One cannot think well,
love well,
sleep well,
if
one has not dined well.

-ia Woolf

"I- I-" And Baekhyun erupted into tears without completing his sentence for the n- th time.

"Baekhyun, stop crying and listen to me for a minute. Will you?" Kai tried reasoning out for the million- th time within the duration of the last 10 minutes of their phone call.

"I- I didn't want to- n- never ever- never p- planned t -to have feelings-"

Followed by another burst of tears.

Kai slapped his hand on his forehead and sighed. "Baekhyun at least listen to me-"

"N- no you- you listen to me-"

Another flood.

"Ugh, this boy!" Kai said into the line only to hear louder cries from the other side.

Kai looked at his watch and realized it was half past noon. If it was any other day, Kai would have let Baekhyun take his time but today was different. Today he had a date planned with Kyungsoo. The date which he earned as a reward out of a bet.

Kyungsoo gave him some accounting work. The file was so huge that Kyungsoo warned Kai that he better finish it in 5 days. However Kai challenged that he would finish it before 5 days. But that made Kyungsoo laugh in the loudest possible manner. Thus, the two somehow resulted on arguing about how Kai can or cannot finish it within 5 days. And so, obviously, when Kai said that he wanted Kyungsoo to go out on lunch with him if he won the bet, Kyungsoo blindly agreed to it (maybe with a little over confidence too, but nevermind). And today was that date. After all, he completed the work in 2 and a half days! (Of course, he didn't sleep for 2 days) He totally deserved it.

Kai's impatience was growing like the water level of a river which is about to flood. Each time Baekhyun would say a sentence and start crying, Kai almost had his nerves wrecking.

"Baeky! Stand up!" Kai said loudly.

"Why?" Came a weak voice from in between the cries.

"Just do as I say!" Kai commanded. Baekhyun whined in his broken voice about how Kai was a meanie for shouting at him but finally listened to Kai's command-like-request.

"Okay. Got up. N- Now?" Baekhyun said while wiping his tear stained cheeks.

"Now walk to the closet of old files."

"B- but w- why-" Baekhyun stammered.

"Just do as I say Baekhyun!"

"Oh- okay." He let out in a whiny tone.

"Reached?"

"Yeah." He said after sniffing.

"Now open it."

"B- but why? There are only old files-"

"Baekhyun. What did I say?"

"O-okay."

Baekhyun clicked on the speaker button and then placed his phone on the side table. He used both his hands to open the old cupboard of old files painted in an old fashion, looking like the oldest thing in the room. It was so old that for opening it, Baekhyun had to use all his muscle power since the hinges were all jammed.

He finally opened it and said,

"Now what?"

"Now reach for the top shelf."

"Kai, if this is about cleaning this cupboard right now then I'm going to kill -" Baekhyun's first full sentence without stammering was cut by an irritated Kai when he said,

"Baekhyun, can you not follow my single instruction without double questioning it?"

"You're actually making me do this while I'm in the middle of an emotional breakdown, crying over a guy I like, but he probably likes another and - oh! What's this? Oh my God! Kai? How did you even? Aah-"

Baekhyun's hand touched a metallic box while he was still digging fingers inside the top shelf. As he pulled it out, it was a box full of Russian chocolates. The kind that is one of Baekhyun's favorite.

He hugged the box to his chest and forgot everything about crying. "Thank you so much Kai! I love you!"

"More than Chanyeol?"

"Of course not!"

"So you agree you love him?"

"I- umm- you're making things up!" Baekhyun said as he opened the box of chocolates and popped one in his mouth.

"Hahaha, definitely!" Kai snorted.

"Whatever."

"You know you do, Baek."

Baekhyun swallowed at the sudden seriousness in Kai's voice, the melted chocolate in his mouth making a smooth chocolatey passage through his throat. Maybe yes, he did know.

"But what's the use? He's into Kyungsoo." Baekhyun said after thinking quietly for a minute in a small voice. Then popped another chocolate in his mouth.

"And what makes you think that?"

"He told me that he was in love with him over the years, and- an- I saw him texting Kyungsoo, recently. So I-"

"So you assumed they are together?"

Baekhyun thought for minute about how immature his answer was but answered anyway, "Yeah."

"I imagined it to be something like this."

"What do you mean?"

Another chocolate shot in his mouth.

"I mean that you're a ing idiot, Byun Baekhyun."

"Yaah! I'm your hyung! You can't talk to me like that! Have you forgotten-"

And Kai burst into laughter at Baekhyun's voice. It sounded so funny since he was talking with his mouthful of chocolates. "You really are an idiot Baekhyun!"

"Kai!! Why are you saying that?"

"Because you use your brain too much Baeky."

"I'm not able to understand-"

Another chocolate wrapper discarded as Baekhyun placed it into his mouth.

"What I mean is that Kyungsoo and Chanyeol aren't together."

Baekhyun's heart skipped a beat. He wanted to believe Kai so badly but his brain produced evidences which stated otherwise.

"How can I believe you?" He said after a long pause.

"It's simple idiot. That day on the wedding, when Kyungsoo and Chanyeol met, Kyungsoo proposed to him and well-"

Baekhyun gasped so loudly, he nearly broke his jaw. Some melted chocolate started to leak from his open mouth but he hurriedly shut it and wiped the traces of chocolate from his lips.

"So they are together." He said while the chocolate off his finger tips. His muffled  voice hiding the sadness in his tone, but Kai knew better.

"Chanyeol rejected him."

Baekhyun's eyes nearly popped out of the sockets of his eyes. A long silence was followed by Baekhyun coughing loudly because the boy choked on his chocolates.

"Are- are you? Are you-"

"No." Kai breathed out. "I'm not kidding."

Baekhyun blinked a couple of times, trying hard to register the details in his head and finally broke the silence by, "Why are they texting then?"

"I asked Chanyeol to text Kyungsoo."

"What? Why?" Baekhyun said so loudly, Kai thought his ear drums would resign their job and he will have to live the rest of his life as a deaf man.

"What the Baekhyun! Stop screaming, you lunatic!"

"Answer me dammit! Why did you ask Chanyeol to text him? Are you trying to get them together? You backstabber! I will never forgive you Kai for-"

"You dumb-, Kyungsoo wasn't taking his meds, nor was he eating properly after Chanyeol rejected him. So I tried talking to him but he won't even listen to me. So I had no option but to ask Chanyeol to advice him to take care of himself."

Baekhyun silenced at that. He might have hated Kyungsoo for making Chanyeol go through all that, but not enough to let the boy suffer like that. Baekhyun took a deep breath, almost as if he's inhaling weed and said, "You like Kyungsoo?"

"As if."

"So you do!"

Kai sighed in defeat, he knew he couldn't hide from Baekhyun, and said, "I like them all small and cute."

Baekhyun smiled at the light flirting and mumbled, "thanks for clearing things out. You're right, I think too much."

"And you're a ing idiot." Kai laughed and Baekhyun smiled and the call was cut without saying bye.