***THIS IS NOT PART OF THE ACTUAL STORY. NONE OF THIS WILL ACTUALLY HAPPEN TO THE ACTUAL STORY (obv since I already made you read this). SO FEEL FREE TO IGNORE THIS IF YOU WISH TO DO SO.

I cannot update anytime soon (school purposes) so I am posting this here. Plus, I am very happy for this. A lovely reader, who claims she loves this story, wrote this for me as a gift. Again, Thank you so much. This actually helped make me feel better at the time I was at the worst.

Title: No One Does it Better
Length: 7K~
Genre: Slight Angst
Rating: PG-13 (?)
Note: This was written for me by one of my lovely readers right after Chapter Entropy of When Straight Ges Wrongcame out. I like the scenes and actually helped make me feel better when I was down. This will not really happen in my actual fic but I'm putting it up becuse it's precious and I appreciate her effort. A lot.

The slight chill of the wind caresses Baekhyun’s cheek with a sting. Winter air greets him, drifting him by as he sits alone on the bleachers. He wore his coat snugly and zipped it up to his chin, a small attempt to ward off the cold weather.
It has been a little over an hour since Baekhyun have sat where he is seated now. He looks around as he tries to remember how he got there. The walk to the university’s football field was a bit hazy, but the occupying thoughts that travelled with him were clear.

Chanyeol. Park Chanyeol.
Chanyeol filled his thoughts --- has been the content of his reveries for a week now, had been in his mind since the day he came into their shared room. A certain tall person with big hands and familiar touches invaded his mind. A certain roommate with soft lips and familiar kisses invaded his heart. He tries to forget, but these are embedded in his memory. The hot touches that turned into torrid kisses. The slight hesitance overpowered by need, by want, by lust. The overbearing eagerness to satisfy and be satisfied  to the point of no turning back. The words that stopped the hot mess they were tangled in, leaving the older confused and frustrated. The ice cold bucket of hurtful rejection splashed over his drunken state. The quiet that came incognito behind the closed apartment door, eventually sitting him down to baseless misinterpretations next to the carpeted floor. The sleep that came long after the tears had dried up.
A certain roommate of his with deep well-water voice saying, “It was a mistake”.  Park Chanyeol filled his thoughts.And the brief intimacy they shared that turned out to be their biggest mistake yet filled his heart with pain.

Baekhyun’s been sitting atop the highest row of the bleachers for a startling 2 hours now. And as he gazes off to the horizon, to nothing in particular, he notes that the sun is preparing to set down.
He decided to hie off to the football field today despite reading online that it’ll be 32 degrees outside. He thought for sure that no one would be littering the campus grounds, in particular the football field, at a weather like this. Which is good, he thinks to himself, because he needs to be alone no matter how cold --- to stop thinking, to stop feeling, to stop crying. Maybe it will actually numb the feeling down.
Baekhyun was drunk the night of the pre-winter party, which may have been his only saving grace from feeling the shame of rejection. He thinks Chanyeol will surely take into account his state of drunkenness, that at least his begging that night was simply out of his control. Until his thoughts have calmed down, he will keep using this “drunk” excuse to cover up the mix of upset feelings he’s experiencing --- for Chanyeol’s sake and for Baekhyun’s own reassurance. Because despite being drunk, Baekhyun knows of all people that he can remember things as if he was sober. The clarity in his head is playing on repeat and is blinding, that he consciously shuts his eyes close.

The sun have already set for a good 30 minutes now and Baekhyun should be heading back to their dormsomewhere safe. Knitted brows came immediately after he opened his tired eyes. And as his stinging, puffy eyes came into focus, he squints at the orange object that blocked his view of the supposedly dark sky.

“Eat.”

Huh? It was a demanding tone and Baekhyun had to look past the hand that held the orange object, a popsicle his brain tells him, towards the face that uttered the word eat.

“Eat. It’s a popsicle, fresh out of the wrapper. It’s clean too, didn’t it or anything..”

The presentation was absurd but Baekhyun was in a slight daze to care for oddities.

Chanyeol?
The man beside him was tall, fair-skinned and had shaggy hair. It was dark out in the field so he saw no more than that. Baekhyun had the mind to run away after two more seconds but his surprise was short-lived as his consciousness soaked in another second later. The man beside him, holding an orange popsicle, was tall, yes, but he was no giant.

“I don’t want it..” Baekhyun answers.

He stands up from his position for the first time in 2 and a half hours, and was about to walk down from the bleachers when his right foot slips. He grasps for anything but air when a strong arm held him in place, saving him short from falling and breaking a limb. His heartbeat increases from the scare of almost falling down, and as his shock dies down, he starts to relax from the other’s hold.

“The benches are slippery so be careful on your way down.” The tall person says as he steadies Baekhyun, and lets him go.

Baekhyun nods and he slowly walks down with care this time. When both his feet have touched the track around the field, he decided to spare a glance back, and sees the other already the once offered orange popsicle.
 

Baekhyun was back at his room, already showered and clean, but his roommate wasn’t home yet. It’s warm inside the room and he thinks it feels nice. Despite the familiar furniture around him, the space feels empty with him being alone. Looking around the four walls and realizing that he’s the only one breathing inside it, he suddenly felt cold and he knows it doesn’t feel nice.

It’s been a week since that night. A week and Baekhyun’s tired of avoiding Chanyeol. He wasn’t just falling off the face of the earth this time. He was slipping in-betweens:  awake when Chanyeol’s asleep and present when Chanyeol isn’t, both of which are more exhausting than when in simply in hiding. If this was Baekhyun a few weeks ago, he would’ve simply gone off to a hotel and spend a week or two there. But this was Baekhyun after the party, after the drunk escapade, after the heights he felt together with Chanyeol, after the shame and rejection. This Baekhyun was hurt in all the right places that it makes him loose control over his feelings and therefore mess up his composure and logical thinking. This Baekhyun was lost, a bit broken and confused. But he chooses not to run away because he is Baekhyun --- stubborn and full of pride.  So with the little pride he has left to save, he chooses the second best thing next to running.

Baekhyun didn’t like that it was Tuesday today, the day he practices with his music group, so he opts to be absent in both music class and in their practice. He realizes it will hold them back but he trusts Luhan and the others to be able to manage.

A week has already passed and he hasn’t talked to a single soul about his problem. He would have liked it if his best friends were there to listen to him. It was at that point when he needed to finally tell them what he’s going through, even though he had never opened up his feelings for Chanyeol to either of the two. But he couldn’t and right now he wouldn’t. Mira was still at one of her recitals, and it would’ve been selfish on his part to bother her concentration. Talking to Jongin right now would be a difficult fit, because he had hurt his best friend in an unimaginable way (given that he was drunk at the time). He kissed Kyungsoo and stole his first kiss. He kissed Jongin’s love interest and stole his chance of being Kyungsoo’s first kiss. Baekhyun had dug himself a deep grave, but he knows Jongin has a fat heart full of soft chewable candies, and that they just need time off. He had already apologized to Kyungsoo though, a few days back. And being the nice angelSoo he was claimed to be (by Jongin of course), he understood Baekhyun and forgave him even before he got to the part of saying “sorry”. Baekhyun may be hurt and in hiding, but he’s human enough to correct the mistakes he incurred relative to his situation, so he immediately apologized.

Baekhyun battles whether he should leave the room and talk to someone, or to just stay behind. He chooses the latter after much thinking, because one, Baekhyun doesn’t just talk to anybody so he decides to hold in his emotions a little longer, and two, his roommate might be on his way to the dorms now and he wouldn’t risk the chance of meeting Chanyeol on the way out. So he decides to turn off the bedside lamp, lie down on his bed, face the opposite side and cover the sheets up to his nose. He tries to sleep through the night. He tries to pretend to sleep through the sound of the passcode being entered, door being opened, and ignores the sound of hushed movements. He pretends to even out his breathing when he felt his roommate sit down on his bed and is probably staring at him. Lastly, he pretends to move in his sleep, farther away from Chanyeol, because his tears are starting to fall and he wouldn’t risk his “play pretend” to be found out.

The next morning, Baekhyun wakes up extra early and heads out before the sun was able to rise. It’s a good thing he knows Chanyeol’s schedule, so this whole setup is one level easier to carry out. Baekhyun’s class won’t start in another 4 hours so he just walks and walks. He was in front of the university’s library when the sun started to rise. He wants to be like the sun; starting anew each day. He wants to be able to rise up every morning with freckles of light, after all of yesterday’s gradient of blue to black. But he’s not like the sun at all. He isn’t a source of light to anyone, not even to himself. He’s every compatible mix of the calm before the storm, the storm itself, and the storm’s after effects. And no one deserves such gray in their lives.

He must have been staring out the horizon for a good few minutes after the brief sunrise, because he starts to feel uncomfortable, like he’s being stared at. As his eyes move down from the sky to the library’s doors, he sets gaze on a tall guy who was indeed staring at him. And the said person walks towards him the moment his presence was acknowledged.

“So you do that a lot, huh?”
“Do what?” Baekhyun takes one step back as he answers.
“Stare at the sky. Like, for a really long time.”
This guy really.. do I even know you? “Do I even know you?” Baekhyun voices out his thoughts.
Tall guy chuckles. “No, but you should since I saved you from falling off the bleachers last night.” He smirks as he notices Baekhyun’s eyes widen in recognition.
Last night? Oh.. Oh! “That was you? Uh.. thank you”
Tall guy grins and removes his hand from his coat’s pocket. “Yunjae. Cheon Yunjae”, and he motions for a shake of hands.
“Baekhyun.”

They shake hands and Baekhyun notes that his hand is quite small against the other’s, and it feels familiar to be enclosed in larger hands once again. Except Yunjae’s hands were cold, and Baekhyun’s not used to clasping large hands that aren’t warm. But right now, Baekhyun’s hands were both cold too.. so maybe this time, its okay.

For the next hour, he finds himself feeling warm inside the library, and one person less lonely next to Yunjae, who was sitting opposite him.

Yunjae isn’t much of a talker but maybe that’s just because they are inside the library. It’s unlike of Baekhyun to spontaneously be accepting with a stranger in just a few minutes of introduction. He surrounds himself with friends he’s close to, and keeps said friends to a few. He’s not craving for something physical either to let someone sit next to him with no ulterior motive. But right now, Baekhyun’s a ticking bomb about to set off and self-destruct if he finds himself alone for another day, so he allows himself to be in Yunjae’s company.
Just this one time, Baekhyun tells himself.

They talk and he learns little things about Yunjae. He couldn’t sass his way into a lively dialogue but they were able to manage. He learns that Yunjae is two years older than him in age, and one year senior to him in college. He’s a student from the engineering department, and is smart almost to Baekhyun’s level. He finds out that Yunjae recently had surgery for retinal detachment, which almost resulted to permanent blindness. He notices that Yunjae closes his eyes a bit longer for normal blinking, probably a habit from before the eye correction. He notices that Yunjae isn’t used to bright lights, not yet. And he notes, at the back of his head, that Yunjae has beautiful eyes.
 

The cafeteria today was an unnerving place to eat lunch at. There was a constant buzzing of hushed whispers that bounced on every wall in the confined space. It was alarmingly odd that whatever rumor was circulating the campus, hasn’t reached their table yet. Them, being Jongin, Kyungsoo, Tao and Chanyeol. It was as if the perimeter around their table was soundproof (while in Chanyeol’s case, bulletproof). 
Chanyeol had been out of it since the night of the pre-winter party, so he wasn’t aware of what’s happening inside the cafeteria. What he’s aware of is that Baekhyun went to his class today because he woke up with the other already gone along with his book bag. And for the 5^th day today, he stares at the cafeteria doors, waiting for his roommate to come in. He waits and waits but a certain petite man with beautiful hands doesn’t appear.
Chanyeol wasn’t paying attention to his surroundings, but the trio at the table for sure was able to hear bits and pieces of the gossip going around. Kyungsoo and Jongin were both shooting wary glances at Chanyeol, while Tao was silently groaning about the hopelessness of the situation.

“So have you heard about it?”

Luhan arrives at their table with a loud greeting in the form of a question. A question that earned him a glare from Jongin; Jongin doesn’t glare at him, ever, so Luhan takes it as a silent plea of “please, shut up”. Tao on the other hand just hits his head on the table and groans more audibly for needed emphasis. Or not, maybe Luhan is doing this purpose.

“What? I was just asking..” the Chinese discretely complains while sitting down next to Jongin.
Chanyeol then registers Luhan’s voice and turns to him. Luhan understands him, he thinks. He was the only person he confessed his feelings about Baekhyun to. And he helped him last time when he hinted about Baekhyun’s arrival.

So he asks, “Have you seen Baekhyun?”
Do you know where he is? 
Do you know where I can find him?

Luhan knows what happened at the pre-winter party because he had asked Sehun and Jongin about it. But whatever happened between his brother and Chanyeol afterwards, he hadn’t a single clue. Still, whatever took place between them is something that Luhan doesn’t approve of. Before this happened, Baekhyun was finally talking to him; as if his brother doesn’t hate him anymore. He cried to his brother and even shared smiles with him. He felt that they were finally connecting again. He waited very long for Baekhyun to see him in the eye, without his brother glaring at him or ignoring him. That one chance for reconciliation he had asked the heavens for the longest time have finally arrived. In that moment, he felt like he was finally given the cookie that was forever deprived of him to eat. And the experience tasted gingerly sweet, like two spoonful of cookie butter dipped in chocolate hazelnut, that he just craved for more. He wanted more of Baekhyun; more time with his brother. It was the beginning of mending the broken years they’ve spent without each other as brothers, as best friends. It was supposed to be the start, but now Baekhyun is avoiding everyone, and how do you spend time with people who are nowhere to be found? There is that selfish feeling that he wants to blame Chanyeol for Baekhyun’s recent actions, but he can’t really commit to it because he understands that both of them are lost. He has figured out months ago that Baekhyun and Chanyeol are soulmates, but they refuse to find each other because of their unresolved insecurities and unspoken feelings. Luhan is in no place to meddle with his brother’s issues, so he doesn’t, even if all this tension is postponing his reunion with Baekhyun.

Luhan grins at Chanyeol’s question. “No Chanyeol-ah, but I have heard about him, so if you wan—ow! Hey!”

Jongin kicks Luhan’s shin under the table, preventing him to say anything further. He gives him a look of warning that made Luhan keep mum.

“What? What have you heard about Baekhyun?” Chanyeol hurriedly asks upon hearing Baekhyun’s name from Luhan.

“It was nothing Chanyeol! Ha ha ha.. ha” Jongin awkwardly laughs while hitting Luhan’s back, forcing him to agree with him. Which Luhan complies with an unsteady smile.

Kyungsoo doesn’t understand what kind of situation this is, but he decides to help Jongin cover up Luhan’s slip.
“He’s fine, Chanyeol.” Kyungsoo says in a calm manner. “I saw him the other day, he apologized for what happened. He looked fine, so you should stop worrying.” He adds, while offering a smile.
Kyungsoo lied. It wasn’t a nice feeling but he felt it was proper to lie to Chanyeol to have him stop worrying. When Baekhyun knocked on his door to apologize, he was a total wreck. He looked lifeless and lost, and he sounded sad. Kyungsoo isn’t used to seeing Baekhyun in such a dismal state. If anything, Baekhyun was always sharp and composed with a hint of rich arrogance. If it was bothering to look at Chanyeol’s state now, then he’s positive Baekhyun is in a worse state. If Chanyeol looked lonely and guilty, then Baekhyun simply looked broken.

Chanyeol nods his head twice, after hearing Kyungsoo talk, but resumes his staring contest at the cafeteria’s double doors.

“Wait, what? Baekhyun apologized to you??”
Kyungsoo chuckles at Jongin’s startled look. “Yes, he did. So now you better stop sulking and stop being mad at Baekhyun. He’s your best friend. He didn’t mean to do what he did. Okay?” Kyungsoo squeezes Jongin’s hand for reassurance.
Jongin’s putty under Kyungsoo’s warm hand so he can’t help feeling loads lighter; both about Baekhyun apologizing, and Kyungsoo’s smiles and soft touches that were directed at him.
“Of course he should apologize to you!” Jongin smiles back at Kyungsoo, but then he adds, “He hasn’t said sorry to me though..”
Tao repeatedly slams his head on the table, while Luhan is heard laughing in the background.


 

Luhan was heading towards the cafeteria when he heard a group of girls mentioning his brother’s name in their conversation. He hid behind the corner to stay and listen about what they have to say, ready to claw their faces off, if he hears any kind of insult thrown at his brother.

“Oh my God! So, did you like, hear about the news? Byun Baekhyun is dating a senior!”

Dating? Baekhyun’s dating a senior?

“Yah! Yunjae oppa’s not dating anyone. His status on sns still says single. And I saw he was online just last night.”
“But my friend said that he saw Yunjae sunbae walk Baekhyun to his class. Everyone inside the class saw them together!”

Luhan started to leave as the girls whined about how all the good-looking guys tend to be gays, and how their chances of flirting with this Yunjae person is gone.
He enters the cafeteria and arrives at the same scene, multiplied tenfold. Apparently the whole campus heard about the news and are mulling their lives over it. Well it wouldn’t surprise him since one, his brother is popular to both es, two, this is the first time anyone has heard of him going out with a senior, and three, everyone who is anyone actually saw Baekhyun and Chanyeol as a couple --- until a week ago, apparently.

Baekhyun and Chanyeol. What happened between those two?

And as Luhan looked for Chanyeol, he heard another information..
“Actually someone told me that he saw Baekhyun ssi and Yunjae ssi together at the library this morning!”
This is interesting…ly weird? Luhan thinks to himself.

…

It was lunch time and for the 5^th day today, Baekhyun walks to the music room. He’s still not ready to face any of his friends, particularly Jongin, especially Chanyeol. He is also aware that some students are talking about him and Yunjae. People saw them and are now creating rumors and assumptions about it. Yunjae insisted on walking him to class even though he refused. Baekhyun didn’t initiate it, nor thought any of it, so he just let it be.
Yunjae was passing by the corridors when he heard music coming from one of the rooms to his left. He opens the door slightly and the cold air from the air-conditioned room transfers chill to the halls. He was about to close the door when he heard the piano began to play. The keys were slow, smooth, gradual, but it never escalates, it never increases tempo. The piece was steady and reserved, yet it neither calms nor sombers. He takes in more of the cold as he opens the door fully, curious to see where or from whom  the poignant music is coming from. The music room was built like a miniature auditorium with cascading rows of seats, and an elevated stage at the front of the room. The door he opened was coming from the left, and the piano was situated on the far right of the stage, thankfully he didn’t disturb the student playing the piano. Said student was faced to the wall, his back towards Yunjae.  Yunjae is familiar with that student because he spent his morning walking behind him, until the petite male tells him to walk beside him. He remembers being told in an annoyed way that he doesn’t like it when a certain tall person is following on his heels. He closes the door and heads off to somewhere, determined to return back to the music room.

Baekhyun plays the piano with unstoppable concentration that he doesn’t hear the door being opened, nor the footsteps nearing him to the right of the stage.

“Eat.”

Huh? Baekhyun looks up from the black and white keys and sees a small doshirak placed on top of the piano’s hood.

“Eat. I bought this from the café outside the building. It’s not from the cafeteria so it’s delicious.” Yunjae says while sitting next to Baekhyun on the piano chair.
Baekhyun looks sideways to the scooting guy next to him, as he moves a little to the left to allow more seating space.

“The food in the cafeteria’s delicious too, just so you know.” Baekhyun remarks.
“I know.” Yunjae rips open the wrapper of an incecream cone and it once. “But this,” and he moves to lunch box closer to Baekhyun, “is mooooore delicious.” And he the icecream again, then smiles.

Baekhyun wasn’t able to adjust in time so Yunjae closes the piano instead. He props his elbow on the now covered piano, leans his head against his hand, and faces Baekhyun sideways.
The petite male feels unconscious all of a sudden so he takes the offered food from the hood and sets it down on the piano. Silence ensues between them, both concentrating on separate lunch and dessert.

“Why do you eat that a lot?” Baekhyun asks. “It’s winter and you’re eating that cold thing.”
He hears Yunjae chuckle beside him, while he pops a chicken in his mouth, still not looking to his right.
“I like icecream. The weather is irrelevant to the things I like to eat.” Yunjae answers.
“But it isn’t healthy to eat icecream all the time.” My roommate thinks so. “Have you even eaten anything before that?”
“I don’t eat icecream all the time.” Yunjae rolls his eyes. “And nope,” Yunjae bites the remaining inch of the icecream and stands up to throw the wrapper to the trash bin. “Haven’t eaten anything yet..” He sits beside Baekhyun again.

Baekhyun thinks about it, actually no, he wasn’t really thinking when he suddenly took a piece of his chicken meat by the chopsticks and held it against Yunjae’s mouth.  He didn’t even think when the said man stared at him for one, two seconds, ate the piece off his chopsticks, chewed quietly, then smiled. He was acting foolish for the normal Baekhyun wouldn’t initiate such a thing, wouldn’t even think of it at most.
But he just did.

“Wipe that smile off your face.” Baekhyun tries to sound indifferent, trying to cover the obvious embarrassment. “That piece of chicken is all you’re gonna eat. Get your own doshirak.” He adds for a harsher effect. Yunjae only laughs heartily in response.
He finishes eating his food and was about to dispose the container when Yunjae beat him to it. He watches Yunjae get rid of the container and walk back to where they were seated at.

“Aren’t you being an awful lot of nice to a person you barely know?” Baekhyun asks, curiosity, more like disbelief, manages to slip out of his mouth.
“Hmm.. Well, people do say I’m a bit nicer than most people..”
“Most strangers, you mean.” Baekhyun interjects.
Yunjae laughs. “Okay, in your case, I’m nicer than most strangers, but aren’t people supposed to be nice? Would you rather meet someone who’s rude? Like someone who would just let you fall off the bleachers? Honestly, I think I’m just being normal.”
“Well, it wouldn’t have mattered because if I hadn’t met you, I wouldn’t have had the chance to fall. Butterfly effect.” Baekhyun replies.
Yunjae grins and says, “Aww.. that’s romantically poetic of you to think.”
Baekhyun hits him on the shoulder and Yunjae laughs.
“I’m kidding!” Yunjae stalls Baekhyun’s hits and nurses his shoulder. “Plus, the only reason why I barely know you is that you didn’t even talk much this morning! I told you my life’s story but you didn’t even tell me anything but your name and major.” Yunjae pouts.

He pouts. This insane, tall, handsome person pouts. Oh dear god. Baekhyun thinks to himself.

“Be glad I even told you my name.” Baekhyuns smirks. “And if you do really want to know me, I have to tell you now that I’m quite rude and I like to take control. And I don’t like it when people are doing nice things to me. Deliberately.”
It reminds me of Chanyeol and all his sugar, spice, everything that’s ing nice.
“I told you, I’m only being normal.” Yunjae tries to sound desperate. Tries. 
“And part of being normal is eating food at lunch.”
“You ate icecream. For lunch. That isn’t normal, just so you know.” Baekhyun deadpans.
“Hey! Icecream IS food! What is it with you and icecreams..”
“Exactly nothing. In fact, I should be asking YOU that. What is it with you and icecreams.”  Baekhyun sneers with accusing stares.
“Okaaaay, enough about icecreams!” Yunjae laughs. “I was going to ask if you’d like to eat lunch tomorrow. You know, because it’s really normal for people to eat during lunchtime and not play the piano.”
Baekhyun thinks about it and this time he really thinks. And when he finally agreed, he’s sure that he’s okay with his answer.
“But we can’t eat at the cafeteria. I mean, I don’t want to eat there.”
“I thought you said that food there is great?”
“I never said it was great. I said food at the cafeteria is delicious too. Look, I’m not going to eat with you if we’ll just go to the cafeteria.”
“It’s okay, wasn’t even planning on it. We’ll go someplace better.” Yunjae smiles.
They exchange numbers afterwards and Yunjae then walks Baekhyun to his next class.

 

Baekhyun finishes all his homework and closes his laptop. He decides to take a shower before heading out tonight.

Luhan had just stepped out of the shower when he heard a few angry knocks on his door. He gets dressed and opens the door to a very annoyed person greeting him outside.

“Yah! What took you so long to open the damn door?! I’ve been knocking for hours already!”
More like 5 minutes, but Luhan doesn’t need to know that.
Baekhyun? Luhan’s eyes widen in surprise as he sees his brother, shouting at him, in front of his dorm room, for the very first time.

“Do you usually make people wait outside, open the door and then stare at them for god knows how long like a creep that you secretly are? Because when people knock on MY door, I usually let them in. Maybe if I’m in a good mood then I may or may not do favors for them, or they do some for me. But either way I don’t creep like you do, Lu.” Baekhyun sarcastically remarks.

Luhan  steps aside the door to make room as Baekhyun shuffles inside and he hears a rather loud sarcastic thank you. He closes the door quietly, still in a daze, when Baekhyun asked him,

“So which one is your bed?” And Luhan points to his bed and watches his visitor sit on it, take off his shoes and lie down on said bed.

Luhan speaks for the first time since this whole surprise parade.

“Baekhyun.” It was barely audible, almost like a whisper, but Baekhyun heard it.

“Hmm?” Baekhyun hums.  A pregnant pause.

“Baekhyun.” Luhan repeats.

“Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?” Baekhyun answers impatiently while sitting up to look at his brother. And oh holy , he sees Luhan with tears in his eyes.

“No, no, no, no, no. Don’t you dare cry in front of me again, Byun Luhan! Don’t you dare!” But he was already one dare too late as his brother’s tears were already falling, and jumps on to the bed beside Baekhyun.


When Luhan’s crying have simmered down to occasional gasps and sniffles, Baekhyun stops threading his fingers through his brother’s hair. He rests his back on the headboard and Luhan follows suit and sits beside him too.



“Is this gonna be a habit of yours? Crying everytime we see each other.”



Luhan looks at him and he sees small cherry lips and a rosy button nose, evidences of Luhan’s crying a while ago.



“Is this gonna be a habit, Baekhyun? Seeing you. Will it be a habit from now on?”


Luhan is still looking at him, and again he sees puffy eyes with residual tears. Luhan doesn’t waver a single eye contact, and Baekhyun sees hopeful, pleading eyes.


“Yes, Luhan.” His Chinese brother smiles and it’s the first time in years that Baekhyun had seen genuine happiness lit in his eyes and grace on his smiles. Granted he’s the reason why Luhan had been lonely in all these years, but just as well, he’s the reason for putting back the happiness in his life. Although albeit longer than expected, at least it wasn’t too late. And for Luhan, Baekhyun will never be too late.

...

“Soooo, this Yunjae guy, will I be seeing him soon? Or are you gonna hog him all to yourself?” Luhan asks.

They ended up both covered under the sheets on Luhan’s bed, and they have been talking for a record of 3 hours now. He learns about Baekhyun and Chanyeol having a “fight” and that Baekhyun ended up being rejected as a result. He knows there’s something more to the story than Baekhyun lets on, more truth that Baekhyun won’t tell, but he won’t be privy if Baekhyun isn’t comfortable of saying it now. His brother doesn’t even want to elaborate on what kind of “fight” they had on the night of the pre-winter dance. As his brother’s emotions were starting to feel heavy, he manages to shift the conversation about something lighter, so he tells him about the girls he heard talking this afternoon. Luhan then learns about Yunjae, how they met and their lunch together this afternoon.


“Yah! I’m not going to hog him because there’s no reason to!” Baekhyun slaps Luhan’s arm in the process.

“But it’s my role as your brother to check him out for you!” Luhan whines.

“You won’t be checking out anything because there’s no-thaaang.” Baekhyun scoffs. “And you will come tomorrow. He’s a little creepy, but not your level kind of creep, anyway, he’s weird so I’d rather you come and eat lunch with us.”

“Okay, in that case we need our beauty sleep, bec—“

“Sounds so gay, Lu.”

“ Hush! So as I was saying, we need to rest so we better sleep now. Stay here. Okay?”

“Okay, Lu.”

“I mean, really, you can stay here all the time,for as long as you want.”

“Okay, Lu. I got it.”


“I mean I can kick out my roommate for you, look he’s not even here. This can be his first warning then off he goes, wheeeee, bye bye. I’ll  have him—“

“Stop it!” Baekhyun laughs and pulls Luhan to lie down beside him.

“So.. goodnight then?”

“Yes. Byun Luhan. Goodnight. Now shut up.” Baekhyun smiles as he closes his eyes.


And for the first time in years, Luhan sleeps soundly, peacefully, a ton lifted off his chest. And for the first time in days, Baekhyun sleeps with no tears in his eyes.

Baekhyun didn’t leave Luhan’s dorm till morning, but they went out the same time for Luhan’s class. He successfully persuaded Luhan to attend his classes despite his brother’s incessant demands on not going to school, “and just cuddle on the bed.” (Luhan’s words, not Baekhyun’s.) Baekhyun had to literally push Luhan out of the dorms just so he could leave his side. They said goodbyes after a face full of Luhan’s pouts. It was adorably, annoyingly cute and it left Baekhyun on a happy mood. He was too preoccupied on the lingering feelings that his brother left on him that he forgot what time it was, where he was heading to, and who was inside the place he plans to return to.

…

Chanyeol was already dressed for his class and was fixing his materials when he heard the passcode being entered. His head instinctively snapped towards the door once he heard it open. He dropped whatever he was holding and the sound of that thing made his roommate look at him. And Chanyeol saw it. He saw the sudden change in the other’s emotions flip channel the moment their eyes connected. He saw brief smiles in Baekhyun’s eyes. He saw that flicker of recognition in his orbits. Then he saw nothing else. Baekhyun had already turned away from him in a snap, in a blink.  And it feels like that last flicker of light from a light post, on a long path in the park at night. He hasn’t seen Baekhyun awake for the past week; he was always asleep or always nowhere to be found.

Chanyeol calls for him. He calls his name once.

“Baek.”

But the other moves in so much haste, escaping to the bathroom, leaving Chanyeol with wisps air of regret. Baekhyun closes the bathroom door and Chanyeol hears the click of the door being locked from inside. And he knows it’s as good as seeing him asleep, or just the same as nowhere at all.

Chanyeol saw him for a brief, fleeting moment. They said time stops when you see the person you desire, but how come it was the opposite for him? He contemplates whether it made him happy or not. It was neither that shock that doesn’t brings you back to life, nor that one ray a lighthouse gives you, enough to put you back on direction. Seeing him for mere seconds, seeing him asleep or nowhere at all.

Inside the bathroom, Baekhyun clutches his chest, the part where his erratically beating heart suspends beneath. He’s losing control over himself day by day. He can’t afford to put his guards down. If another second have passed, one more second of looking into Chanyeol’s eyes and he would’ve cried in front of him. If another second had passed then he would add one more embarrassing moment to his list. Another second, another mistake. Baekhyun cries for a while on the bathroom floor because what else is he supposed to do? This was his first try at falling in love and fell he went with no one breaking his fall.

How can happy feelings turn sour in mere seconds? Is it because he lost focus? Is it because he’s cursed? Is it because he doesn’t deserve even an overnight of happiness that the morning he so desires to be, decides to take it away from him in a blink of an eye. Maybe he deserves to be behind the clouds that never part, no sunshine coming through. So he cries because the clouds are getting heavier and heavier by the day. He lets his tears fall because the weight he carries are too many, too heavy to hold on to.

It’s unfair, Baekhyun thinks, because when the nimbus lets go of luggage it’s supposed to feel light and sunny, and that a rainbow is bound to appear. Right now Baekhyun only feels dry like his heart is on drought.

His phone beeps in his pocket. He slides through the lockscreen and sees a message coming from Luhan. The content was nothing worth reading, but all the collection of hello kitty stickers he sent were worth looking at.

“So gay..”  Baekhyun thinks, and he smiles at his brother’s childishness.

It’s a good thing he has Luhan. He’s not here physically but he’s managed to make Baekhyun an effort to move.

Baekhyun was part nimbus clouds, part drought. He doesn’t have an answer to his dark skies and polluted heart, no sun to release him yet. But at least he has his brother who waters him with long overdue love. He’s drought but he’s coping because of his brother. And so he stands up from the cold bathroom floor, feeling stiff and rigid, takes off his clothes and takes a shower.


 

Luhan skipped happily to Baekhyun’s class, to fetch him and eat lunch with. Students were leaving the room and he had to push past the offensive bodies just to get to his brother. The professor was still inside the room but Luhan didn’t even care.
“Baaaaaaaaby brother!” Luhan shouts and the professor glares at him, but all he sees is Baekhyun, who was stuffing his book inside his bag. Baekhyun rolls his eyes at Luhan’s antics, and walks towards him.
“You’re embarrassing to be with..” Baekhyun whispers then laughs, and walks by Luhan. “I take back what I said, let’s not eat lunch toge—“ He stops talking when he felt Luhan tug on his arm.
“Hey, have you been crying? Why do you look like that? Is there something wrong? Did something happen?” Luhan asks one question after another. Trust Luhan to fuss over the littlest detail unseen by the eye. Baekhyun did cry, but that over hours ago. Baekhyun thought he looked fine when he left his room for class, but apparently he didn’t look quite like it, or maybe Luhan is just extra sensitive to his brother because he actually cares.
“I’m alright.. just bumped into Chanyeol this morning.”
“Oh.”
…
“Yeah.. Come on hurry up. We’ll be meeting Yunjae outside the building.” Baekhyun says in final.

“He’s late.” Baekhyun huffs.

“We just got here! Don’t be such a Grinch.” Luhan and Baekhyun were outside the building, waiting for Yunjae to arrive.

Yunjae arrives a little out of breath, and taps Baekhyun on the shoulder. Baekhyun turns to face him. “I’m sorry.. too.. many people.. hallway’s too narrow. They wouldn’t move.. fast enough..” Yunjae pants.

Baekhyun was about to retort something less friendly and Luhan sensed his brother’s hostile aura, so he decided to push Baekhyun out of the way, therefore making him visible to Yunjae.

“It’s okay, Baekhyun doesn’t mind!” Luhan offers a smile and says, “I’m Luhan. Baekhyun’s brother.”
“Oh, hi Luhan. I’m Yunjae.” And they shake hands.

Baekhyun finally speaks. “I hope you don’t mind. I kind of invited him to eat lunch with us. He likes to intrude my personal space, but this time I brought the punishment to myself.”

“Hey! That’s mean!” Luhan shouts.

“It’s okay! Really.” Yunjae held both his hands up to show that he doesn’t really mind another company’s presence. “In fact this’ll make the day even better. Eating lunch with your family is always a great experience.” He smiles and inserts both his hands in his pockets.

Luhan beams at Yunjae. “The more the merrier, right, Yunjae?” And Yunjae nods.
The three of them start walking and Luhan whispers to Baekhyun, “family man, I see.. me likey..” Baekhyun pushes Luhan  a bit forcibly, and the Chinese just laughs it off.

They enter the café-restaurant named Man From The Star. The two Byuns were delighted by what they saw. The place wasn’t too big but it also wasn’t cramped. The floors were smooth stone gray, with wooden furniture and green accentuates. The lights were just right, nothing too blinding, nothing too dim. The ambience was warm and welcoming as well as it was well-ventilated. It give you the feeling of being in a private garden, the atmosphere being cozy and intimate.

Yunjae motions for them to sit at the far end of the café, an area partly secluded with colored glass sliding doors. The table was a four-seater, and Baekhyun and Luhan decided to sit next to each other. Yunjae was about to sit opposite them when a tall woman came up behind him and hit his head with a menu.
“Ow!” Yunjae nurses the back of his head.
“Yah! You come in here whenever you want and you don’t even say hi to me!” And the said woman pinches Yunjae’s ear off, which looked rather painful.
Baekhyun and Luhan looked at each other, feeling awkward and confused.
“Noona! Stop! You’re embarrassing, they’ll think you’re a witch! Ouchh!”
Noona? Baekhyun looks more closely at the female torturing Yunjae. She was as tall as Yunjae, or maybe a little shorter than him by very few centimeters. She’s very beautiful. Her figure is very lean like a model’s. She has fair skin and straight, silky hair. She’s very pretty. It’s hard to admit but she could be even more beautiful than Mira. Baekhyun’s starting to feel jealous and he doesn’t even know why. He doesn’t get awed by physical features that much, but his woman in front of him, despite being clad in an apron, was definitely blessed than most people.

Said woman lets go of Yunjae’s ear, and looks to the Byuns, a bit shocked. “Oh, I’m sarreh. Didn’t mean for you to see any of that, haha. I’m Cheon Song Yi, his older sister.” She flips her hair like a goddess and waves to both Baekhyun and Luhan like a movie star.
“I’m sorry for her, she’s a bit narcissistic.. Ow!” And Yunjae earns another slap to his arm.
“Hi! I’m Luhan and this is my brother Baekhyun.” Luhan nudges Baekhyun on the side. Baekhyun offers a sweet saccharine smile. “Hello, I’m Baekhyun.”
“Yah! Yunjae, you never told me you have such cute friends! Wait here, I’ll make you something delicious!” And away she goes.
They all finally settle down and Yunjae looks so red, probably of embarrassment.
Baekhyun decides to . “What did you say earlier, Yunjae ssi? Something about families and having a great experience? Hmm?” And Baekhyun and Luhan both laugh.
“I’m sorry about her. She’s just really embarrassing to be with.. She owns this restaurant. I don’t come by often, not when she’s around, for obvious reasons.. like you’ve just witnessed.”
“It’s okay, I like your sister. She’s very.. cheerful.” Baekhyun says.
“So why did she name this place as “Man From The Star” Isn’t that too long for a restaurant’s name?” Luhan asks.
“Oh, uhm.. well.. she’s dating this professor at the Psych department. Sir Do Min Joon. She thinks, I mean she claims, that he’s an alien or something.. Sorry, my sister’s really weird. Anyway she did this out of love. You may say it’s a noble thing for love’s sake, but still, I think it’s weird. It’s like she’s stalking him or something.” Yunjae answers, appearing totally embarrassed by her sister’s story.
“It’s okay. She seems fun.” Baekhyun says.
“Yeahhh. And I think its cute that she named her business based on her lovelife. The business must be booming since her love is blooming!” And Luhan giggles afterwards.
“Oh. My. God. Lu. So gay..” Baekhyun hisses. Yunjae just laughs.