Playboy

Trente-Deux

Baekhyun

Baekhyun watched Eunji as she sprawled on his couch upside down. Her legs were dangling over the back, kicking every once in a while, while her hair brushed the ground. She seemed childish in this position, and Baekhyun couldn't help grinning at her. Neither of them were really paying attention to the movie they were watching. Eunji was too engrossed in tossing peanuts in the air and trying to catch them in her mouth which led to a mess of peanuts all over the carpet. And Baekhyun was too busy watching Eunji take part in this ridiculous action.

It had now been twenty four days since Eunji and Sehun broke up, and Lay's advice wouldn't leave Baekhyun's head. Look at Eunji, Baekhyun knew he had to make a move. Not only because time was most likely running out before Sehun tried to reconcilliate, but because Eunji looked better now. Her smile was brighter, and she didn't seem to have as many spells of sadness where her eyes would lose focus and her features would turn stoic. She was back to the beautiful, radiant Eunji that Baekhyun knew as far as he could tell. She had been spending more and more time with him recently, and he was hoping that he could say the right things to make everything turn out perfectly.

"Baekhyun, you aren't watching the movie," Eunji saide, tossing another peanut in the air and making a face when it hit her cheek instead.

"Neither are you," Baekhyun laughed.

"Well, one of us has got to pay attention." Eunji threw a peanut as she spoke and it his Baekhyun in the forehead.

Baekhyun laughed and pulled back when the snack connected with his forehead, and watched as it ricocheted into Eunji's mouth.

"Oooh!" She exclaimed in excitement, sitting up suddenly to look at Baekhyun.

She slightly miscalculated how close she was to the coffee table, though, and hit her head as she moved. As soon as her head hit the table, Eunji moved her head back resulting in the rest of her body rolling off the couch. Baekhyun tried awkwardly to stop whatever it was that was happening, but couldn't do anything besides stand with his arms outstretched until Eunji's fall came to a finish.

"What just happened?" Baekhyun couldn't help but laugh as Eunji lay on his floor, holding her head.

"Shit," Eunji hissed when she pulled back her hand to see a small amount of blood on it.

Baekhyun's eyes went wide and he quickly helped Eunji back onto the couch in a proper sitting position. She had a small scratch on her forehead from the metal edge of his coffee table, and just a little bit of blood was coming out.

"Hang on." Baekhyun held up a finger. "I'll get you a bandaid."

Baekhyun stood and went to his bathroom where he knew there was a first aid kit somehwere. After doing a bit of digging, he came back with a rather dusty first aid kit and sat back down on the couch with Eunji. He took an alcohol swab and cleaned Eunji's cut as gently as he could. She winced at the pain, but otherwise didn't protest. Baekhyun then took a bandaid and placed it on Eunji's forehead.

He held her face for a moment too long after cleaning and covering her cut. They were just centimeters apart, and at this range Baekhyun could see the flecks of gold in Eunji's curious eyes. She was so beautiful in such a different way at this distance. With all the thoughts buzzing in his head, Baekhyun couldn't help it when he brought Eunji's face closer to his and planted his lips on hers.

Her shock was obvious, but it didn't seem negative to Baekhyun as he kissed her. She didn't pull away, but rather sat there until Baekhyun himself pulled back. When he did so, he saw something different in Eunji's eyes that he had never seen before. It wasn't lust, it wasn't confusion, it was something completely new and alien. Despite that, it wasn't a bad look in her eyes. The way she looked at him in that moment made him feel special.

"Baekhyun," Eunji whispered, "you kissed me."

"I guess I did." Baekhyun smiled sheepishly, still holding Eunji's face.

"Do it again," she said with almost a sense of wonder.

"What?" Baekhyun asked, not sure he heard her right.

"Kiss me, Baekhyun," Eunji ordered and grabbed his shirt collar to pull him down onto her lips.

It was Baekhyun's turn to be shocked, but he quickly regained his composure and kissed Eunji back. This kiss was different from the one they had shared when she and Sehun had broken up. This kiss was not urgent and pleading, this kiss was slow and long-awaited. They just sat there, timeless, and kissed each other gently yet deeply. Eunji's lips were so soft and curious, moving in time with his. Baekhyun could feel his heart racing, and could only wonder if Eunji's heart was doing the same.

"Eunji?" Baekhyun breathed when they finally broke away.

"Mm?" Eunji muttered, her eyes still filled with that strange look.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" Baekhyun bit his lip.

"Yeah," she sighed, nodding and moving forward to kiss Baekhyun once more.

***

Eunji

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Sunmi shouted and threw a pillow at Eunji with full force.

"Hey, hey calm down," Eunji laughed and caught the pillow.

"No, I won't calm down." Sunmi crossed her arms. "Not only did you not tell me right away, but this is also a bad fucking idea."

"Wait, are you actually mad?" Eunji put the pillow down and asked her friend seriously. She hadn't expected Sunmi to be jumping and skipping about the news, but she at least thought she'd be happy for her.

"Yes, I am actually mad." Sunmi rolled her eyes, her arms still crossed.

"Why? Aren't you glad I'm finally over Sehun?" Eunji asked.

"You aren't over Sehun, and that's why I'm mad." Sunmi shook her head. "You're taking advantage of Baekhyun's feelings for you to rebound from Sehun. Yeah, you're past all the crying and big emotions, but you're still hurt and you still want Sehun back. This isn't fair to Baekhyun, and that's why I'm mad."

"I do like Baekhyun, though," Eunji said softly.

"And I'm sure you do, but not nearly as much as you still like Sehun," Sunmi sighed.

"Baekhyun is so sweet, I'd never purposefully hurt him," Eunji replied earnestly.

"I know that," Sunmi sighed again, "but no matter what happens next, someone is going to get hurt."

"How?" Eunji's brow furrowed.

"Baekhyun is already way more invested in this relationship than you are," Sunmi explained, "he's like you since he first met you. You spent a year with Sehun, the whole time seeing Baekhyun as a friend. You still thought of him only as a friend until maybe, like, a week ago. Either you're going to realize you don't actually like him that way, or Baekhyun is going to expect way too much of you. This relationship is doomed."

"Thanks for the encouraging words," Eunji laughed bitterly.

"Look, I'm not telling you to break up with him." Sunmi shook her head. "If you really believe that you want to date him, then I'll support you. I'm just telling you what I see in this."

Instead of replying, Eunji flopped back on her bed and stared at the ceiling. A part of her knew that Sunmi was right; no matter how this went down, someone was going to get hurt. But she just couldn't bring herself to call it off with Baekhyun. He was so sweet and so kind, she wanted desperately to love him like she loved Sehun. He deserved to have the best, so she would try to give it to him. But at the same time, what even was the best?