---

The next morning, Chanyeol's sitting on the black couch in Kyungsoo's family home, waiting for Kyungsoo to wake up. Kyungsoo's mom let him in while she was on her way to work and so he's been waiting for a good...thirty minutes or so--glancing around at the familiar pictures and décor while the door to Kyungsoo's room is closed and Kyungsoo's dad is in his own room.

Some more minutes pass by before Kyungsoo finally wakes up and opens his room's door. Chanyeol's absentmindedly playing with a decoration on the coffee table in front of the couch just as the door opens. With his eyebrows lifting, he lifts his head up and freezes when he sees what Kyungsoo's wearing: a plain white T-shirt that's a size larger than his body and plaid blue shorts that make his legs look long. Kyungsoo's not wearing his glasses though, so when he sees Chanyeol, he stops walking and squints at him in confusion. He then lets out a loud yawn, his face scrunching up hilariously, and Chanyeol takes the chance to quickly glance at Kyungsoo's crotch before looking back at his face.

"Uh, hi there?" Kyungsoo says, squinting harder to try and see better. "Chanyeol...?"

Chanyeol gives a nervous laugh. "Put your glasses on already, man."

"Don't tell me what to do," Kyungsoo says with a glare. "The are you doing here anyways?"

Chanyeol frowns. "Damn, I just wanted to say hi."

Kyungsoo gives a dry laugh at that and tells him Right before walking off towards the bathroom. Chanyeol watches him go and groans to himself before slinking back into the couch and covering his face with his hands.

Kyungsoo comes back out a few minutes later, looking more awake, and glances at him when he walks back towards his room. Now Chanyeol's scared that Kyungsoo's gonna lock the door behind him and looks up to the ceiling, silently wishing that he doesn't. Fortunately for him, Kyungsoo does come back out though--wearing his circular black glasses now. His facial expression's stern though as he walks past Chanyeol to go to the kitchen and Chanyeol gets up and calls out, Hey, wait!

"Who's yelling?!" Kyungsoo's dad calls out in Korean.

Kyungsoo gives Chanyeol a pointed look and answers back in Korean, "Sorry, dad--it's just Chanyeol."

"Ah."

Chanyeol frowns at his disinterested tone and Kyungsoo lets out a short chuckle. (Kyungsoo's dad never did really like Chanyeol much--he doesn't know why. Kyungsoo's mom, on the other hand, loves to dote on him and practically treats him like a third son.) Kyungsoo then turns his head to the side and calls out that he'll tell Chanyeol to tone it down and Kyungsoo's dad says Alright and goes back to whatever it was that he was doing.

Kyungsoo then turns to look up at him again and tells him in English that he's got six seconds to tell him whatever it is that he wants to say before he kicks him out. Knowing Kyungsoo, he most likely means that literally, so Chanyeol quickly tells him that it's something that he wants to talk about in private.

Kyungsoo's eyes widen at that and Chanyeol realizes that he's probably imagining various negative scenarios now. So, he assures Kyungsoo that it's nothing life-threatening and resists the urge to grab onto Kyungsoo's hand as he suggests that they go out to talk in the latter's backyard. Kyungsoo just gives a nod, his eyes still wide, and his brain probably running a mile a minute. So, they walk towards the back-porch--Kyungsoo sliding the glass door shut once they're both outside.

They sit down in two lawn chairs on the porch and Chanyeol looks out at the backyard for a moment. He hasn't seen this view in the longest time, and remembers the various games and such that he and Kyungsoo had played out here back when they were younger. When he looks at the fence around the backyard, he remembers a time when they had been running away from a neighbor's dog and had scrambled to climb the fence--leading to them falling on their butts on this side of it and laughing in relief at no longer being chased. And when he looks at the flower garden that's still residing over at the left, he remembers him and Kyungsoo playing dodgeball and--

"Chanyeolie," Kyungsoo calls out in a small voice.

Chanyeol snaps back to the present at the call of his name and turns to look at Kyungsoo who then asks him what he was thinking about. "Um...just uh, ya know...how uh we used to play out here. All the we'd do, ya know?"

Kyungsoo looks out into the backyard and gives a sad-looking grin. "Ah."

A beat of silence goes by before Chanyeol speaks up and asks, "Why'd we stop being friends again, Soo?"

Kyungsoo turns to look at him and then lowers his eyes. "Is that what you came here to talk about?"

"Kinda?" Chanyeol replies. "I guess in a way it has to do with that."

"Hm."

Chanyeol's heart clenches at seeing Kyungsoo looking so sad and he reaches out a hand to rest on one of Kyungsoo's hands without a thought. Kyungsoo furrows his eyebrows in confusion and looks up at him, and Chanyeol quickly removes his hand and gives a nervous chuckle.

"Sorry," he murmurs, averting his eyes.

Kyungsoo inhales deeply before letting out a sigh. He then squints his eyes a bit, looking unsure to ask what he's about to ask. "Channie, you...you like someone, right?"

Chanyeol freezes, both at the question and because Kyungsoo hasn't called him 'Channie' since they were in high school. His heart pounds faster and he flits his eyes back to Kyungsoo. "T-that's a random question."

"Is it though?" Kyungsoo asks, fiddling with his own fingers.

"Yes," Chanyeol bluntly states.

Kyungsoo snorts at that and Chanyeol's just about to sigh with relief when Kyungsoo asks him who the person he likes is and if it's someone he knows. Chanyeol's tempted to ask why Kyungsoo even cares, but refrains from doing so because he doesn't want to make the other stomp away with his feelings hurt. He's known Kyungsoo for too long to not know how he'd react to things by now. No, the way that he's gonna have to do this is by being mysterious. He's gonna have to let Kyungsoo figure it out by himself.

"Let's just say...it's someone you'd probably never expect," Chanyeol says, cryptically.

Kyungsoo furrows his eyebrows at that and Chanyeol lifts his eyebrows in what could easily be seen as a flirtatious manner. Kyungsoo doesn't seem to interpret it as that though and continues to stare at him with his eyes narrowed and his lips pouting--trying to read his expression to somehow get the answer.

It's ironic that Kyungsoo, who can't help but think of almost every possible outcome of a situation, hasn't pinpointed the possibility and fact of Chanyeol liking him. Chanyeol leans back into his chair and rests his head on his left palm and just waits for Kyungsoo to get it. He definitely can't say how he feels right now--not with his heart pounding as fast as it is right now and not with his stomach lurching like he's going to be sick.

Kyungsoo continues to stare at him before his expression slowly changes to one of shock. Chanyeol's own eyes widen at his expression and he immediately asks what's wrong and swivels his head to look behind himself but doesn't see anyone or anything there. He then turns to look back at Kyungsoo and pales when Kyungsoo slowly points an index finger towards his own chest.

"The only person I can think of..." Kyungsoo finally starts to say, albeit in a hesitant tone. "Is it...m-me?"

"Ding, ding, ding..." Chanyeol responds, giving a nervous half-smile. "We have a winner."

-----

Two hours later, in another neighborhood, Yifan and Zitao are panting harshly in an alleyway. Zitao bends over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath, while Yifan tilts his own head back and blows out a puff of air. Yifan tries to ignore the way that his left hand stings while Zitao stands back