Anyone could tell Park Chanyeol was not having an "on" day.

If you had asked him about it, he would have retorted, “If by "day" you mean "week," then sure,” the snippy edge of his snippy comment being an indication that this week had, indeed, .

He didn’t know if it was him or them, but every interaction with his group members in the past five days had gone badly. The kind of badly that would make you want to shove the words back in your mouth, your foot in behind them, promptly excuse yourself to your room to curl into a fetal position, and never interact with mankind again. By Wednesday, after playing a prank on Sehun that ended up in the younger dropping and breaking his favorite mug, that was pretty much what he did. Minus the foot-in-mouth, but he would have if he could.

However, it was now Friday, and this time he had a reason other than work that he couldn’t stay secluded in his room. For you see, today was the fifth anniversary of the day a certain someone had begun training under SM, and thusly, the day they met. Chanyeol had sarcastically given a couple of presents on such occasions, and the tradition had just sort of stuck. Yes, today our dear Chanyeol would be giving a present to:

“Hyung, we were supposed to be gone five minutes ago!” an annoyed-sounding Kyungsoo called through the door to his room. “I’m coming in— really?” Kyungsoo’s lips pursed as he saw the knocked-out figure of Chanyeol, dressed save for pants, curled up on the bed.

“You lazy S.O.B.”

Chanyeol jumped to life as he found his face being assaulted by a pair of black skinny jeans. As he tried to fight the fabric off of himself, he finally caught sight of the other man in the room, who had had just enough time to mask the rising heat on his face as annoyance.

“I can’t believe you fell back asleep! You didn’t brush your teeth or wash your face? Anything?” The sight of sleep in the corner of tired eyes was enough of an answer. Kyungsoo ran slightly chapped lips through his teeth and sighed, taking a long blink in hopes that the sight of Chanyeol fumbling with the button of his jeans instead of being ready to go was a hallucination. It wasn’t. “Whatever, we can deal with it when we get there. I have a tight schedule all day, so I’d really appreciate it if you’d put those on and hurry it along.”

“Sorry,” the older mumbled, pulling his jeans over legs raised straight in the air, doing the buttons over hips toned from day after day of dancing his way to perfection. “I didn’t know you were so busy.”

“Jongin and Sehun are just as busy. We talked about it yesterday but you had already disappeared and fallen asleep. Speaking of which, you've been going to sleep early for the past week or so. Is something the matter?”

‘Everything.’

“Not really.” He yawned, feigning his usual state of not being fully conscious after waking. He was, at this point, soberingly on-edge. “Hey, today… when do you finish?”

“I want to try to be done by nine, but I don’t know. It depends. Why?”

“I wanted to talk to you about something. It won’t take long, so if you get like five free minutes, if we could…”

“Could you tell me now?”

With a grunt, he rolled off the bed and shook his head, half in response and half to tame the hair he knew was standing wildly atop his head. “The others are waiting for us, and I don’t really want to talk in front of them.” He pretended not to notice as Kyungsoo eyed him curiously.

“Alright,” he concluded. “I’ll find time.”

“Sounds good.”

“Hurry up and come out, alright?”

“Yeah.”

Kyungsoo slapped the doorframe in confirmation on the way out, and with that, Chanyeol collapsed back onto his bed as he released the panic he’d held in during that exchange. He held trembling hands above his eyes and watched them, watched them get steadier as he inhaled a few controlled breaths and released them slowly.

As weird a reaction as this may seem, the fact that today was also the day Chanyeol was finally going to confess to Do Kyungsoo might change your opinion.

Keeping with the theme of the week, not having a panic attack was pretty much all he could manage to do properly that day. Everything was on autopilot, and his pilot was balls-drunk.

“Hyung, not to be rude, but your flow is stagnant today,” Jongin said as he pulled the studio headphones off his head, looking slightly deflated as he eyed Chanyeol. He couldn’t keep the rhythm up in his rapping with the other going too fast, too slow, or failing to jump in altogether. “I think we should pick up again tomorrow. But bro… is something up?”

Chanyeol gave the same quick denial he’d given Kyungsoo earlier and Jongin seemed to believe it well enough. Postponing practice was fine. Postponing everything except for going into his room and hiding under his covers would have been better, as it was 10:15 and he was about to lose his . Stalking A passing glance at the schedule posted by the dorm door had made him privy to the fact that Kyungsoo might be available to talk at 10:25, in the five short minutes between the end of choreo practice and when the manager-on-duty was scheduled to pick him up for his next job.

Jongin headed back to the dorms to grab a book he wanted to bring to his next activity and Chanyeol, as his mind pondered the quickest way back to Micronesia, naturally (per his luck) found himself wandering through the halls until he reached the glass door to the dance practice room.

Kyungsoo was going over choreography with Sehun, apparently failing in his attempt to mimic the fluidity of motion the taller was putting into the moves. The way his eyebrows furrowed with frustration that Chanyeol knew was only fueling his determination, the way he bit his plush bottom lip and closed his eyes tightly when he nearly had the routine down but messed up near the end, lifting his face to the ceiling, the lights giving him a certain glow that kind of made Chanyeol’s heart skip a beat, and- why was he coming closer?

“You can come in, you know,” he said after opening the door, looking at Chanyeol with bemusement in his eyes. “We’re just wrapping up.”

“Oh, y-yeah.”

Kyungsoo looked on expectantly, prompting Chanyeol's eyebrows to crease slightly with confusion.

“Well... you coming in?”

“Oh, uh, sorry, I was just, y’know, wondering…” His voice shrunk to where he could barely squeak out, “Could we maybe talk for a couple of minutes now?”

“I only have about five or so minutes, but sure.” He nodded back at Sehun and Baekhyun. “You guys go ahead, I just need a sec.”

As the other two left, Kyungsoo turned back to the man standing in front of him. The man who had that glazed-over look with his mouth slightly parted as he always did when he was trying not to emote.

“You okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m good… Y’know… today’s…”

Kyungsoo couldn’t help but focus on the troubled, dark chocolate eyes and nervously trembling lips in front of him.

“Today’s…?” His eys narrowed with focus.

“Today’s… Today’s th…”

“Come on, you can tell me anything. You don’t have to be nervous.” He gave him a playful smile and light tap on the arm, but he might as well have slapped him with a stun baton. The whites of Kyungsoo’s eyes expanded at least two-and-a-half fold. Chanyeol immediately subdued the "kicked puppy" look, regained his composure, and finally outed what he'd been trying to say.

Kyungsoo was initially hinging on every word, but then quickly became confused, and stopped paying attention altogether about halfway through when it became apparent that what he was listening to was, in fact, a five-minute-long pun.

A long and awkward silence permeated the air before Chanyeol, who seemed pleased with himself, spoke again. “Get it? Because—“

“Yes,” Kyungsoo groaned, “I get it, but why exactly did that require my lone and undivided attention?”

“…Um…”

“Look, I’m sorry, but I don’t have time for jokes today. I’ve got to go. Sorry,” he said again, his heart softening slightly as he watched the other deflate.

“Sorry, that was dumb of me. I’ll catch you later,” he replied weakly as Kyungsoo grabbed his drawstring bag and walked past him, out of the room.

An action upon which he was met by a rather confused-looking Sehun and Baekhyun.

“I hate to be nosy, but—”

“Being nosy is literally your second favorite—”

“But,” Sehun said, interrupting Baekhyun’s interjection, “Is something wrong with him?”

Kyungsoo shrugged back, one eyebrow furrowed and lips upturned in confusion. “I know just as well as you do.”

“Do any of us ever know when it comes to him?” Baekhyun asked with a sigh. “Something’s definitely up, but let’s just wait it out like usual. We’ll find out eventually.”

“Eventually” was taking too damn long.

It was okay the first two times. It wasn’t even noon by the third time, but Kyungsoo was so curious about why Chanyeol was so eager to talk to him that even though the commercial break for their TV segment was ending in forty-five seconds, he didn’t protest when the taller practically yanked him off his feet and into a corner. He couldn’t remember what exactly Chanyeol said, but it was another terribly corny and (considering the situation) lengthy pun. He didn’t even have time to get annoyed, as the television staff were dragging them both back out in front of the cameras, and the irritation simmered down until the same thing happened on the fifth time Chanyeol tried to get his undivided attention.

The worst part was that sometime in those first five instances, Kyungsoo had allowed his mind to start wandering. He remembered good and well that this was the fifth anniversary since he signed his contract, and, as they all did, he knew about Chanyeol's tradition as well. Chanyeol was not a nervous person, and he couldn't help but wonder if somewhere in that lofty, goofy, whimsical mind of his, this anniversary of the day they met had something to do with it.

"K-Kyungsoo."

"Yeah?"

For once, his face was dead serious, face reddened, demeanor stoic. "I'm kind of embarrassed to say this, but uh, it's been five years since we met, and it's been quite a ride, but the great times far outnumber the bad times, and even in the bad times, like when we hadn't slept for fifty hours straight and you went and brought us all coffee, and remembered my favorite flavor, or that time I drank way too much and you didn't leave my side until you were sure I was going to keep breathing while I slept, it's always been you who's made this ride the best ride of my life, and I wanted to know if, uh... If you'd consider... me? Like, like, going out with me? But uh, I mean like... as my b-boyfriend or something like that, not just—"

He ended Chanyeol's babbling with a kiss.

The sixth time was when the text messages started. The godforsaken text messages.

"Hey sry about earlie…" —PCY, 2:34 p.m.

3:27 p.m.
4 new messages
"On break now?" —PCY

4:48 p.m.
5 new messages
"Still working or r u…" —PCY

6:06 p.m.
8 new messages
"Hey—"

He stopped replying after the ninth message and turned his phone off after the seventeenth. He could not, however, turn off Chanyeol’s physical presence, which came back into the picture another five times, three of those being some sort of stuttering followed by another ill-timed joke, the other two being shut down before they could turn into that, and all of them killing his hope of Chanyeol returning his feelings and not just plaguing him with jokes. The feeling of dread when he saw that optimistic yet slightly off smile approaching was turning into a phobia.

If you don’t think it was reasonable to see why he might have been a little more than irritated upon arriving home, you’re probably incapable of empathy.

9:03 p.m.
23 new messages
"Please don’t leave y…" —Suho
":\" —PCY

He went immediately to Suho’s message, which at first he thought would be a welcome change.

"Baek told me your phone’s off."
"Please don’t leave your phone totally off like that, k?" —Suho, 8:33 p.m.

If Kyungsoo’s thumbs had had teeth, they would have been gritted as they hissed their reply. With a clenched jaw, he typed out, "Sorry,". As he had considered saying throughout the day, and against which his willpower was steadily decreasing, he considered adding “Chanyeol’s been texting my phone to ,” but he instead added “a fan was bugging me,” and sent the message. Chanyeol liked his singing, didn’t he? Technically not a lie.

“It’s k. BTW, Sehun and I were gonna go over that one part to the dance again, wanna join in? I know you were busy today and just got home, so you don’t have to.”

“Nah it’s ok, I’ll come right now.”

As tired as he had thought he was of social interactions and people in general, he’d felt antsy from the moment five minutes ago he’d walked into the empty dorm, and he needed to blow off the steam that’d been accumulating throughout the day.

As luck would naturally have it, guess who was coming in the door?

“Oh—“ Chanyeol said, taken aback by the presence in the entry, “Hey. Uh, did you get any of my messages today?”

A twinge of annoyance ran down Kyungsoo’s spine as he reached down to put his shoes on as quickly as possible. “Uhhh, my phone was—“

“Was off? Yeah, Baekhyun told me. Something happen to it, or…?”

‘Yeah, you.’ “It was just an accident.”

“Oh, phew, I was thinking you were mad because I went overboard with the messages. Are you busy now, by any chance?”

‘No, I’m just putting on my shoes because they miss me.’ “I’m meeting up with Sehun and Junmyeon to practice dancing, and they’re expecting me soon, so—“

“Is there any chance we could really actually talk for a few minutes this time?”

‘What part of ‘expecting me soon’ don’t you…’ “…I mean—“

“I’ll take the blame if you catch lip for being late, so please. There’s something I seriously need to tell you.”

Kyungsoo stared dead into the other’s deep brown eyes and saw a resolve he couldn’t deny. Whether he couldn’t or didn’t want to, he did not know, but he knew that in that moment it would not have made a difference to him.

He slipped his shoes back off and followed Chanyeol back into the dormitory, where the air was suddenly much more intense than when he had walked out fifteen seconds ago. Despite his discomfort, when the other didn’t open his mouth to speak, Kyungsoo found himself doing so first.

“Okay, hyung. You finally have me, and my undivided attention, alone. What is it you want?”

“…I…” Chanyeol fell silent and refused to make eye contact, leaving Kyungsoo to prompt him to speak.

“You…?”

“I think I like you.”

“…What?”

For the first time in a long time, Park Chanyeol’s expression was entirely unreadable.

“Hyung… you…”

Chanyeol kept looking to the side, giving nothing.

“You really…?”

That was when Kyungsoo noticed the corner of the other’s lips begin to curl upwards, as they had many times that day. And then he chuckled.

That was also when went south fast.

“Don’t with me like that.”

Chanyeol had only time to stop his nervous laughter before Kyungsoo spoke up again, but the smile that accompanied it quickly faded as he listened.

“I’ve put up with your crap all day, but this is too far. Let me tell you something. In fact, let me tell you the reason I put up with everything from you today. It’s because I actually do like you. Every time you tried to get my attention, or messaged me, some stupid part of my mind was imagining you trying to confess to me. Since today’s the fifth anniversary of the day we met, I let that stupid thought infect my mind. Now I know you see it as a joke. Not such a funny one anymore, is it?”

“…I’m—“

“Sorry?” he snorted, “You took this way too far, hyung. When it stops stinging, maybe then I’ll care about "sorry".”

Chanyeol could only process the next few moments in stills. The hurt in Kyungsoo’s eyes as he finally dared to meet them with his own. Kyungsoo brushing past him, the door slamming shut.

He didn’t know how long he stood there before the word in his throat escaped along with the tears he didn’t know had welled in his eyes.

“…serious.”