If Baekhyun were to be a colour it would be orange. He’s loud and bold, easily noticeable and always glowing. It isn’t a surprise that his favourite colour is orange as well, usually seen wearing his neon orange beanie more often than not. Of course, there are people like Sehun Oh that likes every other colour on the rainbow as long as it’s not orange.

“You’re a vile human being, that will burn in the deepest pits of hell. Oh yeah. With fiery ORANGE flames,” Baekhyun bites out as his best friend makes another snide comment about his favourite colour.

Sehun just gives him a turd eating grin, not even an ounce of remorse shown on his face.

Baekhyun likes orange because it has no meaning. People like things because of sentiment and meaning but not Baekhyun. Orange is not red. Tattoos will never be orange, unlike red. When someone looses their soul mate to the grip of death, the colour of their tattoos become a bright red, glaring at the world in all of its fury. Orange is not gold or blue. When someone’s soul mate gets sick, their tattoos turns a sickly pale blue as they watch from the sidelines, unable to do anything. The tattoos of the person that is sick become a golden colour, like all the life they have left in them has transferred into their tattoos.

--

On Sundays, the store is closed and Baekhyun usually goes to Sehun’s place, a mere 10 minute walk from where he lives. Sehun rents out the basement in a large, old brick house that stands taller than it is wide. His landlord is a man named Jongdae whom Sehun is extremely close with. Jongdae’s parents died at a time so early that he could not remember in a terrible car crash. His grandmother raised him until he was 18, eager to live on his own. His parents left him a hefty sum of money which he used to buy himself a home downtown close to his work place. Now he lives there with Sehun and it’s become a social gathering place. This particular Sunday Jongdae’s co-worker Zitao and his roommate Luhan also are gathered at Jongdae’s house.

“Damn it I ran out of coffee beans,” Jongdae says with a frown, staring at the empty can of coffee grinds.

“Where do you get your beans? If it’s close by I could go out and grab some for you. I think I need to grab an extra sweater from my place anyways. I didn’t realize that it was going to be so cold,” Baekhyun says, standing up from his place on the carpet.

“Could you actually do that?” Jongdae asks, his face lighting up as he grins.

“Yeah of course! Where do you get them?”

“I get them from Rooster, the coffee shop beside your art store. Thanks a bunch Baek!”

“No problem!”

Baekhyun puts on his orange beanie before heading out into the crisp autumn air.  He first stops by his place to grab his sweater and then goes out again, walking the familiar path to Rooster.

When he walks inside, he expects to see Minseok but instead there is a boy who looks younger than Baekhyun by maybe one or two years. His hairstyle is very plain, evidently grown out from a previous haircut and falling into his eyes. His lips are plush and thick, prettily shaped like a heart.

“Welcome to Roosters!” he says with a small nervous smile.

“Huh, you’re new here,” Baekhyun comments without a thought.

“I’m Baekhyun! Nice to meet you…” he squints at the boy’s nametag, “Kyungsoo. I actually own the art supply store beside Rooster. Anyways! I need to be quick with this, my friend is waiting for me. May I have a bag of your coffee grinds?”

Kyungsoo nods, as he opens his mouth to say something but he decides against it. He accepts Baekhyun’s payment with another smile before going to grab the grinds. He hands the bag over to Baekhyun with a “See you again soon Baekhyun-ssi!” Baekhyun echoes his statement as he takes the bag from him and walks out of the shop.

--

Business is a little slow because of the steady downpour of rain outside.

Baekhyun doesn't like rainy days. They make everything soppy and dull, colours muted out by all the gray. Days like this are the days where Baekhyun wants to stay home and read, possible with a nice steaming cup of Earl Grey Tea with two, maybe three teaspoons of sugar mixed into it.

Books are an ideal source of colour. Colourful imagery, colourful language, colourful symbolism, colourful descriptions, Baekhyun loves it all, soaking it in word by word. Sehun teases him because he finds the most peculiar, insignificant part in the novel fascinating. Baekhyun has multiple quotations from various novels handwritten on sticky notes that he sticks on the wall in front of his old wooden desk. Every time Sehun goes over to Baekhyun’s place, he’ll find a new one on a different coloured sticky note and read it aloud with amusement. “She gulped down water, sweat running down her face like rivers.” Sehun has to pause before he can formulate an idea as to why Baekhyun finds this quotation impactful. He eventually just gives up. “Meaningful,” Sehun comments as he moves to Baekhyun’s small kitchen, rummaging through what little groceries Baekhyun had in there.

“Meh I don’t really expect you to understand. Not like your brain has the capacity to anyways,” Baekhyun shrugs, shrieking as Sehun tackles him onto the couch, giving him the worst nuggie of his life.

Now, as Baekhyun stares out of the condensation-covered window, he cannot stop thinking about his new book waiting patiently for him to go home and read it.

Just the, the door opens, a sudden gust of wind entering the shop before the door closes. Baekhyun shivers, momentarily not paying attention to their new customer in favor of wrapping his arms around himself to warm up a little.

When he does look up, he sees a handsome young man pulling off his jacket hood, dark hair textured and tousled in a stylish way. He’s wearing a simple black and white windbreaker, ped to show off a black crewneck sweater with an intricate design on the front in white. His equally black jeans are ripped from mid thigh to his knees showing off toned thighs. A paint spattered handkerchief dangles from his back pocket, damp from the rain. He notices the coat rack beside the door and the “Leave your jackets here please :)” sign, hanging up his wet windbreaker without hesitation.

“Welcome!” Sehun calls out, his voice becoming more clear as he comes out of the storage room, closing the door behind him. The man smiles, his eyes forming perfect crescents and his teeth a nice pearly white.

“It seems pretty bad out there huh?” Baekhyun comments, nodding his head in the general direction of the window.

“Yeah, nobody’s really outside right now. I kind of plowed through my stash of pencils really quickly and I need a few more packs for this project. I usually go all the way to Yonge and Dundas for supplies but my partner actually recommended this place to me. You might know him, he comes here very often. Taehyung?”

“Oh yeah, Taehyung’s a regular here. He’s mentioned that he’s in interior design.”

“That’s him! I’m actually interior designing for the apartment building I live in. There’s been a surge in demands for customized interior designs all along Queen Street in houses and apartments. More people are moving in because it’s such a central part of the city.”

“Mm that’s exactly why we decided to set up shop here too. We’re glad you made the switch to our store though! Truthfully, our canvases are a better quality than the shop at Yonge and Dundas,” Baekhyun says with a wink. The young man laughs.

“I’m Baekhyun and this is my co-worker Sehun.” He grabs Sehun’s arm and moves it side to side to make him wave. He succeeds for a good two seconds before Sehun scowls at him and pulls his arm back.

“Jongin! It’s a pleasure to meet you guys. This store is also really close to my apartment, it’s a shame that I haven’t discovered it sooner.”

“Well we always knew Taehyung was one of our favourites,” Sehun says as he makes his way around the counter. “Tell me what you need and I’ll help you find it.”

As Baekhyun watches the two walk toward the row of pencils he notes that Jongin is merely a few centimetres shorter than Sehun which is still really impressive. Sehun towers over Baekhyun meaning Jongin probably does too but together they look almost perfect.

Baekhyun can hear them chattering even when they disappear from his view. Jongin has a rather deep voice that you wouldn’t expect coming from such a pretty face but then again, Taehyung sounds like he chain smokes and he has the prettiest face of all. Never judge a book by its cover.

When the two return, they’re both laughing, Jongin stifling his laughs in the palm of his hand while Sehun out right laughs with his mouth wide open.

“I’ll ring you up,” Baekhyun says, motioning for Jongin to hand his packs of pencils over.

Jongin reaches behind to back pocket that the handkerchief is not occupying and takes out a worn wallet. Out of habit he pushes his left sleeve up before he opens his wallet to pay.

Sehun freezes beside him, face going pale as Jongin pays, and takes the bag from Baekhyun (who graciously double bagged it to keep the rain out). He goes to the entrances and puts on his jacket. “I’ll see you guys later! This is my new favourite art store,” he says with a smile before putting his hood up and heading back out into the rain.

As the wind blows in, Sehun finally moves, a full bodied shiver seizing his body. Baekhyun looks over in concern.

“Yo are you okay?”

Sehun looks over at Baekhyun, a mix of emotions on his face.

“Hyung…Jongin has the same tattoo as me.”

a/n I'm re-posting this chapter because I made a few edits here and there. I said this chapter would be longer than Red and it is but I believe the next chapter is going to be even long :)) thanks for all the subs even though I posted this yesterday! you all rock. Subcribing, commenting and upvoted would be greatly appreciated!! see you in the next chapter!!