One eye opened, then the other. The small boy gasped as his grip on a wad of his comforter loosened, his mind going blank before remembering the fact that he was no longer sleeping in his own bed. He was more than bewildered at the change of scenery, however, he got a sudden feeling of butterflies in his stomach at the sight of tall boy sleeping on the floor. A guilty feeling fled through his body as he felt bad about stealing the bed without permission from Chanyeol specifically, but he shrugged as the younger still seemed to be sleeping peacefully.

Baekhyun sat himself up, flipping his legs over to hang off the side of the bed. His feet met with the cold surface of the floor and he shivered slightly, placing his left arm over his right and using his free arm to retrieve his phone from the nightstand.

Taehyungie: How’s the new house hyung? Come across any headasses yet?

Baekhyun laughed quietly, tapping on the notification to send a text back.

‘Yes, 7 twinks in counting. The house is cool though, and the room I’m staying in is really cutely decorated and cozy,’ The elder replied quickly before shutting off is phone, tossing it onto the mattress behind him.

Chanyeol groaned softly, hugging his blanket and curling his knees up to his chest. Baekhyun jumped slightly at the sudden noise and he looked down at the larger boy, cocking his head to the side as he watched Chanyeol’s last few seconds of sleep. The younger had a generally handsome face, though his cheek was squished against the pillow and a stream of drool had poked out of the corner of his mouth.

Chanyeol opened his eyes slowly, only to be greeted by a smaller proportioned boy staring in his direction from the bed above him. He gasped as the view startled him and Baekhyun instantly turned his head ninety degrees, his cheeks burning bright red.

“Ah… Sorry for scaring you.” The elder spoke sheepishly.

“I-It’s okay,” Chanyeol hesitated, rubbing his face with his hands in a tired manner. “I guess I haven’t been around enough to introduce myself. I’m Chanyeol.”

“I’m Baekhyun-“

“I know, we were talking about you last night. I heard you’re officially the only straight one here?”

“It’s true, I like s,” Baekhyun laughed nervously. “And I take it you’re gay too, huh?”

Chanyeol sighed. “Not gay, but biual.”

“Got it.” The elder nodded, taking in the awkward silence of the room. “Um, I’m also sorry for stealing your bed last night. You should’ve woke me up.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ve lived here for more than a year, It’s only fair to give up my bed to someone that’s only been here for a day. And besides, you looked peaceful. I wasn’t gonna wake you up so I could tell you to sleep on the floor.” Chanyeol chuckled, warm and raspy undertones in his tired voice.

Baekhyun smiled slightly at the younger boy sitting below him, Chanyeol’s legs crossed over each other and his hands rested gently in his lap. He looked like a little kid as his big eyes and pointy ears giving him a rather unique and young look. And the oversized, camo-green hoodie he was wearing made him appear much smaller than he actually was.

“I can smell the pancakes from here,” Chanyeol broke the silence once again, except this time, it wasn’t as uncomfortable. “I think I’m gonna head downstairs. I’m starving.”

Baekhyun nodded as he watched the younger boy pull himself up from the ground, Chanyeol’s tall body towering over him. “I’ll follow you out, especially since I heard good things about Kyungsoo’s cooking. He cooks, right?”

“Right.”

The elder pushed off of the soft mattress, uneasily standing amongst the hardwood floor before flailing his arms outwards in a stretch. The air did in fact smell like breakfast food, and Baekhyun’s expression lit up as he felt his stomach begin to growl. He walked in the direction of the door that led to the hallway, heading to the first floor in an objective of getting something to eat to start the day.

“Morning, Baekhyun.” Kyungsoo greeted warmly, placing a stack of pancakes on top of a plate. “I hope Chanyeol didn’t snore to loud.” 
 

“Yah, you sound like an army jet when you sleep.” Chanyeol defended himself jokingly, pulling a fork out of his mouth.

Baekhyun fondly grinned before heading in the direction of the counter, shrugging at himself as the only open seat was the one next to the boy he had just met. “He didn’t make a single sound last night, actually. Although, I did catch him drooling this morning.”

“I like him.” Yixing laughed as he headed down the stairs.

Chanyeol giggled softly in return, intensely staring in Baekhyun’s direction as he watched the boy eat. “Yeah, well, I don’t.”

“Hey, Yixing!” Junmyeon greeted, a tinge of confusion in his voice. “Are you running late?”

The chinese exchange student shook his head quickly, placing his arms around the Junmyeon’s shoulders from the back and resting his chin on top of the older’s head. “No, I figured I’d stay home today considering I’ve barely introduced myself properly to Baekhyun. We’ve only spoken one other time.”

“That’s really kind of you, hyung.” Baekhyun said after swallowing a mouthful of plain pancakes and slices of strawberries. “Especially since I’ve heard you’re extremely busy.”

“Don’t mention it. This is also the first day I’ve taken completely off since christmas break which was two months ago.”

“You should do this more often.” Junmyeon smiled as he turned to face the taller male standing behind him, Yixing’s arms still draped around the older’s shoulders. “I miss you spending time with us.”

“Are you sure they aren’t a couple?” Baekhyun whispered to Jongdae who was sitting left of him.

Jongdae sighed. “Yes and no.”

Chanyeol looked up from his plate of pancakes and his attention had switched to Yixing and Junmyeon, nearly choking on his food as the two seemed to be pulling the “PDA” card. His eyes tightened into a glare as he remembered what Junmyeon had said the previous night about crushing hard on the new boy, and Junmyeon seemingly noticed as he returned Chanyeol’s gesture with a shocked expression.

“Um, are you two alright?” Yixing asked awkwardly, watching the two aggressively stare at each other.

“No.” The younger answered bluntly.

Baekhyun cleared his throat, avoiding eye contact with any other boy in the room. “This isn’t about me, is it?”

“I don’t know,” Chanyeol spoke monotonically, his glare becoming more and more tense. “Ask Junmyeon.”

Junmyeon felt his blood begin to boil as he stood up from his chair, walking towards the loud-mouthed giant. “Shut up, Chanyeol. If you’re gonna be the only one to not catch feelings, then ing act like it instead of picking unnecessary fights. It isn’t even your problem.”

“I’m not hungry anymore. Thanks for breakfast, Kyungsoo.” Baekhyun said uncomfortably and abruptly, picking his plate up from the marble countertop while heading in the direction of the sink.

Chanyeol’s eyes flicked from the angered boy to Baekhyun and an idea had popped into his head, his body suddenly blocking the smaller boy’s path. “No, wait, don’t worry about it. I’ll wash the plate for you.”

Junmyeon raised his eyebrows at the younger as Chanyeol shrugged. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Don’t worry about it.” Chanyeol smirked, gripping the plate that Baekhyun was still holding on to.

“No, Baekhyun,” Junmyeon sprung from the floor, slightly pushing Chanyeol out of view. “I’ll do it.”

“What if I want to do it?” Jongdae pouted as he still remained seated on top of the stool.

Yixing ruffled Jongdae’s hair and let out a snicker. “Nah, I think I’ll volunteer.”

“Go back to China.” Jongdae mumbled.

“I’ll join all of you in doing the favor!” Jongin cheered as he joined the group of boys crowding around a confused Baekhyun, happily placing his hand onto the plate.

“Don’t be an idiot, Jongin.” Kyungsoo huffed from the corner. “You’re better than them.”

“Everyone, shut up!” Sehun entered the room dramatically and Baekhyun quickly turned to face the youngest. “I’ll do it.”

Baekhyun’s expression dimmed as the feeling of seven boys crowding around him at once was overbearing, and the fact that it was all in a basis of trying to win his heart made the situation even worse. Tears pricked the back of his agonizing eyes and he blushed indefinitely, his body beginning to cower.

“Guys, stop it!” Minseok yelled from the living room, standing at the entrance of the kitchen as he watched Baekhyun silently cry. “You’re gonna scare him away for good if you keep acting like five year olds. Look at him, he’s literally tearing up!”

“No, no, no, what am I doing,” Chanyeol panicked as instantly lost touch with the plate, placing his hands over his face. “I’m just as bad as everyone else! God, I’m so stupid!”

“Aw, Baekhyun, we didn’t mean to scare you!” Junmyeon consoled with a frown, his voice sounding genuine as ever. “We’re really sorry, we promise to leave you alone for the rest of the week if it makes anything better.”

Baekhyun gulped as he hesitated to look at the boys standing before him, dropping his arms to his sides as the plate was still in his hand. The tears in his eyes began to die down, though, a tinge of anger still nested in the pit of his stomach. “I’ll wash my own damn plate. And as for everything else, I just want someone to tell me if this is how I’ll be spending the rest of my time here. Are you guys always gonna be chasing after me or can I live my life in peace for just a little bit?”

“Look, Baekhyun. We like you, alright?” Sehun said with a shrug, inching his way past the the others. “We can promise you we won’t always act like this, but we can’t promise you we’ll just change the way we feel overnight. I guess that’s just one of the disadvantages of being the only straight boy here.”

“I’m gonna go upstairs, I think I just need some space for now.” Baekhyun said emotionlessly after rinsing off his plate and placing it into the dishwasher.

The bombarded boy did as he said and he sluggishly exited the kitchen, transporting himself from the first floor into Chanyeol’s bedroom. He bit his lip before flailing his body onto the bed he slept in the previous night, digging his face into the pillow so his cries could be muffled. The experience he’s had at this house so far had been an utter nightmare and a sickening feeling fled through his stomach at that thought, knowing that the whole situation could have easily been prevented. He just had to choose this house to stay in.

He then lifted his face from the pillow in order to access his phone, grabbing it from the foot of the bed as the bright screen reflected onto his tear soaked face. He specifically checked for texts from his only friend left, though, none were shown and Baekhyun assumed Taehyung probably had class.

He sighed as he shut off his phone, placing it onto the bedside table beside him and falling backwards onto the mattress he sat upon once again. Instead of crying, he was now staring at the ceiling as he allowed his mind to go blank. He didn’t want to focus on his roommates anymore as just the thought of them stressed him out, however, he then looked at the the blow-up mattress below him and remembered he shared a bedroom with one. Chanyeol suddenly came to mind.

There was something about Chanyeol that was different, but he couldn’t put a finger on it. Besides this morning’s incident, maybe it was the fact that Chanyeol wasn’t so open about his feelings. Maybe it was the fact that he had a bit of a closed off personality, and Baekhyun couldn’t decide whether he liked that about him or not. The bottom line was, the older couldn’t bring himself to feel angered towards Chanyeol, even though he committed the same crime as the others.

He then shook off that thought, remembering that he told Sehun in the very beginning that he liked all the members equally, especially in a straight perspective.

“Um, Baekhyunnie, can I come in?” A deep voice asked shyly from the other side of the door. “It’s my room, after all.”