Personal Space (EXO / baekxing)
Title: Personal Space
Fandom: EXO
Pairing/Characters: baekxing / Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Lay, Luhan
Genre: College AU, humor, romance
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Some mentions of homophobia
Words: 6,962
Summary: There’s never a quiet day when Baekhyun’s around - and Baekhyun is always around.
Original post can be found here! Written for the 2012 SNCJ Secret Santa fic exchange for zvarrii. The prompt was Baekhyun and Yixing living together in a dorm, a college or domestic AU.
“So. I have this friend.”
Yixing sandwiches his cell phone between his ear and his shoulder as he flips the page of his textbook lying in front of him on the desk. He mentally sighs; he can already tell simply from the way Luhan is speaking that this isn’t just any ordinary friend- it’s a friend Luhan’s about to make a request for. From him.
“Zhang Yixing, are you even listening to me?”
“Yes, yes,” Yixing replies as he underlines sodium-potassium pump in the textbook. “You have a friend. Continue.”
“Yeah, so I have this friend, his name is Byun Baekhyun and he’s really nice and he just - well, he kind of needs a place to stay? For a little while? And I was wondering-“
“And you were wondering whether I would be willing to let him room with me,” Yixing finishes, scribbling sodium and potassium ions moving against concentration gradient, needs ATP in the margins. “What’s wrong with your dorm?”
“I have a one hundred and eighty four centimeter tall giant for a roommate who fills up half of our tiny dorm and then some,” Luhan says. “Or did you forget?”
Yixing grins at the mental image. He hadn’t forgotten, of course; for who could forget Park Chanyeol?
“Remember,” Luhan says in a sing-song voice, “you owe me.”
Yixing snorts. “For what? I swear you invent something new that I owe you every time you want me to do something for you.”
“I do not,” Luhan protests. “Remember last time you forgot your calculator when you went to your calculus exam? And I made myself look like a lunatic, chasing you across campus to deliver it to you because you wouldn’t pick up your phone? You would have failed that exam without me, let’s face it.”
That’s right; Luhan did save his butt then, and Yixing mentally kicks himself for it. He glances over at the empty bed across from his in the dorm room. He’d gotten used to having no roommate ever since his previous one decided an education at the prestigious Seoul National University wasn’t for him and dropped out - unofficially, which is why there hasn’t been a new roommate assigned yet. “Technically, I’m not allowed to let random strangers room in the dorms-“
“-but you’ll do it for me, right?” Luhan layers on the honey in his voice.
“Alright, alright,” Yixing sighs. The neurobiology textbook lies abandoned on the desk now, Yixing having given up on trying to simultaneously carry a conversation with his best friend and study for his midterm. “Anything for you.”
“It’s just for the rest of this semester,” Luhan triumphantly chirps into the phone. “He also goes to SNU, so it’ll be no problem to get him into the dorm building. Officially, he’s a commuter student. The university people will never know! Next semester, he’ll formally apply for housing; he’ll be out of your dorm in no time.”
Luhan doesn’t say why this friend of his suddenly can’t stay at home for the rest of the semester, but Yixing isn’t one to ask.
“He’ll move in tonight,” Luhan continues. “I’ll come over with him to introduce you guys!”
Yixing stares at the ceiling as if saying somebody up there, please help me. “Gee, thanks for the short notice.”
“That’s why we’re best friends,” Luhan laughs as he hangs up.
--
Yixing hears Byun Baekhyun before he actually sees him. It’s a loud, genuine laugh, mixed with Luhan’s guffaws, that rings down the halls and announces his arrival to everybody, whether they wanted to hear him or not. Luhan and Baekhyun’s progression down the hall to Yixing’s room is slow, though, because Baekhyun is stopped at every other door by Yixing’s hallmates, all of whom seem to know Baekhyun and had an absolute need to say hi to him.
Yixing’s just starting to wonder if this Byun Baekhyun guy is the Queen of England herself when there’s a knock on his open door, and there Byun Baekhyun stands, all grins and eye smiles, towing one bright yellow suitcase.
“Hi, Yixing!” Baekhyun grins and gives a little wave.
Yixing flashes a brief smile, closing the textbook he was reading shut. “Hi. You must be Byun Baekhyun.”
“See?” Luhan pipes up, squeezing past Baekhyun in the doorway. “Didn’t I tell you he was a nice guy? You guys are going to get along just great, I can already tell.” He beams.
“Yeah, so, um, make yourself at home,” Yixing says, ignoring his best friend. He gestures at the empty bed situated along one side of the narrow dorm room. “That’s your side of the room.”
“Great! Thanks, Yixing!” Baekhyun says, and Yixing begins to wonder if Baekhyun ever speaks without exclamation marks.
Luhan loiters around for a little while, sitting on Yixing’s bed (and pointedly ignores Yixing’s off-hand remark that Luhan never lets him sit on his bed), chatting happily with Baekhyun as the latter unpacks his sole suitcase. Yixing merely stands, leaning on his desk with crossed arms, only nodding at appropriate times when Luhan stops to look at him for a response.
But soon Luhan is summoned away by his roommate Chanyeol - Chanyeol’s voice is so loud that Yixing could clearly hear him from Luhan’s phone (“New gig!!!” Chanyeol yelled) - and Baekhyun drags out a book (The World History of Music) to read. Yixing can finally finally return to studying for his midterm tomorrow. Everything is quiet except for the rustling of pages when all of a sudden - there’s breath tickling his nape and Yixing flinches.
“Oooooh,” Baekhyun says, peering over Yixing’s shoulder. “Neurobiology?”
Yixing shifts a little sideway in his seat, trying to put more space in between Baekhyun and himself. “Um, yes. Neurobiology.” He’s hyper aware of how Baekhyun’s eyes have now roamed over to Yixing’s handwritten notes. “I’m a biology major. Pre-med.”
“Oh, studying to be a doctor?” Baekhyun straightens up and Yixing slowly lets out the breath he’s been holding in. “I’ve always wondered what your major was. Funny, I didn’t pin you as the doctor type.”
“‘Always’?” Yixing looks up at him, curious. “What do you mean?”
Baekhyun laughs, and Yixing can’t help but be reminded of a small puppy’s bark. “You really don’t remember, huh?” Seeing Yixing’s blank face, he elaborates. “Last year, fall semester, English language class. I sat with you sometimes? And prodded you when the teacher called on you and you didn’t respond because you’d spaced out again?”
It takes a couple of minutes for Yixing’s memory to kick in. “Oh!” He points at Baekhyun. “You’re Bob!”
More puppy laughter upon hearing his English class name. “I prefer Baekhyun, Baek, or Baekhyunnie, but, yeah, I'm ‘Bob.’”
Yixing rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “Thanks for that,” he says.
“You’re welcome. It was rather amusing, actually.” Baekhyun makes his way back to his desk, which is stark compared to Yixing’s paper-strewn one. He twists in his desk chair and balances on the back two legs so he can still face Yixing. The dorm is so narrow that they’re almost face-to-face. “Thanks for letting me room with you, by the way.”
There’s that eye smile again, Yixing thinks. He has an inexplicable gut feeling that eye smile means more trouble than it lets on. “Sure, no problem,” Yixing hears himself saying.
--
It’s not that Yixing is a particularly closed person (he’s not), but somehow, someway, Baekhyun gets his entire family history out of him by the end of the week. He smiles and winks and basically charms his way into making Yixing talk about his mother, his father, his grandmother, why he chose to be a doctor, why he chose to study in Korea... the list goes on.
There’s never a quiet day when Baekhyun’s around - and Baekhyun is always around. He insists on eating every meal together and gives Yixing sad puppy eyes when Yixing tells him he already grabbed lunch in between biology 202 lecture and chem lab. One time Yixing told him that, Baekhyun gave him a quiet okay and walked out of the dorm (presumably to the cafeteria), dragging his feet behind him. That was the last time Yixing ever stuffed down lunch in the ten minute break in between classes without his new roommate - even if that means not eating lunch together until four in the afternoon, due to Yixing’s packed schedule.
Eating with Baekhyun, however, always takes twice as long as eating with anybody else because it seems like Baekhyun knew everybody on campus and everybody on campus knew him. Baekhyun calls everyone passing by their lunch table by first name and could always remember some little detail about them that made that person feel like Baekhyun genuinely remembered them and cared for them. (Which Yixing doesn’t doubt is true.)
“Bet you Baekhyun was that really popular and really smart and really friendly and really everything guy in high school,” Chanyeol whispers (well, as close to whispering as the ever boisterous Park Chanyeol could get) to Yixing during one of these tangent conversations between Baekhyun and yet another passerby. Luhan sits next to him, slurping noodles noisily and then dabbing daintily at his mouth with a napkin.
“Sorry, guys,” Baekhyun smiles at them, while the acquaintance slash friend slash classmate walks away. “Just had to say hi.”
“Eat,” Luhan orders, tapping at Baekhyun’s plate with the end of his chopsticks. “No more polite hellos, we gotta get to Chanyeol’s rap battle in twenty minutes.”
“I’m sorry. You don’t mind, right?” Baekhyun says to Yixing, as Chanyeol launches into the rap he’s going to perform later for the thousandth time (“But I need to practice!” Chanyeol yells when Luhan slaps him on the back of the head to shut him up). Baekhyun leans in until their upper arms are pressed flush against each other. “It’s just-“
Yixing tries to laugh it off, but that’s difficult to do when there’s no air to breathe. “It’s just that you’re too popular,” Yixing chuckles, subtly nudging Baekhyun away. “It’s okay. Just eat. This was your idea to go to Chanyeol’s gig, remember. I could be cramming for chem right now.”
“Alright, Mr. 3.99999 GPA. You’ll see, you won’t regret coming out tonight. It’ll make for good memories,” Baekhyun replies, eyes sparkling.
--
Baekhyun is naturally a flirty person. The smile he flashes at Yixing everyday is the same smile he gives to the random homeless person sitting on the side of the street (he knows Baekhyun does this because Yixing has seen him do this countless number of times when they’re on the way to the local supermarket for more packets of instant ramen). The cheeky little wink he gives to Yixing is the same cheeky little wink he gives Chanyeol and Luhan - right before he’s about to plot some trick on Yixing, which is why Yixing has learned that it’s his cue to leave the room when he sees it. The same fingers that graze his arms, his neck, and sometimes even his thigh - well, they’re all over Baekhyun’s million and one friends, too.
The problem - if Yixing can even call it that - is that Yixing himself is a touchy person too. He’s just not used to another person being as touchy as he is (even Luhan has his limits, after all).
But, Yixing decides, if that’s how Baekhyun is going to be, then there’s no reason Yixing couldn’t make this a two-player game and return the favor.
“But how do you know that’s going to bother him as much as it’s bothering you?” Luhan says to him around a mouthful of fried rice.
Yixing puts down his chopsticks, ready to protest. “Who said anything about being bothered about it? All I want is a little fun too, that’s all. He has his fun, I have mine.”
Suddenly, Luhan stops eating and stands up, leaning across the table until he’s almost nose-to-nose with Yixing. “You sure about that?”
“What are you doing?” Yixing raises his eyebrow at his best friend.
“Testing you,” Luhan replies simply.
“People are staring,” Yixing points out.
“So?”
“I think you’ve been spending too much time with Chanyeol because you’re being weird again,” Yixing says, staring at Luhan straight in the eyes. “But fine, we can do this all night.”
“My point exactly,” Luhan jabs the air triumphantly. “We can stare into each other’s eyes like this and breathe the same air until people think we’re gay for each other. Chanyeol drapes his arms and his legs and his everything all over you and you do the same to him. But what about Baekhyun?”
Yixing is at lost for words for a few seconds. He opts to fling a napkin at Luhan’s face instead. “You’ve got rice on your chin,” he says. “And while you’re at it, you can wipe that smug smile off your face, too.”
--
Yixing comes back to the dorm after class one day to find Chanyeol, Luhan, and Baekhyun all huddled over Baekhyun’s laptop at his desk and he immediately knows that this spells Trouble with a capital T.
“What are you guys up to?” Yixing asks suspiciously, letting his backpack slide off his shoulders and onto the floor next to his bed.
All three of them jump out of surprise, they were so absorbed by whatever is on Baekhyun’s laptop screen. “Xingxing, you’re home!” Baekhyun exclaims. “Luhan was just showing us some videos of you-“
“Don’t call me that,” Yixing protests. “And what?”
His question is soon answered, however, when Baekhyun resumes the video they’d all been watching and the Wonder Girls’ “Nobody” fills the dorm. Yixing throws his hands up in the air and groans. On Baekhyun’s computer screen, there’s a preteen Zhang Yixing swiveling his hips in time with the music.
“I got nobody, nobody but you! I got nobody, nobody but you~” Baekhyun sings along with a falsetto, clapping at the appropriate times as Chanyeol’s deep guffaws fill the room (and the entire dorm building). “Awww, Xingxing, you were so cute!”
“Luhan,” Yixing slaps his best friend’s shoulders. “Why do you insist on showing this to everybody I know?”
Luhan grins mischievously. “I’m just showing my friends my favorite video, what’s wrong with that?”
“But seriously,” Baekhyun says, twisting around in his desk chair to face Yixing standing behind him. “You never told me that you used to be a child star in China!”
Yixing walks away, sitting at his own desk and starting up his laptop - he’s got an essay to write. “I have to tell you everything?” Yixing says. “Besides, that was a long time ago. It was just something fun to do at the time.”
Luhan snorts; Yixing ignores him, like usual.
Baekhyun doesn’t stop singing the chorus to “Nobody” for the rest of the week, and he never fails once to sing and dance to the pop song whenever he sees Yixing, even when they are just passing by each other in the middle of the campus’ busiest street. He doesn’t let “It’s our new friendship handshake,” Baekhyun explains to Chanyeol over their habitual dinner at the cafeteria.
“Who are you referring to when you say ‘our’? Because you can’t possibly mean you and me,” Yixing says dryly.
“Why, of course I mean me and you,” Baekhyun responds, slinging an arm around Yixing’s neck and pulling him close so that their heads touch. Yixing turns his head around just enough so that he can blow air on Baekhyun’s neck. He gives a satisfied smile when Baekhyun shrieks, jumps a little, and scoots his chair a little away from him.
“That looked like an awful lot of sexual innuendo,” Luhan says, giving the both of them judging looks. “Keep the foreplay to the bedroom, guys.”
“Don’t be silly, Luhan,” Baekhyun winks. He leans forward, but his arm doesn’t leave Yixing. He lowers his voice to a mock whisper. “Wanna join us?”
--
Later that night, Baekhyun’s in bed and Yixing’s typing away at his essay, with various books lying around on the desk. The dorm is dark except for Yixing’s lone desk lamp.
“Yixing.”
More soft clicks of the keyboard.
“Yixinggg.”
“Yixingggggg.”
Finally, the typing stops. “Yes?” Yixing sighs.
“Yay, you responded only after three tries,” Baekhyun says, lifting his head from his pillow to grin at him. He looks obviously delighted. “Aren’t you going to go to bed? You’ve been working on that essay for hours.”
“I can’t, it’s due tomorrow morning,” Yixing replies, attention returned to the too-bright laptop screen. “And I haven’t even written a proper conclusion yet, and the introduction sucks, so I can’t sleep until-“
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Baekhyun cuts him off. “It’s two points shy of an A+, you mean.”
No answer. Everything sinks back into silence, save for the click-clacking of Yixing’s fingers on the keyboard.
“Why do you work so hard, Yixing?” Baekhyun says suddenly.
Yixing’s typing doesn’t even slow down. “I can’t get into med school without working hard,” he answers automatically.
“But, I mean, why?” Baekhyun presses. “You obviously don’t want to go to med school-“
The keyboard noises stop. There’s a pause, and then: “What makes you say that?”
“Luhan tells me that you’re always falling asleep in your science classes. And that ‘Nobody’ video wasn’t the only video of you that Luhan showed us. You’re a pretty good singer. Why did you stop?”
Yixing makes a mental note to strangle Luhan at the next opportunity. He busies his hands with looking for a book - one that he doesn’t really need - among all the ones on his desk. “I’m just average. Besides, I need to support my parents ‘when I grow up.’”
“You’re not a doctor, though. You’re a musician.” Baekhyun frowns at him. “You don’t really have any passion for medicine-“
“-but hard work will make me as good of a doctor as any,” Yixing finishes, cutting him off. “Now, please? I need to finish this essay.”
Baekhyun falls into silence. Ten minutes later, he’s out of bed and softly padding out the door. He returns shortly and shuffles over to Yixing’s desk, setting a mug of piping hot tea gently next to Yixing on the desk. “Drink up,” Baekhyun says. “You need to at least drink something otherwise you’re going to work yourself to death.” He pokes Yixing in the dimple. “You’re gonna get sick and then - oh no! - you won’t be able to work 24/7 like you are now.”
Yixing smiles a little sheepishly up at Baekhyun. “Thanks, Baekhyunnie,” he says, warming his fingers by wrapping them around the mug.
Baekhyun climbs back into bed and Yixing’s back to typing away on his laptop. He’s on the ninth page of his essay when he starts noticing his vision’s getting a little blurry and he’s starting to nod off. He sips more of his tea, willing the caffeine to kick in. But the minutes drag on and Yixing’s eyes are drooping more and more...
“Feeling a little sleepy?” Baekhyun suddenly pipes up, sounding too cheery for three in the morning.
Startled, Yixing looks over to Baekhyun’s bed but he’s having a little difficulty keeping his vision straight. “I thought you were asleep,” Yixing mumbles.
“Nope,” Baekhyun answers in the same bright tone. “I was awake. Just waiting for the Tylenol PM to kick in.”
“...Tylenol PM?” Yixing repeats incredulously. “You-?”
“Shhhh,” Baekhyun says. He’s slipped out of bed and is now helping Yixing out of his chair, tucking him into bed. “You need to sleep.”
“Well, issnot like I hava choice now,” Yixing slurs.
--
“I can’t believe you drugged me.”
“I didn’t drug you, I just dissolved one Tylenol PM pill into your tea so that you’d actually go to sleep. Totally harmless.”
“I can’t believe you drugged me.”
“Don’t you feel great now that you’ve slept? You can actually, you know, enjoy life without feeling like a zombie,” Baekhyun smiles one of his million-watt smiles at Yixing, the kind that makes Yixing subconsciously hold his breath. “You can thank me now. A kiss on the cheek, maybe?” Baekhyun offers one side of his face, tapping to indicate where Yixing should plant his lips.
“You wish,” Yixing says, opting instead to make Baekhyun squirm by pinching gently at Baekhyun’s ticklish neck.
--
“So how’s the game between you and Baekhyun going,” Luhan whispers, waggling his eyebrows. He’s sitting across the table from Yixing, in the library.
“Fantastic, thanks for asking,” Yixing whispers back, trying to concentrate on struggling his way through his MATH201 homework.
As luck would have it, Baekhyun announces his arrival at the library five minutes later with a “boo!” right next to Yixing’s ear, sneaking up from behind. Yixing jumps, turns his head, and gets a face-full of Baekhyun’s twinkling eyes and smile.
“You didn’t tell me you were at the library,” Baekhyun accuses, pretending to pout. He slides into the seat next to him, his hand never leaving Yixing’s shoulder. He dumps his notebooks on the table, causing the librarian to shoot him a dirty look; Baekhyun merely gives her a winning smile in return. “You’re not avoiding me, are you, Zhang Yixing?”
“N-no,” Yixing says, very aware of how Luhan is staring at him. There’s no way in hell he’s going to admit that maybe he’d been hoping for a refuge from Baekhyun’s touches. “Must’ve slipped my mind, sorry.”
“Fantastic,” Luhan mouths to Yixing when Baekhyun’s back is turned, nodding sagely like oh yeah, I completely and totally believe you 100%.
--
Baekhyun zips his backpack closed and slings it on his shoulder. He strikes a pose worthy of any runway model. “How do I look?”
“Fabulous,” Yixing says, taking in Baekhyun’s outfit: black, from head to toe.
“You too,” Baekhyun cheekily winks. “Ready?”
Yixing adjusts the straps of his backpack. “Yup.”
“Good, let’s roll,” Baekhyun says.
It isn’t everyday that two Seoul National University students can be seen dressed in all black, strolling down the street at three in the morning. If it weren’t for the fact Yixing dissuaded Baekhyun from wearing the black ski masks (“But, Yixing! It completes the outfit!”), the two of the might look like a pair of burglars up to no good.
In fact, Yixing does feel like they were up to no good. Feel like, because Yixing actually has no idea what they were up to.
(It all started when Baekhyun came home and asked him, you wanna help me with something? And Yixing had a feeling that this wasn’t a small “something” but he just said: sure, why not.)
Ten minutes later, Baekhyun stops in front of a rather large and spacious-looking house, bounded on all sides by a high brick wall. Baekhyun beckons Yixing over next to the wall. “Give me a lift,” he says.
He readily obliges, lacing his fingers together, and Baekhyun steps on it, scaling the wall. Yixing tries not to think about how Baekhyun’s butt is staring at him in the face.
Baekhyun disappears over the other side of the wall and two seconds later, there’s rope being flung over to Yixing’s side. Yixing gives it a tug or two to make sure Baekhyun has a good grip on it and then starts scaling the wall too.
He jumps down to the ground. “Baek, what the hell are we-“
“Shhhh,” Baekhyun hisses, pressing an index finger to his lips. “This isn’t illegal, trust me.”
Yixing absurdly wants to laugh at the fact that the situation is so suspicious that Baekhyun has to assure him that whatever they’re doing right now is not, in fact, illegal.
After a few minutes of Baekhyun climbing one of the large trees that reach the second floor windows of the house (and of Yixing struggling to follow him), Baekhyun slides one of the windows open and they’re in the house. As Yixing’s eyes adjust to the dark, he can make out a dresser and a bed - a bedroom. “Give me your backpack. Hold the flashlight for me,” Baekhyun instructs, “I just need to find some stuff and then we’ll be outta here.”
Curiosity gets the better of him, however, and while Baekhyun opens some doors to presumably the closet, Yixing quietly roves his flashlight around the room. Picture frames on the dresser catches his attention and Yixing moves closer, checking to see that Baekhyun is still busy with the closet. There’s a picture of a little boy snuggly wrapped in a scarf and puffy winter jacket. There’s another one of a slightly older boy posing with a woman. There’s something about the boy’s eye smile and the way his grin radiates warmth that reminds Yixing of-
“Yeah, that’s me,” Baekhyun whispers, his chin hovering over Yixing’s shoulder, making Yixing jump.
Yixing stares at him. “Then this is your-“
“-house, yes,” Baekhyun finishes.
“Why are we sneaking into your own house?” Yixing whispers back.
“Because dear old Dad changed the passcode on the front door on me,” Baekhyun smiles, but it’s not the same smile that’s frozen in the picture frames. It’s not the same smile that Yixing knows. Baekhyun hands him his backpack back; it’s now full. “C’mon, I got the stuff I needed, let’s-“ He freezes.
“What?” Yixing hisses. Baekhyun just shakes his head.
Yixing forgets how to breathe. Yixing’s fingers have clamped around Baekhyun’s wrist so hard that his knuckles are shining white. What if Baekhyun had heard footsteps? What if Mr. Byun was right outside the bedroom door right now? What if they were about to be caught and arrested for breaking and entering Baekhyun’s own house? What if-
Suddenly, Baekhyun bursts out laughing.
“Your face,” Baekhyun wheezes. “You shoulda seen your face, I’ve never seen it so white-“
Yixing immediately lets go of Baekhyun’s wrist and slaps him on the shoulder, embarrassed. “Shut up, or else we’re really gonna get caught,” he hisses.
“Sorry, Xingxing,” Baekhyun half whispers, half sing-songs. He leans in unnecessarily close. “I couldn’t resist.”
--
When they’re both back in bed at the crack of dawn, Baekhyun’s whisper floats across the room to Yixing.
“Hey.”
“Hmmm?”
“About tonight? Thanks for doing that with me.”
“Mmmm,” Yixing hums. “Don’t mention it. Isn’t this part of what you mean by making good memories?”
A chuckle. “Yeah, I guess so.”
--
“Oh dear god,” Yixing groans, collapsing onto Luhan’s bed.
“Get off my bed. You can go ‘oh dear god’ elsewhere,” Luhan frowns.
Yixing rolls over onto his stomach and props himself up on his elbows. “You’re the one who got me into this mess; the least you could do for me is allow me to lie on your bed.”
Luhan throws up his heads innocently. “All I did was arrange for him to become your new roommate. The falling in love part, the touchy huggy kissy mumbo jumbo - that’s all your doing., okay, so don’t blame me.” He glances over at Yixing. “So, what did he do this time?”
“He almost kissed me,” Yixing says, sounding like he’s at his wit’s end. “Like this.” He gets up from the bed, grabs Luhan by both shoulders, and proceeds to make smooching faces at Luhan as Luhan shrieks and tries to wrestle him off.
Chanyeol enters the dorm. “I don’t know what’s going on,” he says slowly, raising his eyebrows at them, “but please carry on as if I weren’t here.”
“Bet you’d like that,” Luhan says to Chanyeol, giving Yixing one final shove; he lands on the floor. Chanyeol lets out a hoot of laughter and Yixing hits his legs in retaliation. “But anyway, I’d say that you’re losing your little game. Big time.”
“Well, help me win!” Yixing says.
“Can’t,” Luhan says, “I know less about Byun Baekhyun than you do, so I don’t know what his ticks are, what his weaknesses are. I’d be of no help.”
“You mean like you are now?” Yixing snaps.
“Baekhyun is a popular guy, but he doesn’t have that many close friends. Honestly, you’re probably the person who knows Baekhyun the best,” Chanyeol chips in.
“But I’ve only roomed with him for about a month,” Yixing says.
“Bingo.” Luhan smiles his little knowing smile at Yixing. “So what does that tell you?”
Yixing thinks back to when Baekhyun accused him of not caring about him (“You never ask me about my life,” Baekhyun frowned. “That’s because I don’t need to,” Yixing said. “You tell me anyway.”). He thinks back to the pictures of Baekhyun as a toddler framed on his dresser and the way Baekhyun’s smile didn’t reach his eyes; to the countless number of times some classmate or another stopped by their lunch table to say hi to Baekhyun; and to the infinite number of times Baekhyun had gone out of his way to say hello to an acquaintance, greet him by name, and pull a small detail from an obscure past conversation with the same person. What if...
What if Baekhyun knew everything about everybody to stop people from being interested in his?
What if that applied to everybody... except Yixing?
“You’ve got two months until the end of the semester, buddy,” Chanyeol says. “Figure it out before then.”
Yixing rubs his face with both hands. “Oh dear god,” he says again, as Chanyeol and Luhan succumb to peals of laughter at his misery.
--
Yixing comes home to the dorm later than usual one night - he’d been at the chemistry building, running a lab - and Yixing wants nothing more than to just collapse on his bed and sleep for maybe the next century.
But, of course, Baekhyun seems to have different plans in mind.
Yixing finds it strange when he’s approaching the door to their dorm room and hears booming music - is that Eminem playing? - so loud that it’s shaking the cardboard-thin walls of the building. But, okay, no big deal, Yixing is so tired he could sleep through a bomb going off in the middle of campus. Besides - Yixing thinks as he fishes the key out of his backpack - the music is probably coming from next door rather than his and Baekhyun’s room so he’ll be okay with a wall in between them and the loud neighbors -
The door swings open and there’s a long pause. Yixing gapes. “What. Are. You. Doing.”
It takes several minutes for Yixing to (somewhat) digest the entire scene before him: Baekhyun is decked out from head to toe in what Yixing thinks is supposed to be hip hop swag (baseball cap perched just so on his head, baggy sweatpants with the crotch hanging way somewhere down near his knees, a loose white t-shirt, and a necklace with a huge dollar sign). He’s standing in the middle room, caught frozen in a ridiculous position where his lips are stuck in a half pout, half gangster smirk. He was dancing. Alone. With the laptop on Baekhyun’s bed blaring strings of gibberish English rap.
“Yixing!” Baekhyun’s entire face lights up. “You’re home! Finally!” He stops himself suddenly and puts on a deeper voice, with a slight drawl. “Yo yo yo, where have you been, man, I’ve been so bored up in here all alone-“
“I can see that,” Yixing interrupts, hurriedly crossing the room to turn down the volume on the laptop. He sees that the particular playlist Baekhyun has been playing is titled: Gangstaaaaaa. “And what the hell is that voice?”
“Noooo, what are you doing? You’re ruining the mood!” Baekhyun immediately protests and elbows Yixing out of the way to hit the play button again. G-Dragon’s “Crayon” comes on. “I’m a gangster, can’t you tell! It’s fun, join me, Yixing! Swag? Check! Swag? Check!” Baekhyun yells over the song, singing along.
“Not today,” Yixing sighs, flopping down on his very inviting bed. “Maybe another day.”
“Where’s your gangsta voice at?!” Baekhyun yells, tugging at Yixing’s arm to get him to stand up. “Yixing-“
Yixing lands on the floor with a loud thump and there’s a couple minutes of loud swearing and profuse apologies.
“Oh my god, Yixing, I’m sorry but-“ Baekhyun begins. “I mean, yoyoyo, my bad, homie, but maybe you should have just listened to me the first time around. I got your back, bro…!” Baekhyun says as he helps Yixing stand on his own two feet again.
“Yo, you break my back, you’re no homie,” Yixing suddenly replies in spite of himself.
They stare at each other for a moment, letting Yixing’s new found gangster drawl sink in.
Baekhyun is the first to grin. “Bro, I knew you had it in you. Yeah, man!”
“Ten minutes,” Yixing says. “Ten minutes, and then I’m going to bed, you hear me, Byun Baekhyun?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Baekhyun is already rushing over to his dresser. “But first let’s find some gangster appropriate clothing for you.”
--
They end up having a little mini party and rap battle in their dorm room that lasts for the next three hours.
“I’m offended that you didn’t invite me,” Chanyeol says when he and Luhan come over unannounced the next morning to the sight of Yixing and Baekhyun still in their gangster swag, sound asleep and lying in various haphazard positions.
Luhan doesn’t stop teasing Yixing about finding Yixing asleep with Baekhyun on the same bed, legs tangled, for the next month.
--
“You know you enjoyed it,” Baekhyun says brightly.
Yixing chews on his bottom lip because he doesn’t want to admit that Baekhyun is - well, that Baekhyun is right. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m telling you, you were born to do music, Yixing,” Baekhyun continues saying. “There was a spark in your eye last night that isn’t there when you’re killing yourself over memorizing the names and roles of neurotransmitters that nobody cares about-“
“You call that music?” Yixing interrupts.
“Live a little, Xingxing,” Baekhyun breathes into his ear.
--
Yixing didn’t ask why Baekhyun needed a place to stay in the middle of the semester. He didn’t ask why Mr. Byun changed the passcode on the front door so that Baekhyun couldn’t get in to his own house. He didn’t, because Yixing’s not one to ask people things they don’t want to talk about.
If, instead, Yixing can stand by Baekhyun’s side and support him until Baekhyun’s ready to share the answers himself, then, Yixing decides, he’d be happy.
--
They’re both lying awake in bed - Yixing’s not up late studying, for once - when Baekhyun suddenly breaks the silence.
“I like guys,” Baekhyun whispers.
Yixing takes a moment to digest. “…Okay.”
“…You’re not going to kick me out like my dear old Dad did?”
“No,” Yixing says slowly. “I’m just wondering why you’re telling me this now.”
“No reason. Just wanted to let you know that I’m as gay as your baby pink skinny jeans.”
“Pretty sure those are your jeans, not mine.” A pause. “And, anyway, I like guys too.”
“Like I said,” Baekhyun replies, “as gay as your baby pink skinny jeans.”
--
A steaming mug of tea is set down on the desk next to him. Yixing looks up; it’s Baekhyun. “You haven’t put something dubious in this mug of tea, too, have you,” Yixing says. “Last time was Tylenol PM, this time it’s, what? Poison?”
Baekhyun pouts. “You’re going to be eighty years old and you’re going to still be griping about that one time I put Tylenol PM in your tea. Fine,” he says, taking away the mug, “if that’s how you think of me-“
“-wait, wait,” Yixing says hastily, taking the mug from him, “who said that I didn’t want the tea? I would be happy if the tea has poison in it, actually; then I’d be put out of my misery and I won’t have to study for finals.”
Baekhyun gives Yixing’s shoulder a quick squeeze and walks back towards his own desk. (And Yixing is definitely not staring at Baekhyun’s butt as he walks, thankyouverymuch.) “I’m telling you, study what you love and you won’t have to work hard a day in your life,” he says. “You’re going to graduate and then you’re going to go to med school and then you’re going to become a doctor and you’re going to be miserable your whole life and you’re going to be like, ‘oh why didn’t I listen to my good old roommate Byun Baekhyun. He was so wise.’ Next semester is going to be like this too, and then next one, and the one after that, and I’m not going to be here to tell you to stop studying what you hate and stop suppressing who you are just to satisfy other people-“
“What do you mean,” Yixing blurts out, interrupting Baekhyun’s little rant.
“What do I mean by what? The part where I’m telling you’d be a miserable old fool your entire life or the part where Byun Baekhyun is so wise?”
“No, the part where you said, ‘I’m not going to be here,’” Yixing says. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I mean,” Baekhyun shifts his weight in his chair. “The semester is ending.”
They stare at each for a moment. Yixing had forgotten all about what the end of the semester brings. “You’re rooming with me next semester,” Yixing says. There’s no question mark at the end; Yixing says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “I mean,” he quickly corrects himself, “only if you want to.”
Baekhyun stares at him like he’s speaking an alien language. “…You want me to room with you?”
Yixing fidgets in his chair. “I mean... yeah,” Yixing answers, not looking Baekhyun in the eye, “but only if you want to.”
Baekhyun leaps off his chair and grabs both of Yixing’s hands. Yixing grins, standing up, and Baekhyun begins jumping up and down excitedly. “Of course!” he yells. “Of course I want to room with you next semester! We’re going to room together forever and ever-“
“How else am I going to be eighty years old and still be able to nag you about that one time you drugged me,” Yixing laughs.
But Yixing’s laughter dies off. Maybe it’s because of the stress of finals week. Maybe it’s because of the pressure from his parents at home in China, expecting news of his successes to continue to come in from Seoul. Maybe it’s because once Baekhyun stopped jumping up and down out of excitement, they’re standing face-to-face and Baekhyun hasn’t let go of his hands and - wait - is Baekhyun pulling him in-
Baekhyun breathes out, Yixing breathes in.
“Hey,” Baekhyun whispers. “There’s something about me that I haven’t told you.”
“You sure about that? You’ve told me everything from what age you lost your first baby tooth to that one time you lost a bet and had to run three laps around your high school in just your underwear.”
“Did I really?” Baekhyun grins. “Yeah, well… Pretty sure I haven’t told you that I love you.”
“I had my hunches,” Yixing says simply, his lips curving into a dimpled grin. “I do, too.”
“I know,” Baekhyun leans in. “Otherwise, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have agreed to room again with me next semester. And don’t think I didn’t notice you staring at my cute little butt several times.”
“Did not. And, you know,” Yixing whispers, “I’ve noticed you like to invade my personal space. First my dorm room, then my personal history, then the physical space between us, and now-“
“-and now, well, there’s naturally only one thing left for me to invade,” Baekhyun cockily smiles.
Naturally. Yes, Yixing thinks as he closes the gap between their lips; it’s one hundred percent totally and completely natural for them to breathe the same air, for Yixing to leave butterfly kisses at Baekhyun’s nape, for Baekhyun to blow air at Yixing’s ear, for him to sling his arms around Yixing... in short, for Baekhyun to be Baekhyun around Yixing and for Yixing to be Yixing around Baekhyun.
--
Maybe it’s because it’s Byun Baekhyun.
--
Baekhyun is the first one who spots Yixing approaching their little group lounging about on the campus green. Like an overexcited puppy, Baekhyun scrambles to his feet and runs towards him.
“Did you do it?” Baekhyun practically pounces on him.
Yixing shows him his empty hands, grinning. “Yup, handed the form in this morning.”
Baekhyun whoops and slings his arm around Yixing’s neck, forcing the taller boy to bend down. “Xingxing-ah, I’m really proud of you,” Baekhyun beams.
“Did you do what?” Chanyeol asks as Baekhyun and Yixing approach. Luhan gives a little wave hello.
“He switched majors!” Baekhyun shouts, plopping down on the grass next to Luhan and bringing Yixing down with him. “Say hello to the newest music major!”
Congratulations are given all around: How come you never listened to me when I said pre-med wasn’t for you, but now you listen to Baekhyun? Luhan complains, while Chanyeol whoops We can take composition theory together next semester!
“Only one thing left to do now,” Yixing says, fishing his cell phone out of his pocket. Baekhyun moves to lay his head in Yixing’s lap, smiling up at him as Yixing dials home.
“Mom? Yeah, it’s Yixing. I need to tell you something,” Yixing says into the phone as Baekhyun’s hand finds his free hand. “I’ve decided medicine wasn’t for me. I’m a music major now.”
Baekhyun’s eyes are trained on his face. In the background, Chanyeol beatboxes and Luhan complains loudly that he won’t shut up.
“Why did I decide now to switch? Well, you see, I have this friend,” Yixing says, freeing his hand from Baekhyun’s to brush the hair out of his eyes, “who’s actually more than just a friend.”
Baekhyun grins, getting up by pushing off the ground with his elbows. “Hey, Mrs. Zhang!” Baekhyun shouts into the phone, before pecking Yixing squarely on the lips.
(“PDA!” Luhan screams, disgusted.)
Yixing laughs. He thinks he can get used to this invasion of personal space, if it’s Byun Baekhyun.
--
Fandom: EXO
Pairing/Characters: baekxing / Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Lay, Luhan
Genre: College AU, humor, romance
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Some mentions of homophobia
Words: 6,962
Summary: There’s never a quiet day when Baekhyun’s around - and Baekhyun is always around.
Original post can be found here! Written for the 2012 SNCJ Secret Santa fic exchange for zvarrii. The prompt was Baekhyun and Yixing living together in a dorm, a college or domestic AU.
“So. I have this friend.”
Yixing sandwiches his cell phone between his ear and his shoulder as he flips the page of his textbook lying in front of him on the desk. He mentally sighs; he can already tell simply from the way Luhan is speaking that this isn’t just any ordinary friend- it’s a friend Luhan’s about to make a request for. From him.
“Zhang Yixing, are you even listening to me?”
“Yes, yes,” Yixing replies as he underlines sodium-potassium pump in the textbook. “You have a friend. Continue.”
“Yeah, so I have this friend, his name is Byun Baekhyun and he’s really nice and he just - well, he kind of needs a place to stay? For a little while? And I was wondering-“
“And you were wondering whether I would be willing to let him room with me,” Yixing finishes, scribbling sodium and potassium ions moving against concentration gradient, needs ATP in the margins. “What’s wrong with your dorm?”
“I have a one hundred and eighty four centimeter tall giant for a roommate who fills up half of our tiny dorm and then some,” Luhan says. “Or did you forget?”
Yixing grins at the mental image. He hadn’t forgotten, of course; for who could forget Park Chanyeol?
“Remember,” Luhan says in a sing-song voice, “you owe me.”
Yixing snorts. “For what? I swear you invent something new that I owe you every time you want me to do something for you.”
“I do not,” Luhan protests. “Remember last time you forgot your calculator when you went to your calculus exam? And I made myself look like a lunatic, chasing you across campus to deliver it to you because you wouldn’t pick up your phone? You would have failed that exam without me, let’s face it.”
That’s right; Luhan did save his butt then, and Yixing mentally kicks himself for it. He glances over at the empty bed across from his in the dorm room. He’d gotten used to having no roommate ever since his previous one decided an education at the prestigious Seoul National University wasn’t for him and dropped out - unofficially, which is why there hasn’t been a new roommate assigned yet. “Technically, I’m not allowed to let random strangers room in the dorms-“
“-but you’ll do it for me, right?” Luhan layers on the honey in his voice.
“Alright, alright,” Yixing sighs. The neurobiology textbook lies abandoned on the desk now, Yixing having given up on trying to simultaneously carry a conversation with his best friend and study for his midterm. “Anything for you.”
“It’s just for the rest of this semester,” Luhan triumphantly chirps into the phone. “He also goes to SNU, so it’ll be no problem to get him into the dorm building. Officially, he’s a commuter student. The university people will never know! Next semester, he’ll formally apply for housing; he’ll be out of your dorm in no time.”
Luhan doesn’t say why this friend of his suddenly can’t stay at home for the rest of the semester, but Yixing isn’t one to ask.
“He’ll move in tonight,” Luhan continues. “I’ll come over with him to introduce you guys!”
Yixing stares at the ceiling as if saying somebody up there, please help me. “Gee, thanks for the short notice.”
“That’s why we’re best friends,” Luhan laughs as he hangs up.
--
Yixing hears Byun Baekhyun before he actually sees him. It’s a loud, genuine laugh, mixed with Luhan’s guffaws, that rings down the halls and announces his arrival to everybody, whether they wanted to hear him or not. Luhan and Baekhyun’s progression down the hall to Yixing’s room is slow, though, because Baekhyun is stopped at every other door by Yixing’s hallmates, all of whom seem to know Baekhyun and had an absolute need to say hi to him.
Yixing’s just starting to wonder if this Byun Baekhyun guy is the Queen of England herself when there’s a knock on his open door, and there Byun Baekhyun stands, all grins and eye smiles, towing one bright yellow suitcase.
“Hi, Yixing!” Baekhyun grins and gives a little wave.
Yixing flashes a brief smile, closing the textbook he was reading shut. “Hi. You must be Byun Baekhyun.”
“See?” Luhan pipes up, squeezing past Baekhyun in the doorway. “Didn’t I tell you he was a nice guy? You guys are going to get along just great, I can already tell.” He beams.
“Yeah, so, um, make yourself at home,” Yixing says, ignoring his best friend. He gestures at the empty bed situated along one side of the narrow dorm room. “That’s your side of the room.”
“Great! Thanks, Yixing!” Baekhyun says, and Yixing begins to wonder if Baekhyun ever speaks without exclamation marks.
Luhan loiters around for a little while, sitting on Yixing’s bed (and pointedly ignores Yixing’s off-hand remark that Luhan never lets him sit on his bed), chatting happily with Baekhyun as the latter unpacks his sole suitcase. Yixing merely stands, leaning on his desk with crossed arms, only nodding at appropriate times when Luhan stops to look at him for a response.
But soon Luhan is summoned away by his roommate Chanyeol - Chanyeol’s voice is so loud that Yixing could clearly hear him from Luhan’s phone (“New gig!!!” Chanyeol yelled) - and Baekhyun drags out a book (The World History of Music) to read. Yixing can finally finally return to studying for his midterm tomorrow. Everything is quiet except for the rustling of pages when all of a sudden - there’s breath tickling his nape and Yixing flinches.
“Oooooh,” Baekhyun says, peering over Yixing’s shoulder. “Neurobiology?”
Yixing shifts a little sideway in his seat, trying to put more space in between Baekhyun and himself. “Um, yes. Neurobiology.” He’s hyper aware of how Baekhyun’s eyes have now roamed over to Yixing’s handwritten notes. “I’m a biology major. Pre-med.”
“Oh, studying to be a doctor?” Baekhyun straightens up and Yixing slowly lets out the breath he’s been holding in. “I’ve always wondered what your major was. Funny, I didn’t pin you as the doctor type.”
“‘Always’?” Yixing looks up at him, curious. “What do you mean?”
Baekhyun laughs, and Yixing can’t help but be reminded of a small puppy’s bark. “You really don’t remember, huh?” Seeing Yixing’s blank face, he elaborates. “Last year, fall semester, English language class. I sat with you sometimes? And prodded you when the teacher called on you and you didn’t respond because you’d spaced out again?”
It takes a couple of minutes for Yixing’s memory to kick in. “Oh!” He points at Baekhyun. “You’re Bob!”
More puppy laughter upon hearing his English class name. “I prefer Baekhyun, Baek, or Baekhyunnie, but, yeah, I'm ‘Bob.’”
Yixing rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “Thanks for that,” he says.
“You’re welcome. It was rather amusing, actually.” Baekhyun makes his way back to his desk, which is stark compared to Yixing’s paper-strewn one. He twists in his desk chair and balances on the back two legs so he can still face Yixing. The dorm is so narrow that they’re almost face-to-face. “Thanks for letting me room with you, by the way.”
There’s that eye smile again, Yixing thinks. He has an inexplicable gut feeling that eye smile means more trouble than it lets on. “Sure, no problem,” Yixing hears himself saying.
--
It’s not that Yixing is a particularly closed person (he’s not), but somehow, someway, Baekhyun gets his entire family history out of him by the end of the week. He smiles and winks and basically charms his way into making Yixing talk about his mother, his father, his grandmother, why he chose to be a doctor, why he chose to study in Korea... the list goes on.
There’s never a quiet day when Baekhyun’s around - and Baekhyun is always around. He insists on eating every meal together and gives Yixing sad puppy eyes when Yixing tells him he already grabbed lunch in between biology 202 lecture and chem lab. One time Yixing told him that, Baekhyun gave him a quiet okay and walked out of the dorm (presumably to the cafeteria), dragging his feet behind him. That was the last time Yixing ever stuffed down lunch in the ten minute break in between classes without his new roommate - even if that means not eating lunch together until four in the afternoon, due to Yixing’s packed schedule.
Eating with Baekhyun, however, always takes twice as long as eating with anybody else because it seems like Baekhyun knew everybody on campus and everybody on campus knew him. Baekhyun calls everyone passing by their lunch table by first name and could always remember some little detail about them that made that person feel like Baekhyun genuinely remembered them and cared for them. (Which Yixing doesn’t doubt is true.)
“Bet you Baekhyun was that really popular and really smart and really friendly and really everything guy in high school,” Chanyeol whispers (well, as close to whispering as the ever boisterous Park Chanyeol could get) to Yixing during one of these tangent conversations between Baekhyun and yet another passerby. Luhan sits next to him, slurping noodles noisily and then dabbing daintily at his mouth with a napkin.
“Sorry, guys,” Baekhyun smiles at them, while the acquaintance slash friend slash classmate walks away. “Just had to say hi.”
“Eat,” Luhan orders, tapping at Baekhyun’s plate with the end of his chopsticks. “No more polite hellos, we gotta get to Chanyeol’s rap battle in twenty minutes.”
“I’m sorry. You don’t mind, right?” Baekhyun says to Yixing, as Chanyeol launches into the rap he’s going to perform later for the thousandth time (“But I need to practice!” Chanyeol yells when Luhan slaps him on the back of the head to shut him up). Baekhyun leans in until their upper arms are pressed flush against each other. “It’s just-“
Yixing tries to laugh it off, but that’s difficult to do when there’s no air to breathe. “It’s just that you’re too popular,” Yixing chuckles, subtly nudging Baekhyun away. “It’s okay. Just eat. This was your idea to go to Chanyeol’s gig, remember. I could be cramming for chem right now.”
“Alright, Mr. 3.99999 GPA. You’ll see, you won’t regret coming out tonight. It’ll make for good memories,” Baekhyun replies, eyes sparkling.
--
Baekhyun is naturally a flirty person. The smile he flashes at Yixing everyday is the same smile he gives to the random homeless person sitting on the side of the street (he knows Baekhyun does this because Yixing has seen him do this countless number of times when they’re on the way to the local supermarket for more packets of instant ramen). The cheeky little wink he gives to Yixing is the same cheeky little wink he gives Chanyeol and Luhan - right before he’s about to plot some trick on Yixing, which is why Yixing has learned that it’s his cue to leave the room when he sees it. The same fingers that graze his arms, his neck, and sometimes even his thigh - well, they’re all over Baekhyun’s million and one friends, too.
The problem - if Yixing can even call it that - is that Yixing himself is a touchy person too. He’s just not used to another person being as touchy as he is (even Luhan has his limits, after all).
But, Yixing decides, if that’s how Baekhyun is going to be, then there’s no reason Yixing couldn’t make this a two-player game and return the favor.
“But how do you know that’s going to bother him as much as it’s bothering you?” Luhan says to him around a mouthful of fried rice.
Yixing puts down his chopsticks, ready to protest. “Who said anything about being bothered about it? All I want is a little fun too, that’s all. He has his fun, I have mine.”
Suddenly, Luhan stops eating and stands up, leaning across the table until he’s almost nose-to-nose with Yixing. “You sure about that?”
“What are you doing?” Yixing raises his eyebrow at his best friend.
“Testing you,” Luhan replies simply.
“People are staring,” Yixing points out.
“So?”
“I think you’ve been spending too much time with Chanyeol because you’re being weird again,” Yixing says, staring at Luhan straight in the eyes. “But fine, we can do this all night.”
“My point exactly,” Luhan jabs the air triumphantly. “We can stare into each other’s eyes like this and breathe the same air until people think we’re gay for each other. Chanyeol drapes his arms and his legs and his everything all over you and you do the same to him. But what about Baekhyun?”
Yixing is at lost for words for a few seconds. He opts to fling a napkin at Luhan’s face instead. “You’ve got rice on your chin,” he says. “And while you’re at it, you can wipe that smug smile off your face, too.”
--
Yixing comes back to the dorm after class one day to find Chanyeol, Luhan, and Baekhyun all huddled over Baekhyun’s laptop at his desk and he immediately knows that this spells Trouble with a capital T.
“What are you guys up to?” Yixing asks suspiciously, letting his backpack slide off his shoulders and onto the floor next to his bed.
All three of them jump out of surprise, they were so absorbed by whatever is on Baekhyun’s laptop screen. “Xingxing, you’re home!” Baekhyun exclaims. “Luhan was just showing us some videos of you-“
“Don’t call me that,” Yixing protests. “And what?”
His question is soon answered, however, when Baekhyun resumes the video they’d all been watching and the Wonder Girls’ “Nobody” fills the dorm. Yixing throws his hands up in the air and groans. On Baekhyun’s computer screen, there’s a preteen Zhang Yixing swiveling his hips in time with the music.
“I got nobody, nobody but you! I got nobody, nobody but you~” Baekhyun sings along with a falsetto, clapping at the appropriate times as Chanyeol’s deep guffaws fill the room (and the entire dorm building). “Awww, Xingxing, you were so cute!”
“Luhan,” Yixing slaps his best friend’s shoulders. “Why do you insist on showing this to everybody I know?”
Luhan grins mischievously. “I’m just showing my friends my favorite video, what’s wrong with that?”
“But seriously,” Baekhyun says, twisting around in his desk chair to face Yixing standing behind him. “You never told me that you used to be a child star in China!”
Yixing walks away, sitting at his own desk and starting up his laptop - he’s got an essay to write. “I have to tell you everything?” Yixing says. “Besides, that was a long time ago. It was just something fun to do at the time.”
Luhan snorts; Yixing ignores him, like usual.
Baekhyun doesn’t stop singing the chorus to “Nobody” for the rest of the week, and he never fails once to sing and dance to the pop song whenever he sees Yixing, even when they are just passing by each other in the middle of the campus’ busiest street. He doesn’t let “It’s our new friendship handshake,” Baekhyun explains to Chanyeol over their habitual dinner at the cafeteria.
“Who are you referring to when you say ‘our’? Because you can’t possibly mean you and me,” Yixing says dryly.
“Why, of course I mean me and you,” Baekhyun responds, slinging an arm around Yixing’s neck and pulling him close so that their heads touch. Yixing turns his head around just enough so that he can blow air on Baekhyun’s neck. He gives a satisfied smile when Baekhyun shrieks, jumps a little, and scoots his chair a little away from him.
“That looked like an awful lot of sexual innuendo,” Luhan says, giving the both of them judging looks. “Keep the foreplay to the bedroom, guys.”
“Don’t be silly, Luhan,” Baekhyun winks. He leans forward, but his arm doesn’t leave Yixing. He lowers his voice to a mock whisper. “Wanna join us?”
--
Later that night, Baekhyun’s in bed and Yixing’s typing away at his essay, with various books lying around on the desk. The dorm is dark except for Yixing’s lone desk lamp.
“Yixing.”
More soft clicks of the keyboard.
“Yixinggg.”
“Yixingggggg.”
Finally, the typing stops. “Yes?” Yixing sighs.
“Yay, you responded only after three tries,” Baekhyun says, lifting his head from his pillow to grin at him. He looks obviously delighted. “Aren’t you going to go to bed? You’ve been working on that essay for hours.”
“I can’t, it’s due tomorrow morning,” Yixing replies, attention returned to the too-bright laptop screen. “And I haven’t even written a proper conclusion yet, and the introduction sucks, so I can’t sleep until-“
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Baekhyun cuts him off. “It’s two points shy of an A+, you mean.”
No answer. Everything sinks back into silence, save for the click-clacking of Yixing’s fingers on the keyboard.
“Why do you work so hard, Yixing?” Baekhyun says suddenly.
Yixing’s typing doesn’t even slow down. “I can’t get into med school without working hard,” he answers automatically.
“But, I mean, why?” Baekhyun presses. “You obviously don’t want to go to med school-“
The keyboard noises stop. There’s a pause, and then: “What makes you say that?”
“Luhan tells me that you’re always falling asleep in your science classes. And that ‘Nobody’ video wasn’t the only video of you that Luhan showed us. You’re a pretty good singer. Why did you stop?”
Yixing makes a mental note to strangle Luhan at the next opportunity. He busies his hands with looking for a book - one that he doesn’t really need - among all the ones on his desk. “I’m just average. Besides, I need to support my parents ‘when I grow up.’”
“You’re not a doctor, though. You’re a musician.” Baekhyun frowns at him. “You don’t really have any passion for medicine-“
“-but hard work will make me as good of a doctor as any,” Yixing finishes, cutting him off. “Now, please? I need to finish this essay.”
Baekhyun falls into silence. Ten minutes later, he’s out of bed and softly padding out the door. He returns shortly and shuffles over to Yixing’s desk, setting a mug of piping hot tea gently next to Yixing on the desk. “Drink up,” Baekhyun says. “You need to at least drink something otherwise you’re going to work yourself to death.” He pokes Yixing in the dimple. “You’re gonna get sick and then - oh no! - you won’t be able to work 24/7 like you are now.”
Yixing smiles a little sheepishly up at Baekhyun. “Thanks, Baekhyunnie,” he says, warming his fingers by wrapping them around the mug.
Baekhyun climbs back into bed and Yixing’s back to typing away on his laptop. He’s on the ninth page of his essay when he starts noticing his vision’s getting a little blurry and he’s starting to nod off. He sips more of his tea, willing the caffeine to kick in. But the minutes drag on and Yixing’s eyes are drooping more and more...
“Feeling a little sleepy?” Baekhyun suddenly pipes up, sounding too cheery for three in the morning.
Startled, Yixing looks over to Baekhyun’s bed but he’s having a little difficulty keeping his vision straight. “I thought you were asleep,” Yixing mumbles.
“Nope,” Baekhyun answers in the same bright tone. “I was awake. Just waiting for the Tylenol PM to kick in.”
“...Tylenol PM?” Yixing repeats incredulously. “You-?”
“Shhhh,” Baekhyun says. He’s slipped out of bed and is now helping Yixing out of his chair, tucking him into bed. “You need to sleep.”
“Well, issnot like I hava choice now,” Yixing slurs.
--
“I can’t believe you drugged me.”
“I didn’t drug you, I just dissolved one Tylenol PM pill into your tea so that you’d actually go to sleep. Totally harmless.”
“I can’t believe you drugged me.”
“Don’t you feel great now that you’ve slept? You can actually, you know, enjoy life without feeling like a zombie,” Baekhyun smiles one of his million-watt smiles at Yixing, the kind that makes Yixing subconsciously hold his breath. “You can thank me now. A kiss on the cheek, maybe?” Baekhyun offers one side of his face, tapping to indicate where Yixing should plant his lips.
“You wish,” Yixing says, opting instead to make Baekhyun squirm by pinching gently at Baekhyun’s ticklish neck.
--
“So how’s the game between you and Baekhyun going,” Luhan whispers, waggling his eyebrows. He’s sitting across the table from Yixing, in the library.
“Fantastic, thanks for asking,” Yixing whispers back, trying to concentrate on struggling his way through his MATH201 homework.
As luck would have it, Baekhyun announces his arrival at the library five minutes later with a “boo!” right next to Yixing’s ear, sneaking up from behind. Yixing jumps, turns his head, and gets a face-full of Baekhyun’s twinkling eyes and smile.
“You didn’t tell me you were at the library,” Baekhyun accuses, pretending to pout. He slides into the seat next to him, his hand never leaving Yixing’s shoulder. He dumps his notebooks on the table, causing the librarian to shoot him a dirty look; Baekhyun merely gives her a winning smile in return. “You’re not avoiding me, are you, Zhang Yixing?”
“N-no,” Yixing says, very aware of how Luhan is staring at him. There’s no way in hell he’s going to admit that maybe he’d been hoping for a refuge from Baekhyun’s touches. “Must’ve slipped my mind, sorry.”
“Fantastic,” Luhan mouths to Yixing when Baekhyun’s back is turned, nodding sagely like oh yeah, I completely and totally believe you 100%.
--
Baekhyun zips his backpack closed and slings it on his shoulder. He strikes a pose worthy of any runway model. “How do I look?”
“Fabulous,” Yixing says, taking in Baekhyun’s outfit: black, from head to toe.
“You too,” Baekhyun cheekily winks. “Ready?”
Yixing adjusts the straps of his backpack. “Yup.”
“Good, let’s roll,” Baekhyun says.
It isn’t everyday that two Seoul National University students can be seen dressed in all black, strolling down the street at three in the morning. If it weren’t for the fact Yixing dissuaded Baekhyun from wearing the black ski masks (“But, Yixing! It completes the outfit!”), the two of the might look like a pair of burglars up to no good.
In fact, Yixing does feel like they were up to no good. Feel like, because Yixing actually has no idea what they were up to.
(It all started when Baekhyun came home and asked him, you wanna help me with something? And Yixing had a feeling that this wasn’t a small “something” but he just said: sure, why not.)
Ten minutes later, Baekhyun stops in front of a rather large and spacious-looking house, bounded on all sides by a high brick wall. Baekhyun beckons Yixing over next to the wall. “Give me a lift,” he says.
He readily obliges, lacing his fingers together, and Baekhyun steps on it, scaling the wall. Yixing tries not to think about how Baekhyun’s butt is staring at him in the face.
Baekhyun disappears over the other side of the wall and two seconds later, there’s rope being flung over to Yixing’s side. Yixing gives it a tug or two to make sure Baekhyun has a good grip on it and then starts scaling the wall too.
He jumps down to the ground. “Baek, what the hell are we-“
“Shhhh,” Baekhyun hisses, pressing an index finger to his lips. “This isn’t illegal, trust me.”
Yixing absurdly wants to laugh at the fact that the situation is so suspicious that Baekhyun has to assure him that whatever they’re doing right now is not, in fact, illegal.
After a few minutes of Baekhyun climbing one of the large trees that reach the second floor windows of the house (and of Yixing struggling to follow him), Baekhyun slides one of the windows open and they’re in the house. As Yixing’s eyes adjust to the dark, he can make out a dresser and a bed - a bedroom. “Give me your backpack. Hold the flashlight for me,” Baekhyun instructs, “I just need to find some stuff and then we’ll be outta here.”
Curiosity gets the better of him, however, and while Baekhyun opens some doors to presumably the closet, Yixing quietly roves his flashlight around the room. Picture frames on the dresser catches his attention and Yixing moves closer, checking to see that Baekhyun is still busy with the closet. There’s a picture of a little boy snuggly wrapped in a scarf and puffy winter jacket. There’s another one of a slightly older boy posing with a woman. There’s something about the boy’s eye smile and the way his grin radiates warmth that reminds Yixing of-
“Yeah, that’s me,” Baekhyun whispers, his chin hovering over Yixing’s shoulder, making Yixing jump.
Yixing stares at him. “Then this is your-“
“-house, yes,” Baekhyun finishes.
“Why are we sneaking into your own house?” Yixing whispers back.
“Because dear old Dad changed the passcode on the front door on me,” Baekhyun smiles, but it’s not the same smile that’s frozen in the picture frames. It’s not the same smile that Yixing knows. Baekhyun hands him his backpack back; it’s now full. “C’mon, I got the stuff I needed, let’s-“ He freezes.
“What?” Yixing hisses. Baekhyun just shakes his head.
Yixing forgets how to breathe. Yixing’s fingers have clamped around Baekhyun’s wrist so hard that his knuckles are shining white. What if Baekhyun had heard footsteps? What if Mr. Byun was right outside the bedroom door right now? What if they were about to be caught and arrested for breaking and entering Baekhyun’s own house? What if-
Suddenly, Baekhyun bursts out laughing.
“Your face,” Baekhyun wheezes. “You shoulda seen your face, I’ve never seen it so white-“
Yixing immediately lets go of Baekhyun’s wrist and slaps him on the shoulder, embarrassed. “Shut up, or else we’re really gonna get caught,” he hisses.
“Sorry, Xingxing,” Baekhyun half whispers, half sing-songs. He leans in unnecessarily close. “I couldn’t resist.”
--
When they’re both back in bed at the crack of dawn, Baekhyun’s whisper floats across the room to Yixing.
“Hey.”
“Hmmm?”
“About tonight? Thanks for doing that with me.”
“Mmmm,” Yixing hums. “Don’t mention it. Isn’t this part of what you mean by making good memories?”
A chuckle. “Yeah, I guess so.”
--
“Oh dear god,” Yixing groans, collapsing onto Luhan’s bed.
“Get off my bed. You can go ‘oh dear god’ elsewhere,” Luhan frowns.
Yixing rolls over onto his stomach and props himself up on his elbows. “You’re the one who got me into this mess; the least you could do for me is allow me to lie on your bed.”
Luhan throws up his heads innocently. “All I did was arrange for him to become your new roommate. The falling in love part, the touchy huggy kissy mumbo jumbo - that’s all your doing., okay, so don’t blame me.” He glances over at Yixing. “So, what did he do this time?”
“He almost kissed me,” Yixing says, sounding like he’s at his wit’s end. “Like this.” He gets up from the bed, grabs Luhan by both shoulders, and proceeds to make smooching faces at Luhan as Luhan shrieks and tries to wrestle him off.
Chanyeol enters the dorm. “I don’t know what’s going on,” he says slowly, raising his eyebrows at them, “but please carry on as if I weren’t here.”
“Bet you’d like that,” Luhan says to Chanyeol, giving Yixing one final shove; he lands on the floor. Chanyeol lets out a hoot of laughter and Yixing hits his legs in retaliation. “But anyway, I’d say that you’re losing your little game. Big time.”
“Well, help me win!” Yixing says.
“Can’t,” Luhan says, “I know less about Byun Baekhyun than you do, so I don’t know what his ticks are, what his weaknesses are. I’d be of no help.”
“You mean like you are now?” Yixing snaps.
“Baekhyun is a popular guy, but he doesn’t have that many close friends. Honestly, you’re probably the person who knows Baekhyun the best,” Chanyeol chips in.
“But I’ve only roomed with him for about a month,” Yixing says.
“Bingo.” Luhan smiles his little knowing smile at Yixing. “So what does that tell you?”
Yixing thinks back to when Baekhyun accused him of not caring about him (“You never ask me about my life,” Baekhyun frowned. “That’s because I don’t need to,” Yixing said. “You tell me anyway.”). He thinks back to the pictures of Baekhyun as a toddler framed on his dresser and the way Baekhyun’s smile didn’t reach his eyes; to the countless number of times some classmate or another stopped by their lunch table to say hi to Baekhyun; and to the infinite number of times Baekhyun had gone out of his way to say hello to an acquaintance, greet him by name, and pull a small detail from an obscure past conversation with the same person. What if...
What if Baekhyun knew everything about everybody to stop people from being interested in his?
What if that applied to everybody... except Yixing?
“You’ve got two months until the end of the semester, buddy,” Chanyeol says. “Figure it out before then.”
Yixing rubs his face with both hands. “Oh dear god,” he says again, as Chanyeol and Luhan succumb to peals of laughter at his misery.
--
Yixing comes home to the dorm later than usual one night - he’d been at the chemistry building, running a lab - and Yixing wants nothing more than to just collapse on his bed and sleep for maybe the next century.
But, of course, Baekhyun seems to have different plans in mind.
Yixing finds it strange when he’s approaching the door to their dorm room and hears booming music - is that Eminem playing? - so loud that it’s shaking the cardboard-thin walls of the building. But, okay, no big deal, Yixing is so tired he could sleep through a bomb going off in the middle of campus. Besides - Yixing thinks as he fishes the key out of his backpack - the music is probably coming from next door rather than his and Baekhyun’s room so he’ll be okay with a wall in between them and the loud neighbors -
The door swings open and there’s a long pause. Yixing gapes. “What. Are. You. Doing.”
It takes several minutes for Yixing to (somewhat) digest the entire scene before him: Baekhyun is decked out from head to toe in what Yixing thinks is supposed to be hip hop swag (baseball cap perched just so on his head, baggy sweatpants with the crotch hanging way somewhere down near his knees, a loose white t-shirt, and a necklace with a huge dollar sign). He’s standing in the middle room, caught frozen in a ridiculous position where his lips are stuck in a half pout, half gangster smirk. He was dancing. Alone. With the laptop on Baekhyun’s bed blaring strings of gibberish English rap.
“Yixing!” Baekhyun’s entire face lights up. “You’re home! Finally!” He stops himself suddenly and puts on a deeper voice, with a slight drawl. “Yo yo yo, where have you been, man, I’ve been so bored up in here all alone-“
“I can see that,” Yixing interrupts, hurriedly crossing the room to turn down the volume on the laptop. He sees that the particular playlist Baekhyun has been playing is titled: Gangstaaaaaa. “And what the hell is that voice?”
“Noooo, what are you doing? You’re ruining the mood!” Baekhyun immediately protests and elbows Yixing out of the way to hit the play button again. G-Dragon’s “Crayon” comes on. “I’m a gangster, can’t you tell! It’s fun, join me, Yixing! Swag? Check! Swag? Check!” Baekhyun yells over the song, singing along.
“Not today,” Yixing sighs, flopping down on his very inviting bed. “Maybe another day.”
“Where’s your gangsta voice at?!” Baekhyun yells, tugging at Yixing’s arm to get him to stand up. “Yixing-“
Yixing lands on the floor with a loud thump and there’s a couple minutes of loud swearing and profuse apologies.
“Oh my god, Yixing, I’m sorry but-“ Baekhyun begins. “I mean, yoyoyo, my bad, homie, but maybe you should have just listened to me the first time around. I got your back, bro…!” Baekhyun says as he helps Yixing stand on his own two feet again.
“Yo, you break my back, you’re no homie,” Yixing suddenly replies in spite of himself.
They stare at each other for a moment, letting Yixing’s new found gangster drawl sink in.
Baekhyun is the first to grin. “Bro, I knew you had it in you. Yeah, man!”
“Ten minutes,” Yixing says. “Ten minutes, and then I’m going to bed, you hear me, Byun Baekhyun?”
“Yeah, yeah.” Baekhyun is already rushing over to his dresser. “But first let’s find some gangster appropriate clothing for you.”
--
They end up having a little mini party and rap battle in their dorm room that lasts for the next three hours.
“I’m offended that you didn’t invite me,” Chanyeol says when he and Luhan come over unannounced the next morning to the sight of Yixing and Baekhyun still in their gangster swag, sound asleep and lying in various haphazard positions.
Luhan doesn’t stop teasing Yixing about finding Yixing asleep with Baekhyun on the same bed, legs tangled, for the next month.
--
“You know you enjoyed it,” Baekhyun says brightly.
Yixing chews on his bottom lip because he doesn’t want to admit that Baekhyun is - well, that Baekhyun is right. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’m telling you, you were born to do music, Yixing,” Baekhyun continues saying. “There was a spark in your eye last night that isn’t there when you’re killing yourself over memorizing the names and roles of neurotransmitters that nobody cares about-“
“You call that music?” Yixing interrupts.
“Live a little, Xingxing,” Baekhyun breathes into his ear.
--
Yixing didn’t ask why Baekhyun needed a place to stay in the middle of the semester. He didn’t ask why Mr. Byun changed the passcode on the front door so that Baekhyun couldn’t get in to his own house. He didn’t, because Yixing’s not one to ask people things they don’t want to talk about.
If, instead, Yixing can stand by Baekhyun’s side and support him until Baekhyun’s ready to share the answers himself, then, Yixing decides, he’d be happy.
--
They’re both lying awake in bed - Yixing’s not up late studying, for once - when Baekhyun suddenly breaks the silence.
“I like guys,” Baekhyun whispers.
Yixing takes a moment to digest. “…Okay.”
“…You’re not going to kick me out like my dear old Dad did?”
“No,” Yixing says slowly. “I’m just wondering why you’re telling me this now.”
“No reason. Just wanted to let you know that I’m as gay as your baby pink skinny jeans.”
“Pretty sure those are your jeans, not mine.” A pause. “And, anyway, I like guys too.”
“Like I said,” Baekhyun replies, “as gay as your baby pink skinny jeans.”
--
A steaming mug of tea is set down on the desk next to him. Yixing looks up; it’s Baekhyun. “You haven’t put something dubious in this mug of tea, too, have you,” Yixing says. “Last time was Tylenol PM, this time it’s, what? Poison?”
Baekhyun pouts. “You’re going to be eighty years old and you’re going to still be griping about that one time I put Tylenol PM in your tea. Fine,” he says, taking away the mug, “if that’s how you think of me-“
“-wait, wait,” Yixing says hastily, taking the mug from him, “who said that I didn’t want the tea? I would be happy if the tea has poison in it, actually; then I’d be put out of my misery and I won’t have to study for finals.”
Baekhyun gives Yixing’s shoulder a quick squeeze and walks back towards his own desk. (And Yixing is definitely not staring at Baekhyun’s butt as he walks, thankyouverymuch.) “I’m telling you, study what you love and you won’t have to work hard a day in your life,” he says. “You’re going to graduate and then you’re going to go to med school and then you’re going to become a doctor and you’re going to be miserable your whole life and you’re going to be like, ‘oh why didn’t I listen to my good old roommate Byun Baekhyun. He was so wise.’ Next semester is going to be like this too, and then next one, and the one after that, and I’m not going to be here to tell you to stop studying what you hate and stop suppressing who you are just to satisfy other people-“
“What do you mean,” Yixing blurts out, interrupting Baekhyun’s little rant.
“What do I mean by what? The part where I’m telling you’d be a miserable old fool your entire life or the part where Byun Baekhyun is so wise?”
“No, the part where you said, ‘I’m not going to be here,’” Yixing says. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I mean,” Baekhyun shifts his weight in his chair. “The semester is ending.”
They stare at each for a moment. Yixing had forgotten all about what the end of the semester brings. “You’re rooming with me next semester,” Yixing says. There’s no question mark at the end; Yixing says it like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “I mean,” he quickly corrects himself, “only if you want to.”
Baekhyun stares at him like he’s speaking an alien language. “…You want me to room with you?”
Yixing fidgets in his chair. “I mean... yeah,” Yixing answers, not looking Baekhyun in the eye, “but only if you want to.”
Baekhyun leaps off his chair and grabs both of Yixing’s hands. Yixing grins, standing up, and Baekhyun begins jumping up and down excitedly. “Of course!” he yells. “Of course I want to room with you next semester! We’re going to room together forever and ever-“
“How else am I going to be eighty years old and still be able to nag you about that one time you drugged me,” Yixing laughs.
But Yixing’s laughter dies off. Maybe it’s because of the stress of finals week. Maybe it’s because of the pressure from his parents at home in China, expecting news of his successes to continue to come in from Seoul. Maybe it’s because once Baekhyun stopped jumping up and down out of excitement, they’re standing face-to-face and Baekhyun hasn’t let go of his hands and - wait - is Baekhyun pulling him in-
Baekhyun breathes out, Yixing breathes in.
“Hey,” Baekhyun whispers. “There’s something about me that I haven’t told you.”
“You sure about that? You’ve told me everything from what age you lost your first baby tooth to that one time you lost a bet and had to run three laps around your high school in just your underwear.”
“Did I really?” Baekhyun grins. “Yeah, well… Pretty sure I haven’t told you that I love you.”
“I had my hunches,” Yixing says simply, his lips curving into a dimpled grin. “I do, too.”
“I know,” Baekhyun leans in. “Otherwise, I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have agreed to room again with me next semester. And don’t think I didn’t notice you staring at my cute little butt several times.”
“Did not. And, you know,” Yixing whispers, “I’ve noticed you like to invade my personal space. First my dorm room, then my personal history, then the physical space between us, and now-“
“-and now, well, there’s naturally only one thing left for me to invade,” Baekhyun cockily smiles.
Naturally. Yes, Yixing thinks as he closes the gap between their lips; it’s one hundred percent totally and completely natural for them to breathe the same air, for Yixing to leave butterfly kisses at Baekhyun’s nape, for Baekhyun to blow air at Yixing’s ear, for him to sling his arms around Yixing... in short, for Baekhyun to be Baekhyun around Yixing and for Yixing to be Yixing around Baekhyun.
--
Maybe it’s because it’s Byun Baekhyun.
--
Baekhyun is the first one who spots Yixing approaching their little group lounging about on the campus green. Like an overexcited puppy, Baekhyun scrambles to his feet and runs towards him.
“Did you do it?” Baekhyun practically pounces on him.
Yixing shows him his empty hands, grinning. “Yup, handed the form in this morning.”
Baekhyun whoops and slings his arm around Yixing’s neck, forcing the taller boy to bend down. “Xingxing-ah, I’m really proud of you,” Baekhyun beams.
“Did you do what?” Chanyeol asks as Baekhyun and Yixing approach. Luhan gives a little wave hello.
“He switched majors!” Baekhyun shouts, plopping down on the grass next to Luhan and bringing Yixing down with him. “Say hello to the newest music major!”
Congratulations are given all around: How come you never listened to me when I said pre-med wasn’t for you, but now you listen to Baekhyun? Luhan complains, while Chanyeol whoops We can take composition theory together next semester!
“Only one thing left to do now,” Yixing says, fishing his cell phone out of his pocket. Baekhyun moves to lay his head in Yixing’s lap, smiling up at him as Yixing dials home.
“Mom? Yeah, it’s Yixing. I need to tell you something,” Yixing says into the phone as Baekhyun’s hand finds his free hand. “I’ve decided medicine wasn’t for me. I’m a music major now.”
Baekhyun’s eyes are trained on his face. In the background, Chanyeol beatboxes and Luhan complains loudly that he won’t shut up.
“Why did I decide now to switch? Well, you see, I have this friend,” Yixing says, freeing his hand from Baekhyun’s to brush the hair out of his eyes, “who’s actually more than just a friend.”
Baekhyun grins, getting up by pushing off the ground with his elbows. “Hey, Mrs. Zhang!” Baekhyun shouts into the phone, before pecking Yixing squarely on the lips.
(“PDA!” Luhan screams, disgusted.)
Yixing laughs. He thinks he can get used to this invasion of personal space, if it’s Byun Baekhyun.
--