03.

 

"It's alright. I'm here now."

note: grammar erros ahead i am guessing
 

 

 

 

 

“Byun Baekhyun, don’t you dare change the script again!” Baekhyun laughed as Heewon yelled at him through the phone. “Don’t try to mess with me! I’m paying you fat money, okay?”

 

“Well, my first try at being as dramatic as you,” He replied, “Did you delete your story?”

 

Heewon remained quiet for a moment as Baekhyun roamed around his dorm room, getting familiar with the design. Her silence made him smile bigger, “I told you we can’t keep doing this, Hee.”

 

“It will disappear in twenty four hours anyway,” she whined into the phone. “Are you afraid someone will recognize you?”

 

“Yes, that’s potential harm to my previous clients, you see.”

 

Heewon snickered, “If anybody says something, tell them you broke up with your previous girlfriends, Baekhyun.”

 

“That’s not going to be possible because I played an employed married man last time, darling. Please take it down as soon as you can, okay?”

 

The girl made some whining noises in the background. Baekhyun heard the pages of her open textbook flapping in the wind while he waited for a yes. “Why are you being so nice to me today?” She asked instead.

 

He frowned at her question. The autumn breeze blew past him as he pressed his feet to the coldness of the balcony’s floor. “Hmm?”

 

“Is it because it’s your job?”

 

“I...when was I not nice to you, Heewon?” He laughed, trying to clear the awkward fog that had fallen upon them. But truthfully, Baekhyun knew he had been harsh to the girl, never being able to take her seriously because of her Linstagram obsession. This was the first conversation with her where he wasn’t passive aggressively throwing jabs at her.

 

“Never mind,” she sighed. “What do we have for this week? Let’s see if you remember.”

 

Baekhyun retreated to his room in case anyone was eavesdropping on him. He held out his five fingers to narrate to her the activities of the week. “Take your pictures for the contest and be sure that Oh Sehun is always around. Pretend to have a crush on you. Sign up for swimming classes. Make some friends to make it more natural. And buy you lunch. What do you want to eat tomorrow?”

 

Heewon interrupted him, “Not now. You’re supposed to ask that tomorrow, Baekhyun.”

 

“Ah, yeah, right,” he smiled. Somewhere in the middle, he was thinking Heewon wasn’t listening but she was and that made his faith in her gain a positive one. Now the overall score was zero. That was better than -1. “I got a confession today and the girl was cute, you know.”

 

“What?” Heewon dramatically gasped. “No, you’re mine!”

 

He cleared his throat, “Six months.”

 

“Hmm, just help me graduate with a boyfriend. I’ll be eternally grateful.” Heewon grumbled under her breath. Baekhyun was about to say something but the doorbell rang twice. When he was in the process of recognizing the sound, the bell rang three more times. The person behind the door was evidently very impatient.

 

“Hanging up in 1, 2, 3,” he mumbled to Heewon before jumping to his feet. Through the hole in the door, he saw a very familiar face. His hand on the knob slowly twisted the thing around. But quickly stopped halfway. In the months of his working at Not All Men corp, Baekhyun had handled the drama that came with his job, the curiosity of his client’s friends, and the parents’ need to verify if their daughter was truly dating. He prepared himself for another one of those challenges.

 

“Hi,” He knew it was foolish to let her speak before he opened the door. He bowed deeply to her because he was her junior according to the setting. Baekhyun could bet he was at least five years older than her.

 

Sua grinned up at him. Her pigtails swayed in the air. Her expensive hair clips sparkled in the lighting of the hallway.

 

“Hey, can I come in?”

 

His hand around the knob tightened, “Yeah, sure.”

 

Sua quickly handed him a paper bag and entered the room with her shoes on. Baekhyun gulped at that. He could be a clean freak, especially when his eyes would land on dirty floors. “Hm, it’s almost empty,” she mumbled to herself as she explored the minimal furniture. Well, he wasn’t to stay here for long anyway so he didn’t bother.

 

“Did you need something?” Baekhyun couldn’t help but ask.

 

Sua hummed, in thoughts. “Byun Baekhyun, let me know if you need anything, okay?”

 

A little taken aback by her offer, Baekhyun arched his brows in suspicion but quickly recovered as he remembered he was a junior to her. So he bowed a couple times and scratched his neck shyly. “Thank you so much. You’re very generous...I...I only have instant coffee but I hope you’ll like a cup?”

 

Sua took a deep breath, contemplating. She probably didn’t drink such cheap coffee before but Baekhyun knew there must be something she was here for so getting on his good side was mandatory. Just like he had imagined, Sua nodded, “That will be wonderful, Baekhyun.”

 

Sua found a seat on his couch. The phone on the glass table sprung up with an angry message. Sua leaned towards the phone to sneak a peek. And boy, she wasn’t disappointed. Her eyes sparkled with happiness as she read Heewon’s message to Baekhyun that had popped on the screen. Under a very cutely written heewonie_ was:

 

WHY DID YOU HANG UP ON ME BYUN BAEKHYUN!

 

And some angry emojis. Enough to make her so excited. It seemed like half of the job was done. She was here to convince Baekhyun to ask Heewon out. Sua thought that maybe she didn’t have to work so hard.

 

“Here you go.”

 

“Ah!” Sua gasped at Baekhyun’s sudden intrusion while she was daydreaming his and Heewon’s wedding. Baekhyun stared at her for a second before setting the yellow cup down on the glass table. “Thank you, Baekhyun. How is your preparation for the photoshoot with Heewon?”

 

Baekhyun grew shy. Sua absolutely adored that quality in men. Baekhyun was all manly with his owl tattoo and button up shirts but the mention of Heewon could make him a gooey mess.

 

“I have everything necessary. We are going for a nature blended with culture concept,” he informed. “Oops, don’t say that to anyone. It’s a secret.”

 

Sua laughed at his cute flustered actions. “I will keep your secret, don’t worry. Sit down, Baekhyun.”

 

He did. Sua took a sip of the coffee and struggled to maintain the smile on her face because the coffee was too bitter and thin for her taste. But she had to gulp it down no matter what.

 

“Heewon and you...it’s not only me but everyone in the college agrees that you two make such a beautiful couple, Baekhyun.”

 

Baekhyun’s eyes widened in surprise. A sheepish smile climbed onto his lips as he glanced at her. Quickly, he went back to staring at his hands. Hm, Sua noted in her head, beautiful hands.

 

“W-we're just friends,” he said, rubbing his hands together.

 

Sua’s heart melted. “Oh no, Baekhyun. You like her, don’t you?”

 

He shook his head quietly but the way he didn’t meet her eyes told Sua that that was a lie. “Everyone...likes her,” he said, “I’m not any exception. She is beautiful. Why do you ask?”

 

Sua chuckled, "You should ask her out. Oh Sehun is an but I believe in you, Baekhyun. I'm really rooting for you, you know."

 

 

Baekhyun nodded, smiling sheepishly from one ear to another. Sua left that day with the impression that Baekhyun will heed to her words. It was weird because the girl seemed to be doing everything on her own. Baekhyun had truly underestimated Heewon's fanbase. Now it seemed like one wrong step could nearly cost his life.

 

 

 

 

 

Heewon examined her surrounding impatiently with her phone clasped in her hand. Now that there was no Sehun or Lisa in her company, she faced trouble daily while taking her own pictures. It wasn't an easy job. There was only so much she could do with the timer on. Angles didn't match the sun, no bricks or stands could help. She needed a human being or else she was afraid to her bones that she would lose her prcious followers by being so inactive for so long. 

  The sun was high in the sky today. This morning felt almost like a walk through a fresh garden. The weather was perfect, she must let her followers know that she was having a fun time, even without her usual company. Almost all of the college despised Sehun and Lisa for what the way they had betrayed Heewon. It was good to be considered a saint around here. People could change so easily, Heewon could only hope she will be lucky for the rest of her time in here.    For that, she needed Baekhyun. Baekhyun, who was already so famous around here, was the pure white splash of paint she needed to paint her rusty rotten life with. With Baekhyun's help she was sure she could solve ninety percent of her problems. It was unfortunate that she had bid him goodbye several minutes ago. He had some place to be at and it seemed urgent. Or else she could threaten him into taking her pictures with a potential money deduction from what he was already out of her wallet.   Almost giving up at this rate, Heewon released one big groan. Baekhyun suppo