Dress to Impress
Perfectly Imbalanced
“Kai, I think I’ll take the job.”
24 Hours Earlier
I hear the ticking of the clock…
No, seriously, it’s the only thing they can hear due to the enormous awkward silence.
Luhan sighed. “Well…at least it’s a balloon gown.”
Baekhyun squinted from the dress to Luhan. “Of course it’s a ball gown.”
Just a few minutes ago his dress arrived along with his shoes. No surprise from him there but Luhan almost had a panic attack when the first thing that came to his mind was someone is getting married to either one of them. That has got to be stupidest thing to think early in the morning.
Luhan walked closer to the dress, lifting the skirt up. “It’s really beautiful, B. You’ll look good in it.”
“Of course I will.”
“I’m sure Chanyeol will fall in love with you once he sees you with this dress.”
“Wait, what? Um, excuse me Lulu, no one will fall in love with anyone. Especially me to him and him to me.”
“What? Who knows if all this pretending will turn out to be real after all? It’s not impossible. Maybe something will happen that can never unhappen and you both end up in each other’s arms and you will think back to the days when you thought it will never happen because…well, it is pretending and you have only one job…but you realize you can’t tell your heart what to do and what not to do so you fell for each other—“
And lived happily ever other.
“—and lived happily ever after.”
Told ya.
“You do watch too much Disney. I tell you it’s severe.” Baekhyun rolled his eyes and grabbed his coffee from the table. “Nice monologue though.”
“It was spontaneous.” Luhan said proudly and followed Baekhyun to the kitchen. “By the way, did Kai talk to you?”
Baekhyun paused from dropping ice cubes on his coffee. What? He doesn’t like hot coffee. He likes it cold. But he likes to make them hot first so he can drop ice cubes and then they become cold. Ha.
“Yeah, he offered me a job because you said I needed one when I already have one.”
Luhan shrugged. “You’ll never know.” When Baekhyun placed a bowl of strawberries he got from the fridge, he immediately picked up one to eat. “Besides, it’s not like your job will stay forever. Your shoulders may not be broad now but it will be.”
Baekhyun sighed heavily and picked up Luhan’s phone which he left beside the sink because it has been constantly vibrating for hours. “Aren’t you supposed to be working now? They’ve been calling you for hours.”
Luhan took the phone grumpily and answered. “What? Alright, alright, I’m coming.”
Baekhyun smirked as he watched Luhan grab his coat with an irritated face on. “It’s fun having a job, isn’t it?”
“You just wait.” Luhan replied playfully. “See you tonight Baekhyun, I mean, Miss Baekhee!”
“Bye .” Baekhyun waved.
He didn’t mean it.
No.
“Hey handsome.” He heard Luhan croon from outside, walking pass by a gorgeous neighbor who was taking his dog for a walk.
Okay.
So maybe he does mean it.
A little bit.
--
Luhan stared helplessly at the large stage. If he can only see his view at the back 20 meters away, he looks like a mouse looking up at an elephant with big ears and big feet and big everything and he’s the mouse who’s everything is small.
It was bad enough when they made him do the groceries.
Actually, it wasn’t that bad.
Now, they want him to put or hang or glue an enormous drawing of a pumpkin beside the enormous picture of Cinderella with enormous glittering words that says ‘Happy 36th Pumpkins Gala’.
Everything around him but him is enormous.
“This is unfair!”
“What is?” Hyomin asked while stuffing confettis and silver dusts from the box to an even bigger box.
“Why do they make me climb up the ladder and hang that pumpkin when the pumpkin plus the ladder is 10 times my size?!”
“You’re overreacting. It’s really not that heavy.” Hyomin pushed the bigger box, with a few help of course, and carried it to the stage. “Do your job Luhan!”
Luhan rolled his eyes and stomped his feet to the stage. He really had no choice. He grabbed the large drawing, even surprised that it was lighter then he thought it would be and started climbing up that ladder with one hand. Hopefully he doesn’t screw up this one since the height really is high he’d probably end up in a hospital bed, comatose, if he fell down.
Of course he was overreacting.
While trying to adjust himself and his position so he can work better, he slightly glanced behind him and saw the view of the hall from above—not that high above, of course. It was all glitz and glamour, gold and silver and shining and shimmering. Like a fairy tale in a dream turned into reality right before his eyes. He wished he knew this was how all those materials will turn out, he would’ve been happier to buy them.
Le stupid Luhan.
The people under him who were placing the enormous box of confettis and silver dusts accidentally bumped into the ladder, causing the ladder to sway and Luhan ended up slipping and falling. “WA!”
Fortunately, he had a soft landing.
Hyomin waved her hand to the confettis that popped out to the air when Luhan fell on the box.
Luhan coughed a bit and slowly sat up, stunned. “Oh no…”
“Luhan!” Hyomin yelled hysterically after seeing the confettis on the ground. Later followed by complaining groans.
“Sorry…” Luhan murmured with an apologetic look.
So now he found himself inside the storage room, with a pail of water and towel, trying to get the silver dusts off of his skin to avoid looking like Edward Cullen. The last thing he wants in life before dying is to be dubbed as a vampire that shines under the sun. Really. That .
“Hey, do you know who Sehun oppa’s partner is tonight?”
He snarled. Sehun oppa?
He leaned closer to the door to hear the girls’ conversation clearer.
“It’s Taeyeon. That . It should be me.”
“Well, they are friends.”
“Psh. They were only friends because Taeyeon helped him with his project. If it wasn’t for her, I would’ve been his partner.”
“That’s why I prepared this plan to humiliate her tonight.”
“Really?”
“Yes, during the game, we’ll chase her and pour these paints on her.”
Luhan gasped silently.
OMG THESE ES
“That way, Sehun oppa’s going to be disgusted with her.”
He heard them laughing and then slowly walked away.
Luhan walked outside. “Those es…I should tell Sehun!”
Because like, I don’t know who Taeyeon is.
Wow. They actually exist.
--
“Chanyeol, for the 10th time—“
“11th,” Baekhyun corrected.
“—11th time, you can’t see Baekhyun until he’s done! Now shut up and lock yourself in your house or do I have to go there and glue your into your couch?!” Jokwon scolded through the phone. They’ve been in a marathon for an hour now and for that one hour, Chanyeol called 11 times already.
Do you know how annoying that is?
Jokwon rolled his eyes and slammed the telephone down.
Baekhyun flinched, distracting the make-up artist from sticking the fake eyelashes. “Uh, can you please be careful with the phone,”
We might have to sell that one when we’re broke.
“Mamma mia, your fiancé is so persistent! He can’t even wait to see you!”
“He probably couldn’t wait to see if I’m presentable enough for the press.”
Jokwon clicked his tongue. “No, no, no, darling, that’s not case. Never has he told me you need to look good or presentable or whatever. He just told me to teach you things that can keep you from embarrassing yourself. He cares deeply for you. He dragged you into this so he wants to take care of you.”
Wow. That actually sounded true.
“That might be what he told you but it doesn’t mean it’s true. He’s a businessman, a CEO, he’s good with his tongue, with the lies or the words or whatever.” Baekhyun said and crossed his arms. The make-up artist tilted his head to the side to apply the eyeliner and the blush on so he was kind of squinting hard to see Jokwon who was at the corner of the living room.
But he gave up anyway and just stared at the other side,
“I don’t understand your relationship.”
Baekhyun gaped. “Neither do I.” Jokwon glared at him. “No strings attached. It’s all work and nothing personal.”
“I’m not sure if the infinity pendant is nothing personal.”
“Well, maybe he thought that Tiffany necklace wasn’t good enough.”
“There is no Tiffany necklace. It’s Harry Winston.”
Baekhyun choked.
“He ignored the Harry Winston and gave you that infinity pendant. Tell me it’s not personal!”
Baekhyun raised an eyebrow. “It’s. Not. Personal.”
Jokwon threw his arms. “I GIVE UP!”
--
Luhan scurried through the crowd of impatient staffs and workers running errands in hope to leave the hall to find Sehun. Unfortunately, Hyomin got to him even before he even got to the door. “Luhan!”
Luhan turned to her, a bit appalled. “What?”
“There you are! I was looking all over for you. Listen, can you take these to the party monitor who checks the guest list outside? I need to get dressed. The Gala’s starting in an hour!”
AN HOUR?! Luhan checked the time. 5 PM. .
“Thanks Luhan!” Hyomin yelled and ran away.
“Wait! I need to get dressed…too…” Luhan sighed. “ being a guy.”
He patted his pockets to check on his phone because he just realized he can just call Sehun but then he remembered he doesn’t have his number. He banged his head on the wall.
It should everyone’s first rule that when you meet someone, you ask for their number.
Because there might be circumstances wherein evil es plan on sabotaging whatever there is to sabotage.
Really.
This job .
He decided to look for Sehun later since he’ll be coming anyway. He just had to keep an eye on the people standing close to him, particularly es, so he can take precautions and not take the blame.
Or the embarrassment.
So now it’s less than an hour before the Gala.
--
IT WAS FREAKING 30 MINUTES BEFORE THE GALA.
And Chanyeol is freaking out.
Well, the person in charged to groom him came but because he was nervous he ended up scaring her away—after she straightened his hair, of course. Not that it’s not beneficial. She was probably going to take the vase with her when she’s done. It wasn’t really surprising. There are a lot of people who are like that, particularly maids. Maybe that’s why his mother never wanted him to get one. They’re the scariest thieves in the world. You’ll never know what you lost because you’ll never know what they want to steal. Last time his MacBook Air got robbed when there were bills beside it. They left the money and took the laptop. They left the money and took the laptop. Who the hell does that?
But anyway, that’s not the point.
The point is he was too excited to see Baekhyun being Baekhee, wearing a gown, just like the first time he met him (albeit it wasn’t really an ideal first meeting).
Sehun walked in right at that moment (since he didn’t bother knocking). “Hey dude!” Of course he’s wearing leathered Americana, because he’s a er like that.
“Sehun? What are you doing here? Don’t you have Taeyeon to pick up?”
“I wanted to see what Baekhyun would look like. I was going straight to his house but figured you probably wanted to see him first…well, at least after Jokwon since this seems like a pretty big deal for you.”
“Of course it is!”
“Yeah, I mean your first ever date—stop clawing your hair.”
“I can’t find my hair…”
“It’s straightened. Come on, let’s go see Baekhyun. And please find your brain if you dropped it somewhere. I don’t remember Cinderella’s Prince Charming being an idiot.” Sehun murmured while pulling Chanyeol out of his house. “Oh look I can see him from here.”
Chanyeol immediately looked up to the window. “What?”
“Got ya.” Sehun grinned at him. “Uh, where’s your t—ack!“
Didn’t see that post coming. Chanyeol didn’t even bother stopping even when Sehun slammed his face on that tall post. Sehun pulled his face away immediately, it almost felt like it was stuck at one point and checked his face on the side mirror of his car parked nearby. That’s a lovely red mark. “GODDAMNIT!” He exclaimed while trying to wipe it off but of course it wasn’t…wipeable. That’s not even a word.
He ran to Baekhyun’s house immediately, thinking that Baekhyun might have some concealer or Jokwon can do something about it but got immediately pushed away when Chanyeol slammed his palm on his face.
Jokwon opened the door just in time. “Ah, so you finally got tired of calling every second and finally decided to come here.”
“Uh, it’s 15 minutes before the party.”
“I know. I was just playing with you.” Jokwon smiled. “Come on in.”
Chanyeol swore everything froze the moment he stepped into that house, gazing up from the floor, to the aqua blue sequined dress, flowing from the front to the back like a spiral staircase, to the sufficient amount of skin exposed from the tight linings of the dress’ strings on the back (nobody warned him the dress was actually backless) and to the soft long brunette hair falling down, swaying in accordance to the owner’s movements while turning around, head first then the body, showing how perfect his face is in every angle.
Chanyeol was in deep awe.
Baekhyun’s long fringe, almost covering up his eyebrows, made him look like a cherubim.
Baekhyun smiled nervously. “So, what do you think?”
This is probably what’s going on Chanyeol’s mind,
Chanyeol couldn’t make up any coherent words at the moment. But that anticipation was killing so he had to at least say a word.
Gorgeous.
“…gay.”
ALL SYSTEMS DOWN
“GAY?!” Baekhyun yelled and grabbed the 150-year old Chinese vase Luhan’s been constantly wiping every morning before going to work since it was passed on to him from his grandmother who died of cervical cancer a year ago.
“No, no, no, no, no I meant GORGEOUS! YOU LOOK GORGEOUS!”
“Oh shut up!” Baekhyun advanced closer, lifting the vase above his head. Meanwhile, Sehun’s been taking pictures because it’s amusing and Jokwon’s clawing his hair because Baekhyun is not being a lady right now when he was supposed to be given that he’s wearing a gown and hair extensions.
Then again, Chanyeol isn’t really being a gentleman so what’s the point.
Chanyeol kept walking back until his back hit the door. “W-w-w-what are you going to do with that vase?!”
Baekhyun paused. “…putting it back since this is worth a fortune and Luhan might kill me for breaking their family legacy.” He murmured while putting the vase back on the table slowly but surely while praying to the Gods in his mind that they spare his clumsiness for this instance. Just…no. When he finally got the vase to stay still, he sighed heavily and immediately pulled his hand back, watching the vase for a good old five minutes in case some wind or rat or fly might cause it to fall which is obviously just idiotic before looking back to Chanyeol with death displayed all over his face.
Chanyeol gulped.
Baekhyun grabbed his skirt (which is really long and heavy by the way, damn petticoat) and started walking towards the door. “Move.” Chanyeol immediately sprung towards the other side of the house while Baekhyun continued walking until he reached outside. It was quiet for a moment until a familiar yell echoed through the area.
“YAHH!!! THERE’S A LIMO IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE! WHAT IS A LIMO DOING IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE?! YAH GET LOST! THIS IS MY HOUSE YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO ASDFGHJKL—“
Chanyeol immediately ran outside and restrained the angry Baekhyun who was almost getting violent with all the arm flailing and air kicking. Plus, his slippers are real glass. “Whoa whoa whoa whoa, calm down—“
“Do not touch me you filthy monster!”
“Hey, relax. That’s our ride.”
“Oh,” Baekhyun looked back to the innocent limo. “I see.”
Jokwon stared hopelessly while leaning on the doorframe, sighing as deep as the Mariana Trench, shaking his head noticing that the only person he can complain to is Sehun who was busy scanning the pictures while laughing so hard inside the house. “It’s like everything I taught him got buried six feet under. This guy is a walking disaster.”
Sehun shrugged, eyes still fixed on the camera frame. “At least you got paid.”
Jokwon nodded and pulled the make-up artist with him. “Yeah, that’s good too. Well, we’re going. Tell me if he burned his dress. Oh wait, I’ll probably see it in the news.”
Sehun dropped his hand after scanning the pictures and accidentally hit the vase behind him, causing it to fall and break into pieces, almost killing him with a heart attack because ing , if his memory doesn’t fail, Baekhyun said that vase is worth a fortune and is passed down to Luhan from generation to generation and here it is, broken into pieces, and OH MY GOD.
“Did something just break?” Jokwon asked while peeking from behind the door.
Sehun immediately covered up his mess by standing in front of it. “Uh, no, nothing.”
“Hey, they’re going, aren’t you leaving yet?”
“Uh…I’ll stick around…I just need some water. I’ll lock the door.”
Jokwon shrugged. “Well, suit yourself. Bye.”
Sehun waited until Jokwon completely disappeared before screaming his panic.
“OH MY GOD OH MY GOD I BROKE THE VASE I BROKE THE VASE I BROKE THE VASE I’M GOING TO DIE ASDFGHJKL!”
Now he’s turning into Baekhyun.
Breathe, Sehun. Breathe.
ING BREATHE.
“I can do this.” Sehun slowly knelt down, grabbed his handkerchief and picked up the pieces. “I can just buy him another one. Yeah, that will work.” He whispered to himself until he picked up one piece that had writings on it.
1861 | Xi Family
He froze at that moment. “Oh god.”
--
Baekhyun crossed his arms and stared outside while pouting. Chanyeol couldn’t help but glance at him from time to time due to his lack of grace. Baekhyun finally had enough and glared at Chanyeol. “What?”
Like, you’re wearing a gown and you’re spreading your legs.
“You can sit properly.”
“I don’t want to sit properly because I’ll look gay.” Baekhyun mocked and rolled his eyes.
Chanyeol chuckled. “Ohhh, you’re mad because of that.”
“I’m not mad! Actually, I don’t care. I’m going to do what I want and you can’t say about it!”
Lack of grace.
“Baekhyun, I told you I was going to say gorgeous.”
“SINCE WHEN WAS GAY THE SAME AS GORGEOUS?!”
Chanyeol immediately covered his mouth. “Why are you yelling?”
“BECAUSE I’M MAD!”
. . . . .
“See? You are mad.”
Baekhyun looked away. Oh it.
Chanyeol leaned closer. “Hey, even if I don’t say anything, you’ll always be gorgeous.”
Boo-yah!
Chanyeol just dropped the bomb.
Luckily, they arrived at the hall so Baekhyun didn’t have to get awkward or something even though it was already awkward. He noticed people outside, photographers clicking their shutters to every personality that walked into the carpet and he knew that he’ll be in that carpet too, smiling, faking an idea that he belonged there when he knows he doesn’t. But that’s all he could ever do. Dress to impress.
Chanyeol dialed Sehun’s number and to his surprise, he answered at the first ring. “Where are you?”
“Uh, I’m driving to the hall. Taeyeon took too long to come out. I think we’ll be late. But it’s okay since the last ones are always the best ones.”
“We’re supposed to be the last ones.”
There was a slight pause. “Oh…right. Well, we can just go before you since that’s a nice position too.”
“That’s why you should hurry up.”
Sehun chuckled. “Yeah, we’re right behind you.”
Chanyeol looked behind the car and saw Sehun’s car passing by. He dropped the call and fixed his tie—OH . Yep, there is no tie. Tie is nowhere.
Chanyeol tapped his chest as if a tie would magically appear if he did so.
Baekhyun sighed and shook his head. “How can you forget your tie?”
“I didn’t! It’s here.” Chanyeol continued tapping his chest and slowly turned away.
Baekhyun rolled his eyes and looked outside. He saw Kai walking on the red carpet with his partner, wearing a slick suit with his hair pushed back. Baekhyun saw Sehun running to their car, leaving Taeyeon standing awkwardly while waiting for him.
What a gentleman.
Sehun knocked on Chanyeol’s side. Chanyeol rolled down the window immediately. “What?”
“Dude, your tie.” Sehun threw his tie on him.
Chanyeol exhaled deeply. “Oh thank god.”
Baekhyun scoffed beside him.
Sehun leaned closer after noticing Baekhyun being y. “Ah, Baekhyun, are you mad that Chanyeol said you looked gay? Don’t worry. He’s always like that when he sees something fascinating or wonderful. He stutters a lot. See you inside guys.” He waved and ran back to Taeyeon.
Chanyeol turned to Baekhyun with a bragging smile.
“What?” Baekhyun asked, annoyed.
Chanyeol shrugged and started putting his tie carelessly. When the car moved forward, Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun’s hand, startling the brunette. “Let’s go.” He paused when he saw Baekhyun’s startled face. “Hey, smile.” He pinched Baekhyun’s cheek at the same time the valet opened the door. He pulled Baekhyun out with him and started smiling to the cameras. Baekhyun swore he will never be able to get used to those blinding flashes. And to think that these people doesn’t know who he really is.
He glanced at Chanyeol and noticed his tie was loosely tied so without any second thoughts, he pulled the tie and started fixing it, giving the reporters a good scoop. Of course he didn’t even realize than until he was done. Chanyeol smiled at him and escorted him inside, smiling to the reporters on the way.
Baekhyun would be lying if he said the whole place didn’t catch him off guard. It was like a real palace and a real fairy tale with a lot of Cinderellas and Prince Charmings. If this was what Luhan has been busy at for the past few days, he completely understands why now. Starting from the chandeliers, to the art paintings on the wall, to the golden curtains…everything was just really fascinating he almost forgot where he was standing until he heard girls giggling and one bumped into him. Chanyeol unconsciously slipped a protective hand on Baekhyun’s waist.
“Oh, sorry.” The girl said and rolled her eyes before leaving.
Baekhyun scoffed. .
“B!”
Baekhyun turned to the call and saw Luhan running to him. “Lulu!”
“Wow, you look great!” Luhan exclaimed.
“Thanks. At least someone is capable of saying a compliment.”
Chanyeol pretended he didn’t hear anything.
Luhan’s eyebrows crooked in confusion but decided to just let it go. “Hey, have you seen Sehun?”
“Yeah, he came in before us.” Baekhyun said while looking around. “Why?”
“Oh, you see—“ Luhan saw the girls slash the es behind Baekhyun, sneaking inside one of the doors behind the golden curtains. “Ah, I’ll tell you later!”
“Huh?”
Luhan made a run for it and followed the girls but got distracted when he saw Kai passing by in front of him, holding two glasses of wine. He followed him with his eyes. He saw him talking to two people, much like his parents, while Sehun arrived with his partner, Taeyeon.
He decided that it would rather be best if he told Sehun first about what those es were planning so he walked over. He stopped just a few inches away when someone tapped his back. “Hey, the head’s looking for us.” Hyomin said while panting. It seemed like she’s been running around.
“Ah, but I have to talk to someone first—“
“Okay! Make it fast.” Hyomin said then walked away.
Before he can even turn around, he caught a few words from the conversation happening behind him.
“Ah, Sehun, you should be more like Jongin here. He’s the VP of Park Industries and if I’m not wrong, Grandfather might even choose him to take over the company. You’ve been really great lately, Jongin.”
“Ahh…thanks dad.”
“Sehun, I heard you often skip classes. Are you going back to your old habits?”
Sehun sighed. “No, something just came up.”
“Do what your brother is doing here. We don’t want a failure in this family.”
Sehun’s mom sighed heavily. “Oh stop it. He’s doing really fine. Come on let’s go get some more wine.”
Kai bit his lip. “He’s on it again.”
“Yeah, I can never get used to that.”
Kai tapped his shoulders and left after giving him the other glass on his hand. When Sehun and Taeyeon turned around, they bumped to Luhan who, unfortunately, bumped to a waiter and they stumbled on the floor, breaking the glasses, creating a scene. Sehun immediately offered them a hand in which after a few seconds, lines of whispers and murmurs rung through his ears, indicating that these people, no matter how much you try to deny it, would never care about what really happened and instead would jump into conclusions because, admit it, it’s more entertaining bad mouthing a certain Oh Sehun especially when he came from a rich and well known family.
He wouldn’t have cared but somewhere between his father’s disappointed look while shaking his head from across the room made him realize he can’t ignore this anymore. Luhan seemed to have realized the way other people—mainly businessmen—looked at him that instead of thanking him, he apologized. “Sehun, I’m so sorry—“
“Let it go.”
Luhan stared startled. “Wait, I was actually going to tell you something. I heard some girls—“
“Luhan.” Sehun warned. “Let it go.”
Taeyeon gave him an apologetic look and murmured a ‘Sorry’ before following behind Sehun.
Well, that was rude. Fine then, I tried.
Luhan scurried out of the crowd to find his way towards the other staffs.
--
If Baekhyun’s job was to smile, he would’ve been a millionaire now. His jaw already feels numb after all that smiling but he can’t really do anything but that because that’s his role anyway. He was surprised when Chanyeol introduced him to businessmen who are undergraduates. When he was their age, he was climbing up the trees and scratching himself. He didn’t bother about the books anyway. People tell him he eats them. At some point he almost believed them but he was too smart and aware to actually do. He’s not so naïve as some people think.
He was down on his third wine when Chanyeol appeared and snatched it from him. “That’s enough, princess.”
Baekhyun thought he looked really smart and proper. He scoffed. Wait til midnight.
“Why?” He asked.
“You already had two. I wouldn’t want you drunk before the game.”
“How did you know I already had two?”
“I was watching you.” Chanyeol winked and smiled. “Here, drink this instead.”
Baekhyun snarled when he saw the color of the drink Chanyeol was offering him. Green. “Ewe. What is that? Are you trying to poison me?”
Chanyeol chuckled. “No, silly. This is a special drink given to the guests to agitate for the game.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I already drank mine. It’s not that bad.”
“Not that bad?” Baekhyun mocked. He looked at the drink again and found green leaves floating. “Oh what the hell.” He took the glass anyway and drank in one go.
“Oh, Mr. Park.” Chanyeol turned beside them and saw the Dean and his wife smiling warmly at him.
“Ah, Mr. Li, nice to see you again.”
“Nice to see you too. Is this the lovely Baekhee?”
Baekhyun immediately finished up the drink and turned to the Dean with a big smile. He was confused for a moment when the Dean seemed to have a surprised expression on his face, a not-so-friendly one. So he turned to Chanyeol for help.
When Chanyeol looked down on him, he was caught off guard. “Oh god.”
“What?” Baekhyun asked, his smile still glued on his face even though his eyes screams confusion.
“Uh…” Chanyeol didn’t how to say it.
He didn’t know how to let Baekhyun know without slightly offending him.
He didn’t even know how that leaf got stuck on his front teeth.
It just doesn’t make any sense.
IT DOESN’T MAKE ANY SENSEEEEE.
The Dean cleared his throat, catching the latters’ attention. “Uh, I think we have to check on the other guests. See you after the game, alright?”
Chanyeol smiled awkwardly as they go.
From afar, he saw an unfamiliar face making his way to them and Chanyeol immediately turned around to avoid. Baekhyun did the same, still smiling. He seemed to have gotten used to it. “What’s up?”
Chanyeol grabbed one of the steel plates and lifted it in front of Baekhyun, making it seem like a mirror. When Baekhyun looked up, his soul just left his body. Chanyeol patted his back. “It’s alright.”
Baekhyun clawed his face. “OH MY GOOOOOOOOOD.”
“It’s okay.”
“It’s not okay!” Baekhyun whispered loudly. “You’re not the one who—“
“Excuse me, ma’am?”
“WHAT!”
The girl blinked in surprise. Chanyeol gave him a reassuring look. “Please surrender your shoes.”
It was Baekhyun’s turn to be surprised. “M-my shoes? Surrender my shoes? Why?”
“It’s part of the game, Baek—hee.” Chanyeol tilted his head to the other guests who also have started surrendering their shoes. Albeit confused, Baekhyun decided to jump on the bandwagon and took off his shoes. The girl or the waitress took the shoes and placed them on the tray she was holding like they were goddamn wine glasses and walked away.
It was weird at first since Baekhyun felt a little shorter. “Well, it’s a good thing the floor is carpeted.”
“That’s the reason why it’s carpeted.”
It was 7:00 when all of the guests’ shoes have been surrendered and they were given strict orders not to go beyond the golden curtains surrounding the hall. Which means, nobody leaves the area.
“The staffs are preparing the game.” Chanyeol whispered closely to Baekhyun while escorting him towards the area near the stage. “They’ll make us run around the building which is why they gave us that drink. Most of the guests are already familiar with the game since they do this every year.”
“Isn’t that a little boring?”
Chanyeol chuckled. “It’s the prize that makes it exciting.”
“There’s a prize?” Chanyeol nodded. “What’s the prize?”
“They’ll announce it.”
Chanyeol turned to the stage so Baekhyun did the same. They watched a lady come up, holding the microphone on one hand while trying to fix the wire and a cue card on the other hand. When the wire finally got entangled, she immediately turned to the audience with a bright smile. She looked really pretty and different, mainly because she was wearing a black cocktail dress and probably the only who is.
“Good evening ladies, gentlemen, alumni and undergraduates! Welcome to the 36th Pumpkins Gala!” She greeted and applause followed immediately. “I am Jessica Jung, a graduating student from the Art Department and I’ll be your host for tonight. Have all ladies surrendered their shoes? I know this game is not new to you but let me just remind you of the rules.” Jessica cleared and referred to her cue card. “As usual, you see those three doors at each side of the hall right?”
Baekhyun looked at each side. There were three doors lining up on his left and on his right covered with golden curtains.
“Now this time, once we give you the signal the gentlemen will go to the right side and the ladies to the left. Of course you can choose any door you want.”
Baekhyun nodded, finally starting to understand the nature of the game.
“And our favorite part, our Chasers will be following once all of you have entered the doors.”
Baekhyun turned to Chanyeol. “Chasers?”
Chanyeol smiled and pointed at the group of men and women crowding beside the stage, all of them wearing white masks that covered half of their faces. “Since this game is all about which couple survives or which couple arrives first, the Chasers will prevent that from happening. Your shoes were taken because the whole purpose of this game is to find the shoes, you find one and I find the other. It’s hidden somewhere. We’ll be damned lucky if we find it first but if someone else finds it, we’d have to take it away from him/her. It gets pretty ugly since some people would just randomly grab shoes and will refuse to let go until they find the right one so the owner would have to use drastic measures to snatch it.”
“Of course my favorite rule, you have until midnight.” Jessica announced.
Baekhyun glanced at the clock. 7:30 PM.
“Before I show you this year’s prize, let us welcome last year’s winners! Jongin Kim and Krystal Jung!”
Baekhyun choked on humid air.
Applause. Applause. Applause.
“Psh. This punk.” Chanyeol murmured.
“He won?” Baekhyun asked, stating the obvious. “What did he win?”
“So, how’s life as the Vice President of the Park Industries?” Jessica Jung asked in full interest.
Baekhyun gaped. “No waaay. That was the prize?”
Chanyeol shrugged. “My sister’s idea. She didn’t want the position so she proposed the position as the prize.”
“That’s absurd. What if some random unqualified stranger won?”
“I’m pretty sure there’s no random unqualified stranger in this school. But she specifically wanted Kai to take her place. They were pretty close I guess. So the whole game, she worked on her scheming. She’s ruthless.”
Baekhyun is starting to imagine Chanyeol’s sister with fangs.
“It’s a great opportunity to start off with. I’m happy that I got this chance.” Jongin said.
Chanyeol felt like vomiting all over his face. Since when was he like that anyway? Oh yeah. Never.
“Well, that’s great. So, who do you think will win this time?”
Jongin thought for a while before answering. “I think everybody has a chance but I’m specifically rooting for my friend over there, the CEO of the Park Industries, who brought a date for the very first time.”
Everyone turned to him and cheered.
“Oh that’s right. Mr. Park Chanyeol brought a date for the first time. It would be really nice if he wins this one, right?” Jessica asked and Kai nodded.
“Oh great, now everyone’s going to expect that from us.” Chanyeol whispered.
“And now for this year’s prize!” There was a drumroll and the curtains fell down at the final beat, revealing a beautiful painting. “The original Mona Lisa!”
OMG WE CAN SELL THAT IF WE WIN. Baekhyun thought.
It was 8:30 when the game started.
It all happened so fast. As soon the buzzer went off, everyone was running in different speed, pushing others just to make their own way. Baekhyun remembered Chanyeol’s last words before they got separated in the crowd.
“Oh that’s right, we won’t be able to see each other while in the game. The whole building is divided.”
Baekhyun understood now why the ladies go to the left and the gentlemen to the right.
He grabbed his skirt and lifted it up so he can run properly. It’s a good thing they were barefooted. He wouldn’t be able to last 10 steps with those heels on. Up front he saw girls clawing at each other, the other holding one shoe while the other yelled it was hers. He immediately sneaked up behind them to avoid getting caught up. He kept running through the hallway, not even bothering checking the rooms until he saw girls coming out of the rooms in front. He felt so stupid for not checking or for not running faster. Some of those girls might have already found his shoe.
“YAH! THAT’S MY SHOE!”
He turned behind him and found Chasers running his way. There was one girl who was struggling to snatch her shoe from one of the Chasers’ hands. Afraid to get caught, he immediately ran away and passed by the other girls who looked like they were running in a marathon. When he reached the intersection, he made a careless move of not checking if there were Chasers so when he turned to the left, he fell into the arms of a Chaser and two others.
Oh .
--
Chanyeol gulped.
“Hey there, big boy.”
He hasn’t even started running yet and here he is.
He moved backwards as the woman moves closer to him. He cursed mentally when he hit the wall. As soon as the Chaser wrapped her arms around his neck, he pushed her off with his hands and ran away.
This . He thought. This is actually the first time he played this game.
And running isn’t his forte.
“Where do I find his shoe anyway?” He murmured to himself.
--
“Gotcha.”
Uh…no.
Baekhyun smirked and kicked the man’s crotch.
“Aw! !”
He immediately pushed the man away and ran but one of them caught his arm while the other blocked his way. “Oh come on.” He whined.
“Sorry beautiful. Had to follow orders.” One of them said.
Baekhyun sighed and looked down.
“What? What now? You’re sulking?”
Baekhyun looked up with his puppy eyes on. “Can’t you just let me go?”
“Uh…no…don’t do that.”
“Pleaseuuuuu?” Baekhyun crooned with a pout.
“You know you’re cute but you can’t—AH!!!”
Baekhyun flipped over the guy who was holding his arm.
The last guy froze.
Oh this is fun.
Baekhyun lifted his skirt and high kicked the last guy, causing him to fall to the other two who were slowly getting up so they fell like dominoes.
Hapkido, babeh.
Baekhyun stuck a tongue out on them. “SO LONG, GAY BOOOOYS!”
“Why is she so strong?” One man groaned in pain.
“Oh look, there’s a CCTV. They got it on camera.”
--
Chanyeol jumped over the girl who was raising her legs while lying on the middle of the hallway. Oh the perks of being gay. He stopped when he saw two guys fighting over one shoe.
“Uh…” He walked slowly behind them, leaning on the railings. That’s when he noticed they’re on the second floor. “Excuse me, coming through,”
One of the guys got pushed to him so he immediately moved aside. It was a mistake though since the guy almost fell over the railings if he wasn’t fast enough to grab his hands. “OH MY GOD!” The three of them exclaimed in fright.
“PULL ME UP! PULL ME UP!!!”
“WHY DID YOU PUSH HIM?!”
“WHY DID YOU MOVE?!”
“ARE YOU SERIOUS?!”
They heard a cracking sound. They immediately looked down and saw the glass shoe the guy was holding broken on the ground floor. “YOU BROKE THE SHOE!!!”
“I DON’T CARE IT WASN’T MY PARTNER’S!”
“IT WAS MY PARTNER’S YOU MORON!”
Chanyeol immediately raised his free hand. “Whoa whoa whoa, stop it!”
“What!”
“Just help me pull him up!”
The guy rolled his eyes. “Oh it.”
After a few struggling and yelling, they were able to finally pull the other guy back up. They ended up on the floor, panting. “I ALMOST DIED.”
Chanyeol chuckled. “He could’ve gone to jail. I would be the witness.”
“Yeah, thanks man. Here.” They gave him one of the shoes they found. “Might be yours. We’re sure it isn’t ours.”
Chanyeol scanned the shoe. “HOLY THIS IS BAEKHYUN’S—I MEAN BAEKHEE’S.”
“Really? Wow, beginner’s luck.”
“OH YEAHHHHHHHHHHH.”
--
Baekhyun brushed his hands and picked up his shoe on the floor. It could’ve been beginner’s luck but he actually had to go through fifteen more chasers, seven other ladies, broken nails and broken shoes. He looked back and was shocked at the sight of men on the floor, all groaning in pain while trying hard to move their bodies while the ladies remained on the floor, unconscious. He wondered if he broke a rule or something then he remembered there wasn’t any rule. He shrugged. Now he has to find his way back to the hall without having to injure any more people as much as possible. It’s a surprise his dress remained clean.
He ran back to the same direction he came from, stepping on the men who yelped in pain while holding the shoe above his head.
“There she is!”
He stopped his pace and saw girls swarming up to him.
“She's the one who broke the shoes!”
“Uh-oh.”
RUN FOR YOUR LIVEEEEEEEEEES—
ZOMBIEEEEEES!!!!
Baekhyun ran back immediately, as fast as he could away from the girls. He didn’t mean to break the shoes. Really. The world just turned out that way.
He turned left. Dead end. End of the hallway and a Chaser leaning by the window—dead. “Oh great.”
“HEY! GET OUT OF THE WAY!” He yelled to the Chaser.
The Chaser paused and took off his mask. “B?”
“Luhan?! Oh thank God!”
“What are you doing?”
“Girls. Monsters. I need to save my life.”
“You can use the window.”
“Huh? Are we allowed to go outside the building?”
“Yeah, as long as you found your shoe. There are a few watchers outside.”
Baekhyun giggled and hugged Luhan tightly. “Thank you Lulu!”
“You’re not actually going to—“
Baekhyun climbed up the window without any second thoughts. Luhan shook his head. “You really want to win, don’t you?”
“It’s the best I could do after everything.” Baekhyun smiled then slid down. “Whoo!!”
Luhan turned to the girls who arrived behind him. “Who’s ready to get caught?”
--
“Aw. Aw. Twigs. Not cool.” Baekhyun murmured while struggling to get away from the bushes he fell into. There were a few leaves that got stuck on his hair so he took his hair dress off and let his hair—wig—fall down to his shoulders.
“THIS GAME IS SO TIRING!” He yelled while walking to the fountain to rest for a bit. He sat on the cement and stretched his legs which suddenly felt numb after all those kicking.
There was a girl who ran pass in front of him and pushed him to the water. “AHHH!!!!”
“Bye, er!”
Baekhyun pushed himself out of the water, panting. “OH MY GOD! She did not just push me. SHE DID NOT JUST—UGGGHHH!!! YOU’RE DEAD !”
He jumped off of the water, albeit limping because of the pressure of the water on his dress. When he was finally on the ground, he started running to chase the girl who pushed him to the water while fixing his goddamn wig away from his neck because it was starting to irritate him. He stopped midway when he felt something missing. He tapped his neck area again and gasped. “MY PENDANT!”
He turned back to search for his pendant.
--
Chanyeol was already back at the hall when another guy arrived. There wasn’t any lady who made it back yet.
“Well, this is surprising! Our ladies seemed to have difficulties making it back!” Jessica said through the microphone. The other participants surrounding them cheered. “Here’s the thing. If ever the lady that comes back first happened to be none of these gentlemen’s partner, she’d have to choose. Isn’t that exciting?”
“YEAH!” The audience yelled in unison.
Chanyeol bit his lip. Please Baekhyun, please please please.
The door opened suddenly and they all turned, eyes full of anticipation.
Sehun appeared.
It doesn’t make sense.
“Now there are three of them!” Jessica yelled and cheered. “The ladies seem to be taking a long time this year.”
“Hey.” Sehun greeted. “You actually made it out there?”
“Beginner’s luck.” Chanyeol bragged.
“Nice painting.”
“Pretty sure that’s not the original.”
Sehun scoffed. “Yeah.”
--
Luhan stopped walking. “Hm. Seems like no one’s left here.”
He decided to go back to the hall and meet up with the other staffs.
When he was at the stairs, he almost bumped into the same girls he was looking for earlier, the ones that seemed to have a grudge against Taeyeon. They looked suspicious so he wanted to follow them but Hyomin pulled him to wait for the lady to arrive with her.
It was 15 minutes before midnight.
He was worried for Taeyeon though when he saw the girls running by the railings. He snuck away from Hyomin and followed the girls from below, glancing up to see what they were up to. He stopped when he can’t walk any further because of the crowd but continued to follow the girls by watching. The girls stopped above the entrance and waited. It was then that Luhan noticed each of them were holding some kind of can, like, paints.
Luhan gasped.
PAINTS!
“Someone’s coming!” One of the participants yelled from the entrance.
Don’t tell me they’re going to pour that paint on someone.
Luhan started running. Not in my watch.
“It’s Taeyeon!” Jessica yelled. The crowd started cheering, making it hard for him to find his way so he had to push them away. He glanced up and saw the girls opening up the cans.
“GET AWAY FROM THERE!” He exclaimed and Taeyeon turned to him in confusion. He didn’t have any time to explain so he just pushed Taeyeon away and ended up receiving the paints instead.
He gasped in unison with the audience as the paint poured down from his head to his body. “Oh my god…” Jessica murmured from the stage.
Sehun ran towards them. Chanyeol followed behind him.
“Oh my God, are you okay?” Taeyeon asked worriedly.
Luhan chuckled. “I’m fine…I guess? Paint doesn’t kill people.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“No, no, it’s fine.”
“Hey! You guys alright?” Sehun asked.
“I’m fine but he…” Taeyeon pointed at Luhan. “He’s in a mess.”
“Oh no, it’s fine. I’m okay.” Luhan interrupted.
“Hey, Luhan, come on, you have to clean up.” Chanyeol said while walking away. Luhan immediately followed him wherever he wanted to go.
“Uh…well…we have a winner!” Jessica yelled. “Sehun and Taeyeon! Give them a round of applause please!”
--
Luhan was washing the paint off of his hair on the sink when Chanyeol’s constant sighing bothered him. “Hey, are you okay?” He asked while turning the faucet off.
“I was just wondering what happened to Baekhyun,”
“Oh, yeah, you’re right. I even helped him get away from the girls who were chasing him. I wonder what happened.”
“Do you think he’s alright?”
“Let’s hope so. The last time I saw him was outside building. He jumped off a window so he can get out and get back fast. Something must’ve happened on the way.” Luhan shrugged. He noticed Chanyeol’s eyes never left the glass shoe he was holding. “You should go look for him.”
“Are you sure? Will you be fine?”
“I’ll be fine.”
Chanyeol chuckled. “Okay.”
Okay, maybe Chanyeol isn’t that bad.
Luhan turned the faucet back on and washed his hair. After a few minutes, he heard the door close. “Chanyeol? Did you forget something?”
When he didn’t get a reply, he squinted from the running water and saw Sehun leaning on the wall beside the sink. “Oh.” He bumped his head in shock. “.”
--
When Chanyeol arrived back in the hall in hope to find Baekhyun somewhere, the party already started. There was music in every corner and a few students dancing in the middle. He was scurrying out of the crowd when Kai pulled his arm. “Hey!”
“Oh, hey Kai,”
“Where are you going? The party just started! Come on!” Kai offered him a drink in which he immediately refused.
“I have to look for Baekhee,”
“Oh, she’s not here yet? By the way, that was a close one earlier! You could’ve won!”
“I know but I didn’t but it’s okay. I have to go.”
“Alright loser!”
Chanyeol shook his head. Only a few drinks and he’s already drunk. The life of Kim Jongin.
Once he got outside, he started asking a few people if they have seen his partner somewhere. None of them seem to have. He was thinking that maybe Baekhyun already went home but that wouldn’t make sense since he probably doesn’t know the way back. Besides, he would tell him if that would be the case.
--
Baekhyun sighed heavily as he dropped down the water. He doesn’t know if it was due to the cold that he was starting to get nauseous or because he’s exhausted that his sight was starting to get blurry. He searched the whole area for his pendant and the last possible area it could have gotten lost into was here in the fountain where a certain pushed him for fun or whatever. He’s wet and tired. He didn’t want to see Chanyeol disappointed so he has to find that pendant.
“UGHHHH!!!” He groaned in exasperation.
“Isn’t that Chanyeol’s partner?”
“What is she doing there?”
“She’s probably a gold digger. They said you wouldn’t find any records of her before Chanyeol appeared with her.”
“She’s not going to last.”
“Poor girl. I wonder what she’ll do if Chanyeol disappears.”
“Tch. She’s nothing when Chanyeol’s gone.”
Baekhyun turned around. “HELLO? I CAN HEAR YOU.”
The girls immediately ran away.
YEAH RUN AND HIDE YOU ES.
Baekhyun dropped his arms on the water, causing the water to splash on his face. “Ughh. Great.”
He wiped the water off his face and stood up slowly to start looking for the pendant again.
Even he is surprised by himself.
He was never this determined to do something.
He saw something shining from the corner and immediately picked it up. “MY PENDANT! AHHH!! I FOUND YOU!!!” He yelled while bouncing up and down in joy. “THANK GOD!”
“Baekhyun?”
Baekhyun turned around and saw Chanyeol staring worriedly at him.
“What are you doing here? Are you alright? I’ve been looking all over for you.” Chanyeol said while helping Baekhyun get off the water. He took his coat off and wrapped it around Baekhyun when the brunette started sneezing. “Ah, now you’re going to catch a cold. What were you doing?”
“I was…I was looking for the pendant you gave me. I dropped it here so…”
“You could’ve just left it there. I can buy you another one.”
Baekhyun rolled his eyes and started walking. “Of course you wouldn’t understand.”
“Hey! Where are you going?”
Baekhyun didn’t answer.
“Baek, come on. Don’t do this. Let’s go home. Come.”
“I don’t want to.”
Chanyeol sighed heavily. “Baek.”
Baekhyun stopped walking and faced him. “Alright. In one condition.”
Uh.
That sounded dangerous.
A/N:
shoot me now.
i'm sorry this took so long.
i got distracted with all the movies i downloaded. i just can't stop downloading. ;A;
okay no gif because I AM MOURNING OVER BAEK AND KAI'S HAIR
baek's hair was so hot and soft and y asdfghjkl kai's too WAE ;A; SM STYLISTS WAEEE
anyway subbies, i love you. <3 sorry for the wait. ><
- gelie
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