“Baek, are you sure we have enough drinks?” Kyungsoo called from the living room where he was pushing the furniture back to make more room and setting up snacks on the table.

Baekhyun poked his head into the living room with a raised brow, “Dude, there’s only twelve of us, and besides, Yeol said that him and some of the other guys are bringing some drinks with them too.” He said, “Anyways, if we run out we can break into your secret stash!”

“I don’t have a secret stash…” Kyungsoo lied as he walked over to the kitchen and followed Baekhyun in to help finish setting up the drinks.

“Sure.” Baekhyun snorted as he filled the sink with ice before setting a couple dozen beers in it. “Anyways, now that you and Jongin are like… official or whatever, how’s that going?” he asked, jumping up and sliding onto the counter top, his legs dangling freely as he lent forward interestedly.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, but moved closer so that he was stood between Baekhyun’s legs, his hands on the counter either side of Baekhyun’s thighs, fingers brushing over Baekhyun’s. “It’s nice,” he said, “It’s… Different, but like… Good different, you know?” he smiled up at his best friend.

Baekhyun smiled softly as he moved his hands to rest them over Kyungsoo’s, his fingers at the younger’s skin gently. “You really like this kid, huh?” he asked.

Kyungsoo hummed, leaning in and bumping his nose playfully against Baekhyun’s, “I really do. He’s just… different, you know? Like, something just feels right about him. It isn’t like before when I was with… her. With Jongin, it’s like I can be myself no matter what and he just doesn’t judge me. I really ing like him, Baek.”

“Aww, baby-boy!” Baekhyun cooed, resting his forehead against Kyungsoo’s. “I’m happy for you. You know that right? After everything you’ve been through relationship wise… I’m really happy that you’ve found someone that makes you comfortable. That makes you this happy. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile this much… I like it. It’s nice to see you happy.”

Kyungsoo closed his eyes as a smile broke over his face, “Are you trying to make me cry?” He laughed softly, “I’m happy for you too, by the way. I can see how much you and Chanyeol mean to each other. I’m glad you found someone like that.”

“You know, there was a time when I thought it would be you,” Baekhyun laughed softly, pulling his head back to look at Kyungsoo, who was peering up at him with soft eyes. “Until I met Yeol, I always thought that maybe you would end up being the great love of my life.”

Kyungsoo chuckled, reach up with one hand to brush back Baekhyun’s hair, “Me too. But I think we would have annoyed each other too much. But it all worked out, didn’t it? I mean look at us… Besides, if that falls through, we can always fall back on each other,” he joked easily.

“Well, lucky for me I plan on keeping him around forever” a deep voice had Kyungsoo looking over his shoulder with a mischievous grin, not moving from where he was stood between Baekhyun’s legs.

“You sound very sure of yourself” Kyungsoo shot at Chanyeol as the giant moved over to stand behind Kyungsoo and wrap his arms around him, his hands coming to rest on Baekhyun’s thighs, keeping the three of them close.

Chanyeol laughed softly, his chest vibrating against Kyungsoo’s back, “Oh you better believe it” he said easily, “But I wouldn’t say no to being a thruple” he joked easily, making the two shorter men laugh.

“Yeol, what are you doing here early?” Baekhyun asked, reaching around Kyungsoo to tug on Chanyeol’s ears affectionately.

Chanyeol shrugged, “I was at the lab and I finished earlier than I expected. Good job too, because who knows how much more Kyungsoo would have spewed to try and steal you away from me.” He teased as he ruffled Kyungsoo’s hair, making the younger man squirm slightly.

Kyungsoo ducked out from Chanyeol’s arms and spun out of the way, “If I wanted to steal him, it wouldn’t take me much to do it.” He grinned easily. “Trust me.”

“Aw, babe don’t listen to him!” Baekhyun laughed, pulling Chanyeol in for a short but sweet kiss, “He’s just feeling all gooey because he finally bagged himself a boyfriend.”

Kyungsoo, despite his best efforts not to, broke into a grin, “ off, both of you!” He laughed, “I’m gonna go set up the music.” He said before walking off and leaving the happy couple to themselves for a little while.

It was about an hour or so later that the others arrived and the party really started. Drinks were flowing and the music that thrumming as they all enjoyed themselves, getting slightly too drunk and laughing slightly too loud.

“Yooooo! Turn it up, because your boy is about to get DOOOOOOOOWN!!!” Jongdae all but screamed as he began to grind to the beat of Aaliyah’s ‘If your man only knew.’

Baekhyun leaned over to Minseok, his eyes not leaving Jongdae, “Am I really ing drunk right now, or is he kinda good at that?” he asked.

“He is kinda good at that,” Minseok replied, clearly surprised, “Is it bad that I’m kinda right now?”

Baekhyun shook his head, “No. I mean, I’ll be honest… So am I…” he said, the pair of them still watching as Jongdae moved his body ually to the music.

Baekhyun turned to face Minseok, ready to say something more, but froze as his eyes landed on Minseok’s left hand.

“What.” Baekhyun gasped, “Is that?!” He grabbed Minseok’s hand and pulled it close to look at the ring that resided there.

Minseok flushed slightly, “Um… An engagement ring?” he grinned sheepishly. “Ha… Surprise?”

“Can I tell people?!” Baekhyun asked excitedly as he scooped Minseok into a hug, “And congratulations, by the way!”

Minseok laughed softly as he hugged Baekhyun back, “Thanks man. And sure, knock yourself out. We already told our parents anyways, so just for you, I’ll let you tell the guys.”

Baekhyun grinned, pulling back and turning to the crowd of boys in the living room, “YO GUYS!!! MINSEOK AND JONGDAE ARE ENGAGED!!” he screamed, gaining the room’s attention.

“WHAT?!” Kyungsoo squealed before diving at Jongdae and sending them both sprawling to the floor. “CONGRATULATIONS, YOU MASSIVE DICKHEAD!!”

Junmyeon watched with wide eyes before he grinned and dive-bombed the two on the floor, “CONGRATULATIONS! OH MY GOD, MY BABIES ARE GETTING MARRIED! AHHHH!!”

Baekhyun turned to Minseok, “Wanna get in on this?” he asked.

Minseok grinned widely before grabbing Baekhyun’s hand and then the two of them were falling onto the pile of boys and gripping onto them tightly in congratulatory hugs as they giggled and poked fun at each other.

Yixing chuckled as he walked over to Luhan and threw an arm around him, “They’re cute” he said softly as he watched the long-time friends scramble to get to their feet, knocking each other over in the process.

“They’re dorks,” Luhan snorted easily before turning to look at Sehun, his eyes going wide, “Hey! Put that down, the doctor said not to drink a lot!” he snapped, marching over to the younger, who looked like a deer caught in the headlights, leaving Yixing on his own again.

“I never thought I’d see the day that Lu cared about another person this much,” Kris laughed softly as he came to stand by Yixing, handing the younger a drink as he did.

“Thanks,” Yixing said, tilting his beer towards Kris and clinking their bottles together, “And I know. It’s kinda surreal…”

Jongin walked over and slung an arm around Yixing, “Is it really that weird?” he asked easily.

Yixing hummed, “Yeah, I’ve never seen him so smitten. Or… In it for the long haul. It’s kinda nice to see to be honest.”

“Good, because you know I’d have to kick his if he ever hurts Sehunnie, right?” Jongin said seriously.

Yixing nodded, “If you could take him.” He smirked, “So if that ever happens, please let me watch. Although, I hope you realise that if he ever hurt Sehun then I’d kick his , Jonginnie. Don’t you worry.”

“Aren’t you meant to be on Luhan’s side?” Jongin laughed.

Yixing shrugged, “Works both ways to be fair.” He said, “We’re all a family here, man. We’ve all got to look out for one another.”

“Aww hyung, when did you get so smart?” Chanyeol’s laugh echoed out as he came behind Yixing and wrapped him in a hug from behind.

“I’ve always been smart, Chanyeollie,” Yixing laughed along, “You just never pay attention.”

Chanyeol gasped in mock offence, “I do too. How could I not pay attention to you, hyung? You’re the best.”

“I know,” Yixing snickered, “Now, how about we go dance with those idiots and celebrate my ex-boyfriends engagement!”

Kris snorted “Oh , I always forget that you and Minseok went out,” he laughed, “Yeah, I wanna see how awkward I can make Jongdae, c’mon!”

The four of them moved over to the make-shift dance floor to join in with the other, mixing in easily and dancing with no rhythm to the music blaring from the speakers.

“So Dae, how does it feel to know that your fiancé’s ex-boyfriend is still like one of his best friends?” Kris asked in faux innocence.

Jongdae’s eyes narrowed up at him, “Can it, angry bird,” he said, “I don’t care.”

“Not even a little bit?” Kris asked, “Even knowing that they used to have and everything?” he prodded.

Minseok sauntered over and gave Kris a gentle whack on the chest, “Stop trying to wind him up, you big lug!” he laughed, before turning to Jongdae, “Ignore him. He’s trying to get you to take the bait.”

“I know he is,” Jongdae rolled his eyes, “But I seriously think I could take him!”

Kris and Minseok laughed easily at that, making Jongdae pout until Minseok kissed it away.

“Ahhh!! My eyes!” Sehun screamed, covering his face in mock horror at the pair, “Minseok hyung, how could you do this to me!”

Minseok turned to Sehun with an evil grin, “I’m sorry, baby!” he purred, “I would never leave you out, come here!” he reached out for Sehun, making a kissy face at him which had the youngest of the group let out a yelp before turning tail and running away to hide behind Junmyeon for safety.

“Serves you right!” Jongdae laughed, pulling Minseok back to him and hugging him easily as they swayed to the music.

“You’re evil, Min hyung! Pure evil! How can someone so cute be so mean!” Sehun groaned.

Minseok beamed at him, “It’s a gift!”

Baekhyun snorted, “Besides, you hang around with him long enough, you’ll realise he’s the worst of all of us,” he said, pressing a swift kiss to Minseok’s cheek before heading into the kitchen to get himself another drink.

“That’s true,” Kyungsoo nodded, “But he gets away with it because you can’t help but love him.” He said, blowing a kiss to Minseok, which the older pretended to catch playfully.

“Yah! Stop trying to hit on my fiancé” Jongdae grumbled.

Kyungsoo smirked, “I can’t help it, he’s so… y” he winked.

“Ouch, Soo” Jongin rolled his eyes as he swooped Kyungsoo up in his arms, “I might get jealous if you keep that up.

Kyungsoo grinned up at his boyfriend, “Don’t worry, Nini. I’ll make it up to you.”

The groans of fake disgust that filled the room then was enough to let Kyungsoo know it was going to be one hell of a good night.

--

Jongdae smiled softly to himself as he fluffed up his pillow. It was the last Friday before Uni started up again and he was spending it one of the best ways he knew how – with his two best friends.

They were all piled into Baekhyun’s room, the bed was full of pillows and blankets that would undoubtedly be throw off onto the floor once they were all asleep, but it didn’t matter because it was kind of like one of their traditions.

“I can’t believe we’re still doing this in our twenties,” Baekhyun laughed as he fall into Jongdae’s lap with a soft sigh, he looked up at his friend with starry eyes, “I hope we can still do this when we’re all old and wrinkly.”

Jongdae reached down to pet his hair with a smile, “Baek, I can see it now. We’ll be seventy and we’ll have to yell so that we can hear each other. And Kyungsoo will totally be that really grumpy old man that yells at kids to get off his grass.”

“You’re damn right about that,” Kyungsoo laughed as he plonked himself down beside Jongdae and leant to rest his cheek on his friend’s shoulder, “But we all know it won’t be kids on my grass, it’ll be Baekhyun because he won’t be able to leave me, ever.”

“Mmm, well I don’t like to lose the people I love,” Baekhyun smiled softly, “I miss us doing this. It feels like it’s been forever since the three of us were able to hang out.”

Kyungsoo chuckled, “Well, you went and got a boyfriend and forgot that we existed.” He said, poking Baekhyun playfully in the cheek.

Baekhyun frowned slightly before he sat up and turned to face his best friends properly. “I know,” he said, “But you know that you two are still my favourites, right? I mean, I literally don’t think I would have survived without you guys… You’ve been there through everything and even though I know I spend a lot of time with Chanyeol now, you guys are still like the most important people in my life…”

“We know,” Jongdae said softly, “And it’s the same for us too. We love each other the most and we know that’ll never change. Who else will put up with us singing like cats at three in the morning?” he joked lamely as he wrapped an arm around Kyungsoo’s waist.

Kyungsoo laughed along, “God, it’s crazy to think we’ve been doing this for like… forever… And to think how much we’ve all grown… Like, Jongdae is freaking engaged! You’re twenty-one. How are you engaged?!”

“I know what I like and I go for it,” Jongdae shrugged. “Me and Min… That’s something I’ve always been sure of, you know? He’s… He’s someone that always made me feel happy and I always want to see him happy…”

Baekhyun sniffed softly, causing the other two to look at him and notice he was crying.

Kyungsoo reached out and thumbed away his tears gently, “Hey, don’t cry. This is a happy time, Baek-ah”

“No, I know,” Baekhyun laughed shakily through his tears, “I am happy. These are happy tears because we’ve just… We’ve come so far you know? Like Jongdae is gonna marry his dream guy. You’ve opened up to more people and become more confident. I’ve fallen in love with Chanyeol… Like we’re all taking these journeys and I… I’m just really happy that I get to see you guys grow up, you know? Happy tears, I promise.”

Jongdae let out a soft ‘aww’ as he wrapped his arms around his two best friends and pulled them into a group hug. “Don’t cry for that. We have to live in the moment, and we can’t waste it on tears. Besides, if you keep crying we’ll have to make fun of you and you’re no fun because you always just go and tell Chanyeol on us.”

Baekhyun couldn’t help but laugh at that, “Oh please, like you’re any better? All you do is try and get us in trouble with Min! And you know he likes to hit me!”

“Yeah,” Jongdae snorted, “Yeah he does. But he always kisses it better…”

Baekhyun pulled back out of the hug and fixed Jongdae with an incredulous look, “That is not what he does! He bites!”

“Oh believe me, I know!” Jongdae smirked, wiggling his brows at Baekhyun, who was quick to hurl himself of the bed and pretend to vomit.

He was quickly joined by Kyungsoo and the pair gripped onto one another as they playfully gagged at Jongdae.

“Guys… C’mon, I’m pretty sure both of you have said, and done, a lot worse!” Jongdae whined, “Literally, don’t think I forgot about the time the two of you had that little fling! My poor ing eyes.”

Kyungsoo choked out a laugh, “Oh my god! I forgot about that time you walked in on us!”

“Hey, and we offered to let you join in, so it isn’t like you can complain!” Baekhyun added, laughing along with Kyungsoo.

“Why am I even friends with you two?” Jongdae groaned before letting out a sharp scream as the paid on the floor grabbed at him and dragged him down to them. “Ow! Motherer! What the ?!”

The rest of the evening was much of the same. They playfully teased each other as they all settled down with food and movies, making comments here and there or impersonating the actors to make the other two laugh.

It was nice for them to have some time together as the three of them again. Between jobs and school and relationships, it wasn’t often that they could just let loose and not sweat the small stuff.

Before long they had watched their fill of movies and stuff themselves into a near comatose state. They were piled into Baekhyun’s bed chatting carelessly amongst themselves.

“Okay,” Baekhyun said, eyes on the ceiling as he carefully contemplated his next words, “Jongdae, would you rather Junmyeonnie or have to watch Minseok Yixing?”

Jongdae groaned in disgust at the question. “Dude, why the … I… Ugh, can I just choose death?” He pulled Buffy, his cabbage patch kid closer to his chest and hugged her tightly.

“No, death is not an option!” Kyungsoo put in, “So which is it?”

Jongdae sighed, “Okay fine. I’d rather watch Min Yixing. BUT, only because I don’t wanna Junmyeon. He’s like a brother, it’d be weird.”

“Ha, so you would watch your fiancé another dude?” Baekhyun snorted, “Nice.”

“Oh shut the up. Kyungsoo, would you rather have a with Baekhyun and Chanyeol or let Jongin piss on you during ?” Jongdae smirked at the youngest of the three of them, enjoying the way that Kyungsoo’s face contorted in disgust.

But Kyungsoo was a team player, “.” He said, “I adore Jongin, I really do. But there is nothing in this world that could make me let someone piss on me.”

“Right there with you.” Baekhyun nodded, “I swear I’m down to try pretty much anything, but water sports is a giant off the cards kinda deal.” He shuddered at the thought.

“Truer words never spoken,” Kyungsoo nodded, “Anyways, Baek would you rather date me or Dae?” he asked mischievously.

Baekhyun let out a tinkering laugh, “Aw see that’s not playing fair. You know I love you both. But, um… Probably you. No offence Dae, but you whine too much…”

“Yah! I do not!” Jongdae whined, making the other two laugh. “Shut up you s, just… Baek just take your turn.”

“Whatever. Dae, would you rather have a fist fight with Kyungsoo or with Minseok?” Baekhyun asked.

Jongdae laughed softly, “Kyungsoo. Because even though I know he’ll beat the out of me, Minseok has the upper body strength of a Greek God and he would actually be able to kill me if he wanted to…” he said, “Which I kinda hope he doesn’t want to since we’re gonna get married and all…”

“Yeah, it would kill the mood a little,” Kyungsoo snorted. “Okay let’s have me and Dae do one more each and then we’ll get some sleep?”

“Sounds good to me,” Baekhyun hummed in agreement. “Go on then, Dae.”

Jongdae paused thoughtfully for a moment before he turned to look over Baekhyun at Kyungsoo, “Would you rather spend the rest of your life alone or marry Chanyeol?”

“Easy, spend the rest of my life alone,” Kyungsoo snorted, “As much as I love Chanyeol, I think I’d end up killing him after like a week of married life. Plus, I would never do that to our Baekhyunnie.” He smiled softly as he rolled into Baekhyun’s side and cuddled him cutely, making Baekhyun laugh.

“Whatever you dork, come on last go. Hit me,” Baekhyun grinned down at his best friend.

Kyungsoo giggled cutely, “Okay, Baekhyunnie, would you rather make out with Chanyeol whilst he’s covered in dog , or make out with Luhan in front of Sehunnie?”

“That’s disgusting,” Baekhyun scrunched his nose up in distaste, “But because I’m a team player, I’d make out with Chanyeol.”

“Because you’re a team player or because Luhan scares you?” Jongdae asked with a snort.

Baekhyun shoved him half-heartedly, “Shut up, he’s scary okay? That guy literally has no boundaries. Besides, Sehunnie is like a baby, I could never.”

“Baek, you kiss him like every chance you get.” Kyungsoo laughed, turning to wrap an arm around Baekhyun’s waist and cuddle into him comfortably.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes playfully as he reached down to take Jongdae’s hand in his own, “Yeah but like, on the cheek. That’s just being affectionate. It’s not like I’m trying to his or something.”

“Bet you would if you didn’t have Chanyeollie though,” Jongdae grinned playfully, “Sehun is a cute kid. I can see why Luhan likes him so much.”

Kyungsoo nodded, “And I think it’s nice for Sehun to have Luhan too. From what I’ve heard, Lu had a hard time with his dad back in the day, so it’s nice that after everything that happened with Sehunnie, he has someone that can relate and that can give him advice about it all.”

“That’s true.” Baekhyun agreed, “As much as Luhan can be a pain, you can see how much he cares about our Sehunnie and how much he really does love him. It’s been nice to see Sehun come out of his shell more and more because of Luhan.”

“Not to mention it’s been nice to see how patient Luhan can be,” Jongdae added. “He’s really taking things at Sehun’s pace and I think that really goes to show how much they really are perfect for each other.”

Baekhyun let out a soft yawn before letting himself sink down further into the blankets, enjoying the way that both Jongdae and Kyungsoo both curled more into him.

“Shall we sleep?” Kyungsoo asked softly, eyes closing as he listened to the steady thrum of Baekhyun’s heart.

Jongdae hummed, “Let’s. We have all day tomorrow to have fun.”

“Night guys, love you both.” Baekhyun whispered, he was met with two ‘I love you’s before the three of them let their dreams take them away.

--

“Dang, this place is nice…” Chanyeol mused as he, Baekhyun, Luhan and Sehun sat in a fairly fancy restaurant. “Are you sure we can afford this place?” he asked Sehun.

Sehun nodded, “Yeah, my mum got me a gift certificate kinda thing for Christmas” he said, handing a fancy piece of card to Chanyeol, who looked over it appreciatively.

“Are you sure you’re okay with us coming too though?” Chanyeol asked, “I don’t mind giving you some money for it or something?” he said softly, he knew that Sehun was far too generous sometimes and he would never want to take advantage of that kindness.

Sehun laughed softly, reaching over to pour Chanyeol and Baekhyun some more wine, “Hyung. Relax. You’ve always done so much for me so let me treat you, okay? The meal is for four people and if my counting skills are still up to par, then there are four of us here. You can buy me ice-cream or something this weekend as a thank you.” He winked easily, making Chanyeol and Baekhyun chuckle.

“We’re really grateful, Sehunnie,” Baekhyun said, reaching over the table and giving the youngest a gentle pat on the cheek.

“Hyung, it’s nothing, really.” Sehun flushed cutely, “But you’re welcome anyways. I just wanted to spend some quality time with my favourite people, you know?”

Luhan beamed at that, “You’re too cute for your own good, I hope you know that,” he said, giving Sehun’s knee a squeeze below the table.

“Says you,” Sehun snorted softly.

Their appetizers came out soon after and the four of them were in awe of how delicious it all looked. They’d never been anywhere so well-to-do before. It was a whole experience in itself.

“Holy mother of…” Chanyeol breathed out, “This is amazing… Baek you have to try this,” he said, lifting some of his food to Baekhyun’s mouth for the other man to try.

Baekhyun accepted it gratefully before he lifted some of his own for Chanyeol to try. “This place is seriously amazing. Sehunnie, tell you mum that I love her so, so, so much!”

Sehun beamed with pride, “I will. She’ll be happy to hear it.”

Dinner went well from there as they ate the elegantly laid out foods, teasing one another and feeding each other so that they could try it all. It was impeccable.

Sehun’s mother had truly gone above and beyond with his Christmas present and Sehun knew he would have to think of some way to repay her, because he really had never eaten anything this amazing in his life.

By the time they had finished their desserts they were all well and truly stuffed.

“I think I died and went to heaven,” Luhan sighed as they made their way out of the restaurant.

Sehun laughed as he wrapped an arm around Luhan’s shoulders, “That good, huh?” he asked, “Although, I do think that was the best meal I’ve ever had in my life.”

“You and me both, Sehunnie” Chanyeol said, nudging the younger boy in the arm playfully. “I know I don’t say it often, but dude you are the best friend ever!”

Sehun snorted, “I know,” he grinned. “Anyways, what do you guys wanna do now?”

“Let’s go to the park!” Baekhyun piped up, “It’s late, nobody will be there. We won’t get judged for playing on the swings in suits!”

“Is it weird that I’m totally into that idea?” Luhan laughed, “ it, I’m in. Sehunnie?”

Sehun nodded, “Yeah, it sounds stupid so I’m down.”

“Yes!” Baekhyun beamed, “All that’s missing is Kyungsoo and half a bottle of Vodka…” he laughed loudly before taking off at a run towards the park that he knew was just around the corner.

Sehun looked up at Chanyeol, “Is this Kyungsoo and Vodka stuff a story you’ve heard before or…?”

“Unfortunately yes,” Chanyeol rolled his eyes, “I swear to god, those two are a bad influence on each other.”

“It’s not like you or me can talk?” Sehun laughed loud and obnoxious, “Oh my god, do you remember that time that we set fire to the dumpster behind the school and it literally blew up?!”

Chanyeol snickered, “How were we meant to know that they’d just thrown away a ton of alcohol?”

“More importantly, why didn’t we think to look in case there was something to steal?” Sehun reflected.

Luhan rolled his eyes at the pair, “So you would have stolen dumpster booze?” he asked, “And drank it?”

“Dude, we were like fifteen, we had no common sense.” Chanyeol said as they turned into the park where Baekhyun had already set himself up on the swings and was playing freely without a care in the world.

“What do you mean had?” Luhan laughed as he took the swing next to Baekhyun. “Neither of you have any common sense still.”

“Hey, I can agree that Yeol doesn’t, but I have common sense!” Sehun objected, moving to stand in front of Luhan, making it so that he wasn’t able to swing.

Luhan scoffed, “I could list at least twenty ways to prove you wrong,” he reached up to tug Sehun down by his collar, “And you wouldn’t want me to embarrass you in front of our friends, would you?”

“You’re the devil,” Sehun narrowed his eyes playfully before leaning in to press a soft kiss to Luhan’s lips and then standing back up right.

“You two are all kinds of adorable,” Baekhyun laughed, “It’s actually kinda gross to watch.”

Chanyeol hummed in agreement, “I think now that Sehunnie is more comfortable, he’s making up for lost time.” He teased lightly, barely dancing out of the way as Sehun made a swing for him.

“Come back here, you !” Sehun huffed, though all in good fun, as he took off after Chanyeol, the pair of them playing chase around the park as Baekhyun and Luhan watched on in amusement.

Luhan turned to look at Baekhyun, who was swinging gently as he watched after Chanyeol was a fond smile, “We’re dating children,” he said, though he couldn’t deny that this was all sweet. He liked how much Sehun has come into himself since the situation with his dad.

It was like a weight had been lifted from the younger boy’s shoulders and he seemed so much more comfortable with himself. He not only seemed more at ease, but he had been more openly affectionate with Luhan too. A fact that had Luhan positively glowing.

“Mmm, we are.” Baekhyun laughed softly, “But I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Especially moments like this. Where they can just be care free, you know? It’s like… I haven’t seen Sehunnie let loose like this in… ever. And after everything he’s been through, it’s nice to see him just be a kid again. And Yeol… Even if he is always a huge dork, I love the side of him that comes out around Sehunnie. It’s like he has this brother that he just wants to look after, but at the same time loves to tease. It’s really nice.”

Luhan nodded in agreement, “Yeah, I get what you mean. It’s like… With the whole situation with Sehun’s dad, he always had this scary thing looming over him, always watching and judging what he did. But now, it’s like he’s come into his own, you know? Like this chip has been taken off of his shoulders and he can finally breathe. And getting to see him become more confident in who he is… Getting to see him just let himself go a little… It’s like the best gift I could have ever gotten. I’m so ing proud of him, Baek…”

“We all are. But I… I heard about some of the stuff you went through when you were younger, and it finally made sense as to why you were so… Good at helping him through this. It’s kinda crazy the way it all fell into place, you know?” Baekhyun said softly.

“Yeah… It really is,” Luhan agreed, watching as Sehun jumped onto Chanyeol’s back and the two of them began to make their way back over to their boyfriends.

Chanyeol was still laughing as he let Sehun down and moved over to take Baekhyun’s hands and gently pull him to his feet. “Hey baby,” he whispered softly to the shorter man, “I forgot to tell you earlier that you look real good tonight.”

Baekhyun blushed slightly despite himself, “Stop that. You’ll make me swoon.”

“Is that so?” Chanyeol laughed before pulling Baekhyun into his arms before low-dipping him playfully, enjoying the way that Baekhyun’s tinkling laughter filled the night air.

He pulled him back up after a moment and took the opportunity to kiss him deeply and wholly as he did, his arms around Baekhyun’s waist as he pulled the smaller man onto his tip-toes.

“I love you,” Baekhyun whispered against Chanyeol’s lips, loving the way that he could feel Chanyeol smile against his.

“Yeah?” Chanyeol asked softly.

Baekhyun hummed, “Yeah.” He confirmed

“I love you too,” Chanyeol kissed Baekhyun again, slow and sweet before he let him go in favour of taking his hand and lacing their finders together.

“You guys are so gay…” Luhan rolled his eyes, but with how he was being back-hugged by Sehun, he really had no room to talk.

Chanyeol snorted out a laugh, “Uh, yeah? That’s kind of the point?” he smirked. “Being gay isn’t a choice, Luhan. It’s a game and I’m winning!”

“Are you sure you want to date him?” Sehun asked, looking at Baekhyun, “Blink twice if he’s holding you hostage and I’ll save you, hyung!”

Baekhyun laughed heartily, “Don’t worry, I’m in this through choice. As much as he’s a weirdo, he’s a weirdo I love a lot.”

“Aww, Baek. That’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me,” Chanyeol cooed playfully, nudging him playfully as he did and making him laugh.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes and glanced over at Sehun, “But if you ever wanna start a sordid affair in secret, you know where to find me.” He winked.

“Hyung, I thought we were already having an affair? Isn’t that the whole reason I got a job at the record shop with you?” Sehun grinned easily before laughing at the way that Luhan gently nudged him in the stomach with his elbow.

“Ah, yes. How could I forget?” Baekhyun snickered.