Everyone would probably be expecting that Chanyeol and Kris had met up in the park on midnight and had a long heart to heart talk under the gentle twinkle of the stars which would ultimately end up in them becoming a couple and they would live happily ever after.

I’m sorry but this is not the reality you wanted.

      After Jongin had dragged Chanyeol away from the mall, they quickly went to Jongin and Kyungsoo’s shared apartment. There were still some pans and broken plates by the door, a sign that the two had actually fought. Chanyeol cringed looking at them. Poor silverware.

“Kyungie baby?” Jongin called out shyly.

Chanyeol couldn’t help at snicker by the difference of his best friend’s tone from the usual.

     A small fair man with round eyes stepped out from one of the rooms with a bandana on his head and a broom on his hands. Even Chanyeol couldn’t help but coo at how adorable Kyungsoo looked. Jongin quickly ran to his boyfriend and gave him a tight hug while apologizing. Kyungsoo hugged him back awkwardly, nodding and saying his own share of apologies. Chanyeol sneezed.

“Oh, Chanyeol, I didn’t notice you.” Kyungsoo blushed, pulling away from the hug.

Chanyeol smiled sheepishly. “How much taller should I be for you to notice me then?”

Jongin rolled his eyes. “Ignore him, Kyungie. He probably wants you to answer as tall as that Kris of his.”

Kyungsoo turned to his boyfriend, eyes strangely sparkling. “You’ve met Kris hyung?!”

“Yes . . .? Wait, how do you know him?” Jongin raised an eyebrow.

Chanyeol quickly pulled Kyungsoo to the kitchen. He didn’t want the two to fight again. “Soo, I missed your kimchi spaghetti. Mind making me some?”

          Jongin was making noises of protest but they went unheard because Kyungsoo cooking is a very focused Kyungsoo. Chanyeol distracted Jongin by luring him with video games. Knowing Jongin’s competitive streak, he knew the younger couldn’t refuse.

       After several rounds of Street Fighter and many bruises to Chanyeol’s pride, Jongin had forgotten all about Kyungsoo’s excitement over Kris and the three were now eating kimchi spaghetti. Chanyeol genuinely felt happy and relaxed.  He had missed the couple fighting about the most random things but would make up within the next minute.  If Baekhyun was here, he would probably keep making passes at Kyungsoo just to annoy Jongin. It was how they had always been. When Kyungsoo got up and excused himself saying he had to sleep, Chanyeol noticed how late it had gotten. It was already 11.

“Don’t you have somewhere to go?” Jongin asked quietly.

Chanyeol chewed on his bottom lip. “Shouldn’t you be stopping me?”

“Do you want to be stopped?” Jongin rolled his eyes. “It doesn’t matter if I stopped you if you’re just going to go ahead and do it.”

It went silent for a long while before Chanyeol spoke up. “I’m scared, Jongin.”

Jongin sat up, tilting his head. “Why would you be scared? Shouldn’t you be happy? I mean this is what you’ve always been waiting for.”

“I know that, . It’s just . . . Kris and Tao broke up just last night and I really don’t want to be the rebound for this situation.”

“What if he actually still likes you though? Tao and his bull aside, of course.”

“We can’t know that for sure.” Chanyeol sighed, running a hand through his messy hair. “I don’t want to risk it.”

Jongin groaned, staring at the ceiling. “So, what are you going to do?”

     Kris had arrived at the park way earlier than he should have. He couldn’t wait to hear what Chanyeol would say. A small smile graced his handsome features as he remembered the warmth that spread across his chest when they leaned against each other earlier. Chanyeol. He was in love with his gangly best friend. If it was a snake, it would’ve bitten him already. How could he not have known? He checked his watch. 11:30 pm. Thirty more minutes. He pulled his jacket closer to him. Why was it so cold this time anyway? He rubbed his arms for some friction.

     When he heard footsteps approaching, he quickly stood up and grinned brightly. His smile fell when he saw Luhan instead of Chanyeol though.

“Why are you here?” Kris asked.

Luhan smiled sadly, walking closer to hug him. “Let’s go home. You’re staying with Hunnie and I.”

Kris raised an eyebrow. “I’m waiting for Chanyeol, Luhan.”

“,he’s not coming. He called me to pick you up.” Luhan said without any real venom.

“B-but, why not?”  Kris stammered.

Luhan could only shake his head and started pulling Kris to his car.

        Two weeks. That was how long Chanyeol had stayed cooped up in Jongin and Kyungsoo’s shared apartment. Kyungsoo was getting worried about him because he would mumble to himself most of the times and it was very creepy. Jongin, on the other hand, wasn’t so kind.

“Okay that is it.” Jongin stood up and kicked Chanyeol’s . “Get up.”

“No.” Chanyeol muttered childishly.

“Park Chanyeol, get your out of this house.” Jongin kicked him again.

Chanyeol swatted his foot away. “I don’t want too. Go away.”

“This my house-“ a cough came behind him. “Our house, Kyungsoo’s and mine. Now go get your together and talk to Kris.”

“No. I like my messy, thank you very much.” Chanyeol groaned, wrapping the duvet around him closer.

   He heard Jongin cursing before another set of more quiet footsteps walked near him. Chanyeol bit his lip. He didn’t want to talk back to Kyungsoo. He had always been very kind to Chanyeol and he really didn’t want to create a fight with him.

“Chanyeol, look at me please.”  Kyungsoo’s soft voice rang across the room.

With much distress, Chanyeol slowly removed the duvet and looked at his wide eyed friend. “Y-yes?”

Kyungsoo brushed some of his hair away. “You really love Kris hyung, don’t you?”

Jongin groaned in the background. No one cared.

“I, uh, I guess.” Chanyeol blushed. “W-why?”

“If you really loved him, does it matter that he loved Tao before? You know him the best. Do you really think he’ll say that he loves you just for rebound?” Kyungsoo’s plump lips were set to a cute pout.

Chanyeol stiffened. Kyungsoo was right. He knew Kris the best. How could he have thought Kris would do that to him? “Oh my gosh.”

        Chanyeol quickly sat up, nearly pushing Kyungsoo down to the floor. Luckily Jongin had caught him in time. Chanyeol threw them an apologetic smile before running out the door.

Jongin groaned. “Yah, Chanyeol! Put on some pants first!”

      Chanyeol had a hard time finding Luhan and Sehun’s apartment. He was always bad with directions and it took some time before he realized that he can call either of the two to ask. Luhan didn’t seem to want to help him though since his number was blocked after the second time he tried to call. He couldn’t blame him.  Luhan enjoyed tormenting Kris as much as their other friends but he could be very protective of that giant too.

“Kris is my soul brother okay?” that was his only explanation when asked why.

      Chanyeol had no other choice but to ask Sehun. He and the younger weren’t particularly close since Sehun was sure that everyone out there was determined to steal Luhan from him. He had barely became Kris’ friend so his chances with him wasn’t all that great.

“Uh, hello?” Sehun’s stoic voice called out.

Chanyeol’s eyes widened. “You actually picked up, oh my god.”

A pause. “Do you want me to hang up then?”

“No,no! I just… well, how do I get to your place again?”

Another pause. “This is Chanyeol hyung, right?”

“Yeah, wow you remember me.”

Then Sehun’s tone became cold. “You’re the reason that giant is here with us, right?”

“Eh, do you mean Kris?”

“Yes,I mean him! Who else is a giant beside you? What did you do to him? wait, I don’t care. Just get him out of here. Luhan won’t cuddle with me because he feels bad for his ‘soul brother’ whatever that is! I need my Luhan!”

Chanyeol placed the phone away from him. wow he made Sehun yell. “Er, are you done ranting?”

“No I am not! Get your giant to a coffee shop called Little Deer and I’ll bring you to our place.”

Chanyeol gulped, nodding. “O-okay, er, Sehun?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you kill me in public?”

“If you don’t get that giant out of my place soon, I might.”

       Chanyeol ran to the coffee shop, sighing in relief when they also sell bubble tea. One thing he did know about Sehun was he liked-loved- bubble tea. He ordered their best seller and found an empty table to wait. He didn’t have to wait long. Sehun came in with rose hair and his usual stoic face. Chanyeol opened his mouth to comment about his hair color but then again, he liked changing hair colors.

“That for me or you?” Sehun sat down across him, pointing to the bubble tea.

Chanyeol cleared his throat. Even though he was at least two years younger, Sehun always made him feel nervous. “Y-yours.”

Sehun nodded, quickly taking a sip. “ up.”

        Sehun finally led Chanyeol to his shared apartment after two more cups of free bubble tea. Chanyeol could only follow after weeping at the loss of a month’s worth of allowance. He better get Kris after this or he was going to be begging off money from Jongin again.

“My bambi~” Sehun cooed, opening the door.

Just as expected, Luhan was standing on the other side. “Hunnie~”

Chanyeol tried not to barf.

“I miss my little deer so much. Can’t we kick the giant out?” Sehun pouted, immediately hugging his boyfriend.

Luhan swatted his arm. “Yah, that’s Kris you’re talking about and no we’re not.”

Chanyeol coughed. “Er, I’m here.”

Luhan’s eyes widened, almost reaching the size of Kyungsoo’s eyes and all but pushed Sehun away to block the entrance. “What are you doing here?”

“I didn’t know you can use that kind of tone.” Chanyeol mumbled absentmindedly.

The doe eyed boy spun around and glared at his boyfriend. “Why did you bring him here?!”

Sehun raised his hands. “Chanyeol hyung said he can help Kris hyung out.”

Since when were they called hyungs? Chanyeol shrugged. “Where is he?”

“Luhan, you’re yelling. What’s the matter?” Kris stepped out one of the rooms to see what was going on. He froze on his tracks when he saw Chanyeol awkwardly standing there.

“Go back inside, Kris.” Luhan ordered.

Kris rolled his eyes. “Don’t pull out that gege business now.”

Luhan squinted his eyes. “Wu Fan.”

      Kris snorted slightly, going back in his room only to come back out with a jacket on hand. He walked past Sehun, ruffling his hair which of course earned a glare from the younger. Luhan was harder to get past. He stood his ground by the door until Kris whispered something in his ear. Reluctantly the doe eyed boy retracted his hands and stood by Sehun which earned a smile from the blonde.

“So . . .” Chanyeol started when they finally reached the park near the apartment.

Kris sat down on one of the benches. “Sorry about Luhan. His motherly instincts are on high alert.”

Chanyeol stood awkwardly, not knowing if he was allowed to sit down. “Don’t worry about it. I understand.”

Kris raised an eyebrow. “Why don’t you sit down? I’m not going to bite.”

Chanyeol sat down slowly, keeping his eyes away from the man beside him. “So, how have you been?”

“These past two weeks have been hell actually.” Kris sighed, playing with his fingers.

“I’m sorry.”

Kris raised an eyebrow. “Why are you sorry?”

Chanyeol swallowed. “We were supposed to meet up, right? I just couldn’t because . . .” he stopped, trying to will his tears away. “You just broke up with Tao. I didn’t want to be your rebound because that would hurt a lot. My feelings are true though. They have always been.”

Kris just sat there, jaw slightly agape.

“Please, tell me you’d give me another chance. I really really didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.”  Chanyeol kneeled down in front of him, crying already.

Kris panicked. “H-hey, Yeollie. Look at me. Come on.”

     Chanyeol shook his head, burying his face in his best friend’s lap as he continued to cry. Kris was probably disgusted by him but just didn’t have the heart to tell him. He felt warm hands lifting his head and the soft pads of Kris’ thumbs wiping his tears away.

“Chanyeol, please stop crying. I don’t even know what you’re talking about.” Kris pleaded.

“W-what do you mean?”

Kris furrowed his brows. “The only thing I understood was that we were supposed to meet and the rest, I have no idea.”

“What? Then why did you avoid me these past two weeks?” Chanyeol pouted.

“I . . . I wasn’t avoiding you.”

Chanyeol’s jaw hang open. “Stop lying, pabo!” he whacked the taller’s arm.

Kris groaned, rubbing his arm. “I am not lying. Ouch, so violent.”

“Then why didn’t you talk to me?!”

Kris sighed. “I was going to explain that. You see. I got sick for a whole week. Luhan wouldn’t let me leave his place until I got better. Sehun got annoyed by it too. After I got better, I went out to buy us food and . . . well my phone got stolen. Luhan got even worse after that. He wouldn’t even let me out anymore.”

Chanyeol couldn’t close his mouth. He was still trying to digest everything that Kris had said.

“Uh, Yeollie? You look really weird right now.” Kris pointed out.

“Dude, you have such bad luck.” It was the first coherent thought that popped in his mind.

Kris chuckled. “Yeah, I do. So, mind explaining the crap you just said?”

Chanyeol blushed, feeling so stupid all of a sudden. He looked at kris’ waiting face, taking a deep breath. “Kris, I like you.”

Kris stared at him. “A-are you serious?”

Chanyeol shook his head, chuckling when he saw Kris’ face fall slightly. “I love you, Kris. I have loved you ever since high school.”

The blonde opened and closed his mouth a couple of times. When he did say something though, he was trying to sound mad but Chanyeol could see the corners of his mouth twitching. “Yah, why the heck  didn’t you say so sooner?!”

Chanyeol stammered. “W-well, why the heck didn’t you ask?”

“Like I said, I overheard you and Baekhyun.”

Chanyeol snorted. “Don’t use that lame excuse. If you really loved me, you would have said something.” Then he stopped. “Does this mean you do love me?”

Kris chuckled, pinching his cheek. “What do you think?”

The brunette rubbed his cheek. “I don’t know. Why do you think I’m asking?”

      Kris rolled his eyes before pulling Chanyeol up to his lap and started kissing him. Chanyeol let out a small squeak at the sudden action but quickly melted into the kiss. He couldn’t stop the whine that escaped his lips when Kris pulled away.

“Is that enough an answer for you?” Kris teased.

Chanyeol smiled wickedly. “Maybe another one would convince me.”

     Of course, who was Kris to deny him of that?

--

/a few months later/

 “Do you think Luhan hyung will stop glaring at me anytime soon?” Chanyeol pouted, making himself comfortable on his boyfriend’s lap as everyone was gathering to watch some movie.

Kris shrugged, wrapping an arm around his waist. “Yeah, probably around the same time Sehun stopped rubbing in my face that he was ually deprived for two weeks.”

Chanyeol pouted. “It wasn’t even our fault. If you look at it, it’s Luhan hyung’s!”

Kris chuckled, kissing the pout away. “Just be glad we’re together now.”

“Now and forever, right?”

A bag of chips flew to their heads followed by Sehun’s stoic voice.  “I will start beating the crap out of you guys if you don’t shut up.”

Kris waved his hand dismissively, burying his face in the crook of Chanyeol’s neck. “More than forever.”