The end of summer finds Chanyeol moving into his dorm room, the space feeling large compared to the bedroom he had grown up in. It almost looked like a mirror was running down the length of the room, with a matching set of beds, dressers, and desks lining the opposite walls, save for the complete and utter mess Chanyeol had made of his side compared to the pristinely organized half belonging to his roommate- Kyungsoo, was it? The tall boy spent a fair amount of time worrying over the boy he had yet to meet- from the looks of it, the other boy seemed much cleaner than he was, and he’d rather not have the boy he’s spending the next year with constantly angry at him for keeping his half of the room a mess.

It takes moments after meeting Kyungsoo for the first time that he realized it wouldn’t be much of a problem.

It was while he was unpacking his things, long hair clipped back and out of his face, clothes ill-fitting and dishevelled on his large frame. Moving things around had kicked up dust in the room, and it had finally become too much for the giant, Chanyeol rearing back in a face-contorting sneeze when the door to his room clicked open.

He let out the monstrous sound just in time to see the wide eyes of a boy, flannel shirt tucked into his jeans, thick framed glasses perched on his nose, hands clutching the straps of his backpack. Chanyeol sniffled, trying to wipe his nose before another sneeze came over him, opening his mouth to say something when the small boy started laughing.

“I take it you’re Chanyeol?” he asked, tone friendly.

The giant nodded and the boy reached into his bag, producing a small package of tissues and handing it to the tall boy who graciously accepted them, rubbing furiously at his nose.

“I’m Kyungsoo.”

“Ah…” he said, free hand moving to rub the back of his neck awkwardly as he quickly glanced back at the mess he had made of the floor. “I swear I’m not usually this much of a mess—“

Kyungsoo only chuckled again, eyes raking over Chanyeol’s unorganized half of the room. “Uh huh…” he said unconvincingly.

“No really, I swear!” Chanyeol tried again, watching a grin grow on Kyungsoo’s face, words dying in his throat as he took in the sight of the boy’s heart shaped smile.

“Well, I just came to pick some stuff up,” Kyungsoo said with a good-natured chuckle, turning to his desk and putting some things into his backpack. “It was nice meeting you, Chanyeol.”

“I… uh- same.”

Kyungsoo waved to the boy as he retreated from the room, leaving the giant standing alone in the room, not entirely understanding what had just happened.

~~~~~

Though initially awkward around Kyungsoo, Chanyeol found himself warming up to the boy quickly. He doesn’t see as much of Baekhyun as he did in high school, but he supposes it might be for the better. He spent so much of his time chasing after someone who didn’t feel the same, and it was getting tiring.

He wants to move on, but when his heart has spent so long stuck on one person, it’s hard to get it to change.

When Baekhyun calls, Chanyeol still finds himself running to him.

The fact doesn’t go unnoticed by his new friends, most of them laughing whenever they saw the giant perk up like a puppy whenever he saw a sign of Baekhyun. Whether it be through text, being mentioned in conversation, or seeing him in passing between classes, Chanyeol’s eyes would light up without realizing it.

It takes Kyungsoo seconds within meeting Baekhyun for the first time to recognize the huge crush the giant harboured for him, watching his roommate melting into putty for the boy in front of him.

“You have a crush on him.” Kyungsoo said the minute Baekhyun was out of earshot. It wasn’t a question.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Chanyeol mutters.

Kyungsoo rolled his eyes and Chanyeol knew that his roommate was already onto him.

“Is it that obvious?” he asked, deflating a bit.

“You perk up like a puppy every time you hear his name and your eyes sparkle whenever you talk to him. Frankly, I don’t see how he could miss it, unless he’s been pretending not to know these past few years.”

Chanyeol sighed. “It doesn’t really matter which it is at this point. He’s got a boyfriend, so even if he did notice, I doubt I’d ever have a chance,” he said before the smile returned to his face, his hand grazing the familiar bump in his jean pocket where he kept the rock Baekhyun had given him. “It’s alright though. As long as I can be around him, I’ll be happy.”

Kyungsoo frowned. “I mean, I appreciate your optimism but damn man, you got it bad. Why don’t you just tell him how you feel?”

“It’s selfish,” Chanyeol said simply. “He’s happy in his relationship, and telling him how I feel won’t help anyone. He’ll still be dating his boyfriend, and things will get weird between us. I don’t want to do that to us. I don’t want to do that to him.”

The small boy frowned, but chose not to press on the topic any more for the sake of his tall friend’s comfort.

But despite the resignation in his tone, the longing was more than clear.  

~~~~~

The longer the year goes on, the more distant Baekhyun feels.

It’s not something Chanyeol could fault him on—the university workload proved to be much heavier than what either of them were used to, and between a flurry of last minute papers and cramming for exams, Chanyeol almost never sees his best friend.

And surprisingly, it hurts less than he thought it would.

There were always assignments to get done or tests to study for, and any free time Chanyeol got would be spent with his roommate, grabbing quick meals together in restaurants over campus after long study sessions or just lounging around their shared space, complaining about the people in their respective programs.

It gives Chanyeol a bit of a break, and for that he’s thankful.

But he’d be lying if he said he didn’t miss Baekhyun.

Despite everything, he’d still find himself daydreaming at times. Sometimes during class, sometimes during the night when sleep wouldn’t come easy to him— he’d see those droopy eyes and rectangular smile seared behind his eyelids and feel his heart rate pick up.

It almost feels surreal the next time Chanyeol sees Baekhyun again. After a whole semester with minimal conversation and even less time spent face to face, it felt almost strange to see the small boy again. It felt almost like they were nothing more than acquaintances.

But it’s when Baekhyun takes notice of the tall boy staring from a few tables away in their school’s library, squinted eyes suddenly sparkling in recognition as the pout on his face turned into a bright smile that Chanyeol’s cheeks reddened, legs moving towards the smaller on their own accord the moment Baekhyun waved him over.

The light brown locks he had started school with were now coloured a deep magenta, though the dark roots at the top of his head made it clear that this change was not new. His bangs had grown long, much longer than they should have; Chanyeol suspects the smaller boy was too preoccupied with school to get them trimmed, though the obnoxious hot pink hair clip pulling the hair out of his face proved to be a surprisingly good look on the small boy. The thick rimmed glasses that he kept throughout high school had suddenly changed to thin, round frames, unfamiliar, yet still flattering the boy’s features.

Chanyeol took a seat across Baekhyun as he placed his backpack on the round table, watching Baekhyun push the glasses higher up on his face, lips still pulled back in a wide smile.

“It’s been forever, Yoda!” Baekhyun whispered excitedly, staying mindful of where they were. “I’ve missed you.”

Chanyeol cursed his quickening heartbeat at that, lips pulling themselves into a smile. “I missed you too, Baek.” He said, tone much calmer than he felt.

“What’ve you been up to?” Baekhyun asked, almost popping up out of his seat out of excitement. Chanyeol chuckled at the sight of his friend, looking like a puppy who had gone too long without seeing their owner.

Chanyeol rubbed the nape of his neck. “Studying, studying, and more studying.”

“Emphasis on the dying part, huh?” Baekhyun added with a laugh.

The tall boy joined in, leaning back in his chair. “Tell me about it. What have you been up to?”

Baekhyun smiled, leaning in over his notes. “I’ve basically been living in the school library since midterms, just drowning in a sea of formulas and proofs, but what else is new?”

“Do you have a lot of exams this semester?”

Baekhyun pursed his lips. “I have 6 in total, but I’ll be done by next week. What about you?”

“5, but I finished earlier today.”

The small boy’s eyes lit up for a moment. “You’re done already?” he asked, Chanyeol replying with an affirmative grunt. “Are you free for the rest of the day?”

“Uh, I was just gonna start clearing out my dorm room, but otherwise, yeah, I’m free.”

“Would you mind if I tagged along?” Baekhyun asked with a lopsided smile, continuing on before Chanyeol could get another word in. “It’s just that I’ve spent so much time cooped in this library studying for my comp-sci exams and we haven’t hung out in so long—if you have other things you need to do or something that’s fine too, but—“

“Baekhyun, you’re rambling,” Chanyeol cut in with a laugh, watching his friend shut his mouth at the mention. Chanyeol wonders for a moment when Baekhyun got so nervous talking to him. “Come on,” he says, grabbing his backpack off the table as the small boy gapes at him. “Let’s get going.”

He sees the expression on Baekhyun’s face turn to one of joy as he nodded, quickly packing up his things and putting them into his bag, zipping it up and slinging it over his shoulder. Chanyeol chuckles, hand already moving up to ruffle Baekhyun’s hair, only to stop mid-way. The giant felt his heart palpitate, realizing upon closer inspection that the hair clip on his friend’s head was the same hair clip that Chanyeol had jokingly gifted him years ago in middle school.

Baekhyun looked up at the tall boy, standing wordless as he looked atop the small boy’s head with surprised eyes, his hands moving up to touch his head in confusion before they grabbed the clip, releasing it from its place.

“I forgot I had that on.” Baekhyun said with a smile, maneuvering his backpack to get access to its zipper to put it away, already walking out of the library.

“You kept it… The hair clip.” Chanyeol said, collecting himself and following the small boy out.

The small boy looked back at the taller almost in confusion. “You still have yours, though, don’t you? Did you expect me to throw out our middle school couple item after you had so graciously given it to me?”

“That was a gag gift at best. The old lady I bought it from thought I was trying to woo some girl at school—“  

“Well, I was wooed by its practicality and the dashing good looks of the seventh-grade boy who presented it to me.”

Chanyeol felt a pang in his heart. “You don’t need to be nice to me, Byun. We both know that the seventh grade was a tragic time for everyone.”

“Speak for yourself, Yoda. I straight up blossomed like a gorgeous in’ flower in the seventh grade.”

“The seventh grade is when you blossomed?” the taller asked in disbelief. “The seventh grade, when you had red highlights and half a mullet?”

“Hey, I still stand by that decision.”

“Is that why you’re not cutting your hair now?” he asked with a ruffle of the small boy’s long bangs. “Tryna relive the glory days?”

Baekhyun shook the tall boy’s hand off his head, scrunching his nose a bit. “Sad as it is, I don’t think the world is ready for a mullet comeback.”

Chanyeol rolled his eyes, arm moving to hook around Baekhyun’s shoulder’s before he could even register it. He can feel the small boy naturally lean into it, and he smiles to himself. No matter how long they were separated, there was always a familiarity between them. They fall back into it, like they had never been separated to begin with.

The walk across campus to the residence building doesn’t take much longer, Chanyeol shouldering the door of his dorm room open after much struggle with the old lock.

“I’m back~” he calls out into the room, seeing his small roommate peek his head out from behind the open door of his dresser. “And I brought a friend.”

Kyungsoo tilts his head for a moment before Chanyeol takes a step in, giving Baekhyun room to enter the space as the two took their shoes off.

“Baekhyun! It’s nice seeing you again!” Kyungsoo says with a wide smile that the boy mirrored.

“It’s nice to see you too, Kyungsoo.” Baekhyun replies as he follows his friend further into the room, taking a seat on Chanyeol’s desk chair.

“I’ll get out of your hair soon, I was just getting changed to go meet Jongin.”

“How’s he doing? I haven’t seen him in a while.” Chanyeol asks, already throwing himself onto his bed.

His roommate smiled. “You know how it is. It’s just been non-stop practice for him. We should all hang out together once he’s done his showcase.”

“I forgot he was doing that. How’s practice going for him?”

“Tiring, but he’s having a good time. Are you going to see him perform? I’m sure I can grab the both of you some extra tickets if you haven’t gotten any yet.”

Baekhyun sits up in surprise. “Me too?” he asks in quiet confusion.

“Of course you too, Baekhyun. I’d love to have you meet Jongin!” Kyungsoo said before turning to Baekhyun in a lower tone. “Plus, I don’t trust Chanyeol to navigate anywhere on his own.”

“Hey, I’m a great navigator!” the tall boy cut in.

Kyungsoo raised a brow. “You once led me on a two hour hunt for a café that was just around the corner from our dorm.”

“That was one time! And we made it there in the end!”

The boy only rolled his eyes with a smile, grabbing his backpack off his own desk and slinging it over his shoulder. “Alright, Chanyeol,” he said non-committedly with a glance at his watch. “I’ll be heading out now anyways, so I’ll see you guys later. And if you get to packing up before I get back… just... promise me we’re not going to have a repeat of your spring cleaning fiasco.”  Kyungsoo added as he slipped on his shoes, giving one final wave to the duo before leaving the room.

“Spring cleaning fiasco?” Baekhyun asks the minute the door shuts.

“Long story,” Chanyeol says, rolling around on the bed until he’s lying on his stomach, face buried in his pillow. “I thought some cleanup after midterms would be a good idea but it turns out I don’t actually know how to clean up. Ended up with a broken lock and a hole in the wall we covered up with a poster.”

Baekhyun laughed. “Sounds like you. So are you gonna get started on packing?”

“I don’t even need to officially move out until next month,” The tall boy groaned into his pillow. “It can wait.”

“What happened to cleaning out your stuff?”

“I only said that because I thought Kyungsoo was staying in here. He’s been bugging me to start cleaning up for weeks now.”

Baekhyun let out a breath, standing up and walking to the bed, grabbing the blankets and throwing them over Chanyeol in one smooth motion before taking a seat directly on his back, earning him a breathless grunt from the boy.

The boy’s gaze moved around the room as Chanyeol heaved below him, eyeing the mess of dirty clothes strewn across the giant’s half of the room, the desk an unorganized mess, almost like a small tornado had drifted across its surface. 

“Even if it’s not for Kyungsoo’s sake, you really should clean up. I don’t understand how you operate in this kind of a mess.” Baekhyun commented as the tall boy groaned in pain below him. The smaller chuckled, scooting his body off the giant, opting instead to lay next to him on the bed. Chanyeol flipped onto his back, taking a few dramatic gasps of air. “Calm it, drama queen.” 

“I didn’t think it was possible but you somehow gained more weight.”

Baekhyun smacked the boy on his chest, the taller curling up a bit in feigned pain. “It’s no wonder you’re still single. How are you gonna woo cute boys if you’re so mean?”

A pregnant pause fills the room.

“You’re still here, aren’t you?” he asks softly, turning his head to face his small friend.

Baekhyun stayed silent for a moment, staring up at the ceiling. “Yeah,” he said, tone softer this time. “I guess I am.”

Chanyeol tried to search his eyes for something, anything, but Baekhyun kept his gaze trained straight upwards. The tall boy’s eyes drifted down the smaller’s profile, stopping at his slightly parted lips. The small boy slowly turned his head to face Chanyeol, the taller’s eyes drifting back up to meet Baekhyun’s. His breath hitched, and he prayed it wasn’t loud enough for the smaller to hear it, but with their proximity, it was almost certain he did.

Chanyeol could’ve sworn he saw the small boy’s eyes flit down to his own lips for a split second, but before he knows it, those same droopy eyes are staring him down, almost as if he was asking him to make the first move.

The giant can hear his heart race in his ears, so quickly and so loudly he was afraid his best friend would be able to hear the sound.

He’s not sure how long they spend in that state, almost as if in a trance, almost as if they’re drowning in each other with neither willing to be the first to pull away from it, but the incessant buzzing of Baekhyun’s phone in his pocket breaks their concentration.

“It’s Sehun,” Baekhyun says, suddenly bolting up and onto his feet. “I should go take this.” He adds, awkwardly motioning towards the door. Chanyeol sits up with a tight lipped smile.

“Of course. Sehun awaits.”

Baekhyun almost looked flushed as he nodded, quickly putting on his shoes as he answered the call, slipping out of the door, leaving Chanyeol alone on the bed, still trying to register what had just happened.