Baekhyun, on Chen's suggestion, had asked Tae to help them set Chanyeol up with Nara who, apparently, was Tae's best friend.

'So… my friend sort of likes your friend?' Baekhyun had tried to explain, making the girl giggle in return.

'What a coincidence! My friend likes your friend too!'

They'd burst out laughing and Baekhyun appreciated the light-hearted humor she displayed because it made things less awkward. Despite his charming personality – what? It was the truth! – he had a tendency to joke around, especially with girls. To cover his awkwardness, though he would die rather than admit it. So, it had been a relief, honestly, that she could banter lightly with him. And it had made his proposition easier.

'So… wanna help them get together?' He'd exclaimed, rubbing his hands excitedly and she'd agreed, clapping her hands.

They'd been going in wild directions – throwing an early birthday bash for someone… anyone would do, long as they were invited, and then locking the duo in the closet. He personally liked the idea of locking them in the basement and running off so Chanyeol would have to kick his way out – a perfectly realistic feat, considering the guy was a Legend – but Chen had doused their plans and suggested a particularly reasonable one. To bring them along for a double date – 'they won't feel uncomfortable that way and probably talk more if you guys are together rather than throwing them in a blind date or something.'

Tae, like him, seemed disappointed about how their perfectly good ideas were being discarded but logically, they figured, his idea was the soundest. So he'd asked her for a coffee date at the Black Pearl – he had yet to meet the new management but he was sure they'd get along famously – and she'd promised to bring Nara along.

'She's… kind of different?' Tae had explained, looking a little anxious. 'I mean… she's very intelligent.'

Baekhyun could see the problem. Chanyeol seemed to have a sort of face that belied his intelligence.

'He's pretty smart, I think he can keep up,' He'd defended his friend.

'Oh no, I didn't mean it like that,' she looked apologetic, 'I just… she's kind of socially inept. Not good at conversation other than research. That, she likes … I mean, very much and it… might get a little…'

'I think he'll be fine with anything.' Considering he'd been pining for her for months, Baekhyun thought the girl could list animal internals in French and Chanyeol would still think it was a great talk.

'Oh? Nara's really nice, just not very apt at expressing herself,' she'd told him. Baekhyun thought her worry was baseless – unless her inability led her to avoid Chanyeol, in which case it was a Very Big Deal.

Fifteen minutes into the conversation and he realized that he'd been right – it was a Very Big Deal.

Nara seemed to have sewn her lips shut and was only glancing curiously between Baekhyun and Tae as they sat facing each other and engaging in small talk. Her eyes were observant and Baekhyun could literally hear her brain churn as she made mental notes – it was like he could hear the gears shifting inside her head. The girl had an intimidating aura of a genius around her and it was… frankly scary. No wonder Chanyeol hadn't been able to talk to her. She wasn't even saying anything and he was beginning to feel like an idiot for not being smarter. Wow.  

Tae seemed to sense his thoughts because she smiled reassuringly before turning to Nara. 'So… how's your acoustics research coming along?'

Nara's face transformed, changing from mildly judging – though Baekhyun was sure it was unintentional – to happy and excited. It made her look an entirely different person, more warm and approachable.

If you understood what she was saying, that is.

'Did you know that the awareness about these sensational aspects of sound have been around, for like, centuries? There's old literature about the Power of Names – you know, the occult practitioners preach about the sanctity of our names??? Research shows that the way a name is said can actually impact how it is perceived by our body? Our heartbeat actually changes in response to sounds we listen and…'

Oookay, that was interesting. Tae hadn't been kidding about the research thing. He watched with bemused fascination as Nara launched into an entire debate about how sounds were seemed to have such influence on the body and how, according to Einstien, some sounds just had a sort of impact that defied rational explanation?

He shook his head, a smile pulling at his lips when she turned to look at him earnestly – she was actually quite cute like this – and it seemed to bring her to a halt. Her cheeks flushed crimson and she stopped, looking lost.

'Nara?' Tae prodded her gently and she glanced at Baekhyun, a request in her eyes.

'Please,' he leaned forward, patting her hand which was resting on the table, 'do tell me more. You sound like you've really thought this through – so, is this, like the rationale for your research or something?'

She gave a shy smile, 'Kind of?'

Her eyes flickered to Tae in what Baekhyun thought was pride and he wondered what that was about but before he could ask, a shadow fell over them and Chanyeol's voice, deep and resonating, reached them.

'Um… hi?'

Maybe it was because he was right in front of her but the change in Nara was so obvious, her interest in sounds suddenly made a lot more sense. He suppressed his grin because he feared he'd look too smug and smarmy but really, Chanyeol had it made if he approached this right.

…………………………

Nara tried not to let his voice affect him like it usually did because… well, because it was something she… cherished?

She blinked, a little surprised at finding that yes, it was something she did cherish, something she'd rather keep to herself. It felt… private, intimate somehow. Like, something special, between just her and Chanyeol.

No wonder she'd been less than excited about Tae fangirling over him. Hmm, and she'd been reluctant in admitting to Tae that she thought Chanyeol was cute too. Wow.

A small bubble of excitement burst inside her and she itched to whip out her social log to note this observation down. Tae had told her she'd feel something like this when she was really attracted to someone. Oh wow, she hadn't ever thought she'd be able to experience this as well, this was amazing!

It was somewhat disconcerting, realizing all of that in the space of a few moments and her face felt uncomfortably hot. Maybe she was blushing and it made her smile.

'Hi!' She replied, smiling a little too enthusiastically – her cheeks felt stretched tight but she was excited and happy. It wasn’t every day you identified you had a crush on someone. And another mental pat to herself for remembering what a crush was.

Baekhyun, the guy who'd asked Tae out, was smiling amusedly. Chanyeol looked a little dazed and she felt her smile falter. Had she said something wrong? Weren't you supposed to say 'hi' back? She thought she'd the greetings down pat and…

Tae's hand on her shoulder was comforting as it squeezed lightly. 'Hello Chanyeol.'

Chanyeol just blinked slowly, eyes still fixed on Nara and Nara smiled up at him, trying – as Tae had taught her – to appear friendly and approachable. She'd been learning these social skills for a while now, it was time to put her knowledge to test. Encouraged by her earlier success, she tried to venture a little further.

'Chanyeol…' she murmured experimentally, curious to see how much she'd learned. 'Nice to meet you.' Her eyes rose questioningly.

He blinked again before his lips widened in a smile and she felt something strange again… like a hitch in her breath. Her mind recalled something about how beauty seemed to have a strong impact sometimes. 'Breathless' was the term they used to describe it.

She was breathless because his smile was beautiful. And there was… oh, her breath hitched again. He had a dimple.

'Nice to meet you too, Nara.'

She couldn't help but close her eyes to cherish the way his deep voice seemed to resonate inside her, making her heart thud like she'd been running.

Nara… she mentally replayed his voice, her name sounding so… different, when he said it. Quality. The quality of her name was different. It was the same syllables, same consonants, same combination with vowels but the way he said those syllables, the way his voice rolled itself around them, was different, very different from the way Tae said it. Or Ken. Or any of her professors.

This was why she loved qualitative work. There was such rich information, waiting to be explored…

Struck by a sudden idea, her eyes flashed open. Why hadn't she thought of it before? Instead of going around researching sounds in general, she could just focus on his voice instead and uncover the intricacies in that.

And maybe… maybe she could even ask him to be a part of her social experiment.

Heat, unbidden and intense, shot up her spine and this time, she was sure she was blushing. Because even she, in her learning stage, knew it wasn't exactly socially acceptable to consider… jumping someone's bones, less than a minute after you'd met them.

Though she had been observing him for a while now…

Still, she thought she'd run it past Tae just be sure. The social scene was quite complex at times.

…………………………….

Chanyeol was beginning to feel a little weak in the knees because wow, she was so pretty and she was smiling excitedly and it was too adorable!

He blinked, feeling a little light-headed and her smile faltered. He didn't know why but he wanted to bring the smile back on her face. Like, now.

'Hello Chanyeol.'

He barely heard the greeting, noting instead the way her friend's hand squeezed her shoulder and how it seemed to relax Nara. She smiled up at him again and it made his heart beat faster, the uncomfortable butterflies rioting inside his stomach once again.

, he'd thought she was intimidating when she was serious – all quiet and intensely observant, with her stern hairstyle and everything – but somehow, this smiling side was simultaneously better and worse. Like, she seemed to glow when she smiled but it also made him feel like a pauper trying to get close to the queen.

'Chanyeol…'

His stomach clamped harshly at the sound of his name, her lilting voice making it sound so much more than it was. 'Nice to meet you.'

Her eyes held a question, a small measure of insecurity – as if she wasn't sure what she doing and it… was cute. Absolutely, unquestionably cute.

And he was so in over his head.

A smile spread over his lips because she was so adorable. 'Nice to meet you too, Nara.'

Her name felt great on his tongue – like it belonged there.

And apparently, he wasn't the only one who felt that way. Nara's eyes slid close and she did that thing where she went completely still, her entire being seeming to focus on something. He'd seen her do it before, sometimes when he was checking something out from the library.

'Okay!' Baekhyun suddenly stood up, the scrape of his chair against the floor loud and jarring. Nara's eyes opened slowly, a pretty blush staining her cheeks and Chanyeol wondered, not for the first time, what she was thinking about. 'Why don’t you two chat while we get something to drink?'

'Great idea!' Tae jumped up excitedly, smiling at Chanyeol. 'You don't mind keeping her company, do you?'

Nara glanced at her friend, looking a little panicked but Tae leaned down and whispered something in her ear. Nara nodded, looking mystified before turning and casting another smile at Chanyeol. It looked a little misplaced, like she wasn't sure what she was doing and it was… yes, he was head over heels already.

Crap, there went the butterflies again!

………………………………

'They're so cute, it's disgusting!' Mei poked Kai's side, leaning to the side to get a clearer view. 'OMG, they're seriously so cute!!!'

Kai laughed, trying to pry her arms off his as she shook him excitedly. 'You sound disgusted.'

'I AM disgusted,' she grinned at him, 'no one should be that cute. It's illegal.'

'What about you and Luhan?' He asked casually, leaning back to peer at the couple as well. 'They are cute, though.'

'Right? We aren't that gross.' She muttered, eyeing the blushing couple curiously. Chanyeol's ears were red like they got when he was embarrassed and the girl's face was red too but she was staring at Chanyeol with frank curiosity, leaning a little too close.

'No,' Sehun, sitting across from them, agreed. 'You're worse.'

'Am not!' She gave up her spying to throw a napkin at his face, making him roll his eyes. 'Seriously, I'm too cool for that kind of awkwardness.'

'You're always cuddling and sitting in his lap, for heaven's sake!' Tiffany retorted, catching the napkin and throwing it back at her face, 'Even Suho and Angel don't do that!'

'Jealous?' She rose her brow, making Tiffany sputter. 'I'm not stopping you from sitting in Sehun's lap.'

'UGH!' Both of them let out simultaneously, making Mei shake her head despairingly. The more Tiffany hung around Sehun, the less romantic she became. Sehun was rubbing off her in the wrong way.

'Where's your sense of romance?'

'He never had any,' a cheerful voice spoke from behind her. Mei twisted in her seat, smiling. 'Hello Baekhyun.'

'Hi,' he smiled, gesturing at the girl beside him. 'This is Tae. Tae, meet the idiots!'

Tae waved her hand, giggling at Sehun's protest that he wasn't an 'idiot', Mei's indignant voice backing him up.

'Mind if we join you?' Baekhyun ignored them both blithely, already sliding into the seat beside Kai. 'Of course you don't.'

Kai offered a sweet smile to Tae, who resisted the urge to ogle because she was on a date with Baekhyun. But really, Kai was something of a celebrity in university, with his killer dance moves and the appeal that dripped off from him. She smiled in return, reverting her eyes immediately to the guy in front of him.

The girl next to him wrapped her arm possessively around his torso, glaring up at her. 'Hi, I'm Tiffany – Sehun's girlfriend!'

Tae smiled, finding her cute as well. Sehun's poker face cracked a little as he smiled at the obvious jealousy in her voice before nodding coolly at Tae. 'Sup.'

Tae was sure she'd never met anyone who looked more bored or more done with everything in life than Sehun – and still managed to look that good. 'I'm Tae, nice to meet you all.'

'Where's Chen?' Baekhyun asked, peeking around as if the guy would suddenly appear.

'Getting the drinks,' Sehun replied as Kai politely yanked Baekhyun to make place for Tae. She smiled her thanks, perching on the seat. Tiffany eyed her a little suspiciously before her eyes landed on her ears and lit up. 'Nice earrings.'

She touched the feathery loops self-consciously, having picked them especially for her date. Just because it was fake didn't mean she couldn't look good. And wasn't she a genius? 'Thanks.'

'Where'd you get them?' She leaned forward, gesturing at Tae and Tae obliged, turning her head so she could see it clearly. 'There's this really nice shop downtown…'

Mei jumped into the conversation about how she'd seen amazing hoops she'd been dying to get and if Tae had those and as they got busy chattering, Tae felt herself relax. She was always good at making friends with people and Tiffany and Mei were no different. Tiffany's initial hostility wore off as they chattered and more people joined them.

She'd seen Raina in the dance competitions, although the girl, like Kai, was nothing like her stage persona. Tao seemed as appreciative of her fashion-sense as Tiffany, complimenting her boots before casting a not-so-subtle look at Raina, who blushed, looking away. The two were obviously trying to be cool around each other and it was obviously not working.

For a school psychologist – college counsellor – Kyra was pretty cool. Just like Professor Wu – 'You can call me Kris' – who was chill enough to hang out with his students.

'He's lucky we're keeping his reputation,' Baekhyun claimed, patting Kris's back. Kris smiled awkwardly, gazing affectionately at him and Tae tried not to croon. Cute-hot dorky guys were the best.

'They're my brothers,' he told Tae, smiling. 'My being a professor doesn't change that.'

'That's kind of awesome, actually,' she told him, enjoying how he seemed simultaneously uncomfortable and happy with the compliment. 'Thanks,' he muttered.

'Ya, stop flirting!' Chen smacked his shoulder, making him blush red as Tae laughed.

Baekhyun pretended to be hurt, gasping theatrically. 'I thought I could trust you!'

Ken, coming over with a tray full of assorted drinks, seemed curious, obviously itching to know how things were going. She surreptitiously flashed him a thumbs up and he smiled, seeming much more relaxed than before.

Chen eyed him curiously as he left before glancing at Tae. 'Friend of yours?'

She nodded, smiling, 'We used to be in the same class in UG, him and Nara as well. We're pretty close.'

'I see…' Chen grinned cheerfully, 'I wondered why he was giving us the third degree.'

'Was Chanyeol with you?' She arched a brow, guessing what had happened.

Chen nodded and Tae groaned, covering her face. 'I'm sorry, he's just overprotective about Nara.'

'Hey, it's cool. I wouldn't respect him half as much if he didn't at least try to intimidate us.' He flashed her a smile around the straw in his mouth, eyes crinkling and grinning like a Cheshire.

They hadn't noticed the giant TV screen hooked up on the farther end of the shop, on the empty wall beside the counter but Baekhyun suddenly sat up. 'Oh hey look, that's us!'

Almost everyone turned their heads curiously and sure enough, their table was showing on the screen. Mei waved excitedly, giggling and Tae followed suit. There was just something so exciting about being on the silver-screen. Tao was making pouty faces and winking flirtatiously, Baekhyun was making silly faces and Chen was trying to coax Kris into joining them.

Then, suddenly, big words flashed on the screen and the frame changed. It was pink and shaped like a heart. KISS CAM, it read.

Tae felt excitement rise inside her. Oh, Ken was the best – risking Xiumin's wrath for Nara's sake. Now, he could just switch the camera to Nara's table…

The camera zoomed in until there were only two people on the screen and instead of moving to the other table, began moving across their table. Starting from Chen and Kris, who'd finally given up on saving his dignity and raised an awkward limb to make a heart, it slowly shifted to Mei and Kai, who waved enthusiastically to Sehun and Tiffany who were polar opposites, with Sehun's bored-out-of-his-mind face and Tiffany's cute expression to Raina and Kyra, who pouted and made silly faces before shifting between Tao and Baekhyun, wavering a little before shifting and settling on Tae. And Baekhyun.

Her face on-screen mirrored the shock she felt sitting in her seat. What the hell was Ken doing? From the counter, he flashed her a winsome smile, mouthing 'Kiss, kiss' as the rest of the shop took up the chorus.

Well crap, what the hell was she supposed to do now?

.......................................

A/N

Tada! So what did you guys think? About Chanyeol and Nara? And the kiss cam scene? I deliberately didn't write anything else, just for the sake of suspense but I just wanted to write something silly. And as to why Ken did that... let's just say he wanted Tae to pay for putting his life in risk over a date - don't blame him, Xiumin is scary. Also... has anyone seen Sonny with a Chance? Because the kiss that happened - or didn't happen, I'll let you decide - on the Kiss Cam was something inspired by that show :D I used to love Sonny/Chad interactions and somehow, Baekhyun reminds me of Chad ^^ so... check out this video because its hilarious and because that's how I thought a Tae/Baek fake date would go - and yes, its fake because they're totally doing it for Chanyeol and Nara, have no interest in each other -  XD so this is what Tae had to resort to in the end haha ;) 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GN16kpqHtkA

you can also watch the entire episode to see what actually lead to that date in the first place (IT WAS THE KISS CAM!)S :) the episode is called Sonny in the Kitchen with Dinner 

Alright, I'll leave you guys now. I'm sorry that these few chapters are bit slow and dragging :/ in case you can't tell, I was really busy and losing inspiration while writing these parts... I've finally gotten my groove back (sort of) so I have figured out what I want to do with this fic, so hopefullly the latter part of this story will be much better. I'll try my best.Thanks for reading :) Bye