“You’re really throwing them all away?”

She bobs her head as she continues throwing all her revealing clothes into the trash bag. Even clothes that aren’t revealing goes in, just as long as they’re not the usual style that she feels comfortable in.

“But this one’s nice,” Baekhyun comments, picking up a black tube dress. He holds it out and lines it with his girlfriend’s body in his perspective.

“That’s ty,” she says with a fleeting glance at the apparel.

Baekhyun is about to tell her That’s why you should keep it, but he stops and stares at her. “Did you wear this out?”

She purses her lips and gives him a look. Though she doesn’t say anything, he knows what her answer is. And he doesn’t like it. She can tell from the scowl on his face.

“Only once though,” she tries to tell him, just so he doesn’t get too mad. “My friends really wanted to—” she makes air bunnies here “— it up and so they made me wear this.”

“I don’t like it,” Baekhyun says bluntly now, tossing the skimpy clothing into the pile of other clothes they’re going to give away.

His best friend stands in front of her wardrobe, staring at him, hoping he isn’t mad at her, just waiting for him to say something. He glances at her when he realises she isn’t going back to work. He quirks an eyebrow.

“I took care of myself,” the girl says in a small voice. He doesn’t say anything as he looks away, not quite believing her. So she takes it upon herself to make sure he does. “I kept my guard up and only let it down when I was with you at the end of the night.”

Baekhyun glances at her. “I still don’t understand why you hung out with them. They sound like jerks.”

“They were— are,” she corrects herself. He turns to face her, to take in the look of regret on her face. Baekhyun feels a prickle of guilt line his spine. “But being with them made me feel older. And I wanted to be older because you were older.”

He frowns, not quite understanding the logic. “Why?”

He notices a light pink blush on her cheeks. She murmurs, “Because I thought you only liked older girls.” She turns away and fiddles with the top she is holding. “You only dated older girls before.”

“Yes, but…” Baekhyun stops because he realises that he doesn’t know what to counter that statement when it is true.

The girl smiles wryly at him. “And you had your own set of friends in college. I had to show you that you’re not the only friend I had.”

“You could have found other friends who weren’t them.”

She shrugs. “They approached me first. And with you spending time with your other friends, I filled the emptiness by being with them.”

“God, baby,” Baekhyun groans, dropping a pair of short shorts to gather his girlfriend in his arms. She laughs softly into his chest, hugging him back. “I’m sorry. Everything happened because of me.”

“It’s not your fault,” she assures him, lifting her head to look at him. “I just didn’t look out for myself. If anything, it’s my fault.”

Baekhyun stares at her for a long moment, taking in her matured countenance. She no longer has the baby fats from all those years ago but he still thinks she looks cute and perhaps even more beautiful. The way her eyes shine with youth and playfulness makes his heart swell. Baekhyun caresses her hair and slides his hands down her face, cupping her jawline.

“You’re the only girl who can make me feel like a kindergartener with a crush on his teacher,” he tells her softly. “All the other older women I dated didn’t even come close.”

His best friend’s cheeks turn pink very promptly. “That’s weird, Baekhyun,” she tries to though she is too embarrassed to sound confident.

He chuckles. Dipping his head, he presses his lips soft on hers. Then he drops butterfly kisses all over her face as he mumbles, “I love you so much. It drove me crazy.”

She giggles with a burning face. “Does it still drive you crazy?”

“Oh, everyday,” Baekhyun answers with a loving smile on his face before leaning down to press a firm kiss on her forehead.

It’s awkward seeing Chanyeol and Kyungsoo under normal lighting condition when Baekhyun has only seen them at their underground bar before. It is only now that he realises that Chanyeol is freakishly tall and long, and his eyes are very big and shiny. Even his smile is huge. Sometimes he looks like he has taken a hit of something when he grins a tad bit too widely at Baekhyun. And as for Kyungsoo, he is short, and Baekhyun is amused when he realises that his face is just as gruff as his personality. Baekhyun wonders if he has ever known happiness.

But his girlfriend seems to be very comfortable with the two males even if they have only just met recently and probably have never seen each other outside of Playground Bar.

“Stop touching me,” she whines, batting at Chanyeol’s incessant pokes while skirting around him to walk next to Kyungsoo instead.

Chanyeol blows a raspberry at her. “You’re no fun.”

Then he turns to Baekhyun, who is now next to him because the girl has made her escape. Baekhyun glances at his girlfriend and sees her quickly wiping the grin off her face to give him an apologetic smile he knows is fake. He lets out a breath and lets her off the hook, giving her a relaxed smile and shaking his head.

“So tell me,” Chanyeol starts, flashing him a sneaky grin. “How long did this unrequited love of yours start?”

Baekhyun glares at him but he doesn’t seem to get the hint. So Baekhyun shakes his head. “You know, I still don’t get why and how you think we’re close enough to talk about things like this. I don’t even know you.”

“They say the best kind of friendships are the unexpected ones,” Chanyeol says, nodding his head all-knowing.

“This isn’t even unexpected.” Baekhyun looks at him all-crazy. “You’re just being nosy.”

“Yes, and that too.” Chanyeol nods again in agreement.

Then he continues to stare at Baekhyun, waiting for him to answer to his question. Baekhyun rolls his eyes and throws his hands up in the air in surrender. “What did you want to know?” he grounds out.

“When did you find out you liked her?” he chirps.

Baekhyun glares at him for a second. Then he thinks about it. “Three years ago.”

“That long?!”

“I didn’t want to mess with our friendship.”

“Well, look where that brought you.”

Baekhyun glowers hard at Chanyeol. “We still got here in the end,” he mutters.

“You guys would have gotten here much earlier if you just told her. And probably without all the heart aches too.”

“Aren’t you a ing love guru,” Baekhyun gripes under his breath, rolling his eyes at Chanyeol.

The taller male grins. “I’m just saying. Sometimes, with love, you just have to be brave and jump at it without thinking.”

“That what you did to Kyungsoo?” Baekhyun snorts, thinking he has to be full of .

But Chanyeol surprisingly nods. “Yup,” he answers chirpily, popping his ‘P’. “Didn’t even know if he was gay or not. Just went straight for it.” He makes a hand gesture that one would use when they’re telling a cab driver to go straight.

Baekhyun gapes at him. “And he said yes?”

He chuckles, shaking his head. “He tried to beat me up because he said it wasn’t a funny joke. And when I told him I was serious, he knocked me on my head and walked away.”

“You guys must have an abusive relationship,” Baekhyun mumbles.

Chanyeol laughs. “Nah,” he shakes his head dismissively. “He’s really sweet. Just hates it when I annoy him or play a prank on him.”

“I feel him.” He ignores Baekhyun’s comment. So the shorter male asks, “Then how did you guys become a couple?”

“We met up the next day and the first thing he said was okay. Then he pretended as though nothing happened.”

“You went completely ballistic, I assume?”

“Pretty much.”

“Nice.”

“That what you did too, when she told you she loved you back?”

“Pretty much.”

“Nice.”

Baekhyun has found a new friend in Chanyeol.

“Chanyeol seems to really like your company.”

Baekhyun glances at his girlfriend from the road back home. “He’s okay,” he admits.

She grins at him. “What did you guys talk about?”

The guy frowns and shakes his head. “He kept asking questions about us. Really nosy, that one. Like a typical auntie.”

She chuckles. “I asked him a lot of questions about him and Kyungsoo too when I first found out about their relationship.”

Baekhyun quickly saves himself. “You’re not nosy though. And what I meant about him being an auntie—”

“It’s fine, Baekhyun,” she giggles. “I get it.”

He peeks at her to see her smiling serenely as she watches the cars around her. God, Baekhyun has never seen anyone or anything like her. She is so beautiful, so pure when she is herself, in the most comfortable skin she is in. And it only makes him feel like the luckiest guy alive that she is able to shine her brightest when she is with him. He is the night sky that makes her light shine beautifully like the moon.

“He asked me about us too,” she murmurs.

Baekhyun swallows and sniffs, quickly focusing his attention on the road again. “What did you tell him?”

She shrugs. “What did he ask you?”

He really wants to know the answer this question and he really has to thank Chanyeol for actually asking him about it so he doesn’t have to lie to her. “When I found out that I liked you.”

She smiles softly at him. “You were always so handsome and attractive to me, Baekhyun. I’ve always had a crush on you. Then I went to college and tried to forget about you. So I think I fell for you all again when you came to get me from my friends’ sleepover last year.”

“The one where you snuck out while they were sleeping?”

“I only ever had one sleepover with my friends, Baekhyun.” When she catches his narrowed glance, she chuckles and nods. “Yes. That one. You were so… unrestricted then. You were like yourself; playful, caring and touchy. You didn’t put up your walls around me for the first time in a long time.”

“You started it first,” he childishly declares. The girl clucks his tongue and laughs. Baekhyun confesses, “And I was also a bit drunk before I went to get you.”

“I know. You came from a birthday party in a cab. I remember.” Baekhyun gives her a sheepish smile. She returns a pretty smile. “When did you find out?”

“When we did it for the first time.”

She immediately blushes now, her ears red. She was so foolish back then. She doesn't regret losing her ity to Baekhyun, but she does regret her stupid seduction plane. She blinks and looks away, quickly asking him another question. “So did you tell him the rest of our story?”

Baekhyun’s lips are in a grin, knowing exactly why she is so embarrassed. He doesn’t say anything about it though. “Yeah. From us being best friends to now.”

“Even… even our first time?” she breathes, her eyes wide, appalled he would tell Chanyeol about it.

Baekhyun looks at her with a slight frown. “Of course not. That’s my favouritest memory of us. I’m never sharing it with anyone.”

The red that paints her cheeks actually looks very good on her, Baekhyun thinks. But then her small, pink lips curl into a shy smile and he thinks everything looks good on her as long as she is her.

Their parents are just sitting around the table, smiling at their children with knowing smiles on their faces. They watch Baekhyun fill the girl’s plate with food, then they watch her pick out her least favourite ingredients to give them to Baekhyun, and then they watch him eat them without a word.

This exchange is not uncommon. But they have not seen it in the past few years the girl went through that phase in her life that no one around the table quite understood, even herself. The parents are glad to see them falling back into routine again, though this time, their parental instincts tell them that something isn’t the same anymore. Especially not when their touches always linger and their eyes always finding each other.

They give their children time though. When everyone is finished with the main course and have moved onto dessert, Baekhyun clears his throat to try to gain his parents’ and his girlfriend’s parents’ attention. The adults immediately let their conversation trail off to give their attention to the boy. Baekhyun glances at his best friend, who gives him a sweet, encouraging smile. He takes in a deep breath.

“I have something to say.”

His father tsks. “Then say it. You’re being a baby by dilly-dallying.”

Baekhyun glares at his old man, who only beams back at him. He really like torturing him, doesn’t he? He clears his throat again, ignoring his dad's comment.

“We’re dating now,” Baekhyun announces, glancing at the girl next to him before turning back to the adults.

“Like girlfriend and boyfriend?” The girl’s mother looks excited.

“Or like month and day?” Baekhyun’s father frowns, looking as confused as he can.

Baekhyun’s hand twitches. If only it was just them. He would have thrown something at him. Luckily for him, his mother loves her son. She slaps her husband’s arm painfully and glares at him for a long moment before turning to smile at Baekhyun and the girl.

“That’s great news!” she exclaims happily.

The girl nods to her mother’s question. “We’ve been together for about two weeks now.”

“Oooh, exciting,” Baekhyun’s father remarks playfully.

His son groans loudly. “Dad, stop.” The other people around the table laugh.

“What? I’m just excited for you,” Baekhyun’s father grins. “I was genuinely worried and thought you were gay for a mo—”

“Okay, Dad. Seriously.”

While his father shrugs, the girl’s dad says to Baekhyun, “I’m relieved that you’ll be the one who will take care of my daughter. I trust you with her.”

His wife nods in agreement. “You bring out the best in our little girl, Baekhyun.”

Their daughter flushes but she doesn’t disagree with either of them. She trusts Baekhyun more than she trusts herself, and she is only the best version of herself when she is with him. He is not like any other guy she has ever met.

“She brings out the little girl in him too.”

The girl giggles as she reaches out to grab Baekhyun’s shoulders before he slumps forward entirely to slam his face into his dessert cake at his father’s comment.

All those years ago when Baekhyun and the girl met, that was when their stars crossed for the first time.

Baekhyun may think it was when they first had that he had developed feelings for her and she may think it was that very night of the sleepover that made her love for him ignited.

But their destiny were already written in the stars.

From the moment they met.

The moment they rested their love on each other when neither was looking for love.