pairing: ChenLay
length: 3696 words

This was the day. Jongdae had been waiting for this day to come for eternity. Or at least it felt that long.

No.

Chen had been waiting for this day to come for eternity.

Today, he wasn’t Jongdae. Today, he was Chen.

With the sun warmly beaming down on his bare arms as he walked to campus, the chipper male grinned to himself. His fingers flew over the screen of his phone, quickly typing up a text message to send to his best friend.

Kim Jongdae
I’m crossing the intersection near the dining hall right now. I’ll be at the quad in five minutes.

Byun Baekhyun
Hurry up. I’m sweating buckets. There’s no shade.

Kim Jongdae
I thought there were umbrellas attached to the tables.

Byun Baekhyun
Nope. No shade whatsoever. I’m literally burning right now.

Kim Jongdae
Stop being so overdramatic. I bet you’re fine.

Byun Baekhyun
Shut up. I’m doing you a favor. I could be studying at the library right now. Where there’s AC and soft chairs.

Kim Jongdae
Okay, okay. I’ll be there in a flash.

And true to his word, Chen sped up his walking pace into a half-walk, half-run as he navigated between students who were walking in the opposite direction. After a few minutes, he spotted Baekhyun who was lounging by a white table that was topped with flyers and a tri-fold decorated with various pictures. Another boy, one who was quite short, stood behind the table and was placing papers onto several clipboards.

“Oh my god, you’re finally here.” Baekhyun hooked his right arm around Chen’s left arm and began pulling him towards their destination. “Let’s hurry up and get this over with. I have interviews to prep for.”

“Geez, okay. Give me a second to breathe.”

Baekhyun angled his body to jab his left pointer finger into Chen’s chest and said, “We’re doing this for you, remember? Now hurry up. If I don’t get any call-backs, I’m blaming you.”

“Jerk.”

Baekhyun ignored his best friend and turned to wave good-bye to the small boy standing behind the table. “Sorry for not being able to recruit with you, Kihyun! I know that Jaebum is on his way right now, so you won’t be by yourself for long!”

“No problem, Byun. You’re in charge of warm-ups this weekend!”

“I know!” With that, Baekhyun and Chen began weaving through the growing, bustling crowd of students who were all seeing what each student organization had to offer.

“Interested in community service? Join the largest student-led service organization in the world!”

“To all aspiring filmmakers and scriptwriters, join us for pre-release screenings and movie nights with fellow film enthusiasts!”

“If you’re looking for a way to bulk up in both muscle and team spirit, join the dragon boat race team! We’ve got our eyes on the gold medal and you could be a winner with us!”

Flyers were shoved in their faces, but the two best friends had experienced many involvement fairs during their time in university and they promptly ignored everyone who was selling their club to them. After all, they were on a mission. Or, rather, Chen was on a mission.

It wasn’t long until he spotted the familiar angular profile of the Chinese Student Association’s president and Chen grabbed Baekhyun’s arm, shaking it wildly as he exclaimed, “Look! There he is! Oh my god, I’m finally going to talk to him!”

“Calm down, Dae! You’re about to pull my arm off!” Baekhyun pried his arm from his overenthusiastic best friend’s vice-like grasp and crossly rubbed the area that Chen had been gripping so tightly.

“Sorry, Baek. But it’s actually going to happen! I’m going to have a conversation with Yixing!”

Baekhyun sighed, hoping that his best friend wouldn’t scare off the club president with his limitless zeal. “Just…try to act normal, okay? I know this is a big moment for you, but don’t come off as weird. I’ll do my best to introduce you as normally and casually as possible, so don’t mess this up after I’ve set you up. I’m going to fade out once the conversation between you two is initiated,” he added, holding up his hands as if there were an invisible wall in front of him.

Chen nodded and began exhaling deeply in an effort to calm his nerves. This was just like meeting any other new person at school. Except this person happened to be his long-time, highly attractive crush.

And it was almost too soon when Baekhyun pulled him towards the table and they were greeted by two friendly Chinese males.

“Hi Baekhyun!” Yixing waved and beamed brightly at his classmate.

“Hey Yixing!”

“How’s the involvement fair been so far?” Yixing asked. His eyes twinkled as he smoothly added, “Thinking about joining our club? We’d love to have you as a member. Right, Lu Han?”

The doe-eyed boy next to the club president grinned joyfully and said, “A lot of seniors graduated last spring, so we’re looking for some fresh blood to fill up our membership roster this semester.”

“Lu Han is my vice president and my right hand man. Without him, this club wouldn’t function as well as it does,” Yixing said proudly before turning to Chen and smiling at him. “You’re Baekhyun’s friend, right?”

“Yeah, he’s my best friend,” Baekhyun jumped in while pushing Chen forward. “His name is Chen.”

“Oh, are you Chinese as well?” Yixing slightly tilted his head to the left as he looked questioningly at Chen.

“No, I’m Korean, but Chen is a nickname that some of my friends use for me.”

The club president chuckled while nodding his head. “Very cute.” Chen felt his ears burn and his heartbeat began to accelerate. “So where do you live right now?”

“Baekhyun and I live in the apartment building right around the north corner of campus. The one past the giant intersection that everyone uses on the north side.”

“I live there as well!” Yixing exclaimed while clapping his hands together.

“Yeah, I’ve seen you around the building before,” Chen admitted bashfully.

Yixing’s mouth widened in an O before he smiled in embarrassment and began scratching the back of his neck. “I don’t think I’ve seen you there before. Sorry about that. I definitely would have remembered if I had, though. I’m pretty good at remembering names and faces of people I’ve met, even after one time.”

“No worries! It’s fine!” Chen answered hastily while waving both of his hands in front of him. “You’re usually on your way to class—er, I think, since you’re usually leaving the apartment when I pass by,” he said, quickly saving himself from admitting that he maybe knew a little more than he should about the Chinese student’s schedule.

Baekhyun cringed inwardly as he stood to the side, pretending to look at the tri-fold that the Chinese Student Association had set up on their assigned table. After all, it was his doing as Chen’s wingman that the infatuated male knew anything about Yixing at all.

A black-haired male with bright red headphones and a navy blue jacket over a black shirt and dark blue jeans zipped past the two best friends, who were walking up the stairs to their apartment. He had a red skateboard tucked under his right arm and a gray backpack slung around his left shoulder as he raced down, barely sparing the two males even the slightest glance.

Although it was but the briefest moment, Jongdae was able to catch a glimpse of the male’s face and he nearly choked when he registered how good-looking this mysterious fellow was.

“Oh, I recognize him,” Baekhyun commented as he continued walking up the stairs, not realizing that his best friend had paused where he stood. After walking several more steps and not hearing any response from his best friend, Baekhyun stopped to look around for Jongdae before spotting him on the lower half of the staircase and staring at him in puzzlement. “Um, Dae, are you okay?” he asked while walking back down the steps to stand with the other male, who seemed to be blankly staring off into space. “Earth to Jongdae! C’mon, stop messing around. I’m starving.”

“Baekhyun, who is he?”

“Who?”

“The guy that just passed by. The one that you said you know,” Jongdae clarified, his unfocused gaze still staring beyond his slightly taller best friend.

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow, unsure of what had gotten into his best friend all of a sudden. “Uh, his name is Zhang Yixing. We have Japanese class together. I think he’s a linguistics and business administration double major.”

Jongdae then rounded on Baekhyun, his eyes sparking as he eagerly asked, “What else? What else do you know about him?”

“Not much,” the taller male immediately answered, throwing up his hands as if to defend himself from his best friend’s sudden hunger for information. “We’ve only talked to each other a few times as conversation partners.”

“Tell me what you’ve talked about then!” In his excitement, Jongdae began learning towards Baekhyun until the taller male was suddenly caged between his best friend and the white wall.

There was an almost crazed look in Jongdae’s eyes and Baekhyun gulped loudly, unsure of how to deal with this newfound thirsty side of his best friend. “He, uh, wants to work as a translator for a conglomerate, I think? And I remember him saying that he was an only child when we were describing our families.”

“Anything else?” Jongdae was practically drooling at this point as he fantasized Zhang Yixing wearing an impeccable, expensive suit and shaking hands with rich businessmen.

Baekhyun thought deeply for a moment, wanting to appease the shorter male as quickly as possible. Rumbling sounds could be heard and Baekhyun longingly thought about the bag of piping hot fried chicken that was currently sitting in his backpack, waiting to be consumed. “Oh!” He snapped his fingers and added, “Yixing is the president of the Chinese Student Association. I remember seeing him wear his officer polo to class one day, and his name and position were embroidered on the front.”

Jongdae immediately took out his phone to search up the club’s website and was greeted by a headshot of Zhang Yixing, who was showcasing a wide dimpled smile, above the president’s welcome message. “Oh my god, he’s perfect.”

“Uh, yeah, I guess? He’s smart. I think he’s the top of our class right now.” Baekhyun’s stomach growled again, so he reached over to tug his best friend’s arm. “C’mon, Dae. I’m really hungry. Let’s talk about this while we’re eating lunch, okay?”

“Fine. But you’ve got to introduce me to him.”

After that, Baekhyun had been forced into devising this terrible plan of getting Chen to adopt a Chinese nickname and introducing him to Yixing at the next involvement fair. His best friend’s reasoning had been that he’d stand out amongst any other students that the president would greet that day, especially with the follow-up that they lived in the same apartment building.

And it seemed to be working right now as the two continued carrying on their conversation, although somewhat awkwardly on Chen’s part as he tried to avoid outing himself as someone who knew of Yixing quite well already.

“I’m always late to class, so I basically have tunnel vision whenever I’m boarding to campus. That’s probably why I’ve never seen you before,” Yixing explained while laughing slightly. “And when I’m listening to music, I’m kind of lost in my own world. My friends always get mad at me for never hearing them whenever they pass by me.”

“Yeah, of course we do,” Lu Han interjected, jokingly elbowing Yixing’s side. “We always end up looking like idiots, yelling your name and getting ignored because you’re too deaf to hear us.”

“I like listening to my music when it’s loud,” Yixing said, trying to defend himself against Lu Han’s teasing attacks. “Besides, you always want to talk about the dumbest things and I have classes to get to.”

“Touché.” Another student walked up to the table and Lu Han’s attention shifted over to the newcomer.

“Are you living on the second floor or the third?” the club president curiously asked Chen.

“Baekhyun and I live on the third floor. Room Thirty-Five. What about you?”

“Aw man, I live on the second.” Yixing smiled ruefully. “Room Twenty-Seven. It’s right across the hallway from the landlord’s apartment.”

But Chen wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip from his hands and he quickly offered, “Well, if you ever need anything or you have some free time, you’re welcome to come up to my apartment and hang out. Baek and I don’t party very often, but we do play video games with each other whenever we’re not studying.”

“Sounds fun! I’ll definitely keep that in mind!” Another beaming smile appeared on Yixing’s face and Chen thought his heart would jump out of his chest due to how quickly it was beating.

“Um, excuse me, could you please tell me more about the Chinese Student Association? I’m interested in joining.” A young female student had walked up to the table and was looking inquiringly at Yixing.

“Yes, of course!” The club president looked apologetically at Chen as he said, “I have to get back to work now, but it was nice meeting you! Maybe I’ll see you around the apartment building sometime soon.”

Despite his disappointment at his conversation with his wonderful crush being cut short, Chen managed to plaster on a smile and reply, “Yeah, it was nice meeting you too, Yixing!”

“Bye, Chen! Bye, Baekhyun!” Yixing happily waved to the two best friends before turning back to the girl and launching into a well-practiced spiel about the Chinese Student Association.

Chen sighed dreamily when he witnessed Yixing’s instant shift from casual and friendly to professional and knowledgeable. “He’s perfect,” he commented to Baekhyun as they walked away from the table.

“At least you didn’t make a complete fool out of yourself.”

Ignoring his best friend’s unnecessary observation, Chen asked, “When do you think I’ll see him again?”

“Dunno,” Baekhyun answered with a shrug. “But you know where he lives now.”

“But that doesn’t mean I can just barge in whenever I want to. We’re only acquaintances right now.” Chen forlornly looked down at the ground, wishing that he had asked Yixing to hang out after this successful first conversation.

“Don’t feel too bad,” Baekhyun said, slapping his best friend on the back while attempting to cheer him up. “If something happens, it’ll happen.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

“I’m always right,” Baekhyun reaffirmed with a smug smile.

“…Go away.”

--

A knock sounded on the apartment door and Jongdae lazily dragged himself out of bed, yawning loudly and rubbing his eyes. Baekhyun had probably forgotten his keys again; it wouldn’t be the first time that his best friend had locked himself out of the apartment. But when he opened the door and was greeted with a dazzling dimpled smile, Jongdae instantly regretted not changing out of his pajamas or doing his hair, which was currently a tangled mess.

“Hi! Chen, right?”

Jongdae nodded dumbly.

“It’s me, Yixing! We met at the involvement fair last week and you mentioned that if I ever had free time, I could come up to visit your place and hang out.”

“Y-yeah, I did.”

The Chinese student eyed Jongdae’s disheveled appearance while smiling in amusement and saying, “But I guess this is a bad time? You…don’t look quite ready to entertain any guests right now.”

Jongdae’s brain immediately went into overdrive as he hastily waved his hands and said, “Oh, wait, no, I’m definitely free to hang out right now! Just let me throw on some clothes and I’ll be right with you!”

“Sure! Take your time!” Yixing beamed at the flustered Korean male. “I’ll wait out here for you.”

“Wait, hold on, you can wait in the living room! Please, make yourself at home!” Jongdae wildly gestured to the inside of his apartment and stepped backwards to give Yixing some space. “Here’s the couch!” he announced as he led the Chinese male to the brown leather couch that stood on the right side of the wall, facing a small television screen and a low mahogany wood table that was covered with a bowl of snacks and several game console controllers. “Have some chocolate if you’d like! I’ll be right out!”

“Thanks, Chen!”

Jongdae sent Yixing a two-finger salute before dashing into his bedroom and swiftly shutting the door behind him. He grabbed his phone and brought it with him to the connected bathroom. He quickly squirted a pea-sized amount of toothpaste onto his toothbrush and began brushing his teeth with one hand while the other hand sent a text message to his best friend.

Kim Jongdae
He’s here!

Byun Baekhyun
Who’s here and where’s here?

Kim Jongdae
Zhang Yixing! He’s in our apartment right now!

Byun Baekhyun
Is this your way of telling me that I’m not allowed to come home? How many hours do you need? And please keep any tomfoolery that may occur out of my bedroom. My space is for my own private use.

Kim Jongdae
Oh my god, nothing like that is going to happen. This is only our second time talking to each other. But I’m freaking out right now, because I wasn’t expecting him to show up while I was half-asleep!

Byun Baekhyu
Please tell me that you didn’t open the door while you were .

Kim Jongdae
I’m taking you off of the lease. Go find somewhere else to live.

Byun Baekhyun
What? It was an honest question. Don’t lie and say that you’ve never slept before. We’ve been roommates since freshman year. I’ve seen it all.

Kim Jongdae
You’re gross. Bye. Don’t ever come back.

Byun Baekhyun
I’m never helping you again. Now stop texting me and go talk to Yixing. Don’t leave him hanging. That’s rude.

While he had been texting, Jongdae had finished brushing his teeth and combing his hair into a more tamed form. He then quickly splashed water onto his face and toweled it dry before leaving the bathroom. After tossing his phone onto his bed, he slipped out of his pajamas and threw them into the laundry basket that sat in his closet. There was no time to choose an amazing outfit, so Jongdae threw on a navy blue T-shirt and a pair of black jeans before checking his face with his phone camera one last time.

When he opened the door to leave his bedroom, he saw Yixing texting someone. Jongdae cleared his throat to make his presence known and then the Chinese student looked up while beaming. “You’re back!”

“Sorry for making you wait.”

“You were really fast!” Yixing reassured the Korean male. “Are you sure I’m not intruding? I can leave if you’ve already made plans.”

“No, no, you’re fine. Really.” Jongdae shyly smiled at his crush before asking, “So what brings you around? I, uh, didn’t expect you to take up my offer so soon.”

The Chinese male leaned back into the couch with his arms crossed behind him and his hands supporting his neck. “I was bored and I thought it’d be nice to get to know one of my neighbors. I don’t know actually know anyone else who lives in this building except for my roommate, Zitao. Do you know him?”

Jongdae shook his head before asking, “Do you have class today?”

“Not on Fridays. I heard from Baekhyun that you also don’t have class on Fridays, so that’s another reason why I wanted to stop by.”

As much as he didn’t want to, Jongdae silently thanked his best friend for being such a solid wingman and made a mental note to gift Baekhyun with ten dollars’ worth of Riot Points to spend on League of Legends.

“So what are you up to?”

Yixing’s question jolted the Korean male out of his thoughts and just as Jongdae was about to reply, his stomach growled loudly. His cheeks turned pink at once and he coughed nervously while internally screaming at his body for interrupting in such an embarrassing way.

“Have you eaten yet?”

“Not yet,” Jongdae answered sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. “I got up a few minutes before you came.”

“Oh, okay.” There was a slight pause before Yixing asked, “Do you want to get lunch then? It’s already past noon.” He pointed to the face of the black wristwatch on his left wrist that indicated that it was currently a quarter to one.

“Yeah!” the Korean male exclaimed before checking himself and saying in a calmer tone, “Yeah, that’d be great.”

“Craving anything in particular?”

“Nah, you can choose. I’m fine with anything.” After all, anything that Yixing chose was sure to be top-quality and delicious.

“Hmm, let’s see…” The Chinese student took out his phone and began searching for nearby restaurants. After several seconds, he said, “You know what? I’m feeling ramen right now. You down for some authentic Japanese ramen?”

Jongdae nodded vigorously. “I love ramen!”

“Then it’s a date!” Yixing stood up from the couch and motioned for Jongdae to follow him. “Let’s go! There’s a new place that I’ve been meaning to try out, since my Japanese professor recommended it to our class.”

But all Jongdae could think about what how the Chinese male said that this was a date. And as he absentmindedly stood up to go after his crush, he felt his heart pounding non-stop in his chest and Yixing’s dimpled, smiley expression as he animatedly talked about various Japanese restaurants in the area only further accelerated Jongdae’s speedy, erratic heartbeat.

While the Korean student was locking the door to his apartment after pocketing his wallet, Yixing grinned widely and said to Jongdae, “I’m glad you talked to me at the involvement fair. I’m excited to get to know you more.”

“Me too,” Jongdae managed to say as he returned an equally bright smile.

Going to the involvement fair had probably been the best decision that he had made thus far as a university student.

♈♈♈