Cursed Freedom

Sleeping Arrangements

(Story under construction  🏗) 

  Chanyeol sat in his bedroom, listening closely to the noises down the hall in Baekhyun's bedroom, trying to gauge where he was in the process of getting ready for bed.

   Chanyeol himself had taken the fastest shower of his entire life. He made up his bed nice and tidy. He dressed himself in what he would usually wear to bed, a pair of athletic shorts. And when he couldn't clean the room or prep his appearance anymore, he attempted to read a little from his book, but the words were a blur on the page and so he placed it to the side and got up to pace the room.

   'What was gonna happen tonight?' He began to think to himself, 'Would it be more of what went on earlier? Would it be something more intense? Would they really just sleep?' He had no idea. Baekhyun was a wild card.

   Just when Chanyeol thought he was going to have a panic attack over the waiting and all his questions, he heard a rapping at the door. He jumped to answer it, but thought better of opening the door right away so as not to seem too eager. So he grabbed the doorknob and counted to ten before he opened it.

   "Good evening," he said, and immediately wanted to smack himself upside the head. 'What the fuck was that? Good evening?!' But Chanyeol went with it to save face.

   "Good evening to you too," Baekhyun replied, grabbing the corners of his very large sleep shirt and twisting his legs into a curtsey. "May I have this dance?" He giggled and reached a hand to Chanyeol.

   He grabbed Baekhyun's hand and laid a kiss on his knuckles then replied, "I'd be honored."

   The two didn't really know what they were doing, but Baekhyun had his arms flung around Chanyeol's neck and Chanyeol reciprocated by putting his hands on the smaller's waist and they just swayed in the silence, until Baekhyun softly started singing a slow song that, of course, Chanyeol was unfamiliar with.

   He continued their swaying as he closed his eyes and pulled Baekhyun closer to him until his face was pressed up against his chest, right where it met the crook of his neck and was nearly singing directly into his ear.

   "You know, you have a remarkable voice. Truly. Not that I have much to compare it to. I don't have any music here... and I can't really remember much from when I was a kid."

   Baekhyun ceased his singing to throw his head back in shock. "Really!? No music!?" They continued to rock back and forth and Baekhyun whispered, more to himself than to Chanyeol, "No wonder the silence scares you. No music..." he said as if he was absolutely flabbergasted by the very idea.

   He laid his head back against the giant's chest and hummed. Chanyeol let his chin rest on the smaller's head.

   "Yeah, there used to be a record player in the library and a grand pianio in the great room. I can picture it in my head from when I was little. I have no idea what happened to them though."

   Baekhyun ceased his humming and pulled away from Chanyeol, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him towards the bed.

   Chanyeol's heart began to hammer in his chest, but Baekhyun just took them to the bottom of the bed and stuttered out an awkward question, "So... which side of the bed do you usually sleep on?"

   "Um... the right side, but it doesn't really matter to me."

   "Really?! You?! Mr. Strict Routine?!" Baekhyun's face was glowing as he giggled. "Ok then..." and he pulled away from Chanyeol, but held on to his hand as long as they could reach and then climbed onto the huge bed and under the covers on the left side.

   Chanyeol turned off the main light and slid into bed in his usual spot. "Should I leave the lamp on or turn it off?"

   "On. I want to look at you." Baekhyun smiled, his eyes barely open.

   The bed was so large that they were not touching, but they were facing each other, each with sleepy hooded eyes and smiles on their lips.

   "Now... this isn't going to work at all." Baekhyun said after a few minutes, which just made Chanyeol frown in nervousness. Until Baekhyun sat up, held his blankets up and scooted himself over til he was next to Chanyeol.

   He laid a petite hand on Chanyeols arm, his eyes darting around at the skin he could see. Chanyeol's arms were as well defined as his abdomen and Baekhyun just sat and admired it for a while before he ran his hand down the arm to grip the hand at the end. He leaned his head down and kissed Chanyeol's shoulder.

   Interlacing their fingers together, Baekhyun cuddled his arm and buried his face into Chanyeols chest."There, that's better." He said in a dreamy voice and sighed.

   They lay there together with just the sound of their breathing for a while until Baekhyun peeked his head up a bit for a second. "You smell... amazing."

   Chanyeol laughed at that. "Oh really? What do I smell like?"

   "You smell musky. Like the forest... and something else. Some sort of spice that I can't quite put my finger on..."

   They were quiet for a long while after that. So long that Chanyeol was right on the edge of sleep until Baekhyun peeked his head up again and said, very softly, "Yeollie?"

   "Baekkie?" Chanyeol replied, turning down to look at him with fluttering eyelids.

   "Do you feel safe?" He asked, taking Chanyeol off guard.

   He sighed, "Um," but the answer was crystal clear in his mind. "Yes." He stated, matter-of-factly with a nod. "Yes, I do. I feel very safe... with you..." Chanyeol gripped Baekhyun's hand even tighter and blushed in the dim light of the bedroom, and the last thing either remembered was a slow, sleepy kiss before they fell asleep nose to nose, breathing each other in.