By the time they reached the bus stop it was already dusk, the nightly gloom setting in. The wait for the bus was not a long one, and soon enough they were outside the now familiar studio. The studio was disguised, hidden like a gem between 2 rivalling chicken shops, down a small alley. They were then met by a small flight of metal stairs, before a dark door was revealed. No sign, no plaque, just there to those who knew. This was partly due to the old building itself, and partly a useful tool of protection from sasaeng fans. 

“So how do we get in then” Sandeul whined, after trying the handle for the fifth time. Both realising that only Jinyoung and CNU had spare keys, they groaned in unison. They never took into account the fact that they would be the first ones here. They looked at each other with a grimace, before suddenly Baro jumped in the air.

“IV’E GOT IT DEUL!” he shouted, excitedly jumping up and down, grabbing Sandeul’s hands and making him do the same.

“What is it then!?” Sandeul managed to get in between excited noises coming from Baro.

“remember when we started coming in late and we got really punished when they found out?” he chattered quickly “well I used to sneak in by climbing this railing that goes round the side, then slipping in the toilet window, which is always unlocked”

Sandeul peered round Baro to see this railing he was talking about. His face went pale. This particular railing happened to be up the side of the building, with only enough room for 1 foot, and there was nothing to even grab on to.

“But you can’t do that, what if you fall” Sandeul said worriedly.

“I used to do it all the time. I’m agile, I’m a squirrel it’s what we do” Baro laughed, before placing his palms flat against the brick and hoisting himself onto the narrow railing.

“It looks like its going to break, you will be too heavy” Sandeul fretted “Don’t go any further… BARO” he screeched out, watching as Baro swayed dangerously away from the side of the studio, quickly grabbing onto the window ledge that was luckily in arms reach.

“I’m fine hehe” Baro said in a slightly strained voice “and you are not helping! You should be encouraging not telling me I’m gonna fall, because then I really will”

He let out an exasperated sigh, before hitting the window a few times. Just like he predicted, the window creaked open and Baro grabbed the edges and slid in.

Sandeul let out the air he realised he was holding in. Thank goodness nothing happened, he thought to himself.

He heard bangs and clatters from inside, and figured that Baro probably just knocked over the mop. A few more rustles and footsteps were heard before he heard the rapper nearing the door.

“What’s the password” Sandeul heard, muffled from the other side of the door.

“Baro I’m cold just let me in” he replied irritably. Slowly the door opened, and as Sandeul made his way inside, he was met by a hard body blocking his path.

“What are you doing Baro, move I wanna get in” Sandeul moaned

“Say please first, where are your manners young man” Baro teased, holding onto the door frame.

“mpfhhhh”

“I didn’t quite catch that duckie” Baro laughed. Sandeul was now pushing himself against Baro with all the force he could muster and he had to admit, Sandeul was pretty strong if he put his mind to it.

Before he could recall his thoughts, his fingers loosened their on the door frame, and that was all it took for them both to stumble backwards onto the training room floor.

“owww” Sandeul groaned, before looking down and realising he as lying on top of Baro, faces inches apart. His face blushed a deep shade of red, and they locked eyes, both hearts beating fast. Neither of them moved at first, both too shocked to do anything but stare in disbelief at each other. Sandeul tried to think of anything, anything at all to distract him from the compromising position. He noticed Baro had a damp leg. “One question, why is your leg wet?” Sandeul questioned

They both got up, awkwardly sitting there, wondering what just happened and if it was a dream.

“I kinda accidentally… fell in the toilet when I came in through the window” Baro mumbled, his face going even redder, but relieved that the awkward atmosphere was gone. Sandeul was now shaking with laughter, at him, but Baro would have it no other way. They always made jokes at each others expense. At least, he thought, no friendship was harmed.

“I’m setting up the sleeping bag now” Sandeul called through to Baro, who was washing up. It was unfourtunate, but Sandeul left his spare key at home and Baro had lost his altogether, so the dorms were a no go. Luckily Sandeul had brought a double sleeping bag suggested by his mother.

“Now you never know when emergencies are going to happen, so take this sleeping bag. Did you say you were going with that nice young man Baro? Ah take this double one of me and your dads”

Sandeul thought about how he hated it when his mother fussed, but he was glad in this instance.

Baro came in the room wearing only boxers and a tank top. Sandeul may have stared a bit longer than friends should. His pale, milky expanse of skin, toned stomach visible through the thin material, those arms, with muscles perfectly defined and strong. Sandeul’s face flushed and he looked down, fidgeting with his fingers. Baro was oblivious to this, as he was in his own head, thoughts flying around about sleeping with said duck. His eyes travelled across the room and met with Sandeul’s, exchanging a look that sent electric currents through their bodies before they both quickly diverted their gaze, muttering excuses to each other.

Sandeul chose the right hand side of the sleeping bag. He described it as being the most comfortable side. Baro, of course, knew this was nonsense but decided it was probably best not to argue with him, as they had both had a pretty long day. Baro slipped in, and they pulled the cover over them.

Lying on their backs they sighed in unison.

“It’s funny how it worked out like this. Imagine if I’d always been too self conscious to sing huh. I would have never met you or the others, and I definitely wouldn’t be sleeping on a hard wood floor” Sandeul said, in a reflective tone.

“yeah” Baro replied “I mean today was fun right? You embarrassed yourself and so did I. That spells success in my book” They both lightly chuckled.

“Anyway” Sandeul said cheekily “I think stepping into the toilet is worse than singing in public”

“Hey, you forgot about running after the train like the main character of a romance film after you thought I was still on it. I don’t know whether to be flattered, or worried that you are a bit of a ditz” Baro said, a hint of pink tingeing his cheeks. Luckily the darkness of the room hid any embarrassing giveaways.

“Haha I just didn’t want to be left at the train station all alone” Sandeul protested, turning away from Baro, his face heated.

“Whatever duck face” Baro retorted “Right well I’m gonna try and get some sleep now so goodnight babe”

Baro could have hung himself right there. What possessed him to say babe

Sandeul visibly froze. Did Baro just call him babe, or was he imagining it.

“ummm… night Baro”. No response. He must be pretending to be asleep, thought Sandeul to himself.

When Sandeul returned to the task at hand, sleeping, he found he could not get Baro’s words out of his head.

It was about 3am when Sandeul woke up, feeling a warm constriction on his back. He was momentarily stunned, but then soon realised where he was and what was happening. Baro was back hugging him. Tight.

Sandeul was dumbstruck. What could he do? For awhile he just lay, thinking. Enjoying the warmth of another body. The strong arms around his torso were quite comforting, until he discovered that he was sweating slightly, and if Baro woke up, it would be all kinds of awkward. Sandeul slowly manoeuvred his body so that he was lying on his back. He let out a breath, before turning once again, only this time to come face to face with a sleeping Squirrel. Sandeul was so shocked he let out a little “oh” before clamping his hands over his mouth, as Baro stirred in his sleep.

Sandeul could hear his own heart; Baro removed all contact with Sandeul and turned around to the other side. ‘Phew’ Sandeul thought, slipping quietly out of the sleeping bag and heading towards the bathroom.

Once he got inside he locked the door, grabbed the sink and stared hard at his reflection. His messy hair and flushed cheeks looked rather ambiguous, but he was far too relieved to care about anything like that. He ran a hand through his messy locks, wondering just why his heart was still going a mile a minute. Sure Baro was handsome, but he was also Baro, the squirrel princess that liked to lighten the mood during training. He was simply a close friend. That was all. Sandeul tried convincing himself that for a good 5 minutes, before re-entering the training room.

He was met by an unexpected sight. Baro was clutching at the covers, face contorted, pale and sweaty. He was mumbling incoherencies, tossing and turning, clearly having a vivid nightmare. Sandeul rushed to his side, grabbing his face and cooing for a bit. When Baro stopped thrashing around, his face was still scrunched. Sandeul was searching for what to do next, until he remembered. Whenever he had nightmares, he always woke up from the horrors to his mum singing softly to him.

“might as well give it a shot” Sandeul whispered, before starting, slow and melodic, while running his hands through Baro’s hair. It wasn’t long before he was sleeping soundly again, soft breathing against Sandeul’s shoulder. Sandeul only realised he had been smiling wide when he felt his cheeks ache. He was falling hard.

A/N

Everyone loves a human teddy right?