It’s in the morning when it finally sinks in just what he had done. Baekhyun’s painfully hungover, a particularly intense headache pounding on his brain, but he can’t stop thinking about how he might have just ed everything up as he rolls over and buries his face into his pillow.

Minseok, being the perfect angel of a roommate he is, comes in only a couple of minutes later, a small rap against the open door alerting Baekhyun of his presence. The noise makes his head want to explode but he’s happy to see Minseok nonetheless and Baekhyun childishly stretches out his arms to beckon his roommate over. Minseok immediately waddles over. He’s balancing a plate of food and a mug of coffee on a serving tray and Baekhyun sluggishly sits up as Minseok works to prop up the legs of the tray so it stands properly.

His hands are immediately drawn to the small pill that's lying next to the glass of water. "Painkiller?" Baekhyun asks, already positioning the pill at the entrance of his mouth.

"Ibuprofen," Minseok affirms and watches Baekhyun swallow down the pill with ease.

“Have I ever told you I love you?” Baekhyun says as he pops a piece of bacon into his mouth. “Because I do. A lot.” 

Minseok hums noncommittally as he slides next to Baekhyun, pulling the covers over his legs much to Baekhyun’s weak protests. “So what happened last night?” His roommate asks casually as he picks at the threads of the blanket.

“I drank too much,” Baekhyun manages to say between mouthfuls of egg, “And I may or may not have ruined my relationship with my only other friend in this building complex.”

“So no biggie,” Minseok shrugs and Baekhyun gives him a look.

“I don’t appreciate you making light of my problems,” He mumbles.

“But they are small problems,” Minseok reasons, inching closer to Baekhyun. “In fact there’s no problem. You like him, you kissed him, where’s your--”

“How do you know I kissed him?”

“You’re really chatty when you’re drunk.”

“Hyung,” Baekhyun whines, waving his fork at Minseok accusingly, “Don’t take advantage of my loose inhibitions and nonexistent judgment.”

“It’s not my fault you came into my room and woke me up at some ungodly hour, rambling on about how soft Chanyeol’s lips are.” Minseok rolls his eyes, reaching over to steal a piece of bacon from Baekhyun’s plate. Baekhyun winces at Minseok’s words, opting to stab at his egg instead of validating that with a response. “I think it’s cute, really. You just move in and then there’s a love interest like right across the hall. Bam. Like destiny.”

Baekhyun’s lips settle into a frown. “You know I don’t believe in that bull.”

“It might not be as stupid as you make it out to be,” Minseok shrugs before stealing a sip of the  Baekhyun’s coffee and then grimacing at the bitterness. “But seriously, things seem to be going fine if last night was any sort of indication. What’s the problem?”

“I,” Baekhyun starts with a particularly aggressive stab, “I just don’t know if I’m ready?”

“Because of…?” Minseok trails off when Baekhyun gives him a look.

“Yes, because of him.” Baekhyun bites out. And he hates how affected he is by the mere mention of him, by the mere thought of him. Baekhyun reclaims his mug of coffee and raises the cup to his lip, taking a long scalding sip.

“Did you just burn your tongue?” Minseok asked, the concern present in his voice almost completely hidden by the utter amusement in his tone.

“ off.” Baekhyun mumbles, setting the mug down with a bit more force than necessary. He cups his fingers around the cup, seeping in the warmth of the ceramic. “I just-- I don’t know.”

Minseok sets a hand on his thigh as a comforting gesture of some sort. “It doesn’t have to be as…” Minseok pauses, waiting for the right word to come back to him. “Serious as the last one, I mean.”

Baekhyun shoots him a confused glance, “So like… You want me to use Chanyeol to get over myself?”

“No no no,” Minseok rushes out and then sighs, “...Yes, maybe, I don’t know! Just… you like him, right?” He pauses, awaiting Baekhyun’s affirmation. Baekhyun nods before moving his eyes to watch the steam drift up from his mug. “Then just -- god this sounds so bad -- have fun with it. You don’t have to know how deep you’re going to get into this so just… experiment. See how things turn out: If it’s great then maybe you’ll consider getting serious; if it’s bad then you can break things off easily. I just--” Minseok makes a face, obviously frustrated that his words aren’t coming out like he had hoped they would, “You’ll never know whether you’re ready or not until you try.”

“That…That…” Baekhyun tapers off, taking a deep breath before he tries again, “That was cheesy."

"Your mom is cheesy" is Minseok's automatic reply and Baekhyun elbows him in the arm. They share a laugh, the tension broken by their immature sense of humor, but Minseok's face soon draws back into seriousness.

"But really," He says, "Think about what I said."

They exchange a meaningful look accompanied by a brief moment of silence. "Well," Minseok starts, "I'm going to leave you alone to eat or sleep or whatever you like to do when you're hungover."

“Hey, Minseok?” Baekhyun asks just as Minseok starts to get up, “You just ate like half of my bacon.” He points out.

“It’s just a small price you have to pay for my wonderful presence,” Minseok winks and Baekhyun can’t help but smile back.

 

When he awakens a couple hours later when the sun has already begun to set, he trudges out of his room in search of something to drink. The moment he manages to get out his room, he’s practically tackled by Lu Han. He stumbles backward, trying to shove the hugging Lu Han off of him but to no avail. It’s too much effort and he ends up just letting him be while he asks with as much venom as he can muster, “What the hell are you doing?”

“Hugging you.” Lu Han answers as if it’s the most logical thing in the world. “Because you just won me $20.”

“And how did I do that?”

“You got together with Chanyeol!” Lu Han cheered and his voice is way too loud.

“You made bets on me?!” He nearly screeches.

“Well of course,” Lu Han shrugs as if this is the most normal thing in the world. And maybe it is. For him. “What else do you think we do for entertainment?”

Seeing Baekhyun’s face, Minseok rushes in to clarify, “Not on like everything. Just like the little things.”

“How is me getting together with Chanyeol a little thing?” Baekhyun asks and Minseok visibly stiffens.

“Okay, so we only made bets on the little things plus maybe one or two big things.”

Baekhyun groans, “What else did you bet on?” 

“Mainly just Lu Han’s prediction.” Minseok explains, “Like stuff about Jongdae mostly.”

“And about who I’m dating, apparently.” 

Lu Han shrugs. “Yeah. And that. But mostly my predictions.”

“You guys are impossible.”

x    x    x

Baekhyun takes the first day to mull over Minseok's word, to weigh out his options and figure out what he's going to do. He spends the next two working up enough courage to go through with his choice.

I’m coming over, he texts Chanyeol. In the back of his head he hopes that Chanyeol doesn’t reply, or says that he’s not home so that Baekhyun can use that as some semblance of an excuse as to why he wasn’t able to clear up things with Chanyeol for yet another day.

He’s disappointed when his phone vibrates, displaying a short Okay as the response. 

He knocks on the door.

It opens about two minutes later to the sight of a disheveled Chanyeol. His hair’s a mess, as if he’s just gotten out of bed, and there’s a toothbrush shoved in his mouth, some toothpaste foaming at his mouth. He grunts in greeting, his mouth too full to form a word.

“Sorry,” Baekhyun says sheepishly, “I should’ve come later, huh?”

There’s a considerable bit of muddled groans from Chanyeol that Baekhyun can’t seem to decipher. He’s about to question it when Chanyeol so kindly raises a finger and then races back into the apartment, down the hallway, and into the bathroom. With a quiet snort at Chanyeol’s actions, Baekhyun lets himself into the apartment, quietly shutting the door behind him.

He stands awkwardly in the middle of the living room, not sure whether he should take a seat or just wait for Chanyeol to come back. He’s saved from actually making a decision when Chanyeol’s head pops out from behind the bathroom door. “Hey, go to my room, I have something to show you.”

Baekhyun’s a bit shocked; he’s never actually been in Chanyeol’s room before, but he at least knows where it is. “Oh… Okay…” He says uncertainly as he makes his way over to Chanyeol’s bedroom.

“I’ll be there in a second,” Chanyeol promises as Baekhyun passes by.

He's never really thought about it before, but the room is as he would expect: not too messy but with enough things displaced to give a lived-in look. The window sill is large, allowing in enough light to fully illuminate the room without the help of electricity. 

He doesn’t quite know where to sit, not sure whether it’d be weird to go sit on the bed or rude to move the papers off of the chair and sit there, so he remains standing. Chanyeol comes back in soon after.

“You can sit on the bed if you want.” Chanyeol says as he enters the room, immediately noticing Baekhyun’s discomfort.

“Oh okay.” Baekhyun obeys and takes a seat on the bed, keeping his legs together and his hands folded in his lap.

“You look really uncomfortable.” Chanyeol points out.

“What?” Baekhyun lies back and sprawls his limbs all over the bed to take up as much space as he possibly can. “Is this better?”

“Much.” Chanyeol laughs and closes the door behind himself before he moves towards the bed. Immediately, Baekhyun sits back up. 

"You're closing the door? Is this your way of making a move on me?" Baekhyun says bemusedly and Chanyeol only scoffs.

"You wish," He rolls his eyes as he approaches the bed. Before he actually gets on, though, he kneels at the foot of the bed and reaches to get something from underneath. "I just don't like leaving my door open; it's like a personal pet peeve."

"I see,” Baekhyun absentmindedly dismisses as he eyes Chanyeol sliding something black and rectangular from beneath the bed. “What are you even doing?”

“Getting this.” Chanyeol grins up at Baekhyun as he sits down on the floor right in front of the case. He flips open the locks to reveal an acoustic guitar. He runs his hands over the lacquered wood a couple of times before lifting it out of its case, plucking halfheartedly at the strings. There’s a look of concentration on his face as he carefully turns the tuners until he reaches his prefered pitch. “Listen to this,” He says after a while, finally glancing up to see the incredulous look Baekhyun is giving him. “I’ve been working on this for a couple of days.”

He recognizes it after the second note. “Oh my god.” He breathes out, watching Chanyeol’s fingers dance across the fretboard in fascination. “Is this…?”

Chanyeol hums in agreement but it isn’t until he finally hits the chorus when he’s comfortable enough playing to actually provide a more in-depth answer. “Yeah, the other night, I remember you saying that it was your favourite song and it’s a song I like a lot so I just figured...” He shrugs off the ending, but the action messes with his concentration and he has to focus a bit to get back on rhythm.

Baekhyun gapes, “I don’t remember most of what happened that night and yet you somehow manage to remember something as tiny as that?”

“A favourite song is hardly something small,” Chanyeol laughs, his hands beginning to fumble over the strings as he loses his concentration. “,” He swears as his fingers trip over each other and then eventually come to a stop, “It’s still in the working.” He says a little sheepishly.

“Get up.” Baekhyun orders and there’s confusion on Chanyeol’s face. 

“Did… Did you not like it?” Chanyeol asks, setting his guitar back in its case. “Did I slaughter it that badly?” He laughs but the slight tones of uncertainty stick out.

Baekhyun shakes his head and wordlessly pats at the space on the bed next to him, a silent gesture for Chanyeol to sit next to him. Chanyeol obeys, but hesitantly, watching Baekhyun carefully as he takes a seat. “Should I have waited? Until it sounded a bit better?” He chuckles nervously but Baekhyun shuts him up with his lips.

Turning Chanyeol’s face toward him, Baekhyun raises his hand to run through Chanyeol’s hair before settling onto the nape of Chanyeol’s neck. Chanyeol is frozen at first and it takes a good couple of seconds before he’s kissing back, pressing back into Baekhyun’s lips. 

Baekhyun is the one to pull back for a gasp for air, but he keeps their faces close, their foreheads touching as he steadies his breath.

“Is this going to be a thing now?” Chanyeol asks softly, the side of Baekhyun’s neck, his finger circling one of the more prominent moles. 

Baekhyun laughs. “I hope so.” He whispers before moving in to initiate a second kiss.

x    x    x

Their relationship progresses smoothly, slowly, to the point that it's rather difficult to tell whether they're actually dating or if it's just some odd extension of friendship.

Either way, Jongdae still comes over frequently. And that peaks Baekhyun’s curiosity.

It’s one thing to come four times a week, every week, on the same days. It’s another to spend these visits camped out on the couch while Baekhyun and Chanyeol hang out in another room.

And Baekhyun’s questioned it, why Jongdae spends so much time around the apartment even when Chanyeol isn’t there entertaining him but Chanyeol had only shrugged. “I dunno, I guess he just doesn’t like his own apartment?” Was the only excuse Chanyeol could come up with. 

“Still...” Baekhyun had replied, pursing his lips in thought. 

“Hey,” Chanyeol had said and Baekhyun had raised his head to glance up at his boyfriend. Chanyeol had pressed a soft kiss to his lips, “You evacuate your own apartment for… reasons. Maybe Jongdae does the same?”

Baekhyun had been too busy blushing to give an answer.

He doesn’t think much of it anymore, passing it off as some kind of weird buy-one-get-one free package deal.

They do spend ample time alone, though. Baekhyun’s gotten good enough at remembering Jongdae’s schedule to come over at times when the other isn’t around. He does, however, make some mistakes from time to time.

“Hey!” Baekhyun says as soon as the door swings open but he freezes when he’s greeted with Jongdae’s face instead of Chanyeol’s.

“Problem?” Jongdae asks, an eyebrows cocked in question.

“I uh,” Baekhyun stammers, “I wasn’t expecting you here today…”

“Sorry for the inconvenience, princess,” Jongdae winks. Baekhyun pretends to gag but that only serves to heighten Jongdae’s amusement. “But I’ll leave you alone so you can have quality time with your man.” Every word that’s coming out of Jongdae’s mouth is greasy and embarrassing and Baekhyun fakes a punch at his arm for subjecting him to that kind of pain. Jongdae doesn’t even flinch.

A little disappointed by the lack of reaction, Baekhyun ventures further into the apartment but still no sign of his boyfriend.

“Your darling is in the bedroom.” Jongdae winks again and Baekhyun flips him off. Jongdae only laughs, slouching against the wall to pull out his gaming device from where it had been hidden away in one of his jacket’s inner pockets.

As per Jongdae’s instructions, Baekhyun goes into Chanyeol’s bedroom to find Chanyeol on the bed, humming softly, strumming on his guitar, while bobbing his head to whatever’s playing through his oversized headphones. “Hey,” Baekhyun calls out but Chanyeol doesn’t hear. He goes closer.

“Hey,” He tries again, this time putting a hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder to get his attention. Chanyeol nearly falls off the bed. 

“Baekhyun!” Chanyeol exclaims, his eyes full of glee as he pulls out his headphones. “When did you get here?” He sets down his guitar next to him before opening up his arms for a hug. Baekhyun laughs and goes in, wrapping his arms securely around Chanyeol’s neck.

“Just now,” Baekhyun whispers before pressing a kiss to the back of Chanyeol’s ears. “What were you playing?”

“Just something that I’ve been working on.” Chanyeol answers and he practically jumps up off of the bed. “You want to hear it?” He asks excitedly.

Baekhyun nods, detaching himself from Chanyeol to take a seat on the bed. He expects Chanyeol to grab his guitar and start playing but instead he stands up, approaching the bedroom door. “What are you doing?” Baekhyun asks with a puzzled expression.

“The door.” Chanyeol says as if it’s enough of an explanation. 

“I don’t think Jongdae would mind hearing you play guitar? I mean he’s pretty immersed in his game…”

“It’s not that,” Chanyeol laughs, successfully shutting the door and returning back to the bed. “It just bothers me.” He shrugs, settling next to Baekhyun.

“Oh yeah, you and your weird door thing. I forgot.” 

“It’s not weird,” Chanyeol pouts as he reaches behind himself to get the guitar. Baekhyun’s about to protest but Chanyeol holds a hand over his mouth. “Now be quiet and listen.” He grins and removes his hand to start playing. The strumming of the guitar is then accompanied by the low hum of Chanyeol's voice.

It's not a long composition, barely spanning over about a minute and a half, but it's something else. Bordering on a mix between a ballad and a lullaby, even without words the melody is bittersweet. 

"Wow." Baekhyun breathes out when Chanyeol finishes, glancing up from under his bangs to give him a look, "You're a graphic designer. Where the hell is all of this musical talent coming from?"

To hide his quickly reddening face, Chanyeol wipes at his face, averting his eyes, but Baekhyun can see the effects of his compliment. "It's not really that good..." Chanyeol mumbles, blushing.

"Don't sell yourself short," Baekhyun grins. He reaches over to the guitar and Chanyeol lets him grab it from his hands. "I've always wanted to play..." He muses absentmindedly as he at the wood.

"You want me to teach you?" Chanyeol asks and Baekhyun's eyes light up.

"Really?"

"I'm not the best of teachers, just a forewarning." Chanyeol adds in bashfully. He moves off the bed and stands himself in front of Baekhyun. He carefully begins to reposition Baekhyun's arm.

After a bit of jostling, Baekhyun finally managed to comfortably hold the guitar but it takes a bit longer than he would care to admit. Baekhyun laughs despite himself. "Well I'm not the best of students." 

Chanyeol returns a grin. "What a pair we make."

 

They finally stop whenever Chanyeol announces that he has to go to the bathroom. They've kept at it for about an hour and a half and true to his words, Baekhyun is most definitely not a good student. His fingers, while slender and long, have a hard time arranging themselves in the correct chord position and he has a hard time remembering the frets, having to constantly glance over at the top of the fretboard to count off the frets every couple of notes. He's diligent, though, determined to achieve and Chanyeol is patient, calmly rearranging Baekhyun's fingers and pointing at helpful tips when need be. By the end of their session, Baekhyun's successfully learns about two, albeit terribly simple, songs.

"I'll be right back." Chanyeol promises and steps out of the room.

“Can I get something to drink?” Baekhyun ask, following Chanyeol out but taking a left into the living room. He finds Jongdae splayed out on the couch as per usual, immersed in his Pokemon game. 

“Yeah,” Chanyeol yells back his reply as he hurries into the bathroom, “There should be something in the fridge, just go grab it.”

Baekhyun nods before he realizes that Chanyeol can’t actually see him. He steps into the kitchen with the intentions to raid the fridge but before he can even manages to grip the refrigerator's handle, there’s Jongdae’s body wedged between the appliance and Baekhyun. Baekhyun doesn’t even remember seeing him move. “Hello?” Baekhyun gives a small smile, his features twisted in clear confusion.

Jongdae gives him a hard look that softens away as quick as it had come. He beckons Baekhyun closer as if he has a secret to tell; Baekhyun obliges. 

“Pst,” Jongdae whispers and Baekhyun can practically feel Jongdae’s little smirk on the shell of his ear. “Don’t tell Chanyeol, but there’s a surprise in there. I wouldn’t open it if I were you.”

Baekhyun leans away to stare at Jongdae. “Surprise?”

“Open the fridge and you’ll be buried in a month’s worth of groceries.” 

“Oh. Okay.”

“So now you know.” Jongdae smiles and then practically hauls Baekhyun back into Chanyeol’s bedroom, “So just continue on with your little… whatever you do in there.” There’s a final smile before the door closes and Baekhyun can’t help but feel that whole exchange was weird. He brushes it off as nothing and goes to wait on the bed, plucking absently at the strings of the guitar left abandoned on the bed. 

Chanyeol returns about a minute later. “You get your drink?” He asks, wiping his wet hands on the back of his pants.

Baekhyun shrugs, taking particular interest in the guitar’s A string as he plucks it more rapidly.

Chanyeol goes rigid abruptly and all of a sudden, he’s pressing down on the strings, stopping Baekhyun’s constant picking. “What do you mean?” He asks. Baekhyun can’t help but feel a bit of aggression in his voice. He shies away from Chanyeol’s balking figure.

He averts his eyes and suddenly Chanyeol is coming closer, his eyes full of anger and what Baekhyun thinks to be fear. “What do you mean?” Chanyeol repeats, his voice harsh.

“Jongdae stopped me from opening the door.” Baekhyun says, raising his hands above his head as if to prove innocence, “I can’t tell you anymore than that. I’m sworn to secrecy.”

Chanyeol freezes and his anger dissipates as he shrinks back in relief. There’s a silence in the air as Chanyeol exhales. “ing Jongdae…” He whispers, shaking his head.

“I don’t think what he has planned for you is that bad?” Baekhyun comments, not really getting why Chanyeol is overreacting so much over a harmless (probably) prank. 

“It’s just…” Chanyeol starts and then shakes off the thought, “Nevermind.”

“Just,” Baekhyun pauses, trying to think of a way to lighten the odd mood that’s been set in place, “Don’t tell him I told you.” He tries and Chanyeol cracks a smile.

“No worries, your secret is safe with me.”

x    x    x

There’s one time when he comes over where only Jongdae’s in. It’s odd, really, why Jongdae is alone in Chanyeol’s apartment, and ever since Baekhyun and Chanyeol had started dating, Baekhyun had pretty much stopped wondering -- speculating -- about Jongdae’s reasons for visits.

It’s now that these theories -- suspicions -- come back to Baekhyun. It's not so much about wondering if the two are dating (because that's obviously not the case), but rather why Jongdae's always over. He's got to have some kind of reason and Baekhyun's going to figure it out.

“Chanyeol’s not here right now,” Jongdae says as soon as he opens the door.

“Oh.” Baekhyun replies, expression a little pinched in confusion, “Do you know when he’s coming back?”

“No clue,” Jongdae admits, “But you’re free to come in a wait. It is, after all,” He stops here to wiggle his eyebrows obnoxiously, “Your boyfriend’s apartment.”

His stomach lurks. He knows that he's in some sort of relationship with Chanyeol but they've never really come up with a formal definition for it. Hearing an official name for it makes his heart drop to his stomach and he'd rather not ponder on as to why. 

He doesn’t blush, though. There’s absolutely no reason, like blushing, that makes him duck his head as he pushes his way into the apartment. “You’d make great friends with Lu Han, I swear.” Baekhyun mutters under his breath and Jongdae, apparently picking up on Baekhyun’s little exhale, only hums agreeably. 

When Baekhyun goes to sit down on one side of the couch, Jongdae taking a seat on the other, Baekhyun realizes that he’s never actually been alone with the other. However, it’s Jongdae that so kindly voices this out.

“Isn’t it weird,” He asks as swings his legs up and onto Baekhyun’s lap, onto an area considerably closer to his crotch than what Baekhyun is comfortable with. He doesn’t know how to remove the legs without seeming rude or having to resort to actually touching Jongdae’s feet. “We’ve never been alone together?”

“Are you making some kind of move on me?” Baekhyun deadpans and he settles for inching himself close to his side of the couch until Jongdae’s feet are out of the danger zone. The couch is kind of small so Jongdae’s heels are still resting on the edge of his thigh, but it’s improvement nonetheless.

“No, I’m quite okay.” Jongdae shakes his head before adding as an afterthought, “I’ll leave that kinda thing for Chanyeol.” He winks cheesily and Baekhyun gives him a blank stare.

Things are quiet for a while because Baekhyun has never really been around Jongdae enough to find something like a common interest. He squirms in his seat for a while before eventually settling for an oh-so-wonderful conversation starter: “Do you have keys to this place?”

“Yeah, why?” That signature smirk of his is plastered on his face, “Lover boy jealous?”

“N-no!” Baekhyun sputters, a little louder than necessary. Jongdae winces but smiles pleasantly nonetheless. “I just… You… you…” Without really completing his thought, Baekhyun trails off with a pout. “I thought you guys were dating before.” He mumbles, almost inaudibly.

Jongdae practically chokes. As he’s pounding on his chest, coughing on his own saliva, he shoots Baekhyun a bewildered look. “Why would you ever think that?” He hisses out, looking almost offended by Baekhyun’s statement.

Baekhyun shrugs, “I don’t know. I mean you were -- are -- always here. That’s a little suspicious.”

“Haven’t you ever heard of friends?! You know, people who go over to your house who don’t happen to have with you?” In his exasperation, he manages to wink at Baekhyun and Baekhyun's tries his best to keep a straight face, to control the blush heating up his face.

“Yeah. That’s what I thought too,” Baekhyun answers but then shrinks back, “But then Lu Han was always giving me weird ideas.”

“I have never met, nor do I have the intentions to meet, this Lu Han but I think the moral of the story here is to never listen to Lu Han.”

“But his arguments seemed so valid… I mean you do come over exactly four times a week. On the exact same days.”

“Maybe I don’t have anywhere else to go…” Jongdae says solemnly and Baekhyun really doesn’t know how to answer that. 

Thankfully, he doesn’t have to when Jongdae ends up cracking up with laughter. “I’m just kidding. Oh my god you should’ve seen your face.”

Baekhyun narrows his eyes, “I don’t know. It’s a viable possibility.”

“Well that’s offensive.” Jongdae sniffs but ends up breaking into a smile, “Just kidding. I’ll have you know I’m an anesthesiologist so my hours are pretty short but the money is still pretty great. I just like Chanyeol’s place because, y’know, free food and all.”

“Still,” Baekhyun argues and he really doesn’t know why he’s persisting but he continues anyways, “You still come here really way too often. On like the same days.”

“Wow someone sounds jealous.” Jongdae smirks, “Maybe I’m just free on those days. Did that ever occur to Lu Han?”

This time around, he doesn’t have a rebuttal. “A lot of things don’t occur to Lu Han.” Baekhyun finally admits.

“Well glad that we’ve got the fact that I never have and never will harbor any sort of romantic interests toward that loser Chanyeol,” Jongdae stops to rest a hand on Baekhyun’s arm and give him a sympathetic look, “No offense.”

“None taken.”

x    x    x

Baekhyun approaches Minseok as soon as he returns home. "You're about to owe Lu Han about twenty more dollars."

"What do you mean?" Minseok asks, obviously distracted by his work in front of him. 

"Jongdae really is an anesthesiologist."

And then Minseok finally looks up from his textbook with a look of absolute terror. "No," he whispers, "How did he even know that?"

Baekhyun only shrugs his shoulders sympathetically, "Better luck next time." He's about to walk away when he feels on of Minseok's hands grip around his wrist.

"Wait." Minseok hisses, eyes desperate, "Lu Han... Doesn't need to know about this information."

"I thought your relationship was one built off of trust."

"What Lu Han doesn't know won't hurt him."

"It might financially."

Minseok practically snaps his pen in half. "I'm the one who is letting you live under my roof for practically nothing. Your loyalty lies with me and you will not betray me like this." He practically snarls and Baekhyun usually never sees this aggressive side of Minseok unless they're watching football or playing Mario Kart.

"Whatever you say, hyung." Baekhyun awkwardly laughs, backing away from Minseok's desk slowly. 

x    x    x

With or without the presence of Jongdae, though, their relationship progresses as they learn more and more about each other every day.

One of the these being that Chanyeol likes driving. Baekhyun learns that whenever Chanyeol suddenly offers to go on a spur of the moment drive around town just as Baekhyun’s typical self-imposed curfew rolls around. Baekhyun has no reason to say no.

Down in the parking garage of the apartment complex (where Baekhyun has never bothered venturing down since really, there’s no use for a car-less person like himself), Chanyeol ushers him over to a sleek black two-seater Lexus. He thinks it some kind of luxury car but his car knowledge is minimal at best. 

“Nice car.” He muses, and he means it. He doesn’t know much about cars but if the dent-free exterior and the shiny paint job are of any indication, the car is in great condition.

“Her name is Dara.” Chanyeol pipes in helpfully and Baekhyun can’t help but laugh.

“So you’re the kind of dork who actually names his car.”

“It forms a connection with them!” Chanyeol halfheartedly argues, pulling his keys out of his pockets to unlock the car before stepping forward to open Baekhyun’s door for him. 

“Whatever you say, Park.” Baekhyun sniggers and there’s a frown on Chanyeol’s face as he uses his arms to nudge Baekhyun fully into the car before slamming the car door closed. About a minute later, Chanyeol joins Baekhyun in the car, sliding into the driver’s seat. “So are we going anywhere specific?

"Uh," Chanyeol says as he sticks his keys into the car and turns, revving it to life. "Do you want to go somewhere?"

"Not really," Baekhyun as he moves to put on his seatbelt. "Wherever you want is fine by me."

"Then let me take you to this place."

Baekhyun only grins, "Whatever you want."

There's a blanket of silence as they drive, thin, but there. It’s not uncomfortable, though; Baekhyun seems to take comfort in it as he reclines back just the slightest bit and leans up against the frame of the door. Chanyeol turns on music but he keeps the volume on the low, the air filled with the sound of his voice humming along, rather than the actual music of the song. Not that it matters, Baekhyun much rather prefers Chanyeol’s voice.

They go on like this for what seems like a while and from the looks of it, Chanyeol is either taking him somewhere very far away or nowhere at all seeing how he seems to be driving away from the city. “Where are we going?” Baekhyun asks offhandedly whenever he notices them reaching the outskirts of the cities. To his surprise, just as soon as they approach the city boundaries, Chanyeol makes a quick, probably illegal, u-turn in the middle of the road. There’s no one else around so it doesn’t really matter, but it has Baekhyun diverting his full attention to the driver. “What are you doing?”

“Driving back towards the city,” Chanyeol answers.

“Then what about the first question? Any idea where we’re going?”

At that, Chanyeol seems to blanch, adopting a sheepish frown soon after. “I had a destination.”

“Past tense?” Baekhyun questions with a raised eyebrow. 

“Past tense.” The driver affirms, “I had a place I wanted to go to but then I realized that it’s probably closed at this time of night.”

“And you didn’t think of voicing this concern until after we were about an hour into our little driving adventure?” In his voice, there’s no semblance of anger or irritation, but rather just amusement, plain and simple.

“It occurred to me.” Chanyeol starts off quietly and he has to focus his attention back on the road again. “But only when we were already pretty far into our travels. I was going to tell you but I kept putting it off because--” He cuts himself off, sparing just a quick glance at Baekhyun before gripping at the steering wheel with what seems to be a look of embarrassment. “I wanted to spend more time with you.” He mumbles out. He speaks quickly but not quickly enough so that Baekhyun cannot understand. 

Baekhyun hums, “You could just ask me to stay longer if you want, you know?”

“You always seem so rushed to leave at a certain time," Chanyeol shrugs, "I just figured you had somewhere to be, something to do."

"And I just felt like I'd be overstaying my welcome if I stayed over." Baekhyun replies back. 

"What?" Chanyeol asks and there's this look in his eye, "Stay over? I didn't say anything about wanting you to stay the night, you ert." He teases and Baekhyun's immediate response is to smack him on the thigh.

"We both know that's exactly what you're alluding to here," Baekhyun says but before Chanyeol can refute, he continues, not affording the opportunity for the other to interrupt. "Now I don't know what you usually do when you go joyriding but I'm hungry. We should stop by somewhere to eat."

"What even is open at this time of night?"

Baekhyun shrugs, "I'm sure there's something."

 

There is, indeed, something but it just so happens to be a 24 hour convenience store located about five minutes away. It's a bit run down but it's clean, manned by a very apathetic cashier who so helpfully leads them to where their water boiler is. He leaves them to their own devices afterward with only the wise words of “Don’t, like, everything up”.

“I’m not gonna lie,” Chanyeol starts out as he clicks the water boiler on before taking a seat, “I’ve never done this before?”

“Done this before? As in eaten at a gas station or gone out to eat in the middle of the night with someone as cute as me?” Baekhyun smiles mischievously, taking the seat right next to Chanyeol.

“The former,” Chanyeol answers distractedly, grabbing two pairs of chopsticks and then handing one to Baekhyun.

At this, Baekhyun can’t help but pout, “So you’ve done this with someone as cute as me before?”

Chanyeol just shrugs. 

“Well,” Baekhyun says, filling in for Chanyeol’s silence, “At least I get to say that I was the first to bring you to eat at a convenience store. I mean, what kind of life did you live without me?”

Chanyeol only hums in agreement as he breaks apart his wooden chopsticks, “What kind of life, indeed?”

 

They get back late that night, noisily fumbling up the stairs at an inappropriate time of night even though they’re drunk off nothing but sheer ecstasy. Whenever they’ve reached their floor, to Chanyeol’s surprise, Baekhyun doesn’t break off to return to his own apartment. Instead, he stays rooted at Chanyeol’s side, laughing at something he had said. Whether it had actually been a joke, Baekhyun doesn’t know. Everything seems unnecessarily funny at 4 am. 

Chanyeol doesn’t question it, either. He just unlocks his door like normal and watches as Baekhyun waltzes in before he shuts it closed.

That’s the first night he stays over. It’s nice to fall asleep next to the warmth of a body again, to be lulled to sleep by the beat of another’s heart and he can’t say that he hasn’t missed this. 

Apart from the chaste kiss Chanyeol presses to his forehead right before they go to sleep, they don’t do much of anything.

(He can’t say the same about the morning after, though.)

x    x    x

When they’ve been dating for a couple of months, it’s Lu Han’s bright idea to invite Chanyeol over for dinner.

“This isn’t even your apartment, Lu Han.” Baekhyun rolls his eyes as he hobbles over to the couch with a basket of laundry that is to be folded. “You can’t be going around inviting people over. That’s rude.”

“I’m over so often that I practically live here anyways,” Lu Han shrugs as he goes to sit on the arm of the couch, watching Baekhyun do the chores.

“Then do your damn part in this household!” Baekhyun hisses, chucking one of the shirts at Lu Han’s face. It doesn’t hit, since his aim is pretty crappy, but Lu Han’s startled jump from the projectile is entertaining nonetheless.

“That was rude.” Lu Han says as he begrudgingly picks up a pair of pants and folds it. “But no really, I want to meet Chanyeol.”

“What, your stalking isn’t good enough to get ample amounts of information on him?”

“I don’t stalk him.” Lu Han narrows his eyes.

“Oh yeah, that’s right. Only Jongdae.” 

This time it’s Lu Han throwing an article of clothing at Baekhyun. And this time the said article of clothing is a pair of pants. And this time the said pair of pants managing to smack Baekhyun right in the face. “I need to get to know him.” Lu Han continues, “I need to see if he’s worthy.”

“You’re not my father.” 

“No, but Minseok is your mother and he agrees. Right, Minseok?”

They turn to where Minseok is settled on the dining room table and watch him expectantly. A couple moments later, Minseok’s fingers stop typing and he returns their gaze. “What?”

“Say yes.” Lu Han urges.

“Yes.” Minseok says immediately and Lu Han smiles proudly.

“So now you have to bring him over. Mother’s orders.”

“That’s what you’re talking about?” Minseok asks, closing his computer to actually join into the conversation.

“Yeah, don’t you think it’s a stupid idea?” Baekhyun says and tries to clear a little space on the sofa for Minseok to sit on.

Minseok looks uncertainly on the tiny space that Baekhyun had managed to clear and opts for just taking a seat on the floor. “I think it’s a wonderful idea.” Even though Baekhyun’s focused on Minseok, in his peripheral, he can see Lu Han fistpumping. 

“In what world would it ever be a “wonderful idea” to introduce someone to Lu Han?” Baekhyun asks, wrinkling his nose in mock disgust.

“It’d be nice to meet him.” Minseok shrugs, completely ignoring Baekhyun’s last comment, “I mean I talk to Chanyeol every now and then, but I’ve never really gotten to know him. Dinner is actually a pretty good idea.”

“Minseok,” Baekhyun groans, “You’re supposed to be on my side. Bros before hoes.” 

Minseok only laughs, “Just promise me you’ll ask him.

“Yeah, yeah. If I remember…”

 

And Baekhyun has no intention to ever actually ask Chanyeol to come over. There's no way he would subject his relationship to the uncertainty that is Lu Han. But of course, Minseok is adamant about the whole "being friendly" thing.

He actually goes as far as coming out to join Chanyeol and Baekhyun on one of their little mail adventures. 

“What are you doing?” Baekhyun hisses when he notices that Minseok is following him out of the apartment and to his meeting place with Chanyeol.

“I have to ask Chanyeol something. Because someone refuses to invite him over.” Minseok sniffs.

“I forgot,” Baekhyun starts to argue but the look Minseok shoots at him has him dropping his gaze to the ground.

“Why are you so afraid of inviting him over?” Minseok asks, a genuine seed of concern hidden away in his eyes. “I mean we aren’t that bad.”

Baekhyun shrugs, hoping to brush off the conversation but Minseok isn’t discouraged that easily.

“Are you afraid we’re going to embarrass you?” Minseok speculates, “Or maybe you’re afraid of us harassing him? Or... are you worried that he’s going to meet your friends…? Are you worried that it’s getting too serious? That it’s like another step in opening up your w--”

“Can you just shut up!?” Baekhyun exclaims exasperatedly when Minseok strikes a chord, but he immediately regrets his choice in words, his choice in tone when he sees Minseok’s face fall. “I just-- I uhm. Uh. I don’t want him to meet Lu Han.” He amends lamely but the expression doesn’t leave Minseok’s face. 

“Sorry,” Minseok apologizes quietly and they stand around in awkward silence until Chanyeol finally comes out of his apartment to meet them.

“Hey, Minseok’s here!” He points out but immediately, Chanyeol notices that something is off. “Did… something happen?” He asks, a little offput by the odd atmosphere.

“Hey,” Minseok forces on a smile, “Nothing’s wrong. Baekhyun and I were just talking.”

“Oh.” Chanyeol looks like he’s about to say more, probably probing more into the situation but Minseok interrupts.

“So I’m going to go back inside, it was nice seeing you, Chanyeol.” Minseok says and starts to make his way back to the apartment.

“Wait.” And obediently, Minseok stops. “Did you need to tell me something?” Chanyeol asks, but Minseok only shakes his head.

“No, it was noth--”

“Minseok wanted to know if you’d be up for having dinner at our apartment one of these days.” Baekhyun pipes in, and Minseok gives him a wide-eyed look. “He wants to just scope you out, see if you’re an okay suitor. Check to see if your a serial killer. The usual.” 

Minseok looks surprised, to say the least, and Baekhyun only offers him the slightest of a smile. He’s always been terrible at mouthing words but Baekhyun can at least make out the distinctive movements of “Thank you” that Minseok mouths. 

Chanyeol, as per usual, appears oblivious to Minseok and Baekhyun’s silent conversation and only nods happily. “Sure, I’d love to. You could’ve asked me yourself, you know. We’re neighbours, right?”

“Right.” Minseok nods happily before he disappears into the apartment.

“Well that was odd,” Chanyeol comments offhandedly and Baekhyun only shrugs, moving to slot himself into Chanyeol’s side. “He’s been wanting you to ask me to eat dinner with them for a while, hasn’t he?”

“For like two weeks,” Baekhyun laughs. “You know me so well.”

Chanyeol hums in agreement and begins to lead Baekhyun down the stairs. "But I’m curious.” He asks as he carefully places his steps down the stairs, trying his best not to topple over and drag Baekhyun down with him. “Why were you so hesitant to have me over?"

"It's weird in general. Inviting my boyfriend over for dinner... They act like my parents." Baekhyun rolls his eyes but freezes when he sees Chanyeol looking at him incredulously. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing I..." Chanyeol murmurs. "I mean we’re dating obviously but… You... You've just never called me that before." 

"O-oh. I just thought... Jongdae used it once... So like... Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"No!" Chanyeol rushes out before averting his eyes, "I like it..."

"Okay." Baekhyun lowers his gaze to the floor and an awkward silence befalls over them.

"But uhm..." Chanyeol starts up again, breaking the silence by bringing up an older topic. "I feel like that's an excuse. Be real with me." He pauses. Spinning around to face the other, he puts his arms on both Baekhyun's shoulders and looks directly into Baekhyun's eyes. "Am I that embarrassing?”

Baekhyun doesn't respond immediately. “More like Lu Han is embarrassing,” He says after a while, forever using Lu Han as his scapegoat. “I would rather have you go and live your life without ever meeting that guy.”

“You know, the more you talk about him, the more I actually want to meet him.”

Baekhyun shakes his head, frowning, “That’s what I was afraid of.”

 

Chanyeol agrees to come over two nights after the invitation has been extended.

“What are you doing here?” He asks when he finds Baekhyun at his front door, an hour before they had agreed upon, “I thought I’m supposed to be going over there.”

“You are.” Baekhyun nods in agreement, “But I want to prep you for this whole dinner thing.”

“Did Minseok kick you out because you were a pain in the ?” Chanyeol asks uncertainly.

“Minseok did kick me out.” Baekhyun says bluntly, but he doesn't affirm nor discount the second part. Instead he asks, “Let me in?”

He’s met with a smile. “When would I ever turn you away?"