"Your lip paint is so nice, woah."

"It’s lipstick, silly," Baekhyun laughed, the sound bursting against Chanyeol’s shoulder when he swayed close enough to him.

"I forgot, it’s the fault of this," Chanyeol slurred, raising his glass of wine.

It was full. But that didn’t mean much. It was his fourth. Or fifth. He didn’t remember. Had they drank another bottle before this one? Or another drink?

Baekhyun bumped his glass against his and Chanyeol’s attention was pulled to him again. His neck looked nice when he stretched it to throw both his head and his drink back. His lips looked nice. A very dark red. Wine red. Or something like that. Baekhyun had shown him the lipstick earlier. It looked like a tiny bottle of wine, it smelled like wine, and Chanyeol wondered if it tasted like wine too.

But he didn’t want to test it. What if he found out that Baekhyun’s lips were the best alcohol on earth and then he lost taste for his favorite fruit punch? That would be a disaster, he loved the punch Junmyeon made.

"It’s really pretty though," he repeated, gaze sliding up and down Baekhyun’s traced cupid’s bow. His lower lip looked plumper than usual, there was a shadow right under it. Juicy. His lips looked juicy. Maybe Baekhyun wasn’t wine, maybe he was the healthiest fruit juice.

He sure was the only fruit juice Chanyeol wanted to spill on himself, soak himself with.

Perhaps that was exactly what was about to happen. Baekhyun leaned close, close to him. Chanyeol closed his eyes, felt the stamp of a smooch against his cheek, opened his eyes again. Baekhyun was grinning. His cheeks were pink. Peaches.

"It looks good on you too," he chuckled. Drunken, flushed, so beautiful. Chanyeol wanted to die. Chanyeol wanted to live forever just so he could stare at Baekhyun ceaselessly. 

Baekhyun reached for his sunglasses on the table, almost threw them into Chanyeol’s face when he held them in front of him. Chanyeol turned his head to the side and looked at himself on the reflective lenses. Baekhyun’s lips were on his cheek.

Chanyeol wanted to cry. Baekhyun trusted him with his lips, appreciated him enough to leave his lips to him. But more than the color, it was the shape of Baekhyun’s lips that looked good on him, he thought.

They drank, drank, drank, cuddled, snuggled, huddled, and soon they were hugging in front of Chanyeol’s apartment building. Baekhyun was still wearing Chanyeol’s favorite hoodie, a pout dripping from his wine lips.

"I don’t want to leave," he whined, shaking his head against Chanyeol’s neck.

Chanyeol lost his footing for a moment, pushing Baekhyun back against the taxi. He held the open door with one hand and held Baekhyun’s waist with the other.

He didn’t want Baekhyun to leave either. At this point, he wasn’t sure whether he’d be able to live without Baekhyun. He could die without Baekhyun, could shrivel up, could turn into a wrinkly, dried up, ugly grape. Grape. Wine. He was a grape and Baekhyun was wine. They were truly made for each other.

That was exactly why perhaps Baekhyun should stay the night over.

But he couldn’t. They’d talked about it, before getting drunk. Baekhyun had said he’d have to go home because he had to work early tomorrow morning and would be busy for the rest of the week. He’d told Chanyeol to kick him out of the house if he tried staying. Chanyeol had promised.

And he would keep that promise. Even if it ripped him inside out, Chanyeol would honor his promise, would put Baekhyun’s wishes above his own wellbeing, would obey and serve him until the end of time. Chanyeol was a pretty damn loyal and hot knight.

"But you have to go, even if I want you to stay," Chanyeol mumbled against Baekhyun’s forehead, ruffling his hair.

He pulled away to look down at him. Baekhyun clung and refused, keeping in place, keeping his forehead pressed against Chanyeol’s chin, before yielding and looking up at Chanyeol.

Frowny, sulky, heavenly. That was Baekhyun now. Chanyeol wanted to cry. He wanted to bite the rosiness of Baekhyun’s cheek. Marshmallows. Strawberry clouds.

But he couldn’t. Chanyeol was a good knight. He wouldn’t be brainwashed, wouldn’t be strayed from his duties. Where was his horse even? 

Discarding the very obvious fact that someone had stolen his horse and his sword, he cupped Baekhyun’s cheeks. He let his palms kiss his cheeks. Baekhyun jutted his lips out even more. Chanyeol would start crying very soon if he didn’t stop.

"You have to work and I have to work too," he said, trying to convince himself more than Baekhyun.

He was strong. He could carry Baekhyun back home. Oh. Perhaps Chanyeol didn’t have a horse because he was the horse.

Baekhyun sighed, leaned his forehead against Chanyeol’s chest for a moment before pulling away.

"Fine," he sighed, biting his lip, staring at Chanyeol, blinking. King of blinking. Master of blinking. No one blinked as good as Baekhyun. "Let’s text each other whenever we’re free?"

Chanyeol nodded earnestly, didn’t speak a word. He was scared that pleas for Baekhyun not to leave would accidentally come out if he opened his mouth.

He pressed his lips tight together when Baekhyun kissed his jaw. His heart tried hammering out of his chest when Baekhyun gave him a small smile and got in the taxi, waving at him from behind the window. He waved back at him and tried not to cry.

It was okay. One day, they would reunite again and this time, Chanyeol would marry Baekhyun to make sure they wouldn’t ever be separated again.

Chanyeol went back home, shoulders slumped. He drank more and wished with all his heart that Baekhyun’s family wouldn’t oppose him marrying a horse-knight hybrid.

They didn’t see each other for a week.

Chanyeol was starting to have an easier time with his translations, getting used to the author’s repetitive and choppy style. He didn’t feel like the weight of the novel would crumble him into pieces anymore but he still very much would love to shred the whole book away.

Baekhyun sent him pics of him, sent him pics of glittery swatches, told him he couldn’t wait for Chanyeol to swatch these himself and be blown away, told him he missed him one day, at 3AM. Chanyeol had seen the message in the morning, had spent the rest of his day being happier and more productive than ever. He’d easily sent back that he missed Baekhyun too. He’d earned a heart emoji. That was nothing. That was a lot.

Chanyeol stalked Baekhyun’s instagram whenever he got too sad about not being able to see him. He should perhaps ask him to come over one day, after work. He should. But they were friends. Nothing more. Chanyeol thought he should do something about that, something that would make it totally acceptable for him to ask Baekhyun to sleep over out of nowhere. He didn’t, not yet. Baekhyun was always the first person to like his instagram posts, only seconds after he put them up.

Chanyeol had initially gotten Toben because he wanted someone to cuddle with at all time. He didn’t say it out loud because he didn’t want to offend his best bud but even Toben was a lame cuddle partner compared to Baekhyun.

It was only two days later that Baekhyun messaged him to ask him if he wanted to come over.

Standing in front of his door, shivering a little in his new favorite hoodie, Chanyeol shifted his weight from one leg to the other with a little bounce. It wasn’t to warm himself up but to calm himself down. He wondered if Baekhyun missed him too. He wondered if Baekhyun would like his new hoodie, the soft brown fabric of it. He wondered if it would be acceptable of him to jump into Baekhyun’s arms and cling to him forever.

It wouldn’t be, that was why Chanyeol tried calming down, taking deep breaths in before ringing the bell.

The door opened  a short moment later and it very much felt like an angel had just opened the gates to heaven.

"Is that a new hoodie?" were Baekhyun’s first words to him, smiley, happy, glowy on his cheeks and the tip of his nose.

"Is your hair the color of cotton candy?" were Chanyeol’s first words to him, muted by how overjoyed his heart felt, breathless from how palpable the purity of Baekhyun’s beauty felt in the air.

It suited him so much. The pink of the bangs falling over his forehead brightened the dark of his eyes, heightened the points of brightness on his skin, laid dewiness over the tone of his skin. 

Baekhyun grinned at him, nose squished between the rotundity of his cheeks, so ing adorable Chanyeol would have combusted on the spot if Baekhyun hadn’t just leaned down and wrapped his arms around his waist. Chanyeol’s hands flew to his shoulders as he rubbed his cheek against his chest.

"I like this hoodie," he sighed, voice a fulfillment, both in its tone and in the way it made Chanyeol melt against him, until he buried his nose in the petal-like silkiness of his hair.

"I like this hair color on you," Chanyeol mumbled, holding onto his shoulders, tucking his words amidst strands of hair, hoping he could root the way he felt into that pretty little head.

They pulled away from each other and went inside, Baekhyun’s hand still rubbing the fabric of his hoodie, on his arm. This had been a good investment. Chanyeol didn’t buy clothes that often but maybe he should surprise Baekhyun with all kinds of equally as dark colored hoodies starting from now on.

They caught up with each other while making tea. They decided to be healthy today, to keep alcohol away. Even if Chanyeol knew bourbon and tea could be a pretty decent mix. Chanyeol watched Baekhyun almost spill the boiling water on the floor as he laughed at one of Toben’s latest antics, the one involving him ripping a teddy bear Chanyeol had bought for him just two days ago. Baekhyun shared just as funny stories about his own dog and by the time the tea was ready, the shoulder of Chanyeol’s hoodie had a little bit of glitter on it from Baekhyun pressing his highlighted cheek against it. He liked it. It made this hoodie even better.

"You got new makeup?" Chanyeol asked as he put their cups on the table, not too far from the Sephora shopping bag.

"Yep," Baekhyun said, plopping down on the couch. Chanyeol sat down next to him, close enough for their shoulders to press together. "I got it yesterday but didn’t have the occasion to try it out next."

"Can I see?" 

"Sure," Baekhyun grinned, that same grin he always had whenever Chanyeol and his makeup collection came together, through questions or directly through Chanyeol shoving his fingers in glittery powders and creams.

He looked inside the bag and pulled the first package out, studying it. 

"My sister has the same foundation," he noted, staring at the familiar peach motive on the packaging. "She says it has a pretty great coverage and smells nice."

"Oh, so you do know a little about makeup," Baekhyun said, pushing his shoulder against his in a teasing bump.

Chanyeol huffed a quiet laugh, putting the bag down to reach for his cup of tea. "Well, when my sister used to steal our mom’s makeup, I was always in to paint her face with it," he boasted, tilting his chin up and playfully staring down at Baekhyun. Even back then, Chanyeol loved rubbing his fingers in the glitter.

"You already did her makeup before?" Baekhyun asked, pulling away from him, eyes rounding up and eyebrows raising. His fingers looked really nice around the handle of his cup.

"Well, I was like eight. The result wasn’t really worthy of being called makeup," he snorted after gulping down the hot beverage, recalling how he used to overdraw her lips, putting red lipstick all the way down to her chin and blue eyeshadow all the way up to her eyebrows.

"For some reason, I feel like you’d at it even today," Baekhyun said, eyes teasingly narrowing at him over the rim of his cup as he sipped at his tea.

"That’s not very nice of you to say," Chanyeol grumbled, elbowing him ever so slightly. He couldn’t really deny it much, Baekhyun was probably right. But that didn’t mean he would ignore the challenge in Baekhyun’s face. Minimal makeup today, his eyelids looked a soft orange, sparkling faintly. Chanyeol looked down into his tea. "I’m pretty sure I’m not that bad."

"How about you do my makeup then?"

Baekhyun’s humming words were melodious enough to snap his gaze back to him.

"What?" was all he could say. "Why?"

"Why not?" Baekhyun shrugged, a visual bounce of his broad shoulders. His shoulders looked so broad in that knit sweater.

"You’re literally a makeup artist," Chanyeol said, shaking his head because he wouldn’t even dare to ruin Baekhyun’s pretty face with his clumsy hands. He couldn’t possibly compare to what Baekhyun usually did with his makeup.

"Yeah but no one did my makeup in years," Baekhyun frowned, putting his cup down and looking at Chanyeol with the furrow of his eyebrows, the jut of his lower lip. "It’s a very relaxing sensation. Don’t you wanna try?"

"I’d be so bad at it though," Chanyeol mumbled, trying his hardest not to succumb at Baekhyun’s face. It was too powerful.

"If you do it well I’ll pay for dinner tonight, if you do it badly, you pay for dinner tonight."

That was all Chanyeol needed to hear. Damn Baekhyun and his knowledge that Chanyeol would never back down in front of a challenge or a bet.

Five minutes later, when Baekhyun settled down on his seat in the beauty room after lining up a very hefty row of products on the vanity, Chanyeol wasn’t sure he was proud of himself for loving challenges anymore.

"That’s a lot of products," he couldn’t help but remark, staring at everything in wonder.

"That’s exactly what this face here needs," Baekhyun said, tapping his own cheek. The sound his fingers made against his skin was cute. Chanyeol wondered if he’d already been exposed to too much makeup, had already breathed in too much glitter - he never thought he’d find even that lovely.

Hands on his waist, Chanyeol hummed, looking at the products before looking at Baekhyun again. He looked too entertained and happy about this. Chanyeol had no regrets.

"Should I bring the chair to sit on it?" he asked, pouting to the seat on his left with his chin. 

It hadn’t been there the last time he w