[shorties = short side stories of past and other members]
 

"Let's go ice skating, Baek!" Baekhyun looked up from his platter of food to Jongdae waving a pair of skates in front of him. Their high school was holding their annual New Year's Eve celebration at a ski resort in the mountains to end the year. Families of current students and their alumni association father yearly to celebrate the new year at the same resort. The only reason why the sophomores wanted to go was to 'witness the adult activities,' which was something Jongdae wanted to see. Baekhyun wanted no part of it, but he would do anything to have a free vacation with his family.

It's been months since Baekhyun has had a real conversation with Chanyeol. Because of his mutual distancing, he was able to back off of his feelings for Chanyeol for a bit. He still loved him, of course, but he acknowledged his probability of dating him. A big fat zero. Nobody has been grabbing his attention, thankfully, and he wanted nothing but to focus on himself and for turning sixteen. Now sitting at a table with Jongin and Kyungsoo, Jongdae was begging him to skate.

"I'm not done eating!" He shouted over the loud music.

"It'll be fun, Baek! Let's go, Soo!" Jongin clapped his hands together before dragging his tiny boyfriend outside to rent their skates. Baekhyun and Jongdae watched as their best friend is dragged outside and laughed out loud when they saw him trip on the way out.

"I am so glad he's in love with Jongin. He would've kicked our asses if we asked!" Jongdae said cheerfully before waving the skates again. "You better eat quickly and skate with me! I'm trying to find a cute lover out here!"

Rolling his eyes, Baekhyun shoved a spoonful of lasagna in his mouth and looked away from him with a 'hmph!' sound. Last time he could recall, he couldn't skate for ! "No way, baby boy—"

"NO! You're skating with me and that is final. I will teach you!" Jongdae plopped himself next to the elder in the booth and Baekhyun huffed before eating the last bits of his platter. "At least move your fat over. Common courtesy, Baekhyun."

Before Baekhyun ate the last spoonful of food, his eyes glanced up and saw a bunch of upperclassmen surrounding someone in the middle while cheering the person on. It's not anything new to him, but it wasn't the usual people doing it. Once the crowd scattered around, he saw the senior who he is often paired up to because of his music classes with him. His name is Park Dojin, the most popular basketball player and pianist of the school. He is also the school's heartthrob, which throws Baekhyun off because he was like a replacement of his giant. He hated that guy with a passion because he would always tease Baekhyun for being too smart. He made it seem like it was a bad thing.

He never expected the guy to gulp down a bottle of wine, especially in front of many families. Maybe it was harder to determine since most of the adults were outside. Baekhyun knew it had to be that because the minute he shoved his last spoonful, he smelled a slight smell of from a distance and covered his nose.

"Yo, what the ?" Jongdae coughed as he glanced over at Baekhyun and grabbed his hand. "Let's go outside," he said while taking him out of the lounge area.

As they were leaving the area, Baekhyun glanced back at the group of upperclassmen to catch Dojin looking right at him. He immediately broke eye contact once Jongdae thrown a scarf around his neck. He fixed himself up before going outside to meet up with Jongin and Kyungsoo. Sehun was at the skates rental booth and waved at them once he saw them. "Dae! Baekhyun!" He shouted.

Jongdae ran over to him and threw his body over him, causing Sehun to lose his balance and fall backwards onto the thick layer of snow, sinking down eight inches deep. Both of them were laughing along with Baekhyun before the elder pulled the both of them up.

"I already reserved the hot tub for us tonight in our complex," Sehun said as he brushed the snow off of his hair.

"You did? Thank goodness!" Baekhyun cried out in excitement before taking the skates out of Jongdae's hold, "I've been hoping we could reserve it before we leave."

The three sat down on a bench to put on their ice skates before waddling their way to the skating rink. Sehun rushed in first because Kyungsoo fell on his while Jongdae laughed out loud until he, himself, fell at the entrance of the rink. As for Baekhyun, he was still trying to shove his foot into the skates. Obviously, he does not skate, and he did not loosen the strings.

Baekhyun said there were puffed cheeks trying to loosen the strings on the skates so that he could slip his feet into them easily. However, because of how tight they were, he couldn't loosen them. He gave up and scrunched his nose in annoyance to the skates. He was close to returning them back to the rental booth. With an apparent pout and slumped shoulders, a figure stood in front of him and knelt down to his level. Baekhyun made eye contact and faced the man he has not seen since summer.

"Chanyeol?" Baekhyun said with pouty lips, which caused Chanyeol to grip on the bench besides his leg. The elder missed him so much.

With a shy smile and newly dyed brown hair and undercut, Chanyeol greeted him back. "You look frustrated, Baek."

The younger scoffed while examining the elder's face, memorizing the small wrinkles, darkening eyebags, and slimmer facial structure. Chanyeol has changed a lot physically. "You look one step closer to death! Please tell me you've been doing well?"

Before Baekhyun could make him sit down besides him, Chanyeol stood up from squatting and looked down on him. "Before I do, I want to apologize for being a terrible friend."

"W-What? No—"

Chanyeol interrupted. "Don't lie. I have been a bad friend to you. I've been neglecting you because of college! You could've told me!" He whined as he kicked the snow off his boots.

Surprised at the behavior, Baekhyun held in his laughter and shrugged. "I mean, I could've? But why would I bother you in a time of adjustment? You are handling a basketball scholarship, your major in music, extracurriculars—"

"I still need my best friend with me though," Chanyeol sighed. "Look, how about I make it up to you now. I will start talking to you without having to worry that you will hate me, and I will take you out to dinner. How about that?"

Skeptical, Baekhyun crossed his legs. "Dinner? Anything I choose?"

"Anything you choose."

"Anything I want?"

"Name it and I'll buy it."

Being spoiled runs in the Byun family in a good way. Being spoiled by someone who loves to play with one's feelings but could still be a possibility runs in Baekhyun's bloodline. "Deal!" Baekhyun shot up from the bench and threw his arms around the elder to hug him. Being shocked of the action, Chanyeol wasted no time and wrapped his arms around the boy's waist. Since when was Baekhyun this slim?

Baekhyun quickly removed himself off of the elder and patted his shoulders. It looked like Chanyeol got taller, and he's just nineteen going on twenty in the new year. He always questioned his height growth. "Well, it's good to reconcile and meet again," Baekhyun giggled, "are you staying overnight?"

The taller shook his head. "I'm not. Since I'm a part of the alumni, I have to pay to sleep here. Luckily for you, you don't have to since you are still a current student. I hope you're having fun though."

More fun now Baekhyun thought. At this point, Baekhyun wanted to cancel his mutual distance. Why was he so hurt over his attempt in confessing anyways? He has many more chances!

"Chanyeol! There you are!" A voice cried out for him from the rink. Chanyeol looked up to find his roommate hurling over the ledge of the rink, scaring Baekhyun in the process of almost falling over. Baekhyun moved away from the bench while clinging onto Chanyeol's arm, which used to be a habit of his when they were younger. It was like muscle memory.

The man, older than Chanyeol, stood up straight while rubbing his lower belly. "I skated way too fast. Sorry, Baekhyun! Wait, that's so rude of me. Let me start over."

Chanyeol had an embarrassed smile on his face as he crossed his arms with Baekhyun's arm still wrapped around his, "Minseok, please—"

With a bright smile, the elder interrupted. "Hi! I'm Chanyeol's roommate, Kim Minseok, and I am a year older than him. I have heard a lot about you, Baekhyun! Don't worry, they're all fairly good." Baekhyun looked up at the elder and back at his roommate. Just as he was about to introduce himself, Jongdae slammed his body against Minseok's and they both fell on the ice. Chanyeol and Baekhyun leaned over the ledge to check on them and both of them were laughing until their ears turned pink.

"I didn't see you at all!" Jongdae cried out as he was edging towards tears.

Minseok, who was beginning to wheeze, waved his finger in the air. "You're lucky I like you, Jongdae!"

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol with a funny reaction. "They know each other?"

Chanyeol began to laugh. "I guess Jongdae was who Minseok was talking about earlier."

The two friends pulled each other up and continued skating around with their arms around each other while Chanyeol guided his tiny baby into the rink. Chanyeol took both of his hands while helping him stand on the ice. The smaller, with apparent pink cheeks, held onto his hands tightly as he moved towards him while Chanyeol was skating backwards with an assuring smile on his face. He was patient and encouraging when helping him skate, and Baekhyun found it cute even when they haven't been talking together for months. It's like he was making up for missed time, and he loved every single second of it. Baekhyun could feel himself falling back in love with the elder.

They skated around the rink together, and this time Baekhyun was on his own. From time to time, their hands would brush against each other, and the two would attempt to grab their hands whenever they could. It would fail of course because Baekhyun would try to balance with his hands out on his sides. They continued until they realized the countdown was about to start, and stopped in front of the best view of where they were at on the ice skating rink. It outlooked the winter village from the mountain they were at. Chanyeol glanced at the younger from time to time, contemplating on whether or not to shoot his shot right when the year is about to end. However, he was afraid to end the year off wrong and begin the new year badly. He didn't want to mess up, obviously, but he also wanted to voice out his feelings. His love!

"Chanyeol?" Baekhyun called out while resting his face on his hand against the ledge.

The elder hummed and looked at him in his eyes. He saw himself clearly in those cute eyes. "Yeah?"

"Baekhyun!"

Both turned around to see Dojin standing in front of them and it caught Baekhyun off guard. "Dojin?"

"I know we barely talk, but I have one question to ask," the basketball player said as everyone chanted the countdown at five.

With wide eyes, Dojin took Baekhyun by the hand, taking him away from Chanyeol, and whispered into his ear, "Will you go on a date with me?" Chanyeol, clueless, hoped it had nothing to do with dates, drugs, or anything harmful because of his uality.

Fireworks bursted into the night sky as Baekhyun looked at Dojin like he was out of his mind and felt his whole world crashing down on him. How the did a guy like him had the courage to ask him out when he had too many girlfriends? The students around them whispered amongst each other as if they knew what was happening, and the dirty smirk on Dojin's face made Baekhyun knew that he was setting him up for something he wishes he wasn't chosen for.

[shorties: five]