Chanyeol found himself staring at the ceiling of a very expensive room. The walls have a pale blue color which complements the off-white fabric of the table cloths. Each table has polished silver cutlery, plates made of fine china and napkins made of expensive fabric. The crystal glasses are glinting under the overwhelming light of the golden chandeliers, which are masterpieces of their own, and there are white roses in beautiful arrangements on every table. Chanyeol is willing to step around his narcissism, just this once, and admit that the event planner did an excellent job. He is staring at the ceiling, not because he doesn’t like the room, but because he doesn’t want to be here; he is bored.

“When do you think this will be over?” he murmurs, leaning closer to Kai, who is sitting next to him. He will just annoy his best friend, for lack of better things to do.

“Yeol, it hasn’t even started yet” Kai answers, giving him a judging look.

“Aren’t fashion shows supposed to be…simpler? Like, one runway, dim lights, models strolling up and down and that’s it? This is a freaking reception party” he complains, just for the fun of it. He has been to fashion shows before and he finds them boring either way, yet, every time, Kai somehow convinces him to tag along. He doesn’t understand his friend’s interest in fashion, much less share it.

“It’s not just any runway show; it’s Exo’s new Spring Collection, designed by Chen himself” Kai explains in an obvious tone, rolling his dark eyes.

“Um, hello? It’s still September” Why do they need to see the spring collection in autumn? It’s not like they will be wearing it anytime soon. Plus, isn’t Exo supposed to design clothes for women? Kai closes his eyes and sighs in resignation.

“That’s how fashion goes, Yeol, that’s how fashion goes…” he mumbles and crosses his arms across his chest. “We’ve been to fashion shows before; I thought you would have picked up something by now”

“You’ve dragged me to fashion shows before” Chanyeol corrects, holding up one finger “and I have indeed picked up something: models” Kai rolls his eyes, as expected, and leans further away, resentful. “Now that we’ve mentioned it” Chanyeol says, reaching for the small piece of paper in his pocket “Look what I got earlier” Kai squints, trying to read the letters on the paper which Chanyeol is waving in front of his face.

“You’ve got to be kidding me; so soon?” Kai tsks and looks away indifferently. Chanyeol reads the small piece of paper for himself “Meet me backstage for fun” and smiles smugly. He is young, rich and good looking; girls line up behind him at the wave of his hand. He doesn’t really care about them, but they keep him entertained, most of the time.

“Okay, I’ll go find her now” he decides. He is bored, the model was hot and maybe some backstage fun will improve his day by a little.

“I don’t think it’s so easy to get backstage access” Kai warns him but Chanyeol dismisses him with one vague wave of his hand, already on his way. He is The Park Chanyeol; backstage access shouldn’t be hard to obtain.

He asks one of the wandering garcons for directions and the boy points at a door at the far end of the room before returning to his busy business. Chanyeol walks to the door with all the confidence in the world and finds it unlocked. He slides in quickly –because he is not in the mood for someone to notice him and stop him when he is already so close–and closes the door.

Chaos is the first word that comes to his mind upon beholding the backstage area. Clothes, underwear and shoes sprawled on every surface, messy racks of fabric, needles, hair pins high heels, makeup gear and hair styling products are all over the place, and there is a very strong smell of hair spray and perfume in the air. The models are like puppets, allowing people to dress them and do their makeup, even strap their shoes on, following commands to ‘stand up’ or ‘sit down’ or ‘look up’ and ‘turn around’. There are many people hovering over the models, fussing with the clothes or just running around, trying to help with everything. To Chanyeol, backstage doesn’t seem fun at all. His eyes are starting to sting from the chemical mist under the bright lights and his ears are starting to hurt due to the constant buzzing of human chatter in the room. How does something so disorganized come out so neat on the runway?

“Excuse me, sir, you can’t be here” a short girl appears in front of him and smiles politely at him. Okay, here we go.

“I know, but, do you think you could make an exception?” he says, lowering his voice to make it even more compelling and he smiles charmingly at the girl “I am looking for someone and I would appreciate your help, pretty miss” The girl blinks several times, and chuckles flattered at his compliment, already half way out of reality due to Chanyeol’s influence.

“B-But, you really shouldn’t…” she trails off with a deep pink blush on her cheeks, completely swept away by his pleading puppy eyes. It’s really hard for people to resist his charm, Chanyeol knows and takes advantage of that.

“Oh, I know I shouldn’t, but what if we keep it a secret?” he suggests, adding a small smile and a wink. The girl gasps and her jaw falls slightly slack. He takes that as an indication that he is one step closer to getting backstage access.

“Um…” she mumbles after a while, when she has found the words in her head again “Yeah…oka-”

“Excuse me, sir, I am afraid you can’t be here” a male voice cuts in and Chanyeol looks up from his easy prey, slightly annoyed, to see a short guy approaching with a business like look on his face.

Just…wow.

--

Baekhyun is full-on business mode. Maybe he is not the nicest person to be around when he is working; he is bossy and impatient –and he knows it too –, but he does his job well. No, he does his job excellently. He takes pride in planning the best events his clients have ever experienced. From weddings to office galas, he is the top of his kind; all wraps up smoothly when Byun Baekhyun is in charge. Everyone knows that Baekhyun is creative and has a great taste, that’s why they trust him. He is also willing to work hard and he has excellent leadership skills. Everything is always under control, everything is always perfectly planned and executed and everyone is always satisfied. He has planned some pretty important events in his life and he is merely twenty two years old. He is not doing it just for the money –and, if he may say so himself, his work is more than just well-paid, to be fare. He likes his job. He likes being part of something that brings joy to other people, he appreciates their ‘thank you’ just like the actors appreciate the applause.

“No smoking” he chides, snatching the cigarette away from the model’s fingers on his way to the hair styling section. Do any of these models realize how combustible this room is with all that hair spray in the air? He glances around in search of more perpetrators, but other than the extraordinary ability to make a large room look like a messy hole inhabited by fashion squirrels, an ability which should be illegal in Baekhyun’s neat-freak opinion, everything seems clear.

“Hyung, Sunny is still not returning my calls; she is still talking to that man” Sehun’s voice mumbles in his ear –in a not so coherent manner. The boy needs to learn how to speak clearly; it’s a miracle they understand him most of the time.

“I am on my way there now” Baekhyun responds firmly, with an automatic motion to touch his earpiece. He doesn’t appreciate people distracting his crew, because each member of his crew has very specific duties which need to be executed within schedule; so, maybe he is stomping a bit more than usual as he approaches the door. He slows down unconsciously though, when the tall man who is keeping Sunny comes into view, because holly broccoli, how on earth can humans grow that tall?

“Excuse me, sir, I am afraid you can’t be here” he calls to the man mechanically; because deep down he is a professional and he has a schedule to follow and he can’t afford to deliberate his height issues right now. The man looks up and his eyes lock with his instantly, without hesitation, as if they were magnetized. Baekhyun makes a note to consider later, when the event will be over and he will be home, how the tall man has the most adorably innocent face, with large, sparkling eyes and pouting lips to die for.

“I-I am sorry, Mr. Byun; I was just about to-” Sunny begins to stutter, blushing deep red, but Baekhyun doesn’t have time for her excuses in this moment.

“Go and help Mr. Do at the back” he orders, sparing her a brief glance. Poor Kyungsoo, with his baby squishy face, always gets cornered by females, who ultimately intimidate him to a point where he is rendered inefficient for his schedule duties. Sunny bows hastily and scampers away quickly.

“Baekhyun, help!” Kyungsoo cries in his ear just on cue.

“I’ve sent Sunny, she should be there soon” Baekhyun comforts his friend and business partner quickly, his eyes searching for Sehun in the crowd, just to make sure he is not fooling around with some model –because he is, after all, a teenage boy in a room fool of what his peers define as eye candy.

“Um, excuse me, I am still here” a deep voice distracts Baekhyun and he turns to the tall stranger again. Something flared in his stomach when he heard that voice –but maybe that’s just because of his nerves.

“Yes, I can see that. I am afraid you shouldn’t be here though. The show is about to start and we have very strict backstage policy” he explains quickly, ticking away things he checked earlier from a list on his i-pad.

“Let me introduce myself first” the man says with a charming smile –and Baekhyun will just say a breathless Whoaaaah in his head and leave it at that for now; for more details, please wait until he returns home – and continues “My name is Pa-”

“Hyung, the lights have not been checked” Sehun’s voice sounds in his ear, tuning out whatever the tall man just introduced himself as. Baekhyun, to be polite, fights the urge to respond right away to Sehun and remains staring expectantly at the tall guy, waiting to hear what the other man wants from him in this –very stressful –moment. An awkward silence settles between the two men, one waiting patiently and the other smiling politely. Baekhyun starts to wonder if the man is crazy or something, or if he is just stalling him for fun. Then he starts wondering if the name was supposed to mean something and that is why the man is not explaining anything further –it was pa-something-something-and an L, for all Baekhyun heard; or was it a Y?

“I’ll be checking the lights shortly” he replies to Sehun, unable to control the urge any further. The man gives him a confused look.

“What is that supposed to mean?” his deep voice asks in a low mumble. Baekhyun sighs, slightly annoyed.

“It means that I need to go, like, two minutes ago, and look: your place is somewhere out there; it is certainly not anywhere in here. So, I would appreciate it if you would just return to your seat and enjoy the show” he moves his hands accordingly to stress his points; because he feels really stressed right now, tipping closely to falling out of schedule. He checks the time with the corner of his eye.

“Two minutes people!” he yells at the room behind him and the members of his crew echo the time reminder all across the room. When he turns back around, he finds a significantly closer than before face, staring at him in the eyes levelly. His heart rate spikes and boy, this man is really persistent, and drop dead gorgeous, and he really needs to check those lights soon, and look at those lashes, and his skin looks so polished and smooth, and did Kyungsoo just say something in his ear about the lights being already checked, and he really needs to take control of his thoughts, but just look at those red lips, and-

“Do you think I can have your undivided attention for a second?” the man asks softly, creasing his perfect brows. Baekhyun blinks.

“Um…” he mumbles and takes a few steps back, regaining viable breathing space “No, I don’t think that is possible –or necessary, for that matter. Please, sir, return to your seat” he makes a strict comeback, trying not to pay hid to the odd feeling of butterflies in his stomach because of the other man’s puppy eyes.

“Baekhyun, are you there?” Chen calls hesitantly in his ear. Baekhyun smiles automatically in response to the sound of his childhood friend’s voice. He doesn’t plan fashion shows because they are more often than not a royal mess –messy rooms, too many light effects, weird music, models who are throwing up or trying to get their fix, clothes that rip too easily, crowded backstage and just so many other things –but he made an exception for Chen.

“Yeah, I’m here” he answers softly, looking away from the tall man, who is looking at him with a mixture of maybe-the-guy-is-cuckoo and I-just-saw-a-unicorn look; Baekhyun doesn’t know how the tall man can pull off that look.

“I just wanted to say: thank you. This means a lot to me. It’s great to have you as a friend and, no matter what happens next, I appreciate all your hard work” Baekhyun feels touched; anyone would, had they known how sharp-tongued Chen usually is –only to hide how shy he really is underneath. He turns around, forgetting about the tall man completely, and waves in acknowledgment at Chen, who is sitting at the other end of the room, supervising quietly. Baekhyun, with his mood slightly improved, starts to march across the room to his next destination, but he is held back by a deep voice.

“Hey!” Baekhyun turns around half way in response “Do you think you could t-”

“Hyung, everything is checked, time to kill the lights in thirty seconds” Sehun’s voice drowns the voice of the tall man once again. Baekhyun doesn’t need to answer to Sehun this time, so he allows himself to wonder what the man said for a moment. Best case scenario, the man said ‘could you t-something’ and he will leave soon and everything will proceed like clockwork from here on. Worst case scenario, the man shouted some sort of profanity or insult at Baekhyun because he kept telling him that he should forget about his business in that backstage room, Baekhyun didn’t hear so he can’t care, and everything will proceed like clockwork from here on. Either way, Baekhyun doesn’t have time to care right now, and since everything is going to proceed like clockwork from here on, he just shrugs his shoulders indifferently and continues his way.

--

“Look at that smile” Kai snorts when Chanyeol is taking his seat next to him at their designated table. “Took you long enough”

The lights go out and the strange patterns of light effects begin flashing on the runway. Chanyeol must look really creepy right now, smiling at nothing in the dim lights, seeing nothing, yet looking like he is about to devour something. But no one is looking at him anyway and he doesn’t want to let his moment slip away so soon.

“Mr. Byun…” he whispers, still smiling to himself like a nut-job.

“What?” Kai whispers back, his eyes glued on the runway.

__________________________________________________________

a/n. So, hello everyone! This is chapter one and I know it doesn't look like much, but I promise things will get better soon. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope to see you again soon! kitty