“______, Chanyeol’s on the phone for you.”

Baeyoung peeks into your room with a phone pressed against her chest. You let out a small, unintelligent noise in response, face buried into the pillow as sunlight coaxes at the corners of your eyes.

“I have no clue what you just said, sweetheart,” Baeyoung says, eyebrows crinkling as she pouts in confusion. You raise your head and blink blearily at her, eyes rimmed with tears and lashes matted. She presses the phone to her ear again. “Sorry, Yeol, but ____ is in the…um, she’s in the shower right now. I’ll have her call you back soon. Probably.” You can hear him yell in protest from across the room, receiver buzzing with the echo of his voice, but Baeyoung hangs up quickly before making her way over to the bed where you lie. She perches on the edge and pulls you into a warm hug, your hair softly and letting your tears fall.

“Shh, it’s okay. Don’t cry anymore. You’re okay. Thank God Luhan was there in time.” She runs her thumbs under your eyes to catch the stray tears and smiles. “You’re fine now. There, so much prettier when you’re not crying. Smile for me, okay?”

You try to smile back weakly and bury your nose against her shoulder. “I’m-I’m not even scared anymore. I mean, sure I was scared when it happened, but now…now I’m just…” You hiccup slightly and flush and your words tremble at the edge of your lips. “I’m just upset. Why would he get so angry at me?”

Baeyoung rubs your back softly. “You know that Chanyeol loves you, so, so much. I know that. You can see it in his eyes whenever he looks at you; they sparkle and his face lights up. He’s the happiest he’s ever been in the entire time I’ve known him when he’s around you.:

She takes a breath and smiles ruefully. “I think he was just so impossibly scared because he thought he might lose you and then he couldn’t even be the one there to save you.” She brushes your hair from your eyes with gentle fingertips and locks her gaze on yours. “He means well, just…you know how Chanyeol can be when he’s worried. And man, was he worried this time. But that doesn’t mean you can just let him off the hook!” You giggle under your breath when her expression immediately turns stern and she shakes a finger in your direction. “You’d better make that boy beg at your feet.”

You nod obediently. “I got it, begging. Right.”

She slips off of the bed and tosses your phone to you. It lands with a soft plop in your lap and you look up in question. “Now call him back before that idiot runs up my phone bill with his frantic calls.”

She leaves your room and lets the door shut with a click. You glance down at the phone in your lap and catch your bottom lip between your teeth before you reach out and dial the number you know by heart.

He picks up before the first ring even finishes. “Oh my god, _____, I’m so glad you called.”

“I-”

“Don’t move an inch, okay? I’m coming over there right now.”

“Chanyeol wait I-”

The lines cuts and you flop back onto your bed with a groan. So much for talking this through.

It’s barely ten minutes later when you hear the knock on your door and you sit up hurriedly, wiping your red eyes and smoothing your frazzled hair. “Come in,” you call weakly, and Chanyeol pokes his head through the doorway, looking almost as bad if not worse than you do.

His eyes are big and glistening, lips worried red from his teeth. He shuts the door quietly behind him and pauses by the doorframe as if unsure to approach you or not. When you don’t protest, he makes his way carefully towards the bed as you keep your eyes trained on the floor.

“______?” He croons softly as he kneels in front of you and reaches for your hands. You let him take them after a moment of hesitation and you glance up as he nearly whimpers at the sight of your pink-tinged eyes.

“Listen, first I just wanted to say that I am so, so sorry.” He rests his forehead against your knee, shoulders hunched and trembling.

“Chanyeol, I know, it’s-”

“Don’t say that it’s okay, because it’s not, and I know that’s what you’ll say even if you’re angry and I don’t deserve that. You’re too sweet for your own good, you know that?” He nuzzles his nose against your hand and you blush. “But I’m sorry, for accusing you and Luhan and blowing up. I just…I was so scared, because I heard you screaming and then I showed up a few moments later and you looked so frightened. I wanted to be the one to wash that fear out of your eyes and kiss it better, but Luhan was there, and I was jealous. I thought maybe…maybe you wanted to be with him more.”

He looks up, lips parted and hair falling in his eyes. The sight of his eyes b with tears and the end of his nose pink like he had been out too long in the cold has your heart wrenching. “I’m not asking you to just forgive me like this, because I know I was a selfish idiot. I’m just asking that you give me a chance to make it up to you, because that’s what you deserve.”

He buries his head against your lap again and sniffles; it feels like your heart is caving in at the sight. You hesitate, hands hovering in the air, before you finally tug gently on his hand with a sigh and pull him up into the bed beside you. You curl into his warm side as he wraps you in his arms, letting out a long breath. He presses his nose into your hair and smiles against your forehead, eyes fluttering shut.

“This doesn’t mean that I’m not still angry,” you mutter against his chest. He makes a small noise of surprise and you chuckle. “You really think I would let you off the hook that fast?” You scoff as he grins sheepishly at you and you roll your eyes, pushing at his chest in irritation. “No sir. I haven’t even gotten to the reprimanding part yet.” His eyes go wide as your own narrow. “Listen up Park Chanyeol, if you ever accuse me of cheating again, with one of your friends nonetheless, I’ll tell Sehun that you said he had permission to make out with me.” He pales and sputters in protest but you press a finger to his lips. “Ah ah ah, I’m not finished yet. I don’t ever want you to think that I would be sneaking around with someone else! Do you really take me for that kind of girl? The only person I would ever want to be with is you, no one else, not Luhan, not Sehun, not Kris. Are we clear?”

He nods sheepishly and catches his bottom lip between his teeth, looking like a puppy with his tail tucked between his legs. “And I know you were worried, but that’s no reason to blow up on both me and Luhan like that. What happened wasn’t your fault, so don’t even start to blame yourself for any of it. I’m completely fine.”

He tries to interrupt you but you hold up a finger to silence him again. "Wait! Still not done." You raise your eyes to meet his as you falter and he gazes at you in confusion. "I...I'm sorry too." 

"What could you possibly be sorry about?" He cries hands waving frantically. "You didn't even-" 

"No, let me say this Yeol. I'm sorry for not listening to you when you told me to be careful. I shouldn't have walked by myself." He starts to say something but falters and smiles warmly instead. He brushes your hair from your eyes and leans in to kiss you, soft and gentle and sweet. 

"This is me forgiving you," he says into the tangle of your lips as his fingers curl at the nape of your neck. He pulls away and you whine at the loss. He grins and leans close again before kissing along your jaw and leaving little pecks on your nose and eyelids. "And this is me begging for your forgiveness, again." 

"You're going to have to do better than that," you mumble sourly and he laughs, eyes crinkling shut with genuine happiness. He rolls on top of you, ankles tangled and hands pushing into the mattress beside your head.

“Please, please, please,” he murmurs, punctuating each word with a kiss. “Please forgive me for being an .” His hands travel along your sides and tickle lightly at exposed skin. You giggle and squirm beneath him, cheeks flushed pink to the tips of your ears. “I’m-I’m not that easy to, ah, stop that Park Chanyeol!” You push weakly at his hands and he grins. “I’m not that easy to convince. I want to hear you grovel.”

“Grovel?” He says, eyebrows crinkly. You fight the urge to smooth out the little wrinkles that form with a kiss.

“Yes. Now get to work.”

He chuckles under his breath and hovers over you, hair falling in his eyes as he smiles. “_____, my princess, love of my life, will you please forgive me? I promise I will be your personal slave for the rest of my life. I’ll even scratch your back for you when you can’t sleep and buy you tea whenever you’d like.”

“You already do that,” you say, pouting, and he rolls his eyes before leaning down and kissing you, slow and sweet. When he pulls away, there’s a pink flush spreading to the tips of your ears.

“I’ll also cook breakfast and lunch and dinner for you whenever you’d like, and I’ll take you wherever you’d like to go, and I’ll even listen to boy bands with you and buy you posters.”

“Even Infinite?”

His nose crinkles and he frowns. “Yes, even Infinite. But that doesn’t mean that Myungsoo guy is more attractive than me.”

“Of course not,” you say with a smile, tugging him down to share another kiss.

“Does this mean you forgive me for real?” He murmurs against your lips. You nod slowly after a beat of hesitation.

“Yes, I forgive you.”

He smiles gently and burrows his head into the crook of your shoulder. “Thank you,” he says, voice muffled against skin. He’s quiet for a few moments until you hear a small sniffle.

“Yah, are you crying again?” You run your fingers through his hair and try to lift his head slightly but he resists.

“I’m not crying,” he mumbles stubbornly. “I’m…just…” He trails off and you raise an eyebrow. “I’m really glad that you’re okay. Don’t scare me like that ever again,” he says after a moment.”

You laugh softly. “Okay, I won’t. Pinky promise.” He glances up with damp eyes (the little liar) and grins. He offers his pinky and you link them securely, mirroring his smile.

“Now it’s time for me to make it up to you for being an absolute idiot.” Your eyes widen in surprise as he jumps up from the bed, rubbing stubbornly at his eyes until they very nearly shine and twining your hands together. You sputter in protest as he starts to tug you towards the door.

“Wait, Chanyeol, I look terrible right now! I’m a mess, I can’t go out like this!” He rolls his eyes playfully and reaches for a sweater before bundling you up in it and opening the door.

“Yeah right, you look perfect, you’ll be fine. Just let me do this.” He smoothes your hair and plants a kiss on your forehead before tugging you down the hallway and calling a goodbye to Baeyoung.

The two of you nearly jog down the streets of Seoul, hand in hand and a slow smile on your face. Chanyeol looks absolutely radiant and you have to fight to keep from grinning like an idiot. The path you’re walking feels familiar but he denies any questions you ask, claiming it to be a surprise. When you finally get close to your destination, he covers your eyes and chuckles.

“Chanyeol,” you deadpan, almost stumbling over your own two feet. “I can’t see anything.”

You can almost hear him roll his eyes as a bell chimes overhead, tinkling as the city sounds fall away and your left with the clinking of porcelain and low chatter. “Just be patient,” he says. You obey him with a reluctant sigh and wait with bated breath as a warm scent washes over you.

“Okay, you can look now,” he says beside your ear.

When he pulls his hands away, you in a sharp breath. You’re in the same bakery that you and Jaemi had visited the day before and there are flowers everywhere. The air is heavy with the sweet scent and you find a slow smile stretching across your lips. The flowers surround a table in the corner that is laden with sweets and cups of coffee.

“Lay’s dad owns this bakery,” Chanyeol explains as he leads you over to the table. “He let me do this to give you a treat.”

You press a hand to your lips and he steers you into a seat, sitting across from you with wide, questioning eyes. “Do you like it?” He asks. You’ve never seen him look so scared and apprehensive.

“I love it,” you answer firmly, leaning across the table to seal the affirmation with a kiss. He grins against you lips and reaches for your hand when you pull away.

“You know, I don’t know what I’d do without you,” he says slowly. “I’m really sorry again. I just…the thought of losing you scared me more that anything else in the world.” You squeeze his hand softly.

“I know, I feel the same way. I’m sure I’d be immensely worried too if something had happened to you.” He nods quickly and twines your fingers together again, rubbing his thumb rhythmically along the back of your hand.

“So…we’re okay?”

You glance around the table at the array of cupcakes and sweets and grin cheekily at him. “Yeah, we’re okay. Well, more than okay, if you feed me a bite of that red velvet cupcake.”

He rolls his eyes playfully but caves in breaking off a piece of the cake and offering to you. It hits your tongue, a burst of sweetness that nothing could compare too.

“Remind me to thank Lay for having an amazing chef for a dad,” you say through the bite.

“You should be thanking me,” he pouts, peeling away the rest of the paper clinging to the cupcake. “I’m the one who set this whole thing up, just for you, my love.” You roll your eyes and leave him with another kiss to chase away his pout.

“Thank you,” you say sincerely. “For everything.” He grins and squeezes your hand.

“No, thank you.” His eyes are wide and sparkling as he takes a bite of the cupcake for himself. His eyes light up at the taste and he starts to say something before he cuts himself off and his cheeks tinge pink. “I love you,” he says earnestly, eyes batting.

“I love you too,” you say softly, and you mean it more than ever.