first of all - my apologies for the lengthy update time. my trip ended up lasting ten days and i hate writing on my phone, so decided to just wait until i got back home to my laptop. as it is, i had a wonderful time and am glad i didn't rush this pretty important chapter.

thanks for your patience and support - before we get started GIANT SHOUTOUT AND THANKS TO VERNONTRXSH FOR THE BEAUTIFUL COVER AND BACKGROUND FOR MY STORY. THANK YOU SO MUCH IT LOOKS WONDERFUL. :)

now, chapter 3!

In typical Baekhyun fashion, the restaurant he wanted to bring Sehun to is ‘closed for temporary construction,’ sign hung in the wall mockingly as if it had been sitting there all day just to disappoint him.

“Of ing course,” Baekhyun says, rubbing at his forehead and taking a deep breath. Sehun is grinning the smallest bit, looking annoyingly smug, and Baekhyun instinctively reaches out and slaps his shoulder.

Sehun raises an eyebrow, but apparently dismisses the action. “I guess we’ll just have to go back to the apartment. Bummer.”

Baekhyun glares. “Stop being a dickface.”

Sehun gives him a flat look and gestures to his face. “Honestly? Does it look like I have a growing out of my forehead? Because I seriously doubt it.”

Baekhyun’s responding “ off” sounds weak even to him.

Sehun rolls his eyes and opts to lean against the building, pulling out his phone and yawning dramatically. Baekhyun thinks that somehow, someway, Sehun probably had a hand in this – in making sure the one restaurant Baekhyun had in mind was closed. He wouldn’t doubt it, to be honest. Seems like the kind of thing Sehun would do just to irritate him.

The two are silent for a bit, Sehun absent-mindedly scrolling on his phone and Baekhyun trying to think of other food joints in the area. He draws up blank, feeling irritated all over again that once more, his attempt at friendship with Sehun is going to fail – because apparently that’s what everything in the world seems to want.

His energy from before feels drained – that persistence to make Sehun his friend no matter what slowly sagging in the middle. He can only do so much before he accepts the fact that maybe he and Sehun just aren’t meant to be. Sure they can share a living space but that doesn’t mean they’re going to share lives. Baekhyun remembers bitterly the conviction from just a half-hour ago, the triumphant thought that he wasn’t going to quit so easily.

The closed sign flashes as a car’s headlights pass by and he thinks he just wants warm food and the feeling that he’s not simply running in circles with this whole thing.

Sehun surprises him by offering both. “Listen, as fun as it is to watch you mope over there, I think it’s gonna rain soon. I know a place a few blocks down that has pretty good food.”

He doesn’t say it like a suggestion or a question, merely a fact. He pockets his phone and starts walking, and Baekhyun blinks before jogging to catch up. The two are silent for a bit, Baekhyun not sure how to respond to Sehun initiating things – Sehun initiating things. Something in his chest flutters and he tries not to feel too smug. But something about Sehun makes his feelings veer out of his control – from fresh determination to accepted defeat to satisfied pride in a matter of minutes. It makes his head spin a bit, but he decides not to pay too much attention to that.

“So now you’re treating me out to dinner then.” He grins. “How kind of you.”

Sehun’s stride is long, and Baekhyun is walking a bit too fast to keep up. “Don’t be so flattered Baekhyun. I’m hungry and you happen to be here.”

“Sounds like a date to me.”

Sehun snorts. “More like forced company.”

“Rude.”

“Now you’re catching on.”

Baekhyun smiles hugely despite himself, looking up at Sehun from his spot beside him. Sehun either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care, because he keeps his gaze locked straight ahead as he leads them to the restaurant. Baekhyun hears a bit of a distant thunder and hopes it holds off before they have to walk back.

The restaurant, it turns out, is a small building that is somehow fit in between too much larger and taller ones. With the sun already set outside and the darkness of night swiftly filling the sky, the warm lights from beyond the glass seem cozy and inviting. He follows Sehun in, not entirely liking not being the one in control but willing to settle this time.

The atmosphere, as expected, is a welcoming one. The sound of soft music lulls everything into a happy sort of contentment, and under that, the muffled chatter and laughter of the people seated in booths and tables. It appears to be a coffee shop of sorts, or at least gives off that vibe, everything feeling artistic and unique under the dimmed yellow lighting.

“Sehun!”

The boy at the front desk pulls Sehun into an immediate hug, and Baekhyun is shocked at how naturally Sehun responds to the touch. He feels his eyebrows raise before the boy notices him.

“And a guest – who’s the new guy?”

The boy has light olive skin, black hair choppy and pushed to one side of his face, eyes accompanied by dark circles as if he hasn’t gotten enough sleep lately. He’s grinning, not hugely but enough for it to be polite, and so Baekhyun finds himself responding instead of Sehun.

“Byun Baekhyun – I’m Sehun’s new roommate.”

“Oh, you’re his new roommate?” he says knowingly, something sparkling in his eyes as he glances over at Sehun. Sehun doesn’t respond to the look other than with a slight narrowing of his eyes, one Baekhyun thinks he might’ve imagined. The boy’s smile grows a bit. He turns back to Baekhyun, and Baekhyun can’t feel like he’s being sized up.

“Well it’s a pleasure to finally meet you,” the boy says eventually, the finally spoken with a pointed inflection, like he’s implying that he’s already heard a lot about Baekhyun. Baekhyun glances at Sehun, but Sehun doesn’t meet his gaze.

“I’m Huang Zitao, but my friends usually just call me Tao, if you want. How is Sehunnie here as a roommate? Has he ruined anything yet with all his art-ness?”

Baekhyun grins. “Our couch actually.”

Sehun huffs, crossing his arms. “It’s not ruined, you can barely even see the stain,” he says, and Baekhyun gets the odd impression of a child being scolded by his parents. Tao laughs, throwing an arm around Sehun’s shoulder.

“Just like you can barely see the stain you left on Minseok’s bed?”

Sehun mumbles something, and Baekhyun decides he likes this Tao. “Now, let me find you two a table and get your orders so I can get rid of you as soon as possible,” Tao says, rubbing Sehun’s head. Sehun frowns and brushes Tao’s hand off. Baekhyun’s still grinning as he follows the two to a table in the corner.

It only takes around ten minutes for Tao to return with their food and drinks, and Baekhyun finds himself watching Sehun as he slowly eats. Sehun looks up eventually, arching one eyebrow and swallowing.

“Yes?”

“How long have you known Tao?”

Sehun shrugs. “A good while now. Probably around three years.”

Baekhyun hums. “He seems nice.”

“He is nice.”

Baekhyun nods, and the two fall silent for a few moments.

“Sorry about earlier today, I just – I sort of felt like you hated me and I just want the roommate thing to work out.” Baekhyun’s a bit hesitant in saying it, but he figures honesty is the best shot he has at getting anything out of Sehun. He didn’t mean to call him an , really, he just doesn’t respond well to feeling out of his depth. Rooming with someone who doesn’t seem to like him, well, that’s considerably out of his depth.

Sehun blinks but doesn’t look up until a few minutes pass. He takes a breath, as if considering something, and then responds. “Listen Baekhyun I’m not gonna say this again but if it helps your fragile ego – I want the roommate thing to work too.” Baekhyun’s face must betray something, because Sehun is quick to add “Only because I don’t wanna deal with finding a new roommate. That process takes forever.”

Baekhyun feels himself smiling. “So you don’t hate me then.”

Sehun shrugs. “Now I never said that exactly.”

Baekhyun kicks him under the table, surprised when something in Sehun’s face shifts the smallest bit into a sort of smile – not a smug one, not a sarcastic one, but a little genuine laughing one.

“Sehun-ah?”

“Mm,” he acknowledges around the straw in his mouth.

“What’s your favorite color?”

Sehun pauses and pops out the straw, one eyebrow raised. “For real?”

“Yeah! I wanna get to know you, ok? If we’re sharing an apartment I deserve to know what you’re favorite color is.”

“I’m not sure it works like that.”

“Sure it does.”

“Who told y-“

Baekhyun kicks him again. “Just answer the question.”

Sehun takes his good time, picking a bit at his food and looking around at the room again before he answers. “Yellow. Not like bright yellow but like soft yellow. Like,” he glances around one more time before pointing to a girl their age sipping coffee, “like the color of her shirt.”

Baekhyun nods. The color seems to directly conflict with Sehun’s outward