Chanyeol swears he's about to vomit. They're on the train cart as they round the ghost tunnel for the third time. He doesn't even know, but it feels like hours ever since Jungsoo invited him in just for company and it feels like a year and the ride just won't stop. Aren't rides just supposed to be going on for a maximum of 5 minutes? Chanyeol doesn't even know anymore. He wasn't even up for it, to begin with. He feels kind of sick just looking at all the scary-masked people that pops up every now and then from the sides of this ride. Chanyeol couldn't differentiate much, but he thinks it gets scarier every time they go on the ride and why does Jungsoo even like this so much!? 

 

He was okay with the carousel, even if it made him a little dizzy. The bumper cars were manageable too, and probably the only ride he enjoyed. But this! It feels like a punishment and for the third time too!

 

He wills his headache away just staring at Jungsoo, but the problem was really Jungsoo because he doesn't get scared of all the things grabbing them from left to right, hands and scary creatures-alike hanging...or more like floating when they go round and round the small tunnel. If anything, Jungsoo just laughed at the floating lady that passed and even had the energy to slap the hand away that grabbed his shoulder. 

 

While Chanyeol feels like he'll get claustrophobic if this persists, his knees on his chin cramped around the train cart and the metal almost marking him, Jungsoo is having so much fun! Is Jungsoo even normal? What did Yerin even eat for him to be this enthusiastic about these things? Oh right, he shouldn't be thinking about her right now. 

 

He feels a sensation building at the pit of his stomach then, coming up in spurts near his throat and he gags but he disgustingly just swallows it all back. Because hell no! He isn't about to throw up on the train cart, because: one, there are a lot of people; two, it would just be embarrassing; and three, it was the floating lady in white's fault and thus eliciting a reflex action of wanting to vomit in horror. 

 

When they finally get out of the worst ride Chanyeol has ever been on in history, he runs out of the tunnel in haste with Jungsoo to the nearest public toilet and occupies one of the cubicles, gripping the toilet in it as Jungsoo locks the cubicle instinctively.

 

While Jungsoo's spouting so much comments such as, "Appa, that was so much fun!" while clapping his hands in delight, Chanyeol is depositing a day's worth of food and emptying his stomach out in the toilet. 

 

"Jungsoo-ya, hand me some tissue, will you?" 

 

Jungsoo seemed to have only realized now as he gets a helpful amount of tissue and hands it over to Chanyeol, clapping at the back of his father to ask, "Appa, are you okay?"

 

"Do I look like I'm okay?" Chanyeol bites harshly, wiping his mouth with tissue.

 

Jungsoo stomps his foot. "I was just asking! You just dumped all of the food you ate."

 

Chanyeol stands, trudging out of the cubicle with Jungsoo following suit. He goes over the sink, thoroughly lathers his hand with a helpful amount of soap, before soaking it in cold running water. "Well, I'm not. And we should go home."

 

Chanyeol slides to the hand dryer after brisk-washing both his hands and angrily stomps outside the rest room when his hands have dried.

 

"But appa!!" Jungsoo whines.

 

Chanyeol crosses his arms over his chest. "Jungsoo!?"

 

"We haven't even gone to play the parlor games yet!! I haven't even rode the teacups, the hanging lollies, and the swan! You know I really enjoyed that ghost train cart, only because I'm 5 now and I couldn't ride that before, right?"

 

"And just for the record, we'll never ever ride that again."

 

"We will!"

 

"Nope."

 

"Yes."

 

"Okay, but by yourself."

 

"Appa!" 

 

"Don't make a scene here, you big troll!"

 

Chanyeol's pertaining to the troll dolls that have frizzy electrocuted hair with tan complexion. It's an inside joke only the both of them know, when Chanyeol had Jungsoo know what is a troll when he'd call him that for the first time when he got really angry at him.

 

Jungsoo grits his teeth, crossing his arms over his chest as he glares at Chanyeol. "I am not a troll!" 

 

"Suit yourself."

 

Chanyeol turns away then, assuming that Jungsoo would follow suit anyway. But he doesn't and Chanyeol finds him sitting with crossed legs on the bare ground when he turns around again.

 

He walks until they're only meters away. "Can you stand up?"

 

"No!" Jungsoo shakes his head in anger, his eyebrows almost in unison as very slight creases form on his forehead.

 

"The people are looking," Chanyeol warns.

 

"I don't care!"

 

"Why are you so badly behaved, huh?" Chanyeol asks in exasperation, forcing Jungsoo as he attempts to carry the child. "Let's just go home now," Chanyeol says softly and in a very forced manner, after having managed to bring the child to his arms. Because honestly? Whatever Jungsoo does, whether he's resisting by making himself heavier, Chanyeol would be able to carry him.

 

Jungsoo hits the portion of Chanyeol's back he could reach repeatedly. "You're bad appa!" 

 

"I'm not."

 

"Put me down. I'm not mad with you anymore," Jungsoo says all of a sudden and in response, Chanyeol only walks faster. But when Jungsoo whispers, "Baekhyun hyung," Chanyeol immediately freezes and his eyes widen in reaction. 

 

"You've got to be kidding me," Chanyeol palms his face.

 

"I'm not," Jungsoo says firm. "Look behind you."

 

And Chanyeol makes a mistake of turning back, because now right in front of him he sees Baekhyun some meters away talking to a guy who apparently has his hands over Baekhyun's own. Chanyeol hears something breaking from somewhere far and he doesn't know what exactly, but he feels a little crestfallen at this new knowledge.

 

It takes a few moments, a few exchange of words and Baekhyun's laughing at something with crinkling eyes. He looks happy. And one moment he's pouting, probably because the guy had to go and he does after promptly semi-hugging Baekhyun too. 

 

So Baekhyun's taken, huh? 

 

He would've not wondered if it were Kyungsoo. They seemed like really close friends, but this guy seemed a little more. He doesn't even notice himself bringing Jungsoo back on his own two feet, until he hears that familiar tone of voice.

 

"Jungsoo!!"

 

"Baekhyunnie hyung!!" Chanyeol frowns at the nickname. He's jealous of Jungsoo now when he clearly has no reason to be. 

 

He watches as Baekhyun crouches down to Jungsoo's level to ruffle the younger's hair before Chanyeol finds himself bounding over to the pair.

 

"Chanyeol hyung," Baekhyun greets just as he stands.

 

Chanyeol hears something breaking even further and he doesn't find it in his heart to even counter that. Even if he doesn't like being called hyung, for that matter. After seeing that guy with Baekhyun, could he? He feels like there's a border in between them now.

 

He doesn't respond, so Baekhyun finds it in himself to make the situation lighter with, "Chanyeol, I'm just kidding."

 

Now, doesn't that just sound foreign now? Chanyeol? 

 

Chanyeol promptly smiles anyway, before Jungsoo resumes talking.

 

"Appa's mad."

 

That troll. 

 

Chanyeol grits his teeth in irritation.

 

"He wants to go home. After we rode the ghost train cart, he puked!"

 

Chanyeol takes a deep breath in, fists forming on his sides as he forces himself not to shout or do something negative that may demerit or tarnish his image to Baekhyun.

 

He says "Jungsoo," as calm as he could looking down at the youngest. "Baekhyun-ah, it's nothing like that!!" he defends, hand gesturing 'no'.

 

"It's okay," Baekhyun says with a smile.

 

And there goes the feeling in Chanyeol’s heart again. Just like that time when he thought of Baekhyun the other day—that other day with Kyungsoo, when they'd left and he'd thought of Baekhyun for the remainder of the day. 

 

This is panic, right? He's nervous Baekhyun's getting too close to Jungsoo more than him. Maybe fear? He fears that maybe Jungsoo may seek Baekhyun more and more. Or is it jealousy? He's jealous of Baekhyun and how he's slowly getting to Jungsoo.

 

That must be it, right? Right!

 

"Happened to me once too," Baekhyun says, disrupting all of Chanyeol's train of thought and easing his panic...easing the feeling in the taller one's heart.

 

So maybe it was panic-induced feelings mixed with jealousy and fear, after all.

 

"Thank you for understanding."

 

And now Chanyeol's most certain he's not the only one incapable of feeling.

 

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol leans on a railing boundary of a mini egg surprise Ferris wheel ride. The three of them somehow end up together, anyway. It took a lot of persuasion and whines on Jungsoo's part, which Chanyeol was so sure he should've countered thinking as though maybe Baekhyun has somewhere more important to go to. Jungsoo was so persistent that he didn't want to come home so early when there's still a lot of rides he should at least ride once before they leave. Well, who was Chanyeol to reject that offer anyway? When he doesn't need to go with Jungsoo for company and Baekhyun's taking place. Or maybe he allowed just because of Baekhyun?

 

No, of course not.

 

He's unconscious when he smiles, taking note of every turn of the Ferris wheel and the variety of laughs and the facial expressions Jungsoo and Baekhyun makes. He focuses more on Baekhyun today, though. The way he careens Jungsoo to his side when the ride moves and when he'd ever so gently put his arms around Jungsoo that he half wonders if it were him—Aish. Even more so, he doesn't know when he tries to hide his wide grins and flinches away with every one of Baekhyun's touches and jerks away whenever he's near.

 

He treats them cotton candies, tornado fries, and hotdogs on a stick after a couple of rides, gently telling Baekhyun that it's okay, I'm paying, whenever he takes his wallet out. Chanyeol reasons further that he's older anyway and that Jungsoo's been bugging so much off Baekhyun's precious time when Baekhyun still insists, and so that Baekhyun should take it as a treat. 

 

 

 

 

 

Baekhyun, on the other hand, doesn't know what he's doing as he rests his palm on Chanyeol's forehead for a few seconds. He feels like something's off. Whenever he nears Chanyeol, it's either he flinches or jerks away in response. Checking his temperature is no different either, because he feels Chanyeol promptly backing away as though he'd just burned the older. 

 

He assumes the other's sick, that's why he'd done it in the first place. 

 

He didn't mean to confirm how awkward Chanyeol is to him right now. 

 

He didn't even ask anything like he does usually—Chanyeol doesn't ask about Kyungsoo or the reason why Baekhyun's at the amusement park either. Well, Baekhyun's at the amusement park with two of his friends and one of them was Kyungsoo. It was as simple as they both needed to go, so Baekhyun's left all alone. It was actually a good thing Jungsoo spotted him of all people and he managed to cross paths with the Parks after his friends left. When Jungsoo had offered to ride with him in a few more rides, he accepted instinctively because the child was too cute with so much effortless aegyo. 

 

Anyway, now he just can't stop himself from thinking that something's definitely wrong...not so right.

 

He wonders if Chanyeol knows about his crush on him, but it's far beyond impossible. He wonders if it's just an unconscious gesture of Chanyeol's that he previously hadn't noticed. He wonders if it's because Chanyeol's just mad, because the older had wanted to go home lately just like Jungsoo said. He wonders about a lot of things about Chanyeol.

 

Moreover, should he mentally take note of this in the negatives list of Park Chanyeol? Moody, right? Or is it grumpy? Strike 7?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One morning, Kris comes over just to hang out at Chanyeol's. It's his third time actually, when he's bored out of his mind and couldn't think of a place more decent than Chanyeol's to spend the weekends in. 

 

Kris and Chanyeol naturally get along well, despite Kris being Chanyeol's superior, overcoming all position and role in their friendship. 

 

Kris likes Chanyeol, because well... he's unlike Chanyeol's fellow new co-workers Jongdae and Minseok who's got a weird relationship thing going on. They say they're in an open relationship, but that's beside the point because he and Chanyeol are purely platonic. Anyway, Kris just really likes Chanyeol and his attitude because he thinks he's hardworking and rather patient even if he's a single father. Kris thinks Chanyeol is worthy of praise on that aspect, because he couldn't even imagine himself having kids at the age he's in even if Chanyeol's younger. Not to forget the fantastic architecture of the younger's house that it easily hammers Kris' own, if he may admit. Kris couldn't also even imagine himself settling down soon enough and going through all the hassle of having to find Ms. Right. Chanyeol's a single father and Chanyeol's yet to tell him about a her, but he's assuming something went wrong in the middle of it all. He's not really in the right to question, so he'll take what he's told. Kris is rather average with women, though. He's had a couple relationships here and there and he's rather pretty proud he took them all well and serious with work the only thing stopping him.

 

On the other hand, Chanyeol likes Kris because he's really just someone to look up to. Kris is intelligent, a superior to him and they're just a few years apart too. It amazes him that Kris could take work really well, despite not really staying in the office for so long. But well, maybe it's partially his achievement as well because he fills in for the older when he couldn't come. Well, maybe that's just the part where Kris lacks a little: punctuality. Chanyeol could count with his fingers how many times Kris has been absent, but it's due any time soon for that to go beyond it anyway. But really, Chanyeol thinks Kris really takes his work seriously. If it's about work, it's about work and nothing else. There's a fine line between work and play for Kris and that's the part that spells out g-e-n-i-u-s. Kris works with accuracy and precision combined as well, creatively presenting his slides on meetings and getting points across so smoothly. And they're working on a business, particularly on marketing so if that doesn't spell genius, Chanyeol doesn't know what does anymore. 

 

Anyway, Kris now lounges at Chanyeol's living room, simultaneously sipping on juice as they speak seated across each other. They talk about work and lifestyle, really. Chanyeol's more reserved with what he says and Kris takes silence sometimes comfortably so all's good. Jungsoo's being such a pain, though. If anything, he keeps disrupting whatever train of conversation Kris and Chanyeol has managed with his incessant whines and sometimes questions about this and that. Jungsoo's so noisy with all his island of toys that Chanyeol thinks of locking him up in a room to talk to himself, because sometimes whatever Jungsoo really says irks him to no end and the noise he makes just like his non-sense questions. Chanyeol knows for a fact that Jungsoo must be curious about everything he doesn't know yet, but sometimes he just gets on his nerves most especially when he's talking to someone. And this someone is Kris, who Chanyeol presumes is someone Jungsoo doesn't really like all that well too. 

 

It's a good thing Baekhyun doorbells long minutes after. Chanyeol didn't really even invite him over, but he lets him in after they stare at each other for a minute over the front door. Chanyeol is thinking why Baekhyun's here. Did he text him or something? But he clearly remembers no. Baekhyun, on the other hand, looks a little hesitant of all this when Chanyeol doesn't do anything for a minute. He just meant to really spend some time with Jungsoo, thinking as the young one is still not in so much a good term with his father after the amusement park fiasco. Chanyeol didn't look too well either then, so he just wanted to check. 

 

Chanyeol lets Baekhyun in then with a smile, when he feels like Baekhyun is bound to turn back any minute if he doesn't do anything. He swings the door open wider for Baekhyun to be welcomed by the sight of Jungsoo playing on the floor and a straight-faced lad who looks a little older and not so friendly seated on one of the la-z-boys. It's what Baekhyun thinks anyway. 

 

"Kris hyung, this is Baekhyun," Chanyeol directs Kris to Baekhyun with a hand and just as well Baekhyun to Kris, "and Baekhyun, this is Kris hyung."

 

Kris and Baekhyun just briefly bow to each other.

 

Chanyeol doesn't go much into detail about professional relationships, because Jungsoo immediately brightens up and bounces over to where Baekhyun is before they're leaving for the playroom. Chanyeol leaves Jungsoo and Baekhyun on said room after telling Baekhyun that he just needs to talk about something important to Kris and something about the straight-faced man being his superior at work and later on will come back to Baekhyun to entertain him as well.

 

Just how will he entertain me? 

 

Baekhyun snorts, before taking into notice the room he's in now with Jungsoo. The room is typical, though a little creative and something he thinks kids would like. But more so, now he wonders what Chanyeol would tell Kris about what he is to him as he peaks his head out a little out the door to the playroom.

 

"So who's he?" he hears a distinct deep voice not Chanyeol's speak.

 

"He's a volunteer from the daycare," he hears Chanyeol respond. "He's a nice kid. Jungsoo's playmate."

 

So I'm just Jungsoo's playmate.

 

Baekhyun pouts and closes the door as softly as he could, now turning all attention to Jungsoo.  

 

 

 

 

 

"Is he really just a volunteer?" Kris asks out of pure curiosity, shifting in his seat.

 

"Yeah," Chanyeol replies rather calmly. "What would you like him to be?"

 

"Nothing, really," Kris waves the topic off. He doesn't tell Chanyeol he kind of sounds defensive when he asked that question about what Kris may like Baekhyun to be given the suspicious question he asked. He doesn't tell Chanyeol either that there's a sort of tension that came about when the latter had Baekhyun come in. Kris is not really keen on details about others relationships, but he thinks this one's a little interesting. Yes, Chanyeol hasn't dropped off hints about liking the Baekhyun kid so strongly, but Kris can't get out of his mind that something must definitely be up. That kid Baekhyun seems to be so close to Jungsoo too, so he must be here often.

 

 

 

 

 

"So who is he, Jungsoo?" Baekhyun asks, rounding the room and checking drawers and cabinets for toys everywhere.

 

"Who? Kris?" Jungsoo asks innocently.

 

"Do you call him that?" Baekhyun asks in curiosity.

 

"No, I don't," Jungsoo shakes his head. "He's Kris ahjusshi. He's someone appa works with. He doesn't like being called ahjusshi, though, so I call him Kris hyung like appa does."

 

Baekhyun looks thoughtful for a moment, sitting beside Jungsoo setting up a house of blocks. "Oh?" 

 

"Does he come here often?"

 

"No, just a few times," Jungsoo says shortly, clearly preoccupied with playing that Baekhyun feels a little left out he feels the need to go because both Parks aren't really so enthusiastic about his sudden appearance either? "I don't like him so much, though."

 

And Baekhyun's caught off guard when Jungsoo holds both his cheeks in his hands and squeezes, "You're still my favorite hyung. I don't like him so much because he doesn't smile at all. And you do, puppy hyung."

 

Now where did that puppy label come from now? Baekhyun cries inwardly, but doesn't have time to neglect the label anyway as he smiles. He smiles that smile Jungsoo likes—probably that, because Jungsoo sits on his lap and hugs his torso with both his hands barely meeting on Baekhyun's back.

 

At least Jungsoo likes me more than that Kris.

 

Haha, is Baekhyun jealous?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what are the chances that Park Jungsoo leads Park Chanyeol to Byun Baekhyun?

 

 

More like what are the chances someone gets in the way of Byun Baekhyun and Park Chanyeol's budding friendship—(or is it really just that?) in the name of Kris and that someone Chanyeol saw at the amusement park.

 

 

Pwahaha.