A/N: as always, thank you for your support! I feel happy for every new subscriber, bookmark, upvote, comment or view. Thank you so much guys!! 

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--

The next morning, it isn't the Sun hitting his eyes that wakes him up from his sleep. It's the loud crash and a string of curses that welcome Baekhyun back to reality, making him open his eyes begrudgingly and look around the room. He feels confused when the room he is in right now doesn't resemble his own bedroom, but the realization that he's staying at Chanyeol's place hits him not so long after. The memories of yesterday's conversation come flooding back too, and Baekhyun feels the overwhelming feeling of guilt that comes with remembering what Chanyeol said to him the other day. 

Staring at the ceiling, Baekhyun decides that he should apologize to Chanyeol for thinking badly of him. He assumed that Chanyeol had been pretending the whole time just because the man tried to kiss him after driving him home, which was stupid of Baekhyun, really. Even Jongin tried to talk some sense to him, saying that he heard about how good of actor Chanyeol is from Kyungsoo who asked Jongdae about it, and he was still too stubborn to listen, already having a theory of his own in his head and refusing to accept that in the reality, it can be different.

Baekhyun feels a lot better than yesterday with the headache almost gone along with the high fever, and he doesn't feel so tired and sleepy anymore either. The truth is, Baekhyun can't even imagine going back to sleep in the upcoming hours, being so well rested that he could stay up two days straight. 

When he gets up from the bed, his legs still feel a little wobbly as he takes the first step toward the door, but Baekhyun soon gets the hang of it along the way. Baekhyun doesn't know where the living room or kitchen or every other room is, so he just follows the sound of Chanyeol's frustrated voice, feeling so small in a house so big. Of course he didn't expect Chanyeol's house to be small considering he's a CEO and his whole family is loaded with money, but it's still kind of overwhelming that just Chanyeol's bedroom is bigger than his whole apartment, and his whole is probably bigger than Baekhyun's whole apartment complex. 

While walking down the stairs, Baekhyun has to support himself by touching the wall with every step, not sure that he wouldn't fall if it wasn't for the wall's assistance. And just then, when he's on the last step, Baekhyun realizes that he isn't wearing anything beside his boxers and Chanyeol's large shirt - which, thankfully, falls to his mid-thigh, being as big on him as it is. However, it doesn't stop Baekhyun from feeling nervous, knowing that now there isn't a blanket that he can use to cover his lower body with, unlike yesterday. 

Thinking more about it, he shouldn't feel nervous about showing up in front of Chanyeol dressed like this. After his one night stands, he was always walking around , not feeling a twinge of embarrassment as he searched for his clothes. After all, the person that was in the room with his had already seen all of Baekhyun the other night, there was no need to feel shy about his body being revealed. So why does he feel so nervous about the thought of Chanyeol seeing him with only a shirt and boxers on, all his crucial parts covered, when he has never felt even the smallest sting of shame while putting his form on display?  

Gulping loudly, he swallows down the nervousness and follows the noise coming from the right side, looking around in awe as he walks through what seems to be a living room. Everything is pretty and looks like something Baekhyun would never afford in his life with the current income, but like Chanyeol's bedroom, it looks more like an expensive hotel room than a living room that should be full of family photos that give off a warm feeling instead of the big painting of Chanyeol's family hanging on the wall which has such a cold vibe that Baekhyun shivers. 

Baekhyun finds Chanyeol in the kitchen, talking on the phone and ordering food while frowning at the mess he has made. There is a lot of broken glass and vegetables laying on the floor, and Baekhyun figures that when he heard the crash that woke him up earlier, it was probably the glass bowl that shattered as it made contact with the floor. Baekhyun's eyes continue to scan the kitchen for more damage, and they immediately fall on the burnt-t-ashes meat on the plate beside the pan that seems to be even more burnt than the meat. The sight is enough for Baekhyun to cringe as his gaze falls on Chanyeol again, the CEO ending the call right when Baekhyun averts his eyes from the mess in the kitchen to look at the man.

"Guess you were telling the truth when you said you're not the best cook," Baekhyun remarks with a small smile, standing in the middle of the doorstep, nervously playing with his fingers.

Chanyeol turns to him when he hears Baekhyun's rather quiet voice, and he is shocked to find Baekhyun here. He thought that the brunet is still asleep, but considering how much noise Chanyeol has been making the whole time, it shouldn't be a surprise that Baekhyun woke up. 

"Is there a reason to lie?" Chanyeol asks as he puts the phone back in his sweatpants, averting his gaze away from Baekhyun. Seeing the brunet with bed hair and dressed in Chanyeol's shirt that is way too big on him is making breathing hard for Chanyeol. Baekhyun looks way too good like this, and he doesn't want to seem like a creep while staring at Baekhyun's long legs that are put on display.

Although the CEO didn't want to imply anything by his question, Baekhyun's mind goes automatically back to the yesterday's conversation, and the shorter male looks down guiltily at the memory of him not believing Chanyeol when he said that he had only invited Baekhyun to dinner in order to cheer him up.

Seeing the way Baekhyun looks at the ground, visibly uncomfortable, Chanyeol changes the topic quickly. "The doctor has said that you should stay in bed for at least twenty-four hours, by the way. Why are you here and not in bed?"  

"I-" Baekhyun stops himself, not really knowing what to say. Honestly, he wants to apologize for being an when Chanyeol had only been trying to say sorry the whole time, but instead of an apology, he says, "I heard some noise, so I came down to see what's wrong."

"Oh.. sorry for waking you up, then," Chanyeol's worries about him being the one who woke Baekhyun up are now confirmed, and Chanyeol feels bad for disturbing the brunet's sleep it was clearly stated that Baekhyun needs to rest.

"It's okay, I've had enough of sleeping anyway," Baekhyun tries to reassure Chanyeol and wants to come closer, but he is immediately stopped by the taller male who yells at him not to come any closer. 

When Baekhyun takes a step back, biting his lower lip, Chanyeol explains, "There is broken glass everywhere, and you're bare-feet. You're going to cut yourself." 

Baekhyun lets out a quiet oh, looking at his feet and realizing that yes, he is indeed bare-foot. He totally forgot about not wearing socks or slippers, since the floor in Chanyeol's house is warm, unlike Baekhyun's. At home, Baekhyun can't walk around bare-foot if he doesn't want his feet to freeze, so he probably thought that if he's feet feel warm at the contact with the floor, he must have his socks on. 

"Uhm, I ordered food for us, since I've screwed up, so you can make yourself comfortable in the living room while waiting for the delivery guy. If you want to watch something, the TV remote should be somewhere on the couch," Chanyeol gestures toward the living room with his hand, smiling warmly at Baekhyun who just nods and turns to leave, tugging the shirt lower as he walks away, hoping that Chanyeol doesn't notice it. But, Chanyeol being as perceptive as ever, notices it and asks, "Do you want me to lend you sweatpants, or something? You must feel uneasy... walking around like... uhm, this."

"That would be nice, yeah," Baekhyun answers and runs away, walking over to the large couch and finding the TV remote before he sits down, bringing his legs up to his chin. Why is talking to Chanyeol so damn awkward? Baekhyun wonders how long does he have to stay here because the tense atmosphere is killing him.

Getting rid of the thoughts about Chanyeol, Baekhyun turns the TV on and starts searching for something interesting.

--

Chanyeol starts cleaning the kitchen and throws away the burnt meat with a deep sigh. It's been a while since he cooked for himself, but Chanyeol still thought that he can do it. Looking at the mess around himself, guess he was mistaken. Since home-cooked meal is considered being more tasty than delivery, Chanyeol wanted to make something easy for Baekhyun for lunch, but he has royally screwed up. Besides, Jongin would probably be more at ease with leaving Baekhyun alone with Chanyeol if he saw that Chanyeol even cooked for Baekhyun when he comes over later, along with Jongdae and probably Kyungsoo too. 

Getting a morning call from Jongdae who said that Jongin wants to check up on Baekhyun today made him quite nervous, assuming that Jongin's scary boyfriend will come along, too. Chanyeol isn't sure if he's ready for another encounter with the small Satan though, and he would be extremely thankful if it was only Jongin who will show up later. Jongdae also said that he will come with here with Jongin, and Chanyeol wonders if Jongdae wants to be here at the same time as Jongin to make sure the two of them won't kill each other if they are left alone.

However, Chanyeol can't blame Jongin for not liking him after what happened between him and Baekhyun on Sunday. Jongin is Baekhyun's best friend, and it's given that if someone hurts Baekhyun in any way, Jongin - as one of the closest people in Baekhyun's life - will want to murder that certain someone. And unfortunately, that certain someone that has hurt Baekhyun is Chanyeol.

The whole cleaning process takes maybe fifteen minutes, and with throwing out the broken glass and checking if the floor is clean from any shreds one last time, Chanyeol decides to finally look for some sweatpants to give to Baekhyun. He passes Baekhyun on the way to his bedroom, making a short eye-contact with the male lying on his couch before he runs the stairs to the second floor, heading to his bedroom where he hopes to find something suitable for Baekhyun. However, after going through all of his sweatpants, Chanyeol is left growling in frustration because everything would be too big for Baekhuyn. Chanyeol likes to wear over-sized clothes, since it's extremely comfortable, and while it looks okay on Chanyeol, Baekhyun would probably drown in the CEO's clothes. 

Sighing, he grabs a pair of loose shorts which material is the closest to Chanyeol's own sweatpants, comfortable and soft and decides that this should be enough for Baekhyun to not feel awkward while walking around the house, the shorts long enough to fall under his knees and cover his thighs. Although, Chanyeol would be happier if Baekhyun stayed in bed, or lying on the couch, since he should rest and not be exploring Chanyeol's house. If Baekhyun faints again and hurts himself when there is nobody to catch him before he falls like last time, Jongin would skin Chanyeol alive for not keeping his promise about taking care of his precious best friend.

The doorbell rings just as Chanyeol's leaving his bedroom and thinking that it's probably the delivery guy with their lunch, Chanyeol speeds up, not wanting to leave the guy waiting. Just as he turns the corner, Baekhyun who is slowly walking toward the front door comes into Chanyeol's vision, and the CEO immediately feels the panic creeping inside of him. He runs the stairs so fast that it's a miracle he hasn't fallen down, his long legs taking two and sometimes even three stairs at once. Fortunately, the moment Baekhyun is grabbing the doorknob, Chanyeol stops beside him, pushing the surprised brunet to the side gently. "Hi," Chanyeol greets the delivery guy with a forced smile when he opens the door, keeping Baekhyun out of the sight and ing the short into his hands. 

"Uh, hello," the young boy greets Chanyeol back, furrowing his brows in confusion at the tall man in front of him. It's not the first time he's doing a delivery for Chanyeol, but it's certainly the first time the CEO greets him so enthusiastically and breathlessly. However, his job is only to deliver the food, so he doesn't comment on it. "It'll be 38,500.00 won."

"Just a second," Chanyeol says and pulls out the wallet from his jacket just a few centimeters away from him, handing the delivery guy four ten-thousand bills and telling him to keep the rest. 

"Thank you," the boy says as they exchange a bag full of food for the money, and then with a polite smile thrown at Chanyeol, the guy drives away on his motorbike. Chanyeol follows him with his eyes and closes the door only when the boy is fully out of sight. Turning his head to his right, Baekhyun is looking at him with raised eyebrows, clearly waiting for Chanyeol to explain why exactly he has pushed him aside when Baekhyun just wanted to open the door for the guy.

"I didn't want him to think that... you know..." Chanyeol trails off, gesturing to Baekhyun's outfit and disheveled hair from sleep. There is no need for him to finish his sentence, they both know what Chanyeol is getting at. 

"I understand," Baekhyun nods and starts walking away, returning to the couch again. There wasn't any anger or venom in his voice, but Chanyeol still felt like he needs to say more so Baekhyun wouldn't misunderstand something.

So as he follows the shorter male back to the couch in the living room, Chanyeol continues, "Rumors spread really fast, and I don't want to put you in an unpleasant position. Especially not after that article."

Putting the bag with food on the table in front of Baekhyun, Chanyeol takes a seat on the smaller couch left from Baekhyun and makes himself comfortable, though he would prefer the bigger couch that is currently occupied by Baekhuyn.

"I mean it, Chanyeol. I understand," Baekhyun says, looking into the bag to see what's in it, wanting to see what cost Chanyeol more than 35,000 won. Then, feeling like saying that he understands is not enough, he quietly adds, "Thanks." 

Honestly, it didn't even occur to Baekhyun that if he opened the door and came face to face with the delivery guy wearing just Chanyeol's shirt a minute ago, there would most likely be a lot of rumors about them, if the boy recognized Baekhyun's face from the photos from that article. Baekhyun is truly grateful that Chanyeol stopped him back there.

"Why is there so much food?" Baekhyun asks after a beat of silence as his eyes scans the bag's content. Sure, he loves tasty food, but there is no way in hell that they can eat so much, even if they eat it together.

"Jongdae, Jongin and his boyfriend will be here in a few minutes, so I figured that they would be hungry, since it's lunchtime. I talked to Jongdae earlier and asked him what you and your friends like to make sure they won't leave my place hungry," avoiding eye-contact with Baekhyun, Chanyeol explains while scratching his neck, somewhat embarrassed. However, Baekhyun thinks there is no reason for Chanyeol to be embarrassed after confessing that he asked Jongdae for help in order to make a good impression on Baekhyun's friends. After all, from what Baekhyun has told Jongin about Chanyeol, his best friend must despise the CEO, but like any other human being, Jongin is easily swayed when someone offers him his favorite food - and in Jongin's case it's chicken, which is also a part of the bag's content. 

"Aren't you bothered by inviting strangers to your house just because of me?" Baekhyun voices his thoughts as he leans back against the couch, abandoning the bag with food for a while in order to give all of his attention to the taller male. 

"Not really," comes Chanyeol's answer, which honestly surprised Baekhyun a little. "I just want you to be more comfortable while you're here, and if having your friends around makes you feel better, I don't mind them being here."

If Baekhyun was surprised before, he is shocked to death now. Chanyeol is letting strangers into his house just to make Baekhyun feel better? And not even that, but he's also buying food for all of them? Okay, Jongdae is his best friend so they probably buy food for each other all the time, but Chanyeol doesn't know Jongin and Kyungsoo, and yet he's doing all of this just because of Baekhyun - and they aren't exactly friends either. 

Chanyeol, feeling uneasy under Baekhyun's piercing gaze, stands up from the couch, saying, "I'll bring you some water to go with the-"

"Wait," when Chanyeol feels warm, slender fingers circling his wrist, he looks down at Baekhyun and listens to the brunet's request, stopping in his movement. "Can you sit down for a while?"

Although Baekhyun asks Chanyeol if he can sit down for a moment, the other man doesn't even wait for Chanyeol's answer as he pulls him down beside him, moving away a little to make room for Chanyeol. When Chanyeol is sitting next to him, Baekhyun lets go of Chanyeol's hand and brings both of his own to his lap, nervously playing with his fingers while biting at his lower lip. It's the second time Chanyeol sees him doing that today, and he guesses that whenever Baekhyun gets nervous, he busies himself with doing something with his hands. 

"Is something wrong?"

"What you're doing is wrong," Baekhyun replies after some time, taking Chanyeol aback. Initially, Baekhyun just finally wanted to say that he's sorry for acting like an and a child, not letting Chanyeol explain himself when he was asking Baekhyun to give him a chance, but when Chanyeol asked about what's wrong, it triggered something in Baekhyun.

"I-I don't unde-"

"Why are you taking care of me? You don't know me. Don't even try to tell me that you're such a good person that you would do this for everyone, so why?" Baekhyun asks, his voice steady and much too accusatory for someone who is being taken care of by the same person toward whom he's acting so ungratefully to. 

"I already told you, it's because-"

"Cut the crap, it can't be just because this is your way to apologize to me. It can't be the truth," Baekhyun shakes his head. "You can't be so nice to me after I behaved like a jerk, not even wanting to hear you out."

Chanyeol is quiet for a while, not knowing what to say. Looking at Baekhyun now, when the male is biting his lip furiously and avoiding eye-contact like a professional. Chanyeol wonders if he also looked so pitiful when he was apologizing to Baekhyun for his behavior yesterday. It doesn't matter though, because the only thing that matters to Chanyeol at the moment is how he can get rid of this uncharacteristic expression that Baekhyun is sporting right now. 

"You're not making any sense," Chanyeol states calmly, but that one short sentence is enough for Baekhyun to get fired up.

"I'm just.. really sorry for-"

"Are you stupid?" Chanyeol sighs deeply, running a hand through his hair that are still messy from his sleep. Before Baekhyun can react to Chanyeol's question, the CEO quickly continues. "You had every right to turn me down yesterday. I've been making you uncomfortable for days and then when you finally agreed to spend time with me, I betrayed your trust."

"I could just let you explain, but I was an -"

"You weren't. You were just hurt and didn't want to talk about it, and I get it. I don't understand why would you feel the need to apologize to me when I'm the one at fault," Chanyeol says, and his tone sounds so definite that it shuts Baekhyun up, the shorter male just siting next to Chanyeol quietly, his gaze still on his hands. Even after Chanyeol assured him that he completely understands why Baekhyun was acting the way he did yesterday and isn't the slightest bit bitter and angry about it, the brunet doesn't seem like he believes Chanyeol. But why? Why is Baekhyun putting all the blame on himself? 

And why does Baekhyun look like it's not the first time he's blaming himself for something that isn't his fault? 

"The reason I'm doing this, taking care of you," Chanyeol starts slowly, watching Baekhyun tense up at his words. "Is because I was hoping that you would give me a second chance."

"What?" Baekhyun finally looks at him, blinking up at Chanyeol in confusion, and the CEO praises himself for being able to make Baekhyun look him in the eyes. 

"I really want to get to know you, but after Sunday, I doubted that you would want to see me again, nor spend time with me. So I thought that while taking care of you, I can talk to you. I figured that if you don't give me a second chance, I can at least explain everything," Chanyeol decides to come clean and sits back down on the couch so Baekhyun doesn't have to hurt his neck by looking up at him. Of course, he skips the part where he felt extremely guilty for Baekhyun's condition, deep down knowing that Baekhyun getting sick has something to do with him, and wanting to repent himself by taking care of Baekhyun. 

"Why would you want to get to know me?" Baekhyun asks in the end after a few seconds of silence, and if it wasn't for Baekhyun's lost and bewildered expression, Chanyeol would think that the other male is just fishing for compliments, but seeing how puzzled Baekhyun looks at the mere thought of someone wanting to befriend him is telling him that Baekhyun truly can't imagine why would Chanyeol want to become his friend. The question is why, though? What made him believe that he's not good enough and that people wouldn't even think of getting to know him? 

"Because you're interesting," Chanyeol decides in the end, answering with the exact same words he told Jongdae when he asked why Chanyeol wants to befriend Baekhyun. 

"I'm not," Baekhyun chuckles humorlessly, denying what Chanyeol said to him with a slight shake of his head, lowering his eyes again. It's really making Chanyeol kind of sad, that someone as amazing as Baekhyun can't see his own worth. 

It's true that Chanyeol doesn't know the brunet, but from the short walks from work and that one dinner on Sunday, Chanyeol truly thinks of Baekhyun as one of the most awesome people he has ever met in his life. Not exaggerating. Baekhyun has a really refreshing personality with a great sense of humor and a perfect laugh to accompany his jokes. 

When Chanyeol met Baekhyun for the first time, he would have described Baekhyun as fearless, straightforward, and confident, but Chanyeol knew, even in that time, that there is something Baekhyun's hiding under the layers of sarcastic humor and smirks. That's what ignited Chanyeol's want to get the man in the first place, since Baekhyun was such a good challenge, and Chanyeol desperately wanted to be the one who gets under the skin of the feisty brunet. However, seeing Baekhyun like this, Chanyeol isn't proud of himself for making Baekhyun show his vulnerable side in the slightest. It doesn't feel as good as it should. 

"Who told you that?" Chanyeol questions, knowing from experience that the opinion Baekhyun has on himself now must have been created by someone else in the past, cruel things repeated over and over again so many times that Baekhyun eventually started to believe to everything. Chanyeol knows, because when he was younger, his father would throw insults at him all the time after finding out that Chanyeol is a biual, and for a moment, Chanyeol actually believed that he was a horrible son and a disgrace to Park family. 

When Baekhyun doesn't answer, Chanyeol repeats the question, his tone lower than before and maybe a bit angrier too. He's not angry at Baekhyun for not answering his question, though. Chanyeol is angry at the person, or the people, that have made Baekhyun feel worthless. Getting into someone's head takes a lot of time, and Chanyeol wonders how long had Baekhyun had to endure the crude words thrown at him, and after what time Baekhyun eventually started believe in them.

Just as Baekhyun opens his mouth to speak though, the doorbell rings again and a loud Chanyeol, guess who's here pierces the air. The CEO groans loudly after hearing Jongdae's high pitched voice. However, he doesn't get up to open the door, which makes Baekhyun curious.

"Aren't you going to open the door?" the brunet asks quietly, suddenly feeling incredibly awkward when he realizes that the conversation between the two of them got a bit too personal for Baekhyun's liking. 

"Jongdae has a key," Chanyeol says, moving away from Baekhyun a little, not wanting to seem like he is breaking one of Kyungsoo's rules. After all, they somehow got rather close while talking. "He just likes to announce himself."

"Seems like him," Baekhyun agrees, and it only takes a couple of seconds before Jongdae is bursting into Chanyeol's house with a loud greeting, Jongin behind him, hand in hand with the devil himself who goes by the name of Kyungsoo.

The petite cook immediately makes an intense eye-contact with Chanyeol, looking right into the CEO's soul while taking his shoes off. Then, he politely bows and says, "Thank you for having us." He nudges Jongin with his leg then, the taller reluctantly copyings his boyfriend's actions and bows too, mumbling the same thing Kyungsoo has said under his nose, barely audible. 

"You won't believe what happened today," Jongdae starts, full of enthusiasm as he takes his coat off and hangs it. 

"Jesus, please don't start again," Jongin's quiet murmuring catches Chanyeol's attention, and judging by how the petite cook beside Jongin sighs deeply, the two of them must have heard all about what happened to Jongdae today. 

"First of all, Minseok invited me to lunch today," Jongdae says with a bright smile on his face as he walks into the living room, flopping himself down on the couch beside Baekhyun. "And on the way to the restaurant, we met Sehun-"

"Who is Sehun?" Chanyeol quickly interrupts.

"Jongin's dance partner," Jongdae and Baekhyun answer at the same time.

"Do you all know each other, or what?" Chanyeol asks. How come that Chanyeol's been friends with Jongdae for so damn long and hadn't met any of those people? Of course, he heard their names once in a while, but he didn't expect that everyone knows each other so well. 

"Actually, yes," Jongdae nods, and then continues in retelling his story. "Oh, so, we met Sehun along the way, and we started talking a bit. He told me about the huge upcoming dance competition-"

"You have a dance competition coming up?" Chanyeol turns to Jongin with interest, always wanted to go see a big dance competition, not just watch it on television. His cousin loves to dance and she had invited Chanyeol to a lot of her competitions in the previous years, but since it was more of a friendly competition between kids, Chanyeol wasn't able to experience a live, serious dance-off. 

"Yeah, this Saturday," Jongin answers with ease, like they didn't want to kill each other just yesterday. 

"Cool."

"Can you pay attention to me?" when Chanyeol turns his head back to Jongdae, his friend utters a quiet, sarcastic thank you before he continues. "As I mentioned, he told me about the upcoming dance competition, and asked if I didn't want to come-"

"You haven't told Jongdae yet?" this time it's Baekhyun who interrupts Jongdae, looking at Jongin with wide eyes in surprise.

"I was going to tell him today," Jongin says as he sits down next to Baekhyun, dragging his boyfriend down with him. Thank God Chanyeol's couch is so big to fit all of them. Jongin's eyes suddenly fall on the bag with food on the table, and the white-haired man whispers dreamily, "Oh, I smell chicken."

"I hate you. All of you," Jongdae whines when he's interrupted for the third time already and frowns at them, clearly very unamused by the fact that everyone's cutting him off with random questions. 

"Sorry," Baekhyun apologize for everyone and smiles warmly at Jongdae, telling him to continue and promising that nobody is going to cut him off this time.

With a warning look directed at everyone in room, Jongdae starts talking again, "Anyway, after he asked me to come, he invited Minseok too. And I though he would say no, but he actually said yes!"

"That's it?" Chanyeol deadpans, expecting more to come after seeing Jongdae so happy when he entered his house. "For someone who doesn't have a crush on him you sure act like going out with just a friend is a big deal."

"That's what I said," Jongin butts in as he pulls out a box of chicken wings. 

"For someone who wanted to murder each other just one day ago you sure act pretty friendly," Jongdae shoots back, frowning at Jongin and Chanyeol who roll their eyes in unison. Jongdae is completely wrong. First of all, it was only Jongin who wouldn't have had the slightest problem with killing Chanyeol yesterday, though Chanyeol thinks that he probably deserves all of Jongin's anger and hatred after what happened between him and Baekhyun. And secondly, they are not being friendly at all. 

"Ohh, I can finally meet Minseok then," Baekhyun says, smiling warmly at Jongdae, catching the man's attention immediately and forgetting all about others being in the room at the mention of Minseok. "How was your lunch, anyway?"

Jongdae maybe doesn't realize it, being too engrossed in talking about his lunch with Minseok and telling Baekhyun even the smallest details, but Chanyeol knows that Baekhyun asked him about his lunch in the first place because he had seen Jongdae getting frustrated little by little, and frustrated Jongdae always leads to a whiny and sulking Jongdae. And nobody wants to deal with whiny Jongdae. 

Chanyeol wonders if Baekhyun always does this - making sure that everybody around him is happy, even though Baekhyun himself isn't, hiding his true emotions under the layers of bright smiles. At the first glance, people might think about Baekhyun as the cheerful guy, someone fun to be around because he can always cheer them up with his jokes. 

People love when they can talk about someone they fancy, able to have long hours of monologue about how perfect the person of their dreams is. Chanyeol has never liked anyone, not really, but he has heard that when you fall in love with someone, you notice even the smallest things that the person of your affection does, something nobody else would notice or pay attention to. Because of this, Chanyeol knew that Jongdae has a thing for Minseok even before Jongdae did, and for a while, Chanyeol was happy for Jongdae that he found someone he likes and actually enjoyed listening to Jongdae when his friend was talking about Minseok. But after some time, Chanyeol found himself dying out of boredom because even though Jongdae was his best friend, the CEO simply couldn't stand hearing about the same things over and over again. He let Jongdae talk, but he wasn't really listening. 

However, ten minutes pass and while Jongin is munching on the chicken wings after Chanyeol gave him the go and Kyungsoo is nagging at him for being a messy eater, Baekhyun still doesn't seem bored by Jongdae's worshiping of Minseok. Unlike Chanyeol, Baekhyun even asks questions and laughs occasionally, giving Jongdae more space to talk freely about the receptionist by letting him know that he actually listens with creating a conversation out of the monologue Jongdae usually has with Chanyeol when the topic is Minseok. 

Chanyeol watches Baekhyun closely during the whole conversation, trying to find something that would give off a vibe that this is all a pretense, that Baekhyun is doing this because he wants to make Jongdae happy, but he can't. He might be good at reading people, and for a moment he has even felt like he can read Baekhyun as well, but not anymore. 

Maybe he's really enjoy it? Chanyeol thinks, but rejects the thought immediately. There is no way someone would actually enjoy this. But how does Baekhyun looks so genuine, then? Even his smile looks real, reaching his eyes almost every single time. And Jongdae knows him well, they are friends after all, so he would know if something was going on with Baekhyun, right? He would see right through him, right?

Although everything points to a possibility that Baekhyun is somehow enjoying this conversation, Chanyeol knows that it can't be true. 

A few minutes ago, when Baekhyun was looking at him with sadness in his eyes and pain that got on the surface for a second when Chanyeol asked about who told Baekhyun that he wasn't interesting, that felt too real. Baekhyun looked like he was about to break any second at that moment, and now he looks completely fine like any other day. Nobody is able to get rid of sadness that easily and in such a short amount of time, so Chanyeol would definitely promise on his life that the face Baekhyun is now showing to Jongdae is fake.

That makes him wonder though, how long did it take Baekhyun to learn how to hide his true emotions so perfectly? How long did it take to learn how to smile so genuinely that even his own friend doesn't see through him?

And most importantly, what caused Baekhyun so much pain that he made himself learn all of this?

During Chanyeol's school times, people gave him a nickname. A happy virus, they called him. Chanyeol thinks that if the people from Chanyeol's high school and university ever met Baekhyun, they would give this nickname to Baekhyun instead, because even though he was always smiling and laughing, lightening the mood everywhere he went, Baekhyun could do much more than that with that smile and the way he talked. The ones who were near Chanyeol aka Happy Virus may have had fun and all, but they were most probably back to being sad afterwards when their way parted, forgetting the good mood they were in just a few seconds ago. But Chanyeol can imagine that after an encounter with Baekhyun - a normal one, not similar to any of the encounters Chanyeol and Baekhyun had - the person that needed to lift up their spirits will have a smile plastered on their faces even after Baekhyun is no longer keeping them company. For example, Jongdae probably already forgot about his frustration from before, and all thanks to Baekhyun. 

It seems like forever, but Jongdae eventually lets the topic of Minseok go and even though he had lunch already, he eats a few of the rice cakes that were in the bag along with chicken wings and bulgogi. Chanyeol's and Baekhyun's eyes meet for a few short seconds, and there is something in Baekhyun's dark orbs that Chanyeol can't decipher and doesn't even have enough time if he wanted to try and understand the flashing emotions in Baekhyun's eyes, since the other male turns away when the starting gets too long, finally diving into his lunch. 

Chanyeol wants to ask Baekhyun so many things, but he also knows that they aren't close enough for him to just make Baekhyun spill the beans. They aren't even friends. There is no reason for Baekhyun to tell Chanyeol anything. The only reason he got to talk to Baekhyun in the first place is because Baekhyun is staying at his house for a few days to get better. After he's not sick anymore, Baekhyun would probably never speak to him again. 

It's rather sad, since Chanyeol has never wanted to get to know someone as much as he wants to get to know Baekhyun.  

Because Byun Baekhyun is even more interesting in Chanyeol's eyes than he was before. 

--

When Jongin, Kyungsoo and Jongdae come over, Baekhyun doesn't expect the visit to be peaceful. Truth be told, from the looks Jongin and Kyungsoo are giving Chanyeol the first few minutes they sit together in the living room, it seems like there will soon be a fight. After all, Jongin - and Kyungsoo most likely too, since Jongin must have told him - knows about everything that happened between Chanyeol and him, and even though Jongin tried to think positively about the whole situation - unike Baekhyun - he still doesn't like Chanyeol from what he's heard about the CEO from Baekhyun, Jongdae, Kyungsoo, or even the media. 

But it only takes a large box of chicken wings for Jongin to behave good and not have any remarks that would ruin the visit completely. However, Jongin still watches Chanyeol carefully, following every one of Chanyeol's movements along with Kyungsoo. It's obvious that Chanyeol is aware of being watched too, and it's leaving the atmosphere kind of tense for some time. That is, until Jongdae turns on some crappy drama after stealing the TV remote from Baekhyun while the brunet is talking with Jongin and Kyungsoo, assuring them that he indeed feels better after resting for hours. 

The second Jongdae says that nobody has the right to change the channel, since he actually knows the drama and wants to watch it, bonding moment between Jongin and Chanyeol comes. The two of them start trash talking the sappy dramas that, according to them, have all the same plot and are totally unrealistic. All the hatred from before forgotten, they diss Jongdae together for watching ty dramas like the one which is currently on TV. And like that, Jongdae, Chanyeol and Jongin start arguing about dramas and about Jongdae's poor taste, talking over each other and gesturing with their hands while explaining something. 

After ten minutes of listening to the pointless conversation, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo leave the living room and go to kitchen for something to drink, totally unnoticed by the three men that are having a heated argument. Since neither of the two know where the glasses are, they open every cupboard in order to search for them, which is by no means an easy task because Chanyeol's kitchen, like his house, is too big and spacious with millions of cupboards and shelves. They eventually find the glasses though - or Kyungsoo does - and while Kyungsoo just pours himself a glass full of water, Baekhyun chooses to drink the last bits of orange juice he has found in the fridge. It leaves a weird taste in his mouth, bulgogi and orange juice not being the best combination, but Baekhyun still enjoys the juice thoroughly.

"Is Chanyeol really good to you?" Kyungsoo asks suddenly, surprising Baekhyun a little. "Jongdae talked to us on the way here, saying that Chanyeol spoke to him about your condition getting better, and I can see that you really are better, but..."

"He seems to be doing his best," Baekhyun says, remembering how Chanyeol prepared dinner for him yesterday and tried cooking for him today - even though that ended up badly. But it doesn't matter, what's important is that Chanyeol wanted to do something nice, going out of his comfort zone just for Baekhyun. That is enough.

"I'm glad then," Kyungsoo mutters into his glass as he takes another gulp of cold water, his lips plump lips afterwards. Then, he sinks his teeth into his lower lip and his gaze turns blank as he stares somewhere into nothingness, tapping his index finger against the glass quietly. 

Looking at him like that, Baekhyun thinks that he knows what's going on in Kyungsoos head and speaks up, "I'm not angry that you brought me here. I was, at the beginning, but I'm fine now. I understand it was necessary."

"Still," Kyungsoo turns his eyes to Baekhyun. "I'm sorry. You must've been in shock when you woke up in a stranger's house."

"I thought that Chanyeol kidnapped me and I tried to run away, but I was too weak, so Chanyeol took me back to bed and explained everything," Baekhyun laughs at the memory a little. It's funny to him now, but he wasn't as amused as he currently is yesterday, when he actually thought that Chanyeol is a serial killer for real and that he's going to kill Baekhyun. 

"That's what you get for not listening to us when we tell you to take a day of and just rest," Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and downs the bits of water that remained, putting the empy glass in the sink. Like Baekhyun already doesn't know that he went too far this time. His friends are not going to let him live this down, and now the are going to be even more over-protective than before. 

"I knew you would say that, sooner or later," Baekhyun chuckles. With the orange juice still in his hand, he tugs at Kyungsoo's sleeve. "Let's go back and see if they are finally done."

Unfortunately, Jongdae, Chanyeol and Jongin are only starting, and Kyungsoo and Baekhyun are left crying internally. At least there's food to accompany their misery. 

--

Baekhyun starts feeling tired again around five-thirty in the afternoon. Although he felt completely rested just a few hours ago and would have promised that he can stay awake for more than two days, the sleepiness washed over him slowly but surely, making his eyeids feel heavy as they were watching a random movie. While the trio was arguing, Kyungsoo simply took the TV remote and changed the channel just like that, saying that they are just arguing and not watching TV anyway, and none of them had the guts to talk back to the cook, nor take the TV remote back from him. And like that, they ended up watching random shows and movies, and it almost felt like the evenings Baekhyun spends with Jongin from time to time. Baekhyun truly likes it, even though he didn't voice out his thoughts. 

The first one to notice Baekhyun's sleepiness is of course Jongin who just happenes to look Baekhyun's way the moment the brunet's eyes were closing slowly. He says that Baekhyun should go back to sleep to get as much rest in these few days as possible. At first, Baekhyun tries to assure everyone that he doesn't want to go to sleep, the reason being that he wants to spend more time with his friends and that they should stay at least until the movie they are watching at the moment ends. After tons of the brunet's protests, Jongin agrees to stay longer, but only until the movie ends, and in return, Baekhyun must promise to go to sleep right after they go home, to which Baekhyun agrees immediately. 

But it's been so long since Baekhyun was spending time with Jongdae, Jongin and Kyungsoo at once, and being surrounded by his dearest and also kind of only friends makes him feel so relaxed that he gives in to the sweet melody that's trying to lull him to sleep. When his eyes close completely and his head falls on Jongdae's shoulder, it's Kyungsoo who decides that it's really time to go.

As Baekhyun's body pillow stands up from the couch, Baekhyun's eyelids flutter open again and he whimpers at the loss, trying to make Jongdae sit back by tugging at his sleeve. 

"Don't go," Baekhyun whispers, keeping his eyes open just the tiniest bit. Although he's awake, Baekhyun doesn't feel strong enough to stand up, so he just tugs at Jongdae's sleeve once again.

"Such a child," Jongdae snorts and ruffles Baekhyun's hair, getting a pout from Baekhyun in return. "Go to sleep already."

"I don't wanna," however, his words come out as an incoherent slur as he's too tired to even make his mouth move in order to form words. At this point, Baekhyun doesn't know what he wants more - his friends to stay over longer or to sleep. 

"I'll call you tomorrow," Jongin says and stands up from his seat too, followed shortly by Kyungsoo who bids him goodbye and pats him before heading to the front door.

"Stay," Baekhyun murmurs, but he's already ninety percent asleep as he says it, and Jongin can see it too, so with a gentle flick to Baekhyun's forehead, he tells Baekhyun a goodnight and goes to the front door as well with Jongdae by his side. 

For a few seconds, Baekhyun is alone in the living room as Chanyeol sees everyone out, his face buried in the couch and body in an uncomfortable position. The CEO comes back after a while and walks over to Baekhyun, stopping in front of Baekhyun's small form curled into a ball on the couch. 

"Okay, guess there is no other way," he hears Chanyeol's voice distantly, and a moment later, he also feels strong arms wrapping around his body under his back and thighs. Baekhyun is picked up from the couch and he can smell the faint, nice scent as he breathes in and out evenly, his head resting on something harder and firmer than the couch, but somehow more comfortable. 

Baekhyun can't even remember the last time someone carried him to bed, and he almost forgot how good feels when someone cares for him so much to carry him  instead of waking him up and telling him to go to bed or sleep on the couch. His previous boyfriends have never carried him to bed if it wasn't connected to but just sleeping.

As Chanyeol slowly walks the stairs with Baekhyun in his arms, the brunet is slowly slipping into peaceful slumber, accompanied by the sound of Chanyeol's heartbeat against his ear. It seems to be faster than normal, but Baekhyun thinks it's probably because Chanyeol is tired as well and walking the stairs with a person that weights sixty-seven kilograms isn't easy.

Little does he know that Chanyeol's heartbeat is faster because of a completely different thing.

When Chanyeol finally enters the bedroom and heads toward the bed, putting Baekhyun down on it gently, the other male lets out a low whine, not liking the absence of warm body along with strong arms and solid chest. He can still smell Chanyeol's scent though, since Baekhyun is lying in his bed, and he would probably never said it out loud, but he finds Chanyeol's scent incredibly good. 

As Chanyeol's tucking him under the covers, Baekhyun can feel Chanyeol's warm breath against his cheek, and he wants to open his eyes to see how close the CEO is if he can feel his breath on his skin, but his eyes just won't open, his eyelids too heavy. Baekhyun hears the footsteps still further away, and though it's hard since his mouth doesn't cooperate, he whispers, "Goodnight," not even knowing if Chanyeol can hear him, since his voice is too quiet.

"Goodnight, Baekhyun. Sleep tight," when Baekhyun already thinks that Chanyeol truly didn't hear him, the reply comes, and as Baekhyun feels himself being pulled into dreams, a small smile appears on his lips.