“What is that doing here?!” Suho shrieked, pointing at the puppy rolling around on his bed.
    
    "Hyung, calm down," Chanyeol began, about to take the dog away when a rack of hair care items across the room caught his eye. He immediately forgot what he was supposed to do in the first place, and just resorted to standing by the door frame, staring at the bottles of Gatsby and Vitress, causing Baekhyun to facepalm at his best friend's retardedness and cursing his miserably short attention span.
 
    "What's happening to Suho hyung?" Kai mumbled to no one in particular, rushing to the leader's door, blocking Baekhyun's view because of his height, and chucked at the sight of the puppy slowly advancing towards Suho, the latter trembling in his socks. 
 
    "Is there a fire or something-" Sehun began as he ran to where the rather unmanly cry was heard only to be disappointed at the lack of burning furniture.
 
    "Who said something about a fire-" D.O., who started running around the dorm collecting all the 'valuables' (mostly consisting of cookbooks, the members' shoes and some clothes in the dryer). He continued to frantically run around before he settled on just calling the manager about the dorm being on fire. No one paid attention to him because the dog had started chasing the leader around his room with something in his mouth, and the boys were now laughing at how Suho proceeded to just cry and sprint at the same time, except one.
 
    Baekhyun, who was trying to get through the three other boys that were blocking the doorway rather obnoxiously, called out the dog's name, hoping to get it out of there before Suho finally decided to kick it out of the dorm. The dog didn't hear him though; instead, he decided to stop chasing Suho and just set down the the abused stuffed toy down at his feet. Suho, who was now on top of his study table, felt a wave of realization wash over him like a bucket of cold water.
 
    "Is that," Suho began, approaching the toy carefully as he dried his tears with his sweaty palms, making his face all moist and shiny. The others thought he was crying again, so they thought it was getting a bit too emotional and just went back to what they were doing before, except for Chanyeol, who took advantage of the distracted Suho and started looking through his hyung's hair care products, pocketing some hair spray and hair wax before proceeding to the bathroom, while Baekhyun immeditely rushed to the puppy's side. Sehun returned to watch TV, ogling over another SNSD commercial. Kai started looking around for D.O. who he heard yelling incoherently just a while ago, and immediately raised an eyebrow at the sight of a huge lump covered by a wet blanket in the corner of the kitchen.
 
    "Kyungsoo hyung, what are you doing?"
 
    "Jongin-ah, I'm protecting myself from the fire."
 
    "No, please hyung!" Baekhyun cried as he ran towards the puppy, cradling it in his hands as Suho stumbled towards the stuffed toy. "Don't throw him out, please!"
 
    "He found it," Suho kneeled down, picking up the teddy bear and bringing it close to his chest. "He actually found my teddy bear. I've been looking for it for ages."
 
    "What?" Baekhyun asked incredulously, becoming more confused than Chanyeol when he watches Animal Planet.
 
    The dog instinctively jumps out of Baekhyun's arms and starts sniffing Suho, rubbing his nose on every part of his body. Baekhyun yelped, about to reach out for the dog, but then saw Suho smiling at it, rubbing his head affectionately. 
 
    "Whaaa-" Baekhyun's eyes widened, his mouth agape. He wasn't sure what was happening, and Chanyeol stepping out of the bathroom, his pockets full of various bottles and jars, and D.O. walking by wearing a wet towel like it was a veil just added to his confusion.
 
    There was a moment of silence as Baekhyun tried to gather his thoughts (and at the same time wondered if he got some of Chanyeol's stupid), when Suho suddenly spoke up, playing with the dog animatedly. "Thank you, Y-Yeollie..."
 
    "Huh-" Baekhyun started, but was cut-off by Suho's apologetic gaze.
 
    "We can keep the dog."
 
    And finally, Baekhyun wasn't confused anymore.
 
...
 
    Loud squeals coming from Suho and the puppy resonated throughout the dorm, but not because of Suho's irrational fear of dogs anymore, but because they were playing rather roughly in Suho's room, causing Sehun to scratch his head in irritation. 
 
    "Hyung won't even let me in," Sehun complained, plopping down on the sofa next to Kai, who was half-asleep while watching an episode of Love Rain. Kai just nodded, not really paying attention to anything at all because he was too sleepy. He didn't even know why he won't just go to sleep in his room even though he wanted to. Probably part of teenage rebellion, but he doesn't really understand the sense of rebelling against yourself. Thinking about it just gave Kai a headache, so he just settled on watching TV with his brain half-functioning.
 
    Back in their room, Chanyeol and Baekhyun was about to get ready for bed. They had a pretty eventful day (Chanyeol almost choking to death, an old man chasing Sehun on their way to lunch when they were on break from their schedules, and Suho crying because of an animal), and everyone just wanted to go to sleep, except for the leader, who was getting annoyingly loud and might wake up D.O., and may get a severe scolding from the lead vocalist.
 
    Baekhyun slipped into his bed, wrapping the covers around him rather tightly, and smiled. "I'm glad Suho hyung finally warmed up to Yeollie."
 
    "Mhm," Chanyeol hummed while he read the book Suho gave him for his birthday. He looked at Baekhyun and grinned at him brightly, feeling genuinely happy for him. "I guess you were right about 'grabbing the chance when you want something' or whatever. Never knew you were so knowledgeable."
 
    "But I didn't even do anything.. But," Baekhyun chuckled quietly, shutting his eyes, rolling over, and getting ready to let sleep take him. It's been a long time since he had slept peacefully, since he was so worried about hiding the dog from Suho that he would wake up in the middle of the just to see if it was still in his room. This went on for a couple of days, and even Chanyeol would wake up when he'd hear his hyung call out his nick name when it was meant for the dog. But of course, Chanyeol cared for Baekhyun too much to say anything about it. "maybe you'll try going after the things you want, Chanyeol-ah. Goodnight."
 
    "Hmm," Chanyeol stared at his hyung's back for a while, contemplating his words. After a moment of silence, he put down his book and turned off the light. Instead of heading for his bed, he carefully slipped into Baekhyun's and slowly unwrapped his hyung's cocoon blanket and snuggled inside comfortably.
 
    "What are you doing, Chanyeol-ah?" Baekhyun laughed, and shifting so he could face him. It was very dark, the room illuminated only by the glow in the dark stickers the older put up much to the Chanyeol's disdain, so he had to squint really hard to see a big pair of eyes looking into his.
 
    "Like you said," Chanyeol whispered, winding his long, muscular arms around Baekhyun's waist (causing the latter to huff because of the younger's strength), and leaning closer to him, their faces literally a few inches apart. "Instead of sitting here like an idiot," he continued, smiling shyly at his hyung, trying his best not to blush, although he doubts Baekhyun would even see it in this light, and kisses his hyung chastely. "I want something, so I'm grabbing the chance right now."
 
    Baekhyun giggled nervously, playfully punching Chanyeol's arm. He felt all giddy again, like the time Baekhyun gave him flowers on his birthday although he didn't fully understand the rapper's intentions, but he got butterflies in his stomach nonetheless; and right now, the butterflies just went berserk inside him, twisting his insides into knots. "And is it working for you?"
 
    Chanyeol leaned in again and kissed Baekhyun's cheek, feeling his skin burn up and his body shudder with pleasure. "I think it's working. I think I'm going to get what I want soon."
 
     "How are you so sure?"
 
    Chanyeol lifted Baekhyun's arms and wrapped them around his neck, and his lips latched onto his hyung's, surprising the latter. But when Baekhyun melts into the kiss, tilting his head every now and then to make it easier for the two of them, Chanyeol just smiled and whispered,
 
    "Because I get the feeling that he wants me too."

.....

Author's note coming next