He wraps his arms around Baekhyun’s waist, pulling him closer as he placed sloppy kisses on both of his pretty red cheeks.

“You have nothing to be afraid of.” Softly Chanyeol says as he looked deep into his eyes. “Yejin is a past I have let go. Today, from now on, there is no one but you.

No one but you, Baekhyun.”

There was a sparkle in Chanyeol’s eyes as he spoke and a few crinkles on its sides from the smile he had on. There was something unexplainably different, he could see. Two shiny orbs staring back at him reflecting nothing but evident love, coupled with a short phrase filled with sheer honesty and heartfelt sincerity. It left Baekhyun entranced; his heart swelling with a weight of even more love than just a day ago. Is that even possible?

In a spur of the moment, Baekhyun leans in to place a kiss on Chanyeol’s lips, catching the other off guard. It lasted no more than a few seconds, but it felt like time stood still.

When Baekhyun pulls away, the smile is gone from Chanyeol’s face. Baekhyun rarely initiates anything.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“Can’t I kiss you?”

And Chanyeol’s smile returns like it never left. “Of course,” he says, leaning in to whisper his next words against Baekhyun’s lips. “Anytime, anywhere, remember?” and closes the distance left between.

A sweet kiss turns heated when Chanyeol pries Baekhyun’s mouth open, unmindful of morning breaths, and a play of tongues begin. It had Baekhyun clutching Chanyeol’s front shirt tight as he tried to breathe in between. But he is pulled far closer against Chanyeol’s body. They stop but they kiss again. Stop to catch air but connects their mouths not a moment too soon. It was passionate, bursting of the feelings they had for each other. Yet it also remained innocent, tender of no more but loving affection.

Chanyeol is the first to pull away, grinning as he placed a few more chaste kisses on Baekhyun’s reddened lips. On the other hand, it takes a few beats later when Baekhyun is brought back to the daze he was left in. But he, too, smiles; gracing Chanyeol that lovely image of tiny shining crescents.

And Baekhyun’s hidden truth was, for the hundredth time, forgotten.

There were more kisses shared, sharing of smiles and laughter; the couple basking themselves in the lighthearted joy that greeted their morning. Sweet nothings were constantly whispered in Baekhyun’s ear, while Chanyeol was given playful antics as he continued to prepare the meal he dropped for a while. Telling stories of yesterday like they were apart for many days.

Their love filled air was only interrupted when a small voice spoke from below.

“Giant ajusshi?”

“Good morning, little boy,” Chanyeol greeted brightly, immediately moving to carry Sehun as the boy stretched out his arms and left a kiss on his forehead. “Had a good sleep?”

“I dreamt of dragons and dinosaurs. And they all looked nothing like Dragon ajusshi.” Sehun rubbed his eyes as he spoke. “It was scary. Very scary.”

“Bad dream, then?” Chanyeol cooed, prying his tiny fingers away from his eyes.

“Yes, but I fought them all, so it ended as good dream!” The boy said in a high pitched tone.

Laughing, Chanyeol leaves one last peck on Sehun’s squishy cheeks before putting him back down. “Alright then, go wake up your Luhan hyung, breakfast will be served.”

“Okay,” and off Sehun goes scuttling back to the bedroom.

Meanwhile, now standing by the kitchen island as he supported himself, Baekhyun watched the adorable exchange. He was unfortunately ignored by the little boy; Sehun probably missed his presence while he was still in a sleepy state. But he did not mind, not at all. Not when he saw that difference once again, something about Chanyeol he can’t quite put into words. Perhaps carefree is the best he could think of.

♠♠♠

Growing up in a poor household where putting food on the table was a struggle, a breakfast meal was rare. In all his childhood, the only memory he has of a lovely breakfast were the times his Grandmamma was lucky enough to get some food, whether from asking the neighbors for scraps or buying with the little budget they had for the day from the small stores by their street in his hometown. Come the time he is left to fend on his own, to have a breakfast meal was still a luxury. None was ever hearty or lively.

Then things change a bit since Chanyeol came into his life. Always presenting him with a delicious morning meal that filled his stomach to full content in all the times he stayed over. But it was only hearty. They spend their breakfast in comfortable silence and in peace, after all.

Today’s morning, however…

The two boys were fighting over the food Chanyeol had prepared. Shouting and bickering over a small piece of potato that caused a big chaos on the table. Sehun was pouting in teary annoyance as he tried to reach over his cousin’s plate while Luhan kept denying him of it.

“Hyung!! I wanted that potato!!”

“You already ate enough potatoes!”

“But hyung! I wanted that potato!”

“This is my potato! Get your own potato!!”

“Boys, please. What have I taught you two about sharing?” Chanyeol finally intervened after the table was almost rocked into a mess. His voice was gentle yet stern with authority that froze the boys in an instant. “You can have my potatoes if you want more, okay?”

Watching the children bicker and Chanyeol mediating the whole thing had Baekhyun giggling. It was too adorable, humorous even, and also interesting to witness. There was still so much about Chanyeol he did not know, with the man slowly coming out of the dark shell he hid since he met him. But all of it, by far, has done nothing but have him falling deeper.

His giggles caught Chanyeol’s attention, who turned to him after the boys have finally settled with sharing. Raising his eyebrows in silent question at Baekhyun’s amused expression. Baekhyun just simply shakes his head in reply and continued on his meal with a ghost of a smile.

Before, breakfasts for Chanyeol were just that – a plain meal in the morning. May it be a hearty one or a simple toast or cereal coupled with milk or coffee. There was nothing ever special about it.

In the vague memories of his childhood, all he remembers is that mornings were spent either giving kisses goodbye to his parents or not at all seeing a glimpse of them for they have already left for work before the sun has risen; leaving the task of feeding the children to the housemaids instead. By high school, breakfasts then were spent alone, his sister having gone away for college, sometimes even skipping opting to meet his school friends earlier into the day, and perhaps to also avoid that empty feeling. And by the time it was his turn to move out, it was spent in a lonesome, somber morning air in the deafening silence of his 59th floor penthouse.

And then Baekhyun came into his life…