In which the ‘notice me, senpai’ couples in EXO are XiuHan, SuChen and… BaekHye?

( In other words, Ji Hye has an unfortunate crush and Baekhyun has absolutely no idea what to do about it.)

{BaekHye}

-0-

Chanyeol snickers under his breath, causing Baekhyun to elbow him.

“She’s staring again,” the taller whispers, smirking at him. Baekhyun looks up and locks gazes with Ji Hye, who blinks out of her stupor and grins, wiggling her fingers in a wave. “I think she likes you.”

“Shut up,” he snaps, looking back down. That’s a ridiculous notion if he’s ever heard one. Song Ji Hye does not have crushes on boys and certainly not on him. Preposterous. Weird.

… Why is she still staring at him?

“No, really, it’s getting out of control. Well, actually, it’s kind of cute.”

He glares at Chanyeol's utterly gleeful grin, because his best friend is enjoying this too much. “I told you to shut up, Park Chanyeol or I swear I will – “

“Hey, guys.” He has to force himself not to wince at the familiar voice. He glances up at Ji Hye’s grin as she adds, “Can I join you? Sehun’s being an and Jongin is bothering me again.”

“Sure, why not?” Chanyeol answers, shooting him a smirk. Someone remind him to put itching powder in his bed sheets again. Baekhyun swears that the rapper lives to see him suffer. He enjoys his suffering. Not that spending time with their precious (actually, not really that precious but say anything else and die) maknae is considered suffering, but sometimes she gives him weird looks. It’s not that he doesn’t like it. It’s just… no, wait, he doesn’t like it.

She sits way too close to him, but doesn’t seem to notice (even though Ji Hye usually notices way too much for her own good). Instead, she fiddles with her phone, jumping when she gets a text message. She opens it and well, she’s so close that he can’t help but glance over. He only gets an elbow to his side and a glare. Right, no peeking at private stuff.

Ow. She has bony elbows. Must be a maknae thing.

“Damn Jongdae,” she mutters, glaring at said vocalist from across the room.

“What did he do this time?” Baekhyun asks nonchalantly, trying to sound like he doesn’t care (and he really doesn’t. Really).

She smirks a little suspiciously, shaking her head and putting her phone away. Then, she leans her head on his shoulder like it’s the most normal thing in the world and sighs. “Just a stupid prank,” she answers.

He’s not having a breathing difficulty. He isn’t. His diaphragm just suddenly decided to freak out and disrupt his breathing.

•●•●•●•

It’s getting a little difficult to believe Ji Hye doesn’t have a crush on him.

She finds any excuse she can to be near him, is constantly pestering him to bring her out for bubble tea (why can’t she just drag Sehun or Yixing?) and she just. Keeps. Staring at him. It’s making him uncomfortable because they’ve never been close and it’s almost as if she’s trying too hard to be close to him now. Metaphorically and physically.

Help.

“What, again,” he states flatly as the maknae squeezes in next to him. She smiles at him a little coyly, shooting him a wink as she readjusts her snapback.

“Jongdae has it out for me,” she explains. “I think he’s scared of you, so I need you to be my bodyguard.”

That sounds as ridiculous as Ji Hye having a crush on him. Unfortunately, the latter doesn’t sound so ridiculous anymore, since this is the fifth time in the last month that Ji Hye is sitting next to him in the van. There’s always an excuse that sounds plausible and frankly, he’s quite amazed at how many she can come up with. No one can argue that Ji Hye isn’t creative, at least.

“Do I look like a bodyguard?” he scoffs, eyeing her as she settles herself into his side very comfortably. Comfortable for her, at least (he refuses to admit that he likes it, because he doesn’t).

She hums thoughtfully, tapping her fingers against the screen of her phone. “Well, no,” she answers, laughing slightly, “but like I said, I think he’s scared of you, so do me this one favour?” She flutters her eyelashes, but Baekhyun's expression doesn’t change. Out of EXO’s maknaes (and there are many), Ji Hye dislikes aegyo the most and is therefore the worst at it (but it’s still kind of cute). He still thinks she shouldn’t do aegyo unless they’re on stage.

It’s so easy to ignore her on the way to the hairdresser after that once he has his earphones plugging his ears and she’s sufficiently distracted by her phone. He wonders who she’s texting, but he figures it’s either Taemin (sunbae) or one of her other friends that aren’t part of SM.

Suddenly her phone blares some song he doesn’t quite recognise and causes her to jump a little before she fumbles to answer.

“What do you want?” she says, lazing back in her seat. “I’m going to get my hair done.”

Baekhyun fiddles with his iPod, turning down the volume so he can hear. He’s not eavesdropping. He’s just… listening in on a one-sided conversation. That’s not eavesdropping.

She rolls her eyes at whatever the other is saying, mouthing along with the words. Apparently it’s a lecture (that’s what it sounds like) she’s heard before.

“Okay, okay, I get it,” she cries. “It’s just a small – “ she glances at Baekhyun before shuffling away and lowering her voice to a whisper. She repeats it again before she says loudly, “Bet! It’s just a bet! Aish.”

She groans in frustration. “Yah, Lee Hongbin, stop bossing me around. Just because you’re older – ” she pauses, rolling her eyes again. “Then go hang out with someone your own age! Wonshik oppa’s always available.”

More squawking on the other line. He frowns, glaring out the window. He’s not upset that she doesn’t call him oppa. Why would he want to be called oppa by Ji Hye anyway?

… Who is this Wonshik guy?

“If Ilhoon doesn’t lecture me, why do you get to?” she asks, removing her snapback and replacing it. “I won’t get hurt, nobody will get hurt so stop. Freaking. Out. Okay?” The van is rolling to a stop in front of the SM building and Baekhyun hurriedly acts like he’s been completely absorbed in his music, even though he doesn’t have a clue what song is playing through the speakers of his earphones. “Look, I’m getting out of the van so I’m hanging up.”

“Yah, Song Ji Hye!” he manages to hear before the line is cut.

He’s not curious. He’s not curious, so he won’t ask. Nope, he won’t ask at all.

“Who was that?” Baekhyun asks anyway and he has to wonder if he’s getting Chanyeol's blabbering disease.

She pouts slightly at her phone. “Just a friend,” she mutters before smirking up at him. “Why? Are you jealous?”

He scoffs, because he’s never heard of something so outrageous in his life. “Jealous,” he repeats. “Why would I be jealous? I’m not jealous.”

He’s not. Really. The back of his neck is hot for an entirely different reason.

“You tell yourself that,” she snorts, hopping off.

He’s not jealous. Really.

•●•●•●•

“Stop sulking.”

“I’m not sulking. I’m upset they cut my hair.” Ji Hye pauses, frowning down at her newly shorn locks before contemplating Sehun’s hair. “At least my hair doesn’t looks like a rainbow threw up on it.”

He pushes her, grumbling, “Shut up.”

Ji Hye sticks her tongue out at him, running her hand through her hair and Baekhyun swears he isn’t distracted, even when he runs into Joonmyun's back. It’s not like Ji Hye’s new hair cut is that nice. She just had her long hair cut to shoulder length and had it dyed jet black. It’s not that attractive, even if he does want to run his fingers through her hair.

She turns around and pouts at him and he really only has enough time to ask why me before she’s walking next to him and tugging on his sleeve like a little child (he’s seen this trick pulled by Sehun on Yifan and he’d always thought it was pathetic how easily the elder caved, until he was the one put in his shoes).

“Remind me why Sehun’s my best friend,” she grumbles, tugging him along the hallway.

“You’re both the same age and you’re both insufferable brats?” he suggests, only to be awarded with a glare and a punch to his shoulder. “Ow. Hey, I tolerate you, don’t I?”

She rolls her eyes, a grin playing on her lips. “Do you want an award or something for that?” she asks, tucking herself into his side almost possessively. He tries his best not to flail because he’s never really been comfortable with Ji Hye being in his personal space.

“Or something,” he snorts. He doesn’t expect to feel the brush of her lips against his cheeks. It causes him to freeze, this time causing Yifan to slam into his back and nearly crush him under his weight. Ji Hye’s giggle rings in his ears as she skips away, leaving him staring after her dumbfounded.

“Hyung, you’re holding up the hallway,” she calls over her shoulder, smirking at him.

He ruffles the back of his hair, grumbling under his breath and ignoring Yifan's muffled cursing.

She’s a little minx, he thinks, trying his best to stay unaware of the blush adorning his cheeks. A little minx (that he might react a little too strongly to).

•●•●•●•

It’s not very often when he finds himself unable to sleep, so the fact that he can’t sleep right now is actually extremely vexing. He sighs heavily, shooting an irritated glance at Chanyeol because he snores like a chainsaw (Baekhyun has to remind himself to record him as proof). Begrudgingly, he gets out of bed to watch some TV, bundling himself in his blanket.

He doesn’t expect to find a certain maknae already lounging on the couch, staring disinterestedly at the show playing on the screen. He frowns.

“What are you doing up?” he demands, huffing slightly. He had been looking forward to spending some alone time, which is much too rare when you live with eleven other boys and one girl.

Ji Hye glances over at him lazily. “I could ask you the same thing,” she shoots back, her voice thick with sleep. She shifts her legs closer to herself, giving him space to sit. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“Nightmare?” he inquires.

“Eh.” She doesn’t elaborate, so he lets it go. It’s not like they’re particularly close anyway. “If it was a nightmare, I would have bothered Sehun or Joonmyun hyung anyway.”

He has to wonder how often that happens.

Her feet prod at his blanket cocoon and he rolls his eyes, unwrapping himself from his blanket and laying it over her feet. He has to stop a shiver from the temperature of her feet currently pressed against his side. They’re cold from the winter air (there’s a slight draft in the living room) and he has to wonder if she lives to torture him.

“So?” she says after a while, eyes drifting over to him. She looks ready to fall asleep, but there’s something in her eyes that tells him she can’t. It’s not because of him. It’s because of something that’s eating away in her mind. “What are you doing up?”

“Chanyeol snores,” he offers. She snorts.

“Yeah, okay.” He raises an eyebrow at the incredulity he hears in her voice.

He huffs. “I’m not lying.”

“I never said you were.”

He remembers when she used to be quiet, maybe a little shy too, and laments the fact that she spends too much time around Sehun and Jongdae. What happened to that girl who used to trip Yifan whenever they were standing next to each other?

Right, she became friends with the twin devils known as Chen and Sehun. Damn it.

He sighs, glancing at her, who is still staring disinterestedly at the television screen. He’s pretty sure she doesn’t even know what show she’s watching. He pokes her foot, earning him a glare. “What?” she grumbles.

“Maknae, do you like me?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Well, that isn’t random at all.”

He pinches her foot, causing her to yelp and kick at his side. “Answer my question,” he huffs.

“Well, of course I like you,” she says. “We work together and stuff.” He gives her a look and she rolls her eyes, slouching further into her hoodie (which isn’t really hers, now that he looks at it). “Why ask? You seem to already know the answer.”

“I just – ” want to hear you say it.

She sits up, sighing slightly as she rests her chin on her knees. “Okay, I like you,” she says seriously (it doesn’t really suit her). “Not just hyung-dongsaeng relationship, but like you, like you. Happy?”

Baekhyun can’t help but blink at her. He hadn’t really expected her to confess so… well, so direct. In fact, he hadn’t really expected her to confess. He’d expected her to avoid it the way Jongin had when Zitao had asked the dancer if he had had a crush on him. Either avoid it or babble endlessly, the way Chanyeol had when he’d been questioned by Yixing.

“What.” He wonders if he should just go back to his room – or maybe he should just quit because he doesn’t feel the same way. “I didn’t – ”

“I’m not saying you have to like me back,” she interrupts, resting a hand on his arm. “I just wanted to tell you. It’s not like I expected us to be a thing or whatever.” There’s something in her voice that tells him that isn’t the end of it.

“What… do you want me to do about it, then?” he asks hesitantly, eyes roaming her face for a change in expression. Her facial muscles don’t shift, which doesn’t really surprise him since he’s pretty sure she and Sehun have contests to see who can make the best poker face anyway. There has to be a reason for the suspicious silences from the maknaes’ room.

She smiles and shrugs, tilting her head. “Nothing,” she replies easily. He doesn’t buy it.

“Really.”

“Really. Just… I don’t know. Whatever. Don’t act weird around me.”

“That’s all?” He doesn’t mean to sound sceptical, but he is. It’s Ji Hye they’re talking about. She’s conniving and sneaky and she’s such a minx with her winks and her laughs and –

“Is that so hard to believe?”

“Yes.”

She rolls her eyes and laughs. “It’s not like we even have time to date. We’re idols.” He likes how she doesn’t mention Jongin and Zitao, or Chanyeol and Yixing.

He frowns at her. It seems so odd (don’t girls confess so they can go somewhere with their crushes?), but Ji Hye isn’t a typical girl – a fact Baekhyun is painfully aware of. She frowns back at him playfully.

“So… we’re cool?” He has to ask.

She grins at him a little sleepily. “We’re cool,” she confirms before snuggling into his side. He tries not to flail; if he ends up bruising her face, there will be way too many awkward explanations to the coordi noonas.

“What are you doing,” he squeaks demands.

“It’s cold,” she says, like it’s as obvious as the nose on his face. “You have a blanket.”

“You have a hoodie,” he shoots back, trying his best to keep his breathing regular because no.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t be cold.” She doesn’t give him a chance to argue as she burrows under the blanket he had draped over her feet – and closer to his side. He contemplates pushing her off, but he’s cold too and it’s not like it has to mean anything.

He makes a face. What is he, a teenage girl? Sharing a blanket doesn’t mean anything. He shares blankets all the time. It doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t mean anything.

Baekhyun repeats that like a mantra in his head as he lets his arm slip around her shoulders, bringing her closer into his side.

•●•●•●•

Nope. It’s not getting out of hand.

She wraps her arms around his midriff and it takes an unbelievable amount of willpower for Baekhyun to grin and not, say, choke on his spit.

Nope, not out of control at all.

He tries his best to act like the sudden burst of skinship from Ji Hye is a regular occurrence. For the most part, it is. Just… not this bold.

It’s no big secret that Ji Hye and Baekhyun aren’t that close. If he happens to look at videos from their Mama era, it’s painfully obvious that in EXO-K, they’re the most awkward with each other. He hasn’t taken the time to really know the girl and she hasn’t exactly bounded up to him and demand to bond over bubble tea, or whatever she and Sehun do on their days off that usually result in them returning to the dorm in a fit of giggles (and a couple of times, horribly cheeky prank ideas).

This – the spontaneous back-hugging and tugging him around – is decidedly not normal and he has to wonder if he likes it or not. It is karma, he decides in the end, for all those times he had laughed at Joonmyun and Minseok for getting dragged around by Jongdae and Luhan respectively. This is the universe’s extremely sly way of making him pay for all those taunts.

She drags him over to Chanyeol and Sehun so they can dance together. Baekhyun feels like his face is frozen in a painful grin that’s not really supposed to look so tortured. He has to forcefully remind himself that he’s not allowed to hit Chanyeol for no reason while they’re on stage, performing for their fans. He’d really love to wipe the damn smirk off Chanyeol's face though.

“Don’t say it,” he grits out between his teeth when the taller opens his mouth. “No.”

“It’s so cute,” Chanyeol wheezes, and Baekhyun is very careful to make it look like he had elbowed his best friend unintentionally.

•●•●•●•

It’s surprisingly… not painful, having Ji Hye pull him around everywhere and pretty much being a more stoic version of Jongdae and Luhan. She certainly does it in a more tactful way than Luhan, for which Baekhyun is thankful.

She rests her elbow on his shoulder as she waves at the camera, grinning. Malaysia is unbelievably hot and there’s sweat plastering her hair to her skull and dripping onto him, but he doesn’t really mind so much, strangely enough.

He doesn’t understand how she’s a bundle of energy as she tugs him around the stage, a hand balled in his jacket. There’s a tiny part of him that’s a little irritated at this, but mostly he’s too used to it to bother to say anything. He’s too used to just letting her pull him around.

It’s somewhere between splashing water in Chanyeol's face and bouncing around the stage with Tao during 3.6.5 when he sees her clumsiness act up.

It’s not a surprise, really. It had been raining and out of the thirteen of them, Ji Hye’s shoes were the ones with the least traction. He sees her start to slip and he doesn’t even have to think before he’s lunging forward, an arm around her waist to steady her.

For a moment, it feels like time has stopped. Baekhyun idly wonders if Zitao's powers really are real, although it takes a fraction of a millisecond for him to mentally slap himself. Their powers don’t exist. However, it almost seems that way as the moment where Ji Hye was pressed up against him is frozen.

His heart starts to pound in his chest and his mouth is so dry that the snarky comment on the tip of his tongue ends up lodged in his throat. There’s an insane moment where he wants to pull her close, but it’s broken as she sighs in relief and grins up at him, mouthing thanks, hyung. Then, she’s gone and he’s left standing there in a stunned daze; she forgot to drag him along with her this time.

It doesn’t last long, of course. It’s not long before Jongdae is coaxing him into dancing along with the others during the chorus. He fixes a grin in place, but his eyes travel unbidden to the maknae, who’s only a couple people away from him but seems so far away.

Is this what it feels like to have your heart waver?

•●•●•●•

Baekhyun's eye twitches for the umpteenth time as he feels Chanyeol's gaze on him once more.

“Can I help you?” he snaps, looking up from his book so he can glare at the rapper.

“Whoa, chill,” Chanyeol says. “I was just wondering if you noticed that Ji Hye isn’t so touchy feely around you anymore.”

Baekhyun doesn’t bother answering. Of course he noticed. He tells himself that he’s glad he has so much freedom now, but it’s not so much freedom as it is emptiness. Somehow, their maknae had managed to weasel her way into his life in a more proactive manner than before.

It’s almost like Ji Hye’s… ignoring him. It’s not like she’s doing it intentionally, as far as he can tell. She just doesn’t hover over him the way she used to. She doesn’t tug him around, doesn’t demand he get her bubble tea, she doesn’t even sit next to him in the van anymore. If anything, she’s more detached than before the whole confession fiasco and he just wishes he knew why.

He’s not saying he’s affected by it. He’s just saying he noticed.

(He’s not very convincing, is he?)

“Should I?” Baekhyun says curtly. He hadn’t meant to sound so sour, but he can’t seem to control his emotions.

He doesn’t like the smirk on Chanyeol's face. Not one bit. “Do I detect a little bit of jealousy?”

“Idiot,” the shorter mutters. “I don’t think jealous is the right word.”

“So you admit you’re upset?”

Crap.

“I admit to nothing!” Baekhyun announces loudly before exiting the room in what he’s sure is an overly dramatic manner, only to trip over Ji Hye, who’s… sitting in the middle of the hallway. “What – are you crying?”

“No,” she hastily replies, even as she frantically wipes away at the tear tracks shining on her cheeks. “I was just – okay, fine. I was crying.”

“Er, why?”

He wants to sit next to her and brush away the tears, tell her that it’s going to be okay no matter what, even if he doesn’t know what’s wrong. The urge hits him hard and damn near floors him. He can’t remember a time he’s ever been so fond of the maknae and it startles him into inaction, leaving him staring dumbly at Ji Hye as she blows her nose into a tissue, plucked from the tissue box sitting conveniently next to her.

“It’s dumb,” she says dismissively, her smile watery. “If you’re asking why I’m sitting out here, Sehun kicked me out of our room – that brat – so he could face with Yifan ge.”

… What.

“I told you they were a thing,” she adds. She pats the space next to him and he sits down without hesitation, still trying to wrap his head around what he’d only suspected. He makes a face as imagines what must be going on behind the closed door of the maknaes’ room and shudders.

“Ugh,” he says. “Bad mental image.”

A smile quirks the corners of her lips and he thinks that suits her more than the frown had. “I didn’t ask you to imagine it.”

“So… why were you crying?” he asks. There’s something soft in his voice that he hadn’t really been sure could be there.

Ji Hye’s smile widens into a small grin and he doesn’t really get what’s funny. “I told you: it’s dumb.”

“Well, tell me anyway.”

She snorts. “Fine,” she sighs. “I was reading a fanfic, okay?”

Baekhyun is decidedly unamused. For a moment there, he’d actually been worried it was something serious (“If it was a nightmare, I would have bothered Sehun or Joonmyun hyung anyway”). He supposes her laptop sitting on her lap is sort of a giveaway.

“Really.” Then, he tilts his head to the side. “What about?”

“Well, you died,” she summarises, her finger sliding over the touch pad of her laptop. He has a brief thought of why do the fans like to kill us off if they love us so much before she continues, “and you and Chanyeol got married, but he cheated on you with Kyungsoo. Oh! And Sunyoung unnie is your caretaker.”

“I… died.”

“Yup.” She pops the ‘p’ at the end.

“What did I die of?”

“Brain tumour. I think.” She coughs and Baekhyun swears he can see her cheeks turning the slightest bit red. “Hey, if you were sick, you’d tell us, right?”

He blinks away the slight fear that it could actually happen to grin at her. “Aw, are you that worried about me?” he teases, nudging her.

“I am, actually,” she replies in all seriousness. His grin falters and drops. “I mean, I know I’m pretty whatever about things, but I worry about you sometimes.”

It’s times like these that he’s suddenly reminded she likes him. It’s easy to forget, with the nonchalant way she’s treated her confession and the way she’s been acting recently, but the reminder is sobering somehow.

Then, her serious façade drops and she grins at him. “That and I need to know when I’ll finally be the lead vocalist.”

“The answer would be never,” he scoffs, pushing her forehead with a finger. “Don’t get your hopes up, maknae.”

“I hate it when you call me that.” There’s that flicker of seriousness across her features. It really doesn’t suit her; he gets a glimpse of Ji Hye ten, fifteen years from now and he doesn’t like that.

“Call you what?”

“Maknae.” She frowns, slipping the sleeve of her sweater that had fallen back in its place, covering her bare shoulder. Baekhyun swears his eyes don’t follow the fabric as it covers up the pale skin. “In all the time we’ve known each other, I think I’ve only ever heard you say my name thrice, all of them on air. Why is that?”

Why is that? The simple answer is they’re not close. In Baekhyun's mind, Ji Hye-yah is only meant for Sehun, Joonmyun and Yixing. Actually, it’s just meant for every other member except for him and Yifan. He’s not… he’s not deserving of the term because ever since Ji Hye has been in EXO, he’s treated her as someone else’s problem.

“I just… I just don’t, I guess.” He realises how lame it sounds when put like that, but he can’t think of any other way to describe it. He just doesn’t, end of discussion.

She makes a noise in the back of that he recognises as displeased. “Whatever,” she mutters, frowning slightly. Maybe she realises that the conversation has gotten a little too serious too, because she’s smiling up at him again. “Do you think Luhan oppa would mind if I bunked with him tonight? I doubt Yifan ge is going to relinquish his hold on my roommate… or my room.”

“A little late to go out to the M dorm, don’t you think?”

“I could always get Yixing oppa to pick me up. Or I could carry Jongin's bat with me.”

It’s right there on the tip of his tongue; the offer to walk her there, or maybe even offer up his own bed. He knows how Sehun and Yifan can get. He only wonders how many times she’s chosen the couch instead of making the trek to their Chinese counterpart’s dorm in Korea. Instead, he shrugs and gets off the floor, beating non-existent dust from his pants.

“Just don’t get or something,” Baekhyun mumbles, walking away.

There’s petulant silence behind him before Ji Hye calls out, “Gee, thanks for offering to walk me there, hyung.”

He doesn’t feel guilty, even as she slams the door behind her on her way out. He imagines she’s a little disappointed in him and that causes his chest to ache.

•●•●•●•

It’s one of those rare days where Baekhyun has the dorm all to himself. Chanyeol, Jongin and Sehun had immediately made their way to the M dorm, dragging Joonmyun along with them because Jongdae insisted. Kyungsoo had gone shopping with Luhan and Minseok and god knows where Ji Hye is. Probably out with Kyungsoo.

He yawns and stretches, blearily making his way into the kitchen only to run into the counter, scaring Ji Hye.

“Holy crap,” she yelps, nearly dropping a plate on her foot. “You scared me!”

He blinks at her uncomprehendingly. “What are you doing here?” he demands, his hands rising to his hair in a lame attempt to flatten his bedhead. He’s not self-conscious, he swears (he’s been doing a lot of that lately) even as his lips turn downwards when he notices the corners of Ji Hye’s mouth twitching upwards.

“I live here,” she replies in a duh voice. “So… what’s up?”

“You didn’t go with Kyungsoo?”

She raises an eyebrow. “Wow, you really want me gone that bad?”

Baekhyun internally winces; he hadn’t meant to sound so hostile. “No!” he replies hastily. He doesn’t miss the curve of amusement to her lips. “I just – well, I thought you’d like to do some shopping. Or whatever.”

“And pass up the opportunity for alone time?” she snorts, eyeing him. “Well, kind of.”

“I – but you – huh.”

Baekhyun feels tongue-tied for some odd reason. He’s aware this is the first somewhat proper conversation they’ve had in a week and he doesn’t know how he feels about it. It’s hardly a new occurrence – they hardly talked before – but it’s new since Ji Hye’s confession and he’s pretty sure the awkwardness is only felt on his end.

She’s blissfully unaware as she bangs pots and pans in the kitchen. “Hungry?” she asks. “I’m making breakfast.”

“Oh?” He’s had a taste of Ji Hye’s cooking from… way back when and he doesn’t quite feel like eating charcoal for breakfast.

Her face scrunches up in displeasure as she throws a rag at him. “I’ve gotten better, okay?”

“I’ll believe it when I see it.”

She flips her hair haughtily; it might have worked if her hair was longer. “Fine.”

The radio plays in the background softly as Baekhyun watches Ji Hye move around in the kitchen. She moves effortlessly – as effortlessly as if she was on the dance floor, would you look at that – and finds the ingredients easily. He finds his eyes glued to every single movement she makes, hands itching to brush away the lock of hair that always falls in her face.

He sighs, contemplating when his feelings changed from tolerating her to caring about her to liking her back. He figures it lay somewhere between the multiple bubble tea outings and the way they’d curl up on the couch on sleepless nights. He’d just go more insane trying to figure it all out, anyway.

“Can you love me? Can you love me?” Ji Hye sings along with the song playing on the radio. It’s a song that sounds vaguely familiar – probably on one of the music shows or something – but it doesn’t matter where he’s heard it. All that matters is that Ji Hye is singing along and he likes it. “A girl’s heart is simple.” He bites back a laugh as she seems to dance along. Well, she’s not a dancer for nothing. “So just at the words, ‘I love you’, they will give you everything – ”

“Will they?” he inquires casually. Ji Hye whirls around, blinking as if she’s forgotten he’s there.

“Will who what?”

“Will girls really give their everything at the words I love you?” he explains, leaning his chin on his hand.

She stares at him – in confusion, from the way she purses her lips (he doesn’t quite know when he picked that up). She points her spatula to the radio, which is still playing the song. “Um, you do realise it’s just a song, right?”

“Well, there’s got to be some basis in fact.”

“So you’re saying that you like simple things and there’s a hidden beast has awakened inside you?” She rolls her eyes.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes as well, pushing out of his seat. “I’m just saying.” He shifts so he’s leaning against the counter next to where Ji Hye is scrambling eggs. He peers into the pan. It actually doesn’t look too bad.

“Why would you want to know?” Ji Hye sighs, turning the flame off and transferring the eggs onto a plate.

The words are there on the tip of his tongue. It’d be so easy to say them.

“I love you.”

Ji Hye freezes, her breath hitching. Baekhyun gently sets her hand down, letting the pan rest on the stove before she drops it. She stirs at the contact, pulling her hand from his grip and taking a step back. Her eyes are wide and he can see the disbelief in her eyes plainly.

It’s a moment of staring into each other’s eyes before she’s coughing an awkward laugh. She punches his shoulder lightly. He can see how obviously she’s trying to play it off, but her breath is rapid as Baekhyun steps closer. “You got me,” she says, her voice sounding strained. “Good – good joke, hyung.”

Ji Hye takes a step back when he moves forward again. They continue this until her back hits the counter and as she looks back at it as if she hadn’t expected it to be there, Baekhyun grabs her hands gently. He shakes his head, looking into her eyes. He hopes she can see the sincerity in his eyes. “Not a joke.”

No, he doesn’t know when he fell out of like and into love, but if it’s with Ji Hye, maybe that’s okay.

“So,” he continues, “do you still like me?”

Ji Hye looks at him, a smile playing at the corners of . Then, she shakes her head. “No,” she answers and Baekhyun pales. “I’m pretty sure I love you too.” She shuts her eyes. “Oh god, that sounds so cheesy.”

He grins, leaning in a little closer. “I’m glad you know,” he breathes into the diminishing space between them. “Where’s my everything?”

“Don’t get greedy,” she scoffs, closing the space between them to press her lips against his.

Baekhyun figures he’s got his everything right here.

(Ji Hye’s right when she says he’s a giant grease ball.)

•●•●•●•

Ji Hye doesn’t know how she let herself get cornered in her own room, but there she is, the door barricaded by Luhan and Jongdae standing in her way. She’s starting to wonder if movie night really is a good idea after all. Teamwork is good, but there is such a thing as spending too much time together.

The two pranksters grin at her with similar, slightly maniacal grins and Ji Hye’s torn between screaming for help and taking a picture. “Hey, guys,” she says instead, acting as if they hadn’t just ambushed her the moment they entered EXO-K’s dorm. “What’s shaking?”

“How’d it go?” Luhan demands, bouncing slightly in place. “Did it work, did it work?”

Ji Hye rolls her eyes. She doesn’t answer, walking to her side of the room and unearthing thirty dollars from underneath her pillow. She promptly hands it over to Luhan. She hides a grin at the unattractive look on Luhan’s face that she’s learnt is meant to convey shock.

“Really?” he gasps, clutching the money and gaping at it. “But he didn’t look like he was going to break!”

“I thought he wasn’t going to break either,” she agrees, “but goes to show how well we really know Baekhyun hyung, I guess.”

Jongdae grins, poking her cheek. “Oh, please. He’s liked you for a while. He just didn’t know.”

Ji Hye ruffles her hair, twisting a lock of hair around her finger. She bites her lip as a flush enters her cheeks. “Well, that’s good to know,” she says quietly.

Luhan looks at her expectantly. “Well?”

She raises an eyebrow, feigning ignorance. She knows what he wants, but she’s the one who had to go through the hardship of being clingy and inserting herself into Baekhyun's life in a non-invasive manner. “Well what?”

She gets a knock on the head from both of them. She shoots them a glare. Harsh. “Fine, thank you,” she drawls. “But for the record, I did most of the work.”

Luhan raps her forehead with a condescending look on his face. “Hello? I managed to get you and Baekhyun together! I call that a minor miracle.”

“Besides, you’ve been lusting after Baekhyun for months,” Jongdae adds with a smirk. “Since, what, a couple months before Wolf promotions?”

“Shut up,” she mutters, pushing past the two of them to exit her room. “I was not lusting after him. I liked him, like a normal person. I’m not you, Luhan oppa.”

When she enters the living room, she’s just in time because the movie is set up and she grins when Baekhyun pats the space next to him, holding his blanket open for her to slide under.

“What were you guys talking about?” Baekhyun inquires as he passes her the popcorn, their fingers brushing.

Ji Hye shrugs, grabbing a handful and nearly dumping the bowl onto Luhan’s head. “This and that,” she answers, popping a kernel in . When he notices his uneasy look, she presses a kiss to his cheek. “They weren’t corrupting me, so don’t worry.”

He pokes her cheek. “I think I’m more worried about you corrupting them.”

Baekhyun's arm is nestled comfortably around her shoulders as she leans into his side. They’re probably more public than they should be, but everyone already knows, so why bother? It’s not like they’re the first couple to go public, she rationalises, eyeing Luhan draped all over Minseok and Jongdae not so secretly making out with Joonmyun in the corner.

She wonders if this is what it would have turned out like if Luhan and Jongdae hadn’t wheedled her into a stupid dare to act all clingy towards Baekhyun. Probably not. She probably wouldn’t have done anything and having Baekhyun's arm around her would probably be nothing but a pipe dream. She guesses she owes Luhan and Jongdae – especially Luhan – a lot.

That doesn’t mean she has to show her appreciation.

-0-

I updated so soon, aren't you a lucky bunch?

To be honest, this is the original Baekhyun/Ji Hye dynamic I've always had in mind, not the one is Perspective. My headcanon is that they've always been awkward simply because they never had much interaction before Wolf promotions (since BaekYeol stuck to each other and HunHye was out to rule the world).

This was also written way before Perspective and I've been working on this for months. Since about a week after I started on Stories of EXO? Hey, I'm finally prioritising!

Shout out to 10080 (R.I.P story, you will be missed) and f-ve dolls' Can You Love Me?