. It was the only word that came to Baekhyun’s mind when he thought of writing. No one could blame him, though. The cursed beast was dragging him through hell. It forced him to sit in a dumpy McDonalds at midnight running on four cups of caffeinated coffee. Usually he could deal with the late nights, but not tonight. Oh no. Recently, he had moved into a Starbucks in hopes of getting a change of scenery to fuel his imagination. All was going swell until 10:00pm. It was like the beast was interrupted by a large, impenetrable wall and was currently smacking Baekhyun against it, hoping to somehow shatter it. Despite common notion, Baekhyun was not a hard head and the beast was making zero progress. 

Baekhyun slammed his laptop shut and stood up. The chair scraped against the ground, creating a horrid screech that echoed in the almost empty store. The cashier and other customer looked at him, eyes wide. He mumbled an apology and trudged to the bathroom. Once inside, he slammed and locked the door. It was a bad night. He didn't even have to look in the mirror to see that. The only thing he saw was a poor soul with bags under his eyes and a guy who seriously needed to get out more. His complexion was paler than a ghost and he could see his cheeks getting rounder. It was probably from the various chocolate croissants and caramel frappiccinos, or cappuccinos, depending on his mood. Baekhyun sighed and washed his hands. He couldn't bear looking at his face any longer. 

When he stepped out of the bathroom, he was met with what he believed to be a materialized version of the impenetrable wall he was going to be slammed against upon returning to his computer. The only difference was that it was a jumping man desperately needing to go to the bathroom. He had an extremely pained expression on his face and he barely registered Baekhyun when the door open. The guy was probably a million feet tall with fiery red hair that couldn't be any brighter. Baekhyun slammed right into the guy and was shoved aside. 

“I'm sorry, I really have to piss,” the guy bowed and slammed the door. 

Baekhyun shook his head and sat back down. He really didn't want to open up his laptop. What he would much rather do was pack up and go home. He laughed at himself. That wouldn't happen until he wrote fifteen pages. He was still on page five. Crying and blaming it on bad planning sounded a lot better than opening his computer. In actuality, he had his story fully planned out down to how each character acted and their personality. It seemed easy to just crank out ten more pages, right? Oh how wrong he was. Oh ho ho, no, it was like getting him to exercise; extremely hard. 

After weighing the pros and cons of calling it a night, he decided to stay a bit more. Just as his fingers were about to pry open the lid of his laptop, he was distracted by a certain flaming haired wall bursting from the bathroom. He looked extremely relieved as he walked up to the counter to order. Baekhyun watch him strike up a small conversation with the lady running the cash register and an obvious blush dusted her cheeks. She laughed and nodded as she wrote a name on two cups. Baekhyun scoffed. Two? Like this guy needed any more caffeine. He looked like he downed ten cups not an hour earlier. The only thing he could do was bounce from foot to foot as he waited for his order. Once the lady gave them to him, he thanked her and -- oh no. Baekhyun opened his laptop and quickly pulled up a YouTube video. He was about to slam his headphones on and turn the volume up when a tall man came into view. The guy pulled out a chair and sat in it. He set his drinks down, a caramel frappuccino with extra whip cream and some hot drink, and pushed the frappuccino over to Baekhyun. 

“Hey, I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I didn't mean to shove you aside like that,” said the guy. He unwrapped a straw and stuck it in the cold drink. “I didn't want to apologize empty handed, so I asked the cashier what you ordered last. She told me a caramel frappuccino with extra whip cream.”

Baekhyun refused to look at the guy and opted to stare at the wall behind him. “Thank you, but I'll be fine.”

“I insist.”

“Please, sir, I really can't.”

“Well, if you want it, it's there. I'm really sorry for that.”

Baekhyun risked looking at the guy and instantly regretted it. He had an extremely handsome face with a chiseled jaw, kind eyes, and a nice smile. Going down farther, he could see muscled arms coming out of short sleeves. His hands were large and looked strong as they held a hot drink. In that instant, Baekhyun hated the guy. He was attractive, fit, radiated confidence, and was kind. Everything Baekhyun wanted to be, but wasn't. Under the table, Baekhyun shifted his thighs, suddenly feeling self conscious. He remembered when he was younger, kids would pick on him for having round hips. 

“You look like a girl!” they had jeered.

One boy, Baekhyun had initially believed was his friend, had said, “you look like my mom! You'll never be like Jackie Chan or Bruce Lee.” After that, the others laughed at him and Baekhyun went home in tears. 

It was not that the kid’s mom was ugly in anyway, but Baekhyun had always dream of being a black belt in hapkido and being like Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan in movies. They were extremely muscular and he idolized them. When he was told he looked like a girl, his dreams were shattered. He did go on to finish as a black belt in hapkido, but he had dropped out of theater once he did. Now the black belt and uniform sat in his closet collecting dust, and reminding him of his failures. Every time he opened his closet, he wanted to burn it, give it away, but it was part of his childhood he didn't want to let go of. Same went for his Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan merchandise. His mom always tells him to get rid of it, give it to kid who would want it more, but he still refused.

“What are you thinking about?” the guy asked, voice soft. Baekhyun looked up, surprised the guy was still there. 

Baekhyun shook his head. “Nothing, sorry.”

Suddenly a phone rang. The guy cursed and fished it out of his pocket and answered it. The next minutes were filled with various sounds ranging from full sentences to just “uh huh, yeah.” When the guy finished his conversation, he shoved his phone in his back pocket and stood up. He bowed to Baekhyun. 

“I'm sorry, I have to go to a meeting.” The guy pushed in his chair. “Will I see you tomorrow?”

Baekhyun shrugged. The guy nodded and bowed again before rushing out of the Starbucks with a quick thank you to the cashier. Baekhyun stared at the frappuccino and melting whip cream. It was 11:00pm. Who the hell had a meeting that late? And what type of company did he work for that allowed him to have such outrageous hair. Baekhyun shook his head and went back to clacking away at his computer. 

It was midnight when the cashier told him she was about to close up. He nodded and checked over his progress one last time. To his surprise, he had written not fifteen, but twenty pages; five more than his goal. He sat there, quite baffled. It was only when the lights began to shut off that he packed up. Baekhyun gave the cashier a quick thank you and rushed out. He was ever grateful it was the only Starbucks that stayed open until midnight. It was definitely an upgrade from McDonalds. 

As he walked home, he realized he was holding the ever-melting frappuccino. He took a sip and sighed in contentment. After another hour of a lot more writing then he ever thought possible in such a short amount of time, it was nice to feel something cool go down his throat. He took another sip and then some whip cream from the top. Despite not liking the fiery haired guy, he definitely had to thank him for the drink, even thought it was an hour after the fact. They never even exchanged names, he thought suddenly. Baekhyun lifted up the cup and looked at the side. It read “Chanyeol” in a neat script. Chanyeol. Chanyeol. Chanyeol. Baekhyun found himself saying it outloud. He really liked the way it sounded on his tongue. It flowed like a smooth river. Baekhyun loved it, but at the same time hated how perfect this guy seemed to be. Was there anything he did that made him anything but? Probably not. Baekhyun grumbled. If only he could be as perfect as Chanyeol. Life would be so easy. 

Baekhyun opened the door of his apartment and picked up the letters from the ground. There were only a few. Some were bills from his landlord, and others were paychecks from his publishing company. Ever since a short story of his appeared in various books of short stories, he was getting paid with every week each copy sold. Not much, though. It all depended on how much was sold during the week. Sometimes he would receive a generous ₩500,000 and he would be able to pay his monthly rent with more than enough money to spare for a few weeks. He wouldnt have to worry about other paychecks until he ran out again. Other weeks, he would receive only ₩70,000. 

This time, he received ₩200,000 and was extremely grateful. He was running quite low for money for himself and cat food. As if on queue, a meow came from a fluffy bed near the window the apartment. A fat cat rose from the bed and padded over to Baekhyun. It rubbed against his legs and then went over to its litter box. As it went to the bathroom, Baekhyun opened a cabinet and grabbed the kitty food. The bag was alarmingly light and when he went to pour it into the bowl, it didn't even fill up all the way. The cat stepped out of the litter box and made its way to the food dish. It melded and gave Baekhyun a dissatisfied look. 

“Don't give me that look. I’ll get you more food tomorrow.” Baekhyun yawned and tossed the bag. He didn't even feel like showering. Instead, he brushed his teeth and immediately collapsed on his bed. Not in, but right on the blankets. He didn't even bother to turn the lights off. In his mind, he told himself he should so his electric bill wouldn't be so high, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. His eyelids weighed a billion tons and it felt like ten bricks were tied to his limbs. His mind felt so spent and fried. The only thing he could think of was sleeping. That's exactly what he did. He scooted up to his pillow and fell asleep in an instant. 

Baekhyun woke up to his cat his face. He sat up and checked the clock. Every curse word he could think of raced through his mind as he sat up, throwing his cat off. It was already 2:00pm and he had a lot to do other than write. He had to shower, get cat food, restock his fridge, get some laundry detergent, and buy a new laptop (his was getting damaged from the constant slamming and the screen was giving out). After throwing on a t-shirt any shorts, he grabbed his wallet and bag, bid goodbye to his cat, and shut the door. He flew down the steps and ran to the bus stop. Luck seemed to be on his side as he barely missed the bus driver closing the door. Baekhyun paid the fare and sat in a seat near the back, winded. Only a few people were on the bus. An old man and his wife, a businessman, and a guy with fiery red hair. Baekhyun did a double take and confirmed that, yes, it was the guy from Starbucks. 

“Fancy seeing you here.” Chanyeol smiled and stood up to sit next to Baekhyun.

“Touché.”

Chanyeol laughed. “Say, I never got your name. Mine is Chanyeol.”

“I know, I saw on the cup. I’m Baekhyun.” Baekhyun replied, still out of breath. 

Chanyeol nodded. Silence settled between them, thicker than bread and was filled with the hum and squeak of the bus. Baekhyun shifted in his chair upon gazing on Chanyeol’s extremely muscular legs. Gah, this guy had to stop being fit. It was making Baekhyun feel crummy about his own body. Instead of staring at Chanyeol’s perfection, he opted for staring out the window. The city passed by in a blur of humans and stores. Baekhyun soon found himself at his stop. He stood up, and Chanyeol stood up with them. When they were off the bus, Baekhyun was about to head off when Chanyeol stopped him. 

“Where are you headed?”

“Cat food, human food, get new computer.” Baekhyun rattled off. “And laundry detergent,” he added a second after. 

“May I tag along?”

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow. “Do you not have somewhere to be?”

“Actually, not really. Sometimes I just ride around on the bus and see where it spits me out.” Chanyeol shrugged. 

Baekhyun internally frowned. Who had so much spare time? He was always scraping for the last minutes of the day before he grew tired. He expressed his curiosity in a passionate “What?”

“It's my day off.”

“Fine, whatever, I don't have time to argue.” Baekhyun grumbled and walked in the direction of the pet store. 

The minute they walked in, Chanyeol and the cashier greeted each other with a high five. It seemed they were already well acquainted and that made Baekhyun want to punch Chanyeol for being so social. He made it seem so easy. For Baekhyun, though, it was almost impossible to make friends that lasted longer than a year. They usually stopped responding to him or started making excuses whenever he wanted to hang out. Eventually he gave up on making friends and devoted his time to writing and taking care of his cat. 

Once he found a bag of food, cans, and treats, he made his way to the counter and dropped it all there. Chanyeol continued to talk with the cashier as Baekhyun’s items were being rung up. After the food was all paid for, Baekhyun waited while Chanyeol waved goodbye to the cashier and they made their way to the grocery store. 

Again, Chanyeol seemed to be best friends with the cashiers and greeted them with enthusiasm. This time, though, Chanyeol tagged along with Baekhyun as he went through the isles. Sometimes he would offer suggestions as to the best brand, but Baekhyun would always ignore them because the name brands were too expensive. He went for the store brands instead. Once the basket began to get too heavy, Chanyeol took it and even grabbed a second one. As they went, Baekhyun was growing irritated. If Chanyeol would stop being a perfectly kind gentleman who was strong and could hold two, heavy baskets, it would make Baekhyun feel a lot better. 

Once they were out of the grocery store, Baekhyun hoofed it to the electronics store. It was already getting to 4:00pm and he really needed to get to writing. His editor would be extremely pissed off if he missed a day of writing. Even if Baekhyun’s excuse was errands, his editor would be royally pissed if he knew Baekhyun slept in until 2:00pm. His normal day was waking up at 9:00pm and getting right to work until midnight. It wasn't healthy, but it was how he got his work done. As he thought through his time crunch, he was reminded of Chanyeol’s day off. He scoffed. The only time he got a day off was Sundays when his editor went to church and spent time with his family. Other than that, Baekhyun was working around the clock. He didn't even get holidays. The thought of a pissed off editor made his walk even faster. 

Eventually they reached the electronics store and Baekhyun rushed in. He went to the cashier, (who also knew Chanyeol, shocker) and put his old laptop on the counter. The cashier offered ₩175,000, which was much less than what Baekhyun had bought it for, but he wasn't complaining. He took the money and made a beeline to the computer section. Chanyeol followed, and began looking at the more expensive laptops. Baekhyun stuck in the ₩300,00 section. Once he found a computer he liked, he was about to go to the cash register when Chanyeol stopped him. 

“What about this computer?” Chanyeol held up a ₩1,000,000 computer. It had a sleek aluminum cover and was a dark grey. It looked beautiful. Baekhyun immediately shook his head. That was way too out of his budget. He'd be broke for at least seven weeks if he bought that. “I find it to work quite well and it lasts for at least three years. I've had mine for about four. It's expensive now, but saves money in the long run.”

“I don't have the money.” Baekhyun said, holding up the laptop he chose. 

“Let me pay,” Chanyeol said, as if it were the price of a banana. Baekhyun didn't like this either. He wanted to be able to have enough money to pay for something so expensive. 

“Uh, no. I can pay for my own computer.” Chanyeol opened his mouth, but before he could protest, Baekhyun marched up to the cashier and bought the cheaper computer. Once it was bagged and Baekhyun had it in his hands, he stood at the door, watching Chanyeol walk over with a humored smile. Baekhyun didn't like that smile. It was way too perfect. This only made him feel worse. His own smile looked awkward and creepy. It definitely wasn't as brilliant. 

“Let’s go.” Baekhyun grumbled and left the store. 

Finally he was able to go to Starbucks. He had found laundry detergent in the grocery store. Unfortunately it was already 4:30pm and the bus ride was another thirty minutes. He was really tempted to go back home and crash, but he knew he had to write. As he stood at the bus stop, he kept bouncing from foot to foot. Bags bounced against his legs, and Chanyeol offered to hold some. Baekhyun was about to refuse because he had been able to through the electronics store, but the bags were starting to dig into his arms. His resolve broke and he gave a few to Chanyeol who took them with ease. Baekhyun internally groaned and pretended to ignore his ability to hold grocery bags. 

When the bus arrived, they paid their bus fare and sat in the back. Chanyeol set the bags on the opposite chairs and sighed. 

“Where are you headed next?” Chanyeol asked. 

“Starbucks. I'm extremely behind on work. My editor is going to kick my ,” replied Baekhyun, groaning. 

“May I tag along, too? I know I've been trailing you all day… And I probably seem like a creep.” Chanyeol laughed. “I just want to get to know you.”

Baekhyun frowned. No one wanted to get to know him. It was usually the other way around. He didn't really know how to respond. Chanyeol seemed genuine, but everyone else seemed that way. So why was he any different? It would all end up the same. Baekhyun was about to respond with a no, but his thoughts caught him. Did he really want to get to know Chanyeol more? Did he want to continue to see how perfect this man was? It probably wasn't too healthy for his mind and would make him feel worse about himself. But then again, this could be a future friend that might actually last. A voice in the back of his mind said, What if it doesn't work out? You'll be kicking yourself when you end up in tears. 

Baekhyun breathed deeply and glanced at Chanyeol. He was looking at Baekhyun with hopeful eyes. It could be painful in the future, but it could also be fun while it lasts. Then again, he was used to it. He responded with a tentative, "Okay."