It's a rainy, chilly, mid-autumn morning, and Chanyeol wakes up even before the alarm clock on his nighstand starts ringing, obnoxiously and loudly, to life. He reaches out to turn it off, already too alert to go back to sleep, and lets his mouth stretch open in a silent yawn. His feet flex beneath the soft, worn sheets, cracking dully and relieving some of the tension in his muscles from the gruelling dance practice the night before. 

There is a soft, sleepy noise to his left, and his gaze slides to the side while a lazy, sleepy smile graces his lips. Baekhyun has his face smushed into the pillow, lips pouting cutely as more quiet sounds leave his mouth, sounding like a puppy's mewls more than anything else, and Chanyeol is hit wih a wave of affection towards the smaler boy. There are arms wrapped around his middle and, as he shifts closer to his sleeping friend, their grip around him tightens until Baekhyun can press himself completely against his side, abandoning the pillow in favor of snuggling into Chanyeol's chest, instead.

Chanyeol thinks, not for the first or last time in his lifetime, that Baekhyun may very well be the most beautiful person he's ever known. 

He lets his gaze wander lazily over the expanse of Baekhyun's pale face. The skin of his right cheek is pink from being pressed against the pillow for too long, and he can just barely make out the pattern of its stitches lightly engraved beneath the shorter boy's eye. His long lashes cast shadows across his cheekbones, fluttering every few seconds as Baekhyun sleeps, his eyes fluttering behind closed lids. When he breathes out, his lips form an O-shape, pouty and full, and Chanyeol has to use up all of the self-control he has in him this early in the morning, because if he didn't he'd let himself reach out, kiss the boy awake. But it's far too early for either of them to be up, and Baekhyun had gone to bed late last night, so he manages to refrain from doing so for now. 

Instead, his hands roam the bare expanse of Baekhyun's arms and sides, fingers dancing carefully, barely-there touches fluttering against pale skin, and he has to bite his lip to keep from laughing when Baekhyun shivers at his touch a few times, even in his sleep, and shifts away from him slightly. Chanyeol's hands find the other's much smaller ones, enveloping them with his long fingers, bringing them up to his lips and pressing feather-light kisses to each knuckle before cradling their joint hands against his chest. 

Baekhyun makes another noise, of quiet distress, and burrows deeper into the warmth of Chanyeol's embrace, plastered to his side once again, so close that there is not an empty space between their bodies. His heart swells three times its usual size, beating painfully against the confines of his chest, and he's reminded once again how much he loves this boy. Loves every part of him, especially in moments like this, when it's just the two of them beneath warm sheets and no intention of getting out for at least another few hours, when he can allow himself to look at Baekhyun without having to pace himself, remind himself to not look for too long without blinking, because there are always cameras and watchful eyes around.

Right now, though, it's just his eyes that are open, and they aren't prying for anything other than more of Baekhyun. He can never get enough, no matter how long he looks or how much he touches or how many thoughts run through his mind. He'll never get used to this- the permanent stutter his heart gives when their eyes meet, or when their fingers lace together, or when he hears Baekhyun call his name. Even after so much time together, learning each other for years, knowing every single detail about each other, Chanyeol has to stop and stare sometimes, because this boy is his everything. 

Chanyeol smiles, small and uninhibited, and presses a kiss to Baekhyun's forehead. 

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me.", he whispers against the smaller boy's skin, shifting to kiss at his temple, and then at a soft cheek. 

Baekhyun sighs in his sleep, a little smile playing at the corners of his lips. He must be having a nice dream, Chanyeol thinks, and hopes that the smile is for him.

This is very new to Chanyeol. He's never known tenderness like this before. He's never held someone's heart in his hands. All his life, he's been clumsy- too tall and lanky and uncoordinated, with fingers too uncertain to hold anything of any value for fear of dropping it, sending it toppling to the ground and shattering into teeny tiny fragments that could never be glued back together again. No one has ever given him their love like this, and he's never been brave enough to ask, to give them his own in return.

But Baekhyun has always been different, even from the start, when he hadn't laughed at Chanyeol when he'd slipped immediately uppon stepping doot into the practice room on their very first day as trainees. Instead, he'd helped him up, reaching a hand out and introducing himself with a kind smile.

Now, Chanyeol gives his love without thinking twice about it. He lays himself bare, knowing very well that Baekhyun will keep his heart safe in his small, gentle hands.

"You're staring at me.", he hears Baekhyun's sleepy voice mumble, mouth moving with hot puffs of air against his skin, and the smaller boy nuzzles his face into the crook of Chanyeol's neck, inhaling his sleep-warm scent.

Chanyeol snorts. "Your eyes are closed." 

"I can feel it.", comes the quick reply, and Chanyeol feels slender arms looping around his middle again, tightening their hold until Baekhyun is laying almost completely on top of him. 

"You're like an octopus when you wake up.", he laughs, running gentle fingers through Baekhyun's soft, brown hair, ruffling it as he goes. It earns him a pleased sound from the boy laying against his chest, nuzzling sleepily into the fabric of his sweater, and his chest fills with warmth all over again. 

He lifts a hand to Baekhyun's chin, tilting his face up until he can lean down and press his lips against the other boy's, pulling away with a loud smacking noise that makes Baekhyun giggle.

He hums, pecking him two more times before moving on to press kisses to Baekhyun's nose, then both of his cheeks, before gently pressing his lips, just barely, against eyelids that flutter closed at his touch. He cradles Baekhyun's face in his hands with all the tenderness that he'd never had before, and is hit with a wave of love that he'd never hoped to feel so strongly. 

"I love you.", he whispers, kissing the smaller again, smiling against his lips when he feels an answering grin against his own. "I love you, I love you, I love you." 

He punctuates the words with a kiss each time, making Baekhyun laugh in response but pulling away before the other boy even has a chance to kiss back. 

"Mmf", Baekhyun pouts, bottom lip jutting out childishly, and shifts until his palms are cupping Chanyeol's cheeks, smushing them together playfully. "Kiss me properly, pabo." 

Chanyeol huffs a laugh and obliges, pulling Baekhyun down for a real kiss this time, playfullness aside but all the happiness still present in his chest, where his heart stutters every few minutes with the other boy kissing him back eagerly. 

They pull away only when the need for oxygen outweighs the pleasant feeling of having each other so close. Baekhyun grins down at him, glancing momentarily to the clock on the nightstand and smiling when he sees that they still have an hour before they have to get up and face another day of schedules. He plops back down and lets his eyes flutter closed, hands in the fabric of Chanyeol's sweater, if only to make sure the other boy doesn't get any idea to move away (not that he would, of course). 

"Go back to sleep.", he mumbles, interrupted mid-sentence by a loud yawn. 

Chanyeol laughs at him, his eyes already drifting closed. The bed is warm and comfortable, and Baekhyun is still laying on top of him but he really doesn't have it in himself to mind. They still have an hour of this, and he's content to spend it with the other boy's warm breath fanning against the side of his face and his arms around his smaller frame, pulling him impossibly closer because nothing is ever close enough with Baekhyun. 

The last thing he hears before drifting off is the warm mumble of "I love you" exhaled against his neck, and then Baekhyun presses a kiss to his jaw, and all he can do is smile before sleep overcomes him completely.