It’s been a week and Minseok’s words have had a life changing effect on him.

When Baekhyun’s mother calls him and asks him to come home for the weekend he takes a deep, terrified breath, and agrees to go. He reluctantly packs his bags that Friday afternoon and has them all waiting by the door for him to take to the car when Minseok gets home from work. He paces around the apartment, anxiety turning into impatience when Minseok texts to let Baekhyun know he’ll be a little late getting home. He just wants to go and get this visit over with.

Baekhyun’s hometown isn’t small by any means, but it’s not as populated as the college town he rushed off to after high school graduation. He hasn’t been back in over three years and nothing has changed, but no surprise there. The little ice cream shop he worked in, and got fired from, is still on the corner of the main road just before the turn for his house. He thinks back to the reason he was fired and has to giggle to himself; he was such a back in high school.

The park is his favorite memory of home; many summers and weekends, days skipping school were spent there with his friends. He’s been drunk in that park more times than he can really remember.

“How’s it feel being back?” Minseok asks from the driver’s seat.

Baekhyun hums, still looking out his own window. “Feels…weird.”

“Nervous? That you’ll run into him?”

Baekhyun can see his house nearing and he has to take a deep breath. “Very.”

He really meant to come home sooner than this. He’s wanted to visit his parents but it’s easy to get caught up in college life and forget to make the trip home; especially when he still had fresh wounds he was trying to heal.

It’s been three years now, more than enough time to get over himself, it up and visit, even if his mom will more than likely lecture him about staying away for so long. He’ll have to thank Minseok for this; he would have never realized he was running away from his problems without him. Still, it does nothing to help his nerves. But, he’s excited. He misses his parents, he misses his old room, he misses home.

The first thing he’s greeted with when he opens his front door is a crushing hug from his mother. She’s in tears, probably in disbelief that he actually showed up, and she’s breaking his ribs.

“Hi mom,” he wheezes; Minseok awkwardly shuffles around them, giving them space for their little reunion.

“Your father is at work right now; he’ll be so happy to see you when he gets home!” She turns now, to Minseok, and gives him a bright smile, pulls him in for a hug too. “Is this your boyfriend Baekie? Oh,” she pulls Minseok back, inspecting him and wiping a wrinkle from his shirt, “He’s so handsome, sweetie.”

Baekhyun lets out an awkward laugh, moving to pull Minseok from his mother’s grip. “No, mom, just my roommate.”

“Oh, I bet you two have…you know,” she wiggles her eyebrows.

“Okay! So, my room is back here,” Baekhyun says frantically, grabbing Minseok’s shoulders and pushing him down the hall. “Jesus Christ,” he whispers into Minseok’s ear.

Baekhyun throws himself face first onto his childhood bed and whines. “Tell me why I came here again?”

Minseok laughs loud and sits beside Baekhyun, patting his softly. “Because you miss your mom, who is…shockingly open about your life.” Baekhyun groans. “Is your dad like that too? Because like, I don’t know if I’ll be able to look him in the eyes if he starts talking about or something to me.”

Baekhyun sits up, looks Minseok straight in the eyes, and very seriously says, “Minseok, I will literally kill myself if that happens.”

Luckily, Baekhyun’s father is a quiet man. He doesn’t say much when he sees Baekhyun, but he does pull him into a hug and tells him he’s missed him. He does give Minseok a mildly threatening look, but thankfully doesn’t ask him any questions about whether he and Baekhyun have had or not. He’s a terrible liar and that’s a conversation he’d rather not have.

They eat dinner together. Baekhyun’s mom behaves, not asking any more inappropriate questions, though she does keep cooing any time Minseok and Baekhyun so much as look at each other.

“You need to remind your mom that we’re not dating, dude,” Minseok says when they retreat to Baekhyun’s room for the night. “She keeps giving me these ‘I hope you marry my son’ eyes and it’s kinda freaking me out.”

Baekhyun laughs as he strips off his shirt. “I’ll tell her tomorrow, don’t worry.” He pulls his pants down and steps out of them, kicking them aside as he grabs his shorts from his bag. “I warn you though, she’s going to be devastated, she really likes you.”

Baekhyun’s shorts are halfway to his knees, Minseok has his shirt off and is working at the button on his jeans when the door opens. Baekhyun’s mom peeks her head in and smiles. “Oh, you boys. I don’t mind if you do it in the house, just keep it quiet, your father works in the morning.” Baekhyun and Minseok make the same disturbed face as they stare at each other. “Anyway, I meant to ask you what you want me to make for breakfast in the morning?”

“Oh my god mom, literally make anything,” he motions to half- Minseok, “We’re trying to get dressed.” He sighs. “Oh, also,” he says, his mom stopping before the door closes completely, “Minseok isn’t my boyfriend mom, like for real, we’re just roommates and we don’t have with each other.” Anymore, he thinks.

His mom pouts at them and it freaks Minseok out how much she looks like Baekhyun when she does that. “Sweetie, he’s so handsome though.”

“Mom,” he pinches the bridge of his nose, “please get out.”

“Baekie, I’m just looking out for you. You haven’t dated anyone since Yixing and you’re such a good boy, you deserve to be with someone.”

Baekhyun lets out a soft, shaky breath. Minseok’s eyes widen at the mention of Yixing’s name, this is so not going to go well.

“Mom, please. Please just get out.”

“Baek—“

“Mom!” Baekhyun raises his voice, “I don’t want to talk about this, and I sure as don’t want to talk about him.”

Minseok waits until Baekhyun’s mother shuts the door to say anything. “She doesn’t know, does she?”

Baekhyun swallows thickly, shakes his head. “No. He broke my heart and I ran off to college literally the next day to get away from here.” He sighs and sits at the edge of the bed. “She has no idea what he did to me.”

They decide to just go to bed. Baekhyun cuddles up to Minseok under the blankets and pouts until he falls asleep.

When Baekhyun wakes up, he almost forgets about how he’d yelled at his mom. He doesn’t want to get up; he doesn’t want to have to deal with her. He hopes she’s not upset with him. He hasn’t seen her in years and doesn’t want this visit ruined because he can’t control his emotions.

He creeps around the house; it’s early and he doesn’t want to wake his mom if she’s still sleeping. He’d much rather deal with her later than sooner. Minseok enters the kitchen as he’s making coffee; he must smell it in his sleep because he tends to always show up to the scent of coffee.

“So,” Minseok starts, “avoiding the topic of last night, what do you want to do today?”

Baekhyun pours them each a mug of coffee and they sit together at the table. He’s not sure what he wants to do today; he doesn’t want to do anything really, except maybe go back to his apartment. But, they decide to go out for lunch so Baekhyun can show Minseok around.

They manage to get out of the house before noon and, per Minseok’s request, stop at a coffee shop that he said looked ‘too cozy to pass up’. Baekhyun is driving this time, he could easily just pass the place and keep going, but he doesn’t want to have to explain himself to Minseok.

It’s been a long time since he’s been in here. The chime of the bell as the door opens brings back a lot of memories, some good, some bad, some unbearable. He spent many days here with friends drinking hot chocolate, because they all thought coffee was poison back then. He sat at a table at the back when his mother called him to inform him of his favorite aunt’s sudden death.

He takes in a deep breath.

He met Yixing here the summer before freshmen year. He was blonde then, tall and cute, a little dimple in one cheek. They bumped into each other, both not paying attention to where they were walking. Yixing wouldn’t stop apologizing and insisted on buying Baekhyun a new drink. Baekhyun was instantly infatuated with him; Yixing was funny and sweet and, he’d find out about a week later, a great kisser.

They order their drinks and Baekhyun tries to shake off the sick feeling he has. Baekhyun follows Minseok to a table and they sit.

“You’re quiet.”

Baekhyun chuckles nervously, “It’s just…lots of memories here.”

“Good ones?”

“Of course not.” Minseok doesn’t speak, so Baekhyun assumes he’s waiting for an explanation. “I met um…Yixing here. We used to come here for most of our dates.”

“Ah,” Minseok says, “I want to apologize for bringing you here, but the coffee is so damn good I can’t even be sorry.”

Baekhyun gives Minseok a crooked smile, “It’s okay. If I’m ever gonna get over things I gotta face them, right?” Minseok nods.

His relationship with Yixing was wonderful and fierce, and everything Baekhyun had ever wanted. They were perfect for each other, didn’t care about the stares from people in public; Yixing taught Baekhyun to embrace his uality and be proud of who he was. He was there for Baekhyun when he finally decided to come out to his parents, something that would have been much more terrifying without someone by his side. Yixing was his everything, his entire world.

“Oh my god Baek, there’s totally a picture of you on the wall over there!”

Baekhyun grimaces; he knows the picture Minseok is talking about. “Yeah,” he says, turning to look at it behind him, “it’s me and my friends from high school. We used to come here so much the owner demanded a picture of us all before we left for college.”

“That’s adorable.”

Growing up, all Baekhyun ever wanted was to be a doctor. He wanted to help people and make them better. He worked hard through school, graduated top of his class, and got a scholarship to his dream school. He cried when he opened the letter of acceptance and immediately ran to the coffee shop, where all his friends were waiting for him, to tell them the exciting news. The owner brought them all free drinks, in honor of Baekhyun’s amazing achievement, and snapped a picture of them to hang on the wall. That was the last day he ever spent with all of them. The day Yixing shattered his heart and changed his life.

“That was a bad day,” Baekhyun says, bravely deciding to open up to Minseok. “I found out I got a scholarship to my dream school. Me and my friends all celebrated here; that was fun.”

“How is that a bad day?”

“After I left here, I went to Yixing’s to tell him.”

The anger took Baekhyun completely by surprise; Yixing was supposed to be happy for him, be proud of him. He wasn’t supposed to give Baekhyun an ultimatum. It wasn’t supposed to be Yixing or his dream. He wanted both; he wanted Yixing to support him.

“He told me it was him or school,” Baekhyun recalls sadly, fiddling with the handle of his mug. “He said if I went off to school he would break up with me because how could he possibly know if I was ‘running around campus cheating on him or not’.”

“That’s like, way ed up, Baek. Holy , I’m sorry.”

“I just couldn’t believe it, you know? We’d been together for four years. I loved him more than anything and he refused to trust me.”

“So what happened?”

Baekhyun shrugs. “I gave up.” His chin trembles and he looks up, trying to keep the tears from falling. “On him and on myself, obviously. I’m barely passing half of my classes so…yeah.” He gives Minseok a weak smile. “Looking back now I know what I did was stupid. I didn’t take the scholarship, went to a different school to be farther away from him. He ruined my life,” he scoffs, “I ruined my life.”

Minseok doesn’t know what to say other than he’s sorry and that Baekhyun didn’t ruin his life.

“But I did. All for some ing boy,” he snaps. “I should be preparing to go to medical school right now. I shouldn’t be so afraid of having feelings.” Tears pool in his eyes and fall when he blinks. “I shouldn’t be so ing broken.”

“Baek.” Minseok reaches across the table to lace his fingers with Baekhyun’s.

“God, my parents must be so disappointed in me.” He lets out a bitter laugh. “I’m disappointed in me.”

“Can I say something?” Minseok asks, trying to tread lightly. He waits for Baekhyun to nod. “I know you feel like right now, but you needed to do this.” Baekhyun raises his eyebrows. “No really! Cry, ing scream and throw if you want. Get your anger at him out.” He smiles, “I bet you’ve never actually let yourself do that.”

“You’re right, but I think I’ll stick with talking, and crying like a baby.”

“Let’s get out of here.”

Baekhyun and Minseok spend much of the early afternoon walking around, laughing and joking, and Baekhyun telling stories of stupid things he’s done in places they pass. He explains the time he was almost arrested for getting a little too comfortable with Yixing in the movie theater, and the other time he was actually picked up by the cops for being extremely drunk in the corner store and knocking over an entire rack of candy; his parents weren’t too happy with him that night.

He had a lot of fun growing up here, and sometimes, like right now, he genuinely misses it. He misses the old lady on the corner that sells flowers, and the twins that lived next door to him who introduced him to alcohol when he was 14. He almost, kind of, sort of…misses Yixing. Sure, things with him ended terribly, with lots of tears and anger and the inevitable bottling up of emotions, but they had a really great four years together that Baekhyun will never forget. He grew up with Yixing; all four years of high school, every late night Baekhyun spent, was spent with Yixing.

He sits on the curb as he and Minseok eat the ice cream they’d purchased and sighs contentedly, finally able to sift through his memories. It’s a weird feeling, smiling as his mind focuses on Yixing; it’s something he never thought he’d be able to do. Who would have known that all he needed to begin to heal was to think about all the things that upset him?

“You okay?” Minseok asks around the spoon in his mouth. “You’re scary quiet right now.”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun nods, “I’m actually great. Like, really great.”

“Good. So, what do you wanna do now?”

Baekhyun shrugs, “I don’t know, you wanna go get more coffee and then head back?”

They return to the coffee shop they visited earlier that day, Minseok insisted. They sit in the same seats with the same drinks, and just chat about nothing in particular. Baekhyun hears someone call his name and he perks up, knowing the voice.

“Luhan!”

The boy sits in the empty chair at the table and holds his mug with both hands. “What are you doing here?” he asks, then gives a small acknowledging smile to Minseok.

“Just came home for the weekend to visit my parents. You know, it’s been long enough.”

“What are you doing here?” Minseok asks. He knows Luhan from all the time he’s spent at the arcade with Baekhyun, and he’s always thought he was cute, young and dumb, but cute.

“I’m from here,” Luhan smiles at Minseok, “Me and Baek go way back.”

“You guys have ed, haven’t you?” Minseok asks, grinning at the kick Baekhyun gives to his shin under the table.

“We haven’t, actually,” Baekhyun sneers. “I don’t everyone I know, Min, damn.”

“We made out once,” Luhan adds, a wide smile on his face, “At a party, remember?” Baekhyun is trying to shut him up with a wave of his hand, but Luhan only continues. “My freshmen year? You said I was pretty and then you—“

“Shut up, will you? God.”

Minseok and Luhan laugh and Baekhyun glares as he sips his coffee. Luhan decides to spare him more embarrassment and starts talking about things from their past, things they used to do growing up in this town. They talk about a lot of stuff Minseok has never heard, things he didn’t know Baekhyun used to do. How Baekhyun was on the baseball team in high school, or how he broke his spine falling out of a tree when he was a kid.

And then, Minseok’s eyes widen, Luhan brings up Yixing. Baekhyun never knew what became of him after he left, he disappeared and never looked back, blocked Yixing’s number and never spoke to him again.

“He stayed here. Went to the community college and got a graphic design degree.” Luhan is younger than Baekhyun, he stayed for a few years after Baekhyun went off to college. “He asked me about you a lot, you know.”

Baekhyun chews on his lip. “Really?”

“Mh-hm,” Luhan hums as he swallows a drink. “He tried to call you a bunch but said you must have blocked him or something. I think he regretted what he did.” Luhan shrugs and then changes topic, turning to Minseok to ask him some soccer related question.

Baekhyun doesn’t hear anything the other two are saying. He’s frozen in place, heart pounding; Yixing tried to call him? He regretted what he did? Baekhyun’s heart clenches at the thought; his stomach turns.

“Why have you never told me that?” Baekhyun asks, cutting into Luhan and Minseok’s conversation. “You knew the whole time he was trying to reach out to me and you never told me?”

Luhan gapes at him, “I don’t know? You said you never wanted anything to do with him again; I just didn’t think it was important to tell you.” He shrugs.

Baekhyun is numb for the rest of the night. Through the rest of his coffee, on the drive back to his house, as he gets changed and ready for bed, he’s numb, thoughts only on Yixing and the fact that he wanted to talk to him after he left their hometown. He falls asleep thinking about what could have been.

“This weekend went by so fast,” Baekhyun says, looking at Minseok in the mirror. Minseok isn’t paying attention to him, he’s too busy finger ing his hair. Baekhyun waits for a response and rolls his eyes when he doesn’t get one. “You know, I really wanna you right now, right up against the counter.”

“What the hell, Baek?”

“Oh, now you’re listening to me.” He makes a fist and holds it up, trying to look intimidating. “You look hot, now stop messing with your hair, we have to get going.”

“Eager to get back to your little boyfriend?” Minseok teases, elbowing Baekhyun in the ribs.

“Chanyeol is so not my boyfriend, cut it out.”

“You wish he was,” Minseok continues his teasing. “Ugh, when you guys finally do the dirty it’s gonna be so annoying. You’re so loud in bed.”

“Stop,” Baekhyun whines as they exit the bathroom together. They grab their bags and make their way to the kitchen, ready to say goodbye and get on the road. Baekhyun’s father is at work, but his mother is standing in front of the sink washing dishes. She turns when she hears the boys enter the room and smiles, turning the water off and drying her hands on a towel before stepping closer to them.

“You boys leaving already?”

“Yeah mom,” Baekhyun says, helplessly accepting the tight hug his mother wraps him in. She holds on for much too long, until Baekhyun’s lungs are screaming for air. “We gotta get back; I have a big project I have to get some work done on.”

His mother leans back and grabs Baekhyun’s face, smooths his sideburns down with her fingertips. She sighs, with that loving look in her eyes only a mother could give her child. “I love you sweetie, please don’t stay gone so long this time.”

This time it’s Baekhyun who moves forward to wrap his mother in a tight hug, tears in his eyes; he buries his face in her neck and sniffles. “I’m sorry mom.” A soft whine slips out and he can’t hold back any longer. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have left like I did.” He gasps a few breaths in and chokes on another sob. “I shouldn’t have stayed away for so long and I shouldn’t have yelled at you yesterday. I’m sorry.”

“Oh, sweetie,” his mother comforts him, a gentle hand running through his hair. She pats his cheek a few times and smiles through the tears she’s fighting. “You were hurt baby, your father and I understood. We just didn’t think it would take you so long to come back to us.”

Baekhyun straightens up and clears his throat. “You…you knew about that?”

“Of course I knew. You really thought Yixing wouldn’t come talk to me when you disappeared over night?” She smiles at an uncomfortable looking Minseok over Baekhyun’s shoulder and pats her son’s arm. “He felt so bad, honey. He really did. I’m not excusing what he did to you, but I can tell you that he felt terrible after you left.” She gives Baekhyun one final hug, then crosses the kitchen to hug Minseok, too. “Now get going, you have a project to work on.”

It’s silent in the car; Minseok doesn’t even feel like he should turn the radio on, he doesn’t even want to look at Baekhyun beside him, still quietly sniffling. They stop at a gas station nearby Baekhyun’s house and Baekhyun follows Minseok in as he pays for gas and grabs drinks for the drive back to campus.

“You have to be actually ing kidding me,” Baekhyun whispers, stopping so quickly Minseok slams into his back.

“What are you doing?”

The face Baekhyun makes looks like he’s in pain; he turns to Minseok and lets out a raspy, unhappy groan. “He’s here,” he whispers, shoving Minseok in front of him as they walk back to the car. “Yixing is ing here, getting gas. Right beside our car.”

“My car,” Minseok corrects stubbornly as Baekhyun continues to push him forward. “Maybe it’s fate,” he shrugs, “Go say hi.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Baekhyun whisper-screams, eyes wide. “And say what? Hey remember when you broke up with me and I ran away, yeah cool, nice to see you again.”

“Or,” Minseok says, prying Baekhyun’s fingers from his shirt, “you could literally just say hi.”

“I would rather die and you know it.”

“Baek?”

Baekhyun freezes in place. He knows that it’s Yixing’s voice calling his name, but he can’t bring himself to actually face him. Instead, he’s staring at Minseok who is staring back at him; they’re inches apart, looking a lot like a couple that’s arguing.

“Baek, is that you?”

The voice is closer now; Baekhyun can hear Yixing’s footsteps approaching him and Minseok. He has to gulp down the lump in his throat, and suppress his urge to vomit. He takes a deep breath and decides to just get this over with; how bad can talking to the person that broke his heart really be?

“Hi,” Baekhyun says, spinning to face Yixing. His voice comes out near screaming volume and he winces at himself. “Hey,” he says quieter this time, stepping back to put more distance between himself and Yixing.

“Hi,” Yixing says; he’s staring at Baekhyun like he can’t believe he’s really standing in front of him.

It’s silent and awkward, and Baekhyun is slowly dying inside with every second that passes with them just staring at each other. He knew this was going to happen; he knew that he’d end up running into Yixing somehow, and that it would be terrible. He hopes Minseok steps in and says something, he’s usually pretty good at diffusing tension.

“I have to ,” is what comes out of Minseok’s mouth; he points a thumb over his shoulder at the gas station and quickly turns to march back inside. Baekhyun wants to punch him; he’ll definitely punch him when they’re alone in the car again.

“That’s…Minseok,” Baekhyun’s eyes look everywhere but at Yixing, “my roommate.”

“He’s charming,” Yixing laughs.

That laugh, Baekhyun melts all over again; it’s been so long since he’s heard that laugh. He finally looks up and Yixing is smiling, dimple on display. He wants to say something but nothing will come out. Oh god, this is his worst nightmare, he’s going to die in a gas station parking lot because of emotional trauma and a dimple. He briefly wonders how fast a heart can beat before it explodes; he’s not sure, but he thinks he might be close to that limit.

His hand instinctively raises, like he’s going to go in for a handshake, but he forces it down and shoves it into his pocket. No touching, definitely no touching Yixing. That thought is short-lived though, because Yixing, affectionate as always, goes in for a hug. He squeezes Baekhyun tight, Baekhyun’s arms pressed firmly to his own sides. He grimaces, so awkward.

“It’s so good to see you!” Yixing is smiling when he pulls away from the embrace. “It’s been so long.” A short pause, Baekhyun is trembling at this point. “You look good.”

“I…thank you. You uh, you too.” He can feel the heat in his cheeks, spreading through his entire body; he’s miserable right now. “So I heard you’re a graphic designer now?” A safe topic, he thinks.

“I’ve missed you,” is Yixing’s response. The color drains from Baekhyun’s face. “Sorry,” Yixing says, quickly noticing Baekhyun’s discomfort, “it’s just been a long time, and I really have missed you. You kinda disappeared on me.”

Baekhyun wraps an arm around himself and looks down. “Yeah well, you kinda broke my ing heart, so…” This time he looks up, his confidence returned. “Guess we’re even,” he smiles.

“Hey, ready to go?” Minseok appears beside them so suddenly Baekhyun jumps and Minseok chuckles. “I’ll be in the car,” he says, realizing he’s unwanted in this conversation.

“Well,” Baekhyun says through a heavy sigh, sliding into the passenger seat beside Minseok, “that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

“No?”

“No.” Baekhyun buckles in and looks to where Yixing’s car is pulling out onto the street. “We exchanged numbers.” He shrugs, “Don’t know if I’ll ever actually text him or anything, but it’s nice to know we can be civil.”

“Baek,” Minseok says, that warning tone of Minseok’s appearing. “Don’t hurt Chanyeol.”

Baekhyun sputters, half laughing. “What are you talking about? Hurt him how?” Minseok isn’t looking at him, busy paying attention to the road. “Wha-you think…you honestly think I’m going to get back with Yixing?”

Minseok gives a pointed side-eye.

“Please, I’m stupid but I’m not dumb.” He laughs, brushing off Minseok’s ridiculousness. “I would never.” Minseok raises an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t!”

Baekhyun giggles, rolls completely over into a little blanket burrito, and giggles again, squinting up at his phone in the dark of his room. His teeth dig into his bottom lip as his shoulders shake; he’s trying to keep quiet. He told Minseok he was going to sleep over an hour ago, and he knows Minseok is still up, sitting on the couch in the living simultaneously doing homework and watching Hulu.

He’s been texting Yixing for the past few days. A terrible idea, he knows, but he’s never been one for self-control. To be fair, Baekhyun decided, if Minseok were to find out, Yixing messaged him first. And, he couldn’t be rude, especially not when Yixing’s text ended with a cute little smiley.

He giggles again, hides his face in his blanket shyly as if Yixing can actually see him. They’ve been reminiscing for the past hour, bringing up funny stories from high school. The next message he receives makes him pause with his thumbs over his screen; he chews at his bottom lip.

From Yixing:
remember our first kiss?

To Yixing:
lol yeah y?

From Yixing:
idk just thinking about it i guess.. ur a good kisser

To Yixing:
so I’ve been told ;p

From Yixing:
lots of conquests after me, huh?

To Yixing:
......maybe

To Yixing:
anyway im tired gotta get some sleep for class tomorrow. night!

He plugs his phone in and sets it on his nightstand, wanting to stop the conversation before it enters dangerous territory. He rubs his hands over his face and sighs. His screen lights up and he leans over to look at it.

From Chanyeol:
hey! wanna meet tomorrow before class and get coffee?

From Chanyeol:
purely professional of course, I wanted to run an idea for our project by you :)

From Yixing:
night Baekie <3

Baekhyun flops back onto his pillow, deciding to ignore the texts until the morning.

It’s cold and windy, and looks like it’s going to rain. But still, Baekhyun is walking toward the coffee shop, shivering at the wind hitting him through his thin hoodie. He’s tired, his sleep was restless last night, and he’s just glad Chanyeol wanted to meet at the coffee shop, because he can seriously use the caffeine right now.

Chanyeol is at the counter when he walks in. Baekhyun smiles when the barista hands Chanyeol two drinks, and his smile widens at the stupid face Chanyeol makes at him when he turns and finally notices Baekhyun.

“You look like you really hate mornings,” Chanyeol says as he sits across from Baekhyun. He slides one of the coffees across the table and chuckles as Baekhyun snatches it up and starts gulping it down. “Thirsty?”

“No,” Baekhyun sets his cup down and smacks his lips, “tired. I’m so tired, oh my god. If you wouldn’t have suggested coffee I don’t think I would have come out.”

Chanyeol smiles, “Good decision on my part then I guess.”

“Very.”

They chat a bit. Chanyeol runs back to the counter to buy Baekhyun another drink and they eventually get to talking about their project. Yixing texts Baekhyun good morning, making him smile, and he makes up an excuse for why he was smiling at his phone when Chanyeol asks.

It’s raining when they exit the shop together, both heading to school. Their psychology class isn’t until tomorrow, so they part ways once they reach campus, but not before Chanyeol surprises Baekhyun with a hug. It warms Baekhyun from head to toe, scrambling his brain momentarily.

“Bye Baek.”

“Uh, bye.” Baekhyun smiles once Chanyeol’s back is turned. He watches Chanyeol walk a few steps before finally turning to start his own walk to class.

Texting Yixing proves to be a rather taxing feat. His ex is still the same flirtatious boy that he knew in high school, and he finds himself blushing ninety percent of the time. He knows it’s a dangerous road he’s letting himself travel, but it’s kind of hard to resist. Yixing has always been irresistibly charming.

Sunday marks a week since he’d first started texting Yixing. He’s at Chanyeol’s house working on their project that they’ll have finished by the time he leaves in a few hours. They’ve taken a break, now sitting in the living room waiting for the food they ordered to arrive.

Baekhyun doesn’t know how to feel about the project coming to an end. Of course he’s happy it will be over because he hates psychology with a burning passion, but he can’t help but wonder how much time he’ll spend with Chanyeol once he no longer has a reason to hang out. He’s amazed with himself, how much he’s grown to really enjoy Chanyeol in the short time they’ve been hanging out. He’s kind of stupid and really loud, very clumsy, but he’s also really tall and hot, and really sweet. He’s ridiculously thoughtful too, always bringing him coffee when he comes over because he knows Baekhyun has a slight caffeine addiction.

He watches Chanyeol’s back as he talks to the delivery guy at the door. His legs look great in the dark jeans he’s wearing. He lets out a dreamy sigh and quickly rearranges his face to an indifferent expression when Chanyeol turns around. His phone vibrates.

From Yixing:
hey baekie what are you up to?

To Yixing:
im with my friend working on a project for psych

From Yixing:
a cute friend?

Baekhyun watches Chanyeol fight with his noodles, dropping them from his chopsticks back into the bowl; the broth splashes onto his shirt. Baekhyun chuckles and makes a sarcastic remark that makes Chanyeol pout.

To Yixing:
very cute

From Yixing:
cuter than me?

Baekhyun pulls his feet up onto the couch and chews the inside of his cheek to hide his smile.

To Yixing:
maybe.. y u jealous?

From Yixing:
very

Baekhyun stares at his phone. That was not the answer he was expecting. He thought he’d get something sarcastic, something witty. Something other than ‘very’. What does that even mean? What does he even say back to that?

To Yixing:
…really?

From Yixing:
of course, I wanna be the cutest boy you give your time to

Baekhyun blows out a breath through pursed lips and tosses his phone onto the coffee table. He chooses to start eating instead of replying. Chanyeol yelps suddenly and Baekhyun has to laugh; he’s spilled more broth on himself, some dribbling down his chin.

“You’re a mess,” Baekhyun says. He places his bowl on the table and gets up on his knees, leaning over to wipe the broth from Chanyeol’s chin. “Like a child.” He makes it halfway back to his seat before Chanyeol grabs his wrist. “What?”

It only takes a small tug to have Baekhyun falling forward. He’s on his knees over Chanyeol, one hand on the couch cushion beside Chanyeol’s hip, and the other still in Chanyeol’s hand. There’s a small curl at the corner of Chanyeol’s mouth and his eyes look hopeful, narrowed slightly as if to ask if this is okay. Baekhyun’s heart is pounding, his mouth open as he blinks up at Chanyeol. He’s sure he’s never experienced a silence quite like this before. He can feel himself moving forward, can see the room disappearing as his eyes slip closed; his head tilts when he feels Chanyeol’s breath on his lips.

And then…

A loud commotion from somewhere else in the house startles them and Baekhyun jumps back, landing on his at the other end of the couch. Sehun enters the room with a few people Baekhyun doesn’t recognize and makes a face.

Baekhyun knows he looks like someone caught doing something they shouldn’t have been doing. He’s gulping down deep breaths, holding his hand over his heart; Chanyeol has returned to eating his food, bowl in his lap that he’s staring down at.

Baekhyun picks up his phone, aiming to pretend to be busy on it to avoid conversation.

From Yixing:
i miss you, lets hang out soon

“You staying and drinking with us?” Sehun asks, giving Baekhyun the same hopeful eyes Chanyeol had just given him.

Baekhyun looks at Sehun then back to his phone, he glances at Chanyeol, then Sehun, and back to his phone once more. His heartbeat picks up and his breath shallows; he feels backed into a corner. He panics. “No! I have to get home,” he nearly shouts at Sehun, standing and hurrying to collect all his things from the table to shove in his backpack.

“Oh.”

“You do?”

Chanyeol and Sehun speak in unison. Baekhyun answers with a hum and a nod, and flings his backpack over his shoulder. “I-I’ll see you in class tomorrow Yeol.” He says bye and pushes past Sehun, slipping his shoes on and rushing out the front door.

He texts Minseok as he walks, asking him to meet him at a bar not far from where he is. He could use a beer or five right now, and also a good talk about what he’s doing with his life with his best friend. Minseok agrees to meet him and Baekhyun picks up the pace; getting drunk has never sounded so good.

Hello everyone that I love and appreciate so much! Just a little check in since this is essentially the middle of the story. Two chapters left and lots left to happen and I hope you're all looking forward to it. Also, if you don't already, come follow me on twitter or tumblr! its @exoficsanon on both :)