Kyungsoo’s face and hair are wet.

He wrinkles his eyes, pries them open. His clothes feel damp. Did he knock over a water cup in sleep? Did he forget to put on warm pajamas? Why is he so cold? Kyungsoo yawns, feeling more than uncomfortable. Everywhere, actually. Everything is uncomfortable. He’s cold, damp, and his body aches for some unknown reason. He digs his hands into wet earth. He eyes shoot straight open, and he looks at his fingers. They come up coated in dirt, and in that instant Kyungsoo is wide awake.

“What the hell?!” He shoves himself to his feet, legs wobbling. The ground is unsteady, rocky, dewey. There’s a small blanket wrapped around his feet. Kyungsoo shouts again and almost trips. He catches himself before it’s too late, curses a couple of times, then dares to look around himself.

He’s on a cliff. An actual, ing cliff. Two meters from the edge, and when he shuffles over on nervous, overly cautious feet, it’s to find he can’t really see the ground due to fog but it does seem like an awful long drop.

This is not where he fell asleep. This is not the last thing he remembers from last night.

There’s a churning kind of panic developing in his gut. He’s shivering from the cold. Desperate, he turns in circles trying to determine where he is, or what could have happened. Nothing is recognizable. This is not where he’s supposed to be!

“I sleepwalked, okay…” Kyungsoo doesn’t sleepwalk. Ever. At least no one has ever told him he does. Maybe he’s been sleepwalking his whole life and just never realized it? No. That’s impossible. This is, this is just weird and he doesn’t understand. Kyungsoo fell asleep… where? In his bed?Wasn’t he in his bed?? And woke up, here? On the edge of a cliff with a tiny picnic blanket and an… empty bottle of wine?

He’d kicked it in his panicked state. The bottle rolls towards the cliff and Kyungsoo envisions in slow motion it falling over the edge, falling countless lengths below, shattering into a million pieces. He dives for it before it can happen. The bottle safely clasped between his hands, he sits up and peeks back over the edge. There’s nobody around. Just Kyungsoo, a picnic blanket, an empty bottle of wine and… shoes he’s never seen before. On his feet.

All at once he realizes why he’s feeling so awkward. He’s wearing somebody else’s shoes. And somebody else’s pants. He’s never seen these jeans before, and this sweater… definitely not his. Point in fact, he doesn’t even know his own hands.

Kyungsoo gasps. The bottle drops between his legs. Something about the label is familiar to him, just not familiar enough, and he’d examine that thought further if he wasn’t suddenly aware that these are not his hands. And these arms are not his arms. A strangled sound echoes from his throat, higher than he should sound. There’s stubble on his chin. Several days worth of it. Kyungsoo never lets that much stubble accrue.

He settles back for staring at his hands.

He knows these hands.

, he knows them!

Maybe?!

Maybe not?!!

Nothing in his brain is working. Kyungsoo feels around his face, it’s definitely a different shape. His hair is longer. He’s not wearing glasses. Or contacts. Which strikes him as the weirdest thing because Kyungsoo can actually see.

Somewhere between the dawn and the full morning sun, Kyungsoo sitting on that cliff contemplating his life, he realizes that this isn’t even him. He’s dreaming. It’s an actual nightmare. A waking nightmare. He’s in someone else’s body and he doesn’t know where he is. He doesn’t know how to get home, and the worst thing is he can’t. wake. himself. up.

 

Baekhyun rolls over and yawns.

Damn, what a comfy bed this is! He’s snug as a bug, and if that isn’t the first clue something is wrong then it’s because he is way too warm and cozy to care. A warm ray of sun pokes at him through the window, and he turns away, buries his face deeper into the pillow.

He sneezes.

“What the heck?”

He’s sleeping on a feather pillow? That’s not right! Last night Baekhyun was… wait, where actually is he?

He sits upright in the bed, heart rate skyrocketing as he looks around himself in a panic. He’s in a bedroom. A stranger’s bedroom. That… that shouldn’t be possible. Baekhyun doesn’t just go to sleep in a stranger’s room. He doesn’t sleep around. He doesn’t even stay the night at his friends’ homes when he goes to visit. He always goes home.

“What in the world is…” Baekhyun stops and throws a hand to his throat. That is not his voice. It’s too deep, too groggy. Where the hell is he, and why can’t he see anything clearly? Is there a fog over the room, did he leave a window open? Is that why he doesn’t recognize his own-

Wait.

Baekhyun absolutely did not fall asleep in a bed last night. The last thing he remembers is a picturesque sunset, clouds rolling over the mountains, losing his backpack and not even caring because what the hell, he might as well sit down and watch the sun go down…

His phone rings.

No. Not his phone. A phone.

He doesn’t recognize the ringtone, but it’s sitting on the table beside the bed. On a good day Baekhyun wouldn’t pick up an unknown call, but theunknown caller lists a number beneath it. His number.

“Hello?” He answers the phone shakily. Nothing is working right. Not his eyes, not his memory, not his voice.

The stranger on the other side of the line just breathes into the mic for a few seconds.

“Hello?” Baekhyun says again.

And then the person speaks. “T-That’s, that’s my voice.”

Panic drops in Baekhyun’s gut. “Whaat? Say…. say that again.”

“That’s my voice. Who are you? Why do you have my phone?”

Why do you have my voice?! Baekhyun wants to scream. Instead, he forces himself to say casually, “You’re calling from my phone… So uhh.” Baekhyun cuts off just to breathe. “Who are you?”

“I’m Kyungsoo. Who are you?”

“Baekhyun. Uhh, nice to meet you but uhm,” he’s almost too scared to ask. “ Where are you?”

The man on the other side of the line huffs angrily. “How am I supposed to know that, Baekhyun. Have you looked in a mirror lately?”

“No?”

“Well then do it!”

 

Half an hour later, Baekhyun is driving a stranger’s car—No, Kyungsoo’s car—down the highway on his way out of town praying he remembers where exactly he left the road and which hiking trail he took.

“Did you find the hollow tree?” He shrieks into to the phone he’s put on speaker.

Kyungsoo grumbles. In Baekhyun’s voice. “No? Wait, yes. I think I see it.”

“Good! Keep going past there, and you should see the trail. Take the right fork down… NO, the left fork! Take the left one. Sorry, I’m trying to remember in reverse what I did yesterday and- this is crazy!”

Crazy. That’s the hundredth time he’s said that word in the last half hour. Because he did indeed find a mirror, and he does indeed look like somebody else. He’s in another man’s body, and that man is currently lost in the mountains because Baekhyun had to go all nature-hiking yesterday in his pseudo-anxious state and-

“Did you find the fork!?”

More silence, then a moan and the sounds of this stranger person, Kyungsoo, cursing from a distance. “Can you not yell into the phone? My head hurts. How much did you drink last night?”

“I don’t know?! Half a bottle?! I don’t remember!”

“You’re an idiot. You’re a crazy, lunatic. You went out by yourself, lost your stuff, drank half a bottle of wine, and then had the indecency to actually fall asleep like that?! I am absolutely blaming you for whatever’s happened to us, okay? Do you hear me?!”

“Copy that,” says Baekhyun while thinking, wow, I sound scary when I’m mad.

By some miracle, he manages to park the car next to his car at the base of the mountain trail. And five minutes later he helps Kyungsoo navigate down to the parking lot.

It’s even more surreal than he’s been imagining this whole time. Kyungsoo rounds the corner around the last mountain brush, Baekhyun’s phone slowly lowering from his ear. And Baekhyun is staring at… Baekhyun. A very disgruntled, pissed off, Baekhyun. And only he would detect the minute facial emotion on that dirty, stubbled face. Fear. Kyungsoo, in Baekhyun’s body, is afraid.

“Hi,” he says.

“Hi,” says the other man back.

 

This is not the first time they met.

It happened years ago.

Cue the sounds of a charity event, chatter, polite laughter, and a few good-humored arguments among business types and minor socialites amidst a fleet of waiters and waitresses bearing wine glasses and hor 'd oeuvres. Baekhyun stands at one end of the banquet hall, Kyungsoo another. They do not meet, they don’t even see each other. Their respective names are mentioned by affiliated parties and the phrase, “I should really introduce you to [Kyungsoo/Baekhyun]. You’re in similar industries. I bet you’d really hit it off.”

But they don’t even get the chance. They’re too busy being too important. The event ends for the night as the universe churns unhappily.

 

Kyungsoo’s flat is spectacularly clean. That’s the first thing Baekhyun notices. He squints around the room, playing with the glasses on this face which he cannot get used to wearing. Without them though he is hopelessly lost. He follows his lookalike into the main room. The man who wears Baekhyun’s body sits down on a sofa, arms outstretched. It looks wrong. Baekhyun doesn’t know this house, he shouldn’t be so comfortable sitting down. Kyungsoo indicates that he should take a seat though and he follows the instructions quickly.

“Okay, let’s get this over with,” says Kyungsoo in Baekhyun’s voice.

“Get what over with?” asks Baekhyun.

“This? Our faces, our bodies. We swapped bodies if you hadn’t noticed.”

Baekhyun huffs. “I did notice, actually. But why do you seem to assume this is my fault?”

“Because it’s definitely not mine?”

That’s an unfair statement if ever Baekhyun heard one. “So it must be me, then? Let me just recall if I’ve done any weird magic tricks lately, err, nope. Visited a shaman? Don’t remember one. Drank a poisoned beverage, not that I’m aware of.”

“But you did drink last night.”

“A couple glasses of wine? That’s it? I was stressed. So sue me.”

“Well, you were the one who went out galavanting and passed out on a cliff.”

“And you were the one snoozing happily in your bed, excuse me if I don’t exactly understand where you’re coming from. It’s not like I deliberately asked some deity to please swap places with someone I don’t even know or like, okay?”

Part of him wishes he’d insisted on going back to his apartment. Then he’d be on his own turf; he could likelier have held his own instead of doing this face - off (hah!) with Kyungsoo.

He sighs, whips the glasses off the bridge of his nose, and s his head down, meeting the inside of his—Kyungsoo’s—palm, burying his eyes and groaning.

“Watch out for my glasses,” says Kyungsoo cautiously.

Baekhyun deigns to set them on the coffee table between them before going back to his pout. This is not how he should be de-stressing right now. When Baekhyun needs a break, he needs a nature walk and at least one night of recklessness. It was all going so well until he woke up and realized the universe must be playing tricks on him.

When he dares to look up, Kyungsoo is practically buzzing on the couch. He chews on his lower lip, knee bouncing riotously. He keeps trailing his hand over his--Baekhyun’s--unshaven face like it personally offends him.

“Tell me about yourself,” says Kyungsoo finally.

“Uhm. I’m in advertising? I don’t know. What else would you like me to tell you.”

“The password to your computer and all important files in case I have to go to work still pretending to be you?”

Baekhyun’s jaw drops. For a second, he even in believes Kyungsoo’s sincerity. Then Kyungsoo’s smile crooks to the side and he laughs. Baekhyun blinks away the shock. After all, he always did look good laughing.

“Passwords, check. Drivers’ license you already have. Would you like my social security too?”

“That would be nice,” says Kyungsoo, smiling. “Uhm, I’m in marketing, I guess.”

“You guess?” Baekhyun cracks a smile. It feels weird in his face, liking he’s using a brand new set of muscles. “Don’t you know where you work?”

 

Kyungsoo frowns over his laptop, glasses falling down low over the bridge of his nose. He whips them off even though he knows it doesn’t help. He’s nearsighted, sure, but he also gets outrageous headaches if he isn’t wearing them.

Emails, so many emails. He deletes the obvious spam messages, bookmarks a few things to read for later. He’s searching for that one product report forwarded by some guy from an associate company. But the hour is late and his brain refuses to focus.

“Gotcha,” he whispers finally.

Even then his the data and numbers blur before his eyes. He struggles to make it through, jots down some notes and a quick reply to the sender.

Re: [email protected]

Thanks for the stats. I should have the updated report back with your office by Thursday. We should probably talk in person then.

Do Kyungsoo

COO, Diamond Marketers

 

But the sender evidently doesn’t agree or is too swamped himself to take on the account. Kyungsoo is contacted three days by a junior director who waxes so poetic about the wine label they’re representing that Kyungsoo gets an even bigger headache and forgets about the original sender at all. The label goes public and becomes a huge success and that’s the last Kyungsoo hears of the product. So he thinks.

 

Shaving off that stubble has done a huge improvement for his mood. Kyungsoo stares at his face in the mirror, the first he’s had to really look at himself. He puts Baekhyun around thirty-five years old give or take a few. Handsome, fit. Exhausted. There are dark circles under his eyes and wrinkles around his brows.

“You never said why you have the urge to go hiking by yourself on a mountain,” he says entering the living room again and addressing the strange embodiment of himself sitting on a chair. “Isn’t that kind of dangerous?”

“Is it?” says Baekhyun with a grin. “Well, I go from time to time. Usually by myself. Hey, you had cell reception, remember? Don’t make it out as all that bad.”

“My legs hurt, which mean you don’t work out nearly as often as you should.”

“Are you seriously judging my body right now? Because between you and me, you have a bit of a … tummy.”

Kyungsoo scowls distastefully. “That’s none of your business.”

“No? Well, then leave my poor legs alone.”

Kyungsoo smirks. He’s getting more and more used to their banter by now. Truthfully he’s more than a little terrified about this whole predicament, and his and Baekhyun’s antics make it easier to get by. Getting stuck in someone else's body isn’t exactly how he expected this weekend to go down. What if they can’t figure this out? What if they never switch back? Kyungsoo has an important job. He’s got friends and family. What if he never gets to see them again? What if they never see him again, but only Kyungsoo in another man’s body?

They go out for breakfast. There’s nothing to eat in Kyungsoo's flat and no obvious quick fix for their problem.

Baekhyun stares over the breakfast menu, still fidgeting with his glasses until, “Oh. Right. I don’t need them right now.”

Kyungsoo clicks his tongue. “Put ‘em back on.”

When Baekhyun stares at him—Kyungsoo actually taken about by how scary his glare is—he amends it. “Please? I get headaches a lot. Trust me, you’ll wish you did.”

“Fine,” says Baekhyun, glasses returned and eyes snapping back down to the menu. “Anything else I should know?”

“Uhhh,” Kyungsoo thinks. “No dairy?”

“, are you for real?”

Kyungsoo shrugs.

The waiter arrives and Baekhyun orders. Kyungsoo puts down his menu and stretches, preparing to give his order when Baekhyun quickly interjects. “Oh! No caffeine! Seriously. You do not want to see what I’m like on caffeine!”

Kyungsoo, who’s been looking forward to his coffee all morning, just groans.

“The pancakes, please,” he tells the waiter. “And, uhm. Decaf?” Baekhyun eyebrows shoot up. “Tea?”

He cringes.

 

“You sure you won’t let me set you up on a blind date?”

Baekhyun, huffing against the rock wall, shakes his head. “I told you, Myun, I really don’t have the time. There’s a board meeting this Friday, no less than five dinners the following the week. When am I supposed to have time to date?”

Joonmyun grunts. His right hand slips as he hangs on for dear life with the left. Now half a meter below Baekhyun, he calls, “I thought you were in advertising? Since when are you practically manager of the board?”

“It’s called being a director!”

After they’ve released their straps and lowered to the ground, Joonmyun tries again. “But he’s a really cool guy. Kyungs-“

“Give it a rest. I barely manage to make time for you and you’re my best friend. Now you want to take out a slice of your pie and give it to someone else?”

Joonmyun sulks all the way to the changing room. “Since when did you make me out to be so selfish? I’m only thinking of your future and your happiness.”

“I’m doing fine right now, buddy, but thanks!”

And he doesn’t bring it up again.

 

“Okay, so how do we change back?” asks Kyungsoo seriously.

Baekhyun hums. It sounds so different from when he would hum. He tries clearing his throat, hums again. Then he sings a few notes, followed by a scale.

“What are you doing?” Kyungsoo demands know.

“Getting a little early practice for my inevitable career change. Hey, can you sing? It sounds like you probably could.”

“I-I don’t know.” Kyungsoo stutters.

“Maybe we can try karaoke later. By the way, can I borrow my phone back?”

“Why? You can’t make phone calls with my voice, what will he people think?” he says, panicked.

“I’m not going to call anyone. I can text, will you relax already? I have like three appointments to cancel between now and Monday. Unless you’d like to show up in my place?”

Even texting with Kyungsoo’s fingers is harder than it should be. Baekhyun sighs as he whips off the last text. He’s going to have so many things to make up this week, assuming they find out how to switch back.

“Okay, you were saying?”

Kyungsoo sighs. “We need to figure out how to fix this?”

“Right. Good thinking. Let’s start with the obvious.”

“Obvious?”

“Yeah. We could… kiss?”

Kyungsoo makes a disgusted face. “No way!”

“Have ?”

“Absolutely not!”

“Okay, well there went my two primary ideas.”

“That’s it? You seriously don’t have any other ideas about what we could do?”

Baekhyun shrugs. “Like I said, I’m just as ignorant as you are. Why do you think I must have the answers? What do you think we should do?”

As expected, Kyungsoo doesn’t have any better suggestions.

“That’s it,” says Baekhyun after a while. “I know what we can do.”

“What?” Kyungsoo looks so hopeful.

“We consult… the Internet.”

 

Sehun lounges on Kyungsoo’s sofa, head hanging halfway off, a bowl of popcorn mostly forgotten on the floor beside him. He’s giving Kyungsoo that look. The kind Kyungsoo would definitely like to avoid. Whenever Sehun looks serious it’s never very good.

“Hyung.”

And yep, here it comes. “What?”

“Remember when we dated?”

Right on cue Kyungsoo says, “We did not date,” through gritted teeth.

Sehun grins. Kyungsoo hates that grin, and this is not the first time they’ve had this conversation.

“Funny of you to say that, because I clearly remember a day… oh four or five years ago when you clearly took me out to dinner—“

“That was not a date.”

“—and friend-zoned me right after.”

“We were already friends. We are still friends.”

“My point is that in all of these years you’ve never taken anyone out to dinner even. Anyone.”

Kyungsoo’s aware of this. He does it for a reason. It has to do with failed cues and miscommunication and feelings people have for him that he does not and likely never will reciprocate. Of course, now that Sehun brings it up again, Kyungsoo can’t help meditating about it. He knows he’s busy, he knows he has a demanding job. He also knows plenty of people who have similar careers and they also manage to have boyfriends, girlfriends, spouses, kids. Maybe that could be him one day. Kyungsoo hasn’t technically ruled it out, it’s just that now isn’t the right now. And maybe now will never be the right time. He doesn’t need all that to make himself feel fulfilled.

Although sometimes, he does often wonder what it would be like. To be close to someone. Someone different than a friend.

“Sehun,” he begins, sighing. “I know what you’re trying to tell me. I get it, I do. Just, not right now, alright?”

Sehun is awfully and uncharacteristically quiet for a long time. Then he says finally, “Alright.”

 

The internet is, obviously, a little bit unhelpful. Baekhyun is scrolling through sites on Kyungsoo’s laptop they set up on the kitchen counter fingers fumbling over the keyboard like he can’t remember how to use them while Kyungsoo paces behind him. He’s almost starting to get used to Baekhyun’s body. How it works, maneuvers, and so on. They’re nearly the same height, pretty damned close to the same weight. Baekhyun’s stomach though is just a bit firmer than Kyungsoo’s, plus he has more muscle tone to his arms and legs especially. Kyungsoo’s not jealous. It’s just, strange.

“Nope, another dud,” says Baekhyun closing out another page.

Kyungsoo huffs. “I’m not sure why you even thought this would help? I mean, it’s the internet?”

So far they’ve come across a myriad of online spell books, incantations, potions ingredients for video games and one rather good article about the mechanism of bodyswapping in the Kdrama Secret Garden but nothing that looks even remotely legit.

Baekhyun shrugs. “Well. You never know. I mean, unless this is one really elaborate dream we are both having, body swapping is obviously real.”

“Honestly, I haven’t ruled out this being a dream. In case you’re wondering.”

“Neither have I, Kyungsoo. Neither have I.” Baekhyun laughs. A moment later he stops and tries to pinch himself.

“What are you doing!” Kyungsoo cries out in alarm. If Baekhyun leaves a single mark on his body…

Baekhyun winces but doesn’t seem harmed. “Meh, pinching yourself is never as good as doing it to another. Come here, let me try it on you.”

“Ouch!” says Kyungsoo. He rubs his arm, the skin barely reddened, but nope, it doesn’t seem like this is a dream.

“See?” says Baekhyun. “Not a dream. Although, whoever said pinching yourself could prove you weren’t in a dream? Couldn’t a person just dream up a scenario where they’re trying to wake up, but a pinch doesn’t work?”

Kyungsoo grumbles. “So what next?”

Baekhyun grins. “We still haven’t tried that kiss.”

He narrows his eyes. “I am not kissing you! Besides, that would be like, kissing myself.”

“So close your eyes. We make this quick.”

Kyungsoo would like to protest but Baekhyun is already coming at him fast. Before he can object or cry out, he does the only thing he can. He shuts his eyes and braces for impact…

Kissing Baekhyun is weird. Their lips meet in a soft collision, and that’s pretty much it. No sparks flying, no reversal of whatever magic got them into this predicament. Baekhyun doesn’t touch him anywhere else. He’s barely even within a foot standing distance. It’s actually a tiny bit uncomfortable, standing at an angle with someone else’s lips on his, and nothing else.

Eventually, Kyungsoo opens his eyes. He gasps when he sees himself staring back, perplexed and anxious.

Baekhyun stands up. “Huh. Okay, so that didn’t work.”

Very covertly, Kyungsoo turns away and wipes his lips. He has goosebumps but it’s for all the wrong reasons. He just kissed somebody. A stranger. In his own house. Somehow the sanctity of his flat feels violated. And the person running around in his body, a body which should be feeling grossed out, is just standing there fidgeting while Baekhyun frowns and tries to come up with another plan which will make them switch back.

Kyungsoo lets him muse over this on his own time. He steals the laptop back and very pointedly turns it around, beginning to check over his emails. It’s been such a strange day that he hasn’t thought about work even once.

“Are you really doing work, right now?”

“You sent out text messages already. Can’t I at least check my email? Or does the fact we kissed mean I somehow should be doing something else.”

Baekhyun grumbles, “Hmm, good point. Carry on,” and sets out to explore more of Kyungsoo’s flat. Under normal circumstances, Kyungsoo would be reluctant to let a stranger wander around his place but well, this stranger looks exactly like himself, and today has been anything but normal.

(He even kissed him!)

But back to work, Kyungsoo shakes his head, willing himself to focus. Emails, so many emails. He deletes the obvious spam messages, bookmarks a few things to read for later. The daily routine. He picks out one from his boss which requires an immediate response, then drafts out a couple of others to some co-workers, one to a client, and finally he’s down to just a few left.

He mutters under his breath when he sees his associate’s message about some project they’re working on together and under that, yet another plea to hang out tonight and meet some of his friends. This guy, he sighs. Always trying to get him out socializing. They don’t even work for the same firm, they just seem to do similar work in their small corner of the market. Kyungsoo replies thanks and no.

He sits back. The response comes back almost immediately. Just this once? You promised just once.

Kyungsoo sighs. And it’s today, of all days! Even if he wanted to relent, today is just not going to happen. What timing he has! “Joonmyun, seriously?”

He hears Baekhyun crash into the doorframe coming out of the nearest bathroom.

“Excuse me, what did you just say?”

Kyungsoo swivels on his stool. “Uh, nothing? I was just replying to emails.”

Baekhyun comes stomping toward him, head crooked sideways as he doubts himself. “No. You said a name. What did you say?”

Kyungsoo frowns at him and glances at the laptop like it’s going to save him. “Joonmyun? He’s a guy I know.”

“Joonmyun?” Baekhyun shouts suddenly. “Kim Joonmyun? Brown hair? Same height. Gorgeously handsome but weird as , Kim Joonmyun?”

Slowly, very slowly, Kyungsoo’s jaw falls open. “You… know him?”

“Know him!” Baekhyun plants his hands on his hips. Kyungsoo is repulsed to see such a stance on his body, but Baekhyun doesn’t give him time to dwell on it. “Know him? He’s my best friend! Who are you that you know him?”

“I’m… just Kyungsoo? We’ve worked on a few projects together. It’s not a big deal. We aren’t even that close…”

But Baekhyun suddenly gasps. “!!”

Kyungsoo blinks. “What?”

“!”

He blinks again, this time shaking his head. “Uhm, I really don’t know what you’re …”

“Holy . You’re Do Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo! , I should have recognized that name. Oh my God, it’s all starting to make sense.”

“Okay. That’s great. Now if you will just explain it to me?” says Kyungsoo as rationally as he can manage. When truthfully he’s starting to panic because he doesn’t know why this relates or why it’s important. Joonmyun’s just a guy he knows, but he’s never met Baekhyun before so why does it matter that he’s Baekhyun’s best friend-

“Kyungsoo,” says Baekhyun, miraculously not shouting anymore. “Joonmyun’s been trying to set us up for years.” His eyes are huge, his mouth agape.

And all of a sudden, Kyungsoo gets it too. “Ohh, .”

 

They walk side by side into the restaurant Joonmyun texted. It’s set up like a sports bar, TV’s hanging from every wall, various matches and events, a different sport on each wall. Baekhyun is nervous as hell, but he’s almost positive this is what everything was leading up to now.

He could laugh himself silly right now. Here he is, dressed in unfamiliar clothes, wearing glasses of all things because he can’t see worth a damn, and right beside him is … Kyungsoo, looking just as awkward.

Baekhyun had pulled out his phone again, reversing the decision he’d sent Joonmyun earlier about not being able to attend tonight’s gathering. Likewise, Kyungsoo had relented and emailed him back promising to be here. They didn’t say anything more than that.

“There they are,” he whispers to Kyungsoo, calmly petting his arms for comfort, though it might just be more for himself than for Kyungsoo.

Joonmyun is sitting with his back to them, a cocktail in his hand, appetizers laid out before him. There are three other guys scattered around the table, some of whom he recognizes, one whom he does not.

“You ready?”

Kyungsoo shakes his head. “Nope. But I guess we better get this over with.”

“Right then. Get set, lights, camera, action…”

Together they ford the sea of tables, meandering past sprawling customers and waiters bearing their trays of food and drink. With each step, Baekhyun feels closer and closer to destiny. He’s also, to put it bluntly, scared out of his mind.

They step up to the table, and Baekhyun clears his throat purposefully.

Joonmyun cranes his neck around. “Ohh, hey Kyungsoo. And uhm… OH. Baekhyun. You… Wait a sec, did you… both just get here?”

Neither of them answers, but before Baekhyun can take a seat he’s thumped smartly over the back by a monster of a hand.

“Soo! You’re here! You didn’t tell me you were coming!”

And Baekhyun is bodily swiveled into a hug with a towering stranger who’s practically choking him to death and cackling delightedly at the result.

“Sehun,” says Kyungsoo abruptly.

The choke hold comes to an end. Baekhyun coughs and splutters, but the man, Sehun is looking strangely between him and Kyungsoo.

“Uhm, yes. Sorry, have we met?” he’s asking Kyungsoo, technically Baekhyun’s body.

Kyungsoo grimaces. “Sorry, uhm. I’ve just heard your name? You’re Sehun, right? Kyungsoo’s friend?”

So this isn’t going to be awkward at all. Baekhyun glances panicked at Kyungsoo but this isn’t the time for a change of plans. He can only assume he’s going to be stuck with Sehun hovering over him for the rest of the evening.

They take their seats next to each other, opposite Joonmyun who, short of looking surprised doesn’t seem to know anything is wrong. Baekhyun hastily crosses him off the mental list he has where Joonmyun, unbeknownst to Baekhyun for a decade, is some kind of witch.

The non-witch says, “Really, this is strange. Did you meet in the parking or something? I was gonna introd-“

Kyungsoo cuts him off. “Yeah, we met outside!”

“We’re actually friends!” Baekhyun throws out for fun.

Besides an elbow to the rib, there’s no further retaliation. Kyungsoo glares at him nervously with a look that says what are you doing?

Not that Baekhyun knows. They didn’t exactly have the best plan going into this. Show up at the dinner. Say hello. See what happens. Only now is he starting to realizing the logistical nightmare of being in another person’s body while in the presence of each of their respective friends. Apart from Joonmyun and Sehun, there is Jongin who also works with them, and Jongdae, a friend of Joonmyun’s. Baekhyun likes them both, but he doesn’t know if Kyungsoo is supposed to know them, or if he does, how well. And judging by his frightened looks around the table, Baekhyun’s guessing not.

He can’t even help him. He’s supposed to be Kyungsoo.

They’re sitting awfully close together. Baekhyun avoids Joonmyun’s questioning glances, though most are directed to Kyungsoo (as Baekhyun). And Kyungsoo is doing a hell of a good job avoiding everything. The problem is he’s so un-Baekhyun-like he’s doing more to draw suspicion than if they were to come right out and say Hey guys we swapped bodies!

Somehow the night passes anyway. Time mows right on despite the circumstances. Baekhyun talks too much for what Kyungsoo is probably like, and Kyungsoo is too quiet, but nobody actually asks them anything too pertinent.

Joonmyun leans back in his chair, scratching his head, well into the second hour, “I just can’t wrap my head around the fact you guys are friends? I mean, all this time… ”

“Tell me about it,” says Baekhyun, acting grumpy. He thinks that’s how Kyungsoo would sound.

Joonmyun smiles, and Sehun laughs. Baekhyun thinks he’s more in danger from Kyungsoo’s friend than anyone there. The man keeps stealing bizarre looks in their direction. Finally, he sighs, throws back a swig of his beer, and pulls out his phone to text.

It’s at this moment Baekhyun realizes their error.

Kyungsoo’s text tone goes off, but it’s in what looks like Baekhyun’s pocket.

Both of them freeze. Sehun looks up sharply, Joonmyun gapes. Jongin and Jongdae don’t make a move because they don’t know what’s going on, but as the other four fall still, Jongdae laughs and says, “Something wrong? Didn’t know we had a no phones during dinner policy?”

Sehun speaks, deadly quiet. “Kyungsoo?”

Baekhyun knows he should say something. He knows for a fact he’s good at running his mouth but in this situation, he can’t remember how to move his lips.

Finally, Kyungsoo answers. “It’s me. I’m Kyungsoo…” A resigned tone to Baekhyun’s voice.

Baekhyun himself actually chokes. The table goes silent. Joonmyun’s lower jaw drops open. Sehun titters in disbelief. How long it goes on he’s beginning to lose count. Something in him aches to confirm, or maybe even deny it. But then Sehun laughs again, and it breaks the ice as he says, “Wow, that’s really funny.”

Then Joonmyun follows it up with a pleased, “I’m… I’m really glad you’re getting along.”

They think it’s a joke, and Kyungsoo sits there in pained silence as Baekhyun tries to laugh and play it along. He nudges him with his elbow and Kyungsoo laughs awkwardly, but at least he’s smiling. The tension around the table dissipates and returns to normal.

 

If Kyungsoo thought going to the dinner would actually change things—like their bodies—or provide some clarity as to their next course of action, he’s thoroughly disappointed. The two of them return home together, first to Baekhyun’s apartment to pick up some things, then to Kyungsoo’s flat to spend the night just in case.

Kyungsoo’s head is pounding. Perhaps the stress of being in another person’s body for almost an entire day is getting to him. That or the ruse ofpretending at the dinner party was more than he could handle.

He changes into a pair of pajamas, which Baekhyun looks at and then laughs at for being completely un-Baekhyunlike.

“If you think we’re sharing a bed, think again,” he tells him when Baekhyun follows him to the doorway of his bedroom.

“Excuse me, but you forget who I’m sleeping as. You really want your precious body on the floor tonight?”

Kyungsoo sniffs. “My couch is really comfy. You and I both will live.”

Baekhyun shrugs. “Suit yourself then when we wake up back in our original bodies and your neck and back are aching.”

Kyungsoo considers this for a moment. Then he makes the ultimate sacrifice, selects one pillow off his bed, and throws it to Baekhyun.

Still, neither one of them move.

Kyungsoo hums and frets with the covers on his bed, fluffs the remaining pillows. Baekhyun remains in the doorway observing him with an eerie expression Kyungsoo can only blame it on being his face.

“You really think it’ll happen? Us turning back during the night?”

Baekhyun frowns. “I don’t know. But what else are we supposed to do?”

 

Kyungsoo sleeps fretfully. He tosses and turns, dreams things he’s never seen and done before. Dreams about being a person he’s never been… until today. Flashes of Baekhyun’s face in a mirror, Baekhyun’s laughter in his ears. Baekhyun this, Baekhyun that, people talking to him like he’s him, until Kyungsoo can’t handle it anymore and he sits bolt upright in bed with sweat pouring from his neck and brow, breathing heavy and freaked out of his own mind.

Instantly he raises his hands and turns them around, but in the dark, it’s impossible to tell. He’s also high strung enough that he can’t even tell just by how his body feels. Kyungsoo tosses the blankets aside and whips his feet onto the ground. He tears across the room and into the bathroom, flipping the switch as he prepares to look in the mirror.

The person staring back at him… is not Kyungsoo.

Baekhyun’s face peers at in him the mirror with a look so thoroughly dejected he might cry.

Slowly, he regains his consciousness fully, just in time for the soft shuffle of feet making their way into the room behind him. Baekhyun, still as Kyungsoo, yawns, stepping into the light under the vanity.

“You were really hopeful, right? I’m sorry it didn’t work out. I woke up half an hour ago and did the same thing.”

Kyungsoo’s lower lip quivers. He tears his gaze away from the offending face in the mirror, pushes past Baekhyun and climbs back into his bed.

Baekhyun comes to sit on the edge. He makes no witty quips, doesn’t try to joke, or in fact comfort Kyungsoo at all with his newest latest scheme to put everything back to rights. He just sits there, and something about that makes Kyungsoo sadder than usual.

The clock on the dresser reads only 5:23 AM.

“Move over,” says Baekhyun softly. And Kyungsoo doesn’t even have time to object. He scoots in the bed, and Baekhyun lifts the covers and climbs right in beside him. For a little while, they just lay there in silence. Kyungsoo almost believes Baekhyun has already fallen asleep.

Then he says, “Tell me about your childhood. Let’s start at the beginning, yeah? Case we’re stuck like this forever.”

Kyungsoo huffs. “You think we could do that? Pretend to be each other forever?”

“No. Not unless we practice.”

Kyungsoo frowns, aware that it must go unnoticed in the darkness. With a sigh, he says, “Dinner didn’t go so well, did it.”

“Hmm, I don’t know about that, but it had its moments.”

“My birthday is January 12, 1993.”

“Really? May 6, 1992.”

“I wanted to be a fireman.”

Baekhyun chuckles. “No way! Me too.”

“Everyone wants to be a fireman at least once in their life. It’s not like that’s special,” Kyungsoo sniffs.

“Maybe not. Still, I know that much more about you, and you about me. Come on. What else have we got to do today.”

“I don’t know?” says Kyungsoo. “Panic?”

“Panicking’s for people without options. But you and me, Kyungsoo? Right now we’ve got each other.”

Somewhere after 6:00 AM Kyungsoo forgets to look at the clock. He forgets he’s laying in bed with a stranger, forgets that occasionally their feet touch under the covers, or that Baekhyun looks like Kyungsoo, and Kyungsoo him. They’re just two people talking about their life stories, all the little things in life, their worst fears, their happiest memories, their family and their friends.

Somewhere after sunrise, when they’ve exhausted the topic of their careers, and mused a thousand times over how they’ve been interacting this whole time through work and didn’t even know it; when the rays of the sun creep through the blinds, and Kyungsoo sighs and closes his eyes; sometime after laughing and giggling, guffawing and growing fondly exasperated, Kyungsoo gets a strange feeling in his stomach.

Laying here, with Baekhyun at his side, it feels a little like contentment. Like companionship.

How long has it been, that he’s had someone like this? Someone who wasn’t Sehun who could make Kyungsoo laugh, make him feel at ease. Someone with whom he could just talk forever?

He sighs happily, arms around his head, eyes shut tight against the sunlight and feeling thoroughly rested in spite of his restless sleep and active morning.

Kyungsoo could lay here a long while. It’s his last day of the weekend, another day to figure out this mess of theirs before they have to face the Monday and the real world with all its underlying problems. Could he live like Baekhyun? Maybe. Could Baekhyun live like him? Arguably not, but Kyungsoo smiles at the prospect of them trying.

And then Baekhyun shouts.

“Kyungsoo!!!”

“What?!” Kyungsoo’s eyes pop open. His heart rate jackrabbits a million beats and beyond. “What!?”

“Kyungsoo, get up! Look! Look at ourselves!!! LOOK!”

Instantly, he panics. Now, finally, he panics! Could it be possible, is it actually? With trembling eyes, he holds up his hands before him. They look… like his hands, his fingers… the same little moles on the back of his arm. Kyungsoo’s arms.

He screams.

Baekhyun bolts out of bed, also screaming.

Then they’re yelling at each other and pointing at each other’s faces and jumping up and down, and the joy Kyungsoo feels is expounded by the Baekhyun’s exclamations of glee.

“We’re ourselves again! We’re ourselves again!”

It takes a good half hour before they can calm themselves down, leaps of joy simmering to a pleasant comfort as they share a small breakfast in Kyungsoo’s kitchen, still smiling, full of relief, of happiness.

Baekhyun eventually s his emptied bowl away from himself, leans back in his chair stretching, and says, “Well, now what.”

“What do you mean?” Kyungsoo asks.

“I mean, what now? We’re back to ourselves. The universe has apparently given us a reprieve. I suppose we can just go our separate ways again.”

Baekhyun has got this weird look to his face. And now that’s not Kyungsoo’s face, but his own, Kyungsoo thinks it’s just suspicious.

“What are you getting at?”

“I don’t know. But like, don’t think you think, after all this hard work, it’d be sad to go home.”

“I’m already home, so no.”

Baekhyun sighs, but he says fondly, “Kyungsoo… You know what. Yesterday was, kind of fun. I mean, I haven’t had a stress free day like that in ages.”

“You call that stress free?”

“Well, no. But… you understand what I mean, right?”

And oddly enough, yes, Kyungsoo thinks he does. After all this time, yesterday and last night, and the hours they spent talking to each other, Kyungsoo does realize that he’d feel lonely again if Baekhyun just… left. After all, there had to be a point to it all, right?

“So, what you’re saying is… you want to hang out today? You and me?”

“In our rightful bodies, yeah.”

“Like, a date?”

Baekhyun crooks his head and grins cautiously. “Look, Kyungsoo, it can be anything you want it to be, okay?”

Kyungsoo shouldn’t be feeling this giddy. But he smiles too and says, “That, that sounds like fun.”

 

End.