Chanyeol as eight when he got a new mom and big brother. For reasons he couldn't comprehend until he was a teenager his mother had left him and his father when he was a baby.  But he was beyond happy to have a new mom, his only mom in his mind. His step-brother was three years older than him, very nice and very quiet. Neither of them can remember anything being awkward in their family. One day they were brothers and they stayed brothers.

Chanyeol was twelve when he developed a not-so-subtle crush on one of his brothers best friends. Baekhyun had been friends with his brother since before they were brothers. But when Baekhyun was fourteen and Chanyeol was twelve Baekhyun had his first boyfriend.

Minseok had once harshly reminded Chanyeol not to make fun of Baekhyun for liking boys but Chanyeol really didn’t see what was funny about it. He liked Baekhyun and, honestly, felt a little betrayed after proposing to the boy with a daisy when he was nine. Chanyeol didn’t understand why he was so mad about Kris and Baekhyun until he talked to his mom about it.

“Why does Kris have to come here?” Chanyeol whined, throwing himself on the counter to mope. 

“Because Minnie invited him. Do you not like Kris?” His mom answered. She was making dinner for six boys tonight. At least twice a week Minseok’s friends would send the night, whether they had school the next day or not.

“Baekhyun’s gonna be all weird if he's here.”

“Oh, I see,” She turned to smirk at her second son. “Someone’s jealous.”

“What?” Chanyeol’s ever-changing voice went up about six octaves.

“You've always liked Baekhyun. You're probably just a little jealous that he had a boyfriend now, Channie.”

“I’m not jealous!” Chanyeol fumed. In his mind, though, he knew his mom was probably right. She usually was.

“Sure, baby.”

A little while later Chanyeol answered the door for Jongdae and Junmyeon. They both patted him on the head before going downstairs. Minseok had been playing video games in the basement all afternoon. The basement was their ‘kid space’--as their parents called it--and where Minseok and his friends always hung out. Chanyeol wouldn't have dibs on it until he was older.

Their mom had a rule that no matter what they would always have dinner at the table together. There were extra chairs in the hall closet for when they had extra kids. Kris carried Baekhyun’s to the dining room for him. 

Dinner was mostly normal besides the occasional flirty glance and the fact that Chanyeol could tell Kris and Baekhyun were holding hands under the table.

~

Baekhyun and Kris stayed together for two and a half years during which Chanyeol did everything he could to be more like the latter. He joined the basketball club as soon as he could and paid special attention to Baekhyun the same way Kris did. People started to pay attention to him in high school; the only freshman to start on varsity. But when Baekhyun smile at him after games it always seemed a little sad.

They broke up right before Kris left for college with Chanyeol’s brother. Baekhyun came over that night and cried hysterically surrounded by his best friends while Chanyeol listened on the stairs. At one point Minseok, Jongdae and Kyungsoo all went upstairs to talk in hushed voice with their mom. Chanyeol snuck down into the basement.

Baekhyun was sitting in one of the gaming chairs with his knees pulled up to his chest. His eyes were red and swollen when he looked up at Chanyeol. His smile was