pairing: BaekChen
length: 4313 words
A/N: Some more action, fantasy, and virtual reality gaming, because I need more practice and I'm really enjoying these genres right now. Sorry if this one seems similar to Crush You. I tried to go for a different vibe that was less antagonistic and I hope this ends up being an interesting read at the very least.

--

Baekhyun grinned to himself as he swiped through his Battle History log, feeling quite proud of himself since the holographic screen showed dozens of green-colored notifications that all said WIN. This would show Kris that the younger male was perfectly capable of prevailing over others without any assistance. Even though Kris was still in a much higher tier than Baekhyun was, the younger male knew that he’d be able to catch up in no time at all at this win rate. He only needed several hundred more experience points to move into the Ruby Division of his coalition and then he’d finally be able to acquire new Battle Forms that Kris had been showing off when they were training together earlier.

Dusk was now approaching, so Baekhyun knew he should find shelter since his powers were less effective without sunlight. It was inconvenient, because the only times he had to log in were in the late afternoon and evening after his classes. This semester, he had been unlucky in that all of his professors taught in the early morning and noon, so Baekhyun was forced to schedule his gaming shenanigans around his class agenda instead of making time to log in when it was most favorable for him.

As the sun began to set—painting the sky with varying shades of light orange, lemon yellow, and rose pink—and the air temperature began to drop, Baekhyun retrieved a charcoal gray scarf from his inventory and wrapped it snugly around his neck. He didn’t like feeling cold, even though Kris often for “being such a wuss” and not bearing the cool atmosphere. It was simply more comfortable for the younger male to throw on more layers than it was to pretend that he enjoyed the chilly air.

Deciding that he needed a drink, Baekhyun set course to his favorite pub and messaged Kris, telling him that he’d be there to meet if the older male had time.

--

As he sat in a corner of the Dewclaw Pub, Baekhyun lazily yawned while scrolling through the latest updates released by the Feles News Network. When his eyes caught sight of another interview that Kris had given upon being one of the first to reach the Diamond Division in his streak, he snorted and saved the video clip before sending it to the older male with a snarky caption. It was hard not to feel some jealousy over how well Kris was doing, especially since the two males had joined the game at around the same time. Baekhyun attributed their difference in skill to the hours of class that Kris chose to skip in favor of sleeping in so that he could spend all night improving his game rank and widening his network of foxy ladies.

The younger male grimaced when the disturbing images of Kris tongue-wrestling the numerous women draped around his long body entered his mind and he had to lightly slap his cheeks to chase them away. Even though Kris claimed that he only did it for the limited edition items and extra amounts of gold pieces that these women willingly gave up to him in exchange for a few kisses, Baekhyun couldn’t help but think that the older male liked it to a certain degree. Which was fine with him, but Baekhyun always wondered if the playing field between them would be more even if Kris didn’t have these sponsors backing him up.

Well, no matter. Baekhyun didn’t need favors from others to improve his battle rank. He was perfectly capable of ascending the leader board of his coalition. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither were the legacies of top-level gamers.

Baekhyun took a swig of his drink and noted that he should call for a refill soon before leaning back into his seat while leisurely folding his slender hands across his stomach. He closed his eyes and allowed the dozens of odors floating around the spacious room to fill his senses. The musky scent of cedar wood, the sweet aroma of orchids, and the tangy smell of wild berries were among the numerous fragrances that entered his nose. These scents were comfortingly familiar and as Baekhyun continued deeply inhaling the air, he found himself being slowly lulled into a state of drowsiness. These past few weeks had been difficult with midterm exams and research papers assigned to him by his professors. It was nice to escape his real-life responsibilities and just bask in the calm ambiance that the Dewclaw Pub offered in this world. Nothing to worry about here…

And then a powerful, unknown smell suddenly invaded his sensitive nostrils. Baekhyun’s eyes immediately flew open and leaning over him was a young man with high cheekbones, a sharp jaw line, and a terrifyingly strong gaze.

“Hey.”

Baekhyun involuntarily jumped in his seat, painfully hitting his tailbone against the back of the wooden bench he was sitting on. “Wh-who are you?” he asked the stranger, who stopped towering over the surprised male and plopped himself in the seat across the rectangular table.

“You’re Baekhyun, right?”

“Uh, yeah…”

The other male stuck out his right hand for a handshake before saying, “I’m Chen. Kris told me to look for you.”

“Wait, you know Kris?” Baekhyun asked incredulously. “I mean, yeah, he’s famous so of course people know who he is, but you’ve actually talked to him?” It was hard to believe, considering Baekhyun knew that Kris only bothered getting to know the female population.

“Yeah. We’ve trained a bit together,” Chen answered nonchalantly with a shrug. “He’s pretty powerful.”

Baekhyun was trying to wrap his mind around the thought that Kris had other friends of the same gender—aside from himself, of course, but Baekhyun didn’t count because they had known each other prior to joining the game—until he realized that the man in question hadn’t come to the pub and had sent this stranger in his stead for some reason. “Where is Kris anyway?”

“Probably making out with some fox,” Chen responded with a flippant wave of his hand. “I think he mentioned that her name was Jessica or something like that before he kicked me out and told me to find you here.”

Baekhyun snorted loudly. Of course. Why wasn’t he surprised? He should have known that Kris would be too busy chasing after more women to rendezvous at the Dewclaw Pub. It was laughable to think or believe otherwise. Typical, thirsty Kris.

“Anyway, I’m not here to talk about Kris and his inability to keep his hands to himself.” Chen’s lips curled up into a smirk that matched his strong gaze. “Kris told me that you’re trying to jump into the Ruby Division. I’m surprised that someone of his caliber is hanging around a guy in the Emerald Division.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Baekhyun asked, feeling extremely miffed that this stranger had the gall to insinuate that he wasn’t worthy enough to be Kris’ partner.

“I mean, you’re kind of scrawny-looking…”

“Excuse me?!” Baekhyun’s voice went uncharacteristically high, which wasn’t helping his case, as he slammed his hands on the table while abruptly standing up. “You take that back! And you’re just as scrawny as I am!” he added as an afterthought, wanting to take a shot—weak as it was—since his pride was hurt.

“Why don’t you prove it to me then?” Chen goaded as he stood up as well. “Prove that you’re stronger than your Emerald Division peers.”

He didn’t need to be asked twice. Even though it was almost nightfall and his power cycle would soon be at its lowest point without any sunlight, Baekhyun wanted to show this overly confident kid who was boss. He’d beat Chen in a one-on-one battle and prove to Kris that he was the superior training partner.

They left the pub and trekked to a space that was void of any scent marks. It was at the edge of a forest, which caused Baekhyun to feel slightly apprehensive since he was used to open plains. The trees that were oppressively clumped together brought about a sense of claustrophobia that he hadn’t felt in ages. Not since his early days in-game when Kris had somehow convinced the younger male to train with him in the jungle and Baekhyun had foolishly agreed to before suffering an utterly humiliating loss while his chest tightened with fear.

From that day on, the two friends had never trained in an enclosed terrain again although Kris would grumble that he wasn’t wholly comfortable in such exposed spaces that left him feeling somewhat vulnerable. Not to mention, the foxes were always tantalizingly hiding behind trees as they spied on the older male while the two battled each other; they only stepped out into the open because it became known that Kris would always be in the plains whenever he was training. But Baekhyun had begged enough for the older male to agree to continue sparring in these wide-open spaces that didn’t make Baekhyun’s insides feel as if they were being squeezed to pieces by some overpowering, invisible force.

So Chen leading him to the outskirts of a forest was causing that uncomfortable emotion to creep back, which Baekhyun didn’t like whatsoever. “Um, this is a pretty good space to battle, don’t you think?”

“I suppose so.” Chen glanced around with his dark brown eyes that seemed to glint under the bright moonlight. “Not my ideal environment, but I suppose you need a handicap.”

“No, I don’t!” Baekhyun denied immediately, feeling quite attacked by the other male’s blatantly tactless manner of speaking.

“Whatever you say.” And then Chen turned around so that he was directly facing Baekhyun. “Kris mentioned that you hate enclosed spaces, but I guess that’ll just give me a chance to practice out of my own comfort zone since I’m adhering to yours.”

“Well—”

But Baekhyun wasn’t able to finish that thought, since Chen stepped forward while brazenly brandishing his chest. A bright yellow light erupted from his body and encased his small figure as he began to unleash his feline form. Several seconds later, the light faded and Baekhyun was facing a three-foot tall, six-foot long pale yellow rosette-spotted leopard with his hackles raised and his fangs bared. Lightning crackled in the far distance and Baekhyun winced as loud claps of thunder followed just seconds later. “Well, what are you waiting for?” Chen growled in a low voice, his long tail flicking side to side behind him. “Go ahead and transform.”

“We’re…we’re battling now? Like right now?” Baekhyun squeaked out.

Another flash of lightning appeared, coupled with booms of thunder, and Chen nodded sagely as his black lips stretched into a freakishly human-like smile. “Unless you’re too scared and you’d rather forfeit?”

“No way!” If anything, Baekhyun was not a quitter. And since it seemed like Chen and Kris conversed somewhat regularly with each other, Baekhyun knew that any news of him forfeiting a battle would quickly reach Kris, whether he wanted it to or not.

With a deep breath, Baekhyun closed his eyes and threw open his arms to expose his chest as well. An orange-yellow light surrounded him, slightly obscuring his body from view as his form began altering. His arms and legs elongated, becoming wider at the hind section to form large triangular shapes. His waist curved inwards while his chest puffed outwards, hundreds of black spots appeared on his sandy yellow fur coat, and gravity pulled him down onto all fours as his hands and feet morphed into paws with sharp claws. A long, thin tail sprouted from his backside with dozens of spots decorating the appendage; the tip was completely covered in black fur that transitioned into black rings around the tail.

Baekhyun’s face then widened and grew so that his ears, which had grown larger and rounder, were now at the top of his head. His nose flattened down and the entire bottom half of his face grew outwards so that he now had a white muzzle. Translucent whiskers sprouted from his cheeks as his pink lips turned black. His dark brown eyes turned amber and black tear streak marks appeared, running from the inner corner of his eyes down his flat nose to his curled up mouth.

Once Baekhyun had finished transforming, Chen looked him up and down before commenting, “Very interesting. This’ll be the first time I battle a cheetah, so this should be a fun learning experience.”

“Well, you’re going to lose tonight, so I doubt you’ll be having much fun,” Baekhyun muttered in response to Chen’s seeming self-assurance as he settled into a defensive combat stance. The cheetah lowered his lithe body, his soft underbelly just barely brushing against the dusty floor, as he cautiously walked in a circle with Chen at the other side. Even though it was customary for cheetahs to moan and hiss at their opponents, Baekhyun didn’t think it would do anything to intimidate Chen. The leopard still had that haughty grin plastered on his furry face as he leisurely padded around, flicking the end of his tail every so often. It was almost as if they were at a stalemate with how safely they were playing at the moment.

That was until a bolt of lightning struck down and completely engulfed Chen’s body. Baekhyun automatically jumped back, extremely startled from the deafening clap of thunder that sounded simultaneously, and watched with wide eyes as the leopard withstood the powerful lightning bolt. With a low growl, Baekhyun realized that Chen’s power levels were dependent on lightning, similar to how the cheetah’s were dependent on sunlight. And that made this ordeal much scarier, because Baekhyun had absolutely no sunlight to boost his power levels at this time of night.

Chen’s lips curled up into a confident smirk as he readily absorbed the lightning, some residual sparks jumping off of him, and noted how Baekhyun seemed to freeze in place. So he took this chance to land the first blow, swiping his sharp claws against the cheetah’s muzzle. Baekhyun yowled in pain, but then immediately swiped back to rake his claws against the side of Chen’s face. But the lightning sparks surrounding the leopard’s body effectively shocked Baekhyun, causing him to jump back and snarl loudly. Luckily, he hadn’t been too hurt by the deadly electricity because his defense stats were higher than average for a cheetah; sparring with Kris had allowed him to build up parts of his body that weren’t usually used by those in his species class.

Even so, Baekhyun had to acknowledge Chen’s strength. He was a formidable opponent. While he wasn’t anywhere near Kris’ power levels, the leopard was still notably strong for a lean big cat and Baekhyun knew that the only way he would have a chance of winning was if he used his superior cheetah speed.

But what Baekhyun didn’t account for was his lack of energy without sunlight now that it was currently night. His acceleration and overall running speeds were but a fraction of what he was truly capable of, and Chen was able to catch onto this weakness when Baekhyun clumsily swerved out of the way to avoid being slashed at again. The leopard then redirected numerous bolts of lightning from the sky towards the speedy cheetah, who was just barely able to sprint and dive out of the way. As a result, parts of Baekhyun’s coat were singed and the stench of burning fur filled the atmosphere, causing the cheetah to pause momentarily as he coughed from the rank smell.

“Surely this isn’t all you’re capable of,” Chen purred, his shoulders drawn up to make himself look more immense with lightning crackling around him in the background. “Attack me like you mean it. Attack me like you want to kill me,” he taunted with his strong gaze piercing straight through Baekhyun.

Even though the cheetah knew that he couldn’t actually kill his opponent—they were in a virtual reality game, after all—the leopard’s words still sent a chilling sensation down his long, bony spine. But a challenge was a challenge, so Baekhyun’s competitive nature fired up even more with the prospect of battling someone who was so unabashedly fearless and confident.

The cheetah sprinted forward and viciously clawed at Chen, trying to rip as much fur and flesh as he could from the leopard who hadn’t been expecting the sudden attack. He sunk his razor-sharp fangs into the leopard’s left shoulder while he hooked the claws on his left paw into Chen’s right shoulder. The attack caused the leopard to roar as loudly as the thunder that was booming around them and then, Chen tried to shake off the cheetah. With his lighter weight, Baekhyun was able to cling onto the slightly bulkier leopard, but only for a few seconds before he was unceremoniously flung off. The cheetah let out a shrill shriek when he felt his dewclaw being ripped from his paw, having hooked himself too tightly onto Chen earlier. Blood began to stream from the wound and Baekhyun hastily it clean before activating a quick healing spell that innervated him so that he wouldn’t be distracted by his new wound.

Soon after, Chen fired more lightning bolts in Baekhyun’s direction, who bounded away in the nick of time to avoid being struck. The cheetah realized that Chen had only ever utilized his lightning attacks when they were at a considerable distance apart from each other, so he quickly bridged the gap between them and focused on short-range attacks. With a burly cuff to the head, Baekhyun was able to temporarily stun Chen long enough to hook his paws around the leopard’s neck. He tightened his hold while balancing deftly on his hind legs, strangling and squeezing Chen as hard as he could.

The leopard, whose front paws were free, managed to angle himself so that he could swipe at Baekhyun’s unprotected soft underbelly. With a pained yelp, the cheetah loosened his hold on Chen, who then took this opportunity to charge forward and head- Baekhyun several feet into the air. He landed with a crash onto the hard ground, but steadily pushed himself back up into an attack stance. Baekhyun wasn’t fazed at all; Kris’ hits were much more fatal and he had survived plenty of those. Chen’s lips curled up when he saw how readily Baekhyun picked himself back up and the two felines began charging at each other again, both determined to get the upper edge in this battle.

Suddenly, a majestic fiery orange and black-striped tiger bounded in between the sparring big cats, forcing them to a stop as they both jumped backwards to avoid colliding with the massive beast. “Kris! What are you doing here?!” Baekhyun exclaimed as he gingerly placed weight on his injured left front paw, now that he was finally able to break from viciously sparring with Chen.

The tiger blinked his large amber eyes before answering in deep, rumbling growls, “We need to log out right now.”

“What?!”

“But we’re in the middle of a battle right now,” Chen pointed out, his claws digging into the ground as sparks of electricity bounced off of his rosette-spotted coat.

“I know, but I just remembered that Baekhyun and I have five problem sets due tomorrow for our Quantum Mechanics class.”

“So?” Baekhyun didn’t see how that had anything to do with his current battle with Chen.

Kris smiled sheepishly, or as sheepishly as a hulking nine-foot long striped tiger could. “I need to copy your homework.”

“Again?!”

The tiger guiltily bobbed his large furry head in response. “I’ll make it up to you!” he offered Baekhyun hastily. “I’ll focus on training you until you’re comfortably ahead of most of your coalition in the Ruby Division and I’ll give you all of the stuff Jessica offered me earlier. She said her sister, Krystal, would send me extra gold as well, so I’ll split that with you.”

Baekhyun sighed. He had no interest in whatever Jessica was giving Kris, but he also knew that Kris would just keep pestering him until the younger male eventually gave in. Despite being an insanely tall and imposing male, at least in comparison to Baekhyun’s short stature, Kris could beg and plead just as well as any small child. Perhaps that was what also drew females to him like bees to honey; his cool, suave façade and strikingly handsome looks weren’t his only appealing aspects.

But it seemed rude to just abandon Chen in the middle of their fight as well. Battling against the leopard shifter had been a valuable experience and Baekhyun knew that if he continued sparring against Chen, his power levels would drastically increase. Although Kris offered training of brute strength and immense force, it seemed like the leopard shifter would be able to keep Baekhyun on his toes with his almost unpredictable movements that the cheetah shifter couldn’t counter with his speed alone.

And another thing that Baekhyun had noticed was that Chen’s pheromones were powerful. Which was bad. As someone who relied heavily on his nose, Baekhyun found the scents emitting from Chen to be alluring in a very strange way, especially since leopards usually had no business associating with cheetahs. However, the barrier between lions and tigers was now almost nonexistent, and Kris was also singlehandedly bridging the gap between foxes and tigers—although purely for his insatiable thirst for the female population and his own selfishness to acquire rare items without even lifting a finger—so cross-species fraternization wasn’t completely unheard of.

Nevertheless, Baekhyun couldn’t let himself get caught up in the web of Chen’s enthralling pheromones and that thought made it much easier for him to agree to Kris’ pleas. “Sorry,” he said to Chen as he morphed back into his human form. His joints and limbs, especially his blood-streaked left arm, were feeling especially sore from the battle.

“It’s fine,” Chen answered good-naturedly as he shifted from his leopard form. “Kris, you owe me as well,” he added with a chuckle as he looked pointedly at the tiger shifter who had also assumed his human form.

“Of course. I’ll message you later,” Kris promised as he took hold of Baekhyun’s arm and agitatedly tugged at it. “C’mon. It’s already one in the morning and our first lecture of the day is at eight.”

And before the younger male could say anything, Kris pulled up his holographic menu screen and tapped on the button to log out. The tall male disappeared into nothingness as his mind disconnected from the game server and Baekhyun knew he’d be waking up in his bed at this moment before making his way to the younger male’s dorm to copy his homework.

“I guess I’ll see you around then. We’ll finish this match later,” Chen said with a wide Cheshire Cat-like smirk on his angular face. Baekhyun found himself obediently nodding as the leopard shifter’s strong gaze bore into him. And before he knew it, Chen had also logged out and departed from the game. It took Baekhyun several extra seconds until the leopard shifter’s pheromones had substantially faded before he could bring himself to access the menu screen to log himself out.

--

The next morning, Baekhyun trudged to his Molecular Biology class. He was feeling particularly drained; that battle with Chen the previous night had been quite brutal, although no physical wounds had transferred over into the real world. But the mental strain that had been placed on him was enough to make the gamer wake up with a massive migraine the next morning.

As he turned the corner past the film school’s main building on his way to the science building where all of the biology lectures were held, Baekhyun caught sight of a face that looked eerily familiar. He couldn’t put a name to that face until, for a split-second, the two locked eyes and Baekhyun found himself at the receiving end of that strong, mesmerizing gaze that had taunted him the previous night. He almost tripped over his feet and bumped into a tree, since he wasn’t looking in front of him with his eyes still trained on the Chen-lookalike. Or was that guy actually Chen?

Baekhyun was about to run after the person in question, but by the time he had properly righted himself, the stranger had disappeared around the corner. And at that exact moment, Kris skateboarded up to Baekhyun, clasping his giant hands around the smaller male’s thin shoulders so he could stop in place. “Hurry up. We’re going to be late,” Kris said while forcefully turning Baekhyun in the direction of the science building. And before he knew it, the younger male was being pulled away against his will, his right hand outstretched behind him as if to grab the space where the stranger had previously been.

--

“Hey, Kris,” Baekhyun whispered while they were sitting in the back of the gigantic lecture hall together. Since this was the last class before their next midterm exam, Kris had decided to show up for once so that he wouldn’t miss the review lecture and end up failing the test next week.

“What?”

“How did you meet Chen? You’ve never mentioned him before and he told me that you guys trained together a couple of times.”

Kris paused momentarily in his note-taking before whispering back, “He’s in my Advanced Writing class this semester. He helped me out whenever I missed class, and we started hanging out both on campus and in-game. Why’d you ask?”

“Oh, I see… No reason.” Baekhyun returned to his own note-taking, but his mind was now occupied with thoughts that completely deviated from the professor’s lecture.

Interesting. So his eyes hadn’t been playing tricks on him earlier. It really was a small world, wasn’t it?

♈♈♈