Weeks pass by as Baekhyun takes walks aimlessly around town, breathing in the fresh air that the Earth has got to offer. His phone often begins to go off as he walks, and he knows it is Chanyeol calling, but he never answers. Ever since the hug they have shared that one night, Baekhyun keeps feeling butterflies in the pits of his stomach and he knows that he is falling, quite hard. And this is something he wishes to avoid.

He thought that keeping his feelings hidden would be a piece of cake, something so easy a baby could do it. But he knows that deep inside, it will, and always will be, a hard concept.

One day as he walks as usual, a girl with long brown hair approaches him with a flyer in hand, her smile shinning around the coldness surrounding him. “Hello! Make sure to come to the Christmas Festival tomorrow! It will be much brighter than last year, please anticipate it!” She hands him a piece of paper with the information on it and bows slighting to leave, taking her glowing smile away with her. 

He reads over the paper and folds it into his pocket; considering Baekhyun has been under excruciating circumstances, he has never been to these town festivals. May this year be a change? He has no idea. 

His phone goes off once more, and he ends up turning it off, deciding to head down to the hideout, where he seeks comfort from other souls. The room is being renovated into a home– he had almost forgotten this fact as he walks into the bland room of cardboard boxes and white walls. This doesn't seem like comfort anymore, the walls themselves feel like they will close in on him at any second. Okay, he may have a really big problem, but when does he not?

“Ah, oppa! Your here!” Hearing this unfamiliar call to his name, Baekhyun turns around to see Tao walking up to him with two bottle's of beer occupying his hands. 

“What the heck man, oppa, really?” Baekhyun elects a tch noise with his mouth, shaking his head at him. “Your older than me, and your not even—” He sighs, plopping down on top of a sealed box besides Tao. “You know what, it doesn't even surprise me.”

The other man snickers as he swings the bottle towards him, offering it to Baekhyun. “Doesn't it show that we're brothers? It fits.” 

“But still, your a guy, a guy. Hyung or something makes better sense, you doof.” Baekhyun says as he waves the beer away. 

“Heol, your passing beer away? Who does that?” Tao ignores the topic and focuses on the action that surprises him the most, and in his case, it is obviously the beer.

“I'm trying to stop these things, if you don't mind, sir.” His sarcasm makes Tao roll his eyes, jokingly of course. The Chinese man throws his empty bottle on the ground behind him, and cracks open the other one with the bottle opener laying in between them. 

“Alright, who is it?” 

Raising his brow at his confrontation, Baekhyun questions him. “What are you talking about now?”

Tao shakes the bottle around as he talks, “The person who's doing this to you. Man you used to drink this like it's water, who's the guy you've got your hands wrapped around?”

Baekhyun's eyes widen at his accurate assumption, wow, he has got a sharp eye. Though he must admit, his actions must be, without a doubt, obvious these days. “W-What? No body! What makes you say that? Can't I decide to hate beer by myself?” He inflicts tchs all over the place, even getting spit splattered all over Tao's structured face. 

“Watch where you spit your lies Byun! Aish! So disgusting.” He mutters as he grabs Baekhyun's wrist so he can wipe his face with his sleeve. Pulling his arm back, Baekhyun groans at the man.

“How did you figure it out?” He murmurs, kicking the air out of irritation. 

“I think I know you well enough to see that you've hit your head against a wall. And you obviously aren't spending the nights at my place, so your probably sleeping with him.” 

Hearing those last three words makes something go off in Baekhyun's system, making him hit Tao's bicep hardly, or at least, as hard as he can manage. “Yah! Don't say it like that. I'm simply staying with him.” He protests, but his shoulders slump quickly afterwards. “But... I really like him, Tao. I...I don't know what to do about it.”

Tao's eyes widen at his confession, completely flabbergasted at the turn of events, for he was only teasing. “Yah, you... your serious?” He clears his throat, lifting the bottle up to his lips. “How do you know you like him? What if it's just... ual attraction or something?” 

Baekhyun deadpans, thinning his lips at the impossibility of such a claim. Though he will acknowledge the fact that Chanyeol is a handsome man. With his scrumptious tall height, his perfectly shaped jaw-line, his full head of black curls that fall just the right way on his forehead, his bright smile and oh, his alluring eyes that sparkle without the accompany of the sun– oh dear, he is rambling.

“He's just... always on my mind. And when I'm not with him, I miss him. Whenever he hugs me, I feel like I'm on seventh heaven... He gives me so much strength and I know that I can't live without him.” Pursing his lips, he begins to moan as he lifts his legs into his chest, laying his head on his knees as he looks hopelessly at the man next to him. 

Tao is staring at him, his lips agape and his chest stinging. His words, however, contribute to a very important realization in his case. All of these symptoms and emotions feel so vivid, and he says feel because Tao has indeed felt these same sentiments himself. 

He speaks without processing anything, this light-bulb moment catching him as a complete blow. “Yah, Byun Baekhyun. I think I like you.”

Baekhyun lifts his head immediately at this, his mind buffering and his eyes unable to blink. Did Tao just say what he thinks he said, or has he heard it all wrong? 

“Haung Zitao, what are you...”

Tao, on the other hand, is very nonchalant and uncaring, his shoulders slanted as if this is a normal occurrence. He makes it look like he's having just another conversation, it blows Baekhyun's mind. “I've felt all those things with you, minus the hug part. Although hugging you doesn't sound like a bad idea.” He takes in another shot of the beer, “And I especially didn't like hearing that you like someone else, so I think it means I like you.”

He is in disbelief, unknowing if this is actually happening before his eyes. “You... your being too much! Quit playing with me and focus!” He hits his arm and tries