Work Text:
Baekhyun woke up with the sun slipping through the cracks in the curtain. He should have remembered to close them better the night before, but he went to bed too late to think about anything.
Beside the bed, the clock already showed eleven o'clock. He tried not to blame himself too much since it was Sunday, but he couldn't afford disturbed sleep just when he had managed to adapt to the heavy routine of public service.
He picked up the cell phone from the bedside table and logged onto social media just as he felt his stomach growl. He barely had time to respond to the messages he received before his mouth started watering, craving something to eat.
It was the encouragement he needed to get out of bed. He dragged himself across the sheets until he was standing and continued dragging his sock-covered feet on the floor. He wet his fingers in the kitchen sink and used them to wipe his still swollen eyes from sleep. However, when he turned to the refrigerator with the intention of looking for something to eat, he remembered an important detail that had been forgotten in the post-sleep haze:
There was nothing.
With the week's rush, he started eating at work and only brought a healthy snack home at the end of the day. The night before, he ate leftovers and had dinner out with friends, failing to realize that he would need to plan for Sunday morning. Just to be sure, he opened it anyway and saw what he had expected. Sauce sachets, a carton of milk, an egg, and bottles of water. His stomach growled once again, and he would have started grumbling aloud if his cell phone hadn't started ringing at that moment.
"Hello?" He answered with a yawn, heading back to bed as he tried to figure out how to overcome his morning defeat. His hunger would have to wait a little longer.
"You haven't eaten yet," the voice on the other end was deep, recognizable even through all the phone static. Chanyeol. Baekhyun was unable to control his small smile.
"I haven't. I woke up late." He lay down on the bed, covering himself up to his neck and making himself comfortable on the pillows. "And there's nothing. I think I'll order lunch from that diner we like."
"Your first meal of the day will be cafeteria food? No way." It was as if he could see Chanyeol standing in front of him, furrowing his thick eyebrows and crossing his arms. Baekhyun couldn't hold back his laughter.
"How do you know I haven't eaten anything yet?" Only then did he realize that Chanyeol was already aware of the entire situation, even though he had gone to sleep in his own apartment that night.
His silence gave it all away. Baekhyun laughed again, feeling a pleasant sensation swelling in his chest. The care was so great that it was palpable. Baekhyun could catch it in his hands if he stretched them into the air.
"You posted that you woke up hungry; it's not my fault," Chanyeol replied, and the two laughed together. "You have to eat. You drank a lot last night."
"It was just two bottles of soju. You drank a lot more," he argued, forming a pout on his lips even though he knew Chanyeol wouldn't be able to see. Suddenly, he felt homesick. They had been stuck together since he had returned from the army, but it never felt like enough. He wanted more. He already missed his face. "If you want me to eat that much, come here and cook for me. I feel like eating tteokbokki."
He let out a little laugh at the end, but Chanyeol remained serious on the other side.
"I'm coming, but try to eat something so you don't make your hunger worse, okay? Not eating for a long time will be bad too, and…"
"Come quickly," he interrupted suddenly. "I want tteokbokki."
"Just the tteokbokki?" Baekhyun could swear Chanyeol was smiling on the other side. The kind of smart smile he always gave when he expected a specific answer and left Baekhyun disarmed; no escape.
"I want you too."
Then the call ended. It was what Chanyeol wanted—and needed—to hear to be encouraged to leave wherever he was and come to meet him. They had been working like this for some time, years, and Baekhyun still felt giddy and silly with the small gestures as if they were still teenagers training to be stars.
He took advantage of the time he had and took a quick shower to shake off the sleep. He ate some tasteless rice crackers and sat on the sofa in the living room, waiting. He was impatient and was about to call Chanyeol to complain about the delay when he heard a noise at the front door.
Chanyeol entered with bags full of ingredients and a small smile on his face. He was bundled up in a coat, which made Baekhyun think it was cold outside despite the bright sun. And there was Chanyeol, as if they hadn't spent most of the week together.
"I brought things for your tteokbokki," he said awkwardly. Maybe it was because of the time Baekhyun had remained silent, just looking in his direction with a silly smile on his lips.
Then, Baekhyun got up from the couch and walked over to him, taking the bags from his arms just so he could replace them with his own body. Chanyeol welcomed him warmly, and their mouths collided in the same way they always did when they were alone. Even after so many years, things hadn't changed. Their hearts still raced, and their bodies still warmed with the affection and the knowledge that they liked each other immensely.
"Thank you," Baekhyun thanked him, and Chanyeol smiled. That's when he realized. Maybe he already knew, but it was still a little awkward to admit out loud. He missed it. Not the kind of missing that could be extinguished after a few hours together or a few nights of love. It was a nostalgic and deep absence, intrinsic in his heart, and it screamed for something that Baekhyun should have accepted a long time ago. Chanyeol would need to live in his house before Baekhyun would even think about him leaving.
But at that moment, he just smiled and enjoyed the moment. Chanyeol was there and would cook for him. Baekhyun knew he could easily get used to the sight of him in his kitchen every morning, but that Sunday he realized that it was much nicer when there was a little taste of love in the middle of everything. Early morning calls and silly displays of affection still made him feel like a teenager. Sometimes it was what he needed.
"Can you stay the night?" He asked in a low voice, drawing out the vowels at the end, making it irresistible to accept his invitation. Chanyeol would accept him even without an invitation.
"What? Want me to make dinner too?" He joked, already unpacking his things and washing his hands to start.
Baekhyun denied it.
"I just want you."