Paradise closed five minutes ago. Yixing had a late shift most of the nights, so he was often alone in the ice cream's shop. That night wasn't different from the other as all his fellow employees already went home. He was cleaning the counter with a towel while humming a tune when he heard three loud knocks. He looked up at the door, and furrowed his eyebrows when he saw who was gesturing at him to open it.

 

Knowing that he would need hours of useless explanations for his friend to understand that the door was open, Yixing stopped what he was doing and walked all the way to the front to pull it open. Letting a wobbling Baekhyun enter the shop, he instantly asked, "How many bottles?"

 

Baekhyun held up two thumbs up and exclaimed, "Four!"

 

Yixing sighed. "Baekhyun, you need to stop."

 

Scoffing and walking past Yixing, Baekhyun staggered towards the counter. Yixing was surprised he managed to sit on the stool without his help. Aware that leaving a drunk Baekhyun alone in the shop would lead to Jongdae firing him, Yixing quickly walked to the fridge to fetch a water bottle and posed it in front of Baekhyun as he took the seat accross from him. Baekhyun merely stared at the bottle, as though he didn't know what he should do with it. Yixing sighed again.

 

"Drink," he said after taking off the lid of the bottle and handing it to Baekhyun who frowned at it.

 

"How do you know I need water? You're a freaking unicorn!"

 

Yixing watched as Baekhyun, despite his statement, gulped down a good half of the bottle. The reason behind his drunk state was usually really bad when Baekhyun called him an unicorn, and from past experiences, Yixing knew he wasn't going to leave the shop before hearing the full story.

 

Baekhyun put down the bottle carelessly. Huffing, he lolled his head in Yixing's direction, showcasing him two bleary eyes and lips pressed into a thin line.

 

"Once upon time..." Baekhyun began, and Yixing sighed.

 

This was going to be a long night.

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

Feeling clean and fresh after a long day, Chanyeol got out of the bathroom with a blissful sigh.

 

After leaving Sehun at the cafeteria, he had returned to his room to drop his bag. He had been surprised to find it empty as he expected Jongin to be there and was looking forward to talk with him or play a game to loosen up. Thus, after deciding that he really needed a hot shower, he searched for his phone to call his roommate. He got the answer to his question when Jongin told him that he was with Kyungsoo. Chanyeol took the oportunity to ask if Baekhyun was with them, but Jongin said he had left twenty minutes ago to search for him.

 

As he dried his hair with a towel, Chanyeol wondered why Baekhyun was looking for him, but he decided it didn't matter since he had his number and would find out simply by calling him. He didn't ask Jongin whose voice was strained and sounded more than eager to hang up and spend more time with Kyungsoo. It didn't take a genius to figure out what they were doing as Chanyeol could hear ragged breathings in the background. He apologized awkwardly, thankful that Jongin had the decency to pick up even though he was busy doing not so innocent things with his boyfriend.

 

Anyway, staring at his phone's screen, Chanyeol went through his list of contact and frowned, slightly frustrated that he couldn't find Baekhyun, until he fell upon a peculiar contact name. Chanyeol laughed as he finally remembered that Baekhyun registered himself as 'Your Bae ❤'. Smiling, he dialed the number but, to his surprise, the voice that answered wasn't Baekhyun's.

 

"Hi... Yeolie, right?"

 

"Yeah... I guess?" Chanyeol said carefully. "Uh, who are you?"

 

"A friend of Baekhyun. You should hurry though, Baekhyun's in some bad shape."

 

Chanyeol instantly panicked. "W-what? What happened? Where is Baekhyun?!"

 

"Baekhyun's at Paradise. You know the ice cream shop, right?"

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

 

As soon as Chanyeol entered the shop, panting, he scanned the place in search for Baekhyun. He concluded that he didn't need to as the person he was looking for found him first.

 

"Chanyeol-ah!" Baekhyun cried, running towards him with oustretched arms and looping them around his neck as he threw himself on Chanyeol who caught him just in time. Quickly getting over his initial shock, Chanyeol let out a sigh of relief as Baekhyun seemed fine and, well, happy, really happy. Still, Chanyeol gently took hold of Baekhyun's chin and turned his face around, checking for any injury just in case, but he thankfully found none.

 

"What happened to you..." he mumbled as Baekhyun's face felt really warm against his palm.

 

"Baekhyun drank," Yixing chirped, causing Chanyeol to look up and wonder how this person could sound so happy when his friend was completely wasted.

 

"I can see that, but why?"

 

Yixing shrugged. "I don't know, but it's probably because of you."

 

Chanyeol blinked. "Me?"

 

"Yes!" Baekhyun yelled gleefully, nodding his head firmly in confirmation.

 

Chanyeol looked down at Baekhyun who had both his arms tightly wrapped around his waist and was blinking up at him repeatedly with a wide, toothy grin. He then looked back at Yixing and frowned. "Why? What did I do?"

 

"Well I'm not sure, but he kept talking about 'his man' and 'his baby'."

 

 

 

~

 

 

 

When Sehun returned to the room, he found Luhan laying down and reading a letter. A little frown was on his face as he did so. Sehun smiled.

 

"What are you doing?"

 

Luhan started. "S-Sehun? I–" With wide eyes, he attempted to hide the letters under his pillow by sneakily passing them behind his back, probably hoping that Sehun wouldn't notice.

 

Sehun advanced towards the bed. "Do you know that you can go to jail for reading someone else's mail?"

 

"I, yeah, I– I was just– well–"

 

"Reading someone else's mail?"

 

Luhan pursed his lips. Sehun chuckled.

 

"What? Are you envious?" Sehun asked smudgly as he laid down next to him.

 

Luhan huffed. "Of your fans who find you attractive when you're clearly not? No, I'm not."

 

Sehun scoffed. "Right, you're jealous and a pressed liar."

 

"Shut up," Luhan mumbled as he snuggled closer to Sehun. "I hate you."

 

Sehun watched him with an amused smile. "There's plenty of place on the bed."

 

"I know."

 

"Then why do you insist on sticking to someone you hate?"

 

"Because you're warm and comfortable, now shut up."

 

Sehun shook his head. "So rude..."

 

A comfortable silence passed through them. A silence that awoke Sehun's thoughts as he absentmindly ran his fingers through Luhan's hair. Chanyeol's words were still here, lingering in his mind and, after reflection, now that Sehun understood their meaning, he knew that Chanyeol was right.

 

Sehun had always been scared of losing. Being forced to give or being robbed, he couldn't bear the pain provoked by the separation with something or someone he held dear to his heart. He wanted to trust Luhan, but a part of him couldn't get rid of the fact that Luhan could leave for a reason he found necessary. He knew that Luhan loved him, but he also knew that Luhan was ready to let him go if he