“The last paycheck was enough. You know that, right?”   Bright lights stared down at the couple, indicating the clean, professional-looking building was open. Yifan sighs, tilting his head away from the lights reminding him of what he’s had to do for almost the past year, to look down at his boyfriend, “I know. This is the last time. Just in case.”   Looking back up at him, his boyfriend gives an unsure smile, leaning up a bit and puckering his lips, asking for a silent, reassuring kiss.   Yifan couldn’t help but smile softly, leaning down a bit to gift the other what he wanted. It was a simple, soft meeting of lips, enough to feel the actual wavering love between them as he leaned back only to murmur against them, “I promise.”   Sighing a tired sigh, the younger watches as his boyfriend heads into the building without him this time. His lips form a firm line before turning around and walking away, expecting him to be home by the end of the day like usual, “Promises were meant to be broken.”         ( 07 October 2013 )   The first time Yifan met him, he was literally hit in the neck by the hard edge of a New Era cap that had the drawing of a cartoon bomb on it. He grunted, instantly gripping his neck at the sudden attack, “Hey!”   Turning around quickly, he watched as the other panicked, “I’m sorry!” before reaching out to retrieve his favorite hat back, “The wind is so strong today!”   To say the least, Yifan never expected such a deep voice to belong to such a young-looking face. He scowled, rubbing the sore spot on his neck, “It’s fine.” It’s also the middle of fall – of course there would be a lot of wind, he wanted to add, but he didn’t.   “I’m Park Chanyeol!” the other instantly said after putting his hat back on sideways. He smiled brightly at him, “I figured since my friend attacked you, we should at least know each other’s names.”   The scowl on Yifan’s face deepened into a frown as he eyed the other almost equally tall male opposite of him. He noticed the darker blonde hair that was mostly hidden under the childish hat, the plain vintage white T-shirt that said ‘SWAG’ on it, and the jeans that he must say compliments the other’s body well. Raking his eyes back up to examine the now inquisitive face, he sighed, sticking a hand out, “Wu Yifan.”   He was surprised to feel an enthusiastic handshake from the other, “Nice to meet you!” He watched as the other pointed to the bomb character on his hat, “His name is Adam, and he’s sorry he hurt you.”   Yifan still wasn’t sure if it was a good idea to introduce himself to a guy like this one.     ( 13 November 2013 )   The next time Yifan saw him was a week after his birthday near the area he was first assaulted by, what was it? ‘Adam?’ Furrowing his eyebrows, he looked into the nearby café to see Chanyeol blowing out a single candle on a small cake provided by one of the waiters and, he assumed, his friend. He watched as the friend threw his arms around the other and the waiter patted him on the back.   Looking around the exterior of the café, he couldn’t help but let out a small smile at how quaint it looked until he heard a loud, “Yifan-hyung!” He quickly looked back to the window to see Chanyeol gone but now waving excitedly at him from the entrance, “Hyung! Come over here!”   Yifan was ninety-nine percent sure he was going to run away to avoid being accidentally stabbed in the hand by a kitchen knife (he could just assume that was a possibility considering the ‘hat’ incident), but he was one percent sure the other was a really nice guy and wasn’t going to harm him with a kitchen knife.   He took the one-percent chance.   “Hyung! Come on, and join us! I promise it’ll be fun!” Chanyeol happily said, waiting for him to cross the street and join him.   “What are you celebrating?” he softly asked after slowly following him inside, nodding his head towards the friend before the other left to go talk to the waiter.   “My birthday in two weeks!”   Yifan swiveled his head around, surprised by the answer, “Why are you celebrating it this early?”   All Chanyeol did was shrug, smile still on his face, “Why not?”   “He’s quite a handful. I’m sorry you became friends with him,” the friend suddenly said, appearing beside him in an instant. He was quite short compared to the two of them – he had to admit. “I’m Baekhyun, by the way.”   “Yifan,” he replied back, nodding the acknowledgment, “And we’re not really friends.” He eyed the pout on Chanyeol’s face, “We just met after his hat attacked me in the neck.”   Baekhyun sighed, moving to sit down next to his friend, “I’m sorry again. It happens.”   Yifan quirked a brow in slight amusement, turning back to Chanyeol for a response, which he easily got, “That’s how I met Kyungsoo over there.” He sat down across from them and turned to see the waiter he saw through the window earlier.   He nodded, “But wouldn’t it have flown over his head?”   “It actually bounced off of his head,” Chanyeol laughed, moving to slowly cut the small cake, now into four slices, “It was actually quite funny.”   Face lightening up into a small smile, Yifan watched as Baekhyun rolled his eyes in response, “Not if it caused him to break the cups he was holding while delivering them to customers.”   Yifan would’ve started laughing if his percentages were wrong and he didn’t just get stabbed in the hand by the kitchen knife.   He’s not sure how it occurred, but he noted he should’ve probably listened to his rationale more.     ( 27 November 2013 )   He didn’t know how it happened, but by the time Chanyeol’s birthday actually came around, he found the other lying on his couch in his apartment like he owned the place.   “Why – are you here?” Yifan grounded out through clenched teeth, looking over from his place cooking in the kitchen to see the other swing his legs in the air.   He rolled his eyes when he saw the other sit back up and turn to face him, bright smile in place, “We’re best friends now, right?”   Frowning at the simple question, he turned back to his task at hand. He hated to admit it, but it was true. They hung out every day at the café, talking about the most useless things. Fortunately for Yifan though, Chanyeol would always do most of the talking.   “Hyung, do you like living by yourself?” the other softly asked, lying on his back on the couch this time.   Yifan turned to look back at him but saw nothing but the furniture. He shrugged, turning back to the Chinese stir-fry he was making, “It’s alright. I’m pretty independent, so I know how to take care of my own things.”   He heard humming before another question, “But doesn’t it feel lonely at night?”   This time, he hummed in return, thinking about it before answering back, “I don’t think so. I guess I just got used to it.” He slightly blushed at confessing the next part, “I also sleep with the lamp on sometimes when I feel really lonely, but I just deal with it or keep the television on in my room if I feel like needing it.”   Chanyeol smiled, hearing a similar explanation like that once before, “I always sleep with the lights on, hyung.” He instantly sat up and pointed at the elder, “But don’t make fun of me for it!”   Yifan suddenly laughed at the accusation, forcing himself not to turn around and actually laugh in the other’s face.   “I told you not to make fun of me!” the other whined out, huffing as he turned around to slump against the couch, “You’re so mean!”   “I’m not making fun of you, Yeol!” He really didn’t know when he started calling him by his nickname. “I’m just laughing because you automatically made the assumption that I’d laugh and make fun of you for it. I just told you I sleep with the lights on, too, sometimes!”   He didn’t see it, but Chanyeol widened his eyes in realization, a soft ‘Oh’ escaping his plump lips.   “Come on,” Yifan coaxed, still letting out bits of laughter in between, “Dinner’s ready – let’s eat.”     ( 30 November 2013 )   Visiting the café he’s become so accustomed to within the past month, he smiled, seeing Kyungsoo behind the counter instead of walking around to the various customers, “Hey, Kyungsoo.”   The other smiled brightly at him, “Hey, hyung! Chanyeol’s just in the back. I’ll go get him.”   Yifan just smiled in return, not asking why Chanyeol preferred to sleep back there when he knew the other had his own apartment somewhere near there.   “Hey, hyung! What are you doing here?”   Looking up to the other’s smiling face, he couldn’t help but keep smiling in return, “Hey, Soo. The usual?”   Kyungsoo laughed, nodding in acceptance before going to make the usual coffee for Wu ‘the dragon’ Yifan, “I don’t know why Chanyeol-hyung insists of comparing you to a dragon, hyung.”   Chaneyol gasped at him, “Because hyung obviously looks like one!”   “I do not look like a mythical creature, Chanyeol,” Yifan deadpanned before going to sit at an available table since his usual one was currently taken, “You’re delusional.”   Shrugging happily, the other followed after him, going under the counter entrance to do so, “I’m not delusional. I just like comparing my friends to animals.”   “Oh?” he queried, raising a brow in question. He shifted his eyes to Kyungsoo who was walking towards him with a small, little cake in his other hand, “What’s Kyungsoo then?”   “An owl,” Chanyeol simply said, tilting his head up to smile at their waiter, “Thanks, Soo!”   “I am not an owl,” Kyungsoo muttered before putting on a suddenly creepy and polite smile, “You’re a bug,” and walked away from them to go back to his position behind the counter.   The other pouted, taking a delicate piece of the cake in front of him and putting it in his mouth, “I am not a bug.”   Yifan laughed, waiting for his freshly brewed coffee to cool down a bit, “Do any of your friends like the animals you give them?”   “Baekhyun likes being a puppy!” the other exclaimed out, eyes now sparkling with excitement, “He really does remind me of a puppy!”   The elder couldn’t help but smile at the genuine happiness the younger radiated out, “Do you want to go on a date with me?”   Well, he didn’t expect that to come out at all.   “What?” Chanyeol questioned, completely surprised by that sudden statement.   Quickly blushing tenfold, Yifan turned to look out the window or anywhere else except his best friend’s face, “Nothing.” He could swear the other was burning holes into the side of his face. He sighed, resigning his fate, “Nothing.”   Chanyeol just smiled, knowing he heard the other correctly.     ( 03 December 2013 )   “Don’t you have any friends?” Chanyeol blatantly asked him a few days later. And really, it’s become habit they see each other at least every other day if not every day. “I always see you by yourself and you live by yourself. Don’t tell me you were anti-social before you met me!”   Yifan glared at him, “I have friends, thank you very much! One’s named Minseok and the other is named Yixing!”   “I bet you’re making them up!”   Grumbling low in his throat, he wondered in the deepest parts of the endless ocean where they have these types of conversations.   “I’m not making them up!” he shouted out, causing Kyungsoo and the manager, Junmyeon, to glare at them and mouth at them to be quiet, “I’ll introduce you guys later today!”   Chanyeol could only smile in triumph as he opened his phone to see text messages from Luhan, Sehun, and Jongin, all saying they missed him and that the elder was in denial about missing him.   “Let’s go bungee jumping, hyung,” the younger suddenly suggested, causing the elder’s temper to completely flatten in ten seconds.   “What?”   “Or we can travel. How about we travel to China? You’re from China, right?” Chanyeol kept suggesting, moving his head up to look at him, “Or maybe ride the tallest rollercoaster Seoul has to offer?”   “Uh,” Yifan muttered out, eyebrows furrowed but not completely confused about the sudden topic change. He found out the third time they hung out that the younger had quite the short attention span, “Roller coaster sounds easier? And less life-threatening… I guess.”   The younger simply nodded, smiling his approval, “Roller coaster it is then! Let’s go with your two imaginary friends!”   Frowning, Yifan yelled out once again, “They’re not imaginary! They’re real!”   And true to his word, he brought Minseok and Yixing with him to the nearest amusement park to ride the tallest roller coaster ride there.   “Wow, you two are kinda short,” Chanyeol bluntly stated, earning a sigh and a roll of the eyes from the two newcomers. He couldn’t help but smile internally at seeing them though.   “How blunt can you be, Chanyeol?” Yifan questioned incredulously. He sighed, gesturing to each of them for introductions, “Minseok and Yixing, this person of a slightly low IQ status is Chanyeol. Chanyeol, these wonderful people are my friends, Minseok and Yixing.”   “You’re actually nice for once,” Minseok laughed out, turning around to grab Yixing’s arm and walk off ahead of them, “You’re paying for the ride!”   Yifan sighed once again before a smile suddenly appeared on his face at feeling a hand creeping inside his own. He turned to see a blur of Chanyeol’s head before he was suddenly tugged and dragged to run ahead of the shorter duo, “Let’s hurry up and get to the coaster!”   “We have all day, Yeol!”   “The park closes in three hours, Fan-ge!” Yixing called out, laughing as he and Minseok had to run to catch up to them.   Chanyeol smiled brightly, hearing the laughter of his two new friends.     ( 11 December 2013 )   Snow was falling and the winter chill nipped at their noses as they stood outside the same café once again. Yifan sighed, nuzzling his nose into his scarf as Chanyeol did the same thing with his own, “I wonder why we’re always here.”   The other smiled softly into his scarf, furry Alaskan hat on his head to cover his ears from the biting cold, “I’ve heard that this is a place of familiarity.” Yifan turned his head to him, frowning when he had to readjust his beanie to keep his head warm. “When people are lost or they just feel,” Chanyeol paused, trying to think of the word, “Lonely,” he shrugged at his choice, “They automatically come here.”   “Sometimes you say the weirdest things, Yeol,” Yifan softly murmured before looking back up to the sky, “What do you want to do? I’m not willing to stand out here in the freezing cold for hours on end.”   He smiled underneath his scarf at hearing a soft laugh escape from his best friend, “I stay here because, as Kyungsoo says, I’m always lost. This is the most familiar place to me besides my apartment, and I find comfort in something this quaint and cozy.” He smiled then, “And besides, Junmyeon lets me watch over the place in case of any random burglaries or fires. He always gets worried it’d be because of me something will happen to his place though.”   They both laughed, puffs of hot air appearing in front of them before evaporating just as quickly. “I wouldn’t be surprised,” Yifan breathed out before turning to wave at Kyungsoo and Junmyeon through the window, “You did scar me for life.”   “Scars are reasons why life is real,” Chanyeol huffed out, mimicking the other’s movements except more exaggerated.   Rolling his eyes, Yifan took off the glove that covered his scarred hand, “So, you gave me this scar to prove life is real.”   The other looked to him confused before shifting his eyes to see the small scar he left on the other’s hand. He gave him a sheepish smile, “Now, that was an accident.”   Later that night, Yifan noticed a scar vertically across Chanyeol’s left clavicle when his shirt moved along with his scarf by accident. He didn’t question the younger about it either.     ( 11 January 2014 )   Chanyeol didn’t see Yifan again for another month, in which he just took the time to hang out with his own friends Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, and Junmyeon in the regular café. He was surprised to see Yixing and Minseok sitting near the corner of the café.   “Chanyeol? Earth to Chanyeol!” Baekhyun exclaimed out, waving a hand in front of the other’s face, “Are you in there?”   The other snapped out of his trance-like state at his best friend’s questioning. He gave a sheepish smile, “Sorry, Baekhyun-hyung.”   “Hyung?” Junmyeon scoffed, “You never call him ‘hyung.’”   The other two frowned before Kyungsoo softly questioned, worry laced in his entire features, “What’s wrong?”   He just gave them a soft, reassuring smile, not bothering to tell them that Yixing and Minseok were not supposed to be there.     ( 18 January 2014 )   A week later, Chanyeol smiled at seeing Yifan entering the café once again, “Hyung!”   He watched as the elder laughed, “Hey, Chanyeol.”   “I saw your two friends Minseok-hyung and Yixing-hyung here the other day,” he blurted out, eyes wide, mirroring his elder friend’s.   Yifan’s expression softened before laughing, “Did you talk to them?”   Chanyeol smiled and lied, “They left before I could say anything.”   Nodding at the answer, the elder sat down at his usual table, “We can hang out together sometime if you’d like?”   He couldn’t really refuse the offer before Yifan started talking about why he was gone for a month and a week. Apparently he had family business to attend to.   Chanyeol’s smile softened at hearing the explanation.     ( 24 January 2014 )   Yifan wasn’t sure about the feeling he got in his chest every time he saw Chanyeol anymore. He’s only felt this feeling once before, but he couldn’t remember with who every time he tried to place a name and face together.   “Hyung!” came the familiar yell from behind him before he was suddenly forced forward from a harsh slam to his back, “Oof!”   “Chanyeol! You should’ve stopped running!” Yifan scolded, aggravated at having to suddenly catch his balance before he fell forward onto his face.   The younger scrambled, using the elder’s shirt to stand straight back up, tugging it down and almost causing the elder to choke from the movement, “I tripped! It was an accident!”   And suddenly, Yifan thought he was going to go into cardiac arrest.   Arms were around his waist from behind when he felt a head of hair nuzzle into the side of his neck, as if to apologize for almost choking him a second time, “Sorry, hyung.”   Yifan could’ve died at hearing that deep voice so close to his ear.   He felt relieved four seconds later when he realized he was still alive and very, very warm.   Two hours and thirty-three minutes later, he realized how being very, very warm could be a very, very bad thing when he’s being suffocated to almost-death by his friends, Minseok and Jongdae.   “Who was that?!” Jongdae yelled out in his ear as he continued to strangle the other from the position of hanging on his back, “He was hot!”   Yifan growled, trying to pry the other’s arms off from around his neck so he can fall a blissful one-foot death to the cement below him, “Would you shut up?”   “You like him,” Minseok plainly stated, going over to Jongdae’s struggling form and lightly patting him on the back, “You can’t have him, Dae.”   “I’m not saying I want him,” the younger slowly stated, tugging down on the other’s shoulders before jumping a bit and landing safely on the ground behind Yifan. He just backed up a step, tilting his head to the side and winking up at the elder, “I’m just saying he’s smoking. Beautiful smile too.”   Taking in a deep breath to calm himself, I’m not jealous – he thinks, Yifan just stared at the shorter man, “Stop talking about him.”     ( 04 February 2013 )   It was close to spring by the time Yifan actually became comfortable enough to allow the younger to cuddle up to him in his living room, except he was becoming worried with how the younger was shaking so much, “Chanyeol?”   “Just let me hug you like a koala bear to a tree,” Chanyeol murmured out, closing his eyes as he threw a leg over the other’s lap, arms already wrapped around the lean waist, “I’m just cold.”   Yifan frowned, pulling the other closer, making both of his legs rest on his lap. He pulled a blanket from the side table to drape over the both of them, “I know it’s cold outside, but it’s not that cold in here. Are you sick?”   Shaking his head negatively, Chanyeol whimpered, “All I hear is beeping.”   “Beeping?” the other questioned, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, “Yeollie, I think you’re sick.”   “I’m not sick,” the younger pouted, opening up his eyes to stare up at the other, “Just… make the beeping stop.”   Yifan had no idea what he was talking about, but he raised the volume of the television to help with the younger’s request. He hummed, trying to think of something else to assist in the other’s cold condition. He rubbed one hand up and down his back, “Chanyeol, I know you already come here often, and it’s pretty much your second home, but you’re always welcomed here if you feel lonely or lost.”   Chanyeol softly laughed, nuzzling his head into the crook of his hyung’s neck, “I already do, hyung.” He smiled gently, “You’re already home.”   Yifan was glad Chanyeol got better after a full day of staying with him. He wasn’t sure if he could handle any more ‘sick talk’ from his best friend.   “Don’t make me go back home.”   He wasn’t sure what the younger meant by that at all.     ( 18 February 2014 )   “I know I missed Valentine’s Day, but,” Yifan mumbled, holding out a box of chocolates, “Happy Valentine’s Day, Yeol.”   Chanyeol looked at him surprised before taking a glance at the chocolates in the other’s hands. He just stood there, staring at them, until Yifan coughed, “Yeollie?”   Bursting out into laughter, Chanyeol took out a bouquet of flowers from behind his back, “Happy Valentine’s Day, hyung.”   Yifan sighed with relief, suddenly reaching out and pulling in the other for a tight hug, “Oh, thank goodness.” He kept smiling when the other just continued to laugh boisterously into his ear.   “We’re so unimaginably cheesy we both decided to confront each other on the exact same day away from the actual holiday.”   “You’re such a goofball, Yeol,” the elder murmured before lightly shoving the other away from him. He just kept smiling when they took each other’s gifts, “But you’re right.”   “When am I ever wrong?” Chanyeol haughtily said, smug smile in place as he opened the box of chocolates. The smugness on his appearance disappeared only to be replaced by a huge smile, “These are my favorite!”   Yifan laughed some more, “Good. I had to ask around what was your favorite since you practically love everything.”   The bright smile softened into a gentle one before looking up only to see a split second illusion of kind brown eyes happily staring back at him, “I’m glad you asked around.”   Quirking a brow at the sudden change in behavior, the elder simply looked down to the bouquet of flowers, smiling at how it reminded him of a past memory, “I never really liked flowers, Yeol.”   Chanyeol looked back up, eyes wide with panic and a piece of chocolate easily seen in his mouth, “You don’t?!”   “Nope,” Yifan easily said, taking his time smelling them, hiding a smile, before looking back up, “I love them.”   The younger stared at him in disbelief before hitting him on the shoulder, “See! I told you we’re unbelievably cheesy!”   Yifan outright laughed at the brutal truth to their relationship, pulling the other to him for another tight hug anyways.     ( 23 February 2014 )   “We totally look good together!” Chanyeol exclaimed out, grabbing the camera out of his almost-boyfriend’s hands, “We even have perfect teeth!”   “…Your friends call us the ‘twin giants,’” Yifan deadpanned, glaring at the hyperactive boy who was currently mesmerized by the picture they just took together.   Laughing, the other turned to him, winking, “For good reason.”   He couldn’t believe it, but Yifan actually felt flushed, “What?”   “What?” the other blinked back innocently, wink completely gone.   Yifan’s glare returned faster than the speed of light, not really, before he slowly smirked, “Yeollie,” he said lowly, almost threatening.   “Hmm?” he hummed back, seeming not to take any notice of the danger that hid behind his best friend’s stance. He smiled sweetly at him before turning to look back down to the camera, flipping it to the previous picture where he actually poked the elder hard in the side to make a funny face to the camera. He started snorting, one eye squinting shut, before he was suddenly tackled from his standing position onto Yifan’s couch, “Ah!”   Smirking, Yifan picked up his head to see his position on the younger, which was on his side, before he harshly started to tickle him, “You’re such a weird elf!”   “Elves!” Chanyeol gasped out between laughs, “Are supposed to be!” He tried to shove the elder off of him. He uncharacteristically squeaked in laughter at a suddenly hard poke to his ribcage, “Short!”   Yifan laughed, completely loving what he was doing to the younger before grabbing both wrists with one of his own hands. He was smiling when he put most of his force on the other, careful not to actually hurt the younger’s side or legs, to hover above him, “If I’m a mythical dragon, you’re a mythical elf.”   Chanyeol pouted, starting to wiggle his hips to throw the other off-balance and off of his body, “But I’m tall!”   “Would you stop wiggling?” the elder grunted out, trying to put more of his weight on him, “Or you’re going to regret what I’m going to do next.”   The other scoffed, trying even harder. He turned his head completely to face him, “Like what?” His eyes widened when he was suddenly met, three inches away, with Yifan’s flawless face. His sight wandered though to the other’s left cheek, blatantly saying, “You’re breaking out, hyung.”   “What?!” Yifan screamed out, instantly sitting back up, letting go of the other completely to gingerly touch his face for the so-called blemish on his skin. He turned to scowl down at Chanyeol, still softly patting his left cheek, “I was going to say no dinner for you.”   “What?!” Chanyeol repeated out loudly, sitting straight up and almost slamming his head with the other’s nose if his sudden movement didn’t cause the elder to fall off of him and land on the floor, barely hitting his head on the small coffee table thanks to his reflexes, “No dinner?!”   “You could’ve killed me!” the other glared out, clutching his head just to make sure there was no sudden aftereffect… or blood.   “You’re going to starve me!” the younger protested back, pointing down at the elder, “You’re so mean!”   Yifan scoffed, sitting back