Neither of them had any classes the following afternoon so they arranged to meet up at the University entrance gate at 2 pm.

Baekhyun got there first and waited, after a few minutes he recognised the gait of a tall, well-dressed boy walking towards him. He was wearing dark jeans with a tucked-in, white t-shirt and an open dark grey coat. Baekhyun frowned. Did he have some sort of pink hat on his head? They definitely hadn’t bought a pink hat.

He got closer and Baekhyun gasped. “Pink? Pink?!  Park Chanyeol, I said blonde not pink!” he burst out, staring at Chanyeol’s cotton candy pink hair in disbelief. To make matters worse his bangs were still hanging down.

“It was blonde first, but the hairstylist said this shade of pink is really in right now and really manly,” said Chanyeol mildly.

“Manly? You look like a ing marshmallow! Oh, Chanyeol…god at least style it up! It’s all floppy again.”

“I tried but I can’t make it stay.”

“Did you get hair product like I told you to?”

“Yes, it’s right here,” said Chanyeol, pulling the clearly unopened tub from his backpack.

“It doesn’t work if you don’t actually put it in your hair!” exclaimed Baekhyun, grabbing the tub and opening it. He scooped out a small amount and attempted to work it into Chanyeol’s hair, but he was having difficulty reaching the top of his head.

“Bend down, would you!”

Chanyeol awkwardly splayed out his legs in his tight jeans so he was closer to Baekhyun’s height. With the product, his hair was quite easy to work with. Baekhyun styled it up and off his forehead. Chanyeol straightened up and Baekhyun stepped back to look at his handy work.

“There,” he said, but the end of the word came up awkwardly high pitched.

Chanyeol was quite startlingly gorgeous. The pink hair actually suited his skin tone and with his hair up off his forehead, Baekhyun could see his face clearly. He had always thought Chanyeol had a good face, but he hadn’t realised he was quite this handsome. The whole look combined with the new clothes made him look like a drama actor.  Baekhyun was having difficulty looking away but he knew every second he spent looking at Chanyeol he was getting redder and redder.

“Ok, so the pink might be a little bit manly,” he conceded quietly.

Chanyeol gave him a tender-eyed smile that somehow made him look even more handsome.

“Are you ok? You look all flushed and you’re breathing funny,” asked Chanyeol, looking suddenly concerned.

Baekhyun fanned his red cheeks with his hand. “I’m fine. It’s just a bit hot today, don’t you think?”

“Not really,” said Chanyeol, looking around at everyone wearing coats and jackets. “Maybe you’re getting sick?” He pulled his backpack off his shoulder and dug around inside. “I got multivitamins like you told me to!” he announced proudly producing a large white bottle.

Baekhyun frowned. “Chanyeol, those are Pokémon chewable multivitamins!”

“I know, they taste nice too!” said Chanyeol happily, apparently obvious to Baekhyun’s annoyance.

“They’re for children!”

“That’s why they taste nice. Here try one!”  he said ing the bottle at Baekhyun.

“I want Jigglypuff!” said Baekhyun immediately, opening the bottle and hunting around.

“Oh, I knew you'd want Jigglypuff! I kept them all for you! I ate all the Weedles because I know you think they’re gross.”

“Weedle is gross,” exclaimed Baekhyun, finding a Jigglypuff and popping it into his mouth. They did taste quite nice.

Just then a group of girls walked past and gave Chanyeol a very obvious going over with their eyes. They seemed to like what they saw, but as they walked behind him one of them suddenly broke into giggles. Baekhyun saw her looking back and pointing something out to the others, who all started giggling.

“Turn around,” Baekhyun ordered.

Chanyeol looked confused and spun around quickly on the spot. Something colourful and fluffy swung from Chanyeol’s backpack as he turned. Baekhyun frowned, it was just like Chanyeol to ruin the whole look he had carefully created for him.

“What is that?” asked Baekhyun coldly, peering around him.

Chanyeol spun around again trying to see what Baekhyun was looking at.

“Stay still!” Baekhyun said, grabbing him.

Chanyeol slipped the backpack off.

“Oh!” he said, looking at the little toy cat that was hanging from his backpack. “Don't worry, I'm taking it off,” he told Baekhyun, detaching the toy by its metal clasp. “I only put it there to remind me to give it to you,” he added, handing Baekhyun the cat.

Baekhyun squeezed the little cat gleefully. It had a little straw hat like the one Luffy had in One Piece and a green bandana around its neck.

“Thank you! Where'd you get it?” he asked.

“I won it at the arcade.”

Baekhyun looked up angrily. “How many times have I told you not to go to the arcade?” he asked, “...without me!”

“I’m sorry, I was doing research.”

“What research?”

“For my homework!”

“You cannot take Kyungsoo to an arcade for a first date!” exclaimed Baekhyun.

“I’m not, you’ll see,” he said grabbing Baekhyun’s arm and marching him off.

“Where are we going?” asked Baekhyun nervously.

“You’ll see when we get there.”

10 minutes later they arrived and Baekhyun stared up at the massive luridly flashing games centre.

“You said we weren’t going to the arcade!” said Baekhyun angrily, though secretly he was pleased since as they were already here, he might as well play some games.

“No, it’s not the arcade, I promise, c’mon,” said Chanyeol, despite this, he dragged Baekhyun right into the arcade. But they didn’t stop on the ground floor at the games, he pulled him over to a lift which they took to the 6^th floor. The doors opened and even before he saw the sign Baekhyun heard the unmistakable rolling and clattering sound of a bowling alley in full swing.

“Bowling?!” he said, “Are you kidding me? Bowling isn’t y!”

“Yes, it is!”

“You have to wear communal shoes!”

“Well that’s kind of y,” said Chanyeol, but even he didn’t seem convinced.

“Only if you have a foot !” replied Baekhyun. He looked around the brightly lit bowling alley. “I can’t believe this is all you came up with for your first date.”

“Well I did have another idea,” said Chanyeol. “The zoo.”

“The zoo?” repeated Baekhyun. “Are you trying to piss me off?”

“They have baby otters now,” replied Chanyeol quickly, eager to explain himself, “and I have a coupon for ½ priced tickets that expires next month.”

“Baby otters?” asked Baekhyun, trying not to look interested. “How small are they?” he breathed.

“Like this big,” said Chanyeol, cupping his hands together. “And they play with these tiny, little buckets. It’s really cute.”

“I’ll go with you! Let’s go this Saturday!” Baekhyun exclaimed excitedly.

“Ok!” said Chanyeol, happily. “It’s a date!” he said, then stammered out, “I-I mean not an actual date.”

“Of course not,” said Baekhyun hurriedly. “So, are we going to bowl or what?”

Baekhyun was surprised and a bit impressed to find out that Chanyeol was actually a good bowler. Though Baekhyun had said bowling wasn’t y he was forced to concede there was something slightly y about the level of concentration Chanyeol put into it. The intense look of determination and the set of his jaw gave his usually soft face some sharpness. The line of his long body as he expertly released the ball conveyed both elegance and strength. Baekhyun was far too distracted watching Chanyeol to bowl well himself. Chanyeol beat him by a truly spectacular amount, and even though it was obvious he had won he waited until the screen announced it before launching into a silly little victory dance, shaking his arms around quite unrhythmically.

“Alright, you just ruined it completely,” said Baekhyun. “No victory dancing allowed, it’s supremely uny!”

“What if I did a y victory dance?” asked Chanyeol and he proceeded to do the most ludicrous dance Baekhyun had ever seen. It involved a lot of hip s and several failed attempts at body rolls as well as some suggestive rubbing up against the ball polishing machine.

Baekhyun managed to keep a straight face for approximately 2 seconds before cracking up laughing. Once he started, he couldn’t stop and it took several minutes of flailing around in which he accidentally his head on the back of his plastic seat for him to calm down enough to gasp out, “You…look…ridiculous!” He held the bump on his head with one hand and his aching stomach muscles with the other and subsided immediately into another fit of the giggles.

“So, do you,” replied Chanyeol, defensively.

“Oh, we need to do something about your dancing,” wheezed Baekhyun. He wiped away tears with the hem of his t-shirt.  

Once they got their own shoes back, he led a very reluctant Chanyeol to the Dance Dance Revolution machine downstairs in the arcade.

Baekhyun put money into the machine.

“I’ll go first and show you how it’s done. Pay close attention, your next,” said Baekhyun, throwing his backpack to Chanyeol.

The song started up and he was away, tapping each step confidently, putting his hips into it and shaking his . He was good at this and it was especially fun knowing Chanyeol was watching. He was drawing quite a crowd and really enjoying himself, so he was a bit disappointed when his turn ended. He jumped off the machine, smiling at the crowd and looking around. He finally spotted Chanyeol off to the side. He was holding a large stuffed Charmander toy.

“Where did you get that?” asked Baekhyun.

“That claw machine over there. They didn’t have any Jigglypuffs,” he said, handing the toy to Baekhyun.

“Chanyeol, you were supposed to be watching and learning!” said Baekhyun, angrily snatching his backpack off Chanyeol’s arm, but he tucked the Charmander away carefully inside his backpack anyway.

“I did watch, but I got pushed out of the way by those people,” Chanyeol whispered, pointing to a group of middle school girls who had been watching Baekhyun and were now dispersing.

“Those little girls?”

“They have really sharp nails and hair clips and things!”

Baekhyun huffed, “Well you’ll just have to do your best then, it’s your turn now.” He took Chanyeol’s backpack and pushed him towards the machine.

Chanyeol started it up and began to dance. Soon Chanyeol was also drawing quite a crowd, but for very different reasons. It was entertaining to watch the long-limbed, pink-haired, gangly boy flail around energetically. It wasn't remotely y, but it was awfully funny. Baekhyun's cheeks hurt from smiling. Watching Chanyeol do Dance Dance Revolution was somehow even more fun than doing it himself. When Chanyeol’s turn finished he stepped off the machine, pink-faced and gleeful.

“How did I do?” he asked.

“Ok, so strike that off the list, no dancing on your first date.”

“But I like dancing,” said Chanyeol dejectedly.

“Oh, we can go dancing anytime you like,” said Baekhyun enthusiastically. “But you shouldn’t take Kyungsoo dancing. I just think it's important for your relationship that he never sees you dance.”

Chanyeol nodded sadly.

“Honestly, I think your safest bet for a first date is a café,” said Baekhyun as they left the arcade. He was thirsty, so it seemed like a good idea anyway. “Do you want to find one and practice?” he asked.

“Ok,” said Chanyeol, “Oh I know a good one nearby!”

Chanyeol took him to a small café around the corner. It was decorated in creams and natural wood tones, with an interesting panelled effect on the walls and bronze bowl pendant lights over each table. The tables around the walls had plush booth seating in an alternating warm grey and cream pattern.

“This place is nice,” he said approvingly, running over to a table and quickly taking the booth side. 

“Shall we pretend it’s the date and I’ll get your drink?” offered Chanyeol enthusiastically. 

“Ok, impress me,” said Baekhyun.

Chanyeol went up to the counter to order. He came back a few minutes later with two takeaway cups. He sat down smiling confidently and handed one to Baekhyun.

Baekhyun turned the paper cup around expectantly to read what he’d got him. The cup had ‘HC’ written on the side.

“Hot chocolate?!”

“Yep,” said Chanyeol happily. “I got one too!”

“Why exactly do you think hot chocolate is y?!”

“Well because…because it’s cozy?” said Chanyeol hesitantly.

“Cozy?! Cozy isn’t y, is it?!”

“No?”

“Why did that sound like a question? You know cozy isn’t y right?”

Chanyeol hesitated then said, “But…but fireplaces are cozy and they’re y, right?”

Baekhyun was annoyed that he couldn’t think of a retort to this logical answer, so he just ignored it. He took the lid off his cup and looked inside. “And you only got me one marshmallow, you stingy bastard!”

“Nuh-uh,” said Chanyeol happily, he held out his right fist turned it over and opened it to reveal a pastel pink marshmallow in the shape of a heart. “I got you a special one!”

Baekhyun gasped delightedly, taking the marshmallow and placing it carefully on top of his drink. It was the exact same colour as Chanyeol’s hair.

“You’ll be super proud of me I flirted very ily with the barista to get that; they usually only give them to girls,” explained Chanyeol.

“Really?” said Baekhyun impressed. “What did you say?”

“I don’t know, something like ‘Oh my god those heart ones are adorable! Can I please, please, please have one for my friend?! Please, please, pretty please!’,” said Chanyeol proudly.

“That is not flirting, Chanyeol!”

“Whatever. It worked, didn’t it?” said Chanyeol, contentedly sipping his hot chocolate.

“Well just don’t order hot chocolate on a date, ok?” said Baekhyun. “You need to order something grown-up.”

“I thought the whole point of being a grownup was that you could drink whatever you like.”

“Not if you want Kyungsoo to like you! Do you want him to like you?”

“Yes,” said Chanyeol blandly.

“Then order something serious like black coffee with no sugar.”

“Ew,” said Chanyeol, but tried to cover it up by pretending to sneeze when Baekhyun gave him a dirty look.

“Alright, now we’ve got our drinks, you need to practice what you’ll do on the date.  You need to subtly find a way to show him how much you like him, but still play it cool,” explained Baekhyun.

“Like this?” asked Chanyeol, holding his arms up over his head to form a heart and smiling hugely.

“Absolutely not! I said subtly!”

Chanyeol dropped his arms and instead made a small finger heart and held it out to Baekhyun.

“Well I guess that is a bit subtler,” conceded Baekhyun. “Have you seen this one?” he asked, holding up his hands, palms facing in front of his mouth and biting down while moving his fingers to press the shape into a heart.

Chanyeol gasped gleefully and tried it himself. “That’s so cute!” he said.

Baekhyun suddenly remembered what they were supposed to be doing. “Well anyway no finger, hand, arm or marshmallow hearts of any kind should be given on your first date,” he ordered.

“Being y is so boring,” said Chanyeol, deflating slightly.

“It is, it’s a hard life,” replied Baekhyun, drinking his hot chocolate. “So, have you thought of anything you can do to show you’re into him?”

“Um,” said Chanyeol. Then he got up suddenly and came around to sit on the same side of the booth at Baekhyun.

“Oh, that’s good!” said Baekhyun impressed. “Now you can press into his leg a little.”

He bumped closer to Chanyeol so that their thighs were touching.

Baekhyun suddenly felt a little self-conscious, a feeling which only increased when Chanyeol slid one of his large hands right between Baekhyun’s upper thighs and squeezed.

Baekhyun leapt up, bumping the table and spilling some of his drink.

“What the hell are you doing?!” he exclaimed, grabbing napkins from the dispenser quickly for something to do so he didn’t have to look at Chanyeol. He could feel the blush moving at an alarming rate up his neck. 

“I’m sorry!” cried Chanyeol also grabbing napkins, their hands touched and they both quickly pulled away. Baekhyun glanced at him and thought Chanyeol looked confused and about as red as he was sure he was.

“You said to press his leg!” Chanyeol explained frantically.

“I meant with your leg! Like what I was doing! You big, dumb giant!” replied Baekhyun, mopping up the hot chocolate.

“I’m sorry,” repeated Chanyeol. “Here you can have mine,” he said, pushing his drink towards Baekhyun.

“No, it’s fine,” said Baekhyun. “Not that much spilled and you paid for it anyway.”

He sat back down, now awkwardly keeping a distance.

“Anyway, let this be a lesson, do not under any circumstances him on your first date,” said Baekhyun.

“I won’t,” replied Chanyeol. He sat down then looked up shyly and added, “You have really nice thighs by the way.”

“Thank you,” said Baekhyun primly. “You have really big hands,” he said, then regretted it instantly as Chanyeol gave him a heart-stoppingly soft smile.

“Alright this is getting a bit weird,” said Baekhyun, downing the rest of his drink. “I think we should leave it here today. Oh wait, where’s my doughnut?!” He was definitely only doing this for the doughnuts.

Chanyeol gasped.

“Did you forget it?!”

“No,” he said sadly, “but it’s in here,” he added tugging the strap of his backpack which he hadn’t bothered to take off. He’d been resting his back against it.  He opened the backpack, dug around and pulled a rather squashed paper bag from its depths.

“Sorry,” he said sadly, handing the crumpled bag to Baekhyun.

Baekhyun peered inside, the doughnut was every bit as squashed as it’s bag, bright green icing clung to the top of the bag and a pair of now very lopsided candy eyes hung pathetically from the side.

“What was it?” he asked curiously.

“A frog.”

Baekhyun took a deep breath. “Chanyeol, what did I say about cute doughnuts?!” he burst out.

“It wasn’t cute! It was a frog! Frogs are gross!”

“You got me a doughnut you thought was gross?!”

Chanyeol screwed up his eyes in confusion then he threw his hands up in the air.

 “You’re giving me mixed messages! Do you want a cute doughnut or a gross doughnut?!”

“Just a normal doughnut, Chanyeol!”

Chanyeol crossed his arms angrily and looked away. “I’m going to get you a Weedle doughnut,” he muttered under his breath.

“Don’t you dare!” yelled Baekhyun.

They sat in silence for a few seconds, and Baekhyun took advantage of the fact that Chanyeol was still not looking at him to the green icing off the inside of the doughnut bag.

“So, what do I do if he yells at me on the first date?” said Chanyeol quietly.

Baekhyun put the bag down quickly and looked at him. From the small part of Chanyeol’s face he could see; he could tell he was pouting. Chanyeol looked back at him, he was puffing his cheeks out and his big sparkling eyes were fixed on Baekhyun.

“Well it’s the one time being cute is an advantage. Just keep giving him those huge puppy eyes and he'll forgive you anything,” said Baekhyun, almost shyly.

A warm smile bloomed on Chanyeol’s lips spreading instantly to his eyes making them if possible, even more sparkly. He leant sideways on the booth and swept Baekhyun into a hug.

Baekhyun froze then pushed Chanyeol off him roughly.

“Chanyeol, what did I say about groping him on the first date!” he exclaimed.

“I'm not groping him I'm hugging you!” said Chanyeol, pulling him back into the hug. “Thank you for helping me.”

Baekhyun didn’t resist this time. Chanyeol’s warm arms encircled him, he pressed his face into Chanyeol’s t-shirt.  Chanyeol’s comforting scent enveloped him. It was a mix of laundry powder, Chanyeol’s own warm, clean skin and the mild woody cologne he always wore, its very familiarity made him ache with longing.

When they moved apart, Baekhyun said awkwardly, “You did well today…even if you also did some very inappropriate things.”

He picked up his backpack and stuffed the doughnut bag inside.

“Hey, wait, I got that game I was telling you about the other day. Do you want to come over and play?” asked Chanyeol quickly.

“Yes,” said Baekhyun immediately. He was beginning to think he had no self-control at all.