The night soon closed in on the two and Baekhyun was allowed to stay for the night.
"I don't have any pyjamas with me." Baekhyun pouted as Chanyeol came back with the good news of his mother allowing him to stay over.
"Guess you'll just have to borrow from me." Chanyeol chuckled as he pulled out two clean pairs of pyjamas, throwing a pair over to the smaller who was seated on his messy bed.
Baekhyun honestly didn't mind that idea, "Okay." He replied with a small smile, standing up from the bed with the t-shirt.
Chanyeol watched Baekhyun as he turned, his back now facing him but he couldn't look away; even though he knew he should, especially when Baekhyun pulled off his current t-shirt to change.
Chanyeol knew he should most definitely be looking away, especially since Baekhyun bare torso was fully exposed to him but he couldn't find it deep down to avert his eyes.
Baekhyun had become quite a good listener after the hearing aids, especially since he could pick up on sounds he'd never dreamed of hearing again and right now he couldn't exactly hear anything from Chanyeol, nothing like the moving of fabric when getting changed.
He slowly turned so he could get a glimpse of the taller, "Aren't you getting changed?" He questioned, having a small idea what Chanyeol was doing; which was possibly checking him out.
"Uh," Chanyeol cleared his throat as he was caught in the act, "Yes, I am." His eyes lingering on Baekhyun's slim waist before finally turning to get changed as well.
Baekhyun shook his head with a breathy laugh.
...
Chanyeol's head turned to the left to see Baekhyun's expression once the credits showed up on his television, wanting to have some reassurance that he wasn't the only terrified after what they just watched.
He let out a groan at Baekhyun's almost blank expression, "You can't be serious."
"What?" Baekhyun furrowed his brows as he looked at the taller.
"Are you not scared?" Chanyeol questioned, keeping his eyes locked on Baekhyun's face to make sure he wasn't lying.
"Not really, no, it's just a movie." Baekhyun replied with a small grin at Chanyeol's expression.
"It wasn't just a movie!" Chanyeol exclaimed, earning a quick hush from Baekhyun to remind him that it was 1am and also Chanyeol's mother was sleeping in the room next door.
"It was a bit cliché, Chanyeol, you have to admit it," Baekhyun sighed, "It was like every other ghost movie."
"But it was based on a true story!" Chanyeol groaned, laying back into his pillow.
"You're so gullible." Baekhyun chuckled as he pinched Chanyeol's soft cheek.
"I don't think I can sleep on this side of the bed." Chanyeol mumbled.
Baekhyun furrowed his brows in confusion until he realised what the taller meant, "Do you want to switch then?" Baekhyun asked as he rose a brow, generously offering the side of the bed next to the wall.
It didn't take long for Chanyeol to have switched positions with him, "I didn't take you as a scaredy-cat." Baekhyun chuckled gently with a teasing smile.
"I'm not," Chanyeol sighed, "It was just that specific movie."
"Whatever you say then." Baekhyun let out a breathy chuckle as he leaned over to the bedside table, carefully taking his hearing aids out for the night, he only managed to take one off before he was bombarded with a question.
"Why are you taking them off?" Chanyeol asked.
"Because I don't really need them when I'm sleeping," Baekhyun mumbled a reply as he turned back to the taller, "And also, you snore."
"I don't snore," Chanyeol scoffed, "I'm actually a fairly quiet sleeper." The taller wasn't impressed when Baekhyun snorted.
"You fell asleep in english yesterday, Chanyeol," Baekhyun rolled his eyes, "You were snoring so loud, I'm certain the whole class heard."
When Chanyeol thought back to it, he couldn't really remember the english period on Friday, all he remembered was going in the class and then the bell ringing for lunch.
"Well, you mumble in your sleep a lot, like an alarming amount, it's quite scary actually—"
"Chanyeol!" Baekhyun exclaimed with a scoff, "You're taking it a bit far."
"I'm kidding," The taller chuckled, "It's actually quite cute."
Baekhyun let out a long sigh at the unexpected comment from the taller, although deep down it made his stomach twist. Chanyeol thought he was cute.
"Goodnight." He said as he carefully took off his final hearing aid placing it on the bedside table, he felt as though the conversation should end before his cheeks grew even redder.
"Goodnight, Baek," Chanyeol replied.
Even though the male couldn't exactly hear him, he spoke up again, the words slipping out his mouth before he could stop himself, "I love you."
Baekhyun noticed the movement of Chanyeol's mouth, not catching what he said, "Did you say something?"
Chanyeol was caught off guard, he knew he didn't have the courage to say it to the male, especially when he was staring right at him with those gentle brown eyes. He quickly shook his head.
"Okay then." Baekhyun chuckled, shuffling into a comfortable position as he pulled the covers over him, eventually closing his eyes.
...
Chanyeol woke up to the sound of his alarm, he soon regretted the sudden decision once Baekhyun fell asleep but he figured on still going through with it. He sat up and looked out the window, his phone was right, sunrise still wasn't until another hour.
He turned his head to the sleeping male beside him, admiring his peaceful expression and messy bed head until he realised that he was forgetting his idea.
He gently shook Baekhyun's shoulder to waken him but the male only let out sleepy mumbles in response as he turned over to get away from the disturbing hand.
Chanyeol sighed in response, "Baekhyun, wake up." He spoke up, even though it wouldn't do much since the male didn't have his hearing aids in.
Eventually after he pestered the smaller enough, he lifted his head up from the pillow and turned to face him. "What?"
Chanyeol chuckled at his groggy and confused expression, "I have surprise for you." He spoke slowly, not certain if the male could read his lips due to just waking up.
"What time is it?" Baekhyun questioned, his voice croaky from just waking up. He let out a deep sigh once Chanyeol showed his phone to him, his eyes squinted at the blaring light he wasn't amused at the sight of the time; it was 5am.
"Chanyeol," Baekhyun groaned heavily as he closed his eyes again, "It's too early, let's go back to sleep."
Chanyeol panicked when he heard Baekhyun's voice trail off into familiar sleepy breaths, "Hey, don't fall back asleep on me." He quickly shook Baekhyun again.
"I have a surprise for you and it involves getting up at this exact time." Chanyeol said once Baekhyun opened his eyes and looked at him, an unamused expression plastered all over his face.
Baekhyun sighed, eventually sitting up and rubbing his eyes, not trusting himself on staying awake if he was still laying down. He fished for his hearing aids on the bed side table, clumsily putting them on before facing the taller, "What's the surprise?"
"I can't tell you because then it wouldn't be a surprise." Chanyeol chuckled at the small male.
Baekhyun didn't move a muscle as he watched Chanyeol climb over out of bed, "This actually involves us getting out of bed?" Baekhyun gawked.
"Quit fussing." Chanyeol replied as he took his jacket from the chair at his desk, "C'mon."
...
It was surprisingly warm outside, Baekhyun slowly followed behind Chanyeol as they made their way inside the muddy forest. He couldn't understand what Chanyeol was currently planning or where he was taking him but the mystery to where they were going soon became solved once he heard the sound of streaming water.
He never did come back to his usual spot in the forest after getting his hearing aids; he never did think of coming here so the sound of the water splashing along the stream was rather surprising to the small male.
"Is this the surprise?" Baekhyun questioned with a small smile as he sat down not far from the stream. He did feel quite flattered that the male thought of taking him here but it was rather out of the blue.
"Happy birthday." Chanyeol grinned as he pulled out the envelope from his jacket pocket, taking a seat next to Baekhyun and watching his small eyes widen in surprise.
"How did you know it was my birthday?" Baekhyun questioned as he took the envelope from Chanyeol's large hand, he never did tell Chanyeol when his birthday was but he didn't think too much on it as he opened up the card.
"I'm psychic," Chanyeol grinned at Baekhyun's unamused expression, "I'm kidding, Kyungsoo told me a couple days ago."
"Oh." Baekhyun replied, he looked at the taller's familiar scribbles inside the card, he smiled softly at the birthday wishes that stared back, "I don't really celebrate my birthday."
Chanyeol brows immediately furrowed at that, "Why not?"
"Because of what happened." Baekhyun looked down at the card in his hands rather than Chanyeol's expression, he could already sense the pity swarming in his brown eyes.
"I'm sorry." Chanyeol mumbled, "I didn't know—"
"It's fine." Baekhyun quickly interrupted with a smile, "Thank you." He looked up, leaning over just enough to plant a quick kiss on the taller's cheek.
"I thought you'd be younger than me." Chanyeol spoke up with a small chuckle.
"Well, you aren't so respect your elder." Baekhyun looked back at the taller with his best attempt of a serious face but it didn't last long when a smile rested on his lips.
"Look, the sun is rising." Chanyeol pointed out the warm orange seeping through the leaves, reflecting in Baekhyun's brown eyes as Chanyeol looked over at him.
"You made us get up early to watch the sunrise?" Baekhyun chuckled as he looked back at the taller.
"Kinda." Chanyeol looked away sheepishly.
"That's sweet." Baekhyun replied, leaning his head on Chanyeol's shoulder beside him. A small smile rested on his lips as he looked down at the birthday card Chanyeol had given him, his fingers tracing over the small dog with a party hat on.
He was pretty sure this birthday wasn't going to be so bad now that Chanyeol had distracted him from why he hated this day every year so much. He knew there was a time where he'd eventually move on from what happened all those years ago and the thought used to scared him.
But maybe... it wasn't as bad as he'd expected it to be; especially with Chanyeol by his side. His eyes soon trailed back up to the ray of warm colours creeping over the once dark sky, gazing at the sunset Chanyeol had made sure he was going to see on his birthday.