Baekhyun sits down where they politely instruct him to, but the chair turns out to be too high above the floor and his legs swing embarrassingly in the emptiness. Uhh…awkward. The girl who brought him here, an employee of the hair salon, giggles behind him, be it at the embarrassing exhibition of his shortness or his surprised face in response to it, but she tries to hide it behind her hand. He gives her a loose grin in the mirror, not really offended for being the source of her entertainment, but she bows apologetically nonetheless and then excuses herself. Baekhyun sighs inwardly after she’s gone. Grown men who are short have a hard time saving their pride sometimes. He tucks his knees close to the edge of the chair, glancing around apprehensively, hoping no one else saw that. Probably no one did, because there’s hardly anyone in this room; only a woman and a little girl, thanking the hairdresser who styled the little girl’s hair and leaving together. And so Baekhyun finds himself alone in the studio room of the hair salon.

He examines his reflection in front of him; he looks kind of nice today, no dark circles or puffiness, and his hair is good, even though it’s about to get better. He loses interest in the familiar sight of himself soon, and he looks out the window instead. The sky is blue and bright in the early afternoon sun, but he can see only a small part of it, the rest of the view obscured and blocked by modern skyscrapers. Somewhere far below the floor of the building he’s currently at, cars are honking and roaring in traffic. It takes five minutes of waiting in silence before he starts feeling like something is amiss. He looks around curiously but the employees have strangely vanished, and only multiple reflections of himself in mirrors all around the room question back at him. Have they forgotten about me? He shifts in his seat uncomfortably, starting to have half a mind to go out and ask someone or at least remind them of his existence.

“Hello, Mr. Byun?” a girl with bright pink hair comes in the room just then, wearing the characteristic black apron of a hair colorist, and Baekhyun doesn’t know if he should be relieved or not in the prospect of having her messing with his hair –because she’s too young and too…pastel. Then again, her presence must mean they have not forgotten about him, which is good, because it solves his dilemma to go out or stay put.

“Yes?” he swings around to look at her with a pleasant smile on his lips, obviously relieved, and she smiles back. She’s pretty, around Sehun’s age maybe. She comes closer and bows.

“We’re sorry, but the chief hairdresser is having an emergency while bleaching someone’s hair and we’re all there to help…” she explains, and from the look on her face, the emergency doesn’t look very promising. Baekhyun has not experienced hair bleaching, but he knows what it is, and an accident doesn’t sound good. He nods in understanding; he can wait, if it is to prevent someone from going bald. “It’ll take a while to see you, would that be okay?” she suggests benevolently, lacing her fingers in nervousness.

“Oh, I see” he muses, and then he glances at the clock on the wall. It’s still a little after lunch time and all afternoon is ahead. He has time to spare today, it’s not like he has anything planned or anything to plan. And if he ends up waiting too long and he gets bored, he can always reschedule the appointment. He shrugs his shoulder casually. “Sure, okay”

“Thank you!” the girl’s face instantly lights up, her hands clapping once in gratification. Baekhyun smiles too, to be polite. Besides, he doesn’t know what else he should say; you’re welcome? “Can I get you anything while you wait? Coffee, tea…” she offers cheerfully, but Baekhyun only shakes his head graciously. He snacked on some quick meal he prepared at home before coming here, so he’s pretty full. She pauses for a moment and her eyes scan him once, as if she’s only now taking a proper look at him, and they gain a flirty twinkle after that. Baekhyun presses further into his seat, feeling a little less comfortable than before, as she blinks at him slowly. “…company?”

What.

“Um no, I’m good, thank you” he turns down all her offers, a bit awkward on the outside, a lot flustered on the inside, but he saves his dignity with a chuckle. What was that all of a sudden? Baekhyun is not very used to having such flirty suggestions thrown his way in broad daylight, much less from younger girls. He thinks he’s just not the sort of person to inspire such ideas; he’s very plain, and quiet, and generally ‘sidelines’ material. She looks a bit disappointed with his answer, her smile quirking slightly, but thankfully, she doesn’t say anything further.

“Okay then…” she mumbles, wringing her hands and pressing her lips into a thin line before she smiles again, that well-programmed, generic smile. “We’ll let you know when your appointed hairdresser will see you. If you need anything, call on the girl at the lobby” she informs helpfully, already taking steps backwards toward the door; she is needed at the emergency probably, and this has already taken long enough.

“Hm, okay” he hums, bobbing his head from side to side and smiling at her as she leaves. She looks hesitant to go for a moment but she convinces herself otherwise quickly, her work ethics overpowering her flirting intensions, much to Baekhyun’s convenience. And so, he is left alone again.

Baekhyun tries to convince himself he’s okay with waiting. He has had to wait for longer periods of time in his life in much less interesting surroundings. It can’t be so hard; maybe he can listen to some music or check his sns. Oh, he can pester Chen to lend him clothes for the weekend! He picks up his phone but immediately puts it back down again; Chen is probably busy and one-sided texting won’t be fun. He pouts and hums along to the new pop song that plays faintly from the speakers all around the hair salon. He checks the time. Only six minutes?! Come on! He sighs and plops back in his chair, staring out the window blankly. Waiting is fine, or so he thought at least, but right now, he can feel himself growing out of willpower to fight boredom fast. Oh boy, if the hairdresser isn’t here soon, he’ll have to reschedule for sure.

Baekhyun is in the middle of constructing his own scale to measure boredom in his head when his phone dings with one new message. He picks it up lazily, with a sense he has a lot of time to spare ahead of him and painfully aware he’s not expecting any message from his friends and family, but he jumps in his seat a bit when he reads the name of the sender and proceeds to tap on the screen to read the message faster than his brain can register.

‘Hi Baek! How are you?’

That’s the simple message Chanyeol has sent him. It’s not much, but it’s absolutely squeal-worthy to Baekhyun, who yelps as discreetly as he can and wiggles excitedly in his seat. Thankfully, no one is around to witness his reaction, or the rosy blush that dusts his cheeks just from reading his favorite pet name from his favorite giant. However, the message is so simple, it’s iffy. He can’t guess much of it. Why is Chanyeol even texting him? Did something happen? He would just say so, if something did. Could he want something? Oh my god, is it for this weekend’s meeting? Please, let it not be cancelled, that would be worse than a month without chocolate! Baekhyun worries his lips, thinking of the possibilities, but he stops himself before he speculates too much. It’s just a message, a harmless little message. If anything, it’s proof that Chanyeol is thinking about him right now. Oh stop it brain, you and your romantic ideas, it’s not like that.

‘I’m fine^^’ he types back and nods to himself, reading it over. Yes, that sounds okay, simple, not too confident, not too enthusiastic, still cheerful. It’s not leading the conversation anywhere, because maybe Chanyeol has something in mind and he just needs to warm up to it. It wouldn’t be surprising if Chanyeol is a bit hesitant every now and then for a while, considering everything that has happened and how their reconciliation is still fresh as spring blossoms.

Five minutes later, Baekhyun is still staring at his phone, wondering why he hasn’t received any reply yet. Maybe Chanyeol forgot he started a conversation? Maybe he got suddenly busy? Maybe he doesn’t know what to say. Maybe Baekhyun should have asked something too? Maybe he should ask something now? Hmm, that sounds good. Better not be prying though. He taps his fingers on his thigh thoughtfully, trying to find something worth adding to his message. Well, Baekhyun has always been very open and honest with Chanyeol so… ‘I’m a bit bored maybe…hehe’ he completes that message with a playful smiley face and sends it. It’s instantly received and that makes him smile, a little self-consciously; so, Chanyeol had been waiting, huh?

‘That’d make two of us…Everything around me seems so blank -.-’ is the immediate reply. Baekhyun quirks his eyebrows, half his mind trying to imagine what sort of situation might have Chanyeol bored in the middle of the day, and the other half trying to picture what he must look like, sulking and pouting like a kid but trying to hide it for the sake of his professional, charismatic businessman appearance. There’s another message soon, making his phone ding in his hands. ‘I just want the week to end soon. We’re still going, right??? Please don’t say no, you can’t say no, absolutely not!’ Baekhyun smiles at Chanyeol being adorably childish; he sounds a bit flustered too, but maybe that’s just Baekhyun’s wishful thinking.

‘Yes, we’re going’ he answers with a chuckle, spinning once in his chair. He’s the one confirming their meeting, but somehow he feels more reassured that they’re still going than Chanyeol probably does. Baekhyun has already calculated how long it will take him to reach their meeting place on time, he has set his alarm and bought his favorite shampoo, and he’s figured out most of the details, except for his outfit. Yeah, he tends to over think things when he’s excited for something and sleep refuses to pay him a visit. But then a completely different thought crosses his mind and he picks up his phone again. ‘You’re not driving right now, are you? That would be dangerous!’ he types quickly, sitting up in his seat worrisomely. It’s that hour of the day when everyone is out and about, hence the traffic everywhere in the city. He doesn’t want to even think of Chanyeol in danger.

‘No, of course not! My chauffer is driving me’ he answers quickly, and Baekhyun sighs in relief. Well, Mr. chauffer, you’d better be doing a good job at driving my giant around safely…he thinks, relaxing back in his chair to read the rest of the message. ‘I’m on my way to the company after having lunch with Kai; he ordered half the menu to annoy me >.< Oh, there was a meeting after that, too’ Baekhyun laughs at this, entertained; Chanyeol and Kai can be so immature in their own way, which fits each other perfectly after all the years they’ve been best friends. Baekhyun tries to think of a cheeky answer to send, but Chanyeol is fast to send him another message. ‘Are you busy? Because if you are, I’ll stop, I’m sorry!’ Baekhyun frowns at that; why is Chanyeol so unsure of himself today? Does Baekhyun sound like he doesn’t want this interaction?

Baekhyun decides right then and there to convince Chanyeol he’s willing and happy with their exchange, more so than he would be if he had started it himself. Come to think of it, why didn’t he try to contact Chanyeol earlier? So, before he knows it, his fingers press a button and what do you know, he’s making a call. He startles when his action registers in his brain, with all the implications and drawbacks it includes and which completely escaped his attention when he was lifting the device to his ear two seconds ago, but now it’s too late to opt out. It takes three rings for Chanyeol to answer.

“Well hello there” his familiar deep voice greets him playfully, and Baekhyun bites his smiling lips and giddily swings his legs from his seat, already on his way to becoming a gooey mess of fluff. Chanyeol’s voice doesn’t sound as mesmerizing over the phone as it does in person, but it still has that velvety texture which wraps around you and makes you blush like a sweet strawberries, if Baekhyun is a reliable example right now. Needless to say, he is pretty uncaring of his surroundings at the moment; he’s all alone anyway, he doubts he’d be doing this if that weren’t the case.

“Hi Yeol!” he returns, the pet name rolling off his tongue so easily that he surprises himself, but he doesn’t regret it. They’re friends again; they both need to remember what that feels like. “I’m all alooone at the hair salon, I’m not busy” he reassures Chanyeol, although he has probably realized that there is no important business in the way on Baekhyun’s part, because he’s the one who made the call after all. Baekhyun keeps kicking the air playfully, practically swinging his legs like a five year old, but hey, it’s not his fault this chair is so high or his mood so uplifted thanks to a certain giant. But then he jolts upright and bites his lip with a new concern. Baekhyun has free time and privacy to talk, but does Chanyeol have that, too? “Um…Is this okay? Can you talk or…?” he asks uncertainly.

“It’s fine, great really!” Chanyeol’s response is enthusiastic and eager, and Baekhyun can almost imagine his eye-twitching smile. He smiles too, and tilts his head to the side, fondly reminiscing that sight. It feels oddly fulfilling to know he’s the cause of that smile after so long. “I’m stuck in traffic…” Chanyeol explains, but Baekhyun wouldn’t have noticed the faint noise of cars otherwise, because the same noise can be heard in the distance from where he is. “I’m boooooored” Chanyeol whines, his voice jumping a few octaves endearingly, and there must be a heartbreaking pout involved. It’s been a while since he last saw that and Baekhyun wishes he could see it now.

“Oh, the cuteness!” Baekhyun teases dramatically with a hearty chuckle. It takes a beat of stunned silence, which Baekhyun doesn’t notice, until Chanyeol laughs along and the self-conscious moment erases itself. Just like that. “It won’t save you though” Baekhyun hums when they both calm down, a playful smile lingering on his lips as his fingers draw circles on his knee absentmindedly. Wait; is he being coy? Byun Baekhyun, what are you doing, being flirty over the phone?!

“I know; a man can hope though, right?” the husky chuckle is not fair, no fair, no it isn’t; it makes your insides go all oooh and gahhh and yum and just, sunflowers, Baekhyun get yourself together. Baekhyun rubs his forearms to physically erase the goose bumps on his skin –damn Chanyeol and his enchanting influence, with that deep voice of his that does things to Baekhyun– and in the middle of composing a cool façade to avoid any unnecessary awkwardness in the conversation, an idea flashes in his head.

“Hey Chanyeol, where are you, exactly?” he asks, skipping out of his seat and walking closer to the window panels. He looks down, observing the thick line of traffic and the people walking on the pavements with purpose. It looks like a beehive, oddly enough.

“I’m around…” Chanyeol hums a bit, probably checking his surroundings, before giving Baekhyun the address. Baekhyun smirks plottingly, finding the information fitting with the rest of his plan; it’s not very far from where he is, maybe two or three blocks away…This could work. “Given we’re moving in a dashing speed of twenty centimeters per hour, I think I’ve been here for the past fifteen minutes!” Chanyeol continues to complain over the phone, getting more adorable with each whine and whimper, and making Baekhyun smile wider with each word, subconsciously making him commit to his plan even more. “Why are you asking though?” he asks naively.

“Do you have an hour to spare?” Baekhyun asks another question instead of answering, shifting his weight and looking down at his shoes. He knows he might be confusing Chanyeol right now, driving the conversation in circles, but he hopes the surprise will be worth it.

“Uhh what? You mean, right now?” Chanyeol asks seriously, sounding bewildered. Baekhyun laughs lightly at that. He would so much like to squish his cheeks and kiss the tip of his nose- wait, what. Baekhyun pinches his own thigh to focus.

“Yes”

“I do, I guess…” is the reluctant answer he gets, but Chanyeol is quick to go back to his bubbly self. “I don’t have much to do back at the office either; I just need to drop off some files and then I’ll go home. Why?” he tries again, but Baekhyun won’t reveal his plans as easily. He shakes his head with a warmhearted smile and asks a question once more.

“Do you have room for dessert?” he sounds casual, even though he is sure it’s not helping Chanyeol to understand what’s going on. It’s okay, that’s the point. The giant over the phone seems to have abandoned his hopes of understanding too, so he doesn’t ask why this time. Baekhyun has to admit that he feels Chanyeol’s trust very intimately, and Chanyeol has been very cooperative so far…

“I…do?” he sounds uncertain but that’s only because he can’t make sense of Baekhyun’s questions, the smaller guesses. Baekhyun smiles mischievously, happy with the answer.

“Hop off then” he suggests in an absolute voice, confident and steady. It even got a deeper lilt to it, like, where had that voice of mine been hiding? Maybe Chanyeol noticed the unusual tone too, because he sounds more nervous when he speaks again.

“I…I should do what?”

“Hop off” Baekhyun sounds much more natural and chirpy this time, suggesting rather than ordering. He jolts into motion, wearing his jacket with awkward moves while trying to juggle the phone in his hands simultaneously. He fixes himself in the mirror and practices a smile, patting his pockets to make sure he has all of his belongings with him. “Get out of the car, I’m saving you. I promise I will return you to the company after an hour” he laughs playfully, especially after he hears Chanyeol’s surprised gasp, followed by lots of shuffling noises. The girl at the lobby gives Baekhyun a curious look as he passes by, but she smiles and bows politely when he waves at her friendlily, heading towards the elevator. He can call to reschedule an appointment on the way, and he doesn’t care if that’s considered impractical because he could do it here, because he doesn’t want to hang up on Chanyeol just yet.

“Please don’t” Chanyeol mumbles and Baekhyun laughs even more at his silliness, getting inside the elevator and checking his wristwatch, his heart beating fast in anticipation. He’s not usually spontaneous like this, but when it comes to Chanyeol it seems…He likes it. He likes being full of pleasant surprises for Chanyeol. And god, he’ll die if he doesn’t see that smile today.

“Wait for me right where you are, okay? I’ll be there in mmm, ten minutes?”

--

Chanyeol tries to be indifferent to his surroundings, leaning against the wall of a cute corner flower shop; the thought of buying flowers for Baekhyun, even just one pretty blossom, keeps pestering him, but he manages to shove it in the corner of his mind every time it springs back at the forefront. But oh, how he’d love to see him with a colorful flower crown, or showered in silky white flower petals, or holding a bouquet of red roses so big that it can barely fit in his arms…Chanyeol clears his throat and focuses back on reality, rather than daydreaming about his crush like the teenage schoolgirl he is at heart. Said crush will be here soon and Chanyeol will surely find reasons to malfunction just fine, even without his brain throwing charming mental images at him.

He focuses on his phone, sending a message to Luhan to dismiss him early, because he deserves it after all his hard work, and then he stays in the same position, looking at the screen and tapping random apps to look like he’s busy. It’s easier if he pretends he doesn’t notice all the little things around him while he waits. People notice him because of his tall figure and nice clothes –but they don’t seem to recognize him, fortunately. They whisper about him or giggle, some of them stare, but he keeps a straight face, as if they don’t exist. It’s not that Baekhyun is late, it’s just a busy street during a busy hour of the day, so many people pass by. Chanyeol usually doesn’t mind the attention but today he wants to have some time and space for himself –well, for himself and a certain someone else.

“I’m not late, am I?” a cheerful, slightly breathless voice calls for Chanyeol’s attention and the only reason he doesn’t drop his phone is because he automatically grips it tighter in excitement. He lifts his gaze to meet two adorable half moon eyes, and he swears his heart nearly flies out of his chest in that moment. He instantly detaches himself from the wall and pockets his irrelevant phone.

“Baekhyun!” he beams brightly at the shorter man miraculously standing beside him, his eyes taking in his appearance. Baekhyun is wearing skinny jeans, black and ripped in multiple places, letting the temptingly white skin of his legs peek through. He’s wearing a white t-shirt with a stamp, which Chanyeol can’t read fully under the black leather jacket, one with appropriate modern details. The look is completed by fluffy, nicely styled hair, a couple of chestnut strands falling across his forehead, slightly disheveled. There is a hint of coal on the edges of his eyes and his lips look shiny and plum, as if bitten. Chanyeol feels his mouth go dry all of a sudden, the blood rushing unhealthily in his veins; let’s just agree that Baekhyun in any sort of leather, clothing or accessory, should be illegal. “Wow…you’re not late at all! You’re actually early” he forces his eyes to glance at his watch, if only to find a moment of peace for his heart, which is beating frantically somewhere between excitement and, ahem, interest. Baekhyun is three minutes early and he must have run some of the distance to make that time; his rosy cheeks seem one indication further.

“We’re already seven minutes late! I have to return you in an hour, remember?” he answers in fluster, hopping on his heels impatiently. The move accentuates his height, a little under Chanyeol’s nose, and Chanyeol remembers the fuzzy feeling he gets because of their height difference. Baekhyun looks like a little child, too excited to stay still; it’s endearing, especially with the way his eyes round in alarm when counting the remaining time he has with Chanyeol. It’s this subtle impression of eagerness in his actions that makes Chanyeol almost swoon like a wooed maiden.

He’s not given the time to do so, however, because Baekhyun grabs his wrist and drags him along down a side road. Chanyeol mentally pats himself on the back for having sent his driver home earlier; he wouldn’t want anyone of his father’s employees witnessing Baekhyun and his cute antics, and Chanyeol’s whipped reactions to them. He stumbles for a few steps behind the smaller, but he doesn’t protest, his wrist tingling beneath Baekhyun’s firm and secure grip. Baekhyun has beautiful, slim hands, but they are deft and strong, and Chanyeol is completely malleable under their spell. He blinks in surprise, trying to keep up with the fast pace, as fast as the crowded sidewalk allows. They must be a somewhat funny sight, with Chanyeol’s lanky, clumsy, yet well-dressed figure trailing behind Baekhyun’s sultry, compact, yet energetic form.

“Baek, it’s okay” he manages to make his mind function properly, and he tags back his stolen arm, not enough to free it but enough to jolt Baekhyun a bit and get his attention. It works, and Baekhyun turns his head to look at him, slowing down. Chanyeol’s heart slows down as well, seeing those orbs shimmering like a mug of hot cocoa in the sun. “I have all day to myself, I won’t have to go back to the company” he reassures him, trying to paint a carefree grin on his lips. Baekhyun’s steps come to a halt and Chanyeol stops right beside him.

“Oh.” Baekhyun breathes, his pink lips forming a pretty ‘o’ shape, his puppy eyes growing a bit glassy and round in surprise. Now that is torture, right there, because he’s looking up at Chanyeol like that, so fluffy and innocent, and Chanyeol is this close to seizing him up and crushing him in his arms for his perfect cuteness. But that would be too much affection in a very public place. Not to mention the enticing proximity he’d get to Baekhyun’s ample hips and smoldering hot body. Chanyeol wails in frustration on the inside, feeling the tips of his ears growing slightly pink. Baekhyun seemed like a faraway vision an hour ago, and yet here he is now, spending time with Chanyeol, making plans with him and…holding his hand. As the moments of silence stretch, he grows more and more aware of their linked hands, and his blush gets even deeper. Does Baekhyun notice them too?

“In that case…” Baekhyun decides in the end, smiling an apprehensive smile and letting go of Chanyeol’s hand. It feels a bit disappointing, but the surprise is still more prominent in his system, so Chanyeol doesn’t pout –on the outside; on the inside, he is having a blasting pity party. Baekhyun doesn’t say anything further; he only presses his lips bashfully and sways in place before he starts heading to his destination once again, nodding at Chanyeol to follow. They resume walking side by side, a tiny bit awkward, but they keep a comfortable, leisure pace. If it’s not just Chanyeol’s imagination, judging from his stolen glances at Baekhyun, the latter’s ears seem somewhat rosy too. So, maybe he did notice their hands. “How was your day?” Baekhyun braves the first question to break the tension between them, skipping a step cheerfully and smiling, trying to be cheerful. The gesture erases any traces of foul mood between them, and Chanyeol restrains the urge to skip a joyful step too.

“Hmm, busy?” Chanyeol guesses and then chuckles lightly. It’s been a full day, spent in meeting rooms and cars, and constantly demanding for greater concentration. This is the most laidback moment he has had since he first opened his eyes to the morning sun today. Needless to say, he was already running late because of his stupid alarm, so bye bye blissful sunrise; he almost scorched his tongue with his coffee on the way to the elevator. At least he can appreciate the nice weather now, the sunny sky and medium temperature, the freshness of late spring nipping at his skin. Noticing the difference in their shadows stretched ahead of them, walking side by side on the pavement, he shortens his steps so that Baekhyun can keep up easily, kindly smiling down at him. But Baekhyun returns an interested look, as if he’s expecting Chanyeol to say something more. Is he?

“And?” he encourages eventually, when he sees the bewildered look on Chanyeol. He motions with his hands, trying to convince Chanyeol to talk more about his day. “Come on, was it tiring, exciting, challenging…?” he blinks up at him cutely, still skipping a step or two; it must be because of his excitement, because Chanyeol is sure Baekhyun is not that short, to have trouble keeping up with him the way he currently walks. A sense of warmth fills Chanyeol’s chest and he feels lighter, as if an invisible weight all around his skin is lifting and his feet weigh less. All this, just from a little attention, a bit of interest, a few smiles and two sincerely twinkling eyes.

“The meeting this morning was tiring and reaching an agreement was difficult at first, but Luhan and I made it” Chanyeol smiles proudly as Baekhyun nods, satisfied with the honest, more elaborate answer. It makes Chanyeol want to say more, even though there were not many interesting things happening today. “Lunch with Kai was nice…Um, the second meeting was with my father” Two sentences later and Chanyeol has summed up his entire day so far. It’s kind of sad, if you think about it. But what troubles him more is that he doesn’t know what else to say –he will definitely not mention how Kai keeps luring him to lunch these past two days, only to have brilliant conversations; his first question is ‘did you kiss him?’ every time, and Chanyeol eloquently sends him to his death right after, end of conversation and change of topic. It just feels too private to talk about it and it hasn’t even happened, which makes his spirit fall even more.

He is certain Baekhyun would listen even to the most mundane details of his day right now -even those that Chanyeol is too bored to recall- because he is so sweet, but Chanyeol doesn’t want to tire him, although he appreciates the interest greatly, and he feels like he should be showing it, but he doesn’t know how; that sort of predicament. Oh! “The car ride could have been better…” he adds after wringing his brain for anything more to say, raising a knowing eyebrow at Baekhyun, who returns an understanding nod. He already complained about being stuck in traffic earlier through the phone; it was self-indulgent, but it felt oddly gratifying and liberating to complain to Baekhyun –maybe because it was Baekhyun more than anything else. The latter didn’t seem to mind, finding it cute and even attacking Chanyeol with feels through the phone.

“How about now?” Baekhyun asks playfully, walking half a step closer to Chanyeol, which is basically all the space between them. There is a mischievous glint in his eyes that makes him look so much more sweet and childish. They are so close that the backs of their hands are almost brushing as they walk, and Chanyeol knows this is so naïve of him to notice, but the skin on his hands is tickling in anticipation from the proximity. Can I…touch? Baekhyun smiles up at him and Chanyeol’s heart summersaults in his chest. God he’s beautiful. “How does your day look?”

“I’m being abducted by a cute, cryptic koala, whose vicious plans for me involve dessert” Chanyeol retorts playfully, squinting his eyes to look at Baekhyun in the eye with feign suspicion. How did Chanyeol’s brain even manage to find enough words to form this sentence will forever be a mystery. Baekhyun chuckles, his eyes sparkling mirthfully, but his lips remain unsure of how to take Chanyeol’s words. Chanyeol smiles widely, dispersing Baekhyun’s worries. “Best thing that’s happened all day so far” he says and Baekhyun finally smiles with him, his eyesmiles finally appearing, bright and lovable.

Chanyeol focuses ahead after that, following Baekhyun’s example, but Baekhyun remains right in the middle of his personal bubble, and Chanyeol’s heart keeps directing Chanyeol’s attention to their proximity as if there are bright lights and fireworks there. And maybe there are. Two steps later, self-restraint becomes too burdensome a task and so it’s thrown to the wind, as Chanyeol’s hand finally crosses the shy distance and he hooks his pinky finger with Baekhyun’s. He doesn’t know why, he doesn’t even know if the gesture means anything specific; he just wants to hold him a bit, to turn close distance into closer. Surprisingly -or not- Baekhyun doesn’t protest, or flinch, or pull his hand away; he easily hooks his own pinky finger around Chanyeol’s, silently accepting the gesture and securing their contact, his ears pinking the slightest shade.

“Thank you for asking, Baekhyunnie” Chanyeol says in a low, heartfelt voice, only for Baekhyun to hear. It’s been a while since anyone cared for Chanyeol’s day, for his experience, and not just his achievements and results, but his feelings and thoughts and impressions. His smile softens around the edges and, even though Baekhyun had not been looking at him, he knows Baekhyun heard, because the shorter turns to him momentarily and beams brightly in response, tilting his head to the side as if to say ‘you’re welcome’.

Nobody mentions their hands are still linked by the pinkies, and nobody seems keen on changing it anytime soon. And because Chanyeol’s being has been effectively reduced to a puddle of marmalade by now, with all the fragments of skinship and onslaughters of cuteness, Baekhyun leads the way –oh, it’s also the fact that Chanyeol has no idea where they’re going. He has followed perfectly every of Baekhyun’s instructions so far, trusting him blindly and not asking any questions –he likes the excitement, the thrill of the unknown, because it’s paired with the safety of Baekhyun’s company and the contentment of being in good hands.

Baekhyun hums under his breath sometimes as they walk, his eyes shining with curiosity and his lips quirking thoughtfully every time he checks the name of a street above his head. It reminds Chanyeol of the time when Baekhyun was driving; he’s such a clueless, half-lost puppy when it comes to navigation, Chanyeol can’t help his thumping heart and mute cooing. He doesn’t even think of worrying that they might end up lost, because, honestly? He doesn’t care, even if they do. As long as he’s with Baekhyun and they’re safe, he’ll be happy. They wander for five minutes or so before the name of a street rings a bell in Baekhyun’s head and the smaller’s eyes widen as he starts hopping on his heels repeatedly in excitement, his whole face lighting up. Holy marshmallows in heaven, spare my heart, he is so…asdfgjkl.

“Oh! This way, this way!” he chants cheerfully, like an eager child, pulling Chanyeol with him to a short jog into a narrower, stone paved road. Chanyeol follows with a chuckle, uncaring of other people who happen to be passing by and giving them knowing smiles, his anticipation and curiosity peaking. He’s very curious about what Baekhyun has in mind, ever since he implied dessert is involved in his plans; but well, Baekhyun and dessert sounds like a trustworthy combination and a wonderful way to spend the evening in any case. They stop in front of a small, tidy pastry shop, with redbrick walls and crafted ironwork above the door. The windows are lined with green, flowery pots and there are small tables inside, a few people scattered and having their coffee quietly. It’s a small, subtle shop, with an indie, unexplored touch to it.

“I heard this place has the best profiterole in town” Baekhyun announces, tugging Chanyeol’s pinky finger gently to get his attention. They are standing in front of the shop, and Baekhyun is looking up at Chanyeol; there is something playful in his tone, and Chanyeol pretends to be thoughtful for a moment before he answers.

“I say we test that theory” he suggests in a supposed serious voice, before his lips crack an entertained smile. And then he swears he can feel his heart thumping and cracking slowly, overflowing with sunshine, because Baekhyun’s lips are gradually curling in a perfect, velvety smile, showing pretty little teeth, his eyes curving into shimmering chocolate moons; and this heartbreaking expression of happiness is because of Chanyeol. It feels surreal, and to see it so close…he can even spot that lovely mole on Baekhyun’s upper lip. Sure, let’s go inside; why die out here when we can go die in there? COD: cuteness overdose.

“I say you’re the best” Baekhyun chirps, bringing Chanyeol out of his world, which had been spinning in slow motion, and then he grabs his wrist impatiently to lead him inside, reviving the butterflies Chanyeol didn’t remember he had in his stomach. “Come on!” he singsongs, missing the way Chanyeol’s cheeks instantly flame up and his smile widens brilliantly as he follows inside.

Thankfully, the patrons of the shop seem too preoccupied with their work to notice the new customers, who come in with bubbling expectations. Which leaves Chanyeol to marvel at Baekhyun all he wants. His blush fades and only his wide smile remains, as he watches Baekhyun read over all the labels and names of the sweets, even though they already know what they’ll end up ordering. The shorter seems fascinated with the food styling, trying to guess the ingredients and the flavor just by looking at the pastry and pronouncing its name; he looks wonderstruck in such a heartwarming way that even the shopkeeper smiles at them kindheartedly, allowing Baekhyun all the time he wants to fanboy over chocolate and other pastry. Chanyeol gets dragged along, somehow managing to fit in with Baekhyun’s radiant picture of childish glee, despite his office suit and too-deep voice. They end up buying a ‘house special profiterole’, with chocolate mousse, and a ‘classic French profiterole’, with ice cream filling.

“I hope you don’t mind me, but your boyfriend is so cute!” the shopkeeper whispers to Chanyeol with a wide smile and sparkly eyes while he’s waiting for their desserts to be freshly assembled. He immediately sputters in fluster at the unexpected declaration, instinctively glancing at Baekhyun, who is peacefully picking a table for them across the room. He doesn’t seem to have heard her, thank the holy chocolate gods. The lady behind the counter giggles and continues before he has time to refute her statement in concern to their relationship status. “You are both adorable~ Now go, he’s waiting!” she hands him their desserts of choice, served prettily and adorned with metallic vintage spoons. Chanyeol opens his mouth, even to thank her, but she shushes him and urgently motions him to hop along towards Baekhyun. Do they really look like that? Chanyeol turns around, almost pouting and almost blushing, and his knees almost give out when he sees Baekhyun, bathed in soft sunlight from the window and waving at him with an expectant smile.

By some sort of miracle, the profiteroles reach the table intact.

“Okay, on three” Baekhyun wiggles giddily in his seat across Chanyeol, holding his spoon menacingly in the air above the chocolate covered choux. Chanyeol nods, mirroring him. “One, two, three” Baekhyun counts and swiftly scoops an ideal bite, which is lucky enough to disappear behind those rosy, pouty lips. No, Chanyeol did not just sigh longingly under his breath. Chanyeol tastes his own delicious dessert, smiling a bit with memories of his trip to France some years ago. “So, Mr. Park, what do you say?” Baekhyun perks in his seat, putting down his spoon and taking on a professional posture. Chanyeol falls into the game easily.

“Creamy texture of the crème Pâtissière, no hint of egg scent, which is nice, average thinness of the choux, good quality, mousse chocolate cream not too overpowering in taste…” he hums thoughtfully and then smiles widely. “Perfect!” he decides, and Baekhyun giggles, covering his wide smile with his hand –and that somehow seems inviting to Chanyeol. He chuckles a bit himself and leans over the table slightly. “And you, Mr. Byun?” he asks, and Baekhyun recomposes himself to a serious and professional front, to review his dessert.

“The filling is more like really cold cream than ice cream, which doesn’t hurt my teeth, so that’s nice, I’m guessing the choux is the same, but the chocolate ganache is divine!” Baekhyun vocalizes appreciatively, biting his plum lower lip, and the sound is so sinful that the hair on Chanyeol’s neck rise, his stomach string with interest. Gosh Baek, do you even realize what you’re doing to me? “You have to try this, Chanyeol” he insists obliviously, reaching over the table and switching their plates naturally. Chanyeol blinks at him, awestruck. Since when are they on dessert-sharing basis? Not that anyone is complaining.

“You, Byun Baekhyun, are willing to share your chocolate?” he asks, dumbfounded. Baekhyun adores chocolate, why would he ever…? Besides, Chen warned Chanyeol once that, just like it wouldn’t be wise to take a child’s toy, it’s similarly unwise to take Baekhyun’s chocolate; but if he offers his chocolate, it’s not the same, right? Baekhyun blinks in thought for a moment and then smirks mischievously.

“Only with you, Park Chanyeol, who’d better take the offer soon, or else…” he waves the spoon in the air threateningly, eliciting a light laugh from Chanyeol. He looks like a sneaky puppy, but so harmless, like a toothless puppy bite. Chanyeol obediently tastes a spoonful, feeling Baekhyun’s eyes on him, and he finds out Baekhyun was right; it’s divine. “Good boy, Park” Baekhyun muses with a smile and promptly steals a spoonful from Chanyeol’s plate, much to the aforementioned person’s surprise; Baekhyun is so comfortable and playful today…It makes Chanyeol wonder what he did to be worthy of it. “Mmm, this is good too!” he approves with wide eyes, a small smear of chocolate appearing on the side of his lips. Chanyeol smiles but doesn’t say anything, because he wants to appreciate the cute display for a while longer.

“So, which one will you keep?” Chanyeol proceeds to the million dollar question. If they’re both equally to Baekhyun’s liking, he’ll have to choose somehow…But maybe Chanyeol can just give up his dessert altogether; actually, he will gladly volunteer to spoon feed Baekhyun every single scoop of chocolate. Baekhyun presses his spoon against his soft lips, thinking with a serious frown and glancing back and forth between the two plates. After a while, during which Chanyeol’s eyes stay agonizingly glued on two rosy lips, Baekhyun sighs, letting go of his spoon, seemingly having made his important decision. His index and middle finger ‘walk’ on the table swiftly, reaching across and pinching the plate in front of Chanyeol -which was originally his- to pull it closer to his side of the table. Chanyeol tries to give him a strict look and fails, while he helps him complete the exchange, his heart squirming all the while because of the guilty look Baekhyun is giving him under his lashes. Chanyeol’s insides heave a great wistful sigh.

“I know; I’m lucky you like me” he chuckles timidly, tasting his own dessert again and humming in contentment, devoting his attention to it for the time being. Chanyeol chokes a little, but he covers it inconspicuously with a cough; like? Not like. Love, more like it…he thinks, watching Baekhyun’s small smile and glossy eyes, his charming reaction to eating chocolate; he looks so happy and peaceful from something so small and simple. He is so…just so…How is he supposed to describe it? It’s something nice and sparkly and warm and cuddly, something you want to hug and kiss and keep it forever. He definitely more than likes Baekhyun. Chanyeol wants to see what Baekhyun looks like illuminated by the soft glow of dawn, and hear what he sounds like concealed in midnight shadows, and feel in his arms what he feels like when he’s satisfied and pleased. He wants to finally be the couple they look like they are and have all the moments of a beautiful relationship with his little guy.

“Yeol, are you with me?” Baekhyun calls innocently, and Chanyeol jolts out of his spacing out session to smile at Baekhyun, hoping he didn’t miss anything important the shorter said. He thinks Baekhyun was saying something about his love for chocolate…

“Mmm, just…” Chanyeol chuckles awkwardly and looks down at his plate. Just thinking of that wonderful life I wish I can have with you some day…Chanyeol swears his ears are not burning because of his thoughts, but Baekhyun has to pull him out of them again, with a soft hum of encouragement. “I had missed this” he admits in a small voice in the end, still staring down at the table bashfully. It’s the truth, or part of it at least, the part he can confess to.

“I know…” Baekhyun says softly, his voice wrapping around Chanyeol comfortingly, and two pretty fingers reach over to pinch Chanyeol’s nose teasingly. Chanyeol’s head snaps up in surprise, his eyes round and his cheeks feeling a bit hotter after the endearing gesture. Baekhyun smiles at him cutely, sunshine from outside floating in his eyes as he leans his head in his hand on the table. “Me too” he mumbles languorously, his lips curved in a small, tender smile that doesn’t prevent his eyes from curving however, a bit hesitantly at first and then so openly they almost disappear into glinting slits. It takes Chanyeol a moment before he realizes their legs are tangled under the table, and he doesn’t know who started it, but he doesn’t care; not when Baekhyun’s calves are framing his leg, feeling warmth, comforting pressure and small brushes every time the smaller fidgets. I could get used to this so easily…

--

Kyungsoo folds another fabric sample over the one he’s been given as base material, trying to decide if the shades and textures match. It looks pretty. He takes a good look at it. A really good look at it. He glances back to the other sample he has folded a few centimeters away, the material almost identical to the one he’s testing now. Actually, you know what? Scratch the ‘almost’, they’re identical. Kyungsoo huffs irritably and slumps back in his chair, glaring daggers at the random pieces of fabric, cut in rectangles of pastel blues and greens and spread all over the table. He crosses his arms over his chest and pouts; why is Baekhyun putting him through this? It’s not Kyungsoo’s job. Kyungsoo can tell you if something looks nice or not, he has a good eye for it too; but deciding on miniscule differences in chromatic undertone and fabric weave is definitely not his area of expertise. That’s where the perfection maniac side of Baekhyun comes in handy, therefore it’s Baekhyun’s job. He huffs a second time –not like he gets noticed this time either though– and glares at Baekhyun instead of the confusing mess on the table.

“Why do I have to sort out this mess?” he complains finally. He sounds childish and pitchy, but he doesn’t care. He doesn’t even care that he already knows the answer, since he’s already asked that four times during the past hour. It’s still unfair, as far as he’s concerned.

“It’s not a mess” Baekhyun insists, answering with perfect calm and composure, but not even glancing up at Kyungsoo, too busy with his own work across the table. “I’m just asking for your professional opinion” he says and then focuses back on his paper completely, furiously scribbling something. Kyungsoo scoffs under his breath; professional opinion your pretty derriere…

Kyungsoo looks around, all-too-unhappy over the fact that he should be happy with that answer. The café is quieter than usual, the patrons sparsely scattered around in tables and drinking their coffee quietly, reading, listening to music, typing on laptops, or chatting casually but not very boisterously. It’s still the morning shift, after all; it gets worse in the evening, when youngsters don’t have classes and people start getting off from work. Schoolgirls are the bane of Kyungsoo’s inner peace at places like this one.

He eyes Sehun in the distance, contemplating to call him over and ask for his ‘professional opinion’ instead, but the boy seems busy, so he decides against it. Why does Kyungsoo need to have a professional opinion in the first place? Baekhyun is the mastermind decorator, and if he has narrowed down his options to two fabrics, then why doesn’t he make one final decision, so that everyone can be happy? Alas, it’s the hardest thing for Baekhyun to choose between two things he equally likes, sometime before the Second Coming. That’s when Kyungsoo is usually recruited, against his will, to make a decision with absolutely no idea what he’s doing. It does get the job done in the end though.

His eyes fall on Baekhyun, who has been unusually quiet today, too. He’s usually very chatty on sunny days, especially after he’s been presented an enormous mug of chocolate, served vanilla cookies on the house –courtesy of a certain love stricken employee– and given time and space to work the way he likes. There aren’t many people around so he is allowed to be a little messy, a little loud, a lot more undisturbed and much more comfortable. But he has been very focused on his drawing ever since they got here, sketching incessantly, rulers and pencils and a compass mingling with fabric samples in front of him. His droopy eyes are shadowed by a frown between his eyebrows and the tip of his tongue is sticking out on the side of his mouth in concentration. It’s adorable in a way and, paired with his skinny jeans and large, red hoodie, it makes him look almost half his age.

On a side note, Kyungsoo hopes Baekhyun won’t be wearing anything similar to his upcoming date with Chanyeol. Sure, they don’t call it a date, but it is. Kyungsoo is not sure his friend has a right grasp on the concept of acceptable date-ware, which in his case should be super tight, to show off that tempting, perky rear. As much as Kyungsoo loves Baekhyun when he looks cute and hug-able, we need the extra oomph of physical attraction this time; we need the wow factor. Kyungsoo trusts that Chen knows all this, and that’s why he agreed to let him be in charge of clothes and appearance consultation for Baekhyun’s date. As a matter of fact, Kyungsoo is not at liberty to discuss anything date-related with Baekhyun, because it will most probably end in him spazzing uncontrollably over the cuteness he imagines will unravel. With a defeated sigh, he commits to one more effort to reach a decision between the two options, if he can find the difference between them first, that is.

“Soo…” no, it’s just the general humming of voices in the café. His mind is just desperate to divert his attention. “Soo…” why can’t he focus? It’s a trick of his mind; not like Baekhyun would peel his eyes off of his hard work anytime soon “Hey Soo…” then why does it sound so much like Baekhyu- “Kyungsooooooo don’t ignooore meeeee” Kyungsoo snaps his head up to find Baekhyun pouting and frowning at him like an offended, stubborn puppy. A part of his brain coos at the sight, while another panics a little, because Baekhyun tends to bite in retaliation sometimes.

“Oh, what? Sorry, I was trying to, yeah” he mumbles distraught, flinching at how awkward he just sounded. Baekhyun flinches a little too, but his brows unfurrow and he perks up in his seat, ready to repeat what he’d been saying before.

“I need help” he confesses, still a bit pouty, probably because his work is giving him a hard time. Kyungsoo sighs, having no choice to refuse, as Baekhyun rearranges his papers to show them to him. “See this? I can’t make it entirely symmetrical. And does it look good? Should I add more lace? Should I change the angles? What if it becomes too heavy?” he quirks his mouth to the side thoughtfully, and Kyungsoo would ruffle his hair for his adorableness, but his eyes remain focused on Baekhyun’s papers because…how on earth did Baekhyun even draw all this?

On each paper there are one or two sketches of snowflakes, outlined first, then shaded in 3D, and then adorned with lace-like patterns all around. Some of them have more facets shaded, like glass ornaments –which they probably will be. There are some dents on the paper from erased lines and about a dozen incomprehensive calculations around each drawing, but no smudges. Perfection mania at its finest. The small numbers added and divided and then joined by other numbers must mean something, but there are too many and they don’t make sense no matter how Kyungsoo looks at them. This is what happens when Baekhyun’s brain works one step too far above average.

“I…I can’t help” he gives up after a while, not sure what Baekhyun wants help with or how all these calculations work in action. Baekhyun switches from a disappointed pout to narrowed eyes in suspicion.

“Are you being stubborn? Because I asked you to help with the fabrics?” he accuses, piercing Kyungsoo with his gaze for a moment before he explodes in a complaining ball of fluff “I’m not good in math!” he whines, slumping his shoulders and lifting his chin, his lips pouting and his eyes flooring Kyungsoo with their pitiful puppyness.

“No –but yes, a little bit– but no” he sputters, straightening his posture proudly. Baekhyun pauses his pity party to lift a doubtful eyebrow at Kyungsoo. Well, yes, he is being slightly stubborn due to the additional and unrelated to his expertise work Baekhyun has him doing, but he wouldn’t deny Baekhyun his help, if he could offer it. He’d make his life difficult first, that’s for granted, but he’d help eventually. Kyungsoo feels the need to justify himself. “The math I know is different. Maybe Sehun can help?” he suggests, looking around for the blond boy and spotting him somewhere nearby, sweeping a table. He’s supposed to be a genius, so maybe he can help. Baekhyun lowers his chin to look at Kyungsoo levelly.

“Uhh, no” he decides, shaking his head, hair flying everywhere around his small face. “He knows biology and chemistry, not math” he says and his shoulders slump dejectedly again. He gathers his papers close to him with a mournful sigh while Kyungsoo tries to find another solution. There should be some sense hidden in Baekhyun’s designs, but those numbers looked like freaking quantum physics!

“I don’t know, google it” he ends up saying, pretty confident that he doesn’t know quantum physics, or anyone else who might know quantum physics. He sits back in his chair and his eyes fall on Doyoon, who’s been watching them –ahem, Baekhyun– closely from behind the counter all the while. Wait; isn’t Doyoon supposedly studying something extraordinarily fancy? He could know quantum physics!

Kyungsoo is about to suggest Doyoon as their savior, his eyes lighting up. The boy’s eyes light up with interest in return, and he’ll certainly dive to Baekhyun’s feet in an instant if they ask him to come over and help them; but Baekhyun jolts in his seat all of a sudden.

“Oh, I know!” he exclaims cheerfully, his whole face lighting up and the dark aura around him dissipating. Kyungsoo doesn’t question his friend’s epiphany, opting to watch as he rummages around for his phone and then toying with it for a few moments before placing it against his ear. A bewildered Kyungsoo and a curious Sehun watch him, side by side, and Baekhyun grins with cutely squared shaped lips, his eyes twinkling as he nods excitedly, mouthing an ‘it’s ringing’ and pointing at his phone with his free hand. He also waves shortly at Sehun, who has appeared near them. Kyungsoo tilts his head to the side, trying to guess who could be the lucky math genius on the other side of the line.

“Chanyeol, hi!” Baekhyun bounces in his seat with glee. Sehun snorts once but ultimately fails to keep his surprised, loud laughter in his chest, and Kyungsoo chokes in surprise, his eyes nearly popping out of his head. What the flowers?! Why is Baekhyun calling Chanyeol all of a sudden and where is that train that just hit Kyungsoo and ran?! Isn’t Chanyeol at work? And they have such casual communication now, anytime, any day?

Making Sehun shut up while choking for air to live and trying to listen to your best friend on the phone is not easy, trust Kyungsoo.

“No, I’m fine, don’t worry” cue the marvelous eyesmiles, blinding everyone in vicinity and probably Chanyeol over the phone as well. But then Baekhyun sobers up, blinking at Kyungsoo with confusion for a moment; Kyungsoo waves him that he’s fine, he’s almost not chocking anymore and he’s only slightly blue from the lack of air. Baekhyun focuses on his much more important conversation on the phone again, reassured. He takes a composed demeanor, but with a childish naivety that makes him irresistible. “I have a question for you: how many points does a snowflake have?”

Award for the cutest question ever goes to Byun Baekhyun.

--

Luhan saunters up to the counter, sunglasses perched on his nose to hide his slightly bloodshot eyes and give them a rest from the blinding afternoon sunlight outside. His day has been hectic and his eyes feel a bit droopier than usual –which raises the question, what is he even doing here when he should have gone straight home to sleep like a hibernating turtle? Don’t ask. Because he doesn’t know the answer. It’s like his legs have a mind of their own and the spontaneous side he never knew he had has taken over.

After he was through with the meeting, he drove back to the company with Chanyeol, ready to face piles and piles of work, but the taller mercifully let him go for the day –for the second time in one week, like, holy sunflowers, Park Chanyeol must be in an extremely good mood this week, and no one dare talk about it and jinx it. The original plan involved pjs and Chinese dinner over drama marathons, just like on any other rare day he gets off from work earlier than usual, but somewhere between putting away his papers from the meeting to file them tomorrow and picking up the spare sweater he keeps at the office for comfort to change into, he decided he’d make a twenty minute detour, because coffee and a bit of boyfriend time sounded like a better plan. How on earth that would be a better plan is beyond his reasoning, obviously. Surprisingly, his complaining side has not made an appearance and he just goes with the flow. Yes, this is still Luhan we’re talking about, no need to be so surprised.

He hops on a stool at the furthest side of the small counter, a sigh of satisfaction leaving his lips. The familiar blend of sugar and cream, a bit of fruits and a bit of roasted coffee and cookies lingers in the air, scenting the lighthearted conversations and softened sunshine. It feels comforting after his full day of papers and ink and expensive colognes. He shifts a bit, making himself comfortable and taking off his sunglasses –he doesn’t look that bad, he can go without them– because he might have to wait for a while till he sees his busy boyfriend. He ruffles his hair and bites his lip, realizing his lips have been sporting a small grin, especially prominent on the sides; how smitten can I be?

“Hello!” the cheerful voice of a young boy calls Luhan’s attention and he looks up to see the smiling eyes of that youngster who works at the café Sehun works as well. He’s a cute boy, full of happy smiles and encouraging words for everyone, the sort of guy who makes high school girls and noonas with softer hearts swoon. Luhan has seen him around once or twice but he has mostly heard of him –his puppy crush on Baekhyun to be specific. “Oh, I know you!” the boy’s eyes open wider in surprise when he really sees Luhan and then he smiles again, less typical and more genuine. “Hi! I don’t think we’ve been introduced before; I’m Doyoon” the boy extends a hand, ever so friendly and benevolent.

“I’m Luhan, nice to meet you” Luhan smiles a little and shakes hands with the boy, thinking it wouldn’t do any harm to make friends with the newest addition of the staff. Besides, the boy gets very excited and enthusiastic over meeting at least their regular customers. He’s good with public relations, Luhan can tell as a fellow man on the job with extensive experience, and maybe that’s why Doyoon’s shift is usually behind the counter, since he is a people’s magnet with undeniable charms.

“Nice to meet you, too!” Doyoon grins and then picks up a coffee mug to start preparing his previous order. He keeps smiling helpfully at Luhan though. “What would you like?”

Well, um. Luhan would like his usual, the one Sehun prepares for him every time. It would feel refreshing and comforting to drink that after such a long day. The problem is, Luhan doesn’t know what it contains exactly, and it’s not on the menu either. He thinks he saw Sehun add a few ingredients once, but he didn’t get everything. He still makes an effort to describe it however, because Sehun is nowhere to be seen inside the bright and cheerful interior of the café.

“An almond milk…chocolate sprinkles…um…” he scratches his temple, trying to remember more but failing. Doyoon gives him a bewildered look. Luhan doesn’t blame him. He breaks into awkward giggles in the end, when his brain fails him completely. “Uhm, this is funny. Is Sehun here? He knows my usual” he says lightheartedly, leaning on the counter on both elbows. He believes he didn’t sound too prying either, trying to find out where his boyfriend has disappeared to; he has come all the way here to surprise him after all. Doyoon smiles, relieved and carefree once again.

“Sure, I’ll go fetch him” he stage-whispers and giggles mischievously. Luhan nods and sits back again, watching as Doyoon disappears into the kitchen. He taps his fingers on the counter twice and then he waves at the pretty girl who works with them, Boomi, when she catches his eyes from across the room. She’s very friendly too, and very talkative. It makes Luhan wonder how Sehun, being so taciturn, fits in this crowd; although he’s always very polite and friendly when he’s working. Speak of the devil.

“Luhan!” Sehun springs out from the kitchen doors, wearing a surprised smile and a red-and-white striped apron. He looks so young and naïve, it’s heartwarming. He’s usually the mature one between the two of them and Luhan doesn’t get to see him like this often. It’s nice though, and he now thinks that his decision to stop by today has been a good one. Sehun starts walking to the counter with a silly smile on his face and some of the patrons coo. “Hi- oops, yeah.” He stutters and bows apologetically after his long limbs nearly stumble over Boomi, who gives him a mild dirty look before turning her attention to the next customer. “Hi” he says again, a little breathless but still smiling softly as he reaches the counter.

“Hi” Luhan greets him with an amused smile. Then he inspects the younger’s face, detecting a patch of white powder, staining his right cheek. Cute. “You have a little something” he says, pointing at the taller’s cheek innocently. Sehun blinks, taken aback, and starts wiping his face with a towel.

“Ah, kitchen pastry duty” he explains, checking the towel to see if he has wiped the flour away. He has smeared a bit of it towards his ear, but it’s not very visible so Luhan doesn’t say anything. Sehun seems pleased with the results and he puts the towel down, smiling at Luhan once again. “I didn’t think you’d stop by today” he says, looking at Luhan and tilting his head to the side, and okay, this should be against the law.

“I didn’t think so either” he admits, tilting his head to the side too, just so that they can be a pair of perfect fools in public together. Sehun chuckles and fixes his posture, followed by Luhan, whose lips feel pleasantly curled on his face. He thought it would take all day to finish the meetings and file everything and prepare for new meetings tomorrow, so he told Sehun he wouldn’t have any free time today. But everything finished surprisingly fast today and Chanyeol let him go early –okay, it’s time to tell you that he almost forced Luhan out of the building, dragging him outside before pointing a childishly imperative finger towards the way home. Luhan lingered outside the company building for a few minutes, watching his boss going back up to work, with a heavy lump of guilt in his chest for leaving Chanyeol behind, but Chanyeol is the boss at the end of the day and that thought made Luhan feel a bit less at fault. So here Luhan is, surprising Sehun, instead of the other way round as it usually happens.

“Did the meeting go well?” he asks with interest, and Luhan hums merrily at how thoughtful and sweet his boyfriend is, remembering about his schedule even when he’s so busy himself.

“Yes, everyone agreed in the end” Luhan keeps it simple; there is no point in reciting every bump and small victory they came across on the way. He doesn’t want to make Sehun regret asking. “It wasn’t easy but they all like Chanyeol, so they all end up saying yes in all the meetings we’ve had this week” he rolls his eyes at that; he doesn’t know how Chanyeol has managed to get rid of his awkward octopus nature, but he’s living up to his name, sweeping every businessman off their feet and sealing contracts left and right. Like, where was all that charisma when Luhan was chasing his barely-out-of-teenage rear to get some work done? “All that’s left now is endless paperwork for me, yey” he mumbles, absently playing with a wooden thingy he snatched from the pot next to the one with the drinking straws.

“He sent you home with homework for the weekend?” Sehun clarifies, sounding unamused. Luhan heaves a tired sigh, feeling some of the day’s exhaustion creeping up on his limbs, and he nods in affirmation. Sehun frowns thoughtfully but the expression is very small, almost unnoticeable. “Can I help?” he offers then, so naturally, that Luhan feels his heart constricting once again because of how sweet the younger is. He decides to change the mood of this conversation, exchanging his pout of a childish smile.

“How about some of that sweet, chocolate-coffee mixture, with whirls of whipped cream on top?” he suggests cheerfully, grinning with all his teeth right after. It’s the usual drink Sehun prepares for him, the one he has no name or recipe for. He thinks that it would help if he had some of that right now; it would improve his mood and get him to relax on the wonderful, sunlit afternoon in spring. Sehun smiles a little ruefully, realizing the change of topic but playing along with it, and he nods once before turning around and starting the preparations. Luhan makes an effort to keep track of the ingredients and he lasts for thirty two seconds before his mind starts wandering to other topics, completely missing the rest of the procedure for the concoction. Sehun’s arms flexing and his serious expression as he works are more interesting no matter how you look at it.

“Here you go” before he knows it, Luhan is served his favorite drink, the caffeine and the flavor in perfect balance. He hums his appreciation and gets a straw to start enjoying. Sometimes Sehun joins him, adding a second straw and stealing some sips of Luhan’s drink, but today he simply watches as Luhan happily tastes his drink, his legs swinging childishly under the stool. Sehun smiles at Luhan’s pleased expression, leaning his arm on the counter and resting his head in his palm. “How come you’re here if you have so much work to do?” he asks casually. Luhan stops mid-sip and squints his eyes at him.

“You, I blame you” he explains, not very helpfully, jabbing an accusing finger in Sehun’s direction. If it weren’t for him, Luhan wouldn’t even think twice before he’d faceplant on his bed. But here he is. Because of Sehun and his influence on him which has turned him mushy. Ugh. Sehun laughs at Luhan’s irrefutably logical accusation and Luhan pouts before going back to sipping his drink.

“What is that special drink hyung? It looks good!” Doyoon suddenly pops up from behind Sehun, staring at Luhan’s glass with eyes wide in amazement. Luhan quirks an eyebrow at how strange it sounds for anyone to be calling Sehun ‘hyung’ and he feels the need to shield his precious drink from the younger boy’s gaze, because it feels like he’s about to snatch it away from him. Sehun shakes the boy off from his arm where he had been hanging, leaning forward with interest, and he chuckles.

“It’s my secret recipe” he says with a teasing hint in his voice, winking at Luhan and reaching towards him to pinch his cheek. Luhan can feel his blood rushing to his head, his ears and cheeks turning bright pink. I mean, they are in public!

“Don’t do that, kid” he grumbles in annoyance, jabbing the straw in his drink with one hand and rubbing his abused cheek with the other.

“Uhh…” Doyoon murmurs awkwardly and sunflowers, Luhan had completely forgotten about their more immediate audience. What will the kid think of him now, they just met for flowers’ sake! He looks up, eyes alert and wide, to see Sehun grinning and Doyoon blinking back and forth between them in confusion and uncertainty. “…you’ve known each other…for a long time?” he guesses. Luhan supposes he’s trying to phrase it mildly and play it safe. He presses his lips thoughtfully trying to think of how long they’ve known each other –although that doesn’t really matter, since they’re together now and Sehun has seen all there is to be seen of Luhan, so it doesn’t really make any difference.

“Hm, you could say that” he decides in the end, bobbing his head from side to side. A look of understanding crosses Doyoon’s face, glancing up at Sehun who is taller, and then smiling a little at Luhan. Luhan smiles back and he thinks that’s the end of discussion, but no, Oh Sehun is never taciturn when you want him to be.

“He’s my boyfriend” he announces shamelessly, loud enough for anyone in vicinity to hear. Luhan hiccups in surprise, eyes nearly popping out of his head, but Sehun smiles at him, unapologetic, and Luhan groans inwardly; why is he so…public?!

“What?!” Doyoon exclaims –and if anyone hadn’t been staring their way already, they sure are now.

“Not so loud!” Luhan whispers aggressively, hissing at the boys with a strict look in his eyes while ducking his head in shame. Sehun sniggers, knowing all too well he’s at fault, and covers his incriminating smile with his hand. Doyoon opens his mouth to let out another cry of confusion but Luhan shushes him with a look. “Both of you” he warns, feeling like a mother chastising her children.

“Why are you so shocked anyway?” Sehun nonchalantly asks then, turning to Doyoon, who’s left speechless and wide eyed in shock. “You’re the one who goes all googly eyes for Baekhyun hyung” he points out. Now that Luhan thinks about it, that’s pretty gay of Doyoon too, not to mention he doesn’t seem to mind the age difference…Doyoon blinks a couple of times and then his expression softens.

“Ah, Baekhyunnie hyung~” he singsongs, completely forgetting the former matter of Sehun and Luhan’s relationship. Luhan feels relieved, and he watches as Doyoon practically turns into goo, sparkles floating in his eyes quite literally while thinking of Baekhyun. Luhan has heard of this one-sided-crush, and he thinks it’s kind of cute, but witnessing it in person, it bugs him somehow. Cutie B belongs to the giant Park idiot, and that’s that.

“He does know Baekhyun’s not available, right?” he asks Sehun, raising an eyebrow and pointing a finger at Doyoon, visibly displeased. Sehun rolls his eyes, seeing right through the purpose of Luhan’s comment.

“He’s not?” Doyoon perks up, blinking innocently with the most pouty look Luhan has seen on his usually cheerful face. Luhan shakes his head, feeling a tad bit bad about disappointing him and a tad bit good for the very same reason. He’s a good friend, he has to make sure quae Caesaris sunt, Caesari, you know? Doyoon deflates miserably, utterly crestfallen at the news. “At all?” he whimpers and he looks like he’s about to cry.

“Nope. Very important date coming up this weekend, in fact” Luhan nods along to his own words, a small smile forming on his lips in the prospect of that long awaited date. It’s sad that he can’t go stalk them with Kyungsoo, because their –younger, if Luhan may stress– boyfriends forbade them to play totally spies. Which is a pity, because Luhan is certain he’d look good in a blonde wig and he’d picked the perfect pair of sunglasses for Kyungsoo and himself.

“Don’t be mean to my apprentice” Sehun intervenes, giving Luhan a strict look. Luhan sticks out his tongue at him defiantly. And Doyoon is hardly an apprentice. Sehun gives up the effort to talk some sense into him, patting Doyoon’s head for comfort. The younger heaves a sigh out of his hunched shoulders and he gives Luhan a defeated look. Sehun ruffles the younger boy’s hair to cheer him up –and boy, all the girls are watching this fanservice as if their life depends on it. “Don’t worry” he says to the boy, who looks up at him with pitiful puppy eyes “Baekhyun hyung is nice, he would never be mean to you. You can even talk to him about your feelings, and he’ll help you, I’m sure. He’ll still be around, right? It’s not like you’ll lose him forever” he explains softly and no, pfft, what, Luhan’s stomach is definitely not twisting with pangs of jealousy. He just feels like throwing up all of a sudden –or possibly strangling his boyfriend for being so affectionate to someone else right in his face. Doyoon nods in understanding and takes his leave, going to mop next to Boomi, who fixes his hair and helps him cheer up and smile a little. A broken heart never killed anyone. Or maybe a few people, but they weren’t mentally stable in the first place.

“He knows there aren’t many chances he’ll capture Baekhyun’s interest, but he likes being in love with someone who’s actually worth the sentiment. Let him live, Lu” Sehun reprimands Luhan, and the latter turns his eyes back on him. He blinks in surprise, not so much because of the strict tone –when does he ever pay heed to chastising remarks?– but for the nickname. He doesn’t remember hearing it before, but it’s not entirely unfamiliar in Sehun’s voice either, as if it’s from a dream or a memory somewhere between sleep and awake, when Sehun is holding him close, cocooned in bed, whispering sweet nothings in his ear. Sehun keeps his gaze steady on him for a while longer, and then he sighs in surrender. He takes off his apron hastily, hanging it on the side, and Luhan watches him, still speechless. “I’m leaving early, okay?” Sehun calls to his other two coworkers behind the counter. Boomi nods and hums a goodbye while ringing up another order and Doyoon looks at them both with curiosity. Sehun gets on the other side of the counter and grabs Luhan’s hand, dragging him off his stool. “Come on, I’ll take you somewhere” he announces. Luhan sputters incomprehensibly. What is this all of a sudden?

“Like a date?” Doyoon asks in Luhan’s stead, but his voice is a bit too loud, drawing attention to them for the second time this afternoon, and this time Sehun is very boldly holding Luhan’s hand for the world to see.

“Have you no shame children?” Luhan mutters under his breath. How can they discuss such issues so openly and so loudly, when the café is at its busiest hour? No concern for society standards and sense of privacy whatsoever. Sehun laughs and flashes a smile at the crowd in the café like a supermodel, and suddenly everyone who had been watching them is so busy with his charm or blinded by his charisma, that they don’t pay attention to Luhan anymore. Thankfully.

They get outside hastily, the spring air dancing around them in the echo of the bell that chimes after the café’s door. Luhan feels lighter and somehow the sunlight is filling him like a glass filling with water, so fresh and clear and light. It’s a relief to be out of the café, no longer under public scrutiny, but he still blames Sehun for it, because he’s the one who drew attention to them in the first place. What part of living peacefully on the sidelines doesn’t he understand? But Luhan can’t really hold it against him, no. Because Luhan likes Sehun’s thoughtful surprises, and he secretly likes the fact that he’s not ashamed of dating someone older, like him, he likes that Sehun is always so honest to people and that he looks so happy when they’re together.

“Don’t pout, I’m getting you ice cream” Sehun says, breaking the thoughtful silence after they’ve walked a couple of blocks down the street. Sehun smirks down at him, pressing his index finger on Luhan’s nose and making him change his pouting expression, since he has to wiggle his nose to avoid a sneeze. Sehun chuckles and Luhan would shove him for playing with his temper and his manly dignity; but he doesn’t do that, because he might not get ice cream then. We don’t want that. He rubs his nose with his free hand, the one Sehun is not holding, and shoots an annoyed glance the taller’s way, but it changes so fast, as if it was never there.

“Really?” he asks excitedly, his face lighting up at the prospect of ice cream. Sehun nods affirmatively. This day gets better and better! “From that corner ice cream shop?” Luhan nearly squeals enthusiastically, hopping in his steps, because oh my, he’s been hoping to find some time to visit that pretty little shop with delicious ice cream in such a long time!

“Yup” Sehun confirms with an easygoing, entertained smile, and Luhan starts skipping his steps, shaking Sehun along. Public decency be damned, he’s a happy man right now! Has the road turned into clouds or is it just him? “But we’ll walk in the park afterwards” Sehun adds casually and Luhan feels like a brick just landed on him. You can practically see the festive vibes dissipating around him.

“Why.” He deadpans.

“Exercise is good for you. You’ve been sitting all day” Sehun reasons dutifully, perfectly convinced for his good intensions, ignoring the shorter’s dramatic reaction, as Luhan starts dragging his feet on the pavement. He doesn’t want to move around, he wants to go home and sleep till it’s Saturday! That’s all he ever wants in life, to snuggle in his pjs and sleep with every chance he gets; and that’s probably why he doesn’t exercise often –or, at all. Luhan scowls momentarily because, damn it, he can’t say no when Sehun claims it’s for his own better interest. Why did he have to be so thoughtful? And stubborn and manipulative; Sehun always manages to make Luhan do what he wants in the end. So Luhan might as well make the most of it. He changes his attitude instantly, jumping next to Sehun and tugging his arm.

“Can I get two scoops then? I want to try the cherry cheesecake flavor” Luhan begs shamelessly, his eyes sparkling with the memory of that display tub of ice cream, fluffy and white, mixed with golden biscuit crumble and sprinkled with burgundy cherries. A vision worth admiring, indeed. But he usually gets only one scoop and he prefers one of his stable favorites, always feeling guilty afterwards for missing out on the newly introduced flavors. He blinks as innocently as he can when Sehun inspects him thoughtfully with the corner of his eye, trying to look like a person worthy of two ice cream scoops; he most definitely thinks he should get two scoops because he’s willing to walk in the park, okay? Losing his couch-potato-ness is a big deal. Sehun rolls his eyes in surrender and Luhan tries to hide his inner cheering, although it probably shows on his face. But well, it’s two scoops of ice cream!

“Fine…”

--

Kyungsoo exhales steadily, stretching the tips of his fingers and checking on the spot that his waist is in the right position. Oh boy, keeping abdominal muscles taught is not easy in this pose and his arms are burning from the strain; but his waist gets a nice stretch, and that feels relieving after so many days of slouching around. It’s weird how you start realizing your bad physical condition and every habit that led to it once you start exercising. Kyungsoo regrets nothing though; what’s the point anyway? Yes, health is important, but you have to live a little too, you know? He inhales slowly, feeling the blood rush to his face, stretching one arm to the side and twisting his torso to the side, his chest open and his spine aligned. The supporting arm wiggles dangerously but luckily he doesn’t fall. I’m getting good at this. Until something cracks. Kyungsoo groans and goes back to an easier position he has mastered, mentally checking that everything in his body is still okay, which it is. No news there, but he’s a little rusty.

Kyungsoo tries to convince himself that doing yoga at 2 am is normal.

What else is he supposed to do? He is home alone, with no work to fuss over, no movie to watch, no snacks to eat, and with a deceptive feeling of plentiful energy in his system. In truth he’s just hyper, because Saturday is almost here, which means Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s date is near, and Kyungsoo’s mind goes all whoosh with rainbows and sparkles and freaking angel trumpets, because that’s what he imagines the date to be like. Of course Baekhyun made sure to wrap up all the work, of course there is no movie fluffy enough to satisfy his cravings, and of course he has run out of snacks because he’s been spending too many days and nights at Kai’s place and his own kitchen is suffering in the supplies department.

So here he is, drinking chamomile tea by the ton to soothe his squirming heart and maybe go to sleep at some point –you cannot imagine the number of times he has had to visit the bathroom from all that chamomile- well anyway. Kyungsoo starts an easier set of exercises, speculatively staring at the ceiling of his living room all the while. He tries to keep the romantic scenarios out of his head, but some of them sneak into his zen thoughts of sea, sunshine and the universe, and that’s when he starts worrying that he seriously won’t find peace until Sunday. Sunday is the day he’s going to demand an extensive report on the date event and he won’t take no for an answer! Just as he starts making a list of questions for the interrogation, classified by order of importance, a meow and soft pudding of paws echo in his otherwise silent apartment. Kyungsoo turns around to see his visitor, who has conveniently slipped in through the window and is now confidently nearing Kyungsoo.

“Hello cat, how have you been?” he asks with his next exhale, slowing down his exercise to almost idleness. The cat sits down next to his yoga mat, folding its legs under itself and meowing at him with interest. “Ah, same old, I see…” Kyungsoo takes initiative to continue this conversation because, why not? All the chamomile consumption must be messing with his head but there’s no one here to witness this odd exchange so, as far as he’s concerned, it never happened. The cat blinks at him curiously and bit lazily. “Me? Oh I’m fine, thank you” He breezes through his answer easily, but he loses concentration on his exercises and his next pose unintentionally brings him face to whiskers with the cat. The animal doesn’t even bother to move, completely comfortable with him being in its personal space. Kyungsoo eyes it levelly and exhales again, muttering “A bit mentally unstable, perhaps…”

He resumes his child pose, stretching his waist and back. The cat swirls its tail and gets up, walking around Kyungsoo, towards the coffee table. Kyungsoo doesn’t care to keep an eye on the cat, because he doesn’t think it will inflict any damage to his furniture; it’s house trained after all. By his neighbors. The lady next door is a huge germaphobe and an extremely orderly person; he trusts her in having educated the cat accordingly. The cat ends up curling on the coffee table, meowing lazily at him from its perch.

“Why yes, I’m glad you asked; my relationship with the idiot-hot-man is going pretty smoothly” he keeps talking because that seems to be the idea of companionship for the cat and it might threaten to leave him if he ignores it for long. Then he thinks about where this conversation is going, where he is taking it. “As smooth as life with an idiot can be” he sighs and prepares for a much more limb-tangling-spine-twisting exercise, throughout which he keeps explaining. “Take my advice, cat; stir clear of hot idiots who have a heart. They’ll make you fall for them for all the reasons they would never suspect, but the result is the same for you; you always land on your feet though, right?” he turns to the cat, quirking his eyebrow in question, but it merely yawns and looks away. Kyungsoo huffs, feeling his body straining in his bizarre position; cats always land on their feet, even if they fall head over heels. “Why do I always land on my head though?” he whimpers pathetically, not sure why he’s comparing a cat’s survival mechanism to his unfortunate -until recently- love life, but he sure feels on the shorter end of the stick. And then, the long awaited fall happens, Kyungsoo’s arms twisting and giving out, and he finds himself landing on the floor with a loud thump. “Ow, or my rear…” he amends, rubbing circles on his bruising hip.

“What can I do, cat?” he sighs in surrender when the pain has subsided, watching as the cat strolls across the room, spooked out of its comfortable position on the coffee table by Kyungsoo’s earlier fall. He knows it’s silently judging him for doing yoga and nearly harming himself during the darkest hours of the night. Kyungsoo decides to voice out his woes to the cat, in hopes to be met with companionship and understanding. “My best friend is finally going out on a date with his crush this weekend and I’m here like AHHHHHHHHH” he screams, completely uncaring that it’s too late for this sort of behavior, throwing his arms in the air in exasperation. The cat hisses in surprise and hides behind the couch for a moment, but comes out again after Kyungsoo has finished with his yelling combustion. When he’s out of breath, he drops his arms to the ground limply and the rest of his body follows, till he’s spread on the floor, blinking at the ceiling. “Yeah. Yoga helps, it helps” he insists, nodding to his words and rumbling mindlessly. “I won’t complain if it gives me a smoking hot body too –it’s a side effect, you should try it. Is it just me or have you gotten a little pudgy?” he asks, eyeing the cat as it passes by. It might be just its fluffy fur though. “Hm, anyway. I gotta catch up to idiot-hot-man, or at least, you know, keep in shape. Who wants to be pudgy? Idiot-hot-man is like…wowww” Kyungsoo wiggles his fingers in delight, reminded of all those times he has touched that honey skin and the hard muscles and that small sunspot on the right side of Kai’s neck and-

“No” Kyungsoo deadpans. He looks down to his stomach, where the cat has settled, kneading his skin through his clothes with its paws and purring, making itself comfortable and exploiting Kyungsoo’s body heat –and, frankly, his pudginess too. “Noooo cuddles cat, no.” he points a threatening finger at the animal but it couldn’t care less. It closes its eyes and prepares to sleep, not minding Kyungsoo, who writhes on the floor, trying to shake it off. All he gets is claws sinking in his skin lightly as the cat tries to steady itself on him. He groans, giving up the effort and accepting the added weight on him. The cat starts purring again and it feels kind of nice, actually. “If you hadn’t already picked your human slaves, I could introduce you to my friend; his name is Baekhyun and he would pet you all the time, and he would cuddle you to suffocation” he says to the cat, who swivels an ear at the sound of the last piece of information. “It’s a good way to go, trust me. Totally worth it” he reassures, very confident in his opinion. It’s Baekhyun, the cuddliest, cutest, softest koala of all time; who wouldn’t die happily in his arms?

“Is that my phone?” Kyungsoo is pulled out of his reverie by a buzzing sound that doesn’t match the cat’s purring. He looks to the side and something is lit on the coffee table indeed. “I think it is. Cat, fetch!” Kyungsoo orders excitedly, disregarding the fact that dogs are supposed to fetch, cats don’t really enjoy the game –unless they kill something and bring it to you as a present. The cat stretches and hops off of him, as if giving him permission to move, blinking at him lazily. “Oh okay, you opinionated dictator” Kyungsoo grumbles at it and crawls over to his phone, not even bothering to check who is calling at past two am because he’s lost track of time by now. “Hello?”

“Hi, Soo!” you really cannot mistake this greeting for anyone else. Kyungsoo backs up on his knees awkwardly till he’s on his yoga mat again and flops down unceremoniously. The cat takes the chance to jump on him again. The sneaky thing had been circling him and planning to make him its pillow since the beginning. Kyungsoo hums noncommittally into the speaker. “What are you doing up so late?” Kai’s voice is smooth and a little bright, but not too much, because well, it’s a couple of hours too far past midnight. Who of the two ever cares to pay attention to such details?

“I’m-” Kyungsoo starts to answer the question but stops himself just in time. He glances at the nearly sleeping cat on him and decides that the honest answer he was so casually about to blurt out screams mentally disturbed. So, he changes the subject. “Better question: why are you calling so late?” he bites back, raising an eyebrow.

“Checking up on you; you said you couldn’t sleep lately” Kai says quietly, his voice getting more timid towards the end. It’s quiet, wherever he is, and Kyungsoo thinks he can hear a car engine.

“And waking me up, if I were asleep, would be so appropriate…” he retorts in an almost mumbling way, playing with a loose thread of his t-shirt. Kai chuckles lightly, his voice having acquired a husky overlace, probably due to his tiredness. Kyungsoo inwardly groans, imagining that voice saying more interesting things…because it’s late and he’s alone and he has a devastatingly hot boyfriend who inspires such thoughts.

“Sorry, I didn’t notice it was so late” Kai apologizes calmly.

And then silence.

They don’t say anything for at least three minutes, quietly listening to each other’s breaths. Kyungsoo doesn’t know if it’s his fault or if they are supposed to say anything at all, but he can’t find anything worth saying either. It’s not an awkward silence though. So he stretches his back on the floor, the cat meowing on him and stretching across his tummy as well, both of them getting comfortable. “I’m on my way home from the bar” Kai says then, breaking the silence. Kyungsoo’s mood, which was averagely okay before, now takes a plunge.

“Oh.”

Kai went out with some old friends today, not bringing Kyungsoo along of course. He informed him about the outing from the very first day it was arranged, and he asked if Kyungsoo would like to come along right away, but they decided it’d be for the best if he didn’t go; it was a mutual decision. Kai was willing to take him along and introduce him, but Kyungsoo said it’d be kind of uncomfortable. Kai’s friends are always so rich, so charismatic…so much better than his plain and abrasive self. ‘So you’d rather you didn’t come?’ ‘I think so.’ And thus it was decided. He’s well aware it was an open invitation, he could have said yes, he could have changed his mind any day, and Kai would have been happy to have him by his side. He could’ve been a little braver than usual, and become a bigger part of Kai’s life; but he wasn’t. He thought he wouldn’t mind, too; it’s not like he is interested in social connotations. He is okay with being someone significant in Kai’s life, and anyone who needs to know it, they do, and that’s what is most important to Kyungsoo. Yeah.

Does he regret his decision?

You bet he shouldn’t; but he does.

“I had fun” Kai says simply after a long pause, forcing cheerfulness in his voice. Kyungsoo feels like someone just punched him in the gut. Of course you had fun, why wouldn’t you? I didn’t ask though. I don’t want to know. I don’t want to hear you can do just fine without me when I’m so bored and lonely without you, when I’m so dependent on you. Kyungsoo presses his lips in a thin line, blinking away stray tears. A few more moments of silence stretch between them, while Kyungsoo is trying to control his breathing, not to give away his sobs. Why is he crying? It’s unreasonable; it’s not like Kai doesn’t like him anymore, like they’re not okay with each other. He’s just feeling a little…emotional. But then suddenly, Kai breaks the silence with a soft mumble. “I wish I could come home to you”

Kyungsoo’s eyes open wide, the tears drying out instantly. He…he wishes…Kyungsoo shoots up as soon as the words register, sitting upright and startling the cat. The animal walks around on him until it settles again, throwing him a morbid glare before it goes back to napping. He doesn’t pay attention to it though, feeling his heart beating so fast and so loud, it’s a painful combination in his chest, heat pooling under his cheeks and his fingertips. Kyungsoo takes a few deep breaths, steadying his heart even though his head starts spinning a little from too much oxygen. Or so he can say if anyone ever asks; he can claim his judgment was clouded. Because, what he’s about to say is…

“You can. I mean…” Kyungsoo bites his lips, gulping nervously after he has blurted out that small sentence, met by a slight gasp on the other end of the line. The cat blinks at him, tilting his head to the side. Kyungsoo takes a deep breath and braves through the rest. “different home but…still, it has me in it” he shrugs his shoulders bashfully, holding his breath. He can’t believe he’s important. He can’t believe he’d make a difference. He can’t believe he’s home to someone. Finally. He can feel his chest expanding with an odd feeling, warm and tickly, and that is enough; he doesn’t have any particular expectations for tonight, just seeing Kai, just kissing him, just keeping this strange feeling in his chest is enough. But Kai might be tired or sleepy, maybe he doesn’t have time or energy to come all the way to Kyungsoo’s house…Kyungsoo really tries to make his heart stop fluttering with hope.

“Okay” Kai says softly and Kyungsoo blinks in surprise, exhaling forcefully. His heart flops in his chest and then starts jumping around. He said okay? Oh my god, he did.

“Okay” he says back, a little breathlessly, a smile creeping on his lips. He bites his lip, the call disconnects and suddenly a rush of energy flows through Kyungsoo and he jumps up, like a balloon which had been tied to a rock and now the chord is cut. The cat ejects to the floor with a thud and he looks down at it; it looks smaller from this angle but completely indifferent towards Kyungsoo. “Cat, you have to go. I have to shower. We have to get ready~” he plans enthusiastically on the spot, even though the cat is not listening, opting to curl on the coffee table again. He doesn’t move to execute the plan immediately either, even though he knows he doesn’t have much time before Kai arrives. Instead, he takes a couple of seconds to squeal mutely and flail his arms, jumping up and down around the yoga mat, before making a pirouette and running to the bathroom, giggling by himself like a fool. No one ever dare mention this embarrassing choreography to anyone else; a man’s got to do what a man’s got to do when he’s excited.

The cat decides to stay and Kyungsoo doesn’t have the mind or the heart to chase it out.

--

Baekhyun’s fingers are faster than lightning, expertly pushing clothes hangers along the rack, one after the other. His eyes are focused and intent on finding something wearable and appropriate for his upcoming coffee meeting with Chanyeol this weekend. It’s a meeting, not a date, much as Baekhyun’s brain has the tendency to slip every so often and think of it as something more than it is –especially after their recent profiterole tasting expedition. It’s not a date; they are not dating. They are just friends, who got back together after a long and difficult period of semi-traumatic events, and now they’re going out to catch up over coffee and, if Baekhyun is lucky, double chocolate cupcakes this time. He’s not complaining for this quirky arrangement, he’ll take anything with Chanyeol over no Chanyeol at all. Chocolate cupcakes would be a bonus.

He pauses at a grey knit sweater, giving it a second look; pretty but nah, it’s too plain, maybe he can wear it if nothing better comes up. The next one is no, no, good color but no, are those peacock feathers, definitely no. It goes like that till the end of the clothes rack and then he moves on to the next. He has gone through a few heaps of clothes, singling out a few eligible attires, but there are plenty more to explore. And if you ask why he’s doing this meticulous investigation for a nice outfit in the first place, since he’s not trying to impress his date this weekend or anything, Baekhyun will tell you that just because it’s not a date, it doesn’t mean he won’t be well dressed. Or so he tells himself.

Baekhyun keeps humming a tune under his breath, nodding and swinging his hips slightly to the self-composed rhythm; but not too noticeably, because Chen is still talking up a storm somewhere behind him and Baekhyun is supposed to be paying attention. It’s not his fault he’s busting at the seams with joyful expectations for the da- meeting, and that’s very distracting. Chen invited Baekhyun over at his fashion studio this afternoon and, since everyone else has taken the day off, Baekhyun took the chance to search for clothes –even though most are way over his budget, because they are from designer collections– while Chen is retelling for what might be the fourteenth time in two days his thrilling impression of Xiumin’s sister at their dinner date. It’s not like Baekhyun hasn’t already memorized the whole story, and he has seen pictures of her too, so he can afford to miss a bit of the information.

Maybe if Kyungsoo were here with them, Chen’s extensive monologue would have turned into a comfortable chat, because Kyungsoo’s sarcastic remarks have that effect between friends. Or maybe they would have cornered Baekhyun into confessing his dessert expedition with Chanyeol earlier this week; but he pinky-promised with Chanyeol they wouldn’t tell their friends, because they’re too embarrassing to be trusted with any such information. They promised while walking at the park near the pastry shop, and Baekhyun can’t break a promise which had puppy witnesses. But Kyungsoo has been very busy fanboying anyway; the last they heard of him was on the phone this morning, while he spazzed and screamed in Baekhyun’s ear about how Kai got his invitation to the Park Gala, organized by Mrs. Park herself and ‘do you get it Baekhyun?! It’s Mrs. Park, the amazing woman who did this and that, and Kai will probably take me as his date!’. Baekhyun had to do a brief internet research to educate himself on the socialite event, which seems pretty important and it’s next month, and during the same research he found out that the distinguished Mrs. Park is Chanyeol’s mother, apparently. Baekhyun knows Kyungsoo used to be Chanyeol’s fanboy –and he still is, secretly–, but he doesn’t think that’s worth losing his hearing on one side. And he knows Chanyeol’s family is very important in general, but that hasn’t sunk in yet, or else he’d be too afraid to even breathe near him; in Baekhyun’s view, it’s just Chanyeol. All of Baekhyun’s view is just Chanyeol.

“Sohee was so nice! And she was so cute for her age; she had a great body too, I’m sure she could wear anything and look stunning! She looked just like Xiumin!” Chen’s voice rings in the background and Baekhyun glances at him over his shoulder. The designer is sitting on a swivel chair near a desk full of pins and papers and fabric samples, smiling at the ceiling like a lovestruck bunny and toying with a silver shoe in his hands. Baekhyun returns to his search with a soft smile on his lips, on behalf of his friend; he’s pretty convinced by now that love makes you cute. I wish I were cute like them too…“Xiumin doesn’t really like lemon in his desserts, so we couldn’t order the house special lemon cake, but the raspberry cheesecake was amazing! And it was all purple, can you imagine? You have to try it sometime too”

“Ooooh I like this one!” Baekhyun exclaims then, ignoring his friend’s vigorous storytelling –which, by the way, had started delving into interesting details involving dessert. He emerges from the clothes rack with an ensemble he thinks is decent enough, but not overly done for a coffee meeting at the fancy place Chanyeol has suggested –and within Baekhyun’s price range too–, but Chen doesn’t seem to share his opinion when his sharp eyes fall on him and the clothes he is holding up. Baekhyun’s grin doesn’t seem to help convincing him either.

“I thought our concept was senpai notice me” he deadpans, unamused and possibly a tiny bit piqued that Baekhyun hadn’t been paying attention to him as much as he’d like while he was narrating messily and with lots of exclamations of excitement about his evening with the Kim twins. Baekhyun’s smile fades to a pout; what’s wrong with the outfit he chose? He looks at it again; it’s not bad. It’s put-together and it should fit him nicely. And it’s not like he is trying to be noticed more than usual. And Chanyeol is not his senpai in any sense. But if Chen says the clothes are not suitable for the occasion…Baekhyun has this bad habit of trusting his best friend to a fault. He examines his choice one last time before putting it away with a sigh and an eye roll.

“That’s so adolescent of you to say” he grumbles, pacing back with a disappointed pout on his lips and trying to remember where that grey sweater was last seen.

“It’s fact he won’t notice you in that though” Chen retorts stubbornly, crossing his arms in front of his chest. There’s a smirk in his voice and a raised eyebrow, taunting Baekhyun, and that is enough of a childish challenge for him. He’s going to find an outfit worth noticing alright…He picks up a jacket with peacock feathers and jewels, a weird sort of monster of its own, which who knows why has ever been designed and made in the first place, but it exists, and it’s enough to bring a look of horror on Chen’s face.

“Should I put on something like this then?” he asks teasingly, theatrically wiggling his eyebrows at his childhood friend. Definitely worth noticing. As per his calculations, Chen’s eyes open wider than saucers instantly and he chokes on air, almost falling off his chair in surprise. Baekhyun throws the monster in the furthest corner of the studio and laughs boisterously at the priceless, shocked expression on Chen’s face. He looked like a spooked camel! There is no room for shame or remorse between friends on such occasions. Chen gives him a look of repulsion and reprimand, slowly regaining his ability to breathe. He puts away the shoe emphatically, glaring daggers at Baekhyun for making him choke on air, and the latter tries to control his incriminating laughter, without any particular success. He turns his back to Chen, pretending to be busy with the clothes while laughing mutely by himself and trying to calm down.

“Well, someone’s in a good mood” Chen observes after a while with an amused lilt in his voice, the look in his eyes softening to a curious gaze. Baekhyun realizes that he’s still smiling, even giggling sometimes, while honestly searching for more clothes, and he hums in agreement. He must be in a good mood indeed. Why wouldn’t he be? The memories of sharing chocolate with Chanyeol are fresh in his head and the promise of more to come on Saturday makes his heart spin. “Has Chanyeol ever seen you act this cute?” Chen throws the question at him so casually it’s actually shocking, and Baekhyun’s fingers freeze for mere milliseconds before continuing their work. Sure, Chanyeol has seen him act cute, more than once too, but other people don’t need to know details about their not-completely-normal moments. Think pinky promise and puppies, Baekhyun.

“Hmm…maybe?” he ends up answering vaguely, hoping he can get away with it, and he pauses his search to turn around and take a proper look at his friend again, his eyebrows tangled in bewilderment. “Why would you ask- wait; are you filming me?!” he drops the clothes he’s been holding and shrieks in horror when he spots the phone camera aimed at him. Chen is watching the screen with the most mischievous expression you can imagine and that is never a good thing. It takes Baekhyun two seconds of terrorized immobility, one snigger from Chen, one second of boiling mortification and one more second of preparation before he unleashes his impulse to save his pride. He lurches at Chen, pulling him off the chair and throwing him to the ground, sitting on his stomach to keep him down –those couple years of hapkido back in primary school come useful to him sometimes, but only when the other person is not fighting back. He leans over his friend, baring his pointy teeth threateningly. “Kim Jongdae you’ll be found in the middle of a flower field-”

“I’m recording every threat!” Chen reminds him mid-tirade, a bit breathless from the added weight on his body and chuckling, entertained, while coughing once or twice from his impact with the floor. Baekhyun kicks the air, shifting his weight on his friend and making survival difficult for Chen. There’s too much body contact but who cares, they’re like brothers, it’s like hugging a teddy bear. Or trying to suffocate one, in Baekhyun’s case.

“Oh well then, they’ll know exactly where to find you after I’m done harvesting your soul!” he exclaims, ears and cheeks bright red with mortification and eyes glinting dangerously as he shakes Chen on floor, gripping him from the shoulders. Chen keeps smiling that devious smile that curls his lips at the corners, even though there are tears in his eyes and one hand in pushing Baekhyun’s knee away because it’s probably pressing against something vital, like his liver. He tries to shift the phone in his other hand so he can aim it at Baekhyun again and Baekhyun squirms ever harder.

“I’ll show it…t-to Chan…yeol” Chen coughs between muffled breaths and small giggles, still trying to fit Baekhyun into the frame. Baekhyun’s stomach drops to the floor all of a sudden.

“What?!” he exclaims in a high pitched voice he didn’t know he was capable of. His hands let go of Chen immediately like a hot potato, and he raises his arms in the air in surrender –but he makes no move to get his rear off his friend’s stomach, and so he stays wrestling on the floor by himself. “No!” he squeals in panic. Chen cannot show that to Chanyeol, Chanyeol can’t see him like that, no, that would be a disaster! But Chen is damn good with carrying out his threats, so Baekhyun resolves to throwing himself on his friend again, suffocating him a bit in order to lock his arms around his neck and burry his face in his neck pleadingly. His survival demands him to cute his way out of this. “Nono! IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou don’t do iiiitttt!” he squeals with a heartbreaking pout.

“Okay!” Chen has to yell to be heard over Baekhyun’s mumbled whimpers and pleas for mercy. Baekhyun doesn’t want to push him to his limits and have the opposite of the desirable results, so he quiets down, but he keeps making miserable mumbles and helpless yips, just to be sure he’s made himself pitiful enough. “I’m going deaf here. How does he even handle you and your cute rear?” his friend complains, kicking his legs and trying to push him away. He doesn’t have to try for long though, because Baekhyun lets go of him and lifts his body to sit upright after Chen’s question. He gazes at the wall pensively, the one with Coco Chanel’s familiar quote on it, ignoring Chen’s pained ‘oomf’ from underneath him; he must have crushed half his insides by now but it wouldn’t be the first time.

“I don’t know…” he muses deep in thought, trying to remember a time when Chanyeol has proved himself particularly resilient to Baekhyun’s cute ways. He can’t think of many, if any. It’s not like Baekhyun has had to cute Chanyeol into doing something for him in particular…Chanyeol is always very agreeable and helpful; even when Baekhyun woke him up clumsily and asked him to kill a mouse, Chanyeol didn’t complain. Why is he even trying to answer this question honestly? Maybe because he wants an answer, too –even though it doesn’t seem probable to find one soon. So, Baekhyun takes it to the hypothetical level and starts rambling. “By smiling at me, probably? It makes me lose focus. Gosh that smile, I swear Dae, it sparkles and-”

“Is this best friend duties or should I ask for overtime?” Chen stops his rant with a raised eyebrow and a knowing smile. Baekhyun feels a bit silly, with the way he was about to make a very embarrassing praise of Chanyeol’s smile, and with the way his arms are awkwardly frozen in the air, suspended while he was making an animated gesture to explain the unf feelings he gets from that smile. Chen’s teasing hits home easily this time and Baekhyun’s embarrassment colors the tips of his ears. He looks down at his friend, narrowing his eyes for the shortest second before he paints an emotionless expression on his face. Oh so, I have to hear you ranting about your boyfriend and his sister for a week but you can’t take my bottled up feelings of glee for a second here?

“Oh, okay then” he says soullessly and starts disentangling himself from Chen, with the intension to leave him there cold on the floor. Baekhyun is good at acting indifferent when he wants to. No, he is definitely not sulking; he is expressionless, remember? Besides, he knows that not expressing all the fluffiness he feels inside is worse for Chen, who likes to know everything about his love life –much like Kyungsoo. If he denies them as much, they both panic; it’s kind of endearing. It serves well as a punishment, too.

“Wait, I want to know!” Chen predictably panics, wide eyes and pitched voice making an appearance, and he tries to hold Baekhyun in place, in hopes to get more information. Baekhyun inwardly smirks in satisfaction; the rest of his guilt-inflicting plan is ready in his head: to turn his head down and blink at Chen innocently, tilting his head to the side, and then mumble ‘you didn’t want to hear it though?’. It’s the sort of trick that always works on Chen, and it will serve him right for dismissing Baekhyun’s fanboying so lightly, humph. Unfortunately, Chen tries to accomplish Baekhyun’s immobilization by grabbing his ankle, and that results in a flailing, spectacular fall of the latter. The floor swirls dangerously for a moment and Baekhyun wails as if that will save him, until parts of him land on Chen and parts of him land on the floor, but Baekhyun is more concerned about his own pained hip than Chen’s discomfort in this moment. I can’t break anything, I need to be super alive and healthy on Saturday! He does a quick health check and everything seems okay, thank god.

“Jeez Baek…” Chen wheezes after a moment, his nose scrunched in discomfort, but he seems fine too. Baekhyun huffs from where he’s splayed haphazardly on the carpet and turns his nose high to the ceiling. “Chanyeol’s clumsiness is rubbing off on you” he mumbles playfully and Baekhyun turns to narrow his eyes at his friend; Chanyeol is not clumsy. He’s poorly coordinated sometimes is all. It takes one fleeting moment of meaningful eye contact between them and they both dissolve in a puddle of giggles right there on the floor, laughing so hard that they have to wipe away tears from their eyes –which might be partly concealed pain from their earlier collision, especially since Chen is clutching his abused ribs. The sound echoes in the room and between the fabrics, like those fairy laughs in fairytales that jingle all around. By the time they calm down, Chen can be found somehow rearranged, lying next to Baekhyun, Baekhyun’s limbs are in their right places, and they’re both watching the ceiling. “Wear your blue blazer” Chen says then, returning to the topic of main interest. Baekhyun blinks, remembering said blazer, and then slants his lips in uncertainty.

“I’ve had it for a while though…” Baekhyun says, thoughtful. It’s a nice blazer, but he’s not sure it’s what would look best on him for the occasion. His fingers fiddle with his sleeve and he turns to look at Chen’s profile, uncertainty laced in his voice and tangling between his eyebrows. “Will it make me look good?” he asks in a small voice. Because that’s the point of all this, right? He wants to look good for Chanyeol.

“Make you?” Chen scoffs in disbelief, turning his head to stare right back at Baekhyun. “No Baek; you will look good, all by yourself and your pretty smile” he says encouragingly and Baekhyun smiles a little, his cheeks tingling when he hears his friend’s words of support and encouragement. He’s so lucky to have such friends. Chen frowns then, blinking hard. “How can you guys be so-”

“Ayayay don’t talk about him and me” Baekhyun is quick to clasp a hand over Chen’s mouth to shush him. Chen gives him a weird look and Baekhyun returns a serious glare. His friends just love to talk about him and Chanyeol as if they’re something more than they are, but Baekhyun doesn’t want to step into that mindset, which seems to be contagious –if all their friends have it already. He simply doesn’t want to get his hopes up and then crush or embarrass himself. He wants to see their relationship for what it is and not what he hopes it were, so that he can work on it and help it bloom into that he hopes it will be. “You’ll make me think of stuff I don’t want to think about, and I might turn into an awkward koala on our meeting this Saturday” he pouts at his friend for pity; and he thought he’d be spared, but he didn’t factor how embarrassing his friends are.

Chen is smirking under his hand already, and he wiggles his eyebrows the moment Baekhyun removes his hand. Baekhyun thought it was just a friendly, bright smile, not this sort of smile. Baekhyun’s eyes widen the slightest bit and he braces himself; oh no, he’s going to make a suggestive remark. For all their years of friendship, Baekhyun has yet to find out how to stop Chen from unleashing his sharp tongue, and he doubts he’ll save himself if he clasps his hand over Chen’s mouth again.

“When you say ‘koala’, you mean holding hands, and piggy back rides, and hugs, and cuddles, and caress-ow!” Baekhyun keeps his composure for as long as he can, breathing evenly and trying very hard to keep at bay all the mental images Chen is smuggling in his head, but he can’t resist pinching Chen’s side at last, even though his cheeks are bright red. Chen whimpers and tries to squirm away, but Baekhyun crawls after him on the floor and keeps pinching him with determination for good measure. If he’s busy avoiding Baekhyun, he won’t say anything further to hit Baekhyun’s shy nerve. Chen struggles to fight him off halfheartedly but Baekhyun is faster and he doesn’t stop torturing him until Chen exclaims in surrender “Point taken, ow!”

--

Kyungsoo sighs and relaxes into the bathtub, full of warm water and soap bubbles. He plays idly with the water, which has an interesting purple hue because of the bath bomb. The expensive candles around him smell nice, like vanilla and orchids. There are no distractions for him on this fine Friday evening, and that is both nice and maddening. Kyungsoo inhales and exhales, convincing his mind to let go. He needed this bath to clear his thoughts for a while, or else he would still be cooking uncontrollably as if he’s expected to feed an army, and he’d be jumping around like a jittery squirrel. Or he’d be talking to himself; it has happened before. He just cannot control his nerves and anxiousness today.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s date is tomorrow. Tomorrow is less than twenty four hours away. You sleep, you wake up, and tomorrow is here already! Kyungsoo is so curious about what they might do, his body won’t stop fidgeting in anticipation! Chanyeol invited Baekhyun to a café, so they are probably going to drink coffee –and chocolate, for Baekhyun. But there must be some sort of main attraction, right? Something they’re going to do after that together, or some sort of cutesy confession, even a sweet sweet gesture is fine; anything will do, as long as fluffy rainbows shoot all across Seoul’s sky! Chanyeol must have planned something special. He must have. He’d better.

Realistically speaking, Baekhyun will probably still be in denial that this is a date, and Chanyeol will probably be acting adorably awkward. Kyungsoo can imagine as much, but he wants the details; he wants to know about every blush and giggle, about every inconspicuous skinship and the likes –things that Baekhyun doesn’t share, because that’s how he is and he always keeps the interesting stuff to himself, that secretive koala. Kyungsoo had wanted to keep an eye on the so-long-awaited couple, and he even started making plans with Luhan; but Chen called them shameless stalkers and forbade them to leave the house; he even assigned Kai and Sehun as their respective wardens, and you can’t even begin to imagine how happy and enthusiastic the idiots were over that matter. It’s ridiculous; they’re grown men, they don’t need to be supervised by their boyfriends!

If we’re being honest though, Kyungsoo would have been planning an excuse to ‘accidentally’ find himself somewhere near the couple tomorrow, had he not been locked in Kai’s apartment with said male keeping an eye on him.

At first, Kyungsoo tried to distract himself with tv shows, drama marathons and magazines, but that was not really working, because it sparked more date ideas in his head, and then he stumbled upon one of Chanyeol’s interviews and his mind started speculating again. Then he called Chen, seemingly to discuss about Baekhyun’s outfit, but he ended up trying to convince him to change his mind on the stalking issue, and that’s when Chen ended the call without hesitation. Kyungsoo grumbled in frustration for an hour and sulked for one more. Then he started cooking automatically to soothe his nerves, thinking about why his friends won’t understand or support him all of a sudden; until Kai walked in the kitchen and kissed Kyungsoo, informing him about the childish pout he had been sporting on his lips, and about a minor problem of diminishing cooking supplies. He pried the ladle off of Kyungsoo’s hands and suggested a bath for him to relax; he even prepared it for him, and here Kyungsoo is.

Kyungsoo bends his knees and wiggles his legs, feeling the warm water swarming around them and loosening his muscles. He watches the surface slosh near the edge of the bathtub, and then he picks up some bubbles and blows them in the air. He pouts; this is getting boring. To be honest, anything to him seems boring right now, unless it is about Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s date. Because, it’s their first freaking date! He feels like a mother who has sent her son on his first, innocent date, and he really cannot understand how everyone else is acting normal, when they must be just as concerned and curious as he is about their friends’ first date…Why aren’t they organizing a field trip as a group? That would be a good idea. Why aren’t they at least coaching their friends into romantic gestures and hints? They could have a seminar on conversation starters and inconspicuous affectionate touches.

A knock on the door catches his attention, erasing his seminar plans. It must be Kai, because there is no one else in the house.

“Yes?” he calls halfheartedly. Kai opens the door and pops his head in, his messy brown hair sticking out everywhere.

“Hey Soo; want some company?” he asks cheerfully and comes through the door casually, not waiting for an answer. Kyungsoo feels flustered all of a sudden, but he just won’t squeal in surprise like a girl, so he gulps his voice down his throat.

“Um, in case you haven’t noticed, I’m taking a bath over here” he frowns at Kai, even though he can feel his cheeks burning red in heat, unrelated to the water temperature surrounding him. There is nothing to be embarrassed about, you idiot, he tries to convince himself. It’s not like there is anything Kai has not seen before. But, well, he is in the bathtub, and he is used to those sacred moments of enjoying a bath being private and solitary, so it feels awkward with someone else around. Kai doesn’t seem to be having the same thoughts on the subject.

“Well, you’re all covered in bubbles, so I don’t see why you would mind me being here. Actually, you shouldn’t mind me, even without the bubbles…” Kai’s features take on a thoughtful look as he plops down on the floor next to the bathtub. Kyungsoo doesn’t want to know what Kai is thinking about and he doesn’t like this inescapable prximity. He clears his throat uncomfortably.

“What do you want?” he asks sharply, so that Kai can leave him alone to his daydreaming soon and, most importantly, get out sooner.

“Oh, I thought you’d like some company” Kai says with a laid-back shrug and an accomplished, toothy grin. Kyungsoo almost throws a shampoo bottle at him. “You didn’t look very happy in the kitchen earlier, so here” he grins widely and offers Kyungsoo a glass of red wine –which he had been holding all along, but Kyungsoo missed it because his thoughts had been otherwise occupied. He eyes the glass suspiciously, but he decides to let himself be pampered for now; if it turns out Kai has a hidden agenda, Kyungsoo can strangle him later.

“Thanks” Kyungsoo says simply and takes the glass gingerly, bringing it quickly to his lips to hide his face. He feels like he is blushing again, only now it is because Kai is acting so sweet and thoughtful, and the damn candlelight makes him look so alluring. But he won’t admit it to the idiot. Kai seems pleased and laces his fingers on the rim of the bathtub.

“So, is there anything you want to talk about?” Kai asks conversationally with a small smile, and Kyungsoo instantly opens his mouth to speak, hoping he can finally voice out his frustrations but- “Other than Chanyeol and Baekhyun” Kai adds strictly with a knowing look, and Kyungsoo closes his mouth again; his face falls. Why can’t someone share his curiosity in this universe and humor him for a while?

“Since when is it a bad thing to talk about Chanyeol and Baekhyun?” he demands with an imperative pout. Kai laughs at his stubborn expression, resting his chin on his laced fingers –and has Kyungsoo mentioned how close to his clotheless self that is?

“It’s not a bad thing; it’s just something we should not worry about yet. Hopefully, we’ll have the rest of our lives to fawn and swoon over them. Just forget about them for today, and we will start interrogating them the day after tomorrow; you know how I will not find peace until I get all the details out of my friend either…” Kai smirks evilly and Kyungsoo finds that comforting, because it means he won’t be the only one asking persistent questions. Kai’s smile transforms to a seductive smirk then, and Kyungsoo feels his stomach circling about his body but he chooses to ignore it. “But for now there is not much we can do, so let’s think about other things”

“Like what other things?” Kyungsoo asks with a heavy pout and bored voice. He doesn’t want to talk about other things, but thinking about the couple and having no one to talk to about it is not much better. Kai keeps the seductive smirk in place and then bites his lower lip for a moment, his eyes scanning Kyungsoo’s bare shoulders above the water surface, and this time Kyungsoo cannot ignore the heavy shadow of lust under his eyelashes. Kai flicks the water with a finger and Kyungsoo feels goose bumps spread on his limbs, his stomach lurching to his chest. He would love to let Kai…um, distract him for tonight, but that won’t solve the problem at hand. Therefore, he pretends to be unaffected, lowering himself in the water until only his nose is above it. He frowns at Kai. “Seriously? At a time like this?” he accuses, glad that his voice did not tremble when those dark eyes landed on him with promises for the night. Kai huffs a small laugh and shakes his head. The indecent mood dissipates, leaving behind a calm and confident tint on Kai’s softly smiling lips.

“I’m thinking about you; about us” he shrugs his shoulders a little nonchalantly, tilting his head to the side.

“What about us?” Kyungsoo blinks in confusion, rising above the water to a comfortable degree. There has been nothing wrong between them lately, their relationship has been rather smooth and natural –except for that one time when Kai spilled his ice cream on Kyungsoo’s favorite shirt, that clumsy adorable dork, and Kyungsoo had to yell a little…But they always mend things between them almost instantly, leaving no room for bitterness and complaints to grow.

“Well, you know…” Kai looks at the ceiling thoughtfully with a bashful smile, and then he looks back at Kyungsoo. The light from the candles shines playfully in his eyes. “I’ve been thinking about our sleeping schedule –two days at your house and four at mine every week– and how conveniently we have settled our transportation to work and other places. I’ve been thinking about how your bed is kind of small, but mine is perfectly comfortable and we enjoy our sleep better in it. And then, there are your clothes in my closet and mine in yours, and all those things we own double, like toothbrushes. I like how you always welcome me with a kiss on the lips, and it’s cute how you’ve grown to expect a kiss on the temple and a hug when I’m the one to welcome you. Home has a different meaning to me lately. So, I was thinking…” Kai looks into Kyungsoo’s eyes steadily and Kyungsoo blinks curiously at him, completely bemused.

“Wouldn’t it be better if we lived together already?”

Kyungsoo chokes on his wine.

What did he just say?!

“Soo, are you okay?” Kai reacts immediately, jumping from his seat, his eyes showing concern, but Kyungsoo glares at him with his big eyes and motions him to sit back down, even thought he is coughing like crazy. This idiot will kill me someday…

“What –kah –did you –khm –say?” he manages to choke out. Kai takes the glass from Kyungsoo’s trembling hands and puts it aside, before turning to him again, erasing his worried face and putting on a wide smile in an instant.

“I said, we should live together!” he repeats cheerfully, as if he doesn’t realize it is a five megaton verbal bomb he is letting out of his lips. Kyungsoo wails inwardly, his fists clenching fretfully. “I mean, it would be much easier and it wouldn’t be too different. We are practically living together as we are; but having a home together will be so much better! We will have more time for one another, we will find each other every time we come back from work, we will be more comfortable with everything in the house, we won’t have to search about that pair of shoes we didn’t bring along, and we will be able to invite friends to our house; ours, Soo…” Kai stares off to space dreamily, a big, sparkling smile spread on his lips.

“So, what you’re saying is, I should move in?” Kyungsoo asks for confirmation’s sake. God, it sounds so unrealistic! And Kyungsoo would so punch that smile off of the idiot’s face if it weren’t so enchanting.

Because, living with someone else? Together? Under one roof? That hasn’t happened ever since he left his family house. And even then, it wasn’t an ideal experience, with his parents breathing down his neck over anything and everything. And now…Living with Kai? It’s true that there won’t be much difference, technically, but…come on! Living with your partner is such a high level in a relationship, like 87 or 92, and Kyungsoo is barely managing level 65 or 67 maybe…They won’t make it, he won’t make it! That’s…too much!

“Yeah; come live with me” Kai proposes straightforwardly, without any hesitation. Kyungsoo feels awestruck and gasps, staring at Kai for a moment. Then he turns his head at his front again, rolling his eyes at the wall incredulously. This can’t be happening.

“That’s...We…Do you even realize…I mean, it’s so…” Kyungsoo squeaks, blinking furiously and fidgeting under the surface, and, when he realizes he is not making any sense, he takes a breath to calm himself, lacing his fingers in the water to stop them from fluttering around uselessly. “Why are you asking for impossible things all of a sudden?”

“Impossible?” Kai raises his eyebrows in surprise and then blinks cutely. “Oh, no; it’s very possible, Soo” he assures him, nodding his head along for emphasis and straightening his posture on his seat on the floor. “And it’s not sudden; I’ve been thinking about it for a while now” he declares. Kyungsoo almost chokes again. For a while now?! How long is ‘a while’?

“Why are you wasting precious thinking time with this?” he exclaims in fluster; and here Kyungsoo thought that Kai’s head didn’t work unless it was a special occasion…Now that he knows what is going on in Kai’s head, he suddenly wishes he was still oblivious. “And, excuse me, but I find it pretty impossible!” he insists, widening his eyes.

“Why?” Kai challenges, crossing his arms across his chest, and Kyungsoo huffs; why is he not getting how absurd all this is?

“Because Jongin…there are so many reasons!” he explodes, throwing his arms in the air and splattering water all around. “Isn’t it a bit too soon? And isn’t it a decision we should equally make? Inviting me and surprising the sugar out of me is not how it should go, right?” he demands for understanding, staring at Kai. Instead, Kai explodes too, throwing his arms in the air as well and giving Kyungsoo the exact same look.

“But you never think of those things by yourself! You need someone to push you!”

“And so you push me?!”

“If not I, who else?!”

“Jongin, you are not thinking this realistically!” Kyungsoo takes a deep breath and tries to calm down. His voice is considerably more composed as he speaks and it seems to be working with Kai as well. “Things have been good between us lately, but you cannot know how things will be in a week, or a month, or a year. Living together is not a decision to be taken lightly. There is more to it than coming home to someone else and having only one toothbrush; there are obligations, responsibilities, roles; hell, there are times you don’t want to see the other’s face, where will you go then?”

“I know it won’t always be easy” Kai amends in his sweet-talk voice, but his eyes are honest and clear “but I’m not with you just for the easy, happy moments! It might get rough sometimes and yes, maybe you don’t want to see the other’s face, but more than anything, rough and happy times aside, you want him. And that person for me is you, so I want to live with you. It’s not like we can share responsibilities and roles while living apart, or pre-decide on them!” Kyungsoo bites his lips; is it just him, or has the idiot started making sense? Sunflowers, no, this can’t be happening. Kai fishes Kyungsoo’s hand out of the water and holds it near him while looking into his eyes. “I realize that living with you is not a moment or a result; it’s a process and I want to go through it with you. I’m ready!”

“But I’m not!” Kyungsoo tries to pull his hand away defiantly but Kai grips him tighter, making it impossible.

“How do you know?” Kai raises an eyebrow at him. “You haven’t tried it. You haven’t even thought about it! It’s not a life or death decision you know; you can always move back to your apartment. It is important, yes, but it’s not the end of your life; it’s the beginning of our life. Maybe you are unsure and scared, but I’m scared too! I am well aware that this might not work out and I am ready to accept that outcome, but I’m not giving up without a fight.” Kai pauses and looks solemnly straight in his eyes with his wonderful brown orbs.

“Do Kyungsoo, I’m asking you to come and live with me”

--

Chanyeol opens his eyes and for what feels like the first time in his entire life, he smiles at the sun filtering through his enormous window. He yawns and blinks for a while, trying to untangle his eyelashes, running a hand through his messy bed hair. The pool on his veranda is glinting in the sun and the flowers are blooming in his small garden beside it. A few white clouds greet him in the sky, looking fluffy and harmless. It’s a beautiful day.

He smiles blissfully, everything around him feeling soft and warm, and smelling like clean laundry –just like a certain small koala he happens to love. He stretches his arms over his head and his legs to his toes, his back arching in the process, and a wonderful feeling of pleasant numbness runs through him, as all the kinks that have accumulated overnight in his body dissolve. He sighs and spreads his limbs across the bed. He stays like that for a while, blinking at his ceiling lazily, until he turns to the side, grabbing a fluffy pillow and wrapping his arms around it. He cuddles it like a bear, smiling into the soft material, his eyes glinting as he examines the sunshine outside.

“It’s Saturday, Baek” he purrs with a wide smile. I wonder what he’s doing right now…

Maybe he just woke up, with puffy eyes and pouty lips, adorable bed hair and incomparably tempting softness. Maybe he’s drying his hair after a shower, tussling his chestnut locks and humming in front of the bathroom mirror. Maybe he’s having breakfast, munching on toast, bacon and eggs, while listening to cheerful morning radio songs. Or maybe he’s still sleeping, hugging his pillows, legs tangled with his sheets, and he’s dreaming of a strawberry bunny village, making puppy whimpers. Maybe he’s having a cup of tea, lying on his couch lazily and gazing at the sunny sky outside with a faint smile on his lips and thinking of Chanyeol too.

Maybe Chanyeol should get those ideas out of his head and get himself out of bed.

He squeezes his pillow one last time, and then he giggles, squirming with energy as he kicks away the covers and rolls out of bed. He shrugs off his shirt on his way to the bathroom, managing not to trip over anything, ruffling his hair once again and avoiding glancing at the mirror; he already knows he’s sporting that face-splitting smile. He starts planning his morning routine, starting with a shower and finishing with a mental checklist of the things he should have with him before he leaves the house. He is not allowed to stall aimlessly today. He has to be ready on time, because he can’t have his Baekhyun waiting for him.

He steps under the shower, humming a small tune under his breath.

--

Baekhyun takes in a deep breath, as discretely as anyone can take a deep breath, and catches himself just before he accidentally hyperventilates. He’s a bit anxious, yes, but not enough to knock himself out because he can’t control his most basic survival requirements. He drums his fingers on his knee nervously, the gesture hidden under the table. His body is giving everything away in spite of his efforts to control it, but he can still hide it for the sake of a normal appearance. No one seems to suspect him, but he’s squealing so hard in his head that his brain cells are going deaf. He can’t believe this is happening. It’s really happening. Like, really.

His eyes travel for the nth time –without his permission, of course– to the counter. Chanyeol is waiting there for their order, and he insisted he should pay this time, because Baekhyun paid last time. This logic half-makes sense to Baekhyun, but it’s not helping his inner turmoil, because this meeting feels more like a date this way. He wonders if Chanyeol felt the same when Baekhyun insisted that he should pay for their desserts, since he was the one who suggested they should have a sweet treat together. But why would Chanyeol feel like that, there’s no way he would…Baekhyun bites his lip and swears he’s going to punch Chen in the gut for putting lovey-dovey ideas in his head and making him feel like…this. And he even warned him he didn’t want to hear such thoughts; he had wanted to be on the same wavelength as Chanyeol, but now it seems he has jumped a couple romantic wavelengths ahead.

His eyes flutter in Chanyeol’s direction once again. Oh god, he looks so captivating…For some reason, Chanyeol’s appearance today makes Baekhyun’s heart skip numerous beats. He doubts he went through all the trouble Baekhyun put himself through to come up with an outfit, but it’s something about him today, something indefinable, that enchants Baekhyun, and that something is everywhere. Chanyeol looks composed and elegant, wearing a navy blue suit with chest crossing, looking a bit more than averagely amazing in this picturesque café. The suit makes his body look even taller, leaner and graceful, and the color brings out the warm tones in his hair and his eyes. He looks beyond stunning and Baekhyun was a goner the moment he laid eyes on him.

For no apparent reason, Chanyeol turns his head unknowingly at some point, and catches Baekhyun looking at him –well, he has been staring and drooling over him for a while now actually, but Chanyeol doesn’t need to know that. The fact that Chanyeol is blissfully ignorant of Baekhyun’s gawking doesn’t make Baekhyun feel any less flustered the moment their eyes meet. Chanyeol grins –and he looks just so gleeful that your heart melts– and then he winks at Baekhyun in acknowledgement. What-wah…did he just…wink at me? At me?! Baekhyun feels his cheeks burning up instantly and his heart panics in his chest. Silly giant, why are you doing these things to me? Do you have any idea how it feels? Baekhyun manages a small, hesitant smile in return before he turns his head the other way one hundred and eighty degrees –you’re so smooth Baekhyun…ugh–, opting to gaze out the window, biting his lips and wallowing in embarrassment.

Byun Baekhyun, get it together. This is not the first time you go out with your friend after so long, why are you being so weird? You weren’t like that when you took him out for dessert! Where’s the flirty, daring, casual and cute side of you? Baekhyun doesn’t want to end up sulking, so he tries to distract himself and his thoughts by keeping his eyes on the view outside. The shops that rim the street on both sides are very pretty and elegant, with vibrant shop windows filled with flowers, some with dainty or abstract concepts. Many well dressed people are strolling by in the sunny weather, under the green leaves of graceful trees that line the sidewalk. They are carrying shopping bags and boxes, some are snacking on the go or sipping coffee. A few puppies walk their owners around, tails swishing happily. Baekhyun doesn’t know why his gaze keeps lingering on smiling couples.

Baekhyun keeps playing with his teeth on his lips nervously, thinking idly about his own outfit and comparing it to the people passing by outside the coffee shop. He chose skinny jeans and a white shirt with a flowery stamp –which Baekhyun agreed to unenthusiastically, only because Chen kept saying how fresh it would look fashion-wise. He completed the outfit with his light, sky blue blazer above the shirt, giving an overall freshness to his look. When he checked himself in the mirror before leaving home, he thought he looked cute; but now he is thinking that maybe he should have gone for ‘amazing’ instead of ‘cute’, because when standing next to Chanyeol, who looks like a supermodel, everyone is staring or at least glancing at them repeatedly. When they walked through the door of the café together, almost every head turned, and Baekhyun felt himself pinking from all the attention. Some people have been staring ever since.

“Your chocolate ice cream, sir” Chanyeol’s deep voice says cheerfully, and Baekhyun flinches back to reality, turning around to find that Chanyeol has joined him at last. He smiles automatically, watching as the taller one tidily takes a seat across from him. It feels almost surreal to have a chance to spend time with him again in one week, and it makes Baekhyun really happy; he feels comfortable and carefree, with just the right amount of cartwheels in his tummy.

“What a polite waiter…” Baekhyun teases with a smile –don’t even ask where this teasing remark came from, he’s just glad it did. Handsome, too. Chanyeol chuckles bashfully, fortunately missing Baekhyun’s eyes straying down to appreciate his appearance. Don’t you defy me, eyes! Stay appropriately focused, will you?

“Your waiter is a bit too formally dressed for this place” Chanyeol says lightly “The rest of this area is easily high profile, and I thought this place would be the same; I should have thought it through –everyone is looking funnily at me” he chuckles, looking down at his clothes and biting his lip with apprehension. Funnily? Chanyeol you’re such a dummy. You’re formally dressed but fashionable. And gorgeous. That’s why people stare. Even Baekhyun is staring –again. Baekhyun clears his throat and mentally chides himself. “You look really good though” Chanyeol continues out of the blue, and grins widely right after.

“Y-yeah?” Baekhyun blinks dazedly, feeling like he just got hit by a train. Where did that come from? And it’s not the first time someone says that to him, Chanyeol didn’t even say it in a special way, so why are his cheeks turning pink rapidly and he feels something fluttering in his chest? Why is Chanyeol grinning at him, that twinkling grin, that makes Baekhyun feel special?

“Baby blue looks really nice on you” Chanyeol goes on assertively in his honey, deep voice, making Baekhyun want to fan himself to save his life, but he refrains from it and turns his eyes away with a bashful smile instead. How can Chanyeol be so smooth with compliments, when Baekhyun can’t even breathe right today? His eyes fall on a couple a few tables away; the boy is saying something with a smile and the girl is blushing cutely, looking away, like him. Do we look like that too? Could it be?

Oh my god, Baekhyun, what are you thinking?!

“S-so, how was work this week?” he diverts the topic quickly, because these thoughts are rather disturbing. That’s stuttering twice in a day for you, Baekhyun…Baekhyun hates the fact that his body is malfunctioning so often today, but he’s also grateful that he managed to remember to ask Chanyeol about his week, which the taller had implied would be rather hectic the last time they met. When Baekhyun’s gaze meets with Chanyeol’s, the former’s breath hitches a little, because Chanyeol’s eyes are glinting with a smile that makes Baekhyun think Chanyeol really appreciates the question. It’s like those reassuring caresses you get sometimes when the other is grateful for your interest. It’s a very open and personal gaze.

“Ah, it was good; meetings upon meetings, with auspicious results” he answers easily, a bit dismissively even. His voice changes afterwards, becoming softer but still firm; the combination must be something unique to Chanyeol’s baritone. “But I don’t want to talk about work” Chanyeol focuses his caramel eyes perfectly on Baekhyun, and the latter feels his heart twirl. He has looked at you before, why are you behaving like this all of a sudden? Baekhyun is lost in the almond shape of those glassy orbs which, for a moment, seem to be able to see right through him. He shivers a little. But then Chanyeol switches back to his cheerful self and his eyes, although heartbreakingly gorgeous, are easier to meet. “I’ve been waiting for this day all week. Tell me, what should we do today?” Chanyeol smiles enthusiastically and shifts excitedly in his seat, like a little child. Baekhyun suppresses an urge to reach over and pinch his cheeks. However, his eyebrows crease in confusion.

“What do you mean? We are already doing something, aren’t we?” he asks bewildered, adding a small chuckle at the end to ease the tension he feels. He busies himself with his ice cream for a bit, composing himself in hopes to have a normal conversation with Chanyeol from now on. Chanyeol taps his fingers on the table playfully and rolls his eyes with a smile.

“Yeah, but I want to do more things with you” he hums, tilting his head to the side endearingly. Baekhyun’s heart does an Axel jump and a flying spin after those words, which have so casually left Chanyeol’s perfect lips. You can’t really expect him to keep his sanity when Chanyeol is acting so cute and his voice is nearly purring. He doesn’t mean it like that, Baekhyun, he reminds himself, pinching the inside of his knee to get a grip on reality. They just haven’t spent quality time together in a long time. They have both missed this. Maybe it’s because he hasn’t interacted with Chanyeol in such a long time, but everything seems different today; and yet, it is all the same.

“Really? Like what sort of things?” Baekhyun fishes for more options, swallowing his gasp. He doesn’t think he can set this conversation on a sensible course by himself, because everything in his head is dangerously rose-colored right now. Chen is so dead when Baekhyun gets his hands on him. Chanyeol presses his full lips in thought for a moment.

“Hmm…maybe we can go somewhere nice? Like the botanical garden? I heard it’s beautiful this time of the year” he suggests with interest. Baekhyun gulps and tries not to think about the fact that usually couples go to places like that. The rosy color in his head is definitely not helping, but he tries to fight it off. He just wants to take you somewhere pretty, to cheer you up after so long. It’s normal.

“Or maybe go to the movies? I still owe you one from that time we were supposed to go with Kai and Kyungsoo but I was sick” Chanyeol pouts a little but Baekhyun hardly sees it. Fantasies of hands creeping on the armrest and fingers interlocking in the dark flash in Baekhyun’s mind. He panics. Come on, stop it. Brain, seriously.

“Oh, there is also a small spring festival by the river, where they sell all sorts of trinkets and it has the best view of the sunset. I haven’t been to such a place in a long while” he hums wistfully; Baekhyun is giving him a good look. The festival also has people walking around hand in hand, buying silly things, or leaning on each other’s shoulders and gazing at the colors of the sky…Holy sunflowers, Baekhyun just replaced those people with him and Chanyeol in his mind!

“But we could also stay around here and go shopping, if you’d like; I don’t mind playing dress up” he chuckles, the corners of his eyes creasing with his smile. Baekhyun, on the other hand, wants to bang his head on the table, feeling his nerves on highwire. Playing dress up with Chanyeol? Playing dress up?! How can he even say those things with a straight face? Does he even realize what he is doing to me?

“We could also grab a bite if you’re hungry. There’s a park nearby with many restaurants around, and they have their tables in the park; it’s very pretty, like a garden” Chanyeol makes a lively gesture with his fingers, as if sprinkling unicorn stardust of some sort. Baekhyun has reached the what the flowers point in his head. He takes a deep breath to calm himself and his raging imagination.

Do things sound weird today or do his ears only perceive them as strange?

“So” Chanyeol grins obliviously “what do you want to-” he is interrupted by his phone, and Baekhyun nearly jolts in utter shock from the tension in his system. At least Chanyeol gets momentarily distracted and his question remains unfinished for the time being. Baekhyun instantly sends his gratitude to the universe, bowing down to all the gods and cosmic powers, thankful that they stopped Chanyeol before he asked of him to choose one, more than one, or all of the above. Chanyeol glances at the screen of his phone fleetingly, a tiny quirk of annoyance appearing on his eyebrow at first; but then his features transform to confusion abruptly. Baekhyun feels slightly worried at the sudden change, but he lets a few moments of silence pass, allowing Chanyeol some time to absorb whatever has just happened.

“Is everything okay?” Baekhyun asks timidly after a while of silence, stretching his leg and nudging Chanyeol’s leg under the table, all his reservations and shyness forgotten. They’ve tangled legs so many times that it doesn’t feel strange in the least anymore. Baekhyun is, in truth, relieved that Chanyeol never got to finish his question, but this frozen state raises concern. Chanyeol brushes his leg against Baekhyun’s reassuringly, but his lips quirk uncomfortably and then his face contorts in a way Baekhyun has not seen before. He’s cute, with his scrunched nose and puppy eyes.

“Baek, I just want to say this while I still have time: I am so sorry for what is coming your way” he says in a low voice, but his eyes are earnest; it makes Baekhyun a little worried. What is coming at him, exactly? Chanyeol’s right hand quickly slides on the table and gets attached to Baekhyun’s idle left hand. The unexpected contact is a little surprising, but Baekhyun doesn’t object when Chanyeol tangles their fingers and squeezes his hand a little in encouragement. “I promise, I will make it up to you. Just…bear with it for a while; for me?” he pleads, blinking up at Baekhyun. His fingers twitch against Baekhyun’s perfectly slanted and fitting fingers. Baekhyun’s heart constricts in his chest. “Please?”

“Why are you whispering all of a sudden?” Baekhyun answers in a whisper as well, leaning above the table like Chanyeol and trying to give this conversation a more playful, lighter twist, because he honestly cannot understand what’s going on. What’s with the sudden secrecy? And what is Chanyeol talking about, even giving him the puppy eyes and nearly giving him a heart attack while he’s at it? He smiles a little and Chanyeol presses his lips.

“Because she might be somewhere near” Chanyeol whispers conspiratorially, his round, caramel eyes darting right and left; and he looks so small and cute, like a child hiding after stealing the cookies from the jar. Baekhyun thinks he would risk getting hit by a meteor right then and there, since Chanyeol is asking so cutely. But the question remains.

“She?” Who?

“Yeollie!”

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

a/n: Hello, my fluffy bunnies! I hope you’re still alive after this cuteness –hey, I need you alive! So many things happening in this chapter; a surprise date-before-the-actual-date for baekyeol, a surprise visit for hunhan, a surprise proposal for kaisoo! It even ended with a surprise guest –who shall be revealed next time, because this date is not over! So much excitement, probably because it’s May, hehe (and I know most of you are/will be preparing for exams, but please, take the time to get into the spirit of the season, even for a little while. Gift yourselves one morning/evening/hour to do something you like in fresh air and sunshine; it’ll be worth it.)

(Hmm, I might expand this a/n later…anyway.) Next time, we have a genuine confession (!!! let me hear you squeal*-*), decisions decisions (you don’t just give away apartment keys o.o), and a clash we haven’t seen before (bickering is affection, fighting is aggression…) All is part of life, all is part of the next chapter! Happy Sunday, mwah! Till next time, kitty