"You make a beautiful focal point to this backdrop."

Kyungsoo was standing at the earth's edge, contemplating the meaning of life as he looked out over the rolling waves, when a voice interrupted his happy solitude. He didn't turn to see who'd spoken, didn't care about the speaker at all, actually, except that he'd halted Kyungsoo's train of thought, and it was now stranded and stalled between stations.

"Thank you," he replied with polite disinterest, still not turning around because talking was one thing, but initiating eye contact clearly said, "Keep hitting on me; I'm interested."

"Do you like the ocean?" Apparently Kyungsoo's brush offs weren't quite enough.

Kyungsoo remained honest as he responded, though. "I do."

"Do you swim?" The guy's questions were probably never ending, so Kyungsoo heaved a long-suffering sigh, rolled his eyes outside the stranger's range of vision, and turned around sharply.

"I do not. Now, if you'll excuse me." He took a step forward, away from the tall man before him and toward the boardwalk by the beach.

The man's face fell, and Kyungsoo suddenly realized that the other guy was probably not much older than he was himself. "Please don't go." Kyungsoo felt a light pull at his wrist as long fingers wrapped around it and kept him in place.

"Give me one reason." Kyung was sure the guy was going to say something cheesy about Kyungsoo's lips or his body, so he wasn't expecting much.

The guy grinned like Kyungsoo had just awarded him with a medal. "Make a bet with me?"

Kyungsoo's eyebrow raised at the unexpected response—this wasn't one he usually got when he afforded his suitors with an opportunity to be convincing. "Depends on the terms."

The sun caught both of their gazes as it dipped below the horizon and suddenly engulfed the coast in darkness. Almost instantly, the boardwalk's night lights flickered to life and Kyungsoo caught a small smirk at the corner of the other man's mouth. "I'm gonna stand on that corner, with my hat on the ground. If I can make more than 10 bucks in five minutes, I get three more chances."

Kyungsoo considered this briefly, wondering what the guy meant by "chances," but reveling in the fact that something exciting was happening to him at last. "Fine," he agreed stoicly, receiving a grin from the lanky giant before he added, "But you're not aloud to speak. Or sing. You know what, actually, no noises."

The man's grin only grew wider as he checked his watch, held it up to show Kyungsoo, then tapped it before making a five with his hand and bounding over to the designated corner like an excited puppy off its leash. Kyungsoo shrugged, but reluctantly followed.

He found a spot on a bench right across from where the man had established himself by laying down his hat to collect tips, and sat there, arms crossed, legs extended, and back against the chair, to see what happened next. At first, nothing did. People gave him sort of weird looks as they walked by, doubtless confused by someone who looked like a street performer but who wasn't actually, you know, performing. Suddenly, though, Kyungsoo noticed a change come over his admirer, almost as if he'd altered his personality to become a completely new person. Then, to Kyungsoo's surprise, the man beckoned a couple toward him and began to mime.

He was in beach shorts and a tank, and his face was void of any white paint and expressive eye make up, but miming was the only thing Kyungsoo could come up with that described even close to what was happening. The couple stood together and the man gestured in Kyungsoo's direction, pointing between the couple and then between himself and Kyungsoo. As he moved, more people joined, but the man kept his attention on the couple as he continued to tell what was obviously a love story.

He placed the woman facing the ocean and mimed that he was the man, walking by, seeing beauty from behind, and feeling compelled to approach by cupid's arrow to his heart. The crowd laughed at his dramatics and the couple put a few coins into his hat before walking away. Smoothly transitioning from one set of bystanders to a woman watching alone, the guy pointed to Kyungsoo again, smiling widely when he noticed the blush that crept slowly up Kyungsoo's neck from all the attention. He shook his finger and frowned at the woman, before switching over to her side with clasped hands, pouting lips and a furrowed brow. Just as quickly, he switched to frowning again, his no more aggressive this time as he shook his head vehemently. The suddenly, he was beside the one once more as he pretended to pull a bouquet from behind his back, to which his imaginary crush responded with clapped hands and an enamored smile. Finishing the routine, the man glanced into his hat and pulled out his wallet, showing it around to be empty before pointing to Kyungsok for a third time and writing 9 in the air. He bowed once to applause, and Kyungsoo watched as person after person shot him a smiling look of curiosity before dropping money into the hat.

A quick check of Kyungsoo's own watch showed that the man's five minutes were about to be up, so he arose from the bench and walked over to the man, foot tapping in poorly concealed anticipation while he waited for the total to be revealed. He wasn't the only one interested, as it turned out, and Kyungsoo was surprised by the number of bystanders who'd stuck around to see the result of their donations.

"$10.01." Kyungsoo thought he heard a whisper of numbers, but he wasn't sure until the other man let out a loud whoop and spun in a circle with his hands in the air as the audience made a quick assumption and began clapping thunderously again. "It's $10.01! Thank you for your kind contribution, ladies and gentleman! My romantic heart appreciates it!"

He turned to Kyungsoo, clearly ecstatic as he stuffed the money into his pocket. Kyungsoo just stood there, waiting for the man to say something, but he seemed content to just stare in obvious appreciation, so Kyungsoo rolled his eyes again and said, "So what exactly did you mean by three chances?"

"Chances to get to know you," the guy declared confidently, as if the answer should have been obvious.

"Alright," Kyungsoo nodded once, and folded his arms again. He looked up at the man and jerked his head toward the arcade games as he began to walk toward them himself. "Well, fair's fair, I suppose."

"I like you already!" The man grinned down at Kyungsoo from where his height had him towering at least a half foot taller.

"I had no idea," Kyungsoo remarked drily. "And chance number 1? You were saying?"

"I'd like to know your name." The man's voice was hopeful and bashful and kind of sweet when he corrected himself with, "Actually, I'd like to exchange names, if that's alright with you."

Kyungsoo shrugged, figured he had nothing to lose by telling even a total stranger just his first name, so he paused in his traverse of the boardwalk as he turned around to face the man who'd been keeping pace a half-step behind. "Kyungsoo."

"Kyungsoo." The man repeated his name in a hushed and reverent whisper before he complimented, "I like it; it suits you."

Though Kyungsoo was 300% positive the man would have said the exact same thing regardless of the name Kyungsoo gave him, Kyungsoo still flushed instantly and had to lift his hands to cool the heat as it flooded to his cheeks. "And you are?" He inquired, not just out of curiosity, but also some sense of self preservation that hoped to transfer the man's attention to anything other than Kyungsoo's flaming face.

"My name's Chanyeol!" The man's response was cheerfully hyper and Kyungsoo was surprised that it didn't grate on his nerves as he'd expected it eventually would. "It's nice to meet you, Kyungsoo. Thanks for giving me a fighting chance." Chanyeol added a genuine, eye-crinkling smile as he said this, and Kyungsoo got the strangest fluttering feeling in his stomach.

"You're welcome?" Kyungsoo didn't quite know how to respond to that, so he just tried being polite before forging ahead. "And the next chance?"

"You know what," Chanyeol leaned down a little so that Kyungsoo didn't have to try so hard at eye contact while also walking, "I'm glad you asked."

Kyungsoo chuckled and it surprised him so he quickly said, "I thought you might be."

"Are you single?" Chanyeol's tone was lilting and light as he tried to pretend that Kyungsoo's next words weren't incredibly important.

"Shouldn't you be asking if I'm even gay?" Kyungsoo was amused that Chanyeol had skipped this very important detail in his romantic pursuits, but he was caught off guard when Chanyeol just shook his head, making his ears flap a little in a way that Kyungsoo wanted to laugh at—but actually found quite cute.

"Don't need to," Chanyeol clarified. "You went to a different school if I remember correctly, but aren't you the sunbae who used to date Kris-hyung back in the day?"

Kyungsoo gasped and snapped his fingers, accidentally startling Chanyeol and causing the taller man to jump. "I knew you looked vaguely familiar!" Kyungsoo was excited about this, even though he probably could have happily done without the reminder of the poor choices of his youth.

"You're not still dating Kris-hyung," Chanyeol asked tentatively, "are you?"

Kyungsoo shook his head. "I haven't seen him since he left for college in Canada. And honestly," Kyungsoo added as a sheepish aside that was meant to be under his breath but ended up being loud enough for Chanyeol to hear anyway, "I'm sure I've really thought a lot about him since then, either."

Chanyeol didn't know how to take that. "I'm sorry to hear it?"

"Don't be." Kyungsoo was firm; if he wasn't depressed by Kris's departure, there was no reason for Chanyeol to be that on his behalf. "As you were saying earlier though, yes, I'm very single."

Chanyeol raised his hand high and Kyungsok literally had to crane his neck in order to see the tips of the taller man's fingers where they pointed far above his head into the sky. "I have a question. Could you possibly clarify what you mean by "very single"? Is this a "single and ready to mingle" or more of an "I'm a single Pringle and I'm delicious like this"?"

Kyungsoo had never heard of the second one, and he told Chanyeol this while the other blushed and admitted to mostly making it up. "As for what I meant by that," Kyungsoo grinned and tiptoed to peck Chanyeol's cheek as he entered full on flirt mode, "I suppose you'll just have to find out."

"My body is ready!" Chanyeol shouted, his voice echoing around the boardwalk as people shot the two men scandalized looks. "I mean," he clarified, "not, like, for you. I mean, it is and I'd like that, but, like, you know?"

Kyungsoo's laughter was nearly as loud as Chanyeol's outburst had been. "I do know, actually. And by the way," he teased, "I feel like that close skinship totally counts as your third chance. I guess we're done here," his eyes twinkled mischievously, "don't you think?"

"You have that to me," Chanyeol explained, "I didn't ask for it, so it doesn't count as one of my chances."

"Oh really?" Kyungsoo wasn't annoyed, just entertained by the obvious lengths Chanyeol was willing to go to get Kyungsoo to like him. "In that case, I'll just take it back."

He'd expected the taller man to protest, loudly too, but Chanyeol just shrugged before commenting nonchalantly, "To take it back, I feel like you'd have to reverse the exact motions you did in the first place. In that case, if it involves your lips on my cheek, you're welcome to do absolutely whatever you'd like."

Kyungsoo blushed hard and hit Chanyeol across the chest, but it was half-hearted and they both knew it. "Fine. But then, what's your third chance going to be? You want my number?"

"Obviously," Chanyeol admitted without any qualms. "But give me a little credit, Kyungsoo; I've got more game than that."

"Do you now?" Kyungsoo knew that by flirting like this he was playing right into Chanyeol's hands, yet he still couldn't help being intrigued. "Prove it."

"Alright," Chanyeol agreed amicably, as if he'd been waiting for this opportunity all along. "I propose a bet."

"Another one?" Kyungsoo was surprised.

"A last one," Chanyeol confirmed with a sharp nod. He pointed to the basketball arcade game to their left, and Kyungsoo wondered why the other man would choose that one when he could have had his pick of any of the others they'd just walked past. "I make every basket, you buy me dinner." Kyungsoo's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline, but Chanyeol only winked.

"And if you miss?"

"If I miss enough to lose, you've fulfilled our bargain of three chances and I let you go on good terms, hoping against hope to find you again someday." Chanyeol's voice turned overly dramatic, and when it made Kyungsoo laugh, the taller man's stature straightened proudly.

"I feel like there's a but around here somewhere." Kyungsoo was sure of it, actually.

"Only your cute one," Chanyeol commented before blushing immediately and looking away. Kyungsoo laughed again, though, so Chanyeol, though still blushing, was at least gazing enraptured at him once again. "Sorry, that was finger curling worthy. And no real but. Just the last stipulation: if I miss, but still win," he paused, and Kyungsoo finished for him. "That's when you get my number?"

"Nope," Chanyeol chuckled and it lit his face up quite attractively, in Kyungsoo's opinion. "That's when I buy you dinner."

"I guess it's all or nothing with you, then, isn't it?" Kyungsoo said this like it was a bad thing, but realistically, he was too intrigued and increasingly attracted to walk away, even if Chanyeol turned out to be incompetent enough at basketball to lose.

"You'll learn to love it, babe." This parting comment was shot over Chanyeol's shoulder as he scurried toward the arcade stall. Kyungsoo's cheeks flushed again—he knew because he could feel it—but he followed Chanyeol once more.

Kyungsoo was amazed by how quickly the next two minutes flew by. One moment Chanyeol was talking to the game coordinator, the next he'd forked over some money and was readying himself to shoot 10 hoops with the goal of making all of them, but hopefully seven, at the very least. It turned out, though, that Chanyeol was quite good, not as good as Kyungsoo's basketball captain of a Chinese-Canadian ex, but still more amazing at it than Kyungsoo would have been. Shot after shot made it in to the basket as Chanyeol timed his movements to match the music as it spilled across the glowing boardwalk from the live speakers.

Seven. Kyungsoo was counting made shots in his head as eight and nine fell in quick succession. At the tenth an last shot, though, the one that would secure Chanyeol a free date with Kyungsoo, Chanyeol put his arms down and just stood there, ball in hand, until the timer went off and the coordinator came to give Chanyeol his prize for being nearly-there, but not quite winning.

Chanyeol told Kyungsoo to close his eyes, so Kyungsoo did as instructed, still confused, waiting for a moment before turning around to a tap on his shoulder.

"For you." Kyungsoo's eyes opened to a huge plush penguin as Chanyeol danced the toy in front of his face.

"It's so cute! I love it!" And Kyungsoo really did. "I don't understand though. Why didn't you shoot that last one?"

"I would have made it." Chanyeol's response had no room for humility and Kyungsoo rolled his eyes at it. "I was shooting for your heart. Duh. But there's no way I'd make you pay when I'm the one who asked you out."

"Fair enough," Kyungsoo agreed; it was a pretty reasonable approach.

"You can just buy the next dinner?" Chanyeol looked away after he said this, but Kyungsoo felt a hand slip down his wrist to entwine their fingers tightly.

"Oh really?" Kyungsoo laughed, but hugged the penguin closer and tightened his grip on Chanyeol's hand.

Chanyeol nodded as his smile took up his own face and he leaned down to return the peck that Kyungsoo'd given him with a lingering one of his own. "Really."