It’s raining hard and Minseok-

Well, Minseok has a lot of regrets as per usual.

In general, Minseok does enjoy the rain. That is if he’s indoors, dry, enjoying the sound of the rain and occasional thunder overhead. If that’s the case, Minseok loves the rain.

But right now he’s outdoors, on a rooftop that is more bird-dropping than actual rooftop, attempting to find a way to set up the overnight cameras where the weather wouldn’t effect the footage. And of course it was the combined hare-brained idea and logic of Baekhyun, Jongdae, and Chanyeol that the durability and weather-proof-ness of their camera setup should be tested while it was raining.

So here was Minseok, head to toe in rain-proof clothing, rubber boots that are a little big on him that makes every foot fall heavier than it needed to be, setting up Chanyeol’s guaranteed waterproof camera.

Of course Minseok does not doubt Chanyeol’s word- he knows this brand of camera, knows its durability capacities and capabilities, of course Minseok knows this. But there’s something about Chanyeol, combined with both Baekhyun and Jongdae that just warrants a heavy amount of precaution.

Chanyeol was a good friend of both Jongdae and Baekhyun, as well as Minseok’s. He was a popular YouTuber and had a massive following for his original music production, video editing, and (as Baekhyun puts it) handsome dorkiness which was greatly appreciated by all genders.

In the past, Chanyeol used to help Baekhyun and Jongdae with their channel- giving them pointers and random information that went beyond the basic ‘try and find a niche and stand-out amongst all other channels, be really chatty but also seductive’ kind of advise.

And on social media, the two channels did enjoy a light and comedic banter here and there- an interaction that fans from both sides as well as mutual subscribers enjoyed.

‘You guys could maybe stack up and be like We Bare Bears,’ is the first thing Chanyeol says when they had arrived that morning.

He’s instantly assaulted by Baekhyun who flies across the doorway, managing to grapple the tall lanky boy and putting him in a headlock.

‘Yield!’ Baekhyun says in a comically threatening voice.

‘Never!’ Chanyeol gasps out, grinning brightly though his face was slowly turning very red.

‘Didn’t know you had a choking kink, does Kyungsoo know? He’d be more than ready to oblige but for other reasons,’ Jongdae chortles as he puts down his bags.

Chanyeol manages to get a grip on Baekhyun and flips him. Minseok isn’t too worried. Despite Baekhyun’s appearances, he was trained and surprisingly strong and athletic. Instead Minseok is worried about Chanyeol who despite looking quite hulky was prone to forgetting his height and length, his center of gravity just a little bit off.

A handsome walking disaster, Jongdae had once said, to which Minseok heartily agrees.

‘It’s nice seeing you guys!’ Chanyeol pants out, eyes sparkling and enthusiasm high as though Baekhyun hadn’t nearly choked him. Baekhyun bounces up as well, hair fluffed up, enthusiasm on par with Chanyeol’s. And somehow Jongdae’s enthusiasm seems to sky-rocket with this as well, and Minseok is-

Well, Minseok is already tired.

‘I’m sorry we weren’t able to plan things out better and we just kinda have to wing ,’ Chanyeol says apologetically as he guides them into his very nice penthouse. Chanyeol was not only a successful YouTuber but also a very successful music producer. That, plus some very good investments, Chanyeol was able to live a very good life for himself.

Minseok is more than just a little proud.

‘Winging is our motto!’ Baekhyun declares before throwing himself onto a very comfy looking couch by a massive window looking down the city.

‘You guys want something to eat?’ Chanyeol asks as he marches up to his exposed-brick and industrial themed kitchen that has only probably seen instant noodles being cooked in it.

‘Serve us your best snacks,’ Jongdae says solemnly, taking a seat as well.

‘Hyung! You want this really good drip-coffee?’ Chanyeol asks, opening a cupboard above his head that Minseok knows none of them could reach.

‘Why aren’t you offering us this coffee?’ Jongdae demands, affronted.

‘Minseok-hyung likes coffee? Duh?’ Chanyeol snorts.

‘I too, am a massive fan of coffee and demand to have this drip-coffee!’

‘Enough coffee talk, more spooky talk- hit us with your story bro,’ Baekhyun interrupts.

Chanyeol had moved into this penthouse some months back. But it was only about a month ago that he had also purchased the very rundown and broken up shed-like storeroom-like maintenance room on the rooftop. After patching up the leaking roof, by himself (the vlog was absolutely hilarious because he filmed himself throughout this whole process), and adding a new layer of plaster, paint, and doing some heavy cleaning, the shed/storeroom/maintenance room was transformed into a neat little workspace.

Chanyeol was a bit of a Renaissance man in the sense he could do almost everything. And in his most recent hobby development, he had picked up making music-boxes. Minseok had watched him putting one together and had been absolutely impressed and slightly in awe. It was also somehow adorable watching Chanyeol, hunkered over a small item with tiny tools, creating a small and tiny music-box.

He had done a give-away for his first ever successful music-box and according to what Minseok heard, he had over 50,000 people signing up for the chance to get it.

Chanyeol had some very expensive equipment in here, which was why he had not only installed a security system synced up to his phone, but also a heavy physical padlock system over his doors and windows.

‘But- things keep moving around,’ Chanyeol tells them. ‘I’ll have left the studio for the night, with like, my around the table, and then when I come back later, everything’s been moved.’

‘No one else has access to the studio?’

‘No one,’ Chanyeol nods at once, ‘No one’s allowed in.’

‘Not even Kyungsoo?’ Baekhyun asks off-handedly.

‘I- I mean-‘ Chanyeol splutters.

‘So no one has access,’ Minseok cuts in, amused with the look of gratitude Chanyeol gives him. ‘How long has this been going on?’

‘It started about a week after I finished setting everything up,’ Chanyeol replies, ‘I mean at first I didn’t notice I’ll be honest- I just thought that I wasn’t paying attention. But then I was fixing up the Ghibli music-box, and I had left everything out in the open and gone to bed. The next morning all of parts and tools were arranged back inside the boxes?’

‘This sounds like a poltergeist!’ Baekhyun instantly exclaims, looking both excited and then immediately nervous.

Jongdae looks less excited. Obviously he’s thinking about a lot of logical explanations to this situation. But he’s also confused because they all know Chanyeol. He was not the type to make things up, least of all anything supernatural because of his natural aversion towards it. Chanyeol existed closer to Baekhyun’s alignment in the supernatural spectrum without the strange desire to prove his beliefs right. Chanyeol believed in the supernatural and would very much not like to be a part of it.

‘Anything else?’ Jongdae asks.

‘Things move around a lot,’ Chanyeol begins, ‘And I’ll be honest, after that I kinda uh- didn’t go back in?’

Baekhyun nods in understanding while Jongdae tries not to smile.

‘I guess I’ll show you guys?’ Chanyeol stands.

‘Yeah, we can start taping from here I guess,’ Minseok adds, ‘We can film the tour first.’

Working with Chanyeol is easy because, being in the same field of work, he knew what to do and even offered his input on placing cameras, setting up the sound and mic.

‘So you’re the only one with the keys to the roof?’ Baekhyun asks as they exit the penthouse to the hallway outside. Down the very end of the wide and well-lit hallway is a staircase leading upwards.

‘Yeah – it’s just me, and the guards downstairs.’

‘Do you think the guards would want to like, mess with you or something?’ Jongdae asks.

‘I really doubt it- also everything happens inside the studio, not outside- you’d still need my access codes and keys to get in there even if you manage to get to the roof.’ Chanyeol explains.

He was genuinely worried of course, and Minseok understands.

There’s a strange moment of wondering if you’re truly losing your mind when things are not how you left them. As a kid, Minseok remembers how in his school, his homeroom teacher often lashed out at the kids for moving about his belongings. Minseok and his classmates were regularly put in detention or suffered through long lectures. Minseok couldn’t tell the truth, that the room was spectacularly haunted by a dark wisp of a being that lingered in the corners of the room, under the desks, and most of all, swung by its neck right over the teachers desk.

Minseok had been extremely relieved once they moved on to another class.

So far, Chanyeol’s penthouse had not set off any personal alarms. But hauntings were odd- not all held the same pattern or needs. It was very possible that only this studio space was haunted. Maybe Chanyeol unwittingly brought in with him some spirit with something he bought. As long as it wasn’t causing him any harm, this spirit sounded absolutely harmless. Maybe it just wanted to organize Chanyeol’s mess.

It’s windy in a way that promises rain. The clouds above are dark and swirling.

‘Gross man, couldn’t you have like, cleaned up the roof area too?’ Baekhyun comments, looking down at the immense layer of bird-droppings.

‘I’ve asked maintenance but they said the rain would take care of it?’ Chanyeol replies with a small shrug.

The rooftop is wide, water reserve tanks huddled along the edge, massive turbine fans and vents line at random and tall chimney like protrusions stick out every now and then.

‘This has a very urban aesthetic to it- is that why you wanted the space?’ Jongdae asks, shivering slightly as they follow Chanyeol across the rooftop towards a square room set up randomly to the side. Minseok spies a sort of garden next to the studio room.

‘A bit,’ Chanyeol grins, ‘But it’s also because it takes my mind out of the usual thinking space I guess.’

‘Valid,’ Baekhyun nods, looking over his shoulder to give a thumb’s up.

‘Are you trying to garden?’ Jongdae inquires as they get closer.

‘Uh- not exactly but I’m trying not to let anything die,’ Chanyeol laughs. ‘These were all here before- I think they’re like plants and stuff people left behind after moving out of the building, and it’s just been gathered here by the maintenance staff.’

There’s a small collection of shrubs, small fruit trees, large heavy pots of flowering plants. There were also large trays of what was once clearly a kitchen garden, with herb pots, jars, and cups, now overflowing with basil, rosemary, and mint. There’s even a collection of hedge-like bushes in heavy looking concrete planters.

‘I kinda want that climber to grow all over the side,’ Chanyeol points to a small but sturdy looking evergreen plant with dark pointy leaves. ‘I hope I can get it up.’

‘Please vlog it, I’m sure it’ll be a fun time-lapse to keep.’ Jongdae says earnestly, crouching a little to look at the plant.’

‘Okay so this is it,’ Chanyeol pauses before the door, the padlock heavy, the door evidently thick and sturdy.

‘Great, lead the way,’ Baekhyun gestures before turning back to face Minseok, ‘This is the main zone of activity- where Chanyeol has been experiencing a lot of misplacement of his items.’

Stepping in Minseok feels absolutely nothing.

It’s a nice space, Chanyeol has done a good job. There were a total of 6 windows, all narrow and thin, and very sturdy looking, with the hatch inside so there’s no way of opening them from the outside unless you evidently broke it. There’s a small ventilation shaft that connected to the air-conditioning unit Chanyeol had set-up by himself in a compressed 5 hour video. His main work table is set up against two walls, while comfortable chairs and floor pillows were strewn around floor. Evidently, Chanyeol has not been up here in a while, what with the fine layer of dust over his exposed equipment.

After a short tour during which it starts to rain, they start setting up the cameras. Chanyeol gives Minseok his rubber boots and an entire weather-proof suit he had bought for himself so that he could garden in the rain. Minseok decides not to question this thought-process that lead to this purchase because he was now at least weather-proof, setting up the cameras near the garden area so that they had surveillance from the outside in case someone was pulling some sort of prank on Chanyeol.

Minseok is surprisingly dry when he returns downstairs, just in time to say goodbye to Chanyeol who would return the next morning.

‘All right!’ Baekhyun says as they close the door, turning to face the camera, ‘Time to throw a party in Studio NNG!’

Jongdae laughs heartily in the background.

It’s only raining lightly when they’re back on the rooftop. It was now quite dark, and the only lights they had were from their water-proof flashlights. Minseok is not sure if Baekhyun was shivering from the cold or from being nervous. Jongdae on the other hand was thoroughly enjoying himself, beaming, his fringe and face wet as he splashes Minseok a little.

‘I will end you,’ Minseok threatens to no avail.

Minseok doesn’t know what to make of this story. There was no way Chanyeol was genuinely losing his mind, but he was definitely convinced something had happened, was happening in his little studio. But Minseok can’t sense anything, can’t feel anything. Even Baekhyun didn’t look too scared, though when he does his 10 minutes of walking around the empty and high rooftop alone in the rain, he’s very disturbed, claiming he heard footsteps behind him.

They leave out small items here and there all over the studio under Jongdae’s suggestion, to bait the spirit or whatever. Jongdae took out the time to spell out ‘heya ghouls’ on the table surface using little nails Chanyeol used to make his little music boxes.

They can’t sleep in the studio- as there was no space, and Chanyeol hadn’t attached any heating in the small space yet. After making sure that the cameras were all recording, they call it a night and slip downstairs back to the warmth.

Minseok wakes up in the morning to hearty peels of laughter and the sound of the rain.

‘Hyung!’

There’s a sudden weight on him and of course it’s Baekhyun.

‘What-?’

There’s another weight on him and Jongdae’s laughing face occupies his vision momentarily.

‘What’s wrong-‘ Minseok manages to get out.

Baekhyun is still laughing hysterically while Jongdae tries to explain, unearthing Minseok from his tangle of blankets on the couch.

‘Come see!’ he giggles, pointing to Minseok’s own laptop that was displaying the feed of their cameras.

Evidently something had triggered the motion sensor cameras inside the studio and therefore Minseok was able to see this camera feed.

And it’s their beloved night-vision camera feed that just makes everything super creepy. But what’s on screen is definitely not creepy or scary.

‘Is- is that-‘

‘It is!’ Jongdae wheezes.

On the screen, Minseok watches as a small sort of rodent scurries about Chanyeol’s desk, putting back in the items they had purposefully left out over the tables.

It’s dedicated. Scurrying about the table, picking up everything it could and it’s absolutely adorable.

Chanyeol is both relieved and endeared at the sight of the footage they pull up for him when he arrives.

‘I think the little mousey has been entering through the ventilation,’ Jongdae explains, pulling up another camera-feed where you can see the small rodent scurrying in through the vents before dropping down. ‘I think it might be living in the garden.’

‘It’s so cute,’ Chanyeol squeaks, ‘Oh no- oh no I’m responsible for this little mouse-‘

They huddle a short distance from the garden on the rooftop. It’s not raining anymore, but the clouds were still heavy overhead. Looking down, the bird-dropping were indeed gone.

‘I think maybe the mouse was caught by a bird? But then escaped?’

‘A survivor!’ Chanyeol exclaims, his eyes filled with an expression Minseok recognizes all too well.

Chanyeol was going to find a way to adopt this mouse. Minseok can feel it in his bones.

‘Guys I’m adopting this mouse you need to help me!’

*

Sehun_omayaaaaaa: how on earth did this happen

DrinkThatWaterBtich: ngl, I am not at all surprised that this episode ended with Chanyeol adopting a dormouse with the help of Baekhyun Jongdae and Minseok honestly this was a ‘how to adopt a dormouse’ video.

Erikyoooooooonggggg_ggg: this was such a sweet and pure video I love this so much, also lowkey loving the aesthetic of this video so much good job Mr. Minseok for all of those lovely rain-shots!

15 Frame Rates Per Second: I came here after Studio NNG’s video because honestly that was so chaotic and cute and this one is somehow even more chaotic and cute

GrimArtandStuff: god this episode is such a sweet relief from the previous episode also Chanyeol is the sweetest tallest dormouse dad

LuckyFrogSong: omg an actual relaxing video???????????????????

SilverInk: I WOULD DIE FOR THAT LITTLE DORMOUSE WHAT IS THEIR NAME I NEED TO KNOW FOR SCIENCE DOES THIS MEAN THAT JONGDAE AND BAEKHYUN AND MR. CAMERA MAN ARE THE GOD FATHERS

DaeDroid: the fact that they put more effort in getting that dormouse safely over any other video of them trying to capture an FBA or supernatural acitivty describes their personalities so well subscribing to their channel was the best thing ive ever done

Where there is a will, there is an iam: this channel was recommended to me by a friend and I have no regrets

Professional Procrastinator 3000: oh to be a dormouse and held by a tall handsome man in his large beautiful hands this world is truly unfair

*

(Author’s Notes)

I was watching this video about this man who went through this exact same thing in his shed and later discovered that a dormouse was basically cleaning up after him in the night and I was like!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is perfect and I need Chanyeol in this

I thought a kind of sweet and mild chapter would be good after the horrors of the past two chapters ehe, still sorry about that =D

Also, Chanyeol as a successful youtuber and producer was a really good expansion into this funny au I thought, he’ll be appearing randomly in the future episides!!