Byun Baekhyun is a group fitness kind-of guy.

He likes the music, the spirited atmosphere and the motivation it gives him. It lights his competitive spark in a way that exercise machines never could – particularly when he notices the elder folks outperforming him. If the woman in her fifties hasn’t touched the low intensity options the whole session, why should he?

He begins to realize, however, that if he wants the muscles that define his arms just a tad, and not just keep up his fitness, he’s going to have to start hitting the gym a little differently. Or at least, that’s what his brain tells him. And Sehun, and Jongin.

If there’s anything he’s learnt from the past, though, it’s that if there’s an option to trust Sehun and Jongin, or jump into a pit of lava, you take the latter because while both will heed disastrous results, at least the lava offers a much less painful ordeal. Common sense tells Baekhyun that heading to the weights section of the fitness centre isn’t a bad idea, but knowing Sehun and Jongin a little too well leads him to point-blank refuse Sehun’s offer of being his gym buddy – despite Sehun’s insistence that it’s a great idea and he knows what he’s doing.

It’s never a good idea when it comes from the head of Oh Sehun.

(Not to mention Oh Sehun is a noodle. What can a noodle know about working out?)

That’s how he finds himself outside of the group fitness room with the gym equipment at 8:30PM on a Thursday night, staring at the heavy weights with a look of distaste and regret. Mainly regret, however, because he has absolutely no idea how to use the machines, and the small number of other people in the room (see: two) mean that he can’t copy off someone else without being blatantly obvious.

He looks longingly at the treadmills and ellipticals which he’d had some experience with (many-a-time whilst waiting for sessions to start), but draws his gaze away. He is here for muscle. Arm muscles. And maybe some others. He continues to look around and spots a rowing machine, settling on using it until the place either clears out or fills up, knowing for certain how it is used and how to not it up.

Clearly the world is against him, because the number in the gym dwindles from three to a record difference of two in the span of half an hour, him only being left with another male who clearly knew how to use the gym to his advantage, his body muscular, but not out of proportion.

He sighs, walking to a weight machine on the other side of the room. He’s too proud to ask for help, and even a little intimidated. The man’s wearing a black wife-beater, and whilst his muscles are certainly impressive, what draws the most attention are the tattoos that covers the upper section and assumedly further down his chest, and continue slightly down his biceps, as well as tease the bottom of his neck.

Baekhyun isn’t against tattoos himself, but he can’t help the inkling in him that if this guy is a part of the mafia, he could be in for a hard time and a serious pummelling. And he doesn’t want that.

He fumbles around with the machine, adjusting the weight for a moment too long when he realizes he’s attracted the attention of the tattooed man who eyes him with a raised brow. Baekhyun sits on the bench, scowling at him and sending a look of defiance, before putting his hands on the bar above and pulling down. It feels awkward and off-balance, and the weight is far too light, but he can’t lose face now.

In an instant the man is laughing, and Baekhyun is torn between being embarrassed, frustrated or nervous, because the sound is low and even if the face he pulls is terrifying, it’s got a certain charm. He settles on the feeling of nervousness as the man begins to approach him, trying not to curl back into himself and act as if he at least knows what he’s doing or what the other is laughing at.

“Need some help?” the guy asks, and his voice is lower than his laugh. Up close, Baekhyun can see his face is quite good looking, which he absolutely will not admit because even though Baekhyun had a small wish that someone would notice he needed assistance, it would not be from a ridiculously tall tattooed man that just laughed at him.

“Does it look like I do?” he bit back, nostrils flaring.

“A little. You’re doing it all wrong,” the man smirked. Baekhyun yelped as large hands gripped his hips and moved him forward, “You’ve got to sit farther forward, so your back is straight whilst you pull down,” he bobbed down to look at the setting of the weights. “And this is set far too low, even for a guy of your level,” he said, pulling out the pins. “High weight, low reps.”

Baekhyun wants to reply that what he was doing was none of his business, but he couldn’t find the words as the other man crouched down, smiling at him broadly. “Try it now,” he says, watching intently.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes but did as he was told, finding much to his disappointment that the stranger had been right, and whilst the weight was much heavier, the position was far more comfortable.

“You really are a group fitness guy, aren’t you?”

Baekhyun scowls. “How would you know?” He says, transferring his annoyance at the stranger to the bar his hands were gripped around.

“I’ve seen you around,” he shrugs, “Just on the treadmills, though. Was surprised to see you here. Doesn’t seem like your thing,”

“It isn’t,” Baekhyun’s reply is curt.

“So why’re you doing it?”

“Why are you so nosy?”

The man laughed again, shoulders shaking and chest tensing. Baekhyun definitely does not find it attractive. “You know, people are usually a little more appreciative when you offer to help them out. I’m not trying to piss you off here,”

“Sure seems like it,” Baekhyun grumbles, “What are you, my personal trainer? What do you even know?”

“I could be,” he says, and Baekhyun almost picks it as a challenge. “I am qualified,”

All Baekhyun’s sarcastic responses fly out the window as he realizes that this guy would actually know what he’s talking about - realizes he should have at least considered it with just how tank the man is - and he all of a sudden is hit with the sinking feeling he often associates with regret and embarrassment. “Ah,” he says simply, and the other man can’t hide his teasing grin.

“I gave that job up a while ago, though. If it makes you feel any better, I’m not going to make you pay for this afterwards,” he stands up, and Baekhyun realizes he’s finally going to leave him alone. Except he feels a little bad, and doesn’t really want him to leave anymore. “If you need any help, let me know,” he says, beginning to walk over to another side of the room where there are pull-up bars.

Baekhyun finds he can’t stop staring at the flexing of his biceps and tattoos, and is more than thankful the other doesn’t notice.

. . .

The next time Baekhyun attempts the weight machines, the tattooed man is there again.

“Are you stalking me?” Baekhyun asks, eyebrow lifting. “Sure you aren’t trying to rope me into a contract?”

The man chuckles lowly, adjusting the weights on the machine next to Baekhyun before sitting into it and pushing his legs out. “No,” he grins, “Just realized I didn’t get your name – that’s all,”

Baekhyun’s mouth forms an ‘O’ shape, and he pauses in pulling the weight down – the same one the man had taught him to use. “Byun Baekhyun, you?” he can’t deny it was something he’d been wondering the past few days.

“Park Chanyeol,” the man grins, “I’m twenty-four,”

“Then you should treat me with a little more respect, Park,”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes, rolls them, “Sure thing, Baekhyun-hyung,”

“You’re a punk,”

Chanyeol laughs then, his arm closest to Baekhyun coming up to brush blonde hair off his face. “I thought that tattoos would have already told you that already,”

A curiosity that has been bubbling once again began to surface, and Baekhyun tries desperately not to stare at the pattern he sees peeking underneath Chanyeol’s singlet, far too low-cut for the smaller man’s comfort.

. . .

Despite his initial reluctance, Baekhyun finds that seeing Chanyeol at the gym isn’t the worst thing in the word. In fact, it is possibly the anti-worst thing. Just maybe.

He finds himself disappointed when he shows up one day during his lunch break to find the other not there – the first time he hadn’t been there – and was almost tempted to message him before realizing he doesn’t have his number. And that it might be weird.

He sticks to the treadmill that day, and can’t wait until 8:30 on Thursday, his mind becoming more and more occupied with thoughts of Chanyeol, his tattooed chest, arms and blonde hair.

It’s only later, when Baekhyun is catching dinner with Sehun and Jongin, that he breaks the news.

“Well quite frankly, hyung, I am offended,” Sehun says, looking at Baekhyun with distaste. “I offered to be your gym buddy, and you repay me by betraying my trust and replacing me with someone else,”

“Is he hot?” Jongin asks over his ramyun, almost making Baekhyun spit out his own soup.

Baekhyun swallows, looking at Jongin thoughtfully. “Better looking than you,” he replies, and Jongin has the audacity to at least look offended.

. . .

“I came here Tuesday lunch time,” Baekhyun slips into conversation with Chanyeol, the other pressing free weights as Baekhyun focuses his technique. Or at least, tries to focus on his technique. Today Chanyeol is wearing the same black wife-beater as the first time they met, tight enough that Baekhyun can see the rippling muscles underneath.

Luckily Chanyeol’s arms are possibly the most impressive part of his body that Baekhyun has yet seen, which is where he’s meant to be looking. The amount of weight-related exercises he’s been getting the technique of incorrect would embarrass him, had Chanyeol not been so excited about helping him. “You weren’t here which was weird. I was beginning to think you lived here,”

Chanyeol laughs as he sits up, the bench shaking slightly with his own movement. “You won’t catch me here on a lunch break,” he says, standing up and gesturing for Baekhyun to lie down on the bench. “They’re not long enough at school, and you always have to look after the kids anyway,”

Baekhyun tries to sit up, but in the process hits his head on the metal bar of the weights. Luckily Chanyeol doesn’t notice. “You work at a school?” he asks, resisting the urge to rub his forehead. He’s caught off-guard - Chanyeol doesn’t look the type.

“I’m a teacher, actually,” the taller man smirks, and Baekhyun visibly recoils. He hears the intonation in Chanyeol’s voice, knows Chanyeol knows full well it isn’t something he’d expected. Seeing his reaction, Chanyeol laughs once more, brushing it off. “I get it,” he says, “Tall muscular dude with tatts, wouldn’t expect him to teach five-year olds,”

Baekhyun internally tries to deny that that description was basically his dream man. “Are you even allowed to do that?”

Chanyeol shrugs. “I cover them up; as long as I do that no one has any reason to complain. Anyway,” he changes the subject. “Hands up, you’re costing me valuable work out time here,”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes, before wrapping his fingers around the bar. He barely asks the other for help anymore, he just seemed to be bouncing off the walls to give it. Chanyeol stands over him in front of his head behind the weights, and Baekhyun is taken aback by how long his legs look, slim and muscular and going for days before they hit his hips.

He jumps slightly as Chanyeol’s large hands swamp his own - warm from the exercises he’d done just previously - but if Chanyeol notices he didn’t say anything, instead offering a broad smile to the man underneath him.

“Deep breath in,” he says, “And then lift. Keep the bar parallel to your chest,”

Baekhyun does as he was told, and Chanyeol’s smile gets, if possible, even broader.

“You’re a good listener, surprisingly,” Chanyeol says, and whilst the remark is certainly a backhanded compliment, Baekhyun doesn’t miss the fondness in the taller’s voice.

“My teacher isn’t too bad,” he breaths back instead, the heaviness of the weights making him lightheaded and definitely not the warmth of Chanyeol’s hands, or the brightness of his smile, or the way black flame – or were they feathers? - swirl over his biceps.

The younger watches him for a while longer before he decides Baekhyun can handle himself, moving to use a rowing machine not far from the elder.

Baekhyun will never admit to missing the feeling of the other boy’s palms, nor the feeling of excitement as after placing his weights back on the bar a loud rumble of his stomach lets Chanyeol know he was hungry.

It’s a small Korean barbeque place that Chanyeol pulls him into, talking about the need to eat protein soon after working out for muscle recovery. Baekhyun obliges anyway, no qualms about the choice of food. He knows his cat will be bothered about the lack of leftovers, but can’t bring himself to be too mad with Chanyeol grinning opposite him.

“So what do you do?” he asks, pouring Baekhyun some water. Apparently Chanyeol isn’t as disrespectful as he seems.

“I’m a pathologist in a lab at Seoul National University,”

“Ooh,” Chanyeol raises his eyebrows, “Lab geek, hey? How’d you manage a job there at your age?”

“They offered it to me after I graduated, actually. I am twenty-seven,”

Chanyeol’s hand drops to the table, eyes widening. “No way!” He exclaims, drawing in eyes from around the restaurant. It’s not particularly busy nor empty, but Baekhyun would definitely have felt self-conscious under the eyes if it weren’t for Chanyeol’s bright presence besides him. “I thought you were only a year older than me, you look so young!”

“Dermatologists hate me,” Baekhyun shrugs, lips quirking at the edges into a smile.

It sends Chanyeol into a fit of laughter, voice booming as his eyes scrunch up, and Baekhyun feels a tug in his heart.

“You got a girlfriend? Married?” he asks once he could breathe again, wiping tears from the side of his eyes before pouring out a shot of soju for Baekhyun.

Baekhyun holds the glass and waits for Chanyeol to pour his own, before clinking their glasses together and throwing it back. It’s been a while since he’s felt the burn of alcohol down his throat, and he coughs as he speaks. “You sound like my mum,” he says, shaking his head. “No, I have a cat and live on my own. You?”

“I can dig that,” Chanyeol replies, clearly taking his alcohol much better than Baekhyun. Young blood, Baekhyun thinks. “I’m single, though I’ve got my eyes on someone,”

Baekhyun won’t admit how much he hopes that’s himself. “Sounds juicy,”

Chanyeol winks, before looking down in embarrassment. It doesn’t avoid Baekhyun’s notice that this was the first time Chanyeol had ever appeared nervous around him, and it sends the slightest boost to his ego. “Maybe a little,” he laughs. “Hoping they’ve got their eye on me too,”

Baekhyun raises his eyebrows, before laughing himself. “Maybe,”

The rest of the dinner is enjoyable to say the least, the two drinking possibly a bit too much for an instance where they both have work the next day. He learns a lot about Chanyeol that night - after growing up in the states, he moved back to the homeland just after he’d done his undergraduate, doing his postgraduate in education in Korea before teaching at a local kindergarten.

He also learns that Chanyeol is not into group fitness, and takes it up as his own personal challenge to change that.

The hangover and teasing from Jongin and Sehun do little to dull down the warm feeling Baekhyun feels from the hug he receives from Chanyeol, his own body slotting perfectly into the taller boy’s, and the feeling of large hands pressed against his back embedded into his skin.

It’s a few days later when a meeting is cut short that Baekhyun winds up at the gym, not having to start work for a few hours and having nothing better to do with his time. He’s grown so used to having Chanyeol beside him almost all the time he’s there, that initially he feels a little lost, but luckily there’s a yoga class on. The time for relaxation without a booming voice next to him is a welcome change - if only occasional.

On his way back, however, as he’s giving back the locker key, he sends the receptionist a look of confusion as he’s handed back a wallet as well.

This isn’t mine, he begins to say. However, he’s cut off by the staff.

“You’re always with the tattooed guy, right?”

The question flusters him a little, but he finds himself nodding reflexively, taking the wallet from the man.

“He left this here early this morning,” the man behind the counter continued, Baekhyun realizing at this point the man wanted him to pass it on. “He might need it,”

Baekhyun nods, unable to find words. Always with the tattooed guy? he thought, realizing belatedly that yes, it was almost always.

He looks at his watch, noticing the time. He’s meant to be at the lab in half an hour, but as he looks at Chanyeol’s wallet he thinks that now he has a new priority.

He sighs, realizing that asking Jongin to cover for him was something better done over text message.

The trip takes Baekhyun a short way out of the city to one of the quieter surrounding towns. The kindergarten is decently sized, however, and Baekhyun finds it to look more like a small elementary school.

He follows the signs to the reception, noticing the clock inside says he has fifteen minutes to get to work on time, as he waits for the woman behind the counter to get off the phone. Maybe he could make it. Just maybe.

After a few minutes she pulls the phone away from her ear, covering the microphone, and looks at Baekhyun expectantly. “How may I help you?” she asks.

“Uh - Park Chanyeol works here, right? I-”

“Classroom E, the elephant room. Just in front of the large sandpit,” she cuts him off, waving before scowling at the phone. Clearly she’s was having a hard time. However, Baekhyun can’t say he isn’t surprised, having just expected to drop the wallet off to be delivered to him later.

He can't help himself and the quirk upwards of his lip at the thought of seeing Chanyeol teaching, and he couldn’t be rid of the spring in his step which accompanies him to the room.

He finds the door open, but stands quietly in the doorway as he waits for a good moment to interrupt or even better, Chanyeol to notice him, and can’t deny he’s a little nervous. However, watching Chanyeol was doing little to quell his heartbeat – instead doing to it the opposite as he watches the younger help one of his students to read while sitting in his lap. Chanyeol’s face is animated as he imitates the sound of various animals pictured in the book, lighting up as the other children giggled and did the same.

Thinking about it later, Baekhyun probably should have knocked, being caught a little off guard when one of the students calls him out.

“Mr. Park, there’s someone waiting at the door,”

Chanyeol’s head whips around, and Baekhyun can’t ignore the skip of his heart as the man’s lips spread into a grin. “Baekhyun-hyung!” he says excitedly, lifting the child that’d been sitting on his leg off before standing up. He looks to the circle of the kids seriously, “I’m going to let Mr. Kim finish the story for you. Make sure to listen to him well!”

It was only now Baekhyun notices the other man sitting in the circle, sharp cheekbones jutting as he smiled. He’s distracted only for a moment, however, as Chanyeol quickly bounds up to him.

“Hyung, why’re you here?” he asks, smile broad but confusion abound.

Baekhyun, however, finds himself entirely transfixed by the image of Chanyeol in front of him. Instead of the usual wifebeater or shirt Chanyeol is wearing a light, baby blue jacket over a cream coloured turtleneck, the wool coming to rest just underneath his jawline. Whilst Baekhyun is disappointed he can’t see the tattoos, he can’t help his increased heart rate as he looked at another version of Chanyeol. He looks ridiculously mature, like the kind of guy you’d want to bring home to your parents – like the guy Baekhyun wants to bring home to his parents – and his breath catches in his throat.

He’s pulled out of his daze by a warm hand on his shoulder, startling him. “Baekhyun, you alright?”

The man blinks, before his lips spread into an embarrassed smile. “Oh-” he starts, reaching into his pocket to pull out Chanyeol’s wallet, the other’s eyes widening in surprise as he takes it thankfully. “You left this at the gym this morning, receptionist asked me to pass it on to you,” Baekhyun nudges him playfully in the shoulder, “Look after your belongings, alright? This one’s important,”

“I didn’t even realize I’d left it there,” Chanyeol rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, looking a little embarrassed. It’s cute. “Thanks, Baek. Really,”

Baekhyun waves him off, trying to distract himself from the look of Chanyeol in a turtleneck by looking solely at his face instead. It is extremely counter-productive. “What are friends for?” he says, “Luckily I went today, though I didn’t know you were a gym-in-the-morning kind of guy. You sure you don’t live there?”

“I-” Chanyeol starts, apparently a little pressed for words. “My workout routine has been a little thrown in the loops really. Figured I had to compensate a little,”

Baekhyun joins the dots, realizing that this was most likely because of him, and can’t help the amused quirk of his eyebrow. Whilst Baekhyun feels bad it’s not as if it isn’t always Chanyeol that offers to help or distract him. Whilst Baekhyun is totally fine with this, hell, probably encourages it, he’s not to blame. “And who’s fault might that be?” he asks, holding back a smirk.

“Fate’s,” Chanyeol winked, laughing loudly.

Baekhyun glances at his watch realizing that it was now the time he’s meant to be at work. He sighs deeply, face dropping, and Chanyeol looks at him with concern. “I’m late for work,” Baekhyun explains, and Chanyeol’s face instantly changes to one of guilt.

“You didn’t have to do that,” he says, “Do this – for me I mean. You should go - as much as I and the kids would love a guest,”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun replies, though he really doesn’t want to. Spending his day watching and helping Chanyeol teach kindergarteners seemed like a much more exciting way to spend his day than preparing for a report.

Before he can say good bye, however, Chanyeol envelops him in a hug, chin resting on top of Baekhyun’s head. “Thanks a lot, really,”

“Stop saying that,” he said, muffled in Chanyeol’s chest. Whilst their positioning could be considered condescending, it only makes Baekhyun feel warm. He likes their height difference. “You would do the same,”

They linger for longer than they should, and Baekhyun considers messaging Jongin to ask him to cover for him completely when Chanyeol finally lets go, still grinning widely.

They manage to their good byes, and Baekhyun has turned around, starting to make his way back to his car when he’s stopped in his tracks by a hand gripping his arm and a voice calling his name.

“Baekhyun-hyung,” Chanyeol says, fingers wrapped firmly around the other’s wrist. “What’re you doing this weekend?”

Baekhyun shrugs, aloof demeanour hiding the fast beating of his heart.

“Let me take you out for dinner. Somewhere nice. As a thank you,”

“’Yeol, you really don’t-”

“But more as a date,”

Baekhyun’s jaw drops slightly, and all of a sudden the fingers around his wrist feel burning hot. “A date?”

“A date,” Chanyeol says once more, reaffirming smile masking uncertainty.

Baekhyun’s lips turn upwards as he gets an idea as he tries to fight off the blush rising on his cheeks.

“On one condition.”

. . .

This one condition was the reason Chanyeol finds himself warming up with Baekhyun at the treadmills when he’d usually be at home.

“I’m not a group fitness kind of guy!”

Baekhyun looks to the clock on the wall, noticing it’s the time to go in before turning off the treadmill and stepping off, Chanyeol doing the same. “Just give it a chance,” he says, grabbing Chanyeol’s arm and trying to pull him towards the room.

Whilst Baekhyun’s muscles had improved by quite a bit since he’s been training with Chanyeol, he’s nowhere near nor will he ever be on the same level as the other, his legs not moving.

“Park Chanyeol,”

“Do I have to?” he whines.

Baekhyun lets go, his hands instead going to his hips as he his head. “I don’t know,” he says, “Do you? I have plenty of other things I could do this weekend,”

The younger’s face drops, cheeks puffing out in resignation. Baekhyun hasn’t realized until now just how much Chanyeol might be under his finger.

“It’s not going to be nearly as bad as you think it is. You like weight lifting!”

Chanyeol perks up slightly at the mention of familiar ground, but he’s still reluctant as he follows Baekhyun into the group fitness room, copying Baekhyun as he set up his station, however using a much larger amount of weights.

Baekhyun notices during the session that his competitiveness is obsolete compared to Chanyeol’s, weight the highest in the room, refusing to reduce his load even when his arms begin to tremble madly, sweat trickling steadily down his biceps.

Baekhyun doesn’t do as well as he usually does, more preoccupied with the man beside him as he tries to memorise the way his muscles flex in different ways depending on the choreography.

“That wasn’t too bad, was it?” Baekhyun says once they were packing up, smirking at him slightly.

“Definitely bearable,” Chanyeol replies.

“You enjoyed it,”

“You’re getting a little bit ahead of yourself there,” the taller laughs, grabbing his towel and water bottle from the floor and moving towards the door.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Baekhyun’s hand around his wrist stops him, Chanyeol’s whirling around in surprise.

“We’re done? Condition over?”

“We’re not done yet,”

Chanyeol crosses his arms, frowning. “You said one condition,”

“I lied,”

“Baekhyun,”

“You know my friend Jongin said that he had someone to set me up with, I could easily-”

“Baekhyun!” Chanyeol groans, cheeks puffing out in frustration. “You’re the worst.”

Baekhyun grins cheekily before he winks, “You like me,” he says, before turning around and going to take his position. He knows he’s got him.

Chanyeol stands in shock for a moment watching as Baekhyun walks away, before his lips raised into a smile, not missing the opportunity to stare at the elder’s .

Yeah, I really do.

That is, until Chanyeol finds out it’s a Zumba class.

"I can't ing believe you,"

Baekhyun is fairly certain the instructor had almost kicked them out of the class when he couldn’t contain his laughter at Chanyeol’s coordination – or more accurately his lack of it. He couldn’t stop his laughter as he and Chanyeol left the room, the other boy scowling deeply.

“You-” Baekhyun starts to say, before laughing again, “No wonder you don’t like group fitness,”

Chanyeol crosses his arms across his chest. “Yeah, no wonder,”

“Seriously,” Baekhyun finally gathers himself, standing up straight. “That was awesome. Seriously. Comedy at its finest. Kind of glad I don’t have as much limb as you do,”

The taller sighs, turning around and beginning to walk to a weight machine. Baekhyun’s arm, however, lashes out to stop him, grin turning into a look of sincerity.

“’Yeol,” he starts, pupils peeping under long lashes almost shyly, “I’m sorry. Don’t be embarrassed, please?”

“Of course I’m embarrassed!”

“If it makes you feel any better, I’ve seen a lot worse. And I still want to go on that date with you. A lot,”

The statement manages to perk Chanyeol up a little, seemingly remembering the end game of why he had been there in the first place. Hand hooking under Baekhyun’s wrist, he pulls him toward a more open area of the gym, before gesturing for him to get on the floor.

“I’ll do triple whatever you do, alright?”

“Triple?” Baekhyun whines, “That’s not nearly enough!”

“We don’t want to be here all day, hyung,” Chanyeol sighs, arms wrapped around Baekhyun’s bent legs as he lay down on the ground. “You can’t just focus on your arms all the time, and if you want abs this is a good place to do regular work,”

“I hate sit ups,”

“And I hate Zumba, but I did it for you,”

“But-”

“No buts,” the younger says, effectively cutting him off, grip around Baekhyun’s legs tightening. “If you get to seventy, I might even give you a reward,”

Baekhyun groans, but in his post-Zumba guilt he complies, closing his eyes and inhaling before pushing his upper body upwards.

The constant rumble of Chanyeol’s voice as he counts, and the warmth emitting from the man’s arms around his calves spurs Baekhyun on despite the pain in his abs. He’s almost certain he’ll have a six-pack the next morning by the time he reaches the sixty-ninth sit up.

“Keep going,” Chanyeol encourages him.

“I don’t care about the rewar-” Baekhyun’s eyes fly open as Chanyeol cuts him off with his lips, not even registering they’d been on his mouth until he was going back down again. He shoots up, face scandalized and painted red – not for the first time not due to the workout.

“Chanyeol!” he squeaks, voice a lot higher pitched than normal and once again, not due to the exhaustion. He’s honestly, however, more concerned about the setting than the action.

The man in question instead grins, pressing a finger to his lips before nodding at Baekhyun to continue.

His mind blank, Baekhyun keeps going, mind swimming with thoughts of how soft Chanyeol’s lips had felt, even if they were only there for a split second, and how much he wants to feel them again. He won’t let Chanyeol know that, though, and kicks out his legs the second time Chanyeol tries to kiss him, effectively cutting all chances of mouth-to-mouth contact.

“Date,” he says as they both leave the gym. “Saturday. You’re too impatient,”

How could I not be? Chanyeol thinks as he presses a finger to his lips where they’d touched Baekhyun’s, resisting the urge to high-five himself as he watches the elder walk to his car.

. . .

Baekhyun finds out the next day at work that the deadline for a report on their current preclinical trials has been moved forward a week to the upcoming Monday. As a result, he finds himself there the Saturday of the date, frantically trying to finish it in order to prepare a presentation.

“Baekhyun-hyung,” Jongin looks at him, concern written all over his face. His superior had been acting oddly all day. “You’re checking the clock like you’re expecting time to stop. What’s up?”

“I want it to,” Baekhyun sighs, “I had plans tonight, think I’m gonna have to cancel to get this done,”

“Byun Baekhyun has plans?” Jongin gasps, Sehun snickering from the other side of the room in response. The deadline that’d been pushed forward had also sprung the two into action, finishing up and writing up what they could to pass onto Baekhyun. “Of course they’re today. What type of plans? When?”

“You’re so nosy,” Baekhyun grumbles, looking up to the clock once more. It’s the grand time of four forty-seven in the afternoon, and Chanyeol’s supposed to pick him up at five-thirty. He’ll be lucky if the report will be almost finished by then, and even then he’ll still has a presentation to prepare.

“You didn’t answer my question,”

“For your information, it’s a date. Or it was,” the superior adds sadly. “I should let him know now that I can’t go.”

“A date!?” Sehun doesn’t even attempt to contain his shock.

“I’m a little offended that you’re so surprised,” Baekhyun swivels around in his chair and turns to look at Sehun, face the definition of unamused.

“In our defence, Baek,” Jongin says, “You don’t really get out much. You live here or the gym,”

Sehun’s mouth spreads into a grin at the mention of the gym, and he rest his elbow on the bench with his chin in his palm, looking at Baekhyun with a glint in his soulless eyes that Baekhyun definitely does not like. “It’s that Chanyeol guy, isn’t it?”

Baekhyun wants to say no, but the change in his facial expression from unamused to pained gives him away with little chance of return.

“Typical,” Jongin shrugs, waving his arm. “He’s always Chanyeol this, Chanyeol that-”

“Excuse you!”

“Hyung,” Jongin ignores his outburst, leaning forward on his chair. “I’ll tell you what,”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes, preparing himself for the bull he knows is inevitably about to come spurting out of Jongin’s mouth. He only hopes Jongin will finish a lot earlier than he does, tonight. Especially considering how much he wants to mope.

“Go out on your date. I’ll get the report done and come give you the presentation and run-down tomorrow. Then you can add anything else you want before it’s due.”

What.

Baekhyun is rendered, for the very first time, speechless in front of Jongin that is for a reason other than the younger’s stupidity. “Jongin – I-” he looks at the boy, eyes blown wide. Jongin’s smile is more sincere than Baekhyun’s ever seen on him. “You don’t have to do that,”

“You could’ve made either of us do it anyway, you are the leader here,” Jongin’s face softens further, “You make work a lot easier for us then you need to, you deserve this alright?”

When it comes to ideas, Baekhyun usually doesn’t trust Jongin, but when it comes to work he knows the man is more than capable enough. He trusts him completely, and for once is not concerned about that fact.

The next twenty minutes are spent explaining to his two assistants what he’s already completed, and what needs to be done. He sends himself off with a strict reminder of “Message me if you need any help, alright?”, and neither Jongin nor Sehun miss the bounce in his step, smiling to each other knowingly as Baekhyun zooms out the door.

. . . Authors Note . . .

Part one!! How exciting!! I hope you're excited for the next (and final oop) part! I'm super duper sorry about the wait and would like to thank you all so much for waiting! Uni exams hit and then this still needed to be edited, so I'm really hoping that y'all are happy and this was worth the time it took!!

Thank you to everyone that commented/subscribed and upvoted! It means a lot to me for you all to do that, especially as this is my first published Baekyeol fic. I was super excited when I saw how many of you seemed to want to read this. I hope I've done this pairing justice.

Comments are always more than welcome (please feel free to tell me what you think! I'd love it if you did), and if you're too shy on here but want to hmu, always feel free to message/hassle/hurl abuse at me on twitter or tumblr :--) 

Thanks so much! See y'all in the next update!