Baekhyun had gone mad. That was the only possible explanation.

For once in his life things seemed to be working. He had gotten his dream job as a lab assistant at one of the best universities of the country, and he would be working with a renowned scientist, who was known for his important researches and projects.

But, as usual, when something good happened to Baekhyun, a bad thing was bound to come along. The first time he kissed a girl, he realized he was gay. The first time he kissed a boy, he realized he was an awful kisser. And now that he was a relatively successful college graduate, living on his own in the big brave world (in his parents house, but still), with acceptable kissing skills, he had no one to share that with.

The truth was that he was very lonely. He had thought that was the bad thing. So he had gone to the place he always did when he was feeling down: the abandoned old amusement park in the outskirts of the city. It was the perfect place to be immersed in his thoughts and sadness, and after he went back home, he would feel as if he'd left all his problems back there. No one else knew about that place, it was his personal escape route.

Everything seemed normal that day, he was just peacefully sulking and enjoying his loneliness while he walked through the park.

But then he saw it. The man.

The first thing Baekhyun noticed was that he was obnoxiously tall, much like he wished to be. The second was the weird maniac smile on his face, with big white teeth like the ones he saw in toothpaste commercials. The third was that the man was looking at his hands and arms as if they were the most incredible thing he'd ever seen in his life.

The fourth was that he was completely . Oh, and he was on fire. Like, literally on fire.

Baekhyun gaped at the sight. The man seemed oblivious to his presence, too absorbed with the phenomenon happening to his body. He didn't show any signs of being in pain, in fact he looked very happy about his catching on fire situation. It was by far the weirdest thing Baekhyun had ever witnessed. And it was amazing, really. Except for the being part, that was just outright awkward.

Baekhyun had gotten closer, slowly taking unconscious steps towards the stranger. He only noticed what he had been doing once he got close enough to feel the heat irradiating from the man's body. Baekhyun startled, taking a few steps back hastily. He didn't notice the trashcan behind him, and it fell with a loud metallic noise when he bumped into it.

The man finally looked at him, and as if Baekhyun wasn't terrified by that already, the fire suddenly grew higher. The stranger looked worried, and he also took some steps back, trying to create a secure distance between them. But the flames kept getting stronger, and Baekhyun felt uncomfortable with the heat.

Not knowing what to do, but not willing to take the risk of being toasted alive, he made a dash towards the parking lot. Before getting on his car, he stopped to look back. He could still see the fire, now almost as high as the giant wheel.

Jongdae didn't believe him. Of course he wouldn't. Jongdae had always been skeptic, so Baekhyun had already guessed what he would say.

“Come on, there's no way that actually happened.” He said, rolling his eyes.

“Do you think I'm making this up?” Baekhyun replied, angrily narrowing his eyes.

“Look, are you sure you weren't day dreaming?” Jongdae proposed, before taking a big bite of his sandwich.

“I'm sure! It was too real.”

“Pfft.” He stopped mid-chew to make a demeaning noise.

“I don't blame you, if someone told me something like this I wouldn't believe it either.” Baekhyun sighed, fiddling with his straw.

“And you didn't even think of filming it? Or at least taking a picture?”

“Well, I wasn't exactly at my best thinking state at the time, with all the 'panicking because there's a man catching on fire' part and .” With that sarcastic comment, Baekhyun accidentally pushed the straw all the way down into his juice box. Great.

“So... did you take a look at the goods?” Jongdae mockingly wiggled his eyebrows.

“What?”

“You know... down there...”

“I know what you're talking about idiot! I just can't believe you're actually asking me this.”

“Oh, come on, spill it.”

“Oh my god! I didn't look, alright? Now shut up about it! I'm not telling you anything else, jackass.”

Jongdae started laughing, and Baekhyun got up to throw the juice box in the trash can.

“How is the thing with your sister going? Is she still making you take care of Eun Chan?”

“Yeah, I feel like I'm going crazy if I stay there for much longer. I mean, the girl is lovely and all, but she's a kid and I just don't do kids.” Jongdae grimaced, starring at his half bitten sandwich.

“I still remember that time you accidentally hit a boy with a broom! The way you panicked was hilarious.” Baekhyun started giggling.

“Ha, ha, ha. I am dying of laughter.” He said with a blank face. “You only say that because you weren't the one who had to apologize to his mother countless times while the kid cried out loud in the middle of the street.”

“Anyways, I've been thinking about what you said.”

“About getting a flat together?” Jongdae asked, eyes brightening up with hope.

“I'm in.” And he added quickly, before his friend could start a victory dance in the middle of the cafe: “With one condition!”

“What?”

“Only after you find a job. I don't want to end up like your sister.”

“Oh, come on, it's not like I'm living off her, I help her out.”

Baekhyun didn't dignify that with a comment, he merely tilted his head to the side and moved his eyebrows up, as if saying 'oh, really?'

“Alright, alright, got it. I'll get a job.”

“You better do.”

“In fact, I've already applied to some places. You did it, I can do it, it's gonna be a piece of cake. Soon we'll be living in a charming apartment, far away from my sister's rambling.” He said, with dreamy eyes.

Baekhyun shook his head. Then he looked at the clock hanging on the wall.

“, I can't believe I'm gonna be late on my first day.”

He grabbed his backpack and barely said 'bye' to Jongdae before storming out of the shop.

Baekhyun managed to arrive at the university just on time. A middle aged short man was guiding him through the building, naming departments and classes, but Baekhyun was just paying a minimum amount of attention, nodding from time to time. He couldn't stop thinking about the man on fire, and even the prospective of the exciting work he'd be doing didn't do much for him.

“The professor must be at the laboratory. That's where he spends most of the time. There are times he even sleeps there, when he's too obsessed with an experiment.”

“Hmmm...”

“There is something I must tell you before you go in there. The professor is a little... eccentric.”

“Yes, I have heard about it.”

“Well, you seem like you'd be able to handle it. Just make sure not to make him angry, or mess with his personal equipment, he tends to have dramatical reactions. But generally, he's an agreeable person. I think you'll do just fine.”

He nodded again. They were walking through a long corridor, when a girl came running towards them. She said something to the man, Mr. Kim, and he put on a worried look on his face.

“I'm sorry, Mr. Byun, but there has been an emergency, I'm afraid you'll have to go to the laboratory on your own. It's the second door to the right. Give this to the professor.” He said, and gave him an envelope.

“Alright. Thank you.”

They left quickly, and Baekhyun continued his way through the corridor. He found the lab, and knocked on the door, but nobody answered, so he got in. He instantly felt a weird smell, like burnt plastic.

There were tables with various equipments; beakers, erlenmeyer flasks, test tubes arranged in racks, burners, microscopes and such. He walked around the room, and saw a curious pink substance heating on one of the tables. It caught his attention, so he got closer, and the smell got stronger. Before he could stop himself, his hand was already reaching for the recipient.

“Don't touch that.” A deep voice said from behind him, so close that the person's breath tickled his neck.

Baekhyun turned around so fast that he ended up hitting the glass. All he could see was a man's chest, and before he could look up, he was being pushed down.

“Get down!”

He was thrown on the ground, falling with a loud thud, and the stranger's heavy body covered his, almost crushing him. He gasped as he heard the sound of glass breaking and saw smoke and sparks going up. They stayed like that for a while, and then the man knelt on the floor, still on top of Baekhyun. He was wearing protection glasses and a long white jacket, and his identification badge was missing, but his face looked familiar.

“Are you okay?” He asked, already getting up.

“Y-yeah. Sorry...”

The man grabbed a fire extinctor and put out the spots of fire on the table. Luckily, the explosion hadn't been big so there wasn't much damage. Upon the sight of fire, Baekhyun suddenly remembered where he'd seen him before.

Once he was finished, the man put the extinctor down and turned around. He stared at Baekhyun, who was still paralyzed on the floor. He finally noticed that he hadn't moved, and then he raised, scrambling to his feet.

“Now, who are you?” The man asked angrily, narrowing his eyes. “You better have a good excuse for this mess you've made.”

“What? You're the one who came out of nowhere and scared the out of me! Who am I? Who are you, dude!”

“I'm Park Chanyeol, and this is my lab.”

Baekhyun tried to say something, but he only ended up mumbling unintelligible syllables. Then he remembered about the envelope, slightly crumpled by his unsteady fingers. He gave it to the man with trembling hands.

He examined it with a quirked eyebrow at first, but as he opened the envelope and read the letter his expression changed.

“Oh, right! You're the new assistant, Byun something. I'm the professor, it's a pleasure to meet you!” He grinned, and his smile was filled with perfect big white teeth.

Okay, so the guy suffered from a severe case of bipolarity. But that wasn't the main problem yet.

“Y-you!”

“Me?” He tilted his head.

“You're the... the... man catching on fire...” Baekhyun took a step back, pointing an accusing finger to Chanyeol.

“So you're the one from that time! What a coincidence.” The grin came back even brighter. “This is going to be easier then. Please, sit.”

He pushed a chair in Baekhyun's direction, who seated because he felt that otherwise his knees might give in and he'd fall to the floor again.

“I presume you want a rational explanation to what you saw. Unfortunately, I cannot give you one, given that I haven't come to a conclusion yet.” He walked in circles around the other while talking. “It's mysterious indeed, this ability of mine. It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I discovered about it. Anyways, I'll be counting on your assistance from now on.” He stopped walking and smiled.

Baekhyun still gaped, confused.

“Why... why were you ?” He managed to mumble.

“I still don't know how to control it. The first time it happened... I wasn't prepared, and my clothes got ruined. That's why I thought it would be better to go to a remote location where I could test my limits and try to use it as I want. Now, I need to buy some ingredients, let's go to the market, Bacon.”

The professor was already walking out of the room. Baekhyun shook his head and hurried to follow him.

“Wait! You can't seriously expect me to be ok with this!”

“Why? Haven't I explained everything you need to know?”

Baekhyun struggled to keep up with Chanyeol's long legs.

“You haven't explained anything! How is it even possible... I can't understand...”

“Well, neither can I, but that's what science is for, isn't it? Will you help me solve this mystery, Bacon?” He looked fiercely into Baekhyun's eyes.

“I... yes, I mean...” He frowned. “Why are you calling me Bacon?”

“Your breath smells like bacon.” He said naturally, as if that were a plausible explanation. Baekhyun frowned even more, and he sighed before adding: “I can't be bothered to remember things as silly as names, so it will be easier if I just give you a nickname I won't forget.”

“What...” Baekhyun started, but then gave up with a sigh. “Alright, fine.” He mumbled.

Chanyeol gave him another goofy smile. By this time they were already out of the building.

“So, what are we going to buy at the market?”

“Just a few ingredients.”

“What for?”

“I feel like making something sweet.”

“Hm... ok...” Baekhyun frowned. He had heard about the professor's habit of using his lab as a kitchen, but he had thought that it was just a rumor. Then he noticed that Chanyeol was still wearing his protection glasses.

“Wait, you still-”

“Hm?” He suddenly turned around, and Baekhyun, who had been walking behind him, bumped into Chanyeol. He took a couple of steps back, embarrassed.

“Your glasses.”

“Oh, right. I'm so used to using these, I even forget to take them off.” He laughed, and put the glasses in the pocket of his coat. “Let's go, I think I might invent something new today.”

Baekhyun pushed the shopping cart half filled with various things from sugar to gelatin powder, while Chanyeol examined the label of a chocolate bar. With nothing else to do, he stared at the scientist. His hair was funny. It was long and he was wearing a ponytail. It had been dyed blond, but the roots were already black again.

The professor was far younger than he'd expected. In fact, he didn't seem to be much older than Baekhyun. But they had already told him Chanyeol was a genius, so he wasn't so surprised. Apart from that, he was really attractive, tall and strong and handsome and all that. Baekhyun had to admit that his heart started beating a little bit faster when Chanyeol smiled, and now he didn't have the excuse of being scared anymore.

Chanyeol noticed.

“Is there something you'd like to ask?”

“Oh. Hm, nothing, it's just...” Baekhyun could feel his face getting warmer. “Your hair...”

“My hair?” He touched his bangs. “Actually, this was my girlfriend's idea, she said I would look better with light hair. But I don't have the patience to dye it again, so now it's like this.”

Chanyeol grinned, and Baekhyun forced out a mechanic laughter to hide his disappointment. Of course. He had a girlfriend.

They carried the groceries back to the lab, and Baekhyun helped Chanyeol when asked. Basically, he was just mixing up random ingredients and trying to make something edible out of them. Which usually wasn't the case.

Chanyeol didn't seem to have any particular culinary skills. He was much like a bored kid playing around in the kitchen. Or, in his case, a chemistry lab with the best equipment available. They ended up with a blue cream that tasted like strawberry and mint. Chanyeol named it 'the blue candy'. Baekhyun kindly pointed out that it was actually indigo, and the professor changed it to 'the indigo candy'.

They lost track of time, and when they looked out of the window, the sunset had long passed.

“It's so late already! You probably want to go home. Sorry I have kept you here so long.”

“It's okay.”

He wasn't particularly eager to home and hear his parents complaining about everything that wasn't perfect the way they wanted and asking about the girlfriends he never had.

“You really helped me out today, it's so hard to find such an understandable assistant. Usually they don't last more than the first five minutes.” He laughed, and Baekhyun wasn't sure but he seemed kind of sad.

He thought of saying he had a former experience with people who liked to do as they wished whenever they felt in the mood, but instead he kept quiet. If he considered the fact that apart from being eccentric, Chanyeol had the whole fire thing, a normal person would have indeed ran out as soon as they'd recognized him.

But Baekhyun wasn't exactly a normal person, was he? There was something about Chanyeol that made him want to be there, and he wasn't sure if it was the mysterious ability or the heart-warming smile.

“So... do you have anywhere to be right now?”

“Not really...”

“Do you want to grab a bite? There's a nice restaurant down the street. My treat.”

“Ok.” Baekhyun smiled. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't resist it.

But then, when they had already left the building, he remembered.

“Won't your girlfriend be annoyed though?”

“Not really. She isn't here in Korea right now, anyways.”

“Oh.” He wanted to ask where she was, but he didn't want to be nosy.

“Actually, she's a model, so she travels a lot. We met when she came over here for a job.”

“Hm...”

Baekhyun thought Chanyeol might start blabbing about his girlfriend nonstop, but instead they fell into a comfortable silence until they reached the restaurant. It was pleasant, they talked about work and various other subjects. Apart from that craziness shown in the beginning, which Baekhyun had already been expecting to happen from time to time, Chanyeol was nice.

Too nice.

Baekhyun had already forgotten the whole thing about the fire. But then, when they were about to leave, the professor brought it up.

“So, about the fire... I hope you don't mind helping me out with that as well.”

“Not at all. To be honest, I'm quite interested in it. I would like to hear about your progress on the matter.”

“That makes me very happy. I'm even more excited about this. I'll be counting on your help from now on.” Chanyeol grinned.

“See you tomorrow then.”

“Goodbye, Bacon.”

Baekhyun smiled while he walked away.