The idea to go on a roadtrip had actually been Baekhyun’s.

“I have lived in this country for over twenty-five years and have barely seen anything. That definitely has to change, and now too, before I turn twenty-six and started getting old and lazy,” he had said one day late January, “let’s make a list of things we both want to see, take time off work and just do it.”

Dae had blinked at him in shock, checking behind herself to see if he was really talking to her, and when she was sure it was she raised her eyebrows, “just do it? Baek, I’m not even sure I’ll be able to get that much time off.”

Baekhyun shrugged, smiling, “if they don’t agree then I’ll find a way to charm your boss myself. It’ll only be a week, Dae, I’m sure they’ll let you.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulder then and squeezed her closer, “consider it my birthday present. You don’t have to get me anything else, just make sure you’ll be there.”

As he had said, Baekhyun indeed made it his birthday project, so when Dae confirmed she had been able to get the week off, he had once again ordered her not to bother with getting any other presents. He didn’t want anything more than her company, especially not because the trip would be at the beginning of April and they’d be long home by the time his actual birthday would roll around.

Not that they saw eye to eye when it came to that. Dae’s presence couldn’t be enough to count as a birthday present. It would be a y birthday present because they saw each other plenty already. There was nothing special about that, and so it wouldn’t count. Let him be pissed then, but Dae wasn’t going to listen to him and have that be it.

As Baekhyun prepared for their trip, Dae prepared her own surprise, knowing she would have to be very secretive about it because Baekhyun had the habit of finding out whatever secret people were holding on to.

Soon enough, though, the time to plan was up, and the day of the trip was there. Baekhyun arrived at five o’clock in the morning, looking like he had already had three cups of coffee to keep him awake, and when Dae came out with her suitcase rolling behind her, he leaned in to hug her tightly.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you,” he brought out, voice way too bright for the early morning, and Dae groaned quietly in reply, not awake enough yet to flip him off. She let him hold onto her until he got tired of it and grabbed a hold of her suitcase instead. “Get in, I’ll drive first. I’ve been up for ages.”

“You don’t say,” Dae grumbled in reply, earning a low chuckle from her best friend, and she watched him load the suitcase into the back of the trunk before she walked to the door of the passenger seat. Baekhyun had a nice car, a new one that was very quiet and extremely comfortable, and they were lucky to have such a great ride.

As Dae sat down in her seat and buckled up, Baekhyun climbed in behind the wheel. He was bouncing in his seat in excitement, sending the biggest and most blinding smile her way, “Are you ready?”

A nod of her head and they were off, speeding away from Dae’s apartment as if they were being chased by the police. Baekhyun clearly couldn’t wait to get out on the road, had everything installed as well, and after Dae had taken in the expensive looking navigation set as well as the three choices of drink and sandwiches, she threw her head back in her seat and closed her eyes.

Time passed quickly. After Dae had slept for another hour or so, as Baekhyun had surprisingly let her nap again, she had felt less groggy and more awake. She stared outside with a small smile as she hummed along to the radio, and Baekhyun commented with a more relaxed sounding, “I made a ten hour long playlist, so we’ll never get bored once.”

Driving around with him was different from what Dae had imagined it to be like. Instead of loud screams of excitement, annoying whining about things taking too long and reckless behaviour while behind the wheel, which he had all been doing when they first drove off, Baekhyun was actually pretty calm.

Sure, there was a lot of singing and even more laughter, particularly once Dae had started humming herself, and Baekhyun had been eating a ton of candy that would give him a sugar rush without a doubt, but most of the time he was pretty collected.

Baekhyun seemed to enjoy being the driver, too. He always kept his eyes on the road ahead as well as on the beautiful scenery that they passed the further away from the city they got, and there was something like a childish enthusiasm there, subdued to an acceptable level but there nonetheless, that Dae loved to see.

When he was in the passenger seat, letting her drive instead, he’d make sure she was thoroughly entertained at all times. He’d try to play stupid games, comment on all the cars or people they would pass, and when he ran out of things to do he’d just sit back and watch her instead.

Despite popular belief, Baekhyun and Dae weren’t actually dating. People often thought they were together based on how he seemed to know no boundaries when he was with her, thus making it look like there was something between them that wasn’t really there. Wasn’t acknowledged, at least.

It wasn’t like Dae would mind the kisses on her cheeks to move a tiny bit more to the centre, to where her lips were. Neither would she mind for him to let his fingers slip underneath her shirt whenever he’d rest his hand on her hip, but that was her secret, and she wasn’t going to do anything about it.

To the outside world they may seem like more, but they were only friends, best friends, going on a trip together.

That was also where it got kind of strange, though. Because Dae knew that Baekhyun had more than one best friend, yet those other friends weren’t there at all. She was far from the only one he was close to, Chanyeol held the title of best friend as well, and so she hadn’t expected to be the only one asked to join him on this adventure. She had expected the car to be filled with people, all of them making memories together, not this.

Not that she was actually complaining about being the only one. It meant she would get to have him all to herself, her beautiful, energetic puppy. If only he was actually hers, then this whole trip could be a lot more romantic.

Sometimes it was hard for Dae to deal with the longing she felt whenever he’d smile her way from behind the wheel or whenever he’d make a corny joke. All she wanted was to put a hand on his thigh or joke back in a way that would leave him spluttering in surprise, but she couldn’t. She was way too shy, far from bold enough to take such a step, because she was always thinking about the possible consequences. And so she sat back, hands in her lap, and did nothing.

At least, during the first day of the trip.

That first day was pretty uneventful, considering the plan was to drive as far as possible, going East and taking highway 7 down South. That way they would get to enjoy the sun, watch the sandy beaches and the sea, and stop for some great food in the small coastal towns on their way to their actual first stop.

The short breaks never lasted for more than an hour, all pretty much depending on how much there was to see around town, but it was nice to stretch a little some after a while in the car. They would switch positions after every stop as a way to keep things interesting, and that way neither of them could really fall asleep on the other.

It was about half an hour after the second stop that Baekhyun started rummaging through his bag, looking for something inside of it, moving with a lot of show. It distracted Dae, her eyes continuously flitting in Baekhyun’s direction to see what he was doing even though she tried to keep them on the road at all times.

“Aha!” Baekhyun exclaimed only seconds later, retrieving something black and boxy from deep inside his backpack. Dae couldn’t see what it was from the corner of her eyes, and she refused to turn her head right now because the traffic was mad. Luckily, she didn’t have to wait very long to find out.

“Alright, it is day one of the most amazing, most spectacular and memorable road trip we will ever have,” Baekhyun started speaking in this comical voice, like he was presenting something, “right next to me I have my fabulous driver and road trip companion, Dae. Please, Dae, say something to our lovely viewers!”

He all but stuck the camera in Dae’s face, making her realise that he was filming, but instead of doing as he asked, Dae stuck her head to the side and screamed, “Baekhyun, I’m driving! Get that thing out of the way.”

As she lifted one hand off the steering wheel to push the camera away, Baekhyun laughed brightly. He retreated a little, enough to clear her view, but he didn’t back off completely. “I’m not editing that out, just saying. But come on, Dae,” he begged, “play along would you? I want to record all the stuff we do together and turn it into a movie later. Do you want to look like Grumpy in the whole thing?”

Dae sighed, plastering a smile on her face, something which actually didn’t take that much effort, “of course I don’t. I’ll play along fine as long as you don’t play with our safety like that, alright?” The sarcastic tone of her voice didn’t go unnoticed by Baekhyun, and it earned her a poke in the side, something he knew she didn’t like.

“Okay, okay, I promise to be better. Forgive me and introduce yourself, then?” The pout that was undeniably on his face was audible in his voice, making Dae chuckle and roll her eyes at him, even though he couldn’t see.

She shook her head lightly, eyes still on the traffic ahead of her, “not now. I didn’t exactly make myself look presentable enough considering you had us wake up at the crack of dawn, so. After the next stop I will, okay? I’ll put on some make-up then and will be as cheery as you were being just now.”

Baekhyun huffed, getting the camera completely out of her space as he realised he wasn’t going to win this. He slowly started putting it away again, grumbling as he was bent over, “you’re stupid. You’re beautiful just the way you are, yet you don’t even see it.”

He crossed his arms once his hands were empty and he turned his head so he could stare at the world outside his window. Dae let her head tilt just that bit further to see if he looked actually angry. He didn’t, but just like that, his excitement had been killed, and she was to blame for it.

However, she couldn’t exactly feel the guilt eat at her the way it would have done if it hadn’t been for the words he had uttered to her in reply. Now, instead of feeling guilt, Dae’s cheeks were hot with fire as Baekhyun had awakened those stupid butterflies in her stomach.

If only he knew that she couldn’t take those words as lightly as he had probably meant them. If he knew… would he still say them?

~

The first night was spent in a motel, in a double room with two separate beds, which Dae was thankful for. It was bad enough spending all day in a car with Baekhyun, the last thing she wanted was to spend the night in one bed with him as well. She wouldn’t get a wink’s sleep that way.

Being in the car all day was suffocating enough, tiring to the point where she could cry with how often she had had to resist running or touching Baekhyun in ways that wouldn’t be appropriate as friends. Being around him at parties or while hanging out at each other’s place suddenly no longer seemed so difficult, not now she knew at least back there they had had more distance between them and space to breathe in. In the car there was hardly any, and everything had been Baekhyun all day long.

Baekhyun playing ‘I see, I see what you can’t see’, Baekhyun singing along to cringy ballads where he sung both the male and female’s parts. Baekhyun feeding her, Baekhyun holding onto her drink, keeping the straw in place. Baekhyun taking pictures, making jokes, filming her, filming himself. Baekhyun, Baekhyun, Baekhyun.

It was supposed to be his birthday trip, yet Dae was the one that felt like she had gotten a present. She would get to spend a week with only him, spending every waking moment together. She would get to see such a different side of him too, experiencing these moments together that she hadn’t before. Like his whole pre-shower ritual, or seeing what he looked like when he woke up in the morning.

Even with the occasional sleepovers, she had never once seen those things. There were always others there along with them there, meaning that Dae had been the one to sleep in a different room every time, being a girl instead of a boy, and because Chanyeol had often taken the other side in Baekhyun’s bed. But now, now it was her time. Not in the same bed, but in the same room.

Baekhyun was the I-wear-a-towel-around-my-waist-after-I-shower type of person, it appeared, because he walked out of the bathroom that night looking pretty unconcerned about his ness and with a towel around his hips.

His chest was still damp with the occasional drop of water rolling down as a result of his hair still being far too wet. His muscles were visible with every move he made, making him look much more muscular and stronger than Dae knew he was. He clearly felt cold this uncovered, with the hair on his arm standing up as he hastily reached out to grab a shirt. Dae knew because she was observing, not staring. Definitely not staring.

When he turned to her, she quickly moved her eyes up until they were on his face. His skin looked soft and warm, his cheeks red from the hot water, and as he smiled they turned into red beads that made him look as if he was blushing. “You can go now if you want to,” he said, nudging his head towards the bathroom door.  

Dae nodded, quickly getting up and packing her things. She had gotten everything ready, having anticipated how seeing Baekhyun post-shower would her up, which meant that she was ready to get up and go, but her body betrayed her.

First she dropped her towel, needing to bend over and pick it up, which made her lose a few precious seconds, but that wasn’t the worst thing. Because when she straightened herself and took another step, Baekhyun was wearing his shirt and had moved on to the towel around his waist.

Startled and nervous about getting to actually see Baekhyun , which she was anything but ready for, Dae lost control over her limbs once again. Her bag with toiletries fell on the floor in an almost dramatic slow motion, the contents slowly spilling out as it tumbled through the air.

It hit the floor with a clang, more of its contents spilling out once it came to a stop, and neither Dae nor Baekhyun moved until it did. They both watched it, Dae with big eyes and Baekhyun shocked by the noise of it. Not to mention, Dae realised she had made a very unattractive squealing sound as well.

After their eyes landed on the bag of toiletries, their gazes shifter upwards, their eyes meeting. Baekhyun’s hands were still on his towel, whereas Dae’s only floated in the air, and for a moment nothing whatsoever happened. They were both frozen, watching each other as if waiting for the other to move, and then they moved at the same time.

Dae fell to her knees, instantly reaching out to pick up her stuff, and Baekhyun rushed forward to help. The good thing about that was that he wasn’t taking off the towel, but the bad thing was that this way, she got to see Baekhyun up close.

He looked stunning like that, shower fresh, and it was hard to focus on getting back her things when he was right there in front of him. She could count his eyelashes if she wanted to, could see the drops of water in his hair up close, and it made her heart speed up until it felt like someone was drumming on her ribs.

Her cheeks were probably as red as his were, and she tried to look away, she really tried, but she couldn’t. Baekhyun was pretty much the only one picking up her things, which made it rather embarrassing, and it didn’t actually take too long before Baekhyun appeared to be realising the same.

When he looked up, his face came even closer to hers, leaving her breathless for a second as the silence turned awkward. Then, once she regained her composure, she stumbled backwards slightly and broke the intense eye-contact. What was more awkward was that she bowed in embarrassment and brought out a nervous sounding, “I’m sorry.”

Dae snatched up the final pieces of make-up and stuffed them in her bag before she forced herself to stand up. Baekhyun followed a second after, and he smiled at her before he replied with a gentle, “that’s okay. Not your fault gravity can be a .” He chuckled at his own comment and then turned away, leaving the path clear for Dae to sneak away into the bathroom.

It wasn’t until the door was locked and her back was pressed into the wood that she managed to bring down the rapid pitter-patter of her heartbeat. That look on his face, the colour of his eyes and the way all his perfectly placed moles had stood out against his beautifully tanned skin, god, it was too much to take.

Dae forced herself to remember all the moments where Baekhyun had annoyed her, tried to think of every flaw she had been able to uncover over the past three years that she had known him. Thinking about that moment where he had pranked her by changing the word ‘hi’ to autocorrect to ‘I just took the biggest dump of my life’.

That was possibly the least y thing he had ever done in her presence, and it broke the tension that had held her in its grip. Dae laughed, the sound faint at first, but then the chuckle got louder and she doubled over with laughter, relief flooding her system until it was easier to breathe and easier to move.

As she put down her things and started to undress herself, she wondered when exactly she had stopped seeing those things as annoying and bothersome and had started seeing them as adorable and comical. When exactly had she fallen head over heels for that idiot, Byun Baekhyun?