Archive of Our Own

If The Police Ask

"You know that's not how it works, right?" Luhan stood by the threshold, staring at where is friend was perched by the window.

"How so?"

"Well, to begin with, you're supposed to wait until nighttime. To see actual stars?"

"Oh, yeah. I don't really care about those," Baekhyun finally turned to look at him, flashing him a brief smile before turning his attention back to his newly acquired telescope.

Luhan gaped at him.

"Then why would you ask me to buy you one for your birthday?"

"I didn't ask, I suggested, Lu," he adjusted one of the knobs by the side of the device, cheering when the image in front of him suddenly came into focus, "Come here! Look," he gestured excitedly until Luhan sat by his side with a long-suffering sigh.

Moving aside to let him look through the peephole, (?) Baekhyun practically trembled in barely contained excitement as he waited for his friend's verdict.

Silence.

"So? What do you think?"

"What the hell am I supposed to be looking at?"

Baek rolled his eyes exasperatedly, pushing the other boy to the side and situating himself in front of his new baby.

"That's a bedroom, idiot," he looked through it, grinning mischievously.

"Yes, I've already guessed that. My question is why is your telescope aimed at a bedroom."

"Well, it's not just any bedroom," he said cryptically, pushing his bed closer to the window, "You see. Rumor's got it that we're getting new neighbors. The moving company came this morning, and they're supposed to be arriving any minute now. That's why I called you."

A mixture of horror and poorly contained amusement were painted on Luhan's features when he turned at him.

"Let me get this straight. You... Called me to come over as fast as I could... For you to creep on your new neighbors?"

Baekhyun leaned back on his bed, waving him dismissively, "It's not creeping if I'm just curious."

"Yeah, try telling that to a jury."

"Come on, Lu!" He clung to his sleeve, shooting him puppy eyes, "Don't be like that! I just want to get to meet them! We never get new neighbors around here!"

He could see Luhan giving in, and suppressed a smirk. Apparently he still had his best friend wrapped around his little finger.

"And, tell me. Why couldn't you go up to their house, knock on the door and go 'Hi, I'm Byun Baekhyun, your annoying little bitch next door neighbor, nice to meet you!’ You know. Like a normal human being."

"When have I ever been normal?"

"Touché."

The sound of a car coming to a stop in front of the house made him pull away from Luhan, directing his attention to the telescope and adjusting it to focus on where the back door of what turned out to be a taxi opened. Baekhyun held his breath as he waited, mentally praying to finally have a nice neighbor. Not an old one, like the lady who used to live on the house before passing out. A cool one. Maybe someone to be friends with.

"Oh," The boy gasped when he finally saw who was inside the taxi. He was not disappointed. Under a pile of poorly closed bags and boxes, he saw him. Tall. Much, much taller than him (he was still growing, shut up Lu). Broad shoulders, long legs. The boxes were covering most of his face, but he could still make out a sharp jaw, a few strands of chocolate hair peeking from beneath a baseball cap. And then he was walking towards the front of house, placing his belongings on the floor before reaching for the key on his back pocket. And Baekhyun forgot how to breathe. Okay, that may have been a little over dramatic. But the guy had a really pretty smile. Like, full of white, perfect teeth. A toothpaste commercial smile. "Oh. He's... Cute."

"What? Lemme see," Luhan pushed him away not too gently, peering down, "He is old," he concluded after a moment, throwing himself on Baek's bed and going back to being completely uninterested.

"He's not old!" Was his indignant response. How dared he call Cute Guy old?

"He's like what? Nineteen? That's old."

He huffed exasperatedly before a thought crossed his mind, "Oh, do you think he's here for college? We're pretty close I think."

"I literally know as much as you do, Baek. But yes, probably. The other guy was carrying a bunch of textbooks."

Other guy? He turned back to his window, and, indeed, there was the other guy. They made a funny contrast, he thought. While Cute Guy was all tall and lanky and smiley, Other Guy was shorter, probably closer to Luhan's height, his stuff carefully placed in the porch as he surveyed the house with his serious eyes.

"They look nice. Do you think they'd hang out with us?"

Luhan snorted inelegantly, "Why would they want to hang out with you? You're lame."

"I'm not!" He pouted before narrowing his eyes, "And you're lame too. You call yourself my best friend, so it's a package deal."

"I call myself your only friend, Baek," he rolled on his stomach until he was facing him. "But seriously. They're college students. You're a kid. I don't think they'd be interested in hanging out."

"I'm not a kid anymore, Lu. You were here for my birthday, remember? It was like last week. I'm thirteen now."

"Still a baby," Luhan singsonged, a sly grin on his face.

"You're like a year and a month older than me. Shut up," he scoffed.

"Ah, kids these days... Can't even respect their elders."

And with that Baekhyun threw himself into his best friend, telescope and new neighbors momentarily forgotten.

---

It wasn't until later that night when he remembered. Tucked into bed and ready to sleep, a thud coming from the next door house made him move to the foot of his bed, focusing on the only lit room in the house. Their windows were just close enough to be able to see to the other room clearly.

It took a moment for him to register what was going on, but when he did he couldn't help the pang of excitement.

Apparently, a boxed dropped to the floor was what had caused the commotion. And there, standing in the middle of the chaos that apparently was his new bedroom, was Cute Boy. He could see him perfectly now, hair ruffled and in a ratty old shirt and everything. It was comforting, in a weird way. Nice to look at.

When Baekhyun finally went back to bed that night, feeling as if he knew his neighbor just a little bit more, he was glad he'd asked Luhan for his telescope.

----

It became a sort of routine after that. Every day, after he got from school, Baekhyun would drop everything besides his bed, pulling out his schoolwork and settling on his bed, where he had the perfect view of the window. He'd then wait until six, when Cute Guy would arrive home. Homework forgotten (not that he'd ever been a really brilliant student, anyway), he'd spend the next few hours watching his neighbor. He wasn't being creepy, he told Luhan the next time he brought up the subject. He was being curious, that's it. What he didn't say, though, was how nice it was. Not only learning new things about the man (and about Other Guy, sometimes, when he hanged out on his housemate's room), but feeling strangely accompanied. Luhan couldn't spend every afternoon on his house, and with his mother working till late at night almost every day, it could get lonely. But now it was better, he thought. After all, it was nice falling asleep to the possibility of a new friend close to you.

----

Baekhyun was having a crappy day. That wasn't unusual. What was, in fact, unusual, was that it was a Saturday. Saturday's weren't meant to be crappy days. But Luhan had a doctor's appointment, and his mother had gone grocery shopping hours ago. Moreover, Cute Guy had been M.I.A the whole afternoon, nowhere near his bedroom.

He'd decided to stay in bed wearing his pajamas while wallowing in his misery when he heard the door open downstairs. Usually, he'd go say hi to his mom, even help with the bags if he was feeling particularly helpful.

But his mood was ruined now, and he wasn't planning on leaving his room anytime soon.

That was, of course, interrupted when his mother called him from the bottom of the stairs. He wanted to ignore her, maybe fake being asleep until she took the hint, but there was something in her tone that told him that her "come downstairs," wasn't an invitation so much as an order.

Maybe Mrs. Zhang, who lived across the street, was visiting again. Yixing usually came with her, and he wouldn't mind the boy's company today.

What he didn't expect, though, was seeing him in the middle of his kitchen. He stood frozen by the kitchen's doorway, a hand still on his hair where he had been ruffling it. Cute Guy was there. Cute Guy was in his kitchen. Cute Guy was in his kitchen, talking and laughing and breathing. In his kitchen. With his mother.

"Oh, there you are!" He was shaken out of his stupor by his mother, only managing to blink before being dragged until he was standing just in front of Cute Guy.

This couldn't be happening. There was no way he was alive and conscious and this was happening. Maybe he was still dreaming. Maybe he'd hit his head and gotten a concussion. Maybe he'd died.

"This is my son Baekhyun that I was telling you about. He turned thirteen last month. Isn't he cute?"

"Yes. Pretty cute."

Nope. He was alive. This was actually happening. There was no way his brain would've been able to create a voice such as Cute Guy's on its own. It was so deep. Like melted chocolate or something.

The shock almost made him forget about the fact that not only had his mother talked to Cute Guy about him, but also that he'd called him cute. If he wasn't already dead he was going to be pretty soon.

"And this is Chanyeol. He and his housemate Kyungsoo moved next door a couple of weeks ago, remember?"

Chanyeol. Chanyeol. Cute Guy's name was Chanyeol. It was somehow really fitting, his numbed brain supplied.

Cute G- Chanyeol's expression suddenly turned apologetical.

"Sorry for not introducing myself sooner. But with school and settling in..."

"Oh, don't worry about it," his mother dismissed him, "We met at the supermarket," she explained, turning to Baekhyun and running her hand through his hair to push down the sticking strands with an exasperated sigh.

The shrilling sound of a badly recorded ringtone broke the awkward silence the kitchen had fallen into, potentially saving Baekhyun of a lifetime full of scars resulting of prolonged exposure to embarrassment. Chanyeol excused himself before reaching for his phone, flipping it open before taking the call.

Baekhyun didn't miss the way his whole face lit up when the person on the other side of the line answered him. He didn't miss the uncomfortable churn of his stomach, either. And then Chanyeol was informing the unknown person that he was in the Byun's kitchen, a knock on the door not even a full minute later.

Kyungsoo. Other Guy's name was apparently Kyungsoo. Chanyeol's housemate and childhood friend.

Baekhyun didn't like him. Didn't like that he was short, way shorter than Chanyeol, but even then taller than Baekhyun. Didn't like the way he smiled, looking all composed and cute. Didn't like the way he looked at Chanyeol. And, absolutely didn't like the way Chanyeol looked back at him.

He was a child in their eyes, he knew it. They'd never be friends, Chanyeol wouldn't ever notice his existence beyond him being the kid next door. He felt like absolutely nothing. And it somehow made the ache that had settled in his stomach even worse.

He was done. If he was going to be seen as a child, then he'd act like one. He left the kitchen with a bored wave and ran a hand through his hair, running up the stairs once he was sure he wasn't seen.

The door slammed closed behind him as he flopped into bed, hearing the muffled sounds of his mother's apologies for his behavior. He didn't care.

He was almost asleep -misplaced anger and confusing feelings making him tired despite it being awfully early for a Saturday night- when he heard the distinctive sound of his front door being close.

He crawled on the bed for the telescope, pointing to the part of the street visible from his window.

And there they were. Only that, now, they were holding hands. Cute Guy was laughing, looking happy and- and in love. Baekhyun felt a pang on his chest, and tried to swallow through the suddenly tight lump of his throat.

Oh. It explained things, actually. It was easier to recognize feelings when they hurt, he had always thought. Knowing you're happy until suddenly you're not anymore. Knowing how much you need someone until they are no longer there. Baekhyun had experience with that sort of stuff. Like now, for an instance. He hadn't even realized he liked Cute Guy -platonically, of course- until he found out he was with someone else. It was stupid, he knew. It's not that if Chanyeol had been single he'd ever had a chance.

But it was different. They looked cute together. They seemed happy. They were able to be together, despite whatever the old ladies in the neighborhood (including his mom, probably) would say.

Baekhyun just wanted to make Chanyeol happy, too.

Drawing the covers over his head, he tried to sleep, feeling lonelier than he had in months.

---

"You have to be fucking kidding me."

Baekhyun jumped from the bed just in time to dodge his best friend from where he was throwing what looked a lot like his shoes at him.

"Again? Byun Baekhyun I swear that if we're even close to late again I-!"

"Just a moment, okay? He's almost done."

"What are you even talking about?" Luhan fumed, picking up Baekhyun's books from where they'd been discarded by the door and stuffing them into his backpack, "You know your mom is gonna kill you if you go on like this, right?"

Silence. That was... actually way more preoccupying than a smartass answer. Baekhyun always had a smartass answer.

He stood behind his friend, looking out of the window and into the neighbor's house. Which was, in fact, perfectly visible without the need of the telescope. But Baekhyun was melodramatic (not to mention creepy) like that.

No sooner had the room before him came into view that Luhan slapped a hand over his eyes, turning back to the room before slapping some sense into his friend.

"Are you fucking kidding me Baekhyun you pervert he's naked!" he rushed out, holding himself from shaking Baekhyun by the shoulders until he reacted.

"He's not!" he dismissed easily, turning back to the telescope, "It's just his shirt he's missing. He's been trying to find one that's not in the pile of dirty clothes by the door for the past fifteen minutes. He's cute. Pretty entertaining if you ask me."

He couldn't be serious. Luhan was honestly torn between laughing and physically dragging Baekhyun out of the door. By his hair. But then, that was usually how he felt around him.

"Should I call the police and tell them some perverted thirteen-years-old is spying on his naked neighbors or what?"

Baekhyun scoffed. Actually scoffed. What a lack of respect for his elders.

"You looked too. Pretty sure they can lock you up too."

Well, he did have a point. And Luhan was not risking being sent to jail for some dude's abnormally long chest. Besides, they were going to be late for school. Again.

"Okay, whatever. If you're not out of the door in two minutes I'm leaving. You can stare at Cute Guy's nakedness any other time."

The boy did turn around after that, which Luhan considered an achievement in itself, and began looking for shoes. Typical.

"It's Chanyeol, Lu, not Cute Guy."

"Yes, I know, Baek. You've been talking about Chanyeol for like three months. I don't think I'm physically able to forget his name. And, I've talked to the guy. So have you. I don't fucking care. Now can you please hurry the hell up?"

Baekhyun took his backpack from his hands, making it to the door without sparing him a look.

----

Luhan's nagging was getting ridiculous. So what if he'd been looking at Chanyeol when he was technically not completely dressed? The guy was funny, that's all. It was just cute how he looked so distressed and like a kicked puppy every time he couldn't find his clothes (that had been five, this week only. Not that Baekhyun was counting).

Besides, Luhan wasn't one to talk. He was the one who had to deal with the way his idiot best friend looked at his (also kinda idiot) across-the-street neighbor. Seriously, every time Luhan was even near Yixing (which, considering they were almost-best-friends and seatmates, was quite a lot) he looked so... red? It didn't help that Yixing had that soft I-like-you-too smile on. Baekhyun had much more important issues to deal with that stupid pre-adolescent crushes.

Said issue was casually walking out of his door when they finally managed to leave the house. Chanyeol waved at them before approaching, and Baekhyun refrained to comment on the fact that Chanyeol had finally found a decent shirt to wear. It didn't seem appropriate.

The thing about Chanyeol was that he was too nice. No, he couldn't go ahead and do the same as his housemate (boyfriend?) and politely ignore them. No, he had to be a ray of sunshine and be friends with everyone. He'd know everybody's names, even Luhan, who lived across town, and try to engage in small talk every time they met. Such a nice human being.

And no, Baekhyun was not being bitter. It was just that Chanyeol wasn't making him like him any less. And now he couldn't even look at him.

---

"If it's bothering you so much, you should talk to him," Luhan stated over lunch, earning a nod from Yixing.

"He's got a cute boyfriend at home. And you were the one who told me he'd want nothing to do with someone so much younger than him. He's seven years older than me. Seven!" he held up his fingers, faceplanting besides his lunch tray.

"Well, he's more like... six... and a half? Three quarters? That's not so much," Yixing smiled at him, all dimples and positivity. Baekhyun felt sick. Luhan giggled at his crush, and Yixing blushed prettily. Talking about stupid infatuations that needed to be solved. He left the table before all that lovely-dovey teenage crush completely ruined his lunch.

---

He did not mean to intrude. Really. It was just that, considering it was almost midnight, it wasn't usual to hear raised voices from the house next door. So, Baekhyun really didn't have a choice but to look. The scene playing in front of his window was... unsettling, to say something.

Kyungsoo, usually so calm and collected, was stamping around the house, moving from Chanyeol's room to his, picking up random objects and throwing them into the open suitcase on top of his bed. Chanyeol was done following, sitting on his desk chair while listening to his roommate's excuses. Well, at least they sounded like excuses, from where Baekhyun was standing.

He didn't get it. Because, as much as he'd tried to decrease the amount of time he spent looking through his telescope, he still did so enough to know that Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were as happy together as they could be. They didn't even fight much, through what was happening right before his eyes didn't look much as a fight. It looked like the end.

And he was right, it seemed, because not even an hour later Kyungsoo stopped, awkwardly standing in front of a defeated Chanyeol, before closing his suitcase. A cab stopped by the house, and Kyungsoo left the room.

Chanyeol sat there for an hour before turning his light off.

----

The blinds were drawn, not a single movement to be registered.

Again.

The whole day, since before leaving for school till late in the evening, Baekhyun had waited. For something, anything, to happen. He knew it was childish to do so, but he couldn't get that image of Chanyeol, alone in his bedroom, expression more serious than it'd ever been, out of his mind. It felt wrong.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one to notice. As his mother informed him at dinner, whispering as if it wasn't just the two of them in the house, the old ladies of the neighborhood were gossiping about how the round-eyed boy next door had been seen leaving his house in the middle of the night, carrying a suitcase, and how the other boy, the tall one, had locked himself in, even skipping class.

It was better that way, she told her son. They didn't need couples like them in their respectable neighborhood. If only she knew.

----

That night was no different.

An uncomfortable kind of pressure had settled into Baekhyun's chest, one he couldn't pinpoint the reason for.

Luhan was as helpful as usual. Which meant, not helpful at all.

"Baek. He doesn't care about you. Like, at all. Why do you?"

Honestly, he needed better friends.

So what if Chanyeol barely acknowledged his existence? That didn't mean that Baekhyun didn't have the right to be worried about him. As a friend, at least.

"Because, last time I saw him, he looked half dead. He wasn't even smiling, Lu. Do you know how weird that is?"

"The sad thing is, I actually do. But his boyfriend broke up with him, right? What, did you expect him to be happy about it?"

He did have a point. He knew relationships were hard, had heard a lot about broken hearts and things of the sort. But he'd never actually seen one up close.

"Talking about relationships," Luhan continued when the silence had stretched long enough that Baek had almost forgotten he was still on the phone, "I was thinking about asking Xing out next week. Do you think-?"

The line went dead.

----

It didn't get any better after that.

Okay, maybe it did. Chanyeol pulled up his blinds, returned to his classes, left home to go grocery shopping. But there was still that sadness around him, not leaving him even for a moment. He now went past Baekhyun every day, not sparing him nor his friends even a look, let alone a greeting. He seemed stuck in his own misery.

And it made Baekhyun sick. He needed to fix it. He needed to see that smile again before its lack caused irreversible damage.

The problem was, he didn't really know how. Because as charismatic and easy-going as Baekhyun knew he could be when he put himself to it, there were zero chances for him to do so. He wasn't about to ambush the guy while taking the trash (which he did, by the way, looking terrible and as if he hadn't slept in weeks), but there was a constant question on his mind that was eating him inside.

It was none of his business, of course. Not that that'd ever stopped him before, though it was different this time. Baekhyun wanted to know why. Why had they broken up? What had made what seemed like a perfect couple, one that angered the conservative old ladies of the neighborhood for being just too cute, separate completely out of the blue.

But, sitting on his bed and watching his Cute Guy cry into his pillow, all he could think about was in putting the most charming smile he'd ever seen back into the most wonderful man he'd ever met.

----

It was a nice day to be miserable. It had been pouring for hours, his umbrella was half-broken, and he had a ton of homework that couldn't be put off any longer. And, as if that wasn't enough to completely ruin his afternoon, his best friends had ditched him to go see a movie. Alone. In what Luhan swore wasn't a date, but came pretty close. And, Chanyeol had been M.I.A that morning. Just great.

But then, he heard it. The most heartbreaking whimper, just barely audible above the sound of the rain hitting concrete.

Stopping on his tracks, Baekhyun listened.

He was beginning to believe the whole thing had been a fragment of his imagination when he heard it again.

Just off the road, stood a cardboard box, looking about to fall apart at any moment. Big, black letters read 'Adopt me' on the side, and it was enough to catch his attention.

Leaning in to see inside the box, his heart broke at the sight of a puppy, so little it could fit in his backpack easily. Chocolate fur dripping wet, the little thing was shaking nonstop, and Baekhyun didn't hesitate for a moment before pulling it up and close to him, covering it with his jacket to keep it warm.

On the back of his mind, the idea that he was acting like the main character of one of those animes Luhan pretended not to like watching was making him excited, but for now getting the puppy dry and warm was more important.

----

After an improvised bath in which he got way cleaner (and wetter) than the puppy, he had some thinking to do.

Baekhyun sat on his bed, the puppy, now dry and wiggling his tail, lying on his lap.

"You are adorable," he cooed, rubbing the animal's belly, "How could anyone want to get rid of you?"

The puppy didn't answer (luckily, as Baekhyun already thought he was going crazy soon enough), but it did yip animatedly.

"What should I call you, huh?" he giggled, "Oh! Park Byun has a nice ring to it, don't you think?" the puppy looked up at him, "Yeah you're right. It'd be weird for me to call you like that in front of mom. What about Mr. PB? You like that?"

The puppy pawed at his nose, "I'll take that as a yes, Mr. PB. Now come on, let's get you some food."

Well, maybe he was, in fact, the most pathetic guy on earth. Luhan wouldn't let him live the fact that he'd named his dog after his crush down in a million years. But at least his dog didn't seem to mind it, if the way he was devouring everything he could was anything to go by.

What he hadn't taken into account, as he belatedly realized, was the fact that him mother, a control freak with little appreciation of small, cute animals, would never accept his baby into their lives.

All those thoughts were summarized in a "What is that thing doing in my house?!" that resonated through the room, Baekhyun standing in front of his puppy protectively.

"I found him outside. On the rain. It's called Mr. PB and we're keeping it."

His mother scoffed at him. Scoffed. "Like hell we are. I want it out of my house by tonight."

"But mom!"

"No 'but's, Baek. We're not keeping that animal."

"But I'll take care of him! And he is well behaved, look!"

And in that exact moment, Mr. PB decided to relieve himself on the couch, much to Baekhyun's horror, who stood there paralyzed (and feeling awfully betrayed by who he'd hoped to replace Luhan as his best friend).

"Baekhyun," the eerie calmness of his mother's voice was the worst threat he could possible imagine, "Get that thing out of my house before you too have to find a place to live."

He scrambled to pick the puppy up, aware that his mom was probably up to keeping her promise.

"At least let me ask if someone can keep it, please?"

And like that he was off to Luhan's house. Because well, he didn't exactly have a lot of people to ask to, did he?

But Luhan's house was too small, and no matter how much Yixing sobbed into his arms it didn't change the fact that the boy's father was deadly allergic to animals and he couldn't keep it, either. After reassuring Yixing that it'd be fine, that he wouldn't allow anybody to hurt his Mr. PB, he was dragging himself back home, trying to figure a way to sneak the puppy into his room without his mom realizing.

And then, he saw Chanyeol. He was sitting on the rocking chair in his porch, looking lonely and tired and in need of a hug. The puppy noticed him too, as he managed to pull out of Baekhyun's grasp, sprinting towards him.

It stopped in front of the giant, looking up at him before sniffing him curiously. Chanyeol looked delighted by the little thing, frown lines gone for the first time in months, and picked him up instantly. He was patting his head when Baekhyun finally arrived to his side, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"It looks like I have a new neighbor! Is this yours, Baek?"

It took him longer than a moment to realize there was a question directed at him there, more preoccupied with the fact that Chanyeol was talking to him, smiling, breathing near him from the first time in months.

"Oh! Well. Kind of. I picked him up earlier today, but my mom won't let me keep it."

"That's sad. It's really adorable, you know." Chanyeol looking actually concerned was adorable too, but it wouldn't have been polite to say so, "Does it have a name?"

"Mr. PB," Baekhyun answered without giving it much thought, "He liked it."

"Mr. PB? As in Mr. Peanut Butter? That's cute. It fits him," Chanyeol grinned.

Baekhyun was about to correct him when he realized there was no way he was telling the guy his dog was named after their possible couple name. And well, Mr. Peanut Butter sounded nice, he guessed. Like something a five-years-old would name his dog, which wasn't really helpful in his quest to look mature, but there wasn't anything he could do about it now.

Chanyeol was scratching the puppy's chin, looking like something out of a lifestyle magazine. It looked perfect.

"Maybe... You could keep it, hyung?" Chanyeol looked at him in surprise, and he scrambled to make it right, "I mean, you don't have to! I'm sure you're really busy with school and everything! A dog is a huge responsibility, you know. Sorry."

Chanyeol laughed. The deep, rich sound ran through Baekhyun's body, the perfect original to the diluted version he'd seen through his telescope so many times.

"Well, I was actually looking for a roommate..." Baekhyun would've volunteered, seriously. But he didn't think his mom would approve, "But yeah, sure. Why not."

"Are you serious? You're keeping it?"

Chanyeol smiled again, and Baekhyun could feel his heart parch itself back together, "Yes, sure. If that's okay with you?"

"Of course it is!"

"And you can come visit Mr. PB anytime you want. I mean it."

Was this... an invitation to visit his two favorite beings whenever he wanted to?

"Are you serious?"

"Of course. And, if you want, you can help me take care of it too?"

Baekhyun didn't think he'd ever been this happy.

"It's a deal."

----

He wouldn't say it was a lie. More like... half a lie. He did wake up almost an hour earlier to go visit Mr. PB before school. Only that the puppy, as much as Baekhyun loved him and everything, couldn't compete with Chanyeol. It was just not possible.

His mother had shot him a disapproving look as he rushed to eat his breakfast, eager to leave the house. She wasn't fond of the idea of her son spending time with someone like their neighbor, even less knowing Baekhyun trusted the man enough to give him his precious puppy. She couldn't say anything, though. She'd asked Baekhyun to get rid of the dog and he'd done just that.

The thing was, Baekhyun was nervous and kind of anxious himself. He hadn't known what to expect of the visit. What if Chanyeol's offering had been nothing more than a formality? He didn't want to seem obtrusive, even if he did have the excuse of visiting Mr. PB.

But, as it usually was with Chanyeol, it went far from what he could have possibly expected.

The guy had opened the door with the grin that made Baekhyun's knees weak, Mr. PB on his trail. And then he'd found himself being pulled into the house, sitting on the couch as Chanyeol finished his breakfast.

Being inside the house was a strange experience. He knew the place as well as his own house, hours on end spent looking at it through his telescope. But there was a side he couldn't see, and it made him feel like being inside of a TV set.

And then, he saw it. It was a pretty house, he already knew that. But he had been missing the most important thing the whole time.

"Are all this yours?" he gaped, staring wide eyed at the shelf after shelf of game consoles, neatly organized, and the biggest collection of videogames he'd ever seen. Including the ones at stores. In the middle, a TV screen at least twice the one at his own house.

Chanyeol popped his head from the bathroom, toothbrush still in his mouth, before smiling around it.

"The consoles? Yep. My most precious possession."

And it was enough to dissipate the uncomfortable feeling that had possessed Baekhyun since that morning. Because if there was something Baekhyun knew about, that was consoles. Blame it on having Luhan, self-proclaimed obsessive gamer, as his best friend, but he'd spent hours every weekend since he was seven learning fact after fact about games. He was so ready for this.

"Is that a Nintendo 64?" he approached the ancient console, admiring how perfectly well kept it was. Luhan would give everything he had for being in his place.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

He was the beautiful one, Baekhyun thought. But saying that would've been creepy. Not to mention really gay.

"It is. How do you preserve it?"

Chanyeol crackled around his toothbrush, looking way more adorable than someone his age had the right to.

"I didn't think people your age would know anything about it."

"People my age?" he humph, "Luhan keeps me up to date, thank you very much. I might know even more than you do."

Another raucous laughter. If Baekhyun didn't find in so endearing, he would have been slightly offended.

"Oh, kid," Kid? He didn't like where that was going, "I've been playing since before you were even born. There's nothing you can teach me."

"Wanna bet, hyung?"

----

His little bravado had somehow ended up in a fierce Mario Kart tournament. Baekhyun had to admit, Chanyeol was good for someone that old. Not as good as him, though.

It wasn't until they heard the sounds of frantic knocking, followed by the bell ringing, that Baekhyun remembered that he had school. And, judging by Luhan's yells, he was terribly late.

Chanyeol scrambled to turn off the game, a quick glance to his watch showing that they were both late.

Saying his goodbyes to Chanyeol and Mr. PB was tougher than it should’ve, but the promise of visiting later kept him happy enough to leave the house, being physically dragged by Luhan once he stepped out of the door.

Once they'd walked a couple of blocks, resigned to being late, Luhan wanted answers. He yelped as soon as Baekhyun finished his story, while Yixing patted his back in congratulations. From now on, Yixing would be his best friend. At least he seemed more supportive than his... boyfriend (he didn't ask, but the fact that they were walking with their pinkies intertwined seemed enough explanation), who was blabbering about how nothing good could come out of spending time with his obsession.

Still, there was nothing that could wipe the smile out of his face that day.

----

It had been just a few days after the first time that he'd visited Chanyeol's house, when he woke up late. Not late enough to rush to school, but he couldn't waste time having breakfast if he wanted to spend even a couple of minutes with his favorite guys.

Chanyeol had told him to stop calling him hyung a couple of days into their… friendship, he’d say, and Baekhyun couldn’t have been happier. It seemed like Chanyeol had some sort of complex with his age, with him being a gamer surrounded by teenagers, and wasn’t really keen on the whole hyung thing. It was good, thought. It made Baekhyun feel a little bit closer to him.

He had shown up to Chanyeol's with a toast in his mouth, earning a disapproving look from the elder.

"Is that all you're having?" Baekhyun nodded, mouth full, and Chanyeol sighed, "Okay, here. Have something to drink," he handed him a mug, "Do you like coffee? Wait, can you even have coffee? Isn't it like... bad for growing kids?"
Baekhyun threw him a death glare, finishing his toast, "I'm not a kid. Just give it to me."

"Why didn't you eat?"

"I woke up late. And wanted to come say hello to Mr. PB. It' not big deal," he shrugged.

"It is. You can't learn properly if you don't have a good breakfast," Chanyeol chided.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes playfully, secretly pleased that the other seemed so concerned about him.

"Tell you what," Chanyeol continued, when it was clear that Baekhyun was ready to drop the subject, "What if you come over for breakfast?"

He couldn't have heard right, "What?"

"If you want, of course!" Chanyeol was quick to shake his head, "You mentioned that your mom usually left earlier than you, so I thought...." he ran a hand through his hair, "I am used to make breakfast for two, anyway."

Baekhyun studied him for a moment, keeping himself from rushing to accept and look desperate, "Yeah, sure. I'd like that."

"Great!"

----

It became a thing they did, after that.

Every morning, Baekhyun would walk the short distance between the two houses, and then proceed to knock the door once before letting himself in.

He then sat for breakfast, petting Mr. PB under the table as Chanyeol placed whatever they were having that morning in front of him.

An epic battle in one of the ancient consoles usually followed, maybe even in one of the new ones, if Baekhyun was lucky.

That usually ended in discussion, Baekhyun accusing Chanyeol of being a "gaming elitist", while the elder brushed him off, insisting that there was nothing like the old games.

Every evening, after getting home from school and attempting to finish off his homework as quickly as possible, Baekhyun would jump the fence between their backyards, feeding Mr. PB as they waited for his owner to return home.

Chanyeol usually got out of his part time job before sunset, exhausted after that day's classes. It meant a lot to Baekhyun that he seemed happy to see him there, always making time to throw the ball and play with the puppy, and most days to play the rematch of that morning's videogame. Then, he'd help Baekhyun finish his homework, making up for all the time he spent in his house, according to Chanyeol.

It was pretty late when they finished, but Baekhyun didn't think it'd mattered. Not that there was anyone expecting him at home.

So, when Chanyeol had invited him to stay over for dinner, too, he'd only attempted to refuse once. Honestly, he would've lived there if he didn't think his mother would kill him for it.

"I feel less lonely when you stay for dinner," Chanyeol commented one night, "it's not nice eating alone."

Baekhyun felt extremely warm. In a nice way. He knew what Chanyeol was talking about. He himself had spent most of his evenings eating on his own, waiting for his mother to get out of her over-demanding job. Still, he got that that wasn't everything there was to it. He was talking about Kyungsoo, with that sad look that sometimes took over his face when he happened to mention him.

"It's about you... Friend, right?"

Chanyeol stared at him for a moment, before his face broke into a grin, "Yeah, sure. My friend," he chuckled, "Actually, Kyungsoo was my boyfriend."

Baekhyun couldn't help but to wince, the words going straight to his heart. Their relationship was no new to him, but it still hurt hearing it so boldly from the mouth of the person he liked so much.

"Hey, don't do that face. You're going to offend me," Chanyeol full on cackled then, watching amusedly as Baekhyun shook his head, his hands, his whole body basically, in his desperation to make his point clear.

"No no! It's not like that at all! I mean, I knew you were together! Not like I was stalking you or anything! It was just obvious! Well, it wasn't obvious, I mean-"

"Relax Baek, I was messing with you. I know you didn't mean it like that," he said, a grin still plastered on his face.

Baekhyun leaned back on his chair, playing with his food absently.

"Why... Why did you break up? You seemed to get along great..."

The smile slipped from Chanyeol's face, the sour expression that months ago had been a permanent fixture on his face back on. Baekhyun regretted asking the second he did, but there was no turning back now.

"We did. He was my best friend. But he.... Kyungsoo was afraid."

"Afraid? Of what?"

A pathetic imitation of his previous smile settled on Chanyeol's face, mocking him, "In case you haven't realized, we gay guys have it tough around here. Not everyone likes us."

I like you, Baekhyun though. But Chanyeol had made his point clear enough, and he didn't press into the matter, turning back to his food.

Under the table, Mr. PB called for their attention, alarmed by the unusual silence and demanding some food.

When Chanyeol whined about not being able to feed him their dinner and what a pity it was that the puppy could only eat dog food, Baekhyun thought that they were going to be alright.

----

"It is five days from today, right?"

"What is?"

Luhan leveled him a bored look, "Your birthday, idiot. What are you doing?"

"School, home, Mr. PB, I guess."

"You're gonna do what to do every other day? What, no lame get-together like last year?"

"Nope. I'm too old for that now."

That managed to break Luhan's perpetually unamused expression, he and his boyfriend crackling at his expense.

"Too old? You're turning fourteen. Get over yourself, you baby."

"Don't tease him, Lu. Our tiny and cute little Baek is all grown up; he's too mature for boring thirteen years-old parties."

Baekhyun hated them. Really. As if being best friends wasn't enough, now that they were together in whatever weird relationship he didn't care about, they never missed a chance to mess with him Baekhyun. Not that either of them had the right to talk, as since they'd turned fifteen (Yixing almost half a year before, and Luhan not until the previous month) they'd began acting as if they were the all-knowing adults nobody thought they were.

As it usually did, the lovely-dovey sickeningly cute couple slowly drifted from laughing at their friend's expense to staring lovingly at each other.

Changing tables, Baekhyun tried to get that image out of his head and finish his lunch in peace.

----

It felt somewhat weird, not doing anything for his birthday. He'd always enjoyed that date, but this year he just wasn't feeling it.

A lot had changed, that past year. Thinking back to his thirteenth birthday made him feel... sad. A little bit alone. Sure, Luhan had been there, but that had been it.

This year, he had Chanyeol. Not that he was aware that it was his birthday, since he hadn't bothered to mention it, but still. Being near him on his special day was more than enough for Baekhyun.

Despite having told them that he didn't really want anything for his birthday, Luhan and Yixing sat him down at lunchtime, presenting their gifs.

Yixing had bought him a little keychain, its charm weirdly resembling Mr. PB. It was amusing seeing Luhan get jealous at such a small gesture, but Baekhyun didn't have it in him to tease him. Especially so when he unwrapped the boy's present, only to find a new lens for his telescope.

His had broken a couple of weeks back, when he'd accidentally tripped on it while watching Chanyeol get ready for bed. (Because, as much as he wanted to kid himself into thinking that he didn't spend as much time leaning over his telescope, the truth was that whenever he wasn't with Chanyeol himself, he was watching him. He had it bad.)

"I hate to encourage your creepy obsession, but I didn't know what else to get you," Luhan shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips at Baekhyun's truly delighted expression.

----

Mr. PB had grown a lot since the day Baekhyun had found him. The puppy was truly the cutest thing ever, and the way he would always run towards Baekhyun the moment he got to Chanyeol's was one of his favorite parts of the day.

He'd resigned himself to the fact that he'd have to ignore his birthday in front of Chanyeol. It was his fault for having kept it a secret, and the last thing he wanted was for Chanyeol to feel bad about not knowing.

He got up at the sound of Chanyeol's car (it had been his latest acquisition and source of pride) getting into the driveway.

Baekhyun got to the front door in time to see him getting out of the car, momentarily blinded by his precious grin. It brought him back to the first time he'd seen it, brightness dimmed by the distance. It brought sad memories too, from the time that grin was nowhere to be seen, just a warm memory. He couldn't help but to think he had at least something to do with Chanyeol's recovery.

What he didn't expect, though, was another head popping out of the back door, Luhan smiling wickedly before turning around and helping his boyfriend, who was practically hidden behind what unmistakably was a cake box, out of the car.

What the hell was going on?

He was still having trouble catching up by the time he was sat in front of a cake and being sung at by the three most important people of his life. Luhan and Yixing enveloped him in a bone-crushing hug as soon as he'd blown the candles, and if Baekhyun got a little bit teary eyed at how great his friends were then well, nobody could judge him for that.

Chanyeol picked Mr. PB up, bringing him close to Baekhyun's face so that the puppy could lick his face. It was so adorable that not even Luhan could be grossed out about it. And then Chanyeol hugged him. Baekhyun's heart stopped, nerves on fire and blood high on his face. It was an awfully awkward hug, given the fact that Chanyeol was at least two heads taller than him. Having Mr. PB sandwiched between their chests wasn't ideal either, but it was the most physical thing they'd ever done and Baekhyun could now die happy.

Turns out that Luhan was a better actor, and probably friend, that Baekhyun had ever given him credit for. He'd told Chanyeol about his birthday weeks ago, and had been planning this small party almost as long.

Baekhyun had never, in all his years of painstakingly befriending Luhan, ever, seen his friend looking as betrayed as he did the moment he found out about Chanyeol's obsession with videogames.

"You knew! You took months of unlimited gaming away from me! What kind of friend are you?"

Baekhyun just shrugged sheepishly. The truth was, he hadn't want Luhan to know. Well, he hadn't wanted anyone to know. It was their thing, Chanyeol's and his, and the thought of having to share it didn't set well on his stomach.

It seemed that he'd have to get used to it, though.

----

It wasn't unusual to find the young couple at Chanyeol's after that.

Baekhyun hadn’t been thrilled, that's for sure, but there were good things about it too.

Seeing Luhan so excited about something was always worth it, and so was watching him try to teach his boyfriend, who despite not being into gaming still followed him wherever he went, how to play.

It was also nice to spend some time with them without wishing he was with Chanyeol. The truth was that he'd neglected his friends quite a lot since he'd begun spending time at Chanyeol's, and despite Luhan being such a good friend that he never mentioned it, he knew the elder was a little bit hurt about it.

He still had some alone time with Chanyeol, though. He'd gotten so used to it always being the two of them on their own that Baekhyun didn't think he'd be able to survive without it.

One morning, several days after his friends had taken over Chanyeol's house, the conversation went naturally towards them.

"So, your friends..." Baekhyun looked up at him, recognizing the tone Chanyeol was using as the nonchalant curiosity his mother used when she wanted to know something. Interesting. "Are they...?"

"I don't know. Never asked," he returned to his food, not really into the topic.

Chanyeol gaped, "You never asked if your friends where a couple?"

"Nope. It grosses me out, honestly."

He raised his eyes when Chanyeol didn't answer, looking at his tense posture in confusion. And then he realized how it must've sounded, and seriously, why was he even allowed to speak?

"No, it's not like that! I don't care that they're super gay! I mean not gay! I mean-"

Chanyeol visibly relaxed, laughing out loud. Baekhyun slumped over the table, barely missing from faceplanting into his plate.

"I'm not homophobic," I'm pretty gay, haven't you noticed? "It's just that I've known Luhan since I was born and I don't really want to think about them together."

"And... Yixing, right? He's stealing your best friend," Chanyeol finished, understanding under the obvious amusement on his smirk.

He couldn't even deny that. Luhan had been all he'd had for as long as he could remember. He even had a crush on him a few years back, forgotten the moment Luhan had told him about his new neighbor with his eyes all sparkly. He'd been heartbroken, a little bit, feeling he'd never find someone else who liked him for who he was. And now, Yixing was in the picture, and despite knowing that Luhan liked him all the same, he felt replaced. Horribly so.

----

Chanyeol was working late and Baekhyun was bored. Sure, he probably could try and do some of the homework he'd been putting off for some weeks, but he just wasn't in the mood.

So, when his mother announced she was going to pay a visit to Mrs. Lu, he thought it wouldn't hurt to pay Luhan a visit instead of having the boy over for a change.

Mrs. Lu sent him upstairs as soon as he got there, telling him that both her son and Yixing where there.

Yixing was there. Why wasn't he surprised? Since his talk with Chanyeol that morning, he'd been reminded of why exactly he'd felt uncomfortable with Yixing at the beginning. He was the sweetest person ever, though, and a great friend, so it was hard to not like him for long.

When he opened the door to Luhan's bedroom, the most uncomfortable sight to ever have been seen welcomed him. They were kissing. Like... Holding hands and touching faces kissing. Gross.

But still... It was kind of cute. It was nothing like that time he'd seen Chanyeol kissing Kyungsoo. He didn't feel about to cry, or anything like it. He felt a little bit happy, excited for them. Like it was the last chapter and his favorite couple of the anime had finally gotten together. Hmn.

Luhan spotted him almost immediately, pushing his boyfriend away before throwing a testing glance Baekhyun's way.

"Gross," Baekhyun smiled, enjoying how red their faces were way too much.

Luhan scowled at him, "Stop smiling you freaking pervert! It's disgusting. Don't you knock?"

"You should learn how to lock the door, Lu," His friend made his way to the book shelf, looking it over before taking a manga out, "It could've been your mom. That's much grosser. Be glad it was me."

Throwing himself on the bed, Baekhyun settled against the wall, flipping the manga open. Not a peaceful moment had gone by when he sprung up, "Wait! Did you... You haven't.... Done it in there, right?"

Luhan looked downright murderous, Yixing so red he seemed about to pass out from sheer embarrassment. Instead, it was Baekhyun who was knocked out, Luhan's flipper flying to his head even before he could laugh at them.

----

Just like that, the school year was finally over. The last few days of classes had dragged on, but freedom had never been as sweet as the moment Baekhyun got out school for the last time, knowing that he wouldn't have to set foot in the building for almost two whole months.

He was glad it was over, no more tests, waking up at inhuman hours, standing his annoying classmates. But, most of all, he was excited. It'd be the first summer he'd spend with Chanyeol.

Well, not really, but close enough.

That'd be his summer, he could already feel it.

Chanyeol finished the last of his finals a week after Baekhyun's school had gone off. He still had to work part-time, though, but he made time to spend with Baekhyun, and sometimes even the boy's friends.

Their gaming competitions had turned into tournaments by then, and Baekhyun was sure that at least Luhan would spend all his time there if he could, if only Chanyeol didn't leave most evenings.

He'd told Baekhyun he and his friends usually went to bars, played some pool, got a couple of beers. Occasionally they'd "hit the club", as he called it, but, according to him, his friends were way too embarrassing to be allowed to dance in public.

"You'll see. In a couple of years you'll be going with Luhan, trust me."

Yeah, that wasn't going to happen. Luhan's social life (and, therefore, both Baekhyun's and Yixing's) was practically inexistent, if not at all.

He was left to fight off the stiffening heat that'd hit the city on his own. Which meant, he spent every second he wasn't at Chanyeol's laying around in either Luhan or Yixing's pools.

He was trying to get as much as he could of his friends' companies, as the knowledge he wouldn't be seeing them all that much was permanently on the back of his mind.

As soon as the summer was over, his best and only friends would leave for highschool.

He was aware that it was only for a year before he could join them, and that he'd still see them every day, but it wasn't the same. He'd already spent a whole year on his own when Luhan went to middle school, and the memories weren't pretty.

Now, Baekhyun wasn't one to care a lot about what others had to say about him. He wouldn't let stupid comments get to him, especially not those made by stupid teenagers. Still, it wasn't nice to get picked on because of things that weren't in his control. So what if he was kind of girly looking? If he wasn't mean or disgusting like most of his classmates? He did act as if he was better that everyone, but only because it was true. He liked himself enough. And so did his friends. And Chanyeol, hopefully. Baekhyun was strong, he could manage. He'd always had. It was a matter of holding on for a year, he told himself. Just a year.

Things had changed between the three of them now that Baekhyun knew about their relationship. If he'd thought they were disgustingly cute and nice to each other, now it was a million times worst. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd seen Luhan look at his boyfriend with anything but adoration in his eyes, or when he'd last seen Yixing so happy. It wasn't a bad change, he had to admit, but it was still weird.

Thankfully, they toned down their public affection whenever they went to Chanyeol's, so Baekhyun had another excuse to visit him whenever he was home.

That's how Baekhyun got to know some of Chanyeol's other friends (not that he'd met anyone but Kyungsoo, and he wasn't even sure if he could be considered Chanyeol's friend anymore). Jongdae and Yifan were nice, and, despite having been a little bit weirded out when they met Baekhyun (and found out how young he was), they got along well. Luhan and Yixing clicked instantly with Yifan, their shared nationality a common ground for an unusual friendship. Jongdae, with his childish personality despite swearing he was as old as Chanyeol, became a welcomed alliance to Baekhyun's teasing, and Chanyeol couldn't help but to groan once he realized what a terrible mistake he'd made by introducing the two of them.

Still, Baekhyun managed to steal Chanyeol for himself every time he could, going to his house for breakfast, and most nights dinner, as well as spending the weekends playing around with Mr. PB.

It was getting harder for Baekhyun. Every moment they spent together (and Baekhyun craved them) made him fall harder and harder for Chanyeol, so deep that he dared to say he was in love.

Chanyeol liked his coffee black, but not too hot.

He loved gardening, the small orchard at the back of his house was his pride (after his games, of course), and liked to talked to his plants. He taught Baekhyun everything he knew about them.

He was allergic to animals, which was why he'd never been able to have a puppy as a child. He'd only been able to keep Mr. PB because he didn't lose hair, but if it was up to him he'd have at least a dozen puppies. Really. A family of dogs.

He had a double bed, and Kyungsoo'd never slept there. Chanyeol liked to cuddle and hug him at night. Kyungsoo said it was too hot for him to be so uncomfortably clingy.

And Baekhyun ached. He wanted to sleep in the same bed as Chanyeol, wanted Chanyeol to hug him tight and fall asleep to the sound of his heartbeat. It just couldn't be.

But, above everything, Chanyeol was good. Like, seriously good. Like a likable movie protagonist, good. He'd walk around the neighborhood greeting everyone, help the elders cross the street, compliment the kids on their new toys. That good. He liked to make people laugh, feel better about themselves. Baekhyun only needed one of his smiles (that now they were back on his face he would never let them go) to make his whole day better.

----

Baekhyun had already gotten over the fact that Chanyeol would always see him as a little brother. It sucked, really, but there was nothing he could do about it. Besides, at least like this he could spend time with him without having to worry about making a fool of himself.

----

It was a casual enough invitation.

"Wanna go to the movies?"

Right. Casual. Super cool. Like Baekhyun. Because he wasn't nervous. Not at all. Why would he?

He was just going to the movies. With Chanyeol. Outside. Together. With Chanyeol. Super cool.

It was a comedy. Not that Baekhyun really cared about it, since he was positive he'd leave the theatre without the slightest idea of what the movie was about.

He was thankful that it was dark enough that Chanyeol missed the way he was looking at him, completely focused on the movie. Baekhyun couldn't take his eyes out of him, the pale light making him look magical and surreal.

It was when he laughed, though, that Baekhyun thought he looked the most beautiful. His face was weird when he did so, but it made his heart beat even louder. When the people around them shushed at him, Chanyeol looked bashful and pretty as he excused himself, resolutely trying to calm down for as long as he could. Or, at least until the next dumb joke.

Baekhyun had it bad.

----

He hadn't been prepared for this. He should have. It was now painfully obvious.

He was just... ogling him. Hopefully not being disgustingly obvious. At least Luhan hadn't hit him yet, and that was a good sign, right? Although he could never be sure with Luhan nowadays. Maybe he himself had been staring at Yixing. Who knew?

Chanyeol naked, that was something worth watching. Well, half-naked.

Baekhyun steered his thoughts away from that. It wouldn't be nice, being a guest in Yifan's house and everything, to keep thinking about the guy's best friend and how he was missing a shirt. And was wet. And handsome.

It had been nice of Yifan to have invited them, too. His house was really big, almost stupidly so.

Baekhyun was glad he'd lied to his mother. Well, lie wasn't the word, not really. Not when she wasn't there to ask, and he wasn't there to tell. He did hate lying to Chanyeol. He'd made him promise he'd get his mother's permission to go to Yifan's and get home late, but he knew his mother enough to know that, even when she wasn't there to hold him back, there was no way he'd be allowed to go.

So, it had been worth it. Especially when Chanyeol's friends turned out to be almost as fun as him. Almost.

And now there he was. Ten minutes into their water fight, soaked to his bones, and staring at Chanyeol.

It wasn't the first time he saw him without his shirt. Not even close. Most times, though, he'd seen it through his telescope. And it was nothing compared to seeing him like this, up close and real.

----

Their attempt at a wild, summer camp-like bonfire ended up being them sitting around in Yifan's yard, fire crackling in the barbeque.

It was everything Baekhyun could ask for. The perfect afternoon, filled with laughter, and an impromptu water-gun-war, and now the perfect evening.

Chanyeol had eventually fallen asleep, having worked the night shift the previous day, and his head was now resting in Baekhyun's lap, naked chest rising and falling rhythmically.

It seemed like a dream, so close he could touch, but real enough he was having a hard time breathing. He just kept falling deeper and deeper for him.

That night, alone in bed, Baekhyun sneaked a hand into his pajama pants. He thought about Chanyeol. Chanyeol, with his wet, broad chest pressed against him, moving softly as he slept. Chanyeol, with his million-dollar smile as he pushed his friends into the pool, turned into a peaceful expression when his defenses were down. Chanyeol. Chanyeol. Chanyeol.

A wave of guilt hit him when he came down of his high, hand and pants dirtied and gross.

It hurt, on days like that. Hurt caring so much for someone who didn't feel the same way about him, never would.

----

Going back to school without Luhan being there was rough. He couldn't walk with them to school, their classes beginning even earlier than his. It felt like starting all over. Those classmates who didn't know him, had never bothered at all, they were there, ready to mess with him. Back were those lunchtimes alone, that he'd worked so hard to forget in the past few years. Back was the loneliness.

Everything was better the moment he got home. It didn't exactly mean his house, either, just his favorite person.

Since Luhan and Yixing were still at school, he didn't even have to feel guilty about literally dropping everything at his house before going to Chanyeol's.

And just like that his sorrows went away. Chanyeol was there for him. Even if he was buried in the pile of work that came with being a twenty one soon-to-be twenty two years old majoring in engineering, Chanyeol was there for him. It was just little over a year before he graduated, and he couldn't have been more excited. Baekhyun was happy for him, too. Few things made him feel better than watching Chanyeol talk about the things he loved, his plans in life, his big, dreamy projects. Baekhyun could only hope to be there for him when they happened.

----

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Chanyeol asked one evening, breaking his concentration from where they were playing Little Big Planet.

"Girlfriend?" Baekhyun stood still, mind reeling, "No."

"But is there a girl you like?"

"Something like that?" What are you doing?

"Oh!" Chanyeol grinned at him, "Is she pretty?"

"Very," he answered without hesitation. The person he liked was really pretty.

"Well then. I hope you two can get to something," he said with an honesty that made Baekhyun sick to his stomach.

A dry laughter left his chest, "I don't think so."

"Why not? You're really handsome, any girl would want to date you!"

Baekhyun wanted to slap him. If only his face wasn't too pretty to be damaged.

"Thanks. I hope so," No. You shouldn't, "What about you?" He didn't want to know. But he had to.

"I don't really like girls," Chanyeol chucked, turning to look at him, "But there's a guy I like."

Baekhyun's heart was beating a mile an hour, even harder than it usually did around Chanyeol.

"Is he... Cute?"

"He's hot," Chanyeol smiled, softer this time, "We share a couple of classes," Shut up. Shut up. Shut up, "We have some friends in common, and I know from good source that he likes guys too," he paused, looking over to where Baekhyun felt like crying, "I was thinking about asking him out. What do you think?"

Baekhyun swallowed, the lump in his throat burning, "I think you could get anyone you wanted," he managed. It was the truth.

For the first time ever, Chanyeol's bright smile made him even more miserable, "Right. Thanks Baek."

He had to get out. Fast.

"Listen, Yeol. I should go home. My mom needed me for something," he lied, not enough energy left to even lie properly.

"So soon?" Chanyeol pouted. Don't do that

"Yeah. Sorry."

"It's fine. You'll come back tomorrow to finish the game, right?"

"Sure."

"Are you okay?"

Not at all

"Yeah."

"Well then," Chanyeol smiled tentatively, "Oh! Remember that game I ordered for the Nintendo 64? It's supposed to get here by tomorrow. We have to try it out."

"I'll be here. See you."

And with that he left the house, not even saying goodbye to Mr. PB.

----

"I only say it because I love you, you know that," Luhan told him hours later, standing I his doorstep.

His eyes were now red, and hurt, but Baekhyun thought he could still cry forever. Luhan had hugged him through it until it was late enough that his mother called, wondering where he was.

"But I think you should move on, Baek."

A dry, chocked chuckled left his lips. He turned without saying goodbye. If only it were that easy.

----

First love never works, right? That's what they say. And, Chanyeol was his first real love, it was bound to happen. The guy'd never see him as anything but a little brother to take care of. Now, Baekhyun didn't mind being taken care of, knowing Chanyeol worried about him. Not in the least. But it wasn't enough to have a relationship. At least, not the kind of relationship he wanted.

So, Luhan was right. He had to move on. Or at least try. He wasn't planning on staying alone for the rest of his life just because the most important person for him had basically family-zoned him, was he?

----

He had a plan. With steps and everything.

First step: stop visiting Chanyeol. It was a necessity. He couldn’t expect to get over Chanyeol when he was seeing him every day, falling harder and harder in love each time. It just wasn't going to happen. And it was extremely hard, at first. He felt lonelier than ever, bored to death. But somehow, done.

Second step: make new friends. It turned out to be way easier than what he had expected. All he had to do was change his whole personality and don't think a lot about it. That's how he made his way into a group of five guys. He wasn't even sure about their names, but that didn't really matter. Done.

Third step: Stop loving Chanyeol. Pending.

----

Baekhyun tried to visit Mr. PB when he knew Chanyeol wasn't at home. He'd cross the fence separating their houses when he got home from school, play with him, and cross the fence back as soon as he heard Chanyeol's car pulling into the driveway. He felt like crying every time.

The puppy missed seeing him every day, that was obvious. He hadn't really expected Chanyeol to miss him.

It was a week before Chanyeol knocked on his door. Baekhyun knew it was him, of course, he'd been watching him from the telescope. Which, wasn't really helpful to his plan, but give him a break. He was getting desperate.

Still, he didn't answer the door that time. Or the following one. Or the other.

----

Luhan wasn't happy.

"I'm just following your advice, Lu."

Chanyeol had gone to his house looking for him. Several times.

Baekhyun couldn't afford to care.

----

Baekhyun went out with this new... group of his. To the mall, or stupidly boring places like that. Pretending to be interesting was really exhausting, he soon realized. But at least he didn't have to pay a lot of attention to them. They were just an excuse to get away from the only place he wanted to be at.

----

Chanyeol called. He knew it was him, could see him from his telescope. He didn't answer.

----

Nighttime was the only moment Baekhyun let himself be. He went to bed earlier than usual, got into bed and sat by his telescope, pointing at Chanyeol's living-room.

That's where he usually found him, looking morose as he stared as his plate, occasionally patting a similarly depressed Mr. PB as the dog barked for food. He then went up to his room, hastily putting on his pajama before helping Mr. PB to climb onto his bed. He didn't look up while closing his blinds, a pensive frown constantly etched on his features.

Baekhyun got away from his telescope once the light went off, allowing the sinking feelings on his chest out for the first time in the day. He was doing the right thing, he told himself. It wouldn't do Chanyeol any good either to have him stuck to his side if he was planning to get a boyfriend he actually wanted to date.

But, Chanyeol was back to being miserable. That wasn't part of the plan. He was supposed to be happy to get rid of him, or at least relieved. He was supposed to go out and date that classmate he'd mentioned, not look like... like he had when Kyungsoo'd left. Deep down, Baekhyun was glad Chanyeol missed him just as much.

----

Chanyeol was late. Baekhyun had gone home from school, spent an hour with Mr. PB, done his homework, had dinner and was putting off getting ready to go to bed. Because Chanyeol was nowhere to be seen. And, as much as he tried, he couldn't possibly expect himself to sleep without knowing that he was doing fine.

It was pretty dark outside when he heard more than he saw Chanyeol get home. Baekhyun ran to his telescope, planning to watch him just a little bit. In the months that'd happened since he'd last been at Chanyeol's he'd forced himself to watch less and less every day. But now he was worried and he needed to do this.

Chanyeol didn't look happy. That wasn't unusual these days, but for once he didn't look sad. Just... bored. Extremely bored.

He toed off his shoes as Mr. PB greeted him, heading towards his gaming station after fixing himself a sandwich.

Baekhyun missed watching him play, especially since that place was one of the few spots he couldn't see at all.

He'd accepted that he wouldn’t be able to see him for the rest of the night when the sound of the back door shutting closed startled him from where he hadn't realized he was falling asleep. Peeking through his telescope, Chanyeol's garden lights allowed him to see as the boy sat by his beloved plants, what looked like his ancient and precious Game Boy in his hands.

It was a heartwarming sight, and it made Baekhyun forget momentarily about his almost perpetual lingering sadness.

He stared until Chanyeol stopped playing, the game probably over.

Chanyeol suddenly looked up. And smiled. His smile was seriously so pretty. Like, to be stopped by dentists on the street because his smile is too pretty. Baekhyun missed seeing his smiles up close.... But wait.

He was smiling. Looking up. Looking right up at where Baekhyun was. Where Baekhyun had spent the last hour (more like the last... twenty months) staring at him through his telescope like some kind of creep. Shit.

Baekhyun leaped from his bed, for once thanking that his mom wasn't home yet to hear the mess he made as he scrambled to get to his phone.

"Baek? Is everything ok? Why-"

"Lu," he panted, "I'm in trouble."

"What?! Are you hurt?! Do you want me to-?"

"There's no time Lu!" he cut him off. The last thing he needed was to have Luhan there when his crimes were finally discovered, "Listen. If the police ask, tell them that I'm really into astronomy and that stuff, ok?"

"What the fuck did you do now? And no one would believe you are into something intelligent."

"I did it out of love!"

Luhan hung up on him. Such a great best friend. Who needed enemies when he had his Luhan?

He crawled back to his bed, reluctantly peeking out of the window.

Chanyeol was still there. Not only smiling this time, but waving.

"Are you coming over or what?" he yelled as soon as he spotted him.

Baekhyun was so dead. He'd get a lifetime of prison. Would it help if he told them he did it out of love? Probably not. It hadn't even helped him with Luhan, and the guy was his best friend. But whatever. At least he'd spend his last moments as a free man with the love of his life.

With all the resolution he could possibly muster he left his house, dragging his feet the short walk that separated his front door from his neighbor's. And, for the first time in months, Baekhyun knocked the door.

Chanyeol opened up instantly, as if he'd been waiting for him just on the other side of the door. He was smiling. Seriously, if there was anyone that should be incarcerated that'd be Chanyeol. Under the charge of being extremely cute. And having a public hazard of a smile. How could he possibly resist to him? Baekhyun should be given an award.

"Finally, mister invisible," he said, moving to let Baekhyun in.

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Hey, show a little respect. I'm your hyung, kid."

"Whatever."

Chanyeol stood awkwardly by the door.

"So. Is there anything you want to tell me? Like.... why suddenly you stopped coming and keep ignoring me?"

Baekhyun was so not ready to have this conversation, "Nope. Not at all."

Chanyeol nodded, looking unusually serious.

"I see... But, you know, it's not me who you owe some explanations," he bent down to pick Mr. PB from where it was at his feet, demanding his attention, "He misses you the most! You can't just leave and abandon me and our child!" he pulled the puppy to his chest, pouting at him dramatically.

He should not be allowed to do that. It felt like a slap on his face, to hear Chanyeol talk about them being a married couple. And with children. Well, sort of. Baekhyun could dream.

"I've... I've been visiting him. Almost every day," he admitted, feeling a little bit guilty, not for the first time.

"I know. You're not as sly as you think you are," he smirked, "But he misses you. It's not the same without you here most of the time."

Could it be? Could Chanyeol be talking through his dog? Was it possible that he'd missed Baekhyun as much as he'd missed him?

"I'm sorry, Baek."

He was startled, "What? What for?"

"I'm not really sure. But I must've done something to bother you and that's why you won't come anymore... But I'm really sorry, whatever it was."

A look of real, serious sadness had taken over his semblance. No, that couldn't be right! The last thing in the whole world that Baekhyun wanted was to make him sad, that's one of the reasons why he'd left in the first place! And now one of his puppies (two, if Mr. PB anxious glances were anything to go by) was feeling sad because of him. He wouldn't forgive himself for as long as he lived.

"You didn't do anything," he answered, willing himself to stay calmed and collected.

"Then why aren't you coming anymore?"

I'm trying to get over you and seeing you every day only makes me fall harder for you.

"Oh... What... The truth is..." Think Baekhyun. Think think think. "You... You talked about liking someone. And I thought that maybe it was my fault that you were stuck with me all day and you didn't have enough time to date him."

Well. That came out terrible. And clingy. And closer to the truth that he'd like. Way to go, Baekhyun. You deserve to spend the rest of your days in a smelly jail.

"What? Are you serious?"

Baekhyun nodded, half shrugging as his embarrassment at his stupid excuse settled in.

"Baek. I hadn't even started dating that guy back when I told you. I mean. What? Why would you do that?"

Keeping quiet honestly seemed like the wisest choice. Baekhyun didn't think he was capable of opening his mouth and not saying something stupid at this point.

Chanyeol sighed before putting Mr. PB back on the floor and reaching out for his hand. Baekhyun stopped breathing all together the moment Chanyeol's enormous hand closed around his, letting himself be dragged into the living room and onto the sofa.

"Baekhyun. You'll never be a burden to me," Oh, please don't say that, Park. I might believe you "You're really important to me. I really care about you. You're like my family." Family-zoned again. Nice, "So don't ever think of yourself as a burden, got it?"

What was Baekhyun supposed to do but to nod?

"This guy... We, huh, happened to have our first date today." No one asked you "It didn't go very well."

That picked Baekhyun's interest, looking back at him with raised eyebrows.

"Let’s just say that what he had in looks he lacked in brains. I'm pretty sure it was the most boring couple of hours in my whole life. And that's saying a lot," Chanyeol chuckle sounded strangely cold, "But it doesn't matter. He wasn't right for me anyway. Besides, you can now come back here whenever you want, right?"

----

Baekhyun didn't look through his telescope that night.

Chanyeol was an idiot. He hated Chanyeol.

Or not.

But he kind of wished he could.

How could he not notice his feelings for him? He screamed 'head over heels' to everyone but him.

But mostly, he hated himself. Because he was going to go back to Chanyeol's. Every day, if he could.

And he used to have a perfectly planned plan that'd now go to waste.

----

Everything went back to normal after that. The minute he got home he'd cross the fence to Chanyeol's, spend as long as he could with Mr. PB and greet Chanyeol by the door when he heard him get home. Then they'd play until it was dinnertime, eating together and talking and laughing like their time apart was nothing but a bad dream. Baekhyun kept falling deeper in love.

Sometimes, Luhan and Yixing would join them. With his friends being more busy than usual, Baekhyun missed them, and he had to admit those where the best days.

Two times a week, though, Baekhyun stopped himself from visiting Chanyeol. He had to, really. Otherwise he'd spend every free moment with him.

Those days, he usually hung out with those guys he'd met at school.

Luhan didn't like them. He kept saying that they didn't sound like nice people, and that i'd be better for him to try to distance from them. And Baekhyun knew. He didn't really care, though. They weren't his friends, just people to be with when there was no-one left around.

----

It had sounded... Interesting. Not a brilliant idea, he realized that now, but what could he have expected, from such a clique?

But now, it was borderline painful.

He dragged himself home later than usual that night, just in time to find Chanyeol getting home from work.

"Baek!" he called from his door, half into his house already, "Come over! I finally passed that world of Crash I was stuck in!"

He wasn't exactly in the mood to play, but he wasn't in the mood to refuse spending time with his favorite person, either.

Baekhyun joined him on his couch minutes later, mood instantly improving as they set the game up.

He'd almost forgotten about what had been troubling him, concentrated instead in passing the following world, when he felt Chanyeol's eyes fixed on him.

"Baekhyun. What have you done?" he paused the game, a feat unheard of for Chanyeol, and turned to him.

Oh. He'd noticed. Baekhyun didn't think he would. At least not so soon.

"Nice, right?"

"Baek, your mom is going to kill you. Or at least kick you out."

"At least it looks good on me. I'll deal with it later," he shrugged, turning back to his controller.

"God, how could you even do it without an adult's authorization?" Chanyeol asked with real concern in his voice. Baekhyun rolled his eyes. It wasn't that big of a deal.

"One of the guys knew someone who knew someone."

"Baekhyun!"

"Relax Yeol! I'm not a child, I know what I'm doing!" he snapped, getting increasingly annoyed at him.

Chanyeol looked at him coldly, before taking him from his wrist and lifting him from the couch. He then made his way into the kitchen, followed by a curious Baekhyun, who watched him open his freezer, dropping a couple of ice cubes into a clean plastic bag.

"Here, put this on," he handled it to Baekhyun, "You should've done something about it before. It's all red and inflamed."

Baekhyun took the bag in silence. He knew he was right. He could feel his ear pulsating, a painful heat surrounding his new perforation.

He flinched when the coolness of the ice made contact with his abused skin, sighing a moment later when the pain numbed slightly.

Only then he dared to look up at Chanyeol, who'd remained unsettlingly quiet the whole time. They locked eyes for a moment, before Chanyeol sagged against the counter, dragging a hand through his face.

"You shouldn't have been so careless, Baekhyun. You don't know what that sort of place is into. You could've caught a disease or simple gotten an infection because of the lack of proper hygiene and procedures! What were you thinking?"

"What, are you an expert now?" Baekhyun ignored his question. And what if he got a perforation? It was his own decision, not his mother's, not Chanyeol's. His. And he was so done with being treated like a child all the time.

Chanyeol sighed before taking him from the arm not holding the bag. Any other time, if Baekhyun hadn't been so pissed off with him, he would've thought all this... manhandling was the best thing to ever happen to him. Not today, though.

Now, he could only sit on the toilet as Chanyeol rummaged though his medicine cabinet, wondering what he could possibly be looking for.

Finally, Chanyeol fished out a little brown bottle, looking for the expiration date before handling it to Baekhyun, who raised his eyebrows in question.

"It's antiseptic. For perforations. You put some on the wound every day until it stops hurting. And remember to turn the earring around after a while. But after that, try not to touch it. Especially not with your hands dirty. Then it'll be fine."

Baekhyun gaped, "Do you have one?"

He averted his eyes, cheeks flushing almost unperceptively, "You... You could say so."

He racked his eyes through Chanyeol's face, checking just in case he'd missed something obvious in all the time he'd spent looking at him. There was nothing there. It wasn't in his chest, either, as he'd already seen that naked.

Thinking about it... there was only one part of Chanyeol he'd never got to see without clothes.

His eyes fell instinctively to Chanyeol's crotch, mind going blank.

No way.

Chanyeol's face turned crimson, the most embarrassed Baekhyun had ever seen him.

"Don't look at me!" he pulled him from the toilet, forcing him out of the room, "I had a kinky boyfriend a while back, ok?!" he froze, "Why... why am I telling you this?!"

He sounded borderline hysteric. Baekhyun didn't know why he was telling him that either. He could only focus on the need to see it that was eating him out. Shit.

Chanyeol took a deep breath, "Baek, I think you should go home. Find a good excuse for your mother. You know my house is free if she kicks you out," he joked, voice still higher than usual.

----

It took his mother no more than a furious yell at him to get Baekhyun to remove his perforation.

He didn't even care, at this point. It was just a pity that all that pain had gone to waste. The good thing was that, as it was so new it wouldn't take long for it to heal completely. At least, that was what the Internet said.

That was the least interesting thing he looked up that night.

A couple of hours into his "crotch piercings" research, Baekhyun knew what he needed.

It wasn't until two orgasms later, the thought of how Chanyeol's piercing would feel on him burned into his mind, that Baekhyun fell asleep, exhausted and oversensitive. He didn't even have it in him to feel guilty. It had been so worth it.

----

They never talked about it again. Chanyeol avoided the subject as the plague, and no matter how much Baekhyun wanted to ask, he didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

That wasn't the last time he went out with those guys, though. They were idiots, reckless and childish. Just what Baekhyun needed to get a reaction out of Chanyeol.

He wasn't stupid; he just liked to pretend to be.

Take, for example, the first time Baekhyun smoked. He got to Chanyeol's with the smell of smoke in his clothes and lips, Chanyeol figuring it out instantly.

It took an hour of the grossest educational videos that Baekhyun'd ever seen and a terrible scold from Chanyeol that he finally admitted that he hadn't even gotten a full drag. The smoke had made his throat itch into a fit of coughs, and it had tasted disgusting. He was pretty sure he'd never try it again, so Chanyeol could stop giving him that look.

Chanyeol shook his head at that, relaxing his posture. It wasn't until later than he told Baekhyun about how he used to smoke, had done so since he was barely older than him, and how it had only been thanks to Kyungsoo that he managed to quit.

He begged Baekhyun not to do something like that, eyes so sad that Baekhyun wouldn't even think about doing it again.

----

Chanyeol's birthday came soon after. His friends had prepared a small party for him at Jongdae's, inviting Baekhyun and his friends to celebrate with them.

Yifan got him a couple of games for his beloved PlayStation 2, which Chanyeol looked at with awe.

"Those are hard to get, Chanyeol! You should get rid of that thing!" he complained.

It was the same conversation every time. Chanyeol would then hit him a couple of times for even suggesting him to throw his precious baby. And Yifan'd laugh. Baekhyun realized how much he loved being able to get to know these things.

Jongdae got him the newest edition of Dungeons and Dragons, which the birthday boy apparently loved. Chanyeol's living room was beginning to look like something out of The Big Bang Theory, seriously.

Luhan and Yixing gifted him a sweatshirt, and got a hug from Chanyeol.

Baekhyun had no right to feel that little pang of jealousy for his friends. Still, he was anxious when Chanyeol got to open his gift. He'd bought him a knitted scarf, the design on the front reminding him of Mr. PB. It was a simple gift, and probably the cheapest one, but he was proud of how happy Chanyeol looked when he opened it.

"Thanks Baek!" he said with the brightest smile, "I'll wear it every day!"

And he did. Even in Christmas Eve and New Year, he wore the scarf. Or, at least that's what he told Baekhyun. Chanyeol had gone to his hometown as soon as the holidays started, and Baekhyun hadn't seen him since then. They did talk every day, and Chanyeol was constantly sending him pictures from everything, from the house he'd grown up in to his parents and sister. It felt nice to know Chanyeol thought about him, too.

When school started again, Chanyeol came back home. Snow storms, not unusual in the area, got classes cancelled several times, and Baekhyun spent each and every one of those days at Chanyeol's either playing with Mr. PB in the snow or drinking hot chocolate as they played Dungeons and Dragons.

Sometimes, Chanyeol took him out of the house, shovel in hand, to help clean out the neighbors' driveways. Specifically, those neighbors his mother talked the most to. The old ladies.

Baekhyun didn't get it. Why would he help those women if they were nothing but mean to them?

"They are old, Baek. They can't do this themselves, so we should be the ones to help them, don’t' you think?"

"But they don't like you! They are the ones that talk behind your back because of your sexuality!" he snapped one day. He didn’t like the idea of those women to take advantage of Chanyeol's kindness and then keep judging.

"Of course I know. But maybe this'll help change their minds. It's worth trying."

Too nice for his own good.

----

He wasn't expecting to receive a Valentine's confession. He never had, never thought he would.

That's why, when a petite girl in his class came up to him, he tried to mask his surprise. Despite having been in the same class for years, Baekhyun barely knew her, he hadn't really bored to. As he hadn't with anyone, really.

He turned her down as politely as he could, reminding himself that it wasn't her fault that he didn't like... Well, women. He couldn't exactly say that, though, so he explained that he didn't really know her at all.

She insisted that that was the point of going out together, getting to know each other.

She was pretty, or at least the guys in his class had said so. Baekhyun didn't have eyes for anyone but his neighbor, but the girl seemed nice enough, and she wasn't giving up. It wouldn't hurt anyone to try, would it?

It was a month until Baekhyun accepted her offer. And they began... dating. Baekhyun wasn't attracted to her at all. That's because you're gay, the little voice in the back of his head reminded him, but it wasn't as if they were doing couple stuff either.

So far, their dates hadn't gone past a couple of visits to the mall, and the movies, once.

What's with kids these days and the mall?, he could imagine Chanyeol saying.

Speaking of Chanyeol, it hadn't taken long for him to find out about his dates. And congratulate him. Congratulate him. Baekhyun'd have to kill Luhan the next time they were alone.

"Is she the girl you told me about? The one you liked?"

Baekhyun visibly tensed from where they were playing a tennis match on the Wii, "No."

"Oh. That sucks. Is she prettier?"

"No, not really," he couldn't help but to glance at Chanyeol, "But she's not bad, I guess."

Chanyeol chuckled, "I can believe it. This child has a girlfriend and I'm alone as a skunk."

“A skunk?”

“You know, solitary animals? Come on Baek, we revised it for your last test.”

Was he being serious right now?

"You’re ridiculous. Besides, she's not my girlfriend."

"Oh kids these days and their fear of making things official."

Huh. Kids these days.

----

"Your birthday is coming up. Are you planning something?" Luhan asked one evening, taking a spoonful of the ice-cream he and Yixing were sharing despite the slightly chilly weather. Gross.

"No, I don't think so. Why?"

"Wanna come to a party?"

Baekhyun looked at him in surprise. Luhan? At a party? That sounded like the last thing his friend would want to do with his time.

"Xing's basketball team is throwing it, and he doesn't wanna go on his own so I was thinking about going with him. But it's the same day as your birthday, and I wouldn't want you to be alone."

----

Baekhyun may have already been immune to Luhan's insistence, but not to Yixing's. It only took a couple of puppy eyes and a dimpled smile to have him accept.

That's how Baekhyun found himself in a crowded house not too far from his own the night of his fifteenth birthday. He wasn't even sure how they'd managed to get in, with people literally everywhere, but somehow there they were.

He'd brought his... girlfriend along, thinking he ought to spend some time with her either way.

It wasn't even an hour into the party when he realized what a terrible mistake he'd made. Luhan and Yixing had left them as soon as they got there, and the look they shared between them before leaving made Baekhyun reluctant to follow.

His date had made her way to where the drinks were without even looking at the dance floor, and was now incredibly drunk, pulling from Baekhyun's arm into the crowd.

It was embarrassing, even more so when she told him that she wanted nothing more than to "taste his manhood", which sounded like a line from the terrible porn he used to watch online when he still thought he was a little bit straight. Which was no good at all.

Having his back pressed against cold and probably dirty bathroom walls in some stranger’s house hadn't exactly been his ideal first sexual thing ever. But now there he was, a girl too drunk to know what she was doing kneeling in front of him, and he didn't think he'd ever been less turned on in his life. This had to count as the absolute worst blowjob in the history of blowjobs. It was just his luck.

The girl passed out barely a minute later, and Baekhyun sighed as he tucked himself in. He left her in a sofa near the door before leaving, knowing for sure that he was as straight as the Pisa Tower.

----

Climbing the tree that led to the little balcony besides his window seemed way easier than it was.

He was trying to sneak back into his room, as his mother was sure he'd be spending the night at Luhan's. Now that the love-birds had disappeared, though, he didn't have anywhere else to go.

That's how Chanyeol found him ten minutes later, cold and sweaty and unable to climb more than a foot up. It was late, but not late enough that Chanyeol wouldn't still be up playing Call of Duty. He should've known that.

"You smell like alcohol," he said the moment he'd placed Baekhyun back on the floor.

"You could say I drank a little. So what?" he hadn't actually drank himself. It was more like that girl had drunk, and she'd kissed him. But that was harder to explain.

"You're fourteen, Baekhyun. That's what."

"Fifteen, genius. Today's my birthday. Besides, y barely drank, it's not like I'm drunk, if that's what's worrying you."

"Oh, right. Happy birthday, Baek! You're totally a grownup now," Chanyeol's answer dripped sarcasm

"I hate you," he mumbled. He was mad at Chanyeol, but that didn't mean he wanted the guy to hear him and get that kicked puppy look in his eyes.

Chanyeol just frowned.

"So, tell me, mature fifteen years-old. Why won't you use the door?"

"Mom thinks I'm staying at Luhan's," he shrugged.

"Oh, and getting home past midnight smelling like alcohol and climbing up a tree is the smartest idea, of course."

Well, he did have a point.

"Come on, let's go to my house."

What?!

----

Despite being exhausted, he managed to shower, feeling a lot better after he was clean and into some of Chanyeol's old pajamas, which were way too big for him.

He slept for hours, not waking up until past lunchtime.

While he was having breakfast, Chanyeol placed a little package on top of the table.

He had to be dreaming.

"Take it, it's for you. Happy birthday, Baek," he didn't look as mad as the previous day, a lingering concern on his features, but his face broke into a smile when Baekhyun took his present, too-long sleeves covering his hands.

The gift card stuck to it read:

To: Baekhyunnie

From: Mr. PB and Chanyeol.

His heart was beating way too loud for such a small gesture, and it probably said more about how infatuated Baekhyun was that he wanted it too. And pretty gay, too. As if not feeling anything while being sucked by a pretty girl didn't already prove that.

He took a little box out of the bag, opening to reveal a delicate figure. It must've been expensive, considering the huge amount of detail that had obviously been put into it.

But that wasn't the reason why Baekhyun was mesmerized.

Because, inside the box, sat a little telescope, an almost exact replica of the one sitting in his room.

"I hope you don't think I'm weird for looking into your room," Chanyeol chuckled, looking sheepish. Oh, if only he knew, "But I noticed you really liked your telescope, right? You use it a lot. I didn't even know you liked stargazing."

He'd noticed. Baekhyun was sure the cops'd be knocking on his door any minute now.

But right now, he couldn't bring himself to care.

"Thanks, Yeol," he said, voice strangely tight, "I love it."

----

"What are you doing here?"

He'd spent the past five hours playing Pokemon with Chanyeol, who, despite his almost twenty three years old, still was twelve at heart. That was one of the things Baekhyun loved the most about him, though, so he couldn't really complain.

So, it was quite late, even though it was Friday, when he got home.

He hadn't expected Luhan to be there, sitting in his doorsteps.

His best friend hadn't answered his question, choosing to stare at the floor instead.

Baekhyun was about to snap at him to move aside when he finally spoke up, voice rough.

"I think... I think Yixing and I broke up."

He was besides his best friend that instant, taking a proper look at his face for the first time that evening, and that was when he noticed how pale he looked, eyes rimmed in red and lips dry.

"What happened?" he rubbed his back, feeling Luhan's shaky breath beneath his palm, "You seemed fine the last time I saw you."

Luhan grimaced, "We were. Well. More or less," he took a deep breath, trying to put himself together, "Some guys at school were making fun of Xing... And then he said that we'd been going out for a year and a half and that we were going too fast and that we're still young and that we should take a break. From each other."

A break. Baekhyun had seen enough TV shows in his lifetime to know what that meant. And, judging by the way Luhan was losing his grip on himself, he knew too.

"We haven't been together for like... three hours and I already miss him so much. What am I going to do without him, Baek?"

Maybe Yixing was right. Maybe a time apart would do them good. But, as he took his best friend's hand on his, he couldn't help to wish things were back to how they used to be.

----

It had already been a month and "the break" wasn’t' over. Baekhyun hadn't seen his two best friends in the same room ever since, and it was making him feel worse than what he would've expected.

Chanyeol took no time to pick it up, either.
"What's going on with Luhan and Yixing? Did they have a fight?" he asked one evening, in the middle of watching one of Jongdae's terrible anime recommendations.

It was pointless denying it, so Baekhyun just nodded, "You could say so."

"Too bad. They looked cute together."

"They did, right?"

"I'm sure they'll work things out."

"I hope so."

Chanyeol looked at him, "Does this make you sad?" How could he do that? Baekhyun hadn't said more than a couple of words and he could still figure out how he felt. And yet, he had no clue about his feelings for him. "You just looked sad, that's it," Chanyeol shrugged, trying to ease the mood.

Baekhyun shrugged back, "I guess so. I'm not used to seeing Lu sad, that's it."

"It's okay. I'm sure everything'll get better soon," he smiled.

He wanted to believe him so bad.

----

Chanyeol just kept doing that. It was getting hard to convince himself that it was not a date and would never been when Chanyeol kept being so freaking ideal.

Like, how was Baekhyun expected not to fall deeper in love when Chanyeol took him skating? Because, sure, it was the middle of the summer and he was bored out of his mind, but still.

He didn't need Chanyeol helping him skate. Well, he actually did, seeing as he'd never done it before and would probably fall flat on his face if Chanyeol let go of his hand. But it was still too much for his heart.

Especially when he was helping out everyone else around him. Little girl in ponytails who was afraid of letting go of the rail? Chanyeol was there. Elderly couple talking about how hot the weather was? Chanyeol was there, handling them his water bottle. And Baekhyun followed. Not only because he couldn’t exactly let go of Chanyeol, but because he'd probably follow him anywhere.

And then Chanyeol bought him ice-cream. Baekhyun didn't stand a chance.

----

"Aren't you seeing that girl anymore?" he asked on his way back from the park, car windows rolled down and summer wind ruffling his hair. So ideal.

"I think so... Apparently girls don't like to be left alone at parties?"

Chanyeol gaped at him before bursting out laughing, "You did what?! No one'd like that, Baek!"

Well, he'd kinda figured that out. But it wasn't as if he cared at all about that girl. He was glad his stupidity amused Chanyeol, though. He literally lived to make Chanyeol happy.

"Hey, do you wanna make some stairs for your tree?"

"What?"

"The other day you wanted to climb up the tree and you couldn't. It'll be easier to make a couple of stairs than to fix a broken leg."

"Sure. Why not?"

----

He left Chanyeol's car with the promise of seeing him later to make the stairs, and made his way to Luhan's.

He entered the house without knocking, knowing for sure that Luhan was home alone. Because he was stupid like that.

What he saw, instead, was the proof that Luhan was definitely not alone. And probably the most sickeningly sweet thing ever.

Luhan sat on his bed, crying softly as he grabbed Yixing's wrists tightly. His boyfriend (because if they hadn't gotten back together, Baekhyun didn't know what to make of the scene) held his face in his hands, pecking it with little kisses.

They stopped the second they spotted Baekhyun on the doorstep, and he took it as a cue to turn around and leave. It wasn't as if either boys made any move to come after him.

And he was happy. Really. He'd missed seeing his best friends happy.

But, deeper down inside, he was jealous. Why couldn't he have what they had? Why couldn't he be with the person he loved? Why couldn't it be that easy for him?

----

Luhan and Yixing showed up at his house when he and Chanyeol were getting ready to build the stairs.

Between awkward silences and even more awkward glances, they set out the wood and nails and began to work.

By the time the stairs were done (which, considering they were pieces of wood stuck to a tree, they might not have been very artistic, but at least they seemed to be useful), the awkwardness had faded to the background, and Baekhyun thought that, as long as they didn't speak about that, they'd be fine.

----

Chanyeol went away for the rest of the summer.

Baekhyun didn't blame him, really. Of course going camping with your friends had to be way more exciting than being trapped with a couple of kids in an incredibly hot house with nothing to do but playing videogames.

But still, he wanted nothing more than to go with him.

His happiness at his friends' reconciliation was quick to go, especially when they were even more sickly sweet with each other than before.

Baekhyun even got a summer job at a store near his house just to have an excuse not to spend the whole day watching them look at each other and giggle.

The days without Chanyeol just kept dragging on.

----

And then summer was over.

Baekhyun had never thought he would actually say something like that, but he was glad. He was finally starting highschool alongside his friends, the perfect opportunity to get rid of the group he'd hung out with the previous year. Those guys were beginning to get annoying.

The mayor downside, though, was that Chanyeol had started university too. And, with it being his last year, he was swarmed in work since day one.

It didn't matter how many times Chanyeol told him that he wasn't bothered by his presence, and that he could play as much as he wanted while he worked, Baekhyun really had no point being there if he couldn't spend time with Chanyeol.

So, he went back to watching him through his telescope daily, and it wasn't so bad. There wasn't a lot to watch, though, mostly Chanyeol sitting on his desk or speaking on the phone with his classmates or making coffee at late hours of the night. But it was still something to do that made him feel close to Chanyeol, and it was enough for him.

Parties became more usual now that he was in highschool. Several of his past friends had gone to the same school than him, so he received an invitation once in a while.

They were still not his thing, but Yixing turned out to love parties, and Luhan followed wherever he went, so Baekhyun ended up tagging along most days.

It was one of those nights, not as late as usual but late enough for it to be dark outside, when Baekhyun was startled by a taxi stopping in front of Chanyeol's house on his way home.

He slowed down, curious more than anything. It wasn't usual for Chanyeol to receive visits, even less at late hours.

And out of the taxi came... Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo with suitcases.

Chanyeol opened the door. And smiled.

"Soo! Come in!" he stepped aside to let him in.

To let Kyungsoo in. Kyungsoo. The same Kyungsoo that had broken his heart barely two years ago.

What the fuck was going on?

Baekhyun ran to his tree, missing his step and almost falling to his death more than once in his haste to get to his room.

----

It was harder than usual to bring the telescope to focus with how much his hands were shaking, but once Chanyeol's living room came into view Baekhyun wished he hadn't.

Because there, right in front of his eyes, they were talking. Chanyeol was setting what looked like tea on the table between them, a pleasant smile on his lips, and Kyungsoo was patting Mr. PB, pulling him to his lap and scratching his belly.

It was too much. Who did Kyungsoo think he was? Coming back after so long and stealing not only the love of his life but his dog. Baekhyun couldn't allow that.

He was angry. So, so angry. And disappointed, that too. Chanyeol was an idiot. Who in his right mind got back with his ex? An idiot, that's who.

He snatched his phone from where it'd been thrown on the bed.

"Hey Baek. Are you home already?"

"Look, Lu. If the police ask, it was an accident, okay? I didn't know killing people was considered a crime."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"It's because of love, Lu! You know how it is! No one can blame me for a passion crime!"

Luhan hung up. Again. Seriously, he was surrounded by idiots.

----

He couldn't just stay there, looking at his puppy bonding with that man. Either of his puppies.

He was in front of Chanyeol's door before he could second guess himself.

It was Kyungsoo who opened the door. And stared at him. Baekhyun was glad to notice that the elder was far from tall. In fact, Baekhyun was sure than in a couple of years he'd be taller than him. Hopefully tall enough to squish him.

"Did you... want something?"
"Chanyeol."

He didn't miss the way Kyungsoo tensed at his name, but either way moved slightly to the side, allowing Chanyeol, who was on his couch setting up a game, to look at him.

"Hey Baek! Isn't it a little late?"

It was all Baekhyun needed to push past Kyungsoo, a disdainful smirk on his lips. Kyungsoo glared at his back.

"I need somewhere to sleep. Can I crush here?"

"Did your mom lock you out? But yeah, sure. You can take the couch."

"The couch?"

"Kyungsoo is taking the bed," he explained without taking his eyes of the screen. Like it wasn't a big deal.

"And why doesn't he take the couch?" Baekhyun snapped, getting really sick of the situation.

Chanyeol turned to look at him, a frown on his face, "You shouldn't talk about Kyungsoo like that. He's your hyung."

He's my nemesis.

"Whatever," he rolled his eyes, "Why doesn't Kyungsoo-hyung sleep on the couch? He's just staying for the night, right?"

Chanyeol actually paused the game this time, turning to look at him weirdly, "No, actually. Kyungsoo is my new roommate. He's moving back."

"Why?" he let out. Baekhyun felt so small. He fucking hated it.

"Why not?" Chanyeol laughed. As if he wasn't making the worst mistake of his life, "I need the money and he needs somewhere to live. I don't mind and neither does he."

Well, I mind.

Baekhyun took Mr. PB on his arms, stopping the puppy from sniffing Kyungsoo. It seemed that his dog was the only thing he had left and he wouldn't let it got to the dark side.

"Did Luhan and Yixing bailed out on you again?"

"You could say so," he shrugged noncommittally, sitting beside Chanyeol with Mr. PB on his lap.

Kyungsoo took the seat beside him, and for the first time since forever, Baekhyun felt uncomfortable in that house. And he hated it.

----

He slept on Chanyeol's house that night, his mother thinking he'd spend the night at Luhan's as usual.

Kyungsoo was already in the kitchen when he woke up, apparently making breakfast. He got only a nod when the elder noticed his presence, and Baekhyun eyed him with wariness. He didn't trust him, or his intentions, or his food. Nobody could assure him that it wasn't poisoned.

He was an intruder.

"I don't think you should speak like that to Chanyeol."

"What?"

"He's still your hyung. It doesn't matter how close the two of you got, you should show him some respect."

Baekhyun scoffed, "I don't want him to see me as a child."

He had not meant to say that. Something along the lines of 'It's none of your business' would've been way better.

But it was done, and it was really no surprise when Kyungsoo turned to look at him.

"You shouldn't have come back. You really hurt him, you know hyung."

Kyungsoo opened his mouth before closing it again, "We're fine, now. We're not together or anything."

Baekhyun took an apple from the fruit dish on the table, "Good. I hope it stays like that."

The elder chuckled, a wicked glint in his eyes, "Don't you think he's a little bit too old for you?"

The sound of Chanyeol's footsteps stopped him from answering something he was sure Kyungsoo wouldn't consider respectful.

----

It was a relief to find out that, after months of nothing happening, Kyungsoo had been telling the truth.

Not only did he and Chanyeol not get back together, but Kyungsoo wasn't even at home most of the time.

Nowadays, Baekhyun only ran into him early in the morning, before they all left for their respective classes, and once the initial tension had worn off, everything was fine.

Chanyeol seemed to have found the balance between school and life, and was back to normal. Meaning, Baekhyun was back to spending most of his free time sprawled in Chanyeol's couch playing videogames. And he was fine with it.

----

Chanyeol invited him to the movies one weekend. Another casual not-a-date movie.

Baekhyun's life was hard.

Kyungsoo showed up too, and Baekhyun's mood was dampened for a moment, until he saw another guy behind him.

And really, he would've been hard to miss.

"Sehun," he introduced himself. He was a freshman in Chanyeol and Kyungsoo's university. Interesting.

Apparently, Kyungsoo had gotten over his... sexuality phobia. And really, good for him.

But it was kind of hard to understand why he'd leave someone as special and as nice and beautiful and good as Chanyeol for someone like... Sehun. Who was, by the way, really pretty and model like, but had not made more than two facial expressions in like half an hour. Just like... Kyungsoo. Maybe they were actually meant for each other.

Baekhyun waited until they were alone in the queue to tell Kyungsoo, "He's a little bit young for you, don't you think hyung?"

Kyungsoo laughed and patted his hair.

It was annoying, but now that Baekhyun knew he had a boyfriend, he thought that maybe they'd get along just fine.

----

Kyungsoo ended up being nicer than expected. He shared Chanyeol's affinity for lazing around at home and watching movies, so he became a constant fixture in Baekhyun's life. Still, he was a senior just like Chanyeol, majoring in something related to the environment, so he had to be out of the house way more than he would've liked to.

Despite the shy and introverted nature of the guy, it was easy for Baekhyun to get close to him, and soon he understood why Chanyeol was fine with his presence even after their break up.

And, he was really easy and fun to rail up, so that was a plus.

----

Chanyeol wasn't getting any younger. It didn't matter that he was like a good wine, getting finer with age, when it only meant that their seven-year gap was more noticeable that ever.

Chanyeol's twenty-third birthday was a dark day for Baekhyun. He hated feeling so far from him.

The birthday party in itself, though, had been really nice.

He'd gotten Chanyeol's usual friends, with the addition of Kyungsoo and his emotionless boyfriend, together for a movie night.

Chanyeol seemed even happier than usual, full of heartbreaking smiles for Baekhyun.

He was completely, utterly happy after he gave Chanyeol his present (a really nice garden decoration, perfect for his beloved garden) and Chanyeol picked him up from the floor, spinning him around for whole five seconds.

The decoration would give its owner good luck, the sales lady had told him. And Baekhyun wanted nothing more than good luck for the rest of Chanyeol's life.

----

Good luck came by sooner than expected, just a couple of days before winter break. And if the shittiest way possible.

Kyungsoo had gone out with Sehun, and Baekhyun was snuggled up with Mr. PB and a blanket, playing with Chanyeol. It had been the perfect day. Until, Chanyeol opened his big, pretty mouth.

"I got a scholarship for a masters in Japan after I graduate," Baekhyun blinked, "I'll be gone for six months," Baekhyun stopped breathing, "I'll leave after next term, next summer," he smiled so brightly. Baekhyun's heart broke in a million pieces, "It'll be awesome, don't you think?"

Awesome.

----

"He's not gone yet, Baek," Luhan rubbed his back, sighing for the umpteenth time in the evening. He hated watching his best friend like this.

"But he'll be soon! What am I gonna do, Lu?" he cried.

Move on, he thought. But he knew that wasn't what Baekhyun needed to hear, at least not now. He stayed by his side until he stopped crying, and became silent. Oh no.

"Do you think the police can charge me if I lock him inside his house? Technically I wouldn't be doing anything wrong, right?"

Luhan hit him. Baekhyun went back to crying.

----

Chanyeol was sad. Not really sad, but sad enough that it made Baekhyun sad. He was loaded with schoolwork, and thus wouldn't be able to make it home for the holidays this year. Even Kyungsoo would be going home, so he was going to spend his favorite days of the year all alone at home.

Baekhyun'd been thinking about it a lot lately, and now it was the perfect opportunity. He wanted Chanyeol to spend Christmas with him. Well, with his family. With him, honestly.

So, when the chance presented itself, he took it.

Chanyeol took the offer in a heartbeat, a huge smile plastered on his face. Baekhyun was happy again.

----

His mother had agreed to let him invite Chanyeol easier than what he'd expected.

"You spend more time at his house than here. And, he feeds you. I guess he can come."

Baekhyun wasn't a fan of Christmas family dinners. Lots and lots of relatives he barely ever saw trying to make small talk for hours.

Not this year, though. Because now, Chanyeol was here. And leave it to him to be the social butterfly he usually was and charm his way into his family.

He was so charismatic, so happy, that it warmed Baekhyun from inside and totally captivated everyone, even his baby cousins.

Baekhyun pushed back the thoughts of him not being here forever out of his mind before it ruined his night.

----

Christmas break ended and Chanyeol went back to being extremely busy all the time. Now, though, he liked to get out of the house once in a while, to get his head out of his work. Baekhyun was happy to follow him anywhere he wanted.

Sometimes they went to the movies, sometimes to get something to eat, sometimes just to walk around the block. It felt so date like, that Baekhyun had to remind himself that Chanyeol didn't see their outings that way every time.

It was easier to see things clear again when they weren't alone. Luhan and Yixing joined them sometimes, and even Kyungsoo once in a while. It was okay, though. Chanyeol only saw him as his friendly fifteen years-old neighbor. And it was fine with him.

But sometimes, he liked to pretend. Chanyeol wouldn't be in his life for six months, and he wanted to get all the time with him he could.

He knew for a fact (that fact being Kyungsoo, who'd turned out to be a great ally) that Chanyeol wasn't seriously dating anyone. He'd gone on a couple of dates here and there, but didn't seem to click with anyone. And Baekhyun was glad, really. But he couldn't think it was a matter of time. Chanyeol's singleness was a ticking time bomb. And Baekhyun didn't stand a single chance.

How long would he be able to keep Chanyeol to himself, until someone came to steal his heart?

----

It was the day of his sixteenth birthday that it hit him. He hadn't realized how fast time had happened, stuck in making the most of every day with Chanyeol. And now it was less than a month until he left, and Baekhyun wasn't ready. At all. He wouldn't have his Chanyeol for half a year and he didn't know how he was supposed to survive that.

Nothing much'd happened that day. It was after his friends where gone, after Kyungsoo had gone upstairs and he'd been left alone with Chanyeol, that he couldn't take it any longer.

He'd been sitting on the couch, Mr. PB fast asleep on his lap, and watching the elder make some advanced calculus problems, brow furrowed and glasses sliding down his nose. Baekhyun loved how he looked with his glasses on, but he barely ever had the chance to see him wearing them. It was on rare occasions that he had to, only while studying or playing in one of the smaller consoles. But he looked so beautiful with his glasses on. Well, he always looked beautiful to Baekhyun, but especially so like that.

Chanyeol's long eyelashes caressed his checks every time he blinked, and Baekhyun, head propped in one hand, was enraptured with the movement. His time was running out. Fast. And he had to do it. He was sixteen, for god's sake! He had to tell him about his feelings. He had to tell him how much he loved him, how much he meant to him. How much he didn't think he could live without him anymore.

"Yeol?"

The elder placed his pencil on the table, stretching before turning to him with a smile.

"I..."

He couldn't do it. Chanyeol was going to reject him, and he wouldn't be able to bear it.

"I'm..."

He would ruin it. Everything he'd fought for the past three years, their relationship, their everything.

"I'm gonna miss you," he said finally, sighing. He was an idiot.

Chanyeol blinked a couple of times before his face broke into a huge smile. He laughed lightly.

"I'm gonna miss you too," he reached out to pat his head. Like he was a child. A child. Right. "But I won't be gone for long, you know."

"But what if you don't come back?"

"Of course I'm coming back, Baek!" his smile softened, "this is my home, after all."

----

Chanyeol's parents had good genes. It was painfully obvious, seeing that his sister was beautiful too. Not as beautiful as Chanyeol, though.

The day was suffocating, the heat and humidity of the airport making it harder to breathe. It was expected, it being June and the middle of the summer. But it didn't help Baekhyun.

He'd been trying not to cry the whole day, Chanyeol's mother doing enough crying for the two of them. Baekhyun liked the woman, he decided. He wanted to hug her so they could mourn their loss together.

Because Chanyeol was leaving. The day he'd feared so much had finally arrived.

Kyungsoo had driven them in his car, Baekhyun and him the only ones waiting besides his family.

This was happening.

Chanyeol was leaving for real. He hugged them all one last time, pushing his luggage away with one last smile and a wave.

That would be the last he'd see of Chanyeol in almost seven months.

Baekhyun's heart left with him.

----

Baekhyun left school even before the bell finished ringing, meeting Luhan and Yixing by the latter’s car.

Despite not being a fan of Yixing driving fast, with him barely getting his license a few months before, he kept on pushing him to go faster every time he thought about what was waiting for him on the other side.

Yifan and Jongdae were already there when they arrived, looking through the crowd coming out of the gates in search for the only person they cared about.

"Has he arrived yet?" he asked breathlessly, standing on his toes. Luhan took his hand, the one that wasn’t around Yixing’s, in his, reassuring him of their presence.

"He left the plane a minute ago. We're waiting for him to get his bags and everything," Jongdae grinned.

It was impossible to miss him once he came out. Not only because he was almost a head taller than everyone surrounding them, but because he was everything Baekhyun could see.

He was wearing the scarf he'd given him, the one with the puppy that looked like Mr. PB. And only then Baekhyun could breathe again, heart beating loudly and with the annoying feeling of wanting to cry. Chanyeol was back.

And then he was being tackled by his friends, Yifan going first and Jongdae following his steps. Chanyeol was laughing. Baekhyun thought he'd never see that again.

Luhan's hold on his hand tightened, bringing him back to reality in time for Chanyeol to notice their presence.

"Kids!" Well, fuck him. "Woah, you're so big! I guess you're not kids anymore." At least it was something. "Look at you!" he turned to Luhan and Yixing, still holding hands, "You're practically adults. College next year, right?"

He then turned to Baekhyun, who'd been just relishing in the fact that he was really there the whole time.

"And the little one isn't so little anymore, either," he compared their heights, not missing the way Baekhyun was now taller. Taller than Kyungsoo, even. He'd grown a lot in six months. Blame his hormones. "But you'll never catch me up here!" he joked, ruffling his hair.

At last.

----

A lot had happened in the past half year. Baekhyun began his junior year, Luhan and Yixing their last. They were preparing their college entrance exams.

His telescope had collected dust for lack of use. For the first time ever.

Mr. PB had stayed with Kyungsoo, who'd gotten an apparently good job in something Baekhyun didn't care about. And they'd become close friends, somehow.

It'd helped, having Kyungsoo there. Especially with everything going on.

It seemed like he couldn't tell Chanyeol everything.

----

They'd kept in touch, of course.

Chanyeol had charmed his way into a group in Japan, easily making friends. As expected.

But still, Baekhyun had needed him so much.

----

Kyungsoo and Sehun had been waiting for them with the food ready when they got to Chanyeol's.

His return deserved a proper celebration.

It felt like a dream, a good one, to have Chanyeol sitting right next to him again.

Chanyeol talked about everything, things he already know, things that couldn't really be expressed by email.

He'd even managed to get a job to start the following week while in Japan.

He'd been so happy, had so much fun, that Baekhyun was glad he hadn't bothered him with his issues.

It wasn't until everyone but Kyungsoo and Sehun had gone that Chanyeol reached dangerous terrain.

"So, Baek. How've you been?"

"Fine," he answered without pausing from where he was finishing picking the party leftovers up. What a joke.

Kyungsoo fixed him with a look, rolling his eyes. Chanyeol didn't miss it.

"What? What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Let's just say he hasn't had his best year so far," Kyungsoo butted in, serious as usual.

Chanyeol seemed honestly concerned now, and Baekhyun saddened at the sight. It was definitely not a look he'd missed.

"Don't worry. Kyungsoo-hyung is exaggerating," he tried in vain.

Kyungsoo sighed exasperatedly before grabbing his boyfriend, who'd been watching the conversation with not unusual disinterest, and disappeared upstairs.

"What's wrong?" Chanyeol approached him tentatively, "you didn't mention anything being wrong when you wrote...."

How could he? He already felt bad enough without having to deal with the guilt of ruining Chanyeol's fantastic trip.

But he was obviously worried now, and there was really not point in keeping quiet.

"I've been having issues.... At school, you could say," he began, not really sure if he was willing to retell the whole story.

"Issues, what issues? Like, with classes?"

Baekhyun shook his head, "Not really.... With my classmates. Or more like former friends...." He made his way to the couch, hesitantly sitting down.

Chanyeol was by his side in an instant, a hand on his knee, comforting warmth pressed to his side. Some weight eased off Baekhyun's chest, knowing he was there. Enough for him to continue.

"They.... Kind of bullied me? For the past couple of months."

It felt weird saying that out loud. He sort of felt like one of those bullying prevention adds they showed on TV. Only that he'd always thought that sort of stuff only happened in bad sitcoms.

Thinking about it, his whole life seemed a bad sitcom.

"B-bullied you? What? Why?"

Why indeed.

"Someone.... Asked me out some time ago. I said yes... Though I didn't really feel like it… and then I decided to break things off and it didn't go well…"

"What does dating someone have to do with you being bullied? Did she do it?"

"The person I was dating was… a guy, actually."

He couldn't believe he'd just said that.

Chanyeol didn't react for a moment. And then he jumped off the couch, eyes wide open.

"What?"

"He went to this guys, my former friends, and told him I'd approached him and that he'd rejected me and laughed at me and that I'd always lied to them and was a… a…" he tried to settle his breathing, "So, yeah..."

"Wait!" Chanyeol stopped pacing in front of the couch, "Are you.... I mean. Are you trying to tell me you are....?"

"Gay? Yes, actually."

----

Chanyeol asked for details, after that.

And it was relieving, to finally letting everything go.

So, Baekhyun told him.

He talked about being asked out. He didn't mean to say yes, at first. He didn't like the boy at all, but he seemed nice enough. What he didn't tell, though was about how he'd seen him as a chance to fall in love, to forget Chanyeol.

The guy's friends didn't know about them. Neither did Luhan and Yixing. He didn't want to bother them with his stupid love life, especially not when they were so busy preparing for their exams.

Kyungsoo had been the only one to know, the only one to tell him he wasn't doing things right. Baekhyun wished he'd listened.

He didn't fall in love, but things weren't bad either. It was nice spending time with someone who seemed to care about him.

And then, the guy'd asked him for sex.

Baekhyun hadn't really thought any of it. They'd already done some... Things together, so what was different with sex?

But then he'd realized what a mistake that would be. He hadn't even been thinking about his partner the previous time, Chanyeol's name the last thing on his mind before he orgasmed. It wouldn't be fair. Not to him, not to the guy.

So, he broke it off, just in time. He'd thought he'd understand, would at least accept it. He didn't.

He told his friends his twisted, fake version of the facts. And the teasing began. It wasn't long before the whole school knew, nowhere to go without having fingers pointed at him, poorly hidden laughter and whispers.

But Baekhyun was tough. He tried his best not to let anything they did affect him. Though it was hard to ignore people when they got together to push him against lockers.

He didn't think he could've managed without Luhan and Yixing. His friends had been beyond mad that he'd kept the whole thing a secret, but it hadn't last long. Not when Baekhyun obviously needed someone by his side so bad.

Over two months had passed until the guy who’d spread the rumor about him was found making out with a man. The truth came out, and now Baekhyun wasn’t the main focus of attention anymore.

Things weren't perfect now, but the novelty of his sexuality had worn off, and most people just let him be. Teenagers sucked.

And Baekhyun had missed Chanyeol. Had needed him so much, had spent nights crying in bed, wishing Chanyeol was there to make him feel better.

He was there now, though, and it was all that mattered. His secret was finally out in the open. And everything was gonna be alright.

----

"Maybe homosexuality is indeed contagious," Chanyeol commented one day, not taking his eyes off the screen in which he was playing Zelda with his Nintendo 64.

"What?" Kyungsoo asked with raised eyebrows, turning from where he and Baekhyun where watching him play.

"I mean. Seriously. What are the chances of Baekhyun being gay, and Luhan and Yixing being gay, and I being gay, and you being gay. Maybe even Jongdae, or Yifan. Who knows?"

Baekhyun was laughing so hard he couldn't breathe, and even Kyungsoo seemed to be having the same problem.

It was a minute before he calmed down enough to speak again, "I've known for a while, don't worry about tainting my innocence," he joked.

"A while?" Chanyeol looked weirdly.... flustered.

Baekhyun nodded.

"How long?"

"Long enough."

Chanyeol shook his head, turning back to the game.

"Man… all this time… how could I not notice?"

Baekhyun wondered the exact same thing. Especially when he wasn't exactly what you could call subtle. The comment was enough to get Kyungsoo out of the room, laughter tears in his eyes.

----

Their relationship barely changed, after that.

Chanyeol had started his new job, getting home later but without having any annoying homework to take over their time together. However, Baekhyun did have homework, and despite trying to finish by the time Chanyeol got home, he almost never managed.

It was fine, though, cos that meant that Chanyeol'd have to help him afterwards, and that meant seeing him in glasses. Wasting some time he'd have used for playing was totally worth seeing him with glasses.

One thing did change, Baekhyun noticed after a while. After his confession, Chanyeol stopped thinking of him as a child. About time. He'd have told him ages ago if he'd known that'd happen.

Not everything was perfect, though. Chanyeol seemed to be more self-conscious about their relationship than before.

Little things that he did before without thinking, now seemed stilted. Like asking permission before grabbing his hand or patting his head. Or, being more careful when they went out in their not-dates.

It was out of character, seeing Chanyeol hesitant around him, and Baekhyun wasn't sure he liked it.

He also seemed more hesitant about telling Baekhyun about his dates. While he was in Japan, he'd gone out with a guy in his class. Baekhyun's spent an hour crying in Luhan's house after that, cursing Chanyeol and the whole of Japan and everything that got in the way. With was admittedly, a lot.

He'd played it cool when, a couple of months later, Chanyeol sheepishly admitted that they hadn't worked out.

"He was almost four years younger, can you believe it?" He'd commented one evening, making Baekhyun almost drop his controller, "I'd never dated anyone so young. But I think it's better that way."

That's it. That's how Baekhyun died.

"So, you like them younger?"

"Yeah, you could say so," Chanyeol said timidly, a blush rising to his cheeks.

----

"You don't know how to drive?!"

Baekhyun didn't know why he was so surprised. Honestly, who'd have taught him?

Yixing could barely drive himself, and Luhan not even that. Besides, they were too busy to do it.

Kyungsoo knew how to drive. But he didn't have a car, and was morally against them. Baekhyun hadn't even dared to asked, knowing how the elder felt towards unnecessary car pollution. That was a talk he wasn't really looking for.

And it was not like he had a dad to teach him that stuff. He hadn't seen the man in years, and even then he'd only visited them to ask for money. It hadn't end well.

"My mom tried to teach me, but she got frustrated easily," he shrugged.

"Well, then I'll teach you!"

"Really? Would you do that?"

"Of course. We'll practice every weekend and you'll be able to get your license before you know it," Chanyeol grinned.

Baekhyun felt his throat tighten. He didn't know why it was affecting him so much, but everything was perfect.

The perfect opportunity for them to spend time together, while doing something he'd secretly always wanted to.

"Sure, no problem," Chanyeol ran a hand through his hair, a light blush on his face.

----

And that's how it had started.

Not even four months later Baekhyun was ready.

"You really did progress a lot. It's not easy driving a manual car, you know," Chanyeol was sitting in the passenger seat, running a hand through Baekhyun's hair, before seeming to notice what he was doing and quickly removing his hand.

He'd been doing that a lot.

He was set to take his driver's exam the following day, and, thanks to Chanyeol's infinite patience, he was confident about it.

"Thanks Yeol... I didn't have anyone else to teach me. And I don't have a car, but I'm sure my mom will lend me hers sometimes."

Luhan's father had begun teaching him too, even taking him to sit for his exam. And Baekhyun was jealous. He'd always believed he'd gotten over the lack of his father, but the whole deal had made the wound hurt again. He frowned.

"Hey, are you okay?" Chanyeol's deep voice took him out of his daze, and he nodded slowly.

And then Chanyeol was leaning in, a hand coming to rest on his forehead.

And he was close, so very, very close.

"Does anything hurt?" his tone was concerned, and Baekhyun made the mistake to look at him.

It was true, what they said. About getting lost in the eyes of the one you loved. Baekhyun was completely captivated. If he could just lean in, just an inch closer, their lips would touch.

That thought alone made his whole body feel hot, face surely flushed.

Chanyeol let his hand slide, noticing for the first time how red he must've been.

It took a moment for him to realize the position they were in, and not even another until he pulled away and got out of the car.

His blush was beginning to disappear when he heard Chanyeol sigh loudly from outside the car, clearing his throat before turning to him, not meeting his eyes.

"Good luck in your driver's test. I'm sure you'll do great."

----

Baekhyun wasn't sure about... well, anything.

He was pretty sure that Chanyeol had some sort of feelings for him. Romantic feelings, hopefully.

He was proud and embarrassed and lacked the blunt confidence he'd always prided himself with.

The signs were there, though. Like that one time they'd gone to play basketball with his friends. Luhan and Yixing'd start making out every point they scored, which was not only gross but way too much PDA for him to stand. Besides, it was Chanyeol who worried him. Chanyeol, who avoided touching him so much that it was ruining their game, not even looking at him properly. He seemed to be perpetually blushed now, like a teenage girl forced to spend time with her crush. Cute, but unsettling.

Still, Baekhyun couldn't help but to wonder what if. What if Chanyeol did feel the same about him? What if they could eventually work things out between them? Would they start dating? Would they be happy?

Baekhyun had spent so much time trying to push his romantic feelings away, that the thought they'd be returned seemed like a dream. It was just a little bit out of reach, just enough for him to push. He wanted to try so badly.

----

"Seduce him? And how do you plan to do that?" Luhan asked skeptically from where he was sprawled besides him.

Baekhyun shrugged, "I don't know yet. How did you ask Xing out?"

"I didn't," Luhan blushed slightly, avoiding his eyes.

"Oh," it shouldn't have been surprising, seriously, "Yixing!" he called the boy, successfully waking him from his slumber.

"How did you confess to Lu?" Baekhyun asked him once he'd stopped cursing in Chinese.

Luhan lunged towards him, knocking him down, "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I already knew how he felt, so it wasn't really that hard," Yixing's smile turned fond at the sight of his blushing boyfriend.

"You knew?"

"It was kinda obvious."

"So, how was it," Baekhyun piped in, not wanting his important conversation to turn into a make out session.

"I told him if he wanted to go out with me and he said sure, let's call Baek and I told him that no, just the two of us. And that was it, I guess."

Oh great, now they were staring at each other lovingly.

"Yeah, I don't think that'd turn out well with Chanyeol. He's not bright when it comes to taking hints. He'd probably just think it's one of our usual walks."

"Well, you could always be more direct," Luhan pointed out.

"Like what?"

"You could kiss him."

Baekhyun fell from his chair.

----

Kissing Chanyeol was a no. At least, not for the moment.

Even if Chanyeol did share his feelings, confronting him that way would only freak him out. And, if he didn't, which was still a possibility, it would literally ruin their friendship forever.

So, Baekhyun decided to let things be and focus on enjoying Chanyeol and the unusual way he was acting.

It helped that summer was nearing, and Baekhyun relished in the way Chanyeol stuttered and got nervous every time he wore sleeveless shirts to fight off the heat. Bathing Mr. PB became an event, too. Baekhyun had gotten years to get used to the sight of Chanyeol wet, droplets hanging from his hair and clothes sticking to his gorgeous body. He'd learned how to handle his feelings, how to hide the physical ones.

Chanyeol, though, seemed to notice Baekhyun's body for the first time ever, and had turned a frankly worrying shade of red before mumbling something unintelligible, wrapping Mr. PB with a towel, and disappearing inside the house.

And Baekhyun began to enjoy it. It felt good knowing that he had over Chanyeol at least a tiny fraction of the power he had over him. He enjoyed getting home from a party and knowing Chanyeol'd be waiting for him, would ask if he'd found anyone interesting with a poorly concealed possessive tone.

----

The day Luhan and Yixing got their college exams back was a sad one.

They'd both applied to one of the best ones in the country, which required extremely high scores to get in, in hopes of ending up together.

Luhan was just above the required grade. Yixing just below.

His best friend spent most of the afternoon consoling his boyfriend, reassuring him that nothing would change between them, even if they were apart. Yixing didn't stop crying.

He then spent the rest of the evening at Baekhyun's, the younger boy having found him sitting in his doorstep when he got home from Chanyeol's. Luhan was angry. Angry at Yixing for not studying harder, angry at their dreams of living together in college falling apart. Angry at himself. He already missed Yixing and he wasn't even gone.

----

Seventeen. It was a nice age, Baekhyun thought. Almost an adult, but not quite there.

He'd given the matter a lot of thought, lately. Maybe Chanyeol wouldn't mind about the age difference once he turned eighteen. Because sure, Chanyeol was already twenty five, twenty six the following year, but Baekhyun would be legally an adult and no one'd be able to say anything.

He felt some sort of peace while watching his candles burn the day of his birthday. For the first time in his life he felt older. More mature than the year before. A lot has happened, and he'd gone through it.

His mom had taken the evening off to make him a cake, and Luhan and Yixing, with a little bit more freedom now that exams were over, stayed to eat it. They'd have to wait until next weekend to go shopping with his birthday money, but that'd be okay.

Kyungsoo gave him an envelope with money from him and Sehun, something very characteristically Kyungsoo.

Baekhyun was aware that Chanyeol's present was just as much his as it was the elder's. Though to be fair, he had been hinting that he wanted the new Mortal Kombat for months. It wasn't Chanyeol's fault that he didn't have his own console. After all, who'd he play with if not with him?

----

They were halfway into a match when Baekhyun's controller begun failing. It hadn't been the first time to happen, but it was the first time it completely stopped working.

"Yeah, I saw that coming, sorry Baek," Chanyeol paused the game, "There's a new one in my room, if you wanna go look for it."

Finding the box proved to be harder than expected. He'd already looked in the closet, the desk and under the bed. And nothing. Chanyeol's bedroom wasn't even that big. So, the only place left was the nightstand.

It didn't seemed somewhere were one'd put a new gaming controller, but it wouldn't have been the weirdest thing Chanyeol had misplaced.

There were several sets of Pokemon and Yugi-oh cards in the drawer, which was, admittedly, pretty Chanyeol-like.

What he didn't expect to find there, though, was a bottle. A bottle of lube. Strawberry flavored lube.

Baekhyun stared at the container, mind reeling. It was obviously used, seal ripped open, but still fairly new. And strawberry. Why strawberry?

Chanyeol... He didn't have a boyfriend, right? Then why would he…? Unless…

"Hey Baek, I forgot I'd taken it downstairs. It's installed… what are you doing?"

Baekhyun continued to stare at the lube, completely transfixed, mental images flashing before his eyes. He turned to Chanyeol. He needed answers.

Chanyeol had never looked so red in his life. He seemed to have stopped breathing when he reached for the tube, snapping it out of Baekhyun's hold and hiding it behind his back.

"This… is freaking embarrassing… maybe you should… downstairs?"

"Why?" Baekhyun mumbled, unable to stop himself.

Chanyeol groaned, "Because I'm a guy and have hormones and needs now could you please let it go?"

Baekhyun shook his head. That wasn't what he wanted to know.

"Why strawberry?"

Chanyeol looked on the verge of death. Baekhyun felt the same way.

"I don't know Baek. I just like it, okay?"

----

That night, while Baekhyun fingered himself into orgasm until he ached, he couldn't help but to think that finding out about Chanyeol's strawberry flavor lube was the best birthday present he could ever ask for.

----

The lube incident, as Baekhyun liked to call it, had definitely changed the game between them.

No matter how hard Chanyeol tried to pretend it hadn't happened, it had, and it wasn't easy to forget.

Baekhyun had spank material for a lifetime, which he would've enjoyed way more if shame wasn't eating Chanyeol away.

He now did everything in his power not to stay alone with Baekhyun, leaving before Kyungsoo every morning and coming home when he knew his housemate was done with work. And it bothered Baekhyun, quite a lot. But he understood what the elder was going through, and figured it'd be for the best to let him sort it out on his own.

----

Summer holidays came once again.

Luhan and Yixing graduated.

Another year of pressing loneliness lay ahead of Baekhyun. Possibly even more, considering they wouldn't go to the same college.

He'd gone though it twice, he'd do it again. However, after what had happened with his former friends, he was now scared, quite a lot. And there wasn't anyone to talk to it about.

The couple was spending as much time as they could together, already missing each other's presence.

Baekhyun didn't like camping. It was dirty and uncomfortable and there were bugs. But, going with his best friends in the world sounded like a nice idea.

Alcohol was involved some nights. And, if Baekhyun had learnt one thing, only one thing in his life, was to stay away from Luhan when he was past six beers. Because not only was his best friend a lightweight, but he was also a talker.

And there were things about their sex life Baekhyun did not want to know. Yixing topped most times? Not surprising, but still kind of unexpected. Yixing being a swallower? Gross. And way too much information. Luhan disliking the taste of come? Nightmare material for months.

----

Chanyeol seemed to have gotten over himself in the time they were away. This was good, actually. But he still forced Kyungsoo to stay with them every time.

"Time to make your move, kid," Kyungsoo told him as they finished washing the dishes after one of their awkward dinners.

"My move?"

"Chanyeol and I went to a bar while you were away."

Now Baekhyun was interested.

"Several guys approached him while we were there. Some of them even cute," Kyungsoo paused, "Yeah we go to gay bars frequently now stop giving me that look. Anyway, he turned them down. And when I asked him why he mentioned something… interesting."

Kyungsoo was grinning devilishly. That couldn't be a good thing.

"Interesting? Interesting like what?"

"Interesting like you should try to break the awkward vibe between the two of you."

"But what did he say hyung?!"

"Don't worry, kid. I have a plan."

----

He'd done his homework. It was a Saturday, and he'd woken up early to go to the shop with his mother.

All he had to do now was to wait.

----

"Got the movie you wanted to see. Wanna watch it?"

Baekhyun greeted Chanyeol when he got from work, smile a little forced.

"Sure Baek. Why not?"

He left his coat and work related stuff before sitting in the couch. Baekhyun went to the DVD player, setting everything out before turning around, just in time to catch Chanyeol checking his ass out. Give me a break.

Chanyeol was quick to divert his eyes, "Hey, maybe we should call Kyungsoo! He wanted to see it too, remember?"

The bell rang, and Kyungsoo ran downstairs, shouting an "I'm going with Sehun! I'll be back tomorrow!" Before disappearing behind the door.

"Seems like it'll be just the two of us," Baekhyun shrugged before sitting down.

Chanyeol seemed on the verge of a panic attack. Baekhyun was close, really close. But he was trapped against the armrest, and Baekhyun wasn't giving in.

It wasn't until several minutes into the movie that Chanyeol finally relaxed. It felt normal, for a while, a breath of fresh air in contrast with their interactions later.

They were around the halfway mark of the movie and Baekhyun was staring at him. Chanyeol noticed and turned back into the screen, face flushed.

"Is something wrong?"

"Why are you being like this? Are you still embarrassed?"

Chanyeol turned to look at him, "I…"

"You don't have to be, you know. Your lube preference doesn't matter. Luhan and Yixing use condoms and saliva for preps and that sounds fucking painful, but you know, whatever rocks your boat."

Chanyeol gaped, the look of horror in his face intensifying with each word.

"Now, if that kind on lube makes it better for you I don't t-"

Chanyeol jumped at him, scrambling to cover his mouth. Mr. PB began barking, whining at the rude awakening he'd had.

"Stop. Just… stop, Baekhyun," he begged.

He stayed where he was for a moment, until Baekhyun seemed to have dropped the subject, before sitting back on his side of the couch.

"It's not such a big deal…"

"It's not about that, okay?!" Chanyeol snapped, unmistakable irritation in his voice.

Well, two could play that game, "Then what is it about?!"

Chanyeol was being an idiot. He was supposed to be the mature one in this relationship, for God's sake.

Looking into Chanyeol's cold eyes, it hit him. That was it. There was nothing left of the almost brotherly relationship they once had. Chanyeol was angry at him, really angry for the first time ever, so cold and foreign. It was the last straw. A lot had been broken even since he'd found out about Baekhyun's sexuality. But now he understood. There was no way they were going back to how things used to be.

So, he might at least make it worth something.

He glanced back to the TV, movie completely forgotten, and back to Chanyeol, who seemed to be waiting for him. He braced himself for what he was about to do.

"I like you, Chanyeol."

Chanyeol blinked, seemingly petrified. Seconds passed without him saying anything. But he didn't seem disgusted. At least not yet. Just... confused.

"W-what?" He finally stuttered, voice higher than usual.

That was it. He was going the whole way in.

Inching forward, he took Chanyeol's face in his hands, joining their lips forcefully and without a warning.

It was barely more than a crash of lips, too moist and too warm and too much. But he'd done it, after so much pinning, he'd put himself out there.

Things could go two ways from now on. Chanyeol could either flat out reject him. Or… he could kiss back.

But he did neither.

Baekhyun opened his eyes, momentarily struck by how close Chanyeol was. And then, when he got no reaction whatsoever, he pulled back.

Surprise. Confusion. Nothing left of the unsettling coldness in Chanyeol's eyes.

He leaned in again, slower this time, measuring Chanyeol until he was so close he had to close his eyes.

It was the same. Too moist, too warm, too much. But different, all the same. Because now, Chanyeol was kissing him back.

Something broke inside Baekhyun. Something hidden, deep in his heart, which had always wanted Chanyeol with all his being. Each soft drag of his lips, trembling and hesitant at first, stitched him back together.

It was Chanyeol he was kissing. He'd dreamed so much about this, he felt his whole life had been leading up to that moment.

Just like in his dreams, but better.

Chanyeol'd moved his hands to his waist, just holding on. His lips were shy, fearful, like Baekhyun was something fragile that could easily be broken.

He tasted like sugar, probably from some soda, and everything was so soft. Plush. The noises they were making, the small caresses on his hips, were making everything all the more perfect.

It was the kind of kiss Baekhyun loved, soft and slow, unhurried. But something deep inside him wanted more, wanted to taste Chanyeol, everything he could.

Experimentally, he licked along Chanyeol's lower lip, pleased when Chanyeol opened his mouth in response.

A little bit more confident, he raised a hand to his cheek, moving Chanyeol until they were kissing at a better angle.

Then Chanyeol was pulling out.

No. No no no no. That couldn't happen.

His hands left his hips, pushing him from the shoulders until they were apart. Baekhyun felt so cold.

Chanyeol was breathing hard, not meeting his eyes.

"Did… did something happen?" Baekhyun asked, an ugly dreadful weight settling in his chest.

"This is wrong Baekhyun. Wrong," he left the couch, pacing around the room.

"What's wrong with this?" Baekhyun blinked in surprise, signaling between them.

"Everything, Baekhyun! You're seventeen! You're a child and this is… this is wrong!"

"I'm not a fucking child!" He yelled, angrier than ever, "Don't you dare treat me like one! And why did you even kiss me, then?"

"I don't know," Chanyeol mumbled, looking so, so sad.

"Why did you? Was it… was it because you pitied me?"

"Of course not!"

"Then why did you! I told you I like you and I meant it so why did you?!"

"Stop it, Baekhyun. Stop saying that," he was serious this time, and angry too, a sense of finality in his tone.

"Why not?! I like you; I like you, I fucking like you a lot!"

"You don't know what you're saying, Baekhyun."

Why was he doing this? Why did he keep calling him by his full name, not even a little bit of warmth left?

"Why?! Because I'm a child?!"

"Yes."

"You're a fucking idiot. And a coward. Tell me the truth! Say you like me too!"

Chanyeol stilled, shaking his head.

"This is wrong."

Mr. PB kept barking, anguished at the heated fight. Baekhyun was trying to keep himself from falling apart, and failing miserably.

"Why…?" he asked softly, on the verge of tears. He was falling.

"Because you're a kid and I'm seven years older than you…" The bite in his voice was gone, just sad resignation.

"Tell me you like me too…"

Chanyeol didn't say anything.

Baekhyun wanted to shake him, pull a reaction out of him. He went to where he was, pushing him with all the strength he could muster.

Chanyeol fell on the floor, and Baekhyun ran. He ran as fast as he could the short way towards his house, tears falling freely now. He was borderline hysteric, and needed to be alone. Gone. Far away from him.

He stopped when he saw the light in his living room. He couldn't go there, not if his mother was home.

The tree.

He had the stairs in the tree and he could get to his room.

He could barely see now, tears blocking his eyesight. He ran towards the tree, hurriedly climbing the steps.

He managed to slip, falling hard enough to scrape his arm with some branches.

That's when he noticed that Mr. PB had followed him all the way from Chanyeol's. The puppy was licking his tear stained face, trying to comfort him.

He managed to climb up, the next time, leaving Mr. PB on the ground.

Baekhyun climbed through the window, colliding with his telescope, which broke beyond repair once it hit the floor.

Baekhyun blinked back his tears, approaching his telescope. It was broken. It was everything he had with Chanyeol now, and it was broken.

He had no energy left to hold back his tears. His telescope was broken and his heart was broken and his arm had started bleeding and it hurt. Everything hurt so much.

----

He lied in his bed after finding something to stop the bleeding with. He thought about calling Luhan for a moment, before discarding the though. He didn't want to talk to Luhan, to nobody, really. He just wanted to cry until he died, or it stopped hurting, whatever happened first.

Mr. PB was asleep under the tree, and Baekhyun thought he should at least try to do the same.

----

He was so tired. His whole body hurt, feeling beaten up.

The noise outside woke him from his restless sleep.

Barking. It was the only thing that could be heart, bringing back memories he'd wished to forget.

Chanyeol. Telling him they were wrong.

His eyes snapped open, a flash of pain stinging him. His eyes were swollen, and he probably looked terrible.

It was three in the morning, but he didn't feel like sleeping any longer.

Then it hit him that it was probably Mr. PB barking downstairs. He dragged himself to the window, almost having a heart attack when he found nothing more than Chanyeol hanging from a terribly unstable looking branch of the tree, before stepping into the probably even more unstable little balcony. He could barely fit on his side, let alone move around.

"Open up!"

Baekhyun stood shocked for a moment, before his heart started beating again and the painful memories from the past few hours came back.

"What do you want?" he sounded pathetic. He hated it.

"I want to talk to you."

"Talk about what? I think you made yourself pretty clear, thanks a lot."

"Look can you let me in so we can talk? I'm kinda in a dangerous situation right now."

Mr. PB kept on barking, loud enough that Baekhyun feared he'd wake his mother up and she'd come to check on him.

He had no option but to let Chanyeol in, if only to make him go downstairs and through the door like an adult.

He leaped into the room, bumping with every single thing around them. Good for trying to keep it down.

Chanyeol stood up to him once he'd gained back his balance.

"I'm not here to talk."

"Whatever," Baekhyun shrugged. He was so tired. He wanted him to leave so he could go back to bed and cry until sunrise.

Apparently, that wasn't in Chanyeol's plan. The last thing Baekhyun saw was him taking his chin, bringing him in for a kiss.

It was different than the ones before. Still sweet, but faster and deeper, a whole new level of intimacy. A romantic kiss.

He was kissing back before he could process what was going on, but pushed Chanyeol away once he caught on.

"What do you think you're doing?!" he wanted to yell at him, would've if his mother hadn't been just across the hall.

"I like you too, Baek."

He had to be dreaming. This sounded like a cruel nightmare, filling him with hope just to take it away in the morning.

"I mean it. I've always liked you, ever since I met you, but not… romantically. Not up until recently, anyway. Sorry for turning you down before but I'm just… fuck Baek I'm so scared. I've been scared of my feelings for you ever since the … the lube thing. And it's because you're so young yet, Baek. But I'm willing to wait... for… well, you."

"Wait for me?" Baekhyun asked, genuinely confused and pretty overwhelmed.

"Until you turn eighteen. It's just a year and then… this won't be illegal anymore," he laughed.

An honest, real laughter. Baekhyun hadn't realized how long he'd been without hearing him laugh.

"You must understand. This is still pretty weird for me. But I couldn't just break your heart. Not when I feel the same about you. It's weird and I'm not going to say it's gonna be easy, but I want you. So, we'll just have to wait."

Baekhyun sat on his bed, trying to process everything he'd just been told. Chanyeol hesitated for a moment before joining him.

"I'd understand if you don't want me," he said, voice soft and pleading, "We won't be a normal couple, at least not for I while. But please, please don't get away from my life! You don't understand how much you mean to-"

Baekhyun's lips cut him off. Chanyeol remained still for a moment, just in case it wasn't real, but then smiled into the kiss, and finally, finally, kissing back.

It was truly like a dream. A simple kiss, not too deep, not too hard. Fresh, new. Just like them. Baekhyun had died and gone to heaven.

Baekhyun deepened the kiss, Chanyeol following automatically but without pushing himself. He was probably scared, still. Baekhyun'd have to work to get that fear out of his system.

But right then, he couldn't have cared less. Chanyeol's mouth was everything he could feel, everywhere. He was content with touching everything he could, feeling him. His hands moved from Chanyeol's face to his shoulders, and then downwards, feeling the firm muscle he'd admired so many times under his burning fingertips.

He could feel Chanyeol tensing around him, more and more every time.

It was when Baekhyun's hands had almost reached his crotch that he broke the kiss, grabbing the boy's wrists.

"What are you doing?" he panted.

"I'm… touching you?" Baekhyun pouted, still itching for more.

Chanyeol sighed, "Didn't you hear anything I said just now?"

"Hold on. By waiting you meant… waiting for sex?!" he practically yelled, indignant.

Chanyeol fumbled to shush him, "Keep it down, Baek! Your mom is close!" he ran a hand though his hair, sighing again, "But yes. I didn't mean just sex, though. More like… having a formal relationship and that sort of stuff…"

"What you're telling me is that we're not boyfriends."

"Well… not really."

"And we're not going to fuck."

Chanyeol shushed him again, blushing softly, "That'd be actually illegal so… no, not yet."

"But Yeol!"

"Jesus Baek shut up!"

"Is kissing okay?"

"Yeah… I mean, I guess so."

Baekhyun groaned, lying on his bed.

"I'm sorry Baek. It'll just be for a year, I promise."

"You won't change your mind even if I told you I bought strawberry lube, will you?"

----

Dating Chanyeol turned out to be more complicated that what he would have expected.

They had rules, now. It had taken Chanyeol a pout, an "it'll only be for a year" and a couple of kisses to make it happen.

Rule Nº 1: No sex. Under any circumstance. Chanyeol had made a point of highlighting it, making a few circles around it. Baekhyun kind of hated him for it.

Rule Nº 2: Keep the relationship casual.

Rule Nº 3: Don't tell anyone about... whatever was going on between them.

It wasn't a lot, and Baekhyun couldn't have cared less about the last two.

But the first one. The first one was everything he loathed in life. He'd rather be castrated than to spend a year without touching Chanyeol.

----

It wasn't even a week before they accidentally broke the third rule.

They'd been playing at Chanyeol's, as usual, when Baekhyun felt the sudden urge to kiss him.

And, because now, for the first time since he'd first thought about it, literally years ago, he could, he leaned in to capture Chanyeol's lips.

It had taken a while for the elder to accept his kisses, and even longer for him to stop being hesitant, but once he did everything became a million times better. Now he even played with Baekhyun's tongue, making him groan into his mouth every time he did.

That's when Kyungsoo decided to get into the house, inevitably seeing them.

Chanyeol pushed him away as fast as he could, but it was too late. Kyungsoo's eyes were huge, mixed horror and triumph in his features.

"Hey hyung!" Baekhyun broke the uncomfortable tension, still half on Chanyeol's lap, "I... followed your advice."

Chanyeol seemed ready to pass out.

----

Chanyeol wasn't pleased to find out that Kyungsoo had known about Baekhyun's crush all along.

He did seem to feel a little bit better when Kyungsoo chuckled, reassuring him that he wouldn't take their relationship to the police. Seriously, Baekhyun thought he was being ridiculous.

There was really no point in keeping it from Luhan and Yixing now, so they decided to tell them the next time they went to Chanyeol's.

Chanyeol hadn't expected the reaction they got. They hugged Baekhyun as soon as they heard the news, Luhan crying into his shoulders as he told him he was proud of him for being so patient. They seemed incredibly proud and relieved, which made him wonder just how long Baekhyun had liked him.

Apparently, way too long.

----

Everything settled down after that. Baekhyun visited Chanyeol every morning before he went to work, and then left to the mall to laze around with Luhan and Yixing. In the evenings, he'd come home and play with him, helping him with dinner afterwards.

Only one thing had changed, and that were the kisses. Baekhyun would have spent every waking moment kissing Chanyeol, had that been possible. The next best thing, though, was kissing him every time they were alone.

Baekhyun was the only to initiate almost everything they did, but it wasn't long until Chanyeol began to take him by surprise, kissing him when Baekhyun was least expecting.

But that was it. There was absolutely nothing more than kissing. Every time Baekhyun got even close to second base, Chanyeol would gently push him away.

He was frustrated, incredibly so, but it wasn't really that bad. Knowing that Chanyeol felt the same way about him, kissing him, being able to be with him in whatever twisted relationship they had was still better than everything he could've dreamed of.

Lazing around in the couch, cuddling and eating popsicles, and making out every couple of minutes became his favorite thing ever. Chanyeol was as perfect as a boyfriend (despite not liking to be called like that) as he'd ever imagined, ticking him and calling him cute and making him feel... loved.

----

But what exactly did Chanyeol consider sex? Because, admittedly, there were quite a few stages between doing absolutely nothing and going all the way.

And now he couldn't stop thinking about it.

They'd fallen asleep after a Wii match, cuddled on the couch. Baekhyun had been the first one to wake up, slightly disorientated.

He took the chance to look at Chanyeol without being bothered. He looked nice even asleep, so cute he'd have found it hard to believe that he was almost twenty five. He ran his fingers down his face, feeling his soft skin give in.

He laid back against him, feeling lulled back to sleep by the warmth of his body until an idea filtered in his mind.

They'd been a month together, and so, so happy.

And he was ready.

And Chanyeol's crotch was right there.

It was now or never. Chanyeol'd probably freak out the moment he woke up, but hopefully it'd be worth it.

He began by unbuckling Chanyeol's belt, fingers trembling slightly. Unbuttoning the jeans was harder, especially since he was trying to move the least possible as to keep Chanyeol asleep.

There wasn't much he could do after unzipping them, the position Chanyeol was in making it hard to pull the pants down, so he paused for a moment, talking himself back into confidence.

Shaking Chanyeol just the tiniest bit, he managed to pull his pants to his hips. It wasn't a lot, but the sight of his underwear was enough to make his dick interested. He'd got so far, might as well go all the way.

What he was about to do next would definitely wake him, but it was a risk he was willing to take.

He had to be fast.

Hooking a finger in the underwear's elastic, he pulled it down, feeling Chanyeol stir under his touch.

And there it was. The protagonist of his sexual fantasies. He blinked.

Baekhyun hadn't forgotten about it, it just hadn't been his top priority. And now he couldn't believe he hadn't thought about it.

Just in the tip of Chanyeol's penis, small and delicate, was a silver ring, joined to the skin just by a little point. Not too big, but everything Baekhyun could see.

Baekhyun was so hard it hurt, and he hadn't even started yet.

He had to be fast, but the memory of the piercing, of all the nights he'd spent fantasizing about how it'd feel inside him, how it'd taste, had thrown him off, and he was now just... staring at it.

He was pulled out of his trance by Chanyeol sitting up, coming face to face with Baekhyun sitting between his legs. He scrambled to close them, but Baekhyun was faster. He wouldn't allow that to happen.

"What are you doing?!" Chanyeol almost yelled, trying to cover himself.

"I... I had forgotten it'd be there," he said, still staring at the piercing transfixed.

Chanyeol made another unsuccessful attempt to close his legs, face flushing completely.

"How did you even know it was there?"

"I figured it out when I got my ear pierced, remember?"

Chanyeol threw an arm over his face, embarrassed at the memory of something that'd happened almost two years ago. It was weirdly cute.

Baekhyun had intended to jerk Chanyeol off until he was done complaining. That play's been discarded as soon as he saw the piercing, though. Because now, all he wanted was to taste.

Leaning down, he placed a kiss to the head of Chanyeol's dick, just above the ring. The hardness of the metal made a perfect contrast with the extreme softness of the skin.

Chanyeol had gasped in surprise, removing his arm from his face to look at him, and Baekhyun could feel a shudder run through his body.

He had to keep going, or else Chanyeol would get himself together and stop him. So, he took the head in his mouth.

The fight left Chanyeol's body completely as he leaned back into the couch, head thrown back in a groan. It set something inside Baekhyun, a need to hear him again.

Carefully, he began taking more of him into his mouth, tongue lapping at the head. He was specially focused on the ring, marveled with the way it felt in his tongue, how Chanyeol reacted every time he approached the sensitive skin.

Baekhyun had never been a fan of blowjobs. He'd given the guy he'd dated a couple, but he's always been grossed out about them, never getting to finish properly.

But now, he wanted to do it. He really liked Chanyeol, unlike the previous guy, and wanted nothing more than to taste him, to see him fall apart because of his mouth.

His own member was straining against his jeans, but he couldn't muster the will to take his hands off Chanyeol to make something about it.

"Baek… you… you're breaking the first rule," Chanyeol mumbled, bringing a hand to Baekhyun's hair and running it through the strands.

Baekhyun looked up at him through his lashes, mouth full, and sucked so hard Chanyeol screamed. That was more like it.

He stopped before hitting his gag reflex, scared of ruining everything because of it, and wrapped his long fingers around the base. His other hand caressed further down, thumbing Chanyeol's balls in a way that made him shudder and pull his hair, silently asking for more. Finally.

"You're… really good at this," he said, sounding positively delirious.

Baekhyun smiled around his member, and Chanyeol groaned in frustration again.

He started bobbing his head faster, taking his time to lick everything he could reach.

The ache inside his pants became too much to be ignored, so he moved one of his hands away from Chanyeol and down to palm himself through his pants.

He'd meant to relief a little tension so as to keep going, but it only made him more sensitive.

Pressing the heel of his palm, his vision suddenly went blank, everything around him going out of focus. Pleasure run through him, leaving a burning numbness behind.

Inadvertently, he'd let go of Chanyeol, panting heavily.

He came back leaning against Chanyeol's hip, the elder's concerned eyes checking on him.

Baekhyun blinked a couple of times, still feeling disorientated. And then he noticed what had happened.

And so did Chanyeol.

"Oh… Baek."

He'd come in his pants. Like the freaking teenage virgin he was. He'd barely even touched himself, but apparently sucking Chanyeol just did it for him.

He was sticky and embarrassed and he didn't think it could get any worse than that.

For the first time in the evening, he sat properly, moving to face the other way. The last thing he wanted was to embarrass himself further in front of Chanyeol.

"Hey, Baek. It's okay, look at me," Chanyeol touched his cheek, smiling when he met his eyes.

"You don't have to keep going if you don't want to," he tried to clean the corner of his mouth. Great. He probably looked disgusting.

Besides, Baekhyun did want to keep going. What had happened had been an unfortunate detour, but his goal was still the same.

He wanted Chanyeol to scream his name, to see him filled with pleasure.

Gently pulling out of Chanyeol's hold, he wrapped his hand around his member, pleased at the hissed Chanyeol let out at the surprising contact.

He jerked him fast and effectively, running his thumb through the piercing. Chanyeol was an incoherent mess of groans, mixed in with sighs of his name.

Baekhyun leaned down once again, taking the head in his mouth.

It only took a couple of pumps before everything became too much for Chanyeol, and he released inside his mouth.

Baekhyun took it all in, smiling triumphantly as he did.

His smugness didn't last long, though.

"Baek?" Chanyeol asked once he recovered enough to notice the consternated look in Baekhyun's eyes.

He couldn't do it. He kept trying, but he couldn't.

He ran to the bathroom, spitting once he got to the washbasin. He coughed a couple of times before he heard Chanyeol get in, rubbing his back worriedly.

"Are you okay?" he turned him around, eyes scanning over his face, "Did you choke? Baek, talk to me."

Baekhyun was positive his face was an embarrassing shade of red, both a result of his coughing and deep embarrassment.

"I'm sorry Yeol, but I couldn't do it. I couldn't swallow."

Chanyeol stared at him for a moment, and then wrapped his arms around him, enveloping him in a hug. Baekhyun stood still, having been caught off guard.

"I don't care if you did, I wasn't expecting you to, either. It's nothing to be ashamed of, Baek," he took half a step back to kiss his forehead, before resting his head against him.

"You shouldn't have done that, thought," he sighed, "I should've stopped you. Oh god, I'm going to jail."

Baekhyun pushed his shoulder, chucking.

"Don't be an idiot. Besides, technically we didn't even have sex."

Baekhyun leaned in to kiss him, a smile still on his face. Chanyeol turned his head, smirking at the offended look he was sporting.

"Maybe later. Now you should go change your pants," he laughed, motioning to the general area.

Baekhyun narrowed his eyes. How could he laugh about that?

"Oh, you'll see. I'll be the one laughing next time, I bet you."

----

Chanyeol toned down his paranoia after that. A dam seemed to have broken inside him, and he didn't have the will to stop Baekhyun any longer. He now let him touch him more often, though only in special occasions.

Still, he refused to touch Baekhyun if he could help so, afraid of corrupting his innocence.

Which, Baekhyun not only found stupid, but also extremely unfair.

His last high school year began, once again alone. He'd said goodbye to his two best friends a couple of weeks before. It had been hard, and it still hurt, but it wasn't as it he wasn't going to talk to them every day.

Besides, he had Chanyeol in his life now. Well, he'd had for years, but it was different now. Everything was better now that he had Chanyeol.

Senior year meant college entrance exams. And, his mother being the overbearing, strict parent she was (whenever she was home, that was it), was making him study hours every day, which had cut his Chanyeol time drastically. And he was in withdrawal.

It not that he blamed his mother, not at all. He understood that she only had his best interests in mind. She just wanted him to get into a good college, and the only way to do that was getting good grades.

----

"I could help you study," Chanyeol suggested one evening, while they were spending one of the few breaks Baekhyun got walking around with Mr. PB, "I was one of the top scores on my year."

Baekhyun knew he was smart. It had always seemed pretty obvious, given his choice of career and the fact he even got a scholarship. But it still amused him sometimes, how much of a contrast he could be. One moment he was making complicated equations or talking about politics and the other he turned back to being the freaky gamer obsessed with his dog.

"Did you even have those tests back then? Like, around 1800?" he joked.

Lately, Chanyeol's complex with his age seemed to have gotten worse, and Baekhyun knew it had something to do with him. Still, it was fun to mess with him for it.

----

It had sounded like a good plan, honestly.

His mother had been so pleased when Chanyeol had officially offered to help him. If only she knew the whole story. Not that Baekhyun was planning on hiding it from her forever, but until he was of legal age keeping quiet about it was for the best.

But Baekhyun should've known better.

Because they weren't really studying. At all.

And Baekhyun tried, he did. But it was extremely hard to concentrate in boring questions when his not-boyfriend was right there in front of the table, looking as kissable as ever.

So, an hour-long study session turned into an hour-long make out session most times. Baekhyun couldn't even joke about at least getting sex-ed, with their kisses being the most PG-13 ever.

They'd been going out for almost five months now and everything was great. Aside from the lack of sex, that is.

Baekhyun's eighteenth birthday was six months away, and he was excited. He didn't remember the last time he'd waited for that day to arrive so eagerly.

Chanyeol, on the other side, seemed to be dreading his own birthday, which was just around the corner.

"I've never been so frustrated with my birthday being close," he moaned one day.

"Don't worry about it. I'll like you even if all your hair turns gray," Baekhyun smiled, not raising his eyes from the calculus homework in his desk.

"Hey, I'm only turning twenty five!" Chanyeol pouted. He didn't look twenty five at all when he did that.

Baekhyun laughed, leaving his paper to lean in and kiss his pout.

"I'm also getting older every year, you know that right? Maybe when I'm fifty and you're fifty seven it won't bother you that much."

Chanyeol leaned back against his chair with a heavy sight, and he turned back to his homework.

It was not five minutes later that he snapped.

"I can't do it. I'm done."

"What, this one? I already told you how to do it," Chanyeol looked over his shoulder.

"Still. I can't seem to do it."

Chanyeol took the pencil out of his hand, solving the equation smoothly.

"Did you pay attention?"

"That's not fair you idiot! I had already finished like half of it!" Chanyeol smiled before kissing his frown.

"You'll get wrinkles before I do if you keep making that face."

"I'm gonna get wrinkles if I keep waiting to have sex with you."

Chanyeol chucked, pecking his cheek.

"You're so cute, Baek."

"So what, are you gonna touch me this time?" he asked, a hint of hopefulness in his voice. He was expecting at least a kiss. Or maybe even a real touch.

Chanyeol dropped his smile, fidgeting with his shirt.

"I think we should wrap up the class for today," he stood up.

"Sure. But you don't have to go. My mom has this job dinner and won't be home until late."

The elder seemed to tense at this, and Baekhyun couldn't help but to laugh at him, closing the distance between them and kissing him softly.

It took a moment for Chanyeol to return the kiss, a moment Baekhyun was afraid he'd pushed him away and say goodbye for the night. But then he kissed back, taking his face in his hands. Chanyeol kissed how he lived, playfully, softly. His kisses were fun, sometimes catching Baekhyun off guard with their tenderness, sometimes making his knees weaken from their intensity and passion.

Tender kisses were his favorite. Chanyeol caressing his face, pulling away to peck his lips before deepening it.

They'd ended up sitting in bed, an unexpected but very much welcomed change for Baekhyun. Chanyeol tried to object when he moved to his lap, placing his hands in his shoulders. It was the reasonable thing to do, though. He was much more comfortable that way.

The kiss was getting progressively hotter, and Baekhyun wanted more. He felt Chanyeol's hands running down his back before settling on his ass and kneading it. Baekhyun gasped, suddenly much more needy than before.

"Have I ever told you how much I love your ass?" Chanyeol gasped between kisses, nipping on his lower lip.

"No. But you should definitely do it again."

Chanyeol smiled against his lips, and Baekhyun brought his hands to his face, pulling him closer.

A hint of a thought crossed his mind, and it was all it took for him to need it. Baekhyun got as close as he could to him, rearranging his knees beside Chanyeol's hips and thrusting forward. As he'd expected, the movement made their clothed members brush against each other, the friction sending delicious ripples of pleasure through their bodies.

Chanyeol pulled away, steading him by the waist.

"Stop! Stop."

Baekhyun shook his head, diving back in to rejoin their mouths. He covered the hands at his waist with his, and felt the tension seep out of Chanyeol almost instantly.

So, he thrusted again. Rolling his hips downwards, trying to get as much friction as possible, he wasn't sure if the frantic sounds he could hear were his or Chanyeol's, who was kissing him back with everything he had. But unsurprisingly, he found that he didn't care at all.

Chanyeol leaned forward until Baekhyun had his back against his bed. He kissed him once again, softer, calmer, before pulling away and moving down to his neck.

"Careful. You don't wanna leave marks," Baekhyun said breathlessly. Baekhyun did want, though. He would've killed to have Chanyeol mark his whole body, make it his. But he didn't think his mother would think the same way if she noticed.

Chanyeol nodded, licking a stripe on the side of his neck, making him arch of the bed.

Chanyeol's hands went to his legs, running through them. It was the first time ever he touched him with lust, and Baekhyun thought he could've died happy in that moment.

And then everything became too hot, too tight to be wearing pants.

"Baek, one thing," Chanyeol pulled away, blinking to bring his face back to focus, "We're not having sex, okay?"

They weren't? Then why had they gotten this close to third base that Baekhyun could literally taste it? He was already riled up and so, so hard. He'd be mad at Chanyeol if he stopped now.

Luckily, he didn't. With a sigh, he cupped his erection above his underwear, making Baekhyun thrust up into his hand.

"You're gonna like this. Trust me, okay? But that's it. It'll be the last one until your birthday."

Baekhyun nodded hesitantly, unsure of what was about to happen. But then, Chanyeol stepped out of his underwear, and a much more pressing matter was at hand.

The piercing was glowing with the reflection of light. Baekhyun couldn't take his eyes away.

"Do you have lube?" Chanyeol interrupted. It took him more time that what he'd have wanted to answer, mind still fixed in the ring.

Chanyeol pulled it out of the night table, looking at it with his face carefully closed off.

"Did you really buy a strawberry one?"

"Well, I couldn't risk it being the only one you liked and not having any," he smirked.

Chanyeol sighed, opening the bottle before pausing again.

"It's used…"

"I'm a guy and have needs," Baekhyun grinned, looking at him in the eye.

Chanyeol swatted at him to make him stop laughing, before placing his legs in his hands and gently prying them open. He squeezed some of the lube in his hands, rubbing them together, and looked down at Baekhyun.

"What are you…?"

He only got a smile back, and then Chanyeol was spreading the lube on his thighs, the strawberry smell overpowering everything in the room.

"Have I told you I love your legs too?"

He brought his legs together and lifted them, until Baekhyun was almost folded in half. Then, he let his already pretty hard member slip between them.

And Baekhyun got it. He might have guessed it before in other circumstances, but his mind had been occupied otherwise.

Chanyeol began moving, shallow thrusts at first. Baekhyun could see the head appearing, piercing and everything, before pulling away.

It wasn't his first time seeing Chanyeol's face twisted in pleasure, but he didn't think he'd ever get tired of it. He imagined Chanyeol inside him, fucking him the same way he was fucking his thighs. How amazing it'd feel, how gorgeous Chanyeol'd look.

He'd begun hurting, his member painfully strained inside his boxers.

"Chanyeol," he mumbled, voice shaky and unsteady. Chanyeol looked down at him, smiling without steeling his movements, "Touch me. Please, please touch me."

Chanyeol slowed down, clearly hesitant all of a sudden. He then sneaked his hand around him, lowering his legs for a moment as he pulled his underwear down, before taking it off completely and resuming his position.

Finally, finally, he was touching Baekhyun. He could've died, overwhelmed by the pleasure and warmth of having Chanyeol's hand wrapped around him, stroking him purposefully. His hands gripped the bedsheets by his side, so hard he thought he might tear them.

A flick of Chanyeol's wrist was enough to tip him over the edge, Chanyeol following suit. He should've been embarrassed of finishing so fast, with just a few touches, but when he felt Chanyeol's weight on top of him, panting hard and trying not to squeeze him, he decided he didn't really care.

"Baek," he said after a couple of deep breaths, voice slightly rough, "If the police ask, you were very persuasive and I'm on my way to New Zealand, okay?"

Baekhyun felt laughter bubble inside him, not caring that he was gross and covered in both of their come. Chanyeol moved to his side, pulling him close.

Baekhyun let the smell of Chanyeol envelope him. After sex, after shave, and something uniquely his.

And, of course, lots and lots of strawberry.

----

Winter holidays brought along extremely cold days. It had been snowing since the night before begging of the holiday season, which was evident in the amount of snow surrounding the path from his house to Chanyeol's.

Baekhyun had just been let go for the holidays, and Chanyeol had gotten a couple of days off from his job to enjoy the festivities.

He'd expected Chanyeol to be out shoveling snow, as he usually did those kinds of days. Although, he didn't expect to find Kyungsoo there.

"Did you lose a bet, hyung?" he mocked, and amused smile on his lips.

Kyungsoo glared at him before turning back to work, "No. Your little boyfriend is having some sort of crisis and I'm stuck here."

Crisis? What sort of crisis could Chanyeol be in that didn't involve him?

A weird atmosphere welcomed him when he entered the house. No Mr. PB greeting him, not a game on the TV, Chanyeol nowhere to be seen.

A little unsettled already, Baekhyun went to Chanyeol's bedroom. He found the elder desperately looking for something inside his closet, Mr. PB lying on his bed.

"What are you looking for?"

Chanyeol startled, turning to him with a preoccupied look before mumbling distractedly, "Blankets."

Blankets. What the hell was going on?

"What's wrong Yeol?"

Chanyeol, looking positively upset, hugged him, burrowing his face in his neck. And now Baekhyun was worried. He'd never seen him so upset, and that was saying a lot.

"What is it?" he ran his hand through his hair.

"I think," he pulled away before motioning for Mr. PB, "I think he's sick."

----

That wasn't how he'd plan to spend his first officially free day, but it wasn't that bad either.

They spent most of the morning waiting to be seen by the vet. Chanyeol seemed really worried, about to cry every time he patted Mr. PB and the dog did nothing but to sigh.

Baekhyun knew it couldn't be that bad. Dogs got sick all the time, just like humans did, and there was no reason to get so worked up about it. Still, it was a great opportunity to take Chanyeol's hand in public, something he'd never done since they'd began dating. He needed reassurance and Baekhyun wasn't going to fail him.

The vet, a young woman, smiled at them warmly after checking their dog up.

"Well, it's nothing bad after all. It looks like Mr. PB here ate something he shouldn't. But he should be fine in no time with some meds, don't worry about that," she smiled again. At Chanyeol. Like she had ever since they'd set foot on the consultation room.

Chanyeol smiled for the first time that day, patting their dog.

"Did you hear that baby? You'll be better soon," Mr. PB licked his hand before leaning back down.

----

They were ready to go, having given the dog his meds and placed him on his cage again, and the vet was rubbing Mr. PB through the cage.

Chanyeol kept thanking her, and in return her smile grew bigger and bigger.

"It looks like your older brother really loves your dog, right?" she chuckled.

Baekhyun was livid. What had she just said?

And Chanyeol. Chanyeol didn't even bother to correct her! That fucker.

"He's not my brother," he glared at her.

"Oh? I thought you'd say the dog is you-"

"He's my boyfriend."

The girl gaped. Chanyeol was looking at him, horrified. He had to take him out of there before he began freaking out.

"Thanks for your help, doctor. We'll call you next time we need help," he took Mr. PB cage, clasping Chanyeol's hand with his free hand and dragging him out of the place.

The stunned silence Chanyeol was in lasted just enough for Baekhyun to put the cage in the back of the car and get in.

"Are you out of your mind Baek?!"

Baekhyun stared down. He was kind of ashamed at his behavior. After all, he had broken two of Chanyeol's rules in a single sentence.

"Why did you do that?!"

"Because you didn't correct her," he frowned. He knew he hadn't done the smartest thing, but that didn't meant he wasn't still somewhat hurt about it.

"Because it didn't matter! What will she think about us now, Baek?"

"I don't care. I'd rather she thinks the worst."

"What?"

"You heard me. She was checking you out and I was right there! She would've made a move if I hadn't stopped her."

Chanyeol was staring at him with his mouth open, and he had to avert his eyes again.

"Baek. You do know that I'm totally gay, right?"

"I didn't want her to say anything…" he frowned.

Chanyeol began laughing, taking Baekhyun's face in his hand and smiling softly.

"You're so sweet Baek."

Well, you're an idiot.

After checking that nobody was around, Chanyeol leaned in to pec his lips.

"I'd never seen you jealous before."

Baekhyun smiled back, bad mood fading fast.

"Oh, you have, believe me. You just never noticed before."

----

Since most of his friends wouldn't be able to go home for Christmas, with their jobs and school and everything, Chanyeol had decided to organize a little get together in his house.

When he and Baekhyun got home from picking up groceries for the party, they found Kyungsoo and Sehun making out on the couch. Which, good for them, but quite disturbing and not something they wanted to see at all for Baekhyun and Chanyeol. Promptly leaving the bags by the door, praying that the cold weather would prevent them from going bad, they left the house again.

They now had hours to kill until nighttime, so Chanyeol proposed to go out on a not-yet-date sort of date.

The streets were filled with Christmas paraphernalia, looking really pretty and movie-like. They walked around the commercial area, stopping in front of the many stores busy for Christmas sale.

One of those stores was selling sweaters.

"Baek! We can get Christmas sweaters!"

Chanyeol exclaimed excitedly. Seriously, how cliché could that get?

Baekhyun was still scrunching his nose when Chanyeol pulled him inside the store, coming out a few minutes later with ridiculous (and… sort of cute) couple sweaters.

"I thought couple stuff was off-limits…"

Chanyeol laughed, "I don't think anyone'll notice."

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, smiling to himself. How had he ended up with someone as adorable and stupid like him?

They kept walking until Baekhyun spotted and interesting looking store.

"Hey, maybe I could get a piercing! So we can have something else like a couple!"

Chanyeol grabbed his arm, lecturing him in life choices all the way home.

----

Luhan and Yixing turned up to the reunion wearing matching sweaters too.

It wasn't surprising at all. At least, not for Baekhyun. They'd had couple stuff even before they became an actual couple, and that had gotten a million times worse when they eventually did.

But, they were pretty surprised at Baekhyun's.

"I thought all those 'lovely-dovey shit' wasn't your kind of thing," Luhan commented, punching his shoulder.

Baekhyun punched him back, and soon they were on the floor, rolling around and hitting each other like they did when they were eight. It was nice having him back home.

Luhan was right, though. He wasn't the type to get couple stuff. Specially not cute, cliché couple stuff. But Chanyeol seemed to like them, and he didn't mind doing it for him. It was nice, actually.

He looked back at him while he talked to Yifan, and couldn't help but to smile. His happiness depended so much of this single person. It had for years now.

He loved Chanyeol so much. And, for the first time, he wasn't exaggerating at all.

----

The clock read four and Baekhyun couldn't sleep.

Everyone was sleeping soundly downstairs, with the exception of Kyungsoo and Sehun, who'd sneaked up into the elder's room as soon as they thought their absence wouldn't be noticed.

He startled when he felt warm arms wrap around him, making him look away from where he'd been watching outside from Chanyeol's window.

He settled back against Chanyeol's chest, placing his hands above the ones around his middle.

"Can't sleep?" Baekhyun shook his head, "Well, I meant to give you your Christmas present some other time we were alone, but we're sort of alone now, right?" he smiled, gently moving away from him and turning to pick up a small package.

Baekhyun was beyond surprised when he opened it to reveal a binocular.

"You told me that… that time, in your room, you'd tripped and broken your telescope. I kinda feel it's my fault and I know it's not the same, but at least with these you can look into my house when you miss me," he smiled, blushing lightly.

Baekhyun felt all the love he had for him bursting inside his chest. Pulling him down, he hugged him and kissed him until they were both breathless and finally sleepy.

Chanyeol had said a lot without really saying much, and Baekhyun got it.

That night, they slept together in Chanyeol's bed, arms wrapped around each other and Mr. PB on their feet.

After all, winter did have a lot of great things.

----

Classes began as soon as the holidays were over, and Chanyeol had to get back to work, too.

Baekhyun's exam was approaching fast, an almost constant weight settled on his stomach when he thought about it. Only Chanyeol managed to calm him down days like that. After many unproductive classes, they'd find a balance. Chanyeol was happy every time Baekhyun accomplished something, and Baekhyun loved seeing him happy, so in turn he tried harder. It worked for them.

----

It was still unfairly cold by the time Valentine's Day rolled around. Especially so without Chanyeol. The elder had gone to a conference a few cities away, leaving him alone in their first Valentine's Day together.

Baekhyun had to spend the whole week on his own, watching happy couples spending their time together and having to drown his sorrows in overpriced chocolate. His life was hard.

It wasn't until that night that Chanyeol called him.

"Hey Baek. Do you wanna be my Valentine?"

Baekhyun had spent the whole day a little bit mad at him, and had planned to stay that way during their conversation. But he couldn't help the way his heart was beating so fast because of a simple invitation, one he should've taken for granted.

"Of course!"

Chanyeol yipped excitedly, making him sigh fondly. So dumb.

"I'm bringing you some chocolates," he announced, proud of himself.

"Strawberry filled?"

Chanyeol hung up on him, and Baekhyun hugged the phone to his chest, still laughing and wondering how was it possible to love someone that much.

----

"You're seriously not waiting a couple of months for me?" he pouted, mood ruined as he was perched on Chanyeol's bed, looking at him putting on clothes.

"I haven't been out in a long time and I'm bored. It'll only be a couple of hours and you can come by later. It's not such a big deal."

Baekhyun turned on the bed, staring at him. Chanyeol looked hot, and for the first time ever that wasn't a good thing.

"What if you find someone prettier and older and nicer than me?"

"I wouldn't worry about that," Chanyeol chuckled, crawling over to where he was sitting and kissing him slowly, "We can go and get ice-cream tomorrow, if you want," he patted his leg before getting up from the bed.

And just like that he left with Yifan and Jongdae. To a bar. Without him. Because he wouldn't wait for a while until they could go together.

Though, Baekhyun wasn't exactly planning to wait for him with his arms closed.

"Wish me luck," he told Mr. PB on his way out.

An hour later he found himself outside the bar. He didn't have much trouble getting in, and even less spotting Yifan's blond hair. Chanyeol, of course, was right beside him by the bar.

With a smile on his face, he fixed his clothes before walking towards them.

He sat by Chanyeol, who was oblivious of his presence until he ordered a drink to the bartender. Chanyeol snapped to look at him at the sound of his voice, looking horrified.

Baekhyun grinned at him.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, obviously trying to keep it cool and failing terribly.

"Well, someone couldn't wait for a couple of months to come here with me, so I decided I'd be the one to go to him," Baekhyun grinned innocently, relishing in the way Chanyeol had been rendered speechless.

"I think that's my cue," Yifan said as he stood up, placing some bills on the bar and escaping from what looked like a fight about to blow up.

Baekhyun's drink arrived just then, but he was stopped from taking a sip of it by Chanyeol's hand on his arm.

"How did you even get in here without an ID?"

His face looked flushed, and his eyes a little bit glazed over. He wasn't drunk, not yet, but he'd drunk enough to be a little bit tipsy.

"Luhan got me a fake one years ago. You'd be surprised with how easy is to buy one," he managed before taking a sip, pushing Chanyeol's hand away.

That seemed to be the last Chanyeol could take.

"Get out."

Baekhyun stuck his tongue out at him, taking another sip as if to make his point.

"Only if you get out with me."

Chanyeol glared at his now empty glass, ordering another shot.

"Are you trying to ruin my night, Baek?"

Baekhyun shook his head slowly. He really wasn't.

"I don't like you going out without me and acting single."

Chanyeol downed the shot before sneaking a glance at him, almost choking when he took in what he was wearing.

"And you decided… to come to a gay bar with older guys dressed like this? Jesus Baek. Are you wearing eyeliner?"

Well, he hadn't intended for anyone other than Chanyeol to look at him, but he couldn't help it if someone else did. As for the make-up, eye liner made him look older, which was kind of the point he was trying to make.

He busied himself finishing his overly sweet and overpriced cocktail before turning back to Chanyeol with what he hoped looked like a flirtatious smile.

"So, are we leaving?"

"Why didn't you tell me you didn't want me to come before?"

"I did. You didn't listen, which is totally different. I had to take the matter into my own hands."

Chanyeol rested his head on the bar, covering his face with his arms.

"You're impossible."

And then, a guy was sitting beside Baekhyun.

"Hey there. Are you alone?"

Baekhyun blinked a couple of times, before it hit him that the guy was probably trying to flirt with him. He was just about to say something incredibly smart and sarcastic, turning him down, when he felt Chanyeol tense.

Baekhyun smiled back at the guy.

It was all it took for Chanyeol to take his wrist under the table, a silent warning that sent a sparkle of excitement down Baekhyun's spine.

Now you don't get to tell me what to do.

The guy looked at Chanyeol, who was glaring daggers at him, and smirked. Tilting his head, he addressed Baekhyun.

"Your boyfriend?"

"No," he answered drily. It was the truth, after all. If Chanyeol kept insisting that they weren't in a relationship, he had to accept the consequences now.

It was then that Chanyeol stood up, slamming some money into the counter before dragging him out of the bar, an almost painful grip on his wrist.

----

Chanyeol didn't utter a word the whole taxi ride back home.

He kept ignoring him when they got to his house, striding towards the door so fast Baekhyun had to run to catch up.

"Are you mad at me?"

Chanyeol stopped when he got to the door, turning around abruptly and startling Baekhyun with how truly angry he looked.

"A fake ID? Are you out of your fucking mind?! What if your mom finds out, Baekhyun?"

Baekhyun rolled his eyes. He'd been doing this for years, and his mother had never even asked about his whereabouts. She just assumed he was with Luhan, and now that the elder wasn't around, at Chanyeol's studying.

"Why did you do it?" Chanyeol asked slowly, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"A lot could've gone wrong… and I wouldn't have been there to stop it."

"Oh, and yours was the perfect plan?! Did you even think about what could happen to you in a place like that?!"

He went into the house, and Baekhyun followed. He'd begun to think his plan hadn't gone well. Chanyeol looked angry for real, and that wasn't good. He just wanted to make him worry about him and take him home, out of that bar. Make him a little bit jealous, even.

It was selfish, he was aware of that. But Chanyeol himself had been selfish as well. Couldn't he have waited until they could go together? His birthday was in less than two months, he didn't think it was such a big deal.

Besides, it wasn't as if he'd ruined his whole night. He'd left him on his own for... About an hour before getting into the bar, so it was fair.

And it was terrifying. The idea of Chanyeol finding someone else in that bar, someone his age with whom he could have sex with, fall in love with without feeling guilty. Chanyeol could fall in love with someone else and leave him, and Baekhyun couldn't bear the thought of that happening.

"Go back to your home," Chanyeol told him without looking at him, going up the stairs to his room.

Baekhyun paid no mind to him, following him until he hit Chanyeol's back.

"I said go home, didn't you hear?"

"I don't want to."

Chanyeol turned around, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him a little.

"Why can't you do what I tell you?! Not even once! Baekhyun!"

"Don't treat me like a fucking child!"

Chanyeol took a deep breath.

"Why did you go? Don't you trust me?"

"I do. I don't trust everyone else."

Chanyeol let him go.

"You ask to be treated like an adult when you do nothing but acting like a child!"

"You don't treat me like an adult anyways so what's the point?!"

Chanyeol looked at him coldly, eyes dark.

"You want me to treat you like an adult?"

Baekhyun nodded, startling when Chanyeol grabbed his wrist again, dragging him to his room.

Closing the door behind them, Chanyeol pushed him against it, joining their lips together without giving him time to protest. He tasted like rage and alcohol.

Baekhyun was a little bit unsettled, and kind of scared, when he grabbed his shirt and separated him from the door, and then began pushing him towards the bed, making the back of his knees hit the edge and pushing until he was lying on his back.

Chanyeol climbed on top of him, knees on the side of his hips. When Chanyeol pushed their lips together again, Baekhyun kissed back.

It seemed to be what Chanyeol'd been expecting all along. He lifted his hands to his chest, roaming under his shirt, calloused hands rubbing everything until Baekhyun was shaking.

Baekhyun groaned into the kiss, ready for Chanyeol to pull away and tell him that was it for the night any moment now, when he began lifting his shirt, a ghost of a kiss placed on his navel. Pulling away, Chanyeol helped Baekhyun take his shirt off, undoing his own with surprising ease.

"Yeol? I…" his voice trembled, everything becoming too much too soon.

"Shut up!" he leaned his head in the crook of Baekhyun's shoulder, breathing in deeply, "Just for once, Baek. Shut up."

Baekhyun wasn't sure he was even able to say anything else at this point. It seemed so close. Everything he'd wanted for so long, just around the corner for Baekhyun to take. If Chanyeol wanted to do it, he wouldn't even think about stopping him.

The feeling of Chanyeol's lips travelling down his body made any remaining tension seep out of his system, a pleasured sigh leaving his mouth.

It was too perfect, Chanyeol's mouth on him, his lips, his tongue. Even the little nips he was giving him felt glorious.

"Yeol… you'll… leave a mark," he was fighting though the haze of pleasure (and, honestly, anxiety) that was clouding his mind.

Chanyeol didn't stop, lips travelling even further down.

Baekhyun could only call his name at that point, clasping the blanket beneath him with one hand, trying to get a grip on Chanyeol's back with the other.

Chanyeol's mouth reached his pants, and he began undoing them, only to get frustrated the moment they didn't come out.

"Why do you wear this things?!" he huffed as he tried to pull them down.

He couldn't blame him. Baekhyun knew that Chanyeol loved his legs, and making them look irresistible had been a vital part of his plan. Besides, it wasn't as if he'd expected his night to end that way.

The pants got discarded to the side the moment he could pull them away, and Chanyeol brought his legs to rest on his shoulders.

He placed a kiss to his inner thigh, biting teasingly just to get a moan from Baekhyun, before turning his attention back to the obvious bulge on the younger's underwear.

Baekhyun's breath hitched when Chanyeol's hand made contact with the soft skin above the waistband of his boxers, pulling it down until he was completely naked. It was hard to wrap his mind about everything that was going on.

Baekhyun was hard already, painfully so, his member curving towards his stomach, a bead of precum on the tip.

"Already?" Chanyeol mocked.

He would've snapped back, angry and breathless and needy, but Chanyeol cut him off, taking the head of his dick in his mouth, and a deep scream was everything that left Baekhyun's mouth.

Chanyeol went down on him slowly, taking his time to lap at the prominent vein on the underside, being careful to make the slide as slick as possible.

The heat was driving him crazy, the perfect warmth of being inside Chanyeol's mouth, the roughness of his tongue, the never ending friction everywhere. Baekhyun could feel his throat closing around him again and again, a perfect rhythm that was undoubtedly the result of a lot of practice.

He didn't want to think about that, even less given their current situation.

It was the first time Chanyeol was blowing him, the first time he wasn't hesitant or ever so responsible. He'd dreamt about it more than once, long, cold night with his hand around himself and the smell of strawberry everywhere. And the real thing was even better.

He felt the familiar pull in the bottom of his stomach, the need to come overriding his senses as he tried to thrust into Chanyeol's mouth. The elder held him by the hips, hard enough to bruise (and oh, Baekhyun hoped it did bruise, so much), and sucked.

Baekhyun shook all over as he came inside his mouth, feeling his limbs going numb and his breath shorten.

The first thing he spotted when his vision became clear enough to see again was Chanyeol swallowing his come without hesitation, licking a few droplets that had remained on his lips.

Baekhyun was about to die.

When Chanyeol caught him staring at him, he lifted his eyebrows smugly, getting closer to him.

"And that is how you swallow," he smiled before pushing his tongue into Baekhyun's mouth, tangling their lips together and forcing him to taste himself.

Baekhyun pushed him away after a moment, the taste bringing him back to his senses, and put a hand over his mouth to stop him from repeating his little stunt.

"How do you…?"

"Practice," Chanyeol answered easily, loosening his own pants.

Pulling them down quickly, he stretched to get to the bedside table, pulling his oh so missed strawberry lube. Baekhyun had a lot to thank to it.

Turning back to where he was, he coated his fingers in the lube, the strong smell filling the room when Chanyeol began kissing and nuzzling his neck.

Baekhyun almost jumps out of his skin when the first lube-coated finger brushed against his entrance. This wasn't what he'd expected, what he was sure wasn't about to happen.

Because Chanyeol had highlighted it in his precious list. They wouldn't have sex until Baekhyun was legal. And, as far as he knew, his birthday was still two months away.

And yet, there he was, his finger pulling through the ring of muscle with unsuspected ease.

Chanyeol groaned, apparently surprised at the fact.

"Do you… do this a lot?" he chucked breathlessly, moving his finger around and pushing it deeper into him with every passing moment.

Baekhyun could barely breathe, let alone talk, so he limited himself to moaning as his head continued to spin.

This wasn't real. There was absolutely no way that this was actually happening. Baekhyun was probably at home, about to wake up with a painfully hard erection and a disappointed heart.

It felt extremely real, though. Chanyeol pushed his fingers in gently, opening him up and managing to drag moans out of him he wasn't even sure he could make.

His face was still pressed against his neck, nibbling the skin lightly whenever Baekhyun showed signs of discomfort.

Baekhyun whined at the lost when Chanyeol pulled his fingers out, deeming him properly prepared, and removed his underwear.

Chanyeol then sat back on the bed, this time with his back leaning against the headboard.

"Come here," he reached for his hand when his eyes met Baekhyun's, expectant and a little freaked out.

It was Chanyeol he was talking about, though. If there was anyone he trusted with this, it was him.

He got closer to him, staring at his member, the gleaming jewel on the tip looking as enticing as usual. The only difference was that tonight, Baekhyun'd get to feel it the way he'd always wanted.

Taking his hand, Chanyeol helped him sit on his lap.

When he joined their lips, Baekhyun kissed him back, the unappealing taste the last thing on his mind. It was a softer kiss this time, like the ones they normally had, slow, hot tongues gliding against each other.

Chanyeol managed to wrap a hand around his member, stroking himself lightly until he was fully hard. It didn't take long.

Cutting the kiss short, he grabbed Baekhyun's ass, spreading his cheeks gently and weighing his reaction.

"Get up," he instructed. Baekhyun got to his knees, and Chanyeol aligned his dick to his entrance, "You look so beautiful this way, Baek…" he sighed, making Baekhyun blush, which was silly, considering their current position. But still.

Chanyeol wrapped an arm around his waist, helping him lower down slowly, bit by bit, until he bottomed out.

It hurt. Baekhyun didn't think something'd ever hurt so much. The pain was excruciating for a few seconds, before Chanyeol began placing kisses all over his face, running his fingers lightly across his waist, his chest, his neck.

The pain wasn't gone, but it was bearable. He could breathe again, and that was saying a lot.

It was still a while longer until he found it in himself to begin moving, with the help of Chanyeol's guide and his short thrusts upwards as he panted against his neck, licking and sucking softly.

The pain soon faded away, replaced by pleasure and the warmth of Chanyeol and everything nice. Baekhyun sped up, his movements sloppier by the second, pulling himself down harder and faster each time. He could feel the hard metal of the piercing dragging inside him, the most amazing sensation he'd ever felt. His fingers couldn't even compare to this.

Baekhyun's heart stopped beating the moment the ring hit his prostate, stars bursting behind his eyes. He was seriously about to cry with how amazing it felt, and Chanyeol noticed.

With a smile that was so his that it made Baekhyun hurt, he began trusting up into that exact spot.

Baekhyun's hands, that until then had been gripping to his back, the need to hold onto something more pressing than the need to touch Chanyeol all over, dig his nails into his shoulder, hard enough to leave little crescent marks on them for days.

His vision became white around the edges, every feeling sharper and brighter. The hand that wasn't holding him up went to his member, Chanyeol purposefully keeping the grip loose as to tease him.

Baekhyun didn't last even a second longer.

His movements stopped completely, body sagging on top of Chanyeol, the elder hugging him to keep him up.

"Hold on a little longer, okay Baek?"

He was extremely sensitive, he could feel every thrust inside him in his whole body. It hurt, but it a delicious kind of way. He was about to complain about it when Chanyeol stilled, the weird sensation of being filled up making him blink in wonder.

Chanyeol came down from his orgasm, sweaty and tired and gorgeous as ever, and smiled at Baekhyun before kissing him, all teeth and sloppiness, but perfect either way.

He helped Baekhyun lay down on his back, pulling out and kissing him when he hissed before settling him on his chest.

----

Baekhyun wasn't waking up. Their breathing had evened out, the after high making him sleepy and cuddly. He was sure that if this was actually a dream this'd be the moment the dampness in his pants woke him. But it wasn't happening.

"Baek…"

This was real. This was actually happening.

He didn't know how much time had happened when Chanyeol sat up, eyes gliding over him with a concerned expression. And something else, something Baekhyun didn't want to see in his eyes, especially not after what had just happened. Regret.

He took the elder's face in his hands, smiling at him before kissing him, his way of assuring him everything was beyond good.

"It's fine Yeol."

"No it's not! Are you okay?! I'm so so sorry! I know I should've asked, what the hell was I thinking about?! Why didn't you push me away?!" he'd began panicking, making Baekhyun gape before busting into laughter.

"I love you."

Chanyeol paused in his endless stream of worries, looking at him with an open expression that made his heart melt.

"I don't," he said with a pout, hiding his face in Baekhyun's hair.

"Why not?" he asked as he ran his fingers through the damp hair.

"You made me do this."

"Nah huh, I didn't. You're just really bad holding your alcohol and I wasn't about to turn down something I'd wanted for so long."

Chanyeol groaned once again.

"When the police ask… at least don't tell them I drank… They'll keep me longer in jail if they find out."

----

Waking up with Chanyeol's arms wrapped around him, the warm of his chest against his back and his breath tickling the skin of his shoulder was everything Baekhyun could've ever asked.

Even when Chanyeol finally woke up, a blissed out smile on his face before realizing what had happened and jumping from the bed, he was just too happy for it to dampening his mood.

"Why?" Chanyeol held his head in his hands, memories of the previous night coming back to him.

Baekhyun kissed him.

----

He pitied Kyungsoo, honestly. It couldn't have been nice to be forced to sit between the two of them, with Baekhyun humming happily as he munched on his toast in one side, and Chanyeol glaring at him on the other.

"Did… something happen?" he was almost afraid to ask.

"Baekhyun broke the golden rule!"

"Me? I didn't do anything," Baekhyun smirked, shrugging.

"You'll be the death of me," Chanyeol sank against his chair, untouched breakfast on the table, "My head is killing me."

"You shouldn't have drunk so much."

"It's your fault!"

"No it isn't! You were already drunk when I got there."

"It was your fault I took that last shot you child!"

"I'm not a child!"

Kyungsoo inched towards his shoes, getting out of the house without them noticing before they tried to drag him into their fight.

"You've been planning this the whole time and it actually worked out!" Chanyeol accused, making him chuckle.

"I wish I were that smart. I would've done it ages ago if I thought getting you angry and drunk would work."

"You're such a child…"

It was then that he noticed Kyungsoo's absence, standing from the table so abruptly he almost toppled it over, "Where is he?!"

Baekhyun shrugged. Since when did he care about what Kyungsoo did?

"He's going to turn me in with the police. It's over," he slouched back on his chair.

What was it with him that morning?

Getting up from the table, Baekhyun turned the TV on, setting it up for a UFC match. He was in an awesome mood and he wouldn't let Chanyeol's negativity get to him.

"How can you play in a moment like this?!"

"How can you not? You're totally overreacting. Kyungsoo-hyung won't tell anybody, he was just trying to get away from your constant old man complaints."

"You don't seem to be taking this seriously," Chanyeol sighed, dumping himself in the couch next to him.

"Of course I am," Baekhyun didn't stop playing, mood slightly ruined, "We fucked. You were drunk, and that wasn't ideal, but I liked it. And you seemed to have liked it too, so I don't see why this is such a big deal."

Baekhyun lost the game, placing the controller back on the table with a sigh. So much for trying to keep his good mood.

"Does it hurt?" Baekhyun looked at him, "You know…"

"It did when I woke up. I borrowed some painkillers and it's not that bad now."

"Come on. We should shower and forget about this for now," Chanyeol took his hand, pulling him to his feet and leading him to the bathroom upstairs.

----

Chanyeol pursed his lips as they undressed, eyeing the marks of what had happen in Baekhyun's skin

He didn't think it looked that bad, though. It was a nice reminder that it hadn't been a dream after all.

When they got under the steam of the shower, Chanyeol placed a kiss on every mark, running a hand lightly across his skin before kissing his lips.

"Promise me we won't do that again."

Baekhyun sighed. He didn't want to do that. If it weren't for the remaining pain in his lower back, he'd be trying to do something right now, Chanyeol's ever so gentle touches riling him up. But he got it, too. He knew how important this was for Chanyeol, how preoccupied he was.

"I promise."

They finished soaping each other with the memories of the previous night fresh on their minds and bodies.

"Yeol?"

"Huh?"

"I don't wanna do it."

"Do what?" he kissed the corner of his mouth, tilting his head back to rinse his hair.

"Forget about what happened last night."

----

Chanyeol was right by his side the day of his exam. He'd drove him to school, walking him to the door in his work suit. He still had to go afterwards, but Baekhyun was really thankful for having him there.

"You know there's nothing to worry about. We went through everything, and you're really smart. You're ready."

Baekhyun nodded nervously.

"I just don't want to let anyone down."

"You won't, believe me," he smiled. Checking that they were alone on the sidewalk, Chanyeol pecked his lips, caressing his cheek afterwards.

"For good luck."

----

Baekhyun ran out of the house the moment he heard Chanyeol's car pull into the driveway, tackling him into a hug before he was fully out of the car.

"I did well!"

Chanyeol hugged him back, a grin blossoming in his face. Picking him up, he made him spin in the air.

"Congratulations Baek!"

"I think I did well, though. You know we don't have the results yet," he smiled back, his head spinning.

"I'm sure you did great. But don't worry too much about the results or you'll get stressed."

"I don't think I can help that."

Chanyeol beamed at him, expression turning pensive after a moment.

"Baek," he took his hands, "Would you like to go out with me?"

"What?"

"Do you want us to go on an official date?"

Baekhyun couldn't believe his ears. His eyes lit up, unbelievably happy.

"What about the rules?"

"We broke two already. Another one won't really make any difference," Chanyeol chuckled.

----

That's how that Saturday evening found them inside the Technology Museum.

Baekhyun didn't really cared about the things that were in display, but Chanyeol looked like a kid in a candy store, eyes bright and pointing excitedly at everything that caught his attention, and seeing him like that made it totally worth it.

He kept explaining him everything around them, it history and how it worked as if Baekhyun couldn't just read it from the little signs on the side, but that was one of the things he loved about him the most. Chanyeol was a geek, passionate technology lover and gamer, protective of the things that made him happy.

He was also aware that it was the first time they were holding hands in public. People were staring, most probably due to their sexuality other than his age, but Baekhyun didn't mind. Chanyeol did, though, his clammy hand gripping him tightly, but he was making a conscious effort to fight against his phobia. For his sake. Because he knew how important this was for Baekhyun, and cared about him enough to try to make him happy.

Baekhyun knew how he felt without needing to hear it from him. He didn't dare to say he loved him back, but, if he wasn't ready to tell him yet, Baekhyun would wait for him, the same way Chanyeol had all this time.

----

The night before the results were due to come through Baekhyun had a hard time sleeping.

He sat beside his mother that morning, the white envelope held tightly in her hand.

It seemed like forever before she opened it, eyes scanning over the page before welling up with tears.

Baekhyun couldn't breathe.

Pulling him into a tight hug, the woman cried on his shoulder as Baekhyun scrambled to take the paper and look for himself.

"You did it Baek! You did!"

He read the letter over and over again, having trouble believing his eyes.

Not only had he passed, he'd also made it to the top 100 of the city, which granted him an automatic scholarship to the best college in the area. He'd made it.

His mother was still crying when it hit him. The college was in a campus.

----

Kyungsoo was the first one to congratulate him after he ran next door to tell them. He patted his affectionately, nothing too over the top, but very Kyungsoo.

Chanyeol crushed him into a hug the second Kyungsoo was out of the way, peppering his face with kisses.

"I'm getting you ice-cream tomorrow! Oh, oh did you have breakfast? I'll make you breakfast right now!" Chanyeol was skipping around excitedly, making Kyungsoo chuckle before leaving the kitchen.

"Thanks Yeol," Baekhyun rubbed his neck. The expression on his face made Chanyeol stop in his place, frowning.

"You don't look as happy as you should, Baek."

He knew it'd sound childish. Not to mention terribly dependent. But the look in Chanyeol's eyes told him he was getting worried for real.

"It's in a campus, Yeol… The college. Pretty far from here…"

Chanyeol blinked several times, before he caught what the problem was.

"You… you're not seriously considering turning this opportunity down for me, right?"

"Well, it's not just you. It's Lulu and Yixing and Kyungsoo and Mr. PB. And my mom will be more alone than ever. But… mainly it's because of you."

Chanyeol smiled softly, taking his face in his hands before bringing their lips together, kissing him tenderly.

"It's an incredible opportunity, Baek. Don't ruin it by thinking about it."

Baekhyun felt his eyes well up with tears, the pain in his chest becoming almost tangible.

"But I don't want to go away! I… I love you, Yeol."

Chanyeol brought him in for a bone-crushing hug.

"We'll see each other as often as we can, nothing will be over. It's just for a couple of years, and then you'll come back. I'll kick Kyungsoo out and we can live here together," he chuckled.

Baekhyun was now full on crying, burying his face in Chanyeol's chest. His heart beat faster at the thought of living with Chanyeol, at getting to wake up with him every morning, and being happy forever.

"We… we'll still… see each other?" he hiccupped.

"Of course we will! Every time we get the chance!"

"And the police won't be looking for you?"

"Not any more, hopefully," Chanyeol laughed again, kissing him while rocking him from side to side.

----

Baekhyun took the scholarship. His mother was ecstatic with his decision, talking about it with anyone that was willing to hear.

Chanyeol was proud, too. He'd always smile the brightest when they talked about it.

It seemed like the only one that wasn't happy about it was Baekhyun. He'd never lived far from home, away from his mother and his friends and his dog. He wasn't the most friendly person, and the thought of being all alone somewhere unknown made it harder to breathe.

He had a boyfriend, now. He'd never believed in long distance relationships, thought it was those sorts of thing people told each other before things inevitably fell apart. But he didn't want that to happen to them, and he was willing to fight for their relationship, but he didn't know if he'd be able to make that happen. After all, it wasn't such a prestigious college for nothing. Classes were hard, and he'd be expected to do a lot of work, so he doubted he'd be able to travel home as much as he'd like.

He'd been away from Chanyeol in the past, and those few months had almost killed him. They weren't even together back then, and it'd be a million times worst, now that he knew what he was missing back home.

He didn't want to leave.

----

When May rolled around, Baekhyun realized he wasn't that excited about his birthday anymore. Turning eighteen meant he was one step closer to college, to leaving.

Chanyeol didn't fail to notice.

"Are you okay Baek? You don't seem to be feeling great lately," he asked, one evening over some geeky board game, tone worried.

Was he being that obvious?

"I think I'm coming down with the flu or something. Nothing to worry about."

Chanyeol placed his cards on the table, picking Baekhyun up from his chair and making him yelp.

"What are you doing?!"

He dumped him on the couch, proceeding to lay besides him.

"We are going to cuddle," he announced.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, resting his head on his chest when Chanyeol wrapped his arms around him.

"I'm gonna miss you," Chanyeol mumbled in his ear. Baekhyun swallowed, eyes itching, "I keep trying not to tell you because I feel I'm being selfish," he tightened his hold on him, "But I wish you could stay."

Baekhyun wanted to cry so badly.

"I wished I could stay too," he said, voice tight. Chanyeol laughed, the vibrations running through his chest and into Baekhyun.

"But you won't. Because you'll be going to a great college and be happy and do a lot of stuff to tell me about when we see each other."

"But what if you find someone else while I'm not around?"

Chanyeol laughed even harder this time.

"I'm sorry to break this to you, but I don't think that's possible. You're stuck with me."

----

Baekhyun put on his uniform, kissed his mother goodbye, and made his way to Chanyeol's.

Only that he never got there.

Halfway between their houses, someone covered his mouth. Trying to scream through the gag proved to be useless, and his two kidnappers picked him up, sitting him on the back of a car.

He'd seen that car before.

With an annoyed groan, or as much as a groan as he could manage with the scarf on his mouth, he glared as his two best friends got into the car, high-fiving as they broke into laugher.

Luhan and Yixing looked like the most stereotypical vacationers ever, windows rolled down as they sang Chinese songs at the top of their lungs, making out whenever they felt like it.

Baekhyun wanted to throw up.

If Baekhyun hadn't guessed their destination from their ridiculous outfits, he definitely did the moment they pulled up by the beach.

Which was obviously empty, given the fact that it was fucking nine am on a Tuesday.

Taking him out of the car, they untied Baekhyun's mouth.

"Happy almost birthday!"

He was going to kill them. Painfully. But he had to know the whole story first.

"Why…?"

"We'll help you do the most out of your last day before legal adulthood," Luhan explained as he took his hand, dragging him to the seaside.

Baekhyun was pissed. Not only had they made him skip class, but they were wasting some precious time with Chanyeol, and their breakfast together. He was trying to make the most of those these days.

"You're too absorbed in Chanyeol, you need to get out and live a little," he was shoved a set of clothes, and ordered to change.

----

The whole day was spent playing around in the water, sun tanning and eating the lunch Yixing'd brought with him.

It was good for him, actually. He didn't remember the last time he spent a whole day anxiety-free, not worrying about what may happen the following months.

There weren’t a lot of people around, which was understandable, but a small football team was playing not far from them, and Luhan was playing with them in practically no time.

"That's new," Baekhyun commented.

Luhan would've never approached strangers before.

Yixing smiled at him fondly.

"He's better, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?"

Luhan had always been very shy, even having trouble to get to talk to him when they first met.

"College. He has lots of friends now."

Baekhyun couldn't believe what he was hearing. Yixing laughed at him. "Apparently it was kind of our fault," he explained, "He'd never been forced to talk to anyone besides me or you," Luhan scored a goal, sending a kiss Yixing's way, "now that he's away he's been forced to socialize. He's better at it now."

Luhan laughed as his team congratulated, looking relaxed and proud of himself.

"Sometimes getting away of the ones you love is good for you. Makes you grow up and learn to live on your own."

He was begging to sound like Chanyeol.

"Aren't you afraid of being replaced?"

Yixing chucked, "Not really. There was a guy a couple of months ago. Luhan turned him down but he kept insisting. The next time I visited, I was forced to punch him to make him stop."

Baekhyun gasped, utterly horrified. What world was he in? Yixing hitting people and Luhan socializing?

"Luhan stopped me after the first blow. Said it wasn't worth it. He loved me, and there was no one else for him. And I got it. I'll never lose Luhan, no matter how much of a social butterfly he is. I love him and he loves me back. He's my… soulmate."

Baekhyun blinked, Forbes between laughing at the cheesiness and feeling that it was true for them, actually.

"If you don't trust Chanyeol maybe he isn't the right one."

"I didn't say anything about Chanyeol…"

"You didn't have to."

Baekhyun looked at him, noticing how Yixing also seemed better, more sure of himself. The separation had done them both good, made their love stronger.

"I trust Chanyeol. I don't trust everyone else."

Yixing chucked.

"Believe me, Baek. I don't think Chanyeol's ever leaving you. Who else would wait a whole year for sex?"

Baekhyun blushed, remembering how much he still hadn't told his friends.

----

He returned home that night with a newfound determination. It didn't mean he wasn't sad about leaving, but he understood it was for the better now.

Luhan returned him his phone, having been officially confiscated after he was kidnapped, before saying goodbye with the promise of ‘the bestest’ birthday present ever.

"Good luck," Yixing winked, and Baekhyun smiled back. He knew there was a reason he'd always liked Yixing.

He had over twenty missed calls and texts the moment he turned his phone back on, all of them from Chanyeol.

Kyungsoo answered the door when he knocked, telling him that Chanyeol had been out looking for him since he got from work.

Baekhyun couldn't help but to laugh. It was almost eleven o'clock, and knowing Chanyeol he must've been worried.

He texted him a home already, sorry for worrying you before getting into bed, exhausted but feeling better than he had in weeks.

----

"Baek!" Baekhyun stirred in his sleep.

"Hey, Baek!" It sounded real. "Baek, come on wake up!"

He opened his eyes, ready to confirm that it had actually been a dream, only to find Chanyeol's face right above his.

"Yeol? What are you doing?" he said groggily, considering turning on his side and going back to sleep.

"You shouldn't leave your window open! It's dangerous!" Chanyeol chided, kneeling on his bed.

Baekhyun turned to his window, finding it indeed open. He must've been too tired to notice. Although it was still dark outside, and he was exhausted.

Looking at the clock in his bedside table, he realized it was barely past midnight, and he'd slept less than an hour. Great.

"Why are you here?" he rubbed his eyes.

Chanyeol took his chin in his hand, pulling him closer and kissing him sweetly. Baekhyun kissed him back without hesitation, enjoying the way he seemed to be bolder than ever, running his tongue along his lips and deepening the kiss as soon as he opened his mouth.

Baekhyun was flushed by the time they separated. A kiss like that wasn't something Chanyeol usually did, and it had his heart pounding wildly.

"Happy birthday Baek," he panted, a huge smile in his tender lips.

Oh. His birthday had just started, and he hadn't even realized it.

"Thanks Yeol," he chucked, running his fingers through his swollen lips, "But you could've waited until tomorrow morning, you know."

Chanyeol gaped at him for a moment, before taking hold of his shoulders and looking straight into his eyes.

"Baek, I've been waiting for today to arrive for two months. Hell, for a year. I'm here to give you your birthday present, okay? It's kind of a big deal."

His exhausted brain took a minute to drag his eyes over Chanyeol, who was still wearing his work clothes, before comprehending what he was implying.

"Oh. Right."

Excitement ran through him, but he was just so tired. He wanted nothing more than to sleep for twelve hours and go to Chanyeol's afterwards, never mind that it was a school day.

But Chanyeol was right, and tonight was special. He wasn't about to turn down sex on his birthday for sleep after waiting for so long.

"Sure," he smiled.

Chanyeol smiled back, joining their lips again.

He could totally get used to Chanyeol kissing him like that all the time, so passionate and needed and without hesitation.

"Okay. Okay, let's go to your house," he said between kisses.

Chanyeol drew away, shaking his head apologetically.

"We'll… have to do it here."

"What? Why?"

"Kyungsoo is home."

"Well, my mother is here you perv!" he screamed-whispered.

"No, you don't get it. Kyungsoo is home with Sehun."

Oh. He got it now.

"Okay. It'll have to be here, I guess."

Chanyeol nodded, kissing him again. It would be nice, after all, to have his first legal sex on his bed. His mother being in the room across the hall, though, not nice at all.

"You'll just have to be as quiet as possible," Chanyeol grinned, guessing the meaning of his silence.

Idiot.

"Fine, whatever. Let's do this."

Chanyeol smirked, getting up to get the lubricant out of the nightstand and taking out a condom from his pocket.

"Why are you still buying the strawberry one?"

Baekhyun took the bottle away from him, a wicked smile on his lips.

"I guess I like the smell."

Chanyeol wrinkled his nose, "I swear I'll never be able to eat strawberries again."

Baekhyun laughed lightly before taking the condom.

"What is this for?"

"Protection!" Chanyeol exclaimed happily, looking remarkably like an announcer.

"But why? We didn't use anything last time."

Chanyeol pecked his lips, effectively silencing him.

"What other time, Baek? This is the first one, remember?"

"No it's not. I told you I didn't want to forget last time," he pouted.

"Then don't. Just think about this like the very first one. That can be the second one if you want."

Baekhyun rolled his eyes.

"I still don't get why we should use it…"

Taking the lube in one hand and the condom in the other, Chanyeol grinned.

"Safe sex is fun sex! Well prepared sex is nice sex! Consent is sexy! Don't you want it to be fun, nice and sexy Baek?"

"Feeling your piercing inside me would be the three."

Chanyeol's smile fell, a blush creeping up his face. Baekhyun couldn't help but laughing at the adorableness that was his boyfriend, bringing his face closer for a kiss.

"Alright mister safe sex. Let's do this."

Chanyeol kissed him again, pushing him until he was in his back. Chanyeol's tongue was running all over his, and Baekhyun couldn't hold back the smile that spread over his face. It was cut short the moment Chanyeol thrusted against his hip, making their clothes members brush. A moan threatened to rip through Baekhyun's lips, promptly silenced by the tongue in his mouth.

The elder kept pushing their hips closer together, faster every passing moment until Baekhyun broke the kiss, gasping for air.

Chanyeol ran his fingers along the hem of his sleeping shirt, pulling it up and spreading his hands on his chest. Baekhyun made a tiny noise when his fingers brushed against his nipple, which perked up instantly.

Smirking, Chanyeol leaned down, running his tongue flat over it while watching Baekhyun's reaction. Baekhyun snapped a hand on his own mouth, a weak attempt to be quiet as his other hand threaded in Chanyeol's hair, who was now nipping at the sensitive skin, until it was red and puffy. Deeming it acceptable, he moved onto the other one, giving it the same treatment until Baekhyun was squirming, asking him to hurry up and undress him already.

Chanyeol finished taking his shirt off with a grin, kissing him sweetly.

"Next time, I wanna hear you," he said between kissed, biting his lip until it was swollen, while unbuttoning his shirt. Baekhyun raised his hands to his tie, throwing it aside and helping him with his buttons without breaking the kiss.

Baekhyun tried to sit up when he was done with the buttons, running his hands along Chanyeol's chest before reaching his pants and undoing them, making the elder chuckle.

"Excited?"

Baekhyun glared at him, looking back down to finish pushing them down.

The piercing welcomed him when he managed to get Chanyeol's underwear out of the way.

"Hi honey. Long time no see."

They hadn't touched at all since his first time, Chanyeol's general anxiety not allowing him even close to his dick.

And Baekhyun had missed it quite a lot.

He began rubbing his member lightly, enjoying the way the piercing felt in his hand and spreading up, forcing Chanyeol to bite his lips to keep quiet. Served him right for mocking him.

Baekhyun leaned down until Chanyeol's member was right in front of his face, pecking the silver piece and making Chanyeol groan.

"I'm sorry that we won't be able to be together like last time," he pouted.

"Stop talking to it Baekhyun! It's creepy!" he whispered as loud as he could, trying to suppress his moans, "Creep kinky!"

Baekhyun laughed before kissing the tip again.

"I'm not the one with a piercing in the head of my penis, Chanyeol."

Chanyeol grunted, pushing his shoulders until his back hit the bed.

"Stop playing."

He pecked his lips before turning his attention to his neck, kissing the ticklish skin there.

"Don't leave marks," Baekhyun moaned, hands gripping Chanyeol's shoulders.

Chanyeol kept nibbling and licking his neck, his hand wandering to Baekhyun's pajama pants. He stopped, blinking before turning back to him.

"No underwear?"

"Underwear is for the weak," he chuckled, voice tight.

Chanyeol shock his head before taking his member and arranging it next to his in his palm.

Baekhyun moaned at the feeling of the ring rubbing against his head, Chanyeol rushing to silence him with a kiss as he began rubbing them off at a quick pace.

There was no way to silence Baekhyun's wanton moans, and they were getting so loud Chanyeol let their members go.

"Silence, Baekhyun!"

"Don't stop," he begged, biting his lip as he lifted his hips, trying to get some friction, "Please don't stop. I'll be quiet," he promised, clasping a hand over his lips.

Chanyeol laughed before kissing his hand, slowly picking up his pace again.

Baekhyun closed his eyes, focusing on the feeling of Chanyeol's member rubbing against his, feeling the hard jewel in his skin when he moved.

Chanyeol stopped, earning a muffled groan from Baekhyun, before getting up from the bed, getting rid of his shoes and removing his remaining clothes.

Baekhyun's breath picked up, turning almost frantic at the sight of his naked body, Chanyeol helping him remove his pants before sitting back on the bed.

Prying his legs open, he settled himself between them, opening the lube while smiling down at Baekhyun.

"Don't worry. I'll be careful."

"Don't treat me like a fucking virgin when you know very well I'm not!" he hissed.

Chanyeol shushed him, "Open your legs wider," he instructed as he coated his fingers, rubbing around Baekhyun's entrance before sinking in the first finger. Baekhyun rolled his head back, gripping his sheets in an attempt to control his shaking hands.

"You're taking it so well," he praised, pushing a second finger in.

Baekhyun was already hard enough to hurt, and would've punched Chanyeol for speaking nonsense in a moment like this.

"You're a fucking pervert Yeol," he groaned.

"No cursing," he tutted, taking his member in his hand and jerking him off as Baekhyun tried to drown his moans. He pushed a third finger in, letting his member go after a particularly hard rub.

"I bet you could come with just my fingers in, couldn't you?" he smirked, thrusting his fingers deeper into him.

Baekhyun was pretty sure he could. He'd already done it with his own fingers a couple of times, and they were nothing compared to Chanyeol's thicker ones. He groaned at the thought.

"I'd like to try some other time. But we'll go vanilla tonight," he kissed his thigh, trailing kisses up to his hip and biting there as he pulled his fingers out all the way.

"I guess you won't mind a mark there, right?" Baekhyun couldn't think straight, his whole body buzzing with pleasure and now that little bit of pain.

Opening the condom, he smiled down at Baekhyun.

"Remember, safe sex if fun sex!" He said as he rolled it down.

"Goodbye buddy," Baekhyun muttered at last, watching the reflection of the jewel disappear.

Chanyeol chuckled, running his hands up and down his legs.

"Don't worry. You'll feel it just fine."

"But not as much as before!"

"When before?" Baekhyun kicked his shin, "Ouch. Stop being so childish and open up!"

Baekhyun did so without protest, his need bigger than his annoyance. Placing the tip of his member against his entrance, Chanyeol reached for his hand.

"It'll be more romantic this way," he beamed.

Baekhyun groaned, lacing their fingers together. Chanyeol was cheesy, but it did make him feel safer, somehow.

Chanyeol leaned on top of him, slowly pushing in.

Baekhyun pressed his eyes closed, breathing deeply to ease the discomfort. It wasn't as bad as last time, but it had been too long since the last time for it to be pleasurable yet.

Chanyeol tightened the hold on his hand, pushing their mouths together. It was a soft kiss, light an reassuring, just to make him relax. Baekhyun smiled into the kiss, squeezing his hand back.

Chanyeol stilled when he bottomed out. But it didn't feel right for Baekhyun.

"Yeol… move," Chanyeol looked at him in concern, "Just do it already!"

The elder slowly picked up the pace, enough for Baekhyun to feel the drag of the piercing against his walls.

But the pain wasn't going away, and it wasn't enough.

"Wait… Yeol, wait."

Chanyeol looked up at him, stopping instantly.

"Does it hurt?"

Baekhyun shook his head. It did hurt, but that wasn't the problem. He felt like crying with frustration.

"I… I don't like this position."

Chanyeol's eyes widened, scanning through his body and making Baekhyun turn his eyes away.

"Do you… do you wanna ride me?"

He nodded shyly, making Chanyeol sigh before nodding.

Baekhyun whined when Chanyeol pulled out. The elder sat with his legs crossed, urging him closer.

"Come here."

Baekhyun was fast to crawl over to him, mewling when Chanyeol began kissing his shoulder.

Taking the elder's member, he wrapped his arm around Chanyeol's neck, slowly sinking down into him.

Chanyeol was keeping him up by the waist, grunting lowly as he got deeper into him.

Baekhyun groaned when he was finally full, letting out a breath.

"This. This is fucking incredible Yeol."

Chanyeol smiled before capturing his lips, a deep kiss making Baekhyun's knees weaken.

Baekhyun began moving, Chanyeol's arm guiding him and keeping him up as they kissed, Baekhyun groaning into his mouth.

His grip on Chanyeol's shoulder tightened, his other hand joining Chanyeol's at his hip until he could lace his fingers with the elder's.

"Romantic, remember?"

He was sinking down as fast as his legs allowed him, Chanyeol's shallow thrusts meeting him halfway.

His member hurt between their bodies, the friction they created teasing him further but not enough to push him over the edge.

His legs began cramping, feeling heavy and uncoordinated. It was hard to move like that, even harder to move as hard as he needed to.

Trying to push forward, telling his body he wasn't really tired, didn't work at all, the pain becoming too much.

"Yeol…" he panted, unable to move any longer.

"Baek why are you stopping?!" he hissed, sounding almost pissed off.

Baekhyun blushed, hiding his face in Chanyeol's shoulder.

"I'm so tired."

"Just a little bit longer, Baek," he kissed the top of his head, running a hand through his damp back and making him shudder.

"I can't move my legs at all Yeol."

Chanyeol grunted, manhandling him back to the position they'd begun with.

Chanyeol started moving again, but it just wasn't enough.

"Yeol! Wait. I don't like it, wait!"

Chanyeol stopped, slumping.

"I'm. So close, Baek."

"There has to be another position. I can't get off like this," he panted, completely exhausted.

Chanyeol got out of him, whining at the pain he was feeling in his groin.

"You're so paying for this next time," he frowned as he leaned on his side, turning Baekhyun until he was facing his back. He brought him closer by the waist, almost spooning him.

"I swear I'd never taken so long having a single orgasm," he grunted.

Baekhyun's breath still hadn't evened out, and it got only worse when Chanyeol guided his member inside of him, pushing in in one thrust.

Baekhyun whimpered at the intrusion, almost instantly relaxing against his chest.

Their movements were slower now, the new position not the most comfortable one, but it felt so mug better this way, Chanyeol drawing little circles into his hips, mouthing wetly at his shoulders.

Baekhyun searched for his hand, gripping it tightly and making him grin against his scapula.

Baekhyun had to bite his hand to keep from screaming when Chanyeol found his prostate. The elder's movements became harder, pants and grunts all either of them could hear.

Chanyeol freed his hand trapped between Baekhyun's body and the mattress, pushing until he was able to get a grip on Baekhyun's member.

He began jerking him off at the speed of his thrusts, Baekhyun coming into his hand only a few moments later.

The tightness inside his body was enough to push Chanyeol over the edge as well, finishing inside the condom.

----

They panted for minutes, unable to move even after coming out of their high.

Chanyeol was the first one I gather enough will to get out of the bed, throwing the condom in the bin by Baekhyun's desk and looking for some tissues.

He cleaned Baekhyun's chest and hand, the younger man still breathing unevenly with his eyes closed.

Chanyeol kneeled besides the bed, pushing a few strands of damp hair out of his forehead, and smiled.

"Happy birthday Baek."

Baekhyun opened his eyes, smiling brightly through the exhaustion.

Chanyeol took his hand, kissing his palm and then each finger, one by one.

"I love you."

Baekhyun's heart stopped, his breathing as well.

"Sorry for taking so long to say it. But you're eighteen now," he chuckled.

Baekhyun hid his face in his shoulder, swatting at him lightly.

"It was time. It took you too long."

Chanyeol laughed, kissing his forehead.

"I love you too," Baekhyun sighed, letting his eyes flutter closed again.

"I know."

-----

"You know I'd love to stay, but it's not possible."

"But why not! My mom won't even notice you're here!"

"Because it wouldn't be right, Baek," he kissed his pout, knowing he should get up but unwilling to do it, "We'll tell her soon. But until then, we can't risk her coming up to check on you and finding us like this in bed."

Baekhyun whined, gripping him closer. Chanyeol began peppering his face with kisses, watching his frown melt away.

"If you really have to go, do it now. I still have to get to school tomorrow," he said with a sigh, sitting up and pulling Chanyeol with him.

"Wait. You’re not planning to actually go, right?"

"I don't have a choice. I already missed today. Well, yesterday."

"You never told me what happened. It was worried about you," Chanyeol's hands were drawing patterns on his arms, which was pretty distracting.

"Oh, right. Lulu and Xing. They kidnapped me and drove to the beach. It was nice," he smiled at the memory.

"I'm glad you had fun," Chanyeol pecked his lips one more time before getting out of bed and looking for his clothes.

Baekhyun looked at him getting dressed, his sadness fading away with the knowledge this was just the second of many nights like this to come.

He approached the window when he was done, all the attempts he'd made at having him go out through the door having failed.

"Goodnight. I love you," Chanyeol kissed him one last time before stepping out of the window and stepping into the tree.

"See you in the morning," Baekhyun waved, watching him climb down the tree and almost having a heart attack when he missed his footing.

"I'm fine!" Chanyeol whispered from the ground, "God, I feel sixteen again!"

Baekhyun watched him go with a smile on his face, and knew everything was going to be all right.

He was going to go to one of the most prestigious colleges of the country, and if Chanyeol was the one he would be waiting for him when he returned home.

Besides, he was sort of excited to see where the future would take them.

After all, they had their whole lives ahead of them.