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“Taeyeon, Taeyeon, Taeyeon!” Baekhyun chanted, shaking Taeyeon’s body in attempt to wake her up. “Wake up, sleepy fairy,” he grinned seeing her squinted eyes, desperately blocking the lights. Baekhyun was on top of her body, and she was fairly sure they looked ridiculous, and she just wanted some sleep, goddammit.
She groaned. “Can you not,” she rasped, and covered her face with an unused pillow her hand found beside her head. “I was just falling asleep,”
“But it’s Friday!” Baekhyun took the pillow in a swift motion, and Taeyeon felt his fringe on her forehead. “And if you keep this routine, you’ll never sleep like a normal person.” He half whispered, showering her forehead and nose with playful kisses.
Taeyeon’s nose wrinkled in distaste, as Baekhyun pecked her pouting lips. He was right, her sleep schedule had been a mess recently, sleeping now wouldn’t solve her problem. “What time is it?” she asked, placing both of her palms on Baekhyun’s neck, interlocking.
“It’s ten past five,” Baekhyun murmured as she opened her eyes, slowly. He kissed her lips once more, and honestly, she wasn’t going to complain because he tasted like strawberry.
“Have you been eating my strawberry jam?”
Baekhyun nodded, without feeling guilty. “It tastes better than the last one, I think I’m going to cry.” He hauled Taeyeon’s body onto him, and they were sitting on their bed, Taeyeon’s thighs on top of his. Baekhyun’s finger made a small circle on her lower back, both hands placed firmly. Taeyeon shivered. This position felt strangely familiar, and she blushed.
“I can’t believe your two first thoughts after you woke up are me, Baekhyun, your charming strawberry jam thief, and sex.” He giggled. Baekhyun always had the mental age of a touch-deprived sixteen years old boy, and always insisted that butts and sex were the highest form of jokes.
Taeyeon rolled her eyes. “You’re an utter clown. My first two thoughts were to strangle the man waking me up, and secondly, to strangle the man who stole my strawberry jam.”
Baekhyun laughed, tossing his head slightly backward, effortlessly being beautiful as the man he was. Taeyeon was glad that Baekhyun didn’t possess any superpower to read her mind, because that’d be embarrassing. She sighed in relief.
“Today’s… happy hour as usual?” She asked instead, as trains of memories came flooding inside her mind.
“Yeah. We’re going to Wishbone as always, and I think we’re going to be late again if you don’t shower now.” Baekhyun smirked, without making any effort to move either of their bodies. “I made you coffee, too, but it’s probably warm at this point,”
Coffee, Taeyeon’s brain was serenading and desperately calling for one. She wiggled his way out of Baekhyun—only after kissing the bridge his nose because his stupid slender hands just wouldn’t let go, grabbed the holy coffee on top of their nightstand, and made her way to the sitting room. She could feel Baekhyun trailing behind her, possibly going to sit on their sofa while he’d wait for her.
She drank her coffee while walking, emptying it. Baekhyun always made extraordinary coffee. “This coffee is wonderful. I love you,” she said, putting her mug down on the sink before manoeuvring swiftly to the direction of the bathroom.
“I love you too, but you’re going to regret saying that after you see the fridge,” Baekhyun gave her his square smile, eyebrows rising in a way that made him look like he was expecting an explosion.
“What did you do,” Taeyeon halted her movements, walking back to the kitchen in backward motion. She reached and swung the fridge door open, and let out a screech: “You emptied the whole jar!”
“I didn’t!” Baekhyun answered, half panicked. He rushed to Taeyeon’s side, took the jar from her hand, and tapped the glass like a maniac. “I left about a quarter, see?”
Taeyeon narrowed her eyes at Baekhyun. This man was straight up unbelievable.
Yesterday, she had made some strawberry jams for her friends, because Baekhyun had boasted about how great it tasted; obviously the end result was a high demand of strawberry jams from them. She also made two extra jars because she knew by heart that Baekhyun loved it, but she didn’t expect him to vanish the whole thing in a day. Baekhyun didn’t know about the other jar, though, Taeyeon had hid it. “That’s barely enough for two toasts, you toad!” she faked a bark, looking extremely irritated. Taeyeon wished someone was there to praise her acting skill, because Byun I-Love-Strawberry-More-Than-You Baekhyun was totally buying it.
She slammed the fridge door shut, and left Baekhyun there, knees on the floor, looking horror-struck and screwed up. Revenge was always fun.
Taeyeon took big strides to the bathroom, locked the door, turned the shower on, and laughed. She heard Baekhyun outside, saying incomprehensible things, his words were drowned by the sound of warm water from their shower cubicle.
* * *
“Kim Taeyeon,” Baekhyun called anxiously, after the sound of her hair dryer died out. She took her time, arranging her makeup products in the storage, before finally stepping outside with her bathrobe untied (she knew this was necessary to make him more miserable). She found Baekhyun’s body in a ninety degrees angle; it seemed like he was calling her name through the key hole. Taeyeon gave her all to stop herself from laughing on that crucial moment.
Taeyeon had dragged her big makeup bag to the bathroom, about thirty minutes ago. She knew, if she did her makeup in their room, Baekhyun would talk to her and he’d realise that she wasn’t really angry with him. She needed to make it more believable. So, she just did her makeup in front of their bathroom mirror. She also decided to ignore him, who managed to look like a lost puppy that made her feel slightly guilty at the same time. Sometimes the gods were just not fair.
“Are you going to abandon me for the next three hours, too?” He asked, and Taeyeon gave him a side glance. She thought she saw the word ‘devastated’ plastered on his forehead. Taeyeon marched forward. “I’m sorry for not sharing the strawberry jam,” he said behind her.
Taeyeon didn’t answer, she couldn’t; she was too busy biting her inner cheeks. She should not laugh.
On their bed, Baekhyun had laid out a floral sundress—her favourite, she realised—and a pair of matching light blue earrings. There was also a pair of gladiator sandals beside her bed, because Baekhyun was a genius like that. She had complained to him that she rarely wore the gladiators; she wanted to, but she couldn’t really match it with anything she had. Or at least that was what she thought, because obviously gladiator sandals are a match made in heaven for sundresses.
“Look, I apologise for the whole strawberry incident. I have no excuse.” Baekhyun sighed, his head facing the carpet inside their room. Taeyeon scanned his white shirt and his open collar, his loosely rolled up sleeves, his faded light-blue ripped jeans. In a detachment, Taeyeon thought that she would never be bored of him.
“Wait, I actually do. It’s just, you know, it’s so good and I just can’t help it,” Baekhyun amended. “Does that count as an excuse? Because for god’s sake it was the best thing I’ve ever eaten in my entire life,” he said, totally exaggerating.
“How am I supposed to know it’s good if you didn’t leave me any,” Taeyeon spoke with not much focus, as she dropped her bathrobe and hair towel around her feet. She stepped outside the pool she made, honestly too satisfied of her dress combination.
“I know! I really am just a dumb person,” he mumbled.
Taeyeon blinked, taking a moment to process why the words sounded so familiar. Holy—it was a Zootopia reference and she lost it. Her roar of laughter filled their exceptionally silent bedroom, her hands shaking as she tried to put on the earrings.
Baekhyun looked at her in shock, as if Taeyeon was betraying him. “You little shit!”
“Oh please, it’s not like you’re not doing it on purpose!” Taeyeon slipped her sundress from her feet upwards, unable to button anything because she was still hysterical. She didn’t know what was funnier.
Baekhyun frowned at her, but his hands were steadying her as he fixed her dress. “I swear to god I hate you for laughing at my sincere apology,”
“But you were referencing to Judy from Zootopia, how can I not laugh?” Taeyeon held her aching stomach, as Baekhyun guided her to sit on the bed. Frankly, she wasn’t capable of thinking clearly at the moment, and she had never even once doubted his decision, simplest as it was.
He squatted in front of her, hands working delicately with her sandals. It wasn’t the first time he did that, though the last attempt before this one was only to piss Taeyeon off. He had tied the knot in front, which was ridiculous, and Taeyeon just had to smack him in the head. But he didn’t joke around with this one. “What are you even saying,” he sighed.
Taeyeon shot him a puzzled look. “Really? The ‘I really am just a dumb—
“bunny,” Baekhyun interrupted, the click of understanding clear on his face. He let his body touch the floor, sitting and looking pathetic. “Oh my god,”
His expression was priceless.
“I was being sincere, you heartless fox,”
Taeyeon snickered, the kind of snicker that was not cute—at all—because it was too damn funny. Both of them loved Zootopia, she was pretty sure they watched it more than thirty times already, and she thought the script might be planted unconsciously in his mind. “And I was messing with you, by the way, I made two jars because I know you’d be a bloody kid and eat the whole thing; but I placed the jar with Tiffany’s so you don’t touch it.” She managed to say between her laughs.
“You!” Baekhyun rose up and pushed giggling Taeyeon onto the soft mattress, intending to tickle her ruthlessly. A rush of panic came to her, and her mind was screaming ‘danger, Kim Taeyeon, just fucking go!’ but she was too late. Baekhyun already held both of her wrists above her head with one hand, his other was busy tickling the right spots. Taeyeon screamed.
“Apologise!” He demanded, clearly enjoying the sight of Taeyeon, breathless and immobile.
“Nooo!” She insisted, trying to set herself free from Baekhyun’s death grip, to no avail.
Baekhyun had already locked her thighs with his feet, so that she couldn’t really move. “All right, I don’t mind doing this all night.” He said wickedly, mouth forming a smirk and Taeyeon could just feel it—and his breaths were hot on her ear.
“Baekhyun—we’re going to be late,” Taeyeon pleaded, her eyes darting back and forth between the clock and the man torturing her. She somewhat had known this would happen; it bloody happened every time she tried to mess with Baekhyun. She had known, but she had chosen to ignore it—look what it had gotten her into.
Baekhyun (thankfully) followed her gaze on the clock, and of course it was bloody quarter past six. The gods were good, Taeyeon decided, also—really, they just couldn’t afford to be late, again. “All right. But you’re going to make it up to me as soon as we get home,” he gave in, biting Taeyeon’s nose with a little too much strength than necessary.
“That hurts!” Taeyeon protested.
“Of course that hurts, your nose is probably broken.” Baekhyun smirked as he stood up, unfazed by the feigned drama. He held out a hand to help Taeyeon, in which she still received gladly.
“I swear, if I get a pimple from that I will murder you,” Taeyeon threatened, turning her gaze to the tall mirror on their right side of the room. She and Baekhyun were trying to straighten their crumpled clothes. “God, we look like—
“We had sex, yeah.” Baekhyun tucked his shirt inside his jeans, the edge was beyond saving. He straightened his collar, then pushed his hair back with his fingers. A snicker. “It was just like last week!”
Taeyeon looked at her dress hopelessly, knowing that she couldn’t do anything. She couldn’t be bothered to change, and they were late. Again. Baekhyun dragged her outside, Taeyeon’s bag already in his other hand. “Except last week, we did, but this time you tortured me,”
“Well, you deserved it.” Baekhyun snorted.
Taeyeon gave him a good pinch on his hip. “They’ll think we’re a couple of horny teenagers who shag every day.” She muttered, her neck flushed thinking about their friends’ possible remarks. They were late before—it was Baekhyun’s fault that he was turned on seeing their reflections on the mirror, god—and of course Do Kyungsoo had something to say about her dishevelled hair. She didn’t know if she had the face to hear another one.
A crisp laugh was echoing their floor’s hall. Baekhyun turned his head toward her, “Don’t we?”
God, Taeyeon wanted to hide herself and skip the weekly dinner.
“Too late!” Baekhyun wrapped his arm around her shoulder. “You should know that you were thinking out loud,”
Taeyeon groaned.
* * *
“Hi there, welcome to Wishbone. I’m Joy, can I help you?” A young waitress approached them. They probably looked like a confused middle-aged couple, heads bobbing around looking for the table with a particularly tall bloke and another who looked like a penguin plushie.
“Hi, yeah. Didn’t expect this place to be this crowded,” Baekhyun answered with a grimace. “We’re looking for our friends…” he trailed off, eyes still searching.
The waitress, Joy, cocked her head mimicking Baekhyun, unsure what to do with her odd guest. Her ponytail flailed as her head did so.
“Oh, oh—these guys are regulars!” another waitress nudged Joy from the side, and smiled apologetically at them. Taeyeon brightened at the sight of a familiar face. “I’m sorry, she’s new. I’m Wendy, and I think I saw your friends on the left corner. Let me take you there,” she said cheerfully.
“Ah, hi Wendy. Thank you, Joy, it’s okay.” Taeyeon nodded at Joy’s direction, who seemed to blush after Wendy stepped in to help her out. The new waitress nodded back, still too flabbergasted to move.
On their way, Baekhyun had asked why this place was surrounded by people on Friday night, because he was sure it wasn’t like this last week. And the weeks before, too. Taeyeon nodded in agreement.
Wendy shrugged, “Probably promotions finally done right. I’m sorry you didn’t get your usual tables—it’s really packed in here.”
Almost immediately, Taeyeon spotted Chanyeol, the easiest—because he was gigantic. Kyungsoo’s body was almost hidden by his. “It’s fine. If we knew, we would’ve called to get a reservation,” she assured, quickening her pace with a broad smile.
“Here you are,” Wendy said.
“Hi, lovebirds,” Kyungsoo greeted them solemnly, his arms supporting the weight of his head. Chanyeol had his head rested on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, grinning at her as a welcome gesture. He wasn’t much of a talker on the first five minutes, Taeyeon knew as a result of knowing both of them for the past twelve years. He hadn’t changed, nor did Kyungsoo, though the four of them were in their early thirties. It was a rather comforting thought.
Taeyeon grinned back at them, taking the seat in front of Kyungsoo. “Your ring looks dashing.” She remarked, eyeing another identical one in Chanyeol’s finger. It was simple yet elegant; white gold, just how Kyungsoo liked it. She wondered where was the Chanyeol’s influence, until she saw the engraving on their rings. Those looked like Chanyeol’s idea, definitely. “Yours too, Chanyeol.”
“See, I told you they’d immediately notice,” Kyungsoo’s eyes turned rounder, as he said to Chanyeol in a scolding tone.
“Baekhyun hasn’t commented anything!” Chanyeol defended himself, straightening his body, looking taller than the standing Wendy not far from their side right away. Taeyeon stuck a tongue out when he looked at her, hinting for help. “And it’s not like they’re not the first one we’re going to tell, anyway.” He continued in a despairing tone, unsynchronised with his expression because he was smiling widely.
Taeyeon snorted at the warm comment from Chanyeol’s. The pair was also the first two people who knew about her and Baekhyun’s engagement five months ago—in fact, Baekhyun had asked for their help—and it was only about time for Chanyeol and Kyungsoo, because as far as she remembered, they had been together since forever.
The three of them eyed Baekhyun, who was still standing and busy pointing menus.
“He’ll recognise the rings,” Taeyeon smiled devilishly, feeling somehow proud of him, and she was arsing delighted by the turn of events. She had expected Kyungsoo to tease her with no end, with Chanyeol definitely throwing her the looks.
Chanyeol sighed in defeat, resting his body to the back of his seat. “Nobody knows him better than you,”
“Ha! So I win the bet, then?” Kyungsoo’s expressionless façade broke into a huge toothy grin. He tried to wrap his right hand around Chanyeol’s shoulder, then he realised that his fiancé was a lot taller than any of them. “Bollocks,” he muttered, as he retreated his hand.
“Not yet, but I can do this for you,” Chanyeol said, as he sunk his body lower to his seat. He was laughing with Taeyeon, because everyone knew Kyungsoo was adorable like that. Chanyeol half forcefully took Kyungsoo’s arm, earning him a painful pinch on his shoulder. Kyungsoo, who turned red, seemed quite satisfied by Chanyeol’s groan of pain and didn’t remove his hand.
“What bet?” Taeyeon asked.
“Later—let’s see if Baekhyun notices,” Kyungsoo answered with a smug face.
A second after, Baekhyun sat next to Taeyeon with a puzzled face. “Notice what?” he inquired, staring at the other three. Taeyeon looked at him with a pair of pleading eyes, don’t disappoint me and look at them properly.
Baekhyun would be a total idiot if he didn’t notice the rings. Besides, Do Kyungsoo and Park Chanyeol had the afterglow; the one you got from overflowing happiness with teary moments, and possibly a good shag after. Kyungsoo also seemed off in a good way, he was more affectionate towards Chanyeol. As far as Taeyeon knew, he liked to keep things private.
Kyungsoo giggled, seeing Baekhyun still frowning at Taeyeon. He didn’t get her messages, so much for saying that they were soulmates when they couldn’t even do telepathy. Taeyeon rolled her eyes.
“What did you order, anyway?” Chanyeol asked instead, earning Baekhyun’s attention.
“Wendy told me that you already ordered for the four of us, so I ordered more beers.” Baekhyun nodded satisfactorily, wiggling his eyebrows in Kyungsoo and Taeyeon’s direction.
Taeyeon’s ears perked up at those comment, while Kyungsoo was definitely confused. “What for?” he frowned, and the words of Chanyeol echoed in her mind. Nobody knew Baekhyun better than she did. She smirked.
“To celebrate your engagement, of cou—
“Ha!” Kyungsoo shrieked, cutting off Baekhyun’s words. He poked Chanyeol’s ribs with his elbow hard enough that he groaned as response. “I won, Chanyeol.”
Clapping like a seal, there was also a delightful laugh at that from Taeyeon, and she kissed Baekhyun on the cheek. “I’m truly happy for both of you,” she exclaimed, turning her head to Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. She then shifted her seat closer to the table, fingers tapping unrhythmically. “What was the bet about?”
Chanyeol waved a hand at her. “Basically, if he wins, I have to cook breakfast for the next two weeks, Kyungsoo gets to cook dinner.” He shrugged, and Kyungsoo was beaming at him. “If I win, well, I can be lazy as usual,”
It was not a secret that both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo were wonderful at cooking, but Taeyeon also knew that Chanyeol wasn’t a morning person. It wasn’t really a big deal if it were up to her, but Chanyeol couldn’t really function normally before eleven in the morning. He preferred to cook dinner, he had said, because he was more productive and that at the evening, his brain actually worked. “We have to come by, Baekhyun, this is a once-in-a-thousand-years moment!” She giggled, expecting Baekhyun to throw another banter at them.
All that Taeyeon realised after was that: a) Baekhyun was astoundingly silent, b) it was really odd. She held his hand, concerned.
“Yes, uh, it’s about time, the both of you.” Baekhyun managed, somewhat choked up, then he cleared his throat. The three including her was confused of the sudden shift of mood, and Taeyeon wasn’t expecting anything like this from Byun Baekhyun. “Damn it, guys, I need a hug!” he looked at them hopelessly, the tears finally rolled down from his eyes.
Being in the closest position to Baekhyun, Taeyeon pulled him into a huge bear hug, and Kyungsoo had ran over to them shortly after. “Oh, dear,” he said, in a palpable fondness from his eyes.
Baekhyun was still sniffling when Joy came to serve their huge portion of fried chicken, which was just right at the moment Chanyeol stood up, so he halted himself and briefly explained to the obviously confused Joy. He joined dramatic yet warm hug when the waitress had excused herself and left (also, after teasing Baekhyun for crying when it wasn’t his own engagement). Taeyeon was grabbing Kyungsoo’s shoulder when Chanyeol’s unbelievably long hand reached hers.
They were like that for a while, all sniffles and giggles at the same time. A familiar feeling enveloped Taeyeon and made her stomach warm, and she didn’t give a damn for the father of two beside them who threw the four of them a disapproving look. People mostly didn’t care, and it wasn’t like they were destroying properties or being too obnoxious and loud. The buzzing around them drowned their voices, anyway.
Her eyes met Wendy’s briefly, she was standing far enough to not understand that there was a grown-up man about to file a written complaint about how he was feeling disturbed by the customers next to him hugging each other childishly. Wendy was clasping Joy’s arm, smiling ear-to-ear and Joy also grinned, though the red on her ears was unmistakable even at this distance. Taeyeon smiled at them.
“Guys, I’m fine, but I’m getting really hungry here,” Baekhyun laughed, finally calming down after a few minutes. There were a lot of mocking, who was he kidding, really—but they eventually let go after placing kisses on top of Baekhyun’s head, and sat back on their respective seats. “I’m really happy for you two.” He added.
Taeyeon smiled fondly at her friends, her three boys, understanding Baekhyun’s feelings. They had come this far, finally being their best versions of themselves. They went through horrible breakdowns, shitty unexpected events, had slept in a small bed together countless times with the sole effort to comfort one another; and they were here. She was grateful for that.
The night dragged with such vigour that she hadn’t felt in a long time, the four of them getting more drunk in each passing minutes; Baekhyun’s occasional comforting squeeze on her hands, and the warm gaze Chanyeol and Kyungsoo shot them every time Baekhyun did that.
Kyungsoo also had told them, the engraving on their rings was their soundwaves—Taeyeon was right, it was Chanyeol’s idea—and obviously the standard was saying “I do,” but they weren’t a pair of normal being.
“Kyungsoo’s ring is me saying ‘Kyungsoo, love me please!’ and of course,” Chanyeol paused, rolling his eyes at his fiancé.
“What?” Baekhyun bit into his chicken, waiting impatiently. Taeyeon grabbed a tissue for him, and he accepted with a whispered ‘thank you’.
“Okay, in my defence, we were in separate rooms and I hadn’t got a clue that we were supposed to say cheesy things like that.” Kyungsoo said in a very serious tone.
“The staffs literally talked to us about the customary and I’m quite sure you were listening!” Chanyeol scrunched his nose, looking like he wanted to bite Kyungsoo’s cheek.
“Oh, no, don’t tell me,” Taeyeon looked at Kyungsoo in a horror. “Don’t tell me you said ‘Chanyeol, you utter wanker,’…?”
Baekhyun bursted out laughing, since the four knew it was a catchphrase popularised by Kyungsoo, among them. It was such an inside joke that when they hung out with a large group of friends, Taeyeon felt a little guilty when she actually said those words (she couldn’t help it, it was engrained in her brain) and earned a snicker from the other three, because the others didn’t understand what they were laughing about.
“That was a precise guess.” Chanyeol raised his glass, emptying it after clinking his to Taeyeon’s.
Kyungsoo shrugged, saying that he’d also drink to that. He had offered to re-record it, but Chanyeol had said no, he didn’t mind, after all.
All Taeyeon could think of was the horrified looks of the custom soundwave ring employees must have had when they had seen the event unfold. “Cheers to your obliviousness, darling, I hope it’ll never change.”
“It was bizarrely Kyungsoo, anyway,” Baekhyun smirked. “I’d stay away from him if his message was something in the line of ‘you’re my eternal love,’ or something.”
They laughed again at that.
* * *
After countless rounds of beers, all fuzzy and delighted and light-headed, Taeyeon saw Baekhyun hugging the newly engaged couple, giving each of them a forehead kiss, possibly just because he wanted to. She caught up with the three in front of Wishbone’s entrance door, later when she was finished with the payment—Wendy was talking briefly with her, too. At this point, she was sure the four of them were Wendy’s favourite customers.
She once again wished them congratulations, kissing Kyungsoo’s left cheek and Chanyeol’s right. Kyungsoo patted her head, just because she was the only person he could do that to, since Chanyeol and Baekhyun were taller than the both of them. Taeyeon grinned.
They parted ways, the newly engaged couple disappeared inside a taxi while Baekhyun held her hand, walking back to their flat.
* * *
It was a night mid-summer, and summer in Seoul was always humid, until the point where she felt her hands warm and almost clammy.
Baekhyun didn’t let go of her, though.
They strolled the street, shoulders touching, and it was like a déjà vu, just like eight summers ago when he first held her hand. Baekhyun was still throwing lame jokes that made himself giggle, and Taeyeon giggled too because it was honestly cute how he could laugh at his own jokes.
The soft breeze gently brushed their skins, bathed in the moonlight, Seoul’s city lights were around them, capturing Baekhyun’s features just in the right angles. The way his eyes faded into the shape of crescent when he was delighted, his smile lines, his silver chain of a necklace that Taeyeon had gave him on a whim a year ago, the hoop rested on the base of his neck and the other end dangling just above his chest.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” he whispered, stopping to tuck Taeyeon’s hair behind her ear.
She smiled, the scent of Égoïste strong and overwhelming her senses. “You smell wonderful, by the way.”
Baekhyun closed towards her, both of his palms gently framing Taeyeon’s head. “It’s the one you like out of every perfume I owned,” he said, right eyebrow flung upwards as if saying I know that’s not what you want to say.
Taeyeon felt the tip of her nose touching ever so slightly with Baekhyun’s. “You—you’re… really, really, beautiful.” She blurted out, after accidentally making eye contacts. He always had a kind of magic that just… loose her, easing the stress and forgetting the anxieties away. She was quite sloppy at expressing her gratitude with words, so instead, she tiptoed, and kissed his lips.
The world felt like a blurry vision, out of focus. The street buzzing was left forgotten, the sizzling sounds of kimchi pancakes from the stall not far from her was drowned out by Baekhyun’s soft breathing, mingling with hers. She felt herself melt into Baekhyun’s arms, her fingers gnawing slightly on his waist. Taeyeon knew, by heart; she was familiar with the crooks of his body, she had already found the perfect angle to fit right into his, but she was always mildly surprised of how soft his lips were.
Her heart was racing, exhaling slowly the breath she didn’t know she held, as she pulled away—only to be pulled right back by the man in front of her. Something inside of Taeyeon fluttered wildly, tensions unwinding at the same time it felt like somebody tied a knot inside her stomach. She bit down a groan when she felt Baekhyun’s all too wet lips grazing over her lower lips, his fingers were still on the side of her face, firm and demanding.
The skin on Baekhyun’s neck were feverishly hot when she moved her hands up, and Taeyeon didn’t know whether the weather had caused it, or that it was something else entirely. All she knew, by the time she forced herself to breathe and disentangled her lips from his, was that she started loving him, eight summers ago, and hadn’t stopped since.
“I love you,” she whispered, and she thought she had seen stars inside Baekhyun’s iris.
He planted a kiss on Taeyeon’s nose, chuckling lowly. “I love you too.”