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It’s time, is the first thought that filters into Baekhyun’s mind, pushing its way past the remaining cobwebs of sleep as he stretches an arm out toward his headboard. The crisp breeze ruffles through the gold-dripped tree leaves outside his bedroom window, the unmistakable scent of autumn hanging heavy and sharp in the air.
He knows, without reaching for his phone to check the date, that it’s October 1st. While unremarkable for most people—beyond, perhaps, signalling the beginning of midterms season—for Baekhyun, it marks the beginning of what he fondly refers to as Spooky Month.
And for Byun Baekhyun — two-time champion of the Annual Yonsei University Halloween Costume Contest, runner-up to the Spooky Fest 2017, and avid observer of Spooky Fest 2016 — this is a big deal.
Big enough that he immediately leaps off his bed, disregarding his state of disarray. He only has on a pair of sweatpants, having gone to bed without his shirt, and swipes his glasses on before bounding out the door and down the hall towards the second bedroom in their apartment.
The apartment is silent, beyond the faint hum of a lawnmower somewhere outside and three floors down. His roommate is quiet most of the time nonetheless, and the thought that he might still be asleep doesn’t deter Baekhyun in the slightest.
“Wakey-wakey!” he sing-songs while he raps on the door with his knuckles. He waits a beat, hears nothing, and promptly jerks the door open — too impatient to wait any longer.
The door creaks open, eliciting a wince from Baekhyun, even as he strides confidently towards the lump under the bed covers. He pauses for a few seconds to assess the situation. The covers have been pulled over his roommate’s head, leaving only the small shape of his body visible under the covers. There’s a faint whine, most likely from Baekhyun’s rough morning call, but nothing else.
Taking it as a sign that he needs to work harder as his roommate’s self-appointed morning alarm, Baekhyun immediately throws himself on top of the bed, landing heavily on top of the sheet-covered lump.
The results are instantaneous — the moment Baekhyun lands on top of his roommate, he hears a yelp of shock from under the covers, before it extends into a grumpy growl.
“Wake up!” Baekhyun shouts again, disregarding the growling noise as he tugs the sheets down to reveal his roommate.
Leveling an unimpressed stare at Baekhyun is Kyungsoo. His eyes are slightly squinted and swollen from sleep, his lips pursed in an unconscious pout as he growls at Baekhyun. One small but sharp fang is peeking out from the curl of his lips. All the tossing and turning through the night has resulted in a messy head of hair, fluffy fly-away strands going this way and that. It’s all very endearing, and Baekhyun can’t help but feel a sense of adoration swell in his chest as he takes in his roommate’s sleepy state.
And best of all — and this is Baekhyun’s favourite part of waking up his roommate — are the soft, black triangular ears poking out from the top of Kyungsoo’s head, nearly blending in with his bed-mussed hair. His tail is probably out too, but it’s hidden under the covers. Normally self-conscious about his werewolf traits, the smaller man tends to poof them away when he’s out in his human form.
Like this, all sleepy and grumpy and frowny with his little wolfy ears and teeth poking out, Baekhyun just aches to pet Kyungsoo’s soft ears and rub his little tummy.
He would never though. Kyungsoo would probably bite him.
“What do you want,” Kyungsoo says flatly. His voice is rough with sleep, and he clears his throat. A fist comes up to rub at his eyes, Kyungsoo’s full lips tugging down into a frown, and Baekhyun is about this close to cooing at his roommate.
Instead, he responds like a totally normal human being and says, “it’s October!”
Kyungsoo doesn’t look fazed, staring at him blearily. It’s enough to have Baekhyun throwing caution to the wind — he wraps all his limbs around Kyungsoo over the sheets that he’s still burrowed under.
“It’s the best time of the year!” Baekhyun insists.
“Get off me,” Kyungsoo grumbles, but then he only shifts so that he’s facing Baekhyun properly. “Are you excited?” he asks.
Baekhyun feels a rush of happiness. “Fuck yes,” he says. “I’ve been looking forward to this all year. I have to pull out something good this year for the costume contest. Something amazing. You know I nearly lost to Lee Taemin last year? It’s not even fair, he’s been a student for forever, he needs to hurry up and graduate so I can fully reign as the Halloween king.” He prattles on excitedly, spurred on by the way Kyungsoo nods along to his words. “And the Spooky Fest — I still haven’t won that yet. Stupid Lee Taemin. This is my year. I feel it.”
Every year at their university, there are two major Halloween events that purportedly encourages school spirit and student creativity: the annual Halloween costume contest, and the Spooky Fest. While the costume contest is a much more straightforward and conventional competition, the Spooky Fest invites participants to go “trick-or-treating” around campus — the caveat being that the more impressed others are by your costume, the more of the Yonsei-produced candy you will be awarded. The one with the most candy wins.
Baekhyun always felt something akin to a grudge for the Spooky Fest. While it’s a fun way to go trick-or-treating with his friends in a large group, the actual contests rests its laurels almost entirely on subjectivity and popularity. Hence why cursed Lee Taemin wins every year.
But it makes him all the more determined to win this year.
He ends his rant about Lee Taemin and his social clout with a huff, pushing his head into the gap between Kyungsoo’s chin and shoulders with a pout. “You’re going to help me win, right?”
Baekhyun waits for Kyungsoo to shove him off, like he often does when he’s not in the mood to humour Baekhyun, or to cluck his tongue and refuse. But instead, he feels small, slender fingers card into his hair and playing with the short strands at his nape. “I don’t know what I can do,” Kyungsoo hums. “I’ve never done anything for Halloween before.”
There’s a warm glow in Baekhyun’s chest. A thrum of — something — rolls through Baekhyun’s veins at the easy way Kyungsoo moves with him, the push and pull of their dynamic cording smoothly through their relationship. Kyungsoo isn’t pushing him away.
His heart flips.
Then, his roommate’s words register in his mind, and he pulls away. There’s an aghast look on his face as he sputters. “Never?” he asks, looking every bit offended as he feels. “Kyungsoo, we need to change that. Nevermind the contest, we’re making this the best Halloween for you.”
To his surprise, Kyungsoo breaks out into a gummy smile. His eyes crinkle into moon-crescents, his tiny werewolf fangs still not retracted, and his round cheeks bunch up in happiness as Kyungsoo laughs. “You can win your contest and show me what’s so fun about Halloween at the same time, Baekhyun.”
“You’ll let me dress you up then?” Baekhyun asks, squashing down the enormous feeling of affection in his chest. He doesn’t want to make it — weird — around his roommate.
“As long as it’s not embarrassing, sure,” says Kyungsoo. He’s still smiling at Baekhyun with an expression so fond on his face and his wolfy ears perked against the pillow and —
— and Baekhyun can’t help but feel like all his barriers and defenses have been torn and stripped away at the way Kyungsoo looks so soft and warm, all sleepy and content, fingers gently petting the back of Baekhyun’s head like he’s the one who’s part canine instead of Kyungsoo.
It takes a superhuman feat of control for him to not kiss Kyungsoo right then and there, but that’s his roommate and if there’s anything worse than losing the Spooky Fest again, it would be losing Kyungsoo as his roommate.
So he doesn’t.
He never does.
All things considered, Baekhyun hasn’t actually known Kyungsoo for as long as it feels like he has — the werewolf easily scaling the ranks of his friendships and scoring right at the top, alongside Jongdae. But he’s never felt this way around Jongdae, where his chest grows tight and his face feels flushed and his palms get clammy and he has to wipe them on his pants lest anyone else notices. Not like he does around Kyungsoo.
It hadn’t started out easy between them. It was only earlier in the year when Chanyeol, the only non-human in their friend group at the time, had asked Baekhyun if he was looking for a roommate.
“My friend needs out of his current living situation,” Chanyeol confided in him quietly over a study date at a campus cafe. He had his books spread out messily on the table, and there was an ink smear on his right hand from his note-taking. Like most werewolves in the city, Chanyeol never has his ears, fangs, and tail out in public. “Like, as soon as possible. His roommate doesn’t like werewolves.”
Up until that point, Baekhyun had been living alone and using his second bedroom mostly as a gaming station. There was no real reason for him to say no, especially not when it sounded like it was bad, judging from the worry swimming murkily in the taller werewolf’s eyes.
Do Kyungsoo had moved in a mere two weeks later, showing up at Baekhyun’s front door with one medium-sized suitcase in one hand, and a brown backpack in the other. To Baekhyun’s surprise, the werewolf was smaller than he had expected. There was a wary look on his face, one that phased quickly into distant stoicism soon after he had moved in. They had only texted a few times before Kyungsoo had moved in, mostly just to hammer out the details of their living arrangements, and Baekhyun hadn’t been sure what to expect.
That was at the end of January.
Kyungsoo had never been a bad roommate, always careful to clean up after himself and kept to himself as quietly as possible. But it was stilted, stiff, and horribly clinical — he talked to Baekhyun as if he needed disposable, medical gloves on.
It was understandable, to say the least. Baekhyun knew Kyungsoo had a horrible experience with his previous roommate, although to what extent he still doesn’t know. And to Kyungsoo, Baekhyun was just another human who happened to go to the same college as him and lived close enough to campus for it to be convenient. Even if he was vouched personally by Chanyeol, who turned out to be Kyungsoo’s childhood best friend, there was enough reason for Kyungsoo to hesitate around him by virtue of him being human alone.
At some point, though, something had changed. Somewhere between the sixth and seventh hangout where Chanyeol forcibly dragged the smaller werewolf to hang out with their friend group, Kyungsoo had eventually untucked himself from the taller man’s clingy grasp and seated himself next to Baekhyun, and asked him quietly if he wanted to share the fried cauliflower, tossed with lemon and sea salt, and served with tahini.
After that, Kyungsoo softened up around Baekhyun — just enough to linger in the living room long enough for Baekhyun to invite him to sit with him. It turned into weekly movie nights, and then it was weekly dinners together, and then weekly grocery trips.
“You’re pretty joined at the hip now huh,” Jongin remarked to him one day. Baekhyun had only shrugged, but it wasn’t so far off the mark. Somehow, somewhere, Kyungsoo have woven himself into the crevices of Baekhyun’s life, stitching together interstices that he wasn’t even aware of, enough that he can no longer imagine how dreary his apartment would be without the quiet, gentle presence of the werewolf.
Sometimes, when Baekhyun closed his eyes, his thoughts would inevitably move towards Kyungsoo. The way he was grumpy in the mornings, but comfortable enough now to show his werewolf features to Baekhyun. How he’d rarely express affection, not like Baekhyun or Chanyeol who dole them out in heapings, but would pack lunch for Baekhyun if he knew he was down or was overwhelmed by school.
His mind would circle around the way Kyungsoo looked when he smiled, his gums peeking through his lips in a way that was a little goofy and mostly endearing, or when he would pull Baekhyun into his side when they watched television together, one hand kneading at Baekhyun’s arm almost subconsciously.
It’s not hard to feel this pull, like a fish drawn on a line, towards Kyungsoo. He was helpless with it, sometimes, finding himself leaning towards the slightly shorter man before catching himself aware again.
But he never let himself get too careless. Never leaned forward, pressed his lips against Kyungsoo’s full ones, made his heart known.
It was a line he didn’t dare cross.
Baekhyun inhales deeply as he steps out of the small coffee shop he works at during the weekend, basking in the crisp air. It’s not quite sweater weather yet, but it’s getting there, and he smiles to himself as he heads towards the bus stop.
It’s another 20 minutes before he reaches his stop, hopping off with a jaunty wave towards the bus driver who doesn’t acknowledge him. He walks down the block before stopping in front of a clean, squat, brick building nestled between two midrises. The sign at the front reads “Ten Moons Daycare,” decorated sweetly with a little painted paw print between the words “Moons” and “Daycare,” most likely pinated by Kyungsoo himself. There are large windows all along the front of the building, and peering in now, Baekhyun can see his roommate clearly.
The werewolf is crouching on the ground in front of a crying child with wolf ears, and there are two other small children clinging to his back as he soothingly rubs the arm of the cub that’s upset. The rest of the small class is cleaning up the room, stowing away toys and markers as the clock chimes to signal the end of the day.
Baekhyun watches as Kyungsoo smiles, a warm quirk of his lips, as he pats the small child on the head, pausing to stroke at the soft fur of his ears. He says something, but Baekhyun can’t hear through the glass and he’s always been awful at reading lips, but whatever it is — it gets the small werewolf cub to stop crying. The cub sniffles once, twice, before throwing his arms around his roommate’s neck, burrowing his face into the crook of his shoulder. It doesn’t seem like anything the werewolf isn’t used to though, as Kyungsoo only pats the small cub fondly on the head before bringing out a handkerchief from his apron to wipe away the snot still dripping down the child’s face.
It isn’t the first time that Baekhyun had met up with Kyungsoo at the smaller man’s part-time job at the daycare, but he finds himself pleasantly surprised each time at how easily Kyungsoo is able to handle a class full of werewolf cubs. Perhaps it’s the prickly way he normally seems to navigate through life, particularly towards those he doesn’t know well. Each time he sees his roommate playing with the cubs, with Kyungsoo shaking his head with a fond smile before neatly wiping away any messes, comforting them when they’re upset, Baekhyun can’t help but feel his heart filled with warmth and racing in his chest.
During one late night after a movie they watched was finally rolling through the credits, Baekhyun had asked Kyungsoo why he worked at a daycare. The smaller man was slow in his response, a blank look on his face that took Baekhyun several months to learn was Kyungsoo taking his time in processing his thoughts and his words, and not him ignoring Baekhyun.
Kyungsoo had licked his lips, then bit at his nails and said, “I guess I wanted them to feel that it’s okay to be a werewolf. Give them some comfort.” That I never received, were the unspoken words. Although Kyungsoo had never fully confided in Baekhyun on his experiences growing up as a werewolf in a prejudiced society, he always knew it was bad. Unspeakable.
“Sorry, Baek,” Kyungsoo’s voice startles him out of his thoughts, and almost automatically, he quickly fixes a smile on his face. “Did you wait long?” He turns to look at his roommate. The apron is gone now, leaving him only an oversized hoodie and a pair of loose jeans and a clean pair of sneakers. There’s a faint smudge of a fingerprint on the lens of his glasses, and Baekhyun has to forcibly squash down the urge to clean them.
“Nah, you’re good,” Baekhyun says before throwing an arm around Kyungsoo’s neck. The werewolf pulls away, poking Baekhyun in the stomach. Disappointment rushes through him. Clearing his throat, he smiles again. “Let’s go?”
Kyungsoo nods, motioning at Baekhyun to lead the way.
Together, they head towards a large thrift store located just a few blocks away from the daycare. Baekhyun had stumbled upon it in his first year by accident, long before he had even known of Kyungsoo’s existence, and it has been his go-to when he needs to scrounge together a costume. Jongdae held Greek mythology-themed birthday party that year and Baekhyun had shown up as a slutty version of Hephaestus. No one had seen it coming.
The store is pretty empty when they walk in, save for an elderly lady slowly perusing the handbag aisle. The teenager at the till doesn’t bother looking up from where he’s tapping vigorously away at his phone. Kyungsoo pauses to look around, but Baekhyun only circles a hand around the werewolf’s waist and pulls him towards the clothing racks.
“I’ve always been able to find something good here,” Baekhyun insists. Behind him, Kyungsoo makes an agreeable noise.
Baekhyun attacks the rows of clothing with a critical eye, meticulously flipping through the racks for something that would spark his inspiration. He had convinced Kyungsoo to accompany him to the store, hellbent on showing him the grassroots creative process for coming up with a Halloween costume.
About five minutes in, he comes across a French maid costume. He lifts it up, showing it to Kyungsoo, who looks unamused. “Would you look better in this or me?” he asks, earning another poke in the stomach from the werewolf who only stalks off and starts rifling through the racks himself. Laughing to himself, Baekhyun returns to the task.
“Hey, how about this?” he hears Kyungsoo say, and he turns to look. The smaller man is holding a horridly green tracksuit with a silly grin on his face. “Rock Lee!”
Baekhyun cocks his head to the side, studying the tracksuit. “From Naruto?” he asks. Kyungsoo nods. “I feel like you’d suit Rock Lee well. You have the—” Baekhyun waves a hand vaguely in the direction of Kyungsoo’s face. “—the eyebrows. I could be the Gaara to your Rock Lee though.” He has dyed his hair red before, he could do it again. Put in some contacts, write the character for love on his forehead. Match with Kyungsoo. Go in a couple costume with Kyungsoo.
He finds his cheeks growing warm at the thought, and wants to hit himself. There should be no reason for him to be acting like a blushing schoolgirl with a dumb crush, but yet here he is.
To his horror, he finds his flush spreading when Kyungsoo only hums and replies with, “That might actually be fun. Matching costumes with you, I mean.”
“Yeah?” he chokes out, and then clears his throat, schooling his expression to something a little more casual.
Kyungsoo makes an affirming noise, toying with the fabric a bit. “Why not?”
“I—” Baekhyun starts, and then stops. “You really want to?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” Kyungsoo says. Then, he hesitates, and uncertain look coming onto his face. “Unless you don’t want to? You don’t—you don’t have to. Of course. I get it if you want to do your own thing.” The werewolf moves to put the jacket back onto the rack.
Baekhyun feels his heart leaps to his throat at the way Kyungsoo seems to shrink in on himself, in a way that he hasn’t done since the first couple of months he moved in. “No!” he says, a little too loudly because Kyungsoo startles, hand jolting. “No, I want to. I’d—I’d love to,” he says.
His roommate stills, a searching look on his face. “Okay,” he says at last, succinct as always. “Let’s do a couple costume, then.” Then, a tentative smile blooms on his face. “But maybe not this? I don’t think this is my colour.”
His phone vibrates, signalling another message from their group chat. Baekhyun swipes through the screen, choking down a laugh when he sees Chanyeol indignantly protest not having been invited to their Halloween plans.
It’s been a week since they last tried coming up with a costume idea together, and Baekhyun’s stumped. Somehow, it feels like they need something perfect for the two of them.
He feels a hand hit his shoulder, a silent reprimand, and he looks up from where he’s lying on Kyungsoo’s lap. The two of them are in their cramped living room, having finished dinner just twenty minutes ago. It’s Wednesday — their weekly movie night together. Typically, they alternate choosing the film, and tonight is Baekhyun’s night.
“Sorry, sorry,” he apologizes, locking his phone screen and letting it drop to his stomach. Baekhyun shifts, rotating until he’s facing the television screen where the introductory credits to Shrek 2 — indisputedly the best Shrek in the series — are rolling. He feels Kyungsoo’s thighs tense underneath his head, muscles stiffening, and then they relax.
They’re partway through the movie when his phone buzzes again, the screen lighting up with another notification. Sneaking a glance up at Kyungsoo, he gets momentarily distracted with the way the light dances off the werewolf’s face, highlighting the rounded point of his nose and the moue of his lips. There’s serious expression on his face. He must have felt Baekhyun’s stare on his face, though, because he glances down for a split-second before turning his focus on the screen. The next second, he absentmindedly pats Baekhyun on the top of his head.
Despite the simple gesture — the bare minimum of affection — Baekhyun feels his heart skip a beat and his neck grow warm. Abruptly, he is all too aware of the heat seeping from Kyungsoo’s thigh.
As if to distract himself from his thoughts, Baekhyun fiddles with his phone. Another notification comes in — this time a response from Sehun in their group chat.
we are one 👍🏼(9)
Chanyeol: soo told me you’re going to match for halloween? what happened to our group halloween costume plans smh
Jongdae: lol that’s cute what are they going as?
Chanyeol: i don’t care anymore 😤 whatever 😤😤
Jongin: i can’t imagine kyungsoo in a costume lolol
Jongin: he seems the type to get forced into wearing a costume, and then he would just wrap a black blanket around his shoulders and say he’s dracula
Sehun: oh a couple costume, how cute
Sehun: what are you going as, hyung?
Sneaking another glance at Kyungsoo, who’s still enraptured by the screen, he returns his focus to his phone and taps out a reply. His heart still feels a little funny, and like there’s a worm doing a dance in his stomach.
Baekhyun: no clue 🤕 he didn’t want to go as rock lee to my gaara
Baekhyun: so rude
His phone buzzes again.
Chanyeol: you were going to do naruto WITHOUT US?
Chanyeol: rude
Chanyeol: i introduced kyungsoo to you and i won’t hesitate to take him back!
Sehun: noooo he’s ours now
Biting down a smile, Baekhyun types out his next reply.
Baekhyun: you’ll have to pry him out of my cold dead hands
Chanyeol: i can’t believe you stole my best friend from me like this
Jongdae: oh you know what i just thought of
Jongdae: why don’t we all go as the avengers?
It’s not a bad idea. The characters are easily recognizable, and they have more than enough people in their friend group to fill out the major characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe if they manage to rope Junmyeon and Yixing into joining them too.
But a part of Baekhyun balks at the suggestion. While any other year he would probably jump at the chance, there’s a larger part of him now that wants to keep this as a thing between just him and Kyungsoo. His mind replays the moment from last week, with the two of them standing amidst the rows of clothing. Couple costume, Kyungsoo had said,
It’s an ugly, jealous feeling inside of him. One that he knows he has no real right to claim, not when him and Kyungsoo aren’t anything but friends.
The buzzing of his phone catches his attention again, and he shifts in his position in Kyungsoo’s lap to one that’s more comfortable for texting on his phone. In the background, he can hear Shrek droning on and the soft sound of Kyungsoo’s steady breathing.
Chanyeol: !!!!!!!!!!!
Chanyeol: I!
Chanyeol: LOVE!
Chanyeol: THAT!
Chanyeol: dibs on iron man
Jongin: how are you going to get an iron man costume
Chanyeol: I’ll spend 13 million won on it if i need to
Sehun: then i want to be hawkeye
Sehun: junmyeon should be the hulk
Jongin: why?
Sehun: it’d be funny to see him in green paint
Sehun: and kyungsoo hyung should go as black widow
Jongin: why?
Sehun: because he has the nicest ass
Jongin: lmao
Chanyeol: then in that case he should go as captain america
Chanyeol: lets be real
Jongin: chanyeollie is right
Jongin: the ass of america
Jongin: or well
Jongin: of korea? I guess?
Despite Baekhyun’s reservations, the idea of Kyungsoo in Captain America’s costume is enticing. The werewolf isn’t particularly muscular, and more soft than he is hard lines, but he has strong, thick thighs and a particularly perky and round behind that would fill out the costume well.
He lets his mind wander a bit, only feeling somewhat bad about thinking of his roommate in this way. It really wouldn’t be too bad of an idea, maybe...
Suddenly, he feels a pinch at his earlobe, and he yelps, startling and dropping his phone onto the couch in the process. He flits his eyes up towards Kyungsoo, who’s still tugging at his ear.
“Pay attention,” Kyungsoo scolds him, his eyebrows furrowed in clear disapproval. “You chose the movie after all.”
The stern tone of his roommate’s voice makes him laugh, and he pushes himself into a sitting position. “Sorry,” he says, listing sideways until his head is resting on Kyungsoo’s shoulder.
“I swear I’ll confiscate your phone if you don’t stop texting,” the werewolf threatens, nudging Baekhyun off his shoulder as he grumbles. Kyungsoo turns his head back towards the screen and falls silent again. Stifling another laugh, Baekhyun follows suit, this time determined to watch the movie properly.
Then, he feels Kyungsoo shift closer towards him again. Close enough that their thighs touch, and their elbows brush against each other. “Besides, if I go as Captain America, then you have to go as Bucky,” says Kyungsoo. His voice is quiet, nearly inaudible over the movie. “We can’t have Steve Rogers without his Bucky Barnes.”
Baekhyun hadn’t even been aware that Kyungsoo was looking at their group chat — and realizes that he was probably reading over his shoulder. Surprised, he instantly turns to look at his roommate. He sees Kyungsoo sneak a glance at him out of the corner of his eye, before facing forward again, seemingly unperturbed by Baekhyun’s shock. There’s a tiny, pleased smile quirked in the corner of his lips, one that makes Baekhyun’s heart do somersaults in his chest.
It’s horrible, how much he wishes he could kiss Kyungsoo sometimes.
Before he gets a chance to respond, Kyungsoo wraps one hand around his bicep, massaging his muscles gently. “Watch the movie,” he says. The fondness in his voice is warm, tender.
On the screen, Shrek drinks the Happily Ever After potion he stole from the Fairy Godmother’s factory. The sound of the movie does nothing to drown out the pitter-patter of his own heartbeat, rapid and racing, as Kyungsoo keeps his hand curled around his for the rest of the film.
It takes them another full week and another movie night — with only 15 days until Halloween — for them to finally settle on a costume.
This time, it’s Kyungsoo’s turn to choose the movie, and the two of them settle in their customary places on the couch saddled with two Cup Noodles that they place precariously on the edge of the coffee table they salvaged from someone’s front yard.
“Tell me why you chose this movie again,” Baekhyun says as he blows on his noodles to cool them down. He takes a sip of the broth, and grimaces when it burns.
The familiar jaunty opening jingle of Up is playing, and he braces himself for the inevitable waterworks to come as the montage of Ellie and Carl’s life flashes onto the screen.
Pressed up next to him, he can feel when Kyungsoo shrugs. It’s warm in their living room. “Just in the mood,” his roommate says, and lapses into silence as Ellie and Carl begin to age in the wordless montage.
The rest of the movie passes by without another word, except for when Baekhyun’s quiet wail of “why” at the end of the montage. By the time the movie ends, Baekhyun’s weeping indignantly into a wad of napkins. Next to him, Kyungsoo’s covering his face with a tissue. He sniffles once, twice, dabbing primly at his nose.
“I can’t believe you made me sit through that again,” Baekhyun says accusingly. He throws his snotty napkin in Kyungsoo’s face, and the werewolf glares at him before throwing it back.
“I wanted to do some research,” says Kyungsoo. His eyes are rimmed red, and the round tip of his nose is slightly rosy. Baekhyun wants to fight him — it’s just awful how adorable he looks even like this, teary-eyed and flushed.
He just knows he probably looks like a mess in comparison.
“Research for what?” Baekhyun grabs another fistful of tissues off their table, nearly swiping the now-empty Cup Noodle bowls off the table in the process. He blows his nose noisily, earning another deadpan stare from Kyungsoo, who grimaces at the sound.
The werewolf eyes him uneasily, before plucking another tissue from their tissue holder and hands it to Baekhyun. “I thought this would be a good costume idea.”
Baekhyun blinks, before straightening up. He mulls over the idea — going as the elderly couple from Up — and then grins, showing his teeth. “Kyungsoo! That’s such a good idea!”
“You think so?” says Kyungsoo, a little abashed smile growing on his face. “I was thinking about what would win the popular vote while being doable. There’s no way we would be able to find a good Captain America costume in time. Or Bucky’s arm.”
Baekhyun hums and nods, absentmindedly crumpling the used tissue in his hand. “You’re right—oh. But what are we going to do about the group then?”
Kyungsoo doesn’t answer at first, choosing instead to stand up and stack the empty Cup Noodles together, carrying them in his arms to take to the kitchen. “I thought it’d be nice to do something for just the two of us,” he says. There’s something about his tone that feels purposefully light, and Baekhyun lets his heart soar for a split second before he drags himself back to Earth.
He’s not going to read into this. Or at least, he’ll try.
“I’m okay with that,” says Baekhyun. He bites down on his bottom lip, fighting against the wide grin that his mouth wants to stretch into. It probably looks a little silly, but he doesn’t care. Kyungsoo wants to match with just him too.
A split second later, he leaps to his feet. He swipes the dirty tissues he left on the coffee table and follows Kyungsoo into the kitchen. “Hey, so we should plan this right away. We’re already halfway through the month. How old should we go?” he blabbers excitedly, tossing the garbage into the trashcan before leaning against the kitchen counter as he watches his roommate methodically soap up the chopsticks and spoons they used.
Like usual, Kyungsoo ignores most of the bombardment of questions and chooses to only answer to the select parts. “How about when they’re elderly?” he says, rinsing the utensils under hot water. “That feels the most poignant.”
Baekhyun nods in agreement. His mind flits through the possible routes they could take this; if he would have time to build a whole house with hot air balloons as prop, where they can find a wig for Ellie or whether they could dye their hair grey, or—
“Oh,” says Baekhyun. He rolls forward on the balls of his feet, excitement thrumming through his veins. “Wait, wait. Which one of us is going to go as Ellie?”
Kyungsoo doesn’t even hesitate. “You.”
He shrugs, rolling with it. “Sure, I don’t mind.” Baekhyun pauses. His mouth lifts in the corner, a mischievous smile. “At least we can just rummage in your closet for your costume.”
Baekhyun lets out a laugh and easily dodges the sudsy sponge that Kyungsoo throws at him in response.
“What are you looking for again?” Baekhyun asks, picking up a box of Halloween-themed cereal and inspecting it closely. There’s an adorable illustration of a tiny werewolf plopped down in a bowl of milk, with his eyes wide and round and little fangs poking out its mouth. It reminds him of Kyungsoo in the mornings, and he surreptitiously slips it into the shopping cart that Kyungsoo is navigating through the brightly lit aisles.
They just finished the final touches on their costume yesterday, having sourced most of their outfit from the thrift store. Baekhyun did, at least. He wasn’t wrong when he said they could use some of Kyungsoo’s clothing for his costume. The wig he ordered online was a little tight on his head, but it looked good, and that’s all that mattered. Sooyoung offered to help them with their makeup — age them a little — but they wouldn’t know how that looked until the day of Halloween.
Today, they’re on their weekly grocery run. It’s the weekend before Halloween.
Standing a few feet down the aisle from him, Kyungsoo doesn’t respond. His thick eyebrows are furrowed as he scans his grocery list, lips pursed as he glances back at the aisle. Baekhyun sighs, but a fond smile crosses his face. It’s always a struggle to get Kyungsoo’s attention when its focused elsewhere, and he’s used to it now after nearly nine months of living together.
He waits a few more beats, before striding behind Kyungsoo and clapping a hand over his shoulder. “Boo,” he says, and laughs when Kyungsoo startles, dropping the bag of granola he was examining.
“Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo says reproachfully, glowering at him before he bends down to pick up the bag of granola.
“You weren’t paying attention to me,” he protests, scooping Kyungsoo into a side hug. The other boy just wiggles out of his grasp and returns the bag to the shelf, apparently discontent with the selection. “What are you looking for?” he asks again.
Kyungsoo scowls down at his grocery list, scrunching his nose up cutely. “I want to make a treat for my kids and I was going to make them rice krispies but now I feel like it’s not Halloween enough.”
Baekhyun almost coos at the words ”my kids” falling from Kyungsoo’s lips. “Why don’t you just make cookies or cupcakes or something? Those are easy to decorate.”
The werewolf doesn’t look pleased with the suggestion, sighing as he scans through his grocery list again before grabbing hold of the shopping. “I hate decorating those,” he says petulantly. Kyungsoo begins pushing the shopping cart again.
“I’ll help you,” Baekhyun offers, walking alongside Kyungsoo. He bumps his shoulder against the slightly shorter man, and smiles, bright and happy. “C’mon, it’ll be fun. Let’s see if they have bat-shaped cookie-cutters or something.”
And without waiting for his roommate to respond, Baekhyun wraps one arm around the crook of his elbow and pulls him in the direction of the baking aisle. The wheels of the cart squeal with protest from the jarring movement, and he sheepishly pauses until Kyungsoo can reorient it in the right direction.
When they get to the right aisle, Baekhyun skips directly to where they sell decorating supplies. To his surprise, their grocery store offers a variety of Halloween-themed cookie-cutters. Waving a pack filled with ghost, bat, and pumpkin-shaped cookie-cutters, Baekhyun excitedly flag Kyungsoo down.
“Isn’t this kinda expensive?” Kyungsoo says doubtfully, taking the pack into his hand in inspecting it carefully.
“C’mooooon,” Baekhyun wheedles. “They would look so cute. And I can help you with the icing. I know you hate how tedious that is.” The werewolf looks hesitant. “Your kids will love it!”
Kyungsoo sighs, and chucks the pack into the shopping cart. “Okay, fine. Let’s do it.”
Despite the grudging attitude and resigned tone, the werewolf warms up to the idea easily — most-likely motivated with the idea of surprising his daycare cubs with a nice treat. Kyungsoo ends up finding googly eyes and tiny little pumpkin candy that he brandishes proudly at Baekhyun, and says, “I could decorate them with these too!”
It’s sweet, and it’s adorable, how much he cares about his werewolf cubs.
They quickly finish the rest of their usual weekly shopping list after that, stocking up on their usual grocery items. Thankfully, the checkout counter only has two other people in line, and they don’t have to wait too much longer before it’s their turn.
“Halloween shopping?” the girl at the till says, scanning their items quickly. Baekhyun grins and nods. Her name tag has no name written on it, just a smiley face scrawled on it in blunt sharpie. “You two doing anything special?” she asks.
“We’re entering a costume contest,” Baekhyun says. He forks out a wad of cash to pay for half the groceries and hands it to Kyungsoo, who counts their total quickly. “We’re going as the couple from Up.”
The girl laughs sweetly. “Aww, cute. You two make a cute couple.” Baekhyun sputters in response, a blush rising on his face. Next to him, Kyungsoo remains calm, patiently waiting for the girl to finish bagging their groceries. He doesn’t offer any response to her comment, only muttering a quiet thanks once she hands them back their change.
“Receipt in the bag okay?” the girl asks. Kyungsoo nods, and she rips the receipt off the printer. “Have a good day! Have fun tomorrow night at your thing — don’t let the werewolves bite!”
At her words, Kyungsoo suddenly freezes. Baekhyun nearly walks into him, since they were both turning to exit the store. For a moment, he sputters in surprise, but then her last sentence — clearly said in jest — replays in his mind. Don’t let the werewolves bite.
“Is it—” Baekhyun starts, and then falters. He’s not sure what to say, not when Kyungsoo’s looking so pale so suddenly.
But it seems like Kyungsoo understood what he meant anyway, because the shorter boy looks grim. His eyes are trained on the ground, and when Baekhyun glances down, he sees that Kyungsoo has his hands clenched in tight fists. “Full moon,” Kyungsoo says. His voice is devoid of emotion, tightly wrapped up and packaged in the way that Baekhyun knows that he’s upset.
Full moon.
During full moons, werewolves in the city never roam outside at night. Partly for the safety of all the humans living in the city, as there have been cases of werewolf attacks — but moreso for theirs. Even still, prejudice against werewolves are rampant and when it’s known that you’re a werewolf, you get targetted.
In all the months that Baekhyun has lived with Kyungsoo, he has never seen Kyungsoo in his full wolf form he shifts into during full moons. Even now, it’s still something that Kyungsoo keeps under lock and key. Padlocked away.
A full moon during Halloween means that Kyungsoo cannot leave the house. For his safety, he won’t be able to be outside once the sun sets and the moon shines bright in the sky.
“Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo says. His voice is measured, but Baekhyun knows better. Knows Kyungsoo better. “Baekhyun. I’m sorry.” They’re still standing in the grocery store, just a few metres away from the door. If they were to look back, they would see the girl at the check-out counter staring at them curiously.
He’s still not looking at Baekhyun. Baekhyun fumbles with the grocery bag, nearly drops it in his attempt to grab Kyungsoo’s hand. The werewolf doesn’t even seem to notice, staring at the floor. His hand is limp in Baekhyun’s grasp, but he tightens his hold anyway.
“It’s okay,” Baekhyun says, as reassuring as he can. “Really, it’s okay, Kyungsoo.”
Kyungsoo sighs. “I should have checked the calendar. I don’t know why I didn’t. Or checked with Chanyeol, at least.” He sounds remorseful, and his hand finally closes around Baekhyun’s. “I’m sorry, Baekhyun,” he says miserably. “I ruined your Halloween plans.”
Baekhyun threads his fingers through Kyungsoo’s, tightening his clasp on his hand and squeezing tight. “It’s no big deal. It’s only Halloween, I swear, it’s not an issue, like, at all.”
“But you love Halloween,” says Kyungsoo. And at last, he turns to look at Baekhyun. His round eyes are shuttered, and he looks remorseful. It breaks his heart to see Kyungsoo like this, all sad over something that really, truly doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things.
All because he knows Baekhyun was looking forward to it.
“I promise I don’t mind,” Baekhyun says. “It’s not your fault. It’s okay.” He’s not sure what else to say, to convince Kyungsoo that it’s fine.
But then the werewolf only sighs, shakes his head, and starts walking towards the door again. He drops his grasp on Baekhyun’s hand. While already short, shorter than even Baekhyun himself, Kyungsoo looks even smaller like this. Defeated. “Let’s just go home,” Kyungsoo says. “Let’s go.”
Their commute home is silent. As much as Baekhyun wants to reach out, to hold Kyungsoo’s hand and let him know that it’s okay, he can’t — they’re on the bus after all, and there are limits to how much physical affection he can show.
So he keeps himself pressed up against Kyungsoo, their arms brushing each other. The sway of the bus as it brakes for each stop feels lurching, jarring, and when they finally reach their stop, it’s with a sense of relief.
He tries to catch Kyungsoo by the elbow as they start their short trek back to their apartment, but the werewolf slips out of his grasp. Baekhyun sighs, unsure of how to comfort the other boy.
By the time they finally reach their door, Baekhyun decides to try and address the elephant in the room. “Hey,” he says softly, nudging at Kyungsoo’s side to get his attention. His roommate is packing away their groceries now. “Talk to me, Kyungsoo.”
The werewolf doesn’t respond for a few moments, before he sets down the pack of cookie-cutters on their kitchen counter with a sigh. “I’m fine, Baekhyun,” he says wearily. “I just. I feel dumb, making a mistake like that. What kind of werewolf forgets to track the moon cycle?” Kyungsoo laughs, but it’s bitter.
There’s not a lot Baekhyun can say to refute that, but he feels his heart ache at how forlorn Kyungsoo looks about it.
“And I know how much you love Halloween. And dressing up too. We spent so much time working on our costumes together, and now you’re going to look so stupid going alone as an old woman. They won’t even know it’s from Up.”
Despite himself, the last sentence makes Baekhyun laugh a little. It’s true, his costume doesn’t work out of context. “Hey, don’t worry about it. Maybe I’ll meet another Carl while trick-or-treating during Spooky Fest.”
If anything, Kyungsoo only looks more upset at that, his lips turning downwards in a deep frown. Baekhyun immediately wants to kick himself.
“I guess I was looking forward to it too,” Kyungsoo says, quietly. “Going with you.”
Baekhyun takes in the small set of Kyungsoo’s shoulders, the white-knuckled grip on the counter, and — his heart just breaks. Taking in a deep breath, his stomach churning at how miserable his roommate looks, Baekhyun sidles up to Kyungsoo. “Hey,” he says, rubbing his hand up and down on Kyungsoo’s arm. The werewolf makes a soft noise. “Hey,” Baekhyun says again. This time, he grips at Kyungsoo’s arms with both hands, turning the other boy around so he’s facing Baekhyun, before pulling the werewolf in a tight hug.
He only has a couple inches on Kyungsoo, but it’s enough to easily tuck his chin over the shorter boy’s shoulder, to hold him close. “It’s okay,” Baekhyun says. He rubs his hand down Kyungsoo’s back, hoping the touch is soothing. “Halloween literally happens every year. There’s always next year. We’ll have more time to prepare, we’ll have the best costume ever.”
This close together, he can’t tell whether the pounding heart is his or Kyungsoo’s.
“It’s okay that you can’t go this year. Don’t beat yourself up for it, Kyungsoo. It’s okay, I promise.”
Kyungsoo shudders in his arms, before the werewolf slowly reaches up and wraps his arms around Baekhyun in return. He’s quiet, and Baekhyun knows he’s still beating himself up for it — but he hopes. He hopes this will be enough.
They stay pressed up together for a few more seconds, and when Kyungsoo finally pulls away, Baekhyun mourns the loss. “Come on,” says Kyungsoo. The tip of his ears are a crimson red. “You promised you’d help me bake these cookies.” There’s a faint smile dancing at the edges on his lips, and the sight of it makes Baekhyun almost sag with relief.
If it meant he could make Kyungsoo smile each time, he would bake a million cookies.
-
When Baekhyun falls asleep later that night, it’s to the aroma of shortbread cookies freshly baked from the oven wafting through their small apartment; and to the sight of their costumes, hanging side by side in Baekhyun’s closet, imprinted on the back of his eyelids.
By the time Baekhyun drags himself out of bed the next morning, Kyungsoo had already left for the daycare, and with him, the tray of cookies they baked the night before. On the counter is a small tower of leftover cookies with a little post-it note that simply states “for you” in the werewolf’s neat blocky letters. There’s a small doodle of what could be a wolf, but it looks more like a poodle than anything.
He rubs his thumb over the drawing, smiling fondly as he munches on a ghost-shaped cookie. Ever the silently thoughtful roommate, even when Baekhyun knows Kyungsoo is still upset with himself.
Suppressing a yawn, Baekhyun quickly taps out a thank you text to Kyungsoo, sending a barrage of cute stickers on KakaoTalk. A quick glance at the clock has him rushing back to his bedroom to get ready for his shift at the cafe. It’s only a four hour shift, and he’ll be back by the afternoon, but he always drags his feet before heading out the door.
Despite the time crunch he’s under, his eyes can’t help but flit towards the date listed on his homescreen — October 31 — and he sighs. For the first time, he isn’t sure if he’s looking forward to Halloween.
As he’s rummaging through his closet for appropriate work clothes, his eyes stray back towards their costumes. Kyungsoo’s room only has drawers, and he had asked Baekhyun to keep them on hangers so they wouldn’t wrinkle. They hung their costumes together in Baekhyun’s closet right next to his small selection of blazers. Now, he pauses, studying the two outfits. It looks a little silly, with their wigs dangling precariously on the hook of the hanger. Baekhyun smiles wistfully.
In the grand scheme of things, he hasn’t know Kyungsoo for too long — only for the better part of this year, really. But in spite of that, he’s not sure he can imagine what his life would be like without his roommate there, ever strict with his standards but emanating warmth through his care and attention in silent ways. He’s not sure if he wants to spend Halloween without Kyungsoo. Not when he knows it means leaving Kyungsoo alone and upset in their house, unable to leave during the full moon. He lingers on that thought as he sets out for work.
By the time Baekhyun finishes his shift, his mind has been made up. Instead of heading directly home like planned, he detours for the small grocery store near his cafe.
Shortly after 4 o’clock in the late afternoon, Baekhyun hears the soft snick of the lock opening and the rattling of the door handle. It’s not as if he had been sitting in his bedroom and twiddling his thumbs, waiting for Kyungsoo to get home after work, but he leaps up at the noise anyway and pads down the hallway to greet his roommate.
He skids to a stop right when the door opens. Kyungsoo enters, and then pauses, a look of surprise overtaking his face, eyes widening in the way that Baekhyun knows he’s a goner because he finds it adorable.
“Baekhyun?” Kyungsoo says. The werewolf looks him head to toe, scanning his appearance and taking in the way he’s still in his flannel pajamas. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready to head out for the Spooky Fest?”
His heart skips a beat. Suddenly, Baekhyun feels a little nervous, and he swallows noisily as he searches for his words. He wipes his sweaty palms on his pajama pants, hoping Kyungsoo doesn’t notice. “I’m,” he starts, and then awkwardly chuckles. Kyungsoo is still staring wide-eyed at him. “I’m not going.”
“What?” Kyungsoo takes a step forward, and then halts. “What do you mean?” There’s a bewildered look on his eyes, and the other boy shakes his head minutely, as if needing to clear his head.
“I’m not going,” Baekhyun repeats.
The puzzled look slowly evaporates, and then a horrified look slams into place instead. “Baekhyun,” says Kyungsoo. “This isn’t for me, is it?” His words are slow, measured, and paced. Even though he’s not speaking any louder than his usual volume, it feels like it’s taking up all the space in their tiny kitchen. “Please say you’re not missing out on your favourite day just because I’m going to be spending the night here.”
And it’s not like he’s not not staying home with Kyungsoo because he’s not going either, but—
But—
The weight of his decision, his intentions feel too heavy to voice. It’s too obvious — his feelings for Kyungsoo — and the last thing he would want is to make Kyungsoo feel uncomfortable on top of already feeling guilty.
The silence draws out between them, and that’s an answer on it’s own. Baekhyun sees the way Kyungsoo’s face changes again, ever expressive, this time into one of sadness. His expression crumples, mouth pursing. Baekhyun knows that if there’s one thing his roommate hates, it’s the feeling of being a burden to someone else. That he’s harming someone at his own expense. He knows what Kyungsoo is probably thinking — that Baekhyun is pitying him because he’s a werewolf.
He doesn’t think Baekhyun is doing this out of his own volition, not entirely anyway.
While Baekhyun would have gladly — and has — dropped their Halloween plans for Kyungsoo, he hates that he put this expression on the shorter boy’s face. He hates that he’s made him sad.
And so he steels a deep breath, the exhale harsh enough that it feels like it’s rattling his ribcage. His heart is pounding in his ears, louder almost than the faint music that’s still playing from his laptop in his room.
“I want to,” Baekhyun says. He hears his voice shake, and he clears his throat in an attempt to stabilize it again. “Kyungsoo. I don’t — I don’t want to spend Halloween anywhere else but with you.” At his words, Kyungsoo looks shocked again. He barrels on. “I thought about it, going out to campus and trick-or-treating for Spooky Fest again, and I just. It just didn’t sound fun. Not with you by my side.”
“Baekhyun...” Kyungsoo starts, but then trails off. The tone of his voice is inscrutable.
“I promise I’m not doing this because I feel bad for you. I just — thinking about what would be a perfect way to end tonight, I just couldn’t imagine spending it without you. And if you do want space, to be alone today, I understand. And respect that.” There’s a strange look on Kyungsoo’s face. “But this is. This is me,” he finishes lamely.
A beat passes. Silence fills the room. The strange look on Kyungsoo doesn’t fade for a few seconds, and Baekhyun can feel sweat beading along his temple, his heart thumping in his chest, in his throat. And then—
“Are you sure?” Kyungsoo asks, his voice small. His shoulders are hiked up to his ears, almost defensively. “I don’t. I don’t want to ruin your day, Baekhyun.”
“I promise,” says Baekhyun, infusing as much determination as possible into his response. There’s a tinge of comfort and relief reflected in Kyungsoo’s eyes — almost as if Kyungsoo feels it reluctantly, and is trying to suppress it. “I just want to spend time with you.”
It feels like he’s laying bare his soul to Kyungsoo, exposing his feelings. And truth be told, a part of him feels like Kyungsoo has to know now, how irrevocably and incredibly in love he is with the werewolf.
The other boy is staring at him wordlessly now, but his shoulders have slumped in relief. “I would...I would like that,” he says at last. “I don’t — I’ll shift into my full form when the sun sets. I won’t be good company,” Kyungsoo warns. “Not dangerous or anything like that! I just, I won’t be able to talk to you. In that form.”
Baekhyun lets out a breath he didn’t even realize he was holding, his whole body sagging as he untenses. Not out of fear that Kyungsoo would be dangerous on the full moon, because he knows that’s not true, but because he was afraid maybe Kyungsoo wouldn’t want to stay with him, or would feel uncomfortable with him.
“I know,” Baekhyun replies uncharacteristically softly. “I, um, prepared just in case.” He sheepishly points to the counter, where there’s two colourful mountains of chocolate and candy are piled into two bowls, nearly spilling with abundance. “Wait, can you even eat that when you’re in wolf form?”
Kyungsoo snorts, which Baekhyun finds endearing and hates himself a little for being so whipped, and shakes his head. He looks at Baekhyun fondly. “Dummy,” he says. “I’m still human, you know. I’m not a dog, chocolate isn’t going to poison me. I’m a werewolf.”
The matter-of-fact tone of his voice makes Baekhyun laugh a little. “Okay, well, I thought we could treat ourselves tonight. Movie marathon?”
The werewolf pretends to mull it over, but Baekhyun can see the traces of a smirk in the corner of his lips. “Depends on what movie, I guess.”
“Shrek 3,” Baekhyun jokes. He swears he sees Kyungsoo’s look a little disappointed, and can’t help but laugh. “I’m just kidding — I thought we could do a Ghibli marathon? Nothing to get me more in the Halloween mood than to watch coming-of-age magic worldbuilding.”
“I would have been okay with Shrek 3,” Kyungsoo protests, but despite himself, he clearly looks more excited for Ghibli. He picks up one of the bowls, hugging it close to his chest. “Besides, I just want to spend time with you.”
With a flushing rising on his cheeks, he quickly walks towards their living room, leaving Baekhyun staring at him, flustered.
As the sun starts to set, Kyungsoo hunches his shoulders forward. “I should...go,” he mutters quietly, jerking his head in the vague direction of his room. His fingers twist in his laps. They’re part way through The Cat Returns. “I can feel the itching,” he explains.
“Oh!” Baekhyun says, fumbling for words for a moment. “I’ll wait out here then?” He doesn’t mean for it to be a question, but his voice lilts at the end nonetheless.
Kyungsoo nods, averting his eyes, before they slide back towards Baekhyun. He looks nervous. “It shouldn’t take too long.”
Baekhyun nods and presses pause. Kyungsoo looks nervous, unsure of himself, and his hands twitch. He wants to reach out to him, to soothe him, but he doesn’t know if it would be welcomed. Instead, he smiles, hoping to infuse the warmth he feels for Kyungsoo in it instead.
It seems to help, and Kyungsoo’s shoulders relax slightly. He stands up, stretching his arms above his head, revealing his soft tummy for a split second. Baekhyun hurriedly peels his eyes away before his roommate can notice.
“I’ll, um, be back,” Kyungsoo says awkwardly before heading toward his room. The door closes behind him with a soft click.
The room feels improbably quiet without Kyungsoo there to share the space with him. The low hum of the television serves as white noise in the background, but Baekhyun finds himself unable to focus even as he scrolls mindlessly through Instagram. His eyes keep straying toward the time along the top notification bar. He pauses on the selfie that Taemin had uploaded a few minutes ago — he’s dressing up as Buttercup from the Powerpuff Girls, it seems — before shrugging and double-tapping the post to like it.
He feels no jealousy, no resentment. Only contentment, that he can spend the night with Kyungsoo.
Fifteen minutes pass before he hears the subtle sound of the door opening. Baekhyun’s heart flips in his chest, and he pretends to be immersed in his phone. He’s sure that Kyungsoo would hate it more if he gawked like a circus clown.
He hears a quiet clicking as Kyungsoo approaches the couch again, and as if held together by magnets, Baekhyun can’t help but look up.
At the sight of Kyungsoo, his heart skips a beat. His shifted form is — beautiful. Baekhyun finds his breath catching in his throat as he takes in Kyungsoo’s wolf form. His eyes are as dark and round as Kyungsoo as a human, with a midnight-black fur coat that seems impossibly fluffy. Despite Chanyeol having described Kyungsoo as the runt of the pack, he easily reaches Baekhyun’s waist on all fours. Absently, he wonders how big the rest of the pack must be if Kyungsoo’s considered the runt.
His steps are slow and hesitant, but there’s a focused look in his eyes, inscrutable and intense. Almost as if scrutinizing Baekhyun’s reaction to him.
“How did you even open the door?” Baekhyun says, the words slipping out without thinking about it. He winces — stupid question — but it seems to help, and Kyungsoo bares his teeth in a facsimile of a smile. His fangs are sharp, much sharper than how they appear in his half-shifted form that Baekhyun’s familiar with, but to his surprise, he feels only fondness at the sight.
Kyungsoo pads up to him, then places his paw on the crook of Baekhyun’s elbow. He wonders what Kyungsoo’s doing, but then the werewolf pushes down, strong enough that Baekhyun’s arm drops onto his lap and his phone falls to the couch cushion. Like that, Kyungsoo seems to be saying, with a pointed eye-roll.
“Okay, okay,” Baekhyun says, laughing. Scooting aside to make more room for Kyungsoo, he picks the remote back up from the coffee table. “Ready to go?”
The wolf clambers onto the couch, fitting himself into the space that Baekhyun made for him. He’s surprisingly able to fold himself agilely, taking up less room than Baekhyun had expected. He turns to Baekhyun and tilts his head. It’s so Kyungsoo, that he has to bite down on a fond smile that’s threatening to break out. Instead, he presses play once more.
They get through the rest of The Cat Returns like that, sitting side-by-side. Occasionally, Kyungsoo nudges at a package of gummy candy in the bowl, and Baekhyun dutifully unwraps it before feeding the wolf. He wonders if Kyungsoo will get a stomach ache once he shifts back to his human form. Despite his seemingly serious disposition, Kyungsoo has quite a sweet tooth.
They start Princess Mononoke next, and then Kiki’s Delivery service right after. Sometime during the evening, as the night wears on, Baekhyun starts shifting closer and closer to Kyungsoo. Or maybe Kyungsoo shifts closer to him — he’s not sure. But suddenly, he feels hyper-aware of the warmth emanating from the wolf pressed against his side.
Kyungsoo yawns, sharp teeth flashing as he opens his mouth wide. A small squeak escapes from him, and he looks taken aback, wide eyes blinking rapidly at Baekhyun in surprise. It’s cute, completely unbefitting a wolf but perfectly matches the Kyungsoo he knows, and his heart melts. Baekhyun can’t help it; he huffs out a laugh, and curls one hand around the side of Kyungsoo’s face. The fur is soft under the pads of his fingers.
“What was that, you big scary wolf,” he teases, stroking along his neck.
Kyungsoo snuffles, glaring at him out the corner of his eyes. But then he pushes his neck into Baekhyun’s palm, a silent demand for pets. Baekhyun bites down a smile, bites back the teasing words he wants to say, and obliges. His fingers scratch under Kyungsoo’s chin, delights in the way Kyungsoo lets out a low pleased rumble, as if he were a cat instead of a wolf. It’s adorable, and Baekhyun smiles indulgently, eyes more focused on his roommate than the screen.
By the end of the movie, Kyungsoo’s head is resting on Baekhyun’s thigh. It’s the warmest Baekhyun has felt in a long time.
There’s something squishing him, is the first thought that filters into Baekhyun’s mind. It’s an absent thought. The pull of sleep is tempting and heavy, weighing his thoughts down as struggles to wake up. The sweet smell of chocolate is in the air, mixing pleasantly with a familiar minty aroma.
Baekhyun stretches his arms out, his eyes still plastered close with grogginess, knowing his phone is always kept on the small stool that constitutes as his bedside table — and then promptly freezes when his hand meets air and a low voice grumbles at the disturbance.
His mind slows to halt. Slowly, he registers the weight of something — someone — lying on top of him, their arms wrapped around him in a tight hold. The last of the grogginess leaves him, and Baekhyun’s eyes spring open.
His heart beats faster.
He’s met with a tousled head of dark hair, soft and sleep-mussed, with a pair of ears sticking out the top. Kyungsoo’s sprawled on top of him, his arms clinging to Baekhyun, smelling like mint and chocolate. Over his shoulders, he can see the distinct movement of Kyungsoo’s tail wagging in his slip. Kyungsoo face scrunches up adorably as Baekhyun nearly jolts in surprise, but smooths back down again.
The last thing he remembers last night was the sound of Spirited Away playing on their screen, and the warmth of the wolf who sleepily watched the film next to him. At some point, they must have fallen asleep. Baekhyun thinks that Kyungsoo must have shifted without realizing overnight — but then he notices that he has his clothes back on. His heart skips a beat. He wonders if Kyungsoo had purposefully joined him again on the couch after shifting back.
In the calm of the morning light, Baekhyun can’t help but appreciate the soft features of Kyungsoo. A smile breaks out, unbidden, on his face as he studies Kyungsoo’s sleeping face. His cheek is squished on Baekhyun’s chest, plush lips pursed in a pout as he breathes in and out slowly, his warm breath washing over Baekhyun’s neck. Abruptly, Kyungsoo breaks into a wide yawn, his tiny fangs poking out, as he curls his fingers into the soft fabric of Baekhyun’s shirt.
It feels like someone inflated a balloon inside Baekhyun’s chest, and that he’s seconds away from floating off into the stratosphere. He feels warm down to his bones as Kyungsoo’s blinks once, twice, before opening lazily and meeting his own. The fluffy ears on top of Kyungsoo’s head twitch, as if in greeting.
“Morning,” Baekhyun whispers, afraid to break the stillness of the morning.
Kyungsoo looks a little disoriented, chin still tucked neatly against Baekhyun’s chest. He blinks at Baekhyun. “Good morning,” he says belatedly, his voice hoarse from sleep. Then, as if realizing their proximity, Kyungsoo reddens attractively. “It’s too early,” he whines, burrowing his face against Baekhyun and clinging tighter to him.
Baekhyun’s heart races. He wants to coo, but instead he strokes his hand along Kyungsoo’s fluffy hair, pausing to scratch behind his ears. “You can go back to sleep,” he offers sympathetically. “We stayed up pretty late.”
But Kyungsoo shakes his head, the movement slight due to their position. They fall into silence, a comforting one, and for a moment Baekhyun thinks he fell back asleep, before Kyungsoo turns his head to the side so that his cheek is pressed against his chest. He peers up at Baekhyun through his long lashes. “...thank you,” he says, sounding sweet and shy.
He smiles fondly at Kyungsoo. “What for?” Baekhyun asks, his hands still combing through Kyungsoo’s hair.
Kyungsoo looks embarrassed, his cheeks glowing with blush. “For...for staying with me the whole night. Yesterday — it felt nice. I—I really enjoyed last night. Thank you for keeping me company.” And then he smiles, soft and vulnerable in a way that he normally isn’t; eyes curving into crescents, his cheeks round and fluffy, beautiful pink lips blooming into the shape of a heart. It’s an expression of pure joy, of affection — and Baekhyun freezes, staring at his bright smile.
“I love you,” he blurts out, almost involuntarily.
Kyungsoo stills. “H-Huh?”
Baekhyun tries to ignore the deepening flush on his face. He takes a deep breath. He didn’t mean to say it, not yet at least. But now that it has left his lips, Baekhyun doesn’t want to take it back.
“I really like you,” Baekhyun says. “Really like you. Like, I want to hold your hands all the time.”
It’s not the most elegant way he could make his feelings known, but it’s all true. Kyungsoo is staring at him with wide, round eyes, his cheeks still pretty and rosy. He hasn’t moved away yet, and Baekhyun hopes it’s a good sign.
When Kyungsoo doesn’t respond, Baekhyun shifts his weight slightly. He clears his throat. “I, I don’t want to pressure you or anything, or make things awkward between us. We don’t have anything you don’t want to be!” He swallows around the lump in his throat, his stomach dropping. He gathers his courage. “But I’m in love with you. I have been for awhile.”
Kyungsoo stares at him. For a moment, Baekhyun is sure that he’ll get rejected, that he’s gone ahead and done the one thing he’s been afraid of; ruined their friendship irreparably. That Kyungsoo is never going to want to talk to him again, and that he’ll move ou—
“I love you too,” Kyungsoo whispers. A smile spreads across his face, slow and blindingly bright. “I’m in love with you too.”
Baekhyun lets out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He swallows, and takes a deep breath. He studies Kyungsoo’s face, takes in the sight of his beautiful eyes and bright smile. His eyes wander down to Kyungsoo’s lips, pink and inviting. His tiny fangs are still poking out, as cute as the rest of him.
“Can I kiss you?” he murmurs.
Kyungsoo blushes, but it’s him who moves first. He pushes himself up onto his elbows, and then leans down and presses his lips against Baekhyun, gentle and soft. His heart flips. Baekhyun curls a hand around Kyungsoo’s cheek, and sighs into the kiss, pulling Kyungsoo a tiny bit closer.
It’s the best Halloween he’s ever had.