Chanyeol already proclaimed this day as THE BEST DAY EVER even before he got up from his bed that morning. Because this will be the day he confesses to Baekhyun and if everything turns out perfectly according to his plans, maybe Baekhyun would tell him he loved him, too.

His angel had been a little different for the past two weeks. A difference that made Chanyeol hope that Baekhyun felt the same way about him. Chanyeol savors the moments such as when Baekhyun leans his head on his shoulder while they're on the sofa watching TV. Or the times when he smiles at him for no reason at all. Or just the other evening, when Baekhyun told him goodnight with a kiss. Chanyeol blushed with the memory.

The kiss came about when they were already on their beds, looking up at the ceiling and talking about their families. Baekhyun talked about Tao and how close they were. How Tao would always pretend to be older than Baekhyun and try to snatch his role as big brother when they both know that he was just a baby, really. Chanyeol had always been an only child and he never knew how it was to have a brother.

"It would have been great if I had an older brother like you." Chanyeol wanted to bury his head under the covers as soon as it came out of his mouth. What a way to kill any romantic feelings. Baekhyun as a brother, huh?

"I'm older than you. I can be your big brother for tonight." Baekhyun said after some time.

"Uh, no. That's okay." Chanyeol almost groaned. Stupid.

"Oh, I thought you wanted me to." Baekhyun turned his head and looked at him. "Don't you wanna know how I say goodnight to Tao?"

"Okay. Uh, sure." He couldn't really back out now, not when Baekhyun was smiling at him like that. He watched as the shorter boy got out from under the covers and stood beside his bed. He looked up at his beautiful face and thought this wasn't so bad.

"What I do is I tuck him into bed like this." Baekhyun leaned close over Chanyeol and tucked the sheets securely under his arms.

"Then I do this." The boy bent closer and smoothed Chanyeol's hair from his forehead. Chanyeol was mesmerized by the hand on his face and by Baekhyun's sweet voice. "And lastly-" He leaned down ever closer and looked at Chanyeol's face. Baekhyun came nearer and Chanyeol closed his eyes. He felt Baekhyun's lips graze his forehead. "Goodnight, Chanyeol."

Well, yes, it was only on the forehead but it was wonderful.

He can hear Baekhyun in the kitchen. He quickly got up to shower and prepare himself for THE BEST DAY EVER. After dressing, he walked into the kitchen and greeted Baekhyun who was already sitting by the table blowing into his cup of coffee.

"Good morning!" Chanyeol said cheerfully and went to sit opposite the shorter boy.

"Good morning." Baekhyun said with a soft smile that Chanyeol has added to his list of Things He Can't Live Without.

"So yeah, remember what I told you the other day?" Chanyeol asked hesitantly. THE BEST DAY EVER rides on Baekhyun's next response.

"About today? Sure. I'm a hundred percent free starting at 5pm." Chanyeol felt relieved. Baekhyun sipped his coffee and looked expectantly at Chanyeol. "So can you finally tell me where we're going?"

"It's a surprise." He said a little shyly. He had been planning this day for weeks and so far everything is turning out great. The skies are clear. The birds are happily chirping and Baekhyun, as usual, is perfect.

"Okay. This better be good." Baekhyun teased then started to eat his breakfast giving Chanyeol a few moments to watch him.

It will be THE BEST, Chanyeol promised silently.

So it's like this. Chanyeol reserved a place at the newly opened restaurant downtown. It was chic and was not too crowded so he and Baekhyun can talk while eating. Plus they've got pretty good pastries there and the short guy is a er for strawberry desserts. Chanyeol will end training at five, change clothes there, meet Baekhyun back at their dorm at six and arrive at the resto by half past six. They'll have dinner until about eight and have a leisurely walk after. They'll reach home around nine and Chanyeol will get Baekhyun up to the rooftop because that is his favorite place and where better to confess than there? And he'll need open air anyway. He'll give Baekhyun the gift he's been saving just for him and maybe by ten he'll be in Chanyeol's arms. THE BEST DAY EVER right there.

Chanyeol was excited to say the least and he was anxious to get going as he waited for Baekhyun to get his things so they can go to school together.

"Let's go." Baekhyun did that routine again with his backpack, turning Chanyeol's insides to marshmallow. Another entry on his ever growing list.

They separated when they arrived in school with Baekhyun promising to wait for Chanyeol later and saying he, too was excited. Chanyeol was pretty much grinning like an idiot the whole time. He didn't yet know that everything will go downhill from there.

"This can't be happening." Chanyeol whispered as he and his fellow trainees received the news that a guest trainer was attending their practice today and that the session will be extended for at least three hours.

"Ah, Hyung." He approached their main trainer. "About today, can I skip the extra training time? You see-"

"Are you crazy? This is Jungmo we're talking about here. You're lucky you guys are even given the chance to be trained by him. The guy's a freaking guitar god." His hyung looked at him seriously. "No skipping."

Chanyeol was in a panic. There was the reservation and Baekhyun will be waiting for him. He's planned this all his life, well technically all of two weeks, but he's been waiting for what felt like forever just for the right day. THE BEST DAY EVER had to be today.

His shoulders were slumped as he took out his phone. Chanyeol wanted to cry as he told the person on the line that he was cancelling the restaurant reservation. He then dialed Baekhyun's number.

"Baekhyunnie?"

"Chanyeol! Classes ended just now." Baekhyun answered.

"Uh, I'll be home late." Chanyeol couldn't keep the disappointment from his tone. "I... We can't go through with the plans today. I'm sorry."

"Oh." There was a pause then, "Is something wrong?"

"No, there's none. It's because there’s a special guest trainer in the agency right now and they told us to extend for a few hours today."

"That's great! Aren't you excited?" Baekhyun asked.

"Just a little. But you and I were supposed to go... I've been looking forward to... I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it okay? There's still next time and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon so just focus on your training." Chanyeol felt bad that Baekhyun sounded happier than him. And he thought that the next time there'll be a day like this is 13.72 years after and he can't wait that long to confess.

"Okay." He said lamely.

But he wasn't able to focus that much on the practice. He was star struck with the celebrity guitarist, who wouldn't, but his mind kept on returning to Baekhyun. It was supposed to be THE BEST DAY EVER and he couldn't just let it pass without doing something.

Finally, the training session ended and Chanyeol looked at his watch. He still had time. He wasn't able to take Baekhyun to the restaurant but he can still get him his strawberry cake. He rushed outside and ran.

He was breathless and panting by the time he neared Baekhyun's favorite bakery. He reached the entrance just as the man inside flipped the CLOSED sign. "No!"

Chanyeol knocked but the man on the other side won't open it. He kept on pointing to the sign. Chanyeol pleaded and played an exhausting game of charades with the man but to no avail. No restaurant dinner. No cake.

But he still had the fight in him. The night wasn't completely over and if he could just get home right now... Chanyeol looked down at his watch again. God, he'll miss the bus! He ran towards the bus stop. It's like all he did today was run.

"Come on." He groaned as he bent down and placed his hands on his knees. He saw the bus leave the stop just as he reached it. He was dead tired. THIS WAS THE WORST DAY EVER.

Baekhyun was kind of disappointed that Chanyeol's plan for today didn't go through. He was very much looking forward to it when Chanyeol asked him the other day if he was free this Thursday. He actually wasn't and he had a paper due but why would he ever say no?

He was kind of puzzled though why Chanyeol would choose a day in the middle of the week to go out. At least the weekend's coming so maybe they can just go out by then.

Baekhyun the TV to while away the time until Chanyeol gets home. Another loss for Korea's team as they faced Brazil in the playoffs. How disappointing. News of the coming colder weather was featured alongside a piece about a comet that will pass by Eastern Asia's skies tonight. Cool, Baekhyun thought. Chanyeol would be fascinated with this. A few more tidbits about the winter fashion trend, synthetic fur lined coats are in (maybe he should get Tao one of those) and then the program ended. Baekhyun glanced at the wall clock. Chanyeol's training must have extended longer than he expected because he still wasn't home. He already missed him.

Baekhyun had wanted to tell Chanyeol, hundreds and hundreds of times, how much he loves him but he can't seem to say it past the thing that lodges in his throat every time he wants to. Because Kyungsoo and Luhan told him he makes Chanyeol happy and asked him to love the taller boy but they didn't say anything about Chanyeol loving him back.

Chanyeol's sweet and kind and all the things that are wonderful but Baekhyun doesn't know what the younger boy thinks of him. Maybe he treats him a little bit more special than the others but that doesn't mean he's in love with Baekhyun.

He hopes though that he doesn't weird Chanyeol out with his brand new habit. It's just when Chanyeol does something as simple as calling his name with that deep voice of his, Baekhyun feels an overwhelming urge to say I love you but his brain and mouth have different ideas so he always ends up blurting out I love trees. Chanyeol would just smile at him and one time even took him to the nearby park so he can be with the trees he loved so much.

Baekhyun laughed at his sorry self. One day soon, he promised. He'll be able to tell Chanyeol his feelings. And maybe Chanyeol would say it back. He sighed. All this wishful thinking.

There was a shuffling by the door and Baekhyun looked up from the sofa as Chanyeol entered the dorm. He couldn't help the smile spreading along his face upon seeing him. I love you.

"Hi!" He said instead. Chanyeol looked exhausted. "Rough day?"

"Uhm, yeah." The tall boy answered. He was barely looking at Baekhyun so the older boy frowned a little in worry.

Baekhyun stood up and went to Chanyeol. "Did something happen?"

"Nothing. I'm fine. Just kinda tired."  He gave Baekhyun a small smile.

"Well, in that case, go change quickly and I'll get you dinner so you can eat and go to bed soon. Okay?"

Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol trudged toward their room. Poor thing. He went off to prepare dinner. A few moments later, Chanyeol appeared looking slightly refreshed. He sat down and they started to eat.

"You shouldn't have waited for me before having dinner."

"It's okay. Besides, I don't like eating alone." Baekhyun answered.

"I'm sorry about today." Chanyeol couldn't quite meet his eyes again.

"It's really okay." Baekhyun injected as much cheerfulness he could so that Chanyeol won't worry anymore. "We can still go out some other time."

Chanyeol just nodded. Baekhyun doesn't like seeing him down so he tried to distract him with conversation. "We lost again today. 0-4."

They talked about the Korean team some more and Baekhyun was glad that Chanyeol was even able to joke about Baekhyun's height disadvantage if he ever makes it into the team. When they exhausted the topic, Baekhyun shared the bit about the colder weather and gave Chanyeol warnings to wear thicker clothes else he gets sick. Then he went on to talk about the comet that only passed every thirteen years or so but paused when he saw Chanyeol's eyes widen. Baekhyun was surprised when the taller boy covered his face with his hands and proceeded to groan.

He thought he heard him say Worst Day Ever but he wasn't so sure since it was muffled by Chanyeol's hands. Chanyeol stood up, thanked him for the food, mumbled something about taking a rest and left for their bedroom.

Baekhyun knew there was something bothering the boy and he doesn't want to see Chanyeol this way so he thought of a way to cheer him up. He sat there for a while wracking his brains until he came upon the perfect idea. He went to their room and found Chanyeol staring at the ceiling, looking forlorn. Baekhyun sat beside him on the bed and nudged the taller boy's thigh with his knee. "Hey."

"Hey." Chanyeol looked at him.

"Come with me."

"Where?" The younger boy asked, puzzled.

"Just come with me." Baekhyun stood and held out his hand. Chanyeol hesitantly reached out for it. Once their hands touched, Baekhyun pulled the boy up and then dragged him on until they reached the rooftop.

Chanyeol gave him a questioning look but Baekhyun just guided him until they reached the usual spot they stand in, a stack of magazines permanently stationed on the floor for Baekhyun's use. He let go of Chanyeol's hand, stepped up on the magazines and placed his bent arms on top of the wall, resting his weight on them. Chanyeol did the same.

"Back in Jeju, when I'm happy or mad about something, I always go to the beach at night." He glanced at Chanyeol. "Cause it's deserted and the waves are so loud that nobody can hear you when you shout and let everything out."

"We don't have a beach here and it's embarrassing to go out in your pajamas this time of night so I thought this is the perfect place." He continued.

"For what?"

"Just pretend that this is your beach and those buildings there are the waves." Baekhyun pointed at the uneven horizon.

He saw Chanyeol hesitate before he spoke. "This has really been a lousy day."

"Then let it all out. You'll feel better." He patted the tall boy's shoulder and smiled encouragingly.

"Okay." Chanyeol turned to look in front and with his deep voice, started to shout. "I hate bakeries that close on time!"

Baekhyun thought the first grievance was strange but this was Chanyeol and he loved him so he kept silent.

"I hate buses that leave on time!" He shouted a little louder this time. "Why must everything be on time?"

"I hate comets!" He shouted and added grudgingly, "Especially those that only come every 13.72 years cause that's too long to wait for wishes to come true."

"I hate math!"

"And...  And I hate Sehunnie and Kkamjong because they have Luhan and Kyungsoo while I-" Chanyeol stopped, threw him a startled look and buried his face on his hands. "I'm sorry. I'm done now."

Baekhyun smiled at the picture Chanyeol made. An adorably tall boy throwing tantrums and getting embarrassed after. I love you, he thought again. Baekhyun looked up at the open sky and realized now is a good time as any to do this. Why not?

"It's a wonder though how we can actually be friends when I love all of the things you hate." He said teasingly. He felt Chanyeol's eyes on him.

"I love bakeries because that's where you buy me those heavenly strawberry cakes we share. I love buses because I get to sit next to you those rare times we get to go home together. I love comets and falling stars because even if the wishes don't come true, they’re still sparkly and amazing just like you." Baekhyun can feel his breath hitch but he still has a lot to say so he continued.

"I love math because you at it so we get to spend time together while I teach you. I don't believe you hate Sehunnie and Jongin." He laughed softly. "I love them almost as much as you do. I love that Sehunnie has Luhan and Jongin has Kyungsoo because then... then I get to have you."

Suddenly, Baekhyun felt Chanyeol's arms embracing him from the back and he felt so much relief a tear fell. "And I love these magazines I'm standing on, too."

He turned to face Chanyeol and cupped his face with both his hands. "Because they make me taller so I can look you in the eyes when I tell you I love you." He placed his forehead against Chanyeol's. "I love you, Chanyeol."

Chanyeollie, didn’t you know? I lit up and sparkled for you a long time ago… And I'm still sparkling…

"I love you, too. This is the BEST WORST DAY EVER." Chanyeol whispered.

Let's make this last forever, you hear? I love you. I really, really, really love you.

Baekhyun leaned forward just as Chanyeol did and it was the most perfect thing in the world when their lips touched. A flash of dozens of kisses, of embraces and of perfect moments such as this went through Baekhyun's mind. And then a sudden panic clutched at his chest, a feeling of loss so sharp and painful that he held on to Chanyeol tightly. Never leave me, never let me go.

But the fear dissolved as Chanyeol's mouth moved lovingly against his, promising a certain kind of forever that Baekhyun never knew he was looking for until Chanyeol.