"Surprise!", Jongdae said cheerily as he came back, pushing a shopping cart that held boxes in it. He stopped once he noticed Baekhyun wasn't at the front of the temple.

But just then, Baekhyun came from inside the temple, his face looked guarded as he noticed Jongdae, but Jongdae didn't notice the change and instead smiled at him.

"Surprise!",He repeated motioning towards the cart in front of him.

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow.

"I heard you the first time",

"Then why didn't you come out quicker? Look, look, I had an amazing idea for the windows",Jongdae went to the cart and started opening up the boxes.

Baekhyun lacked the enthusiasm, but he looked into the boxes nonetheless and blinked at the contents.

"What is this?",

"What do you think? It's stained glass, you're going to have stained glass windows. Colorful, but elegant, I think it would look nice. Eye catching without being tacky",Jongdae smiled proudly as he turned to Baekhyun expecting the god to smile and grin back at him, instead he only stared down at the glass, his eyes looking distant."Unless..it's a bad idea?",

Baekhyun quickly shook his head.

"No it's not that, it's a wonderful idea, it's just...",Baekhyun really didn't want to reveal what it really was. After all Jongdae would probably laugh at him, or think he was insane."The raccoons",Baekhyun said instead.

"The raccoons? They were here?",

Baekhyun nodded.

"Yes!That's it and they...they stole some of my offerings again! So..I think I am going to go talk to the foxes so that they may help me with the raccoon problem", Baekhyun decided making his way towards the forest.

Jongdae only stared after him, confused, not quite believing his raccoon story. He sighed to himself wondering what was going on through Baekhyun's mind. 

He turned back to his boxes and decided to put up the windows himself, maybe once Baekhyun saw how pretty it looked it'd cheer him up a little.

_____________________________________________________

Baekhyun sighed to himself once inside the forest, he didn't really like lying to Jongdae but there were too many things he was feeling, too many things that he was thinking right now he couldn't face him at the moment. 

He couldn't face Jongdae now that he'd found his match, Baekhyun would eventually have to tell him, he knew that. Right now he just didn't want to.

Baekhyun scoffed at himself, rubbing his face.

Look at him, a love god who doesn't want to finish the job because of his own selfish feelings...but no, he would tell Jongdae, he wouldn't rob him of his soulmate, he wouldn't be that selfish. He couldn't be. 

Well...he technically could -  But no! He wouldn't. This was Jongdae's happiness. Minseok was Jongdae's happiness.

And that's something Baekhyun would just have to deal with.

He wandered further into the forest, deciding to actually find some foxes to help him out with the raccoons.

____________________________________________________

Baekhyun returned late afternoon, having struck a deal with some foxes but also having talked to Tao and Luhan hoping to get some comfort and advice. They both suggested the same as Yifan, to set Jongdae up with his match, and maybe then his own feelings would fade.

Jongdae seemed to be coming back at the same time as him, he carried some take out bags, he'd bought food.

He beamed once he saw Baekhyun and walked towards him.

"I can't believe you lied about the raccoons",Jongdae made a face at him.

Baekhyun froze, how did he know? What else did he know?

"All to get out of helping me put up the windows",Jongdae shook his head,"But I guess it works out better this way, it'll be more of a surprise when you finally see them",

"Oh...yeah",Baekhyun forced a small laugh,"What can I say? Tedious work isn't my favorite type of work",

Jongdae rolled his eyes.

"I got us food, come on, let's eat",Jongdae sat on the steps of the temple, Baekhyun following but sitting as far as he could away from Jongdae.

He looked behind them, but the windows were covered with tarp.

"Why are they like that? They look worse than before",Baekhyun frowned.

"It'll be a surprise! So I covered them, you can't see it till tomorrow,"

"I should see them now, we'll be going back to your place tomorrow",

"We'll see it in the morning",Jongdae insisted as Baekhyun merely relented.

It was quiet for a moment, both just eating their food, the sounds of the forest occasionally making itself known, the glow of the sunset settling over the both of them.

Baekhyun sneaked a peek at Jongdae ,who was covered in the hues of the sun, he looked brilliant, golden even.

"Did something happen?",Jongdae spoke breaking Baekhyun's thoughts.

"What?",

Jongdae sighed and turned to look at Baekhyun.

"I went over to your pond to see if there were any weeds I hand't taken out yet...I saw footprints...what I'm guessing were dragon footprints",

Baekhyun was quiet a moment.

"Yifan and I talked",

"Was he still mad about taking me into the forest thing? Is he going to kill me?",Jongdae asked worriedly.

Baekhyun laughed.

He shook his head.

"He's not going to kill you", I wouldn't let him, Baekhyun thought,"He was just curious about us",

"Us?",

Baekhyun coughed.

"Our friendship I mean. He doesn't think it's a good idea for us to be so close", and he's probably right, Baekhyun thought.

Jongdae nodded.

"I understand why, but like I said, I don't think I'll harm you, although you test me sometimes", Baekhyun flicks his arm, "You're my friend now and I care about you. The last thing I'd want to do is hurt you",Jongdae said sincerely

Baekhyun felt his heart soften as he smiled at Jongdae.

"I know", He said quietly, then after a moment he asked,"You wouldn't hurt me even if I ate all your good food?",

"I haven't so far",

"Even if I took up all the room on the couch all the time?",

"Again, I haven't so far",

"Even if I made you take in Noodle?",

"I guess I've always wanted a pet",

"Even if I annoy you all the time?",

"I think we annoy each other equally",

"Even if I call you duckling?",

"The nickname's kinda growing on me, don't push it though",

"Even if...even if I can't find your match?",

Jongdae says nothing for that one and looks at Baekhyun.

"Well...I guess I can always take you to the ball",

Baekhyun pouted.

"You don't sound happy about that",

Jongdae laughed.

"I wouldn't mind actually. It's disappointing that maybe there is no match out there for me but if you can't find them, I'd still have gotten you out of it, so that's good",Jongdae said before he got up to collect their trash,"Help me clean up, you've been gone practically all day, you need to do something",

Baekhyun's heart felt joyful, even though he knew he shouldn't be considering even keeping Jongdae from his match, and he wouldn't, but right now he let himself be happy.

"Okay! What else needs to be fixed?",Baekhyun had some newfound energy and Jongdae sensed it.

Jongdae himself was happy that Baekhyun seemed to be back to his regular self, he gave Baekhyun some chores to do as they both cleaned up the supplies before settling inside the temple to rest.

_______________________________________________________

"Jongdae I don't appreciate my beauty sleep being interrupted", Baekhyun yawned lazily,"Especially if you won't let me see where I'm going",

Jongdae had his hands over Baekhyun's eyes and he was leading him down the stairs of the temple and a little bit away so Baekhyun could see the full view of his brand new temple.

"Stop being grumpy, it's the perfect hour for you to see your temple, right when the sun is shining and bright in the morning",

Baekhyun merely yawned in response with Jongdae slapping his shoulder slightly.

"Stop yawning-",

"I'm sleepy!",

"Still, it's rude, I'm trying to give you a gift",

"Can my gift be sleep?",

Jongdae sighed and ignored him.

"Okay, are you ready?",

Despite his demeanor and comments, Baekhyun's heart was actually pounding, both from the close proximity of Jongdae and the nervousness of seeing his spiffed up temple. 

However, as Jongdae removed his hands, Baekhyun's jaw dropped and his eyes sparkled.

His temple....was beautiful...it wasn't run down or a dump anymore, it was like an actual nice and well kept temple. It was white,seeming to shine in the suns rays, the steps cracks were completely covered, the bushes were shaped like hearts, there were even flowers planted and beginning to bloom that made the place more pretty and alive, there was no more moss and weeds, the grass was trimmed, the floor around and in the temple was spotless and clean. However Baekhyun's eyes were drawn to the windows, he walked towards them, placing his hand on them, a big smile gracing his face.

One of the windows had white peonies on them, the background colorful hues of blue, a white border around the whole picture. The other had two swans touching their beaks together, forming a heart, the background was a simple but shining royal blue, making the white swans stand out.

They were gorgeous.

Jongdae walked up next to him and nudged him a smile on his face.

"It looks amazing doesn't it?",

Baekhyun didn't respond, instead he turned to Jongdae pulling him into a hug and holding him close.