"So, typically how long does it take for you to find someone's match?", Jongdae asked, as he stared at the half finished essay on his laptop screen, having gone completely blank, still he didn't want to give up.

It had already been two weeks of Baekhyun living with Jongdae, in those two weeks Jongdae had found that living with the god was different from what he had expected.

He had expected Baekhyun to nosily look through his belongings for the remainder of his stay but had stopped doing so on the third day, claiming to have gotten all the information he needed. He still stared,but per Jongdae's request and teaching, he does it in a less intense and obvious way.

Baekhyun also found it quite amusing to annoy Jongdae, purposely placing books in his way, rearranging Jongdae's belongings, flickering lights especially when Jongdae was in the bathroom, and eating foods Jongdae continuously told him he was saving for later. Jongdae could only whine and threaten to kick him out, but the god always pointed out he couldn't as they had signed an agreement the second day of his stay. Something Jongdae often regrets doing but he's a man of his word so he sticks to punching Baekhyun's arm or kicking him when Baekhyun's too busy laughing.

Asides from using his powers for small pranks or mundane tasks, Baekhyun didn't use them for much else, so often times he seemed like any other regular mortal. If it wasn't for the fact that he kept wearing the same spotless white outfit, which didn't smell or get dirty (Jongdae knows, he purposely spilled juice on him, but the outfit remained clean, his living room floor however could not say the same). When questioned on it, Baekhyun had simply replied that he liked the outfit and would not change no matter how much Jongdae pestered.

"Still so eager to get rid of me, I see",Baekhyun surfed the TV using his powers to swipe to the next channel even though the remote was in the coffee table in front of him.

"That's not why-well not the only reason why, I'm just wondering",

Baekhyun stops at a rerun of Friends settling back on the couch comfortably.

"Usually a month, sometimes more. There are 7 billion people and counting on the planet you know",

"Are you telling me you go through all of them?!",

"Not initially, I start with the people in the surrounding area first",

"So there's no one around here for me?",

"There's a lot of people in Seoul, patience duckling. Going through all of them here takes a while,"

"Well you should probably do that instead of watching TV",Jongdae suggested.

Baekhyun scoffed.

"I'm a god, I can multitask. Unlike you,"He said pointedly staring at the laptop in Jongdae's lap, prompting Jongdae to close it.

"Anyways, the essay isn't due till 3 am, I can finish it later",Jongdae placed the laptop aside,"I've been thinking about something",

"Do you have any pop tarts? I just remembered those are a thing and I want some",

"No, now listen-",

"Shame, you should buy some next time you go grocery shopping, which you really need to do by the way. I know you're a starving college student but at the rate you're going, you'll die of hunger before I can find you your match",

"It would get me out of doing that essay-but look, so you know about soulmates and stuff right? When you pair people up, you said you had a picture. What kind of picture? Is it of soulmates? Or is it just like true love-I heard there's a difference. In your opinion which one is more ideal?",

"For someone who was so skeptical about the ''love god'' and love in general you sure do have a lot of questions",Baekhyun commented but began to think about his answer,"True love and soul mates are different, though there are some who think they go in hand in hand. I don't think they do. Ideally, falling in love with your soulmate is probably the better choice. But sometimes there's true love, that love could be between people who maybe haven't been destined but they feel that they have, and they're feelings are perhaps stronger than any destiny",

Jongdae stared at Baekhyun, the way he talked about love and matters of the heart, he didn't seem so childish but like an actual god. Someone wise and all knowing, someone powerful but soft and beautiful all the same.

"I'm trying to find you your soul mate, true love can be...quite a challenge...more hurtful, more dangerous and painful for one's heart",

"Sounds like you've experienced it",Jongdae couldn't help but interject.

Baekhyun shook his head.

"I haven't but I do have some friends...The point is, that's what I'm searching for-",Jongdae opened his mouth to ask something else,"-And before you ask, I will not tell you what Chanyeol and Kyungsoo are. They deserve their privacy",

Jongdae spluttered. "W-what? Why?! Privacy? You told them my prayer in its entirety",Jongdae huffed. "Fine, don't tell me...They were soulmates, right?",Jongdae questioned but when Baekhyun didn't give a reaction he continued,"True love, then",

"Let's go grocery shopping now, I really want those pop tarts", Baekhyun sprung up from the couch.

"I don't have money", Jongdae pointed out.

"I do, some people are quite generous with their offerings",Baekhyun took out an envelope from his pants pocket that Jongdae was sure had not been there before."Now come on, you can get some food for yourself too",

__________________________________________________________________________

The amount of money Baekhyun had was apparently enough to keep Jongdae from eating only ramen for the next six months.

"Why didn't you tell me you had money earlier?",Jongdae pushed around the shopping cart as Baekhyun tossed in stuff.

"The offering was only recently dropped off, now for what we came for-which one should I get",Baekhyun tapped his lips in thought staring at the wide array of pop tarts.

"I like the chocolate ones or maybe cinnamon",Jongdae suggested.

"Strawberry sounds nice",Baekhyun nodded to himself.

"You didn't even listen to me!",

Baekhyun grabbed the box of strawberry pop tarts before grabbing two more and placing them in the cart and smiling at Jongdae.

"I listened but I didn't care",

"You are incredibly rude for a god that I allowed to stay at my apartment",Jongdae pouted.

"Me? Rude? I'm a blessing, tell me hasn't your life seemed more bright with me around?",Baekhyun teased.

Jongdae refused to admit that even though Baekhyun was joking, his life had gotten brighter. Maybe it was that he wasn't living alone anymore, also that he had someone to play around and joke with, someone to tease and argue, basically someone he hadn't had in awhile once everyone started coupling off.

Jongdae loved Chanyeol and Kyungsoo, he was happy for them too, but a part of him always felt just a tad awkward and like a loner when the two started acting all coupley whenever he was with them.

So, having Baekhyun around was like having another friend, although he wasn't quite sure if that's what the god considered him and Jongdae would never ask, thinking it might be better not to.

"Whatever, let's just go pay, we've got everything we need",Jongdae pushed the cart forward accidentally colliding with another cart that was turning to enter. "Oh! I'm so sorry",

"No it's my fault, I'm sorry-",Both Jongdae and the person apologize before Jongdae realizes who it is.

Junmyeon and Yixing smile at him.

"Jongdae! Hi, we didn't expect to see you here", Yixing greeted.

"Are grocery stores off limits to a peasant like me?",Jongdae joked.

Junmyeon laughed.

"Not at all. But we weren't expecting to see you till the ball, and also with a new friend",There's a tone in Junmyeon's voice that's asking if Baekhyun really is just a ''friend''.

Baekhyun smiles at them.

"Hello, I'm Baekhyun, Byun Baekhyun",Baekhyun introduced himself and shook both Yixing's and Junmyeon's hands,"I'm a friend recently living with Jongdae till my home is fixed, it's going under renovations", Jongdae was impressed at the smooth lie.

"Oh, well it's nice to meet you. Also, since you're a friend of Jongdae's, maybe you might be interested in coming to this party we're having-",

"How big is this going to be? Last I heard you've been inviting anyone you come across",Jongdae interrupted.

"We might've rented a bigger place than we first intended" ,Yixing admitted.

"But that's alright! We should invite anyone, spread the love and all that", Junmyeon explained with a laugh.

Baekhyun chuckled.

"I'd be happy to attend, thank you", Baekhyun agreed as Jongdae shot him a look.

"Alright, we'll see you there",Junmyeon and Yixing departed as they continued down the aisle.

"What was that? Why did you agree?", Jongdae turned to Baekhyun once Junmyeon and Yixing were out of sight.

"Are you saying you expected me to miss out a love ball, me?  An actual love god. On Valentine's Day",Baekhyun looked appalled at the mere thought of it.

"But now they'll think I'm going with you! Which defeats the purpose of me getting my match!",

"Does not. I'll find you your match before the ball comes around, you'll ask them, fall in love and boom, my job is done. Besides, it's been awhile since I've been to a mortal ball, it'll be interesting",

"You'll really find my match before the ball?",

"Calm my duckling, I'm sure they're near. Now come on,"Baekhyun pulled at the cart,"I want to eat my pop tarts already",

"I feel like your priorities don't exactly include my love life",

"I'm a love god, not a cupid",

"What's the difference?", 

Baekhyun gasped as if Jongdae had cursed him.

"Everything! Hello? Do you see me with wings? An arrow? Those guys are reckless, shooting them everywhere and at anyone. It's us love gods that fix their messes", He huffed.

Jongdae raised an eyebrow.

"Arrows? Does that mean they could get me a date faster than you can?",

"If you want to end up dating a horrible person, then sure. I, however will set you up with someone nice and suited for you. You want to get your heart broken? Call a cupid. Want to find your match? That's where I come in",

"You learn something new every day", Jongdae took out the food from the cart so they can check out. After Baekhyun finished paying, they divided the bags so that they both carry an even amount of food.

"So, about cupid, there's more than one?", Jongdae asked as they walked back to Jongdae's apartment.

"Of course, those winged troublemakers are every where",

"I don't think you have any right to call anyone a trouble maker",

"I'm not a trouble maker! I'm just playful, those cupids get a real kick when messing with people's feelings and hearts. They're anything but kind-hearted",

"I'm guessing you've run into them quite often as a love god",

"Run into them?",Baekhyun shook his head,"I dated one",

Jongdae's eyes widened in surprise.

"You dated a cupid?! Wait-Gods can date? Isn't that a forbidden thing? I assumed, anyway",

Baekhyun made a face.

"It's not technically forbidden, unless we're talking about a mortal and god relationship. That's a no-no. As for dating other immortals of sorts, that's fine. But let me tell you, no way am I dating a cupid again, bastard played with my heart as much as he did with those of humans",

"But you can fall in love?...I didn't know that...I always thought gods were in a way like robots or something, like caring robots. They can care about humans and love them, but they can't fall in love with them because they're not capable of loving",

Baekhyun raised an eyebrow.

"Where the hell did you get that from? Some gods can act cold and heartless sometimes, I'll give you that but we're capable of various emotions as well"

"Were you in love with that cupid?",

"No, I wasn't",

Jongdae was taken aback at the sure and quick answer, he had expected Baekhyun to at least think about it.

"I'm kind of glad for that though. I think I would've been more upset if I had been",Baekhyun chuckled and Jongdae looked at him.

"What?",

Baekhyun shook his head. "Just thought of something ironic",

"Well I am a big fan of irony",

Baekhyun sighed.

"I'm a love god",He began chuckling again, like the first day Jongdae had met him, he noted that the god had a very beautiful smile,"But I've never been in love before...isn't that weird?",

Jongdae couldn't help but smile when Baekhyun turned to look at him.

"I don't think so...I mean, I've always been the friend who listens and gives advice on relationships even though I've only dated like two people before. Neither was for very long either, but yet I think my advice and answers to them are very wise. Maybe because you can see things clearer as an outsider,"

Baekhyun hummed.

"But I don't know..that's probably not at all what being a love god is...actually, you know, even though you're annoying-", 

"Gee thanks". 

 "And even though I might go alone like a loser to that ball, I want you to take your time. With finding my match I mean...I just realized I might've been pressuring you, you're a god but you're still a minor god so you're not as powerful as them-," 

 "Again, gee thanks". 

 "But that's cool. I can wait, I don't want to rush either",

Baekhyun looked at him and gave him a half smile.

"I told you I won't take that long. But if I do, you won't go solo. You can take me",He grinned,"An actual love god, everyone would be amazed that someone as lame as you could get someone as wonderful as me",

"I take everything I said back, find my match and get out of my house",

"Ah, why?! ~", Baekhyun mimicked Jongdae's whining.

"You're horrible",

"Let's have spaghetti for dinner! Pop tarts can be our dessert", Baekhyun ignored him

One month, Jongdae, just one month, he thought as he followed Baekhyun into the apartment building.