Archive of Our Own

Everyone knows Park Chanyeol. Jongin, Sehun and Junmyeon's best friend, tallest guy in the entire class since freshman year and voice as deep as the Marianas Trench. A singer, a composer, a drummer and Sehun and Jongin’s ultimate third wheel. Well-respected and the cause of majority of the student body’s wet dreams. He leaves a trail of flower petals whenever he walks down the halls. (“Sehun, where the hell did you get those flowers?”) The issue was this. Park Chanyeol did not date. No matter how much effort people put into their confessions, without fail, Park Chanyeol had turned down every single person who had ever found the courage to ask him out. ‘What a wasted pretty face and killer dick’, they always said. Sehun and Jongin liked to joke that before you can suck Park Chanyeol off, you’d have to get rid of the dust bunnies first.

Sehun, Jongin, Junmyeon, Luhan and Chanyeol have been friends since the beginning of all time. (Actually, since the beginning of freshman year, but no one likes remembering anything past that). The five boys that everyone thirsted for but never got the chance to get close to. The reasons being, Sehun and Jongin have been dating each other for the past year and a half, Junmyeon is only in love with his wallet, his studies and his long-time boyfriend Wu Yi Fan from China, Luhan’s been dating Minseok since the beginning of all time and Chanyeol has a famous line he’s said to probably everyone, including the faculty. “Thanks, but I don’t date”. Rumour has it that those were his first ever words and will probably be his last. By mid-freshman year, they'd started a band called EXO with Luhan as their good-looking and sweet lead vocalist. Known to be the only one out of all of them, who actually enjoyed interacting with people outside their little boyband. Chanyeol had always been the drummer, also the one who sang alto when the song required a second voice, Jongin on the guitar, Sehun on the bass and Junmyeon as their self proclaimed manager who always paid for everything. Which is why they were dreading their Junior year, for it was the first time they’d have to be without Luhan, who’s family had decided that they needed to move back to China.

Oh Sehun: traitor :(

Lu Han: aw, come on sehunnie, i didn’t choose this!

Kim Jongin: still. traitor :p we only have two years of high school left and you leave half-way. t r a i t o r.

Lu Han: :(

Park Chanyeol: :| guess we have to find a new vocalist and poor do kyungsoo has to find a new roommate who’ll put up w his stare of death

Lu Han: fighting guys!

Park Chanyeol: don’t fighting us, this is your fault.

Lu Han: :( forgive me

Kim Jongin: no

Oh Sehun: no

Park Chanyeol: no

Kim Junmyeon: no

Lu Han: when i visit korea, i’ll bring you home new clothes!!!

Park Chanyeol: i’m large

Kim Jongin: i like plain shirts

Kim Junmyeon: do u happen to know yi fan’s class schedule there :/

Oh Sehun: there’s this brand i really like...

Lu Han: you guys are too easy

Chanyeol throws his phone under his pillow and sighs, staring up at the ceiling. He had to move back to the dorms the next morning and think about how to hold auditions for the band. How to make sure that the one they choose plays for what’s inside their heart, not what’s inside his pants. Chanyeol doesn’t like being arrogant, but he knew how big a deal he and his friends were in their school. Half of him felt flattered. The other half just felt it was the biggest struggle of his life. Chanyeol had spent his entire teenage life being asked out by boys and girls alike, just so they had a pretty face next to them in their selcas that they posted on social media. Chanyeol ain’t about that life. He turns his head to look at the black suitcase next to his bed, already filled to the brim with clothes, shoes, plushies and caps. And his drum set sitting at the corner of his room, ready to be set up in the school music room. He closes his eyes and sighs. Please, please let things work out this year.

__

He opens the door to his dorm room for the first time in months and sees Jongin already there, unpacking. He raises his head and nods at Chanyeol.

“I have top bunk rights this year, right?” He asks.

Chanyeol only hums in confirmation. “Did you get to buy that new guitar you wanted?”

“Yeah, it’s right there.” He says, motioning to the guitar case on his bed with his head. “Mom bought it for me as a late birthday gift.”

Chanyeol whistles. “Congrats, dude. My parents wouldn’t spend that much money on me. Shit costs more than my life, probably.”

Jongin shakes his head and chuckles. “Have you seen Sehun around yet?”

“We came in together. He’s with Junmyeon downstairs. I think he found a cockroach under their sink.” Chanyeol says.

“Ah yes,” Jongin sighs. “Home sweet home.”

“I know, right?” Chanyeol says leaning back on his bed. “Go welcome your boyfriend back to hell.”

“On it.” Jongin says, closing his suitcase. “See you downstairs? We gotta talk about auditions.”

Chanyeol groans. “Right. God bless.”

Jongin swings the door open but suddenly turns his head. “Oh right, have you heard?”

Chanyeol raises his eyebrows. “Heard what?”

Jongin smiles. “New student from School of the Snobby and Rich.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widen. “He’s from Seoul High? Then what the fuck is he doing here?”

“Got kicked out. They say he’s some legend there. Made a diss track about their principal so appropriately titled ‘Bitch Thinks He Own The Place’ and played it over the speakers during an assembly.”

Chanyeol chokes.

Jongin shrugs with an amused smile. “Heard he’s gonna be in our homeroom class. So we’ll see tomorrow how legendary he is.”

__

“Everyone, please welcome our new student, Byun Baekhyun, a transfer from Seoul High.”

Chanyeol can hear the whispers across the room but Baekhyun doesn’t seem to look deterred or nervous at all.

“Please take good care of me.” He says brightly, making his way to the seat in front of Chanyeol, everyone’s eyes trailing after him. In a way, Chanyeol is glad for this Baekhyun guy. If he had to be honest, he looked pretty damn good. He could already tell from the way everyone was looking at him, that he’d have girls and boys alike kissing his feet for a chance to get jiggy with him in bed. And from the looks of this boy and his bright ass smile and friendly vibe, he seemed like he wouldn’t be the type to turn anyone down. He had a hard time believing he’d be the type who made diss tracks and played them over school speakers. So maybe, just maybe, through Baekhyun, people would start to leave him alone. He hears someone whisper how good the view was. Putting the school’s best-looking boys so close to each other. He looks behind him and sees Sehun. And beside Sehun, sits Jongin and behind Jongin sat Junmyeon. He laughs. The universe sure had a sense of humour.

By the end of their last class, Jongin, Sehun, Junmyeon and Chanyeol walk back to their dorms, closely followed by a crowd of girls. Chanyeol wrinkles his eyebrows.

“There are more than usual today.” Chanyeol says in a low voice.

“They’re not just following us this time.” Sehun says. He motions to the boys walking a few steps behind them with his lips. “The new kid's here.”

Chanyeol turns his head and catches a glimpse of the new student and Kyungsoo, Luhan’s past roommate, the boy who barely anyone ever talked to since he looked like he could kill you with his stare if he concentrated hard enough. In the past three years of high school, Chanyeol thinks he’s only had ten seconds worth of conversation with the guy.

“He’s Kyungsoo’s new roommate? So that means his room’s right across ours and right next to Sehunnie’s.” Jongin says. “And plus, maybe he’ll be like the new Luhan then.”

Luhan had been known to be the only roommate who lasted more than three months with Kyungsoo, without running away in fear.

Chanyeol hums and looks at Baekhyun’s awkward smile directed at the flock of girls. He looked like a harmless puppy who needed to be protected. If he lasted more than a week in this hellhole of the horny and bored, he’d be impressed.

Two weeks pass. And Chanyeol stares in amazement as he sees Baekhyun and Kyungsoo bicker over the stick of gum in Kyungsoo’s hand.

“You’re the one who finished up the pack of gummy worms last night!” Kyungsoo complained, smacking Baekhyun’s hands away.

“You said you didn’t even like gummy worms!” Baekhyun whined. “Please, please, please, I won’t ask you for anything again ever!”

“Those weren’t even for me, Junmyeon asked me to buy them for the kids we’ve been tutoring and you ate almost everything!” Kyungsoo scolded.

“But you love me.” Baekhyun smiles, batting his eyelashes and clinging onto the boy’s arm.

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and shoves the stick of gum in Baekhyun’s mouth. “You’re damn lucky that I do.”

Chanyeol looks around and he’s glad to see that he’s not the only one witnessing this— this dark magic.

Chanyeol looks behind him and gives Sehun a confused expression, which Sehun answers with a shrug right before giving Baekhyun an impressed gaze.

Their teacher walks in and everyone’s eyes instantly go from the new mortal frenemies to the board. When the bell finally rings, Chanyeol wakes up from his daydream and he turns to see the two boys behind him wiping their drool with their uniform sleeves.

“Uh, excuse me?” He hears a timid voice ask. He half expects that the question was directed at him, so he turns his head around to answer, a rejection waiting at the tip of his tongue. But he sees that the girl, Hyemi he thinks it was, was in front of Baekhyun’s desk, a pink envelope in her hands. Chanyeol sighs in relief.

Baekhyun smiles at her as he closes his backpack. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Uh—“ She stutters, looking at her feet and she hands him the pink envelope which was so obviously a love letter, complete with glitter and heart stickers and everything.

Chanyeol sees Baekhyun give her a smile that was gentle, but definitely not a smile that looked like he was going to accept her confession.

He reaches out to take the envelope and he glances at it before bowing. “Since you worked hard on this letter, I’ll accept it gratefully. But I’m sorry that I can’t return your feelings.”

Chanyeol admires his kindness. All his life, all he’s done is bow with a short and cold ’Thanks, but I don’t date’ before walking off. He was surprised no one has smacked him in the face yet.

Hyemi looks up at him with the signature ‘please date me’ puppy eyes that Chanyeol was all too familiar with. “Why not? I really like you!”

Baekhyun only chuckles and pats her head, leaning down to match her level. “Thanks. But I don’t date.”

The people around listening nearly choke on their spit. Chanyeol almost falls off his seat.

Sehun and Jongin stifle their laughs behind him.

“It’s Park Chanyeol the Second.” Sehun laughs, doubling over.

Baekhyun doesn’t sense the mood around him darken since their precious new oppa was just the same as Chanyeol who probably believed no one was good enough for him, as the girl shyly walks away and he raises the envelope to his nose. His expression changes.

He turns his head to look at Chanyeol who was still sitting behind him. “Dear god,“ He says, “It’s scented.”

__

Once the audition flyers for EXO are out, chaos ensues. Chaos is an understatement. Everyone goes batshit crazy. As the three look outside the door of the music room, there had to be at least a a hundred people lining up for their turn.

“Can any of these people even sing?” Junmyeon asks from behind the three, with a pen and paper in his hand.

Sehun shushes him. “Shh, you’re just here to write down the people we will consider. Keep quiet and sit down over there.”

The auditions start and Chanyeol almost falls asleep not even halfway through it. Majority of these people are barely singing in tune and chose songs with lyrics so obviously directed at them, considering how the boy in front of him right now was literally body rolling and thrusting as he sang Take You Down by Chris Brown.

“Okay, that’s enough.” Chanyeol says tiredly, motioning for him to get out of the room. “Thanks.”

When auditions finish almost four hours later, the four boys lean backwards and groan.

Chanyeol tiredly turns his head to look at Junmyeon. “So how many names do you have written down?”

Junmyeon counts for about two seconds and raises his head. “Three.”

“Out of a hundred and seventeen?” Jongin exclaims. “We only managed to pick three people?”

“I think the song for our next gig should be entitled Art Is Dead.” Sehun says.

Right before they're about to choose among the three, they hear the door creak.

“I’ll handle it.” Jongin says. “Sorry but auditions are— Wait, Baekhyun?”

The three other boys instantly turn their heads to face the door. And true to Jongin’s words, Byun Baekhyun is indeed peeping into the music room, puppy eyes and messy black hair in all its glory.

“Hello.” He says in a way that makes even Chanyeol want to stroke the boy’s head and give him a cookie. He opens the door fully and walks inside, softly closing it behind him. “Are you guys done with auditions?”

Sehun nods. “Yeah, but were you here for it?”

Baekhyun shrugs. “I was thinking about it but I didn’t want people to be auditioning for a band just because I’d be auditioning too. But then I sort of realized that you three were the ones in the band so really, there was no point in hiding the way I did.” He laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

“It’s fine,” Jongin says waving his hand, “We appreciate that you care about this enough to think that way. If you’re still willing, we’d want to hear you sing.”

Baekhyun raises his eyebrows. “Really?”

Sehun nods. “Plus, we’ve heard lots about you. Aren’t you the one who made a diss track for your principal? I’m sure you’re very talented.”

Baekhyun chokes on his spit and the boys chuckle. “Hah. Well… That was a spur of the moment thing. It was a dare.”

Chanyeol claps his hands. “Well. I want to hear you sing.” He says. “Need anything? Are you singing acapella or are you playing something too?”

Baekhyun stretches his arms. “Ah, I can play the piano well.” He looks around the room and spots the grand piano, sitting at the corner, seemingly untouched. “May I?”

“Knock yourself out.” Chanyeol says.

The room is silent as Baekhyun walks towards the piano, takes a seat and pulls up his uniform sleeves. He grazes his fingers over the piano keys and takes a deep breath. “I’ll start.”

The boy opens his mouth. He plays a note. And the same moment that he starts singing, Chanyeol stops breathing. He never understood why girls flocked around them and why people were always so willing to let go of their dignity and self-respect just to be given a chance with people like them, fellow humans, fellow students, who always claimed they didn’t date. But right at that moment, in the comfort of a music room, Byun Baekhyun’s graceful fingers dancing over piano keys and words and notes and beauty escaping his mouth, closed eyes and pretty lips, he realizes exactly why everyone wanted Byun Baekhyun.

“Wow.” He hears Junmyeon whisper when Baekhyun starts a piano solo.

“Fuck.” He hears Sehun swear when Baekhyun reaches a particularly high note.

“Oh my god.” He hears Jongin exclaim as he clutches his chest, when Baekhyun sings the most beautiful falsetto they’d ever heard.

“Is he the one?” Jongin asks, leaning to Chanyeol’s side. “Please tell me you think he’s the one.”

“Yup,” Chanyeol sighs, leaning back, ripping the paper that contained every name of every other person who’d auditioned for them that day, “He’s the one, alright.”

Baekhyun finishes just as beautifully as he started and he turns his head and gives them a bright eye smile. “So, how was I?”

Chanyeol stands up and pulls the boy up from his seat and gives him a one armed hug. “Welcome to the band, Byun Baekhyun.”

Sehun and Jongin rise from their seats at the same time and go up to him to shake his hand.

“You saved all of Korea with that performance.” Sehun says. “You saved Korea with your piano skills, caused tooth ache with your smile and cured every incurable disease with your voice.”

Baekhyun laughs both flattered and creeped out.

“You need to perform your whole life,” Jongin says grabbing Baekhyun by the shoulder, “You need to become a singer professionally for the sake of world peace and happiness.”

Baekhyun smiles brightly at them. “I like you guys. Thank you! I’ll do my best!”

Chanyeol puts an arm around him and invites him to eat dinner with them. Chanyeol doesn’t remember the last time he’s asked any student to eat with them or if he ever has, considering they had the reputation of being a closed circle of friends, but he decides that if this boy has a smile, a laugh, a talent and a voice that beautiful, there’s no way his personality could be ugly. He had to be an exception.

He shares a look with Sehun, Jongin and Junmyeon and they all silently agree that Baekhyun was definitely an exception.

__

Unknowingly, Baekhyun and Kyungsoo become a permanent addition to their little circle, much to everyone’s dismay. As far as they knew, it was only Sehun, Jongin, Chanyeol, Junmyeon and Luhan. It always has been. And suddenly, puppy boy Byun Baekhyun comes into the picture and manages to bring Kyungsoo along as well. And even stranger, Baekhyun and Chanyeol become a known duo. Partners in crime, Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, Honey and Mori, that sort of thing. They were inseparable. During class, people would catch them passing notes and throwing spit balls at each other. During breaks, they’d sit next to each other in the cafeteria and share a tray since Chanyeol would be too lazy to line up to get his own and would claim ‘What’s yours is mine and what’s mine is yours, Byun Babe Hyun'. After class, they’d be seen walking to the music room together, spending hours playing songs and creating music. Chanyeol was generally a good person who tried to be nice to everyone although he’s distant and closed off. But whenever he was with Baekhyun, he’d openly show his dorky and loud side that he used to only show in the privacy of the dorm rooms with his bandmates. Because of this, rumours started. Chanyeol swears, sometimes he feels like he’s going to wake up one day with an article about him on allkpop and Soompi. ‘Flower Boy Park Chanyeol, drummer of EXO, caught on an after school date with fellow bandmate puppy boy Byun Baekhyun, lead vocalist and pianist!”

“You guys have gotten close.” Jongin says wiggling his eyebrows, nudging Chanyeol’s arm.

“So what if we’ve gotten close?” Chanyeol says undeterred, eyes focused on his laptop. “That’s a good thing since we’re bandmates now.”

“No, no, no,” Sehun says, “There’s a difference between your closeness with us and your closeness with him.”

Chanyeol scrunches up his face. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean, when you look at us, your eyes don’t scream ‘Marry me’.” Sehun answers.

It is then that Chanyeol raises his head and gives him a blank look. “You hear that?”

Sehun blinks. “What?”

“My eyes.” Chanyeol says. “They’re screaming ‘Oh Sehun, stop being annoying and shut the fuck up’, do you hear it?”

Sehun chuckles and backs away slowly and cautiously. “I hear them.”

Just at that moment, they hear someone knock on the door and Baekhyun’s little call of “Friends! We bought Pocky!”

Jongin gives Chanyeol a look before standing up to open the door. “If you don’t marry him, I sure will.”

Sehun huffs. “I’m, like, right here.”

__

It is four in the morning and Baekhyun yawns, throwing his feet over Chanyeol’s thighs. Chanyeol groans in annoyance but can’t find the energy to push him away.

“Let’s sleep, man.” Baekhyun says. “I’m tired and we have class tomorrow.”

“I’m almost done with the bridge. I’ll sleep in a little, you can go back to your dorm now, if you want.” Chanyeol says, not even sparing Baekhyun a glance.

Baekhyun sighs and slaps his face twice, keeping himself awake. “I can’t leave you here.”

Chanyeol shakes his head in amusement. “You’re unreal, Byun Baek.”

Baekhyun smiles and turns his attention towards the paper of lyrics and notes. “So, what have we got so far?”

“We have a lot.” Chanyeol says, biting on the end of his pencil. “But I don’t know if it’s any good.”

“We have over a week to fix it, don’t worry too much.” Baekhyun says, patting Chanyeol’s shoulder. “It’ll be great. It’s us, after all.” He winks.

“Right.” Chanyeol chuckles. “The ultimate flower boys.”

“The musical prodigies.” Baekhyun says with exaggerated hand gestures. “Who look like sex but refuse sex.”

Chanyeol laughs out loud at that. “We make a good pair, don’t we?”

Baekhyun gives him the eye smile that makes everyone go weak. “We do.”

And Chanyeol resigns to the fact that alright, maybe his friends were right. Maybe he is a little soft for Byun Baekhyun.

__

“Hey, I’m sorta curious.” Baekhyun says, leaning forward to meet Chanyeol’s eyes. “I mean, this is sort of a personal question though, is it alright?”

Chanyeol nods. “Shoot.”

“Well, you know everyone’s always going after you, right? Like girls, boys, students, teachers.” Baekhyun says.

Chanyeol only hums. “What about it?”

“And you always turn everyone down, right?” Baekhyun asks. “Like you’ve never agreed to dating anyone yet so far in high school?”

Chanyeol nods.

“Why?” Baekhyun asks. “No one good enough for your highness in this school?” Baekhyun jokes.

Chanyeol shoves him playfully. “It’s nothing like that. I just don’t have any interest in dating right now, that’s all. Waiting for the one I'd want to date.”

Baekhyun raises his eyebrows. “Focused on music and school?”

“Something like that.” Chanyeol shrugs. “I’ll date if I find someone I want to date. So far, haven't found that one person yet.”

Baekhyun nods in understanding. “Alright. I understand that.”

Chanyeol turns his head to look at the boy beside him. “How about you? What’s your reason?”

Baekhyuns hums in thought for a little bit before answering. “I guess I’m just the same. I want to look for the right person before getting into anything like that. I should really like this person. I mean, otherwise, it’s a waste of time for me.”

Chanyeol nods and strongly agrees. “I feel you, bro. I feel.”

It’s silent for a moment, the only sounds being Baekhyun’s humming and Chanyeol strumming Jongin’s guitar.

“But,” Baekhyun says, “-if you were to be with someone… would it be with a boy or a girl?”

Chanyeol looks up, surprised. He realizes he has never talked to Baekhyun about their sexual preferences. The two had always just been known to be the ones who never dated. The only ones who really knew for sure what his preferences were, would be, obviously by default, Sehun, Jongin, Junmyeon and Luhan. But this is Baekhyun. And Chanyeol almost never hesitates to tell him anything.

“Boys.” He says simply. “Girls are good too though. You?”

“Same.” Baekhyun says.

The two only give each other looks of understanding before going back to work.

__

“So,” Junmyeon says rubbing Baekhyun’s shoulders, “How’re you feeling about your first gig outside school with us?”

“I feel like I’m gonna throw up.” Baekhyun says.

Kyungsoo wishes all of them good luck while patting all their butts before leaving backstage and disappearing into the crowd.

“You’ll do great.” Jongin says reassuringly. “They’ll love you. Well, they already do.”

“Plus, you managed to leave us speechless during your audition.” Sehun says. “Us. That means a lot. If you managed to amaze us, you’ll surely amaze all of them.”

Chanyeol puts an arm around Baekhyun and rubs his side. “Have confidence in your voice, Byun.”

Baekhyun gives them all his signature smile and raises a fist. “We’re in this shit.”

When their band name is called onstage, they already hear their friends and schoolmates cheering for them so they go onstage with confident smiles. Chanyeol hears the gasps once Baekhyun opens his mouth and he smirks knowingly. He turns his head to look at their lead singer and the said singer turns his head to look at Chanyeol as well. They give each other smiles, remembering how hard they both worked for this song and their little brotherly moment doesn't go unnoticed as they hear the people scream louder. It’s no wonder that the minute they go backstage, Kyungsoo tells them he just received a message asking him if they’re an item.

Chanyeol can only roll his eyes and Baekhyun scoffs saying, “I can’t believe people think I’m dating Yoda of Star Wars!” which earns him a kick in the shin.

“Baekhyun was pretty awesome today, wasn’t he?” Junmyeon says, taking a sip of beer. “We need to let Luhan hear that boy.”

Chanyeol nods in agreement. “He does well in composition too. He helped me a lot in making the song. I’d never had help before so he really took a huge load off my shoulders.”

Junmyeon smiles. “You like him, don’t you?”

Chanyeol shrugs and takes a sip of his own drink. “Of course, I do. He’s a bandmate and a friend now, isn’t he?”

Junmyeon sighs. “You know that’s not what I mean.”

Chanyeol has to take a second to let the question process before he sighs and scratches his head. “Why does everyone keep assuming that?”

“I don’t know, it’s just,” Junmyeon starts. “He’s a new kid and you just so willingly took him into our group and suddenly he’s like, your best friend.”

Chanyeol shrugs. “He’s fun to be with and we understand each other well. That’s all there is to it.”

He turns his head to check on his friends and he’s not surprised when he sees Sehun and Jongin grinding against each other in the middle of the dance floor earning whoops and cheers from the people around them. Chanyeol shakes his head and shivers in disgust. He scans the room for Baekhyun and he feels his heart stop when he sees a boy, probably twice Baekhyun’s size, grab him by the wrist, with his face obviously way too close for Baekhyun’s liking. Chanyeol mumbles a small “Be right back” to Junmyeon before speed walking to Baekhyun’s direction.

The thought comes to him almost automatically. As he gets there, his brain to mouth filter goes on full shutdown and he starts speaking out of his ass.

“Hey, babe, where’ve you been? I’ve been looking all over for you.” He says, sliding an arm around Baekhyun’s waist, talking against his neck, but making his voice loud enough for the other to hear.

He feels Baekhyun’s body stiffen for half a second, but he immediately catches up, understanding what he’s trying to do.

“Sorry, baby. Line in the restroom was too long.” He said, resting a hand over Chanyeol’s. “Come on, Kyungsoo texted me to go to him.”

The guy, probably a senior, looks at the two of them with a curious face, but doesn’t follow them.

“Thanks for the save.” Baekhyun whispers. “Is he still watching?”

“Yeah.” Chanyeol says, “Let’s just hold this position until we get to Kyungsoo. Where is he?”

“He’s outside, he said he wasn’t in the mood for drinking. We were about to head back to the dorm, actually. Wanna come or are you waiting for the others?”

“I’ll go, I’ll text Junmyeon to take care of dumb and dumber.”

Kyungsoo gives the two of them a confused look when he sees them and they both only look at him dejectedly, saying they’ll explain on the walk home.

Kyungsoo laughs by the end of the story. “Oh, boy. You guys are in for a world of pain on Monday.”

__

Just as Kyungsoo had predicted, by the time they both got to the classroom at 7:30 in the morning, news had spread about the new power couple, Baekhyun and Chanyeol. They’ve so fondly even created a joint nickname for them. Specifically, BaekYeol. This makes Chanyeol want to gag and Baekhyun cringe. They can’t say the same for their friends though, because they seemed to be having the time of their lives with this.

“So you guys are dating?” Sehun laughs, “When did this happen?”

Chanyeol’s expression darkens. “Please don’t ask. I’ve had enough questions for today.”

“Well, if you answered any of them, maybe it’d stop.” Jongin suggests. “Just maybe.”

Just as Jongin says this, someone taps Chanyeol on the shoulder and Chanyeol turns around tiredly, assuming it was another question about him and Baekhyun.

“Look,” He starts, “What happened that night was purely for—“

Before he could finish his sentence, he feels a thin arm around his shoulder and he turns to his left, only to be met with Baekhyun’s puppy eyes and rectangular smile.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt, but do you mind if I borrow Chanyeollie for a little while?” He asks.

Chanyeol hears everyone around them coo. And Baekhyun only giggles softly before dragging Chanyeol away by the wrist.

Baekhyun takes him to the end of the hallway and Chanyeol shrugs his hand off. “Why do you pull so harshly, the fuck?”

“Sorry.” Baekhyun says. “But listen, I have a proposition to make.”

Chanyeol looks at him and raises an eyebrow. “About what?”

“About us.” Baekhyun says, eyes looking serious and hopeful.

Chanyeol chokes, already having an idea what this was about. “I don’t think I like where this is going.”

Baekhyun’s expression brightens when he realizes that Chanyeol understands what he’s trying to say. “No, this’ll work! Come on, it’s just for pretend! We’ll just pretend to date! Just to ward off people and get all of them out of our hair!” He half screams, half whispers.

“Baek, I really don’t think this’ll end—“

“Look, it’s not hard. We’re friends anyway, right? We’re naturally touchy with each other, we know each other well, we’re always together. People already assume we’re dating so all we have to do is say yes to all of them when they ask.”

Chanyeol shakes his head. “They’re bound to find out. I mean, you know how Sehun and Jongin are. Without meaning to, they’ll probably end up revealing our little secret and then everything’ll be pointless.”

Baekhyun hums in thought for a little before snapping his fingers. “Then we won’t tell them.”

“What?” Chanyeol says, mouth agape.

“We can tell Kyungsoo since I know he won’t say anything.” Baekhyun says. “But as for the rest, we’ll have to fool them too.”

Chanyeol only blinks at him. “Are you serious about this?”

Baekhyun takes both his hands and stares at him with an intense gaze. “Completely serious.”

Chanyeol’s about to reject the idea again, until he sees from the corner of his eye, the same huge senior who’d hit on Baekhyun a couple days back, give them both a look that Chanyeol couldn’t read but even so, it scared him.

He turns his attention back to Baekhyun. “Alright, deal.”

__

“So…” Jongin says, raising a finger to motion at the two boys sitting in front of him. “Y’all are really dating? Like, for real?”

“Mhmm.” Baekhyun hums plainly, shoving more of Kyungsoo’s spaghetti in his mouth. “Since last week.”

Sehun gapes. “You’re not serious, right?”

“I’m dead serious, Sehunnie.” Baekhyun says.

Kyungsoo, who already knew their little plan, ate silently, trying not to laugh at their faces.

Sehun, Jongin and Junmyeon turn their attention to Chanyeol, who’d been doing his best to avoid any confrontation.

He slowly raises his head and shrugs. “What? Is it a crime to date now?”

“You told me you didn’t like him like that!” Junmyeon exclaims, throwing his hands in the air for dramatic effect.

“How could you not tell me anything?” Jongin asks, feeling completely betrayed. “How could we hear this from the rest of the student body before we heard it from you?”

“It’s not that big a deal.” Chanyeol complains.

“Yes, it is!” The three scream in unison.

Chanyeol and Baekhyun only look at the three awkwardly before silently finishing their meals.

Sehun then sighs and gives it up. “Eh,” He shrugs, “We all knew it was bound to happen anyway.”

Jongin nods. “I guess that’s true. I just didn’t think it’d happen this soon. I assumed they’d both be in denial for a couple more months.”

Chanyeol almost chokes on his spaghetti.

“Well,” Junmyeon says, “I guess this is good. Congratulations, you two.”

Baekhyun gives him a smile and a thumbs up and Chanyeol hums.

“The student body have mixed feelings about this though.” Kyungsoo says, scrolling through people’s tweets. “Some are heartbroken, some are happy, some are really just praying you two are into polyamory.”

This time, Chanyeol really does choke.

__

Surprisingly, Baekhyun was right. Pretending to date wasn’t all too hard. They were already together almost 24/7, they were naturally touchy and they already knew a lot about each other. They’d spent a lot of their time practicing the way couples hold hands, the intimate gestures and the loving looks in between conversations. Chanyeol found out that they were both pretty good actors. Before he knew it, it had all become too natural. Whenever he saw Baekhyun, he’d automatically lean down to press a kiss on his forehead as a greeting. Whenever they went outside with their friends, he’d grab Baekhyun’s hand and swing it as they walked. In between conversations with their friends, he’d spare a second to give Baekhyun a loving look that Baekhyun would return. They were so good at it that Sehun, Jongin and Junmyeon call them gross on an almost daily basis and Kyungsoo starts getting confused as to whether they were still playing pretend or not. If Chanyeol were to be completely honest, he was getting confused too.

“How the hell did you manage to break drumsticks that you only bought less than two weeks ago?” Baekhyun complains.

“It was an accident!” Chanyeol defended. “It’s not like I want them to break.”

“This is the third set you’ve bought since the beginning of the year. If you don’t want them to break, you sure have a weird way of showing it.” Baekhyun says, shaking his head.

The two had said they were going out on a date but really, Chanyeol just wanted someone to help him pay for new drumsticks and Baekhyun was the most obvious candidate. And bless Baekhyun, since no matter how much of an asshole he was sometimes, he was always willing to help when it counted.

“This looks good.” Baekhyun says, pointing at a set.

Chanyeol cocks his head, examining it. “Yeah, this one’s good. I can go with this one.”

When they walk out of the store, Chanyeol almost reflexively takes Baekhyun’s hand in his but then realizes they weren’t with anyone they knew. There was no audience, right? So he shouldn’t have to.

“Hey,” Baekhyun says waving a hand in front of Chanyeol’s face. “You’re spacing out. You alright, man?”

Chanyeol shakes his head and smiles. “I’m fine.”

Baekhyun worriedly stares at him for half a second before nodding and averting his gaze elsewhere. Suddenly, Baekhyun releases a little “Oh!” and starts walking faster.

Chanyeol follows Baekhyun’s eyes and he sees a short but handsome boy, walking towards their direction.

“Baek!” The boy says, raising a hand and Baekhyun laughs as he comes in for a high five.

“Jongdae-yah!” Baekhyun greets. “Nice seeing you here, I haven’t seen you in ages.”

“I know right,” Jongdae says, before motioning to Chanyeol, awkwardly standing beside Baekhyun, “Care to introduce me?"

Baekhyun takes Chanyeol’s hand in his, probably by reflex and says “Ah, right! Chanyeol, this is Jongdae, an old neighbour. And Dae, this is Chanyeol, my classmate and the drummer of a band I’m in right now.”

“...And boyfriend?” Jongdae adds cheekily, eyeing their interlaced fingers.

It’s only then that Baekhyun realizes what he did and he visibly turns bright red. “Uh— Oh yeah, hah, yeah, I guess… he is.”

Chanyeol lowers his head and he feels himself turn just as red as the boy beside him and he tries not to think too much of it.

The moment Jongdae leaves, they awkwardly release each other’s hands and start a conversation about porn stars and cars.

__

Chanyeol starts sleeping in Baekhyun’s bed more than he sleeps in his own. He doesn’t really know why this has become a normal occurrence. It started off that night he got sexiled by Jongin and Sehun and had asked Baekhyun if he could sleep in their room for the night. But slowly, Chanyeol found himself sleeping next to Baekhyun even when he had absolutely no reason for it. Baekhyun waved him off saying it’s fine and that it’d help everyone believe they were really together and that only reminded Chanyeol of the fact that ‘Oh right, we’re not actually dating’. Kyungsoo starts getting concerned and they can both sense it. Chanyeol wishes he could explain his actions, but he really couldn’t.

“Chanyeol, do you ever sleep in your own dorm room these days?” Kyungsoo asks.

Chanyeol instantly turns bright red.

“Oh, give him a break, Soo.” Jongin says. “Let the lovebirds cuddle each other to sleep.”

Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “You’re just happy since this way, you and Sehun get to have more sexy fun time.”

Sehun winks. “You’re right. See? This is a win-win situation.”

“Maybe you should just sleep with Junmyeon so the two lovebirds can have more fun too.” Jongin laughs.

Kyungsoo looks at the blushing Chanyeol and silent Baekhyun and he sighs. “You know, I’m actually scared I might actually have to do that soon.”

The two don’t have to look at his face to know that he means it.

__

“Hey, are you two making the song for our next gig?” Sehun asks, munching on a chocolate bar. “I hope you guys didn’t forget that before being a couple, you guys are also bandmates and our genius composers.”

Chanyeol waves them off. “We have been working on it, for your information. And it’s been going really well.”

Baekhyun nods in agreement. “I actually really like how it’s sounding.”

Jongin eyes them. “Really? You guys aren’t just sexing each other up every night?”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes. “Don’t compare us to the likes of you sex fiends, alright?”

Sehun raises a hand to his chest in mock offense and the two roll their eyes.

“But, really,” Jongin says looking at them with a genuine smile. “I’m really happy for you two.”

Chanyeol’s breath hitches in his throat. “What's with the random burst of affection?”

Jongin shrugs. “It’s just that I’ve known you awhile and seeing you with Baekhyun is the happiest you’ve ever been.”

Baekhyun raises his head to look at Chanyeol and Chanyeol recognizes it. His ‘boyfriend’ smile. But somehow, this one felt different. It felt too genuine for his liking.

Chanyeol feels his face turn warm. “Whatever.”

Sehun and Jongin only look at their friend with amused smiles.

“Cute.” Baekhyun says under his breath.

Chanyeol curses whatever Gods were responsible for making Baekhyun so good at this whole fake dating thing.

Baekhyun comes home to his dorm room at three in the morning after another night of composition with Chanyeol and for the first time in several weeks, he’s alone. He’s met with Kyungsoo leaning back on his bed, reading a new Haruki Murakami book. Baekhyun knows that look.

“I know what I’m doing.” He says simply.

“Doesn’t look like it.” Kyungsoo answers. “Be careful, alright?”

“It’s just acting.” Baekhyun says, for the hundredth time. “We know what we are and we know what we aren’t.”

Kyungsoo stares at him long and hard before turning his attention back to his book. “Alright. I hope you keep it that way.”

Baekhyun hopes so too.

__

Baekhyun knocks on Chanyeol’s door and is answered with a sleepy, bed-haired mess. Baekhyun smiles apologetically.

“Wanna take a break today?” He asks stepping inside. “You look like you need a new set of batteries, Chanyeol-bot."

Chanyeol shakes his head. “Nah, I’m alright.”

Baekhyun doubts him entirely but makes himself comfortable on Chanyeol’s bed anyway. “So what do we do today?”

Chanyeol tosses a pile of papers beside Baekhyun. “Made a lot of stuff. Check it. Play it. Choose something you like.”

Baekhyun examines the papers, flipping through them, wondering when the hell Chanyeol found the time to do all of it. He’s about to ask, when he feels a weight on his lap and he looks down to see a fluffy head of hair.

“Chan—“

He’s answered with a soft whine. “Let me rest.”

Baekhyun feels they’re crossing some sort of line but he can’t bring himself to care when he feels Chanyeol nuzzle his cheek against his leg and seconds later, he hears soft snoring.

Baekhyun shakes his head. “Hopeless, this kid.”

He puts the papers down and raises a hand to run it through Chanyeol’s hair. He hears the boy mewl in his sleep.

Baekhyun feels his own eyes getting heavy and he slowly feels himself being brought to dreamland.

He wakes up with his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder and a blanket on top of them. Probably courtesy of Jongin and Sehun.

They’re definitely crossing a line here. But Baekhyun, really, can’t bring himself to care.

__

It’s a Saturday night when it happens.

Most of them had gone out to see their families and catch up with friends from their own hometowns. Baekhyun had just arrived from a family lunch and a little karaoke party with his old friends from his neighbourhood. He was just about to get some sleep when he hears loud knocks on his door. Assuming it was Kyungsoo, who forgot the keys again, he stands up and opens the door. Only to be met with a very heavy and very drunk Park Chanyeol.

“Oh my god.” Baekhyun says, gritting his teeth, trying to hold up his weight. “Hey, Yeol, you do know you’re like twice my height, right?”

Chanyeol giggles and pushes Baekhyun away, dancing and stumbling across the room. Baekhyun reaches for his arm, worried he’d knock into something and break it, but ends up falling right on top of the drunk boy, landing on his bed.

“Well,” Baekhyun coughs, about to push himself off, “This is a bit inappropriate.”

But before he could successfully get out of the awkward position, he feels Chanyeol wrap his sturdy arms around his waist and nuzzle his face into the nape of his neck.

Baekhyun stops breathing. “Yeol?”

“Byun Baekhyun,” He whispers, “You’re so fucking beautiful, you know that?” He feels Chanyeol’s hold on him tighten, “You are so fucking beautiful.”

Baekhyun slightly detaches himself to look Chanyeol in the eye. “What are you saying? Why are you drunk?”

Chanyeol only looks at him with half-lidded eyes and all Baekhyun can think is how sinfully good he looks like this.

“I’m so glad I have you.” Chanyeol whispers, raising a hand to push Baekhyun’s hair back.

Baekhyun shivers at the touch. “You’re so drunk.”

Chanyeol chuckles. “Whether I’m drunk or not, I always think you’re beautiful.”

Baekhyun slowly raises his hand to cup the side of Chanyeol’s face and his heart squeezes when he leans closer to his touch like a puppy. But at the same time, he feels a little wetness and stickiness staining his cheeks and Baekhyun looks at Chanyeol, concerned.

“Were you crying?” Baekhyun asks softly.

Chanyeol doesn’t answer.

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asks, pulling them up to a sitting position with the little strength he had, taking Chanyeol’s hands in his. “What’s wrong? What happened, sunshine?”

Chanyeol doesn’t answer. He only reaches out to pull Baekhyun close and hides his face in the boy’s shoulder. “You smell so nice.” He whispers.

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun says, stroking the back of his head, “You have to remember that beyond this whole pretending to date thing, you’re also my bandmate and my best friend. You know that, right? You know you can go to me for anything, right?”

It’s silent for a minute. Until Chanyeol pulls Baekhyun as close as humanly possible and sighs. “You know, life can be really tiring. But people like you always remind me why I enjoy life anyway.”

Baekhyun feels his heart squeeze for the thousandth time that night. “Yeol, I’m worried.”

Chanyeol shakes his head. “Don’t be. I’m alright now.”

Baekhyun rubs circles on his back. “Are you sure?”

Chanyeol hums and pulls them down, the two of them lying side by side, face to face, arms and legs tangled together in the blankets and sheets.

“Rest.” Baekhyun says, pulling the blankets up higher.

He’s about to detach himself from the boy, knowing they’ve crossed way too many boundaries at this point, but he feels Chanyeol hold onto him and he hears him whisper a soft ‘Please stay with me’ and he can’t bring himself to leave.

He hears Kyungsoo by the door and he only gives him a look of understanding after he sees the state Chanyeol’s in and he grabs a few pieces of clothing before mouthing, ‘I’ll be at Junmyeon’s’.

The next morning, Baekhyun wakes up alone and he sees a little yellow post-it that had ‘Thanks for being there’ written in messy script. He learns from Jongin that Chanyeol’s parents were in bad terms so he never really enjoyed coming home. Jongin thanks him as well, saying that Chanyeol had never really liked showing people weakness so the fact that he came to Baekhyun meant a lot. Kyungsoo gives him the same piece of advice he always does when he gets back to their room and Baekhyun says the same thing. He knows what they are, he knows what they aren’t. Except he really doesn’t think he does anymore.

“Are you sure you know?” Kyungsoo asks.

“Friends are there for their friends.” Baekhyun says. “I was just being there.”

“Being there for your friends is natural.” Kyungsoo says. “My issue here is whether or not you see him as just a friend or not.”

Baekhyun mutters a small ‘I need to pee’ before heading to the bathroom and Kyungsoo sighs a small ‘You’re hopeless’.

__

It seems Chanyeol doesn’t remember much of what he’d said the night before since he acts completely normal. Baekhyun really hates him right now for leaving him to remember everything for the both of them.

They talk about whether or not the chorus sounded good as they shoved spoon after spoon of vanilla ice cream into their mouths, savouring the little time they had left to eat and drink anything cold.

“But this one sounds wrong!” Baekhyun exclaims.

“It’s just for— Wait, you have a little ice cream above your lip.” Chanyeol says pointing with his finger.

“Hmm?” Baekhyun hums. He sticks his tongue out and tries to reach it. “Is it gone?”

Chanyeol chuckles. “Idiot. Here, let me,” He leans closer and raises a hand to wipe it with his thumb and Baekhyun blue screens. There seems to be an error somewhere in his body.

Chanyeol pauses and gives Baekhyun a look that he couldn’t read. It seemed a lot like the look he gave him the night before. He gulps.

He sees Chanyeol’s eyes go from him to the door behind him and that’s when he presses their foreheads together.

“Baek,” He whispers, “I really want to kiss you right now.”

And that’s it. All self-restraint and logical thinking are thrown out the window and Baekhyun crashes their lips together, his hands automatically going to Chanyeol’s hair. Chanyeol pulls Baekhyun onto his lap, hands reaching down to cup his ass, slowly going upwards to reach up his shirt.

“Oh, wow.” They hear someone whistle from the door. “Hot damn.”

The two instantly turn around and see Sehun and Jongin with smug looks on their faces. “We’re sorry for interrupting.”

“Just gotta get a little something,” Jongin says, opening a drawer and holding up a guitar pick. “Yeol, do clean up afterwards.”

“I get it, just leave.” Chanyeol says waving his hands, signalling them to get out.

As the door closes, Chanyeol gulps and Baekhyun slowly removes himself from Chanyeol’s grasp. They both cough awkwardly.

“Well,” Baekhyun says, “That, uh— The song. The song.”

“Right.” Chanyeol says patting off his shirt. “The song.”

Baekhyun can’t seem to slow down his heartbeat. He really hates Chanyeol right now for making him feel like this for something that was just for show.

Sehun and Jongin enter Kyungsoo’s room with smug faces and stifled laughter.

Kyungsoo looks up from his laptop. “What did I miss now?” He asks in monotone.

“Quite a scene, actually.” Sehun says. “First time we’ve ever seen those two kiss on the lips.”

Kyungsoo stills. “What? Who?”

“Who else?” Jongin asks. “The lovebirds who’ve been together for months and yet we’ve never seen them kiss anywhere besides the forehead and the cheek. We just caught them sticking their tongues down each other’s throats.”

Kyungsoo gulps. “Like… when you guys went in they were already kissing or they just.. they started to kiss when you got in?”

Jongin looks at him weirdly. “Why is that important?”

“Just answer me.” Kyungsoo asks urgently.

“When we saw them, Baekhyun was already on Chanyeol’s lap and Chanyeol had his hands up Baekhyun’s shirt, that’s what happened.”

Kyungsoo leans back and sighs, staring up at the ceiling. “Screwed.”

“What?” Sehun asks.

“Nothing.” Kyungsoo says, waving him off. “Just talking to myself.”

__

Chanyeol really does want to talk about what happened with them. But whenever they’re left alone, although the conversations are normal, it felt like Baekhyun was trying to avoid any and all physical contact with him. Chanyeol really wants to say that it doesn’t hurt him but it really does. He doesn’t know much about relationships, crushes or love. But if he was sure of one thing, it’s that whatever feeling he was trying to fake with Baekhyun back then, it sure as hell didn’t feel fake anymore.

“Baek?” Chanyeol calls softly, making the boy jump.

Chanyeol takes one look at his anxious face, sighs and decides that the conversation can wait. “Nothing. Just a suggestion about the second verse.”

It’s while he listens to Baekhyun sing their finally finished piece that he decides that one of these days, he’s going to break this whole thing off with him so that they can create something real.

__

Junmyeon squeezes Baekhyun’s shoulders and rubs them comfortingly. “Second gig outside school. How does it feel?”

Baekhyun takes a deep breath. “Like the first.”

Sehun and Jongin give him pats on the butt joined with low cheers of “Fighting!”

He feels Chanyeol’s hand on top of his head and he looks up and offers him a small smile. “We worked hard, huh?”

Chanyeol nods and ruffles his hair. “Of course. We’ll do great. It’s us, after all.”

Baekhyun chuckles. “Yeah. It’s us.”

Chanyeol stares at Baekhyun as he sings and somehow, he’s just as beautiful to him as the first time he heard him sing, if not more. And he feels a surge of love for the boy, as he joins him for the second chorus, their voices blending so perfectly, as if God created them for the purpose of singing together.

The performance ends, everyone cheers and Chanyeol doesn’t know what it is that pushes him to do it, but he stands up and twirls Baekhyun around by the wrist and kisses him right then and there.

The cheers are deafening. Baekhyun tries to remind himself that they’re just pretending when he closes his eyes and loops his hands around Chanyeol’s neck.

Chanyeol pulls away and smiles at him. Baekhyun smiles back even if he thinks his entire body has gone numb.

The two walk back to their dorms after refusing to go out and drink with their friends. Baekhyun claiming he’s too tired, Chanyeol saying he wouldn’t let the other walk home alone. It’s silent and they’ve had many silences before. When they were too sleepy to talk, when they were busy doing work or when they were clicking away on their laptops or phones. But this silence was different. Chanyeol feels a sinking feeling in his chest.

“Yeol?” Baekhyun says quietly, staring at his feet as they walked. “I think we need to stop.”

Chanyeol stops walking. Baekhyun turns around to look at him. “Like, stop this entire thing.”

For a minute, Chanyeol feels like his throat had gone dry and he physically couldn’t speak. He gulps and silently urges himself to pull himself together. “Now?”

Baekhyun nods. “I mean, it’s gone on long enough, right? Everyone’s convinced. No one’s hitting on us anymore. The school year’s nearly ending too. We’ve done enough.”

Maybe it’s just Baekhyun. Maybe he’s just reading into things too much but he swears, Chanyeol looks like he just had his heart ripped out of his chest.

“Y-yeol?” Baekhyun stutters. “Are you alright?”

“What, yeah, of course.” Chanyeol says, shaking his head as if trying to organize his thoughts. “Actually, uh, I’ve been thinking about it too. A break-up, I mean. I realized we never had a set date for it so… I guess it’s today.” He says, with a smile that looked anything but happy and okay.

Baekhyun nearly chokes when he sees Chanyeol’s eyes. “Hey, are you cry-”

“Look, I’m really tired.” Chanyeol says turning around, “I’ll go ahead. See you tomorrow. Good night!” He starts walking, looking rigid even from the back. Baekhyun tries to pretend that he didn’t hear the crack in his voice.

Baekhyun lays face down in Kyungsoo’s bed for hours and when Kyungsoo comes in, the first thing he hears is a muffled sob. He sighs and pulls Baekhyun into his lap, the boy raising his arms to wrap them tightly around Kyungsoo’s waist.

“I told you to be careful.” Kyungsoo says, stroking the top of Baekhyun’s head until he falls asleep. Baekhyun realizes how good of a friend Kyungsoo is when he wakes up and finds that the boy had fallen asleep sitting down on his own bed.

__

The tension can be felt from across the room. It has been almost three weeks. It was hard not to notice when the two had been inseparable almost the entire school year and suddenly they wouldn’t even make eye contact. They survived the classes. It was the breaks that were unbearable. Neither of them had a lot of friends outside their group, so all of them had to put up with the tense silence and awkward air.

“Uh-” Sehun starts awkwardly, “Did you guys have a fight or something? Because it’s really been too long for it to be just a normal fight and I really hope you guys make up soon because it’s really fucking awkward for us too.”

He’s answered with Chanyeol mumbling a low ‘I’m done’ before picking up his tray and leaving the cafeteria. Baekhyun wants to cry. Jongin is thoroughly confused. Kyungsoo wants to smack them both in the face.

Kyungsoo groans. “You know, you guys should at least talk it out so you can stay friends.”

Sehun gasps. “You two broke up? No!”

Jongin wails. “Damn it! You were so good together!”

“Why?” Junmyeon asks, looking like a concerned mother. “What happened?”

Baekhyun looks down. “It’s not that simple.”

Kyungsoo puts his hands on Baekhyun’s cheeks and raises his head up. “Baek, look at me.”

Baekhyun raises his eyes.

“Why did you end it if you’re going to be so sad about it?” Kyungsoo asked.

Baekhyun whispers, soft enough for only Kyungsoo to hear, “Because I already love him.”

Kyungsoo excuses them from the rest of their friends saying he needed to talk to Baekhyun alone.

They take a walk in the school field and Kyungsoo takes Baekhyun’s wrist and asks him to face him.

“Baek, I’m going to say this as someone who genuinely cares about you and only wants the best for both you and Chanyeol. So listen, alright?”

Baekhyun nods and looks up at Kyungsoo.

“You’re both stupid.” Kyungsoo says plainly.

Baekhyun blinks. “That’s so nice of you. I feel so much better. Everything is so clear.”

Kyungsoo sighs. “No, seriously. How can two people be so god damn dense? There are about five thousand things I want to say to you and three thousand of them are swear words but I’ll just keep this short and tell you what’s important.” Kyungsoo says.

Baekhyun waits.

“Remember that day that Sehun and Jongin caught you guys making out?” Kyungsoo asks.

Baekhyun’s eyes widen, about to ask how the hell Kyungsoo found out about that but Kyungsoo beats him to it and raises a hand to stop him.

“They told me about it.” Kyungsoo says simply. “That’s not the point. The point is, you guys kissed. Without an audience.”

“Yes, there was. Chanyeol kissed me because Sehun and Jongin walked in. He looked at the door before saying he wanted to kiss me.” Baekhyun says softly. “It’s always just been for show.”

Kyungsoo groans exasperatedly. “Oh my god, Byun Baekhyun. They told me when they walked in the room, you were already on Chanyeol’s lap and his hands were in your clothes. If anything, he probably looked at the door because he wanted to make sure no one would catch you guys.”

Baekhyun has to take a few seconds to let that piece of information sink in before he looks at Kyungsoo with widened eyes. “So he kissed me… just because he wanted to kiss me?”

“Yes.” Kyungsoo says. “That’s why he’s acting like this. That’s why he can’t look at you. That’s why he’s so bitter about this. Because he thought you felt the same way about him, but you just ended it like it didn't mean shit to you. So if you don’t suck it up and tell him how you feel, the both of you are going to be lonely and miserable. Chanyeol has tried to make you realize his feelings all this time. It’s about time you do the same for him.”

Baekhyun bites his lip in contemplation. “But… but what if we’re just reading it all wrong?”

Kyungsoo prays for the strength and patience not to punch him in the face. “Look. Love is all about risks. If he likes you back, congratulations and I told you so. If not, then let’s move to Mexico and start a new life as Juan and Pablo to save you from the shame and heartbreak. But you need to do this. For yourself. For Chanyeol. And the rest of your band.”

__

Before he can chicken out, Baekhyun makes his way to Chanyeol and Jongin’s shared room. He tries to repeat Kyungsoo’s words in his head. If this goes wrong, he always has Mexico. He takes a deep breath and taps his knuckles against the wooden door.

He holds his breath when he hears the door knob twist but instead of Chanyeol, he’s greeted by Jongin who had shaving cream on his face.

Jongin blinks. “Wait.” He says decidedly.

He disappears for about five seconds and walks out the door bringing a shave and a face towel. “Go fix things.” He says simply, walking past him.

Baekhyun exhales and slowly steps into the room, cautiously looking around. He spots Chanyeol perched on the edge of his bed, fiddling with Jongin’s guitar.

“Hey, Jongin, I think your string just-”

He cuts himself off when he sees Baekhyun and his facial expression drops almost instantly.

“Hey.” Baekhyun says softly.

Chanyeol eyes him for a second before looking back down at the guitar. “What’s up?”

“I wanted to apologize.” Baekhyun explains. “Will you let me?”

Chanyeol sighs, obviously unprepared for the conversation. “For what? Ending things? Because you don’t need to, that was the plan all along.”

“For getting you into this whole mess in the first place.” Baekhyun says, playing with his fingers, finding it hard to look Chanyeol in the eye. “I just… I feel like I burdened you a lot and sort of forced you into this and then I just-”

“You think that’s why I got upset?” Chanyeol asks, venom in his voice. “You think the reason I’m like this is because I thought you were a burden to me?”

“What? No, that’s not what I’m trying to say.” Baekhyun says instantly, waving his hands.

“Then please get to your point.” Chanyeol says, setting Jongin’s guitar aside. “Because I don’t know if you realize this, but it’s really fucking hard to read you sometimes.”

Baekhyun’s breath hitches in his throat.

“I don’t know why but… I just don’t understand.” Chanyeol opens up. “We’ve kissed before. In private. But then after that happened, you just looked so bothered every time I tried to touch you. And then I kissed you again on stage and that night, I wanted to tell you how I really felt. But you suddenly told me you wanted to stop everything so I just,” Chanyeol runs a hand through his hair, “I just let you because I thought I'd made you uncomfortable. Because It was the plan all along and I know that. I was the one who developed feelings so I have no right to-”

“I love you.” Baekhyun cuts him off.

Chanyeol feels everything he was about to say die down his throat. “Wait, what?”

“I love you.” Baekhyun repeats. “God, fuck, I am so in love with you. I love you. I don’t know if it’s too soon to say that but after all the late nights of food, instruments, songs, movies and alcohol I just… I don’t know how else to express it. I love you. I… I know I always said I wanted to wait for the right person before I start dating and I think the right person is you, I just thought that you didn’t really like me, I thought it was all for show, I thought you kissed me because you saw Sehun and Jongin walk in, I thought I was reading everything wrong. I was scared, I didn’t know what to do, I’ve never felt like this for anyone ever but now I just really want to say that I’m sorry for making you suffer and I swear if you give me a chance I’ll do it right this time. For real and I-”

“You son of a bitch.” Chanyeol says under his breath, pulling Baekhyun towards him, shutting him up with his mouth. Baekhyun makes a muffled “mmmph” sound but instantly melts in Chanyeol’s arms. He lightly pushes himself away, but is instantly pulled back.

“Shut the fuck up. I’ve waited too fucking long for this.”

Chanyeol pulls him on his lap and moans into the kiss when he grinds his hips up.

“Can we?” Chanyeol whispers. “I know we’ve both held out for too damn long.”

“We can.” Baekhyun nods, pushing Chanyeol down.

“Huh.” Baekhyun says, as he pulls Chanyeol’s boxers down.

“What?” Chanyeol asks breathlessly.

“No dust bunnies.” He answers.

Chanyeol whines, raising a hand to lightly push Baekhyun’s head down, silently demanding. “Can’t you put your mouth to better use?”

Baekhyun pouts. “Pushy, aren’t we?”

Chanyeol huffs. “Oh, right.” He says. “Before that,”

Baekhyun raises his eyebrows.

“I love you too.” Chanyeol says with a smile.

Baekhyun's insides melt. “Fucking good.”

__

Chanyeol and Jongin sip on their beers silently as they watch Baekhyun and Sehun belt out to Truly, Madly, Deeply. It’s their third hour in the karaoke room and the two were still energetic as ever.

Jongin looks at Chanyeol. “You look really happy.”

Chanyeol raises his eyebrows. “I am.”

Jongin chuckles. “Ah, I remember the days we’d try to set you up on blind dates and you’d say ‘Thanks, but I don’t date’ or ‘I’ll date when I find the one’” Jongin chuckles.

Chanyeol shoves Jongin’s side. “Shut the fuck up, will you?”

“So…” Jongin smiles playfully, “Is he the one?”

Chanyeol smiles, slightly cringing as Baekhyun sang a note that didn’t really sound like a note anymore.

“Yup,” He leans back with a contented sigh, “He’s the one, alright.”