pairing: BaekChen
length: 3217 words
A/N: Written at the request of Namlunasoo! Hope you like it!
Part One: Just a Dream

The electronic dance music blared throughout the dimly lit building, pulsing through him and causing vibrations in the air, even though the bar had just opened for the night. A smattering of patrons were milling around the dance floor, languidly moving their bodies to the beat of the music as the strobe-lights overhead rotated in a smooth circle.

Baekhyun carefully made his way over to the bar and sat down on one of the stools at the rightmost end, tucked away from most of the action so that it was easier to observe his surroundings without being disturbed by anyone. As he leaned against the obsidian counter, a familiar voice jolted him out of his thoughts and Baekhyun turned to face the bartender, his round eyes opening even wider with disbelief.

“I honestly didn’t think you were real.”

“I—I didn’t either…” Baekhyun answered, his voice slightly breathless as his gaze raked over the figure standing behind the counter and leisurely cleaning drinking glasses.

Just like he was in Baekhyun's dream, Jongdae was a handsome man with chiseled features, curled up lips, and shining brown eyes that were locked onto Baekhyun. The younger male was dressed in a sharp black vest over a crisp white button-up shirt and black dress slacks. His shirt sleeves were neatly rolled up to his elbows, showing off his toned forearms. The taut muscles rippled under the smooth, pale skin, even when Jongdae only made the slightest of movements.

Baekhyun felt his neck begin to heat up and he had to force his eyes away from the bartender’s strong arms, realizing that he probably looked like a creep for staring so blatantly.

Jongdae smirked at the other male’s actions, but refrained from making any comments about it. All he said was, “Before we talk, would you like a drink?” He set down the glass that he was cleaning and then gestured to the wall behind him, stacked with dozens of glass bottles of various types of alcohol. “I can mix just about anything for you. You name it, I can make it.”

“Oh, uh…” Baekhyun wasn’t the biggest fan of alcohol and he really only drank the obligatory celebration shot at his friends’ birthday parties, but he wasn’t going to say no to this handsome bartender offering him a drink. Even though Jongdae probably also made mocktails, Baekhyun was feeling a bit adventurous and decided that a bit of liquor wouldn’t hurt tonight. He quickly racked his brain for a cocktail that wouldn’t get him too sloshed though—he wanted to be sober enough to enjoy this meeting with Jongdae, especially since the bartender wasn’t going to be drinking on the job—and blurted out, “I’ll have a daiquiri.” Simple, slightly sweet, and subtly sour. Although the rum would be a tad difficult to swallow, the lime juice would admittedly be enough to mask the taste for Baekhyun to ingest the drink.

“Ah, you’re more of a classic kind of guy,” Jongdae observed with a grin as he deftly grabbed a heavy bottle of El Dorado white rum from the rack behind him.

“Is—is there something wrong with that?” Baekhyun asked, beginning to feel self-conscious about his choice. His thin cheeks were heating up and he had to resist the instinctual urge to fan them with his hands.

The bartender’s grinned widened as he shook his head. “No, of course not. I just assumed you’d ask for something more…explosive, I guess, since your imagination seems to be pretty wild, if our adventures in the dreamscape were anything to go by.”

“Oh, that's fair.” Baekhyun laughed as memories of their fantastical adventures reappeared in his mind. “Nah, when it comes to alcohol, I’m pretty basic,” he admitted with a lopsided smile. “I don’t really drink that often, to be honest.”

“I’m guessing this isn’t your type of scene then?” Jongdae asked as he used his free hand to gesture around the pulsing nightclub while the other poured lime juice into the cocktail shaker.

“Nope, far from it, actually.”

“Sorry to make you come all this way,” the bartender ruefully said while adding simple syrup into the shaker. “If I’d known, I would’ve asked you to meet me somewhere else.”

“Oh, no, don’t worry!” Baekhyun hastily replied. “It’s—it’s a nice change of pace! From, y’know, my usual routine! And—”

Before he could say anything else, a tall muscular man waved for Jongdae’s attention and barked, “Oi, barman, gimme a Zombie over here! And a martini for the lady as well.”

“Yes, of course, sir, coming right up,” Jongdae smoothly answered as he shoveled in some ice cubes and capped the shaker before flipping it over in one fluid motion. He then turned back to Baekhyun, cocktail shaker in hand, before saying, “I apologize for the interruption as well. And I’ll also apologize in advance for any future interruptions. I’m the only one on duty tonight, so this will probably happen several more times.”

“It’s fine,” the older male answered, bobbing his head in understanding. At the same time, Baekhyun was trying his best to not focus too heavily on how the bartender’s muscles flexed as Jongdae expertly shook the tin container back and forth. It was hypnotic, the smaller male’s arms moving in a blur with the clacking sound of ice against metal in the background.

Within minutes, the opaque liquid flowed through the strainer into a cocktail glass and Jongdae added a thin slice of lime to the edge of the glass with a flourish before pushing it towards his guest. “Enjoy! I’m going to finish up these other orders and then you can tell me what you think of the drink.”

Baekhyun sent him a thumbs-up and then tentatively took a sip of the daiquiri while Jongdae turned away to prepare the other customers’ cocktails. To his delight, the rum flavor wasn’t as deep as other daiquiris he’d had in the past and Baekhyun found himself wanting more of the sweet-sour liquid. He eagerly took several more gulps and sighed as his mind began buzzing from the alcohol. The amount wasn’t enough to make him drunk, which he was thankful for. All it did was make him feel as though he was floating atop a wispy cloud.

Yes, this wasn’t so bad. Although the dreamscape was definitely much more fun and comfortable than Club Night Mare was, the place wasn’t unbearable. Admittedly, the loud electronic music was getting to be a bit much at times, but the bar was far enough from the dance floor so that it wasn’t completely deafening. And the alcohol further dulled the background noise, so Baekhyun really couldn’t complain all that much. Not when he had Jongdae to feast his eyes on.

Before he knew it, the bartender was back in front of him with another empty glass in hand. He dutifully began cleaning it as he asked, “How’s the drink?”

“It’s good,” Baekhyun replied with a bright smile. “How long have you been working here?”

Jongdae silently calculated the time in his head before answering, “It’ll be two years next month.”

The older male’s eyebrows rose in surprise. “Are you sure you’re younger than me?” he asked, remembering when the two had revealed their birthdays to each other while stuffing themselves with cake in the dreamscape. “I’ve barely been legal for two years.”

“Yeah, I am.” Jongdae chuckled. “My cousin, Minseok, is the manager here and he hooked me up with this job as soon as I turned twenty. The pay is decent and the hours aren’t so bad either. During the school year, since I only have morning classes, I have time to study in the afternoon and get dinner before coming here for the rest of the night. And I’m usually in bed by one, which is way earlier than when most of my friends go to sleep.”

Baekhyun slightly grimaced as he thought of his own unhealthy sleep patterns. He had pulled more all-nighters than he could count throughout the years, which he had tried to fix on multiple occasions with no success.

“I’m guessing you don’t get that much sleep?” Jongdae inferred from the other male’s forlorn expression.

“I’d say that my sleep schedule is more irregular rather than lacking. All of my classes are in the afternoon, so I usually end up staying up all night to study and do homework,” Baekhyun sheepishly answered.

“How do you have time to go to the dreamscape then?” the bartender asked curiously.

“Well, I’m still getting a few hours of sleep each night. And since time flows much faster in the dreamscape than it does in real life, I’m able to do a lot in those couple of hours, especially if I mentally speed things up.”

Jongdae looked at the older male in awe. “Wow, you have got to tell me more. This is amazing. Sleeping would have been way more fun if I’d been able to go to the dreamscape earlier.” The bartender then let out a short laugh. “Like I said last night, I’m not a lucid dreamer and it’s honestly so surreal that I’m still able to remember what we did there. I thought I’d wake up with no memories at all, but all I could think about was you from the moment I opened my eyes.”

Hearing such an admission from the attractive bartender caused Baekhyun to blush furiously and he quickly drained the rest of the daiquiri in an attempt to blame his deep red flush on the alcohol. With his inhibitions much looser now, Baekhyun was about to begin regaling Jongdae with tales of his past adventures in the dreamscape when they were suddenly interrupted by a trio of girls.

They ordered martinis, all of them unabashedly batting their thick eyelashes at Jongdae as they spoke to him. However, the bartender paid no mind to their flirtations as he politely confirmed their orders before turning back to Baekhyun and sending him an apologetic look.

The older male smiled in understanding and motioned for Jongdae to prepare the drinks. Even though it wasn’t ideal, Baekhyun knew that he was technically imposing on the bartender’s time and he wasn’t going to prevent Jongdae from doing his job. Besides, the knowledge that the younger male had been thinking about him all day was enough to warm Baekhyun’s heart and the alcohol in his system kept his mood lifted.

Baekhyun mindlessly hummed to himself, his fingertips rhythmically tapping against the countertop, as he watched Jongdae skillfully prepare the drinks. Minutes later, three perfectly made martinis set in front of the girls, the bartender returned to Baekhyun’s side of the bar. “Dang, that was fast,” the older male remarked.

Jongdae grinned. “What can I say? I’m a pro at what I do.”

“How long did it take for you to learn how to mix all of these drinks?”

“Not that long,” the bartender answered. “Minseok first taught me how to make mocktails when I was in high school, just for fun, and I practiced every now and then during school breaks. When I got hired here, I already had the technique down. It was just a matter of memorizing recipes, really, and that only took a week tops.”

Baekhyun’s mouth dropped open. “Whoa, are you serious? Weren’t there dozens of cocktails you had to learn?”

“Over a hundred,” Jongdae confirmed with a nod. “Maybe even close to two hundred, if you count mocktails and various house specials.”

“Wow… That’s like memorizing the entire periodic table and then some.” Baekhyun stared at the bartender in awe.

“Yeah, it’s actually pretty similar to chemistry, now that I think about it. You basically have to mix different reagents to create the perfect combination of flavor and texture.”

The older male groaned as painful memories of chemistry labs and exams flashed through his mind. “Oh god, I had the worse time in chemistry. Organic chemistry, especially.” He shuddered. “I don’t think I could be a bartender if it’s another version of chemistry.”

“I didn’t think chemistry was that bad,” Jongdae said with a hearty laugh. “It was way easier than physics, that’s for sure.”

“Physics was the worst,” Baekhyun immediately concurred.

Soon, they were deep in conversation about the various classes they had taken throughout college, comparing their schools’ different career fairs and joking about the various mishaps that inevitably occurred during exam season. It turned out that Jongdae’s university was about thirty minutes away from Baekhyun’s via the subway and Baekhyun knew several people from high school who were now attending the younger male’s university. So he was slightly familiar with the place, having visited a few times at the invitation of his close friend, Zhang Yixing, who was studying international business there.

As they conversed, several more club patrons came by to order drinks. Each time, Jongdae profusely apologized before temporarily leaving the other male to fulfill the requests. And each time, Baekhyun told him not to worry, that he was perfectly fine with waiting. After all, he didn’t have a monopoly on the bartender. And in any case, it never took long for Jongdae to mix the cocktails. He usually returned within minutes, especially if he only needed to prepare one drink.

Once Jongdae returned after finishing an order of two margaritas and three mojitos, he said, “By the way, my shift ends at midnight. Do you mind waiting for me until then? We can go out after that, if you’re not busy.”

“Yes, I’m down,” Baekhyun eagerly answered with his upper body learning over the counter. He then coughed sheepishly and pulled back, realizing that he was probably being too forward. The last thing that Baekhyun wanted was to scare off the bartender.

Luckily, Jongdae only laughed. “Great, I was hoping you’d agree. I know you said you don’t mind that I’m working while we talk, but I think it’ll be nicer when we’re both sitting down and our conversation isn’t being disrupted every five minutes.”

That was true. But Baekhyun actually cherished those breaks, since he was able to openly watch the bartender work his magic without feeling like he had to conceal his admiring stares.

It felt like a dream in itself as he watched the bartender masterfully pour various spirits into his trusty cocktail shaker before twirling the container with ease. Jongdae was always smiling as he mixed the drinks, pink lips saucily curled up. And the weak beams of light would reflect against the silvery metal of the cocktail shaker to spotlight those wonderfully toned forearms and that amazingly chiseled jaw line. Honestly, Jongdae looked like a statue that had been carefully carved out of marble during Ancient Grecian times. Baekhyun didn’t think he would ever get tired of watching the bartender mix drinks.

Perhaps this indulgence was bordering a bit on creepy, if he happened to be seen by an outsider, but no one was paying any attention to the smitten male in the dark nightclub. All of the lights and action were contained within the dance floor, which was on the opposite side of the building from the bar. And any other patrons who were sitting at the counter were too busy drunkenly flirting with each other, some even messily making out while their half-empty drinks sat forgotten. So Baekhyun was virtually invisible there and that meant he could ogle Jongdae as much as he wanted without any judgment.

“Do you think we’ll be able to meet up in the dreamscape again?” the bartender asked, jolting Baekhyun out of his salacious thoughts.

“I don’t see why not,” the older male answered while trying to will away the flush that was beginning to creep up his neck. “But even if we can’t, we know each other in real life now, so it’s not like we won’t ever see each other again,” he cheerfully added.

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. But I liked adventuring with you in the dreamscape.” Jongdae sighed as he began reminiscing about the previous night’s shenanigans. “I know you’ve been there a bunch of times, so it might not have been that special for you—”

On the contrary, that particular night with Jongdae had been very special for Baekhyun.

“—but it was my first time there and I’ve never had so much fun before.” Jongdae sighed again. “It’d be great if we could go there together again.” The bartender then looked up at Baekhyun, his brown eyes shining brightly with hope. “Do you want to try and figure out how it works?”

“Do you—do you think we can?”

“It doesn’t hurt to try!” Jongdae eagerly said. “There has to be a reason why our dreams were able to connect last night.”

“And how the blue ink you wrote with stayed on my arms in real life,” Baekhyun breathlessly added. The bartender’s enthusiasm was infectious and Baekhyun would be lying if he said he wasn’t excited by the prospect of experimenting with their shared connection to the dreamscape. After all, it gave him an excuse to continue seeing Jongdae and basking in the attractive younger male’s presence.

“We can start brainstorming tonight!” the bartender proposed, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

“My roommate is abroad in Singapore right now for an internship program, so we can go to my place to brainstorm.” Kyungsoo wouldn’t be back until the end of the month, so Baekhyun was taking advantage of having the apartment all to himself. “That—that is,” he lowered his gaze and kept it trained on his empty cocktail glass as a magenta pink tinge bloomed across his thin cheeks, “if you’d like to come over.” He paused for a moment before mumbling, “I… I don’t want to make you uncomfortable…”

Baekhyun’s hands, which were tightly clasped together, fidgeted over the counter as he anxiously waited for an answer. His knuckles were beginning to turn white from how tightly his fingers were pressing into the backs of his hands.

Now, he really wished he had some more alcohol, if only to chase away his mounting nervousness and bolster his wilting confidence.

Suddenly, two warm hands covered his and the older male looked up to find Jongdae staring squarely at him. “I wouldn’t mind coming over,” the bartender murmured, a soft smile gracing his chiseled face.

“R-really?”

Jongdae nodded. “I don’t know if you’re aware, Baekhyun, but you’re incredibly good-looking. And to be very honest with you, I’ve been racking my brain the entire night for a smooth way to express how cute I think you are. Ever since last night, I wanted to say something, but I wasn’t sure if you were interested or if you were just being friendly.”

“No, I’m—I’m definitely interested,” Baekhyun confessed, his heart catching in his throat and his ears veritably flaming at this point. “I… I wasn’t sure, either, if you…if you’d like me…” His heartbeat thrummed like a bass drum, effectively drowning out the electronic music that pulsed throughout the nightclub.

The bartender chuckled lightly. “Well, even though we’ve only known each other for a day, I like you very much.” Jongdae gently squeezed Baekhyun’s hands. “And I’m excited to get to know you more.”

Baekhyun grinned back at him as he maneuvered his hands so that their fingers interlaced. “So am I.”

♈♈♈