03: Odd

Baekhyun looked back and forth between Chanyeol and Lu Han, an amused yet confused expression on his face. He smiled slightly before gesturing at the two boys.

"Oh, Chanyeol? You know Lu Han?"

Lu Han nodded his head excitedly, grabbing Chanyeol by the elbow and pulling him towards the carpet in the living room where Baekhyun was sitting. He pulled the taller male down and made him sit right in front of Baekhyun. The latter smiled awkwardly, and Chanyeol returned the gesture with a warm smile. Lu Han grinned at them.

"Yeah, we've known each other for a while now."

"Ah, I see. That's...that's a surprise. I don't think you've ever mentioned Chanyeol to me before." Baekhyun shrugged noncommittally, and Lu Han waved a dismissive hand.

"I'm sure I have. You probably just don't remember. So anyway, Chanyeol here, he's not used to, uhh, city ways." Lu Han started, and Baekhyun frowned at him slightly.

"We're not exactly in the city, you know. We're kind of...far away from civilization, if you catch my drift."

"Shut up. So as I was saying, he's pretty much like a baby right now. He doesn't have any other friends aside from us--

"Us?"

"--and actually, he's staying over here at my house, but I won't be able to be with him for majority of the time. You know, my part-time job and all that. Would you be a dear, Baekhyun, and be his guardian? You know, show him around and tell him stuff. I don't know." Lu Han smiled at Baekhyun sweetly, and all the while, Chanyeol was just fiddling with a loose thread on the carpet, seemingly unaware of what was transpiring around him.

Baekhyun gawked at his best friend incredulously. He could not believe that Lu Han had just casually dumped a stranger onto him, burdening him with responsibilities he wasn't even supposed to have in the first place. He opened his mouth to protest, but Lu Han suddenly reached forward, clapping a hand over Baekhyun's mouth painfully. Baekhyun felt like crying.

"That's great! Thanks, man, you're gold! Chanyeol, I already packed your stuff for you, it's out there beside the door." Lu Han grinned, smirking knowingly at Baekhyun. On the other hand, Baekhyun just wanted to knee Lu Han in the groin or something because, well, Lu Han's hand was still on his face.

"You packed my stuff? Am I going back to the mountain?" Chanyeol asked seriously, and Baekhyun stopped struggling as he heard the unusual question. Did Chanyeol live on a mountain? Baekhyun could see how Lu Han tensed a bit.

"What? No, Chanyeol. You're going to stay with Baekhyun from now on. He has a bigger house, you know?" Lu Han finally retracted his hand, giving Baekhyun his much needed dose of oxygen.

"Oh...Oh, okay. Taeyeon-noona would have been mad if I went back this early. She did so much for me already, what with my transfor--

"Oooookay!! It's getting soooooooo late already, like, woah!" Baekhyun stared at Lu Han strangely, wondering what was wrong with the older male. He was practically screaming and yawning every two seconds, and he refused to make eye contact with Baekhyun. Lu Han just kept on pushing Chanyeol towards the door.

"Yah, Lu Han, what is wrong with you?" Baekhyun finally managed to say, pushing himself up from the floor as he followed Lu Han to the door, still pushing a confused Chanyeol to the front.

"Nothing, nothing! Absolutely nothing. Just tired as frick from the orientation, you know?" Lu Han yawned obnoxiously and on purpose. Baekhyun cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Contrary to what you might believe, I'm not stupid, Lu. I know you're faking your yawns. What the hell happene--

"Okay, good night!" Lu Han blurted out, kicking Baekhyun out of his apartment roughly. Baekhyun bumped against Chanyeol, and the taller male automatically pushed his hands out, catching and cushioning Baekhyun.

Baekhyun, too bewildered and surprised at the sudden turn of events, wasn't even able to process the arms wrapped around him. All he could process was how Lu Han had just literally kicked him out and slammed the door on his face. Not a moment passed until the door re-opened, showing a grinning Lu Han carrying Chanyeol and Baekhyun's bags in both hands. Baekhyun was about to protest, ready to scream something along the lines of, "Don't you ing dare throw those at us!", but Lu Han was quicker. The older male fabulously threw the bags at them, and closed the door again. Baekhyun could only stare in unadulterated confusion.

"What....happened." He mumbled under his breath.

Suddenly, he felt the slight rumble of Chanyeol's chest against his back as the taller male laughed softly. Baekhyun turned his head around, not entirely bothered by their close proximity, and watched as Chanyeol continued laughing, his hold on Baekhyun tightening slightly. Baekhyun tilted his head in wonder.

"What? What's so funny, Chanyeol?"

Chanyeol shook his head, finally calming himself down. He looked at Baekhyun, his eyes holding a certain twinkle in them. Baekhyun felt his heart skip a beat, which he thought was ridiculous. He wriggled free of Chanyeol's hold, picked up his own bag and sighed in defeat.

"Well then, let's go, I guess?"

Chanyeol picked up his bag, grinning at Baekhyun. "Where?"

Baekhyun couldn't help but smile. Whenever Chanyeol spoke, he could always feel a certain wave of innocence and pure curiosity, like Chanyeol hadn't really gone out into the world yet. Baekhyun hadn't, either, but he knew what real life was like, and whenever he was with Chanyeol (even though they had only known each other for a few hours), he felt that he was back in his childhood days-- all smiles, laughter, and innocence. Baekhyun liked it.

"How about we go eat some ddeokbeokki first before we go to my house?" Baekhyun suggested, and Chanyeol scrunched up his nose in reply.

"What's ddeokbeokki?"

Baekhyun hooked his arm around Chanyeol's arm and grinned up at him. "Weeeeell, if you don't know ddeokbeokki, then you . Come on, my treat." Baekhyun laughed as he pulled Chanyeol away, and Chanyeol smiled.

The next morning was a Saturday, and Baekhyun, just like the rest of the student population at Rouge U, had the liberty and luxury of sleeping in. Baekhyun had that intention, but he was abruptly pulled out of his sleep as he felt something clinging onto his leg. He groaned, half-asleep as he tried to wriggle his leg free, but the hold on him only tightened. Giving up on a good day's sleep, he finally cracked his eyes open and sat up, blinking sleepily at whoever had the audacity to cling onto his freaking leg at seven in the morning.

It was Chanyeol.

"............uh." Baekhyun managed to utter, eyes trained on the taller male currently curled up at the foot of his bed, his arms wrapped firmly around Baekhyun's leg as if it was some kind of lifeline.

Chanyeol stirred in his sleep, probably feeling the gaze on him, and he soon opened his eyes slowly, his face blank. He looked up at Baekhyun before sitting up frantically, face an unusual shade of pink. Baekhyun just watched him, amused.

"S-sorry! I, uh, old habits die hard, I guess? I just...sorry, Baekhyun." Chanyeol muttered, the tips of his large ears tinged pink from embarrassment. Baekhyun waved his hand dismissively before smiling at him.

"It's fine. I don't know what kind of habit that was, but if you prefer sleeping on the bed next to someone as compared to sleeping on a futon in a separate room, it's okay with me. I'll share the bed." Baekhyun grinned, and Chanyeol nodded his head slowly.

"A-are you sure? Taeyeon-noona told me that humans like their personal space..." Chanyeol mumbled more to himself than to Baekhyun, but the smaller male caught his words. Baekhyun scooted closer to him, punching his shoulder lightly and ignoring the fact that Chanyeol had just referred to people as 'humans', as if Chanyeol himself wasn't one.

"I like my personal space to remain personal, yes, but it's okay. I offered, didn't I? And who's this Taeyeon-noona you keep on mentioning? Your sister?"

Chanyeol turned to him, an amused expression on his face. It made his left eye twitch slightly, and though it was slightly disturbing at first, Baekhyun found it a little cute and endearing.

"Taeyeon-noona's not my sister. She's like...a mountain goddess, I guess." Chanyeol twiddled with his fingers, leaning a little closer to Baekhyun.

"A...what?"

"Mountain goddess. She's nice."

Chanyeol suddenly leaned in a little too close, his nose almost bumping with Baekhyun's temple. He took a slow whiff, and Baekhyun knew that he should have been freaked out, but he didn't. Chanyeol smiled softly before reaching out a hand and slightly running his fingers through Baekhyun's bed hair. Baekhyun felt the blood rush to his cheeks at the sudden contact.

"You have a wonderful scent, Baekhyun. It...it hasn't changed." Chanyeol whispered, his words somehow laced with honesty and genuine simple observation.

"I-I-I do? What are you even...I-I mean, I used the same shampoo that I used yesterday before the tour but, uh, yeah...uhm, th-thanks, I guess?" Baekhyun laughed nervously, leaning away from Chanyeol and pushing himself off the bed. Chanyeol seemed a little disappointed at the loss of their close proximity, but his face brightened again when Baekhyun looked back at him before going out of the room.

"Where are you going, Baekhyun?"

"To make breakfast. You coming?"

Baekhyun decided to just shrug off all the weird things he had noted to the back of his mind. He'll just ask Lu Han about Chanyeol when he sees him again. For now, he just wanted to have breakfast, and it seemed that Chanyeol did, too, as the taller male literally howled (just for a split second) before jumping off the bed and rushing past Baekhyun.

Chanyeol was a weird one, Baekhyun would bet his entire life savings on that fact, but he was a good kind of weird. If anything, Baekhyun felt like the weird one for still not feeling freaked out after witnessing Chanyeol's behaviour. Baekhyun still finds him and his odd traits endearing.

Later that afternoon, Baekhyun decided to do his laundry. Before he went to the laundry area, he dumped Chanyeol in the living room and told him to just watch TV if he got bored or something. Picking up his phone and the laundry basket, he headed to the laundry area and set to work.

As he finished setting the washing machine, he took out his phone and dialled Lu Han's number. At the second ring, the older male picked up.

"Huuuuulloooooo, Byunbaek!"

"Hey, Lu."

"What's up? Why'd you call?"

"Can't I call my best friend on a weekend?" Baekhyun sat down on the floor, wrapping his free arm around his knees and staring at the swirling clothes inside the washing machine.

"No, you can't. I need healing time, too. I'm old."

"You don't look old, you jerk."

"I know. Jealous?"

"Not really. So, hey, I wanted to ask something. Or...some things."

"Shoot."

"Where is Chanyeol from?"

Baekhyun heard something shuffling on the other end, and then a loud thud followed by Lu Han's Chinese curse words. Baekhyun had heard enough from him to know what the words meant. He didn't even need to study Chinese.

"My remote control fell. Anyway, Chanyeol? Why're you asking?"

"Well, we're living under the same roof so I might as well know. Besides, I don't want to ask him. I feel like he'll just answer me with his mountain goddesses thing or something. What's up with that, anyway?"

Baekhyun frowned as he heard Lu Han choking on something. "Lu, are you okay?"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine. So, uh, mountain goddesses?"

"Yeah. I don't know if it's some kind of a crush or what, but he refers to that Taeyeon-noona girl as that."

"Crush...right....w-well, he's from the mountain. Kind of far from civilization....I guess."

"Where'd you meet hi--

Before Baekhyun could continue his question. Chanyeol suddenly howled from the living room. Baekhyun got on his knees and crawled out of the laundry area, peeking into the living room. Chanyeol was pointing excitedly at the TV, and Baekhyun could see that it was on the Animal Planet.

"...why does he keep howling? And what's so exciting about Animal Planet?" Baekhyun mumbled, and he heard Lu Han laugh on the other end.

"Old habits die hard."

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing. And is he watching a documentary on wolves?"

"...are you watching Animal Planet, too?"

"Just a guess. Anyway, I'm busy, Baek. I'll drop by later."

"Hey, wai--

Baekhyun frowned as Lu Han hung up on him. Slipping his phone back into his pocket, he was about to go back to his laundry when Chanyeol suddenly turned to him. Baekhyun felt ridiculous from his position on the floor, but if Chanyeol found it strange, he didn't show it. Instead, he held up the remote like it was a dead cockroach, and looked at Baekhyun helplessly.

"Baekhyun, how do I use this?"

Baekhyun gawked at him blankly. He was pretty sure his mental list of the things Chanyeol did that didn't make sense was getting longer by the second. He then mentally added "why the hell doesn't Chanyeol know how to use the remote control" to the list, deciding to ask Lu Han about it later.

^{A/N: Long time no update, y'all! I'm so sorry for taking so long but as I said in my other fic, I was plunged into a short but sudden hiatus because of a super close uncle's death. I'm still mourning, but I can't let that get in between me and my wonderful readers. I hope the awkward ChanBaek was okay. More fluff to come, then expect the ~~angst~~. I have a lot of inspiration for that, so yeaaaaah.}

^{Thank you for subbing, commenting, loving and upvoting! It means a lot to me, and though I may not reply to each comment, do know that I read them all (and spazz over each one). Thank you so much again, and I hope you enjoyed it! :) ♥}

^{P.S. Yes, Luhan's the blondie from chapter 1. I thought I wrote it clearly, but I guess not. :))}

^{Twitter: @alevuy95 | Tumblr: baekoneggs}