Baekhyun rolls his eyes when he hears the familiar sound of Park Chanyeol calling his name from across the cafeteria, his unusually deep voice echoing through the other boy's head like an annoying headache that refuses to go away.

He’s like clockwork. Every day, at lunchtime, he comes over and asks Baekhyun to go out with him. Every. single. day. And Baekhyun is really running out of excuses to give him because, honestly, he can’t think of a single good one- “i have to study. again” “it’s the craziest thing, but my sister just called me and said we have an emergency…water heater problem." "i have to..um..clean my cat”.

So, when Chanyeol strides over to him, grinning like the persistent madman Baekhyun knows he is, he makes a point to not look up from the plate of mashed potatoes laying untouched on the plastic table in front of him. 

“Heya, Baekhyunnie~.”, Chanyeol sing-songs, like always, and sits down right next to Baekhyun, so close that their thighs brush. 

“Hello, Chanyeol.”, he says dryly, digging around the food with his fork in hopes of occupying himself and not looking at the grinning giant beside him. Don’t look at his eyes, you know what they do to you.

“Go on a date with me.”, Chanyeol tells him, his voice carrying a hint of nervousness (noticeable only because he's usually so confident), which is kind of... odd. Baekhyun just chuckles in response and shakes his head in refusal, like always. 

“You’ve been asking me to go out with you for three months now, and every time I’ve said ‘no’. Why don’t you just give up?”, Baekhyun asks, although he's secretly hoping, somehwere deep down where he never dares to venture, that Chanyeol won’t give up. 

Chanyeol snorts in response, shifting even closer still, and says, simply, “Because I know that you’ll say 'yes’ one day.”, nudging Baekhyuns’s side with his elbow. “Might as well make it today. Save me the trouble.”, he smiles, and Baekhyun looks up to glare at him.

That’s his first mistake. 

His second one is the fact that he doesn’t look away, and his eyes find Chanyeol’s, and he knows it’s all pretty much over right then and there. But no way is he giving Chanyeol the satisfaction of complying easily.

He sighs, dramatically, and points a finger at Chanyeol. “If I say yes, will you stop being such a pain in the ?”

“Depends.”, Chanyeol’s grin makes Baekhyun’s heart swell up in his chest, and for a moment he just stays silent and stares. Well... this is a very new reaction to the otherwise annoying grin sent his way at least a dozen times daily.

“On what?”, he manages to croak out, and Chanyeol pretends to think about it, infuriatingly slowly. All Baekhyun can do is stare and try to keep his cheeks from flaming up.

“Well, my guess is that the date’s gonna go well, and you’re gonna have a good time, and maybe i'll even get a chance to see your smile once you stop frowning so hard. So, I'll refrain from being a- a 'pain in the '- if and only if you agree to go on more future dates after our successful first one. ”, Chanyeol concludes, his voice sounding contemplative, before taking a sip of Baekhyun’s soda without permission he doesn’t even need right now, because Baekhyun is a mess. 

“I um…”, Baekhyun mumbles, blushing and immediately looking down at the floor to buy some time. He coughs, makes a serious face against the smile struggling to sneak onto his lips, and nods. “Fine. I’ll go out with you.”

Chanyeol whoops victoriously, and he leans forward to plant a kiss fleeting on the corner of Baekhyun's mouth before he stands up from the table.

“I’ll pick you up tonight at 8.”, he says, and Baekhyun nods, blinking with his mouth hanging open as his brain tries to catch up.

Baekhyun watches speechlessly as he walks thorugh the cafeteria, high-fiving his friends as he passes by their table, earning approving whistles and encouraging words. Unconsciously, he lifts a hand to his mouth, hovering the tips of his fingers above the spot where he can still feel the phantom touch of a warm pair of lips.  

He smiles, small and entirely to himself, with even the very tips of his ears going pink, and he knows he's doomed to more dates with a wide-eyed giant in the future.