Chapter Text
At precisely 12:15 every weekday, a pair of lanky arms reach over the cubicle walls and swat until they make contact with something. Usually it’s an inanimate object, like a cup of pens, or the computer screen. But today, Kyungsoo is uncharacteristically focused on his work and doesn’t notice the time. He’s caught off guard by the sudden slap to the side of his face and nearly falls back out of his chair.
The culprit laughs from the cubicle next door when Kyungsoo punches at the thin, carpeted wall between them, cursing the unseen nuisance under his breath.
He calms down quickly and shakes it off, wanting to get back to work. It’s not often a wave of inspiration to look over the multiple incident reports sitting in the file on his desktop happens, but when it does, he knows he needs to ride it out or they’ll never be taken care of.
The current incident report open tells the long story of a female employee suggesting her supervisor be fired for sexual harassment. Her reasoning is because he insisted he hold the door for her when she was carrying a stack of books she was having trouble keeping a grasp on, after she told him she could handle it.
Kyungsoo pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs.
“Hey, Chanyeol?”
A head of messy hair and two large ears come into view over the cubicle, followed by a much-too-happy grin.
“Yes, my darling?”
“I’m reading a sexual harassment claim right now.” Chanyeol’s eyes widen and he nods with concern. “About you.”
Kyungsoo has to laugh at the way Chanyeol’s expression morphs to confusion and panic. A little payback for the slap to the face earlier.
“I didn’t do anything! Who wrote it? If it was Mr. Kim because of that time I told him he looked nice in his new suit…I—”
“You know I can’t tell you who wrote it. But I can tell you it wasn’t Mr. Kim.”
“Oh nice, so I can keep subtly flirting with him until he promotes me or lets me suck him off,” Chanyeol says with a proud little grin.
“I hate you,” Kyungsoo says to himself. “It was a woman?” he accuses, raising his eyebrows in sarcastic judgement.
Chanyeol leans down to rest his chin on his arms, lost deep in thought. “I don’t even like women; why would I sexually harass one?” He reaches out to attempt to turn the computer screen toward himself, wanting to see who wrote this obviously false allegation against him.
Kyungsoo is quick to smack his hands away and turn his screen off. He turns in his chair and sits back with folded arms. “I always knew you’d get yourself in trouble one day. But, with a woman? Chanyeol, how you’ve changed.”
“Whatever,” Chanyeol rolls his eyes and sits back down in his chair. “You love me. We both know you’re just gonna delete the file and pretend you never saw it.”
He can only shake his head at that statement. It would be unethical, and downright illegal, to delete the file. He will, however, have a private chat with the woman and read her the definition of sexual harassment, because she seems a little confused on the subject.
“Kyungsoo, can you get me copies of the new hires files?”
He doesn’t look over at the boss, but nods and begins clicking through various levels of files on his desktop.
“Oh, hey Mr. Kim,” Chanyeol’s voice calls out.
Kyungsoo grins as he hits print. He’ll never stop being amused watching Chanyeol attempt to throw himself at the boss.
“Here you go.”
“Thanks Kyungsoo. Back to work Chanyeol.”
Kyungsoo watches Chanyeol lean back in his chair to watch the boss walk back toward his office. There’s a certain pathetic longing in his eyes that Kyungsoo just finds so charming. And funny as hell.
“He’s probably straight, Chanyeol, when are you gonna give it up?”
Chanyeol pushes his chair into the middle of the narrow aisle and spins himself around like a sad carousel. “I thought I was straight once too, Soo. And just look at me now.” He winks and shoots a finger gun at Kyungsoo. “And who knows, maybe you’ll switch over one day too and I can finally give you the ride of your life.”
Kyungsoo’s entire face quickly reddens and he turns back to his computer with an embarrassed huff.
Mr. Kim stops at another cubicle and bends down to look at something on the computer screen; Chanyeol groans. Those pinstriped pants hug so tightly to his perfect ass it’s not even fair.
“I would suck that man’s dick with the unbridled fervor of a middle aged white man guzzling Gatorade after a 10K.”
Kyungsoo sighs. “You know, the more you talk, the more I think you should meet my friend Baekhyun.”
“Why?” Chanyeol asks, wheeling himself closer to Kyungsoo. “Is he a sexy man with a banging body and an ass like Jongin’s?”
Kyungsoo takes a moment to think; Baekhyun looks absolutely nothing like their boss. “Well, no…but he’s really annoying. You’d like him.”
“Does he¬¬—” Chanyeol sticks his tongue out and motions to suck an invisible dick.
“You—” Kyungsoo sneers at the crude gesture. “He’s gay, if that’s what you’re asking.”
Chanyeol scoots up to Kyungsoo’s desk now, seating himself directly beside him. “I mean yeah, but like, specifically…does he suck dick? Because I could use a good blow job. It’s been way too long.”
“Good to know,” Mr. Kim says from behind them. “Get back to your cubicle, Chanyeol.”
Chanyeol’s face goes red and he puts his head down on his arms to hide himself. “Sure thing, Mr. Kim,” he says, giving a thumbs up from his hiding place.
He peeks up at Kyungsoo after a moment, once he’s sure the boss has walked away. “I hope I die.”
Kyungsoo can only laugh.
For the first twenty minutes of their lunch, Chanyeol complains about how badly he’d embarrassed himself in front of the boss. He’s done it before, more than once, but this was by far the worst.
“It won’t be long now,” Kyungsoo says, already proud of himself for the joke he’s about to crack. “Yep, that sexual harassment claim on you from Jongin should be rolling in any day now.”
“You know what?” Chanyeol says, arms crossed like a pissed off toddler. “Fuck you, man.”
They eat in comfortable silence for a while, Kyungsoo smiling every now and then at Chanyeol’s childish scowl.
When they first met a year ago, it was always Chanyeol making Kyungsoo scowl. He was loud and obnoxious, personality much too boisterous for Kyungsoo to handle in the early hours of the morning. Especially if he hadn’t stopped for coffee on his way to work.
Chanyeol was…a lot.
Still is, but Kyungsoo has a better handle on things now that he’s learned how to shut Chanyeol up, and has also become his friend. Which is something he’d never thought would happen.
But, here they are roughly a year later, enjoying lunch together on the patio of some fancy, modern restaurant.
Kyungsoo looks up at Chanyeol suddenly, unsure if he’d heard the question right.
“What?”
“I asked if you could show me what your friend looks like.”
“Who? Baekhyun? Why?” He can feel something drop heavy into the pit of his stomach, likely his sanity. He should have never brought Baekhyun up. If Chanyeol and Baekhyun are separately annoying now, what kind of mental anguish would they cause him together?
“You said I would like him,” Chanyeol shrugs, “I wanna see if he’s hot.”
“And, if he’s not?” Kyungsoo asks before giving Chanyeol a judgmental gaze as he sips from his straw. He returns his glass to the table and crosses his arms. “What if he’s ugly, Chanyeol?”
“So, you’re saying he’s ugly then?”
Kyungsoo glares.
“You are such a piece of shit,” Kyungsoo says with a laugh. He takes his phone from his pocket and quickly navigates through his photos to find one of him and Baekhyun, strategically choosing to bypass the picture from the beach where Baekhyun is shirtless.
“That’s him.” He holds the phone out for Chanyeol to take and watches the facial journey going on behind the phone screen. “I can’t tell what’s going through your mind right now and I’m a little scared.”
“He’s like…” Chanyeol looks up, then back to the screen; he tilts his head. “He’s super hot.”
“Good to know.” Kyungsoo takes his phone back and places it on the table.
Chanyeol doesn’t ask a thing of Baekhyun’s personality, not what he likes, or dislikes, not what kind of person he is. The pretty face was simply enough for Chanyeol to ask Kyungsoo to arrange a date for them. Kyungsoo shudders at the thought.
“You’re really interested in going out on a date with someone you know absolutely nothing about?”
It takes less than a second for Chanyeol to shrug. “I’m exceptionally easy to please. Just put a cute guy with a flat kissable tummy in front of me and my eyes roll back.”
“You—” Kyungsoo just stares, caught off guard by such a shallow statement. “—Did you just say tummy?”
Kyungsoo gets up and does a weird little jog to the oven, pressing the button to turn the timer off. It may just be a frozen pizza, but it smells so good in his apartment he could cry. Now, if only Baekhyun would get his ass here on time for once so he could enjoy the pizza while it’s still hot.
They’ve had the punctuality talk a few times over the years, but Baekhyun always just waves Kyungsoo off, believing the world revolves around him so he’s not late, the rest of the world is just early. Kyungsoo hates his best friend so much, but something about him has been loveable enough to keep around for many, many years.
Once he’s got the pizza sitting on the stove, cut and ready to be eaten, he checks his phone. Baekhyun’s always had the habit of texting him something cute when he’s running late in hopes of forgiveness.
He reads the text, and the following string of heart emojis, and smiles to himself.
Baekhyun is the perfect balance of genuine and manipulative. Even when they first met as kids, he exceeded at getting his way. Whatever Baekhyun wanted, Baekhyun got. Always. The only exception was when he’d asked Kyungsoo out in middle school; he didn’t get exactly what he wanted that day, but he did get a best friend. Through high school, and graduating, and Kyungsoo moving to America for college, they’ve always remained long distance BFFs, as Baekhyun likes to say.
And still, when Baekhyun manages one of his extended vacations to the States, they hang out as if not separated for an extended period of time by an entire ocean and many miles.
He’s pulled out of his fond memories by obnoxious knocking.
As soon as the door swings open, the room is filled with too much noise and various layers of Baekhyun’s clothing, scattered across the floor. Kyungsoo can only sigh, and remind himself that he enjoys Baekhyun’s company.
“Why don’t we ever meet up at your house?” Kyungsoo asks, not bitter, but genuinely curious. He kicks Baekhyun’s shoes from the middle of the room toward the door against the wall, then follows him into the kitchen.
Baekhyun looks around then gives Kyungsoo a onceover before taking a slice of pizza from the stovetop. “Because, my dear best friend, I wouldn’t want to make you displeased with your own humble home after spending time in my glorious mansion.”
“Shut up.” Kyungsoo blinks, unamused, and Baekhyun laughs. “You’re so full of yourself.”
Baekhyun elbows Kyungsoo to get a smile out of him, and they make their way to the living room to begin their movie marathon.
Baekhyun hates scary movies. Always has. Always will. But he knows that this friendship is give and take, and since he’s usually taking, he gives Kyungsoo full reign of movie nights. A decision he’ll always deeply regret, but will never tell Kyungsoo about.
“You’re such a baby,” Kyungsoo laughs, throwing popcorn at Baekhyun who’s cowering behind the pillow on his lap. “This movie isn’t even that scary.”
Baekhyun jumps suddenly and gasps in fear, then gives Kyungsoo a deadly glare. “My other friends back home would never put me through this.”
“Well then,” Kyungsoo says as he throws and arm over Baekhyun’s shoulders, pulling him close against his side, “they aren’t very good friends, are they?”
“No, they’re not,” Baekhyun mumbles, squirming to get himself more comfortable. “Next time we should watch a Korean movie. Do you even remember Korean anymore?”
“Of course I do, you idiot,” Kyungsoo answers in perfect Korean.
Baekhyun shimmies his shoulders playfully. “It’s been so long, I almost forgot how sexy you sound speaking Korean.”
Kyungsoo shakes his head and nudges Baekhyun with his elbow. “Quit flirting and watch the movie.”
When the credits begin to roll, a work-related text from Chanyeol reminds Kyungsoo of the conversation they had over lunch days before. He side-eyes Baekhyun, wondering if he should ask. Curious if a potential relationship between the two would actually send him to an early grave. He chews his lip, deep in thought.
He likes Chanyeol. He’s a good guy. Well, good enough. Kind of a pervert, but so is Baekhyun. But, does good enough equal good enough for his best friend? He shakes his head; that’s not for him to decide, is it?
“Hey Baek?”
Baekhyun turns and instantly narrows his eyes. “Why are you nervous? What are you about to ask me?” His eyes light up and he clasps his hands together happily between himself and Kyungsoo. “Have you finally decided you’re gay and you’re going to ask me out?”
Kyungsoo grimaces. “Ew, oh god. Baekhyun, no.” He grins at Baekhyun’s exaggerated, fake pout. “What would you think of maybe going on a date with a friend of mine?”
With absolutely no pause to think, Baekhyun asks, “What’s he look like?”
“It’s amazing how similar you two are,” Kyungsoo says.
Like he’d done for Chanyeol, Kyungsoo scrolls through his photos. He decides on the picture of the two of them from the charity banquet their office held, when Chanyeol wore a suit and a hairstyle that had more than a few women twirling their hair at him.
Baekhyun has a hauntingly similar reaction to Chanyeol’s when he’d seen Baekhyun’s picture. He tilts his head and bites his lip, but unlike Chanyeol, Baekhyun hums in appreciation.
“He’s super hot.”
“That’s exactly what he said about you,” Kyungsoo shakes his head. “So weird.”
“How does he know what I look like?” Baekhyun asks, looking to Kyungsoo with a cautious gaze.
“I showed him a picture.”
Baekhyun nods. “I’ll do it.”
Kyungsoo is filled with a horrifying sense of impending dread; if they go out and things go well, his life might get so much more loud and annoying.
“And you don’t care that you both know nothing about each other?”
“I know what he looks like,” Baekhyun says as if that’s obvious, or normal. “Good enough for me.” He sticks his hand out and wiggles his fingers. “Give me your phone.”
Kyungsoo hands it over, his reluctance making it hard to let go. “Why?”
Baekhyun leans back and falls effortlessly into an alluring pose, snapping multiple pictures of himself. When he begins tapping at the screen, Kyungsoo realizes what he’s doing and regrets giving him the phone.
“If you’re gonna say something weird please make sure he knows it’s you.”
Baekhyun doesn’t say anything, but he grins, which only makes Kyungsoo more nervous.
“Oh god, what are you saying?”
“Relax,” Baekhyun says, tossing the phone back to Kyungsoo. “I behaved, you can read it.”
Kyungsoo: image
Kyungsoo: Take me somewhere nice. Saturday night.
He lets out a huge sigh of relief, having expected something so much worse than what Baekhyun sent.
“You have so little faith in me, I swear.”
“Baek, I do have faith in you. I just also know you really well.”
“Fair enough.”
Predictably, right around twenty minutes after the scheduled start of the date, Kyungsoo gets a call from Chanyeol.
“He’s late, isn’t he?”
There’s a short pause. “Yeah…how’d you know that?”
“It’s his defining characteristic. I don’t think Baekhyun has ever been on time to any plans we’ve made for the last ten years.”
“That’s—”
“Annoying?” Kyungsoo interrupts.
“I was gonna say concerning, but yeah, pretty much.”
Kyungsoo hears some quick shuffling on the other end and a soft ‘oh shit’.
“Gotta go, he just walked in. And I take back what I said, he looks so good I don’t care that he’s late.”
The call ends and Kyungsoo sits back, relaxing into the couch. He fears for what’s going to happen in the next few hours, and what stories are going to come along with it.
“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun says, extending a dainty hand for the seated man to take. “Nice to meet you.”
He likes the way Baekhyun says his name. He also likes the way he looks, and how small his hands are, and how nicely he’s dressed. The blond hair also looks damn good on him.
“Nice to meet you too. You look really good.”
Baekhyun smirks; it’s teasing and it’s playful, and sends an excited thrill down Chanyeol’s spine.
“You’re a charmer, huh?”
It’s been less than a minute and the sexual tension between them is threatening to turn into a public indecency charge.
“If I wasn’t so hungry, I’d say we could just forget about dinner and head to your place right now.”
Chanyeol mimics the heated gaze Baekhyun is giving him, contemplating paying for the drink he’d had while waiting and getting the fuck out of here.
Unfortunately, he’s never given the opportunity.
Baekhyun’s phone on the table begins ringing and he whines. “I’m sorry, it’s work. Just give me a sec.” He answers and begins speaking in rapid Korean.
It’s impressive and Chanyeol finds himself smiling as he watches. He regrets letting himself forget the language as a young kid; he was sick of kids in school making fun of his accent and thought only speaking English would improve it. Every time Kyungsoo speaks with their boss in Korean he kicks himself. What a stupid kid he was. And, Kyungsoo makes more than him at work now because he’s bilingual and can translate with tons of clients. Stupid, stupid kid.
Ten minutes into this work call, the foreign language becomes less impressive and more annoying. He’s had to tell the waiter to come back to them twice now. It’s not just annoying, it’s downright rude and Chanyeol contemplates just getting up and leaving.
But, Baekhyun gives him an apologetic smile and he decides to stay. How much longer can this call last?
Twenty minutes later finds Chanyeol sitting alone at the table, watching Baekhyun pace back and forth on the sidewalk in front of the large window at the front of the building. He’s trying to determine if Baekhyun looks angry, or if he’s just always that animated when he speaks on the phone.
He’s long since lost interest in the date; he’d made that decision when Baekhyun excused himself from the table. He doesn’t care how good Baekhyun looked as he walked away, being left alone for this long on a first date just pisses him off.
So, when Baekhyun finally saunters back in and takes his seat, Chanyeol’s in a mood. He doesn’t necessarily want to be in a mood, but that’s just where he’s at. He gives half of a smile to Baekhyun’s apology, which seems sincere, but he can’t bring himself to care.
“So, did you like the picture I sent you?” Baekhyun picks at the bread at the center of the table, grinning happily at his date.
“Yeah.”
“Good! Kyungsoo says I come on too strong, but I think it’s best to weed out the ones who can’t handle my big personality right away.”
It’s such a shame that Chanyeol would think that was cute and funny, if it had only been said thirty minutes ago, before the date was ruined for him.
“Probably a good idea,” he answers, and the waiter returns to finally take their orders.
Chanyeol orders something that he knows will be quick to eat. He can only hope the food comes out fast so he can get home and forget about the night.
Unfortunately, Baekhyun eats slowly and asks tons of questions. Chanyeol wonders if Baekhyun is oblivious to the fact that he’s not feeling it, or if he is aware, maybe he’s just a decent actor, trying to save them both some awkwardness.
A thousand questions later, Baekhyun takes the last bite of his linguini and Chanyeol internally sighs in relief. He can finally make his swift exit and then never think about Baekhyun again.
They give each other an awkward hug in front of the restaurant. Chanyeol pauses for a second, wondering if he should still give him a kiss anyway, but decides against it. A look that comes off as relief passes through Baekhyun’s eyes; Chanyeol would almost be offended if he didn’t feel exactly the same way.
The phone rings and Kyungsoo puts his money on it being Baekhyun; he knows Chanyeol will wait until tomorrow at work to give him all the likely inappropriate details he doesn’t want to hear. But Baekhyun, oh he’ll want to get it all out immediately.
“Your friend, is the most boring person I have ever met,” Baekhyun says with a huff. “How dare you set me up with him?”
Not what he was expecting. Sure, he’s not the biggest fan of Chanyeol most days, but he would never label him as boring. He’s surprised, honestly.
“What happened?”
“He was just…bland. Like, I thought it was gonna be a good date at first but, oh my god, by the end of it I wasn’t even chewing my food before swallowing just so I could get out of there faster.”
“I don’t understand how that’s possible,” Kyungsoo says, genuinely confused.
“Linguini, you just kinda slurp it down real quick.”
“Not the food, idiot. I don’t understand how Chanyeol was boring. He’s the second most obnoxious person I know.”
“Who’s the first?” The silence answers his question. “Anyway, I just wanted to call and let you know I forbid you to ever make me date one of your friends again.”
“Noted.”
Kyungsoo sets his phone on the table and scratches at his head, thoroughly dumbfounded by this. He thought for sure that he was going to be listening to recaps of wild sex against his will at work tomorrow. What happened?
He narrows his eyes.
What did Baekhyun do?
For the first time since Chanyeol was hired, Kyungsoo sits in his cubicle anxiously waiting for him to show up. He needs the other side of the story, and he knows Chanyeol is less likely to exaggerate than Baekhyun. He’ll get a more honest run down of last night.
“Your friend is the worst,” Chanyeol says immediately upon entering their cubicle space. “Last night, was the worst.”
“What happened?”
Chanyeol sets his bag down on his desk and sits in his chair, wheeling it around the wall to enter Kyungsoo’s personal space.
“The first two minutes were great! He offered to skip dinner and go back to my place.”
Kyungsoo nods, unphased, “Of course.”
“Then! Then he got a phone call that lasted a half hour while I sat at the table by myself listening to my stomach cry for food.”
“Ah,” Kyungsoo nods, “now I get it. You were in one of your moods.”
“Of course I was!” Chanyeol nearly yells. “Like, how important can work be that you leave a date alone for that long?”
Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows and does a little half-shrug. “If it makes you feel better, Baekhyun was as miserable as you.”
“Good,” Chanyeol grumbles, and then he wheels himself back to his own desk before he gets spotted by Jongin and yelled at.
Kyungsoo grins. “He said you were boring.”
Chanyeol pops up, hands gripping the dividing wall. “Boring?!” he shouts. “Me? Absolutely not.”
“That’s what he said. I actually think he said bland.”
“Well at least I didn’t leave him sitting alone for half the date. What a dick.”
Chanyeol sits back down with an angry huff, and Kyungsoo tries hard to hide his laughter. Those two are perfect for each other; it’s too bad the date went so poorly.
A week later, Kyungsoo is still hearing about the date. He thought that everyone could just agree it was terrible and then never talk about it again. But no, his two friends are the exact same person and both refuse to let it die.
He’s near ready to pull his hair out as he’s seated beside Baekhyun on his couch, listening to him call Chanyeol boring for at least the fifth time today. He should have just spent this rare weekday off home alone, enjoying the silence of his apartment. Why did he invite Baekhyun over?
But then, something interesting happens. He receives a frantic text from Chanyeol at work; he’s spilled coffee all over himself and is busy preparing for the most important meeting of his life in twenty minutes.
“Hey, Baek?” He grins. “Wanna go run an errand with me?”
They pull up in front of the building and the sight of Chanyeol standing on the sidewalk looking like a coffee soaked sad puppy is funny enough. But, Baekhyun’s dramatic reaction is even better.
“Is this some kind of sick joke?” He glares at Kyungsoo, real hard. “Why are you making me see the most boring man alive again?”
“Relax, you don’t have to talk to him. I’m just giving him this shirt.”
“Good,” Baekhyun childishly crosses his arms, “I don’t want to talk to him.”
“Good,” Kyungsoo says, “I don’t want you to talk to him either.”
Chanyeol rushes over to Kyungsoo’s window and snatches the shirt from his hands, thanking him a million times as he frantically unbuttons his soiled shirt and slips it off. He tosses it in through the window and slides the fresh, coffee stain free shirt over his head.
“You’re a life saver. I think Jongin would have killed me if I walked into the conference room covered in Starbucks.”
Baekhyun fights it so hard, but the small laughs slips out. He crosses his arms even harder and glares out his window, angry with himself, but a little tripped up over how good Chanyeol’s body looked when he took his shirt off.
Kyungsoo says bye and drives away, giving Baekhyun a quick glance. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”
“Do you—” Baekhyun sighs and lays his head back, letting his body go limp in the seat. “Do you think maybe I was a little too critical of him?” He can’t manage eye contact with Kyungsoo for more than a second. “Like, you think I should give him another chance?”
“You shallow little bitch,” Kyungsoo laughs in disbelief.
Baekhyun’s jaw drops, like he expects Kyungsoo to believe he’s actually offended. “It’s not my fault! No one should be allowed to have a body like that!”
Kyungsoo just shakes his head. “He told me he didn’t like you anyway, so it’s not really up to you.”
“Excuse me!?” His jaw drops in real offense now. “He didn’t like me? Me? I am hands down the most likable person to have ever graced this Earth.”
“And the most humble, can’t forget that.” Kyungsoo looks over and almost feels bad; Baekhyun has likely never heard that someone doesn’t like him, so he’s pouting. “He told me you were on the phone for most of the date. Kinda rude.”
“It was work!” Baekhyun whines in his defense. “You know I have to take those calls. I can’t help it.”
He actually does feel bad this time; Baekhyun looks legitimately upset. “Well, I know that, but he doesn’t understand how important work calls are for you.”
Baekhyun sighs and curls up in the seat, remaining silent for the rest of the drive back to Kyungsoo’s.
His entire life, his livelihood, revolves around people liking him. He’s charming, sweet, funny, cute. He’s Baekhyun, everyone likes him! He refuses to let this go, even if it is just one person. Even if Kyungsoo begged him to just drop it and move on.
He’s going to make Chanyeol like him.
Kyungsoo said something about what Chanyeol is attracted to in a guy before their date. He likes ‘em small. He likes ‘em sexy. He likes a narrow waist he can wrap his big hands around.
He possesses all of those qualities and checks them off as he stares at himself in his mirror, wearing nothing but a cute little pair of underwear. Phone in hand. This is a terrible idea; he can just hear Kyungsoo’s voice telling him that. He can hear about thirty different voices telling him that, but he doesn’t care.
But, he knows it’ll work.
Baekhyun gets what Baekhyun wants. And, he wants Chanyeol.
He dims the lights from the app on his phone and cycles through a few poses, trying to find the right mixture of sexy and playful, with maybe a splash of ‘don’t you wish you could fuck me?’.
What he settles on is something he deems tasteful enough to not be considered anything close to a nude. He keeps his face mostly obscured, showing only from just under his nose down. His fingers are in his mouth, which, hot. He crops it so that the picture cuts off above the waistband of his underwear, which are purposely slung low on his hips.
He stares at the picture for a long while, deciding not to add any filters, and sends it with little to no remorse.
If this doesn’t get Chanyeol’s attention, nothing will.
It’s suspiciously quiet in the office today. For some reason this bothers Kyungsoo. If he hadn’t seen Chanyeol walk in, he would think he wasn’t here. It’s been almost an hour and he hasn’t been annoyed yet.
Something bad is going to happen; he can feel it.
“So, I was thinking.”
Chanyeol’s sudden voice startles Kyungsoo. He looks up and Chanyeol is leaning over the cubicle wall staring down at him.
“Oh god, this can’t be good.”
“Shut up,” Chanyeol glares. “I was thinking, maybe I should give it another shot with Baekhyun. Like, maybe that was a super important work call, you know?”
“He sent you nudes, didn’t he?”
“What? No! I mean…he wasn’t naked or anything. There was no dick in this pic.”
“I hate both of you. I hate you two so much. Why—” He looks up and is cut short by the image of his best friend, shirtless, sucking his own fingers, illuminated on Chanyeol’s phone screen. “I will never be able to unsee that and I hope you burn in Hell for it.”
Chanyeol ignores the complaints, looking fully distraught. “I mean, come on, Soo. Like?” He zooms the image in, so that only Baekhyun’s fingers disappearing into his mouth are visible. “Just look at him?”
Kyungsoo keeps his eyes focused on his computer, some spreadsheet he’s suddenly very interested in working on. “Just so you know, I would literally rather die.”
“So fucking hot,” Chanyeol says, more to himself than anything. “I couldn’t even reply to him last night. He looks so good in this picture I actually felt too nervous to respond.”
“I’m not listening anymore. Please sit back down and never show me an undressed picture of my best friend again.” He looks up, eyes wide, at Chanyeol. “I am honestly begging you.”
Chanyeol is lying on his bed, shirt off, cozy pants on, and legs spread comfortably. His eyes are focused on the television in front of him while his mind wanders back and forth between Baekhyun’s lips and bellybutton. An image that will forever be memorialized in the pleasure center of his brain.
He shuffles around atop his blankets, restless, trying to make a decision.
Does he ignore Baekhyun’s pathetic, yet ultimately successful, attempt at seduction? Or, should he listen to his half-hard dick poking around the front of his sweats in search of Baekhyun’s assumedly talented tongue?
He raises his phone to give the photo one last look and curses under his breath. That boy is just too damn pretty to say no to.
Chanyeol: hey
Baekhyun: did I really leave you speechless for that long?
Baekhyun: was it the fingers or the tummy?
Chanyeol: a combination of things tbh
Baekhyun: yeah? like what? tell me
Chanyeol: I’ll show you. my place tonight at 8?
Baekhyun: send the address. see you then
The door opens on Baekhyun poised, confident and cool, hands on his hips and a determined look in his eyes.
Chanyeol scans his posture, top to bottom, then back up. Baekhyun is biting his lip now, hindering the cocky grin Chanyeol knows is there.
Unexpectedly, Baekhyun palms Chanyeol’s dick over his pants, uncaring of possible wandering eyes of nosy neighbors. He backs Chanyeol into his apartment like this and uses his shoulder to close the door behind himself.
“You have no idea what you’ve got yourself into,” Baekhyun speaks low, gives Chanyeol a careful squeeze.
Chanyeol just chuckles before slapping Baekhyun’s hand away and taking him by the waist to pull him close. Baekhyun is mistaken. He takes Baekhyun’s face in one hand and pushes his chin up to look into his eyes.
“Is that what you think?” he asks, grinning at the effect he knows he’s having. He leans in, let’s his lips just barely graze Baekhyun’s ear. “I will absolutely wreck you,” he whispers.
The lack of a response fills Chanyeol with pride; he’s bested Baekhyun at his own game and feels damn good about it. There’s no way he’s going to let this small boy win.
Baekhyun pushes out of Chanyeol’s grip and nearly falls back. He catches himself, though, and stands back to cross his arms. He smirks.
“You can try.”
Chanyeol quickly and effortlessly picks Baekhyun up, resting him securely around his hips before backing him up against the wall. He takes a moment to enjoy the excitement in Baekhyun’s eyes, like he knows he’s put himself in a position to get exactly what he wants out of this night.
They kiss, and it’s the sloppy kind of desperate lust. Where the room feels too hot for clothes, or physical contact, but touching is the only thing that will satisfy.
Baekhyun’s breath catches when his waist is squeezed. So, he tugs at Chanyeol’s hair, hoping he understands and that he’ll do it again.
He does, with both hands this time, as he’s nipping Baekhyun’s neck, and Baekhyun lets out a soft moan.
“Sensitive,” Chanyeol teases in a voice deep and labored.
Baekhyun breathes out a weak laugh and rests his head back on the wall. “This is hot and all, but how about you go toss me on the bed?”
He lands on the bed, bouncing softly on his butt, and gets the pleasure of watching Chanyeol pull his shirt up and off. His body is ridiculous, long and lean, muscled in all the right places. And then some. It makes Baekhyun’s mouth water.
He gives Chanyeol a cute little finger motion, beckoning him forward and onto the bed, where he situates between Baekhyun’s spread legs.
The kiss resumes, with Baekhyun’s fingers buried in Chanyeol’s hair; his other hand lies behind him on the bed, bracing himself so he doesn’t fall back because Chanyeol is eager and pushing hard against him.
When Chanyeol begins working on Baekhyun’s neck again, he opens his eyes, a little disappointed in how dim the room is. He was hoping to be nosy and sneak a peek at what kind of things Chanyeol has.
He can’t see much, however there’s no mistaking the clear silhouette of a guitar propped against the far wall in the corner. This, mixed with a sudden bite to his neck, sends an electric thrum through his body.
“Is that a guitar in the corner,” Baekhyun asks, and Chanyeol stills abruptly.
Chanyeol lifts his head slowly, keeping his lips attached to Baekhyun’s skin for as long as possible. “Are you serious right now?” he asks, amused at the sudden shift in attention.
Baekhyun sits up ever so slightly, enough to put him eyelevel with Chanyeol. “Well, is it?”
With a sigh, Chanyeol sits back on his calves, still perched between Baekhyun’s legs. Legs he can’t stop staring at. Thighs he really wants to suck on.
“Yeah. Yeah it is.” He peeks over toward the corner in question, taking a quick inventory of his instruments. “I have a piano, too.”
“Can you play it?”
“No, I just spent three grand on an instrument for the ambiance it gives the room.” He leans over and flips the switch for the light on his bedside table. “Of course I can play it. What kind of question is that?”
Baekhyun sneers. “Okay, so I don’t appreciate the sarcasm, but you revealing to me that you can play piano just turned me on in ways I didn’t know were possible.”
“You’re so weird,” Chanyeol comments as Baekhyun stands and strolls over to take a seat on the small bench. “Please don’t break my piano.”
Baekhyun runs his fingers gently over the keys and turns his head slowly, unamused, and scoffs. “As if.”
He dives into a beautiful, soft melody, slow and calming. Chanyeol watches his fingers move gracefully, with a practiced precision, enraptured by the delicate harmony Baekhyun hums along.
“That’s really pretty,” he admits.
Baekhyun doesn’t look over, but he smiles, then shushes him. “Just listen,” he says, and Chanyeol does.
He sings then, and Chanyeol’s jaw drops; he’s never heard something so beautiful. Baekhyun’s voice is unbelievable, angelic.
Chanyeol can’t even understand what he’s saying; he doesn’t need to understand to feel the passion behind what Baekhyun is singing. And, when Baekhyun eventually stops, and turns to look at him, Chanyeol is speechless. Almost.
“Is that an original song?”
Baekhyun shrugs, “Something like that.”
Chanyeol grins now; he may not know everything Baekhyun just said, but a few lyrics were in English. “So, you write songs about crying?” he teases.
“You don’t speak Korean, do you?” Baekhyun asks with a goofy smile, switching his slow melody to something more upbeat.
“Not a word outside of my own name,” Chanyeol answers, “I kinda wish I did now, though.”
Baekhyun chuckles and stands. He steps up in front of Chanyeol and pushes him back so that he can seat himself over his legs.
“I’ll teach you,” he says as he walks his fingers up Chanyeol’s bare chest, stopping only to trace over his collarbone.
“Mmm,” Chanyeol hums, “not interested.”
“What are you interested in then?”
Chanyeol doesn’t miss the subtle change in tone, or the way Baekhyun shifts toward him slightly. He places his hands on Baekhyun’s thighs and slides them up to hold his hips, eyes fixed on where his shirt is tucked into the front of his jeans.
Without speaking his thoughts, he tugs at Baekhyun’s shirt, untucking it and pulling it up and over his head.
He lets his heavy breath out, slow and steady through his nose, not wanting Baekhyun to see how affected he is by simply taking his shirt off. He presses his palm flat over Baekhyun’s bellybutton, enjoying the way Baekhyun sighs pleasantly when he moves his hand to grip his waist.
“Your body is almost as pretty as your voice.”
Baekhyun gasps softly and closes his eyes as Chanyeol tickles at his skin. “That’s such a cheesy compliment,” he teases, then bites into his bottom lip. “Give me another one.”
Chanyeol kisses the center of Baekhyun’s chest, then his neck; he takes Baekhyun by the hair at the back of his head and kisses him hard on the lips.
“You look hot playing piano.”
Baekhyun leans in for another quick kiss. “One more,” he whispers against Chanyeol’s lips.
“You have the nicest smile—” He lifts Baekhyun’s hand to his mouth so that he can kiss his fingertips. “—and fingers I’ve ever seen.”
Baekhyun giggles at this and presses his fingers into Chanyeol’s mouth. “You’re gonna fuck around and get yourself a car.”
As much as he enjoys the fingers in his mouth, Chanyeol leans back and makes a face. “Yeah right, you’re gonna buy me a car?” He laughs. “You couldn’t afford the car I’d want.”
Baekhyun smirks. “Next time, let’s do this at my house.” He crawls off of Chanyeol’s lap and lays himself down on the bed. “Now fuck me.”
“Absolutely.”
Kyungsoo walks by Chanyeol sitting at his desk with one headphone in, and stops. He takes a step back and swing his brown lunch bag to hit him in the back of the head.
“What was that for?”
“Just thought I’d let you know that your little sex buddy is here.”
“Baekhyun?” He takes his headphone from his ear and leans forward, looking around.
“You asked that like you’ve had sex with more than one person in the last week.”
Chanyeol ignores the small jab. “Why is he here? Where is he?”
“Someone’s excited,” Kyungsoo laughs. “I forgot my lunch today so he brought it for me. And, I believe the last time I saw him, he was standing in Jongin’s doorway flirting with him.”
Chanyeol doesn’t say anything, just gets up and rushes off in the direction of the boss’s office.
He hears Baekhyun’s laugh before he sees him. Just as Kyungsoo said, Baekhyun is in Jongin’s doorway leaning against the frame with one hand on his hip. He watches Baekhyun wave his hand around, then throw his head back and laugh.
He stops before actually approaching the door, because Baekhyun steps back to allow Jongin to exit his office. Baekhyun laughs once again, something Jongin said in his perfectly fluent Korean must have been funny. Then Jongin grabs at Baekhyun’s bicep, holding his hand there for a moment as he grins in a suspiciously flirtatious way.
Jongin looks over and crosses his arm. “Did you need something Chanyeol?”
“Uh,” is all he manages to get out of his mouth.
“Well, back to your desk then,” Jongin says with a dismissive wave of his hand. “Nice to meet you,” he says to Baekhyun, “You’re welcome back here anytime.”
Jongin finally walks away and Baekhyun skips happily over to Chanyeol. “You heard the boss, back to your desk, Chanyeol.” The sneer Chanyeol gives him makes him laugh.
“I can’t believe you. I’ve been flirting with that man for a year and he hates me. But you talk to him for two minutes and he’s looking at you like he wants to swallow you.”
“I have that effect on people.” He shrugs cutely, “It’s a gift.”
“Teach me,” Chanyeol says as he sits in his desk chair.
Baekhyun hops up onto the desk and shakes his head. “I can’t. You’re either born with it or you’re not.”
“Are you saying I’m not charming?”
Baekhyun giggles and Kyungsoo lets out a big sigh from behind the wall.
“Hearing you giggle like that is so disturbing. Please stop.”
Baekhyun slaps at Chanyeol’s arm and raises his eyebrows at him, happy that Chanyeol seems to be thinking the same as him.
“Oh, you were very charming the other night in your apartment. I could barely keep my hands off you.”
Kyungsoo groans in misery; Chanyeol and Baekhyun share a smile, enjoying torturing their mutual friend.
Baekhyun places his foot on Chanyeol’s knee and spins his chair slowly left and right. “You wanna come over tonight after work? Charm me a little more?”
“Definitely.”
Kyungsoo hears them kiss, and another awful giggle. He’s ready to put his fingers in his ears to block out the sound, but Baekhyun’s face pops up with a bright smile.
“Enjoy your lunch, Soo!”
“That’s not likely.”
Baekhyun rolls his eyes and steps out of Chanyeol’s cubicle, but not before yelping from the slap Chanyeol lands on his ass. He closes in on Kyungsoo and leans down to wrap his arms around him from behind.
“Always remember that you’re the one who introduced us,” he whispers, then places a kiss to Kyungsoo’s temple before waving goodbye to Chanyeol and exiting the office.
“What have I done?”
When the doorbell rings, Baekhyun pauses his music and grabs a towel to wipe his sweat. Either Chanyeol is really early, or he lost track of time. There’s nothing like sweating profusely for two hours and not having enough time to take a shower before you have sex.
He’s still a little out of breath when he opens the door; he imagines his cheeks are probably a little red, and his hair must be a mess.
But, Chanyeol seems to not notice any of that. He’s stood frozen in the doorway with wide, disbelieving eyes.
“Come in,” Baekhyun says with a laugh, stepping back to let Chanyeol take a cautious step forward, eyes roaming quickly. “You okay?”
Chanyeol spins a circle, taking in every inch of the large, beautifully decorated room, and stops facing Baekhyun. “You have…two Audis in your driveway.”
“Yes.” He nods and holds his hands out, offering to take Chanyeol’s jacket. “I also have a BMW in the garage,” he says while he hangs the jacket in the closet. “But, I don’t drive it often.”
Chanyeol stares at Baekhyun’s smiling face for a time, trying to process what’s happening. So, Baekhyun has a giant mansion, and multiple expensive luxury cars. He’s filthy rich, it’s no big deal. He can handle this news calmly.
“What the hell do you do for a living?” he asks, still in shock, voice coming out much too loud.
Baekhyun bites his lip to hide a smirk and comes over to pinch Chanyeol’s cheek. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
“I would,” Chanyeol says as he lets Baekhyun take him by the hand, leading him down a hallway, “I really would.”
With little exaggeration, Chanyeol assumes Baekhyun’s bedroom must be at least the size of his entire apartment. He stops gawking at everything only because Baekhyun suddenly beginning to strip his clothes off demands all of his attention. Still, he’d be lying if he said he’d almost rather go see the rest of the house. And the BMW in the garage.
Baekhyun slides his underwear down and sits on the bed, leaning back on his arms, and all thoughts of anything but that body leave Chanyeol’s mind.
“Ahh,” Baekhyun moans, cheek pressed into his pillow as Chanyeol fucks him from behind. “God. Oh, you’re so good at this.”
“Lawyer?”
Baekhyun chuckles then gasps at a sudden jolt of pleasure. Chanyeol has been trying to guess what he does. He hasn’t even gotten close, but it’s entertaining hearing every job Chanyeol thinks he’s capable of performing.
“No way,” Baekhyun whispers. He groans and gets up on his elbows so that he can push back into Chanyeol. “I’m not smart enough for law school.”
Baekhyun drops down onto Chanyeol’s lap and his head drops back. If his arms weren’t around Chanyeol’s neck, he’d fall backward off the bed. He leans forward to kiss Chanyeol, but moans instead when a hand suddenly wraps around his dick.
“Are you like, one of those stock market geniuses?”
“Oh god,” he moans. “No, I’m not.” Baekhyun closes his eyes and whines, “Fuck, I’m gonna come.”
Chanyeol is looking down at Baekhyun on his knees, eyes closed, head bobbing quickly like a pro. He looks so good sucking dick it should be one of the seven deadly sins. He grips the back of Baekhyun’s head and groans as he comes down Baekhyun’s throat.
“You gotta be a porn star, right?”
Baekhyun licks his lips, then wipes his mouth with the back of his hand before standing to shake his head at Chanyeol. “I take that as a compliment, so thank you. But no, I’m not.” He tiptoes to peck Chanyeol’s lips and motions for him to follow him.
Once again, Chanyeol is awed. The bathroom is gorgeous and impressive, with a bathtub that he thinks he’d actually be able to fit his legs in.
“I need to shower. You can join me, or you can sit on the tub and chat while you wait.”
Chanyeol looks at the shower, just a large open cutout of the wall with multiple showerheads in the ceiling at different angles. No curtain like in his modest apartment, but there is a clear glass wall.
“I think I’d like to watch,” Chanyeol says, taking a seat on the edge of the tub.
“Suit yourself.”
He decides he’d made the right decision right around the time Baekhyun begins lathering shampoo into his hair. It shouldn’t be as seductive as it is; he’s just washing his hair, but something about it is so effortlessly sexy.
“So, are you gonna tell me what you do?” Chanyeol asks.
Baekhyun finishes rinsing out his hair and turns to smile at Chanyeol. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
Chanyeol gets up and moves closer, choosing to lean against the glass wall of the shower. The steam rising up all around Baekhyun, mixed with the water running down his body does something to Chanyeol. He’s not sure what, but he can feel it, whatever it is, prickling just under his skin.
“Try me,” he says, brushing some of Baekhyun’s wet bangs out of his eyes.
The shower turns off and Baekhyun steps out, wrapping himself in a towel and making his way to the mirror. He begins using various products on his face, and some in his hair. All the while staring at Chanyeol’s reflection in the mirror.
“I’m a famous musician in Korea.”
Chanyeol smiles wide, holding back a laugh. “Yeah right, you’re fucking with me.” Baekhyun is silent and Chanyeol’s smile is replaced with a serious look. “There’s no way Kyungsoo’s best friend is a famous person.”
Baekhyun shrugs, “Google me if you don’t believe me.”
Chanyeol pulls his phone out with determination. “What’s your last name?”
“You won’t need it,” Baekhyun says with a cocky smirk that grows as Chanyeol taps on his screen and his eyes inevitably bulge and his jaw drops.
“No way. No fucking way am I sleeping with—” He scrolls, looks up at Baekhyun, then scrolls more. “—The highest selling solo artist of the year.”
Baekhyun just raises his eyebrows. “I told you, I’m a big deal in Korea.”
“Why are you here then, instead of there?”
“You could call this a vacation home I guess. It’s where I stay when I come to visit Kyungsoo.” He gives Chanyeol a pat on the cheek because he looks like he’s going to faint. “Plus, I like it here. Not as many people recognize me when I go out. It’s nice not being followed around by cameras and screaming girls.”
“So, this is you?” Chanyeol says, holding his phone up to show Baekhyun a picture of himself.
“Yep.”
“And, this?” he shows a different picture.
“Yeah, also me. That one’s from a magazine spread I did.”
Chanyeol runs a hand through his hair, still finding this hard to believe, even if he is looking through pages of proof on google images.
“You wanna go watch one of my music videos?”
Chanyeol looks up from his phone and blinks stupidly at Baekhyun. “Music videos?”
“Of course,” Baekhyun says as he loops his arm around Chanyeol’s. He begins dragging Chanyeol out of the bathroom. “C’mon, it’ll be fun!”
“I think I’m in shock.”
“It’s okay, lots of people are when they meet me.”
“Yeah, but how many of them meet you after having sex with you?”
Baekhyun just laughs.
Finding out you’ve had sex with someone you didn’t know was ridiculously famous really fucks with a person, Chanyeol learns. He tosses and turns all night, unable to sleep, because he keeps finding himself opening the browser on his phone and searching Baekhyun’s name.
He’s learned so much about him, he feels like a stalker. He knows his height, his birthday, his favorite movies. He even knows his weight, which he thinks is a weird thing to be public information.
By 4am, he’s watched every one of Baekhyun’s music videos, a couple live performances, and even a subtitled interview just because he looked really good in it.
And still, he can’t believe it.
How has Kyungsoo never mentioned this to him? If his best friend was famous, everyone he ever met in his life would know about it.
He puts his pillow over his head and screams to let go of some of his restlessness. Then he grabs his phone and watches Baekhyun’s latest music video again because the song is sexy and so is Baekhyun.
He’s early to work in the morning, because by the time his alarm went off, he was already up and drinking coffee. He never went to sleep, actually. His mind was too busy racing with thoughts of Baekhyun for that.
Kyungsoo stops behind him, curious as to why he’s on time for work.
“You’re always late. Why are you here before me?”
“Didn’t sleep,” Chanyeol says, and he sounds rough. He knows he does.
“Up all night with Baekhyun?”
Chanyeol sits up and grimaces. “You could say that.”
Kyungsoo doesn’t push; he can tell Chanyeol isn’t in the most cheerful of moods. He decides to just sit at his desk and wait for Chanyeol to come to him with whatever it is that’s on his mind, that obviously has to do with Baekhyun.
He’s surprised that it only takes approximately thirty seconds. Chanyeol swoops around the wall and bumps their chairs together.
“How have you never mentioned to me that you’re best friends with like the most famous person in Korea?”
Kyungsoo hides his shock well. He’s never known Baekhyun to tell anyone he’s ever been even remotely interested in about him being a musician. That’s something he tends to keep to himself to assure people like him for more than just his money or networking potential.
“Because,” Kyungsoo answers, “I’ve known him since we were both eight and him being famous is irrelevant to me.”
“Irrelevant or not, that’s like the single coolest thing about you. That’s what you should lead with when you introduce yourself to new people.” He reaches his hand out to mime a handshake. “Nice to meet you too, my best friend is gorgeous and also famous.”
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and returns to his typing. Chanyeol, for once, takes the hint and returns to his desk in silence.
But, the quiet only lasts a short while. However, this time, it’s Kyungsoo that breaks the silence.
“I assume things between you two are going well?”
He holds his breath, nervous for the answer. He knows Baekhyun would never divulge the most personal part of his life to just anyone.
“If by well, you mean are we having phenomenal sex, then yeah. Things are going well.”
Kyungsoo wheels himself over into Chanyeol’s cubicle with a serious glare. “That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Chanyeol doesn’t answer right away and it makes Kyungsoo nervous. “How much did he tell you about what he does?”
“He showed me a music video that has like sixty million views.” He watches Kyungsoo nod, like he’s waiting for him to say more. “Then I stayed up all night looking at google search results. He’s famous. Like…super famous, Soo.”
“Okay.” He takes a moment to think about what he wants to say next. Obviously Baekhyun feels comfortable enough with Chanyeol to let him into a part of his life he doesn’t normally tell people about. “So, I just want you to know that I know him better than anyone. More than his psychotic fans that stalk him, or his other famous friends. I know the Baekhyun from before all the fortune and fame.”
“You sound like you’re his mother.”
“I’m just trying to say that Baekhyun seems much more carefree than he really is. He likes to come off as a free spirit, but he’s actually a very caring and sentimental person with a big heart and a hell of a fear of being hurt.”
He can’t tell how Chanyeol is taking this information, or if he’s even understanding what he’s trying to say.
“Don’t hurt him, Chanyeol,” Kyungsoo states bluntly. “He wouldn’t have told you about being famous if he didn’t care about or trust you.”
“Why do you assume I’m going to hurt him? I actually like him,” he grins, “now that I understand why his work call on our first date was so important.”
Kyungsoo frowns, not caring for the way Chanyeol is trying to turn this into a joke. “And, when he goes back to Korea in a month, and doesn’t come back for a year, will you still like him?” Chanyeol doesn’t respond. “When he still wants to text you between shoots on set but it’s 3am here, are you going to be able to respond?”
He doesn’t want to admit that he hasn’t even given thought to Baekhyun going back home. He knows he has an entire life back in Korea, one much more glamorous and involved than anything here.
“I don’t know,” Chanyeol answers honestly. “I haven’t thought about it.”
“Yeah, but I guarantee Baekhyun has.” He presses his lips into a thin line and grabs Chanyeol’s shoulder. “Just be good to him, okay?”
The talk with Kyungsoo changes Chanyeol. Every minute he spends with Baekhyun, which are many, has him counting down to when his flight home leaves. It kind of sucks, but he enjoys the urgency that Baekhyun’s eventual departure gives him to spend as much time as he can with him.
Every day after work, Chanyeol drives to Baekhyun’s and they spend the day, and often the nights, together. Sometimes they go out, but he quickly realizes Baekhyun is a homebody that prefers to stay in, so they watch a lot of movies together in bed.
He likes the way Baekhyun leans his head on his shoulder when he gets sleepy, and his tiny snores when he eventually drifts off. Sometimes, he talks in his sleep in Korean; Chanyeol tries to google translate it but doesn’t know how to spell anything.
On a Saturday morning, after no sleep the night before, Baekhyun attempts teaching Chanyeol the choreography for one of his songs, and fails miserably. His arms and legs won’t cooperate, and he’s so uncoordinated it’s embarrassing. But, Baekhyun’s smile is so big the entire time he doesn’t mind making a fool of himself. He just likes the sound of Baekhyun’s laughter, especially if he’s the reason behind it.
His favorite part of spending time with Baekhyun is when he gets to listen to him sing. He could sit and listen for hours, perfectly content. Sometimes he’ll play the piano while Baekhyun squeezes onto the bench beside him and sings along. Or, he’ll sing while they’re in the shower together, or while he’s taking a bath as Chanyeol is getting ready for work in front of the mirror.
It doesn’t matter where they are, or what they’re doing, Baekhyun can sing to him whenever he pleases.
They haven’t spoken in at least an hour, both tapping happily away at their phones while they sit curled up on the couch. The food they ordered for dinner is taking much too long to arrive, and Baekhyun has sighed over his growling stomach more than once.
“Hey Baek?”
Baekhyun tips his head back to look up at Chanyeol with a wide grin. “’Baek’? We’re using cute little nick names now?”
“Shut up,” Chanyeol rolls his eyes. He scrolls on his phone for a second, then turns it to show Baekhyun a recent picture of himself. “Do you by chance still have that shirt and those glasses?”
Baekhyun sits up and makes a face, curious as to where Chanyeol is going with this. “I mean…yeah, why?”
“Good,” Chanyeol says, running his hand through Baekhyun’s messy hair, “you look ridiculously hot in this picture and I’d like the pleasure of ripping that shirt off of you.”
He laughs loud at Chanyeol’s forwardness, but can’t deny that it would be incredibly sexy to have a button up torn from his body. He bites into his lip as he smiles and his silence goes on long enough for Chanyeol to question what he’s thinking.
“How often do you google pictures of me?”
Chanyeol scoffs, pretending to be offended. “It’s not my fault there’s like a million hot as fuck pictures of you online. What do you expect?”
Baekhyun closes his eyes and shrugs, preparing to be smug. “I expect nothing less than the guy I’m sleeping with to drool over pictures of me.” He opens one eye now to peek at Chanyeol’s reaction and laughs at his unamused expression.
“You’re such a little Baekhyun fanboy,” he teases, throwing a leg over Chanyeol’s lap to straddle him. “You’re a lucky one, though.”
“Yeah, why’s that?” Chanyeol asks in a lowered voice, aware of where this interaction is heading.
“Because,” Baekhyun sits up and pulls his shirt off, “all the other fanboys have pictures, but you get to drool over the real thing.”
“You’re so full of yourself,” Chanyeol says just before giving Baekhyun a quick kiss. He raises his phone to look at the picture of Baekhyun one more time. “But, damn do you have a reason to be.” He whistles at the picture, then tosses his phone aside to properly ravage the real thing sitting in his lap.
“Hey Yeol, guess what?”
Chanyeol tips his head down to grin at Baekhyun whose head is lying comfortably on his lap. “What?”
He reaches up and squishes Chanyeol’s cheeks with both hands. “I really like you.”
The way Baekhyun’s face turns pink mesmerizes Chanyeol for a moment, and Baekhyun worries he shouldn’t have said that.
But, before he can begin backtracking, Chanyeol squishes his cheeks back and leans down to kiss his pursed lips. “I really like you too.”
“Good,” Baekhyun says with a bashful smile.
Chanyeol pushes Baekhyun up off his lap by the shoulders and turns him to lie flat on the couch. He crawls over him, using his knee to spread Baekhyun’s legs while he pins his hands to the cushion beside his head.
“Have I told you that you’re really fucking cute?”
Baekhyun squirms, pleased with their current position. “No, but you’re welcome to any time.” He bends his knee to slide it slowly up Chanyeol’s inner thigh, smirking when he hears the telltale gasp.
“You think you’re in control, but you’re not.”
Chanyeol huffs, amazed by Baekhyun’s sass. “I have you pinned to the couch, how am I not in control?”
Baekhyun jams his knee further between Chanyeol’s legs, shocking him enough to loosen his grip. Baekhyun quickly wriggles free and, like a snake, wraps himself around Chanyeol from behind and pulls them both off of the couch onto the floor.
They wrestle, and Baekhyun quickly finds he’s nowhere near as strong as Chanyeol. Every time he thinks he’s got the upper hand, Chanyeol just shakes him off with ease before pinning him down yet again, and grinning with pride.
“We should go out tonight.”
This takes Chanyeol by surprise; other than their first date, they’ve only been out together once. When Baekhyun insisted on cooking dinner, but realized halfway through he didn’t have the ingredients he needed. They went for a late night pizza in some poorly lit, ghost town of a restaurant.
“Where do you want to go?”
Baekhyun sits up and crawls to sit over Chanyeol’s legs, resting his forearms on Chanyeol’s shoulders so he can play with the hair at the back of his head. He sighs.
“I don’t know. Somewhere fun.” His eyes light up and he gasps. “Let’s call Kyungsoo and all go out together!”
The bar they end up at is much more lively than all of them were expecting when they briefly read the reviews of the place online. Baekhyun doesn’t seem to mind; he’s well-acquainted with crowds. But, Kyungsoo looks two seconds from punching someone if one more drunk girl bumps into him and causes any more of his drink to slosh out of his glass.
They eventually find a table; Baekhyun’s keen eye spots a group of people pulling jackets on and nearly sprint across the room to claim the empty space for his small group.
Chanyeol scoots into the booth first, watching Baekhyun dance to the song playing beside the table for a moment before sliding in next to him, keeping almost a full cushion of space between them.
Kyungsoo just looks miserable, and it’s funny to see anger on the face of someone who has a pink light flashing on his face along with the bassline.
“You really hate bars?” Chanyeol asks; his grin only furthering Kyungsoo’s annoyance.
“I hate crowded places.”
“I think it’s fun!” Baekhyun shouts. He puts his hand on Chanyeol’s knee under the table, but quickly removes it to wrap both hands around his glass. “This place is cool!”
The next twenty minutes is spent trying to convince Kyungsoo to go dance, unsuccessfully. Baekhyun pouts through his entire next drink, and Chanyeol just wants to take him home and kiss the pout off his lips.
He grasps Baekhyun’s thigh and waits for him to look over, then goes in for a kiss.
A sudden shout startles everyone at the table.
There’s a girl standing beside them, absolutely starstruck, muttering something as she shoves her phone into Baekhyun’s hands.
Chanyeol scoots back, trying to lean away from the selfie Baekhyun has been forced into, not wanting to show up in the background and ruin the girl’s picture.
Baekhyun snaps the photo and talks excitedly with the girl for a minute, giving her a quick hug before she skips off, disappearing into the crowded dancefloor.
“That was so weird,” Chanyeol says.
Kyungsoo shrugs, “You should see what it’s like in Korea. Those girls are wild.”
“Hey,” Baekhyun whines, “I love meeting my fans! You guys are so mean.”
Chanyeol places his hand on the space between himself and Baekhyun, noticing he’s scooted further away now. He doesn’t say anything, but he understands.
“I’m gonna go to the bathroom and get another drink,” Baekhyun announces, asking if anyone else wants anything. They both says no, and he excuses himself from the table.
“I don’t know what you did to him,” Kyungsoo says, leaning in close like he’s telling a secret, “but I’ve never seen him so happy.” He takes a sip of his beer and laughs. “And, that’s saying a lot because he’s always happy.”
Chanyeol doesn’t know what to say so he just smiles into his glass as he takes a drink. He looks to his left in time to see Baekhyun exit the bathroom and approach the bar, turning his head and meeting Chanyeol’s eye.
They share a silent moment like that, gazing at each other from across the room. And then, Kyungsoo fakes a gag and ruins it.
“I’m happy for you guys, but it’s so gross.”
“You’re just jealous,” Chanyeol says.
“Oh please, Baekhyun had a crush on me in middle school.” He takes a drink from his glass, giving Chanyeol a minute to let that information sink in. “I’m relieved, not jealous.”
Baekhyun returns to the table then, asking what he’d missed.
“You had a crush on Kyungsoo?”
Baekhyun throws his head back and groans. “Come on, Soo. It was so long ago, why do you always gotta bring it up?”
“Because it’s funny,” Kyungsoo says bluntly, “It’s so, very funny. I’m probably the only person ever to have rejected you.”
Baekhyun sighs dramatically, “And it still hurts.”
At 9am Chanyeol wakes up to the sound of his phone vibrating nonstop. He quickly leans over and grabs it just before it shakes itself right off of Baekhyun’s nightstand. No one ever texts or calls him, and it’s the weekend so he doubts anything work related is going down.
To his absolute horror and confusion, he looks at his phone to see that he has over four hundred notifications on his Instagram. He quickly sits upright and unlocks his phone to see what’s going on. He has like sixty followers and has no idea how this is possible.
“What’s wrong,” Baekhyun mumbles with a little pout, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes.
Chanyeol wants to appreciate how cute he looks so badly, but he’s too freaked out by the almost five hundred follow requests. He turns his phone toward Baekhyun, who’s shoulders slump and he mutters an apology.
“It’s because you were in the background of the picture I took with that girl last night,” Baekhyun says, arms wrapped around his legs that are pulled up to his chest. He’s pouting and Kyungsoo is sitting beside him with a hand on his back.
Chanyeol blinks, absolutely dumbfounded. “How the fuck did anyone figure out my name from half of my face in a picture of you?”
“Why do you think I have absolutely no social media?” Kyungsoo asks. “Baekhyun’s fans are scary sometimes.” He gives a quick glance over, hoping he didn’t hurt Baekhyun’s feelings. “One time a fan found a picture of us from high school and the next day people had my phone number.”
“I’m really sorry,” Baekhyun says, voice so small and weak it’s almost heartbreaking to hear.
Chanyeol moves from the chair to the empty spot beside Baekhyun and cups his cheek, tells him he has nothing to be sorry for.
Kyungsoo can see that it’s time for him to leave, so he hugs Baekhyun and gives Chanyeol a look over his shoulder, knowing that he understands he’s telling him to take care of Baekhyun once he’s gone.
“There was a boy I kinda dated for a bit back home, Sehun—” Baekhyun says as soon as the door shuts behind Kyungsoo, “—and the same thing happened to him. All his social media blew up over night because someone took a picture of us together and posted it somewhere.” His face scrunches, a mix of anger and sadness. “We thought we were alone. We were alone. But, sometimes the fans, the bad ones, they follow me around.”
Chanyeol hates the sadness in Baekhyun’s eyes and wishes he could do something about it.
“It’s so hard to just have a personal life because of people like that. I’m sorry you’ve been dragged into this.”
“Hey,” Chanyeol says with a frown, “you don’t need to apologize. People should realize that just because you’re famous doesn’t mean you don’t deserve respect and privacy.” He watches Baekhyun sulk and begins to get angry. “Baek, all those people can go fuck themselves. Don’t be upset over this.”
“Sehun stopped talking to me the next day. He freaked out and blocked my number, or stopped replying. I don’t know.” He gazes at Chanyeol, eyes expressing that he’s worried he’ll do the same.
Chanyeol huffs, unsure if he’s amused or annoyed by this Sehun person. He’d sooner delete his social media than stop talking to Baekhyun. He grins then, and it only gets wider as he watches Baekhyun look to him in confusion.
“What are you doing?” Baekhyun asks, watching Chanyeol tap at his phone.
“Deleting my Instagram.”
“No! Don’t do that because of me,” Baekhyun whines, trying to swipe the phone from Chanyeol’s hands.
“Too late, already done,” he says with a proud smile.
Baekhyun sits still, looking absolutely miserable, mad at himself for letting this happen. He smiles suddenly, “You know, you could have just made it private.”
Chanyeol’s jaw drops a little and he blinks slowly.
“Stupid,” Baekhyun laughs, then laughs harder when Chanyeol joins in.
Chanyeol tackles Baekhyun and wraps his long limbs around his entire body, crushing him into the couch and tickling his sides. “You’re lucky you’re so fucking worth it.”
Baekhyun stops writhing and looks up into Chanyeol’s eyes, caught off guard by that admission. “You really think that?” he asks, staring up in amazement.
Chanyeol doesn’t speak, but the way he takes Baekhyun’s cheek and gently rubs his thumb over his lips is answer enough. He kisses him then, just a soft peck, then another, then he leans in and blows a raspberry on Baekhyun’s neck, causing him to howl with laughter and shove Chanyeol onto the floor.
“Hey! I just deleted my Instagram for you and you throw me on the floor? Rude.”
Baekhyun playfully slaps at Chanyeol’s cheeks and says something in Korean.
“I recognize that word,” Chanyeol says with excitement, “Kyungsoo calls me it sometimes.”
Baekhyun bites into his lip to try to hide his smirk as he pats the top of Chanyeol’s head, like he’s consoling a child. “I don’t doubt that one bit.” He stands, deciding he’s hungry, and begins walking to the kitchen, leaving Chanyeol behind on the floor.
“Well, aren’t you gonna tell me what it means?”
Baekhyun turns back from the doorway, a wicked grin on his lips. “What, and take away the language barrier upper hand I have? Not a chance.”
It’s been three weeks since Chanyeol met the rudest person he’s ever known, who quickly and without warning, became the sweetest, funniest, most caring person he’s ever spent an entire work day anxiously waiting to go see.
When he’s not with Baekhyun, he’s texting him, or facetiming so they can have lunch together. Kyungsoo teases him about it frequently, and even more frequently, he teases him about the many photos of Baekhyun he’s got saved on his phone.
His favorite will still always be the half-naked picture that no one will ever see but him. And, Kyungsoo; he did show it to Kyungsoo. But, that was before he knew Baekhyun was such a big deal.
He’s staring at that picture now, as he lies in the center of Baekhyun’s wonderfully large bed, tangled together with him and the sheets and blankets. The TV is on at low volume, buzzing in the background as they talk.
Chanyeol moves his arm so that Baekhyun can further nudge his way into his side.
It’s quite comfortable like this, with Baekhyun’s head on his chest, and his pretty fingers occasionally stroking his. The bed itself is comfortable, likely one of those extravagant, overpriced luxury mattresses. But, he doubts the way he feels now has anything to do with memory foam.
“When you were a kid, what did you wanna be when you grew up?” Baekhyun asks, eyes wide and filled with curiosity.
“Spider-Man.”
“What?” Baekhyun shouts, getting up onto his knees so he can pounce on Chanyeol. “That’s so cute!”
“Yeah?” Chanyeol reaches up to stroke Baekhyun’s jawline. “What did you wanna be?”
“Famous,” he answers with no hesitation.
They giggle into the brief kiss they share.
“Mission accomplished then.”
“What about you?” Baekhyun asks, tugging at Chanyeol’s shirt. “Are you secretly Spider-Man? Do you have a sexy little spandex costume on under this?”
Chanyeol laughs at the thought of his wildly long legs in spandex. “Sadly no, I’m just a manager at a shitty company.”
Baekhyun pouts, face scrunched like a little kid. It’s the cutest thing Chanyeol’s ever seen.
“That’s no good. You should do something you enjoy. Life is way too short for shitty jobs.”
“Yeah but, shitty jobs pay my bills.”
Baekhyun tips his head, just gazing down with a small smile on his lips. “Something better will come along. It always does.”
“That’s not true,” Chanyeol argues, and Baekhyun glares at him. “It’s easy for you to say that, look at the life you have.”
“There’s more to life than money,” Baekhyun shrugs. “Unexpected good things still happen to me.”
“Like what?” Chanyeol chuckles, having a hard time taking this seriously.
Baekhyun’s expression softens and his shoulders slump a little. “Like you,” he answers gently.
The response takes Chanyeol by surprise, hitting him like a punch to the gut that knocks the wind out of him. Baekhyun looks so sincere; Kyungsoo was right about him.
He thinks back to that conversation now, the ending in particular. He hasn’t given much thought, if any, about what’s going to happen when Baekhyun eventually has to return home. He knows now, as he’s staring up into Baekhyun’s happily curved eyes, that he absolutely will be there to respond to Baekhyun’s 3am texts.
He reaches up suddenly, taking Baekhyun by the cheek, and pulls him into a slow kiss. When he leans back, it’s just enough to look into his eyes.
“What happens to us when you go home?”
Baekhyun gives a cute, tight-lipped smile, and takes a deep breath. “That’s the worst part about the future. We don’t know until we get there.”
The answer isn’t good enough for either of them, but they leave it at that, returning to their original position on the bed as they let the television fill the silence until they fall asleep.
There’s no one beside him when he wakes in the middle of the night. Chanyeol reaches for his phone in the dark, curious of the time. 4am.
He slowly gets out of the bed, groggy and unsteady, but he sets off in search of Baekhyun.
“Hey,” Baekhyun says softly from the kitchen table. He’s sitting, sipping tea from a mug. “I couldn’t sleep.”
“Was I snoring?” Chanyeol asks as he takes the seat across from Baekhyun.
“No,” Baekhyun answers with a soft laugh, “just couldn’t sleep is all.”
They sit together in a comfortable silence, Baekhyun drinking his tea and Chanyeol watching him. He wonders what Baekhyun is thinking, or at least, what thoughts were keeping him up.
“You should come with me, you know,” Baekhyun says, looking down at where his fingers fiddle with the mug handle.
“Where?”
Baekhyun gives him a look, one that says he knows where.
“Baek, my entire life is here. I can’t just quit my job and move to another country where I don’t even speak the language.”
“I know,” Baekhyun pouts, “It was just a thought.”
“Besides, you have so much going on there, I would just be background noise to you.”
“That’s not true,” Baekhyun objects.
Chanyeol can’t help but smile at the sincerity in Baekhyun’s voice. But, he has to disagree. “Baek, I just can’t.”
Baekhyun bites his bottom lip, appearing dangerously close to crying. It takes a moment before he speaks again.
“I just feel like my life will be—” He stops himself to take in an unsteady breath. “I’m just gonna miss you, honestly.” He smiles, but it’s pained, like he knows heartbreak is inevitable. A tear rolls down his left cheek and he huffs in embarrassment and quickly swipes it away. “I’ve known you for three weeks, why the fuck am I crying?”
Chanyeol’s lost in stunned silence, trying to swallow down the heavy lump in his throat. He doesn’t like seeing Baekhyun with tears in his eyes, but he has to admit, he looks very pretty when he cries.
He reaches out for Baekhyun’s hand and laces their fingers together, giving him a reassuring smile. “You’re gonna go back and get busy with your famous life and forget all about me. I promise.” It’s meant to cheer Baekhyun up, but it really only hurts his own feelings.
Baekhyun stares right into Chanyeol’s eyes with the faint traces of a smile at the corners of his lips. “You have no idea how wrong you are.”
He scrolls past a picture, then stops and goes back up to it. Baekhyun’s hair is brown again; he’s just released a new album and people are going crazy online about it. Chanyeol smiles fondly and sets his phone down.
“Are you even listening to me?” Kyungsoo asks, eyebrow raised in annoyance.
“Absolutely, yes.” He wasn’t, not in the slightest.
“No you weren’t,” Kyungsoo sighs. “You’re never going to learn anything if you can’t even pay attention.”
“I’m trying,” Chanyeol whines in his newly acquired, slightly broken Korean.
“Your pronunciation is garbage,” is all Kyungsoo says, but then he laughs, and the lesson continues.
The days that followed Baekhyun’s departure proved to be a difficult adjustment for Chanyeol. More than once, he’d left work and gotten halfway to Baekhyun’s house, only to remember it’s now empty. There was no happy, smiling face there waiting for him.
He spent a lot of time alone once Baekhyun returned home, thinking of the time they spent together, missing it. Missing him. Waiting for texts he had little faith would come, but he remained hopeful.
When the text did finally come, he was sleeping and, by the time he woke and replied, Baekhyun was sleeping. And it went on like that for a few months, until it just stopped.
But, Chanyeol wasn’t sad. He expected it to happen, that Baekhyun would return to his luxurious life and carry on as he had before they’d met. He wasn’t sad, but there were moments when he could feel a longing to hear Baekhyun’s voice, or his laugh. Or feel his heavy breaths puff against his skin as he slept.
Time went on, and communication stayed silent, and Chanyeol slowly came to terms with having to leave Baekhyun in the past.
Until an email made its way to him nearly a year after Baekhyun left. Offering him a job.
He had to forward it to Kyungsoo to be sure. Google translate pretty much butchered it. But, with Kyungsoo’s fluency, he affirmed Chanyeol’s suspicion.
The famous Byun Baekhyun had not forgotten him.
And so, Chanyeol partnered with Kyungsoo to learn some survival Korean and booked a flight.
Chanyeol steps out of the airport shuttle and into the sounds of a bustling city, looking up in awe at the nighttime skyline of Seoul. The rain is pooling in the street, reflecting the light and adding to the beauty of the city.
He doesn’t have an umbrella, so he wants to get inside, but he does a slow spin to take it all in and stops when his eyes land on a person standing a few feet away in a hat and face mask. But, the posture is unmistakable.
He smiles and, though he can’t see it, he knows Baekhyun is smiling too. And in that moment, time stops and Chanyeol’s longing returns, more furious than ever.
“I’m sorry I took so long,” Baekhyun says, voice just loud enough to be heard over the falling rain.
Suddenly, the year spent apart feels like only a moment. Like the blink of an eye.
Chanyeol wants to hold Baekhyun, kiss him in ways that say it’s been much too long. But, he knows he can’t, not here on the sidewalk at least.
“Are you just gonna stand there, or are you gonna follow me up to my room?” Chanyeol asks, uncaring if his Korean is understandable or not.
Baekhyun laughs, shocked, pleased…it doesn’t matter. It’s like music to Chanyeol’s ears.
“Did you have Kyungsoo teach you how to say that just for this moment?” Baekhyun asks through breathy laughter, with happy tears lining his eyes. He just can’t believe that Chanyeol is really here.
“Of course I did,” Chanyeol shrugs.
He pushes through the heavy doors of the hotel, grinning to himself because he knows, just a few steps behind, Baekhyun follows. He doesn’t know what’s in store for the distant future, or how working as a producer in the music industry is going to go. But, one thing is for certain: he is absolutely in love with Baekhyun and couldn’t imagine being anywhere but here with him.