feels like I've fallen in love [Baekhyun/Chen] (2/2)
feels like I've fallen in love
EXO | Baekhyun/Chen | PG | 8,131w
Fluff, Romance, Friendship
Maybe the reason why he's never been interested in dating anyone is because of his best friend.
This is especially for drainbamage954. ♥ Because she's simply awesome. This is my wedding gift to you for our wedding. Lmao. You deserve better, but I hope you like it anyway.
Thank you to loudestoflove for the beta work! I really appreciate it.
Part 1
feels live I've fallen in love part 2
-
Baekhyun frowns at his watch. He’s been in the stupid sports store for 10 minutes now and Jongdae’s still nowhere in sight. He actually got out of his study period when Jongdae called half an hour ago stating that it was urgent that he meets him.
“Baek!” Jongdae rushes into the store, out of breath.
“Where have you been?” Baekhyun immediately chides him.
“Sorry, I got held up,” Jongdae runs a hand through his hair and Baekhyun immediately notices that something’s wrong.
“What happened?” Baekhyun asks, taking in the tired aura that Jongdae’s emitting. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, fine. Just Kyungsoo,” Jongdae dismisses it. He scans the store, but Baekhyun stops him.
“Did you two fight?” Baekhyun frowns.
Jongdae and Kyungsoo have been dating for almost four months now. They met through some business organization in university, which Kyungsoo is an alumnus of. Baekhyun thinks it’s kind of a miracle how Jongdae and Kyungsoo hit it off because Jongdae is a bit of a weirdo. But he’s really happy for his best friend because Kyungsoo seems patient enough to handle all the quirks that Jongdae has.
“He’s having another business trip for like a week this time,” Jongdae tells him with a sigh. “I told him it was okay, that you’re here anyway.”
“Oh,” Baekhyun says seriously. He watches as Jongdae stares at the ground with a frown on his face, which is something that he rarely ever sees on his best friend’s face. Jongdae’s such a smiley and happy person that it’s immediately strange when he doesn’t smile. “When is he coming back? Maybe you can prepare a surprise for him when he does.”
Jongdae smiles at him. “That’s a good idea,” he agrees, seemingly much happier than he was moments ago. “Maybe I can make my version of Kimchi spaghetti. You can taste-test it!”
Baekhyun puts an arm around him and laughs. “Let’s not get carried away,” he gently squeezes him. “Lives are at stake here.” Jongdae shoves him. “So, what are we doing here? You said there was a crisis?”
He looks around. He’s not sure what kind of crisis can happen at a sports store. Well, maybe if that tall, blonde-haired store attendant toppled over, it would be considered a crisis.
“Okay, don’t get mad,” is Jongdae’s introduction, and immediately Baekhyun knows that Jongdae did something that would make him exasperated again.
“What did you do this time?” Baekhyun wants to throw a basketball on Jongdae’s face, but he really doesn’t want to be arrested.
“Do you see that tall guy by the counter?” Jongdae turns him towards the direction of the said counter and all Baekhyun sees is that tall, blonde-haired disaster waiting to happen. “He’s in my class and-“
“Oh my god, did you set me up again?” Baekhyun elbows Jongdae hard on the ribs, making Jongdae cough.
“I’m still really sorry about what happened with Tao,” Jongdae rushes with an explanation. “I feel bad and I’ve been wanting to make it up to you ever since. But you’ve been busy with your papers and I figured I’d just tell you after they were over.”
“I really hate you,” Baekhyun says it like it’s the tragedy of his life. He eyes the mentioned male and watches as he plasters something that can resemble a smile if he didn’t look like he was in pain while doing it. “Actually, I’ve hated you all my life. Why are we still friends?”
“His name is Yifan,” Jongdae ignores him, smiling happily because he knows that Baekhyun’s going to go through with this. “He’s-“
“Chinese,” Baekhyun finishes, shooting him a look. “Yet again.”
“Canadian,” Jongdae proudly corrects him. “He was born in China but grew up in Canada, so he’s Canadian and has been in Seoul for only a year. He’s been looking for more friends so he can practice his Korean more and I thought of you!” He gestures towards Baekhyun like he’s just announced that he’s won the lottery.
“Still Chinese,” Baekhyun insists. He sighs and shakes his head at Jongdae. “I really don’t know why I put up with you.”
“Because you love me,” Jongdae smugly declares. “And because you know I only want you to be happy.” He gently nudges him. “One last shot? If this doesn’t work out, I promise I’ll leave you and dating alone. You can be a hermit or become a priest for all I care.”
“Stop being dramatic,” Baekhyun pinches his cheeks. Then he takes a deep breath as he looks at blondie. “So his name is Yifan?”
“Wu Yifan,” Jongdae supplies. “He’s two years older and incredibly handsome. But, of course, not more handsome than I am.” He nods in satisfaction.
“Please,” Baekhyun scoffs. “Well, then I guess I’m going to go and just introduce myself or something.” He faces his best friend. “How do I look?”
Jongdae chuckles as he fixes the collar of Baekhyun’s shirt and fixes his hair. “Like a puppy,” he tells him satisfactorily. “A really cute puppy,” he corrects himself when Baekhyun makes a face at him.
Jongdae smiles as he watches Baekhyun approach Yifan.
“Hi,” Baekhyun looks up as he greets the giant.
“Hey,” Yifan returns, glancing up in time to see Jongdae giving him a two thumbs up sign before leaving the store. “Ah, you’re Baekhyun.”
“And you’re Yifan,” Baekhyun returns.
“Jongdae’s told me a lot about you,” Yifan genially states.
“All good things, I’m sure,” Baekhyun says. “But I’m sorry to say that he’s never mentioned you so I pretty much don’t know anything about you.”
“I’m sure we can find a way to change that,” Yifan states, a small smirk on his face. “How about coffee? I get off in like 10 minutes.”
“Great,” Baekhyun agrees with a smile.
-
“Hey,” Jongdae absentmindedly greets Baekhyun as he comes home that evening. His gaze is fixated on the TV screen where a bunch of kids are singing Since You’ve Been Gone in acapella fashion.
Baekhyun plops down on his couch and grabs the popcorn that’s in Jongdae’s hands. “I can’t believe you started without me,” he grumbles, munching on popcorn.
“You were taking forever,” Jongdae says. “I wasn’t sure what time you were coming home. Jongin’s in his room.”
Baekhyun sighs and leans his head on Jongdae’s shoulder, Jongdae scooting closer to him so he can slide his arm around him.
They’re quiet for a couple of minutes, absorbing the fact that Anna Kendrick’s voice-and-hand coordination is impeccable, before Jongdae speaks again.
“Well? How did it go?” Jongdae quietly asks, inattentively moving his hand up and down Baekhyun’s arm.
“Good,” Baekhyun answers.
“She’s easily the best singer in the group,” Jongdae then states, gesturing at the television. “Of course she’d get in.”
“She’s also the lead, so…” Baekhyun chuckles.
Jongdae laughs and pulls Baekhyun closer to him. “I’m glad you had fun,” he says, pressing a kiss on Baekhyun’s forehead.
Baekhyun quietly giggles, wrapping both of his arms around Jongdae’s waist. “Me too.”
-
Baekhyun enters the apartment, stretching his neck this way and that. He feels so tired. His classes have been really gruelling these past few weeks. He’s tired all the time, most of the time falling asleep even when he’s studying. He really wonders sometimes why he continues to do this to himself. He loves the course, but there are moments when he stops to think if this is still really something he wants to pursue.
“Hey hyung,” Jongin greets him from the couch, where he’s watching TV.
“Hey,” Baekhyun greets him as he takes his coat and shoes off. “How was school?” he asks, ruffling his hair and taking a seat beside him.
“Good,” Jongin answers. “Got an A on my math exam.” He grins when Baekhyun proudly beams at him. “Sehun helped me.”
“Ah, the ugly, gangly kid, Sehun,” Baekhyun repeats, and he thinks that Jongin is exactly the reason why he’s still in Medicine.
“Hyung,” Jongin half-heartedly reproaches him.
Baekhyun doesn’t dignify that with a response and just yawns. “Did Jongdae call?”
Jongin shrugs. “But Yifan hyung did,” he says.
“Oh right,” Baekhyun says, sitting up and standing to go to the kitchen. “He’s coming over.”
He and Yifan had hit it off better than Baekhyun ever expected, because Jongdae’s choices really have been questionable in the past. But Yifan is actually nice. He is a mix of Lu Han and Tao, although less violent and less fluffy, and Baekhyun finds that he quite likes that. They’ve been going out for more than a month and he has been enjoying every minute of it.
Yifan is a business graduate student like Jongdae. He’s in Seoul because he’s interested in the culture, and because his family is thinking of putting up a branch of their retail business there. He plays basketball well, is smart and is actually really sweet. He always brings Baekhyun food and sometimes visits him in his classes. He’s also very handsome when he doesn’t try so hard to smile.
What Baekhyun likes more is that he understands that he’s busy with his work for school and never pressures him to go out all the time. Instead, he comes over his apartment and they watch movies and Running Man, all the while feeding each other ice cream.
“Why are you going out with him?” Jongin asks suddenly, making Baekhyun stop and face him.
“Yifan? What do you mean?” Baekhyun asks, brows furrowing. “I like him.”
“Yeah, but,” Jongin hesitates. “What about Jongdae hyung?”
“What?” Baekhyun laughs. His laughter fades when Jongin continues looking expectantly at him. “You’re serious.” He sits back down on the couch and pats Jongin’s knee. “Jongdae’s my best friend, Jongin. You know this.”
“And what’s wrong with that?” Jongin frowns.
“What do you mean?” Baekhyun asks, confused. “Jongdae’s my best friend,” he repeats with a shrug.
Baekhyun honestly thinks that the term best friend is too shallow for what he and Jongdae share. They’ve known each other since high school, met through the music club, both with a passion for singing. Somehow they stuck together all through university, where they’d seen each other in every sticky and awkward situation there is. They have been with each other through hook-ups, hang-ups, break-ups and even break-ins. Baekhyun can’t honestly see his life without Jongdae. He thinks there’s no one else who understands him better than he does.
“Is it wrong to be in love with your best friend?” Jongin presses.
“Of course it isn’t,” Baekhyun assures him. He studies Jongin carefully. “Is this about ugly, gangly kid, Sehun?” Jongin doesn’t say anything. “Are you saying you’re in love with him?”
Jongin clears his throat in embarrassment. “Maybe,” he croaks.
Baekhyun smiles and pulls Jongin in a hug. All he really wants is for Jongin to have a good life, for him to be happy, and if it takes that ugly, gangly kid to contribute to that then it’s all fine with him.
“Do you think he’s in love with you, too?” Baekhyun inquires.
“He says he is,” Jongin whispers.
“It’s not wrong to be in love with your best friend, Jongin,” Baekhyun tells him softly as he slightly tightens his hold on him.
“Then why aren’t you and Jongdae hyung together?” Jongin insists.
Baekhyun merely laughs, because he realizes he doesn’t have an answer to that.
-
The café is packed and noisy with the rush of students just coming out of their afternoon classes. Everyone is busy with the preparing and serving of coffee with Minseok manning the cashier and Junmyeon managing the orders.
Baekhyun hums Hawak Kamay under his breath as he wipes one of the tables that have just been vacated. He’s about to move on to clean another table when he feels arms wrap around his waist. Smiling, he turns around and looks up just in time to meet Yifan’s kiss.
“Hi,” Yifan greets him.
“Hi,” Baekhyun greets back with a smile. “How was business theory?”
Yifan lets him go do some more cleaning. “Stressful,” he answers. He pauses. “How do you know I have business theory as my last class today?” A smile starts creeping up his face until Baekhyun answers.
“You have the same classes as Jongdae, right?” Baekhyun says, attention concentrated on the table with the milk stain. “He made me memorize his schedule like the back of my hand.”
“Oh,” Yifan’s smile swiftly disappears. “Yeah, it was a bit tiring. That’s why I was thinking…” Baekhyun looks expectantly at him as they make their way towards the counter. “Maybe we can grab some dinner, maybe see a movie? I know you’ve been wanting to watch Les Mis for a while now.”
Baekhyun sighs and shakes his head. “I’d love to, but I’m closing shop today and I have a ton of homework,” he pouts as he leans up to kiss Yifan. “Sorry.”
“Yeah, of course,” Yifan says understandingly. “I was just wondering.”
“Are you going to order anything?” Minseok asks Yifan.
“He’ll have a vanilla latte,” Baekhyun calls from the back.
“Uh, no,” Yifan shakes his head at Minseok. “I’ll have black coffee. I don’t drink anything vanilla.”
When Baekhyun comes back out, he sees Yifan’s coffee and swallows uncomfortably. Vanilla latte is Jongdae’s drink. “Will you be staying home tonight?” he asks. “I can call you later when I’m in between studying.”
“Yeah, sure,” Yifan says with a smile. “I’d like that.”
Jongdae comes bounding in shortly, his hair and shirt in disarray. He immediately looks for Baekhyun and pulls him aside. Junmyeon promptly shows Yifan to a table at Minseok’s urging.
“Jongdae, what’s wrong?” Baekhyun asks, fixing the collar of his shirt and trying to fix his hair for him. Jongdae hesitates, fiddling with his hands. Baekhyun grabs his hands and makes him meet his eyes. “What happened? Is it one of your classes?”
“It’s Kyungsoo,” Jongdae quietly breathes. “He… we broke up.”
Baekhyun wraps his arms around Jongdae, cradling his head between his hand and his shoulder. Jongdae doesn’t cry because he never cries.
“What do you need?” Baekhyun asks after a while, pulling away from their embrace.
“Will you come over?” Jongdae quietly pleads. “We can-“
“Of course,” Baekhyun agrees without hesitation. “I’ll bring the movies and the ice cream. Do you want cake?”
A smile flits to Jongdae lips. “You’re the best, Baek.”
“Of course, stupid,” Baekhyun presses a kiss to Jongdae’s forehead before hugging him again. “I’ll come over in about an hour or so. Okay?”
“Okay,” Jongdae nods. He waves goodbye at Junmyeon, Minseok and Yifan and is out of the café in a few seconds.
Yifan makes his way back to the counter. Junmyeon and Minseok exchange a look before going to the back.
“Everything okay?” Yifan asks, reaching for Baekhyun’s hand and squeezing it. “Looks like there’s trouble.”
“He broke up with his boyfriend,” Baekhyun distractedly tells him.
Yifan looks surprised then frowns. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he sincerely says. “But he’ll be okay.”
“Of course,” Baekhyun says, smiling at Yifan. “Jongdae always bounces back. Even if he doesn’t, I’ll make him bounce back.” He sighs. “Which is why I’ll have to ask Minseok if I can get off early. I have to buy ice cream and cake and get the DVDs from my apartment. Oh and I have to make sure that Jongin has dinner.”
“Are you going to Jongdae’s?” Yifan clarifies, his brows furrowing, leaving him looking more menacing than he usually does.
Baekhyun nods. “He needs me right now,” he bites his lower lip in worry.
“But what about your studying?” Yifan gently reminds him.
“I can do that when I’m there or maybe I’ll just study tomorrow morning,” Baekhyun vaguely shares.
“I’m sure Jongdae will be fine by himself,” Yifan calmly says, pulling his hand away from Baekhyun. “He’s a big boy.” Baekhyun lifts his eyes from the counter and stares at Yifan. “I’m just saying, you don’t need to come to his aid every single time.”
“This isn’t just every single time, Yifan,” Baekhyun expresses. “His boyfriend just broke up with him.”
“Yes, well, you’re busy,” Yifan states with a half shrug. “You have homework, you said.”
Baekhyun narrows his eyes at him. “Are you jealous because I said no to you and said yes to Jongdae?” he questions. When Yifan merely averts his eyes, Baekhyun laughs in disbelief. “Yifan, Jongdae is my best friend. He needs me right now. I’m not coming over to his apartment to relax or have fun.”
“I’m your boyfriend, Baekhyun,” Yifan prompts him. “And I’ve been very patient with you and your relationship with Jongdae.”
“You’ve been patient with me and my relationship with…” Baekhyun trails off, shaking his head in amazement. “You do realize that if it weren’t for Jongdae, we wouldn’t even have met, right? You owe him at least this, to be his friend, too.”
Yifan shakes his head. “I’m not stupid, you know,” he snaps. “You and Jongdae, you’re-“
“Get out, Yifan,” Baekhyun interrupts him. “I don’t even care about what you have to say anymore. If this is how you’ve been feeling about my friendship with Jongdae, which is something I should never have to explain to anyone, then I can’t be with you.”
Yifan clenches his jaw, looking like he wants to say something else, but leaves the café instead.
Baekhyun closes his eyes as he sags against the counter; he’s surprised that it’s with relief.
-
Jongdae is in bed when Baekhyun arrives at his apartment. He clambers on and gets under the covers. Automatically, Jongdae moves towards him, wrapping his arms around Baekhyun’s waist and snuggling to him.
“I have cake and ice cream,” Baekhyun tells him through his hair.
“Later,” Jongdae says, his mouth on Baekhyun’s neck.
“Okay,” Baekhyun whispers.
He closes his eyes and thinks; about Yifan, Lu Han, Tao and all the other guys and girls he’s dated in the past. Then he thinks about Jongin and what he said about being in love with your best friend.
“Jongdae,” Baekhyun speaks softly. Jongdae murmurs. “I broke up with Yifan.”
Jongdae stills for a second before pulling back to get a good look at him. Baekhyun wants to laugh at the fact that he’s not surprised that Jongdae doesn’t even look like this is news to him.
“Are you okay?” Jongdae asks tentatively. Baekhyun nods.
They’re quiet after that. They stay that way, their arms and legs tangled with each other’s, their faces inches apart, eyes meeting in a telling gaze.
There’s another beat or two before Jongdae opens his mouth to speak.
“Baekhyun, I think I’ve always-“
“You think?” Baekhyun wrinkles his nose.
Jongdae makes a face at him. “You’re insufferable, you know that,” he says as he pokes his side.
“Oh please, you love me,” Baekhyun chuckles. His eyes widen slightly when Jongdae gives him a knowing smile.
“Baekhyun, I’ve always-“
Baekhyun closes the distance between them and kisses him. He holds his breath as he waits for Jongdae to respond. He doesn’t wait long because, in a heartbeat, Jongdae is kissing him back.
When they pull away, Baekhyun’s eyes are shining with something that he sees, has always seen, in Jongdae’s eyes when he looks at him.
“I know,” Baekhyun whispers with a smile. “Me too.”
-
Baekhyun leans against the counter as he watches Jongin and the ugly, gangly kid, Sehun, giggle as their share a drink with two straws. They’d come in to café that afternoon because Jongin wanted to officially introduce Sehun to everyone as his boyfriend.
“He and Sehun have known each other for a while now, right?” Junmyeon asks, joining Baekhyun behind the counter.
“Yeah,” Baekhyun says. “A couple of years now.” He rolls his eyes when Jongin decides to remove the whip cream on Sehun’s upper lip with a kiss. “I’ve never seen him this happy.”
“Well they are finally done dancing around each other after all,” Junmyeon says. “People always end up happier when they finally see what’s been in front of them all along.”
“Those are two different things,” Baekhyun says, raising his eyebrows at him.
“Two things you identify well with,” Junmyeon teases. He nods towards the café entrance.
Baekhyun looks up and sees Jongdae walk in. Jongdae’s eyes meet his eyes and, simultaneously, they smile at each other.
Baekhyun understands what Junmyeon is talking about. Someone from the outside may have interpreted all those years of him and Jongdae being best friends as dancing around each other and not seeing that the other was there all along. But it isn’t that. It’s not that he and Jongdae were assessing each other’s feelings or that they never saw each other. Because Baekhyun’s always seen him.
He and Jongdae… they just are.
Maybe the reason why he’s never been interested in dating anyone is because of Jongdae. He did mean what he said that he already has his hands full of Jongdae when his best friend first brought up the idea of being set up on dates. He doesn’t need anyone else; he has Jongdae.
He smiles as Jongdae leans towards him for a kiss. He doesn’t need to get used to this. He’s had it all his life.
Author's Notes:
This is what happens when you have never-ending Baekhyun and exploding Chen feels. ;w;
Believe it or not, this started out as a BaekYeol fic. Baekhyun and Chen were best friends and Chen sets Baek up with Chanyeol and yeah. Hahaha!
I stopped writing this for a while and then just got back to it because I had sudden Chen feels. I had just read drainbamage954's LuChen fic (which you all MUST read) and then I told her about this and she's like "you have to write it" and I'm like "okay." Our relationship is just a disaster.
Anyway, I wanted to thank CJ, too, for reading this through and for Joyce and Mel for just being coolbbs.
So there. Thank you for reading this? I hope you liked it. :)
EXO | Baekhyun/Chen | PG | 8,131w
Fluff, Romance, Friendship
Maybe the reason why he's never been interested in dating anyone is because of his best friend.
This is especially for drainbamage954. ♥ Because she's simply awesome. This is my wedding gift to you for our wedding. Lmao. You deserve better, but I hope you like it anyway.
Thank you to loudestoflove for the beta work! I really appreciate it.
Part 1
feels live I've fallen in love part 2
-
Baekhyun frowns at his watch. He’s been in the stupid sports store for 10 minutes now and Jongdae’s still nowhere in sight. He actually got out of his study period when Jongdae called half an hour ago stating that it was urgent that he meets him.
“Baek!” Jongdae rushes into the store, out of breath.
“Where have you been?” Baekhyun immediately chides him.
“Sorry, I got held up,” Jongdae runs a hand through his hair and Baekhyun immediately notices that something’s wrong.
“What happened?” Baekhyun asks, taking in the tired aura that Jongdae’s emitting. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, fine. Just Kyungsoo,” Jongdae dismisses it. He scans the store, but Baekhyun stops him.
“Did you two fight?” Baekhyun frowns.
Jongdae and Kyungsoo have been dating for almost four months now. They met through some business organization in university, which Kyungsoo is an alumnus of. Baekhyun thinks it’s kind of a miracle how Jongdae and Kyungsoo hit it off because Jongdae is a bit of a weirdo. But he’s really happy for his best friend because Kyungsoo seems patient enough to handle all the quirks that Jongdae has.
“He’s having another business trip for like a week this time,” Jongdae tells him with a sigh. “I told him it was okay, that you’re here anyway.”
“Oh,” Baekhyun says seriously. He watches as Jongdae stares at the ground with a frown on his face, which is something that he rarely ever sees on his best friend’s face. Jongdae’s such a smiley and happy person that it’s immediately strange when he doesn’t smile. “When is he coming back? Maybe you can prepare a surprise for him when he does.”
Jongdae smiles at him. “That’s a good idea,” he agrees, seemingly much happier than he was moments ago. “Maybe I can make my version of Kimchi spaghetti. You can taste-test it!”
Baekhyun puts an arm around him and laughs. “Let’s not get carried away,” he gently squeezes him. “Lives are at stake here.” Jongdae shoves him. “So, what are we doing here? You said there was a crisis?”
He looks around. He’s not sure what kind of crisis can happen at a sports store. Well, maybe if that tall, blonde-haired store attendant toppled over, it would be considered a crisis.
“Okay, don’t get mad,” is Jongdae’s introduction, and immediately Baekhyun knows that Jongdae did something that would make him exasperated again.
“What did you do this time?” Baekhyun wants to throw a basketball on Jongdae’s face, but he really doesn’t want to be arrested.
“Do you see that tall guy by the counter?” Jongdae turns him towards the direction of the said counter and all Baekhyun sees is that tall, blonde-haired disaster waiting to happen. “He’s in my class and-“
“Oh my god, did you set me up again?” Baekhyun elbows Jongdae hard on the ribs, making Jongdae cough.
“I’m still really sorry about what happened with Tao,” Jongdae rushes with an explanation. “I feel bad and I’ve been wanting to make it up to you ever since. But you’ve been busy with your papers and I figured I’d just tell you after they were over.”
“I really hate you,” Baekhyun says it like it’s the tragedy of his life. He eyes the mentioned male and watches as he plasters something that can resemble a smile if he didn’t look like he was in pain while doing it. “Actually, I’ve hated you all my life. Why are we still friends?”
“His name is Yifan,” Jongdae ignores him, smiling happily because he knows that Baekhyun’s going to go through with this. “He’s-“
“Chinese,” Baekhyun finishes, shooting him a look. “Yet again.”
“Canadian,” Jongdae proudly corrects him. “He was born in China but grew up in Canada, so he’s Canadian and has been in Seoul for only a year. He’s been looking for more friends so he can practice his Korean more and I thought of you!” He gestures towards Baekhyun like he’s just announced that he’s won the lottery.
“Still Chinese,” Baekhyun insists. He sighs and shakes his head at Jongdae. “I really don’t know why I put up with you.”
“Because you love me,” Jongdae smugly declares. “And because you know I only want you to be happy.” He gently nudges him. “One last shot? If this doesn’t work out, I promise I’ll leave you and dating alone. You can be a hermit or become a priest for all I care.”
“Stop being dramatic,” Baekhyun pinches his cheeks. Then he takes a deep breath as he looks at blondie. “So his name is Yifan?”
“Wu Yifan,” Jongdae supplies. “He’s two years older and incredibly handsome. But, of course, not more handsome than I am.” He nods in satisfaction.
“Please,” Baekhyun scoffs. “Well, then I guess I’m going to go and just introduce myself or something.” He faces his best friend. “How do I look?”
Jongdae chuckles as he fixes the collar of Baekhyun’s shirt and fixes his hair. “Like a puppy,” he tells him satisfactorily. “A really cute puppy,” he corrects himself when Baekhyun makes a face at him.
Jongdae smiles as he watches Baekhyun approach Yifan.
“Hi,” Baekhyun looks up as he greets the giant.
“Hey,” Yifan returns, glancing up in time to see Jongdae giving him a two thumbs up sign before leaving the store. “Ah, you’re Baekhyun.”
“And you’re Yifan,” Baekhyun returns.
“Jongdae’s told me a lot about you,” Yifan genially states.
“All good things, I’m sure,” Baekhyun says. “But I’m sorry to say that he’s never mentioned you so I pretty much don’t know anything about you.”
“I’m sure we can find a way to change that,” Yifan states, a small smirk on his face. “How about coffee? I get off in like 10 minutes.”
“Great,” Baekhyun agrees with a smile.
-
“Hey,” Jongdae absentmindedly greets Baekhyun as he comes home that evening. His gaze is fixated on the TV screen where a bunch of kids are singing Since You’ve Been Gone in acapella fashion.
Baekhyun plops down on his couch and grabs the popcorn that’s in Jongdae’s hands. “I can’t believe you started without me,” he grumbles, munching on popcorn.
“You were taking forever,” Jongdae says. “I wasn’t sure what time you were coming home. Jongin’s in his room.”
Baekhyun sighs and leans his head on Jongdae’s shoulder, Jongdae scooting closer to him so he can slide his arm around him.
They’re quiet for a couple of minutes, absorbing the fact that Anna Kendrick’s voice-and-hand coordination is impeccable, before Jongdae speaks again.
“Well? How did it go?” Jongdae quietly asks, inattentively moving his hand up and down Baekhyun’s arm.
“Good,” Baekhyun answers.
“She’s easily the best singer in the group,” Jongdae then states, gesturing at the television. “Of course she’d get in.”
“She’s also the lead, so…” Baekhyun chuckles.
Jongdae laughs and pulls Baekhyun closer to him. “I’m glad you had fun,” he says, pressing a kiss on Baekhyun’s forehead.
Baekhyun quietly giggles, wrapping both of his arms around Jongdae’s waist. “Me too.”
-
Baekhyun enters the apartment, stretching his neck this way and that. He feels so tired. His classes have been really gruelling these past few weeks. He’s tired all the time, most of the time falling asleep even when he’s studying. He really wonders sometimes why he continues to do this to himself. He loves the course, but there are moments when he stops to think if this is still really something he wants to pursue.
“Hey hyung,” Jongin greets him from the couch, where he’s watching TV.
“Hey,” Baekhyun greets him as he takes his coat and shoes off. “How was school?” he asks, ruffling his hair and taking a seat beside him.
“Good,” Jongin answers. “Got an A on my math exam.” He grins when Baekhyun proudly beams at him. “Sehun helped me.”
“Ah, the ugly, gangly kid, Sehun,” Baekhyun repeats, and he thinks that Jongin is exactly the reason why he’s still in Medicine.
“Hyung,” Jongin half-heartedly reproaches him.
Baekhyun doesn’t dignify that with a response and just yawns. “Did Jongdae call?”
Jongin shrugs. “But Yifan hyung did,” he says.
“Oh right,” Baekhyun says, sitting up and standing to go to the kitchen. “He’s coming over.”
He and Yifan had hit it off better than Baekhyun ever expected, because Jongdae’s choices really have been questionable in the past. But Yifan is actually nice. He is a mix of Lu Han and Tao, although less violent and less fluffy, and Baekhyun finds that he quite likes that. They’ve been going out for more than a month and he has been enjoying every minute of it.
Yifan is a business graduate student like Jongdae. He’s in Seoul because he’s interested in the culture, and because his family is thinking of putting up a branch of their retail business there. He plays basketball well, is smart and is actually really sweet. He always brings Baekhyun food and sometimes visits him in his classes. He’s also very handsome when he doesn’t try so hard to smile.
What Baekhyun likes more is that he understands that he’s busy with his work for school and never pressures him to go out all the time. Instead, he comes over his apartment and they watch movies and Running Man, all the while feeding each other ice cream.
“Why are you going out with him?” Jongin asks suddenly, making Baekhyun stop and face him.
“Yifan? What do you mean?” Baekhyun asks, brows furrowing. “I like him.”
“Yeah, but,” Jongin hesitates. “What about Jongdae hyung?”
“What?” Baekhyun laughs. His laughter fades when Jongin continues looking expectantly at him. “You’re serious.” He sits back down on the couch and pats Jongin’s knee. “Jongdae’s my best friend, Jongin. You know this.”
“And what’s wrong with that?” Jongin frowns.
“What do you mean?” Baekhyun asks, confused. “Jongdae’s my best friend,” he repeats with a shrug.
Baekhyun honestly thinks that the term best friend is too shallow for what he and Jongdae share. They’ve known each other since high school, met through the music club, both with a passion for singing. Somehow they stuck together all through university, where they’d seen each other in every sticky and awkward situation there is. They have been with each other through hook-ups, hang-ups, break-ups and even break-ins. Baekhyun can’t honestly see his life without Jongdae. He thinks there’s no one else who understands him better than he does.
“Is it wrong to be in love with your best friend?” Jongin presses.
“Of course it isn’t,” Baekhyun assures him. He studies Jongin carefully. “Is this about ugly, gangly kid, Sehun?” Jongin doesn’t say anything. “Are you saying you’re in love with him?”
Jongin clears his throat in embarrassment. “Maybe,” he croaks.
Baekhyun smiles and pulls Jongin in a hug. All he really wants is for Jongin to have a good life, for him to be happy, and if it takes that ugly, gangly kid to contribute to that then it’s all fine with him.
“Do you think he’s in love with you, too?” Baekhyun inquires.
“He says he is,” Jongin whispers.
“It’s not wrong to be in love with your best friend, Jongin,” Baekhyun tells him softly as he slightly tightens his hold on him.
“Then why aren’t you and Jongdae hyung together?” Jongin insists.
Baekhyun merely laughs, because he realizes he doesn’t have an answer to that.
-
The café is packed and noisy with the rush of students just coming out of their afternoon classes. Everyone is busy with the preparing and serving of coffee with Minseok manning the cashier and Junmyeon managing the orders.
Baekhyun hums Hawak Kamay under his breath as he wipes one of the tables that have just been vacated. He’s about to move on to clean another table when he feels arms wrap around his waist. Smiling, he turns around and looks up just in time to meet Yifan’s kiss.
“Hi,” Yifan greets him.
“Hi,” Baekhyun greets back with a smile. “How was business theory?”
Yifan lets him go do some more cleaning. “Stressful,” he answers. He pauses. “How do you know I have business theory as my last class today?” A smile starts creeping up his face until Baekhyun answers.
“You have the same classes as Jongdae, right?” Baekhyun says, attention concentrated on the table with the milk stain. “He made me memorize his schedule like the back of my hand.”
“Oh,” Yifan’s smile swiftly disappears. “Yeah, it was a bit tiring. That’s why I was thinking…” Baekhyun looks expectantly at him as they make their way towards the counter. “Maybe we can grab some dinner, maybe see a movie? I know you’ve been wanting to watch Les Mis for a while now.”
Baekhyun sighs and shakes his head. “I’d love to, but I’m closing shop today and I have a ton of homework,” he pouts as he leans up to kiss Yifan. “Sorry.”
“Yeah, of course,” Yifan says understandingly. “I was just wondering.”
“Are you going to order anything?” Minseok asks Yifan.
“He’ll have a vanilla latte,” Baekhyun calls from the back.
“Uh, no,” Yifan shakes his head at Minseok. “I’ll have black coffee. I don’t drink anything vanilla.”
When Baekhyun comes back out, he sees Yifan’s coffee and swallows uncomfortably. Vanilla latte is Jongdae’s drink. “Will you be staying home tonight?” he asks. “I can call you later when I’m in between studying.”
“Yeah, sure,” Yifan says with a smile. “I’d like that.”
Jongdae comes bounding in shortly, his hair and shirt in disarray. He immediately looks for Baekhyun and pulls him aside. Junmyeon promptly shows Yifan to a table at Minseok’s urging.
“Jongdae, what’s wrong?” Baekhyun asks, fixing the collar of his shirt and trying to fix his hair for him. Jongdae hesitates, fiddling with his hands. Baekhyun grabs his hands and makes him meet his eyes. “What happened? Is it one of your classes?”
“It’s Kyungsoo,” Jongdae quietly breathes. “He… we broke up.”
Baekhyun wraps his arms around Jongdae, cradling his head between his hand and his shoulder. Jongdae doesn’t cry because he never cries.
“What do you need?” Baekhyun asks after a while, pulling away from their embrace.
“Will you come over?” Jongdae quietly pleads. “We can-“
“Of course,” Baekhyun agrees without hesitation. “I’ll bring the movies and the ice cream. Do you want cake?”
A smile flits to Jongdae lips. “You’re the best, Baek.”
“Of course, stupid,” Baekhyun presses a kiss to Jongdae’s forehead before hugging him again. “I’ll come over in about an hour or so. Okay?”
“Okay,” Jongdae nods. He waves goodbye at Junmyeon, Minseok and Yifan and is out of the café in a few seconds.
Yifan makes his way back to the counter. Junmyeon and Minseok exchange a look before going to the back.
“Everything okay?” Yifan asks, reaching for Baekhyun’s hand and squeezing it. “Looks like there’s trouble.”
“He broke up with his boyfriend,” Baekhyun distractedly tells him.
Yifan looks surprised then frowns. “I’m sorry to hear that,” he sincerely says. “But he’ll be okay.”
“Of course,” Baekhyun says, smiling at Yifan. “Jongdae always bounces back. Even if he doesn’t, I’ll make him bounce back.” He sighs. “Which is why I’ll have to ask Minseok if I can get off early. I have to buy ice cream and cake and get the DVDs from my apartment. Oh and I have to make sure that Jongin has dinner.”
“Are you going to Jongdae’s?” Yifan clarifies, his brows furrowing, leaving him looking more menacing than he usually does.
Baekhyun nods. “He needs me right now,” he bites his lower lip in worry.
“But what about your studying?” Yifan gently reminds him.
“I can do that when I’m there or maybe I’ll just study tomorrow morning,” Baekhyun vaguely shares.
“I’m sure Jongdae will be fine by himself,” Yifan calmly says, pulling his hand away from Baekhyun. “He’s a big boy.” Baekhyun lifts his eyes from the counter and stares at Yifan. “I’m just saying, you don’t need to come to his aid every single time.”
“This isn’t just every single time, Yifan,” Baekhyun expresses. “His boyfriend just broke up with him.”
“Yes, well, you’re busy,” Yifan states with a half shrug. “You have homework, you said.”
Baekhyun narrows his eyes at him. “Are you jealous because I said no to you and said yes to Jongdae?” he questions. When Yifan merely averts his eyes, Baekhyun laughs in disbelief. “Yifan, Jongdae is my best friend. He needs me right now. I’m not coming over to his apartment to relax or have fun.”
“I’m your boyfriend, Baekhyun,” Yifan prompts him. “And I’ve been very patient with you and your relationship with Jongdae.”
“You’ve been patient with me and my relationship with…” Baekhyun trails off, shaking his head in amazement. “You do realize that if it weren’t for Jongdae, we wouldn’t even have met, right? You owe him at least this, to be his friend, too.”
Yifan shakes his head. “I’m not stupid, you know,” he snaps. “You and Jongdae, you’re-“
“Get out, Yifan,” Baekhyun interrupts him. “I don’t even care about what you have to say anymore. If this is how you’ve been feeling about my friendship with Jongdae, which is something I should never have to explain to anyone, then I can’t be with you.”
Yifan clenches his jaw, looking like he wants to say something else, but leaves the café instead.
Baekhyun closes his eyes as he sags against the counter; he’s surprised that it’s with relief.
-
Jongdae is in bed when Baekhyun arrives at his apartment. He clambers on and gets under the covers. Automatically, Jongdae moves towards him, wrapping his arms around Baekhyun’s waist and snuggling to him.
“I have cake and ice cream,” Baekhyun tells him through his hair.
“Later,” Jongdae says, his mouth on Baekhyun’s neck.
“Okay,” Baekhyun whispers.
He closes his eyes and thinks; about Yifan, Lu Han, Tao and all the other guys and girls he’s dated in the past. Then he thinks about Jongin and what he said about being in love with your best friend.
“Jongdae,” Baekhyun speaks softly. Jongdae murmurs. “I broke up with Yifan.”
Jongdae stills for a second before pulling back to get a good look at him. Baekhyun wants to laugh at the fact that he’s not surprised that Jongdae doesn’t even look like this is news to him.
“Are you okay?” Jongdae asks tentatively. Baekhyun nods.
They’re quiet after that. They stay that way, their arms and legs tangled with each other’s, their faces inches apart, eyes meeting in a telling gaze.
There’s another beat or two before Jongdae opens his mouth to speak.
“Baekhyun, I think I’ve always-“
“You think?” Baekhyun wrinkles his nose.
Jongdae makes a face at him. “You’re insufferable, you know that,” he says as he pokes his side.
“Oh please, you love me,” Baekhyun chuckles. His eyes widen slightly when Jongdae gives him a knowing smile.
“Baekhyun, I’ve always-“
Baekhyun closes the distance between them and kisses him. He holds his breath as he waits for Jongdae to respond. He doesn’t wait long because, in a heartbeat, Jongdae is kissing him back.
When they pull away, Baekhyun’s eyes are shining with something that he sees, has always seen, in Jongdae’s eyes when he looks at him.
“I know,” Baekhyun whispers with a smile. “Me too.”
-
Baekhyun leans against the counter as he watches Jongin and the ugly, gangly kid, Sehun, giggle as their share a drink with two straws. They’d come in to café that afternoon because Jongin wanted to officially introduce Sehun to everyone as his boyfriend.
“He and Sehun have known each other for a while now, right?” Junmyeon asks, joining Baekhyun behind the counter.
“Yeah,” Baekhyun says. “A couple of years now.” He rolls his eyes when Jongin decides to remove the whip cream on Sehun’s upper lip with a kiss. “I’ve never seen him this happy.”
“Well they are finally done dancing around each other after all,” Junmyeon says. “People always end up happier when they finally see what’s been in front of them all along.”
“Those are two different things,” Baekhyun says, raising his eyebrows at him.
“Two things you identify well with,” Junmyeon teases. He nods towards the café entrance.
Baekhyun looks up and sees Jongdae walk in. Jongdae’s eyes meet his eyes and, simultaneously, they smile at each other.
Baekhyun understands what Junmyeon is talking about. Someone from the outside may have interpreted all those years of him and Jongdae being best friends as dancing around each other and not seeing that the other was there all along. But it isn’t that. It’s not that he and Jongdae were assessing each other’s feelings or that they never saw each other. Because Baekhyun’s always seen him.
He and Jongdae… they just are.
Maybe the reason why he’s never been interested in dating anyone is because of Jongdae. He did mean what he said that he already has his hands full of Jongdae when his best friend first brought up the idea of being set up on dates. He doesn’t need anyone else; he has Jongdae.
He smiles as Jongdae leans towards him for a kiss. He doesn’t need to get used to this. He’s had it all his life.
Author's Notes:
This is what happens when you have never-ending Baekhyun and exploding Chen feels. ;w;
Believe it or not, this started out as a BaekYeol fic. Baekhyun and Chen were best friends and Chen sets Baek up with Chanyeol and yeah. Hahaha!
I stopped writing this for a while and then just got back to it because I had sudden Chen feels. I had just read drainbamage954's LuChen fic (which you all MUST read) and then I told her about this and she's like "you have to write it" and I'm like "okay." Our relationship is just a disaster.
Anyway, I wanted to thank CJ, too, for reading this through and for Joyce and Mel for just being coolbbs.
So there. Thank you for reading this? I hope you liked it. :)