The first time it happens is in the middle of a crowded airport, while they're pushing through in the company of managers and security guards and screaming fans trying to snap as many photos as possible. Baekhyun finds himself drifting away in the sea of movement, and he tries to move towards the other members, shoulders bumping against strangers and arms reaching out weakly for the retreating figure of one of their managers. He feels a tightness around his heart upon seeing that his absence is passing unnoticed by the others, all too frantic in their own attempts to get away from the business of the croded room to notice that one of them is missing. He's just about given up on trying to catch up, hot tears prickling behind his eyes because everyone is so damn tall and he can't even see the other members anymore, when he feels a strong grip on his bicep and looks up to meet the worried gaze of his best friend. 

"Stay close, Baek.", Chanyeol scolds him, hand sliding down his arm before it reaches his own, and then their fingers lace together. 

A wave of comfort washes over Baekhyun at the sudden contact, and he lets himself be dragged to the boarding area where the others are already waiting. 

"Where did you two disappear just then?", Jongdae asks as soon as they're within hearing distance, and Baekhyun feels himself relaxing at the noticeable lack of people around them. He doesn't even notice the hand still gripping his own, tightly and with no sign that they'll be letting go anytime soon, until Chanyeol moves to stand a few inches closer, so that their sides are brushing together. 

The taller boy gives them a reassuring smile, "We got lost.", he says, in an amused tone that manages to calm everyone else down. 

Joonmyun shakes his head and tells them, in a stern voice that mothers use when scolding their children, "You need to be more careful!"

Chanyeol lets go of his hand when they've safely boarded the plane and sat next to each other, and even then he looks reluctant to ulace his fingers from the shorter boy's. Baekhyun tries to tell himself that the disappointment he feels at the loss of contact is due to how cold his hand feels now, in the chilly winter air, and not because of something deeper entirely. 

///

They're at an award ceremony, dressed up in fitted suits with hair slicked back and their faces covered in make-up, standing on a crowded stage with people clapping loudly as the winner is announced. The members start cheering, too, jumping into each other's arms excitedly as their leader gives a thank-you speech through choked off sobs and tears streaming down his face. Baekhyun looks around with a grin stretching his lips, at the people pushing their way towards them and mshouting their congratulations, and as the number of people on the stage grows, he finds himself pushed around with nothing to hold onto. 

He tries to look over the heads of the people around him, looking for a familiar mess of hair in the sea of strangers, but all he manages to do is drift further away from where the others are standing in a semi-circle around a still crying Joonmyun, each taking turns to give a speech. He vaguely registers Sehun's voice talking into a microphone, and wonders when and if they'll notice that he's not there with them. 

Baekhyun's resigned himself to just standing there, listening to the other members crying into the microphone and getting loud cheers and applauses in response to their words, when a hand reaches out to him from between two unknown people standing in front of him. It latches onto his own, and as soon as he feels long fingers lacing with his own, he knows who the hand belongs to. He lets himself be dragged between people cheering their group's name, blinking at the snapping lights of cameras and smiling widely when he sees the others at the front of the stage. 

"Ah, there he is!", Jongdae tells the audience, and the others laugh in response as Baekhyun is pulled to the microphone, hand still holding onto Chanyeol's tightly. He gulps and looks up at the other boy for a reassuring moment of eye-contact, before giving his speech. 

He doesn't think about the fact that Chanyeol still holds his hand, even as they're driving back to the dorm an hour afterwards, sitting next to each other in the back of the van with the other members talking among themselves. 

///

It becomes a habit to reach out for Chanyeol's hand as soon as they arrive at a crowded place. Sometimes, he's the one who seeks out the contact but, more often than not, it's Chanyeol's bih hand enveloping his own, smaller one, in a vice-like grip. He doesn't let himself think too much about it, or the way his heart has already grown used to pausing for a beat or two in reaction to the sudden (but not at all unwelcome) contact. 

///

The first time Chanyeol holds his hand, without the excuse of pulling him through a crowd or bowing to a loud roar of an applause, is while they're filming a variety show. They're just walking along an oddly calm street, cameras around them, and Baekhyun is content to smile at the lenses every few moments, listening to Jongdae bicker with someone a few steps behind them. 

He's busy laughing at the conversation that he doesn't even register the hand brushing against his own, until long fingers are lacing themselves into the empty spaces between his own, squeezing lightly after a moment of silence. When he looks up, Chanyeol is staring straight ahead with a blush dusting his cheeks, trying to act cool even though Baekhyun can feel the way his pulse has quickened. 

Instead of pulling away, Baekhyun gives his hand an experimental squeeze, tightening the girp of his fingers and grinning to himself when he feels Chanyeol move closer. The cameras aren't on them right now, busy fimling the members who are actually talking, and he's glad that this isn't scripted. 

///

"Why do you do that?", Baekhyun asks him one day, when Chanyeol approaches him out of the blue and takes his hand in his own without a word. 

They're all huddled up in an airport waiting area, with Jongin and Sehun sleeping, sprawled out on about half a dozen plastic chairs, and the others taking pictures of them and laughing, or just standing around talking amongst themselves. 

Chanyeol frowns and looks down at their fingers, looking like he's a second away from drawing his hand back, and all Baekhyun can do to prevent that unwanted action is tighten his grip. 

"I-", Chanyeol coughs, "I don't want you to get lost in the crowd.", he mumbles, looking down at the ground. 

Baekhyun huffs an amused laugh and looks around at the almost-empty room, motioning with his free hand, "We're the only people here." 

There's a beat of silence, not as awkward as he imagined it would be when he finally asked Chanyeol the question that's been on his mind for the past few weeks. But then again, nothing has ever been awkward between them, not even when Baekhyun realized that he really, really doesn't mind this at all. Or when he realized that he actually misses Chanyeol's hand holding his, on the rare occassion that they're not walking side by side during daily commutes.

Chanyeol shifts closer, his fingers giving a subconscious squeeze, before he mutters a quiet, "I like it..." 

"I'm sorry", Baekhyun asks, even though he heard perfectly fine, "what was that?" 

He gets a glare in response, "I said I like it, pabo." 

Baekhyun's grin stretches from ear to ear, and the taller boy would be offended if the smile wasn't so contagious. Instead, he just looks down at their joint hands and sways them back and forth a few times, to distract himself from the growing heat in his cheeks and the uneasiness in his chest.

"I like it, too.", Baekhyun tells him after a few torturous moments of silence. 

Chanyeol's gaze snaps up and he looks a little bit stunned, as if he'd thought that this was one-sided. As if he thought that Baekhyun's heart isn't beating rapidly right now, just like it has every time they've been like this. As if he doesn't notice how he's been steadily ruining Baekhyun from that day at the airport and every single time afterwards. 

"Oh", he breathes, "well... good, then. That's good." 

Baekhyun huffs a relieved laugh and moves to stand closer to the taller boy, pressing their sides together and enjoying the added warmth that floods him inside-out. This time, he doesn't ignore the feeling in his chest, and lets himself relish in it instead, smiling up at his friend when they tighten their grip on each other's hands at the same time. 

Chanyeol's hand is much bigger than his own, and his fingers are long and a bit cold to the touch, but they fit perfectly in the spaces between his own.