Of Fake Smiles and Broken Hearts

twenty two

"Where's Chanyeol?" Kyungsoo asks Baekhyun when they enter the house, plopping down on the couch and throwing his head back in exhaustion. The brunette looks at him and fights the urge to smile. It seems like a decade has passed since he saw Kyungsoo like this. Nowadays, the redhead would always go upstairs to his room and would only go out if it's time to make dinner for the three of them. Sometimes, Chanyeol cooks for them when he doesn't go out of his room. He had been spending an awful lot of time in his room that it's somehow making the couple feel uncomfortable so Baekhyun had to find the spare key for the guest room just in case.

He's afraid to enter Kyungsoo's room—or rather, the guest room. Maybe he was just paranoid that one night the redhead wouldn't respond to their calls and they would exchange worried looks and Chanyeol would sprint to get the spare key as he pounds on the wooden door desperately, screaming Kyungsoo's name. Maybe he's just scared to see Kyungsoo lying unconscious on the floor.

Maybe he's just terrified to never see the constant rising and falling of his best friend's chest.

Baekhyun walks pass him and stood behind the kitchen counter, standing on his tippy toes to reach over the cupboards and opened them one by one to look for food. A large hand creeps up to his stomach and Baekhyun yelps and almost lost his balance before a deep chuckle erupts and he falls back into a strong chest, feeling the vibration from his laugh. He spun around and meets his boyfriend's smiling face, lenses still perched on top of his nose but hanging dangerously low as he looks down on him. He punches his arm jokingly and smiles back, neck tickling from Chanyeol's minty breath.

"Please don't drool on each other." Kyungsoo suddenly interrupts. They immediately jumped to opposite directions, trying to get as much space away from the other as possible with their friend staring, clearly disgusted. Kyungsoo nods his head and moves to towards the refrigerator, opening the door and placing his palm on the sides as he looks inside. He speaks slowly but doesn't look up, hand reaching over a bottle of kimchi. "Do you want me to cook something or just heat up the leftovers? I think that'll save time but it's your choice. Maybe we'll order pizza. What do you guys think?"

He looks up only to see his friends staring at him. Chanyeol opens his mouth to speak, but no words came out so he bit his bottom lip instead. Baekhyun has a small smile. "You seem very happy today."

"What do you mean?" Kyungsoo asks as he puts the bottle of kimchi back on the top shelf of the refrigerator. He closes its door with a soft thud before looking back at them.

"I don't know. You're not seeking a way out of the mundane things in your life like you used to. It's as if everything is okay again." Baekhyun throws his hands from his sides, trying to make a point as he trips over to find the right words. Chanyeol nods beside him, agreeing to whatever he says. Then again, he always agreed with his boyfriend no matter how shallow it was.

The redhead blinks at them, mouth pressed in a thin line. Chanyeol pushes his lenses up on the bridge of his nose and clears his throat. "Have you thought about what I said?"