CHAPTER 04

P r o x i m i t y   I n f a t u a t i o n

KyungSoo pensively looks through the pictures of him and BaekHyun on an old photoalbum he’s had since he was a kid. There were several pictures of them, mostly wearing the same cream pants and white collared shirts they used to wear back in highschool. They’d be flanking each other’s side either making a peace sign or doing adorable aegyos.

Did he step out of bounds? Was he such a diva to command so much attention and expect too much loyalty from his bestfriend? BaekHyun wasn’t a dog that responds to his every beck and call.

“But still…” he contests to himself.

He flips to the last page of the album and stares at its’ empty contents. The longer he looks at it, the more that it seems to populate with obscure images. Pictures of two kids, one was him, but the other wasn’t BaekHyun. A name starts to form in the middle, but he couldn’t read what it was.

He blinks and the phantom prints dissolves, leaving it blank once more. Oddly, this last page seems to have contained pictures that were taken out. He squints his eyes and sees that indeed a name cut-out used to plaster the middle of it. It was clear, well the last 3 letters of it anyway.

“eol.”

--

He studies his face in the mirror. His blonde hair plays deliciously with his fair skin. His eyes. His eyes were looking back at someone who looked like he lost his bestfriend.

“Oh,” he mutters, “I think I actually have.”

BaekHyun gently forces himself off the chair and drags his feet towards the door of his room. He stops and stares at the rilakkuma toy that sits atop his bed. He pouts and stifles a sob. Is this the end of their friendship? Just because he’d forgotten the date of arrival of KyungSoo did not mean he cared for him less.

A toothy smile suddenly flashes in his head as a pair of flappy ears guzzles all other thoughts.

“No!”

ChanYeol was the reason he’d forgotten all about KyungSoo. It’s his fault, he assures himself. But was it his really? Or was he himself partially to blame?

He concedes defeat as he let his feet trail him outside their home and god knows where.

--

“KyungSooyah~”

ChanYeol digs his fingernails deeper into the skin of his palms as the scene last night plays over and over in his head like a broken record. How is it that he was so close to him yet the distance between them felt insurmountable?

He turns off the shower and stands distracted. The cool water drips down his soft skin and seems to mould the contour of his taut body. His back arches as he absent-mindedly stretches his arms into the air letting the skin on his chest and abdomen hug the curves of his muscles. He puts his arms down and caresses his hips as if to relieve the stress that was plaguing him. He looks down at his feet, still distracted, as he lazily fondles his ears. His right leg bends to reveal a well-defined calf muscle seemingly extending to a firm yet smooth thigh. The both ends of his abdominal v-line seem to hint a very promising juncture that no one aside from himself has ever had the pleasure of coming in contact with.

He finally steps out the bathroom and into the bedroom where he walks with a towel offhandedly hugging his waist. He surveys himself in front of the mirror. How come he’s sprouted so tall yet KyungSoo seems to have stopped growing. He approximates the smaller boy to reach no further than his ears, maybe just enough for him to rest his chin on his head.

He turns around and takes off his towel only to freeze and startle. BaekHyun gapes at the ChanYeol who seems to have been immobilized at the sudden appearance of someone else inside his apartment.

“S-surprise?”

--

ChanYeol offers him a cold glass of water. He’s still staring wildly at his clenched fists that seem to be boring holes on his lap. The taller boy sits opposite the table and awkwardly avoids looking at BaekHyun.

“So--” ChanYeol starts, “what brings you here?” He almost regrets telling BaekHyun that he keeps his spare keys under the pot of yellow tulips in front of his apartment door. But what’s done is done.

“I—uhm. Just wanted to see how you were—erm—doing.” BaekHyun immediately stuffs his lips with a mouthful of water which nearly chokes him. ChanYeol instinctively stands to pat his back. He mouths a silent thanks as he realizes his head was at level with the other boy’s crotch.

BaekHyun turns all shades of pink and red as he recalls the scene they had earlier. He surmises that ChanYeol wasn’t wearing anything at all right now safe for the fact that it was just him picturing the guy in front of him .

ChanYeol cumbersomely recoils upon realizing that BaekHyun was just inches away from his now fully clothed groin. He turns his back, clears his throat, and re-starts their conversation.

“I’m fine Baek. It’s me who should be asking you that question.”

BaekHyun musters all the strength that he has to drive the unwelcomed blush on his face.

“I’m fine. I guess.”

ChanYeol faces him and smiles skeptically. He sits opposite him again and wistfully looks at the person whom he saw break down last night. He bites his lips remembering how words failed him after the eventful and uncalculated encounter with KyungSoo.

“How is—he?”

“Huh?”

“KyungSoo I mean. Have you guys talked already?”

ChanYeol knows the answer when BaekHyun winces instantly. He sniffs. It escalates to a sob. Unknowingly, he starts crying. He covers his face to hide his emotions but he knows this did nothing to conceal what he’s feeling right now.

ChanYeol once again approaches BaekHyun to comfort him. The younger boy unconsciously grabs ChanYeols shirt and buries his face on his chest. This takes him by surprise as he fails to support both their bodies. They collapse on the floor with a loud thud.

BaekHyun seems to be unshaken by their fall as he continues to taint ChanYeols thin white shirt with his tears. He presses forward onto his chest somewhat looking for comfort in this unfamiliar warmth that’s so close to his face.

ChanYeol concedes and gently ruffles BaekHyun’s hair. He’s never been this physically close to anyone other than his parents, and this isn’t the feeling that he remembers getting when he hugs them.

He smells vanilla and something else, whatever it is, it seems intoxicating. He unheedingly wraps his long arms around BaekHyun and allows them to stay that way longer than he cares to admit.