The car jerked forward violently, and Baekhyun screamed as he was thrown forward, bracing his hands on the dashboard. “Gently, I said! Gently!” The car jerked again, and he shrieked as it seemed like they were about to hit the only other car in the entire parking lot. “Just tap it!”

“I am tapping!” Haru defended, her grip on the steering wheel so tight that her knuckles were white. The car jerked again.

“Gently!” He screamed again.

***

Baekhyun's lips twisted a bit, and he dug his fork into his pasta. Despite spending several minutes convincing Haru to watch a movie instead of playing the ridiculous block game, he actually found he had little appetite as he listened to her refusal. “Well, because I am spoiled. Maybe I'm just frantic at the thought that you might win again.”

She laughed a little, nodding slightly at him, "Fine. Let's make a bet. If I win, you'll have to grant me a wish. And if I lose, I'll do anything you say,"

"Anything?" He asked gently. 

She nodded at him in agreement, smiling a little too cheerfully before rearranging the blocks into a straight tower. 

**

Which was why he was here, screaming and begging for his life as he braced his hands desperately on the dashboard because he lost the game. Haru was still moving the car in violent stops and jerks, and the few times she didn't jerk the car around, she bolted forward so quickly she almost hit a lamp post, and had just barely slammed on the brakes in time.

“Put it in park! Get out of that seat!” he demanded, shrilly.

“No! I'm getting better,” she promised, weaving jaggedly around the lot. “I didn't realize how softly you had to put your foot down.”

“I said gently!”

“Well, that's not exactly a universal descriptor, is it?” she snapped, defensively. She executed a fairly mild turn at about thirty kilometres per hour, and brightened. “See? I am getting better.”

“Oh, God,” he said, feeling nauseous as they drove around in circles. “Alright, it's been thirty minutes, so come to a slow stop--” She hit the brakes, and he slammed forward again. Thankfully, the seatbelt caught him before he could break his nose on the dashboard. He choked a bit as it dug into his neck. “Damn it, Haru!”

“That was fun,” she said, looking exuberant. Baekhyun quickly put the car in park while her foot was on the brakes. 

He opened the door, sliding out, feeling as if he wanted to throw up the pasta he ate a few hours ago, as she muttered, “That was really fun,"

He rounded the car and opened the door, leaning in to undo her seatbelt. “We're never playing that stupid game anymore,” he muttered, pulling the seatbelt off her. Then he ordered, “Get up.”

“When are we doing this again?” she pressed, getting out of the car. “Tomorrow?”

"Over my dead body,"

"Tomorrow then," she smiled cunningly. 

"Never!"

//

A pair of black eyes stared at his father. Sehun sat across the table, his food plate remains untouched. 

“Reschedule back all the meetings and book a flight to New York immediately,” Sehun heard his father say, as he entered the dining room.

He sat on one side of the twelve-seat pine dining table, flanked by two of his secretaries. All three were dressed in the requisite black suit. His father glanced at Sehun wordlessly before nodding at his secretaries. "That be all,"

"You're here,” he drawled as he sauntered to the table and elegantly settled onto the leather chair across from him.

 
Sehun's lips thinned and whitened for a moment, as if he bit them from the inside of his mouth, before he sneered, "Way to greet your son,"

His eyebrows knitted as he regarded Sehun, his eyes looking at the food plate, "How's everything going with the Bae girl?"

"If you're trying to strike a conversation, you might as well stop," he said, perhaps a little too sharply, to mask the fact that while he knew what his father was doing. The sound of chair legs harshly scraping against the wooden floor reverberated through the room as he swiftly stood. 

"I know how you feel," his father said unexpectedly. "When you experience something for the first time, whether it's heartbreak or love, you feel like its a big deal," His eyes flicked up, lips thinning a bit, "But it's not."

Sehun raises his eyebrow, looking unimpressed. "What's your point?"

"My point is," he said absently, "People come in and out of your life. For a time, they might seem like the world, they're everything. And then one day they're not. Sometimes the person we love, might not be the right one for us,"

Sehun considered him for several moments, in silence. "But you think Irene is right for me?"

“Yes,” he said, flatly. 

Sehun fell silent then broke into a small mocking laugh, "You don't know how I feel." He said slowly, beginning to grow angry, "Don't criticize when you don't even understand,'

Sehun leaned over the surface of the table to glare at his father, "Hurry up and go back to New York," he said, before turning and walking away from the room. 

//

Baekhyun never stopped smiling nowadays.

It felt almost foreign to Haru, watching him dance around the kitchen, heating the leftover pizza in the microwave. Haru would be washing the dishes or folding laundry as he hummed a tone she didn't even recognize.

"You're in a good mood today," she said, and his face beamed up. Haru logged the new expression with interest. Baekhyun had become so much more expressive around her than when this had all began. She'd thought him to be similar to Sehun at one point. While they had some similarities, Baekhyun was by far more emotional. 

"What do you want for dinner later?" He asked, "We can go to the dirty sushi restaurant if you want,' he informed her, in a matter-of-fact tone.

She heaved a gusty breath, thinking. She didn't really want to go out, again. A full day driving had left her feeling knackered, and she wanted nothing more than to curl up with a book and some tea. But that wasn't really a group activity, was the thing. But what he said suddenly struck her, and she looked at him, "So you do like that place!"

"I don't," he said quickly, frowning. She smiles at him, looking amused. He looked at her too, momentarily speechless. "Fine," he admitted, "That place is not that bad,"

She burst out laughing at his face. "You want to go?" She asked, her gaze caught on his, and for a second a wicked smile crossed her face. Then she looked entirely too innocent. “I'll come if you let me drive,"

"No," he drawled, feeling a sense of dread pooling in his stomach. "I'm not risking my life again," 

"You're so dramatic," She said, rolling her eyes hard, her eyelids flickering a bit with the force of it. "I'm getting better," she tried, folding her arms in front of her chest.

"You don't have a license. We can get arrested,"

She made a face at him, scrunching her nose at him in silent protest. “Alright, Baekhyun, you drive,"

He laughed a little harder, and when it died down, the bout of amusement left his dark brown eyes sparkling as he regarded her, the smile softening with fondness. "I'll take you,"

"7?"
"7,"

Baekhyun's been in relationships that lasted for months, that he scarcely recollect nor remember, but spending merely 5 days with Haru felt like infinities. Maybe that's what love feels like, he thought. 

**

"Let' s go," he yelled from downstairs. "You're late,"

"Wait! I'm almost done," she yelled back. Huffing with a bit of irritation and amusement, he turned back to the table to grab his car keys.

His mind was filled with cute memories, ridiculous conversations; a smile was drawn on his face. He fix his hair one last time when he hear the door bell rang. 

"Must be the cleaners," he muttered, as he strides towards the door, absent mindedly. He opened the door, and a familiar face stood behind it. A shock of jet black hair and a pair of black eyes. His heart beat loudly as he regard the person behind it. 

Sehun.

Baekhyun sttared mutinously up at him, shock registering his entire body. 

"Baek," Sehun greeted. 

His happiness disappeared and an inexplicable nervousness appeared as a substitute; his hands began to sweat.

This is what he expected, isn't it? This is, he had to prepare himself. Thoughts like this flooded his head until, after a few seconds, his body was pulled in an embrace. 

"Right, I'm ready. Let's -" Haru announced, but her voice soon died in .

She stood there motionless, and for a moment, she thought the entire world stopped. The lights passed fast through her head, with luck she had time to blink, because she had longed to see that person for a long time. 

Sehun's mouth went dry and after so many days, there she was, in front, a few metres from him. Haru inhaled slowly, and stepped towards him.

Sehun's eyes flicked over hers before he closed the distance between them and gave her a hug. He wrapped both arms around her, holding her securely against him.

Haru slipped her arm under his and curled her arm up his shoulder blades so her hand rest on his shoulder, the other still around his other shoulder and neck. She let her forehead drop to his shoulder and closed her eyes, letting herself breath him in and his presence surround her completely, almost lulling her into a state of bliss.

They were comfortable with the silence that fell over them and for the first time in a long, long while, Haru felt completely at ease. After 5 days of being away, it felt wonderful to be back in his arms.

Baekhyun has been watching all of this from across as Haru adjusts Sehun's jacket collar. He leans into her touch with a contented sort of look. He kissed her on her forehead in a familiar gentle way, practiced and automatic, and her lips curled into a small smile as his hand curls around her waist.

They are in one another’s space so easily, like it was as easy as breathing, and Baekhyun's never been so jealous. 

As Sehun let her go, Haru leaned around him to look at Baekhyun, and he'd known, since the moment he figured out about his feelings, that while he would always pick her, Haru would not.

His thoughts went blank again, his sweaty hands once more; but he felt something different this time. 

A vague question was born out of nowhere in his head.

What does it feels like to belong to someone? 

Sehun would say that he belongs to Haru. Chanyeol would say that he belongs to his family and friends. And Baekhyun guessed that he would belong to himself, but that won’t always be true. To belong to someone—he didn’t know it, but now that he think about, it seems like that’s all he ever wanted. To really be somebody’s, and to have them be his.

"So what now?" Baekhyun asks himself internally, "What am I suppose to do with all this feelings?"

//

Haru entered her pass code and the door of her unit flung open. She breathed in the air of relief, realizing how much she missed this place. Sure, being with Baekhyun is fun and all, but she missed her space. 

She switched on her lights, and pulled her socks off, "I'm taking my cats from Minzy tomo-" she jerked slightly when Sehun's hands grabbed her elbow to pull her towards him.

As soon as he looked to her, his expression softened and his arm s around her waist to hold her closer to him. 

"I missed you," he muttered, so close to being silent, unnoticeable.  

But she was too intuitive. "Me too,"

He closed his eyes, and inched his face towards her, till his nose touches the bridge of hers. At some point Haru's hand migrated to clutching the front of Sehun’s shirt so tightly that she is pretty sure the creases are going to be there forever. 

Sehun had thrived off the awakening emotions Haru's companionship created, easily getting himself addicted to her refreshing self. When they were together, now, then, whenever, her head on his shoulder, his hands in hers, his heart pounding, he always felt that same sense of freedom.

Of being able to do what he wanted, when he wanted, without the thoroughly impossible and destructive constraints his horrible father had given him long, long before. Somehow, so slowly he almost hadn’t even noticed, she’d morphed into a part of him. She's all he sees, all he dreams about and he's sure he's never leaving her again. 

Going out on a limb, a proverbial jump off the cliff, he whispered, "No matter what, it’ll be us. No matter what people throw at us, we’ll get through it." He paused, inhaling her scent, "I love you,"

It wasn't the first time he'd ever admitted anything at all regarding his true feelings towards her. Sure, he'd said he loved her, she'd said the same, but that desire is not even close to his heart the way this was, for many a reason. He didn't even care if she just stayed with him for days, just as long as she was here. Safe with him.

Sehun had a thought that, perhaps, the days he spend being away from her made him realize how much he didn't want her to leave and he felt far more at ease when he knew she was in the same house, or having a go with him. He didn't think he could ever let go of that worry, even knowing that his father had gone. 

"I love you," she said quietly after a few breaths of silence, almost hesitantly, and he latched onto that moment with all he could. He moved to press a kiss to her hair, her forehead, lingering long enough to feel the jump in her heartbeat he'd provoked, the rise of goosebumps along her smooth skin. She shivered, pressing up and into him, and Sehun shifted marginally away to prolong his reaction to her.

"Do you have to go?," she asked quietly, bringing back his full attention.

He'd been so consumed with thoughts of doubt, thoughts of her, he hadn't seen the full range of her reaction, but this was more than he could have ever asked for.

He shifted slightly, bringing the hand that had been supporting her up to cup her face, sliding the other slowly, tracing her eyebrows. "Then ask me to stay."

She slowly smiled up at him, and not even the world or all the money in it could keep him from grinning at her in return, "Stay,"

//

The next morning, when she woke – she wasn't sure how long it had been – she did so gently, her eyes still closed as she felt her consciousness start swimming upwards to reality. She felt something tickling her hand and her fingers and realized it was a finger, slowly tracing the contours of her hand.

As her eyes opened, she saw that he was looking at his hand. Rather, more specifically, he was looking at the places where his hand moved, his gaze laser-focused, like he was memorizing every inch of her.

She shifted a bit, and his eyes flicked up to hers in surprise, and she saw embarrassment and guilt flash through them as he quickly pulled back his hand from her palm.

"What were you doing?" she asked, sleepily.
"Nothing," he said, quickly, and she watched as his cheeks grew faintly pink, his eyes avoiding hers.

"Weirdo," she sighed, contentedly, wriggling forward to press her face into his chest. His hand slid up her back and his fingers began running through her lightly-tangled hair. The soft touches made her drowsy again, and she hummed happily in as she let her eyes close.