Byun Baekhyun was, in his opinion, a pretty gifted bull reader. It was how he survived his daily life. From being able to tell when Tao bluffs about dropping off his dry-cleaning (lazy always did it last minute), to just being able to know when lies were being spouted, Baekhyun knew he was a no-nonsense, cut-to-the-chase type of guy. How else could he have been able to see through Kris’ lies back then? A lot of people (mostly his brother, jokingly but with a hint of seriousness) called him mechanical, robotic and calculating, but Baekhyun just liked to think of himself as efficient. It helped him from being undermined – which, as a young fashion designer with little to his name but a beat-up Kia and a modest studio apartment in the Hongdae district, happened quite often. Not to mention that he was relatively average-sized with feminine features (no wonder he turned out gay, he likes to tell himself).

          Yes, Byun Baekhyun had a pretty keen eye. That was why it confused the hell out of him how none of his usual radars worked with one Park Chanyeol.

          Park Chanyeol seemed to be everything Byun Baekhyun was not. Where Baekhyun was reserved, Chanyeol was excessively friendly; spouting conversation starter after conversation starter and making the designer feel a little bit less of a wreck because talking to the tall photographer didn’t require so much work – where Baekhyun had to stay on his toes 24/7 while communicating with others, he seemed to be a lot more at ease talking to the guy in front of him who asked simple to answer questions and spoke in a kind tone that Baekhyun had sincerely missed hearing from anyone. Most of his conversations nowadays composed of business talk; cutthroat discussions whose consequences could either land him in the good graces of others or simply out on the street sans job, sans money. So Chanyeol was like a breath of fresh air; speaking to the much shorter male as if he had all the time in the world to hear the male’s answers.

          “Did you always want to be a designer?” Chanyeol tilted his head sideways at the question; both hands pressed up onto the surface of the tablecloth and blinking those big, round eyes that Baekhyun had to dispel a small laugh because the guy resembled a little puppy just then.

          “Since I was in high school.” Try as he might, Baekhyun could not stifle a small chuckle.

          “And before then?”

          “Oh, like every other kid, I wanted to be a singer…” Dismissively, Baekhyun waved his hand, smirking a little at the memory of a younger, much rounder Baekhyun, running around their family home and belting out a mixture of TVXQ, Super Junior and Disney songs (effectively driving his brother up the wall). “My parents hated it, though. They said only homos go into the entertainment industry. Tough luck for them…”

          “So fashion design was manly to them?” Chanyeol laughed, eye twitching slightly in a way that made the designer’s heart flutter just a tiny bit. “Huh, your parents are interesting people…”

          “Yeah, they sure are something…” Baekhyun muttered. “But no, they kind of had no say in the matter at that. I studied hard enough, and got into the Design school. Didn’t tell them until the acceptance letter came. They almost threatened to disown me, but when they heard I was being offered a scholarship, they bricks and leapt for joy – ended up buying a summer home in Jeju with what would have been my college fund. The vultures…”

          “So, beauty and brains, huh?” Chanyeol murmured, voice abnormally deep that made Baekhyun wonder whether the guy was trying to be alluring or if his ears were just playing tricks on him. With the amount of sleep he had (or lacked thereof), it wasn’t such a farfetched idea.

          “What about you? What made you decide to be a photographer?”

          “Oh, well, my family liked to travel a lot when I was younger – not very far, really, just around the country – and so my dad kind of developed this hobby of taking pictures. We bonded over that. And, well, my mom used to be an artist back in the day before she had my sister and I. Now she owns a restaurant,” Chanyeol shrugged, “I guess I was just born with the Eye, you know?”

          “The eye?” Baekhyun’s brows creased; the image of Chanyeol’s twitchy smile involuntarily flashed in his mind.

          “The eye for photography? Sorry, I guess it’s a photography term, I never knew,” Chanyeol grinned. “Yeah, well, my dad bought me one of those toy cameras which took really bad quality pictures – it was a Pororo camera, I think… Anyways, yeah, ever since then, I got more and more into it. Seemed like the most rational thought to turn a hobby into a career, right? We can’t all be singers, so…”

          “I think you’d be a good singer, though, you’ve got that timbre…” Baekhyun laughed.

          “Oh, God, I’m tone-deaf! But yeah, I’d probably be a y rapper, wouldn’t I?” Chanyeol winked. “I’d sing about cheese.”

          “Cheese?” Baekhyun choked on his wine; peals of laughter following as soon as he swallowed.

          “What?” Chanyeol shrugged. “Cheese is delicious. I’d totally eat you up like cheese…”

          Baekhyun choked again. Chanyeol just laughed like a madman. And Baekhyun fell a little more for him.

          Normally, mornings were Baekhyun’s mortal nemesis. He hated everything about early mornings – from the traffic, the street noise, the lack of sleep he’d had the previous night, or the fact that he always forgot to restock his cupboards with coffee and so had to leave home like a zombie… Baekhyun hated mornings.

          But when he stepped out of his home at a quarter to seven, rubbing his eye while letting out a very unattractive yawn only to stop dead in his tracks when he saw a familiar silver Audi parked outside his building with a tall, attractive photographer leaning against the side, Baekhyun thought he could start liking mornings just a little bit more…

          “Morning,” chirped a grinning Chanyeol as he approached the car, cheeks tinted red because oh God what if Chanyeol saw him yawning? “I got you some coffee, I remember you saying you don’t function before noon without caffeine…”

          “Thanks.” A breath got stuck in his throat at Chanyeol’s words. Just thinking that the guy had remembered such a small, inconsequential bit of trivia he’d half-consciously said the previous night over dinner made Baekhyun’s heart beat a thousand times faster and causing a dusting of rosy pink to coat his cheeks which had been icily pale a moment ago. “What are you doing here, though, Chanyeol?”

          “Well, I figured since we were headed to the same place anyways,” Chanyeol scratched the back of his neck, opening the door for a momentarily speechless Byun Baekhyun; running over to his side as soon as the shorter male was in his seat and starting the engine, “This would be a pretty nice opportunity to spend just a little more time with you. “ Cue heart failure. “And also, it’s environmentally friendly – carpooling. But mostly, I just wanted to see you. Couldn’t lie still when I came home last night and—oh crap, I didn’t have to tell you that, I—”

          “Chanyeol,” Baekhyun called out, chuckling at the photographer’s reddened cheeks and flustered expression. Said boy turned to face him reluctantly after a few seconds, smiling shyly. “Just drive.”

          “Right away, sir!” he chirped.

          “Baekhyun hyung!”

          Just when he thought he would be having a good morning, the sound of two very distinct voices echoed in Baekhyun’s ears, making him dread the morning all over again. Even with Chanyeol’s laughing face right beside him, Baekhyun couldn’t help but feel his mood drop completely at the sound of thundering footsteps headed his way just before two sets of arms wrapped themselves around him and he felt the air leave his lungs. “Wow, our Baek hyung smells so good…” Jongin cooed in his ear.

          “Did you miss me, hyung?” Sehun simultaneously whispered.

          If looks could kill, there would be two handsome models dropping dead onto the concrete floor of the photo studio because Baekhyun’s glare as he shoved both males aside could rival Medusa’s (or even Krystal’s) glare. He didn’t even dare look to Chanyeol beside him as he stalked away with a lame excuse towards the photographer; knowing full well that the two pests were trailing behind him even without looking back.

          “Is hyung taking us away somewhere more private?” Jongin teased, striding right alongside the fuming designer who approached a smirking Tao who stood near a rack of women’s clothes – the samples for the season’s line.

          “Leave me alone, you little s…” he muttered under his breath, taking the clipboard Tao extended out to him. The two nimwits only laughed, placing arms on his shoulders. A cold chill spread through Baekhyun’s whole body then, but instead of dwelling on it, he decided it was so much better to answer his ringing phone. Thankfully, the two had enough courtesy to leave him alone for that.

          “Come on, Jongin,” Sehun laughed, “We can bother hyung later.”

          “You’re right,” Jongin agreed, turning away. For a second, Baekhyun thought he could exhale in peace, but Jongin’s next words made him freeze. “Hey, Chanyeol hyung! Long time, no see! Haven’t seen you since Beijing!”

          “Hyung, have you found your camera lens yet?” Sehun added as they strode off to the guy setting up his equipment.

          “Baekhyun-ah!” Frowning, said male lifted his phone away from his ear at the overly excited voice of his brother on the other line; a little bit of static in the background thanks to the long distance between Seoul and Beijing where his brother still stayed.

          “What do you want, hyung?” Baekhyun sighed, “I’m kind of busy today, I have a shoot to—”

          “Baek, what were you doing in the wishing fountain that night of my wedding?” A groan left the designer’s lips at the memory of that night – the night after which his troubles had started. “I got charged an extra few thousands on my credit account thanks to your little shenannigans—”

          “What? Why would you need to pay—”

          “Lil’ bro, five of the fountain lights exploded while you were having your little dance party in that wishing fountain,” his brother laughed, “Not only that, but you trampled over a few shrubs and hedges, left a trail of water from the garden all the way to your room and all over the suite – and you smashed a champagne bottle onto the carpet, too. Baekhyun-ah, what were you thinking?”

          “Can we just not talk about that night, hyung?” Baekhyun grumbled, “I’ve been trying to block it out of my memories.”

          “Baekhyun?” A new voice interrupted the brothers’ impending bickering in the form of his new sister-in-law. “The guy who saw you… he said you took coins from the fountain. Is that true?”

          “Babe, we don’t need to—” His older brother’s words were promptly cut off.

          “Is it true? Did you take coins from the fountain?” she asked more urgently.

          “Uh, yeah, it was a really weird night, I don’t really know what I was thinking…” Baekhyun admitted.

          “Oh my, this is bad,” his sister-in-law murmured. “Listen, has anything weird happened to you these past few days? Any strangers coming to see you?”

          “Well, no, not—” Baekhyun froze for a second as four faces flashed in his mind: Jongdae, Kyungsoo, Sehun and Jongin. “Why? Is something wrong?”

          “Baekhyun-ah, I’m sure you’re going to think this is insane,” she started, “But there’s a legend that says that fountain – the one you took coins from – is sacred. Even the hotel had to build around it. You’re not supposed to take coins from it.”

          “What do you mean?”

          “They say that if you take coins from the fountain where people wish for love, you claim responsibility for their wish.”

          “Noona, you’re not making any sense…”

          “The people whose coins you took – legend says they will fall in love with you. Unconditionally. Irrevocably. Like a spell. Blind love."

          Baekhyun felt his blood run cold. Well, .

Wow, it's been 5 chapters already, I really didn't expect this story to get this long, tbh, I'm pretty much rolling with the punches...
I hope you guys liked this chaper a lot more, though because yay finally some baekyeol!

Hopefully I'll be done with the next part soon!
Till then, coment and subscribe for more!
Thanks, guys!

xx