Life with Chanyeol continued in the same way over the next two weeks. It was as if you were both stuck in this odd limbo between being the teenagers you once had been when you last lived together, and now being adults. Your banter was playful and represented your youthful times, yet there were instances where you realised each other had grown up.

The first sign of this had come by accident. You had chosen to shower in the morning for a change after spending the night watching movies with Chanyeol. And he was always like a zombie first thing when he woke up, not really listening out for cues any other normal person would.

Like the shower running.

You screamed when the door opened and he blinked a few times, only registering that you were in fact behind a steamed up glass panel, one in which you prayed didn’t allude to anything more than the outline of your shape. But you could see him all too clearly and spun around, clamping your eyes closed in embarrassment. “GET OUT!”

“Huh?” Glancing over your shoulder at the tall boy who was still in his stupor, you screamed unintelligibly until this seemed to alert his brain that his presence was not welcomed. With a wide-eyed expression, Chanyeol backed out of the room leaving you wrestling with your internal dialogue. You were strangely embarrassed for someone who once used to take baths with him as a child. And despite all the convincing in the world that he couldn’t have seen you properly due to the steam, or more importantly, his half-lidded sleepy state, when you got into the car to go to work half an hour later, you knew he had. Chanyeol’s eyes swept over your body for only a second but it was long enough for you to notice. Especially, when his eyes snapped to the road as his ears turned red.

You didn’t know whether to be disgusted or mildly flattered.

The ride to work was uncharacteristically quiet, Chanyeol focusing on the traffic whilst you kept your gaze on the world whizzing by outside of the car. It was awkward and you hated the thick air between you both. But you didn’t know exactly what to say to him.

Sorry for ruining your retinas. Maybe next time you should knock first. Or actually listen for sounds of water running before entering like a normal person?! Nothing sounded right even on the inside of your head. You didn’t want to scold him when he’d already been so shocked by what he saw to be this silent.

There was a small part of you that was disappointed that he was that put out by your body. It made you inwardly resign to the fact that you needed to fit working out back into your schedule.

“Thanks for the ride, Chanyeol,” you murmured as he pulled up outside your office building, unable to call him by his nickname within the charged atmosphere of his car. Chanyeol visibly jumped at the sound of your voice and it broke your heart even further. You’d have to do something to make it up to him for distressing him so much.

Even though it had been totally his fault.

“Huh, what?” he said and then chuckled clumsily, nodding his head rapidly. “I need to go bang.”

Your eyes widened in confusion as horror settled in on his face at his sentence. “Some drums! I uh, have a drumming lesson to go teach. Okay you’re out now, right, bye noona!”

You let out a small cry of embarrassment as he pulled away quickly. You had destroyed him.

That night you had stopped off at the grocery store to buy some ingredients to make dinner for Chanyeol. If you couldn’t erase the images in his head, you could at least make peace with his stomach. Once back at the apartment, you called out to let him know you would be cooking for him. You received no response and frowned, his car was outside so you had thought he was home. Not wanting to waste the expensive beef if he wasn’t actually home, you went to check in his room, opening the door and gripping onto the handle instantly as your eyes took in all too much.

Chanyeol’s pants were up