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 The day that Chanyeol dreaded all year is finally here. It’s December 31st or more known as New Year’s Eve. The day where the first half consists of making sure you look as socially acceptable as possible, and then the other half, consisting of getting faced along with your group of friends. Or if you’re a bit older you probably spend it with your family at home or at a nice restaurant while you try to consume all the wine you can with the company of your children. It’s also the time where you start looking back to the year that has passed and reminisce over all the things that has happened, both good and bad. And of course you can’t forget about the golden New Year’s resolutions. The promises we make to ourselves, such as deciding to work out more, but of course breaking it after a week or two because we are humans and we don’t know how to keep the vows we make. Not even to ourselves.  

  Obviously there aren’t any bad things with New Year’s itself, but that doesn’t help Chanyeol to loathe it any less. It just happened to be a victim of the man’s dislike. Chanyeol has always had a hostility against the holiday, well counting from the age of 15 to today which is his 27th year on this planet. Every year it reminds him of the fact that another year has passed and his existence hasn’t contributed to anything. He just wasted 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8760 hours, 525600 minutes and 31536000 seconds on doing completely what? - Nothing. He passed time. That’s the only thing he does, he passes time. And surely Chanyeol feels guilty for wasting something as precious as life. And honestly a part of Chanyeol’s dislike for the holiday comes from his parents. He grew up with an alcoholic mother and without a father who apparently ditched as soon as he heard his mom was carrying him. So his New Year’s were kind of dull spending it with his grandparents while his mom was out getting trashed with people just as pathetic as her. But this Chanyeol rarely admits to himself, his parents broke him. So he believes he lived his whole life not functioning like he should because of that certain piece of him being broken to its core. But none the less he managed to become a decent citizen of society.

  A lot of people mistake him for a depressing low life when he always declines any sort of New Year’s celebration. But for Chanyeol it has always been like this. He has always spent it alone with himself, trying not to break with all the anxiety built up inside of him. It just gnaws and gnaws until Chanyeol can’t take it anymore and drown himself in alcohol trying to numb the sickening feeling in his gut. It is what it is and there isn’t anyone who can do anything about it.

  On this certain night, Chanyeol is lying on his black and grey couch, in the silence comfort of his own apartment. Wearing only sweats and his TRASHER hoodie, he is cooped up in the warmth of his Spongebob blanket. It’s approximately 10:09pm and by now Chanyeol is sure that the New Year’s celebrations should be up and going. He’s glad that his neighbors have the decency to not celebrate the night at home, so it’s fairly quiet around his neighborhood. He flicks through the channels, bored out of his mind. At 10:16pm, when nothing but reruns or live broadcasts of New Year’s celebration is on, he gets up from the couch and makes his way to his room. He puts on a pair of black skinny jeans and shoves his wallet and keys inside the back pocket. He puts on his shoes and jacket in the hallway, rolls a scarf around his neck and then steps outside his apartment door.

  Outside the air is cold and sharp. Trying to flee the cold as fast as possible, he immediately puts the gloves he brought with him just in case. Not having any particular goal destination, Chanyeol decides to go for a walk in the park next to where he lives. The closer he gets to the park the more noisy it gets, although the area being slim to deserted. The sound of people partying comes from the bar located on the street opposite of the park. Why would they even have a park where children play near to a bar? As mentioned before the park is completely emptied of people. The swing set, the slide and the jungle gym is left untouched.

  He keeps walking, following the path going straight through the park. The tall man passes tree after tree, bench after bench. His gaze flickers over a small soccer field, it’s really just two goals and a small patch of artificial grass. He notices the soccer ball left behind. Some poor kid must be devastated. As he tears his gaze from the ball he is suddenly met by a small figure sitting on one of the park benches not long from where Chanyeol is standing. The only thing the streetlight allows him to see is a petite frame crouched up with a head between said person’s knees. The figure is trembling and he suspects the other is crying or just freezing to death. For some reason Chanyeol feels a bit sorry for the stranger. Who is out alone on New Year’s eve? He tsks. He means, why is this stranger person sitting out alone in a park on New Year’s? In the pitch dark night, may he add? Chanyeol decides to start making his way home. Whatever the person is doing Chanyeol feels he has nothing to do with. It’s probably just a drunk or something. However the person seemed quite not-drunk. And was that a leather jacket? After 5 steps he turns around. it.

  Making his way to the stranger he soon sees that it’s actually a kid, well not kid young adult, and he is in fact crouched up and trembling and cr- oh my god is he crying?! Chanyeol panics as he looks around and then back at the petite male. What should he do? He looks really cold. He takes off his scarf and slowly makes his way to the smaller. He wraps it around the boy, just like blanket. At the sense of someone touching him, the smaller immediately shoots up and stares at Chanyeol with big surprised eyes.

   ”You shouldn’t be out alone at night.” Chanyeol says to the other without getting a reply. Chanyeol eyes the other and notices the skintight jeans and leather jacket hugging the petite body of the stranger. He also notices the frame of his eyes being smoky black and glossy from the crying he is currently doing.

   ”And you shouldn’t be wearing a leather jacket in the deadass winter.” he opts again. The smaller breathes out and you can see it almost turn into smoke. Obviously it’s not but that’s what Chanyeol had always thought it looked like since he was kid.

  ”You should be minding your own business, should you not?.” the boy replies. Chanyeol smirks and sits beside him on the bench.

  ”Here take these.” He hands him over the gloves he’s been wearing. The boy throws a hesitant look at Chanyeol and the at the gloves and then at Chanyeol again. ”They’ll keep you warm.” Chanyeol encourages. The boy soon gives in and takes the gloves from Chanyeol’s hands.

  ”Tha-nk y-you.” he stutters.

Chanyeol watches the boy. His hair is ruffled and his eyes are red shot. His lower lip keeps quivering and Chanyeol can’t say he doesn't feel for the kid, whatever he is going through. After examining his face he comes to a conclusion- the boy is breathtaking. Although being in the state he is Chanyeol can’t help but feel attracted to the male. From the boys glassy eyes, to his milky white skin and red plump lips. He likes it all.

  ”Are you okay?” he asks after a while. The other doesn’t answer him verbally only he managing a nod as he looks down onto his hands placed in his lap.

  ”No you’re not.”

  ”No I’m not.” the smaller says and looks up at him.

  ”I know it may seem creepy, but you can tell me what is bothering you.” Chanyeol smiles warmly. Again, Chanyeol notices how the boy hesitates but gives in.

  ”..W-well…I was at a party…” he begins, voice shaking. Chanyeol nods signaling for the other to continue.

  ”A-and I was kind of supposed to h-hang out with this guy I’ve been talking to.” He takes a deep breathe. ”So when I got there a bit late because I spent to much time deciding to what to wear.” He looks up at Chanyeol trying to see the others face. ”I saw him making out with another guy…” his breathes. Chanyeol doesn't miss the tears starting to form in the smaller eyes.

  ”H-he even saw me…and just kept on going.” Chanyeol pats his back. ”We have been dating for 4 months and he did that without any trouble. Last week he even told me he loved me!” Chanyeol senses the anger rising in the other’s voice.

  ”I’m sorry to hear that.” Chanyeol says. ”He clearly still is a kid and obviously doesn’t have his priorities straight.” Chanyeol says trying to comfort the boy. ”If he is someone who is capable of doing this to the person he supposedly loves, it is his loss when the person leaves him. In a way I believe it was good this happened because now you know how he really is and the only thing you can do is move on.”

  ”But I feel so pathetic. Everyone knew about us and every single person there looked at me with pity. I wanted to smash his face.”

  ”I can help you with that.” The smaller chuckles, and Chanyeol smiles.

  ”Honestly, I don’t think you’d have a match.” Channels let’s out an offended gasp.

  ”Excuse me? And why is that?”

  ”You are tall as a tree and stick thin too, you’d trip on you feet.” he giggles. Chanyeol decides he likes it.

  ”I’d still do better than you.” he pouts.

  ”I doubt that.”

  ”Hey!” he shout and starts poking the smaller above his hips. He doesn’t know what got in him, touching a complete stranger isn’t very Chanyeol.

  ”Oo-h my god! Stop! Stop” he laughs. But they boy isn’t crying anymore.

  ”Not until you apologize for being so rude!” the taller chuckles at the boy struggling to keep his laugh from bubbling out.

  ”Okay! Okay! I’m sorry!” he shouts in defeat.

  ”I thought so.” Chanyeol snickers and the boy looks at him with a pout. They fall into silence.

 ”I never asked for your name.” the boy says.

  ”Chanyeol. Park Chanyeol.”

  ”I’m Byun Baekhyun.” the boy says.

  ”That’s an odd name.”

  ”Okay PARK CHANYEOL,” the smaller snorts. ”I only know like 87 people whose last name is Park, so I don’t think you get to have an opinion on my name.” Chanyeol snickers at the boy’s, or Baekhyun’s, sudden change of mood. ”So why are you even out now?” the smaller asks. ”It’s almost midnight, shouldn’t you be somewhere celebrating the new year?” Chanyeol’s smile falters a bit and then he looks up at the boy.

  ”No.” he breathes out.

  ”Why?”

  What should he say? I hate celebration the new year because of my my messed up childhood and pathetic life? But Baekhyun’s eyes are full of sincerity so again he thinks, it.

  ”I hate New Year’s.”

  ”What why?” the smaller looks at him with a puzzled grimace.

  ”I just do.” he shrugs.

  ”You can’t just hate something without a reason behind it.” Baekhyun states.

  ”Well what if I do.”

  ”But you don’t”

  ”But what if I did”

  ” Chanyeol! Just tell me.” the smaller sputters. Chanyeol is amused by the boy’s stubbornness. He sighs and gives in to the smaller.

  ”It gives me too much anxiety. I can’t take it, so I refrain from celebrating it.” he says his voice an octave deeper than before. Baekhyun looks at him almost a bit surprised.

  ”Oh,” he says shyly. Cute, Chanyeol thinks. ”Why is that?” Should he answer? After all Baekhyun is just a stranger and maybe he shouldn’t talk about himself when it clearly is the smaller who is going through something tough. ”Tell me. I’ll listen.” Baekhyun says. Chanyeol looks at him and if he didn’t know better he’d take Baekhyun’s red cheeks as blush. An internal battle later, Chanyeol shifts on the bench.

  ”Well..” he starts, clearing his throat. ”First of all I don’t really like the hype about reminiscing the year that has passed. It only reminds me of everything that went wrong and what I could have done but didn’t. It kind of feels like I wasted so much time on nothing.” Baekhyun nods in understanding.

  ”And then I’ve never really celebrated New Year’s the traditional way. I’ve always been cooped up in bed at my grandparents place while my parents weren’t present in my life.”

  ”Where were they?” the smaller opts.

  ”Well I never knew my dad, and my mom was and alcoholic.” Chanyeol says bluntly.

  ”Oh.”

  ”Yeah.” Baekhyun probably thinks he’s pathetic. But Chanyeol is used to the pity he gets when people learn about his past, but of course he knows better than believe it’s actual solicitude.

  ”Chanyeol I have known you for approximately 15 minutes and in those minutes I can tell you that you’ve done more than some people have done their whole life.” Chanyeol looks at him surprised and slightly confused. ”You came up to me, a stranger, warmed me up and comforted me. Literally no one I know or have met would do anything like that.” Baekhyun speaks sincerely. ”I don’t know you but what you have showed, I only see you as a kind and humble person. If that isn’t something to be proud over I don’t know what is.”

  No one has ever told him this. Of course they hadn’t because he never shared anything about him to people only if had to and that was only to his closest friends. And sometimes potential significant others. But Baekhyun managed to get his biggest struggle out in the open in less than a quarter of an hour. What should he say? He felt really warm inside and the anxiety that had been starting to get to him before he left home had strangely gone away.

  ”Don’t doubt yourself, okay?” the boy said cheerfully. Chanyeol smiled.

  ”Thank you, Baekhyun.” Baekhyun only smiled and nodded in acknowledgment.

  Once again they sit in silence. Chanyeol never thought he would be sitting on a park bench with someone he just met spilling his deepest troubles, but yet here he is. It’s kind of funny he thinks. How just one person can affect you without even knowing it.

  Chanyeol is beginning to feel the cold seep in under his skin and starts worrying about the boy beside him.

  ”Baekhyun you must be freezing. Do you want me to get you a cab or something? Where do you live, maybe you should go home?” Chanyeol says with concern written all over his face.

  ”I am in fact freezing my balls off, but I’d rather not go home just yet. It’s New Year’s after all.” he stutters with a smile. Chanyeol smirks but then it falters when he notices the smaller trembling.

  ”Well you aren’t sitting here all evening, so…if you want we can go to my place it’s warm there…” Wow Chanyeol! Good job, now he will think you’re a creep or even worse a phe- He is interrupted but a shy voice.

  ”Sure… anything would be great right now.” Chanyeol watches him in surprise but soon after responds.

  ”Okay, great. Let’s go.” As the smaller stands up, Chanyeol takes of his jacket and drapes it over Baekhyun’s petite frame.

  ”Chanyeol? You can’t take off you jacket, you’ll get sick!” the smaller argues.

  ”Just take it Baekhyun, you’ll die of hypothermia before we even get home. I’d rather not explain to the police why and how.” Chanyeol teases. ”My hoodie is thick, I’ll be fine.” The smaller only pouts in defeat and let’s Chanyeol lead the way.

  When they finally stumble through the doors of Chanyeol’s apartment they are basically living breathing ice figures. Chanyeol who only had a hoodie on him the whole walk, ran to the living room to turn the heater on. He then went into the kitchen to start heating some milk. When Chanyeol entered the living room Baekhyun was lying on his couch with his Spongebob blanket wrapped around him.

  ”I hope you don’t mind, I’m just really cold.” the smaller says.

  ”Don’t mind at all.” Chanyeol smiles. ”Do you want something warmer to wear?” he asks. The smaller only nods. He goes to his room and picks out the smallest piece of clothing he owns, a pair of grey sweat pants and a teddybear hoodie- don’t even ask. He quickly changes into his previously worn sweats and makes his way to the living room once again.

  ”Here, I don’t own anything smaller.” Chanyeol hands over the clothes to the boy. ”I’ll be in the kitchen making hot chocolate.” As soon as Chanyeol leaves the room Baekhyun eyes the clothes in his hands. He notices the teddybear hoodie. Cute he thinks.

  When Chanyeol returns after a good 10 minutes he is met by a breathtaking view. Baekhyun is wearing his clothes that are very much too big for him. The hood has bear ears on it and only allows the black fringe of the boy hang over his eyes. Chanyeol doubts the boy can get anymore adorable. He notices that Baekhyun’s makeup is gone. How on earth can he look so dazzling after everything he’s been through tonight.

 ”Are you just gonna stand there?” a voice breaks him from his thoughts. He clears his throat and starts moving to the couch. He places both cups on the table and then settles behind the boy. The TV is on but Chanyeol barely pays it any thought. Chanyeol eyes the large clock on the wall in his living room. It’s 11:36pm. Only 14 minutes until the beginning of the new year.

  ”I never thought I’d spend my New Year’s Eve like this.” the boy says whilst sipping on his cup.

  ”Me neither.” he adds.

  ”It’s not bad though.” The boy looks at Chanyeol with a warm smile splayed out on his pouty lips. So cute. Chanyeol smiles back. ”I don’t really know much about you Chanyeol.”

  ”There’s not much to know to be honest.” Chanyeol shrugs.

  ”How old are you? When is your birthday?What is you profession? What’s your favorite color? Favorite food? How are your friends?” Baekhyun asks trying to get the taller to start talking.

  ”27. November 27th. I have my own business. Black. Bulgogi. They are nice to me.” Chanyeol answers nonchalantly.  ”What about you?”

 ”22,” Chanyeol’s eyes widen in surprise. ”What? Why does your eyes look like they’re gonna pop out?” Chanyeol blinks and swallows.

  ”Well…you’re just so young.”

  ”And that comes as a surprise because ? I know I look like 16.”

  ”True.”

  ”” Chanyeol laughs at the boy.

  ”As I was saying,” he continues. ”my birthdays is on May 6th. I'm currently in my second year in college, music major. My favorite color is baby blue. Favorite food is anything and everything.” Chanyeol chuckles at the boy’s engaging voice. ”Jongdae is the best.” Why does Chanyeol get a sudden feeling of pride from Baekhyun telling him stuff about himself.

  ”Who is Jongdae?” Chanyeol asks curiously.

  ”Oh, he’s my childhood bestie.”

  ”Bestie?” he nods as he teases the smaller, trying to not laugh at Baekhyun’s choice of word.

  ”Yes, bestie.” Baekhyun glares. They lock eyes. Baekhyun still glaring at the taller of them. As soon as Baekhyun’s lips form a pout Chanyeol is a dead man. He bursts out in laughter.

  ”You stop making fun of me!” Baekhyun yells at him. He picks up one of the pillows and starts beating Chanyeol with it. The boy’s reaction only fuels Chanyeol with laughter even more. ”You are so mean to me Park Chanyeol!” The beating finally ends. Chanyeol notices how the boy had dropped the pillow on the couch again and made his way to the balcony door.

  ”It’s 11:56. I want to see the fireworks.” the boy says in excitement. Chanyeol sighs and brings the Spongebob blanket with him on the way out.

  Once outside he sees how Baekhyun is watching the sky. He wraps the smaller with the blanket and then leans on the balcony rail. Baekhyun shoots him a smile of gratitude. They stay like that a couple of minutes. Soon enough they hear distant shouts counting down the seconds.

  Ten, nine… He never thought this was how he would spend his New Year’s Eve.

  Eight, seven… He looks at Baekhyun who has a faint smile on his lips. He never thought he’d have company on this night.

  Six, five…Maybe he thought it was nice. Maybe this year he won’t be so alone. Maybe Baekhyun would be there. He liked the boy and he sure would like to get to

know him better, but maybe that’s just not going to happen.

  Four, three… Maybe this night was a one night thing and it wasn’t supposed to be anything more. He can’t say he’d be disappointed. He’s not greedy, so he’s happy. Any time spent with the smaller is for some reason worth so much.

  Two, one… He closes his eyes and makes a wish.

  ”HAPPY NEW YEAR!” the smaller shouts and the silence is brought to an end by the sound of fireworks. ”Have a good year Park Chanyeol!” Baekhyun says sincerely. He leans in and gives the taller a peck on the cheek. Chanyeol almost fell over the balcony. Both males cheeks have turned red, and this time it’s not from the cold.

  ”Happy New Year, Baekhyun.” the taller says shyly, but with only fondness in his voice.

  This time Chanyeol starts the new year with happiness and warmth. Who would’ve known that he would be bringing in the new year with a complete stranger. And now if only this would last.

  It’s been three weeks since the night he spent with Baekhyun. It ended with Baekhyun going home not wanting to intrude on Chanyeol anymore, although the taller said it was fine. Chanyeol called him a cab a