It was that time of the year again; time for the annual University fundraiser event, which was so well known and buzzed about by all students on campus. But unlike any other year, this time the organizer and student council president was none other than Park Chanyeol—the six foot tall, bright eyed, wide smiled extraordinaire.

Everything was going according to plan. The people were dressed impeccably and mingling with smiles and hushed conversations, no one had tried to spike the punch yet…

Yet.

Chanyeol made a mental note to himself to take a test sip later on because come on, it was bound to happen soon.

Everything was going according to plan, that was, until the main event was about to being—the date auction where willing volunteers stood up on stage and got auctioned off for a date to whoever was willing to donate. It was all in good fun really, and it was the most popular event that brought in the most money for the school. A buzzing in Chanyeol’s pants pocket caught his attention and he quickly answered the call with his signature megawatt smile. “Hello?”

“Chanyeol, bad news,” the voice on the other side of the line was his friend and vice president, Suho, but his usually sweet voice was laced with panic.

“Wait what happened?” Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrows and clutched his phone closer to his ear.

“It’s about the volunteers… one of the girls just called in sick.”

“Are you serious?!” Chanyeol’s smile quickly turned down into a frown as he ran a hand through his straightened locks. Even if he was known as a notorious jokester klutz who could barely keep his limbs from flailing everywhere, he still took his responsibilities seriously.  There was a reason he got elected, wasn’t there? Trying his absolute best to stay calm in the face of disaster, Chanyeol quickly raked his brain for ideas. “Ok, ok, I got this. Get Sehun and I’ll find Baek. Meet us at the punch table, maybe we can find a replacement.”

“Sounds good.”

And with that, he was off.

-

Baekhyun wasn’t lost per se, he just didn’t know where he was going. He weaved his way around clustered bodies and random balloon columns, mumbling apologies along the way as he searched for his friends in the large ballroom. Somewhere along the way between the dance circle and the snack table, he had lost track of the other three and was left completely alone in the sea of strangers. He mumbled something along the lines of “I’m going to kill Park Chanyeol for leaving me,” under his breath before a large hand gabbed his wrist and proceeded to drag him across the room. Baekhyun tried to pull back until he realized it was none other than Chanyeol who was currently clutching him with what could only be described as a death grip for giants. A frantic expression was written plain on his face for all to see.

“Wait Chanyeol, slow down,” he protested. It didn’t seem like Chanyeol was even listening to him as they quickly met up with an equally as frantic looking Suho and a bored looking Sehun.

Sehun gently pushed his hair back and his sleepy eyes met with Baekhyun’s, giving him a look of I don’t know either.

Chanyeol finally released his wrist and nearly fell over the side of the refreshments table in a flurry of pants. But before Baekhyun could even open his mouth to speak, Chanyeol suddenly straightened up again and pulled on his tie. “Guys we have an emergency, ok?! Code red. I repeat, CODE RED!”

“Dude, what does that even mea—“

“I don’t need your sass now, Sehun. Code. Red.”

Sehun shut his mouth and glared at Chanyeol. Suho, being the only seemingly sane one at the moment, stepped up and cleared his throat. “Guys we only have five minutes to find a willing volunteer to replace the one who called in sick. Let’s all just calm down and think.”

Chanyeol nodded and took a few deep breaths. As the council president, it was his responsibility to deal with this. His eyes scanned across the room—everyone was already getting seated in anticipation in front of the stage. The chances of actually finding a suitable girl would be near impossible by now. Maybe he didn’t have to find a girl though… a guy who looked like a girl would work…

Yes, he was getting that desperate.

Or maybe a guy dressed up as a girl… Wait, that’s it! Chanyeol’s gaze quickly landed onto Baekhyun. He was honestly pretty in a way, short enough and if you just stuck a wig on him, it could work. Yes. It could work…

And a solution suddenly shined down onto him.

Baekhyun on the other hand, sensed an evil aura emitting beside him and turned his head to face Chanyeol, whose face was exactly what little children had nightmares and wet their beds over. A wicked smile split his face in two rows of pearly white teeth. His eyes gleamed strangely in the disco light and exuded nothing but bad intentions and desperate measures. Baekhyun shuffled a few steps back and held up his hands in front of him.

“Chanyeol… why are you looking at me like that?”

The tall boy took a step closer. “We need a girl replacement, right?”

Baekhyun nodded his head suspiciously.

“Well what if we, I don’t know, just disguised someone as a girl?”

Baekhyun knew that tone of voice and he didn’t like where this was going. Suho and Sehun turned around as they caught onto his drift and suddenly Baekhyun felt as if he were some kind of test in a science experiment. When a gleam started to show in the other two’s eyes, he knew he had to step up for himself—for his dignity.

“No.”

“Come on Baek, please. Please! FOR ME!” Chanyeol begged, hands clutching together in front of his chest.

“No.”

“Baekhyun please just do this just once. We’re desperate,” even Suho had joined in, taking hold of Baekhyun’s arm and staring straight into his eyes. Baekhyun grit his teeth together before pushing them off.

“What don’t you get about no?!” He didn’t know if he should feel offended or just plain flabbergasted at the mere idea.

Chanyeol let out a sigh before getting down on his knees and taking Baekhyun’s hands in his. “Please, I’m begging you. If ten years of friendship mean nothing to you, then so be it but I’m desperate here. I promise I’ll buy you ok? I don’t want to get in trouble with the higher ups. Please, I promise.”

“Yeah, we’ll buy you,” Sehun put in there as if it was some kind of reassurance. Baekhyun bit his lip as the puppy eyes from his best friends penetrated his soul and the rolling wave of the guilt trip hit him. With a shuddered breath of resignation and the death of some part inside of himself…

“…you better buy me.”

-

“YOU WANT ME TO WEAR WHAT?!” Baekhyun nearly shrieked as some kind of shiny flimsy cloth was thrown over the door of the small change room back stage.

“Shh, the audience might be able to hear you.”

“Oh shut up, Suho. What, wha—“ Baekhyun held up the cloth in his hands. It looked like some sort of silver sequined mini dress. It was honestly quite pretty Baekhyun reluctantly admitted but for a man who had never experienced the breeze between his legs, the length made him want to jump off a cliff and lay there. Baekhyun let out another sigh. It was too late to go back now. He started to his dress shirt and take off his shoes. “Where did you get this stuff anyways?”

“Oh it’s a random costume I found on the rack from the school play,” Chanyeol explained. “Wait, don’t forget this!”

A long, brown haired wig flew over the door and landed in a heaping mass at Baekhyun’s feet.

“And this too!” Sehun shouted as another piece of cloth went over the door and right over Baekhyun’s eyes. He gingerly peeled it off his face and held it up by the straps.

“Oh. Hell. No.”

“Yes Baekhyun, that’s a bra.”

-

From the audience, loud thrashing and hushed yells could be heard along with what sounded like a giggle snort.

-

Kai wasn’t lost per se, even though he did look like a lost puppy poking its nose around, he just wasn’t sure why he was here. He was having a peaceful time at home—playing video games and cramming some Lay’s chips into his mouth like a real man—when his best, and frankly speaking only friend, Kyungsoo decided to kick him in the shin and demand he accompany him to the annual fundraiser.

A demanding little bean Kyungsoo was, and having the willpower of a worm, Kai was slowly but surely dragged to the party with his haired styled up and wearing a freshly ironed black button up shirt, courtesy of Kyungsoo.

So now here he was, as far from his old comfy couch as possible and standing near the back, as the main event—the auction—was about to begin. Kyungsoo was by his side, chatting with another classmate from his grade.

Kai smiled softly at the shorter, social butterfly. Kai was never a person who was good at making friends. He just couldn’t approach people; he was just a shy boy.

And too much shyness can lead to misunderstandings he later learned with a twinge of bitterness.

Luckily for him though, Kyungsoo had the patience and understanding of an angel, even if he could be a brat the other fifty percent of the time, and gave Kai a chance. Or two. Or three. And before he could even realize it, Kyungsoo had eventually weaseled his way into opening his heart to him. And to this day, it was still only him.

The lights suddenly dimmed and a large spotlight beamed down onto the stage, successfully gaining the attention of the whole room. The chatter died down as the announcer stepped up to the podium and cleared his throat. Kai barely had his eyes open as he listened to the generic introduction speech, followed by a round of applause. He pressed the punch glass absentmindedly to his lips before wrinkling his nose at the familiar scent of alcohol. Wait, did someone spike this? He shook his head and downed it anyways as the announcer introduced the first candidate.

“And first, we have the lovely Hyunnie. Oh what a cute name you have, please step on stage.”

For manners sake, Kai lifted his eyes to the stage to see who would step out—to see this Hyunnie girl—but all he saw was a bare and lonely stage. It was silent for a long and dragged out moment.

A few angry, muted voices could be heard coming from back stage and before the MC could cut off the awkward atmosphere with an equally awkward laugh, a girl stumbled onto center stage, scowling back the way she came as if she had been pushed against their will.

And how right they were.

Kai nearly laughed at the sight until she reluctantly lifted their heavy head, brushed the long brown hair out of her face and looked up at the crowd. And in that one moment, all coherent thoughts Kai ever had in his life melted into a gooey puddle at his feet as he was sure he was staring at the most beautiful person he had ever seen in his life.

Her eyes were wide, sharp, and lined with eyeliner that was perfectly thick and black and definitely highlighted her best features. Her dress caught the light in the most breathtaking way, shimmering against her pale arms and legs in a celestial like glow. But despite that, despite looking like an angel that had miraculously descended down from the heavens and landed in front of Kai, he couldn’t help but notice the way her eyes darting back and forth nervously or the way she subtly tugged down on the hem of her dress as if she was afraid—as if she were trying to hide herself. She looked so vulnerable. And before his brain could control his actions, he realized his hand had shot up. “Fifty dollars.”

Did that really just come out of mouth? He could just feel Kyungsoo’s appalled gaze on his face and he could just imagine how shocked and popeyed his friend looked right now. But no matter what, he knew he couldn’t let her slip away from him tonight.

-

“Fifty dollars.”

Baekhyun widened his eyes in surprise. A bid already? He had secretly been hoping that his transformation would make him unattractive and unappealing so he’d be easy pickings for Chanyeol and leave this nightmare behind.

But of course life had cursed this evening for reasons unknown to humanity and he could not have been more wrong.

He didn’t want to admit it, but after taking one fleeting glance in a mirror before Sehun had thrown him onto the stage, he realized that damn, he cleaned up pretty nicely for a girl. And that, sadly, was a huge understatement.

He quickly scanned the area for Chanyeol and immediately spotted him near the middle, towering over everyone else. After throwing him a fleeting look, Chanyeol immediately shot up his arm. “Fifty five dollars.”

Really Chanyeol? Really?

“Seventy five.”

“Eighty.”

Baekhyun nearly ripped off his wig and threw it at the giant’s face but the bidding war went on and on. Baekhyun was legitimately surprised that the other guy, whoever he was, was putting up such a fight. He tried to squint against the blinding lights to see the other guy’s face, but he was too far and the shadows were too dark for him to see anything identifiable.

The price had soon escalated to over a hundred dollars which was a shock in itself, and somewhere in the back of his mind, Baekhyun knew he should feel sorry for Chanyeol’s pitifully small college student wallet. But in that moment, he was just worried that other guy would win, which would mean he actually had to go on that date.

Feeling a sense of dread build up in the pit of his stomach, Baekhyun threw the most desperate glance as he could in Chanyeol’s direction. Chanyeol gave one back and pouted. He was really trying his best. “Two hundred!” Chanyeol yelled.

A collection of gasps were heard all around as a silence settled among the area. Feeling as if he was finally safe, Baekhyun visibly relaxed until…

“Whatever he pays, I’ll double it.”

A collection of even louder gasps were heard everywhere as if they were some kind of track on a sitcom. Baekhyun froze on his spot with his jaw hanging wide open and the MC took the mic off the stand. “W—well thank you for your more than generous donation, I think that we have a winner. Sold!!"

And with the loud resonating bang of the gavel, Baekhyun was dragged off stage.

His mind was a dizzying mess of thoughts and emotions. He couldn’t even fully comprehend what had just happened and only when a panting and worried group of three familiar faces ran up to him, did the gravity of the situation hit him on the back of the head like a ton of bricks. He lunged. “PARK CHANYEOL YOU ARE DEAD TO ME!” He screamed and gave the taller a quick throttling before turning to the other two with murderous eyes. The eyeliner only made him more menacing as he stalked up to them with a painfully and deliberately slow pace. Suho and Sehun slowly backed away as Baekhyun stepped closer and closer.

Suho finally cracked. “MAMA!” He wailed as he tried to make a run for it. But Baekhyun was to fast and quickly threw him back by the collar of his shirt and caught him in a headlock. Sehun tried to pry Baekhyun’s arms off Suho’s neck before Baekhyun narrowed his eyes dangerously, “do you really want a piece of this?”

Sehun immediately let go and ran behind Chanyeol with his figurative tail between his legs. It was the first time he’d seen Baekhyun so enraged and boy, when he was mad he was one smoky piece of bacon.

“Ahem,” a loud voice suddenly broke through Baekhyun’s angry trance. All four men looked up to see a tall guy, taller than Chanyeol even, glaring down at them with his thick, angry eyebrows pointing down. “Can you please take… this out from back stage?”

“Uh, yeah, sorry Kris,” Chanyeol quickly apologized and shuffled everyone out into the main ballroom area.

-

Even though by now Baekhyun had calmed down considerably, Suho and Sehun didn’t hesitate to take the opportunity to flee. Baekhyun’s anger slowly turned into a low depression. He had always had a short-lived temper anyways. He and Chanyeol were now seated side by side at a small table in the corner of the room. The bottom of Baekhyun’s dress kept riding up uncomfortably high only to be pulled back down by his frustrated fingers. It was completely beyond him how women could put up with things like this.

“Excuse me,” Baekhyun felt a gentle tap on his shoulder and turned around. He didn’t know what exactly he was expecting but it certainly wasn’t this. And by this, he meant a stupidly handsome face (stupidly because it wasn’t fair to the rest of humanity for someone who looks that good to exist). Baekhyun legitimately had to resist the urge to slap himself in the face for his thoughts. Maybe the wig was getting to his head.

“Uh, hi?” It was harder to resist the urge this time.

“I’m Kai,” the mystery man introduced himself although his expression remained composed, cold even.

“I’m Bae—I’m Hyunnie,” the sitting boy replied, swallowing back the gag reflex that came with calling himself such a cutesy name. “Um, not to be rude but what is this about?”

Kai’s eyes widened for a split second before he looked down at his shoes in what could only be embarrassment. “Oh. I’m the one who… bought your date.”

“Oh.”

Oh.

Even though a small part of Baekhyun’s mind felt a strange thrill from knowing that this man, this man who clearly looked like he had the ability to get anyone he wanted, fought so hard for him, the bigger and much more logically stable part of his brain snapped him to his senses. “Look, you look like a nice guy,” you really do, “but the truth is I—,“ he was suddenly cut off as Chanyeol clamped his hand over Baekhyun’s mouth and shot Kai a wide smile.

“Can you excuse us just for a quick moment?”

Kai's eyes flickered between the struggling two in confusion, but he nodded nonetheless.

Still smiling like the lunatic he was, Chanyeol dragged Baekhyun off deeper into the corner where there he released him. Baekhyun stared up at his friend in disbelief. “What are you doing?”

Chanyeol ran a hand through his hair before he sighed, “look, Baekhyun. You can’t reject him.”

“What? Why?” Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol's face in confusion, “I’m clearly not going to go through with this, if that’s what you’re thinking.” He crossed his arms over his chest.

Chanyeol placed his hands on his shoulders and for once in a blue moon, the expression on his face was serious and exuding some unknown wisdom. “Look Baek, he paid for a date from you. I don’t know if it’s because you’re just that hot as a girl or what, but he paid four hundred dollars to the school. I don’t know even know what he’s doing with four hundred dollars lying around but he spent it on you. Now you have to do this. You’re half way done anyways so just spend one more day on that date and it’s over,” Chanyeol finished off his long speech with an encouraging smile. Baekhyun didn’t want to admit it, but if he put it that way… Chanyeol was right. And after taking a quick look at his life and his choices, he realized that he might as well do this.

“Ok, fine.”

Chanyeol gave him and thumbs up and he quickly ushered him back to the spot Kai had been awkwardly standing alone. As they approached, Baekhyun couldn’t help but notice the way Kai’s face light up ever so slightly and suddenly, he himself felt oddly shy. Kai glanced between the two before tilting his head. “You two know each other?”

“Yeah, but she’s just like a brother to me so don’t worry,” Chanyeol quickly explained, making a large X with his arms in front of his face. If looks could kill, even Chanyeol’s ancestors would be able to feel the wrath from Baekhyun’s gaze. Kai shrugged it off though before turning his dark eyes onto Baekhyun. The shorter nearly flinched.

“Are you free Saturday?”

Wow, so straightforward.

Baekhyun cleared his throat before attempting to summon all the femininity within him into his voice. “Yeah.”

Kai nodded thoughtfully as he pursed his lips. They agreed to meet at a nice restaurant downtown and bade each other an awkward goodbye as Kai walked away.

Baekhyun watched as his future date's back retreated before he leaned over the table, picked up a fork, and ran after Chanyeol.

-

Baekhyun had nearly forgotten all about the date until Saturday morning rolled on by and Baekhyun rolled out of bed quite literally. For some ungodly reason, his three friends had barged into his small apartment, bags full of who-knows-what hanging off their arms and shoved him off his bed. Baekhyun wrapped himself into a cocoon of sheets on the cold floor before groaning out of the small peephole he had created. “Why are you guys even here?!”

“We figured you’d forget that someone has a date today,” Sehun chuckled as he knelt down beside the squishy mass that was Baekhyun before grabbing a fistful of blanket.

“And we also figured that you wouldn’t be prepared so… here we are!” Suho laughed as he took out several pieces of what could only be women’s clothing from one of the bags. Baekhyun groaned even louder as Sehun pulled the sheet off him.

-

“So how did you do all this?” Baekhyun stared at the wig on his head and pinched a strand between his fingers. Unlike last time, the soft brown hair was loosely curled into a simple but pretty little hairstyle. Chanyeol waved him off as he stared at a palette of eye shadow as if it were some kind of rainbow alien control board. Baekhyun prayed for his face.

“Don’t worry about it. I asked my sister for some help beforehand.”

Baekhyun nearly choked on his own spit, “wait, now your sister knows?!”

“No. She probably thinks I have some questionable hobbies now but no, you’re safe.”

“Thanks, man.”

“Don’t mention it,” Chanyeol smiled as he picked up a brush, “now let’s get painting!”

Please MAMA help me…

-

He looked at his watch one more time. He was fifteen minutes late due to Chanyeol’s insistence that the girl always had to show up late. Apparently, he had read it in one of his sister’s Cosmo magazines that had too many glittery animals and baseless gossip lines pasted all over the cover.

How reliable.

Baekhyun looked down at his outfit and was once again thankful that his friends had a non-sadistic fashion sense. He was wearing a pair of skinny jeans and brown boots that went up nearly to his knees and on the top, he was wearing a comfortable ruffle shirt complete with a plain grey cardigan. The line was firmly drawn at nail polish and heels though. Baekhyun really couldn’t complain since anything was better than that damned silver sequined mini dress.

He was surprised how well his makeup job was done though. Even though Chanyeol’s large hands were clumsy and awkward as he forcefully tilted Baekhyun’s head this way and that, it looked like he knew what he was doing. He must've memorized the whole procedure from his sister.

At least he felt presentable.

He took a deep breath before entering.

-

He looked at his watch one more time. He came fifteen minutes early due to Kyungsoo’s insistence that the guy always had to show up early. Apparently it was in some kind of unwritten code of dates that Kai had no idea about since he rarely interacted with people, let alone female people. He groaned and buried his face deep into his hands at his own crippling and terminal awkwardness.

“Just be natural and upfront,” he repeated the words Kyungsoo had said to him this morning when he had barged into his home, over and over again in his head.

-

“Calm down Kyungsoo. I can dress myself,” Kai whined as the older had all but taken over his closet and was currently dumping its entire contents all over his bedroom floor.

“Calm down you say? CALM DOWN?! Kai you’ve never even been on a play date, let alone a date date.”

“Yes I have,” Kai mumbled with a pout.

‘When?”

“When I was three.”

“Be serious here.”

Kai sighed as he ran a hand through his black locks. “I know, I know, I’m just…”

“Nervous?” Kyungsoo had calmed down his clothing hurricane and walked over to sit down beside Kai. The younger nodded with his head down. Kyungsoo couldn’t help but smile at his friend, “I can see that you really like this girl.” Kai opened his mouth to reply but Kyungsoo quickly cut him off, “and you’re a great guy, really, so I don’t want you to lose this opportunity.”

“You sound like my mother.”

Kyungsoo decided to ignore that comment. “You have to show her how you feel. Just be natural and upfront.”

-

“Just be natural and upfront, just be na—“

“Excuse me?”

Kai nearly had a heart attack. In fact he was pretty sure that ten years was taken off his life when a sudden, sweet voice interrupted him. He felt his face turn fifty shades of red before he cleared his throat and looked up.

If the world hadn’t stopped rotating on it’s axis the first time he laid eyes on her, it sure did this time.

Somehow, just somehow, Hyunnie managed to look even more breathtaking in her casual clothes; it was like seeing her for the first time in her natural light. From her leather boots to her lined eyes, everything was just right, leaving Kai a blinking mess as she gave him an awkward but perfect smile before taking a seat across from him.

“I’m sorry I’m late,” she quickly took the opportunity to apologize. Kai snapped out of his daze.

“It’s fine.” He hadn’t even noticed. Relieved, Hyunnie shot him an eye smile that went straight through his heart.

“So are we going to order?”

Kai nodded before taking his own menu. And at that moment, he vowed he’d do anything to keep her in his life.

-

The date had went pretty well Baekhyun had to admit. Not the best, but far from a disappointment. To be fair, he could just feel the nerves radiating off Kai and it was a bit unnerving. But after an attempt at showing off his various impressions of his (dumb) friends, and after the ice had melted away, Kai actually warmed up into a more than decent guy.

He had cut the steak for Baekhyun, asked if he needed refills, and overall took care of everything. It was honestly the first time Baekhyun had been treated this way and it had been a more than welcome experience. They were now standing outside the restaurant in the chilly summer air.

Maybe he was being a bit over observant and overly conscious of the other, but Baekhyun could just tell by the way he handled himself that Kai was unbearably shy, but even so, he tried his best. And anyone that tried scored points in his book.

But even if they had a great time, and even if the small illogical part of Baekhyun knew that if this had been a legitimate date—and he wasn’t a lying, cross dressing pushover—he’d be lining up for seconds, all he wanted to do was get home ASAP, curl up in his bed and wallow in his life choices.

Baekhyun looked up and realized that his impatience must have been affecting Kai since the taller had started shifting his weight uncomfortably from foot to foot. Baekhyun reached out his hand and gently touched Kai’s arm. “I’m sorry, it’s just been a long night for me,” Baekhyun assured. Kai looked down in surprise, stopped and smiled softly.

“I understand.”

And as Baekhyun was finally climbing into a cab that Kai has insisted that he take first, he looked up and smiled. “I, uh, had a really good time. Thanks.”

“No problem, I had fun too,” Kai nodded back and scratched the back of his head. Baekhyun could tell he had something else to say but before he could ask, Kai suddenly blurted out a, “we’ll see each other again, right?”

Baekhyun blinked a few times in silence before waving him off with a nonchalant, “sure”. He could see the giant smile that had cracked on Kai’s face in the rearview mirror and wondered just how many cartons of chocolate ice cream he would have to go through before he stopped feeling like the worst person who had ever lived.