It was Saturday night, half an hour to midnight when Baekhyun pulled his leather jacket a little closer to his frame, his breath coming out in visible puffs against the chilly night air.
" everyone else~", he quietly hummed to himself while bobbing along to the sound in his headphones, "Me, myself and I've been drinking~"
Even though it was cold he wore a grin on his face as he skipped along the busy streets to turn into an alleyway where he entered an unsuspecting, almost shabby-looking club located in a basement. With every step he took down the crammed and cheaply lit stairs he could feel the bass pumping as it mixed with his anticipation and goosebumps ran down his arms.
When he opened the heavy door and the music was finally released it washed over him, swept him away, and Baekhyun sighed. This was almost better than .
Entrusting his precious leather jacket to the tiny wardrobe he stretched himself.
Time to get unrestrained.

If you were a regular in the city's clubbing scene you probably knew Baekhyun. Sure, there were many clubs in Seoul but if you had never seen him before you could be very certain that your choice in clubs is just ty.
Now why would you remember a rather shortish and feminine-looking guy like Baekhyun?
Well, that depends.
For starters he was usually out partying alone. No friends, no colleagues, no lover.
You might remember him as that loud and boisterous guy you and your clique spontaneously met. The one with the alluring appearance and easy smile, who drinks and smokes whenever he feels like it. Who just wormed himself in between you and your friends so quickly, so naturally... just to be gone at the end of the night.

But maybe, if you have the certain something, you might also remember the way he moves, the daring promiscuity that works for him like no other due to the incomparable confidence and the way he carries himself.
His hips, his fingers on your waist, a cocky grin and smoldering looks full of promises and lust.
Not even necessarily ual lust.
If you had been observing carefully you would know that it was a general desire to live and enjoy.
But that wouldn't stop you from recalling the feeling of his tongue against yours, hot fingers urgently traveling below your clothes, cramped together in a bathroom stall or even right out at the sidelines of the actual party. Not that this would have been something to deter either of you. Everything would've been so blurry and yet so strangely thrilling and intoxicating. Baekhyun was something akin to your fantasies at night - meeting someone, skipping the formalities, enjoying yourself, feeling wanted.
It was a fleeting dream albeit scorching hot to your skin.
And here as well, he was gone by the end of the night.

Baekhyun plopped himself down onto a stool at the bar.
"Tao, you're on shift! Nice to see ya man!"
The tall bartender ignored his high-five offer and rolled his eyes in annoyance while he kept re-arranging the bar.
"How do you even remember my name."
"Wellll, maybe because you're a cutie-pie?"
"Flattery won't get you free drinks."
"Will it get me something else?"
Tao wiped his hands and leaned forwards with a brilliant smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Look here, shortie. If you don't stop pissing me off I'll wushu your outta here. And if my boss asks I'll call it self-defense due to harassment, in case you forgot I'm barely even legal."
Baekhyun pouted and crossed his arms. It seemed that the bartender was especially moody today.
"Someone's not getting any, huh?"
"Careful."
"Alright, alright, geez. You're hurting me by the way, rejecting my genuine affection like that!"
Tao rolled his eyes again(years of practice spent surrounded by morons, thank you very much) and gave up.
"Alright, what do you want to order Byun Baekhyun?"
"Okay, now you're flattering me. You even know my full name you little tsundere you~"
A very hard look made him backpedal pretty fast.
"Uhm, two shots of vodka please?"
The tall bartender complied, easily placing the glass on the counter as he reached for the vodka.
"You're here quite frequently, how come?"
Baekhyun shrugged as he left one leg to dangle, as always unable to sit still while he paid for his drinks.
"Well, I like it here." he honestly answered, deciding against hitting on the young Chinese in fear of getting his arm twisted or something. Wouldn't have been the first time the young bartender did something along the line.
"Really? Didn't take you for the type."
Baekhyun shrugged once more and downed the first shot.

The tiny club was actually known to be a hangout place for Chinese people. As time went by it had accustomed itself to their patronage. Now they mostly played Mandarin music with sprinkles of Western songs in between. Even the staff was almost entirely Chinese, including the young bartender in training and his slightly older colleague Baekhyun had already met before.
"The music's sick, the atmosphere's hot. What else would I want?"
Sure, many people refrained from setting foot in a place known for foreigners. Baekhyun knew no such thing as racism. In fact it was a refreshing change from other clubs. Besides, the music was pretty neat. Not to mention that Chinese people had their own sense of fashion which was always interesting to note.
At this, Baekhyun downed the second shot. Time to forget about work.
And he hopped to the dance floor.

It took him over an hour and another two shots to find this evening's target.
Pleasantly buzzed thanks to the alcohol he had drunken previous to this club Baekhyun was just standing at the bar, drinking his latest shot of sambuca when he spotted him.
A guy about his age, his look simple but very effective, natural-looking hairstyle and the most sinful body rolls he had seen in a long, long time.
"Oh my God. Tao? Tao, who's this eyecandy, you know him??" the brunette asked slightly slurry and the Chinese guy mercilessly pushed him back by his forehead.
"Why would you think that I know everyone here? He's not even here that often."
"Aaa-HA! So you do know him!"
"I don't do small-talks with drunkards."
"I'm not drunk! I'm tipsyyy and I want to have fun, come on Taooo..."
"What do you even want from me?"
"Just tell me, do I have a chance?"
"Would it even matter what I say? Just try your luck. But don't take him lightly or he'll eat you for breakfast."
Baekhyun scrunched his eyebrows in concentration.
"For breakfast? Don't you mean like a snack or something? Breakfast time's over already and I'm tired of the bacon-joke..."
Tao only looked at him vaguely unimpressed as he picked a few empty glasses from the counter.
"Nope, I meant for breakfast. As in you'll end up as a pitiful one night stand."
"Hah!", he loudly exclaimed as he laughingly slapped his thigh, "You're so funny Tao-zi! You know I don't do one night stands. Walking home is precious alone-time!"
"Just stop annoying me and do it or leave it."
Baekhyun watched him for about a minute before he gave in to the itch and approached him, people hurrying and squeezing by in a flurry of colors.

Knowing no such thing as bashfulness he immediately began to sway his body to the music, inching closer to the handsome fellow until he grazed his side at a particular movement, causing the man to give him a surprised look.
Playing it off as a coincidence Baekhyun replied with the most innocent expression he could muster while using the situation as an incentive to dance with him. Lucky for him, the stranger didn't seem opposed to the idea. And indeed, up close his movements were even more enjoyable to watch. Baekhyun grew more and more bold and his smile got a mischievous ring to it as he purposefully followed his body rolls so their bodies would continuously brush against each other for a fleeting moment only.
All the while his eyes were transfixed on his face, observing the minuscule changes in his expression as bright eyes flitted down between their bodies and back up.

Suddenly a good-natured smile appeared on his face that should have been very out of place if not for the glint in his eyes as he placed a strong hand on the shorter one's hips and held him in place while directly grinding against him.
Pleasure shot up his spine, alerting his senses like a tiny electric shock and Baekhyun threw his head back a little as he arched into the touch, just to put on a little show and see whether he could rile up the hot guy a little more.
During this movement, however, something caught his attention from the hazy corner of his eye. He saw two figures, one obviously female with the other being male, holding the girl close to his body.
That in itself wasn't an exactly worrying sight but Baekhyun also noticed him pressing a hand over as he clutched her to himself in awkward sideways posture while his hand was somewhere beneath her shirt-

The guy winced as someone brutally stomped on his foot and instinctively tightened his grip. This didn't help him much since Baekhyun pushed against one of his shoulders with one hand and used the other to twist his wrist until he was forced to let go of the girl who wriggled herself out of his hold and took her chance to duck away. Glaring at the rather tiny guy in disbelief he growled and jumed at him with clumsy steps. Quite tipsy himself Baekhyun noticed movements at the sidelines but instead of backing away he took a quick step towards him and reached around him to throw him around his shoulder and straight to the floor, pinning him down with a foot at his neck.
A few girls nearby screamed and the mass of people parted even more, making room for Tao who entered the scene. At his side he had the assaulted girl who kept pointing at them.
"The are you doing?!"
With annoyance very evident in his face he reached out to...
"What?? WHY ME?!" Baekhyun screamed in (for once)rightful indignation as he accidentally stomped with his foot, making the guy beneath his feet cough.
"Can't you keep outta trouble at least ONCE?!" Tao seethed loudly.
Baekhyun was about to actually cause a scene -everything before was him being discreet and subtle, after all- when someone stepped in between them, softly placing a hand on either of their arms. It was the guy he had been dancing with who merely shook his head and pointed at the pitiful lump on the floor, supported by the girl's reassuring nods.
Tao didn't seem 100% persuaded and it was evident in his scowl that he would have loved to finally kick out the notorious brunette.
But the stranger leaned in to shout something in his ear over the pumping bass and the Chinese unwillingly relented, putting up the loser by his arm whom's resistance was immediately crushed by a very pointed look.
Nothing was more intimidating than an annoyed Tao.

The girl kept bowing and Baekhyun kept dismissing her. When he was drunk he acted even more impulsively so it wasn't a big deal to him. Besides, her repetitive bowing only made his head spin.
Finally she pushed a piece of paper in his hand before leaving with her friends.
Baekhyun looked down at it to find a phone number scribbled down and grinned. Sweet.
His smile was short-lived however, when the piece of paper was unceremoniously plucked out of his hands and he raised his head to look into the playful expression of the dancer who only shook his head at him and carefully put the paper into his pocket before placing his hand back on his waist.
The message was clear: You're here for me, aren't you?

With a wide grin Baekhyun slowly fell back into dancing languidly against him. He didn't want the number anyway. He never called anyone back as much as he never accompanied anyone home.
What happens at a club stays at the club. That was rule number 1.
Followed by rule number 2 - no actual with strangers.
After all Baekhyun might be tipsy and even at parties but he wasn't stupid and not all-too keen on catching himself STD's.
But this was as far as things went, he thought while throwing a seductive look at the slightly sweaty guy with the deliciously firm grip on him and wetted his lips in a not exactly subtle fashion(subtlety just wasn't his forte). There were no further rules to stop him.
And he had to admit that it had been a long time since someone pulled him in like that.
The movements were on-point, and he wouldn't even start on his looks.
It was obvious that he had at least some chance. Otherwise the guy surely would've pushed him off long ago.
Baekhyun yelped as he was suddenly turned around and broke into a low moan when the guy firmly pressed up against his back - of course it all wasn't audible over the pumping bass.

Alright, that was enough , he decided. He definitely couldn't wait anymore. So he leaned back and the guy helped him out so he could shout something into his ear.
"Wanna have some fun?"
It was difficult to sound seductive while basically screaming, but he had managed with worse handicaps.
The guy only tilted his head in question. So cute. Baekhyun had a thing for the cute ones. So he only grounded against him once more and continued.
"Don't be like this, I'll do all the work...!"
Now he looked positively puzzled and hesitant. Well, it was understandable, Baekhyun thought as he internally flipped back his non-existing long hair. After all he was by far not known for going down on people easily.
Why would he, if there were so many people willing to take that part?
With a tempting smile he turned around(not without initiating an unnecessary amount of body contact) and shot him the best faked-innocent look he had to offer.
"You think I'm too much of a softie, huh? I can assure you I'm everything but that!"
At this he let his hands wander up and down the sides of the handsome guy who was looking more and more hesitant. Internally he groaned.
Why did he drag it out so much? Time to step it up a bit - no one shall ever say Byun Baekhyun wasn't persistent. Or straight-forward. So he got on his tip-toes to let his breath fan over his ear, so close that his lips kept brushing against him while he talked.
"I can you so good you'll forget your own name."

At this his smile got a little more strained and he placed both his hands on Baekhyun's shoulder to gently but surely bring a little distance between them. Baekhyun pouted.
What was this sudden change of attitude?
The guy shot him a smile, lightly shook his head and with a small wave of his hand he turned to leave before Baekhyun could even show resistance as his hot fling for the night turned away, sliding his hands down his arms one last time before he was gone. Why? It was going so well just now and he had even offered himself - who in their right mind would decline an offer like that after flirting so openly?
And so Baekhyun was left staring after him in confusion and disbelief.
And frustration.
So much frustration.

Two hours later, Beijing.
Sighing in general relief at finally being able to rest a tall Chinese man was padding though his hotel suite, bare feet met with pleasantly plush carpet. Just when he was drying off his damp chestnut-brown hair with a towel, his phone signalized an incoming message. A peek on the screen told him that it was a very good friend texting him(in the middle of the night?).
Curiously he plopped down on his bed and picked up the phone.

Dear Zhoumi
How are you doing these days?
I hope your tour is going well. I've heard the tickets are selling very well?
I kinda miss working with you... But you probably replaced me easily, didn't you? *haha*
You know what? Today I went clubbing for once(believe it or not, I still work a lot, so there's not a lot of time!)
And really, Koreans are SO strange sometimes.
There was a pretty hot guy dancing with me - he also kinda knew martial arts and tackled down some guy which was pretty nice of him.
I mean, the guy was harassing a girl, he didn't just tackle down random people. Though he looked like he could, even though he's pretty short...
Wait, where was I...?
Anyways, we were dancing and it was all good until he asked me whether I wanna have a bun.
I was a little confused - I mean, is that a ual innuendo?
I wasn't that hungry anyway but he kept talking, saying something like he didn't feel like this, he'd go berserk. That was pretty weird already and I was kinda worried he'd tackle me down after all.
But THEN he turned to me asking me something about being too much and calling me oppa and told me he had a very sinful . How does that even make sense? I thought only women use the word oppa?
So I double-checked but I was pretty sure he's a guy.
So maybe he's into this sorta thing? I heard that's a thing for some homouals, right?
I wasn't actually sure about all this but theeen...
...he leaned in and literally said: "I can cook some food full of ketchup and maim"
Really, I'm serious. And I didn't even know the word maim(I just looked it up though and man, I'm lucky I left) but the whole ketchup stuff was freaking me out enough already so I left.
Such a pity, he was so hot.
Still, who knows what kind of weird things he was up to.
Ah, I'll never get the Korean culture.
I really look forward to seeing you, so gimme a call when you're in Seoul and willing to meet?
Let's have dinner, I found a few very good Chinese restaurants~ c:
Best wishes,
Xing

Hi guys~
This is an early update since I'm gonna be away for Germany's MOST awesome Cosplay Convention(gotta go sewing...)~
I've been itching to write chapters centered around the other characters,
so I'll sprinkle in a little chapter about party- lively Baekhyun~
If you are wondering how in the world Lay could understand such ludicrous nonsense, I have one question for you:
Did you ever read one of those fics in which people are out partying and stuff and then whisper into each others ear ily? Yeah?
Well I call it NONSENSE. xD
If you have ever actually been to a club you would know that all the music and bass are so freaking loud that you need to lean in almost intimately close to shout into another person's ear. And then they miiight hear it.
If you're able to whisper into someone's ear at a club you're most likely at the lamest club in history.
If you're not actually on a kiddie's birthday party.

The song he's humming to in the beginning is "Party By Myself" from Hollywood Undead, but the title's actually derived from their song "War Child" - they both heavily inspired this c:
If you're interested listen to it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knNyoBVEZ5c

Mini Fashion Dictionary Entry threee~:
- ByTheR -
A Korean fashion alternative streetstyle brand - Especially during the Mama era Exo wore a lot by them~

Love you all x3
Sugar-and-Salt