Cheerful yet soft music twinkled through the moderately lit room. Heavy drapes hung on large windows on one side and a large fish tank stood prominently along one wall. The chilly rain hadn’t let up outside, but it was dry and comfortably warm inside the mid-sized restaurant.

The DJ looked up from his table as he heard the restaurant hostess greet the new customer.

Chanyeol rolled his eyes. He had to admit the girl was pretty. But the look on her face was exactly what he expected. All fake shyness and badly hidden flirting. And her lipstick was atrocious.

There was only one thing he could think to do.

 

When his mother had called him two days ago, Chanyeol knew something was up. She hardly ever contacted him, since she knew her son was a busy man. Being the owner and producer for an independent radio station had its perks, but it kept him without much time to make plans for a personal life. The part-time DJ/full time producer didn't mind it that way, but apparently his mother thought he needed to think about settling down and starting a family of his own. 

So here he was, sitting in a fancy restaurant meeting “Candidate number 1” on a list of individuals his mother deemed worthy to be his potential spouse. 

 

As the young lady walked daintily up to the table Chanyeol gave her a goofy smile. “I can see you’re acting just like the famous chicken. Crossing the room… to get to the other side!” 

The girl looked at him, trying to hide her surprise with a timid smile. She busied herself briefly with her purse before she slid into the chair across from the successful and well-known DJ.

 

Throughout most of high school the Park’s only son occasionally partied and often goofed off, barely getting by with passing grades. It was common knowledge that Chanyeol never opened a book to study, but the truth was he didn’t bother because it bored him. Instead, he would sit in the back of the classroom and nap or write in his personal journal. The teachers were too busy trying to coddle their pet students to pay the lanky over-sized delinquent much attention. No one realized he would probably have been the top student in the whole school if he paid attention to what the tests were going to be about each week. 

And if he didn’t have to deal with the hangovers from partying. 

 

Chanyeol waited for the girl to get settled in her seat then deliberately looked out the window at the rainy weather. “It’s raining cats and dogs out there, but you know what’s worse that that?” He waited for the girl to look up at him through her fake eyelashes. But before she could respond he quickly blurted out, “Hailing Taxis!” 

Chanyeol heard what sounded like a snort over his left shoulder, but the girl in front of him just blinked at him with a blank expression. He deliberately ignored both reactions and picked up the menu. “Let’s see what’s good here to eat…” 

The girl spoke up. “Should we maybe get some wine to start?” she asked with a soft tone.

The DJ looked up at the girl. “I don’t care much for alcohol.” he said dismissively, then looked back down at his menu.

 

What most people didn't know was most of the hangovers Chanyeol dealt with in high school were not his own. Every time he walked into a party someone would hand him a cup of something alcoholic. Chanyeol would sip it, acting like he was drinking but taking his time with it. Once done, he would refill the same cup with water and then sip that the rest of the night. He could act just as drunk as the other partiers and most of them didn’t realize what he was doing. 

 

The girl spoke up again, this time a little more timidly, as though trying to start a conversation. “This is a nice restaurant..”  

Chanyeol saw a chance and took it. “We probably wouldn’t think that if it were on the moon… since there wouldn’t be much atmosphere..!” He deliberately guffawed at his own joke, covering the sound of the girl clearing and a slightly choked cough behind him.

A waiter came over with a chilled pitcher to fill their water glasses. The girl looked grateful for the distraction, but Chanyeol saw another opportunity. “Water, yes.. wonderful!” he said in his best DJ Loey voice. The waiter smiled in recognition of the well-known voice before walking away. Chanyeol pointed over to the large fish tank at the far end of the room. “Also water, but I’m guessing that’s a saltwater tank..”  The girl turned her head to look as the DJ continued. “We know it’s salt water because pepper would make the fish sneeze!” 

Another snort was heard over Chanyeol's left shoulder and the girl turned back around to look at the DJ with a strange look in her eye. She blinked again blankly then looked back down at her menu. 

The waiter walked back up. “Have we made a decision for our meal..?” 

The girl set her menu down and determinedly batted her eyelashes at her handsome date. “I don’t really know what to get, but I trust you to order for me.” she said with sugary sweetness.

The DJ looked at her. “Hmm…” He cleared his throat deliberately as he looked back down at the menu. 

The girl didn't seem to like not getting a bigger reaction, and she gave a fake pout. "Well, your mother said I could trust you.."

Chanyeol smiled with barely concealed sarcasm. "At least she got that right."

 

In high school Chanyeol had only a very small group of trusted friends, so he decided someone needed to keep them safe when they went to parties. Chanyeol was taller than all his friends, and had a lean, somewhat muscular physique which came in handy to break up potential fights and manhandle drunk bodies when necessary. He usually ended up being the designated driver and making sure his friends made it home safely. So his bloodshot eyes and daytime napping came from lack of sleep due to dragging his own back home in the early hours of the morning after taking care of everyone else. 

His friends were extra grateful for Chanyeol but didn’t make a big deal about it in front of other people. They knew him well and were determined to not embarrass their bodyguard/friend. 

The rest of the world just jumped to conclusions. 

 

As the waiter left after taking the orders for the meal, Chanyeol looked back over at the girl. “So you know about me.. What do you do?”

The girl perked up, happy to get her date’s undivided attention. She simpered in a cutesy fashion. “Well.., I’m a personal assistant for a computer analyst with the Mo-”. 

Chanyeol cut her off. “Is it true what they say about computer analysts and dancing?”  The girl cocked her head in question. The DJ grinned goofily again. “Even when they’re busy they love to DISC-o..!”

This time Chanyeol was sure he heard a groan of appreciation behind him. The girl pressed her lips together tightly, her harsh red lipstick almost totally disappearing. 

 

Growing up, Chanyeol had busy parents with busy jobs and busy social lives. All of this busy-ness ended up with the Park's only child being alone a lot. Dealing with all of this alone time and late nights and daytime napping could become a depressing situation for most people. But for Chanyeol it was motivation. 

Back when puberty hit him, his height shot up and his voice shot down. The deep rumble in his newly found lower register gave Chanyeol all sorts of ideas, especially when he realized that people really liked the way he sounded. Everyone gave him compliments on his voice, calling it y and suave. Four months before graduation one of his friends joked about Chanyeol sounding like a popular radio announcer, and a lightbulb lit up in his brain. 

High school senior Chanyeol then went to all of his teachers and made them a deal. If he passed every test with the top marks from that point until the end of the school year, they would wipe the slate clean of all of his past near-failing grades. As expected, every single teacher thought the notorious delinquent was joking and didn’t believe he could do it. But Chanyeol assured them he could, and produced a pre-typed form showing the terms he was proposing. Eventually he had every teacher’s signature, with his own signature on the form at the very bottom. 

Unsurprisingly, it was almost child’s play at how easily the tall hidden-genius managed to accomplish his task. He walked away with the highest GPA in the school, a scholarship to the university of his choice, and the begrudging admiration from every teacher on the form. 

 

The girl glanced around the room as though she was trying to find something other than her handsome date to look at. Her eyes settled back on the large fish tank. Chanyeol followed her line of sight and they both watched the colorful fish for a few moments until the DJ spoke up again. "I was told they got most of those fish from the Indian Ocean." 

The girl looked almost relieved to hear something somewhat normal coming from the man that had been telling bad jokes for the past half hour. She nodded. "I love the ocean." she said, obviously trying to continue what she thought was a safe conversation subject. 

She was wrong. 

"You know the ocean is friendly, because it waves..!" Chanyeol said. There was a sound of a chair shifting suddenly behind him before the DJ continued. "Did you know why the birds there are called seagulls?" 

The girl shook her head timidly, obviously dreading the answer. 

"Because they fly over the sea! If they flew over the bay, they'd be bagels!" Chanyeol said gleefully.  A fork dropped noisily on a plate behind him as the girl in front of him opened her eyes almost comically wide in a shocked expression. 

"Candidate number 1" obviously wasn't prepared for the challenge in front of her. 

 

When Chanyeol first started university he plowed into classes with a fervor and used his natural skills and nighttime habits to his advantage. After the first week the communications major paid extra to get all lectures from his classes on digital download, and then took a part-time job with the school’s radio station. The juggling took patience and had a steep learning curve, but Chanyeol was up to the task. Within two months of starting classes he became known as DJ Loey, the faceless voice of the school’s late-night radio show. 

As he holed up in his apartment and delved into the fast-track of learning, the time he and his trusted group of friends had available to spend with each other lessened considerably. To stay connected, the friends would all get together once a month to hang out and catch up on each other's lives. They would have a great time together then take turns assuring each other’s parents that they were all doing just fine in life.

It was about that time that Chanyeol began a private bank account for all of his paychecks from his college DJ-ing job. His parents paid for all expenses that weren’t covered by his scholarship, so his money from working at the radio station was saved for a specific purpose. 

Two-and-a-half years after slipping into his first university class, Chanyeol slipped back out with his hard-earned diploma, and walked into the business world.

For the next 6 months he continued his work as a DJ for the university station, helping to run the operations as a paid employee and online mentor to the students working there. Meanwhile he scouted locations in the city and had meetings with potential investors. His parent’s busy lives suddenly began paying off, as they felt guilty for not being around their son much over the years so they gave him access to all their contacts in the business world. Chanyeol accepted the information but declined any other help from them. He was determined to be a self-made man and stand on his own.

 

The girl looked down at the table as though wrestling internally with herself.  It was obvious she couldn't keep her demure appearance much longer. Chanyeol sat, watching her as he waited for her to finally show her true personality. 

Eventually she cracked. "I'm sorry, but do you have a problem or something??" she asked with a huff. 

"Well, no… Not now,  anyway." he answered. 

 

6 months after earning his degree, DJ Loey stopped working for the university. The money that had been piling up in his savings account was used for Chanyeol to buy a slowly growing radio station. He began working there full-time, working the books during the daytime and running the boards as the late night DJ. He had fun with the broadcasts, sharing music from his huge personal playlist, getting his long-time friends to call in and occasionally be guests on his shows. Listeners enjoyed his smooth deep voice and fun choices for music and conversation. Advertisers took notice of the increase in interest in the radio station, and a year later DJ Loey was featured as one of the best on the city’s “Rising Stars” list.  

An article about the list was published in a city-wide magazine. His picture wasn’t included with the feature, but it was noted that despite the young bachelor’s fairly wealthy background, the DJ was his own boss, making all his money on his own. The single young ladies in town took notice, often visiting the building where he worked, hoping to figure out who the eligible young bachelor was, but they were fighting a losing battle. With his professional life in full-swing, Chanyeol had almost no time for a private life. He still got together with friends once a month, but dedicated so much time to his work that the couch in his office at the radio station formed worn spots where he flung his tired body down to get a few hours of rest. A stark contrast to his bed in his apartment which only needed the sheets changed from time to time because of the dust that gathered from lack of use. 

So he wasn't interested in this girl, or any girl for that matter.

 

"I used to have a problem though…" Chanyeol looked at his date with false bashfulness. She returned his look with a little trepidation mixed with curiosity. 

The DJ went for the kill. "I used to be addicted to the Hokey-Pokey but I turned myself around!" he said with a grin.  

The girl stood up abruptly pushing her chair back with a loud huff as an even louder guffaw was heard coming from the man sitting behind Chanyeol. 

"THIS- This. Is. Obviously. Not. Going. To. Work. Out." the girl said through gritted teeth.  She grabbed her purse hanging on the back of the chair, turned, and quickly stormed away, out of the restaurant and back out into the rainy weather. 

 

Chanyeol sighed loudly in satisfaction, then smiled as he turned around to face the stranger. The man at the table behind the DJ was slightly bent over and his fluffy brown hair shook as his laughter had now turned into steady giggles. 

"Sorry about all that." Chanyeol offered wryly. 

"No, no, don't apologize!" The man calmed his laughter and shook his head as he looked back up. Soft brown eyes that twinkled beautifully in leftover humor and a cute boxy smile greeted the DJ. 

With his line of work, Chanyeol was usually never at a loss for words, but right now he found himself struck speechless. He couldn't form any words as the man continued. "That was the best dining entertainment I've ever experienced..! You could give a class on how to get a date to ditch you! Bravo!" The man continued to smile widely and was back to giggling again.  

Chanyeol mentally shook himself then grinned back sheepishly. "Um, yeah. I didn't even know her before today. It was an arranged lunch by someone that thought they knew what I needed, but.. no.. " 

The attractive stranger shook his head with a grin. "You know.. You forgot to tell her the important fact about what part of the fish weighs the most.."

The DJ cocked his head in question and waited for the obvious punchline. 

The man grinned in glee. "The scales!" 

The two men looked at each other a second, then broke out into fresh laughter. The waiter came over to the table and stood patiently until they calmed down a little before speaking. "Gentlemen, I am sorry to have to say this, but if you could.. Please try to keep your conversation a little more contained for the sake of our other customers so they can enjoy a calm atmosphere for their lunch. We would appreciate it…" 

Chanyeol looked up at the waiter. "I do apologize. I'm actually not going to stay for lunch, but if you would please box up my food to go, and also bring me the bill for both of our meals.." he indicated his own and the strangers table. "We'll go ahead and get out of the way of other customers…" He mentally crossed his fingers as he looked at the handsome stranger. "Would you care to join me, Mr… .?"

The attractive man grinned. "Byun Baekhyun." He turned to the waiter. "I'll be the one leaving your tip before we leave. Thank you for your patience with us."  He watched as the waiter gave a small smile and left, then turned back to Chanyeol. "I know your voice as DJ Loey, but this is the first time I'm seeing your face."

The DJ smiled warmly at his new companion. "I'm Park Chanyeol. And I am very happy to meet you Mr. Byun." 

 

Chanyeol avoided his mother's calls for the next three weeks, but his friends reassured her he was doing fine. She was busy anyway, so she decided to trust their words. 

 

The DJ finally called her a month after their last phone conversation. 

"Hi Mom… Yeah I'm doing great!  Listen, I've got two questions. One, where did you get these extra-soft sheets for me cause I need to buy some more sets.. And two, are you free for lunch tomorrow? I want to introduce you to my boyfriend."

 

「fin.」