There was a new table tonight. You your lips as you peered at them from behind the curtains.

Innocents.

But there was money to be made from them and all you had to do was play your cards right. Being too forward would scare them off but not being forward enough would bore them. You had to fascinate them enough to stay.

A smile appeared on your face when you saw them trying to get comfortable. Most of them avoided the glares of other men by nervously rubbing their necks or ducking their heads. One boy, though, glared right back. His eyes scanned the floor like you were doing, and even if he was out of place, he didn’t look it.

His gaze landed on you and you parted your lips in surprise. He was handsome but there was no denying that the rest of his table also looked good in a pretty, shiny, and cleaner-than-the-other-men kind of way

You stepped back and let the curtain fall. You were going up in five minutes and there was no use in getting flustered over boys. Your job was to control the floor, not let them control you.

“You’re ready, right?” Minseok poked his head in through the heavy curtains just as you were smoothing your glamorous red dress and pacing the floor.

You nodded, making sure your earrings were the designated ones. “Yeah, why?”

He glanced back at the floor and his whispering voice got excited. “There’s a bunch of guys here who look pretty rich and they said they’re here to see you.”

“Me?”

He shrugged and it wasn’t until then that you noticed the dirty dishes in his hands. “They heard of you from their manager.”

“Oh…I see.”

“Kill it out there tonight, okay?”

Great, no pressure at all, you thought as he went back to work.

-

But you did kill it, if you could say so yourself. And, certainly, those boys looked pretty mesmerized though their reaction was laughable.

Instead of hollering when you sang, they simply clapped with their eyes and mouths wide open. When you went to the audience and sang for the men by running gloved fingers along their arms, the men would usually give you hungry eyes and attempt to touch you back.

You’d always run before they could get their greasy hands on you but it was easy to stay at the new table. You had demurely draped your arm across one blond boy’s shoulders, dragging a finger lightly for good measure, and he acted just like you thought he would. He covered his face and shied away while the rest of his friends laughed, albeit a bit awkwardly.

But since you ended your act at their table, you were energized by their cheering. They liked you and you were sure of it.

-

You weren’t so sure when you peeked out the curtains the next day. The table had dwindled to half of yesterday’s original number. Three boys sat there now and the only uplift you could note was that the boy who had glared at the older men yesterday was still there.

He found your eyes again.

-

He was there again but this time with only one other friend. And this time, he didn’t look over. You couldn’t quite see but he seemed to be playing with some card in his hand. He looked nervous…or irritated, you didn’t know, as he impatiently tapped his foot. You closed the curtain and hoped he wasn’t here only because his friend dragged him along.

-

He wasn’t here today. You stood behind the curtains, staring out in a shorter dress. Perhaps he had switched tables or was sitting by the bar. One minute before your show, though, you closed the curtains, knowing you were just doing wishful thinking.

-

What the hell did I just do?

You covered your face and slumped against the wall as soon as you were safe behind the curtains.

He was here today, just a bit late. He didn’t even manage to get a seat but the minute you noticed him with his hands in his pockets, you had gravitated toward him until you were practically throwing yourself at him. He seemed like a nice guy and played along but you could tell the moment he started to feel uncomfortable.

So why didn’t you stop? You liked having his eyes on you, more than you liked having other gruffy men stare at you, but that didn’t mean you had to push yourself onto him. He was probably never coming back now.

Hearing the curtains part, you looked up. Minseok walked in and you gave him a confused look until you noticed he wasn’t alone. You straightened immediately.

“Hey, this kid says he has something to give you.”

You stiffened when you saw the smile from behind Minseok. “Hello, my name’s Baekhyun.”

You shot Minseok a questioning look, completely ignoring the greeting. There were numerous times when audience members had wanted to meet you but they were never allowed. Minseok simply shrugged. “He doesn’t look dangerous.”

Didn’t he know anything? The most dangerous ones were those who never looked the part.

Minseok stepped off to the side, giving the two of you a semiprivate area to talk. In your head, you retraced the path you would have to run if this Baekhyun guy tried anything fishy.

“Hi,” he said with a bow and presented you with a rose. “I just wanted to tell you how much I like your voice. You’re very talented.”

You nodded. It would’ve been better to blush or giggle like you wanted to when you took the rose but you had to remain cold and aloof. You had an image to keep up.

A moment of silence passed and he was the one who broke eye contact and in a breath. “Ah, this is awkward,” he muttered under his breath.

“Thank you for the rose.” You smiled gently, hoping you didn’t scare him off completely. He shouldn’t have been the one to feel nervous, not when your knees were about to start wobbling.

He smiled back, wide. If you weren’t such a good actor, you would’ve blushed at how cute his smile was. “I’ve been coming to see you for a while now and I think…uh…” He his lips and seemed to forget what he was trying to say. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the card he had been playing with the other day. “I think it’d be awesome if you were willing to come to my recording studio and we could sing a duet together.”

Your eyebrows raised just a fraction.

When you didn’t take the card, he looked around for something else to say. “You see, I’m also a singer and I’d love to sing with you someday. My number is on the card and you can call me whenever you’re free.”

You were surprised at first but then you thought, why? He was just like the other men out there, only in a smaller and cleaner frame. You would’ve mentioned cuter too but not now that you knew what his real intentions were.

Singing a duet, my .

You took the card regardless and thanked him. He seemed to notice that you had gone colder, though, as his smile diminished. You looked to Minseok, who was pretending to read over receipts, and he came immediately to the boy away.

You sighed and dragged your feet back to your dressing room. Dumping the rose on the tiny counter, you slumped down on your chair and brushed your makeup to the side so you could lay your head down. While you waited for dinner, you told yourself not to look for him again tomorrow.

-

Baekhyun his lips as he sat at the same table again with the drink in front of him. He twirled another rose between his fingers, pink this time. Yesterday had seemed to go well until the last second. She had accepted his rose and even smiled at him, despite how much of a little boy he had felt in her presence.

“Kid, you’re trying again today?” Baekhyun looked up and saw Minseok staring at his rose.

“Ah,” he uttered and gave one more twirl, “yeah, I feel like I made a bad impression yesterday.”

“I don’t know if she’s looking for a relationship these days…”

“I just want to get a chance to sing with her, that’s all.

Minseok sighed in defeat. “Sing, right.”

“I…” Baekhyun cleared his throat, trying not to sound angry while he blushed furiously. “Do you have any tips?”

“Tips?”

Baekhyun closed his eyes, trying not to feel like a little schoolboy, though he felt like this every time he stepped into this bar. He wasn’t much older than her and definitely not older than Minseok but he sure felt a lot younger. “Yeah, tips,” he said through gritted teeth. “Like, how to get closer and stuff.”

Minseok gave a sly chuckle and Baekhyun had to try really hard not to cover his face in embarrassment. “You’re spending your evenings trying to woo a bar singer. You must be falling hard,” he joked with a pat on Baekhyun’s back.

“If you didn’t have any tips, you could’ve said so.”

Minseok ignored the irritated grumble. “All I know is that she really likes her food.”

“Hmm?”

“Yeah, she always eats like she’s never eaten in her life.”

Baekhyun opened the unused menu in front of him. “What does she like?”

“You really sound like you just want to sing with her,” Minseok said with a sarcastic tone as he closed the menu.

Baekhyun deflated in his seat and looked around the floor. He stole a glance at the curtains where he had seen her in the past but she wasn’t there today. Great. “She doesn’t like bar food?”

“She does but she gets it everyday. Make her something.”

“I can’t cook.”

A man from another table waved down Minseok and he gave another pat on the boy’s shoulder. “Then get your mom to make her something, kid.”

Baekhyun twirled the rose in his fingers one last time just as the music got louder and the lights went down.

She was amazing, just like he expected. The gold dress she wore caught everybody’s attention but it was her voice that kept their gazes on her. He watched her and barely had enough brain power to close his gaping mouth.

He hoped she would come around to him today, just like she did yesterday. He liked the fact that while the rest of the crowd focused on her, she had been watching him.

But his mood fell when she got near the end of her act. She had blatantly ignored him, he knew that. Her eyes never once looked in his direction and she danced with every table except his.

He hid the rose from view, not wanting her to see how he waited for her. She seemed to be avoiding him and he didn’t want to push her away so soon.

Ah, he shouldn’t have come at all.

Her singing suddenly stopped along with a little squeak from the mic. Men began shouting boisterously as Baekhyun watched the fall. She tripped along the hem of her dress, falling right into a bald man’s lap.

Baekhyun stood immediately, though he wasn’t sure what he had planned to do. Many men stood up with him, laughing and clapping at how much struggle she was having as she tried to get up. But Baekhyun saw why.

The man had an arm on her.

It wasn’t until the baldy planted a sloppy kiss on her that Baekhyun pushed his way in. He pulled her up forcefully, not noticing how the man complained, and saw the fear in her eyes. He needed to get her away.

Holding her hand and guiding her by the waist, he steered her toward the curtains that she often peeked out of. She wretched herself from his arms when they were free from the public eye, and then fell against the wall.

He saw her hands reach up to wipe her face but he didn’t know what to do when a girl was crying. His older brother had told him to always hug the girl and murmur soothing words into her ears but that didn’t seem appropriate at the time.

“Hey, what happened?”

Baekhyun spun around and saw Minseok poking his head through. “She—“

“Nothing happened,” she hissed. Baekhyun saw the tears swimming in her eyes now and he didn’t even need his brother’s words to know what to do. He wanted to hold her and whisper in her ear that everything was okay.

But he didn’t do it and she stormed away.

-

It wasn’t the bald man that made you cry. It wasn’t the jeering or the groping that made you cry because, in all honesty, you were used to it.

It was him. That boy. What was his name again? And why the hell was he there to witness that…that moment.

You buried your face in your arms and let the last few tears slip out. It was embarrassing enough to let him see you like that; you didn’t want anybody to come in and see you breaking down.

You sighed, remembering the look of pity he gave you as he escorted you off the floor. Quite frankly, you would’ve liked to stay in his arms a bit longer but wasn’t he just like the other men out there? The only difference was that he had different tactics. He was going to slowly chip you away until you had nothing left and were forced to lean on him.

Then he’d leave and let you fall because you had given into temptation.

-

Baekhyun tried to cover the smell of rice as he waited backstage. He had gone out during the middle of her act, after noticing she would not make eye contact with him at all, and brought out the lunch box that his mother had made earlier. It felt weird to walk across the parking lot with it and it really didn’t feel right to bring it into the bar.

But after Minseok let him wait backstage, Baekhyun felt a bit better about what he was doing…even if the smell of rice was at war with the greasy smell of bar foods.

The light spilled in as she stepped from the curtains. He saw the flash of panic when her eyes landed on him but it was masked by the yelp that she gave when she tripped on her heels.

He caught her by the arm, nearly dropping the lunch box in the process. “You okay?”

She nodded but didn’t look up even when he righted her. “Why are you here?”

“To give you this.”

Her eyebrows rose up again just like when he had given her his business card. This time around, he hoped she wouldn’t think badly of him.

Her lips curved up when she held the box in her hands. That was always a good sign, wasn’t it?

Baekhyun patted his empty hands against his sides and then slid them into his pockets. There was nothing left to do now but leave.

“I guess…” Baekhyun stopped and watched her sit down on one of the leftover barstools. She seemed to have forgotten about him as she opened the box and stared wide-eyed at the food.

Even Baekhyun was a bit surprised as he took a seat beside her, making sure there was plenty of space between them. The meal looked much better than what he was used to at home and he would have to thank his mom profusely. He had asked her to make something for a girl he had met and she chirped with delight. He didn’t know his mom would be so enthusiastic.

“Thank you.” Baekhyun looked up and saw the small smile. Even if she didn’t want to look at him, he didn’t mind. He smiled right back.

“Eat up.”

She did, though not in the way that Minseok described it. She didn’t scarf everything down and Baekhyun feared for a second that she didn’t like it. He tried to convince himself that she did, especially when he saw the little blush on her face when he went to wipe a little crumb off her face.

“Oh, you already have dinner?”

The two of them looked up and saw Minseok peering in. Baekhyun shifted back, suddenly realizing he’d gotten too close.

“Yeah, Baekhyun made it for me,” she murmured and Baekhyun’s heart soared.

She remembered his name.

“All right then. Call me if you need anything.”

Baekhyun played with his fingers nervously as Minseok left. “I…I didn’t make that.”

She froze. “Oh?”

“My mom did,” he said quickly and quietly.

“Oh.”

He looked over and saw that she was trying not to burst into giggles. “Don’t laugh,” he whined even though he wanted to hear her laughter.

“Thank you anyway,” she replied after clearing . “And thank your mom for me.”

“I will.”

“You should try cooking someday, too.”

“Would you eat it if I did?”

She drummed her fingers against the side of the box and Baekhyun leaned in close, waiting for her answer. “If it’s as good as your mom’s cooking, I’ll definitely eat it.”

-

You used to look forward to starting your show everyday. It was thrilling to step on stage and have every head turn in your direction.

Nowadays, however, you relished the moments after the show, when Baekhyun would present her with more delicious food. You had convinced him to stop bothering his mom about cooking for you and he only agreed once you let him buy you food from other places.

Places that you’d never be able to afford.

He was never around for long, only until you were finished eating, and you always made sure you had finished before closing time. One time, he had brought you a slice of cake, saying that he wanted to celebrate the first time he had heard you laugh.

Every night, you’d go to bed happy until the last second before you fell asleep. It was fun to play along but this would never last. Though he had never mentioned singing duets ever again, you knew there was more to him than just the pretty boy on the surface.

He might be clever, chipping away at your heart, but you had better defenses than that, you told yourself. Every night before you fell asleep, you’d repeat the thought in your head.

You were only starting to like Baekhyun for the food.

Not his bright smile, not his cute eyes, and especially not his charming words. Yes, it was definitely just the food.

-

And the next day, you convinced yourself that you were sad about him not being present for the show because that meant you wouldn’t have any delicious food to eat. You questioned Minseok but he just shrugged.

You went onto stage and luckily found Baekhyun halfway through. It wasn’t hard to spot him when he came in with a big smile on his face.

When he met you backstage, you immediately felt the lump in your throat. He was late because he had cooked for you this time. The meal wasn’t nearly as pretty as his mother’s and it tasted a lot different but you still loved it. It was a good different because you knew that he made it.

You didn’t understand why he did this for you. He juggled his jobs as a vocal teacher and a martial arts assistant coach but still made time for you. He even showed you a few moves like his Brazilian kick that you could only dream of executing.

Still, you never did anything back for him and you intended to keep it that way. He could give everything up for you but as long as you kept yourself intact, you were safe.

-

Baekhyun looked out the small window as she tipped the glass to her lips. He didn’t talk to her much today, not when her voice sounded different while she sang. She didn’t complain about her sore throat but he could hear it when she had asked Minseok to get her a warm glass of water with lemon.

The rain was pouring hard outside and he couldn’t let her go home alone. He had never offered to drive her before since he assumed Minseok did it. Baekhyun found out only a few days ago that she’d bus home every night.

“Are you planning to take the bus home tonight?” he asked, taking a seat beside her as she wound up the cord of a microphone.

“Yes.”

He sighed. She still didn’t speak much but he couldn’t help but think she was angry that he didn’t bring anything to eat today. Yesterday’s cooking had drained him and he had rushed over at the last minute to watch the very last minute of her act.

She declined when he offered to buy her a club sandwich from the bar.

“I can drive you home,” he tried.

“It’s okay,” she replied simply.

Before he could even try to convince her, she was walking down the hall to her dressing room.

Great.

-

You held your huge bag at your side while your stomach growled. You hadn’t had to wait this late for dinner in a while and you didn’t know if you had brought enough Tupperware containers today.

It sure still felt like a lot as they clunked against each other with each step.

You peeked out the small window and sighed when you saw that it was still raining. The day had been so nice in the morning that you didn’t bring an umbrella with you. Maybe it would’ve been wise to take Baekhyun’s offer.

You stopped in your tracks when you walked out onto the floor and saw Baekhyun sitting at the bar while Minseok wiped it. You blinked, thinking it was a dream or perhaps a nightmare. Yes, it was definitely a nightmare because you could see the trays of leftover sandwiches on the counter right beside Baekhyun.

You tried to walk back into the curtains but it was too late. Baekhyun waved.

You wanted to cover your face when you realized he had never seen you without your show makeup on. How did he even recognize you?

“Why are you here?” you asked warily. The place was closed and it was time to clean up. All the patrons were shooed out except Baekhyun.

“I let him stay so he could drive you home,” Minseok replied, putting a few shot glasses away.

You opened your mouth to say something back but when they both gave you a look that told you to just give in, you closed your mouth. “Fine,” you sneered and stomped towards the door.

“Hey, aren’t you going to take these?”

You turned around and, to your horror, Minseok was pointing at the tray of leftovers. Baekhyun looked back at you and the food and you just wanted to die of shame.

“No,” you muttered with a glare and whipped around, ignoring the noisy Tupperware containers in your bag.

-

“Drop me off here,” you ordered, pointing at a street corner where a stop sign sat.

“Where do you live?” Baekhyun asked, ignoring you.

You glared at the road. “It doesn’t matter. Drop me off here.”

He gave you a glance out of the corner of his eye and then looked around the neighbourhood. “It’s all dark alleys around here. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I walk here everyday. I think you’re more of a threat to my safety than whoever’s out there.”

You bit your tongue, regretting your words as soon as they came out. You didn’t dare look over at Baekhyun who drove compliantly to the corner and then came to a hard stop.

You didn’t say goodbye as you stepped out into the rain and you didn’t look back either because you knew he was watching you as you walked down the street.

-

The next day was hard. You had a headache the entire day and felt unbearably tired that you even slept a little in class. Afterwards, you took a little nap in the library but realized too late that you wouldn’t be at the bar on time.

When you came through the door, Minseok had asked you if you wanted a bite to eat but you declined, knowing you had to be on stage soon.

Your makeup was done with a shaky hand and your voice barely squeaked out as you warmed up your vocal cords. More than once, you were ready to fall asleep on the chair.

What luck would it be if you fell asleep on stage?

-

“Aren’t you going to go with her?” Baekhyun yelled furiously at Minseok while they watched the ambulance rush away.

“Can’t. I have to run the place even without her.”

“Then call her parents!”

“Don’t know her home number.”

Baekhyun gritted his teeth furiously and felt like punching something. She was unconscious in an ambulance and he couldn’t even do anything about it. How the hell had she just fainted on stage?

“Why don’t you go to the hospital?”

He gave a breathy laugh and looked at the ground. “She still doesn’t want me around her.”

“She does.”

Baekhyun looked over at Minseok with an unimpressed face. “This isn’t the time for jokes.”

“I’m serious,” Minseok said with a shrug. “She fainted today because of you, you know.”

Baekhyun laughed as if they had both gone crazy. “You think you’re funny, huh? Humour me. Tell me how I could be the cause of her fainting.”

Minseok looked down the street where the ambulance had gone. “She likes you but she wants to be independent. That girl hates it when others think she needs help and when you came along, she actually let you.”

“Yeah, because I practically forced her to let me.”

“That’s true, but you could tell she liked it. She liked you.” Minseok began turning around to head back inside. “I think she fainted today because she didn’t get to eat anything.”

“What? Am I the only one who feeds her?”

“Me and you, kid. We’re the only ones who feed her.”

Baekhyun followed Minseok, completely absorbed in this ridiculous story. “You pay her, don’t you?” he asked in a snarl. “Where does her money go?”

“To school.”

“Then why didn’t you feed her today?” he asked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Minseok shrugged again. “I tried to give her food last night. She usually takes the leftovers and eats it throughout the day but you were here last night and I guess she was too ashamed to take the food.”

“Are you…”

“Yes, I’m serious.” Minseok started walking to a man who was calling for a menu. “I think you should go see her at the hospital.”

Baekhyun was already out the door.

-

You walked around aimlessly. Where the hell were you? You looked up and didn’t recognize the hospital name or the street you were on.

You sighed, ready to go back in and ask the admissions lady for directions until you heard your name being called.

Baekhyun rushed out of the automatic door that you had just walked through and you wondered if your head was still playing tricks on you.

“Hey,” he greeted breathlessly when he managed to squeeze through all the people.

“Why are you here?”

He gave a cheeky smile and shrugged. “Why not?”

You could think of a whole slew of reasons why not. He had a life, did he not? “Why are you here?” you repeated slowly.

He seemed to deflate right in front of you. “Look, I know you don’t like having me around all the time but let me just drive you home, okay?”

You blinked up at him.

“And after that…” he sighed and his lips. “You’ll never have to see me ever again, okay?”

Your brows creased in confusion and you took a step back. “Why not?” you asked, feeling like you had missed something. He was…leaving? Already/

He heaved a gusty sigh and you saw that it blew a few strands of hair off his forehead. “I like you. I like you a lot and I like being there for you. But…it’s hard.”

You saw the pained expression on his face and knew you were at fault for it.

When there was only silence between you, he nodded towards his car. “Let’s go. I’ll buy you something to eat along the way.”

Before he could turn around, you went on your tippy toes and placed a kiss on his cheek. It was more awkward then you thought it would be but your heart was also beating much faster than you had expected. “I like you, too,” you confessed while curling your fingers around his. “And thank you for being there for me. I like it, too. I’m sorry for making it hard on you…”

You were rewarded with his bright smile and you couldn’t hide your own joy this time.

“Do you want cake?”

“Cake?”

He nodded eagerly. “To celebrate.”

You burst out into laughter as he pulled you into a hug.

—-

_{that was an unsatisfying ending but i needed to end this bc it got really long. sorry if the changes in pov were confusing BUT THIS WAS SO FUN TO WRITE!!!! thank you for requesting and i hope you liked it n_n}