The sound of a ticking clock on the wall right in the middle of the room began to annoy Chanyeol. He looked at the source of the sound, checking the time. Two hours left before he could close the sales publishing report document he had been working for since this morning and clocked out of the office. He let out a heavy sigh and took off his glasses. He probably needed to change them. Recently his eyes had become tired pretty easily. Or it was probably because of his lack of sleep.

 

As he pinched the bridge of his nose, he heard another sound other than the ticking clock, from across the room, from across his desk. Precisely, it was a sound of giggle. Coming from a small, annoying co-worker of his.

 

“What’s so funny, Byun?”

 

The so-called Byun, Byun Baekhyun, tore his gaze away from his phone. His previous smile was wiped off right away completely from his face as his sight landed on Chanyeol. “Not your business, Park.”

 

Chanyeol picked up his glasses again, tucking them on the bridge of his nose. “It’s my business if you’re not doing your job properly and keep playing with your phone.”

 

“I finished my work ten minutes ago,” he said it shortly, his gaze back to his phone.

 

“How about this week’s sales report from the digital department?”

 

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. I finished it before lunch. Don’t think I’m on the same level as you, Park.”

 

This damn midget.

 

This damn, pretty midget.

 

“Of course we’re not on the same level. You’re below me.”

 

Baekhyun let out a scoff. “We both know that’s bull. I’ll never be under you.”

 

“You sure?” Chanyeol smirked. “I believe you’ll fit so well under me though?”

 

Chanyeol saw Baekhyun’s face gradually became red. Yes, 1-0 for Chanyeol. He always won this hating game between them. Always.

 

At times like this, Chanyeol was so grateful that he and Baekhyun had their own office room. Although this room sometimes became extremely suffocating because of the hate radiating from the petit male across from him, most of the time, he was glad that people would not be able to hear their conversation.

 

“Not ing happening, Park.”

 

“It will happen, Byun. It ing will.” He gave Baekhyun a wink, and the small guy finally turned his head away. 2-0 for him. Chanyeol barked out a laugh. “God, Byun, when will you surrender?”

 

ing date me already.

 

“This conversation is over, Park.”

 

“Nope. Not when it’s getting to the interesting part, cupcake.”

 

That succeeded in getting the brunet’s attention. “Call me that once again, I’ll report you to the HR.”

 

“You always say that but you never do it.”

 

“Oh, you want me to really do it? You’ll lose your beloved position in this company if I do.”

 

“Aww, are you concern about me? That’s sweet. I don’t know that you care so—“

 

Chanyeol’s words were cut short when he saw Baekhyun picked up his office landline and he pushed the button number four. “Sinji? Yeah, it’s me, Baekhyun. I’d like to report—“

 

Chanyeol never ran that fast in his entire life. He dashed across the room and snatched the phone from Baekhyun’s hold, putting it on his ear instead. “Hey, Sinji? It’s Chanyeol. So Baekhyun and I were wondering. Can the dating ban between co-workers be lifted? Because we—“

 

Now Baekhyun was the one who snatched the phone away, and immediately put the phone down rather harshly. “The is your problem?”

 

Chanyeol smirked and shrugged. “Just asking the sole reason you keep rejecting me.”

 

“Not funny, Park.” Baekhyun’s face was back to red. Even his ear had turned pink. Chanyeol really did it this time. 3-0 for him.

 

“Just so you know,” Chanyeol took a step back from Baekhyun’s desk and walked backwards toward his own desk. “I was never kidding.”

 

“Right, you.” Baekhyun threw himself on his chair. Putting his face in between his palm, he sighed. “I hate you so much.”

 

That stung a little bit.

 

Okay. That stung a lot.

 

Chanyeol tried to school his expression, not giving any hints that he was a little bit hurt by the blunt feeling from his workmate. He opted to go back to work, acting nonchalant. His report had not finished yet. this report. this job. this company.

 

He looked at the male across from him. God, if only Baekhyun was not that attractive, his adult life would probably be so much easier.

 

 

~

 

 

It all started three years ago. Their companies merged into one since both of the CEOs were friends. They were both book publishing companies with the same goals, but with different markets. The two CEOs thought that it was smart for them to merge the companies so they could reach bigger market together.

 

The day that Chanyeol’s boss, Minseok, brought him to meet other staffs from the other company, was the day that Chanyeol knew his life wouldn’t be the same. Because that was when he met Baekhyun.

 

Chanyeol might as well lose his goddamn mind the first time he landed his eyes on the short male, coming from the entrance of the meeting room, right behind his own boss, Junmyeon. He never believed on those love-at-first-sight bull, but if that tale was true, Chanyeol thought that what happened to him must be the closest thing to that.

 

They had the same position in the companies. Marketing managers. How wonderful. Not even for a split second that Chanyeol thought about rivalry between them, because all he could think about was how long he would last if those pretty lips wrapped around his . But Baekhyun seemed to think the opposite. The shorter male thought the way Chanyeol looked intently at him was the sign that he hated him.

 

Oh, Chanyeol hated him, alright, for ruining him for other males and females.

 

Since then, their relationship had been tensed. And since Chanyeol was an idiot 28 years old man, he went along with it, pretending that he was indeed, more or less, hated Baekhyun. And in turn, Baekhyun hated him back.

 

What a ing .

 

~

 

“Hello?”

 

“Where are you?”

 

“Aww, you miss me, shortie? Good morning to you, too.”

 

“Can you just—“ Chanyeol heard Baekhyun sigh from the other side of the line. “Answer me, please. Where are you?”

 

As much as Chanyeol enjoyed messing around with his co-worker, he knew his limit. “I just got out of my apartment. I’m driving to the office now. Why?”

 

Another sigh. It started to alarm Chanyeol. “Alright, just get here quick,” Baekhyun almost sounded like he was pleading.

 

“Why?” Chanyeol started fidgeting on his driver seat. He realized that he had pushed down his pedal a little further.

 

“Junmyeon and Minseok aren’t here yet, and there was this CEO from some digital agency that has been trying nonstop to sell their service to us. You know I can’t handle—“

 

“I know, I know,” Chanyeol knew that Baekhyun wasn’t that good handling a very pushy client. Usually, Chanyeol would be the one who handle them. “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”

 

There was a beat of silence, like Baekhyun was still unsure. “Okay,” he finally said in barely a whisper. But Chanyeol could hear the edge of his voice.

 

“Are you okay, Byun?”

 

“The CEO… He’s, uhm… a little bit… You know what, never mind. Just get here quick, okay?”

 

Then he hanged up the phone, and it only made him rile up even more. Chanyeol cursed loudly. Whatever that was, must be not good, since Baekhyun rarely asked for his help. But Chanyeol had a bad feeling that Baekhyun didn’t ask for him to come to the office soon just because the CEO was persistent about business.

 

. . .

 

What did he have to get up late today of all days?

 

When Chanyeol arrived at his office, he didn’t bother to park it at the basement and just park it at the lobby, asking the security to park it for him. He immediately ran to the elevator and frantically pushed the button to where his and Baekhyun’s office was located. The fifth floor.

 

As he got out of the elevator, through the glass wall of their office, Chanyeol immediately saw Baekhyun sitting on his desk, his head resting on his palm. Furrowing his brows, Chanyeol didn’t waste time to enter their office.

 

“Hey.”

 

His voice surprised Baekhyun until he jumped on his seat. The shorter male looked at Chanyeol with appalled look. “Park, you surprised me.”

 

“Sorry,” Chanyeol charged toward Baekhyun’s desk, still carrying his bag and work files. “Everything okay?”

 

Baekhyun gulped and nodded. “It’s fine. Minseok came a few minutes before you. So I was free from him.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“Nothing.” Baekhyun avoided Chanyeol’s stare, then started to type something in his computer. “Just get to work. You’re late.”

 

Balling his fist, Chanyeol put his bag down on Baekhyun’s desk, indicating he wasn’t going anywhere soon. “Tell me. What actually happened? You sounded…” Scared. But Chanyeol wouldn’t say that because it would only make Baekhyun angry or embarrassed. “Uncomfortable.”

 

Seemingly realized that Chanyeol wasn’t anywhere near giving up on making him spill the truth, Baekhyun finally caved in. “He indeed made me uncomfortable.”

 

Chanyeol’s jaw tensed. “What did he do?”

 

“Selling his product.”

 

“No, Byun.” Chanyeol stepped closer, trying to make Baekhyun look at him. “What did he do?” Chanyeol bit out each word.

 

Biting his lower lips and still not meeting Chanyeol’s stare, Baekhyun shrugged, trying hard to look unaffected. “He just tried to get closer to me.”

 

Closing his eyes briefly, Chanyeol opened them again and said through his gritted teeth, “Did he touch you?”

 

“No… not really,” Baekhyun answered, then he finally looked up. His eyes looked bored, but Chanyeol could see they were visibly shaking. “But even if he did, why do you care?”

 

His answer made Chanyeol gape. “Are you kidding me?”

 

“I mean, you’re probably happy now that I was in trouble, aren’t you? Too bad that you didn’t witness it with your own eyes, huh?”

 

Yeah, too bad for him because if Chanyeol was there when it happened, he would surely kill the son of a . Really, why would Chanyeol think that Baekhyun would appreciate him for being a decent co-worker?

 

It took every bit of Chanyeol’s willpower to not punch Baekhyun’s pretty face. “Right, I was so stupid for worrying about you,” Chanyeol said as he took his bag and turned around. When he sat down on his own desk, he saw Baekhyun was still looking at him, and Chanyeol honestly couldn’t care less—or at least, trying not to.

 

 

~

 

 

Chanyeol let out a long yawn. He had not have enough sleep for the past four days, working on his idea for a new project, shaping it into something concrete, and starting to make a presentation. The introduction meeting will be held on next Wednesday, and it meant he only had five days now, minus the day he’ll go out for company outing on the weekend. The clock was ticking and he was on the edge. So much that everything pretty much irritated him.

 

Including the little guy in front of him now, inside the elevator.

 

“You wanna get in or what?” Baekhyun threw a snarky bark.

 

“I’m going up,” Chanyeol answered.

 

“So am I. Can’t you see the ing sign?”

 

Okay, so maybe his lack of sleep also affected his vision. He didn’t realize the red sign that showed the elevator was going up.

 

Chanyeol stepped inside the elevator and took position right beside the small brunet. “You’re from cafeteria?” he asked. He did not know why he bothered to ask. He guessed his brain had stopped working at this point. That was why he took a break on going to the gym today. He diligently spent his lunch time everyday working out, but today was the day he could barely walk, let alone pulling weights.

 

“I’m from the IT department.”

 

Chanyeol honestly surprised that Baekhyun actually answered him. He looked up at a bunch of numbers on the buttons, and once again surprised that he and Baekhyun had the same destination. The rooftop café. Maybe both of them were so sick of their own workload and needed some caffeine to make them a bit saner for the rest of the day. “What, you get a boyfriend down there?”

 

“Bingo.”

 

Chanyeol snapped his head around. His eyes were probably as big as the size of a tennis ball right now. “What?” Was he so tired that he began hallucinating Baekhyun confirming that he had a boyfriend down in the IT department?

 

“I have a boyfriend in the IT department.” Baekhyun looked at him. “His name is Yixing.”

 

Chanyeol opened his mouth to say something, and he closed it again, repeatedly doing the exact action. He probably looked like a freaking goldfish right now. “But… the dating ban…”

 

Baekhyun laughed. “He’s quitting next week, so…”

 

“You’re lying.”

 

“Why would I lie?”

 

That just did it. Something just snapped inside of Chanyeol. They were only one floor away from their destination, and Chanyeol quickly pushed the emergency button. The lift jerked to stop, making Baekhyun wobbled onto his arms.

 

“Hey! What the—“

 

The short male couldn’t continue whatever he was going to say as Chanyeol took his mouth in a fierce, wet kiss. He aggressively his tongue into him, making the guy in his hold gasp in surprise. Chanyeol’s hand found his backside, one of them circled around his waist, and the other moved onto the back of Baekhyun’s neck, drawing him closer. Even in the midst of his desperate kiss, Chanyeol could feel that Baekhyun actually responded to his kiss. The smaller guy pulled their body closer, clutching on Chanyeol’s shirt for dear life. He even fought Chanyeol’s tongue with his own. The simple touch sent a bolt of lust right into his core, making Chanyeol grabbed a handful of Baekhyun’s hair and deepened their kiss.

 

Just as he suspected for the past three years, Baekhyun was so fit in his arms.

 

His resolve crumbled into pieces. Chanyeol was going insane. His blood was boiling and he did not think, he couldn’t think. And Chanyeol knew Baekhyun feel the same way. He had been wanting to do this since the first time they met, but Chanyeol pushed his craving all this time, three years.

 

The next time he knew, Chanyeol was thrown into the wall. His head hitting the concrete mirror made him come back to his sense. Through his blurry eyes, he saw Baekhyun. Red with rage. Or embarrassment. Maybe both. But one thing Chanyeol was sure, Baekhyun was attracted to him as much as he was attracted to Baekhyun.

 

Without saying anything, Baekhyun pushed the emergency button and the lift was working again. It only took three seconds before they finally arrived at the rooftop and Chanyeol couldn’t even blink before Baekhyun dashed out of the elevator. Leaving Chanyeol alone inside the suffocating iron box.

 

 

~

 

 

The goddess of luck must be on Chanyeol’s side today after he prayed all night last night. He was on the same team with Baekhyun for today’s company outing.

 

He looked at the paper Junmyeon gave to each of the employee. Chanyeol smiled at his boss. He knew that Junmyeon poured out all his heart into this outing. After the merger of two units, both Junmyeon and Minseok, but mostly Junmyeon, had always wanted to do this. Company outing, team-building and s. Chanyeol knew it had been hard on Junmyeon’s side. Emerging two units into one big team was not an easy deal. He appreciated his effort big time.

 

Chanyeol looked at the end of the paper. It was written that the winning team would get a paid day-off. Nice.

 

A bump on the road made the bus tilted and Chanyeol’s stomach flipped a little. Thank goodness he didn’t have any sort of motion sickness.

 

He folded the paper which had the team and members name on it and put it on his jeans pocket. Today was the first time he showed his co-workers how he dress casually outside his office. He always wore button down shirt at work, and now he wore navy blue tees along with light jeans.

 

He looked at Baekhyun who sat across from him. He wore something similar like him, only the color was different. He was wearing a white t-shirt. Did the guy not get the notice? They were going to play paintball and he wore white? His crush slash nemesis was intelligent man like that.

 

Once Chanyeol finished adoring Baekhyun’s body under the white tee, his gaze moved onto the shorter male’s face and he found Baekhyun’s sour expression while looking at the paper Junmyeon handed out. Chanyeol smiled, the small guy must be so pissed to know that they were in the same team.

 

His smile faltered right after though. The memory of a few days ago flashed through his eyes for million times since it happened. Chanyeol closed his eyes and shook his head. When he decided to go this morning, he promised himself that he would pretend that it never happened. But who was he kidding. The kiss was incredible. He can’t live a life without tasting that kiss every day.

 

He knew what he did was not fair. He was so frustrated at the time. A flash of imagination that in the future Baekhyun would not be the one he woke up to every morning drove him to the edge. But right now, after he knew that Baekhyun responded to his kiss, he had regained his confidence back. Whether Baekhyun had boyfriend or not, in the end, they were the endgame. Chanyeol might apologize to the brunet for forcing a kiss to him, but it didn’t mean he regretted it. Never.

 

He took a look at Baekhyun once more and can’t help but squinting his eyes. Why was he not with Yixing at the back of the bus? Then he remembered the no dating ban. They probably hid it from everyone.

 

Chanyeol felt his heart sting again. And he guessed it will stay that way for a while.

 

 

~

 

 

Chanyeol knew something wasn’t right the moment he saw Baekhyun get off from the bus. His face was bordering pale. Did he get motion sickness?

 

He already knew he was an but it didn’t mean he would stay still if he saw Baekhyun clearly not in a good shape. So he approached him as his eyes wandered around searching for Yixing. Where the was that guy?

 

“Hey,” he called out, but Baekhyun did not respond. He just kept looking at the ground while the other employees were all chatting happily, talking about the excitement to do the paintball game. Something was definitely not right. “Byun,” Chanyeol called again, this time he grabbed Baekhyun’s shoulder. With that, the shorter guy finally looked up.

 

Baekhyun’s expression was blank for a second, then he blinked, as if he was trying to shake off something. Now his default expression was on, his nonchalant and cold expression reserved for Chanyeol only. But he still looked really pale. “What do you want, Park?”

 

Chanyeol grimaced. “You look terrible.”

 

“Geez,” Baekhyun forced a bitter smile. “Thanks, I guess?”

 

“Are you sick? Where the is your boyfriend?” Chanyeol looked around again.

 

Baekhyun hissed. “Shut up.”

 

“Well, I’m sorry if I’m worried about you. Why is he not with you? You’re sick.”

 

“I’m not sick,” Baekhyun almost yelled. “It’s just motion sickness, okay? Now can you shut up?”

 

Chanyeol’s hands turned into fists, his knuckles turned white. “Alright, suit yourself, shortie.”

Chanyeol did not take a second look on Baekhyun and turned around. Maybe his plan to apologize about the kiss needed to wait a little longer.

 

Chanyeol took position between two of his subordinates and absent-mindedly listened to what the paintball trainer had to say. It sounded easy. They will be divided into two teams. Team red and blue. Each team will have one flag that they needed to protect no matter what. They could shoot our opponent anywhere other than face and groin. No other violence allowed other than shooting paintball. They were given some kind of attire, as well as helmets and guns.

 

After all the preparations, they gathered with each of their team to discuss their strategy. Chanyeol was hoping that he’ll see Baekhyun with better condition, but the his condition seemed to be worsen. Baekhyun was paler.

 

“We have to decide who will take care of the flag,” said the team leader of of Chanyeol’s team, Changmin. “Any suggestion?”

 

“Give it to the woman. They’re small, it’s easy to protect them,” Chanyeol spoke up, and the others easily agreed.

 

“Okay. Minji, can you do it? Give our flag to her. Now should we scattered or move in a group?” Changmin asked another question.

 

Chanyeol didn’t contribute any answer this time. He looked at the other team, the blue team, and saw Yixing there, being the team leader. Chanyeol had to hide his sneer.

 

When Chanyeol was so focused on another team, Minseok had decided pretty much everything. They will move in more smaller groups, each group had five members. Chanyeol was in the team with Baekhyun, as well as Minji, the flag bearer.

 

“Now this has become interesting,” Chanyeol mumbled to himself, and took his position beside Baekhyun. “What kind of fate we have here that the both of us are in the same team, right?”

 

Getting no answer from the shorter male, Chanyeol looked down and immediately furrowed his eyebrows. He expected Baekhyun ignoring him, but this was different. Chanyeol wasn’t even sure if Baekhyun had heard him or not. It was obvious that Baekhyun was sick at this point, he was completely out of it. This wasn’t just because of motion sickness. Chanyeol bit his inner cheek as he looked up again and saw Changmin dismiss them to go to their posts.

 

He, Baekhyun, Minji, and other two men, Jonghyun and Youngmin walked to their post which was behind a big rock, right up in the north side of hill.

 

“I know that you’ll tell me to shut up,” Chanyeol began to talk fast, before Baekhyun could shut him up again. “But if you really couldn’t hold it anymore, tell me okay? Don’t faint on me.”

 

As if he had snapped out of his frenzy, Baekhyun finally gave him a look. “Shut up.”

 

Chanyeol could hear from the distance that both teams already started the game. Screams and the sound of gun and ‘splat’ sound filled the air. For now, he will try to forget about everything except the game. His presentation can wait, his apologize can wait, Baekhyun can wait.

 

Chanyeol was so immersed on the game that he felt like James Bond. He helped to defeat their enemy from the distance since his team was on a higher location. He was actually really desperate to find Yixing. He would kill that man.

 

Sweat started to bead his forehead. The special suit was really not helping in this kind of humid weather. But excitement took the best of him that he did not really care.

 

A twig of crack came from behind him and Chanyeol jerked up. He turned around just to see a couple of blue team had succeeded sneaking behind their team. He immediately pulled Minji’s arm and placed her behind his body. What he did not expect was that now Baekhyun took place in front of him.

 

“Run,” Baekhyun yelled, raising his gun, and he started to shoot numerous time at the blue team.

 

Chanyeol’s initial shock had passed and now he had come to his sense. He quickly took Minji and Jonghyun with him, leaving Baekhyun and Youngmin to defend them. As they hid behind the big tree, Chanyeol took a peek at Baekhyun and realized something alarming. Baekhyun was on the ground, Youngmin crouched beside him, the two members of the blue team also stood near them.

 

“,” Chanyeol tossed his gun and ran toward them. “, , .”

 

Chanyeol instantly took Baekhyun in his arms, resting his head on his chest. He quickly scanned Baekhyun’s body and saw multiple splats of paint on his torso area.

 

“Are you kidding me?” Chanyeol snapped at the two blue teams standing in front of him. Through their foggy helmets, Chanyeol could see they were Dongho and Minki.

 

“I’m sorry. I got too excited,” Dongho said. He looked really guilty.

 

The sound of whimper came from Baekhyun, and Chanyeol’s focus was back at him. He took off Baekhyun’s helmet so he could breathe easily, and Chanyeol saw that Baekhyun’s condition was so much worse now. He was so pale and sweaty.

 

“You guys really hurt him. He’s sick,” Chanyeol said again.

 

“Oh, ,” Dongho rubbed his face. “I don’t know that he’s sick. Can he get up?”

 

“Let me help.” Youngmin took at Baekhyun’s left side, and Chanyeol took his right side. They took Baekhyun hands and placed them around their shoulders.

 

After making sure that Baekhyun could walk, they started to move him. Chanyeol took a look at Minji and Jonghyun behind the tree. There were a number of blue team surrounding them. Their team was going to lose. Great.

 

Whistle sound blared from the tower, meaning that somebody had managed to get the flag. They got the winner. The game was over.

 

Good. Now Chanyeol could move on to a more important matter.

 

Dozens of people were already at the balcony when they arrived there. Turned out, Baekhyun was not the only one with casualties. Most of them groan whether in pain or because of the heat. It didn’t take long for Chanyeol and Youngmin to find an empty spot, and they lowered Baekhyun to take a seat on the floor. Youngmin gave him a bottle of water and Baekhyun drank it empty in a matter of seconds.

 

“Anybody have the first aid kit?” Chanyeol yelled and immediately Jonghyun came to his aid. The kid must had seen the scene back there, and now he looked concern. “It’s okay, Jonghyun. Take care of yourself first. Youngmin, you go, too.”

 

Both of his subordinates nodded and left Chanyeol alone with Baekhyun. Chanyeol rummaged around the box and searched for something that can make Baekhyun felt better.

 

“Here. Aspirin,” he said as he handed a pill, which Baekhyun took and gulped down almost immediately.

 

Baekhyun looked at least a shade better now. But he was still so pale and his eyes were so clouded. It was so obvious that he did not have any energy left even to support himself in a sitting position.

 

“Okay, you need to lay down,” Chanyeol touched his shoulder.

 

Baekhyun brushed his hand away. “No,” he groaned.

 

“Can you just—“

 

“I think I’m gonna throw up, Chanyeol.”

 

Chanyeol was taken aback by the way Baekhyun addressed him as “Chanyeol”. But he pressed the urge to feel happy for something that trivial and helped Baekhyun to stand up.

They quickly headed to the bathroom as Chanyeol heard Junmyeon called all of them to gather up. Probably to say “good job” and so on.

 

When they reached the bathroom, Baekhyun shoved Chanyeol away and ran by himself to one of the stalls, and started throwing up. With dreads starting to creep into him while listening to Baekhyun puking, Chanyeol approached him and started to rub his back. Baekhyun threw up, threw up, and threw up, until there was nothing but water coming out from his mouth.

 

Chanyeol helped him to rinse his mouth, and at that time, he felt like he and Baekhyun were normal friends. Only to be destroyed a second later.

 

“You must be happy seeing me like this. You’ll use this against me in the future,” Baekhyun said in his hoarse voice, sounded like his throat was clogged up by sand.

 

“Stop that, okay?” Chanyeol was annoyed. “Don’t talk like that. I’m trying to help you here.”

 

Chanyeol was worried sick right here, and all Baekhyun could talk about was him being a jerk. He was annoyed at him but at the same time he wanted nothing but tucked Baekhyun in bed and forced him to sleep for two days straight.

 

“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun said in between his whimper. Chanyeol noticed that the smaller guy had started to shake and his skin was quite burning right now.

 

“No, I’m sorry for yelling at you, too.”

 

Chanyeol watched Baekhyun clean himself. He took off his paintball suit which practically covered with paint and started to wash his face and a bit of his hair. He actually looked a little bit better and could support his legs better now.

 

“Can you handle the bus ride later?” Chanyeol asked as he gave him tissue to wipe his face.

 

Baekhyun groaned. “I don’t have another choice, aren’t I?”

 

“I could get back with the group, take my car, and get back to pick you up here. But it would take more or less an hour and a half. Can you hold on until then?”

 

“God, no.” Baekhyun started to walk out of the bathroom. “I’ll just have to it up.”

 

After that, everything happened in a flash and long at the same time. The bus ride was terrible. Chanyeol took the initiative to sit with Baekhyun. Yixing was nowhere in sight. What an boyfriend.

 

Baekhyun was dying on his shoulder. He had been holding another round of vomiting in his stomach. His color on his face began to fade again and he was boiling.

 

Half an hour later, they arrived at the company building, and that was where Chanyeol finally spotted Yixing.

 

“Hey, Baekhyun, are you okay?” Yixing asked so lightly without a trace of worry. Chanyeol almost strangled him.

 

“Can’t you see? He’s dying,” Chanyeol barked.

 

Yixing looked surprised by his yell but Chanyeol honestly didn’t care. “Uhm, okay. Do you need something, Baekhyun?”

 

“No. He don’t. Now excuse us. I’ll take him home.” Chanyeol did not wait for Yixing’s response or permission and started to move Baekhyun again to the basement of their company. “You’re seriously dating with someone so uncaring like that?”

 

“He’s nice.”

 

“Right,” Chanyeol scoffed. “Nice guys always win.”

 

By the time they arrived at the basement, Chanyeol noticed that Baekhyun sagged into him even more. There was no way this guy could go home alone.

 

“You bring your car today?”

 

Baekhyun shook his head.

 

“Good.”

 

Chanyeol steered Baekhyun toward his black car, guided him to the passenger seat and watched as the petit, heaving, stubborn guy tucked his own seatbelt. Chanyeol rolled his eyes. Stubborn .

 

Chanyeol made sure that they were ready for the ride. This would be another difficult ride for Baekhyun. Chanyeol gave him an empty plastic bag, opened the window on Baekhyun’s side a little, then he entered the address of Baekhyun’s apartment onto his car GPS.

 

The ride was not that terrible. Chanyeol tried to drive as fast as he could while at the same time made the ride comfortable for Baekhyun. As for the sick male, he did not say anything and just closed his eyes while squeezing the plastic bag Chanyeol gave him earlier. He only opened his eyes when the GPS said that they had arrived at their destination.

 

“You can dropped me here,” Baekhyun said when they passed by the lobby of his apartment. But Chanyeol kept driving into the basement. “Why you never listen to me?”

 

“I’m taking you up.”

 

“I can handle elevator just fine.” At his own mention of elevator, Baekhyun stiffened. “I was so mad at you yesterday.”

 

“Yeah? Sorry about that. But I don’t regret the kiss,” Chanyeol said as he put his car on break. “Ready to go up, princess?”

 

Baekhyun squirmed in his seat. “I’m not a princess.”

 

Chanyeol was so focus on driving that he didn’t take a serious look on Baekhyun for the past half an hour. Now he could see Baekhyun’s face was no longer white, but burning red. His eyes were so glazy it looked like he had trouble making them stayed open. “I think I need to take you to the doctor. I’m sure there’s a clinic nearby.”

 

“It’s okay, I just need to lay down. Hey, did anybody ever tell you that you look magnificent in t-shirt?”

 

Okay. That was Chanyeol’s cue to take Baekhyun to his bed immediately. “Alright, let’s go.”

 

To Chanyeol’s surprise, Baekhyun did not utter a single protest when he took him up to his room. When Baekhyun opened his apartment door, he let the door open as if he gave Chanyeol permission to go in. That, or Baekhyun was too delirious and forgot to close it. If it was the latter then Chanyeol was glad that he followed him up to his room. The guy’s condition was really bad.

 

“Take a shower. Cold one. So your temperature would go down. I’ll go to the pharmacy and see what I can get for you,” Chanyeol said after he made sure that there was nothing weird inside his apartment that could make Baekhyun killed himself in his current state.

 

The sick guy did nothing to respond other than a small nod and he quickly locked himself in the bathroom.

 

 

~

 

 

When Chanyeol came back, it was already dark and Baekhyun’s apartment was pitch black. He all the lights and found Baekhyun in his room, curled into a ball on his bed. His hair was damp and he wore a t-shirt a couple size bigger than he usually wore. He looked so vulnerable and small like this, and somehow, Chanyeol hated this sight so much.

 

He approached Baekhyun’s bed, put down the plastic bag with instant porridge and some medicines inside, and sat beside Baekhyun on the bed. His hand naturally reached out to touch Baekhyun’s face and Chanyeol almost hissed a curse. The cold bath didn’t help after all.

 

Chanyeol never took care of a sick person before, so he only did everything based on his instinct. He looked for a rag and a plastic bowl so he could give Baekhyun a warm washcloth later on his forehead. He also took the initiatives to rummage through Baekhyun’s kitchen, looking for a glass so he could give him water for when he drink the medicine. The whole time Chanyeol preparing all this for the sick boy, he did it with a furrow, too worried to even stop for a second to rest. His heartbeat hadn’t stopped pounding since he had found Baekhyun collapsed in the paintball arena.

 

Calm down, Chanyeol. Calm down.

 

Maybe after he made sure that Baekhyun had drunk his medicine, he would be able to breathe.

 

Chanyeol rushed to the Baekhyun’s room, and stood by the bed. Holding a glass and a bowl full of warm water, Chanyeol began to panic. He didn’t know where to start.

 

“Baekhyun,” he called out softly as he put down the bowl on the bedside table, then he sat on the edge of the bed, right beside Baekhyun, still lying on his side, curling up. “Come on, Baekhyun. Wake up. I need you to drink your medicine.” Even for him, Chanyeol sounded so worried. Sighing, Chanyeol ended up put down the glass he’d been holding on too, and began to pick Baekhyun up.

 

How Baekhyun’s body slack onto Chanyeol made his stomach churn.

 

“, Baekhyun, are you okay?”

 

Groaning, Baekhyun finally stirred. “My head hurts.”

 

“I know,” Chanyeol nodded, although he knew Baekhyun wouldn’t be able to see him. “I know, baby. That’s why I need you to drink your medicine. After this, you could sleep. I promise.”

 

Baekhyun did as Chanyeol told him to. At some point, he was too weak to even drink, but Chanyeol pushed him through. After Chanyeol made sure that all the medicines were gulped down, he let Baekhyun to lie down again as he began to prepare the warm water for his forehead.

 

“No,” Baekhyun shook his head. “I’m too cold.”

 

Biting his lips, Chanyeol tried to reason. “It’ll make you warm.”

 

“No, just…” Baekhyun stopped for a few seconds, then he closed his eyes, until Chanyeol thought that he was already sleeping. But he began again. “Can you just… lay down with me here?”

 

For a moment, Chanyeol thought that Baekhyun was sleep-talking, before he finally opened his eyes, staring straight into Chanyeol’s.

 

“Please?”

 

“A… Are you sure?” Did Chanyeol just stuttered like a goddamn high school boy?

 

“Get your over here, Chanyeol.”

 

Chanyeol didn’t have to be told twice. He immediately lied down beside Baekhyun under the blanket. He was hesitant at first of what position he should take, but he didn’t have to for long because it was once again taken care of by the sick boy. Baekhyun curled up toward him, and Chanyeol knew that it would be weird if he just stayed still on his back. So he turned to his side, facing Baekhyun while contemplating to put his hand around the other male’s waist. Deciding that would be the best position for them, Chanyeol ended up doing it. He inched himself closer then put his hand on Baekhyun’s hip.

 

It only made Baekhyun snuggling onto him, and it felt so right.

 

“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun said in a very low voice that Chanyeol almost couldn’t hear him.

 

“For what?”

 

“For making you do this.”

 

“No, it’s okay.” Chanyeol rubbed his back. “Just get better, yeah?”

 

Receiving no response from the sick male, Chanyeol thought that Baekhyun had fallen asleep, until Chanyeol could feel Baekhyun stirred. Looking up straight into Chanyeol’s eyes, Baekhyun started to mumble, “Why did you kiss me, Chanyeol?”

 

“I…” Being asked point blank right there and then, Chanyeol’s tongue froze. “I thought you know why.”

 

Shaking his head, Baekhyun looked confused. “Was it because you hate me?”

 

Chanyeol huffed out a heavy breath. “I never hate you, Baekhyun. Not even a second in the past three years. I thought it was so obvious that I’m—“ Chanyeol stopped talking because there was no way the first time he confessed to Baekhyun was when he was in a delirious state. So he decided to say something pretty close to what he felt at that time. “I kissed you because I wanted to.” And even until now.

 

Baekhyun closed his eyes and snuggled his face onto the crook of Chanyeol’s neck. “You know,” Baekhyun’s hot breath fanned Chanyeol’s neck. “I’m not dating Yixing.”

 

Chanyeol almost yanked Baekhyun away from him to see if he was serious. “You what?” he hissed.

 

“I only wanted to make you jealous.”

 

Oh, Chanyeol got jealous, alright. But to think that Baekhyun had gone out of his way to lie to Chanyeol just to make him jealous, it did something to his heart. No wonder Yixing looked so confused when Chanyeol yelled at him earlier. “Well, you got me. I can’t believe I fell for that,” he chuckled.

 

 

 

~

 

 

 "What the !"

 

Chanyeol opened his eyes and immediately scrambled, turning himself into sitting position. Bad move, because now his head felt like it was just hit by a freaking bat. "What? What's wrong?" he said and attempted to focus his eyesight. Baekhyun's appalled expression welcomed him. "You good?"

 

"I'm good? The hell I am, Park. What are you doing here?" Baekhyun began to toss his blanket away and stood up.

 

Oh, great. Just great. Now Chanyeol could see what was happening right now. "So you're back to family name basis now? After you asked me to not go anywhere and sleep beside you last night?"

 

"W-what?"

 

Chanyeol ran his hand through his messy hair, making it even messier. "I can't have this conversation right now. I'm tired after taking care of you all night, Baekhyun."

 

He had been up all night, making sure that Baekhyun drank water for every half an hour. Chanyeol also made sure to take his temperature constantly. Baekhyun's fever only broke at sunrise, and that was when Chanyeol finally able to sleep. And now he had to deal with this?

 

Fidgeting in his feet, Baekhyun became more frantic. "What do you mean I asked you to sleep with you? I... I don't remember."

 

"Of course you don't," Chanyeol scoffed. "You were so sick that you couldn't even open your eyes while I was taking care of you."

 

"You... You took care of me?"

 

"Damn right I was. Now will you come here? I need to check your temperature again."

 

If Chanyeol wasn't in cranky mood right now because of lack of sleep, he would think that Baekhyun's dumbfounded expression was endearing. But all Chanyeol wanted now was making sure that Baekhyun was okay and went back to sleep for hours.

 

"Baekhyun, babe, come on."

 

The word ‘babe’ obviously the reason of Baekhyun’s expression sunk. “Don’t babe me.”

 

“Okay, Baekhyun, would you please come here? I need to check you,” said Chanyeol, trying to keep the irritation out of his voice.

 

“I think you should go, Park,” Baekhyun blurted, his hands wrapping around himself. “I… I don’t think you should be here.”

 

Only then Chanyeol felt his patience had snapped. “Are you ing serious right now? You’re kicking me out of your house after I took care of you?”

 

“I wasn’t in my best condition last night—“

 

“But you’re definitely in your most honest state. You told me you wanted to make me jealous. Ring a bell?”

 

Baekhyun flinched. “I told you what?”

 

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes. Dreads started to seep into his chest and it felt like heat pulsing under his skin. “You told me Yixing is not your boyfriend. You lied to me just to make me jealous.” Chanyeol’s voice was harder and higher than he intended to be.

 

Baekhyun’s mouth opened and closed, like he was overwhelmed and didn’t know what to say. Baekhyun just stood, looking like he was one step away from freaking out. “That’s… not true.”

 

Chanyeol had to hold his breath to prevent him yelling at Baekhyun. No matter how upset he was, he didn’t want to hurt Baekhyun. So Chanyeol rubbed his face harshly and knew that he couldn’t be here or they just would be yelling and hating each other.

 

Chanyeol got down from the bed and immediately dashed out of Baekhyun’s room.

 

“Where are you going?” Baekhyun’s stricken voice came from behind him as Chanyeol took his car key on Baekhyun’s kitchen counter.

 

“Home. I can't be with you right now. But this is not me leaving you.” They weren't even together but it, together or not, Baekhyun was still his. He looked at Baekhyun with hope that the man in front of him could see his true feelings. “I still ing want you, so this is not me leaving, or giving up on you. I just need to get away from you, because Jesus Christ, Baekhyun.”

 

 

~

 

 

Chanyeol actually regretted for leaving Baekhyun that fateful morning. He should’ve handled the situation better. He knew he could. But back then, leaving so that he and Baekhyun could calm down seemed like the best option. But now, that his mind had cleared after he slept for 15 hours straight, Chanyeol started to think that leaving Baekhyun alone without any proper explanation would just make him closed off toward Chanyeol even more.

 

Chanyeol couldn’t wait until Monday to see him again at office. Who knew what 24 hours could change regarding their relationship. Chanyeol needed to move fast since he got the upper hand now.

 

It was almost midnight. But Chanyeol honestly couldn’t care less. Standing in front of Baekhyun’s apartment lobby, Chanyeol leaned against his car, waiting for the man to come down to see him. He had called Baekhyun as he touched down his lobby. And to his utmost surprised, when Chanyeol asked him to come down to meet him, Baekhyun agreed.

 

Now that he saw Baekhyun walking toward him, with his large hoodie, Chanyeol couldn’t bring himself to be mad at this man any longer. His affection toward him was stronger than anything else.

 

“Hey,” Chanyeol stood straighter, meeting Baekhyun in the middle, so now they were standing right outside the sliding glass door.

 

Baekhyun nodded, not quite meeting Chanyeol’s eyes. “What’s up?”

 

Chanyeol’s had to force his hands to stay at his sides, although they itched to touch the man in front of him so much. “I just think that we need to talk.”

 

“What’s there to talk about?”

 

Everything.

 

“Look,” Chanyeol exhaled a pent-up breath. “I don’t want to do this anymore, Baekhyun. I’m tired. I don’t want to waste my time here arguing with you in the middle of the night, when in fact, I could be on your bed cuddling with you right now. So let’s stop this, yeah? Stop being difficult.”

 

Baekhyun had the audacity to look confused. “What are you talking about?”

 

Frustrated, Chanyeol couldn’t help but raised his voice. “I’m saying that I’ve been in love you the entire goddamn time, .”

 

Baekhyun only stared at him. His eyes were wide and it looked like he couldn’t found his voice.

 

“Gosh, look at your face. What do you think all this time, Baekhyun? Like, really, you think I hate you?”

 

“You are… are you serious?” Baekhyun’s voice was barely a whisper.

 

“What do you mean, of course I’m serious. You think I’ll be joking about this?”

 

“I mean…” Baekhyun finally blinked. “You always… spite me all the time.”

 

Chanyeol took one step forward, and they stood so close now he needed to look down in order to see Baekhyun’s face. “That’s because it’s the only way for you to stop ignoring me.”

 

“I ignored you all these years because I thought you hated me since the first time we met.”

 

“What?”

 

“The first time we met, I smiled at you and you didn’t smiled back at me. Instead, you just look at me with those… murderous eyes.”

 

Chanyeol looked up to the sky and closed his eyes. He couldn’t show Baekhyun how his words upset him. How this big misunderstanding had ruined their relationship for the past three years. “Those weren’t murderous eyes, those were…” Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun again and a laugh escaped him. “My God, I can’t believe I fall in love with a goddamn idiot.”

 

Baekhyun punched his chest lightly. “Hey, that’s not nice.”

 

Grabbing the hands in his chest, Chanyeol laced his fingers with Baekhyun’s. “I never wanted to kill you the first time we met. If anything, I want to jump you. Those weren’t murderous eyes. Those were… I’m ogling you, Baekhyun. I’m looking at you.”

 

“Then, why…” Baekhyun’s voice cracked. “Why you never told me?”

 

“Because apparently, I’m also an idiot.”

 

“All this time I thought I was a masochist for liking someone who hated my gut.” There was still doubt in Baekhyun’s eyes. He looked at Chanyeol as he gnawed his lips, a habit when he was nervous.

 

“The only thing I hate about you is the fact that you’re not mine.” Throwing his hands around Baekhyun’s waist, Chanyeol brought Baekhyun closer to him until their chests collided. “So you like me too? I mean, I knew all this time that you’re at least attracted to me. I just wanted your brain to catch up with your heart. But I couldn’t wait any longer.”

 

Just like he couldn’t wait any longer to kiss the pretty mouth of Baekhyun’s. Chanyeol moved quickly, not wanting to give Baekhyun the time to think about it. It felt like he was in a trance when he leaned down and their lips met. It was supposed to be a chaste kiss, because Chanyeol didn’t want Baekhyun to be shocked and bailed out on him. But to his surprise, Baekhyun slung his hands over his neck, deepening their kiss, and Chanyeol was gone. A little sigh of contentment came from the petit male in his hold, and Chanyeol knew that he and Baekhyun were finally in the same page.

 

When they pulled back, both of them were breathing hard. Chanyeol really liked the fact that he was the one who could make Baekhyun like this, such a wreck.

 

Still with his chest heaved up and down, Baekhyun looked at him with a worried eyes. “What about our company’s policy?”

 

“What about it?”

 

“The dating ban”

 

Tilting his head to the side, Chanyeol’s lips curled up. “Oh, come on. You didn’t really think that it’s real, right?”

 

“It’s on the fifteenth point of the Company Rules, Chanyeol.”

 

“Did you just call me Chanyeol? While being sober? What a ing miracle.”

 

“Can’t you be serious?”

 

Chanyeol stole a peck from the love of his life before he answered, “You know what, I’ll take care of it. I could talk to Junmyeon about this. You trust me, right?”

 

“I really think that this is crazy, but I trust you.”

 

As Chanyeol said Let’s be crazy together to now his lover, he kissed him a little more and thanked the gods and goddesses over the fact that now he could do this any time he wanted.