As expected, Baekhyun's idols never fail to once again guide him through another hard chapter of his life.

Sure, figuring out your uality and trying to put a label on it is something that will not be an easy thing to do, but from what Sehun had told him, Baekhyun just needs to let go and do what his heart wants. He needs to be honest with himself and not let people dictate how he should act. He shouldn't let what other people think get in his way of achieving happiness. He's always been conscious of what other people think of him and his actions have always been influenced by what is deemed acceptable by his peers, so it's high time he needs to stop being such a people-pleaser.

That's why from now on, Baekhyun will be as gay as he wants and get all the that he deserves after years of hiding in the closet.

Kidding.

As much as he wants to be free, liberty is still the sky. Baekhyun believes he will truly have freedom if he's finally able to deal with all of his problems in life. His uality? Dealt with. His fanboy life? He doesn't care anymore if anyone from school finds out. His Chanyeol-hyung? Well that's a problem that needs immediate fixing.

"Oh god," Baekhyun groans as he rolls on his bed face down, face buried into his pillow. This one's going to be so hard. How will he patch things up with Chanyeol? He basically hurt him in the worst way possible. Thinking about it, Baekhyun's been such a ing for not even rejecting his feelings and then even getting a girlfriend just to cover up the fact that he has feelings for Chanyeol.

Holy .

There he goes.

Baekhyun just admitted he had feelings for Chanyeol.

"Argh!" he wails as he flails around in bed, face hot and red from embarrassment.

ing hell, he likes Chanyeol!

"This makes it even harder," Baekhyun murmurs to himself as he tugs at his hair. He can't try to be friends with Chanyeol if he has feelings and an undeniable attraction for him, too. If he forces friendship on him, it's like forcing a metal and a magnet to have something other than attraction for each other - well not quite like that, but close enough.

Which leaves him no choice but to just it up and confess.

And that leaves him this question: how do you even confess? Baekhyun has never confessed to anyone before. He's only ever the one receiving confessions from people, never the one giving them. Come to think of it, he's never even liked anyone this much before Chanyeol came around.

"I feel like a ing ," Baekhyun grumbles. He's so goddamn new to this that it's beyond scary. He's still not sure if he could confide in Jongdae about this, so currently he just needs to handle this alone like a man.

How does he even confess? Baekhyun knows his reputation is going to drop to an all-time low once it breaks out that he isn't exactly straight and that he's obsessed with a band like one of those hormonal teenage girls, but he is still Byun Baekhyun. A living legend. The best boy his school has to offer. Brilliant, beautiful, smart, more talented than one-half of the school combined. He still needs to keep up his pride, so it's necessary that he should not give Chanyeol a lame confession.

Of course, obviously, Baekhyun shouldn't overdo it. He doesn't want to scare Chanyeol anyway. He needs to make it special enough that Chanyeol will beg him to be his boyfriend right on the spot... and maybe even kiss him.

"You're getting brave, Byun," Baekhyun mumbles in amusement. The more he's accepting the fact that he likes Chanyeol, the more crazy his thoughts are going.

He just really doesn't want to things up again.

"You want to confess to Chanyeol?"

Baekhyun gasps in panic and looks around, sighing heavily once he finds out no one is close. He turns to Taeyeon and glares at her, saying, "Why don't you say it louder so that everyone finds out about it?"

Taeyeon smiles apologetically as she shrinks into herself. "Sorry," she lifts a peace sign up. "I was just, you know, surprised."

Baekhyun chuckles as he ruffles his hair. "Ah, I don't really blame you. I've never felt this way before."

Taeyeon tils her head to the side. "What do you mean by that?"

"You're not my stalker enough," Baekhyun teases. "Anyway, I've never really liked anyone this much until Chanyeol. You know who I am — I'm Byun Baekhyun, the . I'm even more of an than people think because I've never felt any sort of affection towards all the girls I've dated before."

"You're so cold," Taeyeon remarks as she rubs her arms. "Good thing Chanyeol arrived. But this means you've never confessed to someone before, right?"

Baekhyun hums. "That's about it."

"Jeez," Taeyeon scratches the side of her head. "You're hopeless, but not entirely."

Baekhyun chuckles. "Thanks, that makes me feel a whole lot better."

"But hear me out, Byun," Taeyeon pokes his side. "When confessing, you just gotta be straightforward. Just say you like him and go. If he accepts you, then booyah! We stan a legend. But if you lose, then get your clapped out of there and forget ever trying to interact with him again."

"That's so harsh," Baekhyun snickers.

"Shut up, that was literally my thought process back when I confessed to you," Taeyeon rolls her eyes. "Chanyeol may be a different case, but it isn't that bad if you keep that kind of thought process, too."

"I don't want Chanyeol to reject me," Baekhyun pouts.

"And he won't," Taeyeon coos as she pinches his cheek. "He likes you a lot, he'll accept you."

"And I like him so much too," Baekhyun sighs. "I hate this kind of feeling, to be honest. I hate having to deal with this. If I punch myself in the face, will I take back my rational thinking?"

"No you won't," Taeyeon says. "You're already rational enough. This is natural, inevitable . Just learn to accept what you are and what you want."

"You're right," Baekhyun nods. "All I just need to figure out right now is how not to make my confession ."

"You're already born a cool person, Baekhyun," Taeyeon aussres him. "You don't have to be so anxious. Just calm down."

"I don't now," Baekhyun fumbles with his fingers. "I feel like I should buy him something."

"Like what?"

"Like ice cream. Or something cold, just in case he actually hates me now."

Baekhyun stands up to his feet. Taeyeon scrunches her eyebrows in confusion as she asks, "Hey, where are you going?"

"To buy something then hunt Chanyeol down."

"Wait, like, right now?"

"Yeah."

Taeyeon shoots up to her feet and tackles Baekhyun into a hug.

"You'll do well," she says, patting his back. She then pushes him away. "Now go get your man."

Baekhyun chuckles as he walks away. It was still lunch time and he has no idea where Chanyeol is. If he's not at the library like he always is, then it's going to be quite a challenge trying to find him. He hopes he could see him before the drink he's going to buy warms up.

Making his way to the nearest vendo machine, Baekhyun immerses himself in a chaotic stream of thoughts. What on earth is he going to say to Chanyeol when he confesses? He couldn't just simply say that he likes him, right? He needs to say something that would make him see his heart and his sincerity — that this time, he's not just ing around anymore. He's here to admit his feelings and face it. He's here to apologize. He's here to fix things.

He's here to stay and make things right again.

"I don't ing care!"

Baekhyun is startled by a familiar voice shouting aggressively from somewhere just behind him. Turning around, his eyes fall on who turns out to be Chanyeol along with someone whose back is facing Baekhyun. His eyes widen in shock when a hard fist lands square across Chanyeol's face, sending him crashing down to the cemented ground. Suddenly feeling a surge of adrenaline, Baekhyun dashes towards the scene and mindlessly throws his own fist, finding its mark across the other person's cheek, but the impact is only enough to send him stumbling back, stunned at the suddeness of his appearance.

"B-Baekhyun?" Chanyeol stammers in awe as he pushes himself up from the ground.

Baekhyun gives him a confused expression, mixed in with astonishment because finally, finally , he heard Chanyeol directly call his name again.

But suddenly, the brunette feels a fist land across his face, making him stumble to the ground. He's more shocked than pained, and he's stunned as he gazed up at the boy that Chanyeol has been having a fight with.

"!" the senior exclaims in anger as he shoots up to his feet. He grabs the boy by the collar of his shirt before pushing him away with strength that throws him off several feet away. "Don't you ing dare touch him!"

The boy spews some insults and threats towards the two, but Chanyeol ignores it as he approaches Baekhyun and quickly kneels down to his level.

"Hyunee, are you okay?"

Baekhyun doesn't know why, but hearing that nickname suddenly makes him tear up. Chanyeol is astonished when he sees the tears roll down the younger's cheeks.

"Baekhyun!" he gasps, grabbing his shoulders. "Why are you crying?"

Baekhyun sniffs as he throws his arms around Chanyeol's neck and pulls him in for a hug. He could feel the older stiffen for a few moments before he responds and wraps his arms around him as well.

"Baekhyun?" he softly says as he caresses the back of his head. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry for being such an ," he cries as he buries his face in the older's neck. "I'm sorry for ignoring you. I'm sorry for being such a bad friend. I'm sorry for not realizing my feelings sooner."

Chanyeol freezes.

"Y-You… what?" he stammers dumbly.

"I like you too, Chanyeolee-hyung."

There's a moment of silence before Chanyeol pushes him away gently.

Baekhyun feels so sheepish and shy, cheeks red and eyes still watery as he stares into Chanyeol's deep brown eyes when he closes in the gap between them.

"Are you serious?" the senior mutters. "Baekhyun, this isn't something to joke about."

"It's not," Baekhyun whines softly as he flails around. "I don't know how to put this, but the days you were gone are literally horrible. Everyday I tried thinking up of something that could patch up what we have, even though what I did is probably too much headassery that you could take to forgive."

Chanyeol doesn't say anything as he just stares at Baekhyun. It's an unfathomable expression that held a bright yet mysterious vibe in his irises. It makes him feel awkward and a bit uncomfortable too as he tries to think up of something so he could escape. Chanyeol's probably too angry and couldn't find it in himself to accept him back.

"Uh," Baekhyun murmurs as he pulls away. His hand flies up to scratch his nape as he continues, "It's alright, Chanyeol. I'm sor–"

"Can I kiss you, then?"

The brunette gapes in surprise at the other, wondering if he's serious or not. He could see nothing but an intense emotion that he couldn't really comprehend what.

"Hyunee?" Chanyeol softly probes again.

When Baekhyun nods, the older starts leaning in. He doesn't know if he's just imagining it, but he swears he could feel the air between them buzz with electricity. Chanyeol pauses for a moment when there's just a centimeter left separating them.

"Hyunee, you're so cute," he murmurs as he tilts the smaller's chin up, smiling in that charming way of his before he finally presses his lips against Baekhyun's.

Now, the concept of kissing is nothing new to Baekhyun. Hell, he's kissed numerous people it's uncountable at this point. It's a form of human display of affection that didn't mean anything to him. But as Chanyeol gently molds his lips against his, Baekhyun could feel something in his chest. It's explosive, the embers entering his streamline and sending him in a frenzy of excitement and giddiness.

Baekhyun giggles against the kiss, which makes Chanyeol stop for a moment to lean away and give him a questioning look. The smaller shakes his head and leans in to kiss Chanyeol again.

When air went scarce, they hesitantly separate from each other. Chanyeol has an idiotic grin across his face as he stares at a seemingly shy Baekhyun who couldn't properly meet his gaze.

"Let me take you out on a date, Baekhyun," Chanyeol firmly says. "From there, let's decide what to do."

Baekhyun pouts. He definitely knows what he wants to do with Chanyeol, but for a change, he didn't want to be the one leading. He wants to rely on someone this time, and he trusts Chanyeol.

"Okay, hyung."