(literally) falling for you; (1/2); for EVERYONE
Title: (literally) falling for you
For: EVERYONE
By: ANONYMOUS
Word count: 13,376
Warnings: mentions of past!baekhyun/lay, brief frottage scene, sex
Rating: NC-17
Summary: In which Baekhyun (literally) trips to flirt with that cute guy picking up his niece and Chanyeol is the actual bane to his existence. Whatever, at least he has Dragon Ball Z to turn to.
Author's note: First of all, thank you to the mods for being so patient and understand with me. Second of all, to my dear recipient, this definitely is not the fic I had hoped to give you, but due to real life and all that good stuff, this was the best I could manage for now. I do hope that you find something enjoyable about it. Also please excuse my inability to title well and the fact that this is unbeta'd, so I apologize for any errors you may find hehe ;u;
To work with kids, one must have the mindset of a kid. One must be able to analyze and understand and know how to play with kids in order to really make it an enjoyable experience for both the children and the person working with them. In this case, Baekhyun is referring to himself.
Honestly, he’s always been good with kids-which, according to a certain Do Kyungsoo, it’s because he’s really just a 5-year-old living in a 24-year old's body. Baekhyun begs to differ because he can be a mature adult when needed, thank you very much. Okay yeah maybe he wears his raggedy Scooby-Doo pajamas to bed every night, and sure maybe he prefers sleeping with his Rilakkuma plushie (courtesy of Chanyeol who ordered two of the same plushie on accident) over another actual human being, but in no way, shape, or form does that determine how adult he is because, damn it, he’s all kinds of mature!
Or, that’s what he likes to think at least, just to make himself feel better. Kyungsoo is always the first to state otherwise. How incredibly rude of him.
However, if Baekhyun weren’t so childlike, then he wouldn’t even have a job. He supposes he could teach teenagers and young adults, but then he’d constantly have to be serious and strict and that’s something that is never fun. Teaching children is… well, it’s an experience, but Baekhyun loves it. Not only is it adorable watching them try to copy what moves he’s teaching them, but watching them grow and perfect the moves as best they can over time at such young ages is something that makes you swell up with pride.
Plus, it’s fun to be a big kid all day. Most people would find it quite stressful and have half of their hair torn out by the end of the day, but if you know how to talk to kids in ways that they understand and be patient with them, then it’s actually quite an easy job. Baekhyun gets it, though, kids aren’t for everyone.
“Alright Youngsoo, keep working on your front kick, yeah? Practice makes perfect.” Baekhyun says, patting the small boy’s head and ruffling the mop of dark hair with a bright smile as the child looks up at him with determination shining brightly in his eyes.
Youngsoo nods and purses his lips together before he makes a fist and holds it up, “Fighting!”
Baekhyun smiles fondly and stands as Youngsoo’s father leads him away. Class for the day has long since ended and the children, along with their parents, have finally cleared out, and Baekhyun is so ready to change out of his stuffy uniform and head home to his couch where his ass will stay planted until the wee hours of the morning with a bag of chips and re-runs of Running Man on his television. He’s sure Kyungsoo and Chanyeol will join him at one point after they get off work and if he’s lucky Kyungsoo will cook for him because “ordering takeout doesn’t count as food, it’s unhealthy.”
He spends a good ten minutes in the gym showers, letting the lukewarm water slide over the curve of his spine and between the hollows of his shoulder blades, and this is his favorite part of the end of every day. Being around his students is great, but showers after each class have become therapeutic to Baekhyun, and not to mention he despises smelling like a sweaty gym sock that’s been stuffed away in a locker for someone to find months later.
After quickly drying off and toweling his hair enough that water no longer drips onto his shoulders, Baekhyun stuffs his uniform inside of his gym bag, makes a note to have Kyungsoo wash it later, and exits the locker rooms just in time to see Kyungsoo standing by the entrance of the gym with a little girl who is still dressed in her hapkido uniform. Kyungsoo’s hands engulf her tiny ones completely, and she’s chewing on the tips of her fingers as if anticipating the arrival of whoever is in charge of picking her up.
Baekhyun’s initial reaction is to look at the parent contact list and maybe give them a piece of his mind for forgetting their poor child in a place full of strangers apart from Baekhyun and the other hapkido masters. They teach at a local gym, this place is crawling with strange people and any child would feel at least a bit out of place in some way.
However, just as he’s reaching into his bag in search of the contact list, he sees him. A quick blur of dark hair, bronzed skin, full lips, and a dopey, apologetic look on his face as he glances down at the girl. His face is tinged with a pink flush, assumably from the heat of the sun, and the shirt he’s wearing leaves little to no imagination of what he’s hiding under the thin fabric. He’s all smooth skin, lean muscles and defined arms, longs legs, and broad shoulders. Oh man, Baekhyun thinks. A bronzed God.
This must be what being starstruck feels like. Like, that feeling you get when you see someone so devastatingly hot that your chest just tightens with this need to approach them and somehow woo them. Honestly, Baekhyun feels a bit overwhelmed, like he’s racking his brain for words but all he feels is butterflies in his gut.
In the past, Baekhyun has always been quite good at flirting. Flirting comes natural to him, almost as natural as sneaking your hand into your pants while looking through your mom’s Victoria’s Secret catalogs, but this may be the first time that he’s ever been rendered speechless by someone’s existence.
As the boy continues talking and rambling on, Baekhyun decides that, yes, he must flirt with him. He may never have another opportunity to talk to someone this hot ever again considering this is the first time he’s seen this boy come to the gym, which only leads Baekhyun to assume he had been asked by Rahee’s parents to retrieve her.
C’mon Baekhyun, conjure up one of your best lines and go for it, is what he tells himself, and in that same moment, the boy’s eyes catch his; dark with darker hair falling right below his eyebrows and his lips set in a natural pout. Baekhyun swallows-gulps really-and offers a quick, awkward smile. In return, the boy’s lips twitch just the slightest, and Baekhyun feels way too accomplished because of it.
Alright, he can totally do this. He shall flirt and he shall flirt well.
However, he takes a step just as his gym bag slips from his shoulder, cutting off his “Hey, do you-” and turning it into a disgruntled oompfh as his feet get caught up with his bag and sends him falling face first. Luckily his skilled and precise reflexes are quick enough that he protects his face just before the hard floor can cause any form of damage.
Embarrassment burns hot in his face and he refuses to look up. He would rather not see the boy’s face all scrunched up in gut-busting laughter at his expense. He kinda wishes the ground would open up and swallow him and then spit him back out maybe 20 years from now after everyone who had just witnessed the demise (yes, demise) of Byun Baekhyun would have forgotten all about it.
Groaning, Baekhyun blinks his eyes and slowly lifts his head just in time to see Kyungsoo waving the boy and Rahee off.
Then, Kyungsoo turns to Baekhyun and promptly bursts into a giggle fit.
“Okay but you don’t understand, this boy was so pretty that it actually caused me to trip! If I ever get the chance to speak to him again I’ll end up flat on my face, his beauty is dangerous I can’t believe this,” Baekhyun complains for the nth time, pathetically picking at bits of what is left of his chicken as he nurses his embarrassment with a beer. Maybe a beer too many, according to Jongdae.
Every Friday after work Baekhyun, Jongdae, Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol all gather at their local bar where they stuff their faces with whatever sounds appealing to them that night and fill up on beer until they’re either a.) pleasantly buzzed or, b.) completely obliterated depending on the severity of the day’s stresses.
Today Baekhyun is aiming for the latter. Though he doesn’t think any amount of alcohol will be enough to rid him of his embarrassment and he knows for a fact that the light pink flush on his cheeks definitely isn’t from the beer. Okay, maybe a little bit of it is because he’s had more than 5-6 maybe?-, but he can very much still feel the embarrassment radiating from his very pores.
“Stop worrying about it, dude,” Jongdae supplies ever so helpfully. “Need I remind you of that one time during freshman year of college?”
Baekhyun is quick to shake his head, knowing exactly what that one time is, his face heating up on the spot. “Don’t. I don’t need to hear about it again,” he says, sending a look in Jongdae’s direction.
“I still can’t believe you walked out of the fucking bathroom with cum in your hair…” Jongdae trails off, lips twitching into a shit-eating grin as he glances elsewhere. Baekhyun tosses a piece of skin from his devoured chicken right at Jongdae’s face.
“Fuck you, I was hammered. Had I been in my right state of mind I would’ve properly cleaned up.”
“That’s still the best blowjob I’ve ever had in my life,” says Chanyeol, sighing fondly while Baekhyun actually (in his head at least) bursts into flames. College certainly wasn’t Baekhyun’s decent point in life, and he hates that his friends are just the kinds of assholes that would hold all the shit he did over his head and use said stupid shit against him even in their adult lives. Geez, some people never grow up.
Except Baekhyun. Because he’s an adult. A mature adult who totally and most certainly is not whining over some hot college boy with the body of a Greek God. Not to mention, he also has no idea what team the boy plays for, but Baekhyun can assume he probably has a pretty equal ratio of both genders pining for his affection. And his dick. Yeah.
“Gross man,” Jongdae laughs, tossing a pretzel in Chanyeol’s direction. Chanyeol shrugs nonchalantly.
“I’m simply lifting his spirits. Baek man, don’t be embarrassed. Just drop to your knees if you ever see him again and blow him for all he’s worth,” is Chanyeol’s suggestion, which has Baekhyun glaring so hard he fears that his facial muscles will cramp up and get stuck. “Trust me, he’ll forget all about you tripping.”
“Or maybe he’ll address you as that guy that fell flat on his face that one time,” Kyungsoo chimes in. Baekhyun groans.
His friends are no help at all.
Baekhyun downs the rest of his beer and digs around in his pocket to fish out enough money to cover the cost of his beers before bidding The Assholes farewell. “Later assholes, I’ll see ya when I see ya.”
“You’re walking out before the roast session even starts. How will I be entertained now?” Jongdae grumbles, pouting for extra measure as Baekhyun checks each of his pockets to ensure that he has all of his belongings.
“Maybe Chanyeol will call up his butt buddy and you can watch them get it on,” Kyungsoo answers before Baekhyun can even open his mouth.
“Hey!”
“Gross, I’ll pass,” Baekhyun says, shivering for dramatic effect. Chanyeol scoffs.
“Right, Baekhyun’s gonna go home and watch horribly plotted porn of college twinks jacking off,” Kyungsoo snorts, hiding his laughter behind his beer bottle.
“I hate you all,” Baekhyun flips them off and heads for the door.
Weekends are usually Baekhyun’s time to be a lazy bum, his time to revert back to his college ways and sit around and play his lame computer games, as Kyungsoo says. In Baekhyun’s defense, he’s an adult 5 long days out of the week, so he thinks he’s quite deserving of those two wonderful days where he can be his true self in his true form; a 24-year-old man clad in Scooby-Doo pajamas with his butt planted on his couch with some cheesy ass independent film playing on his television or in his computer chair with either LoL or porn (amateur, of course) gracing his screen.
Whether Kyungsoo admits to it or not, Baekhyun can almost guarantee that he does the same shit on his days off. Okay, maybe he doesn’t sit around and play video games or watch sappy teenage movies, but porn is something every man watches and that Baekhyun is sure of. So, in Kyungsoo’s face.
“Let me guess,” Chanyeol heaves on the other side of the line, “you spent all day watching your teenage angst bullshit and then probably shoved your hand down your pants, right?” He always calls at the worst possible times, like now when Noah is in the middle of his infamous I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day line, and Baekhyun is not amused.
“Actually,” Baekhyun clears his throat, “I’m watching The Notebook and you’re interrupting my favorite part.”
“Are you crying?”
“... No, I have a tickle in my throat.”
Chanyeol doesn’t buy it, snorting quietly. Baekhyun frowns.
“Shut the sap off and come on a date with me,” Chanyeol says, causing Baekhyun to sputter and choke around a mouthful of chips.
“But Chanyeol,” Baekhyun croaks, “I don’t… I didn’t know you had feelings like that, and I’m sorry but-”
“I DIDN’T MEAN ME AND YOU GO ON A DATE! GROSS!”
“Oh…” Baekhyun lets out a sigh of utter relief, shoulders slumping as he laughs to himself because oh boy, his worst nightmare almost came to life. “That’s such a relief,” he sighs and sinks into his couch contentedly.
“First of all, it would be a blessing to have me crushing on you, and second of all, Sehun asked me if I knew someone that could sorta be his best friend’s date for the night,” Chanyeol explains, and Baekhyun is intrigued and both nervous instantly. Sehun, Baekhyun assumes, must be Chanyeol’s… something.
“So your first choice was me?”
“Yeah, Sehun said that Jongin-the best friend-needed someone that he can loosen up with and I felt like you were the perfect fit for this.”
“Loosen up as in?” Baekhyun prompts.
“Not as in sexually, you perv. Sehun wants him to have a little fun is all.”
Humming, Baekhyun taps his index finger against his chin as if contemplating a life changing decision. He hasn’t been on a date with anyone since the beginning of his last relationship and that was way back in his senior year of college, and even though it isn’t an actual date date, it’s still important that he makes a good impression on whoever this guy is. Baekhyun fears that his dating skills might’ve gotten a bit rusty despite being young, attractive, and rather successful.
Of course, maybe this date will be the thing that gets his mind to stop torturing him with images of plump lips, bronzed skin, and floppy hair. It also might be the thing that gets him to stop having cringe attacks every 5 minutes when he remembers that he face-planted in front of a totally hot guy.
“What time should I be ready?”
“Eight-thirty sharp. Wear something tight.”
“But what if I-”
Click.
Park Chanyeol, what a pain.
By the time 8:30 rolls around, Baekhyun is just adding the finishing touches to his attire for the night, smudging kohl liner around his eyes and tousling his hair for the millionth time. Assumably, since this Sehun guy Chanyeol is always rambling on about is a college student, Baekhyun’s date must also be a college student and so his wardrobe for the evening is what he likes to call his fancy as fuck yet totally casual night time wear and it consists of a plain white t-shirt, a red flannel, and the black skinny jeans that Chanyeol swears up and down make Baekhyun’s legs look more delectable than they already are.
He’s currently debating on whether or not to wear a Supreme snapback when there’s a knock at his door. If he leaves it off, it feels like the outfit is missing something, but if he wears it then he looks like a total douche. Life’s tough, tough decisions.
Chanyeol raises his brow the second Baekhyun swings the door open, and says, “Lose the hat. You look like an asshole.”
No snapback it is.
“What kind of date is this?” Baekhyun asks, tossing the snapback to the couch, frowning when it lands on the floor instead. As if his apartment isn’t messy enough. Maybe he can bribe Kyungsoo into cleaning it for him.
“So far, the plan is to meet up with Sehun and Jongin for burgers and then we’ll probably head to the arcade or something. The usual, really.”
Yeah, they’re definitely going out with college students. Not that Baekhyun is complaining, this sounds way better than having to play romantic adult for the night.
“These two sound quite easy to please,” Baekhyun says. Shutting his door, he pushes against it quickly just to ensure that it’s locked and he won’t be coming home to anything missing-not that he’d be able to tell considering his place is usually a disaster anyway.
“Yeah,” Chanyeol nods, “they are. Sappy bullshit makes Sehun feel awkward and Jongin… well, I don’t know about him. He’s your date, that’s stuff for you to find out.” Chanyeol nudges Baekhyun in the side teasingly, eyebrows wiggling as a hint toward whatever inappropriate thought was going through Chanyeol’s head.
“Please don’t do that with your eyebrows, you look like you’re plotting to tie me to the train tracks and leave me for dead.”
“... Point taken,” the taller male says.
“I’ll never understand how you managed to snag a hot college guy,” Baekhyun sighs.
“Hey!” Chanyeol guffaws. “Sehun thinks I’m charming,” he says, grinning proudly.
“Then he clearly has a different version of charm than I do because you’re terrible.”
Chanyeol glares at Baekhyun from the other side of his car, and Baekhyun grins as he slides into the passenger seat.
It’s a quick drive to The Joint, a local place a few blocks from Baekhyun’s apartment complex that he and the guys used to frequent in their college days, and the nostalgia hits the moment he steps through the doors, the little bell above his head ringing away. It’s like stepping into the past, and Baekhyun cringes when he remembers his first official “date” taking place in the booth at the far left corner of the building.
High school and college Baekhyun would frown upon walking into the place again, mostly because he spent a majority of his teenage years tucked away in the booths and stuffing his face full of burgers and fries, but it makes adult Baekhyun feel more at ease, like he doesn’t have to wear himself out trying to make an impression. Comfortable settings make for good first dates.
“This,” Chanyeol begins, plopping down in a booth next to the long stretch of window, “is where I and Sehunnie usually sit.”
“Sehunnie,” Baekhyun echoes, tone bordering the line of yuck and what the fuck. “How… cute.”
“He is cute,” Chanyeol nods, a fond smile spreading across his face in an almost dreamy manner.
“Gross. I think I’ll pass on eating, I’m suddenly very queasy,” Baekhyun grumbles, rubbing his stomach to emphasize his feigned stomachache. Chanyeol narrows his eyes.
“Don’t be sour. I think you’ll really like Jongin, though. He’s a nerd like you apparently. Video games and all that,” Chanyeol says, waving his hand dismissively. This time, Baekhyun narrows his eyes.
“You speak as though you don’t play the same shit I do.”
“I’ve moved on to better games, all thanks to Sehun.”
“League of Legends is the best, shut up.”
“Baekhyun, there’s Sehun and Jongin, shut up. Don’t go all nerdy just yet,” Chanyeol says, nodding his head in greeting.
In the movies, there’s always that slow motion moment where the girl catches the gaze of the boy she likes, and everything just kind of goes all… blurry. This moment is kind of like that, except instead of feeling warm and fuzzy, Baekhyun feels embarrassment and panic rise in his chest because oh God, this is just my fucking luck I need to leave.
His date-or Jongin, he should say-is a very familiar face. A face that Baekhyun distinctively remembers seeing as he crashed to the ground and landed right on his face. The floppy brown hair, golden skin, pink plush lips, and lean muscles that have been embedded in Baekhyun’s mind since that day are suddenly all right back in front of him, clad in a loose fitting baby blue button up and black destroyed skinny jeans. His tongue finds itself glued to the now very dry roof of his mouth.
“Oh my God,” he whispers, and Jongin is smiling shyly and adorable and Baekhyun wants to melt. “Chanyeol, I have to go.”
“What?”
Turning toward Chanyeol in an attempt of a more private conversation, Baekhyun whispers again. “I have to go. That’s the boy, you know. The boy from the gym that day,” he says frantically, fidgeting and trying to look calm on the outside.
Chanyeol only snorts. “No shit? Wow, it really is a small world, huh?” The younger laughs.
“I fucking hate you.”
And Baekhyun means it. Chanyeol is the literal bane to Baekhyun’s existence and Baekhyun hates him. Chanyeol motions them over and stands when Sehun-tall, pink-lipped, and broad-is within touching distance, pulling him into a hug that makes a smile stretch across Sehun’s face. Jongin, on the other hand, smiles bashfully and slides into the booth past the two undetachable giants, God, he’s adorable.
His cuteness only distracts Baekhyun for a few minutes before the embarrassment comes rushing back, this time in still frames of the dreaded fall. He’s sure that the smile he forces is tight-lipped and awkward, probably noticeably so, but Jongin seems to ignore that and settles right for introducing himself.
“You must be Baekhyun? I’m Jongin,” he says, voice like warm honey and dark chocolate. His voice is oh so nice, so nice.
“Chanyeol tells me you like League of Legends?” Baekhyun blurts, and Chanyeol slaps his hand over his face while Sehun laughs.
“I told you they’d be a good match,” Sehun hums.
Baekhyun’s just hoping Jongin doesn’t recognize him.
Jongin doesn’t bring up anything about The Incident, even if he does recognize Baekhyun, and Baekhyun is thankful that he doesn’t mention it. Jongin, Baekhyun quickly learns, is a video game nerd and that’s what most of their conversation topics start out with. It’s easy and casual and Baekhyun likes how Jongin gets excited about such simple things, eyes crinkling up when he feels he gets a tad too nerdy, quickly mumbling an apology that Baekhyun brushes off because please keep talking.
It’s not unusual for Baekhyun to bond with people quickly. Everyone tells him that he’s a people person, that he makes others feel comfortable around him, but Baekhyun vaguely remembers Chanyeol mentioning something about Jongin being shy and quiet, and the fact that Jongin is the complete opposite has Baekhyun feeling like he’s just accomplished the biggest achievement of his life, even bigger than getting his black belt.
Chanyeol and Sehun are grossly cute together, but Baekhyun barely even notices when Jongin goes on one of his rambling bits, something about a pirouette that intrigues Baekhyun, mostly because he has no idea what the heck Jongin is talking about. He likes how he sounds, though. He likes how he looks, too, all vibrant and pretty.
“Sorry, am I talking too much? Sehun says I ramble on a lot when I get started and I… oh, oops. I hate it when he’s right,” Jongin blushes.
“You’re not talking too much. However, I have no what it is that you’re talking about,” Baekhyun admits sheepishly.
“Oh, uh dancing. Ballet, to be more specific.”
“Is that your major?” If it is then I’m doomed.
Jongin nods, “Yeah. Dance is my major.” He says it so proudly, grinning so widely that Baekhyun almost coos. “What about you, hyung? What do you do?”
Oh no.
“Uh…” Baekhyun stutters, “I…”
“Baek teaches children’s hapkido down at the gym!” Chanyeol calls from up ahead, and Baekhyun is instantly mortified and just waiting for Jongin to piece everything together.
Jongin hums in thought, “I think my niece might be in your class.”
Baekhyun gulps. Does he remember who I am? Oh God, if he does this date is done for. Trying to act cool has never been so difficult.
“Oh, really?” Baekhyun settles, forcing maybe a little too much curiosity. “What’s her name?”
“Rahee,” Jongin answers, punctuating the sentence with a giggle. “I went and picked her up just recently, saw some guy take a pretty nasty spill, too.”
Jongin laughs and Baekhyun feels his face flare up more. The last thing he wanted was Jongin remembering anything about that day, whether he recognized Baekhyun’s face or not because the image of ‘some guy’ is still Baekhyun and him falling right on his face is still very much in Jongin’s mind. To make matters worse, Jongin is laughing and it’s adorable and Baekhyun is torn between wanting to disappear and wanting to melt.
Baekhyun can hear Chanyeol snort. Perhaps he could find a decent chunk of rock somewhere on the sidewalk to hurl at his friend’s head.
“Small world, huh?” Kyungsoo says as Baekhyun finishes up his stretches. He found out the hard way what happens if he doesn’t stretch before classes start. He certainly doesn’t want to end up in the ER with a pulled groin muscle again, really doesn’t want to have ice near his crotch again.
“Shut up, that’s what Chanyeol said,” Baekhyun mutters, shaking out his limbs to loosen them up more.
“Apart from that coincidence, how was the date?”
Cue dreamy sigh. Baekhyun thinks for a moment, trying to figure out how to talk about the date without actually gushing over Jongin and everything he said. “Well,” he starts, “it was amazing, honestly. He’s really into the same stuff I am, like video games and all that. He laughed at all of my jokes, he gets excited over the simplest things, he reads so much, like he was talking about books and I was lost but I let him keep talking and-”
“Baek,” Kyungsoo interrupts, “you’re rambling. How did you get all of that from one date?”
Blushing, Baekhyun shrugs, “He rambles a lot, too. I couldn’t help but listen.”
Whistling, Kyungsoo shakes his head and Baekhyun frowns.
“What?”
“You’re gone. I haven’t seen you act like this since… who was it? Oh yeah, Yixing.”
Baekhyun freezes up momentarily, just long enough for the dull pang of oh, right to pass. Yixing had been Baekhyun’s first long-term boyfriend, and his first heartbreak. Only heartbreak, Baekhyun supposes. The two had met through mutual friends during their senior year of college and, much like with Jongin, the attraction was strong right from the start. Yixing was a dancer too.
“That’s not a bad thing, Baek,” Kyungsoo says softly. “It’s nice to see you dating again. Just don’t give me all the dirty details this time,” he tells him with a shiver.
Baekhyun blanches, “Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, working right now?”
It’s not that Baekhyun doesn’t enjoy Kyungsoo’s company-he does (for the most part)-, but he’d rather not picture what dirty details could possibly mean at some point in the future assuming things go well between him and Jongin. No, those are thoughts he certainly does not need to deal with already.
However, those thoughts are marginally better than the nagging doubt that he pushes to the back of his mind. Stupid Kyungsoo.
It was Chanyeol’s idea to invite Jongin over. Well okay, not so much his idea, but his doing despite Baekhyun’s protests because apparently moaning and groaning on and on about a guy you’re interested in is a good way to mildly annoy your friends to the point that they do your dirty work for you. In Baekhyun’s defense, though, he was simply taking this slow. Jongin’s a shy person in general and Baekhyun would hate to just spring something like a last minute date on him.
They had kept in contact since the date, texting each other and branching off into conversations about wherever Jongin’s mind had wandered to, and Baekhyun had planned to invite Jongin out a few times since the date, but he had learned that Jongin is quite the hard worker and he’s always putting dance first, spending hours practicing even long after the school day was done with.
So, when Jongin does decide to take a break from practice (Baekhyun is pretty sure Sehun had to force him), Jongin, much to Baekhyun’s surprise, eagerly takes up Baekhyun’s offer to hang out. Baekhyun would be lying if he said he wasn’t a tad bit (read: extremely) nervous, and he would definitely be lying if he said he hadn’t spent the last hour making sure his apartment was presentable enough for other humans to see. There’s various…items that he doesn’t want to scar Jongin with.
Jongin doesn’t need to know what lube brand and what flavor Baekhyun prefers just yet. Yet.
It’s a little past 9 P.M. when Jongin arrives, greeting Baekhyun with takeout and a warm smile that has Baekhyun ready to clutch at his chest. “Sorry, I wasn’t sure what you liked so I got two orders of my usual,” the younger boy announces, toeing off his shoes next to the door while Baekhyun takes the bag of food over to his coffee table.
“What does your usual consist of?” Baekhyun questions as he peeks inside the bag, and he stifles a laugh upon seeing the contents occupying the space. There’s no vegetables or any side dishes for that matter. All Baekhyun sees is chicken. There’s nothing he loves more than a guy that can keep a balanced diet.
“Uh, chicken…” Jongin replies shyly, giggling when Baekhyun arches his brow at him.
“So, you’re a dancer and this is what your diet consists of?”
Jongin pouts as he makes himself comfortable next to Baekhyun, “When you say it like that it sounds like a bad thing…”
Baekhyun barks out a laugh, one maybe a bit too loud and over exaggerated, and Jongin pinks. “Not a bad thing, just figured you’d be one of those ballerinas that are super strict with their diet, you know like clean eating and all that,” Baekhyun shrugs.
Jongin snorts loudly, a cackle bubbling up in his throat as Baekhyun blinks dumbly.
“What?”
“Ballerina?”
“... Yeah?”
Another snort.
“Danseur,” Jongin corrects, the pronunciation seeming to fit just right on his tongue despite his accent, and this time Baekhyun is the one flushing a brilliant shade of pink. “Females are called danseuse.”
“Oh… I, uh, I knew that. I was testing out your knowledge," Baekhyun fibs.
“Sure,” Jongin drawls, sounding unconvinced and very much amused.
“So,” Baekhyun claps his hands together and stands, “what can I get you to drink? Beer? Water? Coke?”
“Water will be fine.”
“Is that how you keep a well-balanced diet? Junk food as long as you stay away from fattening and sugary drinks?”
“That’s my secret exactly. I mean, how else do you think I keep such a lean figure?” Jongin asks with a lilt to his tone, and Baekhyun’s mouth is suddenly so dry that his tongue sticks to the roof of it because thinking about Jongin’s lean figure is not something he needs to be doing. Especially not with Jongin in the same room as him. Oh dear God, please don’t me pop a boner tonight.
“Maybe I should follow your diet plan then,” Baekhyun hums casually, dismissing the inappropriate image forming in his head that doesn't consist of Jongin’s long, lean figure sprawled out against Baekhyun’s pretty white sheets. Nope, not at all.
“I don’t think so. You look like you have a pretty good figure, hyung,” Jongin’s saying before he’s stuttering and blushing. “I mean, uh, not that I’ve been looking or anything, you just… I’m just gonna shut up now..”
There are two ways Baekhyun could go about this. He could either, a.) completely ignore the whole thing and suffer through an awkward atmosphere the whole night, or he could b.) flirt and break the ice and maybe possibly open more doors for future flirting that could lead to God knows what.
The latter seems like an excellent option, mostly because his flirtatious side is something he can’t keep tame for long. The longer he stays tame, the more the urge to flirt builds and builds and then when he explodes it’s always way too much and way too inappropriate, so really he’s doing both himself and Jongin a favor. He’s saving himself the embarrassment and saving Jongin from feeling like Baekhyun is coming on too strong. He’ll just drop a few compliments and innuendoes here and there and ease into it and maybe someday that’ll ease him right into Jongin’s pants.
Arching his brow, Baekhyun peeks around the fridge door at a pink-cheeked Jongin. “You think I have a nice figure, huh? Interesting, maybe I’ll show you one day.”
Jongin visibly tenses and, judging by the way his Adams apple bobs and the way his eyes are wide and clouded with something undecipherable, Baekhyun can tell there’s certainly something running through his mind. It’s quite satisfying to have pulled such a reaction from the young danseur.
Tossing a cold water in Jongin’s lap, Baekhyun plops back down on the couch, the movement causing Jongin to bounce just slightly. A laugh erupts from Jongin’s throat as Baekhyun sprawls out and rests his legs on the coffee table, a content sigh leaving his mouth when Jongin hands him his food. If this were any other weekend, Baekhyun would be sitting in his usual spot next to the wall right under that tacky painting of Elvis Presley and Jesus (Baekhyun never understood why such a painting existed) while the guys rambled on about their lame ass 9 to 5 jobs.
But this, kicking back at home with an extremely attractive, extremely adorable guy with chicken courtesy of said adorable guy and a cold beer in his hand, is somehow way better. Don’t get Baekhyun wrong, he loves his friends and all that, but sometimes it can get quite exhausting hanging out with them when they branch off into topics about their rent or their car troubles or when they complain about their jobs and all that other boring adult shit. Most of the time, it’s all sarcasm and someone bringing up embarrassing moments from The Unmentionable College Years, so maybe it’s just Jongin in particular that makes this night more interesting. Baekhyun isn’t quite sure.
“Dragon Ball Z marathon?” Baekhyun asks, licking the grease from his thumb and making sure to make an obscene noise when he pulls it away because drawing attention to his mouth is what he’s good at, even if it isn’t intentional (right now it kinda is, though).
Jongin’s face lights up at the mention of Dragon Ball Z, and Baekhyun thinks he’s actually going to have a heart attack on the spot. “You’re into Dragon Ball?” Jongin asks excitedly. If he had a tail, Baekhyun is positive it would be wagging back and forth.
“Who isn’t? It’s literally the best anime ever created,” Baekhyun gushes, perhaps letting his enthusiasm show too much as he practically leaps from his seat, careful not to cause any spillage of his beer or the chicken. He makes his way over to dig through the shelves of his entertainment center.
“I have every season of it,” he continues, pushing his way through his Naruto collection. “Wanna start from season one? How much time do you have?”
Behind him, Jongin is giggling and Baekhyun flushes when he realizes just how excited he sounds. It could be worse, he reminds himself. He could be like one of those douche bags that go through all of this kind of trouble to get themselves laid and end up getting laughed at for their failed attempts. Maybe if he were still in college that would be his goal right now, but really he’s just excited that Jongin shares the same passion for Dragon Ball.
“Sehun said my curfew was to be no later than midnight,” Jongin laughs and it makes Baekhyun laugh, too.
“Wow,” Baekhyun whistles, “we wouldn’t want a pissed of Sehun, huh? His bitch face is enough to send chills down my spine.” And that’s no lie. Sehun’s bitch face is as terrifying as a pissed off mother.
“Hyung, you teach hapkido,” Jongin states obviously.
“Right, and?”
“I’m pretty sure you can take him.”
“Oh no, no definitely not my dear Jongin. Chanyeol would tear me in two, would actually kill me.”
There’s a pause, and Baekhyun can hear the faint sound of Jongin twisting the lid off of his water. “You don’t give yourself enough credit,” the younger boy finally says seconds later.
Baekhyun smiles fondly and quickly brushes all the warmth spreading through his chest under the rug. “Yeah, yeah,” he waves his hand, “to the anime, huh?”
Jongin cracks another smile and Baekhyun practically has to force himself to stay on his side and not glue himself to Jongin’s side because too unexpected and too early. He must refrain for now. It shouldn’t be too hard, though, because at least he gets viewing pleasures, right?
It only takes them a little over a week to finish the entire first season of Dragon Ball Z. Baekhyun isn’t sure when it became routine; Jongin showing up with food and making himself comfortable on Baekhyun’s couch with whatever unhealthy takeout he had picked up on his way despite Baekhyun having a fridge full of healthier options. Baekhyun never questioned it, though. The company was nice and comfortable and easy. Jongin filled the room up with his obnoxious laughter that’s at least ten octaves higher than his normal voice whenever Baekhyun made a sarcastic side comment at one of the character’s unfortunate expense and it left Baekhyun feeling warm and accomplished for the rest of the night.
It’s safe to say that these little hangout sessions weren’t dates, and neither Baekhyun nor Jongin ever put the moves on the other, but they weren’t not dates either. Jongin never realized it, but Baekhyun always caught on to the way his pretty cheeks would flush a pretty pink whenever Baekhyun’s hand accidentally brushed against his thigh or arm. Baekhyun has no clue if Jongin ever caught him or felt him staring, and he’d be surprised to find out that he hadn’t because Baekhyun isn’t exactly good at being subtle.
It was sort of like an unspoken agreement, Baekhyun decides as he tunes out Jongdae’s rambling about how cute it is when Junmyeon does something thoughtful for him like iron his underwear or something, Baekhyun doesn’t know.
“Hey, earth to Baekhyun,” Chanyeol snaps his fingers in front of Baekhyun’s eyes. “Are you listening?”
“Nope,” Baekhyun says, “too boring.”
Jongdae tsks under his breath, “My stories are never boring. You’ve got that college kid on your brain, you loser. What’s his name again?”
“Says you, who gets emotional over getting your underwear ironed,” Kyungsoo intones flatly, and Baekhyun cackles. “And his name is Jongin, right Baek?”
“Yeah,” Baekhyun nods, “Jongin.” The name fits so comfortably on his tongue at this point.
To his left, Chanyeol hums, “Sehun’s been telling me that Jongin doesn’t come home until, like, three in the morning lately. Would you happen to know anything about that?”
With six pairs of curious eyes on him, it’s hard for Baekhyun to conjure up a good way to get himself out of this. These idiots definitely don’t need more material to tease him with.
“Uh, no?”
“Lie. His hands are fidgeting too much,” Jongdae points out. Damn him.
“We’ve been watching Dragon Ball Z together for the past week. That’s it, nothing more and nothing less,” Baekhyun confesses, making sure to clarify the situation to save himself from the did you dick him down yet questions.
“Please tell me that’s not part of your seduction plan…” Chanyeol says as he pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs.
“There is no seduction plan? We literally just eat and watch anime. We occasionally play video games, but that’s it really.”
“You’re joking, right?” Chanyeol asks in disbelief. “It’s been a week and you still haven’t gotten to first base? Or any base for that matter?”
Baekhyun shakes his head, “No. I don’t think I’ll be trying anytime soon either. Jongin is hard to read, I can’t tell if he wants me to make any kind of move or not and I don’t wanna misread and put him or myself in an awkward position. Literally.”
“He likes you, dumbass,” Chanyeol sniggers. “Making a move wouldn’t hurt, just don’t do anything too bold. Don’t do anything that college Baekhyun would’ve done. Sehun might actually kill you for shit like that.”
“Duly noted.”
As said before, Baekhyun would rather not anger Sehun in any way, shape, or form. Protective best friends most of the time are worse than protective fathers.
“Anyway, other than your non-existent sex life, you two get along well?” asks Kyungsoo.
Baekhyun grins, “Yeah. He’s so… I don’t know, I just like being around him.”
There’s a pause, complete silence while Baekhyun burns red in the face, and then Jongdae is snorting and coughing around a mouthful of beer. “Baek man, you’re so whipped,” he breathes out.
Baekhyun tips his head back and downs what’s left of his beer. Tell him something he doesn’t know.
Jongin is hard to read. Shy people, in general, are hard to read. Baekhyun can’t for the life of him figure out how to “put the moves” on Jongin in a way that won’t scare him away. Had Baekhyun still been a student, he would’ve tugged Jongin right into his lap and slathered kisses right down his neck. But, given that Baekhyun is now an adult and Jongin is shy, finding the balance between too much and not enough is proving to be difficult.
If Baekhyun goes overboard that’ll put Jongin off. If Baekhyun doesn’t do enough that’ll make it look like he’s not that interested. He hasn’t dated anyone in years and it feels what skills he did have in the whole dating game have completely disintegrated into the dark, dusty corners of his mind.
A total of maybe 3-4?-failed attempts at trying to flirt and move from a strictly PG rating to possibly a PG-13 rating with innocent cuddling and maybe a few friendly inappropriate innuendos here and there is what really pushes Baekhyun in the direction of desperation. And when Chanyeol laughs at Baekhyun’s misfortune until he can’t breathe, Baekhyun decides that he’ll have to move to plan b; operation desperation contact Oh Sehun.
This could go one of two ways; Sehun could either also laugh in Baekhyun’s face, or he’ll interrogate Baekhyun about his intentions.
“So, you want me to tell you how to get closer to Jongin?” Sehun hums, tongue clicking on the other end of the line.
“Uh, yeah…”
“Closer in what way? Like dick to butt or-”
“NO! No, I don’t mean like… I’m not trying to get into his pants,” Baekhyun exhales in relief when Sehun laughs. “I just have no idea how to, like, move to the next level, I guess? Jongin’s hard to read and I haven’t dated anyone in years.”
“What’s the next level?” Sehun asks through another laugh. Baekhyun flushes. Damn that Kim Jongin.
“Uh, I don’t know. Cuddling? He always looks so warm and soft and-”
“You’re so whipped,” Sehun interrupts, and Baekhyun considers hanging up so he can bury his face in his pillow and wallow in his embarrassment.
“It’s not unusual for guys to be whipped when it comes to Jongin, though,” Sehun continues, “he just has that effect on people. Anyway, don’t be so timid anymore. Jongin is shy, yes, but he’s a sucker for cuddles and whatever lame jokes you have to offer.”
“That’s it? There’s no like specific thing I have to do to get him to crack?”
“Um no, he’s a human, not a robot or something. Good luck, dude.”
Baekhyun breathes out and cracks a smile, “Thanks, Sehun. I owe you for this.”
“Sure, sure. Just don’t hurt him, I’ll be forced to take physical action or something.” Baekhyun doesn’t want to find what or something means.
“Noted.”
The line goes dead and Baekhyun flops back against his bed feeling relieved as he tries to plot out his next move.
this story is continued.
part ii
For: EVERYONE
By: ANONYMOUS
Word count: 13,376
Warnings: mentions of past!baekhyun/lay, brief frottage scene, sex
Rating: NC-17
Summary: In which Baekhyun (literally) trips to flirt with that cute guy picking up his niece and Chanyeol is the actual bane to his existence. Whatever, at least he has Dragon Ball Z to turn to.
Author's note: First of all, thank you to the mods for being so patient and understand with me. Second of all, to my dear recipient, this definitely is not the fic I had hoped to give you, but due to real life and all that good stuff, this was the best I could manage for now. I do hope that you find something enjoyable about it. Also please excuse my inability to title well and the fact that this is unbeta'd, so I apologize for any errors you may find hehe ;u;
To work with kids, one must have the mindset of a kid. One must be able to analyze and understand and know how to play with kids in order to really make it an enjoyable experience for both the children and the person working with them. In this case, Baekhyun is referring to himself.
Honestly, he’s always been good with kids-which, according to a certain Do Kyungsoo, it’s because he’s really just a 5-year-old living in a 24-year old's body. Baekhyun begs to differ because he can be a mature adult when needed, thank you very much. Okay yeah maybe he wears his raggedy Scooby-Doo pajamas to bed every night, and sure maybe he prefers sleeping with his Rilakkuma plushie (courtesy of Chanyeol who ordered two of the same plushie on accident) over another actual human being, but in no way, shape, or form does that determine how adult he is because, damn it, he’s all kinds of mature!
Or, that’s what he likes to think at least, just to make himself feel better. Kyungsoo is always the first to state otherwise. How incredibly rude of him.
However, if Baekhyun weren’t so childlike, then he wouldn’t even have a job. He supposes he could teach teenagers and young adults, but then he’d constantly have to be serious and strict and that’s something that is never fun. Teaching children is… well, it’s an experience, but Baekhyun loves it. Not only is it adorable watching them try to copy what moves he’s teaching them, but watching them grow and perfect the moves as best they can over time at such young ages is something that makes you swell up with pride.
Plus, it’s fun to be a big kid all day. Most people would find it quite stressful and have half of their hair torn out by the end of the day, but if you know how to talk to kids in ways that they understand and be patient with them, then it’s actually quite an easy job. Baekhyun gets it, though, kids aren’t for everyone.
“Alright Youngsoo, keep working on your front kick, yeah? Practice makes perfect.” Baekhyun says, patting the small boy’s head and ruffling the mop of dark hair with a bright smile as the child looks up at him with determination shining brightly in his eyes.
Youngsoo nods and purses his lips together before he makes a fist and holds it up, “Fighting!”
Baekhyun smiles fondly and stands as Youngsoo’s father leads him away. Class for the day has long since ended and the children, along with their parents, have finally cleared out, and Baekhyun is so ready to change out of his stuffy uniform and head home to his couch where his ass will stay planted until the wee hours of the morning with a bag of chips and re-runs of Running Man on his television. He’s sure Kyungsoo and Chanyeol will join him at one point after they get off work and if he’s lucky Kyungsoo will cook for him because “ordering takeout doesn’t count as food, it’s unhealthy.”
He spends a good ten minutes in the gym showers, letting the lukewarm water slide over the curve of his spine and between the hollows of his shoulder blades, and this is his favorite part of the end of every day. Being around his students is great, but showers after each class have become therapeutic to Baekhyun, and not to mention he despises smelling like a sweaty gym sock that’s been stuffed away in a locker for someone to find months later.
After quickly drying off and toweling his hair enough that water no longer drips onto his shoulders, Baekhyun stuffs his uniform inside of his gym bag, makes a note to have Kyungsoo wash it later, and exits the locker rooms just in time to see Kyungsoo standing by the entrance of the gym with a little girl who is still dressed in her hapkido uniform. Kyungsoo’s hands engulf her tiny ones completely, and she’s chewing on the tips of her fingers as if anticipating the arrival of whoever is in charge of picking her up.
Baekhyun’s initial reaction is to look at the parent contact list and maybe give them a piece of his mind for forgetting their poor child in a place full of strangers apart from Baekhyun and the other hapkido masters. They teach at a local gym, this place is crawling with strange people and any child would feel at least a bit out of place in some way.
However, just as he’s reaching into his bag in search of the contact list, he sees him. A quick blur of dark hair, bronzed skin, full lips, and a dopey, apologetic look on his face as he glances down at the girl. His face is tinged with a pink flush, assumably from the heat of the sun, and the shirt he’s wearing leaves little to no imagination of what he’s hiding under the thin fabric. He’s all smooth skin, lean muscles and defined arms, longs legs, and broad shoulders. Oh man, Baekhyun thinks. A bronzed God.
This must be what being starstruck feels like. Like, that feeling you get when you see someone so devastatingly hot that your chest just tightens with this need to approach them and somehow woo them. Honestly, Baekhyun feels a bit overwhelmed, like he’s racking his brain for words but all he feels is butterflies in his gut.
In the past, Baekhyun has always been quite good at flirting. Flirting comes natural to him, almost as natural as sneaking your hand into your pants while looking through your mom’s Victoria’s Secret catalogs, but this may be the first time that he’s ever been rendered speechless by someone’s existence.
As the boy continues talking and rambling on, Baekhyun decides that, yes, he must flirt with him. He may never have another opportunity to talk to someone this hot ever again considering this is the first time he’s seen this boy come to the gym, which only leads Baekhyun to assume he had been asked by Rahee’s parents to retrieve her.
C’mon Baekhyun, conjure up one of your best lines and go for it, is what he tells himself, and in that same moment, the boy’s eyes catch his; dark with darker hair falling right below his eyebrows and his lips set in a natural pout. Baekhyun swallows-gulps really-and offers a quick, awkward smile. In return, the boy’s lips twitch just the slightest, and Baekhyun feels way too accomplished because of it.
Alright, he can totally do this. He shall flirt and he shall flirt well.
However, he takes a step just as his gym bag slips from his shoulder, cutting off his “Hey, do you-” and turning it into a disgruntled oompfh as his feet get caught up with his bag and sends him falling face first. Luckily his skilled and precise reflexes are quick enough that he protects his face just before the hard floor can cause any form of damage.
Embarrassment burns hot in his face and he refuses to look up. He would rather not see the boy’s face all scrunched up in gut-busting laughter at his expense. He kinda wishes the ground would open up and swallow him and then spit him back out maybe 20 years from now after everyone who had just witnessed the demise (yes, demise) of Byun Baekhyun would have forgotten all about it.
Groaning, Baekhyun blinks his eyes and slowly lifts his head just in time to see Kyungsoo waving the boy and Rahee off.
Then, Kyungsoo turns to Baekhyun and promptly bursts into a giggle fit.
“Okay but you don’t understand, this boy was so pretty that it actually caused me to trip! If I ever get the chance to speak to him again I’ll end up flat on my face, his beauty is dangerous I can’t believe this,” Baekhyun complains for the nth time, pathetically picking at bits of what is left of his chicken as he nurses his embarrassment with a beer. Maybe a beer too many, according to Jongdae.
Every Friday after work Baekhyun, Jongdae, Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol all gather at their local bar where they stuff their faces with whatever sounds appealing to them that night and fill up on beer until they’re either a.) pleasantly buzzed or, b.) completely obliterated depending on the severity of the day’s stresses.
Today Baekhyun is aiming for the latter. Though he doesn’t think any amount of alcohol will be enough to rid him of his embarrassment and he knows for a fact that the light pink flush on his cheeks definitely isn’t from the beer. Okay, maybe a little bit of it is because he’s had more than 5-6 maybe?-, but he can very much still feel the embarrassment radiating from his very pores.
“Stop worrying about it, dude,” Jongdae supplies ever so helpfully. “Need I remind you of that one time during freshman year of college?”
Baekhyun is quick to shake his head, knowing exactly what that one time is, his face heating up on the spot. “Don’t. I don’t need to hear about it again,” he says, sending a look in Jongdae’s direction.
“I still can’t believe you walked out of the fucking bathroom with cum in your hair…” Jongdae trails off, lips twitching into a shit-eating grin as he glances elsewhere. Baekhyun tosses a piece of skin from his devoured chicken right at Jongdae’s face.
“Fuck you, I was hammered. Had I been in my right state of mind I would’ve properly cleaned up.”
“That’s still the best blowjob I’ve ever had in my life,” says Chanyeol, sighing fondly while Baekhyun actually (in his head at least) bursts into flames. College certainly wasn’t Baekhyun’s decent point in life, and he hates that his friends are just the kinds of assholes that would hold all the shit he did over his head and use said stupid shit against him even in their adult lives. Geez, some people never grow up.
Except Baekhyun. Because he’s an adult. A mature adult who totally and most certainly is not whining over some hot college boy with the body of a Greek God. Not to mention, he also has no idea what team the boy plays for, but Baekhyun can assume he probably has a pretty equal ratio of both genders pining for his affection. And his dick. Yeah.
“Gross man,” Jongdae laughs, tossing a pretzel in Chanyeol’s direction. Chanyeol shrugs nonchalantly.
“I’m simply lifting his spirits. Baek man, don’t be embarrassed. Just drop to your knees if you ever see him again and blow him for all he’s worth,” is Chanyeol’s suggestion, which has Baekhyun glaring so hard he fears that his facial muscles will cramp up and get stuck. “Trust me, he’ll forget all about you tripping.”
“Or maybe he’ll address you as that guy that fell flat on his face that one time,” Kyungsoo chimes in. Baekhyun groans.
His friends are no help at all.
Baekhyun downs the rest of his beer and digs around in his pocket to fish out enough money to cover the cost of his beers before bidding The Assholes farewell. “Later assholes, I’ll see ya when I see ya.”
“You’re walking out before the roast session even starts. How will I be entertained now?” Jongdae grumbles, pouting for extra measure as Baekhyun checks each of his pockets to ensure that he has all of his belongings.
“Maybe Chanyeol will call up his butt buddy and you can watch them get it on,” Kyungsoo answers before Baekhyun can even open his mouth.
“Hey!”
“Gross, I’ll pass,” Baekhyun says, shivering for dramatic effect. Chanyeol scoffs.
“Right, Baekhyun’s gonna go home and watch horribly plotted porn of college twinks jacking off,” Kyungsoo snorts, hiding his laughter behind his beer bottle.
“I hate you all,” Baekhyun flips them off and heads for the door.
Weekends are usually Baekhyun’s time to be a lazy bum, his time to revert back to his college ways and sit around and play his lame computer games, as Kyungsoo says. In Baekhyun’s defense, he’s an adult 5 long days out of the week, so he thinks he’s quite deserving of those two wonderful days where he can be his true self in his true form; a 24-year-old man clad in Scooby-Doo pajamas with his butt planted on his couch with some cheesy ass independent film playing on his television or in his computer chair with either LoL or porn (amateur, of course) gracing his screen.
Whether Kyungsoo admits to it or not, Baekhyun can almost guarantee that he does the same shit on his days off. Okay, maybe he doesn’t sit around and play video games or watch sappy teenage movies, but porn is something every man watches and that Baekhyun is sure of. So, in Kyungsoo’s face.
“Let me guess,” Chanyeol heaves on the other side of the line, “you spent all day watching your teenage angst bullshit and then probably shoved your hand down your pants, right?” He always calls at the worst possible times, like now when Noah is in the middle of his infamous I want all of you, forever, you and me, every day line, and Baekhyun is not amused.
“Actually,” Baekhyun clears his throat, “I’m watching The Notebook and you’re interrupting my favorite part.”
“Are you crying?”
“... No, I have a tickle in my throat.”
Chanyeol doesn’t buy it, snorting quietly. Baekhyun frowns.
“Shut the sap off and come on a date with me,” Chanyeol says, causing Baekhyun to sputter and choke around a mouthful of chips.
“But Chanyeol,” Baekhyun croaks, “I don’t… I didn’t know you had feelings like that, and I’m sorry but-”
“I DIDN’T MEAN ME AND YOU GO ON A DATE! GROSS!”
“Oh…” Baekhyun lets out a sigh of utter relief, shoulders slumping as he laughs to himself because oh boy, his worst nightmare almost came to life. “That’s such a relief,” he sighs and sinks into his couch contentedly.
“First of all, it would be a blessing to have me crushing on you, and second of all, Sehun asked me if I knew someone that could sorta be his best friend’s date for the night,” Chanyeol explains, and Baekhyun is intrigued and both nervous instantly. Sehun, Baekhyun assumes, must be Chanyeol’s… something.
“So your first choice was me?”
“Yeah, Sehun said that Jongin-the best friend-needed someone that he can loosen up with and I felt like you were the perfect fit for this.”
“Loosen up as in?” Baekhyun prompts.
“Not as in sexually, you perv. Sehun wants him to have a little fun is all.”
Humming, Baekhyun taps his index finger against his chin as if contemplating a life changing decision. He hasn’t been on a date with anyone since the beginning of his last relationship and that was way back in his senior year of college, and even though it isn’t an actual date date, it’s still important that he makes a good impression on whoever this guy is. Baekhyun fears that his dating skills might’ve gotten a bit rusty despite being young, attractive, and rather successful.
Of course, maybe this date will be the thing that gets his mind to stop torturing him with images of plump lips, bronzed skin, and floppy hair. It also might be the thing that gets him to stop having cringe attacks every 5 minutes when he remembers that he face-planted in front of a totally hot guy.
“What time should I be ready?”
“Eight-thirty sharp. Wear something tight.”
“But what if I-”
Click.
Park Chanyeol, what a pain.
By the time 8:30 rolls around, Baekhyun is just adding the finishing touches to his attire for the night, smudging kohl liner around his eyes and tousling his hair for the millionth time. Assumably, since this Sehun guy Chanyeol is always rambling on about is a college student, Baekhyun’s date must also be a college student and so his wardrobe for the evening is what he likes to call his fancy as fuck yet totally casual night time wear and it consists of a plain white t-shirt, a red flannel, and the black skinny jeans that Chanyeol swears up and down make Baekhyun’s legs look more delectable than they already are.
He’s currently debating on whether or not to wear a Supreme snapback when there’s a knock at his door. If he leaves it off, it feels like the outfit is missing something, but if he wears it then he looks like a total douche. Life’s tough, tough decisions.
Chanyeol raises his brow the second Baekhyun swings the door open, and says, “Lose the hat. You look like an asshole.”
No snapback it is.
“What kind of date is this?” Baekhyun asks, tossing the snapback to the couch, frowning when it lands on the floor instead. As if his apartment isn’t messy enough. Maybe he can bribe Kyungsoo into cleaning it for him.
“So far, the plan is to meet up with Sehun and Jongin for burgers and then we’ll probably head to the arcade or something. The usual, really.”
Yeah, they’re definitely going out with college students. Not that Baekhyun is complaining, this sounds way better than having to play romantic adult for the night.
“These two sound quite easy to please,” Baekhyun says. Shutting his door, he pushes against it quickly just to ensure that it’s locked and he won’t be coming home to anything missing-not that he’d be able to tell considering his place is usually a disaster anyway.
“Yeah,” Chanyeol nods, “they are. Sappy bullshit makes Sehun feel awkward and Jongin… well, I don’t know about him. He’s your date, that’s stuff for you to find out.” Chanyeol nudges Baekhyun in the side teasingly, eyebrows wiggling as a hint toward whatever inappropriate thought was going through Chanyeol’s head.
“Please don’t do that with your eyebrows, you look like you’re plotting to tie me to the train tracks and leave me for dead.”
“... Point taken,” the taller male says.
“I’ll never understand how you managed to snag a hot college guy,” Baekhyun sighs.
“Hey!” Chanyeol guffaws. “Sehun thinks I’m charming,” he says, grinning proudly.
“Then he clearly has a different version of charm than I do because you’re terrible.”
Chanyeol glares at Baekhyun from the other side of his car, and Baekhyun grins as he slides into the passenger seat.
It’s a quick drive to The Joint, a local place a few blocks from Baekhyun’s apartment complex that he and the guys used to frequent in their college days, and the nostalgia hits the moment he steps through the doors, the little bell above his head ringing away. It’s like stepping into the past, and Baekhyun cringes when he remembers his first official “date” taking place in the booth at the far left corner of the building.
High school and college Baekhyun would frown upon walking into the place again, mostly because he spent a majority of his teenage years tucked away in the booths and stuffing his face full of burgers and fries, but it makes adult Baekhyun feel more at ease, like he doesn’t have to wear himself out trying to make an impression. Comfortable settings make for good first dates.
“This,” Chanyeol begins, plopping down in a booth next to the long stretch of window, “is where I and Sehunnie usually sit.”
“Sehunnie,” Baekhyun echoes, tone bordering the line of yuck and what the fuck. “How… cute.”
“He is cute,” Chanyeol nods, a fond smile spreading across his face in an almost dreamy manner.
“Gross. I think I’ll pass on eating, I’m suddenly very queasy,” Baekhyun grumbles, rubbing his stomach to emphasize his feigned stomachache. Chanyeol narrows his eyes.
“Don’t be sour. I think you’ll really like Jongin, though. He’s a nerd like you apparently. Video games and all that,” Chanyeol says, waving his hand dismissively. This time, Baekhyun narrows his eyes.
“You speak as though you don’t play the same shit I do.”
“I’ve moved on to better games, all thanks to Sehun.”
“League of Legends is the best, shut up.”
“Baekhyun, there’s Sehun and Jongin, shut up. Don’t go all nerdy just yet,” Chanyeol says, nodding his head in greeting.
In the movies, there’s always that slow motion moment where the girl catches the gaze of the boy she likes, and everything just kind of goes all… blurry. This moment is kind of like that, except instead of feeling warm and fuzzy, Baekhyun feels embarrassment and panic rise in his chest because oh God, this is just my fucking luck I need to leave.
His date-or Jongin, he should say-is a very familiar face. A face that Baekhyun distinctively remembers seeing as he crashed to the ground and landed right on his face. The floppy brown hair, golden skin, pink plush lips, and lean muscles that have been embedded in Baekhyun’s mind since that day are suddenly all right back in front of him, clad in a loose fitting baby blue button up and black destroyed skinny jeans. His tongue finds itself glued to the now very dry roof of his mouth.
“Oh my God,” he whispers, and Jongin is smiling shyly and adorable and Baekhyun wants to melt. “Chanyeol, I have to go.”
“What?”
Turning toward Chanyeol in an attempt of a more private conversation, Baekhyun whispers again. “I have to go. That’s the boy, you know. The boy from the gym that day,” he says frantically, fidgeting and trying to look calm on the outside.
Chanyeol only snorts. “No shit? Wow, it really is a small world, huh?” The younger laughs.
“I fucking hate you.”
And Baekhyun means it. Chanyeol is the literal bane to Baekhyun’s existence and Baekhyun hates him. Chanyeol motions them over and stands when Sehun-tall, pink-lipped, and broad-is within touching distance, pulling him into a hug that makes a smile stretch across Sehun’s face. Jongin, on the other hand, smiles bashfully and slides into the booth past the two undetachable giants, God, he’s adorable.
His cuteness only distracts Baekhyun for a few minutes before the embarrassment comes rushing back, this time in still frames of the dreaded fall. He’s sure that the smile he forces is tight-lipped and awkward, probably noticeably so, but Jongin seems to ignore that and settles right for introducing himself.
“You must be Baekhyun? I’m Jongin,” he says, voice like warm honey and dark chocolate. His voice is oh so nice, so nice.
“Chanyeol tells me you like League of Legends?” Baekhyun blurts, and Chanyeol slaps his hand over his face while Sehun laughs.
“I told you they’d be a good match,” Sehun hums.
Baekhyun’s just hoping Jongin doesn’t recognize him.
Jongin doesn’t bring up anything about The Incident, even if he does recognize Baekhyun, and Baekhyun is thankful that he doesn’t mention it. Jongin, Baekhyun quickly learns, is a video game nerd and that’s what most of their conversation topics start out with. It’s easy and casual and Baekhyun likes how Jongin gets excited about such simple things, eyes crinkling up when he feels he gets a tad too nerdy, quickly mumbling an apology that Baekhyun brushes off because please keep talking.
It’s not unusual for Baekhyun to bond with people quickly. Everyone tells him that he’s a people person, that he makes others feel comfortable around him, but Baekhyun vaguely remembers Chanyeol mentioning something about Jongin being shy and quiet, and the fact that Jongin is the complete opposite has Baekhyun feeling like he’s just accomplished the biggest achievement of his life, even bigger than getting his black belt.
Chanyeol and Sehun are grossly cute together, but Baekhyun barely even notices when Jongin goes on one of his rambling bits, something about a pirouette that intrigues Baekhyun, mostly because he has no idea what the heck Jongin is talking about. He likes how he sounds, though. He likes how he looks, too, all vibrant and pretty.
“Sorry, am I talking too much? Sehun says I ramble on a lot when I get started and I… oh, oops. I hate it when he’s right,” Jongin blushes.
“You’re not talking too much. However, I have no what it is that you’re talking about,” Baekhyun admits sheepishly.
“Oh, uh dancing. Ballet, to be more specific.”
“Is that your major?” If it is then I’m doomed.
Jongin nods, “Yeah. Dance is my major.” He says it so proudly, grinning so widely that Baekhyun almost coos. “What about you, hyung? What do you do?”
Oh no.
“Uh…” Baekhyun stutters, “I…”
“Baek teaches children’s hapkido down at the gym!” Chanyeol calls from up ahead, and Baekhyun is instantly mortified and just waiting for Jongin to piece everything together.
Jongin hums in thought, “I think my niece might be in your class.”
Baekhyun gulps. Does he remember who I am? Oh God, if he does this date is done for. Trying to act cool has never been so difficult.
“Oh, really?” Baekhyun settles, forcing maybe a little too much curiosity. “What’s her name?”
“Rahee,” Jongin answers, punctuating the sentence with a giggle. “I went and picked her up just recently, saw some guy take a pretty nasty spill, too.”
Jongin laughs and Baekhyun feels his face flare up more. The last thing he wanted was Jongin remembering anything about that day, whether he recognized Baekhyun’s face or not because the image of ‘some guy’ is still Baekhyun and him falling right on his face is still very much in Jongin’s mind. To make matters worse, Jongin is laughing and it’s adorable and Baekhyun is torn between wanting to disappear and wanting to melt.
Baekhyun can hear Chanyeol snort. Perhaps he could find a decent chunk of rock somewhere on the sidewalk to hurl at his friend’s head.
“Small world, huh?” Kyungsoo says as Baekhyun finishes up his stretches. He found out the hard way what happens if he doesn’t stretch before classes start. He certainly doesn’t want to end up in the ER with a pulled groin muscle again, really doesn’t want to have ice near his crotch again.
“Shut up, that’s what Chanyeol said,” Baekhyun mutters, shaking out his limbs to loosen them up more.
“Apart from that coincidence, how was the date?”
Cue dreamy sigh. Baekhyun thinks for a moment, trying to figure out how to talk about the date without actually gushing over Jongin and everything he said. “Well,” he starts, “it was amazing, honestly. He’s really into the same stuff I am, like video games and all that. He laughed at all of my jokes, he gets excited over the simplest things, he reads so much, like he was talking about books and I was lost but I let him keep talking and-”
“Baek,” Kyungsoo interrupts, “you’re rambling. How did you get all of that from one date?”
Blushing, Baekhyun shrugs, “He rambles a lot, too. I couldn’t help but listen.”
Whistling, Kyungsoo shakes his head and Baekhyun frowns.
“What?”
“You’re gone. I haven’t seen you act like this since… who was it? Oh yeah, Yixing.”
Baekhyun freezes up momentarily, just long enough for the dull pang of oh, right to pass. Yixing had been Baekhyun’s first long-term boyfriend, and his first heartbreak. Only heartbreak, Baekhyun supposes. The two had met through mutual friends during their senior year of college and, much like with Jongin, the attraction was strong right from the start. Yixing was a dancer too.
“That’s not a bad thing, Baek,” Kyungsoo says softly. “It’s nice to see you dating again. Just don’t give me all the dirty details this time,” he tells him with a shiver.
Baekhyun blanches, “Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, working right now?”
It’s not that Baekhyun doesn’t enjoy Kyungsoo’s company-he does (for the most part)-, but he’d rather not picture what dirty details could possibly mean at some point in the future assuming things go well between him and Jongin. No, those are thoughts he certainly does not need to deal with already.
However, those thoughts are marginally better than the nagging doubt that he pushes to the back of his mind. Stupid Kyungsoo.
It was Chanyeol’s idea to invite Jongin over. Well okay, not so much his idea, but his doing despite Baekhyun’s protests because apparently moaning and groaning on and on about a guy you’re interested in is a good way to mildly annoy your friends to the point that they do your dirty work for you. In Baekhyun’s defense, though, he was simply taking this slow. Jongin’s a shy person in general and Baekhyun would hate to just spring something like a last minute date on him.
They had kept in contact since the date, texting each other and branching off into conversations about wherever Jongin’s mind had wandered to, and Baekhyun had planned to invite Jongin out a few times since the date, but he had learned that Jongin is quite the hard worker and he’s always putting dance first, spending hours practicing even long after the school day was done with.
So, when Jongin does decide to take a break from practice (Baekhyun is pretty sure Sehun had to force him), Jongin, much to Baekhyun’s surprise, eagerly takes up Baekhyun’s offer to hang out. Baekhyun would be lying if he said he wasn’t a tad bit (read: extremely) nervous, and he would definitely be lying if he said he hadn’t spent the last hour making sure his apartment was presentable enough for other humans to see. There’s various…items that he doesn’t want to scar Jongin with.
Jongin doesn’t need to know what lube brand and what flavor Baekhyun prefers just yet. Yet.
It’s a little past 9 P.M. when Jongin arrives, greeting Baekhyun with takeout and a warm smile that has Baekhyun ready to clutch at his chest. “Sorry, I wasn’t sure what you liked so I got two orders of my usual,” the younger boy announces, toeing off his shoes next to the door while Baekhyun takes the bag of food over to his coffee table.
“What does your usual consist of?” Baekhyun questions as he peeks inside the bag, and he stifles a laugh upon seeing the contents occupying the space. There’s no vegetables or any side dishes for that matter. All Baekhyun sees is chicken. There’s nothing he loves more than a guy that can keep a balanced diet.
“Uh, chicken…” Jongin replies shyly, giggling when Baekhyun arches his brow at him.
“So, you’re a dancer and this is what your diet consists of?”
Jongin pouts as he makes himself comfortable next to Baekhyun, “When you say it like that it sounds like a bad thing…”
Baekhyun barks out a laugh, one maybe a bit too loud and over exaggerated, and Jongin pinks. “Not a bad thing, just figured you’d be one of those ballerinas that are super strict with their diet, you know like clean eating and all that,” Baekhyun shrugs.
Jongin snorts loudly, a cackle bubbling up in his throat as Baekhyun blinks dumbly.
“What?”
“Ballerina?”
“... Yeah?”
Another snort.
“Danseur,” Jongin corrects, the pronunciation seeming to fit just right on his tongue despite his accent, and this time Baekhyun is the one flushing a brilliant shade of pink. “Females are called danseuse.”
“Oh… I, uh, I knew that. I was testing out your knowledge," Baekhyun fibs.
“Sure,” Jongin drawls, sounding unconvinced and very much amused.
“So,” Baekhyun claps his hands together and stands, “what can I get you to drink? Beer? Water? Coke?”
“Water will be fine.”
“Is that how you keep a well-balanced diet? Junk food as long as you stay away from fattening and sugary drinks?”
“That’s my secret exactly. I mean, how else do you think I keep such a lean figure?” Jongin asks with a lilt to his tone, and Baekhyun’s mouth is suddenly so dry that his tongue sticks to the roof of it because thinking about Jongin’s lean figure is not something he needs to be doing. Especially not with Jongin in the same room as him. Oh dear God, please don’t me pop a boner tonight.
“Maybe I should follow your diet plan then,” Baekhyun hums casually, dismissing the inappropriate image forming in his head that doesn't consist of Jongin’s long, lean figure sprawled out against Baekhyun’s pretty white sheets. Nope, not at all.
“I don’t think so. You look like you have a pretty good figure, hyung,” Jongin’s saying before he’s stuttering and blushing. “I mean, uh, not that I’ve been looking or anything, you just… I’m just gonna shut up now..”
There are two ways Baekhyun could go about this. He could either, a.) completely ignore the whole thing and suffer through an awkward atmosphere the whole night, or he could b.) flirt and break the ice and maybe possibly open more doors for future flirting that could lead to God knows what.
The latter seems like an excellent option, mostly because his flirtatious side is something he can’t keep tame for long. The longer he stays tame, the more the urge to flirt builds and builds and then when he explodes it’s always way too much and way too inappropriate, so really he’s doing both himself and Jongin a favor. He’s saving himself the embarrassment and saving Jongin from feeling like Baekhyun is coming on too strong. He’ll just drop a few compliments and innuendoes here and there and ease into it and maybe someday that’ll ease him right into Jongin’s pants.
Arching his brow, Baekhyun peeks around the fridge door at a pink-cheeked Jongin. “You think I have a nice figure, huh? Interesting, maybe I’ll show you one day.”
Jongin visibly tenses and, judging by the way his Adams apple bobs and the way his eyes are wide and clouded with something undecipherable, Baekhyun can tell there’s certainly something running through his mind. It’s quite satisfying to have pulled such a reaction from the young danseur.
Tossing a cold water in Jongin’s lap, Baekhyun plops back down on the couch, the movement causing Jongin to bounce just slightly. A laugh erupts from Jongin’s throat as Baekhyun sprawls out and rests his legs on the coffee table, a content sigh leaving his mouth when Jongin hands him his food. If this were any other weekend, Baekhyun would be sitting in his usual spot next to the wall right under that tacky painting of Elvis Presley and Jesus (Baekhyun never understood why such a painting existed) while the guys rambled on about their lame ass 9 to 5 jobs.
But this, kicking back at home with an extremely attractive, extremely adorable guy with chicken courtesy of said adorable guy and a cold beer in his hand, is somehow way better. Don’t get Baekhyun wrong, he loves his friends and all that, but sometimes it can get quite exhausting hanging out with them when they branch off into topics about their rent or their car troubles or when they complain about their jobs and all that other boring adult shit. Most of the time, it’s all sarcasm and someone bringing up embarrassing moments from The Unmentionable College Years, so maybe it’s just Jongin in particular that makes this night more interesting. Baekhyun isn’t quite sure.
“Dragon Ball Z marathon?” Baekhyun asks, licking the grease from his thumb and making sure to make an obscene noise when he pulls it away because drawing attention to his mouth is what he’s good at, even if it isn’t intentional (right now it kinda is, though).
Jongin’s face lights up at the mention of Dragon Ball Z, and Baekhyun thinks he’s actually going to have a heart attack on the spot. “You’re into Dragon Ball?” Jongin asks excitedly. If he had a tail, Baekhyun is positive it would be wagging back and forth.
“Who isn’t? It’s literally the best anime ever created,” Baekhyun gushes, perhaps letting his enthusiasm show too much as he practically leaps from his seat, careful not to cause any spillage of his beer or the chicken. He makes his way over to dig through the shelves of his entertainment center.
“I have every season of it,” he continues, pushing his way through his Naruto collection. “Wanna start from season one? How much time do you have?”
Behind him, Jongin is giggling and Baekhyun flushes when he realizes just how excited he sounds. It could be worse, he reminds himself. He could be like one of those douche bags that go through all of this kind of trouble to get themselves laid and end up getting laughed at for their failed attempts. Maybe if he were still in college that would be his goal right now, but really he’s just excited that Jongin shares the same passion for Dragon Ball.
“Sehun said my curfew was to be no later than midnight,” Jongin laughs and it makes Baekhyun laugh, too.
“Wow,” Baekhyun whistles, “we wouldn’t want a pissed of Sehun, huh? His bitch face is enough to send chills down my spine.” And that’s no lie. Sehun’s bitch face is as terrifying as a pissed off mother.
“Hyung, you teach hapkido,” Jongin states obviously.
“Right, and?”
“I’m pretty sure you can take him.”
“Oh no, no definitely not my dear Jongin. Chanyeol would tear me in two, would actually kill me.”
There’s a pause, and Baekhyun can hear the faint sound of Jongin twisting the lid off of his water. “You don’t give yourself enough credit,” the younger boy finally says seconds later.
Baekhyun smiles fondly and quickly brushes all the warmth spreading through his chest under the rug. “Yeah, yeah,” he waves his hand, “to the anime, huh?”
Jongin cracks another smile and Baekhyun practically has to force himself to stay on his side and not glue himself to Jongin’s side because too unexpected and too early. He must refrain for now. It shouldn’t be too hard, though, because at least he gets viewing pleasures, right?
It only takes them a little over a week to finish the entire first season of Dragon Ball Z. Baekhyun isn’t sure when it became routine; Jongin showing up with food and making himself comfortable on Baekhyun’s couch with whatever unhealthy takeout he had picked up on his way despite Baekhyun having a fridge full of healthier options. Baekhyun never questioned it, though. The company was nice and comfortable and easy. Jongin filled the room up with his obnoxious laughter that’s at least ten octaves higher than his normal voice whenever Baekhyun made a sarcastic side comment at one of the character’s unfortunate expense and it left Baekhyun feeling warm and accomplished for the rest of the night.
It’s safe to say that these little hangout sessions weren’t dates, and neither Baekhyun nor Jongin ever put the moves on the other, but they weren’t not dates either. Jongin never realized it, but Baekhyun always caught on to the way his pretty cheeks would flush a pretty pink whenever Baekhyun’s hand accidentally brushed against his thigh or arm. Baekhyun has no clue if Jongin ever caught him or felt him staring, and he’d be surprised to find out that he hadn’t because Baekhyun isn’t exactly good at being subtle.
It was sort of like an unspoken agreement, Baekhyun decides as he tunes out Jongdae’s rambling about how cute it is when Junmyeon does something thoughtful for him like iron his underwear or something, Baekhyun doesn’t know.
“Hey, earth to Baekhyun,” Chanyeol snaps his fingers in front of Baekhyun’s eyes. “Are you listening?”
“Nope,” Baekhyun says, “too boring.”
Jongdae tsks under his breath, “My stories are never boring. You’ve got that college kid on your brain, you loser. What’s his name again?”
“Says you, who gets emotional over getting your underwear ironed,” Kyungsoo intones flatly, and Baekhyun cackles. “And his name is Jongin, right Baek?”
“Yeah,” Baekhyun nods, “Jongin.” The name fits so comfortably on his tongue at this point.
To his left, Chanyeol hums, “Sehun’s been telling me that Jongin doesn’t come home until, like, three in the morning lately. Would you happen to know anything about that?”
With six pairs of curious eyes on him, it’s hard for Baekhyun to conjure up a good way to get himself out of this. These idiots definitely don’t need more material to tease him with.
“Uh, no?”
“Lie. His hands are fidgeting too much,” Jongdae points out. Damn him.
“We’ve been watching Dragon Ball Z together for the past week. That’s it, nothing more and nothing less,” Baekhyun confesses, making sure to clarify the situation to save himself from the did you dick him down yet questions.
“Please tell me that’s not part of your seduction plan…” Chanyeol says as he pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs.
“There is no seduction plan? We literally just eat and watch anime. We occasionally play video games, but that’s it really.”
“You’re joking, right?” Chanyeol asks in disbelief. “It’s been a week and you still haven’t gotten to first base? Or any base for that matter?”
Baekhyun shakes his head, “No. I don’t think I’ll be trying anytime soon either. Jongin is hard to read, I can’t tell if he wants me to make any kind of move or not and I don’t wanna misread and put him or myself in an awkward position. Literally.”
“He likes you, dumbass,” Chanyeol sniggers. “Making a move wouldn’t hurt, just don’t do anything too bold. Don’t do anything that college Baekhyun would’ve done. Sehun might actually kill you for shit like that.”
“Duly noted.”
As said before, Baekhyun would rather not anger Sehun in any way, shape, or form. Protective best friends most of the time are worse than protective fathers.
“Anyway, other than your non-existent sex life, you two get along well?” asks Kyungsoo.
Baekhyun grins, “Yeah. He’s so… I don’t know, I just like being around him.”
There’s a pause, complete silence while Baekhyun burns red in the face, and then Jongdae is snorting and coughing around a mouthful of beer. “Baek man, you’re so whipped,” he breathes out.
Baekhyun tips his head back and downs what’s left of his beer. Tell him something he doesn’t know.
Jongin is hard to read. Shy people, in general, are hard to read. Baekhyun can’t for the life of him figure out how to “put the moves” on Jongin in a way that won’t scare him away. Had Baekhyun still been a student, he would’ve tugged Jongin right into his lap and slathered kisses right down his neck. But, given that Baekhyun is now an adult and Jongin is shy, finding the balance between too much and not enough is proving to be difficult.
If Baekhyun goes overboard that’ll put Jongin off. If Baekhyun doesn’t do enough that’ll make it look like he’s not that interested. He hasn’t dated anyone in years and it feels what skills he did have in the whole dating game have completely disintegrated into the dark, dusty corners of his mind.
A total of maybe 3-4?-failed attempts at trying to flirt and move from a strictly PG rating to possibly a PG-13 rating with innocent cuddling and maybe a few friendly inappropriate innuendos here and there is what really pushes Baekhyun in the direction of desperation. And when Chanyeol laughs at Baekhyun’s misfortune until he can’t breathe, Baekhyun decides that he’ll have to move to plan b; operation desperation contact Oh Sehun.
This could go one of two ways; Sehun could either also laugh in Baekhyun’s face, or he’ll interrogate Baekhyun about his intentions.
“So, you want me to tell you how to get closer to Jongin?” Sehun hums, tongue clicking on the other end of the line.
“Uh, yeah…”
“Closer in what way? Like dick to butt or-”
“NO! No, I don’t mean like… I’m not trying to get into his pants,” Baekhyun exhales in relief when Sehun laughs. “I just have no idea how to, like, move to the next level, I guess? Jongin’s hard to read and I haven’t dated anyone in years.”
“What’s the next level?” Sehun asks through another laugh. Baekhyun flushes. Damn that Kim Jongin.
“Uh, I don’t know. Cuddling? He always looks so warm and soft and-”
“You’re so whipped,” Sehun interrupts, and Baekhyun considers hanging up so he can bury his face in his pillow and wallow in his embarrassment.
“It’s not unusual for guys to be whipped when it comes to Jongin, though,” Sehun continues, “he just has that effect on people. Anyway, don’t be so timid anymore. Jongin is shy, yes, but he’s a sucker for cuddles and whatever lame jokes you have to offer.”
“That’s it? There’s no like specific thing I have to do to get him to crack?”
“Um no, he’s a human, not a robot or something. Good luck, dude.”
Baekhyun breathes out and cracks a smile, “Thanks, Sehun. I owe you for this.”
“Sure, sure. Just don’t hurt him, I’ll be forced to take physical action or something.” Baekhyun doesn’t want to find what or something means.
“Noted.”
The line goes dead and Baekhyun flops back against his bed feeling relieved as he tries to plot out his next move.
this story is continued.
part ii