It is Friday and Baekhyun is once again in his friends' apartment. Since none of them had any afternoon classes on a Friday, they were watching some show that Jongdae found for the rest of the day. Soon, they will be busy with their finals so it was very important for him to visit his friends until he was banned for a month or so.

Baekhyun lets out a groan, his face buried in the cushion. Jongdae kicks his side from the other side of the couch and he lets out another incomprehensible noise. "Stop hogging the couch, idiot." He gently kicks Baekhyun again which makes him roll around and drop face-first on the floor. Minseok silently snickers at them from where he is sitting alone on the single couch with his laptop.

"I'm starting to feel unwelcome here." Baekhyun pouts as he picks himself up and gives Jongdae his best puppy eyes while sitting cross-legged on the floor. In response, Jongdae only stretches his limbs on the couch and titters at him.

"So, back to the topic," Minseok closes his laptop, indicating that he's taking another break from coding or whatever the hell he was doing. "You're ditching us to go on a double date with Park?"

Baekhyun had to cancel their Saturday plans with them and in turn, tell them the reason why. Minseok insisted on continuing to talk about it only when he was taking a break so he could give his input. Now, he was facing his friends who were hell-bent on calling the movie plans a date with Park. It made Baekhyun shudder each time.

"For the millionth time, it's not a date!" He protested.

"Why do you think this is a good idea?" Jongdae asks, putting nachos in his mouth halfway through the sentence. It makes Baekhyun cringe in disgust.

"I know it sounds terrible to go out with your crush and his new boyfriend," Baekhyun defends himself, trying to block out the loud chewing sounds Jongdae was making just to annoy him. "But hear me out!" He opens his mouth to say but nothing comes out.

Minseok waits for him to continue in silence but Baekhyun is not the one to admit he's had a terrible decision. He asks himself though, why is he going with them? Does he even have a reason to? He tries his best to think of something because he doesn't want to prove his friends right, and God forbid if Jongdae is right!

"Would you like to continue or...?" Minseok stretches his arms over his head.

"Just admit you have no valid reason that could justify this," Jongdae deadpans, boring his eyes into Baekhyun.

"No! There is! I can get to know Jongin!" He announces. Now, Baekhyun knows how ridiculous he sounds but that is the real reason why he agreed anyway.

"Sure, Baek, deep down you know you're just being an idiot."

"What if it's another one of Park's pranks, huh?" Minseok suggests while getting up to walk towards the fridge.

"He won't do that to me," Baekhyun retorted. There was one thing about Baekhyun, and it was that if he made a decision then no one could change his mind.

No matter how stupid and unreasonable his choices were.

"You don't even know him that well to be the judge of that," Minseok replies from the kitchen.

"Neither are you, Hyung!" Baekhyun calls out.

"Hey! Hey! Can we just calm down here?" Jongdae shoves some nachos in Baekhyun's mouth to shut him up.

"I know I'm biting a bullet here," Baekhyun continues calmly once Minseok has taken his seat back on the couch with a bottle of Gatorade in his hand. "And, believe me, I'm holding back the urge to gag, but I can assure you Chanyeol's not that big of an ."

"How would you know that?" Minseok questions him, raising an eyebrow in challenge. "You never believed us when we told you not to pick a fight with that guy."

"He has been bothering me a lot more recently and he has never crossed a line," Baekhyun says.

"What if all of this was just his plan?"

"Okay, Minseok, I think you're just being a little paranoid now." Jongdae cuts in before Baekhyun could protest. "Let him experience this. Even if it is bad, he will learn from it."

"Okay, but he better not come here crying again."

Baekhyun smiles and drops his head on Jongdae's lap. He can always trust Jongdae to be the sensible one when he needs him to be and he appreciates that.

"By the way, thanks for putting terrifying ideas in my head guys, I appreciate it." Baekhyun makes the remark but his lips are upturned into a smirk.

"Woah, since when are you so y?" Minseok inquired.

"Probably picked it off of Chanyeol since they’re basically best friends now." 

"We don't even hang out that often! That idiot did not influence me!" Baekhyun protested for the umpteenth time today.

"Sure, Jan." Jongdae snickers.

"And then you ask me why I'm so y." He grumbled and shoved his head into Jongdae's stomach so it would hurt. Jongdae groans and makes an effort to push him away but Baekhyun is determined to keep his head buried there.

-

The next day, Baekhyun spends his day working on his assignments until he realizes it's time he should get ready for the night. Nervousness slowly creeps up to him because who in their right mind would go out with someone they're trying to get over? Minseok could be right, and it flusters him. Baekhyun acknowledges the fact that he could be doing a mistake by trusting the Yoda but he's come too far to back down now. It wouldn't look good if he canceled at the last minute. Then he remembered why he was going in the first place. It was to get to know Jongin, just to explore what kind of person he actually is. Is he anything like he thought him to be or completely different than he imagined?

After he is done putting on clothes and has styled his hair so they are pushed back rather than falling on his forehead, he takes a look in the mirror. He hasn't dressed up too much, just enough so that he looks presentable. It's not a date, he repeats to Jongdae's voice that annoys him in his head telling him he's trying too hard. Does he just want to look good enough for his crush– ex-crush? He has just picked out another pair of his many ripped jeans and a graphic tee.

Baekhyun was so lost in his thoughts all this while that he even forgot to ask Chanyeol what movie they were going for. After checking for his keys and wallet, he walked out of his apartment to drive himself to the theater. He was given the choice to meet at Chanyeol's apartment too but he declined the offer. Why would he want to spend more time than necessary with that guy?

He parks his car and walks towards the entrance to meet the others. Baekhyun is not surprised when Chanyeol texts him that they are running late. He waits alone for a while, wondering why he decided to show up on time, an hour early. He lets out a sigh when he receives a text from Minseok telling him to stay careful.

Baekhyun is not an idiot— Okay, maybe, sometimes he acts like one but he is really not a complete idiot. He is sure Chanyeol wants something out of this, there has to be a reason why he is sticking beside him. He could have made Baekhyun do something humiliating in front of everyone to end whatever they had, but he insists on dragging it on for some reason that Baekhyun is yet to find. Maybe they were all planning to stand him up today.

It is after a whole fifteen minutes that he spots Chanyeol walking toward him. Chanyeol waves at Baekhyun while taking off his black cap and pushing his hair back just to put it back on. Baekhyun does not make an effort to wave back at him.

"Hey, sorry we're late," Chanyeol says, wearing a denim jacket and black jeans. Baekhyun resists making a comment about his clothing like he always does. It is not easy to change your behavior towards a person overnight after all.

"I'm fine as long as I don't get stood up." He builds up a little more courage and bites his lips before he finally asks, "Where is Jongin?" 

"Parking," Chanyeol answers but there's a shift in his expression. He looks away and buries his hands in the jeans pockets. Baekhyun wants to ask what's wrong but he doesn't want to seem like he cares about the other so he ignores it. Not like Baekhyun actually cares about the other or anything.

"Please, tell me you don't have any ulterior motive to humiliate me today," Baekhyun voices out his thoughts by swiftly changing the topic, letting a small smile show on his face so Chanyeol knows he is teasing but not entirely joking.

"Oh, no, how did you figure out?" Chanyeol looks back at him, amusement filled in his eyes. 

Baekhyun chuckles, tilting his head a little to look Chanyeol in the eyes. "Just so you know, my friends were being skeptical about this whole thing."

"And you didn't agree with them?" Chanyeol challenges.

"If I agreed with them, would I be here?" He insinuated and the taller lets out a goofy grin while nodding his head.

“Fair enough.” Baekhyun notices the same dimple forming on the other's cheek and feels heat rush to his neck. The same dimple he used to notice when Chanyeol would grit his teeth in order to hold himself back from lashing out at Baekhyun in the hallways and their lectures but now his action made the guy smile. Weird. Baekhyun admits it's not his proudest moment to be thinking it's cute on Park Chanyeol.

Jongin and Kyungsoo join them a few minutes later, the former grinning and looking so smug as if he owned the world. Baekhyun tries not to ogle Jongin when he sees him in a leather jacket and tight pants. Fortunately, he greets them without stuttering and Kyungsoo attempts to make small talk with Baekhyun when the rest of the two leave to buy some snacks for them. 

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo seemed to have similarities in some cases, they both had wide eyes and deep, voices except for their height. Doh Kyungsoo's height was a little shorter than Baekhyun but he looked way more intimidating than him. He learned that Kyungsoo was majoring in Data Science and was in fact, very passionate about it. Baekhyun wanted to act indifferent, not wanting to get along with someone who stole his man, but he found himself not having the heart to be rude to such a lovely guy.

The thing about Baekhyun was that it was easy for him to like people if he heard them talk about something they were passionate about. It automatically made him root for them and when Kyungsoo proceeded to talk about Jongin, it brought another whirlwind of feelings inside his chest. Kyungsoo had loved Jongin since they were in high school, which sounded so much more heartfelt when the guy spoke about little incidents that happened between the two throughout the school year. Baekhyun felt guilty about trying to even think about hating this boy. There was something in the way Kyungsoo smiled when he talked about Jongin, something about his eyes and the