When it got too cold to go to the lake, Sehun invited Hayun over to his place. Even though they had been together for quite a while by then, he was still hesitant to let her in – he couldn't remember the last time he had a visitor, and the more he cleaned and arranged, the more faults he noticed, so the more he cleaned. Finally, when summer ended, he couldn't put if off any longer and asked her if she would like to come in.

"I would love to!" she said.

So she came in. Sehun fussed and fretted, plumping the pillows, apologizing for the mess. "It's just been me living in here for years, so-"

"It's fine," she said. "Actually, it's a lot cleaner than my place!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, my place is a total barnyard, I'm too busy and lazy to clean up so everything just piles up." She sighed. "Anyway, it's cozy here, I like it! And you've got a great view!"

Sehun shrugged, he didn't really care about the view to be honest. "Would you like something to drink?"

"Yes, please." Hayun nodded. "Do you have tea?"

"Tea?"

"It's ok if you don't have it, though," she said quickly.

"Um... let me check," he muttered, heading to the kitchen and praying he had some tea – he was a coffee drinker.

Hayun followed him inside, a bit curious to see his kitchen. There was no tea, and Sehun made a mental note to buy some the next time he went out.

"It's ok," she said. "I'll drink what you're drinking."

"Um, Fanta?"

"Sure! I love Fanta."

All in all, this first time having her in his place wasn't as awkward as he thought it would be. The next time was better, and the next, and the next – they just kept getting more and more comfortable. Hayun even began to bring art supplies over, and leaving them at Sehun's apartment. When he saw them long after she had gone, his heart did a little black-flip – it might sound silly, but he felt as though she had left a little part of herself at his apartment, and he loved her even more for that.

A few weeks after her first visit, she sent him a text saying she wasn't feeling well, and that she was sorry she had to cancel their dinner date. More worried than disappointed, Sehun called her, but she didn't pick up. He called her back in an hour, but still no answer. What was wrong? How sick was she that she couldn't answer her phone? What if she needed to go to the hospital? Another hour, and still not picking up.

The worry of her being very sick alone was stronger than the anxiety of going outside, of going to her place alone. Before he could change his mind, Sehun pulled on his coat and stepped out the door.

He knew where she lived – she had texted him the address one day, saying he could go to her place if he ever needed to. Sehun had learned her address by heart. By bus, it would have perhaps taken about ten minutes to get there. As he couldn't be in one, he walked and it took more than half an hour. Sehun had never walked that far for quite a while – not because he was lazy, but because even just the idea of taking a walk outside made giant mutant butterflies beat against his rib cage.

Not that he wasn't anxious now, though. He was, especially when he stood in front of the zebra-crossings, waiting with a bunch of people for the light to change. They stood too closely together, even if he stood slightly apart at the very back. But it didn't matter – as long as he got to Hayun's, it would be worth all this anxiety; he didn't think he'd be able to live with himself if he did nothing while she was sick.

For some reason, he was a bit surprised when she opened the door – he was expecting her to be a lot worse, so sick that she couldn't get out of bed.

His surprise was nothing compared to hers, though. "S-Sehun?" she stuttered, as though she couldn't believe he was here. "What are you... what's wrong?"

Her hair was messy, her face was pale and sweaty and she looked tired, but she was nowhere as bad as she had appeared in his over-active imagination. Relieved, he enveloped her in a tight hug. "You're ok..."

"Of course I am," she said.

He released her. "But you canceled our date tonight... and you said you weren't well..."

"Is that why you're here?" she asked.

He nodded. "I was so worried that I-"

A light kiss stopped his sentence. "Thank you," she said warmly. "But you shouldn't have... my phone ran out of battery, I'm fine-"

"No you're not," he said. "Why did you cancel, then?"

She sighed. "Gosh... I just have... a stomachache."

"Did you take medince?" Sehun asked immediately. "I can get some if-"

"Thank you, but it's ok," she said quickly.

"Did you take the right one?" he asked. "Is your stomach burning, or do you feel like throwing up, or-"

"Sehun, this is... this is cramps, it happens every month. So don't worry, ok?"

"Oh." It dawned on him what Hayun was going through, which in his opinion was worse than being sick. "That's not fair."

"What's not fair?"

"Those cramps... it's supposed to be natural, right? So why is it painful?"

To his surprise, Hayun laughed. "Trust me, I've been asking the same thing for years! So anyway, now that you're here do you want to come inside?"

Sehun nodded, eager to see where she lived, and he followed her inside and she shut the door behind them.

"It's a little messy," she mumbled, hastily gathering all the clothes piled onto her couch. Empty soda cans, wrappers, and boxes littered the floor next to the trashcan, as though she had thrown them and missed but didn't bother picking them up.

Rather than the junk, Sehun saw her love of art – art books spilled from the two shelves and were stacked up on the table as she had run out of space. Sketchbooks, jars of paintbrushes, cases of watercolours, oil paint, poster paint, crayons, coloured pencils, pens, charcoal, soft pastels... he could recognize everything she had in her cupboards, whose doors were missing. The walls were bedecked with paintings – Renoir and Van Gogh were obviously her favorite artists. A large portrait of a young man occupied one corner of the living room. He had raven-black hair, sharp and intelligent but kind eyes, sculpted cheekbones, and sensous lips stretched upwards in a wide smile. He was incredibly handsome... and his smile made Sehun smile too, for some reason.

"Who is that?" he asked, turning to Hayun.

"Junmyeon," she replied, looking at the painting with a kind of fondness he had not seen before. "My best friend – that was the very first painting of him that I did. Of course, this is just a copy, I gave him the original."

"I see." An unpleasant little knot formed in the pit of his stomach, and he looked at the painting again. Junmyeon was incredibly handsome, and if Hayun had portrayed him right, he seemed confident and self-assured – he seemed to be everything that Sehun was not.

"See why we kept going to your place?" she said, bringing his attention away from Junmyeon. "This is so messy!"

"But I like it," said Sehun honestly. "It has a... a certain charm. It's so obvious that you live here, and I like that – my place is just... well, empty."

"No it's not," she retorted. "Your place is neat and peaceful, just like you are. Whereas mine is just cluttered."

Sehun frowned, noticing how pale her face was. "Hayun, you don't look well. Do you want to go back to bed?"

"Do you mind?" she said, biting her lip. "You came all the way here, and I know it wasn't easy..."

"It's fine," he said quickly, going over to her and helping her up even though she could walk on her own. "I came here to take care of you after all."

Hayun let herself lean slightly against him as they made their way slowly to her room, and suddenly she let out a little chuckle.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," she said. "It's just... you're really sweet, you know that?"

Sehun's face warmed up, but not in a bad way – in a good way. Hayun had called him sweet.

Her room was like the rest of the place – books all over the place, sketchbooks and pencils and paints all over the desk. Her bed was clear, though, and Sehun pulled the covers over her and tucked her in snugly, noticing her content expressin which in turn made him feel contented too. For once, he was the one taking care of her, instead of being the one taken care of.

Hayun's hand closed over his arm, and she very gently pulled, telling him wordlessly to stay. Sehun sat on the edge of the bed, taking her hand in his. Despite having held hands so many times, he would never tire of it – he loved how small hers was against his, and how perfectly they fit together. Tracing small circles over her skin with his thumb, he murmured, "Do you need anything?"

"Sehun... can you stay here tonight?" she asked softly. "I'm just... I don't want you to have to go home alone."

"Don't worry, I can go home alone," he said quickly, hating that she felt worried.

She bit her lip. "But even so, can you stay here tonight? Please?"

After a moment's thought, Sehun nodded. Even if it was because she was worried, she still cared about him enough to ask him to stay the night. Besides, it wasn't as though he would hate it.

"Thank you."

"Thank you."
 

Shyness suddenly came between them both, tauntingly dancing in the brief silence until Hayun finally said, "Did you eat dinner yet?"

Sehun shook his head. "Did you?"

"I did. I have some leftovers in my fridge, I can heat them up for you." She made as though to get out of the bed, but Sehun held her back gently.

"I'll heat it up. You rest."

"Come on, I can do that-"

"If you're not sick, I'll go home," he threatened, smiling to show that he was joking but at the same time he didn't want her to bother – he knew that she could heat them up for him, but he just wanted her to rest and make his presence light for her.

"Ok," she gave in. "Help yourself to whatever you want, and come back once you're done eating, ok?"

Sehun found rice, and ate it with kimchi, not wanting to touch any of the side-dishes since there wasn't a lot of it. As he ate quickly, he searched up home remedies for cramps on his phone. Biting his lip, he nervously searched through her cupboards, trying to keep the nagging feeling that he was snooping around – he wasn't, he was searching for chamomile tea, which was supposed to help ease cramps according to many of the articles on the internet he read. Thankfully, there was a small box of chamomile tea right next to the coffee, and he tried to make the tea as fast as he could and get back to Hayun's room.

"What took you so long?" She pouted, watching him cross the room and sit at the edge of her bed again, her gaze resting on the cup. "Are you drinking tea or something?"

He nodded. "It's for you."

"For me?" she echoed, sitting up.

"Yes. It's chamomile tea, and I read that it's good for cramps."

"Really?"

"Well, we won't know for sure until you drink it, will we?"

She laughed. "No, we won't." Taking the offered cup, she balanced the saucer on her lap and took a sip. "Thank you, Sehun."

Suddenly shy but pleased, Sehun fidgeted, hoping that what the painkillers hadn't managed to do, his tea would.

"Well?" he asked eagerly, once she had emptied her cup.

"I feel better already!" she declared.

Sehun hid a smile as he took away the cup and saucer, placing it accoring to Hayun's instructions on her night table.

"Ah, this made me really sleepy," she murmured, settling down once more. Sehun hesitated, not sure if he should do what he wanted to do.

"What is it?" she asked, peering at him from half-closed eyes. "Just do what you want to do, you know you don't need to ask with me."

Slowly, Sehun reached forward and placed his hand on her tummy, and moved it in small, gentle circles. When Hayun smiled, he relaxed and continued to rub her tummy. Even when she said he could go to sleep – next to her on the bed – he kept rubbing soothingly until the even fall and rise of her chest, her closed eyes, and her silence told him that she was asleep. Then, Sehun carefully moved to the couch in the living room. Despite his wanting to sleep beside her, and that she told him to, he still wasn't sure – he wasn't sure if he was really welcome, and he wasn't sure that he would feel comfortable enough to fall asleep.

Hayun woke him the next morning by his hair and kissing his cheek. "Why did you sleep here, silly?"

Sehun didn't reply, not really knowing the answer himself.

"Thank you for last night, Hunnie." Another kiss on the cheek. "I feel all better thanks to you."

She had called him Hunnie. Sehun had never had a petname before, and the fact that it was Hayun calling him that made him like it a lot better. It sounded cute too, reminding him of the words honey and bunny and sunny.

Hayun sat on the couch and placed his head on her lap, her fingers his head and tracing the features of his face. Sehun shut his eyes and relaxed, her tiny touches holding enormous meaning to him.

Classes started again soon after that night, and Hayun got swept up in the world of lectures, assignments, and tests – and Junmyeon, with whom she was partnered up for a large project. Sehun and Hayun would meet up on weekends, but sometimes she had to cancel because she was working on her project with Junmyeon.

Sehun tried not to feel bad. He didn't want to be the petty kind of boyfriend who got jealous over best friends, or who didn't understand that the world didn't revolve around them. Hayun was busy, he knew that, and he also knew that she missed him since she said so nearly every day. They still texted each other, still recounted little snippets of the day and shared photos and said goodnight and sent hearts – perhaps not as much as they had over the summer, but she was busy. Sehun got busy too, he took the chance of filling in the sudden free time that she had occupied with more work. With that extra money he earned, maybe he could take her to the beach or buy her a bunch of really nice gifts.

This didn't mean they stopped seeing each other – Sehun counted down the hours until he could see her, and he wished she hadn't quit her job at the store – now, she helped out a few days a week in a kindergarten. He could still remember the way her face beamed when she told him how the kids would 'write' little stories and she'd help out with the illustrations – with Junmyeon. In fact, he spent far more time than Sehun did with Hayun, and it was very hard work not to let this new jealousy show. Sehun was being petty and stupid and he knew it, but he didn't want her to know – what if she would hate that side of him? So he bit his tongue and determinedly enjoyed every moment he could with her.

Usually they were at his place, Hayun doing her best to make sure he was in a comfortable environment, which Sehun appreciated a lot yet at the same time, he wanted to branch out. "You know, I'd like to go to your place too sometimes," he said one day. "If that's ok with you," he added quickly.

"You sure?" Hayun looked at him searchingly, seeming a little relieved by his determined nod. "Ok then, how about dinner at my place tomorrow?"

This second time of going to her place was nearly as hard as the first – oh, what a mess of nerves he was, standing at that zebra cross! But it was worth it to see Hayun, and her excited reaction. "See what I did!" she cried, taking his hand and leading him across the living room to the balcony – funny, Sehun hadn't realized she had one, and that too a pretty big one. That wasn't why his mouth fell open in touched surprise though – it was because of what the balcony contained, and he didn't even have to ask to know that she done it for him, for tonight.

Two comfortable chairs padded with thick cusions stood side by side, facing the sky flecked with stars winking in the night. Between them was a little coffee table, with a pot of something hot and two mugs.

"Well?" said Hayon, a hint of pride in her voice. "Did I do well?"
 

Sehun couldn't find his voice. Never had he even dreamed that anyone would go to such lengths to furnish such a cozy place for him.

"I..." he tried to say.

A pair of warm arms wrapped themselves around his middle – Sehun tensed up for only a fraction of a second before relaxing. It was Hayun, and how could he not cherish her embrace? She placed her cheek gently against his back, and murmured, "Do you like it?"

Wordlessly, Sehun nodded – he knew she could see it, and she could understand that he couldn't find the right words yet.

He found them when they sat in the chairs. "T-thank you," he said. "For all of this... I-"

"I love you, Hunnie," she said simply, as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

"I love you too."

Hayun brought over two steaming mugs of hot chocolate piled high with whipped cream, and as they sipped slowly, enjoying the sweet warmth travelling down their throats, they tried to guess the constellations. Neither knew more than a handful, and with trial and error and plenty of laughter, they found five.

Things were beyond perfect, Sehun felt so incredibly at ease. Dinner was a vast variety of Chinese takeout, which was all put on the biggest plate she had and shared. They had almost finished when Hayun said, "You know, Junmyeon really wants to meet you."

The bottom of Sehun's stomach dropped at the prospect of meeting her best friend – that handsome, confident man, next to whom Sehun was pathetic. Would Hayun compare the two when they were together? Or... did she already compare them? Sehun was lacking so much, and Junmyeon...

She grabbed his hand. "Come on, Hunnie, please? Pretty please? He's really sweet and funny and I know you'll love him!"

Sehun shook his head, uncomfortable. "I... I don't know..."

Seeing his reaction, Hayun dropped the subject for a while, and let Sehun breathe again. However, she brought it up again a week later, and then another week later.