Title: Waltz

Pairing: BaekYeol

Rating: nc-17

Length:  4086 Words (2/11)

Genres: Romance

Summary: Baek Hyun has been getting relentless calls from a strange number at the strangest times and he decided to post the contact number on some gay dating website for the calls to stop. It was supposed to work, goddamnit.

 

===

 

Baek Hyun prided himself to be a considerate citizen, hell, he used to be nice before life just turned him into some bitter 9 to 5 working adult, except that his normal working hour was 8.30am-12.15am. But hey, at least he had it better than Jong Dae. The man worked six days per week and sometimes, seven days and his working hour was more frantic, 9.00am-6.30pm, 8.00am-3.00am, 7.00am-2.00am –well, you get the point.

 

Because it was a Saturday and the traffic was really, really congested, he’d told the big (or really tall, actually) chick looking guy to move his car to the emergency lane. The guy was surprisingly obedient despite his ominous height and red hair, grinning sheepishly as he drove his car from the middle lane.

 

But Baek Hyun thought that it was all mainly due to Jong Dae’s weird gesture of I’m-watching-your-every-move- using his index and middle fingers. That, and also because Jong Dae had snapped few pictures of the man’s face and his car plate.

 

Auditors.

 

Everything was all about details.

 

Baek Hyun wished he could be nicer, his grandmother always nagged at him because he used to be such a darling with everyone else and now, he was selectively nice, but mostly, only to the elder generations.

 

“I’m really, really sorry about your car.” The tall man had said and Baek Hyun was giving Jong Dae a side glance, a little bit perplexed at his behaviour of snapping pictures after another of both of the cars’ condition, muttering under his breath all the while –“Bumper out, lights okay, minor and minor and minor, a little paint job? Hmm, police report? Nah, it’s not that bad.”

 

If he was in a better mood, he would’ve justified his best friend’s behaviour as a normal response of an auditor. It was all about details and Jong Dae can be a real about it.

 

Maybe that was one of the reasons why he mixed well with his manager.

 

Hell, he mixed well with everyone with his petite figure, loud whiney voice and speeches and weird uplifting words and quotes and ideas. Also, because he had a reliable personality and good work ethics too –no one can deny that. His dedication was commendable, not to mention his loyalty. 

 

Baek Hyun’s car wasn’t so much in a bad condition. The rear bumper had fallen off on one side and the other side was barely hanging on. There was a huge scratch though, some of the paint came off and he was lucky that the lights’ casing and everything else was in a perfect condition. He didn’t think it will cost that much to fix them. The cost will mostly come from the paint job, but Baek Hyun can always postpone that.  

 

Baek Hyun turned his attention to the tall man, noticing that he was nicely dressed in white jumper with black sleeves and some weird maze/web logo on the front. His jeans were skinny in black and his snapback was black. He looked young, or at least, few years behind Baek Hyun and he seemed like a pleasant person, which was a little unnerving considering Baek Hyun’s mood that afternoon.

 

Nicety and a moody Baek Hyun don’t exactly mix well, so he settled for a pointed look as he stared at the tall man.

 

“Yeah, kinda saw that coming with you playing with the phone and all.”

 

The man’s face coloured, he had looked guilty then.

 

Jong Dae had walked back to the talking pair, arms crossed over his chest and he studied the tall man intently. Baek Hyun knew that face, he knew that analytical stare because Jong Dae only had that look whenever he was counting inventory and picking up samples for his audit evaluation –so calculative and so rational.

 

And when his best friend finally nodded at the man’s shoes, he knew that Jong Dae was satisfied with whatever it was that he tried to look for.

 

“A person’s shoes say a lot about them, Baek Hyun-nie, so always make sure that yours is sparkling clean. You can judge them that way, you can know about their character instantly.”

 

“Look, I’m really sorry about it, so how about this. Let me pay for the paint job and the repair work?” The man had said hopefully, his voice was deep, such a contrast with his soft and handsome face, but it was Jong Dae who made the decision for them.

 

“Okay, deal.”

 

The man’s eyes had widened at Jong Dae’s quick response, even Baek Hyun was a little taken aback, but the man had nodded nonetheless before smiling a little pathetically and at the rings and the beaded bracelets on his wrist, Baek Hyun somehow suspected that the man was still in college.

 

A college student driving a white Evogue?

 

How infuriating.

 

“Just give me your number and we can sort out a place to meet up? Do you have any specific workshop in mind?” Baek Hyun had initiated and took out his phone, noticing that the man had taken out his as well.

 

His palms were big and his fingers were thick compared to Baek Hyun’s slimmer ones.

 

The man had smiled after that, teeth white and face pleasant.

 

“How about we go somewhere you’re more at ease with? The workshop I frequent might be far from yours, so maybe we can fix your car first?”

 

It was nice to see how the man can talk so effortlessly smooth; his voice was really, really deep.

 

It was loud from where the three of them had stood, what with the honking and the modified exhaust and all. But at least the sun wasn’t as scalding, and it was weird how Baek Hyun was noticing the smooth texture of the tall man’s face and the few bumps of pimples under his jaw.

 

Maybe Baek Hyun was still tired, after all.

 

“Here, just gimme your number and let me give you a call. Easy for you to track me down and all that jazz.” The tall man had grinned rather playfully and Baek Hyun didn’t understand the easy smile that lighted his face. He thought that he must be ed in the head, the impact from the accident probably, and even Jong Dae was giving him a strange look.

 

Baek Hyun didn’t blame him.

 

Even he couldn’t understand himself and he was already twenty-four that year and life never made an ounce of sense to him.

 

Maybe his grandmother was right after all.

 

“Happiness is infectious, isn’t it?”

 

“I’m Chan Yeol, by the way.”

 

The tall man introduced himself and Baek Hyun nodded.

 

“I’m Baek Hyun.” He told him and raised an eyebrow when Chan Yeol passed him his phone, but he took it nonetheless, sort of understanding what the man had wanted him to do.

 

He should’ve been more sharp, more aware for if he had, he would’ve seen the auto-suggest in the contact bar when he keyed in his number, a glaring Hae Jin with the same number as his, but he was too distracted to notice before he passed the phone back to the tall man.   

 

He was calling his phone up, in fact, to double confirm that he had put in the correct number using the tall man’s phone, but another person’s call had instead come in.

 

“Why don’t you just block the number, Baek Hyun-nie?”

 

Baek Hyun frowned then.

 

The man, Chan Yeol, was standing in front of him. He was so eerily quiet and Jong Dae was perched next to him, peering down to his phone curiously and Baek Hyun didn’t understand why his lips had gone dry.

 

He cleared his throat, hardening himself up and cancelling the call he was receiving, feeling betrayed for already memorising the digits. Three months, he thought. Three months, he defended, because why else would he remember the number?

 

“I’m sorry, but can you please call me again?” He said calmly, couldn’t find the courage to look up, because surely, it can’t be, right?

 

There was a beat of silence.

 

Then the phone call came again.

 

The digits lighted up his screen again.

 

But it was Jong Dae’s voice that made him look up.

 

“You’ve got to be kidding me –you’re him?”

 

Chan Yeol’s eyes were wide, really, really wide and his face had paled.   

 

The traffic was loud, the sun wasn’t hot and the wind from the passing cars was actually nice, brushing his hair teasingly and Baek Hyun thought that it could be a nice day.

 

But the strange man who called himself Chan Yeol had looked betrayed, eyebrows furrowed as if he was in confusion when it was Baek Hyun who was confused himself, because honestly, what the hell was going on?

 

“What are you doing with her number?”

 

The world was just sick that way, throwing ty coincidence and bad luck combined his way on a Saturday afternoon when Baek Hyun was hungry and sleepy.

 

“Fate works in a funny way, sweetie.”

 

But no, grandma. Fate works in a ty way wow, someone up there must really hate me this much.

 

“So you’re my stalker.”

 

Baek Hyun thought that he had said it in a dignifying way, he could say that he had sound rather dashing, in fact.

 

Fate.

 

Pfft.

 

===

 

Baek Hyun was twenty-four that year, but somehow, he felt older.

 

It was too cold in the office, Baek Hyun had to put on an extra woollen sweater, but his manager had given him the dirty eye, leering suspiciously and it was already bad enough that she thought Baek Hyun was a depressed alcoholic, courtesy of Jong Dae.

 

It was the New Year and there had been a lot of alcohol involved and Baek Hyun didn’t want to dwell on it that much, to be honest.

 

Jaded.

 

He kept telling himself that his youth was running out, slowly out by the cruel reality he lived in and he was all dried up like a dead flower.

 

“It’s June, Baek Hyun-ssi. It’s summer. How can you be cold?”

 

Well, how about minding your own business and let him wallow in the coldness that was the world.

 

The floor was designed like any other floors of the building. Grey carpet covering the whole floor and the walls were white. Then there were the tall glass windows aligning the whole wall on one side and each cubicle was shared by two employees, effectively drowning them in mountains of files. The cubicles had no tall walls separating them from one another, because this way, it was easier for the managers to see that their charge was actually doing real work, so really, the cubicles actually looked like two oversized office table pushed next to one another, forming a C-shape.

 

Baek Hyun flipped his wrist up to see that it was only 11am, far too early for him to go on a lunch break and yet, he was already in no mood to proceed with the day.

 

“Stop daydreaming, Baek Hyun-ssi, and be productive.”

 

Baek Hyun turned to his right, looking at his cubicle-mate before he turned back to his PC. He’d been on the same page for the last 45 minutes and it was rather depressing, really.

 

He swore that he wasn’t doing this on purpose; he swore that he had woken up this morning with a clear intention of finishing up his work and be, you know, productive.

 

“I am being productive,” he tried, stressing at the word, at the lie, but he knew that no one would believe him. His productivity probably equalled to nada, with him staring into the air the whole time.

 

The way Kyung Soo had snorted would probably sound condescending to most people who didn’t know him personally, but to a man like Baek Hyun who dealt with him on a daily basis, he knew that that snort was really a mixture of disgust and condescending and a little detestation too.  

 

Do Kyung Soo was a sweet man like that.

 

His words cut like a knife and Baek Hyun thought that no one actually sounded more dreadful than he did.   

 

“Oh, what a relief. Maybe we should have more portfolios added to those never ending piles of yours, Baek Hyun-ssi.” Kyung Soo had said with fake courtesy and Baek Hyun slouched further into his chair, right ankle crossed over his left knee and lips lined into a frown.

 

He swirled his chair around to face Kyung Soo and as expected, managing to pull a rather disgusted grimace from the shorter male next to him along the way.

 

“What are you doing tonight, Kyung Soo-yah?”

 

The first time he got that casual with Kyung Soo was on the New Year’s Eve party. Both of them were understandably tipsy and rather loose and Kyung Soo’s arms locking tightly around his neck (Neck/head-lock most people would call it) almost pulled his head off.

 

“Do not.” Kyung Soo had hissed and the memory, to this day, brought a ghostly touch-like sensation to his neck still.  

 

“Definitely nothing to do with you or that auditor person, Kim Jong Dae.”

 

Baek Hyun couldn’t help the grin.

 

Jong Dae and Kyung Soo had such a funny history.

 

His phone had been quiet since Saturday.

 

===

 

Baek Hyun doesn’t usually drink on Monday nights, but that night, he thought that he could make an exception.

 

It was a different bar this time.

 

He liked the placement of the place this time better –an open-air concept, tables lining over the veranda for the natural night breeze and fresh air. The table was square, low and they will have to sit on the cushion against the floor.

 

Kyung Soo was nursing a stick of Marlboro and Jong Dae was pouring the soju into his cup. Baek Hyun had just finished his curry ramyun and was slouching onto the railing. It was always slouching when it came to him these days, he wondered what that said about his not so blossoming personality.

 

“Probably not productive.” Kyung Soo would have said.

 

“And just another sad, sad bastard.” Jong Dae would have smiled.

 

Baek Hyun sometimes questioned himself at all the choices he made in his life, keeping people like Kim Jong Dae and Do Kyung Soo around.

 

“So, any updates on your car?”

 

Jong Dae’s smile reminded him of an ugly old cat to be honest, but Baek Hyun was not going to make any remark on it because the buzz settling over his chest from the alcohol was rather calming. And plus, a hissy and ruffled Jong Dae will sort of ruin the pleasant night.

 

He straightened up instead, using his fingers rather than the chopsticks to stuff the kimchi into his mouth and let out a pleased sigh at the sour taste consuming his whole mouth. Kyung Soo gave him a distasteful look before shaking his head, that prude, but Baek Hyun was too content to give a .

 

“Haven’t called him yet,” he told Jong Dae honestly while the man was hissing from his large gulp of the acidic liquid.

 

Jong Dae used the back of his hand to wipe off any remnants of soju from his lips and Kyung Soo poured a shot for himself shortly after that.

 

“This seems suspicious, though. Are sure he’s not trying to trick you or anything? For all you know, he might just disappear and you have to bear all the servicing cost yourself.”

 

It was sweet how Jong Dae was such an auditor.

 

However, if Jong Dae’s suspicion was right, then Baek Hyun might be in deeper than he thought he would. Because he didn’t make a police report right after the accident, he can’t take any legal action if that Chan Yeol person decided to go dead on him.

 

Well, to his knowledge, at least.

 

And yet.

 

And yet –

 

The good question would be, why didn’t he call the man? What was the deal? What was he so afraid of?

 

Except that Baek Hyun was a proud, obnoxious prick, egoistic on top of that and the fact that his imaginary wrinkly and all moustache-y stalker now actually seemed like a pleasant person, and rather good looking, it kind of shook him up.

 

Baek Hyun didn’t understand anything at this point in his life--an everyday trait, really, which was a bummer, but he thought that distracting himself from the strange attachment (you know, the phone calls and stalker) was definitely better.  

 

“I’ll call him later.” He promised and yet, it was 1am when he climbed into his bed, shivering at the cold mattress and hissing as he pulled the duvet over himself.

 

His phone hadn’t been ringing the whole day.

 

He’ll give that Chan Yeol guy a call the next day.

 

===

 

“Have you called him?”

 

It was Tuesday.

 

Jong Dae was leaning against Baek Hyun’s table, overstepping his boundaries again by stepping into Baek Hyun’s working area like he owned the whole place, as always, with an obnoxious looking smile.

 

Having a manager like his to back him up all the time tended to make a man smug like that.

 

“No, and why are you here, Jong Dae-yah?”

 

He didn’t need to look up to know that Kyung Soo had swirled his chair around, facing the two of them and hey, Baek Hyun had been productive that day, going through each of the transactions to see if there was any miscalculated reductions or the sort.

 

Jong Dae had looked up to look at Kyung Soo, smile quickly dropping into a frown.

 

“Don’t you have any work to do, Kim Jong Dae-ssi? Or have they exhausted their need for your very much limited aid?”

 

Baek Hyun couldn’t help the sigh he let out and he had to refrain himself from muttering out a “Children, play nice.” Because it never had worked, always resulting in the two ganging up on him most of the time.   

 

Baek Hyun didn’t like fighting in a losing war.

 

Jong Dae and Kyung Soo’s relationship was actually rather complex.

 

“Or maybe, it’s because I’m much reliable than you can ever be, and fast, too, that any assignment handed out to me are completed within my assigned dues.”

 

Jong Dae always sounded haughty when he was defensive like this, scoffing and huffing around like some pompous brat with empty words and threats. Sometimes they didn’t even make any sense, and it was rather entertaining, if he was honest with himself, like watching a brainless peacock trying to prove a point, if anything.

 

“So you’re done for the day then, I assume? You’re here for the submission of the report?”

 

It was curious, really, the way Kyung Soo’s eyes seemed to lighten up and the question somehow had sparked curiosity into his chest. It wasn’t long before Baek Hyun stopped typing at all and diverted his attention to his sulking friend.

 

Jong Dae hadn’t said anything yet, and Kyung Soo had looked so proud that Baek Hyun wished his best friend can come up with a good comeback just so he can wipe that smug looking expression off of his cubicle-mate’s face.

 

There was a long pause before Jong Dae’s face fell, eyes tired and he finally breathed out a defeated sigh.

 

“No.” Jong Dae had sulked.

 

“Ah, how dare you fail me like this.” Baek Hyun moaned.

 

And Kyung Soo’s smirk had seemed evil.

 

“Then I don’t understand why we’re having this conversation.”  

 

===

 

It was when Baek Hyun walked out to the lift, on his way to catch the last bus, that he received the call again.

 

As if on reflex, he almost ignored the call; only that he remembered the faceless stalker now had a handsome face and a name too –Chan Yeol.

 

Also, the man still owed his car a service. He wondered how the man can conjure up the courage to even call him now that Baek Hyun had already seen his face. Did the man really had a thick skin or did he actually have something else under his sleeve? Was this all actually a farce?

 

However, instead of answering the call right away, Baek Hyun had stopped in front of the elevator, surrounded by the dim light of the lobby. There were also the cigarette buds filling the tray on top of the trash can and the citrus smell of the air-freshener if he cared enough about details.

 

Baek Hyun was in a daze, it was as if the vibrating phone on his palm was hypnotising him, light blinked on and off at each of the vibration and he had stood straight.

 

The call turned into a missed call.

 

And then there was a text message.

 

From: -Unknown number-

Time: 11:32 PM

Text: Need to discuss about the car.

 

Baek Hyun did something he didn’t thought he ever would. He sent Chan Yeol his location through the GPS app from his phone.

 

God, Jong Dae would kill him if he knew what Baek Hyun just did.

 

===

 

It took about twenty minutes for Chan Yeol to get there and Baek Hyun was amazed to see that the Evogue was already fixed, shining like a new sweet ride and a little part of him felt the twinge of jealousy spark into life.

 

Now, why can’t he have the luxury of time for all that?

 

(And funds too.)

 

See, what did he say about life? Hard work can never be enough –luck was one of the most influential s in life, shaping a person’s future into either dirt or diamond.

 

Baek Hyun didn’t want to think.

 

He knew it was no diamond when it came to him.

 

Baek Hyun was sitting at the bus stand when Chan Yeol reached his office building, slowing down to a total stop in front of him and he had rolled the side window down.

 

He didn’t say anything, but only waved pathetically with a grimace that can also be passed as a wary smile.

 

Baek Hyun had climbed into his car rather silently, backpack and all in, nodding to the stranger before slouching into the chair as he pulled the door shut.

 

Chan Yeol didn’t move, his gear was still on P and Baek Hyun was drowsy from the sudden comfort of air freshener and A/C and leather chair. A long day can do that to a man and it was only Tuesday. Baek Hyun wondered if he would live through his thirties.

 

Chan Yeol’s songs were playing softly in the background; he heard Jong Dae played this track few times, Busy Line by G-swing or something.     

 

He once had offended Jong Dae when he told him that his choice of music was like that of a little girl. His best friend hadn’t taken to that nicely, nagging and whining about how insensitive Baek Hyun was and saying something about how he will die alone because no man or woman would even want to breathe in the same air as he did, especially at his foul attitude towards life.

 

There was a shuffling sound, fabric and weight against leather chair and he looked up to see the man, the stranger, the stalker –Chan Yeol, whom had turned his upper body so that he was facing the tax agent.

 

“So,” Chan Yeol had started and Baek Hyun thought the whole thing was just awkward as . He didn’t like things to be awkward, he can never deal with awkward well, hence, his detachment with everything else in general.

 

“Are you free after this?” Baek Hyun decided to break the awkward ice by asking it simply. His lithe fingers starting to pull at his tie to rid the tension and tightness and he didn’t need to look up to know that Chan Yeol’s attention was solely on him now, eyes wide and probably baffled at the question because hell, even Baek Hyun was surprised himself.

 

Chan Yeol hesitated before he answered.

 

“Um, yeah I think?”

 

Baek Hyun nodded and noted that it was already 11.55pm, and the last bus was supposed to arrive fifteen minutes ago. But it didn’t, and it got Baek Hyun into thinking that if Chan Yeol hadn’t called him earlier, will he just wait until the next day? Because now he knew that he’d probably missed the last bus.

 

He wondered if Chan Yeol was a sort of a good luck.

 

“There’s a bar near my place.” Baek Hyun told him with a shrug.

 

Chan Yeol’s grin had been small.

 

“Could use a couple of beers at the moment.”  

 

===

 

a/n: OMG I am sooooooooo sorry for the late update! I know I’ve promised to upload a new chapter some 5 days after the first chapter, but I was soooo busy these past few days (Eid celebration). Plus, my PC finally broke down today (it did few times before, but it wasn’t this bad). Life about to me over eugh...

 

But anyways, new chapter will be up in a few days. I’ve saved them in my email so no worries about that, but man. I just finished my chapter 8 and halfway through chapter 9 and I didn’t even get to back them up in my flash.

 

Thanks to dancingducks for fixing this chapter up and to my lovelies, please don’t be shy to drop me a comment or two! This will mean a lot to me~!

 

-bluecoins