CHINGUX 2014: good company is hard to find (1/1) for michaelwesten
Title: good company is hard to find
Author: jakeun
Recipient: michaelwesten
Pairing/Focus: chanyeol/d.o (mentions of past chanyeol/kai)
Rating: pg
Warnings: n/a
Length: 3343 words
Summary: chanyeol is the bassist for a band called beagle room, and kyungsoo’s a big fan of his mixtapes. over the course of one night, in an adventure across seoul, they somehow fall together. nick and norah’s infinite playlist au, kind of.
Do Kyungsoo does not have a crush on mixtape guy.
He doesn’t even know mixtape guy’s name. He doesn’t know anything about him other than the fact that he makes great mixtapes. Always littered with some of Kyungsoo’s favorite artists-Urban Zakapa, Thornapple, even some Beenzino-and always with the addition of some new stuff Kyungsoo’s never heard. It’s been his only way of finding new music lately.
He also knows that mixtape guy is a little bit pathetic. His mixtapes always come in the form of a physical CD, tucked away into a case with a handmade cover. The first time, it had a painting of two male stick figures holding hands under a large sun-the words Happiness Delight Vol. 1 scribbled underneath. The painting was kind of shitty, but Kyungsoo thought it was charming. Then came volume two, and three, and four, and it sort of lost its charm. And he always makes them for his ex-boyfriend. So yeah, a little sad.
But Kyungsoo doesn’t even know mixtape guy’s name, has been calling him mixtape guy since Kim Jongin slid the very first one into his hands two months ago.
“What’s this?” he’d asked.
“My ex-well, kind of, yeah-he makes mixtapes. For me.” Jongin laughed, humorless, scratched the back of his neck. “But I’m not really into all that. I thought you’d like it more.”
Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow, flipped the mixtape over and read the track list. A few songs he recognized and liked, and a few he hadn’t heard. The last track on the list was simply titled To Jongin.
“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo said, making to give it back, but Jongin pushed it back toward him.
“It’s fine. Take it,” he said with a small smile.
Despite his hesitance, Kyungsoo did. And he listened to that mixtape for a full week-even the last song, an ode to Jongin written and performed by some faceless stranger that he, for some reason, didn’t delete off his iPod. It wasn’t because he liked mixtape guy’s deep, drawling voice, even though he couldn’t quite carry a tune, but he listened to it until Jongin gave him the second one.
Now, Jongin slides Happiness Delight Vol. 8 across the table into Kyungsoo’s waiting hands. The cover this time has each letter of happiness delight cut out from newspaper clippings spread underneath a sloppily drawn black cloud, like rain droplets. He’s getting more creative.
“Another one?” Kyungsoo jokes, like he hasn’t been waiting for days.
Jongin blushes. “He just won’t give up,” he replies after a beat.
Kyungsoo nods and doesn’t say: I hope he doesn’t.
Kyungsoo’s walking down the hall, headphones in, listening to the first song of his new mixtape-“Labor in Vain” by Linus’ Blanket-when he feels an arm snake around his waist and pull him close into their side. When he looks up, disgruntled, he sees Kim Jongdae with something resembling a shit-eating grin.
Kyungsoo purses his lips, pulls one headphone out. “What do you want?”
“Can’t I just talk to my good friend Kyungsoo?” Jongdae’s arm travels up from Kyungsoo’s waist to wrap around his shoulders and squeeze.
Kyungsoo stares. Jongdae stares back for a few seconds before he breaks, giving Kyungsoo a wide grin and digging deep into his bag to pull out a crumpled neon orange flyer. “My band has a gig tonight at Cargo in Hongdae. You should come.”
“And why would I do that?” Kyungsoo asks, but he grabs the flyer anyway. The words “Beagle Room” are repeated all over it, in big bold print, with the black silhouette of three men in the middle. Kyungsoo wants to scoff at the name, but Jongdae is already talking.
“Because we’re good,” he says, punching Kyungsoo in the shoulder. “And word on the street is Human Race is having a secret show somewhere in soul tonight.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Is it worth coming out?”
Kyungsoo twists himself out of Jongdae’s arms, puts his headphone back in. “I’ll think about it,” he says, skipping to the next song in his playlist. He walks away, shoving the flyer down into the bottom of his bag.
After an entire day of deliberation, Kyungsoo shows up to Cargo just a couple minutes before Beagle Room’s set starts. He stands awkwardly on the packed dance floor decked out in his black dress pants, denim shirt tucked neatly in. He doesn’t have to stand around too long before the band emerges, Jongdae with two guys that Kyungsoo doesn’t recognize. One of them goes straight up to the microphone and starts shouting into it. He’s short, but broad, with a plain face. The other guy’s tall, really tall, and holding a bass guitar. He’s, well-he’s handsome. Black hair with the fringe styled up, smooth face, round eyes, plump lips. He’s wearing a tight black tank top, and every time he plays the bass the muscles in his arms flex.
Somehow, before Kyungsoo knows it, the first song is done. He watches bass guy wipe some sweat off the side of his face and finally jerks his eyes away. He listens to the second song, focusing instead on the way that Jongdae’s veins protrude when he sings or the way plain-looking dude’s nose scrunches up. He only lasts half the song before his eyes are back on guitar guy, following the way his fingers strum the bass, his firm looking shoulders, his pretty eyes.
After the set, he makes his way toward the stage, and Jongdae spots him when he jumps down.
“You came!” he shouts, smiling wide. He pulls Kyungsoo into a tight hug despite the fact that’s he drenched in sweat. Kyungsoo pats him on the back. When he pulls away, he gestures toward his shorter band member. “This is Byun Baekhyun, and that one’s Park Chanyeol. Guys, this is Do Kyungsoo.”
“Nice to meet you,” Baekhyun says with a tight shake of Kyungsoo’s hand. His grin turns into a smirk, and it’s more frightening than anything he’s ever seen on Jongdae’s face. “I noticed you were really paying attention to the set.”
Kyungsoo’s eyes widen, and he pulls his hand away, wiping it on the thigh of his pants leg. Baekhyun couldn’t have-no. He wouldn’t have noticed. Kyungsoo is incredibly discreet with his ogling. He’s sure of it. Somehow the bright, knowing look in Baekhyun’s eye isn’t adding too much to his confidence. He shakes Chanyeol’s hand a couple seconds later, his palm so small in comparison. He would usually hate that. His grip tightens.
“Nice to meet you,” Chanyeol says, and Kyungsoo’s mouth suddenly feels dry. His voice is so deep.
“Don’t be fooled by his good looks,” Baekhyun interjects, struggling to throw an arm around Chanyeol’s shoulder. “He’s an idiot.”
Chanyeol shouts in protest, elbows Baekhyun in the ribs, and tries to throw him to the ground. Baekhyun latches himself onto Chanyeol’s body, bringing him down with him, until they’re just a heap on the floor. Chanyeol’s got Baekhyun pinned to the ground with an arm at his neck, giving him a rough noogie, when he pauses.
“Wait, did you just call me good-looking?” he asks with wide smile.
Baekhyun scoffs, as much as he can, and tries to knee Chanyeol in the groin. “I most certainly did not-”
“I think you did,” Jongdae adds with a smirk, and Baekhyun looks scandalized.
But Chanyeol’s already up and off of him, smoothing out the wrinkles in his clothes and wiping off the dust. His grin hasn’t wained. If anything, it’s only gotten larger, and he crosses his arms, looking pleased. “I’ve always known I’m the visual here, but for it to be admitted.”
Kyungsoo almost scoffs.
“So,” Chanyeol says, shifting the focus before Baekhyun can even argue. “You coming with us to search for Human Nature?”
Kyungsoo looks at the smudge of dirt on the side of Chanyeol’s face, looks at Baekhyun trying to pull Jongdae into a headlock with a fresh rip in his jeans, looks at Jongdae’s huge grin and reverberating laughter. He’s not an adventurous person, never has been. Became friends with someone like Jongdae just by luck, as partners for a class project. Even if he loves Human Nature, even if he’s always wanted to go to one of their secret shows-he’s not sure-
“Hey,” Baekhyun says, slinging an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “What else would you be doing tonight instead?”
Kyungsoo looks up at him, expects to see a shit-eating grin, a taunting look. Instead, Baekhyun’s eyes are kind of soft, and his smile is easy. Kyungsoo finds himself nodding before he can even think, and Baekhyun tightens his grip, brings Kyungsoo down so his ear’s right at Baekhyun’s mouth.
“And I can help you out with your little crush on Chanyeol,” he whispers.
Kyungsoo stomps on his foot. He does not have a crush on Park Chanyeol.
Kyungsoo almost regrets his decision when he gets a look at Chanyeol’s car. It’s a shitty-looking, beat up old black van, with the paint peeling in multiple places revealing white underneath. Chanyeol takes the driver’s seat, and Kyungsoo takes the front seat, only so he doesn’t have to be alone with Baekhyun in the back. He’s scared of that guy.
Chanyeol turns the key to start the car, but the engine splutters. Jongdae and Baekhyun cackle from the backseat, and Chanyeol huffs.
“Can you actually drive?” Kyungsoo asks, squinting.
“Yes,” Chanyeol says, and his second attempt at starting the car is successful. He sits with his hands on the wheel. “Where the fuck are we going?”
“I got a text saying they might be performing at Ellui,” Jongdae says, and it startles a laugh out of Chanyeol.
“In Gangnam? Can we even afford to get in?” he scoffs.
Kyungsoo taps his fingertips against the glass on the window. He closes his eyes. “I can get us in,” he says. He doesn’t open his eyes to see their reactions, lets himself fall back against the headrest when Chanyeol finally starts to drive away from the club.
It’s silent for a few minutes, Baekhyun and Jongdae bickering quietly in the back about a game or something that Kyungsoo didn’t catch, and Kyungsoo takes the time to glance to his side. He traces his eyes along Chanyeol’s profile, down to his hands, along his body. His eyes catch on something bright blue in the cup holder that sits between him and Chanyeol. When he leans in to get a closer look, he can see that they’re a set of headphones with a word written on each one: happiness delight. He jerks back in surprise and glances up to find Chanyeol glancing at him.
“Like them?” he asks, turning his eyes back to the road. “I had them custom-made.”
“I-yeah,” Kyungsoo says. A beat. “Do you know Kim Jongin?”
“Oh, no,” he hears someone mutter from the back of the van, and Chanyeol looks at him with wide eyes. Kyungsoo gulps.
“He’s my ex. How do you know that?”
Park Chanyeol is mixtape guy. Mixtape guy is Park Chanyeol. Kyungsoo reaches out a hand to trace around the curve of one of Chanyeol’s headphones. “I’ve heard you mixtapes,” he finally says. “Happiness delight.”
“Jongin shows them to you?” Chanyeol asks, and his expression shifts from looking confused to looking pleased.
Kyungsoo doesn’t quite have it in him to break the news, so he just nods.
“What’s your favorite off the recent one? I put a lot of effort into it.”
The latest mixtape is probably Kyungsoo’s favorite. The songs flow one into another seamlessly, connected not only by theme and lyrics but by rhythm and beat and sound. Kyungsoo likes Chanyeol’s mixtapes for his taste in music and how they introduce him to new songs, but he can also acknowledge that Chanyeol is good at what he does. Really good.
“Wolf. By Hologram Film.”
“Mine too!” Chanyeol excitedly exclaims, so distracted that the car swerves in its lane.
“Hey,” Baekhyun shouts from the back. “Keep the music boner at bay until we’re parked.”
“I didn’t know you’d be into this kind of this stuff,” Chanyeol says once he’s focused back on the road. “You seem so-straight-laced. Uptight.”
“I am not,” Kyungsoo splutters.
Chanyeol’s lucky that the seatbelt more or less stops Kyungsoo from reaching over and punching him in the throat. Chanyeol just chuckles, throwing Kyungsoo an amused glance.
When they arrive at Ellui, the guy’s remain skeptical at Kyungsoo’s ability to get them in, no questions asked. But he heads to the beginning of the long line waiting out front, waves at the bouncer, and is let in-his three open-mouthed friends behind him. He doesn’t like to use his perks so lightly, but new friends, new experiences.
“How did you do that?” Baekhyun asks, eyes wide. “Are you sleeping with the bouncer?”
Kyungsoo slaps him on the back of the head. “Shut up.”
Jongdae heads off with Baekhyun to grab some drinks, and Chanyeol drags Kyungsoo onto the dance floor just in time to hear “Wolf” by Hologram Film come on overhead. Chanyeol smiles and pulls Kyungsoo closer by a tight grip on his hand, so that he’s pressed nearly up against Chanyeol’s broad chest.
“It’s our song,” Chanyeol shouts. Kyungsoo does not blush. “We have to dance.”
"I can't dance," Kyungsoo shouts back. He tries to take a step back, but Chanyeol keeps a tight grip on his hand.
"If you want to prove that you're not uptight," Chanyeol says, leaning so close that Kyungsoo can feel his breath fanning out across his face, "dance with me."
Kyungsoo scowls but doesn't try to pull away again. Chanyeol grabs Kyungsoo's other hand swings both of their arms between each other, back and forth and up and down. Kyungsoo can't stop the laugh that bubbles up his throat.
“You call that dancing?”
“No,” Chanyeol says, and he lets go of Kyungsoo's hands so that he can crouch. He starts to move side to side in some sort of sideways crab walk, arms waving above his head. “This is dancing.”
Kyungsoo covers his face with his hands, but folds his own arms and starts to move them up and down. Chanyeol's finally standing, but he leans over in laughter when he catches sight of Kyungsoo's dancing. Kyungsoo slaps in the shoulder and stars bending his knees along with the music. Chanyeol imitates him.
“We look like old men,” Chanyeol says, but he's smiling.
“This is how the kids dance these days,” Kyungsoo replies, deadpan.
Chanyeol laughs, his head thrown back, and Kyungsoo can't stop himself from admiring how full his laughter sounds, like the sound is burrowing its way into Kyungsoo's chest. He finds himself laughing along. Chanyeol rights himself again, smile never leaving his face. Kyungsoo notices a speck of dirt still on the side of Chanyeol’s face and leans up to get a good look at it, rubbing his thumb gently across the skin of Chanyeol’s cheek to wipe it away. When he looks up, his eyes meet Chanyeol’s. There’s a heavy pause before Chanyeol clears his throat, breaks the eye contact.
“We’re pretty good,” he says after a second.
Kyungsoo looks down. “Yeah,” he says, and just at that moment, Jongdae manages to find him in the crowd.
“Hey, guys, sorry if I’m interrupting,” he says, wrapping his arm around Kyungsoo's waist. “But Baekhyun heard something in the bathroom that-”
He’s cut off by a guy walking on stage to introduce the band, and the club erupts into screams around them, expecting Human Nature to come on stage for their secret show. Instead, he announces something called Who’s Kevin? and everyone around them gives a collective groan. “Nobody wants to hear that shit!” someone shouts from the crowd.
“-Human Nature is actually going to be at a club in Itaewon.”
Chanyeol groans. “We’re running all over Seoul.”
“Worth it, man.” Jongdae grins. “Besides, the company’s great.”
They have some time to spare, and they’re in the area, so after they make a quick stop at McDonald’s, Kyungsoo tells Chanyeol to take another quick detour before they get to Itaewon and drop by a nearby recording studio. Chanyeol looks at him, confused, but Kyungsoo just smiles.
“I promise it’ll be worth your time.”
When they finally make it to the front door, Kyungsoo pulls the keys out of his back pocket and lets them all in. When he flips the lights on, they’re met with a row of pictures-an older man in each one, with a few different Korean music artists.
Jongdae’s eyes widen. “Dude, your dad is a record producer and you never told me?”
Kyungsoo rubs the back of his neck. “It never came up?”
“Jesus Christ,” Baekhyun says, examining the photos. “Is that Lady Gaga?”
Kyungsoo shrugs.
After the shock wears in, Kyungsoo gives them a tour of all the cooler parts of a recording studio. Mainly, the recording booth. He leads them to the biggest one in the building, home to many a famous musician. They all go inside and Kyungsoo sits on the sofa in the corner, watching them fawn over the instruments and recording software.
“Coming here with my dad when I was young is what gave me my love of music,” Kyungsoo says. “Hearing a song come together from the ground up-it’s amazing.”
“Thanks for sharing this with us, man,” Chanyeol says, plopping down next to Kyungsoo on the little sofa, placing a hand on Kyungsoo’s thigh. Kyungsoo jerks, and Chanyeol squeezes just a little bit. “I officially apologize for calling you uptight.”
Kyungsoo gives a quiet laugh, but he can’t look away from Chanyeol’s hand on his thigh. When he finally looks up, Chanyeol’s looking back at him. He glances away, but Baekhyun and Jongdae are nowhere to be found. Kyungsoo didn’t even hear them leave. Suddenly, Chanyeol lifts his other hand and places it at the back of Kyungsoo’s neck.
“I find your taste in music-really hot,” Chanyeol says, quiet. As he leans in, Kyungsoo leans away. “Also your face. And your little body.”
“I-you’re a fun guy, Chanyeol. Who is also very hot,” he says, and Chanyeol smirks. “I can see myself liking you, but I have to know if this is just a rebound thing for you. Because Jongin-”
“No, No,” Chanyeol says, bringing his hand up to cup Kyungsoo’s cheek. “I think I could like you too. But right now-I really want to kiss you.”
When he leans forward this time, Kyungsoo doesn’t pull away. Their lips meet, and Chanyeol’s are as soft as they look, if a little bit chapped. Chanyeol takes his hand, tilts Kyungsoo’s head back, lets their lips slot closer together. Kyungsoo brings his hands up to grip the front of Chanyeol’s shirt, to somehow try to pull him closer. He opens his mouth, let’s Chanyeol lick his way in-when he suddenly hears clapping.
He jerks away and covers his mouth. Jongdae and Baekhyun are standing in front of the door, smirking. Jongdae has his phone pointed at them.
Baekhyun wipes away an invisible tear from his left eye. “I knew this would happen. And to think, we got it on video.”
Chanyeol growls, lunges forward, but Jongdae’s already out the door, phone in hand.
“Come on, lover boy,” Baekhyun says, hauling Kyungsoo out of his seat. “We’ve got a concert to catch.”
They get to the club just in time to see Human Nature take the stage. It’s what they’ve been waiting for the entire night, but for some reason Kyungsoo would rather watch Jongdae’s stupid grin, listen to Baekhyun’s shitty jokes, and see Chanyeol’s terrible dance moves than pay attention to the band on stage.
Chanyeol throws an arm over his shoulder and pulls him in close. He stares at Kyungsoo for a few seconds, grins.
“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo asks.
“Admiring you,” he replies, and Kyungsoo scoffs. “And thinking of songs to put on my first mixtape for you. I guess I should come up with a new title, too, huh?”
Kyungsoo laughs, leans up to peck him on the mouth. “You better.”
Author: jakeun
Recipient: michaelwesten
Pairing/Focus: chanyeol/d.o (mentions of past chanyeol/kai)
Rating: pg
Warnings: n/a
Length: 3343 words
Summary: chanyeol is the bassist for a band called beagle room, and kyungsoo’s a big fan of his mixtapes. over the course of one night, in an adventure across seoul, they somehow fall together. nick and norah’s infinite playlist au, kind of.
Do Kyungsoo does not have a crush on mixtape guy.
He doesn’t even know mixtape guy’s name. He doesn’t know anything about him other than the fact that he makes great mixtapes. Always littered with some of Kyungsoo’s favorite artists-Urban Zakapa, Thornapple, even some Beenzino-and always with the addition of some new stuff Kyungsoo’s never heard. It’s been his only way of finding new music lately.
He also knows that mixtape guy is a little bit pathetic. His mixtapes always come in the form of a physical CD, tucked away into a case with a handmade cover. The first time, it had a painting of two male stick figures holding hands under a large sun-the words Happiness Delight Vol. 1 scribbled underneath. The painting was kind of shitty, but Kyungsoo thought it was charming. Then came volume two, and three, and four, and it sort of lost its charm. And he always makes them for his ex-boyfriend. So yeah, a little sad.
But Kyungsoo doesn’t even know mixtape guy’s name, has been calling him mixtape guy since Kim Jongin slid the very first one into his hands two months ago.
“What’s this?” he’d asked.
“My ex-well, kind of, yeah-he makes mixtapes. For me.” Jongin laughed, humorless, scratched the back of his neck. “But I’m not really into all that. I thought you’d like it more.”
Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow, flipped the mixtape over and read the track list. A few songs he recognized and liked, and a few he hadn’t heard. The last track on the list was simply titled To Jongin.
“I don’t know,” Kyungsoo said, making to give it back, but Jongin pushed it back toward him.
“It’s fine. Take it,” he said with a small smile.
Despite his hesitance, Kyungsoo did. And he listened to that mixtape for a full week-even the last song, an ode to Jongin written and performed by some faceless stranger that he, for some reason, didn’t delete off his iPod. It wasn’t because he liked mixtape guy’s deep, drawling voice, even though he couldn’t quite carry a tune, but he listened to it until Jongin gave him the second one.
Now, Jongin slides Happiness Delight Vol. 8 across the table into Kyungsoo’s waiting hands. The cover this time has each letter of happiness delight cut out from newspaper clippings spread underneath a sloppily drawn black cloud, like rain droplets. He’s getting more creative.
“Another one?” Kyungsoo jokes, like he hasn’t been waiting for days.
Jongin blushes. “He just won’t give up,” he replies after a beat.
Kyungsoo nods and doesn’t say: I hope he doesn’t.
Kyungsoo’s walking down the hall, headphones in, listening to the first song of his new mixtape-“Labor in Vain” by Linus’ Blanket-when he feels an arm snake around his waist and pull him close into their side. When he looks up, disgruntled, he sees Kim Jongdae with something resembling a shit-eating grin.
Kyungsoo purses his lips, pulls one headphone out. “What do you want?”
“Can’t I just talk to my good friend Kyungsoo?” Jongdae’s arm travels up from Kyungsoo’s waist to wrap around his shoulders and squeeze.
Kyungsoo stares. Jongdae stares back for a few seconds before he breaks, giving Kyungsoo a wide grin and digging deep into his bag to pull out a crumpled neon orange flyer. “My band has a gig tonight at Cargo in Hongdae. You should come.”
“And why would I do that?” Kyungsoo asks, but he grabs the flyer anyway. The words “Beagle Room” are repeated all over it, in big bold print, with the black silhouette of three men in the middle. Kyungsoo wants to scoff at the name, but Jongdae is already talking.
“Because we’re good,” he says, punching Kyungsoo in the shoulder. “And word on the street is Human Race is having a secret show somewhere in soul tonight.” He wiggles his eyebrows. “Is it worth coming out?”
Kyungsoo twists himself out of Jongdae’s arms, puts his headphone back in. “I’ll think about it,” he says, skipping to the next song in his playlist. He walks away, shoving the flyer down into the bottom of his bag.
After an entire day of deliberation, Kyungsoo shows up to Cargo just a couple minutes before Beagle Room’s set starts. He stands awkwardly on the packed dance floor decked out in his black dress pants, denim shirt tucked neatly in. He doesn’t have to stand around too long before the band emerges, Jongdae with two guys that Kyungsoo doesn’t recognize. One of them goes straight up to the microphone and starts shouting into it. He’s short, but broad, with a plain face. The other guy’s tall, really tall, and holding a bass guitar. He’s, well-he’s handsome. Black hair with the fringe styled up, smooth face, round eyes, plump lips. He’s wearing a tight black tank top, and every time he plays the bass the muscles in his arms flex.
Somehow, before Kyungsoo knows it, the first song is done. He watches bass guy wipe some sweat off the side of his face and finally jerks his eyes away. He listens to the second song, focusing instead on the way that Jongdae’s veins protrude when he sings or the way plain-looking dude’s nose scrunches up. He only lasts half the song before his eyes are back on guitar guy, following the way his fingers strum the bass, his firm looking shoulders, his pretty eyes.
After the set, he makes his way toward the stage, and Jongdae spots him when he jumps down.
“You came!” he shouts, smiling wide. He pulls Kyungsoo into a tight hug despite the fact that’s he drenched in sweat. Kyungsoo pats him on the back. When he pulls away, he gestures toward his shorter band member. “This is Byun Baekhyun, and that one’s Park Chanyeol. Guys, this is Do Kyungsoo.”
“Nice to meet you,” Baekhyun says with a tight shake of Kyungsoo’s hand. His grin turns into a smirk, and it’s more frightening than anything he’s ever seen on Jongdae’s face. “I noticed you were really paying attention to the set.”
Kyungsoo’s eyes widen, and he pulls his hand away, wiping it on the thigh of his pants leg. Baekhyun couldn’t have-no. He wouldn’t have noticed. Kyungsoo is incredibly discreet with his ogling. He’s sure of it. Somehow the bright, knowing look in Baekhyun’s eye isn’t adding too much to his confidence. He shakes Chanyeol’s hand a couple seconds later, his palm so small in comparison. He would usually hate that. His grip tightens.
“Nice to meet you,” Chanyeol says, and Kyungsoo’s mouth suddenly feels dry. His voice is so deep.
“Don’t be fooled by his good looks,” Baekhyun interjects, struggling to throw an arm around Chanyeol’s shoulder. “He’s an idiot.”
Chanyeol shouts in protest, elbows Baekhyun in the ribs, and tries to throw him to the ground. Baekhyun latches himself onto Chanyeol’s body, bringing him down with him, until they’re just a heap on the floor. Chanyeol’s got Baekhyun pinned to the ground with an arm at his neck, giving him a rough noogie, when he pauses.
“Wait, did you just call me good-looking?” he asks with wide smile.
Baekhyun scoffs, as much as he can, and tries to knee Chanyeol in the groin. “I most certainly did not-”
“I think you did,” Jongdae adds with a smirk, and Baekhyun looks scandalized.
But Chanyeol’s already up and off of him, smoothing out the wrinkles in his clothes and wiping off the dust. His grin hasn’t wained. If anything, it’s only gotten larger, and he crosses his arms, looking pleased. “I’ve always known I’m the visual here, but for it to be admitted.”
Kyungsoo almost scoffs.
“So,” Chanyeol says, shifting the focus before Baekhyun can even argue. “You coming with us to search for Human Nature?”
Kyungsoo looks at the smudge of dirt on the side of Chanyeol’s face, looks at Baekhyun trying to pull Jongdae into a headlock with a fresh rip in his jeans, looks at Jongdae’s huge grin and reverberating laughter. He’s not an adventurous person, never has been. Became friends with someone like Jongdae just by luck, as partners for a class project. Even if he loves Human Nature, even if he’s always wanted to go to one of their secret shows-he’s not sure-
“Hey,” Baekhyun says, slinging an arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulder. “What else would you be doing tonight instead?”
Kyungsoo looks up at him, expects to see a shit-eating grin, a taunting look. Instead, Baekhyun’s eyes are kind of soft, and his smile is easy. Kyungsoo finds himself nodding before he can even think, and Baekhyun tightens his grip, brings Kyungsoo down so his ear’s right at Baekhyun’s mouth.
“And I can help you out with your little crush on Chanyeol,” he whispers.
Kyungsoo stomps on his foot. He does not have a crush on Park Chanyeol.
Kyungsoo almost regrets his decision when he gets a look at Chanyeol’s car. It’s a shitty-looking, beat up old black van, with the paint peeling in multiple places revealing white underneath. Chanyeol takes the driver’s seat, and Kyungsoo takes the front seat, only so he doesn’t have to be alone with Baekhyun in the back. He’s scared of that guy.
Chanyeol turns the key to start the car, but the engine splutters. Jongdae and Baekhyun cackle from the backseat, and Chanyeol huffs.
“Can you actually drive?” Kyungsoo asks, squinting.
“Yes,” Chanyeol says, and his second attempt at starting the car is successful. He sits with his hands on the wheel. “Where the fuck are we going?”
“I got a text saying they might be performing at Ellui,” Jongdae says, and it startles a laugh out of Chanyeol.
“In Gangnam? Can we even afford to get in?” he scoffs.
Kyungsoo taps his fingertips against the glass on the window. He closes his eyes. “I can get us in,” he says. He doesn’t open his eyes to see their reactions, lets himself fall back against the headrest when Chanyeol finally starts to drive away from the club.
It’s silent for a few minutes, Baekhyun and Jongdae bickering quietly in the back about a game or something that Kyungsoo didn’t catch, and Kyungsoo takes the time to glance to his side. He traces his eyes along Chanyeol’s profile, down to his hands, along his body. His eyes catch on something bright blue in the cup holder that sits between him and Chanyeol. When he leans in to get a closer look, he can see that they’re a set of headphones with a word written on each one: happiness delight. He jerks back in surprise and glances up to find Chanyeol glancing at him.
“Like them?” he asks, turning his eyes back to the road. “I had them custom-made.”
“I-yeah,” Kyungsoo says. A beat. “Do you know Kim Jongin?”
“Oh, no,” he hears someone mutter from the back of the van, and Chanyeol looks at him with wide eyes. Kyungsoo gulps.
“He’s my ex. How do you know that?”
Park Chanyeol is mixtape guy. Mixtape guy is Park Chanyeol. Kyungsoo reaches out a hand to trace around the curve of one of Chanyeol’s headphones. “I’ve heard you mixtapes,” he finally says. “Happiness delight.”
“Jongin shows them to you?” Chanyeol asks, and his expression shifts from looking confused to looking pleased.
Kyungsoo doesn’t quite have it in him to break the news, so he just nods.
“What’s your favorite off the recent one? I put a lot of effort into it.”
The latest mixtape is probably Kyungsoo’s favorite. The songs flow one into another seamlessly, connected not only by theme and lyrics but by rhythm and beat and sound. Kyungsoo likes Chanyeol’s mixtapes for his taste in music and how they introduce him to new songs, but he can also acknowledge that Chanyeol is good at what he does. Really good.
“Wolf. By Hologram Film.”
“Mine too!” Chanyeol excitedly exclaims, so distracted that the car swerves in its lane.
“Hey,” Baekhyun shouts from the back. “Keep the music boner at bay until we’re parked.”
“I didn’t know you’d be into this kind of this stuff,” Chanyeol says once he’s focused back on the road. “You seem so-straight-laced. Uptight.”
“I am not,” Kyungsoo splutters.
Chanyeol’s lucky that the seatbelt more or less stops Kyungsoo from reaching over and punching him in the throat. Chanyeol just chuckles, throwing Kyungsoo an amused glance.
When they arrive at Ellui, the guy’s remain skeptical at Kyungsoo’s ability to get them in, no questions asked. But he heads to the beginning of the long line waiting out front, waves at the bouncer, and is let in-his three open-mouthed friends behind him. He doesn’t like to use his perks so lightly, but new friends, new experiences.
“How did you do that?” Baekhyun asks, eyes wide. “Are you sleeping with the bouncer?”
Kyungsoo slaps him on the back of the head. “Shut up.”
Jongdae heads off with Baekhyun to grab some drinks, and Chanyeol drags Kyungsoo onto the dance floor just in time to hear “Wolf” by Hologram Film come on overhead. Chanyeol smiles and pulls Kyungsoo closer by a tight grip on his hand, so that he’s pressed nearly up against Chanyeol’s broad chest.
“It’s our song,” Chanyeol shouts. Kyungsoo does not blush. “We have to dance.”
"I can't dance," Kyungsoo shouts back. He tries to take a step back, but Chanyeol keeps a tight grip on his hand.
"If you want to prove that you're not uptight," Chanyeol says, leaning so close that Kyungsoo can feel his breath fanning out across his face, "dance with me."
Kyungsoo scowls but doesn't try to pull away again. Chanyeol grabs Kyungsoo's other hand swings both of their arms between each other, back and forth and up and down. Kyungsoo can't stop the laugh that bubbles up his throat.
“You call that dancing?”
“No,” Chanyeol says, and he lets go of Kyungsoo's hands so that he can crouch. He starts to move side to side in some sort of sideways crab walk, arms waving above his head. “This is dancing.”
Kyungsoo covers his face with his hands, but folds his own arms and starts to move them up and down. Chanyeol's finally standing, but he leans over in laughter when he catches sight of Kyungsoo's dancing. Kyungsoo slaps in the shoulder and stars bending his knees along with the music. Chanyeol imitates him.
“We look like old men,” Chanyeol says, but he's smiling.
“This is how the kids dance these days,” Kyungsoo replies, deadpan.
Chanyeol laughs, his head thrown back, and Kyungsoo can't stop himself from admiring how full his laughter sounds, like the sound is burrowing its way into Kyungsoo's chest. He finds himself laughing along. Chanyeol rights himself again, smile never leaving his face. Kyungsoo notices a speck of dirt still on the side of Chanyeol’s face and leans up to get a good look at it, rubbing his thumb gently across the skin of Chanyeol’s cheek to wipe it away. When he looks up, his eyes meet Chanyeol’s. There’s a heavy pause before Chanyeol clears his throat, breaks the eye contact.
“We’re pretty good,” he says after a second.
Kyungsoo looks down. “Yeah,” he says, and just at that moment, Jongdae manages to find him in the crowd.
“Hey, guys, sorry if I’m interrupting,” he says, wrapping his arm around Kyungsoo's waist. “But Baekhyun heard something in the bathroom that-”
He’s cut off by a guy walking on stage to introduce the band, and the club erupts into screams around them, expecting Human Nature to come on stage for their secret show. Instead, he announces something called Who’s Kevin? and everyone around them gives a collective groan. “Nobody wants to hear that shit!” someone shouts from the crowd.
“-Human Nature is actually going to be at a club in Itaewon.”
Chanyeol groans. “We’re running all over Seoul.”
“Worth it, man.” Jongdae grins. “Besides, the company’s great.”
They have some time to spare, and they’re in the area, so after they make a quick stop at McDonald’s, Kyungsoo tells Chanyeol to take another quick detour before they get to Itaewon and drop by a nearby recording studio. Chanyeol looks at him, confused, but Kyungsoo just smiles.
“I promise it’ll be worth your time.”
When they finally make it to the front door, Kyungsoo pulls the keys out of his back pocket and lets them all in. When he flips the lights on, they’re met with a row of pictures-an older man in each one, with a few different Korean music artists.
Jongdae’s eyes widen. “Dude, your dad is a record producer and you never told me?”
Kyungsoo rubs the back of his neck. “It never came up?”
“Jesus Christ,” Baekhyun says, examining the photos. “Is that Lady Gaga?”
Kyungsoo shrugs.
After the shock wears in, Kyungsoo gives them a tour of all the cooler parts of a recording studio. Mainly, the recording booth. He leads them to the biggest one in the building, home to many a famous musician. They all go inside and Kyungsoo sits on the sofa in the corner, watching them fawn over the instruments and recording software.
“Coming here with my dad when I was young is what gave me my love of music,” Kyungsoo says. “Hearing a song come together from the ground up-it’s amazing.”
“Thanks for sharing this with us, man,” Chanyeol says, plopping down next to Kyungsoo on the little sofa, placing a hand on Kyungsoo’s thigh. Kyungsoo jerks, and Chanyeol squeezes just a little bit. “I officially apologize for calling you uptight.”
Kyungsoo gives a quiet laugh, but he can’t look away from Chanyeol’s hand on his thigh. When he finally looks up, Chanyeol’s looking back at him. He glances away, but Baekhyun and Jongdae are nowhere to be found. Kyungsoo didn’t even hear them leave. Suddenly, Chanyeol lifts his other hand and places it at the back of Kyungsoo’s neck.
“I find your taste in music-really hot,” Chanyeol says, quiet. As he leans in, Kyungsoo leans away. “Also your face. And your little body.”
“I-you’re a fun guy, Chanyeol. Who is also very hot,” he says, and Chanyeol smirks. “I can see myself liking you, but I have to know if this is just a rebound thing for you. Because Jongin-”
“No, No,” Chanyeol says, bringing his hand up to cup Kyungsoo’s cheek. “I think I could like you too. But right now-I really want to kiss you.”
When he leans forward this time, Kyungsoo doesn’t pull away. Their lips meet, and Chanyeol’s are as soft as they look, if a little bit chapped. Chanyeol takes his hand, tilts Kyungsoo’s head back, lets their lips slot closer together. Kyungsoo brings his hands up to grip the front of Chanyeol’s shirt, to somehow try to pull him closer. He opens his mouth, let’s Chanyeol lick his way in-when he suddenly hears clapping.
He jerks away and covers his mouth. Jongdae and Baekhyun are standing in front of the door, smirking. Jongdae has his phone pointed at them.
Baekhyun wipes away an invisible tear from his left eye. “I knew this would happen. And to think, we got it on video.”
Chanyeol growls, lunges forward, but Jongdae’s already out the door, phone in hand.
“Come on, lover boy,” Baekhyun says, hauling Kyungsoo out of his seat. “We’ve got a concert to catch.”
They get to the club just in time to see Human Nature take the stage. It’s what they’ve been waiting for the entire night, but for some reason Kyungsoo would rather watch Jongdae’s stupid grin, listen to Baekhyun’s shitty jokes, and see Chanyeol’s terrible dance moves than pay attention to the band on stage.
Chanyeol throws an arm over his shoulder and pulls him in close. He stares at Kyungsoo for a few seconds, grins.
“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo asks.
“Admiring you,” he replies, and Kyungsoo scoffs. “And thinking of songs to put on my first mixtape for you. I guess I should come up with a new title, too, huh?”
Kyungsoo laughs, leans up to peck him on the mouth. “You better.”