Kim Taeyeon had it rough; love life wise. She hurts herself more than thrice and believes in boys when she shouldn’t have. There’s the high school senior who fooled around, a same aged crush who toyed her feelings and all those other douches she comes to forget the names by now. Gorgeous and bright yet Taeyeon is a girl with too little of an experience in both –falling in love and mending her broken heart again. But luckily the world isn’t as cruel as the media made it up to be for Taeyeon finds her remedy in something all souls can connect to. And it is this magic we called music.

“She’s here again.”

Baekhyun winces at the sight of a broom suddenly popping in front of him and traces the hand that’s holding it, Park Chanyeol’s long muscular hand,
“Go sweep the third row after you deal with her.”

"But why me again?"

"Because why not. Rock paper scissors!" Chanyeol throws out paper that wraps Baekhyun's rock. "Now go!" Chanyeol shoves him aside and even before his brain can perceive of what’s happening, the workmate already walks off leaving  Baekhyun with parted lips and wordless sigh while he pathetically whimpers over being the loser for three consecutive time. It's not like Byun Baekhyun is that tiny-hearted to be whining about some loss in a childish game but it becomes serious business because losing it means he's going to have to force himself facing that same girl who drops by at least once every week and it's not something nice at all. She has some seriously tangled wires in her head  and Byun Baekhyun knows that (anyone can see that though) but her pretty face makes up to everything anyway so he ignores his pride and walks over to her side. Might as well settle this faster if he wishes for an early sleep tonight.

“Excuse me, Miss.”

She bobs her head to the music, turning off the whole world and that includes this lithe looking stranger with lame collared shirt in front of her. Baekhyun gently nibbles on his lower lips and tries calling out again, louder this time but she reacts nothing different than before. So he squats down next to her who is sitting on the floor.

“Excuse me, Miss.” Disregarding what a polite man should do, Baekhyun pulls a part of the headphone that’s covering her ear and talks into it,
“You might want to go home now. We’re closing.” He blinks at her looking nothing short of innocent but really, who cares about innocence when you have yourself recklessly interrupted during the favourite part of a song? Taeyeon rolls her eyes at him, hard enough to get Baekhyun backing off like a puppy being yelled at. Big round eyes and arms neatly tuck at his lateral sides, he scrapes the broom closer to him with just one foot while two eyes carefully watching over the girl who freaks him out bone deep.

This isn’t her first time here, also not his first time (cowardly) trying to chase her out because the store’s closing yet every time he does, she repels him in the harshest way simply through body language. Eye rolling scares the out of Byun Baekhyun because that’s what his mother does before she hits him on the arse, also that’s what his young niece does before smacking him right on the groin for being a forgetful uncle who forgets to buy candies on the way back home from work.

“I’m so sorry but we’re really closing. And I have family at home waiting for me. And I still have to sweep the whole floor. And I have an early class at college tomorrow. And I –”

“Boys like you.” She pries, eyes looking up at him as she gets up on her two feet again, “…makes me think that love is really innocent when it’s not. You pretend, you make promises and you put on cute expressions claiming you’re as pure as the little boy next door but you aren’t. In fact, boys make up a good douchebag. You, my friend…” Baekhyun flinches at the sudden pat on his shoulder when she closes in but her smirk captivates him, he stays at where he stands.

“…you make up a perfect .”

“What?”

“Put your hands together.” She tells him while she does the same. Baekhyun refuses at first but her punch is painful and once is enough so he follows as she wishes him to, “…and let’s clap for the living men who succeeded in fooling around with my fragile useless heart.”

She claps, he doesn’t.

Taeyeon creases her brows at him, a dent forms in the middle of her forehead while she thinks of another way to make him follow her order. She would punch him again, really she can but he makes it superfluous. He doesn’t wait for her to ask him why he doesn't clap but here’s his reason why; he doesn’t find it necessary.

“As expected. Males definitely will side their same gender pals of course. My mistake, shouldn’t have asked you to be my minion while I confused myself over the names of those bunch of douchebags who ruined the idea of love for me!”

Baekhyun catches her when she stumbles forward and he doesn’t do alcohol but right now she does smells like one. The past three months –once every week, she’ll be coming over from noon to evening. Two times over the once in a week visits she made, this is probably the third time she appears slightly inebriated Baekhyun starts to think it’s something personal and this personal matter hurts a lot compared to the last one.

“Miss, I’m sorry that every time you meet a guy, they turned out being s but honestly speaking here without being judgemental or any sorts of that…” He deeply respires before giving her a piece of his mind and thoughts, “…girls aren’t much different though. You can laugh at me but unfortunately, you’ll be laughing at yourself too because we’re pretty much the same. I’m an exact copy of you, our love life, we are the living failures I give you that.”

“Lies.” She rebuts, “…Your words sound like lies and being drunk doesn’t interfere my conscience to detect those falseness in what you speak, friend.”

Baekhyun scoffs, just a little to show amusement under the face masked by indifference. He used to think she’s pathetic but now he thinks she’s nothing less than an exotic interesting monument placed in some museum so he breaks it out to her. A little mindless but he tells her,
“A high school senior toyed around with my feelings. A three years crush fooled me into believing I’ll be her last yet she married a different man. A rich one that is, so if you’re going to stereotype boys as douches, I can stamp the word gold-digger over the foreheads of all ladies including yours too, can’t I?”

“I’m not a gold-digger. My friends are but I’m not.”

“I can say the same.” Baekhyun responds, “I’m not a douchebag, or an , like what you have just claimed I am. My friends, maybe…some of them, still not all.”

“Including that long neck guy over there?” She randomly points a finger towards Park Chanyeol standing four rows away from them, wrapping warm muffler around his neck,
“Douche.” Baekhyun answers less thoughtfully but he gets her chuckling and maybe that’s the greatest reward for tonight before he can lay himself down for a good night sleep afterwards.

He bites back a smile just the right time his heart flips at the way she suddenly puts on an approving beam on her face. Gorgeous she is, brilliant she is yet she is still inexperienced in every kind of way. Her heart may not have hit the right person but it’s still there, still not totally shattered so while it beats, anything is worth a chance. Taeyeon thinks coming here every time her heart breaks sounds so absurd but to think of it again, she finally discovers what this music store is worth. There’s a lousy yet amusing philosopher hidden behind that nerdy vessel of this man name Byun Baekhyun (as she acquires from his name tag).

“Where are you going? I thought we’re having some kind of a debate here?” Baekhyun calls out, glued to his current position while he watches her stumbling in every few steps until she reaches the door. Darkness outside will engulf her once she steps out of that exit but he thinks he sees a glimpse of sincerity when she speaks, “I gotta leave because you suddenly sound so attractive.” Not like she mind that.

Taeyeon chuckles at the way his eyes widen by her blunt remark, “No, really. You need to clean up the floor. I’m just a huge mess over there so I’ll leave.”
Her steps, lighter and relaxed when she pushes the door open and steps out. Screw the world, screw the Kims and the Lees who played her heart, screw everyone who thinks she’s weak because for once, she’ll prove that she’s not. Standing up is much more thrilling than falling down anyway so why not.

“Come back next time.” He tells her, efficient enough to get her to stop walking ahead, “Because maybe, well…you know, maybe we can debate about single mothers or stray cats over coffee some day?” Baekhyun thinks he’s losing a screw or two for saying that aloud and he pretty much confirms himself a seat in the hall of losers until,

“Sure, Byun Baekhyun sshi.” A bright smile adorns her face and he regrets the days he let passed without any initiative to get to know her (he promises himself he won't do that anymore the next time),

“We can do that." She calls out back to him, "We can be the loser duo, talking about each others’ miserable outcomes in romance.”
Loser duo, he silently echoes and Baekhyun ponders by himself. Maybe being a loser isn’t that bad after all.

“Byun ing Baekhyun just sweep the goddamn floor already, dammit!” 

Or maybe not.