*Italics are flashbacks.

01. Byun Baekhyun x Park Chanyeol

Baekhyun doesn’t quite remember when he got drunk enough to black out. But then again, he doesn’t really remember anything after the initial shot of vodka. He lays in place for a few seconds as he scans his surroundings. He takes notice of the mint green walls and white picture frames lined diagonally along wall. The frames held pictures of different cities and scenic nature settings and he realizes, finally, that he doesn’t know where he is. His head is throbbing and he sees the room start to move. He closes his eyes and rubs his face a little, rubbing the sleep out of his face. He thinks he feels some movement beside him, but is in too much pain to be sure. So he does the one thing that everyone does; he turns to it.

To say he is shocked would by far be an understatement. Scared less seems to fit better. To his right is another boy with chestnut colored hair, sleeping peacefully with the covers covering half his face. Baekhyun sits up immediately and puts as much space between them as possible. The first thing he does is lift the covers to check if his clothes are on and he thanks god that they are.

The stranger shifts a bit and then his eyes are open; looking at Baekhyun. Said boy sits up and good lord is he a giant. Baekhyun shuffles away from the other boy, putting as much distance between them as possible.

“How are you feeling?”

Baekhyun ignores the question and counters with one of his own. “Who are you?”

“Chanyeol, Park Chanyeol.”

“Where are we?”

“My room.”

“Why am I in your room?” Baekhyun feels his heart rate increase. “You didn’t do anything to me, did you?”

Chanyeol immediately jumps on his knees and frantically explains himself. “No! I didn’t! You got really drunk at the party last night and wouldn’t tell me where you lived, so I took you here instead.”

“That’s impossible. I don’t remember meeting you at all. You took me here after getting me drunk, didn’t you?” Baekhyun is now up on his feet, putting more distance between the two.

Chanyeol’s eyes are watery and he panics as he continues to explain himself once again. “No! It’s true. You don’t know me. But I swear I didn’t do anything. You were the one who approached me last night. Please remember.” Chanyeol is close to begging.

“Liar.” Baekhyun turns around and runs his way out of there.

Chanyeol’s heart tightens.

-

It is Monday evening and Baekhyun finds himself in the library after class. He decides that he needs to do something to forget about his encounter with Chanyeol and reading is just what he needs. He takes in the crisp smell of books and smiles to himself. He swerves his way straight towards the fiction section and doesn’t fail to notice his fans follow him with their eyes. He goes to the very back and looks at the middle row and pulls out the fourth book.

“Yes, it’s here!” he squeals to himself and holds the book tight to his chest. He thinks he hears someone call him ‘cute’ but that’s nothing new. He takes his book and hops over to the check out desk and to his dismay, finds a line. He stands behind the last person and soon finds himself immersed in the book’s summary. It doesn’t take long before he is standing in front of the counter, his ID card in hand, sliding the book across the counter.

“Oh, that’s an amazing book.”

Baekhyun halts all sorts of movement when he notices the familiarity in the voice. He looks up and he’s suddenly reliving his nightmare once again. There in front of him is a head of chestnut colored hair and a big, bright grin.

“Its y-you!” he points an accusing finger at Chanyeol. “Why are you here?”

Chanyeol is beaming at the smaller boy before him. “I work here!” he chirps happily.

“Since when?”

“Since school started.” Chanyeol scans the book and slides it back to Baekhyun.

Baekhyun takes the book angrily and walks away. He is ninety percent convinced that Chanyeol is stalking him.

-

Two weeks pass and Baekhyun has long finished his book, but he wasn’t down with returning the book back to the library where he now knows Chanyeol works. But the day the book needs to be return soon arrives and so he drags himself to the library and since he’s already there, he might as well check out another book.

Baekhyun is back in the fiction section, in search for his next book. He spots it quickly enough, but there is one problem. The book is located on the top shelf. The one shelf he cannot reach without the assistance of a stool. He tries, however, reaching as high up as possible. His fingers graze the book’s bind ever so slightly and that’s as far as he gets. He continues to try and is about to give up when someone reaches over him and pulls the book out. The book is in front of him the next second and it takes him a few seconds to see the person who helped him. He frowns at the sight of Chanyeol and his, he notes, annoyingly bright smile. Baekhyun takes a step back and hesitatingly takes the book from Chanyeol’s hands.

“Thank you.”

He avoids all sorts of eye contact with Chanyeol and moves to take a seat on the floor. He figures that if he finishes the book there, he wouldn’t have to check out a book at the front desk. However, to his dismay, Chanyeol is sitting beside him a second later with a book of his own.

“Is it alright if I sit beside you? I promise I won’t do anything.”

Baekhyun thinks about it long and hard. He’s skeptical with the idea, but allows it nonetheless. There’s just something about the other boy’s smile that makes him feel like he would be the biggest jerk in the world if he were to say ‘no’.  However, he does give the permission with much reluctance.

“Sure.”

Baekhyun didn’t think it is possible to smile any brighter, but Chanyeol just has to prove him dead wrong by giving the world’s brightest smile. The king of guyliner uses his book to protect his beautiful eyes.

“That’s another really good book.”

Baekhyun inwardly frowns. He is pretty sure he gave Chanyeol permission to sit next to him; not talk to him. So why in the world is the other boy trying to make conversation with him?

“Aren’t you supposed to be working?” Baekhyun’s words are seething through clenched teeth.

“I’m on break.” Is the unphased reply Chanyeol gives. “I’ll keep quiet now, so go on. Read.”

True to his words, Chanyeol doesn’t speak another word nor does he make a sound. He too reads his own book beside Baekhyun who is so immersed in his book; he fails to notice the intercom alerting them that the library will close in five minutes.

“Have you ever stayed in the library after closing hours?”

He looks up at the sound of Chanyeol’s voice and shakes his head. Chanyeol grins from ear to ear. He stands up abruptly and pulls Baekhyun up with him. The two quickly run to the back of the historical section and hides in between the very back shelf and wall. Baekhyun can feel his heart rate increase from the adrenaline rush and refuses to think that it’s because of the close proximity between him and Chanyeol. Such a cliché area of space.

The lights suddenly shut off, making Baekhyun jump a bit closer into Chanyeol’s hold. He buries his face into Chanyeol’s chest and holds tightly onto the latter’s t-shirt.

“Don’t worry. Just a few more minutes.” Chanyeol comfortingly pats the other’s back, which seems to work quite a bit.

Baekhyun nods into Chanyeol’s body, but doesn’t move an inch away. He likes the scent that came from Chanyeol and it soothes him. That is, until he realizes what he’s thinking and then he is backing a few steps away.

“Alright, the coast is clear.” Chanyeol pulls Baekhyun out of the cramped space and takes out a mini flashlight hanging from his key chain.

“Are you sure this is okay? Aren’t there cameras or something?”

“Nope. They turn all the cameras off five minutes after the lights go off. That’s a secret.” Chanyeol puts a finger to his lips. “So don’t tell anyone.” He finishes with a wink.

Baekhyun is kind of thankful that the lights are off because if they were on, he is sure that Chanyeol would see the blush that is creeping its way onto his face.

“I don’t like that dark.” Baekhyun pouts to himself. “I can’t see.”

Chanyeol chuckles a little and grabs onto Baekhyun’s hands. “Don’t worry; I’ll be your eyes.” The two maneuver around the dark and soon Baekhyun finds them both in the library’s back room, gathering snacks, drinks and any flashlights they can find.

They set up a fort in the corner of the fiction area and brighten it up with their lights. Baekhyun is wrapped in a blanket with a pocky stick sticking out of the corner of his lips. He watches quietly as Chanyeol set pillows that he stole from the kids section, around their small area to make it more comfortable. After he is satisfied with his work, he takes his place beside Baekhyun.

“You seem to know what you’re doing.”

“Well yeah. I’ve done this before.”

Baekhyun feels a little annoyed that he isn’t the first person Chanyeol’s done this with. He is scowling at the snacks laid out in front of them and Chanyeol catches a glimpse of it.

“Once before. I fell asleep in the back and they locked me in.”

The annoyance is gone in a second and Baekhyun is a little confused.

“So what do we do now?” Baekhyun gets bored easily.

“You really don’t remember me?”

The question is sudden and it takes Baekhyun by surprise.

“I can only remember that morning I first met you.”

“No. That’s not the first time we’ve met.”

Baekhyun looks at Chanyeol like he is a madman. Chanyeol chuckles a little at Baekhyun’s expression.

“Although, we did meet in the same way.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Chanyeol leans back into his cushion and puts his arms behind his head as he recalls the memories of their official first meeting.

Chanyeol comes home late from class one night and finds someone knocked out in front of his building. He scans around for any possibilities of it being a set up and realizes that it is just a boy that passed out. The said boy reeks of alcohol and Chanyeol is pretty close to just leaving them when the person calls out for help as if they felt his presence.

“Help me.”

Being the nice person that he is, he helps the person up and into his apartment. He lends the boy his bed and moves to take care of a drunken person. The boy later sobers up for a bit to thank Chanyeol with a smile that wins the taller boy over immediately.

“What’s your name?”

“Byun…Baekhyun.”

The name plays over and over in Chanyeol’s head and he even dreams of that smile. But when he wakes up the next day, Baekhyun is gone.

“I was really surprised to see you here.” Chanyeol turns to Baekhyun and gives him a small smile. “But you didn’t remember me when you came up, but I guess that’s understandable. You were barely conscious that day.”

Baekhyun is nothing but shocked. He remembers drinking a lot on the day of his parent’s divorce as well as not going home that night. Now that he thinks about it, he remembers waking up in a place he didn’t know and did the first thing that came to mind when he didn’t know where he was: run.

“Oh my god. I remember.” Baekhyun feels his eyes start to burn. “You saved me that night. It was you!”

“I was doing what everyone would’ve done.”

“But you saved me! I’ve looked for you, but I just couldn’t remember who you were.” Baekhyun feels hot tears run down his cheeks. “Oh god, I’ve been treating you so badly.”

Chanyeol panics at the sight of a crying Baekhyun and does the first thing that comes to mind.

He hugs him.

Baekhyun’s orbs widen and he immediately feels his heart rate increase at the close contact. Chanyeol is patting Baekhyun’s head gently, whispering words of comfort into the smaller boy’s hair.

“As long as you remember me now, it’s okay.”

“How are you still so nice to a jerk like me?” Baekhyun’s crying has subsided, but he didn’t want to move from his place on Chanyeol’s body.

He feels Chanyeol’s chuckles on his head. “Well, I have liked you for a while now.”

Baekhyun sits straight up and away from Chanyeol with an expression full of surprise.

“You what?”

Chanyeol laughs at Baekhyun’s adorable reaction and repeats himself, “I like you.”

Baekhyun blushes and attempts to hide it by turning away.

Chanyeol sees it anyways.

“I-I’m going to sleep.” Baekhyun shuffles to the far end away from Chanyeol and makes himself comfortable in the little corner.

He hears Chanyeol laugh once again and shivers at the sound of Chanyeol’s voice when he says, “Good night.”

-

Baekhyun feels bothered by the other boy’s presence. It’s been five minutes and forty two seconds since Chanyeol wished him ‘good night’ and here he is, still wide awake. He is pretty sure the latter is still awake and it makes him feel self conscious. He feels his heart beat loudly in his ears and he thinks that he might be falling for the other too.

“Listen to your heart.” He thinks to himself.

He doesn’t give it another thought as he gets up and shuffles back to Chanyeol who is watching him with amusement. He removes Chanyeol’s blanket and crawls in beside him, claiming Chanyeol’s chest as his pillow.

“Good night.”

-

The two wake up early the next morning to clean up and destroy all sources of evidence that they’ve been there. They are both standing in front of the library, both looking different forms of happy. Chanyeol has his signature grin and Baekhyun suspects that blushing has become a part of his face.

“Want me to walk you home?”

Baekhyun shakes his head.

“Okay, I’ll see you then.” Chanyeol turns to walk the opposite way, towards his house when he is pulled back by the hem of his jacket. He looks back at Baekhyun and notices that the boy is blushing up to his ears and refuses to make any sort of eye contact.

“Can I go back with you?” The question is barely above a whisper.

“Will you remember me this time?”

Baekhyun nods immediately.

“Okay.”

3/27/2013