D.O. Enchanted for venerie
For: venerie
Title: D.O. Enchanted
Pairing(s): Chanyeol/D.O., (heavily)hinted!Xiumin/Luhan
Rating: PG
Length: 5.2k
Summary: Chanyeol doesn’t know who D.O. is, but he really wants to find out.
Author's note: this is such a mess omg but i hope you enjoy this as much as i enjoyed every single one of your prompts and writing this story! it was so hard to choose ;u; thank you to the lovely beta and the mods for helping me out as well! (title was inspired from ella enchanted ;u;)
Reading is frustrating. It takes too much brainpower to comprehend that three little words can make up one whole sentence with deep meaning behind it yet one could finish a thousand-page book in three days and understand a whole new world. There can be too many different interpretations and too many beginnings to actually read until the end, and Chanyeol always hears about it in his second-year literature class with his very distracted professor Kim Minseok.
“I don’t understand why ‘I am Ironman’ is an important life-altering sentence. Reading Harry Potter clearly is,” Minseok complained to them one day while they were taking an exam, “Why do I have to be dating such a dork?”
Chanyeol can sympathize with his professor. Harry Potter really was an amazing world to get lost in and live through with all the wonderful and painful adventures Harry, Hermione, and Ron experienced. Although he could understand why the Iron Man franchise has such a huge impact on its fans as well. ‘I am Ironman’ could be an important life-altering sentence to some. But that’s not what’s making his own reading experience frustrating.
What’s making Park Chanyeol’s reading experience frustrating is this unknown reader’s obvious alias in renting out books.
D.O.
D.O. is the name in five of Chanyeol’s checked out books from the high school library. It is the name listed above his own in each of the lists found on the front inside cover of each book in front of him. It is the name his dumb friend Kim Jongdae found while he was snooping through his backpack wondering what else was getting stuck in his head besides school and possible dates on the weekends.
Chanyeol frowns at the basketball book located on his far left, the other four accompanying it on the library table in front of him in an arch formation, and wonders if there really is a man (or woman) who would also rent out a book focusing on basketball besides the players on the team who actually like to read. He doesn’t think there is though, and that’s the problem.
Each of the books laid out in front of him differ in interests compared to the books next to it and he thinks it would be rare to find someone else who likes all the books that he likes, but he guesses he’s wrong, considering someone else who goes by the name D.O. likes the same books as well. And it’s not like he could believe that the borrower could be made of a few people instead of one because he’s pretty sure that the name has the same handwriting in it like the other four with it.
But it still doesn’t make sense. He knows everybody in his high school. He doesn’t know any D.O. D.O. simply does not exist. He frowns as he gets up to get the last five books he rented out before returning them last week, searching through the shelves and accidentally bumping into his smaller classmate on the way to the last book. “Sorry,” he mumbles, reaching up above him to grab the book and make his way back to his table. He hears his classmate mumble his own apology before he goes on his way.
Chanyeol opens all the books and places each one neatly on top of the ones already in his arch formation and he stares dumbfounded at the name D.O. scrawled into each one. How long has this been going on?
Literature class is Chanyeol’s favorite class of the year. He loves being one of the first students to show up and his other classmates lament how he’s always one of the first to answer ‘Cool Mr. Kim’s questions. He usually always knows what’s going on in his class and, more often than not, he usually also knows what’s going on with his professor and his personal life. But because of his close relationship to Mr. Kim, he’s allowed to space out every few minutes, watching the birds outside the classroom window fly and move about in their daily rituals.
The surprise of finding D.O.’s name in the past ten books he’s rented out has faded, allowing him to think more clearly and simply daydream about what this mystery person must be like. He’s gone through a lot of trouble to keep his or her identity a secret, considering how Chanyeol’s rifled through all the current yearbooks in the library but has yet come up with one person with those initials or name.
Maybe D.O. is a prince or princess undercover, coming to their school to run away from the duties of royalty and wanting to live a normal life. Maybe D.O. is a normal student, simplicity in his or her core and simply passing through life and going where the wind takes him or her. Maybe D.O. is actually a poor man or woman, either materially or emotionally, and is on a scholarship in their school.
Chanyeol smiles up at a cloud passing by the window. He can come up with a million versions of D.O., one different from the next like each of his beloved books, yet each D.O. he dreams up has one thing in common: the love for all the books he loves.
D.O. loves action-thriller and sappy romance books. D.O. loves classics and foreign literature. D.O. probably even loves comics and manhwa just like he does because it’s a wonderful chance to get away into a world full of colors and illustrations easily provided for them.
Even if Chanyeol can imagine all these types of D.O.’s, they also all lead back to the same thing. Chanyeol sighs as he tunes in back to Mr. Kim’s lecture, catching his concerned gaze and giving a small smile in return.
Just who is D.O.?
D.O. is a friendly online helper for creating to-do lists for day-to-day activities, according to the ever-friendly Google search engine. Beside that, D.O. is converted to the term ‘do’ and there are many definitions provided for that word. There aren’t many alternatives to the term. In fact, Chanyeol isn’t exactly sure why he resorted to a computer for help. Maybe there is a new kid in the school he doesn’t know about and isn’t even in the yearbooks yet.
Baekhyun gives him a strange look when he comes to bother him in the empty math classroom during lunch one day. “No?” he questions in confusion, “There aren’t any new students this year besides the normal first-years.”
“Are you sure?” Chanyeol asks, impatient with how slow his best friend is reacting to him, “There are no new transfers or anything?”
“Nope,” Baekhyun quips, shaking his head in the negative, “No new transfers or anything.” He raises a brow in curiosity. “Why?”
Chanyeol pouts in dejection, visibly deflating into his seat next to Baekhyun. Born in the same year but six months apart, Baekhyun is a third-year while he is a second-year. He knows all the students in his year and the years above and below him. He’s the best person to ask to figure out if there are new students in those years. But not unless there really are no new students in their school besides the first-years.
Chanyeol stares at him pleadingly before reaching over to grab his backpack off the ground and plop it on the desk in front of him, digging through it to grab one of his recently borrowed books. He opens the front cover, making sure that the name D.O. is still listed in there and it wasn’t in his wild imagination, before showing it to his best friend.
Which earns him a confused look before Baekhyun tries to register the name. “What is that?”
Chanyeol mirrors his best friend’s puzzled expression, because clearly he doesn’t know who D.O. is either if he’s asking him about the mysterious person, before looking at his book and realizing his finger is partly covering the line and only showing the letter D. “Oh,” he mumbles, moving his finger and re-showing his best friend the name, “This person. Do you know anybody named D.O.?”
Several seconds pass before Baekhyun shakes his head again. “No, I don’t. Why?”
Chanyeol frowns. “Because every book I’ve borrowed recently has his name in it.”
“What’s so special about that?”
Chanyeol feels so offended that he gasps in shock, hand going up to his chest in mock hurt. “I am appalled you call yourself my best friend.” He gives the other a sheepish smile when Baekhyun rolls his eyes at him. “Okay,” he concedes, rubbing the back of his neck, “I just think it’s amazing there’s someone else out there who reads all the same books I do.” He smiles at Baekhyun and his heart is beating faster at the idea of this certain someone he’s found just within the past day and didn’t even know that he existed until recently. “I mean, there are some people who read the books I do, but it’s usually only some. I feel like it’s rare to find someone who has the same interest in literature like me. Every single book I’ve borrowed has this person’s name in it, and I just think it’s amazing.”
There’s a moment of silence between them and Chanyeol feels breathless, suddenly speechless but happy.
According to his friends, he’s a huge literature nerd, always finding new books to read and willing to spend all his money on the best possible edition he can find of each great text. It’s probably the reason why his vision is getting so bad, because he loves to read right before bed and there’s never an adequate amount of light to keep him from squinting in the dark. He feels the smile return when he sees Baekhyun break into a smile as well, knowing how much finding another person with the same interests as him is important to him. “Then what are you doing here?” he questions fondly, “Go out and find your nerd prince or princess. I’ll ask around to see if anybody knows about this D.O. as well.”
Chanyeol doesn’t refrain from throwing his long arms around Baekhyun’s smaller frame, almost knocking both of them over due to the large difference in body mass. “You’re the best friend ever. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Baekhyun says as he laughs, patting his best friend’s back awkwardly, “Now, get off of me, underclassman. I have a tutee coming in five minutes.”
This time, Chanyeol rolls his eyes instead, separating himself from his friend and grabbing his books and backpack, “Who knew you would be that good in math?” He laughs when Baekhyun shoves him playfully in return.
“Who knew you’d be such a book-loving geek?”
Days pass by without a clue of who this D.O. person could be. Chanyeol has already asked his other friends in other classes but to no avail. Even his literature professor has no idea who this D.O. could be. “Considering how he writes his name, D.O. is most likely a male,” Minseok had said before sighing tiredly and slumping back in his leather chair, “Seriously, my favorite student is so lucky to have someone who is as interested in literature as he is. Lu Han doesn’t even like to read unless it’s on the phone and about anything regarding the Marvel universe.”
“But don’t you like anything Marvel-related too?”
“That’s beside the point!”
Chanyeol quirks his lips as he sits and stares at the scrawl of D.O.’s name in his recently borrowed book. He’s in the school gym, waiting for basketball practice to commence, and he’s still amazed that even his newly rented book has D.O.’s name in it. It’s like every book that happens to catch his attention is telling him that this person is his soul mate and it’s rising his frustration level with each passing day he receives no clue as to who this person might be. Maybe he should open up every book in the library he’s interested in and leave a note in each one telling the mysterious man to meet him at the front desk in the library on Monday after school. He frowns. But that’s a lot of work.
“Still haven’t found your prince or princess?”
Chanyeol looks up to see Yifan standing in front of him holding a basketball against his hip, expression curious as he stares up at him from his place on the court floor. “Not yet,” he answers with a lopsided smile, having gone to Yifan after going to Baekhyun about his predicament, “I haven’t figured out any other ways to search for him yet.” He watches as Yifan sighs before starting to dribble the ball.
“Well, the whole second and third-year classes already know you’re searching for this guy. Fourths too, considering-” Yifan pauses, brow scrunching together in thought, “Him? D.O. is a guy?”
Chanyeol shrugs, putting his book back in his backpack before getting up. “Mr. Kim thinks D.O. is a guy.” He gives the other a small smile. “I wonder if he’s cute.”
“You mean like you?” Yifan chuckles as he catches the basketball and turns to sling an arm around Chanyeol’s shoulders when he makes it down to him.
“I can imagine him,” Chanyeol goes on, sighing wistfully as he puts his entire weight into Yifan’s side, “He’ll be small so I can hug him close and smother him with nose kisses. Maybe he’ll wear glasses just like me because of how many books he reads late at night when he can’t sleep. Or maybe he’ll be tall and have perfect vision! He’ll read in his spare time while he plays music in the background and drinks coffee.”
Yifan laughs, moving to guide both of them to the other side of the court. “Are you falling in love with the idea of D.O.?”
“How can I not?” Chanyeol questions back, smile brightening when he sees his literature classmate glaring at their playbook. “If he likes all the same books I do, I think I can dream up of what he must be like in person.”
“It’s amazing this guy has remained a mystery for so long,” Yifan comments, removing his arm and tossing his basketball to Zitao, “Usually we all know each other in this school by the first couple of months each year.”
“Have you even tried asking the librarian?” Zitao asks, looking up at each of them with a curious gaze. “D.O. would have to check the books in and out with the librarian anyways. So, shouldn’t she know who he is by now?”
Chanyeol stares at his teammate with wide eyes, completely at a loss, because why didn’t he think of that before? He’s asked his friends and his favorite teachers if they’ve heard of somebody named D.O. before, and all of them said they didn’t have a clue as to whom that may be. They all simply understood that this mystery reader must be a student of the school because nobody else is allowed to check out the books otherwise. (Even Baekhyun who is a part of the Student Council and who knows each new student still has no clue as to who this person is.)
“Zitao,” Chanyeol addresses, wincing when his short classmate smacks him in the back with the team’s playbook, “You are a genius.”
“Practice started ten minutes ago. Get going.”
“Maybe you can ask her tomorrow who D.O. is,” Zitao suggests as he gets up to make his way towards a hoop and shoot a basket, “And then you can have your happily ever after like in those fairytales.”
“But what if he doesn’t like happily ever afters?” Chanyeol hollers back before he’s smacked on the back again, except harder this time. He winces. “Ow, okay. I’m going.” He frowns when he hears his classmate mutter something unintelligible under his breath. He thinks his book soul mate will be amazed by the effort he’s putting into figuring him out.
Chanyeol is pretty sure this only happens in dramas, television and novels alike. His backpack is heavy, filled with homework and books he has yet to finish, and it’s not making his frustration lessen any at all. His literature professor is sitting behind the front desk of the library today, looking comfortable and insanely pleased with himself as he stares at his cell phone and replies to a text he received a second prior. Why is he here instead of teaching class?
“I don’t have a class this period,” is Minseok’s answer, not even looking up from his phone where Chanyeol can read he’s texting someone called ‘Iron Lu Man,’ “The librarian is out sick today, so all the teachers are helping her out by making sure the library is safe and sound in her absence.” He only looks up after he receives a response to his recent text. “What did you need? Did you want to check your books back in?”
Chanyeol frowns in disapproval, shaking his head as he leans over the counter to try and see the recent list of students who’s rented books out. “I need the actual librarian. Not you.”
“That’s no way to talk to your teacher,” Minseok retorts even if there’s no real bite behind it. He gives him a curious look. “What did you need?”
“I need to find out who D.O. is.” Chanyeol pouts when Minseok moves the list away from him with the simple word “Confidential” as his explanation. He looks up at him. “Has he checked out any books today?”
Minseok gives him a look before looking down at the list to read the recent checkouts of the library. He hums as he does so, quickly scanning the four names listed before he simply says. “Nope. No D.O. present.” He looks up at him then, sympathy present in his expression. “Still haven’t found him?”
Chanyeol visibly deflates as his shoulders slump in defeat. “No,” he mumbles, lightly kicking the desk in front of him, “I still haven’t found my D.O. yet.”
Minseok looks suddenly amused. “Your D.O.?”
Embarrassment is in Chanyeol’s Top Five Enemies list, with D.O.’s mystery as first, only because it’s so easy to see when he gets embarrassed. His ears are abnormally large and they have the ability to turn bright red within a minute when he feels bashful. Just like now. He groans childishly, looking down and toeing at the ground. “It’s getting bad,” he admits, “Even Yifan has noticed I’m becoming too infatuated with an idea of a person.”
“Excuse me,” somebody suddenly interrupts, both Minseok and Chanyeol looking over to see the latter’s classmate standing beside him. “May I check out this book?”
“Oh. Hello, Kyungsoo.” Minseok greets as he quickly wakes the computer up so he can scan the barcode inside the book. “Which book are you checking out this time?”
Kyungsoo shrugs, reaching out for the pen and notebook to leave his signature next to the date and time he checked out the book. “Just something that caught my eye.”
Chanyeol remains silent, watching as his classmate signs his name Do Kyungsoo as Minseok scans the book into the system. He doesn’t really talk to Kyungsoo on a regular basis. They usually only greet each other in passing or in class and it doesn’t really help that Kyungsoo doesn’t willingly talk to him first if he could help it.
“Alright, Do Kyungsoo,” Minseok reads out, “You know you need to return this book in two weeks. You have up until three to check it back in however since you’re a valued borrower of the library.”
Kyungsoo laughs at that and Chanyeol smiles at the sound. It sounds so deep and rich. He watches as the other takes his leave before looking back down to the list in the notebook. Do Kyungsoo is such an interesting guy physically, shoulders so narrow and body so petite that it’s a surprise that he’s able to keep Baekhyun in line whenever they have student council meetings every month, or so Chanyeol’s heard. He frowns slightly at reading the name scrawled on the line.
“Kyungsoo is such a nice kid,” Minseok comments fondly, “I hope my future child will be like him.”
The ‘D’ in Kyungsoo’s name looks familiar. The little curl of the character looks similar for some reason. The frown on his face turns into a pout as he twists and reaches for a book at the top of his backpack, opening it to the front page and staring at D.O.’s name on the line written above his own.
“He reads so much,” Minseok continues on, scrolling through the computer log, “I wonder if he reads the same amount as you do, Chanyeol.” He starts to laugh after a few silent seconds. “What if D.O. is just an odd way to write Do? I don’t know why Kyungsoo can’t just write his full name like everyone else though.” He smiles at Chanyeol then. “What if Kyungsoo is your mystery man after all? You two are in all the same classes, it would be amusing to see if you were searching for him all this time.”
Chanyeol’s eyes widen at the comparison of the names written in the notebook and his own rented book. The D’s are similar.
“Chanyeol?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Kim,” Chanyeol breathes out, stuffing his book back into his backpack before taking off out of the library, “There’s something I need to do.”
It turns out, there are quite a lot of things Chanyeol needs to do. He needs to study for his math exam he has the next day and he realizes he doesn’t really understand what’s going on in the class right now.
“What did I tell you about studying, Park?” Baekhyun reprimands him immediately. “You’re going to easily fall behind if you don’t pay attention to what’s going on in class.”
Chanyeol feels like a kicked puppy, gaze directed towards the floor with his shoulders slumped, because he knows Baekhyun is right. He always is when it comes to school and trying to prioritize his grades and personal life. But he can’t help it. He always gets easily distracted when it comes to his books and fantasy worlds.
“Have you figured out who this D.O. is?” Baekhyun questions next, voice soft and understanding. “Do you know if he’s in your year or not?”
Chanyeol looks up at the questions, noticing Baekhyun’s genuine interest. He gives him a small smile. “Mr. Kim joked saying it could be Kyungsoo since his last name is Do and consists of the letters D and O.”
“Really?” Baekhyun asks, eyebrows shooting up his forehead, and Chanyeol shrugs in response, moving to sit in front of him in the library. “Could it be that simple? How did he come up with that?”
“I don’t know,” Chanyeol confesses, slumping back in his chair and messing with the strap on his backpack. “Kyungsoo checked out a book yesterday while Mr. Kim and I were talking, and Mr. Kim kept saying how nice of a student Kyungsoo is. He’s always quiet and reading.” He pouts in thought. “It wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if Kyungsoo turned out to be D.O. Right?”
A moment of silence falls between them before Baekhyun gets up, Chanyeol staring at him as he goes around his table to go to the yearbook shelf of the library. It really wouldn’t be that bad, Chanyeol thinks. Kyungsoo is small. He can hug him easily and give him nose kisses all he wants.
“If you’re going by this logic,” Baekhyun says as he returns with the most recent yearbooks that include their school’s current fourth-years, “We have to check every student with the possible last name Do. First name too.”
Chanyeol thinks it’s a brilliant idea until the students are surprisingly narrowed down to three. One is a fourth-year while the second is a third-year like Baekhyun, and Baekhyun hums in slight confusion. “I forgot he used to go here,” he mumbles before flipping the page back to the fourth-year who’s a female. “And if we’re going by what Mr. Kim said, D.O. isn’t a female.”
Chanyeol frowns as that leaves Kyungsoo as his only plausible choice.
Observing Kyungsoo from afar is a more difficult task than Chanyeol first thought, only because Yifan and Zitao are just as large as he is and they’re not easy to move around in the hallways of the school. They’re all moving silently with minimal arguments until they make it into the library to see Baekhyun already sitting at one of the empty tables waiting for them. He smiles when Baekhyun points to the librarian and then points to a shelf in the Classics section of the library.
“She says he’s here,” Baekhyun whispers when they make it to his table, Yifan lugging his backpack onto an available chair. “Kyungsoo’s the only one in the library that I found with any hints to the name D.O.” He shrugs then. “I also could simply be biased.”
The hope in Chanyeol’s chest flares anyways as he immediately leaves them to go search for his possible book-mate, stopping at an aisle where he sees Kyungsoo reaching for a book on the top shelf. The scene is so cliché and typical of young adult novels, but he can’t help but smile, walking over to stand behind Kyungsoo and get the book for him. Except Kyungsoo accidentally elbows him in the gut at the sudden close proximity and Chanyeol stumbles backwards into the opposite shelves of books.
“Oh!” Kyungsoo exclaims, eyes wide as he turns to grab onto Chanyeol’s outstretched arm. “I’m sorry!”
Chanyeol doesn’t expect his possible D.O. to be surprisingly compact with strength. He still smiles brightly when he holds out the book though. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to surprise you.”
The expression on Kyungsoo’s face transforms into one of gratitude and Chanyeol realizes belatedly that the book he grabbed was the one he borrowed months ago. “Thank you,” Kyungsoo says, small smile on his lips as he takes the proffered book. “I heard this book was pretty good.”
Chanyeol laughs, the sound too loud in the too quiet library. “It is. I couldn’t put it down when I borrowed it a few months ago.”
Kyungsoo smiles up at him. “That’s what I heard.”
And like an overgrown puppy, Chanyeol immediately moves to follow after Kyungsoo when he turns to leave, causing him to laugh when he accompanies him to the front desk. He watches as Kyungsoo checks the book out and writes his name in the log again.
“You know your privileges,” the librarian quietly says, both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo looking up to face her equally, “Three weeks max, Mr. D-”
“Yes, Ms. Jung,” Kyungsoo interrupts, Chanyeol looking at him confused before Kyungsoo simply grabs his book and smiles up at him again. “Thank you again, Chanyeol. I’ll see you in class.”
Chanyeol watches as he leaves, the librarian sighing fondly at him before going back to her work. He wonders. Is D.O. Do Kyungsoo? He has to be, right? He looks back at the librarian curiously and all she does is give him a knowing smile, turning her computer monitor so he can see the virtual log of the library. The names listed makes a smile grow on his face as he reads what the librarians have to type in to ensure they know which book is being borrowed by which student.
“Is Kyungsoo really D.O.?” Yifan questions as he comes up to him and slings an arm around his shoulders.
The librarian quickly turns her monitor away from them and Chanyeol laughs, looking to his friend and shrugging. “Maybe,” he simply says, letting his friend lead him back to their table to study for their upcoming exams. He doesn’t answer any further questions regarding his mystery nerd prince.
Chanyeol doesn’t see Kyungsoo again until their Chemistry class the next morning. Kyungsoo’s already in his assigned seat when Chanyeol shows up, tie crooked and shirt haphazardly tucked into his slacks, as he stands by the doorway breathless. He didn’t even run to school that morning, but just the thought of finally meeting his possible soul mate is enough to make him breathless and feel like he’s soaring through the fantastical skies in his head. He smiles as he makes his way for a sleepy Kyungsoo glaring at the whiteboards at the front of the class. Is he in a bad mood? Does he need glasses?
“Good morning, Kyungsoo,” he greets, trying to contain his abnormally loud voice so early in the day. His smile brightens when Kyungsoo immediately looks away from the board to look up at him with unnaturally wide eyes.
“Chanyeol?” he questions, sounding very confused, “Good morning.”
There’s a beat of silence before Chanyeol quickly takes the empty seat next to him, backpack hitting the back of the chair in his haste. His eyes are bright and he feels like he’s full of happiness delight, hoping his speculations are true. After all, Sherlock Holmes is one of his many heroes. “Have you heard of the name D.O.?”
Kyungsoo’s eyes widen the littlest bit before he relaxes completely, expression completely calm but a hint of amusement in his eyes. “I’ve heard you’ve been searching for the person behind that name.”
Chanyeol bites his lip in hesitation at the reaction, keeping quiet for a minute before speaking again. “Are you D.O.?” He blurts out, knowing at least ninety-nine percent that he really is D.O., if the librarian helping him out had any say in it. His heart is racing. “I mean,” he continues on, hands coming up to fiddle with the straps of his backpack, “D.O. has the same letters as your last name, and you’re always borrowing books from the library. Sometimes it’s the same books I borrow after I return them like yesterday.”
“Sometimes you borrow the same books I return,” Kyungsoo says with a shrug, the corners of his lips pulling up the slightest bit, “You’re always borrowing books too.”
“Nobody even knows who this D.O. person is, probably except the librarian, and it’s killing me because I think we could be something else. We can get lost in worlds together and fight monsters in our imaginations. I think it’d be the coolest thing ever and maybe we could be soul mates of some kind like in those books I read a few months ago.” Chanyeol rambles on, now looking at everywhere besides Kyungsoo, before he feels a hand land on his knee. His eyes widen in surprise as he flinches in shock at the sudden touch.
“Is this what you’ve been telling Baekhyun and Yifan?” Kyungsoo questions, expression still deceitfully calm. Chanyeol silently nods in affirmation. Kyungsoo smiles then. “Were you really this obsessed in finding out who I am?”
“You’re at the top of my Amazon wish list,” Chanyeol blurts out, surprising Kyungsoo into removing his hand from his knee. He slaps a hand over his mouth as he practically feels his ears turn red in embarrassment. He didn’t exactly imagine this whole scenario to pan out like this. Maybe in his favorite literature class instead of Chemistry should’ve been a good start. “I mean-”
Kyungsoo laughs then, sounding a bit awkward but smile as bright as the sun and eyes crinkling in amusement. “I’m pretty sure I can live up to all of your Great Expectations.”
Chanyeol thinks he’s fallen in love.
Final author's note: i hope i caught all the things i needed to do html stuff with otl. i also hope that i did all of this right ;u;
Title: D.O. Enchanted
Pairing(s): Chanyeol/D.O., (heavily)hinted!Xiumin/Luhan
Rating: PG
Length: 5.2k
Summary: Chanyeol doesn’t know who D.O. is, but he really wants to find out.
Author's note: this is such a mess omg but i hope you enjoy this as much as i enjoyed every single one of your prompts and writing this story! it was so hard to choose ;u; thank you to the lovely beta and the mods for helping me out as well! (title was inspired from ella enchanted ;u;)
Reading is frustrating. It takes too much brainpower to comprehend that three little words can make up one whole sentence with deep meaning behind it yet one could finish a thousand-page book in three days and understand a whole new world. There can be too many different interpretations and too many beginnings to actually read until the end, and Chanyeol always hears about it in his second-year literature class with his very distracted professor Kim Minseok.
“I don’t understand why ‘I am Ironman’ is an important life-altering sentence. Reading Harry Potter clearly is,” Minseok complained to them one day while they were taking an exam, “Why do I have to be dating such a dork?”
Chanyeol can sympathize with his professor. Harry Potter really was an amazing world to get lost in and live through with all the wonderful and painful adventures Harry, Hermione, and Ron experienced. Although he could understand why the Iron Man franchise has such a huge impact on its fans as well. ‘I am Ironman’ could be an important life-altering sentence to some. But that’s not what’s making his own reading experience frustrating.
What’s making Park Chanyeol’s reading experience frustrating is this unknown reader’s obvious alias in renting out books.
D.O.
D.O. is the name in five of Chanyeol’s checked out books from the high school library. It is the name listed above his own in each of the lists found on the front inside cover of each book in front of him. It is the name his dumb friend Kim Jongdae found while he was snooping through his backpack wondering what else was getting stuck in his head besides school and possible dates on the weekends.
Chanyeol frowns at the basketball book located on his far left, the other four accompanying it on the library table in front of him in an arch formation, and wonders if there really is a man (or woman) who would also rent out a book focusing on basketball besides the players on the team who actually like to read. He doesn’t think there is though, and that’s the problem.
Each of the books laid out in front of him differ in interests compared to the books next to it and he thinks it would be rare to find someone else who likes all the books that he likes, but he guesses he’s wrong, considering someone else who goes by the name D.O. likes the same books as well. And it’s not like he could believe that the borrower could be made of a few people instead of one because he’s pretty sure that the name has the same handwriting in it like the other four with it.
But it still doesn’t make sense. He knows everybody in his high school. He doesn’t know any D.O. D.O. simply does not exist. He frowns as he gets up to get the last five books he rented out before returning them last week, searching through the shelves and accidentally bumping into his smaller classmate on the way to the last book. “Sorry,” he mumbles, reaching up above him to grab the book and make his way back to his table. He hears his classmate mumble his own apology before he goes on his way.
Chanyeol opens all the books and places each one neatly on top of the ones already in his arch formation and he stares dumbfounded at the name D.O. scrawled into each one. How long has this been going on?
Literature class is Chanyeol’s favorite class of the year. He loves being one of the first students to show up and his other classmates lament how he’s always one of the first to answer ‘Cool Mr. Kim’s questions. He usually always knows what’s going on in his class and, more often than not, he usually also knows what’s going on with his professor and his personal life. But because of his close relationship to Mr. Kim, he’s allowed to space out every few minutes, watching the birds outside the classroom window fly and move about in their daily rituals.
The surprise of finding D.O.’s name in the past ten books he’s rented out has faded, allowing him to think more clearly and simply daydream about what this mystery person must be like. He’s gone through a lot of trouble to keep his or her identity a secret, considering how Chanyeol’s rifled through all the current yearbooks in the library but has yet come up with one person with those initials or name.
Maybe D.O. is a prince or princess undercover, coming to their school to run away from the duties of royalty and wanting to live a normal life. Maybe D.O. is a normal student, simplicity in his or her core and simply passing through life and going where the wind takes him or her. Maybe D.O. is actually a poor man or woman, either materially or emotionally, and is on a scholarship in their school.
Chanyeol smiles up at a cloud passing by the window. He can come up with a million versions of D.O., one different from the next like each of his beloved books, yet each D.O. he dreams up has one thing in common: the love for all the books he loves.
D.O. loves action-thriller and sappy romance books. D.O. loves classics and foreign literature. D.O. probably even loves comics and manhwa just like he does because it’s a wonderful chance to get away into a world full of colors and illustrations easily provided for them.
Even if Chanyeol can imagine all these types of D.O.’s, they also all lead back to the same thing. Chanyeol sighs as he tunes in back to Mr. Kim’s lecture, catching his concerned gaze and giving a small smile in return.
Just who is D.O.?
D.O. is a friendly online helper for creating to-do lists for day-to-day activities, according to the ever-friendly Google search engine. Beside that, D.O. is converted to the term ‘do’ and there are many definitions provided for that word. There aren’t many alternatives to the term. In fact, Chanyeol isn’t exactly sure why he resorted to a computer for help. Maybe there is a new kid in the school he doesn’t know about and isn’t even in the yearbooks yet.
Baekhyun gives him a strange look when he comes to bother him in the empty math classroom during lunch one day. “No?” he questions in confusion, “There aren’t any new students this year besides the normal first-years.”
“Are you sure?” Chanyeol asks, impatient with how slow his best friend is reacting to him, “There are no new transfers or anything?”
“Nope,” Baekhyun quips, shaking his head in the negative, “No new transfers or anything.” He raises a brow in curiosity. “Why?”
Chanyeol pouts in dejection, visibly deflating into his seat next to Baekhyun. Born in the same year but six months apart, Baekhyun is a third-year while he is a second-year. He knows all the students in his year and the years above and below him. He’s the best person to ask to figure out if there are new students in those years. But not unless there really are no new students in their school besides the first-years.
Chanyeol stares at him pleadingly before reaching over to grab his backpack off the ground and plop it on the desk in front of him, digging through it to grab one of his recently borrowed books. He opens the front cover, making sure that the name D.O. is still listed in there and it wasn’t in his wild imagination, before showing it to his best friend.
Which earns him a confused look before Baekhyun tries to register the name. “What is that?”
Chanyeol mirrors his best friend’s puzzled expression, because clearly he doesn’t know who D.O. is either if he’s asking him about the mysterious person, before looking at his book and realizing his finger is partly covering the line and only showing the letter D. “Oh,” he mumbles, moving his finger and re-showing his best friend the name, “This person. Do you know anybody named D.O.?”
Several seconds pass before Baekhyun shakes his head again. “No, I don’t. Why?”
Chanyeol frowns. “Because every book I’ve borrowed recently has his name in it.”
“What’s so special about that?”
Chanyeol feels so offended that he gasps in shock, hand going up to his chest in mock hurt. “I am appalled you call yourself my best friend.” He gives the other a sheepish smile when Baekhyun rolls his eyes at him. “Okay,” he concedes, rubbing the back of his neck, “I just think it’s amazing there’s someone else out there who reads all the same books I do.” He smiles at Baekhyun and his heart is beating faster at the idea of this certain someone he’s found just within the past day and didn’t even know that he existed until recently. “I mean, there are some people who read the books I do, but it’s usually only some. I feel like it’s rare to find someone who has the same interest in literature like me. Every single book I’ve borrowed has this person’s name in it, and I just think it’s amazing.”
There’s a moment of silence between them and Chanyeol feels breathless, suddenly speechless but happy.
According to his friends, he’s a huge literature nerd, always finding new books to read and willing to spend all his money on the best possible edition he can find of each great text. It’s probably the reason why his vision is getting so bad, because he loves to read right before bed and there’s never an adequate amount of light to keep him from squinting in the dark. He feels the smile return when he sees Baekhyun break into a smile as well, knowing how much finding another person with the same interests as him is important to him. “Then what are you doing here?” he questions fondly, “Go out and find your nerd prince or princess. I’ll ask around to see if anybody knows about this D.O. as well.”
Chanyeol doesn’t refrain from throwing his long arms around Baekhyun’s smaller frame, almost knocking both of them over due to the large difference in body mass. “You’re the best friend ever. You know that, right?”
“Yeah, yeah,” Baekhyun says as he laughs, patting his best friend’s back awkwardly, “Now, get off of me, underclassman. I have a tutee coming in five minutes.”
This time, Chanyeol rolls his eyes instead, separating himself from his friend and grabbing his books and backpack, “Who knew you would be that good in math?” He laughs when Baekhyun shoves him playfully in return.
“Who knew you’d be such a book-loving geek?”
Days pass by without a clue of who this D.O. person could be. Chanyeol has already asked his other friends in other classes but to no avail. Even his literature professor has no idea who this D.O. could be. “Considering how he writes his name, D.O. is most likely a male,” Minseok had said before sighing tiredly and slumping back in his leather chair, “Seriously, my favorite student is so lucky to have someone who is as interested in literature as he is. Lu Han doesn’t even like to read unless it’s on the phone and about anything regarding the Marvel universe.”
“But don’t you like anything Marvel-related too?”
“That’s beside the point!”
Chanyeol quirks his lips as he sits and stares at the scrawl of D.O.’s name in his recently borrowed book. He’s in the school gym, waiting for basketball practice to commence, and he’s still amazed that even his newly rented book has D.O.’s name in it. It’s like every book that happens to catch his attention is telling him that this person is his soul mate and it’s rising his frustration level with each passing day he receives no clue as to who this person might be. Maybe he should open up every book in the library he’s interested in and leave a note in each one telling the mysterious man to meet him at the front desk in the library on Monday after school. He frowns. But that’s a lot of work.
“Still haven’t found your prince or princess?”
Chanyeol looks up to see Yifan standing in front of him holding a basketball against his hip, expression curious as he stares up at him from his place on the court floor. “Not yet,” he answers with a lopsided smile, having gone to Yifan after going to Baekhyun about his predicament, “I haven’t figured out any other ways to search for him yet.” He watches as Yifan sighs before starting to dribble the ball.
“Well, the whole second and third-year classes already know you’re searching for this guy. Fourths too, considering-” Yifan pauses, brow scrunching together in thought, “Him? D.O. is a guy?”
Chanyeol shrugs, putting his book back in his backpack before getting up. “Mr. Kim thinks D.O. is a guy.” He gives the other a small smile. “I wonder if he’s cute.”
“You mean like you?” Yifan chuckles as he catches the basketball and turns to sling an arm around Chanyeol’s shoulders when he makes it down to him.
“I can imagine him,” Chanyeol goes on, sighing wistfully as he puts his entire weight into Yifan’s side, “He’ll be small so I can hug him close and smother him with nose kisses. Maybe he’ll wear glasses just like me because of how many books he reads late at night when he can’t sleep. Or maybe he’ll be tall and have perfect vision! He’ll read in his spare time while he plays music in the background and drinks coffee.”
Yifan laughs, moving to guide both of them to the other side of the court. “Are you falling in love with the idea of D.O.?”
“How can I not?” Chanyeol questions back, smile brightening when he sees his literature classmate glaring at their playbook. “If he likes all the same books I do, I think I can dream up of what he must be like in person.”
“It’s amazing this guy has remained a mystery for so long,” Yifan comments, removing his arm and tossing his basketball to Zitao, “Usually we all know each other in this school by the first couple of months each year.”
“Have you even tried asking the librarian?” Zitao asks, looking up at each of them with a curious gaze. “D.O. would have to check the books in and out with the librarian anyways. So, shouldn’t she know who he is by now?”
Chanyeol stares at his teammate with wide eyes, completely at a loss, because why didn’t he think of that before? He’s asked his friends and his favorite teachers if they’ve heard of somebody named D.O. before, and all of them said they didn’t have a clue as to whom that may be. They all simply understood that this mystery reader must be a student of the school because nobody else is allowed to check out the books otherwise. (Even Baekhyun who is a part of the Student Council and who knows each new student still has no clue as to who this person is.)
“Zitao,” Chanyeol addresses, wincing when his short classmate smacks him in the back with the team’s playbook, “You are a genius.”
“Practice started ten minutes ago. Get going.”
“Maybe you can ask her tomorrow who D.O. is,” Zitao suggests as he gets up to make his way towards a hoop and shoot a basket, “And then you can have your happily ever after like in those fairytales.”
“But what if he doesn’t like happily ever afters?” Chanyeol hollers back before he’s smacked on the back again, except harder this time. He winces. “Ow, okay. I’m going.” He frowns when he hears his classmate mutter something unintelligible under his breath. He thinks his book soul mate will be amazed by the effort he’s putting into figuring him out.
Chanyeol is pretty sure this only happens in dramas, television and novels alike. His backpack is heavy, filled with homework and books he has yet to finish, and it’s not making his frustration lessen any at all. His literature professor is sitting behind the front desk of the library today, looking comfortable and insanely pleased with himself as he stares at his cell phone and replies to a text he received a second prior. Why is he here instead of teaching class?
“I don’t have a class this period,” is Minseok’s answer, not even looking up from his phone where Chanyeol can read he’s texting someone called ‘Iron Lu Man,’ “The librarian is out sick today, so all the teachers are helping her out by making sure the library is safe and sound in her absence.” He only looks up after he receives a response to his recent text. “What did you need? Did you want to check your books back in?”
Chanyeol frowns in disapproval, shaking his head as he leans over the counter to try and see the recent list of students who’s rented books out. “I need the actual librarian. Not you.”
“That’s no way to talk to your teacher,” Minseok retorts even if there’s no real bite behind it. He gives him a curious look. “What did you need?”
“I need to find out who D.O. is.” Chanyeol pouts when Minseok moves the list away from him with the simple word “Confidential” as his explanation. He looks up at him. “Has he checked out any books today?”
Minseok gives him a look before looking down at the list to read the recent checkouts of the library. He hums as he does so, quickly scanning the four names listed before he simply says. “Nope. No D.O. present.” He looks up at him then, sympathy present in his expression. “Still haven’t found him?”
Chanyeol visibly deflates as his shoulders slump in defeat. “No,” he mumbles, lightly kicking the desk in front of him, “I still haven’t found my D.O. yet.”
Minseok looks suddenly amused. “Your D.O.?”
Embarrassment is in Chanyeol’s Top Five Enemies list, with D.O.’s mystery as first, only because it’s so easy to see when he gets embarrassed. His ears are abnormally large and they have the ability to turn bright red within a minute when he feels bashful. Just like now. He groans childishly, looking down and toeing at the ground. “It’s getting bad,” he admits, “Even Yifan has noticed I’m becoming too infatuated with an idea of a person.”
“Excuse me,” somebody suddenly interrupts, both Minseok and Chanyeol looking over to see the latter’s classmate standing beside him. “May I check out this book?”
“Oh. Hello, Kyungsoo.” Minseok greets as he quickly wakes the computer up so he can scan the barcode inside the book. “Which book are you checking out this time?”
Kyungsoo shrugs, reaching out for the pen and notebook to leave his signature next to the date and time he checked out the book. “Just something that caught my eye.”
Chanyeol remains silent, watching as his classmate signs his name Do Kyungsoo as Minseok scans the book into the system. He doesn’t really talk to Kyungsoo on a regular basis. They usually only greet each other in passing or in class and it doesn’t really help that Kyungsoo doesn’t willingly talk to him first if he could help it.
“Alright, Do Kyungsoo,” Minseok reads out, “You know you need to return this book in two weeks. You have up until three to check it back in however since you’re a valued borrower of the library.”
Kyungsoo laughs at that and Chanyeol smiles at the sound. It sounds so deep and rich. He watches as the other takes his leave before looking back down to the list in the notebook. Do Kyungsoo is such an interesting guy physically, shoulders so narrow and body so petite that it’s a surprise that he’s able to keep Baekhyun in line whenever they have student council meetings every month, or so Chanyeol’s heard. He frowns slightly at reading the name scrawled on the line.
“Kyungsoo is such a nice kid,” Minseok comments fondly, “I hope my future child will be like him.”
The ‘D’ in Kyungsoo’s name looks familiar. The little curl of the character looks similar for some reason. The frown on his face turns into a pout as he twists and reaches for a book at the top of his backpack, opening it to the front page and staring at D.O.’s name on the line written above his own.
“He reads so much,” Minseok continues on, scrolling through the computer log, “I wonder if he reads the same amount as you do, Chanyeol.” He starts to laugh after a few silent seconds. “What if D.O. is just an odd way to write Do? I don’t know why Kyungsoo can’t just write his full name like everyone else though.” He smiles at Chanyeol then. “What if Kyungsoo is your mystery man after all? You two are in all the same classes, it would be amusing to see if you were searching for him all this time.”
Chanyeol’s eyes widen at the comparison of the names written in the notebook and his own rented book. The D’s are similar.
“Chanyeol?”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Kim,” Chanyeol breathes out, stuffing his book back into his backpack before taking off out of the library, “There’s something I need to do.”
It turns out, there are quite a lot of things Chanyeol needs to do. He needs to study for his math exam he has the next day and he realizes he doesn’t really understand what’s going on in the class right now.
“What did I tell you about studying, Park?” Baekhyun reprimands him immediately. “You’re going to easily fall behind if you don’t pay attention to what’s going on in class.”
Chanyeol feels like a kicked puppy, gaze directed towards the floor with his shoulders slumped, because he knows Baekhyun is right. He always is when it comes to school and trying to prioritize his grades and personal life. But he can’t help it. He always gets easily distracted when it comes to his books and fantasy worlds.
“Have you figured out who this D.O. is?” Baekhyun questions next, voice soft and understanding. “Do you know if he’s in your year or not?”
Chanyeol looks up at the questions, noticing Baekhyun’s genuine interest. He gives him a small smile. “Mr. Kim joked saying it could be Kyungsoo since his last name is Do and consists of the letters D and O.”
“Really?” Baekhyun asks, eyebrows shooting up his forehead, and Chanyeol shrugs in response, moving to sit in front of him in the library. “Could it be that simple? How did he come up with that?”
“I don’t know,” Chanyeol confesses, slumping back in his chair and messing with the strap on his backpack. “Kyungsoo checked out a book yesterday while Mr. Kim and I were talking, and Mr. Kim kept saying how nice of a student Kyungsoo is. He’s always quiet and reading.” He pouts in thought. “It wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if Kyungsoo turned out to be D.O. Right?”
A moment of silence falls between them before Baekhyun gets up, Chanyeol staring at him as he goes around his table to go to the yearbook shelf of the library. It really wouldn’t be that bad, Chanyeol thinks. Kyungsoo is small. He can hug him easily and give him nose kisses all he wants.
“If you’re going by this logic,” Baekhyun says as he returns with the most recent yearbooks that include their school’s current fourth-years, “We have to check every student with the possible last name Do. First name too.”
Chanyeol thinks it’s a brilliant idea until the students are surprisingly narrowed down to three. One is a fourth-year while the second is a third-year like Baekhyun, and Baekhyun hums in slight confusion. “I forgot he used to go here,” he mumbles before flipping the page back to the fourth-year who’s a female. “And if we’re going by what Mr. Kim said, D.O. isn’t a female.”
Chanyeol frowns as that leaves Kyungsoo as his only plausible choice.
Observing Kyungsoo from afar is a more difficult task than Chanyeol first thought, only because Yifan and Zitao are just as large as he is and they’re not easy to move around in the hallways of the school. They’re all moving silently with minimal arguments until they make it into the library to see Baekhyun already sitting at one of the empty tables waiting for them. He smiles when Baekhyun points to the librarian and then points to a shelf in the Classics section of the library.
“She says he’s here,” Baekhyun whispers when they make it to his table, Yifan lugging his backpack onto an available chair. “Kyungsoo’s the only one in the library that I found with any hints to the name D.O.” He shrugs then. “I also could simply be biased.”
The hope in Chanyeol’s chest flares anyways as he immediately leaves them to go search for his possible book-mate, stopping at an aisle where he sees Kyungsoo reaching for a book on the top shelf. The scene is so cliché and typical of young adult novels, but he can’t help but smile, walking over to stand behind Kyungsoo and get the book for him. Except Kyungsoo accidentally elbows him in the gut at the sudden close proximity and Chanyeol stumbles backwards into the opposite shelves of books.
“Oh!” Kyungsoo exclaims, eyes wide as he turns to grab onto Chanyeol’s outstretched arm. “I’m sorry!”
Chanyeol doesn’t expect his possible D.O. to be surprisingly compact with strength. He still smiles brightly when he holds out the book though. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to surprise you.”
The expression on Kyungsoo’s face transforms into one of gratitude and Chanyeol realizes belatedly that the book he grabbed was the one he borrowed months ago. “Thank you,” Kyungsoo says, small smile on his lips as he takes the proffered book. “I heard this book was pretty good.”
Chanyeol laughs, the sound too loud in the too quiet library. “It is. I couldn’t put it down when I borrowed it a few months ago.”
Kyungsoo smiles up at him. “That’s what I heard.”
And like an overgrown puppy, Chanyeol immediately moves to follow after Kyungsoo when he turns to leave, causing him to laugh when he accompanies him to the front desk. He watches as Kyungsoo checks the book out and writes his name in the log again.
“You know your privileges,” the librarian quietly says, both Chanyeol and Kyungsoo looking up to face her equally, “Three weeks max, Mr. D-”
“Yes, Ms. Jung,” Kyungsoo interrupts, Chanyeol looking at him confused before Kyungsoo simply grabs his book and smiles up at him again. “Thank you again, Chanyeol. I’ll see you in class.”
Chanyeol watches as he leaves, the librarian sighing fondly at him before going back to her work. He wonders. Is D.O. Do Kyungsoo? He has to be, right? He looks back at the librarian curiously and all she does is give him a knowing smile, turning her computer monitor so he can see the virtual log of the library. The names listed makes a smile grow on his face as he reads what the librarians have to type in to ensure they know which book is being borrowed by which student.
“Is Kyungsoo really D.O.?” Yifan questions as he comes up to him and slings an arm around his shoulders.
The librarian quickly turns her monitor away from them and Chanyeol laughs, looking to his friend and shrugging. “Maybe,” he simply says, letting his friend lead him back to their table to study for their upcoming exams. He doesn’t answer any further questions regarding his mystery nerd prince.
Chanyeol doesn’t see Kyungsoo again until their Chemistry class the next morning. Kyungsoo’s already in his assigned seat when Chanyeol shows up, tie crooked and shirt haphazardly tucked into his slacks, as he stands by the doorway breathless. He didn’t even run to school that morning, but just the thought of finally meeting his possible soul mate is enough to make him breathless and feel like he’s soaring through the fantastical skies in his head. He smiles as he makes his way for a sleepy Kyungsoo glaring at the whiteboards at the front of the class. Is he in a bad mood? Does he need glasses?
“Good morning, Kyungsoo,” he greets, trying to contain his abnormally loud voice so early in the day. His smile brightens when Kyungsoo immediately looks away from the board to look up at him with unnaturally wide eyes.
“Chanyeol?” he questions, sounding very confused, “Good morning.”
There’s a beat of silence before Chanyeol quickly takes the empty seat next to him, backpack hitting the back of the chair in his haste. His eyes are bright and he feels like he’s full of happiness delight, hoping his speculations are true. After all, Sherlock Holmes is one of his many heroes. “Have you heard of the name D.O.?”
Kyungsoo’s eyes widen the littlest bit before he relaxes completely, expression completely calm but a hint of amusement in his eyes. “I’ve heard you’ve been searching for the person behind that name.”
Chanyeol bites his lip in hesitation at the reaction, keeping quiet for a minute before speaking again. “Are you D.O.?” He blurts out, knowing at least ninety-nine percent that he really is D.O., if the librarian helping him out had any say in it. His heart is racing. “I mean,” he continues on, hands coming up to fiddle with the straps of his backpack, “D.O. has the same letters as your last name, and you’re always borrowing books from the library. Sometimes it’s the same books I borrow after I return them like yesterday.”
“Sometimes you borrow the same books I return,” Kyungsoo says with a shrug, the corners of his lips pulling up the slightest bit, “You’re always borrowing books too.”
“Nobody even knows who this D.O. person is, probably except the librarian, and it’s killing me because I think we could be something else. We can get lost in worlds together and fight monsters in our imaginations. I think it’d be the coolest thing ever and maybe we could be soul mates of some kind like in those books I read a few months ago.” Chanyeol rambles on, now looking at everywhere besides Kyungsoo, before he feels a hand land on his knee. His eyes widen in surprise as he flinches in shock at the sudden touch.
“Is this what you’ve been telling Baekhyun and Yifan?” Kyungsoo questions, expression still deceitfully calm. Chanyeol silently nods in affirmation. Kyungsoo smiles then. “Were you really this obsessed in finding out who I am?”
“You’re at the top of my Amazon wish list,” Chanyeol blurts out, surprising Kyungsoo into removing his hand from his knee. He slaps a hand over his mouth as he practically feels his ears turn red in embarrassment. He didn’t exactly imagine this whole scenario to pan out like this. Maybe in his favorite literature class instead of Chemistry should’ve been a good start. “I mean-”
Kyungsoo laughs then, sounding a bit awkward but smile as bright as the sun and eyes crinkling in amusement. “I’m pretty sure I can live up to all of your Great Expectations.”
Chanyeol thinks he’s fallen in love.
Final author's note: i hope i caught all the things i needed to do html stuff with otl. i also hope that i did all of this right ;u;