Zitao comes over the next day and Baekhyun tells him the woeful story of his meeting with Chanyeol. He's not even halfway through the story before Zitao stops him.

 

"Chanyeol?" he asks, eyes wide.

 

Baekhyun is confused. "Yeah, Chanyeol. Why?"

 

"You mean THE Park Chanyeol?" Zitao was practically jumping all over the place, limbs flailing. 

 

"H―How did you know?" Baekhyun is surprised. Why would Zitao, of all people, know the idiot Chanyeol? Baekhyun was pretty sure they were not the type of people who would have things in common. 

 

"YOU DON'T KNOW HIM?!' Zitao shrieks in Baekhyun's face, causing the latter to wince and cover his ears. "I'M DISAPPOINTED IN YOU BYUN BAEKHYUN. HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW HIM?! HOW COME YOU GOT TO MEET HIM WHEN YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HIM?"

 

Baekhyun makes a mental note to go to an audiologist later.  

 

"Okay, okay. I don't know him. So what's the big deal? Is he in some Kpop boyband?" Baekhyun tries, and he winces when Zitao shoots him a murderous glare.

 

"NO!" shouts Zitao, "HE'S THE CEO OF GUCCI KOREA!"

 

Baekhyun's eyes widen in shock. He blinks a few times before the reality hits him. "He's the CEO of Gucci? That famous handbag brand you're always crazy about?" 

 

Zitao nods his head vigorously. "Yeah, that's him. I'm pretty sure I've mentioned his name countless times, how can you forget?" he huffs, placing his hands on his hips. Baekhyun gives a sheepish smile. 

 

"You know what, this is the perfect opportunity! Since you know him, ask him to give me a forty percent discount! Please! I need the new Gucci bag from this spring collection!" 

 

Baekhyun is horrified. He and Chanyeol aren't on the best of terms (read: are archenemies) and he's pretty sure that he would seem shameless if he went to ask him for a discount out of the blue. Plus he didn't even like Gucci. 

 

"No."  Baekhyun turns his head, refusing to look at Zitao. Zitao's head pops up in Baekhyun's peripheral vision and he almost gets a heart attack. 

 

"Bbuing bbuing?" 

 

"Your aegyo doesn't work on me, my dear," chuckles Baekhyun. Most people have a weak spot for Zitao's aegyo, but not Baekhyun, who had long developed a defense system to his aegyo. Too bad Zitao isn't one to give up easily.

 

"I threaten to throw away all your secret stash of eyeliner," he declares, and watches smugly as Baekhyun thrashes about, horrified, wailing and whining.

 

"How can you do this to me?!" he shouts. "This is blackmail!"

 

"I don't care, hyung, if you don't get me that discount I'm gonna throw away all of those plus I will steal your money to buy me Gucci." 

 

Baekhyun stares at Zitao. Zitao just stares back at Baekhyun. Thousands of words, unspoken, pass between them in those few seconds. Finally, Baekhyun gives up.

 

"You leave me with no choice." 

 

-

 

Baekhyun grits his teeth and takes a deep breath, chanting out loud "I will keep calm" countless times, before dialling Chanyeol's number.

 

He loses it upon hearing his voice.

 

"You! Scheming little liar!" Baekhyun spits into the phone, unaware of the possible repercussions of contaminating the receiver with saliva droplets. On the other end, Chanyeol has forgotten to turn off the speaker mode and therefore almost gets the shock of his life when he hears Baekhyun's voice, loud and clear, through the phone.

 

"I regret giving you my number, you know," sighs Chanyeol. "What have I done now?" He has just dealt with a rather unpleasant customer and doesn't want to lose any more brain cells arguing with Baekhyun. 

 

"I know what you did. You sugared me up and treated me to dinner in hopes that I'd forget to mention the money, and then you wouldn't have to pay! Well, I saw through your little scheme so if you would please meet me at the bank down the road and pay the amount in cash, then I'd consider not suing you. If not, then, see you in court!" 

 

"That wasn't a scheme. I really forgot, dammit. I'm sorry, okay?" Chanyeol bites out an apology through gritted teeth. 

 

"Oh wow. Did you actually say that? I'm surprised," Baekhyun raises an eyebrow.

 

"I don't have that much ego, okay," mumbles Chanyeol.

 

"Oh really? That's news," says Baekhyun flippantly and Chanyeol itches to punch him in the face (but he can't, because they're on the phone) and he resorts to clenching his fist instead.

 

"Fine," he seethes, "meet me there in an hour." After that, he slams down his phone with as much energy he can muster, only to realise that he's using an iPhone and has ended up looking pretty dumb. 

 

"So?" asks Zitao expectantly. 

 

Baekhyun sighs before telling him that Chanyeol asked to meet him at the bank in an hour.

 

"Good, hyung! You've got yourself a date," Zitao sing-songs, and Baekhyun wants to hide his face in a hole. He tries to argue that it's not a date, that they're meeting up for purely business matters, but Zitao disagrees vehemently.

 

"I beg to differ," begins Zitao, "but the guy is quite good-looking―" Baekhyun sighs, "―and he's rich―" he sighs again, "―and he's the. CEO. Of. Gucci. Korea." Zitao finishes. "What more do you want? What more can you want?"

 

Baekhyun wants to tell him that the Korean drama clichés are right, that most rich dudes are arrogant and irritating, but before he can say anything Zitao disappears into the room saying something about pandas.

 

Right. 

 

-

 

"Hey, Chanyeol," Baekhyun says, after Chanyeol hands him a 600,000 won cheque.

 

"Yeah?" 

 

"I can't believe you actually met me here. And compensated me the full amount. I mean, I thought you'd give like only half or something." Baekhyun reads the cheque over and over again and kisses it, smiling brightly.

 

"Oh god, you money lover," Chanyeol grumbles as Baekhyun twirls around with the cheque in hand.

 

"That's because I don't swim around in money, unlike you," says the latter cheekily. He's suddenly reminded of Zitao's special request though, and stops in his tracks.

 

"Oh yeah... Um, Chanyeol, this is awkward but I kind of have a favour to ask of you..." 

 

"Is it anything stupid?" Chanyeol asks skeptically. 

 

"Uh... I don't think so?" Baekhyun isn't too sure himself. On one hand, he's pretty sure asking for a discount is not an unfathomable request to make, but on the other hand, he's also not quite sure that asking for a forty percent discount on a brand-name bag from a person you might not have the best relationship with is a good idea. 

 

"Let's hear it, then." 

 

"Uh... okay... so my friend Zitao kinda has an obsession with Gucci bags..." Baekhyun starts slowly.

 

"Uh-huh, and...?"

 

"And he knows you're the CEO of Gucci Korea so he was asking me to ask you and get you to give him a discount... of... forty... percent..." Baekhyun trails off, as he watches Chanyeol's expression change to that of one who's just heard that someone has robbed him of all his life savings. 

 

"Chanyeol?" Baekhyun asks anxiously. Chanyeol stares at him for a few seconds before bursting out into raucous laughter. He chortles and wheezes (Baekhyun thinks that for the CEO of Gucci Korea, he sure doesn't have the laugh to match) and finally stops.

 

"Are you serious? How about no," Chanyeol says flatly. With that, he turns to leave and Baekhyun stares forlornly at his retreating figure. He wishes that he can just sassily turn around and leave like Chanyeol but sadly he cannot because he has promised Zitao that he would get that discount (also a major part due to him threatening to steal his eyeliner stash if he didn't, so Baekhyun considers that he's practically sold his soul to the devil.) 

 

"Wait! No, you have to give him that discount! If not he'll make my life a living hell!" pleads Baekhyun.

 

Chanyeol turns around slowly. "And I would care because...?"

 

Baekhyun feels himself heat up in anger. "Well, I knew you were low from the start but I didn't expect you to be this cold-blooded!" he yells, feeling his sanity (and eyeliner) in imminent danger.

 

Chanyeol stiffens. "Not the best way to persuade me for that discount, you know."

 

"Fine! I'm sorry. I'll do anything you want, just... give him the stupid discount!" Baekhyun regrets the very words almost as soon as it comes out of his mouth, judging by the grin on Chanyeol's face. Huang Zitao, I'm risking everything for you so you better thank me.

 

"Really?" Chanyeol asks, scary grin even scarier.

 

"...Really." 

 

"Oh, then I agree to giving your friend the discount" ―Chanyeol says nonchalantly, and Baekhyun's heart leaps a little―"if you'll treat me to dinner at The King's." 

 

And Baekhyun's heart plummets down, down, down.

 

"This is extortion!" he cries indignantly, waving his hands about in desperation.

 

"Is it? In that case, you're committing bribery." 

 

"I... Oh fine! I'll do it!" huffs Baekhyun in a fit of temper.

 

Chanyeol smiles and Baekhyun grimaces. "I'll have your word for it then. Pick me up at―"

 

"Whoa whoa whoa back up. Did you say pick you up?" 

 

Chanyeol furrows his brows. "Yeah, why?"

 

"But you're the rich guy with the Mercedes―"

 

"―and you're the one who's treating me to dinner." Baekhyun gapes like a fish but finds no witty retort so he closes it. He mumbles a defeated 'whatever' and Chanyeol knows he's won.

 

Baekhyun swears on his life that he doesn't like Chanyeol at all.

 

So why is it that he finds it so hard to get that stupid grin out of his head?

 

-

 

Baekhyun is in a terribly bad mood on his drive to Chanyeol's place. He almost hits the car before him twice, speeds past a red light once, and skids to an abrupt stop outside Chanyeol's mansion. Not a house, a mansion. That is to be expected, since Chanyeol is dirt rich. But Baekhyun, for the life of him doesn't expect the total grandeur of the place. He swears he has to drive five minutes to get from the gate to the mansion itself. He drags his leather shoe-wearing feet to the front porch and rings the doorbell. A porter (or butler, Baekhyun doesn't really know what they're called) opens the door and directs him to the main hall, where a rather expensive-looking sofa set is taking up all the space. Baekhyun has never been to anywhere quite like this before, so he has no idea where to put his hands and feet until the impassive butler speaks, "Sir, please take a seat in the hall, Mr Park will be arriving shortly."

 

Baekhyun, seeing nothing better to do, sits on an armchair. He feels up the smooth leather (Baekhyun is really touchy-feely with inanimate objects for some reason) and marvels at the texture. He waits for ten minutes (and gets extremely pissed off in the process) before Chanyeol makes his way down the stairs, looking extremely regal and leaving Baekhyun's mouth hanging wide open because damn, his hair is styled perfectly in a degree of messy and his suit emphasises his height and he just looks really attractive.

 

Chanyeol walks slowly towards Baekhyun and tips the latter's mouth closed using his index finger. Baekhyun doesn't know why he feels a tingling sensation spreading from the area where Chanyeol's finger had touched to the very tip of his toes. He rubs the offending spot with the back of his hand.

 

"You touched me," he says dumbly.

 

"Yeah, points for stating the obvious."

 

"You touched me."

 

"Your mouth was hanging open and I think you swallowed a fly."

 

"But still, you touched me," insists Baekhyun, "without asking."

 

Chanyeol quirks an eyebrow. "Oh, I didn't know that your skin is so sacred I had to ask your permission to touch it. What, do I get thrown into jail now?"

 

"You're insufferable," mutters Baekhyun. Truth be told, he has actually started to like their playful banter. It takes his mind off other more unpleasant things. 

 

They get into Baekhyun's car and Chanyeol, not used to the smaller vehicle, knocks his head on the door frame with a resounding "thump".

 

"Ouch," he groans, rubbing his head. "Why is your car so small?" 

 

"Uh, I'm not rich, nor the CEO of Gucci, so―"

 

"Okay, forget I even asked," Chanyeol interrupts, choosing instead to focus his gaze on the interior of Baekhyun's not-too-impressive-but-very-homely hatchback. 

 

"Um," he says, scrutinising the iffy-looking crumb in between his fingers, "are these Oreo crumbs?"

 

Baekhyun glances at it before shrugging. "I don't know. Maybe?"

 

Chanyeol looks around the car interior once more before speaking. "You have questionable hygiene standards," he says, digging out a sweet wrapper stuffed in an obsolete corner of the car.

 

Baekhyun grins at him cheekily. It's one of his trademark eye smiles, and Chanyeol is struck dumb by it. Sure, Baekhyun can be a tad too annoying at times, but when he shows you one of his genuine smiles, no one can resist it. Not even Chanyeol, who finds himself staring at Baekhyun a bit longer than is necessary.

 

When they finally reach The King's, it's Baekhyun who opens the door for Chanyeol (he doesn't like owing people favours). For some strange unfathomable reason, the same waitress from a week ago is on duty, and her face twitches in recognition as she guides them to a vacant table. 

 

"So," she says, after they've ordered (thankfully nothing too expensive this time), "it's you guys again. Don't deny that you're a couple! Or you wouldn't have come here a second time."

 

"We're not," both Chanyeol and Baekhyun deny the accusation adamantly. 

 

"Then you guys will be, very soon," the waitress says mysteriously, and floats off. Baekhyun stares at her, and laughs. "Ha, what a joke. How are we even a couple? We hate each other's guts, and the only reason I'm not killing you is because I'm afraid to get my hands dirty." 

 

Chanyeol watches Baekhyun, who's now toying with a cup. "Same goes, except the reason I'm not killing you is because I'm a nice guy."

 

"Liar, liar, pants on fire."

 

"Childish."

 

"Jerk."

 

"Gross."

 

Baekhyun huffs and crosses his arms. Chanyeol offers him one of his brightest grins (which ends up looking extremely murderous).

 

"I hope all your teeth rot and you go to hell," was what he muttered under his breath. 

 

The food arrives and they eat in companionable silence. Baekhyun has learned from the previous experience and decides not to talk unless necessary and Chanyeol just likes the food.

 

"You're awfully quiet today," remarks Chanyeol, looking across the table at Baekhyun who's stuffing himself with lasagna. Baekhyun widens his eyes and Chanyeol repeats his comment.

 

Baekhyun chews and swallows before answering. "I thought you liked me quiet."

 

"I do, but this is eerie. Are you planning something?" he asks, eyes narrowing to a slit.

 

"Well, what do you think I plan to do?" asks Baekhyun, interestedly.

 

"I dunno. Something super evil to harm the innocent me," Chanyeol replies, opening his eyes wide and forming his mouth into a pout. Baekhyun laughs out loud because he just looks so silly. 

 

He thrashes around a bit under the table and his thighs accidentally brush against Chanyeol's. Both of them freeze for a moment, and Chanyeol's eyes flicker to Baekhyun, expression unreadable. Baekhyun is in shock. He reacts first and pulls away, tucking his legs under the chair. A few awkward moments pass by, before Chanyeol resumes his eating. Baekhyun sighs inaudibly and drinks his strawberry juice (he's already finished his lasagna), eyes darting furtively every once in a while to Chanyeol, who hasn't even gotten halfway through his bibimbap. 

 

This is gonna be a long night.

 

-

 

"Hey, Baekhyun..." Chanyeol says slowly.

 

"Yeah?" asks the shorter male apprehensively, as both of them leave the restaurant. He looks up at the giant beside him, who frowns.

 

"You are disgusting. See, you didn't even eat properly. There's something on your mouth."

 

And before he can react or even register what's happening, Chanyeol is kissing him. 

 

In public.

 

What shocks him even more is that he is kissing him back. Hard.

 

His mind is going into a state of panic, telling him "No!" but somehow, Baekhyun doesn't listen. As they pull away, Baekhyun gulps at the realisation of what he's done. And he starts wondering why Chanyeol has kissed him.

 

Was he drunk? No, he didn't drink alcohol. Is he crazy? Maybe. Does he like me? Highly unlikely. Do I like him? I don't know either.

 

"I'm sorry for giving you a bad impression, Baekhyun. I actually really like you. You're funny and nice to be with, even with all your weirdness and grossness."

 

"Hey!" exclaims Baekhyun.

 

"Sorry, but I still like you. So, will you go out with me?" asks Chanyeol. 

 

Baekhyun's breath hitches in his throat. Chanyeol is looking at him with a very sincere and hopeful expression, almost puppy-like. An awkward silence has settled over them and the only sound is the mocking sound of crickets chirping in the distance.

 

Baekhyun surprises himself (and Chanyeol) when he replies by lacing their hands together. But judging by the way that their hands fit perfectly together, and how Chanyeol's palm is large and warm and safe, Baekhyun's satisfied that he's found the right answer.

 

---

A/N: 

Completed this! Yay! Now after I post up the sequel to Cannibal (okay guise relax it's gonna be up real soon I promise okay) then I'll start on the chaptered fic, Into Your World. Yays :D

School is not so great right now. My classmates are boring and noone is a Kpop fan. D: (And my teachers are and advanced Chem is a killer omg why) 

And I'm gonna be MIA for the next week because my school has kindly decided to dump all the Sec 3 students for a 5-day camp. AND SJM IS RELEASING THEIR SINGLE ON THE FIRST DAY THAT I'M OUT OF CIVILISATION OHMYGAWD WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME.

I need a hug ;_; I need all you guys' awesome comments so I can feel better. T.T

My tumblr is myquirksandobsessions if you ever want to talk/bored/want to look at my dumb reblogs.