“Come on, Sehun, it will be fun!” Chanyeol pleaded over the phone, rolling over on his bed as he tried to convince his best friend to do something impossible for him. Go to the skate park. Chanyeol would love that, he'd appreciate it, he'd be forever thankful if Sehun went with him more often. It was just something very special for him, it was a way of relaxing, coping with stress, whatever really. And if he could incorporate Sehun into that, he'd never step off that damned board. That he built himself, of course. Sehun knew, everyone knew that he did that, he mentioned it in every third sentence he said. 

“Oh, sure, it will be fun,” Chanyeol could feel his friend rolling his eyes. Telepathy? No, he just had a habit of doing it so often, if he gave it some practice, his eyes could do a full 360-degree turn.  

“It's going to be as fun as when you tried to explain genetics to me in your campus lab.”

“Was that not fun?”

“You made talk about my family and then do the math.”

“My question stands.”

“Sehun, that's my own personal hell.” He paused for a while. He remembered how excited he and his geeky colleagues were when they had the chance to teach him about all that sciency mumbo-jumbo. “But it was kinda cool, you know.”

“Okay, Jesus, I'll go with you, dude. Hope you'll do some sick trick.”

“Oh no-” Before Chanyeol could stop his friend, he continued with his absolute favorite way of pissing him off. 

“Some radical flips?”

...

“Some ill turns, son. Fly rides. Wicked ollies.” The only reason Chanyeol was putting up with this was that he heard Sehun's giggles between the terrible references, he couldn't take that simple pleasure from him. 

“Totally dude. Gonna try some banging tricks,” Chanyeol finally gave in into the play, knowing it would end like this. It always does and he always tries to sound like he doesn't enjoy it. 

“Word?”

“Word, bro.”

“Cowabunga, dude. Pick me up in twenty.”

Sehun was already standing outside when his friend pulled up in a car. It took him a good hour. Thankfully, Sehun was already used to this. He said see you in 20, which means that he'll take like 40 minutes. Sehun was right, even though he arrived 20 minutes late, he waited for another 10.

“Good time management,” he greeted his friend while getting into the car but he probably couldn't hear him, music in the car roaring too loudly. 

“Sorry, traffic.”

“We live in a suburban area 10 minutes away from each other.” Sehun watched his friend struggle with coming up with an excuse. It was funny to him, he could almost see the wheels in his brain turning. An absolute pleasure. “Just say you were doing your hair.” He wasn't blind. He knows how incredibly long it takes Chanyeol to put every little hair in place. A part of him hated it as he always came late. A part of him applauded the effort. 

“I also didn't know what to wear, if it helps the case.”

“At least you're honest. Who are you so dressed up for?” Sehun , knowing it's only and just for himself. Would Chanyeol even leave the house without looking like the epitome of an art student? He wouldn't and he takes great pride in that. It was sweet. 
Chanyeol wiggled in his seat with a cheeky smile. “What if there's someone cute?”

 
“I can’t believe you talked me into this.“ Sehun swayed left and right, getting used to the feeling of standing on a board. It wiggled under his feet, leaving him looking for support, arms flying around. 

Chanyeol couldn’t help but laugh, sitting on a railing nearby. Maybe he should go help his friend, who stood on his board like a marble statue, too afraid to move or do anything. “You’re just standing there.”

“Well, what the hell am I supposed to do?”

“Move!”

“But I’m afraid I’ll fall!“ 

“You won’t.”

“But what if I will.”

“You’ll scrape your knee.”

“They’ll laugh at me!” Sehun silently yelled at his friend, pointing discreetly at a group of kids nearby. “I should’ve waited until it was past their bedtime.”

“I’m not too sure if you two have a different bedtime.” Chanyeol smiled tiredly, grabbing Sehun’s hands to give him more stability. “Come on.” He dragged his friend with him slowly, wheels started to turn. A little unnoticed smile crept up on Sehun’s face. He was doing it, he was finally doing it! 

“Teach me a trick!” His eyes were as big as those of a kid asking for ice cream. Chanyeol couldn't even believe the glee he saw in Sehun’s face. 

“Okay buddy, let's teach you how to stand properly first.” He grabbed Sehun’s shoulders before giving him a strong push, sending him riding a few feet forward. His arms flayed around as he tried to keep his balance but Chanyeol could hear his laugher all the way back. 

*

“I can't believe it started raining the moment our classes were over.“ Sehun wiped his wet hands on his soaked jeans, achieving nothing at all. He realized Chanyeol wasn't totally wrong when he told him it was ‘blowing rain’. ‘Blowing wind?’ Sehun asked him a few times before looking outside to see what was going on. The fact that they were both in this situation now was because Chanyeol refused to leave the campus before finishing his project. ‘I’ll just sketch it. I’ll just color. I’ll just outline.’ After an hour and a half of waiting, sitting on a hard wooden bench outside the class, it took Sehun one nasty look and one glass of water held over Chanyeol’s laptop to get him going. “If it weren't for me being a sweetheart and waiting for you, I would've already been home, blowing bullets into a digital men’s skulls.”

“Well excuse me for taking my assignments seriously.” He followed Sehun into his room, watching him dig through his closet and grabbing the clothes Sehun threw at him. 

“Sorry, my room’s a mess.” Sehun always said his room was a mess. What he meant was that he had two shirts thrown over his chair. Maybe a textbook or two placed on the table. By his standards, that was a mess. By Chanyeol’s standards, that’s cleaner than his room will ever be. “How in the hell is your hair still in place?” Sehun asked with a mix of awe of disbelief. They ran back into his place, no umbrellas, just them and all the rain two people can take. And still, the worst that happened to his hair was that one greaser curl that liked to sit on his forehead. 

“Been saying my grace.” He handed Sehun his wet clothes, following him around the house like a lost dog even though he has been there countless times. Waiting in his room just seemed awkward but so did walking with Sehun to watch him hang their damp clothes. “Hey, are these sweatpants supposed to be ankle length?” Chanyeol could stop teasing Sehun about being a tiny bit shorter than him, but you'd have to pray that privilege from his cold dead hands. 

“No, you’re just a big . They’re made for people who fit through door frames without difficulties.” 

“Well excuse me for being a idol,” Chanyeol seethed playfully, raising his leg up to a cabinet and running his hand from his ankle to his thigh. All he received was a slap across his arm with a wet shirt and an eye roll.

Chanyeol ran back up into Sehun’s room, grabbing a speaker. “Let’s get this started,” he sang, putting the speaker on the kitchen table and looked for a song to play. He was sure to skip to another one in half a minute but he always made sure to play Sehun’s favorites when skipping around in his kitchen. Sehun heard the first few notes and immediately he jumped into the song, along with his friend. He couldn’t believe Chanyeol made boiling water for tea fun. Well, he could believe it, he’s always been this way. He turned around with hot mugs in his hands, seeing Chanyeol living out every word of the song. 

Chanyeol took the mugs upstairs, waiting for Sehun. He sat on his bed, looking around the room he saw so many times. Not a lot changed, except there was a new plant almost every time he came over. They spread themselves across the walls, fell from the ceiling, stood on his table. Sehun took better care of them than he did of himself sometimes. He almost didn't notice that his dog wasn't home, otherwise, he’d be jumping on him the moment he walked in. “Damn, what took you so long?” Chanyeol laughed when Sehun walked in with two bowls of fruit and a defeated look. 

“I had to search up how to cut up peaches, okay?”

“Peaches?”

“Yeah man, they get all mushy and juicy and you can't cut them properly and they won’t get loose from the pit and just- You know what, just say thanks and don't ask.” Sehun spun on his chair, looking at Chanyeol who had already stuffed his cheeks with fruit like a hamster. He was handing him his phone, screen bright with son photos. “Is this your final assignment?” Chanyeol nodded, his eyes sparkled with pride. He was so proud of his work and it turned out so much better than he expected. He would say how many nights he spent awake, drinking coffee and energy drinks, the only things keeping him alive at that point, but he wants particularly proud of his terrible time management. 

“Wow, that incredible!” Sehun studied every line and every color. He didn't even know what the assignment was sure that he would ace it. He always admired Chanyeol’s way of working the pencil. And the pen and the brush. He could spend hours watching him work and sometimes he did, hanging out in his room while he did his assignments. 

Chanyeol muttered a quiet ‘thank you’ before Sehun searched through his drawers, pulling out a handful of papers, some scraps, some ripped, some in a good state. “Was cleaning my room, found this, look.” Chanyeol took the papers, running over them quickly with his eye. He immediately recognized his doodles and sketches. He skimmed through doodles on old biology notes he didn't understand and chemistry exercises that made no sense. Every time he got the chance, he left Sehun a little surprise, be it a tiny sketch or a doodle by his notes. He didn't know what a globulin was, but that didn't stop him from drawing it into the top left corner. A little round friend sitting in the top left corner, wishing Sehun good luck. And so little globulin friend turned into Sehun’s good luck charm. 

*

“I hate allergies.”

“Then why are we laying in a flower field?”

“Because it's pretty here,” Chanyeol sighed, wiping his teary eyes with a tissue. It wasn't that it was such a beautiful sight, though it was pretty, his seasonal allergies were just acting out. He pulled out another tissue, he lost count at that point. No matter how hard Sehun tried to convince him to go, Chanyeol was too stubborn to move from the field. “Go yourself, flowers,” he yelled after the field, shaking his fist. 

“Actually, flowers hate to self pollinate.

“What?”

“They do it as like a last resort if they have to. Cross pollination is absolutely better for them. See-”

Chanyeol ran his hands over his face, groaning Sehun’s name. He couldn't believe he was getting a lecture on self-pollination on a Friday afternoon. If he were closer, he would kick him as a warning. “I don't know if I'll learn anything from this, mister professor.”

“Oh no, I studied this for a test. You're going to hear about flower from this sleep-deprived biology major even if it's the last thing I do.”

“Flower . Wow, that should be the name of my next project.” Chanyeol observed Sehun as he dug through the flowers, looking for a specific one. He combed through them, laying on his stomach until he found what he was looking for, picking if from the ground. He rolled around closer to Chanyeol, landing by his legs.

“Look. See?” he showed him the little purple flower, pointing at the yellow stringy parts in the middle. At least that's what Chanyeol saw. “Nature has this all figured out, it's crazy, right? The pistil is so much higher than the stamen so the pollen would have a hard time reaching it. Or they can mature at different times so like it would be impossible to self pollinate. Crazy, right?”

“Sehun, you're such a geek.” Chanyeol laid way back, taking the flower from Sehun’s hands, stripping him of his specimen. He studied the insides, trying to look as if he knows what Sehun talked about. But there still isn't a person who Chanyeol would rather listen to ramble on about flower . 

*

Chanyeol tried to stuff the blankets into the trunk before Sehun arrived with the snacks. He already knew that in between the blankets and their bags and his guitar, there would be no space for food. Thankfully, the back seats were empty. Better buckle up those snacks.

As soon as Sehun arrived, they set off. After two weeks of planning, Sehun still didn't know where exactly they were going. But he wasn't the one driving, he had good and drinks on hand, so he considered it none of his issues. “Who’s in charge of the music?”

“Of course I am.”

“Why?”

“Because it's my car and I’m driving and I do not want to listen to glam rock for 5 hours.”

“5 hours?”

“Yeah, I took the keys to my parents’ cabin. Get ready for a ride,” Chanyeol said while slapping Sehun’s hand away from the radio as he tried to fiddle with it when Chanyeol wasn’t looking. What’s wrong with glam rock anyways? 

Sehun watched the road pass by, they just left the city and the sun was up high. Neither of them felt the need to talk, music filling the silence in the car. He tapped his fingers on the headboard in the rhythm of the song, Chanyeol doing the same on the steering wheel. In the end, he was glad he wasn't in charge of the tunes. He was just as content with the world’s greatest boyband as he would be with Elton John. 

It took Sehun very little time to go digging through snacks in the back. 

“Dude, what are you doing?”

“I’m hungry.”

“It’s been like an hour.”

“I want snacks.”

“Well get me something too.”

Sehun dug through the bags and packets, fishing out something specific. It took him a few minutes to finally sit down, rustling the snack. “You don't mean to tell me you chose baby carrots, do you?”

“They’re healthy!”

“Sehun, I didn't leave the city for the weekend to eat like a rabbit.”

“And so crispy and colorful! Look at that color, man.”

“I’ll be doomed if all you brought is like this.”

“No of course not,” Sehun chimed, biting his carrot. Chanyeol couldn't tell him that this wasn't the ultimate road trip snack. “There’s also celery sticks if you're interested.”

“You know, I'm fighting the urge to kick you out.“

After a few hours of driving, Chanyeol decided to stop by the road and give Sehun his daily minutes of sunlight. The drive was so calm it was almost boring. All they passed were fields and a few hills, a forest here and there. 

Both boys sat in the trunk, squeezing by the stuff they loaded in. Chanyeol finally gave into Sehun’s baby carrots, not letting the packet out of his hands. Once he started chomping down on those carrot babies, there was no stopping him. 

While daydreaming, he was woken up by Sehun’s yells and jumps which almost made him fall into the road. “No, you , that's my blood! Mine!” Sehun yelled, slapping his thigh and then clapping all around him.

“Dude, what's the matter?”

“There’s a mosquito,” Sehun hissed, looking around frantically to search for it. Oh no, it's not getting away now. Chanyeol just shook his head at him, he wouldn't move a finger for a mosquito. “I can't catch it.” Moments later, Sehun stood still, too still. 

“Everything okay?”

“He’s me off, ” he whispered, eyes glued to the creature on his thigh. Chanyeol chuckled to himself, that's what he said, he mumbled quietly, hoping Sehun wouldn't squish him instead of the bug. Sehun raised his hand, preparing to end it all. His hand met his thigh with a loud slap, but the faint buzz continued around their heads. But it wasn't complete without Sehun spilling out a river of curses. 

“Did you get it?”

“No, I slapped myself too hard, ” he whined, rubbing the red mark on his leg. It stung like hell but what stung more was the fact that he couldn't get the bug. But before he could come up with a new war strategy, Chanyeol slammed the trunk shut, sending Sehun to go sit into his seat. With unsatisfied moans he did, leaving the bug to live its own buggy life. 

But the moment Chanyeol started the car, their new company sat on the window. “Dude, it's here again.”

“Just use your shoe,” Chanyeol suggested, already annoyed by the bug. He just hoped Sehun could kill the big without them crashing the whole car. And Sehun took his advice, positioning himself to finish off the intruder. He slapped the shoe on the driver’s seat, right where the mosquito went. “The wrath of Birkenstocks.” Sehun then made sure to kick out every bug he found.

“Chanyeol, stop the car!” Sehun yelled, startling Chanyeol with the way he grabbed his arm, looking out of the window. 

“What is it?”

“A field!” Sehun excitedly pointed out of the window again. “A sunflower field!” 

Without complaints, he stopped the car by the road again. If it were something else, he might have the power to argue. But sunflowers weren't something Sehun was willing to discuss. Ever since they met, he has had a thing for those flowers. He put them in his room whenever he could, his chemistry notebook had sunflowers shakily drawn on them, Chanyeol drew sunflowers on his arms whenever he had the chance. They were sunny, happy, warm, much like Sehun. They bring you joy just by looking at them. Everything will be fine, they whisper, looking over you. And you know it will. Chanyeol loved how they reminded him of his friend. Sweet, kind and gentle. 

They stepped out, Sehun practically running up to the field, looking back at Chanyeol with the happiest expression. Chanyeol already knew to pull out his phone, trying to capture this moment as best as he could.

With a long sigh, Chanyeol practically threw himself on the couch. The wine was now in full effect, hitting his head like a truck. “Pull yourself up, spid