And I said,
Stay, stay, stay
I've been lovin' you for quite some time, time, time
You think that it's funny when I'm mad, mad, mad
But I think that it's best if we both stay

"And then I want a pony and a barbie doll and a barbie dreamhouse mansion and then - and then!" 

Chanyeol groans quietly, attempting to zone out the high pitched whining of the little girl on his lap as she recites her extremely long and expensive Christmas list to him. Her parents - who stand by the inflatable glowing reindeer - share pained smiles. 

From outside the magical plastic igloo of Santa's Grotto - located slap bang in the center of one of Seoul's bustling malls - the sounds that define the excitement of Christmas filters in: the rattling of excited children, the frantic feet of last minute Christmas-shoppers and the blessed announcement of, "attention, ladies and gentlemen, the mall will now be closing in 10 minutes."

'Oh thank God,' Chanyeol thinks to himself. He can't wait to call it a day. He's been here since 7am, listening to the ramblings of spoiled kids as they ask him for everything under the sun, pulling on his fake beard, questioning why his ears look more like an elf's than the actual elves and - once, very unfortunately - even pissing on his leg because oh my god - it's Santa! It's not that he hates kids or anything. He loves them, in fact, and loves Christmas even more - but this job...not so much.

'Pull yourself together, Chanyeol. You only have 1 more day left of this torture.' 

1 more day left until Christmas Day. 1 more day left until he gets his pay check. 1 more day left until he asks the love of his life to marry him. 

You see, that's the real reason he'd taken on such a god awful job so close to Christmas Day: because he wants to ask his boyfriend of 4 years, Byun Baekhyun, to spend the rest of his life with him and the staggered paycheck of a music major fresh out of college wasn't going to cut it. His gem of a lover deserves only the best. And the best Chanyeol was going to give him. 

"And then I want the newest nintendo-"

Sweet baby Jesus, it never ends!

"Alright, little girl, time's up! Santa's got a lot of other good boys and girls to see. Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas and all that jazz," Chanyeol hurriedly says in his best old man voice before lifting the chattering girl off his lap and plopping her onto the floor. A pair of watering eyes look up at him as he begins to stretch out his now numb leg.

"Wait, I wasn't finished!" 

A shining silver lining in the form of Oh Sehun - decked out in a Santa's little helper costume - eventually appears, leaving his position at entrance of the igloo to usher the yelling girl away with a roll of his eyes.

( Chanyeol had roped him into working at Santa's Grotto with him because best friends should suffer together. Huzzah! )

"Greedy kids get put on the naughty list, you know," the tall, silver haired elf quips before shoving the little girl back into the waiting arms of her parents. She shuts up instantly after that.

Chanyeol deflates and sighs in defeat from his wooden chair, shifting his body whilst trying to get some circulation back into his numb backside. Baekhyun is always complaining about the lack of volume his boasts and sitting on such hard surfaces for hours on end will definitely not be doing him any favours. 

"Don't worry, Santa, these next guys are our last customers for the day," he hears Sehun - who is always dedicated to staying in character - announce as he makes his way back to the velvet rope by the entrance, feet heavy and taxed by a long day of work. They grind to a sudden halt when he recognises the familiar face standing at the front of the line, looking impatient and utterly unimpressed. 

"B - Baekhyun?" the elf chokes out. His voice carries through the igloo and Chanyeol's blood freezes to ice when he hears it. 

It can't be...

"Oh Sehun?" 

Said man and a sweating Santa Claus swap looks of extreme panic.

Yep, it's Baekhyun alright, Chanyeol thinks to himself at the sound of the very familiar voice coming from just outside the Grotto. He would recognise those smooth, dulcet tones anywhere, so familiar to him that it might as well be fused with his own eardrums. It's his most favourite sound, his most cherished song forever on repeat: he hears it in the early mornings in the form of sleepily slurred mumbling, he hears it wrapped around tinkling arpeggios of laughter played to the accompaniment of muted video game noises, and he hears it whispering words of love and devotion within dimly lit rooms, trapped beneath tousled sheets. Albeit, it has become a scarce sound recently. Chanyeol's been so busy juggling work and Santa-ing and actual job searching that he hasn't been able to see or talk to his boyfriend as much and - oh God - he's only just realised it now but he misses Baekhyun so much. 

"Honestly, where is that bastard friend of yours? I swear he's been avoiding me for the past few weeks and I'm sick of it! When I get my hands on his flat I'm gonna-" It seems like Baekhyun, however, doesn't miss him quite as much. 

Chanyeol gulps audibly. Breaks out into cold sweat and screams internally. He hadn't purposely tried to avoid Baekhyun - he could never! It's just that - there was so much going on in his life at the moment, so much to deal with, that he had just become swamped and devoured by it all, leading to him missing a few of his messages and calls. And a few scheduled dates. And one family dinner. And Mongryong's birthday...

"I swear to God, when I see his sardine face I'm going to shove him back up the hole his mother released him from!"

Wincing at the thick poison of anger lacing itself into his boyfriend's voice, Chanyeol decides that. Ok. Ok. He needs to get out of here. Whilst there is no doubt in this planet that the he loves this man with all his being - from the very depths of his metaphysical soul and with every buzzing nerve end in his body - Baekhyun can not see him right now. He's not ready. This is not how he imagined seeing his love for the first time in 2 weeks: unglamorous and unprepared to take on his fiery wrath.

"Uncle, let's go! I want to see Santa!" pipes up what can only be the voice of Do Kyungsoo, Baekhyun's one and only nephew, accompanied by the stomping of impatient baby feet as the little squirt cuts what time Chanyeol had to escape in half. 

It's all a flurry of waving hands and the words 'get rid of them!!!!' being mouthed at rapid fire to poor Sehun, who grows more and more flustered by the second, as Chanyeol jumps up onto his feet and reaches for the cardboard sign that reads 'gone to feed the reindeer' as if it were his saving grace.

And Sehun tries his best. He really does. He's halfway through gently explaining to  - an angry - Baekhyun and - a glaring - Kyungsoo that there was a slight problem in the back and that there was no way Santa could see them right now, or any time later today - or ever, really - when Kyungsoo decides that he's had enough and kicks his little feet into the tall male's shin, sending him toppling over onto the floor with a cry of pain. 

"GET OUT MY WAY, NOODLE HEAD, I'M GOING TO SEE SANTA!" the little monster cries out as he tramples all over the fallen part time worker and bounds into the igloo like a storm unleashed. Chanyeol can hear him before he sees him, the pitter pattering of his tiny soles and his screeching war cry that sends the walls of the plastic Grotto shaking. Panic pumps through Chanyeol's veins. He really can't face Baekhyun right now. He doesn't want his boyfriend to see him in such a low state, he doesn't want him to ask questions and he really doesn't want to have to lie to him.

"Sorry, kid, Santa's - Santa's got a bad case of the reindeer flu and needs to go home!" Chanyeol exclaims, spitting out the first excuse he can think of as he tries to stop Kyungsoo from scrambling into his lap like a starved orphan. Adult footsteps - belonging to Baekhyun who had to stay behind to make sure Sehun didn't report his nephew for any sort of work place harassment - draw nearer and Chanyeol pleads the little boy to stop trying to climb up his legs because his pants are going to fall down and it isn't going to be a pretty sight for any of them. 

Baekhyun appears just in time to see Kyungsoo burst into tears.

"Kyungsoo! What happened?" the beautiful honey blonde asks his nephew, expression a cocktail of confusion and irritation. But before Chanyeol can lament too long on how he'd missed that scrunched eyebrowed I'm-pissed-at-everything look on his boyfriend's face, Baekhyun's shifting his dark gaze onto him, burning holes straight through his felt costume and setting his skin on fire underneath, short circuiting his brain as he demands to know, "what's going on here?" 

The protective uncle is obviously in no mood for horse play. Not with the day he's had. On top of the fact that his bloody boyfriend's gone MIA so close to Christmas - only letting him know that he's still alive and breathing with a few scattered texts here and there - Baekhyun had also found himself roped into taking his nephew to the mall to visit some idiot dressed up as Santa Claus and was made to wait in a line that stretched from one end of the mall to the next for hours only to be told in the end that the git wasn't going to see them. Could this day get any worse? 

"Uh, sorry. I gotta - I gotta go -" 

"What-" 

And then the fat prick starts running because apparently, yes, this day could get worse. A lot worse. 

Sehun, an unfortunate witness to all this mess, promptly bursts into a fit of laughter as Baekhyun and Kyungsoo run after the rogue Santa, the elder's bark of "Hey! Wait! We've been waiting a long time to see you, you can't just take off like this!" causing the elf's body to convulse in such a way that his plastic ears fall off. The younger boy is also hot on Chanyeol's tail, faster than his uncle and less forgiving as he hurls unrepeatable words of abuse at Chanyeol's retreating form.

"I want a stupid truck, fatty!" 

Chanyeol can't explain how it had happened - though it's not much of a surprise that it did - but one second he’s sprinting out of an obnoxiously illuminated igloo with two angry customers hot on his heels and the next, he's being tackled to the ground by small, seething body. He crashes to the ground in a mangled heap of festive red and white with little to no dignity as Kyungsoo grips him by the ears and pinches. God, he really is related to Baekhyun isn't he? At least all the extra padding he used to give him that desired 'Santa Claus body' cushions his fall.

Tightly clenched baby fists rain down on his chest in a way that hurts his pride more than anything else when another figure joins them in in the middle of the now empty mall, face flushed scarlet with anger. Chanyeol wishes the ground would just swallow him up. Please. 

"Now listen here, you!" his boyfriend rasps out, slightly breathless from the chase. "I'm having a horrible day so far! I hate Christmas shopping, I hate waiting in lines for hours on end and listening to the same damn Christmas songs being played over and over and over again and - and my stupid boyfriend's dead to me," - oh ok, ouch? - "so I'd really appreciate it if you'd just do your job and let my damn nephew tell you what he wants for Christmas!" 

Chanyeol can do nothing but sulk at this point, mortified beyond words, looking up at his lover with shame filled eyes as Kyungsoo wriggles and roars on top of him like a predator having captured its prey. 

"I'm sorry," he says in his stupid Santa voice. Baekhyun hasn't seem to have identified him yet, and if that's the case then maybe, just maybe he can get away with this. He can listen to what Kyungsoo wants for Christmas, make him and Baekhyun happy and then go home and see his lover the next day like nothing ever happened and - oh. Kyungsoo's ripping off his fake beard. Oh. Ok. Ok. Scrap that then. 

"Chanyeol?!" If Baekhyun was angry before, he's livid now. There's no preparing the fallen giant for the unraveling storm that takes the form of his petite lover. All he can do is offer up a sheepish smile. 

"Surprise?" 

"What the !" Baekhyun all but erupts, nostrils flaring and eyes widening with crimson rage. His mouth moves at lightning speed, endless questions spilling from his mouth like rumbling thunder. "What are you doing here? Where have you been? Why haven't you been answering my calls or my texts or even my bloody emails?!"

Chanyeol scrambles up onto his feet in a panic, though he supposes he really should stay on the ground and grovel at his lover's feet instead. With every passing second, Baekhyun is looking less and less irate and more and more upset, mountains of vexed words smoothing down into a quieter, muted jumble of anxious rambling. It hurts Chanyeol but he supposes his pain pales in comparison to the other male's. He's really ed up this time, hasn't he? 

"Listen, baby, I'm so sorry I've been unreachable recently but it's not what you think I - ouch!" 

It's at this point that Kyungsoo decides, again, to aim a kick at Chanyeol's shins. Hard and fast. He doubles over with a cry of pain, suddenly at eye level with his tiny assailant. The expression of shock racking his features quickly morphs into one of devastation at the dark glare Kyungsoo launches his way. "You're the worst! You made Uncle Baek cry so many times this week and you're being mean to me! You better get me that stupid truck!" he yaps out before turning on his heel and waddling back to the entrance of Santa's Grotto, probably to play with Sehun or something. 

Officially feeling like the worst boyfriend to ever exist in the history of the world, Chanyeol straightens up again, guilt colouring his blood. When he faces the blonde male with the intention of apologising until his lungs turn blue, it's Baekhyun's shoes that are next digging into his shin. "Ouch, Baek!" And then he's being whipped into a headlock by a strong arm. Not enough to choke him, just enough for him to feel his boyfriend's shaking breath hit the back of his neck, hot and harsh.  

( It's not the right moment for it, but he thinks it's y how Baekhyun's a black belt in hapkido. )

"Are you cheating on me?" is the first bullet fired into his chest. The rest are fired in rapid succession, attacking Chanyeol from all angles until he feels like he's being cornered off a cliff. "Are you planning on leaving me? Are you dying? Is it me? Do you not love me anymore? Please - Please just tell me what's going on, Chanyeol, I can't take it anymore!" 

The pain in Baekhyun's voice breaks his gentle lover, the uncertainty and insecurity carried within every syllable making his chest wrack with pain that poisons his nerves all the way up to his very fingertips - surely the same phenomenon Baekhyun has had to deal with the past few days. Weeks, even.

"Oh my god - Baek! No, no, no, no-" Chanyeol gurgles as he attempts to release himself from Baekhyun's hold, flailing around and whining until the blonde finally takes pity on him and lets go, taking a step back from his released captive. It's ony now that Chanyeol registers the dishevelled state his boyfriend's in: blood shot eyes tired from sleepless nights and endless tears, frowning lips bitten and bruised from worry and pale skin that stretches taut across his features like something unfamiliar. God, was this all Chanyeol's doing? "No way would I ever do any of those things to you - I adore you, you know that!" he exclaims, almost offended, as if it were Baekhyun's fault for feeling neglected and insecure when he was the one that hadn't been communicating with him properly. He bites his tongue as soon as he registers the hurt seeping into his own voice. Of course, it's not Baekhyun's fault. It's all Chanyeol's and only Chanyeol's. All he had wanted was to surprise Baekhyun with something amazing, to show him how much he loves and cares about him with a wild and grand romantic gesture but it seems he can't even do that right.

"Do I?" is Baekhyun's reply, dragged out of a dry throat and paired with eyes that flash with challenge. Chanyeol has no idea how to respond. "Because if you really loved me, Chanyeol, you wouldn't completely blank me for days on end and leave me wondering if it was something I did or said, leaving me unsure and worried and feeling like !" 

The truth is, Baekhyun wants to be unsure, he wants to not be so easily comforted by Chanyeol's reassuring words, he wants to think there can only be some deep, dark horrible reason for Chanyeol being so uncharacteristically distant - because he's only ever been so warm and loving and close and always just right there that Baekhyun is always left feeling hollow and empty whenever he's not around. But Chanyeol's eyes are so sincere, b with liquid pain at the prospect of Baekhyun ever doubting him and his love.

No, Baekhyun rationalises. His hands ball into fists by his side and he forces himself to calm down with deep drags of stuffy air. If there's one thing he knows for sure, it's that Chanyeol loves him beyond measure, he could never treat him like this intentionally. 

So then why is he acting like this?

Tired, Chanyeol pulls off his ridiculous Santa hat, runs calloused fingers through messy dark hair before taking a step closer to his boyfriend. His hands hesitate before finally resting on the shorter's shoulders. He doesn't move any closer out of fear that Baekhyun will reject his advances, but contrary to his fears, Baekhyun doesn't move away. Only looks up at him with a love that lights up his expression so sadly. 

"Look - let me take you home, Baek. We can talk there." 

You took the time to memorize me
My fears, my hopes, and dreams
I just like hangin' out with you, all the time

Allow me to give you a quick run through of Baekhyun-and-Chanyeol.

Their story is nothing like what you would expect to see on the big screen. It was never something that blew them out of the waters, an instant attraction that sang through their souls upon first sight or a star crossed romance that set their hearts ablaze with longing. That was never them. They were just two boys who found companionship with each other, both having moved to Seoul from small towns located on opposite sides of the country, ready to leave behind their mundane lives in search of something bigger than the both of them. Chanyeol had a disarming smile of too many teeth and a guitar slung across his back while Baekhyun brought nothing more than his voice and a hopeful heart.

It had been music that brought them together, that had allowed for them to open their hearts and create melodies of their own: their one and only true love besides each other. It had been music that had triggered what started off as small smiles and awkward introductions on that first day of lectures as Chanyeol slid into the vacant seat besides a beautiful blonde to blossom into boisterous, ear ringing laughter, to interwoven fingers and the warm pressing of thighs beneath desks - never staying for too long. Fleeting touches under the guise of warm friendship, brushings of shoulders and lingering gazes that secretly questioned whether there could be something more there that they hadn't seen yet.

It had been at the mall of all places that things finally fell into place, vexatious cluster of feelings finally being released from within the confines of hearts hidden beneath pizza stained t-shirts, a spark of something more presenting itself under twinkling Christmas lights and a fountain gushing with colour. Perhaps everything had built up to that one moment: all the nights spent playing Mario Kart instead of preparing for assessments, all the carefree assertions that they were "just friends" in fear of any other label potentially ruining everything they'd built together, all the times they'd both ignored the ache beneath their fingertips that begged to just reach out and see if there was something else - anything at all. Perhaps it was the magic of Christmas in the air, the way the fake snow paled in comparison to the translucency of Baekhyun's skin or the light that emitted from Chanyeol's smile. Or perhaps it was the safety they felt when in each other's company, the nagging voices in the back of their heads telling them that if they allowed themselves to just be a little bit braver then, perhaps, they could both shine just a little bit brighter. They don't know. They don't know what triggered it, only know that in that moment, in front of a fountain lit with light, with the smell of honeysuckle and gingerbread lingering in the air - with Baekhyun babbling on about the superhero movie they'd just finished seeing while something possessed Chanyeol to reach over and slot their lips together to silence him - their fate had been sealed. From that moment on, they both knew it was the start of something beautiful, that they wanted to build much more than just a friendship together: a relationship, a future, a home. Because the term 'best friends' can only stretch so far; for some it's enough but for others, for those with wanton souls that long for comfort and familiarity and warmth like Baekhyun and Chanyeol's, it could never have been enough to satisfy them. 

( And while it was music that had brought them together in ways they never could have even imagined, it had also led them down very different paths: Chanyeol went into composition and production while Baekhyun went into music education. Baekhyun got a stable job somewhere in the outskirts of Seoul the very first day after graduation but Chanyeol only picks up projects from here and there and drops in to check on his boyfriend on weekends when they're both free. Sure, it's not an ideal arrangement, but they're both doing what they love, they're with each other and that's all that matters. )

All those times that you didn't leave
It's been occurring to me I'd like to hang out with you, for my whole life

Baeekhyun fiddles with his fingers, pink from the cold, and shifts uncomfortably on the fabric of his own couch. Chanyeol sits not too far off from him, lips pressed into a thin line, unsure of how to break the heavy silence lingering in the air. Kyungsoo is probably tucked away in his bed by now after being dropped off by a jean clad Chanyeol and both men envy him for that. 

Eventually the suffocating silence gets too uncomfortable for Baekhyun. This isn't them. They aren't awkward, they aren't the kind of people who just sit in silence when they're together, hands folded into laps and lips separated by too much damning distance.

He clears his throat. 

"I read once in a magazine that you should never leave a fight unresolved," he says, quietly at first before hardening his resolve and forcing his voice a little louder. "So, perhaps we should, uh, talk about it?" His boyfriend lets the corner of his lips rise at this. Baekhyun always says the same line after every single one of their fights - and like with all the best relationships, there were many - ever since he'd first read that damn article a year ago. Chanyeol's thankful for it because when your relationship started off as a casual friendship that encouraged you to develop the habit of repressing feelings and leaving words unsaid, communication really does either make or break a relationship. 

"Wait," the taller says suddenly, words a touch too loud for the room, light bulb going off in his head as he jumps up onto his feet. "Give me a second." He scuttles off into Baekhyun's room and the smaller male is left on the couch, growing increasingly confused as he hears his boyfriend rustling through his wardrobe. Is he going to lock himself up in there? Hide? Climb out through the window? Did he say something wrong? Is he - 

"Ok, let's talk now," Chanyeol says, strutting back into the room with shoulders squared and biceps flexed, wearing Baekhyun's faded blue football helmet from high school. Baekhyun takes a moment to take in the ridiculous sight before bursting into a fit of laughter. The dark haired male smiles down at him sheepishly, feeling very pleased with himself for having alleviated such a tense atmosphere. 

"You ing dork," the blonde says between giggles as he makes his way over to his lover with pure unadulterated fondness blooming in his pupils. A playful slap to the helmet pulls a startled sound from Chanyeol before the helmet is being discarded and feather light fingers are smoothing down his mussed dark locks, encouraging all the tension locked between his muscles to leave his body. Baekhyun is regarding him with heavy eyes, hands filtering down to find purchase on the back of the taller's neck before pulling him down into a long, slow kiss. Chanyeol is quick to respond, the curve of his smile against Baekhyun's lips straightening out to latch onto his lower lip, pouring out all his adoration into actions. This should've been the first thing they did when they saw each other at the mall. Not fighting. Not imposing their insecurities upon each other and playing the blame game. 

"I love you," is whispered between the mingling of staggered breathing and flesh on flesh. Fire on fire. It's not clear who says it but it doesn't really matter when the response of, "I love you too - so much," is setting their skin alight.

This is it. This is exactly what keeps them coming back every time. Baekhyun is a handful and Chanyeol is infuriating but they wouldn't have each other any other way. They're just so good together. They fit in all the right ways, overlap in all the right places and make up for what the other lacks in others. They're a mixture of fire and oil, blazing and burning and bringing out all the best, most brilliant sides of each other. 

Baekhyun is Chanyeol's everything: his sunshine, his moonlight, his rollercoaster of a little man. His better half. He grounds him, lifts him up to the clouds, breathes music into his lungs and paints every living moment into something beautiful; every colour's a shade brighter with him by his side. Hell - there are even times when Baekhyun transforms into his onslaught of pouring rain, drenching him down to his brittle bones, livid eyes carving his soul out from his body and challenging him to retaliate in such a way that the hazards bearing their souls bring down mountains in their collisions. But he loves him beyond reasoning and nothing besides that really matters. There's no way he could ever let him go. No way he could ever find anyone half as good for him as Baekhyun. 

He's going to marry him no matter what. 

"Stay a little while?" his light pleads against his lips, nipping and in a way that has the taller man groaning, coming undone beneath the firm press of exploring fingertips. Then, Baekhyun's fluttering his eyelids open and staring up at his lover with flickering blue embers of what can only be love, love, love. "There's something I want to give to you - something I want to ask you." He looks like a man on a mission, determination illuminating his pupils.

Chanyeol wants to. He really wants to. But he has another shift at the mall from 7am until closing time and it's already midnight. With a deep sigh, he takes Baekhyun's lips captive again - an act of apology - and moves to nuzzle the tip of his nose into soft honey locks, breathing in the scent of vanilla and the promise of forever. Only 1 more day left. 

"I can't. I have - my Santa thing." 

Ah, yes, Baekhyun remembers. The thing that's been keeping him so busy lately. Chanyeol closes his eyes and basks in the heat that radiates off the petite body pressed up against him, if only to block out the way Baekhyun frowns up at him.

"Are you still not going to tell me what that's about?" No response. Just the gentle swaying of two bodies that wished they were one. "Chanyeol, you know if you need money you could always ask me - or even your parents. I-" 

"No, no, it's nothing like that, Baekhyun. You don't have anything to worry about," he assures him. His boyfriend doesn't take too well to his dismissive attitude judging by the way Baekhyun huffs out of frustration and shoves Chanyeol down onto the couch. The displeased grunt gets stuck somewhere in the back of Chanyeol's throat when he looks up and is greeted by a lapful of Baekhyun, strong thighs either side of his hips. He gulps at the way honey blonde locks invade his vision as Baekhyun leans in, leaving little space between their faces. He stares him hard in the eye.

"Santa. All I want for Christmas is to know what’s wrong with my boyfriend," he starts. "I love him so much, I can’t imagine life without him. I just want to know what’s going on.” Chanyeol's eyes are glued to the pout forming on Baekhyun's plump lips despite all the guilt. 

"Maybe, if you just believe in him a little while longer it'll be alright." Baekhyun's glare weakens at the sound of Chanyeol's gruff, Santa voice. But then Chanyeol's switching out of Santa mode and begging the love of his life to, "please just wait until Christmas day, it'll all make sense - hopefully. It'll all be worth it. Meet me by the fountain after my shift, where I kissed you for the first time." 

And what can Baekhyun do? He’s too in love with him to refuse. 

I love you because you have given me no choice but to
Stay

It's Christmas Day and it's almost closing time at the mall. 

Chanyeol's nervous. Anxious. But buzzing with something akin to excitement. He'd gotten off work early today, closed up the grotto about an hour ago when the line - surprisingly - came to an end, ran to his boss to pick up his paycheck before exchanging the wad of cash for a ring. One that he'd had his eyes on for the longest time because he knew it would look beautiful against the pale skin of Baekhyun's lithe fingers. It's the perfect ring for his perfect boyfriend - soon to be fiancé. Hopefully. If he doesn't hate him too much after everything that's happened. 

He waits idly by the mall fountain, shuffling his feet and trying to calm his stuttering heart, watching as people scuttle in and out of the building, the only thing keeping him grounded being the weight of a velvet box in his pocket. The mall is decorated exactly that same as it was 4 years ago, he notes now, neck craning upwards to take in the identical twinkling lights from his memories, the same fragrant flavour of Christmas decorating the air.

Chanyeol notices a small figure shuffle past the entrance of the mall and his heart leaps into his throat. After a quick scan of the emptying building, Baekhyun's eyes land on him and he makes an immediate beeline towards the fountain, footsteps sure and determined. 

"Hey," says the angel that comes to stand in front of Chanyeol, voice muffled by the bright red scarf that drowns the lower half of his face. Chanyeol smiles dumbly, full of idiotic fondness as his eyes trace the pink tips of his boyfriend's ears and nose. He'd gifted him that scarf last year. 

"Hey," is his lame reply. 

Baekhyun's hands are stuffed into his pockets, fingertips numb with the cold, and he's glancing up at Chanyeol with what seems to be anticipation. He's waiting for Chanyeol to break the silence first, waiting to hear the reason why he'd been so harshly neglected for so long until now, waiting for a reason to stay.

Chanyeol's blood thunders in his ears. Seconds stretch between them. His gaze flickers to his feet and his hands begin to shake. 

"I - uh -" he tries to start, instantly gaining Baekhyun's attention that had shifted momentarily to fiddling with something in his pocket. "I just - I wanted to say - uh - sorry I think I need a minute." 

And like the coward he is, Park Chanyeol turns away from the love of his life and buries his head in the sand. He faces the fountain and focuses on the ripples of water that set unrest spreading across the surface. Forces himself to gather his composure. This is it. This is the moment he's been waiting for - actually the moment he's been waiting for involves Baekhyun standing opposite him in front of an alter and declaring to be with him until death do them part, but still, this is an important moment too. 

The jagged reflection of Baekhyun's figure behind him shifts in the water coloured with lights. 

Ok. Ok. He's going to do it now. It's just Baekhyun. His greatest love. His best friend. What's he so nervous for? 

Chanyeol clears his throat and squares his shoulders. 

He's going to do it. 

"Baek-"

But when Chanyeol finally manages to turn around, Baekhyun is already waiting for him on one knee. 

There is a moment of complete stillness as Chanyeol's eyes widen to the size of saucers to take in Baekhyun's flaming gaze, the violent blush spreading across his cheeks and the silver ring that glints up at him from within the confines of a velvet box. 

"Baekhyun-"

"Listen, I know this is sudden and we haven't seen each other for ages and actually I really don't think you deserve this after all the you've pulled but this ring has just been sitting round my apartment for a few months now, waiting for the right moment to be whipped out and - what better moment than now, right?" Stunned silence on Chanyeol's side. He's had the ring for months. "God, you're lucky I love you and the lights make this the perfect place to propose and-" Chanyeol cuts off Baekhyun's nervous babbling with a roar of laughter, stomach clenching and knees buckling at the absurdity of the situation. Perhaps a bit of relief bleeds into the mix. 

"Why are you laughing, you prick," his lover huffs, pouting. It's just about the cutest thing Chanyeol has seen in the entire world and without another word, he's pulling out his own ring box and kneeling down opposite Baekhyun, not saying anything but just grinning. Eyes twinkling with all the words he couldn't bring himself to say earlier. 

As soon as Baekhyun spots the simple white band, identical to his own, shining back at him, he's laughing too. Tears start sprouting from his eyes - whether it's from the laughter or the fact that Chanyeol had just, technically, proposed to him he doesn't know. Just knows that it's out of happiness. And with Chanyeol in his future, he knows there will only ever be happiness. 

"So this is the reason you went MIA?" he asks as both boys stumble onto their feet and take steps closer to each other, like magnets pulled in by some sort of invisible force. Fate, maybe. "This is the reason I've been doubting your loyalty and myself? The reason why I've been suffering in loneliness without you by my side for so long? Are you serious?" Chanyeol's leaning in with an apologetic smile, calloused fingers wiping away the moisture from the corners of his lover's eyes though his are just as wet. 

"Yes it is, I'm sorry, love," he admits before pulling Baekhyun in close and dropping kisses all over his soft face, elicting a flurry of giggles from the shorter's lips. "But if I had known you were already planning on doing it, I would've just not bothered and spent every single free moment I had with you, instead." To this Baekhyun can do nothing but beam, bright and brilliant and all consuming, before he pulls the giant down and slots their lips together like they were meant to be. It's messy. A mix of giggles and tears and choked back sobs but it's nothing short of magical. 

God, they're really both idiots aren't they? 

"So how about it, Byun?" Chanyeol finally asks when they pull apart, looking down at his lover like he's the loveliest thing to ever exist - which to Chanyeol he is. "How do you feel about spending the rest of your life with me?" 

A shy Baekhyun burrows his face into his chest while a small fist collides with his shoulder. "I asked you first, , you should be the one answering me."

"You should already know my answer, love," Chanyeol whispers against the shell of his ear, ring now out of the box and rolling around between his index finger and thumb. Waiting for the inevitable. 

"And you should already know mine," Baekhyun counters, the glare he sends his way - literally - watered down by the tears that cling to his eyelashes. It softens into a look of quiet happiness when a cold metal band is slid onto his ring finger. His hands waste no time in repeating the movement on Chanyeol.

Of course, there was no other answer for either of them. How could there be when their love outshone even the brightest of Christmas lights? Wise men may have followed a star but Chanyeol reckons that's only because they'd never met Baekhyun whose tearful grin would've blinded them off their bloody camels.

"Yes. Always yes."

Stay, and I'll be loving you for quite some time
No one else is going to love me, when I get mad, mad mad
So I think that it's best if we both stay

( "By the way, let's stop by Kyungsoo's house later. He asked Santa Claus for a truck and no way am I going to disappoint him." )

a/n 

2 days late because I am the worst haha. this was only meant to be a short fluffy drabble but i've never been good at keeping things brief oops.
Merry Christmas and a happy new year everyone <3 
btw I'm not gonna lie I imagined my Baekyeol from Sail as the Baekyeol in this fic and it just made me so soft i can't uwu

also, if you enjoyed my writing then pls check out my other chanbaek fic Sail!