She didn’t kiss me back, that was all Baekhyun could think about, even now when it had been weeks from that kiss. Then a louder voice flooded through his mind, YES, SHE DIDN’T KISS YOU BACK,WHAT WERE YOU EXPECTING? DID YOU THINK SHE WOULD? Then the softer, nagging and whining voice: She didn’t kiss me back, oh God she didn’t kiss me back, I am such an - OF COURSE SHE WOULDN’T, yelled the louder. SHE HAS JONGIN! JONGIN! YOUR BEST FRIEND! OR HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN, TOO CAUGHT UP WITH TRYING TO SEDUCE HER INTO CHEATING ON JONGIN? The two voices continued to war against each other, lunging at each others’ figurative throats. I didn’t! I’m not betraying Jongin! THEN WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO? I don’t know… I was drunk… WERE YOU, REALLY? ANYWAY, IT’S NOT LIKE YOU’RE INTERESTED IN SEUL THAT WAY, SO WHY IS THIS BOTHERING YOU? 

“Hey,” A voice came from the threshold of his apartment, loud enough to reach Baekhyun amidst the screaming in his head. “You forgot to lock the stupid door again.”

Baekhyun jumped. He looked up, only to be greeted by his college roommate and good friend, Kim Jongdae. The two had been two of the only Korean students at their university and other than being roommates, had gradually established a kind of rapport between them that made them good friends, even so many years after they had graduated. Although they were never interested in the same things, they trusted and depended on each other, that is, on a fundamentally need-to-know basis.

Unlike Baekhyun, Jongdae was not a city person. Right after college, he had moved to the English countryside at Malvern Hills where he owned his own breakfast café and was earning a good living with occasional gigs. This time, however, Jongdae had made a trip down to London to visit Baekhyun, and Baekhyun had invited him to stay with him for two weeks.

Jongdae laughed. “What’s wrong with you? Did you just jump?”

Baekhyun laughed. “I’m sorry. I was thinking… about something.” 

“…Okay.” Jongdae shrugged. “Anyway, you’ve been a pretty boring host-” Baekhyun laughed, “but I’ve found a way for you to make up for that.”

“Sure. Shoot.”

Jongdae grinned. “I found a bar a few blocks from here, I want to check it out.” He smiled. “You should come. You’ve proven to be nothing but boring these few days.”

Baekhyun laughed. “Okay,” he said, rising to grab his jacket. “Lead the way.”

Baekhyun and Jongdae quickly found themselves seats at the bar, and sat down to place their orders. Around them, the whole place was abuzz with activity on the dance floor, booths of sunken, drunken people, and the stench of extinguished cigarette butts that easily wafted about. Despite that, it had a lively atmosphere, much less dingy compared to many other bars in London, and Jongdae guided Baekhyun towards the bar, strangely aware of his surroundings. The bartender wrapped up the concoction she was experimenting with, looked to Jongdae with a wide smile and nodded, immediately attending to them. 

“So what’s good here?” Baekhyun asked, surveying his surroundings, one arm on the marble countertop while turning towards Jongdae. “How did you find this place? I’ve been living in this area for two years and I’ve never seen this place before.” 

“The apple martinis are one of a kind,” Jongdae nodded. “Well,” he shrugged, though reddening. “What do you call it - serendipity.”

“Hmm.” Baekhyun stifled a smile - apple martinis and serendipity - two things that reminded him of Yunseul. He wondered how she was… No, stop it, Byun Baekhyun. She was definitely happily in love with YOUR BEST FRIEND. Erase these mysterious thoughts of her, he told himself.

“We would like two apple martinis,” Jongdae ordered without looking at the bartender and she immediately started work, expertly pouring different elements into the shaker before pouring them into two glasses with guru confidence.

“Two apple martinis for Jongdae and his friend,” she smiled shyly upon serving.

Baekhyun looked at Jongdae and raised an eyebrow. Then he remembered the bartender’s voice - he’d heard it in his apartment in the dead of the night, when he had got up to pour himself a cup of water thanks to the insomnia. He had heard slight laughter and hurried ping, and then soft moans and quick shushing and had thought it had sounded like there were two people in Jongdae’s room, but had been too exhausted to ask. Now he knew - Jongdae had used his apartment that night as a Motel 6. But somehow that idea is too amusing to be unhappy about, and Baekhyun found himself chuckling, unable to bring the glass to his lips properly without shaking in silent laughter while Jongdae reddened even more beside him. 

“Wow,” Baekhyun laughed once the bartender had left, unable to hold in his laughter anymore. “Serendipity, huh?”

“Shut up, it was an accident,” Jongdae hit him squarely on the shoulder. “And don’t worry - because I know you will - I threw away those sheets and bought new ones, so don’t think about it anymore.”

“Damn it, I wasn’t thinking about that, but you reminded me, you little jackass.” Baekhyun chided jokingly. “I can’t believe you brought her to my apartment.”

“As I said, it was an accident, it wasn’t meant to be, can we not talk about this?” Jongdae sighed. “She sort of… followed me home. And I kind of wanted to get rid of her…”

Baekhyun was shaking with laughter. “Did it work?”

Jongdae placed a finger at his chin, as if he was mulling over this. “Well, she calls at least twice a day.”

Baekhyun laughed. “Seems like it didn’t work. And here we are.”

“Well, she’s good at what she does.” Jongdae shrugged suggestively, and Baekhyun laughed uncontrollably. “Seriously, though, enough about me - you haven’t slept with anyone for like, what, a year and a half? Aren’t you ?”

Baekhyun glared at him in mock disapproval, “yes, but I’m also somewhat lazy, and these two forces counteract so here I am.” 

Jongdae laughed, “okay, okay,” and held up his hands, continuing to laugh gently. He and Baekhyun had agreed, upon being roommates back in their university days, to have a no-interference policy, and that meant they were each others’ listening ear only; neither of them were the meddling with each other’s business types, so that was that. For instance, Baekhyun knew that Jongdae had family problems that had literally driven him away to music school in London, where it turned out that that had been a premature decision because he did not want to do music for the rest of his life, but instead sought greater comfort in operating his own cafe. That said, Jongdae had maintained that it was the best decision of his life - “anything to get