When Dae woke up the bed was still warm, making her want to fall back asleep, but Baekhyun was no longer there. His absence shook her awake, making her thoughts start running faster and faster as she wondered where he had gone off to.

She rolled over onto her back, arms spread as she took a deep breath and stared up at the bottom of the top bunk. For a moment she thought it had all been a dream, that it hadn’t been real at all, but then she turned her head and found a second pillow, one that distinctly smelled like Baekhyun.

She turned over, pressed her nose into it to breathe him in and briefly closed her eyes to let the moment linger longer. When she opened them again she looked around to see that the cabin was empty but for the two travellers who had taken the top bunks. As Dae realised that meant Baekhyun wasn’t actually in the room at all, she pushed herself up in a sitting position.

After she had rubbed her eyes to get the sleep out of them, she slowly swung her legs out of bed and stretched her upper body some. It was a miracle she had managed to sleep without waking up once after Baekhyun had gotten into bed with her. Maybe it had been his warmth or the fact that she had felt so right in his arms, but she was thankful because even as her phone told her it was a few minutes to six in the morning, she felt refreshed and awake despite how early it was.

She padded across the room, trying not to make too much noise and wake up anyone on her way to the door. When she slid it open, she saw how she wouldn’t have to look for Baekhyun for long, as he was right there in front of her.

Her best friend was right across the door to their cabin, sitting on the ground and leaning back against the wall with his phone pressed to his ear, talking quietly.

Dae stood there staring at him, needing a minute to become conscious about the fact that Baekhyun was calling someone at six o’clock in the morning. Then, when she had shook her head to snap out of it, she closed the door behind her again, causing her best friend to look up.

The tension was there immediately as their eyes locked, leavig Dae extremely nervous to find out what things would be like between them after last night, but when Baekhyun sent her a smile some of that faded away just as quickly.

“Who are you talking to?” Dae wondered as she crossed the distance, sitting herself down next to Baekhyun in order to force whatever nerves she had about being with him as far away as possible. She knew that if she let things get awkward now, she wouldn’t be able to break it easily and so she forced her chin to hook over his shoulder as she waited for him to answer.

Baekhyun got his phone away from his face, pressed a few buttons and said, “Chanyeol you’re on speaker, behave.” It was followed by Chanyeol’s boisterous laughter and Dae instantly smiled, the sound as infectious over the phone as it was in real life.

“Hey Dae, how you holding up with mister annoying?” Chanyeol asked amusedly.

Dae chuckled and hummed in reply, “quite well, actually. You know me, he’s a softie when it comes to me. I can easily persuade him because I’m a girl, plus he just knows I’m smarter than him.”

She knew Baekhyun was thinking about last night just as much as she was, and she wondered if he had told Chanyeol about it or if he had kept it to himself.

“Of course you can, I’m not surprised,” Chanyeol replied, snorting at her words before he yawned loudly, “god, I’m up for work but why you are awake at this ungodly hour while it’s your holiday, it doesn’t make sense to me.” In the background they could hear him walk around his apartment, “I swear I’m still wasted too, but it was worth it I guess ‘cause I met this amazing guy, so.”

Baekhyun turned his head to smile at Dae, this charming smile, and he replied for the both of them when he spoke up again, “the ferry will arrive at Jeju Island within an hour, that’s why we’re up early. Anyway, tell us all about him, you know we want to hear everything. It’s been a while since you went on a date.”

From the look on her best friend’s face, the news of Chanyeol having found someone he was interested in didn’t affect him much, which meant there were now two names Dae could cross off the possible-crushes list she had already formed in her head; it wasn’t Jongin and it wasn’t Chanyeol either.

“His name is Kyungsoo and he works at that new coffee place around the corner, the one we went to last week. He’s like a small ball of awkwardness and sass all in one and it’s adorable,” Chanyeol gushed, sounding like he was pretty much smitten with the guy already.

It was cute, and so Dae listened to them quietly, contently, as Baekhyun asked questions that Chanyeol answered excitedly. They were being so ‘them’ even this early in the morning, and she allowed herself to appreciate the fact that she had the two of them as her best friends. She had truly gotten lucky with it.

“Anyway, Baek, have you done it already?” Chanyeol asked eventually, changing the subject from his love life back to Baekhyun, which sparked Dae’s interest immediately. Chanyeol was clearly asking about something related to his crush, it had to be with the way he had brought it in after they had talked about admitting to Kyungsoo that he liked him.

Dae kept her eyes on her best friend’s face, saw the way he opened his mouth as if to protest or stop Chanyeol from saying anything more, but then he caught himself and rolled his eyes. He sighed loudly, almost a little too loudly, his eyes falling shut, “ha ha, very funny. You would have known then. I’m hanging up on you now, good luck with work and with confessing.”

And then Baekhyun had ended the call, before Dae could have said goodbye at all, and it left her startled. Usually they’d always spend another five minutes seeing who’d hang up first, calling each other the creepiest nicknames to make the other have enough of it and end the call, but none of that had happened today. This ending had been way too abrupt.

Baekhyun didn’t waste any time explaining himself either. He pushed himself up and fixed his pyjama pants, “alright, time to get dressed and get our stuff. It’ll be seven o’clock before you know it.” He opened the door to their cabin without turning back to her once, leaving Dae, who still slightly shell-shocked, seated on the floor.

~

After they checked into the hotel, which wasn’t too far from the harbour with the reason being that they could get back in time for their early ferry to Mokpo the day after, they took the car and drove. Baekhyun didn’t tell her where they were going, not until they had been driving for close to ten minutes, but Dae didn’t push for it either. She knew he’d talk eventually, and he did.

“Noksan-ro is really pretty this time of year,” Baekhyun said from behind the steering wheel, a pair of sunglasses on his nose. He looked like a daydream with the way his hair moved along with the wind that came in through their open windows, and Dae caught herself falling again. “The cherry blossom has just started blooming there, but the sides of the road are not only decorated with blossom trees, but also with beautiful yellow canola flowers.”

Dae turned her head to look outside, as if those flowers could already be seen, but right now they were still driving through one of the more populated areas. Soon enough they’d get to the rural parts of the island, but until then there wouldn’t be too much nature to see around.

“Is that where we’re going to watch the cherry blossoms? Is that where the festival takes place?” Dae asked as she closed her eyes against the sunlight that hit her face after Baekhyun had turned right, leaving her exposed to the sun. It was perfect with the soft breeze to accompany it, making it just warm enough to have the windows open and enjoy spring.

“No,” Baekhyun replied, “we’re just going for a drive now to enjoy the view of Jeju Island. But there should be a place somewhere where we can park the car and walk through the fields for a bit. I brought some food from the hotel so we could have a picnic for lunch, too. After that we can go back and have some fun before the festival starts tonight.”

Dae didn’t know much about what had been planned for their day at Jeju, only that they’d get to experience the annual Cherry Blossom festival there. Jeju was always the first to have cherry blossom, and it was supposedly one of the prettiest places in South Korea to experience it. That had been enough information for her.

“A picnic?” she asked, smiling in a way that made her nose scrunch up, and the idea of them sitting down on a blanket, surrounded by yellow flowers as they ate was one that made her heart flutter. She was glad she had her eyes shut and was even more thankful for the fact that the sun was warming her face already, because that way she couldn’t betray herself by blushing. “That sounds great.”

They drove for a little over half an hour before they came to the place Baekhyun had been talking about. It was a long stretch of road, one that seemed to be going on for miles and miles, and it turned out it lay right next to the airport, which they would pass halfway down.

They could see a plane take off above them and the sight was spectacular. Dae hadn’t ever been to Jeju Island in spring and so she had never noticed this road before, because if she had she was sure she would have remembered.

They kept driving, singing along to the songs they were listening to and acting them out while they did. It made driving a lot of fun, especially because out in the middle of nowhere they could turn up the volume a lot more, and with traffic not being as busy as it had been in Busan, they didn’t have to be as focused as they had needed to be back there.

The sight in front of them was absolutely stunning. The bright yellow flowers that started right where the road ended reached as far as the eye could see, and right next to the strip of yellow there stood those beautiful trees, every hundred metres or so, with soft pink flowers to compliment the yellow flowers down below. The trees hadn’t fully blossomed yet, but it was beautiful regardless.

Dae stuck her hand outside her window as she sang along to the song, smiling brightly as they drove past flowers and flowers and flowers. It was surely a memory she would never forget, a view unlike any other, and acting crazy felt so incredibly right in that moment.

Baekhyun was laughing next to her, his eyes on the road but stealing occasional glances at her to watch her completely go off to the song that was playing. He wasn’t driving as fast as he was allowed to, giving them more time to take it all in, and then somewhere just past the exit to the airport, he took a turn.

Stone walls with the text ‘Gasiri Canolla flower plaza’ welcomed them, large windmills visible down the road, and there was a plate mentioning a restaurant further down too. Dae decided to remember that in case their picnic turned out to be a disaster.

The road they to wasn’t paved, but they didn’t drive for long anyway. Baekhyun parked the car next to another one, because clearly they weren’t the only ones there. There were three other cars next to theirs, even though no one was in sight, but Dae was glad to see apparently it was okay to park there. The last thing she wanted was to get back and find it had been towed away.

Baekhyun grabbed a bag from the trunk while Dae stretched herself on her side of the car. She went to take off her coat, feeling how nice the weather actually was out there, and she followed Baekhyun once he walked past her.

Her crush glanced her way so she could see him tilt his head in the direction of the trees a bit further back. She nodded to show she understood, and then they were off, walking together in silence.

They waded their way through the canola flowers, following the path others had made there already, and entered into a more shadowed part of wood. There were soft patches of grass there where they could sit, and Baekhyun didn’t stray too far before he stopped and got out a blanket, which he spread out on the grass. Where he had gotten it Dae didn’t know, maybe it had been in the back of the car all along, but he had an actual picnic blanket with him, and it was the most adorable thing ever.

“Go on then, sit down,” Baekhyun told her, “I’ll get everything ready. You just sit back and enjoy it.” He was being so polite, such a gentleman too, and Dae felt guilty only for a moment, because once she sat and realised she got to watch him, she stayed quiet and didn’t offer her help.

Baekhyun looked focused on placing everything where it belonged, as if he had really planned this far ahead, which Dae would find surprising. It was cute though, watching him fuss about where to put their drinks, and eventually she held out her hands to take over some of the things he was struggling with. She then helped set everything up until the bag was empty and Baekhyun finally seemed to be happy with the result.

He sat down too, folding his legs underneath himself so he would fit, and reached over to pick up their glasses. “Alright. Let’s make a toast,” he suggested, waiting for Dae to lift her glass as well, “to making it halfway through without killing each other.”

They clinked their glasses together, after which Dae snorted and replied to his joke,  “you mean without me killing your annoying . You can’t possibly be saying that you expected to have a hard time with me around?” She cocked an eyebrow and watched Baekhyun’s expression turn from offended to offensive.

“Hey!” he argued, “of course I did! You can be really annoying with your giggling and your poking and- and.” He stuttered, eyebrows coming together in a frown as he was left unable to say more. He never finished his sentence, only brought up his glass to his lips and drank, eyes cast away, and Dae felt the mood slip a little.

“What?” she asked, “is there something I’m doing that I shouldn’t be doing?” The idea that Baekhyun actually found her annoying suddenly crept up on her, making her feel a little colder, a shiver running up her spine. Had she been blind to some frustrating thing she apparently did? 

“Yes- no, I mean,” Baekhyun his lower lip between his teeth and started shaking his head. He looked torn up, but then he made up his mind and started laughing. It was a little too much, too over the top, and Dae couldn’t shake the feeling that he was lying to her. “I just can’t think of anything else that irritates me. You win, now let’s eat.”

He reached out for one of the plates to do exactly that, and Dae followed his example although a bit hesitantly. Her confidence had dropped a notch, the idea that Baekhyun could possibly not be as disgusted with her crush suddenly sounding like the most idiotic idea in the world, and so she curled in on herself, nervous and unsure.

Baekhyun went quiet too, but he looked as if he realised that he had been the one to ruin the light mood that had been there. Maybe his toast had been him speaking a little too soon, because it was the first time things actually turned awkward between them.

They ate mostly in silence, listening to the birds around them and the wind ruffling the leaves. And on the way back, the radio was turned down and the singing had stopped.

Just like that, the flowers appeared a little less bright.

~

When they arrived at the festival after having done some sightseeing across the Northern side of the island, they noticed that even though it wasn't the holiday season at all, it was still rather busy around.

There were people as far as the eye could see, all walking along the street that ran underneath the beautiful cherry blossoms, some talking and some only watching. Some of them stood still in the middle of the road to admire the flowers, or tried to take selfies with the trees in the background.

The mood seemed very relaxed. No one was in a rush to get to the other end of the street, everyone simply took their time admiring the blossoms, knowing that within days from now most of it would be gone again.

Baekhyun had done well, picking a date where the blossom was absolutely stunning, the trees full of flowers, and plenty of activities were taking place to keep them entertained for a while. There were food carts placed around – those being the reason they had decided to wait with having dinner - , music being played that dancers performed to, and actors and actresses that played out romantic scenes with the blossoms in the background.

They stood around watching one of the shows for a while, seeing how one of the actors took the shy girl's hand in his and held it tightly, making her swoon for him. It was a scene fit for a drama, at least it would have been if it had been performed well, but the actors were overdoing it all. They put so much focus on the handholding part of the play, but Dae figured that probably had to do with the Korean beliefs around cherry blossoms.

A lot of Koreans saw the pretty flowers as a sign of love, meaning that if one was to walk among cherry blossoms while holding on to the hand of their lover, their love would be prosperous and last a lifetime.

Dae didn't know whether she should believe such a thing, because there were plenty of other beliefs like that around as well, but she sure understood why people loved looking at the flowers. There was something magical about them, something that made everything feel more like spring, when love got its spotlight. People were soft for such romantic gestures.

"Let's go get some food," Baekhyun suggested once the play ended and the actors had left the stage. He was pointing at some of the food trucks nearby that were selling street food, which the both of them loved.

Dae nodded in reply, especially because she noticed how her stomach was demanding food by now. She just hoped that Baekhyun wouldn’t notice it growling and that she’d get some warmth into her body before it would become as loud as a lion.

She felt how Baekhyun's arm came up to guide her in the right direction, as if she hadn’t already seen the trucks he had been talking about, and she dropped her head to hide her smile from his view. The mood had gotten substantially better since their lunch, where things had turned a little sour, but Dae knew that it would take some food to stop her from being quiet and a little grumpy.

“Hotteok or tornado potatoes?” her crush asked as they looked at the things they had on display. The plan was to catch proper dinner after the festival, when it would start to get a bit darker, so the aim wasn’t to eat enough for a full meal yet, just something to keep them going until then.

They’d have some black pork BBQ later along with drinks, something they had both been looking forward to, so Dae made sure not to pick something too heavy on the stomach. “Tornado potatoes. Hotteok will make me feel too full,” Dae smiled, giving her argument to convince her crush to agree with her. Usually she loved the sweetness of hotteok, but she loved pork more than that.

Baekhyun chuckled but apparently he agreed with her, because he bought them both a swirled potato. He handed Dae's stick over to her before he looked around to scan the area for a more comfortable place to sit.

It wasn’t as busy there, and so they found a stone wall a bit behind the food trucks, a place where more people had gathered to sit and eat their food in peace, talking quietly between themselves. Baekhyun took Dae’s swirled potato so she could sit down and take her spot before he handed her both of their potatoes and climbed on himself.

Their hands briefly touched as Dae handed back the food, but she didn’t linger on it. She was already taking bites of her own potato, her need for food currently outshining the part of her that got excited with every little thing her crush did. It was how she missed how he was watching her closely as she ate, or more like wolfed it down.

Baekhyun was smiling softly as he kept his eyes on her, being much slower with his potato than she was, but they weren’t in a rush. He wasn’t ashamed either, didn’t care about anyone around them seeing how he was looking at her. It was only once Dae looked back at him that he turned his head away, keeping his smile as he instead took in the world around them.

There were less people hanging around the food trucks than there had been at the trees, giving them a break from all the excitement and business of the festival. Dae spent some time watching people pass by, trying to figure out in which way they were related to each other, as if it was a game, while she waited for Baekhyun to finish his potato.

He broke off bit by bit, eating slowly, which Dae realised quite belatedly. It was very un-Baekhyun like, and so she frowned at him, “aren’t you hungry or something? Usually you’re faster than I am, but look at you now, taking your time.”

Baekhyun held out his stick towards her and asked, eyebrows raised, “want some more?” Dae stared, knowing how good it tasted, but she held herself back, shaking her head no. Baekhyun shrugged as if to say it was her loss, and then he turned his head back so he could look at all the passer-by’s, “I’m not that hungry, no. You saw how much I ate at lunch, and honestly, I’m just trying to eat as little as possible now so that I can stuff myself with that pork later.”

Upon hearing that, Dae incredulously elbowed Baekhyun’s side, smiling and commenting, “you pig,” and making him laugh brightly. The sound filled her head, made her heart swim in her chest, and she bit back the grin that was threatening to split her face in half. She was starting to lose her composure again, the feelings in her chest overpowering everything else.

“Says the one who just finished her tornado potato in what could be a new world record,” Baekhyun threw back, laughter still lacing his voice, and he ducked away as if he was expecting another elbow. Dae would have don’t it if she could have, but she was too busy getting her backpack on her lap so she could open it.

Why was it that every time it became too much, she turned away from him? No matter how much she tried to be up-front and more straight-forward with her feelings, she couldn’t. Not always, not when she felt her heart ready to explode, when she was so dangerously close to kissing him.

And so every time it happened, she would retort to her backpack and what was in there. Somehow it always seemed like the perfect time for her next present, as if his reaction wouldn’t make her love him more, but she knew she had always been her own worst enemy. Today was no difference.

The present was one she had been anticipating for a while now. This was one of her personal favourites, one of the most expensive ones as well, but it had been worth it. Even if Baekhyun wouldn’t use them a lot, at least every time he did he would think of her. That was more than enough. The idea alone made something flutter inside of her.

“So,” Dae changed the subject as she retrieved a small, square boxed package from her bag, “today’s present is one I’m pretty sure you do not own yet. It was my goal to at least give you one thing you do not have already, and I really hope I’m right about this.”

She handed the package to Baekhyun, who by now accepted it without struggling or arguing about it even once. He was still holding on to the last part of his swirled potato, and rather than handing it over to Dae he got up and walked to the trash can nearby, dropping the remnants of it in there.

As he walked back he started working on the tape of the paper, his tongue sticking out of his mouth slightly as he focused, which was adorable. “Something I don’t have?” he asked, “you really must have thought hard for this one then, because it feels like I have way too many things. How you managed, I don’t know it.”

Dae chuckled, “well, right now there’s not really an occasion yet for why you would need them, I suppose, but in the future there could be. Like at a big career change or your wedding, or something like that.” Mentioning Baekhyun and getting married in the same sentence was a pretty risky thing, for it would provide plenty of mental images that she should not be thinking about right then, leaving her a stuttering mess, but luckily she didn’t have to say more.

“My wedding? You got me something for my wedding? Me, my single ? My been-single-for-months ?” Baekhyun raised his eyebrows, “you got me a present I won’t be able to use for years?” he seemed surprised by this, and Dae simply nodded and urged him on, wanting him to open it already.

Inside the square package was a box, a small box that looked like it held jewellery, and Dae saw how Baekhyun’s playful smile slowly slid off his face as his fingers slowly touched the maroon velvet, delicately.

He was staring at the box as if it contained something else than what was actually in there, and Dae wondered what he would have said to her if it had actually been what else people usually kept in such jewellery boxes. The idea alone was hilarious, because they weren’t even dating, let alone…

Baekhyun’s fingers slowly pried the lid open, pushing it up to reveal the pair of custom made cufflinks hidden inside. Dae knew exactly what they looked like, didn’t need to see them to remember the two cufflinks made of real silver, spelling Baekhyun’s initials ‘bbh’ on both, which was why she kept her eyes on his face instead.

For a second it was as if he was disappointed, but she must have misunderstood that. It lasted only a second as well, before something like shock flashed across his face. Amazement, to see what was actually inside of it, and then as he realised what it was, a timid smile grew bit by bit.

Baekhyun brought up the box higher to his face so he could look at the details, shielding half his expression from Dae’s view. He never said a thing, he only observed them, and Dae was growing nervous.

“It’s okay if you don’t like them, I just- I thought it would be nice that if you ever need to dress up with a suit and tie, you’d have your own special pair of cufflinks. I can’t imagine many people have these, and people would always remember your initials if you showed them off some,” Dae explained when Baekhyun kept quiet, not speaking at all.

The fact that she was suggesting he didn’t like it, though, made him wake up. He closed the box so he wouldn’t lose the cufflinks, and then he held it between both of his hands as he stepped towards Dae again, “no! No, they’re beautiful, that’s not it… It’s that I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a present like this before. A present that really fits my age and the fact that I’m an adult, and it’s kind of strange.”

He stared at the small box again, chuckling lowly, as if it wasn’t meant to come out, “almost like a present you’d expect from someone who- aish, nevermind. I only mean to say that I realised that just now, that’s why I stood here kind of frozen. They’re really pretty, Dae.”

It was a relief to hear Baekhyun liked them, because he was right, this was the most grown up present of the bunch, very different from the playful things she had gotten for him so far. It was serious in a way that this was the first time Dae had given him something she would have given him if she had been his girlfriend. And maybe Baekhyun noticed that, in some way.

As she was thinking this, Baekhyun moved the box into one hand so he could lean down and grab her wrist with the other. The touch instantly pulled her out of her head, made her eyes drop to where he was holding on to her, but it didn’t last long, because Baekhyun tugged her up, raising her arm so high above her head that she’d get up from the wall as well.

Once she was standing he let go, but he didn’t drop his arm very far down. It curled around Dae’s neck rather than fell to his side as he pulled her in and against his chest, into a hug. Dae all but fell into him with her hands pressed between them, unable to move much. Not that she would have wanted to.

A kiss was planted on her head, brief but there, and Baekhyun laughed airily, making her hair move, “thank you, really. I’m happy I asked you to come with me here. I’m having so much fun so far and you’re the sweetest, most thoughtful friend I have, so thanks.”

In any other situation Dae would have argued this, stating how there were plenty of friends in Baekhyun’s life that fit that description as well, but today she decided to accept the compliment and allow herself to hug him back, because even once he shut up, he didn’t let her go.

Hugs weren’t rare between them. Hugs that lasted this long, however, were.

Dae felt like it lasted for minutes, and even though in reality it was a lot shorter, it was still more than a brief embrace to thank her for her present. Whatever it was that had been on Baekhyun’s mind as he has held her, it made him hold on for much longer, until it was almost uncomfortable enough for Dae to ask if something was wrong.

Baekhyun pulled back right when Dae reached the point where she had opened ready to ask. He turned away to pick up his own bag again, tucking the cufflinks away safely inside. Dae watched him, her lips still parted, but the moment was gone and so she shut it.

“Let’s go and take some nice pictures now,” Baekhyun said, sounding as excited as he had done before, as if nothing had happened whatsoever. He walked away, expecting Dae to follow, and she did, of course.

Walking a step or two behind him she couldn’t see his face, but the fact that he wasn’t letting her catch up with him showed her that something had happened just now. Whatever it was, it meant something, and Dae felt her heart speed up as she tried to think of what it could possibly be.

The long hug, the kiss to her head and the softness of his words. The fact that he had pulled back and turned away, hiding the way Dae always would when things became too much. Had she stirred something in him with her present? Or was it more than that?

Around them people were walking, talking, laughing and playing around. The sky was twilight, and red and blue striped lanterns lit up the quickly darkening road. Street lights shone softly on the blossoms, casting light shadows on the ground. It were details Dae all but missed, because she only had eyes for Baekhyun.

He wasn’t paying attention to her, walking with quick and determined steps instead, and the contrast to the relaxed, laid-back mood around them was evident. It felt wrong, and if she didn’t know better, she’d say he was mad at her.

Dae frowned, not understanding what was going on, and she did the only thing that came to mind, the one thing she could do to slow down his world. She sped up her walking to half-jogging, until she got close enough to Baekhyun to reach out and take his hand.

She slipped her palm against his, entwining their fingers, and after she felt the startling first shock on Baekhyun’s side, she felt the acceptance of her hand in his. Baekhyun held on, if only for a few seconds before he seemed to make up his mind.

He stopped walking, Dae bumping into his shoulder, and he turned around to face her. Their hands untangled, falling to their sides, and their eyes locked instead.

Dae realised that as they stared at each other, she came to think of the play they had seen earlier. She remembered the superstitions, the hand-holding story underneath the blossoms, where they were standing right now. Was Baekhyun thinking of that too? Was that why he had let go in the first place?

The silence that had fallen between them dragged on for a bit, neither of them saying anything at all, until Dae decided to save herself from the embarrassment of having to confess by making up a story that was only half-true, hoping he’d believe her.

“You were walking so fast,” she explained, adding a lie, “I had said your name twice already but you weren’t listening to me. I- I don’t know what’s going on but I know something’s wrong. Because you’re walking ahead of me and ignoring me. So why, Baek, why are you acting like I did something wrong?” she swallowed hard then, squeaking out the realisation that dawned on her then, “did I? Do something wrong, I mean?”

Baekhyun dropped his gaze, his hands coming up to lift the camera, and he snapped a shot of Dae as if she wasn’t standing there looking like a deer in headlights, afraid of the answer to her question. He smiled almost sadly then, as if he was suddenly filled with regret, and he watched the result of his picture on the screen, “no, you didn’t. It’s just me.”

Dae didn’t comment, hoping Baekhyun would give more of an explanation, but he didn’t. He only turned sideways, lifting the lens of his camera so he could snap some pictures of the blossoms. She watched him, unsure whether to push for more, and eventually she did. She would continue to walk around feeling guilty if she didn’t. “What, though?”

Baekhyun didn’t look at her, his eyes were on the camera still, playing with the focal zoom on it, and Dae was getting slightly frustrated with how long it took for him to answer. When he did, however, it was enough to shut her up, believing him instantly. Baekhyun would’t lie, he could hold back things but he never lied, not to her at least.

“I was getting emotional, alright?” he spoke, hidden behind the black box that was flashing another light, “your present did that to me.”

Baffled by the words, Dae opened to say something, but the words died on her tongue. There was nothing she knew to say to that, and when Baekhyun finally dared looking at her again he smiled a little more comfortably.

“I’m sorry I made you feel like I was ignoring you, I didn’t mean to,” he admitted, dropping the camera around his neck again, “I just didn’t want your smile to make me more emotional than I already was, so.”

He said it so casually, like it didn’t mean a thing, and Dae wondered if there was actually as much to it or if she was reading into it. It sure didn’t seem that way when Baekhyun offered her his arm this time, making up for the fact that he had pulled away from her touch, and when she placed her hand on it he didn’t get startled in any way.

“Now, what do you say about getting that black pork BBQ? I think I’ve seen enough of these cherry blossoms,” Baekhyun’s smile was one she knew, one that calmed down her worried heart some, and so she nodded tentatively and let herself be dragged away from the flowers, away from the romance, and onto their next stop.

~

Neither of them commented on the hand-holding incident all night, but it was clear that both of them were thinking about it as they were getting ready for bed. It was late, almost midnight, and Dae changed into her pyjamas in the bathroom so Baekhyun could use the bedroom.

She brushed her teeth and washed her face, taking her time by making stupid faces at herself in the mirror to relieve some of the tension. She didn’t want to crawl into bed with Baekhyun and still feel this awkward. It had to be broken somehow, by either one of them, and if he wasn’t going to do it, Dae would have to.

Taking a few deep breaths, cheering herself up with some stupid sounding thoughts, Dae felt courage flow through her veins. She could totally do this. As she had told Chanyeol that morning, Baekhyun was a softie when it came to her. And so she balled her hands into fists in determination, gave herself another encouraging nod, and then turned away to walk to the door to open it.

Only to throw it shut again a second later.

“Oh my god, I’m so, so sorry!” Dae screamed through the wood that now formed a much needed barrier between an unsuspicious Baekhyun and her burning cheeks.

Letting her forehead slam against the door, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to force away the sight she had just laid eyes on. Baekhyun had still been in the middle of changing, his very much as Dae had looked at him, and now all she could see was the outline of his body and the dip in his spine right above-

“,” she cursed, turning away from the door so she could get back to the tap. She splashed more water in her face and paced around for a little, feeling her cheeks were as warm as an oven. Oh god, this was so goddamn embarrassing. Why couldn’t she catch a break for once? Why did these kind of things have to happen to her?

Would he be mad at her? Would he laugh at her or make fun of her? God, she had wanted to break the tension yes, but not like this.

When she went to the door again she slowly opened it a tiny bit, just enough to speak more clearly, and she all but yelled the words to make sure Baekhyun could hear her, “I’m sorry, I should have knocked first. Are you- are you dressed now?” she asked, heart beating in as she waited for the tone of his voice as he replied.

Luckily, he sounded more amused than anything as he hummed a reply, “yeah, you can come on out you idiot.” Dae checked her cheeks once more, hoping most of the heat was gone now, before she let the door fall open slowly, all while holding her breath nervously.

When it was finally fully open and she was ready to step outside, she almost walked straight into Baekhyun. She squealed in surprise, squeezing her eyes shut in a reflex to what had happened before, and it made her almost lose her balance.  

Baekhyun grabbed her upper arms to make sure she wouldn’t get startled and back away again, and when Dae felt sure enough of things being okay she opened her eyes again. Baekhyun was smiling at her, which immediately made her heart leap out of her chest again, but this time she could breathe, because he was now fully dressed.

“I- I’m sorry,” she said again, for the third time, and Baekhyun sighed and rolled his eyes at her. He slowly guided her to the side and walked past her, and it wasn’t until then that Dae noticed that he was holding a toothbrush in his hand.

“Stop being so flustered,” he told her, “don’t tell me that was the first time you saw an .” He the tap to wet his toothbrush and then he got the cap off the toothpaste, “I didn’t know you were such a prude.” It wasn’t meant to be an insult, and Dae didn’t take it that way, although she did defend herself.

“I’m not,” she replied, crossing her arms in front of her, “I was just trying not to come across as a creep. It was stupid of me not to knock, too, so I was only doing the right thing.”

Baekhyun shrugged his shoulders as he stuck his toothbrush into his mouth and started scrubbing his teeth. He never looked at Dae as he did, only at his own reflection in the mirror, and so after another moment of silence, Dae slowly backed away.

She walked up to the bed, to the side she knew would be hers for the night, and crawled in underneath the covers. It wasn’t as easy trying to make herself comfortable with the way she felt right now, and she settled with her back turned to where she knew Baekhyun would be getting into bed soon, just so she wouldn’t have to look at him.

It would take away her chance to experience the moment of him lying next to her, of her saving that image to memory, missing a moment she could think of whenever she longed for him, but it was better that way. This was a one-time thing, something reserved only for this trip and that was how it should stay. What happened on this trip would stay on this trip.

Baekhyun was rinsing his mouth, Dae could hear the running water, and she waited patiently for him to get to bed so she could hopefully find a way to relax with his presence next to hers.

She listened to the shuffling of his feet against the floor and she swayed slightly as the bed dipped with his weight, and then they were in bed together.

The lifted covers brought in cold air, but it didn’t last long before they came down again, this time covering her crush’s body as well. They were in the same bed, their bodies so close yet so much farther apart than they had been the night before, on the ferry. It appeared that a road trip just made some boundaries disappear, even if for a little.

Dae didn’t move, she listened to Baekhyun sigh before he turned off the lights, leaving them both in the dark. The fact that her vision was now gone heightened her other senses, and so she felt it as Baekhyun’s hand passed very close to her back, she heard him yawn too, and then silence fell.

She wondered if he was already out like a light, if he was one of those people who fell asleep just like that. Over the past few days she hadn’t been able to figure that out, but maybe now she could. And so she carefully rolled herself onto her back as well, turning her head to where she knew she would be able to see him, but it was too dark still.

Her eyes had to get used to the darkness, which took some time, time in which she lay like that and hoped Baekhyun was really asleep so he wouldn’t see her staring at him creepily.

Once she was able to make out his figure, though, she realised that he was anything but. Baekhyun’s eyes were on hers, staring back at her, and suddenly the air grew thin again. Had he noticed her looking at him before? Why was he watching her otherwise? God, the embarrassment she felt was overwhelming. She wanted to look away so badly, yet she couldn’t, there was no way her eyes would leave his.

It lasted so long that it became unbearable, and in all that time Baekhyun didn’t say a thing. It was almost as if he wasn’t even blinking, asleep with his eyes open, but Dae knew he was awake.

She refused to be the first to look away, but eventually it was too hard to stay quiet. “I- I’m sorry for today,” she whispered, not wanting to be too loud, “for everything that happened.” She hoped he knew all that she meant, but of course Baekhyun had to go and make it difficult, sending her a look of confusion as if he actually had no idea what she was talking about.

She sighed softly, finally looking away from him in favour of staring at the empty piece of mattress between them, “for making that joke about being annoying. For holding your hand at the festival, and for being impolite and walking in on you getting changed. I’m sorry, but you don’t have to worry.”

“Worry?” Baekhyun asked in return, speaking up for the first time since he had climbed into bed, “worry about what?”

Dae swallowed, her lips and made sure to absolutely avoid looking at his eyes as she answered, “about me telling anyone those things happened. About me telling your crush anything about it. I will lock my mouth and throw the key in the water tomorrow once we’re on the ferry, I promise. I won’t ruin things for you just because I’m an idiot that doesn’t know how to act around guys.”

Baekhyun failed at holding back a snort, making it sound as if he was laughing at Dae, and she instantly shut and shrunk back a little. She was on the edge of the bed now and she still felt trapped, nervous to find if he’d actually make fun of her now. She’d understand if he did, Baekhyun wasn’t always that tactical after all.

“Yah, you’re such an idiot,” Baekhyun whined, his voice much louder now and startling Dae enough to almost have her fall out of bed. She rolled back over so she wouldn’t, knocking her elbow against Baekhyun’s arm as she did, and he only whined louder as she confirmed his point with it.

“Really, aish, you’d think you had brains,” he grumbled as he lifted his arm and let his hand fall to Dae’s forehead. He hit it a few times, making Dae let out a quiet ‘ouch’ every time he hit her, and she was quick to raise her hands and shield herself from the attack.

Baekhyun’s hitting stopped then, but he kept talking, “you’re my best friend but you’re making such a big deal of it. You’re worrying about things I didn’t even think about for a second.” He sighed so loudly that Dae was concerned he’d run out of air in his lungs.

“Really?” she asked, sounding small, “I just don’t want to cause any trouble for you, that’s all. As long as you know that.” The point was that she’d get to apologise, that he knew she hadn’t meant to bring him in such an uncomfortable position, that it had just happened for her as well.

“Really,” Baekhyun confirmed, sounding slightly frustrated by now, “so stop it, okay? We’re good, it’s all good, no need to keep apologising to me.” He was trying not to let his annoyance take over, but Dae could hear it anyway, and so she shut up wisely.

It was quiet between them again and Dae was still not looking at him, even though things were supposed to go back to normal between them now. They should both try to sleep and forget about everything, but Baekhyun wasn’t as blind in the dark as he was in the light, apparently.

He noticed how Dae wasn’t feeling too confident even after his reassuring words, and it was probably how he ended up taking her hand in his, searching for it between their bodies. He held onto it tightly, knowing Dae wanted to pull away to avoid repeating the same thing as before, and so she was left unable to escape.

“See, now I took your hand. Now we’re even,” he told her, “you’re not allowed to mope anymore. I said some stupid stuff today, but I’m not dwelling on it because I know you’re my best friend and no matter what I say or do, we can take it. You always take all my , it’s what you do, so stop. Promise me.”

Dae’s hand went limp in Baekhyun’s. Her heart was racing in her chest. His words were painful yet at the same time made her feel so warm inside.

She wasn’t worthy of him, she would never be, but she could pretend for a moment that this was more than it actually was. This whole trip she got to imagine for once that she deserved him, that she actually had him.

“Okay,” she whispered, staring at his eyes, “okay, I promise.” She wanted to apologise again, but she caught herself just in time.

Baekhyun’s smile as he heard her promise was a blinding as ever, even in the dark, and the hand around hers squeezed. “Good,” he entwined their fingers rather than let go, and Dae felt go dry as she realised that Baekhyun wasn’t planning on doing so at all. He his side, facing her, and closed his eyes, “now sleep.”

He was still holding on to her, still making her heart run a marathon, and he expected her to sleep like that?

It was too good to be true, though, too magical for Dae to go and ruin the moment. She liked him, what sign would she be giving him if she were to pull away now? The only reason she wanted to in the first place, was because she feared it didn’t mean half as much to him as it meant to her, but if that was true, then it was all the more reason to hold on, for it would probably only happen once.

She made herself as comfortable as she could with the way her arm was twisted, and once she saw Baekhyun’s eyes were closed she let hers stare up at the ceiling. This would be a long and restless night, one where she probably wouldn’t sleep much, constantly aware of the body next to hers and the way their hands were clasped.

In all the chaos between them, she had totally missed her moment to joke about her drooling on him, too. She smiled as she remembered it, realising how in the morning she could use exactly that to make sure they wouldn’t be uneasy. Yes, that was a plan at least.

As she closed her eyes as well, she allowed herself to smile while the butterflies took over. What a wonderful thing, to have been asked along on this trip, where she got to feel this happy all the time. It would make the crash from cloud nine that much harder once they’d get back, but for now she wasn’t going to think about her possible-crushes list or anything else. Right now she was going to let herself hold Baekhyun’s hand, and sleep.

~

A/N: It might take a bit longer for day 5 to come around. I will be gone on a holiday for a full week, unsure of how much I'll be able to write so.. Enjoy this until then ^^