Sometimes the moon looks brighter than the sun…

The phone rang as he pushed a stack of resumes away from him with a sigh.  He answered the phone with a halfhearted, “Yes?”

“I need you to come get me, because I left my car with Jaejoong,” Yixing announced.  Chanyeol held the phone away from his face for a moment and just stared at it. 

“Why do you need a ride?”

“Because your kid has no food in this house, and I’m not ordering fast food for someone who’s sick,” Yixing said, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.  Chanyeol’s fingers curled into a fist on his knee. 

“I just told you to make sure he got home okay,” Chanyeol said, trying to keep his tone light.  “Are you moving in?”

“That’d be way too fast, even for me.  Do you think I have those kind of moves?”

Chanyeol drummed his fingers on the desk, and then stood up abruptly.  “I know what your reputation is,” he said, and moved towards the door.  He couldn’t deny a certain worry for his newest employee, especially since it was his fault the man had gotten sick in the first place.  Reading his mind, Yixing spoke again. 

“Whatever.  I’m just here because you forced him to come out in the pouring rain for your coffee.”

“Whatever,” Chanyeol agreed, waiting for the elevator.  “Where are you?”

“Outside his apartment.”

Chanyeol wrestled with irrational jealousy for a long moment.  The little voice in the back of his head that had immediately growled Mine! When he’d first seen Byun Baekhyun lined up with the rest of the summer interns was at war with his more professional side, which discouraged office romances, and insisted that getting involved with his junior editor would be a Very Bad Idea.  “Yixingah, you’re about as useful as a bucket with a hole in the bottom.  Where is his apartment?”

Yixing gave the address as Chanyeol reached his car, and the CEO hung up as he climbed into it.  A short drive later, and he pulled up in front of the Sunny!Lotus apartment building, and waited for Yixing to detach himself from the wall he’d been leaning against. 

“So where are we going?”

Yixing shrugged gracefully.  Chanyeol sighed.  Sometimes Yixing made him feel like an ox.  “I don’t care.  A grocery store.  There’s probably one nearby.”

“When’s the last time you went grocery shopping?”

Wide-eyed, Yixing repeated the shrug.  “I couldn’t say.”

Chanyeol laughed, and reached over and ruffled Yixing’s multi-coloured hair.  “You’re like an alien, did you know?  Half my employees are convinced you’re from a different planet.”

Yixing laughed lightly.  “Maybe I am,” he said.  “It might explain a lot of things.”

“Wouldn’t you know?”

“There’s a lot of things we don’t know.  For example, did you know Baekhyunnie has tattoos?”

Chanyeol blinked in surprise, and then turned to look at his friend.  “And how do you know that?”

“There’s a store there,” Yixing pointed out in a blatant nonsequitur.  “He took a shower when he got home.  That’s when I thought I’d make him some soup or something to help him feel better, but there’s nothing but milk and a couple of kiwis in his fridge.”  Yixing made a rude noise to demonstrate his displeasure with the young man’s eating habits.  “And about seven different menus stuck to the outside of it,” he added.  “I don’t think he eats well.” 

“Hmm,” Chanyeol said noncommittally, and shifted lanes to turn into the store Yixing had pointed out.  He was, he realised, jealous of Yixing’s ability to simply waltz into Baekhyun’s apartment and begin poking around.  He was also jealous of the ease with which Yixing had insinuated himself into Baekhyun’s life.  If I’d never hired him, Yixing wouldn’t have had a chance to meet him, he thought, and then remembered that if he’d never hired the young man, he wouldn’t know him either.  It wasn’t the first time someone had stolen something precious from him, but this time he was determined to gracefully allow this thing between Yixing and Baekhyun to run its course.  After all, I doubt it’ll last more than a few weeks.  He immediately felt guilty for the uncharitable thought; Yixing was, after all, his lifelong best friend.  He forcibly didn’t think about his other friend, the one who no longer existed. 

“So what were you planning to buy?” Chanyeol asked brightly. 

Yixing looked around and shrugged for a third time.  “Everything?”

Chanyeol laughed. 

*

Once inside the store, Yixing became as difficult to manage as a three year old child.  He literally wanted to buy everything for Baekhyun, and twice Chanyeol had to put something back that Yixing placed in the cart, simply because it was too impractical. 

“If he eats out all the time, he might not know what to do with this,” Chanyeol said thoughtfully as Yixing carefully examined every cut of meat in the butcher’s department. 

“Then why would he have everything?”

Chanyeol mentally counted to ten.  “What everything?”

“He has nine hundred different spatulas and spoons, and pots, and pans, and a rice cooker, and really nice plates, and an expensive set of cooking knives.  No one collects that much kitchen paraphernalia unless they know what to do with it.”  Yixing decisively settled on three packages of premium beef, a thing of ribs, and a whole chicken, and shuttled them into the rapidly-filling basket.  “He has no tea pot, though,” he added, almost as an afterthought as they passed the tea and coffee aisle. 

“Yuzu tea,” Chanyeol said.  “It always makes me feel better.”  He plucked a package of teabags off the shelf.  Beside him, Yixing also picked up ginger tea.  He contemplated them both for a long moment, and then placed them both into the cart.  “We’ll need some ginseng, and some spicy bean sprouts, too,” Chanyeol said, wracking his brain for any type of food or drink that would assist Baekhyun in getting over his illness. 

Yixing looked startled.  “Why?”

“Spicy bean sprout soup, of course.” Chanyeol said cheerfully. “It’s the best thing for colds.” 

They made their way into the vegetable section, and between them managed to find enough food to probably fill Baekhyun’s refrigerator for a month.  Yixing picked up a kettle, and declared that they had everything he’d need. 

“Going out shopping like this feels like we’re married,” Yixing commented as they waited in the checkout line.  Chanyeol laughed heartily. 

“Does that make Byun our child?”

“We would have a beautiful, wild child together,” Yixing said slyly.  Chanyeol’s eyebrows met his hairline.

Like a graceful dancer, Yixing gestured in the air.  “You can’t deny he’s beautiful,” he said.  Warily, Chanyeol agreed and motioned for him to continue.  “Well, he’s got piercings and tattoos, too.  I’m sure he was a wild animal in college.” 

The mental images this brought to mind were nothing short of indecent, and Chanyeol cleared his throat.  Can’t get involved with employees, he reminded himself.  Plus, I can’t take him from Yixing.  An evil voice popped up in the back of his mind, suggesting he wait until Yixing tired of Baekhyun and then step in to be the replacement.  He didn’t want to be a rebound, especially not from Yixing, but he also couldn’t bear the thought of Baekhyun being with someone else.  Yixing, he could handle. 

“You’re how old, and you still dye your hair weird colours.  I’m just grateful Byun didn’t show up with a mohawk or something,” Chanyeol said. 

“Mm,” Yixing replied, looking at something only he could see with a faint smile on his face.  “No, it would be dreadful to cut that hair,” he said, still incomprehensible until Chanyeol realised he’d probably seen Baekhyun coming out of the shower, and wondered if the young man had bothered to get dressed, and exactly how much Yixing had already seen. 

His brain told him that this line of thought was dangerous and inappropriate, but his heart insisted that he was free to wish and wonder, as long as he didn’t touch. 

They finished checking out, and were putting the groceries into the car when Chanyeol laughed.  “It’s a good thing I brought my jeep today, and not the bike,” he said.  “We’d never have gotten any of this back.”

“Maybe you knew?”

“Maybe I expected it to rain again today,” Chanyeol countered.  “Let’s get this back to his apartment.”

*

Chanyeol felt exceedingly awkward stepping into Baekhyun’s apartment.  He wasn’t sure where his dutiful employee was, but the fact was he hadn’t been invited.  To overcome it, he pulled out the pad of sticky-notes he’d brought for this purpose, and began writing on them.  Yixing disappeared into the small flat like he’d been there a thousand times, and came back with a smile on his face a few minutes later. 

“He’s sleeping,” he said.  “But what a fool he is.  Go see how he laid down.”

Curiousity warred with his better sense, and won. He abandoned the notes, stepped into the hallway, and saw the bedroom door wide open, with Baekhyun sleeping soundly, stretched across the mattress at an angle.  It looked as if he’d simply fallen into bed and gone to sleep.  Hearing something behind him, Chanyeol managed to wipe the fond smile off his face, but not before Yixing tilted his head curiously and said, “Ahh.”

“What?” Chanyeol asked, backing out of the doorway and closing the door behind them. 

“You do like him.”

“He’s my employee,” Chanyeol negated. 

“He’s still gorgeous.  And smart.”  Yixing sighed.  “And he likes you, too.”

Chanyeol tripped over nothing as the signals between his brain and his feet staggered to a halt.  “What?  How do you know that?”

“Confidentiality,” Yixing claimed.  Chanyeol realised Baekhyun must be one of the callers at Yixing’s night job, and his jaw dropped.  Suddenly, the volatile argument between Baekhyun and Jongdae the other day made a lot more sense.  Yixing pressed his chin up with one finger.  “You’ll catch flies,” he warned, laughing, and turned towards the kitchen.  While Yixing bustled around in the next room, Chanyeol took in the details of Baekhyun’s apartment. 

It was all fairly quaint, for all that it was so small.  A large television took up most of one wall, and was flanked by a bookshelf half filled by movies, and half with books.  A video game console lingered beneath the TV, with a few games stacked neatly beside it.  A glass rested on the coffee table, and Chanyeol decided it was water.  It seemed to be a normal young man’s apartment, until he looked under the coffee table, and found a dozen or more magazines with a very familiar cover.  It was all Flower Boys.  Chanyeol smiled in spite of himself, and reevaluated his opinion of Baekhyun upwards once more. 

A little black bag beside the television caught his attention, and despite the urgings of his hindbrain to stop snooping, he couldn’t help but wonder what was inside it.  He crossed the room, and looked, and then flushed to the roots of his hair. 

“What’s wrong?” Yixing appeared at his side, looking up at him curiously before following his stunned gaze towards the bag.  “Prying again?”

“Y-yeah,” Chanyeol said, and backed away from it to go check in on Baekhyun once more before he left.  “I’ve got to get going,” he said.  “We’re going to print on Flower Boys in a week, and I need to finalise the layouts.”

“Shouldn’t you have done that already?” Yixing called to his back, but he was already on his way out. 

Just forget what you’ve seen, and don’t treat him any differently.  If you don’t say anything, he’ll never know you know.

**

Yixing filled the kettle, and set it over the burner on the stove before going to find out why Chanyeol was so quiet.  He found his friend smiling warmly at a pile of magazines, and watched him go and peer into a bag on the entertainment center.  His face turned grey under the tan, and Yixing crossed the room at a lope, wondering what he’d seen.  Moments later, Chanyeol was all but running from the apartment.  Yixing stared after him, baffled, and then pulled the bag towards him to find out what had sent the imperturbable Chanyeol fleeing with his tail tucked between his legs. 

When he saw what was inside the bag, he felt a warm flush spread up his body from his lower stomach.  He bought one.  Swallowing hard against the impulse to go and wake Baekhyun up with a kiss, he replaced the bag and jumped when the kettle whistled.  He prepared the tea and soup with half his mind elsewhere, already contemplating what he’d do when Baekhyun called him again.  It was hard to believe the young man hadn’t connected him with Lay, but then he probably had more on his mind, what with his mixed feelings for Chanyeol. 

Letting himself into Baekhyun’s room, he looked around and tried to imagine what he looked like when he called, if he would lie on his bed diagonally like that, or tuck his pillows up against the wall.  Then he gave himself a mental slap, reminded himself that Baekhyun was ill, and needed care, and then set the mugs down so he could wake the younger man up and get him into bed properly.

That thought set off all kinds of sparks behind his eyes, and he forcibly took a deep breath and ran a hand through his hair.  “Aigoo,” he said, exhaling as he leaned over to shake Baekhyun awake.  “What am I going to do with you?”  

Baekhyun reached out, lightning fast, and seized his wrist.  Yixing blinked at him as Baekhyun’s eyes opened slowly, and then stared in silence.  Yixing grinned at him and lifted his hand, still manacled by Baekhyun’s grip.  “Will you let go so I can get the covers over you, at least?” he asked. 

Baekhyun was silent for a long moment, and Yixing wondered if he always woke up this slowly.  Yixing’s wrist was reluctantly released, and Baekhyun said, “What are you doing here?”

Yixing didn’t answer, opting instead to reach out and feel for his temperature.  He knew his usual actions were baffling to most people, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself.  He’d lived life by drifting from whatever interested him, leaving it behind as long as it was no longer engaging.  As he’d told Baekhyun earlier that day, he never did anything he didn’t want to. “You’re still warm,” he said, and reached back for the mugs he’d brought.  “Here, I made some Yuzu tea and bit of chicken and ginseng soup.” 

Baekhyun cautiously reached out and took one, taking a long sip.  His eyes closed as he inhaled the steam, and Yixing swallowed against the urge to just push him over and climb on top of him.  “Thank you,” he said, and finished the soup before accepting the tea.  Before long, he was yawning, and Yixing bustled around the room, wondering if he was the mother or the father in their weird little relationship scenario as he helped Baekhyun actually get into bed.  He placed the cool rag he’d brought against Baekhyun’s too-warm forehead, and was about to leave when Baekhyun grabbed his wrist again.  Baekhyun was staring at his hand like it didn’t belong to him, and Yixing was staring at Baekhyun, wondering if this was a particular habit of his. 

Baekhyun let go, and rolled over to bury his face in the pillow.  “I’m so sorry,” he mumbled, turning his head just far enough to be heard.  “I’ve never had anyone take care of me when I was sick before.  I don’t know why I did that,” he added, honesty in his tone and penitent expression. Yixing was overwhelmed by the extremely odd sensation of wanting to be the one who would take care of him forever, and shook himself to get rid of it.  He’d never been tied down to anything, or anyone, in his life.  He laughed to cover his embarrassment. 

“Don’t worry,” he said.  “I’m not going anywhere.”

Baekhyun’s lips turned up in a childish, happy smile as he drifted quickly off to sleep.  Yixing brushed his hair of his forehead, and contemplated the tattoo on his neck.  Love as thou wilt.  It spoke volumes about the young man who would get words like that permanently etched into his skin.  The hints of another tattoo peeked up above the collar of his shirt, and Yixing resolved to find out the location and shape of every one of his tattoos, as well as the story behind them, when he’d recovered. 

He found himself reaching out to touch the exposed skin of his throat, and froze, withdrawing his hand before he could find out if the tattoo was as soft as the rest of him looked.  He exited the room before any other kind of temptation could present itself – such as lifting the covers and crawling into bed beside him, which, despite his feelings and his confidence that they were returned, he doubted Baekhyun would appreciate at this stage of their budding relationship. 

Oh yes, he realised.  Baekhyun was attracted to him.  It was in the way his eyes flicked over every part of him, apparently without Baekhyun even noticing what he was doing.  It was in the light flush that tinged his cheeks whenever Yixing met his eyes, and the way his lips turned up at the corners whenever Yixing did anything.  The only problem was, Baekhyun had just as much trouble meeting Chanyeol’s eyes, and a similar tendency to blush and smile whenever Chanyeol was nearby.  More than once yesterday, Yixing had caught him blushing and looking away from Chanyeol, only to lay eyes on Yixing himself and blush further and avert his gaze to something unrelated.  Chanyeol obviously was attracted to him in return, but his curious sense of honour held him back from starting anything with an employee, and Yixing himself was unsure of whether he wanted to come between Chanyeol and his chance at happiness. 

Since Baekhyun’s room was the only one in the small apartment with a bed, and since he’d already declared it off-limits to himself, Yixing poked around until he found a linen closet with extra blankets and even some brand new pillows that were still in the wrapping.  The sight of the towels reminded him that he needed a shower, and despite his promise not to leave Baekhyun alone, he figured the five minute walk back to his apartment wouldn’t be noticeable by the sleeping editor.  He slipped out and chuckled to himself, wondering how they’d lived so close to one another and yet never run into each other until they met on the bus.  Sweeping into his flat, he found the maid hard at work mopping, and grinned at her.

“I’m staying at a friend’s house tonight, so there’s no need to cook,” he informed her.  She bowed low, reminding him of Baekhyun, and he returned it politely.  She’d been nursemaid, cook, laundress, seamstress, and personal assistant for so long that he sometimes forgot how normal people got by in their lives.  He rifled through his clothes, trying to find something that didn’t make him look like a preteen, and decided that he’d shower at Baekhyun’s to avoid staying away any longer than he already had.  With clothes in hand, he jogged back to Baekhyun’s apartment and let himself in, checking on the sick younger man before stripping and showering quickly.  He saw all kinds of makeup in the bathroom, from concealer to eyeliner, to lipstick and nail polish.  Wondering what kind of life Baekhyun lead before becoming a junior editor for Chanyeol, Yixing dried himself off, and dressed in a comfortable pair of jeans and socks.  He made himself a nest of sorts out of the blanket and curled up on the couch in front of the TV.   

*

The next morning, he awoke refreshed and languid, despite not having slept on the couch since he was a teenager.  He stretched out, then rolled to his feet and decided to check on Baekhyun, who was still sleeping deeply.  His stomach grumbled, and he entered the kitchen, wondering what to make. 

Halfway through the breakfast preparations, a sleepy voice rumbled behind him.  “Good morning.” 

Yixing turned around, feeling domestic.  “You’re up,” he noted.  “How are you feeling?”

“What are you making?” Baekhyun said at the same time, and then blushed becomingly.  Yixing smiled at him.  “You first,” he insisted, jerking his gaze up from Yixing’s chest to his face, and from there focusing on the contents of the stovetop.  Yixing would have given his left hand to know what Baekhyun was thinking in that moment. 

“You sound better,” Yixing said, feeling pleased, and turned the temperature down so that the soup would simmer instead of boil.  He crossed the space between them and felt Baekhyun’s forehead, wanting to ensure the fever had broken, and relaxed as relief washed through him.  “You feel better, too,” he announced, and then deliberately let his eyes roam over Baekhyun’s body, wondering where the tattoos were.  He lost the battle against touching Baekhyun and the skin above the tattoo on his neck, oddly fascinated with the ink.  “Love as thou wilt?” he asked, genuinely curious. 

“It’s,” Baekhyun began, and then cleared his throat.  “It’s from a book,” he said. 

“I see,” Yixing commented distantly, already wondering what kind of book would move Baekhyun to tattoo part of it onto his skin.  He lowered his eyes again, and realised the tantalizing promise of rings was visible through the thin material of his tee shirt.  Vivid recollections of exactly what he wanted to do with those piercings danced through his head, as he tried to reconcile the husky voice on the phone to this innocent kid standing in front of him.  His heart pounded and he became almost dizzy as all the blood in his body rushed south.  Before he could do something silly, like reach out and touch one of them, Baekhyun cleared his throat and backed up in a cute little hitch-step dance. 

“What are you making?” He asked again.  “It smells wonderful.”  Baekhyun’s eyes closed as he inhaled, a habit Yixing was already beginning to find deplorably cute.  

What was he making? He wondered absently.  “Spicy bean sprout soup,” he said finally.  “I’ve heard it’s good for colds.” He remembered where he’d heard that, and decided to try taking the noble route.  “If it’s not, you can blame Channie-yeol.”

“CEO Park?” Baekhyun sounded baffled instead of touched, and Yixing wondered if maybe he’d overestimated Baekhyun’s crush on his boss. 

“He’s the one who suggested it,” Yixing said, hinting that CEO Park was just as concerned about Baekhyun’s unexpected illness as he was.  He sighed internally and gauged the soup, reckoning it was time to add in the final ingredients and serve it.  “Would you like some tea?” he asked, eyes falling on Baekhyun’s new kettle.  He hid a wry grin by turning his head, and wondered what Baekhyun would think when he found out what they’d bought him. 

“Coffee,” Baekhyun said hopefully.  Yixing turned a dour gaze on him. 

“Tea,” he said reproachfully, thinking, You idiot, you’re not drinking coffee when you’re still sick.  “Saengkang tea, or get out of the kitchen,” he added, taking in Baekhyun’s belligerent expression. 

“But I want coffee!”

“You’ll get tea as soon as it’s ready,” Yixing promised, and herded him out of the kitchen.  He filled the kettle and set it on the burner, listening for Baekhyun to come back and whine some more.  It shouldn’t be so cute.  He’s so young. 

“Did you stay the night?” Baekhyun asked suddenly, sounding peculiar.  Worried, Yixing peered around the corner at him. 

“I told you last night I wasn’t going anywhere,” Yixing reminded him.  “Why?”

Baekhyun’s face slowly changed colour from pale to pink as he stared at nothing, gaping like a fish.  “Thank you,” he said faintly, and looked directly at Yixing for the first time since their impromptu staring match.  Yixing felt happiness bubble up inside him as he turned back to the food, and decided he knew why Chanyeol had hired this kid.  He wore his heart right there on his face, but he kept his own secrets well enough, and something about him just made you want to smile all the time.  He plated the food he’d made and set it out on the table, then  leaned out of the kitchen just in time to see Baekhyun go skidding past, practically running into his bedroom. 

“Are you okay?” he called after him, not really concerned.  He’d seen the bag in Baekhyun’s hand and figured the reason for his panic.  He clamped down on the laughter that threatened to bubble over, and added, “Breakfast is ready!”

*

Later, pulling espressos at the coffee shop, Yixing suddenly realised his pendant was missing.  He clutched at his throat, wondering where he’d left it, and prayed that Baekhyun had found it somewhere in his apartment.  That pendant was the most important thing in his life, and he’d die if anything happened to it.

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