pairing: BaekChen
length: 2433 words
A/N: Written at the request of ShaMusume! Hope you like it!
Part One: Five-Star Date
Part Three: Challenge Accepted
Part Four: The Other Side

“So, how did it go?” Minseok was once again sprawled on top of Jongdae’s bed, wearing a Cheshire Cat-like grin on his baby face. He had let himself into Jongdae’s home while the orthodontist was completing his rounds for the day and decided that taking a nap on Jongdae’s bed was the best way to spend the time waiting for his younger cousin to finish work. Minseok had woken up about an hour before Jongdae came home, so he spent that last hour comfortably reclining on his cousin’s bed while playing games on his phone. But once Jongdae stepped into his bedroom, groaning in annoyance as soon as he spotted that bed-stealer, Minseok threw down his phone and looked up expectantly at the orthodontist.

“Get off my bed first, you lump.”

“Tch, stingy,” Minseok muttered as he reluctantly slid off of Jongdae’s bed, giving it one last longing look before sitting cross-legged on the beige-colored carpeted floor. “Now spill.”

Jongdae made himself comfortable on the floor next to Minseok before suddenly placing his hands on the startled older male’s shoulders. “Show me pictures of my other blind dates,” he demanded, a serious expression on his face.

“What for?”

“Just shut up and show me or I’m not telling you anything.”

Minseok rolled his eyes at Jongdae’s threat before picking up his phone and scrolling through the pictures he had of the three men that Jongdae had refused to show up to the blind dates with. “This is Park Chanyeol. He’s your age, so I thought he was the best choice for your first blind date. He’s really friendly and easy to talk to, so perfect date material right there. He’s kind of intimidating at first since he’s so tall and his voice is so deep, but he’s really just a little kid at heart.”

Jongdae studied the youthful face of the man on Minseok’s phone screen. He admired Chanyeol’s large upturned eyes, his rounded yet sharp chin and jaw, his adorably giant ears, and his infectious childlike smile. If he weren’t completely smitten with Baekhyun already, Jongdae could very well see himself lusting after this man as well. Of course, this Chanyeol guy wasn’t as perfect as Baekhyun, but he was definitely top-tier material, nevertheless. “Okay, next.”

“This is Kim Junmyeon. He’s a bit older than you and since you’re into the mature type, I thought he might appeal to you more since you ditched Chanyeol, which I’m still mad at you for. The poor kid was so excited to meet you and I had to spend two days building up his shattered ego. Anyway, Junmyeon is a more gentlemanly kind of guy. He’s very considerate and always does his best to make good first impressions. His jokes kind of though and his humor is a little weird, but maybe that’s just me.”

Junmyeon’s face was longer and more oval-shaped than Chanyeol’s was. His eyes were almond-shaped and his face had a different sort of youth to it. It wasn’t the childish youth that graced Chanyeol’s features, but more of a youth that was currently transitioning into maturity and grace. And Junmyeon’s nose was flawlessly straight to top it off. Of course, Baekhyun’s nose would win in a contest any day, but that didn’t mean Jongdae couldn’t admire beauty when he saw it. “And the last one?”

“This is Lu Han,” Minseok answered, swiping to the last picture. “He’s really sweet and kind. Probably one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet in your life. He’s my age and I met him at Chinese school. Remember when your mom and mine forced us to go to those stupid weekend classes back when we were teens? Lu Han was in my class as a mentor so he could also practice his Korean. He hates being called feminine though, which is a mistake I made when we first met. He punched me and gave me a bloody nose, saying he was the manliest guy in the room.” Minseok winced as he recalled that fatefully painful day.

The younger male snickered loudly, remembering when his mom had arrived to pick the two up after Chinese class that day. She had fussed so much over her nephew, who refused to say how he had gotten hurt. Letting his giggles subside upon seeing Minseok glare at him, Jongdae began inspecting this last man. Lu Han was the poster child for innocence. He was like an angel, staring straight into Jongdae’s soul with his huge doe eyes. And Minseok wasn’t lying when he said that Lu Han looked extremely feminine. His features were so soft yet defined and his small mouth was naturally tinted pink.

Jongdae wanted to cry, because his annoying older cousin was constantly surrounded by all of these gorgeous gentlemen. He hated to admit it, but Minseok knew a good-looking man when he saw one. And this lazy lump even managed to become friends with all of these attractive people, which was completely unfair in Jongdae’s opinion. “Why didn’t you ever tell me you had such hot friends?”

“Well, maybe if you actually met with them, you would’ve discovered that yourself,” Minseok pointed out as he locked his phone screen and placed it on the ground beside him. “It’s your own fault for refusing to see them in the first place.”

“Touché.”

“But that’s not why I broke into your house. Tell me everything about your date with Baekhyun,” Minseok pestered, grabbing Jongdae’s thigh and shaking it excitedly.

As soon as Baekhyun’s name was mentioned, Jongdae became lost in the memories of that perfect date. He recalled how attentive Baekhyun was when listening to him rant about the healthcare system, how melodious Baekhyun sounded whenever a word slipped out of his perfect mouth, how lush Baekhyun’s lips were when they were pressed against his, how—

“Oi, earth to Jongdae!” Minseok waved a hand in front of his younger cousin, jolting him out of his trance.

“Shove off, Minseok.” Jongdae slightly blushed, embarrassed that he had been caught dreaming like a little schoolgirl about her crush. “Fine, I’ll tell you everything, but don’t make any of your stupid comments until I finish.” So Jongdae recounted what had transpired during that marvelous blind date with Baekhyun.

And by the end of the tale, Minseok was rolling around on the floor, squealing with giddy excitement and giggling madly. “Gah, this is so adorable! I can’t handle it!”

“Shut up.”

“When did you become so insufferably sappy?” Minseok lightly scrunched his nose as he continued teasing his cousin. “Give me back the grumpy, cynical Jongdae I’ve always hated!”

“You are definitely not going to be my best man anymore.”

Minseok immediately shot up after hearing the phrase “best man” from the younger male. “Oh my god, don’t tell me you proposed to Baekhyun that night?! Dae, that isn’t how dating works! I know you’ve been out of the game for a while, but this is completely jumping the gun!” the older male babbled without a break, not letting Jongdae get in a word edgewise.

“I regret telling you anything.”

--

Jongdae was walking around the shopping mall with his best friend, Zhang Yixing, so the two could buy an outfit for Jongdae to wear to his next date with Baekhyun. Even though he knew to take Minseok’s comments with a grain of salt (“You dress like a slob! No wonder no one’s been hitting on you for five years!”), it didn’t help that Baekhyun was probably the best-dressed man he had ever come across. He wanted to at least look somewhat decent so that Baekhyun wouldn’t be embarrassed of being seen in public with someone so ordinary. So Jongdae enlisted the help of his trendy partner-in-crime, knowing that Minseok would just be a pain to deal with in this situation.

The two walked into the first designer store that they spotted, and were instantly overloaded with a multitude of fragrances and colors. Jongdae didn’t know where to look; there were so many things to see all at once. His head began to spin and he dizzily grabbed onto a nearby clothes rack to steady himself.

“Dae!” Yixing turned to his best friend in concern and was about to help him, but Jongdae stopped the older male before he could move.

“I’m fine. Just give me a moment.”

“You’re such an old man,” Yixing teased as Jongdae straightened up and began looking through the racks now that his mind was clearer.

“I haven’t dated in five years,” Jongdae answered defensively. “Cut me some slack.”

They looked through piles and piles of clothing until Yixing suddenly spotted an area filled with sweater vests and turtlenecks. Even though the older male usually wore patterned bomber jackets or loose-fitting tank tops, he knew that these tops would fit the more plainly-styled Jongdae. Yixing quickly hooked arms with Jongdae and began dragging him to that section of the store when a voice interrupted them.

“Jongdae?”

He could recognize that voice anytime, anywhere. Jongdae slowly turned in the direction of the voice and locked eyes with the drop-dead gorgeous man he would be meeting with later that evening. And he just let his mouth hang open, not knowing what to say at all.

“I thought for a moment that my eyes were playing tricks on me, but it seems that I really did see you.” Baekhyun glanced briefly at Jongdae and Yixing’s interlocked arms before asking politely, “And who is this?”

Jongdae followed Baekhyun’s line of vision and tore his arm out of Yixing’s grasp in panic. “Oh, uh, nobody. He’s nobody important. Just someone I know. An acquaintance.” God, he sounded so stupid right now. He had never been so tongue-tied before.

Yixing immediately stepped on Jongdae’s foot, causing the orthodontist to grunt in pain.

“I see. Well, I need to be on my way. Eight o'clock sharp tonight? I promise I shall not be late this time.”

“Yeah, I’ll see you then.”

Baekhyun flashed that brilliant smile of his that Jongdae was wholly infatuated with as he genially waved good-bye and walked off to a different section of the store.

“You are literally the worst,” Yixing stated once Baekhyun was out of earshot. “I am seriously reevaluating our friendship at this moment.”

Jongdae buried his head in his hands as he groaned in frustration. “What is wrong with me?!”

“Tell me about it. You’ve never been less cool in your life. What happened to my level-headed best friend WHO ACTUALLY ACKNOWLEDGES MY PRESENCE?”

“Sorry, Yixing. I panicked,” Jongdae explained as he thought back to his sweaty palms and dry mouth when Baekhyun had suddenly surprised him. “I really don’t want to mess up my chance with him.” And it was true. Jongdae hadn’t felt such a connection between himself and another human being in so long. Just the fact that Baekhyun had been at the same store at the same time sent butterflies zipping around in his stomach. With his new sappy mindset, Jongdae felt like proclaiming this unexpected encounter as destiny.

Yixing shook his head, in disbelief that his best friend has dissolved into a puddle of romantic mush right in front of his eyes. “Whatever you say, buddy. But,” the older male started, pushing his pointer finger into the fabric of the thick sweater that covered Jongdae’s chest, “you better clear up the fact that I’m actually your best friend. Wouldn’t want him wondering why ‘nobody important’ is going to be the best man at your future wedding.”

--

Once again, Jongdae had arrived at the venue ten minutes before the proposed meeting time. He nervously tugged at the charcoal gray cashmere sweater vest he was wearing over a light blue dress shirt. The jittery male couldn’t stop fidgeting in his seat as he waited for Baekhyun to show up. He tried sipping the ice-cold margarita that the waiter had brought over earlier, but the liquid just wouldn’t comfortably slide down his throat.

When Baekhyun finally appeared, Jongdae let out a huge sigh of relief that his date had kept his word and arrived on time tonight. After they ordered their meals, Baekhyun broached the topic first. “Was that man you were with earlier really no one?”

Jongdae wanted to slap himself across the face for being so idiotic earlier. “No, that was my best friend. We were clothes shopping since I haven’t upgraded my wardrobe in a while.”

“Why did you not say that earlier?” Baekhyun asked, looking curiously at the embarrassed orthodontist.

Jongdae didn’t know what to say. He didn’t want to voice his nonsensical worries, but he also didn’t want to make up stupid little lies in front of Baekhyun either. His wonderful date didn’t deserve that. So he plucked up the courage from somewhere within him and stated, “I really like you, Baekhyun. I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea about me and my best friend, so I briefly lost my mind for a moment and said some stupid things. I promise that I don’t date around.”

Baekhyun’s harmonious laugh rang out as he shook his hand in the air, flapping away Jongdae’s concerns. “I never worried about that nor did I misconstrue what happened earlier at the store. I was genuinely curious to know who you were spending time with. After all, I would very much like to get to know the people you deem important in your life.” The charming young gentleman smiled widely as he looked deep into Jongdae’s eyes.

The younger male felt his heart flutter uncontrollably in his chest and broke eye contact as he lightly fanned himself with his hands, feeling his cheeks grow warm despite the chilly environment. “I’ll properly introduce you two someday,” Jongdae answered, looking away from Baekhyun to avoid blushing even more than he already was.

“I look forward to it,” Baekhyun responded, beaming brightly. God, Jongdae wished he could capture that perfect smile forever. This man was so faultless, it was hard to believe he was real. “And I shall expect some compensation for your little lies earlier,” Baekhyun added with a small smirk decorating his face. He lightly tapped the edge of his full, coral-colored lips as he gazed at the other male. It was a barely noticeable, innocuous action that may not have actually held any true meaning, but Jongdae felt his face drastically flame up as he thought of kissing Baekhyun until they were both senseless.

This devastatingly attractive man was going to be the death of him. Jongdae was sure of it.

And he wouldn’t have it any other way.

♈♈♈