chan#YOLO for ponwei
For: ponwei
Title: chan#YOLO
Pairing(s): Chanyeol-centric & Kris/Chanyeol
Rating: R
Length: 6.3k
Summary: The Adventures of Park Chanyeol, a simple human, and Kris Wu, a tsundere video game hero. Follow the pair, as they navigate a technological wasteland of aliens and candy, and learn about themselves, and each other. (Or, Chanyeol gets thrown into a videogame and it’s probably entirely Baekhyun and Jongdae’s fault.)
Author's note: this was inspired by my pathetic knowledge of video games (mario kart 4 lyf) and certain children’s movies ur probably thinking of, among other sources. i wish i could have fleshed this out more, but to my recipient, i hope you enjoy anyway!
The new video game Chanyeol’s team is working on at XO, the country’s biggest game development company, is anticipated to be the game of 2015. A virtual and fantastical oasis, mega-packed with level after level of thrilling challenges, the game is rumoured to be a mirror of the player’s subconscious, their worst fears and deepest desires, in a twisted reflection of the real world.
However, even a game with this much hype is not without its glitches.
Park Chanyeol is a software engineer at XO®; he used to say he was fresh out of college, but it’s been five years now and he still can’t tell the difference between his adulthood and youth years when he’s still eating ramen noodles late into the night, rushing to meet deadlines and mixing up his colours with his whites by accident. He still doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing. He’s not entirely sure many adults do.
One fateful night-Chanyeol would like to think the weather was hectic outside, maybe a thunderstorm or a sudden drought that resulted in an untimely encounter with his questionable life choices, but it was pretty ordinary, 14 degrees and cloudy, and so, he has nothing to blame it on but himself-he’s at the company building, working at the computers (emphasis on the plural because it makes you imagine a giant wall of screens and a mega-sized keyboard, like Chanyeol’s an evil genius) on Level 23 of Overdose with Jongdae, Baekhyun and Wendy, when one of the avatars on screen begins to spasm like a crazy Sims character.
“Strange,” says Baekhyun.
“Very strange indeed,” echoes Jongdae.
Before Wendy can pitch in as the nonexistent sister of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, Chanyeol presses a finger to her lip. She narrows her eyes. He slowly takes it away and shoves his hand in his pocket, flashing her an apologetic grin. “I’ll go check out the mainframe,” he says, sliding his chair back to stand up. “Won’t be a minute.”
Really, it should’ve been a one-minute job.
But Chanyeol never comes back.
[REWIND]
He walks downstairs to The Motherboard, as it has been dubbed by the engineers. There’s something eerie about the atmosphere, something that makes his nerves tingle uncomfortably. A light flickers. On, off. Chanyeol begins to shiver but assures himself that it’s no big deal. He’ll be in and out of there in no time.
The light of the small computer screen illuminates the basement, and he gets to work fast, ignoring the creaks and groans of the unknown. Neon-green undecipherable language (except to True Computer Geeks) rapidly fills up the screen. Chanyeol waits for his input to register, expecting the familiar [COMPLETE] in the middle of the screen but instead he sees a bright flash of blinding white, a tight pull in the pit of his stomach and suddenly, he’s falling.
If you’ve ever fallen down a flight of stairs, you probably understand the feeling. Impatience. You don’t feel the pain yet and the only thing you can think is can this fucking end already? Chanyeol tumbles and spins in this never-ending expanse of blackness, the only thought running through his head-I don’t want to be Alice in Wonderland, get me out of this rabbit hole.
When it finally reaches an end-after passing random, floating objects like his treasured guitar and packets of Jongdae’s favourite lube brand, twinkling stars in the distance-it’s entirely uneventful. Chanyeol lands, with a grunt, on solid ground. Lifting himself up and dusting off his clothes, he realises it’s more solid floor, with the grey, nondescript walls of the narrow corridor surrounding him from all angles. It looks kind of looks like XO, except more ‘underground refuge in a zombie apocalypse’ than ‘multimillion dollar corporation.’ But Chanyeol supposes most company buildings are as boring as this one.
If it is even one, that is.
With his heart hammering in his chest, Chanyeol takes his first step down the hall, and then another and another, and it’s like this thing doesn’t end until finally, he runs into someone who comes out of nowhere-had that door always been there?-with an oomph! Chanyeol immediately steps back, stammering an apology when the person turns around. Oh. He’s never been more glad to see Byun Baekhyun’s cute face than he has now.
Chanyeol grins brightly, about to hug his friend to bits, until he notices the look of utter and complete unrecognition on Baekhyun’s face. “Baek?” Chanyeol asks cautiously, stepping forward when Baekhyun steps back.
It happens in a split second, with more finesse and grace than Chanyeol knows of Baekhyun, and he’s suddenly in a chokehold, at gunpoint. “What are you doing on my ship?” Baekhyun hisses in his ear. Chanyeol opens his eyes, blinking back tears as Baekhyun’s grip tightens, and notices the silver insignia on the band around Baekhyun’s wrist. Thicker than his usual bracelet, it still reads Fearless along the side, but with an unfamiliar symbol in the middle. The mind works in crazy ways in life-or-death situations. Chanyeol thinks he’s grasping at straws here, but he’s pretty sure that the emblem is one that was created for the Solar Sailer Simulator in Overdose. He had designed it himself; he would recognise it anywhere.
With the cold barrel of a gun pressed to the side of his head, Chanyeol decides it won’t do him anymore harm to take a chance on his theory. Shakily, hesitantly, he begins to enunciate words, and Baekhyun squeezes harder. Tendrils of black seeping into his vision, Chanyeol persists, choking out the words, “The sun. The moon. The truth.”
Baekhyun splutters in surprise and his hold loosens enough that Chanyeol can get in large gulps of oxygen. “Excuse me?” he spits, letting go of Chanyeol and tossing him onto the ground. He still has the gun pointed at Chanyeol’s forehead, but Chanyeol counts it as a breakthrough. “You’re BWCW?”
Chanyeol nods hastily. This is beginning to feel like a dream. Why else would he be bullshitting his way out of a potential shooting, using his knowledge of a fucking video game?
But why doesn’t Baekhyun recognise him? Also, since when was he so badass?
It’s not like he would have pulled the trigger, Chanyeol tells himself. His head lolls back against the metal wall wearily, watching through bleary eyes as Baekhyun shoves the gun into the belt of his cool, intergalactic warrior suit. He still eyes Chanyeol unsurely, but offers him a hand to stand up regardless.
“How’d you end up on here? We run a tight ship on STARFIGHTER-B-612, or as I like to call her, Luna.” Baekhyun grins, and Chanyeol relaxes at the familiar sight. This is more like the Baekhyun he knows, wry and cocksure and usually not out to kill him.
Chanyeol mentally navigates the blueprint of the simulation and concludes that the airlock is the most plausible backstory. If anyone questions it, he’ll demonstrate picking the lock himself. He runs a hand through his hair as he explains this to Baekhyun, spinning the tale into a sob-story of his life-born of two rogue werewolf outlaws on the run from the Intergalactic Police Force, who had abandoned him in a offshoot space shuttle which landed in Dream Graveyard. He spent his next years navigating his way through long-deserted nightmares and sweet dreams, slowly driving him to the brink of insanity, until he found his saviour, a cruiseship taking a detour due to temporary engine failure and hitchhiked his way through the galaxy till he ended up here.
Baekhyun looks vaguely impressed, eyebrows raised. “You’re lucky you found us then, Park. Welcome aboard.” He salutes, other hand opening the handle of the final door they’ve reached.
The door opens into a cockpit where Kyungsoo’s in the pilot seat. Chanyeol’s seen it through the pixels of a computer screen, but nothing compares to the 3-D technicolour view of the video game landscape in person. He stares unblinking until Baekhyun clicks his fingers in front of his eyes.
“Who’s this?” Kyungsoo immediately asks. Chanyeol is surprised he’s actually in the action-the Do Kyungsoo he knows is the secretary of the big boss, Kim Joonmyun, and it’s no secret that he ironically despises the “abomination that is technology”. You know, hypothetically speaking, if he was inside the video game and not just dreaming.
Baekhyun grins wickedly. “Rogue hitchhiker, picked him up on Lane 66, base terminal gas station. He’s BWCW.”
Chanyeol’s thankful for the save but Kyungsoo’s no less suspicious. He narrows his eyes. “How can you be so sure?”
“He recited the motto. You know, we haven’t found anyone who knows it in years.”
Kyungsoo visibly relaxes. Chanyeol hadn’t realised the importance of such a trademark mantra until he ended up here. Now that he thinks about it, maybe this dream won’t be so useless after all. He could learn a lot; get an insider’s view of the game. He could literally be the world’s youngest billionaire after he wakes up if he plays his cards right.
A body pushes past Chanyeol, and he stumbles out of the doorway. It’s Jongdae-he bites into his apple, eyeing Chanyeol up and down before turning to Baekhyun with a raised eyebrow. “How’d you manage to convince Kyungsoo of this one? Thought we had that no live-in fucktoy rule.”
Chanyeol’s jaw drops as Baekhyun bites his lip, almost looking as if he’s considering it. He laughs awkwardly as Baekhyun winks and says, “Not a fucktoy. Our new shipmate, Park Chanyeol.”
“Really?!” Chanyeol and Jongdae exclaim at the same time.
“BWCW,” Kyungsoo pipes up. “One of us now.”
Honestly, Chanyeol’s surprised, but so touched he could cry. Baekhyun and Jongdae would probably laugh at him forever, but he does let one lone tear dramatically roll down his cheek when he changes into the spare suit they find him.
Later that night, Chanyeol tries to get comfortable on the inflatable mattress they provide for him-he’s not entirely sure he’ll even be able to sleep-in Baekhyun and Jongdae’s shared room. Kyungsoo had flat-out refused to let Chanyeol sleep in his room for “personal reasons” and now Chanyeol’s stuck listening to Baekhyun and Jongdae quietly and very obviously make out on their bed.
“Can you two keep it down?” Chanyeol finally asks when Jongdae lets out a whimper.
Baekhyun giggles. “Want to join us, Park?”
Chanyeol sits up, glaring at Baekhyun. This wouldn’t be the first time they’ve asked him-in the real world, that is. A platonic circlejerk between friends is totally normal. “Maybe next time.”
It’s a well-known fact at XO that Baekhyun and Jongdae are dating-the infamous tag-team of the company. They’ve gone after Daehyun, the marketing director, Taeyong, one of the interns, and Soojung, another software engineer. Chanyeol thinks they’ve got some sort of hit(on) list, and another thought occurs to him. “How do you two feel about Wendy? Wendy Son.”
Jongdae and Baekhyun share a look from what Chanyeol can see in the dark. “The Ice Princess up North?” Jongdae asks hesitantly.
“She’s amazing-” Baekhyun says dreamily, falling back onto the bed before yelping when Jongdae pinches him.
Jongdae shrugs. “She’s cool.”
Chanyeol grins knowingly, lying back down on the mattress. He silently prays he’ll finally wake up from this dream, as he slowly drifts off to sleep.
Chanyeol doesn’t wake up from the dream. He wakes up in the dream and is beginning to think this is very much real. He’s heard of crazy occurrences of people being thrown into video games, but they’re just stories told over campfires. Maybe he’s going just a little bit insane.
Sighing, he runs a hand over his face, sitting up on his mattress. He stumbles into the bathroom, showering and changing into his suit before heading to the cockpit where Kyungsoo is already awake. He’d left Baekhyun and Jongdae fast asleep in their bed, limbs entangled messily.
“Mornin’,” Chanyeol chirps, sitting in the chair next to Kyungsoo. He swivels around repeatedly until an arm shoots out and stops him mid-way. Ah, Kyungsoo hasn’t changed one bit.
“We’re going down to the racetrack today,” Kyungsoo states seriously, sight never leaving the view outside. “We’ve been challenged to a drag race.”
“By?” Chanyeol asks.
“The Galaxy Knights.” Kyungsoo says in a low conspiratory whisper.
Chanyeol dramatically gasps as Kyungsoo swoops lower and lower, the clouds breaking to reveal a colourful, sweeping racetrack straight out of Mario Kart. Chanyeol had called copyright infringement, but Joonmyun, XO’s young CEO, had insisted the differences wouldn’t amount to them being sued. He vaguely wonders if Joonmyun is somewhere in this technological land, another character who doesn’t know him, as Baekhyun and Jongdae stumble into the small room, rubbing their bleary eyes.
Kyungsoo’s manning the controller, the spaceship plummeting down at a controlled speed until he lands on one of the mapped-out silhouettes near the entrance. Baekhyun runs over to the front, immediately waking up when he sees the track, “We’re racing today?” he asks, turning to Kyungsoo with a grin.
Simply nodding, Kyungsoo shuts down the ship, getting up. They eagerly follow him through the corridors to the exit where the platform opens dramatically, causing a whirlwind where they appear at the top, looking like they came straight out of Ouran High School Host Club. The crowd gasps and titters, dispersing to make way for them, as they stop in front of a group of five leather-clad, helmet-wearing terrified-piss-inducing dudes.
The four of them look kind of pathetic, standing in front of them, arms crossed as the two groups size each other up, but Chanyeol tries to keep a straight-face anyway.
“You’re on,” Baekhyun calls out.
The tallest of the group replies smoothly, “See you at the finish line, Byun.” His deep rumble is oddly familiar. “Or not.”
“Kids.” They turn around to see Kim Joonmyun walking towards them, in a pink fitted suit. “Enough with the pre-race taunting. Let’s get on with this, shall we?” His presence is as commanding as it is in the real world, Chanyeol notes. But he still looks ridiculous with that platinum blond dye.
Chanyeol glances questioningly at Kyungsoo, who whispers, “Mayor of Candy Kingdom.” Chanyeol nods (and absentmindedly notices the way Kyungsoo and Joonmyun eye each other and the way Kyungsoo’s voice takes on the fond tone it does in the real world, but finally, Chanyeol’s placed it, a light-bulb popping above his head).
It makes sense. The level is Joonmyun’s favourite of the game.
He doesn’t expect to race, but Baekhyun throws him a helmet with a simple “Live a little”, which strangely resonates with him, and he has no choice but to mount one of the motorbikes lined along the starting point along with the rest of them. To be honest, he’s scared shitless despite knowing this route like the back of his hand. It’s never been the real thing though.
Taking a deep breath, Chanyeol waits for the starting pistol, revving his motorcycle engine in a show of macho confidence and then he’s off, zooming down the track. Out of his periphery, he can see Baekhyun to his right and one of the masked Galaxy Knights to his left, and he speeds up, almost touching the ground when he takes a tight left turn and loses at least three other racers.
Someone to his right attempts to push him up against the wall of the neon-lit tunnel. Fucker, Chanyeol thinks, accelerating and swerving in front of him to lose him, nice try.
After the tunnel, the racers head towards a snowy mountaintop. Chanyeol begins to breathe shallowly, the condensation of his breath fogging up his mask and throwing him off. With his heart beating faster with the added adrenaline, he manages to get a hold of himself. He won’t fall. He can’t. None of this is real. He takes a deep breath as they climb higher and higher up the cliff face.
Just like how you think so hard about not thinking that thing you’re not supposed to think about that you defeat the purpose, Chanyeol chances a glance at the view from the mountain. It’s absolutely breathtaking-one sweep of the Overdose world allows him to spot the rest of the vivid, bright Candy Kingdom and the Jungle at the edge of its outskirts, the Winter Woods and the formidable Ice Fortress in the distance, and the Downtown district, which almost closely resembles a bustling city on Earth. They’d modelled it off Shanghai, the Roaring 20s.
Chanyeol focuses his attention on the trail again, revealed to see no one in his vicinity, in front or in his side mirrors. That either means he’s far behind or has lost most of the racers. He doesn’t remember anyone passing him though, and his suspicions are confirmed when he sees the glaring competitor he hasn’t managed to get rid of, reaching the end of the cliff and finally, the flat ground, the pathway through the mountainside.
He could race this track with his eyes closed because he’s played it that many times, test run after test run to perfect it.
Curling his fingers around the handlebars, tightening his grip, he’s zeroed in on his lone target. The vibrations from the engine thrum through his veins as he closes in on his opponent. Surprisingly, and unexpectedly, the guy (or girl, but Chanyeol’s sure it’s the Galaxy Knights tall leader) doesn’t speed up or try to shake Chanyeol off. Instead, he keeps a steady pace, locking in with Chanyeol as they head through the mountains into open space.
The white noise is loud in Chanyeol’s ear-and he can hear his heart racing-but the sound of an avalanche of engines behind them is louder. The others have caught up.
The finish line drawing closer-the crowd is cheering on either side of the track and Chanyeol’s not entirely sure all of them are human-and Chanyeol takes his golden opportunity to gain momentum, swerving right to surprise his main threat and then gears up his motorbike to full throttle, cutting swiftly through the red ribbon stretched across the finish. The other racer is barely milliseconds behind him, but it’s clear Chanyeol is the real winner.
He slows down to a still, swinging his legs off his bike and taking his stuffy helmet off. He sees the others stop around him, Baekhyun and Jongdae running over to squeeze him in a congratulatory hug.
Looking over to the Galaxy Knights-who of which include a very recognisable, Kim Minseok, Lu Han, Zhang Yixing and Huang Zitao all from XO-his heart leaps to his throat. The racer who came second takes off his helmet, shaking his hair of sweat, looking completely Adonis-like.
Wu Yifan. Kris. [INSERTS ALL OTHER NAMES HERE]. But most importantly, Chanyeol’s next door neighbour in his apartment complex. Single father of an adorable four-year-old girl, Jia. Chanyeol’s One True Crush, the object of his fantasies, the apple of his eye.
The game mimics your subconscious, your deepest fears and fantasies. Oh.
Joonmyun saunters over to place the gold medal over Chanyeol’s neck as the other group walks over too, for Joonmyun to hand Kris his silver medal. Kris’s eyes rake over Chanyeol’s body before announcing, “Beginner’s luck.”
“Didn’t know you guys had a dark horse,” Lu Han says with a smirk as Baekhyun and Jongdae sidle up to either side of him. Chanyeol mentally rolls his eyes at their obvious flirting.
Kyungsoo folds his arms across his thin body. “Jealous?”
Zitao snorts incredulously somewhere near Kris’s left.
“Boys,” Baekhyun stops tracing the shell of Lu Han’s ear with his tongue to say. “Let’s go get drunk, Downtown.”
“Celebratory drinks, courtesy of the winners,” Jongdae finishes, and by the looks on their faces, the offer is too good to refuse.
The bass truly drops in Outer Space’s Downtown. Time works weirdly here too and the sky is pitch-black outside when they arrive in their respective spaceships. They enter one of the busiest, most popular clubs-this, this is familiar to Chanyeol. He’s ready to get piss-drunk and fall asleep and wake up not-hungover in his own bed. It’s familiar, until he’s dragged to the bar by Baekhyun and notes the various creatures dancing, writhing, on the dancefloor. There’s bright panels across the ceiling, lighting up the packed crowd in sporadic colours and Chanyeol’s slightly horrified to see blue skin, too many beards and fedoras, and other cool alien beings.
He plonks down on one of the seats at the modern, metallic-themed bar. A figure looms behind him and he almost jumps in fright before he notices Kris taking the seat to his left, coolly asking for five shots of Venus Vodka.
“All for you?” Chanyeol asks, eyebrow raised. He never took Kris for a drinker. Not with a young child, at least, but he doesn’t have any tiny humans attached to him in this alternate universe.
Kris shrugs, intent on ignoring Chanyeol. It stings, so of course, he asks the bartender for six shots of “What he’s having.” The cute bartender nods, another one of his tentacles pouring Chanyeol’s drinks as he impressively serves four other customers; when Chanyeol’s much less sober and a lot more reckless, he almost takes up the bartender’s proposition of the best sex he’ll ever have, until Kyungsoo, who has the most sense even when tipsy, pulls him away, furiously muttering oviposition and pathetic child support payments.
After managing to shake Kyungsoo off, Chanyeol makes his way to the dancefloor. Some really hot alien girl is grinding up on him. He’s so turned on, he could die. Even if he dies, he still has 14 other lives. Life is good. Or at least until the girl turns around, split snake tongue licking along his neck with a pleased hiss, and suddenly he’s being dragged away. Again. Can he get a break?
Chanyeol falls against the rough pavement, the air knocked out his chest. He gulps, the cool night breeze filling his lungs again as he heaves. “What the fuck?” he wheezes, slitting his eyes up at the offender.
“You could’ve lost one of your lives.” It’s Kris. “I did you a favour. She was about to rip your throat out.”
“So? I’d be resurrected,” Chanyeol says with a mad and stubborn hmph.
Kris rolls his eyes, offering Chanyeol a hand to stand up. His world spins, but he manages to get onto his two feet. “If you keep wasting your lives on bad, painful sex, you won’t last another minute in this game.”
“Whatever.” Chanyeol frowns. This Kris is a lot different to the friendly, albeit reserved, Kris he knows in the real world.
“WATCH OUT!” Kris suddenly calls out, as Chanyeol feels something hard and heavy hit the back of his head, the pain feeling like his skull is being cracked open. He stumbles, almost blacking out, as Kris pulls out some kind of lightsaber from nowhere and begins to attack the unknown assailant. Dizzy and nauseous, Chanyeol turns to see Kris up against not one, but four people. He’s obviously a pro at hand-to-hand combat, but the combination of drunkenness and anger makes his technique messy and he’s soon cornered back into Chanyeol’s cowering body.
“Close your eyes,” Kris whispers, sword still steady and eyes never leaving his opponents. Chanyeol immediately obeys, ready to pass out, when Kris takes his hand and he feels a familiar pull in the pit of his stomach, his body distorted as the pair are inevitably dragged through a portal.
They land unceremoniously on a soft and nice-smelling surface. Chanyeol sits up, blinking at his surroundings and the sudden brightness. He’s seen this place before, from behind a computer screen and from a far distance. They’re lying on a Banana Split boat, floating across the River of Milk and Cookies.
Chanyeol leans over to scoop up some of the warm milk into his mouth. He sighs in satisfaction, leaning his head against a soft marshmallow, ready for sleep. That is, until he remembers Kris. His eyes fly open and he immediately takes in the sight of Kris curled up on the other side of the boat, cradling his right arm. Crawling over, Chanyeol worriedly asks if he’s OK. Kris remains silent and Chanyeol thinks he might be unconscious. He then catches a glance of blood seeping from a deep wound on the underside of his forearm.
“Fuck,” Chanyeol hisses. He takes off his suit and then undershirt, ripping a makeshift bandage from the fabric. He takes Kris’s arm in his hands, carefully wrapping the material around it to hinder the bleeding. He pats Kris’s head, stroking his dark hair down.
“Wake up, Kris.” He whispers after another bout of silence, aimlessly floating down this never-ending river. “Row, row, row your Banana Split boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream,” Chanyeol softly sings.
Just as Chanyeol’s drifting off to sleep himself, Kris’s eyelids flutter open and his scratchy voice croaks out, “Chanyeol?”
Chanyeol immediately jolts back awake, suddenly aware of his shirtless state as Kris intently stares at a spot in the middle of his chest. Maybe a nipple. If he had a third one, or something (he peeks down just to check that he does not, in fact, have a third nipple and luckily, he’s in the clear).
“M&C?” Kris groans, sitting up with his good arm and looking around. “I was aiming for Candy Kingdom, but at least that’s where we headed.”
“You teleported us here, right?”
Kris nods. “Jongin taught me.” Kim Jongin, Jia’s babysitter. Nice kid. “Useful for situations like this.”
Kris lies back down on the raft and Chanyeol lays down next to him, feeling like the Bella to his Edward. They stare at the fluffy, fairy floss pink clouds hanging in the blue sky above them. It’s kind of totally romantic, that Chanyeol accidentally blurts out, “Thank you for saving me.” You’re my hero.
“No big deal. You would’ve just been resurrected if you’d died anyway, right? Should’ve saved myself the trouble,” Kris scoffs, rolling onto his side.
Chanyeol laughs, the sound filling the thrumming silence of the area. He points to one of the dormant clouds, “That one kinda looks like Jia’s teddy bear.” Realising what he’s said, he slaps a hand over his mouth.
“You know Jia?” Kris asks cautiously, turning back around to stare unbelievingly at Chanyeol.
“I think?” Chanyeol laughs awkwardly.
Kris sighs wistfully, yawning. “Once we reach Candy Kingdom, we need to go somewhere.” His voice trails off and before Chanyeol gets a chance to ask where, he hears Kris’s soft snoring and soon his eyelids begin to droop and he floats off to Dreamland as well.
“Where are we going?” Chanyeol asks as Kris pulls him through the streets of Candy Kingdom. He tries not to trip over the cobbled pavements, possibly made out of sweet rocks if the smell is anything to go by.
Kris doesn’t say a word ushering them through a pair of large pink gates with the words Pokey Oaks Orphanage emblazoned at the top. There’s the twinkling peals of children’s laughter coming from inside the building, which they enter after Kris stops at the steps for a few moments.
“I haven’t been here in two months,” he says. Whether it’s to the door, himself or Chanyeol, Chanyeol has no clue.
“Let’s go in then,” Chanyeol grins, opening the door. Inside, it’s mayhem, a rainbow of colours splashed across every inch of the large room, objects flying and whizzing through the air and most importantly, dozens of kids, little and big, human or not, eating glue or whatever the spawn of Satan do.
“Kris!” A high-pitched voice squeals, and suddenly a tiny girl with long pink braids is leaping across the room, wrapping his arms and legs around Kris’s shin. “I missed you!”
Kris smiles down at Jia, patting her hair, enamoured. Chanyeol’s seen that smile so many times, as he, Kris and Jia take the elevator to the lobby in the mornings. It’s one he treasures only for her.
Chanyeol vaguely wonders if he’ll ever get to see that smile, the real smile ever again. He doesn’t want to think about it yet, but he has an inkling of fear that he’ll be trapped in this dream, if it even is one at this point, forever.
They spend a few hours in the orphanage, reading Jia books, playing dollhouse with her, before they have to leave. Kris presses a kiss to Jia’s forehead with a promise that he’ll be back soon, and she’s unwilling to let him go, latching onto his ankle like any three-year-old would. Kicking and screaming, one of the teachers has to pull her away and calm her down as they slip out unnoticed.
“She’s not your daughter?” Chanyeol asks, as they walk down the main street. He has his hands shoved in his pockets and kicks a pebble on the ground watching as it leaps forward a few metres.
“Sometimes, it feels like it. But no, she was abandoned when she was really young and I found her,” Kris explains. “I was 11. I couldn’t imagine looking after a child, so I gave her to the orphanage.”
This world must be in a time loop or something, for Kris to have been 11 when Jia’s only 3 now. Cool. Chanyeol should look into that. “And now?”
“Now I have responsibilities. Galactic protection, and that.”
“So you’re some kind of superhero?” Chanyeol says, with a grin, jabbing Kris’s side with his elbow. He earns a laugh from Kris, low and hearty. Happy.
“Something like that.”
A few days and some tacos, beer and a fruitless search for the BCWC ship later, Kris helps Chanyeol reach the last level. It was surprisingly easy because of the added advantage of Kris’s hero status and Chanyeol’s background knowledge of every level.
This one’s not as developed as most of the others but it’s the last for a reason: the Labyrinth. The most difficult, the most intense. Chanyeol’s never played it. Kris has many times.
They stand at the entrance of the maze, sky-high, smokey and terrifying as fuck. Kris tells him they’re not allowed to enter together, but through separate pathways and he clings to Kris’s arm. “Hey,” Kris whispers. “You’ll be fine. Remember what I said.”
“Don’t Panic.”
“That’s right.” Kris smiles, tugging at Chanyeol’s heartstrings. “I’ll find you, I promise. Let’s do this.”
Totally empathising with Harry Potter in the Triwizard Tournament, Chanyeol makes his way into the maze, except without the wand as added protection. He walks for what feels like days, taking twists and turns that get him nowhere, and encounters nothing. He knows what this level is. Your deepest fears. And the second he thinks it, the scenery around him morphs and transforms into an endless black.
The sound starts off quiet, like a mouse. Chanyeol can barely hear it until it starts getting louder, beating like a drum, pounding through his ears, and he curls up in a ball as familiar people surround him, yelling things like, “You’re a failure, Chanyeol” and, “Are you going to be a lowly gamer who lives with his parents for the rest of his life? Pathetic.” He covers his ears and screams.
Suddenly, he’s pulled out of the reverie and now, he’s standing over a cliff, his toes brushing the edge. A sickening feeling of vertigo overcomes him and he tips forward, until he feels a hand clutching onto the back of his shirt, dragging him back. Chanyeol stumbles against the tall body behind him, panting.
“Told you I’d come, didn’t I?” Kris says and Chanyeol nods, blinking back tears. “Come on. Try this.” He takes Chanyeol’s hand, carefully bringing them to the edge again, and he lets out a scream into the abyss. He sounds exhilarated, free. Chanyeol wants to try. He doesn’t look down as he shouts, hearing his voice echo of unseen walls, reverberating over and over again. He screams and he screams until the landscape dissolves back to the maze.
Kris, still holding Chanyeol’s hand, maneuvers them quickly and safely through the Labyrinth until they reach the end. At least, Chanyeol thinks it’s the end. It’s just black nothingness, stars twinkling in the distance. This was where he began.
“It’s time for you to go home, Chanyeol,” Kris says, after a few moments of staring into the view.
Chanyeol hesitates, squeezing Kris’s hand. He turns around, pressing a chaste kiss against Kris’s lips before whispering, “Don’t you have fears too?”
Kris smiles knowingly. “Yeah. But go find that out for yourself.” And then, he pushes Chanyeol backwards over the edge, into the darkness.
Chanyeol falls on the cold, hard ground of the basement of XO. He groans, picking himself up. He takes a glance at the monitor, which now reads [COMPLETE] and takes himself up the stairs.
Running through the corridors, he takes a detour to Joonmyun’s office where he spies Kyungsoo inside, bent over Joonmyun as he shows him something on the computer screen. Chanyeol jogs in, with no warning, and shoves Kyungsoo onto Joonmyun before escaping, cackling evilly.
He has one goal on his mind but he stops at the computers, surprised to see Baekhyun, Jongdae and Wendy still working, like he hadn’t been gone for god-knows how many days. “Guys?” Chanyeol asks shakily, entering the room.
“So, did you fix the problem?” Baekhyun shoots back, eyes not leaving the screen. Wow. Time stopped. Just for Chanyeol to sort his shit out.
“Uh yeah,” Chanyeol quickly says, before moving to leave. Before he does, he yells out, “Wendy, Jongdae and Baekhyun like-like you!”
He drives his car back home, the late hour meaning less traffic and more Chanyeol getting to the apartment block really fast. He knows Kris is leaving Jia with Jongin tonight to go to the cinema. Kris had asked him to go but Chanyeol had blown the offer off, citing work as an excuse when really he was just being totally shitty, and now’s as good a time as any to confess that he really, really likes Kris and he also really, really wants to see Guardians of the Galaxy.
“Hi,” Chanyeol breathlessly says, when he finally reaches their level to see Kris leaving his apartment. “I think I’d like to take you up on that offer.”
“Really?” Kris asks, astonished to see Chanyeol here, having run up six flights of stairs.
“Yeah.” Chanyeol nods. “But only if it’s a date. Because I’d really like to go on a date with you, Kris Wu.”
“You’re quite the charmer, Park Chanyeol.” Kris grins. “That didn’t rhyme.” He sighs.
“Lame,” Chanyeol says, stepping into Kris’s space, so close that their noses brush against each other.
“What can I say? I’m a Dad.”
“You’re lucky I like you.” Chanyeol says, leaning over to kiss Kris silly.
The sun streams in through the window, illuminating the soft baby hairs across Kris’s chest. Chanyeol tiptoes his fingers up his torso, curling the hand around Kris’s neck as he leans over to kiss his open mouth. Today’s going to be a great day. Yesterday was even greater, the showcase of Overdose to the public. The reaction was astounding and anything beyond Chanyeol’s wildest dreams. They’re calling him and his team mad geniuses.
Kris doesn’t wake up, even as Chanyeol runs a hand through his hair, scratching behind his ear, so he opts for a different method. He slides under the covers, down the length of Kris’s lithe body till he reaches his half-hard cock. One glance up at Kris confirms he’s slowly coming back to consciousness when Chanyeol drags his tongue along the side in one, long glide. “What are you doing?” Kris croaks, and then groans, when Chanyeol fits his lips around the head of his cock.
Chanyeol leans back to smirk and reply, “We’ve got an entire day to ourselves for once. Can’t waste a minute of it.” He leans back down immediately sliding his lips down Kris’s length, enveloping him in the tight, wet heat of his mouth, and giving him no chance to coherently reply.
Six rounds and three bottles of wine later, it’s nearing the evening, and Chanyeol’s got Kris on his knees in the kitchen. He jacks off to completion, watching with bleary eyes as his come splatters across Kris’s face, his open, pink mouth. There’s even a spot on his eyebrow. Chanyeol runs his fingers through the wetness, bringing them to Kris’s mouth and shutting his jaw closed. He tries not to let out the most embarrassing moan at the way Kris’s adam’s apple works as he swallows it down.
Chanyeol’s leaning over to kiss his boyfriend, maybe shove his tongue down his throat, when they hear it. Childling. Laughter. Fucking Jongin.
“Daddy, I’m home!” They can hear Jia’s voice come from the front door, and sharing a wide-eyed glance they bolt to their bedroom. Kris may be into Chanyeol calling him daddy, but this is no circumstance they want to be hearing it from their daughter.
Their daughter, Chanyeol thinks contentedly, as he washes his face in the basin, Kris doing the same.
Before they exit the bathroom, Kris grabs Chanyeol’s wrist, pulling him in for one last kiss before they have to go out there and be PG-13 again. He whispers those three little words against Chanyeol’s lips.
“Toy Story 2.”
Too bad Jia likes Chanyeol’s movie taste better. She clings to him and glares at her father as Chanyeol puts in Frozen and Kris furiously mutters, “Only 90s kids will remember.”
Chanyeol doesn’t think he’ll ever tell Kris, or anyone, about his time inside Overdose, but in the end it doesn’t matter because he’s got everything he needs, right here on Earth.
Title: chan#YOLO
Pairing(s): Chanyeol-centric & Kris/Chanyeol
Rating: R
Length: 6.3k
Summary: The Adventures of Park Chanyeol, a simple human, and Kris Wu, a tsundere video game hero. Follow the pair, as they navigate a technological wasteland of aliens and candy, and learn about themselves, and each other. (Or, Chanyeol gets thrown into a videogame and it’s probably entirely Baekhyun and Jongdae’s fault.)
Author's note: this was inspired by my pathetic knowledge of video games (mario kart 4 lyf) and certain children’s movies ur probably thinking of, among other sources. i wish i could have fleshed this out more, but to my recipient, i hope you enjoy anyway!
The new video game Chanyeol’s team is working on at XO, the country’s biggest game development company, is anticipated to be the game of 2015. A virtual and fantastical oasis, mega-packed with level after level of thrilling challenges, the game is rumoured to be a mirror of the player’s subconscious, their worst fears and deepest desires, in a twisted reflection of the real world.
However, even a game with this much hype is not without its glitches.
Park Chanyeol is a software engineer at XO®; he used to say he was fresh out of college, but it’s been five years now and he still can’t tell the difference between his adulthood and youth years when he’s still eating ramen noodles late into the night, rushing to meet deadlines and mixing up his colours with his whites by accident. He still doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing. He’s not entirely sure many adults do.
One fateful night-Chanyeol would like to think the weather was hectic outside, maybe a thunderstorm or a sudden drought that resulted in an untimely encounter with his questionable life choices, but it was pretty ordinary, 14 degrees and cloudy, and so, he has nothing to blame it on but himself-he’s at the company building, working at the computers (emphasis on the plural because it makes you imagine a giant wall of screens and a mega-sized keyboard, like Chanyeol’s an evil genius) on Level 23 of Overdose with Jongdae, Baekhyun and Wendy, when one of the avatars on screen begins to spasm like a crazy Sims character.
“Strange,” says Baekhyun.
“Very strange indeed,” echoes Jongdae.
Before Wendy can pitch in as the nonexistent sister of Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum, Chanyeol presses a finger to her lip. She narrows her eyes. He slowly takes it away and shoves his hand in his pocket, flashing her an apologetic grin. “I’ll go check out the mainframe,” he says, sliding his chair back to stand up. “Won’t be a minute.”
Really, it should’ve been a one-minute job.
But Chanyeol never comes back.
[REWIND]
He walks downstairs to The Motherboard, as it has been dubbed by the engineers. There’s something eerie about the atmosphere, something that makes his nerves tingle uncomfortably. A light flickers. On, off. Chanyeol begins to shiver but assures himself that it’s no big deal. He’ll be in and out of there in no time.
The light of the small computer screen illuminates the basement, and he gets to work fast, ignoring the creaks and groans of the unknown. Neon-green undecipherable language (except to True Computer Geeks) rapidly fills up the screen. Chanyeol waits for his input to register, expecting the familiar [COMPLETE] in the middle of the screen but instead he sees a bright flash of blinding white, a tight pull in the pit of his stomach and suddenly, he’s falling.
If you’ve ever fallen down a flight of stairs, you probably understand the feeling. Impatience. You don’t feel the pain yet and the only thing you can think is can this fucking end already? Chanyeol tumbles and spins in this never-ending expanse of blackness, the only thought running through his head-I don’t want to be Alice in Wonderland, get me out of this rabbit hole.
When it finally reaches an end-after passing random, floating objects like his treasured guitar and packets of Jongdae’s favourite lube brand, twinkling stars in the distance-it’s entirely uneventful. Chanyeol lands, with a grunt, on solid ground. Lifting himself up and dusting off his clothes, he realises it’s more solid floor, with the grey, nondescript walls of the narrow corridor surrounding him from all angles. It looks kind of looks like XO, except more ‘underground refuge in a zombie apocalypse’ than ‘multimillion dollar corporation.’ But Chanyeol supposes most company buildings are as boring as this one.
If it is even one, that is.
With his heart hammering in his chest, Chanyeol takes his first step down the hall, and then another and another, and it’s like this thing doesn’t end until finally, he runs into someone who comes out of nowhere-had that door always been there?-with an oomph! Chanyeol immediately steps back, stammering an apology when the person turns around. Oh. He’s never been more glad to see Byun Baekhyun’s cute face than he has now.
Chanyeol grins brightly, about to hug his friend to bits, until he notices the look of utter and complete unrecognition on Baekhyun’s face. “Baek?” Chanyeol asks cautiously, stepping forward when Baekhyun steps back.
It happens in a split second, with more finesse and grace than Chanyeol knows of Baekhyun, and he’s suddenly in a chokehold, at gunpoint. “What are you doing on my ship?” Baekhyun hisses in his ear. Chanyeol opens his eyes, blinking back tears as Baekhyun’s grip tightens, and notices the silver insignia on the band around Baekhyun’s wrist. Thicker than his usual bracelet, it still reads Fearless along the side, but with an unfamiliar symbol in the middle. The mind works in crazy ways in life-or-death situations. Chanyeol thinks he’s grasping at straws here, but he’s pretty sure that the emblem is one that was created for the Solar Sailer Simulator in Overdose. He had designed it himself; he would recognise it anywhere.
With the cold barrel of a gun pressed to the side of his head, Chanyeol decides it won’t do him anymore harm to take a chance on his theory. Shakily, hesitantly, he begins to enunciate words, and Baekhyun squeezes harder. Tendrils of black seeping into his vision, Chanyeol persists, choking out the words, “The sun. The moon. The truth.”
Baekhyun splutters in surprise and his hold loosens enough that Chanyeol can get in large gulps of oxygen. “Excuse me?” he spits, letting go of Chanyeol and tossing him onto the ground. He still has the gun pointed at Chanyeol’s forehead, but Chanyeol counts it as a breakthrough. “You’re BWCW?”
Chanyeol nods hastily. This is beginning to feel like a dream. Why else would he be bullshitting his way out of a potential shooting, using his knowledge of a fucking video game?
But why doesn’t Baekhyun recognise him? Also, since when was he so badass?
It’s not like he would have pulled the trigger, Chanyeol tells himself. His head lolls back against the metal wall wearily, watching through bleary eyes as Baekhyun shoves the gun into the belt of his cool, intergalactic warrior suit. He still eyes Chanyeol unsurely, but offers him a hand to stand up regardless.
“How’d you end up on here? We run a tight ship on STARFIGHTER-B-612, or as I like to call her, Luna.” Baekhyun grins, and Chanyeol relaxes at the familiar sight. This is more like the Baekhyun he knows, wry and cocksure and usually not out to kill him.
Chanyeol mentally navigates the blueprint of the simulation and concludes that the airlock is the most plausible backstory. If anyone questions it, he’ll demonstrate picking the lock himself. He runs a hand through his hair as he explains this to Baekhyun, spinning the tale into a sob-story of his life-born of two rogue werewolf outlaws on the run from the Intergalactic Police Force, who had abandoned him in a offshoot space shuttle which landed in Dream Graveyard. He spent his next years navigating his way through long-deserted nightmares and sweet dreams, slowly driving him to the brink of insanity, until he found his saviour, a cruiseship taking a detour due to temporary engine failure and hitchhiked his way through the galaxy till he ended up here.
Baekhyun looks vaguely impressed, eyebrows raised. “You’re lucky you found us then, Park. Welcome aboard.” He salutes, other hand opening the handle of the final door they’ve reached.
The door opens into a cockpit where Kyungsoo’s in the pilot seat. Chanyeol’s seen it through the pixels of a computer screen, but nothing compares to the 3-D technicolour view of the video game landscape in person. He stares unblinking until Baekhyun clicks his fingers in front of his eyes.
“Who’s this?” Kyungsoo immediately asks. Chanyeol is surprised he’s actually in the action-the Do Kyungsoo he knows is the secretary of the big boss, Kim Joonmyun, and it’s no secret that he ironically despises the “abomination that is technology”. You know, hypothetically speaking, if he was inside the video game and not just dreaming.
Baekhyun grins wickedly. “Rogue hitchhiker, picked him up on Lane 66, base terminal gas station. He’s BWCW.”
Chanyeol’s thankful for the save but Kyungsoo’s no less suspicious. He narrows his eyes. “How can you be so sure?”
“He recited the motto. You know, we haven’t found anyone who knows it in years.”
Kyungsoo visibly relaxes. Chanyeol hadn’t realised the importance of such a trademark mantra until he ended up here. Now that he thinks about it, maybe this dream won’t be so useless after all. He could learn a lot; get an insider’s view of the game. He could literally be the world’s youngest billionaire after he wakes up if he plays his cards right.
A body pushes past Chanyeol, and he stumbles out of the doorway. It’s Jongdae-he bites into his apple, eyeing Chanyeol up and down before turning to Baekhyun with a raised eyebrow. “How’d you manage to convince Kyungsoo of this one? Thought we had that no live-in fucktoy rule.”
Chanyeol’s jaw drops as Baekhyun bites his lip, almost looking as if he’s considering it. He laughs awkwardly as Baekhyun winks and says, “Not a fucktoy. Our new shipmate, Park Chanyeol.”
“Really?!” Chanyeol and Jongdae exclaim at the same time.
“BWCW,” Kyungsoo pipes up. “One of us now.”
Honestly, Chanyeol’s surprised, but so touched he could cry. Baekhyun and Jongdae would probably laugh at him forever, but he does let one lone tear dramatically roll down his cheek when he changes into the spare suit they find him.
Later that night, Chanyeol tries to get comfortable on the inflatable mattress they provide for him-he’s not entirely sure he’ll even be able to sleep-in Baekhyun and Jongdae’s shared room. Kyungsoo had flat-out refused to let Chanyeol sleep in his room for “personal reasons” and now Chanyeol’s stuck listening to Baekhyun and Jongdae quietly and very obviously make out on their bed.
“Can you two keep it down?” Chanyeol finally asks when Jongdae lets out a whimper.
Baekhyun giggles. “Want to join us, Park?”
Chanyeol sits up, glaring at Baekhyun. This wouldn’t be the first time they’ve asked him-in the real world, that is. A platonic circlejerk between friends is totally normal. “Maybe next time.”
It’s a well-known fact at XO that Baekhyun and Jongdae are dating-the infamous tag-team of the company. They’ve gone after Daehyun, the marketing director, Taeyong, one of the interns, and Soojung, another software engineer. Chanyeol thinks they’ve got some sort of hit(on) list, and another thought occurs to him. “How do you two feel about Wendy? Wendy Son.”
Jongdae and Baekhyun share a look from what Chanyeol can see in the dark. “The Ice Princess up North?” Jongdae asks hesitantly.
“She’s amazing-” Baekhyun says dreamily, falling back onto the bed before yelping when Jongdae pinches him.
Jongdae shrugs. “She’s cool.”
Chanyeol grins knowingly, lying back down on the mattress. He silently prays he’ll finally wake up from this dream, as he slowly drifts off to sleep.
Chanyeol doesn’t wake up from the dream. He wakes up in the dream and is beginning to think this is very much real. He’s heard of crazy occurrences of people being thrown into video games, but they’re just stories told over campfires. Maybe he’s going just a little bit insane.
Sighing, he runs a hand over his face, sitting up on his mattress. He stumbles into the bathroom, showering and changing into his suit before heading to the cockpit where Kyungsoo is already awake. He’d left Baekhyun and Jongdae fast asleep in their bed, limbs entangled messily.
“Mornin’,” Chanyeol chirps, sitting in the chair next to Kyungsoo. He swivels around repeatedly until an arm shoots out and stops him mid-way. Ah, Kyungsoo hasn’t changed one bit.
“We’re going down to the racetrack today,” Kyungsoo states seriously, sight never leaving the view outside. “We’ve been challenged to a drag race.”
“By?” Chanyeol asks.
“The Galaxy Knights.” Kyungsoo says in a low conspiratory whisper.
Chanyeol dramatically gasps as Kyungsoo swoops lower and lower, the clouds breaking to reveal a colourful, sweeping racetrack straight out of Mario Kart. Chanyeol had called copyright infringement, but Joonmyun, XO’s young CEO, had insisted the differences wouldn’t amount to them being sued. He vaguely wonders if Joonmyun is somewhere in this technological land, another character who doesn’t know him, as Baekhyun and Jongdae stumble into the small room, rubbing their bleary eyes.
Kyungsoo’s manning the controller, the spaceship plummeting down at a controlled speed until he lands on one of the mapped-out silhouettes near the entrance. Baekhyun runs over to the front, immediately waking up when he sees the track, “We’re racing today?” he asks, turning to Kyungsoo with a grin.
Simply nodding, Kyungsoo shuts down the ship, getting up. They eagerly follow him through the corridors to the exit where the platform opens dramatically, causing a whirlwind where they appear at the top, looking like they came straight out of Ouran High School Host Club. The crowd gasps and titters, dispersing to make way for them, as they stop in front of a group of five leather-clad, helmet-wearing terrified-piss-inducing dudes.
The four of them look kind of pathetic, standing in front of them, arms crossed as the two groups size each other up, but Chanyeol tries to keep a straight-face anyway.
“You’re on,” Baekhyun calls out.
The tallest of the group replies smoothly, “See you at the finish line, Byun.” His deep rumble is oddly familiar. “Or not.”
“Kids.” They turn around to see Kim Joonmyun walking towards them, in a pink fitted suit. “Enough with the pre-race taunting. Let’s get on with this, shall we?” His presence is as commanding as it is in the real world, Chanyeol notes. But he still looks ridiculous with that platinum blond dye.
Chanyeol glances questioningly at Kyungsoo, who whispers, “Mayor of Candy Kingdom.” Chanyeol nods (and absentmindedly notices the way Kyungsoo and Joonmyun eye each other and the way Kyungsoo’s voice takes on the fond tone it does in the real world, but finally, Chanyeol’s placed it, a light-bulb popping above his head).
It makes sense. The level is Joonmyun’s favourite of the game.
He doesn’t expect to race, but Baekhyun throws him a helmet with a simple “Live a little”, which strangely resonates with him, and he has no choice but to mount one of the motorbikes lined along the starting point along with the rest of them. To be honest, he’s scared shitless despite knowing this route like the back of his hand. It’s never been the real thing though.
Taking a deep breath, Chanyeol waits for the starting pistol, revving his motorcycle engine in a show of macho confidence and then he’s off, zooming down the track. Out of his periphery, he can see Baekhyun to his right and one of the masked Galaxy Knights to his left, and he speeds up, almost touching the ground when he takes a tight left turn and loses at least three other racers.
Someone to his right attempts to push him up against the wall of the neon-lit tunnel. Fucker, Chanyeol thinks, accelerating and swerving in front of him to lose him, nice try.
After the tunnel, the racers head towards a snowy mountaintop. Chanyeol begins to breathe shallowly, the condensation of his breath fogging up his mask and throwing him off. With his heart beating faster with the added adrenaline, he manages to get a hold of himself. He won’t fall. He can’t. None of this is real. He takes a deep breath as they climb higher and higher up the cliff face.
Just like how you think so hard about not thinking that thing you’re not supposed to think about that you defeat the purpose, Chanyeol chances a glance at the view from the mountain. It’s absolutely breathtaking-one sweep of the Overdose world allows him to spot the rest of the vivid, bright Candy Kingdom and the Jungle at the edge of its outskirts, the Winter Woods and the formidable Ice Fortress in the distance, and the Downtown district, which almost closely resembles a bustling city on Earth. They’d modelled it off Shanghai, the Roaring 20s.
Chanyeol focuses his attention on the trail again, revealed to see no one in his vicinity, in front or in his side mirrors. That either means he’s far behind or has lost most of the racers. He doesn’t remember anyone passing him though, and his suspicions are confirmed when he sees the glaring competitor he hasn’t managed to get rid of, reaching the end of the cliff and finally, the flat ground, the pathway through the mountainside.
He could race this track with his eyes closed because he’s played it that many times, test run after test run to perfect it.
Curling his fingers around the handlebars, tightening his grip, he’s zeroed in on his lone target. The vibrations from the engine thrum through his veins as he closes in on his opponent. Surprisingly, and unexpectedly, the guy (or girl, but Chanyeol’s sure it’s the Galaxy Knights tall leader) doesn’t speed up or try to shake Chanyeol off. Instead, he keeps a steady pace, locking in with Chanyeol as they head through the mountains into open space.
The white noise is loud in Chanyeol’s ear-and he can hear his heart racing-but the sound of an avalanche of engines behind them is louder. The others have caught up.
The finish line drawing closer-the crowd is cheering on either side of the track and Chanyeol’s not entirely sure all of them are human-and Chanyeol takes his golden opportunity to gain momentum, swerving right to surprise his main threat and then gears up his motorbike to full throttle, cutting swiftly through the red ribbon stretched across the finish. The other racer is barely milliseconds behind him, but it’s clear Chanyeol is the real winner.
He slows down to a still, swinging his legs off his bike and taking his stuffy helmet off. He sees the others stop around him, Baekhyun and Jongdae running over to squeeze him in a congratulatory hug.
Looking over to the Galaxy Knights-who of which include a very recognisable, Kim Minseok, Lu Han, Zhang Yixing and Huang Zitao all from XO-his heart leaps to his throat. The racer who came second takes off his helmet, shaking his hair of sweat, looking completely Adonis-like.
Wu Yifan. Kris. [INSERTS ALL OTHER NAMES HERE]. But most importantly, Chanyeol’s next door neighbour in his apartment complex. Single father of an adorable four-year-old girl, Jia. Chanyeol’s One True Crush, the object of his fantasies, the apple of his eye.
The game mimics your subconscious, your deepest fears and fantasies. Oh.
Joonmyun saunters over to place the gold medal over Chanyeol’s neck as the other group walks over too, for Joonmyun to hand Kris his silver medal. Kris’s eyes rake over Chanyeol’s body before announcing, “Beginner’s luck.”
“Didn’t know you guys had a dark horse,” Lu Han says with a smirk as Baekhyun and Jongdae sidle up to either side of him. Chanyeol mentally rolls his eyes at their obvious flirting.
Kyungsoo folds his arms across his thin body. “Jealous?”
Zitao snorts incredulously somewhere near Kris’s left.
“Boys,” Baekhyun stops tracing the shell of Lu Han’s ear with his tongue to say. “Let’s go get drunk, Downtown.”
“Celebratory drinks, courtesy of the winners,” Jongdae finishes, and by the looks on their faces, the offer is too good to refuse.
The bass truly drops in Outer Space’s Downtown. Time works weirdly here too and the sky is pitch-black outside when they arrive in their respective spaceships. They enter one of the busiest, most popular clubs-this, this is familiar to Chanyeol. He’s ready to get piss-drunk and fall asleep and wake up not-hungover in his own bed. It’s familiar, until he’s dragged to the bar by Baekhyun and notes the various creatures dancing, writhing, on the dancefloor. There’s bright panels across the ceiling, lighting up the packed crowd in sporadic colours and Chanyeol’s slightly horrified to see blue skin, too many beards and fedoras, and other cool alien beings.
He plonks down on one of the seats at the modern, metallic-themed bar. A figure looms behind him and he almost jumps in fright before he notices Kris taking the seat to his left, coolly asking for five shots of Venus Vodka.
“All for you?” Chanyeol asks, eyebrow raised. He never took Kris for a drinker. Not with a young child, at least, but he doesn’t have any tiny humans attached to him in this alternate universe.
Kris shrugs, intent on ignoring Chanyeol. It stings, so of course, he asks the bartender for six shots of “What he’s having.” The cute bartender nods, another one of his tentacles pouring Chanyeol’s drinks as he impressively serves four other customers; when Chanyeol’s much less sober and a lot more reckless, he almost takes up the bartender’s proposition of the best sex he’ll ever have, until Kyungsoo, who has the most sense even when tipsy, pulls him away, furiously muttering oviposition and pathetic child support payments.
After managing to shake Kyungsoo off, Chanyeol makes his way to the dancefloor. Some really hot alien girl is grinding up on him. He’s so turned on, he could die. Even if he dies, he still has 14 other lives. Life is good. Or at least until the girl turns around, split snake tongue licking along his neck with a pleased hiss, and suddenly he’s being dragged away. Again. Can he get a break?
Chanyeol falls against the rough pavement, the air knocked out his chest. He gulps, the cool night breeze filling his lungs again as he heaves. “What the fuck?” he wheezes, slitting his eyes up at the offender.
“You could’ve lost one of your lives.” It’s Kris. “I did you a favour. She was about to rip your throat out.”
“So? I’d be resurrected,” Chanyeol says with a mad and stubborn hmph.
Kris rolls his eyes, offering Chanyeol a hand to stand up. His world spins, but he manages to get onto his two feet. “If you keep wasting your lives on bad, painful sex, you won’t last another minute in this game.”
“Whatever.” Chanyeol frowns. This Kris is a lot different to the friendly, albeit reserved, Kris he knows in the real world.
“WATCH OUT!” Kris suddenly calls out, as Chanyeol feels something hard and heavy hit the back of his head, the pain feeling like his skull is being cracked open. He stumbles, almost blacking out, as Kris pulls out some kind of lightsaber from nowhere and begins to attack the unknown assailant. Dizzy and nauseous, Chanyeol turns to see Kris up against not one, but four people. He’s obviously a pro at hand-to-hand combat, but the combination of drunkenness and anger makes his technique messy and he’s soon cornered back into Chanyeol’s cowering body.
“Close your eyes,” Kris whispers, sword still steady and eyes never leaving his opponents. Chanyeol immediately obeys, ready to pass out, when Kris takes his hand and he feels a familiar pull in the pit of his stomach, his body distorted as the pair are inevitably dragged through a portal.
They land unceremoniously on a soft and nice-smelling surface. Chanyeol sits up, blinking at his surroundings and the sudden brightness. He’s seen this place before, from behind a computer screen and from a far distance. They’re lying on a Banana Split boat, floating across the River of Milk and Cookies.
Chanyeol leans over to scoop up some of the warm milk into his mouth. He sighs in satisfaction, leaning his head against a soft marshmallow, ready for sleep. That is, until he remembers Kris. His eyes fly open and he immediately takes in the sight of Kris curled up on the other side of the boat, cradling his right arm. Crawling over, Chanyeol worriedly asks if he’s OK. Kris remains silent and Chanyeol thinks he might be unconscious. He then catches a glance of blood seeping from a deep wound on the underside of his forearm.
“Fuck,” Chanyeol hisses. He takes off his suit and then undershirt, ripping a makeshift bandage from the fabric. He takes Kris’s arm in his hands, carefully wrapping the material around it to hinder the bleeding. He pats Kris’s head, stroking his dark hair down.
“Wake up, Kris.” He whispers after another bout of silence, aimlessly floating down this never-ending river. “Row, row, row your Banana Split boat, gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily, life is but a dream,” Chanyeol softly sings.
Just as Chanyeol’s drifting off to sleep himself, Kris’s eyelids flutter open and his scratchy voice croaks out, “Chanyeol?”
Chanyeol immediately jolts back awake, suddenly aware of his shirtless state as Kris intently stares at a spot in the middle of his chest. Maybe a nipple. If he had a third one, or something (he peeks down just to check that he does not, in fact, have a third nipple and luckily, he’s in the clear).
“M&C?” Kris groans, sitting up with his good arm and looking around. “I was aiming for Candy Kingdom, but at least that’s where we headed.”
“You teleported us here, right?”
Kris nods. “Jongin taught me.” Kim Jongin, Jia’s babysitter. Nice kid. “Useful for situations like this.”
Kris lies back down on the raft and Chanyeol lays down next to him, feeling like the Bella to his Edward. They stare at the fluffy, fairy floss pink clouds hanging in the blue sky above them. It’s kind of totally romantic, that Chanyeol accidentally blurts out, “Thank you for saving me.” You’re my hero.
“No big deal. You would’ve just been resurrected if you’d died anyway, right? Should’ve saved myself the trouble,” Kris scoffs, rolling onto his side.
Chanyeol laughs, the sound filling the thrumming silence of the area. He points to one of the dormant clouds, “That one kinda looks like Jia’s teddy bear.” Realising what he’s said, he slaps a hand over his mouth.
“You know Jia?” Kris asks cautiously, turning back around to stare unbelievingly at Chanyeol.
“I think?” Chanyeol laughs awkwardly.
Kris sighs wistfully, yawning. “Once we reach Candy Kingdom, we need to go somewhere.” His voice trails off and before Chanyeol gets a chance to ask where, he hears Kris’s soft snoring and soon his eyelids begin to droop and he floats off to Dreamland as well.
“Where are we going?” Chanyeol asks as Kris pulls him through the streets of Candy Kingdom. He tries not to trip over the cobbled pavements, possibly made out of sweet rocks if the smell is anything to go by.
Kris doesn’t say a word ushering them through a pair of large pink gates with the words Pokey Oaks Orphanage emblazoned at the top. There’s the twinkling peals of children’s laughter coming from inside the building, which they enter after Kris stops at the steps for a few moments.
“I haven’t been here in two months,” he says. Whether it’s to the door, himself or Chanyeol, Chanyeol has no clue.
“Let’s go in then,” Chanyeol grins, opening the door. Inside, it’s mayhem, a rainbow of colours splashed across every inch of the large room, objects flying and whizzing through the air and most importantly, dozens of kids, little and big, human or not, eating glue or whatever the spawn of Satan do.
“Kris!” A high-pitched voice squeals, and suddenly a tiny girl with long pink braids is leaping across the room, wrapping his arms and legs around Kris’s shin. “I missed you!”
Kris smiles down at Jia, patting her hair, enamoured. Chanyeol’s seen that smile so many times, as he, Kris and Jia take the elevator to the lobby in the mornings. It’s one he treasures only for her.
Chanyeol vaguely wonders if he’ll ever get to see that smile, the real smile ever again. He doesn’t want to think about it yet, but he has an inkling of fear that he’ll be trapped in this dream, if it even is one at this point, forever.
They spend a few hours in the orphanage, reading Jia books, playing dollhouse with her, before they have to leave. Kris presses a kiss to Jia’s forehead with a promise that he’ll be back soon, and she’s unwilling to let him go, latching onto his ankle like any three-year-old would. Kicking and screaming, one of the teachers has to pull her away and calm her down as they slip out unnoticed.
“She’s not your daughter?” Chanyeol asks, as they walk down the main street. He has his hands shoved in his pockets and kicks a pebble on the ground watching as it leaps forward a few metres.
“Sometimes, it feels like it. But no, she was abandoned when she was really young and I found her,” Kris explains. “I was 11. I couldn’t imagine looking after a child, so I gave her to the orphanage.”
This world must be in a time loop or something, for Kris to have been 11 when Jia’s only 3 now. Cool. Chanyeol should look into that. “And now?”
“Now I have responsibilities. Galactic protection, and that.”
“So you’re some kind of superhero?” Chanyeol says, with a grin, jabbing Kris’s side with his elbow. He earns a laugh from Kris, low and hearty. Happy.
“Something like that.”
A few days and some tacos, beer and a fruitless search for the BCWC ship later, Kris helps Chanyeol reach the last level. It was surprisingly easy because of the added advantage of Kris’s hero status and Chanyeol’s background knowledge of every level.
This one’s not as developed as most of the others but it’s the last for a reason: the Labyrinth. The most difficult, the most intense. Chanyeol’s never played it. Kris has many times.
They stand at the entrance of the maze, sky-high, smokey and terrifying as fuck. Kris tells him they’re not allowed to enter together, but through separate pathways and he clings to Kris’s arm. “Hey,” Kris whispers. “You’ll be fine. Remember what I said.”
“Don’t Panic.”
“That’s right.” Kris smiles, tugging at Chanyeol’s heartstrings. “I’ll find you, I promise. Let’s do this.”
Totally empathising with Harry Potter in the Triwizard Tournament, Chanyeol makes his way into the maze, except without the wand as added protection. He walks for what feels like days, taking twists and turns that get him nowhere, and encounters nothing. He knows what this level is. Your deepest fears. And the second he thinks it, the scenery around him morphs and transforms into an endless black.
The sound starts off quiet, like a mouse. Chanyeol can barely hear it until it starts getting louder, beating like a drum, pounding through his ears, and he curls up in a ball as familiar people surround him, yelling things like, “You’re a failure, Chanyeol” and, “Are you going to be a lowly gamer who lives with his parents for the rest of his life? Pathetic.” He covers his ears and screams.
Suddenly, he’s pulled out of the reverie and now, he’s standing over a cliff, his toes brushing the edge. A sickening feeling of vertigo overcomes him and he tips forward, until he feels a hand clutching onto the back of his shirt, dragging him back. Chanyeol stumbles against the tall body behind him, panting.
“Told you I’d come, didn’t I?” Kris says and Chanyeol nods, blinking back tears. “Come on. Try this.” He takes Chanyeol’s hand, carefully bringing them to the edge again, and he lets out a scream into the abyss. He sounds exhilarated, free. Chanyeol wants to try. He doesn’t look down as he shouts, hearing his voice echo of unseen walls, reverberating over and over again. He screams and he screams until the landscape dissolves back to the maze.
Kris, still holding Chanyeol’s hand, maneuvers them quickly and safely through the Labyrinth until they reach the end. At least, Chanyeol thinks it’s the end. It’s just black nothingness, stars twinkling in the distance. This was where he began.
“It’s time for you to go home, Chanyeol,” Kris says, after a few moments of staring into the view.
Chanyeol hesitates, squeezing Kris’s hand. He turns around, pressing a chaste kiss against Kris’s lips before whispering, “Don’t you have fears too?”
Kris smiles knowingly. “Yeah. But go find that out for yourself.” And then, he pushes Chanyeol backwards over the edge, into the darkness.
Chanyeol falls on the cold, hard ground of the basement of XO. He groans, picking himself up. He takes a glance at the monitor, which now reads [COMPLETE] and takes himself up the stairs.
Running through the corridors, he takes a detour to Joonmyun’s office where he spies Kyungsoo inside, bent over Joonmyun as he shows him something on the computer screen. Chanyeol jogs in, with no warning, and shoves Kyungsoo onto Joonmyun before escaping, cackling evilly.
He has one goal on his mind but he stops at the computers, surprised to see Baekhyun, Jongdae and Wendy still working, like he hadn’t been gone for god-knows how many days. “Guys?” Chanyeol asks shakily, entering the room.
“So, did you fix the problem?” Baekhyun shoots back, eyes not leaving the screen. Wow. Time stopped. Just for Chanyeol to sort his shit out.
“Uh yeah,” Chanyeol quickly says, before moving to leave. Before he does, he yells out, “Wendy, Jongdae and Baekhyun like-like you!”
He drives his car back home, the late hour meaning less traffic and more Chanyeol getting to the apartment block really fast. He knows Kris is leaving Jia with Jongin tonight to go to the cinema. Kris had asked him to go but Chanyeol had blown the offer off, citing work as an excuse when really he was just being totally shitty, and now’s as good a time as any to confess that he really, really likes Kris and he also really, really wants to see Guardians of the Galaxy.
“Hi,” Chanyeol breathlessly says, when he finally reaches their level to see Kris leaving his apartment. “I think I’d like to take you up on that offer.”
“Really?” Kris asks, astonished to see Chanyeol here, having run up six flights of stairs.
“Yeah.” Chanyeol nods. “But only if it’s a date. Because I’d really like to go on a date with you, Kris Wu.”
“You’re quite the charmer, Park Chanyeol.” Kris grins. “That didn’t rhyme.” He sighs.
“Lame,” Chanyeol says, stepping into Kris’s space, so close that their noses brush against each other.
“What can I say? I’m a Dad.”
“You’re lucky I like you.” Chanyeol says, leaning over to kiss Kris silly.
The sun streams in through the window, illuminating the soft baby hairs across Kris’s chest. Chanyeol tiptoes his fingers up his torso, curling the hand around Kris’s neck as he leans over to kiss his open mouth. Today’s going to be a great day. Yesterday was even greater, the showcase of Overdose to the public. The reaction was astounding and anything beyond Chanyeol’s wildest dreams. They’re calling him and his team mad geniuses.
Kris doesn’t wake up, even as Chanyeol runs a hand through his hair, scratching behind his ear, so he opts for a different method. He slides under the covers, down the length of Kris’s lithe body till he reaches his half-hard cock. One glance up at Kris confirms he’s slowly coming back to consciousness when Chanyeol drags his tongue along the side in one, long glide. “What are you doing?” Kris croaks, and then groans, when Chanyeol fits his lips around the head of his cock.
Chanyeol leans back to smirk and reply, “We’ve got an entire day to ourselves for once. Can’t waste a minute of it.” He leans back down immediately sliding his lips down Kris’s length, enveloping him in the tight, wet heat of his mouth, and giving him no chance to coherently reply.
Six rounds and three bottles of wine later, it’s nearing the evening, and Chanyeol’s got Kris on his knees in the kitchen. He jacks off to completion, watching with bleary eyes as his come splatters across Kris’s face, his open, pink mouth. There’s even a spot on his eyebrow. Chanyeol runs his fingers through the wetness, bringing them to Kris’s mouth and shutting his jaw closed. He tries not to let out the most embarrassing moan at the way Kris’s adam’s apple works as he swallows it down.
Chanyeol’s leaning over to kiss his boyfriend, maybe shove his tongue down his throat, when they hear it. Childling. Laughter. Fucking Jongin.
“Daddy, I’m home!” They can hear Jia’s voice come from the front door, and sharing a wide-eyed glance they bolt to their bedroom. Kris may be into Chanyeol calling him daddy, but this is no circumstance they want to be hearing it from their daughter.
Their daughter, Chanyeol thinks contentedly, as he washes his face in the basin, Kris doing the same.
Before they exit the bathroom, Kris grabs Chanyeol’s wrist, pulling him in for one last kiss before they have to go out there and be PG-13 again. He whispers those three little words against Chanyeol’s lips.
“Toy Story 2.”
Too bad Jia likes Chanyeol’s movie taste better. She clings to him and glares at her father as Chanyeol puts in Frozen and Kris furiously mutters, “Only 90s kids will remember.”
Chanyeol doesn’t think he’ll ever tell Kris, or anyone, about his time inside Overdose, but in the end it doesn’t matter because he’s got everything he needs, right here on Earth.