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Practically everyone viewed Chanyeol as a loud person. It wasn’t a bad thing, no, it was simply that he was easily excitable and his voice traveled. After filling out his college housing application, he was assigned an active dorm to pair with his equally active personally. Of course, he realized that many students would not be as polite as he typically was, and figured people would be obnoxious regardless of what time of day it was. He just wasn’t expecting an incident to happen less than a week into his first semester at school.
---
Four days into the term, Chanyeol wakes up to the sound of shouting across the hall. He glances at his alarm clock, trying to figure out how much time he had left before he had to officially wake up. The clock reads 2:00am, and Chanyeol sighs in relief. He still has six more hours of rest waiting for him. He closes his eyes, and snuggles back into bed against his plushies.
Chanyeol finds himself drifting off again, until the shouting picks up once more, following a door slamming loudly. He flinches at the sound, and runs to his door to try and get a better understanding of what’s going on. He leans into his door, trying to listen for anything, but gives up after another minute of silence. He cracks open his door slightly, and peeps his head out to see if anyone else was just as concerned as he was.
Chanyeol is surprised to find the hallway empty. Feeling anxious, he decides to walk around and use the bathroom to try and calm his nerves. When he reaches the end of the hall, he stops to find someone sitting in the common room sporting a sour face. Chanyeol clears his throat to get his attention.
“Um,” he starts, nervously picking at his nails, “are you okay? I heard some yelling and it had me worried.”
The boy sighs, ruffling his hair in annoyance. “Yeah, sorry about that. My roommate locked me out of the room and he won’t let me back in.”
Chanyeol blinks. “I’m sorry, what?”
The boy snorts. “My roommate is a total asshole. I don’t even know why we were paired together. I guess it’s because we’re both loud and obnoxious.”
“Everyone in this dorm is loud and obnoxious,” Chanyeol comments with a shrug. “You can still be energetic and not a dick.”
“I’m still sorry we woke you up,” the boy apologizes again. “I didn’t think we were that loud.”
Chanyeol laughs, and goes to sit down on the floor. He’s not too sure if the stranger would be comfortable if he sat next to him, so he opts for the next best option. “I’m more surprised no one else came out to find out what was going on.”
“Most of the people in this dorm are upperclassmen, so they don’t care. Plus, anyone that lives within three rooms of us knows we’re always arguing.”
“So what are you going to do then, uh... “
“Baekhyun.”
“So what will you do, Baekhyun?” Chanyeol asks, grateful Baekhyun understood what he was looking for.
“I dunno, sleep out here I guess?” He pats the couch, and Chanyeol wrinkles his nose at the site of all the stains it had. “I’ve done it before.”
“But we just moved in around a week ago!”
“We really don’t get along.”
Chanyeol studies Baekhyun’s face, suddenly aware of his dark circles and heavy eyelids. “Well, I’ll leave you to it I guess,” he backs off, going to walk towards to bathroom. “If you want an eyeshield or some blankets, I can get you some…?”
Baekhyun dismisses him with a wave of his hand, but smiles at the offer. “It’s alright. I’m already downright exhausted, so I could probably pass out again with little effort. Thanks for the offer...” He gestures towards Chanyeol, silently asking for his name in return.
“Chanyeol,” He holds his hand out for Baekhyun to shake. “I live in room #19 at the opposite end of the hallway, so if you ever need anything, you can come on by.”
“You’re a freshman too, right?” Baekhyun asks, and pauses to let Chanyeol nod. “I wouldn’t want to disturb you or your roommate, then.”
Chanyeol feels abnormally paranoid at the statement, but pushes the thought away and smiles as warmly as possible at Baekhyun. “Well, my room’s always open,” he chooses to end it at that, and makes a beeline for the bathroom without saying goodnight properly.
The first weekend on campus is more than eventful. Chanyeol had the displeasure of watching his entire hall get completely shit-faced on the lowest quality vodka, while he got familiar with the various walls around the dorm. He wasn’t expecting to become a wallflower, much less within the first official party, but his anxiety prevented him from going out and properly enjoying himself. Baekhyun seemed to the be the opposite; downing shot after shot and sitting in strangers laps like it was no big deal. Chanyeol wasn’t sure if he was envious or unnerved.
The noise in his dorm only continues to grow as students became more familiar with their neighbors. Not that Chanyeol has an issue with that, unless he is in the middle of working on a song and can’t even hear his own music. He considers complaining to one of the RAs, but something holds him back.
Baekhyun and his roommate are still fighting on a regular basis, and more often than not, it leads to Baekhyun being locked out. Since Chanyeol can usually hear whenever Baekhyun gets the boot, he often goes out into the common room and keeps Baekhyun company for as long as he needs it. They often study and order pizza to kill time, and it quickly becomes one of Chanyeol’s favorite pastimes. Baekhyun especially loves it when Chanyeol brings out his laptop so they can watch movies together. Chanyeol finds himself getting attached to Baekhyun, and Baekhyun seems to borderline enjoy getting kicked out just so they can talk to each other.
“You know,” Chanyeol turns to Baekhyun on the fifth day he gets kicked out, “you can always just come to my room when you get exiled. Even if I don’t answer, you’re free to come in anyway. I never lock my door.”
Baekhyun snorts. “Of course you don’t keep your door locked,” he says in between bites of pizza. “Also, I mentioned you this when we first met, but I still don’t wanna disturb your roommate.” He pauses to take a swig of water to wash the pizza down. “Wait, who are you rooming with anyway?”
Chanyeol clicks his tongue. “I… don’t have a roommate?” He inwardly curses at himself for phrasing his answer like a question.
“Lucky!” Baekhyun whines, not picking up on Chanyeol’s tense state. “How did you get the school to agree to that?”
“I really like being around people,” Chanyeol explains, like he’s being accused of being anti-social, “but I can get really hyperfocused on my work and I didn’t want anyone dealing with me, I guess.”
“You were able to get a single just from that?” Baekhyun eyes him up and down. “I didn’t know our school was so lenient.”
“No, no!” Chanyeol waves his hands in the air frantically. “It’s a bit more complicated than that. I was really worried I wouldn’t get along with my roommate, so worried that I would get sick every time I thought about it. I never had that happen to me before, since like I said, I love meeting new people. I went to talk to someone about it and they recommended that I just ask for a single, at least for the first semester. It’s because my newfound anxiety can get really bad at random times, and it’s very unpredictable. I didn’t want to burden anyone else, is all.”
“Well, you’re not a burden to me,” Baekhyun pats his shoulder. “I wish you could have a roommate right now, because I’d gladly take you over my current one.”
Chanyeol stifles a laugh. “Thanks, man. You could always stay at my place sometime. The singles in this dorm are pretty large, and my view is really nice.”
“So something like a little sleepover.”
“Oh, hell yes!” Chanyeol stands up quickly, accidentally knocking their blanket down on the floor. “We could totally do that. With like popcorn and bad rom-coms and everything.”
“Sure, sure,” Baekhyun laughs. “I didn’t think you would be this into the idea.”
“I’ve been stubley inviting you into my room since the first time I saw your sad ass sitting out here at 3:00am!”
“Wow, well that was straightforward.”
“I--” Chanyeol feels blush rise to his cheeks. “Hey! I didn’t mean it that way!”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s what they all say.” Baekhyun winks at him, showing he was just playing around. “I’ll hold you to that offer though, okay? Promise?”
Baekhyun holds out his hand with his pinky out, and they both swear on it.
Chanyeol so desperately wants to properly party on the second weekend, but his workload prevents him from doing so. Instead, he’s stuck listening to his dorm-mates’ shouts and cheers, and feeling the thumping of music coming from outside. On top of that, people keep obnoxiously banging on the doors, his included, and it’s driving him wild.
Around 3:00am, things start to relax, much to Chanyeol’s relief. There’s still people talking, but it’s been reduced from yells to chatter. The music seems to have dramatically gone down in volume as well, or maybe the party moved to another floor. Chanyeol feels bad that he’s been silently waiting for everyone to clear out for the past five hours, especially considering how much he originally wanted to join the fray, but his work is his priority. Under no circumstances, he tells himself, will he ever place something else over his assignments.
Or so he says.
When he hears a knock on his door, he feels part of him snap. “That’s it,” Chanyeol shouts to whoever is outside this time, “I can’t do this anymore! Would you guys please just--” He swings the door open to tell the person or people off, but stops himself when he realizes who is at his doorstep.
“I just wanted to go to bed,” Baekhyun says to him, looking off in the distance. He reeks of cheap alcohol. “I wanted to sleep so bad, and what does he do? He kicks me out again, because he thinks I’ll throw up all over his rug or some shit. As if he isn’t shitfaced himself.”
Chanyeol doesn’t know what to do, but he starts by gently taking Baekhyun’s hand and leading him into his room. He walks over to his mini-fridge, trying to find Baekhyun a drink that isn’t iced coffee or a heavily sweetened energy drink.
“Drink this,” Chanyeol instructs Baekhyun as he hands him a bottle of water. Baekhyun unscrews the cap with his teeth, and squeezes the plastic. The uncapped bottle sprays water all over his face and up his nostrils, and he begins to cough and whine.
“Oh, fuck, that hurts,” he groans, going to blow the water out of his nose with his hands. Chanyeol should be pissing himself at the sight of Baekhyun spilling water all over his favorite sheets and dribbling snot everywhere, but he just wants to take care of him.
“Here, let’s move the wet sheets away, okay?” Chanyeol takes the water bottle from Baekhyun and sets it on his nearby desk, then pushes the sheets out of the way. He pats his bed once more to signalize that Baekhyun can get on again, and re-hands him the water bottle, along with a tissue. “Go slower this time.”
Baekhyun nods, and throws his head back to chug as much water as he can. Chanyeol briefly wonders what he would look like downing two shots at once.
When he finishes, Baekhyun wipes the dribble off his chin and takes a wobbly look around the room.
“I’m a little turned off seeing the Skrillex and Zootopia poster right next to each other, but not bad,” Baekhyun nods up and down, like a bobble head.
“Then don’t look in that corner of my room,” Chanyeol flushes, but his voice is playful.
“Where should I look?” Baekhyun turns to face him.
Chanyeol exhales shakily. “Do you need a place to stay?” He asks, changing the topic.
Baekhyun hesitates, but nods after a bit. “I don’t wanna go back there. My roommate is a huge dick, but he’s also just… really scary and uncomfortable to be around. I don’t know what to do.”
“For starters, report your case,” Chanyeol tells him. “In the meantime, you can stay with me.”
Baekhyun’s eyes light up, but his expression drops moments later. “I can’t. You’re in a single for a reason.”
Chanyeol sits next to him, and the weight of the two of them on his small bed makes it creak slightly. “I know you, Baekhyun. I told you, I love being around others, it can just get complicated.”
Baekhyun shakes his head. “It’d feel weird…” he trails off, swaying slightly.
Chanyeol scratches the back of his head. “Weird as in you don’t wanna impose, or weird as in you don’t wanna be around me for too long?” He knows it’s a stupid thing to ask, but Baekhyun is drunk, and he wants to know the real answer.
“Weird because I feel annoying,” Baekhyun groans, leaning into Chanyeol’s shoulder slightly.
Chanyeol blinks, then bites his lip to prevent himself from smiling. “I never once thought you were annoying, even if you’re super loud and all your jokes are mildly to extremely offensive.”
Baekhyun lets out a breathy giggle. “Okay, I believe you.”
“Wow, that easily?”
Baekhyun shrugs, and Chanyeol feels his muscles shift against his own. “You don’t seem like the lying type.”
“I used to be, but I’m not now.”
“See? You’re an honest man.”
“Hmm,” Chanyeol hums. Baekhyun hums back, and rests his head against Chanyeol.
Baekhyun, Chanyeol observes, is a very loud drunk with a lot of stamina. However, he stays drunk for hours, and it takes ages for him to sober up properly. Even with Chanyeol practically spoon-feeding him water, he still is visibly intoxicated, swaying around and occasionally having small outbursts of laughter.
“When I first saw you,” Baekhyun starts, shifting his head into Chanyeol’s lap and facing upward so they make eye contact, “I thought you were a huge nerd. Really, really cute, but a huge nerd.”
“Gee, thanks,” Chanyeol says sarcastically, but he smiles down at Baekhyun. He hesitantly reaches out to touch Baekhyun’s hair, but when Baekhyun preens into the touch, Chanyeol cards his fingers through his hair and begins rubbing at his scalp.
“You had a really nice talking voice, but you were so quiet,” Baekhyun continues.
Chanyeol is taken aback. “Me? Quiet? Never heard that one before, and I’m not being sarcastic when I say that.”
Baekhyun shifts his head, and it accidentally rubs against Chanyeol’s crotch. He flushes and pushes Baekhyun’s head to the side slightly.
Baekhyun only laughs. “You seemed shy.”
“I was nervous!”
“Why?”
“I thought something bad happened to you, or that you’d be mad and not want to talk to me,” Chanyeol confesses. He hopes Baekhyun won’t remember how stupid he sounds right now.
“Something bad did happen to me, and I was mad and not in the mood to speak to anyone,” Baekhyun confirms, and Chanyeol feels his heart sink a little bit. He considers moving slightly to create a distance between the two of them, but stops when he sees Baekhyun smiling at him warmly.
“You were different though,” Baekhyun continues, nuzzling into Chanyeol’s stomach. Chanyeol bites his lips to prevent himself from giggling as he feels Baekhyun’s nose prod at the soft and sensitive skin. “You were cautious and careful around me, but in a sweet way, like you didn’t want me to hurt anymore. I dunno. It meant a lot to me. I don’t think most people would be able to be as kind as that to a stranger.”
Chanyeol feels his stomach turn.
“Really?” He asks, feeling the corners of his mouth turn upwards.
Baekhyun nods. “Really.”
They’re both silent for a moment, but neither of them seems to mind. Chanyeol lets his fingers wander around Baekhyun’s neck and hair as Baekhyun silently takes in the rest of his room.
“Who’s that in the photo you have framed by your desk?” Baekhyun eventually asks, turning to look up at him. “Is she your girlfriend?”
Chanyeol follows his gaze to the photo, and smiles warmly when he realizes what it is. “No, that’s my sister, Yoora.”
Baekhyun hums, and is quiet for a short moment, before he speaks up again. “Do you have a girlfriend?”
Chanyeol removes his fingers from Baekhyun’s hair to rub at his neck. “I used to. I broke up with her around two months ago, though.”
Baekhyun deflates in his arms, and Chanyeol isn’t sure why. “Why?” He asks, staring back at the photo.
“She thought I was cheating on her, just because I was bisexual,” Chanyeol says softly.
Baekhyun shoots up to glance at Chanyeol, slightly stumbling once his torso is fully off Chanyeol’s lap. “That’s disgusting,” he says, and Chanyeol can feel the anger in his voice. “I would’ve broken up with her first, honestly.”
“I hate having to let people down,” Chanyeol shrugs.
“Well, if it’s any consolation, anyone who has anything negative to say about you needs to answer to me from now on.” Baekhyun messily points at himself and beams. “Me, your other local biseuxal!”
“Ah, really?” Chanyeol’s eyes light up. Baekhyun nods.
“You know,” Baekhyun lowers his voice, “I really am sorry about your ex, but at least now I know I wasn’t eyeing a straight guy this whole time.”
Chanyeol sticks his pinky finger in his ear and rubs it around, like he misheard Baekhyun speak. “Not to sound excessively stupid, but do you mean me?”
Baekhyun giggles. “Yeah, I do. I don’t mean romantically though, so you don’t have to worry about that if you are. I just think kissing you would be a lot of fun.”
“Oh…” Chanyeol breathes, and his eyes flicker down to Baekhyun’s lips. Come to think of it, he’s always thought the other boy’s lips were nice. “Sure, what the hell.”
Baekhyun smiles goofily at him, then kicks his shoes off and readjusts himself so his entire body is on the bed. He drapes his hands over Chanyeol’s shoulders, and gently pushes his back until Chanyeol’s body makes contact with his pillows. Chanyeol stretches his legs out so Baekhyun can sit more comfortably, and Baekhyun chuckles under his breath. Chanyeol wrinkles his nose at the smell of alcohol, but his disgust is quickly forgotten when he feels Baekhyun’s lips on him for the first time.
Baekhyun kisses Chanyeol like they’ve done it a thousand times before. Chanyeol loves it, far more than he originally thought he would, but his lips struggle to keep up with Baekhyun’s. In return, Baekhyun tilts his head to the side and cups the back of Chanyeol’s neck, to both deepen and slow down the kiss.
“Better,” Baekhyun murmurs against Chanyeol’s lips, and he shivers. “Your lips are nice.”
“I still haven’t decided if I like yours on not yet,” Chanyeol teases. “Maybe you should keep kissing me so I can decide.”
“You think you’re funny,” Baekhyun rolls his eyes, but his hand roams to Chanyeol’s cheek and he leans back in.
They stay like that for a few minutes, or maybe a few hours. Chanyeol can’t tell if time is moving faster, or if the world around him is slowing. What he is certain of, however, is that he’s obsessed with the feeling.
“Do you wanna…y'know,” Baekhyun breaks the kiss and shifts backwards, gesturing towards Chanyeol’s boxers. He’s half hard, something he wasn’t even aware of until now. “We don’t have to though, if you don’t want to.”
Chanyeol bites his lip, and he reaches out to grip Baekhyun’s waist and shifts him closer. “Despite what my body wants, I just don’t think it would be a good idea,” Chanyeol hesitates, but Baekhyun is smiling at him in such a way that he doesn’t feel bad for rejecting the idea.
“That’s cool,” Baekhyun confirms, and flops down on Chanyeol’s chest. “Whatcha wanna do then?”
Chanyeol studies Baekhyun’s face, and realizes in that moment how light his room is becoming. He glances at his clock, and is shocked to find that it’s past 5:00am in the morning.
“Is sleeping together considered an activity?” Chanyeol asks.
To his surprise, Baekhyun looks elated. “You’re saying we can finally have the sleepover you wanted so badly?” Chanyeol leans his head back and groans in embarrassment. “Yeah, don’t think I forgot about that one. But I’ve been wanting to do it since the moment you suggested it.”
“Wow, really?”
Baekhyun nods. “Really.”
“Then let’s get you out of your party clothes, okay? You can borrow some of mine.”
Chanyeol sifts through his closet, searching for his smallest boxers and t-shirt, and tosses them to Baekhyun. The t-shirt covers most of the boxers, and Chanyeol is almost angry at how cute Baekhyun looks in his own sleepwear. Chanyeol crawls into bed and taps the small amount of open space next to him, inviting Baekhyun in.
“Big spoon or little spoon?” Baekhyun asks, catching Chanyeol slightly off guard. “Besides the fact that I really want to just spoon with you all night, there is no way we’re going to both fit in here if we sleep normally.”
Chanyeol pauses for a moment to think. “I know I’m like, twenty feet taller than you--”
“Hey!”
“--but I kind of want to be the little spoon.”
Baekhyun instantly clings to Chanyeol’s body, sending warmth down his spine. “Say no more,” he says as he wraps his arms around Chanyeol’s wide torso.
“This is really nice,” Chanyeol comments after a brief moment of silence. Baekhyun hums, the alcohol making it increasingly difficult for him to stay away in such a comfortable position.
“Tomorrow, I’m gonna talk to someone about my situation,” Baekhyun mumbles into Chanyeol’s back. “Figure out how I can move out. Or get my roommate kicked out, since I don’t wanna leave this dorm.”
“Aw, you don’t wanna leave me?” Even though he’s also slowly slipping out of consciousness, Chanyeol still has enough energy to pull Baekhyun’s leg.
“Yeah, actually,” Baekhyun replies, and squeezes Chanyeol’s arms. “Sorry if that’s too straightforward.”
“It’s not. I like hearing it.”
“Good.”
Chanyeol finds himself tuning into Baekhyun’s soft breathing patterns, and when he begins to snore softly, he bites his tongue to prevent himself from giggling at the sound.
“Goodnight, Baekhyun,” he whispers, and he closes his eyes.
That night, Chanyeol dreams of a melody for a new song. It’s a sweet, acoustic song, but has a quick tempo that one could easily tap their feet along to.
Chanyeol dreams of Baekhyun.