Baekhyun and Chanyeol were best friends.

Chanyeol was funny, kind, can be a when he wanted but most of all – he was Baekhyun’s. Before everyone knew him, before he had that ing growth spurt that made him tower all over Baekhyun on seventh grade, before he was the school’s golden boy – he was Baekhyun’s first. Baekhyun liked him before everyone else, before Chanyeol had forgotten about him.

In all honesty, Baekhyun only have two friends despite being such a ball of sunshine. And he’d gone and ed it up by falling in love with one of them too, so not only did he lost a friend, he’d also lost a, what? What do you call someone you’ve never had?

Baekhyun hauls the strap of his bag tighter, his other hand on his suitcase – coming back to boarding school after a long Christmas break. His roommate; Jinki, is moving to a different school this year. He was the best roommate that Baekhyun could have ever asked for, he’s polite and clean and most of all he doesn’t intrude on Baekhyun’s personal space. They also got along well even if they don’t always cross paths in school.

He’s going to be getting a new roommate today, someone supposedly from the varsity. Baekhyun hoped it wasn’t Chanyeol, just how much big of a coincidence would that be, huh?

Baekhyun opens his dorm room and he’d shut it close just as fast as if he’d been burned upon seeing who was sitting on the other bed. He glared at the number on the door trying to mentally will it to change into another number.

“.” He mutters under his breath, feeling an itch under his skin and the dread settling at the pit of his stomach. Baekhyun clutches the strap of his duffel bag even tighter. He doesn’t know what kind of expression he should be making. He cautiously opens the door this time and plasters on a somewhat strained smile, mentally psyching himself to man up.

“I thought it was the wrong room,” Baekhyun says, dropping his bag on his bed.

“We’re going to be roommates! It’s been such a while, huh?” Chanyeol says, grinning. It’s like there hadn’t been a rift between them – he’s acting like nothing’s changed.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun says, you’re a – as an afterthought. He’s noting how the other still got his boxes littered all over the place. “You want me to help you unpack?” He asks. Baekhyun moves to touch one of the boxes when Chanyeol’s sudden “No!” made him pull his hand back, he looks at the other wide-eyed.

“Uh, no – I can do this by myself.” Chanyeol smiles, shrugging, like he hadn’t just scared the crap out of Baekhyun. He’s being weird, Baekhyun notes. His shoulders are tensed and he’s smiling like an idiot, as if it wouldn’t give him away.

“Okay,” He answers, now feeling utterly like a fool. He clenches his hands at nothing. “I’ll just go grab a sandwich, you want anything?” He says, feeling the urgent need to get out of the room right now. It’s almost like the space is closing in on him.

Chanyeol looks at him, and if Baekhyun didn’t know any better, he would have said that it was worry. Chanyeol shakes his head no and offers him a lopsided smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

Baekhyun couldn’t have ran away as fast as he could at the moment – dialing Junmyeon in one hand and biting his nail on the other, a habit he’d been meaning to stop. Junmyeon picks up on the third ring.

“Baekhyun?”

“I’ve got a problem, Chanyeol’s my new roommate.”

“Slow down, what?” Junmyeon’s sleep-addled voice rang and Baekhyun had a split moment of regret, calling him this late. Baekhyun takes a deep breath, he’s walking through the yard – the light from the dorm rooms barely reaching him in the dark.

“Chanyeol’s my new roommate. Jinki was moving to another school and they gave me a new roommate.”

Junmyeon chuckles on the other end. “And the problem is?”

“You’re one of the RA’s, can’t you do something about my situation?” Baekhyun whines. He almost caught himself stomping on the ground.

“No, I can’t. Do you even know what an RA is?”

“I don’t want to spend the school year avoiding my own room.”

“Then don’t?”

“Are you nuts?” Baekhyun almost hisses, catching himself before his voice got higher. Junmyeon liked to think he was this somewhat wise old man, like the voice of common sense and most of the time it works in Baekhyun’s favor except today. “It’s so ing awkward in the room I could choke on it,”

“Hm, I bet that’s not the only thing you want to choke on, hm.” He leers and Baekhyun’s face turns red at the implication.

“Shut up.”

“Baekhyun, it’s late – you’re tired, I’m tired, why don’t we just go over this tomorrow and get some sleep first?”

“You’re useless. And dead, you’re dead to me, Kim.”

“Right, right. I’ll see you tomorrow in class. Don’t do anything stupid.”

Silence.

“I’m waiting for you to hang up because you at me when I’m the one hangi—” Junmyeon says when Baekhyun abruptly ends the call, satisfied at his own actions. He has no idea what to do.

*

That morning, Baekhyun woke up before his alarm sounded, he turns it off and looks over the Chanyeol’s sleeping form. He looked adorable with his hair mussed and even with his mouth open. Baekhyun almost finds himself smiling before shaking his head – it’s not good to fall back into his old habits.

Baekhyun stretches his arms, reaching as far as he can above his head and decided he’d finished as soon as he heard a pop. There’s a small audible pop from where he was stretching his neck.

“I forgot you did that,” Chanyeol’s sleepy voice filled the whole room. His voice is thick from sleep and he’s looking at Baekhyun with a chin resting on his palm.

“How long have you been watching?” Baekhyun narrows his eyes at him. Chanyeol smiles at him in reply.

Baekhyun feels his whole face flush, he quickly moves to get his towel and toothbrush – the communal bathroom is on the other end of the hall and he’d really rather get there before everyone else.

*

“How’d you sleep?” was the first thing that Junmyeon asked, knowing full well how Baekhyun would react. Baekhyun just glares at him from the corner of his eyes, too busy scanning his notebook to prepare for this morning’s discussion.

“Like a baby,” he mutters a few minutes later.

“Uhuh.” Junmyeon hums.

“You’re dead to me, remember?” Baekhyun tells him as he got up, Baekhyun raises an eyebrow at Junmyeon. “Class is starting, where are you going?”

“I’m going to get a yogurt, you want one?”

“…fine.”

Junmyeon throws him a knowing smirk before going. Baekhyun went back to his notebook, remembering the key points from the last discussion through his notes when someone sits by him.

“That was fast,” Baekhyun said, looking up from his notes. To his surprise, Chanyeol’s face came into view.

“Good morning,”

“Good morning.” Baekhyun replies.

“You didn’t wait for me,”

Baekhyun’s brows knit, “I’m not your babysitter. We’re not going to hold hands on our way to class singing kumbaya,”

Chanyeol grins in reply, unfazed, he opens his mouth to say something when Junmyeon appears with Baekhyun’s said yogurt in his hand. Baekhyun made grabby hands at him to which Junmyeon only shakes his head; a small smile on his face.

“I, uh, better get to my seat. I’ll see you later?” Chanyeol says to him, uneasy now that Junmyeon’s here. Even back then before Baekhyun and Chanyeol stopped talking, he and Junmyeon weren’t really friends. There’s always an awkward tension around them that Baekhyun usually ignores. Except this time, it’s more palpable and Baekhyun can feel another pair of eyes staring at the two of them interact, no doubt noticing the awkward atmosphere.

“Sure,” Baekhyun mutters when it becomes evident that the taller was waiting for his reply. Chanyeol nods and goes, giving the seat back to Junmyeon.

“What was that about?” Baekhyun whispers to Junmyeon as soon as Chanyeol’s out of earshot.

Junmyeon shrugs, “Beats me,” He hands him his yogurt, eyeing Chanyeol from the corner of his eyes. He can feel Chanyeol’s glare burning the back of his head. Junmyeon decidedly ignores him and let him steam in his own head. It’s better not to meddle into someone else’s business.

*

Baekhyun heads to the pool after class, the semi-finals is just around the corner and it wouldn’t do him any good if he ends up last. If you ask anyone, Baekhyun’s an average swimmer, he’s not particularly amazing or ahead of everyone. He’s just really persistent.

He likes being submerged under water until everything you hear from above becomes a background noise. It’s quiet. Not to mention very therapeutic and it doesn’t even cost a lot. He changes into his swimming trunks and pulls his goggles down to his eyes.

His favorite thing is taking a dive. Falling into the cold waters and feeling it a second late before you realize you’re engulfed in its embrace. Baekhyun swims farther down before deciding to do a front crawl. He’d been swimming since he was little but it wasn’t until high school that he decided to join competitions.

“Slow down, cowboy.” a voice pops up as soon as Baekhyun gasped for air. He’d