Present Day

Having dinner at Sehun and Luhan's house has always been one of Chanyeol's favorite way to spend his Friday nights. Luhan's cooking is honestly the best, and if there is any chance for Chanyeol to enjoy his dishes for free, he would gladly take it.

Usually after dinner, they would eat dessert in the kitchen, and with all of them sitting around the island, they would just talk about their week. It's a special, unspoken tradition – one that started ever since both couples started living on their own.

Tonight happens to be ice cream sundae night, so Chanyeol is more than thrilled. He's on his second sundae when something catches his ear – something he is too familiar with.

“Should we go see it?” asks Luhan as he takes another bite of his fudge covered ice cream.

“See what?” Chanyeol asks, already anticipating the glare from Baekhyun.

“Were you not paying attention?”

Chanyeol knows it's a rhetorical question, but he answers it anyway. “No..I was a little occupied with my ice cream,” he says with a grin, hoping his goofy charm would appease Baekhyun.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes, but he doesn't say anything further about Chanyeol's lack of concentration. “We were planning on seeing a musical this weekend – Singing in the Rain. I've heard it received great reviews, so we should go.”

Sehun scoffs. “When you say 'we', I think you mean yourself and Luhan. As far as I know, Chanyeol and I haven't been planning to see any musical this weekend.”

Luhan blinks in surprise at Sehun's statement. “You don't want to go?”

“No, we don't,” says Sehun and Chanyeol.

“Why not?” asks Baekhyun, eyes darting between Chanyeol and Sehun – instantly suspicious of them.

“Because we rather do something fun,” answers Sehun. He stands up and makes his way to the sink to put away his glass bowl. All eyes are on him when he turns around. “Can't we pick something else?” he asks.

“Musicals are fun though,” Luhan tries. “I thought you liked them?”

Chanyeol shakes his head. “We like spending time with you,” he answers and Sehun nods his head in agreement.

“Honestly speaking, Chanyeol and I have been through a lot. It wasn't all fun and games for us when we did the stuff you wanted,” says Sehun, arms folded.

“What is going on?” Baekhyun asks, forehead creasing. “Are you two in the middle of some sort of rebellion?”

“Possibly,” replies Chanyeol. He suddenly feels the need to get up and stand by Sehun, so he does just that. “Can't we pick something we want to do this weekend? You've always gotten your way, so how about we switch it up?”

“Yeah, it's only fair,” Sehun adds.

Baekhyun holds up his hand. “Whoa. Whoa. Hold up. You think we always get what we want?”

“Yes.”

Baekhyun frowns. “And what is wrong with that?”

“No, Baek, I think we should hear them out,” says Luhan, obviously intrigued. His eyes are glued to Sehun when he asks, “What is the purpose of telling us all of this now?”

“We really don't want to go to another boring musical,” Sehun replies. “But what's more important is the fact that you two rarely ask us for our opinions on what we should do as a group.”

“What are you talking about? We've always asked for your input, no matter how dumb it is,” counters Baekhyun.

“Yes, but you usually do it in bed – where we are most vulnerable,” states Chanyeol. “It's not exactly easy to tell you no when you're sitting on my lap.”

Baekhyun scoffs. “I can't believe you just used the word vulnerable to describe yourself in bed.”

“That's not the point,” says Sehun. “We just think it's about time we get to decide our activities.”

“What do you have in mind?” asks Luhan, who seems more willing to compromise than Baekhyun is.

“It better not be something stupid,” Baekhyun warns.

“So what if it is?” Sehun retorts. “Going to a botanical garden can easily be described as stupid, but we went anyway because that was what you wanted to do.”

Baekhyun huffs. “There's nothing wrong with seeing beautiful plants. Some of them were rare species.”

“They're plants,” Sehun deadpans. “There is nothing exciting about something that grows from the ground.”

“And what do you think is more exciting?” Luhan asks.

“Wrestling,” answers Sehun and Chanyeol at the same time. They look at each other and immediately high-fived.

Baekhyun makes a disgusted face. “Wrestling? Are you serious right now?”

Chanyeol nods. “We should go see a wrestling match! It'll be –”

“How about no?” Baekhyun cuts in.

Sehun groans. “We knew this would happen.”

“Can't we just win this once?” Chanyeol pleads, knowing full well that he looks weak right now. He just really wants to avoid seeing the musical at all costs.

“You'll win when you deserve to,” was Baekhyun's snappy reply.

Unwilling to back down now that they've gotten this far, Sehun approaches the island. Chanyeol quickly follows him.

“How about we compete to see who gets to decide our double dates for an entire month?” Sehun suggests.

Chanyeol widens his eyes. “That's actually a good idea,” he mutters, grateful that Sehun and him were on the same side.

“What do you mean compete?”

“We play games to decide the winning team. Best out of three games,” Sehun explains. He looks inside one of the kitchen drawers and takes out pens and a few sheets of paper. “Both team write down five activities they want to compete in and from those ten, we'll randomly pick out three.”

“We're not obligated to do this,” says Baekhyun, eyeing the materials in Sehun's hand with distaste.

Chanyeol sighs, feeling slightly desperate. “If you're not willing to participate, then Sehun and I will boycott all forms of ual activities.”

“Speak for yourself!” Sehun argues. “I'm not agreeing to that.”

“But Sehun –”

“Well, I guess it's just you, Park Chanyeol.” Baekhyun grins mischievously. “Can you really make it without ? Are you sure you can handle nights without –”

“Fine! Forget I said that! Let's just compete, okay? Pretty please?”

“You're not supposed to beg them,” Sehun mutters.

“Well, you were supposed to back me up on the no thing,” Chanyeol snaps.

Baekhyun laughs. “You two are hopeless.”

“So do we have a deal or what?” asks Sehun.

Luhan beams at the two of them. “Yes, let's do it.”

“Don't be upset when we beat you,” declares Baekhyun with a confident smile.

Chanyeol snorts, already feeling his competitive side taking over. “Oh, we won't because we're not losing. Don't complain when we go watch wrestling and do other awesome stuff!”

“You should work on your trash talk first,” Baekhyun advises. “It's pathetic.”

Chanyeol scowls, but before he could utter a decent comeback, Sehun leans over and tells him, “They're simply playing mind games. Don't let it get to you.”

Chanyeol squints at Baekhyun, who merely smirks at him.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” asks Luhan, innocent smile intact.

Chanyeol's right eye twitches at the questionable smile. Sehun's definitely right about the mind games because right now, Chanyeol feels a little uneasy.

“We're not backing down,” Sehun says confidently. “Prepare to lose, babe.”

For a second, Chanyeol wonders where Sehun finds the guts to say things like that to Luhan. He could never do that to Baekhyun – not if he wants to live another day.

After agreeing to play fairly, both teams begin picking games they were good at. It took several minutes for them to decide, but by the end, they each placed their slips into a bowl and Luhan had the honor of picking the first game – the game that pretty much sets the tone for the entire competition.

Chanyeol has to admit that going against Baekhyun and Luhan will be no easy feat. They are basically competing against the two people they love most. There's bound to be some moments of weakness, when their love is held in higher regards than their need to win, but at the end of the day, Sehun and Chanyeol could only hope that their fearless challenge will end in their favor.

They have to win.

Unfortunately, the first game is not one they wrote down.

*******

“Is this what happens when you're married for a long time?” asks Kyungsoo. “You do stupid things?”

Baekhyun scoffs. “You didn't have to come,” he says, spinning the microphone in his hand.

Kyungsoo looks over and finds Sehun and Chanyeol whispering things to each other, while Luhan's sitting on the other side of the room with the karaoke song book in his lap, eyes scanning the vast selection for the perfect song.

“We didn't know you guys were competing.”

“Yeah, what are you competing for?” Jongin asks as he scoots closer to Kyungsoo.

“The right to decide,” Chanyeol chirps.

“To decide what?”

“The fate of our weekends.”

Jongin laughs. “I can't believe I'm here to witness such a prestigious competition. So much is at stake.”

“Well, believe it,” says Baekhyun before he turns to the other three. “We each take turns and the team with the highest combined total wins. Got it?”

Sehun and Chanyeol grunts in response, obviously not happy with the decision to compete at karaoke singing. Luhan, on the other hand, looks excited and Kyungsoo knows why – he's never scored below an 85 at any karaoke place.

If Kyungsoo could bet on the winning team, he knows exactly which team he would go for.

“I'm about to start,” Baekhyun announces. “Please hold your applause until after I'm done.”

Kyungsoo briefly wonders where Baekhyun gets his false sense of confidence. He highly doubts there will be much clapping after Baekhyun gets done because the only person who seems to be supportive is Luhan.

After receiving the signal from Baekhyun, Chanyeol gets up to turn off the lights and then the music starts.

Kyungsoo's eyes widen when he sees the song title on the screen.

It's Raining Men.

“Is this real life?” Jongin whispers.

With an extravagant shimmy, Baekhyun starts singing along to the lyrics. The whole room got quiet as he continues to belt out the famous song. Although he mispronounces every other word, the chorus is where Baekhyun shines. From the way he was hitting the high notes, Kyungsoo could tell that this was probably one of his favorite songs.

When Baekhyun finishes and after Luhan's claps have died down, Jongin asks, “Why did you pick that song?”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes at the question. “Because it's catchy.”

“.....Right.”

Kyungsoo fights back the urge to laugh and Jongin smiles at him.

Just then the score pops up on the screen – an 88.

While Luhan celebrates his teammate getting a high score, Sehun and Chanyeol frown at the prospect of going after that interesting performance.

As a direct result of Baekhyun's persistent taunts, Chanyeol became the next contestant. Kyungsoo could already see him sweating from where he sits.

Unfortunately for Chanyeol's team, he ended up with an 80, even after choosing a classic Korean song. Regardless, Kyungsoo thinks he would much rather sit through horrible singing than Baekhyun singing about men falling from the sky.

Luhan's song choice was far more pleasant for the ears (a beautiful ballad), and he did an excellent job, earning his team a 90, which gave them a 178 total.

Sehun was last, and judging from the way he kept looking behind him for support, he was the most nervous. Through the whole song, Sehun couldn't keep up with the lyrics, oftentimes missing the beat. He needs a 99 in order to beat Luhan and Baekhyun's score.

Unsurprisingly, he didn't get that score – he got a 69, bringing their total to a disappointing 149.

“We won!” shouts Baekhyun. He grabs Luhan and they start hugging.

“There was no way for us to win,” Chanyeol argues. “You know we at singing.”

“That's why we chose karaoke.”

Chanyeol plops down on the couch. “We're definitely winning the next one.”

Baekhyun releases Luhan and struts over to Chanyeol. “Well, if you're lucky, maybe you will.” He smiles and pats Chanyeol on the cheek. “At least you did better than Sehun.”

Sehun groans and hearing this, Luhan makes his way over and hugs him. “Sehun, I still love you,” he declares, which instead of making Sehun feel better, made him feel more like a failure.

“Thanks,” Sehun mumbles, keeping his face straight when Luhan leans in to kiss him.

“Don't be such a sore loser, Sehun,” Baekhyun claims. “Be happy you married a winner,” he teases before throwing his head back and laughing at the sour faces of Chanyeol and Sehun.

“We're not going to end up like that, right?” Jongin asks, voice a low whisper so that the others don't hear him.

Kyungsoo shakes his head slowly. “I hope not....”

“I don't mind letting you win every time, so I don't think we'll have that problem,” proclaims Jongin.

“Um. You don't let me win – I win on my own,” Kyungsoo corrects.

“Oh. Is that what you think?”

Kyungsoo turns his body around. “Yes, that's what I think.”

Jongin instinctively backs away. “Well, you're right then. Heh...heh.”

From across the room, Sehun coughs, “Pathetic!”

Jongin immediately glares at him, but says nothing.

Feeling proud for some reason, Kyungsoo rubs Jongin's back. “Marrying you was the right choice after all,” he teases.

Jongin huffs. “Yeah. Yeah.”

With a satisfied smile, Kyungsoo pecks Jongin's cheek. “I'll give you a present later,” he whispers in Jongin's ear.

Jongin instantly turns his face around, his eyes lighting up. “What's the catch?”

“You have to score a 90 or above.”

Without any hesitation, Jongin jumps up from his spot and grabs the microphone. “I'm singing next!”

Kyungsoo sits back, arms folded with a wide grin on his face. Luhan gives him a knowing look and two tiny thumbs up. Kyungsoo responds with an appreciative nod.

Being with Jongin has taught him many things. Taking the initiative is one of them because Jongin's the type that needs guidance. Kyungsoo has no problems with this because frankly, he's gotten very good at guiding a sometimes clueless Jongin.

Another thing he has learned over the years is to appreciate each and every moment he shares with Jongin, so as he watches Jongin sing out of tune, he gives him a tiny smile.

That was all Jongin needed in order to sing even louder and more out of tune.

*******

With hesitant steps, Yixing enters the private tennis court. He immediately ducks when a stray ball comes hurling towards his head.

“Sorry, Yixing!”