Chanyeol was calling him.

Usually, two friends calling each other is normal and not a reason to stress out. Unfortunately, Baekhyun realizes that Chanyeol and his relationship isn’t exactly normal.

Friends don’t analyze the way their hair falls into their eyes. Friends’ hearts don’t flutter when the other smiles. Friends don’t almost kiss and friends most certainly do not have wet dream- …

To summarize, Baekhyun and Chanyeol were not the normal kind of friends.

So, when Chanyeol’s name appeared on the screen of his phone, Baekhyun became very anxious. First off, Chanyeol never calls him, he does the calling. Second, it’s Chanyeol. The boy who has his heart racing with his huge grin, cute nose and twitchy eyes.

“Hello?” Baekhyun slowly spoke into the phone, half expecting Chanyeol to hang out.

“Baekhyun? Hi.” A familiar baritone voice echoed into his ear. Even through the telephone, the voice made Baekhyun’s ears tingle.

“Hi.” Baekhyun face palmed himself after speaking. Calm yourself, Baekhyun. It’s just a regular phone call from your friend, Chanyeol. Your straight friend, Chanyeol.   

“How are you?”

“Good. Just got home from work and you?”

“Oh, um.  Good.”

“That’s good.”  Baekhyun, you are one enthralling conversationalist. He thought sourly.

“Um. Well, I was hoping…I mean calling and hoping that you could maybe, if you didn’t mind… b-because you don’t have to! But I was hoping you could maybe help me out with something…if you want.”

Baekhyun paused, trying to understand what Chanyeol had said through his cute ramble, “Are you asking me to help you with something?”

“Only if you want to!”

“…Well, what do you need from me?”

“Oh! Yeah. Um, my family’s throwing a birthday party for me and I want it to be candy themed. I was thinking you could help me with choosing the candy. But… you don’t have to do it. I just thought that-”

“Of course I’ll do it!” Baekhyun blurted out, cutting Chanyeol off. 

“You will?” Chanyeol nearly squealed but calmed down quickly. “Are you sure? It’s not too much of a problem, is it?”

“No! Of course not! I didn’t even know your birthday was so soon!” Baekhyun quickly insisted and reassured Chanyeol. “So, um, when is your birthday and the party?”

“Next Saturday… is that all right?”

“Yeah! It’s fine. I have a shift on the Thursday if you wanna swing by the shop then.” Baekhyun felt a giddy smile stretch onto his face.

“Okay! I can do that. Thanks so much Baekhyun, it means a lot to me that you’re doing this.”

“It’s the least I can do for your birthday dummie, so I’ll see you Thursday.”  

When that Thursday arrived, Baekhyun was disappointed.

“Baekhyun!” Chanyeol cheered when he caught sight of him in the candy store. In tow behind him was a familiar tall and good looking blonde.  Baekhyun smiled back and greeted Chanyeol before looking over to Kris and giving him a rather forced smile.

“Oh,” Chanyeol straightened and looked between the two, “Baekhyun, this is Kris. Kris, this is Baekhyun.”

Kris reached over and flicked Chanyeol on the head which made him twitch, “Idiot, of course I know who he is. It’s not like you don’t talk about him every-mhmhhhmm.” Chanyeol reached up and muffled whatever else Kris had to say. Kris pulled his head back and smacked Chanyeol’s hand away. “What the hell, man?”

“You had something on your mouth.” Chanyeol mumbled before turning to Baekhyun. He immediately brightened.  “I guess we should get started now.”

“For sure.” Baekhyun smiled back, “First things first, do you have any themed colours? That should help narrow the types of candy down.”

Chanyeol’s big smile decreased and started to frown, “I did, but I don’t remember. Kris, do you remember the colours?”

“Lime green and blue. You should remember since you picked it up.” Kris smiled and ruffled Chanyeol’s hair who smiled bashfully in return.  Baekhyun gripped his clipboard a little harder at the interaction.

Baekhyun cleared the knot forming in his throat, “Good. That’s a good colour combination. Would you rather more gummies or hard candy?”

“A mixture would be fine.” Chanyeol nodded, “I really don’t know what to pick. I think whatever you choose will be perfect Baekhyun.”

Although an innocent compliment, Baekhyun felt his cheeks grow a little warmer.  “Thanks, I’ll try my best. How about we go through the store and you can try and see which candy you prefer. We’ll start over there.” Baekhyun pointed to the far side of the store and sped walk over there.  Chanyeol and Kris followed after with ease due to their long legs.

“This is our chocolate section, but you can have any of the selection wrapped in lime green and blue tin foil-“

Baekhyun went through the different sections with Chanyeol and Kris, explaining the different candy and chocolates to them. Baekhyun tried hard to hide his jealousy whenever Chanyeol would feed Kris the samples and vice versa. He thought he was going to grind his teeth down to nothing whenever he suffered through their many inside jokes.

Taking in the majesty that was Kris made Baekhyun feel small in comparison. Baekhyun wasn’t tall, he wasn’t handsome and he didn’t wear nice clothes. Baekhyun had his odds against him. If Chanyeol was ever by any chance swinging in the same direction Baekhyun did, he figured Chanyeol would go for a guy like Kris. After all, he was practically Chanyeol’s knight in shining armor his entire life.

After an hour of forced smiles and laughs, the appointment was finally over.

“And do you have any idea how many people might be at the party? I can estimate how much candy to prepare with that.”

“Hmm.” Chanyeol thought off to the side, “I think…100? Does that seem right, Kris?”

“I’d say 150 to be safe. Guests are allowed to bring dates.”

“1-1-150?” Baekhyun spluttered, “Are you sure? That’s a lot for a birthday party. That amount of candy…and the cost, are you sure that’s going to be okay?”

“What? You can’t do it?” Kris challenged, staring down at Baekhyun. Baekhyun clenched his jaw.

“Of course I can do it, I’ve done bigger. I’m just worried about Chanyeol covering the cost.”  Baekhyun nearly glared up at Kris.

“Oh, my parents are covering it. They give me this.” Chanyeol rummaged through his pants pockets and whipped out a gold card, “You accept credit, right?”

Baekhyun tilted his head at the gold card, “Yes. But, it’s still going to be a lot of money-“

“Trust me when I say his parents can handle it.” Kris smirked. Baekhyun blinked up at him in response, not quite liking the fact that Kris was practically shoving in Baekhyun’s face that he knew more about Chanyeol’s personal life than he did.

“Okay…if you say so.” Baekhyun mumbled, “ I’ll get my calculations together by tomorrow and then give you the amount by the end of tomorrow.”

 “Great!” Chanyeol beamed. “Thanks so much Baekhyun.”

“You’re welcome.” Baekhyun smiled his first sincere smile of the day. Chanyeol continued smiling and looked over to Kris.

“Hey Kris, go look over there. I want to talk to Baekhyun for a while.” Chanyeol swatted his hand over to a different section of the shop. Kris raised an eyebrow before strutting away to another end of the shop. Chanyeol turned and faced Baekhyun.  “Close your eyes and put your hand out.”

Baekhyun knitted his eyebrows together, feeling a little confused. But, he closed his eyes as directed and put one of his hands out. He heard Chanyeol inch closer to him and touch his hand. He traced what he recognized as a smiley face on his hand before placing something in it.

“You can open your eyes now.” Chanyeol whispered into his ear. Baekhyun shivered accordingly and slowly opened his eyes. He first noticed how close Chanyeol was to him and silently rejoiced. He then looked to his hand and found within it a blue candy stick with a note attached. “Read it.” Chanyeol urged.  Baekhyun looked up and met with Chanyeol soft eyes. He gulped a little and nodded. He unfolded the note and read what was on it.

You’re invited to...
Chanyeol’s 21^st birthday candy bash.
Date&Time: Saturday November 27^th, 7:00pm
Location: XXXXX

“Will you come?” Chanyeol asked, biting his lip. Baekhyun felt his heart throb.

“O-only if you want me to.” Baekhyun couldn’t help but stutter.

“I really, really want you to.”

“Then I’ll be there.” 

“I’m happy.”  Chanyeol broke into a familiar gigantic smile, “But, you know …you absolutely have to go now. I might be selfish saying this, but now that you’ve said you’d come, you can’t back out. I’ll be expecting you and stuff. So, you have to be there.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, why would I want to miss your birthday party?”

Chanyeol leaned down and knocked his forehead against Baekhyuns’, “You have to come…or else.” And then he broke out into a maniac smile. Baekhyun laughed and pushed him away.

“Okay, Chucky the Doll. I’ll go because I value my life then.” 

“Good.” Chanyeol backed away. Kris who was eyeing them from afar quickly came over.

“All done? Because I need to have a few words with Baekhyun myself.” Kris eyed Baekhyun before looking to a confused and anxious looking Chanyeol.

“About what?” Chanyeol asked quickly, narrowing his eyes.

“Something. Just go over there for a second.” Kris waved his hand just like Chanyeol had done earlier.  Chanyeol continued to eye Kris suspiciously before turning to Baekhyun.

“Listen, don’t believe everything he says, okay? He is not to be trusted.” Chanyeol whispered lowly, but Kris heard him.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m the devil’s incarnate, now shoo.” Kris took Chanyeol by the shoulder and shoved him in a direction. Chanyeol glared at him as he walked further away.

Baekhyun clenched his clipboard and stared up at Kris, gnawing at his bottom lip. What could Kris possibly have to talk to him about?

“So, you’re coming right?” Kris said, “To the party.”

“Yeah…” Baekhyun drawled, “What about it?”

“Good. ‘Cause if you don’t go, you’ll have to hear from me, got it?” Kris’ eyes flashed something threatening and Baekhyun immediately grew defensive.

“Looks like I won’t hear from you because Iam going, whether you like it or not.” Baekhyun hissed lowly.

Kris raised an eyebrow and his lips slanted into a smirk, “You know, I was kind of expecting a little timid candy shop employee. But looks like you got some back bone to you.”  

“I’m a barrel full of surprises.” Baekhyun replied sarcastically.  Kris leaned in close to Baekhyun, which made him lean back as well.

“I think you’ll be the one surprised very soon.”  Kris managed to whisper before he was pulled away from him violently.

“Chat time over.” Chanyeol hissed and glared at Kris, who in returned chuckled.

“Yes it is. All done. Been a pleasure, Baekhyun.”

“Yes, pleasure.” Baekhyun managed to say through the teeth of his forced grin.  They two of them left the shop not long after their goodbyes and Baekhyun’s shift ended shortly afterward. He walked over to the backroom where his locker was. He took off his apron and grabbed his satchel.

-Looks like you got some back bone to you.

Baekhyun slammed his locker shut as hard as he could. “I’ll show you who has a back bone.” 

_______________________________________________

Laadeedahh, Chapter update. Fantastic right?

I finished my time line and I really realized how short this will be. Like, 3 chapters left short. I KNOW RIGHT? Short story. Oh well. You guys are in for a little drama and then sweeeeeeeeeeettttneesssss <3

Ummm, Imma place this here and let you guys enjoy it. 

I love how Chanyeol grabs Baekhyun. It's like...so possessive. Love it. 

Thankies to all subbies and commenters ^^ You make my days shine brighter...and it tells me I'm not sailing this ship alone :'( 

Chanyeol, you started sailing this ship and you better get back to doing your captain Baekyeol duties before I really get angry. And you don't want to see me angry ):
Kay, much love exo exo exo