With Yixing at his side, Baekhyun couldn’t quite contain his excitement. The Earth could have stopped spinning at that very moment and he would have never had realised. His friends were as noisy as ever, running laps of the lounge room, their shrill laughter echoing down the hallway but Baekhyun didn’t notice.

His eyes fixed on the television screen as he tried his hardest not to blink. From his side, Baekhyun was sure that Yixing was the same. It was something that he had been waiting for all week; a new My Little Pony episode.

The upbeat opening song reached Baekhyun’s ears and he clapped his hands excitedly, bouncing on the spot in time to the music. Yixing giggled happily, swaying from side to side slowly, transfixed.

“Pinkie Pie! Pinkie Pie!” Baekhyun exclaimed the second his favourite pony appeared on the screen. “Mister Giant, come quick!”

Worried, Chanyeol left his easel in the kitchen and hurried down the hallway, his eyes darting around the lounge room frantically.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, concerned.

The only thing Baekhyun liked more than My Little Pony was Chanyeol (and maybe ice cream), so it was easy for him to justify missing a few seconds of his favourite show. Turning away from the television, Baekhyun smiled at Chanyeol, waving at him excitedly.

“It’s Pinkie Pie!” he squealed, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Come watch, come watch!”

Allowing his shoulders to slump in defeat, Chanyeol shook his head. Crossing the room, he sat cross legged behind Baekhyun, scowling at the television screen. What ever happened to the way things used to be? Surely he would have put up more of a fight against watching something like My Little Pony with Baekhyun.

But things change, Chanyeol supposed. And he was sure they had changed for the better.

Baekhyun bounced up to Chanyeol’s side, tugging eagerly on the sleeve of his jumper.

“Who is your favourite pony?” he asked, staring up at Chanyeol eagerly. Chanyeol’s brow furrowed. He didn’t know their names.   

“Uh,” said Chanyeol. “That one.”

Baekhyun’s head whipped in the direction of the screen before he gave the sleeve of Chanyeol’s jumper another sharp tug.

“That’s Fluttershy,” Baekhyun said, his voice serious. “You don’t look like the Fluttershy type.”

Sighing inwardly, he cast his gaze downwards to where Baekhyun stood, his tiny fist still wrapped around the sleeve of Chanyeol’s jumper.

“Then what type do I look like?” he asked. Baekhyun beamed happily.

“My type!”

Baekhyun padded down the hallway, his arms tucked behind his back; keeping up with Chanyeol was hard work – for every step he took, Baekhyun had to take about twelve. But Baekhyun didn’t mind. Just getting to be with Chanyeol was more than enough, regardless of the effort it took.

“Mister Giant?” he chirped, concentrating on not tripping over his socks.  “Am I annoying?”

“Only sometimes,” Chanyeol said as he set about, tidying the house. He had read the story of Hansel and Gretel today just before lunch and Zitao and Sehun had taken it upon themselves to leave a trail of potato chip crumbs through the house so that they could ‘find their way back.’

“Sometimes?” Baekhyun asked as he picked up his pace, hurrying along after Chanyeol. “Luhan told me that when you really like somebody, you annoy them.”

“Oh,” said Chanyeol. “Do I annoy you, then?”

Baekhyun nodded cheekily. “Only sometimes,” he mimicked, almost colliding with the back of Chanyeol’s leg when the other came to a halt.

“Do I?” Chanyeol asked. “When do I annoy you?”

Baekhyun scuffed the wooden floor with his toe. He wasn’t expecting that. He had to change the subject.

“Mister Giant?” he began softly. “Would you be sad if I ever went away?”

Chanyeol’s eyebrows rose, disappearing behind his fringe. Was Baekhyun planning on leaving? What was he supposed to do if Baekhyun did go away? Chanyeol didn’t want that to happen. Not ever.

“Of course I would be,” he answered, watching Baekhyun closely. 

“And would you cry if I ever died?”

Where was he getting these ideas from? Chanyeol knelt down, reaching out to Baekhyun who scampered into the palm of his hand. Placing Baekhyun on his shoulder, Chanyeol frowned.

“Of course,” he said slowly. “I would cry a lot.”

Baekhyun smiled at this, nuzzling his face against Chanyeol’s cheek.

“Would you like me if I was big, like you?”

“I like you now.”

Baekhyun felt his heartbeat quicken at these words, his face slowly turning red.

“And would you be mad at me if Pinkie Pie came to live with us?”

Wait, what? Chanyeol resisted the urge to laugh. “Maybe you’re a little more than sometimes annoying.”

“Is that a yes? Fluttershy can come, too!”

Busying himself with the lunch dishes, Chanyeol hummed quietly to himself in the kitchen. He had left the others to their own devices – so long as it did not entail demolishing his house – so that he could get a few things done in the afternoon.

But the house was quiet. Suspiciously so. Chanyeol was certain that they weren’t having a nap but when he had gone into the lounge room, his arms covered in dishwashing detergent bubbles, Jongin had reassured him that they were simply playing hide and seek.

Nami-is-here-friends wanted to see a ninja spider~
(I hope nobody has arachnophobia... ) 
And Yong-seob wanted more Baekyeol and Yixing. 
Thank you for your collective ideas,
they really helped shape this chapter.
 

(I didn't really want to go into depths with the spider thing
due to a lot of people having a phobia of them.
Several of my friends, for example.)

Updating as much as possible during my Uni's mid-semester break.
(Which is during week nine/ten? Sure. MID semester.
*has three weeks left of Uni for the year*)