#exo baek

“I know I know, Its a bad habit really. I just can never focus, I have no self discipline, I need help.” Sofia sighs pouting, resting her head on her hand.

“You know you could’ve asked me sooner! Id love to help you study, this is your education we’re talking about Sofia. This is college not high school anymore. We can’t get away with just a barely passing grade. You can ask me for tutoring anytime.” You smile watching her turn her gaze to you, a smile forming on her face.

“God you sound like my dad, I bet if you both met you’d be best friends.” She scowls hitting your arm lightly.

You raise a brow at her, “Isn’t it crazy I’ve never met your dad before? After how many years of being friends?”

“Wow you’re right, it’s never crossed my mind to introduce you two. He’s always been out or busy with work when you would come over. I mean he’ll be home this evening now that he’s working from home. We could have study date and watch Netflix afterwards.” Sofia latches onto your arm making kissy faces at you teasingly.

“Sounds like a date then.” You roll your eyes at her childishness. “I need to pick up my textbooks and shower before then.”

“That’ll be fine, i'll have time to clean up my messy room, you’ll never catch me lacking.” Sofia says pointing a finger at you.

You push her finger back to her personal bubble, “Alright mr. clean, i’ll see you later.”

“See ya Y/n.” She smiles giving you a half hug.

You pack your textbooks in your backpack, you were curious to what Sofia’s father would be like. You rubbed lotion on your legs and arms, freshly out of the shower. You desperately needed it after being in the cold, drying your skin. You threw on a pair of comfy shorts and a long sleeved shirt. You didn’t want to get too hot inside incase the heat was on. After slipping on your shoes and locking your front door you text Sofia you’re on the way home.

“Drive safe, xo” She replied.

You rolled your eyes at how she always cared for you and treated you like her girlfriend. Your close friendship made a lot of people on campus believe you two were girlfriends, It made you and Sofia laugh so hard your stomachs hurt. Good times.

You soon pulled into Sofia’s driveway to see her car and a black Audi parked beside each other. You raised your eyebrow, you knew Sofia’s dad was wealthy but you didn’t expect him to drive such a nice car. You exited your car carrying your backpack to the door, ringing the doorbell once. The door opened after a few seconds revealing the most handsome man you’ve ever laid eyes upon. Your brain went blank as he spoke. “Hello, you must be Y/n?” He smiles at you greeting you friendly.

You could only nod, unprepared to speak.

“Welcome in, Sofia is in the shower. She mentioned something about cleaning her room before you got here.” The man says as he allows you inside his hand on the small of your back guiding you to the living room. You stiffly walked dumbfounded, Sofia was always one to do things at the last moment, this is the worst time she could’ve chosen to do so.

“So Y/n, Sofia told me you were offering to help her study?” Sofia’s dad asks standing in the doorway between the kitchen and living room. He walked toward the kitchen to the sink filling a cup of water.

“Y-Yes” You clear your throat before continuing. “She confessed she never studied for her midterms, I don’t want her to fail her classes it’s too important.” You say all in one breath you feel like you need to take the biggest gulp of air.

“Yes, she always puts things off till the last possible moment.” He says bringing the glasses into the living room, sitting them down on the table in front of the couches. “Here’s a drink, come sit. Sofia will probably be a moment, knowing she runs on a schedule of her own.” The man rolls his eyes at his daughters thought process.

You nervously make your way to the couch, sitting across from him, you put your bag next to you, it sinking into the couch from its weight.

“God, what do you have in there, bricks?” He gestures to your backpack.

You look between him and your bag before you speak “Oh, I brought my books along with a few drinks. I didn’t want to make studying boring…” You trailed off, not wanting to hear how more stupid you would sound.

“Drinks? Well let me see then.” He has an amused look on his face.

Your eyes widened a bit, you didn’t ask really if you could drink in his house, so disrespectful of you. “Im so sorry, is it okay to drink here, Mr…” You didn’t know his name, you would feel awkward calling him Sofia’s dad. “Byun.”

“Mr.Byun.”

“Yes.”

“Huh?”

“You asked me a question, my answer is yes.” Mr. Byun has an even more amused expression covering his face, an eyebrow raised in your direction. “Have you been drinking already dear?”

You’re so embarrassed, your first impression in front of Sofia’s dad is going to shit. You’re to nervous to speak correctly or even keep up with the conversation.

“N-no! It’s only wine I-“

“Y/n, it’s okay, I was only joking.” He laughs taking a sip of his drink before standing up. He walks over standing in front of you, pulling the drink out of your backpack. He reads over the bottle before looking to you, “Not a bad choice.”

“Y/n!” You hear Sofia’s voice and you turn your head to find her in her pajamas. She see your cheeks are red and runs over to you placing her hand on your forehead. “Are you getting too hot? Do I need to turn the air on for you? You’re wearing a long sleeve maybe that’s why.”

“Is it too hot in here?” Mr. Byun asks, and eyebrow raised at you. His voice was low.

“Y/n get’s warm easily, she hates wearing coats, even when it's freezing she will refuse.” Sofia huffs, taking your hand and pulling you with her. “Come, i'll lend you a shirt.”

Sofia gives you one of her night shirts, it almost covers your shorts you feel more comfortable away from whatever scene that was in the living room. You wanted to disappear instantly in front of her father.

“Feel better?” Sofia smiles.

You nod.

“Alright, let’s get this shit over with I despise studying.” She groans pulling out her textbooks and highlighters.

“Let’s begin, it’s probably going to be a long night.”

“Ugh.. I need a break.” Sofia whines for the tenth time. “No Sofia, self discipline remember?” You scold her tapping your highlighter on her book. “We aren’t even studying the hard subjects, this is the more simple material.” You try to encourage her.

She whines again, “Fine.. But we need a snack break at least.” She tries to convince you. You’re also getting hungry so you agree.

“But after that right back to studying.” You point at her.

“Yeah yeah, mama’s hungry.” She brushes you off before making her way to the kitchen. You follow her reluctantly.

The kitchen was lit up by the light from the t.v in the living room. Baekhyun was watching some sort of show, you’d never seen it before.

Sofia looked through the freezer grabbing a popsicle, “Want one?” You nod, it could cool you off even more. You become excited when Sofia hands you an orange popsicle.

You open the wrapper and begin to taste it, “Hmm, it has cream in the middle too?” You ask, and Sofia nods. These were the best, especially the middle.

Sofia wonders into the living room staring at the t.v as well. “Is this the show we’re supposed to be watching together?” She gasps, hitting her dad’s shoulder.

“Yes, I didn’t feel like waiting Im so hooked I need to know what happens.” He says turning around to face Sofia.

Sofia pouts, “Well Im not going to let you watch it without me.” She says plopping on to the couch. “Come over here Y/n.” She pats the seat between her and her father. You mentally screamed at Sofia wanting to rip her throat out. This was supposed to be you both studying not watching a t.v show with her fine dad.

“You can sit between us.” Mr. Byun smiled, scooting over to give you more space.

You sat down sinking into the couch, wanting it to swallow you from this scene. “Oh are those good?” You hear Mr.Byun ask, referring to the popsicle you were eating.

“Yeah, the middle is the best part though.” You say before eating some of it again, it really was the best flavor combo in a popsicle.

“Oh really.” Was all he replied before putting his focus on the t.v.

The show was actually very interesting, it was a horror slash thriller show on Netflix. You were kind of hooked to the screen, forgetting all about studying. There was a stinging feeling on the side of your head as if you were being stared at. You didn’t want to look to find Mr. Byun looking at you. But you quickly glanced anyways, seeing his head resting on his hand, staring up at the t.v. He turned his head to catch you looking. He flashed a small smile, his dark hair pushed back out of his face. He was unbelievably good looking, so good looking you didn’t want to be perceived by such a man. You were too into the screen to notice his knee touching yours when he shifted in his seat. Your face became warm, you hated being suffocating in thick fabric but right now all you wanted to be was covered. You were too scared of being rude and moving your leg so you sat still as a statue the rest of the show.

“Wow. That episode was such dog shit.” Sofia said, standing up and stretching, “Im going to the bathroom, i’ll be right back.”

You died once more. Why does she keep putting you in these awkward situations.

“I can practically hear your heart beating, Y/n.” Mr. Byun comments, looking over at your frozen form. He could see the goosebumps on your skin. He noticed your nervousness ever since you’d stepped into the house. He found it very entertaining.

“I-i-“ You mentally facepalmed.

“You don’t have to be nervous around me, I’m just Sofia’s dad I’m not interviewing you for a corporate job or something.” He laughs, placing a hand on your leg. “What’s got you so nervous?”

You definitely couldn’t tell him it was because he looked like a dilf. You opted to lie. “Im not sure, maybe it’s just the weather.” You cough. Ignoring his hand on your knee.

“Hmm, the weather affects you this much?” He asks, watching your eyes dart around the room and not at him.

“Yes.” You answer.

“Are you cold?”

“Yes.” You lie.

“Here.” He slips off his cardigan and places it over your legs. “You must be freezing, with goosebumps on your legs.” He smiles.

Your cheeks redden at the gesture. When was Sofia coming back?

“So what it is that you study Y/n?” Mr. Byun leans forward resting his head on his hand.

“I uh-Im an Art major.” You answer trying to find confidence in this conversation, being this much of a wreck was going to make you look stupid.

“Oh really? That must be hard but a lot of fun at the same time. I took at least one art class in college. My teacher didn’t think I would make anything of it because I, to put it bluntly, sucked. I would have to sell my body before I could sell my art.”

His comment made you double over laughing, your hand covering your mouth. “Im so sorry, that’s such a mean thing to say.”

“She was right though, I ended up becoming an engineer major. She knew I wasn't going far in that class.” He joked some more, laughing himself.

“Art is for your own interpretation, there is not one right way to create it.” You say, playing with the loos thread on the cardigan. “It’s not right to tell someone they ‘won’t make something out of it’.”

Mr. Byun looks at you for a moment, you’re finally looking at him. He smiles, “See.” He says “I told you, you had nothing to be nervous about. We’re having a perfectly normal conversation.” He squeezes you knee, before letting it go.

A small smile finds its way on your lips and you blush, preying he can’t see it.

“Ugh. Im too tired to study, we should just have a sleep over and study tomorrow.” Sofia whines, walking back into the living room. “How about it?”

You look at her and she’s using those pleading eyes, that are so scarily similar to her father’s. Now that you’ve met him.

“Fine, I guess.” You roll your eyes, her childishness never ceases to amaze you.

Sofia let you use their guest room, which had a t.v you hated sleeping without any noise. You soon fell asleep after your head hit the pillow, the light from the t.v lighting the room lowly.

You woke up with a dry throat, needing water. You sat up from the bed before making your way to the kitchen. You dragged yourself to the cupboard to find a glass. The only glass of course was on a shelf too high for you to reach. You sighed and reached for it, barely grazing it. A hand reached up and grabbed the glass, causing you to gasp scared to turn around.

“You’re up late.”

Of course it was him. You slowly turned to face Mr. Byun, his hair messy from sleep and his eyes squinting from waking up. His gray t-shirt hanging from his shoulders along with his black sweatpants, he looked like an ordinary man. He looked absolutely delicious.

“Yeah I got thirsty..” You explain looking from him to the glass in his hand.

“I actually came for the same reason. My throat felt dry.” He laughed lowly, you felt it in your stomach. “Sorry the shelves were built high.” He apologizes, his voice deep from sleep. He grabs another glass and fills them both with water before handing you a glass.

“Thanks.” You mumble, taking a sip. It felt nice going down your dry throat.

“I thought you got warm fast?” Mr. Byun gestures to his cardigan you accidentally took to the guest room and actually was wearing. “It must be cold.”

You forgotten where it came from, “I didn’t actually mean to keep it i'm sorry.” You begin to take off the sweater before he stops you.

“It’s okay, you can wear it. Don’t catch a cold.” He smiles, pulling the cardigan back onto your shoulder.

You thank him again, trying to finish your water asap so you didn’t have to be in front of this gorgeous man.

“You’ll choke drinking that fast.” Mr. Byun raises an eyebrow at you.

“Sorry, really thirsty.” You try to play it off, forcing a laugh.

“Y/n.”

“Yes sir?”

Mr. Byun furrowed his brows at you, taken a back by your choice of words. “Y-you don’t have to answer like that.”

“Oh, okay.” You’re oblivious to the affect you have on him.

“Why are you always nervous?” He asks once again. “Your body language is always off. It’s strange, I just want to know what’s bothering you.”

“Im not sure I can answer that question.” You whispered to yourself. But he heard you.

“Why wouldn’t I? I mean we’re all familiar with each other at least.” He smiles down at you, your heart skips a beat almost putting you out.

“I genuinely don’t think it is a good idea to tell you.” You say timidly, “It’s inappropriate.”

“I understand.” Mr. Byun sighs, “Whenever you’re comfortable you can tell me.” His smile appears again. “Well, sweet dreams again Y/n.”

“Goodnight.”

Sofia noticed your weird behavior the next day, you were distracted while studying. She would ask you a question and you would stare blankly at your textbook unresponsive.

“Y/n.” Sofia snapped her fingers in your face.

You jolted, looking toward her direction. “I'm sorry.”

“This is the fifth time, what is up with you?” Sofia sounded genuinely concerned she’s never seen you like this before. “You keep zoning out, staring at your books. Is there something wrong, do you need to talk?”

You thought about it for a second before shaking your head. “No I’m good, just a little tired I guess. I didn’t sleep that well.” You tried even convincing yourself.

“Hm, okay but if you’re too tired to study we can quit for now and go watch a show in the living room with my dad.” She offered.

“No!” You blurted out too fast, “I mean no I’m good, we really need to study midterms are in two weeks. Don’t you want to pass these?” You tried to save yourself.

“You’re right, I’m just so bored of reading ughh.” Sofia groaned before leaning back on her hands. You inspected her face, it was so crazy how she took after her father.

“You’ll be fine, we’re almost done-“

“Really!”

“With this chapter.” You glared at her as she groaned once more. “Sofia this is the work you put in for college.”

“Fine fine, okay.”

You both read through your highlighted textbooks taking notes in your notebooks. Sofia would asks questions about a certain subject and you would try to answer to the best of your abilities. After about two hours, Sofia ended up drifting off to sleep, drooling on her books. You shook your head before standing up and putting away both of your studying materials. You scrolled through your phone, feeling sleeping as well, trying to fight the tiredness. You also ended up closing your eyes and succumbing to sleep.

“Hey, Y/n.” You felt a hand gently shake your shoulder, and a voice calling out to you. You opened your eyes, looking up to see Mr. Byun. He put his finger over his lips as if to tell you keep quiet. “Follow me.”

You furrowed your brows, he offered you a hand helping you stand up before leading you outside Sofia’s room. “Is everything alright?” You ask once outside the room. “Did anything happen-“ You’re cut off by Mr. Byun coming closer to you.

“You don’t have to play coy with me Y/n.”

“Excuse me?” You’re taken back as to what he is referring to. “Im confused.”

“I know how you see me. Why you’re nervous around me. I don’t want you to feel that way, so I thought maybe addressing it this way would make you less nervous.” Mr. Byun looks you in your eyes with his hands in his pockets.

“I-I how did you know?” Was all you could muster, your face grew red and your words stuttering.

“I could sense the tension between us grow whenever we were alone. You know when people get nervous in front of their crush and they start acting exactly how you are right now?” He’s smiling. Smiling..

“Im sorry, I understand it’s inappropriate-“

“You don’t have to apologize Y/n. Those type of feelings are normal..” He steps closer before hovering by your ear, “I never said your feelings weren’t reciprocated.”

You felt goosebumps cover your arms and chills shoot up your back. “W-what?” Your eyes staring directly in his, scared of his reply.

“Y/n how blunt do you want me to be.” He laughs, he takes your chin between his fingers, tilting your head up to face him clearly. “I like you too.”

Your eyes are wide and you’re afraid you’re shaking with how overwhelmed you feel right now. “I feel like i’m going to pass out-“ You manage to say before you almost fall to the ground fainting.

You gained consciousness waking up to see Mr. Byun and Sofia sitting on the edge of the bed you were in. “Y/n!” Sofia exclaims.

“You’re awake.” You hear Mr. Byun say.

“You passed out earlier are you okay?” Sofia holds your hand poking out her bottom lip at you.

You almost forget you know how to speak, “I'm fine, i'm fine.” You assure her.

“You must have been tired and hungry, so you just fainted.” She says rubbing her hand over your forehead. “We should have lunch now.” She says looking toward her dad.

Mr. Byun nods, “What would you girls like?” “Let’s order pizza.” Sofia pleads, if you never knew a foodie before you do now. “I’ve been craving it all week.”

“That’s fine with me, Y/n are you okay?” Mr. Byun asks, smiling down at you.

You nod, unable to make eye contact with him without turning red.

“Alright, I’ll go make a call.” He says before exiting the room.

Sofia’s scrolling through her phone before she groans, “Ugh I need to run to the school in a bit. I need to pick up some of my books I left.”

You sit up, rubbing your head feeling a headache coming on from being hungry. “You’re always forgetful.”

“Yeah yeah, I know… Later we need to finish that show we were watching last night. I really want to end it so I can start something else.” She shuts off her phone before standing up, offering you a hand. You take it, following her downstairs to the living room. Mr.Byun was on the phone in the kitchen, his hand on his hip with his backside toward you.

“Dad, I have to go pick up my books from class. I’ll be back in 15 minutes tops.” Sofia says as you plop down on the couch in the living room, gluing your eyes to the screen.

“While you’re at it you could swing by the pizza place and pick it up for us hm?” He says walking back into the living room.

“Sure thing.” Sofia says slipping on her shoes and grabbing her keys from the table by the door. “Be back in 30 then.” She jokes, before closing the door behind her.

“Are you okay?” You hear Mr. Byun say, the tone in his voice was concerned.

“Yeah I’m fine, Mr. By-“

“Baekhyun.”

“Huh?”

“Just call me Baekhyun, calling me by my last name while we’re alone is too formal.” He says, standing behind the couch you were sitting in.

“Oh okay, Baekhyun.” You test his name on your tongue. Even his name is handsome, fitting for such a man.

“Listen… About earlier, I didn’t mean to overwhelm you. You could have seriously hurt your head if you would have fallen.” Baekhyun sounds sad to you, it makes you turn around to see him standing behind you.

“It’s okay..” You say shyly thinking about how Baekhyun confessed to you in the hallway outside of his own daughters room. Such a weird thing to think about, if you and Baekhyun actually dated you would be Sofia’s step mom. You wanted to spit out laughing. You? A mom? No way. Let alone dating your friends dad.

“I kind of enjoyed it.” Baekhyun says “Holding you in my arms.”

You can feel your cheeks begin to heat up. “I can’t tell if I’m dreaming.” You whisper to yourself, turning around to pinch your arm. It doesn’t work so you pinch your thigh. You’re still here in Baekhyun’s house.

“What are you doing Y/n?” Baekhyun leans over you, looking down.

“It’s so hard to speak to you.” You confess, “You make me too nervous to even keep up a conversation worth anything.”

Baekhyun is surprised, this is the most you’ve spoken since you came into his house. “I think you’re doing a great job right now.” He rests a hand on your shoulder before he begins to play with your hair.

You feel chills run down your back at his touch. You’ve never been with a man before, never had a boyfriend, only flings with some college guys. Being touched like this is something foreign to you. The feeling of Baekhyun’s hands playing with your hair soothe you enough to calm your nerves. Your body lessens its tense state and you feel more comfortable, not seeing Baekhyun’s handsome face in front of you.

“Feel better?” Baekhyun asks, his voice quiet enough not to scare you. He wants to see you open up to him, and he’s okay with waiting.

You nod, in the silence between you two, your stomach growls. You mentally facepalm, you were so hungry.

“Aww that was cute.” Baekhyun laughs, “Come here you need to eat a snack or something till Sofia comes back.” He leads you to the kitchen, opening their pantry. “Hmm…we have cheez its? I could make you a bowl of granola and yogurt. It’s simple enough for your empty stomach.” He looks back at you over his shoulder.

You nod, not caring what you ate, you just wanted food. Baekhyun smiles before searching for a bowl, emptying a cup of yogurt into the bowl before pouring granola over the top, he stuck a spoon in the bowl and offered it to you. You take it, and scoop a spoonful into your mouth. Your stomach growls again and you frown at it embarrassing you again.

“How are you so cute.” Baekhyun’s leaning on the counter, leaning his chin on his hand.

You chew slowly, just staring at him. What should you even say? You’re always at loss for a response when it comes to him. “Thanks for feeding me.” You sit on the stool at the island, enjoying the snack.

Baekhyun watches you eat, until you finish, a smile on his face. He doesn’t know why he’s even smiling, maybe its the fact he’s feeding you and you’re enjoying it. The intimacy of making something for someone interested Baekhyun.

“You’re welcome.” Baekhyun says taking your dishes and washing them in the sink.

“You don’t think it’s weird?” You ask Baekhyun, who’s back is to you.

“What’s weird?”

“That we like each other.”

Baekhyun lets a smile spread across his lips again. “Yes, very. You’re a bit younger than me, but also my daughters friend. I would be delusional to think this wasn’t strange.” He laughs, setting the dishes on a rack to dry. He takes a cloth to dry his hands, turning around to face you again.

“What do you like about me?” You rest your head on your hand, interested in his response.

Baekhyun walks closer, staring into your eyes curiously. “You have such a beautiful voice. You barely let me hear it but it is soothing. Your eyes are sweet and look very full of life. I liked the combination I guess.” He says, smiling when he sees your eyes struggle to keep eye contact.

“That was sweet of you.” You clear your throat, Baekhyun was so close you could feel his body heat radiate off of him. “I thought you were very handsome… then finding out you were also funny.”

Baekhyun chuckles, “You’re very kind, thank you.” He quiets for a second, looking down at your hands in your lap. He shakes his head again, before giving you space and walking off into the living room. His head is filled with the sound of your voice saying his name. How could this be when you two have only known each other for less than 24 hours. He was absolutely crazy about getting to know you and see the real you. Not the you that was too afraid of him to speak.

You watch as Baekhyun walks off, watching his backside. His broad shoulders were defined by his thin gray t-shirt. He was such an attractive man. You couldn’t wrap your head around how attractive he was. The way he walks, his speech and wording, the smiles he shows you, his voice. His voice was heavenly, the perfect tone.

“There must be something on your mind?” You ask, spinning around on the stool to watch him, your eyes scanning his back.

“Hm, you could say that.” Baekhyun teases.

“You’re pacing the living room, you must be thinking about something.”

“If I tell you what do I get in return for such secrete information?” He stops walking, his hands slide into his pockets.

You furrow your brows, secrete? Would he tell you something personal? “I…i’ll give you a kiss.” You say quietly.

Baekhyun heard you though, he turns around, seeing your figure sitting uncomfortably on the island stool. “Come here.” He beckons you with a slender finger.

You slide off the stool, your feet landing on the ground. You walk towards Baekhyun, stopping a foot away from him, unsure. “Yes?”

“You want to know what Im thinking about?” He looks down at you.

You nod slowly.

Baekhyun comes close, leaning down beside your ear. “You.”

--

“I love you.”

He says it in the way he tip-toes into the room at 10 p.m. after he puts the kids to sleep, letting you go to bed early after washing the dishes. He says it when he crawls into bed and pulls the blankets over your shoulders even though he knows you’re going to pull them off of him in the middle of the night. He says it when he watches you breathe, touches your cheek, kisses your forehead. His arms wrap around you for just a few seconds because he knows you can’t stand being held for too long while you sleep. This is how he loves you.

He rolls away onto his back after a few minutes and his soft snores follow soon after. Your eyes peek open to see him and you sit up, moving closer. Even like this, him asleep and laying on his back with his head faced away, you feel so whole. You mimic his action from before and pull the covers up over him, but it doesn’t feel like enough. It never does. Unlike him, it was always so hard for you to show the small ways you loved him. He had a way of filling your heart up with the simplest actions. Making you breakfast even when he was late for work, holding you while you cried, which was often. He tied your shoes when you didn’t even notice they had come loose. He loved everyone. Brought his sunshine smile everywhere he went. Made you laugh more than you ever thought was possible. He made you a mom to the most beautiful children on the earth. Every day, he did something to make you smile. Every day.

When you were five, your mom died. You weren’t even fully able to grasp what that meant then, but you knew she was gone. An absence in your life that would never be filled again. Soon after, your dad left. He was never a loving person to you, never really showed much interest even before your mom died, but still. He was your dad, and he was gone. Your grandma raised you alone. She wasn’t a tender and loving person, but still. She was all you had. She died when you were fifteen. You didn’t cry, but you felt her loss in the same way you felt your mothers. You moved in with your aunt after that. She never wanted you, but she felt obligated as your mother’s sister to at least let you stay through high school, which you did. During your senior year, you applied for every scholarship to get into college just so you could get away, studied harder than anyone. Took every part time job you could manage. Did anything to make ends meet. Four years later, you had a job at an accounting firm in Seoul as a secretary. You had an apartment to yourself, lived comfortably alone. It was enough.

You met Baekhyun at a movie theater. It was the last showing of some stupid cartoon that had terrible ratings.

“What movie has the least amount of people in it?” You asked and the employee looked at you curiously before checking. You can’t even remember the name of it, but you bought a ticket, a box of candy, and a large sprite. The theater was nearly vacant, exactly what you wanted, minus one person sitting in the back corner. You didn’t mean to intrude on their space, but the back row was your favorite spot. So, you sat as far away as you could and put your feet up on the seat in front of you while the  previews came on. It wasn’t long before your shoulders felt heavier, your eyes drooping.

It felt like the next day by the time your eyes opened again, the sound of someone clearing their throat jolting you awake. All of the lights in the theater were on now. Your candy and sprite sat completely untouched beside you.

“Excuse me?”

Your head snapped up at the voice and you pulled your legs off of the seat in front of you so fast that one of your shoes came off. The person beside you chuckled and climbed over the seat below you, grabbing your shoe.

“You okay?” He asked. You looked at him and he was wearing a mask, brown hair poking out from under the hood of his sweatshirt, falling into his eyes some. You nodded your head, holding your hand out for your shoe.

“You slept through the entire movie.” He said with a chuckle and you stared at him, unsure of why he would care.

“I don’t come to watch; I just like the sound.” You said, still waiting for him to hand your shoe back.

“The sound?” He questioned, and you nodded.

“Yeah. Like, the vibrations when it’s loud. I like the sound of it.”

He took that in for a second, humming and looking around before his eyes settled back on you.

“Interesting. You didn’t eat your candy.” He pointed out and you looked down at the unopened box beside you.

“I know. I just got off of work, so I was tired.” You said before looking back at him. “What about you? You seem to have paid a lot of attention to me during the movie, did you even watch?”

You could see the smile in his eyes, even with the mask on, and it made your heart jump.

“I didn’t come to watch either. I just like to be alone and I heard this movie was awful and it came out weeks ago, so I knew no one would be here.”

You were both quiet for a minute, just staring at each other. It scared you how comfortable you felt in that silence.

“Can I have my shoe back?” You asked and his eyes smiled again before handing it to you. You smiled to yourself as you stood up, gathering your things. He didn’t move. Just watched you. You pulled your bag over your shoulder and looked at him while you adjusted your shoe back on your foot.

“What?” You asked and he shook his head. Those eyes were going to be bad for you. You could feel it in the way your stomach kept flipping, over and over when you saw them.

“What’s your name?” He asked and you answered quickly, waiting for his in return.

“I’m Baekhyun.” He said. More silence. It was cute how awkward he seemed, like he didn’t know how to talk to a girl when he had nothing to worry about with you. A girl who never even spoke to a guy before.

He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck before looking away. “Um, so. I come here every Tuesday.”

He said it so innocently that you softened for a second. Somehow, it was the nicest thing you’d ever heard even if he didn’t directly state what he meant by it. It brought the biggest smile to your cheeks and you nodded.

“Tuesday.” You repeated and he shook his head ‘yes’. You nodded in response before walking out.

You came back every Tuesday. At first, you both sat the same distance apart. Sometimes you slept, sometimes the movie ended up being funny, so you laughed. Sometimes you cried. The first time you did, Baekhyun moved to the seat beside you and handed you a napkin. You laughed because it was so embarrassing, but he said it was fine. Once that barrier was broken, he never sat anywhere but right beside you. Not much later, you started seeing him outside of the movies, texting and calling each other, talking about your lives. It was so hard to let him in the way you did, but Baekhyun did everything in his power to know the darkest parts of your heart, and you didn’t know how to make him stop (you didn’t really want him to).

Eventually, things changed from silent movie dates, to movie dates where you held hands. After that, he would walk you to your car, give you a hug. When he kissed you for the first time, you ran away because it brought tears to your eyes. It shocked you how tender and gentle he was. No one ever touched you like that before. He just smiled and watched you go. When you opened your phone that night before bed, scared and certain he would want nothing to do with you anymore, you cried again.

Baekhyun [ 22:37 ]:

You look so pretty in blue. And when you

smile. And when you cry. And when you run.

I hope you don’t run forever.

No one ever wanted you before, but the thought that Baekhyun wanted you filled that void in your life so quickly that it scared you. He was the most perfect person you had ever known. You grew up thinking you never deserved that kind of love, but he gave it to you despite that. And he never let you run again.

Now you’re staring down at him. Your husband, the father of your kids, your best friend, your favorite person in the whole world. You can’t help but cry. You don’t deserve him. You never will.

You sniffle too loud and he wakes up, eyes heavy, turning to face you.

“What’s wrong?” He asks, wrapping his fingers around your wrist. You shake your head and cry harder, not sure how to say all of the things you want to. ‘Thank you’, ‘Thank you for being there for me and the kids’, ‘Thank you for working so hard to keep everyone happy’, ‘Thank you for being my best friend’, ‘Thank you for loving me’.

“Babe,” he says sitting up now and pulling you onto his lap, pressing your head into his chest. “Why are you crying?”

His hand grips the back of your neck, holding you close, while his free hand rests on your lower back. He rubs gentle circles there, breathes love into your soul like it’s the only thing he knows how to do. It’s so easy for him to make you feel calm and you wonder if you’ve ever made him feel that way. If he feels the most at home in your arms, the way you do in his.

“Whatever it is, it’s okay. Don’t cry.” He mumbles into your shoulder and it only makes you cry harder. You grip him tightly and pray to a God you’re not even sure exists that he won’t ever take him away from you. No matter what it takes, you never want to live in a world without him.

All of those feelings sit inside your heart, beg for a way out, beg for a way to communicate to him the way you feel, but you just sit there silently. He grips your shoulders, pulling away from you a little to see your face. He wipes the tears from your eyes, kissing you lightly. His lips on yours ignite the same fire in your stomach they always have, even when they’re only there for a second. He doesn’t ask for more, just looks at you, caressing your cheeks with his thumbs, brushing away your tears.

“I love you.” You say. And it’s in the way his eyes smile before his lips do that you know. He can hear your love in the same way you hear his.

He hears it in your eyes when you tear up while he sings the kids to sleep. He hears it when you make him take his vitamins before he leaves for work. He hears it when you play with his hair on the couch while you watch a movie. He hears it when you lay out his pajamas before he gets home and they always seem to match yours. He hears it just like you.

“I know.” He says and you pout your lip a little, tears filling your eyes again. He kisses you just like he did all of those years ago outside of the movie theater and it continues to amaze you that someone could touch you so gently. He lays you back down and you let him keep his arms around you now, because even though you hate being held while you sleep, it’s okay because it’s Baekhyun. And you want him to hold you forever.

--