A/N: Tried out a new format of writing, hope it doesn’t confuse you guys too much.

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My attention was captured by a cute accessory shop when I felt him coming closer, his warm breath on my ear, his hold on my hand tightening just a little.

"Mei, darling."

I rolled my eyes to myself, already knowing exactly what he wanted. Every time my boyfriend sweet-talked me, it was either because he wanted something, or because he was trying to appease me after making a mistake. I didn't respond to him, so he continued.

"Since we're out, honey, shall we go to Victoria Secret?" Baekhyun whispered, purposely bumping his lips against my earlobe as if that had been an accidental brush.

I nudged him away by the elbow as I continued to face away from him. He didn't budge. "No," I answered in an uninterested tone to let him know that I really didn't want to go.

Baekhyun laughed. He came back again, this time slightly bumping his chest against my arm. "What if I bring you to your favourite cake shop? Will you step foot into Victoria Secret then?"

I turned to him now. Baekhyun grinned when he saw the look on my face. He knew that I was doubting him. Especially when he always liked pulling on my leg. However, this time, he held up three fingers as he moved away from me so that we weren't walking with our faces barely an inch away from each other anymore.

"The cake place is just around the corner. We'll go there first, then to Victoria Secret," he swore. "Promise."

I squinted my eyes at him. But when his grin grew wider and when he darted in to peck me on the lips, I sighed and gave in. After all, he was going to a café he always tried avoiding just for me. I guess I could step foot into the lingerie store for just a while.

"Okay," I relented.

When he grabbed the side of my face with his free hand to bring me closer, he kissed me loudly on the cheek. I groaned and pushed him away. I could felt a smile creeping on my lips though.

We weren't very discreet with our PDA in public but ever since Chanyeol, Baekhyun's giant best friend, started openly complaining and groaning every time we showed each other affectionate outside, we promised to bring it down a notch. But I guess since we weren't with the giant, a little PDA was okay — even if we were walking in a busy mall.

"You're really okay with this?" I asked as I turned to Baekhyun with a frown on my face, my hand on the door handle.

My boyfriend gave me a reassuring smile and a nod before turning the smile into a smirk. "We're going to Victoria Secret after this anyway."

I groaned and pushed against the door, entering the café. I could hear Baekhyun laughing behind me as he trailed in after me. I liked coming to this place because of its interior that always gave me the feeling of being in the woods with large tree stumps as tables, cushions as seats, as well as the wide array of plants on display. The cakes and drinks here were good too. However, the fact that Baekhyun's ex (and first love) worked here was enough to sour not just my boyfriend's mood but also mine.

We saw her working on our second or third time here. Baekhyun got all moody after that and I had felt bad. But I had found out the working schedule of hers and knowing that she only worked every odd day and never on weekends, I only visited on days she wasn't here. And I was aware that today was a Saturday, which meant that we were safe. Otherwise I wouldn't even have entered the café and risked Baekhyun seeing her.

We sat at the table by the window which was my favourite spot every time I came here. I set my bag down next to me while Baekhyun took his seat opposite me. We looked at each other until the corner of his lips lifted upwards.

"What do you want?" he finally asked, referring to what I would like to eat.

I puckered my lips and leaned forward instead. And of course Baekhyun understood the action. He grinned and moved in to peck me on the lips.

"Okay, so what do you want to eat?" he asked again when he pulled away from the kiss.

"Hmm... I like their strawberry shortcake," I grinned at him.

Baekhyun nodded as he stood up. "And an iced chocolate?"

"Iced raspberry white chocolate, please."

"They have that here?" He looked at me weirdly. I laughed and bobbed my head. "Mm'kay, I'll be back."

I waited as I watched my boyfriend walk up to the counter. He was confident and that in itself was attractive to me. The fact that he wasn't even showing any sign of discomfort in this place despite the possibility of meeting his ex because I was here with him made him even more attractive. He always liked being tough in the face of his girlfriend.

Baekhyun might be very cheeky and might sometimes even be an idiot, but he was a good boyfriend who knew how to protect and love me to the best of his ability. He always only showed me the best side of him whenever we were out and I really loved that about him. Even after almost a year and a half together, he still liked to impress me like he was still trying to court me (though he didn't have to work too hard in this aspect) and earn my attention. It was cute and extremely endearing.

Baekhyun returned with a device that would buzz when our order was ready. Since today was a Saturday, we had to wait a bit longer than usual for our order as there were quite a number of people before us. So in the mean time, Baekhyun and I talked.

"Why do you even want to go to Victoria Secret?" I mumbled, stretching my legs to rest my calves on his lap.

"Because my birthday is coming and I have a very specific birthday request," he wiggled his eyebrows at me. I laughed, poking his stomach lightly with my toe. There was still two more months to his birthday. "Just joking. I just wanted your opinion on a present I'm getting my colleague."

I stopped and stared at him. "A colleague?" I raised an eyebrow in question but he nodded almost smugly. "You're getting Victoria Secret for a colleague?"

"Yeah," Baekhyun answered with a rather sickening smile on his face. He was teasing me and he was enjoying my reaction. "She's turning—"

"She?" I repeated with glaringly wide eyes.

Baekhyun only shrugged. "I wouldn't be buying something from Victoria Secret for a guy."

"You—"

The buzzer interrupted me from exploding with its signal, which was fortunate because I swore I was about to shout at my boyfriend in front of everyone in the café. Baekhyun reached out for the buzzing device but I snatched it up quicker than he did. He frowned at me. I wouldn't even look at him as I got up with the device in my hand.

I had to repeat in my head not to throw the buzzer at the worker as I got our order. I walked back to our table, my knuckles white as I gripped the tray. Baekhyun even had the nerve to look up at me with a wide smile on his face, his chin resting on the palm of his hand. I slammed the tray on the table, earning some curious glances our way.

"Mei, sweetheart, what did I tell you about your anger issues?" Baekhyun cooed, obviously enjoying this.

I glared at him even as I placed the plate of cake and our drinks on the table with force. "I don't have anger issues."

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow at me. Obviously, I rolled my eyes and ignored him. I had always known that Baekhyun liked torturing me, especially by making me jealous. He liked it when I got mad like this, he thought I was hot and y when I was jealous and angry. And I knew he was just trying to get me worked up this time as well, but Victoria Secret for a female colleague?! Really?!

"You'll still go with me, won't you?" Baekhyun asked, trying to hide his smile. I gave him a look which could possibly pulverise anyone, but he was Baekhyun and he was fearless. "I'll buy you something from Victoria Secret if you help me."

"If I help you?" I sneered. I swore I felt my teeth baring like I was a growling dog. Baekhyun only stared at me, eyes filled with amusement and adoration. "Are you out of your mind, Byun Baekhyun? Why would I help my boyfriend possibly cheat on me with his female colleague?"

Now hearing it from my mouth, he grinned. He was enjoying this. He wanted me to voice out my jealousy. My boyfriend was a sick, disgusting, and very, very attractive bastard.

Baekhyun shrugged as he pulled his coffee closer to him. "If she was straight then maybe there might be a chance..." I gaped at him. Straight, did he say? He glanced at me through his fringe with a quirked eyebrow before going back to focusing on stirring his coffee. He had a satisfied smirk on his face as he muttered, "And I thought you trusted me..."

I took a whole minute just staring at him. Baekhyun, unnerved by my silence, looked up. His eyes widened just a bit and he pursed his lips when he saw the glare I was directing him with. Finally, I acted. Leaning forward, I pinched his chest. There wasn't much fat to pinch, so I targeted his arm instead. He whimpered in pain when I used more force.

"You're ing psycho!" I snapped at him.

"Ow, ow, baby! It hurts!" he cried, getting louder with each plea.

In case we attracted too much attention from people around us, I let go of him but not without a slap to his arm. He was biting his bottom lip and rubbing his sore arm, looking at me with his puppy face and a pout like I was in the wrong. I huffed and rolled my eyes at him.

"I ing hate you," I told him seriously. He pouted even more. As I took a stab at the cake, I gruffed out, "Who is it? Amber?" He nodded even as he rubbed his sore arm. "And you're getting her Victoria Secret... why?"

"Because she bought me a ing strap-on for my birthday," he said, deadpanned.

I couldn't help but laugh despite the annoyance I felt from what he just did. "So you're getting back at her by buying her some y lingerie?"

"Yes," Baekhyun grinned, eyes sparkling. "She hates y girly stuff like Victoria Secret because she claims they're uncomfortable."

"So you're getting her g-strings and garters and ?"

"Oh, yeah," he nodded, taking the fork from me so he could have the cake as well. "Or maybe those bodysuit lingerie things that you look so good in."

I blushed at his words. "But you're getting her a proper gift too, aren't you?" I asked quickly, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, I already got her a pair of shoes she wanted," he admitted. He suggested, "We'll get the lingerie in your size because I already know she is going to throw the box at me after opening it." He wiggled his eyebrows now as he said, "Then we can have some y time, too. Killing two birds with one stone."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head because my boyfriend was incorrigible. Yet no matter how much he drove me mad sometimes, no matter how suggestive he could get almost all the time, no matter everything, I still loved him. Our relationship was honestly a very healthy one with the both of us constantly trying to annoy each other to their tipping point.

When we were done with our very entertaining (on Baekhyun's part) tea time, we made our way to Victoria Secret. The moment we entered the store, Baekhyun immediately pulled me to the corner where they had their y lingerie put up on sale. I watched him eye everything, his gaze finally focusing on a piece, his lips slowly curling at the ends. Interested yet apprehensive, I slowly traced his gaze and saw that he was looking at a red lace teddy playsuit with a very deep plunge in the front and a ribbon at the back to soften the devilishly y look the garment would provide. He gave me a cheeky look as he reached out for it. 

"Is there anything I can help you with?" 

Baekhyun was already inspecting the piece when the sales assistant came up to us. We looked up. I was confused when I saw the shock and recognition in the girl's face when she saw Baekhyun. And when I turned to my boyfriend, he was wearing the same expression, except he also looked horrified.

"Mr. Byun...?" the girl stuttered, glancing between Baekhyun and I. 

"Uh... Yuju...?" Baekhyun guessed and the girl nodded. 

I almost wanted to laugh. Baekhyun had never bumped into his students while out with me before, ever. This marked the first time and it just had to be the most awkward meeting between a teacher and a student ever in history. 

When the girl looked at me, Baekhyun cleared his throat awkwardly. "This is my girlfriend," he introduced me to her. Then he turned to me with an expression that just screamed "Kill me now!" as he told me, "Yuju is my ex-student. She graduated a few months ago."

"I see," I nodded with amusement lacing my words as I shook the girl's hand. "Nice to meet you."

Baekhyun pinched the back of my thigh for mocking him. I chuckled a little. I hoped he was dying from embarrassment as a punishment for making me mad at nothing earlier. 

"What are you here for?" Yuju enquired, trying to be the good sales assistant that she was. But what else could a couple come to Victoria Secret for? She stuttered when she tried to change her question. "Is there, um, anything I could help you with?"

Baekhyun shook his head, about to tell her that we were fine just browsing through. But I wanted to get back at him for making me pissed previously, so I nodded my head. He glared at me as I spoke. 

"My boyfriend really likes this piece," I told her, grabbing the playsuit from Baekhyun's tight grip. "Do you have a new one?"

Yuju swallowed awkwardly and nodded. She took the lingerie from me and asked, "What's your size?" 

"Oh no, Baekhyun's wearing it." 

She stared at me with wide eyes, her cheeks flushed, while Baekhyun groaned softly. I turned my head to smirk at him. He looked half flustered, half defeated. I laughed. 

"I'm kidding," I finally told the girl. "Size 8, please." 

She bobbed her head rapidly and almost ran away from us. Baekhyun and I turned to each other. He was glaring at me with an unimpressed expression. 

"Did you really have to?" 

I grinned. "What?" 

"She must have felt so embarrassed and awkward," he groaned. 

"Yeah, imagine finding out that her high school teacher is a bastard—"

"Mei—"

"—Who likes dressing his girlfriend up in y, expensive lingerie—"

"Baby—"

"—I bet she's going to tell—"

I gasped when Baekhyun grabbed my face, his hand squishing my cheeks together. He gave me a deadpanned look. 

"You talk a lot, you know?" he muttered, glancing at my lips when I tried to talk back to him with my face squashed like that. "It's so annoying," he said, letting go of my face now, darting in to peck me on the lips. 

I giggled. The both of us knew that whatever mean things we said to one another, though they might be true, they're also said in an endearing manner. It was only during the fights that we brought up these points as a way of hurting the other. But of course, we always apologised and reassured the other of their perfections and flaws after every fight. 

Baekhyun had a smile on his face as he shook his head at me. Yuju came back with a new piece and held it out to me. She glanced at her teacher awkwardly. 

"There's a fitting—"

"Oh, that's fine," I told her, sliding my hand down Baekhyun's arm before threading my fingers through his. "I have a lot of these at home, I know it'll fit." 

"Oh my god," Baekhyun muttered under his breath, shutting his eyes for a moment.

I wanted to laugh out loud at his expression that made him look like he was going to bang his head on the wall. Yuju didn't know what to say to that and I could tell that she was stunned by the new information about her teacher that she had learnt today.

"We'll just get this," I grinned at her as I pulled Baekhyun towards the counter. 

"Let me ring it up for you," she murmured, holding her hands out for the piece. 

"Aw, thank you, Yuju," I thanked her as I handed her the playsuit. 

She blushed and walked quickly to the cashier where there was only one counter open. She opened the other counter just for us, however. The piece was originally $89.99, but I noticed that it showed only $80.99 on the till. Baekhyun must have noticed it as well because he commented on it as he took his wallet out to pay.

"I didn't know this was on sale," he mumbled. 

"Oh no, it's not," Yuju shook her head. "I gave you a 10% discount." 

"You didn't have to," Baekhyun frowned, now holding out his card. 

She smiled as she took the plastic from him. "It's not coming out of my paycheck," she reassured us. "Besides, I never thanked you for helping me pass maths for my final exam." 

Baekhyun laughed and shook his head, not wanting to take the credit. "It was your hard work that made you pass." He was returned his card when she swiped it for payment. "But thank you, Yuju." 

"You're welcome, Mr. Byun," she said shyly, now holding the paper bag above the counter to pass it to me. 

I was going to take it but Baekhyun was faster. The girl glanced at me when it was out of the way. I smiled at her. 

"Thank you." 

She shook her head and waved at us. Baekhyun and I turned around and as we were walking out of the store, I realised that she didn't greet us with Please come again like how salespeople normally do when we leave a store. I was guessing she really didn't want to see her high school teacher back there again, which was fair enough, since it was awkward as hell. And now I felt bad for making it that way.

"She's so nice," I said when we were finally out of the store. Baekhyun glanced at me. "Now I feel bad for making her feel so awkward." 

Baekhyun sniggered. "I'm glad you finally realise how mean you actually are." 

"You're equally mean, okay," I muttered. 

He laughed and squeezed my hand when he saw the pouty look on my face. "I love how mean you are though." He brought his free hand to the other side of my side, making me face him. He gave me a quick peck on the lips and murmured, "You're so mean and I love it."

 

 

I heard the alarm that I had set for Baekhyun ringing incessantly when I turned off the water. I sighed. He was supposed to be awake by now, choosing what to wear later for the reunion that we were having with our friends. I stepped out of the bathroom in my bathrobe and saw him sleeping, curled up to the side. He looked adorable, especially when the alarm rang again and his eyebrows furrowed. I chuckled softly. 

"Baekhyun, wake up," I called, shaking his arm. He groaned. "Baby, come on." 

"Five more minutes," he slurred, covering his face with the blanket. 

"No. Up. Now," I emphasised in a stern voice, pulling the duvet away from his face. 

Even though I was four years younger than he was, Baekhyun always listened to me when I was being fierce with him. I was the one listening to him most of the time since he was older and I was a fairly docile girl. But he knew that I was being serious if I was being stern. So he fluttered his eyes open and blinked sleepily at me. I smiled at him and pulled him up to sit. His hair was messy and he was top . Looking at him like this reminded me of why mornings were no longer a pain in the for me. 

"We're going to end up being the last ones there," I sighed, walking away from the bed as I pulled on the belt of my bathrobe. "Again." 

"We could just keep up with that reputation," he mumbled, yawning in the middle of his speech. 

"I don't want to be the last ones there," I whined a little. I turned to him as I wore my underwear. "It's so embarrassing." 

"What's so embarrassing about it?" he murmured, voice coming out just a little breathless. He finally got down the bed and walked towards my direction, his eyes on me like a lion keeping his target on his prey. "Can I wear that for you?" 

"And then you'll shower?" I narrowed my eyes on him, hanging my bra on my index finger. He nodded seriously. I held out my bra to him and told him as he snatched it from me, "And it's embarrassing because this isn't the first time we're late to a reunion."

He hummed as he helped me put my arms through the straps. His hands were soft on my skin, sliding them along my arms. Even after a year with him, Baekhyun still knew how to make my heart flutter. He wasn't rough when he did the buckles either. He was already a professional at it because he liked taking it on and off of me so much that I had became lazy in taking off my own bra, instead simply just going to him to take it off for me.

When he had secured the buckle, Baekhyun dropped a kiss on my shoulder. And before he left me to enter the bathroom, he slid his hand down to my and squeezed my buttcheek like he always liked to do when he walked past me.

Within 45 minutes, we were out of our apartment, heading to the carpark to get to Baekhyun's car. 

"Ugh, I'm so tired," my boyfriend grumbled when we got into the elevator. He leant against the wall and dropped his head on my shoulder. 

"You really shouldn't have gone out with the boys last night," I clucked my tongue. "You can't even drink yet you still wanted to go."

"I just haven't seen them in a long time, okay?" he grumbled. 

"We're seeing them today, Baekhyun." 

He made a whine of some sort, never really liking it whenever I nagged at him. I decided to let him off the hook since he didn't even stay out that late last night. (He had to call me at 12:21AM to come over to drive him home.) We got to the car and Baekhyun drove us to the restaurant we were meeting out friends at. We were already half an hour late, which really shouldn't be a thing since my boyfriend was a teacher, but somehow according to him, it was because he was a teacher that he was always late to meetings with friends. I didn't know how that logic worked and I had long stopped trying to get him to explain it to me. 

We eventually got to the restaurant where the rest were already seated. All conversation stopped when we arrived as everyone greeted us after such a long time since our last meet-up. There were two seats left empty for us at the end of the table. Baekhyun sat next to Sehun while I sat as the last person, next to him. 

"You're so late," Chanyeol shook his head mockingly. He was sitting opposite us with Jongin next to him. "Slept late last night?" he smirked.

Baekhyun glared at him as he muttered, "Had a good sleep in the toilet, Chanyeol?" 

The giant looked horrified. "How'd you know?" I pursed my lips and looked down at my menu. Baekhyun didn't say anything, but Chanyeol must have guessed. Especially when Baekhyun smirked at him as he rested his arm on the back of my chair. "Mei."

I pretended I didn't hear him. He called me again. I had to look up. When I saw his narrowing of eyes, I quickly asked, "Have you guys ordered already?"

"Yerin told you, didn't she?" 

"What did you guys get?" 

"Yeah, she did," Baekhyun answered Chanyeol for me instead. I looked at him like how one would at a traitor. He grinned. 

"What else did Yerin tell you?" Chanyeol asked almost frantically. 

"Nothing," I shook my head quickly to try to assure him. 

"Why, is there more you should be telling us?" Sehun jumped into the conversation, interested in what a mess Chanyeol became when he got home. 

"Did you also sleep in your vomit?" Jongin sniggered.

"No," the giant snapped, sounding too defensive. "And yes, we've already ordered," he answered now that he was the one who wanted to change the topic. 

"Talking about Yerin, where's your girlfriend?" Baekhyun raised an eyebrow at him.

"She had to visit her grandparents in Daegu," he explained. "Won't be back until tomorrow night." 

"Wanna go drinking again tonight then?" Sehun grinned, obviously just to tease them. 

"We're not as young as you are, Sehun," Baekhyun patted his shoulder.

Sehun's teasing look was replaced with a scowl. If there was anything he hated more than being the youngest guy in the group, it would be the fact that no one ever let him forget about it. 

And now that that conversation had died away, Baekhyun leaned in to peruse the menu with me. 

"I'm hungry," Baekhyun hummed. 

"Me too," I agreed. "I'm feeling the king donkatsu." 

"Mmm," he nodded. "And I'll get the spicy seafood noodles." 

"We're sharing both, right?" 

He was already calling the waiter over when he responded, "Yup."

I observed as Baekhyun told the waiter our order. The server then took our menu booklets and left us. I listened to the boys talk, sometimes laughing at the things they said. 

I was — if I were to say it crudely — an intruder in Baekhyun's circle of friends. We met through Chanyeol, actually. It wasn't anything special but I had to admit that it was rather cute how we got together. But that was a story for another time. Chanyeol was presently asking me a question, breaking my silence. 

"So how's Baekhyun as your new housemate?" I shrugged. "No way," he gave me a disbelieving look. Even Sehun and Jongin were raising their eyebrows at me. "Walking around ? Leaving the door open while showering?" 

"Eating other people's food?" Sehun added.

"Barging into people's room early in the morning?" Jongin muttered, glaring at my boyfriend. 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. "11AM is barely even early." He focused on Sehun, "And you never eat your food, okay? I only helped you eat them before the expiry date." Then he fixed his glare on Chanyeol, "And for the record, the both of us walk around and leave the door open while showering too. So shut up." My cheeks felt hot even though I was laughing. "And she eats my food too." 

"No, I don't," I muttered.

But who was I kidding? Baekhyun always liked buying me food despite me telling him countless times that I was on a diet. So instead of throwing it out, Baekhyun kept it for himself. But there were days where I just wanted to eat everything and even though Baekhyun indulged me in my cravings by bringing me out, I still stole the food that he bought for me but kept for himself instead since I was on a "diet". The first time he caught me was funny, actually. 

I was back from my final class of the day and it was my PMS talking when I felt the need to nibble on food. I opened the kitchen cabinet and saw my favourite chips Baekhyun had bought for me a few days ago. I had told him that I was on a diet for real now and I wasn't going to break this time. But the moment Baekhyun came back, he stared at me with unblinking eyes before a knowing smirk grew on his face. 

"I'm just going to have a few," I swore, staring back at him guiltily, my hand frozen in mid air with a piece of chip between my fingers. 

"Right..." Baekhyun drawled, giving me a look that totally told me that he didn't believe me, as he set his briefcase down slowly. 

"See, I'll stop now!"

At that, I ate the last chip and folded up the bag. Baekhyun had stopped walking then. He tilted his head and jutted his lip slightly in disapproval. It was then that he admitted that he didn't like it when I went on diets. Not when we were best friends (he only didn't say anything then) and especially not when I'm his girlfriend. And now thinking back to it, I realised that no matter how much Baekhyun teased me about eating his food (or rather, the food that was meant to be mine), he never went too far with his teasing because he liked watching me enjoy food that I like. 

"He snores pretty loud though, doesn't he?" Sehun asked, snapping me out of my reverie. 

I shrugged. "I'm a heavy sleeper. But I don't think he snores a lot. Only when he's tired." 

"You guys sure seem to have a lot to say about me now that I'm not living with you, huh?" Baekhyun grunted.

I chuckled at the pouty look he was wearing. He looked so cute like that, even making me forget that he's four years older than I am. I s my arm around his neck and cupped the other side of his face, smoothing my fingers on his chin.

"I don't have anything to say about your habits," I told him. "Except that you wear your shoes into the house when you're in a rush and forget something." 

"Oh, yeah, he does that!" Chanyeol agreed eagerly. 

Baekhyun crinkled his nose at me. "I'll try not to anymore," he promised. 

"But that's also what you said the last time," I rolled my eyes. "And the time before that, and the time before—"

"Baby," he whined, placing a hand on my thigh.

I giggled. The food started being served then, fortunately helping the others not to feel as uncomfortable as they normally did when Baekhyun and I got too touchy. Since we ordered later than they did, we were not served our lunch yet. So in the mean time, Baekhyun talked to Junmyeon, who was at the other end of the table. He still hadn't taken off his hand from my thigh even though I no longer had my arm around his neck for the sake of Chanyeol, who looked like he might puke if we kept our closeness. He and his girlfriend were not outwardly touchy, which was why he always felt uncomfortable when Baekhyun and I were. 

While Baekhyun was busy catching up with the boys on the other end of the table, Chanyeol and Jongin kept me entertained. They told me of stories about Baekhyun when they were still living together, making me laugh at all the crazy things my boyfriend did. It was when I was giggling so hard at the story of Baekhyun being locked outside with only his boxers when he was throwing out the trash that the man himself turned to me. He seemed upset that I was laughing at these tragic stories of him. But the longer he stared at me, the more I kept laughing. He finally sighed in defeat. He was trying to keep in his smile as he squeezed my inner thigh.

Baekhyun could never not smile when I was laughing. It was his weakness; my laughter.

 

 

"Ready?" Baekhyun smiled at me, eyes twinkling.

I gave him my best smile and nodded. "As I'll ever be."

He gave me a reassuring squeeze to my hand and opened the door to his childhood home. The house was still in the progress of getting ready for tonight's party. Today was Baekhyun's father's 50th birthday and they were making it grand. Baekhyun and I had arrived a few hours prior to the start of the party to help out with the set-up. It was going to be my second time meeting his family as his girlfriend, which always made me feel insecure and nervous. But Baekhyun knew. He always did.

"Baekhyun, is that you?" A lady poked her head out from the kitchen. When she saw that it was her son, her face lit up. "Baekhyun-ah!"

"Mom," he greeted with a wide smile on his face as he pulled me towards the kitchen with him.

"Hello, auntie," I smiled and bowed politely when we were in front of her. She was hugging a big bowl to her stomach as she kneaded the dough in it with her other hand.

She smiled warmly at me. "It's so great to see you again, Mei!" Then she turned to Baekhyun and teasingly clucked her tongue, "And you! How long has it been since you last came home, huh?"

Baekhyun laughed. "It was exam period for the kids, you know how busy us teachers get during this season."

His mother gave him a doubtful look, which made me laugh. The relationship between the mother and son was adorable. Baekhyun was closer to his mother and it was obvious through the strong bond they shared, as well as their playful conversations. His brother, Baekbeom, was closer to his father, though the four of them still made up a healthy, close knitted family. Despite the nerves that visited me every time I were to meet his family, it didn't hinder me from enjoying every meeting I had with them. It was always lovely to meet the people who nurtured and grew Baekhyun into the man he was now.

"So what do you need help with?" Baekhyun asked. His mother thought about it for a while. So he suggested, "Do you need help in the kitchen—"

"No!" she answered right away, almost anxiously. I had to purse my lips to keep from laughing. "I don't have enough money to buy a new house."

Baekhyun gave her an exasperated look. But I really had to agree with her. He wasn't very good in the kitchen.

"Hmm, just help out with the decorations," his mother finally said. She flickered her eyes up and down Baekhyun's body before sighing. "Though you would be a lot more useful if you were taller..."

"We have chairs," Baekhyun groaned and rolled his eyes. "You're very hurtful," he pouted before turning around and started pulling me away. "Mei and I are not staying here with you any longer." Before we left the kitchen, he muttered loud enough for her to hear, "And what are you complaining about when you and dad gave me my height..."

I giggled when I heard his mother jokingly yelled at him from the kitchen even as we shut the door. Baekhyun and I were now back in the living room with a table full of decorations his mother had bought yesterday. We sat on the ground and while Baekhyun the television, I opened the packet of balloons. Apparently the colour theme was going to be a subtle white and gold.

"I'll blow the balloons and you'll do the garland," Baekhyun muttered as he surfed TV channels. "Since you're better at the artsy stuff."

"I'm better at almost everything," I replied.

"Can't argue with that," he shrugged. He finally settled on a channel and put down the remote. As he shifted closer to me, he leaned in to kiss my lips, though missing just a bit so that he was only kissing the side of it. "I don't date stupid girls."

I rolled my eyes in good nature. Baekhyun always liked saying things like this. I never react to them but he and I both knew I liked hearing them.

So Baekhyun and I sat next to each other with ours legs crossed, his knee resting on my thigh, our shoulders pressed against each other. He took the packs of balloons that I had opened while I laid out the materials needed to decorate the garland. We started on our tasks; Baekhyun blowing the balloons while watching a rerun of a variety show, me hunching over the table to make the garland.

It was pretty quiet for the first few minutes before I held up the gold coloured paper which I had marked for cutting. I turned to Baekhyun, who was diligently blowing the balloons, his cheeks puffed, his eyes on the television screen.

"Do you think this size is okay?"

At once, my boyfriend flickered his eyes to look at the paper that I was holding up. I smiled a little at how cute he looked, huffing and puffing to blow air into the balloon. He nodded as he took the fully blown balloon away from his lips to start tying it up. I set the paper down with an amused smile on my lips. Baekhyun raised an eyebrow. I shook my head but moved towards him to kiss his lips.

"You look so cute blowing the balloons," I murmured into the kiss.

I felt his teeth showing as his lips grew into a smile. I gave him one more peck before leaning back. Baekhyun was staring at me, his eyes dilating but not with lust or desire, but with affection and love. I was just tying my hair to start on the cutting when he leaned in to kiss me again. It wasn't a passionate kiss — we never showed such PDA in either of our parents' houses — but instead, he gave me short and sweet kisses that had my smile growing bigger and bigger with every peck he dropped on my lips.

When I was done tying my hair, I circled my arms around his neck and pulled him in for a final peck, making it longer than the other kisses before this. I pulled away and patted his cheek, grinning at him.

"We better keep going with the decorations or they will never be ready in time for the party," I reminded him.

Baekhyun gave a loud sigh but listened anyway. He kept up with the blowing of balloons while I started cutting up the first piece of the garland. I used it as a template for the other pieces until I had enough to make up two wall garlands. By then, Baekhyun had already blown up more than 25 balloons. There were 40 more. 

However, having known Baekhyun for three years, I had come to know that he was a very active person. Not in the sense that he exercised a lot (well, he was actually going to the gym a lot lately but that's beside the point), but in the sense that he had to always be moving about. But he knew that I would be irritated if he moved around a lot while I was concentrating on something, which explained why he finally grabbed hold of my wrists when I held up the last cut garland piece. 

I stared at him like he was crazy but all he did was set my hands down again and made me drop everything I had. Then he brought his hands to hold the sides of my face, slightly squeezing my cheeks together so that my lips were puckered like a goldfish. 

"Let's take a break, my love," he cooed, making me roll my eyes at his sweet talk though I was actually silently enjoying it. "You've been bent over the table for quite some time, don't you feel like stretching?"

I guess he was right. I did feel an ache at my lower back and my neck. So I sighed and nodded. He grinned, immediately pulling my body to rest against his so that my back was on his chest. I tilted my head to lean my temple on his cheek. I moved to stretch my legs out and I started stretching my body, elongating my limbs and arching my back. My arms circled his neck, fingers in his hair. Baekhyun groaned softly. 

I turned my head to look up at him. "Why? Am I heavy?"

"No, of course not," he shook his head. "You're as light as a feather!" he exclaimed, sarcasm dripping from his words. 

I pulled on his hair, making him yelp in pain. I smirked as I sat up. I smacked his arm this time. He laughed. 

"I'm joking," he reassured me as he got up, fixing his jeans. 

"I know," I muttered. "Where are you going?" 

"Toilet. Wanna join me?" he teased, wiggling his eyebrows. 

"Yes," I replied, getting up too. I had to force my smile in when Baekhyun stared at me in disbelief. "What, wasn't that an invitation?"

Baekhyun blinked. Then he glanced at the kitchen. "Well, yes... But—"

"I'm just kidding, Baek!" I laughed, hitting his stomach as I passed him by. "You're very dirty," I clucked my tongue as I narrowed my eyes on him. 

"Get me water too, please!" Baekhyun shouted as we parted ways. 

"No!" 

"Thanks!"

I rolled my eyes as I entered the kitchen with a smile on my lips. Baekhyun's mother turned around when she heard me enter. She looked up from frying the vegetables and smiled at me. 

"Almost done?" 

I shook my head and I got Baekhyun's mug. As I filled it with water, I answered her, "We're almost half way done though."

She nodded thoughtfully. It was quiet for a bit, safe for the sound of oil popping. The air felt tensed, like there was something left unspoken between us. I knew that it couldn't have been me because I had nothing else to say to her or even tell her. It had to be her. 

"I think I have to apologise in advance, Mei." 

I frowned and looked up at her as I set the water jug down. "Why?"

She sighed. "Miran is the daughter of a very close family friend."

The crease between my brows deepened. What had this got to do with me? I didn't even know who this Miran girl was. 

She continued, "We invited her parents and naturally, she will be joining us too."

When she looked at me, waiting for me to react to her confession, I shook my head without understanding. "Who is Miran?" 

There was a moment of silence in which she just stared at me with an expression that bordered between ", did I just say something I shouldn't have?" and "Should I tell her?". And in that moment, Baekhyun entered the kitchen after his visit to the toilet. He raised an eyebrow at the both of us, wondering what kind of situation he had just walked in on. I turned to him when he walked over to me. He took my cup of water and drank it.

"Who's Miran?" 

Baekhyun put down the mug and frowned at me. "How do you know her?" I didn't answer to that and he immediately knew that it was his mother. He looked at her.

"I didn't know you didn't tell her!" his mother swore. 

He turned to me and I raised an eyebrow at him. He could tell that I was getting impatient and gradually more unhappy. After all, we were best friends before Baekhyun asked me to be his girlfriend. We told each other a lot of things, a lot of secrets. And now that we were together, we practically had no secrets from each other. Or so I thought. 

Baekhyun, knowing that the atmosphere was going to sour if he didn't do anything, took my hand and brought me out of the kitchen. He brought me into his old room where there were still his trophies, medals, and certificates up on display. He shut the door, leaving us in the room alone. I pulled my hand away from his hold and crossed my arms across my chest. Baekhyun sighed. 

"Look, baby, I didn't tell you for a reason," he tried to appease me with that vague sentence. I only glared at him even more. He sighed. "Mei, you know I tell you everything. I actually told you about her before." 

"When?" I grounded out.

"Long time ago," he muttered. When I kept my glare on him, he came up with an excuse, "You're not going to like it though."

"I think I should be the judge of that."

He stared at me. Then he sighed in defeat. He always gave in whenever we had serious fights or arguments. I appreciated it greatly even though I had never told him that before.

So I stood there and waited. Baekhyun looked at me, probably hoping for me to just let him off so that he didn't have to explain to me. But I was a fierce and tenacious little thing, something Baekhyun adored even during a situation like this. So of course he had to tell me.

"This was a long time ago..." he started quietly, looking down. "My parents and Miran's parents are very close friends and we used to see each other often..." The more I listened, the more I knew that I wouldn't like where this was going. "I had a huge crush on her. Everyone knew about it, even Miran herself did. She was older than I was and she told me that she didn't want to date younger boys. But I kept trying. She finally accepted me and we dated for a while until I found that she was just playing me—"

"When was this?" I interrupted him, my voice sounding so cold and levelled, scaring not just Baekhyun but also myself. I was getting jealous and this emotion was what made me ugliest.

"I was only 17..." When I didn't say anything else, he stepped closer to me, resting his hands on my arms. "Baby, it has been 8 years since then... I don't like her anymore."

"Was she the one you told me about?" Now it was Baekhyun's turn to be quiet. "Your first love?"

When he still didn't say anything, I shook my head and sighed, turning around to return to the living room. I took my seat in front of the table.

"Mei, you have to understand that I don't love her anymore and never will again," Baekhyun desperately pleaded, trailing after me like a puppy. He sat next to me, no longer concentrating on the balloons but instead on me. "Do you know how painful it is to have your first love play you?" he whispered.

I took a peek at him, unable to help it from the way he was speaking. The moment I caught his eyes, he trapped me there. As always, Baekhyun always ensnared me with his eyes that seemed to tell me everything about him at that moment. I could tell that he was uncomfortable from talking about this, but also scared about me leaving him.

"You have really bad luck with girls, you know?" I muttered as I picked up a marker.

I could feel a bit of tension leaving his body. He moved closer to me and pouted at me. "Can't say I agree with it since you're my girlfriend now, but I also can't disagree with it since Miran was my first and last before you."

"What did she do to you that made you single for seven years?" I asked, curious. "Apart from what you told me that time."

"She..." he sighed, swallowing. My heart clenched at the thought of him in pain from just thinking about it. Just as I was about to tell him that it was alright, he continued. "She was in college when we were dating. I was still in high school. I didn't know what she did, or what kind of girl she was, since we were in different schools. I really liked her, I pampered her with a lot of things even though I had to starve myself and save up on my allowance. She was nice and sweet to me too. I thought she liked me as much as I liked her. But three months into our relationship, when I decided to surprise her at her college, I saw her flirting with another guy. Her hand was on his bicep and he had his hand on her waist. It was the worst day I ever had, I can tell you that."

I pursed my lips, feeling bad that I had just asked him to recount the worst day of his life. 

"I couldn't trust any girl after that," he murmured, looking at me now. "I was so hurt that I just didn't want to date anymore."

"Even years after that?" I whispered. 

"Even six years after that," he affirmed. Then he gave me a soft smile. "Until I met you." I felt my heart rate increase but I didn't say anything. "I think a big part of the reason why we even got together was because of how close we got as friends. And that very night when you clung onto me no matter how many cute guys approached you, I knew I could trust you with my heart. And I was right."

"Baekhyun..." 

He smiled, his eyes crinkling into beautiful half-moons. He cupped the side of my face and rubbed his thumb on my cheek, his affectionate gaze on me. Unable to take the silence and his staring anymore, I crawled into his lap and circled my arms around his neck. He wrapped his strong arms around me in his warm embrace, his nose in my hair, his lips by my ear. 

"I love you so much, Mei," Baekhyun breathed into my ear. "You have to understand that though Miran may be my first love, you're my one and only. Now and forever." 

My hair stood at his confession. Baekhyun and I were a touchy couple, yes. But we didn't like to openly say mushy or sweet things to each other, especially not something like this. We normally kept it in, showing our love through actions and teasing words. When we really said things like that, we both knew that it would never be a joke, and it was all from the heart. 

I pushed away from him and took his lips in mine, kissing him with love and affection. He responded like it was second nature, his arms already tightening around my body, his hands roaming my back. But when he starting on my lip as his tongue danced with mine, I knew that I had to break the kiss before we did something extremely inappropriate out here while his mother was in the kitchen, so dangerously close. So I pulled back from the kiss, though our lips were still brushing. He was still pecking my lips as I spoke. 

"I love you too, Baekehyun," I whispered into his lips, letting him taste my words and the truth in it.

He grinned a boyish grin and gave me one last peck. A smiled painted my lips. Satisfied by how well we dealt with this issue, we went back to work, knowing that though we had lots of time to be mushy and gross, Baekhyun's dad only had less than ten hours to celebrate his birthday.

So we went back to our work with me still sitting on Baekhyun's lap. We finished in the next half an hour with many white and gold balloons surrounding us. Baekhyun stood up and told me that he was going to help with putting up the garland. We got his mother out to direct us with the placement of the decorations. She wanted one of the garlands to go above the flat screen TV and the other on a blank wall which would be the background for pictures. 

Baekhyun stood before the TV while I stood behind him. I watched him stretch his arms to try to get the garland up but he wasn't tall enough. He turned to look at me. His mother suggested to get a chair but I was already walking over to him. He squatted down, letting me get up on his shoulders. His mother might have screamed in fright a little. 

"Here," Baekhyun held up the garland to me. 

As I took it, I asked, "How do I get it to stay?" 

"Tape, duh," he said in that obnoxious tone. I tugged on his hair. He laughed. "I'll pass it to you. Just hold tight." 

I knew I didn't really have to hold onto him when Baekhyun already had such a tight grip on my thighs to prevent my from falling. But still, I held the collar of his dress shirt with one hand, the other still holding on the garland. He walked towards the TV and stopped before it. I held the garland up and turned to look at his mother. 

"Is this okay?" 

"A little to the right," she directed. 

I turned back to move it but before I looked back again, she told me what to do so that I didn't have to keep consulting her for directions. While I moved the garland's position, Baekhyun rested his forearms on my thighs comfortably as he hummed a song. 

"That should be fine," his mother finally said. 

Baekhyun was efficient when he held up a piece of tape. I pasted it to one end of the garland and Baekhyun then walked to the other side of the TV for me to stick the other end. When we were done with that, he brought me over to the other wall to stick the other garland. 

"What song is that?" I wondered as I listened to Baekhyun humming a nice tune, at the same time putting up the garland. 

"Dunno," he answered. "Amber keeps playing it in the office." 

"Ask her—"

Baekhyun and I froze when we heard the loud sound of a phone camera taking a picture. The both of us turned our heads to see Baekhyun's mother holding up her smartphone, grinning as she snapped another picture. 

"You guys are just so cute," she squealed a little. 

A blush crept up to my cheek while Baekhyun replied matter-of-factly, "We know." 

She shook her head fondly. Baekhyun and I went back to securing the garland on the wall. When that was done, he squatted to let me down. Then we turned to his mother again. 

"And what do we do with the balloons?" Baekhyun asked. 

"Just put them anywhere," she shrugged. "But make the place look classy, not like some children's party." 

Then she went back into the kitchen. I turned to Baekhyun then, unsure of what to do. But he walked off and threw himself on the couch. I went over to drape myself over the back of the couch, slinging half my body over his shoulder, the side of my face resting on his torso. 

"Are you going to make me do the work again?" 

"What do you mean again?" he scowled.

I grinned. Baekhyun never really let me do all the work. He would act like he was going to do that but he would always end up pushing me aside, not letting me do anymore while he finished up.

He flicked my nose. "You can stick a few balloons by the TV while I admire my girlfriend's ?" he suggested. 

"I would but I want to admire my boyfriend's too." 

"You'll do the first two and I'll do the rest," he haggled. When I pretended to give it a think, he pouted. "Please?"

"Since you're being so polite." 

Baekhyun was beaming when I walked round the couch to get a white and a gold balloon, as well as some tape. I held up the two balloons and turned to look at my boyfriend, only to see his eyes scanning my body from my legs up really slowly, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. By the time I waited for him to finish his scan, he was looking at me with dilated eyes. 

"Is this okay?" I asked, referring to the placement of the balloons. 

Without even looking at the position, he muttered, "A little higher." 

I tipped my toes, watching how Baekhyun's eyes were fixed on my thighs and my . I wanted to laugh. He looked like he was going to drool. 

"Here?" 

"A little bit higher..." 

I stretched my arms, the movement lifting my shirt, showing off some skin. Baekhyun his lips. I couldn't help it anymore. A chuckle escaped my lips. 

"You're such a ert, Byun Baekhyun!" I laughed. 

"What?" he frowned, flickering his eyes up to look at me now. He seemed dazed. "The balloons look great there," he lied. 

I rolled my eyes but stuck the balloons there. And when I was done, I walked towards Baekhyun, who was staring at me like he was under some sort of spell. I sat on his lap, his hand instinctively moving to circle my waist. I rested my legs on the couch so that I was sitting sideways. My arm slung round his neck, my fingers running through his hair.

"This feels like my birthday instead," Baekhyun mumbles, leaning down to kiss my chest. I really shouldn't have worn a v-neck shirt.

"Baekhyun," I warned. "Your mother is here." 

"I know," he sighed. He lifted his head to peck me on the lips. "But when we get home, can we pretend today is my birthday?" 

I laughed as he kissed me again, this time slipping his tongue in my mouth. "Mmkay," I muttered against his lips, tilting his head up to deepen the kiss. 

We were blatantly making out on the couch, taking advantage of the fact that there were no other people here apart from his mom who was in the kitchen. His hand was already under my blouse, inching towards the button of my jeans. I was messing up his hair, my fingers twirling and tugging on his locks. We probably wouldn't even have to wait to get home for Baekhyun to receive his "birthday present" if not for the door opening. 

I gasped into the kiss, quickly pulling back because it really seemed as though Baekhyun wouldn't even care if there were people watching us. He groaned softly as he dropped his head on my shoulder, unhappy that our make-out session was cut short like this. He lifted his eyes though, to see who it was that had entered. I turned around to see a couple the age of Baekhyun's parents and a pretty lady walking into the house. 

I was sure that the couple saw our passionate kissing, yet they didn't say anything but smile at us. Baekhyun perked up and held me closer to him as he bowed his head in respect. 

"Auntie, uncle," he greeted them. Then he muttered rather bitterly, "Miran noona."

My eyes widened on their own accord. I turned to stare at Baekhyun resting his chin on my shoulder. Before my silence was seen as rudeness, I bowed my head and greeted them as well. 

"Is your father back yet?" Miran's father asked as he took off his shoes. 

Baekhyun shook his head. "He's still on the way home from work. But my mom's in the kitchen, cooking."

So after they had taken off their shoes, Miran and her parents move to the kitchen to greet Baekhyun's mother. I slid down Baekhyun's lap and sat next to him instead, just in case anyone came out of the kitchen and saw us still in the same intimate position as before. Baekhyun rested his hand on my lap, tilting his body to lean against me. 

"She's so pretty, Baekhyun," I muttered, obviously insecure about myself.

"What's the use if she has a rotten heart," he rolled his eyes as his fingers fluttered along the inside of my thigh. He looked up at me and gave me a soft smile. "Besides, I think you're prettier." I sighed, which made him snake his hand round the other side of my neck to my nape, tilting my head down to kiss me on the lips. "And I think you have a nice heart, which makes you waaaay more attractive than that snake." 

I chuckled when he said that. Miran and her parents stayed in the kitchen the entire time while Baekhyun started on putting up the rest of the balloons. We bantered and fooled around the entire time. But we still managed to get the decoratins up nicely by the time Baekhyun's father was back. 

"Dad," Baekhyun called with a wide grin while his father scanned the interior of the house. "Mei and I decorated the house. Do you like it?" 

"Hello, uncle," I greeted. "Happy birthday!"

"Thank you, Mei," he smiled at me. Then he replied to Baekhyun's question, nodding his head in approval, "A little too extravagant but it's nice." 

"Mom's in the kitchen with Auntie Yujin and Uncle Bumsoo," Baekhyun informed him, leaving out the detail about Miran being in there with them as well. 

But I could tell that his father knew. He set his briefcase down on the couch before going into the kitchen to say hello to his friends as well as their daughter. Baekhyun and I sat in the living room, watching the television. Baekhyun had his head on my lap, my arm resting across his chest. We stayed in that position for almost an hour until the first actual guest arrived. And that was when Baekhyun and I separated with him greeting the guests and me helping to bring the dishes out to the dining table. 

It was after I had already put out the first two dishes that Miran started helping out as well. I tried to show my disinterest in speaking by returning to the kitchen the moment I was done putting the food out. But she either obviously didn't sense it or just didn't care. She set the dish down almost uncaringly as if she was in a rush to go to somewhere. 

"Hi!" I jumped when I heard her voice next to me, obviously not expecting to interact with her, much less talk to her. "Mei, was it?" I turned my head slightly and slowed down my gait. I nodded slowly. She beamed at me. "I'm Miran! Nice to meet you," she held out her hand for me to shake. 

I shook her hand and gave her a curt smile. I thought she would have gotten the hint that I didn't want to speak to her. But apparently she knew nothing about social cues.

"Baekhyun's a really great guy, huh?"

"Uh, yeah," I muttered, feeling just slightly uncomfortable that I was talking to her about my boyfriend. 

"I've known him for a long time, you know," she said, obviously trying not to come off like she was boasting about her longtime relationship with Baekhyun or something. "He's always been a gentleman, always so nice to the ladies." 

I nodded my head, not really sure where this was going. When we entered the kitchen though, I realised that she didn't say anything. I wondered if her parents, or even Baekhyun's, knew the reason behind their break-up those years ago. It was only when we had dishes in our hands and were leaving the kitchen to set them down on the dining table that she spoke again. 

"He's so doting too, isn't he? He used to shower me with gifts all the time when we dated." I raised an eyebrow when she turned her head to me all of a sudden. She wore an "Oh " expression. "You knew, right...? That we dated?" 

I wanted to roll my eyes so hard. She was being so fake and it was just making my blood boil. I thought I saw the satisfaction in her eyes grow the longer I stalled my answer. I finally nodded my head. She seemed rather surprised. But she went on anyway.

"Yeah, it's a pity we broke up," she sighed. I felt my heart rate amp up. How does someone even become as fake as she is? "He's a really good boy, too. And so respectful. Even during the time we dated, he treated me more like his noona than his girlfriend. I—" 

"While you treated him like a toy?" I muttered, unable to take anymore of her bull. 

She turned to me, half shocked, half offended. I narrowed my eyes on her even though I knew that it was rude, not just because I only met her a few minutes ago, but also because I was definitely younger than she was since she was a noona to Baekhyun. I could tell that her defenses were up now as her gaze closed in on me. Her facade had melted away and I was now seeing her as she really was. 

"What makes you say that?" Miran growled. Then the realisation dawned on her. She seemed like she couldn't believe what she was thinking of. "Baekhyun told you?" 

I couldn't help the look on my face. I was just staring at her, unsure of whether she was stupid or something else altogether in being surprised at the fact that Baekhyun told me about it. And as if sensing the tension even from the other side of the room, Baekhyun quickly came over. He stood next to me, his shoulder in front of mine, a subtle action that he unconsciously did whenever he felt that I needed to be protected. 

Miran moved her gaze to him. "You told her about what happened between us?" 

Baekhyun swallowed and looked away. "She's my girlfriend, noona." 

"So, what? You also told your best friends?" she sneered. 

I really hated how she was talking to Baekhyun, as if he owed her something. I took a step forward, about to blast my mouth off at her, when Baekhyun grabbed my hand, squeezing it tightly. He was wordlessly telling me not to intervene, to just let him deal with it. So what else could I have done besides standing still in my spot and seethe in my anger? 

"Today was the first time I broke my promise," he muttered. He seriously sounded angry. "Mei is my girlfriend," he repeated again. "I had to explain to her." 

"So you told your exes about me too, then?" she accused. 

"Mei is my first girlfriend after you," he mumbled honestly. "What you did to me was enough to scar me from dating again until I met her." Miran shut , now guilty. "I didn't tell anyone but Mei," he reiterated. "And if you're so afraid of me telling others about what happened, then stop talking to my girlfriend," he said in a subtle warning. 

And without another word, Baekhyun tugged on my hand and pulled me away, dragging me into his room. When he shut the door, separating us from the rest of the guests, he sighed tiredly, his shoulders deflating. 

"What promise did you break?" I finally let out my question, curious. 

"When we broke up," he murmured, running a hand through his hair in exhaustion. "She begged me not to tell a soul about the reason behind our break-up, especially to our parents." 

"She cheated on you yet had the audacity to get mad at you for breaking your promise?" 

Baekhyun could tell that I was angry. Not because of him but for him. His lips tilted into a smile. 

"I love how protective you are over your oppa," he cooed, flicking my chin. The blush that crept up my cheeks was involuntary but I grunted, pretending not to enjoy his attention. "What did she say to you anyway?" he questioned. 

"She told me about how well you treated her when you guys were dating," I muttered. Thinking about it again made me mad. "She said it was a pity that you guys broke up."

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. "Obviously. The guy she started seeing after me was a player too. She came back to me after that and she even wanted to try again—"

"You said no, right?" 

He chuckled but nodded anyway. "I said no."

I sighed, shaking my head. "Your love life is so dramatic." 

He grinned. "How could I have met you otherwise?"

I hid my smiled by giving him an indifferent look but it still surfaced anyway. I laughed, hitting his arm. He just knew what to say to make me feel better again, especially after that encounter with his ex.

"Today's going to be long day," Baekhyun grumbled, glancing at the door. 

I could only imagine how he felt, seeing his first love again here on this supposedly happy occasion. I went closer to him, slipping my hand in his, hugging his arm close to me. I kissed his shoulder before resting my chin there. 

"Yeah," I agreed. "But at least you get to pretend it's your birthday when we get home," I reminded him, voice soft and silky. 

Baekhyun turned to me, a wide grin on his face. He turned my face to him with his other hand and leaned in to kiss me. He and on my bottom lip, making me straighten my back to receive more. He knew I liked it when he did that. So obviously, Baekhyun being Baekhyun, he stopped. 

"I can't wait," he breathed, eyes twinkling, his teeth pulling at his bottom lip. 

 

 

The entire gang was at the shared house of Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Jongin and Sehun. It was the only house big enough that could accommodate 11 people, with the absence of any parental figure. The whole group had dinner together before they started drinking, but I couldn't join them for that since I had a own monthly dinner with my family to be at, which made me the last one to join them.

The door wasn't locked, so I got in without the need to ring them. I took off my shoes and followed the noise that led me to the rest in the living room. The moment I stepped into view, Baekhyun's eyes flew to meet mine. His lips immediately stretched wide into a grin, probably mirroring my own expression. Noticing Baekhyun's distracted gaze, the others turned to look at me. 

"Welcome, welcome!" Chanyeol exclaimed loudly. He probably had a few drinks already. And Chanyeol, he did not have good tolerance for alcohol.

"Mei, you're late!" Yerin shook her head playfully even though she knew why I was late in the first place. 

The fact that Sehun and Jongin moved a little over to create space for me next to Baekhyun didn't go unnoticed as I walked over. I took off my purse and sat down in the space they had provided me with, which was where my best friend was. 

"Sorry I'm late," I apologised to everyone, who only welcomed me warmly. Chanyeol was already pouring me a shot of soju. I turned to Baekhyun, who was looking at me with a flushed face, which was an indicator that he had already drank a few. I giggled a little. "Hi." 

"Hi," he murmured, a smile on his lips. 

"How many have you had?" I raised an eyebrow at him. 

At the same time, Jongdae mentioned to me that they had been playing a drinking game before I arrived. And since they were going to resume the game, he was wondering whether or not I wanted to join. So I said yes and got myself comfortable. 

"I had three shots already," Baekhyun answered me now as he tapped lightly on my , trying to slide the pillow he had been hugging under my bum for me to sit on. 

"Thanks," I murmured, lifting myself a little for him to slip the cushion underneath my body. "What kind of game is this anyway?" 

Baekhyun moved closer to me, resting his arm on my thigh. We brought our heads together as he started explaining the entire game to me. We always played drinking games but we tried to do it so that we played different ones every time.

So, according to Baekhyun, each round there would be questions asked that start off with 'Who is most likely to...' and everyone had to point to who they thought fitted the question best. The person with the most number of fingers being pointed at would drink. 

"So why did you drink?" I asked him with a cheeky smile as the both of us pointed at Jongin for 'Who is most likely to own at least five phones in a year?'.

"Apparently everyone thought I was most likely to die alone," he muttered unhappily. I laughed. "And I was voted most likely to use the bathroom with the door open — which was true anyway — and I was also voted most likely to take the most pictures when drunk — which I didn't disagree with either."

This game was actually pretty fun though I ended up only drinking two shots from the game while Baekhyun drank a total of four. We still had quite a bit of alcohol left untouched but we already had to leave for the club. I still hadn't had enough alcohol in my system, so while everyone was getting ready to go, I told Baekhyun that I wanted to drink just a little bit more. He gave me a stern look. 

"I haven't had enough," I whined. "Please?" 

Baekhyun had always been soft when it came to me. And I realised that he became a lot more giving when he was intoxicated. Which was how we ended up in the kitchen, away from the others who were already leaving the house. 

We were leaning against the kitchen counter with the leftover soju in front of us. Baekhyun was staring at me intently with eyes that were unfocused from the alcohol while I talked to him about my dinner with my family.

"And your sister? How did she do for her College Entrance exam?" he murmured, his eyes roaming about my face.

I took a shot before I shrugged. "She said it was okay, but the results won't be out until next month so I guess we won't know yet."

"Hey," Kyungsoo entered, interrupting our conversation. We turned to me as he pointed behind him. "We're leaving already, are you guys coming?"

Baekhyun nodded. "You guys can go ahead. We'll just meet you at the club."

Kyungsoo nodded at that and left us alone. We kept up with the conversation until everyone was out of the house and I had already drank another shot. I was going to have one more when Baekhyun stopped me.

"Don't drink too much," he warned, a hand on my wrist.

"Last one," I promised.

Baekhyun sighed but let me do what I wanted anyway. He let go of my wrist and when I finally drank the final shot, I already had a total of five shots in me.

"Okay, let's go," I muttered, picking up my purse and slinging it across my body.

Baekhyun and I wore our shoes and went out, though not before me reminding him to lock the door. We called for a cab and waited by the curb.

"Do you know which club we're going to?" I asked, already swaying a little. I might have overestimated the amount of alcohol I could since the effects had yet to hit me at the moment I had been drinking.

Baekhyun looked at me with wide eyes. I burst out giggling, stumbling a little from my lack of stability. He immediately wrapped his arm around me while his other hand was going through his phone for Chanyeol's number. I clung onto his arm and rested my body against his, my cheek on his shoulder. I was a touchy person normally, and so was Baekhyun. And when we drank, we were even touchier, which explained his arm tightening around my waist, bringing me closer to him.

"Hey, which club are we going to?" Baekhyun asked into the phone when Chanyeol picked up the call. "Oh, right. Okay. See you guys there."

He ended the call just in time for the taxi to arrive. The vehicle stopped before us and Baekhyun opened the door, letting me in first. He slid in after me, bumping into my body, our sides pasted to each other.

"Cosmic in Hongdae," he told the driver, even going to the extent of giving him the exact location.

When the cab driver started driving off, he leaned back against the seat and turned to me. I had my head back as I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He didn't say anything but kept staring. I wasn't sure if it was the fact that he always liked staring at me so intently or if it was just the alcohol that made my heart rate speed up.

"I drank a liiiitle bit too much," I muttered in a confession, trying not to think about my heart racing.

"I know," Baekhyun murmured. "Just be safe."

To me, being safe meant being with Baekhyun. So when we stopped outside the club, after Baekhyun paid for the cab and got out, I s my arm around his. We joined the rest in the line to enter the club. Chanyeol and Sehun were smoking already. Naturally, they offered Baekhyun a stick and he took it. Baekhyun was not a heavy smoker. He was a social one, wherein he only smoked when he was offered a stick.

"Better watch out for your girl, Baekhyun," Chanyeol muttered, his eyes narrowing on a group of guys behind us as he lets out a puff.

My heart stopped beating for a quarter second when I heard Chanyeol's words.

"Why?" Baekhyun muttered, turning his head to look behind us. He didn't even point out the fact that I was referred to as his girl. Maybe he didn't catch it.

I was admiring Baekhyun's side profile while he surveyed the group of guys behind us who were constantly glancing at me, scanning their eyes up and down my body. Baekhyun hummed, slipping his arm out from my hold. I was disappointed by that until he shifted himself closer. He had a gentle hand on my waist, lightly pushing me to the side while he moved to stand behind me, our bodies close. He was shielding my body with his own.

Yerin was giving me a smirk which made me want to hide myself. The girl couldn't be any more subtle than that, could she? She knew of my crush on my best friend and even though I made her promise not to tell anyone, she still liked to give me obvious looks like these in front of Baekhyun himself.

It was really stupid of me, I thought, to have a crush on Baekhyun. I thought he was cute and very attractive the first time I met him. But as we got closer, Baekhyun started opening up more, letting me in on his secrets, allowing me to fall deeper and deeper for him. Even though he told me he had been hurt badly by his ex and wasn't up for relationship stuff anymore for now, it still didn't stop me from forming that huge crush I had on my best friend. I was walking towards a dead end but it was as if I wanted to.

"The line's long today, huh," Baekhyun mentioned, scanning the amount of people in the queue.

Sehun nodded even though his eyes are somewhere else, probably checking out some girl. I tuned out when they started talking about something I had no interest in as I leaned back on Baekhyun's sturdy chest. As we moved up the line, we still kept the same position, the only difference was Baekhyun's hand resting on the side of my hip.

We eventually entered the club. Most of us gravitated to the dance floor where we had to split into smaller groups while some went to get more drinks. The place was crowded and packed which didn't give us much space to dance. Yerin and I were dancing next to each other while Baekhyun and Chanyeol were on our other sides. However, the longer Yerin and I danced together, the more I felt the guys who meant to just pass by crowd behind us. Chanyeol immediately put his arm around his girlfriend's waist and swooped her in to dance in front of him instead.

I sensed a pair of hands resting on my hips from behind. I turned around in shock to see a rather cute guy biting on his lip as he stepped closer and moved his body to mine. At once, I looked to Baekhyun, who was staring at me, watching my reaction. I held out my hand desperately, at the same time as when he put his out for me to hold. I grabbed his hand and he pulled me towards him, my body knocking into his lightly.

He didn't say anything when I moved to stand in front of him. I let go of his hand and danced close to him. His body moved so smoothly with mine and every time I looked at him, his smile was always so cute yet so y. Groups of girls started infiltrating our pack to dance with the others until we couldn't see them anymore. Baekhyun and I were eventually split up with the rest of the circle. Seeing how it was just the both of us, another small group of girls and guys started dancing with us. I was quite happy to dance with more people whom I thought just wanted to have fun but then I realised they had other motives.

The girls were slowly gravitating towards Baekhyun while the guys were almost surrounding me. I was uncomfortable and scared. I didn't feel safe. I looked at Baekhyun opposite me, whom I could tell was uncomfortable but just didn't want to show it. But he must have seen just how afraid I must have looked. He smiled politely at the girls before squeezing his way to get to me. I wasn't as courteous as he was when I simply slipped out between the guys and stumbled into my best friend's arms. They finally got the hint that though we were not a couple, we were not there to look for love. They left us only when I circled my arms around Baekhyun's neck and danced close to him, feeling a lot safer than I did the entire time we had been in the club.

"Are you okay?" he shouted into my ear, a hand on the small of my back.

I nodded and brought my lips to his ear, accidentally brushing his earlobe. "Don't let any guy dance with me, Baekhyun," I requested in almost a plead.

"I won't," he promised.

So for the rest of the night, Baekhyun and I were almost skin to skin as we danced and enjoyed the night. Around two in the morning, Yerin and Chanyeol came to look for us, wondering if we wanted to go already.

Baekhyun and I talked about it before that if we ever went clubbing together I had to stay over at his place or he wouldn't feel comfortable. And since I didn't like how the people here were just fishing for girls or guys to potentially have with, I said yes. They looked at Baekhyun for his decision, but he was already weaving through the crowd, pulling me along with my hand in his as he tried to get out of the place.

The four of us shared a cab back to the house. It was the longest 20 minutes ever, especially when I had a couple next to me and the guy I liked sitting in the passenger seat. But when we got out of the cab, Baekhyun came to stand next to me and to my surprise, slipped his hand into mine. Chanyeol and Yerin were walking ahead of us. I was glad that I had alcohol in me to be brave enough to move my hand and entwine our fingers together. My heart was thudding hard against my ribcage. Baekhyun didn't say anything but he squeezed my hand.

Yerin unlocked the door and we entered the house. We took off our shoes messily and went into our respective rooms; Yerin following Chanyeol into his room while I followed Baekhyun into his. Baekhyun shut the door before bringing me deeper into his room. I took my hand away from his and took my purse off to put it on the table. Baekhyun passed me a big shirt of his to wear.

In the next half an hour, we took turns showering before crawling into his queen-sized bed. I was exhausted and extremely sleepy. I barely even noticed it when Baekhyun moved closer and hugged my body to his in a spooning formation.

It was only when I woke up in the afternoon the next day that I noticed how close we were. It wasn't that surprising, really. The first time I slept over, Baekhyun had slept on the ground. But as time passed and as we got closer, we started sharing the same bed and recently, just a few months ago, we constantly found ourselves in intimate positions. We never said anything about it, but we also never stopped it.

That afternoon, my neck was resting on Baekhyun's bicep, his arm bending so that his hand was on my wrist, almost like a hold. His other hand was around my waist, his chest pressed onto my back, his legs resting against the back of mine. We were spooning rather intensely, not to mention how my shirt had lifted to expose my underwear. The sound of my heartbeat was echoing in my head and I was feeling dizzy at the skinship Baekhyun was giving me.

I took in a deep breath and stretched my body as much as I could without waking him up. But Baekhyun was a light sleeper. He groaned when he felt me moving, his arm around my waist tightening to hug me closer like I was a bolster. My breath was stuck in my throat. Was he trying to kill me? 

I turned my head subtly to look at Baekhyun. He was staring at me with heavy lidded eyes. I gave him a shy smile, to which he shut his eyes while a smile grew on his lips. My heart thumped painfully against my chest.

"I'm hungry, Baekhyun," I whispered, slowly getting up so that I wasn't numbing his arm anymore.

"What time is it?" he muttered. His arm that had been around my waist had dropped to my lap so that he was now smoothing my thigh with his hand.

"11:17," I informed him after checking the time.

"We could go for brunch," he peeked an eye open to look at me.

"With the rest?"

"Just us," he shook his head. "I have something to talk to you about."

The entire time we freshened ourselves up and got ready for brunch, my head was throbbing and my heart was pumping at all the possibilities of what Baekhyun wanted to talk to me about. Maybe he didn't want to be my best friend anymore. Maybe he didn't want to see me anymore. Maybe he wanted to tell me how uncomfortable it was having to sleep in intimate positions.

Baekhyun drove us to an Italian restaurant and we got there by half past two. We got a table but it was awkward, or at least on my part — I just couldn't stop thinking about what was about to come. We ordered our food and drinks. When the waitress left us, Baekhyun stared at me in amusement when I wouldn't look at him.

"Mei, what's wrong?" he asked with a chuckle.

"What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" I asked anxiously.

He laughed. He must have known that I was worrying about it. "It's not anything bad," he promised before frowning. "I think."

"What is it, then?" I prompted. When he only stared at me, I thought he was teasing me, the thought that he might be nervous saying it never once crossing my mind. I whined, "Baekhyun, I'm going to die of a anxiety attack."

He swallowed and took a while, as if he was thinking about it. Then he squared his jaw, firm with his decision.

"I just... I think I..."

He cleared his throat, annoyed with the way he was stuttering. Baekhyun was a very confident man, which also confused me when I heard the nervousness in his voice.

"I like you a lot, Mei," he murmured sincerely. My heart stopped. My entire body froze. I was just staring at him with wide eyes. "And I have been thinking very hard about this and I think if there was any other girl I would let break my heart again, it would be you." 

There was a long moment of silence until the waitress came back with our drinks. She set it down in front of us and left fairly quickly, as if she could also sense the tension wrapping around us.

"I've been contemplating hard on this and I came to a decision last night," he confessed. "So I'm just going to go for it and ask: will you be my girlfriend?" 

I felt like I was still dreaming in my sleep. Baekhyun had told me before that he was waiting for the right one, the one he knew he was going to spend the rest of his life with all because he didn't want to be hurt again. And yet now that he was asking me this question, did that mean that I was the one he chose, the one he wanted to be with the rest of his life?

Seeing how I was taking so long to respond, he quickly added. "You don't have to—"

"Baekhyun..." I whispered, my nose prickling. He looked scared, like he was expecting me to give him bad news. "I thought I was going to hurt myself," I told him softly. "I thought liking you would only bring me straight down a road with a dead end."

"You like me too?" he looked at me in surprise. He was so direct in asking that that I went scarlet even as I nodded shyly. "So you'd be my girlfriend?" he asked, half excited, half nervous. 

I nodded again. Baekhyun's grin then couldn't have gotten any wider. And that brunch we had was the first time (and last time) we were shy and courteous to each other. It felt like our first date, which in fact was exactly what it was. 

We didn't outrightly tell the others about it but they could sense it the moment we returned to the house even though we hadn't even been holding hands. I was laughing at something Baekhyun had said but it was as if we were emitting that 'we're a couple now' scent. Chanyeol and Yerin smirked at us when we went to join them at the living room. Even Sehun was looking at us suspiciously. I assumed that Jongin was still sleeping

"What?" Baekhyun and I muttered at the same time. 

Chanyeol grin widened. "Nothing. How was your date?"

While I blushed, Baekhyun shrugged and took a seat on the couch. "Excellent. The coffee was great too," he answered with a straight face.

Yerin was laughing when Chanyeol pumped his fist into the air. "Finally!"

"Thank you, Lord," Sehun dramatically put his hands together and pretended to be giving praise to God. 

Apparently, Baekhyun had come to the realisation of his feelings for me a few months ago. He talked to the boys about it and they all had been encouraging him to let go of that fear of having his heart broken again. (Sehun also mentioned that had been getting worried about Baekhyun's uality over the years, especially when he started to take on biting Sehun as a hobby.) 

And a year after we started going out, Baekhyun and I moved in together.

 

 

"Where are you?"

"Buying coffee," Baekhyun answered. "The usual place."

"Mmkay, I'll go to you."

He hummed and we hung up the call. I walked quickly to Baekhyun’s favourite coffee place — the very place we first met each other. He was standing by the side waiting for the order, as he fixed his eyes on the entrance to look out for me. He smiled when I arrived.

“I got you a chai latte with soy milk,” he told me.

“Perfect. Thanks,” I grinned.

“Where shall we study today?” he wondered.

We studied together almost everyday and the days that we didn’t study, we were either chilling by ourselves, or with each other. It was weird because Baekhyun had a whole group of friends he was close with. He was even living with his best mates. Yet he met up with me so often that I was sure that I was closer to him than he was with his friends.

“The boys won’t be home until dinner time,” he mentioned, raising an eyebrow. “Wanna study at my place?” I shrugged and nodded. I was fine with anything, really. He grinned, “Great. You can even join us for pizza night.”

“Diet, remember?” I sighed.

Baekhyun frowned but didn’t say anything as he nodded. His name was called then, so he went up to collect his order. He passed me the chai latte and it was then that I realised that he didn’t have his school material with him.

“Where’s your bag?” I asked him as I took the latte from him.

“In the car,” he murmured, taking a small sip of his coffee. He sighed in content. “Best coffee on campus.” He caught me rolling my eyes. “You really don’t know what you’re missing,” he shook his head.

“But that also means more coffee for you, right?”

He turned to me with a serious face. He pointed at me, “Yes.”

I laughed. He was so stupid.

The entire walk to his car consisted of us arguing about the pros and cons about coffee. It was a pointless argument because it wasn’t like he was going to make me love coffee, neither was it as if I was going to make him hate coffee. But it just made our walk a lot more interesting had we been talking about something else.

The ride to Baekhyun’s was short. I had been to his place many times now and I always liked it here. Even though there were four boys staying together, the house was clean and tidy almost every time I was there. It was probably due to how neat Sehun and Baekhyun were. (I'm not saying that Chanyeol and Jongin were messy and lazy in cleaning up, but that's exactly what I'm saying.)

We set our stuff on the table of the living room and got comfortable. Baekhyun was sitting at the head of the table while I sat at the side adjacent to his, my back against the sofa. I grabbed some cushions and passed one to Baekhyun for him to sit on. When we were finally comfortable, we started studying.

Baekhyun was in his first year of masters in becoming a mathematics teacher. His teaching course would end next year so that meant he would only be 25 by the time he joined the teaching field. I, on the other hand, was still in my third year in my specialised bachelor’s degree. I was to graduate next year at well.

Apart from the three-year gap between us, Baekhyun and I were also studying very different things. Since he was studying to become a math teacher, he studied mathematics. I was in the arts faculty, majoring in postmodern music. Compared to what he was doing, I had it so much easier.

Which was why, even when I was done revising today’s lectures and doing my pre-readings for my tutorials tomorrow, Baekhyun was still poring over his books. I leaned back against the couch and watched him for a while. He glanced up at me when he finally couldn’t take the staring.

“You’re done?” I bobbed my head. “That’s fast.”

“I only had to revise for one lecture and do two pre-readings,” I shrugged.

“Are you leaving now?” he asked, slowly setting down his pen.

I shook my head. “I’ll stay until the others come home.” Then I added, “I should remind Jongin that he still owes me lunch.”

“What for?” he raised an eyebrow.

“Secret,” I grinned.

“It has something to do with me, doesn’t it?” He squinted at me. When I pursed my lips, not saying anything, he sat up straighter. “I’ll trade you.”

“Trade what?” I looked at him like he was crazy.

“I’ll trade my secret for yours.”

I thought about it. “What kind of secret?”

“Anything,” he promised. “But you have to tell me why Jongin owes you lunch.”

“Anything?”

“You’re going to ask me about my ex, aren’t you?” He looked at me deadpanned.

I simply grinned at him. It was still funny to me how Baekhyun and I knew what the other was thinking despite the and the difference in our educational interests. Besides, I had been curious about his ex since according to his housemates, he never told anyone about his love life. Or rather, his past love life.

“What do you want to know?” he sighed.

“You’re single." He nodded. I looked at him and during that moment of silence, I scanned his features. “You’re not ugly, Baekhyun. And you’re not stupid either. I’m sure you could have had a girlfriend if you wanted to. But you don’t want to.” He continued staring at me, not saying or doing anything. I knew we were on a touchy subject now. “Why?” I whispered.

He was quiet for a long moment as he looked away, trying to gather his thoughts and words. Almost a long minute later, he spoke up again.

“She hurt me,” he muttered, looking at me before glancing away. “She was my first love yet she hurt me so, so badly. I was only 17 then, but still. She was the first girl I cared so much for and the first girl I paid attention to. So when she hurt me, I was scarred — I wouldn’t say for life, but it definitely feels like it. Every time I’m attracted to a girl, I’m just… I guess I’m just scared, you know? That she might hurt me like my ex did. I always think and outweigh the good and bad about being in a new relationship. And I always end up coming to a conclusion that no girl is worth another heartbreak.”

“Don’t you want to get married and have kids?” I asked softly, feeling so sad for him.

“Of course I do. I’m just going to wait for that girl,” he said confidently and I had no doubts in him going through with that promise with himself. “I’m going to wait until that one girl comes and gives me a reason to fall back in love.”

My heart clenched at his words. Knowing him for five months now as his best friend had shown me just what kind of friend Baekhyun was. He was trustworthy and so, so reliable. He was funny yet so understanding when it came to serious matters. He was like a big brother to me. And basically the entirety of Baekhyun was a lure for me to fall for the guy that he was, only to find out now that he was not keen on dating anytime soon, and I was definitely not the girl he would eventually want to date or he would have started wooing me by now, wouldn't he?

Wanting to change the topic and clear up the depressing atmosphere quickly, Baekhyun quirked his eyebrows at me. “So why does Jongin owe you lunch?”

I swallowed and forced a cheeky smile on my face. “We had a bet.”

“About what?”

“We had a bet on whether or not you would notice that I took one of your Supreme jumpers.”

“You what?” Baekhyun widened his eyes. Then he narrowed his gaze on me. “You took it?” I nodded, now forgetting about the indirect rejection. Instead, I was amused by his reaction. “Which one?”

“The white one.” I had to press my lips together to keep from laughing when his face showed confusion. He didn’t even know how it looked like because he had so many. “The one you lent me when we went to watch Civil War.”

“Oh,” he finally reacted. “So you basically just stole from me?”

“Well, I mean…” I trailed off when I saw the look he was giving me. He was going to be a great teacher in the future. I surrendered, “Yeah, I guess.”

He glared at me, “When was this?”

“Two weeks ago when I came over to wait for you to go to the fair together.”

“Two weeks?” He looked like he was in a disbelief that he really could have not noticed something like this for two weeks. I nodded timidly. He sighed. “Why did you even take it?” he asked in defeat now.

“Because it was big and comfy…” I murmured. I didn’t think I should add that I adored the smell of his sweater and basically every piece of his clothing.

“Are you going to give it back?”

“Yes…”

When he saw the embarrassed and guilty look on my face, he clucked his tongue and shook his head. “Keep it.”

“No, I don’t—”

“I’ll give that to you,” he murmured. “But you’ll buy brunch on Friday.”

Since the first time we had brunch together, we decided to have brunch together at least once a week every week as a way to catch up with each other. We just hadn’t expected our personalities to click so well to the point where we just wanted to keep hanging out with each other. Despite our (almost) daily meetings, we still had a Brunch Day, which we tried to keep consistent every semester which meant Brunch Day were on Fridays.

“Promise,” I beamed at him.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes without any ill meaning behind the action. He got up from his spot and stretched his body before bending to get our empty paper cups.

“Want anything to eat or drink?” he asked as he walked towards the kitchen.

“Just water, please,” I called out.

I was watching a makeup tutorial on YouTube when Baekhyun came back with a cup of water and a plate of cake. I paused the video and looked up at him in curiosity.

“Chanyeol’s sister made it,” he told me. “It’s chocolate orange.”

I liked cakes. So I decided to eat it even though I was meant to be on a diet. (Baekhyun was nice enough to cut me a small slice though.) Taking just one bite however, I realised that it wasn’t orange flavouring that she used but instead the zest of the orange skin. Baekhyun was watching me eat and he noticed the change in my expression. I pushed the plate away.

“It’s bitter.”

He looked at me like I was out of my mind. “It’s so sweet, Mei.”

“No, it’s bitter,” I insisted. “I don’t want it anymore.”

Baekhyun kept looking at me with that stern teacher look, trying to get me to finish it. But I didn’t like bitter things and Baekhyun knew that. Which was why he eventually pulled the plate towards him and finished up the rest for me.

And it was the little things like these that made me fall for a man who didn’t want to play with love.

 

 

I had been staring down at my phone, looking for a good brunch place to patron when I heard my name being called.

I only had a one-hour lecture at 10AM, which gave me the rest of the Friday free. I looked up and around, wondering who it was who was calling out to me. The campus was busy with many other students who had just finished their classes and were now rushing to their next. It was hard to pick out who it was.

“Mei!”

His voice was louder now and I could more or less tell the direction the voice was coming from. I turned to my 7 o’clock and saw Baekhyun beaming at me. I stopped walking and waited for him.

Baekhyun was someone I met through Chanyeol, who was doing my core subject as his minor elective. Chanyeol was studying to be an engineer but he was interested music, which led him to take on this art subject as his minor. Baekhyun, on the other hand, was in the science stream with his entire future as a teacher all mapped out. Chanyeol and Baekhyun were the same age which meant that they were both four years older than I was. They were already in their last year of their bachelor’s degree and they would have another two more years in the university to complete their masters.

“Are you going for a class now?” Baekhyun asked when he got to me.

I shook my head. “I’m actually done for the day.”

I was mesmerised by the way his eyes crinkled into half-moons. His smile was pretty and white. My heart thumped.

“Really? Me too!” He seemed so excited to find someone who finished just as early as he did. “Where are you going now then? Home?”

“I was actually looking for a brunch place to go.” An idea struck me then. I smiled at him, “Wanna join me?”

“I would love to,” he smiled back. “You’re the only person I know who finishes so early on a Friday, like me. I mean, I have friends who have their Fridays free but they don’t even come to uni.”

“I know,” I groaned jokingly. “It’s such a pain to be such a good student.”

Baekhyun laughed. “I know, right?”

I grinned. I liked Baekhyun. Maybe a little too much. He was funny and witty. And he was cute, too.

“So,” he raised his eyebrows. “Where shall we go?”

“There’s a brunch place a few bus stops down from uni. It’s rated pretty well on the foodie app.” I looked at him. “Wanna go there?”

He nodded. “I drove so we can take my car.”

“Yes!” I exclaimed. I actually wasn’t very keen on taking the bus.

Baekhyun chuckled. We walked to his car as we engaged in a polite conversation. After all, we had met only twice, making this time our third. We weren’t familiar with each other yet but I was confident in saying we enjoyed each other’s company. Even in the previous times that we met, Baekhyun and I had much to say to each other. (The first time not so much since we had to rush for our respective classes but the second time, I was pretty sure Chanyeol was bored to death just listening to Baekhyun and I talk.)

“Oooh, nice car,” I complimented as I eyed his white Audi.

“Yeah, no, that’s not mine,” he muttered. “That one?” he pointed to an ugly sports car model in striking green. “That’s mine.”

I gaped at him. “Seriously?”

“No,” he sniggered.

I was laughing even as I whined, “You’re terrible!”

“I know,” he agreed, still chuckling as he unlocked his car (the white Audi). “You should have seen your face though. You looked so scandalised.”

“I was seriously contemplating on walking if that really was your car.”

“Wow,” he clucked his tongue and shook his head. “And I thought I was mean. What if the owner of the car heard you? How do you think he might have felt?”

“Shut up, Baekhyun,” I laughed, rolling my eyes playfully.

He grinned. We entered his car and I had to say that it was very neat and clean. I had ridden cars owned by men before and their cars were mostly either messy or smelled like cigarettes, or both. In Baekhyun’s case, his car was neat and smelled like peaches.

“I’m just saying,” he mumbled as he started up the car. “He might have been hurt by your remark. Not everyone has the privilege to have y looking cars like mine.”

“Seriously?” I giggled, nudging his arm. “You’re unbelievable.”

He chuckled. When the car was done warming up, he looked at me. “Where to?”

“Oh, here!” I showed him the address on my phone.

He came closer, bending over my phone. I had to stop breathing for a few seconds due to our closeness. The moment Baekhyun assessed the location of the place on the map in his mind, he nodded and moved away, pulling the seatbelt across his body.

“Belt up, lady,” he said, making me giggle. He grinned.

Baekhyun, I found out, apart from being witty and funny, he was also very entertaining. He had so many stories to tell and he always knew when the right time was to say something. The entire brunch session, there was not a time where it was awkward. Conversation came to us easy and we joked around so much that by the time we were leaving the place, I was pretty sure that it was probably unnatural for me to feel so comfortable with someone so quick.

We ended our coincidental meeting when he dropped me off at my apartment building. I wished we could have talked longer, but I didn’t want to take up too much of his time. And though I really wanted to do this with him again, I didn’t want to say it, fearing that I might come off too strong. But it seemed like Baekhyun was thinking that same thing as I was.

“The food was really good,” he told me as the car idled by the curb. I didn’t really want to part yet. I bobbed my head in agreement. “And it was really fun even though all we did was talk about Chanyeol.”

“That’s what made it fun,” I grinned at him.

He chuckled, nodding his head in agreement. But when his laughter died down, the car was silent and that was the first time we had an awkward moment. “We should do this again,” he murmured.

I tried not to sound too eager when I agreed, “We should.”

Baekhyun looked at me in slight surprise. “Really?” I smiled and nodded to reiterate my point. He grinned. “Next Friday, same time?”

“Yes, but I think we should exchange numbers first,” I said, blushing a little. He gave me a jokingly suspicious look as I fished my phone out of my pocket. I blushed even harder. “Okay, or we could do it through FaceBook.”

“I’m kidding,” he assured me, taking out his phone as well. “I don’t use FaceBook unless it is to watch cute corgi videos.”

“Oh my god, me too!”

We were both laughing as we exchanged our phones, each of us typing in our contact numbers. And that was when our paths came together, subtly converging into one without us even knowing.

 

 

I was looking up at the menu board when I sensed someone standing next to me in the crowded place. I glanced to the side and saw a guy with black hair, his fringe brushing his eyes, his lips puckered slightly in contemplation of the choice of drink he should get.

My heart rate sped up and I was frozen still for a moment when he returned my gaze. He smiled courteously and held his hand out to the queue, directing me to go before him. I lowered my head and murmured a thanks loud enough for him to hear. While waiting for my turn at the counter, I could make out the soft humming coming from the guy from before, quietly humming to a song in his head. I listened to him until it got to my turn to order.

I got a chai latte with soy milk and stepped to the side to wait for my order when I have paid. I focused on what the guy behind me ordered. He was a coffee person. In my head, the future that I had already created with this coffee-loving-but-extremely-attractive stranger had already vanished.

But when he stood next to me to wait for his order, that dream of a future returned and I imagined that I had turned into a coffee lover because of him and we would often go out of coffee dates. The moment the barista called my name, however, that dream burst like a balloon. I berated myself for being so stupid and imaginative as I went up to collect my drink.

I had just left the café and was starting to walk in the direction of my class when I heard someone call out to me. His voice was awfully low and I only knew one person with a voice like that.

I turned around to see Chanyeol striding towards me with his long legs, his smile so wide that it should scare me, especially since it was only nine in the morning.

“Going to class?” I nodded at his question. “Let’s go together!”

We were about to start walking off when Chanyeol’s name was called. The both of us turned. The guy who had been standing behind me in the queue was walking towards us. He gave me a flitting glance before landing his gaze on me, surprised that I was talking to his friend.

“What?” Chanyeol muttered, his mood turning a total 180 at the sight of this guy. I wondered if they were even friends.

The coffee-loving stranger cocked an eyebrow at him. He brushed his hair up, letting it fall in a handsomely messy way. “Don’t what me — you finished my wax and left the house without even telling me,” he snapped, obviously frustrated. He gave Chanyeol’s hair a condescending look. “And it would have been fine if you didn’t finish it all on your hairdo.”

“It’s not ,” Chanyeol grumbled, touching his hair delicately like it might sag or something at the other guy’s comment.

“You made me come to uni with this,” the coffee guy growled, pointing to his messy hair. I didn’t see anything wrong with it but I guess we would always be more critical about our own appearances.

“It looks fine,” Chanyeol countered in hopes of satiating him. “Doesn’t it, Mei?”

My eyes widened at the mention of my name. I didn’t expect myself to be part of this conversation since this was obviously their problem. I noticed Coffee Guy’s eyes on me. I nodded sincerely.

“See?” Chanyeol raised his chin defiantly.

Coffee Guy rolled his eyes. I couldn’t help the smile that appeared on my lips. He was so sassy. It only made him a lot more attractive in my eyes now.

As if trying to change the topic as quickly as possible, Chanyeol introduced us. “Mei, this is Baekhyun, my housemate—”

“And your wax provider,” Baekhyun mumbled under his breath, still salty about the morning incident.

“And Baekhyun, this is Mei, my only friend in music class,” Chanyeol promptly continued, ignoring Baekhyun’s remark.

Baekhyun, who was the perfect gentleman as seen from before, dropped his sassiness and stepped forward as he held his hand for a handshake.

“Nice to meet you,” we murmured as we smiled at each other.

And that was the story of how we met.

 

 

---

Author's note:

To Mei;
I’m so, so sorry I took months to finish it. I meant for it to be a Christmas present but now I guess it shall be your birthday present. So thank you for your patience. I have my doubts on this, as you know, but I still hope that you enjoyed reading it as much as I liked writing it (apart from all the brainstorming I had to do with the new format of writing). I’m not sure if this was what you wanted in a BFF-turn-lovers story, since this was, after all, my take on things. But still, I gave my best for this as a way to show you my gratefulness and thankfulness for your support and friendship. I would elaborate but I think you know how I feel (because otherwise I would be repeating the same thing over and over again). So I guess I should also wish you an advanced happy birthday!

To my other readers;
I’m sorry for the longass update as well as the scare I gave you guys on the previous “update”. I have no idea why but AFF always unchecks the box to keep my drafts hidden whenever I re-open the tab and save the chapter. (Not sure if it’s just me, but please tell me I’m not the only one…) But yeah, this took so, so long because I had to do so much brainstorming and it also took up a lot of time and effort. I hope you guys weren’t confused by the format though – it was something new I was trying but after this, I don’t think I would be keeping up with it. The story is in chronological order like all my other one shots, except this one was going backwards. It was a new take on things and thinking about it in my head was so much easier than actually writing it. So I’m sorry if you see any mistakes (and if you do, please tell me so I can amend it), and I hope you guys enjoyed this one shot.

xoxo