Pairing: Chanyeol/Baekhyun
Genre: Slice of life, fluff, slight angst, fwp (fluff without plot)
Summary: That one time Baekhyun decides to do something for himself, and ends up setting off a chain of events that would change his life for the better.
Or alternatively, that one trip everyone needs but never gets to embark on.
A/N: I did this thing…where you write something you don’t have to, but need. I hope you connect with Baekhyun just as much as I did as I sped-wrote this earlier tonight. Please forgive any mistakes in grammar and whatnot; I wrote this with feelings in mind and not perfection, for the first time in a long while. I hope you enjoy! 

 

 

 

This was reckless…but it needed to be done.

 

As Baekhyun looks at the clock, waiting for the hands to reach the 12 and the 8, his will strengthens.

Only five more minutes…It seems like such a short time yet it feels so long. The anticipation within Baekhyun rises and manifests in the way his leg bounces up and down in his seat.

His mother glances at him from the table but doesn’t ask him why.

Two minutes…Baekhyun bites his lip and prepares for whatever he signed himself up for in doing this.

 

One.

 

 

As Baekhyun walks out of his parent’s house, with nothing but his work bag and the clothes on his back, on his way to a trip he’s prepared for months in advance, he breathes. The first deep, fresh intake of air he’s been missing all this time.

 

The moment his sneakers scrape against the metal floors of the bus, one and only one thought crosses Baekhyun’s mind.

 

So this is what freedom feels like. 

 

 

The trip to Busan wasn’t a long one, but it was certainly enough for Baekhyun to rethink his life choices on whether he really wanted this or not. He already called the office to ask for a sick leave today, so showing up in his work place was out of the question. He had a free day all to himself. Did he really want to spend it all playing hooky?

 

Seeing the fresh change of scenery right outside his window was enough of an answer for all his worries. He needed this, he kept reminding himself. Or else I’ll go insane.

 

 

He’s over-thought himself to the edge, to the point of totally missing the rest of his journey. One blink and the metro station is right before his eyes, the bus doors opening to let the passengers out. In a daze, Baekhyun grabs his things and robotically makes his way to the exit. People come and go, some fast, some slow, and yet Baekhyun manages to drown them all out. His head swims in the shocking reality that he is here, in Busan, on his own accord, without any overbearing parents or angry bosses breathing down his neck, criticizing his every move. A crazed laugh bubbles out of his mouth, and his hand flies up before he lets more out. A lone tear slides down his cheek.

 

He was free. Even just for a day, he was free.

 

 

It was almost 11am. Plenty of time for Baekhyun to do all the nothing he had on his itinerary. He picks at the lint on the hem of his t-shirt, at an understandable loss. He never thought he’d make it this far. All he had time to worry about was getting past their wooden gate back at home. In all his worry he’d forgotten that it was easy to get away if they didn’t know he was leaving that way in the first place. Another laugh sneaks its way past his chapped lips. He disguises it with a cough.

Laughing and freedom felt weird in his system. His days went by so long without them that he no longer considered these normal bodily functions and emotions. A glance at the hustle and bustle of people around him told him these poor folk might just go through his burn out soon, sooner than any of them might expect.

 

With that terrifying thought in mind Baekhyun’s legs move on their own and it takes him to another bus stop, this time leading into the town where the best public saunas were housed.

He didn’t really know what he was expecting, but definitely not a modern looking building, in a modern looking town. Baekhyun chides himself for being so out of touch outside of anything in Seoul, and appreciates that life does go on even without him taking tabs on it. He smiles, the first genuine one since his journey. With a light heart he walks past the sliding doors and into the reception area, writing himself down into one public bath.

 

Baekhyun didn’t bring any change of clothes with him in fear of getting his less-than-legal trip found out, so for this activity, he decides to go in the . The fresh towel he was given became his new best friend. Armed with nothing but his goal of relaxation he ventures into the public baths, before taking an unplanned left right into the private saunas. He guesses he could pay them extra later, and enjoy the benefits now.

 

 

The wooden door gives way into a steamy room with 3 other men inside. It’s not huge and it’s certainly not small, so Baekhyun doesn’t feel that awkward sitting in a heated room with his thing hanging out with 3 other guys. They had plenty of respectable bro-space to move around.

 

Baekhyun sits on the nearest patch of comfortable wood he can find, skin already warming up to the room’s current temperature. The two other men who watched him come in all nodded at him calmly before minding their own business, all except for that one guy sitting close to him with his arm over his eyes and his long legs sprawled out, white towel covering his junk. From where Baekhyun was seated the man looked far too relaxed to be conscious, and deemed him asleep. Relaxing even more with the thought that he wouldn’t be disturbed, Baekhyun rests his weary back against the stone walls; eyes closing on their own. Saunas were nice. He loved saunas. When did he stop going to these?

 

Losing track of time was easy when he was inside a vacuum; an enclosed space where nothing else exists but yourself and that same room. The concept of time, a social construct, exists just outside these walls. But these walls are impenetrable for those who want it to be. And for a little while longer Baekhyun wants to live in the moment and away from anything fixed; he makes himself a little sanctuary in between the smooth stones and the way his sweat forms on every inch of his exposed skin. Like the stresses of his everyday life that drips away with every bead that rolls down his skin. It feels good; really ing good.

 

When Baekhyun comes to several instances later, he notices that the two men from earlier have left; and it’s just him and the sleeping guy now. On instinct, he glances at his wrist, only to feel silly as he sees its bare and he’s not wearing his watch. Ah, time. He chides as an old friend would. How much you’ve controlled me is astounding.

 

He rises to his feet, stretches, feels the muscle everywhere loosen and then snap into place. He pads towards the door with every intention of leaving and looking for someplace to eat. But…he turns around, throws one look at the stranger still sleeping his life away on the wooden bench.

 

Remembers that like him, there are places people need to be, and real life does not permit time to stop for anyone. So he clears his throat, closes his eyes, and resigns himself to do the one good deed for today. He walks back, leans down and shakes the stranger awake.

 

“Mister, Mister. I don’t know how long you’ve been in here but I think waking you up right now is the right thing to do. Mister? Wake up.”

 

The first thing the stranger does as he stirs awake is groan, and the deep voice he does it with resonates within Baekhyun’s bones. The stranger lifts his arm off his eyes and blinks sleepily up at the person who woke him—up at Baekhyun.

 

Baekhyun’s jaw slowly unhinges as he stares straight into the eyes of his first love; the one person he hasn’t seen since he left for college 7 years ago. They continue to lock eyes as time eludes them, emotions stirring in the air. One of recognition and the other, of love lost and chances missed.

 

 

Baekhyun doesn’t know what to feel, but it’s definitely not Chanyeol’s warm, warm skin underneath his fingertips.

 

He’s pulled into an overly warm bear hug, and Baekhyun is unprepared; helpless at the onslaught of emotions long dead brought to life in his chest.

Chanyeol hugs like he breathes; deep and life giving.

Thankfully he’s released before he starts sobbing on the other’s sturdy chest without explanation. That would have been an unnecessary mess up in his already messy life. Chanyeol beams at him; the light in his eyes telling him he’s genuinely happy to see him.

 

“Baekhyun, it’s you isn’t it? Please tell me it’s you so I don’t have to live with myself knowing I basically hugged a stranger .”

 

Baekhyun laughs, surprised and well, full, as he digests Chanyeol’s words. He used to be a loose cannon back in high school; guess this aspect of him hasn’t changed. He smiles at him, lifting his fingers up to poke at his own cheek. “It’s me, Chanyeol. Blabbermouth Baekhyun.”

 

Chanyeol claps at the mention of his childish nickname, eyes crinkling adorably just as he remembered. “Oh my god, it is you. What are you doing here in Busan? I haven’t seen you in forever!”

Chanyeol was about to pull him in for another hug—which was great and all, but Baekhyun was a man, and seeing Chanyeol in this state, looking all adorable and was doing things to him. The last thing he wanted was another skin on skin contact. It wouldn’t take long for him to get hard. 

 

Baekhyun smoothly sidesteps his hug with a high five, beaming up at him as best as he could. “Yeah, life happened. But how are you? I didn’t think you’d still even be here.”

 

Chanyeol looks at him funny for the briefest of seconds after they high fived, and then it’s gone, and he’s back to being bubbly again. 

 

“I left for Seoul last year, actually. Took my chances. But, to no one’s surprise, the chances didn’t take me. So I’m back here. On square one.” Chanyeol  says this all with a shrug and an airy tone, but Baekhyun knows disappointment like the back of his hand and notes it in the way Chanyeol’s voice catches in the end. He’s disappointed, but he masks it well with his toothy smile. If Baekhyun hadn’t spent half of his high school life staring at Chanyeol and memorizing everything about him he wouldn’t have noticed. But he did, and he notices now. He’s not surprised though; this kind of pretending is what adults like them do a lot. Hide behind a mask of happiness while you rot away behind it, sad and empty. Baekhyun shivers at the thought of Chanyeol going through such things—he doesn’t deserve any of that—but stops himself. Chanyeol had his own story and had his own life to live, just like him, just like anyone else in this twisted world. Reality but what could he, they, do? Nothing but push on or get trampled on by their fears. It was do or die. And Baekhyun, prior to this day, was inching towards ‘die’. This entire day was his first ‘do’. Meeting Chanyeol today, of all days, was a pleasant bonus.

 

“Weren’t you going to be a vet?” He asks him, because that’s one of the few things at the top of his list under the name Park Chanyeol, love of my life. This little snippet of him sat alongside wide smile and sunshines. Baekhyun laughs inwardly, he was so in love with Chanyeol it was hilarious.

 

Chanyeol nods, smile inching impossibly wider that Baekhyun managed to remember his dream back in high school.

 

“Yes, I did, actually! And if you come with me, I’ll show you just how far I’ve progress with my dream. And on our way, you can tell me all about yours too, Mister Performer.”

 

Baekhyun winces at the mention of his naïve, naïve, dream. But like an adult he smiles; masks the pain and disappointment behind the pearly whites of his canines. “Sure, I’d love to.”

 

 

Their departure from the sauna was a breeze, and Baekhyun almost fell over when he saw Chanyeol clothed. As cheesy as it sounded in his head, Chanyeol looked every bit as good clothed in a plaid shirt and jeans just as he was in a teensy weensy towel. Baekhyun swallowed the lump in his throat and braced himself on the wall as Chanyeol paid for them both. This was too much, too much for his fragile heart. Chanyeol looked good—too good, in fact, that it hurt.

 

Baekhyun secretly clutched at his chest as they made their way to another bus stop, small talk filling in the lapses of silence. Chanyeol was still as warm and friendly in his memories as he was now, in the flesh, and Baekhyun doesn’t know why, exactly, it’s been ing years—but his heart still leaps in his chest in approval.

“So, Baekhyun.” Chanyeol starts, rocking on his heels as they wait for the next bus. It was nearing 3 pm now—the scheduled bus would arrive any minute. 

 

“Tell me about yourself.” Chanyeol glances at him, kind eyes urging him on.

 

But Baekhyun, the little trained piece of that he has become, chooses the easy route—the jerk route. He narrates his resume, verbatim. “I’m Byun Baekhyun. Born May 2, 1992. Brown eyes, black hair. Korean. I live in—“

 

“No, no stop!” Chanyeol interjects, chuckling as he clutched his arm. “Stop, Baekhyun…I want to know about our time apart.” He smiles again, that warm smile that pokes at his heart and demands that it beat for him.

 

Baekhyun chuckles, swatting his hand and his attraction to him away. “Fine, fine. I’ll tell you once we get on the bus.”

 

They pick seats directly behind the driver, leg room wide from the lack of other chairs. Chanyeol beams up at him proudly, gangly legs happily bouncing beneath them.

“So…” Chanyeol starts again, just as the bus roars back to life.

“So…” he parrots, just to get another smile from him. But karma is a as what he gets isn’t just a smile but a hand on his knee, squeezing. Baekhyun almost jumps in his seat but he controls it halfway, his skin crawling. The spot where Chanyeol’s palm covered his knee is warm and tingly, and he jiggles his leg to get the feeling off.

 

Baekhyun looks away, staring at something above the driver’s head. “Nothing interesting, really. I gave up on my dream and got a desk job like any other sane person would in this economy. Survival of the fittest and all that. No biggie.” He shrugs it off like its nothing, but when he glances back at Chanyeol his expression is of someone who just got slapped, and Baekhyun raises an eyebrow at him. “What?”
Chanyeol’s eyebrows furrow and mesh together cutely in confusion. “You just gave up? Like that?”
Baekhyun nods, shifting his gaze away from Chanyeol’s warm, unreadable ones. “Why?”
He shrugs again. “I don’t know, actually. Besides the fact that all three auditions failed, and I had nowhere else to go. You have to be responsible in some way in this day and age, and so the desk job was a no-brainer for me. The rest is history. Like I said, nothing interesting.”

 

Chanyeol regards him silently, curious eyes roaming over his face from his peripheries. Baekhyun fights the urge to look back at him and stare, opting instead to stare resolutely at the broken windshield wiper ticking by itself.

 

“Hmm…” Chanyeol hums, but says nothing else. He continues staring at the broken tool.
He’s brought back when Chanyeol’s calloused hand grabs his, thumb running over his ring finger. “And no ring either…not married?”

 

Baekhyun chokes on his spit and whips his head back so fast a crick in his neck is upset. He scrunches his nose and pulls his hand away in favour of massaging his neck. “Of course not!” he answers a little loudly, eyes wild.

 

Chanyeol just chuckles at him as he leans back against the plush leather seats, lifting one arm up to show his own ring finger. “Me neither.”

 

Baekhyun doesn’t want to interpret the mischievous little glint in Chanyeol’s eyes when he says it, so he doesn’t.

 

They stop at a busy strip of stalls right outside of Busan’s markets, all lined up and quaint. Chanyeol leads them to a shop with glass doors and windows, the sounds of animals suddenly on full force once the door is pushed open. Baekhyun’s heart does its second back flip of the day as he regards Chanyeol’s dainty little pet shop; dogs, cats, birds and mice alike bringing his little shop to life.

 

“These are all actually rescued animals, by my friends and I. And the people who come in here don’t have to pay me to get to take home these cuties. All they have to pay for is the shots they’re going to need and a signature in my log book. And then they’re off.” Chanyeol says it all casually, like he isn’t living the dream and saving animals in one go.

Baekhyun feels his heart expand at this. It was too early for any life-changing revelations, but at half past 3 he already knows he’s a little in love with Chanyeol.

 

 

“That’s-that’s great…” he responds lamely, because his heart is too busy dancing the mamba to let himself think.

Chanyeol snorts at him, taking him by the wrist and leading him out the back door. They nod once at Chanyeol’s friend manning the register and up they go in a steep case of stairs Baekhyun has no idea where it leads to.

They stop at a door, Chanyeol presses some buttons with his free hand, and it opens. At once, Baekhyun’s vision is filled with nothing but Chanyeol, eyes taking in the flat that just screams Chanyeol. A piano sat in the middle and momentarily Baekhyun’s vision swims, vivid flashes of his broken dreams cruelly playing beneath his lids. He takes a deep breath and follows Chanyeol inside, nerves raw. 

 

“This isn’t much, but, welcome!” Chanyeol finally lets his wrist go and gestures around like it’s some prize in a contest, which it is. Baekhyun beams at him, lifting both arms up to give him the thumbs up he deserves. “It looks very homey. Good job.”

Something nags at Baekhyun, eyes scanning the room one more time.

“No ‘rents?”

Chanyeol shakes his head, wiggles his eyebrows in a playful way. “Nope.”

He pops the p off before walking behind Baekhyun and pushing him towards his sofa. “Sit. I know you haven’t eaten yet, so I’m going to fix us a quick lunch. Be right back.”

“But—“

“Sit.”

Baekhyun sits back down obediently, letting himself relax once more in Chanyeol’s soft, leathery couch.

There, with no one looking, he smiles. Smiles at this interesting turn of events—and then remembers something.

“Hey Chanyeol?” He calls, not looking up to see if Chanyeol turned around to address him.

“Hmm?” Once again, this familiarity makes Baekhyun’s heart swell. He brushes it off with a fond shake of his head and continues.

“There’s actually something I want to do here in Busan.”

“Oh?” Comes the deep-voiced answer from the kitchen. “And what’s that?”

 

“I want to go fishing.”

 

The request was random but a sandwich and a soda later and Baekhyun and Chanyeol are already walking towards a local fishing pond, just a few meters shy of the metro. He and Chanyeol are walking closely, arms brushing and sparks flying every which way—but no one dares to make any other move. They are content like this, and Baekhyun revels in this comfort. He lets his mind wander as he remembers the responsibilities he still had tomorrow, and how he was going to get home today in time before his parents found out he hadn’t showed up at work at all.

 

He had all these troubles and yet, the scent of freedom lingers in the air. He can’t find it in himself to worry at all.

The smell of sea salt and fish tinged the fresh Busan-side air, and Baekhyun takes one big lungful. His eyes close and his cheeks hurt from smiling so hard the entire day; this trip was worth it, he was right.

 

Suddenly, a warmth behind him gently coaxed a fishing pole into his open palm and he gently accepted it, eyes opening and searching for one of the main reasons for his joy today. He offers him another genuine smile, one that the other returns readily, just as he had the entire day.

 

“Ready?”

 

Baekhyun nods, walking forward with him until they reached the end of the wharf-like construction. Fish swam in schools beneath their feet, and Baekhyun takes the time to appreciate it all. He almost doesn’t want to fish but he knew he had to do this—knew he needed the reassurance that he could choose something in a pond of a million opportunities and have the control to let it go or not.

 

He took another deep breath; almost tasting the freshwater salt on the tip of his tongue.

 

“Chanyeol.”

“Hmm?”

He opens his eyes, smiles, already adjusting the pole.

“The first one to catch gets to treat the other to dinner!”

 

Chanyeol’s eyes widen a little before they’re crinkling at the sides with how wide he beams at him.

“Deal!”

 

Baekhyun’s responsibilities lie in a line as straight as the fishing pole he was holding; curved actually, with a hook to choose which one he had a say on.

Freewill, his mind echoes.

Freedom, his heart screams.

A life to live.

 

His eyes seek the only other variable in the equation he has not fully prepared himself for. Tall, lanky, and warm. Kind-hearted, a beautiful soul. A welcomed blast from his past.

 

Baekhyun smiles in spite of it all, even as he sees Chanyeol rearing back with a fish wiggling at the end of the hook. The other laughs ungracefully, turning towards him to proudly show his catch off.

 

Time stops as he takes in the entirety of Park Chanyeol.

 

He takes a deep breath.

 

Crosses the few steps that separate them. He stands next to him as he throws the line into the pond, a smile never leaving his face. 

 

 

Oddly enough, with Chanyeol just by his side, his soul felt…free.