Chanyeol winced before he slowly and painfully open his eyes. Something had hit his face and interrupted his deep sleep. His vision was struggling  to adjust and the rising headache he felt was not really helpful. He felt lost. What day was it? Where was he? .....Who the hell was sleeping next to him? He fastly shifted, moving away the arm responsible of his waking up.

Whose arm was it? The person mumbled something unintelligible and Chanyeol straightened up the upper part of his body to sit up. He held his head, his fast movements making him dizzy. He turned his head to identify the body next to him, exasperation appearing on his face almost immediately when he recognize the person.
 

“The you’re doing here Junmyeon?” He said loudly, kicking his asleep friend’s legs waking up the poor boy.

“Mmmhhhhhh” The other man moaned, tangling up his body in the sheets.

“Yo yo yo, Junmyeon wake up, what the ?” Chanyeol said while he started shaking his friend.

Junmyeon  lifted his arm to lazyly push Chanyeol in an attempt to make him stop.

“Alright alright, I’m waking up. God Chanyeol, you don’t need to be this aggresive in the morning.” He whined. He then proceed to move to sit like Chanyeol. He rubbed his face and yawned. “Hello stranger.” He said playfully to the not very amused bed’s owner.
 

Chanyeol did not respond and rolled his eyes at him. He was about to ask something when someone brutally opened the door.

A “just-fresh-from-the-bed-after-a-crazy-night” looking Sehun appeared and paused with an open mouth at the sight of his shirtless roommate with their friend sitting next to each other in the bed with confused faces, especially the taller one.

“Well, I’m quite surprised and a bit disgusted but I guess alcohol played a major role in this situation.” Sehun said crossing his arms and shaking his head showing an exaggerated judgemental expression. “I mean, sure Chanyeol can be a but I trusted you Junmyeon.I thought you knew better.”

Junmyeon just burst out laughing at his younger friend’silliness but Chanyeol was not here for this at all.

“Sehun, I’m not in the mood so please stop. And Junmyeon, for the 3rd and last time, what the hell are you doing here? Why were you sleeping in my bed?” The lattest said grumpily.

“Yeah Junmyeon, you’re supposed to leave the house before he wakes up. That’s how one-night-stands work or either way everyone will feel awkward like right now.” Sehun said matter-of-factly. He was about to laugh when Chanyeol’s cold gaze made him reconsider.

“Whoa there Chanyeol, okay, calm down. Just when I thought you would be happy to see me... Anyway, I got a text from Sehun about your party and decided I would stop by for a while after work since it’s been a while we had not seen each other. But when I arrived any of you were nowhere to be seen. Hopefully, some of the other twats were here, we started drinking and all, next thing I know I passed out on your bed Chanyeolie. I’m sorry if the sight of me was the last thing you wanted to see in the morning but it would have been irresponsible of me to drive back home drunk like I was.”

Junmyeon finished his little story with an awkward laugh. Never had he thought that his little sleep-over would cause such trouble.

Chanyeol patted his shoulder. “Sorry Junmyeon, you know you can come and stay over whenever you want. Yesterday night, I fell asleep pretty early actually. The exhaustion of the last days with exams and the too high amount of alcohol got the best of me.”

Yeah and Baekhyun too, Sehun wanted to add, but he kept it to himself.

“It’s okay guys, I guess my timing was bad. We definetely have to plan something together soon. I know I’m the busiest one out of us three, but just let me know whenever you’re free and I’ll make time for you. Speaking of which, what time is it?”

“Something between 11 and noon I guess now.” Sehun said blandly.

“What?” Junmyeon screamed. “Oh my God, but I’m working today! Darn, where’s my phone, why the alarm clock did not ring?” He said while hastily getting off the bed and started looking for his phone. He found it on Chanyeol’s desk, the battery had run out. “Okay, I’m sorry for leaving on you like this guys but I really have to go. I have a meeting in the afternoon. Hopefully it’s only with other co-workers so it’s not that important. Let’s keep in touch alright?” And with that he left the room and the apartment.

Sehun looked and waved at him while Chanyeol did not even get the time to get off the bed.

Finally the younger man turned to his roommate, looking at him carefully.

“So, how are you feeling this morning Yeol?” He asked genuinely concerned.

“Like . My head hurts, I’m going to take some painkillers and cook something. You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

Sehun shook his head. “But make it for 4 though.” He said normally.

“4?” Chanyeol asked confused while walking out of his room, Sehun following him.

He entered the living room which was a mess. Things had really went down last night. Red cups, cans, empty bags of snacks and glass bottles of various alcohols were dispatched everywhere on the ground and the furniture. Oh man, cleaning this was about to take hours. Chanyeol felt like he could just go back to bed and act like he had never seen any of this.

He was in the middle of pondering when he saw something move on the couch.

“Okay kids, wake up, time for food. Auntie Channie is about to cook for us.” Sehun said loudly while clapping his hands.

Finally, Chanyeol saw not one but two bodies rose up, one from the couch and the other one from the ground. It was Deukie and Joon.

Freaking Deukie...he must have arrived when Chanyeol was already asleep. The latter did not feel like talking to the one who was partially responsible of his current emotional state so he just walked to the kitchen corner and started cooking.

When the food was ready, he put everything on the table that the 3 others had cleaned. They thanked Chanyeol for the food and started eating resuming their chatting but he did not seem interested in joinging them and just ate in silence.

“Whoaaa, someone is being moody today. Didn’t you get enough of sleep Yeol? I don’t understand, you were already in your room when I arrived at the party.”

Chanyeol barely looked up at Deukie, trying his best to remain as calm as possible.

“I’m not in the mood.” He finally let out dryly.

“Not in the mood for what? We’re not asking you to do backflips but you could at least talk with us.” Deukie responds a little bit to aggresively.

The atmosphere suddenly changed. Sehun knew exactly why Chanyeol was acting like this so he did not risk adding fuel to the fire by making any sarcastic comment like he woud usually do in other circumstances. Joon looked at everyone very lost, and Sehun catched his gaze shaking in head in a way to let him know it was better to let it go.

“Talk, you sure like to talk, right Deukie?” Chanyeol spit.

The said friend looked at him like he was crazy.

Chanyeol kept on. “You love talking so much you couldn’t control your big mouth and tell Baekhyun your bulls because you think you know everything better than anyone.”

“What the hell are you-” Deukie started but was cut by Chanyeol.

“You don’t remember? I guess you talk so much you can’t even remember everything you say. Don’t you recall saying Baekhyun things to make him think I’m a player and a boy and stuff like this? He started doubting my intentions and now it’s been 3 weeks and he won’t even talk to me. You’re happy now? You like to up now you blew a big one, thanks a lot .” Chanyeol was hurt and angry.

Deukie was not expecting this at all. He barely remembered what he’d done at the club that night, he was hella drunk back then. But he knew that Chanyeol was not lying, what the latter said sounded exactly like something he would do especially if he was drunk. But he’d never wanted to hurt his friend and even less destroy his relationship. His action was more an “embarrasing my friend in front of his crush as more as possible” act than something with real bad intentions.

“I-I didn’t know Yeol, sorry. I never thought it would go this far, I was drunk man, I-” Deukie was struggling to find his words, embarrassment and surprise taking over him.

Trying to understand the situation, Joon was frowning because a piece of the puzzle was missing from what he knew. He decided to talk.

“But Yeol, didn’t you and Baekhyun made up at least yesterday?”

Everyone turned their heads to a confused Joon.

“Yesterday?” Chanyeol repeated like it was the weirdest word he had ever heard.

“Yeah, he came here and I told him you were in your room.” Joon said naturally.

“Joon, did you by any chance smoke or take something special last night?” Sehun said seriously.

The poor Joon was starting to feel offended, he was not crazy, he might have been drunk but he remembered exactly having seen and talked to the cute dark-haired man that Chanyeol seemed to be so fond of.

“Stop talking to me as if I was a kid saying he saw Santa Claus. I know who Baekhyun is and he came here yesterday. He did not know there was party, he seemed quite uneased, but I told him you were in your room Chanyeol. He even asked for Sehun. By the way, where have you even been all night?”

“None of your business.” Sehun shrugged.

At the same time Chanyeol was having a mental breakdown. Baekhyun was here yesterday, he came to his apartment and talked to Joon ? What happened? Why didn’t he know? Why did Baekhyun didn’t wake him up? Did he even come to check in his room? Maybe he left immediately? Chanyeol was feeling dizzy again. He was about to go back to his room to check if maybe there was any note on his desk or under his pillow. Or maybe a missed call, or a text a least.

“Joon, did you see him go to my room?” He asked with a panicked voice.

“Hmm, I saw him walk towards the door but I didn’t follow him. I didn’t see him again though, so I don’t know what happened. Honestly I thought you were together all night long so I didn’t bother. You really didn’t see him?”

“No!” Chanyeol’s voice broke up a little. “I went to my room and fell asleep like maybe 10 minutes later. Then I woke up this morning only to have Junmyeon next to me.”

“Maybe he let you a note or something, go check your room.” Sehun said, reading Chanyeol’s mind.

The latter finally decided to check but he found nothing. No note, no missed call, no text.

He was wondering if it should be a good idea to call Baekhyun but what would he say “Hey, you’ve been avoiding me for 3 weeks but my drunk friend thinks he saw you at my party yesterday, was it really you? And if so, why didn’t you come into my room to wake my drunk up?”.  No and no, that would be too awkward. But before he could even realize, he was picking up clothes in his closet, and ran to the bathroom to get fresh.

He got out of the bathroom all clean and styled up. His headache was still present but really he could not care less.

“Whoaaa, what are you planning to do Grandpa?” Sehun asked.

“I’m going to talk to him directly. If he took some of his time to come here, the least I can do is to come to him as well. I’ll go see him at his work. Not the best place I know but I can’t physically stay here and wait until tonight to go see him at his house.”

The 3 friends nodded in approval. This was the first time they were seeing Chanyeol acting like this for someone. Well, Sehun was not that surprised after everything he had witnessed those last weeks. But it was still surprising to see Chanyeol invest himself so much.

“I’ll drop you off Yeol. It’s the least I can do. And once again I’m sorry for the mess I put you through. It was not my intention, at all.” Deukie said apologetically.

“I can’t say it’s okay because it’s obviously not but well, let’s hope it will be. And yes thanks, I would appreciate if you could give me a ride.” Chanyeol tried to smile but the apprehension and the stress he was feeling prevented him to control his expression.

On the way to the bookstore Chanyeol had tried to think about what he would say to Baekhyun. But his mind was racing up, he had so many questions to ask and so many things to say that he did not know where to start or even how to say it properly. Plus, a little part of him could still not believe that Baekhyun had really come to his house. What if Joon had dreamed about this? Or mistaken Baekhyun for someone else?

It was quite unreal to think that out of all days he had been waiting for a sign from the shorter man, it was the one when he was passing out drunk on his bed that the man had deciced to show up.

But it was too late to back down, Chanyeol was already in the store, ridind the escalator going to the 3rd floor. His heart was beating like crazy and his palms were getting more and more sweaty. He still had not decided what he would say first or even what he would say at all actually. Just go with the flow he said to himself.

The third floor of the store had not changed. Still the same shelves, the same customers either students or parents looking for books with promises of improved grades.

Chanyeol looked carefully around him, maybe Baekhyun was there. But he was not.

He sighed not knowing if he was relieved to have a few minutes to him or a little disappointed to have to ask to an employee for the manager. Which excuse could he use today?

He walked towards a female employee and asked if the manager was here. She nodded and was about to ask him why did he need to see her superior but she just said, “Oh you’re lucky, he just came out of his office! Mister Byun!” she called for someone that Chanyeol could not see yet. The tall man stiffened, it was all so sudden. Baekhyun was just a few feet away. He heard him ask the girl what did she call him for. It was a matter of seconds.

“This customer wanted to see you.”

Guessing they were now  probably looking at him, Chanyeol turned around to face the one he was so impatatient yet scared to front.

When he realized who the customer was, Baekhyun felt his heart skip a beat. It was the last person he was expecting to see today and maybe the last he actually wanted to see, especially here, at work. The still fresh images of yesterday night with Chanyeol sleeping half- and holding to this girl flashing in his mind making him want to run and hide out of everyone’s sight.

But here he was, facing Chanyeol who seemed to be wanting to run away to. They were looking at each other not saying a word, each one probably trying to evaluate the other one’s expression.

The awkward tension was getting thicker and the confused employee decided to cut it down. She cleared loudly enough to make them snap out of their intense staring session and was about to talk but Baekhyun finally decided to open his mouth.

“Hello, how can I help you?” He said trying to sound the more professional he could but his voice was shaking a little.

Chanyeol was surprised by the flat and cold welcome and a thin layer of confusion and sadness appeared on his expression.

“B-Baek-I mean, mister Byun, I would like to talk to you p-please?” Chanyeol was struggling to find his words, he was a bit confused by the strange way the man he wanted to hold in his arms was looking at him. He also did not want to say anything inappropriate in front of the employee.

The girl could feel that this was more than a “customer-manager” talk that was involved here so she excused herself and started walking away discreetly.

“I’m busy right now so if you have any inquiry you should ask one of the employee to help you.” Baekhyun said in a stern voice and he was about to leave too but Chanyeol catched his wrist.

“Baekhyun, I think we need to talk. I know I shouldn’t have come to your workplace but I couldn’t wait. Can we talk a little in private?” The student said almost begging.

Baekhyun shook his arm to let go off the grip on his wrist. He sighed and looked around. Everything seemed to be in order so he finally agreed.

“Okay, let’s talk in my office.” And he started walking back in the direction he was initially coming from followed by a tall and excited puppy.

He entered the room first then Chanyeol came in, closed the door himself and backhugged him tight.

“God, Baekhyun I missed you sooooo much. Those 3 weeks felt like a year. When I heard you came by yesterday I couldn’t believe it. Was is it even really you? Honestly I don’t care, I’m just happy to see you right now.” Chanyeol just let his thoughts make their way out of his mouth. Not bothering of making sense or not. He was just too happy and relieved to be able to finally talk and hold the one that had been occupying his mind 24/7.

Baekhyun shifted his shoulders to free himself from the embrace. He turned around to face his longing interlocutor. The dark-haired man was feeling so many differents feelings at the same time. Chanyeol was looking so good and he seemed genuinely happy to see him and Baekhyun would be lying if he said he was not happy too. His body was aching to go back in those arms and bury himself in this toned warm body. But his heart was aching too and for a dark reason that he just could not brush off.

“How have you been Chanyeol, it’s been a while.” He decided to say, making the other man looking at him in disbelief.

“How I’ve been? How I’ve- Are you joking? I’ve been missing you Baekyun and I was a mess. I’ve been waiting for you to call me or hit me up in any way every single day. I mean, even if you didn’t want to talk to me anymore I would have understood but you could at least let me know.” Chanyeol’s voice got lower saying the last sentence. “I’ve never missed someone or felt like this before. Honestly I don’t know how I made it through those 3 weeks.”

Oh I guess I have an idea of how you did Baekhyun thought sarcastically. He was also fighting his own feelings, because Chanyeol’s words had made him melt. Me too Chanyeol, me too I’ve been quite a mess. I was missing you but I needed time to make up my mind some part of him wanted to say. But he kept him to himself, because another part remembered him what he just saw the day before. Why Chanyeol, why did you have to act like this? I was just beginning to trust you.

“Could you say something? You don’t seem really happy to see me and it’s a bit confusing.” Chanyeol said worriedly.

Baekyun tried to mumble something but even himself did not know what he wanted to say.

Nervousness was taking over Chanyeol’s whole mind and body. This was not really the situation he had expected to be in. Of course he knew things would have been a little awkward after so long. But the strange coldness that was emanating from Baekhyun was really disturbing and totally unexpected.

“Baekhyun, did you really come to my house yesterday? I’m trying to understand what happened and I’m lost.”

“I did.” The shorter man whispered.

“Why? I mean I’m glad you came but why did you came without telling me?”

“I wanted to talk to you and since technology seemed to be against me I thought it would be better to come in person. But when I arrived there was your party and you seemed to have your own private fun if I may say.”

Chanyeol furrowed his eyesbrows, what was Baekhyun talking about.

“My own fun? Joon told me he talked to you and told you I was in my room. You should have come, actually I drank so much I just went to sleep pretty early. I wasn’t really in the mood to party. It would have been like such a sweet reward to be woken up by you though.”

“I actually came into your room Chanyeol. But your friend of whoever it was was already taking care of you and you didn’t seem like you needed anything else.” Baekhyun said his stomach tiying at the recall of the hurting memory.

“M-my friend?...Oh you must have seen Junmyeon! He didn’t tell me someone came in the room. But what did he tell you to make you leave like this?”

Really Chanyeol? You’re going to play this card with me? Baekhyun thought starting to feel disappointed and a little angry.

“Chanyeol, don’t play dumb with me. I don’t know what kind of lies you’ve formerly planned to tell me today but I’ve already been through it all and you should think twice before you open your mouth.”

WOW. Lost and confused was un understatement to describe how Chanyeol was feeling. What the hell was happening right now?

“Erm...O-okay, I don’t know what’s going on neither what you seem to be angry about Baekhyun.  Would you mind expla-”

“Explain? Explain what? You’re actually the one who should explain me something. But hey, let me guess, you got bored because I was making you wait. So you decided to distract yourself a little. Oh or maybe you got so drunk you can’t even remember you slept with that brown-haired girl since things like this are quite common for you.” Baekhyun was so mad that he could feel his eyes getting teary. But it was not the place nor the time to break down.

“What the Baek?! Which brown-haired girl? What are you even talking about? I told you I went to sleep pretty early, I woke up this morning only to find my male friend Junmyeon sleeping next to me. Nothing less, nothing more!” Chanyeol was hurt and what he had just heard did not make any sense. This had to be a nightmare.

“Why are you lying Chanyeol? I saw it with my own eyes! You were sleeping and holding that girl who was caressing you and stuff. Do you need me to draw it for you? It’s okay, I know we weren’t really dating anyway so it’s not like you owed me fidelity or anything. But you could at least be honest with me. I warned you last time but I can see it was useless.”

“B-Baekhyun...I have not a single idea of what you’re talking about! You gotta believe me on this one! There is a huge misunderstanding here! I didn’t sleep with anyone yesterday, let alone a girl. I don’t know what to tell you, I don’t understand what happened. Were you sure it was me? You’re sure it was my room?” Chanyeol was trying to put 1+1 together but nothing added together.

“Do I look that stupid to you Park Chanyeol? Or do you think you live in a castle with thousands of room with tall grey-haired guys sleeping in it?”

“I...I…”

“You what? There’s nothing more to add I guess. I’m disappointed but it’s not like I didn’t know where I was going with you. Maybe it’s my fault I should have answered you sooner. But who knew, maybe you would still have get bored and would have go and see other people behind my back. We’ll never know. So excuse me but I’ve got work to do.”

“Wait!” Chanyeol said stopping Baekhyun who was about to open the door. The latter turned to him an hard expression all over his face. “Why did you come to my flat in the first place? What did you want to tell me?” Chanyeol asked, his voice revealing how broken he was feeling inside.

“I don’t really know. I just reckoned it was time for me to talk to you. I thought I would just figure out what I’ll tell you when I see you. And now I’m seeing you and I’m asking you to leave me alone.” Baekhyun said those last words and opened the door motionning Chanyeol to move.

The taller of the two knew he had no other choice but to leave. Trying to stay would only lead to more argument. And most important he had to discover what happened. What happened when Baekhyun opened the door, who did he see and what exactly did happen. So he decided to leave, looking one last time at the dark-haired man who was staring at the ground.

“Baekhyun, I-”

“Chanyeol, let’s just part away peacefully okay? Goodbye and have a nice day.”


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[A/N] It's a double-update so see you at the next chapter...