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When Chanyeol had left and brushing this closely past him since he was standing close to the doors, Baekhyun started to panic. Chanyeol must have thought of him as just another fanboy gaping at his idol – but wasn’t he, really? Baekhyun knew all of his songs by heart, although he couldn’t possibly rap them as awesomely as Chanyeol did. He had bought all of his albums because he wanted nothing more than to be able to support the guy he had liked so much – and he clearly wasn’t over him yet. But Baekhyun wanted to believe he was different, at least a little bit, because he already liked him before all of the fame and attention. Chanyeol must not have seen it that way though – how high were the chances really that he even remembered Baekhyun that one time they had somewhat talked? Not so high, Baekhyun thought as he slumped against the door, waiting for his own stop.

He checked his wristwatch as he exited the station close to the museum and saw he was only barely on time. Five minutes before he had to show his face at the latest, so even the last part of his journey, he rushed with a tight feeling in his stomach. He had tossed his coffee somewhere in a trashcan because it had turned lukewarm and Baekhyun wasn’t too fond of that. He’d fetch himself a hot one to drink at his desk, he soothed himself. But really, why was Chanyeol even taking the subway? Idols didn’t really do that, did they? He shook his head slightly and told himself he was done thinking about the tall man for the day as he had quite a busy shift today.

A new collection had come in this morning and as the file manager, he was there to sort through everything and make sure all was in the right place, both on the website, inside the museum and in their personal archives. It wasn’t that much of a difficult job as it was just one that required his full attention – which was something he loved to give at that moment. However, he was about halfway through coding the first batch, about half an hour in, when suddenly his attention was wanted by the tour director – something that hadn’t happened before.

Dressed in a fancier suit than Baekhyun himself, Do Kyungsoo stood before him. He was someone Baekhyun didn’t really talk to – they worked in completely different parts of the museum after all. Kyungsoo seemed rather stern and had a look in his eyes that warned Baekhyun not to do or say anything stupid, but Baekhyun was confused.

“You know about the CEO of SM Entertainment visiting tomorrow, right?” Baekhyun frowned for a second, he knew, but–

“Yes, but tomorrow is my day off, so what does–”

“I know. I’m sorry, but I need you to stay on standby here in case something unexpected happens,” Do Kyungsoo interrupted and Baekhyun wanted to protest, but he wasn’t given the chance. “One of his idols is tagging along and it seems to have spread all over the net already, so the place might be swarming with fans – probably will be.” But still.

“Tomorrow is my only day off and I’m not in the security department nor in yours, so I’m not–”

“I’m expecting you. One more word about this and you’ll have to do it without the pay raise they have in store for you.”

“Wait, what–” Kyungsoo stepped closer to him, too close.

“I’m counting on you, Baekhyun, please. I’ll make it up to you, I promise,” he said before he left. Baekhyun was confused. This was not regular routine and when things were not regular routine, Baekhyun wasn’t comfortable.

When he sat back at his desk and resumed working, he got harshly pulled out of his concentration again, but this time, it was only because of the weird words just spoken. An idol from SM Entertainment. Chanyeol- he worked there now. But it couldn’t– it wouldn’t be Chanyeol, right?

No. Baekhyun had to calm down. If he kept being distracted like this, he wouldn’t have this done by the end of the day and that would mean that tomorrow wasn’t going to be a day off, even if he didn’t have that weird- standby thing Kyungsoo managed to pull him into. Why him anyway.

He worked hard for the rest of the day and had lunch with none other than himself in his cozy office, thinking and thinking and thinking of Chanyeol and why the hell the man would have taken the subway instead of being driven around by his managers. Why the hell did he show up at the bar he worked at and why did he smile at him? Well. Chanyeol was a nice guy, he always thought that, maybe he was just being his nice self?

Dinner was right about the same, although now he heard himself having thoughts of tonight as well – he was going to sing after all. It was a little something Minseok thought of when he discovered both Baekhyun and Jongdae liked singing. Sometimes, they sang together as well, but tonight was no such night. A small list of ballads was the program and if Baekhyun wouldn’t get paid extra for it, he would never even consider doing it because he didn’t think he was all that good. Yet, every night one of the two would sing, it was considerably more packed in the bar.

He was a bit nervous and he felt tired after finishing his daily work at the museum, but in the end, he realized he was actually looking forward to it again. Funny how your mind can play tricks on you, he thought as his thoughts drifted back to Chanyeol. Just seeing the rapper made him feel more lively – alright, maybe he just felt stressed out at the thought that, you never know, Chanyeol might also be there tonight. But that wasn’t going to be the case. It just wasn’t.

When he took the subway home, he suspiciously checked all corners of the stretched vehicle just to make sure there wasn’t yet another unsuspected appearance, but it seemed like it was safe and Baekhyun could breathe once more. He would take a quick shower when he got home, he told himself, and then all would be fine. Nobody to mess up his thoughts or change the fixed schedule of the night.

He got dressed in one of the outfits he liked to wear when he sang and stuffed his work uniform in a large bag. He calmed his breathing before he left and took his routine trip to the bathroom after which he left his apartment. Baekhyun was ready.

Greeting Jongdae, he felt the atmosphere was back to normal. His friend wasn’t gloomy today and he got wished a sincere good luck. His manager also entered the bar from his office at the back and seeing how the tables were quickly filled and Jongdae was no longer just standing behind the bar, but also taking orders, he felt the need to take a few encouraging breaths for himself.

He was accompanied by Yixing, the ever patient and reliable Chinese young man who played his guitar as guidance. Baekhyun felt relieved, all the arrangements were already made and nobody was late with anything – just the way he liked it. Baekhyun started his performance and the lights didn’t need to be dimmed – the attention was completely on him anyways and he wasn’t distracted by anything as he was in his own bubble.

He didn’t notice anyone coming in after he started, he didn’t notice the tall presence that stood rather closely to the small platform that Baekhyun was performing on. He paid no attention to the whispers as he simply didn’t hear or see them as the tall man made his way through the crowd that became more and more lively and confused. But he disappeared in Minseok’s office after he had located the smaller man and most of the spectators were focusing on Baekhyun once more.

Baekhyun who sang like it was the only thing in life he loved – and maybe it was. Baekhyun who sang like he had never done anything else and like he should have been an idol instead. Baekhyun who could make the girls cry with the words rolling off his lips with the sincerest emotions they had ever heard.

But too soon, it was already over and for the first time, Baekhyun realized he wasn’t living the life he wanted to live. He wanted to sing – for good, but he knew that with that life, a lot of insecurities also came. Insecurities that he wasn’t willing to face. He wouldn’t live the life he lived up until that point and that alone scared Baekhyun to the point he stopped thinking about it. He thanked his audience and got the most captivating applause he had ever heard before and his heart swelled. He thanked Yixing and the precious smile on the taller man’s face was really all he needed to know he enjoyed it just as much. He felt a little overwhelmed by how satisfied he felt at the moment and he might have missed another precious smile directed towards him when Chanyeol left, making his way through the, once again, excited crowd. Most people left after him – there were apparently quite some fans around and an opportunity like this one couldn’t be ignored.

But it was Baekhyun who got the smile and not them, he told himself as he changed in Minseok’s office after the other male had left. The tingling in his stomach enough to make him on edge for the rest of the evening, but it did both him and Jongdae good, it seemed. Even though he had the exact same question for Jongdae as the night before, they were able to laugh about it and all in all, they had a great shift. Baekhyun didn’t want to leave here.