That night, even though they were both weary from the past couple of hours, they tried their hardest to talk for as long as they could. They spoke of their thoughts, their philosophies and their feelings. Everything and nothing all at once. Likes and dislikes, favourite memories, awkward memories, happy memories and sad memories. They spoke of their past relationships - or lack thereof, their relationships with their parents, their friends. As they spoke, it became more and more apparent for them both that they had a lot more in common than either of them could have initially guessed. For some reason, hearing about Baekhyun filled Sehun with warmth. He could tell him about a mundane shopping trip and Sehun would still cling on to every word. Baekhyun was mesmerised by Sehun talking too. His excitement at being around him led him to babble and talk without filters throughout the night. It was odd, but they could feel their bond growing stronger with every sparkle in their eyes, with every laboured breath from talking without pausing.

In truth, both of them were nervous about sleeping in the same room. Not because they were worried one of them would tie another's hair to the bedpost, but because they weren't sure they'd be able to stand the tension. They feared it'd be awkward and silent, both of them avoiding the one thing they weren't saying.

But it wasn't like that. If the room had an aura, it'd have a rosy pink glow. Flushed cheeks, pounding hearts and butterflies in their stomachs. The fact that Baekhyun liked Sehun back was undeniable to him, as much as he'd previously tried to look past it. They were so animated, so thrilled to be in one another's presence that before they knew it lightness from outside crept into the room and finally, there was a lull.

Their arms ached from being propped up on their sides to talk to one another and at this lull both of them slipped into a more relaxed position. Sehun started laughing, a quiet, throaty laugh. Baekhyun didn't ask why he was laughing; he didn't need to. He felt like laughing too.

Baekhyun's eyes were no longer able to stay open and finally closed, greeting him with darkness. He didn't have the strength to peek and see if Sehun was about to sleep too, but he didn't need to. The sound of Sehun's steady breathing filled the room and was soon joined by Baekhyun's.

The following morning - only several hours after they both drifted off to sleep - both Sehun and Baekhyun were woken up by an obnoxious alarm.

Sehun moaned and raised his duvet to cover his ears.

Baekhyun slowly sat up and rubbed at his eyes. The alarm grated on them both with every second it continued. With blurry eyes and a disorientated aim, Baekhyun fumbled and turned the alarm off.

The silence that followed was blissful. A dazed Sehun wondered if the world had ever been this quiet and Baekhyun decided to break the silence with a yawn.

"Are you getting up?", Baekhyun murmured once he was done.

Having Baekhyun's raspy morning voice to wake up to was an odd feeling. Sehun decided he liked it, and as much as he'd love to stay in bed, he'd rather get up and spend more time with him.

"Yeah", Sehun groaned and kicked his duvet off, "Why are beds so much more comfortable when you have to get out of them?".

Baekhyun laughed briefly, "That is a very good question".

When both of them were up and their eyes had adjusted to the brightness, they turned and faced each other.

"Are you hungry?", Sehun asked him, a small smile followed his soft voice. He seemed... gentler than usual. The Sehun Baekhyun knew was a grouch in the morning. This Sehun was, dare he say it, cute.

"Uh. Yeah, a little. I mean, I could eat", Baekhyun returned his smile with a lopsided one of his own.

"Great. I can't wait to show you how well I can burn down a kitchen!", he raised his eyebrows enthusiastically and jumped out of bed, walking over to the door.

When Baekhyun remained where he was, staring up at Sehun with a gentle smile, Sehun turned back to see him and raised his eyebrows once more, "Are you coming?".

His response was to stand up and follow Sehun to the door. Sehun smiled again and started making his way to the kitchen. Smiling seemed like the natural response to anything that Baekhyun did.

"You were joking about the burning down the kitchen thing, weren't you?", Baekhyun asked to an unresponsive Sehun, "Hey, Sehun!", he jogged to catch up with him, "You were kidding right?".

Sehun answered with an enthusiastic smile.

Watching Sehun in the kitchen was interesting to say the least. As Baekhyun sat at the counter watching him, he found himself feeling overwhelmingly fond. Now and then Sehun would look at him and catch him smiling. His response would be to smile, duck his head and continue making breakfast for them both.

As far as breakfasts go, Baekhyun had had worse. To his credit, Sehun didn't actually burn anything and had actually tried to make something nice. Among the side dishes was a bowl of hard-boiled eggs still in their shells. As Baekhyun picked one up, Sehun quickly swallowed his mouthful of food and picked up an egg of his own.

"You're meant to crack it with your head", Sehun acted out the motion with his own egg when it looked like Baekhyun was about to break it with a spoon.

Baekhyun's eyebrow rose in amusement, "Who do you know who actually does that?".

Sehun shrugged, "It's more fun that way".

"Alright, if you say so", Baekhyun looked at the egg for a second before deciding why not and cracking it on his head.

The instant it broke, Baekhyun knew he had made a mistake. It wasn't the gleeful expression on Sehun's face that gave it away, nor the feeling of unsettlement within, it was the feeling of cold, runny egg dripping down his face.

Sehun's mask broke and he burst out into laughter, "Oh, I'm sorry... I forgot you like hot food".

A particularly large bit of egg fell from Baekhyun's cheek and hit the side with a resounding 'splat'. Despite wanting to shiver and cringe, Baekhyun wiped at his face with his sleeve and continued eating his breakfast, "And you like cold food, I'll make sure to remember that".

Sehun met Baekhyun's eyes with a playful smile. Baekhyun rolled his eyes but smiled nonetheless. You've won this time, Oh Sehun.

Once they were done, Sehun cleared up the plates while Baekhyun went to wash egg out of his hair.

Still having time to spare, Sehun went upstairs and brought his phone back downstairs. Unsurprisingly, Jongin had text him.

J: How was your date?

J: [eyebrowwiggle.gif]

S: [thinking.gif]

J: Hey... what kind of answer is that?

S: [shrug.gif]

S: it wasn't a date, but it was god

S: *good

J: Just good?

S: i'll tell you about it later. maybe

S: gtg. he's just got out of the shower.

J: Shower? [1]

J: [eyebrowwiggle.gif] [1]

Sehun rolled his eyes at the notifications and put his phone down.

A wet-haired Baekhyun walked downstairs, a towel around his shoulders.

"You did that just to make me walk back up those stairs again, didn't you?", he asked Sehun as he began to dry his hair.

"Me? Of course not. Do you really think I'd think that far ahead?".

Baekhyun pursed his lips at Sehun's innocent expression.

As Baekhyun dried his hair, Sehun kicked his feet idly, "When do you have to be back?", he asked softly.

Momentarily, Baekhyun just continued drying his hair without answering the question. When he did speak, his voice was just as gentle as Sehun's "Ten".

For the remainder of the morning, they just enjoyed one another's company until it was time for them to leave. When Baekhyun was packing up his things, and when they walked down the stairs, his bag felt considerably lighter. And it was.

The car drive to Baekhyun's was quiet, a vast contrast from the night before. Occasionally one of them would say something but the conversations didn't last long. It didn't bother them though. The silence was comfortable and they were happy to just be next to each other.

When Sehun finally pulled up outside Baekhyun's house, the casual silence ended.

"Thank you".

"Thank you for coming with me", Sehun smiled.

Baekhyun returned the smile, "My pleasure".

As Sehun was about to pull away, Baekhyun called out to him, "Hey, uh, are you busy this Thursday?".

Sehun's heart leapt, "Uh, no I- I'm free".

"Oh. Okay. Cool. Do you wanna hang out? On Thursday? With me?".

An uncontrollable grin worked its way onto Sehun's face, "Yeah I'd love that".

With a racing heart all of his own, Baekhyun smiled, "Okay. It's a date". And with that, Byun Baekhyun walked away, leaving Oh Sehun to stare after him in shock.