Throughout the time that he was feeling his worst with his cold, Baekhyun felt kind of bad for having Chanyeol dote on him and do everything he asked him to do. He didn't really deserve having Chanyeol do all of this for him when Baekhyun was continuing with his lie of pretending to be his wife. He felt undeserving and felt that Chanyeol was just doing too much for him, so much so that he felt like he was being suffocated with the mix of care from Chanyeol and guilt from what he was doing to the guy. 

Given the chance, Baekhyun was straight on the phone to Sehun begging him to meet up for even just the tiniest amount of his break so that Baekhyun could get out and get some fresh air. He sure needed it! 

"I still think you should be at home resting until you're fully better" Sehun pointed out, watching as Baekhyun sat there shivering and sniffing every so often 
"I needed to get out, it felt like I was going to suffocate if I stayed inside any longer" Baekhyun replied, making a face and preparing himself for a sneeze, but only sighed and pouted when it didn't come. 

"How could you even get a cold? I thought your coat would have been good enough for you until your car was fixed?", was Baekhyun really going to tell him that he was having to walk around in a much flimisier coat to suit being Bokyung and that from wearing the coat it easily got wet and didn't keep him that warm at all? No, no he was not. Instead he made up some excuse which he hoped Sehun would believe. 

Being able to get outside was a huge relief for Baekhyun. For just a little while he was able to get some freedom from the stuffy home with Chanyeol constantly ringing the home phone to check in on him. Though he was suffering just as much outside as he was inside, it was good to be able to get out and clear his head for a while.

It came as no surprise to either of them that Baekhyun was, this time, the first to leave. Sehun offered him a lift so that he wouldn't have to wait outside in the cold for the bus, but Baekhyun insisted that he would be fine and with that left Sehun to pay for everything (after all, Sehun had done it to him previously).

With the cold air hitting him the moment he opened the door to step out, Baekhyun zipped his coat up as high as he possibly could and burried his face down into his neck before proceeding towards the bus station. Glancing at the time before he left, he knew he had a while before Chanyeol was to get home from work, he just wanted to get back inside blast the heating up and curl up on the sofa to a good film like he had done previously.

Eyes glued to the floor, it was inevitable that he was going to bump into somebody and when that did happen, Baekhyun apologised and went to carry on before a voice stopped him, making him groan inwardly.

"Hey Sehun!" Chanyeol called cheerfully
"Hey Chanyeol" Baekhyun croaked back, before coughing and holding his hand up to signal for Chanyeol to give him a moment to compose himself. 

"Not feeling well are we?"
"No, I've been feeling like crap for the past few days and I don't think it's going to persist anytime soon" 

Something about Baekhyun's response made Chanyeol pause and think, he wasn't quite sure what it was but soon a frown was on his face and he wanted to question Baekhyun on it some more until he realised that Tao was with him who was probably going to find it weird if he was not introduced sometime soon, or probably whine later on that he felt left out, and Chanyeol didn't want to put up with that.

"Oh yeah, Tao this is Sehun he's one of Bokyung's co-workers. Sehun this is Tao, my best friend" and taking a look at Tao, Baekhyun couldn't believe that the two of them knew each other and that if Chanyeol hadn't pointed it out, he would have found the possibility of the two of them being friends very unlikely. He didn't know what it was, maybe it was the way Tao looked or something like that, Baekhyun just couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"So I imagine the flu or something is going around your work then?" Chanyeol asked
"Huh? Oh, yeah, probably. I mean Joonmyun's just come back from it and I think Bokyung also has it right now" Baekhyun replied, reaching into his pocket to bring out a tissue to blow his nose. He must have looked so unattractive in front of the two of them, not that he cared at that point anyway. 

Eventually Chanyeol had to let Baekhyun go and let him get on his way, there was just something about his earlier response to being ill which bugged him, though he couldn't quite figure out why this was the case.

Returning home, Chanyeol found Baekhyun lying on the sofa in the living room like he had done this morning. Baekhyun just hoped that his nose was not as red as it was when he returned home earlier from the cold which would give himself away.

Sensing that something was up, Baekhyun felt quite uneased at how Chanyeol kept staring at him, as if studying him
"Is everything alright?" he eventually asked 
"Fine, absolutely fine, just making sure you're alright" Chanyeol replied though Baekhyun could still sense that something was up, he just couldn't bring himself to mention how uncomfortable Chanyeol was making him right now.  

"I think I'll go have a bath, I've been feeling groggy these past few days and I need to clean myself up" he announced, getting himself up off the sofa as Chanyeol started running about to get him some towells, not allowing Baekhyun to rush about. 

"Keep the bathroom door unlocked whilst you're in there" Chanyeol said, handing Baekhyun what he needed 
"You what?" Baekhyun asked, his reaction making Chanyeol grin. 

"Don't worry, I'm not going to sneak in watch you bathe am I? It's in case you need me to help you with something and it'll be easy for me to get in then" he explained 
"R-right, sure" Baekhyun said and with that hurried towards the bathroom as fast as his legs would take him. Like Chanyeol had asked, he kept the door unlocked although felt completely paranoid the whole time that Chanyeol would burst in at any second and discover him for who he truly was. 

Yep, Chanyeol's recent behaviour was really starting to become strange. It was beginning to scare him slightly... 

Hm... should I do it in the next chapter or not... 

Curious as to what that is? You'll just have to wait, won't you? 

Until then!!