“Chen and I are going ice skating this Saturday.”

“That’s nice.”

“Yeah? You should come.”

Chanyeol sank into his mattress, letting his stress dissipate into it as he let out a deep breath. This seemed to be what he originally wanted – letting the two finally go out on their own and experience their own date without him and Baekhyun sitting between them, but perhaps he’d want to see the couple interact a little bit before he let them spread their wings and fly on their own. He sighed. Chen and Kyungsoo were like his babies. Babies that he and Baekhyun had raised and fathered together – wait what–

“I’ll think about it,” Chanyeol quickly mumbled.

“Baekhyun’s coming too.”

Or not. Chanyeol groaned, pressing his face further into his pillow. “Ahh… how about no.”

As time would have it, Baekhyun’s name began to leave a vile taste in Chanyeol’s mouth whenever it was mentioned, and forming the name on his lips was a chore. He didn’t really think that running away and hiding from the brunette at all possible moments was the best solution to this problem, but when he was like this, what other choice did he really have?

Kyungsoo sat at the edge of his bed, running his hand along Chanyeol’s back as he curled into a ball, drawing his blankets tighter around his body.

“What, are you still afraid of him?”

Chanyeol closed his eyes and groaned. Afraid of him, no. Avoiding him until he figured out whatever this sudden allergic reaction was to him, yes. “I’m not afraid of him.”

Kyungsoo hummed softly. “You have been hanging around him a lot in the past month or so.”

“He's tolerable, I guess,” Chanyeol mumbled into his pillow, debating whether or not if ‘tolerable’ was the right word to describe it. Tolerable was okay. The bland taste of unbuttered bread and water when you’re craving something extravagant, the bore of bathing in lukewarm water – not unpleasant, but not necessarily wanted. Baekhyun was… something else. Something confusing. Not pleasant, but not necessarily unwanted?

Kyungsoo placed his hand on his back. “You two haven’t seriously insulted each other in a week or two. It’s weird.”

Chanyeol pressed his face further into his pillow as he curled his arms around his stomach with a groan, internally cursing that strange feeling in the pit of his stomach.

This had been going on for days now. Baekhyun is mentioned; Chanyeol feels sick. It’s a different type of sick – not the sick where he’s disgusted by the name and his existence and everything would be better if he just imagined pushing him off a cliff – it was a different type of sick. Clammy hands, fast heartbeat. His ‘flight or fight’ response was always set to fight when it came to Baekhyun, but suddenly it was set to flight; whenever he saw him in the hallways, whenever his name came up in conversation, whenever possible, he’d evade him.

Chanyeol only knew of one explanation for this, but that was definitely out of the question. In fact, it hadn’t even occurred to him until Kyungsoo was sitting down next to him, droning on about the man he wished to avoid and how their relationship had changed.

But there was no harm in asking, he figured, hoping to dispel any fear that what he was experiencing was… the forbidden emotion.

“Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol asked, glancing up to the shorter male sitting beside him. “How did you know that you liked Chen?”

“Chen?” Kyungsoo quipped defensively. “What are you talking about – I don’t like Chen.”

Chanyeol’s eyes narrowed into a sharp glare. “Don’t play dumb.”

Kyungsoo hissed. “Falling in love – not with Chen, mind you – is like... I don’t know. It’s lots of different things. You want to stare, like you can’t look away.” He let out a soft sigh, glancing up to the ceiling as he continued. “It’s a funny thing. Probably bipolar. Like sometimes, your heart is floating on a cloud and you’re setting a cage of butterflies free on a breezy spring day, and sometimes you’re standing in the rain all frazzled and confused, arguing with yourself over whether or not you left the stove on and if returning home to check is really worth it and everyone around you thinks you’re crazy, and other times you just really want to punch them in the face.”

Chanyeol cringed. There’s the Kyungsoo he knows.

The raven-haired man laughed. “But that’s the crazy thing, I guess. When it all comes down to it, there’s no other place you’d want to be. You never want to leave their side. They’re always in your thoughts, like you’re aching for them, and it’s like everything else is irrelevant until all you ever see is them. You can’t really put a name to the feeling when you get it. You sort of just know.”

Chanyeol gagged at the hearts in Kyungsoo’s eyes. “You’re pretty much screaming ‘I just really love Chen’ right now, you know that.”

“It’s not Chen,” Kyungsoo snapped, a faint blush coloring his cheeks as he changed the subject. “Anyways, you’re coming with us on Saturday. Don’t even think about missing out.” A smile crossed his face as he nudged his shoulder. “And maybe you could bring the pretty girl you think you’re falling in love with too.”

Kyungsoo quickly leaned to the side to dodge the pillow that Chanyeol had aimed directly at his face, followed by Chanyeol hissing at his friend and hiding his face back in his other pillow. I don’t need to – you already invited him.

Not that he was falling for Baekhyun or anything.

“Okay, your loss,” Kyungsoo sighed. “I’ll text you the details in case you change your mind.”

Chanyeol didn’t respond, waiting for the sound of his door latching closed to roll onto his back and hug his pillow to his chest as he sighed up to the ceiling.

“You sort of just know.”

Chanyeol frowned. He wouldn’t be asking if he really just knew. But perhaps because he doesn’t know, it’s not… that emotion. Perhaps he shouldn’t have bothered asking. Of course that wasn’t it. He couldn’t. Not with Baekhyun.

Sure, he seemed to be on his mind quite a lot recently, but that’s because he was annoying and doing that weird thing to his feelings, and Chanyeol always had to be alert when avoiding him. And sure, he stared at the smaller male sometimes, but not because he was entranced by him or something. Perhaps it took too long to come up with a comeback, or because he was so dumbfounded by the sheer stupidity scrawled across his face that he just couldn’t look away from Baekhyun’s face that he really wanted to punch.

Oh no.

Chanyeol shook his head. That wasn’t it though. It wasn’t the same feeling. That couldn’t be it. Baekhyun’s face deserved to be punched because who was he to go around looking all pretty like that? Those droopy, puppy eyes and his pouting pink lips were just begging to be hit. And every time he did something stupid like usual or laughed his annoying little laugh or smiled or made Chanyeol’s chest tighten again, it got inconceivably harder to ignore the urge to slap the smile right off his face.

Chanyeol took a deep breath.

That wasn’t it. It definitely wasn’t it.

He’d never experienced that weird butterfly thing or whatever that “leaving on the oven” thing he had explained was, nor had he ever imagined Baekhyun having his babies (because ew, what the hell).

He just… he didn’t know.

But that didn’t stop his chest from tightening whenever he thought about him. That didn’t stop him from hearing the brunette’s voice in his head as he hummed a melody that he had sung a few days before. That didn’t stop his mind from filling with remnants of his soft laughter and thoughts of his smiling, crescent shaped eyes.

Oh no, heart. Please don’t do this to me.

Falling for Byun Baekhyun was not on the project Chensoo list. It definitely was not on any list that Chanyeol planned to complete.

He had been spending the last week away from Baekhyun trying to convince himself that he only felt that way because that was his first pepero kiss with anyone, and of course he’d have reacted the same way with anyone else that didn’t happen to be Byun Baekhyun.

So for whatever reason that his heart skipped a beat when he got a new text from Baekhyun, he didn’t know, but he did know it had nothing to do with that strange emotion called love.

It didn’t. He swears.

From the bean sprout:

     “Kyungsoo told you already, I bet. You’re coming. It’s a Chensoo date. You have to be there.”

To the bean sprout:

     “I’m not going. I’m busy.”

From the bean sprout:

     “With what? The hell am I supposed to do there while those lovers are face then?”

From the bean sprout:

     “Seriously though – I’m not going unless you go. It’ll be boring if you’re not there.”

His heart skipped a beat again. Did it speed up a little too?

To the bean sprout:

     “Let’s just both not go.”

From the bean sprout:

     “Hahaha no. Don’t be a kill joy. You’re coming even if I have to put you on a dog leash and drag you out of your house ;)”

Chanyeol didn’t respond, dropping his phone to the ground as he screamed into his pillow, willing that annoying tightening in his chest to just go away already. It didn’t.

And somehow, he still ended up stuck sitting at a round table at their local skating rink next to Baekhyun who gave him continuous nervous glances that he passed off as annoyed with sarcastic remarks that always seemed to twist into concern.

The group of four were currently in the middle of a conversation about how pink could totally be a manly color, but Chanyeol wasn’t paying attention, gnawing on his straw as he focused on the groups of couples currently skating in circles around the rink, trying his best to keep his thoughts away from holding Baekhyun’s hand and skating around in useless circles and probably laughing when the little idiot would fall, although he’d definitely drag Chanyeol down with him too–

“Chanyeol’s falling in love.”

“What?” Baekhyun looked up, immediately turning to the man in question who began to choke from Kyungsoo’s sudden statement.

“He is; he asked me to tell him the secrets to love.”

“With who?”

“I don’t know – some secret mistress he won’t tell me about.”

Chanyeol gave a quick glance toward Baekhyun who looked too interested in his not-exactly-love-interest before looking away to keep himself from turning hot under Baekhyun’s stare. “I’m not,” he stressed, focusing his sight on Kyungsoo. “And I didn’t ask that.”

“Uh huh, sure.”

Baekhyun leaned against the table, staring at Chanyeol for a few seconds as he struggled to find his straw again with his mouth. “Good luck with your one-sided love,” he mumbled with a roll of his eyes. “No one would ever fall for you, Park.”

“Shut up,” Chanyeol grumbled, tugging Baekhyun’s hat down over his eyes as he laughed dryly, pushing Chanyeol away from him.

Chen glanced between them before looking toward Kyungsoo and tugging on his sleeve. “Do you want to skate?” he asked, his voice soft as though not to disturb the two. Kyungsoo gave a nod, and they helped each other to stand and adjusted their skates.

“You’ve been avoiding me,” Baekhyun said lowly, leaning a bit too close to Chanyeol for comfort, and the taller man desperately hoped that he couldn't hear his heart pounding in his chest.

“I’m not avoiding you.”

“You weren’t answering most of my texts.”

“I had nothing to say to you.”

Baekhyun frowned, sitting back up, his stare lingering on his side profile before he sighed and tucked a nacho into his mouth.

Chen and Kyungsoo gave a quick wave back to Chanyeol and Baekhyun after offering for them to come join them in the rink, but Baekhyun gave a soft laugh and refused, mumbling under his breath that they should spend a nice lovers’ moment together as he waved them away.

Baekhyun leaned against the table with a sigh after they had left. “At least they’re having fun, right?”

Chanyeol looked down to the smaller man beside him, his face scrunched with uncertainty. Baekhyun wasn’t wearing anything out of the ordinary – he had no need to dress to impress. He looked just as thin as usual, as pale as usual. Just as normal as he had months ago when he used to aim tennis balls at the back of his head whenever he passed by the courts.

He didn’t feel anything strange right now.

Baekhyun glanced up. “What?”

Now he did.

Chanyeol leaned back with a loud sigh. “Look at the way he gets so shy around Chen. How disgusting.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, shoving another nacho into his mouth. “I never thought I’d see Chen flirting. It’s gross.”

The two looked to each other and laughed, before turning back to their friends.

“You did a good thing, Byun Baek,” Chanyeol sighed, resting an elbow on the brunette’s head. “They look so happy.”

Baekhyun hummed in delight. “I’ll give you my card if you want my help, but I charge $20 an hour.” A pause. “On second thought, don’t.” Baekhyun shook off chanyeol's arm. “I can’t imagine working with you again like this.”

Scowling, Chanyeol pushed him softly. “With how disastrous these events were in the beginning, I wouldn’t ask you anyways.”

Baekhyun snorted. “At least Chen and Soo are probably going to start dating soon. That means we’re almost done.” Chanyeol froze. Almost done? “Ahh,” he sighed, leaning back with a soft smile. “No more seeing your annoying face every day, right?”

Chanyeol stared at him, his mind blank. Almost… done?

“Chanyeol?”

He blinked, quickly regaining control over his thoughts and giving him a fake smile as he agreed. “Yeah. Finally...” his smile dropped as he looked down to his thumbs.

He refused when Baekhyun asked if he wanted to skate.

He didn’t pay much attention as the brunette pouted and rested his elbows on the table, softly grumbling “Fine.”

He was too preoccupied with the thought of actually being done with this. What was this, exactly? This was him and Baekhyun sitting around, trying to get their friends to date. This was long days spent side by side in laughter with their friends. This just a simple task to Baekhyun. But what was it to him? He... didn’t know. And he still didn’t know as he let the thought fill his mind for the rest of the night, on the walk home, lying on his bed, falling asleep; it remained nagging at the back of his head.

Thinking about it, it was obvious that if Chen and Kyungsoo were to get together, Project Chensoo would be done and he’d have no reason to contact Baekhyun anymore.

They wouldn’t need to hang around in the middle of the night plotting stupid things anymore.

They wouldn’t meet up in the hallways or pass each other notes in class anymore.

They wouldn’t go out for ice cream after school on Wednesdays, and Baekhyun wouldn’t as ice cream dripped down his fingers because he was absentmindedly lost in the delicate features of Byun Baekhyun’s face anymore.

They wouldn’t randomly meet up anymore.

They probably wouldn’t talk anymore.

They wouldn’t be friends anymore.

They’d be strangers again. Rivals again.

But… that was okay… right?

 

Chanyeol’s heart clenched. Goddammit, it wasn’t okay.

 

He lay back on his bed, his arms extended well above his head as he flicked between the photos that Baekhyun had taken on his phone, chuckling softly. These photos were gross, he mused as he flicked to the next one, his smile growing with each of the dumb selcas the pup had taken until he paused on one that Chanyeol had taken of the brunette sleeping like an innocent little puppy on his pillow, his original intent to use it to blackmail him whenever necessary. Rather, he lay on his bed, staring at all of his soft features from his dark eyelashes that fanned over his soft pink cheeks, to his plump, slightly parted lips.

Slowly, he lowered his phone and affectionately swiped his thumb across his sleeping face.

This wasn’t love.

No. It couldn’t be.

 

But he finally understood that strange feeling that Kyungsoo was talking about.

 

And he finally knew what this was.

This was pain. Ephemeral, unrequited bliss.

 

And it was almost over.

 

---------------

 

Chanyeol’s eyes didn’t follow Baekhyun as he walked into the classroom and hopped up onto his desk.

“Hey,” he quipped, looking down to Chanyeol, who refused to acknowledge his presence. “Still not talking to me?” Baekhyun asked with a pout, and when Chanyeol merely sank down slightly further into his chair with a small, detached sigh. “Whatever. Chen and Soo are going to the theater this Thursday, are you in?”

Still no response.

Baekhyun tapped his fingers on the desk irritably, glaring down to him with a frown. “It doesn’t matter. You’re coming anyways.”

Baekhyun stared at the nonresponsive Chanyeol for a few more seconds before hopping down from his desk with a groan. “You’re not fun if you don’t have comebacks. I’ll see you Thursday, Chanyeol,” he waved as he walked away from his desk.

Chanyeol’s narrowed eyes followed his back as he left the room.

 

---------------

 

From that one guy:

     ‘Chensoo date at 7. Don’t forget. You’re coming.’

 

---------------

 

The door slammed closed.

“What are you still doing here. I told you 7, didn’t I? Chanyeol!” Baekhyun stormed into the house, screaming his name until he spotted him, sitting lazily in front of the television, his eyes not focused on anything. He groaned as he marched over to him. “When are you going to stop this evasive act already? It’s getting boring, and I’m getting annoyed.”

Baekhyun stood in front of him, blocking his view of the fuzzy television. “So? Get up. We’re going to be late.” Baekhyun stood there for a few seconds before he bent over, his face level with his and barely a few inches away, forcing Chanyeol’s eyes to finally lock on to his.

“Speak to me, or I’ll castrate you on the spot.”

“How did you get in here?”

“I picked the lock. And? Are you going to get your up yet?”

Chanyeol blinked lazily. “I already told you, I’m not going.”

Baekhyun drew away from him, sputtering sarcastically, “Not going? We didn’t plan all this for you to not be going. Get up.”

Chanyeol’s eyesight dropped from him back to the television. “Will you move? I can’t see.”

“No,” Baekhyun replied, obstinately placing his hands on his hips. “I’m not moving until you agree to come with me.”

Chanyeol groaned, sinking down further into the couch as he tried to look around the brunette’s thin frame. “Why do you want me to go with you so badly?

“Because it’s a Chensoo date, and we’re a team, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun asserted, swaying to block his view. “Look at me.”

Chanyeol closed his eyes and groaned, leaning back into the couch. He didn’t want to deal with Baekhyun right now. He didn’t want to deal with Baekhyun at all. Anything involving love and feelings and a tiny brunette with a cute doll face and thin fingers and a beautiful voice could just jump out a window for all he cared. It was too much to deal with.

Baekhyun made a low noise before the couch shifted, and Chanyeol slowly opened his eyes as the brunette leaned over him, once again drawing his attention back to him as he placed a knee between his legs and his hands on Chanyeol’s shoulders, pushing him back against the couch. “I’m not playing, Park,” Baekhyun said, his voice unusually low and serious.

Chanyeol’s chest hurt.

He stared at him, stuck between ignoring him and bothering him so much that he’d just leave. There was also the option of just going along with his date and avoiding the drama, but being stuck next to Baekhyun in a dark theater for the next two hours didn’t truly sound that bad, if he could ignore the uncomfortable pain in his chest and awkward pins and needles in his body as he tried to keep himself from even looking at the man that was causing him all sorts of pain.

“Are you coming or not?”

What am I doing? Chanyeol asked himself as his eyes locked onto Baekhyun’s large brown irises as he tilted his head. He couldn’t keep himself from staring at the brunette, probably failing to keep a straight, composed, uninterested face, or the exact opposite of everything he was currently feeling – sweaty hands, fast heartbeat, trembling fingers. Being around Baekhyun was such torture. But it was so hard to keep his hands pressed into the couch to keep from drawing him closer.

“That wasn’t a question,” Baekhyun sighed, pulling away from Chanyeol and patting his pants as he stood. “Come on. Movie starts in 30 minutes and we can’t be late.”

This wasn’t love, he reminded himself. This wasn’t anything close to the word.

“Get up. Wear something nice; you look like a mess. I’ll wait outside, okay?”

He couldn’t move. But if he doesn’t, he’ll lose Baekhyun. But if he chases after him, then he’s giving in, right?

“Okay?”

...Right?

And Chanyeol’s eyes slowly trailed over to the brunette, who just rolled his eyes and turned away from him. No extra insults. Just the usual annoyance. And Chanyeol held his breath, waiting for something, anything to happen, as if moving would upset this fragile balance that they were barely surviving on. As though if they defined their relationship, all of the magic would disappear, and they’d dry up and become brittle and stale like old, worn pottery and they’d chip. They’d peel. They’d crack.

Chanyeol couldn’t let them crack.

 

Screw it.

 

“Hey Baekhyun,” Chanyeol said, jumping up from the couch to catch Baekhyun’s attention. “Let’s not go.”

“Wha– not go?”

“Stay here. Let’s stay.” Yep, I’m going insane.

Baekhyun blinked, and suddenly Chanyeol thought he lost it all, until Baekhyun let a soft, bright tinkle of laughter out of his lips. “Stay? You want us to stay here.”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol said, letting the words tumble from his lips before he could think about what he was saying. “Let’s stay. Let them go out on their own while we watch a movie.”

Baekhyun stared up to him, raising an eyebrow slowly. “Why?”

“They’d have much more fun on their own, don’t you think?”

Baekhyun stared at him silently, a skeptical frown still heavily placed on his lips.

Chanyeol merely returned a shy smile until Baekhyun let out a loud puff of air and his demeanor deflated. “What’s the matter with you,” he asked tiredly. “One second – no, one week you’re ignoring me, and the next you’re trying to make me stay at your house.”

“I wasn’t ignoring you,” Chanyeol asserted with a nervous laugh as he pushed Baekhyun’s shoulder. “I was just…”

“Ignoring me.”

Chanyeol’s jaw tensed. Avoiding you. “No.”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes as he his heels. “We’re going to be late, Chanyeol.”

“Wait, hear me out,” Chanyeol said, getting Baekhyun to stop and glance over his shoulder. “Kyungsoo’s been getting annoyed with Chen recently, you know? Our interaction is really just hindering their relationship,” he stuttered, hoping Baekhyun wouldn’t catch him in a lie. “I think we should step back into the shadows a bit. Maybe even keeping them further away from each other will help enhance their romance.”

“Keep them away to get them together?” He asked, unconvinced. “Won’t that just slow them down?”

Exactly.

“Or… I don’t know. Let’s just stop showing up to their dates; maybe they’ll finally kiss if we aren’t around?”

Baekhyun stared at him silently as Chanyeol fidgeted nervously, coming up with a plan on the spot that he knew Baekhyun wouldn’t agree with. In fact, sitting around with the intent to spend as much time as possible with Baekhyun and stall project chensoo until then didn’t seem all that logical.

A smile slipped onto Chanyeol’s face.

This strange emotion he’d been feeling had never been all that logical in the first place, anyways.

“What haven’t we done?” Chanyeol asked, bouncing over to the brunette’s side. “Leave them alone to have lunch on their own? Plan to meet up at the arcade and not show? Go on a walk and disappear?”

“What?” Baekhyun asked, “none of these sound like fun – are you sure about this?”

“Of course I am. This is perfect. It’s foolproof. Trust me.”

“Fool proof,” Baekhyun said, doubtfully. “A fool proof plan made by a fool.”

A smile spanned across Chanyeol’s face. “You have to trust me.”

“What’s gotten into that thick skull of yours?” Baekhyun asked with a bemused chuckle, rapping his knuckle against Chanyeol’s forehead before shaking his head and walking off towards the door.

“Wait,” Chanyeol called, reaching out to grab Baekhyun’s wrist. Instinctively, he tugged the small brunette back toward him and pulled him into a hug.

He pressed his nose into his sweet-smelling hair and released his words in a soft breath against it.

“Don’t go.”

Baekhyun stood still, caged in his arms, and Chanyeol held him there tightly, too nervous to move, and too worried that Baekhyun could feel how abnormally hard his heart was thudding in his chest as seconds stretched to minutes, as silence became loud, ringing white noise.

“Fine, will you just let go of me?” Baekhyun grumbled, breaking free from his arms with a scowl before plopping down on Chanyeol’s old, gray couch with a heavy sigh.

Chanyeol stared at Baekhyun incredulously for a few seconds as if wondering if the Baekhyun being swallowed in his couch was real and actually staying with him until he glanced over his shoulder with a questioning raise of his eyebrows, patting the seat next to him. “You coming or what?”

“Yeah,” Chanyeol nodded dumbly, wandering toward the sofa and sitting down next to Baekhyun as the brunette propped his feet up on the coffee table and began flipping through channels.

He barely inched himself closer to Baekhyun, suggesting what to watch when he was interrupted by a text from Kyungsoo.

     ‘Where are you two?’

Chanyeol smiled as he typed his reply, still reveling in his silent victory.

 

To Kyungsoo:

     ‘We can’t make it. Have fun with Chen!’

 

---------------

“Chanyeol.”

“What?”

“You’re watching me more than you’re watching the movie.”

---------------

 

To be honest, Chanyeol didn’t expect his not-a-plan plan to work so easily. He expected Baekhyun to be as sassy as usual, turn around and walk out of his house often, for making up stupid ideas, and leave Chanyeol alone, melting into his couch once again to spend another night by himself with the torturous brunette running through his mind.

Yet every day passed by with the same routine.

“Come on,” Baekhyun would say, showing up at his house whenever another date was planned for Chensoo.

“Please,” Chanyeol would beg, showing off his wide eyes like a puppy asking its owner to scratch its belly, and Baekhyun would always just stare at him for a couple of seconds.

Chanyeol was always surprised whenever Baekhyun (begrudgingly) complied.

It was almost like he showed up already swayed to stay at Chanyeol’s house. He didn’t even try anymore. It nearly became routine for these days full of moments planning dates for Chen and Kyungsoo, Baekhyun attempting to drag Chanyeol along, and the stubborn Chanyeol managing to keep Baekhyun at home for himself.

“Chen and Soo are going out for pizza, wanna come?”

“Or we can just order here and watch a movie.”

“Let’s go hang out with Chen and Soo at the park.”

“I’d rather stay inside and play some games. Can’t play alone though, can I?”

“Hey, we should–”

“Or let’s just…”

To be honest, he wasn’t sure whether having Baekhyun next to him, making his hormones run wild was worse than just missing him, or if having him here, ruffling his hair, hearing his voice, having his senses clouded by all of him was this sweet, painful type of bliss that he would rather endure for as long as it could last.

And with all the time that passed that they spent together, it seemed inevitable that he would just fall again, harder every day.

Time was spent with Chanyeol’s arm propped around Baekhyun’s shoulder as he smiled down to the brunette sleeping against his chest as the credits to another movie rolled in the background on Chanyeol’s grainy television.

Time was spent giving annoyed, playful glares as Baekhyun would win another card game, teasing Chanyeol because he was the self-declaredmaster, after all.

Time was spent sharing genuine smiles with each other as they met up on walks to school in the mornings, sat around in class doodling, or played on a playground in the park near Chanyeol’s house after school, terrorizing little children that happened to be nearby as Chanyeol pretended to be a giant, getting the children to laugh and attack him, until he’d call out for Baekhyun’s help, but the brunette just stood on the sidelines, laughing and encouraging them to continue, and sometimes joining in on the fun.

In fact, it was almost like they were completing the project Chensoo list themselves.

It was moments like these that Chanyeol wanted to wrap his arms around the brunette and never let go. Simply being in his presence began to make him happy, but soon he wanted more. Jealousy and possessiveness began to creep under his skin whenever Baekhyun would spend time with Kyungsoo or Chen on a friendly outing, and he’d pout at him until Baekhyun would laugh and apologize, unable to resist Chanyeol’s whines of “play with me~” before curling up against his side or engaging in their own activities, laughing the night away.

Everything had been going perfectly until Chanyeol went outside for lunch to find Baekhyun sitting at the usual table all alone.

“Where’s Chen?”

Baekhyun sighed, picking at his food as he pushed himself to the left to make room for Chanyeol to sit next to him. “As if I know. Looks like they really don’t need us anymore. They’re off on their own anyways. Probably ing in the library.”

Chanyeol sat by his side with a frown. “That’s a good thing though, isn’t it?”

Baekhyun sighed, and Chanyeol couldn’t take his eyes off the frustrated curve of his brows, the twist of his lips, or the soft downward tug of his eyes. Chanyeol smiled. He was truly beautiful. They had been spending a lot of time together recently, and Chanyeol had nearly memorized Baekhyun’s face, yet he always found himself staring anyway, drawn in by his breathtaking beauty and that desperate want to make him his. Yet he didn’t move. Despite how much he liked him, he liked their friendship more, and possibly messing this up wasn’t something he planned to do any time soon.

After all, how do you tell your old-worst-enemy-but-not-really-enemies-anymore-sorta-friend that you’re in love with him?

Chanyeol looked away as Baekhyun perked up at the sound of people approaching the table. Kyungsoo huffed as he marched ahead of Chen, who followed behind him, whining about something.

Kyungsoo groaned as he dropped his tray onto the yellow table.

“How was your date last night?” Baekhyun quipped with a smile as Chen threw a leg over the bench.

“Date?” Chen asked, pausing in his position to look down to the brunette. “What date?”

“This loser stood me up,” Kyungsoo said, plopping down on the bench beside Chanyeol and folding his arms across his chest.

“We had a date?” Chen asked.

“Chanyeol told me you wanted to meet at the theater at 9.”

“I didn’t get a text from Chanyeol at all.”

Under the stare of the other three at the table, Chanyeol shied away with a nervous laugh. “Maybe it didn’t send?”

Kyungsoo groaned as he stood. “You’re an idiot, Chanyeol,” he groaned as he walked away from the table, quickly followed by Chen, shouting “Is that why you were angry? Kyungsoo!” as he followed after him blindly.

Baekhyun watched them for a second, his puzzled face slowly turning into unamusement. “I’d been noticing there was not much progress recently,” Baekhyun said, slowly turning back to Chanyeol. “I thought it was strange. I should have done something earlier.”

Chanyeol shrugged, an embarrassed blush touching his cheeks. He wasn’t supposed to get caught this early. “Everything doesn’t always go like I think it will, I guess.”

“No, ever since you told us to stop getting involved, they’ve been at a stalemate.” He narrowed his eyes. “Did you plan this?”

Chanyeol pursed his lips. “It was a simple accident, Baekhyun.”

“An accident,” Baekhyun said before shaking his head. “I knew something was strange with you. What do you want? Why are you doing this?”

Chanyeol frowned. “I’m not doing anything, Baekhyun, please.”

“And now you’re clinging to me like a dog. Get off, Park,” Baekhyun said, snapping back into his usual tone of disgust as he pushed himself further away.

Chanyeol blinked, a heavy, annoyed frown tugging down on his lips.

“I’m actually trying here, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun’s voice was unusually stern. Teasing, playful, sarcastic, even angry and fuming were things he was used to hearing. Stern and punishing were out of place in the creases of Baekhyun’s angry brows, his squinted eyes, his thinned lips.

A sharp “So am I” was quickly replaced by an “I’m sorry” sitting on the tips of his lips, but he folded them back in, because he wasn’t sorry. He hadn’t been trying at all.

Chanyeol opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out.

“I’ll do the planning from now on,” Baekhyun whispered harshly, tugging on his ear before he stood up. Chanyeol hissed back, holding a hand to his ear as he looked away, refusing to watch as Baekhyun packed his lunch and left the table without sparing another glance back toward him.

 

---------------

 

“A Moonlight Picnic.”

“Really?” Chanyeol had asked as soon as Baekhyun suggested the idea, not because it sounded cheesy, disgustingly romantic, and gross (although that also contributed to his dislike of the idea), but mainly because it sounded like something Chen and Kyungsoo would enjoy. Too much.

“Yes really,” Baekhyun replied with that look in his eye that asserted he was going through with it no matter what Chanyeol said. “It sounds cute!”

Cute wasn’t the problem. Affective was.

Chanyeol didn’t argue. The past week was spent trying mend his relationship with Baekhyun and regain his trust, as he watched as his previous efforts to keep the two away from each other were quickly demolished with Baekhyun’s interference.

That was something he was good at. Being nosy and getting stuff done.

Baekhyun had ignored every soft “I’m sorry” that Chanyeol had mumbled in the hallways, every note he passed him in class, every text he sent after school, until he just stopped trying. That was when Baekhyun came up with this idea.

“I wouldn’t have asked you, but it’s too much for me to do on my own.” He gripped Chanyeol’s tie and pulled him down to his height. “But I swear if you do anything to mess this up–”

“I won’t; I won’t,” Chanyeol stuttered, pulling away quickly as Baekhyun let his grip loosen on his tie.

Baekhyun looked up to him as he adjusted his collar before sighing and looking away. “I’ll go to your house tonight so we can finish planning this. Don’t be late.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol replied as the brunette began to walk away, clenching his fists at his side. And Chanyeol watched him leave with a small smile, wondering how he ever managed to ignore him for so long. “I missed you.”

Baekhyun glanced over his shoulder. “What?”

“Nothing!” he shouted, quickly turning away and walking off in his own direction.

This moonlight picnic didn’t sound so bad. Set up a table for Chen and Kyungsoo by the river on the night of the full moon and let them give into romantic urges and finally kiss already, and then they’d be done. That was how Baekhyun explained it.

Being butlers, however, was a small detail that must have slipped his mind until he showed up at Chanyeol’s house wearing a black suit, complete with a vest and tie, his hair styled up nicely, and his eyes defined with thick eyeliner and soft eyeshadow. His attention was only drawn away from his gorgeous face when he raised his arm, showing off another suit draped over it.

“This one is yours.” A sadistic smile spanned across his face. “I hope you like being ordered around, Butler Park.”

“I’m not going to be a butler.”

That was all he was able to say before Baekhyun was on him, struggling to remove his shirt as Chanyeol protested, but Baekhyun tickled him until the shirt finally came off before moving to his pants, and Chanyeol screamed because Baekhyun was trying to undress him in the middle of his living room. His hands tugged at his waistband, pulling down his pants and perhaps his boxers with them, before Chanyeol finally gave in, pushing Baekhyun out as he went to change into the suit.

Baekhyun’s triumphant smirk dropped into a reserved smile when Chanyeol exited the room.

“You look nice.”

Chanyeol nodded back. “So do you.”

They had prepared a small set up of a table set for two, a vase of red roses in the center, overlooking the river that sparkled in the moonlight, red rose petals scattered around the grassy area, dimmed by the soft flickering light of two long candles. Baekhyun had convinced Chanyeol to bring his guitar along to play some music for the two, perfectly setting the romantic ambiance they needed.

Chanyeol really had to admit it. Baekhyun was good at this.

Once everything was set up, it was almost time for the two to arrive. Baekhyun shifted his weight from one foot to another, waiting for the couple to come and be awed by his work.

But they didn’t show up.

By the time twenty minutes had passed after the time they were supposed to meet, Baekhyun was getting antsy. The pre-date jitters he had hadn’t subsided, his earlier excitement mixing with his anticipation and anxiety and frustration and “Where the are they?”

“Maybe they’re just late?” Chanyeol offered lightly as to not help Baekhyun blow another fuse.

“Ah,” Baekhyun sighed, sitting down in one of the chairs and leaning back against it as he checked his phone, “what’s going on. We told them the right date, right?”

Chanyeol held back a groan. The one time he actually intends for something to go smoothly is when it goes wrong. Perfect.

No, really. Perfect.

“It doesn’t seem like they’re coming,” Chanyeol said after ten or so more minutes passed without a sign of the two.

“Don’t tell me we planned all this for nothing,” Baekhyun groaned, slapping a hand over his face. “Please tell me I didn’t get all dressed up in this butler suit for nothing.”

Chanyeol did nothing but stare. It wasn’t for nothing. Seeing the brunette styled up so nicely was something that Chanyeol had been waiting for for quite a while now, and just having Baekhyun in his presence was good enough.

“It’s not,” Chanyeol said, a small smile gracing his lips. “I mean we’re still here. The food is still here. We can enjoy it at least.”

“Us?” Baekhyun asked, his eyes spouting all of the questions that his mouth wouldn’t form. Chanyeol gave a quick nod, simultaneously answering all of them. Baekhyun glared down to him with amused eyes, leaning back and sinking into the chair with a smirk. “You must be ing kidding, Park,” he said, amusement sparkling in his teasing eyes.

When Chanyeol didn’t respond, he slowly uncurled from his position, sitting up and tucking his hands between his legs like a puppy. “You’re not.”

Chanyeol cleared his throat, glancing away awkwardly as he tried to explain. “I mean… we already have it set up and stuff. It wouldn’t be worth it to let it go to waste. Let’s take this as a trial run, if we do it again for Chen and Soo, yeah?” After all, going on a midnight picnic with you wouldn’t be so bad either.

The silence between his explanation and Baekhyun’s response was suffocating.

“Okay. Sure,” he chirped, turning to the basket. “Free food is always a good thing.”

Setting up the table was full of laughter and giggles, pretending to be butlers for each other and playfully tasting and stealing food when the other wasn’t looking. Baekhyun spoke about how excited he was to eat and his condolences that Chen and Kyungsoo wouldn’t be able to enjoy anything they prepared. Chanyeol explained how hard it was to make that bulgogi perfect, and Baekhyun better like it because he spent way too much time on that.

And for a second, just a single moment, it felt like they were able to slip away from everything being about ‘Chen and Kyungsoo’ to something finally being about ‘Chanyeol and Baekhyun.’

“You made this?” Baekhyun asked as he a grain of rice from his lip, and Chanyeol nodded, leaning forward to wipe at Baekhyun’s bottom lip.

“You eat like a child,” Chanyeol said, merely smudging the sauce. “Tsk.” He reached out to wipe it away at the same time that Baekhyun’s small tongue darted out from between his lips to it away.

Chanyeol blinked before sitting back down and wiping his thumb on his napkin as Baekhyun covered his mouth, softly laughing. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to you.”

Chanyeol shook his head. He didn’t know a tongue could be so cute. He wanted it in his mouth. God, he wanted to on it. Calm yourself, Chanyeol, this is too fast. “Don’t worry about it.”

Baekhyun just smiled sheepishly as he began to eat again, a slightly more awkward silence forming between them. Chanyeol pushed his plate away, resting his head in his hands as he silently observed Baekhyun, who had finished his food and was halfway through his cheesecake and was chattering on about something Chanyeol wasn’t paying attention to when Chanyeol received a single text.

From Kyungsoo:

     ‘Are you enjoying your date alone with Baekhyun?’

Son of a .

“Was that Kyungsoo?”

Chanyeol nearly fell off his chair trying to hide the message from Baekhyun.

“Yeah–” His voice cracked. He cleared his throat. “Yeah, uhh…”

Baekhyun held back an amused chuckle as Chanyeol hid his phone under the table, preparing to text him back ‘Where are you? And it’s not a date; we’re just enjoying your date for you’ and oh god it was totally a date, wasn’t it.

Chanyeol swallowed hard. This wasn’t part of the plan at all.

He glanced to Baekhyun, who was still staring at him, an eyebrow cocked expectantly. “What did he say?”

Chanyeol looked down to his phone. “He got busy and forgot. He’s not sure about Chen.”

Baekhyun pouted in disapproval, and Chanyeol clenched his fists, wondering if he was doing that on purpose because there was no way anyone could accidentally be that cute. “That’s too bad…”

Chanyeol nodded slowly, turning his attention away from the brunette who turned back to his cheesecake, poking at it with a pout. “At least we have all this food to enjoy and we can brag about it to them later,” Baekhyun said with a smile, and Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile back.

Time always seemed to pass by slowly when he was in Baekhyun’s presence like this. With just the two of them, moments felt infinite.

Chanyeol looked away from him, finally picking up his guitar and sitting on the grass as he began to play. Baekhyun quickly finished his plate of cheesecake and sat by Chanyeol’s side as he hummed along to a familiar melody that Chanyeol had often heard him singing behind closed doors. The two let time warp around them as they sat together between everything and nothing, simply enjoying each other’s presence and their time to themselves.

Baekhyun leaned back, staring up to the sky as his eyes darted between each of the twinkling stars and a smile slipped onto his face. “Ahh, this would have been the perfect date for Chen. He loves gross romantic stuff like this.”

“Yeah?” Chanyeol asked, leaning back like Baekhyun, closing his eyes as he continued strumming the guitar.

Baekhyun laughed. “He’d probably say something gross right now too. Like ‘I think you’re more beautiful than all of the stars.’ Or something.”

“That was bad,” Chanyeol laughed and playfully slapped his shoulder. “Kyungsoo would just laugh and push him away like that.”

“Looking all cute and pink-cheeked with that innocent, heart-shaped smile of his.”

“The undercover devil.”

The two laughed to the harmony of Chanyeol’s simple guitar rhythm until he paused and reached out to curl a strand of hair behind Baekhyun’s ear, and before he knew it, he was leaning forward and his lips were softly pressed to Baekhyun’s cheek in an innocent kiss that that the small male quickly drew away from, his laughter stilling to reveal a thick silence, as he held up a hand to his cheek.

“What was that?” he asked, his voice soft and still, almost lost behind the chirping of the crickets.

“K-Kyungsoo… he’d probably have done something like that…” Chanyeol stuttered with a nervous laugh. “You know…”

Baekhyun stared at him for what felt like forever before he slowly pursed his lips, shaking his head, and hesitantly leaning forward. Chanyeol instinctively backed away from him, but as Baekhyun closed his eyes and pressed his lips to Chanyeol’s, his eyes widened as he stared straight ahead of him blankly. His lips were as soft and plump as they looked, almost like a baby’s , although Chanyeol had never kissed a baby’s , so perhaps the comparison was invalid. Maybe they were as soft as Baekhyun’s , in fact, because such an like his, so round and perky, had to be nice, soft and squishy as well, and no Chanyeol hadn’t been staring at it and no he doesn’t think of these things often, and Chanyeol was only drawn out of his frazzled admiration for Baekhyun’s lips (and ) as the small brunette drew away from him, his voice soft as his eyes met Chanyeol’s wide-eyed stare. “Chen would tell him to kiss him properly.”

Chanyeol swallowed thickly, trying to realign his thoughts that were like a glass vase that Baekhyun had thrown off a building and effectively shattered into millions of tiny little pieces because the Byun Baekhyun had just kissed him. No no, he kissed Baekhyun.

 

But… Baekhyun kissed him back.

On the lips.

 

Holy. Hell.

Chanyeol just stared blankly ahead, keeping himself from screaming in confusion, and he silently his lips, his tongue ghosting over the sweet taste left behind on his lips as he tried to calm his labored breathing down to a normal pace, hoping his surprised reaction wasn’t freaking Baekhyun out. They’re too close to each other. Breaths mingling, heart pounding, thoughts blurring. They’re too close to each other. Too close for Chanyeol to think – too close to see his reflection in Baekhyun’s glassy eyes – too close to keep himself from leaning in and brushing his lips against those baby soft lips again. “Kyungsoo would probably kiss him back.”

Baekhyun stared up to him, his eyes sparkling with the reflection of the bright full moon and his hair framing his face angelically as a question formed on his lips, spoken in a whisper softer than the breeze that blew his words away. “Would you kiss me back?”

Chanyeol didn’t need words to answer as he slowly leaned forward, their lips barely brushing against each other, teasing with soft, warm breaths, hesitating as they hovered close enough to each other in hot anticipation before Chanyeol pushed himself toward the brunette to connect their lips before Baekhyun could change his mind. Baekhyun lifted himself up to meet Chanyeol's lips, pushing them over and into Chanyeol's arms, which curled around his back to draw him closer as he Baekhyun’s lower lip into his mouth, still soft and sweet from their dessert. Baekhyun’s hands cradled the side of Chanyeol’s soft face as he kissed his breath away, breathing in the other’s pleasant scent as he let out a dreamy sigh against his lips. Chanyeol’s mind clouded with nothing and everything, inhaling Baekhyun like he couldn’t get enough of his sugar lips, or his soft and pleased puppy moans, and Chanyeol refused to allow his mind drift as he focused on Baekhyun. On the taste of Baekhyun’s lips, on the brush of his hair tickling his skin. On the way his body fit between his arms, on the way his thin fingers held his face. On Baekhyun, drawing away from him slowly, their lips clinging to each other’s, unwilling to part as their eyes opened and they froze in their position, staring at each other in silence.

Chanyeol couldn’t count the seconds that passed as he focused on Baekhyun’s small eyes that quickly turned up into little crescents as a soft, sheepish laugh escaped from his lips, and he them shyly as he glanced away. Chanyeol barely noticed a large smile spreading across his own lips from Baekhyun’s pink tinted cheeks as he sat back slightly, drawing a hand away from Chanyeol’s face as he gave him a cute, shy smile that looked so right, that Chanyeol could help but give him back that goofy grin that Baekhyun used to make fun of.

The angelic brunette gave another soft laugh as he ran his thumb across Chanyeol’s lower lip.

His voice was soft and sweet, matching the breeze that distorted the light from the moon sparkling across the river. “Chen would say he liked that.”

Chanyeol smiled up to him, his voice just as soft. “Kyungsoo would say–”

“ing finally,” a voice interrupted, and the two of them looked up like deer in headlights as Kyungsoo and Chen stepped out from behind the dense bushes behind their area, applauding something. Baekhyun pushed himself up and off of Chanyeol’s chest as Chen whistled.

“They kissed!” Chen sang with a large smile spanning his face. “They finally kissed.”

“What’s going on?” Baekhyun asked, fear creeping into his voice as he shrank back from Chanyeol, bristling with apprehension as he glanced between the two of them and hesitantly his lips.

“You just kissed the Park Chanyeol,” Chen said through his laughter.

“I didn’t – I didn’t!” Baekhyun said, pushing Chanyeol away from him with a nervous laugh. “I don’t know what you’re on.”

“Don’t pretend,” he smirked. “We saw it all.”

“Chanyeol’s first kiss was weak,” Kyungsoo said, glaring down to his friend. “I thought you were better than that.”

Chanyeol blinked. “I…”

“I thought Baekhyun would be faster,” Chen mumbled, “considering that he’s probably liked you for longer.”

“I don’t like him, you nut,” Baekhyun hissed, his face red as he pulled a few blades of grass from the ground and threw them weakly in his friend’s direction.

“You what?” Chanyeol asked, sitting up slowly to face Baekhyun.

Baekhyun’s voice wavered as he looked away from him. “I– I…”

Kyungsoo frowned, shooting a glare to Chanyeol. “Not like it was unrequited anyways.”

Chanyeol winced, looking away from Baekhyun’s stare.

“Thank god this is over, though,” Kyungsoo added with another sigh. “I don’t know what I would have done if we had to set up another date for you two after leaving you alone as much as we already did.”

Chanyeol and Baekhyun turned to him, their jaws nearly dropping. “Excuse?”

Kyungsoo gave a shrug. “You would never have agreed to go on a date if we didn’t trick you into one or two.”

Baekhyun chuckled as he stood to his feet. “No no, you must have it all wrong. We had Project Chensoo – we were the ones tricking you two into dates–”

“Which was a stupid plan,” Kyungsoo shot down, “because it became obvious real quick. So Chen and I went along with your stupid dates so the two of you could finally get along.” Kyungsoo looked away from the brunette’s stunned face and toward Chanyeol with a bored roll of his eyes. “Then you started ignoring the annoying thing, until you suddenly confessed you were in love with him.”

Chanyeol frowned, leaning back on his hands. “I didn’t say I was in love with him.”

“Uh huh, sure,” Kyungsoo said, his eyes suspiciously narrowed. “We had to do something so you guys didn’t turn back into rivals or… whatever the hell you were before this. I was almost prepared to tell you that I was falling for Baekhyun or something else irrational. I couldn’t be attracted to that loser if I tried.” He paused, glancing toward Baekhyun. “No offense.”

“Offense taken.”

“But come on Chanyeol, what did you plan to do? Keep him in your house and stay in the friendzone? You had to make some move eventually. We were just helping.”

“Anyways,” Chanyeol interrupted, “That means that you two…”

Chen laced his fingers between Kyungsoo’s and held them up for the two to see. “Are already official. Have been for a while.”

“And you didn’t tell me?” Baekhyun shrieked as Kyungsoo shyly tore his hand away from Chen’s.

“Of course not,” Chen replied, laughing as he slipped his arm around the shorter man’s shoulder and tugged him into his side. “You two seemed so happy pretending to get us together.”

Chanyeol groaned, taking his face into his hands. “What have we done.”

Baekhyun looked between Chanyeol and their friends, nervously laughing. “I’m not…”

“Don’t you dare say anything about not falling for Chanyeol,” Chen sighed. “We all know about how you’d sneak out late at night to see him, and the love poems and love songs, and the time you spend in the bathroom–”

Baekhyun’s face flushed a bright pink as he rushed over to cover his friends mouth. “Don’t say that,” he hissed before turning to Chanyeol, crying, “Don’t believe that!”

Chen just laughed, and a soft smile slipped onto Chanyeol’s face as he looked at the flustered brunette.

Baekhyun pouted as he looked up to Chen, taking his hand away from his mouth. “So I didn’t help with your relationship at all?”

Chen smiled to him, ruffling his hair. “No, you helped.”

“If ‘help’ was force us together until we took matters into our own hands to make you two stop,” Kyungsoo sighed.

Chanyeol shrugged. “Good enough.”

“Anyways,” Chen said, lacing his hands behind his head, “did you eat everything already? I’m starving…”

He wandered off toward the table, followed by Kyungsoo, while Chanyeol and Baekhyun just stood there, watching the two raid the basket. Baekhyun shook his head disbelievingly. “We were played like a fiddle.”

Chanyeol nudged his shoulder. “No one would ever fall for me, huh?”

“Shut up, Park,” Baekhyun growled, his cheeks tinted red.

Chanyeol placed a finger under Baekhyun’s petite chin, turning his face toward him. “Make me.”

Baekhyun scrunched his nose irritably before pushing himself up to the tips of his toes to press his lips to Chanyeol’s in a quick, chaste kiss. He pulled away and held a finger to his smiling lips. “Don’t say a word,” he whispered with a wink before skipping ahead of Chanyeol, leaving taller man behind.

He stared at the brunette for a second before a large smile slowly spread across his lips as he shouted his name and ran to catch up to them.

 

---------------

“We didn’t finish the Chensoo list.”

“What’s left?”

“Kiss in public.”

“... We’re not going to kiss in front of you idio–”

“Okay.”

“...”

“Happy?”

“C-Chen!”

---------------