Queen B

There wasn’t what you call a preparation in Baekhyun’s case.

He literally didn’t sleep after receiving his plane ticket until his flight that morning of the 19^th. Now he’s taken a few steps from the arrival doors and he breathes in the familiar scent and air of Seoul. He remembers the first time he arrived in Seoul almost six months ago with Luhan. Apparently, Luhan caught a flu and being the irresponsible man he was, he forgot to take a mask with him so instead he’s left with using a large handkerchief to cover up most parts of his face, which led to him being mistaken as a terrorist adding the fact that he speaks Mandarin or as the securities thought back then—terrorist language. He remembers himself red-faced laughing at Luhan until the securities started to drag him that he interrupted and yelled at them for hours—that’s a record—and as a result, they were given free rides to their home. Everything was simple back then. They go on road trips, jumping from one city to another and then eventually, they thought of leaving China and ended up in Seoul. And then everything just took a turn from then on.

He sighs and grabs his trolley.

As expected, he sees Kai hanging around his car outside and smiles. Kai sees him immediately and he waves his hand for him to see when actually he saw him first. He runs to Kai and attacks him with a hug, the younger immediately raising questions. “Did I do something to be given this honor to hug the legendary Byun Baekhyun?” Kai jokes.

Baekhyun chuckles. “Silly. You didn’t see me off before so I’m happy you’re here today.”

“I have an explanation,”

“There’s no need.” Baekhyun says, pulling out from the hug.

“Come on, let’s get you home,”

Baekhyun stares outside the car window, mentally challenging himself with how much he can remember about the places they pass by even after months of absence. He was quite satisfied with the result.

“You changed your hair color,” Kai says out of the blue. “I almost didn’t recognize you.”

“Do you like it?” Baekhyun asks.

“Any style suits you,”

Baekhyun laughs at Kai’s safe answer. “So, how’s everyone?”

Kai isn’t entirely sure to what extent the word everyone means but he answers anyway. “Sehun’s graduating this year. Luhan opened a shop. I quit my job.”

Baekhyun blinks at him in surprise. “What?”

Kai chuckles. “Luhan bumped into Hyomin one day and they talked then Hyomin proposed this online shop she wants franchising rights from. Luhan agreed to help run the shop. And me, well, I quit Park Industries. Just a month ago actually. I’ve been wanting to quit anyway but Gyuri gave me the position so out of respect I didn’t. Until I was able to talk to Gyuri and she told me that I can quit if Chanyeol finds a replacement. I told Chanyeol and you can say it went better than expected. He kicked me out his house and said ‘whatever, I don’t need you’.” He sighs when he remembers that embarrassing moment. “So there. Now I work as a dance instructor.”

Baekhyun immediately beams. “I’m glad you’re able to do what you want.”

“Someone taught me that.” Kai replies with a smile. “You always do what you want, Baekhyun. It makes your life more meaningful, doesn’t it?”

“More complicated, you mean.”

--

Baekhyun could almost feel his heart leap out of his rib cage when the car pulls into a stop in front of their house. From outside, he can hear the lyrics of ‘A Whole New World’ booming from inside the house and he can imagine Luhan singing to it, feeling as if he’s the one on a magic carpet ride. Kai gets off first and knocks on the door. It took a while before Luhan finally turned the volume down to answer.

“Hey Kai! What’s up?”

“Is Sehun there?”

“Uh-huh. He’s at the kitchen.” Luhan steps aside to let Kai in and then this is Baekhyun’s cue.

He opens the car door and hops off. When he looks up, he sees Luhan staring at him, hands stuck on the door he was supposed to close, and wonders if Luhan can recognize him with his new hairdo. Then he sees him gaping, his lips slowly curving into a big smile when he starts to walk to him. Baekhyun smiles at the sight of Luhan coming to him, his best friend being the happiest to see him standing on the roads of Seoul again, and he spreads his arms to welcome his hug but none of them actually happens because he’s pushed back into a fall with a sudden pain on his left cheek and it took a moment for him to realize that Luhan punched him in the face.

Baekhyun touches his cheek and winces.

“YOU PUNCHED ME!” He yells at Luhan who’s starting to cry.

“WHY ARE YOU CRYING?! YOU’RE THE ONE WHO PUNCHED ME! ARE YOU INSANE?!”

“You’re here…”

“YOU PUNCHED ME IN THE FACE!”

None of those accusations seem to process properly in Luhan’s head when the older pulls Baekhyun into a tight hug, his head hitting the bruise on his left cheek.

“WHAT THE HELL—YOU JUST PUNCHED ME AND NOW YOU’RE HUGGING ME?!”

Luhan immediately breaks the hug as he collects himself for an explanation. “I’m sorry I’m just so happy to see your face and I didn’t know what to do I was so excited and confused and then I wanted to hug you but then I have this really strong urge to punch you in the face and that’s what I did and then I don’t know why I’m crying but I’m just really happy to see you.”

Baekhyun sighs. Luhan’s rambling and when Luhan’s rambling, it’s always a meaningful ramble. “Come here.” He pulls his best friend into another hug but this time with less yelling. Luhan cries on his shoulders and normally, Baekhyun doesn’t like snot on his shirts but his best friend is an exception.

Sehun and Kai watch them from the window.

“Hey Kai,”

“Hm?”

“Can you imagine what it’s like if those two dated each other?”

There’s a pause.

“Well, it’s not impossible. I mean, they’re both very attractive. They can go on dates like a normal couple and during they’ll—“

There’s another pause.

And then out of the blue, they break out into fits of laughter.

“Okay, let’s end this here.”

“No one can know about this.”

“Nope. Just…no.”

And again, laugh laugh laugh.

“Oh God, this is a sin!”

“We’re going to hell.”

The rest of the day was spent with Luhan’s endless questions, Sehun’s unnecessary comments, Baekhyun telling them stories and Kai drinking all the wine inside the fridge. It’s almost admirable how Kai can still keep a straight face even with the amount of alcohol he took in. It’s safe to say that Baekhyun’s probably the happiest person on the planet this moment. Nothing feels like home like this. This is where he feels the most secured and safe. However, with his house only a few steps away from Chanyeol’s, his thoughts can’t help but linger on the last memories he had with Chanyeol and he keeps on having the urge to run out and invade his home, wait for him to get home, and surprise him and then maybe Chanyeol will be happy to see him and everything will be alright.

But he has learned that nothing’s easy so he stops himself from expecting too much.

The others don’t notice it but he did. He noticed Chanyeol’s car passing by their house. Chanyeol’s already home. And he watches his friends laughing about something so he just laughs even when his thoughts are occupied with something much much more important than Sehun’s story of how he got out of that manhole he fell into.

And then when the time finally comes, he chooses the most convenient time to sneak out of the house, when nobody’s looking. He doesn‘t know what to say when Chanyeol finally opens the door to him. Maybe something like “Hey, long time no see” but he already received one punch and he’s not going to be happy to receive another one. So, maybe something like “Please don’t ing punch me in the face and talk to me” but then maybe that’s a more valid reason why he needs another ing punch. But before he can even sort out his thoughts though, he finds himself walking inside the slightly opened door after his knocks were ignored.

His house looks the same, though its usual smell is tampered with an unfamiliar scent of a perfume. The living room is dim lit so he walks to the brightest area, the kitchen. He thought of Chanyeol’s reaction when he sees him. He didn’t think it’s his reaction the night’s going to highlight when he sees Chanyeol with someone he never expected to see, getting too intimate, getting too happy. Chanyeol drops the glass he’s holding and it breaks, just like how Baekhyun’s heart does.

“I-I’m sorry nobody was answering so I just came in and I should leave now good evening good bye.” Baekhyun literally runs outside, almost tripping on the grass when Chanyeol caught up and grabbed his arm.

“Baekhyun.” Baekhyun turns to him and he gazes at his face, he looks worn out, those dark circles are showing themselves too much. This is not the Chanyeol he knew. “Why did you come back?”

“I don’t know.”

Chanyeol stares at him and Baekhyun can feel his hand shaking. “Okay.” He says, softly, tired, almost in a whisper. “You don’t have to tell me. I don’t need to know.” He turns around and leaves.

Baekhyun feels his chest tighten. This isn’t actually how he imagined their meeting will be like.

But what did he actually expect?

Baekhyun feels weird, actually he can feel his body heat up. Then suddenly the world is just spinning a lot and his vision goes black. He falls down and the last thing he heard was Luhan screaming his name.

Luhan immediately drops beside Baekhyun and lifted his head on his lap. “Oh god he’s burning.” He says after feeling his face. “Kai! Sehun!”

--

Baekhyun wakes up when the sun stings his skin (what? It’s sensitive) and he hears birds singing outside along with the sound of the wind hitting the curtains. He suddenly feels cold. He opened his eyes slowly, blinking repeatedly to clear his vision and stretched his arms out while sitting up. He feels refreshed although his body still feels a little weak.

He drops his feet on the floor and stands slowly.

He decided to go downstairs when he felt his stomach growl.

The house is quiet even when he’s still on the stairs so he calls out, “Luhan?” to find out if he’s alone.

“Baekhyun?”

He stops at the foot of the stairs when Kai appears from the living room. “Kai?”

“Hey. Uh, Luhan’s not here. He had to go to work. I came because he said someone needs to stay with you since you’re sick.”

So that’s why I feel so weak. Baekhyun blinks. “Ah I wanted to wish him happy birthday.”

“Don’t worry. We’ll throw him a party later. Care of Oh Sehun.”

Baekhyun nods and then he suddenly feels dizzy. “Wait, did I—“

“You fainted. Last night.” Kai walks over. “You should’ve seen Luhan’s face. He was so worried. Do you want to eat?” He asks while leading Baekhyun into the kitchen (though he isn’t really sure why he’s leading Baekhyun into the kitchen) and stops at the doorway.

Baekhyun chuckles. “How nice of you to offer when there’s no food.”

“I was actually going to propose we eat outside,” Kai says immediately. “There’s a new restaurant in the subdivision. The owner turned his house into one! You wanna try?”

“I don’t think I can last five steps.”

Kai smiles. “I’ll carry you.”

But then when he’s finally outside, he had the sudden urge to strangle Kai when he sees him at the other side of the road, yelling, “Just walk until here!”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “Whatever. I’m going back in.”

“Hey hey wait! I’m joking!” Kai yells while running back to the other side as fast as he could to prevent Baekhyun from closing the door on him. “Here. Come on.” He kneels down, his back facing Baekhyun. “I’ll carry you.”

Baekhyun smiles widely to himself and complies immediately. “So how far is this restaurant?” He asks when they’re finally on the road, his head leaning on Kai’s hair.

“Not that far,”

“How did you know about it?”

“Sehun and I found it accidentally when we were looking for Brad Pitt.” Kai replies. “He was there, eating left overs the manager gave him. Luhan forgot to feed him that day.”

Baekhyun laughed loudly. “Sounds so Luhan.”

--

Luhan almost jumps when someone suddenly snatched his ear phones. He turns around and sees Sehun leaning on the counter, in front of him. “Sehun!”

“What kind of owner doesn’t watch over his shop properly?”

“Excuse you. I was just listening to some music.”

Sehun snatches his iPod then and scans through his playlist. “Taylor Swift?” He snorts and takes off the earphone plug. He fishes his own iPod from his pocket and throws it to Luhan who catches it carefully. “Let’s exchange.”

Luhan frowns. “What? Why?”

“So you can listen to actually music.” Sehun answers while walking to the mini couch. “Oh hey you messaged me that you’re looking for a new place to stay?”

Luhan nods. “I think we need to move out. I mean, you know why right?”

Sehun chuckles and drops his on the couch, bouncing a little. “Okay. Have you found one already?”

“I found a lot. But we need a cheaper place. I can’t let you pay half of my rent anymore.”

“I have a better option.”

“What?”

“Why don’t you just move in with Kai and me in our condo?”

Luhan raises his eyebrows. “No. No, Sehun! You two have helped me a lot already. I’m not a baby. And Baekhyun’s back.”

Sehun sighs in disappointment. “Okay. But until you find a new place?”

Luhan thinks for a moment before considering Sehun’s offer. “I’ll talk to Baekhyun about it.”

--

The restaurant wasn’t that fancy but Baekhyun actually likes simplicity more than anything. The place is quiet and he likes the vintage feel and peaceful ambiance the place gives off that Baekhyun immediately decides he likes this place. They find a table at the corner of the place and Kai orders while Baekhyun looks around the place. There are flower orchids hung on the ceiling. Plates with memorable messages on them are also displayed on the walls. It kind of gives Baekhyun the impression that the owner must have thought a lot about turning the place into a restaurant; it must have been a dream.

“You like the place?” Kai asks.

Baekhyun nods, smiling widely. “It’s nice actually.”

“You know when I first found this place I immediately thought how you’ll like it. It feels like you. It doesn’t look that fancy outside but inside, it feels special.”

“You’ve been kind to me lately.”

Kai shrugs. “I missed you, is all.”

Baekhyun frowns. Kai is really one special mushroom. The fact that he’s the only person who hasn’t made his life more complicated than it already is gives him a special place in his heart. Kai has always been an understanding person. “Hey, Kai. You know, uh, there are a lot of things I haven’t told you that I wished I could have.”

“Like how you dress up as Baekhee?”

Baekhyun almost chokes in humid air with Kai’s straightforwardness. “How did you…?”

“Luhan told me. Well, he wouldn’t have told me if I didn’t start looking for Baekhee because I found it weird that she didn’t come with Chanyeol to London. So, yeah.” Kai explains as simply as he could. “I guess you could say I expected that? Remember when I said before that you kind of looked like Baekhee?” Baekhyun nods. “Yeah. It sounds so stupid now.”

Baekhyun sighs deeply. “Sorry you had to hear it from Luhan.”

“It’s okay. You have your reasons.”

Baekhyun smiles.

--

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!”

Baekhyun, Kai, Chen, and Hyomi yells in unison, with Chen popping the confetti, as soon as Luhan walks into the house with Sehun following behind him, carrying the beverages. It’s only a small party but it’s a special one. Baekhyun finally found people to spend Luhan’s birthday with the first time and after everything that has happened, this day will be one of the most memorable day.

Luhan laughs wholeheartedly as he gives each one of them a tight hug while mumbling the words ‘Thank you so much’. They sliced the cake next and Chen waited until each one gets a piece before starting to throw icings on Luhan and just like that, everybody jumped and joined in and that cake that was supposed to be on their stomachs ended up on their bodies and faces. And as if the icing wasn’t bad enough, Sehun grabbed one beer, opened it, and splashed it all over Chen who passed by running away from Kai. As revenge, Chen grabbed two and attacked the rest of them and everyone just decided to grab their own bottles. Hyomin, being the only girl decided not to join in the disgusting game and decided to use Chen’s camera to take photos instead as keepsakes. After an hour or two, they all ended up sprawled and scattered at the living room. Baekhyun’s eyeliner and smudged and he pouts seeing it ruined.  Now not only do they feel sticky because of the icing but also reek of alcohol after being showered with beer.

“You guys,” Luhan finally speaks. “This is the best birthday I ever had,”

“Well not yet!” Sehun yells standing up. “We have a little dare for you!” He runs to the kitchen and Kai follows, looking as excited as he is.

Baekhyun moves to the spot next to Luhan. Finally feeling a bit tired, he leans his head on his best friend’s shoulder. “You happy?” He asks, his voice sound a bit hoarse.

Luhan smiles. “Are you?”

“Of course.”

“Then me too.”

“ALRIGHT LUHAN!” Sehun yells when he arrives back to the living room. Chen stands up and grins seeing the red cups he was carrying. Kai’s behind him, carrying the other cups. They all stood away from the center as Chen moves the couch for a bigger space. Luhan and Baekhyun watch Sehun and Kai place the cups containing drinks on the floor in a triangle pattern, two on each side.

“What are we playing?” Luhan finally asks.

“Beer pong!”

Luhan snorts. “You know I can drink.”

“Yeah, beer. But we have vodka, tequila, even coffee and milk somewhere there!” Sehun announces enthusiastically. “You won’t really like the taste of coffee after vodka.” Luhan snarls at the thought.

“Oww, wicked,” Baekhyun comments, liking what they’re doing so far. Luhan realizes that of course, Baekhyun will like these sorts of games, just like the party animal he really is.

“So how are we going to do this? Play in teams? Three versus three?”

“Not me,” Chen says from his spot. “Documentary by yours truly,” He reasons, holding up his camera.

Hyomin backs out next, explaining that she’ll probably end up stripping if she drinks too much. So the game’s left to be played by the four people left—Baekhyun, Luhan, Sehun and Kai. They decided to play two on two with Baekhyun and Luhan, of course in the same team, while Sehun and Kai make up the other. They decided with rock-paper-scissors for the first pair to start and Baekhyun wins with flying colors against Kai.

Baekhyun, as expected, threw the ball with good aim and made it land on the center cup. It turned out to be vodka mixed with coffee, thought by Sehun himself, and well karma is a . Kai snarled in disgust after drinking in one shot and blamed Sehun for stupidly not thinking of their own safety first before thinking of mixing random drinks together. But Sehun proudly says that Baekhyun is not the only party animal present in the room, pertaining to Kai, who recovered after a second.

Sehun throws the next ball and unfortunately, did not land on anything. Luhan threw the next one and luckily, the ball landed on the cup at the far right. Sehun immediately drinks it, showing just how he’s not one to chicken out. Kai throws next and Baekhyun drinks. Baekhyun throws and Kai drinks. Sehun throws and Luhan drinks. Luhan throws and Sehun drinks. The pattern continued on for about half an hour until all the liquid in their system started acting up and Luhan was the first to throw up, immediately running to the sink. Baekhyun is still as alive as an owl and Kai doesn’t lose.

“Come on Baek, I know you feel dizzy!” Kai yells.

“Please. They worship me in London.”

“STOP GETTING SO COCKY BOTH OF Y—.” Luhan got unfortunately got cut off with another session of projectile vomiting.

“THIS I’M GOING TO KILL ALL OF YOU WHEN I’M SOBBER!”

“YOU’RE HARMLESS WHEN YOU’RE SOBER LULU!”

Baekhyun yells back with a snort. Then he realizes that this is only the second time he sees Luhan throw up after rounds of an overly stupid idea for a beer pong game and is worried. So he decided to walk to the kitchen but unfortunately his feet tripped over a dead on alcohol Sehun on the floor and out when he fell.

Really not a great comeback for Queen B.

--

Okay, so maybe the part about beer pong is not fit to be on the most memorable day section of their brains. Yeah. They all agreed to forget about it after waking up and finding themselves half- while sleeping beside each other and fortunately, very very fortunately, Chen is the good Samaritan who explains that after playing beer pong and got drunk, they all felt hot as pertaining to temperature and sleepy at the same time that they took off their shirts and decided to lie down on the floor and sleep and yeah just thank god that’s all that happened.

And then after three days of trying to sober up still, Baekhyun found himself packing the rest of the things left in his bed room and good lord he has to see Kyungsoo from where he’s standing inside Chanyeol’s room, wearing his shirt. He rolls his eyes and carries the box.

“He’s not even that cute!”

Luhan looks up from the boxes his taping and smirks, realizing immediately that for the past days there is one thing Baekhyun kept on ing about, and that is Chanyeol’s new fling he discovered the morning after their wasted party.

“Yeah okay he has those large circle eyes but I’m cuter! And I even look better in Chanyeol’s clothes!” Baekhyun continues and drops the box next to the rest.

Ah, oh how he missed Baekhyun’s tantrums.

“B, are you sure you’re okay with this moving out thing?”

“Of course I am! I mean, come on. One more day living next to that doe-eyed and their house will be in ashes the next. I MEAN WHO THE HELL CAN EVEN SLEEP WITH THAT FROG SINGING SO LOUD!” Baekhyun replies. “And what’s wrong with Chanyeol? He actually thought of replacing me with that guy?! I’D ACTUALLY BE HAPPY IF HE REPLACED ME WITH YOU!”

Luhan shakes his head. “B, they’ll hear y—“

“OH WHO CARES! THEY CAN SUE ME WHENEVER THEY WANT FOR ALL I KNOW! I SPEAK THE TRUTH!”

“Stop getting so upset and move on.”

“DON’T LECTURE ME MR LU!”

“…I’ll get the coffee.” Luhan turns to leave.

Baekhyun picks up Brad Pitt and faces him. “Look at me dog! I AM YOUR MASTER!”

Luhan stops at the doorway, tray on hand, and decided to go back to the kitchen.

Sehun and Kai came an hour after with their own cars to help them move their stuffs.

And as crazy as Baekhyun could get, he climbed up Chanyeol’s balcony and left Braddy’s poop on his newly cleaned floor and god knows how happy Baekhyun was when he got back.

--

One thing’s for sure, Sehun and Kai’s condo is awesome, in italics for intensity. It’s two story and the whole place is covered with marbles and grey. They have a mini bar set up behind the living area. They actually have a Jacuzzi just at the corner of the living room so you can watch television—and don’t get started with the television it’s so big Luhan’s eyes are gonna fall out watching an almost life-sized version of Aladdin. Baekhyun started running around the whole place to check it out as soon as walked in and—

“YOU HAVE A CAT?!”

He asked in a yell after discovering that little bed they bought for the cat situated somewhere inside Kai’s room.

Kai and Sehun glanced at each other. “YEAH?”

“WHY DIDN’T YOU WARN ME?! MY DOG’S GOING TO—“ Baekhyun looks around and finds Braddy snuggling Kai’s pet cat on the couch, next to Luhan who was already hooked up on the TV. “Oh. WHAT THE HELL.” Baekhyun immediately ran down the stairs and picked up Braddy away from the cat and yells,

“YOU! HOW CAN YOU LET SOMEONE IN YOUR LIFE SO EASILY?!”

Sehun and Kai stares at him with wide eyes.

“You’re a dog! This is a cat!”

“He is not okay,”

“Unless it can bark, you’re not allowed to be together!”

“Nope,” Sehun agrees.

Kai checks the time and immediately runs to where he bag is. “Guys I need to go!”

Baekhyun drops the dog. “Go where?”

“Work! At the dance studio!” Kai replies while hurriedly putting his sneakers.

Baekhyun and Sehun watches as Kai almost trips and fall and waves goodbye before he disappears behind the door. Sehun turns to Baekhyun. “His cat’s a male by the way hyung,”

Baekhyun side-eyes the cat on the couch. “Yeah, well, what if one of them’s gay. I’m sure it’s not my dog.”

Sehun decides to ignore him. “I’m going to get something to eat. Do you want something hyung?”

“I’ll go with you.” Baekhyun says and follows Sehun. “What’s it’s name by way? The cat.”

“Oh. Sherlock.”

The kitchen, speaking for itself given the amount of dirt it has, is obviously not for guys—at least not for guys who are used to live alone anyway. There’s a stove but he can tell that it’s only been used once (and he guesses that’s their first attempt in cooking and failed) and the trash can is full of meal take-outs. Baekhyun wonders how these two survive in this kind of lifestyle.

“You know I would really want to visit Kai at work,” Baekhyun says out of the blue while leaning on the table. “I’ve seen him dance before…when he took me to an arcade. He seems to really enjoy it.”

“He does. He likes music and dance. Before my parents took him in, he works as a DJ at a club. He’s a minor so he shouldn’t have been allowed but the owner made an exception ‘because a lot of people liked his music. He also dances back up to some artists. We danced together once too, during a school event.” Sehun tells him while offering a plate of sliced apple.

“You dance too?”

Sehun chuckles. “Yeah. I also like dancing.”

“Why aren’t you showing it off? Do your parents forbid you to dance?”

“No, they don’t care actually.”

“So why don’t you participate in some contests? Or go into dancing gigs? You’re almost graduating. Look at Kai, he’s doing what he wants.”

“Yeah…I wonder…”

As if on cue, Luhan enters the kitchen, probably to look for some food. “Sehun? What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in school like 15 minutes ago? How can you be so irresponsible? Just because you’re graduating, doesn’t mean you can slack off!”

Baekhyun stares at Luhan incredulously.

Luhan grabs a bag of chips he found inside the fridge. “Come on Sehun! Go to school!” He yells while walking out.

Baekhyun slowly turns his head to Sehun who is also slightly flabbergasted. “Uh-huh. So that’s why. Luhan.”

Baekhyun throws his head back and laughs loudly.

“Well, it’s okay. You know what Kai always says—always have fun and follow this.” Sehun makes a tiny circle on his chest.

“Your lung?”

“No, my heart.”

“Ah.”

Sehun clears his throat. “I guess you could say I am following my heart.”

Baekhyun smiles at him. “Good for you.”

---

“PARK CHANYEOL YOU COME BACK HERE AND LISTEN TO ME!” 

Gyuri yells, completely ignoring the audience around her.

Chanyeol stops on his tracks and turns around although his face says he’s not in the mood to listen. “What?”

“Don’t what me!” Gyuri walks over and hits his head with a rolled newspaper.

“Aw!”

“We had a meeting!”

“I came!”

“You came when we were almost done! What’s wrong with you?! Why are you being so irresponsible?! You’re supposed to be the CEO! Now you’re leading the company into bankruptcy!”

“Don’t you think I know that?! It’s my fault! I lost that deal! I lost five investors! So what do you want me to do?!”

“Chanyeol, if you don’t stop being such an , you’re going to lose your share in this company! We talked about it earlier at the meeting and the board are reconsidering replacing you.”

“They can’t replace me. I build this company back up after dad died.” Chanyeol says, as unsure as sure he is.

“They will, Chanyeol. And that new vice president of yours is not helping. I’m going to find someone to help you get back on track. An assistant.”

“I don’t need one—“

“This isn’t your call. You’re falling. And as a sister, I’m going to help you get back up.”

--

It’s almost dinner when Kai got back to the condo and he found Gyuri standing outside.

“Gyuri?”

Gyuri turns to him, sighing in relief. “Thank God. Nobody was answering. I need to talk to you about something.” Kai opened the door and let Gyuri walk in first. “Oh, did someone move in?” Gyuri asks as soon as she sees the boxes piled around the corner.

“Two of your friends. They must’ve gone out.” Kai drops his bag on the table while Gyuri finds a comfortable seat. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“Oh, hey, um, listen,” Gyuri shifts positions, feeling a little bit uncomfortable. “Is there a chance for you to come back to the company?”

“Why? Is something wrong?”

“Yeah.” Gyuri lowers her head. “Chanyeol’s not doing any good, he’s getting worse actually. And that new VP of his is not helping at all. I thought Kyungsoo would and that’s the only reason why I agreed with him being your replacement. But, yeah, the only change I can see right now is that Chanyeol got worse.”

“I’ll be happy to help but he won’t like me back there.”

Gyuri groans. “And this was the only option I had.”

“I’m really sorry but I’ll try to find one for you. I still have my connections.”

Gyuri sighs. “You’ll make a great CEO.”

“I dance now.”

“I know, I know. Maybe you can dance for the investors—“

“Gyuri!”

“I’m joking! Okay, okay. I’ll keep searching for a good assistant to watch over Chanyeol and repel his nonsense.”

“Anyone who has Baekhee’s sass can repel his nonsense. You just have to find someone with that same personality.”

“You talk as if it’s easy. We can’t even find Baekhee, how much more her twin!”

Kai laughs, although Chanyeol’s condition is no laughing matter. He knows the guy. He’s wise and smart, he takes a lot of risks but ends up winning because he trusts his own abilities. So it doesn’t make sense knowing that he can’t even get back on his feet and defend his position as a CEO.

--

Kai was halfway through his dance routine when the door opens. He lowers the volume of the speaker and turns around to welcome Sehun, Baekhyun and Luhan back. They showed him the food they bought and in just minutes, they’re all cramped inside the kitchen, with Sehun helping Baekhyun set up the food.

“By the way Kai, we bumped into Gyuri outside.” Sehun says while taking out the food from the boxes.

“Oh, right. She came here to tell me something. She was looking for someone to assist Chanyeol or something.”

Baekhyun pauses briefly at the mention of the name.

“Why?” Sehun asks.

“Well, Chanyeol’s slacking a lot more so she needs someone to watch him or guide him. Someone to help him get back on track and remind him of his position.”

“You gonna do it?”

Kai chuckles. “No. Did you see how Chanyeol kicked me out? I wouldn’t even last one day. I’ll be dead as soon as he sees my face at the building.”

“I’ll do it.”

Almost as if time stopped, all their actions were interrupted with Baekhyun speaking out of the blue.

“Do what?”

“Help him.”

“Help who?”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes. “Chanyeol. Duh.”

Kai remembers how he just told Gyuri earlier that the only thing Chanyeol needs is someone who can repel his nonsense like what Baekhee does and Baekhee is standing right before his eyes. “That’d be great—“

“No.” Luhan immediately pulls Baekhyun with him out of the kitchen. “Come here for a sec.”

“I know what you’re going to say Lulu.”

“Oh yeah? You knew I’m going to say ARE YOU A COMPLETE MASOCHIST? Because you are.” Luhan tells him, sounding a bit exasperated being fed up with Baekhyun’s reckless actions. “

“Look, even I don’t like the idea of stepping inside Chanyeol’s company. But I have to. Who else can help him if not me? He almost despises me. His hatred can push him to work harder and show me that he has moved on, in which I can clearly see he hasn’t.”

“You don’t have to do this if you really don’t want to. Enough trying to hurt yourself. Why can’t you just live a normal peaceful life, B?”

That’s the thing about him actually. He doesn’t want a normal peaceful life. When Luhan wants stability, he wants fun that lasts a lifetime.

“Yeah, okay.” Baekhyun says, nodding. But then something just tells him he has to do this even though the odds wouldn’t really be in his favor. “I won’t do it anyway.” That’s true. “But Baekhee will.”

Luhan gapes, immediately following. “You’re insane.” Baekhyun grins at him. “You…you’re crazy. Seriously Baekhyun I don’t know what to do with you anymore. You can’t be serious.”

“I’m serious!”

Luhan sighs in defeat. “Alright. Let’s say you’re going to do this. How are you going to convince Mrs. Park that Baekhee is more fit to be there than Elliot?”

“Come on Lulu. There’s a reason why Chen’s our friend.”

Luhan’s jaws drop. “You are officially out of your mind!” He screams, clawing his hair.

Baekhyun throws his head back laughing and is convinced that it is a good idea. All he needs is a good plan. He’s been to sorts of trouble in the past and he survived almost all of them. He can gladly take another one. Besides, who wouldn’t want to see Baekhee gracing the scene again?

--

“I said it before and I’ll say it again. You are out of your mind.”

Baekhyun gazes away from the mirror and turns to Luhan. “How do I look?”

“You look like Baekhee.” Baekhyun raises an eyebrow. “What else do you want me to say?”

“Can’t you at least be a little supportive?”

Luhan shakes his head. Baekhyun’s wearing a tight skirt that also perfectly fits his defined hips and shaped legs (Luhan is partly convinced that he was actually born a female) matched with a long-sleeved plain white blouse for a top and a pair of wedges. His new wig, now blonde to blend with his hair color, is longer than his last one and falls right at his shoulders, also a bit curly. His eyeliner is applied perfectly around his eyes and his lips are colored with peach lip gloss. Baekhyun did a perfect job on this, hands down. Luhan starts to wonder if they have tutorials for this thing.

“You look beautiful, Baekhyun.” He finally says, smiling. “Are you really sure about this?”

“What? Everybody loves Baekhee.” Baekhyun shrugs. “I don’t know what Chanyeol told about his fiancée suddenly out of the picture but I’ll know when I get there. I’ll do everything I can to help him. It’s the least I could do after…you know, lying to him. Man, nobody told me he has trust issues.”

“He’s a CEO. CEOs have trust issues.” Luhan says, fixing the thin ribbon on Baekhyun’s blouse. “How long will you be working for him?”

“It depends. I only have to help him get his investors back. Since he’s got such a bad reputation now, none of them wants to schedule a meeting with him. So I probably need to use my persuasion prowess.” Baekhyun explains, chuckling.

“Good luck, B.”

“Luck has always been on my side,”

--

They (they, as in Baekhyun, Sehun and Kai) arrive just in time for the meeting to start and Baekhyun notices how nobody even questioned Sehun and Kai’s presence at the meeting room. Even so, the attention the board members gave him is insane. Chanyeol hasn’t even arrived yet and Baekhyun can feel the tension on his legs and—goddamnit—he trips and falls just when he was only one step away from the center. He immediately stood back up with a smile and fixed his skirt. Gyuri was the one who introduced him, even listing his achievements, including the big fat lie Chen made that, “She also worked for the Van der Gilts once and was even complimented by the late Edward himself. She even had her own share but decided to give it up to be able to live a normal life here in Korea. And as you all know now, she’s my brother’s ex-fiancee.” Gyuri says and Baekhyun just wants to hug the elegance and grace out of her. “Thank you for agreeing to help the company, Baekhee, despite your past with my brother.”

Baekhyun giggles and he clears his throat to warm up his female-ish voice. “No problem. Anything for a friend.” He smiles at Kai and Kai nods at him. “So, um, as what I’ve been told, my purpose for being here is to help he company get the investors back and prevent the sales from declining any further. After studying the company’s sales for the past 6 months, I’ve come into a conclusion.” He turns around to write on the white board just as Chanyeol enters the room with Kyungsoo trailing behind him.

Gyuri rolls his eyes. “Imbalanc—safgdjkd.” Baekhyun rambles when he turns back around only to see Chnyeol looking at him from his seat…and then there’s Kyungsoo beside him. Baekhyun smiles at them both although Chanyeol looked like he has seen a ghost and wants to strangle his sister so bad but refrains from doing so because of that little dignity he still has left. Baekhyun walks over to Kyungsoo’s seat. “Hi,” He greets with a big smile, holding out his hand. “I’m Baekhee,” Although  Sehun and Kai can read the words ‘I can kill you with my deathly gaze’ over his head given by the way he stares at Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo smiles back at him. “Uh, hi, I’m Kyungsoo.”

“My VP.” Chanyeol says beside him.

Baekhyun raises an eyebrow and shifts his gaze to Chanyeol. “Don’t you think I know that?”

“Ms. Baekhee, I’m your boss.”

“And you need my help.”

“Who the h—“

“Chanyeol. Baekhee.” Gyuri interrupts from her seat. “Not here.”

Sehun stifles a laugh and Kai nudges him to keep quiet.

Baekhyun walks back to the center while Chanyeol glares. He clears his throat. “As I was saying. Imbalanced. As what I have observed, there is an imbalance with the amount of financial grant given to the company from each investor. Which is the reason why the company suffered a large decline on the sales and money even though only 5 out of 10 investors were lost.”

Chanyeol leaned on the table. “What do you know about investing?”

“What do you know about balance?” Baekhyun retorts. “I propose that we have to give them a fair deal where each investment is equal and the same.”

“Now we’re talking about being fair.” Chanyeol obviously is pertaining to some other things and Baekhyun just wants to claw his hair in frustration so bad.

“Yes. Fairness, Chanyeol. Being fair like how…two parties take turns in voicing out their opinions. Being fair like how married couples give each other a chance to explain and fix misunderstandings. Being fair like…how Sehun and Kai don’t try to outwit each other.” Baekhyun explains, stifling a smile and Sehun and Kai can just see his eyebrows twitching in annoyance. “You know what I’m trying to say, Sir?”

Chanyeol stares at him and he stares back, letting their eyes show just how strong they and their hearts to compete with each other in terms of business.

Kyungsoo clears his throat, immediately breaking the awkward but fierce eye contact battle between the two. “That’s a…very good observation, Ms. Baekhee.”

Baekhyun turns to him and smiles sweetly. “Drop the miss. You don’t have to be so formal with me. It’s not as if you don’t know me at all given that you’re my ex’s new fling.”

Kyungsoo gapes. And Sehun had just lost it seeing he’s hiding his face behind Kai to avoid making his laughter so obvious while Kai observes Chanyeol’s expression and notices how it changes from exasperation to challenging.

Boy, this is going to be one hell of a mess.

A/n:

no words. 

oh how i missed this.

- gelie