Baekhyun made his way over to the warm armchairs by the long floor length windows of the café. For the past few days, he had found himself growing more and more used to having Chanyeol spice up his day a little. Being around girls every day who would giggle and perhaps attempt to flirt with him was great, sure, but exam period meant a steady decrease and deterioration in the number of customers, especially female. This however meant that Baekhyun was able to spend even more time talking to Chanyeol, getting to know Chanyeol and slowly but surely becoming completely and utterly captivated by Chanyeol. 

It wasn't romance and there certainly weren't any hints of a relationship further than being best friends. Baekhyun knew he was as straight as a ruler. But something about Chanyeol intrigued him and despite constantly questioning him and interviewing him, Baekhyun craved to learn more. In some weird and crazy way, he almost wanted to be Chanyeol- a sharp witted and carefree guy living a life of routine and cautiousness. The juxtaposition was confusing but suited Chanyeol well. 

'Those girls over there keep talking about you, you know' Chanyeol said, putting down his cup

'Really? What are they saying?'

Chanyeol picked his cup up again and took a sip. 'I only tuned in for a bit but they said that you're a puzzle they can't figure out.'

'A puzzle?'

'They said that you treat everyone like royalty only to completely forget who they are. Do you really do that?'

A smirk crept up on Baekhyun's face and he momentarily forgot that Chanyeol couldn't see him. 

'They also said you're the only one who writes people's names on their cups. You don't even write the order- just the name.'

'Yeah, I've got a good memory. Why would I need to write the order?'

'Why would you need to write the name if you've got such a good memory?'

'It's something I like to call 'the chase'. It keeps girls coming back to the café- a sick marketing ploy if you ask me. Keeps me ahead of Jongin when he's here.'

Chanyeol leant forward, his right eye looking directly at Baekhyun and his left slightly off centred. 

'Oh really? That's your reason?'

Baekhyun shrugged, 'Basically. What other reason would there be?'

Baekhyun had grown used to Chanyeol's strange eyes. Every day, Chanyeol would arrive wearing his sunglasses and his grey t-shirt and Baekhyun would sit him down. He'd bring him a Zesty Lemon Icer and they'd talk for hours about anything and everything.

'So did you go to school?'

At 21, both boys were long past high school age. Baekhyun had gone to study at university before packing it in when his mother sadly passed away. She had been chronically ill for as long as he could remember so it hadn't come as too much of a surprise. His elder brother and father moved away from Seoul to start afresh but Baekhyun remained behind. He didn't want to leave the city and the people he had taken so much time to get to know. 

'Nah' Chanyeol said, smiling. The sun came out and Chanyeol quickly put on his sunglasses. He didn't want to cause any damage to his eyes just in case his parents found him a retina donor. 

'You didn't?'

'How the hell would teachers teach a blind kid? Besides, I managed to learn through podcasts and audiobooks, no problemo'

Baekhyun grinned as he leant forward and leaned on his wrists.

'9 times 5'

'What?'

'I want to see how well you've learnt. Come on, Chanyeol. You're clever. 9 times 5?'

'45'

'Capital of Australia?'

'Canberra.'

'List the countries that speak French'

'You've got to be joking. There are 29 countries and I'm not listing them all.'

'Fine, give me 5. France doesn't count.'

Chanyeol groaned and held out his hand, counting down as he went. 'Belgium, Switzerland, The Congo, Senegal and... Seychelles.'

'Can you read braille?'

'I'm not amazing but it's alright. Takes me a while to figure stuff out.'

'Park Chanyeol the genius can't read braille?' 

'You try reading books made out of little indentation-like bumps. Then you can joke.' 

Baekhyun chuckled and Chanyeol laughed with him. 'I really miss being able to watch cartoons.'

'That's all you miss?'

'Hey, I stopped being able to see when I was 5. I think I get a bit of leeway here.'

'Apologies. So... You've never seen a proper movie? Like an adult movie?'

'You mean ?'

'What?!' Baekhyun turned around to hear the group of girls sitting near them burst into laughter. 'No I didn't mean !' he hissed.

Chanyeol errupted into laughter, 'oh, my bad.'

'I meant action movies. Terminator? X-Men? Harry Potter?'

'I was read the audiobook of Harry Potter. It's all 'let me stun you with my wand'. Do you know what I did for fun?'

'What?'

'Imagined wand meant . Replace wand with willy.'

'God, you're so childish'

'Blind since age 5, okay? I'm allowed to be childish. But oh my God. ing hilarious I tell you. Oh god, there were so many funny parts. 'Harry rubbed his willy feverishly until white sparks shot out of the end, which earned him a disapproving look from Fleur.' That one was so brilliant I've actually remembered it. Good job, J.K Rowling, good job'

'Only you would think of doing that, honestly'

'I found out about the hard way too man.'

'Through an audio book?'

'Yup'

Baekhyun in his breath, 'yikes... What did that sound like?'

'Like being read a very boring toned down version of 50 Shades of Grey- which by the way, sounds very weird when you get read it late at night.'

'Why are you listening to books at night?'

'What else is a blind but otherwise healthy 21 year old supposed to do with their life? Can't get a girlfriend, can I? Can't get a job either. But tell me about your life. Tell me what goes on with you. You know everything about me and I only know your name and that you've worked here for a year'

'Well what do you want to know?' Baekhyun asked, 'I'm boring. You're much more interesting to talk about.

'First impression of me.'

'You already know it. I thought you were a dickwad.'

'Oh right, yeah' Chanyeol said, nodding his head, 'Do you have a girlfriend?'

'No'

'Is that why you flirt with all the customers?'

'I don't flirt with you, do I?'

'I wouldn't know, would I?' Chanyeol said, leaning forwards, 'I don't know what flirting looks like. Plus I wouldn't be able to see it either. Do you flirt with me?'

'No I don't.' Baekhyun sighed, 'What else do you want to know?' He didn't really enjoy talking about his private life much. Especially not with someone as sharp as Chanyeol.

'Tell me your biggest secret.'

'I don't have one.'

'Everyone has one.'

'If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret, would it?'

'Then tell me why you sit me in the same place every time I come here.' Chanyeol suggested, catching Baekhyun by surprise. For someone who couldn't see, Chanyeol had picked up on a lot of Baekhyun's small and slight habits. His routine everyday was the same and he hated change because for one, he couldn't cope with it. Just like Chanyeol, Baekhyun lived a life of routine and cautiousness but he couldn't bring himself to be as carefree as Chanyeol.

'Tell me why you wanted me to wear sunglasses-'

'They look good on you.'

'That's not the real reason, is it though?'

Baekhyun was stunned into silence.

'Why do you treat everyone like royalty only to forget about them the next time they come? I hear all these rumours when you're over at the counter making my drink that you're a sadist prince-like creature who enjoys something called 'the chase'. You call girls 'sweetheart' and 'jagiya', and the next time you see them you act like you don't know who they are. You're act like a narcissistic prince, as if you only care about yourself.'

'What's your point, Chanyeol?'

'My point is that if I could see you, I'd most definitely punch you in your apparently 'oh so handsome' face.'

Baekhyun laughed, 'gee thanks'

'You've got an air about you, Baekhyun,' said Chanyeol. It was the first time Chanyeol had properly addressed Baekhyun by his name. 'As someone who literally can't take things at face value, I can tell you're hiding something. I can hear it in your voice when I ask you to tell me about yourself. You're scared and you tell me you don't have a secret but you do. I can sense it. I can tell there's something different about the way you are with people whenever I overhear some girls talking about you.'

'You're talking crap, Chany-'

'No I'm not. Look at me.'

Baekhyun hadn't realised that Chanyeol had found his way to grab hold of his hands. He felt extremely uncomfortable with Chanyeol looking at him from behind his dark, black Trenta sunglasses. Unable to control himself in anguish, he grabbed his glasses and tore them off of him only to find Chanyeol staring at him with his dead eyes.

'What are you hiding?' Chanyeol said, his voice and eyes unwavering.

Baekhyun abruptly stood up, 'Isn't it about time you leave? It's getting dark out and you know, I wouldn't want you to get into trouble...'

'I can tell light from dark, you moron. I can tell it's still not yet past 5pm. Don't try and get rid of me like I'm some sort of vermin.'

'Well don't try and analyse me! I'm not a lab rat for you to play games with to get over your boring, miserable life!'

Chanyeol stood up, knocking over the mini table in the process. Everyone turned to stare at him.

'Is that why you took my sunglasses off of me? Are you that ashamed to be sat here with someone blind like me?'

Baekhyun didn't reply and Chanyeol snatched his sunglasses back, putting them on quickly. A pang of guilt struck Baekhyun when he saw how flustered and embarassed Chanyeol was. 

'Fine, I'll go,' he said, 'but I'll be back tomorrow. I'm going to figure you out, Byun Baekhyun. You're the first friend I've ever made out of my own accord. I don't care that you think I lead a miserable life because yeah, I'll admit it. It's a bit . I can't read. I can't watch television. I can't ever feel an attraction to someone because I can't ing see them but you know what is good about my life?'

Baekhyun had already walked away in shame. Chanyeol was shouting at the empty space in front of him. 

'I'm alive and I'm happy. I've found something to do with my life to fill that boredom.'

Baekhyun shifted from his spot behind the counter, unsure of whether or not to say anything. Chanyeol was yelling at no-one and looked like an idiot but he couldn't bring himself to say anything. Unfortunately, Chanyeol detected that Baekhyun was no longer standing in front of him and he stormed up to the counter knowing Baekhyun would be there.

'I'm going to become your bestfriend. Do you want to know why?'

Baekhyun hung his head low. Why?

'Because you're tomorrow's hope for me; the only one to not push me away in disgust.'