Baekhyun

Out in the open! The headlights said on the front of the fresh gossip magazines that had to have magically appeared in the lobby of the hotel judging by the speed of it.

The cover promised an in-detailed story further in the magazine as well as more pictures. On the cover of the magazine was a photo of where it looked like Chanyeol and I had just kissed. The angel was straight on and I wondered if other photographers had gotten another angel and would provide pictures where it actually looked like we’d kissed.

I tried not to imagine how kissing Chanyeol would have felt and instead grabbed the magazine up, wanting to hide it away from everyone at the hotel. Though I knew that if they didn’t get the ‘scoop’ from a physical magazine, they surely would online. When I’d awoken this morning, my phone had notice after notice referencing different sites and several messages from people I knew. Though that hadn’t been the first thing to happen in the morning. The first thing was finding myself enclosed in Chanyeol’s embrace. And to find myself embracing him, too… I shook my head, forcing myself not to remember too well how good it had felt to wake up like that.

I brought the magazine with me back up to the room, Chanyeol having ran off right after breakfast to make some more calls to some people he knew who’d somehow make this whole situation easier.

I wasn’t really sure if people had read any articles about me and Chanyeol yet here at the Bonding. I wasn’t really sure they cared that much. There had been buzzing about paparazzis outside the hotel during breakfast but that was about all I’d heard about the whole business. I made a point to stay indoors all day.

Well back at the room, I contemplated if I was to just throw the magazine away, not reading the article. I hadn’t read any of the articles online, neither looked at any other photos than the one the magazine had used as it’s front. I was about to throw the magazine in the trash when curiosity got to me and I couldn’t stop myself from quickly search up the article.

The photos was the first thing that hit me. I had been right to suspect other angles and they really did make it look like we were making out right there by the parking lot. But there were also other, more darker pictures, before we’d even gotten close to kissing. Me looking abashed at something Chanyeol said, both of us just looking at each other with equally puzzled faces, searching the other’s face as if it would hold all the answers. There were even a picture before we’d even sat down, when Chanyeol had helped me get to the grassy patch. In the photos, you couldn’t notice that I was weak in my legs so it looked more like Chanyeol was escorting me like some sort of noble man through a blossoming park.

I let the photos take a back seat and instead began reading the article. It made me a bit unnerved just to read the title.

Romantic escape from judgment?

Yesterday evening, famous actor Park Beom-Seok’ son, Park Chanyeol, was seen escaping the hotel in which he and his match are hold up during the Bonding. Earlier this week, it was announced that Park Chanyeol had been match with Byun Baekhyun, heir to the Byun corporations, and also a man. This has been met with different responses from their families. When asked, the Byun family didn’t want to comment on the match but you could tell that neither of them seemed rather faced by it. Park Beom-Seok, on the other hand, had an entirely different stance on the whole thing.
“My son is not gay.” He told one of our reporters only two days ago when confronted with the subject “This is not something that he wants, and neither is it something that the Park family desires.”
Though this close-minded father seems to have completely misjudged his son, since Park Chanyeol gladly spends his time in the company of men. It should be clear to anyone who sees these pictures of the newly matched that there’s clearly love involved. The two boys was seen sneaking out of their hotel and an insider tells us that they had been intending to escape one of the mandatory activities to do some private activities on their own…
Unfortunately, an accidental flash of one of the cameramen interrupted the love birds from their forbidden ruse in to the wild. But not before these lovely pictures were taken.

Several smaller pictures of the event was plastered after this. In them, me and Chanyeol looked so tender with each other. Even I believed for a moment that what I was seeing truly was two people in love! It would no doubt fool every other person out there if it even fooled me who was in the picture! The article continued:

When asked for a comment on his son’s little adventure, Park Beom-Seok didn’t respond. His team has been trying hard to stop this article from ever reaching light, probably from the wishes of Park Beom-Seok since he doesn’t seem to enjoy the fact that his son plays for the other team, and definitely not that it’s public knowledge. We will be sure to let these two lovers be as free as they wish and continue to update you on the progress.

This far, no date has been set for a wedding but be sure that as soon as it is decided, you will get the scoop here.

A name and a photos of the person responsible for the article followed as well as who had taken the pictures. I felt myself burning red as I threw the magazine in to the trash can. I couldn’t really decide if it was because I was embarrassed or angry. Maybe both?

Chanyeol

I had been talking on the phone for an hour when I finally didn’t need to talk to people any more. My dad’s manager had been up in flames about the whole magazine-thing, claiming that it was shedding bad light on my dad. He hadn’t blamed me, though, more like he had just been angry at the reporters who declined their right to withdrawal from not publishing the articles.

“Can you believe them, Chanyeol?” He’d asked me “Claiming that we want to stop these articles from coming because your father doesn’t want this out?”

I had spent half an hour talking to him about our next step in trying to douse this and then I had been pushed on one of the publicists in my father’s agency who encouraged me and Baekhyun to have some kind of press conference to clear everything up.

“You will just have to tell them that the two of you don’t want all this limelight.” She’d told me methodically “Tell them that the both of you aren’t anywhere near celebrity status and thus must be left alone to your own, no matter who your parent’s are. And also to tell them that this isn’t rooted in your father’s wishes or non-wishes. That it’s your decision.”

They all had seemed pretty eager to have me clear my father’s reputation and while I knew that would be beneficial to me, too, it still didn’t make me more willing. I was slightly angry with my father for the way he’d treated this whole situation. Not only what he’d told me in private but to publicly go and say whatever he had to news papers! It was funny how Baekhyun’s family had been the clever ones with the media and shut up when my dad was supposed to have more experience with the whole ordeal. He hadn’t even personally talked to me ever since that last phone call I made to him a few days ago.

Dead tired, I headed back up to the room where Baekhyun was on the phone.

“No, mom.” He said “But if they do, be sure to call the police, okay? I’m sure it’s not legal to stalk either of you because of this.”

Baekhyun turned as he heard me enter and I made a small wave to him, him waving back before going back to calming his mother whose voice could be heard vaguely from the phone and was sounding pretty anxious.

I laid down on the bed as Baekhyun went around, walking in the room as he continued to talk to his mother.

“It will probably all calm down soon and we aren’t that big of a thing to the public, okay?” He continued “To them, I’m just some famous guy’s son’s match, and that makes you and the others even more distant to the whole thing.”

I looked at him as he talked and my thoughts floated back to how his body had felt next to me. How his breath had mingled with mine before any of this crazy had happened. It felt almost like I was burning when I realized that I could quiet possible never be able to be that close to him again. If my worries from the night earlier were correct, he’d definitely not want me close again. Who’d want someone who wasn’t their type kissing them?

“You handled the media wonderfully, mom!” Baekhyun said proudly “I read about it in an article and it sounded very professional.”

I couldn’t agree with him more. I was sure they’d had some contact with the media, they were, after all, rich people with a successful company, but the gossip world was a whole different thing than some advertising or minor interviews for business magazines. The gossip world was a maze in which everything you said could be held against you.

I found myself wanting to reach out to Baekhyun then, almost wishing he wasn’t as composed as he seemed while he talked to his mother. If he’d still been ruffled up as he’d been yesterday, maybe I’d get another chance to hold him.

I was being stupid, I knew it. I needed to calm down, to not think about Baekhyun constantly, to not have him take over my mind. It would only hurt more later when I’d need to say good bye to him after the Bonding. I was sure that my chances with him and me staying friends after this had been completely crushed after yesterday. Who’d want to hang out with someone if there was a possibility of you being followed by snooping paparazzi wherever you went?

“Sure mom.” Baekhyun said “Yeah, I love you too… bye.”

Baekhyun glanced over to me, looking a little embarrassed.

“She wanted me to say hello to you.” He said “Umh… and that you’d be welcome over for dinner any time.” He turned red at that “I mean,” he continued, turning more toward me “she just read about your dads reaction and wanted you to feel loved, that’s all. It’s not like… like she’s expecting the two of us to get married or anything!”

“Of course.” I said smiling, and meant it. It was only the fact that while Baekhyun had talked, I couldn’t let the notion of his cuteness slip. He was at his cutest when he stumbled on his words like that, all uncertain.

“I’d love to come over some time.” I said “But only if you wouldn’t find it strange or annoying. I mean, I could totally understand if you didn’t want me close to your family after what happened yesterday, and not close to yourself for that matter!”

“That wasn’t your fault!!” Baekhyun exclaimed. He leaned closer to me, putting his hands on the bed as he tried to make his message reach me “You can’t really go around thinking that I would detest you because some bastards find it interesting to harass us.”

I was a little shocked at the fire within him, not really knowing what to do with it or what to think of it.

“I would understand though, if you’d feel intimidated.” I said, sitting up. This movement brought us closer than I had anticipated. Our faces was now only two decimeters away from each other and I felt that familiar pull from the evening before pull at me, trying to urge me to get closer.

Stop it, I tried to tell it, not wanting to scare Baekhyun away.

“I do feel intimidated.” Baekhyun said “But… I don’t know. I wouldn’t want to cut all ties with you after this because of those people.”

“Why?” I asked, puzzled.

“Because…” Baekhyun said, seeming to think on his answer “I just don’t want other people to decide for me what I do and don’t do. So if I were to cut ties with you after this, it would be because either you or me wanted it. Not because some reporters scared me away from you.”

I got strangely touched by his answer and the urge to reach out and cup his face in appreciation arose. To think that he’d overlook even one of the biggest setbacks there was to me so that he could still meet me after this. I had been together with girls before who’d gotten scared away once they’d learned who my dad was and what life with me would entitle them to. Some had only gone out with me because of my dad, which might have been even worse. But Baekhyun… he hadn’t really said that he’d be together with me, but simply stated that his decision on whether we’d stay in touch relied solely on us, and no other outsider factor played in.  

The part of my mind that was reckless was trying it’s hardest to force my body to move closer to him. It would have been so easy to just lean in from here, just see what me kissing him would do to him, and not to mention, to me. I had never kissed a guy before and it seemed like it wouldn’t be much different from kissing girls. Maybe Baekhyun would be a little harder than women was, sharper jaw and thinner lips than girls. But the feeling of kissing him would be the same, wouldn’t it?

Curiosity was eating me up inside, my whole being wanting to figure all this out once and for all. If I were to kiss him, I would know. I wouldn’t have to wonder about if our match was legit and if I could really get by guys. I would just know! It would be so easy, so simple to just let my lips brush with his. But at the same time I knew I couldn’t do that to him, not here, and not now. I had other things to solve first.

I brought myself back to reality and faced what I had been coaxed to do by my father’s publicist. Get Baekhyun to agree to a press conference.

“I have a favor to ask of you.” I said, standing up and forcing me and Baekhyun apart by going over to the window, needing to clear my head and therefore I needed to get him away from me.

“A favor?” Baekhyun asked, looking a little scared and intrigued by the same time.

“Yeah…” I said, feeling nervous about having to force him in to this type of world “You know I’ve been talking to my father’s people and they’ve suggested that you and I hold a press conference once we’re done with the Bonding.”

“Okay.” Baekhyun said simply, and I was a little shocked by how easily that had gone over. I had been prepared to go off and tell him that he could say no and that I’d handle it by myself if that was the case.

“Sure.” He said when I didn’t say anything. “No problem.”

“Really?” I asked, relief flooding me.

“Yeah!” Baekhyun laughed “We’re both in this together so why not solve all of this together, too?” I was completely stunned by his undying support, and I just stared at him in disbelief, him laughing at my face with friendliness and humor.

And in that moment, I had never wanted to kiss him more.

Baekhyun

There wasn’t much for me and Chanyeol to do now that paparazzi where outside the hotel. We’d been told by the hotel staff not to venture outside since they’d seen photographers both at the front of the hotel but also all over the beach and the outside part of the sport’s center. What we had to do was either go to the spa, just hang around at the lobby, go to the inner part of the sport’s center or visit the game room.

“Any preferences?” I asked Chanyeol once we came on the topic of what to do today, which was rather fast. We’d been quiet for a while and the conversation just happened to naturally float towards what we were to do.

“Well, not the spa, since you’ve already been there.” Chanyeol said “It’s much more fun if we do something new, and frankly, I don’t care for spas.”

“How do you feel about exercise?” I asked him, a bit happy that he’d thought about me when answering. He really was a thoughtful guy, I realized. Looking out for me and wanting me to feel safe and at ease.

“Usually, I’d be up for it.” Chanyeol said, then looked a bit embarrassed “But I have to admit I wasn’t a very good packer so I haven’t brought with me any training gear, I’m afraid.” I was about to offer him my spare pair but then thought otherwise. We may both be guys but Chanyeol was much taller and broader than I was. He’d never fit in my clothes, and if he did, they’d been ruined forever.

“That’s fine!” I said “I’m really not in the mood to work out, anyway.” I was speaking the truth, the thought of working out now felt a bit… I don’t know, like I was preparing to have my photo taken? Like I wanted to make myself look better so that I’d turn out nice in the magazines.

“Up for some games, then?” Chanyeol asked and I nodded.

“Should we invite Ken and Hyolyn, too?” I asked him back “I haven’t talked to them since yesterday and I feel like they need to be warned, too.”

“We should invite them.” Chanyeol said “and I think you’re right. They need to get a heads up about the reporters. Sooner or later, those bastards will figure out who we’ve talked to the most on this Bonding trip and they will get targeted with questions, too. Judging from my dad’s agent, they’ve been pestering him and everybody close to my dad all day about a comment.”

“I’ll give Hyolyn a text.” I said, worried that the reporters already had reached them. I fished up my phone from my pants and started searching for Hyolyn’s number.

“You can text them!?” Chanyeol asked, sounding shocked “Since when do they have your number?”

“We exchanged numbers yesterday before you arrived at dinner.” I said simply, not having seen it as a big deal.

“But…” Chanyeol began “Even I don’t have your number, and we’re… matched! We share the same room!” He looked so worked up about it that I began giggling. He sounded so much like some type of angry boyfriend that didn’t want their partner to be friends with anyone else. I knew that hadn’t been his intention, not even to be funny in doing it, but with everything happening around us, I couldn’t help laughing.

“If I hadn’t known better,” I said, still laughing “I would have thought you were jealous!” I laughed some more but then when I looked at Chanyeol’s face, I saw that I hadn’t guessed wrong. He looked lightly horrified by my statement and truth colored his whole face.

“Why shouldn’t I be?” He asked, a bit shyly “I mean, not that I- you know, I’m just regularly jealous, like friend-jealous! Umh…” He trailed off and I needed to cast my eyes away from his because I was suddenly feeling embarrassed again.

After a while of silence, Chanyeol spoke up.

“Well…” He said “Could I have your number, too?” I looked up to look him in the face again and his whole being emanated a humble aura which was impossible not to fall, face first, before. I was completely frozen as I stumbled to get some words out.

It was hard to figure out why this sudden honesty and pureness made me feel like this. Chanyeol looked like some kind of knight where he stood right now, so open and willing to oblige to whatever I had to say. He’d accept my answer no matter if it was a yes or no. He would respect my wishes no matter what. It must have been something about this… strange devotion that made me feel like this was the type of person I could truly fall for. As if candor and clearness of the heart was all it took to make me come over to their side.

“Sure!” I managed to say after what felt like an eternity but was in reality just a few seconds. At my answer, Chanyeol’s whole being seemed to change, to lighten up and become some kind of beacon of all that was good. It was as if some kind of shell fell away, that shell that would protect him if my answer would have been ‘no’.

He fished up his phone and I told him my number as he clicked in the numbers to his phone. Soon, a text from his phone fell in to my inbox.

Hi

- was all it said.

“That was me.” Chanyeol said, as if it hadn’t been clear enough for me. I quickly saved his number down to ‘Park Chanyeol’, no more and no less. I usually kept my contacts like this but some few, the ones closest to me, had other nicknames.

After having saved Chanyeol’s number, I sent off a quick message to Hyolyn, inviting her and Ken to the game room.

“Great.” I said when I looked up from my phone again. I noticed instantly that Chanyeol had been watching me for longer than I had thought, his eyes focused on me with a strange gleam in them. “What?” I asked.

“N-nothing!” He said, shaking his head “Let’s get going!” I nodded and caught on to his steps out the door and down to the game room. On our way there, Hyolyn answered my text and told me that she and Ken would be there as soon as they’d showered.

Chanyeol

This was bad. I knew I was staring at him too much, but I just couldn’t help myself from looking at him when he constantly snatched my attention. How could I never have noticed how cute he was the first time I laid eyes on him? How could I not notice how beautiful he looked when he smiled, just like he’d smiled when he’d texted Hyolyn? And I couldn’t deny how jealous him smiling at the text to her made me feel. I don’t really get why, since Hyolyn was already in love and matched with Ken, but it still made me jealous.

Down at the game center, I tried to not be too much of a creep and managed to act normal. I could let myself relax a bit, being away from everyone and all of the fuzz that came of those articles. Before dinner in three hours, there would be another one of the Bonding activities and until then, I could let myself and Baekhyun relax and just have fun.

“Oh, I loved this game when I was  kid!” Baekhyun said, hurrying up to one of the machines. I hurried after him and was surprised at what he’d found. What surprised me wasn’t the game itself, it was just an old game called racket rush, but the fact that he’d called it his favorite from his childhood. Because that game had also been my favorite.

“You’re kidding, right?” I asked “That was my favorite game, too!”

Baekhyun looked up in surprise at me, then his face broke out in to a smile. One of those pure, true smiles that people rarely showed.

“Let’s play it!” He said, eager. A glint of competitiveness had sparkled to life in his eyes and I gladly would compete against him. I loved games like these, friends having a fun competition. He seemed to think it fun, too, because he eagerly handed me one of the controllers as he pushed the start button.

The game was instantly familiar and my fingers reacted on muscles memory as the game started. I lost the first round, but we instantly started a second which I won, which only seemed to make Baekhyun more excited about the game, knowing he wasn’t playing with an amateur.

After an eight-rounds-match, which we ended in a tie, Hyolyn and Ken arrived which made us stop what we were doing. Though I kind of had wished we hadn’t asked them to come so that me and Baekhyun could continue playing together. It had felt so… at home to play with him and I didn’t know how much I had been wanting to feel that feeling before it was gone.

“Are you guys okay?” Hyolyn asked as soon as we’d greeted them “We just heard about everything a couple of minutes ago from one of the staff members!”

“We had been wondering why there’d been so many people with cameras at the beach today but it must be because of you two, right?” Ken said “Man, this must really for you.”

“We’re coping.” Baekhyun said “But how have you been? Have anybody tried to get any information out of you?”

The two of them looked confused.

“What I think Baekhyun is trying to say,” I filled in “Is that since you two are our friends, it’s quite possible that reporters would like to speak to you and tell them what type of relationship mine and Baekhyun’s are.”

“And what would we answer them if they asked?” Ken asked, sounding like he’d be up to playing our shields if necessary.

“Just tell them ‘No comment’,” I said “Then just walk away without anything more.”

“Apparently, someone here had already been talking to reporters.” Baekhyun said “It stood in the article I read that someone inside had gotten them the scoop.”

There was a silence that followed that statement and for a split second, we all regarded each other with suspicion before realizing we were acting stupid. I might not know these people that greatly, but I knew as much about them to understand that they would never rat us out.

After having eliminated Hyolyn and Ken, the obvious answer laid plain in sight. Eunji. She had been the one to urge me to leave the hotel with Baekhyun in the first place, and it couldn’t have been a coincidence that she was being so nosy all the time. She must have struck a deal with the newspapers as soon as me and Baekhyun had been revealed to the public.

“I’ve never liked her.” Baekhyun said, and I knew we all had reached the same conclusion.

“I’m going to get my dad’s team on this.” I said, fishing up my phone.

“Hey,” Baekhyun said, putting a hand to my phone, which made our fingers slightly brush against each other, sending a shiver down my body. “No more for today, okay?” he said “You’ve done enough, just leave it until tomorrow.”

I was about to protest but Baekhyun’s grip was firm and looking in to his eyes, I could tell that he was serious with this. So I let it go, and listened to him. I put my phone back in my pocket.

“Okay, then.” I said “Tomorrow.”

“Can you guys believe tomorrow will be our last day here, by the way?” Ken asked and I looked up in surprise. Had it really been that long? It felt like we’d just gotten here yesterday.

“Oh, you’re right.” Baekhyun said, also looking stunned.

“So let’s make the most of the time we have left!” Hyolyn said “I call for a tournament!” with that, she hurried through the game center and stayed on one of those car games with a real car seat for you to sit in. There were four of them and it was obvious she wanted to challenge us. I gladly let the distraction inside my guards and made myself forget about all the bad stuff for a while. I would wait with trying to sort Eunji out. Me and Baekhyun needed to just let all that go for just one day, we deserved that much.

Baekhyun

I was mightily surprised at Hyolyn’s capabilities with the car game. I had believed myself to pretty good at games, having spent much of my childhood playing them down in hotel lobbies while my dad and mom had meetings on the upper levels. But man was I out of my league. Hyolyn didn’t even get the rest of us a chance to win before she’d totally crushed us in the first game. I could tell Ken was the most chocked of us all, seeing this completely new side to his future wife. But once the shock disappeared, he smiled giddily and we went on in to the next match, all of us much more serious about the whole ordeal.

In the end, we had no chance at beating Hyolyn’s skill in this game and after she’d won every single match in our little tournament, we had to ask her about where she’d gotten so good!

“My big brother is a professional race car driver.” She said simply, “He learned me to drive one of these in real life, so driving one in a game is like child’s play!”

“I call that a foul!” I said jokingly “We should’ve totally gotten a handicap since you’ve been professionally trained!” Hyolyn just laughed, which triggered the rest of us to laugh along with her.

“Why do you think I chose this game?” she asked after having calmed herself “I knew I’d beat all of you, of course!”

“Oh man,” Ken said “You’re such a fox.” He then kissed her happily and me and Chanyeol stood by, feeling a bit awkward. My thoughts was immediately thrown back to the previous night before all of the reporters and to the moment where it had just been the two of us, and we’d almost done exactly what Ken and Hyolyn were doing now.

I could tell Chanyeol were thinking about the same thing with just one glance his way and I decided not to look at him again in chance of him catching me doing it.

“So,” Ken said after his short kiss “what’s next?”

“Had enough of the car game?” Hyolyn asked with an innocent look on her face.

“How about air hockey?” Chanyeol asked, gesturing towards the air hockey table further in to the game center. We all agreed and split up in to teams according to our Matching. I wasn’t that surprised to find that me and Chanyeol did a great team, as did Ken and Hyolyn. It must be part of why we get matched with who we get matched to. We have to work together well, and since marriage is also a form of team sport, there was no surprise that applied to other sports, too. Not saying that me and Chanyeol were going to get married, but just… statistically speaking.

The rest of the afternoon passed by with the four of us playing together, just forgetting all the that was happening outside the hotel and concentrating on having fun during our last time spent here. Tomorrow evening, we would all return to the normal world.

When newly matched people venture in to the real world after the Bonding, they usually start off by introducing their families to each other. Some couples decides on a date for their marriage as soon as during the Bonding, other’s wait until their families have met so that they all can work their schedules together. Marriage is expected within a year, tops, and it’s very rare for matched couples to go on unmarried any further than that, though there is exceptions. It’s just the fact that everybody expects newly matched to get married as soon as possible and I wouldn’t have been surprised if Ken and Hyolyn already had plans for how they wanted their wedding to be. Most people talked about their wedding during their Bonding and this was the first time I realized that people would have expected me and Chanyeol to do the same. The press outside these walls probably wanted to hear our plans already and, since we were in the spotlight for now, would want us to get married within a month. I wondered if my family wanted us to get marries, too. My mother had seemed so enthusiastic to the idea of having Chanyeol over for dinner so I could only imagine what went through her head when I’d texted her that he’d love to.

When the time came for us to gather with the others for the activity we were to do together, the thought of what would happen when we left this hotel hadn’t really struck me yet. But once G opened his mouth to all of us, telling us about today’s activity, all of those thoughts flooded my mind at once. 

“Today,” G said “You all will learn an important lesson that you can use in the future. It may not be the most fun thing you’ve ever heard, but it’s important. Things such as, how to plan a wedding, how to be a good parent, what housing is like etc. All of these things are important things that you all must learn. All of these things, you will get books on before leaving here tomorrow, but before then we have today’s activity ahead of us.” He took a small pause before continuing “There is a reason for us to have gathered before dinner, it’s not just a coincidence. Because today, we are going to make our own dinner. I welcome to the stage-“ there wasn’t really a stage, more of a higher grounds in the large conference room “- professional chef, Mr. Song.”

Applauds and excited giggles followed as a handsome man appeared next to G. I instantly recognized him from morning TV where he taught people at home how to cook great but inexpensive food.

Meanwhile, I was panicking because if I had to admit one of my biggest flaws as a future partner, it was that I couldn’t cook.

Chanyeol

“Umh…” Baekhyun said, leaning close to me so he could whisper something to me. I leaned closer and bent down so he could reach my ear.

“I really at cooking…” he whispered, sounding embarrassed “so… umh…” I couldn’t help but smile. I turned to him and took hold of his shoulders. He looked stricken at the sudden movement but I just continued smiling.

“How lucky you are that I’m great at it.” I whispered back, our faces still close together enough for him to hear me. I continued smiling, but instead of Baekhyun smiling back, he blushed profusely.

“No need to worry.” I said and ruffled his hair lovingly, I just couldn’t keep myself from touching him a little longer. I didn’t let my fingers linger too long in his hair, though, I didn’t want to seem weird.

Mr. Song began explaining to us how important food was for a couple, how it brought you closer together and how cooking together had proven to improve relationships.

“You must remember,” he said “that food is essential for us all to live, and if we link that survival instinct with memories of our match, you will all have wonderful relationships.”

I felt myself glow with his words, having loved cooking for a long while before this. Food truly was something that had brought my family together when I was younger, even though my family had been a bit… split up thanks to my parent’s work having them working at odd hours, we always managed to meet for a meal during some part of the day.

“Work benches have been brought out for you to cook by.” Mr. Song said, gesturing to the wall where tables I hadn’t seen before had been brought to place. “You will find a recipe waiting for you by each table and I expect you all to find a table, push it to a place in the room where you watch me in the front, and then we will all try and cook something delicious.”

At his gesture, we all walked off to find a work bench. Fortunately, they all had wheels so pushing them in to the right position wasn’t hard.

When we all had settled again, Mr. Song continued. “We will only have cold food today, since it’s too hard for us to all be using ovens and stoves. But not to worry, cold food happen to be my absolute favorite.”

It ended up being a three coursed thing we were to make, starting off with some sort of sandwich with salmon, bringing us to an Italian potato salad and pre-roasted beef. For desert, we were to make our own sorbet.

Mr. Song demonstrated the hardest parts, gave us tips along the way, but other than that: we were left to our own devices.

I put Baekhyun on making the potato salad, which was him cutting vegetables, while I spun around him trying my best to make a beautiful first course.

“How is it,” Baekhyun said after a while of me totally knowing what I was doing “that you’re so good at everything we happen to do here at the Bonding?”

“Hmm?” I said, looking up from the finishing touches to my salmon open sandwich.

“Yeah!” Baekhyun said, cutting up radishes “You were wonderful when we danced, and you surfed as if you were Poseidon or something, you handle the press like a pro even though you don’t have much experience, and now you’re some kind of top chef!”

“Well, I’m perfect husband material to put it simply!” I said jokingly “Don’t you remember you telling me that?” Baekhyun thought for a moment then remembered how he’d called me ‘the perfect wife’ during our first breakfast. I had just happened to flip the gender and throw the words back at him.

“Oh, yeah!” Baekhyun said when realization hit him, then he began giggling “You really are, though!”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.” I smiled, and then showed him my finished first dish.

“Oh, wow, that looks delicious!” Baekhyun said and the awe in his face made me instantly feel satisfied by my dish.

“I did one extra.” I said, having had ingredients over after choosing to do the open sandwich instead of the closed one – a choice which the recipe wanted us to make. It wasn’t like I had gone completely rouge. “Do you want to taste?”

“I’d love to!” Baekhyun said, but then looked down to his hands which was currently handling some feta cheese. It looked messy, and a wild idea hit me.

“I’ll take care of it.” I said and gently put the sandwich out to Baekhyun, pushing it close to his face. Baekhyun looked a little embarrassed but still took a bite, his face lightening up as the taste of it hit his tongue.

“Wow!” Baekhyun exclaimed “That’s truly amazing, Chanyeol! You should be a chef or something?”

“I only followed the recipe.” I laughed, putting the rest of the small sandwich in to my own mouth and tasting it. The flavors hit my tongue as if they were born to always have ended up there. I really needed to save this recipe.

We continued cooking together, Baekhyun cutting up more ingredients: pre-boiled potatoes, spinach leaves, cherry tomatoes, onions, arugula, cucumber and even more delicious vegetables. It may not have looked delicious, but I trusted the recipe, and I trusted Baekhyun. Meanwhile, I put the roasted beef slices in to beautiful flower shapes on two different plates, then I continued with the easy home-made sorbet recipe. It only required me to crush ice, some berries and a few lesser ingredients until they were all blended together beautifully. Mr. Song had walked passed us as I was finishing up with the sorbet and he’d handed us a few decorative leaves to put on the sorbet after it was finished.

“Really nice work down here!” he said happily as he walked past. Me and Baekhyun both beamed at him.

When I was finished with the sorbet, Baekhyun finished with the potato salad and together, we displayed the salad he’d made on the plates. It might not have looked as beautiful as meat flowers, but it sure would taste delicious, I was certain of it.

When we all had finished up, Mr. Song clapped his hands for us to get his attention.

“Great work today, guys!” he said “As a reward, I want you and your match to go and find somewhere for the two of you to eat your wonderful meal! Be it outside on the beach, up in your room, or simply in the regular place: the restaurant. The main goal is for you to have a nice time just the two of you, so enjoy what you have created!”

Me and Baekhyun looked at each other, both asking the other were to go.

“The restaurant is fine by me.” Baekhyun said “It’s easiest to go there, and probably most comfortable, too.”

“Sounds just like my style.” I said and together, we managed to take everything out to the restaurant where we found a table. Beverages were being served to everyone from the bar and while most took their beverages and then ran off to wherever they’d left their food, some did the same as me and Baekhyun and sat down by a table to eat in peace.

I had been half expecting Hyolyn and Ken to join us by our table, but they were nowhere in sight and had probably run off on an adventure to find the nicest spot for them to eat their dinner. So it was just me and Baekhyun again. I couldn’t remember if we’d ever eaten jus the two of us, but I was pretty certain we hadn’t.

“This is our first meal together, just the two of us.” I said, as if to commemorate it while at the same time being a bit shocked by it.

“It is, isn’t it?” Baekhyun said, a bit puzzled over that fact. “How fun for us to have it with such a nice meal!”

“Yeah…” I said, laughing a little. I suddenly got the weird feeling of this being kind of like… a date. I didn’t point it out, though. I knew that would only make us feel awkward. Instead, I just enjoyed it. Eating with Baekhyun, our last evening here at the Bonding. It felt strange how quickly time had passed and that we’d be going home tomorrow. I tried not to think about what would await us at home, how we’d have to do that press conference and how I’d have to face my father. I managed to push all that away, and instead, I just enjoyed myself. It was as if me and Baekhyun were playing racket rush all over again, connecting as easily as if we’d been friends for an eternity. The dinner passed so peacefully, neither of us saying anything embarrassing or doing anything outrages. It was just… wonderful. 



A/N
Hi~ I know, I know. It's been FOREVER since I updated! (Like... 4 more days and it would have been 2 months!) I hope I made up for it with a longer chapter than usual? I will try my hardest not to take this long until I update next! I'm currently on summer break so I should have time, though I will start working next week so we'll see! Anyway, I hoped you liked this chapter, and I will (hopefully) see you very soon again! BYEE!! <3