“Here,” his melodic voice had said, reaching to place a pen on Chanyeol’s desk. Upon noticing the face behind the voice Chanyeol’s thoughts had gone into overdrive, sending him back days into the past to his personal humiliation at the piano bar, and the time he had spent thinking about the pianist.

He felt like his brain suddenly shut off when everything clicked together, and in response all he could manage to say weren’t words at all, but rather a strangled gurgling noise escaped his lips. He felt a blush grow up to the roots of his hair but the boy hadn’t seemed to notice anything and had returned to listening to the professor’s lecture, delicately folding his pale hands underneath his chin.

Chanyeol tried to listen to the professor as well, but he couldn’t stop himself from side-eyeing the boy next to him. He really was pretty, like a girl, even though his eyes were small his dark eyelashes shaded them in a pretty way; his skin was pale and milky. Soon, he noticed the boy peek at him from the corner of his eyes and Chanyeol was startled to notice that he had started leaning on his hand staring full faced at the boy.

”Is there something on my face?” he whispered, turning to Chanyeol in all seriousness.

”Uuuuuh, yes,” he lied. “It’s right here.” He pointed to the right side of his own cheek.

“Oh,” the boy’s face colored a little and he his thumb before rubbing hard against his cheek.

After a moment, Chanyeol said, “You got it.”

“Thanks,” said the boy, smiling shyly at him, pink marks where he had rubbed remained on his cheek.

“No problem, and thank you, for the pen,” he said twirling it between his fingers, smiling back at the boy with a cocky sort of grin. What am I doing? Am I flirting with him or something? He screamed inwardly, mortified.

“You’re very welcome,” he responded, overly polite, but Chanyeol noticed him shyly tuck a longer strand of his black hair behind his ear. It immediately fell back into place but the boy didn’t notice, it was probably just a habit.

He wanted to talk more but as soon as he opened his mouth a hand slammed down on his desk and he jumped back in his seat.

“I’ll thank you, to stop chatting during my lecture,” the professor said, standing in front of his desk. “I know exactly what kind of student you are, Park Chanyeol, and it’s bad enough that you and the other buffoon slack of in the back together,” he heard Sehun make a disgruntled noise from the back of the room, and the rest of the class giggled. “But I won’t have you corrupting my top student right in front of me.”

He opened his mouth to reply, but he side eyed the boy next to him and glanced back at the professor who was glaring, and he let his mouth shut again.

“Thank you kindly,” the professor walked back to the middle of the room and continued on.

A few moments passed and a pale beautiful hand slid a piece of paper onto his desk:

I don’t mean to pry but do you need a tutor?

He just stared at the neat handwriting for a moment before replying on a whim:

Yes, I’m really bad at economics. I assume you’re a better teacher than him?

He slid the paper back across the desk to the boy, barely glancing at him, and it was almost instantly returned:

I charge 10,000 won per hour, I hope that’s okay? Yes, I’m good :P

When can you meet?

If he really wanted to, he could study on his own. He could pass on his own if he worked hard and he knew it. Was he really going to pay just to spend time with this boy?

That’s fine…

He couldn’t believe he was going along with this.

Are you free after class today?

He heard the boy lightly in a sharp breath next to him, but he tried not to look, feigning interest in the professor who strutted lightly around the room.

Yes.

The paper said.

Let’s meet at the university café at 12:30.

My name is Byun Baekhyun, by the way.

In case something happens my phone number is XXX-XXXX-XXXX.

He passed it back.

Park Chanyeol. Nice to meet you.

He peeked from the corner of his eyes and saw Baekhyun hurriedly texting someone under his desk. Then he saw Baekhyun smile lightly at the paper now in front of him, covered in their tidy and untidy scrawl.

Chanyeol let a small grin escape his lips and turned his head quickly away. The rest of the class was uneventful.

Sehun clapped him on the shoulder as he walked out of the classroom around noon.

He laughed at Chanyeol, “What did you do to our professor? He looked like he had a stick shoved up his every time he looked at you.”

“Oh,” they walked down the hallway together. “I was talking to the guy next to me. Apparently he’s got the top grades in the class and he thought me talking to him would ‘corrupt’ him.” He said using air quotes.

“What an idiot!” he laughed again. “What do you want to get for lunch?”

“Actually, I don’t have time today,” he looked at his watch, 12:15.

“What? Skipping lunch? Do you have a date or something? How obscene!”

He elbowed Sehun in the ribs, “No, . I’m meeting that guy from class across campus. He’s going to tutor me.”

“What! Let me come too! I just as bad as you do!”

“If you’re there I’m not going to learn anything! Get your own tutor.”

“You’re such a cruel senior,” Sehun pouted. “Whatever, I’ll just call Kyungsoo and see what he’s doing.”

“He’s got class till 1.”

“! I’m hungry….Whatever, I’ll just go sit next to some girl in the cafeteria and grace her with my presence. Alone,” He added.

Chanyeol laughed, “Yeah, you do that.”

They parted at the exit of the building and when Sehun was out of sight Chanyeol began an unsightly speed-walk across the hilly campus. As soon as he had seen the name on the paper, his heart hadn’t stopped pounding. He was so eager to sit face to face and analyze the pianist. Or Baekhyun, as he now realized he was called.

As the café came within sight he slowed down and worked to calm his breathing and fix his hair. He felt like he really did have a date. He blamed it on the fact that Baekhyun was so small, and pale; pretty like a girl. His real interest, he told himself, was Baekhyun’s musical talent. It was the piano that had truly enchanted him. He wanted to know why he was so good. Why he had known the song Chanyeol requested. His challenge would be figuring all of this out without revealing and embarrassing himself by rehashing their previous encounter.

When he opened the door, the bells on the frame jingled and he was instantly greeted by the workers. He looked around for Baekhyun and at first he passed over him, but he did a double take as he realized he was sitting across the table from a girl with long dark, wavy hair.

As Chanyeol approached, he saw Baekhyun glance up at him and slide his hands back across the table from where he had been holding hers. She stood and took his face in her hands and kissed his cheek. She called a goodbye and walked past Chanyeol, eyeing him as she went.

Chanyeol raised his eyebrow, “Your girlfriend?”

“Yeah,” answered Baekhyun, a small sad smile flashed across his face but was instantly replaced with a bubbly happiness. Chanyeol was almost certain the sad smile hadn’t even happened.

“I didn’t mean to get in the way or anything. If you were meeting her you could have said so.”

“No, it really was no trouble at all. It was unplanned anyway.”

He motioned for Chanyeol to sit and looked like he was about to start in when Chanyeol heard a weird gurgling sound. He looked shocked at Baekhyun, who had frozen mid-sentence and was blushing furiously, his hand clamped to his stomach.

There was pause and then Chanyeol laughed suddenly and loudly, bringing some silence to the bustling café. Baekhyun continued to blush cutely when Chanyeol sarcastically grinned, “You aren’t hungry are you?”

He nodded shyly, holding the backs of his hands against his red cheeks.

“I’ll tell you what, I don’t have any cash today to pay you, so why don’t I buy you lunch instead?”

Baekhyun nodded, still fuming, “That’s fine,” he said weakly. “I’ll have the club sandwich, please, and thank you.”

“You got it,” he moved up to the counter to order and while the cashier fumbled with his card he glanced back over to see Baekhyun staring out the window and fanning his face with his hands. He didn’t understand how a man so cute could have a girlfriend.

He placed their order number on the table and sat back down, removing his coat.

“I know I wrote it earlier…but my name is Byun Baekhyun,” he held forward his hand. “It’s nice to formally meet you.”

“I’m Park Chanyeol. Same to you,” he grasped Baekhyun’s hand in his and marveled at how soft and small it was. These were the hands that made such beautiful music.

He dropped the hand, suddenly aware of how long he had been holding it. It hadn’t felt wrong at all but he was nervous Baekhyun would be freaked out. He hoped he hadn’t noticed the way his hand had lingered in the air.

He didn’t seem to mind, because he instantly pulled out his economics text from his messenger bag. He ate and taught at the same time.

Chanyeol felt like he didn’t recognize a thing he went over at first, but he really was a good teacher. Maybe it was the way Baekhyun spoke, the timbre of his voice, but for the first time since the class had started, economics seemed interesting. He liked the animated way he talked with his hands, it gave Chanyeol a reason to stare at them.

He found they were both leaning closely over the table as they examined Baekhyun’s notes, but the proximity wasn’t awkward. He observed Baekhyun’s dark eyelashes and he liked the way they fluttered. He marveled at the way his black hair curled at the ends, and the way his white V-neck showed his delicate collar bone when he leaned over. When he realized he hadn’t been paying attention for a couple of minutes he smacked his cheeks with the palms of his hands and leaned back in his chair.

Baekhyun was startled to say the least, and he checked his watch, “Wow, we were going for a straight hour. Usually I let my pupils take a break in the middle. Sorry, I guess I got too excited, you must be tired.”

“No, no. Do you…want to take a break and keep going?”

“You want to?” Baekhyun looked surprised.

“Well, it’s just that I think I’m just starting to get these concepts. I don’t want to lose it,” he lied. “But first, I need something to drink, do you want something?” he pushed back his chair.

”I’m starting to think you’re only going to be paying me in food,” he laughed looking up at Chanyeol.

“Is that a no, then?” he said grinning.

“No. I mean yes. Uh….I mean I want some coffee. An iced Americano.”

“You’re a cheap date,” Chanyeol said, turning to the counter. He laughed when he heard Baekhyun sputter behind him.

He returned with the drinks and saw Baekhyun was a little flushed. I wish he’d stop doing that, thought Chanyeol. He’s so feminine.

“So, Byun Baekhyun,” he began, and Baekhyun looked up from sipping his drink. “Are you an Economics major or do you just have a weird enthusiasm for produ