another 5.3k but this time delving into chanchen's friendship! it starts and ends with baekyeol, though. not much about gaming this time.

 

note: faline is bambi’s mate in Disney lol

 

Chanyeol wakes up to Kiki his hands. He sits up on the hard ground and rubs his back tiredly- why am I on the floor? “Must’ve fallen asleep here,” he mumbles to himself, patting Kiki. “Good morning.”

Kiki sneezes in response, and he chuckles. When he looks up to the couch, the sight of Baekhyun sleeping soundly greets him, and he swears his heart skips a beat just then. The man is sprawled on the couch that’s slightly too small for him, and he’s snoring softly. Chanyeol thinks he’s cute, and he wants to stare a little longer, but he has a lot to do.

Fixing himself and Kiki a quick breakfast, he goes to his room to grab a change of clothes and his toothbrush and tip-toes to the bathroom, careful not to wake Baekhyun. It’s his second time using this bathroom and he’s still shocked by how messy it is. His hands are itching to just clean the entire apartment, but he resists. He makes a mental note to talk to Baekhyun about it later.

He steps into the shower and happily sighs when the hot water touches his skin. His mind reels him back to the night before and he blushes as he thinks about the little moments of intimacy. He had talked to Baekhyun about his life in Korea and how was he was afraid to come out, amongst other things.

“Were you ever bullied for being gay?” Baekhyun curiously asked, gulping down his third can of beer. Chanyeol was only on his first, but he knew he couldn’t hold his liquor well so he drank slowly. 

“Umm…” Chanyeol started as he thought of what to say. Kiki was lying beside him on the couch, curled up into a ball. “No…? I never really told anyone. My parents know, though. We’re close,” Chanyeol answered quietly, Kiki’s fur. 

Baekhyun looked at him in surprise. “Not even Minseok-hyung?” He asked, referring to their mutual friend. “I know hyung wouldn’t have judged you. He knew from the moment we met that I play for the other team. Mostly.” 

Chanyeol shook his head, smiling wanly. “I didn’t tell him, but he found out. I cried a lot when he did, but he told me it was okay,” he admitted, remembering the incident earlier. He left out the part where Minseok told him he was the same. It wasn’t his secret to tell. “Sorry about earlier. I was just… You- you wouldn’t want anyone to find your toy either!” 

Baekhyun laughed loudly, clutching onto his stomach. Chanyeol frowned at him, wondering what was so funny. Baekhyun wiped a tear away, trying to catch his breath. “Sorry, that cracked me up. I can’t relate. You won’t find a toy in this house.” 

“Sorry we aren’t all getting laid,” Chanyeol grumbled childishly. Baekhyun leaned in closer to Chanyeol, lips nearly touching him. “If it makes you feel better,” Baekhyun purred into his ear, “you’re very attractive. You just need to let loose. Anyone would kill to have you to themselves.” 

Chanyeol shuddered a little just then. Baekhyun was definitely out of it. 

“Stop thinking about that,” he mumbles to himself, turning the water off. He grabs Baekhyun’s shampoo because he didn’t bring any with him and feels bad for a moment, but then he remembers that Baekhyun did ask Chanyeol to make himself at home. It smells like Baekhyun. He tries to fight the blush that’s creeping up his cheeks. Him smelling like Baekhyun? An absolute dream.

Chanyeol never expected to be friends with Baekhyun, and he never expected himself to actually start liking the guy either. Since high school, Chanyeol was always watching him from afar. Byun Baekhyun was untouchable, completely out of his league, a dream. When Minseok officially introduced them, he thought he could finally be friends with the elusive Baekhyun, but just like after that one gaming session they had together, they never spoke to each other again unless Minseok was around.

It wasn’t because of bad blood. Chanyeol just didn’t have any common ground with Baekhyun. They had nothing that would’ve bonded them. Maybe if Chanyeol had tried a little harder then, they would’ve been closer to each other now.

He isn’t sure when he started liking Baekhyun, but he knows his feelings slowly became more apparent when they started to talk to each other. He just wishes they were close before Baekhyun left Korea — nearly a year without seeing him in person was torture for his poor heart. His decision to come to America isn’t an impulsive one like Minseok believes it to be, but Baekhyun has always been one of the reasons he wanted to be here. A break from life is what he needs.

He sighs as he washes himself clean. He needs to have a talk with Jongdae about this. Towelling himself dry, he sits on the toilet seat and stares into nothingness. Why do feelings have to be so frustrating, Chanyeol muses. He brushes his teeth quickly and checks the time, sending a text to Jongdae.

 

You
Hey, can we meet later?  10:11

Jongdae
10:11  i kinda expected this
10:12  time? bring kiki then
10:12  we can go to a pet friendly cafe

You
Okay  10:13
2 at the park?  10:13

Jongdae
10:14  i wanted to stay home today
10:14  but i will leave the house for u
10:14  see u (˵¯͒〰¯͒˵)

You
Thank u jongdae the great  10:15

 

He decides to do a short stream before meeting Jongdae, because he hasn’t able to stream since he left Korea. His viewers know that, of course, but it would be nice to surprise them. He doesn’t know if a lot of them are online at all, but he figures that he has viewers overseas too so his Korean fans will just have to miss this one. He pulls a blanket over Baekhyun and gives in to his body as he Baekhyun’s hair, sitting on the armrest of the couch. And when Baekhyun’s eyelashes flutter, he hurriedly retreats to his room.

Chanyeol regrets his decision nearly as soon as he starts the stream. Turns out, there are a lot of people online at this hour and they are all caught up with his social media. Which means all they’ve been asking in chat is:

How are you able to stream? On a scale of 1 to 10 how close are you to baekkaji? We thought the two of you were only duo partners. Was that you on baekkaji’s stream? It sounded and looked like you.

And after 2 hours, he gives up on trying to ignore the comments. Chanyeol sighs inwardly as he scrolls through the chat. He never expected people to make such a big fuss out of this. Everyone knows he and Baekhyun played Overwatch together, but today he has realised that not everyone knows that they’re friends even outside of the game.

“I’m staying at a friend’s house at the moment, so I thought I’d surprise you guys with a stream, but it seems that everyone is more interested in baekkaji,” Chanyeol sulks, exiting Overwatch. “I went to watch Dynasty’s match against Excelsior, and I met Baek and his team there. We are pretty good friends outside of gaming, you know.”

The chat goes wild and Chanyeol wants to die from embarrassment. He can make out a few English comments here and there and they are very… aggressively nice, if that’s even a thing. The fans seem very happy with the “information” he gave them, and he doesn’t know what to think of that. There’s a knock on his door and before he can react, Baekhyun enters. He quickly turns around and stands up, the headset falling off his head.

“Afternoon, ‘yeol,” Baekhyun yawns, blinking rapidly. His shirt is falling off his shoulder and his hair is a mess, but Chanyeol thinks he looks extremely tempting like this. Kiki enters the room along with him, her paws silent on the wooden floor, and Chanyeol can feel his cheeks turning pink. He doesn’t have to look at the chat to know what everyone is saying.

“G-good afternoon,” he stutters, blocking Baekhyun from his face cam. Baekhyun notices, and walks towards his set up. Chanyeol really wants this side of Baekhyun all to himself. Before Baekhyun reaches his set-up, Chanyeol hastily pulls up his shirt for him, sighing.

“Hey, you’re streaming! I mean, I knew that. But there’s a League match going on right now which means I can’t stream,” Baekhyun pouts, sitting in Chanyeol’s seat. “So I’m here to hijack yours. Hi, bambi’s stream! I’m baekkaji, it’s nice to meet you guys,” he exclaims happily, and Chanyeol wants to just disappear.

 

Lolusername2
wtf am i seeing

Bambi_FAN
A “friend”, huh?

Iwillbeurshield
Is this real life?????

 

“Ah, yes, Chanyeolie’s living with me at the moment,” Baekhyun replies to the messages. The chat is moving fast and Chanyeol knows that they’re all coming up with new questions for Baekhyun to answer. He needs to do something, but he’s too enchanted by Baekhyun to move. “What? Yeah, we’re really close! But he didn’t tell me he was coming to America, you know.”

Chanyeol can only stand in the background and tell himself to snap out of it. He stomps towards Baekhyun, whirls his chair around and bends down to meet his eye. “Stop corrupting my viewers, get out,” he demands childishly, bottom lip jutting out a little.

“Is this how you treat your benefactor? And here I thought we had something special after last night,” Baekhyun fake sobs loudly, and Chanyeol is even more embarrassed than before. He knows his face is ing red. He looks towards the screen and shouts, “nothing happened last night, we just talked like normal friends, I’m ending the stream now, bye!”

 

boomboom04
wow, baekkaji is rly different
when he’s not on his stream

Alexuwu
i bet $50 they’re boning.

burgerflipprOW
Lol they seem like they are
trying to hide something

 

“I didn’t want anyone to know I’m living with you, and now over three thousand people know and soon it’ll be all over social media,” Chanyeol rants as he sits himself down in the living room with Baekhyun, but Baekhyun only stares at him.

“Would it kill to have people know we live together? Are you embarrassed of me or something?” Baekhyun shoots back, genuinely confused and hurt by Chanyeol’s words. Chanyeol is quick to shake his head no.

“You know that’s not what I mean… I don’t want people to think I’m leeching off you. You’re a bigger personality than I am and besides playing Overwatch together, I don’t think anyone else knows we’re friends,” Chanyeol points out, “but well, they know now.”

“Why do you worry so much about what people think of you?” Baekhyun asks softly, eyes downcast. “Why do you always hold back just because you’re afraid word might go around? It’s not like you killed someone.”

“It’s not just about caring what people think of me. It’s also about keeping my life as private as I can. As streamers, we don’t have the luxury of privacy and everyone is using each other to climb up the social ladder… I don’t want to be one of them,” Chanyeol replies, lying on the couch. “I’m not like you. I treasure privacy. My viewers don’t know much about me because I rarely say or post anything about my life. Your viewers know everything about you. Your favourite dish, your birthday, your ual orientation — mind you, you’re the only openly gay player in Overwatch League. You’re quiet on stream, but you share everything with your audience. I’m loud, but that’s for show. Nothing but gibberish comes out of my mouth when I stream, you should know that.”

Baekhyun stays silent, twiddling his thumbs. Kiki jumps off his lap and he feels empty. “I’m sorry. I’ll be more considerate of your feelings for now on. There’s a lot I don’t know about you,” he finally says, and Chanyeol feels guilty because Baekhyun is suddenly speaking formally.

“There’s not a lot I know about you either,” Chanyeol retorts, annoyed. But why does he feel so guilty?

“I mean… it’s okay if people know… I just need to get used to people knowing things about me,” he quickly adds, but Baekhyun’s sombre expression doesn’t falter and it tugs at his heart. Say something, his conscience urges, but Chanyeol doesn’t know what to say or do. “I’m just… I’m meeting Jongdae in a bit. I’ll get groceries then, just send me a list of stuff you need.”

“Jongdae’s your best friend now isn’t he? He knows so much about you that I don’t, doesn’t he?” Baekhyun scowls, suddenly feeling overly jealous for some reason. Who am I jealous of? Jongdae? Chanyeol? Both? 

“I honestly don’t want to deal with this right now Baek, can we not fight?” Chanyeol sa