It had been raining almost non-stop for the past 24 hours. Even last night Baekhyun had to turn his windshield wipers on high to be able to see through the steady rainfall as he drove back to his apartment from a get-together at his friend's house. 

The party had lasted very late into the evening, and just before midnight Baekhyun had finally begged to leave, saying his Abby needed him back home. The truth was his golden and black-flecked cat would be just fine without him for a few more hours, but the brown haired writer knew the timing was perfect to listen to his favorite radio show on the car stereo while he drove home. 

Baekhyun did most of his writing late in the afternoons and going on into the evenings. He had a corner of his studio apartment set up with a desk right in front of the biggest window, and the whole time he worked his cat would alternate between sleeping on the windowsill in the sunshine, sleeping on his lap as the sun set, and sleeping by his feet when it was fully dark outside. Baekhyun would alternate between sipping his coffee in thought, typing furiously in thought, and staring out the window at the scenery in thought. It was a slightly repetitive process but it worked. 

The smooth y tones of his favorite DJ’s voice on the midnight-and-on radio show made it easy to unwind after a long writing session. Of course, no one needed to know that those same smooth tones played a significant role in many of the perpetually single writer’s personal fantasies. Some of which occasionally made it into his popular books.

Baekhyun thought it an ironic coincidence that the general public had no idea what he nor the DJ looked like. They had both been featured in a recent magazine article about “Rising Stars” in the large city, but neither men had shown their faces. Evidently the location of the radio station where the DJ worked was in a large building filled with a variety of businesses and tight security. So the flocks of fans that hung around outside the building, hoping to figure out which one of the males coming and going from the premises was their beloved DJ, were just as clueless as the rest of the general population.

The writer had also kept his identity a secret, using a pseudonym for the past 6 years. He had penned a successful series of romance novels that had kept his bank account very happy since they became popular about 4 years ago. Baekhyun thanked his own foresight to make sure his face and real name had never been disclosed to his growing throngs of faithful readers.

Waking up late and only having a cup of coffee for breakfast, his own hunger had brought him out into the rainy weather today. On an impulse, Baekhyun decided to make it a business write off by doing some creative research at a nice restaurant he had been wanting to try. 

The writer admired the ambiance as he walked into the foyer of the establishment. He ignored the look of pity from the hostess as he mentioned he would be dining alone, and followed her to a small table on the left side of the mid-sized room. After sitting, Baekhyun looked over the items on the menu, quickly deciding his choice just as the waiter walked up to his table. He gave his order then sat back to observe the rest of the room. A large fish tank filled with various brightly colored fish covered almost the whole wall to the far left of where he was sitting. As he watched the fish, his mind began to wander, thinking about possible scenarios that could be included in the book he was currently working on.

His food had just arrived, and Baekhyun had leaned in to take his first bite when another person was guided to sit at the table immediately behind the writer. When the person thanked the hostess for seating him, Baekhyun paused his chewing for a moment. The male voice was deep, warm, and very familiar. 

The writer fought the urge to turn around. He didn’t know what the person looked like, but that didn’t actually matter at the moment. What mattered was he wanted to know more of what this man sounded like. He needed to hear more of his voice. Especially if that voice was the same one that had been giving him eargasms 5 nights a week for the past several months. 

Unfortunately, the man didn’t say anything else for the next few minutes, and Baekhyun began to think he might have been imagining things. The writer laughed internally at himself. There was no way he would be sitting next to the famous DJ of his not-always-so-innocent dreams. 

Just at the point Baekhyun had taken another bite of his meal, the familiar voice started talking again. It was definitely the famous voice from the radio program. Baekhyun stilled, trying to listen to the words of the velvet toned man. 

 “... the famous chicken. Crossing the room… to get to the other side!” 

Baekhyun swallowed his mouthful slowly, his eyebrows furrowing. Was the man trying to be funny? With a bad joke? The suave DJ didn’t usually sound this forced, and his humor was always genuine on his radio shows. This was strange. Baekhyun took a drink from his water, then took another bite of his food. He started to chew when the DJ spoke again. 

“It’s raining cats and dogs out there, but you know what’s worse that that?” 

The writer finished chewing and swallowed his mouthful just in time to hear the man say the obvious follow-up to the joke.

“Hailing Taxis!”

Baekhyun couldn’t help snorting over the dumb line. This was the sort of joke elementary aged children liked to tell. Maybe the DJ wasn’t impressed with the company for his lunchtime meal and was trying to be deliberately silly. Baekhyun heard the man say something else but didn’t quite understand it from his own chewing of the next bite of food.

A woman’s voice spoke up. “Should we maybe get some wine to start?” She sounded like a woman that might be close in age to the DJ. Baekhyun felt an unexpected pang of jealousy over this discovery and he instantly felt silly for thinking that way. But then the DJ spoke again.

“I don’t care much for alcohol.” 

Baekhyun frowned slightly. The tone of the DJ was suddenly cold as though he didn't want to talk to the woman. This information made the writer feel a little better but then he wondered about why the man was taking the time to have a meal with the woman at all. Maybe it wasn't the DJ's idea... Baekhyun took another bite. 

The girl spoke up again, this time a little more timidly. “This is a nice restaurant..”  

The deep voice sounded fakely cheesy.  “We probably wouldn’t think that if it were on the moon… since there wouldn’t be much atmosphere..!” 

The joke caught Baekhyun off guard and he gave a slightly choked cough as he tried to swallow his mouthful of food. He grabbed his water and took a drink as he heard the man laughing. 

Baekhyun wiped his mouth with his napkin in one hand and this time heard the smooth famous DJ Loey voice. “Water, yes.. wonderful!” The writer lifted his own glass again to take another drink of water as he heard the man speak again. “Also water, but I’m guessing that’s a saltwater tank..” 

There was a pause then the DJ continued. “We know it’s salt water because pepper would make the fish sneeze!” 

Water almost came out of Baekhyun's nose as he snorted in response to the lame joke. This guy was too much. It was obvious the DJ was trying to be obnoxious. 

“Have we made a decision for our meal..?” Baekhyun guessed the different person talking was the waiter for their table.

The girl's sugary sweet voice was almost sickening in her response.  “I don’t really know what to get, but I trust you to order for me.”

The DJ made a humming noise and cleared his throat but didn't say anything. 

The girl sounded very pouty and cutesy. "Well, your mother said I could trust you.." Baekhyun held back a gagging sound. He shouldn't be rude. 

Evidently the DJ didn't have any issues about seeming rude. "At least she got that right." 

Baekhyun looked down at his meal.  It was almost gone and he hadn't really paid much attention to what he was eating. The warm dulcet tones of the man sitting behind him had the writer completely distracted and he couldn't bring himself to be upset about it.  

The same voice spoke up again. “So you know about me.. What do you do?”

It wasn't even surprising that the girl simpered in a cutesy fashion. Baekhyun rolled his eyes as the girl began to talk. “Well.., I’m a personal assistant for a computer analyst with the Mo-”. 

“Is it true what they say about computer analysts and dancing?”  Baekhyun's ears perked up.  He hadn't heard this one before. 

The DJ didn't disappoint. “Even when they’re busy they love to DISC-o..!”

Baekhyun groaned at the punchline but he had to give appreciation for the dumb joke. At least the man was entertaining.

The occupants of the table behind him were quiet for a minute and the writer took the chance to pay attention to his food. He finished two more mouthfuls before the DJ spoke up again. "I was told they got most of those fish from the Indian Ocean." Evidently the man had asked in advance about the fish tank. 

"I love the ocean." the girl commented, sounding relieved. 

Baekhyun could help smirking.  He was willing to bet the DJ wasn't finished with his lame joke-fest. He was right. 

"You know the ocean is friendly, because it waves..!" 

Baekhyun couldn't help his chair shifting as he tried to stifle his laughter. He was more invested in this conversation than the actual participants by this point.  

The DJ continued. "Did you know why the birds there are called seagulls?" 

The writer had put the last bite of his food in his mouth just as the DJ gleefully gave his follow-up comment. "Because they fly over the sea! If they flew over the bay, they'd be bagels!" 

Baekhyun lost the grip on his fork and it dropped noisily on his plate. It took everything in his power to finish chewing his food and swallow instead of spitting it all out onto the table in laughter. The lame jokes were the icing on the cake of this awkward situation. Baekhyun made a mental note to send the DJ a signed copy of his next book as a thank you. This whole situation was golden and would have to be included in the text of his writings in the near future. 

"I'm sorry, but do you have a problem or something??" This time the girl's words were said with a huff, not a hint of the fake sweetness from before lingering. 

"Well, no… Not now,  anyway." the DJ answered. The man seemed to pause in thought. "I used to have a problem though…"

Baekhyun's ears perked up again.  Surely the man wasn't going to speak seriously all of a sudden. There had to be a catch. 

"I used to be addicted to the Hokey-Pokey but I turned myself around!" The grin could be heard plainly in the DJ's voice and Baekhyun couldn't help letting out a loud guffaw at the stupidly funny joke. 

"THIS- This. Is. Obviously. Not. Going. To. Work. Out." the girl said through gritted teeth. Evidently she had stood up, because her voice was coming above the level Baekhyun had bent over his table, trying to control his bubbling laughter. The sound of hurried footsteps moved away from the table.

After a few moments the DJ moved his chair and turned towards the now giggling writer. 

"Sorry about all that." The famous voice sounded genuine. Evidently the girl had left.

Baekhyun knew he was busted but he wanted to make amends. "No, no, don't apologize!" he shook his head as he looked up. His happy smile felt frozen as he finally saw the face that belonged to the voice he had enjoyed for so long. The man was gorgeous. 

And not saying anything. 

The writer couldn't help his panicked word vomit. "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!" Baekhyun mentally slapped himself. He'd finally got the chance to put a face to that dreamy voice but the gorgeous man would probably never want to talk to him again since he sounded like an idiot and couldn't stop giggling.

But lo and behold, the DJ 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.. " 

Baekhyun internally sighed in relief then shook his head with a grin. The DJ had felt uncomfortable before and used humor as a weapon. Might as well test the waters a little. "You know.. You forgot to tell her the important fact about what part of the fish weighs the most.."

The man Baekhyun knew as DJ Loey cocked his head in question and waited for the obvious punchline. 

The writer 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…" 

DJ Loey 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 Baekhyun's table. "We'll go ahead and get out of the way of other customers…" 

Baekhyun held his breath for a second. For a moment there it sounded like the DJ planned to leave the restaurant at the same time he did. And the gorgeous man wanted to pay for his lunch. The writer wondered if he was dreaming. 

Then the handsome DJ smiled with a question. "Would you care to join me, Mr… .?"

Maybe he was dreaming but Baekhyun couldn't help grinning as he gave the man his name. "Byun Baekhyun." 

His manners kicked in and he turned to the waiter. "I'll be the one leaving your tip before we leave. Thank you for your patience with us."  The writer watched the waiter walk away, using the time to internally contain the excited fangirling that was trying to rise to the surface. Then he turned back to the DJ and said the one thing that was at the top of his mind. "I know your voice as DJ Loey, but this is the first time I'm seeing your face." Baekhyun mentally patted himself on the back for not adding "and it's GORGEOUS!"

The DJ smiled warmly. Baekhyun melted a little more inside. 

"I'm Park Chanyeol. And I am very happy to meet you Mr. Byun." 

Baekhyun smiled. He didn't realize he had sighed happily until the DJ gave a familiar sounding chuckle. "I'm glad the feeling seems to be mutual.."

The writer smiled sheepishly in embarrassment but recovered with a question. "Where did you plan to eat your lunch? It's too bad that it's still raining or I would suggest we cross the street and enjoy the city park." 

The DJ looked thoughtful. "True.. Well, Mr. Byun have you ever seen the inside of a radio station before?" 

Baekhyun smiled with interest.  "I would love to see the inside of a radio station Mr. Park!"

The DJ smiled back. "Please, call me Chanyeol. And since you get to see where I work, you'll have to promise to show me where you work next time."

Baekhyun smiled back just as warmly. "Well, Chanyeol.. I can only promise that if you promise to call me Baekhyun." 

"Oh of course, Baekhyun.."

 

Three dates later the writer made good on his promise of showing the DJ where he worked. They enjoyed lunch in his apartment, and as they enjoyed dessert the DJ made the pleasant discovery that his new boyfriend used the same sheet set that he did. 

 

「fin.」