Baekhyun doesn’t remember leaving the party. He doesn’t remember being dragged by both Sehun and Chanyeol, his feet only partially working to carry him forward. He surely doesn’t remember when his head tipped onto Sehun’s shoulder and Chanyeol insisted that he scoop Baekhyun up and carry him the rest of the way. But, as he wakes up groggy with a pounding headache, he’s just glad he made it home alive after what he can only assume was a wild night.

His eyes snap open and he sits up, a little too fast because his head spins and stomach churns angrily. He can tell without even looking under the covers that he’s completely, totally, absolutely in Sehun’s bed. His heart begins pounding wildly in his chest. Sehun isn’t in the bed with him, so that’s a good sign. From where he’s sitting though, he can see his clothes scattered around the room, everything but one sock, which he realizes after a moment is still on his left foot. He sits forward and slips his legs off the bed, planting his feet on the carpet. He’s just about ready to throw the blanket off of himself so he can go retrieve his clothes when the door swings open.

“Oh, you’re awake,” Sehun says, giving Baekhyun a cheeky grin that terrifies him. “We all kinda thought you might be dead.” He notices Baekhyun’s shocked expression and the clothes on his bedroom floor and, he chuckles, quickly moving to pick up and hand Baekhyun his underwear.

Baekhyun shoves them under the covers and slips them up his legs, then he finally stands to grab the rest of his clothes so he can get dressed. His face heats up; he’s not sure why he’s so embarrassed right now, but he can’t stop wondering why he woke up .

“So um,” he clears his throat once he’s got all his clothes on, “why uh…why was I ? We didn’t— Like, nothing happened, right?” He can’t even bring himself to look up at Sehun he’s so mortified, and also terrified of whatever answer he’s about to be given.

“Well,” Sehun starts with an amused huff, “where do I even begin?” He sits on the bed, smiling at Baekhyun standing uncomfortably in the middle of the room. “What’s the last thing you remember from last night?”

Baekhyun grimaces, he just knows this is going to be one hell of a story. He doesn’t want to hear it, but he needs to know what happened so he can be the appropriate amount of ashamed of himself.

“I…remember seeing Chanyeol playing beer pong with Jongin.” He squints up at the ceiling, focusing hard on remembering any little part of last night. “And then I think I remember maybe, possibly…rain?”

Sehun just smiles and Baekhyun’s stomach drops. Oh god.

Baekhyun goes through twenty different shades of embarrassed blushing and hides his face in his hands. He could cry, honestly. Sehun recounts the events of last night to Baekhyun with excruciating detail and all Baekhyun can do is recede into himself a little further and try not to think about how much he kind of wishes he wouldn’t have woken up this morning. Afternoon, he corrects, when he looks at the clock on Sehun’s nightstand.

After beer pong, Baekhyun had decided it would be a great idea to dance. So, dance he did. The frat wasn’t playing music that could be considered anything particularly upbeat, but Baekhyun was feeling it, and he surely was feeling himself as he shook his at anyone who would have him. But, all that movement wasn’t a good mix with the alcohol sloshing around in his stomach and he got sick, ran all the way to the bathroom with a hand over his mouth, trying desperately to keep the vomit down until he could make it to the toilet.

“But, the door was locked,” Sehun says, giving Baekhyun a sympathetic pat on his shoulder when he sits beside Sehun on the edge of the bed.

“I didn’t…” He doesn’t finish his question because Sehun just shakes his head before he can.

“You puked all over yourself. It wasn’t pretty.”

Chanyeol, with Sehun’s assistance, helped Baekhyun upstairs to the second bathroom, intent on helping Baekhyun clean himself up. Chanyeol had the great, albeit stupid, idea to search the bedrooms for clothes that would fit Baekhyun, so he wandered off.

“I tried to get you out of your gross clothes, but you kept pushing me away and yelling at me. And crying,” Sehun laughs softly, “There was lots of crying.” Baekhyun groans; he hates himself right now. “I finally wrestled you out of your shirt and then you called me a ert and then giggled and then you started crying again.”

Baekhyun takes in a deep breath and sighs. His eyes are closed as he rubs at his temples with both hands. “Why can you not remember to do your homework, but you can remember the most embarrassing night of my life down to the last detail?”

Sehun throws his head back and laughs, “Because it was the funniest I’ve ever seen, Baek. Like, oh my god. I was dying the whole time. You’re the worst drunk ever.”

Baekhyun bares his teeth and glares at Sehun who’s still laughing at his expense. “I hate you, so much right now.” He plucks at the front of his shirt and holds it close to his nose, sniffing it quickly before releasing it. “You might as well finish the story. I gotta know what other idiotic things I did last night.”

Chanyeol had returned to the bathroom empty handed, told Sehun that every room he checked was already occupied by people having and he didn’t want to intrude. So they made the quick decision to just shove Baekhyun into the shower and hose him down like an animal with the detachable showerhead. It was a good idea in theory, but ended with Baekhyun crying again, but this time with no pants on. He’d taken them off in hopes that it would somehow convince them to stop spraying him with lukewarm water. After they crammed him back into his clothes and helped him back down the stairs, they found Jongin and they all began the short walk back to Sehun and Jongin’s dorm.

“I’m confused,” Baekhyun pouts, “Why did I wake up though?”

Sehun purses his lips and clears his throat, remembering what Jongin had told him at the party, that his thinks Baekhyun likes him.

“Well we got back here and you just kinda wandered in here and started stripping. I mean, probably because your clothes were still soaking wet.” He stands and walks to his door, then turns to look at Baekhyun who seems to be slowly getting over wanting to die. “I’m glad, to be honest, really didn’t like the idea of you ruining my sheets.” He laughs, it’s strained, and Baekhyun copies him, forcing out a laugh of his own. “I slept on the couch with Chanyeol. We cuddled and I woke up on the floor.”

“He push you off in his sleep?” Baekhyun asks, an amused smile spreading on his face.

“He sure did,” Sehun says, and they both smile before an awkward silence falls between them. Baekhyun stares at his feet, his earlier mortification returning as the full picture of just how bad last night was finally settles in his brain. Sehun picks up on his inner struggle and tries to cheer him up.

“Hey, at least you didn’t wake up because we had last night.” He smiles, “That would have been really awkward.” Baekhyun looks up at him with his mouth hanging open slightly and blinks twice. Sehun makes a popping noise with his mouth and fiddles with his door handle. “Well, I’m gonna go eat something. You should too.”

Baekhyun watches Sehun turn and leave the room, and he heaves a heavy sigh. What an absolute mess.

“Well, well…look who it is,” Jongin says in a teasing tone that tells Baekhyun his embarrassment isn’t quite over yet. “I almost didn’t recognize you without your hands down Sehun’s pants.”

The entire room silences. Blood rushes to Baekhyun’s face as his vision blurs; somewhere in his peripherals he can just make out Chanyeol looking at him. In a sudden flash the memory floats back into his mind. He remembers, vaguely, pressing himself against Sehun in the living room, in front of everyone, and trying to jam a hand into his jeans. Baekhyun thought he was mortified before when Sehun was recounting last night’s events, but that was nothing compared to this. Everyone is looking at him and he gulps, feeling suddenly hot.

He shoots a look to Sehun who isn’t looking at him, but staring down into his bowl of microwaved soup. Baekhyun’s eyes narrow as he continues staring; why had Sehun skipped over that part before?

He needs to speak, has to say something. Everyone is staring at him. He feels like he could throw up.

“I-I did that?” He’s looking to Jongin now, hating the look in his eyes. He looks pleased with himself for bringing this up. Baekhyun just wants an answer, but it seems Jongin just wants to toy with him; he takes a long sip from his coffee, rearranges in his seat. He’s enjoying Baekhyun’s obvious internal panic right now. How the does Sehun like this guy? Honestly?

“You sure did. Just threw yourself at him and then dragged him to his room with you.” Jongin sits forward and chuckles, “You started ripping your clothes off before you even got the door shut.”

From beside him, he can hear Chanyeol let out a soft breath through his nose. He wants to slap Jongin right now. Who does he think he is? He knows Jongin knows that Chanyeol likes him. So, why is he bringing all this up in front of Chanyeol like it’s some funny joke? Baekhyun chances a look at Chanyeol, just a quick glance; he can see how uncomfortable he is, and Baekhyun feels the same.

“Nothing happened,” Sehun finally speaks up; when he raises his head it’s to give Jongin a dirty look.

Baekhyun watches Jongin roll his eyes and anger seethes through him. “We should probably go soon,” Baekhyun says to Chanyeol, feeling uncomfortable and unwanted by Jongin. He gives his best friend a sweet smile and breathes a sigh of relief when Chanyeol returns the gesture.

They leave soon after coffee.

“What?” Sehun says, still grumpy from Jongin’s antics earlier. He’s leaning back in his chair, arms crossed over his chest. If he wasn’t so tired and slightly hungover, he’d have already gotten up and locked himself in his room.

Jongin has that smug grin on his face once again and Sehun is starting to really dislike it. Jongin leans forward, takes a smug little sip from his coffee mug. “Nothing,” he shrugs. “Just wondering why you didn’t him last night?” He groans and gives a dramatic eye roll when Sehun remains still and silent. “Oh, come on! He likes you.” Jongin shouts, “What is your deal, dude? I know you think he’s hot, why aren’t you going for it?”

“Because!” Sehun can’t stand it. He can’t handle hearing Jongin speak another word about Baekhyun’s obvious feelings for him. “Because—” He should just say it, just tell Jongin the real reason. It would be so easy to do, and what a perfect opportunity. “Because I—” But Sehun is a coward and Jongin’s eyes are looking right at him, expression confused and curious. Sehun deflates, “I just don’t like him like that, that’s why.”

Jongin doesn’t respond, he just stares at Sehun momentarily, unamused, displeased with his answer. “Anyway,” he stands to go place his cup in the sink, turning to face Sehun while leaning against the counter. “Those Kappa Beta whatever girls invited us to their mixer tonight.” He takes a second to glare at the look Sehun gives him. “And I think we should go. It’ll be fun; their parties are always fun.”

“Yeah, for you,” Sehun mumbles bitterly, resting his chin on his palm.

“Man, you’re a in’ downer today huh?” Jongin skips over to Sehun and plants his on the table right beside him. He reaches over to ruffle Sehun’s hair and has his hand slapped away. “Oh, come on, you know you had fun last time dancing shirtless on the bar.” He grins and nudges at Sehun with his elbow until the later smiles.

“Fine,” Sehun says, “I’ll go. But I swear to god if you ditch me again I’m gonna come right home and in your bed.” They both laugh and Jongin hops up, pulling Sehun along and into the living room with him where they turn the radio on and dance around like idiots, something they’ve always done together. Sehun laughs and smiles, and forgets about the way Jongin had treated Baekhyun.

He knew this was a bad idea. He knew he shouldn’t have come.

He’d made it about an hour before being ditched. Up until that point they’d been having fun, drinking, laughing, easily being the center of attention in a packed room. But then a pretty girl walked by and caught Jongin’s attention, and it was all over after that.

“Hey,” Sehun says, he’s locked himself in the bathroom now, sitting on the floor with his back to the door.

“Hey yourself,” Baekhyun says, his voice comforting through the phone. “Aren’t you supposed to be at a party right now?”

“I am,” Sehun nods, “I am at a party.”

“And you’re calling me because…?”

Sehun can hear the smile in Baekhyun’s voice. He takes a deep breath and sighs, focusing on where his fingers are playing with the frayed tears in his jeans. “I don’t know,” he shrugs like Baekhyun can actually see him. “I’m in the bathroom, kinda over the whole party.”

A pause. “Jongin ditched you huh?” Sehun doesn’t answer and Baekhyun makes a disapproving noise. “Well, I’m eating pizza and watching cartoons if you wanna come over.”

“That sounds…like what I used to do when I was ten.” He listens to Baekhyun chuckle for a second, just a short gentle little laugh, and he smiles at the sound. As he stares at his fingers still tugging at his pants he thinks about how much he’d rather be hanging out with Baekhyun right now; he thinks about how he’s sure Baekhyun wouldn’t have abandoned him to get laid.

“Well, the offer still stands. You can sit alone at a party or come eat and watch SpongeBob with me. It’s your call.”

“…new or old SpongeBob?”

He doesn’t bother trying to find Jongin and only second guesses texting him to let him know he’s leaving when he has the message typed out and ready to send. He backspaces and stares at the blank chat screen and, with a sigh, he exits the app and tucks his phone in his pocket. A few acquaintances stop him on his way to the door to make jokes about him leaving early, to ask if he knows where Jongin is; he doesn’t.

When the door to the house closes behind his back the silence is a welcome relief; he feels like he can breathe, like he can think clearly. He steps off the porch with the thought of Baekhyun in mind and he smiles; he’d sounded so excited on the phone when he told him to save him some pizza. He shocks himself with the thought that if Jongin weren’t in the picture, he could absolutely see himself liking Baekhyun. It makes him sad to think that, knowing Baekhyun has feelings for him. He hopes he’s not leading him on. He doesn’t want to be that guy. He just wants a friend. He doesn’t want to hurt Baekhyun.

If u don’t hurry im gonna eat the rest of the pizza

Sehun smiles at his phone and at the thought of tiny Baekhyun polishing off an entire pizza by himself.

He makes it to Baekhyun’s just in time to catch the ending of his favorite episode of SpongeBob, and Baekhyun promptly shoves a slice of pizza into his mouth. They sing the ripped pants song together and Baekhyun forces Sehun to eat more.

“You need to soak up all that beer,” he says, “we have class early tomorrow.”

Sehun rolls his eyes but doesn’t protest, just begins chewing as Baekhyun watches him. It’s then that he sees it, what Jongin has been telling him. He can see the way Baekhyun looks at him, with big, hopeful eyes and a sweet smile. Baekhyun is the type to wear his heart on his sleeve and he wants so badly to give it away to Sehun. It scares Sehun so he pulls away, puts some distance between them on the couch. Then, against his better judgement, he allows Baekhyun to rest his head on his shoulder when he yawns. It’s like seeing himself with Jongin, he thinks, and it makes him sad.

“I’m so tired,” Baekhyun mumbles. His eyes are drooping as well as his head, and his hands are busy playing with the rips in Sehun’s jeans. “You can stay here tonight if you want, it’s pretty late.”

Sehun just nods; he can’t trust his voice not to break.

Baekhyun gets up and shuts the tv off, and turns to Sehun with a sleepy smile. “Do you want pillows or anything?”

He can tell that Baekhyun is hoping for him to say no, to say he’ll just come sleep in the bed with him. But, he’s not going to do that. “Uh, yeah sure,” he says, “maybe like a blanket, too?”

Baekhyun deflates just a little, just enough for Sehun to notice. “Oh. Uh, okay,” he sounds sad. “I’ll just go grab a—”

“Actually,” Sehun says, already hating himself for giving in so easily. He’s stupid and he knows it, but he absolutely hates hurting people’s feelings. “Is it cool if we just share the bed? I hate sleeping on couches…it always s up my back,” he adds as an afterthought.

“That’s totally fine,” Baekhyun says, and he holds his hands out to help Sehun up off the couch. Sehun lets himself be pulled up, even takes a minute to enjoy watching Baekhyun struggle to pull up his full weight. “Thanks for the help,” he finally jokes when he has Sehun standing upright.

They laugh and chat a bit as they slowly make their way to the bedroom, their soft voices echoing quietly off the wall in the hallway. Baekhyun slips his fingers through Sehun’s, something casual, something they’ve always done. But tonight, it feels different somehow, and Sehun panics.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” he rushes out as he tugs his hand free from Baekhyun’s.

He gives himself a long hard look in the mirror once he’s locked in the bathroom. He’s gripping the edge of the vanity with both hands, feeling like he’s dangerously close to having his first ever panic attack. He doesn’t know why this is freaking him out so much; it’s just Baekhyun being Baekhyun. They’ve always been touchy with each other, have always held hands and cuddled; it’s always just been the way things are between them. But, Jongin scared him earlier today, and the night before at the frat party. He’s got this idea constantly swirling around in Sehun’s head that Baekhyun likes him, and he can see that now, has realized Jongin is right. He doesn’t know what to do with that. He feels like things are different between him and Baekhyun now, even if Baekhyun is unaware of it. How does he act now? How can he go crawl into bed with Baekhyun knowing he likes him? Knowing he’s doing nothing but leading him on?

Sehun sighs. He splashes a handful of water on his face and dries himself with a small towel lying on the counter. “What the ,” he whispers to his reflection. He gives himself a quick pep talk and exits the bathroom, mind set on keeping himself the friendliest distance he can manage while tucked under the same covers as Baekhyun.

His plan goes to almost immediately. He makes it just four steps into the bedroom before Baekhyun latches onto him and gives him a smile that would melt any other boy’s insides, but instead makes him squirm.

“I almost came in there to make sure you were okay,” he teases as they walk toward the bed. He throws the covers back and plops down onto the bed, patting the mattress beside him on the side Sehun will sleep. “I got a new comforter yesterday, it’s really soft.”

Sehun hums; he’s busy pulling his shirt over his head with his back to Baekhyun. Probably not the best decision, but he’s never been able to sleep with a shirt on, so no point in trying to start tonight. He tosses the shirt on the floor and turns; Baekhyun is laying back, head propped on a pillow but angled back and exposing his neck. He’s blinking slowly, rubbing small circles against his stomach with the palm of one hand. He looks…beautiful and, for a second, Sehun’s breath catches. He quickly rids himself of any thoughts before they can form, and finally gets in bed.

It’s quiet for a moment; Sehun can faintly hear Baekhyun’s soft breathing, and that’s the only sound in the room. He’s lying uncomfortably on his back with the blankets tucked up into his armpits. He feels it when Baekhyun shifts, can’t see it, but he just knows he’s turned to face him. He can feel Baekhyun’s warm breath grazing his neck now.

“I’m sorry Jongin ditched you tonight,” Baekhyun whispers. His fingers are lacing with Sehun’s again, his cheek coming to press against Sehun’s bicep. “He really doesn’t know what he’s missing in you.”

Sehun hasn’t the slightest clue how to respond to that. It’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to him, yet simultaneously made his stomach turn. So, he pretends he didn’t hear Baekhyun, giving him a confused ‘huh?’

“I just said-“ but he stops and sighs, then clears his throat. Sehun can feel the smile stretched across Baekhyun’s lips against his arm; he can feel when it disappears. “Nothing. Never mind.” Baekhyun rolls over and pulls the blankets up to his chin. “Goodnight.”

“Night,” Sehun says, and for some reason his chest feels tight.