Ever since Sehun had convinced Chanyeol to make a tinder profile, his face became acquainted with having a phone dropped on it in the dead of the night when Chanyeol stayed up swiping through people.

Chanyeol, however, wasn’t a quick learner and on a particular night, he found himself interested in this one guy’s profile. In fact, he stared at his pictures for nearly ten minutes before he moved to swipe left because the guy looked too far out his league.

As Chanyeol moved his finger, his phone fell from his hands and onto his face. When he opened his eyes, he saw the match screen, along with a blue star in the middle, signifying that not only had he dropped his phone on his face, but he’d also super-liked the Baekhyun guy on accident.

He debated going and unmatching to save himself some face, but when he didn’t get a message in the five minutes Chanyeol stared at the match in disbelief, he figured that maybe Baekhyun would just ghost him and he wouldn’t have to bother unmatching.

Despite how levelheaded he was when he came to that decision, his heart skipped in his chest, and his stomach lurched.

Why would someone like Baekhyun be interested and swipe right on him? The guy seemed entirely too intellectual and gorgeous even to want to be bothered with someone as tall, lanky and corny as himself.

After all, his profile consisted of nothing but a list of his hobbies and a few dad jokes here and there, whereas Baekhyun’s spoke about how he desired to find a person to have deep and meaningful conversations with, especially with things involving space and cats.

The most Chanyeol knew about space were limited to what was in the Star Wars movies.

 

It took nearly twenty minutes of candy crush and a few deep breaths before he was able to calm himself down to go to bed. When he rolled over to go to sleep, he failed to see his screen light up with a notification.

Instead, he saw it in the morning, and just the thought of Baekhyun messaging Chanyeol first sent his nerves into overdrive the rest of the day. He kept messing up cords and blanking out on his guitar students, dropping pieces of pasta off his fork at lunch, and he’d walked into about three walls before the day was finished.

Only when he was back home, vacantly staring at the TV as some stupid reality show came on, did he fish out his phone and open the app to read the actual message.

Wow, a super like? I’m flattered ~_~ Am I that cute?

His fingers hovered over the screen, and he debated what to type, trying to come up with something witty, yet also showcase his very corny personality, which Chanyeol considered to be one of his best traits.

Finally, he thought of a passable reply and sent it, gritting his teeth the entire time because the whole situation was more than shooting his shot. No, he was shooting the ball from half court and could only hope that it at least grazed the hoop or backboard.

Would you be mad if I told you that the super-like was an accident, but that yes, you *are* that cute?

After he finished typing and sent the message, he threw his phone on the couch and jumped up from his seat, immediately pacing the room.

Would his flattery actually get him somewhere or would Baekhyun think he was boring?

A few moments later, his phone lit up with another notification.

Well, I’m not mad, but I’m glad we matched. You’re not bad yourself. Not to be too forward, but are you looking for a hook-up or relationship? Your profile doesn’t say anything, so I wanted to know, so I don’t ask any uncomfortable questions.

His fingers typed faster this time, and he repeatedly typed and erased various responses, eventually settling on something simple.

I’m not the best at hook-ups so I would say a relationship, but what about you? I know your profile said something about wanting someone to talk to.

Chanyeol wanted to type more, but he decided against it. That’d been enough, and if Baekhyun was interested, he’d open the conversation for more in-depth explanations.

Another notification.

Well good. I’m not the hook-up type either. How about we continue this over text? This feels so impersonal, and I like you so far.

Following the message, Baekhyun listed his number and Chanyeol copied it then saved it into his phone.

Everything was going so smoothly that Chanyeol felt the hair on the back of his neck stand because it was too smooth.

Too perfect to be true. Something had to give.

 

Growing up, kids made fun of him for various reasons whether it’d been his weight, his unexplainable love for ferrets or his large ears that he never quite grew into. As a result, he was always on guard and uneasy when things went too smoothly, especially a potential romantic relationship.

It wouldn’t be the first time he’d made that mistake, and for his own sake, he’d like to keep it from happening again if possible.

Chanyeol pressed the message button and thought about what to type before he sent a message to the number.

You’re not going to pop out my closet and tell me I’m being punked or anything will you?

For a moment, the typing bubble came up on the screen, and Chanyeol waited, and his stomach tossed.

No, unless you want me to hide in your closet and scare you. It sounds like fun, but definitely not ideal for a first date.

A date? Baekhyun wanted to go on a date? Date him?

The thought sent Chanyeol’s nerves into overdrive, and he stuck the tip of his thumb into his mouth, chewing the nail.

He went on like that for nearly ten minutes until his phone dinged again with more messages from Baekhyun.

Chanyeol?

Still there?

Chanyeol’s heart sped up when more typing bubbles appeared on the screen, then disappeared half a dozen times before the screen of his phone finally dimmed, then went to sleep. The entire time Chanyeol stared at it, finally looking away when he heard a knock at his door.

“Why do you look surprised? We made plans to chill yesterday,” Sehun commented after he gave Chanyeol a once-over. When he didn’t receive a reaction, he slipped off his shoes and pushed past Chanyeol, claiming his usual spot on the man’s couch.

“Sorry, I’ve just been um preoccupied, I forgot,” Chanyeol finally answered, his voice flat as he eyed his dark phone screen. Sehun’s eyebrows quirked, interested as he reached for it, quickly typing Chanyeol’s password and eyeing the exchange with Baekhyun.

If it’d been anyone else, Chanyeol would’ve had a problem at the blatant disregard of his privacy, but since it was Sehun, Chanyeol didn’t even blink. Instead, he just hunched his shoulders and sunk deeper into the couch.

“He seems really into you. Why are you ignoring him?”

“I just don’t know how to reply. What if he’s like, pretending to be into me? He’s way too hot for me,” Sehun put Chanyeol’s phone down and patted his friend on the shoulder with a sad smile on his face.

“There so no such thing as ‘too hot’ for you. We both know you’re a catch and anyone would be lucky to even breathe the same air as you. Also, if Baekhyun didn’t like you, he wouldn’t be wasting his time. This isn’t high school anymore.” The words got a small nod from Chanyeol, and he unlocked his phone again, his fingers hovering over the keyboard as he thought about what to type back.

Yeah, I’m here, just had to run a quick errand.

Sure he was lying, but it was way too early in their interactions for Chanyeol to disclose the recurring downward plunges in his self-esteem. He’d save that for the third date, thank you very much.

Ah okay. Sorry if I’m being too needy or impatient. But speaking of errands, I have to go to work in a bit, but I was wondering if you wanted to do dinner tomorrow night? There this new Poké place near my house and I heard it’s good.

Sure. What time?

Is 8 good? We can meet up there, or I can pick you up? Whatever is better?

“Despite what you say, you’re actually pretty good at texting,” Sehun whistled, wiggling his eyebrows at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol collected air in his cheeks and made a face at Sehun in response, which earned him a hard poke in the cheek, “stop being a coward and make it clear that you’re asking him out.”

The air rushed from Chanyeol’s mouth with a puff, and he stared down at his phone because Sehun was right.

8 sounds perfect actually. See you then~

 

And just like that Park Chanyeol found himself nervously buttoning his shirt in the mirror as he looked over himself one more time. It was nearly 7:45, and he needed to leave his house soon if he wanted to make it to the restaurant on time.

The moment he arrived, nearly tripping through the door, he recognized Baekhyun.

The pictures on his profile barely did him justice with his honey blonde hair and smooth skin. Chanyeol briefly thought about asking him for skin care tips but decided against it last minute.

He wanted to make a good first impression.

Chanyeol stood in front of Baekhyun for a few moments before the man looked up, recognizing him immediately.

“Ah, you’re here! How long have you been standing there?” Baekhyun sounded embarrassed, and Chanyeol made a mental note of how cute he looked as his cheeks turned a light pink.

“Not too long, but it’s alright. Should we get a table? I heard this place gets packed at dinner time,” Baekhyun nodded and stood up.

It was then that Chanyeol noticed just how much shorter Baekhyun was than him.

Cute.

 

To Chanyeol’s surprise, the date went well, and he and Baekhyun hit it off.

They liked the same kind of music—90’s grunge and 80’s pop—and the same TV shows. They even discovered that they’d gone to the same college, but unlike Baekhyun who’d graduated after three and half years, Chanyeol had dropped out due to disinterest.

“So, this guy tried to tell me that the 80’s wasn’t Madonna’s golden years and I couldn’t take it anymore. I just walked away from him,” Baekhyun explained, telling Chanyeol in great detail about his last Tinder date as they walked around the empty streets.

“Well I’m glad you didn’t walk away from me,” Chanyeol muttered more to himself than Baekhyun, but the man heard him anyway.

For some reason, he didn’t offer a response and only reached for Chanyeol’s hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Chanyeol picked up the sentiment immediately, and a small smile graced his lips. Even though they were walking, now that Baekhyun was holding his hand, his heart was racing.

“I don’t usually hold hands on the first date, but I’ll make an exception,” as Baekhyun said the words, he realized that he’d already made plenty of exceptions for Chanyeol that night and he was about to make one more.

Chanyeol tried to be suave and said the line, “what else don’t you do on a first date?” but as he said it out loud, he immediately regretted it and wished he could shove the words back inside. Baekhyun, however, glanced up at Chanyeol, then let out a laugh that sounded like it came from the pit of his stomach.

When he finished laughing, he stopped walking, “this.”. Chanyeol also stopped, and he looked at the shorter man in confusion. Without warning, Baekhyun rocked forward and place a soft peck on Chanyeol’s lips.

As he pulled away, he took in Chanyeol’s reaction and immediately started to freak out. Chanyeol’s expression looked akin to a short-circuited robot. Only after Baekhyun waved a hand in front of his face did he finally blink.

“I’m so sorry, I should’ve asked first, I—” Baekhyun went to ramble on, but Chanyeol stopped him by holding up his hand. There was a sheepish smile stretched across his lips and a light flush across his cheeks, “no it’s okay Baekhyun. I liked it. It’s okay.”

After that, they both walked in silence for a minute before Chanyeol cleared his throat, “would it be too much if I asked for another date?” Baekhyun looked up at Chanyeol with an incredulous expression on his face.

“I was going to ask you the same actually,” Baekhyun admitted with a bright smile on his face.

Chanyeol could’ve sworn his heart stopped for a few beats.