It was all Chanyeol could do to curse Mao Mao to hell and back. The Japanese Bobtail wasn’t even his cat, but there he was at the pet store, surrounded by the suffocating aroma of fur and pet food all because her “parents” were too busy playing with her to buy her the basic necessities. Chanyeol cursed Minseok and Jongdae to hell and back too. 

 

Chanyeol had never even owned pets of his own. Not only did he not trust himself to take care of a cactus, but he had also been graced with the gift of a fur allergy—although it was mild. As for fish, he doubted he’d be able to keep up with any tank maintenance, and their beady little eyes never failed to send a shiver down his spine. Words needn’t be used for the reptiles and amphibians, and god forbid Chanyeol would willingly keep a spider or a scorpion in his home. And so Chanyeol lived a relatively happy, pet-less life. 

 

Chanyeol sighs and walks towards the aisle that he thinks looks like it is for domestic felines. Jongdae had ever so kindly given him a list of things he needed for his “baby”, written quickly so it looked like Mao Mao herself had written it. He wants to get this done as quickly as possible, if he could just find the damn brush for the damn cat’s fur. He walks up and down the aisle repeatedly, awkwardly smiling at the other customers that seemed to know exactly what they are looking for and where they have to look for it, while Chanyeol is obviously lost. He glances at the list again once he finally finds the “Kitty, Kitty Cat Hairbrush”—it’s on one of the lower shelves, and with Chanyeol’s height, it didn't reach his line of sight—to assure that he had gotten the right brand. Now came the next thing on the list and then—wait. Why did he even agree to do this again? Mao Mao hates him. Every time he went over to Minseok and Jongdae’s little house it seemed as though she made an extra effort to get her hair all over Chanyeol’s clothes.

 

The only other thing on the list is “something cute ^^” in Jongdae’s charmingly scrawly script. Chanyeol groans, earning more looks from the other customers. ‘Something cute’ in Jongdae’s dictionary could mean many, many things and with his special taste it could go very well or very wrong. He shuffles around a little bit, moving towards the back of the store, deciding that there was only one safe choice: a costume. The shameless couple had a mini closet especially for Mao Mao, and made a point of getting her dressed up in different outfits every day. 

 

Immediately catching his eye is a bright purple Mao-Mao-sized sweatshirt with the words “I’m Purrfect” written on it in cursive. That’s dumb, Chanyeol thinks because really, the whole ‘purr’ cat pun thing is extremely overused. But wait. Jongdae loves dumb things (with the exception of Minseok, who is in fact very smart and without a doubt the most loved). If he saw this he’d probably break into his special cackle, pouring over the two words over and over again—saying it gets funnier each time. 

 

This was purrfect.   

 

 Chanyeol pats himself on the back for being such a great best friend, always making sure to remember every little detail about Jongdae, while the other probably doesn’t even remember Chanyeol has a fur allergy. Thank god that idiot found someone to keep him under control. 

 

Now, all he had to do was go to the register and pay for his friend’s pet’s crap with his own money, getting no reimbursement whatsoever. Now, this seemed like no hard task. In fact, everything started extremely well, Chanyeol’s stride was steady to the cash register, and there were only two people in front of him in line. However, Chanyeol is hit with an unexpected obstacle. The person ringing up the register was so damn pretty, a beauty that can be seen from feet away. As the line waters down, Chanyeol has to rip his eyes away from the boy’s soft looking baby pink cotton candy colored locks of hair, off his pink pouty lips, and instead trained on the dog treats on his left. 

 

Way too soon, it’s his turn. He shuffles his feet forward, making the greatest effort to keep his jaw that had opened wide in awe, shut. The little tag on the right of his blue uniform reads “Baekhyun” and now that Chanyeol’s in front of him, he realizes how much taller he is than the other. 

Holy cute cute cute cute.

 

Baekhyun finally looks up from the cash register with a sigh and smiles his best employee smile at Chanyeol, whose heart skips eleven beats. 

 

“Will this be all?” Baekhyun asks, looking at the kitty brush and sweater.

 

“Y-Yeah.” Chanyeol stutters, his eyes flicker from the mole on the employee’s lips to the mole on his thumb that he had discovered when Baekhyun picked up the kitty sweater to scan it. He’s humming something under his breath as he presses a multitude of buttons and then looks up at Chanyeol again, making the taller let out an almost inaudible gasp. 

 

“That’ll be $30.72.”

 

Chanyeol reaches into his wallet and pulls out a few bills, handing them over to Baekhyun. In a flash, he gets his change back along with the plastic bag holding Mao Mao’s things. 

 

“Enjoy your purchases,” Baekhyun grins. 

 

“Oh—-uh, you too!” Chanyeol replies, his face flashing a look of horror because, Baekhyun didn't buy anything. It doesn’t make sense to tell him to enjoy his purchases if the pretty boy didn't purchase anything. 

 

Way to make yourself look like a fool.

 

“That’s not what I—meant I just—Have a good day!” Chanyeol continues, missing the way Baekhyun waves at him as he rushes out. 

 

Cute, Baekhyun thinks to himself. 

 

“Baekhyun!” a voice calls. Said boy turns around to see his manager, and best friend ever since he’d started working at Pet Palace, coming straight at him. Quickly, Baekhyun tries to think of anything he’d done wrong that day and, other than refusing to clean the scorpion cage—who had looked particularly eager to sting that day—nothing came to mind. 

 

“Yes?” Baekhyun asks tentatively, turning around as he sees no other customer in sight. 

 

“I’m gonna need you to take care of things up here, I’m gonna check the—uh, inventory with Jongin in the back.” 

 

Baekhyun grimaces at the intentionally poorly hidden implication in Kyungsoo’s statement. “Wow, Kyungsoo. I never knew that ‘inventory’ was synonymous to ‘’. The more you know.”

 

Kyungsoo narrows his big eyes at him. “Don’t sass me, cotton candy.” Immediately, Baekhyun shuts up. 

 

“I wouldn’t dream of it, Mr. Manager Sir. Go do Jong—I mean,” he coughs, “Your inventory.” Cue the sweet smile on Baekhyun’s part and Kyungsoo stalks away, Jongin hot on his trails.

 

♥︎♥︎♥︎

 

Meanwhile Chanyeol, as promised, dutifully delivers the contents of Mao Mao’s list to Jongdae and Minseok. 

 

“Chanyeol! You’re here!” Jongdae exclaims, petting Mao Mao’s soft brown and white fur. Chanyeol looks at Jongdae and then at Mao Mao, trying to hold back a shudder—it’s true what they say about owners and pets looking alike. Minseok comes up behind Jongdae, cooing  at Mao Mao who lay leisurely in his husband’s arms before expressing his thanks to Chanyeol for shopping for them. 

 

“You wanna come in for a bit?” Minseok asks and, despite his allergies, Chanyeol accepts. The inside of their apartment is as brightly colored as ever—obviously done to match Jongdae’s personality, which Minseok had agreed to on account of the astonishing amount of love and toleration he had for Jongdae’s antics. 

 

Chanyeol sits on the red couch, grimacing at the pet hair on the couch which the homeowners take no heed to and joins his friends in watching TV. They were in the middle of some crime show. 

 

“Tea?” Minseok asks, ever the gracious host as Jongdae yells at the characters onscreen that the uncle did it—whoever the uncle was—Chanyeol wasn’t paying much attention to the five minutes he watched. 

 

“Sure.” Chanyeol answers, getting up to go with him to the kitchen.

 

“I hope going out to the pet store for us wasn’t too much trouble.” Minseok says sheepishly, filling the tea kettle with water and setting on the stove to boil, then getting out three mugs. 

 

“It was…uh, fine—I guess. Yeah, it was fine.” Chanyeol replies, images of the pink haired boy flashing in his brain. 

 

“That’s not very convincing,” Minseok says, raising an eyebrow. “What’s up?”

 

“I saw—I saw a cute boy.” Chanyeol stammers, flushing. He curses the mole he saw above those pretty pink lips and the gorgeous hands that delivered his change that made him fall so fast. 

 

Minseok’s face breaks into a wide grin. “Chennie~! Our Chanyeol met a boy!” In a flash, Jongdae’s head pips out from behind the door frame. 

 

“Spill, bestie.” Minseok nods eagerly, urging Chanyeol to go on, not forgetting to place the tea he knows they all like in the cups with the boiling water to steep. 

 

“Ahhhh! I don't know!” Chanyeol whines. “He was at the pet shop and he had this really soft-looking, pink hair and he’s really pretty and—ugh I told him to enjoy his purchases I’m dumb!”

 

Jongdae stifles a giggle with the back of his hand before nudging Minseok on the shoulder. “Minnie, I think someone has a crush~.”

 

Chanyeol groans, placing his head on he countertop and hiding his face in his arms. “Stop making fun of me you heathens.”

 

“Awww it’s all in good fun.” Jongdae says, “Just go back there and talk to him, get his number, date, then BAM! You get married. True love! It works every time.”

 

Chanyeol rolls his eyes. “I’m gonna go now—maybe ponder your suggestion for zero seconds and ignore you for the rest of the month. Bye.”

 

“Bye!” Jongdae waves.

 

The door closes and Minseok shakes his head at Jongdae in disapproval. Mao Mao jumps onto the counter and laps at the plate of milk Minseok had just poured, content. 

 

♥︎♥︎♥︎

 

When Chanyeol dreams of dancing with cotton candy, he not only decides that his brain hates him, but that he has to go back to the pet store. 

 

He waltzes into Pet Palace and immediately spots the boy that caught his eye. Chanyeol grabs the first thing he sees and seconds later, finds himself in front of Baekhyun, who’s fussing with the cash register. When the boy looks up, he lets out the slightest yelp, not expecting to see someone in front of him. The boy squints his eyes once he’s taken a good look at Chanyeol. 

 

“Hey… didn’t you… weren’t you here yesterday too?” He asks, with the slightest tilt of his head. 

 

Chanyeol clears his throat, smiling nervously, and placing the item he got—some sort of chew bone—in front of him, his hands rapidly gathering sweat, to his dismay. 

 

“Ah, yes I did. But! I was getting stuff for my friends yesterday and today I’m… not.”

 

Baekhyun nods in understanding and scans the dog bone before pausing, dog bone held midair. He looks at Chanyeol from under his bangs.  “So you have a dog?”

 

“What? N—I mean, yes! Yes, yes I do. I am a pet owner,” he gives a weak laugh. “Why else would I come here and buy something.”

 

“I love dogs! What’s its name?” This time when Baekhyun speaks he’s looking at him, eyes lighting up. 

 

“Toe.” Chanyeol spits out without thinking. 

 

“Toe?”

 

“No! Um, you didn’t let me finish. His name is Toben. Like, um, short for Beethoven—the composer!”

 

“Ohhhh,” Baekhyun’s eyes flicker over Chanyeol’s too wide smile and slowly reddening cheeks, “Cute.” Chanyeol hands over his card when he’s told the total was $5.32 and after one swift swipe, Baekhyun hands it back, dropping the bone and the receipt into a bag and giving it to him. 

 

“Thank you.”

 

“No problem, come again!”

 

There is no choice, Chanyeol thinks. Of course I’ll have to come again. 

 

Chanyeol wasn’t that desperate and pitiful though, and made sure to put a good amount of time until he went back, no matter how many baby pink puppy infested dreams he had. This didn’t mean, however, that he enjoyed waiting. Not at all. Minseok, Jongdae, and Mao Mao had to hear every single complaint that came out of Chanyeol’s mouth. 

 

♥︎♥︎♥︎

 

Just to show he isn't desperate, he waits a whole two days before he returns, and decides to buy nine containers of fish food, just so he can be in Baekhyun’s presence for longer. 

 

"Wouldn't you rather buy one big box?" Baekhyun asks, first looking at the items and then at Chanyeol. The eye contact makes him melt.

 

"N-no. I need nine containers for my nine fish. I want to make sure that they all have their own food supply to eat from or... they’ll—they'll get fussy!"

 

"The fish." Baekhyun deadpans, brushing a few pink strands of hair out of his eyes and Chanyeol swears his knees are going to give out. 

 

"Exactly! My fish. Very fussy, high maintenance fish. All nine of them."

 

Baekhyun begins ringing up the purchases, maintaining conversation which Chanyeol's extremely thankful for. "And what are the names of your fussy fish?" Baekhyun asks him, and his tone seems almost as if he's challenging him. 

 

"Oh...you know," , "There's Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, and Donner and Blitzen and, of course, I could never forget about Rudolph.” 

 

"Of course not!" Baekhyun says. He’s clearly extremely amused and Chanyeol wonders how obvious his lies are getting.

 

"I uh, like Christmas." he says, though that doesn't help. Baekhyun just nods in agreement, biting his lips to keep himself from laughing as the ninth container is scanned. 

 

"That'll be $28.65." he says after clearing his throat. Chanyeol doesn't have time to think about the excessive amount of money he's using on fish food for fish he doesn't have, too preoccupied with leaving fast enough that Baekhyun won't be able to see the bright shade of red his ears had been graced with. His hands move quickly as he gets his wallet out of his pocket and he gives Baekhyun thirty dollars. As he fumbles in putting the dollar back in the pocket of his wallet, he drops the quarter and nickel he had been given as part of his change and bends down and spring back up quickly with a nervous smile. Baekhyun hands him his bag and he takes it, mumbling “have a good day” before turning towards the door. As he leaves, he can hear Baekhyun laugh behind him—who was probably thinking he was too far away for Chanyeol to hear him. 

 

But with Chanyeol’s ears—he very much could. 

 

Baekhyun watches him leave, still laughing and jumps when Kyungsoo taps his shoulder. 

 

“This is work Baekhyun, you shouldn’t be enjoying yourself. What’s so funny?” he says with fake seriousness. Baekhyun wipes at the tear forming in his eye. 

 

“He’s just—he’s so funny. I always see him when I’m at work now.” 

 

Kyungsoo thinks about the figure that he saw leaving, a pensive look on his face. Suddenly he snaps his fingers, “I think I’ve seen him before a couple of times, too. Sometimes he’ll come in here look around and then leave. He’s not bad looking, either.”  

 

“You’re right about that,” Baekhyun says offhandedly. Kyungsoo smirks at him. 

 

“Of course you’d think that. We both know he’s exactly your type.”

 

“Exactly.” 

 

♥︎♥︎♥︎

 

Chanyeol’s quick to brush off the embarrassment he’d been subject to the last time he’d gone to the Pet Palace. A week and three days later, Chanyeol finds himself back there, his eyes quickly brushing over the cash register lanes and a stumped pout appears on his face when he realizes that Baekhyun is nowhere to be found. He lets out a deep sigh, and takes to shuffling around the store, looking for him. He passes the bunnies, a few other customers, and even two people making out rather aggressively near the hamsters, wearing the same familiar blue uniform. Chanyeol walked away from them very quickly. The tall man ends up surrounded by the arachnids and reptiles. The same creepy crawlies that he despises. Feeling brave and reminding himself that they were all in cages, he stays in that section, shivering when the tarantula moves. He all but lets out a screech when he feels something crawl up his back. He hears a soft giggle behind him and, lo and behold, it’s Baekhyun. 

 

“Oh, hi.” Chanyeol says. Baekhyun waves and turns to look at the tarantula in front of them. His eyes flicker from Chanyeol to the furry arachnid then back to Chanyeol repeatedly. Chanyeol looks positively distressed. He’s strangely concentrated on the thing in the cage, his eyebrows are furrowed, and his bottom lip is tucked under his teeth.

 

“Do you wanna hold it?” Baekhyun asks, his tone challenging, teasing. 

 

Chanyeol’s head whips to look at Baekhyun so fast he’s afraid he’ll get whiplash. “W-what? Oh, no—there’s really no need for that. I don’t want to make extra trouble for you and there’s uh…You really don’t have to.” 

 

Baekhyun waves his (pretty) hand dismissively. “Really, it’s not problem at all! Don’t worry!” He bumps Chanyeol’s arms, with a mischievous smirk. “Don’t tell me you’re scared of such an itsy bitsy spider.”  

 

“I…I—of course not!” His shoulders straighten up and he becomes two centimeters taller, to Baekhyun’s dismay. “Go ahead.”

 

With a grin, Baekhyun takes a key out of his pocket to unlock the cage and coaxes the creature to crawl into his hand. Chanyeol can almost see his eyes gleaming with delight as he turns towards the taller. 

 

“Y’see? This little thing’s not that bad.” He pushes the hand holding the tarantula towards Chanyeol who forces himself not to take a step back—or run away completely for that matter. “It’s your turn now.” 

 

“I really don’t need to—Oh!” He finds himself with a handful of tarantula which is as disgusting as he thought it would be. Chanyeol winces with every movement of its legs and he can feel the hair on his body stand on end when it starts crawling up his arm. It gets about halfway up his arm before he has his eyes squeezed tightly shut and, taking pity on him, Baekhyun relieves his of his misery. He carefully takes the tarantula back into his (pretty) hands and then back in its respective cage. 

 

“God, you’re cute.” Baekhyun whispers, glad Chanyeol’s too busy trying to erase the feeling of a tarantula’s fuzz from his mind to hear him. “Alright, is there anything I could help you find today?”  he asks. “Maybe for Toben or your fish?”

 

Ah yes, his reason for being there. 

 

Well, Baekhyun I came here for you and only for you and only because I want to see you more and talk to you more also I have no pets. 

 

Yeah, he wasn’t about to say that. 

 

“…Toben. I thought I’d get him a toy.” Chanyeol thinks this is a pretty solid answer. 

 

“Great! Do you want me to help find something for him?” Chanyeol nods rapidly, being with Baekhyun was his favorite activity when he went to the pet shop, why would he have said no? “Wonderful!” Baekhyun exclaims, his eyes sparkling. He began walking to another part of the store and Chanyeol followed behind diligently. He takes him to the dog section, before drawing him in questions. “So! What type of breed is your dog? How old? What does he usually like to do in the day?” 

 

“He, my dog, is small and small in age… he also likes to play. So… yes. There is that fact about my dog,” Chanyeol wills himself not to break into a sweat at the unconvinced gaze Baekhyun’s looking at him with. 

 

“Of course. The breed of small dogs, I know it well.” Baekhyun glances at the collection of dog toys and bones in front of him and his eyes flickering over each one for a moment meticulously, before finally reaching for a small, green traditionally bone shaped rubber toy. “I think your dog will like this one,” he decides. “My dog, Mongryong, has a similar one, although it’s a bigger version for him.” He hands the toy to Chanyeol, “What do you think? Thing he’ll like it?”

 

“Yeah! I think so! Thank you!” Baekhyun leads the way yet again to the cash register where he gets Chanyeol ready to check out. 

 

“By the way Chanyeol, I’ve been wondering if you’d wanted to make sign up to our rewards program. Since you come around here so often to buy things. It’s only eight dollars a month and you get coupons, discounts, all the fun stuff.” His hands make excited gestures as he talks, and his smile lights up his face. Chanyeol’s entranced. 

 

“Y-yeah that sounds good.”

 

“Great! I just need to ask you a few questions so that we can contact you.” 

 

“Okay I’ll need your name, phone number, email, and address.” 

 

“My name is Park Chanyeol, my number is XXX-XXX-XXXX, my email is [email protected] and I live on 408 Berry St.  Apartment #61”

 

Baekhyun repeats it all back to him under his breath as he types it in, smiling to himself when he says his name. He’d realized he hadn’t had a name to put to that gorgeous face yet, and it was perfect for him, as expected. He swipes the dog toy in front of a scanner and pops it in one of the bags to hand to Chanyeol.”

 

“Goodbye Chanyeol, have a nice day! I hope Tobennie likes it!”

 

“Bye, Baekhyun!” Chanyeol waves as he leaves turning back to look at Baekhyun every so often even as he is making his way to the automatically opening doors. 

 

As Chanyeol passes through the doors, Baekhyun wanders around the store trying to find Kyungsoo. When he finally does see him, he’s unsurprisingly with Jongin. 

 

“Yes, Baekhyun? What is it?” Kyungsoo asks hurriedly as he sees Baekhyun walking towards him. 

 

“Oh, are you busy?”

 

“No, not right now. What is it?” 

 

“Remember Exactly-My-Type Boy?” Kyungsoo nods. “Well his name is Chanyeol and I have his number—kinda.”

 

“What do you mean ‘kinda’?”

 

“Well, the only reason I have it is because I signed him up for the rewards programs—I still can’t believe how often he comes around here. And I just wanted to know what the chances of me losing my job were I to contact him using that newly found information.”

 

“I mean he did give you his phone number, right? And to be honest Baekhyun, I doubt you’ll ever actually text him so go ahead.” Kyungsoo replies with a wink. Baekhyun scoffs. He’d text Chanyeol, of course he would. 

 

He ends up saving the number in his phone (and maybe he saves his email and address too) and when he goes home after his shift at the end of the day, he sets his phone in front of him and stares at it. . Why did Kyungsoo always have to be right. His phone starts to feel heavy in his hand, so he shoves it in his pocket along with his keys and walks out the door. Maybe he could accidentally drive past Chanyeol’s place, right?

 

Yes. Yes he can. With shaky hands he turns on the ignition in his car, pushing the real reason he’s in the car out of his mind as he backs out of his parking space. This is just a normal car ride through the city. He turns up the music on the radio although he doesn't particularly like the song, and once he gets to a stop light, picks up his phone with one hand to glance at the address he’ll accidentally come upon and look at. Left turn, straight for 0.2 miles, two right turns. He pulls up across the street of the apartment complex, parks the car, and just looks out the window, absolutely silent. Five minutes pass, then ten. That’s enough for today, Baekhyun thinks. Wondering whether he’ll have the balls to text Chanyeol when he gets home, he starts his car up beginning the short ride home, briefly catching sight of a ‘No Dogs’ sign pasted on the fence in front of the apartment building. Funny…

 

♥︎♥︎♥︎

 

At home, Chanyeol stares at the newly installed shelf in his storage closet which he’s deemed, “The Shelf for Things I’ve Spent Too Much Money On Even Though I’m Never Ever Going to Be Able to Use Them”. Yes. It was the shelf for all the things he’s gotten at the pet shop so far, and he has a feeling that somehow, it will only grow. And that scares him. He rubs his eyes furiously and closes the door to the closet. Chanyeol groans into his hands, flopping onto the well used, tan couch in his living room, and turning on the TV to documentary about tigers that seemed to be ending soon. He stared mindlessly at the at the screen, only half paying attention. Suddenly, the doorbell rings and Chanyeol eyes the front door from his place on the couch. He didn’t want to get up and he definitely didn’t want to have any human interaction. Unfortunately for him, the doorbell’s annoying ‘ding ding ding’ does’t let up. Instead it only grows more forceful. 

 

“I’m coming!” Chanyeol yells, burying his face into a pillow and letting out a scream. With loud stomps, he reaches the front door, throwing it open so fast it slams against the wall with a loud BANG. In front of him, Jongdae raises an eyebrow at him while Minseok, who stands slightly behind him, coos at Mao Mao in his arms, oblivious. 

 

“Now, now, Chanyeol what’s got your in a twist?” Jongdae asks, chuckling. He and Minseok step into the apartment, allowing Chanyeol to let out his unexplained frustration on the door again as he slams it shut. 

 

“I’ll have you know I’m wearing boxers today.”

 

“Woah, okay buddy. I really didn’t need to know that.” 

 

Chanyeol ignores him, massaging his temples with the tips of his fingers as he feels the beginning of a headache start to form. He leaves Jongdae and Minseok to get themselves comfortable on the couch and goes to the kitchen for something to drink. The clattering sounds of him going through his cupboard to get a few glasses make Mao Mao, who had been seated comfortably in Minseok’s lap, leap off of him and begin roaming around the house, probably going on an expedition to find all the places he could rub his fur all over to bother Chanyeol and his allergies. Chanyeol returns from the kitchen with three glasses of water balanced in his hands. He sets them on the coffee table in front of the three of them, and sits on one of the single couches adjacent to the love seat Minseok and Jongdae had relaxed themselves on. 

 

“What’s eating you up, Chanyeol?” Minseok asks, reaching towards one of the glasses and taking a sip,  then giving it to Jongdae for him to drink out of too. Chanyeol grimaces at the gesture, half out of disgust and half out of jealousy for a relationship he doesn't have. The glass gets passed back to Minseok, and Chanyeol decides he’s actually just 100% disgusted by his friends. 

 

“Nothing’s eating me up, okay?”

 

Jongdae nudges his husband on the shoulder saying, “Maybe that’s the problem.” Chanyeol glares at him.

 

“I’m not moody because I haven’t gotten laid, Jongdae!”

 

“At least he’s accepted that he’s acting moody. Right, Minnie?” Minseok nods. 

 

Chanyeol’s brain only pounds harder as the two men in front of him continue talking about him as if he isn’t there. He rests his head between his hands and sets his elbows on his knees. Silence. He needs silence. The default ‘ping’ of his cellphone goes off, vibrating in the back pocket of his jeans, and Chanyeol looks at the notification to see a text from an unknown number.

 

From: XXX-XXX-XXXX

To: Park Chanyeol

hi ^-^

 

From: Park Chanyeol 

To: XXX-XXX-XXXX

um who is this?

 

To: Park Chanyeol

From: XXX-XXX-XXXX

 oh eheh it’s baekhyun!

 

“Holy ,” Chanyeol whispers, his grip on his phone gets tighter and his eyes grow wider every second that passes, the realization settling in. “Holy !” He says again, yelling this time. Minseok and Jongdae look up at Chanyeol quickly, and from somewhere in the apartment, a loud meow could be heard in response to the commotion. “Holyholyholyholyholy,” Chanyeol chants, he begins pacing around the living room, only slightly aware of the tremble in his fingertips.  

 

“What happened?” Jongdae asks. 

 

“Baekhyun! He texted me! How did he even…” he goes quiet as his phone goes off again. 

 

To: Park Chanyeol

From: XXX-XXX-XXXX

… from the pet store?

 

Chanyeol’s fingers fly as he types out a reply. 

 

To: Baekhyunnie from the Pet Store

From: Park Chanyeol 

Yes!!!!!!!! Baekhyun!!!!! Hi!!! It’s Chanyeol!!!!

 

From behind his shoulder, Jongdae tisks, “Those are a lot of exclamation marks. You’re gonna scare Baekhyun away.”  

   

Chanyeol’s smile drops in an instant, “Really?” 

 

Minseok rushes over and assures Chanyeol that, no, the exclamation marks weren’t too much and that it wouldn't be the cause of Baekhyun ignoring him forever, before scolding Jongdae for using Chanyeol as the source of his laughter. The phone goes off again, and everyone’s attention turns to it. Of course, it’s Baekhyun. Chanyeol hunches his shoulders to prevent either Minseok or Jongdae from looking at what he writes—he didn't want any judgmental comments to make him second guess himself. He spreads across the couch he had been sitting on before, while Minseok and Jongdae put on a movie they’d been wanting to watch. Every few minutes though, it gets interrupted by varying degrees of laughter. Sometimes its’s a loud guffaw other times suppressed giggles, making Jongdae roll his eyes. 

 

Jongdae turns to Minseok with an incredulous look. “What’s so special about Baekhyun that Chanyeol is literally at his feet at when he breathes towards him?”

 

Minseok smiles, taking Jongdae’s hand in his and squeezing it, “Don’t act like you weren’t that way before we started dating.”  Jongdae gives him a scandalized look before profusely denying having any recollection of him chasing after Minseok—ever. 

 

“But Minnie,” Jongdae says after he’d settled down a bit. “I do want to know what this ‘Baekhyun’ is like.” He takes another glance at Chanyeol whose thumbs seem to be moving a mile a minute, and then slowly turns back to Minseok with a sly smile on his face. 

 

“I don’t like that look,” Minseok sighs. 

 

“Don’t be like that! I was just thinking that there may be a few things at the pet shop that I need to buy…”

 

It doesn't take much longer for Minseok and Jongdae to become tired of not being paid attention to and they leave, Mao Mao safely tucked in their arms. Chanyeol barely notices, too absorbed in texting Baekhyun. In the few hours that they’d been chatting with each other, they’d come to realize that they had a lot of things in common. They both play the same games (League of Legends, Overwatch, Monopoly, Go Fish) and listened to the same music. 

 

The only reason Chanyeol’s hands ever stopped moving to form a reply was when Baekhyun had asked Chanyeol for a picture of his pets, more specifically of Toben. The question had come quite suddenly and it took Chanyeol a moment to process what he was being asked and how he should reply. His hands twitched to answer back all the truth; Baekhyun, I don't have any pets I just lied because I really like you. But the thought that Baekhyun wouldn’t forgive him for that made him put off revealing the truth. Instead, he looked up ‘small black puppy’ and sent Baekhyun the first picture that came up. Of course, this didn’t make him feel any better. All through his head alarm bells were ringing, creating a tune that sounded too much like ‘Chanyeol!! You !! Don’t lie to the boy you’re extremely interested in!!’, he forces himself to write it off as his headache coming back and texts Baekhyun goodnight, while also hinting that he’d come to see him at work the next day.

 

♥︎♥︎♥︎

 

The parking lot was unusually full for a Thursday in the early afternoon. Of course, this didn’t phase seasoned parker-in-the-Pet-Palace-lot, Park Chanyeol, and he quickly and expertly found an empty space and slid his car in between a red truck and black mini-van. He whistles his way through the automatic doors, swinging his keys around his pointer finger. For some reason this meeting with Baekhyun seemed more special than any of the others. The butterflies in his stomach had increased ten-fold and this morning, as he’d looked at himself in the mirror while brushing his teeth, he’d promised himself that he’d finally ask Baekhyun out on a date. 

 

The sight the Pet Palace gives him as he enters is surprising to say the least. The store is a mess and a half, in complete and utter chaos. 

 

What happened here, Chanyeol wonders as he looks around. The answer comes to him in the form of a banner promoting in big, red letter that the store was having its ‘Annual 75% Off Storewide Sale’. He searches for Baekhyun left and right, bothered that even with his height and Baekhyun’s unnatural hair color choice, he couldn't see him at all. Instead, shopping carts piled high with dog beds, multiple bags of dog food, boxes holding fish tanks, and sand for litter boxes run to and fro around the LED light lit store clearing the shelves of merchandise. He feels a push on his arm and once he looks at the person poking him, the butterflies he’d felt in the car rush back to him all at once. It was Baekhyun who’d been trying to get his attention. 

 

“It’s busy, right?” Baekhyun says, gazing at the scene with his hands on his hips, a soft smile on his face. “That’s how it is around here on mega sale day. I feel bad saying this but, Kyungsoo won’t let me off the hook today so if you wanna talk you have to look like you’re buying something.” Before Chanyeol can get a word in, Baekhyun’s manager calls him over his walkie talkie to register four and Baekhyun runs towards it, waving goodbye to Chanyeol. 

 

Chanyeol can only look after him, dumbfounded at how quickly Baekhyun had appeared and disappeared, like a strike of lightning. But if Baekhyun said that he had to look like a customer to talk to him, then that was exactly what he would do. He could buy a bunch of items in the store then refund it all tomorrow, plus he did have a shelf for everything now. So, he takes a basket and pops around the store choosing out items quickly until nothing else could fit into the blue basket that match Baekhyun’s uniform. Once he has a good fifteen items he stands behind about seven other people in line for access to register four. Now all he has to do is wait. 

 

As soon as Chanyeol has a basketful of miscellaneous pet items, he looks towards the rows of cash registers, trying to spot the pale pink hair that sticks out like a sore thumb in a sea of black and brown. Chanyeol lets out a sigh, it seems like it was time for another wild goose chase around the store to find the beauty in eyeliner and a blue uniform. He pushes up his sleeves, wrings out eat hand before taking hold of the basket again, and marches on, down aisle seven, back up aisle nine. He repeats this pattern, growing a little frustrated that it had been thirty minutes since he’d started venturing to find  the person he came here for.

 

Chanyeol bumps into someone as he’s walking up aisle sixteen, which holds the vast array of kitty litters, having forgotten to look where he was going. He begins bowing in apology when said person laughs. No, Chanyeol thinks, that’s not a laugh. That’s a cackle. And it was a cackle that could only belong to one person—Kim Jongdae. No other human on the planet could produce a sound so shrill and joyous as his old friend. 

 

“Jongdae?” Chanyeol mutters, confused. To be honest it doesn't look much like Jongdae at first glance, the only thing giving his identity away being the way his lips quirk up at the corners and his cat, Mao Mao, who Chanyeol can recognize too well in her ballerina ensemble. He’s wearing dark sunglasses that are too big for his face, a long leopard print coat and scarf, and he’s rhythmically Mao Mao’s fur as he carries her in his arms. 

 

“Chanyeol!” the ridiculously dressed man exclaims. His husband standing across him, in a get-up just as strange, greets him too. 

 

“Hello,” Minseok's says. Chanyeol stares at him dumbly. He has a cheap black beard that doesn’t match his blonde hair pasted on his chin and a forest green baseball cap resting on his head, quite the switch from his usual taste in more formal clothing, his closet an array of button down shirts and dress shoes. 

 

As Chanyeol sees who they had been talking to, supposedly helping them find the things they need, hearts fill his eyes.

 

“Chanyeol, you know these guys?” He hears Baekhyun ask him. 

 

Chanyeol nods with a sheepish smile. “Um…yeah”

 

 “Woah, small world,” Baekhyun grins. Chanyeol’s not so sure this whole endeavor was a coincidence. 

 

“Well, Chanyeol, don’t you think we deserve a proper introduction?” Chanyeol stares hard at Jongdae, trying to figure out just what he was playing at. 

 

“Sure. Um, Baekhyun, this is Jongdae and Minseok, old friends of mine. Jongdae and Minseok, this is Baekhyun, my friend?” Chanyeol rushes through saying the last part. He isn’t really sure what to call him and Baekhyun. Are they even friends yet? Does Baekhyun see him as a friend? Are they just acquaintances? Did he just everything up between them?

 

Jongdae cackles quietly to himself, probably only for Chanyeol to hear as he has his right arm draped across Chanyeol’s shoulders. “Ah, so this is the famous Baekhyun?” he smirks. Minseok chuckles too and Chanyeol looks at the both of them in disbelief.

 

Baekhyun, obviously amused, raises an eyebrow. “Oooh, Chanyeol, what did I do to make myself famous?”

 

Jongdae clears his throat to begin to speak but Chanyeol slaps a hand over his friend’s big mouth to stop him. As soon as he does, he realizes that it was probably not the best move, nor the most normal looking one but he didn’t care at this point. His reputation was at stake.  

 

Baekhyun shrugs, a playful glint still in his eyes and Chanyeol yelps when he feels something slimy against his palm. He rubs aways Jongdae’s saliva against his jeans viciously. Baekhyun is full on laughing now, he throws his head back, his pink bangs shifting with the movement, eyes twinkling, pulled into little crescents. “You guys seem like fun!”

 

“You’ve got that right,” Jongdae says proudly, “When you’ve known someone like Chanyeol for as long as I have, it’s never a dull moment.”

 

“How long have you two known each other?” Baekhyun asks, the opportunity to learn more about Chanyeol being one he couldn't let escape. 

 

Chanyeol looks at Minseok, his eyes pleading for him to take Jongdae away or shut him up—to do anything, just to prevent him from being embarrassed further. The bearded man just shook his head at him, taking Mao Mao from Jongdae’s arms to allow his husband full range of motion as he used his hands to animatedly talk about his and Chanyeol’s shared childhood. Minseok knew, as well as Chanyeol that anytime Jongdae could embarrass Chanyeol, he would, just to see Chanyeol’s reaction. 

 

“I’ve known Chanyeol since the the diaper days, Baekhyun,” Jongdae begins, with a wistful look in his eyes. “Those were good times, full of Kraft mac and cheese and the occasional playtime with the ferret—Of course, that was only until the rashes started. Then it was bye bye Pencil, and hello legos.”

 

“You had a ferret?” Baekhyun says, eyes widening. Not many people chose those creatures as a pet, he could count more people who kept spiders in their house willingly, even though they could be just as lovable as any other.

 

Jongdae waves his hand dismissively. “Nah, ferrets aren’t my style.” He gives Mao Mao a loving gaze, “I like cute little kitties like Mao Mao here. It was our Yeollie that had a ferret till he turned out to be allergic to the fur. Chanyeol was heartbroken when he had to give Pencil away, all for his own safety of course.” 

 

Baekhyun’s eyebrows furrow slightly in confusion and in the corner of his eye he can see Chanyeol tense at the mention of an allergy. All he can think of is the “No Dogd” sign he had seen when he’d casually driven past Chanyeol’s apartment building that one time…Baekhyun can see where this is going. 

 

Chanyeol stands speechless as Baekhyun looks at him, eyes narrowed. He was paralyzed. Everything was going to hell. was hitting the fan at this exact moment. “I can uh—”

 

He was interrupted immediately.  

 

“So, Jongdae, what you’re saying is that Chanyeol hasn't had a pet since he was little because of a fur allergy?” Baekhyun spoke clearly with an even voice. “Not one? Not even a fish? Nothing?” 

 

Minseok nods along with Jongdae. “Not one. And technically now he’s not as allergic to the fur, he just sneezes a lot. But he hasn't wanted to get another pet since Pencil and he’s hated fish for a long, long time; something about their ‘beady eyes.’ Besides that though, Chanyeol’s terrible at taking care of things, heck, he can barely even take care of himself. The only reason poor Pencil stayed alive was because his mom made sure to take extra good care of it.” The couple break out into a chorus of laughter, as if sharing a joke that neither Baekhyun nor Chanyeol wanted to try to understand. 

 

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol who tried to ignore his gaze. “So Chanyeol, how long have you had Toben for? What about Dasher and Dancer, Prancer and Vixen, Comet and Cupid, and Donner and Blitzen and, of course, Rudolph? You must have gotten them really recently if your friends didn't know about them.”

 

“About that…” Chanyeol says uneasily, shifting his weight from foot to foot. 

 

“Who’s Toben?” Minseok whispers beside them.

 

“Beats me,” his husband whispers back, equally confused as to why Santa’s reindeer were listed.

 

“Tobennie is Chanyeol’s little black dog,” Baekhyun replies for him. “I even have a picture.” He reaches into his back pocket to take out his phone and show the google image Chanyeol had sent him while they had been texting when Chanyeol stops him. 

 

“I may have stretched the truth about the amount of pets I own,” he says. 

 

Baekhyun raises both of his eyebrow, his mouth set in a straight line (and if Chanyeol hadn’t been staring at the floor he have seen the slightest bit of mischief lighting up his eyes) as if to say, ‘you think’? “So you only have half a Toben.” Baekhyun quips.

 

Jongdae claps his hands before he starts muffling his laughter and Minseok chuckles quietly alongside him. Chanyeol feels as though even Mao Mao is mocking him when he lets out a series of loud meows. With friends like these, he thinks, who needs enemies? 

 

“Baekhyun I—”

 

“Byun Baekhyun!” A voice screeches through the walkie talkie Baekhyun keeps attached to his hip. Baekhyun groans. “Please get your back to register four right this minute or else, you slacker!!” 

 

“Listen, I gotta go, I’ll deal with you later.” Baekhyun says before turning on his heels and jogging back to his position scanning items.

 

Chanyeol watches him go with the saddest expression on his face. His lips are turned down in a frown and he blinks his eyes repeatedly to get the water beginning to fill them to go away. He ruined it. Why had he thought lying to Baekhyun was a good idea in the first place? Jongdae pats his back a little too hard, and mutters something about just having to talk with Baekhyun so that he’d be able to forgive him. 

 

Chanyeol takes his cart full of pets supplies now obviously useless to him and jogs towards the cash register which Baekhyun is currently operating. He gets in line behind seven other people and waits, groaning for the fifth time in two minutes. For some reason a second feels like an hour and an minute feels like an eternity. Everybody seems to have taken one of every item in the store and Chanyeol mutters to himself, asking how many pets these people have to need so many things. He’s able to take one step forward before he’s stuck at a standstill again. He checks his watch, it’s been a wonderful thirty seven seconds since the last time he’d looked at it. The line is down to four people, compliments of what Chanyeol assumes to be Baekhyun’s rapid fire scanning skills. He finds himself thinking of Baekhyun’s hands and of Baekhyun again. What could he say? 

 

Three people left… 

Two people left… 

 

and then it’s him standing right in front of Baekhyun who ignores him and begins scanning his items, starting with the fish tank decoration in the shape of a rainbow. Chanyeol wills himself to say something but Baekhyun does it first. 

 

“So…Who are you getting all these things for? Your dog? Your fish maybe?”

 

“Baekhyun, please, please, please, let me explain. I really didn't mean to lie to your betray your trust or anything like that I swear. I just needed an excuse so I could come back here to see you again! How would I have talked to you if I weren't buying something I thought that’d be weird.” 

 

It’s hard for Baekhyun to keep himself from smiling while looking at Chanyeol’s embarrassed flushed face. There had been quite a few signs that he’d gathered along the way to make him think that maybe all of the pets that Chanyeol had tried so hard to talk about didn't exist. There was the apartment building signs, the picture of “Toben” (which Chanyeol had immediately recognized to be one of the internet puppy sensations, but he didn't say anything about it), and finally Jongdae and Minseok confirming his suspicions by telling him all about Chanyeol’s allergy and general dislike of keeping pets. The only reason he was dragging this along, albeit he must confess it wasn’t the nicest things to do, was because seeing Chanyeol flustered was really, really endearing. 

 

“Still…” Baekhyun said, managing to regain the slightest frown.

 

Chanyeol glances down nervously at Baekhyun’s hands which continue moving even though he wasn't looking at him. Seeing that his time in the checkout line was coming very quickly to an end, he became desperate (well, more desperate than he was before). 

 

“Please, Baekhyun! Isn’t there any way I can make it up to you?” 

 

“Hmmm,” Baekhyun hums, one finger pressed against his lips. He waits a bit, punches some numbers into the cash register’s keyboard and then smiles suddenly at Chanyeol. “With your Pet Palace member status, the total come to sixty eight dollars and seventy two cents, please. And I’d like to remind you that all purchases are final, no returns allowed.” Chanyeol’s eyes bulge at the price and he cries on the inside as he takes out his wallet and hands Baekhyun his card. 

 

When Baekhyun gives it back to him, he leans over the counter and says, “Meet me in thirty minutes when my shift’s over, okay?” 

 

“Okay.” Chanyeol replies, dazed, though inside his head he’s cheering because, Yes! He didn't ruin everything! Chanyeol has no other choice but to use the remaining thirty minutes to wander around aimlessly as he has become so accustomed to doing. He doesn't even try to hide how his pace quickens when he passes the hundreds of fish swimming in their tanks or the spider and snakes creeping and crawling in their cages. Even more terrifying, he finds two hard to miss employees in bright blue making out outside a door that reads “Staff Only”, probably leading to inventory. He shudders as he rushes past them, not wanting to witness or intrude on their very, very passionate display of PDA. Not wanting to go back tot just waiting, Chanyeol plays a few games on his phone before he heads towards the front of Pet Palace again, where he sees Baekhyun waiting for him, out of uniform, behind the automatic doors, which keep opening with every slight movement Baekhyun makes. 

 

“Was there something you wanted to tell me?” Chanyeol says once he reaches him. Baekhyun nods. 

 

“I’ll forget about the whole thing, if you take me on a date.” 

 

“Really? That’s it?? Baekhyun I—I was gonna do that anyway, are you sure?” 

 

“Do you want me to have you do something harder?” 

 

“NO!” Chanyeol yells, catching the attention of half the store and leaving his face burning again. “A date is good. I’ll take you on a  date. But um, what do you want to do?”

 

“For right now, you can come with me while I walk my dog. It’s not the date yet, though.” Baekhyun says pointedly. “I just got out of work, I didn't get ready enough.” 

 

“We don't have to take your dog, Baekhyun. We could just take the walk alone—You and I. You kinda look like a puppy anyways. ” Chanyeol grins and  goes to ruffle Baekhyun’s hair but his hand is quickly slapped away.

 

“Okay, okay, Chanyeol. Whatever you say. Can we get ice cream too?”

 

“Your treat?”

 

Baekhyun smiles sweetly, “Nope.”

 

♥︎the end♥︎