Like Night and Day

Admission

Against the brunet's protests, the giant set the deflated bicycle on the front porch of his house, insisting that he'd fix it the next morning. "I can go to the bike shop around the corner and get us a good deal on something not too expensive."

There was a resistance on Baekhyun's part, but Chanyeol brushed it all off with the shaking of his head. Persistence on his behalf was never too hard to accomplish, and there was something about that fact that kept Baekhyun in constant submission.

It was late, but Chanyeol's parents never minded Baekhyun's company on nights when he'd arrive along with their son. Much like the giant, his parents were open and hospitable towards him, and Baekhyun found no reason to be wary of the place.

Mrs. Park greeted them the second they walked through the front door. She gave Chanyeol a warm hug, doing the same favor for Baekhyun who quietly followed behind his towering boyfriend. He felt grateful for her. She temporarily dispelled the gloomy air between him and her son.

"How was the game? Did the school win? Are we going on?" she asked excitedly, hands on Chanyeol's arm.

As Baekhyun watched, he realized he should've reacted more actively rather than passively the second Chanyeol found out about his white lie. The game was too irrelevant for him to take part in holding an interest, but he could've tried for Chanyeol's sake. To show the smallest bit of amusement and care would've meant the world for the athlete, who knew that on the bare surface, they had nothing too intensely common.

"We won the game!" Chanyeol announced in a cheery voice, much different from the subtle happiness that he mustered to show for the brunet. "They had to bench me, though. Coach was adamant about giving the others some playing time..."

Looking down on the ground, Baekhyun saw the sports bag on the floor. Leaning down, he took it up by the strap and held it in his arms. Seeing as how busy Chanyeol was with his mother, he gave the two a small smile, giving a slight nod before quietly slipping away towards the stairs that led down to Chanyeol's basement. As he turned away from the two, however, he caught the athlete steal a glance in his direction in the midst of trying to keep his attention on his mother's praise of him.

After reaching the stairs, Baekhyun's hands fumbled around in the dark for a minute before finding the light switch for the descent down. Routinely, he made his way down to the open space and set the bag near the foot of Chanyeol's bed. Sighing, the brunet then crawled on the mattress before gently closing his eyes.

He was tired. The signs of being fatigued didn't hit him in waves of unrelenting force until he took a moment of silence for himself to think about the card of events he had been dealt with. The confrontation with Kyungsoo had drained him. It was, in essence, severe in its damage. His lack of energy with Chanyeol was nothing out of the ordinary, but that night was different.

The impulse to kill the giant was more than he was willing to admit, and it was an action he bore no harbor for in the hopes of diminishing his guilt, but rather, to prove to himself, his selfish being, that his feelings in that chapter of his life only belonged to one person and that was Park Chanyeol. There was no one else who he wanted to touch, but Kyungsoo's attempt to rock his judgment and emotional authenticity had its toll.

Inhaling, Baekhyun felt his throat go dry. The bed, the room, it all smelled like Chanyeol. Being in that basement made him feel so engulfed, and yet, protected. Its walls made him feel safe, and the person who was responsible for it all, he brought along a new sense of the meaning of life, and even love. In the simplest of ways, Park Chanyeol was the smell of rain after a thunderstorm.

Nearly fifteen minutes had passed before he was rejoined by the athlete who seemed concerned the moment he saw Baekhyun half asleep on his bed. Quickly striding over to him, Chanyeol pushed his hair back before halting near the edge to lean over, gently touching the brunet by his shoulder. "Hey, sorry I took so long," he apologized softly as Baekhyun's eyes began to flutter open. "It's not fair of you to fall asleep before I do."