A Match Made in Rivalry - Part 2
“What was so important that you interrupted me on my early lunch?” Jongdae asks as he storms into his office, only to see the main cause of his recent anxiety sitting in front of his desk.
“Hello, Jongdae-ssi,” Jongin brightly smiles, and Jongdae tries his hardest to discreetly sigh as he walks into his office and sits behind his desk.
“What are you doing here today, Jongin-ssi? Don’t you have dance practice? Or free time better spent sleeping?” Jongdae looks at the other boy with an equally beaming smile, conveniently leaving, “and not bugging me,” out of the conversation.
“I stopped by because I wanted to see if you have any new matches for me?” Jongin’s eyes resemble a lost puppy’s.
“No, not yet. Listen, actually I was-“
“Before you say anything,” Jongin interrupts, “I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you doing this for me-“
Jongdae lightheartedly scoffs, “Well, you are paying me for this.”
“I know,” Jongin whines, “but you’ve been trying hard to find me someone, and I understand that I may not be the easiest to match-“
Even Kyungsoo, quietly composed as always, snorts from his desk where he’s reorganizing some clients’ portfolios.
“But, I’m grateful. Thank you, Jongdae-ssi.” Jongin finishes with a saccharine smile.
Jongdae raises his eyebrows and smiles, “You’re welcome Jongin-ssi. I’ll keep looking, and I’ll call you when I find someone, okay?”
“Okay!” Jongin grins and leaves the office soon after that, and as soon as Jongdae hears the door gently close, he lets out an audible breath and turns to Kyungsoo and sees the other man delicately arranging clients and their successful matches on their bulletin board.
“So, now I’ll probably look like the biggest ass,” Jongdae offhandedly says, looking away from Kyungsoo and putting his attention on a lose thread in his shirt.
“More than you already do?” Kyungsoo gibes, measuring the distance between one photograph and another.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jongdae playfully snarls. “I may or may not have suggested a truce with Baekhyun.”
“You’re on an amicable first name basis now? How was your date?”
“You’re more concerned with my not-a-date with Baekhyun than with the fact that I made a truce with him?” Jongdae grouses.
“Why did you make a truce with him?” Kyungsoo stares at him expressionlessly.
“At the time it sounded like a good idea… We were both annoyed with Jongin, and I don’t know, we just did.”
“Well, at least now you can use that to your advantage,” Kyungsoo evilly grins, “because Baekhyun won’t suspect you of anything, so count this as a freebie, and make sure it counts.”
“How do you change from cute and innocent to scary and evil so quickly?” Jongdae wonders aloud.
“After working here for years, anything is possible,” Kyungsoo mutters.
-
Baekhyun returns to the office with a spring in his walk and a grin on his face until the smirking face of his personal assistant confronts him as he strides through the doors.
“So, how was your date?” Sehun snidely asks as soon as Baekhyun sits down behind his desk.
“It wasn’t a date!” Baekhyun growls as he aimlessly scrolls through his Instagram feed.
“Hyung, yes it was.”
“No it wasn’t! All we did was talk about Jongin, and maybe a few other things, but that’s it.” When he sees Sehun’s unconvinced stare, he adds, “I’m serious!”
Sehun flicks a piece of lint off his shirt and uninterestedly questions, “Then why were you so excited when you entered the office?”
“Because I was excited to be away from Jongdae!” Baekhyun yells.
Sehun’s pointed glare makes Baekhyun whisper, “Fine, so maybe it wasn’t that bad, but it really wasn’t a date.”
“Really?” Sehun raises his eyebrows as he types something; Baekhyun wants to believe Sehun raised his eyebrows at the computer screen, not at him.
“Yes, really.” Baekhyun mocks.
“Talking about only Jongin and a ‘few other things’ doesn’t take two hours.”
“Why are you questioning me?” Baekhyun whines, “Okay, so maybe while we were there we made a truce.”
“A truce?” Sehun turns his attention to Baekhyun and, his blank stare nearly bores into Baekhyun’s mind.
“Yes, a truce. We’re taking a break from Jongin, to focus on other clients,” Baekhyun says confidently.
“Yeah, we’ll see how long that lasts,” Sehun mutters.
“What? I won’t break the truce! And, I don’t know, Jongdae’s not that bad of a guy. He won’t break it either.”
Sehun rolls his eyes and rests his head in his hands, elbows on his desk, so that he can continue to stare at his boss. “And what has he done that convinces you of that?”
“Well, h-he…” Baekhyun stutters and turns away from Sehun’s intense gaze.
Sudden realization crosses over Sehun’s face, and he laughs loudly before freezing his expression. “He paid for your food didn't he?”
Baekhyun remains silent, making Sehun snicker, until Baekhyun finally defends himself. “Well, yeah, but it’s not a big-“
“It was a date,” Sehun says with a tone of finality and returns his attention to his computer, and just like with the waitress who said his get together with Jongdae was a date, Baekhyun doesn’t attempt to clarify.
-
After arranging and then rearranging their clients and matches on their bulletin board, organizing more files for Jongdae, taking a necessary fifteen minute coffee break away from his boss, and returning only to see Jongdae stressing and pulling at his hair, Kyungsoo sighs and sits down in one of the chairs in front of Jongdae’s desk. “What has you stressed now?”
“What do you think?” Jongdae groans as he runs a hand through his hair, trying to fix it from where he was pulling it earlier.
“If you’re worried about matching Jongin, why don’t you see if any of your other friends are single?” Kyungsoo nonchalantly asks as he places his hands on his perfectly starched pants.
“Like who?” Jongdae turns forward completely, full attention on his assistant.
Kyungsoo presses his lips together in thought. “Who was that guy who burst into the office a few months ago demanding that you go out for a night of ‘Chinese drinking’?”
“You mean Luhan?” Jongdae claps his hands with laughter. “Why do you think Luhan is a good choice?”
Kyungsoo moves his stare disdainfully from Jongdae to an old coffee mug on his boss’s desk. “I don’t know; they’re both pretty. At this rate, finding a person who has similar interests as Jongin doesn’t seem like it’s going to work.”
Jongdae chuckles, “Baekhyun already tried the, ‘opposites attract’ thing, and obviously, it didn’t work.”
“I’m not saying you should deliberately match him with someone who is the exact opposite of him,” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “I’m just saying that you shouldn’t focus on a major thing they have in common, like dancing in Yixing’s case. And besides, what do you have to lose at this point?”
Jongdae sighs dejectedly, picks up a pen, and taps in aimlessly on his desk until Kyungsoo snatches it with a stern gaze.
“I guess I’ll send him a text and see if he’s free,” Jongdae mutters.
-
“Jongdae-ah, what made you invite me to a night out for drinking? Last time we did this was six months ago and you swore that you’d never do it again,” Luhan lifts an eyebrow and his lips curve upward as he takes a sip of his beer.
“What can I say,” Jongdae averts his attention to a dramatic scene across the bar where some woman is pouring her drink on another guy, “I’ve missed the pleasurable sight of you wasted.”
“I knew there was a catch!”
“No actually,” Jongdae looks over at Luhan to see the other man staring at their bartender before looking back at him, “I wanted to set you up on a date.”
“Why?” Luhan narrows his eyes and puts down his beer. “Who is it?”
Jongdae waves a dismissive hand, “Never mind who it is. Just know that he’s hot and dances really well.”
Luhan gasps dramatically and holds a hand to his chest. “Am I that shallow that you assume I want to know whether this date is hot or not?”
“Yes,” Jongdae deadpans.
Luhan rolls his eyes and takes another sip of his beer. “Sure, I guess I’ll do it.”
“Really?” Jongdae’s expression brightens, and he finally takes a sip of his beer.
“Might as well,” Luhan mumbles, lips around the bottle. “When is it?”
“I’ll arrange it with him, and I’ll let you know?”
“Fine. But in return, you can’t refuse the next five times I ask you out for drinks.” Luhan smirks and completely ignores Jongdae’s groans.
-
“Boss, how long has it been since you’ve looked for a match for Jongin-ssi?” Sehun asks as he fills the printer with more paper.
“A week. Never been happier,” Baekhyun shrugs his shoulders and doesn’t look up from his phone to see Sehun’s vexed expression.
“A week? All because of a truce with some guy that you supposedly despised less than a month ago?” Sehun snorts and walks back to his desk.
With Baekhyun not providing a response, Sehun continues, “I seriously doubt he kept the truce as long as you. I really suggest finding Jongin-ssi another match.”
“And who exactly do you suggest?” Baekhyun snaps and finally looks at his assistant.
Ignoring Baekhyun’s tone, Sehun says, “My friend Luhan has been single for a while. I think he’d be willing to date Jongin-ssi."
“Will you call him then?” Baekhyun rubs his temples and sighs.
“We can call him,” Sehun walks over to Baekhyun’s desk, calls Luhan, and puts his phone on speakerphone. After five rings, Luhan finally picks up. “What do you want Sehun?”
“Good morning to you too.” Sehun scoffs. “Actually, I was wondering if you’d like to go on a date?”
“With you?” Sehun can imagine Luhan’s sneer through the phone.
“No!” Sehun squawks and looks at Baekhyun for permission to say their client’s name. “No, with the pop star Kai.”
The other end is silent for at least twenty seconds, leading Baekhyun to believe Sehun’s friend either fell asleep or hung up. “Are you serious?”
“Quite the catch isn’t he?” Sehun wistfully laughs. “You should count yourself lucky to have a friend like me with awesome connections.”
Luhan huffs, “Yeah, right. Look, I just went on a date with the ass. I’d rather not do it again.”
Baekhyun speaks up for the first time, when he squeaks, “What?”
“Sehun, who was that?”
Sehun rolls his eyes at Baekhyun. “That was my boss. Ignore him. When did you go on a date with him?”
“Last night.” Luhan moans.
Baekhyun regains the ability to speak and asks, “Did someone set you up with him?”
“Yeah, my asshole of a friend Jongdae.”
Baekhyun pushes Sehun and his phone away from his desk and yanks his office phone off the jack. As he brutally punches the phone number of Kindred Spirits into the keypad, he hears Sehun finish the phone call with, “It’s a long story. Sorry for waking you up so early.” Sehun pauses and then his face contours into disgust, “No, you can’t date my roommate! See you later, hyung.”
After a few rings, someone answers Baekhyun’s call by saying, “Hello, thank you for calling Kindred Spirits. This is Kyungsoo sp-“
“Put Jongdae on the phone.” Baekhyun growls.
Baekhyun hears some shuffling on the other line, and he avoids Sehun’s fixed gaze when he snarls, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“What are you talking about?” Jongdae mumbles.
“What do you mean ‘what are you talking about?’” Baekhyun mocks and pulls at his hair. “You said we had a truce!”
“How’d you find out?” Jongdae replies monotonously.
“My assistant is a friend of the guy you set him up with.”
“Well, for what it counts I’m paying for my mistakes now.”
“Oh. Is that so?” Baekhyun sneers and looks at Sehun while rolling his eyes.
“Yes because Jongin showed up first thing this morning and complained about the date, and he actually just left my office for the bathroom after I took your call.”
“Aw, boo-hoo,” Bekhyun scoffs and refreshes his Instagram feed.
“Not to mention Luhan, his date you know-“
“Yes I know who Luhan is,” Baekhyun snaps.
“If you’d let me finish, seriously,” Jongdae groans. “As I was saying, Luhan made me drink with him last night after their date because apparently it was that awful, and now I’m suffering from a hangover, and I’ve had to listen to Jongin’s whining for the past hour, or at least that’s how long it has felt.”
“And I care because…” Baekhyun drones.
“I’m about to make Jongin finish his story with Kyungsoo because my hangover can’t handle this, and now I want to know if you’d accompany me for some tea in hopes that my hangover will be over and Jongin will be gone by the time I get back.”
Baekhyun smirks and guffaws; he can almost sense Jongdae cowering in pain at the loudness of his laugh. “I’d just yell at you and make it worse.”
“Can’t be much worse than Jongin,” Jongdae heaves a sigh.
“Fine. Meet me at HonestTEA in half an hour.” Baekhyun hangs up before he hears a response, grabs his phone, and somewhat inspects his outfit before standing and saying in Sehun’s direction, “I’m going out for tea with him. I’ll be back sometime.”
-
Baekhyun arrives first and orders an Acai blueberry green tea; after receiving his drink and grabbing a few sugar packets, he walks to a table close to the window, but not directly within the sunlight because he’s sure Jongdae’s hangover induced migraine would only worsen with bright light.
A few minutes later, the other man strolls into the teashop with a pair of sunglasses shielding his eyes. When he takes them off, he instantly cringes at the fluorescent lights in the shop, and he looks around hurriedly until he sees Baekhyun and he strides over to his table.
“You look like shit,” Baekhyun comments as he stirs another sugar packet into his tea.
“Thanks. I feel like it too,” Jongdae mutters and slides into the chair across from Baekhyun.
“Are you going to order something?”
Jongdae stares at Baekhyun’s cup and sighs, “Yeah, eventually. When I take the effort to stand.”
“God, you’re hopeless,” Baekhyun grumbles as he stands and walks over to the counter. He reads the menu over and over, and when he finally decides on the type of tea, he takes out his debit card and pays for Jongdae, who is currently slouching over their table miserably. When he grabs the cup handed to him, he decides against sugar and walks over to Jongdae. He gently places the cup in front of Jongdae and mumbles, “You’re welcome.”
Jongdae sniffs it and groans. “What is it?”
Baekhyun sits down and stirs his tea aimlessly. “Chamomile citrus. You don’t want anything caffeinated, and anything with fruit juice in it is supposedly good.” When he sees Jongdae’s surprised gaze, he huffs, “I said last time that I’ve been wasted way too often for someone my age, so of course I’ve had far too many hangovers. After maybe the twentieth time, I finally learned what helps.”
“Thanks, Baek. I really appreciate it,” Jongdae whispers as he takes his first sip.
“Yeah, whatever. What went wrong with their date last night?”
Jongdae lays his head in his hands. “Why do you want to know?”
Baekhyun simply arches an eyebrow, and Jongdae closes his eyes for a few seconds before mumbling, “According to Jongin, Luhan nearly attacked him after he said his eyes were pretty, but Luhan swears that Jongin said he was pretty, not his eyes.”
“What does being called pretty have to do with anything?” Baekhyun sets his cup down and glances at Jongdae’s pale face.
“Could you not make so much noise?” Jongdae whines. Baekhyun glares but attempts to be quieter when he stirs his tea again.
“Luhan doesn’t like being called pretty, for some reason. If you saw him, you’d think he’s pretty, because he is. I don’t know why it bothers him so much,” Jongdae takes another sip and sighs contently.
“Surely that can’t be all that went wrong.”
“Well, between the drinking from last night and the hangover from this morning, I don’t remember much,” Jongdae shifts in his seat and laughs before cringing. “I’m honestly surprised they didn’t work out. They’re both so whiny; it would be a perfect match.”
Baekhyun simply hums and looks at Jongdae again and sees that some color has returned to his face, causing him to awkwardly meet eyes with Jongdae, the latter smirking before lifting his cup to his lips, eyes still locked with Baekhyun’s.
After Jongdae gently sets his cup down, still looking at Baekhyun, he asks, “So, what now?”
“What do you mean?”
Jongdae whispers, “Hold on a second,” before frantically searching around the table and in his pockets for something, and when he pulls his phone out of his right pocket, he smiles brightly, until he looks at the screen and pouts.
“Is there something wrong?” Baekhyun narrows his eyes and leans forward.
“Yeah,” Jongdae frowns, “something’s wrong with my phone.”
“Oh yeah?” Baekhyun raises an eyebrow and drinks from his cup. “What’s wrong with it?”
“It’s just that… Your number isn’t in it.” Jongdae smirks and looks from his phone to Baekhyun, who nearly spits his tea in shock.
“Wh-what?” Baekhyun sputters.
“Remember last time? You said the corny pickup line to me, and this time I thought I’d return the favor.”
“But I didn’t mean it! Besides, that’s probably why all your dates have failed so far.” Baekhyun scoffs.
“Oh, and yours have done any better?” Jongdae smugly smiles and shifts forward to lean his head in his hands. “Besides, you still haven’t given me your number.”
Baekhyun looks out the window to avoid Jongdae’s gaze. “Why do you even want it?”
“What if I need your help? To get Luhan to agree to the date, I made a promise that I’d go drinking the next five times he asks me. What if that’s the whole rest of the week?” Jongdae groans and rubs his thumb and index fingers over his tired eyes.
“Then I’ll have an advantage at finding a date for Jongin because you’ll be too hung-over to do anything productive.”
“Wow, thanks Baek,” Jongdae squinches his face in disapproval.
“How do I know you won’t write my number on a bathroom stall or give it one of your clients as a joke?” Baekhyun crosses his arms and stares at Jongdae.
“You can trust me!”
“Yes,” Baekhyun sardonically says, “I certainly can trust the guy who broke a truce in less than a week. Yep, he’s trustful.”
“…. Okay, maybe you’re right. But, for what it counts, it was my assistant’s idea, not mine!”
“Oh really?” Baekhyun drawls, distractedly tapping his fingers on the table.
“It is! So, does that mean I get your number?”
Baekhyun presses his lips, pretending to be in deep thought, before sighing, “I guess. But no drunk dialing at 4 AM.”
Jongdae clacks his spoon into his cup before flinching at the noise. “Please, I have standards,” Jongdae slides his phone across the table. “Go ahead and add your number.”
“Why your phone?
“So I can text you?”
Baekhyun holds the phone in his hand and glances from his phone to Jongdae back to his phone. “Why don’t you add your number in my phone?”
“I was just going to add your number and then send a text so you had my number.”
“Or,” Baekhyun increases the volume of his words, smirking when Jongdae winces, “you could add your number, and maybe I’ll send you a text.”
“Fine, whatever,” Jongdae rubs his temples and holds his hand out for Baekhyun’s phone. After he hands the phone back (Baekhyun notices that Jongdae entered his contact name as, “The smartest, most handsome person you know”), Baekhyun sends a simple text: loser. He hears the faint chime from Jongdae’s phone and sees the other man rolls his eyes before hiding his smile behind one of his hands, making Baekhyun grin as well.
Silence fills the air again, and to distract himself, Baekhyun stares at his hands in his lap, and he just realizes that he missed a button when putting it on this morning. Soon enough, Jongdae realizes the awkward silence and decides to enlighten Baekhyun with his dramatic tale of drinking with Luhan, and in turn, Baekhyun shares his drinking stories from college (even some of the most embarrassing ones that he will not tell Sehun, or Joonmyun, or anyone other than Chanyeol - who was there when they happened). When Baekhyun checks his phone after he feels it vibrate in his pocket, he realizes that more than two and a half hours have passed with him and Jongdae talking about the most miscellaneous things (now, they’re arguing over who would win a fight: Thor or Superman), and he sees he has a text from Sehun wondering if he has had lunch yet. Deciding that two hours is far too long to spend in Kim Jongdae’s presence, Baekhyun slides out of his chair and looks at Jongdae who watches him with a surprised gaze as he stands. “My assistant texted me. I should get going.” All too quickly, Baekhyun throws away his cup and sugar packets and leaves the teashop with his perfected stride.
Less than a minute later, Baekhyun sends a text to the smartest, most handsome person he knows: I hope your hangover is better.
-
Sehun is sifting through the business’s mail when Baekhyun enters their office at a quarter till 1 with a plastic bag full of Chinese takeout in his hand.
“You haven’t eaten yet, have you Sehun? I bought lunch.” Baekhyun lifts the takeout and walks over to the table where Sehun is sorting mail.
“You know,” Sehun says without removing his eyes from the variously sized envelopes, “I didn’t send that text as a passive-aggressive way for you to buy me lunch. I sent it as a passive-aggressive way for you to buy him lunch.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
Sehun looks asquint at Baekhyun and shakes his head before returning to his work. “Hyung, you spent nearly three hours with the guy, and you’re not nearly as angry as you were when you left.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? And besides, the first thirty minutes to an hour had to deal with curing his hangover.”
Sehun derisively chuckles, “That’s supposed to make it better? That you’re willing to take care of him in his time of need?”
“Whatever. Stop meddling in my affairs. Let’s eat. I’m starving.”
-
Another week passes by without Baekhyun finding a match for Jongin, and though he had to deal with Sehun’s cold eyes everyday that constantly reminded him to try to find someone for Jongin, Baekhyun thinks the week has been even more peaceful than the week of his and Jongdae’s truce.
Ironically, Baekhyun realizes that he has seen Jongdae more often than his client, Jongin; from their time at the teashop, to the present day a week later, Baekhyun was with Jongdae four times, due to when Jongdae invited him out for another lunch get-together (because it still was not a date), and when he tried to pressure him into going out for drinks with him and Luhan (Baekhyun said no), but later he called and asked if Baekhyun would pick him up from the bar because he didn’t know where Luhan went (and being the good person he is, Baekhyun went after him, but he cursed the whole time about how that was the job of his personal assistant, not his acquaintance), and when he paid Baekhyun back for his troubles by letting him chose the restaurant for their dinner get-together the next day, and when they both agreed to attend Yixing’s open mic night at the coffee shop.
But now that he hasn’t matched Jongin with someone in two weeks, Sehun’s eyes aren’t cold anymore; they’re also judging him and following his every move, silently telling him to get a move on this matching business before they lose a valuable customer.
Baekhyun spins in his chair towards Sehun and asks, “Do you have any ideal matches for Jongin?”
Sehun, currently emailing a previous client, shakes his head. “No, I haven’t. Isn’t that your job?”
Baekhyun tugs at the stained cuff of his sleeve and ignores Sehun’s sass. “Do you think your roommate would be a good match for Jongin?”
Sehun snorts, “No, he’s too orderly for Jongin’s antics. Besides, Luhan has been showing up unannounced at my place for the last week trying to get his phone number because apparently he met him at a bar, so I really doubt he’d even want to date Jongin by this point.”
“So did Luhan get his number? Have they gone out on a date?”
“Yeah, he got it. I don’t know about the date part, but Luhan is really persistent,” Sehun shrugs.
Baekhyun squeezes his eyes in concentration. “Okay…. Wait, what about that guy who is friends with Jonghyun… He was in your dance class when we were in college!”
Sehun raises his eyebrows, “Taemin?”
“Yeah, him.” Baekhyun claps his hands excitedly. “Think he’d date Jongin?”
“I didn’t know Taemin that well, but I can see if he wants to go on a date with him. Honestly, I feel like he will somehow be one of your better matches,” Sehun nods his head in agreement.
“I’m so glad I got the Sehun stamp of approval.” Baekhyun sarcastically says before rolling himself back to his desk. ”Finish what you’re doing; then, call Taemin.”
-
Baekhyun thinks he should probably be used to Jongin’s early appearances after his dates, but seeing as it’s 9 AM, he hasn’t had his coffee, and he didn’t have to deal with Jongin and his whining for nearly two whole weeks, he isn’t prepared for the onslaught of complaining from Jongin as they enter his office and sit down in their usual place at Baekhyun’s desk.
“Do you know who Lee Taemin is?” Jongin stares at him with wide eyes.
“Sort of? Sehun went to school with him, and apparently he’s a choreographer these days-“
“Exactly,” Jongin interrupts. “He’s my choreographer. He’s my best friend!”
“Oh,” Baekhyun says as he opens Alpaca Evolution 2 on his phone. “So I’m assuming you didn’t have the ‘fall in love with your best friend’ experience?”
“No, Taemin is literally the worst,” Jongin crinkles his nose. “I mean, he’s been my best friend for years, but he’s still an ass, you know. Like this one time…”
Baekhyun hums every few seconds when he assumes Jongin is making a dramatic pause and looking for his input; he has absolutely no idea what Jongin is talking about now because he’s so focused on this one time-consuming level. He feels his phone vibrate with a new message, and when he opens it, he sees it’s from Jongdae.
Received 9:25 AM
What are you doing rn?
Noticing that Jongin is still complaining about something Taemin did three years ago, Baekhyun sends a text back.
Sent 9:26 AM
Listening to Jongin whine. You?
Received 9:26 AM
Trying to avoid my assistant’s judging eyes. Want to meet up and avoid responsibilities together?
Baekhyun nods his head at Jongin and interjects another, “Yep, uh-huh, I get you,” into his story before sending Jongdae another text.
Sent 9:28 AM
What do you have in mind?
Received 9:30 AM
I need some more button downs, and since you told me you were a reigning prince of fashion, I thought I’d accept your advice
Baekhyun chuckles aloud, and Jongin narrows his eyes and grits, “That wasn’t funny! Taemin publicly embarrassed me! He didn’t even….”
Sent 9:31 AM
Im always up for a challenge, I guess. What time?
Received 9:32 AM
Well, I was thinking right now
Baekhyun responds with an okay, and Jongdae tell him where they would meet up, all while Jongin is still complaining about his date with his best friend.
“…. And then, can you believe he made me pay for my meal?” Jongin pouts, and Baekhyun can’t help but to chuckle.
“Why are you laughing now? Is that how he will treat all of his future dates? No wonder he’s been single forever.”
“It’s funny,” Baekhyun guffaws and claps his hands; then, he suddenly stops and stares at Jongin mundanely. “You didn’t like that Joonmyun was too motherly, yet you also don’t like that Taemin didn’t pay for your dinner.”
Jongin looks at him blankly. “But, that’s completely different. I know Taemin, and I’ve paid for his food many times, so he could have at least been gentlemanly enough to return the favor.” Jongin averts his gaze to Sehun who has been quietly typing at his desk. “Right, Sehun-ssi?”
Baekhyun hums and stands up, “Tell you what, Sehun is such a better listener than me. Why don’t you finish telling this story to Sehun?”
Baekhyun can’t read Sehun’s expression, and since he doesn’t see inherent anger, he assumes he won’t be in trouble with his assistant when he gets back from his-not-a-date with Jongdae.
He flattens the faint wrinkles in his button-down and walks to the door. “I’ll be back sometime.”
-
Four days after his shopping spree with Baekhyun, Jongdae is twirling a piece of hair through his fingers and looks at his assistant who is bringing him his daily cup of coffee with a dull expression. “So, I may have found someone for Jongin.”
Kyungsoo sits at his desk and takes a sip from his water bottle. “Oh really?”
“Yeah, during one of our many drunken adventures, Luhan helped me.”
Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow and laughs while drinking his water, causing him to cough and widen his eyes in surprise. “Luhan?”
Jongdae hums and sweeps his bangs across his forehead. “Yeah. Although Luhan has moved onto another guy, he told me that he has a friend who would be a perfect match for Jongin, and at this point, I’m even willing to trust Luhan, and that’s saying something.”
Kyungsoo slowly nods his head and keeps the same dull expression when looking at his boss. “Did you call his friend?”
“Yeah, I called him last night. I’ll just forward his info to Jongin and then we’ll see how that goes.”
-
“Don’t take it offensively, Sehun, but I’m really tired of seeing your bitchy face,” Baekhyun mumbles into his arm as he’s currently laying his head on his desk.
“My apologizes,” Sehun scoffs and scans some papers Baekhyun handed to him a few minutes earlier.
“I don’t even want to be here today,” Baekhyun moans and holds his forehead in his hands. “Why am I here?”
“I don’t know; why are you here?” Sehun looks over at Baekhyun impassively.
“It was a rhetorical question, Sehun,” Baekhyun says under his breath.
Sehun stops what he’s doing and sits in one of the chairs in front of Baekhyun’s desk. “Well, mine wasn’t. Go hang out with Jongdae or something. Just, get out of the office; I’ll watch after everything while you’re gone if you just admit that it’s a date.”
Baekhyun fully sits up and yawns, “And why would I-“ but upon seeing Sehun’s blank, unimpressed gaze, Baekhyun sighs and mutters, “I’ll see what he’s doing.”
Taking out his phone and staring at it for twenty seconds, Baekhyun huffs and calls Jongdae’s cell phone. The phone rings two times until he hears Jongdae’s slightly annoyed voice answer the phone. “Hello?”
Baekhyun frowns at Jongdae’s tone. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” Jongdae grumbles, “just Jongin. You know how it is.”
“Yeah. Are you busy? I’m bored and I need some fresh air, and I was wondering if you’d like to go on a picnic with me,” Baekhyun aimlessly plays with the charm on his phone while waiting for Jongdae’s response and avoiding Sehun’s smug grin.
He hears some ruffling in the background including the faint mumbles between Jongdae and his personal assistant until Jongdae says, “That sounds good. Right now?”
Baekhyun looks at the clock on his desk and says, “Yeah. I’ll get kimbap or something if you’ll get drinks and dessert?”
“Okay. Meet you in thirty minutes at the park near the bistro we went to a few weeks ago?”
Baekhyun agrees to the plans and vaguely notices that Jongdae already ended the phone call because he’s too busy looking at himself in his handheld mirror, and fixing the side part in his hair, and touching up the light BB cream he put on his face this morning. Sehun still has his smug grin as he watches his boss, and Baekhyun doesn’t notice that the other is staring until he looks up at Sehun and narrows his eyes. “What?”
Sehun looks from Baekhyun’s various beauty supplies scattered on his desk and back up to Baekhyun with a smirk. “You know, this is the first time you’ve ever asked him out and not the other way around.”
Baekhyun rolls his eyes, checks himself in his mirror one more time, and stands. “Shut up and get back to work. You’ll have to lock up today because I more than likely won’t be back today.”
-
Baekhyun realizes as he walks through the entrance of the park that he didn’t pick up a blanket or a tablecloth for them to sit on, but when he finds Jongdae a minute later sitting near a tree with a weaved basket on top of a checkered tablecloth in front of him, he smiles brightly and sits down across from him. “I’m glad that you remembered to bring a tablecloth because I obviously didn’t.”
Jongdae scoots forward so that he’s actually sitting on the tablecloth and not on the grass. “Somehow I expected you to forget. I even brought this basket to make the experience even more exciting.”
Hearing Jongdae’s fake enthusiasm makes Baekhyun cackle. “Don’t pretend like you don’t want to have a picnic with me in the middle of the day.”
One side of Jongdae’s lips curls upward when he says, “Why else would I be here.”
Baekhyun unpacks the kimbap and places the packages in Jongdae’s basket. “So, why did you sound so annoyed on the phone earlier?”
Jongdae rolls his eyes and gently smiles at Baekhyun. “Jongin had another failed date, not that that’s much of a surprise.”
“Yeah, really,” Baekhyun laughs. “We can finish talking about that in a bit; let’s eat first.”
Jongdae unpacks Baekhyun’s supplies along with his own and looks at Baekhyun and beams. “You bought chamchi kimbap even though you hate it?”
“Yeah,” Baekhyun dismisses with a hand as he picks up the kimchi kimbap for himself. “Don’t you like it?”
Jongdae nods, “How did you know?”
Baekhyun shrugs his shoulders and pops a roll into his mouth. After chewing, he says, “You mentioned it when we went shopping and ate in the food court. I don’t know why we talked about kimbap when we were drinking bubble tea, but we did.”
Jongdae eats a roll and passes Baekhyun a can of Coke. “So, what were you doing before you called me?”
“Being bored out of my mind.”
“So you called me to solve that?” Jongdae smirks.
Refusing to give Jongdae full credit, Baekhyun turns his head to look at the grass and mutters, “Yeah, I guess.”
Jongdae’s face contours with laughter, and Baekhyun doesn’t know when his laugh went from annoying to endearing. “You’re precious.”
Baekhyun looks at Jongdae’s smug expression and huffs. “Whatever. Tell me more about Jongin.”
Jongdae’s nose crinkles in disgust, and he takes a sip of his soda before saying, “Luhan, the courteous friend he is, told me about one of his Chinese friends who he thought would be a good match for Jongin. To absolutely no one’s surprise, he was wrong.”
After seeing Baekhyun nod his head and chuckle, Jongdae continues, “Apparently Luhan’s friend is a wushu master, but he also has a, ‘delicate side’ according to Luhan. Jongin says his delicacy was in the form of screaming when a ladybug landed on his finger, but then he nearly attacked Jongin in an effort to get it off.”
Baekhyun humorlessly laughs, “What’s up with him nearly getting attacked on your part? I swear, he is impossible to match.”
Jongdae opens a package of pepero sticks and offers one to Baekhyun. “Seriously. I’m running out of ideas.”
“Me too,” Baekhyun says as he shifts so that he’s lying on his stomach with his legs in the air.
Jongdae looks at him strangely for a few seconds before coping his actions. “Did you have any plans for after we finish this picnic?”
“For just myself or for both of us?”
Jongdae plays with the corner of the tablecloth and answers, “Both.”
Baekhyun smiles and twirls a strand of hair between his fingers. “No, I hadn’t really thought that far ahead.”
Jongdae stays quiet for a few seconds and munches on another pepero stick; finally, he looks up at Baekhyun and grins, “I may not be a photographer, but I can picture us on a real date after this.”
Baekhyun guffaws and rolls sideways slightly in laughter before reaching across the tablecloth to punch Jongdae’s shoulder gently. “You’re such a los-“ Baekhyun cuts himself off when he sees Jongdae’s serious eyes staring at him.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Baekhyun sits up again and doesn’t look away from Jongdae.
Jongdae sighs under his breath and sits up as well; he remains silent for a moment, seemingly collecting his thoughts, and articulately says, “I meant what I said; I want to date you, and Kyungsoo has been pushing me to ask you out for the past week and a half.”
“I- wow.” Baekhyun finishes lamely, still looking at Jongdae. He doesn’t notice the other’s shoulders slouching because he is thinking back to all of his and Jongdae’s “not-a-date” get-togethers, and in retrospect, Baekhyun realizes that those actually may have been dates, and also, Sehun actually may have been right about them all along.
After a few more seconds of silence, Baekhyun sweetly smiles, “Well, what did you have in mind?” Jongdae looks up from his lap with the largest beam Baekhyun thinks he’s ever seen.
“We haven’t gone to the theater before, if you’re up for that. Or, is the fair in town? Better yet, we could spend some time in town, and when we’re hungry again, we could get some street food. Or maybe-“
Baekhyun rolls his eyes at Jongdae’s constant rambling and moves over to sit by him, and he lays his head on Jongdae’s shoulder. “Or, we could just relax here and decide on what we want to later.”
Jongdae looks down at Baekhyun’s head on his shoulder and grins while he wraps an arm around Baekhyun’s waist, “Whatever works for you, I guess.”
Baekhyun removes his head from Jongdae’s shoulder and looks at him with an amused expression, “Why is it that before you would always put up a fight with me and bicker, but now you just agree quickly with whatever I say.”
Jongdae raises an eyebrow and simpers, “Do you want me to bicker with you?”
“Well, I mean, it’s amusing, and it’s nice to know someone almost as witty as me-“
Jongdae sputters and flicks his eyes from Baekhyun’s lips to his eyes. “Yeah, right-“
“It’s only true-“
“What’s only true?”
Baekhyun pokes his nose and laughs. “How much I want to kiss you right now.”
Jongdae snickers and looks at him, unimpressed. “You can’t be serious.”
Baekhyun pulls back from Jongdae slightly, only for Jongdae to tighten his arm around Baekhyun’s waist. “Yeah, I was being serious.”
“Good, because I thought I was the only one.”
Baekhyun leans in close enough to bask in Jongdae’s cologne, but he decides to stare into Jongdae’s eyes with his ever-present smirk while lightly puffing on Jongdae’s lips instead of moving the four centimeters needed to properly kiss him. Jongdae, completely frustrated, grabs the back of Baekhyun’s neck and pulls him in closer, making their lips finally touch. Despite his initial franticness, Jongdae tenderly slides his lips against Baekhyun’s, and he runs his fingers through the baby hairs right above Baekhyun’s nape. Baekhyun sighs in content and places a hand on Jongdae’s cheek, softly rubbing his prominent cheekbones.
Just as they break apart and lean their foreheads together to catch their breath, Baekhyun’s phone beeps from beside his forgotten soda. Baekhyun sheepishly grins and turns to grab it; as soon as he unlocks his phone, his eyes widen considerably, and Jongdae thinks he looks like a fish out of water with his dramatically opened mouth.
“Did something bad happen?” Jongdae asks as he taps his fingers on Baekhyun’s thigh.
Baekhyun stares at his phone for a few seconds before bemusedly saying, “I just got a picture from Sehun… “
“And?”
“And he’s with our local hopeless romantic Kai…” Baekhyun slowly says, still slightly confused, “and, they’re kissing…”
Jongdae’s eyebrows raise, and he looks over Baekhyun’s shoulder to see a blurry, self-taken picture of their mutual client and the man, who Jongdae assumes is Baekhyun’s assistant, kissing.
After the initial shock settles in, Baekhyun turns to Jongdae and smugly snickers, “You know what this means? In the end, my business still won!”
Jongdae scowls and looks utterly annoyed. “What are you going on about now?”
“Don’t play stupid! He’s dating my personal assistant!”
Jongdae exasperatedly sighs and pokes Baekhyun in the shoulder. “You didn’t set them up!”
Baekhyun childishly sticks his tongue out and laughs. “Still counts. You’re just a sore-”
Jongdae playfully rolls his eyes and leans forward for another kiss, effectively shutting Baekhyun up, who tosses his phone to the side and leaves the message without a response, wholeheartedly preferring to run a hand up Jongdae’s muscular arms.
“Hello, Jongdae-ssi,” Jongin brightly smiles, and Jongdae tries his hardest to discreetly sigh as he walks into his office and sits behind his desk.
“What are you doing here today, Jongin-ssi? Don’t you have dance practice? Or free time better spent sleeping?” Jongdae looks at the other boy with an equally beaming smile, conveniently leaving, “and not bugging me,” out of the conversation.
“I stopped by because I wanted to see if you have any new matches for me?” Jongin’s eyes resemble a lost puppy’s.
“No, not yet. Listen, actually I was-“
“Before you say anything,” Jongin interrupts, “I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate you doing this for me-“
Jongdae lightheartedly scoffs, “Well, you are paying me for this.”
“I know,” Jongin whines, “but you’ve been trying hard to find me someone, and I understand that I may not be the easiest to match-“
Even Kyungsoo, quietly composed as always, snorts from his desk where he’s reorganizing some clients’ portfolios.
“But, I’m grateful. Thank you, Jongdae-ssi.” Jongin finishes with a saccharine smile.
Jongdae raises his eyebrows and smiles, “You’re welcome Jongin-ssi. I’ll keep looking, and I’ll call you when I find someone, okay?”
“Okay!” Jongin grins and leaves the office soon after that, and as soon as Jongdae hears the door gently close, he lets out an audible breath and turns to Kyungsoo and sees the other man delicately arranging clients and their successful matches on their bulletin board.
“So, now I’ll probably look like the biggest ass,” Jongdae offhandedly says, looking away from Kyungsoo and putting his attention on a lose thread in his shirt.
“More than you already do?” Kyungsoo gibes, measuring the distance between one photograph and another.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jongdae playfully snarls. “I may or may not have suggested a truce with Baekhyun.”
“You’re on an amicable first name basis now? How was your date?”
“You’re more concerned with my not-a-date with Baekhyun than with the fact that I made a truce with him?” Jongdae grouses.
“Why did you make a truce with him?” Kyungsoo stares at him expressionlessly.
“At the time it sounded like a good idea… We were both annoyed with Jongin, and I don’t know, we just did.”
“Well, at least now you can use that to your advantage,” Kyungsoo evilly grins, “because Baekhyun won’t suspect you of anything, so count this as a freebie, and make sure it counts.”
“How do you change from cute and innocent to scary and evil so quickly?” Jongdae wonders aloud.
“After working here for years, anything is possible,” Kyungsoo mutters.
-
Baekhyun returns to the office with a spring in his walk and a grin on his face until the smirking face of his personal assistant confronts him as he strides through the doors.
“So, how was your date?” Sehun snidely asks as soon as Baekhyun sits down behind his desk.
“It wasn’t a date!” Baekhyun growls as he aimlessly scrolls through his Instagram feed.
“Hyung, yes it was.”
“No it wasn’t! All we did was talk about Jongin, and maybe a few other things, but that’s it.” When he sees Sehun’s unconvinced stare, he adds, “I’m serious!”
Sehun flicks a piece of lint off his shirt and uninterestedly questions, “Then why were you so excited when you entered the office?”
“Because I was excited to be away from Jongdae!” Baekhyun yells.
Sehun’s pointed glare makes Baekhyun whisper, “Fine, so maybe it wasn’t that bad, but it really wasn’t a date.”
“Really?” Sehun raises his eyebrows as he types something; Baekhyun wants to believe Sehun raised his eyebrows at the computer screen, not at him.
“Yes, really.” Baekhyun mocks.
“Talking about only Jongin and a ‘few other things’ doesn’t take two hours.”
“Why are you questioning me?” Baekhyun whines, “Okay, so maybe while we were there we made a truce.”
“A truce?” Sehun turns his attention to Baekhyun and, his blank stare nearly bores into Baekhyun’s mind.
“Yes, a truce. We’re taking a break from Jongin, to focus on other clients,” Baekhyun says confidently.
“Yeah, we’ll see how long that lasts,” Sehun mutters.
“What? I won’t break the truce! And, I don’t know, Jongdae’s not that bad of a guy. He won’t break it either.”
Sehun rolls his eyes and rests his head in his hands, elbows on his desk, so that he can continue to stare at his boss. “And what has he done that convinces you of that?”
“Well, h-he…” Baekhyun stutters and turns away from Sehun’s intense gaze.
Sudden realization crosses over Sehun’s face, and he laughs loudly before freezing his expression. “He paid for your food didn't he?”
Baekhyun remains silent, making Sehun snicker, until Baekhyun finally defends himself. “Well, yeah, but it’s not a big-“
“It was a date,” Sehun says with a tone of finality and returns his attention to his computer, and just like with the waitress who said his get together with Jongdae was a date, Baekhyun doesn’t attempt to clarify.
-
After arranging and then rearranging their clients and matches on their bulletin board, organizing more files for Jongdae, taking a necessary fifteen minute coffee break away from his boss, and returning only to see Jongdae stressing and pulling at his hair, Kyungsoo sighs and sits down in one of the chairs in front of Jongdae’s desk. “What has you stressed now?”
“What do you think?” Jongdae groans as he runs a hand through his hair, trying to fix it from where he was pulling it earlier.
“If you’re worried about matching Jongin, why don’t you see if any of your other friends are single?” Kyungsoo nonchalantly asks as he places his hands on his perfectly starched pants.
“Like who?” Jongdae turns forward completely, full attention on his assistant.
Kyungsoo presses his lips together in thought. “Who was that guy who burst into the office a few months ago demanding that you go out for a night of ‘Chinese drinking’?”
“You mean Luhan?” Jongdae claps his hands with laughter. “Why do you think Luhan is a good choice?”
Kyungsoo moves his stare disdainfully from Jongdae to an old coffee mug on his boss’s desk. “I don’t know; they’re both pretty. At this rate, finding a person who has similar interests as Jongin doesn’t seem like it’s going to work.”
Jongdae chuckles, “Baekhyun already tried the, ‘opposites attract’ thing, and obviously, it didn’t work.”
“I’m not saying you should deliberately match him with someone who is the exact opposite of him,” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “I’m just saying that you shouldn’t focus on a major thing they have in common, like dancing in Yixing’s case. And besides, what do you have to lose at this point?”
Jongdae sighs dejectedly, picks up a pen, and taps in aimlessly on his desk until Kyungsoo snatches it with a stern gaze.
“I guess I’ll send him a text and see if he’s free,” Jongdae mutters.
-
“Jongdae-ah, what made you invite me to a night out for drinking? Last time we did this was six months ago and you swore that you’d never do it again,” Luhan lifts an eyebrow and his lips curve upward as he takes a sip of his beer.
“What can I say,” Jongdae averts his attention to a dramatic scene across the bar where some woman is pouring her drink on another guy, “I’ve missed the pleasurable sight of you wasted.”
“I knew there was a catch!”
“No actually,” Jongdae looks over at Luhan to see the other man staring at their bartender before looking back at him, “I wanted to set you up on a date.”
“Why?” Luhan narrows his eyes and puts down his beer. “Who is it?”
Jongdae waves a dismissive hand, “Never mind who it is. Just know that he’s hot and dances really well.”
Luhan gasps dramatically and holds a hand to his chest. “Am I that shallow that you assume I want to know whether this date is hot or not?”
“Yes,” Jongdae deadpans.
Luhan rolls his eyes and takes another sip of his beer. “Sure, I guess I’ll do it.”
“Really?” Jongdae’s expression brightens, and he finally takes a sip of his beer.
“Might as well,” Luhan mumbles, lips around the bottle. “When is it?”
“I’ll arrange it with him, and I’ll let you know?”
“Fine. But in return, you can’t refuse the next five times I ask you out for drinks.” Luhan smirks and completely ignores Jongdae’s groans.
-
“Boss, how long has it been since you’ve looked for a match for Jongin-ssi?” Sehun asks as he fills the printer with more paper.
“A week. Never been happier,” Baekhyun shrugs his shoulders and doesn’t look up from his phone to see Sehun’s vexed expression.
“A week? All because of a truce with some guy that you supposedly despised less than a month ago?” Sehun snorts and walks back to his desk.
With Baekhyun not providing a response, Sehun continues, “I seriously doubt he kept the truce as long as you. I really suggest finding Jongin-ssi another match.”
“And who exactly do you suggest?” Baekhyun snaps and finally looks at his assistant.
Ignoring Baekhyun’s tone, Sehun says, “My friend Luhan has been single for a while. I think he’d be willing to date Jongin-ssi."
“Will you call him then?” Baekhyun rubs his temples and sighs.
“We can call him,” Sehun walks over to Baekhyun’s desk, calls Luhan, and puts his phone on speakerphone. After five rings, Luhan finally picks up. “What do you want Sehun?”
“Good morning to you too.” Sehun scoffs. “Actually, I was wondering if you’d like to go on a date?”
“With you?” Sehun can imagine Luhan’s sneer through the phone.
“No!” Sehun squawks and looks at Baekhyun for permission to say their client’s name. “No, with the pop star Kai.”
The other end is silent for at least twenty seconds, leading Baekhyun to believe Sehun’s friend either fell asleep or hung up. “Are you serious?”
“Quite the catch isn’t he?” Sehun wistfully laughs. “You should count yourself lucky to have a friend like me with awesome connections.”
Luhan huffs, “Yeah, right. Look, I just went on a date with the ass. I’d rather not do it again.”
Baekhyun speaks up for the first time, when he squeaks, “What?”
“Sehun, who was that?”
Sehun rolls his eyes at Baekhyun. “That was my boss. Ignore him. When did you go on a date with him?”
“Last night.” Luhan moans.
Baekhyun regains the ability to speak and asks, “Did someone set you up with him?”
“Yeah, my asshole of a friend Jongdae.”
Baekhyun pushes Sehun and his phone away from his desk and yanks his office phone off the jack. As he brutally punches the phone number of Kindred Spirits into the keypad, he hears Sehun finish the phone call with, “It’s a long story. Sorry for waking you up so early.” Sehun pauses and then his face contours into disgust, “No, you can’t date my roommate! See you later, hyung.”
After a few rings, someone answers Baekhyun’s call by saying, “Hello, thank you for calling Kindred Spirits. This is Kyungsoo sp-“
“Put Jongdae on the phone.” Baekhyun growls.
Baekhyun hears some shuffling on the other line, and he avoids Sehun’s fixed gaze when he snarls, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“What are you talking about?” Jongdae mumbles.
“What do you mean ‘what are you talking about?’” Baekhyun mocks and pulls at his hair. “You said we had a truce!”
“How’d you find out?” Jongdae replies monotonously.
“My assistant is a friend of the guy you set him up with.”
“Well, for what it counts I’m paying for my mistakes now.”
“Oh. Is that so?” Baekhyun sneers and looks at Sehun while rolling his eyes.
“Yes because Jongin showed up first thing this morning and complained about the date, and he actually just left my office for the bathroom after I took your call.”
“Aw, boo-hoo,” Bekhyun scoffs and refreshes his Instagram feed.
“Not to mention Luhan, his date you know-“
“Yes I know who Luhan is,” Baekhyun snaps.
“If you’d let me finish, seriously,” Jongdae groans. “As I was saying, Luhan made me drink with him last night after their date because apparently it was that awful, and now I’m suffering from a hangover, and I’ve had to listen to Jongin’s whining for the past hour, or at least that’s how long it has felt.”
“And I care because…” Baekhyun drones.
“I’m about to make Jongin finish his story with Kyungsoo because my hangover can’t handle this, and now I want to know if you’d accompany me for some tea in hopes that my hangover will be over and Jongin will be gone by the time I get back.”
Baekhyun smirks and guffaws; he can almost sense Jongdae cowering in pain at the loudness of his laugh. “I’d just yell at you and make it worse.”
“Can’t be much worse than Jongin,” Jongdae heaves a sigh.
“Fine. Meet me at HonestTEA in half an hour.” Baekhyun hangs up before he hears a response, grabs his phone, and somewhat inspects his outfit before standing and saying in Sehun’s direction, “I’m going out for tea with him. I’ll be back sometime.”
-
Baekhyun arrives first and orders an Acai blueberry green tea; after receiving his drink and grabbing a few sugar packets, he walks to a table close to the window, but not directly within the sunlight because he’s sure Jongdae’s hangover induced migraine would only worsen with bright light.
A few minutes later, the other man strolls into the teashop with a pair of sunglasses shielding his eyes. When he takes them off, he instantly cringes at the fluorescent lights in the shop, and he looks around hurriedly until he sees Baekhyun and he strides over to his table.
“You look like shit,” Baekhyun comments as he stirs another sugar packet into his tea.
“Thanks. I feel like it too,” Jongdae mutters and slides into the chair across from Baekhyun.
“Are you going to order something?”
Jongdae stares at Baekhyun’s cup and sighs, “Yeah, eventually. When I take the effort to stand.”
“God, you’re hopeless,” Baekhyun grumbles as he stands and walks over to the counter. He reads the menu over and over, and when he finally decides on the type of tea, he takes out his debit card and pays for Jongdae, who is currently slouching over their table miserably. When he grabs the cup handed to him, he decides against sugar and walks over to Jongdae. He gently places the cup in front of Jongdae and mumbles, “You’re welcome.”
Jongdae sniffs it and groans. “What is it?”
Baekhyun sits down and stirs his tea aimlessly. “Chamomile citrus. You don’t want anything caffeinated, and anything with fruit juice in it is supposedly good.” When he sees Jongdae’s surprised gaze, he huffs, “I said last time that I’ve been wasted way too often for someone my age, so of course I’ve had far too many hangovers. After maybe the twentieth time, I finally learned what helps.”
“Thanks, Baek. I really appreciate it,” Jongdae whispers as he takes his first sip.
“Yeah, whatever. What went wrong with their date last night?”
Jongdae lays his head in his hands. “Why do you want to know?”
Baekhyun simply arches an eyebrow, and Jongdae closes his eyes for a few seconds before mumbling, “According to Jongin, Luhan nearly attacked him after he said his eyes were pretty, but Luhan swears that Jongin said he was pretty, not his eyes.”
“What does being called pretty have to do with anything?” Baekhyun sets his cup down and glances at Jongdae’s pale face.
“Could you not make so much noise?” Jongdae whines. Baekhyun glares but attempts to be quieter when he stirs his tea again.
“Luhan doesn’t like being called pretty, for some reason. If you saw him, you’d think he’s pretty, because he is. I don’t know why it bothers him so much,” Jongdae takes another sip and sighs contently.
“Surely that can’t be all that went wrong.”
“Well, between the drinking from last night and the hangover from this morning, I don’t remember much,” Jongdae shifts in his seat and laughs before cringing. “I’m honestly surprised they didn’t work out. They’re both so whiny; it would be a perfect match.”
Baekhyun simply hums and looks at Jongdae again and sees that some color has returned to his face, causing him to awkwardly meet eyes with Jongdae, the latter smirking before lifting his cup to his lips, eyes still locked with Baekhyun’s.
After Jongdae gently sets his cup down, still looking at Baekhyun, he asks, “So, what now?”
“What do you mean?”
Jongdae whispers, “Hold on a second,” before frantically searching around the table and in his pockets for something, and when he pulls his phone out of his right pocket, he smiles brightly, until he looks at the screen and pouts.
“Is there something wrong?” Baekhyun narrows his eyes and leans forward.
“Yeah,” Jongdae frowns, “something’s wrong with my phone.”
“Oh yeah?” Baekhyun raises an eyebrow and drinks from his cup. “What’s wrong with it?”
“It’s just that… Your number isn’t in it.” Jongdae smirks and looks from his phone to Baekhyun, who nearly spits his tea in shock.
“Wh-what?” Baekhyun sputters.
“Remember last time? You said the corny pickup line to me, and this time I thought I’d return the favor.”
“But I didn’t mean it! Besides, that’s probably why all your dates have failed so far.” Baekhyun scoffs.
“Oh, and yours have done any better?” Jongdae smugly smiles and shifts forward to lean his head in his hands. “Besides, you still haven’t given me your number.”
Baekhyun looks out the window to avoid Jongdae’s gaze. “Why do you even want it?”
“What if I need your help? To get Luhan to agree to the date, I made a promise that I’d go drinking the next five times he asks me. What if that’s the whole rest of the week?” Jongdae groans and rubs his thumb and index fingers over his tired eyes.
“Then I’ll have an advantage at finding a date for Jongin because you’ll be too hung-over to do anything productive.”
“Wow, thanks Baek,” Jongdae squinches his face in disapproval.
“How do I know you won’t write my number on a bathroom stall or give it one of your clients as a joke?” Baekhyun crosses his arms and stares at Jongdae.
“You can trust me!”
“Yes,” Baekhyun sardonically says, “I certainly can trust the guy who broke a truce in less than a week. Yep, he’s trustful.”
“…. Okay, maybe you’re right. But, for what it counts, it was my assistant’s idea, not mine!”
“Oh really?” Baekhyun drawls, distractedly tapping his fingers on the table.
“It is! So, does that mean I get your number?”
Baekhyun presses his lips, pretending to be in deep thought, before sighing, “I guess. But no drunk dialing at 4 AM.”
Jongdae clacks his spoon into his cup before flinching at the noise. “Please, I have standards,” Jongdae slides his phone across the table. “Go ahead and add your number.”
“Why your phone?
“So I can text you?”
Baekhyun holds the phone in his hand and glances from his phone to Jongdae back to his phone. “Why don’t you add your number in my phone?”
“I was just going to add your number and then send a text so you had my number.”
“Or,” Baekhyun increases the volume of his words, smirking when Jongdae winces, “you could add your number, and maybe I’ll send you a text.”
“Fine, whatever,” Jongdae rubs his temples and holds his hand out for Baekhyun’s phone. After he hands the phone back (Baekhyun notices that Jongdae entered his contact name as, “The smartest, most handsome person you know”), Baekhyun sends a simple text: loser. He hears the faint chime from Jongdae’s phone and sees the other man rolls his eyes before hiding his smile behind one of his hands, making Baekhyun grin as well.
Silence fills the air again, and to distract himself, Baekhyun stares at his hands in his lap, and he just realizes that he missed a button when putting it on this morning. Soon enough, Jongdae realizes the awkward silence and decides to enlighten Baekhyun with his dramatic tale of drinking with Luhan, and in turn, Baekhyun shares his drinking stories from college (even some of the most embarrassing ones that he will not tell Sehun, or Joonmyun, or anyone other than Chanyeol - who was there when they happened). When Baekhyun checks his phone after he feels it vibrate in his pocket, he realizes that more than two and a half hours have passed with him and Jongdae talking about the most miscellaneous things (now, they’re arguing over who would win a fight: Thor or Superman), and he sees he has a text from Sehun wondering if he has had lunch yet. Deciding that two hours is far too long to spend in Kim Jongdae’s presence, Baekhyun slides out of his chair and looks at Jongdae who watches him with a surprised gaze as he stands. “My assistant texted me. I should get going.” All too quickly, Baekhyun throws away his cup and sugar packets and leaves the teashop with his perfected stride.
Less than a minute later, Baekhyun sends a text to the smartest, most handsome person he knows: I hope your hangover is better.
-
Sehun is sifting through the business’s mail when Baekhyun enters their office at a quarter till 1 with a plastic bag full of Chinese takeout in his hand.
“You haven’t eaten yet, have you Sehun? I bought lunch.” Baekhyun lifts the takeout and walks over to the table where Sehun is sorting mail.
“You know,” Sehun says without removing his eyes from the variously sized envelopes, “I didn’t send that text as a passive-aggressive way for you to buy me lunch. I sent it as a passive-aggressive way for you to buy him lunch.”
“Why would I want to do that?”
Sehun looks asquint at Baekhyun and shakes his head before returning to his work. “Hyung, you spent nearly three hours with the guy, and you’re not nearly as angry as you were when you left.”
“What’s that supposed to mean? And besides, the first thirty minutes to an hour had to deal with curing his hangover.”
Sehun derisively chuckles, “That’s supposed to make it better? That you’re willing to take care of him in his time of need?”
“Whatever. Stop meddling in my affairs. Let’s eat. I’m starving.”
-
Another week passes by without Baekhyun finding a match for Jongin, and though he had to deal with Sehun’s cold eyes everyday that constantly reminded him to try to find someone for Jongin, Baekhyun thinks the week has been even more peaceful than the week of his and Jongdae’s truce.
Ironically, Baekhyun realizes that he has seen Jongdae more often than his client, Jongin; from their time at the teashop, to the present day a week later, Baekhyun was with Jongdae four times, due to when Jongdae invited him out for another lunch get-together (because it still was not a date), and when he tried to pressure him into going out for drinks with him and Luhan (Baekhyun said no), but later he called and asked if Baekhyun would pick him up from the bar because he didn’t know where Luhan went (and being the good person he is, Baekhyun went after him, but he cursed the whole time about how that was the job of his personal assistant, not his acquaintance), and when he paid Baekhyun back for his troubles by letting him chose the restaurant for their dinner get-together the next day, and when they both agreed to attend Yixing’s open mic night at the coffee shop.
But now that he hasn’t matched Jongin with someone in two weeks, Sehun’s eyes aren’t cold anymore; they’re also judging him and following his every move, silently telling him to get a move on this matching business before they lose a valuable customer.
Baekhyun spins in his chair towards Sehun and asks, “Do you have any ideal matches for Jongin?”
Sehun, currently emailing a previous client, shakes his head. “No, I haven’t. Isn’t that your job?”
Baekhyun tugs at the stained cuff of his sleeve and ignores Sehun’s sass. “Do you think your roommate would be a good match for Jongin?”
Sehun snorts, “No, he’s too orderly for Jongin’s antics. Besides, Luhan has been showing up unannounced at my place for the last week trying to get his phone number because apparently he met him at a bar, so I really doubt he’d even want to date Jongin by this point.”
“So did Luhan get his number? Have they gone out on a date?”
“Yeah, he got it. I don’t know about the date part, but Luhan is really persistent,” Sehun shrugs.
Baekhyun squeezes his eyes in concentration. “Okay…. Wait, what about that guy who is friends with Jonghyun… He was in your dance class when we were in college!”
Sehun raises his eyebrows, “Taemin?”
“Yeah, him.” Baekhyun claps his hands excitedly. “Think he’d date Jongin?”
“I didn’t know Taemin that well, but I can see if he wants to go on a date with him. Honestly, I feel like he will somehow be one of your better matches,” Sehun nods his head in agreement.
“I’m so glad I got the Sehun stamp of approval.” Baekhyun sarcastically says before rolling himself back to his desk. ”Finish what you’re doing; then, call Taemin.”
-
Baekhyun thinks he should probably be used to Jongin’s early appearances after his dates, but seeing as it’s 9 AM, he hasn’t had his coffee, and he didn’t have to deal with Jongin and his whining for nearly two whole weeks, he isn’t prepared for the onslaught of complaining from Jongin as they enter his office and sit down in their usual place at Baekhyun’s desk.
“Do you know who Lee Taemin is?” Jongin stares at him with wide eyes.
“Sort of? Sehun went to school with him, and apparently he’s a choreographer these days-“
“Exactly,” Jongin interrupts. “He’s my choreographer. He’s my best friend!”
“Oh,” Baekhyun says as he opens Alpaca Evolution 2 on his phone. “So I’m assuming you didn’t have the ‘fall in love with your best friend’ experience?”
“No, Taemin is literally the worst,” Jongin crinkles his nose. “I mean, he’s been my best friend for years, but he’s still an ass, you know. Like this one time…”
Baekhyun hums every few seconds when he assumes Jongin is making a dramatic pause and looking for his input; he has absolutely no idea what Jongin is talking about now because he’s so focused on this one time-consuming level. He feels his phone vibrate with a new message, and when he opens it, he sees it’s from Jongdae.
Received 9:25 AM
What are you doing rn?
Noticing that Jongin is still complaining about something Taemin did three years ago, Baekhyun sends a text back.
Sent 9:26 AM
Listening to Jongin whine. You?
Received 9:26 AM
Trying to avoid my assistant’s judging eyes. Want to meet up and avoid responsibilities together?
Baekhyun nods his head at Jongin and interjects another, “Yep, uh-huh, I get you,” into his story before sending Jongdae another text.
Sent 9:28 AM
What do you have in mind?
Received 9:30 AM
I need some more button downs, and since you told me you were a reigning prince of fashion, I thought I’d accept your advice
Baekhyun chuckles aloud, and Jongin narrows his eyes and grits, “That wasn’t funny! Taemin publicly embarrassed me! He didn’t even….”
Sent 9:31 AM
Im always up for a challenge, I guess. What time?
Received 9:32 AM
Well, I was thinking right now
Baekhyun responds with an okay, and Jongdae tell him where they would meet up, all while Jongin is still complaining about his date with his best friend.
“…. And then, can you believe he made me pay for my meal?” Jongin pouts, and Baekhyun can’t help but to chuckle.
“Why are you laughing now? Is that how he will treat all of his future dates? No wonder he’s been single forever.”
“It’s funny,” Baekhyun guffaws and claps his hands; then, he suddenly stops and stares at Jongin mundanely. “You didn’t like that Joonmyun was too motherly, yet you also don’t like that Taemin didn’t pay for your dinner.”
Jongin looks at him blankly. “But, that’s completely different. I know Taemin, and I’ve paid for his food many times, so he could have at least been gentlemanly enough to return the favor.” Jongin averts his gaze to Sehun who has been quietly typing at his desk. “Right, Sehun-ssi?”
Baekhyun hums and stands up, “Tell you what, Sehun is such a better listener than me. Why don’t you finish telling this story to Sehun?”
Baekhyun can’t read Sehun’s expression, and since he doesn’t see inherent anger, he assumes he won’t be in trouble with his assistant when he gets back from his-not-a-date with Jongdae.
He flattens the faint wrinkles in his button-down and walks to the door. “I’ll be back sometime.”
-
Four days after his shopping spree with Baekhyun, Jongdae is twirling a piece of hair through his fingers and looks at his assistant who is bringing him his daily cup of coffee with a dull expression. “So, I may have found someone for Jongin.”
Kyungsoo sits at his desk and takes a sip from his water bottle. “Oh really?”
“Yeah, during one of our many drunken adventures, Luhan helped me.”
Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow and laughs while drinking his water, causing him to cough and widen his eyes in surprise. “Luhan?”
Jongdae hums and sweeps his bangs across his forehead. “Yeah. Although Luhan has moved onto another guy, he told me that he has a friend who would be a perfect match for Jongin, and at this point, I’m even willing to trust Luhan, and that’s saying something.”
Kyungsoo slowly nods his head and keeps the same dull expression when looking at his boss. “Did you call his friend?”
“Yeah, I called him last night. I’ll just forward his info to Jongin and then we’ll see how that goes.”
-
“Don’t take it offensively, Sehun, but I’m really tired of seeing your bitchy face,” Baekhyun mumbles into his arm as he’s currently laying his head on his desk.
“My apologizes,” Sehun scoffs and scans some papers Baekhyun handed to him a few minutes earlier.
“I don’t even want to be here today,” Baekhyun moans and holds his forehead in his hands. “Why am I here?”
“I don’t know; why are you here?” Sehun looks over at Baekhyun impassively.
“It was a rhetorical question, Sehun,” Baekhyun says under his breath.
Sehun stops what he’s doing and sits in one of the chairs in front of Baekhyun’s desk. “Well, mine wasn’t. Go hang out with Jongdae or something. Just, get out of the office; I’ll watch after everything while you’re gone if you just admit that it’s a date.”
Baekhyun fully sits up and yawns, “And why would I-“ but upon seeing Sehun’s blank, unimpressed gaze, Baekhyun sighs and mutters, “I’ll see what he’s doing.”
Taking out his phone and staring at it for twenty seconds, Baekhyun huffs and calls Jongdae’s cell phone. The phone rings two times until he hears Jongdae’s slightly annoyed voice answer the phone. “Hello?”
Baekhyun frowns at Jongdae’s tone. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” Jongdae grumbles, “just Jongin. You know how it is.”
“Yeah. Are you busy? I’m bored and I need some fresh air, and I was wondering if you’d like to go on a picnic with me,” Baekhyun aimlessly plays with the charm on his phone while waiting for Jongdae’s response and avoiding Sehun’s smug grin.
He hears some ruffling in the background including the faint mumbles between Jongdae and his personal assistant until Jongdae says, “That sounds good. Right now?”
Baekhyun looks at the clock on his desk and says, “Yeah. I’ll get kimbap or something if you’ll get drinks and dessert?”
“Okay. Meet you in thirty minutes at the park near the bistro we went to a few weeks ago?”
Baekhyun agrees to the plans and vaguely notices that Jongdae already ended the phone call because he’s too busy looking at himself in his handheld mirror, and fixing the side part in his hair, and touching up the light BB cream he put on his face this morning. Sehun still has his smug grin as he watches his boss, and Baekhyun doesn’t notice that the other is staring until he looks up at Sehun and narrows his eyes. “What?”
Sehun looks from Baekhyun’s various beauty supplies scattered on his desk and back up to Baekhyun with a smirk. “You know, this is the first time you’ve ever asked him out and not the other way around.”
Baekhyun rolls his eyes, checks himself in his mirror one more time, and stands. “Shut up and get back to work. You’ll have to lock up today because I more than likely won’t be back today.”
-
Baekhyun realizes as he walks through the entrance of the park that he didn’t pick up a blanket or a tablecloth for them to sit on, but when he finds Jongdae a minute later sitting near a tree with a weaved basket on top of a checkered tablecloth in front of him, he smiles brightly and sits down across from him. “I’m glad that you remembered to bring a tablecloth because I obviously didn’t.”
Jongdae scoots forward so that he’s actually sitting on the tablecloth and not on the grass. “Somehow I expected you to forget. I even brought this basket to make the experience even more exciting.”
Hearing Jongdae’s fake enthusiasm makes Baekhyun cackle. “Don’t pretend like you don’t want to have a picnic with me in the middle of the day.”
One side of Jongdae’s lips curls upward when he says, “Why else would I be here.”
Baekhyun unpacks the kimbap and places the packages in Jongdae’s basket. “So, why did you sound so annoyed on the phone earlier?”
Jongdae rolls his eyes and gently smiles at Baekhyun. “Jongin had another failed date, not that that’s much of a surprise.”
“Yeah, really,” Baekhyun laughs. “We can finish talking about that in a bit; let’s eat first.”
Jongdae unpacks Baekhyun’s supplies along with his own and looks at Baekhyun and beams. “You bought chamchi kimbap even though you hate it?”
“Yeah,” Baekhyun dismisses with a hand as he picks up the kimchi kimbap for himself. “Don’t you like it?”
Jongdae nods, “How did you know?”
Baekhyun shrugs his shoulders and pops a roll into his mouth. After chewing, he says, “You mentioned it when we went shopping and ate in the food court. I don’t know why we talked about kimbap when we were drinking bubble tea, but we did.”
Jongdae eats a roll and passes Baekhyun a can of Coke. “So, what were you doing before you called me?”
“Being bored out of my mind.”
“So you called me to solve that?” Jongdae smirks.
Refusing to give Jongdae full credit, Baekhyun turns his head to look at the grass and mutters, “Yeah, I guess.”
Jongdae’s face contours with laughter, and Baekhyun doesn’t know when his laugh went from annoying to endearing. “You’re precious.”
Baekhyun looks at Jongdae’s smug expression and huffs. “Whatever. Tell me more about Jongin.”
Jongdae’s nose crinkles in disgust, and he takes a sip of his soda before saying, “Luhan, the courteous friend he is, told me about one of his Chinese friends who he thought would be a good match for Jongin. To absolutely no one’s surprise, he was wrong.”
After seeing Baekhyun nod his head and chuckle, Jongdae continues, “Apparently Luhan’s friend is a wushu master, but he also has a, ‘delicate side’ according to Luhan. Jongin says his delicacy was in the form of screaming when a ladybug landed on his finger, but then he nearly attacked Jongin in an effort to get it off.”
Baekhyun humorlessly laughs, “What’s up with him nearly getting attacked on your part? I swear, he is impossible to match.”
Jongdae opens a package of pepero sticks and offers one to Baekhyun. “Seriously. I’m running out of ideas.”
“Me too,” Baekhyun says as he shifts so that he’s lying on his stomach with his legs in the air.
Jongdae looks at him strangely for a few seconds before coping his actions. “Did you have any plans for after we finish this picnic?”
“For just myself or for both of us?”
Jongdae plays with the corner of the tablecloth and answers, “Both.”
Baekhyun smiles and twirls a strand of hair between his fingers. “No, I hadn’t really thought that far ahead.”
Jongdae stays quiet for a few seconds and munches on another pepero stick; finally, he looks up at Baekhyun and grins, “I may not be a photographer, but I can picture us on a real date after this.”
Baekhyun guffaws and rolls sideways slightly in laughter before reaching across the tablecloth to punch Jongdae’s shoulder gently. “You’re such a los-“ Baekhyun cuts himself off when he sees Jongdae’s serious eyes staring at him.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Baekhyun sits up again and doesn’t look away from Jongdae.
Jongdae sighs under his breath and sits up as well; he remains silent for a moment, seemingly collecting his thoughts, and articulately says, “I meant what I said; I want to date you, and Kyungsoo has been pushing me to ask you out for the past week and a half.”
“I- wow.” Baekhyun finishes lamely, still looking at Jongdae. He doesn’t notice the other’s shoulders slouching because he is thinking back to all of his and Jongdae’s “not-a-date” get-togethers, and in retrospect, Baekhyun realizes that those actually may have been dates, and also, Sehun actually may have been right about them all along.
After a few more seconds of silence, Baekhyun sweetly smiles, “Well, what did you have in mind?” Jongdae looks up from his lap with the largest beam Baekhyun thinks he’s ever seen.
“We haven’t gone to the theater before, if you’re up for that. Or, is the fair in town? Better yet, we could spend some time in town, and when we’re hungry again, we could get some street food. Or maybe-“
Baekhyun rolls his eyes at Jongdae’s constant rambling and moves over to sit by him, and he lays his head on Jongdae’s shoulder. “Or, we could just relax here and decide on what we want to later.”
Jongdae looks down at Baekhyun’s head on his shoulder and grins while he wraps an arm around Baekhyun’s waist, “Whatever works for you, I guess.”
Baekhyun removes his head from Jongdae’s shoulder and looks at him with an amused expression, “Why is it that before you would always put up a fight with me and bicker, but now you just agree quickly with whatever I say.”
Jongdae raises an eyebrow and simpers, “Do you want me to bicker with you?”
“Well, I mean, it’s amusing, and it’s nice to know someone almost as witty as me-“
Jongdae sputters and flicks his eyes from Baekhyun’s lips to his eyes. “Yeah, right-“
“It’s only true-“
“What’s only true?”
Baekhyun pokes his nose and laughs. “How much I want to kiss you right now.”
Jongdae snickers and looks at him, unimpressed. “You can’t be serious.”
Baekhyun pulls back from Jongdae slightly, only for Jongdae to tighten his arm around Baekhyun’s waist. “Yeah, I was being serious.”
“Good, because I thought I was the only one.”
Baekhyun leans in close enough to bask in Jongdae’s cologne, but he decides to stare into Jongdae’s eyes with his ever-present smirk while lightly puffing on Jongdae’s lips instead of moving the four centimeters needed to properly kiss him. Jongdae, completely frustrated, grabs the back of Baekhyun’s neck and pulls him in closer, making their lips finally touch. Despite his initial franticness, Jongdae tenderly slides his lips against Baekhyun’s, and he runs his fingers through the baby hairs right above Baekhyun’s nape. Baekhyun sighs in content and places a hand on Jongdae’s cheek, softly rubbing his prominent cheekbones.
Just as they break apart and lean their foreheads together to catch their breath, Baekhyun’s phone beeps from beside his forgotten soda. Baekhyun sheepishly grins and turns to grab it; as soon as he unlocks his phone, his eyes widen considerably, and Jongdae thinks he looks like a fish out of water with his dramatically opened mouth.
“Did something bad happen?” Jongdae asks as he taps his fingers on Baekhyun’s thigh.
Baekhyun stares at his phone for a few seconds before bemusedly saying, “I just got a picture from Sehun… “
“And?”
“And he’s with our local hopeless romantic Kai…” Baekhyun slowly says, still slightly confused, “and, they’re kissing…”
Jongdae’s eyebrows raise, and he looks over Baekhyun’s shoulder to see a blurry, self-taken picture of their mutual client and the man, who Jongdae assumes is Baekhyun’s assistant, kissing.
After the initial shock settles in, Baekhyun turns to Jongdae and smugly snickers, “You know what this means? In the end, my business still won!”
Jongdae scowls and looks utterly annoyed. “What are you going on about now?”
“Don’t play stupid! He’s dating my personal assistant!”
Jongdae exasperatedly sighs and pokes Baekhyun in the shoulder. “You didn’t set them up!”
Baekhyun childishly sticks his tongue out and laughs. “Still counts. You’re just a sore-”
Jongdae playfully rolls his eyes and leans forward for another kiss, effectively shutting Baekhyun up, who tosses his phone to the side and leaves the message without a response, wholeheartedly preferring to run a hand up Jongdae’s muscular arms.