It all started as a joke, sort of.

Baekhyun had known Chanyeol for some time already. They had attended the same primary school, and although they were never put in the same class, they were aware of the existence of the other.

Then, they both went to the same high school and, this time, they were together in the same class. It was a big high school, with people coming from different schools around the area, so they immediately stuck together since they both felt that strange tinge of reassurement because they already knew each other. Or their face, at least.

But it felt familiar anyway, and thus, they leaned on each other. So, it had been a good ten years since they officially became friends, and now both of them were pretty sure they knew the other one well enough.

If they asked Chanyeol, he would say that Baekhyun hated cucumber, loved strawberries and whimpered like a puppy when he was asleep. Chanyeol would add that Baekhyun also scrunched his nose when he found something was particularly funny and that he had a habit of touching and biting his lips when he was absent-minded.

If they asked Baekhyun, he would say that Chanyeol hated mint, loved dogs and all kinds of animals, and slept with his mouth half-open most of the time. Chanyeol also clapped his hands and hit everything in his reach when he laughed and was extremely good at playing the guitar.

But he also had a tendency to panic. A lot.

Baekhyun first noticed that on their first exams before Christmas season on their first year of high school. Chanyeol panicked so hard he spilled his juice all over himself when the bell rang, announcing the first exam was about to start.

Since then, Baekhyun had seen Chanyeol panic quite a few times, and had developed a series of tricks to calm him down. Chocolate, bad jokes, even just holding his hand seemed to calm the taller guy. But there was one time we could not calm him down.

The day the results from their university entrance exams were going to be uploaded, Chanyeol was out of control. None of the previous tactics Baekhyun knew were of use, Chanyeol was simply too scared, too anxious. And then, a thought crossed his mind.

They had joked about the panic attacks for a long time, even Chanyeol, looking backwards, admitted that he was overreacting most of the time. But then, they went on imagining stupid things they could do to stop the taller from panicking. Very absurd things, like the one Baekhyun was thinking about at that moment.

They had joked about it, and even though it wasn't something he would ordinarily do, Baekhyun had not many more options at hand, and Chanyeol looked more and more like he was going to be sick. So he grabbed his best friend's face, looked directly and determinedly into his eyes, and closed the distance between them until their lips touched in a soft kiss.

That did the trick. Chanyeol stopped panicking since he was still processing that his best friend was kissing him and Baekhyun let him go after a few seconds. When he opened his eyes, he huffed and frowned at the tall one.

'At least now you're calmer,' he said, and refreshed the web page as if nothing had occurred.

They both entered the same university and Chanyeol didn't manage to get on panic mode again before finding it out, so everything was alright. He had controlled the situation with a stupid action, but all was well now and he could start to forget about it.

Oh, if only he had known.

---

'Baekhyun, I can't find my sock.'

Baekhyun grunted and shifted inside his bed. The phrase was merely a whisper, but his instinct told him to wake up to help the person speaking to him. It was terribly early and he didn't want to exist at that ungodly hour on a Saturday, but Chanyeol needed him so Baekhyun gave in and opened a single eye, peeking from behind the thick comforter.

'Which one?' He asked in a rather raspy voice.

'The black ones,' replied Chanyeol.

'Can't you wear other ones?'

'I want to look formal.'

'Chanyeol, it's an interview to work in a comic store, not a session in court.'

But Chanyeol was still there, looking at him with his black curly hair clumsily tidied up and a pout on his lips that Baekhyun shouldn't be thinking it was tempting to kiss.

'Okay, fine, let's look for it,' Baekhyun finally gave in and slid outside of his bed, to Chanyeol's delight, whose face immediately lit up.

'I thought I had washed it, but now I can't find it on the clean clothes,' Chanyeol talked animatedly while walking him to the laundry room hand by hand.

'Are you sure you put it inside the washing machine?' Baekhyun asked while suppressing a yawn.

'I think so, but I can't swear it.'

The quest for the sock lasted for an entire twenty minutes, until Baekhyun found it mixed with his own laundry. At least it was clean, as Chanyeol noted, but unfolded, as Baekhyun tended to leave his clean clothes anywhere for at least two days before deciding it was too much and putting them inside the wardrobe, well folded.

'Good luck with your interview,' Baekhyun said. 'Are you nervous?'

'A bit,' Baekhyun raised an eyebrow and Chanyeol sighed. 'Okay, a lot.'

'Do you want some extra luck?'

Chanyeol smiled sheepishly and nodded, and Baekhyun smiled for the first time in the whole morning as he tiptoed to kiss Chanyeol on the lips. It was warm, soft and comforting, like every time their lips touched.

'Don't be nervous, you'll be fine,' he whispered as he broke the kiss.

'Thank you, Baekhyun,' Chanyeol smiled, eyes twinkling prettily, and finally went away.

Baekhyun kept waving even when the door closed, and then ran to the window on the living room so he could wave Chanyeol goodbye when he exited the building. The smile the taller one gave him was enough to make him smile like an idiot as he shouted Chanyeol one last "You'll do fine!" without worrying about waking their neighbours up.

Once Chanyeol turned the corner and disappeared from view, Baekhyun checked his watch and groaned. It was indeed early, but since he was already awake, he could as well do something productive with his life.

Baekhyun was working at a music company, the same one that hired Chanyeol as a part-timer. The taller didn't have enough income, so he thought maybe working on weekends or part-timing at any other place could help him pay his rent. So Chanyeol worked as a composer when the company asked him to, and the rest of the time, he uploaded his rejected compositions in his YouTube channel, where he had a decent amount of views. In Baekhyun's opinion, Chanyeol was very talented, but maybe his taste of music was not that of stream media.

Baekhyun, on the other hand, worked as a background vocalist, singer for demos and, sometimes, even playing the piano when their usual pianist, Zhang Yixing, could not attend. His dream was to become a singer, but for now, he was quite happy doing what he did. So, even though he was mostly rotating between positions, he was always working on one or another project at the company, and had a steady income.

Still, since he was very stubborn, he refused to get his own flat and insisted on renting a shared flat with Chanyeol. First, because he knew Chanyeol would have problems getting a flat on his own; and second because he liked sharing a flat with his best friend. They barely fought, they had already been living with the other for long enough to know their best and their worst, and they had no problems sharing that one bathroom.

At least, that's what Baekhyun said to everyone when they asked him why he wasn't living by himself. The truth, however, was another one.

He was in love with Chanyeol. That was the embarrassing truth he didn't want to admit. He was embarrassed, not because of Chanyeol, who Baekhyun thought was very handsome and a gentle person, but of himself. What kind of idiot falls in love because of his own stupidity? Apparently, Baekhyun was the idiot and he wanted to punch himself in the face every single time.

The first time Baekhyun used a kiss as a countermeasure for Chanyeol's panic attacks, he didn't think his weapon would turn against him. But as time passed, and kissing the taller was the only thing that worked against Chanyeol losing control of himself, Baekhyun started to look forward to those moments where he could simply lock their lips together, no questions asked.

It even turned to a habit of theirs. Everytime Chanyeol was nervous, Baekhyun would kiss him as a reassurement. Lately, it had even started to develop as a way of cheering Chanyeol up, so Baekhyun would kiss him when he was down or worried. If Baekhyun thought, even just for a moment, that he was probably crossing an invisible line that was drawn between them, the thought quickly disappeared as Chanyeol always welcomed his lips with his own warm ones, never even slightly doubtful.

So, to sum up, Baekhyun was deep down in his own shameful pit and Chanyeol only helped him fall even more.

Baekhyun stifled a yawn and stretched before dragging his feet to the bathroom. Their flat was small, but still the small walk seemed to take too long for him. He washed himself and thought he could pop over the company to keep practising with the piano for a part he was scheduled to play the following week. So he dressed up, grabbed a chocolate bun and went downstairs.

When he entered the company building, he had gotten himself some coffee and the bun had disappeared, as he knew his department boss didn't like him eating cheap and fast food.

'Hey, Baekhyun!' a voice called out for him, making Baekhyun turn around.

'Oh, hi Kyungsoo,' he smiled to the man walking up to him.

Do Kyungsoo was a songwriter at the company but, unlike Chanyeol, he was a stable one. He and Baekhyun had become close the first time Baekhyun sang one of his demos. Since then, Baekhyun had helped him by singing all of his compositions and even making the background vocals for the final pieces. They were good friends, and even though Baekhyun had never spoken to him about his one-sided love, Kyungsoo didn't need him to say it. He said it was just too obvious seeing the way Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol.

'Is Chanyeol here?' he asked, looking around.

'No, he went for an interview at that new comic shop that opened last month.'

'So you came here to make it less obvious that you miss him?'

'Shut up,' he blushed, pushing his friend to hide his embarrassment. 'I'm here because I have to practise with the piano and I don't have one home, unlike others.'

'You know well enough that if you went to live alone, you could afford to buy a small one and to have space for it.'

Baekhyun huffed and just called the lift to avoid replying. They had had the same conversation no less than a million times, at least in Baekhyun's opinion, and he knew that Kyungsoo only wanted him to confess to Chanyeol so their relationship could evolve.

Baekhyun wasn't so sure about the evolution part. Yes, obviously him confessing would have consequences, but maybe not the ones he wanted to have. He wasn't sure Chanyeol would reciprocate his feelings. Yes, he was reciprocating his kisses, but he never kissed Baekhyun on his own, and never made any kind of move on him. So Baekhyun wasn't exactly eager to discover whether Chanyeol was into him or not.

The lift dinged softly when they arrived at the fifth floor, where Baekhyun exited to get to the piano room. Kyungsoo shouted something about French kissing that he pretended not to have listened to when the doors closed, and walked down the hallway.

The piano room was at the end of it, and it was welcomingly empty. Baekhyun liked that feeling of the almost soundproof room with the piano in the middle, the window opening to the street outside and a single extra chair waiting against the wall to be used. That day he was alone, so the chair would remain untouched, but he went close to the piano and touched the ivories while smiling.

Baekhyun spent some good three hours there, practising his segment over and over again, almost wanting his muscles to remember it by themselves. He was so immersed in it, that he didn't even realise that he had started singing the song aloud alongside the music. And that his improvised concert had attracted some fans, too.

'That was beautiful!' a man clapped and praised him when Baekhyun finished his song, which made him jump on his spot. He turned to look at the stranger and found a fine looking man in a gray tailor suit, with black hair perfectly combed and a smile adorning his handsome face.

'Shit, you scared me', he breathed, but he smiled anyway. 'Thank you.'

'I don't think we know each other?' the man extended his hand, to which Baekhyun stood up and shook it while bowing. The man bowed too, smiling. 'My name is Kim Junmyeon, and I'm one of the producers.'

'Byun Baekhyun,' he introduced himself. 'Are you Kim Junmyeon, the son of the CEO?' he asked cautiously.

'Yes, that would be me,' Junmyeon replied, laughing. 'I really loved your act there, Baekhyun.'

'Oh, well, it's not my act,' he quickly replied. 'I'll be playing the piano next week for a girlgroup album since Yixing has another commitment.'

'Are you singing too?' even though the question was innocently asked, Baekhyun blushed as if he was caught stealing.

'No, the lyrics just came, I guess,' he tried to explain. 'Sometimes I do sing background vocals and demos, but not this time.'

'So you sing background vocals and demos only?' Junmyeon asked, so Baekhyun simply nodded. 'Huh, that's interesting.'

Baekhyun wanted to ask what was so interesting, but he was mildly intimidated by the status of the man in front of him, so he said nothing and just waited.

'Baekhyun, could you please come see me next week after you're done with your piano thing?' Junmyeon asked in a soothing voice.

'Sure,' Baekhyun replied with a smile, while internally he was panicking, overthinking he was going to get fired for singing a stupid pop ballad aloud or something similar.

'My office is on the 16th floor, just tell my secretary you're there once you arrive.'

'Okay, sure,' he said, not knowing what else to add, but Junmyeon thought it was enough.

'See you next week then,' he turned to leave, but paused for a second. 'It's been a pleasure meeting you, Baekhyun.'

-----------

Chanyeol was already home when Baekhyun arrived, and he received him with a great hug, which already told Baekhyun he was in a good mood.

'I told you it was going to be okay,' he chuckled, hugging the giant back.

'Welcome home, Baekhyun,' Chanyeol said, as if he had not heard him. 'Did you have a good morning?'

'I have to say yes,' the shorter replied, omitting that strange encounter with Kim Junmyeon. He'd rather wait until he had talked to him to tell anything to Chanyeol, Baekhyun hated to make him worry. 'And you?'

'Mr. Kim said he's like me to join the team!'

'Mr. Kim? Jongdae told you to call him that?' Chanyeol nodded energetically. 'That brat is our age but he's so full of himself,' Baekhyun shook his head.

'I don't really care, and he's still my superior at the store, so...' Chanyeol shrugged and Baekhyun smiled. He liked that about the taller too, he never read too much into things and wasn't easily bothered.

Maybe that was why he accepted Baekhyun's kisses. Was it out of pity? Did he not care?

'Are you okay, Baekhyun? Did something happen at work?' the worry in Chanyeol's voice made him snap out of his thoughts and smile.

'No, no, I was only thinking about how Jongdae takes advantage of how nice you are,' and there it was, the cute blush spreading through Chanyeol's cheeks and ears. 'Let's eat lunch, okay?'

They spent the rest of the weekend basically lazing around, except for that moment on Saturday afternoon, where Chanyeol almost had to drag Baekhyun out of the house to go grocery shopping. It was mainly because he hated grocery shopping and that he had become some kind of hazard in the kitchen that Chanyeol had taken the burden on himself of keeping them well provided and fed. But still, Baekhyun felt a teensy tiny little bit bad about the fact that he was being groomed too much, so he went to buy with Chanyeol, even though he only pushed the cart grudgingly. After that, he was allowed to melt into one with the sofa and Chanyeol took care of him as he usually did.

Baekhyun allowed himself to forget about the meeting with Kim Junmyeon until Monday morning, when he entered the company building again. He wasn't going to meet him until later that week, on Wednesday to be precise, but he felt that the young man was everywhere in the company after meeting him. Only during Monday, he saw Junmyeon five times, three in the corridors, once at the cafeteria and the last one when he bumped into the other man in the men's restroom of the fifth floor. His level of stress increased with every encounter, and it didn't help that Kyungsoo looked at him strangely, like wanting him to spill the beans but not that sure that something was happening to ask.

On Tuesday, Chanyeol went with Baekhyun to the company because Kyungsoo had called him to help with the mixing of one of his songs, and he also noticed how jumpy Baekhyun was. So as soon as lunchtime came, the taller dragged him into an empty staff room.

'What is happening?' Chanyeol asked. 'Don't say nothing because I've known you for long enough to know that's not true.'

'I have a meeting with Kim Junmyeon tomorrow,' Baekhyun whispered, not meeting Chanyeol's eyes that widened with the confession.

'What?'

And then Baekhyun explained how he went to practise on the piano and how he started singing and how Junmyeon came to find him and asked him for a meeting. It felt a bit better to share everything with Chanyeol, although he was still feeling a bit uneasy.

'I don't think he'll fire you,' Chanyeol said. Baekhyun looked at him, not very convinced, and Chanyeol rolled his eyes. 'If he wanted to fire you, he could have done so right there in that piano room, there's no need to make you wait.'

'But they need me for the piano tomorrow,' Baekhyun argued.

'Do you think this company can't allow their employers to hire a professional pianist for just one day to help? Believe me, when they don't want you, they make it clear.'

Baekhyun could see for just a moment how hurt Chanyeol was that the company didn't like his compositions. And it was true, they were never subtle or kind towards Chanyeol when they didn't like what he submitted. Baekhyun bit his lower lip and put a comforting arm on top of one of Chanyeol's.

'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that.'

'Don't be silly, you have your own problems, and I understand that you were worried,' Chanyeol shook his hands and punched Baekhyun's shoulder lightly. 'I'm just sure that you will not be fired.'

'That's reassuring,' the shorter half-smiled and Chanyeol reciprocated with a big smile. 'Should we go have lunch now?'

'Yes please, I'm starving.'

They ate together with Kyungsoo and with a couple of background dancers, Sehun and Kai, who were good friends with Chanyeol because of their shared interest in anime and videogames. Baekhyun was able to relax after that, and even when they were back home, he was able to focus on the episode of The Mandalorian they put after dinner.

On Wednesday, though, he was very nervous and couldn't help but let it show as he was getting prepared to leave in the morning. Chanyeol was also up because it was his first day working full time at the comic shop, and he was eyeing Baekhyun as the shorter one fidgeted with the shoelaces of his nicer, appropriate-for-meetings shoes.

'Baekhyun,' Chanyeol called him out as he was going to leave. Baekhyun paused and turned around to see the taller approaching him. 'Good luck.'

Chanyeol embraced him in one of his warm hugs and Baekhyun clinged to his sweatshirt, trying to let the warmth and calmness get to him. Chanyeol broke the hug, and just as Baekhyun was going to put up the best smile he could, he felt something soft on his lips. His eyes were open, and he had to blink twice to understand that Chanyeol was kissing him. The kiss ended as suddenly and quickly as it had come, but Baekhyun could still feel his lips forming a small O from reciprocating it.

'A bit of extra luck, like you always do,' the taller whispered, with his ears a bright red.

'Thank you,' was everything Baekhyun could muster.

They smiled shyly at each other, Baekhyun unsure of what to do when being the recipient of a good luck kiss, so he just waved goodbye and left for the company. When he passed the mirror at the entrance of the building he saw how red his cheeks and ears were, and slapped himself a couple of times out of embarrassment.

Why the kiss? Did it have any hidden meaning? Or was Chanyeol so oblivious to his feelings? Baekhyun had made sure to hide his feelings for Chanyeol, but if someone like Kyungsoo could tell that the way he looked at his best friend was not how you looked at any friend, could really Chanyeol be that dense?

Baekhyun was so preoccupied with the kiss, that he barely thought about his meeting with Kim Junmyeon that was going to happen in a few hours. Even before the recording,his mind was somewhere else, and it wasn't until he was done playing the piano that it finally dawned on him that he was meeting with someone important in his company and that everything could go either way.

He went up the lift fiddling with the hem of his sweatshirt and his palms sweating. The soft ding startled him, but he stepped out decisively, walking up to the desk before the office doors. There was a good-looking woman who smiled at him the moment he approached her.

'Hello, are you here to see Mr. Kim?' she asked in a sweet and calming voice. Baekhyun nodded. 'Do you have an appointment?'

'It's okay, Yoohyeon, I invited him to come' Kim Junmyeon stepped out of his office, signalling the person who had been inside with him to go. Baekhyun recognised him as one of the usual composers of the company, and based on the look of his face, he was not happy with how the meeting had gone.

'I'll come back, Junmyeon,' the man said.

'I'll be waiting for that,' the smile on Junmyeon's face was impeccable, but it was immensely cold, 'but right now, I have a meeting with Baaekhyun. If you excuse us.'

He opened the door wide and invited Baekhyun in, who went inside after smiling faintly to the secretary, who reciprocated it. He could feel the stare of the man left outside of the room, but Junmyeon quickly closed the door and the feeling disappeared.

'I'm sorry you had to experience that,' Junmyeon sat on his chair behind the magnificent dark cedar desk while offering Baekhyun the seat in front of him. 'Something happened and I had to take care of him.'

'There's no problem,' Baekhyun assured. Junmyeon smiled, but this time, there was warmth in his smile.

'Okay, so let's get to business, shall we?'

...

'Baekhyun, you're home!'

Chanyeol's voice greeted him from the living room. It sounded happy, and Baekhyun thought he had had a good day, but he was still too numb to process it. Since he didn't reply, Chanyeol went to receive him at the front door, now looking a bit worried.

'Are you okay? Did the meeting go wrong?'

Baekhyun just looked up at him and suddenly went to hug him, burying his face on the taller's chest. Chanyeol wasn't expecting the hug, but once the shock passed, he hugged the shorter back. There was silence, and Baekhyun imagines the troubled look in Chanyeol's face, thinking that something had gone wrong during his meeting with Junmyeon, so he sighed and tried to sound as neutral as possible.

'The meeting was fine,' his voice sounded a bit muffled because his face was still buried in Chanyeol's chest. 'Junmyeon didn't want to fire me.'

'I guessed as much,' Chanyeol chuckled, but Baekhyun could feel his body loosen up a bit after he heard that Baekhyun's wasn't fired. 'Then what happened.'

Baekhyun finally looked up, not breaking the hug though, and found the dark but gleaming eyes of Chanyeol fixed on him. God, he wanted to kiss him so bad, but he could not do that.

'Junmyeon wants me to join the company,' he paused for a bit, and Chanyeol waited patiently for him to finish, 'as a singer.'

----------

A month had passed since the proposal, and Baekhyun's life had changed a lot. After giving it a bit of thought, he had agreed to Junmyeon's offer, which was to make him a solo singer. Mr Kim believed Baekhyun had the voice and the looks, and that all he needed was to practice and polish his existing traits.

Junmyeon had told him that, while he wanted him to dance and sing at the same time, he didn't want him to have a very demanding dance routine. This was because he wanted the public to focus on his strong vocals. Baekhyun had blushed to this compliment, but even if his singing was good, he had to practice a lot. He did a lot of vocal exercises, had private classes with a tutor and learnt how to control his breathing in a better way than he did before.

The good thing was that, since he had already been singing background vocals and some demos, he had already been taught some basic notions. But the amount of training he was undergoing left him exhausted, and when he arrived home, all he wanted was to become a human burrito and die until next morning. If it weren't for Chanyeol, who cooked and fed him, he probably would have been in a much worse state.

Chanyeol.

Baekhyun hadn't spent much time with him lately. He had been a great help and support, and he was genuinely happy for Baekhyun. He was the one who made sure Baekhyun was showered, fed and that he got as much sleep as possible. But Baekhyun could see he was hurting and it broke him.

Baekhyun knew Chanyeol worked hard, harder than a lot of people he knew, but he seldomly received compensation for all of that work. Chanyeol was very happy for Baekhyun, but it had also opened an old wound in his heart. Was his work so worthless? Was he not good enough for this industry?

He hadn't talked with Baekhyun about this, but the shorter one knew anyway. Both in the way Chanyeol sometimes looked at the sheets of lyrics Baekhyun had to memorise and that one time Baekhyun unintentionally caught him talking on the phone with Sehun. Baekhyun knew Chanyeol was happy for him, but he hated being part of the reasons he felt insecure.

'Why don't they like his compositions? He's very good.'

Baekhyun let out what he was thinking during lunch the next day. He was eating together with Kyungsoo, and the composer looked at him with his eyebrows raised.

'Don't look at me like that, you say so yourself,' Baekhyun huffed.

'Yes, but it's the first time I've seen you so fired up about this,' Kyungsoo replied before putting some more rice into his mouth. 'I've also told my boss that Chanyeol's songs have much more potential than they think, but they don't listen.'

Baekhyun puffed his cheeks and looked away. He knew all of this was true, it was not the first time Kyungsoo had reached out to one of his superiors to try and get Chanyeol selected for a in-house position at the company. But the department chief, a middle age man who was arrogant and full of himself, did not agree to almost any of Chanyeol's compositions. Kyungsoo had said that he felt the man was jealous of the recognition Chanyeol's songs got from the public, and that was why he refused to let him in.

In any case, they didn't have proof, and none of them had enough power to let Chanyeol in, so it was frustrating for both of them. So all Baekhyun could do was watch as his dreams became real, while Chanyeol's were still on hold.

At least he had the job at the shop now, Baekhyun thought. Jongdae was a cheerful person who didn't let Chanyeol feel down, and they had gotten quite close in the month the taller had been working there. Jongdae had even invited himself over a couple of times to spend an afternoon playing videogames with them and they had all spent a good time. So Baekhyun's mind was a bit more at ease thinking that Chanyeol had something else to do than to feel miserable alone in the house all day.

That day, Baekhyun had some free time since he finished the first recording of one of the B-sides of his album, so he rushed home, knowing Chanyeol also had gotten out of work. He really wanted to have some alone time with Chanyeol for a change, and the thought alone made him smile.

He was reaching the front door of the building when he spotted a familiar figure approaching him from the other side of the street. The way he walked and those adorably combed legs told Baekhyun it was indeed Chanyeol.

'Chanyeol!' he screamed, waving his hand. Chanyeol noticed him and smiled, waving back. He even sped up a little so he could catch up with him on the front door.

'Baekhyun, I thought you were coming back much later today,' Chanyeol said that with a smile on his face, which told Baekhyun that he was happy to see him early.

'I finished early,' he said. 'Do you want to do something together?'

Just looking at the way his smile widened and his eyes twinkled, Baekhyun knew he had made Chanyeol extremely happy, and that always made his heart flutter. Restraining himself from kissing the taller, he let him lead the way to their shared flat. They first just played some videogames as they usually did, just laughing and picking at each other about their abilities in this or that game.

But at some point during the afternoon, they started talking about music, and Chanyeol asked Baekhyun if he could give his honest opinion for the song he had just composed.

'I didn't know you had something new,' Baekhyun admitted, blushing in embarrassment. He had been too immersed in his own job, but Chanyeol just shrugged.

'I didn't want to bother you, I knew you were busy and tired,' the honesty could be sensed in his voice, and Baekhyun felt warm inside again, 'but since today you're free, I wanted to show you.'

'And I want you to show me,' Baekhyun laughed, following him to the bedroom, where Chanyeol had his acoustic guitar.

The taller took the instrument from behind the door, where he usually stored it inside its case, and walked to the bed. Baekhyun was already sitting there, full of excitement. Chanyeol positioned himself with the guitar and tuned it slightly. He looked a bit nervous, so Baekhyun put an arm around the taller's shoulders. The small gesture seemed to give Chanyeol some confidence, because he smiled, sighed and started playing.

'It's still not polished, though,' he added, but Baekhyun scrunched his nose funnily and shrugged, inviting him to play nevertheless.

The melody was soft but the lyrics were powerful and full of passion. They made Baekhyun's heart pound so hard he thought it was impossible that Chanyeol wasn't hearing it. At some point, Baekhyun just wished, hoped, that Chanyeol hadn't written those lyrics with anyone in mind. Not if it wasn't himself, Baekhyun thought, because otherwise it would be too painful.

'It's very pretty, Chanyeol,' Baekhyun praised once he finished listening to it. 'Could you let me try singing it?'

'Actually,' Chanyeol blushed and bit his lower lip slightly, 'I was wondering if it would be okay for you to record the demo? You don't have to if you're too busy,' he rapidly added, probably remembering how much work Baekhyun had to do, 'but...'

'But what?' asked the singer when Chanyeol stopped talking. The taller blushed and looked away, and Baekhyun's heart started beating fast.

'But I composed this thinking it would fit your voice.'

That was it. Baekhyun couldn't really take it any more. He softly touched Chanyeol's cheek and made him look his way again, and when their eyes locked, he smiled and gave in, locking their lips together.

The softness welcomed him, and Baekhyun sighed on the kiss, maybe even slightly moaning after so much time without tasting a kiss from Chanyeol. It tasted sweet, like it always did, and Baekhyun felt that familiar and comforting feeling he always got when kissing Chanyeol. He was about to pull away, when suddenly, Chanyeol put a hand on his nape and moved his lips, which sent Baekhyun overboard.

The guitar fell to the floor with a loud string of chords, but none of them paid attention to it. Baekhyun reciprocated the kiss moving his own lips, and swifted to cup Chanyeol's face while straddling him. Chanyeol wasn't slowing down nor did he seem like he was going to stop kissing Baekhyun, with one of his hands still in the shorter's nape and the other one resting against his hip, caressing it. Baekhyun's skin tingled under the warmth of the touch of Chanyeol's hand, and his head started to feel very light.

'Baekhyun...' Chanyeol breathed his name, breaking the contact by mere millimetres, but it was enough.

Baekhyun was suddenly scared. Because Chanyeol's eyes were fixed on his, but he could not read them, and he did not know what to do. Should he confess? Just let it pass as something fleeting, a spur of the moment? Chanyeol licked his lips, and panic ran through Baekhyun's spine.

'What's the name of the song?' the sudden question startled both of them. Chanyeol blinked, confused, but he answered nevertheless.

'Stay up.'

What?' Baekhyun was the one confused this time, leaving Chanyeol's lap thinking that maybe he was asking him to get up. Chanyeol couldn't help but chuckle.

'The name of the song is Stay up.'

'Oh, sorry,' Baekhyun laughed awkwardly and stretched. 'I'm going to the shower now, okay?'

He didn't really give Chanyeol an opportunity to reply or, really, even move, before he darted out of the room and into the bathroom.

He was running away, he knew that, but he was not ready to face a possible rejection. Maybe Chanyeol just enjoyed the kisses, and liked that weird friends-with-benefits-sort-of dynamic that they had. For Baekhyun, his feelings were too real and too intense to even remotely think about this. So he ran away, turned on the faucet and let the hot water wash away the memory of the moment they had shared.

----

Thankfully for Baekhyun, Chanyeol quickly got the message that he did not want to talk about what had happened in his bedroom, so they went back to how they were. In any case, Baekhyun was so busy that he was home almost never, so he didn't have to pretend he was busy to avoid the taller.

That was why, one night after dinner and two weeks after their kiss, Baekhyun jumped when Chanyeol called his name in a serious tone.

'Don't laugh, you scared me,' Baekhyun pouted while Chanyeol laughed his heart out because of the scare he had given the older.

'I'm sorry,' he apologised, still half laughing. 'I wanted to ask you when are you free to record my demo, if you're still up for it.'

Oh, that. Yeah, he had promised to record it, and he still wanted to. Baekhyun went to get his agenda to check his availability. He took the damned thing his manager had given him and started looking for an empty space. He didn't notice Chanyeol cripping up behind him and also checking his schedule.

'Wow, you're really busy,' the low voice was soothing in his ear, and Baekhyun had to restrain himself.

'Yeah,' he just shrugged, and kept moving pages back and forward. 'Do you want to record here in your studio or...?'

'Yes, I thought we could record here, why?'

'Because next Thursday I have a spot open right before lunch, but it would have to be in the company. I can ask Kyungsoo if he could do us this favour and tell you, if you don't mind,' he added the last bit rapidly, thinking Chanyeol may not be so eager to go there. But Baekhyun was wrong.

'Oh yeah, that would be awesome! The equipment there is much better, the sound should be clearer. Could you ask Kyungsoo?'

'Sure, I'll ask him tomorrow and tell you,' Baekhyun smiled and Chanyeol smiled back.

As promised, Baekhyun asked Kyungsoo the following day when they were on their lunch break.

'So, Kyungsoo-yah,' Baekhyun started casually, which made Kyungsoo raise his eyebrows. 'What? Why are you looking at me like that?'

'Because it feels like you're about to ask me something and I guess this is how it feels when you have children that are nice only when they want your money.'

'Are you saying I'm your son?'

'Forget it,' Kyungsoo rolled his eyes, knowing where Baekhyun was going with his teasing. 'What do you want?'

'Is your studio free next Thursday? Chanyeol wants me to record the demo for his song and I only have time before lunch on that day...'

'...And you need it to be here so you can eat like a normal person and make Chanyeol happy at the same time,' Kyungsoo ended his sentence and avoided the punch directed to his arm.

'Yes I want to help him without having to run around with a sandwich in my mouth, is it that terrible?'

'You're so whipped,' Kyungsoo laughed, adjusting his glasses. 'Okay, tell Chanyeol I'll lend him my studio.'

'Thank you!'

Baekhyun was so happy that he nearly hugged Kyungsoo, but when the composer took his chopsticks menacingly, he decided against that and just reached for his phone to text Chanyeol. Baekhyun was aware that Kyungsoo knew how important music was for Chanyeol, since both of them were composers, so even though he messed with him from time to time, if it helped the taller one, Baekhyun was more than pleased to endure it. Also, Kyungsoo didn't like to look like it, but he was a kind and generous person.

So on the following days leading up to that Thursday, Baekhyun asked Chanyeol for the partitures of the song so he could familiarise himself with both the lyrics and the rhythm so it would be easier for him to hit the right notes the way Chanyeol wanted them on Thursday.

Baekhyun was secretly glad to help Chanyeol with his project, not only because he loved him and wanted to see him succeed, but also because it felt like Chanyeol was not his usual bright self. He seemed to be feeling down, and Baekhyun was worried, but he didn't want to intrude in the taller's privacy like that. So he waited until Wednesday night, when they were both sprawled on the sofa, one on top of the other almost, to ask him.

'Hey, Yeol, are you feeling okay? You seemed a bit down these days,' Baekhyun said nonchalantly, pretending he wasn't nervous.

'Oh, that,' Baekhyun felt Chanyeol shift, uncomfortable, and he also straightened himself to look at him. 'I haven't been very good lately... I thought you hadn't noticed.' "I always notice" was what Baekhyun wanted to tell him, but he just smiled weakly before answering.

'I thought that maybe it would make you uncomfortable if I asked,' Baekhyun opted to say.

'You don't make me uncomfortable, Baekhyunnie.'

Chanyeol was staring at him intensely, making Baekhyun's heart beat so fast it seemed like it would escape his body. He reached for the taller's hand and squeezed it.

'Thank you,' he muttered, and Chanyeol smiled at him shyly.

'It's just the job at the store is okay but it's not what I wanted, and I feel like my dream is getting further and further away from me,' he sighed and Baekhyun couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty, because he knew Chanyeol felt like that partly because he could see Baekhyun achieving his dreams while he was just stuck. The other one seemed to notice, because he smiled at him. 'I'm better now, you know,' Chanyeol said. 'Just knowing I will go to a professional recording studio tomorrow to record my own song, it makes me happy.'

Baekhyun smiled back at him and Chanyeol seemed relieved. Why was it always Chanyeol who comforted him? He also wanted to be able to bring peace to him, as Chanyeol did to him.

'Let's get to bed, we have a big day tomorrow,' was everything Baekhyun could say.

The next morning Baekhyun took off first to comply with his packed schedule, but his eyes always went to check on the clock present in every room. His whole body was tingling with the thought that Chanyeol was coming and that he was going to sing his song.

'Baekhyun, focus,' his dance teacher called out to him for the nth time that day, rolling his eyes. 'I don't know where your head is today, but not were it should be, that is here practising this dance routine.'

'Sorry,' Baekhyun apologised to the teacher and to the back up dancers that were also working with him. 'Let's start again, please.'

Sehun and Kai, who were part of his dance crew, looked at him in a weird way, but Baekhyun ignored their stares and started dancing from the top again.

By the time the lesson was finished, he was exhausted, but he had managed to learn the whole choreography, it just needed some polishing. He went to take a quick shower and went out just in time to meet Chanyeol at the front gate.

'Just in time,' the taller mocked him, but Baekhyun just shrugged.

'Better than late, isn't it?'

They walked together to the lift, talking animatedly about the recording they were going to do, when suddenly, the doors of the lift opened, and a very angry Kim Junmyeon stormed out of it, screaming at his cellphone.

'I don't care about your excuses! We're on a deadline and you played dumb with me and with his company!'

The whole lobby went silent at once, no one daring to look directly to the future CEO. Well, no one except for Baekhyun and Chanyeol, who were both shocked to the ground and couldn't even move.

'You have one week,' the CEO muttered through gritted teeth 'to make things right. I have no fear in terminating contracts before their date.'

He hung up fiercely and finally looked around the hall, noticing Baekhyun and changing his gesture to a soft smile.

'Baekhyun! Nice to see you.'

'Hello Mr. Kim,' Baekhyun bowed slightly. 'Are you out for lunch?'

'Indeed I was, but something happened and now I feel like I might have lost my appetite,' he sighed. Suddenly, Junmyeon looked up, as if noticing Chanyeol for the first time, who jumped slightly. 'And you are...?'

'Park Chanyeol, sir,' Chanyeol bowed deeper than Baekhyun, but Kim Jumnyeon seemed to be thinking.

'Park Chanyeol... don't you work with us?'

'Sometimes, sir,' Chanyeol replied, stiffing back up. 'I'm a freelancer.'

'And you're not interested in being part of the personnel?' Chanyeol looked at Baekhyun, scared, but the shorter could only look equally confused to him.

'I... haven't been given the opportunity, sir,' he replied cautiously, not knowing how to say things in a better way. But Junmyeon just snapped his fingers.

'Didn't you write that song with Kyungsoo? The one about hugs and kisses.'

'You mean XOXO?'

'Yes, that one! It still is one of my favourites,' the man smiled and Baekhyun saw Chanyeol smile honestly in response.

'Thank you so much, sir,' the sincerity in his voice was shaking Baekhyun on the inside, so he patted him on the back a couple of times as a sign of recognition.

'I told you your songs are good,' Baekhyun said.

'Please send me whatever thing you compose recently, Baekhyun will give you my contact,' Junmyeon checked his watch. 'I have to go now, but it has been a pleasure meeting you both.'

He bowed slightly and left, leaving the two of them, and most of the lobby, who was also engaged in the conversation, in shock. Baekhyun's mind was also racing as they finally stepped inside the lift. He pressed the button to Kyungsoo's floor.

'Junmyeon is the son of the CEO, but he just recently got promoted,' Baekhyun explained to Chanyeol, who seemed to be still deep in thoughts. 'He is now in charge of the music department: composers, singers, new talents... He's changing things around and some of the older employees and board members are frustrated with him, so he's got a lot of pressure.'

'Do you think he was joking?' Chanyeol asked, his eyes still fixed on nothing in particular.

'About what?'

'About my music,' he replied. 'About sending him my songs.'

'No,' his answer was so sure that Chanyeol finally tore his eyes from the nothingness and looked at him. 'If he said that, he's definitely going to listen to your songs.'

Baekhyun avoided saying that they still might not be selected, because Junmyeon was very kind, but he was merciless when it came to business. He didn't want to make Chanyeol anxious or scare him. Whatever had to happen, he'd have time to experience it.

They arrived at the studio still deep in their own thoughts, but as soon as the door opened Kyungsoo received them with a loud hello! and took their minds off of other matters. Kyungsoo was great at understanding someone's mood, and even though he wasn't usually your typical energizer and cheerful friend, he was able to become as loud and bubbly as it was necessary. Kyungsoo spent some minutes playing around lifting the other's mood, until he finally let the laugh stop slowly and opened up his laptop.

'So, shall we record now?'

-------

Two hours later, Baekhyun waved goodbye to Chanyeol as the taller left for his job and he stayed in the room with Kyungsoo for a while, listening to the finished recording.

'The song is really good,' praised Kyungsoo. He has already told Chanyeol the same, but it still made Baekhyun smile proudly. 'I think it might be his best one yet,' Kyungsoo added, and Baekhyun gasped.

'Well, at least now you can't say it's me being whipped, you also see how talented Chanyeol is,' the singer mocked Kyungsoo, but before he could retaliate, he spoke again. 'Do you mind also giving me the finished recording?'

'Sure, but why don't you ask Chanyeol?' Kyungsoo asked while he picked up an unused USB he had lying around.

'Because he won't let me have it until he deems it perfect, and it can be months, even though he probably won't change much.'

'Huh, I can understand that,' Kyungsoo smirked.

'Of course you can,' Baekhyun took the USB from Kyungsoo's hands once the song was stored inside and stood up, stretching. 'I'll see you later, I have a singing lesson now.'

'Good luck,' his friend waved him goodbye as he left.

The singing training was his favourite. The songs for his first mini album had been decided already, so they were focusing on them, as well as on general techniques and breath control. His throat was a bit dry when he finished due to the previous singing that day, but he was overall happy, and so was his teacher.

'Remember to take care of your throat once you get home, we don't want to debut a voiceless singer,' she joked, and Baekhyun rolled his eyes.

'I know, I know,' he huffed and she laughed. 'See you tomorrow, teacher.'

'I'm not a primary school reacher, you know?' she mocked back, but Baekhyun just laughed and left.

He really wanted to get home to Chanyeol, to see how he felt about the song and to talk about what songs he wanted to present to Kim Junmyeon. Baekhyun didn't notice that he was almost running back home, until he had to stop abruptly at a red light and nearly fell to the pavement.

'Calm, Baekhyun, it's not even your song,' he murmured to himself, but the truth was that he also was excited.

'I'm home!' Baekhyun screamed when he entered the house.

'Welcome back!' was the loud reply from the living room.

Baekhyun almost threw himself on the couch on top of the taller, his legs resting on top of the taller's lap.

'How was your day?' he asked as always.

'The store was fine, someone came to ask us if we had any Deadpool masks, but we didn't so we ordered one for him,' Chanyeol just shrugged. 'The usual stuff.'

'Did you listen to the finished song? Do you like it? Are you going to change a lot of stuff?'

'What's with you and the questions today?' Chanyeol laughed. 'No, I quite like it as it is; I don't think I'll change much.'

Baekhyun smiled profusely and clapped excitedly.

'Maybe you can show it to Mr. Kim!'

That was it. Chanyeol's mood, which was also high before, dropped visibly and his smile lost most of its power.

'Ah, about that... I think he was just being nice,' he replied. 'Since I was with you and all.'

'No he wasn't! He didn't need to say those things if he didn't really mean them,' Baekhyun tried but Chanyeol shook his head.

'I'd rather not show him anything, I... I just don't feel confident with any of my songs right now.'

Baekhyun bit his lip. He knew why Chanyeol was so insecure, and why he was in a point where he needed to just make music for himself before facing another rejection. But Baekhyun also knew that at least Stay Up was extremely good, even Kyungsoo had said so himself, and he didn't throw around compliments that often, even less just to please the rest of the world. And then, Baekhyun thought about the USB resting inside the smallest pocket in his bag. Secured, and with the raw but not that raw really version they had recorded that day.

'So... you're not giving him any songs, right?' Baekhyun asked cautiously, putting an effort to sound neutral, and not like he was judging. Chanyeol nodded, not looking at him. 'Okay then,' Baekhyun put his hand lightly on Chanyeol's cheek and made their eyes connect. 'I won't force you.'

But as his lips softly grazed Chanyeol's, his mind was already thinking on how to show the song to Kim Junmyeon.

It wasn't an easy task.

Kim Junmyeon was far more important and busier that he usually let out, and it took Baekhyun almost a week to get to see him, right before going back home. His secretary, Yoohyeon, received him with a pitiful smile.

'Hello Baekhyun,' she said. 'He's quite stressed today, so please be nice.'

'Did something happen?' Baekhyun asked, worried.

'Just bad news,' she said, but after a pause she added. 'Really, really, bad news.'

'Then maybe I should go...?' Baekhyun asked, but Yoohyeon shook her head.

'He loves talking to you, I'm sure it will help!' she smiled.

Baekhyun nodded and knocked softly. He waited until Junmyeon's voice gave him permission to enter and closed the door behind him. He didn't want many witnesses, even though not many people there knew Chanyeol.

'Oh Baekhyun, it's very nice to see you,' Junmyeon said. He looked tired indeed, and Baekhyun could even see the bags under his eyes. 'What brings you here today?'

'Well, you see,' he said, sitting in front of the smooth desk, 'it's actually my friend. Park Chanyeol.'

'Oh, yes, yes,' Junmyeon nodded. 'I've been waiting for a song of his, but still no news.'

'I have a song here,' Baekhyun showed him the USB. 'Chanyeol is... very insecure due to the amount of times he's been rejected, but I want to trust in his talent, and I think this song is very good.'

Junmyeon took the small USB and looked at it and at Baekhyun.

'Are you sure?' he asked. The singer nodded.

Junmyeon opened the cap and plugged it into his computer. After a short while, the laptop popped up the options, and Junmyeon opened the folder containing the raw but not that raw song. The stopped the mouse right on top of the icon.

'He might feel betrayed by this,' he said, as if it was directed to no one, but Baekhyun knew.

'I know,' he swallowed, 'but I'm sure about this. I'm sure about him.'

Junmyeon nodded and clicked.

The room was then filled with the sound of music and Baekhyun's own voice for a bit over three minutes. Junmyeon had his eyes closed for the entirety of the song, as if trying to get as much information as possible: melody, rhythm, lyrics, tone. When it finished, the room was silent for a solid minute before any of the two even moved. Baekhyun was panicking, because he had bet everything he had, even his relationship with Chanyeol, on this song, and how good he thought it was.

'You know, Baekhyun,' when Junmyeon started speaking, it made him jump on the spot, 'today I got some very bad news.'

'Yes, Yoohyeon told me,' he said.

'One of my main composers decided to ditch us and take his songs with him, which has left us with many incomplete albums now, one of those being yours. Specifically, it was your main B-side, the one you were supposed to promote alongside the title' Baekhyun gasped, and his heart started beating fast. Were they going to cancel his debut for now? 'I didn't know what to do, since your debut is the most imminent event we have.'

Junmyeon disconnected the USB, took it in his hand and got up, and Baekhyun followed him with his eyes. He walked around the table, until he was in front of Baekhyun, leaning slightly against the table and with his arms crossed.

'And then, you came,' Junmyeon said. Baekhyun licked his lips, thinking about a way to apologise, but a smile started appearing on Junmyeon's face. 'With the solution to the problem.'

There was a small pause.

'What?' Baekhyun had to ask, because he had to be very very sure. If Chanyeol was going to hate him, at least he wanted him to get the truth.

'I love the song, I think with some arrangement it could fit perfectly into your album and you could promote it with your title.'

'Yes!!' Baekhyun screamed, jumping up. 'I mean yes, that's perfect!'

'Tell Chanyeol to come here so we can talk about the contract,' Junmyeon smiled.

'I will! Thank you!'

Junmyeon had to almost throw the USB back to Baekhyun because he had started running back to his locker. He needed to get home, and he needed it now.

The ride on the bus back was probably the longest in Baekhyun's life, and he hopped down as soon as the doors opened at his stop. He went up the stairs climbing them up in pairs, inputted the code in the door twice because the first time he was too nervous and got it wrong, and finally, he was home.

'Chanyeol!! CHANYEOL!!' he was too excited yo even wait for a reply, so he went to the small studio where he supposed Chanyeol would be, and surely, there he was.

'What happened? Why are you like this?' the composer was confused, but Baekhyun was glowing and didn't care about anything.

He threw himself over the taller, who was still seated, capturing his lips and kissing him deeply. It was not their usual kiss, not even like the heated one they had shared that one night that Baekhyun stopped it. This time, Baekhyun wasn't thinking if it was appropriate or not, he was just thinking about how much he loved Chanyeol, and how talented he was, and how happy he was for him. So he moved his lips hungrily over Chanyeol's, hugging his hips with his own thighs, too busy tasting his flavour and caressing his skin to actually reply.

Chanyeol didn't ask anything again, just kissed him back and moved his hands to rest on Baekhyun's waist. At a certain moment, Baekhyun opened his mouth slightly and Chanyeol took the opportunity to use his tongue for the first time during a kiss. Both moaned and Baekhyun felt lightheaded and a bit hot. He needed to break the kiss if the wanted to be able to explain everything to Chanyeol, so he mustered all his will and broke the kiss, looking directly at Chanyeol's eyes.

'Hi,' he said, to which Chanyeol smirked.

'Hi to you too,' was the smart reply. 'What's with you?'

'I'm happy,' Baekhyun answered, playing with some of Chanyeol's locks and not moving even once centimetre away from him.

'And why are you happy?' Chanyeol played along with his silly game and it made Baekhyun smile.

'I got some bad news today, but I also got some good ones, and those are very good.'

'What are the bad ones?'

'The composer of my main B side just left the company, taking all the songs with him, including mine,' Chanyeol's face instantly changed to worry, but Baekhyun kept talking. 'But they already found a better song to replace it, so there's no problem.'

'Really? And this person won't run away with your song again, right?'

'I don't know,' he shrugged, and then fixed his gaze on Chanyeol's black eyes. 'Would you run away with my song?' Chanyeol scoffed.

'I wouldn't ru--'

He stopped mid-sentence and looked at Baekhyun, who was still smiling. Baekhyun could almost see how he was making the right connections, as his already big eyes opened more and more.

'You... you don't... me?' Chanyeol looked at him, still in disbelief, and Baekhyun nodded vigorously.

'Yes! They want your song to be in my album, and I will be promoting it!'

'Oh my god, Baekhyun!' Chanyeol hugged him tightly and Baekhyun laughed, hugging him back. But Chanyeol had much more to ask, so he broke the hug soon. 'But what song did they choose? If it's very old, I'll probably have to polish it a lot, I haven't sent a song for six or seven months, I think...'

'Actually,' Baekhyun interrupted, 'the song they chose...' and he paused. Because he knew what his words were going to imply. 'They chose Stay Up.'

'What?'

Chanyeol wasn't smiling anymore. He hushed Baekhyun off his lap and got up.

'How did they know that song exists?'

'I got a copy from Kyungsoo too, and...'

'Baekhyun! I said I didn't want to show them any new songs!'

'But I knew Junmyeon would love it, and you wouldn't go yourself!'

This was it. Baekhyun knew what was going to happen, but he decided to accept the consequences of his acts. He now needed to apologise, but Chanyeol was fuming, his hands making a mess of his hair from passing them through the dark locks, and didn't seem like a simple sorry would make things better.

'You said you were not going to pressure me because you were going to show it yourself even if I said no,' Chanyeol seemed to not know what to do, he looked around the room, trying to find an answer, or anything, that wasn't Baekhyun.

'I thought I could...'

'No, Baekhyun, you never think!' Chanyeol exploded finally, and this time, he was looking at Baekhyun. 'You only act and expect the rest of us to adapt to your ways! That's the way you've lived until now,' he let out a half laugh. 'You've just showed them my song like it was nothing, the same way you've been kis--'

Suddenly, Chanyeol shut up, but Baekhyun knew what he was going to say. And it made him angry.

'Like I've been what exactly, Chanyeol? Come on, say it.' Chanyeol looked at him defiantly before speaking.

'Like you've been kissing me.'

'If you didn't like it, you could have said so!' this time, it was Baekhyun's turn to scream, because it seemed like only with screaming he was able to mask the feeling of his heart breaking. Because Chanyeol didn't like him that way.

'How could I? Did I ever have a say on this?'

'Of course, you idiot, I did it for you! You were the one who even suggested it in the first place!'

'It was a joke! How in the hell could I have been serious? I don't like being tortured that much, thank you!'

Baekhyun had started to tear up. Each word hurt him even more than the previous one, and the pain was starting to feel even physical.

'I'm sorry it was so terrible to be kissed by a boy! Your disgusting best friend! You could have fucking said something earlier, you stupid--!'

'What? You think this is because you're a guy?' Chanyeol laughed and shook his head. 'I can't believe you call yourself my best friend when you're not even able to see how much I'm in love with you.'

Silence.

'... P-pardon?'

Baekhyun wasn't able to say anything else between his runny nose from crying, and the same way he had asked Junmyeon again back in the office, he really, really wanted to make sure that he was not jumping to conclusions.

'I've been in love with you for years now, Baekhyun, but you never noticed, and kept kissing me at your will,' Chanyeol sighed, all his energy from before had left him. 'Even if it was meant to help, it hurt a lot to be kissed by the person you like and not being corresponded.' He looked at Baekhyun, who was still just standing there, shocked. 'And when I tried kissing you, you kept your distance. But I keep falling and falling because I love you and when you kiss me, I can't just say no.'

'I love you,' Baekhyun muttered. But Chanyeol didn't understand.

'Yes, that's what I said,' he sighed again, looking defeated.

'No, no,' finally Baekhyun moved two steps forward, his face still wet from tears, but his eyes were sparkling and fixed on Chanyeol's when he held the taller's T-shirt in his fists. 'I love you, Chanyeol. I always thought you just didn't mind the kisses and that thought I was weird and--'

Chanyeol's lips made him shut up and Baekhyun freed the T-shirt to circle the taller's neck. They kissed tenderly, as if trying to say everything they had not shared for so much time. The longing, the secret love they had shared unknowingly, all the times every one of those kisses meant I love you but they were too scared to say it out loud. They separated slowly, not sure if it was okay to stop.

'Sorry for making you feel so bad,' Baekhyun whispered, but Chanyeol caressed his cheek.

'Sorry for not telling you earlier,' Baekhyun kissed him lightly again.

'I love you, Chanyeol, I have for a long time,' the taller smiled and rubbed their noses together in a loving gesture.

'Let's get out of here,' Chanyeol said, taking the singer's hands and leading them to his bedroom, leaving the already stuffed studio behind. Chanyeol opened the window and Baekhyun thanked the light breeze that came through it. He felt his face and his whole body as if they were on fire, after all the emotions they had let out.

'Chanyeol,' he called out, and Chanyeol went back to sit next to him on the bed. 'I'm sorry to have shown Junmyeon your song without your permission, it was wrong,' he paused and breathed. 'But I really think you deserve this, and I would like to go meet Junmyeon on your own, and decide if this is the best for you. He wants to hire you.'

'Hire? He doesn't want just that one song?'

Baekhyun shook his head. 'I know it's scary, but I'll support you whatever you choose. Even if you reject Junmyeon's offer.'

'Thank you,' Chanyeol smiled softly and hugged him. Baekhyun sighed and simply enjoyed being surrounded by Chanyeol's warmth. 'Baekhyun,' called him the taller one.

'Hmm?'

'Are you allowed to date?'

-----------

Six months later, Baekhyun couldn't believe he had done it.

He had debuted with a song called UN Village and the public just loved it. They also loved Chanyeol's song, which was a popular favourite amongst his fanclub. Music shows, variety shows, fansigns, Baekhyun could barely believe he had survived through all that. But he was able to survive his new job thanks to his also new boyfriend.

The day Chanyeol had asked him if he was allowed to date, Baekhyun had opened his eyes and looked at him. He didn't remember anything of the sort on his contract, which was weird, since most idols were forbidden to date at least for a while. He had to go check his contract to, in fact, check he was not forbidden to date.

When, a couple of days later, he accompanied Chanyeol to the door for his meeting with Junmyeon, he has asked his boss about this particularity.

'Oh, well, I assumed you already had a boyfriend, from what I could gather from talking to you and Kyungsoo, so it seemed a bit pointless' he smiled to the both of them, clearly enjoying their embarrassment, before turning to Chanyeol. 'Just make sure to not be very obvious in public and not to fuck with him too hard before a recording of any kind, or he'll be sore the next day.'

'Boss!' it was Yoohyeon who called him out, but Junmyeon didn't seem to care, and invited a very red Chanyeol inside.

Chanyeol had obviously, as Baekhyun predicted, been hired, and he was working on many different songs that were going to be part of Baekhyun's next album. Jongdae had sincerely congratulated him and assured him that he could manage until he found someone new. Still, Chanyeol helped as much as he could until he hired a new guy, another tall dude some six years younger than them that called Jongdae senpai. Chanyeol just rolled his eyes and advised Yunho to not let Jongdae trick him into working after hours, since he was already a student.

But at that moment, both Baekhyun and Chanyeol were home, enjoying their first free weekend in months. Just laying in bed, one next to the other, with soft music as ambience.

'Baekhyun,' Chanyeol called out, and he turned his head to look at him, 'I love you.'

Baekhyun laughed and shifted closer to kiss him lightly. First one, then another, and before they could notice, they were still lying, but facing each other, kissing. Baekhyun broke the kiss with a small pant, and looked his boyfriend in the eyes. God, it felt good to call him that, even if it was only in his mind.

'You know,' he said, his hand roaming over Chanyeol's skin, 'I've already finished all my schedules and I'm on vacation.'

'Hmm,' Chanyeol hummed in agreement. 'So?'

'So,' Baekhyun shifted them swiftly, making Chanyeol land on his back while he ended on top of him, his legs open and their groins dangerously close, 'I thought that now that I can strain my voice, we could fuck as much as we want.'

A shiver of anticipation run through his whole body under Chanyeol's gaze after the last word.

'You sure?'

'I want you to make me lose my voice, Chanyeol,' he whispered in his ear. Chanyeol complied with his wish, loving him in every corner of their house, sharing their breaths as if they were one.

And when they came together, with their intertwined fingers locked, their sweaty bodies connected as one and the name of the other on their lips, Baekhyun felt that that was everything he had ever wanted from him.

And more.

--END--