Chanyeol was laughing so hard that his sides hurt as he fell on the ty cheap sofa in Baekhyun’s apartment. He felt Kyungsoo’s fingers dance over the sliver on skin between his college jacket and his hair and instinctively he moved his arm aside, making space for his boyfriend who fitted himself against his side.

And just like their bodies seemed to fit perfectly together, Soo’s head tucked beneath his chin, the other’s arm thrown over his midriff and their legs tangled up with each other in seconds, just like that we also fit together, Chanyeol thought.

He closed his eyes for a moment, feeling Soo’s warmth against him and smiled a little.

“Hey, idiot, you can’t sleep yet!”, Baekhyun’s loud voice sounded through the room as the rest of them pooled in from the kitchen area.

There was Jongdae, Baek’s new flatmate - just flatmate, Baekhyun claimed - Junmyeon and Sehun, who technically should be the It-kids, with Junmyeon being absolutely loaded and Sehun making most male models look like prepubescent school boys.

Not that either of them had ever cared about any of that. As long as Chanyeol knew them they only cared about each other, really, and Chanyeol had always wondered how that could be enough. Junmyeon could go abroad to intern at his dad’s company, or attend an elite college - but he prefered this ty small town with the mediocre college.

‘Because that is where Sehun is’, he had said once and smiled through the cafe to where Sehun had just come on.

What an idiot, Chanyeol had thought back then. He would have given anything for the opportunities the other one was readily throwing away.

Yes, he thought, Jun was an idiot, and yet he had always been envious of how content, how happy him and Sehun seemed, revelling in each others company.

That was, before Baek had told him the rest of the story - Jun’s parents had kind of shunned him, thinking depriving their spoiled son of opportunities would make him drop his new crush, date some pretty girl from their posh country club instead.

‘They don’t talk’, Baek had explained lowly. ‘And the fact Jun wants to go into musical theater rather than take over daddy’s company doesn’t really help’, he had sighed as he had rubbed his neck.

‘You know, I think they underestimate him. After all, he… he has signed up to dealing with all of this’, he had added, referring to the nervous breakdown Sehun was having in Jun’s arms at the other end of the room.

Because, in the end, the two of them were a whole lot less perfect than they had seemed before he properly knew them.

Chanyeol hadn’t really had to deal with any of that before, had thought some people were just dramatic and ed up, but now he knew the name of what felt like every anxiety medication Sehun had to take, along sides such words as panic attack, trigger and social anxiety.

Chanyeol blinked, as Kyungsoo pressed a cold can of beer against his cheek, then he smiled at the other one who was giving him a questioning look.

“I love you”, he whispered, and Kyungsoo’s grip around his midriff grew a bit tighter in lieu of an answer.

He himself had had his own package to carry - smoking too much pot, sleeping around and letting his grades slip, feeling invincible as the new star of the football team - but, that had all been before he had met Kyungsoo.

In the end, Chanyeol mused, always grumpy, always donned-in-black Kyungsoo was probably the least ed up among their ragtag group of friends.

They were all ed up, somehow, in their own ways, and somehow Chanyeol couldn’t bring himself to care.

Because somehow, in this cheap apartment with the ed up furniture and run down everything he the happiest he had ever been.

Jongdae and Baekhyun were bickering about something at his side, while Jun was murmuring to Sehun, who had wrapped his arms around him from behind as he the old vinyl player on the shelf.

“That’s not- guys, back me up on this; Batman could totally beat Captain America’s !”, Baehyun said, turning aroudn so fast he kind of feel against Chanyeol’s other side, somehow managing to spill a bit of his beer over Kyungsoo, who kicked at him in return.

“Don’t acre, but I will kick your if you are not careful.”
“Oh, Soo could totally beat Baek’s ”, Sehun said with a small smile, as some old-school punk rock began to play from the speakers.

“Yeah, I never said he couldn’t. You know, I’m more the Nick Fury type, I’m smarter than you all so I let you peasants do the work”, Baekhyun said and shrugged, grinning around his beer can, while Jongdae protested loudly.

“You okay?”, Kyungsoo whispered, letting his fingers slide through Chanyeol’s hair.

“Yes”, Chanyeol said, smiling as he realized it was one of those times where his answer to this question was the truth.

“Yes, I am.”

Kyungsoo pecked him on the cheek, smiling at him brightly before turning around and teaming up with Jongdae to tease Baekhyun.