Chanyeol is walking down the street when he hears it. It’s barely audible but he clearly heard a “Psst!” He looks around and sees no one. It’s not a surprise considering it’s nearly 2am on a Wednesday morning. Most people are asleep by now and Chanyeol was hoping to be in bed as well but there was that “Psst!” once again.

“Um...hello?” He asks quietly. He really shouldn’t have stopped to find the source of the “psst-ing”. It could be murderer or a mugger. He should keep walking, but Chanyeol’s always been too curious for his own good.

“Up here!” The psst-er whispers and Chanyeol reluctantly follows the voice and finds himself looking up into a tree. It’s dark and he can’t see a thing except for the ruffling of the leaves. From his spot under the large branch, it would be easy for the mugger/murderer to jump down at him and attack, yet he can’t get himself to move. He really wants to know who’s psst-ing at him.

“Where-?”

“Right here, dumbass,” The voice says and out of the leaves wobbles a young guy seemingly around Chanyeol’s age with dark hair and a cute face. His eyebrows are pulled together into a glare and his cheeks are dusted with dirt.

“Why...?” Is all Chanyeol manages to get out. Too stunned by the fact that there’s a guy just randomly sitting on a tree and glaring down at Chanyeol like it’s his fault.

“Why am I sitting in a tree?” The guy raises an eyebrow. Chanyeol nods. “Well that’s because I love sitting in trees. It’s my hobby. I come and sit on this tree branch and lure passers-by to watch me.” Chanyeol frowns at the sarcasm.

“I’m here because I was trying to find my cat. He ran out of my garden and I chased him up into this tree, forgetting that I’m terrified of heights. Too put it in terms someone like you would understand, I’m stuck. I can’t get down,” He sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Can you...help me?”

Chanyeol has to bite his lip to keep from laughing because this is quite possibly the funniest thing that he’s ever personally witnessed. A (seemingly) grown man is stuck in a tree. You can’t make this shit up. “Please don’t laugh. I’m embarrassed enough, thanks,” the man groans.

“M’not,” he hides his chuckle into his hand. ‘So how am I supposed to help you? Do you want me to catch you or get a ladder or......call the fire department?” the last part is said with a poorly concealed giggle and even though he thought it impossible, the man’s glare hardens and a chill goes down Chanyeol’s spine.

“Are you gonna help me or not, dumbo?” The guy growls. He growls.

Chanyeol grabs his ears in outrage. “You know for someone who needs help, you're being quite the asshole to the only person who can save you right now,” he says with a pout.

For a while the tree guy (cleverly nicknamed by Chanyeol himself) just stares down at the other male with wide doe eyes that make Chanyeol feel as if they’re looking into the depths of his soul before sighing once again with a resigned look on his face, “Ok. Sorry. I just...I’ve been here for hours. Please help me.” He closes his eyes, most likely too embarrassed at his helplessness and Chanyeol is taken aback by how cute tree guy is. His hair is falling into his eyes and his pretty plush lips are pulled down into an adorable dejected frown that contrasts so much with his previous strong demeanor and it’s so, so cute.

“Alright, I’ll help you. But I seriously don’t know how to do this. Do you jump and I catch you or-?”

“I guess....just kind of grab my arms and I’ll try to lower myself? You’re tall enough, right?” Tree guy hobbles to the edge of his branch and reaches out towards Chanyeol and he has to hold in his squeal because he looks like a little baby wanting to be picked up and he can’t handle how adorable it is. Instead of cooing up at tree guy, he reaches up and finds that he is in fact tall enough to wrap his arms around tree guy’s abdomen as the other male grabs onto his shoulders.

“Okay, I’m gonna jump now. You’re gonna catch me, right? You’re not gonna let me fall? Promise?” In their position, tree guy’s face is mere inches away from him. He’s looking into Chanyeol’s eyes so seriously and Chanyeol can actually see the fear behind them. This poor adorable boy with a penchant for chasing cats probably feels as if he’s trusting Chanyeol with his life right now , and chanyeol had never been one to deny a damsel in distress.

“I promise you, I will not let you fall,” he says softly and tightens his hold on the other boy who nods shakily in response before jumping off his branch.

Although tree guy isn’t the lightest person on the planet, Chanyeol catches him with ease despite having to take a step or two back to balance them out. He glances down at the male in his arms who now has his head buried in Chanyeol’s chest and his trembling arms and legs wrapped around his body. Chanyeol realizes for the first time how tiny tree guy really is. He could tell he was definitely smaller than Chanyeol from his spot in the tree but that wasn't saying much considering how tall Chanyeol was. But here, curled up in Chanyeol’s arms, he looks so small and helpless and Chanyeol feels his heart swelling.

Part of him wants to just stay like this for a while, wrapped in a warm embrace at 2am with a cute guy. He'd be dumb to complain. But he knows he’d be taking advantage of tree guy’s fears so he (reluctantly) pats the smaller male on the back “hey, it’s okay. You're out of the tree. You're okay,” Chanyeol runs a soothing hand up and down his back and smiles when he feels him relaxing under his touch.

Tree guy pulls his head away from its spot in Chanyeol’s neck and looks around slowly, as if trying to confirm Chanyeol wasn’t lying to him  Before he can reassure him, the other man drops his feet to the ground and yanks himself out of Chanyeol’s hold. “T-thank you,” he grumbles and pointedly looks away from the taller male but Chanyeol can see the pink tint in his cheeks. Whether it's from his embarrassment of his situation or his proximity to Chanyeol, he doesn't know but all Chanyeol can think is Cute. Cute. Cute. Cute!

They stand there in an extremely awkward silence for a while when Chanyeol finally clears his throat, “Well now that you’re down from the tree, should we look for your cat? He’s probably still around here somewhere right? Or maybe he even went back home? Animals tend to do that, I think.”

“He’s not really my cat. He’s a stray that lives in the neighborhood. I leave out food for him sometimes but he comes and goes as he pleases. The reason I chased after him is because he hurt his paw and was bleeding and I wanted to bandage it up before it got infected or something so I ended up here with him,” Tree guy admits and is still maintaining his intense eye contact with Chanyeol’s shoes.

“Ohmygod.”

“Yeah I know I sound like an idiot but...I feel like his owner in some ways, okay! Don’t judge me, dumbo!” His cheeks are beet red at this point and his attempt at a glare makes him look like a pouty puppy.

“I’m not judging you! I said ‘ohmygod’ because that was the cutest story I’ve ever heard. You faced your fear of heights to nurse an injured stray back to health and spent hours up in a tree out of the goodness of your heart?” Chanyeol Is smiling so wide his cheeks are hurting.

“Spending hours in a tree wasn’t out of the goodness of my heart,” he grumbles.

“How are you this cute?”

“W-what?!”

“You’re so cute! The cutest thing alive!”

“I’m not cute!”

“It’s okay, I like cute things!”

Tree guy sputters in embarrassment,“I don’t- I don’t care what you like!”

“What's your name?” chanyeol asks, and he probably should've asked a long time ago but he was too busy being a hero and all that

“Why are you asking me that?” Tree guy eyes him suspiciously.

“Well I mean I did save your life so shouldn't I know the name of my damsel in distress?” He winks at the shorter male who has regained his composure and with it his menacing aura and can now strike fear into the hearts of men (chanyeol) with his glare once again.

“Did you just call me a damsel?”

“I well- sorry?” He tries with a nervous smile but Tree Guy just rolls his eyes.

“it's kyungsoo. Do Kyungsoo.”

Do Kyungsoo. Somehow the name fits tree guy perfectly. Chanyeol smiles at tree guy, Kyungsoo, “Nice to meet you Do Kyungsoo-ssi.” He bows. “I’m Park Chanyeol.”

Kyungsoo bows in return and Chanyeol has to fight the urge to pinch his cheeks when a small, beautiful, shy grin graces his features, “nice to meet you too, Park Chanyeol-ssi. Hey listen, you really saved me back there so if there's anything I can do to return the favor, please let me know.”

“Hmm what can my new friend Do Kyungsoo do for me in return?” Chanyeol pretends to think for a while before snapping his fingers, startling Kyungsoo, “you can give me your number!”

“My number?” He blinks, clearly shocked by the request.

“Yep. I think a hero deserves a reward don't you?” He smirks and this new game of ‘how red can I make do kyungsoo before the night is over’ is just getting more fun by the minute.

Kyungsoo looks down and hesitates to come up with a response. Worried that he came on too strong, Chanyeol quickly chuckles nervously “Hey I was kidding you don't have to-”

“Give me your phone,” Kyungsoo smirks this time and in a cruel role reversal Chanyeol is the one who feels his cheeks heating up.

“Really this isn't necessary-”

“How can I give you your reward if you don't have my number?”

“But I thought your number was my reward?”

“what kind of damsel would I be if I didn't give my hero a proper thank you?” chanyeol may be oblivious at times but there was no way he could miss the dark, seductive twinkle in kyungsoo that promises something more. Chanyeol’s pants suddenly feel way too tight.

Kyungsoo stares him down with that enticing look in his eyes before throwing his head back and laughing loud and unabashed. “You should have seen your face!”

“Stop laughing at me,” chanyeol groans. “When a hot guy is making innuendos at 2am its hard to not react okay”

“You think I'm hot, Chanyeol?” Well duh.

“I- no. I mean- yes but-”

Kyungsoo chuckles again and holds his hand out “shut up and give me your phone”

“Okay”, Chanyeol does as he’s told and he watches as the smaller male furrows his brows in concentration and types away furiously.

“Here,” he says. “You better call me okay? I still owe you a reward. A real one.” Chanyeol raises an eyebrow. “Not that kind, you perv.” He laughs, goofy and heartily, and it's the most wonderful sound chanyeol has ever heard.

“I better get going. I gotta leave some food out for Kai, the cat, just in case he comes back. See you?” he smiles hopefully and chanyeol returns it and nods.

“Definitely. Bye Kyungsoo. It was nice meeting you!” He calls after Kyungsoo has began walking in the opposite direction.

Kyungsoo turns around and starts walking backwards “bye chanyeol! It was nice meeting you, too. Thanks for saving my life.” He waves once more and turns his back on chanyeol.

Chanyeol watches his retreating figure for a bit before opening his phone. He quickly goes through his contacts and finds kyungsoo’s contact information. He can't help the grin the threatens to split his face when sees the tree emoji and green heart next to the name.

Chanyeol looks up to give one last glance to Kyungsoo. He’s graced with a heart shaped smile that positively takes his breath away and Chanyeol has never been happier that he stopped at 2am to save a boy in a tree.