7 |  Redamancy

It isn’t until halfway through their scheduled shift that Jongdae slinks into the general store.

Chanyeol immediately perks up behind the counter. Although their last encounter had been uncomfortable, he’s still happy to see his friend and is relieved Jongdae has decided to stop avoiding him.

“Jongdae!” he greets his friend happily. “You…uh…”

The other boy runs his fingers through his unwashed hair. “I look like , I know.” His eyes have dark circles that hint his time away from the store hadn’t been pleasant. Jongdae finishes tying his uniform forest-green apron around his waist and leans against the counter a safe distance away from Chanyeol.

“I’m sorry,” he says quietly. “I know I apologized then, but I really am sorry. I don’t know what came over me.”

Chanyeol smiles widely. “It’s OK. We’re good, right? Is everything OK now?”

 “Yeah,” Jongdae says with a half-hearted smile. “You and me are good. But Joonmyun and me… I don’t think we’re going to be good.”

“I can hate him for you if you want,” Chanyeol offers with a hopeful smile, trying not to dwell on the sour relationship. “That’s what best friends do, right?

Jongdae can’t help but grin a little at that.  “Yeah. I guess they do.”
 

Things almost go back to normal. They restock shelves and sneak ice cream treats when it hits 2 p.m. and the heat inside the store intensifies. Jongdae turns on the tall fan in the corner and stands in front of it, outstretching his arms and basking in the cool-ish air.

“Do I look like a supermodel?”

“Always do,” Chanyeol responds. That’s the first time today Jongdae cracks a genuine smile.

“Good answer.” He moves out of the wind tunnel and over to the counter again, bending over it and resting his chin on his fist. “So, how are you and the little hitchhiking cutie?” He bats his eyelashes for good measure.

Chanyeol grins to himself and looks down at the floor. “Things are pretty good, actually.”

Jongdae wiggles excitedly. “Well don’t you look happy? Don’t tell me…” His friend smiles wider. “Park Chanyeol, you coy bastard.”

“I kissed him!”

“You…! Oh.”

“I don’t know what came over me, but he just looked so…perfect.”

Jongdae just smiles. He wouldn’t have Chanyeol any other way. He should probably take a note from his friend, actually. He can only dream of looking that happy over a kiss.

­“Took you long enough.”

“What do you say we get out tonight?” Chanyeol looks up at his mother from the table where he’s trying to do his homework. He likes the days he has off from the store, but that also means he has no excuse to put his assignments off until late. “It’ll be nice. It’s been so long since we’ve gone out. Don’t you think?”

The teenager smiles softly at her. He can’t help but notice how much happier she seems these days. He thinks it probably has to do with the star seated next to him. The two seem to have grown quite close, sharing knowing looks at one another now and then. Chanyeol suspects they talk about him quite a bit when he's not around. “I think that would be great. It has been a while. I think we deserve a treat.”

His mother nods in approval and goes to pick out something a little nicer than her everyday outfit.

Chanyeol turns to the star. “Bath,” he says firmly, since he knows Baekhyun loves to put those off. But they’re going somewhere nice tonight and he doesn’t need Baekhyun repelling the other diners.

“Make me,” Baekhyun says with his usual sass and a twinkle in his eye. It shuts the other up instantly.

They drive to a nice restaurant in the next town over for a treat.  Dinner goes well, much to Chanyeol's surprise. Baekhyun has picked up on most human habits and courtesies. He hasn’t made any social faux pas recently, so that’s a good sign.

He watches Baekhyun swirl his food around his plate, creating a landscape with his food before eating it. He can’t help but smile.

He hears his mom clear , and only then does he realize he’s been staring. The star looks up at him shyly, nose crinkling in amusement. Seems they're both in on something.

He lets Baekhyun sit up front on the ride home and tries not the notice his mother’s knowing looks in the rear-view mirror. The star falls asleep halfway home (he did eat quite a bit, so it’s not much of a surprise).

“You’re fond of him,” his mother says. Chanyeol doesn’t respond, embarrassed that it’s a statement and not a question. “I am, too.”

Chanyeol and Jongdae man the store together that weekend. Baekhyun joins them halfway through their shift, keeping them company and poking through the candy on the counter. Everything is so colorful he can’t decide which one looks the best. But that’s OK because he has a pocket full of allowance from helping Ms. Park with the chores.

Their phones both go off at the same time with a new text – a group chat between their usual friends. Minah wants to have them out to her place for a swim.

Jongdae hums, eyes glued to Joonmyun’s name at the top of the group chat recipients, and then Hyeri’s right next to it.

“You think he’s coming?” he says as nonchalantly as he can.

“You don’t have to come if you don’t want to.”

Jongdae thunks his forehead against the counter so loud Baekhyun jumps a little.

“Sorry. I’ll be right back.” Jongdae excuses himself quickly, looking embarrassed and very much affected by the text.

Baekhyun watches him go curiously. Something is off, but Chanyeol won’t tell him why.

“Is he OK?”

Chanyeol frowns. “He’ll be fine.”

The star studies the boy and then stares off where Jongdae had disappeared into the back storeroom. Sometimes he doesn’t fully grasp human emotion, but he wants to.

“He’s your closest friend, isn’t he? I’ve seen you with your other friends, but he’s different.”

“Does being psychic come with star status?”

“No,” Baekhyun laughs lightly.

“Yeah, I guess he is. We’re a lot alike. I think he gets what a lot of others don’t about me.”

Baekhyun nods but doesn’t press further. “You two have a good aura, you know. I’ve spent a very long time observing humans. A lot of time to read you and notice habits and expressions and body language.”

“You didn’t know what a bath was.”

Baekhyun bites his lip and chooses to ignore that last bit Chanyeol’s pointed out because it would probably give away the fact that he didn’t really study humans extensively as a star. He studied a human. 

Chanyeol borrows his mother’s car to drive out to Minah’s place the next day. It’s another hot one, so he rolls down all the windows and can’t help but stare when the star next to him laughs giddily at the wind whipping their hair around. Baekhyun has helped him start to appreciate the joy in little things like that.

They park near her house and start the short walk out to the lake. By the time they arrive the others are already there, chatting on the banks and putting on sunscreen. Minah sees them and waves them over.

“I’m glad you made it! It’s freshly stocked, just so you know. Hope you don’t mind cute little fishy nibbles!” Everyone looks back and forth between each other, as if trying to come up with excuses to leave before she rolls her eyes. “I’m kidding, geez. You guys are such wimps.”

As they swim, Baekhyun hangs out on the banks, and Chanyeol swims up to chat with him occasionally. He offers to let Baekhyun take a ride on his back, but the star turns him down with fearful eyes.

Hyeri suns herself further down the banks, Joonmyun by her side. He kisses her lazily and playfully tugs at the strings of her swimsuit, and they both laugh when she rolls away from him. Baekhyun smiles at them, how they seem so content in their own little world.

Chanyeol comes up beside him, still dripping, and takes a seat.

“They’re cute, huh?” the star says dreamily. The other boy stays quiet and watches them with narrow eyes. The star calls his name softly, and he tears his gaze away from the couple to focus on Baekhyun again. “Is everything OK?”

“Not really,” Chanyeol says distractedly, his attention returning back to the couple.

Baekhyun frowns and follows his gaze to where the couple sits. They seem so comfortable with each other, comfortable showing so much skin. Here he is in Chanyeol’s too-big clothes under an umbrella, hiding from the sun. He thought things were going well with the boy, but maybe he hasn’t been open enough. Maybe he’s moving too slowly.

Joonmyun helps Hyeri reapply her sunscreen and kisses her neck. Chanyeol can’t take it anymore, their public affection making him that much angrier because he knows how much Joonmyun hurt his friend. It hasn’t even been that long ago. Doesn’t he remember? He’s ready to give Joonmyun a piece of his mind, something he rarely does. He’s never been one for confrontation (he prefers to keep things nice and bottled up).

“I’ll be back.”

The star watches him go with an indignant pout.

“Joonmyun,” he says loudly as he stalks over to the couple. Hyeri swats her boyfriend away in embarrassment and apologizes quietly. “I need to talk to you.”

Joonmyun simply nods and gives his girlfriend a small smile before getting up and following Chanyeol a short distance away to some shade under a few trees.

“I know what happened with Jongdae,” he says after they reach the shade. “We’ve been friends for a long time, Joonmyun. But what you did and how you’re acting now with her just doesn’t sit well with me.” He looks back to see Baekhyun and Hyeri watching them curiously before returning to the conversation. “I don’t know how you can be so casual about it. I thought better of you.”

“I have my reasons, Chanyeol,” he says matter-of-factly. “I wish Jongdae hadn’t gotten mixed up in it, but it happened. I regret it, but I can’t change it.” Chanyeol glares at him. He’s being so calm about everything, it makes Chanyeol that much angrier. “I really do care about him, though. I wish he knew that.” Joonmyun sighs and stares at the ground. “Would you tell him? He won’t return my texts.”

“No.” Joonmyun looks up at him, startled. “Call him and tell him yourself,” he says as he turns and stalks back to Baekhyun and the others.

The star eyes him curiously as the teenager plops down with a huff beside him. He’s never seen Chanyeol this angry before.

“Hey,” Baekhyun says, finally breaking the silence. “Let’s go for that swim you mentioned earlier.” Chanyeol looks surprised at the suggestion, what with his deep fear and phobia of water. “You said you wouldn’t let anything happen to me, remember? I trust you.”

Chanyeol gives Baekhyun a sheepish smile and nods, nearly all anger disappearing. Baekhyun has a way of doing that. He’s always saying things like that. It makes Chanyeol feel like maybe the star cares for him just as much as he does for the other.

The tall boy scoots over behind Baekhyun and asks him to take off his shirt so he can apply some more sunscreen. Probably the heavy-duty kind, seeing how pale he is. The star nods happily and tosses the t-shirt to the side carelessly, stretching out and basking in the pink glow he feels settling beneath his skin. He feels like now he fits in a little better with their other scantily clad friends, and thinks maybe like this Chanyeol’s attention won’t be fixed on someone else.

He sighs contentedly as the boy starts to cover him in sunscreen, feeling Chanyeol tense as he does so. The teenager takes his time, taking care to even get the backs of his knees and his ears. He doesn’t exactly know what happens when a star gets sunburned.

“All done,” he says finally, and Baekhyun leans back until he’s staring at Chanyeol upside-down. He giggles and thanks him, and the auburn-haired boy can’t help but genuinely beam at how cute he is. It gets him every time.

“I didn’t think you’d actually swim, but I came prepared just in case I convinced you,” he says and pulls a pair of old swim trunks from their bag. They’re from when he was younger, so perhaps they’ll fit Baekhyun a little better than his other clothes that are always a few inches too long.

“Thank you!” Baekhyun chirps happily, stands up and promptly sheds the last of his clothes. Chanyeol just stares, speechless and horrified. Baekhyun grabs the swim trunks and pulls them on. “Let’s go!” he says happily.

Thankfully no one seemed to have witnessed that. Minseok and Minah are in the middle of some kind of splash war, and Joonmyun and Hyeri look like they’re bickering about something, the earlier happy bubble seemingly burst. Chanyeol is just glad Jongdae didn’t come. He’d had a field day with this one and would likely never hear the end of it.

The star hops onto his back and clings for dear life even before they get to the water.

“Hey, it’s fine. You still trust me, right?” he says as they wade through the shallow waters.

Baekhyun responds with an offended noise that makes Chanyeol laugh. “Of course I do!”

“Good,” he says with a smile. He wades into water deep enough for the star’s feet to sink beneath the surface, and he can’t help but laugh when Baekhyun squeals in response. His laugh is interrupted when Baekhyun instead clings to his neck a little too tightly.

“Fine, fine, I’m going back! I'm going back!”

They rest beneath the big tree later that night, leaning against its big trunk and on each other. Chanyeol’s house is dark, and they don’t turn on the lights in the branches in favor of looking at the stars, even though the view isn’t nearly as good as in his meadow.

"About earlier... I'm sorry I got angry. It was supposed to be a fun afternoon."

"It was fun!"

"Because of you," Chanyeol says with a smile. "But I was angry because of Joonmyun. Because he hurt Jongdae."

Baekhyun gasps. "He hit him?"

"No, not that kind of hurt. He broke his heart."

The star cringes. "That sounds painful. How did he do that?"

"It's an expression..." Chanyeol isn't sure how to quite explain things to Baekhyun sometimes. "It hurts, but not like getting hit. It hurts here." He points to his chest and Baekhyun watches him with shining eyes, trying to understand. Chanyeol sighs and gazes up at the night sky. "I think Jongdae loves Joonmyun. But Joonmyun doesn't love him back."

"He said that?"

"He made it pretty clear."

Baekhyun can feel moisture start to gather in his eyes. The thought of Chanyeol not caring for him in return... The thought alone makes him feel a whole new kind of sadness he's never felt before. "That's awful."

Chanyeol hums. "I agree." He leans over and rests his head on top of Baekhyun's. "That's why Jongdae hasn't quite been himself lately. That's why I got angry today. Because I don't think Joonmyun realizes the damage he's done."

The star hums sadly. He's glad Chanyeol told him, though. He thought the boy was growing disinterested.

"You're a good friend to defend him."

The tall boy thanks him, and the two settle into a comfortable silence for a while, just gazing up at the sky and listening to the sounds of crickets and frogs in the distance.

“Can I ask…what you look like up there?” Chanyeol says as he turns to face the star. He’s been curious for a while. Baekhyun beams and hops up, holding out his hand to help the teenager up, too. He always gets excited to tell Chanyeol about his home, even though he can’t tell him everything. 

“I’m not sure I can show you that. But I can show you this.”

Baekyun lets his eyes fall closed, his face relaxing into a serene expression. Chanyeol backs away when some kind of heavenly aura seems to seep from his skin, as if everything making up his form is escaping its human confines.

“Baek?”

The star doesn’t answer, instead letting his head loll to the side in content. It must feel nice to stretch out in something similar to his true form. Chanyeol steps closer, curiosity outweighing his better judgment, until the ethereal mist surrounds him. Baekhyun suddenly gasps, pulling the misty cloud in closer to caress Chanyeol’s skin. It’s like the warmth he’s come to find familiar whenever Baekhyun huddles against him at night, but intensified. His body tingles all over. He feels the star, but not physically. It hits him all at once and takes his breath away.

Baekhyun looks at him with hooded eyes and motions for him to come closer. They touch and Chanyeol feels like he’s into complete darkness except for Baekhyun’s feelings and thoughts and emotions and memories they’ve shared together. Everything is so open for him to see, how the star feels about him and it makes his heart pound in his chest. But there’s something still closed off, something not plainly laid out for him to see, and when he tries to reach out for it, it suddenly feels so far away, and he knows he’s not meant to know that particular part of Baekhyun. Not just yet.

The star pushes him out, dissolving the mist as it seeps back into him. Chanyeol’s eyes flutter open to find himself standing in front of the other boy, their foreheads pressed together. When he pulls back a bit he finds he’s out of breath, sweat beading on his forehead.

The star seems listless and a bit dazed, regarding Chanyeol through hazy eyes and heavy lids.

“Wow.”

It comes out as a rush of warm breath against his lips, and Chanyeol can’t help but lean closer in response to the sensation.

“What…was that?”

“You were inside me.”

Chanyeol jerks away in response, but Baekhyun holds on tight. He feels even closer to this young man now, like the connection they share is much more intimate now that his feelings for Chanyeol have been laid out so plainly.

“E-Excuse me?!”

“We were connected. You looked into me, into my depths. I felt you there. That was amazing.”

He rolls onto his toes to lean up and kiss the young man he'd just opened himself up to. Body still buzzing and out of breath, Chanyeol kisses him back without a second thought. This time Baekhyun doesn't even think about the stars up above. He thinks only about the boy he loves.

“I’m so glad you came here. That I found you,” Chanyeol whispers against his lips, and Baekhyun only kisses him harder.

a/n

Redamancy  -noun: The act of loving in return.

Hellooo beautiful readers! After a very long break, I'm back! Yay! So sorry for going MIA again. I feel like I've gotten my mojo back. (Maybe?)  I hope you enjoyed this update. :D Star Baek hugs all around. As always, I love hearing from you guys. Hope you're all well!

xoxo