!! Quick Update !!

That dinner was everything Baekhyun could ask for. And he knows for sure, he wants more of it.

He wants to take her out on high-class restaurants, to casual picnic dates, to stroll around a shopping precinct or even at the park, watch the sunset and sunrise with her, or even have a cozy time at his or her place while watching movie. It doesn’t matter what they do. To him, what matters most (as it’s the only thing) is that he is with her.

So it is no surprise when Thursday night of the same week, Baekhyun pleads the girl to stay at his place. She didn’t really want to, given it’s a weekday. But it makes it really hard for her to say no when he is so persistent and affectionate, like a little puppy desperately seeking for attention and company. So before she heads to the male’s place, she gives her mother a call to let her know that she is safe and she will be staying at Baekhyun’s. The male gives himself a few pats for making a good impression to her parents, enough to trust their daughter to him.

After dinner, they are on the living area, watching a movie. He is coming out from the toilet when he stops as he sees the girl snuggled on the right side of his sofa with the fleece blanket over her folded knees, all the way under her chin. At that, he decides to make her a warm cup of her favourite chocolate. It doesn’t take him long to do this as three minutes later, he comes back with the cup in his hand, handing it to the girl with a smile.

The girl gives him a grateful smile and moves so she can hold the cup with both of her hands. She warms her hands with it, as she blows the drink so she doesn’t burn her tongue. Despite with the movie playing, Baekhyun can’t help but watch her instead. This is the view he wants to always see. Her, sitting on his couch and comfortable in his home, drinking a cup of hot chocolate with her eyes on the screen. It is so serene and natural for his eyes to see that he even doesn’t mind to see such sight every night. As a matter of fact, he’ll love every second of it.

It is only when she sips the drink she notices that he isn’t watching the film but her instead. She gives him a questioning look, only to receive a wide smile from him as he laughs softly.

“What?” She asks, confused and forgetting about the movie playing.

“Nothing… You just… you just look so pretty.” He says softly and breathless.

Despite even being more confused, the girl’s cheek reddens. “Stop it.” She tells him as she puts the cup down the coffee table. She can’t be pretty, she thinks. Not with her tied up in a quick bun, wearing an oversized tee, and her light makeup that has now faded, given the time of the day that her face is bare as no makeup. What is he saying?

“I’m serious though. You’re really pretty.”

She squints her eyes at him, trying to spot some lie or even a tint of playfulness from him. But when she attains nothing, she can’t help but sigh. “How can you say that when I look like this?” She asks and gestures to herself, mostly at the spot he’s supposed to find unpretty and unattractive

He shakes his head, his elbow above his thigh, his cheek over his fist. “Still pretty.” He insists. He doesn’t think that she’ll ever understand that the parts and sides of her that she doesn’t attractive or even pretty will be the otherwise for him. She will always be pretty in his eyes.

She is giving him a face and it makes Baekhyun laugh a little bit. “You’re weird.” She mutters.

“I don’t think so.” He disagrees, his eyes squinted, eyebrows softly furrowed and lips pursed. “I can’t be so weird.”

The girl chuckles. “Okay, you’re not.” She admits. “But still…” She makes a face. “Weird.”

It’s impossible for Baekhyun to get rid of grin he has on his face now. He feels so happy and escalated but knowing how embarrassed and shy the girl can get, he stops and turns his head towards the TV screen. Unhappy with the space between them, he leans to her and hopes that she won’t ask him to move away. His heart thumps hard when she shifts, thinking that she’s moving away but then she did that so he can be more comfortable.

“I don’t want you to have body aches tomorrow.” She says with a soft but clear tone. Then she holds out the cup between her hands to him.

He takes it and drinks a bit before putting it down on the coffee table. Glancing at her, he sees her pat over her lap, gesturing him to rest his head over it. And so he does. Willingly.

Feeling the moment so natural, Baekhyun takes a hold of her hand and gently plays with it, massaging it while she does with his head, using her other free hand. Her touch is so soft and tender that he finds himself melting in it.

Everything is so serene that he wants to confess his feelings to her. Go all out and not hide anything. So then, he is free to express himself for her without holding back. She is looking straight to the screen, and he is doing that but to her. Just for another brief moment because no movie can ever come in par with this. She is breathing steadily, completely unaware of what he’s doing. Her eyelashes are batting smoothly every time she blinks that it is so enticing. She is his view and he’s going to admit, she’s the most beautiful one.

This is how he imagines things to be. Him. Her. Together. He can watch her do the little things like watching her favourite movies or dramas, writing something on her notes, scrolling to her phone, eating her food, tucking her hair behind her ear, smiling at something she reads, indulging herself to her favourite ice cream, tying her hair up in a bun— just all the little things she does without anyone interrupting them. Just them. Together. Alone.

Baekhyun is certain of his feelings and he wants to tell her that. He can confess but not yet. It’s not yet the right time. Not now.

And before she can notice that he is watching her again, he turns his eyes back to the movie. He doesn’t wish to make her feel uncomfortable. But now that his favourite view is not before his eyes, and the movie playing is rather dull in his eyes, he closes it so he can see it again, so he can still see her while she is massaging his scalp. It’s so relaxing.

“Comfortable?” He hears her ask, stopping from doing what she was doing.

He hums and snuggles his cheek to her thighs even though there is blanket blocking his skin to meet hers. “Very.”

She giggles fondly at him before beginning to massage his head again.

The following day, after UNI, Baekhyun takes the courtesy to take the girl back to her home, greeting her mother politely. He doesn’t want her mother to think that he is taking advantage of her daughter. He wants to show her his clean and pure intentions and that it will never be his intention to hurt her in any way. Because even if they are both adults, they both know what they are doing, she is still a daughter to her mother and he respects that.

“Your birthday is coming…” Baekhyun says as he drives down the road, having the girl sit on the front passenger seat. “Do you want to do anything?”

She hums for a bit, contemplating. She shakes her head, “I think I’ll just stay home.”

Baekhyun makes a face in disapproval. Stopping at the stop light, he takes the time to look at her. “Come on. It’ll be your birthday. Let’s do something.”

“Baekhyun.” She calls. “It’s fine. We can do anything and I’ll still be okay with that.” When she sees that he’s not going to say anything, she finds herself giving in. “Okay. I’ll tell you when I think of something I want to do. For now, I’m just really… hungry.” She smiles, a little embarrassed.

He breaks out of his straight face. “Starving?” He teases.

He sees her roll her eyes, groaning. “Mhm. That two hour tutorial was too long.”

He chuckles. “Okay.”

Currently, they are on their way to the new pizza place that opened about a week ago. The whole squad will be there apart from Joonmyeon and Raeen. The former has a girl to pursue while Raeen on the other hand, has to go to her family dinner as her Dad got back from overseas.

Baekhyun parks his car the same time Chanyeol does, who was following closely behind. They see Minseok, Jongdae, Doeun and Shin waiting by the entrance. It isn’t long when they enter the restaurant, Baekhyun making sure to take the seat next to her. Normally, he would sit across so they are facing each other, but this time, he wants to sit next to her simply for the reason he wants to be closer to her. Everyone notices that but neither of them say a word as they share common glances. They know what is going on, or rather what is about to go on, and knowing the lady as well as wishing the best for the male, they don’t do anything to make her feel uncomfortable or disrupt Baekhyun’s plan (if there is any, that is).

Perusing over the menu, the couple lean closer to each other, their temples away by a single thin thread. They both are busy looking at the list of choices there were - the girl, starving so much that she just wants to eat good food and Baekhyun, looking for the pizza he knows she likes because he can’t let her starve for any longer. (They are so busy and occupied that they don’t even notice their friends taking a candid photo of them. Anyone would think they are couple. Except they’re not. Not yet.) It takes them about another two minutes to decide which pizza they want on the table and combining that with everyone else’s order. They got some drinks and chips as well, while waiting for the pizza to be served.

Utilising the waiting time, everyone chats with Baekhyun joining in while the girl remains quiet and just watching everyone throw in funny stories and remarks to each other with a big and bright smile on her face. The same time, she is slowly sipping her peached iced tea with a straw, eating some chips occasionally. She is so focused to what is going on, listening to everything that she doesn’t even notice Baekhyun glancing at her, tugging his lips for a gentle smile. Honestly, how can one look so pretty and just so… beautiful? He doesn’t understand.

And he doesn’t understand even more at how he finds himself falling more, realising how trapped he is with her, when he sees how her eyes lit up so brightly when the pizzas came on the table. She looks so pleased and excited as she has her hands together, eyes keen to dig in. He chuckles inside himself fondly. If looks can consume the food and with the way she’s looking at the food, Baekhyun strongly believes that it will be finished even before even get a chance to touch a bit of it. Will he ever get enough of her?

The sun has already set and it’s already dark when they all finished and decided to part and just see each other the following day. Of course, Baekhyun is driving the girl home, not having it any other way even before, when they just got to know each other. It was always his car she’s in and truthfully, he’s glad and really happy about that.

Few minutes into driving, Baekhyun hears a buzz and sees a phone’s screen lighting up from his peripheral view. The girl opens her device and checks the message. She smiles almost immediately.

“Is it Auntie?” He asks curiously, quickly glancing at his passenger.

To his surprise, she shakes her head. But she doesn’t say anything as her fingers type some reply. Good thing they come to a stop, giving Baekhyun to buy some time and focus his attention on her. Sending the message, she looks up and towards the male, explaining. “It was Sehun.” Baekhyun frowns. Sehun? He begins to wonder what that wants from her. “He said he wants to grab lunch with me tomorrow.”

Baekhyun is apprehensive when he asks, “You’re going?”

There is confusion in her face as she registers the expression her friend is wearing. “Yeah…” She answers, sounding unsure like she should not. So she asks, “Should I not…?”

The traffic begins to move again, making Baekhyun take in a sharp breath before returning his focus back on the road, accelerating. What did he expect? Did he expect her to be exclusive for him when he hasn’t even gotten the guts to confess to her? Did he expect her to be exclusive for him like the way he is with her? Does he really not stand a chance? Insecurity and anger for himself balls inside his system that he just wishes he’s at a point in her life where he matters to her as much as she matters to him.

The air begins to thicken for the girl, making her fiddle on her seat uncomfortably. And when she can’t take it anymore, around the time when they are a turn away from her house, she gets herself some courage to speak and ask.

“Did I do something wrong, Baekhyun? Did I forget anything?” She questions insecurely.

The male doesn’t answer and lets the silence sit until he pulls over by the front of her place. He turns to the girl with seriousness filled his gaze. Until it softens a little, just because he doesn’t want her to think that he is mad at her. He isn’t.

“No…” He says gently. Then, he takes a deep breath, closing his eyes before opening them again to lock her gaze. “Can I ask you something?”

The girl nods.

“Do you like Sehun?”

Again, the girl nods. “I do.” She confirms. “As a friend. He’s a good person.”

“Sweetheart.” He calls. “As a man? Do you like Sehun as a man?”

“Oh.” The girl shakes her head. “No. I only like him as a friend.”

“What about me then?” Baekhyun asks straightforwardly. At that moment, he seizes the courage that hit him. He realises he can’t lose to someone without even trying. Shin was right, he realises. He can’t let his fear hold him back, and just let her slip through his hand. “Do you like me?”

“I…” The girl stops.

Author's Note:

Nothing much even happened here but I just posted this for a quick update. I'm sorry. Things have been really busy and I've been so uninspired to write in general. I still love writing but nothing really is just hitting me. This is the problem when I've set my standards so high that I get so down when I don't reach them. Too hard on myself, haha. But that aside, I'll finish this fic with five chapters so we have two more left! And I'm coming around to post another fic, maybe. That's when I have few chapters ready before actually posting it here.