Baekhyun and D.O in: Het Adventures

[kenkabu]

Details: Baekhyun/girls, D.O/girls, Baekhyun/girl/D.O, kind of Baekhyun/D.O; NC-17!!! (fingering, vaginal sex, blowjobs, non-explicit cunninglingus; exhibitionism, voyeurism); 11,170 words.
Summary: Baekhyun has a big mouth, and occasionally, good ideas.
Notes: Please suspend your disbelief and pretend that EXO are allowed nights out and are not famous enough to be recognized by the general public! TY~

Got Game

They're in some club and Baekhyun comes back from the washroom to see Jongin and Sehun in a stupor, enraptured by something across the tiny, blue-lit floor of this suffocating, booming room. Jongin's mouth is hanging open a little, and Sehun seems to have forgotten that he's holding up his drink, its straw almost up his nostril. They're both barely blinking. Baekhyun heads over and peers around the faceless, gyrating bodies to see what the show is. He stops.

The show is Kyungsoo, sitting in the booth of that hot noona who'd been eyeing them pretty much since they first sat down, the noona's hands clenched in his hair, his arms around her back, their lips devouring each other. She's taller than him by a fair bit but it's hard to tell because she's melted against Kyungsoo, her neck tilted upwards and her spine curved like it's being molded under the heat of his touch. Her bare leg is rubbing against his like she's trying to find the traction to lift herself into his lap. Baekhyun watches as Kyungsoo's left hand rises to cup the woman's chin, angling her head even further back-their jaws working hard, lips pushing in again and again, not even pausing for breath, and Baekhyun's caught on the shifting shadows on Kyungsoo's cheek as the tongue inside his mouth pushes in, in, out, in, in. Baekhyun isn't sure who's doing the consuming here.

He can't hear what sounds they're making over the music playing, but there's not much room for guessing error. They look filthy and shameless, waging a wet, smacking battle with lips and teeth and tongue-sucking, licking, swallowing each other's moans.

There is sweat beading underneath Baekhyun's hairline. He can't look away. He wants-he's not sure. He has an urge to take part. He wants to place his hand over Kyungsoo's cheek, feel the muscle churning under there. Measure the heat of Kyungsoo's kiss underneath his palm, have it beat its rhythm through his bloodstream until his heart beats in time. Hook a finger into the corner of Kyungsoo's mouth, pull hard, and see for himself how Kyungsoo's tongue twines against another's. Categorize the shine of saliva in Kyungsoo's mouth like an artist would study sunlight glinting off water. He wants to press in close and scent the desire in Kyungsoo's breath to prove to himself it's really there, it's actually for this woman, that it's her he wants, because fuck it, look, look how hard he's kissing her, like he's drinking up the best thing he's ever tasted. How good of an actor is this bastard?

Someone bumps into him and Baekhyun stumbles off the dance floor, yanking his gaze away. It feels like tearing a bandaid off an unhealed cut-the scab stretches, fresh blood wells up. It stings like a bitch.

It might be his imagination but he thinks he can hear a throaty groan from the woman, an answering chuckle from Kyungsoo: low and pleased, vibrating out of his chest like a lion's purr.

Baekhyun sits back down at their table and plucks Sehun's drink out of his hand, chugging the rest of it down in two gulps. His legs feel wobbly, his chest strangely thin. The music is throbbing through his skull-too much alcohol tonight makes everything magnified, swarm his senses: the noise, the smell of sweat underneath perfume and spilled liquor, and Do fucking Kyungsoo, tearing into a stranger's body from the mouth in.

"Oh shit, she's standing up," Jongin whispers, knocking Sehun's shoulder. "Is she-she's going to go to the washroom, fuck. Shit, she's looking at him. She's waiting."

Sehun's slurring, his lisp worsened from his inebriation. "She so is, he has to follow her now. Why would he not follow her? Is he going to-ah, he's just staring at her-um, is he going to-uh-"

Baekhyun makes the almighty mistake of looking up. The woman's on her feet, one hand propped on her waist, hip cocked prettily. Kyungsoo's still sitting down, legs sprawled, shirt untucked and covering the tent in his pants, tie beyond hope, hair like a storm swept through it. Baekhyun has never seen Kyungsoo's mouth look so swollen, even with an ice-blue tinge from the club's floor lighting. He's just looking up at her, panting a little, not smiling but not frowning either. As Baekhyun watches, Kyungsoo's eyes scorch a path from the woman's face down her chest, down to where her hand lies, right above the swell of her ass, then flick up, over to the side-landing right on Baekhyun.

Kyungsoo licks his lips.

"I can't believe you didn't go with her!" Jongin says, scrubbing two incredulous hands into his hair. He airs out his grievances into the cold 3 am sky. "She wanted you so fucking much, did you not get the hint?"

"I got her hint way before you did," Kyungsoo says calmly, although there's that curl in his lips that betrays his smugness. "But it wouldn't have been appropriate." He's trying to be nonchalant about this, play it cool, but it's not working. Baekhyun kind of wants to punch his face in.

"You should have gone with her, hyung," says Sehun. "She was really good-looking."

Kyungsoo shrugs. "I suppose so." He blinks, then revises, "I mean, I suppose she was really good-looking. Not that I should have gone with her."

"But you totally should have."

Kyungsoo fakes an uppercut to Sehun's stomach. "Live vicariously through your own porn. Leave me out of it."

"She probably was coming on too strong and his dick got scared," Jongin says, swinging an arm around Sehun's shoulder. He leads him away from Kyungsoo and Baekhyun so they can whisper loudly about Kyungsoo chickening out and the cost of blue balls and what they'd do had it been them in that booth instead. Their innocence speaks through how awed they are, though-they keep shooting glances at Kyungsoo, as if to verify they hadn't been hallucinating and yes, Kyungsoo is smirking for real now, because yes, he did totally get propositioned by an attractive older woman in a grimy club, and yes, he delivered. They're not very imaginative with their ideas, either; Baekhyun can think of fifty other things besides "suck her neck" or "unbutton her dress and bite her breasts" that he would have done if he'd been Kyungsoo, and the very last option on the list would have been "turn her down." And yet here Kyungsoo is, looking way more pleased than someone who'd had to willpower down his own erection should be.

It's almost as if Kyungsoo had deliberately said no to cause this reaction in them. As if he'd been aiming to tease the three of them-who he knew had been watching.

Baekhyun nearly trips over himself. "You fucker," he breathes, grabbing Kyungsoo's arm. He pulls, making them lag behind Sehun and Jongin, and leans in close to Kyungsoo's ear to hiss, "You were looking at me."

Kyungsoo blinks up at him, expressionless, until abruptly, he laughs. "Took you long enough to catch on." He removes Baekhyun's hand from his arm and lifts his chin. He says, amused, "It's your move."

Kyungsoo operated with saturation points. There were only so many times any one person could make fun of him in some way before he reached some internal limit-then he came for your throat. It wasn't an exact science; there were some subjects (his deer-in-headlights face, the way his cheeks scrunched up like a croaking frog when he grinned) that he tolerated better than others (his height, his diminutive shoulders), and there were some people he put up with a lot more regardless of what they said (Jongin, Kris). Baekhyun has the unlucky distinction of being lowest tier on Kyungsoo's bullshit-taking metre, which is fine, that's how they've always been and that's how Baekhyun likes it, but sometimes he wishes Kyungsoo wouldn't keep him on such a short leash. Of course Baekhyun hadn't really meant it when he'd snapped that Kyungsoo had as much dick game as an eunuch on a bad day.

"'I couldn't catch girls even if they were thrown directly at me,' isn't that what you said?" Kyungsoo says to him in the taxi ride back to the dorm. Sehun is passed out in the front seat, Jongin is snoring on Baekhyun's shoulder. Baekhyun doesn't want to be thinking about sex while he's got Jongin's breath ruffling inside the collar of his shirt, perilously close to his neck. It's not Jongin's fault. It's that Baekhyun's neck is flushed like a summer peach right now, inflamed with the challenge in Kyungsoo's voice and the memory of their good-natured taunting last week, which Kyungsoo maybe hadn't taken as good-naturedly as Baekhyun had intended.

The cause of their argument has faded completely from his memory, but if Baekhyun recalls correctly, his words had been something like, "I bet you couldn't catch a single girl even if you were standing with a huge net and they were jumping off a first floor balcony." He's not going to correct Kyungsoo on that. The point is that Kyungsoo had taken him up on it.

The bet, that is.

"Terms?" Baekhyun says quietly. He keeps his eyes on the road splitting by the car's front window. He stays as still as possible so he won't wake up Jongin, because he doesn't need to hear this conversation.

Baekhyun can just barely detect the smile in Kyungsoo's answer. "Girls from the club only, and stay in the club. Person has to top the previous act of the opponent. No interference allowed. Proof is mandatory."

"What kind."

"Witness testimony, preferably from opponent himself."

"Time limit?"

Kyungsoo hums. "Let's keep it within consecutive club visits. No backing out once we're in there. Whosever turn it is has to go through with it. Pass or fail. First one to step down loses."

"Sounds simple enough. Winner gets?"

"You pick. I don't really care."

Baekhyun snickers. "You don't care? Then why do this at all?"

"Just to prove a point," Kyungsoo says easily. "And I think I already proved it."

"What, that you can mack on a horny, drunk chick?"

Kyungsoo says, "Mm. You never believed me, did you? When I said I know girls, that I've done everything. I actually have."

"Big talk for a small man."

A hand comes up to grip Baekhyun's wrist, squeezing tightly. Baekhyun's fingers stretch as Kyungsoo's thumb presses down on the back of his hand, grinding into bone. Jongin breathes out in a slow huff against his cheek. The flush on Baekhyun's neck isn't going down; as Kyungsoo starts rubbing his thumb in tiny circles against Baekhyun's skin, keeping up the pressure, the heat worsens until Baekhyun's nape is prickling. He sucks in his lips. Maybe he's digging himself into a hole here. He knows Kyungsoo's had girlfriends. He knows Kyungsoo's not a virgin. Kyungsoo might not actually be bluffing like he is when he says he's not wearing shoelifts that day, or when he says he's going to suffocate Baekhyun in his sleep.

And maybe Baekhyun doesn't give a fuck. His heart is thumping giddily; this is going to be so much fun. He loves it when Kyungsoo decides to play with him.

"You're too cocky," murmurs Kyungsoo, and Baekhyun bites his lip, stifling a nervous giggle. "Put your money with your mouth is."

It's almost too easy. "How about I put my dick where a girl's mouth is?"

Kyungsoo lets go of Baekhyun's hand. "That works," he says.

Jongin's head shifts slightly against Baekhyun's shoulder, as if nodding in agreement too.

So Baekhyun plans. He's not Minseok, who likes making schedules and sticking to them like glue, or Chanyeol, who memorizes his speeches to a T, but he's not really into winging things either. Baekhyun likes being prepared, knowing he's got the upper hand. He has confidence in his improvisation, but why keep yourself open to mistakes if you didn't have to? This is a competition against Kyungsoo-of course Baekhyun's going to strategize.

The next time he manages to wrangle a night out from the dorm, Baekhyun invites Lu Han and Yixing to come with. Lu Han to attract the girls, Yixing to soften their hearts-convince them they're all a bunch of fun, harmless guys. Nice to be around, nice to kiss. Which Baekhyun is, according to the angel-Joonmyeon who occasionally sits on his right shoulder, dispensing lame advice. Incidentally, the devil-Jongdae on Baekhyun's left shoulder also calls Baekhyun "nice," except with quotation marks. But Baekhyun treats girls well. He's just maybe not as kind as Yixing, who shits Nobel Peace Prizes and farts potpourri. Quiet, homebody Yixing, who had to be wheedled to come to the club, and only because their argument had the added weight of Lu Han, who still hasn't learned how to say no to Baekhyun's pleading face. The best thing is that neither of them would ever make a serious move on any of the girls, so essentially Baekhyun's going into battle loaded up with massive artillery, no competition.

This one girl, now. She's just the right height, and a little skinnier than Baekhyun's usually attracted to, but has a really, really nice smile, and her eyes curve in such a friendly way. She got pulled over by friends who in turn were lured in by Yixing and Lu Han on the dance floor, which had been a performance in itself. It must have been a while since the two of them danced together like that, but once a new, fast beat started blaring, they both swung into it like they'd never stepped out-Yixing with his quick snaps of hips, Lu Han with his popping and smooth body waves, fitting like a choreographed routine. Not for the first time Baekhyun wondered at their history together-how many times had they gone out dancing together predebut, when they were both nameless and as-good-as homeless and had no family to anchor them down, only their own determination keeping them tied to Seoul. Under the pinwheeling strobe lights, they were in a world of their own, and they gained the attention of every girl on the floor by the time the DJ slid into the next track.

When Baekhyun is right, he's really right. Lu Han and Yixing weave off the dance floor after a while for some water, and a few seconds later, a trio of girls follow.

Kyungsoo nudges him. They're waiting by the bar for their order, but their attention is firmly on their table, gratuitously picked to be at the shadowy back of the club. On how Lu Han hesitantly moves over so two girls can squeeze in beside him. Them shouting something over the music that makes Lu Han smile bemusedly. "You're good," Kyungsoo says.

"You have no idea," Baekhyun says. Yixing actually offers the third girl-the one Baekhyun takes an immediate liking to-a sip of his own Coke when she mentions that she's thirsty. The guy's a weapon.

An arrow, to be precise. Baekhyun and Kyungsoo return with drinks, get a few shots down Yixing's throat, and then everything works itself out. Yixing drunk is the most sentimental person on the planet, his cheeks blotched red with love for the world and his eyes glossy with how much he misses his parents. He talks about home with adorably butchered Korean and sighs a lot, but none of it is faked. Baekhyun acts as translator. The girls are enraptured-even Lu Han, who already knows Yixing's life story by heart. Kyungsoo listens too, taking calm sips of his drink, silently evaluating everything coming out of Baekhyun's mouth. Let him. As Baekhyun describes Yixing's grandfather's declining memory, the girl beside Yixing puts a hand on his arm, her heart breaking underneath her thin camisole, and Yixing thanks her for the support. He shows his dimple. The girl's smitten. A clean shot, straight through the heart.

Lu Han pulls Yixing back onto the dance floor to get him happy again and Kyungsoo goes with. He tosses Baekhyun a meaningful look before he slides out of the booth, which Baekhyun returns, touching his tongue to his front teeth. The two girls who had their eyes on Lu Han join the circle, and their friend is about to go too, but as she moves past Baekhyun, he brushes her waist and says, "Be careful, okay?" The girl glances at him curiously. Baekhyun continues, "He doesn't know how attractive he is. And he didn't mention it because it's tough for him, but he's got a girl back home. They're technically not together anymore to make things less complicated, but he doesn't sleep around."

"Oh," the girl says, eyes lowering with disappointment. "Not even just a quickie in a club?"

"Probably not. I think you're better off trying someone else tonight." He smiles encouragingly at her.

She looks him over carefully. "I see. Thanks for the advice, I guess. You're a good friend."

"I try." He's not even lying. Baekhyun would give up a kidney for Yixing.

The girl clucks her tongue. "Why are the good ones always taken?" she asks.

Baekhyun makes sure to get eye contact before he answers, "Well. I wouldn't say all of them."

Five minutes later she's in his lap, the sequins on her skirt brushing against the top of his beltline, her arms twined around his neck and her small breasts pressed against his chest. She kisses a bit sloppily, but it's hot because she's practically begging for it: when Baekhyun brushes a hand underneath her shirt, skin to skin, she shivers bodily-the shudder going right down her hips and vibrating into Baekhyun's crotch. He lifts up his pelvis a bit, pressing his growing erection into her ass, and she gasps, then giggles. She pulls her mouth from his with a smack to nuzzle against his jaw, teeth catching against the lobe of his ear, and Baekhyun's fingers dig into her waist in reaction. He can feel her smile against his cheek as she puts her hands on his shoulders, shifts one leg across his hips, and grinds down. The sensation flares through Baekhyun like wildfire.

"Don't start something you might want to stop later," Baekhyun groans into her hair.

"Who says I want to stop?" she laughs. She tosses her head. "You underestimate your own charms."

"Oh no," Baekhyun teases, sliding his right hand down her ass, tracing down her thigh, fiddling with the edge of her skirt. "That won't do."

She doesn't stop him as he pushes his hand up her skirt, the tips of his fingers caressing the hill of her leg and probing inwards to find warmth, dampness-god, she's wet. She's probably been wet for a while, maybe since the first time Yixing bit his lip. The girl whines a little and hides her face in the curve of Baekhyun's neck as Baekhyun strokes lightly, then a little rougher. Her hips move in time; as he grows bolder, she bears down on him, her hands tightening, then loosening, then tightening again on his shoulders. He pushes aside her thong and rubs the folds of her lips, and she lets out a whimper.

Baekhyun looks to the dance floor. Yixing and Lu Han and the girls are dancing on, oblivious, but Kyungsoo-he's moving in time with the music, but his eyes are on Baekhyun. Not even blinking.

Baekhyun feels himself grin. He gives the girl a kiss on her temple before saying, "You'll like this," and pushes two fingers inside her cunt in one go. She whines again, longer this time, and pushes so close against him he can feel her trembling everywhere their bodies are touching. Baekhyun's gotten compliments about his fingers before; they're practised things, long and nimble, and he wants to make it obvious to Kyungsoo how good he is at this. He pulls his fingers out slightly, then slides them back in-the girl's hips pivot like a marionette. If anyone were to look at them right now, there'd be no question of what they're doing. Baekhyun's thrilled. He adds a third finger, makes the girl jerk, makes her legs spread wider, and from the corner of his eye, sees Kyungsoo's moves grow a little less coordinated. Baekhyun catches on a good rhythm, matching his strokes to the thudding bass of the music, and he just manages to catch her moan with his lips as his thumb rises to tease the girl's clit. They kiss deeply as Baekhyun fingers her, his left hand squeezing her ass and pushing her to grind more against him. She's scorching inside, smooth and slick and so eager, her thighs clenching spastically against his hand as if trying to keep him inside longer.

There's heat shooting up his wrist-half of it pleasure, half pain from a growing cramp-the sparks of both wired straight to his dick, confined uncomfortably in his jeans. But even that's a turn-on, the way that Baekhyun wants, knows he can get, and still holds himself back. Baekhyun pulls away from her lips with a grunt, and pants into her ear about how tight she feels, how much he wants to taste her, except they're out in the open and everyone would see them. He pushes in up to his third knuckle, crooking his fingers upwards, and she lets out this surprised squeal. Baekhyun laughs delightedly, their breaths mingling hot in their little cocoon of darkness, except they're not alone. Kyungsoo's watching, Baekhyun can feel it.

He fucks her harder, faster, until she's biting his shirt to keep herself quiet, her hips ceaseless against the curling of his fingers, like she's a guitar string, bowed taut and so responsive under his touch. "You're gorgeous," he tells her. "You're so beautiful, I wish I could see you better. I want to watch as you ride me, or ride someone else-just stare at your body moving-I wish I could see you do this with Yixing-" and that's all it takes. She quivers all around his hand as short, hitched cries escape her throat, and then her entire body sags onto him like her battery's run out. Baekhyun slowly removes his right hand from her skirt, his left rubbing soothingly into her back. She clings, eyelashes trembling against his neck. It tickles. He tries not to flinch.

"Thanks," she whispers breathlessly.

"My pleasure," says Baekhyun, and looks over to see Kyungsoo approaching their table with two glasses of water and a stack of napkins. Baekhyun grins, and flips a peace sign with his glistening, sticky fingers.

She offers to get him off in the men's washroom, but he declines, reassuring her that he had fun but he's got to go home. It's not that he doesn't want to. That pretty smile of hers would look amazing around his cock and they both know it, but Baekhyun's priority right now is making the race last, not to rush to the finish line. Kyungsoo hadn't gotten off with his girl, so Baekhyun won't either. It's masochistic of him but it keeps things interesting. Give Kyungsoo the power to decide what to do next is interesting. How will he play it? Call? Ante up? The anticipation is the hottest thing about this. Baekhyun likes competition; he loves it with Kyungsoo. Ever since they both got put in K, fans and music teachers and directors pit them against each other in hopes of nuturing some sort of sick rivalry: who is better, no come on, who? He's grown used to hearing performance tips like listen to how Kyungsoo-sshi sings this, listen to his vibrato, study how he looks at the camera and do the exact same thing. On the other side of the grass, he imagines Kyungsoo hears similar things: Baekhyun makes good jokes, you need to open up more, don't be so stone-faced all the time, laugh like Baekhyun-sshi. It's not enough that they're both talented in different ways and are both good singers, of course there has to be someone who's the best. Baekhyun understands that mindset vividly: he's used to being top-tier in pretty much everything he does, and he remembers the shock in his system the first time he'd heard Kyungsoo sing. Like someone had shoved a sledgehammer into his stomach, or dumped ten tons of ice cubes over him, because Kyungsoo's voice. It'd been better than Baekhyun's predebut and maybe it still is now. Baekhyun doesn't get upset about that anymore-he's adapted, learned to take his victories elsewhere.

The rivalry that everyone and their aunt has been shoving them in since day one? It's grown wings, it's sprouted fruit, it doesn't need helping hands anymore. It's been appropriated, warped to suit their needs, and now is something that belongs solely to the two of them, something that they toss back and forth like a medicine ball, just hard enough to see if the other person will stumble backwards. It can get a bit hairy sometimes, skirting the edges of mockery and seriousness, but that's what makes it so much fun. That Baekhyun can push and Kyungsoo will always push back. It's like that game where they both have to stand on a ball, face to face, palms in parallel, and see who can push the other off-balance first. It comes with that same feeling of excited tension-putting himself out to risk of failure and seeing Kyungsoo smirk down at him, or to win the game and see Kyungsoo on his knees.

Baekhyun wants Kyungsoo on his knees.

Fuck, he wants that so badly.

Somehow, by unspoken agreement, the other members have become pawns on their chessboard. Jongin, Sehun, Lu Han, Yixing-they've been used, so can't be used again. Their next trip to the club, over a month later, Kyungsoo invites Joonmyeon, who then drags along Zitao in a fit of nerves. Not that Zitao needs much convincing. He jumps at the opportunity with the same enthusiasm he throws into everything, like a lottery winner set loose in a mall-wide sale. Dresses up like a rock star, makes Baekhyun apply a thick band of liner over his eyelid, douses himself in cologne, and borrows Kris' fang earrings and safety pins for his piercings. Standing together, he and Joonmyeon look like teen delinquent and social worker until Baekhyun shoves two palms of gel into Joonmyeon's hair, scruffing it up, pulling out his bangs. Zitao pops the top two buttons of Joonmyeon's shirt, rolls up his sleeves, dabs a bit of lipstain over Joonmyeon's mouth, and they're ready.

They go to a slightly higher end club to suit Joonmyeon's taste, slightly more tourist-friendly to meet Zitao's. Zitao's lips are curling as soon as he hears the music and he doesn't even bother going to the table, just aims himself at the dance floor, face turning up to the flashing neon lights. Baekhyun's carried along in Zitao's wake, Zitao's fingers warm around his wrist.

"We'll get a table!" Joonmyeon calls to them, and Baekhyun waves okay before he's swallowed by the crowd.

Dancing with Tao is always a good time. Put the right styling on him and everything Zitao does turns into flirting, every move he makes a come-on. And Baekhyun is never one to turn down a bit of worry-free flirting. Zitao puts a hand on Baekhyun's shoulder for leverage and sways his hips like he's trying to worm his way into Baekhyun's pants by blunt force. He does that coy thing of biting his bottom lip as he smiles, and Baekhyun reaches up to circle his hand halfway around Zitao's throat, feeling Tao's Adam's apple bob. Tao lowers his lips to Baekhyun's ear, crooning, "Hyung, hyung," and it makes Baekhyun want to set his teeth in muscle and bite down. No one enjoys Tao's complete lack of shame more than him.

They dance together until Baekhyun feels Zitao's attention drifting away. He turns and meets the eyes of an interested party, the dark glitter of his gaze completely centred on the cat-eyed, soft-voiced, wet dream squirming Baekhyun's arms. Zitao gives Baekhyun an apologetic pout and Baekhyun shoves him off, laughing. He needs to find Kyungsoo anyway; he's lost track of time. Maybe Kyungsoo's given up waiting for him by now-although that would break the rules of his turn.

Baekhyun traces the circumference of the club, squinting through the dim tie-dye lighting, looking for a familiar set of flashlight eye-whites or the familiar sound of loud, jumpy laughter. He hears the laughter in bursts and finds Joonmyeon okay, sitting at a small table with a pale girl, her long hair pulled up in a high ponytail. They're playing with each other's hands on top of the table, and he seems to be enjoying whatever they're talking about. Baekhyun taps his arm and Joonmyeon tilts his head to hear Baekhyun's question.

"Where's Kyungsoo?"

"He's with a girl! Her name was Eunji? Eunjah? He went to another table to get some privacy, I think." Joonmyeon points to a table a few metres away, where a girl in a sheer white top is sipping politely on her drink and thumbing through her phone. "Oh, maybe he went to the washroom?"

He's not in the washroom. Baekhyun's fixing his hair in the wall-length mirror when his phone buzzes.

go back to that table with the girl in white, Kyungsoo has written, but when Baekhyun returns to where he came from, it's just the same girl, sitting alone. She's not on the phone anymore, though. She's staring at the ceiling, eyelashes fluttering, her lips slightly open, and her chest is hitching oddly like she's having trouble breathing. Her fingers are clenched into fists on the thick red tablecloth. For a moment, Baekhyun panics-is this girl having a bad reaction to something?-but he sees her gasp, her whole body rising halfway off the seat, holding, then ease back down slowly like she's lowering herself into a hot tub. Her hands unclench. She smiles dreamily, and looks down at her lap. Two seconds later, Kyungsoo's auburn head pokes out from underneath the tablecloth, and he pushes himself back up into his seat. His lips are glistening. He picks up a napkin and wipes his chin.

Baekhyun lets out an disbelieving laugh. Son of a bitch.

He starts walking over to the table, but stops halfway. The girl is murmuring into Kyungsoo's ear, and he's nodding along, but he's looking at Baekhyun. He mutters something, too softly for Baekhyun to catch, and the girl licks her lips, shifting back. He glances at her, smiling, then very deliberately meets Baekhyun's eyes again as he slides a little lower in his seat-then lays one hand on the back of girl's wavy-haired head, helping guide her down underneath the table.

"Tell me you used a condom, at least," Joonmyeon says, once Zitao comes back to their table, a shit-eating grin plastered across his face.

"It was just a hand job," says Zitao, flippant. "I didn't trust him for anything else." He looks eagerly at the rest of them. "What about you guys? Anything good happen while I was away?"

"I got the number of a very nice lady," Joonmyeon says, flashing his phone. "Kyungsoo-"

"I had fun," Kyungsoo says. He's smiling, all contentment and satisfaction. He lifts up his glass of beer to Zitao. "Good venue choice."

"Wasn't it?" Zitao gushes, delighted. "Kris recommended it but he only heard about it from someone else; he's never come here."

"We'll have to bring him next time, then," offers Kyungsoo and Zitao beams.

He turns to Baekhyun. "And you, hyung? Did you have fun?"

"I did indeed," Baekhyun says. "Learned a few things, too." Like the way Kyungsoo's eyes closed and his jaw clenched when he came, the way his shoulders sloped even more afterwards, like they were melting off his body. The way he kissed a girl thank you. And, unexpectedly, the pride Baekhyun felt because Kyungsoo was getting this into it, that he would up the stakes by this much-just to stick it to Baekhyun. It makes him want to cackle. Baekhyun follows Kyungsoo's lead and raises his drink, tipping it to Kyungsoo in congratulations.

Zitao looks back and forth between them, eyebrows rising. "What's up with you guys? Are you playing some sort of game or something?"

"Never mind them," Joonmyeon says hurriedly. "They're just weird."

"Tell me anyway."

"Trust me, no one will get it except the two of them. Whatever's going on-"

"Nothing's going on," Baekhyun interrupts cheekily. "We're just fooling around."

"Oh?" says Tao, perking up even more. "Sounds kind of naughty."

"You'd be disappointed, then," says Kyungsoo. "It's just another dumb joke Baekhyun thinks is funnier than it actually is." But he swipes a thumb across the underside of his bottom lip, as if in tribute to where a girl's come had been painted, not even twenty minutes ago.

For the rest of the week, Zitao is convinced that Kyungsoo and Baekhyun are having some furtive gay love affair, which mires them in a swamp of unresolved sexual tension 24/7. "This explains everything," he marvels. He's a scientist who'd discovered a breakthrough theory in group dynamics. "This is why you guys are so hot and cold all the time! And why Kyungsoo is always trying to choke you. And why you keep teasing him when you know he's going to choke you. You guys like each other."

"Of course we like each other," says Baekhyun. "Just not in the way you're thinking." He's tired of the unsubtle hand signals Zitao keeps shooting at him whenever he gets within arm's range of Kyungsoo.

"But-"

"No, really," Baekhyun says. "Have I ever given indication that I want to, like, suck Kyungsoo's cock or something?" God forbid.

"Ah, um, no," Tao says dubiously. He narrows his eyes. "Maybe you're just a good faker, though."

"You give me waaay too much credit," Baekhyun says. "I'm a simple guy. Whatever I feel, I pretty much show on my face. Everyone tells me that. Sehun even told me that."

Zitao bites his cheek, crossing his arms. "I guess."

Baekhyun gives him a knuckle tap on the forehead. "You're overcomplicating things. Kyungsoo and I just like poking fun at each other. It's not anything you need to worry your pretty little self about. Honest."

Besides, he's never tried examining it that in depth himself. Sometimes it's easier to just take things at face value, or at the most one level deeper if he's looking for some justification of his perverseness. Baekhyun really doesn't think he has some repressed, subconscious desire for Kyungsoo's ass. He just feels it when Kyungsoo acknowledges him. It's like getting the favour of a king-not that Baekhyun would ever think of Kyungsoo as anything close to royalty. Kyungsoo, with his hard-to-peel personality, so reticent with his good moods, intrinsically makes himself a challenge for Baekhyun to crack. Whenever he can get Kyungsoo to break, laugh or grin or yell or lash out, it's just more fuel for the fire. He can't picture himself ever being completely satisfied; Baekhyun's ravenous to see Kyungsoo's reactions to everything, to memorize it all, to draw back from his own experience, and compare it to himself. He wants to have the power to bring Kyungsoo down with one well-honed sentence and to raise Kyungsoo back up with just a smile and a word. Kyungsoo's steady gaze on him makes Baekhyun push himself harder, making his failures cut deeper and his accomplishments lift higher, as if everything Baekhyun strives for will be only worth as much as he thinks it is if Kyungsoo's there to validate him.

It's an issue of want, not need, but it's a very prevailing want.

He's wondered before if it's a slightly unhealthy mindset to have, but he only has to look at the way Kyungsoo tries so hard to ignore Baekhyun's taunts and instigations to know that he's not alone in this; the way that sometimes Kyungsoo's eyes flash at him with a flinty spark, the approving smile that Kyungsoo sometimes has to fight down so Baekhyun can't see, that the dependence runs through Kyungsoo too.

He takes a card from Kyungsoo's deck on their next escapade. Baekhyun's got a girl-wide hips, really nice to hold-bent over in one of the cubicles of the men's room, his fingers stretching her cunt and forcing her to muffle her moans into her hands. He's typing on his cell phone left-handed.

mens rm 3rd flor, he sends to Kyungsoo, then shoves his phone back in his pocket. Takes out a condom.

This girl caught his eye at the bar-understandably. Scarlet lips, great breasts, a cheerful laugh, a messy up-do, she looked like she was simply there to have a great night out. She'd gotten hit on from three separate guys as she waited for her drink, but she seemed to be taking it in stride, tossing back a few quips to their lame pick-up lines before shaking her head and sending them on their way. The only reason she bothered giving Baekhyun a second glance was because Chanyeol had come running up frantically, practically hollering for him.

"Wingman assistance, code blue," he said, latching onto Baekhyun and trying to haul him away from the bar.

"I'm waiting for my drink!"

"No, come on, I need you now, you're the best at talking. If you don't come and hype me up, that tall, blond guy is going to swoop in and steal her!" He pointed to the end of the bar, where Kris was leaning against the wall, chatting with a dyed brunette in cute glasses. Kris said something, ducking his head, and the girl laughed. She laid her hand on Kris' forearm.

"See? See?" Chanyeol whined, tugging on Baekhyun again. "He just interrupted our conversation and, like, took over-but I swear the girl was really into me right before he showed up. Help, please."

"Hey, hold up," Baekhyun said, putting his hands on Chanyeol's jittery arms. "Take a deep breath." Chanyeol took a deep breath. "If you were talking to her before and she liked you, that means she still likes you. Come on, you're golden! You're way better looking than that horse-face over there. Those kind of guys just like to yank girls around because they know they can get away with it. You're way better than that! Just go back there and interrupt him. Catch him off guard. Be a little aggressive if you have too. You can do it." He cuffed Chanyeol under the chin.

"Yeah, okay, yeah," Chanyeol said, shaking out his limbs. He took another inhale, straightened his shoulders, then marched towards Kris like a man on a mission. Baekhyun turned back to the bar, sharing an embarrassed smile with everyone who had inevitably listened in on his pep talk, and shrugged, like, what can you do? Suddenly he was knocked forward from Chanyeol's weight on his back. "Thank you for believing in me!" Chanyeol yelled, hugging Baekhyun tightly for a long second before spinning away again. Baekhyun sighed.

"Sorry for the commotion," he said aloud to everyone, but he was looking at the girl.

"You have a cute relationship with your buddy over there," she said as she watched him pay for his drink. "Very nice speech."

"You should hear what I say to get him to leave me alone with food," Baekhyun joked, and clinked the glass in her hand with his. She burst out laughing, and Baekhyun smiled.

Later, after a genuinely pleasant talk, she grabbed his loose collar and pulled his face close to hers. "Interested in sharing with me more of your oral skills?" she asked, eyes twinkling. Baekhyun couldn't say no. He suggested the men's room on the third floor, where there were a lot less people milling around, and let her lead him to the staircase. He swiveled around at the last minute to see Chanyeol and Kris, jumping brazenly together on the dance floor, the cute girl dancing with Kyungsoo beside them, and Chanyeol sent him a thumbs up. He was really the best wingman a guy could ask for. Baekhyun wasn't sure if Kyungsoo had kept up with his progress though, but it was too late to catch his attention.

Now he's sure that Kyungsoo hadn't seen. He's gone down on the girl, has the taste of her come around his lips, has her kneeling on the lid of the toilet, her cunt level with his crotch, is one minute from sticking his dick in her, and Kyungsoo has yet to make an appearance.

But she's so ready for him. There's no way Baekhyun's going to wait. He pulls his fingers out of her, giving her folds one more good knead just to hear her moan, then rips open the condom wrapper. She looks over her shoulder as he pulls his cock from his fly and rolls it on. Keeping one hand braced on the wall for support, she reaches the other one behind her to massage her own ass. He loses track of himself as her asshole flashes in and out of view beneath the mound of her buttcheek, and he thinks in a stutter-does she want him to-

"Another time, maybe," she laughs, reading perfectly the expression on his face. "Are you done?"

"Yeah," he croaks, unable to do much as she gives him a quick, firm fondle before guiding him to sink into her.

Baekhyun's fingers flex around her waist. He feels a groan catch behind his teeth.

"You're good," she reassures him. "Go ahead."

So he pulls slowly out of her, just as he had with his fingers, until just the head of his cock is still inside her, and then snaps his hips. She grunts, canting towards the wall. "Please," she breathes. "Just like that."

Baekhyun rears back and does it again. The girl slaps a hand over her mouth to keep herself quiet, and he wonders if he should do the same, except his hands seem to be magnetized to the soft flesh of her hips. She's so tight but lets him slide in and out of her so easily, and her heat is contagious, rushing up from his cock until he feels like every nerve in his body is crackling bright. He starts to go faster, his hips rushing forward again and again, and the wet sounds of their skin meeting, his pants, her muffled groans, all coalesce together off-harmony to the deadened bass thumping underneath their feet. It's so fucking good. The only thing that could make it better would be-

The door to the bathroom opens and multiple feet trample in. Baekhyun freezes, heart leaping. Is it Kyungsoo?

"Oh, gross, it's worse than I thought," says Chanyeol's voice. "Is it going to stain?"

"I don't know," says Kris. A faucet starts to run. "Here, rub some soap on it."

"Who orders red wine in a fucking dance club?" snaps Chanyeol. "This is my favourite t-shirt!"

"You've got like three of them."

"Yeah, exactly. I like them so much I buy lots. Doesn't mean I want to lose one."

The girl turns around. "Isn't that your friend?" she mouths, words silent. Baekhyun holds up a finger to his lips. He doesn't want to be found out. It's one thing for Chanyeol to help him score some pussy, but Baekhyun doesn't need him to see the deed. Although it's kind of hot to think about it-Chanyeol and Kris pausing what they're doing when they hear the girl scream out Baekhyun's name, then recognizing Baekhyun's shoes poking out from until the cubicle wall, them realizing who's in the room with them and what they're doing-Baekhyun would tell them to fetch Kyungsoo-tell them they could all watch-

The girl lets out a scoff at his silence and turns back around, slowly, carefully, rolling her hips.

Baekhyun bites his tongue so hard he swears he tastes blood.

"It's not washing off," Chanyeol whines. "Shit, shit."

"I think you'll have to let it go," says Kris.

"You wouldn't be so cool about if it'd been your shirt vivisected by a ugly splash of purple!"

"I don't know what that word means."

"Vivisected? It means, like, to cut open-"

"Hold still. Pass me a paper tow-thanks."

The girl starts pushing back against his cock, her waist bowing as she tries to take him deeper. Baekhyun scratches his nails down her back in warning; it makes her shiver, not stop. He gives her asscheek a pinch. She clenches around him. Baekhyun feels like he's going to combust. Against his volition, his hips pitch forward as he adjusts his balance, and she sighs softly, widening her stance just that centimetre more-enough for Baekhyun to bottom out. She circles back against him, pelvis swivelling, hauling up a massive groan from Baekhyun's throat, desperate to explode-the girl's hand slithers underneath herself to rub his balls and Baekhyun clenches his teeth, but it's too much. His groan emerges as a long, shuddering hiss of "Shit."

The room has suddenly become very quiet. Baekhyun tenses-he gave them away, he must have, but then-

"I pushed them out," Kyungsoo's voice rings out, clear as a bell. Casual as anything. "You almost finished in there?"

Jesus fuck. He'd been there all along.

Baekhyun moans, spurring into overdrive. He grabs the girl's hips and slams himself in at a furious pace, strong enough to make her hands skid against the wall, to make her squeal in surprise. The thought of it makes him crazy: Kyungsoo standing on the other side of the stall, eyes boring into the door as if he had X-ray vision, waiting for Baekhyun to finish, reduced to his own imagination and the sounds of skin slapping together, the slick noises of Baekhyun's cock moving in and out of a nameless someone's cunt, her breathy keening and Baekhyun's short grunts emitting like a clock counting the seconds. What if Kyungsoo has a hand on the stall door, as if he's trying to be a part of the scene, too? That would be beautiful. Kyungsoo wanting to open the door and stare his fill, but impeded by the flimsy sliding lock. What if Kyungsoo is looking through the hairline crack of space between the door and the cubicle wall? What if Kyungsoo is hard?

"I'm going to-" pants the girl, her cunt squeezing like a vice around him.

"Yeah," says Baekhyun. "Me too-I-"

"Do it," demands Kyungsoo. He sounds so near.

Baekhyun shoves himself in as deep as he can go and comes.

Afterwards, when they get back home, Baekhyun gets last dibs for a shower because he's the one who got laid. Cool with him, because he wants to take some time to revel in his success. Soak it in. The night had played out exceedingly well for him. Kyungsoo was gone by the time he and his partner had cleaned themselves up a little-a little disappointing, but maybe he'd wanted to give them privacy. And Baekhyun found him downstairs easily enough, the centre dip between the loitering towers of Kris and Chanyeol. Chanyeol waggled his eyebrows and Baekhyun showed off the hickey on his collarbone. A parting gift. The goodbye kiss the girl had given him still tingled on his lips, but it was the sex that was obviously the highlight of the night-due partly to the girl, partly to Kyungsoo. And judging from the way Kyungsoo had been smirking at him, pure vindicated amusement, he'd known it too.

It's nuts how hot it was. Baekhyun has to jerk himself off in the shower because he gets turned on again mentally reliving the entire experience. He comes in his fist in record time, picturing what it'd be like to do that girl on a bed while Kyungsoo sat in an armchair and watched them. Gave them orders. Touched himself through his black slacks. Said Baekhyun's name as he climaxed, like it was yanked out of him.

"I'll only go out with you guys," Jongdae announces, when they proposition him a week later, "if you don't get into one of your weird, antagonistic moods."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Baekhyun asks. At the same time, Kyungsoo says, "What?"

Jongdae's lip curls funnily. "You know what I mean. Like, oh, I'm going to kill you, oh, I'd like to see you try, oh, don't push me. And it's like you're just waiting for an excuse to tear into each other but you both secretly love it?"

Tear into each other, he says. Fucking Jongdae and his word choices.

"We're just having fun," Baekhyun says. "Not enough mental stimulation being part of an idol group."

"Pfft," Jongdae scoffs. "As if it's your brain you're trying to stimulate."

This makes Baekhyun pause. Jongdae promoted with M all of last year. How much could he really know about the, yes, admittedly weird thing between Baekhyun and Kyungsoo? But Jongdae is annoyingly observant, and perceptive, too-and he talks a lot with Joonmyeon. He's likely picked up on a lot more than Baekhyun gives him credit for.

What would it have been like, if it had been Jongdae and Kyungsoo in the same subgroup? Or Jongdae and Baekhyun? They'd entered the company at the same time, even; had shaken each other hands with the acceptance that they'd be competing against each other-it was a lot of timing and luck that led them both to debut in the same group. Jongdae's voice is constantly held up to Baekhyun's and Kyungsoo's too; it's ridiculously easy to imagine him on the other side of Baekhyun's rivalry, the opposing force, him greedy to one-up Baekhyun-although, come to think of it, maybe not. Jongdae's never been one to take satisfaction from a friend's failures. He's always the first to cheer whenever anyone in the group does a solo on a show, always grins to ward away Kyungsoo's self-confidence black holes, always laughs the most at Baekhyun's jokes. Jongdae talks loudly, sings louder, but there's no hiding that underneath all his snark and snappy wit, he's really soft. Maybe he would have been Baekhyun's movie-perfect rival in an alternate universe, but with him in M, Jongdae has built himself up to be a supporter, not a competitor.

It's odd that he would be so opposed to Kyungsoo and Baekhyun's more... hostile proclivities. Baekhyun would have for sure thought Jongdae would find it hilarious as fuck.

Kyungsoo glances sideways at Baekhyun, then asks Jongdae, "What do you think we get up to? We're not out to actually hurt each other, if that's what you're worried about."

"I didn't say that," says Jongdae. "I mean your UST. If it works for you guys, that's fine, but don't drag me along as third wheel on your sketchy club dates. Don't think I haven't noticed your very active social calendar these days."

"Have you been listening to Tao's dumb stories?" Baekhyun says. "Kyungsoo and I don't have UST."

Jongdae flips up a hand. "Whatever, call it what you want. The point is that I am not going to go a club just to be the forgotten loner minding the purses as you two dry hump each other on the dance floor."

Kyungsoo's horrified expression is what tips Baekhyun into a laughing fit. "Oh my god," he wheezes. "We don't do that. I hate dancing near Kyungsoo." In all their recent forays into clubs, Baekhyun's maybe danced with Kyungsoo a grand total of twenty minutes.

"Oh," says Jongdae. "But Chanyeol said that when you guys went to Eden last week, you came downstairs after nailing some chick and gave Kyungsoo, like, the biggest eyefuck he'd ever seen in his life. If you guys want to sleep with each other, just hurry up and do it. Don't use poor girls as a substitute."

"I'm straight," Kyungsoo snaps.

"Me too," says Baekhyun.

"Straight? Or straight," says Jongdae, curling his fingers into bunny ears.

"Straight," Kyungsoo says firmly.

Baekhyun adds, "Straight, like, the only reason I like taking Kyungsoo to clubs is to shove in his face how much better I am at getting girls than he is, straight."

That's the most uncomplicated truth of this whole business. Whatever other additional feelings are floating underneath the surface, colouring the experience, giving it that delicious extra kick, the top layer of their whole bet is really just a gratuitous pissing contest: who is better with women? They're just trying to have as much fun as they can while finding out.

"Oh," Jongdae says again. "So it's just ego stroking." He pushes out his lips contemplatively. "That does sound fun. Can I join?"

"No," says Kyungsoo.

"Aw," says Jongdae, deflating. Then he perks up. "Hey, I've always wanted to go to Vera. I've heard cool things about it."

Vera is nice. It's a relatively new club in Hongdae with a good atmosphere and a solid roster of DJs. Tonight they're playing electronic and dance remixes, and a large crowd has possession of both the floor and bar by the time they arrive. Minseok is the D'Artagnan to round out their Three Musketeers and the first thing he does is head to the bar to order them all drinks. Baekhyun doesn't know what magic Minseok pulls to get them delivered so quickly, but not even five minutes after Minseok has taken a seat at their table does a server show up with two pitchers of beer and four empty glasses.

"We should have been bringing you from the start," says Baekhyun, awed.

"You're assuming I'd even want to," Minseok teases, and pours Baekhyun's glass first.

It's a promising start to the night, but an hour in and both pitchers down, things are lagging. There's a tough audience in house; it's Kyungsoo's turn to score and he can't seem to find a girl. Baekhyun's tracked him as he milled around the bar, approaching a few girls who seemed open to flirting, but it's been bad luck all the way through. Baekhyun can't hear any of the conversations but he reads plenty from the apologetic furrow of the girls' eyebrows, in the way that Kyungsoo's posture stiffens as he steps away. The blank smile Kyungsoo pastes on his face as he turns around, which slips off completely by the time he's seated back at the table.

It makes Baekhyun jittery. It's him getting more and more riled up as Kyungsoo continues to strike out, as if Kyungsoo is merely the transport for the rejection to feed directly into Baekhyun. With the two previous girls Kyungsoo had found, it had been them who'd been interested in him first. Baekhyun had understood that-Kyungsoo was handsome, his features striking and arresting, and he could silken his voice in a way that made fans' legs wobble-Baekhyun's seen it happen, many times. But if Kyungsoo wasn't the girl's type, everything seemed to be a lost cause. It didn't matter how charming he was or how many deadpan jokes he cracked-without any initial interest to spark the attraction, it was like trying to light a wet match. Baekhyun's got a generic, inoffensive face that neither intimidates nor disappoints; it's always been his personality that tipped the scale in his favour. What Kyungsoo's going through has never happened with him.

After the fourth girl-amazing legs and a short bobbed cut-shakes her head, "Thanks but no thanks" written like ink over her face, Baekhyun starts really getting angry. Not at Kyungsoo. Well, a little at Kyungsoo. He could be working harder. Be more creative or something. But it's not Kyungsoo's fault that these girls are fucking idiots. Baekhyun gives Kyungsoo a hard time about a lot of stuff, but it doesn't mean Baekhyun can't recite a list of Kyungsoo's good points inside out and backwards. The fact that none of the girls seem to picking up on any of them is making Baekhyun's eye twitch. Are they being put off by Kyungsoo's mushroom-shaped shoulders? His height? His gummy smile? But those were cute, in their own way. And what about Kyungsoo's huge, pouty lips, his long eyelashes, the elegant curve of his neck? Those had to be worth some points.

Apparently not. Kyungsoo returns to the table with the same dark expression he wears when his voice cracks in the middle of a song. Baekhyun wants to say something, but Kyungsoo glares him quiet. Kyungsoo dumps the rest of his soju down his throat, then excuses himself to the men's room. Minseok and Jongdae try not to let it dampen the mood, but after ten minutes have passed without sign of Kyungsoo, Jongdae kicks Baekhyun out of his seat and yells at him to fix whatever he did wrong.

"I didn't do anything!" Baekhyun protests.

"Then why was he looking at you so desolately? He probably thinks he disappointed you somehow!"

Which is the most preposterous thing Baekhyun has heard in his entire life-it's such a joke that Baekhyun actually hurries to the men's room so Kyungsoo can get a laugh out of it too. He finds Kyungsoo leaning against the bathroom wall, flicking through his phone, his dipped head level with the paper towel dispenser.

"What the hell are you even doing?" Baekhyun asks him.

"I'm quitting, isn't it obvious," Kyungsoo says, not looking up from his phone.

"What?"

Kyungsoo raises his eyes steadily. "I said, I quit. You win the game. I'll wear the feather duster outfit again."

"And clean my room for two months," Baekhyun says automatically. He winces when Kyungsoo purses his lips. "Sorry. Didn't mean to rub it in."

"It's fine," Kyungsoo says flatly, but he gentles his tone when he says, "Go back out there. Get a girl or something. I'm going to head home in a bit."

"But we barely just got here!"

"I'm tired."

"No you're fucking not," Baekhyun says. "You're just surly because you kept on getting shot down by those girls. Grow a set of balls, Jesus. Everyone has bad nights sometimes. It doesn't mean you're not a great catch and if your feelings are hurt just because a bunch of strangers with fake tits don't want to suck your cock, you're a bigger idiot than I've ever taken you for."

Kyungsoo stares at him. Baekhyun feels a barbed wire spear through his stomach lining. "What?" he says.

"I can't figure out if I'm supposed to be flattered or insulted," says Kyungsoo.

"Oh my god, you're supposed to tell me to get a fucking life because the only reason you started playing this game was to stick it to my big mouth! And you have, okay, I get it, you know your way around a woman. It's not like I never thought you didn't, or anything. I just thought that I've done more than you."

"Sure, fine," agrees Kyungsoo, too readily. "You've done more stuff than me."

"Ugh!" Baekhyun groans. "It's no fun if you just give in! Make me fight for it a little!"

Now Kyungsoo's getting frustrated too. "What do you want me to say? I did my best, but my stupid ego couldn't take any more failure in one sitting? That I feel like an idiot because I was actually having fun with this whole thing, but tonight crushed reality back onto me, like-what the fuck are we even doing? Who did I think I was? That I'm angry I didn't win the bet, but I'm more angry about the fact that I had to go hide in the men's room because I didn't want to deal with you after that fourth girl said no?"

Baekhyun scowls. "I wouldn't have made fun of you. I'm not that much of a dick."

"Not you to me, you fucking idiot," Kyungsoo says. "Me to you. I didn't want you to see me upset."

"Why the fuck would you be upset? It's not like-god, oh my god, I meant to tell you-Jongdae thinks that you're pissed at yourself because you think you disappointed me or something."

Kyungsoo goes silent, mouth open. Baekhyun gapes, and Kyungsoo gives himself a noticeable shake. "He's not-wrong, exactly," he gets out eventually.

Five seconds pass in stasis before Baekhyun explodes. "That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard-"

The door to the washroom slams open and a familiar voice pops out-a very familiar female voice.

"Oh, whoops, sorry," says Minae, the girl Baekhyun had sex with last week in Eden. "Wrong one." She does a double-take when she sees Baekhyun. "Oh my god! Wingman man," she giggles, pointing at him. "Wow! What are the chances that we'd run into each other again at another club? How are you?"

"Uh, fine, good," says Baekhyun.

"And this is-" she says, nodding at Kyungsoo.

"I'm Kyungsoo," he says. He's looking at her like she's a deep sea creature: where had she come from? What strange abilities did she possess? Is she of any scientific importance?

She tilts her head in confusion. "Your voice sounds familiar. Have we met before?"

"No," replies Kyungsoo. His back snaps straight as he whips his gaze to Baekhyun. "How about a truce?" he asks quickly.

"A truce? What?"

"If she's up for it," Kyungsoo clarifies, nodding at the girl.

"Who? Me?" Minae asks, in unison with Baekhyun understanding, lighting up, breathing, "Holy shit, yes."

It's nothing short of a miracle that, one, Minae is, in fact, very up for it, and two, they didn't come to the club via taxi tonight. They rush back to their table, Kyungsoo leading, Minae's sweaty hand clenched in Baekhyun's-and stop short. The girl at the bar who'd been the fastest at turning down Kyungsoo, the one with the legs and the bob cut, is sitting in Minseok's lap, trying to suck his tongue out of his mouth. His hands are tucked into her back pockets, and the way she's biting at his lips doesn't even manage to hide half his grin.

"Wow," says Baekhyun.

Kyungsoo just strides up them, sticks his hand down Minseok's front pants pocket-"Hey! Ask first!" Minseok yelps, tearing away from the girl-and pulls out the keys to their van. "We're taking these," he says.

Minseok wipes his mouth. "Don't lose them."

"Where's Jongdae?"

Minseok points to the dance floor, where an obviously intoxicated Jongdae is spinning madly in the centre of the floor. He abruptly drops down and pushes up into a perfect handstand. The crowd around him goes wild.

"We'll be outside if you need us, but don't plan on needing us," Kyungsoo says, and Baekhyun follows him out.

In the backseat of the van, they create a sauna. Baekhyun at one end and Kyungsoo the other, Minae in the middle, bridging their gap. They tried to go slow but that hadn't lasted. Now there's clothes scattered everywhere like feathers, she's got Baekhyun in her mouth and Kyungsoo in her cunt, and her moans are barely able to cover Baekhyun's own. Baekhyun's done his fair share of sexual experimentation, but this is new to him. Not just that it's another guy with him, but that it's Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo, glowing with sweat, even under the paper-thin light filtering in from the parking lot, the perspiration streaking all the way down to his chest, where his button-up hangs open, half its buttons ripped out. Baekhyun's seen Kyungsoo naked before, but not like this, with his bony hips flush against a girl's ass, his small hands gripping a girl's waist, his narrow frame heaving as he drives into her with a rhythm Baekhyun can feel in his bones.

Minae's lips leaves Baekhyun's cock and she ducks lower to lick at his balls. Baekhyun glances down and swears loudly. Kyungsoo laughs. "I thought you'd have better endurance than this," he says, voice weak but still haughty.

"Fuck you," Baekhyun snaps, but he actually gets harder. Unbelievable. His cock rubs against Minae's soft cheek as she suckles at him, and he threads a hand through her hair, praising her tongue, her cunt.

"Look at how good you're making Kyungsoo feel," he says, lifting her chin again so he can slip his cock back into her waiting mouth. "He's so red."

"I'm red because I'm embarrassed you're going to come so soon," Kyungsoo shoots back, and gives one huge thrust that pitches Minae forward so Baekhyun's cock touches the back of her throat. Minae gags, but then she takes a deep breath, and just opens up for him, letting him all the way in.

"Fuck," Baekhyun shouts.

Kyungsoo takes his cue. He pulls out, almost to the tip, then slams back in, rocking Minae forward again. Then he starts in harder, faster than before, hips working furiously, rocking into Minae into Baekhyun. Baekhyun's brain is being sucked out of his cock, but he can't help staring sluggishly, thoughtlessly, at the way Kyungsoo's bottom lip is clenched so tightly under his teeth. The way Kyungsoo's eyes are hooded but his pupils are glimmering bright under his eyelashes. The way his mop of hair sways over his forehead as he buries himself in Minae's willing body. His soft grunts, the concentrated line between his brows as he struggles to keep control of himself-but that's the one area where Kyungsoo's got Baekhyun beat by miles. He always holds himself in such right control, like he's afraid he'll lose too much of himself if he opens up too far, lets too many people in, and Baekhyun wants him to realize that it's actually the opposite. Let the right people in, and they can complement you, encourage you, make you stronger. Wear down sharp edges into round corners, forming fitted puzzle pieces. Seeing Kyungsoo like this, wrecked by the gloved heat around his cock, surrendering to the pleasure, is amazing. That he's letting Baekhyun see him like this is amazing. It steals the air from Baekhyun's lungs. It makes every drag of Minae's tongue along his cock feel a hundred times more intense than it should, because it goes both ways: Baekhyun's being watched, too. Judged, lauded, laughed at, he doesn't care, all he knows is that below, his cock is being swallowed down, and here, higher, his eyes are being swallowed in by Kyungsoo's unavoidable, flayed open gaze, piercing right through Baekhyun-and Kyungsoo's smiling.

Baekhyun screams as he comes. Kyungsoo laughs, face scrunching unabashedly, happier than Baekhyun has ever heard him.

A few hours later, the evening's just a memory, albeit a great one. "Good night?" Baekhyun says sleepily, practically knocking into Kyungsoo as they pass each other in the hall, Kyungsoo fresh from the shower.

Kyungsoo ducks his head so Baekhyun can't make out whether he flashed a smile or smirk. "Not bad," he answers. He reaches up to cup Baekhyun's neck gently, giving it a soft squeeze.

Baekhyun doesn't shiver, doesn't flinch.