Sleepovers between best friends are a sacred ritual. They are the building blocks to trust, as you talk about relationship troubles, shove an unhealthy amount of ice cream in your faces, watch movies, and look up funny videos on youtube. All of these things you’ve done with your best friend for years. You have what you considered a normal friendship. Except for the fact that Chanyeol was a boy, and you a girl. That simple fact left room for people to gossip about the extent of your friendship.

You met Chanyeol your first day of second grade. You were new to school, and this (already) giant third grader volunteered to take you around school, and to eat lunch with you everyday. Your friendship with Chanyeol took spark after that first day, you two were inseparable. He would stick peas up his nose, causing you shoot milk out yours. He made you bracelets, and you would save him the biggest cookie. You followed him to music lessons to listen to him play, and he would follow you to your ballet lessons, remarking that you looked like a princess.

The rumors started when you were entered middle school, and people saw the extent of your bond with your elder. Rumors were started that you two were dating and much worse from the time you were twelve. Neither of you were fazed by the rumors, content in having a best friend with whom you could share everything. You had a friend who cheered for you the loudest during the talent show, standing on his chair clapping for his friend, and he had someone who he could show his private side. The side of him that wrote love songs for the girls he had crushes on, the side that no one knew but you.

The sleepovers continued even as the both of you went to high school, by now most of your classmates had gotten used to the friendship and had accepted it. With high school came the realization of your feelings for your senior, feelings that you never acted on, because of the fear of losing a friend.

Another development occurred whenever Chanyeol grew out of his gangly stage, and suddenly every girl in the school wanted to date him. Late in his sophomore year of high school, your crush developed muscles, as he joined the school dance team. He suddenly gained control of his lanky body, and moved with as much grace as the already six-foot teenager could manage. His shoulders became more defined; hints of abs were visible whenever he stripped his shirt in front of you, while at his house.  However, more tortuous than the change in his muscles, was the drop in his voice. It seemed to come out of the blue one day, Chanyeol snuck up behind you a whispered “boo” in your ear using his now deep voice.  Resulting you stomping on his foot in anger. As well as flutter of butterflies to dance in your tummy.

These two newly developed features made your best friend into the dream of every girl in high school, much to your dismay. But much to their dismay, your best friend would drop almost anything to be at your side in a moments notice. There were countless dates that he abandoned, when you called him in distress about your studies, siblings, or ballet lessons. He always made sure you were taken care of before he dreamed of looking at another girl. Which meant so much to you, despite it making you fall deeper in love with him. Sure, Chanyeol looked at other girls, he even dated one girl for a month his senior year, but it seemed he had a hard time committing to a relationship. When you asked him about it during a sleepover, he simply shrugged and mumbled something about a lacking chemistry.

When Chanyeol told you that he was going to be an idol, you started crying. You had heard what the idol life consisted of, and the idea of your best friend being tormented like that broke your heart. Moreover, you were terrified that once he became a star he wouldn’t have time for you, yet he proved you wrong. Sure, since you were in college, and he was performing all over the world you physically saw each other less. However, Chanyeol was always calling you at ungodly hours just to tell you about something funny his band mates had said that day. Despite the distance between the two of you, you never felt the absence of your best friend.

---

It was one in the morning, and you just finished writing a paper for your history class when you saw Chanyeol’s face appear on your phone screen. Laughing at his excellent timing, you picked up your phone,

           “What is it fart breath? It’s almost one in the morning here? How did you know I was going to be up!?”

A deep chuckle met your ear,

           “I didn’t, I was planning on waking you up, bug brain….because I have important news for you!”

           “What could be so important that you would wake me up at one in the morning, ON A SCHOOL NIGHT???”

Ignoring your complaining Chanyeol continued talking a mile a minute,

           “I am coming home! Like home, home. The company gave us a month off because of how well our new album did…And I know you are at university, but I figure I could come visit and we could have a sleepover? Its been forever…since before I became a trainee…since we had one? Four years? Jesus are you already a junior in college….my little tutu princess all grown up…”

           “YEOL, SHUT UP A SECOND WOULD YOU!?! You are coming home? What month?”

           “April, my flight leaves in a week. I don’t know what your work load looks like, but can I come up and stay at your apartment for a weekend…if that’s okay with you…you can show me around campus, and I can beat up that douche of an ex-boyfriend…”

You laughed despite the pain in your heart. Chanyeol had almost gotten fired last year when your ex broke up with you…well cheated on you. Your best friend answered his phone to hear your sobs. You couldn’t form words for an hour, and Chanyeol refused to hang up until you told him what was wrong. He spent the next three hours talking to you, switching between angry and heart break as he could only listen to his best friend’s pain.

 What you didn’t expect was him boarding a plane the next day to comfort you. You promptly kicked him out, telling him he was ruining his dream and that you would be fine. He was adamant about staying to help you; he got a hotel room and took care of you for three days using his secret weapon…ice cream…and romcoms. Yet three days of unanswered calls from his company, and you put your foot down. Telling him that if he ruined his dream for you, you would never talk to him again. He left that evening.

           “Relax, Yeol, that’s all in the past. But yes! Come stay in my apartment…the first weekend of April? My class load should be a bit lighter around that time.”

           “Perfect, I’ve got to go. Soo is making a snack and I’m starving. I’ll text you later, okay? Love you.”

You heard the line go dead and you whisper, “I love you too, Park Chanyeol.”

---

It is safe to say that was the longest week of your life. You were filled with nervous anticipation, as you prepped yourself for this weekend. You had accepted the fact that nothing would happen between you and Chanyeol, but a girl could dream. Because of that dream you wanted to make sure everything was perfect for this weekend. 

You bought all of his favorite snacks, and spent hours pouring over recipes to decide what would be the tastiest thing you could make for him. You made sure the air mattress in the living room had enough pillows and blankets for your friend, so he could finally rest comfortably. Now that he has away from the evil clutches of his company, you wanted him to be able to relax.

When Friday finally rolled around, you were a ball of energy that was ready to explode. You haven’t seen Chanyeol in a year and you were worried that when he did get here, it would be awkward. Hearing a knock on the door you glanced at the clock, noon…he won’t be here until five. You got up to address your neighbor, Sarah, who you were sure it was. Not in the mood for her gossiping about KPOP celebrities, you were ready to snap at her. Upon opening the door you were assaulted with a bear hug that knocked the air out of you. A booming voice echoed in your ear as your were twirled around still in this embrace,

           “BUG BRAINS, I WANTED TO SURPRISE YOU SO I CAME EARLY”

Gathering your sense you realized that Chanyeol was the one squishing you and you immediately hugged back, nuzzling your face into his shoulder,

           “Yeol….you scared me.”

           “Kinda of the point silly, now feed me. I’m starving and I want to see the campus, and you and I have a full day ahead of us. Plus I’m too excited to see you, to just sit around. Lets go on an adventure”

With a final squeeze, he put you down and you dragged him into the kitchen and quickly made him two sandwiches, which he scarfed down in a blink of an eye. The rest of the afternoon went by in a blur. He was caught up with the college scene, running from building to building wanting to see the different lecture halls. “To get a feel of what my tutu princess does with her time.” Walking down the lecture halls, he would stand at the front to give an imaginary lesson, to the imaginary class. You had missed his playfulness. After an afternoon of running around, when you got back to your apartment, Chanyeol insisted on ordering Chinese food instead of you cooking.

           “To rest those stinky feet”  He said the while pinching his nose together.

You laughed and shoved your feet in his face. The Chinese food came and both of you settled down on the air mattress to watch your favorite Disney movies. Both of you ended up feeding each other with your chopsticks.

           “Yeol, pass me a dumpling.”

           “Open up for the choo choo train!”

Laughing you submitted to his antics.

You wanted to quit watching movies because it was ten. You argued that you two weren’t teenagers any more, but Chanyeol insisted to keep going, and put Mulan in to watch. You both were dozing off during the movie, until Chanyeol’s favorite song came on, “Make a Man out of You”. 

As if a switch was flipped, you felt Yeol jump up to start dancing to the song. Annoyed, you curled to the side of the air mattress and shoved a pillow over your ear.

           “Oh come on you big baby, you are getting a private show from an IDOL. You should be grateful!”

           “I would be a lot more grateful if I could get him to shut up…..”

           “WHAT was that, my little bug princess? I couldn’t hear you?”

You shot up and threw the pillow at his head,

           “I said….. I would be more grateful if he would SHUT. UP!”

Chuckling menacingly, Chanyeol sunk to his knees and picked up the pillow resting at his feet.

           “Oh now you’ve done it…”

Ignoring him you shut your eyes to hopefully drift back into your dreaming. Suddenly, you were launched into the air as Chanyeol bounced on the mattress.

           “How dare you throw a pillow at the super gorgeous, super talent, super funny, CHANYEOL??”

Only half aware of what was going on, you felt Chanyeol hit you in the head with a pillow repeatedly.

           “NUGHHH, hey wait what are you doing?”

Chanyeol laughed again and continued his assault until you wormed your way out of his grip. Running behind the couch you reached for a pillow to arm yourself. Chanyeol seeing that you had ammo, crouched below the air mattress, his eyes just visible as he stared you down.

           “Think about what your are doing…..Bug brains….”

           “Oh, trust me, I thought about this. You deserve it!!”

You shot up and started throwing all the pillows on the couch at him. He let out a grunt and stood up making his way to you, using his pillow as protection. Once you realized you were out of pillows, you let out a squeak and turned to run to the bedroom. Having a head start on Chanyeol, you grabbed the nearest pillow and ducked into the closet.

Chanyeol burst into the room, but was lost when he couldn’t find you…He quickly checked under the bed, and turned around to check in the bathroom. Once his back was turned, you sprung from your hiding spot and whacked him upside the head. Chanyeol taken by surprise froze, giving you plenty of time to hit him a couple more times in the head. You started laughing as he stayed frozen, with his hand protectively covering his head. Between laughs you kept hitting your friend,

           “Just give up already, so I can win.”

From deep within Chanyeol’s chest you heard a low growl. Spinning around Chanyeol pushed foreword, hitting your side with his pillow. His whacks caused you to take steps back, trying to avoid being hit. As he advanced, you started laughing more because of his serious look on his face,

           “Aigoo Pabo, why so serious. Can’t be beaten by a girl??”

Once again Chanyeol let out a growl. Suddenly the back of your legs met your bed, causing you to fall down to the bed. Chanyeol, realizing that you were falling, stuck a hand out to pull you back up. But he was too late, and you ended up dragging him down to the bed with him. You froze when you realized Chanyeol was hovering just inches above your lips. Both of you breathless from your mini war, gasped for air. Mixing your breaths with each other, he stared intently into your eyes, remaining motionless.

You could feel the heat in your cheeks rise, so you squirmed away letting out a nervous laugh. Once you were free from under him, Chanyeol sat up on the bed and looked at you with the same intensity. You simply smiled at him and made a move to leave him, knowing that he would never return your feelings. 

As you tried to leave, you felt Chanyeol hand enclose around yours and drag you back to him. You stood between his legs, his face inches from yours as he cupped your cheek,

           “Jagiya…please stay…….”

Wait…did he just call me Jagiya….Shocked, you saw Chanyeol begin to close the distance between the two of you, pausing only before his lips met yours. Glancing up to check your expression, Chanyeol smiled tenderly and placed a firm kiss on your lips. Eyes still open from disbelief, you gazed at your friend, too nervous to move. Afraid to awake from this dream. Feeling how tense you were, Chanyeol lifted his lips from yours, and reached for your waist. Making you wrap your legs around him, Chanyeol searched your eyes as he murmured,

           “You didn’t pull away…so I assume this okay? This is okay, right? Jagiya…?”

You couldn’t form words, as there was a ball of emotions resting in your throat, so you nodded and ducked your head into his neck. Is this a dream? Does he know what he is doing? This isn’t real. I’m dreaming. Laughing, Chanyeol squeezed your waist tighter, content to rest his shoulder on your shoulder.

After sitting like this for sometime, Chanyeol began to pepper your neck with kisses. He grabbed your chin and tilted it up, so he could work his way to your jaw. Once again Chanyeol’s lips grazed yours, he asked permission with a breath. You answered by gently placing your lips on his. This time Chanyeol was the one taken by surprise. He didn’t move his lips right away, but he quickly came to his senses. Starting to move his lips again, Chanyeol moved his hands to your hair to pull you closer.

################################################################

You continued like this for sometime. Content to kiss your lover’s lips with no urgency; however, the heat began to build and your kisses became harder, more determined. You felt Chanyeol smirk as you began to squirm in his lap, begging for him to hurry up. With a growl you were flipped, so you were lying on the bed and he was again hovering over you.

 Kissing you with a newfound passion, Chanyeol’s hands moved from your hair to your waist. Slowly dragging his hands over your stomach to hear you gasp. His hands were like fire, causing a slow burn inside you, filling you with desire. Wrapping your legs tighter around his waist, you brought him closer so you could have access to his shirt.

You slipped your hand up his shirt and they were met with his abs. . This has to be a dream. No way would I be touching him like this or him touching me…OH. Chanyeol had lifted your shirt slightly so he could touch your stomach and back. He slowly dragged his fingers over the exposed skin, leaving a trail of fire. Motivated by this new contact, you tugged at his shirt to pull it over his head, Chanyeol laughed and sat up to take his shirt off.

While he was doing this, you had time to admire the giant before you. He moved with such ease, and his body, a work of art. Every muscle defined, and with every breath he took you could see them in motion, and the best part was they were here for you. He caught you staring at his beauty, and he gave you his signature goofy smile, causing you to giggle against your hand.

Chanyeol lowered himself again and began kissing your neck urgently. Gently you grazed your fingertips up his stomach muscle causing him to moan. Your lips were once again attacked, and your shirt fell to the ground with your lover’s.

################################################################

---

You woke up the next morning with Chanyeol’s arms draped around waist. Too afraid to break the spell, you took in a breath and shut your eyes. Hearing you stir, Chanyeol pulled you closer to his chest. You let out a whimper as he pressed his lips against the nape of your neck.

           “Good morning, bug brains.”

           “You’re lucky I’m too happy right now to hit you.”

Chanyeol turned you over so you had to stare in his eyes. Smiling, he pecked your lips.

           “I’m happy too. I’ve wanted this…since…well forever…”

Shocked, all you could do was stare at your lover.

          “I’ve been in love with you since high school you know? Though, I didn’t think you wanted me. And I didn’t want to mess up our friendship. Because you honestly are the most important thing in my life, your smile, laugh, are what gets me through my hardest days. I was so pathetic in high school. I wrote those STUPID love songs about you, and I thought you would get the hint when I sang them. But you would give me a cute look and nod, saying “Yeol, you’ve really improved with your writing. That’s one lucky girl you’re writing about ” I dunno….after a while I gave up because I figured you weren’t interested in me, since we were so close. And God knows I couldn’t actually talk to you about how I felt. So I tried to move on. That didn’t work…so I went to Korea…”

Chuckling, he played with your hair,

             “But then you were the only thing I ever thought about, “what is Jagiya doing, did she eat enough, did someone make her laugh?” And then that ing douche…last year….I lost it…I didn’t want to be away from you, but you said you wouldn’t talk to me if I ruined my dream…..”

He looked past you, trailing off.

             “Oppa…what? Don’t stop in the middle of your love confession. I’m loving EVERY second of it. Really great pick-me-up in the morning.”

You winked and gave him a nudge.

Laughing, Chanyeol scooped you up so you were laying on his chest and he was whispering in your ear.

           “You are my dream Jagiya. Its sounds dorky but its true. But since high school, all I’ve ever wanted to do was make you happy…and…I…I’m just so happy…you’re happy. This all feels like a dream.”

           “I love you Park Chanyeol.”

           “I love you more, Jagiya.“