You squint your eyes at the male opposite you, who looks too jovial. Baekhyun is bright and happy, and even Jongin can sense that something is up with him. Sehun is the most wary, however. Junmyeon stares at his friend.

"What's up with you?" he finally asks the question all of you have been thinking.

"I'm not a teacher anymore," Baekhyun shrugs, grinning. You set your cutlery on the table while the other perk up in their seats. He glances at all of you before landing his eyes on you. "And you can still do architecture — if you want."

"Mr. Yoo let her?" Junmyeon raises an eyebrow.

"Actually..." His grin turns into a smirk when he is reminded of what happened this morning.

Baekhyun stared in shock at what was happening before him. Mr. Yoo and Taeyee didn't even notice his presence until he snapped out of it and cleared his throat. Mr. Yoo immediately shoves Taeyee off of his body.

"B-Baekhyun," he greets the boy shakily, his face red as he glares at Taeyee. Baekhyun doesn't say anything because he is too shell shocked. So Mr. Yoo asks, "Is there any—"

Now, Baekhyun's mind starts to reel as he shakes his head and slides the letter in his hand carefully and discreetly into his pocket.

"I think I came at the wrong time, I'll just go."

Before he leaves the room, however, Mr. Yoo calls him back. "We have to talk about just now—"

"No, you know what, it's fine," Baekhyun shakes his head, looking as unconvincing as he can. "I won't tell anyone."

Taeyee rolls her eyes, face red. She can't keep quiet anymore, so she snaps, "What the did you come here for, Baekhyun?" He opens his mouth to reply but then she intercepts him, threatening, "He knows about you and her."

"I just... I wanted to give this to you," Baekhyun pulls out his resignation letter from his pocket and hands it out to Mr. Yoo.

"Why?" The older male enquires, eyes wide. "Just because of that girl? You do realise that students only do this for the grades, right?" Baekhyun doesn't miss the glance he makes at Taeyee. "For extra credits?"

"I love her," Baekhyun answers easily, shaking his head. "She's definitely not as promiscuous as to do this just for the grades," he says assuredly. "Can't say the same for all students though."

He glances at Taeyee again and she finally explodes from all the glances made her way. "You guys are disgusting!" she snarls. "You think I won't report you to the higher ups? Because I will!"

"Then go!" Mr. Yoo snaps, pointing at the door. Taeyee is surprised at his change in tone and voice. "If you think they will hear you out, go!" Then he turned to Baekhyun, holding out his palm, "And I'll accept that letter."

"Even though he is in a relationship with his student?!" she screeched. "After all I've told you about them?!"

"Aren't you doing the same thing with me, Shin Taeyee?" he asked rhetorically, staring with a dead face at the girl. Then he looked to Baekhyun. "I won't sabotage you and your little girlfriend if you don't do it to me."

"Of course not!" Baekhyun nodded his head a bit too excitedly as he turned to the door, too eager to leave this place and to freely love you.

"And you," Mr. Yoo pointed to Taeyee as he set the letter on his table. "Get out."

"No way!" Junmyeon gasps, eyes wide.

You laugh hysterically, finding everything just so funny and so unreal. Baekhyun smiles and covers your hand with his, lacing his fingers with yours.

"So now you can concentrate on graduating," Junmyeon grins at Baekhyun. "Since you were so preoccupied with everything that was happening."

"And you can study for your finals," Sehun adds, pointing a finger at you.

You roll your eyes. The waitress comes with the food and Jongin reaches around Sehun's side to pull him closer so that he doesn't get burnt by the hot plate. Your best friend turns his body a little so that his chest is pressed against Jongin's arm, their faces close together. You glance at the two older males, hoping they're not uncomfortable with the skinship shown between two males. However, they both sport tiny smiles on their faces.

"Let's eat," Jongin mutters when the waitress has gone, unaware of the smiles on your faces.

Sehun notices though, so he frowns at the three of you. "What?"

Baekhyun shakes his head, trying to keep his smile in, while you hide your giggles by burying your face in your boyfriend's neck. Sehun squints his eyes at you and Baekhyun chuckles softly as he takes some food for you. You feel a flick on the back of your head, courtesy of Oh Sehun.

"Where are we going?" you giggle when Baekhyun takes you out on a drive a week after your exams have finished.

"Secret," he grins at you, eyes twinkling with excitement and cheeks rosy with adrenaline.

You don't know how long the drive is going to be, but you have already left Seoul and onto the highway to another province. And this time, Baekhyun's car is playing the radio instead of his usual classical music. Truth be told, you kind of miss it, but you're not complaining about having to listen to newer songs. The atmosphere in the car is great; you and Baekhyun don't talk but the smiles you send each other and the humming to the songs add to the good vibe.

The car finally slows down when it nears a lit clearing. You frown, unsure what this is until the car drives out of the narrow pathway and into the clearing where two large screens are set up, each with a different film projected on the white screen. You whip your head around in surprise and though Baekhyun isn't looking at you, he has a small smile playing on his lips.

"A drive-in movie theatre?" you whisper in awe, looking around the place.

"Mmhmm," he glances at you as he parks the car at a vacant spot that has good viewing of the film.

"How'd you even find this in Korea?"

Baekhyun shrugs and stretches to the back seat to get a bag full of snacks. "A friend told me about this so I thought we could start collecting our firsts together."

He places the bag on your lap and tunes the radio frequency. He unbuckles his seatbelt and reclines his seat once he has tuned the radio to the film's audio. You unbuckle yourself as well, but instead of reclining your seat, you climb over to Baekhyun. He chuckles at your clumsiness as you knock things over, his hands are on your bum to keep you from falling. You drop the bag of snacks on your empty seat and lay your head on his chest, curling up in his embrace. Baekhyun's arms around you feels tight and secure.

"You smell nice," he murmurs against your hair as his hand rubs your back under your shirt.

"You always say that," you chuckle quietly, glancing up at him.

"Because you always smell like home," he stares down at you before kissing your forehead. "And I'll always come home to you."

You don't say anything, because you know that if you did, you'd probably end up kissing him through tears. Instead, you snuggle closer to him and rub his chest, feeling the contours and muscles beneath your palm. The two of you watch the movie like this for about half an hour before you sit up carefully. Baekhyun shifts his attention from the screen to you, his hand that is wedged in your jeans and grabbing your pushes your body closer to him.

"What's up, sweetheart?" he murmurs, eyes worried.

"I want some chips," you tell him, grabbing the bag of snacks from the empty seat. You place it on Baekhyun's chest as you rummage through it. "What did you get?"

"I got some chocolates and potato chips," he answers, looking into the bag as well. You pull out a strawberry flavoured chocolate and he snatches it out of your hand right away. "Don't!"

You roll your eyes, chuckling. "My allergy doesn't go to that extent, Baekhyun. I'm fine." You hold out your hands and show him how clean and rash-free they are. "See?"

"I just didn't want you touching my chocolate," he teases, rolling his eyes playfully as well. "Who cares about your allergy?"

You poke his cheek and he giggles quietly, grabbing your finger. You spread your hand and he laces his fingers with yours. With your free hand, you grab a random packet of chips and throw the rest of the bag to the side before claiming your previous position again.

"You're gonna eat like that?" Baekhyun chuckles, watching you in amusement as you feed yourself chips lazily while laying on his chest. You nod your head and he clucks his tongue like a mother. "Terrible."

"Shhh," you shush him, reaching up to peck his lips. He lets out a short squeal in surprise of receiving the kiss and you say, "Be quiet, the movie's playing."

"Baekhyun," you call, your head hanging off the edge of the bed as you stretch your arms out towards him. "Stop studying and cuddle with me," you whine shamelessly and Baekhyun turns from the study table where he is concentrating on his work.

"Baby," he sighs, pouting a little. "You know I'm busy now. Just one more month, okay?"

"Half of summer would be gone by then," you complain. "I'm so bored..."

Baekhyun sighs before pushing his chair further from the table. He swivels around and extends his arms out, inviting you to join him. Even though the office chair is only enough for one, you rush over and sit on his lap. He kisses your cheek before worming the chair towards his computer, getting to his work again.

"You'll watch me do my work then," he mutters next to your ear as he rests his chin on your shoulder.

"How fun," you say lifelessly. So instead of watching him do his work, you shower his neck and chin with kisses.

Baekhyun moans quietly when you start nibbling and on that sensitive spot just below his ear. "Baby..." he breathes, his pen already on the table and his hands now on you. "Stop it," he pleads weakly. You don't listen. "Seriously," he sighs, pushing you away lightly. You must have looked hurt because he rubs your back and kisses you. "I really have to get this done by Friday... I'll spend more time with you afterwards, okay?"

You can only grunt and leave him, flopping back on the bed unhappily. Baekhyun stares at you but you don't acknowledge him just to let him know that you're annoyed with him. For two whole minutes, he doesn't take his eyes off you. He then lets out a loud sigh when you turn your back to him and goes back to doing his work.

You remember the time in Paris when Baekhyun was always getting his project done, no matter how late it was or how tired he was. It was worrying, and you remember telling him to stop working so hard. He said he was only doing this for the future of his family and though you didn't know him all that well then, you still felt unfair for his future wife who will have a workaholic as a husband. You really shouldn't have thought that way because it seems like you'll be that pitiful wife.

A while later, when you're propped up against the wall with a pillow between your back and the wall, playing with your phone, you feel a dip in the mattress. You look up in curiosity, only to see Baekhyun crawling on all fours to get to you. You set your phone down slowly, suspicious eyes on your boyfriend approaching you with his work still undone on the table.

"I'm sorry," he mutters as he pulls on your ankles so that your body slides down the mattress and he is hovering over you. "I should know how to balance my life." You nod and he leans down to press his lips on your collarbone. "And in this case, putting you first before anything."

"Your work is important," you murmur even though that selfish part of you don't really mean it.

"You're my present and my future," Baekhyun mumbles against your skin, hands slowly sliding your underwear down your legs. "I should focus more on you."

You moan softly when he smooths your inner thighs with his nimble fingers. You don't want to be the nice guy anymore, especially with Baekhyun touching you like this. So you let that selfish part of you take over and tangle your fingertips in his soft hair, letting him put all his focus on you.

Your father is chatting with Baekhyun over breakfast about things guys talk about. Your mother has talked to your father about you dropping your Archecture degree and he agreed to it, only because Baekhyun was there to promise that he would help out at the workshop. You should also mention Baekhyun added that he is going to marry you so your father shouldn't ever worry about no one taking over his legacy of a workshop. It was both embarrassing and heart-fluttering for you to hear that with your mother squealing behind her hand.

You have a leg propped up across Baekhyun's thighs and his thumb is unconsciously rubbing your skin as he listens to your father say something. The morning feels so normal and peaceful that when the door bursts open, you almost jump out of your skin, hitting your knee on the underside of the table and dropping your fork on the plate clumsily. The conversation with your father and Baekhyun stops abruptly while Baekhyun caresses your leg in hopes to calm you down.

Sehun comes running down the hall, carrying a puppy in his hands. You let out a big breath and roll your eyes. Did he really have to make such a dramatic entrance?

"Jongin bought a puppy yesterday!" he announces, shoving the cute spotted puppy in your face.

Even though you're exasperated by his energy, you still coo as you take the puppy from him. "You're so cute!" you squeal, its head.

Kai appears next to Sehun and nods at your parents in greeting. Then he grins at you. "She's a beagle."

"What's her name?" Baekhyun asks, reaching over to scratch the puppy's chin. You glance at him and see that he has a somewhat fatherly smile on his face.

"It says here," Kai murmurs, holding the metal tag on the collar. You turn to him and see that his arm is slipped in the little space between Sehun's arm and body. "Honey."

"I'll get another and name it Butter, then," you joke. "So together they'll be Honey Butter."

Sehun laughs and holds his hand up for a high five. You give it to him while Kai rolls his eyes. "No wonder the both of you are best friends."

"Why?" you chuckle. Your mother comes over to pat the puppy too.

"I said the exact same thing," Sehun tells you, winking. "We're the A team."

"You guys are idiots, that's what you are," Jongin mutters, nudging Sehun away slightly before removing his arm from the link.

"Have you boys eaten?" your mother asks, ever so practical.

"Yes, thank you," Sehun nods. But then he sees the bacon and french toast on your plate. "But if you're making more bacon then no, not yet."

You groan and punch his hip, which makes him flick your ear. The both of them sit next to you and Bsekhyun while your mother cooks for them. This time, your father and Baekhyun engage a conversation with Kai. You carry the puppy and set her on Sehun's lap.

"So how are you results?" Sehun asks softly, not wanting anyone to hear and put pressure on you.

You shake your head, watching him absentmindedly the puppy with his big hand. "I haven't checked. Baekhyun said he'd help me later."

"Like how he did last semester?" he raises an eyebrow. You bob your head. He hums. "What about your architecture degree?"

"Dad let me off," you grin. "Baekhyun saved me from that torture."

"Heard he also saved you from having to find a husband in the future."

Your blush is instantaneous. "Wh-what?"

"He texted me and asked me for permission to marry you," Sehun wiggles his eyebrows in an annoying manner.

"When?!" you whisper-hiss.

"Three days ago, I think," he shrugs.

"So what did you say?"

Your mother places a plate of bacon and French toast in front of him. "Thanks, auntie!" he beams at her. Honey starts sniffing the plate and Sehun plops her back on your lap so he can begin eating. You prod his elbow and he grunts. "I said okay."

You are in shock, really. You turn to Baekhyun and see that he is concentrating on what Kai is saying, though he is massaging your calf without thinking. He must have sensed your stare because he glances at you and catches your eye straight away. His lips curl into a smile and you look down out of bashfulness. You hear his quiet chuckle and a spark of warmth blooms within your chest before spreading throughout your body, all the way to your fingertips. 

Listening to the conversation between your father, Baekhyun and Jongin, watching Sehun eat, hearing the crackles and sizzles coming from your mother's cooking; you suddenly feel so at home. Not just because you are at home, but also because of how familiar and mundane this morning feels. This could be you in a few years' time and everything would still stay exactly the same. But one glance at Baekhyun, you are reminded of how different things might become in a few years. You could be married to him, or to someone else. You could still be living in this house with your parents or somewhere else with him.

The future is so uncertain and it's so frightening. But what do you have to fear, when you've already been at that place between life and death?

You look at your boyfriend and Baekhyun smiles an encouraging smile, like he knows exactly what you're thinking about. Because really, what do you have to fear, when you have the world's most fearless boy? 

Author's note: 

So this is the last actual chapter of this story... This was actually meant to be just 800 words but I decided to combine it with the supposed epilogue. I will put up an epilogue but that's going to be short bc I am running out of ideas lmao. I'll put it up asap so I can finally finish this fic. I'm sorry if I made any mistakes here, I haven't really proofread or edited it... 

Till next time
xoxo