A day passes and Kris wonders when Chanyeol will tell him to get off his and do something. Literally all Kris has been doing this Saturday is sitting or laying and as overwhelming as it can be to be alone with his thoughts, Kris is honestly bored. He knows it’s only been a day and he knows how much he was grateful for the time he had to himself when he was living with Suho, but it just feels weird to have all this time and nothing to do with it. Surely Chanyeol has some plan for Kris, right?

 

            Kris rolls off of the bed and stands up immediately after his feet touch the carpeted ground. Since he arrived in this house, Kris has been debating on whether or not it is safe for him to take out the picture of his parents. If this house were to catch on fire, the photograph is the one thing Kris would run back inside for.

 

            This bedroom is Chanyeol, even if Kris doesn’t quite know what that means he knows it represents the guy with fiery orange hair and ocean-blue eyes. The room is not exactly messy, but there are sources of clutter everywhere: the closet floor is filled with clothes and shoes, the top of the dresser has all kinds of oddments on top of it, and the nightstand on Chanyeol's side is covered with pictures. Kris has been staring at the pictures all day, wondering who the other people are in them. He doesn’t know how, but he can always pick out Chanyeol in the photos, even the ones from when Chanyeol was a child.

 

            This is our room.

 

            Those four words cross Kris' thoughts for the umpteenth time in his time spent in the room. What does that even mean—our room? How can it be both of their rooms when Chanyeol doesn’t even know Kris? It’s not like they both just moved into a dormitory for university and ended up as roommates, thus making the room both theirs. It doesn’t make sense to him and the more he thinks about it, the more frustrated he gets. Why would Chanyeol buy him? Why would Suho let Chanyeol buy him? Why is Kris really here? Why? Why? Why?

 

            Before Kris rips out his blonde hair, he surges forward and out of the bedroom for the first time since he came to Chanyeol’s house. He thought about it a few times, leaving the room to go eat something or drink something or just do something, but he never did it, not until now anyways. When he gets down the stairs, Kris is unsure which way to go. The night before, he did not get a grand tour of the house and he does not quite remember which way he came in.

 

            He decides to go left and within moments, he finds himself in the living room. Kris stands next to the couch for a minute, awkwardly staring out the window when he remembers why he came downstairs in the first place. He needs to do something, a task of some sort to distract himself from pondering on all the questions. And then it hits him. Kris walks over to the shelves of DVDs and begins to grab them in stacks and place them on the floor. Once every single case is cleared from the mahogany shelf, Kris squats over the DVDs and begins to sort through them. What better way to distract yourself then alphabetizing hundreds and hundreds of DVDs?

 

            While Kris is organizing, Chanyeol is out running errands. He was hoping his to-do list for the day would only take a couple hours, but it is taking way longer. Chanyeol has been running all over town for the past four hours getting supplies for the Red Wave. Inventory is running low, so as the owner, it up to Chanyeol to restock the assets of the club.

 

            And no, Chanyeol is not avoiding Kris because of last night’s occurrence. He’s not.

 

            Around nine that morning, Chanyeol scooted out of bed, into clothes, and out of the house without a sound. Kris didn’t stir or wake-up or anything as Chanyeol did this, and it was a bit of relief for him. Chanyeol wants to kick himself in the every time he thinks back to the night before. He should have stopped Kris. He should have explained to him why he’s there. He should have told Kris the reason he saved him. He should have done a lot of things, but it just felt so good.

 

            Chanyeol is ashamed of himself and he doesn’t even know what to say to Kris after that. He did not buy Kris for , he didn’t. He bought Kris to get him out of a bad situation and for him to have a better life, not please Chanyeol in a way that no one has ever pleased him before. Chanyeol goes into his car and rests his head against the steering wheel without starting the car. His errands are done—he just dropped off a huge load of liquor to the club and now his only obligation is to go home to his husband.

 

            Chanyeol bangs his head against the wheel which makes the horn beep and startling him from the sudden, loud noise. He turns the key in the ignition and pulls out of the car park, and begins aimlessly driving around. He needs to figure out what to say to Kris. He needs to figure out what he’s going to do with this situation. He needs to figure out when Baekhyun will stop being an , so he has someone to talk to about all of this. He needs to figure out what to do if anyone finds out about the transaction he had with Suho. He needs to figure out—

 

            All thoughts fade away when Chanyeol spots a mobile store. He pulls into the car park and rushes inside to avoid getting soaked by the rain. It only takes him a half hour to add on another line to his contract and pick out a phone for the new line. Chanyeol is unsure why he just bought another phone, but he shrugs off the uncertainty as he heads back to his car and finally drives home.

 

            Right when he parks his car in his driveway, his mother calls him. “Hello?” Chanyeol answers, turning the car off.

 

            “Chanyeol, darling, how’d everything go?” His mother asks, partially out of curiosity and partially out of concern.

 

            “Um …” He really doesn’t want to lie, but he can’t tell her the exact truth. “Well, it went,” he responses after a moment. “Just about everything went smoothly.”

 

            “What didn’t?”

 

            “Well, that man tried to take Kris back, but I gave him the restraining order and got Kris out of there,” Chanyeol says. “And then Baekhyun yelled a bit, but overall, everything is okay.”

 

            Chanyeol's mother can sense that this is hard for her son, especially if his best friend is not on the same page as him. She can’t help but sympathize for him so she comes up with an idea. “If that’s the case,” she says, “and since you couldn’t make it home this weekend because of everything, you should try to make it here on Monday.”

 

            Chanyeol knows that when his mother says try, she really means that he better get himself to downtown Seoul one way or another. He sighs as he mentally goes through any obligations he might have for the next few days. “I don’t know, mom. I have the club and—”

 

            She cuts him off. “Chanyeol, I am your mom and I know you. Stop pulling excuses out of your bum and make the trip. The girls miss you and so do I.”

 

            “I was there like not even two weeks ago,” he argues.

 

            “Doesn’t matter,” she retorts. “And I’d love to meet the boy my son is helping. Is that so much to ask for?” her voice is gentle and full of intention to make Chanyeol feel guilty.

 

            “Fine,” he agrees after a couple minutes. “But I can’t promise that it will be a good visit or anything.”

 

            “That’s fine,” she chirps. “I just want to see for myself.”

 

            “See what?”

 

            There’s a pause and Chanyeol does not like it. “Oh, I have to go. Charlotte is calling on the other line and we have an event coming up. I’ll see you soon, bye darling.” And then she hangs up.

 

            Chanyeol pinches the bridge of his nose and takes a few deep breaths before getting out of his car. When he gets inside of the house, he finds Kris with a stack of DVDs in his hand while standing in front of the TV. He can’t help but think of how cute Kris looks as he is concentrating on the movie titles in front of him. Chanyeol shifts the retail bag with the phone in it from his right hand to his left to change his thought process. “Hi,” he says, getting Kris' attention.

 

            Kris snaps his head in the direction of Chanyeol’s voice and just stands there. It’s like he forgets what he was doing and why he was doing it. He swallows a gulp of air before choking out a quiet hello.

 

            “Are those,” Chanyeol gestures towards the DVDs in Kris' hand, “movies you want to watch?”

 

            “Um…” He looks down at his hands and with one quick movement, he places the DVDs on the shelf with the rest. Kris doesn’t know how long he has been doing this task, but it has to have been a while.

 

            The older boy can see Kris' uneasiness, so he shoots him a smile. Maybe he feels odd after last night, too, Chanyeol thinks. Maybe he doesn’t know what to say. Before Chanyeol gets lost in his thoughts again, he starts talking. “I actually have something for you,” he says as he reaches into the bag. “I figured you didn’t have one, so …” he trails off. Chanyeol pulls the box out and holds it out for Kris to take.

 

            Kris eyes the box and sees that it’s a phone. “Why?”

 

            “Because you need to be able to keep in contact with people.” He has to refrain from using any mean terms, but he wants to. Why can’t Kris stop being so closed-off and stubborn and just get with the program?

 

            “I don’t have anyone,” Kris says honestly.

 

            “But you will.” Chanyeol is sure of this. “Kris, just take the phone. I don’t care if you use it or leave it in a drawer, but just take it. However, you have to have it with you if you leave this house.”

 

            “Leave?” Kris knew Chanyeol wouldn’t keep him around forever.

 

            He nods. “Yeah, like if you go out to the store or the park or something. If you need a ride back or get lost, you’ll have a way to call me.” Kris opens his mouth to say something, but he closes it right away because what is he to say to that and Chanyeol is still talking. “And speaking of leaving, on Monday, we’ll be taking a short trip. From past experience, I’d pack an overnight bag if I were you.”

 

            But you’re not me, Kris thinks to himself.

------

 

            Monday comes rather quickly. Chanyeol stocked up on various snacks for the trip the day before with no input from Kris on what he wanted. On the contrary, Kris continued his nightly jobs with some input from Chanyeol on what he wanted, granted it was based on sounds of approval or pleasure rather than actual words.

 

            Chanyeol has chosen not to talk about it even though he knows he should. Kris should not be doing those things—those nice, skillful, pleasurable things—to Chanyeol because it is wrong. Okay, it’s not that wrong, but it’s not what Chanyeol wants. He wants Kris to feel comfortable and live in the house, not as a guest or a worker, but as an actual member of the house. He needs to talk to Kris and he will; he just doesn’t know how.

 

            During the car ride, Chanyeol does not attempt to make conversation with Kris. Any time he has tried in the past couple of days, Kris barely responds and he doesn’t want to make Kris feel pressured to do anything he doesn’t want to do. Part of him is hoping Kris will ask him where they are going, why they are going there, and what he misses about his family, and the other part is hoping that Kris will move as close to Chanyeol as possible, whisper dirty, but sweet things in his ear and—wait.

 

            Chanyeol pulls over to the shoulder of the freeway and gets out of the car. Kris scrunches his brow in confusion, but remains quiet; Chanyeol is an odd person and Kris is starting to realize that. Chanyeol paces back and forth in the space behind the car, arguing with himself of how stupid he is. What is wrong with him? He cannot be having those thoughts about Kris. He does not fancy guys. He’s just lonely, he has been his whole twenty years of life, and his mind is clouded. The wind blows, making it even colder and Chanyeol wraps his arms around himself over his coat. Just because Kris is the one who is doing those things to Chanyeol does not mean that Chanyeol likes him like that.

 

            When Chanyeol gets back in the car, he reaches over to the backseat and grabs a bottle of water. To be honest, he’d love something stronger, but he’s driving and he can’t put Kris' life in danger. . He means, he can’t put either of their lives in danger. Chanyeol twists the top off and takes a long sip of water.

 

            “Everything alright?” Kris asks.

 

            Something in his brown eyes sparkle which makes Chanyeol feel something he could never explain. . Chanyeol gulps down more water, hoping it will give him some type of buzz to make it through the remainder of this trip without doing something he knows he shouldn’t do. He lowers the water bottle from his face to find Kris looking at him expectantly, with pink parted lips and big brown eyes and soft blonde hair. . He exhales before he says, “I'm fine.”

 

            Chanyeol shifts the car back into drive and slowly weaves his way back onto the road. He turns the music up a few notches to help him not completely think of Kris, but this plan fails him. “I like this song,” Kris says. He then starts humming along and Chanyeol nearly collides with the car in front of them by the sound Kris is making. It’s just so beautiful.

 

            The trip to Chanyeol’s parents house takes a little longer than usual, but they finally make it. Kris is stunned at the house because it is so big and so beautiful, and he hasn’t even stepped inside yet. Kris momentarily looks away from the house to grab his bag from the backseat, but Chanyeol stops him. “I don’t really want to stay the night and we won’t seem so eager, even though we’re not, if we come in without any luggage.”

 

            Kris nods before placing the bag back down on the seat and shutting the door. “Who’s house is this?”

 

            “My parents," he answers simply. “Come on, let’s get this over with.”

 

            “Funny, that’s what some people usually say before we have ,” Kris says bluntly.

 

            Chanyeol stops walking and holds his arm out to stop Kris as well. “Let’s not talk about that here, okay?” He is surprised Kris said anything in the first place, but that’s beside the point. His mom may know the whole story, but the rest of his family doesn’t and he wants to keep it that way.

 

            The two walk into the house and almost immediately, Chanyeol’s lower half is covered with a matching set of blond. His mother peers out of the kitchen after she hears her sisters youngest daughters squeal and sees Chanyeol and Kris standing right next to the front door. “Girls, let Chanyeol go,” his mother orders the twins as she walks towards them.

 

            They let go and the one closest to Kris asks, “Who are you?”

 

            “Yeah,” the other chimes in, “who are you?”

 

            Kris looks down at their curious eyes and thankfully, Chanyeol's mother answers for him. “Girls, this is Kris, Chanyeol’s friend.”

 

            “He has blonde hair,” the first one says.

 

            “He does,” the second one agrees. “Can we touch it?”

 

            Chanyeol's mother chuckles. “Why don’t you two run along for now and maybe Kris will let you later? We don’t want to crowd him.”

 

            The twins make a face, but leave anyway, distracted by something else. Chanyeol watches them as they leave and when they’re out of sight, he turns to Kris. “Sorry about that. They don’t have many boundaries.”

 

            Kris shrugs and doesn’t say anything. Chanyeol's mother takes note of this as she leads the two boys to the living room. Chanyeol and Kris sit on the couch with a wide space between them while Chanyeol's mother takes the arm chair across from them. Once the three of them are sitting, she smiles. “So, you’re Kris.”

 

            Chanyeol groans. “Mom.”

 

            For the next couple of hours, every single one of Chanyeol's immediate family members comes through the living room and catches up with him. They question Kris a little bit and it isn’t until towards the end of the first hour that Kris begins to open up a little. The first time Chanyeol sees Kris smile after Chanyeol and his cousin, Cheonsa get into a silly argument which totally makes Chanyeol’s heart swoon. The smile is so genuine that it gives Chanyeol a surge of hope that everything will eventually be okay.

 

            After the Park clan plus Kris have a delicious dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread with chocolate cake for dessert, they retreat back into the living room for tea. Kris and Chanyeol are back on the couch, a little closer than before, but not too close. Chanyeol's dad had to go make an important phone call involving some business deal, so he is in his home office right now. The older girls are upstairs doing homework and the twins are sitting in front of Kris, telling him one of their many stories. He sits there, listening tentatively, saying ooo and ahh when necessary and laughing when either of the twins says a joke. He seems at ease which makes Chanyeol feel better.

 

            The twins continue telling their story about what happened in school earlier that day animatedly, making Kris and Chanyeol participate in their narrative. Chanyeol takes a moment to let himself catch up to all that is happening. He didn’t think that Kris would catch his family’s attention like he did; in fact, it seems like his family loves Kris even though they didn’t know who he was six hours ago. He didn’t think Kris would actually talk and actually be a person, but he did and he is.

 

            Soon, the two youngest of the group are sent to bed. They hug and kiss Kris just like they do to Chanyeol before running up the stairs. His mother keeps the conversation going, never once mentioning Kris' former occupation. It doesn’t take long for her to see why Chanyeol wanted to help Kris so much—he has a spark in him and she is glad Chanyeol saw that spark. The conversation flows nicely and everyone, including Kris, is astounded at how much Kris has to say. He’s always been really quiet and to himself, but there’s just something about being there in that house surrounded by these people that makes him want to change.

 

            Chanyeol's mom's secret plan to keep the boys talking into the night works out perfectly because by the time Chanyeol realizes what time it is, it is far too late to make a three hour journey back to the city. He had a feeling this would happen ergo the overnight bags in the car. When Chanyeol goes out to the car to get the bags, his mom takes the opportunity to have a word with Kris.

 

            “I’m glad that Chanyeol met you. You seem like a good kid,” she tells him honestly.

 

            Kris wants to smile, but he stops himself. “You know, don’t you?”

 

            He doesn’t have to elaborate for Chanyeol's mother to know what he’s talking about. She nods. “I do, but that doesn’t matter to me,” she says. “These past few hours here, it’s obvious that you are not really that person. You are someone better, remember that.”

 

            Kris lets the day replay in his eyes and Chanyeol's mother is right. “Thanks,” he smiles.

 

            “You are so very welcome.” She kisses his cheek. “I’ll see you in the morning, yeah?” She smiles once more before leaving the room to go upstairs.

 

            Chanyeol comes back inside a few seconds after his mom is gone. “Mom went to bed?” he asks and Kris nods. “We should go up, too, then.” Chanyeol turns off the lights as he and Kris go up the stairs to Chanyeol’s old room. It’s pretty much the same as it was when Chanyeol lived here minus the embarrassing posters he had of his favorite musical artists on the walls.

 

            “Nice room,” Kris comments as he spots a teddy that is placed between two pillows on the bed. It is clear that he is mocking Chanyeol so he glares at Kris and throws his bag at him.

 

            They go through their nightly ritual which is basically stripping down and changing into PJ’s and then going to sleep. They don’t have a system, not yet anyways. When they settle into the bed and the lights go off, Kris waits a minute before moving closer to Chanyeol. Chanyeol grabs Kris' hands before he can do anything. “Not here. My cousins are just next door and just … not here.” He drops Kris' hands, trying to ignore how his fingers are long and slender.

 

            Chanyeol thought that everything was getting better, that bringing Kris to his family’s house changed his thoughts for why he is with Chanyeol, that Kris would understand that Chanyeol did not buy him for . Chanyeol thought all of these things, but his thoughts are wrong considering what Kris is doing over the material of Chanyeol’s boxers.

 

            This does not help the unexplainable feeling Chanyeol has been having. .

------

 

 

A/N: This chapter is a bit uneventful...sorry. Comment!