Winter Heat | chanbaek

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chanyeol and Baekhyun walked into the living room hand and hand, both of them nervous as they entered the room.

Chanyeol gave Baekhyun's hand a gently squeeze before he stepped forward and said, "Yoora, I'd like to finally introduce you to my boyfriend, Byun Baekhyun."

Yoora looked from her brother's smiling face to the shortish man standing behind his shoulder. He stood there shyly and had the look of flight on his face, but aside from that, Yoora didn't see anything immediately wrong with him. Beneath the shy expression, his face was kind and his eyes sparkled with a joyous light; a light Yoora couldn't help but wonder if it came from being with her brother. And they looked happy, and Yoora couldn't wait to learn more about the boy who stole her brother's heart.

Yoora smiled as she stood up, and extended her hand as she said, "It's really good to meet you, Baekhyun. Can I ask you a question?"

Baekhyun nervously gulped before mumbling,
"S–sure, what's your question?"

"How did you meet my brother?" Yoora asked curiously with a small smile.

Baekhyun blushed as his eyes flickered up to Chanyeol, before he replied, "We work together, and one day on the elevator we just . . . started talking."

Yoora smiled. "That sounds romantic."

Chanyeol snorted, unable to help himself as he cried, "Hardly! Baekhyun was so difficult to get to know in the beginning, but I wouldn't let him off so easily and I was constantly trying to start conversations. And then we started talking all because I yelled at him one day at work because he was being unnecessarily difficult." Chanyeol said after three breaths.

Baekhyun felt his cheeks begin to burn and he jabbed his elbow into Chanyeol's ribcage before saying, "I wasn't difficult! I was busy and you were like a puppy following me around, barking for attention."

"Don't even compare me to a dog, Baekhyun, that's so rude!" Chanyeol cried.

"Hush, pup!" Baekhyun replied with a teasing grin.

Chanyeol rolled his eyes and quickly poked Baekhyun's sides, making him jump and release a tiny squeak as Chanyeol teased, "I still find you difficult."

"And I still see you as a yapping puppy," Baekhyun retorted with a laugh.

Yoora watched the exchange with a small smile before softly asking, "Should we eat now?"

Chanyeol nodded with a smile and replied, "Yes, let's eat."

The small kitchen was quiet besides the clanking of forks against glass plates, and the satisfied hums of happy stomachs. As they eat, Yoora mumbled around a mouthful of food, "Mhm, Chanyeol this is so good! I don't understand why you work at a company rather than owing your own restaurant."

Chanyeol blushed and mumbled, "Stop teasing me."

"I am not teasing you!" Yoora cried. "I mean it, your cooking skills are absolutely impeccable."

Chanyeol's blush deepened as he took a tentative sip of his wine and mumbled, "Thanks."

Yoora playfully rolled her eyes as she redirected her gaze, her always curious and searching chocolate brown eyes landing on Baekhyun. "So Baekhyun, do you have any career dreams or goals?"

Baekhyun bit his bottom lip and mumbled, "Not really . . . I mean, sure I've had ideas but . . ." Baekhyun shrugged. "My life's too complicated at the moment for me to be chasing dreams."

Yoora pursed her lips. "That's not very positive. Why do you say that?"

Baekhyun shrugged and didn't say anything in response, and Yoora was about to say something else when Chanyeol cut in. Baekhyun smiled grateful, and Chanyeol returned it with one of his own as he said, "Yoora, what about you? How is design school?" Chanyeol asked to distract his sister, and effectively redirecting her attention as she replied.

"It's going very well, I'm so happy you pushed me to follow my dream," Yoora said with a grateful smile.

Chanyeol smiled too and reached out to squeeze his sister's hand as he replied, "It was the least I could do after you put your life on hold to raise me."

Yoora smiled softly in reply and muttered, "You're so selfless, Chanyeol, but remember not to let anyone take advantage of you."

Chanyeol smiled with a small nod as he muttered, "I know."

Yoora smiled too. "So, how long have you two been dating then?" Yoora asked as glanced between them.

"Ah . . ." Chanyeol glanced over at Baekhyun and pursed his lips before mumbling, "Seven weeks, I think . . ."

Baekhyun nodded as he muttered, "Yeah, more or less."

Yoora nodded, and she couldn't help herself as she asked, "Do you see a future together?"

Baekhyun blushed, and Chanyeol coughed on his wine, but Yoora wouldn't apologize for caring about her brother. She wanted him happy, and she most certainly didn't want him wasting his time on someone who would never want a future together.

"Well, do you . . .?" Yoora pressed.

Chanyeol glanced over at Baekhyun and awkwardly coughed before replying, "Yoora, please, can't we discuss this some other time? Let's just enjoy our dinner together, okay?"

Yoora pursed her lips and muttered, "I can't help it that I'm curious, Chanyeol. I want you to be happy with someone's who committed to you, rather than playing you like a puppet . . ."

"Yoora!" Chanyeol gasped. "Please, stop! We're—-we're happy, and we haven't discussed every little detail of our future but . . ." Chanyeol glanced over at Baekhyun, and gently clasped his hand as he softly said, "But I do see a future, and it's beautiful."

Baekhyun bit his bottom lip, and had to fight back a surge of emotion as Yoora smiled and muttered, "As long as you both feel the same way, I promise not to say anything else . . ." Yoora trailed off as her eyes flickered to Baekhyun.

Baekhyun met her sharp gaze with a shaky breath as he sincerely replied, "Yoora, I love your brother, and I'm saying this kindly when I ask you to stop questioning me. I won't hurt him, I promise. I sincerely love him."

Yoora pursed her lips and didn't say anything else for a moment, and then nodded as she muttered, "Good, that's all I needed to hear."

"Alright then, now can we enjoy the rest of our dinner?" Chanyeol asked just as the front door opened and closed, and a set of footsteps walked down the short hallway before stopping in the kitchen archway.

"Why wasn't I invited," Sehun asked as the room fell silent, and a heavy cloud began to descend upon them.

Word count: 1,073

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A/N: Drama drama drama! Who's ready for what comes next? 😁

Anyway, thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Until the next time....

Love from,
BunnyBaekkiee ❤️