mentioned of ual activities, but not really detailed so I still put it as PG-15.

words: 3,1k

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Don't Sleep Alone Tonight

Their friends went back home at eleven.

Yixing and Junmyeon were the only ones being sober among them; from this close distance Kyungsoo could clearly see Baekhyun who was about to throw up, arms linked to Jongin, his colar undone, and his mouth was blabbering about birthday boy, when you make out with Chanyeol tonight, don't forget about the .

"Don't hit him, he's drunk. He doesn't mean it," Junmyeon had pleaded.

How Kyungsoo managed to nod and murmured I understand to the older had remained a secret. In front of him, Yixing was close to waving a goodbye, but then four drunken innuendo replies for Baekhyun's words were planted by Sehun, towering tall over Jongdae who was just as wasted, and Kyungsoo finally sighed, glancing up just to see Chanyeol blushing with assorted shades of red.

When they were finally gone, it wasn't until Minseok sang loud the chorus of I Will Always Love You and how heart broken he was at the moment and how he envied the steady relationship of Kyungsoo and Chanyeol. He said more in a form of rumble that slowly died down and went up again at one point because he suddenly felt like singing to the high notes of I Have Nothing.

Kyungsoo was no longer sighing this time, just a little bit worried if his neighbours might listen, but the small smile found at the corners of his lips was quite evident.

"Hyung," he walked closer to their friends, "you know, you all can just stay at my apartment tonight."

"No way!" Junmyeon quickly answered, head peeking from black Hyundai car. "Kyungsoo-ya, just enjoy your night with Chanyeol, don't think much about us. Hyung will take care of them all."

What are you saying, Hyung, who's enjoying the time with who, Chanyeol stopped beside Kyungsoo, keeping a safe distance.

The shorter of the two might never see this sight of Chanyeol before---hair messy, cheeks resembling tomatoes, half-lidded eyes from half the can of Queen's Ale he consumed just because he lost in the Mafia game. Or he actually had, indeed, the first time they shared kiss on each other's lips and Chanyeol almost bit him since he was too excited. Kyungsoo tightened the zip of his coat and coughed---those warm, familiar feelings started to fill his heart. He tried to ignore the growing butterflies inside his upper stomach.

"Hyung. I," his eyes were on anywhere but Chanyeol, "---I don't like the fact that you are going to drive under the influence of alcohol."

But I only had Sprite and just that, Yixing replied, pushing Baekhyun into the other car. "And I only drank a little, I'm not even tipsy," Junmyeon gave him a reassuring smile. "We'll be fine, Kyungsoo-ya. I'll tell you through our group chat if anything happens."

"No, don't say it like that. Nothing bad will happen."

"Alright. Nothing bad will happen, so don't be worried, alright?"

They each had thick coat blocking their bodies from the chilly night. Minseok started singing again---Yixing was fortunately quick to shove their oldest friend into his car, joining the unconscious Sehun and Baekhyun sprawled on the passenger seat. Several moments passed and they were all set to go; Junmyeon was the first one to bid them goodnight (followed by a high-pitched Happy Birthdaaaay), apparently because Minseok was clinging onto their Chinese friend and it was hard to tell whether Yixing was annoyed, or aroused, or just trying to focus on driving the night safe.

---Kyungsoo had his fingers intertwined with Chanyeol as they watched the cars speeded away.

****

They didn't immediately kiss.

Boxes of half-eaten pizza and delivery chicken greeted them once they stepped back inside. There were scattered UNO cards. There were stacks of Kyungsoo's favorite Sprite left in the kitchen, Baekhyun bought them for him, which he was going to save for later.

They stood there, knowing for once they couldn't sleep pretending the living room wasn't a mess. Kyungsoo had always been one to be concerned with hygiene, and by reason of them practically spending time always together, Chanyeol too had been affected by this habit. It was a given that Kyungsoo's apartment was not that spacious (typical 40 meter square college student studio room) thus cleaning it wasn't exactly a hard thing. Chanyeol helped Kyungsoo collecting the beer cans, big trash bag in his hold, and later when the smaller whined, finding the rug had been spilled with sauces and all kind of drinks, he had promised Kyungsoo to call the laundry service the morning after. Kyungsoo replied by bringing his vision upwards, lashes fluttering down from the gush of Chanyeol's hot breath.

A soft thumb made a transparent circle on his palm and Kyungsoo laughed, albeit not really willing to take off the cold mask of his yet.

The kiss was chaste.

There was no tongue involved. Not yet. Kyungsoo tilted his head---and at that, Chanyeol had smiled, amidst the sweetness of Kyungsoo's lips. When there was no left air to breath in, when Kyungsoo began murmuring small hesitant noises, he finally pulled away. Stunned. Astonished. Because there was something in Kyungsoo that caused him to be numb, suddenly the universe felt so small inside those pair of black marbles that were staring back at him---like a mirror---then Chanyeol kissed his boyfriend again. The silent living room was the only one to understand them.

****

"Stay here tonight," the smaller said as he locked the door to his apartment, "you don't have any class tomorrow don't you?"

"N-no, I don't have any," Chanyeol lied. There will be substitute class for Econometrics that he failed last semester but he could deal with that.

"Good---have you let anyone at home know?"

"I already sent KakaoTalk to Yura noona that I'll be sleeping over here," Chanyeol answered. "You don't want to know her reaction."

Kyungsoo looked away to hide the pink tinge cooking up his cheeks. Chanyeol's sister had always been so vocal when it came to teasing them.

---All at once the butterflies were there again, the knot of his upper stomach.

He faked a cough and then caught Chanyeol fidgetting on the couch, playing with his phone and forgetting that he had the television. Silently (and carefully), he stole a glance at the tall guy, who was glancing back at him with those eagle eyes at the sime time, the certain curve at the end of the eyelines resulting in Kyungsoo to mumble beautiful. The small television inside that livingroom was still on---then on spur of moment, flash of similar longing gaze as his was thrown at Kyungsoo's direction, and it lasted longer than they expected before Chanyeol averted it shyly and Kyungsoo's vision fell on the floor. Ears burning red.

They had been in this situation often---spending time in Kyungsoo's apartment, just the two of them---basically even before they started dating, that made it almost 4 years; they had birthday plenty of times too, the last time in Chanyeol's birthday was mindblowing and Kyungsoo found himself liking most of his boyfriend's kinks.

Yet somehow the atmosphere felt particularly hotter tonight, eventhough both knew outside the street was frozen and that was why they didn't switch on the air conditioner.

"You look sleepy. Going to sleep after this?"

"I think so," Chanyeol's reply was unsurprisingly skeptical.

"Alright then, I'm going to take a bath first---"

"Wait!"

He halted himself from walking further. Chanyeol peeked at him from the couch, brown curly locks fluttered by the contact with pillows---he resembled a lost puppy like this. Kyungsoo's big puppy.

"Nevermind sleeping," the pout could be heard in his words, "I want to join the bath. Can I?"

Chanyeol didn't even need to ask. He was welcomed, always, in Kyungsoo's life. His routines.

In perpetuum.

Into the base of Kyungsoo's heart.

****

As years passed, loving the same guy over the time could be boring.

And they should be feeling that way, atleast, once in a blue moon. But perhaps it was in the way Chanyeol treated him like he was the most precious gem, and still being considerable that Kyungsoo was after all a man, that he couldn't bother to look at any other guy. The feeling was mutual, always been like that, even when both didn't have the same method to express their love at each other. Kyungsoo showed his gratitude in the pulse of his heart when their chests met and Chanyeol acknowledged it, by leaning down and nuzzling the crook of Kyungsoo's neck.

"You've been so unusually quiet tonight," he played with the soap bubble, head rested on Chanyeol's broad shoulder. Water splashed with each of their movement.

"I think I was a bit swayed by emotion."

"Is it because I couldn't pick your call this early morning?" Kyungsoo lifted his gaze, so that now they were looking at one another.

A deep voice cut him. "Wait---no! It's a completely different story." Then soft pecks showered his forehead.

Kyungsoo closed his eyes at the touch of Chanyeol's lips.

"I still feel guilty," he sighed; Kyungsoo wasn't the type to wait 'till midnight to celebrate his birthday, but Chanyeol was into that trend so he usually stayed awake for any surprise from his boyfriend.

Still yesterday had been such a tiring day and Kyungsoo was too nervous for the group presentation in his Oral Surgical Science class. It went well, in the end; they got themselves standing ovation from the lecturers. By the time the class ended at seven and thirty, at night, the group members even took him out to celebrate his early birthday and they had dinner at the new Chinese restaurant Kyungsoo had always wanted to try. It was nice spending time with his classmates, despite Kyungsoo being a not-so-sociable person. He enjoyed the hang out and the discussion about their future as professional dentists. Chanyeol sent him KakaoTalk every now and then, and Kyungsoo still had the time to answer until he reached his apartment at nine and slowly fell asleep as he tried to wait for the new episode of Six Flying Dragons.

Waking up at three ante merediem to ten missed calls from Chanyeol and thirty unread Kakao message from the same person was something he didn't look forward to.

"Soo, it's okay. You were tired---I should understand your schedule better next time."

The smaller shook his head, he jabbed an index finger into Chanyeol's bare chest.

"Now you make me even more guilty."

"I tell you, baby, it's not because of that. At all."

"Then explain," Kyungsoo almost puffed his cheeks, but decided to stop in the half way because Chanyeol would just coo at him and call him cute, which he disliked. Kinda.

"It's actually not that serious. My heart thought it's the right time to feel melancholic today," the taller of the two replied. "But believe me," Chanyeol let out a sincere laugh into the air, "it's nothing bad. And let's talk about it later, right now I just want to snuggle."

Later on, they walked out from the bathroom completely . Chanyeol's hair was still wet, even after Kyungsoo changed the towel---it reminded him of the day they first met; 4 years ago, Chanyeol the Business major student who showed up at the first meeting of Yonsei movie club thoroughly soaked. All the stare the seniors launched at his see-through figure and Kyungsoo was one of the freshmen who followed the action. He remembered them sharing an umbrella after that, because somehow Chanyeol just happened to notice the black umbrella among the other black things in Kyungsoo's possession and it was like the most natural thing ever, when he asked the doe-eyed boy to share it with him. Just until the parking lot, he reasoned.

It wasn't until they officially dated, that Chanyeol admitted it was a part of his plan to get close to the smaller.

"I see you were smiling," the familiar deep voice brought him back from the memory. "Mind to tell your boyfriend why."

"It's nothing," Kyungsoo replied, trying not to look embarrassed.

"Hmm, okay then. 'Been a week since we last did it, Soo," and it was predictable, that they ended up finding their way into Kyungsoo's bedroom. Small pecks turned into a long make-out session---they had done this plenty of times, but the juncture was never less sacred. Was never less genuine.

Chanyeol consistently touched him only in all the right places. Three more steps, and at long last, Kyungsoo's backside tapped the soft surface of the bed. Chanyeol crawled on top of him, not needing much time; the taller, whose face just as flushed, seemed genuinely happy to see Kyungsoo underneath. It was like he re-encountered a cut of childhood imagination, the sincere dream that only kids would think of.

"I miss this so much."

"A week---did you count?"

"I did, Soo, you have no idea," was the last thing Chanyeol said before their lips were sealed. I love you, his boyfriend whispered, love, love you so much Kyungsoo, I really love you.

---Baekhyun called him a prude. And people told Chanyeol he was so whipped. Their friends knew them as couple who liked to do it missionary. Behind the closed doors, they weren't actually wrong, but they were not entirely correct, either. More the wrong than the correct, matter of factly.

As they made love in his bed that night, Kyungsoo had pulled Chanyeol closer. There were times when they had rough , several occasion Chanyeol caused Kyungsoo begging for release, several other moments Kyungsoo rode Chanyeol dry, skin-slapping sound could be heard in the hallway.

But they both had come into the conclusion that they liked it slow better. Maybe they were actually outdated, maybe not. Maybe both Kyungsoo and Chanyeol were simply more comfortable keeping the things between them simple, and somewhat pure, although the taller turned untamed and loud and radiant once he was back with his friends. Kyungsoo didn't mind a bit. Chanyeol was a fire who always found his way back at him, smeared with flame and dazzling sparkle, and Kyungsoo considered himself as the earth who calmed him down; the fire didn't die when his blaze impinged upon the earth surface---he was gushing, as fire always did, but the earth absorbed the surge into him, so they fused into one. So the moonlight smiled with them as they sailed the evening side by side, fingers tightly attached.

****

---epilogue--- 

Chanyeol told himself, he would want to live forever looking at Kyungsoo's flushed face beneath him every night.

"You are so, so beautiful."

He never expected an answer. It was enough in the way Kyungsoo lowered his eyelashes, and then nodded, voice wasn't coming out---for him to know that his boyfriend, too, felt the same way.

And always, there was something that connected them together, like being tied by the red string of fate and Kyungsoo happened to be its another end, all along. Chanyeol thought of caramel syrup his Mom used to smear on his burn toast during his childhood. He thought about any other sweet stuffs, ones that he had been longing for all time, the moment Kyungsoo wrapped his legs around Chanyeol's waist, head lolled back giving him all the access to leave hickey around the area of his neck. The warmth of Kyungsoo's wall him deeper; as Chanyeol eagerly breathed in his boyfriend's perfume. 

When they were finished, Kyungsoo joked at him about getting another shower.

"No, we just took a bath," Chanyeol almost yelped. "No shower, not right now---later in the morning. You'll get sick, I don't want my Kyungsoo to get sick."

"My Kyungsoo," the other repeated, his tone gave Chanyeol a pause to kiss him harder. "Feeling better now?"

It was not an upbeat scene. Chanyeol kissed him for the last time. Then he watched himself rolling off from his small boyfriend to lay beside him, one arm fit perfectly to scoupe Kyungsoo closer.

The latter gladly obeyed whilst still keeping his gaze upwards, wishing Chanyeol to shoot back a warm beam.

Which he did. "Very. I feel a lot better now, thank you."

The smile forming on Kyungsoo's clear visage never failed to offer him comfort. Chanyeol stayed stunned as Kyungsoo's eyes disappeared, turning into two lovely crescents; he went to brush some wet hair strands covering his lover's eyelashes and thought of their older days, foresaw Kyungsoo laying beside him exactly like this.

"Good. But you still owe me a confession," his boyfriend reminded.

He decided to play dumb then.

"What confession?"

"Chanyeol," Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, "be honest. What caused you to be so quiet earlier?"

"But Soo---there's something more important! Aren't you going to open the birthday gifts?"

Kyungsoo passed a pillow at him, purposely hitting his shoulders with it. "You always ruin it when I'm being serious."

"Well, at least, now the noisy Chanyeol is back. You should be glad!" he said to the smaller, taking Kyungsoo's right hand in his and pecked each of the knuckles. "Maybe I can have a kiss?"

Another pillow launched at his direction---Chanyeol's eyes crinkled from laughing too much. His Kyungsoo who was just snuggling close to him, was now sitting at the other side of the bed, hugging two more soft pillows, pink s displayed because he had forgotten to bring along the blanket.

The frown in his face only leaded to him looking even cuter.

"Alright, Soo, I'm sorry. But listen," Chanyeol shuffled his lazy legs to the smaller, not minding the way his boyfriend eyed him with danger.

The two pillows were used as protection. Chanyeol had no difficulty to yank them off from Kyungsoo's grip and tossed the pillows aside, however. It was pretty easy, too, to flip Kyungsoo over, so that he was currently hovering above him again, eventhough that meant nothing because Kyungsoo was a blue belt in Judo and he could just easily kick Chanyeol's ball whenever he wanted to.

He was lucky that Kyungsoo suddenly felt more concerned to cover his body with the once forgotten blanket now.

"Listen, Soo, I think you really should unwrap the gift. At least the one that's mine."

"Why are you telling me this. I will do it later this morning," the other remained as stubborn as ever.

"I said, at least the one from me! Soo, my Soo-Soo, please?"

Beneath him, the said Soo-Soo remained quiet, finally succeeded in covering his body with blanket. It happened, a lot of times, when Kyungsoo was at lost of words and unable to respond to the taller's antics---but then he broke out a laugh just at the last minute.

"You are making no sense, Chanyeol."

"Oh, I actually am." Kyungsoo just hadn't found out.

And sure, he hadn't, with how Kyungsoo scoffed at him later. "In what way?"

There had been a muffled giggle.

"You said you wanted to know why I had been so quiet," there had been a small smirk, also. "How can I propose to you---when the ring is still inside the gift box?"

end.

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and that's it.