❝I finally understood what true love meant...love meant that
you care for another person's happiness more than your own,
no matter how painful the choices you face might be.❞

― Nicholas Sparks, Dear John

Are we                   

        going d           
              o
           w
                n

                     ?

Baekhyun clutches his chest, hoping the tightness of his chest would loosen even just a little.
He angrily wipes away the tears that keep falling from his eyes. Here he goes again, being a
weak freak.

He buries his body further under the duvet, warming himself up to the makeshift hug.

The door creaks open and immediately, Baekhyun hides underneath. No, no, no go away!

“Baekhyun?” Chanyeol calls, his voice distant as if he’s far, far away. He didn’t receive an
answer so he walks over to the said guy and seats on the edge of the bed, placing a hand by
Baekhyun’s feet, “Baby?”

Baekhyun cried harder, the tightness of his chest doubling till he can’t breathe.

“What’s wrong?”

Baekhyun shakes his head, hoping Chanyeol would get the message and just go away. But he
didn’t, he stayed but he didn’t say anything. He continues to cry.

What’s wrong?

Everything is wrong; their relationship and how Chanyeol handles his fear of getting caught.
Baekhyun tried to understand, he has been doing so for a year, but it hurts so so much even he
loves him. He can’t give up, no, not yet. It just means his love for him isn’t strong and loving him
is wrong.

Chanyeol doesn’t want to open their relationship to the public, he’s afraid of what they’ll say and
what they could possibly do against them. Their relationship is against the norm, the social enigma
and so and so. Chanyeol is afraid to jump out of the stereotype’s perspective; the girl-boy, boy-girl
relationship, so when they go out, they don’t hold hands or kiss. They only do it when they’re in
the confines of their apartment.

Baekhyun thought he could live with it, but the yearning, the jealousy and the feeling of insignificant
fills him to the brim, spilling them out and out with cries and whimpers at night.

And this day is no exception.

He wants to break the relationship between them, make Chanyeol live happily single and he might
follow the social norm and get married and have kids and be free of fright. Maybe, that’s the right
thing to do; he has been advised to do so. Easy to say, hard to do.

Baekhyun fell asleep to Chanyeol’s soft chatter about his day.

----

“You should definitely break up with him Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo advised for the umpteenth time, as
he stares at his friend’s tired eyes and down-turned lips, “You’re hurting yourself. You love him yes,
but he can’t show it. You can’t suffer so much. Look at you!”

Baekhyun sighed, he looks like the perfect look of ‘looking like ’ at the moment. He sips on his
bubble tea and looks at his friend.

“I don’t know.”

Kyungsoo snorts, “Of course you don’t know. When would you?” he surrenders with a frown, feeling
the heavy weight Baekhyun carries, “Think of it. He commits himself in a relationship with you but he
can’t show it. What, is he a chicken?”

Another sigh and no words came out from the two. It’s hard to persuade a person in love even he’s
hurting himself, Kyungsoo notes and heaves a breath before finishing his bubble tea.

----

Baekhyun comes into an empty home. He toes off his shoes before making a lazy beeline to the living
room. He pulls a throw pillow close to his body and curls up in the sofa; closing his eyes hoping sleep
would take his pain away even just a few hours.

Just when he's about to fall to sleep, he felt his side shift and occupied, warm arms wrap around his waist.
Butterfly kisses flutter against his neck and he lets out a whimper.

"Hey baby," greets chanyeol with a smile in his voice. Baekhyun kept his mouth into a thin line and
pretends he's asleep although his rigid body gives away that he's fully awake, uncomfortably though.

Baekhyun relaxes and evens his breath eventually, seizing the moment that in the future, he might miss
because maybe soon enough, there won’t be any baekhyun-chanyeol.

He turns his body and the familiar scent and warmth chanyeol radiate made him feel more at home, at
peace. Baekhyun buries his face in chanyeol's chest and eventually, sleep hits him.

Baekhyun wakes up and the smell of food hits his nose. He frowned and sits up, rubbing the sleep out of
his eyes.

“Chanyeol..?” he calls out sleepily.

Chanyeol peeks out from the doorway of the kitchen, “ you’re awake,” he says in a panicky voice, “I
swear I won’t burn down our apartment! But I have a cut.” He wiggles his poorly wrapped thumb in Band-Aid.

Baekhyun smiles and so does Chanyeol. He stands and makes his way to the kitchen; he looks around and
everything is a mess. Oh, Chanyeol.

“I’ll clean everything up, I promise.” Chanyeol assures and returns to his cooking.

“What’s that?” Baekhyun asks, unsure.

“Oh. nothing special, just a creamy soup with some veggies. I learnt it from Kyungsoo a few months back
actually and I forgot what it’s called.” He answers and turns off the stove, “Food’s ready!” Chanyeol
announces cheerily and pours the contents of the pot into two small soup bowls before serving it on the
table.

“Enjoy!”

Baekhyun lifts the spoon and takes a taste of the soup, it made him smile suddenly. It’s too bland, a little
tasteless but it’s ok, the usual Chanyeol has a bad taste and he’s sure Kyungsoo will be so dismayed if
ever he tastes this. He’ll never teach something as untasty as this.

“So?” Chanyeol asks expectantly.

“It’s good.” Baekhyun answers with a wide smile and takes another sip, Chanyeol smiles proudly.

“Don’t cook again though.”

“Why?”

“You might cut your thumb. Don’t come crying to me if ever that happens.”

“But—“

“Shu-shush.”

Chanyeol pouted and reluctantly agrees. A devious smile forms into his face and Baekhyun is sure
he won’t like it but he cocked up an eyebrow in a questioning manner, “Then I can order fast foods?”

“Definitely not.”

“Aw come on!”

“Shush.”

---

They went out to see the new released movie by the nearby cinema house. They're walking close
together, their hands brushing slightly as they talk softly, their voices blending along the crowd.

Here’s the unsettling feeling in Baekhyun’s belly again, he chews on his bottom lip as he tries not to care
about his issues again. But it’s just there.

Inside the cinema, none of them initiate contact; baekhyun, understanding and chanyeol, scared.

Baekhyun chews on his lip again, a habit he usually does now, his focus not entirely on the movie. His
hand is itching to hold Chanyeol’s for warmth and reassurance but he can’t. Here’s the feeling the he always
hate, it makes him feel insecure and lonely and hurt.

He looks around him and sees couples smiling sweetly at each other, holding hands and stealing kisses.
Baekhyun shrinks in his seat and tries to get back on the storyline that he missed but he just can’t. He’s
boggled with thoughts and it isn’t easy to just abandon them.

Because it’s just there.

----

Baekhyun’s hand quivers as he scribbles down the words he had been meaning to say, all of the feelings
he bottled up are now in characters, although messy but still comprehendible. He’s nervous, and it’s obvious
because of the tears that just won’t stop running down his cheeks.

“What’s wrong?”

Our relationship, that is.
Can’t you see the drift between us?

The door of their apartment opens and Baekhyun immediately shoves the paper underneath piles and piles of
book on top of the study table and grabs his phone, pretending to read something.

“Hey baby,” a kiss on the cheek, “why are you crying?” Chanyeol asks worriedly, cupping Baekhyun’s face in
his large hands, wiping the tears away with his thumb.

Baekhyun chuckled and pulls away from Chanyeol’s hold, “A story, it’s so sad.”

Chanyeol laughed and kisses him on the forehead, “Cute.” He mumbles and heads to the kitchen, “Bought a
bucket of kfc! Come here.”

Baekhyun wipes away the tears left and plasters a smile. He never knew that he’s learning to lie without getting
caught, but he still wishes that Chanyeol could see.

“Chanyeol, what did I told you about fast food?” he asks playfully, hands on his waist when he walks through the
doorway.

Chanyeol smiled abashedly and it’s just so cute, “It’s not every day I bring home fast food.” He defends and
Baekhyun has to chuckle. He sits on the chair and starts opening the gravy.

They took a bath together after emptying the bucket of chicken. Chanyeol kneels down underneath the shower head
suddenly after a heated make out session and takes Baekhyun in his mouth, the latter mewling shamelessly as he
tugs on Chanyeol’s hair hardly. He comes with Chanyeol’s name in his mouth not long after and receives a long,
languid kiss before they do really clean themselves.

After the bath, they decided to watch Dear John and Sleepless in Seattle; Chanyeol’s head on Baekhyun’s lap. The
shorter guy runs his hand through the soft locks of his boyfriend’s hair absent mindedly. It’s what he usually does;
he didn’t notice Chanyeol is fast asleep on his lap.

---

Chanyeol wakes up in discomfort and found himself lying on the couch, his head still on Baekhyun’s lap. He
looks up and found his boyfriend asleep, his head hanging uncomfortably at the backrest of their couch. The
light from tv illuminates against Baekhyun’s skin, he’s so pretty, but there are bags under his eyes. He
looks so tired suddenly and it isn’t until then that Chanyeol realizes that maybe it’s the fruit of his sleepless
nights, crying himself to sleep.

It’s painfully obvious that Baekhyun is in pain, there are the telltale signs of it. Every time Chanyeol asks if
he’s ok when they’re out on a date, Baekhyun will smile and answers softly ‘I’m ok, idiot’ but he’s an open
book of emotions and Chanyeol knows when he’s sad or not.

He also knows – or he just feels – that he’s the reason why Baekhyun cries. He’d lie of course, but
Chanyeol knows better.

But he wonders, why can’t he make the pain stop even he knows it?

Chanyeol sighed and stands up, he then hoists Baekhyun in his arms to carry him to bed. He places him down
carefully and pulls the blanket up to his chin; Baekhyun snuggles in the comfort and Chanyeol smiles. He
places a kiss on the latter’s forehead before he lies down next to him

----

Baekhyun throws away the letter he wrote last night, he’s just overreacting about things. He should understand
Chanyeol, he loves his parents and Baekhyun can’t be anything near to it. He’s just his boyfriend, family is
always the priority. He wouldn’t understand anyway, he grew up with his mother and she openly accepted him but
Chanyeol’s parents are the total opposites. He just realized it after two cups of tea earlier in the morning, the silence
lulling him into calmness and the thoughts start to pour over him like cold water with ice.

When Chanyeol left early, Baekhyun excitedly calls Kyungsoo to prepare something for their thirteenth monthsary.
Kyungsoo sighed tiredly but he agrees.

“Oh, how about this!”Baekhyun wiggles the can of strawberry whipped cream in front of Kyungsoo’s face with a wide
grin.

“Are you sure you’re cooking for Chanyeol or for yourself?” Kyungsoo deadpans.

“Oh… oh.” Baekhyun smiles sheepishly and puts the can away. He scans the shelves for anymore possible things
he could buy and settles with instant carbonara , a cheap bottle of wine and a strawberry shortcake.

They shop for more romantic stuff, like scented candles and classic romance movies. Then they head to their apartment
to prepare. Baekhyun excitedly places the candles on the table and on the kitchen counter as soon as they placed
down the bags.

Kyungsoo smiles as he watches his friend prepare for his date. It’s really nice to see him like this; all smiley and
excited, unlike the past days that they talked. He’s so much better now. Maybe he finally understood and thought of
what he should do.

“What changed your mind?” Kyungsoo asks suddenly, making Baekhyun stop.

Baekhyun looks at him and leans on the counter, smiling, “I’m just having issues, like PMS-ing,” he laughs, “I just
realized not long ago.”

Kyungsoo nods, “I’m glad you finally break through it. I’m worried crazy for you.”

The latter hums in response and turns on the radio next to him,“Hey, how’s Hyunsik? Did he finally learn how to put
on a shirt before opening the door?”

Kyungsoo groans making Baekhyun laugh.

“Teach your boyfriend respect.”

“He’s not my boyfriend. Goddamit Byun.”

Kyungsoo left around seven PM after cooking and preparing some stuffs, like what songs to be played and what air
freshener should Baekhyun use. Baekhyun is back to his teenage in love years; Kyungsoo would like to leave it at
that.

Baekhyun stares at himself in front of the mirror after putting on a new set of clothes after a quick bath. He pulls on the
end of Chanyeol’s grey HBA sweater and slightly moves his legs because it feels like his skinny jean is strangling
them. Baekhyun pouts, is he getting fat? Definitely not. He’s doing exercise, sometimes, and he’s following his diet
regimen.

“Yep, I’m fine.” Baekhyun nods to himself and just in time, the door opens. He smiles widely and runs outside the room.

“Wow,” Chanyeol says, staring at the area.

“Like it?” Baekhyun asks, smiling proudly at his – and Kyungsoo’s – work.

“Very much,” the taller guy answers and makes his way to Baekhyun to give him a chaste kiss on the lips.

Baekhyun smiles and leads his boyfriend to the kitchen, “I know you’re hungry.” Chanyeol nods in response, following
his boyfriend as he still takes in his surroundings.

“Thank you,” Chanyeol mutters as soon as they settled down the table, “I… I have no extravagant gift for you but you
did this. I feel sorry.”

Baekhyun smiles, "don’t be sorry. I wanted to do this and as long as i see you enjoy this, it’s the perfect gift for me."

He isn’t really expecting much, maybe he's a little disappointed but it'll fade away so with gift or not, it's ok.

Chanyeol smiles, his heart melting like it’s thrown in a volcano. It feels like he doesn’t deserve a person like baekhyun,
but without him, he won’t be happy like this. Maybe the term 'deserve' is not appropriate, it’s more like a 'fixer'.
Baekhyun fixed him, now he's a perfectly moving machine, energy coming from his boyfriend's love.

Chanyeol finished the carbonara, exclaiming it’s the best he ever had. Baekhyun giggled, not telling chanyeol it’s just
an instant carbonara. He doesn’t want to ruin the moment.

"So, what's for dessert?" Chanyeol asks with a suggestive lilt in his voice. He takes a sip of the wine and hums, the
alcohol unnerving him.

Baekhyun gasps, pretending he didn’t hear the innuendo in his boyfriend's words, "oh! I bought a cake!" He stands up
immediately to get the cake from the fridge, missing chanyeol's pout. He returns and places a small platter in front of
chanyeol before giving him a slice.

"I bought that from my favorite cake shop. I hope you like it!"

Chanyeol smiled and picks the fork next to the plate; he takes a small slice and eats. There's a long moment of
silence but slowly, a smile grows on chanyeol's face and he takes another slice, bigger the next time.

Baekhyun chuckles amusedly as he watch his boyfriend eat, he offers his own slice and chanyeol happily gets it after
a promise of buying him three slices the next day.

They talked for a little while after chanyeol finished eating then they cleaned up and washed the dishes.

A bright idea came to chanyeol after they finished washing. It’s nothing big, it’s just say, a thank you, a little bit of a
gift.

"Let's go up the rooftop."

Baekhyun frowned, "you know the door is locked.”

Chanyeol smirked, "your boyfriend is a lock picker, baby."

The latter rolled his eyes before he agreed. Chanyeol takes his guitar while baekhyun takes a small basket to bring
some candles – since it’s a little dark in the rooftop, the wine and a blanket.

They quietly took the stairs, not wanting to wake anyone especially the owner. Chanyeol takes out a hair clip from his
pocket and starts picking the lock. It took a little while but finally, he unlocked the door and turns to baekhyun with a
bright smile. Baekhyun rolled his eyes but there's a smile on his face. He walked past chanyeol and settles on the
wooden table while the other closes the door quietly. They placed the candles around them, chanyeol volunteers to
light it all up, Baekhyun agrees then he wraps himself in the blanket, his knees pulled up to his chest.

After lighting up the candles, chanyeol settles next to baekhyun and pulls the guitar close to his chest. He strums a
few cords, turns some knobs before he got the right tune.

"I hope you still remember this," chanyeol says before he starts to play the guitar.

Baekhyun's heart skipped a beat, a smile blooms on his face. How can he forget? It’s the song chanyeol always plays
to him. It’s whistle to the choir by the fratelis. He hums along while he takes a sip of the wine, singing some of the words
even he doesn’t know the right lyrics.

Chanyeol plays more songs like you found me by the fray and miss you by ed sheeran. They finished the bottle of wine
but they still stayed, none of them caring about the harsh bite of cold onto their skin.

After three more songs, baekhyun pulls the guitar out of chanyeol's hold and places himself on his lap, curling up as he
enjoy the warmth chanyeol gives.

Chanyeol smiled and wraps his arms around baekhyun, "i love you." He mutters softly and places a kiss on top of
baekhyun's head. Even after the hundreds of i love yous chanyeol has said to him, it never fails to make baekhyun's
heart skip a beat.

Baekhyun looks up and smiles, "I love you too." He responds before kissing chanyeol on the lips.

It started with the soft gliding of lips before chanyeol slips a tongue inside baekhyun's mouth, it started in a slow,
leisure kiss before it evolves into something more heated. But Baekhyun pulls away before Chanyeol could push
him down.

“It’s cold, let’s go back.” Baekhyun smiled teasingly, before he stands up to blow out the candle. Chanyeol happily
follows, not forgetting to lock the door behind them.\

It isn’t like Baekhyun isn’t used to the fact that Chanyeol won’t give up until he got what he wants. It started in the
shower, when Chanyeol back hugged him, peppering fleeting kisses against his nape as they sway under the warm
shower. The next is when Baekhyun is dressing up when Chanyeol stopped him from wearing his shirt and pulls him
into a searing kiss.

It isn’t like Baekhyun doesn’t want to, he’s just tired but a before sleep will be much better right?

--

Baekhyun wakes up with a smile. The pleasant smell of morning air travels into his lungs and there’s a hint of a scent
he truly knows. He turns to his side, struggling a little with the weight of Chanyeol’s arm around his waist and his
head on his shoulder.

Chanyeol hums and snuggles his head on Baekhyun’s chest making the latter smile. Baekhyun plants a kiss on the
crown of his boyfriend’s head.

“Morning,”

Chanyeol hums and he looks up, his messy hair covering his forehead. A sleepy smile makes into his face and he
immediately leans up for Baekhyun’s lips.

“Your breath stinks,” Baekhyun says, scrunching up his nose for added effect.

“You love me still.”

Baekhyun’s laugh sounds like soft wind chimes, calming Chanyeol but his heart is beating erratically. He smiles and
leans again for another kiss but Baekhyun pushes him away.

Chanyeol pouts but he chuckled and sits, “Let’s go out,” he says out of the blue, looking over his shoulder to look at
his boyfriend. Baekhyun nods immediately with a smile.

“I’ll make breakfast. Anything you want?”

“Sunny side up and crispy bacons, please.”

Chanyeol drives their way to the mall to watch a movie and to have lunch after. Baekhyun hums happily along with a
SNSD song that is being played by the radio. The taller guy takes a few glances when Baekhyun starts to dance with
the chorus, he’d laugh and the other will pout.

Byun Baekhyun is the perfect image of cute, Chanyeol thinks as he sways along with the music Baekhyun is singing.
Funny how a year ago, he hates people like Baekhyun, they aren’t following the norm. They aren’t normal. But look at
him now, totally smitten and in love with the guy next to him. He doesn’t regret loving him. the norm.

They head first to the cinema, pick a movie and buy snacks. They aren’t doing any skin ship, as the usual, and
Baekhyun thinks he’s used to this. They settled down the back, Baekhyun’s heart leaps a couple of times when
Chanyeol puts an arm around him and pulls him close. His breath hitches when Chanyeol fed him pieces of popcorn.

Baekhyun looks up at his boyfriend, surprised and confused, but Chanyeol just smiled at him and turns his gaze to
the screen.

Baekhyun can’t focus on the movie. It’s not because of his issues again, no. but because Chanyeol is so close next to
him. There are eyes who glance at them occasionally, he knows Chanyeol can feel them but he isn’t pulling away, he
just stayed on his position, even pulls him closer and snuggles at the warmth Baekhyun emanates.

After the movie, they decided to go for a little walk to see what they can buy for their little home and maybe to find a
picture booth for their date souvenir. Chanyeol’s face brighten up when he saw a flower stall meters away. His hand
immediately slips in the pocket of his coat, as if making sure that the box is still in there, his heart skipped a beat
because yes, it’s there meaning he’ll be doing this.

Chanyeol immediately turns to Baekhyun, “Stay here.” He says before making a run towards the stall.

“Where—“

A throng of people passes in front of Baekhyun, covering his sight where Chanyeol is going but he didn’t follow him. He
stands on his tip toes, trying to see where he is but to no avail, his height betraying him for the hundredth time of his life.

Baekhyun taps his foot uneasily on the floor, waiting for Chanyeol. What’s taking him so long?

 “All of the things that I want to say just aren’t coming out right
I’m tripping on words
You got my head spinning
I don’t know where to go from here…” Someone starts from behind him, his voice loud and awfully familiar. Baekhyun
turns only to see Chanyeol with flowers and light colored helium balloons in his hands.

“Chanyeol— What.—“

Chanyeol smiled, there’s a blush on his face and he continues, “I’m sorry, I’ve been an in our one year. I’m sorry I’ve
been a burden,” he paused then continues, “You’ve always been there for me, you never thought of leaving me. Never…
never left my side even I don’t want my parents to find out about you.”

That’s when the people around them start to watch. Baekhyun fidgets in his place; his mouth opens, wanting to make
Chanyeol stop because he doesn’t have to do this but no words came out of his mouth. The acoustic version of You
and Me plays on the radio of the mall, adding and infinitely sweet effect on the scene. There are people whipping their
phones out to take pictures and videos, some smiling widely as they anticipate for more.

“I don’t know why I care for other people, perhaps I’m not comfortable with us at first… I’m sorry. I don’t know what
should I prove to them to accept me but I realized, after all the times that I’ve seen you cry I realized that what I’m
doing is wrong because I don’t need to follow the norm because I don’t want to lose you. Never. I love you and you
know that. My words aren’t enough, this isn’t enough.”

“I know you’re in pain, but I made you last for a year with me along with that pain. You know that I’m not a man
made of grandest words, but I can promise you, I’ll never be ashamed of us. I won’t hide us anymore, and that is
what I’m doing right now.”

There are tears building on the rim of Baekhyun’s eyes and one by one they start to fall.

Chanyeol walks to him and cups his face to wipe the tears away, “Some people want it all, but I don’t want nothing at
all, if I ain’t got you baby.” He smiles and finally closes between their faces, capturing Bakehyun’s lips in a sweet
chaste kiss.

The people around them starts to clap, it’s all just a show for them but for Baekhyun, this is the reality he never
wished to happen but here it is, pouring all over him.

Chanyeol pulls away and leans his forehead against Baekhyun’s, “Oh, I forgot something,” he slips a hand inside his
coat pocket and brings out the box he has kept safe for a long time. Some people saw his action and they gasped
in excitement, “I know same marriage isn’t approved here, but I don’t care.”

Chanyeol opens the box and a simple band of silver ring glistens underneath the bright lights of the mall, this made
Baekhyun’s eyes widen, “This symbolizes my love and my promise of being with you forever.” He says and takes the
ring out of the box, he calls a little girl from the crowd with a smile and made her hold the balloons and flowers then he
takes Baekhyun’s hand and slipped the ring on his finger before placing a kiss on his hand. Chanyeol takes the
balloons and flowers but gives her with one each, she returns to her mother with a squeal and a bright smile.

“Let’s go?” Chanyeol asks. Baekhyun nods in response, still unable to speak. The taller guy smiles, intertwines their
hands and leads the way out.

Inside the car, Baekhyun seemed to regain his self, “You stupid guy.” He mumbles, the blush still not fading away
from his cheeks.

“You love me still.” Chanyeol counters.

Silence filled the car and not a moment later Baekhyun realizes they’re not heading back home.

“Where are we going?”

“To my parents.”

Baekhyun shot a worried glance at his boyfriend, “You don’t have to do this.”

Chanyeol glances at him with a comforting smile, “Don’t worry, I want to do this.”

It’s just a short drive to Chanyeol’s parents’ house. The nervousness is evident in Chanyeol’s eyes as he park the car
at the drive way. He heaved a breath before turning off the engine and getting out of the car. He takes Baekhyun’s hand
in his and makes their way to the door.

Chanyeol’s hand is shaking slightly, but he still pressed the doorbell and not long after, the door opens, revealing his
sister with a bright smile.

“Chanyeol!” She exclaims and jumps to him with a hug.

“Hi noona,” Chanyeol greets hugging her back.

His sister pulls away and turns to look at Baekhyun, “Hi— cute guy.” She smiles, “Chanyeol, who is he?”

“I’m Baekhyun.” Baekhyun answers with a smile.

“His… my boyfriend.” Chanyeol adds.

His noona seems to be stunned but a smile makes its way to her lips, “Oh. Come in. Eomma and appa is inside.”
She leads the way inside the house and in the living room, Chanyeol’s parents are there.

“Oh, Chanyeol!” his mother greets with a pleasant smile. Chanyeol sits down on the sofa facing his parents and
Baekhyun follows, greeting his parents politely.

“What brings you here? And he’s your roommate, Baekhyun right?” they both nodded at Mrs. Park’s question.

Chanyeol gulps and cleared his throat, “Eomma, appa. I… I want to tell you something.”

Mrs. Park tilts her head to the side and his father puts down the cup of coffee on the table in front of them, “What is it?”

Chanyeol’s sister sensed the tense in the air and excused herself on getting a juice for the two.

“I want to tell you that… I have a boyfriend.”

“What?” is the surprised response of Mr. Park, and the two flinched at the tone.

“Baekhyun, he’s actually my boyfriend.” Chanyeol continues and takes Baekhyun’s hand in his. His hand is
sweating but Baekhyun holds onto him tighter nonetheless.

A long silence passes by before Mr. Park cleared his throat, “I wont accept you in this family if you don’t break
up with… with that guy.” He declared  with no room for argument.

Chanyeol opened his mouth but it closes immediately, not knowing what to say, he turns to look at his mother but
she’s looking away, tears threatening to fall down his cheeks.

“Appa.”

“Park Chanyeol, if you don’t end this bull, you will never ever have the rights to see us.”

That’s when Chanyeol lets his tears fall and Baekhyun immediately hugs him, offering him a little comfort.

“Appa, please—“

“No,”

Chanyeol frowned and wiped his tears away violently with the back of his hands, “Fine. If that’s what you want.” He
says in a calm manner before standing up to head out of the house, dragging Baekhyun in quick steps.

“Park Chanyeol! Come back here—“

Chanyeol slammed the door behind him and after a few steps away from the door, he broke down.

Baekhyun hugged him tightly, the only thing he can offer for the moment, “You don’t have to do that. You know this’ll
happen Chanyeol.”

“I know. But it’s suffocating. I thought my mother – even just her – would accept but she didn’t. They’re so unfair,
Baek.” Chanyeol sobbed, but he tries to stop crying, wiping away his tears with his hands but they keep on coming out.

“Chanyeol?” calls a female voice from behind, quivering slightly as an evidence that she too, Chanyeol’s sister, cried.

Chanyeol pulls away from Baekhyun’s hug and turns to his noona who immediately pulls him into a hug, “Don’t ever
hesitate to come to me. I’m your sister, I love you Chanyeol and that won’t ever change whatever you will be.” She pulls
away with a smile, placing a hand on Chanyeol’s cheek to wipe away the tears that keeps falling, “I already accepted the
fact that you’re a troll, so it’s not hard to accept who you are.” They both chuckled at her remark, “It’s so brave of you,
Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol smiled, “I have to, I want to.” He turns to Baekhyun and smiles at him warmly.

Chanyeol’s sister turns to Baekhyun and pulls him into a long hug, “Take care of my big bro. He’s incapable of many
things.”

Baekhyun laughed, “I’m actually his baby sitter.”

“Hey!”

They laughed, enjoying the quick light moment around them. Chanyeol hasn’t lost his family yet, he still have his sister,
who is awfully a perfect female clone of him, only a few inches shorter, who will love and support him anytime and
Baekhyun is more than happy.

They left right after, Chanyeol had finally calmed down and due to Baekhyun’s request, they’re now headed to the daycare
center his mother is working in.

Baekhyun has this radiant smile on his face that makes Chanyeol smile every time he takes a glance at him. He’s a little
jealous of Baekhyun, he still has a mother to run to while he has none.

“Park here!” Baekhyun exclaims as soon as he saw a space near the daycare. Chanyeol parks the car and turns off the
engine, they both got out and heads to the small daycare, Baekhyun with springs underneath his shoes.

Baekhyun enters and a shout of ‘omoni!’ is heard and delighted laugh ensues. Chanyeol follows inside and smile makes
into his face when he saw Baekhyun encaged his mother in a suffocating hug. He hasn’t realize that there are still
children inside when a child pokes his leg and looks up at him with wide curious eyes.

“Are you a wizard, ahjussi?” the little boy asked, another kid walks next to him and asked another question.

Chanyeol laughed and crouches down to match their height – almost.

“I’m a wizard,” he answers with a smile and ruffles their hair before he walks next to Baekhyun.

“Chanyeol, this is my eomma, Byun Jihyun, eomma, this is my boyfriend, Park Chanyeol.” Baekhyun introduces with
a smile.

Baekhyun’s eomma shaked Chanyeol’s hand, “Such a tall man,” she says looking up at him in amazement, “I’m a little
disappointed that Baekhyun didn’t reach your height.”

“Eomma!”

“But you two look together,” she added and Baekhyun smiled widely.

“Is Jaehyun home?” Baekhyun asks, scanning the faces of the kids who are left in the daycare.

“Not yet,” she sighed sadly.

“Really?” Baekhyun grins, “Jaehyun-ah! Where’s my favorite dongsaeng?”

Not a moment later, a kid with a muff of bouncy, jet black haired boy comes to Baekhyun, “Hyung!” he exclaims
excitedly and Baekhyun carries him up.

“I missed you!”

“Why aren’t you visiting me hyung? I like playing with you!” Jaehyun pouts, his cute pink bottom lip jutting out, his
brows furrowed into a cute frown.

“Aw, we’re here to play! And I also brought a playmate!”

“Really?”

“Yep, he’s Chanyeol!” he points to the said guy next to him. Jaehyun eyed Chanyeol for a little while before turning

back to Baekhyun.

“Is he nice?”

“Very.”

“He’s a wizard!” a little boy announced and Jaehyun gasped in amazement.

“Really?”

Baekhyun laughed, “Yes he is.” He agreed and puts the boy back down.

“Let’s play!”                                  

Chanyeol takes a break and leans on the wall. Mrs. Byun leaned on the wall next to him. They both watched
Baekhyun happily playing with the kids.

“Can I ask you something, Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol looks at Baekhyun’s mother but her gaze is still on her son, “Sure, Mrs. Byun.”

Mrs. Byun smiled and turns to look at him, “Please, call me eomma,” she says and Chanyeol is taken aback at the
offer, but he nods nonetheless, “Have your parents… accepted?”

Chanyeol winced at the mention of ‘parents’, he sighed and shook his head, “No, but I still have my noona.”

Mrs. Byun’s face dropped, “Oh,” she shook her head and gives him a warm smile, just like Baekhyun’s, that made him
feel a little at ease, “I can be your eomma too. Don’t hesitate to come to me anytime ok?”

Chanyeol smiled and he nods, overwhelmed, “Yes I will. Thank you… eomma.”

Baekhyun’s mother gives him a warm hug, and he felt at home and comfortable. Tears stings his eyes but he holds
them back.

Baekhyun approaches them with a suspicious look on his face, “Has eomma said something to you?” he asks, squinting
his eyes at his mother for added effect.

“I told him you peed on your bed when you were in seventh grade!”

Baekhyun blushed, “Eomma!”

“It was supposed to be a joke but you kicked yourself on the gutter!” Mrs. Byun defended making Chanyeol laugh.

This day has been packed, an emotional rollercoaster that Chanyeol almost jumped out, but Baekhyun held him back
and stayed with him till he got through all the painful mess. He lost his parents in a day, but he gained one on the
same day. He’s contented this way, free of worries.

“Hey, Chanyeol,” he turns to look at Baekhyun, but before he could fully turn— “Tag, you’re it!”

a/n:

6000 words of dump, unedited but posted and my second lame attempt on margin
but hey, it fitted the title, going down (sizes but ascending form HAHAHA).
i have to thank iRaine for giving me moral support. lol. <3

ok so about the story, as on the note at the foreword, it's inspired of that blog post
ive read a few months back, but i changed some of it and added the parents part. i 
dont have the link anymore since our pc is reformatted.

the problem baekyeol encountered his is very common, same relationship is
against the norm and due to this reason many people found this weird and 
sometimes would pick at the couple. its a pretty sad thought but we couldnt do 
much about it except to not to say anything.

so yeah that's it. thank you for reading im glad you spent your time on this! you can 
share your thoughts too :)