2010

He's not crying. No, he's not.

His eyes just got irritated by the smoke and dust his best friend's car left behind as it disappeared down the street an hour ago. Unfortunately, that doesn't really explain the sobs Chanyeol is currently muffling against the soft cotton of his pajamas while his head is pressed against his drawn up knees. The tall boy curls into himself as he cries—of course he is crying. His best friend—his first love—just told him that he's going to confess to him tonight.

It had hurt enough that Lu Han didn't ask him to the senior prom. He had thought… he had hoped that his friend would take him since the older boy wasn't dating anyone and, as far as Chanyeol knew, didn't particularly like anybody. But two days before the dance, Lu Han barged into his room and forced Chanyeol to listen while he rehearsed the lines he was going to use to ask some boy out. Some other boy who didn't know Lu Han like Chanyeol does. Some other boy who hasn't been in love with Lu Han most of his life like Chanyeol has been.

Some other boy who was now sitting at the passenger side of his best friend's car, wearing a beautiful arrangement of orchids on his pocket.

Chanyeol let the tears flow unreservedly as his shoulders shook with emotions bottled up for too long. Not even sitting in his favorite spot—the old wooden lawn swing his father built—is able to comfort him. It's spring and their backyard is filled with his mother's roses, white and vibrant even in this time of the night. They're beautiful but this kind of beauty only reminds him of his best friend and the way Lu Han's brown eyes light up Chanyeol's life.

Too caught up wallowing in his sorrows, he doesn’t notice the boy peering over the picket fence that separates the Park’s property from their next door neighbor’s. That’s why he doesn’t expect the cheerful greeting—the same high-pitched one that successfully annoys him whenever he hears it.

“Yo, Park. Watcha doin’ there?”

Chanyeol winces at the sound that came out too loud in the silence of the hour.

“Yoohoo, Park!”

The tall boy ignores the other teenager and just hugs himself tighter. Can’t he be miserable alone, please?

“I know you can hear me and—hey, are you crying?”

In one quick motion, Chanyeol wipes the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand and turns his head towards the pesky intruder. “What do you want, Byun?” he asks, irritated.

The smile from the other boy’s thin lips disappears when he sees Chanyeol’s swollen eyes and red nose. “You are crying.”

Chanyeol looks away. “No, I’m not.”

“Uh huh, yes you are,” the shorter male insists. “There’s snot running down your nose.”

Chanyeol scowls but it fades quickly enough. He’s too tired for another sparring session with his neighbor. “So what if I am?” he mumbles. He then sighs and looks up at the cloudless sky, wishing the other boy will take the hint and leave him in peace.

He doesn’t hear anything more from their neighbor’s weird son so Chanyeol assumes he has left. That is until he hears something hit the grass in front of him. Surprised, he almost falls from the swing seat when another object whizzed past his head. Chanyeol straightens to find a pair of worn red sneakers on their lawn. He quickly glances towards the direction they came from and his jaw drops when sees the other boy's denim clad sticking out as he struggles to climb over the shaky fence.

With a grunt, the short male jumps down and quickly turns to grin at Chanyeol. "Piece of cake."

"Byun Baekhyun," Chanyeol says incredulously, "what the hell?"

Baekhyun marches towards him, barefoot, arms swinging widely at his sides. He stops directly in front of Chanyeol and rests his hands on his hips, the sleeves of his oversized shirt reaching past his elbows, making him look tinier than he probably is. "Keeping you company. You look lonely out here."

"I don't need company. Especially yours," Chanyeol replies with gritted teeth. God, this boy's really annoying, he thinks. It has only been three years since the Byuns moved into the house next door but the taller boy feels Baekhyun has been pestering him for twice as long. His scowl becomes deeper.

"Always so grouchy," Baekhyun huffs. "Actually, grouchier than usual. Why? Your pretty friend ditched you?"

"It's none of your business."

Baekhyun tilts his head to the side and studies the seated boy, their faces almost level. He squints and as if finding what he's looking for, he says quietly, "He did, didn't he?"

The teasing tone in the older boy's voice vanishes and Chanyeol can see his expression turn serious. Chanyeol feels uncomfortable because Baekhyun appears like he can see right through him—right to the cracks of his freshly broken heart.

"No one asked you to come," Chanyeol hisses. “Go away, Byun.” He looks down and breaks the eye contact, gaze finding Baekhyun's bare toes curling against the trimmed grass. They move and soon are gone from his sight but somehow Chanyeol doesn't feel any relief. Instead, he feels strangely worse.

Then he hears a rustling and when he looks up again, he spots Baekhyun bending over one of his mom's rose bushes. Chanyeol sighs. He should have known he can't get rid of the Byun boy that easily, hasn't he learned anything from the past 3 years? They go to the same high school but have never shared any class together. Yet the elder managed to be everywhere Chanyeol looked.

Right now, he watches in disbelief while Baekhyun glances at Chanyeol's house and mutters an "I'm sorry, Mrs. Park," before he plucks a rose and strides back to where the younger teen is. Chanyeol looks on in confusion as Baekhyun brushes his dark hair back, holds out the rose towards Chanyeol and smiles widely.

"Can I have this dance?"

"What?" Chanyeol blurts out dumbly.

"It's prom night. Come on, let's dance!" Baekhyun shoves the rose closer to his face and Chanyeol goes a bit cross eyed, completely bewildered.

"You're mental."

The other male rolls his eyes and places the rose on the swing seat. Chanyeol then feels small hands grab on his t-shirt and he's pulled to stand right after. For his size, Baekhyun’s pretty strong.

Shaking his head, Chanyeol pushes Baekhyun's hands away. "What part of 'go away' don't you understand?" he asks, exasperated.

"The part where you're pushing me away when obviously you don't really want to be alone," Baekhyun answers, forced to look up because the top of his head only ever reaches Chanyeol's nose even when he's standing on his full height. "I can't understand the part where Lu Han chose to go with somebody else when Park Chanyeol obviously likes him."

Chanyeol doesn't know what to say. He hasn't told anybody about his feelings so how can Baekhyun even know about that?

"So come on, let's dance. Let's show your best friend what he's missing out on." Then Baekhyun's pink lips curve into an irresistible grin. The smaller boy's eyes disappear into pretty crescents and Chanyeol can feel himself giving in, helplessly pulled in by the promise in Baekhyun's smile.

The older teen holds his palm up and looks at him expectantly. Chanyeol's hand lifts but he hesitates for he's certain this is stupid.

"First, Lu Han isn't here to see me dance which is actually great because second, I can't dance and third," Chanyeol reasons, "no music."

"Nonsense," Baekhyun replies, hand still held out. "Lu Han will know, just tell him. Second, of course you can dance. Everybody can dance. And third, who says there's no music?"

"I don't hear anything," he answers weakly, and he sighs because Baekhyun's smile grows wider knowing that Chanyeol’s already wavering. This is more than stupid, it's crazy.

Without answering, Baekhyun steps forward and reaches for Chanyeol's hand. There’s suddenly a laughing boy in his embrace. Baekhyun places Chanyeol's arms around his shoulders before placing his own hands on Chanyeol's waist. The taller boy starts to protest because won't this position make him the girl?

But Baekhyun starts to hum softly and Chanyeol's instantly mesmerized. He has always thought Baekhyun's voice sounds whiny and annoying. However, at this moment, Chanyeol's lips part in awe and he barely notices that they were already dancing.

"Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful?" Baekhyun sings, eyes closed. "Isn't she precious..."

The song's an old one, barely familiar but still beautiful. Baekhyun sings it in a slower tempo and it's highly doubtful that his pronunciation of the foreign words is accurate. But that doesn't really matter for all Chanyeol can think about was wow.

After two more lines, Baekhyun abruptly stops singing and opens his eyes, "On second thought, you really can't dance. I think my foot just died."

"Sorry," Chanyeol mumbles, cheeks flushed. "I did tell you so."

Baekhyun laughs and Chanyeol flushes deeper. "It's okay, Park. It has died a noble death."

It wasn’t even funny but the quip forces a smile out of him. And then he's laughing. Crazy, crazy, crazy. He keeps on laughing until there are tears at the corner of his eyes, laughing like a lunatic until his forehead drops against Baekhyun's shoulder and he lets out a pained sob. Baekhyun doesn't move away.  Instead he holds on Chanyeol's waist tightly and lets him cry, all the while singing softly and guiding the taller boy into a comforting waltz.

It takes some time but Chanyeol's finally spent. He feels embarrassed with the way he practically wailed like a baby in front of a person he isn't even friends with. He gingerly pulls back, ready to apologize and beat a hasty retreat when Baekhyun unexpectedly cups the side of his face and gazes at him almost tenderly.

"No more crying, Park Chan."

And with that, Chanyeol wonders if it's possible to get heartbroken and then fall in love again in just one night.

2014

Chanyeol chews on his lower lip as he waits for the elevator. There's already a crowd gathering there with him because today of all days, the other one's under maintenance.  He anxiously watches the numbers flash on top of the closed doors. , he only has five minutes to get to his first ever job interview and he's a wreck.

He clutches tight on the strap of his leather sling bag, a graduation gift from his best friend. Lu Han called early in the morning to wish him good luck but Chanyeol thinks it isn't working. Firstly, his coffeemaker had one job but refused to do it. Then he just realized after putting his pants on that he ironed the pleats on the wrong side. Third, He missed his bus and had to pay an exorbitant amount of money for cab fare. Now, his hair is plastered to his head thanks to the humid weather so his ears are sticking out quite impressively, making him look like a cartoon character than an accountant who graduated at the top of his class.

The only thing that is working for him is the ultra bright yellow silk tie his mother gave him. Chanyeol's counting on it to stun the interviewer into a 'yes, you're hired.'

Ding!

The elevator door opens and Chanyeol—with a silent apology to all the gods—dives into the carriage, mentally counting all the heads he hit with his clumsy limbs and promising to mention them in his prayer later before going to sleep.

His back's pressed tightly against the mirrored wall and he can barely breathe with the crush of bodies. He’s certain he's about to suffer from a heart attack right about now when the elevator door finally closes and the notes of a song fill the small space.

For elevator music, it's perfect, he thinks. Chanyeol closes his eyes and the next moment, even before he can catch himself, he's singing, deep voice wrapping around the familiar tune.

"La la la la la... Isn't she wonderful? Hmm hm hmm hm hmm~"

He's most likely getting weird looks from the other suits inside the elevator but he doesn't care. He's imagining him clearly in his head—dazzling eyes, a cute button nose, and the most annoying laugh. His nervousness fades away and the tight knots in his stomach unfurls.

For the first time since he woke up to this disaster of a day, he smiles.

2017

"Zitao, I thought we were clear I'm on vacation right now," Chanyeol says into his mobile phone with a great sigh. From the ballroom, he walks into the hotel lobby before he proceeds to go out the french doors leading to a terrace overlooking a garden. "It's just a day, I haven't—Two years—yes."

Two years straight without any vacation leave and they can't even give him one full day to unwind. Chanyeol runs his hands through his short hair while he paces. It's not that he doesn't love his job, he does, but ever since he got promoted to a senior position, he hasn't had time to relax. He thought he'd finally get his chance when he came back to his hometown for Lu Han's wedding but the 24-hour reprieve isn't even done and his assistant is already calling him about work.

Chanyeol loosens his bowtie while vaguely thinking that he really hates tuxedos, listening as Zitao rants about incompetent bosses who are currently running around like headless chickens without Chanyeol's supervision. "That's why I left you there," he replies. "Because I trust that you'll be able to whip their asses if something goes wrong. But don't worry, okay? I already had my flight back changed for one later this evening so I can be there early tomorrow."

Zitao ends the call with thank you and a promise to control the urge to strangle half of the employees before Chanyeol comes back. The tall man shakes his head, chuckling, before he pockets his phone. He stares at the scenery before him and breathes in deeply. It's moments like these that he appreciates being born in this place. The air's crisp and clean and the skies are always clear and riddled with stars. Too bad, he'll have to leave for the city again soon.

With one last look, he turns away, ready to go back inside and spend time with his best friend and his husband. Their relationship has been on and off since senior year. Who knew Sehun and Lu Han would really end up together?

Sometimes, Chanyeol still gets jealous of the blonde man who snatched his best friend from him but that’s more because Sehun gets to eat Lu Han’s kimchi fried rice every day. He has long ago gotten over his first love. If Lu Han had given him a chance, he knows it would have failed anyway.

After all, he easily fell for someone else right after.

This is not the time for recollections, though. He still has best man duties to attend to. Chanyeol halts midstep when he sees a man standing to his right, leaning against the balustrade. From where he is, Chanyeol can see the man was shaking. It's muffled but he thinks he hears him cry, too. He knows it's none of his business but there's something about the other guy's trim shoulders that curiously draws him in.

"Excuse me, are you all right?" he asks, moving closer.

"Yeah," the answer is faint but Chanyeol swears he can recognize that voice anywhere.

"Byun Baekhyun?"

The other guy abruptly turns and eyes him with surprise. "Park Chanyeol?"

"Hey," they say in unison. They stare at each other for a few moments, both still shocked at the unexpected meeting. Chanyeol can barely make out the shorter male’s features in the dimness of the terrace but he figures little has changed because Baekhyun's smile is still as warm as it was years ago, at that moment when he asked Chanyeol to dance.

Chanyeol sees him hesitate. Nonetheless, Baekhyun finally steps closer towards him and the the light slanting through the French doors caresses his features. That's when Chanyeol sees his tear dampened eyes. "What happened?" he asks in worry, instinctively reaching for Baekhyun's hand.

The shorter man just shrugs and beams up at him, "Let's dance!"

Chanyeol's all confused because, really, this isn't the right time or the right place but Baekhyun's hands are already circling his waist. And then they're dancing—or more accurately, Baekhyun's trying his best to sway to the faint music coming from the closed doors of the reception hall while Chanyeol's being a deadweight with his arms on his sides and his mouth hanging open.

"Here? Now?" Chanyeol stutters.

Baekhyun bursts into laughter, head thrown back, and the sound makes Chanyeol's toes curl in his dress shoes. "Don't you think your questions are three pirouettes too late?"

Yes, they are but how can Chanyeol even concentrate enough when Byun Baekhyun's so close—so beautiful while laughing at him? He still has no clue how why they're (awkwardly) dancing out here and why he's lifting his arms to hold onto the other's shoulders. All he seems to know is that this feels right, as crazy as that may sound.

"You have improved a bit," Baekhyun murmurs with a nod. "My foot's still alive."

Chanyeol shakes his head. "Hush, be quiet. I'm channeling my inner lamp post."

There's that unique laugh again and Chanyeol wonders why he ever thought it was annoying. Baekhyun places his head against the taller man's chest which got Chanyeol's heart beating insanely fast. "Lamp post, huh? Yeah, you're very bright."

"I thought you were going to say something about my height," he replies and he's glad he has those words to say because truthfully, his mind is racing and just now grasping the fact that Byun Baekhyun is really here with him.

A second chance. Is it possible?

"Well, that, too. You really are a lamp post through and through," the elder teases. "Best Looking Lamp Post in a Tuxedo Award goes to you, Park."

"Thank you," he answers wryly, hoping it's dark enough for Baekhyun to not see the blush stealing over his ears and cheeks. "I think I should get Best Best Man, as well. I managed to not tear off the damned bowtie until the reception."

"Who got married?" Baekhyun straightens and glances up at him.

"My best friend, remember Lu Han?"

"Wow, wow, wow. Pretty boy got hitched, wow." Baekhyun looks away, staring off somewhere beyond Chanyeol's shoulder. The younger man doesn't miss the sudden droop of the corners of Baekhyun's lips.

"Baekhyun?"

"Hmm?"

Why were you crying? Why are we dancing? Why do you look as if someone hurt you bad?

"Uh, nothing." He wants to ask those questions but he can't quite voice them out. They're too personal, too intrusive when up until now Chanyeol's not even sure if they're friends yet. That thought actually gets him remembering. "I was going to return your sneakers."

Baekhyun returns his gaze to Chanyeol's face, a curious frown resting on his brows.

"The sneakers you threw at me? The red ones that night—"

"Oh," Baekhyun pipes up, "the pair I lost the night of senior prom. Oh my god that was so long ago."

"Yes," Chanyeol nods. "I was going to return them the next day but when I went to your house, you were already gone. You didn't even tell me you were moving away."

It's silly, that accusing tone that managed to sneak its way into Chanyeol's voice.

"I'm sorry, I forgot," Baekhyun answers contritely.

Chanyeol tsked. "How can you even forget something as important as that?"

"You will when you see something more important," the shorter guy mumbles.

"What did you say?"

"I was going to say good bye, really," Baekhyun explains. "I came over because I saw you on the swing and wanted to tell you we were moving away the next day. I knew we weren't really friends and you'd be happier with me gone. But then I saw you were crying and... I just got distracted. I moved back in town just last month."

Still, I wish you could have told me. Then I could've tried harder to stop myself from falling for you when you wiped my tears.

They remain silently staring at each other. They've stopped pretending to dance minutes ago. Now, Chanyeol's struggling to find the right things to say. This can't be just a coincidence. He's starting to believe that this meeting happened because the stars have seen that Park Chanyeol needed a second chance to love Byun Baekhyun.

Chanyeol opens his mouth but Baekhyun beats him to it.

"He dumped me." The elder steps back and looks out into the garden beyond the terrace. "It's our second year anniversary and we were having dinner in the hotel's restaurant because I wanted it to be special." Baekhyun bites on his lower lip and Chanyeol wants to punch whoever caused that sadness he sees in his eyes. "He said he wasn't happy anymore and then he simply left. He didn't even wait for dessert."

"I'm sorry," Chanyeol says, chest aching.

Baekhyun brushes off his apology. "No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I ordered the chocolate mousse cake my boyfriend liked instead of the strawberry parfait that I've wanted. I'm sorry that I was crying more for the wasted food than the end of our relationship. And I'm sorry for holding onto you when you clearly have better things to do than to watch me have a breakdown." Baekhyun takes a deep breath and lets it out through a sigh. "You know what's funny, though?"

"What is?"

"I was thinking that I wanted to dance my heartaches away and, lo and behold, when I turned around, there you were." Baekhyun grins, valiantly fighting through his loneliness, and easily making Chanyeol fall for him again. "My dance partner."

"Lucky you." He closes the distance between them and Chanyeol conceals the longing he feels beneath an encouraging smile. This time, it's Chanyeol's large hand that reaches out and cradles the side of Baekhyun's face, a thumb catching a wayward tear before it falls. "No more crying, Byun Baek."

Why do they always have to meet at the wrong time?

He knows, even as Baekhyun presses his cheek closer to his palm, that between Baekhyun's broken heart and the chaos that is his life, his second chance will have to wait.

2018

Byun Baek (friends with Lu Han) sent you a friend request.

2018

bbbaek92 liked your photo.  2h

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bbbaek92 left a comment on your photo: how's chicago? ^^  2h

2020

"What the ," Chanyeol whines (in a very manly way) as he stands in the middle of the aisle surrounded by dozens of shoppers who are too busy with their own lists to help out a very confused man.

Of course his mom would ask him to buy groceries his first day back—never mind that he hasn't been home in two years and he can't even distinguish between natural-grown lettuce from 'those nasty genetically modified' ones because honestly, he doesn't care.

But out of all the evils in his mother’s list, the real challenge is what brand of chili paste to buy since there are approximately a million different kinds staring judgingly back at him right now. He glances down at his mostly empty cart and then at his mother's grocery list. He's not halfway done despite being there for more than an hour now. He already saw at least three attendants steer clear of him, probably afraid of the tall, crazy looking guy in a hoodie cursing red chili paste to perdition.

"The things I do for you, mom," he mutters, "No wonder dad hides when—"

Chanyeol forgets what he's about to say. He forgets why he's standing on aisle #5 on the verge of (manly) tears and forgets the grocery list from hell in his hand. He forgets to breathe. Because right there, a few feet away, is a tiny guy with shiny black hair reaching for a bottle of ketchup from the topmost shelf, tiptoeing for all he was worth.

His second chance in all his short limbed glory.

Surely, this is it, Chanyeol thinks, heart beating so fast he has to place his hand over it before it jumps right out of his chest. He let go of him far too many times, so screw everything, he'll take this.

He abandons his cart and what small piece of sanity he has left and with wobbly knees he walks towards the man, stopping just beside him. Chanyeol reaches past the slender hand and gets the bottle of ketchup. He slowly looks down and their eyes meet.

"Park!" the other man calls out in surprise.

"Hey, Byun Baek," he greets back. "Your ketchup," Chanyeol says as he hands Baekhyun the bottle and it's terribly unromantic he knows but he can't just say, Hey, I really really  like you, maybe even love you, and I like it when you say my name and I like that you're short because you fit perfectly in my arms when we dance and I've passed on a chance to tell you all this because I'm stupid like that but you're here and I'm here, so kiss me…

Can he?

"Thanks for this," Baekhyun says with a grin. "I didn't know that you're back—"

"Byun, do you have a boyfriend or a lover or, oh my god, are you married?" Chanyeol asks abruptly, anxiously waiting for the answer but knowing in his gut that Baekhyun doesn't have any of those. Baekhyun can’t have them because it’s Chanyeol’s turn. The grocery gods say so.

"Uh, no?" Baekhyun answers laughingly. "Why?"

It was all he can do not to just snatch the older male into his chest and never let go. "Because they're playing our song."

"Huh?"

Baekhyun's brows knot and it’s understandable because they're actually playing the store jingle on the speakers but still Chanyeol leans down and—praying to all the cosmos that Baekhyun won't think he's going to touch him inappropriately, although he certainly wants to, all over his body if he'll let him—places his lips close to his ear. In a croaky voice, he sings, "Isn't she lovely? Isn't she wonderful?"

Chanyeol sings until he hears Baekhyun whispering for him to stop and telling him that he's embarrassing. Chanyeol steps back, hurt, but then he sees the smaller guy’s shining eyes, the smile on his lips and the blush on his cheeks and perhaps, Baekhyun looks like he feels the same way, too.

"Byun Baek, you don't have a criminal record, right?"

2022

He's going to be late for work.

But he's too happy to care as he watches his husband dance with their two year old baby girl in his arms. She giggles when Baekhyun spins, the sound infinitely endearing. They just welcomed her into their home a week ago but she already stole their hearts with her big brown eyes and adorable pout.

Chanyeol's eyes go to the shorter man, and it's no surprise that his breath hitches and his stomach does its usual somersault. Even with bed hair and rumpled bed clothes, Baekhyun still takes his breath away.

"Oh, look, baby," Baekhyun says to their daughter. "The daddy who can't dance is finally awake."

Chanyeol rolls his eyes and pads over towards them. He bends down and receives a good morning kiss from his little girl. Chanyeol moves away before Baekhyun can give him a kiss, too, and crosses his arms across his chest. "At least the daddy who can't dance can cook and change diapers and do laundry and throw the trash and—"

"That's why the daddy who does know how to dance and sing and do every single useless thing in the house loves him so much," Baekhyun teases him. He then makes ridiculous kissy faces that he knows perfectly well Chanyeol can't resist. With an exasperated sigh, the taller man bends down again and kisses him, letting his lips linger until he feels Baekhyun's hand clutch at his arm. Chanyeol smiles against his soft lips, "This daddy is an amazing kisser, too."

Baekhyun laughs. Chanyeol wraps both him and their daughter in a tight hug. "Daddy Chanyeol will be late if he continues playing around," the elder murmurs but doesn't really step away.

"Shut up, you like it, anyway." Chanyeol leans closer and whispers to his husband's ear. "Is this going to be a kink now, you know, you calling me daddy?"

He receives an elbow to his side but come to think of it, Baekhyun didn't actually say no.