‘You’re an idiot,’ Chanyeol declared after hearing Baekhyun’s recounting of their not-a-date.

Baekhyun glowered at him. ‘Am not. I’m just being sensitive.’

‘To whom?’

‘To Mei,’ he replied promptly. ‘And Kyungsoo.’

Chanyeol opened his mouth to counter that but closed it. ‘Fine, I can’t fault you for that. But you’re still an idiot!’

‘The hell I am,’ Baekhyun snapped.

‘It’s a matter of principle,’ Chanyeol asserted, turning back to his food.

Baekhyun glared at him but was thoroughly ignored. He sighed instead. ‘She already knows, though.’

Chanyeol eyed him pitifully. ‘For someone with dating experience, you’re total noob.’

That was rich coming from Chanyeol, Baekhyun thought sulkily. Chanyeol gave a long-suffering sigh. ‘Baek, she’s been giving you mixed signals because she suspects you guys are soulmates but she isn’t sure. That’s what she’s been doing all this time and you just went and added more fuel the fire.’

‘Whatever.’ He still abided by what he’d said. He was being sensitive and there was nothing wrong with that.

‘Yeah, yeah, you’re a noble hero. Next.’ Sometimes, Baekhyun really wondered why he was friends with Chanyeol.

Be that as it may. His date – though it really wasn’t one – with Mei had cleared up the doubt he had about her interest. She was interested but Chanyeol was right too. She was waiting for him to clarify their status for her and he… didn’t think it would be very nice to start dating Mei the day after she dumped Kyungsoo. He wasn’t that kind of a douche.

‘At least use this time to build some romance…’ Chanyeol’s voice floated over, loaded with boredom.

Baekhyun threw his chips at him but secretly started planning just that.

……………………………….

Mei was in the kitchen, standing on tip-toes to reach the top-shelf to get the packet of chocolate pops Baekhyun had hidden because she was prone to finishing the entire pack in a day. She wasn’t small by any means but Baekhyun had made sure to put it out of the way.

She lowered her feet with a huff, contemplating climbing on the counter to get it. She was confused and hungry and she needed some chocolate!

She took a step back and bumped into a solid form, her heart immediately jumping to . Oh no, was that Baekhyun?

‘Morning sunshine!’ Baekhyun smiled at her when she tilted her head up, and she winced. ‘Looking for something?’

She swallowed. She’d thought last night was a fluke and she’d get over the whole butterflies-in-her-stomach thing after a good night’s rest – she’d been unprepared yesterday, that’s why she’d been so nervous – but she was proven wrong when her stomach flipped at the sight of Baekhyun’s smile. Baekhyun had a really cute… like really cute smile and Mei had always been a er for it.

‘Choc-’ She choked on her spit and had to clear before continuing. ‘I wanted some chocolate pops. Can…’ She swallowed around her uncalled for nervousness. ‘Can you get it for me?’

Baekhyun tilted his head, smiling teasingly. ‘And what do I get in return?’

Mei flushed at the thought that flashed through her head instantly – I’ll kiss you, because, uh, vain much? Baekhyun wasn’t interested enough to even bother asking her who her soulmate was; what made her think there could be anything even remotely…

‘Nothing to say?’ Baekhyun’s words pulled her out of her thoughts.

‘I, uh…’ she stammered.

‘How about a kiss?’ he proposed casually, leaning over her and stretching his arm to reach the topmost shelf. ‘Here we go!’

Mei held her breath, trying valiantly to ignore the way his hard chest pressed into her back. Also, did her brain have nothing better to do than to flash the images of Baekhyun’s , wet torso behind her closed eyes? She was having trouble breathing as it was.

‘…earth to Mei?’ Baekhyun knocked on her head and Mei opened one eye to see the box of chocolate pops dangling in front of her.

‘Thanks!’ She reached out to take it but Baekhyun yanked it away. ‘Uh uh uh!’

Mei whirled around, intent on tackling Baekhyun and getting her pops but the sight of Baekhyun stopped her short.

She knew he’d been working out, had seen his weights scattered about and heard him wheezing while he exercised but she hadn’t really paid mind to how he looked. To her, he always looked good and she’d made peace with the fact that she’d always find him attractive to some degree. So, she’d stopped paying mind to his appearance for her own sanity. But it was really hard to ignore something as in-your-face as Byun Baekhyun in a muscle tee, fingerless gloves and sweats, obviously straight out of a workout.

He raised the box higher, presumably so she couldn’t get it but her eyes were snagged by the ripple of muscle underneath his skin and suddenly felt unreasonably dry.

To make matters worse, Baekhyun was smirking. Dammit, why was he smirking?

He leaned forward, tapping his cheek. ‘Where’s my kiss?’

Mei could practically feel her cheeks turn red from embarrassment. Normally, such antics were nothing. They exchanged kisses on a regular basis, when leaving or coming back home, greeting each other or just because they found each other cute. It wasn’t anything new or unusual. Except, her heart had started beating fast at the prospect.

She had to force herself to step forward. He didn’t say or do anything, just stood there with the frustrating smirk still on his face. When Mei was within touching distance, she took a deep breath, closed her eyes and moved quickly, lips landing on his cheek.

She’d planned on keeping it short and simple but somehow, her lips lingered. A few moments passed without anything happening. It was all very anticlimactic but Mei felt relieved. She could deal with disappointments, as long as her heart stopped racing.

Baekhyun obviously disagreed with her because he chose that exact moment to turn his face and return the favor. His lips brushed over her cheek, distressingly close to and Mei’s heart, which had barely settled, started working double time again.

‘That wasn’t so hard now, was it?’ he murmured, right into her ear and Mei shivered at how intimate it sounded. She was so, so tempted to turn her head and just kiss him, put herself out of this misery.

But Baekhyun was intent on teasing her, it would seem, since he simply backed off. ‘Here you go,’ he said generously, handing her the entire bag of chocolate pops and ruffling her hair affectionately. ‘Just don’t eat all of it.’

Mei stared at his retreating, unfairly attractive back, clutching the bag of cereal to her chest. Only when he’d disappeared did she look down at the silver packet. With the amount of undue stress she was subjected to, she thought she was justified in consuming everything in it.

Sadly, a packet of chocolate pops wasn’t enough to wipe the memories of Baekhyun’s first and then, covered in muscle tee torso from her mind.

She let out a miserable sigh and continued stuffing her face with chocolate pops.

……………………………………

Baekhyun avoided Kyungsoo for an entire fortnight. Partly because he felt unnecessarily proud of being Mei’s soulmate, although through no effort of his own, and the vain parts of him wanted to gloat at his rival. The rest of him couldn’t deal with the pettiness and felt it was better, for all parties involved, if they stayed away from each other.

By the fifteenth day, however, he’d reached the limit of how long he could stay away from Kyungsoo without bugging him and getting his deathly glares or technically-placed-to-enhance-the-pain hits in return.

‘You’re a masochist.’ Chanyeol told him sagely, munching on crisps.

Sadly, Baekhyun was inclined to agree. Not only had he been craving for Kyungsoo to karate chop his neck – in a friendly way, of course – but he’d been constantly torturing himself by teasing Mei. He’d go bother Mei for a while, then return to his room all hot and bothered and have to take cold showers – in this cold, mind you – just so he could return and live through the torture once again.

‘Sadomasochist,’ Chanyeol amended his word. ‘Why’re you making Mei suffer?’

Baekhyun opened his mouth to reply but shut it. Truthfully, there was no reason. He just liked seeing her flustered, her cheeks flushing and the flash of irritation in her eyes just… soothed something inside him.

‘Your ego,’ Chanyeol commented, ‘and its insecurities give rise to the constant need for validation that what you’re feeling isn’t just one-sided.’ He blinked over at Baekhyun. ‘You’re pathetic, Byun.’

Baekhyun glared at his friend. ‘Are you even my friend?’ he demanded. ‘Shouldn’t you be happy that I’ve finally found my soulmate and am willing to get my together?’

Chanyeol shrugged. ‘Where’s the fun in that?’  

Baekhyun was tempted to throw his packet of crisps at Chanyeol but knowing him, he’d just catch them with frustrating accuracy and munch on them while Baekhyun seethed. Chanyeol grinned at him as if he knew what he was thinking and Baekhyun looked away, huffing.

‘I miss Kyungsoo,’ he muttered. ‘At least he’d knock some sense into me.’

‘He would if you stopped running away the moment he came anywhere near you.’

‘I don’t run away,’ Baekhyun defended himself, albeit weakly.

Chanyeol smiled, then waved at someone over Baekhyun’s shoulder. ‘Hey Soo!’

Baekhyun yelped and ducked under the table on instinct. When he peeked back out, Chanyeol smirked at him. ‘You were saying?’

‘I hate you,’ Baekhyun muttered, pulling himself out and sitting on the chair once again. ‘I wish Kyungsoo was here.’

‘Didn’t know you missed me that much,’ Kyungsoo’s voice, mildly amused, replied and Baekhyun nearly got a heart attack at how close he sounded. ‘Do I want to know why you were hiding under the table?’

Baekhyun, terrified, couldn’t find it in himself, to even turn around to look at his friend. ‘Um…’ he stammered.

Chanyeol took pity on him. ‘He dropped his croissant.’

Baekhyun glared at Chanyeol, discomfort forgotten. Was he really turning his misery into a meme? Chanyeol smiled at him reassuringly, giving him a thumbs up. Don’t worry, I got you bro.

Kyungsoo put his tray next to Baekhyun, sliding in beside him. ‘Right,’ he spoke after a while, eyeing Baekhyun’s Chinese platter. ‘Croissant.’

Silence fell over the group as Kyungsoo dug into his healthy homemade food and Chanyeol resumed his crisp munching. Baekhyun tried to resume his eating too but every time Kyungsoo moved, Baekhyun instinctively flinched.

This continued for a couple of minutes until Kyungsoo decided he’d had enough. He placed his chopsticks down and stared at his delicious looking lunchbox for a moment. ‘Baek, if you don’t stop fidgeting, I swear I’ll beat you up,’ he threatened calmly. ‘And I won’t care that Mei will be upset about it.’

Baekhyun, whose heart had inexplicably started singing at the familiar warning tone of Kyungsoo’s voice – he was a masochist, there was no other explanation – forgot his joy at his words, freezing in place.

Chanyeol, eyes wide, quietly gathered a fistful of crisps and slowed his munching, fascinated.

Kyungsoo picked on Baekhyun’s unspoken question. ‘Did you really think I didn’t know who her soulmate was?’ he asked, mercifully sounding amused rather than pissed.

Baekhyun gulped, finally daring to look at his friend. Kyungsoo looked like he sounded, amused, mildly irritated… but the dark bags under his eyes had thankfully faded and he looked almost normal. There was an air of sadness around him, which Baekhyun hoped would fade with time. But all in all, he looked much better than Baekhyun had expected.

‘I, uh…’ Baekhyun had no idea what to say. ‘I hoped you wouldn’t find out?’ he phrased it as a question.

Kyungsoo narrowed his eyes at him, though it was difficult to say if he was doing it because of his poor vision or just for impact. Either ways, Baekhyun was sufficiently intimidated, even if the exasperated look on Kyungsoo’s face was reassuring.

‘Why?’ he asked bluntly.

‘I… it feels wrong,’ Baekhyun told him, staring at his shoulders. Kyungsoo had nice shoulders. Cute and squishy, just like him. ‘You liked her first and…’

‘I’m going to stop you right here, Baek.’ Kyungsoo held up his hand and Baekhyun fell silent. It wasn’t like he particularly wanted to talk about this. ‘First of all, this isn’t elementary school, where I have some dibs on her because I liked her first.’ He made a face. ‘I think I’m more mature than that.’

Baekhyun muttered, ‘But I’m not…’ It was meant to be under his breath but Kyungsoo heard him and let out a bark of laughter. ‘No,’ he agreed. ‘You’re not.’

‘Second of all, its Mei’s choice whether she wants to date me or not and I respect her decision. She didn’t want to continue dating me and that’s that. Now,’ he asked, rounding on Baekhyun. ‘Why do you think it’s wrong?’

Baekhyun opened his mouth but Kyungsoo stalled him. ‘Don’t give me that bros before hoes crap. And I hope you know to never to refer to your soulmate as that.’

Baekhyun closed his mouth because that’s exactly what he’d been about to say. ‘I just…’

He looked at Kyungsoo, how his friend was looking at him earnestly, a slight frown of concern on his face. He deserved honesty, at the very least.

‘I was just so jealous of you,’ he finally let out, feeling like a burden was lifting off his chest. As a rule, Baekhyun didn’t keep any secrets from his friends because he had a big mouth and low self-control. And it had been really hard to keep his distance from Kyungsoo who, for all his grumblings, was the one Baekhyun confided in the most.

‘Because she liked you like… like I wanted her to like me.’ At this point, he’d reconciled himself with the fact that he’d been pining after Mei since before Taeyeon even came into his life. ‘And I felt bad about that, so I tried to… I don’t know, I feel like a jerk for thinking certain things.’ 

‘You’re an idiot, Baekhyun.’ Kyungsoo told him, very seriously. Baekhyun whined. ‘I’m being honest here.’

‘Me too. You are an idiot. A well-intentioned one, but an idiot nonetheless.’ Kyungsoo sighed, half-laughing. ‘Is that why you ran away, looking like you’d murdered puppies or something?’

Baekhyun didn’t know that’s what he looked like. ‘You did,’ Chanyeol confirmed. ‘Like you’d drowned an entire litter.’

‘Oh.’ He had no idea what to say next.

‘Get over it,’ Kyungsoo commanded and Baekhyun, out of habit, snapped straight up, hand coming up in a salute. ‘Sir, yes sir!’

Normally, Kyungsoo would reprimand him or karate chop his neck – Baekhyun tried not to look too disappointed when it didn’t come – but this time, he rolled his eyes and continued. ‘And stop running away; I won’t tolerate this bull crap.’

‘Tell him to kiss Mei already, Soo.’ Chanyeol threw in his two-bits, earning himself a glare. ‘That is none of my business.’

‘It is when he’s using you as an excuse to delay it.’ Chanyeol argued.

‘He’s a coward, that’s not my fault.’

‘He’s trying to be noble,’ Chanyeol accused Baekhyun, sounding disgusted.

‘You keep saying it like it’s a bad thing!’ Baekhyun whirled towards Kyungsoo, pleading his case. ‘I was trying to be sensitive.’

Kyungso narrowed his eyes. ‘Are you sure that’s all there is to it?’

‘He likes teasing her!’ Chanyeol spilled all the beans. Baekhyun had forgotten that Chanyeol had a bigger mouth than he did and that was saying something.

Kyungsoo made a face. ‘TMI, Chanyeol.’

Baekhyun flushed. ‘NOT LIKE THAT!’

He was teased mercilessly the rest of the afternoon.

………………………………….

A/N

Hello, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. And yes, Baekhyun is a closet-masochist, but only for Kyungsoo ;) And Chanyeol loves making Baekhyun's life miserable. For those who'd like to see the original, I've linked the Croissant video below, hope you enjoy it.

Could've dropped my croissant!

Also, have some gym!Baek :D

And this the chapter after this is officially the last one. And by officially, I mean that my sister won't let me be if I don't whip up at least a couple of chapters filled with fluff or at least an epilogue, so I might be pushed into writing something. Anyway, do leave your comments and share your thoughts. If you're interested in any more of my works, check out the links below While I"m LayChenXiu biased, I've unfortunately been unable to write something exclusively about them, mainly because my sister, aka my muse after EXO, pushes me to write stories for herself. And I know that sounds lame but that's me, lame :3 So, most of my stories will have some Baekhyun/Sehun/Luhan subplots (and mostly OT12) even if they are not the primary protagonists. 

Bite Me - Vampire!Baekhyun x Mei once again, ft. dork!Kris and the rest of EXO as clan members :3

Love me, love me (Don't hate me) Introvert!Sehun x Mei in a cute university romance <3

You who came from the stars Wolf/Alien!EXO with Alpha!Luhan x Mei as the main pairing with some intense LuKai rivalrly and a lot (I mean A LOT) of crack - It's longer and not as well written as my later works because it's my first fanfic but it's also very precious to me :3 do give it a try

Yours to choose Finally, my biases! Historical au with Pirate!Jongdae and Prince!Yixing as rivals for Minah's affections, with Ambassador!Minseok and of course, the usual MaeBaekLu subplot :3 

And if any of you is also a Starlight, The obvious and the oblivious with Leo (my Vixx bias) and Minah as the oblivious protagonists and N - with the rest of VIXX - as matchmakers >w<

Also, I'm going to start a new story right after this one ends. It's based on Seventeen's adorable MV Very Nice. I read a very cute ChanSoo fanfic based on it and it had me gripped ~ so, I hope you'll also check it out. I'll post the link with the next chapter. 

Alright then, see you soon ~