Sunday afternoons should always be spent like this, Chanyeol thinks to himself as he walks towards the neighborhood park. He was dressed in his oldest jeans and a t-shirt that he was pretty sure he’d owned since freshman college, his bright red hair tucked into a cap that he’d found at the back of his closet. His shoes were old and worn from constant use, and he hadn’t been as comfortable as he was right then in weeks.

July had been exhausting at work, and he was looking forward to when the pace would slow down a little. Chanyeol loves his job, loves the excitement of it, but continuously being sent out to the field is tiring, especially since Jaehwan had been decommissioned for the rest of the season thanks to a broken leg.

Chanyeol scowls as he remembers this, because despite everyone telling him that there wasn’t anything he could have done, he still blames himself. If only he’d been faster, or stronger, or had thought up a solution faster…

The sound of his name pulls him from his increasingly negative thoughts. He smiles when he sees Sehun and Jongin heading towards him, their gangly limbs flying as they run.

“Hyung! Chanyeol hyung! Come to the game with us,” Jongin urges as they stop just short of running him over. He is breathing hard and  sweating lightly from the heat, but his smile is full and bright.

Sehun, apparently not as patient as Jongin, pulls on Chanyeol’s arm to get him to move. “Come on hyung, let’s go! I don’t want to get benched!”

Chanyeol just laughs as Jongin take his other arm to pull him along. “What are we playing?” he asks.

“Baseball!” both of them shout excitedly.

When they arrive, the teams are already being divided, and Jongin and Sehun immediately pull away to pick their team. Chanyeol approaches the only other adult in the place.

“I see they dragged you in, too,” he says by way of greeting.

Kris quirks a smile at him, his eyes shaded from the sun by a pair of sunglasses. “Dragged is the right term. Zitao caught me on my way to the gym and insisted that playing is the better alternative to exercise.”

Chanyeol snickers as he scans the area, spotting the said boy. He was talking to one of the younger ones, a kid named Baekhyun, who from what Chanyeol could recall was new in town. "I can’t believe we let these midgets drag us around,” he says self-depreciatingly.

“Never underestimate the convincing powers of a fourteen-year-old,” his companion answers wisely before cracking a grin. “Let’s go out there and kick their asses.”

In the interest of being fair, the two split up, Kris predictably ending up teamed with Tao, Jongin and Sehun. Chanyeol joins the opposing team with several of the other neighborhood kids (Kyungsoo had latched on to his side almost immediately).

They’re into the last inning when Chanyeol takes his turn on the batter’s plate. He swings the bat a few times to get a feel for it before grinning across to the pitcher’s mound where Kris was tossing the ball impatiently. “I really hope you’ve gotten better at pitching since our last round,” he throws teasingly.

Kris smirks at him. “I wouldn’t have thought you’d have it in you to say that in front of all these kids,” he throws back lazily.

It takes a moment for Chanyeol to process what Kris means, and he ends up sputtering when he does, finally squawking out an indignant “I did not mean it like that!” that has the older kids laughing at him.

“Sure you didn’t, sure you didn’t,” Kris placates tosses the ball up and down, smirk still firmly in place.

Chanyeol mock glares at the blond as he takes his stance. “Are you gonna pitch or do I have to do it for you?” he asks.

The older lets out a bark of laughter. “Sure, I’ll pitch for you,” he says with a wink. Chanyeol couldn’t help it, he rolls his eyes at the innuendo knowing that Kris is about as straight as a board. Then he focuses as the other man winds up.

The pitch turns out to be a fastball, one of Kris’ best throws, but Chanyeol hears the crack of the ball hitting the bat, feels its force vibrating down to his arm, and knows he’s hit a home run even before the kids start screaming. Then his eyes widen as the ball sails right over the park’s fence and right into the window of one of the houses just across the road.

“Oh ,” he hears Amber curse from behind him.

He would turn around and chastise her, but he’s too busy panicking inside. They’d just broken a window playing baseball! Never in his entire childhood of playing in the very same park had he or any of his group of friends ever done that. He didn’t even think it was possible to actually do it. What if the owner of the house files a complaint?! His father is the chief of police and would probably just laugh his off when he finds out that his 27-year-old son broke someone’s window while playing baseball, but still.

He is pulled away from his horrified fascination by the sight of Kris hitting the ground -first, laughing hysterically. He glares at the blond for a moment, offended at his best friend’s obvious amusement at his predicament, before turning his attention to the kids around them. Most of them have congregated near the second base, where the road is closest and where they can view the damage best.

“I think you’ve just dug yourself a deep hole of embarrassment that you won’t be escaping for a while,” Kris chokes out from the ground. He’s calmed down a bit, but he is still wiping tears of amusement from his eyes. Chanyeol is sorely tempted to kick him. “We should probably see if there’s anyone home,” he says instead.

Kris nods and stands up, calling the younger boys. “Since Chanyeol was the one at fault—“ he ignores the indignant glare directed his way “—we’ll get the ball. You guys go on ahead.”

Most of the kids scramble immediately, but Kyungsoo, Tao, Sehun, and Jongin stay behind. When Kris turns a stare their way, it’s Tao who answers him. “The ball is Kyungsoo’s, so he’s staying to get it.”

“And you three?”

They all look vaguely uncomfortable, but Jongin answers anyway. “We figured we should go with you since, you know, we’re the ones who invited you and all.” Chanyeol coos at them and ruffles the boy’s hair, laughing as the other three run away from him when he turns to do the same to them.

They all head to the house together, the boys obviously nervous but chattering to each other to cover it up. They all quiet down when they reach the house.

“Do you think there’s actually somebody home?” Kyungsoo asks as they all stare at the door.

“We won’t know until we knock,” Kris says as he does exactly that.

It takes a few minutes and three more knocks before they hear movement from inside. The four younger males instinctively huddle together, making the two older ones smile at them before the door opens.

Chanyeol doesn’t know exactly what he’d been expecting, but it definitely wasn’t for a man wearing a ratty old Star Wars shirt and loose jogging pants to open the door and greet them with a blinding smile. The black shirt and fluffy black hair contrast so sharply against the porcelain white of his skin that !Snow White flashes through Chanyeol's mind almost immediately. The guy even had the appropriate apple cheeks—so cute! Chanyeol's mind screams—and red lips to complete the image.

The stranger takes a slow look at all of them, taking a moment to smile extra nicely at the kids, before settling on the tallest of the group. “How can I help you?”

Kris gives a sheepish smile. “Sorry, but Yoda here kind of hit our baseball right through your window, so we’d like to take it back and pay for the damages.” After glancing at his friend and noticing his stare he slyly adds, “Or Chanyeol could do some kind of labor for you, I’m sure he wouldn’t mind.”

Chanyeol gapes at his friend in betrayal, but the man just laughs and gestures them in. “I’m pretty sure you’ve got the wrong house. I didn’t hear anything break.”

“We saw the broken glass outside though,” Sehun pipes up.

“Ah, that. The guys that came in to fix roof broke it earlier. I cleaned up the glass here first since Byul, my dog, likes to test if whatever is on the ground is edible.” As if on cue, a small terrier walks towards them carrying Kyungsoo’s missing ball in his mouth.

“Guess we’ve got the right house after all,” Kris laughs.

They leave soon after that, the owner of the house—Junmyeon—declining any payment regarding the window, saying that it’s already been paid for by the company that broke it in the first place.

As soon as they’ve turned the corner, Kris slings an arm around Chanyeol’s shoulders. “You were totally checking him out.”

Chanyeol would deny it, but he could already feel the deep blush that was spreading all the way to his neck. “I was just surprised! I didn’t expect anyone so—so pretty to open the door! I didn't expect anyone to be that pretty and be a guy!”

His answer is a gleeful chortling. “Yup, totally checking him out.”

“Don’t worry hyung, I saw him eyeing your when you bent down to get the ball from Byul,” Tao throws in. He yelps at the fist that suddenly rubs the top of his head.

“Ya, you’re too young to talk about these things!” the eldest of the group scolds.

“I’m fifteen!”

“Still too young!”

Chanyeol just rolls his eyes as the two continue to bicker, Sehun and Jongin, both only a few months younger than their friend, predictably siding in with Tao. He falls back to walk with Kyungsoo knowing that the younger was probably the most level-headed of his current companions, Kris included.

Kyungsoo looks him in the eye. “He really did check out your ,” the wide-eyed boy tells him earnestly.

Chanyeol sputters.

---

Chanyeol hates early morning with a passion. During his childhood, his mom always had to drag him out of bed to get him to school. In college, more often than not he tried to avoid classes with early schedules. Now, for his work, he deliberately volunteers for night duty just to avoid waking up early. Thus his usual schedule consists of waking up at mid-morning, going to the gym, eating his lunch, doing his chores or going out for a few hours in the afternoon and having dinner before going to his shift.

Today, however, his sister would be returning from her vacation with her new husband, and his father had tasked him with picking them up from the airport. Which was why he was at the gym at the crazy hour of seven in the morning, cursing continuously as he tried to convince his limp muscles that it was, indeed, time to wake up and start working.

He’s so lost in his own misery that it takes him a moment to register that isn’t alone in the gym. He checks out who it is, wanting to know who else was crazy enough to work out that early, and drops the weights on his foot when he sees Junmyeon running on the treadmill, topless with only a small towel draped over his neck and already sweaty.

The pain radiating from his toes distracts him from his ogling, and his loud yelp calls Junmyeon’s attention to him.

There's some surprise in the smaller man's face. “Hey, it’s Chanyeol right? You okay?” he’s asked.

“Just dandy,” he grits out as he massages his toe.

Junmyeon gives him a wry grin as he approaches. “You should probably make sure you’re actually awake next time before you start lifting weights.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” The pain is starting to numb enough that Chanyeol realizes how rude he’d sounded. “Sorry if I sunded rude. Early mornings are not my thing.”

“Don’t worry, I get it. I’m not usually here this early either, but I have a date with Jongdae later.”

Whatever hopes Chanyeol might have harbored plummets. Junmyeon mistakenly interprets the dismay that must have shown on his face as disgust because he quickly explains, “Ah, he’s not my boyfriend or anything! He actually has a boyfriend right now and they’ve been together for two years so I’m going to help him find a ring for Minseok later and—“ he stops his rambling as he finally sees the amusement in Chanyeol’s face. “And I should probably shut up now,” he concludes.

Chanyeol couldn’t help it; he laughs. “Don’t worry, I think it’s cute.” Junmyeon blinks at him in surprise, but before the smaller male can react, he barrels on. “And I’m not exactly the type to judge a guy if he’s gay or anything. I’m not that hypocritical.”

“You mean you’re..?”

“Gay? Yeah.”

“Oh. Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound rude.” Junmyeon smiles at him as he unintentionally mirrors his earlier words. “I’m actually bi, but the people at my old place tend to react negatively when they find out so I try to keep it as low-key as possible.”

“You don’t have to worry about that here. We’re a small town, but the people are pretty open-minded. And besides,” he adds as his eyes glance down to where Junmyeon is absently wiping his chest with his towel. Chanyeol knows that despite all the workout he does in the name of his work, he'll probably never have muscles as well-defined as the ones that Junmyeon boasts. He's also slightly distracted by mole he can see just above the edge of the smaller man's right collarbone. “I don’t think anybody will suspect if you decide to keep it a secret," he finishes, swallowing to get some moisture back into his suddenly dry mouth.

The smaller follows his gaze and seems to belatedly realize that he’s still half-. With a squeak (so damn cute! Chanyeol thinks) he runs back to the corner where Chanyeol spots a small duffel bag.

The jacket that Junmyeon takes out looks familiar to Chanyeol. “Hey Junmyeon, if you don’t mind me asking, where’d you get that jacket?”

“This?” his companion asks as he pulls on the sleeves. Chanyeol nods at him. “I found this here maybe two weeks ago? I asked Lu Han but he said he didn’t know who it belongs to, and said that I should just keep it since nobody ever claims lost clothes. Why?”

“That’s probably mine. I left it here when I got called out suddenly to assist in a fire in the next town.”

“Oh.” Junmyeon looks down at the jacket. It’s already several sizes too big for Chanyeol, and on Junmyeon it falls down to about an inch below his . The shoulders of the garment are located halfway down his arm, and the sleeves completely cover his hands when he puts them down. “Um. I’m sorry. I’ll return it to you once I’ve washed it.”

“Nah, you can keep it.”

“But it’s yours!”

He debates for all of a second before deciding to hell with it. “Tell you what, you can pay for it by treating me to dinner tonight.”

Junmyeon blinks wide eyes at him, and Chanyeol thinks he should really stop doing that or his heart would probably beat right out of his chest just to get to Junmyeon’s cuteness. “You mean… like a date?”

“Yeah, like a date. If you’re okay with it?”

Junmyeon stares at him for a moment, and Chanyeol thinks he must have blown it after all, but then the sweetest smile breaks across Junmyeon’s face. “I’ll see you tomorrow night then.”

---

6 weeks later

“You know, it’s still summer. Should you really be wearing a jacket?” Kris asks as they approach.

“We’re going to a skating rink anyway,” Junmyeon defends himself.

Yixing, one of Kris’ officemates and Junmyeon’s childhood friend, snorts at his answer. “You just want to wear Chanyeol’s jackets as much as possible, don’t deny it.”

Color blooms across Junmyeon’s cheeks, but before he could deny it, there’s a comforting arm around his shoulder. “Hey now, no bullying my boyfriend!”

Kris rolls his eyes. “How long are you gonna keep saying ‘my boyfriend’ in that possessive tone, because I swear to god it’s starting to annoy me,” he mutters jokingly.

“You’re just jealous because I actually have a love life. You, on the other hand, have had no company but your right hand for several months now,” Chanyeol retaliates.

Yixing pulls Junmyeon away from the two bickering towers, heading for the skating rink. “Seriously though, why do you like wearing Chanyeol’s clothes so much?”

Junmyeon smiles but doesn’t answer. Instead, he just buries his nose deeper into the soft material, taking in the lingering scent of Chanyeol as subtly as he can.

---

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