words: 2061

---

It was a casual Sunday morning. Chanyeol walked around his new neighborhood, trying to somehow memorize it. The area was industrial, in the center of the city, and the buildings consisted mainly of shops of all kinds and some blocks of flats. Despite being a Sunday, when most shops are usually closed, Chanyeol actually found a store open. “Hairdresser’s”, read the sign. He was kind of surprised that he found it – the shop was small and seemed to be squeezed between two large buildings which made it hard to spot. Out of pure curiosity, the tall male walked towards the shop. ‘I haven’t had a haircut in a while anyways.’ He thought to himself.

He walked in, the bell on the door signaling his entrance in the shop. The shop itself was pretty simply decorated, just the classic chairs with a mirror in front of them and a small counter in front of them that everyone would expect to see in a hairdresser’s, along with these big heating machines (Chanyeol didn’t know exactly how they worked) and the hair-wash chairs. But the place still emitted a house-like aura; maybe it was the big windows with wooden frames that let the gentle sunlight in giving that impression. Or maybe it was the cinnamon aroma lingering in the air. Nevertheless, Chanyeol felt welcomed to say at least. He was so mesmerized by staring at his surroundings that he didn’t notice that someone else got in the room.

“Good morning! How could I help you?” Chanyeol heard a soft voice from behind. He turned his head to find a boy, a couple of inches shorter than him, with bright red hair smiling at him.

“Uh… I’d like a haircut.” Chanyeol said eyes never leaving the smaller male in front of him, examining him closely. He could say that he matched the place really well; he gave off that home-y, welcome-y aura as well.

“Take a seat please.” The redhead said pointing at the chairs behind the tall male.

Chanyeol awkwardly walked towards the first chair and sat down as he watched the other one following him through the mirror.

“Do you have anything specific in mind?” Chanyeol shook his head no to the question.

“I just want something different.” The smaller nodded and stayed silent for a moment, thinking.

“Okay I got it. You got some time to spare right?” And he left the room after he saw the taller nodding. After a couple of minutes he was back but this time he held a pair of black plastic gloves and a black container with a purple, thick substance.

“Hair color removal.” Baekhyun explained. He left the items to the tiny movable counter next to him and proceeded to take a comb out of his back pocket.

“Are you new to the area? I haven’t seen you before, what’s your name?” The redhead asked as he combed Chanyeol’s hair.

“Yeah… actually I moved here about a month ago with my best friend. We opened a tattoo shop down the road. The name’s Chanyeol.”

“Nice to meet you Chanyeol, I’m Baekhyun.” Baekhyun smiled at Chanyeol through the mirror. “I should have expected that you own a tattoo shop, based on your own tattoos and piercings.” Baekhyun let out a chuckle as he reached for a pair of scissors inside his apron’s pocket. “I like them. They suit you.”

The hairdresser started snipping and snipping, as Chanyeol waited. He panicked a little when Baekhyun let down the scissors after only a minute, no one couldn’t possibly be that fast.

“Oh don’t worry, we’re not over. Now comes the fun part – color.” Baekhyun reassured him, smile never leaving his face while he wore the pair of gloves. “Have you ever dyed your hair before?” Chanyeol shook his head no once again.

“It will burn a little bit.” Baekhyun said as he started spreading the hair color removal all over Chanyeol’s hair. Quickly, the welcoming aroma of the shop was replaced by a, not even close to pleasing, chemical one. Once it was all set, Chanyeol felt like exploding with laughter, he looked ridiculous. At least he could hardly feel pain on his sculp. There was a moment of awkward silence and Chanyeol felt bad, because Baekhyun seemed to be a nice person to talk with and he totally wanted to talk more to him.

“So how’s work?” He asked after Baekhyun had taken a seat in the chair next to him.

“Thankfully, we have many customers so everything is alright at the moment.”

Chanyeol glanced around the empty shop. “Yeah, I can see that.”

Baekhyun laughed (and oh wow what’s that weird feeling in Chanyeol’s stomach?). “Well, it is a Sunday so we don’t really get many customers. In fact we don’t even accept appointments on Sundays.”

“Then why do you open the shop? Shouldn’t you be resting or something?”

“Doing my job is my relaxation. And you never know who is going to need a haircut out of the blue, like you for example. So I open the shop in hopes that I can make someone’s day a little bit better.”

“That’s honestly the most optimistic thing I’ve heard.” Chanyeol said and Baekhyun gave him a sincere, kind smile. “So how did you decide to be a hairstylist?”

“Um… I don’t really know. I always liked hair; I remember giving haircuts to my cousin’s dolls when I was little.” He smiled at the memory. “And then something magical happened and boom now I have my own hairdresser’s.”

“Do you run it alone?”

“No, I have Krystal and Victoria to help me, but I give them a day-off on Sundays.”

“How long have you had the shop?”

“3 years.”

Suddenly Chanyeol’s eyes grew twice their size. “Wait, how old are you?”

“I’m twenty five.”

“You’re kidding right?”

“No, why would I?”

“You look like you’re nineteen, no joke.” Baekhyun protested a bit because ‘hey, he’s a grown man okay?’ but his lips didn’t frown once.

“Did you open it as soon as you finished school?”

The smaller nodded. “As soon as I’d finished my internship.”

“Wow, that’s determination.”

Baekhyun shrugged. “Okay you know enough information about me, now my turn. Why tattooing?”

“You know that many people like drawing. Others prefer to draw on paper, others on walls and I prefer the human body. I see tattoos as a form of expression.”

“How long have you been drawing?”

“Since I can remember, actually.”

“And how old are you?”

“I’ll become twenty five in November.” Baekhyun raised an eyebrow and the left side of his lips curled up a tiny bit.

“Nice.”

Ah, that silence.

“Ok for how long should I have this thing on my head?”

“Hm…” Baekhyun took a look at the clock hanging on the wall. “Another 40 minutes.” Chanyeol let out a frustrated groan.

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“Not really but it’s annoying.”

Baekhyun chuckled. “Patience.”

“I tell you one thing, if only it doesn’t turn out nice-“

“Trust me; your hair will look amazing. I didn’t go through a 3 year scholarship and a 2 year internship for nothing.” Baekhyun smirked.

The next 40 minutes consisted mainly of chatting with Baekhyun about whatever came to their heads and Chanyeol sipping on the ice tea Baekhyun had made for him as the latter checked on the other’s hair occasionally. As it seemed, Chanyeol’s instinct was right, Baekhyun was in fact really pleasant to talk to. He just had this thing that made Chanyeol feel calm and open and, to be honest, the taller thought that Baekhyun was way too cute to not to notice everything about him. And by the way Baekhyun was looking at him, he was happy to assume that the other felt similar.

“Oh, time to wash your hair, come.” Baekhyun signaled with his hand for Chanyeol to follow him.

“Okay, sit here and lean your head back to the washbasin.” Chanyeol complied quickly, as his scalp started to burn a bit. Baekhyun was fast to rinse Chanyeol’s, now white, hair with plenty of water before pouring shampoo on his hands and starting massaging Chanyeol’s head. Chanyeol let out a sigh of relief as he let himself relax under Baekhyun’s experienced hands.

“This is seriously the best feeling in the world.”

Baekhyun laughed as he continued with washing the taller’s head. After he was finished, he dried Chanyeol’s hair with a towel and instructed him to return to his seat as he did some cleaning. “Whoa!” He heard from the other side of the room – Chanyeol must have seen his hair on the mirror. And indeed, after cleaning the washbasin Baekhyun returned to Chanyeol who was touching his hair like it wasn’t his because “It’s magic, they’re white, holy !”

Baekhyun chuckled at the cute view. “We’re not finished yet, it gets better.” And started drying the younger’s hair with a hair dryer this time.

Chanyeol was like a child in a toy store and he couldn’t stop smiling the whole time, but his smile flattered a little bit when Baekhyun went to the backroom again only to walk out with another container, only this time it contained a light gray-ish substance.

“Don’t worry, that doesn’t burn like the other.” Baekhyun said and then covered once again Chanyeol’s hair, this time with hair dye.

“This only needs about 10 minutes.” He said looking at the clock. “I need to go back to clean up some things, feel free to call me if I’m late.”

“Okay.” Chanyeol smiled at Baekhyun who made his way to the backroom of the store. Having nothing else to do, he took out his phone and opened the facebook app.

“Hey Baekhyun, what’s your family name?”

“Byun, why?” Baekhyun was heard from the backroom.

“Oh okay, nothing special.”

After some more waiting Baekhyun came out of the backroom, a wet, dirty cloth in hand, (Chanyeol assumed from the cleaning) just in time to rinse out the hair dye. Chanyeol was seated once again at the washbasin as Baekhyun worked his magic on his head.

“Do you want me to finish your hairstyle here that has no mirrors so it’ll be a surprise?” Baekhyun asked and Chanyeol nodded with excitement. He didn’t know why he was so hyped -it was only a haircut. The only thing he knew is that his heart was beating twice as fast.

The hairdresser took out his scissors once more as he finalized Chanyeol’s hair. The taller couldn’t wait to see the final result and when the moment came he ran across the room to the closest mirror to admire his new style.

“It’s perfect Baekhyun. Just. Perfect. I love it.” He said while grinning madly.

Baekhyun smiled as he admired his work. “Silver suits you a lot.”

“Definitely worthed the burning.”

Baekhyun clucked his tongue. “I bet it didn’t hurt that much. And haven’t you heard that beauty is pain?” He asked playfully.

“So you think I’m beautiful?” Chanyeol teased.

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow and. “What if I do?”

The younger squinted his eyes, surprised with Baekhyun’s answer. After that there was silence. The only sound they could hear was their own heartbeat as they stared at each other.

Chanyeol walked slowly towards Baekhyun and stop right in front of him in a distance that normally would have been too awkward for the smaller. He took Baekhyun’s hand in his and passed him the money for the haircut. Both of them stayed still.