Title: Of Eyes and Ears
Pairing: Chanyeol/Baekhyun
Rating: G
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Kindergarten!au
Summary: Baekhyun wants to be Chanyeol's friend.
*
Baekhyun was five when he met Chanyeol. Chanyeol was playing with the sand on the sandbox at the kindergarten playground, shoveling it with his plastic spade as he poured it to his plastic pail. Baekhyun approached him that time with a bright smile across his face, asking Chanyeol if they could build little sand castles together. Chanyeol scrunched his face cutely as he watched the boy with interest, he took note of how this boy's eyes were little but shiny, and how his lips were pink as he talked. Baekhyun pointed at the sand, and Chanyeol followed his finger with his eyes. He then nodded, a little bit shy and happy, sharing his toy spade to Baekhyun as he clasped the sand with his chubby palms.
"What's your name?" little Baekhyun asked, thrusting the spade into a mountain of sand in front of him. "I'm Baekhyun, and you are?"
Chanyeol turned to Baekhyun, his eyes big with curiosity. He stared at the boy's small fringe on top of his forehead which was slightly covering his eyes. Baekhyun huffed air to blow his hair to his face, his lower lip jutting out. Chanyeol smiled, mimicking what Baekhyun just did. He also huffed air, but his hair wouldn't fly off, it was too short for his breath to reach his bangs. He frowned.
"You're copying me," Baekhyun said with a playful pout, his voice small. Chanyeol tilted his head to the right, wondering if the boy in front of him was getting mad, Chanyeol's lips were curved downward. Baekhyun frowned as well, crossing his short arms over his chest. Chanyeol also did what Baekhyun did, crossing his arms over his chest in front of Baekhyun.
"You're really copying me," Baekhyun said, smiling widely at Chanyeol. Chanyeol smiled, too, seeing Baekhyun's pretty mouth curve upward into a smile.
"Do you want to be my friend?" Baekhyun asked while smiling, stretching his arm to Chanyeol. Scrunching his face again, Chanyeol's eyes followed Baekhyun's hand up to his arm, his hand was pretty and his skin looked so smooth. Chanyeol contemplated whether it's okay if he could touch the hand before him, or he would just look at it.
"You don't want to shake my hand?" Baekhyun asked, looking at Chanyeol who's just staring at his outstretched hand. He sighed, dropping his hand to his side, making Chanyeol to open his mouth to say something but Baekhyun beat him to it.
"You're shy, aren't you?"
"Chanyeol!" a woman's voice called, making Baekhyun to shoot his head up. He saw a beautiful woman approaching them, smiling at Chanyeol as he patted the boy's cheek. Chanyeol then turned his head, and he smiled, recognizing it was his mother he's been waiting for.
"Is Chanyeol his name?" Baekhyun asked the woman who's carrying Chanyeol in her arms, hugging his son protectively.
"Yes, his name is Chanyeol," the woman said, smiling down at Baekhyun. "And you are?'
"I'm Baekhyun!" Baekhyun said enthusiastically, his feet springing to the ground. "I'm five!"
"Chanyeol is five, too. You're of the same age," Chanyeol's mother said, patting Baekhyun's hair. Chanyeol wanted to pat Baekhyun's hair, too. He wanted to feel how soft it would be against his palm.
"Can we play together?" Baekhyun asked, his eyes looking hopeful at Chanyeol's mother. He pouted, turning his eyes to Chanyeol who's looking down at him as well. "I want to be his friend."
"No," Chanyeol's mother answered with furrowed brows as she turned her back away from Baekhyun, leaving the playground with Chanyeol in her arms. Chanyeol tilted his head in attempt to see Baekhyun, but her mother's steps were big, that Baekhyun couldn't catch up even though he's running.
"Chanyeol!!!" Baekhyun shouted, his eyes were big unlike earlier as he ran after them, and Chanyeol felt a slight pang in his little heart, seeing Baekhyun chase them with his tiny feet.
"Chanyeol, wait! I want to be your friend!"
Chanyeol squirmed his body, kicking his feet in the air for his mother to release him. He pushed his mother away who's hugging him close as he kept his eye on Baekhyun. The woman sighed, and Chanyeol thought that finally his mother gave up. She lowered Chanyeol to the ground for him to step on, and just as soon as Chanyeol was released, he ran over to Baekhyun fast like he's running a race. Chanyeol stopped when they met halfway, panting for his breath just like Baekhyun.
"D-do you," Baekhyun said in between pants. "want to be my friend?"
Chanyeol smiled widely, wondering if Baekhyun wanted to play with him again. He took note on how Baekhyun's hair fall to his eyes, and Chanyeol wanted to swat it away, but he was not sure if he's allowed to do that. So he just stayed on his position, looking at the boy before him who's giving him a cheeky smile. Chanyeol thought that Baekhyun's smile was contagious, that he found himself smiling too, although he didn't know the reason.
"Do you want to play again together?" Baekhyun asked again, showing the plastic pail and plastic spade to Chanyeol he borrowed earlier. Chanyeol took his toys a little bit shyly with his right hand. He lifted his eyes to Baekhyun who's looking at him expectantly, waiting for an answer.
Chanyeol smiled, biting his lower lip as he pointed to his chest with his thumb. He pointed at Baekhyun's chest, too, as he moved his arms to the left and to the right. He brought his right hand to his chest, tapping it twice as he nodded. Baekhyun's eyebrows furrowed, scratching his head.
"What?" Baekhyun asked, a hand over his small hips. "I don't understand..."
"He said, he wants to be friends with you, too."
Baekhyun snapped his head up to the woman beside Chanyeol who's smiling down at him a little. He turned his gaze back to Chanyeol, watching how the boy moved his hands in different directions, his index finger pointing at Baekhyun's eyes and Baekhyun found it cute and amazing.
"He also said that he likes your eyes," Chanyeol's mother said as he watched his son.
"Thank you," Baekhyun said, putting his hand over his chest as he nodded his head. He pointed to his own eyes, too, then at Chanyeol's eyes as he spoke. "I like your eyes, too."
Chanyeol followed how Baekhyun's mouth opened and closed, that he wished he could hear his voice into his ears, that he could listen to him speak all day. But little Chanyeol already knew, that it was impossible to make that happen.
"He's deaf," the woman told Baekhyun with a sad smile on her lips. "He can't hear and he can't talk."
Baekhyun's pink mouth shaped into an 'o' as he nodded slowly, looking at Chanyeol with glassy eyes. Chanyeol's eyes went big, wondering why the boy in front of him is in the verge of tears. He thought Baekhyun shouldn't cry because he surely looked ugly when he cried.
"Do you still want to be his friend," the woman said, her voice calm as she looked at Baekhyun. "even if he can't hear you?"
"Yes," Baekhyun answered without bothering to take off his eyes from Chanyeol. "I still want to be his friend."
Baekhyun's eyes were then smiling with his lips, that Chanyeol found it really cute and adorable. "I want to play with Chanyeol!"
Chanyeol's mother chuckled. "Okay, you can be his friend, Baekhyun."
Baekhyun jumped in the air as he squealed, pulling Chanyeol's wrist with him. Chanyeol was surprised at first, but then he smiled, following Baekhyun who's dragging him back to the kindergarten playground as they ran with hurried feet. They reached the playground, their chests heaving with excitement. Chanyeol turned to Baekhyun by his side, seeing dried leaves on top of his hair. He reached it with his hand, removing the leaves and patting Baekhyun's black fluffy hair with his palm. It really did feel soft.
"Thank you," Baekhyun said, patting Chanyeol's head as well while he chuckled. "You have dried leaves on your hair, too. Your head looks like a nest."
Baekhyun cleaned the top of Chanyeol's hair as Chanyeol set his eyes on the ground shyly, feeling his new friend's warm hand ruffling his hair.
"If you like my eyes, then I like your ears," Baekhyun said, flicking Chanyeol's ear with his thumb and index finger. Chanyeol startled, a slight blush coloring his cheeks. He looked up to Baekhyun, feeling tiny fingers playing with the tip of his ear. Baekhyun answered him with that beautiful smile of his, that Chanyeol could feel warmth bubbling up inside his chest.
"Your ears are cute and big just like Yoda," Baekhyun said, smile never leaving his lips as he looked back at Chanyeol, his hand still playing with the tip of Chanyeol's ear until it grew reddish pink.
"I wish you could hear me, though," Baekhyun said in a sad voice Chanyeol wasn't sure what he was saying. "I really love to sing. Do you want to watch me sing?"
Chanyeol couldn't hear what Baekhyun said, but then he nodded, thinking that maybe Baekhyun asked him a question. Chanyeol watched how Baekhyun closed his pretty eyes as he closed his fist below his chin for his imaginary microphone. Chanyeol was taken aback, though, when Baekhyun pulled his hand, placing it on top of his chest.
"There," Baekhyun said as he held Chanyeol's palm against his chest, pressing it just below his throat. "So you can feel me sing, okay?"
Chanyeol was surprised, his palm feeling vibrations against Baekhyun's chest when Baekhyun opened his mouth. Baekhyun uttered words Chanyeol couldn't hear as he sang a silent song Chanyeol wished he had a chance to listen to. But he's contented though, feeling Baekhyun's voice and heartbeat with his palm pressed against Baekhyun's chest, seeing the boy's mouth moved cutely when he sang and spoke, and watching how his lips curved upward or downward when he smiled and frowned.
And to Chanyeol, it seemed like he already heard Baekhyun's beautiful voice through his heart.
*
END
(A/N: This is my apology for all the angsts and smuts I've wtritten for ChanBaek! I hope you liked it and thank you for reading!)