CHAPTER FIVE

Baekhyun had given up on trying to pry the story out of Kyungsoo.

The latter had remained remarkably tightlipped about the incident and Baekhyun knew better than to push him too hard (if the headlock he had found himself in from probing earlier on was any indication to go by). Kyungsoo had always been a private person, but Baekhyun just knew that something must have happened that night, he just didn’t know who to ask or how he could go about trying to find out… not that he had the luxury of time to dwell upon it.

The end of the month was fast approaching and the studio was kicking into high gear, making sure that deadlines were met for the publication of the next issue of EXO. Baekhyun had enough on his plate just trying to finish editing the articles assigned to him, so his concerns about his best friend would just have to wait.

Kyungsoo himself was busy too. Kris had flown to China a couple of days ago to settle some issues in the Beijing branch and this meant that his work in Seoul had naturally fallen into the hands of his protégé. After being handpicked and personally trained by Kris himself since he entered the company, Kyungsoo recognised this as his opportunity to prove that he was indeed a worthy apprentice and so he invested all his energy into his work. The long hours did nothing to faze him and in fact, he welcomed the distraction. After all, fussing over layouts and colour schemes was certainly preferable to hopelessly pining over a certain Kim Jongin.

However, being so fixated on his assignments meant that Kyungsoo ended up neglecting other things. He had fallen back into the awful habit of skipping meals again, settling instead for TV dinners whenever he finally stumbled back into his apartment.

Tonight was supposed to be no exception, but Kyungsoo comes home to find a familiar figure taking up that corner of his couch (as always), limbs splayed out over the edges.

“Chanyeol.” He looks up from the television upon hearing his name being called and flashes Kyungsoo a wide grin. “You broke into my house again.”

“Awww, don’t say that bunny.” He chuckles as he switches the television off with the remote. “I missed you.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes, but feels his lips curving up into a smile of his own as he sheds his shoes at the doorway before moving to hang his coat up. When he finally walks into the living room, he finds Chanyeol still seated at the couch with his arms spread wide open. “Come here and give me a cuddle, I haven’t held you in a very long time.”

“No, you’re being needy.” Kyungsoo deadpans, but finds himself walking towards Chanyeol anyway and letting himself be pulled down into the elder’s lap.

“Soo, your job is awful, what are they even making you do?” Chanyeol whines as wraps his arms around Kyungsoo’s waist and nuzzles into the back of his shoulder. “I hardly even see you anymore!”

"Stop, you’re being overdramatic.” His reply is monotonous and this serves to only rile Chanyeol up even more.

“Bunny, I missed you so much!” He says with a pout to which Kyungsoo pointedly ignores. “Didn’t you miss me at all?”

“Well… we’re together right now, aren’t we?” He gestures to the two of them and Chanyeol beams back at him.

"Indeed we are!” He agrees before releasing his grip on Kyungsoo and hoisting him up to his feet. “And we are going to have dinner together.” Chanyeol declares as he pulls Kyungsoo behind him and sits him down at the head of dining table.

Kyungsoo watches as Chanyeol pulls the food out of plastic bags and hears his stomach involuntarily growl at the sight, suddenly remembering that the last time he had anything to eat was this morning but yet he hadn’t noticed that he was getting hungry at all.

“I knew it.” Chanyeol throws him a dirty look as he walks away to get them both a glass of water. “When was the last time you ate?”

“Breakfast.” Kyungsoo doesn’t try coming up with excuses, too distracted by the sight of curry ramyeon in front of him, its aroma hitting him like a freight train and making him salivate.

Chanyeol lets out a long suffering sigh as he pulls out a chair next to Kyungsoo. “You know how I feel about you skipping meals—”

“—that’s why I’m so lucky to have a best friend like you, who else would take care of me like you do?” Kyungsoo interrupts, smiling sweetly at him with a pair of chopsticks in hand, quite ready to dig in. “To think you bought my favourite take-out too.”

His gaze lingers on Kyungsoo for a second too long. “…and I’d like to keep taking care of you, because I couldn’t trust anyone else to care for you like I do.”

It’s a loaded statement, and its real meaning is not lost on either of them. Kyungsoo gulps visibly, and Chanyeol watches the way his Adam’s apple bops up and down. “Chanyeol, I…”

“The noodles aren’t nice when they’re soggy.” Chanyeol pushes the bowl towards Kyungsoo. “They’ve been sitting out for a while now because you took so long to come home. Please eat.”

Kyungsoo does as he’s told and obediently begins eating, trying to ignore the sinking feeling in his chest.

“So, things as work have been getting pretty exciting lately,” Chanyeol begins conversationally, and the mood shifts, quickly descending back into lighthearted banter as he narrates to Kyungsoo the best parts of his day.  “We finally started recording this morning.”

Chanyeol worked for Lee Records, one of the most prolific entertainment companies in the country. Getting this job was a dream come true for him, who had always loved music, and Kyungsoo couldn’t be more thrilled watching his best friend get to do something he was truly passionate about. Recently, Chanyeol had been doubly excited about going to work every day because the company had finally given him the big break he had been waiting for — a song written by him had been chosen as the debut song for one of their upcoming artistes, and he was to be the producer.

Kyungsoo was more than happy to listen to Chanyeol talk about the new artiste, a rookie named Kim Jongdae who would go by the stage name of Chen, how he had a wicked sense of humour on top of having an amazing voice, and to hear about how excited he was at the prospect that the song he wrote would soon be performed on a real stage. Kyungsoo was always grateful to have the privilege of being privy to these important details of Chanyeol’s life, but still… he couldn’t shake off that nagging feeling of guilt that Chanyeol had unintentionally invoked in him from his declaration earlier on.

This was a pattern that they had fallen into such a long time ago that even Kyungsoo had forgotten when it had first begun. Somewhere along the line from the time they had graduated from high school up until now, something fundamental had shifted in the dynamics between them, where Chanyeol’s penchant for openly showing affection became something more than just manifestations of care and concern for a friend.

Kyungsoo wasn’t daft. Long before Baekhyun had even tried pointing it out to him, he had always known of Chanyeol’s feelings (or at least was suspicious of their existence). However, he never acknowledged them because even though Chanyeol was painfully obvious at times, not once had he ever explicitly said that he wanted anything more from Kyungsoo than what they already had. In that way, it had always been easy for Kyungsoo to simply carry on the relationship he had with Chanyeol without questioning anything.
    
However, in the blink of an eye, months had stretched into years and Kyungsoo found himself feeling increasingly guilty about the status quo.

“Put that down!” Chanyeol scolded jokingly, delivering a light smack on the back of Kyungsoo’s wrist. “I’ll clear the table, you go change into something more comfortable and rest. You look like a wreck.”

Wordlessly, he set his bowl back down on the table. “Good boy.” Chanyeol praises, pressing his lips to Kyungsoo’s forehead before moving to collect the rest of the bowls and plates on the table and depositing them in the sink.

Casting a final glance at Chanyeol’s back, he suppressed a sigh as he rose from the table, feeling heavier than ever as he made his way to his bedroom.

Throughout university, things were uncomplicated. After Jongin left, Kyungsoo had gone on dates once in a while, but never had it amount to anything. During that period, Chanyeol had been more than happy to stay by his side as a pillar of support, but he still went on dates of his own and even had a few relationships. However, at the beginning of senior year, Chanyeol had broken up with a nice girl he had been dating for six months and since then, he had never been with anyone else.

At first, Kyungsoo never questioned it. But years have since passed and Chanyeol had never once even mentioned that he was interested in anybody, neither had he ever brought up the prospect of dating again. As much as he hated admitting it to himself, he knew on some level that Chanyeol was waiting for him. Though it was never said out loud, it was becoming increasingly apparent that Chanyeol saw him as so much more than a friend.

Dressed in a simple black pullover and matching black slacks, he reemerged in his living room and sunk down on his sofa with a heavy heart. Allowing his eyes to flutter close