"Chanyeol, dear, you’re already twenty three years old. Don’t you think that you should start thinking about marriage?“ Chanyeol sighs deeply, but doesn’t look up from his plate that is as full of food as it was when the waitress put it in front of him fifteen minutes ago. He has seen this conversation coming, and he isn’t surprised that his mother is bringing up the topic of marriage again even in the slightest, but it’s just so exhausting to go through this again. Is hoping for a peaceful dinner too much?  

When his mother came up with the amazing idea of having dinner with her dearest and only son yesterday, Chanyeol has already known that she will try to talk to him about her son being old enough to marry, or at least have a relationship that lasts more than a week. Chanyeol should have politely declined her offer the other day, say that he is busy with work or some other lie, and he could be spared of another meaningless conversation about his love life, but the problem is that Chanyeol loves his mother with all his heart and turning her down would only make him feel guilty afterwards, so he accepted. However, if he should be honest with himself at the moment, Chanyeol doesn’t know if feeling like a ty son wouldn’t be a better option than to listen to this crap about marriage yet again.

"Can we please not talk about it right now?“ Chanyeol asks, hoping that the desperation in his tone is clear enough to make his mother understand that he really doesn’t want to talk about it. It’s always like this – when Chanyeol thinks that his day is actually less horrible than usual, topic ‘marriage‘ finds its way into his life and brings Chanyeol his daily dose of misery along with it. He should probably start getting used to it.

"When do you want to talk about it, then?“ his mother answers with another question of her own, frown appearing on her face when she hears Chanyeol whisper a quiet ‘preferably never‘. Chanyeol sighs once more after seeing her frowning face and clenches the chopsticks in his hand tighter. The only thing he used the chopstick for up until now is picking at his food without much appetite, but putting them down would mean that there isn’t anything to distract himself with anymore.  

"Son, why won’t you listen to me? I’m just trying to talk some sense to you here. It’s time for you to find someone, make a family to call your own,“ Chanyeol just snorts at her desperate attempt to make him want to go out and find the special someone. It all sounds so ridiculous, honestly. His mother must have noticed Chanyeol’s disinterested expression because she swiftly continues with her speech.  "I’m serious, Chanyeol. You’re not a little kid anymore, you should start acting like an adult, which you’re supposed to be. The only thing you do is fool around and make a bad name for our family. Aren’t you already tired of it? Don’t you feel any need to settle down?“

Oh, no he doesn’t. Chanyeol is still young, even though he is not a teenager anymore. His mother goes on and on about how Chanyeol should start acting like an adult, but what exactly does it mean? Does being an adult mean that there is some kind of obligation to have the typical life with a wife by his side and kids running around his house without truly experiencing the world just because it’s expected of him?

Chanyeol loves his life, really. He is the only child of one of the richest and most powerful families in South Korea, and that means there are tons of opportunities for him to explore everything before settling down and living a quiet, boring life.

His childhood was amazing, since he had always got what he wanted with just a snap of his fingers.  

Puberty was also very kind to him and made him look awfully handsome, to which Chanyeol is pretty thankful because he hates how he looked when he was a kid – what he hated the most was that his cheeks were covered with baby fat, he had to wear ugly, thick glasses which looked totally stupid on him because of his bad eyesight, and his stupid big ears attracted too much attention. Now, the horrible glasses are gone thanks to the laser surgery he had a few years ago, the baby fat is almost gone and the small bits of it that are left are making him look cute – as he was told in the past – and even though his ears are still the same, he doesn’t mind them anymore.

He is plenty smart and graduated high school and university without much problem. He was even one of the top five students of the year, as was expected of him. Besides his good brains, he was very popular among his peers, and there wasn’t a party that Park Chanyeol didn’t attend or wasn’t invited to. His school life was a blur of studying, having and drinking, but Chanyeol has a lot of memories that he is very fond of too. He made plenty of friends, and some of the friendships he made are already forgotten, but some lasted thorough the years and are as strong as they were in the beginning. One of those strong bonds is his friendship with Jongdae, whose family is Park’s family business partner, so they see each other every day at work.

His social life is still awesome even after university. His friends usually get drinks together every now and then, having fun while looking around the club and trying to find a good lay for the night. These nights Chanyeol lets himself live a little after working his off for the family company, and these nights are also the reason why his mother is nagging him about finding someone instead of making it into the news with ‘Park Chanyeol is at his game again‘ kind of headlines.

Long story short, Park Chanyeol is young, rich, powerful, good-looking, smart and has a lot of friends. What is there to dislike about his life?

Oh, yeah, of course. The responsibilities of making his family name shine in a good light instead of shading it with his playing around, as his mother likes to put it.

"What will others think of us? Don’t you think that they would treat you with more respect if you had a ring on your ring finger instead of an unflattering headline in the news?“ she asks and waits for Chanyeol‘s reaction. Chanyeol doesn’t understand why she waits with so much hope in her eyes when her son’s answer will be the same as before, at least for another two years.

And on the top of that, the news his mother is talking about are celebrity news of all things, meaning that they are mostly targeting teenage girls and people who have a lot of time on their hands so they want to spend it with talking about lives of famous people. He would never thought that his mother is taking those news seriously. And honestly, Chanyeol isn't even a real celebrity to begin with, so why is he in those news?

"I’m not ready to settle down. It’s a big step, and I’m not ready to take it,“ Chanyeol says quietly, but there is a vibe of finality in his voice. He is not going to change his mind anytime soon, that should be clear. "And I haven’t met anybody whom I like yet, so there’s also that.“

„There are so many girls carrying a powerful name who would like to get to know you, it’s just that you don’t want to meet them. Love hides behind every corner, you’re just not looking,“ she smiles at Chanyeol and caresses his hand with her small and pretty one before returning to her food. Chanyeol has already lost the little bit of appetite he had before, so he just continues picking at his food.

He has told his parents about him being a biual a few years ago, when there was a photo of him kissing a boy in a dark alley that somehow leaked and found its way to an internet website. His mother was rather accepting, but his father... well, he was not. After all those years, his mother doesn’t comment on who’s Chanyeol bringing home and his father just ignores Chanyeol for a few hours when there is another photo of his son and another boy pressing their bodies together in a not-so-innocent manner, but that’s it. They are okay with him fooling around with boys because it’s just that, it’s just fooling around, but when it comes to talking about future and long lasting relationships, his mother always leaves out the option of Chanyeol finding a male partner that would accompany him through life. The only possibility for him is to find a wife and have a child that would inherit the Park family company. It doesn’t matter though, being it a woman or man, Chanyeol can’t find someone who would he like to spend his remaining years with.

Love hides behind every corner, my , Chanyeol thinks. I must be walking in circles, then.

--

Baekhyun is woken up by the annoying ringtone he set for his alarm, and he groans loudly when he hears the very first sounds of it. He tries his best to ignore it for a few seconds, throwing the warm blanket over his head in order to block out the horrible melody coming from the other side of the room, where his mobile is lying on the wooden desk beside his wardrobe. It doesn’t work and when his ears start bleeding after ten seconds, Baekhyun is standing up from his bed wrapped in his pastel-green blanket. His steps are small and clumsy, and Baekhyun refuses to give up on the warmth that the blanket is providing him with just yet, even though moving would be a much easier task without him being wrapped in it from head to toe. He stops in front of the table and glares at his mobile with hatred in his half-lidded, still sleepy eyes and bends down a little to swipe his finger across the display to stop the alarm.

Oh God, how much Baekhyun hates waking up on Wednesday mornings. It’s the hardest day of the week for him because he has a night shift at his first job in a night club and a morning shift on his second job in a restaurant. He gets around three hours of sleep, which isn’t nearly enough to make him feel rested and ready for the day.

Baekhyun looks at the time and sighs heavily. He is so tired that he could fall asleep while standing if he wanted, but Baekhyun knows that it’s not a possibility. He has to get ready and be at the restaurant he’s working at in fifty minutes, or his boss will get angry at him again for not being on time. The truth is, Baekhyun is never late, no matter how tired or sleepy he is – he is always on time. His shift starts at seven in the morning on Wednasdays, but Baekhyun has to be ten minutes early because – as his boss says – early is on time, and on time is late.

While rubbing his sleepy eyes, Baekhyun throws the blanket on bed, not bothering to make his bed. He is living alone after all, and the last thing his friends are having on mind when they visit him is if Baekhyun’s bed is made or not, so he doesn’t bother.

He walks into the small bathroom and looks at himself in the mirror, cringing a little at the sight. The dark circles under his eyes are huge because he’s been working more shifts than usual for the past days. One of his coworkers at the club is sick at the moment, and since extra money is always needed, Baekhyun agreed to take half of his coworker’s shifts and his best friend, Jongin, took the other half. It wasn’t the wisest decision because Baekhyun feels like dying from being as tired as he is, but he can’t do anything about it now.

Baekhyun turns the cold water on and splashes it on his face carefully so his hair wouldn’t get wet. When he feels more alive than before after his senses are woken up by the coldness of the water, he takes his toothbrush in his hand and puts the last bits of toothpaste on it. While brushing his teeth, he wonders what else besides toothpaste he needs to buy at the supermarket a few blocks away today. He doesn’t need to buy much food since Baekhyun usually eats at work, but he needs some snacks if he decides that he wants to eat something sweet at three in the morning when he comes back from his night shift, like today, for example. Some instant noodles would come in handy too.

When he’s done brushing his teeth, he brushes his hair, making a hair line in the middle. He notices that the light brown color is slowly washing off, if the dark brown roots are anything to go by, but it’s nothing horrible so Baekhyun decides that dyeing his hair can wait a little more.

After his hair is done to Baekhyun’s liking, he puts some make up on to cover the circles under his eyes. Although they are still visible, it’s not as bad as before, and Baekhyun can work with that.

He leaves the bathroom and walks over to his wardrobe, pulling out black skinny jeans and white button up shirt with the logo of the restaurant he works at. While putting on his clothes, Baekyhun wonders if he should have taken a morning shower or if it was alright to skip it today. He had taken a shower when he came back from the night shift at the club this morning, and that was just a few hours ago so Baekhyun should feel clean and all, but he still feels somewhat dirty and can smell bits of cigarette smoke coming from him.

There isn’t any time to dwell on it now though, and Baekhyun dismisses his thoughts when he’s finally dressed, ready to go to work. He sprays some deodorant on himself to cover the smoke stench on the way out of his small apartment, collects his wallet, keys and mobile phone, then checks the time. Before shutting the front door, he glances at the jacket that is thrown over a chair in the kitchen, uncertain if he should take it with him or not. It’s already fall, but today the weather seems nice, so he decides against it and shuts the door, locking it before he leaves.

Baekhyun was right, the weather is really nice today. It’s been quite cold outside the past days, but the Sun is shining brightly today, touching Baekhyun’s skin with warm sun rays. It’s still rather cold though, since it’s still morning, but not taking a coat with him was the right choice.  

He starts walking in the direction of the restaurant, humming an unknown melody quietly along the way, trying to figure out what’s the name of song that’s been on his mind lately, but failing. As he gets closer to the main road, there are more and more people pushing his way past him, but he is already used to it and doesn’t mind that much. However, Baekhyun’s been living in this part of Seoul for years now and he knows a lot of shortcuts which he uses on daily bases to avoid the mass of people who are trying to get to work on time, just like him.

Baekhyun turns left, using one of the many shortcuts he has found over the years, and suddenly, it’s so easier to move when there are not people all around him. He walks through the alley quickly because the smell of trash isn’t exactly appealing to him, but he can deal with it for a few seconds if it means getting rid of people on the streets for a while.

Maybe he was enjoying the space too much, or maybe he was just too tired to notice, but when he is about to step out of the alley and continue his way on the sidewalk along one of the more frequent roads, someone bumps into him. Hard.

The worst thing about it isn’t that he bumped into someone and almost ended up falling on the pavement, no. The worst thing about the situation is that the stranger that was lucky enough to bump into him was carrying a hot cup of coffee with him, and now it’s all over Baekhyun’s white button up.

", it hurts so much,“ Baekhyun shrieks and jumps away from the stranger, the hot drink burning his skin under through the shirt. The pain will be gone in a few seconds – hopefully – but Baekhyun is more concerned about his button up. He can’t show up at work like that, his boss will kick his for sure. Baekyhun starts panicking immediately, not knowing what to do.

"The hell is wrong with you? Can’t you look where you’re going?“ an irritated and low voice brings him back to reality, making Baekhyun look up.

The stranger is a man, and he seems that he’s around Baekhyun‘s age. He has dark, black hair, swept to one side in comma hairstyle. His eyes – that are looking at Baekhyun rather angry – are big and brown, the shape of them making Baekhyun think of how perfect they are. He’s always been a er for pretty eyes, what can he say. The man’s lips are perfect too – pink and soft looking. His whole face is a masterpiece, if Baekhyun should be honest to himself. And ever though his ears are kind of big and funny looking, they are actually just adding to his handsomness. His face looks familiar somehow, but Baekhyun can’t figure out why.

The only thing that bothers Baekhyun about the guy in front of him is just how freaking tall he is. With his broad shoulders and height, Baekhyun feels like a child standing here.

But looks aside, what  did the stranger just said to him?

"What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you?“ Baekhyun shoots back, frowning. He takes a step toward the man, but the height difference between them seems to get even bigger when the man is closer, and Baekhyun realizes what a stupid mistake he just made. Trying to be intimidate the said man when he is almost a head shorter than him isn’t one of Baekhyun’s brightest ideas.  

"There is nothing wrong with me. It was you who bumped into me in the first place, so instead of whining, you should just apologize,“ the taller man says and glares at Baekhyun like his life depends on it, but Baekhyun isn’t scared. Maybe a little embarrassed, but not scared. And what is this even talking about? Baekhyun should apologize to him? As if.

"I’m not going to apologize for something that wasn’t my fault,“ Baekhyun is keeping his voice steady, but dear Jesus, he wants to scream at this man so much. How can someone be so damn rude? Just then he notices that the guy is holding a mobile in his right hand, instagram app opened and there is another wave of anger going through Baekhyun. "I bet you didn’t pay attention to your surroundings because you were too busy staring at you stupid iPhone.“

„Excuse me? Where do you get the courage to speak to me like that when my coffee is gone because of you?“ the man growls and pockets the mentioned iPhone, shaking with the now-empty paper cup in front of Baekhyun‘s eyes like Baekhyun wouldn’t see it even though the stranger is showing the cup right into his face.  

"Well, of course the cup is empty – if you haven’t noticed, your coffee is all over my shirt,“ Baekhyun counters, slapping the cup out of the man’s hand in frustration. The stranger’s eyes follow the cup as it goes flying and hits the wall on the right, then falls to the ground. The last bits of coffee that survived the incident before are gone too, and the only thing the guy in front of Baekhyun can do about it now is to look at the abstract art on the brick wall that Baekhyun created. He hates people who can’t throw trash into trash bins like it’s such a big task for them, but the fact that the cup is lying on the pavement beside their feet is the least of his worries right now.

"And whose fault is that, you smart ?“ the stranger locks eyes with him again and jabs his index finger into Baekhyun’s chest with a fair amount of force. It hurts a little because Baekhyun’s skin is still sensitive after being hurt by the hot drink.

"Yours!“ Baekhyun exclaims, even though there is a small voice in the back of his head telling him that the stranger isn’t the only one at fault, but he pushes the voice back just because the guy is rude as hell. „Look at my clothes, how am I supposed to go to work now?“

„Go , for all I care. You deserve it for not paying attention,“ the man smirks as he eyes Baekhyun’s body. Is he for real now? Baekhyun has a hard time believing that the guy has the nerve to be smirking at him at the moment. Baekhyun is most probably late for work because of this incident, his shirt is ruined – he is gonna get killed for that – and the er is smirking at him. God, Baekhyun wants to punch him so hard that his perfect face would fall apart. „Actually, you should be thanking higher powers that the coffee has spilled on your shirt and not on mine. I would make you pay for dry cleaning and believe me, you don’t have money for that.“

"I’m such a lucky guy,“ Baekhyun says sarcastically and rolls his eyes. So the prick in front of him is one of those rich kids that think they own the world, huh? What a waste of pretty face for a personality like this.

Baekhyun smirks when an idea pops in his head and asks, "Do you want your coffee back?“

"What do you think?“ the man narrows his eyes at Baekhyun, and Baekhyun’s smirk changes into a sweet smile. The smile is so fake that if the stranger was a little bit better in reading facial expressions, he would have known that Baekhyun is about to do something bad.  

"I should give you some, then,“ with that being said, the shorter male launches himself at the stranger, his arms locking the other in a tight hug. The man lets out a loud yelp and tries to push Baekhyun off him while he’s throwing all kinds of insults at him, but Baekhyun just holds on tighter. After a few seconds, Baekhyun lets go and pats the stranger’s chest lightly.

"Enjoy you coffee,“ Baekhyun says cheerfully as he smiles at the man, glancing at the beautiful art that he’s just made. The brown stains are perfectly visible on the guy’s light-blue button up, and Baekhyun feels so proud when he glances up from the shirt to catch the stranger’s shocked expression. The way his eyes are so wide is so funny, and Baekhyun can’t suppress a quiet laugh. "And have a nice day, .“

And with that, Baekhyun is gone. When the stranger finally collects himself and starts yelling for Baekhyun to stop, Baekhyun is already on the other side of the street. He waves at the man before turning the corner with a satisfied smile on his face. He feels like he has won that argument, and it makes him feel amazing. He almost forgets that his shirt is ruined too, and that his boss won’t be too happy about it.

Almost.

--

Chanyeol pushes the door open and shuts it close so hard that the whole ninth floor of the company building must've heard it. If he wasn’t so angry, he would probably be concerned about almost-breaking the door. However, now when he is so furious that he could kill a person with just one look, Chanyeol could care less if he breaks the stupid door or not.

Not only he had to wake up so damn early because his employee couldn’t handle one of the company’s clients and Chanyeol had to come here and handle the client himself, now his favorite button up shirt has coffee stains all over it because of some jerk. Chanyeol still can’t believe that the guy had the nerve to do what he did, especially after Chanyeol hinted that his shirt is quite expensive. On the top of that, he is already late for the meeting that has started ten minutes ago, but the client will have to wait five more extra minutes because Chanyeol can't meet him looking like that. The only option is to change.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be having a meeting right now?“ Chanyeol turns around while ing his shirt when he hears a voice from behind. He is met with a familiar face, and Chanyeol lets out a deep sigh at the sight of grinning Jongdae. His friend knows how much Chanyeol hates waking up early, and is still heartless enough to make fun of him. 

"Some idiot bumped into me on the way here, and my coffee spilled on his shirt. When he started complaining about his shirt being ruined I simply told him that it was his own fault so he should apologize. The got angry and hugged me, making my shirt dirty too, and then ran off. I swear if he wasn’t so good looking I would break his stupid face,“ Chanyeol complains while stripping off his shirt. The buttons slip through his fingers as he tries to get rid of the dirty shirt as quickly as possible, and Chanyeol let out a frustrated groan. When he's finally done ing his shirt, Chanyeol walks over to a wardrobe he has in his office and pulls out a light-grey button up, which he puts on with a speed of light. 

"He must’ve been really good-looking then,“ Jongdae chuckles and leans on the door, quietly laughing at how pissed of Chanyeol seems to be. He thinks about how gutsy the guy Chanyeol’s so angry at must've been to pull a stunt like this. But again, Jongdae knows Chanyeol too well, and it’s clear to him that the guy Chanyeol bumped into wasn’t the only one at fault. Jongdae’s known Chanyeol for quite a long time, and he can say that when something happens, his friend is at least fifty percent at fault too, so the guy probably had the right to be angry at Chanyeol.

"Yeah, he was, that er,“ Chanyeol says more to himself than to Jongdae and throws the dirty shirt on the chair, promising himself to take care of his baby later.

When Chanyeol woke up today, he had a gut feeling that this day is going to be ty, but he didn’t think that it would be so bad. And he isn’t even on the meeting yet. It's not even eight in the morning, Jesus Christ.

"Your misery actually made me happy, so thank you, but it isn’t what I came here for,“ Jongdae laughs when Chanyeol looks at him with furrowed brows and a look in his eyes that's clearly saying one more word and you're dead. "We are having a little get-together this Friday with some of my friends, and I wanted to ask if you want to tag along? Get some drinks, hopefully get laid.“

"I don’t think I should. I had another talk with my mother, and I don’t she’ll be too happy about to hear I plan to go out on Friday again,“ Chanyeol mutters grumpily as he checks the time on his watch. 7:15, meaning he's fifteen minutes late already. The client will probably think that Chanyeol doesn’t take him seriously enough to arrive on time.

"Your mother seems to take this marriage thing seriously if she keeps bringing it up like this,“ Jongdae snorts and opens the door for Chanyeol who rushes out of his office in a second, taking long strides towards the meeting room. Jongdae follows behind him, trying desperately to keep up with the giant and his long legs which is kind of difficult.

"But hey, what if you find your future fiancé in the club this Friday?“ Chanyeol shoots Jongdae a dirty look, telling him to take this seriously. The shorter just brings his hands up in surrender, calming Chanyeol with saying that he’s serious. Jongdae would actually like to tell Chanyeol a story about his friend finding a girlfriend while he was totally wasted - his friend and the girl had a one year anniversary yesterday so it wasn't just a fling, no - but he knows that the CEO doesn't have time for that now. 

"Just think about it. Love hides behind every corner,“ Jongdae smiles and pats Chanyeol’s shoulder, letting out a laugh when Chanyeol rolls his eyes so hard that Jongdae’s afraid they will fall out of his head.

Why is everybody saying that? Chanyeol thinks bitterly. It's such a bull.

"The only thing that hides behind a corner is an who spills your coffee when you need it the most,“ he mutters, making Jongdae laugh again. Chanyeol swears that Jongdae laughs a lot despite being up at this ungodly hour. Chanyeol is usually hyped up like his friend - a happy virus, people call him - but not when he has to wake up before seven in the morning. He’s always been the type to work until three in the morning because he likes the silence around him when everybody goes home, but he’s never been a fan of waking up early. His brain can’t function properly this way.    

"Look at it this way – at least you had an interesting morning,“ Jongdae receives another killer look from Chanyeol, and honestly, Chanyeol thinks that Jongdae likes teasing him way too much.

"I’ll call you,“ Chanyeol waves at Jongdae without looking at him before he opens the door and steps inside the meeting room. He takes a deep breath and greets everyone politely with a too-sweet smile on his lips, locking eyes with the angry client sitting in the middle of the big table.

Let the fun begin.

--

In the end, Chanyeol accepts Jondae’s offer to join them on Friday. His mother wasn’t exactly happy about her son going out to club to fool around again instead of searching for the love of his life, but since she has a weak spot for Jongdae, she let him go. Honestly, Chanyeol’s mother is really blind if she thinks that Jongdae is an innocent, nice guy and not a troll whose happiness mostly comes from Chanyeol’s misery. What a perfect best friend Chanyeol has.

Jongdae’s driver picks him up at nine in the evening, and when Chanyeol asks to which club they are going, Jongdae doesn’t even bother to answer him as he starts talking about how amazing his days was. Chanyeol doesn’t mind that he doesn’t know where are they going because Jongdae wouldn’t pick a ty club for sure, so he just listens to what his friend has to say about his day.

Jongdae tells him how angry he was in the morning when he had found out that the elevator wasn't working today, how tired he was after he had to walk to the eight floor, how his bad mood changed instantly the moment he saw Minseok sitting behind the reception table, how happy he was when Minseok agreed to go out with them tonight, and so on. Chanyeol is hundred percent sure that Jongdae’s got a huge crush on the petite receptionist, but his friend simply won’t admit it no matter how much Chanyeol pushes the subject. When Chanyeol calls him out of having feelings for Minseok, Jongdae always tells Chanyeol that he most definitely doesn’t have a crush, and that it’s just him being friendly. Like Chanyeol doesn't know him long enough to know how his friendly behavior is different from the way he acts around Minseok. And as for the man of Jongdae’s dreams, he is too oblivious to figure out that Jongdae likes him. Observing those two is one of not so many things Chanyeol really enjoys doing at work, since he feels like he’s watching a real-life drama when he’s around them. 

When the driver stops and tells them that they are here, Jongdae jumps out of the car the second he sees Minseok standing in front of the club with his hands buried deep inside his pockets, and Chanyeol just snorts at the his friend's enthusiasm to greet the receptionist. Yeah, totally not crushing on him, Chanyeol thinks as he’s watching the interaction between the two. Chanyeol can already hear the luod music blaring from the club as he stands outside while Jongdae and Minseok talk. A short conversation and a lot of sweet smiles later, Jongdae walks over to one of the guards and starts to talk to the tall, scary looking man, leaving Chanyeol and Minseok alone together.

Chanyeol greets Minseok with a simple hello, since the two of them aren’t exactly friends. Minseok bows slightly with a shy smile on his face. It's kind of awkward when there is nothing to talk about, but they can manage for a few seconds. When Jongdae finally calls for them, Minseok and Chanyeol walk over to Jongdae who is standing near the entrance. The guards open the door for them, greeting them with a deep bow and wishing them to have fun tonight. Chanyeol feels kind of bad for people who are waiting in the line to get inside while the three of them didn’t even have to stand outside for a minute before the guards let them in. Being from a powerful family sure has its perks.

The music gets louder and louder as they walk further into the club through a long, dim lighted hall, ignoring the couples that are making out against the walls, their shameless moans drowned in the music. At the end of the hall there is another door, and when Jongdae opens them with a smile on his face, Chanyeol sees tons of people dancing on the dance floor to an unknown song. He looks around to get a better look at the inside of the club, nodding his head slightly in approval. His eyes have yet to adjust to the flashing of multicolored neon lights and music that is blaring in his ears, but since it’s all so familiar, Chanyeol gets used to it rather quickly.

Jongdae tells them that the VIP section is on the other side of the club, and that they have to walk across the dance floor to get here. Chanyeol just nods as his eyes are scanning the faces of people around him, looking for a face that stands out in the crowd, a face that would take his breath away, but he hasn’t found anyone like that yet even though there are hundreds of people. However, he isn’t afraid of not finding anyone for the night because in the end, he always finds someone.

Chanyeol smirks when he sees Jongdae’s arm wrapping around Minseok’s waist protectively so the receptionist won’t get swept away by the dancing crowd by the time they get to the VIP section, and notes to tease his friend about it later. It’ll be a sweet payback for Jongdae teasing him about literally everything and making his life words with his stupid remarks.

They make their way through the swaying bodies that rub and press against them, and thank god for Chanyeol’s height, because if he wasn’t as tall as he is, he would have already lost his company for tonight, since Jongdae was walking rather quickly. After approximately three minutes of pushing through the crowd, they are finally in front of the stairs that most probably lead to the VIP section of the club. In front of the stairs are another two guards, and Jongdae sweetly smiles at them with Minseok by his side and Chanyeol behind him before telling them their names. The men bow deeply as they allow them to come through, not even having to check their names because everybody knows Kim Jongdae and Park Chanyeol. Minseok is the only one out of three of them who bows back before following Jongdae up the stairs.

When they walk the stairs, Chanyeol notes that the VIP section is much calmer than the dancing scene below them. He isn’t surprised because it’s always like that, and that’s why he doesn’t really like the VIP section in most of the clubs he’s been to – going to club is supposed to be fun, but eighty percent of the people in VIP are plain boring, just drinking and talking quietly without wanting to laugh out loud or dance because they are afraid it would draw the slightest bit of attention towards them. Chanyeol plans on greeting Jongdae’s friends and spend around ten minutes with them before going back down and dance his soul out, since this is probably the last visit of any club in the upcoming weeks.

Chanyeol stays with Jongdae’s friends more than ten minutes after finding out that they are just as noisy and fun as Jongdae is. They talk to Chanyeol without being afraid that what they say might embarrass them, simply speaking their mind and voicing out the most stupid – yet extremely - funny thoughts. It’s the most fun Chanyeol’s had in a while, and he is glad that he accepted Jongdae’s invitation.

Another reason why Chanyeol is having so much fun is because watching the interactions between Jongdae and Minseok is really entertaining. He especially loved the moment when Jongdae’s hand accidentally touched Minseok‘s as they both reached for their glasses, and the two of them looked at each other with eyes blown wide like they just touched fire. Chanyeol wasn’t the only one who noticed, of course, and it was just a matter of seconds before others started teasing Jongdae and Minseok, making Minseok so flustered that he excused himself and went to bathroom. Jongdae got angry at them for making Minseok feel uncomfortable and went after him to the bathroom, but not before making all of them promise that they will stop with the jokes because there isn’t anything going on between the two of them.

When Jongdae returns with Minseok in tow, he eyes everyone before sitting down, warning all of his friends with eyes that could kill, but when he turns his head to Minseok he’s all smiles and sunshine. Chanyeol wants to laugh out loud, but stop when Jongdae eyes him like he’s heard Chanyeol's thoughts.

The incident is forgotten in ten minutes when one of Jongdae’s friends starts talking about how his little sister got stuck in a washing-machine once because she was playing hide and seek with her friends and wanted to win so much that she chose a very stupid place to hide. In the end, the little girl did win, but dragging her out of the washing-machine was rather difficult and took half an hour. After this story, everyone starts talking about the most embarrassing and stupid things they have done when they were kids, and Chanyeol laughs so much that his cheeks and stomach starts to hurt.

Two hours pass and Jongdae announces that he is going to greet one of his very good friends that works here, asking Minseok if he wants to come. Minseok politely refuses, since he’s too deep in a conversation about weird dreams and what can they mean with one of Jongdae’s – and now probably his too – friends, so Chanyeol agrees to come along because he doesn’t want Jongdae to go alone.

They stand up from their seats and say that they won’t be gone long, but Chanyeol is thinking about leaving the group for a while because the craving to dance is really getting to him after two hours of sitting around the table, no matter how much fun he's having.

Chanyeol follows Jongdae through the crowd once again until they stop in front of a long pult, and Chanyeol orders a shot of tequilla when they get here. The bartender shoots him a flirty smile and tells Chanyeol to wait a minute before turning around and searching for the bottle. The bartender isn’t half bad and Chanyeol wonders if he should flirt back or find someone else.

The blond bartender pours the tequilla in the small glass with a smirk on his face as he’s maintaining eye contact with Chanyeol, and Chanyeol is ready to throw some flirty remark at the blond guy in front of him, but he is cut off by Jongdae who calls out Baekhyun besides him so loudly that it makes Chanyeol flinch. Chanyeol thinks it’s probably the name of his friend because it does sound quite familiar. Jongdae must have mentioned this Baekhyun guy before.

Chanyeol turns his head to the right, following Jongdae’s line of vision until his eyes fall on a short man with light-brown hair and eye-liner that makes his pretty eyes pop out more. The man is smiling so brightly that Chanyeol has to blink a few times because wow, that smile sure is beautiful. Honestly, the guy’s whole face is ing gorgeous and Chanyeol thinks that he has find the person he’s been looking for today. He forgets about the blond bartender straight away, not sparing him another look as he downs the tequilla shot and throws some money on the counter. 

"I haven’t seen you in ages,“ Baekhyun exclaims as he hugs Jongdae tightly, the bright smile not leaving his face for a second. Chanyeol just stands there and stares at the guy, too mesmerized by his beauty to take his eyes off him. And yes, it all sounds cheesy and stupid, but everybody, literally everybody, must have experienced this feeling at least once in a life – when you don’t even know the person but you just stare at them like they have hung the moon because they are just so damn beautiful.   

His heart literally stops when Baekhyun’s eyes meet Chanyeol’s, and Chanyeol is ready to introduce himself, and he even tries his best to give Jongdae’s friend one of his most attractive smiles, but then suddenly Baekhyun jabs him in the chest with his index finger, the long fingernail digging into his skin, and says, "You... You are the who spilled your coffee on me.“

Chanyeol tilts his head to the side, wondering what the hell is Baekhyun talking about before the realization hits him. The memories from Wednesday flood his mind, and his eyes widen when he remembers. 

"This is the Byun Baekhyun you were talking about?“ he turns to Jongdae who is looking at the two of them, confusion written all over his face. It takes a few moments before Jongdae catches up. When Jongdae’s brain.exe starts working again, he opens his mouth like a fish, frowns, and then points at Chanyeol with his finger too.

"Wait, so you are, quoting, the jerk who spilled coffee on Baekhyun because you were too busy staring into your damn iPhone?“ Jongdae asks and when Chanyeol is quiet, his friend takes it as a yes. There is a silence between the three of them for a while, but then Jongdae starts loudly laughing, not being able to stop when he looks at his friends‘ shocked expressions. It takes him forever before he gets together a coherent sentence. "This is hilarious!“

"It’s not!“ Chanyeol and Baekhyun yell in unison, locking eyes when Jongdae starts laughing even more. Chanyeol groans and swats Baekhyun's hand that is still pointing at him away, his dream of throwing Jongdae’s beautiful friend on his bed and ing the life out of him shattering in front of his eyes after finding out that Baekhyun is actually the cause of his bad mood on Wednesday.

Baekhyun looks so different now with his make-up done, Chanyeol didn’t even recognize him at first. He looks amazing with or without make-up, Chanyeol sighs as his eyes scan Baekhyun’s perfect face, and then he realizes what he’s said – even if it’s only in his mind – and gets angry at himself for thinking like that.

"Chanyeol, you have to admit, this is a funny situation,“ Jongdae insists and throws his head back while he’s trying to catch his breath. His mouth is still twisted in a grin, and Chanyeol wants nothing more than for the stupid grin to disappear because this is not ing funny.

"Oh, so you are Park Chanyeol?“ Baekhyun asks and snorts. Chanyeol looks away from Jongdae and his gaze falls on Baekhyun's small figure. "Now your attitude makes sense to me.“

"What attitude?“ Chanyeol takes a step closer to Baekhyun, towering over him like the first time they met. The difference is that now Baekhyun isn’t looking at him all frustrated, now he looks more amused if the smirk on his face is anything to go by. Chanyeol narrows his eyes as if he was daring Baekhyun to continue.

"The I’m the best so bow before me kind of attitude,“ Baekhyun answers and gestures with his hand. Hs smirk changes to an overly sweet smile after saying it, like he just didn’t insult Chanyeol. There is a spark in Baekhyun’s eyes when Chanyeol frowns at him, and Chanyeol can tell that this guy loves riling people up. No wonder that he’s Jongdae’s good friend.

"What did you just–“

"Whatever,“ Baekhyun interrupts Chanyeol in the middle of his sentence, turning back to Jongdae who seems to be enjoying this situation way too much. "It was good to see you, Jongdae, but I can’t stand being near this prick, so I have to go.“

Prick? Chanyeol rolls his eyes, folds his arms on his chest and looks away from Baekhyun. Who is the little calling a prick? Chanyeol purses his mouth and looks like a puppy that didn’t get his favorite snack.

"You’re going home? Don’t you want to dance when you’re shift is finally over?“ Jongdae asks, surprised. Chanyeol wonders if Baekhyun likes dancing that much when Jongdae’s so surprised by him wanting to go home instead of joining the bodies on the dance floor. He turns his head back and watches the two from behind his eyelashes, still frowning.

"Jongin’s shift is over too, and I’m sure he’s going to want to dance when he changes, so I don’t have a choice, but the only thing I really want right now is my bed,“ Baekhyun lets out a laugh and scratches his neck. Chanyeol tries really hard to ignore how cute and hot at the same time Baekhyun is because it doesn’t matter that he is attractive, he’s still one of the biggest jerks Chanyeol was lucky enough to meet.

"I totally forgot Jongin’s working here too, should – oh, hey, here is the dancing superstar!“ Baekhyun turns around and motions for Jongin – Chanyeol thinks that he heard his name right – to come over, and the guy with white-dyed hair flashes them a smile while walking closer and closer until he's finally standing in front of Jongdae. Since when does Jongdae have so many attractive friends, and why haven’t he bothered with introducing them to Chanyeol?

"Jongdae, long time no see. I would like to talk more, but Baekhyun said that he’s only giving me ten minutes before we’re going home, so I have to make the best out of it,“ Chanyeol eyes the way Jongin lightly touches Baekhyun‘s arm, crouching his nose in distaste when he sees it. He doesn’t even know why it bothers him so much, it just does. Maybe because Baekhyun should be his one night stand tonight, but Chanyeol’s plans are ruined now, so it shouldn’t matter. "You can join us, if you want to?“

"Not today guys,“ Jongdae shakes his head and Chanyeol smirks at him. Of course Jongdae doesn’t want to dance unless Minseok is here to join him.

"That’s a pity, but okay. You know when I work, so feel free to visit me anytime!“ Baekhyun and Jongin wave at Jongdae as the white haired guy drags Baekhyun to the center of the dance floor. Baekhyun’s eyes lock with Chanyeol’s one more time, and Baekhyun opens his mouth and before he fully disappears in the crowd, he says, „Bye, .“

"I’m gonna kill him,“ Chanyeol grits his teeth and orders another tequilla when Jongin and Baekhyun are gone. The bartender attempts to flirt with him again, but Chanyeol isn’t in the mood anymore. Baekhyun ruined his good mood in a matter of a few seconds. It should be a considered a talent.

"Yes, but his face is too good-looking to break, right?“ Jongdae asks, quoting Chanyeol's own words from Wednesday.He rolls his eyes at his friend, and Jongdae laughs loudly again. "By the way, don’t think I haven’t notice the way you downed that shot before he came over.“

"By the way, don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you’ve been eye-ing Minseok since we got here,“ Chanyeol shoots right back, not exactly in the mood to be made fun of. Jongdae splutters and tells Chanyeol to shut up, not having any comeback ready. It boosts Chanyeol's mood just slightly up when the feeling of victory washes over him.

"I‘ve already told you, we are just friends,“ Jongdae punches his arm lightly, and Chanyeol mutters a quiet of course you are before leaning his back against the pult behind him. His eyes scan the dance floor once again, but this time he’s looking for a certain brown haired boy without actually realizing it. He finds him in a matter of seconds, and his eyes narrow when he sees Baekhyun swirling his hips in the rhythm, his lean body brushing against the Jongin guy. Jongin has his arm around Baekhyun and their moves are coordinated well, but for some reason, Chanyeol doesn’t like it at all. He hates the way they dance, and he also hates the way Baekhyun laughs when Jongin whispers something in his ear.

"Stop it, you don’t have a chance,“ Jongdae snaps his fingers in front of Chanyeol’s eyes, making Chanyeol jump in surprise. He looks at Jongdae with a frown, to which Jongdae says that he should stop frowning so much because his eyebrows are going to be stuck like that.

"I don’t know what you’re talking about,“ Chanyeol says, and when he looks at Baekhyun again, Baekhyun turns his head away from Jongin just in time, and their eyes meet once again. Chanyeol holds the gaze and thinks that Baekhyun is going to be flustered and look away, but Baekhyun just smirks and does a body roll against Jongin while looking straight into Chanyeol’s eyes, mocking him. That er. Chanyeol is the first to look away as he clicks his tongue in irritation.

"Let’s not play this game. I know that look on your face, and as a good friend, I’m telling you – Baekhyun isn’t interested in you.“

"Why? Do you think I’m not handsome enough?“ Chanyeol asks and raises one of his eyebrows challengingly, daring Jongdae to say that he is not good-looking enough to get someone like Baekhyun. Now it’s Jongdae’s turn to roll eyes.

"No, but Baekhyun–“

"You’ve been gone too long so they sent me to check up on you,“ Minseok‘s voice disturbs their conversation, and at that moment Chanyeol knows that he doesn’t have Jongdae’s attention  anymore. The two lover boys start talking to each other, but Chanyeol doesn’t bother to listen. Instead, his eyes flicker to Baekhyun again, and Chanyeol is surprised that the white haired guy is nowhere to be seen, and Baekhyun is now dancing with some other guy, who is actually rather ugly in Chanyeol’s opinion. Or is it that Baekhyun is too pretty so others look more ugly when they are beside him? 

Chanyeol looks at Jongdae and Minseok from the corners of his eyes, seeing Jongdae smiling like a love-struck idiot as he keeps his eyes on Minseok who is enthusiastically talking about something Chanyeol fails to hear. The idea to snap a photo of them is sudden, and he quickly pulls out his phone and takes it, smiling to himself when the two of them don’t notice. After the photo is taken, Chanyeol turns his attention back to Baekhyun who seems to be having a great time while dancing with strangers who are pressing their bodies against his. Chanyeol can also see someone's daring hand touching Baekhyun's lower back.

Jongdae thinks that Baekhyun is out of his laegue? Well, Jongdae should be getting ready to take it back because Chanyeol is sure as hell taking Baekhyun home tonight. The fact that he’s an aside, Baekhyun looks like the type that is fun in bed, and Chanyeol is not going to miss on a chance to someone like Baekhyun.

He doesn’t spare the soon-to-be a couple behind him another glance before making his way through the bodies moving all around him, wanting to get to Baekhyun as fast as possible. When he’s close enough, he grabs Baekhyun’s arm and spins him around with force, holding him in place against his chest with his other hand. Baekhyun’s eyes are wide when he’s turned around, surprised, but when he sees it’s Chanyeol, he smirks and tilts his head to side.  him for being so pretty, Chanyeol thinks.

"Came to dance?“ Baekhyun asks, and he doesn’t even let Chanyeol answer before starting to move his hips against the taller's teasingly, swaying to the fast paced music. Chanyeol tries not to react when he feels Baekhyun’s hips against his, not wanting to let Baekhyun know that what he’s doing actually has such an effect on Chanyeol.

"Came to take you home,“ Chanyeol answers with a low voice as he lowers himself so he can whisper it in Baekhyun’s ear. He would swear that he felt Baekhyun let out a quiet moan as Chanyeol pulls him even closer and rubs their bodies together, but Baekhyun covers it with a laugh immediately. 

"Well, sorry to disappoint,“ Baekhyun looks up at him with a faint blush on his cheeks and a smile, and if this look isn’t the iest look on the planet, Chanyeol doesn’t know what is. Chanyeol considers Baekhyun’s hand that is travelling from his shoulder to his stomach a payback for making the shorter flustered before, but Chanyeol doesn’t exactly mind Baekhyun caressing his skin. The tips of Baekhyun's fingertips dancing on his chest feel just too good. "But that isn’t going to happen.“

"And why is that?“ Chanyeol questions, giving Baekhyun a smile on his own. Now, when having Baekhyun pressed against him and with minimum space to breath, Chanyeol doesn’t even care about people pushing him around as they dance. He focuses only on the gorgeous man in front of him, gazing into his brown, pretty eyes. 

Baekhyun is suddenly standing on his toes, and Chanyeol’s breath hitches when he realizes how close they are now. Beakhyun is literally one inch away, and Chanyeol could kiss him if he just moved a little bit closer– „Because I’m already dating Jongin.“

Chanyeol’s whole body freezes as he hears the words falling out of Baekhyun’s mouth, and the image of him and Baekhyun spending the night together is shattered once again. Chanyeol honestly thinks that getting shot feels like this.

"Well, nice talking to you. Bye,“ Baekhyun is gone before Chanyeol can protest, and he is left in the middle of the dance floor alone, looking lost as if he just woke up from a ten years long coma.

Someone starts talking to him, asking if he wants to dance, and it’s only then that Chanyeol returns back to reality and says that he doesn’t want to dance, pushing the long-haired woman away. He turns around and starts walking toward the VIP section, getting angrier with every step he takes. He isn’t as angry at Baekhyun for leading him on than at himself for not noticing that Baekhyun and Jongin were clearly dating. The light touches, the laughing, the dancing – it all makes sense now. Baekhyun already has a boyfriend. That’s why Jongdae told him that Baekyhun won’t be interested. Chanyeol feels so stupid.

He reaches the VIP section rather quickly, the guards letting him come through with just one look at his frustrated face, and he doesn’t even bother to say thanks to them. He takes the stairs two at once, his long legs making it easy. He walks to his table with a bitter expression on his face and sits down without a word, making everyone curious about what happened, but nobody dares to ask.

"You haven’t told me that Baekhyun is dating that Jongin guy,“ Chanyeol mutters under his nose, the words coming out harsher than intended. Chanyeol would care if he wasn’t so damn angry right now, but he is, so Jongdae must try his best to deal with Chanyeol’s grumpiness for a while. He shouldn't act like that toward Jongdae, the poor man tried to warn him before, but he just can't help it now.

"What?“ Jongdae asks, his face twisting in confusion. Why is Jongdae playing dumb now when he clearly knows about the relationship between his two friends? Wasn’t he trying to tell this to Chanyeol before?

"Baekhyun’s dating Jongin, that’s why you practically told me that the guy is off limits, right?“

"I don’t know where did you get that information, but I’m sure Baekhyun isn’t dating Jongin,“ Jongdae puts the glass he’s been drinking from on the table, his attention fully on Chanyeol now. His friend is looking at him like Chanyeol’s talking complete nonsense, but Baekhyun told him about being in a relationship with Jongin himself, so why does Jongdae look genuinely confused and surprised at that piece of information?

"Why are you acting like you don’t know about that when you clearly do?“ Chanyeol sighs and throws his head back in frustration, running a hand through his hair. How could he be so oblivious and not notice the spark between Jongin and Baekhyun? It’s all so stupid.

"Chanyeol please stop talking already, it’s not funny,“ Jongdae deadpans, and Chanyeol looks at him with a deep frown.

"They are dating–"

"No, they most certainly aren't,“ Jongdae doesn’t even let him finish the sentence before interrupting him. Rude. "They are not dating because Jongin is already dating Kyungsoo – for two years. So who the hell told you that Baekhyun is with Jongin?“

Chanyeol narrows his eyes and gazes in Jongdae’s eyes to find the slightest bit of bull behind his words because Jongdae is the biggest troll on the world, and Chanyeol doesn’t feel like believing him right now. After ten seconds of serious eye contact, Chanyeol slowly starts believing his friend, but if Jongin’s dating someone else already, why would Baekhyun lie about him being the one who is in a relationship with Jongin? It doesn’t make sense to Chanyeol at all.

Jongdae throws a quiet you must be drunk already at Chanyeol and turns back to Minseok and others, leaving Chanyeol alone in his mind palace. So Baekhyun is not dating Jongin? But what about the touches, and smiles, and dancing, and everything? Is Baekhyun just naturally that friendly with everyone? Are they such good friends that people would mistake them for a couple? If what Jongdae’s saying is true, isn’t the Kyungsoo guy jealous? Nothing makes sense!

And then it hits him like a car that’s going 160 kilometers per hour – Baekhyun lied to him about dating Jongin. 

Chanyeol feels not only stupid, but embarrassed now. What a great Friday night.