Over the weeks between Thanksgiving and Winter Break Baekhyun had sufficiently confused Chanyeol. They went to and from school together everyday and Baekhyun started hanging around basketball practice again. He always sat beside Chanyeol when they all had lunch together. There was occasional skinship, like a hand on his thigh, that left Chanyeol’s head spinning.

And he wasn’t the only one that was confused. When Baekhyun would lean a little too close Kyungsoo would throw Chanyeol a confused look over the table. When Jongin, Sehun and Tao would come to his house to play video games more often than not Baekhyun would already be there. It wasn’t like Chanyeol could explain to their friends because he didn’t understand either.

The Sunday before the last week of school before winter break Chanyeol woke up to a soft knock on his bedroom door. He expected his brother, letting him know that he'd gotten home safe, but when he opened the door Baekhyun was there.

“Minseok let me in.” He whispered. “He’s passed out downstairs.”

“Is he OK?”

Baek nodded. “I didn’t want to wake your parents, so . . .”

“O-ok. Uh, why are you here though?” Chanyeol asked slowly. He hadn't seen Baekhyun since Friday at lunch, his brother had picked him up that day, and it was the middle of the night. “Is everything OK?”

“Yeah. I just wanted to see you.” He grinned. Chanyeol smiled and held the door open wider for him.

The odd change in their friendship left holes that Chanyeol has avoiding for dear life. Baekhyun leant on Chanyeol’s shoulder literally and figuratively. But that didn’t mean there was anything more between them than before. He was just glad Baekhyun was doing better and that he was getting attention from him.

“Are you sleepy? Did I wake you up?”

Chanyeol shook his head. “No, no. It's ok. How are you doing?”

“Fine,” Baekhyun sat criss-cross in his desk chair. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Go ahead.”

“Will you play the guitar for me?”

Chanyeol stuttered. “I-I haven't played in a while.”

“Please? I miss listening to you play guitar.” He rocked back and forth. “I’ll give you something special. Please?”

“O-ok.” Chanyeol kept his guitar in the stand by his bed so he could feel guilty every time he went to basketball instead of practicing. When he picked it up it felt a little foreign in his hand. As he set himself Baekhyun pulled the rolling chair closer to the bed. He looked so excited Chanyeol almost forget how anxious he was. He started strumming to warm up then relaxed into a melody he had been writing lyrics against. After a minute or two he started to hum and Baekhyun giggled.

“I like you, Chanyeol.” He whispered. “I liked you a lot.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol stopped playing, at a complete and utter lose.

“Do you want your reward?” Baek purred. At first Chanyeol wasn’t sure what to say, so he didn’t. He nodded, lost in the thick emotion present in Baekhyun’s half-lidded eyes.

Baekhyun slid off the rolling chair and onto the bed beside Chanyeol. He lifted the guitar out of his arms to place carefully back in the stand. At this point Chanyeol was almost hyperventilating. The smaller crawled into Chanyeol’s lap once it was free,