“Ah…actually…” Baekhyun struggled to cradle his phone between his shoulder and chin as he examined a pair of headphones. After eyeing the price, he physically recoiled and gently set them back on the shelf, saying, “I’m sorry, I’m not doing any Christmas Eve shows this year—” An angry burst of static from the receiver cut him off as he returned to the crowded mall, prompting him to plant a finger in his ear to try to hear the caller. “I know, I know, I’m really sorry…any other time, please don’t hesitate to call me…” he continued softly in a low voice, drenching it with honey in an attempt to placate whoever was in charge of booking entertainment at perhaps the fourth place that had called him this morning. He had the tone perfected by now as it neared noon, considering the greater part of the morning was spent answering calls that ranged from simple curiosity to frantic desperation—regardless of their requests, he had turned them all down.

Baekhyun continued to string apologies together until the voice on the other end gave up with a crisp “click,” and he rolled his eyes and stuffed his phone into his pocket. Gazing distractedly from sign to sign as he strode quickly through the mall, Baekhyun couldn’t help but hear Sehun’s soft voice in his ear despite the energetic holiday clamor echoing endlessly up into the high white ceilings, and it was suddenly cold and quiet and still around him. “So you only run after me when I run away.” The back of Sehun’s head staring at the ground flashed behind Baekhyun’s eyelids when he tried to drown out those words that rang louder in his mind than the bright chaos of the entire mall. “Just don’t forget next time, okay?”

He in a deep breath through his nose as he ducked into a random store. Those words seared his stomach like a hot brand even though he knew their date had ended on a good note—the memory of plump lips and wet heat teasing his ear momentarily served to be very distracting—but the unavoidable urge to dwell on the negative wouldn’t let him forget how Sehun looked when he’d run out the door, how his quirky smile that tugged at Baekhyun’s heart had seem so far gone, buried under a layer of coldness and frustration. He swore to himself that there’d be no more running, no more flitting from one thing to another, so focused on never landing yet constantly driving himself into the ground—whether it be from show to show or his own weird life problems or Sehun—it was time to come down.

This was why he let his phone continue to ring in his coat after seeing another unknown number flash on the screen, and why he was instead currently trying to buy Sehun a Christmas present. It turned out to be a more daunting task than he had assumed it would be from his groggy, 3am contemplations about it the other night, and as he absentmindedly turned over a simple mug in his slim fingers, it hit him that he barely knew anything about Sehun aside from the fact that he was a student from out of town. He pinched the bridge of his nose when he realized he didn’t even ask what Sehun’s major was or where he was going to school—they could be going to the same university and not even know it—and sighed, wondering why Sehun even liked him in the first place. The empty mug swallowed his gaze, glazed over with questions and doubts. Sehun had been the beacon that drew him in through the dark sea of the crowd when they met, but what could he do for him? So far he had succeeded in canceling a lot of dates and failing to ask the simplest but nevertheless important life questions like “what’s your major?”

The minimalistic curves and lines of the plain mug Baekhyun was still staring into contrasted with the turmoil of words and blurred memories and colors his mind twisted itself into, and he blinked, remembering suddenly and clearly that Sehun always had a latte in hand. He smiled despite himself as he remembered the foam running down the boy’s chin when they had happened to look at each other that one night, finally looking up in satisfaction.  He’d almost lost Sehun once when there’d barely been anything to lose, and that would be the last time.

Baekhyun froze when his eyes fell on a familiar shock of white hair bobbing quickly towards him above the crowd, and his neck snapped back to the mug as he almost dropped it. “,” he hissed, the panic gripping his chest most likely disproportionate to the actual situation at hand. Not accounting for the fact that Sehun probably goes to the most popular café in the most popular mall in town, Baekhyun frantically darted to the other exit, almost committing a minor theft as he quickly set the mug down on a table at the last minute.

Heart racing as he buried himself in the crowd of shoppers, Baekhyun considered the fact that Sehun probably wouldn’t have given a second thought about him being in the most popular café in the most popular mall in town, and that he had perhaps overreacted. He also couldn’t help but wonder if Sehun was possibly shopping for him, but he quickly pursed his lips and shook his head as he felt his cheeks begin to flush. Making a mental note to venture back to pick up the mug, he wandered into a clothing store for the primary purpose of ensuring he wouldn’t be found anytime soon.

It was small and quiet, the scent of freshly pressed leather and nondescript cologne permeating the air. Baekhyun perused the selection, the bottles glittering back at him as he wondered what kind Sehun would like (and perhaps what kind he would like on him). Grimacing as the gaudy stench of one abused his nose, he figured Sehun would like something simple and understated as he another bottle, inhaling gingerly. Images of Sehun’s long torso stretching to get dressed as the morning sun painted it white flooded his mind as the scent crept up his nose, and his breath hitched in his throat rather embarrassingly as his eyes snapped open in surprise. on the inside of his cheek while he glanced around to see if anyone had been unfortunate enough to witness him fantasizing, Baekhyun made a mental note to purchase that particular bottle after  a paycheck when he hissed at the price, walking over to the clothing section of the store.

His fingers ghosted over the soft fabrics of the flannels and sweaters, warm and inviting. He tried not to think about how they’d look on Sehun—or how he’d look putting them on—and instead busied himself with attempting to pick one he might like. Baekhyun held up a charcoal sweater, imagining it clinging to Sehun’s slim waist and broad shoulders as he worried his bottom lip. It then occurred to him that he had no idea what size would be right as he glanced down at his petite frame and scrunched up his face in annoyance. He dug through the sweaters and pressed a large to his shoulders in an attempt to establish some sort of frame of reference, clicking his tongue and shimmying out of his coat when he still wasn’t satisfied. As his arms tangled themselves in the sleeves of his hoodie, he scrambled to pull the sweater over his head and catch his snapback as his hand accidentally launched it into the air, and it was at the moment when his phone rang that he figured this was probably not the best idea.

Baekhyun fumbled for his phone as the sweater hung awkwardly from his body like a dress, the sleeves floppy and the bottom resting halfway down his thighs, sighing exasperatedly when his head surfaced for air through the top. Another unknown number glared at him through the screen, and something snapped in him that released the tension and aggravation and worry that had been coiling and twisting and festering inside him all morning into the receiver. “Hello?”

The air hissed through his teeth as the voice on the other end (who happened to not be in the best mood at the moment, either) offered him a gig at a ty bar with a ty pay and Baekhyun couldn’t help but reply tersely, “Sorry, I can’t. I’m all booked.” He began pacing up and down the aisle when the caller wasn’t fooled, his breaths coming short and fast from his clenched chest. “Yah, I’m real sorry but I’m not doing it…” His free hand flew in front of him as his voice rose in frustration, the sleeve of his sweater flapping wildly and most likely not very threateningly. “Yeah okay, well I don’t really care, actually, what you’re gonna do about it. You can do whatever the hell you want, actually, ‘cause that’s what I’m gonna do, okay?” he spat into the phone, holding it up a few inches away from his face as he stalked up and down the aisle.

The part of Baekhyun that wasn’t screaming into the receiver begged him to stop and think about his career, but a rage that had been simmering under his skin could only think of Christmas Eve and Sehun, an anger that had been building each time his exhausted body collapsed on top of his cold mattress after performing all day, one that had chipped away at his sanity with every glass of lemon and honey water he’d choke down to soothe his throat. “Yeah that’s right, I’m not doing any shows that night,” Baekhyun snapped, laughing bitterly. “What else do I have to do? I’m gonna be spending that time with someone I happen to like a lot, okay? Just like every other ing person on the planet wants to do—” At this point he had completely forgotten that he was out in a public place, yelling into the phone, “But I haven’t been able to do because of this bull, okay?!”

Silence met the hot breaths hissing through his nose. “Hello? ing hell…” Baekhyun muttered under his breath as he hung up and whirled around, sleeves flying everywhere. Sehun stood before him, lips parted and wide-eyed in that sleepy way of his, and Baekhyun seemed to deflate as the reality of where he was and the fact that Sehun had seen him stomping around the store screaming into the phone in a giant sweater punctured his anger. His face flushed bright pink as he attempted to save whatever scraps of dignity he had left, casually adjusting his hair under his hat. “Aha, hey Sehuh-ah, you didn’t happen to hear all that, did you? I—”

“I did,” Sehun said quietly, stepping forward until Baekhyun was peering up at him.

Baekhyun wanted to sink into the floor. “All of it…?” His voice was timid and mortified.

He blinked in surprise when Sehun’s lips curled into a small smile, like he was trying not to laugh. “The important parts, at least,” he chuckled, lifting one of Baekhyun’s sleeves with raised eyebrows. “Nice outfit.”

Baekhyun grinned, dramatically twirling around. “Thanks, it’s the latest fashion trend,” he stated, and Sehun couldn’t help but giggle. The sound washed over his mind, flooding his heart and working at the fingers of frustration clenched around his chest until he could breathe again. He loved that Sehun would smile like that for him, the boy with the seemingly blank face who actually had all these wonderful little ways of showing his unfiltered thoughts to the world.

He let out a small squeak as Sehun drew him into his arms, sighing softly when he felt the boy’s lips press to his forehead. The voice above him was muffled by his hair. “What were you doing?” he laughed softly, a small, affectionate sound. Sehun’s grip tightened around him, and he rested his forehead against the boy’s chest with a tiny thud.

The undertone of concern weighed on Baekhyun’s shoulders as he stood wrapped in Sehun’s arms—thin but strong, grounding him like an anchor. “Just modeling…” He smirked into the boy’s chest, but it faded quickly. “I’ve just been answering calls all day about performing tomorrow. No big deal.”

A beat of silence was punctured by the dull thud of Baekhyun’s heart against his ribs when he felt Sehun tense up around him, so brief that he honestly might have imagined it. “And what did you say?”

Baekhyun grinned then, eyes flicking up to meet Sehun’s tentative gaze. “Well, I told them I’m busy,” he mumbled into the crook of Sehun’s neck, pecking it gently. “But I thought you heard that part, right?” He laughed as Sehun’s lanky body contorted itself into strange shapes when his long fingers snuck up the boy’s sweater to tickle him, his breath catching in his throat as the sensation of soft stomach against his own skin for the first time skewered his train of thought.

Sehun whined, scrambling for Baekhyun’s wandering hands until he caught his wrists in a firm hold. “Okay, well I didn’t really want to admit I was eavesdropping…” he huffed, pursing his lips. Baekhyun watched the way his gaze fell to the floor, and when he spoke again, a note of hesitation tinged his words. “I also…didn’t want to get my hopes up…y’know, you coming over on Christmas Eve. It’s kind of a lot to ask for.”

“Nooo, it’s fine,” Baekhyun hummed, gently rocking Sehun’s arms from side to side. “I don’t care, no shows tomorrow. It’ll be just me and you, I promise.” His eyes brightened when he caught Sehun’s lips beginning to twitch into a smile. “Hey, Sehunnie, if I sing for anyone tomorrow it’ll be you, okay? I’ll be there.”

Sehun giggled at Baekhyun’s teasing singsong voice and sighed, tension escaping with his breath. “I know, but I feel kinda bad, y’know? I mean, this is your job and all. I dunno…” A hand combed through the back of his hair. “What if like, some super famous place wanted you. Like somewhere you’ve been wanting to play at your whole life that everyone wants to get into.”

Baekhyun shook his head dismissively. “Trust me, nowhere even close to that description called me today,” he laughed dryly. All the possible shows that were calling last minute were regular old cafés and bars, nowhere special would wait this late to book entertainment, would they? Of course there were places he would kill to get into, but Baekhyun decided against sharing this progression of ideas with Sehun. Hypothetical, impossible situations would only cause more damage than he’d already done, but he had to say something because he suddenly became aware of Sehun studying the way his face was working as he thought.  “And they’d have to give me a ton of money for it too to make me miss this,” he teased, his fingers coursing with the shock of their touch as he skirted under Sehun’s sweater to rub at his hip.

A small puff of air escaped Baekhyun’s nose in relief when Sehun didn’t seem to acknowledge his brief hesitation and swatted at his hand, whining about how they were in public and something about being really handsy today. Baekhyun laughed, letting the sound drop his hands to his knees as he looked up at Sehun. “So, what are you doing here today?” he prodded mischievously, grinning as Sehun started fidgeting in his cute way that he probably thought was subtle.

“Umm, just doing some last minute Christmas shopping,” he stuttered, checking his phone suddenly. “Actually, I should go—”

“Is it for me?”

“Uhhh, ahaha, you’ll just have to find out!” Sehun grinned in an attempt to be smooth, and Baekhyun nodded knowingly.

“Ohh, I see,” he said gravely, grabbing his arm dramatically when Sehun punched it.

“Shut up,” Sehun muttered. “So…I’ll call you tomorrow or something?”

Baekhyun nodded, smiling with all his teeth. “Yep!” Then, quieter, “I can’t wait.” He knew that the pink that crept up Sehun’s cheeks as he smiled softly and walked off would stay in the back of his mind for the rest of the day. Baekhyun turned away only to run into what he presumed to be the manager of the store telling him very sternly to please remove and replace all merchandise (honestly he forgot he was still wearing the huge sweater) and to quickly leave the premises as soon as possible unless he would like to face mall security for unruly conduct. Scrambling out of the sweater almost as hurriedly as the apologies tumbled from his mouth, Baekhyun hastily left the store, suddenly remembering to run back and pick up the mug he’d seen earlier. The thought hung suspended in his mind when his phone buzzed in his pocket, feeling the aggravation from earlier tug at his shoulders as he dug through his coat. Blinking in exasperation, he halfheartedly glanced at the screen as he briskly walked through the crowd.

Baekhyun froze, not completely registering the fact that a few people bumped into him after the unexpected stop. The color drained from his face as he stared in disbelief at the name on the screen—a number he (and anyone else along his line of business, really) always had on file, but never used. He answered the phone with his heart in his throat. “H-hello?” he choked out.

Calm, important words and static.

“Oh, t-tomorrow, huh? Uh…well…I don’t…” Baekhyun stammered, unable to stop his lips from moving on their own, anything to fill the silence on the other end that was waiting for him. “I-I might have a prior…engagement…” The sentence died on his tongue. “I really do have no doubt the pay would be an amazing opportunity…well, I mean your whole place is…”

More calm, careful words.

Baekhyun was breathless. “Tomorrow night huh…”

His heart hammered in his chest as he hung up the phone.

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A/N: sorry this chapter took so long, real life Christmas got in the way >> the final chapter will be up soon, just a warning that it will be rated M! hope you're all liking the story <3