send a symbol, get a headcanon. —— ( ϡ for a sleep headcanon ) —— ( ✿ for a happy memory )
it’s been two days since the night sora introduced chanyeol to byun baekhyun and park sooyoung, and things are still kind of sort of awkward. of course, he remembers baekhyun when he had ordered a banana milk of all things at his pub (“what am i supposed to tell him?” the bartender, recently hired, asked, panicked. “that we don’t have it? that we’ll find one? he’s glaring at me, i swear to god.” [said bartender quit two days later]), but that doesn’t make conversations any easier. then there’s sooyoung—joy—who he met on the road what feels like eons ago, but she’s changed so much it’s like she’s not even the same person (which is of course a good thing. but. still).
they’re over at the barley mow, now closed, and knocking back drinks like no tomorrow. chanyeol mixes drinks, sneaking in sips of tequila now and then whenever possible, and it’s going well. he thinks. baekhyun is talking non-stop, not even noticing that no one is listening to him; joy is leaning heavily against sora’s side, staring at the green tips of her hair and laughing; sora is slowly getting there, hand movements getting slower, eyelids drooping more and more.
he decides it’s time to get some sleep when most of the alcohol he’s trying to put in a shot glass ends up outside it instead. there’s a moment where baekhyun takes out his phone, where joy looks around for her purse, and chanyeol rolls his eyes, sighing. sora, meanwhile, just leans back in her seat. they’ve done this many times before, after all.
"you can just sleep over, you guys," he informs the two.
baekhyun blinks. “huh. what. no, man, it’s okay—i can just call…the…uh…”
"taxi! yeah! that guy. how do you know him, sora? well, whatever. anyway, he’s super reliable." he squints down at his phone. "as soon as these numbers stop moving, honestly.”
joy says something too, but she’s so quiet and slurring there’s no way of deciphering her. chanyeol decides not to try and just tells them, “no, it’s cool. you can stay over. it’ll be too much work anyway, and sora’s staying over. the more, the merrier.”
"merrier’s good," joy comments, smiling up at chanyeol. "i like that, actually. merrier. that would make a great name for my gardenias. or maybe i should name them chanyeol. or sora. or baekhyun. or, like, a combination of all four!”
"but where would we sleep? i’m not sleeping on the floor.” baekhyun casts a disgusted look at the shoe marks and liquor and other gunk that the floor is covered in. chanyeol makes a mental note to hire someone to do the cleaning, except he’ll probably forget by morning time.
"shut it, byun. chanyeol’s talking about his place upstairs," sora says, or means to, but it comes out as more of a shout. joy slaps her hands over her ears, the closest to her, and leans away, whining. "oh, sorry, joy! unnie loves you!" and then she falling onto her, arms winding around joy like a vine. chanyeol pities her, but does not move to help her. he doesn’t want to get caught up in that, not again.
baekhyun doesn’t even notice them, eyes wide. “there’s an upstairs?” he sounds as awed as if he had just learned the secret to life.
"yeah, and it has a bed and a couch. you guys can crash there," chanyeol tries to tidy up, but only ends up sloshing alcohol everywhere and nearly shattering a shot glass. best leave it for tomorrow. "just…follow me."
joy takes him too seriously, following him so closely he can feel her nose digging into his back, meanwhile baekhyun is walking into tables, sora leaning so much weight on him the poor guy is nearly bent double. chanyeol resolves to informing her how much she had clung onto baekhyun in the morning, just to see her horrified expression (if he even remembers).
somehow they make it upstairs in one piece, even though chanyeol trips and hits his forehead against one of stairs, which caused the line behind him to burst into uncontrollable laughter that lasted a whopping two minutes.
baekhyun insists on getting the bed to himself, while sora suggests all four of them dog piling on it, and joy tries to come up with more plant names. chanyeol has to break them up, as they’re really just talking over one another. in the end sora and joy get the bed, and baekhyun drags himself to the couch, muttering about unfairness and how he deserves the bed because he’s a king.
fighting the haze of sleep, chanyeol procures a pillow and blanket for baekhyun to use before checking up on sora and joy, who are all cuddled together, blankets forgotten at the foot of the bed. he tucks them in, wondering just what weird turns he took in his life to end up here, before closing the bedroom door behind himself.
the morning opens on “oh my god, you are so heavy, get the hell up,” and chanyeol realizes he’s somehow managed to climb atop of baekhyun and wind his arms and legs around his blanketed form. not how he remembers falling asleep, but then again there are many holes in his memory.
somehow, this predicament marks the beginning of the easy banter and conversations between the four friends, and though a lot of what happened that night is a mystery, there is one detail that does not escape any of them.
(“tell me, chanyeol, did it hurt when you fell from heaven? or, you know, the stairs.” baekhyun will inquire, strangely whenever the pub owner begins to believe that the others have finally forgotten. sora and joy will laugh, turning many heads their way, but that’s not exactly a new development.
chanyeol just rolls his eyes and fights the urge to grin.)
