Chapter Text
Baekhyun hurriedly grabs an apple from the kitchen counter and makes his way towards the front door. His feet freezes halfway when he spots the big figure splattered across the sofa in the living room. A smile creeps up his face and he shakes his head softly before stepping closer to the figure.
Chanyeol must have ended his shooting late last night, no wonder he’s knocked out cold right now, he didn't even get to take off his socks.
He bends down to press a kiss onto the taller’s forehead, “Good morning, husband .”
The one who he thought was deep asleep suddenly snakes his arms around the smaller’s waist, bringing him closer, his small body almost completely on top of the other.
“Chanyeol!!!”
“Morning to you too, sweetheart,” Chanyeol says, pecking him loudly on the cheeks (just to annoy the smaller) and letting out a contented sigh at the familiar scent.
“Why are you awake? What time did you get home last night?” Baekhyun asks, a worried frown painted across his forehead. "Sleep some more, I know you’re exhausted."
"Never too tired for you," Chanyeol nuzzles the brunette's neck, giving it little pecks. He sighs again at the comforting scent.
A scent that means home, away from the hustle-bustle life of an A-list celebrity.
Baekhyun immediately giggles at the intrusion when Chanyeol wouldn’t stop sneaking kisses all over his neck.
“Chanyeol, stop itー tickles!”
“I miss you, sweetheart,” the taller whispers, his baritone voice sounding a few octaves deeper than usual from having just woken up.
A tinge of pink makes its appearance on the smaller’s cheeks almost instantly. Baekhyun cannot seem to get used to this, though they have been together for almost five years and married for the past two years.
“I… I miss you too,” Baekhyun replies, the tinge of pink not leaving his cheeks.
Chanyeol grins to his heart’s content, his husband is always such a shy little thing. It might sound mean but Chanyeol has always enjoyed it when his husband freezes on the spot and his cheeks turn red from embarrassment. He pulls both of them up from the position and ruffles the brunette’s hair.
The latter smacks his hand away swiftly and pouts. His husband is such a tease, though Baekhyun still wholeheartedly loves him nonetheless.
“Don’t do that, my hair's gonna be a mess,” Baekhyun whines and fixes his hair. He spent a good half an hour getting them blow-dried just now.
“Okay sunshine, I’m sorry. Come, let me fix your hair,” the taller male pulls him closer and smooths down his hair, the prominent eyes looking down on the smaller with utmost love and adoration.
God, he is so deeply in love.
He leans in, the distance between them closing inch by inch when Baekhyun's phone vibrates in his pocket, signalling an incoming call.
Baekhyun suddenly widens his eyes and scampers up, “Oh my god! I’m late already!”
He grabs his abandoned bag and reaches for the car keys. He yelps when Chanyeol comes from behind and snatches the keys.
“I’ll drive you there, no excuses!” Chanyeol offers, not letting the younger have a chance to retort back.
Baekhyun grumbles and follows the latter out of the door, “If you say so.”
“Hey Baek, you didn’t come with your car? I didn’t see yours parked outside,” Yoona whips her head back to ask the brunette as soon as the professor exited the classroom.
She doesn’t recall seeing the black Audi the male owns parked at their usual spot when she came to class earlier.
“Oh that… he umm, drove me today,” Baekhyun answers nonchalantly and gathers his book and stationery before dumping them all in his backpack. It is their last class of the day and Baekhyun is ecstatic at the thought of going home.
Yoona side-eyes Jongdae who is sitting beside her, her eyes flashing into recognition before the side of her lips pull up into a teasing smile.
“No wonder... aww, it must be nice to have someone send and fetch you from school.” she cooes and sing-songs, snickering while nudging Jongdae to follow suit and of course, follow Jongdae did— he would never miss a chance to tease the brunette.
Oftentimes he would get a flying pencil thrown in his way, though 99% of the time, it wouldn’t even graze his skin because Baekhyun sucks at aiming.
“I’m so envious of you, Baek— you got yourself such a loving partner,” Yoona, the only girl in their small group of friends pretends to wipe an invisible tear from her eyes, “When will we ever?” she adds, turning to Jongdae to dramatically hug each other.
Baekhyun crinkles his eyes and shakes his head at his friend’s attics, “Stop it you two.”
"Okay but sometimes my girlfriend comes to pick me up— it's just you in this, Yoona-ah," Jongdae pulls away and crackles. He whines when Yoona hits his arm.
"Traitor," she mutters grumpily.
“Anyways, moving on to the things that matter— Byun Baek, your husband, is he on a break right now? Has his shooting ended? The movie will air soon, right?” Jongdae bombards in his high-pitched tone, loud enough that a few students left inside the classroom eye them with curiosity at the question.
“Dae!” Baekhyun glares at his best friend, pursing his lips in exasperation. If there is someone who does not have any sense of voice control, that would be Kim Jongdae. Just use him as a morning alarm instead and school attendance is 100% guaranteed.
Jongdae turns his head to look around and grins apologetically before scratching his hair, “Oh, it’s nothing, it’s nothingー just an actor he’s been admiring so he calls him husband, haha you know, being a fan and all,” he chuckles nervously.
Though he’s facing backwards, he could definitely feel the deathly stare behind his head. If he doesn’t make it out alive, the police know who to find.
“Continue doing your work, everyone. There’s nothing to see,” Yoona adds and to her friend’s delight, the rest started dismissing.
Jongdae finally turns around and sighs dramatically. “Phew, that was a close one,” he says but still avoids eye contact with the furious male. Baekhyun can be very scary when he’s angry and Jongdae can confirm it for they have been friends since high school.
He could clearly remember, the memories still so crisp in his mind when a boy tried picking a fight with Baekhyun in 11th grade, calling him degrading names and spilling food on him purposely at lunchtime.
At first, Jongdae thought Baekhyun didn’t mind since he was always so indifferent, acting like the other party didn’t exist. Angry, Jongdae would yell at them in the brunette’s place but, since they were in different classes, he couldn’t always come to the rescue.
“If someone throws a stone at you, throw a flower back at them. But remember to throw the flower pot with it,” Baekhyun once said when they were having lunch one day.
And throw a flower pot… Baekhyun did, literally and figuratively.
One day, let’s just say that the poor bully chose the wrong day to mess with because Baekhyun was definitely not tolerating any of his bullshit that day.
The boy-that-must-not-be-named did his usual pranks and jokes on Baekhyun, scribbling and spilling chocolate milk on his notes before getting up to laugh with his pathetic excuses of friends at the other end of the classroom. Then during gym class, they had to run two laps and the bully couldn’t stop bothering the male, he kept throwing small rocks at the latter's back.
After class, Baekhyun would usually pack his bags and commute back home but this time, before leaving, he grabbed the vase from the display at the back of their classroom and made his way towards the bully.
Somehow along his way, he ‘tripped’ and sent the flower pot flying straight to the bully with bits of the contents spilling onto his group of friends.
Even so, Baekhyun only got reprimanded for being ‘clumsy’ and the others had to go home soiledー their leader in the worst state with big bruises and cuts that had to be stitched.
Safe to say, after that, Baekhyun had gone through the rest of his high school years safe and sound.
The poor bully was probably still traumatised till this day because those glint in Baekhyun’s eyes before he tripped, no one could have ever forgotten it. He figured it was definitely intended when Baekhyun smirked at him before bidding him goodbye.
Jongdae who was at the scene could also remember the look Baekhyun had in his eyes and since then he knew he should never mess with Byun Baekhyun.
Jongdae latches himself onto the other male and pouts, jutting his lips excessively, “Byun Baek, please don’t be mad, you knew it was a mistake…”
The male just dismisses Jongdae with a wave and reprimands him not to repeat it again. “I’m trying so hard to keep everything in control, don’t do that again, okay?”
Baekhyun sighs and pats the other's black locks, ruffling them just to annoy the latter. “You know how the entertainment industry is… I need to stay low-key— at least until I graduate.”
Jongdae nods eagerly and brings his palm up, promising not to do it again. Baekhyun nods and the three friends make their way out of the lecture room.
There is a reason why he is keeping everything a secretー people will eventually find out soon, but not now.
Definitely not now.
Baekhyun zones out as he walks out of the class, slowly tuning out the heated debate Yoona and Jongdae are having about the hottest boy band right now.
He can feel the stares and eyes on him as they walk along the hallway of the Art and Design Faculty. Honestly, it has always been that way— it all started when Baekhyun was asked to sing during the freshmen’s orientation week.
He sang ‘Moon of Seoul’ while playing the piano and the recorded clip of him went viral on the university’s board page.
After that, Baekhyun was collectively agreed to be the pride of the Art and Design Faculty at Yonsei University.
It's not a wonder that he almost instantly became the centre of attention everywhere he goes, has students from other faculties dropping by to catch a glimpse of him— not to mention the number of confessions he received from juniors to seniors on Valentine’s Day each year.
Baekhyun himself doesn’t know what people find fascinating about him— he has always thought that he is just an average guy but then, Yoona and Jongdae beg to differ.
His two best friends never-failed to remind him that “you have a voice of a god” and “you’re cute as hell”. At first, Baekhyun would argue that Jongdae also has a nice voice but was quick to be refuted when the Cheshire male replied with an “I have a girlfriend since high school— no one will hit on a taken man Byun Baek”.
Well, Baekhyun is not single too but no one publicly knew that, except for well, his two best friends— though that too, was by accident.
The cat got out of the bag when Yoona and Jongdae visited his house uninformed with fried chicken and beers in hopes to celebrate the end of their first semester together and found none other than the Park Chanyeol in his studio apartment’s kitchen cooking dinner.
Well, to say the pair was shocked was an understatement, because they were downright horrified .
I mean, not always you come to your best friend’s home to find an A-list actor flipping pajeon in the kitchen, right?
When Baekhyun got out of the shower, he too sported a terrified look on his face. Jongdae had launched himself at him and shook his shoulders like a 9.0 scale earthquake, demanding answers.
Chanyeol on the other hand was quite pleased to finally meet his boyfriend’s closest friends. They were quite a funny bunch.
Needless to day, Baekhyun had to treat his friends to ice cream for two-weeks straight for keeping them in the dark.
The trio arrives at the library since Yoona has to return a book and Jongdae has to borrow one, Baekhyun just quietly gestures to them that he will just wait outside. His mind is only thinking of one person only right nowー the said person is probably busy resting at home and drowning in his dreams under the fluffy duvet inside their air-conditioned bedroom.
Gosh, he cannot get over how hardworking his husband is. No matter how much he asks the taller to take a break for a while, it just won’t get through the latter’s thick skull.
“I’m doing it for both of us, sweetheart. I promised we will open an art academy together right? I’m working hard to make that come true soon.”
Chanyeol would keep on repeating that whenever Baekhyun showed disagreement on him accepting another project, one after another without stopping. Chanyeol deserves some rest and they both knew it from the way Chanyeol would pass out from fatigue every time he comes back from one of his schedules.
There was one time during summer break where Baekhyun felt so overwhelmed and guilty by just looking at Chanyeol that he burst out crying at the first sight of the taller male.
Chanyeol, though, without a single word uttered from the smaller, immediately understood what it was about. He took slow strides to Baekhyun and straight away gathered the smaller male into his embrace, whispering soothing words into his ears.
After a while, Chanyeol asked, “Sweetheart, why are you crying?”
“I-I don’t k-know why I’m c-crying too…,” Baekhyun sobbed uncontrollably into the taller’s shirt, soaking it with tears. His fist grabbed a handful of Chanyeol’s sweatshirt, clutching it hard until it turned red.
Chanyeol tried pulling Baekhyun’s face away from his chest and was unsuccessful when the smaller male was adamant about not moving.
Baekhyun buried his face deeper into the toned chest, “Don’t look at me… I-I look ugly.”
“Oh, sweetheart. Come, look at me,” Chanyeol had no choice but to use his strength to pull the smaller away from going all koala over his chest.
“Okay, look here, baby,” Chanyeol began. “Up here, your eyesー yes good. Look at me in the eyes and don’t move them away. I’m going to say something so listen to me, please?”
Baekhyun nodded through his tear-stained eyes, understanding.
“So first of all, where do I startー okay, let me start by saying this, I love you, Byun Baekhyun. I love you so much. You’re the love of my life, my happy pill, my energiser, my source of happiness, my love and my everything. I just cannot ask for anyone better cause you’re so perfect for me and god, even words can’t express how much I love you. I just love you so much, my love,” Chanyeol started, breathless from saying everything in one go, his eyes staring straight into the smaller male’s eyes, not wavering for even a second. When tears started welling up in the dark orbs again, he continues.
“So, listen to me, okay. You’re not a burden, I’m doing all of these willingly. It is tiring, I must admit but, it’s not your fault. If you still don’t get it, sweetheart, I’m the stubborn one in this relationship so even if anything happens, it’s on me. You’re not the one at fault, baby. Yes, I do get exhausted but whenever I come home and see your face, it reminds me that everything’s alrightー that everything is fine and I’m gonna be alright as long as you’re here. So please, please, sweetheart, please never think that it’s your fault. You’re the sole reason I keep on thriving and I love you so much for being here with me at every second.”
Somehow along with his long long speech, tears started brimming in his eyes and Chanyeol had to look down, internally telling himself to calm down.
Baekhyun scooted closer, closing the distance between them and intertwined their fingers together, softly caressing the taller’s calloused fingers between his. He hardly let out a soft, “I understand now, please don’t cry, Yeol,” between his sobs.
Chanyeol finally looked up after what felt like hours of eerie silence engulfing them, no trace of tears on his face, though his eyes were also bloodshot red, mirroring Baekhyun’s.
“I love youー”
“ーI love you,”
They said simultaneously; both letting out a chuckle at the coincidence.
“As I said earlier, I love you, Baek. So please, don’t think it’s your fault, okay, sweetheart?”
Baekhyun nodded eagerly and wiped his tear-stained cheeks with the back of his hand, “I understand.”
Chanyeol stroked the smaller male’s cheeks, his fingers going softly over the trace of tears. He hates seeing Baekhyun cry, that is one of his major weaknesses (aside from Baekhyun’s whining but that’s another story) and he just cannot stand it when Baekhyun is sad.
Because a smile looks the prettiest on his Baekhyun.
Chanyeol inched closer and Baekhyun’s eyes fluttered close when he feels the soft lips against his.
Chanyeol wrapped his arms around the slender waist and carried him into their bedroom, all the while not disconnecting their lips before playfully tossing the smaller on the bed, leaving a giggly Baekhyun behind.
The glint in the taller's eyes immediately changed. After discarding his shirt, Chanyeol climbed the bed and without wasting any second, latches his lips onto the soft, silky and smooth pristine neck.
Oh, Chanyeol made sure to show Baekhyun how much he loves him that night.
Long.
And.
Hard.
There was no way Baekhyun would ever wake up doubting his love; not like he ever did before but, with this, Chanyeol gave him no chance to even show doubt.
That morning, Baekhyun woke up feeling fresh and content. He glanced over to the owner of the arm draped across his waist and saw that Chanyeol’s eyes were still shut close.
He must be tired, Baekhyun thought. Chanyeol did get back late that night and he had to deal with him being a crying mess. But, after remembering Chanyeol’s words last night, he quickly dismissed the negative thoughts and started thinking of what dishes to make for breakfast instead and decided to settle for a bowl of simple fried rice. There was some left-over rice from yesterday if he remembered correctly.
He spent a good 10 minutes staring at his husband’s face, pecking him on the cheeks because he was so in love with this man right here. How did he get so lucky again?
He slowly removed the taller’s arm from his middle and was about to slip his feet into the house shoes, silently cheering for succeeding in not accidentally waking Chanyeol up along the way when suddenly he was pulled back onto the familiar warmth.
“Chanyeol! Have you been awake all this time?!”
“Long enough to notice you staring at me for half an hour and then sneaking a kiss on my cheek.”
Baekhyun covered his face, realising he had been caught by the male all these while.
This is so embarrassing.
The smaller male proceeded to bury himself back into the duvet like a burrito, Chanyeol’s soft chuckling resonating through the walls.
“Come out now, sweetheart,” Chanyeol pleaded, teasingly pulling the end of the blanket. “Come out now, baby, or you’ll suffocate yourself.”
“No!” Baekhyun retorted and stubbornly clung onto the edges of the blanket. He would rather starve than face the older male. His face gradually turned red as he remembered what they did last night— or technically, what they did not do last night.
“So you’re not coming out or...?”
When there was no response or movement, Chanyeol playfully hovered over the burrito and pinned him down, putting a little bit of weight onto the smaller. The latter almost instantly wiggled at the sudden weight. Chanyeol is by no means light.
“Sweetheart, I’m giving you one last chance to come out now.” Baekhyun could hear the sweet tone darkening. He gulped and started contemplating whether he should just give up or not.
Chanyeol added, “... Aren’t you still sore, um?”
“Hmmh!” A brunette head straight away popped up from the blanket in submission.
Fine. He lost. Shoot him.
“Good,” Chanyeol ruffled the messy hair with a gentle smile. “Where were you going?”
“I wanted to make breakfast for us,” Baekhyun grumbled. “But then someone decided to be clingy.”
“Aww, is my baby hungry?”
“No, I just wanted to make breakfast.”
“Well then, let’s cuddle a little longer?”
Baekhyun’s face lit up instantly. Cuddles? He’s always up for it. He loves cuddles.
“ーand I still miss you so much, even after last night,” Chanyeol added, whispering.
There went Baekhyun; cosplaying a tomato’s twin again.
“I didn’t stare at you for 30 minutes, okay. It was for 10 minutes only so, don’t get too ahead of yourself,” Baekhyun huffed but went ahead to place his head onto Chanyeol’s naked chest. Even if he lost he was still shameless enough to refuse any cuddles.
“If you say so, sweetheart.”
“It’s true!”
"Touché."
They spent a good period of time cuddling and catching up with each other when suddenly the glint in Chanyeol’s eyes changed little by little after staring at his spouse’s bare shoulders for a while. He's a man with a healthy sexual drive and Baekhyun is the best definition of a walking sin so how could he not?
Those collarbones cannot be real.
He pulled the other closer, “Do you...?”
“You said we’d only cuddle.”
“Please?”
“It’s getting late, I want to make breakfast.”
“Breakfast can wait. So, please?”
Baekhyun puffed his cheeks. This man is really...
Chanyeol pleaded with a soft, “Please?” accompanied by his signature smile and bed-eye.
And boy, was Baekhyun a goner.
Really, who was Baekhyun to resist this godsent creature?
Bless him.
The heavy blinds did a good job at blocking out any source of light. The clock showed a quarter past one, but it was still dark in the room.
Chanyeol approached the small bundle wrapped in the middle of the bed, with only a tuff of his hair visible. He sat on the beside and carefully ran his hands through the younger’s hair.
“Sweetheart, it’s late already, wake up.”
Baekhyun swatted his hands away. “Go away.”
The corner of Chanyeol’s lips lifted up into a grin. His husband is so adorable, he swears.
“You’re not hungry?”
“No. It’s your fault that everything hurts.”
“Oh no, did I hurt you? I’m so sorry, baby. Let me get the meds real quick.” Chanyeol panickily got up from the bed.
“ーNot like that.” Baekhyun grabbed the taller’s arm before he could go.
Chanyeol tilted his head to the side, confused. “Eh?”
“I’m hungry and tired, make me breakfast instead, husband,” Baekhyun whined, pouting with his arms crossed. He then opened his arms wide, signalling the taller to carry him.
Chanyeol smiled fondly at that. Baekhyun really scared him for a second. “Come here, you big baby.”
Once in Chanyeol’s warm embrace, Baekhyun traced his fingers on Chanyeol’s equally exposed back and faintly murmured.
“Let’s bath together?”
Seductively.
At this point, Baekhyun is voluntarily looking for trouble but is he complaining? No.
Unsurprisingly.
The morning (or noon) really did not end innocently for themー especially since Chanyeol cannot seem to keep his hands to himself and Baekhyun was just as needy.
Who said the perfect couple doesn't exist because Chanyeol and Baekhyun would beg to differ.
Now back to the present, Baekhyun bids goodbye to his friends when a familiar car, a Mercedes-Benz G65 stops in front of the main building. Yoona and Jongdae enthusiastically wave towards the figure inside the car, Chanyeol responding with a salute in return.
“Thanks for taking care of him for me guys!” Chanyeol takes the chance to thank the two before Baekhyun closes the door fully.
“I can take care of myself just fine,” Baekhyun grunts as he buckles up his seat belt. Yoona did save him from colliding with a student who was carrying a cup of hot coffee earlier— but Chanyeol doesn’t need to know that.
The duo ignores him and instead nods eagerly to Chanyeol, Yoona responding with, “It’s not a problem!”
“Drive safely!” Jongdae adds.
Their eyes follow the grey-black vehicle as it exits the Yonsei’s compound and disappears from their view.
In the car, Baekhyun reclines the chair and sighs once he finds a comfortable position.
Chanyeol glances to his side and gently pats down the younger’s hair, smiling when the smaller male snuggles closer to the warmth of his hand.
That is one of Baekhyun's habits that he noticed. After a tiring day of classes, Baekhyun would nuzzle his face into Chanyeol's chest and just quietly hug him until he feels energised enough. Chanyeol finds it cute.
However, since he is driving, Baekhyun opts to hug his arms like a bolster pillow instead.
“Have you eaten?”
“I ate lunch with Dae and Yoon, as usual. Sehun was there too but he had to leave earlier for his basketball practice.” Baekhyun answers, playing with the rough and calloused fingers, comparing their hands and giggling at their size difference.
"I think they changed the cook, the kimchi fried rice I usually order tasted different, Yeol. They had cucumbers," Baekhyun scrunched his nose in disgust. He's never been particularly fond of the vegetable. It tastes awful.
"I gave it to Yoona, you know how big of an eater she is, she can eat 4 servings on her own but will not gain a single kilo, I am envious hmm— okay so I ordered japchae instead. It was mediocre, not so good but not bad either," Baekhyun pouts.
Chanyeol glances at the smaller once in a while as he can't take his eyes off the road if he doesn't want them to end up in an accident, unfortunately, but he loves it when Baekhyun tells him about his day. Just hearing Baekhyun's voice is enough to have him fondly smiling.
"Jongdae suggested eating lunch tomorrow at the engineering faculty's cafeteria cause words have gone around that they make really good cream pasta but then the building is so far from ours—"
Suddenly, a loud rumble resonates through the four wheels and Baekhyun's words are cut short. He whips his head to look at the source of the rumble; Chanyeol’s tummy.
Chanyeol groans internally, trust his stomach to ruin the moment. He knows it's all because of the food talk and he can't blame it either. He is famished.
“Yeol, you haven’t eaten?” Baekhyun asks, tilting his head in curiosity.
“No, love. I got up, showered and went straight to pick you up.”
“Oh… you must be hungry. Then shall we go get some groceries? I can make you something quick at home,” the smaller male offers, worried.
Chanyeol must have been hungry.
Baekhyun can make a quick kimchi jjigae and they still have a few side dishes from Mrs Park but unfortunately, there aren’t any wet ingredients available at home.
The car stops at the red light and Chanyeol turns to look at the smaller male, “How about we go on a date instead? Hm?”
“Date? Like right now?” the smaller male says and then frowns. Their dates have always consisted of them buying take-outs that are nearby to eat at Han River.
They really don’t have much choice, to be honest. However, Baekhyun would still enjoy himself no matter what, as long as Chanyeol is by his side.
“I’m not dressed properly, though…” Baekhyun exclaims softly while tugging on his sky-blue sweatshirt.
He’s been wearing it since the morning as he had an 8 a.m. class, it feels uncomfortable to go out with the same clothing. Especially since it’s summer in Korea and the weather can get quite humid.
Though he knows that he will probably be clad in a cap and a mask, he still wants to look presentable on their date.
Especially since they haven’t been to one in a while. Chanyeol has been busy filming his latest action movie while Baekhyun is swarmed with his school works.
“I got you some change of clothes actually, it’s in the back seat.”
“You got this all planned, right? I know what you’re doing...” Baekhyun squints his eyes towards the taller. Well, no wonder the latter doesn’t want him to cook at home, he should’ve expected from the flirty smirk Chanyeol sent him.
“You can think however you like, baby.”
Baekhyun then immediately fishes the black tote bag from the seats behind and opens it, inspecting its contents. There is a pair of jeans and a cream sweater.
His eyes flicker to the left and he sees Chanyeol wearing a matching coloured sweater. Shaking his head in amusement, he places the items back into the bag.
“Couple shirts, really? Aren’t you a little too old for that?” he says with a teasing grin.
“Sweetheart, I’m 28 years old, not fossil ,” Chanyeol retorts back.
“And I’m twenty-three, so you are old,” Baekhyun chuckles. He enjoys watching the older male huff and puts on a pout. It’s on days like this that he can see Chanyeol loosening his guard and his childishness jumps out.
Over the years Chanyeol had learned to put up his guard as a celebrity and sometimes even at home with just the two of them only, he still had the usual frown etched on his forehead.
Oftentimes, Baekhyun would open his arms silently as an invitation for a hug and Chanyeol would instantly melt in his arms, his protective facade fading away.
“You love this old man, babe. Remember whose name you scream every nigh—”
“Yeol!”
“—night.”
Baekhyun blushes deep red at the words and hits Chanyeol on the arm softly while whining, “Keep those words in the... bedroom.”
The taller male smirks and gathers Baekhyun’s hand into his free one, intertwining their fingers together.
“Yeollie?”
“Hm?”
“Do you mind if umm… nevermind…” Baekhyun trails, biting his lips in hesitation. Should he or should he not? But what if it’s going to inconvenience Chanyeol?
The car stops at the red light and Chanyeol turns to his side to face Baekhyun, bringing those slender fingers to his lips to leave a peck.
“What is it, baby?”
“Do you think we can stop by… GS25 first? I kinda want some Bing-Bing right now…” Baekhyun mutters, looking at the taller male with unblinking eyes.
There is a convenience store nearby called GS25 and he wonders if Chanyeol could take a detour and bring him some ice cream instead before they start their date. It’s a hot day and Baekhyun is craving his favourite red bean ice bar.
“Oh sweetheart, how can I say no when you’re looking at me like that?” Chanyeol sighs.
Baekhyun definitely knows what he was doing when he looked up at Chanyeol with those eyes.
He can never say no to the younger.
“Alright let’s get you some ice-cream.”
When Chanyeol immediately turns his car around, Baekhyun claps in glee and leans forward to peck his husband’s cheeks.
“Yeay! Best husband ever!! Thank youuu, I love you!”
Now, now. Baekhyun has to stop himself from gapping like a fish out of water because not only they’re wearing matching clothes but Chanyeol is holding his hands.
In public.
When they passed by their usual spot date at Han River, Baekhyun asked where they were going. It’s not their usual route and when Chanyeol entered the underground parking at SM Coex mall, the younger thought that they would head straight to the cinema.
Sometimes they do go out to catch a movie but never in the broad daylight— always picking out a showtime at night to enjoy.
He thinks Chanyeol would let go of his hand once they’re inside the air-conditioned space but no , because, for the past ten minutes, the older has been holding his hands so tightly, as if he’s afraid that someone would take the brunette away.
And the thing is, Chanyeol is not even wearing any disguise; no masks, no sunglasses— just a cap that does almost nothing at protecting his very well known face.
Baekhyun stops walking and pulls his hand from Chanyeol’s hold.
“What’s wrong, Baek?”
“We’re in public and we’re wearing matching outfits and you’re holding my hand and you’re not wearing any disguise and everyone can see your handsome face and people will recognise you soon and the reporters will know later and oh my god you’re really holding my hand!” Baekhyun half-screams, fear evident in his eyes.
“I know, but well I have decided to show everyone that I have the cutest husband in the whole wide world and he’s all mine,” Chanyeol mutters nonchalantly. He brings the smaller’s hand close to his chest before pressing a kiss at the back of it.
It is about time I let everyone know , Chanyeol thinks. He really cannot handle coming home to a sobbing Baekhyun whenever a scandal about him broke out. Every single year those crazy paparazzi would try to pry into his private life and whenever they get no dirt on him, they released all these stupid rumours that were made out from nothing.
Chanyeol almost went feral when he went home to a crying Baekhyun after a scandal broke out about him and actress Seo Joohyun a few months ago because they were seen to be 'intimate' and 'more-than-friends' at the launch of Prada's new autumn collection— those bloodsucking creatures don't even know that she is Oh Seungmin's fiancee, his cousin's fiancee, it was utterly disgusting.
Baekhyun couldn't help himself from being affected although he personally knows Joohyun too. Something about his husband being dragged into a scandal left and right hurts him a lot, but he knows it's for the best that he was to remain away from the spotlight.
However, since then Chanyeol has made up his mind. He is never going to hurt Baekhyun again.
Chanyeol has been in showbiz for almost 10 years, starting when he was just a mere nobody; an 18 years-old who had nothing to lose and ready to risk it all.
But right now, almost all the population of South Korea knows Park Chanyeol. An actor-singer-song writer-model-Prada ambassador, you name it all.
The things he touches always get sold-out in and off-stores.
His movies are always the highest-grossing each year,
His dramas always have the highest rating no matter what genre he decided to do— from thriller to romantic comedy.
His face is plastered everywhere, from the green soju bottle to the biggest billboard in the country.
To say it simply, he’s got it all and has nothing to lose.
But, people don’t know that he spent almost half of his career with Baekhyun by his side.
Baekhyun is the pillar of his strength, the one who keeps him going when things are rough, the one who tells him to never give up, the one who trusts him the most though his line of work requires him to mingle with beauties left and right and the one who is always there when he needed him the most.
He is greatly thankful for Baekhyun’s existence.
And that was why he got down on one knee on one of their random escapades to Switzerland, with Baekhyun immediately shouting a ‘Yes!’ through his teary eyes.
He was so glad to finally call Baekhyun his.
Mine and only mine.
He is snapped out of his entrance, startled by the sound of Baekhyun calling him urgently. “ーyeol! Chanyeol!”
Baekhyun gestures to the crowd, sending distress signals with his eyes. Park Chanyeol must have lost his mind! The crowd is getting bigger and Baekhyun is a second away from dashing off from anxiousness because Chanyeol still has his hand in the other’s tight grasp!
He follows their line of vision and most are glued to their intertwined hands. It doesn’t take a genius to guess who he is to the celebrity and he certainly doesn’t want his face to end up in the tabloids later.
Chanyeol pats him on the cheeks to gather his attention, “Hey, sweetheart. Look at me, please? It’s okay, let everyone know, we don’t have to hide anymore, alright?”
“C-Can we please leave first? I’m not comfortable,” Baekhyun whimpers.
Chanyeol places his arms on the smaller’s back, leading him away from the crowd and aims for the elevator. From the distance, they could hear the crowds murmuring among themselves.
“Was that Park Chanyeol?”
“That’s Park Chanyeol, right? He was in that blockbuster movie last year?”
“Are you sure? He looks quite different to me.”
“That’s not him! I met him last year and he was a bit shorter.”
“Eh, but who was that beside him just now? His lover?”
“Wow, I didn’t know he swings that way.”
“So what? Love knows no boundaries, dude.”
Once inside the metal box, Baekhyun sighs in relief. Thank god there is none other than them inside the elevator. He leans his head on the broad chest and snuggles closer to the warmth.
“Baek, I’m sorry,” Chanyeol starts and wraps his arm around the smaller. "That was selfish of me, I didn't tell you of my plans."
He starts feeling guilty about his spontaneous act, he should’ve consulted Baekhyun beforehand.
After all, this is a big matter for both of them.
“No, I’m okay. Just a bit shaken up cause I’ve never been in that much spotlight.” Baekhyun shakes his head and chuckles weakly.
“Are you really okay?”
“I am,” Baekhyun looks up and nods to reassure the latter, “Don’t worry.”
The lift dings and as a quick reflex, they both quickly unwrap themselves from each other. Though, Chanyeol swiftly takes hold of the hand back into his own and Baekhyun stoops his head to hide a smile.
When they say when you’re together with your loved ones, time seems to go faster than usual. Without realising, it was already dinner time. They spent the day doing some clothes and grocery shopping, Chanyeol now sporting his usual black mask and sunglasses to avoid being recognised, but still, Baekhyun had such a great time being able to spend it with his spouse after so long.
They end the day with a romantic dinner date at a Japanese cuisine restaurant and Chanyeol makes a surprise by bringing in a bouquet of roses.
The next day, Chanyeol’s agency has to pay a hefty amount of money to keep the tabloids from sputtering nonsense online. Chanyeol firmly asks them to keep his relationship confidential for now.
Baekhyun is not ready and he respects that.
The right time will come soon.
And it seems that JM Entertainment’s PR team did a great job at handling the situation, for not even a peek of an article was written about them.
Somehow today Chanyeol decided to drop him off at school first before going to his magazine pictorial shooting. He said that his call time is still a few hours later and who is Baekhyun to refuse? He likes spending every possible second with the taller male.
But, when Chanyeol got out of the car to open his door, Baekhyun panics, afraid that people around will see him though half of his face is covered by a cap pulled down just enough so that people can’t recognise his face.
Chanyeol leans forward to present his cheeks and Baekhyun internally groans.
Park Chanyeol dammit…
Baekhyun begrudgingly scans his surroundings before swiftly pecking Chanyeol on the cheeks.
"Study well, love. See you later at home."
Now, after Chanyeol returns him with a peck on his temple, Baekhyun turns around and runs off into the main building of the Art and Design Faculty, his cheeks feeling hot.
Oh, he prays no one he shares his classes with saw that just now.
Once he gets to class, perhaps he should’ve prayed harder because as soon as he steps a foot into his History of Art lecture room, his classmates start whooping and whistling .
“Hey, Byun!” A random boy calls, grinning from ear to ear. “We didn’t know you were taken!”
“Was that your boyfriend?” some other girl pesters. Baekhyun doesn’t even know where she is seated.
“The pride of our Art and Design Faculty is finally taken— yo, Seungwoo, how many do you think will drink to ease their heartbreaks tonight?”
“I don’t know but I will definitely join them tonight.”
“If this news gets out, Yonsei’s student board will explode!”
“Oi stop teasing him, his cheeks are so red already… Will you take him to the infirmary if he faints of embarrassment later?”
“Someone was being lovey-dovey I see~” a girl named Sua teases as soon as he settles to the seat in front of her.
Baekhyun grimaces and covers his face with a book, shrinking deeper into his seat. Where are his friends when he needs them?! Oh, right they don't share the same class as him because Baekhyun registered late for the course and all the classes were full!
Someone rescue him before he dies of embarrassment, please!
“Stop it guys.That’s enough… don’t bother Baekhyun anymore.” a kind soul says, though he cannot hide his amused smile because much like others, it’s big news. Even he himself is surprised to hear such news.
Baekhyun mouths a ‘thanks’ to the boy who he then identifies as Minseok. Much to his delight, the professor marches in and everyone settles down in their own seat, their attention now to the front.
After the 3-hour lecture ends, to his horror, Baekhyun who thought they would let go of the topic earlier was absolutely wrong because as soon as the professor steps out of the room, they crowd his table and start bombarding him with questions.
“Baekhyun~ you don’t wanna introduce your boyfriend to us?”
“We’re so curious who’s the lucky one!”
“We’ve been waiting to see who caught your heart for so long actually, we really thought you were single!”
“ーand since we will graduate soon, that’s why we finally decided to ask!”
Baekhyun purses his lips and shakes his head while smiling to his classmates.
Well aren’t they a curious bunch.
Guys, that ain’t a boyfriend , but a husband instead.
“Actually guys—”
However before Baekhyun can answer, a voice interrupts him from behind, “Boyfriend? That’s not his boyfriend, guys.”
There, stands Oh Sehun sluggishly with his backpack as he scans the crowd boringly.
“Eh, it’s not his boyfriend???”
Baekhyun grits his teeth and sends Sehun that one look, warning him to not continue.
“Haven’t you all seen his ring?” Sehun indifferently asks the crowd and yawns, still maintaining eye contact with the smaller male.
He is so not scared of the googly eyes if he could say, for Baekhyun looks like anything but intimidating right now.
Plus, he got permission from his cousin aka none other than mister celebrity, the Park Chanyeol, all because of the incident last week ー where a guy had shamelessly confessed to Baekhyun during lunchtime and Baekhyun had to continuously repeat himself saying that he’s not interested because the guy apparently didn’t know the meaning of giving up and started being aggressive.
It wasn’t until Sehun told him to scram before he broke a few bones of his that the guy had left with the biggest scowl while muttering “I won’t give up.”
Later that day, Sehun had personally gotten a text from Chanyeol, ordering him to do what he should do in order to protect his husband.
Thus, Sehun is just carrying his orders like he is supposed to. Where is the wrong in that?
“This ring here? Is it not just a couple ring?” Sua asks, pointing to the glistening platinum band on his ring finger before realisation finally dawns on her. “Wait if it’s not just a couple ring then… you’re engaged?!”
“Uhー I’m actually umー so uh it’s not like that actuallyー” Baekhyun struggles to put his words together and he silently prays that Sehun would get the doom of his life after putting him through this.
“Guys, this isn’t my engagement ring…” Baekhyun starts and plays with the hem of his t-shirt.
“Oh, really? Then, yah Oh Sehun why did you say thatー” Sua grunts and the crowd turns to look at Sehun, each frowning.
“I’m actually married.”
“ーyou made us panic for a second and see Baekhyun just said he’s marriedー wait what?! Married?!” Sua enlarges her eyes in shock, the others following suit.
Suddenly, a girl comes forward from the crowd and slams her fist onto the table, “You’re married?!”
Baekhyun recognises her as the quiet girl who sits at the corner of the class, Dahee.
“...yes?” Baekhyun hesitantly answers, which comes out more like a question because of how flustered he sounds. Dahee looks like she is a second away from pouncing on him— everyone is bound to be afraid. Plus, this is the first time he's ever heard her talk aside from any presentations, he knows he's not the only one surprised at the moment.
“You can’t be married, I ship you with Sehun so much!” the girl continues in agony.
Her dream ship had just sunk to the bottom of the bottom of the deep blue sea, she can’t believe her ears at first but Baekhyun had really confirmed it. What will be of her life after this?
The students of Yonsei University are aware that there are quite a number of ‘SeBaek shippers’ because aside from Jongdae and Yoona, Baekhyun is also seen hanging out with Sehun.
These people somehow found them ‘shippable’ and thus, have ‘shipped’ them together ever since.
At first, Baekhyun didn’t know how to tell Chanyeol of such a thing but much to his delight, the taller male just laughed it off.
He knows his cousin well enough because if there is someone on earth that is in the last line in being interested in another human being, then that would be Oh Sehun.
The younger seems to be fully committed to his pet Vivi, the Bichon Frise only.
However, he did threaten his little cousin to not mess with his husband or else he’ll shave off his head.
“Wow, easy there girl. If that ever happens, his husband’s gonna have my head for sure,” Sehun then clicks his tongue in distaste. “Besides, I’m not interested in that , whatever that is.”
“Well, I'm not interested in you too!” Baekhyun retorts back and huffs. This brat.
"That aside, how can you keep this a secret, Baekhyun? I can’t believe that you don’t only have a boyfriend but you’re married too! Isn’t that too fast?" another classmate of his, a pretty blonde girl, Yerim, questions.
“There, there, Yerim-ah don’t be so nosy,” Seungwoo interrupts and wiggles his index finger disapprovingly. Sometimes the petite girl talks way too much.
"We’ve been together for five years actually…” Baekhyun says and chuckles awkwardly.
"That long?!"
“No wonder you’ve never accepted anyone’s confession!”
Baekhyun nods his head. “Yeah… and... my second marriage anniversary is coming up next month.”
“Oh my god!”
And the next half an hour is spent with Baekhyun answering a few questions about his now very exposed love life, with the girls cooing here and there and some whining at how it is a pity that Baekhyun is off the market until that one question is brought up.
"So, who is the one that has successfully captured the school heartthrob's heart? Care to tell us his name? It’s not one of our seniors right?" Sua asks while wiggling her brows teasingly.
That, Baekhyun will not tell.
Not for the time being.