“I can’t do this anymore.”

Chanyeol could still remember those words like it was yesterday. Kyungsoo had cried in front of him. He had asked for the relationship to be over, because he couldn’t go on with it anymore.

“You’re so insensitive, Chanyeollie... How is it that Jongin is always there for me but you’re not?”

He couldn’t argue with that. He wanted to, but his brain couldn’t produce any kind of rebuttal at that moment. Chanyeol realized that what Kyungsoo had said was right, he had spent more time with Jongin than with him, the official boyfriend.

“I can’t go on like this...”

Kyungsoo left without turning back.

A week had passed and Chanyeol was still being Chanyeol: calm, composed and cool. He didn’t seem affected by the break up. In fact, no one would know that the relationship had ended if it wasn’t for Junmyeon. Junmyeon, who was close to Kyungsoo like a brother, had accidentally spilled the beans when the four of them—Chanyeol, Junmyeon, Sehun and Luhan—had gone shopping.

Luhan was examining a shirt before he turned to Chanyeol. “Chanyeol-ah. If Kyungsoo is around, I’m sure he’d buy this for you. He likes to see you in this kind of shirt, right?”

Chanyeol looked down to his shirt. Luhan was right. The shirt he was wearing was Kyungsoo’s choice.

“Well, now that Kyungsoo isn’t going to be around anymore, he’s just gonna have to buy everything by himself...”, Junmyeon muttered quietly to himself.

He didn’t expect the others to hear but Sehun did.

“Kyungsoo’s not gonna be around anymore?”, Sehun repeated. “Is he moving away?”

“Silly. That’s not it,” Luhan smiled at his boyfriend. “It means they’re not together anymore.”

Luhan’s eyes widened in surprise when he realized what he had stated. Sehun’s mirrored his expression.

“You guys are not together anymore???”, the couple spluttered in unison.

Chanyeol ignored the question and went to observe the shirt Luhan had talked about. The shirt was nice...it was cotton with short sleeves and he liked how it was checkered. Chanyeol flipped the shirt over to look at the price and shrugged. It was also affordable. “I’m gonna take this one.”

“Yeah, I’m sure Kyungsoo—I mean, you’re gonna look good in it,” Sehun got a nudge on the ribs from Luhan.

“I’m sorry,” Junmyeon apologized to Chanyeol when both of them were by the cashier to pay.

“I don’t mind. Sooner or later people will find out anyway.”

Junmyeon opened his mouth to say something, but then the cashier informed Chanyeol the price of the shirt. The taller of the two grabbed a few bills from his wallet and handed them to the girl. Junmyeon waited until everything was done. When Chanyeol put the wallet back into his pocket and grabbed the plastic bag, Junmyeon tried again.

“Aren’t you sad that the relationship is over?”

Chanyeol looked nonchalant. They were walking behind the HunHan couple who were lost in their own world, clinging to each other and sharing a laugh.

“Kyungsoo...cried, didn’t he?”, Chanyeol added.

“Yes. He cried a lot.”

They stepped out of the department store and Sehun pointed at a restaurant in front of them. Junmyeon nodded quickly in agreement, and both Sehun and Luhan immediately went in to get a table.

“He’s gonna be alright,” Chanyeol said as they followed the couple.

“Eh?”

“He’s gonna be alright, because he has Jongin.”

Junmyeon stopped on his track abruptly. He didn’t expect the response to be something like that. Jongin? Well, it was true that Jongin took good care of Kyungsoo after the painful breakup, but Chanyeol was being...

“Suho-hyung!”

It was when Sehun called from the table that Junmyeon snapped back to reality. The others had already settled by the table and were staring at him. He softly sighed. “Coming...”

You really are insensitive, Chanyeol.

 

 

***

 

 

The following week, Chanyeol went to the university with the new shirt he had bought.

Kyungsoo looked up instinctively the moment Chanyeol walked into the class when Jongin had stopped talking abruptly. Chanyeol noticed his gaze and gave him a small smile. Kyungsoo smiled back, hoping for something—anything, for Chanyeol to come to his desk, to say hello or to preferably ask to get back with him. But none came.

Chanyeol walked casually to the empty desk beside Kris before plopping down on a chair.

Kyungsoo felt his heart broke into pieces. He almost sobbed out but bit his bottom lip hard to prevent it from happening.

“You’ve shed enough tears for him,” Jongin almost hissed as he took out his handkerchief. “No more tears, Kyungsoo. No more, please.”

Kyungsoo held his breath and nodded frantically.

It’s just for an hour, Kyungsoo, he told himself. It’s just for an hour and you won’t need to see him until next week. Jongin is here beside you. He’s here.

“Hey,” Jongin rested his cheek on his fist as he stared deeply at Kyungsoo. “I’m gonna dance in the national park today. There’s this gathering and my friend invited me and I just want to go. Would you come along?”

Kyungsoo’s big eyes got even bigger as they widened. “Really? You’re gonna dance in front of people? Solo?”

Jongin chuckled. “Solo is fine. I can dance in group, too. You’ve never seen me danced before, right?”

Chanyeol looked over his shoulder to see his ex boyfriend and Jongin smiling and saw Kyungsoo’s hand on Jongin’s shoulder. It brought a small smile to his lips, instead of feeling jealous he was happy for them. He stopped staring when the teacher walked into the room with a big bag in his hand.

The hour had gone by quickly. Both Kyungsoo and Jongin were gone the moment the class was dismissed.

Chanyeol had nothing else to do. He only had one class for the day and he didn’t want to go home just yet. So Chanyeol decided to wander around the campus by himself. He saw Junmyeon sitting together with Yixing in the canteen looking quite happy. He saw Jongdae in a group study with Sehun, Luhan and Minseok. He saw his other friends, but wasn’t really in the mood to be engrossed in a conversation so he didn’t join them. Chanyeol wanted to be alone.

If he was still in a relationship with Kyungsoo, would he feel like this?

He felt...empty.

But...that was the funny part. Chanyeol felt nothing was too significant to be considered ‘a change’. He felt indifferent. It was as if what he felt before and after his relationship with Kyungsoo was exactly the same.

Kyungsoo was the one who told him he liked him. Kyungsoo was the one who bought tickets to a movie. Kyungsoo was the one who dragged him to the department store to buy new shirts or pants or shoes. Kyungsoo was the one who called him right before he went to bed, to wish him a goodnight sleep. It had always been Kyungsoo who initiated everything.

Chanyeol dropped his eyes. Was I really...that insensitive?

“Where are you?”

Chanyeol overheard someone spoke in a rather high tone. It seemed like he was worried. Chanyeol looked to his right and then left, before finally seeing a male—his body height was probably the same as Kyungsoo’s—on a bench that he was about to pass. The male—his eyeliner was a bit too bold—sat on the bench, with a phone pressed against his ear.

“Again...?”, he heard the male cried out in disbelief. “But...you’ve made me wait for almost an hour! And now you just called me to say that he needs you more? This is the third time this week!”

Chanyeol was hesitant. He could just walk away casually. But instead he stood transfixed to the ground.

“But... I’m your boyfriend, dammit. Not him,” the male palmed his face in exasperation. “Why can’t you be more sensitive to me...? I can’t go on like this...”

Chanyeol held his breath. It sounded familiar.

“If he’s really that important to you, then maybe you should be with him. But...it’s over. It’s over between us...”, he mustered all of his courage to say it and disconnected the call. A moment later, he burst out crying to his hands and sobbing hard. He looked so sad, his shoulders shaking roughly whenever he gasped for air, and Chanyeol thought it was the perfect time for him to panic.

Again, he could just walk away casually, pretending he hadn’t seen or heard anything, but he couldn’t.

Chanyeol dragged himself closer to the crying male, and he somehow felt guilty. Kyungsoo might have been in the same position as him when they broke up. Something inside Chanyeol stirred and he just wanted the male to stop crying. He didn’t seem to notice Chanyeol’s presence because he was too busy hiding his face in his hands.

Chanyeol did the first thing that came to mind.

He touched the male’s hair.

The male stiffened at his touch and slowly looked up. His eyeliner was smudged due to his tears, and Chanyeol somehow found it cute—wait, it’s really not the time to think of something like this, Chanyeol.

They both stared at each other before the taller male ruffled his hair again, before he took the liberty to sit beside him. Chanyeol took out his handkerchief and handed it to the crying male.

“It’s gonna be alright,” he said and the male nodded as he cried again to the handkerchief.

Chanyeol did nothing but to listen to the sobs. He sometimes patted the male’s back comfortingly. Slowly, but surely, the sobbing subsided and the male blew his nose. Chanyeol smiled at the view.

“I’m—I’m sorry,” he sniffed. “Your handkerchief—I will buy a new one for you.”

“It’s okay,” Chanyeol replied. Think. What else should you say?

The male sighed deeply. “I’m so sorry, I must look very pathetic that you had to...”

“No. Please. It’s not like what you think. I just thought...you needed a friend.”

It got the male to smile shyly. “You’re weird.”

“Even though I barely know you.”

“Yeah, that’s the weird part.”

They were silent again until Chanyeol spoke up, “Park Chanyeol.”

“...Byun Baekhyun.”

“Baekhyun-ah,” Chanyeol repeated. It was a nice name.

“Chanyeol-ah.”

“That’s me,” Chanyeol grinned. “So Baekhyun-ah, go get your things. I’ll walk you home.”

“You what...?”

“Well there’s just no way I’m gonna let you go home by yourself after all the crying. What if in the middle of the road you just decided to kill yourself?”

“But...but what if you’re a serial killer?”

Chanyeol frowned. “Makes sense. Okay, let me just take you to the nearest station then.”

He thought Baekhyun would decline, but he didn’t. Chanyeol waited patiently until Baekhyun had finished washing his face in the restroom and went to get his things. They walked to the train station in silence, no conversation was established the whole time. Chanyeol could only find out that Baekhyun was taking medical, judging from the books he held in his arms. And after washing his face and cleaning up the eyeliner, Chanyeol realized that Baekhyun was...attractive. He was so good looking that it made his heart started to beat ten times faster.

Chanyeol felt weird.

Their journey extended a bit more when both of them got on the train.

Like Chanyeol had thought before, Baekhyun’s height was the same as Kyungsoo. But Baekhyun’s skin was more glowing than Kyungsoo’s—he’s prettier, he thought. And judging from his long and slender fingers, he was probably able to play an instrument—piano, perhaps? Chanyeol opened his mouth to strike a conversation—anything, anything to melt the tension, but then he saw the sad expression across Baekhyun’s face and decided to say nothing.

“I’m gonna get off soon,” Baekhyun said suddenly and shifted his weight to another feet. He turned to Chanyeol with a grateful smile. “Thank you.”

It was nothing, Chanyeol wanted to reply, but he could only nod.

When the train stopped and Baekhyun got off, the shorter male looked over his shoulder once again to wave him goodbye. Chanyeol felt like meeting him again. Stupid, why didn’t he ask for his number or anything? He could tell him that if he ever needed someone to talk to...

“Baekhyun-ah.”

“Eh?”, Baekhyun looked at him questioningly. The door was about to close any minute.

“Teach me,” Chanyeol said. “Teach me...to be sensitive.”

Baekhyun’s eyes widened as the door closed. The train had started moving, leaving him no chance to reply.

 

 

***

 

 

He didn’t meet Baekhyun again until the next week.

Baekhyun was talking to Jongin in front of his locker—Chanyeol had no idea that they knew each other. If Baekhyun knew Jongin, there was also a chance he knew Kyungsoo too... Chanyeol waited until their conversation was over and Jongin was out of sight, before finally walking to Baekhyun’s locker.

“Hi.”

“Hey,” Baekhyun looked surprised to see him.

“You know Jongin?”, Chanyeol asked.

“Yeah, I’m in the same class as his boyfriend’s,” Baekhyun smiled. “How are you?”

“I’m—I’m fine,” Chanyeol had the urge to ask more about this boyfriend of Jongin’s but hesitated. He never knew Jongin had one. “How are you?”

“I’m not too good on the inside, but yeah, I guess I’m alright,” Baekhyun closed his locker. “What’s up?”

Chanyeol frowned to himself. Yeah, what’s up, Chanyeol? He had a lot on his mind but they all vanished when he saw Baekhyun. Oh, right. “Um...about the other day...on the train...”

“What about that?”

Baekhyun walked away from the locker and Chanyeol followed behind him. Yeah, what about that, Chanyeol? He scratched his head in confusion. What’s wrong with him? He was never like this before—not even with Kyungsoo.

“About teaching me...”

“Teach you to be sensitive?”, Baekhyun gave him a look. “Chanyeol, you’re sensitive enough.”

“Yeah, I—what?”

“You’re sensitive enough.”

“Sensitive...enough?”, Chanyeol dumbly repeated.

Baekhyun sighed as they reached his class. “I’ll talk to you later, okay?”

“Wait”, Chanyeol hurriedly said and Baekhyun stared at him. “Can I...wait for you until your class is done?”

Baekhyun’s eyes softened. “You would do that?”

“Sure. And uh, I need to find a new handkerchief too...”

Baekhyun chuckled earnestly. “I’ll buy you one then. Okay. Um, see you later?”

“Wait,” Chanyeol said for the second time. “Um, can I have your phone number?”

“Now?”

Chanyeol went blank. “Um... I guess later is fine.”

Baekhyun chuckled again and waved his hand at him before entering the class. That was when Chanyeol realized that the door had been opened all the time when he spoke with Baekhyun, and Kyungsoo was there. Kyungsoo was inside the class. Their eyes met, and they smiled to each other awkwardly.

So he was right. Maybe Baekhyun knew Kyungsoo. Maybe Jongin introduced them. Maybe they knew each other because they were classmates.

Wait, why am I thinking about this? It’s not like I care...

Kyungsoo was the first one to look away.

 

 

***

 

 

“How about this one?”

Baekhyun randomly picked up a handkerchief and Chanyeol immediately liked the pattern.

“Let’s buy that one.”

“Already?”, Baekhyun looked amused. “I want to find one for myself, too.”

“What do you need it for? Don’t tell me you’re planning to have another crying session.”

Chanyeol mentally slapped himself when the words were said. He didn’t mean to. He didn’t mean it at all. He gazed at Baekhyun apologetically.

“I’m sorry. You can hit me if you want...”

“That’s very nice of you to say,” Baekhyun giggled and shook his head. “But it’s okay. I haven’t cried again since the day we met. Don’t worry.”

“So don’t.”

“Don’t...?”

“Don’t cry ever again.”

Baekhyun’s mouth went dry. Chanyeol said it so casually because he wasn’t even looking at him.

“Unless, you know, you cry because you’re happy, like when you pass the test, or you get a present from someone and it’s something that you’ve been wanting for years.”

Baekhyun hid his smile behind his hand. He found Chanyeol to be charming and weird at the same time. How could someone be this handsome and confusing at the same time? And it was new to him. His previous relationship was dull and they rarely talked about little things like these. Wait, what was that? A relationship? No, he’s not in a relationship with Chanyeol. Definitely not.

“So, let’s just take this one,” Chanyeol snatched the handkerchief from his hand. “And if you ever feel like crying again, you can just use this one.”

Baekhyun frowned. “But that means I have to find you first.”

“Exactly,” Chanyeol nodded. “You’re gonna have to cry in front of me.”

Baekhyun felt his face grew hotter, and he realized Chanyeol was serious. Was it because he really did not want him to cry again, or was it because...he cared for him?

After paying for the handkerchief, they walked out of the store. A few steps later, Baekhyun stopped at infront of a mannequin on display with a hand pressed against the glass. He stared with his head tilted to a side. “The scarf’s pretty.”

“Yeah, we’re gonna need one soon, the weather’s going to get really cold,” Chanyeol said beside him. “Where are you going on your winter break?”

“I don’t know yet,” Baekhyun absentmindedly answered. He drew endless spiral on the transparent glass. “I’m thinking of staying.”

“We can plan something together, then.”

Baekhyun kind of liked the sound of that as he turned to the taller male with a grin. “We can.”

They started to walk again. Chanyeol kept on glancing at Baekhyun whenever the male didn’t notice, and he didn’t know why.

It’s automatic.

And what confused him the most was that he kept on comparing the situation with Kyungsoo. He never felt this way when he was with Kyungsoo. He liked being with Baekhyun more. He felt...

His train of thoughts were interrupted when Baekhyun suddenly turned around and Chanyeol bumped into him. With their height, his nose hit Baekhyun’s head perfectly and it hurt. “Ouch!”

“I’m so sorry,” Baekhyun looked up to him in horror. “I—I just—“

Chanyeol noticed the uneasiness and he frowned. He could always go for his nose later. “What’s wrong?”

“My—my ex. He’s...there...with his new boyfriend, I guess.”

Chanyeol’s eyes scanned the big hall. They were at the mall and it was flooded with people. He narrowed his eyes, trying to find who Baekhyun was talking about. Chanyeol then spotted Kris in the corner with someone he didn’t know and their hands were linked. He assumed it must be his boyfriend. “Hey, there’s Kris! It’s my friend. I’m gonna go say hi to him.”

“Kris is your friend?”, Baekhyun went pale.

“Yeah—“

It suddenly hit Chanyeol hard.

“He’s your ex boyfriend?”

Baekhyun refused to say a word and he looked down. “I—I know it’s too much to ask, but...can you just stay here...?”

“Well, there’s always a possibility that I didn’t see him...”, Chanyeol muttered to himself and found the male in front of him was more interesting than to walk away. Baekhyun fished his hands to his jacket and his eyes went back to the scarf.

Chanyeol pretended not to see Kris, but it was kind of hard not to stand out because he’s basically 185 cm tall. Despite the crowd, it turned out that Kris had seen him and was about to make way to his direction. Chanyeol thought of walking away casually, but it was probably too late. So he did what came first to his mind.

“Hey,” he whispered and Baekhyun looked at him.

Chanyeol lifted up Baekhyun’s chin with a finger and leaned down to kiss him.

He could feel the shorter male gasped into the sudden kiss but he didn’t pull away. Baekhyun smelled sweet. Baekhyun’s lips were soft. Baekhyun’s hand on his arm was comforting. Chanyeol closed his eyes, there, the feeling came again, and his heart beat ten, maybe twenty times faster than usual.

Chanyeol lost track of time of how long had it been since their lips met and slowly opened his eyes to break the kiss. Baekhyun fluttered his eyes opened, and a blush was across his face. Chanyeol his lips before sighing and scratching his own hair. He looked around but Kris was nowhere to be found.

“He’s gone,” Chanyeol stated awkwardly.

“Y—yeah? He did.”

“...a drink?”

“Oh God, yes.”

They went to find the nearest coffee shop to get something to drink.

Chanyeol tried not to think about the kiss by choosing the blackest coffee.

 

 

***

 

 

“Rumor has it that you’re dating someone.”

Chanyeol looked up from his book, but Junmyeon didn’t even stare at him. “What?”

“You’re in a relationship,” Junmyeon bit the tip of his pencil with his eyes still fixed on the page.

“Who told you that? Was it Kyungsoo?”

“Nobody. I said it’s a rumor. But seriously, isn’t that a bit too fast? I mean, you and Kyungsoo...it’s only been a few weeks, right?”

He was about to retort that he’s not dating anyone yet, but the last sentence got Chanyeol a bit angry. “Why, because Kyungsoo is still crying over me?”

Junmyeon shifted his gaze to Chanyeol. “I didn’t say that.”

“Forgive me, but I get the feeling that you want me to feel sorry about Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol sarcastically replied. “So I am insensitive when we were dating. And then he dumped me. He dumped me, Suho, he was the one who told me he wanted everything to be over.”

“Chanyeol—“

“Break up may not be the only solution, Suho. He could talk. We could talk. He could’ve told me he wanted me to change. He could’ve told me that I was annoying and being such an . But instead he was just crying and told me he couldn’t go on—“

“He was sad, Chanyeol—“

“And what was I supposed to do? Should I told him ‘No, I didn’t want it to be over?’ Because honestly, Suho, what would you do when your boyfriend cried in front of you, blaming you for everything that happened and you felt like —“

“Has it ever occured to you that he did that because he wanted you to realize your mistakes?”

Chanyeol bit back a reply. He was angry. He was so angry, that he couldn’t think of a single thing to say. First of all because this was Junmyeon. Junmyeon. The one who was always like a mediator between them. He never judged anyone. Hell, Junmyeon was always neutral. So why did he suddenly choose side like this?

“You were never the one to take initiatives, Chanyeol,” Junmyeon said bitterly. “You were never there. You would never understand how painful it was for Kyungsoo when he needed you the most and you didn’t even care at all. Did you realize, Chanyeol? Did you even remember? There were a lot of times when you disappointed him but he forgave you. He always forgave you. And that night. The second month of your relationship. He waited for you all night long, but you stood him up because you fell asleep. You fell ing asleep. Yet you acted like nothing was wrong. Marvelous. Just marvelous, Chanyeol.”

Junmyeon grunted in frustration.

“You know what? I’m glad that it’s over between you and Kyungsoo. Oh, and I really should’ve encouraged Kyungsoo to accept Jongin’s confession from a long time ago. He’s much, much better than you.”

Junmyeon closed his book harshly with a loud sound and left him.

Chanyeol didn’t move. He knuckled his fists until they were white, nails digging into his palms and that he couldn’t feel a thing anymore. Junmyeon’s words were echoing inside his head. He was right. Chanyeol was a jerk. No matter how much he wanted to feel angry at Junmyeon, he had no right to be.

Because he was insensitive.

Kyungsoo always forgave you.

That was also right. Kyungsoo...was never angry. He would only tell Chanyeol that it was okay and he understood. He would smile, but the smile didn’t reach his eyes and Chanyeol... God, Chanyeol was stupid. He was insensitive and stupid. He should probably went after Junmyeon to apologize. However, he was still irritated at the sudden argument and sagged in his seat.

His phone beeped and he lazily took it out of his pocket.

It was Baekhyun.

He only sent him a simple, Chanyeol-ah?

Funny how such a simple text could wipe his anger. Chanyeol took a deep breath before replying with a Yes? and putting the phone on the table. A minute later, it beeped again.

I need you...

His anger was completely gone and now Chanyeol was worried. He quickly straightened up in his seat.

Where are you? I’ll be there soon.

Without waiting for the reply, Chanyeol dashed to the lockers, hoping to find Baekhyun there. He wasn’t. Chanyeol then ran to the bathroom. It was just a feeling, and it turned out that his feeling was right—for the first time in his life. Baekhyun was sitting on the cold floor with his head buried in his knees. Chanyeol immediately reached out to him, and Baekhyun looked up. The latter was crying.

“Baekhyun-ah?”

“I’m—I’m sorry,” he sobbed. “I should’ve waited for you but I couldn’t...hold it back...”

Chanyeol slowly pulled him into a hug. “It’s alright...”

Baekhyun’s sobs got harder as he leaned into the taller male’s touch.

Chanyeol let him cried in his arms. Sometimes he pecked Baekhyun’s hair to calm him down, even though he wasn’t sure if it was going to work. Chanyeol the other’s hair caringly, and he held him tight. What was wrong? What happened? Chanyeol didn’t feel calm at all without knowing why Baekhyun cried, but he needed to be. Because Baekhyun needed him.

When Baekhyun had stopped crying and Chanyeol wiped the tears away with his thumb, he quietly asked.

“Did someone hurt you?”

He got a headshake as a reply.

“That’s all I need to know,” Chanyeol sighed in relief. “That’s all.”

 

 

***

 

 

Chanyeol was still being Chanyeol.

The composed, calm and cool Chanyeol.

But he was more affectionate toward Baekhyun.

He didn’t know why, but the feeling of wanting to be with the shorter male was huge. It was probably what caused him to wait patiently for Baekhyun until his classes were over. It was probably why he queued in line to buy two tickets to the movie just because Baekhyun randomly mentioned that there was a good movie showing. It was probably why Chanyeol ended up buying the scarf that Baekhyun had his eyes on, because the weather had gotten colder and he didn’t want him to catch a cold.

They were not dating. They were not official.

But Chanyeol was comfortable with him. There was just something about Baekhyun that made him felt...different. That Chanyeol wanted him to be safe. He wanted him to always smile. He wanted to...see him every single time.

Unconsciously, Chanyeol’s feet dragged him to Baekhyun’s apartment and blinked rapidly as he arrived. He could give the scarf to Baekhyun tomorrow, but now that he was there... Chanyeol scratched his head. He was thoroughly confused with what he felt. He had never felt like this before. It was different than what he experienced with Kyungsoo.

Baekhyun was special.

Too special.

Chanyeol knocked for the umpteenth time on the door and he finally gave up. Maybe Baekhyun was not home. It was his fault too for not informing the male that he was coming. Or maybe... Chanyeol lazily opened the door knob and he stunned, knowing that the door was not locked. Did Baekhyun leave without locking the apartment? It was a dangerous thing to do...maybe Chanyeol should check the situation, to make sure if everything was okay...

So he invited himself to enter the apartment.

Chanyeol carefully put the bag on the couch and looked around. He liked how Baekhyun decorated the room. The wallpaper had pastel color and it matched the couch and the carpet. Chanyeol checked the kitchen before walking over to the bedroom. The door was opened, and he was surprised to see Baekhyun there.

The male was cocooned peacefully in his comforter. Chanyeol leaned on the doorway, feeling amused and worried at the same time. He never knew that Baekhyun was clumsy—he might need to scold him later. Baekhyun stirred in his sleep and Chanyeol held his breath. He wasn’t ready if the male suddenly woke up and blinked at him sleepily, asking ‘What are you doing here?’ Maybe he should just leave...

But then, something caught Chanyeol’s eye and without thinking, he walked closer to the bed.

It was a collection of photos.

Not just any photos. Kris and Baekhyun’s, to be exact.

Some of them were candid. Some of them were taken on purpose.

Why did Baekhyun still keep the photos? It’s been quite a while, actually, and Baekhyun hadn’t mentioned Kris’ name for the past few weeks. So why...?

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes in dislike. He grabbed the photos and tossed them to the floor. They scattered everywhere with a loud sound and Baekhyun was jolted awake. His eyes widened in fear, before finally realizing that it was Chanyeol who made the sound.

“Chanyeol-ah?”

Chanyeol couldn’t hold it anymore. He leaned forward to Baekhyun to catch his lips—the latter thought it might have been a dream.

Soon, Chanyeol was on top of him, caressing every inch of Baekhyun’s body. When his hand touched the skin underneath the fabric, Baekhyun jerked in embarassment, trying to hold Chanyeol’s hand from going further but the latter just wouldn’t stop. He realized now that it wasn’t a dream. It was real. Chanyeol was kissing him and it was real.

The kiss wasn’t sloppy, the way he claimed Baekhyun’s lips and played with his tongue. When Chanyeol’s thumb jerked over his , Baekhyun let out a moan and Chanyeol took this as an opportunity to slid his tongue in. Baekhyun stiffened, even though they never stopped kissing, but he was tense, and Chanyeol noticed this.

Chanyeol noticed this, and the wild kisses slowly turned into soft, loving kisses. Baekhyun’s body which was half revealed because Chanyeol had lifted the shirt up, slowly was unrevealed again. Their bodies were pressed and Chanyeol hugged him tightly.

He slowly opened his eyes to see Baekhyun’s face was flaming, and pressed his lips against his once again. He could never get bored of the taste of those lips...

“I’m sorry,” Chanyeol whispered against Baekhyun’s lips. His arms were still wrapped around Baekhyun’s body, as if he was too scared to let him go.

“Why are you...apologizing?”, Baekhyun chuckled and softly caressed Chanyeol’s cheek.

“You were sleeping...and I’m sorry for touching you in inappropriate places... And you left the door unlocked, so...”

“Oh my God,” Baekhyun looked horrified. “I did?”

Chanyeol nodded. “I just wanted to make sure if everything was okay...”

Baekhyun smiled and buried his head in Chanyeol’s chest. “That was very kind of you. Thank you...”

They didn’t speak for a moment until Chanyeol placed a hand on Baekhyun’s chest. He felt the heart beating against his palm and Baekhyun looked up at him questioningly. “Your heart... It’s mine, right?”

Baekhyun felt like crying. “Do you want it to be yours?”

“Yes...”, Chanyeol breathed. “I want it to be mine... I want you to be mine...”

“Then yes,” Baekhyun snuggled closer as he felt the tears were coming. “Yes, it’s yours.”

Later that evening, Chanyeol picked up the scattered photos from the floor and tossed them in the proper place, in the trashcan. He was about to burn them in the fireplace but Baekhyun’s expression made him reluctant to just that. Baekhyun only stared at him when Chanyeol had cut some of the photos in half and then some photos where he found Baekhyun really cute, and that Kris wasn’t in the picture.

Baekhyun cried for real when he saw what Chanyeol had bought for him. (“I’m crying because I’m happy and I’ve been wanting this scarf for some time now.”)

 

 

***

 

 

Baekhyun wrapped the scarf on his neck happily. He rubbed his nose before leaning on to his tall boyfriend. “Hey, Chanyeollie?”

“Hm?”, Chanyeol looked down. Baekhyun looked even prettier with the scarf. It matched his skin color.

“Did you remember the last time when I cried in the bathroom? When I texted you I need you and you just suddenly appeared out of nowhere?”

Chanyeol blinked in confusion. Of course he remembered. How could he forget? It was the first time in his life that he felt so panicked that he couldn’t even think clearly.

“Kris came up to me that day,” Baekhyun shyly explained. “He asked me if we were dating...”

“He did? And what did you say?”

“Well, uh...I wanted to say yes, but it would be a lie. At that moment.”

“Ah,” Chanyeol nodded and frowned. “So you cried just because of that?”

“Um, yes...it’s silly, I know.”

“You’re so sensitive crying over things like that,” Chanyeol tousled his boyfriend’s hair playfully and Baekhyun laughed.

“I guess it was because I wanted to be with you so bad but I thought we were never gonna be together...”

Chanyeol then thought for a moment before he finally spoke. “Baekhyun-ah?”

“Yes?”

Chanyeol cleared his throat. “I got dumped by Kyungsoo because he said I was too insensitive. If—if you ever find it to be a problem, please just say it to me instead of breaking me up, alright?”

I’ll never do that.

Baekhyun pressed his lips into a thin line, disagreed. “But you’re sensitive enough, Chanyeollie.”

“You keep on saying that but I’m not sure.”

Well you can’t judge yourself.

“Maybe...”, Baekhyun trailed off and reached for Chanyeol’s hand. “Maybe because Kyungsoo wasn’t the one you love?”

Chanyeol blinked. Baekhyun was right. Maybe because he had felt nothing for Kyungsoo? Come to think of it, he had done a lot of things for Baekhyun which he had never done before for Kyungsoo... He said nothing for a while and his boyfriend thought he had said something wrong.

“Can I...can I think like that?”, Baekhyun looked worried.

Chanyeol smiled before leaning down to catch his lips.

“Sure.”

I love you, Baekhyun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

End.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kyungsoo stared at the kissing couple from afar with a smile.

Jongin looked at him curiously. “Hyung?”

“They’re so perfect for each other,” Kyungsoo sighed happily. “I’m happy to know that Chanyeol’s happy with him. Baekhyun-hyung seems nice. He’s nice, right?”

Jongin rolled his eyes. “Yeah, he’s nice. Let’s just hope that Chanyeol-hyung isn’t going to make him cry.”

“I’m sure he isn’t.”

“Whatever,” Jongin snorted. He still couldn’t accept fact that Kyungsoo could forgive Chanyeol so easily after all that he had done to him. But Kyungsoo was always like that. And that was why Jongin cared about him a lot—and that he needed to protect him.

Kyungsoo stared at Jongin expectantly. “Kai?”

“Hm?”

“I’ve given a thought about it, and yes, I would want to be your boyfriend.”

Jongin made a face.

“What? You mean we’re not dating yet? All this time??”