“Who are you texting?” Krystal demands annoyingly, rolling her eyes at him in a patronizing manner –as if this time Chanyeol will notice and do something about it after all the previous nine times during the last ten minutes that he has ignored her existence as a whole.

“It’s none of your business” he murmurs, focusing on his fast paced typing. It is, however, Chanyeol’s business; quite literally. Luhan is panicking like a penguin over pebbles before mating season, because there are two meetings scheduled for later in the day and he is left to prepare for them alone, without Chanyeol’s guidance. Chanyeol can’t be there, after his father’s orders to go out with his so-called fiancée, so he is doing his best to communicate through messages, even though it’s not the same thing. Thank goodness Luhan is a smart man and he can catch up quickly.

Chanyeol curses under his breath when his shoe catches on something on the stone paved path and he nearly stumbles forward, but he manages to stay on his feet. Krystal giggles and Chanyeol shoots her a judging glare with an accordingly raised eyebrow. Not that she cares one bit about that...She shrugs her shoulders indifferently as if to prove his point, and he sighs, straightening his posture proudly. He resumes his typing, walking away from her and sticking along the edge of the path where he won’t be a bother to random people who might pass by. She grumbles, displeased with the distance between them, and she marches to his side, gluing herself there decisively. He tries to shake her off but she won’t budge, and Chanyeol doesn’t want to push her away because she might hurt herself on those spiny heels she is wearing, so he gives up and keeps sending orders to Luhan -who claims he is going grey prematurely due to his elevated stress levels. Three minutes into Chanyeol’s limping walk with her hanging off on his side on the verge of a graceless picture, she halts her steps for no known reason and so does Chanyeol, because it’s easier.

“Oh my, look honey, isn’t it absolutely splendid?” she asks animatedly, like a good wife in a fifties movie, and the only reason Chanyeol spares a curious glance to his surroundings is because he thought someone he should know was watching them and that was the reason behind her sudden enthusiasm. It turns out no one is around and she is just being weird, so he goes back to his typing with a noncommittal shrug of his shoulders.

The truth is, Chanyeol doesn’t have any particular interest in watching the scenery at the moment. Certainly, the small lake in the park with the thriving trees all around is a beautiful sight, with flowers blooming on the bank and water-lilies wafting on the trembling surface under the bridge, but it is not something he can appreciate in the midst of his worries. He is so stressed and tired these days, thinking only of numbers and self-imposed deadlines, that he’s surprised the world still has colors and shapes for him.

And while his daily life is a grey blur of obligations, she wanted a romantic couple stroll in the park; and what the sneaky fiancée wants, the sneaky fiancée gets. It’s still spring and everything is blossoming, and his father made him promise he’d go with her to enjoy a long walk under the sun –which, needless to say, Chanyeol is not enjoying at all. The moral of this predicament is that, one disadvantage of working in secret, is that you can’t claim to be busy. There is nothing romantic in all this for Chanyeol, it’s only a waste of his precious labor time, but if she wants to pretend they are a happily engaged couple, walking around while she talks by herself, and then report to their parents that this was a great date, then let her; it would only make his life easier if his father is pleased with him.

“Is there something about you I don’t know?” she asks playfully, poking his arm in hopes of getting his attention. When Chanyeol looks at her, she is sneaking suspicious glances at his phone and he holds it closer to himself protectively; she doesn’t need to know what he is typing and to whom. Stalking his innocent phone is a seriously annoying habit of hers.

“Is there anything about me you do know?” he points out with a strange expression on his face. Maybe she knows a few basic things about him, things that anyone would know if they researched about him a little, but she doesn’t know anything about the person beneath the surface, about the things that matter. She understands the absurdity of her own question after Chanyeol’s words, if the mute opening and closing of is any indication. Chanyeol mentally pats himself on the back for his successful comeback, even though half his brain had been simultaneously attempting a calculation with two five-figure numbers.

There is an awkward silence that stretches between them as they stand next to each other on the small bridge above the pond, and Chanyeol feels like the distance between them is insurmountable. It starts drizzling.

In a matter of moments, she has abandoned him on the bridge, running to find shelter as fast as her heels can carry her with whimpers and whines of annoyance, because her Birkin and her hair will get ruined. He stands where he is, watching her awkwardly running away; he understands that it’s not the most pleasant thing to stay in the rain, but there is no need to be so childish and spoilt about it. Chanyeol sighs, shaking his head. He looks at the lake, deciding to stay behind, even as the rain picks up and starts staining his suit. The scent of the earth and grass mixes in the air and a light fog appears, erasing the last touches of warmth the sun had left before it hid behind the clouds. He blinks slowly as a few cold drops land on his face, and he feels like he can breathe more comfortably than he has done so in days, standing alone in the rain and letting it wash away some of his worries that seem to linger in the air around him all the time. The raindrops tickle the water far under his feet, creating circular ripples that sound almost like music, and now Chanyeol thinks he can appreciate the sight a little, because the ambience fits his heart so perfectly.

--

Baekhyun sits under the empty bus stop, watching the rain fall, raindrop after raindrop. He is alone while he waits for the next bus and the cars on the street are sparse, splashing hastily through puddles and small rivulets of water on the asphalt. It’s quiet, except for the distant traffic resonance and the ruffling of feathers and fur from wherever the small animals are taking refuge. Baekhyun sighs, watching his breath fogging the air of this unexpectedly chilly evening in spring. He wishes he were home. The first thing he would do would be to get out of these clothes and switch into something warm and fuzzy. He would make himself a nice hot tea and sip on it while browsing through flower arrangements and magazines on decorating, and on his second cup, he would pick a book and read, until he’d realize that it’s too dark and he would have to turn on the lights in his apartment, laughing at himself for being such a dreamer and getting lost in his book.

He rubs his hands together for warmth, stuffing them in his pockets, and he watches as the water washes away every blemish and dust, coating everything with a glassy surface afterwards. The spring colors will be shining beautifully afterwards, but for now they blend in with the shadows. The grey clouds are hiding the sun and it’s almost dark, the temperature dropping even more. The fog is clinging on his clothes and biting at his ears, and he lifts the lapel of his coat to shield his neck. He can’t help but feel a little lonely, surrounded by concrete and trees and not a living soul in sight. His heartbeat is the next loudest thing after the pitter patter of the rain. But maybe it’s a good thing that everyone is avoiding the rain by staying indoors and no one is out here to see him, because he doesn’t look completely decent. His face is painted like a deer, for chocolate’s sake –and there is a very good and reasonable explanation behind this, mind you.

Today they had a children’s birthday party, and even though Baekhyun is not a big fan of playing nanny for a bunch of happy sunshine bundles with too much sugar in their system, the parents of the birthday twins were friends of Kyungsoo’s neighbors and Kyungsoo said he owed it to the cat…or something equally confusing like that. Baekhyun accepted because it would be nice to organize something easy for a change, especially since the young attendants were granted to enjoy every bit of it. The theme was ‘the fairy forest’ and it was surprisingly fun for Baekhyun to hang pink glittery veils and fairy lights on the trees of their clients’ huge garden, and to hide lanterns in the rose bushes, and to order a cake like a fairy castle. He doesn’t get to play around like that often; it’s usually crystal and roses and silk. The organizers had to fit in with the event somehow, of course, so Baekhyun ended up with fawn makeup on his small face, Kyungsoo was an owl because it’s the eyes, and Sehun a snake, due to his long limbs. The rest of his crew were also painted as forest animals, like birds, squirrels, butterflies and ladybugs, and the children seemed to like it a lot, asking them questions all the time. A little girl called Baekhyun Bambi and Kyungsoo had to hold him so that he wouldn’t become a puddle of marmalade on the floor.

Noticing that the rain has gotten heavier, Baekhyun is thankful the party ended while the weather was still sunny and bright. Normally, Kyungsoo would have taken him home afterwards, but he had to rush off to an obligation –as in, a date with Kai, who is he trying to fool– after it took them a considerable while to take off his makeup. That’s how Baekhyun ended up waiting for the bus while looking like a wide-eyed forest creature in the rain. Oh the sacrifices he makes for his friends’ happiness. Baekhyun giggles to himself. It’s nice to see Kyungsoo so happy after so long though. Baekhyun can’t remember the last time his friend was so at peace, enjoying his loving relationship; but he remembers the last time he had to buy three strawberry ice cream tubs and a couple dozen tissue boxes, when he had to call Kyungsoo four times a day and spend the weekends with him for a month and a half, when he had to hug Kyungsoo’s pieces hoping he’d glue him back together. Kyungsoo gets very aggressive towards himself after a breakup and Baekhyun hopes it will work out this time, for more reasons than one.

Baekhyun sighs wistfully and crosses his other leg above the one that has started to feel numb. The shift brings to his attention the phone inside his pocket and he fishes it out to pass the time. No sooner has he unlocked the screen, however, when he stops and simply stares at it. The picture Kyungsoo has set as his home screen –because Baekhyun can’t really bother with such stuff– is a shot of the sea from their vacation. According to Kyungsoo, it would cheer Baekhyun up whenever he saw it, but Baekhyun is not so sure Kyungsoo got the psychology figured out the right way this time, because the picture doesn’t make him feel any happier. It reminds him of things and of people he misses very much; it throws him into a loophole of daydreaming, memories, strange emotions and cloudy weather.

As if his mind switches to a different way of functioning, the hum of the rain sounds very loud to his ears and the world seems to blur a little. His heartbeat sounds louder to his ears and the unimportant details of the outside world disappear. His body and his fingers feel numb, but his cheeks and his lips feel a strange mixture of cold on the surface and scalding hot under his skin. His breaths tune in with the rain and it feels comforting, albeit a little depressive. He doesn’t know exactly how, but he finds himself staring at Chanyeol’s phone number on his screen at some point. Hmm…His finger halts above the green button. Should he? What if he’s busy –which he most probably is? What if he won’t pick up? Would he call later, would he be worried? Would Baekhyun be a bother, a nuisance? Shouldn’t he? He has missed him, but that’s selfish. He is worried about him, but that’s unreasonable. He wants to hear his voice, but that’s nonsensical; he wants to talk, but that’s not important. Maybe Chanyeol misses him a little too…but that’s impossible.

He doesn’t know how long he spends with his finger hovering uncertainly over the screen, fidgeting back and forth in indecision, but it stops when the bus arrives and Baekhyun’s head snaps up, coming to his senses. He shakes his head a little to clear his thoughts and puts the phone back in his pocket, having done absolutely nothing after all. It’s probably for the better he didn’t. What was he even thinking? Calling Chanyeol in the middle of the day on a Wednesday, he would have definitely interrupted something –Chanyeol’s schedule is more hectic than Baekhyun’s. What would he say? ‘I just called because I felt like it, don’t worry’ –but Chanyeol would have already worried by then. What would he do? He hasn’t heard Chanyeol’s voice in so long, he would probably freeze in shock at the sound –if Chanyeol actually answered. Baekhyun decides it’s better he didn’t make the call as he boards the bus, blaming the bad weather for his momentary weakness –and smiling awkwardly at the bus driver when the latter gives him a strange look for his fancy makeup.

But what if he had made the call?

--

“Please, please, a time out, I beg of you!” Luhan wails, draping himself over the desk and paperwork dramatically, and Chanyeol smiles at the elder’s childish activities, forgetting his workload momentarily. Luhan looks up at him with round –and slightly bloodshot– eyes from his sprawled position on the desk. “Grant my wish, oh, kind and generous…” Chanyeol motions with his hand for Luhan to keep going, stifling giggles throughout his rant “…unbelievably smart, handsomely lovesick, greatly gracious, vastly merciful, insurmountably talented…” Chanyeol stops Luhan with another motion of his hand, as he has started having troubles withholding his laughter and he doesn’t want to guffaw loudly because his head hurts “…future CEO –and cinnamon roll of a brat!” Luhan’s final words are meant to be an insult, Chanyeol can tell from his tone of voice, but Luhan’s bad mouth tends to default to a strange assortment of phrases when he’s tired. Chanyeol can’t hold in his laughter this time and he lets it out, even at the price of his head stabbing him viciously.

“Very well, your wish shall be granted, you cinnamon roll of a brat” he concedes, throwing Luhan’s theatricality and odd words back at him. Luhan makes a face, realizing the extent of his mouth’s malfunction, and Chanyeol sniggers. He feels tired too, so maybe they can afford a little break from work, just for a few minutes. He glances at the clock and he’s shocked to find out how long it has been since their last break. He stretches his long arms above his head and winces when he hears the muffled popping sounds his joints make that can’t be a sign of health and fitness. His head feels foreign on his body and his neck is killing him.

“Oh, thank god” Luhan sighs in relief and lets his blond head fall on the desk with a thump. The silence in his office, with the distant echo of keystrokes, phones ringing and conversations from outside, is not comforting for Chanyeol’s headache but he is not sure he’d rather some noise or any sort of sound; honestly, above all else he needs to sleep. That would be ideal. Luhan groans uncomfortably and shifts his head on the table, probably suffering from a similar neck condition.

Chanyeol feels bad for dragging Luhan into this, but there is no one else he can trust and the workload is too much to handle on his own. He needs someone he trusts and someone who possess a sharp mind and experience to help him. He knows he’s asking a lot from Luhan, adding more chores than his job description entails, but Luhan is the only dutiful and capable soldier Chanyeol can count on in this building. Besides, Luhan makes the perfect double agent; he reports lies to his father very credibly and without remorse. And truthfully, under all the snarky comments, unrelenting work ethics and nagging threats when deadlines are involved, Luhan is nice to have around; his sincerity and honesty are refreshing.

Chanyeol glances at the clock again; Kai should drop by soon, for his daily reminder to ‘eat and go home’. Since Kai cannot help Chanyeol as much with his plan, because he has no idea about this sort of business, he is an accomplice to his other plan. He digs information on his fiancée’s life, trying to find something that might hold back the marriage, anything they can use to convince her to cancel this arrangement, after she downright rejected the idea the first time Chanyeol very politely and earnestly asked her to –and all the following times since then. She just won’t do it, she won’t opt out of this marriage no matter how many times and in how many ways Chanyeol asks her to, and it’s so frustrating to Chanyeol that he wants to fall off a cliff. Or throw a certain someone else off of it.

Lay waves at Chanyeol through the glass, pointing at the phone and Chanyeol nods in confirmation. It’s just a reminder that Chanyeol needs to make a few calls before the work day is officially over for the employees. Lay is a secretary, so, much as he’d like to help more actively, he has to keep reasonable working hours, and most of the time he is forced to leave the building before someone realizes he has been working a suspicious amount of overtime. Luhan and Chanyeol don’t have that strain, so they stay at the office until late every night and do secret work which has to be done, while Lay keeps every official business in order so that it won’t draw attention.

Chanyeol sighs and panics a little at the back of his mind; he has become accustomed to this nagging, slightly nauseating feeling in his stomach, experiencing it every day without fail, a little stronger each time. They don’t have all the time in the world to finish this project; they need to work fast. He saw the assortment of cards on his parents’ home coffee table last weekend, a list of potential event planners for a certain big event he is trying to avoid –Chanyeol made sure to steal Baekhyun’s card, excluding him from the list and keeping the piece of expensive paper safe in his jacket pocket. He also noticed that Krystal was carrying a gigantic book full of wedding dresses the last time they met, but she didn’t bring it up and he didn’t ask. His father mentioned something about reception areas this morning, during his daily update routine with his son on his engagement, and Chanyeol simply played deaf, not knowing what else he could do. Obviously, he has to save himself from this marriage asap, because the wheels are turning even without his consent.

“Oh dear” Luhan grumbles, checking his phone after a brief, buzzing sound. Chanyeol blinks out of his stupor and focuses on the blond man, who has a piece of paper filled with numbers stuck on the side of his face currently, and his face is glowing blue from the light of his phone. Chanyeol chuckles at the funny sight.

“What is it?” he asks casually, trying to decide if it is any of his business to ask. He is friends with Luhan after all, so it might be okay to ask. It probably won’t be something within Chanyeol’s interests, but Chanyeol’s tired mind will take any distraction available right now.

“It’s Sehun again” Luhan mumbles with a frown between his eyebrows, typing something hastily on his screen. He looks older like that and his frown deepens when he concentrates, swatting the economic report off his cheek.

“That is a good thing, right?” Chanyeol points out, slightly bewildered by Luhan’s displeased reaction. Shouldn’t Luhan be doing metaphorical pirouettes and somersaults after his boyfriend texted him, just like Kai goes googly eyed whenever Kyungsoo sends him a short answer? Chanyeol was surprised to hear from Kai that Sehun and Luhan became something like an official couple while they were on vacation –Chanyeol hadn’t noticed anything at the time though…Maybe because you had been clinging on Baekhyun? Ahem, anyway, Chanyeol would absolutely love to tease Luhan about the situation, as Kai suggested, but he really needs Luhan’s favor during this period of his life, so he refrains from it and he has the least possible reactions to anything that concerns their relationship. When all this work is over, he will have his chance to tease Luhan; it’s unlikely Kai will have any peace until then though.

“Well, it’s not a bad thing in itself” Luhan sighs, running a hand through his hair and putting his phone aside. “It’s just that I feel bad; awful, ungrateful…I mean, he is trying to spend time with me, suggesting all sorts of things, but I never have time, and so I always say no. He doesn’t mind, because he understands that we have to work on something important and because he’s designed to be a freaking saint in this life, but I feel bad, like one of those horrible people who kick puppies. I keep rejecting him, and it’s not my fault or his fault or your fault; it’s just…the world is against my happiness” he throws his arms in the air in exasperation and lets his head fall on the desk again, this time his forehead making an audible collision with the hard surface.

“Join the club…” Chanyeol mutters grimly with a sad smile. If only Luhan knew how close to home his words hit…Chanyeol leans back in his chair, closing his eyes and pressing his lips in a thin line.

Even in this mayhem, Baekhyun is an angel sent from heaven to bless Chanyeol’s life but, regrettably, Chanyeol doesn’t deserve him, and that’s been proven. Most recently Chanyeol can recall that time when Baekhyun asked him to join him to dinner two weeks ago, since he was having a rare free-of-events night, sending Chanyeol a temptingly cute and cheerful message. Chanyeol screamed in agony in his shower, because his father had arranged dinner with the in-laws that night and he had to refuse Baekhyun’s offer, feeling physical pain to be doing so. Baekhyun has sent one more invitation since then, a timid offer of a free ticket to the grand opening of an art exhibition he would be organizing and attending himself; and Chanyeol had wanted so much to make a decent excuse for date out of this offer, but the event is tomorrow, and isn’t it tomorrow that he has a brunch ‘date’ with she-who-shall-not-be-named and then he has to rush to five consecutive meetings outside the company building, scattered across the city? Chanyeol is so scared for the imminent moment when Baekhyun will give up on him entirely, tired of being rejected.

If anyone’s happiness is spiraling out of control, it is Chanyeol’s. He’s pretty sure he’d win that award in his current position.

“You’re right, you’re not any better. How are things with Baekhyun?” Luhan agrees morosely and then he lifts his head and holds his chin against his hand on the desk, looking at Chanyeol expectantly. Chanyeol scoffs bitterly.

“What things? There is nothing. I haven’t seen him since we came back from vacation, which was, what, two or three weeks ago?” he doesn’t even remember how these weeks have passed. “We have exchanged a few messages, but it’s hard to keep a decent conversation when my brain is so mistuned to basic human functions like communication. Besides, how many things can we talk about, what can I say to him? It’s not easy to keep the gloominess out of the way, and I don’t want him dragged into this mess. I can’t tell him anything about work or how things are at home, but all I have been doing is working and wanting to kill myself when I am home. I know I am drifting away, but I don’t have much choice” Chanyeol sighs, rubbing his eyes that have started to sting for some reason.

He wishes he had Baekhyun to cheer him up and support him. He wishes he would get a hug from him and a few comforting words. He wishes he would go to sleep with small pacifying caresses on his back, like that last night of vacation. He wishes he could simply see Baekhyun, if only for a moment, just one smile or a friendly wave from afar. He knows Baekhyun would gladly do everything if Chanyeol only asked, but Chanyeol cannot allow himself to be so selfish and force his little guy to share all the great burdens in his life right now. Damn it, how is he supposed to even mention his engagement to Baekhyun? So, all he can do in his pathetic, cowardly predicament, is take strength from a memory of Baekhyun saying ‘I believe in you, Chanyeol’.

“How are things with miss Queen-of-the-world then?” Luhan asks alternatively. There is an uncertain glint in his eyes as he makes the question and Chanyeol understands his reservations, but it’s not so much a sensitive topic for him as a point, concerning which, he needs to blow off some steam. He huffs and growls under his breath.

“Kai has not found anything of importance yet, or anything conspicuous. I have met with her a few times -more times than I’d care at any rate-, and I pretend to listen to her as she talks about herself and a few other things nonstop. Most of the times I am bored out of my mind so I tune her out and make plans in my head to kill her slowly and painfully. You won’t believe what that little wrench has come up with!  We’ve had a few meetings arranged by our parents, when we were supposed to be just us two, and I ditched her in every single one, as you might remember, and she kept finding so many excuses! Work emergency, the cat got sick, a friend broke up…silly things that make it sound like I wasn’t downright running away from her but like we were forced to cancel our meetings! And well, she brings at least one parent along now, to make sure I cannot leave! It’s like dating an evil witch with adult supervision! It’s outrageous. And she seems really set on marrying me, god knows why, after all the treatment she has been receiving!” Chanyeol complains, cringing and thrashing desperately in his chair.

“Well…” Luhan contemplates for a while and then looks at Chanyeol “at least she is not creating unnecessary trouble” he notes, trying to be positive. But really, there is nothing positive or good about all this. Chanyeol glares at him, feeling all the hatred he has for this woman stirring inside him.

“It would be very convenient, yes, if she weren’t so persistent! She actually likes this ridiculous arrangement and oh, she won’t be stopped until she achieves her purpose. She’s all excited about planning the wedding and the happily never after; she even tries to convince me that this is good for us, that there is every reason to be happy. Me, Luhan, me; can you even imagine? She’s really pushy about this relationship –which, hello?, is non-existent! What the hell is she trying to do?!” he pulls at his hair and then he feels so tired all of a sudden, which is not an unusual emotional shift these days. He sighs and deflates, giving up on this confusing matter. “At least I am not in danger of becoming paranoid, because there are people who support me and I am reminded that, in truth, she is nothing to me” Chanyeol shakes his head.

“Who’s on your team?” Luhan pipes up in an attempt to cheer Chanyeol up with thoughts of the people he loves. The blond starts playing with his pen, clicking and twirling it like he usually does. Chanyeol shifts his head from side to side thoughtfully, trying to make a list of names.

“You and Kai who are absolutely indispensable, Lay here at work, my mom at home, Xiumin sometimes when I’m desperate for guidance, Sulli-”

“Wait HOLD IT, did you just say Sulli?” Luhan’s exclamation makes Chanyeol flinch and whine internally for his aching head. He gives the older a weird look for his sudden outburst and Luhan returns an alarmed glare. “You told about the troubles of your love life to a five year old?”

“Hey, she’s five and a half” Chanyeol corrects him casually, but he thinks the are-you-crazy tone he’s detecting in Luhan’s voice is not very flattering. Luhan rolls his eyes.

“Chanyeol, she’s a kid! An innocent, smart, but still, naïve kid. Even if she can keep a secret, she has minimum capacity. Eventually, she’ll unintentionally say or do something suspicious. What if it slips? What if she asks her mother what a fiancée is and why you don’t like yours? It’s in your family no less; the news would go straight to your father!” Luhan visibly panics and starts hyper ventilating.

“Calm down Luhan, now we breathe” Chanyeol coaxes, counting intakes of breath and exhales, helping Luhan regain his proper breathing pace. When Luhan has calmed down a little, he continues “Everything would have to go through my mother first, since she manages the information that reaches my father through the family. You’d be surprised by how great spy material she is, she can handle anything” Chanyeol points out. His mother is a great ally and she’s very supportive. She encourages him, she helps him with his ideas, she covers for him to his father and she doesn’t like Krystal either; she’s perfect for the role of a double agent at home, just like Luhan is at work. Chanyeol only wishes she wouldn’t feel so responsible and guilty for what he is going through with the marriage arrangements –because it’s not her fault, after all. She has to play along because of his father. Hell, even Chanyeol has to play along.

A knock on the door breaks the silence and catches both Luhan’s and Chanyeol’s dull and tired attention. Kai’s head pops in first, smiling mischievously at them for interrupting instead of apologizing; does he ever apologize when he marches in? He’s more of a best friend than an employee, therefore the formalities don’t work with him more often than not. Soon the whole of the man comes in through the door, keeping a small smile on his face and receiving two nods of acknowledgement. He walks to the desk and leaves a few folders that Chanyeol had asked from Lay earlier, and Chanyeol sighs at the sight. He doesn’t want to go there, but he has to, and that is killing him.

“How are you? Have you eaten anything?” Kai asks first, checking the bin with a glance for any takeout boxes or food wrappers, because he knows there is no way Chanyeol and Luhan would leave the office for lunch break, but the two workaholics didn’t bother to even think about food while they were working. Chanyeol sighs, wondering when his survival became a secondary issue of importance and a chore for him.

“We’re working on something really important, no time for food” Luhan explains, raising a defiant eyebrow to Kai’s disapproving glare “So many files, so little time, what can I do-ooh?~” Luhan halfheartedly sings a little in a playful mood and Chanyeol chuckles when Kai flicks him a pen. Luhan dodges the blow with little effort and grins deviously at the tan male.

“Hyung, please keep yourself alive, you have a Darwinian theory to prove in your case” Kai retorts, sticking his tongue out childishly, and Luhan chuckles. That’s when Chanyeol notices Kai’s well groomed appearance –not that Kai ever goes around completely unkempt, but today looks like a day of that extra spray of cologne on his wrist and those five minutes more of hair styling in front of his mirror. Chanyeol can tell after having been seeing Kai nearly every day of his life for the last twenty years or so of their existence.

“Are you going somewhere?” he asks absentmindedly, subconsciously trying to buy himself some time before he has to go back to his work. He knows that of course Kai is going somewhere; Chanyeol has a pretty good idea who is going out with him, too. It’s not hard to guess. Kai flashes a smile, stuffing his hands in his pockets casually, which results in a supermodel pose.

“I have to go buy the tickets to the drive-in movie theatre for my surprise to Kyungsoo next week, and then I’m taking Kyungsoo for dinner to a nice bistro” he smiles proudly at the revelation of his plan and Luhan nods his head in approval. Chanyeol smiles, silently wishing his friend to have a great time, but there is this small part of his mind at the far far back that makes jealous thoughts, because he knows there is absolutely no chance in the near future that he could experience something similar with- “I could tell him to ask Baekhyun~” Kai interrupts Chanyeol’s thought on point. He leans playfully over the desk, smiling mischievously with his tempting suggestion but he’s looking at Chanyeol with that look; and Chanyeol knows this is a considerate, benevolent offer to help him out of his misery, but he can’t help the pained expression that appears on his face as he feels his heart tearing apart in his chest.

“Don’t do this to him” Luhan whispers sternly, erasing Kai’s smile.

“Don’t do this to me” Chanyeol whines pitifully, feeling like he wants to cry a river of frustration. He has to refuse the offer and there is absolutely no way around it. He can’t leave the office today until maybe very late at night, because he has to prepare for tomorrow’s meetings. It’s so painful to see the possibility of a moment of relief and happiness in the midst of his dark days dissipate irreversibly while he’s incapable of doing anything about it. Kai bites his lip and gives Chanyeol an apologetic puppy look. Chanyeol wouldn’t be able to find it in him to hold this against Kai in a million years.

“Okay fine, fine” he amends, adding a few pats on Chanyeol’s head to comfort him after his mishap and Chanyeol leans into the touch, because he needs any sign of affection to survive. “Our little Baekhyun is kind of hard to find these days anyway. Kyungsoo says he stays cooped up in his apartment, working, drinking hot cocoa, cuddling every available pillow and doing whatever else koalas do in their free time” he adds a small smile of encouragement at the end and Chanyeol nods to show he is fine now. News of Baekhyun is always welcome information but it is always indirect these days, and it feels more and more dry and faceless.

“Poor thing” Luhan muses with a sad downturn on his lips. Chanyeol presses his lips together thoughtfully and a little miserably. Kai rolls his eyes at them both.

“Seriously, Chanyeol, do something about this. Do something about him” he says seriously in a careful voice, a frown appearing between his eyebrows. “Kyungsoo has been breathing down my neck, and I personally agree with him, that we don’t want to see Baekhyun becoming a depressed puppy”

“I don’t have time” Chanyeol mumbles dejectedly, eyes downcast. He knows he’s making Baekhyun a little sad, he knows he is some part responsible for Baekhyun being a ‘poor thing’, and he is so angry at himself for that; but at least he is keeping him safe. Chanyeol needs to keep him safe, it’s the least he can do for him.

“Make time” Kai presses, lifting Chanyeol’s face with his index finger under his chin and locking eyes with him meaningfully. Chanyeol knows Kai sees all his emotions and he’s sure he recognizes the flash of ire in his eyes, withdrawing his hand.

“You think I haven’t tried?” Chanyeol hisses through clenched teeth. He’s not mad at Kai, really he is not; he is mad at his luck and all these absurd proceedings in his life that are costing him valuable time and happiness, hurting the person he cares for the most in the process. “He is trying, I am trying, and it’s not working! And that’s absolutely infuriating! I need to finish with this mess, I need to gain some control over my own life; and then the first thing I will do is to make him someone important in my life, someone that no one will be able to keep away from me. Because it hurts, more than you know and more than I could have ever thought, to keep rejecting him like this. I miss him, so terrifyingly much, and I want to hug him so bad, but I-I-why am I? I’m not supposed to cry, what if someone comes in?”

Chanyeol loses his track of thought, his vision blurring and his eyes overflowing before he knows it. He feels his tears slide hot on his face and down his neck so fast, and he tries to stop them because this is not the time and place to be crying, but his itching eyes seem to find some relief in it and they keep producing them. He wipes away as many as his fingers can catch and he stares at them on his hands, still unbelieving that he’s crying. His confused mind is trying to order the tears to stop but they won’t, they just keep falling, and he panics, because something must be wrong with him.

“Chanyeol, please…don’t be like this.” Kai helps him wipe away more tears futilely, with the help of Luhan who provides them with tissues. Chanyeol looks at Kai and Kai is giving him that look again, the look that says I’m sad because my best friend is almost broken; but Chanyeol is not broken and he is not breaking…is he? Chanyeol hiccups with his next inhale and gasps, covering his mouth in shock. What is happening to him? He doesn’t know anymore, everything is so confusing and his stupid body still won’t listen to him.

“I don’t know how not to be like this” he panics, grabbing Kai’s hand for comfort; it’s not like it was doing any work to wipe away the tear streaks, they’d just get renewed. A worried look crosses Kai’s face and Chanyeol feels his whole mentality wavering inside his head and he doesn’t understand why all this is happening all of a sudden, but maybe Kai can see everything that is happening inside Chanyeol in this moment and he gives him one squeeze on the hand.

“Would Baekhyun know?” he asks softly and Chanyeol involuntarily whimpers like a hurt animal at the sound of the name. His heart chips off every time someone mentions him but this time he could not hold in his hurt reaction because he seems to have no control over his body at all in this moment. Would he know? Chanyeol asks himself. Yes, he would. He always does. Baekhyun is always right for Chanyeol. Kai wipes away some more tears hastily and demands Chanyeol’s focus, but the look in his eyes is gentle. “Should I try something crazy to help you see him for a while? Luhan will take the blame, I promise” he winks playfully with a small grin and Chanyeol somehow finds it in him to chuckle through his ongoing tears. Looking into Kai’s familiar eyes calms him, anchoring him to the ground and slowly but surely bringing him back to reality.

“Hey!” Luhan protests immediately with a pout and Chanyeol huffs another small laugh, trying to wipe his tears one more time. To his surprise, the tears are lessening. He guesses he’ll look back to this incomprehensible experience finding it forever bizarre, with the way it started and ended beyond his control and free will.

“Wouldn’t you?” Kai glares at Luhan and raises an eyebrow, keeping the elder under his intense gaze, until the latter growls and looks away, admitting defeat. Chanyeol is pretty sure neither of the two remembered why their staring competition started by the time it ended. Kai returns his attention to Chanyeol, squeezing his hand once again. “Please, Chanyeol” he says softly with an unreadable, unwavering expression. It takes only one silent moment of telepathic communication to understand what Kai is talking about. His meeting with Baekhyun.

“No.” Chanyeol is surprised his voice comes out so steady after his recent temporary lapse of self control. “He can’t see me like this. I have to keep him away from all this, and that means I have to keep him away from me. I don’t want to hurt him, this is just too much to ask of him. Please Kai” he ends up being the one to plead his best friend. His wide eyes are trying to communicate to Kai all his fears and reservations and how urgent his need to keep Baekhyun safe is in his chest. Kai seems thoughtful and then sighs, surrendering and letting go of Chanyeol’s hand.

“I hope I know what you’re doing” he murmurs in the end and Chanyeol nods; but honestly, he can only hope he knows what he is doing too. Chanyeol feels infinitely grateful in this moment to have friends who would do anything for him and who are so understanding, even when it’s uncertain whether he’s being absurd or not.

“Do you want to see my ‘cuteness collection’ album?” Luhan throws into the conversation out of the blue. Chanyeol and Kai give him an identical puzzled look. Luhan is holding his chin in his hand against the desk, as if it’s hard to keep the weight of his cranium in place without the support. He’s sporting a tired look with hooded eyes and he continues as if he’s saying the most natural thing in the world, showcasing his phone in his free hand. “It’s with bunnies and puppies and kittens and stuff; it cheers me up”

“What the hell, hyung, this is too much information!” Kai covers his ears childishly, to block out anything else. Chanyeol laughs more naturally than he has in days at his friend’s typical behavior, entertained to see his two friends bickering like they always do. This is normal and anything normal is a relief to Chanyeol during this period of his life. Luhan blinks up at Kai slowly, like a lazy, sleepy deer, in a silent challenge. Kai wrinkles his nose and closes his eyes, shaking his head from side to side and Chanyeol laughs a little more “I refuse to partake in this very manly, heteroorientational experience!”

--

“If you will excuse me, darlings, I’ll visit the powder room” Mrs. Jung says politely, taking her bag with her as she leaves their table. Chanyeol bows his head a little in polite acknowledgement and keeps a soft expression on his face for as long as he can, until she disappears behind a column. It’s a good thing she is leaving for a while, because Chanyeol’s cheekbones were starting to hurt from all his forced smiles and he needed a break after an hour and a half of enduring her and her daughter. After she disappears, he drops the act immediately, his face falling straight and feeling numb. He pulls out his phone with quick, efficient moves to check for any new messages from Luhan; some of their work is in a critical stage these days and Luhan updates him regularly.

“Chanyeol, say ah~” the annoying Queen of the Underworld and All that is Vicious –aka Krystal, Chanyeol’s fiancée– says with a smile, not even considering the possibility that he is checking his phone for an important reason, which she might be interrupting. Chanyeol rolls his eyes, wondering why on earth does he have to put up with her. He doesn’t think of her as a legitimate fiancée; she needs a ring to prove it and he has not promised any such ring, no matter what their families say. After the third –of maybe forth, he hasn’t been paying attention– repetition of her request, he looks up and he gives her a curious glance. Then he looks at the spoon she is holding, loaded with cake, as if it’s the most offending thing to him.

“Um, no.” he rejects her abruptly, without a hint of hesitation. When he is with her, his old self comes back to him and it makes things easier, because he can be rude and not care about it too. He returns to his phone, opening his messages and preparing a new one for Luhan.

“Come on! Couples feed each other! It’s cute” she protests and giggles to herself. Chanyeol almost doesn’t notice her speaking at all, if not for the world ‘couple’ that strikes a nerve. They are most certainly not a couple; they never were and they never will be. He growls to himself quietly but doesn’t encourage her with any response. “Say ah~ for me, please” she insists, swooshing the cake bite near his nose and making him flinch backwards. He looks up at her with a frown and she bats her eyelashes innocently, in an attempt to cute him into doing what she wants. She must be pretty desperate for attention, if you ask Chanyeol; she even said ‘please’.

“We are not a couple; and I am not three years old either, so no” Chanyeol rejects her again, establishing and maintaining eye contact with her long enough to make sure she is paying attention to him when he speaks, repeating that they are not a couple for the hundredth time. That piece of otherwise very important information never seems to stick in her head somehow. He then returns his attention to his phone, typing a message to Lay, because someone has to prepare one of the files he thought they can include in their project. He has no interest in observing her pouting face.

“Okay, you feed me then, I don’t mind!” she suggests cheerfully after a while of silence. Why me? Chanyeol growls in annoyance. What else does he have to do and how more discourteous does he have to be until she gets the message? Leave me alone! She is smiling when he looks up, as if his irked expression is insignificant to her. He bites his cheek for a moment, glancing down at the cake. Then he smiles at her with many teeth and with all the fakeness in the world.

“Do you want cake smeared all over your face?” he bites through his smiling lips. She giggles, shaking her head.

“What? No, that would ruin my makeup, silly” she chirps.

“Then you don’t want me to feed you” he coos sarcastically and drops the smile coldly, returning to his phone, not caring if she pouts or not. He thinks he can hear her tapping her shoe in annoyance childishly, but he disregards it, pretending she is not there. There is an uncharacteristic, small silence between them and then her mother reappears, with an oblivious, pleasant smile. Chanyeol puts his phone aside quickly and smiles at the woman innocently. His mother raised him to always respect his elders.

“So, are you two having fun on your date?” the woman asks, winking at Chanyeol. His smile freezes on his lips; what the hell was that. “Ah, to be young, handsome and rich; you children are a perfect match. You look so compatible with each other, even on a simple date” she chuckles, covering her smiling lips politely –and Chanyeol will give it to her that her grace looks a lot more natural than Krystal’s forced gestures. Sure, it’s a supervised date with the miss from hell, who wouldn’t be having fun…Chanyeol wonders if Mrs. Jung is half blind; how is he and the witch a perfect match?

“Of course, mommy!” Krystal answers with a huge smile, and Chanyeol gags a little on the inside. “Chanyeol was just telling to me how he likes my new dress and how much he thinks it suits me” Krystal boasts and Chanyeol tries really hard to keep his eyebrows down in their natural place on his forehead. Ahahahahahahaha. Yeah right. Does delusional behavior run in the family?

“Oh, but of course; it’s Versace” her mother says with interest and then turns to Chanyeol “You have such good taste, Chanyeol” the elder woman approves with a sleazy smile. He simply nods politely and smiles a little nervously, not knowing what else he is supposed to do. Well, he also has a huge amount of patience but no one seems to recognize him that! The two women soon start talking to each other about things that Chanyeol absolutely doesn’t care, so he tunes them out and lets them babble about effortlessly. They don’t seem to need him anyway. Shortly after, however, his phone rings; and it’s Luhan. Chanyeol panics for a moment, unsure if he should answer; it could be important but he can’t speak freely in their presence. “Answer that dear, please” Mrs. Jung gives him her permission immediately when she notices his situation.

“Thank you, it’s from work” he mumbles quickly with a small, thankful smile, before he picks up his phone, turning to the side. That helps him have some privacy while looking polite and respectful in the same time. “Hello?”

“Hello, this is the phone call you ordered. We charge extra for saving your sorry rear from overbearing fiancée wonna-bes and oblivious mothers in law” Ah, sweet Luhan…

“Did you check the books with the order placements?” Chanyeol asks a random question to convince his audience that he has an important conversation related to his work. The mother and daughter duo don’t know anything substantial about business anyway, except that maybe it makes a lot of money that they can spend. He is pretty sure Luhan will be confused, but, since those two cannot hear Luhan, he can say whatever he wants or hung up even; Chanyeol is determined to pretend his way out of this horrible date.

“I have no idea what that means; you really need to teach me this sos code, you know. Anyway, I called to warn you; your father is in the company today and we can’t work there. I took everything to my apartment; man, all those boxes of files and paperwork, Sehun might develop back problems after this” Chanyeol stifles a chuckle at the casual mention of Sehun from Luhan and the latter’s random rumbling.

“Is it that serious?” he asks, frowning with concern for the sake of his performance and turning his face even further away from the two women across the table for ‘privacy’; this is supposed to be a serious matter. Chanyeol’s face might be hard to control sometimes, but he’s a good liar when he wants to be; he learnt from Luhan himself.

“Well, he carried most of it, so I guess he is not in the best state imaginable…” Chanyeol holds back a giggle at Luhan’s unsuspecting answer. He also realizes that wow, those two are really together, or else Luhan wouldn’t be having Sehun on his mind all the time. “Thank you for asking. Back to my point though: I need you to come by my house later so that we can work on the new idea you wanted to insert –Lay gave it to me earlier, before I left the office– so…yeah, when your ‘date’ is over, you know where to find me”

“You mean right now?” Chanyeol fakes surprise, glancing at the two women who pretend to talk with each other about the colors of some designer brand new collection, while secretly observing him with the corners of their eyes –ugh, these women…Chanyeol thanks his luck he is smart enough to know when people are watching him.

“What? No, not right now, it’s not like I am going anywhere. Just come by whenever it is convenient” Luhan explains and then yawns wide enough for Chanyeol to hear through the phone.

“Yes, yes I understand. I will be there right away” he ignores Luhan and tries his luck with the two women. No way is he staying here; he is sure there would be talk about wedding rings and flowers in his near future. If they bite the bait and set him free, he owes Luhan a big hug.

“Oh, I see what you’re doing there-” Luhan starts saying, but Chanyeol hangs up before he has time to finish his sentence, because he is supposed to be in a hurry, remember? He stuffs his phone in his pocket and smiles at the two women apologetically, his hands fidgeting nervously. Both set their eyes on him, faking innocent interest. Now, what would it sound like if he was really forced to leave and if he actually cared to be leaving them behind?

“I have to leave, I am afraid” he announces simply, deciding that a straightforward approach is better and it will save him the trouble of fabricating more lies. He tries to look like he feels bad for leaving, wrinkling his eyebrows –even though he is delighted to be able to escape from these two and his heart is beating excitedly at the prospect. They give him a sad look and Chanyeol only now notices that they kind of look alike.

“It’s okay dear, it’s a work emergency, we understand” Mrs. Jung says in a stoic voice in the end, and then she offers a small smile. Oho, that was easy. Chanyeol cheers internally. Krystal doesn’t look as pleased by the turn of events though.

“But, mommy!” she starts protesting, a scandalized look overtaking her face, but her mother hushes her with a strict look before she has time to say anything further.

“Krystal, you are going to marry a businessman, someone who is going to be a successful and busy CEO one day; you have to understand that his work is precious to him” she explains strictly –probably speaking from experience. Krystal fumes and looks at him with wide eyes, but her voice is lost in her shock. Chanyeol would have liked to stick out his tongue at the girl, because for once things are working out his way. Instead, he smiles at the irony of the situation, thanking Mrs. Jung and addressing his goodbyes as he picks up his things quickly to leave. Oh his work is precious to him, a true life saver.

--

Baekhyun finishes the touchups and saves the changes quickly. He wiggles in his comfortable seat and takes a moment to fix the blanket over his legs, making sure he keeps the warmth wrapped around him. He leans back in the pillows for comfort, wishing that it would be something less inanimate and more welcoming he snuggled in; and for the first time since they got back from vacation, Baekhyun seriously misses his gigantic breathing teddy bear. He mutes the movie playing on tv so he can focus better on his task and takes a big breath.

He’s doing this. Even if Chanyeol hasn’t contacted him in many days, which honestly feels like more than four centuries to Baekhyun, even after two rejections last week that hurt more than Baekhyun will admit, Baekhyun will take initiative once again and try his luck.

Kyungsoo said that Kai told him that Chanyeol is working insane hours at the company on something that is truly very important, and that takes all of his time and his energy. Given Chanyeol’s status, Baekhyun should have expected that times like these would come, when the greater problems of life would absorb the taller and keep him away from the small and insignificant Baekhyun. But those problems do nothing to distract Baekhyun from the reality of the distance between them. Is he eating properly? Does he get enough sleep? Does he smile at least once every day? Does he dress warm enough? It rained last night, did he get home safely? Baekhyun feels worried about him, but all he can do is worry from a distance. He can’t bother Chanyeol with his selfish nagging or ask for too much of his time, when he knows that Chanyeol has much more important stuff to deal with.

But he wants to. He wants to hear news of Chanyeol from Chanyeol himself. He wants to maybe call one morning and check if the taller is healthy, or maybe plan to go for lunch sometime when all the crazy workload will lessen. He wants to receive a message that will make him feel less forgotten. Baekhyun has initiated a few conversations, but they all stop after the first few formalities because the response time stretches too long to be considered worthwhile to continue the conversation. There was one time when Baekhyun’s message went unanswered for three days and he will admit that he felt hurt and he almost didn’t want to start another aimless effort for communication after that, because it hurt too much to even think of that rejection. But Baekhyun is not the type who enjoys feeling blue or who can’t go around his pride for a friend, so he will try to reach out one more time.

He has a feeling that he will always be willing to try one more time for Chanyeol. And one more time after that…and one more time after that…

He clicks on the conversation with Chanyeol and ignores the small pang of guilt and sadness when he sees the minimal replies from the taller in contrast to his eager and lengthier messages. He browses through his photos for the one he has prepared and the only reason his resolve falters is the momentary doubt that the filter is too prominent. But oh well, it’s not like Baekhyun is the prettiest person on the planet –unless you ask his mother–, so he thinks he is allowed to use some filters for better visual results. He nods to himself, pouting stubbornly, and he types in the message to accompany the picture, pressing send before he has enough time to over-think it and abort mission.

‘I got a haircut^^’

He lingers for a while, staring at his phone screen expectantly. He bites his lip, waiting for something to happen, anything. Maybe the time stamp indicating that the message has been read will appear, in a very improbable and yet awesome plot twist in the usual story of Baekhyun waiting and waiting till two days later. He keeps his phone alive, holding onto the slivers of hope, even though it wants to lock and be left alone at least three times, attempting to dim its lights. It’s been four minutes of intense staring at an unchanging phone screen and his eyes start hurting, but he forces them to stay open and glued to the led lights. Is he being desperate too obviously? After twelve minutes, Baekhyun gives up and stops torturing himself with futile expectations.

‘Just letting you know I’m okay really XD I hope you’re okay too’

“I’m still alive, in case you were wondering” he mumbles and his voice unwillingly comes out a little bitter, but mostly hurt. He wishes he could half-seriously punch Chanyeol’s shoulder right now, and then demand a hug in compensation. He looks at his message and he thinks it’s a little pathetic, but that’s okay, his pride can heal while he sleeps. He tosses his phone to the side and leans back in the pillows, trying to burry himself and his sorrows under the pretty fabrics. He registers very little of the silent movie plot before he’s out like a light, arm dangling over the arm rest and the blanket clutched near his neck over his chest. Kyungsoo would probably scold him for falling asleep like that. Chen would probably laugh at him when he’d complain his arm and neck hurt the next morning. Chanyeol would probably carry him to bed and tuck him in carefully.

He doesn’t get to see the message that Chanyeol sends him forty minutes later, until next morning, when his arm and neck really hurt. He feels a little regretful he didn’t manage to stay awake long enough to see the message, but it’s not like there is anything remarkable included. Okay, maybe the fact that Chanyeol thinks Baekhyun’s haircut suits him and that he answered at all is remarkable, but Baekhyun can’t keep any conversation going from there. Is this what people call a dead end?

--

“So, just replace this in the presentation and-”

“Honey, I’m here!” a loud girly voice –more like an ear piercing shriek– drowns out whatever Luhan was trying to say and Luhan is too shocked to form a cheeky verbal reaction to throw at the offender. Oh, this must be Krystal. Because who else thinks she is the centre of the universe, roaming around in a busy company and shouting ‘honey’ like there are not any people working around since seven hours ago nonstop? That was pretty inconsiderate and rude of her and Luhan doesn’t like this sort of people. She also interrupted him, and Luhan doesn’t appreciate that either.

He glances at Chanyeol at a loss, and the taller panics for a moment looking like a nervous, flailing octopus, and Luhan cannot blame him. What the hell, this home invasion was totally uncalled for! She didn’t have a meeting with him, a date or any other business in this building. This is not no-man’s land, this is Chanyeol’s headquarters, and who is she to have the audacity to march into their fort uninvited? Chanyeol closes all the files on his desk in a hurry when his brain finally starts working again, because they don’t feel like sharing their secret work project with the obnoxious, devious fiancée, who also has a snooping record, according to Chanyeol. Luhan helps him, stuffing a few files on the side, and then Chanyeol proceeds to glare at the doorway. Luhan turns as well.

“Honey, I’m here! Why won’t you answer my calls?” she asks playfully, opening the door wide with confidence just on cue. Luhan has seen pictures of her and he has heard many things from Chanyeol, so he is not surprised to see her or find it hard to recognize her, even if this is the first time he meets her. She is young and pretty –to be fair– with long black hair and a beautiful floral dress. But Luhan is not fooled as easily; she is a witch under all that.

“Well, I’m here too. And what ‘calls’? Have you been yelling like that from the elevator?” Chanyeol snaps at her, not the least bit affected by her pout. Luhan is surprised to see Chanyeol back to being a rude brat, talking so abruptly to a lady, but he feels like giving him a round of applause right now, feeling some sort of vindication, so he doesn’t mind. She shrugs it off nonchalantly, the pout disappearing scarily fast, and she approaches the desk without any authorization. Even if Luhan didn’t mean to judge much…now, what does that say about her character?

“Sorry, Chanyeol, I couldn’t hold her out” Lay apologizes, appearing in the doorway. She raises her eyebrows in disdain and side-glances Lay; Luhan feels irked by her attitude towards his friend but he can only imagine in how many ways she would make the secretary’s life a living hell if he attempted to keep her away from her goal. Chanyeol sighs in and dismisses Lay with a pacifying wave. The secretary leaves, dutifully closing the door behind him, while she dumps two shopping bags unceremoniously on Chanyeol’s desk. Luhan is peeved by her bold move; where does she think she is? This is an office where serious work gets done, not a hair salon!

“Um, excuse me, miss, we were working here” Luhan says calmly, with a smile as polite as he can manage right now –on the inside, he is screaming die, you insensitive witch!…but he’s really good at pretending.

“Oh, but I needed to see my fiancé” she retorts innocently, batting her eyelashes at Luhan. He is not sure if she is being sarcastic or trying to actually appear innocent to him. Either way, Luhan doesn’t like this treatment; he is not some stupid person to fall for her tricks and his intelligence does not deserve to be relegated like that. The more this woman speaks, the more she unnerves Luhan. He bites his tongue in his mouth but glares at her over his smile, in a way that Kai says makes him look slightly deranged.

“But I don’t want to see you” Chanyeol is the one to make a strict comeback, a frown setting deep between his eyebrows. He might as well be wearing a ‘passively aggressive’ sign over his head. Just one look at him and Luhan is sure that Chanyeol doesn’t want to see her ever, ever again. You just have to look at him, cupcake, and then make yourself scarce.

“Honey, please don’t treat me like that in front of your employees” she whines, trying to sound cute in what ends up sounding the expensive and spoiled version of slimy. Luhan gasps; employee?! Listen, you little rascal, you have no idea how much work Luhan gets done in here and how valuable he is! Oh the sacrifices he has made, and the danger he puts himself into by lying to Chanyeol’s and Kai’s fathers about their sons, and-

“Luhan is a friend” Chanyeol defends strictly, not missing a beat. Well, thank you, Chanyeol.

“And an employee, so my statement was correct” she smiles widely at Chanyeol, feeling better for herself now –as if this is normal behavior. Is this all you have to say for yourself?! Luhan gasps again. “Anyway, can you leave us now?” she says, turning to look at Luhan with an apathetic look, as if she’s tired of him. She orders him around now? On whose authority? Luhan’s eyes open wide and glint dangerously. Please, let Luhan strangle her so we can all be free of her and the troubles she creates!

“Luhan doesn’t need to leave” Chanyeol growls, just as unnerved by her behavior.

“Luhan doesn’t want to stay either, but he will” Luhan says for himself and sits promptly in a chair, crossing his arms in front of his chest and holding his chin up high. He is Luhan; his catfight skills and stubbornness are legendary. He is not about to kneel down to this spoiled little princess, he has confronted worse divas during his university days. Krystal gives him a strange look and he returns one of his too-innocent expressions. You can’t fight with the master, kid.

“O…kay…” she dismisses slowly “Anyway, I came here to give you this, honey!” she exclaims, ignoring Luhan and turning to Chanyeol. She extends a bag to him but he doesn’t even flinch to try and take it. He doesn’t look like he is even contemplating the possibility of taking it. After a few minutes of intense, non-responsive silence –which must be very hurtful to her ego, sorry, not sorry– she clears . “It’s couple shirts! I bought them for us!” she tries to keep her cheerful mood but it dims a little, compared to before. Luhan can see that she is not thick headed, so she must have understood the purpose of the former silence.

“I don’t want it, take it back” Chanyeol deadpans in an instant, his large eyes empty of all emotion in an uncharacteristic and, frankly, creepy way.

“Aw, don’t be like that! I will wear mine and you will wear yours, mine is pink and yours is blue! We will look so cute~ but handsome. It will be great!” she insists enthusiastically. Pink and blue…uh-huh…Luhan rolls his eyes; does it get any more cliché? He doesn’t understand where all this determination, which Chanyeol has also pointed out in the past, comes from. I mean, he is rejecting her in every manner possible, is she deaf or something? Maybe she is dense after all.

“You can wear them both for all I care; I won’t wear it” he announces in an absolute and considerably detached tone, and then he turns to his papers again, ignoring her presence altogether. 

“But I can’t take it back to the shop!” she whines again, trying to sound cute again, failing again. Wow, she really is persistent and irritating, like Chanyeol described. “What would they think of me?” oh, she’s also self-centered, like Chanyeol described.

“Then give it away; I seriously couldn’t care less about what you do with your shopping and your money” Chanyeol answers in a murmur while reviewing papers. Luhan doesn’t know how he can keep so calm and discover all the human ways possible to reject someone and push them away; Luhan would have physically pushed her away by now –or clawed at her, or kicked her…

“Chanyeol, why are you being difficult?” she demands, placing her hands on her waist and frowning. Oh, so she noticed.

“I was born difficult” Chanyeol shrugs his shoulders and signs the papers. Luhan stifles an entertained giggle.

“I’m only trying to be agreeable and nice!” she explodes, throwing her arms in the air and demanding his attention with her voice –yes, very agreeable…“I like you and I wish you would like me back, seeing how kind and caring and pretty and cute and smart I am!” Add modest to the list…

“Well, your biggest trait in my mind is annoying, so…” Chanyeol wrinkles his nose and bobs his head from side to side in a patronizing manner. Luhan couldn’t agree more, and he finds it completely reasonable, so he doesn’t understand why she would gasp in shock.

“You find me annoying?” she asks, looking surprised. Chanyeol lifts his eyes to finally look and he quirks his eyebrow, giving her a curious look.

“You wouldn’t? You’re always making my life difficult, you’re always ungrateful and uncooperative, you keep pestering me –you even visited my office. My office, where I work” he points out seriously.

“But you always work…” she complains, lowering her head and trying to give him puppy eyes. But she is a vicious ferret, so she cannot quite pull it off. Chanyeol’s lips quirk weirdly and then he leans back in his chair, shrugging his shoulders.

“Well, I’m a busy person”

“You are also my fiancé!” she explodes finally, stomping her foot on the floor. Luhan’s first thought: S.P.O.I.L.T. And why exactly should his unwanted status as her unofficial fiancé be more important than his work, which is eventually going to save his rear from this circus?

“That will end soon, I promise you” Chanyeol answers with a smug smirk; Luhan knows that Chanyeol is mostly hoping that his words will come true at this point and Luhan hopes so as well.

“What?!” she asks, raising her voice and putting on an unattractive expression caught between shock and distress “How can you say these things to me?” Of course it would all come back to ‘me’…“Can’t you see it hurts me?” Um, no, you’ll live. She places one hand over her chest with a heartbroken look on her face –and Luhan will inform you that her heart is maybe on the other side…? Chanyeol sighs; he is obviously not in the mood to be patient enough to put up with this girl’s drama any longer.

“Just, go away, please” he mutters calmly, rubbing his temples. It’s a sincere request, one which Luhan would respect and heed to, if he were in her shoes.

“Go away?!” she squeals in disbelief and indignation –and may Luhan make a note that her thin voice makes everything above thirty decibels that comes out of hurtful to human ears– “But I just came here! And you are about to send your fiancée away while she is crying? For the whole company to see?! Do you have a heart? And we were in the middle of an important conversation, won’t you respect that?” she demands in a forlorn voice, her eyes gleaming but no tears spilling. It’s not like anyone in here feels bad for her though.

“Why are you still talking?” Chanyeol grumbles, resigned, and he leans his head on his hand on the desk, looking at her with tired and bored eyes. She clenches her jaw and her fist, the tears forgotten as she glares at him.

“You’re so mean! I can’t believe I love you!” she exclaims. Love? Seriously. Luhan studies her expression from the position of the silent observer. Is this supposed to be despair?

“Oh, please, don’t love me” Chanyeol mumbles with heavy lidded eyes, but his voice shows the biggest amount of interest he has shown in this conversation ever since she walked in the room.

“Ugh!” she yelps in frustration, but Luhan shakes his head. If she is tired of this treatment, she just has to stop trying and accept Chanyeol’s offer to break their engagement; everyone will be happier that way. She only has to say the words, but why doesn’t she? Is it her life’s dream to marry Chanyeol or something? “This is not over!” she decides suddenly. Of course it wouldn’t be as easy…“We will have a date! Tomorrow! And we will set things straight” she says decisively, fixing her hair and trying to control her temper. Luhan scoffs quietly. Yeah, as straight as Chanyeol’s love for cutie B…

“Whatever, just leave” Chanyeol nearly yawns. Krystal huffs and doesn’t even say goodbye; she picks up her bags and leaves the room, plastering a smile on her face the moment she steps out. It’s scary how she can act so well; where are her real emotions? After a few moments of pregnant silence, Lay signals from his desk that she is gone and Luhan sighs in resignation; she didn’t even care to close the door.

“Okay, so, this show was interesting” Luhan says, lifting his eyebrows, and Chanyeol lets his head fall on the desk with a loud thump. Luhan is not one for compassion but; poor thing…

“Do you see what I have to go through, almost every day?” he murmurs, his voice muffled and sounding exhausted. Luhan hums a little. He would be exhausted too.

“I can always kill her, you know. Now that I’ve seen her, I gladly offer for the task…” he tries to lift Chanyeol’s spirit a bit. He finds himself doing that often lately, even though he’s pretty sure he’s not the best man for the job.

“Please don’t” Chanyeol barely lifts his head from the desk, his dark circles standing out. “My father likes her and I need you to be in his good books for now” Luhan nods dutifully. Oh, right, Luhan’s a spy, so he shouldn’t blow his cover, at least not for the while they need him. “Sometimes, I wonder…” the taller continues thoughtfully and, dare Luhan say, timidly “what if this plan doesn’t work out and I have to marry her? What if all this treatment backfires then?” Chanyeol presses his lips in a tight line.

“Chanyeol, you are doing the right thing” Luhan reassures him and pats him on the shoulder comfortingly. It is true that if he ends up marrying the witch, she will probably make him miserable for the rest of his life to take her revenge, but they have to think positively, that such a scenario will never come into play. Given the circumstances, Chanyeol is handling the situation very well, better than Luhan or anyone else would have the patience to do.

“Besides, if your wedding day ever comes, I know a couple of people, and we could, you know, arrange your abduction or something” he jokes and Chanyeol laughs halfheartedly. But seriously: Mrs. Park, Lay, Suho, Xiumin, Chen, Sehun, Kyungsoo, they are people he can count on for the abduction plan. Luhan won’t marry Chanyeol to anyone else but Baekhyun. And don’t even try to compare Baekhyun with that Krystal person.

--

“Uhm, Baekhyun, we’re going to be…uh, stepping out for a little while, okay?” Kyungsoo feels like a concerned parent more than a best friend ever should while he’s saying this, but he can’t just leave his house and close Baekhyun inside without saying anything. Baekhyun looks up from his laptop and quirks an eyebrow, seeing the two men wearing their coats and fixing themselves before they go.

“Uhhh” Baekhyun slurs adorably and he fixes his glasses on his nose. Yes, in fact Baekhyun wears glasses , one of those huge, dorky frames, but he doesn’t need them most of the time, so he wears them only when he’s going on a work-marathon that makes his eyes hurt from too much computer light. “Where are you going? What time is it? Are you both leaving me?” he sounds like a distressed lost puppy, as he looks at the towers of papers and magazines around him and then over Kyungsoo’s shoulder to Sehun, who is fixing his hair in the mirror by the door. He pouts and he’s the most adorable thing ever, in his oversized hoodie and his jean clad legs criss-crossed on the floor. Kyungsoo makes a small realization that Baekhyun has been going for comfort more than style lately, wearing loose clothes and leaving his hair in their natural state, not a hint of effort to be an elegant heartbreaker. Hmm, weird.

“Well, we need to go, but you can stay, I don’t mind” Kyungsoo smiles, hoping Baekhyun won’t notice how he’s dancing around a certain word that would bring about a whole cluster  of associations that Baekhyun might not want to think about. Kyungsoo picks his wallet from the table. “The spare keys are in the usual place” he reminds Baekhyun. At times when Baekhyun needs to work for a while longer as the mastermind decorator and there are too many necessary things to move to another location, Kyungsoo allows him to stay behind and finish his work in peace, and when he leaves at his own convenience, Baekhyun locks the door. Baekhyun is a quiet and tidy person. Oh, there is also the case that Baekhyun is his best friend, so he knows where the spare keys are in case of an emergency, but that doesn’t happen often.

“Yeah…” Baekhyun says, looking stunned and somewhat confused “…but where are you going?” Kyungsoo internally has a scene where he’s banging his head on a wall, because why is Baekhyun so good at sensing abnormalities in speech patterns?! On the outside though, he keeps his cool and opens his eyes innocently wide.

“We’re going out” Kyungsoo points the door with his thumb over his shoulder and even Sehun rolls his eyes at the lack of subtlety in the whole situation. Baekhyun’s eye-smile makes an appearance as he giggles, amused.

“Sherlock, why are you stating the obvi-wait” his eyes open wide and awestruck with a sudden realization, and they look so much larger behind the frame of his glasses. “You guys have a date?!” he guesses. And there goes Kyungsoo’s valiant and awkward effort, thrown out the window with just one word: date.

He really didn’t want to bring it up, but he couldn’t cancel with Kai either. When Baekhyun showed up with his hands full of magazines and catalogues and with that look of glee on his face earlier today, Kyungsoo couldn’t find it in him to send him home. Sehun arrived soon after with coffee and the group was complete and ready to work. Of course Kyungsoo thinks that spending an evening with his best friend is a great way to invest his time, but Kai has tickets to somewhere he wouldn’t tell Kyungsoo and the latter has been dying with curiosity for the past week. He has stayed with Baekhyun for as long as he can, but now he needs to go. And if you’re wondering why Kyungsoo didn’t tell Baekhyun about his date, it is because he doesn’t want to flaunt his thriving love life in the least, especially when his best friend has been more or less abandoned to fend for himself socially by a certain, very guilty of neglect, Park Chanyeol. Baekhyun wouldn’t publicly admit that he misses Chanyeol’s company, of course, but Kyungsoo knows. Now that he thinks about it, that might be the reason why Baekhyun has been seeking comfort in his own clothes and has stopped preening himself as much as he used to.

“Um, yes, kind of…” Kyungsoo answers the question hesitantly after a moment of deep silence. Sehun nods his head shyly in agreement as well, and Baekhyun suddenly turns into an exploding busy ball of energy.

“Owmygod, why didn’t you guys tell me?!” he squeals in fluster and he snaps his laptop closed, standing up a little too fast for his numb legs to hold and he wobbles, trying to pick up papers and scattered magazines. It’s a cute picture, especially because Baekhyun is floating in his own clothes and his glasses are askew and threatening to fall off. “Have I kept you for too long? Are you late?” he keeps panicking while gathering his materials in a sizable, imbalanced stack, and then he tries shoving some more things in his bag. Sehun walks around Kyungsoo to help Baekhyun, even though he’s still wearing his nice coat. Baekhyun murmurs “Thanks” and Kyungsoo starts picking anything that’s closer to him, his moves slightly restricted by the thick material of his own jacket. They finish cleaning up very soon.

“Are you sure I haven’t ruined your date plans? Luhan is not waiting for you in the cold, is he?” Baekhyun’s eyebrows draw together in concern and he looks up at Sehun while Kyungsoo locks the door. It’s a bit funny how Baekhyun looks double his normal size in his coat and while holding a box of magazines alongside his bag –yes, they actually had some difficulty getting him through the door. Baekhyun has forgotten he is still wearing his glasses and his ears are red under his beanie. Does he get any cuter? Kyungsoo thinks. Where are you to see that, Park Chanyeol?

“Hyung, don’t worry!” Sehun chuckles, patting Baekhyun’s head and making him pout “I will be going over Luhan’s place. Kai will be picking up Kyungsoo hyung a little later due to heavy traffic, so no worries on that either. Do you want me to take you home? I think you could use some help with those” Sehun makes a gesture to take a few things off Baekhyun’s hands but Baekhyun swerves them out of his way.

“Noooho, no no, mister, you’re leaving and I’m taking myself home. It’s not a big deal, I’ll manage” Baekhyun grins, showing many teeth and Sehun smiles a little in return, finally looking his age. He surrenders to Baekhyun’s stubborn decision and he takes out his phone, heading for the stairs and typing something already. Kyungsoo sniggers; Sehun is such a softie for Baekhyun, more than if the latter were his real elder brother. Kyungsoo makes a point to keep Baekhyun behind a little, holding one of his elbows that are s around the box. Baekhyun gives him an inquiring look.

“Baekhyun, are you sure you can go home by yourself? I’m sure Kai wouldn’t mind if we took you home first, or dropped you off somewhere closer to your place at least” he starts worriedly, thinking how it’s dark outside and Baekhyun looks like a high school student carrying his assignments home past curfew. “Maybe it’s not so safe-” Baekhyun silences him with a stern look over his glasses, one that shows he means what he says.

“Soo, trust me, I’m fine. Just go and have fun, okay?” he reassures him and then he smiles cheekily, nudging Kyungsoo with his elbow playfully, as he can best with his arms full. Kyungsoo frowns; it sounds like Baekhyun is trying to reassure him for more than just his capability of taking himself home and it bothers Kyungsoo slightly, because he doesn’t need to hear why Baekhyun is fine, he needs to hear why he is not fine. “I’ll be waiting for the details tomorrow” Baekhyun whispers exaggeratedly and winks, a glint shining in his eyes, followed by a mischievous giggle. Kyungsoo chuckles too, throwing a protective arm over Baekhyun’s shoulder and leading him to the stairs.

--

“You useless piece of almond macaroon-” That’s it, his brain is so exhausted that he can’t even insult his eating utensils properly.

Luhan sighs deeply and keeps digging through the pile of chopsticks for the missing rod of steel. Why again did he not buy all his pairs of chopsticks the same? Choosing stylish design instead of comfort for his home equipment doesn’t seem like such a good choice in retrospect. He yawns, mouth stretched wider than a lion, his hearing dulling and his eyes watering, unable to contain his sleepiness. He glances at the clock on the wall with the corner of his eye and he grumbles under his breath. It’s so late. He grabs another pair of chopsticks in the end, resolving to find the missing piece some other time.

No, Luhan is not sulking when he sits at the table; why would he? He’s a grown man, having very late dinner at his own apartment, all alone, the quiet surrounding him in a way that makes his head hurt. It’s a little past eleven at night, his eyes are tired and bloodshot, his shoulders are stiff from all the hours of work he had to sit through today and the kitchen is cold. Luhan shivers, staring at the wall with an empty mind and a numb body. He just wants to sleep, skipping all the in-between stages of eating, locking the door, changing clothes and showering, and most definitely skipping the part where he has to wake up tomorrow morning. He’d like to postpone that moment for a decade or so.

When there is a knock against the front door, Luhan thinks he’s hearing things at first, which wouldn’t be entirely unusual, but then it knocks again and again. It goes on for a while, gentle and patient raps against the door echoing in the apartment. Luhan debates with himself whether to dismiss the whole thing as a hallucination or go check the door for good measure. But even if there is someone out there, it’s not like he’s expecting anyone, and it would be louder if there was an emergency; maybe someone got lost in the building? It’s awfully late for visitors.

Luhan stumbles over his own feet on his way to the door, hissing in pain when his toes collide with a corner in the room. The pain registers very faintly in his mind under all the layers of tiredness. He doesn’t even know when or why his body decided to take him to the door, ignoring his mind’s conclusions. Sure, his mind is not in the sharpest shape possible and maybe it doesn’t always make the brightest decisions, but it has helped his body survive for many years and it should, therefore, be treated with respect; meaning, his limbs should start listening to his brain. Why is it not happening.

The thought that it might be robbers at his door, or some other sort of villain, crosses his mind for a second, but he dismisses the suspicion on the basis that they wouldn’t knock for that long, they would have busted the door long ago, if they ever even cared to knock or use the door. Besides, the golf club he keeps for very obvious protection services in his hall closet is too far away to fetch right now and his curiosity is getting the best of him. He peeks through the peephole just in case, but all he can see is a black coat, which is not very useful information to him. Sighing, he gives up and finally opens the door.

“It’s me.” Obviously, Luhan would say if he could find his voice to vocalize his sudden surge of sass right now. Instead he blinks several times, still unsure of what he is seeing; he certainly hadn’t been expecting this. What on earth is Sehun doing here in the middle of the night?

Luhan gives him a good look from head to toe. He’s wearing his coat, because lately the nights in spring are cold, and he is holding a big black bag in one hand. He looks pale and Luhan can’t blame him because the heating in the public sections of his building is not very reliable and Sehun has been standing behind the door for a while now, freezing his pretty rear off. The dim lights of the hallway cast strange shadows all around him and Luhan simply gapes. Because what else is he supposed to do?

“Were you sleeping?” Sehun asks calmly after a considerable while of silent staring. Luhan flinches, realizing fully that this is real, because hallucinations wouldn’t have soft eyes full of concern while they’d walk into his apartment. Sehun proceeds to take of his coat and place it neatly in the hanger, making Luhan’s tossed coat look like a lump of shapeless material next to it. He takes off his shoes, taking his time –or perhaps giving Luhan some time to adjust to his sudden appearance– and then he gives Luhan a good look. That seems to help Luhan’s brain restart and start functioning again.

“No.” he answers the question, feeling his mind being quickly pulled out of its dumb stupor; but still, please allow him just this one unintelligent question, because he feels like he’ll explode if he doesn’t ask it. “Sehun?” he asks in disbelief, watching as the taller steps inside and heads for the kitchen first. He has been here once or twice before, so he knows Luhan’s apartment; not that there is anything particular to know about it in the first place though. Luhan follows behind him in bewilderment.

“Is this your dinner?” Sehun asks, nodding in the direction of the table as he passes by to leave his bag on the kitchen counter. Luhan’s eyes follow in a guilty path to reach the carton boxes of Chinese takeout he reheated earlier for dinner and he gulps uncomfortably. There is nothing accusing in Sehun’s tone but Luhan feels self-conscious to admit it. It’s not the best choice for dinner but it’s all Luhan had in the fridge. The grocery store has forgotten what he looks like in so long he hasn’t paid a visit and any canned food he happened to have stored inside the house is gone by now. He’s barely surviving the last few days, he doesn’t have the energy to cook or eat out or even order takeout. He knows it’s a matter of time until he gets sick between his bad health habits and his long work hours, but he is stubborn and he won’t do anything about it until it happens.

“Maybe it was” he answers vaguely, hoping Sehun won’t pick up on his stressed pitch, but who is he kidding, he can hardly hide any emotion in his current situation. Luhan is too proud and too tired, and that equals an exceptionally uncoordinated human being; one that, besides missing the ability to lie decently, has also tendencies to kick the same corner of the room twice in less than five minutes. Ugh. Sehun stops fishing cooking materials out of the bag -how many things can you stuff in a single bag in the first place- and turns to the side to look at Luhan in the eyes.

“It’s a good thing I bought a few things on the way then” he leans against the counter and crosses his arms on his chest with a smirk on his lips. You have no idea how this smugness is irking Luhan right to his very core in this moment but his body doesn’t have enough battery remaining to bite back. And now, ladies and gents, we can be sure there is a valid and very probable alien invasion in the near future, because the probability of Martians descending on earth and Luhan taking the sassy attitude in stride is about the same. He stays frozen next to Sehun by the counter, looking up at him with his mouth unattractively open, in spite of the impending danger to drool. Sehun looks back at him with his smart, dark eyes and his gaze feels like it pierces right through Luhan and all the veils of tiredness and his defensive walls, as if he can see the small fire in Luhan’s soul and the sight is making him calm in a way that is almost affection of the most meaningful and rare kind. Luhan blinks his wide eyes and he has the feeling he is about to ask another dumb question, but he doesn’t have enough control over his body to stop it and it kind of spills out.

“You…we…we didn’t have a date, did we?” He would be so stupid to forget something like that; he is by no means an expert in dating and the whole romance ordeal, but even he can tell that ditching someone on a date without notice and without even remembering about it in the first place is big, like ouch. He checks off his mental checklist to find any potentially ignored or missed plans, but nothing comes up. His inspection was very brief though, because there is a situation where Sehun is staring into Luhan’s eyes as if he is watching the most fascinating light show and Luhan is kind of a lost case right now.

“No, but I wanted to see you” Sehun answers so softly that his voice would be lost if it weren’t for the absolute silence in the apartment. He takes the step into Luhan’s personal bubble and he snakes his arms around Luhan’s waist, drawing him closer until there is no space between them. The silence is filled with Luhan’s excited and confused, rapid heartbeat in his ears and Sehun has to look down to maintain eye contact. The taller smirks and Luhan knows by now that Sehun has figured how malleable and harmless Luhan is in his current state and that’s where the confidence and so many breathtaking smirks are coming from. Luhan mentally prepares to take an impressive oath to get back at Sehun for this, but his brain malfunctions a little when Sehun leans closer, ever so slightly but still closer, and wow, who knew eye contact can feel so intimate. “Should I come by more often to take care of you?”

“I can take care of myself” Luhan is quick to retort with a frown, but the sound that comes out of his lips is a whimper unbefitting his resolve. Sehun chuckles and he is so close that Luhan doesn’t care if he is staring, as long as he can keep his eyes on Sehun’s beautiful face in this moment, trying to memorize it.

“Fine, Luhan” he compromises, lifting one hand from Luhan’s waist to brush a few strands of hair away from the shorter’s face, and Luhan thought he would blush violently from the sweet gesture and the proximity he has not experienced in days, but he surprises them both when he gasps breathlessly and closes his eyes at the first touch of Sehun’s fingers on his skin. It’s very strange, completely incomprehensible, how the soft ghosting of fingertips on his cheek makes his whole body quiver with newfound want, his parted lips tingle and the air rushing in shallow breaths in his system. The electricity runs down his spine, his body shimmering under his skin, his nerve endings tingling and craving to have attention, in contrast to his mind which goes numb, tuning out every other thought except for closer, please, closer. It’s been a while Luhan has survived without intimacy, but he is still surprised he is able to feel such feelings when he is so tired and he has so many responsibilities and deadlines running around in his mind. But oh, he does have such feelings, floating quietly in his chest on other days and frothing demandingly when Sehun is near.

It takes a beat of silence before Luhan opens his eyes again, half confused with himself but mostly feeling breathless with the pull he feels towards Sehun, that magnetic attraction to every inch of the other. It’s impressive how simple Sehun is, with his deep stare and his pale skin, with no particular hairstyling or fancy clothes, it’s just himself and Luhan wants him so much. “Do it” the lips that Luhan is staring so fixedly at say. Luhan glances up at Sehun’s hooded eyes, and he finds out it’s a big mistake when his gut lurches and swirls around inside him.

“Do what?” he asks quietly, completely unfocused in anything but his thoughts of hold me closer, come closer, more. His fingers betray his longing by twitching nervously where they’re resting against Sehun’s chest, pressing against the warmth above Sehun’s shirt. He doesn’t know why he makes the question when everything is so obvious to both of them. Sehun leans down, his eyes half-closing, and Luhan’s eyes close completely. Luhan feels such great relief when he feels a warm breath fanning over his mouth, and Sehun’s closeness seems to amplify the craving in his system.

“What I know you want to do” Sehun practically mumbles against Luhan’s lips, their lips brushing slightly. Luhan is paying attention only to the sweet feeling on his lips and the promise of his whishes being granted, that he doesn’t remember if Sehun finishes his sentence before he lifts himself just a tiny bit and finally their lips connect.

Luhan internally rejoices with the contact, the butterflies in his stomach flaring and the blood rushing through his veins. If honey had sparks, that’s what it’d feel like. He angles his face a little and Sehun follows immediately with ease. The new access draws a sound out of Luhan that seems to encourage Sehun and soon Luhan feels hands sneaking under his shirt and pressing flat against the skin on the small of his back. Luhan whines loudly at the back of his throat because damn, he wants to be touched and feel loved, and he wants to cling on someone that will ravish him with caresses and shower him with kisses, and he wants to hold someone and be held, he needs to feel wanted and safe, so that he can lay down his tired self and rest in comfort, he needs to reach out to someone. The fire spreads from head to toe and Luhan plasters himself against Sehun’s lithe frame, losing almost all his breath, but then he has a sudden flash and remembers the time and place, and he pulls back in panic.

“Wait we can’t” he whispers, chasing after his breath. They can’t, not now. Sehun touches his forehead against his obediently, waiting for their breathing to calm down and staying close in a way that feels comforting, but not attempting any other advance. Very slowly and not in the least steadily, Luhan feels his hormones balancing inside him, his breath returning to its original pattern and his heart slowing down to an only slightly faster than normal staccato.

“You’re telling me…” Sehun mumbles with a small giggle, pecking Luhan’s lips once more, and Luhan glares at him a little. He knows he was the most enthusiastic about their kiss earlier but there is no need to talk about it, it’s in the past. Sehun responds to the glare with another kiss on Luhan’s forehead, and the latter gives him a questioning look. Not to imply that he is not appreciating the affection, but why did it come about in such abundance all of a sudden? Sehun ignores him and guides the smaller by the waist towards the kitchen table.

“Just sit down, Luhan. I’ll make you something to eat” he says, pulling out a chair and waiting for Luhan to sit before he adjusts it to the table; Luhan grumbles begrudgingly under his breath because he is not a princess or something, but he stops immediately when he feels Sehun looming over his back and a breath blowing next to his ear. “…and then maybe we can have a shower together…” the younger whispers and Luhan’s hormones spike again. He bites his lips involuntarily, his mind speculating ahead and making his heart thump, his head lulling back and meeting with Sehun’s shoulder; he swears the idea of the shower was not so appealing before the younger came. Luhan realizes that the kid knows how to manipulate him all too freaking well, especially now that Luhan is so unguarded. Sehun leaves a hint of a kiss under the side of Luhan’s jaw and Luhan has to swallow a not-so-innocent vocalization. “and then you’ll go to sleep. I will wake you up tomorrow morning, and then feed you some breakfast before I send you to work” Sehun finishes brightly –ruining the mood, that brat– and he kisses Luhan’s temple before leaving him to return to his supplies that lie scattered and forgotten on the counter.

“You don’t seem to need me” Luhan mumbles with a pout that can be seen from Jupiter and a huff that starts a whirlwind in China, feeling disappointed with the turn of events. He is not sure at what he feels more disappointed: the fact that Sehun left him hotty and alone at the table to favor the food, or the fact that he is going to sleep after the shower instead of doing other exciting activities, or that he is going to have to wake up tomorrow morning and there is no way he will sleep in a little with Sehun as an alarm. It’s probably a mixture of everything.

“Oh, I do” Sehun chuckles and Luhan’s eyes open wide. He didn’t think Sehun would have heard his mumbling to himself, much less answer him and in such a way. He turns around in his chair and stares at Sehun incredulously, but the younger busies himself with the food to a suspicious degree, not showing his face at all. Luhan keeps staring nonetheless, because Sehun’s backside is not something he’d miss a chance to stare at.

After a while in this mostly unchanging situation, Luhan has forgotten why he turned around in the first place and he simply watches Sehun while the younger cooks something simple and yet delicious for dinner, chopping ingredients, stirring, seasoning. Luhan almost dozes off sitting, but he doesn’t. The room fills with delicious scents in almost no time and Luhan’s stomach growls embarrassingly loud, catching Sehun’s eye for a moment and earning Luhan a smile; Luhan blushes but he sticks his tongue out defiantly. It’s not his fault that Sehun is taking so long to cook and Luhan is still hungry. When Sehun sets the timer, Luhan internally cheers because that means it won’t be long till dinner time. Sehun lets the food boil for a couple of minutes, taking advantage of that time to set the table. He sets it for two. Luhan wrinkles his nose in distaste when Sehun throws the take out in the bin; that smelled and would have tasted like carton in comparison to what Sehun is cooking. Luhan is suddenly very thankful to whatever deity made Sehun so stubborn and full of surprises, as a result of which Luhan is going to have dinner like a proper human today. Wait, actually, that deity should have programmed him a little better because, current situation aside, Luhan doesn’t think he will be particularly thankful for those traits in Sehun in the future…

“Luhan” the taller starts pensively while folding a napkin around a pair of chopsticks, and Luhan looks up at him, abandoning his impromptu internal freaking out concerning the gigantic question of why is he worrying about the future, is the future with Sehun even a possibility and how far into the future are we talking about, and other such totally casual stuff. “What is Chanyeol hyung doing?” Sehun asks with a troubled quirk of his eyebrow. The unexpected question surprises Luhan, but his only reaction is a few blinks.

Thinking of his tired, overworked and victimized by the injustice in this world friend-slash-boss, Luhan sighs. Sehun knows of course how hard they are working at the company, because more often than not Luhan is with Chanyeol, pulling all-nighters and running around for errands with a phone attached to his ear. In addition, Sehun helped Luhan a few days ago sneak a few mountains of paperwork into the latter’s living room, so he knows what Chanyeol is doing, more or less. Nothing can be pleasant or easy with that much paper involved, Luhan can testify to that. However, Luhan is not sure how much Sehun has figured out and how much he should give away. It’s not that he doesn’t trust Sehun to keep a secret –on the contrary, Sehun might be the perfect person to keep any secret– but he is not sure how much he can explain to the younger. Even for Luhan who is right in the middle of it, it’s hard to understand the situation Chanyeol has wrapped himself into sometimes, and the main reason he can keep up is because he trusts Chanyeol so much and he follows his lead blindly.

“He’s doing his best” he answers simply. He knows Chanyeol is and always will be doing his best for the people he loves. There is no need to explain anything further. Sehun is a smart man, he can figure out the important things by himself.

“But…” Sehun hesitates, momentarily abandoning his task of setting the table, and he looks at Luhan with a half-pleading and half-desperate look that Luhan can’t understand. He frowns in question and Sehun blinks once, avoiding his gaze by turning his eyes back to the tableware with a frown. “Baekhyun hyung…” he mumbles.

Oh.

Luhan purses his lips and nods his head in understanding now, knowing that Sehun will pick up on the gesture. Of course, Baekhyun. Sehun sees him almost every day and he secretly has a huge soft spot for his cute hyung, so it’s natural to worry about him. Luhan worries about his cutie pie B too, but he doesn’t have enough time to do anything about it. He asked Chanyeol this week though, and he saw firsthand how crestfallen and disheartened Chanyeol looked, and he can only guess how miserable and lonely Baekhyun must feel. Truth be told, Chanyeol has been the greatest he has ever been since he met Baekhyun, finding motivation to improve himself and finding reasons to be happy. The last few weeks of separation are taking a very heavy toll on him, as if he has faded to only a shadow of the sunshine he used to be around Baekhyun. Love really does make a person shine. Very rarely does something affect Chanyeol so much, so it’s a compliment to Baekhyun and his magical mystical powers to make people happy, but Luhan doubts anyone would see lovesickness as a compliment. They are both missing each other and it must affect Baekhyun more, because he is left unattended without an excuse and without tons of work to immerse himself into. The thought that Baekhyun is surrounded by good people, like Sehun, who love him and worry about his happiness and take good care of him, is only partly comforting, but Luhan –just like Chanyeol– will take anything to appease his worries, if that will help him survive his hectic days.

“Chanyeol knows” he answers the unfinished words and his voice sounds heavier in the glum silence that has spread between them. Sehun gives him a good, long look, and he seems to be about to say something when suddenly the timer goes off, stirring his attention back to their dinner. The annoying sound brings some energy back into Luhan, reminding him just how savory the scent in the air is as it fills his nose and how starved he is. He bounces excitedly in his seat, smiling up at Sehun with all his teeth and with wide eyes like a puppy begging for food, ignoring the strange and yet entertained look Sehun gives him. “It sounds like my food!” he chirps happily, realizing now how much he has missed having a proper human meal, and his stomach growls again. Sehun chuckles and ruffles Luhan’s hair –Luhan will let that one slide, just because he depends on Sehun for sustenance tonight– before walking to the stove.

“It sounds like I really should come by more often” Sehun muses, serving two bowls. Luhan stays silent at that, although he could have made a snarky comeback easily. Yes, he can take care of himself –usually, at least, when he doesn’t have to work three days for every one night of sleep he gets. No, he doesn’t need to keep Sehun around to take care of him like a child –after all, Luhan has been surviving on his own for years now, and maybe it gets a bit lonely sometimes, but he’s still alive. However, he won’t deny that it feels nice to have someone to share a hot serving of delicious food after a long day at work, and it’s great that said person is Sehun. Plus, Sehun’s promise is enough motivation to get Luhan in the shower instead of an immediate face-dive in bed, and then it’s certain that he will manage to get out of bed the next morning without being terribly late for work, and the whole package includes lunch and dinner. So he doesn’t say anything, because maybe having Sehun around is not the worst thing that could happen. Maybe it will be a nice thing instead. Big maybe here, but still.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

a/n. Hello loves! Happy December! This chapter might have been a little angsty too, but we will forever be happy people, because ‘tis the season of joy, chocolate & fluff *-* I hope you’re staying warm and healthy these days, and that you’re making plans for happy Christmas!

We still have a little way to go until the tough times are over *hugs comfortingly* but, on a bright note, we will see the Kaisoo date next time –among other things of course. I enjoyed writing about Kyungsoo being a mother hen & goofy sides of Luhan & Baekhyun being so hug-ably blue~ I hadn’t planned the hunhan at the end, but it just happened and I thought it’d be nice to see them together after a while^^ (touchy times bring reassurance & a chance to vent out some frustration) I think this time it became clearer how differently Chanyeol and Baekhyun are handling their separation, as well as what their friends think of the situation. I’m also trying to make Chanyeol look like a real businessman; I have no idea about business though, so forgive me if it’s not quite right.

As the time for joy & cheer draws near, I’d like you to know that you’re making me so happy with your support; it means a lot to me & I’m so thankful *bows to the floor* (I know I’ve fallen behind a little, but hopefully I’ll catch up with all of you soon, when real-life gives me a break) Stay safe! Until next time, kitty~