To Taste the Chlorine on Your Lips (is to Remove the Lipstick Stains on Mine)
Author: ANONYMOUS
Recipient: yonggamlove13
Title: To Taste the Chlorine on Your Lips (is to Remove the Lipstick Stains on Mine)
Word Counts: 4033
Side Pairing(s): Slight mentions of Kris/Luhan
Rating: PG-13
Warning(s): None
Disclaimer:The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended. Also, I used The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern as guide to writing this fic. I have and had no intention of copying it wholly.
Summary: Wherein Chanyeol takes over the kissing booth which has a very nice view of the dunk tank where Baekhyun works.
Author's Note: Considering that this is my first time ever to join a fic fest, I am absolutely nervous and worried about my writing, however, the prompts given to me were very delightful and made me very excited therefore I made sure I gave my all to writing this fic. I do hope my recipient likes it as much as I do--and hopefully like it more--despite not having met the preferred ratings huhu. Please have a wonderful read of it and thank you so much to BAE for the support and patience they've seriously given me! Much hugs~
The carnival arrives without warning.
There are no announcements about it; it literally just appeared on that hill outside the city of Seoul, maybe overnight. Its tents don’t go unnoticed because they practically loom over the smaller buildings, casting shadows and attracting curious stares and gossip. When near, one would see the black and white stripes that adorn the carnival tents which are situated behind its tall black iron gates. The ticket booth is with no attendant and the CLOSED sign is big hanging over the booth’s window.
The carnival starts at 6 AM and closes at 6 PM, quite strange for a carnival. Yet, at 5 AM, hundreds of people are lining up for tickets, waiting to see what’s inside.
The dunk tank arrives without warning.
It’s the first day of the carnival in Seoul and at 5 AM, the tall boy slips between the two adjacent tents which leads him to a roughly small area with a kissing booth on the center of it.
That was how he remembered it.
Now, the kissing booth is moved to the right side of the area and a new contraption is situated just meters away from it. It was a cold morning and the boy wrapped his jacket tighter to his body as he inspects the new attraction Junmyeon, the general manager of the carnival, must be telling him about the day before.
A glass tank filled with water was placed below a black and white platform that the boy guesses must retract whenever one would hit the center of the huge black and white target to its right. Wooden stairs and a small stage were also attached to the platform, providing its base. Around the attraction is a fence. On its pillars hung a sign the boy reads as ‘dunk tank’. The boy’s lips tighten into a purse.
Junmyeon arrives without warning.
One minute Chanyeol crashes on the grass behind his kissing booth to catch up on some sleep, and then the next minute he feels a presence before him and he opens his eyes to a perpetually smiling Junmyeon (which almost gave him a heart attack because damn Junmyeon, always popping out from nowhere looking like he’s going to kill someone) looking down at him.
“Get up, Chanyeol,” Junmyeon chirps quite happily at 5:30 AM. “Only 30 minutes to go before the carnival opens! Isn’t this so exciting?” Junmyeon laughs.
“We haven’t been back in Seoul for years now. It feels great to be home.” Behind Junmyeon towers Kris, his assistant who looked like he didn’t really care to be back home at all.
“We came to check on you and the new dunk tank.” Kris tells Chanyeol who’s now sitting up. “Junmyeon worried you’d freak out or something. We all know how you always wanted the whole area to yourself.”
“Yes, and I still do.” Chanyeol replies. “Kris, why is there a dunk tank? The last time we had a dunk tank it didn’t go well. Why bring it back now?”
Kris looks at Junmyeon. Junmyeon nods. “Well, that was under the supervision of the former general manager which, may I remind you, was three years ago. The carnival then was horrid. Luhan wasn’t sure if bringing the dunk tank back was a good idea but I think it’s time we bring it back. It used to be a favorite.”
“It’ll bring in additional cash which we’ll need if we want to continue bringing the carnival around the world at the same time feed the little bastards we got, which of course includes you.” Kris adds. “Besides, if the dunk tank fails, we have a definite reason to replace Junmyeon now.”
“Hey!” Junmyeon whines, swatting the pieces of papers he was holding up on Kris’ face. “You have always been mean to me, Kris. You’re evil.”
“Everything’s going to go well.” Kris tells Chanyeol. “I know what you saw years ago scarred you for, well, life but everything’s going to change now. I assure you.” Chanyeol merely hums.
“We’re going now to check Zitao’s tent. We passed by it awhile ago and heard laughing and crying inside. Must be Jongdae again.” Chanyeol waves them goodbye, until Junmyeon’s constant “you’re evil” and Kris’ constant “you don’t scare me, shortie” are gone with the wind.
Sehun arrives without warning.
It’s only 6:44 AM and no one has discovered Chanyeol’s booth yet so he remains plopped on the grass, watching as Sehun inspects the dunk tank and sits on the booth beside it. Sehun turns to him; his mop of rainbow-colored hair was now dyed into a brown color and his ever drooping mouth drooping, his hawk-like eyes scanning Chanyeol.
“‘Sup.” He greets with a lisp that’s audibly there and Chanyeol could not help but chuckle. Sehun’s frown deepens at this.
“Hyung, don’t make fun of my lisp, okay?” Chanyeol hears it again and he grins widely.
“Hello, Sehun.” Chanyeol finally greets back. “Why aren’t you at the ticket booth seducing girls into buying tickets like you usually do?”
“Jongin wanted to see if he could get in as much as I had.” Sehun explains. He then smirks at Chanyeol. “You usually get the most out of us, you do know that, hyung. You attract them like a magnet.”
“Well, I don’t think today is one of those days.” Chanyeol says. “No one has discovered the booth yet.”
“Why do you always insist to have your booth in a secluded area anyway?” Sehun asks, gesturing to Chanyeol’s small yet sturdy booth situated just before the iron gates that circle the carnival.
“Think of it as a treasure hunt, Sehun. Whoever finds my booth shall find the most delightful treasure among whatever the other tents and booths offer.” At this Sehun snorts.
“Well aren’t you so full of shit, hyung.” Chanyeol laughs.
“Are you going to be the one to mann the dunk tank now?”
“Until they find someone.” Sehun says. “Kris hyung doesn’t want me to leave the ticket booth so he’s deciding either Jongdae or Amber mann the dunk tank.”
“Jongdae?” Chanyeol muses.
“I heard he’s done something to piss Kris hyung off.”
“Figures. Well, I hope Kris decides now because I need Jongin to take the second shift at the booth. He’s usually the better one between the both of us.”
Sehun snorts at that.
One hour has passed since the carnival opened and Chanyeol’s yet to have customers. There was one girl who found her way to the area, albeit confused, but she squealed in glee anyway when she sighted the kissing booth with a gorgeous tall man behind it, beckoning her forward.
Chanyeol thought word was on its way around the carnival and soon girls would be flocking the area but no, it did not. In conclusion, Chanyeol was having a slow day and he was bored and the dunk tank Sehun was to operate and mann wasn’t open yet until…
Baekhyun comes without warning.
Sehun let out an unmanly squeal when he turned to his right and saw the boy right there smirking at him. Chanyeol turned to look and almost had his breath taken away. The boy who always was wearing kohl around his eyes had none, his eyes droopy on the ends. He was also wearing simple black shorts and a white shirt that was too big on him, making him look shorter, smaller and cuter if possible, a huge contrast to the tight jeans and leather jackets he would always wear. He was currently laughing at Sehun, shaping his eyes to crescents, giving Chanyeol as well a view of his sharp canines and the mole above his lip. His hair was messed up, like he just woke up but gave him the look of a puppy needing care and love.
In short, he was beautiful and he was all Chanyeol ever wanted.
“Don’t scare me like that, hyung!” Sehun shrieks as soon as Baekhyun calmed down and was now smiling at him.
“Sehun, I didn’t know you were a scaredy cat.” Baekhyun muses.
“I am not a scaredy cat.” Sehun says with finality, his lisp becoming clearer and more audible which Baekhyun mimics and Sehun splutters protests at. Baekhyun’s eyes land on Chanyeol who was leaning on his arms on the kissing booth and he gives a curt nod and a small smile before making his way up the stairs of the dunk tank.
Chanyeol’s eyes widen when he finally registers in the fact that Baekhyun is making his way up the dunk tank, is now sitting on the platform, and is now swinging his feet while humming a happy tune.
“Wah, Sehunnie! The water’s cold! I don’t want to fall in this!”
Chanyeol’s jaw slackens.
No, Chanyeol does not find anything disgusting about the fact Byun Baekhyun was willing to be the ‘victim’ of the dunk tank. In fact, he finds it very arousing because he could never deny seeing a wet Baekhyun when the opportunity now presents itself and well, Chanyeol’s face flushes and blood rushes south whenever he imagines that.
Now, he was going to finally see his dreams come alive, as funny as it sounds. He knew he was always attracted to the same sex. He knew he was gay ever since their tour in Sweden and he knew he was fucked when Baekhyun joined the carnival because right then and there, Chanyeol knew he had to get him.
But that was two years ago and Jongdae always liked to call Chanyeol creative and corny insults like ‘why are you a Park when you can’t even park ass you stupid tall freak’ because he never dared make a move on Baekhyun, not even once. Chanyeol was confident, as confident as a gorgeous man could be, but it still confuses the rest why Chanyeol couldn’t get himself to be the way he is for Baekhyun.
Truth is, he was a lying bastard who was scared. Scared of being turned down because Chanyeol knew as much as Baekhyun was the one for him, he may never be ‘the one’ for the latter.
“Slow day?” He hears him ask and Chanyeol whips his head to look at him who was currently leaning back on his palms and smiling at him. Chanyeol could only nod.
“Why do you like to hide your booth, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asks.
“It’s a treasure hunt, hyung.” Sehun pipes up.
“What?”
“No, no!” Chanyeol says, hushing Sehun up. “I actually can’t explain.” Chanyeol says, scratching the nape of his neck. Oh god, was he really nervous talking to Baekhyun so openly like this, something he’s never really done before. “I just like it the way it is.” Baekhyun nods and lapses back into a happy tune. Chanyeol internally sighs in relief and disappointment.
“Well, expect tons of girls to come anytime now.” Baekhyun says after a few seconds. “Yixing hyung’s already put up the sign to the dunk tank. Don’t go and take all my customers, you hear me, Chanyeol?”
Chanyeol tries to come up with a reply but Baekhyun beats him to it, bursting into a cheerful glee that sounds like music to Chanyeol’s ears.
“I was just joking, Yeol.” Baekhyun says. “You’re handsome but I’m handsome too. Wanna bet?”
Chanyeol would like to chuckle at how confident Baekhyun sounded, complimenting himself but his ears were ringing and he didn’t know why “What bet?”
“Whoever gets the most customers, wins. Whoever gets the least, will have to pay the winner something in return.”
Chanyeol was not only a sucker for Baekhyun, he was a sucker for bets too. He, Jongin, and Jongdae with the occasional Minseok and Sehun joining the trio would always find themselves betting on the simplest things all the time so this bet with Baekhyun definitely piqued his interest. Chanyeol sees the smirk on the other’s face and he is reminded of the snarky attitude the other was always known for. Chanyeol smirks in return. “It’s a bet, all right.”
Baekhyun was right. In less than five minutes, customers have arrived and settled all over the area. Mostly boys went to the dunk tank while the girls, naturally, fought their way to Chanyeol’s booth. Regardless of that, however, Baekhyun has had his own fair share of girls who would gift him either a tip or a flying kiss in return.
The first time someone hits the target and Baekhyun screams does Chanyeol freeze into kissing a girl whipping his head to expect the worst--someone drowning, convulsing like one he knew before--but all he sees is a wet Baekhyun getting out of the tank and it’s too much for Chanyeol to handle.
Baekhyun’s bangs stick to his forehead, almost covering his droopy eyes. The shirt that was once too big on him stuck on him like a second skin, accentuating his figure and the deep bow of those hips Chanyeol’s found himself wanting so dearly to grab. Turns out, the shirt material was also thin as Chanyeol could perfectly see the flesh underneath as well as the two dark circles on Baekhyun’s torso.
“Oppa!” The girl in front of him whines and Chanyeol goes back to looking at her and then brings his lips to the girl’s in hopes through this, he’d forget the image of a wet Baekhyun now deeply ingrained on his head and to tame the monster that was aching so bad for comfort between his legs.
And while he was kissing the girl, Baekhyun looks from afar lips tightened in a straight line before he stands up and grabs a towel from Sehun who was snickering at him.
Baekhyun looks from his place at the dunk tank, observing Chanyeol’s customers fidget at their clothes in excitement and probably nervousness at being next. He hears a certain group of females squeal when Chanyeol smiles their way and Baekhyun scoffs. Those girls didn’t have a chance, anyway.
He knows what Chanyeol likes and what he doesn’t like. He knows how Chanyeol looks at him and he knows how much the taller one wants him. He didn’t mind. He was keeping his options open, but he’d clearly lose a gem if he took no notice on Chanyeol’s feeble attempts to woo him. Chanyeol was an actual sweetheart, so different from the persona he shows to his customers. He was clumsy, goofy, of a kind heart and an absolute charmer with his good looks. Everyone loved him. Baekhyun would admit that he feels safe with the taller, even though they never had a decent conversation before.
Chanyeol was bashful, meek when it came to those he romantically likes. Baekhyun adores it, how Chanyeol would just walk up to him suddenly, open his mouth and gape like a fish while Baekhyun anticipates what he’ll say. Baekhyun adores the pink tinting Chanyeol’s cheeks when he’s embarrassed himself enough and stutters an excuse, walks quickly away from him with Jongdae and Jongin following closely behind. He also adores Chanyeol’s spontaneity, how he’d just randomly sing a tune and strum his guitar, how he’d blurt out compliments on Baekhyun’s clothes and eyeliner, and his heart would swell with joy.
Baekhyun then decides he was enough. No need looking for another. He liked Chanyeol the way he is and he was willing to wait for the taller to finally man up to him but these days, he’s become extremely impatient, frustrated even when Chanyeol yet again fails at his ‘courting’. So he’s decided as well he’d needed to do something. One of which included the dunk tank.
“Hyung,” Sehun calls out to him and he looks at the boy lounging on his chair at the booth. “Minho hyung’s on his way. You could take a break now.” Baekhyun jumps from the platform.
“Let me dry myself up first. I’m going to get some food from the stalls, want me to get you some?”
Sehun nods. “Bubble tea, please.” Baekhyun chuckles. He shouldn’t have asked.
Before he goes, he looks again to Chanyeol’s booth and sees the boy touching his lips, sort of like massaging them, before he faces his next customer and leans down to smile at her. Baekhyun notices Chanyeol’s lips have swell and turning red. He makes his way to the food stalls, gets Sehun his bubble tea and makes a stop to Zitao’s tent.
Zitao’s tent is dark aside from one spotlight on the platform that’s as high as the tent ceiling. There are no people sitting on the bleachers surrounding the center of the tent where Zitao’s equipment lay.
“Tao?” Baekhyun calls, looking around the tent. There is no movement at first but then there’s a rumble of footsteps above Baekhyun’s head and he looks up to see Zitao hanging by his legs on his swing. “There you are!”
“Hyung!” Zitao grins, waving at Baekhyun. “What’s up?”
“There’s something I need from you, Tao.” Baekhyun says. “Come swinging down here and help me.”
Baekhyun hands Zitao a cinnamon roll as soon as he lands on the ground and they eat together on the bleachers making casual talk before Zitao finally asks what he came for.
“Do you know what would help treat swollen lips?”
“Ice cubes could do it, so is aloe vera.” Zitao replies. “What for? Your lips aren’t swollen, hyung.”
“No, no. It’s not for me.” Baekhyun says. “It’s for Chanyeol.” At this, Zitao grins and squeals.
“Hyung, I didn’t think you had it in you!”
Baekhyun swats him on the shoulder. “Idiot, we didn’t do anything you’re implying we did and what do you mean I had it in me? Do you have no confidence for your hyung?
“Whatever, whatever. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear any of that. So do you have aloe vera?”
“Of course. But you’ll have to return it!”
Baekhyun soon exits Zitao’s tent, hearing a screech of “Hyung, fighting! Byun Baekhyun fighting!” from inside. He finally arrives back at the dunk tank and hands Sehun his bubble tea before making his way to Chanyeol’s booth which currently had no customers.
“Chanyeol,”
Chanyeol looks up from where he’s sitting on the grass, his fingers frozen on his lips when he sees who it is. Baekhyun sits in front of him, making himself comfortable before pulling Chanyeol’s fingers away from his lips and looks at them.
“Wow, pretty vicious then huh?” Baekhyun says as he opens the bag of ice he brought along with the aloe vera. “Your lips smell a lot like lipstick. The generic ones.”
Chanyeol laughs at his. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Yes, because they’re generic.” Baekhyun holds up ice and carefully dips it to Chanyeol’s lips, concern all over his face when he sees Chanyeol wince.
“Does it hurt?”
“Rather than hurt, it actually feels nice.” Baekhyun smiles and continues dragging the ice along Chanyeol’s lips, not taking notice of how close he’s become to the other boy. It’s only when Baekhyun could hear Chanyeol’s steady breathing and take note of the length of Chanyeol’s pretty dark eyelashes does he take notice of the proximity they have between each other. He feels his face heating up but Chanyeol stays solid, closing his eyes and reeling in the comfort brought by ice and company of Baekhyun.
When he feels the cold leave his lips however, he opens his eyes and takes in a breath when Baekhyun’s face is just inches away from him. He’s paralyzed, seeing Baekhyun’s beauty once again that he also doesn’t notice the aloe vera on Baekhyun’s slender fingers and those same fingers on his lips.
Baekhyun swears his face is as pink as Chanyeol’s lips but he couldn’t stop now, now when he’s started it. Chanyeol’s lips were soft, so fragile and Baekhyun understands why the boy was in pain. He makes sure to help as much as he can and he smiles when Chanyeol gives out a sigh of contentment.
It wasn’t until the afternoon when the three boys realized who was winning the bet. Kris didn’t find any substitute (Jongdae was being difficult and threatened to do worse things to him if Kris didn’t stop), leaving Jongin to manage the ticket booth and Sehun to mann the dunk tank, leaving as well Chanyeol without a partner therefore he’d have to cover Jongin’s shift too.
Chanyeol grumbles and curses Kris and Jongin when another girl giddily goes off and Chanyeol wipes his mouth in disgust due to the fact that he’s been kissing girls since morning. He was not happy about that. When Kris and Luhan stopped doing their magic show and became the officers of the carnival with Junmyeon, Chanyeol was left to decide whether he wanted to have the kissing booth or become Kyungsoo’s assistant. For reasons concerning his “mental and physical well-being”, Chanyeol had no choice but to choose the former for his life.
A squeal erupts from the dunk tank and Chanyeol turns to see Baekhyun has fallen in the tank once again. Since the glass let people see the victim in water, Chanyeol watched as Baekhyun twirled and twirled under water, soon coming to a stop and waving at the people watching him. He resurfaces and gets out of the tank, giving Chanyeol again a good view of his very wet figure and dear god, his butt is so perky.
Chanyeol has never been so horny in his life.
It was a quarter to six. Soon, the carnival would be closing down. A few tents have already closed, prompting customers to leave in disappointment. Chanyeol lets out a sigh of relief but immediately grunts when he hears a few more squeals and chatter getting nearer and nearer his booth. Chanyeol faces them and lets out the smirk he’s been giving all the days of his life.
Five minutes till closing time. Chanyeol wanted to cry. He’s never felt so exhausted in life. His lips were swollen and red, plus numb from all the lip biting those girls who could barely mask their malice for him gave him.
Chanyeol would have sobbed if it weren’t for the couple of customers he has left. He uses his remaining sanity left and kisses the breath out of his customers until they’re all gone.
Chanyeol exhales. It’s been a tiring day and he gathers the money he’s earned for the day, getting ready to count them when someone walks up the booth and Chanyeol’s about to decline any more customers but he looks up and sees the one he least expects it to be.
“Hi, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun smiles up at him, his eyes turning into small crescents and Chanyeol just wants to coo at him and pinch his round cheeks. He was still wet from the last hit. “So,” Baekhyun says, eyeing the thick wad of money on the table. “I think you won.”
Chanyeol grins and nods. “Yes, I did. Now what do I get for winning?” Baekhyun smirks.
“This.” Baekhyun reaches up to grab Chanyeol by his shirt collar and grips his other hand through Chanyeol’s hair before he leans in and captures Chanyeol’s lips in a searing kiss.
Chanyeol’s kissed so many girls for the day but he swears he’s never felt so alive when Baekhyun’s soft and plump cold lips touched his painful ones. Chanyeol sighs not because the kiss eased the pain but because this was Baekhyun, the boy he terribly liked ever since, he was kissing and it felt terrific (despite what the chlorine’s done to Baekhyun’s lips) and soon, his hands find themselves wrapping around Baekhyun’s hips, almost lifting the boy off his feet and over the table.
“Took you long enough, idiot.” Baekhyun chuckles after breaking from the kiss. “If I didn’t force Kris to assign me to the dunk tank, you wouldn’t have gotten some of this ass. I see how you look at it, Park.” Chanyeol groans before leaning in for a kiss again.
“Yes I love your ass but please don’t ruin the moment.”
Behind them, Sehun lets out a wolf whistle, eventually whines and vomiting noises, pleadings, but he could care less.
Because he not only won the bet, he finally won what he wanted to kiss forever.
The carnival is gone after three days.
There are no announcements preceeding it.
Recipient: yonggamlove13
Title: To Taste the Chlorine on Your Lips (is to Remove the Lipstick Stains on Mine)
Word Counts: 4033
Side Pairing(s): Slight mentions of Kris/Luhan
Rating: PG-13
Warning(s): None
Disclaimer:The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended. Also, I used The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern as guide to writing this fic. I have and had no intention of copying it wholly.
Summary: Wherein Chanyeol takes over the kissing booth which has a very nice view of the dunk tank where Baekhyun works.
Author's Note: Considering that this is my first time ever to join a fic fest, I am absolutely nervous and worried about my writing, however, the prompts given to me were very delightful and made me very excited therefore I made sure I gave my all to writing this fic. I do hope my recipient likes it as much as I do--and hopefully like it more--despite not having met the preferred ratings huhu. Please have a wonderful read of it and thank you so much to BAE for the support and patience they've seriously given me! Much hugs~
The carnival arrives without warning.
There are no announcements about it; it literally just appeared on that hill outside the city of Seoul, maybe overnight. Its tents don’t go unnoticed because they practically loom over the smaller buildings, casting shadows and attracting curious stares and gossip. When near, one would see the black and white stripes that adorn the carnival tents which are situated behind its tall black iron gates. The ticket booth is with no attendant and the CLOSED sign is big hanging over the booth’s window.
The carnival starts at 6 AM and closes at 6 PM, quite strange for a carnival. Yet, at 5 AM, hundreds of people are lining up for tickets, waiting to see what’s inside.
The dunk tank arrives without warning.
It’s the first day of the carnival in Seoul and at 5 AM, the tall boy slips between the two adjacent tents which leads him to a roughly small area with a kissing booth on the center of it.
That was how he remembered it.
Now, the kissing booth is moved to the right side of the area and a new contraption is situated just meters away from it. It was a cold morning and the boy wrapped his jacket tighter to his body as he inspects the new attraction Junmyeon, the general manager of the carnival, must be telling him about the day before.
A glass tank filled with water was placed below a black and white platform that the boy guesses must retract whenever one would hit the center of the huge black and white target to its right. Wooden stairs and a small stage were also attached to the platform, providing its base. Around the attraction is a fence. On its pillars hung a sign the boy reads as ‘dunk tank’. The boy’s lips tighten into a purse.
Junmyeon arrives without warning.
One minute Chanyeol crashes on the grass behind his kissing booth to catch up on some sleep, and then the next minute he feels a presence before him and he opens his eyes to a perpetually smiling Junmyeon (which almost gave him a heart attack because damn Junmyeon, always popping out from nowhere looking like he’s going to kill someone) looking down at him.
“Get up, Chanyeol,” Junmyeon chirps quite happily at 5:30 AM. “Only 30 minutes to go before the carnival opens! Isn’t this so exciting?” Junmyeon laughs.
“We haven’t been back in Seoul for years now. It feels great to be home.” Behind Junmyeon towers Kris, his assistant who looked like he didn’t really care to be back home at all.
“We came to check on you and the new dunk tank.” Kris tells Chanyeol who’s now sitting up. “Junmyeon worried you’d freak out or something. We all know how you always wanted the whole area to yourself.”
“Yes, and I still do.” Chanyeol replies. “Kris, why is there a dunk tank? The last time we had a dunk tank it didn’t go well. Why bring it back now?”
Kris looks at Junmyeon. Junmyeon nods. “Well, that was under the supervision of the former general manager which, may I remind you, was three years ago. The carnival then was horrid. Luhan wasn’t sure if bringing the dunk tank back was a good idea but I think it’s time we bring it back. It used to be a favorite.”
“It’ll bring in additional cash which we’ll need if we want to continue bringing the carnival around the world at the same time feed the little bastards we got, which of course includes you.” Kris adds. “Besides, if the dunk tank fails, we have a definite reason to replace Junmyeon now.”
“Hey!” Junmyeon whines, swatting the pieces of papers he was holding up on Kris’ face. “You have always been mean to me, Kris. You’re evil.”
“Everything’s going to go well.” Kris tells Chanyeol. “I know what you saw years ago scarred you for, well, life but everything’s going to change now. I assure you.” Chanyeol merely hums.
“We’re going now to check Zitao’s tent. We passed by it awhile ago and heard laughing and crying inside. Must be Jongdae again.” Chanyeol waves them goodbye, until Junmyeon’s constant “you’re evil” and Kris’ constant “you don’t scare me, shortie” are gone with the wind.
Sehun arrives without warning.
It’s only 6:44 AM and no one has discovered Chanyeol’s booth yet so he remains plopped on the grass, watching as Sehun inspects the dunk tank and sits on the booth beside it. Sehun turns to him; his mop of rainbow-colored hair was now dyed into a brown color and his ever drooping mouth drooping, his hawk-like eyes scanning Chanyeol.
“‘Sup.” He greets with a lisp that’s audibly there and Chanyeol could not help but chuckle. Sehun’s frown deepens at this.
“Hyung, don’t make fun of my lisp, okay?” Chanyeol hears it again and he grins widely.
“Hello, Sehun.” Chanyeol finally greets back. “Why aren’t you at the ticket booth seducing girls into buying tickets like you usually do?”
“Jongin wanted to see if he could get in as much as I had.” Sehun explains. He then smirks at Chanyeol. “You usually get the most out of us, you do know that, hyung. You attract them like a magnet.”
“Well, I don’t think today is one of those days.” Chanyeol says. “No one has discovered the booth yet.”
“Why do you always insist to have your booth in a secluded area anyway?” Sehun asks, gesturing to Chanyeol’s small yet sturdy booth situated just before the iron gates that circle the carnival.
“Think of it as a treasure hunt, Sehun. Whoever finds my booth shall find the most delightful treasure among whatever the other tents and booths offer.” At this Sehun snorts.
“Well aren’t you so full of shit, hyung.” Chanyeol laughs.
“Are you going to be the one to mann the dunk tank now?”
“Until they find someone.” Sehun says. “Kris hyung doesn’t want me to leave the ticket booth so he’s deciding either Jongdae or Amber mann the dunk tank.”
“Jongdae?” Chanyeol muses.
“I heard he’s done something to piss Kris hyung off.”
“Figures. Well, I hope Kris decides now because I need Jongin to take the second shift at the booth. He’s usually the better one between the both of us.”
Sehun snorts at that.
One hour has passed since the carnival opened and Chanyeol’s yet to have customers. There was one girl who found her way to the area, albeit confused, but she squealed in glee anyway when she sighted the kissing booth with a gorgeous tall man behind it, beckoning her forward.
Chanyeol thought word was on its way around the carnival and soon girls would be flocking the area but no, it did not. In conclusion, Chanyeol was having a slow day and he was bored and the dunk tank Sehun was to operate and mann wasn’t open yet until…
Baekhyun comes without warning.
Sehun let out an unmanly squeal when he turned to his right and saw the boy right there smirking at him. Chanyeol turned to look and almost had his breath taken away. The boy who always was wearing kohl around his eyes had none, his eyes droopy on the ends. He was also wearing simple black shorts and a white shirt that was too big on him, making him look shorter, smaller and cuter if possible, a huge contrast to the tight jeans and leather jackets he would always wear. He was currently laughing at Sehun, shaping his eyes to crescents, giving Chanyeol as well a view of his sharp canines and the mole above his lip. His hair was messed up, like he just woke up but gave him the look of a puppy needing care and love.
In short, he was beautiful and he was all Chanyeol ever wanted.
“Don’t scare me like that, hyung!” Sehun shrieks as soon as Baekhyun calmed down and was now smiling at him.
“Sehun, I didn’t know you were a scaredy cat.” Baekhyun muses.
“I am not a scaredy cat.” Sehun says with finality, his lisp becoming clearer and more audible which Baekhyun mimics and Sehun splutters protests at. Baekhyun’s eyes land on Chanyeol who was leaning on his arms on the kissing booth and he gives a curt nod and a small smile before making his way up the stairs of the dunk tank.
Chanyeol’s eyes widen when he finally registers in the fact that Baekhyun is making his way up the dunk tank, is now sitting on the platform, and is now swinging his feet while humming a happy tune.
“Wah, Sehunnie! The water’s cold! I don’t want to fall in this!”
Chanyeol’s jaw slackens.
No, Chanyeol does not find anything disgusting about the fact Byun Baekhyun was willing to be the ‘victim’ of the dunk tank. In fact, he finds it very arousing because he could never deny seeing a wet Baekhyun when the opportunity now presents itself and well, Chanyeol’s face flushes and blood rushes south whenever he imagines that.
Now, he was going to finally see his dreams come alive, as funny as it sounds. He knew he was always attracted to the same sex. He knew he was gay ever since their tour in Sweden and he knew he was fucked when Baekhyun joined the carnival because right then and there, Chanyeol knew he had to get him.
But that was two years ago and Jongdae always liked to call Chanyeol creative and corny insults like ‘why are you a Park when you can’t even park ass you stupid tall freak’ because he never dared make a move on Baekhyun, not even once. Chanyeol was confident, as confident as a gorgeous man could be, but it still confuses the rest why Chanyeol couldn’t get himself to be the way he is for Baekhyun.
Truth is, he was a lying bastard who was scared. Scared of being turned down because Chanyeol knew as much as Baekhyun was the one for him, he may never be ‘the one’ for the latter.
“Slow day?” He hears him ask and Chanyeol whips his head to look at him who was currently leaning back on his palms and smiling at him. Chanyeol could only nod.
“Why do you like to hide your booth, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asks.
“It’s a treasure hunt, hyung.” Sehun pipes up.
“What?”
“No, no!” Chanyeol says, hushing Sehun up. “I actually can’t explain.” Chanyeol says, scratching the nape of his neck. Oh god, was he really nervous talking to Baekhyun so openly like this, something he’s never really done before. “I just like it the way it is.” Baekhyun nods and lapses back into a happy tune. Chanyeol internally sighs in relief and disappointment.
“Well, expect tons of girls to come anytime now.” Baekhyun says after a few seconds. “Yixing hyung’s already put up the sign to the dunk tank. Don’t go and take all my customers, you hear me, Chanyeol?”
Chanyeol tries to come up with a reply but Baekhyun beats him to it, bursting into a cheerful glee that sounds like music to Chanyeol’s ears.
“I was just joking, Yeol.” Baekhyun says. “You’re handsome but I’m handsome too. Wanna bet?”
Chanyeol would like to chuckle at how confident Baekhyun sounded, complimenting himself but his ears were ringing and he didn’t know why “What bet?”
“Whoever gets the most customers, wins. Whoever gets the least, will have to pay the winner something in return.”
Chanyeol was not only a sucker for Baekhyun, he was a sucker for bets too. He, Jongin, and Jongdae with the occasional Minseok and Sehun joining the trio would always find themselves betting on the simplest things all the time so this bet with Baekhyun definitely piqued his interest. Chanyeol sees the smirk on the other’s face and he is reminded of the snarky attitude the other was always known for. Chanyeol smirks in return. “It’s a bet, all right.”
Baekhyun was right. In less than five minutes, customers have arrived and settled all over the area. Mostly boys went to the dunk tank while the girls, naturally, fought their way to Chanyeol’s booth. Regardless of that, however, Baekhyun has had his own fair share of girls who would gift him either a tip or a flying kiss in return.
The first time someone hits the target and Baekhyun screams does Chanyeol freeze into kissing a girl whipping his head to expect the worst--someone drowning, convulsing like one he knew before--but all he sees is a wet Baekhyun getting out of the tank and it’s too much for Chanyeol to handle.
Baekhyun’s bangs stick to his forehead, almost covering his droopy eyes. The shirt that was once too big on him stuck on him like a second skin, accentuating his figure and the deep bow of those hips Chanyeol’s found himself wanting so dearly to grab. Turns out, the shirt material was also thin as Chanyeol could perfectly see the flesh underneath as well as the two dark circles on Baekhyun’s torso.
“Oppa!” The girl in front of him whines and Chanyeol goes back to looking at her and then brings his lips to the girl’s in hopes through this, he’d forget the image of a wet Baekhyun now deeply ingrained on his head and to tame the monster that was aching so bad for comfort between his legs.
And while he was kissing the girl, Baekhyun looks from afar lips tightened in a straight line before he stands up and grabs a towel from Sehun who was snickering at him.
Baekhyun looks from his place at the dunk tank, observing Chanyeol’s customers fidget at their clothes in excitement and probably nervousness at being next. He hears a certain group of females squeal when Chanyeol smiles their way and Baekhyun scoffs. Those girls didn’t have a chance, anyway.
He knows what Chanyeol likes and what he doesn’t like. He knows how Chanyeol looks at him and he knows how much the taller one wants him. He didn’t mind. He was keeping his options open, but he’d clearly lose a gem if he took no notice on Chanyeol’s feeble attempts to woo him. Chanyeol was an actual sweetheart, so different from the persona he shows to his customers. He was clumsy, goofy, of a kind heart and an absolute charmer with his good looks. Everyone loved him. Baekhyun would admit that he feels safe with the taller, even though they never had a decent conversation before.
Chanyeol was bashful, meek when it came to those he romantically likes. Baekhyun adores it, how Chanyeol would just walk up to him suddenly, open his mouth and gape like a fish while Baekhyun anticipates what he’ll say. Baekhyun adores the pink tinting Chanyeol’s cheeks when he’s embarrassed himself enough and stutters an excuse, walks quickly away from him with Jongdae and Jongin following closely behind. He also adores Chanyeol’s spontaneity, how he’d just randomly sing a tune and strum his guitar, how he’d blurt out compliments on Baekhyun’s clothes and eyeliner, and his heart would swell with joy.
Baekhyun then decides he was enough. No need looking for another. He liked Chanyeol the way he is and he was willing to wait for the taller to finally man up to him but these days, he’s become extremely impatient, frustrated even when Chanyeol yet again fails at his ‘courting’. So he’s decided as well he’d needed to do something. One of which included the dunk tank.
“Hyung,” Sehun calls out to him and he looks at the boy lounging on his chair at the booth. “Minho hyung’s on his way. You could take a break now.” Baekhyun jumps from the platform.
“Let me dry myself up first. I’m going to get some food from the stalls, want me to get you some?”
Sehun nods. “Bubble tea, please.” Baekhyun chuckles. He shouldn’t have asked.
Before he goes, he looks again to Chanyeol’s booth and sees the boy touching his lips, sort of like massaging them, before he faces his next customer and leans down to smile at her. Baekhyun notices Chanyeol’s lips have swell and turning red. He makes his way to the food stalls, gets Sehun his bubble tea and makes a stop to Zitao’s tent.
Zitao’s tent is dark aside from one spotlight on the platform that’s as high as the tent ceiling. There are no people sitting on the bleachers surrounding the center of the tent where Zitao’s equipment lay.
“Tao?” Baekhyun calls, looking around the tent. There is no movement at first but then there’s a rumble of footsteps above Baekhyun’s head and he looks up to see Zitao hanging by his legs on his swing. “There you are!”
“Hyung!” Zitao grins, waving at Baekhyun. “What’s up?”
“There’s something I need from you, Tao.” Baekhyun says. “Come swinging down here and help me.”
Baekhyun hands Zitao a cinnamon roll as soon as he lands on the ground and they eat together on the bleachers making casual talk before Zitao finally asks what he came for.
“Do you know what would help treat swollen lips?”
“Ice cubes could do it, so is aloe vera.” Zitao replies. “What for? Your lips aren’t swollen, hyung.”
“No, no. It’s not for me.” Baekhyun says. “It’s for Chanyeol.” At this, Zitao grins and squeals.
“Hyung, I didn’t think you had it in you!”
Baekhyun swats him on the shoulder. “Idiot, we didn’t do anything you’re implying we did and what do you mean I had it in me? Do you have no confidence for your hyung?
“Whatever, whatever. I’ll pretend I didn’t hear any of that. So do you have aloe vera?”
“Of course. But you’ll have to return it!”
Baekhyun soon exits Zitao’s tent, hearing a screech of “Hyung, fighting! Byun Baekhyun fighting!” from inside. He finally arrives back at the dunk tank and hands Sehun his bubble tea before making his way to Chanyeol’s booth which currently had no customers.
“Chanyeol,”
Chanyeol looks up from where he’s sitting on the grass, his fingers frozen on his lips when he sees who it is. Baekhyun sits in front of him, making himself comfortable before pulling Chanyeol’s fingers away from his lips and looks at them.
“Wow, pretty vicious then huh?” Baekhyun says as he opens the bag of ice he brought along with the aloe vera. “Your lips smell a lot like lipstick. The generic ones.”
Chanyeol laughs at his. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Yes, because they’re generic.” Baekhyun holds up ice and carefully dips it to Chanyeol’s lips, concern all over his face when he sees Chanyeol wince.
“Does it hurt?”
“Rather than hurt, it actually feels nice.” Baekhyun smiles and continues dragging the ice along Chanyeol’s lips, not taking notice of how close he’s become to the other boy. It’s only when Baekhyun could hear Chanyeol’s steady breathing and take note of the length of Chanyeol’s pretty dark eyelashes does he take notice of the proximity they have between each other. He feels his face heating up but Chanyeol stays solid, closing his eyes and reeling in the comfort brought by ice and company of Baekhyun.
When he feels the cold leave his lips however, he opens his eyes and takes in a breath when Baekhyun’s face is just inches away from him. He’s paralyzed, seeing Baekhyun’s beauty once again that he also doesn’t notice the aloe vera on Baekhyun’s slender fingers and those same fingers on his lips.
Baekhyun swears his face is as pink as Chanyeol’s lips but he couldn’t stop now, now when he’s started it. Chanyeol’s lips were soft, so fragile and Baekhyun understands why the boy was in pain. He makes sure to help as much as he can and he smiles when Chanyeol gives out a sigh of contentment.
It wasn’t until the afternoon when the three boys realized who was winning the bet. Kris didn’t find any substitute (Jongdae was being difficult and threatened to do worse things to him if Kris didn’t stop), leaving Jongin to manage the ticket booth and Sehun to mann the dunk tank, leaving as well Chanyeol without a partner therefore he’d have to cover Jongin’s shift too.
Chanyeol grumbles and curses Kris and Jongin when another girl giddily goes off and Chanyeol wipes his mouth in disgust due to the fact that he’s been kissing girls since morning. He was not happy about that. When Kris and Luhan stopped doing their magic show and became the officers of the carnival with Junmyeon, Chanyeol was left to decide whether he wanted to have the kissing booth or become Kyungsoo’s assistant. For reasons concerning his “mental and physical well-being”, Chanyeol had no choice but to choose the former for his life.
A squeal erupts from the dunk tank and Chanyeol turns to see Baekhyun has fallen in the tank once again. Since the glass let people see the victim in water, Chanyeol watched as Baekhyun twirled and twirled under water, soon coming to a stop and waving at the people watching him. He resurfaces and gets out of the tank, giving Chanyeol again a good view of his very wet figure and dear god, his butt is so perky.
Chanyeol has never been so horny in his life.
It was a quarter to six. Soon, the carnival would be closing down. A few tents have already closed, prompting customers to leave in disappointment. Chanyeol lets out a sigh of relief but immediately grunts when he hears a few more squeals and chatter getting nearer and nearer his booth. Chanyeol faces them and lets out the smirk he’s been giving all the days of his life.
Five minutes till closing time. Chanyeol wanted to cry. He’s never felt so exhausted in life. His lips were swollen and red, plus numb from all the lip biting those girls who could barely mask their malice for him gave him.
Chanyeol would have sobbed if it weren’t for the couple of customers he has left. He uses his remaining sanity left and kisses the breath out of his customers until they’re all gone.
Chanyeol exhales. It’s been a tiring day and he gathers the money he’s earned for the day, getting ready to count them when someone walks up the booth and Chanyeol’s about to decline any more customers but he looks up and sees the one he least expects it to be.
“Hi, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun smiles up at him, his eyes turning into small crescents and Chanyeol just wants to coo at him and pinch his round cheeks. He was still wet from the last hit. “So,” Baekhyun says, eyeing the thick wad of money on the table. “I think you won.”
Chanyeol grins and nods. “Yes, I did. Now what do I get for winning?” Baekhyun smirks.
“This.” Baekhyun reaches up to grab Chanyeol by his shirt collar and grips his other hand through Chanyeol’s hair before he leans in and captures Chanyeol’s lips in a searing kiss.
Chanyeol’s kissed so many girls for the day but he swears he’s never felt so alive when Baekhyun’s soft and plump cold lips touched his painful ones. Chanyeol sighs not because the kiss eased the pain but because this was Baekhyun, the boy he terribly liked ever since, he was kissing and it felt terrific (despite what the chlorine’s done to Baekhyun’s lips) and soon, his hands find themselves wrapping around Baekhyun’s hips, almost lifting the boy off his feet and over the table.
“Took you long enough, idiot.” Baekhyun chuckles after breaking from the kiss. “If I didn’t force Kris to assign me to the dunk tank, you wouldn’t have gotten some of this ass. I see how you look at it, Park.” Chanyeol groans before leaning in for a kiss again.
“Yes I love your ass but please don’t ruin the moment.”
Behind them, Sehun lets out a wolf whistle, eventually whines and vomiting noises, pleadings, but he could care less.
Because he not only won the bet, he finally won what he wanted to kiss forever.
The carnival is gone after three days.
There are no announcements preceeding it.