Archive of Our Own ^beta

“Did anyone see you coming in?” Baekhyun asks upon opening the door, grabbing Sehun by the arm and making him come into the apartment.

Sehun looks at him with both eyebrows raised. “Well, yes,” he says. He runs into some of their neighbors more times than not on his way from his apartment to Baekhyun’s, a floor below. “I ran into Mrs. Chae on the stairs, she asked me to tell you you don’t need to return that tea she gave you last week? She said it’s good for your skin or something. Also, Chanyeol said he was working now but that he’s coming by later,” he finishes while taking off his shoes and going further into the place.  

“You are like, the worst secret boyfriend ever, everyone knows you are here!”

Sehun looks back at Baekhyun and finds him pouting childishly. It’s quite funny, sometimes, how worried he gets about the whole secret part of their relationship. As if anyone would get suspicious at Sehun spending so much time at Baekhyun’s when he was practically always there even before they started dating.

“What better than hiding in plain sight or whatever they say,” Sehun shrugs and lets himself fall on the couch.

Baekhyun deepens his pout and goes to sit next to him. A second later, Sehun has a handful of Baekhyun curling up around him and hiding his face on his neck.

“I missed you, Sehunnie,” he says, nuzzling under Sehun’s chin with his nose.

“We were together just yesterday,” he replies with a small smile, pulling Baekhyun closer and kissing his temple. “And anyway, why would you if I’m apparently the worst boyfriend.”

Baekhyun straightens up, now kneeling next to Sehun. “Okay, first of all, we were together with the rest of our friends so it doesn’t count. I got to kiss you only twice, which is unacceptable if you ask me,” he pouts again and Sehun has to bite his lips into a flat line to keep himself from kissing Baekhyun before he finishes talking and to annoy him for a bit longer. “Second of all, you are- not so bad of a boyfriend. Maybe.”

“Not so bad, maybe,” Sehun repeats and Baekhyun smiles innocently at him.

Sehun tries to keep his serious expression and act offended, but Baekhyun keeps smiling all coyly and Sehun can feel his own smile threatening to break through, so he decides to put an end to this silly situation and just kiss his silly boyfriend already. He leans forward and catches Baekhyun’s lips with his, slotting them together and pressing a bit before leaning back.

Baekhyun is still smiling, but softer now, and Sehun can see the fondness in his eyes. It makes him feel all warm inside. He’s not a hundred percent used to feeling like this , yet, kind of hopes he never gets there.

“Okay, I can be persuaded of promoting you to great boyfriend,” Baekhyun says, climbing onto Sehun’s lap.

He throws his arms around Sehun’s neck and brings him closer with his hands on the back of his head, angling him up so they can kiss more comfortably. They start kissing softly, almost lazily, until Baekhyun decides to deepen the kiss, biting Sehun’s lower lip, slipping his tongue into Sehun’s mouth.

“You really did miss me,” Sehun chuckles, breaking apart to breathe for a moment.

Baekhyun’s reply is another kiss, a bit more heated this time. Sehun is starting to feel warm all over, Baekhyun leaving his mouth to pay attention to his neck is definitely making it worse. Baekhyun bites the place where his neck meets his shoulder and a soft whine leaves Sehun’s lips at the same time the front door opens.

Before Sehun knows what’s going on, Baekhyun is on the floor rubbing his elbow and Jongdae’s watching them from the entrance to the living room.

“What are you doing on the floor?” he asks, tilting his head to the side.

“What are you doing here , you don’t live here anymore, don’t you know how to fucking knock?” Baekhyun says, getting off the floor and flopping himself at the other end of the couch, a grumpy frown on his face.

“Please, I don’t need to knock at your place. Besides, you’re just here with Sehun, what difference does it make?” Jongdae shrugs and goes to sit between them on the couch. “So what were you doing on the floor?”

“I kicked him off the couch because he kept bothering me,” Sehun says quickly, finally snapping out of his initial shock. He runs a hand through his hair as casually as he can, hoping the unruly mess that is his hair usually covers the mess Baekhyun made by tugging at it while making out before.

“Poor Hunnie,” Jongdae coos, patting his knee comfortingly.

“Poor Hunnie!?” Baekhyun repeats, offended. “I was the one on the floor!”

As Baekhyun and Jongdae fall into their usual bickering, getting increasingly louder with every back and forth, Sehun settles more comfortably on the couch and lets out a relieved sigh because they were interrupted (not for the first time) but at least their secret it’s still safe.

←←←

He can’t believe it’s happening again. He was hoping maybe it would but he honestly thought it’d been a one time thing. Well, two times.

God, it’s the third time he’s kissing Sehun . Cute, adorable, hot as hell Sehun. Very soft and pliant under Baekhyun’s mouth Sehun.

Sehun, one of his best friends, for whom he has had feelings for for the longest time. This boy with messy hair and a heart too big and the cutest eye smile he has ever seen in his life.

Sehun, who pulls Baekhyun out of his inner turmoil by biting his lower lip, tugging a little and letting him go completely.

The panic that is starting to crawl up Baekhyun’s stomach must be very visible on his face, because Sehun takes his hand, squeezes and says softly but firmly, “Hyung, we need to talk about this.”

So they talk. About liking each other so much, for so long, not being able to stop thinking about each other since that first time they kissed, almost by accident. About wanting to give this, them, a chance.

“I’m kinda scared, though,” Sehun says, still softly, still holding Baekhyun’s hand. “After Tao left, you know…”

“Hey, no, look at me,” Baekhyun interrupts, tugging on their hands to get Sehun do as told. “I’m not going anywhere. Doesn’t matter what happens, I’m not leaving.”

“I know, but-- But the rest, you know,” he says, looking around as if their friends were there.

Baekhyun understands where Sehun is coming from. After he and Tao broke up and Tao went back to China, the whole group dynamics were messed up. Everyone suffered a lot, but of course it was worst for Sehun. It took them months to convince him they were not settling for him because they didn’t have Tao anymore, that it wasn’t his fault, that he wasn’t a burden or a bother to anyone. Baekhyun’s heart twists painfully just remembering those times.  

“Well, I’m a bit scared too,” Baekhyun admits. “I don’t have a great record with relationships and… honestly? I’m still a little mad at Dae after my last break-up and the moving out and shit,” he huffs.

Jongdae has said he was sorry about keeping he was moving in with Minseok from Baekhyun, and he has forgiven him, but there are still some grudges he can’t let go. The worst part of that whole situation at the time had been feeling like he was fucking up everyone else’s lives besides his own. The worst part now is that all these stupid things they apparently can’t quite leave behind are getting in the way of the possibility of him and Sehun.

Baekhyun looks at the other boy, at their joined hands between them. He knows he wants this, and he’s never been good at denying things to himself (even if he’s been denying Sehun for years). There’s the start of an idea, the determination to not let anyone take this away from him.

“What if,” he starts saying after the silence stretches for too long and the idea in his head takes full form. He bites his lips, tugs the lower one between his fingers. “What if we give this a shot but don’t tell anyone about it?”

→→→

Baekhyun looks at the clock again. Sehun and the others should be here already, and it’s not like he doesn’t like having Jongdae and Minseok all for himself, but he’s getting bored. There’s just so much attention their friends can pay him (or the rest of the world, for that matters) when they are together. They are disgusting, honestly. Cute and adorable and probably the definition of true love, but disgusting nonetheless.

There’s this other problem, too, on top of being bored and ignored. Seeing his friends being all lovey and domestic and casually touching like they are so used to being with each other, well, it makes him miss Sehun a bit. It’s been two days since they saw each other (fuck work and responsibilities) but he can’t help it because, if he’s being honest, he’s disgusting too. And he likes Sehun too much.

Also, he’s hungry.

“So what are we eating?” he asks, nudging Minseok’s thigh with his bare toes.

“Pizza,” Minseok replies, grabbing him by the ankle to stop him from attacking him any further.

“Again?” Baekhyun whines, loudly. “When is Kyungsoo coming back? I miss him, I miss his cooking. Why can’t any of us cook something that isn’t ramen?”

A bunch of good-for-nothing, him and his friends.

Jongdae comes back from the kitchen, three bottles of beer with him, and plops himself down on the couch next to Minseok, leaning slightly on his shoulder. Disgusting.

“Chanyeol can cook, he’s just too lazy,” he says, giving one bottle to each of them. “Hey, Baek, why don’t you pay cooking classes for Sehun or something?”

“Why would I do that?” Baekhyun asks, confused.

“Well, he’s spending practically all his time at your apartment lately, might as well make him useful,” Jongdae comments casually.

Baekhyun is glad he hasn’t sip on his beer yet because he surely would’ve choked on it. “You lived with me for like five years and never cooked more than some noodles, you brat!”

“Besides,” Minseok interrupts them, taking a sip from his bottle. “It’s not like Sehun needs to do anything for Baekhyun to enjoy his company.”

“Exactly,” Baekhyun replies, too quick, too honest. His grip on his bottle tightens just to stop himself from literally facepalming.

Minseok rolls his eyes fondly and smiles like he knows something Baekhyun doesn’t. It confuses and scares him a little. Minseok can’t possibly know about him and Sehun, right? And certainly not from that comment only because Baekhyun has been enjoying Sehun’s company since day one, and that was many days before they actually got together. He shakes his head and decides to let it pass, though he does jump up to get the door when someone knocks, relieved to get away from Minseok and his amused look.

Baekhyun smiles happily up to his friends and steps aside to let them in. He attaches himself to Sehun’s back as soon as he can, kissing the back of his neck quickly when noone is watching.

“Fucking finally, you’re here,” he says loudly when they get to the living room. “I’m starving, man. Why did you take so long to get here?”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Sehun says. “Chanyeol made us stop three times to pet some dogs.”

“Hey, we had to stop four times for Jongin!” Chanyeol tries to defend himself. Jongin kicks him in the knee with no real intention, but Chanyeol holds it and whines in feigned pain until Minseok pets his head and tells him it’s okay.

Baekhyun can feel more that hear Sehun giggling at his friends, and he knows the boy well enough to ask, “How many times did you stop, Sehunnie?” He hooks his chin on Sehun’s shoulder and looks at him as a light blush reaches his pale cheeks while he gapes a little.

“Three whole times,” Jongin replies.

“It was only for a very quick hello!” Sehun whines, pouting.

Baekhyun has to bite the inside of his cheek to keep his smile on a regular my friend is very cute size, and not let it get to the more honest my boyfriend is so cute i am literally melting inside size.

“Cute,” he says, pinching Sehun’s cheek and laughing at the face he makes. “So, where’s my pizza?”

+

“So, Sehunnie,” Chanyeol starts, trying to straighten up and failing a bit. Not surprising, considering the amount of beer and soju they have already consumed.

“Yes?” Sehun asks, finishing his beer and making an effort to leave the empty bottle on the table without dropping Baekhyun from his lap.

Chanyeol looks at him with narrowed eyes like he wants to read Sehun or something like that. He’s probably failing at this, too.  

“How long has it been since Tao?” Chanyeol finally asks, and he must be actually drunk because he says Tao’s name without wincing like he usually does. What does happen as usual is that his mention gets everyone to pay attention to the conversation.

“Uhm. A very long time?” Sehun replies, not sure of where this is going and if he’s gonna like it.

“Exactly!” Chanyeol exclaims. He’s not making any sense and Sehun hopes he’s not the only one noticing. He’s also smiling at Sehun like a madman and honestly, Sehun is starting to get scared.

“Yeollie, you’re not saying anything,” Minseok says, kicking him lightly from his spot on the other couch.

It still takes Chanyeol a few minutes to talk again. “What I’m trying to say is that Sehunnie hasn’t dated anyone since Tao left, and that’s been a very long time ago, his words not mine, and I think it’s time for him to have a date.”

Oh. Sehun can feel Baekhyun tensing up against him, and he himself tenses a bit in response. His arms tighten around Baekhyun’s waist too, without him meaning to.

“But I’m fine with how things are right now?” Sehun says, trying to sound sure but not overly convinced, because he can’t let it show just how fine he is with his life.

“I know! I know you’re not sad anymore and you’re fine and, like, I don’t think you need to date to be fine, but,” Chanyeol sighs, like he’s deflating. “I’m just a little worried about your love life or whatever. You’re not even getting laid.”

Sehun looks at him deadpan and suppresses the urge to roll his eyes. He sighs too, and runs a hand through his hair. “You’re assuming a lot there, you know,” he says, trying to hide behind Baekhyun and looking up at the ceiling. “Just because I’m not taking anyone home anymore doesn’t mean I’m-- not b-being… taken home by someone else or whatever,” he finishes, regretting everything instantly because surely now they are going to start asking questions he can’t really answer.

“Oh my god, you’re dating someone,” Jongdae exclaims, pointing at him with his index finger.

“What? No!” Sehun replies. Really, tonight's being too much. He’s tired already. Too tipsy for this. He wants to go home.

“You’re totally dating someone,” Jongin accuses.

“Aww, Sehunnie has a boyfriend,” Baekhyun says, too loud and too sweet and too fake. He turns to look at Sehun and wink at him. He’s smiling very wide, but Sehun can see how tight it is and how uncomfortable this conversation is making him. Sehun feels the same.

“How could- Where could I have gotten a boyfriend, c’mon,” Sehun says, now rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, how could he have a boyfriend without anyone noticing?” Minseok comments and looks at both Sehun and Baekhyun with something weird in his expression that Sehun chooses to ignore.

“If you’re not dating anyone,” Chanyeol interrupts the hustle of everyone trying to get Sehun to confess. “Then let me introduce you to my coworker? Please?”

Sehun takes a deep breath and looks up at the ceiling again. He needs new friends. Or just for Kyungsoo to be back from Argentina already to smack Chanyeol in the head. Yeah, that’s better and easier.

“C’moooon, Sehun. Xing- Yixing, my coworker. He’s great and he’s super nice and hot and talented and you’ll love him,” Chanyeol even bats his eyelashes at Sehun and Sehun wants to kick him. Good for him that they are too far apart and not even Sehun’s long legs can reach.

“No,” Sehun replies, with a finality he hopes shuts his friend up.

It does, for now. Chanyeol pouts and keeps looking at Sehun with puppy eyes, but he’s not saying anything anymore. It won’t last long, Sehun knows, but maybe he’ll let it go for the rest of the night and the next time he tries to convince him, Sehun will be more prepared.

“Let the baby be, Yeollie,” Jongdae says, almost cooing at how Sehun is trying to hide behind Baekhyun again. Sehun is almost thankful for him. “Besides, you should start by getting Baek off of him first before sending him to a date.” Almost.

Baekhyun laughs and exaggeratedly throws his arms around Sehun’s neck, saying mine in the most childish way he can manage. Sehun groans. He needs new friends.

Minseok chuckles, looking at them funny again. “Yah, good luck with that.”

+++

The smell of coffee makes Sehun finally leave the bed. He doesn’t even drink coffee, but coffee means Baekhyun is making some sort of breakfast and that’s good enough for Sehun.

Standing at the kitchen’s door and watching Baekhyun making coffee and tea in the oversized t-shirt that he wears to sleep that leaves half his shoulders naked but covers half his thighs, hair a mess, humming softly to himself, Sehun thinks that this is more than good enough for him. He can’t think of anything better. Even if it’s some unholy hour on a Saturday morning. No, especially because it’s some unholy hour on a Saturday morning, because that means none of them have to work and it’s early enough to actually enjoy the morning together.

“Good morning,” he mumbles into Baekhyun’s hair, curling his arms around Baekhyun’s waist and draping himself on his back.

Baekhyun jumps a little and almost hits Sehun’s nose with his head. “Damn, you scared me,” he says, letting out a sigh. “And you just ruined my idea of taking you breakfast to bed. But good morning to you too, I guess,” he shrugs, through Sehun can hear the smile on his voice.

“Sorry,” Sehun giggles and buries his face in Baekhyun’s neck.

He plants a soft kiss there, makes Baekhyun chuckle. Then another, and another, and soon enough he’s moving to press his lips all around Baekhyun’s neck and shoulders. He can’t help it, Baekhyun is always so warm and soft in the mornings.

“Someone woke up clingy today,” Baekhyun says, smiling. Sehun hums noncommittally, now kissing Baekhyun’s jaw while he turns around in his arms. “Good morning,” Baekhyun smiles softly, and kisses Sehun on the mouth, scratching the short hairs of his nape with the hand he’s not using as leverage on the kitchen counter.

Sehun kisses back eagerly and presses Baekhyun further against the counter. He does tend to wake up feeling clingier than usual when he wakes up at Baekhyun’s, but there’s no need to say it outloud.   

Baekhyun indulges him for a moment, presses their mouths together a bit harder. Then he stops altogether and pats Sehun’s cheek, putting distance between them. “There’s rice in the fridge, go heat it up while I finish with this,” he says, turning his back to Sehun again.

He does as he’s told, helping Baekhyun get everything ready for breakfast. He’s getting the rice out of the microwave when he hears a sharp intake of air and turns around to find Baekhyun staring at him with a weird expression. “What’s wrong?” he asks, as he goes to sit at the table.

“Uhm, nothing, just…” Baekhyun replies, getting closer and pressing his finger on a random spot on Sehun’s back. It stings a little.

He turns his head to see as much of his bare shoulders and back as he can, and gets glimpses of some angry red marks that seemingly cover quite a lot of skin back there. Oh. Right. Baekhyun bites.

“I got a bit carried away last night, hm. Oops?” Baekhyun says, smiling innocently.

“I’ll just have to make sure to wear a t-shirt at home,” Sehun shrugs and starts eating. He doesn’t really mind that much.

They eat in comfortable silence for a while, until there’s not much else. Sehun finishes his tea, Baekhyun kicks him lightly under the table and props his feet on Sehun’s lap. Baekhyun finishes the toast he was munching on, Sehun starts massaging his ankles. A regular morning.

“So, about that,” Baekhyun starts. Sehun looks up and hums in question. “I mean, about you having to wear a t-shirt at home because your stupid secret boyfriend left a bunch of hickeys behind.”

“Hey, don’t call my boyfriend stupid,” Sehun says, mocking offense and pinching Baekhyun’s ankle. It sounds silly, it is silly, and he’ll never say it, but Sehun will be the silliest boy on Earth if it gets Baekhyun smiling at him like he is right now.

“No, but seriously,” Baekhyun whines, poking Sehun’s thigh with his toes. “I’ve been thinking, you know. We’ve been on this for like three months already?”

Two months and seventeen days, but who’s counting. Not Sehun.

“Do you want to tell people?” Sehun asks, running a hand through his hair. The idea scares him a little, if he has to be honest. It’s been great so far, just the two of them, and he’s afraid telling their friends will somehow ruin it, though he knows objectively that’s not very likely.

“I don’t know,” Baekhyun shrugs, playing with a spoon and not looking at Sehun. “I’m very happy with what we have, and I like that it’s just us, you know, but also,” he sighs, looking up. “It’s getting harder to pretend nothing has changed? I don’t know, I just want to annoy everyone by making out with you on movie nights and stop being paranoid that one of our friends will find out because I can’t control myself enough and hate me forever or something.”

Baekhyun is laughing, but Sehun knows better. That last thing was said as part of the joke, but Sehun knows it’s not, because he feels the same. At the end of the day, the reasons they wanted to keep this a secret are the same reasons that make it so hard to lie. They just don’t want to fuck up their group of friends. Again.

“Okay, let’s...“ Sehun sighs, squeezing Baekhyun’s ankle for reassurance, for both of them. “Let’s think how we can break the news to them without anyone getting mad and find the right moment to do it and just. Do it.”

He doesn’t think any of their friends will really get mad at them, not for long at least. But he thinks about Chanyeol being so worried about him being alone for too long, and about Jongdae and Baekhyun telling each other absolutely everything, and he gets why Baekhyun is afraid someone might get mad. It’s done, though, so they can only hope for the best.

Baekhyun nods in agreement and stays quiet for a moment. “Also, uhm,” he starts again. “I think Minseok hyung knows. Or at least imagines?”

“What,” Sehun says, freezing for a second.

“I don’t know, he keeps giving me these looks that I don’t understand and,” Baekhyun says, frustrated, tugging on a handful of hair. “I don’t know. He may know. Hasn’t said anything to me, though.”

Sehun takes a second to consider it. It wouldn’t be crazy if he knew. Minseok has always been quite perceptive in his own way. And now that Baek has mentioned it, Sehun realises he’s been getting those looks from Minseok too, like he’s trying to figure Sehun out or something. Well, damn it.

“Anyway,” Baekhyun talks again before Sehun can say anything. “Talking about Minseok hyung, he and Dae are coming over for lunch, wanna stay?” he asks, standing up and tugging on Sehun’s hand to get him out of his chair too. Sehun hums his yes and lets Baekhyun drag him up. “C’mon, we have to clean the kitchen, get dressed and make it look like we didn’t fuck on the couch.”

Just another regular morning, then.

+++

Cleaning the kitchen was fast, getting dressed took a good while, but they manage to be ready and playing video games by the time Minseok and Jongdae arrive. Neither of them seems surprised to find Sehun there.  

They play Mario Kart until Jongdae starts to cheat by tickling and hugging Sehun until he’s sprawled on the floor laughing and Baekhyun and Jongdae start screaming at each other so loud that Minseok decides it’s time to stop and have lunch already.

They sit to eat not long after, and Baekhyun is getting a mouthful of rice when he notices Jongdae staring very intently between him and the bottle of juice in a corner of the table.

“What?” he asks, mouth still half full.

“Isn’t that that thing you hate drinking but that Sehun is obsessed with?” Jongdae counters, raising an eyebrow.

“Uhm, yes? It’s his,” Baekhyun says, shrugging a shoulder.

Jongdae hums in reply, both eyebrows raised now. Baekhyun doesn’t understand why he’s so surprised at first, but then he stops for a second and thinks about the possible implications of him having things for Sehun at his home and he really, really hopes Jongdae’s mind is taking him somewhere else because how stupid would it be if they get discovered over some stupid juice?

“Exactly how much time does he spend here?” Jongdae asks, shaking his head. “You really have replaced me completely with him, haven’t you? You traitor,” he says and Baekhyun sends a silent thank you to the universe because he can hear the joking tone on Jongdae’s voice.

“How dare you call me a traitor?!” How dare he get offended, even jokingly, when he was the one who left first? There are some things Baekhyun can never let go of. “May I remind you,” he says, pointing at Jongdae with his chopsticks, “you left me first and replaced me with your very pretty boyfriend without even telling me!”

“At least he calls me pretty,” Minseok says to Sehun, shrugging.

“You are,” is Sehun’s matter-of-fact reply.

It’s funny, how they are both eating without paying any attention to Baekhyun and Jongdae bickering, because they ultimately know it’s all just a joke (even if sometimes Baekhyun is still a bit too upset about Jongdae not telling him first about his moving out plans). It hits Baekhyun then, that he’s sitting at home, having lunch with his boyfriend and his best friend and his boyfriend. Some people would call it a double date. And it’s so nice, it feels so nice, that he can’t help but smile fondly at the others, until he hears Jongdae whining in front of him.

“You’re not listening to me, Byun.”

“No, I’m not. It’s okay, though, I forgive you, don’t worry,” Baekhyun replies, laughing at Jongdae’s indignant face.

Jongdae whines and smacks Baekhyun playfully. He softens the blow hitting on his other hand on Baekhyun's head, but Baekhyun makes a show of rubbing the spot and whine loudly anyways. Then he pouts and kicks Jongdae lightly under the table.

“Make it up to me,” he says, opening his mouth so Jongdae can feed him the roll he was about to eat.

Jongdae rolls his eyes hard, but complies either way. He always does. And like it always happens, Baekhyun does the same for him and then they are feeding each other while Minseok and Sehun talk quietly on the side. It's a mess.

Baekhyun absolutely loves every second of it.

←←←

Jongdae gets home feeling like he could fly. He’s literally that happy. He’s also scared as hell and excited to tell Baekhyun about this as soon as possible. Minseok proposing they move in together. He had tried to make it sound casual and like something convenient, really, they spend almost all their time at his house anyway, but Jongdae knows him like the back of his hand and he had seen through the nonchalance. Minseok had been nervous and Jongdae hadn’t ever been as in love.

He would’ve said yes under any circumstances, but this is actually the perfect time to do it, on top of everything. Even thinking about practical stuff, like Minseok’s apartment being closer to both their jobs, Baekhyun recently getting a good enough raise to be able to cover for Jongdae on their apartment expenses. Perfect, really.

He opens the front door and frowns. It’s late and dark, and there aren’t enough lights on for someone to be home, which is weird because Baekhyun said he’d be home early today. Jongdae takes off his shoes and hangs his jacket in the little closet behind the door. He’s going to go directly into the kitchen when he hears some noises coming from the living room and goes there instead.

His mood dims as soon as he enters the room.

On the couch, Baekhyun is crying onto Sehun’s shoulder, who looks three seconds away from crying too.

“Shit, what happened?” Jongdae asks, alarmed, getting to the couch in two steps. He holds Baekhyun’s hand and tugs a bit to get him to leave Sehun’s shoulder and look at him. “Baek, what happened?”

Baekhyun hiccups and looks at him, trying to dry his cheeks, but tears keep coming. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to- to cry but then,” he hiccups again. “Then I started and now I can’t stop.”

Sehun is looking at Baekhyun with a sad expression, biting onto his lip and Jongdae knows he’s trying not to pout and cry too, but none of them are saying anything and Jongdae is getting impatient.

“Sehunnie, what happened?” he asks to the younger one now, because Baekhyun is hiding his face again.

“His boyfriend- ex boyfriend? His- They broke up,” Sehun replies, wincing a bit because Baekhyun sobs out loud at that. “Hyung, I’m sorry but I- I really have to go, I was waiting for you so he wouldn’t be alone but I-” he says, apologetic.

Jongdae nods and tries to get Baekhyun to his shoulder instead, noticing he and Sehun are holding hands too. He’s very, very thankful for Sehun right now.

Baekhyun takes a deep breath and gives a little and tight smile to Sehun. “Thanks for staying so long with me, Sehun-ah. I’m sorry I got all your hoodie wet.”

Sehun shrugs and squeezes Baekhyun’s hand. “It’ll dry off soon enough, don’t worry. I’ll call you later, okay?”

Baekhyun nods slightly and moves to lean his head on Jongdae’s shoulder. Sehun leaves and everything is quiet for a minute. Jongdae hasn’t seen Baekhyun this sad in a very long time, and he’s getting more worried with every second that passes by. He didn’t know Baekhyun and his boyfriend were on bad terms, and by the looks of it, Baekhyun didn’t either. He can’t even imagine what could have happened for them to break up so suddenly.

“Hey, want to tell me?” he says, softly, running his hand on Baekhyun’s back in what he hopes are soothing movements.

“He just… dumped me,” Baekhyun shrugs as best as he can with his head still on Jongdae’s shoulder. “He said he was bored and tired. He didn’t say he was tired of me, but I got it anyway,” he sobs again, but he’s significantly calmer now.

“Asshole,” Jongdae mutters. “No one in their right minds could get tired of you.”

Baekhyun lifts his head and looks at Jongdae with the tiniest smile, but it’s all sad and wrong. Baekhyun deserves to smile the brightest.

“Hey, I’m glad you are here,” he says, throwing his arms around Jongdae’s middle and hugging him tightly.

Jongdae swallows the lump around his throat and thinks he’s glad he’s here too, because someone has to take care of Baekhyun. He’s not so good at doing that for himself when he’s sad. Who better than Jongdae, then? He’s not his best friend for nothing. He’ll make sure Baekhyun is okay again.

“I won’t go anywhere,” he murmurs.

The moving out will have to wait.

→→→

There’s a lot of noise, then the front door opening and closing, more noise, and then Chanyeol finally steps into the living room. Sehun will never understand how he can be so loud at all times.

“Oh, you’re here,” Chanyeol says, surprised, upon seeing Sehun sitting cross-legged on the floor while Jongin paints his nails.

“I live here?” Sehun says, raising an eyebrow.

“You do?” Chanyeol counters back.

He leaves his backpack on the couch and goes into the kitchen. Sehun stares blankly at his back and then looks back at Jongin.

“What’s wrong with him?” he asks.

Jongin shrugs and changes from one hand to the other. Sehun’s nails are looking very nice. He’s had a rough day but he’s feeling a bit better already. He’s glad Jongin had this idea.

“He’s got a point, though. You’re never home anymore.”

Chanyeol gets back in that moment and tries to high five Jongin for agreeing with him, but Jongin ignores him because sometimes he can be very focused. Sehun wants new friends.

“Well, I have a job, you know? I’ve spent like ninety percent of my time at the lab this week,” Sehun pouts. Honestly, he doesn’t know what they are talking about and he’s tired enough to not want to think about anything for the rest of the day.

“So you slept at the lab on Tuesday?” Chanyeol asks, smirking knowingly. “What about last Friday? Wednesday?”

Oh. That ’s what all this is about. Right, so maybe Sehun hasn’t been spending so much time at home after all. It’s funny because he’s never too far away, just the floor below, but they don’t always know that.

“Are you keeping track of me, dad ?” Sehun says, raising his eyebrows again. “Do you keep a diary and write down the days I don’t get back to sleep?”

Chanyeol snorts. “I’d have to use an online diary and I don’t think the Internet is big enough to keep track of all the times you sleep somewhere else.”

Sehun rolls his eyes and focuses on Jongin finishing his nails. “I already told you I slept at Baekhyun’s last Friday, though.” He has to bite his tongue to stop himself of saying he slept there all the others times too. It’s not a weird thing for any of them to sleep at other friends’ houses but maybe he’s been doing it too often and it can sound suspicious.

“What about Tuesday, then?” Jongin asks, smiling innocently.

“Traitor,” Sehun kicks him, since he finished with his nails and the nail polish is away already. Why are they teaming up against him? Why is Jongin betraying him like this? He really needs new friends.

He also really needs to stop lying. This wouldn’t be happening if he and Baekhyun were out of the closet. The relationship closet. Soon , he reminds himself.

“Oh my god,” Chanyeol yells, suddenly. “You’re blushing!”

Sehun touches his cheek unconsciously. Is he?

“You’re seeing someone! I knew it!”

“I told you already, I’m not,” Sehun deadpans.

“You totally are,” Jongin says, laughing. Sehun doesn’t even know what’s so funny. He’s also getting some flashbacks to having this same conversation but with more people around. Why can’t they let him live?

“Oh, c’mon, Sehun-ah. You can tell us,” Chanyeol says, looking at Sehun with puppy eyes.

He entertains the thought of telling them, once and for all, for a whole four seconds before thinking about Baekhyun and how this is something they have to tell their friends together. He sighs tiredly and moves to sit on the couch, schooling his face into nothingness.

“I have nothing to tell,” he shrugs.

It doesn’t work. If anything, it makes everything worse, because somehow Chanyeol takes this as a challenge and he starts insisting in every way he can. He’s lucky Sehun actually loves him and treasures him as a friend, because he’s being so annoying Sehun would have probably punched him otherwise.

“Please, Sehunnie,” he says and goes on his fucking knees when nothing else is working. “Please tell me who you are dating.”

“God, Yeol,” Sehun sighs, holding his head with a hand. “You’re so annoying, hyung, I can’t believe this. Jongin, help me,” he pleads, but his friend just laughs again, at both of them now.

“I’m gonna start with dinner,” he says and disappears into the kitchen.

“I can’t believe I’m begging you and you keep having that poker face,” Chanyeol says, sounding almost impressed. Sehun has to bite his lips to stop from laughing.

Chanyeol stands up after that, and Sehun thinks for a second he’ll let it go, but Chanyeol throws himself on Sehun on the couch and starts tickling him. “C’moooon, Sehunnie, please tell me!”

“Stop harassing me, hyung!” Sehun almost screams, and he can’t help but laugh now.

It turns into a tickle fight that ends soon enough mostly because tickling Chanyeol is a hazardous activity with how much he moves and flails his long limbs around when he laughs and Sehun actually values his life.

They end up cuddling somehow, and when they are finally settled and not laughing anymore, Chanyeol turns to look at him seriously. “You don’t need to tell me, but, like, I just want to know if everything’s okay? You’re not in any trouble, right?”

His concern is so genuine it makes Sehun want to coo, but he also blushes a little. “I’m fine, don’t worry, hyung. I’m okay, really, nothing- nothing’s happening. Everything’s fine,” Sehun smiles reassuringly and Chanyeol smiles right back at him. He’s annoying as hell but he’s the best hyung Sehun could ask for.

“Okay then… Let’s cuddle until dinner is ready and pray Jongin doesn’t give us food poisoning.”

+++

sehunnie

are u home

baek

not yet

sehunnie

do u have rice in ur fridge

baek

yes

sehunnie

*thumbs up*

baek

why did you type thumbs up

sehunnie

2 lazy 2 search the emoji

Baekhyun gets home and finds Sehun sitting on his couch, in the dark, eating what is definitely the rice Baekhyun hasn't finished eating this morning.

“Hey,” he says softly.

Sehun had a bad day, it's written all over his face. So Baekhyun approaches the couch very slowly, like he would approach some sort of moody cat.

“Are you eating just? White rice? Nothing else?” Baekhyun asks, touching Sehun's knee.

“Yes. Sorry, but there was no food at home and Chanyeol and Jongin are at work and you said you had rice,” Sehun replies, a serious expression on his face.

Baekhyun starts massaging Sehun's thigh, which always makes Sehun at least smile, but he's getting no reaction this time.

“Okay, wait here a minute so I can change into something more comfy and then we’ll go get some bubble tea and more food for you, yeah? And you can tell me what has you all broody on my couch,” Baekhyun says, standing up and looking down at Sehun, who only nods in response. “Can I get a kiss at least?”

Sehun nods again and gives Baekhyun a short peck and a kiss on the cheek before going into the kitchen. At least the problem is not with him.

Baekhyun goes into his room and changes his button-up and black pants for his worn down jeans and oversized hoodie as fast as he can, messing up his styled hair because there’s just so many hours he can stand looking so formal for. Office hours are done and so is his proper image.

He enters the kitchen and back hugs Sehun, who’s washing the rice pot and spoon he used like he wants to use them as mirrors next, with how hard he’s scrubbing them.

“Uhm, those look cleaner than when I got them already, you can stop now, babe,” he says and closes the water tap. He takes the dish towel and dries Sehun’s hands. “There. C´mon, I’m hungry now, let’s get food.”

They go to the coffee shop near their apartment complex. Sehun doesn’t say a word in the whole time it takes them to get there, and to someone who doesn’t know him, it’d look like he’s mad, but Baekhyun knows he’s just a bit sad and a lot tired. He’ll make sure it all passes soon enough.

They sit at a booth in the back with bubble tea and coffee and two muffins that Baekhyun will end up eating mostly by himself, making Sehun get another one that they’ll also share because Baekhyun’s stomach has no end.

Baekhyun asks what’s wrong again, and Sehun stays silent for another minute before he pouts and finally starts talking.

“There was a problem with the heater at the lab,” his pout deepens. “All my cultures literally melted. My amoeba all died before I could kill them on purpose.”

Nor Baekhyun or any of their friends really understand what Sehun does at work, but they have been listening to him whine about his parasites and this research for months now, so this can’t be good.

“I lost two months of work. I have to start over and god, I’m… so tired,” Sehun finishes, running a hand through his hair in his usual nervous demeanor.

Baekhyun doesn’t know how to reply, because there’s nothing to be done more than starting over, and he can’t jump over the table to hug Sehun so he hooks his feet on Sehun’s ankle and pushes a muffin in his direction.

“Do you want to talk about something else?” Sehun nods. “Okay, you told me yesterday you had to tell me something about Chanyeol and Jongin. So what is it?”

Sehun starts talking after taking a sip of his bubble tea. Same old shit, different day or however that One Direction song says. Chanyeol has been teasing Sehun about not spending time at home, asking if he’s dating anyone. Jongin hasn’t been any help, insisting to know too.

“So he went on his knees and begged me to tell him what was going on,” Sehun says, comically opening his eyes.

“Hey,” Baekhyun smirks and leans forward to rest a hand on Sehun’s arm. “I can go on my knees and beg if that’s what you’re into.”

Sehun chokes on his bubble tea and Baekhyun laughs loudly at him. Some people stare, but Baekhyun only cares about the beginning of a tiny smile on Sehun’s lips. That’s his whole life, actually, he doesn’t care about people; he only cares about Sehun smiling.

“You’re awful, hyung,” Sehun whines, but he can’t keep the smile off his face.  

Baekhyun schools his face into the most angelic smile he can muster. “You didn’t say no, though.”

Sehun chokes again and kicks him under the table.  

+++

Sehun had thought, once, that being at a club with Baekhyun when he liked him silently and resignedly and from afar was the worst thing that could happen to him.

He was wrong.

Being at a club with Baekhyun when he likes him closely and is allowed to say it and touch him and kiss him but not quite is the worst thing that could happen to him.

Jongdae has decided to celebrate his birthday getting drunk with all his friends at a club and apparently Baekhyun has decided to torture Sehun by wearing the tightest pair of jeans he owns with a t-shirt low cut enough to see his collarbones and a choker . At least he has dropped the leather jacket.

The main problem is that Baekhyun is drunk. While drunk Baekhyun at home is all soft and sleepy and giggles, drunk Baekhyun at a club is a different story. He’s touchy and a tease and he flirts with everyone, and Sehun is left watching him without being able to do anything about it. Sehun’s not jealous, at all, but he’s drunk too and in love and kinda horny and he just really, really wants to touch Baekhyun. Make out with him on the corner of the booth they got. Bite his neck every time Baekhyun lets himself fall on Sehun’s lap.

“Baekhyun-ah!” Chanyeol says. He’s slurring his words a little. “Stop bothering Sehunnie. He’s not your personal chair.”

Baekhyun wriggles further up Sehun’s lap, making him grunt. “He doesn’t care.”

“Look at his face, he’s suffering!”

“Are you suffering, Sehunnie?” Baekhyun asks, turning his head around to look at Sehun with a smirk.

Sehun’s miserable, so his response is to bite Baekhyun’s shoulder, hard. He deserves it. He also likes it. Sehun knows the way he jumps out of his lap is not only from the slight pain. Sehun can play this game too. (Not really, but he can try at least.)

Baekhyun leaves Sehun alone for some time, which would be good if he wasn’t dancing with Jongdae and Jongin, moving his hips like sinfully and making eyes at Sehun from time to time. Sehun doesn’t know how much time passes, how many beers he has in the middle. He only knows he’s grateful that everyone else is drunk too so nobody notices how he’s looking at Baekhyun.

God, he needs some air.

He excuses himself vaguely and leaves the club. He leans against a wall at the side of the building and takes a deep breath, closes his eyes. It’s cold and he left his jacket inside, but he needs this. Needs to get a grip of himself before he ruins everything by jumping on Baekhyun in the middle of the dancefloor. Sehun feels like a stupid, hormonal teenager, but the cool air helps him clear his mind a little.

He feels someone kissing his neck shortly and he jumps back in shock, hitting his head against the wall. He doesn’t even have to look to know it’s Baekhyun, because he’s laughing and Sehun could recognize that laugh anywhere.  

Sehun whines in pain and rubs the back of his head. This makes Baekhyun laugh louder, which makes Sehun glare harder. “Asshole,” he says.

“Well it was your own fault, I wasn’t the one exposing his neck seductively in the middle of the night like some sort of sexy anime protagonist,” Baekhyun tries to defend himself. He’s still laughing, but he reaches forward and curls an arm around Sehun’s neck, caressing the sore spot on Sehun’s head.

“No, no, it’s literally your fault. Everything is your fault. And your stupid jean’s. I hate you,” Sehun says without any heat behind his words, because Baekhyun is now alternating between scratching his nape and tugging lightly at the hair there and he’s very near to start purring. Stupid Baekhyun. He always knows exactly how to get to Sehun.

“Sure you do,” Baekhyun smiles. “What are you doing here all by yourself, babe?”

“I needed some air,” Sehun sighs. “I was very close to just,” he gestures generally at Baekhyun and then grabs the hem of his t-shirt, tugging him a bit closer. “Shove you against a wall and kiss you.”

Sehun searches Baekhyun’s face for some reaction, and he gets the one he wanted. Baekhyun raises his eyebrows, bites his lower lip, stares at Sehun’s mouth. Maybe Sehun can play this game after all.

“Well… this is a wall,” Baekhyun says, pressing closer to Sehun, making him straighten up against it.

That’s all the prompt Sehun needs to turn them around, press Baekhyun against the wall and finally get his mouth on him. He was gonna kiss him directly, but in the turning motion he gets a glimpse of that stupid choker, so he diverts to pay attention to it first. He presses his lips right under the thing, noses his way across Baekhyun’s neck following the path of the fabric. He bites beneath Baekhyun’s ear when he reaches the other side. It makes Baekhyun shudder and make a noise at the back of his throat. Serves him right for torturing Sehun all night long. Sehun presses a kiss on the bitten spot, another on Baekhyun’s jaw and then he reaches his lips at last. Both of them let a sigh of relief at the first contact, and then deepen the kiss practically at the same time.

They kiss like that, deep and slow, for so long Sehun’s lips are starting to feel raw. He doesn’t care, though, he just wants to make out with Baekhyun until he can’t remember his own name anymore.

“Oh, shit.”

Now it’s Baekhyun’s turn to hit his head against the wall when they both jump apart upon hearing the swearing and turning to find Minseok standing there, covering his eyes with a hand.

“Uhhh,” he says in a high-pitched voice. “Are you guys done?” he peeks from between his fingers and laughs awkwardly when he uncovers his eyes completely.

Sehun and Baekhyun both look at Minseok in shock. Baekhyun opens and closes his mouth several times like he wants to say something. Sehun stares at him and Minseok back and forth. He can’t even begin to form words in his brain.

They’ve been caught. And it’s weird, because they aren’t doing anything wrong per se, but Sehun still feels like he needs to apologize.

“We, uhm… We can, uhm-” Baekhyun starts, running his hand through his hair and rubbing the back of his head.

“You can what? Explain?” Minseok asks, tilting his head. “Don’t worry, guys, I won’t say anything.”

“You don’t look surprised, hyung,” Sehun notices.

“I knew it already, actually,” Minseok shrugs in response.

“You. Knew.” Baekhyun repeats slowly.

Well, there they have their confirmation. Minseok did know, like they’ve been thinking. All those pointed looks did mean something, after all.

“I mean, yeah, I know you two think you’re subtle about it, but trust me, you’re not,” Minseok chuckles. “You’re lucky we are surrounded by idiots.”

Sehun doesn’t know what to say, how to feel. Baekhyun just pouts at Minseok. “We are subtle!”

“You’re really not,” Minseok smiles. “Anyway, I was looking for you two. Chanyeol wanted to get Jongin to dance on top of the table so it’s time to leave.”

They nod and follow Minseok inside. Before they can go in, though, Minseok turns around and looks at them.

“Uhm, you know. Jongdae wanted to come out to get you, but I stopped him because I knew there was a possibility of finding you two, uh, very subtly making out,” he raises both eyebrows and looks at Baekhyun pointedly. “So uhm. Be more careful next time, yes? Also, I don’t know exactly what’s your deal, but if you want my opinion, just. Tell everyone already.”

Sehun nods and curls around Minseok, trying to hide his face in his neck even if the height difference makes it hard. “We will, hyung. Soon.”

+++

“Sehun,” Baekhyun calls from the floor. “Come here with me. I’m cold.”

Sehun looks over from the couch and sees Baekhyun pouting up at him. He looks a lot like a puppy right now, sprawled on the sunny spot right under the window, looking soft, demanding attention. Sehun is more than happy to provide it. He leaves the couch and sits cross-legged next to Baekhyun. He opens the book he was reading just to be annoying, because he knows Baekhyun won’t let him keep doing that.

“Sehun,” Baekhyun calls again. Sehun doesn’t respond. “Sehun. Sehun. Sehun,” he whines, drawing out the name.

“Yes?” Sehun says, without looking up from his book. He’s happy to pay Baekhyun attention but he also likes to annoy him. It’s fun.

“You’re such a brat,” Baekhyun sighs, exasperated.

Sehun hums and counts to ten in his mind. Baekhyun snatches the book out of his hands when he reaches nine. He marks the page Sehun was reading and throws the book onto the couch.

“Now listen to me, Oh Sehun. This is my house, you’re my boyfriend, so pay me attention, okay?”

Sehun nods, feeling his own smile forming while Baekhyun crawls up to him. He’s sure it’s a very soft smile and he surely looks like an idiot but he really can’t help it because Baekhyun is truly so adorable. He leans his head on Sehun’s shoulder and Sehun places a kiss on top of it.   

They stay like that for a moment, then Baekhyun rearranges them until he’s sitting between Sehun’s legs, with his head on Sehun’s chest and Sehun’s arms around him. He sighs contently when he’s satisfied and draws even closer to Sehun, making him roll his eyes fondly.

Baekhyun was right. The sun makes this particular spot very warm and it feels nice on Sehun’s skin. It feels nicer to have Baekhyun in his arms and to be able to be like this with him, just chilling on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

“Sehun,” Baekhyun says after a while, biting his shoulder lightly. “You’re very warm and you smell nice and I’m going to kiss you in a second or two.”

“Okay,” Sehun chuckles softly.

He looks down at Baekhyun and his heart stops for a beat. It does that sometimes, when Baekhyun looks at him a certain way, or when he looks particularly beautiful. Right now, he’s doing both and Sehun can’t believe he’s this lucky. Lucky enough to have Baekhyun this close, to have him looking at Sehun this softly. Lucky enough to be the one who gets to put that soft little smile on Baekhyun’s face.

Sehun feels overwhelmed by the abrupt surge of feelings running through his body, trying to come out of his mouth, all at the same time.

“I love you,” he blurts out.

They stopped saying that when they started dating, even if Sehun’s been aware of being in love with Baekhyun for the longest time. So when he catches up with what he just said, he takes a sharp inhale of air, suddenly scared he overstepped a limit, but lets it out relieved when Baekhyun gently touches his jaw.

He cups Sehun’s neck, runs a thumb across his cheek. He looks up at him impossibly softer, with a smile so tender it makes Sehun’s insides hurt in the best way.

“I love you too, Sehunnie,” Baekhyun says, just above a whisper, and leans up to finally kiss him.

+

“Uhm,” Jongin says, looking out the window of the living room.

He can see Baekhyun’s apartment from there, part of the living room at least. Usually it’s mostly the floor, so they can’t see what’s happening inside the apartment, but right now Baekhyun is sitting on the floor with Sehun, so Jongin can see them clearly. Jongin knows Sehun was going over there to play videogames or something like that and maybe finally relax after his awful week at work, which he couldn’t do here because Chanyeol’s working on a project even if it’s Sunday and stressing over it. Jongin was going to go with Sehun but someone had to stay and make sure Chanyeol doesn’t overwork himself to death.

Baekhyun and Sehun look… weird.

Jongin can’t pinpoint exactly what is it about them that gives him that impression, because they are just there, Baekhyun sprawled on the floor and Sehun trying to read sitting next to him, but he can’t shake the sensation off.

“Hey, Yeol?” he calls, narrowing his eyes. “Can you come here a second?”

“Can’t. Working,” Chanyeol replies, without even looking up from his laptop.

“I know but…” Jongin says. Baekhyun throws Sehun’s book across the room, Sehun smiles very strangely. “There’s something weird going on with Baekhyun and Sehun?”

Chanyeol snorts. “They are always weird.”

Baekhyun crawls up to Sehun, Sehun kisses the top of his head. That truly isn’t weird, Jongin’s aware, because they are usually very touchy people, but still Jongin feels like he shouldn’t be looking.

“I don’t know, they are too close?” Jongin looks over at Chanyeol, tilting his head to a side.

“Seriously, Jonginnie? Baek practically lives on Sehun’s lap, I don’t think there’s such thing as too close for them.”

That’s also true. Jongin looks back at his friends and frowns. They are definitely too close now and they look… Intimate. That’s the word Jongin was looking for. They look intimate, making Jongin feel like he’s intruding, like he really should stop looking. But he’s so curious now.

“Chanyeol, I’m serious. There’s someth- Oh my god Chanyeol they’re fucking kissing! ” Jongin all but screams.

Chanyeol literally jumps out of his chair, almost knocking his laptop off the table in his haste to get to the window. They both stare at their friends at the other apartment, honest to god kissing each other’s faces off.

“Oh my god,” Chanyeol says, holding his head in his hands. “They are making out.” He takes a deep breath and lets it out in a huff. “I’m going to kill Baekhyun.”

Jongin has to laugh at that, even in his shock state. “Sehun isn’t really your son, you know that, right?”

“Shut up,” Chanyeol says, pointing at Jongin with his index finger.

Jongin laughs again and goes back to looking out the window. Sehun and Baekhyun have stopped kissing, but they are still cuddling in the sun, looking cozy and close and intimate and Jongin has to look away now.

He can’t believe this. What are they doing? Are they only fucking? They don’t look like it’s just a sexual thing, so are they dating? For how long have they been doing this?

“Why didn’t they tell us?” He asks out loud now.

Jongin goes to sit on the couch and pouts up at Chanyeol. He’s feeling quite betrayed right now, if he has to be honest. Sehun is his best friend, they talk about everything, they live together, and apparently he’s been dating their other friend or whatever it is they do for god knows how long and he’s never mentioned anything. He’s also feeling like the worst friend in the universe, because he didn’t notice anything weird about Sehun, or about Sehun and Baekhyun together.

“Can you come here, hyung, please? Stop staring, c’mon,” he says.

“I’m- I can’t- They are just there! Hugging! And kissing! Like they are not lying to us!” Chanyeol exclaims, indignantly. He goes to sit next to Jongin and lets out a sigh. “What do you think it’s their deal?”

Jongin shrugs and takes a moment to really think about it. Could it be just sex? It certainly didn’t look like it. Besides, he knows Sehun wouldn’t do that with one of his close friends. Maybe they were kissing because it’s just something they do. They’ve always been super touchy with each other after all, it wouldn’t be that surprising if they kissed platonically. Maybe they knew Jongin could see them and decided to mess around with him?

“I think they are…” he starts, deflating against the back of the couch. “Together. For real. It’s what makes more sense, considering, you know. Everything.”

“Everything?”

“You know, considering Tao, and that they are them, and that Sehun doesn’t really do casual and that Baekhyun loves him,” Jongin explains, looking pointedly at Chanyeol. “Apparently it’s not as fraternally as we thought, but yeah. That.”

Chanyeol hums in response and turns to stare at the black screen of the TV in front of them. Jongin does the same and they stay in silence, thinking, for what feels like hours but is probably less than one. They don’t move until someone knocks the door and Jongin stands up to get it.

Minseok and Jongdae both raise their eyebrows when they see his face, get into the apartment asking what’s wrong and look even more confused when they see Chanyeol still staring at the TV.

“Are you guys okay?” Minseok asks, clearly worried.

“We saw Sehun and Baekhyun making out,” Chanyeol blurts, and starts describing the whole scene to them.

Jongdae’s eyes are about to fall off their sockets with how surprised he is, but Minseok looks strangely calm about the whole thing. Granted, Minseok usually looks calm, but Jongin expected more reaction, even from him.

“I can’t believe this,” Jongdae says when Chanyeol finishes, letting himself fall on the couch. “Oh my god,” he exclaims, making a disgust face.

“Are you okay, hyung?” Jongin asks. He’s the worried one, now.

“I think I’ve walked in on them like, multiple times. I’m pretty sure.” Jongdae scrunches up his face. “I’ve found them in, I don’t know, weird situations lately. But I thought it was them being, weird, you know. Just being them.”

Minseok makes an exasperated noise from where he’s sitting on the other couch and rolls his eyes. “I can’t believe you’re all seriously this oblivious.”

“What,” Chanyeol says, looking back and forth between all of them.

Jongdae narrows his eyes at Minseok. “You knew already.” It’s not a question.

Minseok goes from exasperated to sheepish really quick, scratches the back of his head and smiles apologetically at Jongdae. “I’m sorry.”

“Why didn’t you say anything? Why haven’t they?” Jongin asks.

“It was not my thing to tell? And honestly, I thought you would all notice before. They’ve been doing this for months, guys, c’mon,” Minseok says, like it’s obvious.

“Months?!” Chanyeol yells.

“We are gonna talk about this at home,” Jongdae says at the same time.

Jongin is starting to feel a headache and all he wants to do is go to sleep already. He can’t right now, so he curls into Jongdae’s side and pouts until he gets the hint and starts running his hand through his hair.

“Guys,” Chanyeol calls, and when Jongin looks at him he can see the gears running in his head. This can’t be good. “I have an idea.”

+++   

“Fuck,” Baekhyun says, hiding his face on his hands, his elbows resting on the table. Sehun groans his agreement with his face against it.

Baekhyun knew nothing good was going to happen when Minseok called him and asked to meet with him and Sehun. He figured they were going to get scolded for not talking to everyone about them dating, though, not this. This is ten times worse.

“So everyone knows?” Sehun asks, lifting his head up. His brows are furrowed and his lips are in a flat line. He looks like an upset baby. Baekhyun wants to pinch his cheeks, but this is not the time.

“Yeah, sorry,” Minseok says, apologetically.

At least he’s not being all smug and I told you so about it, Baekhyun really appreciates that. He also appreciates that Minseok came to tell them about everyone finding out about them. He still can’t believe they got caught in such a stupid way. Stupid window, really. Stupid him that never thought about it in the first place. God, they all spent hours writing silly signs for the others to read when they figured out they could see each other’s apartments from their windows. How could he forget?

“So does everyone hate us now?” Baekhyun asks, chuckling to try and cover just how seriously he’s asking. Minseok gives him a pitiful smile and Sehun winces, he feels worse now.

“Please, nobody hates you,” Minseok starts. “I think they are mostly hurt you didn’t tell them, and feeling kinda weird for not realising sooner.”

“I don’t get it, though, why hasn’t anyone said anything? They found out days ago,” Sehun asks, running a nervous hand through his hair.

“Oh, uhm… There’s something else,” Minseok says, looking down at his hands, clearly avoiding eye contact. It makes Baekhyun nervous. “They are planning to “expose you”,” he says, doing the air quotes with his fingers. “I think Jongdae is keeping some details from me, I guess he’s wary of me telling you, but basically they asked Chanyeol’s coworker to come to next movie night and flirt with Sehun until one of you breaks and says everything.”

“Why me?” Sehun asks at the same time Baekhyun mutters he’s going to kill them all.

Maybe it’s their own fault, maybe they need new friends.

Minseok has to go, leaving with the promise to tell them if he finds out anything else. Baekhyun sees him out and when he goes back in, he finds Sehun face first onto his bed.

He goes into the room and sits on the floor, resting his cheek on the mattress and poking Sehun’s cheek with a finger.

“Are you okay?” he asks, softly, running his fingers in circles on Sehun’s shoulder.

Sehun looks at him and hums, trying to nod as best as he can with half his face pressed against the bed. “I just don’t want to be at the living room right now because apparently all our friends are creeps who watch us from the distance. Like creeps.” he repeats, and Baekhyun has to laugh at that. Sehun is too cute sometimes, without even meaning it. “Hey, what are you doing down there?”

“Well, see, you are like three meters long and you’re kinda taking up all the space up there, Sehunnie,” Baekhyun replies.

Sehun rolls around and curls up on the other side of the bed to make room for Baekhyun, who jumps onto it and curls up as well, kissing Sehun’s nose before settling in, mirroring his position.  

They stay in silence for a while, playing with each other’s hands between them. It hits Baekhyun in moments like this sometimes, how disgustingly sweet they are and how in love he is with Sehun and how he still can’t quite believe this is happening to him.

It scares him that everyone knows now, because he got used to being the two of them alone and what if this changes? What if they change? At the same time, he can’t help but being a bit excited, because maybe they’ll change for good.

Sehun breaks the silence and Baekhyun’s train of thought. “I think we should talk to them, as soon as possible.”     

“I think we should take advantage of the fact that they don’t know that we know that they know and beat them on their own stupid game,” Baekhyun says, a devilish smile on his face.

He hates that their friends turned this into some sort of game, but he hates losing even more. He won’t give them the satisfaction of winning when it’s his relationship.

“No,” Sehun whines. “Let’s just pretend we don’t know anything and tell them the truth and ruin their plans. Please, hyung.”

Baekhyun leans forward and plants a kiss on Sehun’s pouty lips. “C’mon, baby, they already made this stupid plan, let’s ruin it and have some fun while doing it,” Baekhyun smiles at Sehun in that way that usually gets him what he wants. He even bats his eyelashes a bit, for good measure.

“Stop smiling like that,” Sehun whines again, but there’s an outline of a smile on his face. Baekhyun knows he already won.

Baekhyun laughs cheerily, “C’mon, you just have to flirt back with Chanyeol’s friend for a bit, how bad can it be?”

+++

Bad doesn’t even begin to cover it.

Chanyeol walks in on Friday night with his friend from work following him into their apartment, and Sehun immediately wants to give up on this. He can see the way Baekhyun has to fight the same feeling. Chanyeol introduces Yixing to everyone, and he looks directly at Sehun with a warm smile. He has a deep dimple on his perfect cheek. Sehun can hear Baekhyun muttering something about perfect bone structure under his breath. He wants to scream.

It’s torture, really.

Sehun doesn’t actually have a list of Most Attractive People He Met, but if he had one, Yixing would definitely be on the top 10. Easily on his nonexistence Nicest People list, too.

The night starts calm and slow enough for Sehun. It’s obvious Yixing has clear instructions of what to do, because he takes to him almost too quickly to be natural, but he’s nice to Sehun and doesn’t really rush anything. He flirts in a subtle way, almost. Some smiles, some well-placed compliments. Some laughing when Sehun says something funny. Sehun is relieved, because he can keep up with this pace.

Yixing flirts, Sehun flirts back. Time passes by easily, almost like any other of their movie nights.

Until it’s time for the movie itself, and the spot next to Sehun on the couch is occupied by Yixing instead of Baekhyun.

Someone wolf-whistles and laughs. Baekhyun smiles at him and winks when no one else is watching. Sehun doesn’t know why, but suddenly he’s very aware of Yixing’s hand on his knee and everyone’s eyes on him. He likes the attention, usually, but not like this.

Sehun takes a deep breath and wills himself to relax back against the couch.

“Hey, are you okay?” Yixing asks, and there's something like genuine concern on his face.

That helps Sehun calm down. He likes Yixing so far. He’s really nice and chill, and he looks like a cool guy. Maybe Sehun would’ve enjoyed flirting with him under different circumstances.  

“I'm great,” he says and tries to smile.

Nobody is paying attention to the movie. Chanyeol, Jongin and Jongdae are on their phones, probably texting each other Sehun assumes. Baekhyun is trying to look interested on whatever’s happening on the screen, but Sehun knows he’s actually keeping an eye on him. Minseok is doing the same, while also trying to see Jongdae’s phone. Yixing is very casually leaning on Sehun, and he doesn’t look too invested in anything, really. So the movie is quickly forgotten, as everyone starts talking and making noise again.

“Hey, Sehun, why don’t you bring Yixing hyung something to drink?” Chanyeol says, and it’s so obvious what he’s doing. If Minseok hadn’t told them about this stupid plan, Sehun would have probably noticed anyway because they all suck at acting.

He takes the excuse of getting more drinks and hides in the kitchen for a moment. He wonders how much longer he has to keep the acting up. What would happen if he just goes to sleep?

“Need any help with that?”

Sehun jumps in surprise. He didn’t hear Minseok coming in.

“Can you take those?” he says, pointing to some bottles on the counter.

“Sure,” Minseok replies, grabbing the bottles. He stays there, though, looking at Sehun like he’s waiting for something else. Sehun raises his eyebrows at him. “You know you can stop this stupidity whenever you want, right? You don’t need to force yourself to do anything.”

“I know. It’s okay, for now at least,” Sehun shrugs. “Do you think it’s working, hyung?”

“That’s hard to tell because I don’t think anyone knows what exactly should happen, but,” Minseok says, then chuckles. “I do know Dae is confused, at least. Him and Baekhyun have been having some sort of staring competition for like, half the night. I think they can read each other’s mind. It’s upsetting.”

Sehun laughs at that, and feels some of his tension slipping away. Minseok smiles fondly at him and then leaves with a nod and a thumbs up.

He takes the rest of the drinks and some snacks too and goes into the living room again, giving a beer bottle to Yixing with his most charming smile.

“Thanks, beautiful,” Yixing says, taking the bottle and winking at Sehun.

It makes Sehun blush, for some reason. He bites his lip and sits on the couch, taking a sip of beer to try to cover it.

“What’s wrong, Sehunnie? You got all red suddenly,” Baekhyun says, teasingly, which only makes Sehun get redder.

Chanyeol leans forward and reaches Sehun from the other couch (he’s honestly stupidly long) and talks on his ear. “I guess I was right and you’re ready to date again,” he says, murmuring but loud enough for everyone to hear.

Yixing covers his laugh by taking a sip of his beer and his hand finds its way back to Sehun’s knee. He squeezes it and Sehun has to refrain from jerking away. Everyone else laughs too, except Minseok, who gives him a pointed look. He takes a deep breath (it feels like he’s been breathing in deep breaths all night) and finishes his beer.

“Hey, guys. Let’s get drunk and play truth or dare,” Jongdae says out of nowhere.

Sehun sees how all of his stupid friends start smiling slowly. He can’t believe this is happening. He can’t believe they are agreeing to this, even Baekhyun. Traitor. Minseok is literally the only one he can trust, it seems.  

“Oh my god, guys,” Sehun sighs, giving up. “Let’s stop, please. It’s been enough. We all know what’s happening here. I’m sorry Baek, but- I’m tired and uncomfortable, had a long day and a headache and I kinda want to go to sleep so let’s just. Stop. Please.”

Everyone stares in silence for a second, and then the room erupts all at once. Chanyeol jumps out of his sit with his fists in the air and a shit-eating grin, Baekhyun falls on his back on the floor, covering his face and whining, Jongin laughs loudly, Jongdae laughs louder.

“We win!” Chanyeol exclaims happily.

“Oh, yeah? What exactly did you win, Yeol?” Minseok asks, raising his eyebrows at him. “You just made Sehun uncomfortable and got this poor guy involved in your stupid plans,” he says, pointing at Yixing.

“Well, Yixing hyung accepted to be involved in this in exchange of a long list of things I have to do for him, so I’m not sorry for him,” Chanyeol replies. “And Sehun deserves to be at least uncomfortable, for lying to us.”

“I deserve it? Thanks for being a friend, Chanyeol,” Sehun deadpans, offended.  

“And we didn’t lie, we kept some information from you, kind of,” Baekhyun says, standing up and sitting on the armrest next to Sehun.

Chanyeol opens his mouth to reply something, but Jongin speaks first. “Whatever. You,” he points at Sehun and Baekhyun, “owe us an explanation. And maybe we owe you an apology, if you’re sorry too.”

“I don’t think we owe you anything, but okay,” Baekhyun starts. “We’re dating. Properly, for real. Like we are boyfriends. We’ve been together for like, four months?”

“Four months...” Jongdae repeats, dumbfounded.

“Yeah, it just. Kinda happened?” Sehun says, scratching the back of his head. “We kissed once, then once more, I’m honestly still a bit confused about how it happened, it just did, then we kissed a third time and talked about it and we decided to give this a shot.”

“How it just kinda happened, though? You didn’t wake up one day and randomly decided to start dating one of your best friends, did you?” Jongin asks.

Sehun can feel his cheeks heating up again. “Uhm. I’ve had feelings for Baekhyun for… years? I never said anything because- I don’t know, I was scared I guess. And it was never the right time. I don’t know, I was okay having him as a friend, it was enough for me so I didn’t see the point in telling anyone,” he shrugs.

“It was somehow the same for me,” Baekhyun adds and the room falls silent again.

Sehun is nervous. He figures nobody is really mad at them, nobody is gonna stop talking to them forever, because if that was the case they wouldn’t have planned this stupid thing like it was a game. But he also knows it’s going to take some time for everyone to accept it and get used to it, and maybe some more time to completely understand why they hid it from them. It unsettles him not knowing what his friends are thinking, that they are taking so long to say something.

Finally, Jongdae breaks the silence. “I just can’t believe you never said anything to me, Baek. We lived together all those years and…” he stops talking with a resigned sigh.

He sounds hurt, and it makes Sehun sad, but he knows Jongdae’s feelings aren’t towards him. There’s something there that he and Baekhyun will have to figure out. Baekhyun knows this too, and he flinches muttering a quiet sorry. Sehun wants to hug him, but settles for holding his hand for now. Baekhyun seems to appreciate it.

“So, not to add salt to the wound, but,” Minseok says. “I sort of always thought there was something between them, since the moment I met them. Maybe you’ve been around each other for too long and it was too gradual for anyone to notice but when I met you all, like it kinda showed, you know? So I get how it kinda just happened.”

Sehun can see Yixing nodding next to him. It makes him remember the poor guy, having to sit through all this. He hopes that list Chanyeol mentioned before is a long ass one. It makes him feel weird, too, that this thing between him and Baekhyun somehow shows . It’s mostly a good kind of weird, though.

“What I don’t get,” Minseok continues, “is why did you keep it a secret?”

“I think that was mostly my fault,” Sehun says. Baekhyun squeezes his hand. He’s lying a little, because Baekhyun has a huge part on this too, but it’s truly something he has to talk with Jongdae and Sehun figures it’ll be better if they talk about it alone. “I know it’s an old story but,” Sehun can see in everyone’s faces they know what he’ll say next. “What happened with Tao really left a mark, and I know it wasn’t my fault and you all stayed with me because you wanted to, but we all know the situation was awful for everyone. I didn’t know what dating Baekhyun was going to be like, I didn’t know if we were gonna work out and I really didn’t want to put you all on that situation again.”

“So we were scared, but really wanted to try, so I thought we could keep it a secret for a while, and then it kind of got out of our hands and we didn’t know how to tell you,” Baekhyun finishes for him.

“And then before we could figure it out you all creeps saw us through a window and here we are,” Sehun adds, with a little smile.

“That was an accident,” Jongin exclaims.

“I’m still having nightmares about it,” Chanyeol groans.

“We were just kissing!” Baekhyun says.

“We’ll have to get used to that, huh?” Jongin says, chuckling.

“Yeah, we’ll have to,” Chanyeol says, smiling softly, dimples and all.

Sehun looks at them, then at Minseok and Jongdae. Minseok looks happy everything is clear, Jongdae looks a lot more settled about the idea. It makes Sehun smile and feel a lot better. Baekhyun seems to decide this is a good time to get on Sehun’s lap and hug him tightly.

They’ll be fine.

+++

It's been ten minutes already and he still hasn't knocked. It's so weird, because he can't remember a time when he was this awkward about talking to Jongdae before, but here he is. Chickening out, like a coward. His mom would be so disappointed. Jongdae would be disappointed, too, probably is. Also, he would call Baekhyun a drama queen. That somehow springs Baekhyun into action.

Jongdae opens the door and lets him come inside without saying a word. Once in the living room, they both start talking at the same time, and then laugh when they realise. That breaks the ice, and helps Baekhyun relax.

"Okay, me first," he says, sitting on the couch and taking a deep breath before he starts talking. "I'm sorry, okay? I'm very sorry for not telling you about me and Sehun, for keeping it from you for such a long time, but I... I really couldn't tell you, okay? Please don't be mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you, Baek," Jongdae says, sitting down next to Baekhyun. "I'm just- I’m upset? At you for not telling me and at myself for not realising, I guess,” he shrugs and looks down at his hands on his lap. “I just don’t understand why you did it. I get why Sehun did it, to some extent, but you? I just don’t get it.”

Baekhyun bites his lip and looks down too. "I don't know, I just... I didn't want to be a bother, I guess?"

"What do you mean a bother? How is dating someone a bother to anyone else?"

"We didn’t know if it was going to work out or not, and I was scared for a lot of reasons. Also, you know what happened the last time I went through a breakup,” Baekhyun says, running a hand through his hair.

“Oh my god, are you still upset about that?” Jongdae exclaims, incredulous.

“Yes, Dae, I’m still upset about that,” Baekhyun deadpans. “I know you meant well and stayed because you wanted to and I’ll be forever thankful for that, but it also made me feel a bit like shit, you know? You delayed your moving because I was sad, I felt I was a dead weight for you. It was awful.” He looks at Jongdae. “And you didn’t even tell me about the moving, you just decided I couldn’t take care of myself and that was it.”

“What about you having feelings for Sehun for years and not saying anything? You can’t blame me on that,” Jongdae says, still offended.

“I don’t know, I never thought I had a chance,” Baekhyun chuckles softly. “I felt saying something would just make it worse, would make it hurt a bit more.”

Jongdae stays silent for a long moment after Baekhyun finishes. Baekhyun leans back against the couch and stares at the ceiling. It’s not a nice conversation to have, but he’s glad they are sorting this out at last.

“I’m sorry, too. Not for staying, because that wasn’t a mistake,” Jongdae looks pointedly at Baekhyun. “Staying with you will never be a mistake, but I guess I should’ve told you about moving out sooner.”

“You realise we ended up doing the same thing, right?” Baekhyun chuckles. “We both kept things from each other, we both ended up kinda hurt for that, we-”

“We are both idiots,” Jongdae finishes for him.

Baekhyun laughs and leans into Jongdae’s side. “I forgive you, you forgive me?” he asks, rubbing his face on Jongdae’s shoulder.

Jongdae nods and throws an arm around Baekhyun’s shoulders, bringing him closer to him.

Baekhyun is so happy right now, so happy he gets to have Jongdae in his life.

“So,” Jongdae says after a while. “You really like Sehun, huh?”

“I’m in love, Dae,” Baekhyun says, covering his face and laughing.

“You have to tell me everything, I want all the details.”

+++

“Did anyone see you coming in?” Baekhyun asks upon opening the door, grabbing Sehun by the arm and making him come into the apartment.

“Well, yes,” Sehun says. “I ran into Mrs. Chae on the stairs, she says she heard the news and she’s happy for us. Also, Chanyeol and Jongin said they are coming by later so, and I quote, please do all the dirty things quickly,” he finishes while taking off his shoes and going further into the place.  

“Chanyeol is disgusting,” Baekhyun says, rolling his eyes.

“And a fun killer,” Sehun adds, letting himself fall on the couch.

It’s been weird for a few days at first, after that movie night. Surprisingly, it’s been harder for Baekhyun and Sehun to get out of their secret boyfriends mode than it’s been for the rest of the group to get their heads around it. It’s still a bit weird that they make jokes and comments about them, but there’s been long conversations, lots of apologies, even more questions, and everything is falling into place again.

Baekhyun smiles and goes to sit next to Sehun. At least this is still the very same. Baekhyun instinctively curls up around Sehun and hides his face on his neck.

“I missed you, Sehunnie,” he says, nuzzling under Sehun’s chin with his nose.

“I was here yesterday,” Sehun replies with a small smile that Baekhyun feels pressed against his temple.

“Yes, but,” Baekhyun straightens up, now kneeling next to Sehun. “The rest of the guys were here too, and I still feel like I have to keep from kissing you around them,” he pouts.

“Well, there’s no one around now,” Sehun says, shrugging.

Baekhyun smiles widely and leans forward to smack a loud kiss on Sehun’s lips. He tries to back away but Sehun stops him, holding him around the waist and bringing him closer to kiss him properly.

“Guess you missed me, too,” Baekhyun comments when they break apart, peppering Sehun’s face with soft kisses.

Sehun makes a sound of acknowledge and pulls Baekhyun onto his lap. “For the record, I think we should start making out in front of all our friends just to annoy them,” he says, and kisses Baekhyun again.

Baekhyun throws his arms around Sehun’s neck and angles his head up to deepen the kiss. Chanyeol did ask for them to do the dirty things quickly and Baekhyun doesn’t see why they shouldn’t be doing them.

Sehun does something particularly interesting with his tongue on the roof of Baekhyun’s mouth, and it draws a needy sound out of him at the same time they hear the door opening and Jongin, Chanyeol and Jongdae coming in.

Baekhyun truly needs to take the keys of the apartment away from Jongdae.

“Oh my god, you guys,” Chanyeol complains loudly, covering his eyes.

Baekhyun’s first instinct is to quickly get off of Sehun’s lap, but he holds onto Baekhyun’s hips and pulls him just a bit closer, shaking his head no and giving Baekhyun a tiny pout.

Who’s Baekhyun to say no to that?

“Come back in an hour, guys, I’m making out with my boyfriend now,” he says, laughing at their displeased faces.

“Let’s make it two,” Sehun says, making the others whine louder in complaint as they leave.

Baekhyun laughs again, and his I love you gets cut with another kiss. He’s okay with that.

He hopes this gets to be his regular days from now on.

Fin.