My toes recoiled into the balms of my feet; his laughter filled the space between us.

“You’re kidding?” Chanyeol asked, disbelieving still.

“Believe it or not, after spending almost every waking minute in his company since becoming a Computer Science major, devoid of any and all contact with women due to schoolwork or extracurricular internships, Sehun has convinced himself he’s gay for Kyungsoo.”

“I’m not laughing at the fact that he feels that way, I’m laughing as I picture the reaction Sehun must have gotten from the object of his affections.”

“I cannot repeat the words Kyungsoo said he shouted when the kid tried to kiss him goodnight.”

“It’ll be hard for him. For both of them.”

“But?”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“But you certainly didn’t sound like you were finished.”

“How right you are.” He leaned forward, and the way he sounded as he whispered with his deep voice right beside my face should be outlawed the world over, “Don’t tell Kyungsoo I said this, but I’m rooting for his unwanted lover.”

“Who said I wasn’t?” I asked out loud, taking him by surprise as he visibly flinched, backing away from me, shifting back into an upright position on the other side of the table that separated us.

“How’d Pink Stockings take that?”

I fished for my phone in my pocket, forgetting about it before now, unlocking it to find a countdown on the screen that I promptly showed to him, “Twenty hours, fifty minutes, and thirty-seven seconds until his forty-eight hour long vow of silence towards me is over.”

“That’s harsh, even by his standards.”

“Which means you’ve grown to know him past the one meeting we all had together.”

He went silent, caught red-handed. Red-eared. Red, large, butterfly ears.

But I wasn’t looking to scold him. Not for meeting up with Kyungsoo but not with me — something I’ve known for awhile now. Not for remaining seemingly friendly with everyone but me — Baekhyun and Sara have complained about him being a third wheel on their rare dates during Baekhyun’s visits since June. Not even for his lame but understandable “Okay” — a word I’ve all but eliminated from my daily vocabulary. 

But today I made an exception. Just for him.

“It’s okay. Life goes on, you know?” 

Sometimes, we lose connections to the people we once cared about. Sometimes, we forget to put the work in to not lose them in the first place. Every single time, life goes on. 

I can’t blame him for disappearing when I let him disappear in the first place. He shouldn’t blame himself for anything. Yet, for a second, it seemed like he was.

“I know that sometimes it shouldn’t, because only then do we realize what we almost passed by without a second thought.”

And, for some reason, I found myself laughing. Because how philosophical were the pair of us? We could write a book if we wanted. We could have a Sunday morning television show if we wanted. We could do whatever we wanted, because I was twenty-two and he was twenty-three. 

We had our whole lives ahead of us. 

So many more opportunities to make mistakes, learn from them, and make a few others lied before us. 

And I couldn’t help but laugh. 

But I stopped at the sound of a shutter clicking. 

When I looked up at him, not remembering when or why I looked away in the first place, there was that bulky camera, those sparkling eyes, and that large, familiar smile. The one I hadn’t seen since last Spring. The one I didn’t realize I missed this toe-clenching much until I saw it again this Winter. 

Turning his third eye to me, showing me the candid shot he has a natural a talent for capturing, he said, “Beautiful, isn’t it?”

I tugged on the strap, pulling it towards me adamantly, “Give it here.”

He gave in without a second thought, though persisted with wide eyes and a shout, “Don’t delete it!”

I laughed, for memories’ sake, as I stared on at the me he called beautiful, “When’s your birthday? No spoilers, but I think I’ve found you the perfect gift. My only question is, do you want it big enough to fit above the couch, or small enough for your wallet?”

With the help of sarcasm and a curtain of hair, I covered my blooming cheeks. Shamelessly, he declared with a smile and red-tipped ears, “Can’t I have both?”

“You didn’t answer my first question.”

“I mean, my wallet needs a little something to bring it back to life. The whole manly, brown, boring leather thing isn’t working for me anymore.”

“Chanyeol.”

“Then again, the painting of a giraffe in the style of Picasso Baekhyun got me for Christmas last year as a gag joke — since quite anyone would gag as soon as they saw it — hanging above the couch right now really needs to go.”

“Chanyeol.”

“Which is why I say both, because both of the aforementioned issues in my life have been bothering me since last Spring.” 

When we last met. 

And I couldn’t help but get the feeling he was flirting with me right now, in his own special way. I couldn’t help but feel like he’s always been flirting with me, subtly dropping hints here, there, and everywhere, since we met face to face for the first time over two years ago. 

Since before we met, when he wrote that article about the Winter Spectacular during my freshman year — the student activity center never did throw out the school newspapers that revolved around big events like that one. 

Yes, I read it. 

It was practically a Shakespearian confession of love. Love at first sight. Love despite the danger of being strangers. Love, for the sake of love. Love for the me he thought “beautiful” then and seemingly now — the candid me.

No, I still haven’t told him I’ve read it. 

Till this very day, it’s a confession he thinks I never received. A confession I thought he’d forgotten about somewhere along the way.

I keep one copy on my windowsill, under the potted plant there. The other? Behind the “above-the-couch” sized photo we took on our trip to Canada the Spring that followed this proceeding time; when snow sprinkled over high-reaching mountains and his hand naturally found my own. It was his birthday present that same year — something he had absolutely no qualms about. 

Spoilers never bothered him anyway. 

It was the journey that always interested him more than the end.

“Hey Park Chanyeol, Elf Boy, Butterfly Ears, Cool Guy, Hidden Psychologist, Crouching Photographer.”

He laughed at my long string of nicknames for him. He laughed and I don’t think I could have wanted anything else. He laughed and the sound bolstered my courage, my toes curling like crazy within the confines of my shoes. 

And my life seemed to pause right then, giving me time to react before this moment, as fleeting as a candid snapshot, passed by — before I let him go, leaving an empty hole in my chest for the second time. Because while he may have forgotten, I certainly didn’t. I certainly don’t think I could ever.

“I might just be in love with you.”

He stopped laughing. 

He stared instead. 

I met his eyes, because I wasn’t scared. Because I was the curious me. Because I was me and he was him. Because, well, Park Chanyeol just did that to me. He did this to me. He set me off on the long journey to liking myself again. He fearlessly and shamelessly hid neither his feelings nor his thoughts from me — modeling chivalrous and gentile behavior at its finest all the while. He leaned like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, just enough for me to grasp onto him. It’s his fault, and I adore him for it. 

I might just love him for it. 

Simply, just like that. 

“You always did have a habit of taking the words right out of my mouth.”

He replied simply, just like that.

And it felt like I was dreaming. I pinched myself just to make sure. My nerves were so numbed by him, I didn’t feel a thing. Maybe I really was dreaming.

What a dream it was, then. 

What a great dream my reality was, then.

My fingers curled into his jacket as I reached out, pulled him forward, and kissed him; his laughter at our awkwardness immediately after filled me to the brim.

A/N: Inspired by Ed Sheeran's "Lego House." Did you like it? This is the end of the 3rd part of this story which means that this is technically the ending! I honestly can't believe we've all made it this far! Let's give ourselves a pat on the back. (I also wouldn't mind you giving me a flood of comments below either.) The next chapter will be the epilogue (the "what happened after" part of our entire journey). While you wait for it, enjoy Kyungsoo's and Sehun's spin-off here. (It's essentially the reason this chapter came to you all so late, so I recommend you check it out.) I'm practically trembling with anticipation. Are you?