“I just don’t understand. Like, if you really look at him he isn’t even all the good looking,” Baekhyun complained to his uncaring best friend, Jongdae, for the nth time that night while scrolling through his phone as they both lounged on their shared dorm floor eating chips instead of doing their history project. “I mean, look at his ears. Whose ears even stick out that far? That’s not even human,”

“Come on Baek, just admit it. You are totally head-over-heels in love with him. You’re just mad that he’s the teacher’s favorite and not you,” Jongdae sighed, grabbing Baekhyun’s phone from his hands. “Come on. Who stalks someone that they hate Instagram for over an hour?”

“Me dimwit, now give it back so I can keep on complaining in peace.” Baekhyun growled as he reached to grab the phone from Jongdae’s grasp. Once recovering the phone he sighed in relief to see the Instagram feed was still open. “And for your information, I am most definitely not ‘head-over-heels in love’ with him. I think he’s a kiss up and a teacher’s pet. Who brings their history professor a batch of freshly baked cookies on the first day of the semester anyway!”

“Park Chanyeol does apparently.” Jongdae said, being as helpful as always. He couldn’t help it though. He’s never seen his best friend so worked up over a guy before, and we’re talking about the school diva, Byun Baekhyun, whose told off the biggest player in school, Kim Jongin, right to his face, and faced the wrath of the most aggressive nerd on the whole campus, Do Kyungsoo, without blinking an eye. Nothing ever bothered him, so it was definitely not like Baekhyun to get worked up over some stranger trying to become the teacher’s pet.

“Why does he smile in every picture. There is no way someone is always that happy. And what's up with that stupid peace sign. So annoying,” Baekhyun muttered unknowingly to himself as his best friend started to brainstorm on a little plan of his own, both of them forgetting entirely about the school work they had met up to do.

~~~~

“Ugh, look at him walking into class as happy as ever. Doesn’t he know school is a place to despise everything and everyone inside of it? You don’t have to act like you like the place or the people. That defeats the entire purpose,” Baekhyun ranted the moment seemingly hated Park Chanyeol skipped through the doors of the college history class with a grin on his face, greeting the teacher as he made his way to his seat a few rows in front of them.

“Baek, you’ve been hating on this guy for an entire week and you’ve never even spoken. Shouldn’t you at least give him a chance and see if he’s such the awful human being you’ve made him out to be?” Jongdae sighed, closing his eyes and laying his head down, getting ready for another hour and a half nap like he always got in history.

Baekhyun stared at his best friend as if had just spoken an alien language. “Who are you and what have you done with my judgemental, always here to let me rant, best friend, Kim Jongdae?” Without waiting for a response, Baekhyun turned his attention back to his victim of hate with a last mutter of, “I don’t even know you anymore”.

An hour and fifteen minutes later into the class and Jongdae had had enough of Baekhyun’s passive aggressive muttering about “how dumb Chanyeol’s ears were” and how “his best friend didn’t even love him anymore”. “That’s it, I’m tired of your . I’m taking matters into my own hands. Time to put operation ‘BaekYeol’ into action!” Jongdae whisper-yelled in Baekhyun’s ear.

“What’s a ‘BaekYeol’-”

The question barely made it off of Baekhyun’s tongue before Jongdae was furiously scribbling a note onto a poorly torn-out sheet of lined notepaper. The next thing they knew the paper was tossed into the air, flying three rows ahead of them, and bounced straight off of the one and only Park Chanyeol’s curly head. Chanyeol glanced around confused before picking up the piece of paper. Baekhyun’s insides felt as if they were being ripped out of him as Chanyeol turned around with a smile, giving a thumbs up to Jongdae and him. Jongdae gladly returned this with a wave just as class ended. “What the actual ?” a white as a sheet Baekhyun stammered out as Jongdae began to gather his things to leave class.

“I invited him out for coffee at the place outside the library in an hour. I figured hating him right to his face was more of the Byun Baekhyun style, you know? So come on, let’s get home so we can decided what outfit you’re gonna wear for this hate-date.”

At that moment Baekhyun realized just how much he hated his best friend.

~~~~    

An hour later Baekhyun and Jongdae found themselves anxiously awaiting their coffee date. Baekhyun tugged nervously at the collar of his black polo shirt, buttoning and ing the top button with two of his school wide known “pretty fingers”. He sighed, finally deciding to leave it ed, and rested his head on his arms. “Why is he so late?”

“Awe, look at you being all nervous for your hate-date.” Jongdae cooed, patting his friends head before checking his watch. “He’s only ten minutes late. Don’t be so impatient.” he added the last part at Baekhyun’s tongue click of annoyance. “I’m sure he’ll be here any second,”  Jongdae smiled, hoping to calm Baekhyun's nerves while silently praying Chanyeol actually showed. Please don’t give him another thing to hate you for, yoda-eared boy!

Jongdae’s prayers were answered when five minutes later the bell of the small coffee shop’s front door chimed and in rushed a tall man with a smile going from ear to ear the moment he spotted the two boys in the corner of the café. He quickly ordered a drink at the counter before racing over to sit with the boys.

“I’m so sorry I’m so late!” Chanyeol apologized at once with a bow before sliding into the booth seat beside Baekhyun (much to said persons dismay). “I’m new to this area of town so finding my way around is still quite the struggle,” Chanyeol laughed, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck embarrassedly.  

“It’s perfectly okay. We didn’t mind, right Baek?” Baekhyun slowly nodded, attempting to shove himself as far into the seat corner as he could, away from Chanyeol and Jongdae’s scary glare. “Anyways, do you know why I called you here Mr. Park?” Jongdae said very seriously as if this was a business meeting, catching both Baekhyun and Chanyeol by surprise.

“Um, your note said you wanted to talk about something with me?” Chanyeol grinned.

Why the heck is he grinning. Most people would be extremely terrified if Jongdae gave them the serious face! So annoying. Baekhyun rolled his eyes and sighed.

“You see, that’s where you’re mistaken. I don’t have anything I wish to discuss with you. My friend here however does. Giving his state of shock I’ll explain the situation to you. You see, my colleague here is completely infuriated by your entire existence. Every little thing you do he criticizes and quite frankly I’m getting sick and tired of his little hate-crush. I told him he can’t hate you without even knowing you, so here we are, coming to get to know you and hopefully stop his hate rants about you once and for all.”

The waitress walked up and placed three iced mochas on the table causing a pause in the conversation, letting Chanyeol gather his thoughts and Baekhyun slowly plan out Jongdae's death. “It’s on me for being late,” Chanyeol said as Baekhyun rolled his eyes once more while Jongdae smiled in thanks. He took a sip of his drink slowly before speaking. “So you want me to try and befriend him?” When Jongdae shrugged, commenting “'Befriend' is a strong word”, Chanyeol laughed before turning to face Baekhyun directly. “So what exactly do you hate about me?”

“Ex-excuse me?” Baekhyun stammered in surprise.

“Well if you hate me I should at least know what it is that you hate about me so that way I can change it, you know?” Chanyeol explained as if it was the most simple thing in the world. “So what is it that you dislike?”

Baekhyun was too overwhelmed to function causing Jongdae to sigh. “I’ll get the list started. He really doesn’t like your ears.” Chanyeol self-consciously touched his ears with a pout. “He thinks they stick out too far for a human,” Chanyeol laughed at this with a nod. "And your hair is too curly,"

“Your smile too. Why are you always happy? So annoying,” Baekhyun said, not quite as sassy as he intended but at least he spoke without stuttering. Chanyeol laughed even louder than before.

“True. I guess it would be quite annoying for someone who seems to be so pessimistic with all the hating he’s doing,” Chanyeol winked, making Baekhyun wrinkle his nose in disgust but a smile slightly grew on his lips after that. All of the awkwardness that seemed to hang in the air before vanished and by the end of the night Baekhyun left with a clear smile on his face and a new cell phone number in his pocket.

~~~~

“Who you textin’?” Jongdae asked, taking his seat next to Baekhyun in history. When Baekhyun didn’t respond he snapped his fingers in the others ear causing him to jump. “I asked who you were texting. Gosh, pay attention to me next time,” Baekhyun merely glared at him before his phone buzzed indicating a text. Without responding he picked it up and giggled at the contents. That’s right, Byun Baekhyun giggled like a twelve year old girl at a text message. “So I’m guessing Chanyeol, again.”

It had been a week since their coffee shop visit and all Baekhyun seemed to do now was text his new friend about god knows what. Whatever it was it seemed to make him smile and laugh constantly so that was a good sign. All Baekhyun ever told Jongdae when he asked what they were talking about was usually along the lines of, “It’s honestly too stupid to understand”.

“So are you excited to see him in person again?" Jongdae asked once Baekhyun placed his phone on the table. "And this time you don’t even hate him.”

“Who said I stopped hating him?” Jongdae groaned upon hearing this, placing his head in his hands. “Oh, here he comes!” Baekhyun whispered. Jongdae watched as Chanyeol jogged up the steps of where they were sitting, saying hi to him with a nod, then moving around his chair to take the empty chair besides Baekhyun. Jongdae laughed at how happy Baekhyun seemed for Chanyeol to sit by him before closing his eyes and going to sleep.

“That color looks gross on you,” Baekhyun commented on Chanyeols plain, dark blue t-shirt. He reached over and pulled a piece of white dog hair, apparently from Chanyeol’s Chinese roommate, Zitao’s, dog named Candy who Chanyeol loved with a passion. "And you're covered in dog hair, so gross."   

“Great, I’ll make sure to wear this shirt a lot then,” Chanyeol grinned. “But come on Baek, you haven’t even commented on my hair this morning and I changed it up just for you. I was sure it would be the first thing you’d say something about. You said it was too curly so I changed it. Ah, what a let down,” Baekhyun looked up at Chanyeol’s normally curly black hair to find it straightened, a snapback barely hanging on to the back of his head highlighting his oversized ear. I guess I was too excited to see him that I didn’t even notice the change.  

“It’s just so ugly that I figured I might as well not even say anything about it to save you the pain,”

“Whatever, I know you love it.” Chanyeol grinned, pretending to flip his hair, before focusing on whatever the teacher had been trying to explain, but not ignoring the last “so annoying,” Baekhyun muttered that he would be lying if he said didn’t make his heart flutter.

~~~~

After class ended, and Baekhyun finally woke Jongdae up, Chanyeol made up his mind. “Baekhyun, go on a date with me.” he said out of the blue, loud enough for everyone around them to hear.

“Wh-what?” Baekhyun and Jongdae stammered out together, one in disbelief and the other about to die from laughter. Chanyeol face turned slightly pink as he rubbed the back of his neck and avoided both of their eyes.

“I figured that if you hate me I might as well attempt to make you like me so I’m asking you out. Go on a date with me right now.”

“He most definitely will!” Jongdae said, shoving his best friend towards the taller boy before racing out of the classroom without looking back.  

“If I must,” Baekhyun gave out an annoyed sigh and the two set out to go on their date.

After a twenty minute walk, they somehow wound up at a small ice cream stand a little ways off campus in an outside shopping center neither of them had ever been to before. “What flavor?” Chanyeol asked after pulling out his wallet. Baekhyun looked at all of the flavors like an overwhelmed little kid, causing Chanyeol to laugh at how cute he was being. Finally, he decided on a plain chocolate cone while Chanyeol got a vanilla. Baekhyun eagerly his ice cream, shaking his head in joy at how good his decision was.

“Thank you for the ice cream,” Baekhyun smiled at Chanyeol as they walked over to the nearby bench. Chanyeol just nodded as they sat down in a comfortable silence, both satisfied with the sweet food. “Can I try that?” Baekhyun asked after a while, pointing to Chanyeol’s ice cream cone. Without waiting for a response, he leant over and quickly a section Chanyeol had yet to touch. “Heh, mine is better.” he bragged to a still shocked Chanyeol.

“I’ll be judge of that,” Grabbing Baekhyun’s arm that held the ice cream, he pulled it towards him taking a bite out of it. “Ahh, you do win.” He said after a moment of very cold chewing.

“Told ya,” he laughed. “Even your taste in ice cream is bad,”

~~~~

They walked around a while longer after finishing up the ice cream, going into many different shops. Chanyeol quickly paid for his purchase in the last little accessory shop without Baekhyun noticing then quickly shoved it into his pocket and left to start heading back to the campus.

“So,” Chanyeol started after they walked for a few minutes. “Did this date make you hate me less?”

“Maybe,” Baekhyun laughed under his breath. Chanyeol smiled at this comforting answer then quickly decided to make the mood he had been wanting to make all night long. He quickly reached out and slipped his fingers in between Baekhyun long, pretty ones, tightening the grip when the shocked hand tried to let go. “What are you doing?” Baekhyun asked, not trying to hide how shocked he was.

“I’ve been wanting to hold your hand this entire date but I had to make sure that you may not hate me as much as before. So now for the last few minutes of our date I’ve worked up enough courage to finally make my first move and, if this goes well, I may make my second once I drop you off at your dorm room,” Chanyeol explained nonchalantly, as if explaining to your date your exact game plan was the normal thing to do.

“I hate your logic,” was all Baekhyun commented as his heart skipped a beat. His slim fingers however tightened slightly around the hand covering his own.

~~~~

After this, holding hands became a normal thing for the two of them. Hugging, Chanyeol’s second move that he made at the door, was still an awkward motion that made Baekhyun’s heart flutter every time Chanyeol would randomly decide to throw his arms around the smaller boy.

“So, are you two, like, dating now?” Jongdae asked as Baekhyun got back from his third date with Chanyeol that week.

“Ew, no. I hate him, remember?” Baekhyun said matter-a-factly while hanging up his coat by the door and taking off his shoes. “We aren’t dating. We’re more in a love-hate relationship,” he explained. "He loves me, I hate him. It's a normal thing."

“Uh-huh. Well Baek, that’s not how this works. At least I don’t think so. People that dislike each other don’t text each other nonstop and they sure as heck don’t go on dates. You guys hold hands for crying out loud,” Jongdae explained, feeling as if he may go crazy if Baekhyun denied that he was dating Chanyeol again.

“Yeah, but we just talk about how much I dislike him while we hold hands so-” a pillow hit him square in the face not allowing him to continue.

“Dislike him? I thought you just said that you hated him,” Jongdae teased as Baekhyun threw the pillow back.

“No, I can only hate one person at a time and right now that’s you.”

~~~~  

"I hate you," Baekhyun giggled as Chanyeol made airplane noises, "flying" the piece of cake up to his lips.

"Open up for the landing! Wee!" Chanyeol laughed, plopping the cake into Baekhyun's open mouth. "Now time for the rocketship, blast off!"

"You two are actually the most disgusting creatures I've ever laid eyes on," Jongdae gaged from his bed on the opposite side of the dorm room. "Actually kill yourselves,"

"Now Jongie, that's not very nice." Chanyeol said sternly pointing a finger in the said haters’ direction. "You know you're just jealous that you don't have fun with anyone like this. You're just how one of my roommates, Sehun, is. I'll introduce you to him. It should be perfect since you're both sassy and arrogant as all heck and hate people in love, you jealous -cakes," In unison the cake eating couple stuck out their tongues earning the always pleasant response of the middle finger.  

"And that's my signal to leave," Chanyeol laughed, getting up from his spot on Baekhyun's bed before helping the smaller boy up. Baekhyun walked Chanyeol to the door, his hand snug in the bigger boys, a pout resting on his lips.

"Why do you have to leave right now? You can just sleep in Jongdae's bed, I'll kick him out," Baekhyun pouted, pulling on the front of Chanyeols shirt eagerly.

"I heard that!" Jongdae shouted over to the door sounding irritated.

"I would if I could, but unlike your lazy I have a class in the morning," Chanyeol sighed putting on his shoes before turning around, placing his hands on Baekhyun's frail waist.

"I hate your stupid will to graduate," Baekhyun muttered, draping his arms loosely around Chanyeols neck. Chanyeol grinned with a nod before leaning in and placing a soft kiss on Baekhyun's forehead.

"Bye Baekkie," he said with a smile before leaving out the door (of course yelling a bye to "Jonggie"  just to irritate the said boy even more).

Baekhyun watched the door shut in front of him before sadly returning to his bed. "I hate it when he leaves," he muttered, his face pressing into his pillow.

"It seems like you feel a lot for him," Jongdae murmured under his breath just loud enough for the other to hear, spiking his curiosity.

"What do you mean, Jongdae?"

"Well, you're always telling him how you feel. Telling him you hate something or "hate" something. It just seems like you're sharing all your feelings and he just laughs and smiles, never returning any of your thoughts. I don't know, that's just how it seems to me. I hope you aren't being played,"

"Being played? What do you mean?" Baekhyun asked back, feeling a twinge of anger rising in him. Chanyeol may not say his feelings back but I can tell, can't I?

"Well, I've heard some talk that when Chanyeol was in high school he was a big player. He would lead girls and guys on, date multiple of them for months at a time, make them trust him, and then once he got bored or got what he wanted he would cut it all off. I heard that he even lead Kim Jongin on for awhile right before school started," Jongdae informed him. Was Jongdae even in his right mind? How could the dorky, always smiley Park Chanyeol be a player? There was no way any of that was true. And to lead the school player on? Yeah right. The fact that Jongdae actually believed it irritates me even farther.

Baekhyun in air, annoyed at everything Jongdae just said. "You're in a bad mood so I'm going to disregard everything you just spoke about. Filthy peasant," and with that Diva Baek faced away from his friend and faked asleep.

"God, I was only trying to help you not get hurt. Not my fault you don't even know anything about the person that you love,"