“The hyungs are being weird” Sehun notes with a poker face, except for his concerned eyebrows. Luhan glances at the table where the four men are sitting, presumably, ideally, talking about business.

“Yes they are, aren’t they?” Luhan agrees with a tired sigh. He is very sure that they are not talking about business, at least not as much as Luhan would like in order to be sure that they will manage to organize a decent event for the company.

Their communication pattern is completely disorganized and even Luhan can see it, sitting by the counter. Chanyeol turns to Baekhyun too often to ask whatever question his unaware love-struck mind comes up with, and Baekhyun answers heartily to all of the questions, like the kind cutie he is. Kai keeps jotting down notes, passing them inconspicuously to Kyungsoo, who doesn’t care to answer any of them and he either flinches away or glares at Kai with his scary, big eyes. Sometimes, Kai shoots Chanyeol a knowing smirk and Chanyeol glares back or worse, Kai addresses Baekhyun and Chanyeol presses his lips and looks like he wants to bang his head on the table and kill his friend in the same time. When Kai is not bothering Kyungsoo, the latter chats with Chanyeol, smiles and giggles –in contrast with the treatment Kai is receiving from him –and Luhan swears that the boy is a huge fan of Chanyeol.

“Shouldn’t you go there and supervise them or something?” Sehun suggests, eyeing carefully the way Kai’s hand moves under the table, gets slapped away by Kyungsoo’s hand and the former puts on a kicked puppy look.

“I’m too tired to bother with them right now” he sighs and pokes his coffee mug idly. Sehun is far less stressful to be around right now.

“You should go on vacation” Sehun suggests. Luhan never doubted that it shows...

“Do you want them to completely slack off until the company goes bankrupt?” Luhan asks incredulously, pointing to the two idiots who are trying to work with the organizers at the table behind him. Sehun’s lips crack a smile.

“No, no I don’t…I guess I understand your point” he goes back to arranging his toys behind the counter. “Baekhyun hyung is like that too; he can’t go on vacation because the company needs him”

“Which reminds me” Luhan sits up on his stool; he needs a distraction from the thought of the miserable life he has been trapped in “How long have you been working for Baekhyun and Do?” Sehun makes a calculating face.

“Eight months, ever since I left my other job. The hyungs are the best employers on Earth!” he flashes a quick smile.

“You had another job?”

“Yeah, I’ve changed many jobs. But I am only working two jobs right now, after my internship ended last month”

Only two? Luhan has one job and it feels like he wants to either murder someone or sleep like the dead for months at the end of each day. How can Sehun be so lively all the time? Luhan could blame the age difference, but if he has to be true with himself, Luhan grew old too soon.

“There is an internship at the company, if you’re interested” Luhan blurts out, without really thinking about it. The information of Sehun’s words and his own thoughts collided in a strange way to produce his former response and Luhan regrets speaking. The kid probably wants to be left alone with all the jobs he is already juggling.

“Really?” Sehun perks up, to Luhan’s surprise.

“Yeah…It’s law and economics” Luhan provides reluctantly. Luhan’s degree is in law and economics, so he is supervisor. Sehun is probably too young to apply for the internship but, as the supervisor, he can pull some strings. Sehun is a good and hard working kid; his thoughts are a bit all over the place sometimes but his head is mostly good. But is Sehun really interested? “What about university? Aren’t you supposed to be taking classes there as well?” Is there enough time to do everything in one day?

“I’m sort of done with university” Sehun admits reluctantly.

“You dropped out?” Luhan sounds more strict and motherly than he would like, but he is used to this tone when he is chiding his two idiots, so it sort of comes naturally.

“Why would I? It wasn’t that bad” Sehun says indifferently and shrugs his shoulders.

“Then what happened? Have you gotten your degree? How old are you anyway?” Luhan asks curious.

“Well, technically, I don’t have my degree yet; they couldn’t give it to me because I am too young. So I have to wait for a year or so before I get it”

“If you don’t have a degree then you must have classes” Luhan bets but Sehun shakes his head.

“I’ve finished all the classes”

“How?” Luhan is torn between being utterly surprised at the truth or convinced that Sehun is playing a joke.

“Well…I don’t know how I did it but it just happened, you know? Everything made perfect sense in my head and it clicked easily. They said I was some sort of genius but I highly doubt it; it’s just because the information worked well with my head. The teachers kept giving me grades and so I passed every class. They said I should do more about my studies, PhD and stuff, but I was not that interested” he explains casually. In the mean time, Luhan’s jaw has dropped so much that it is starting to hurt.

“What were you studying?” he asks, bewildered and surprised. The kid is a genius, seriously?

“Biochemistry” Sehun says indifferently. What? And everything made perfect sense?

“Why did you pick biochemistry?” He could have chosen something easier, like most kids do. Kids who pick studies like biochemistry for university are not lacking so much interest in their achievements, like Sehun. Because it’s freaking hard to get in and out of that sort of university studies!

“It was a big word” Sehun answers indifferently. Luhan has to grip the counter so that he won’t fall over his stool. Seriously?! “It was easy but not very exciting. I have to pay the fee for the classes I took and that’s one reason why I have to work so many jobs. But I really like trying out new things, too. I’ll change as many jobs as I can and I will attend as many internship programs as I can handle until I find my dream job. So, about that internship…”

“I’m not that sure you’ll like it” Luhan dismisses him quickly. He feels uncomfortable. He doesn’t want Sehun taking part in the internship. What if Sehun finds law and economics boring? Well, they kind of are boring sometimes, and that would reflect badly on Luhan: he has a degree in a boring subject and he is practicing that boring subject too, therefore, he is boring. “Can I ask you a question about your studies?” he diverts the topic quickly. Sehun stops just in time before making a comeback.

“Sure”

“You are all required to submit a final paper, aren’t you?” Sehun nods in agreement “Have you done that too?” Sehun nods again. “What was it about?” Luhan asks, genuinely curious now.

“Mushrooms”

“What?” Luhan might have not heard correctly. Sehun sighs.

“It’s a bit silly” he mumbles, looking down.

“No, come on, tell me” Luhan encourages and Sehun looks up with a poker face after a moment.

“I tried to turn poisonous mushrooms into edible material” he deadpans.

It’s not what he said; what he just said was genius. It’s the way he said it though that makes Luhan burst out in laughter. He really hopes Sehun won’t be offended but he looked so funny! He keeps laughing loudly, not caring about the attention he is attracting, clutching his ribs and doubling over. The two idiots twirl their fingers indicating he is crazy, Baekhyun smiles and Kyungsoo looks at Sehun questioningly, but Sehun just waves his hand dismissively and cracks a smile himself.

--

The call goes straight to voicemail. Again. Had it been any other person on this planet, Kai would have given up already. He would have put everything behind, found a new person to take interest in and go on with the show.

But it’s not any other person, and he doesn’t want to leave him behind or replace him, and it really isn’t a show if Kyungsoo’s innocent eyes and stubbornness is not present. He really, really wants this person; but little Soo is putting one hell of a fight! He is not answering his phone calls, he ignores his texts (even the one when Kai threatened to kill himself if Kyungsoo didn’t answer back in fifteen minutes –obviously, neither happened) and he avoids him like the plague. He did say it, loud and clear, that he wants a date with Kyungsoo. He wants it so bad. But he is not even giving him a chance!

He tosses his phone on the coffee table with the screen facing up –just in case Kyungsoo calls. He messes his hair with his fingers in frustration. He needs to find another way to get to him. He even tried writing notes, when they were at the meeting earlier this morning, and they all fell on blind eyes. He looks up with puppy eyes at Chanyeol, who is sitting behind his desk.

The giant is smiling like an idiot. Kai hasn’t seen him smile so openly for such a prolonged period of time in years and years. He wonders how Chanyeol’s cheekbones never seem to hurt after so much smiling. He has been smiling since this morning, when he found out that they were scheduled to meet with Baekhyun –for business, of course, even though they discussed everything but business –he continued to smile at Baekhyun all the while, and he has been smiling to himself until now; this should be approaching a world record.

 “Chanyeol, you are creeping me out” he says flatly. Chanyeol snaps out of his daze for a moment and directs his smiling gaze at Kai.

“Hm?” he asks, distracted. Kai rolls his eyes at him. Since when is the Park Chanyeol so absentminded?

“I said, you’re smiling too much, it’s scary”

“Well, there’s only so much I can do, because I am really happy” his irony clashes strangely with his smiling demeanor.

“Why are you so happy?” Kai is 99.9% sure that ‘Baekhyun’ is going to be somewhere in Chanyeol’s next words.

“Because I saw Baekhyun today!” Chanyeol exclaims and swivels his chair one round.

His friend is so love stricken with this Baekhyun person –and the best part is that Chanyeol has not admitted to being in love with him, not even to Kai, maybe not even to himself. Kai is not sure if Chanyeol can admit such a thing; he doesn’t know how to do it. This is very rare for Chanyeol; rare as in never happened before! Chanyeol never cares and never smiles like an idiot, unless it’s for his mother’s sake; but Baekhyun is not his mother and this situation is getting scary.

“Sure, Baekhyun is a decent guy” Kai approves, with the intention to pique Chanyeol. He really means it though; Baekhyun is cute and all sorts of nice and polite. That’s just not Kai’s type. Chanyeol drops the smile, finally, and shoots Kai a deathly glare.

“Stay away from him” he growls warningly and Kai tries to swallow his laughter.

“Calm down, I wasn’t planning on doing anything…Anyway, you saw him, so what?”

“So what?!” Chanyeol’s eyebrows shoot up incredulously “So everything! Baekhyun’s dazzling smile, his sweet smell, his tight clothes, his puppy eyes, his adorable voice, his infinite kindness…that’s what makes the world go round!” he explodes. Okay, we are past scary; the situation is insane.

“Yeol, get a hold of yourself” Kai makes a face. Since when is Chanyeol something more than a cynic, self centered, spoiled kid? Since when is he appreciating others, and to such an extent no less? When did I-don’t-care-about-anything-besides-myself Chanyeol become this sweet and romantic person? Baekhyun is changing Chanyeol without even knowing.

“Sorry” Chanyeol mumbles sheepishly, crossing his fingers on his desk “I’m overdosing on Baekhyun a bit this week”

“Overdosing, how?”

“Well, I saw him today and I also saw him two days ago, so…” he trails off and then his eyes become unfocused as a smile creeps back on his lips. Ugh, seriously, this person…

“Really now, you saw him two days ago? Where?” Kai asks with interest and Chanyeol shoots him a wary glance. If he didn’t want Kai to find out then he shouldn’t have mentioned it…

“Um…at a gallery” he admits reluctantly. Wait; Chanyeol met Baekhyun at a gallery on Chanyeol’s day off? Kai’s jaw drops in surprise.

“You asked him out?! Like on a date?!” he exclaims. Chanyeol is flustered for a second.

“D-date? N-No, how could I?” he defends and Kai doesn’t know if he feels relieved or disappointed. “We met there by chance”

“Yeol, seriously: do something with this person” Kai advises. Chanyeol never thought twice before asking out anyone he liked in the past. Kai understands that Baekhyun’s case might be a bit special but he is still a case of the same kind: they need to go on an actual date if Chanyeol ever hopes to date Baekhyun.

“I, I can’t” he creases his eyebrows and pouts, the infamous, irresistible pout –that is actually one of Chanyeol’s natural expressions, it’s not as calculated as people think– “Baekhyun is delicate; he needs to be handled with care” Kai wants to kill his friend and die right after with all the things he is hearing from Chanyeol’s mouth on this day.

He needs to be manhandled, Kai thinks, and, now that he thinks about it, if Kyungsoo hadn’t happened in his life, Kai would happily apply for the task. What? He’s not blind, okay? Baekhyun is pretty ing attractive and he is lucky that Chanyeol likes him, because that automatically saves him from Kai’s claws. Not that he cares about Baekhyun like that right now, when he has found his own Kyungsoo.

“I hope the object of your caring is work-related” Luhan walks into the room with a strict expression on his angelic face. He’s a slave worker underneath, he’s the devil’s spawn, don’t be fooled by the lovely features and the blond locks or the elegance and manners.

“More or less” Chanyeol mumbles, bobbing his head from side to side and flashing a wide smile. There we go again with the crazy smile.

“I have one question for the two of you: did any work get done today? Like, any at all?” Luhan acts sarcastically. Kai grins innocently in answer and Luhan groans. “It was supposed to be a business meeting! What was it to you, a double date?” he asks exasperated.

What did he just say? A light bulb flashes in Kai’s head.

“That’s it, hyung!” he pipes up, surely looking like a crazy person.

“That’s what? And don’t call me hyung, you little mutt” Luhan glowers. Kai dismisses him and turns to Chanyeol for further explanation.

“You need a date with Baekhyun and I need one with Kyungsoo; you don’t want to pressure Baekhyun and Kyungsoo is avoiding me; but what if we did a double date? Baekhyun doesn’t feel pressured, Kyungsoo feels safe enough with his friend around, we both get our date, everyone is happy!” Kai claps his hands in excitement. That’s the perfect idea!

“Um, there’s only one problem with your plan, lover boy” Luhan interjects and Kai glares at him annoyed “Kyungsoo is not picking up and we don’t have Baekhyun’s number. How are you going to set up the date then?” Maybe there is a tiny teeny point somewhere in there, spoiling Kai’s plan; but he is not giving up that easily.

“Why don’t we have Baekhyun’s number?” he demands at Luhan.

“Well, Kyungsoo is the main person of their company that we need to communicate with, so we just have his number. Why are you looking at me like that? I can’t have the contacts of all the people I know; that would take three memory cards! It’s not my fault!” Luhan defends and glances at Chanyeol. Kai directs his lethal glare at his tall friend.

“I’m working on it, okay?” Chanyeol holds up his hands in surrender. He’s hopeless; at the pace he is ‘working on it’ he might get Baekhyun’s number after twenty years or so. Kai exhales loudly and tries to find another way.

“How about we call them from the company?” Kai suggests.

“My father monitors our calls; do you really want him to find Kyungsoo’s number? You know that our fathers run background checks on anyone and everyone we contact, even for the delivery boy” Chanyeol points out.

He’s right. Kai whimpers in frustration; it was a good idea, why is it not working out?! Chanyeol purses his lips and Luhan shrugs. Kai picks his phone and does the only thing he can think of: call again. It’s been ineffective so far and it sure as hell will continue to be so, he knows he will go straight to voicemail, but he is so hopeless right now that he will just keep calling to console himself until-

“Hello? This is Do Kyungsoo’s phone” a soft and cheerful voice pipes up from the other end of the line. Kai sits up puzzled and even more puzzled are the other two men in the room.

“Um, hi; Baekhyun, is that you?” he guesses and Chanyeol almost falls over his chair at the sound of the name. Or maybe he actually fell, because Kai heard a thud.

“Oh, hi Kai! I didn’t recognize the phone number. Kyungsoo is not available right now, can I help you? Or take a message?” Baekhyun offers willingly. Kai loves this guy, he loves him in this second!

“Ah, actually, I wanted to talk to you both about something” he starts and Chanyeol watches intently with wide eyes, as if he is watching a horror movie, half hidden behind his desk where he fell. Luhan is laughing soundlessly at Chanyeol’s reaction, hysterically shaking Lay’s arm –when did Lay come in the office again?

“Is it about work? Because I’m really not good with economics and stuff” Baekhyun lets out a small, nervous laugh. Cute.

“No, it’s not about work” Kai assures him and he is about to proceed with all the eyes in the room focused on him, but there is a shuffling sound at the other end of the line. “Baekhyun, are you still there?”

“What the hell, Baekhyun? Why are you talking to this person?” Kyungsoo’s muffled, irritated voice reaches Kai’s ears. “You didn’t say I shouldn’t pick it up if three dots appeared on the screen! How was I supposed to know this is Kai’s number?” Baekhyun defends, sounding distant. “Then hung up right after!”. “That would be rude”. “What does he want?”. “I don’t know, you snatched it away”. Kyungsoo lets out a heavy sigh and clears his throat. In the meantime, Chanyeol is mouthing frantically ‘what happened to Baekhyun?’

“Hello?” Kyungsoo’s voice comes through the speaker. Kai feels like doing one of those crazy ballet pirouettes they kept making him practice a few years back. He sounds irritated but it’s still him, Kyungsoo, speaking to him, on the phone!

“Hey, Kyungsoo! So, I was wondering, maybe now that I met Baekhyun and you met Chanyeol and all, would you two like to come with us to a party at a club this Saturday?” he blurts out quickly –he is aware that Kyungsoo’s patience is thin and he has to get it out there while he still has time.

“Um, how about no?” Kyungsoo bites back. Kai would be lying if he said that Kyungsoo’s little outbursts do not seem attractive to him.

“But you didn’t even ask Baekhyun? What if he wants to come?” Kai protests quickly.

“No, he doesn’t; Baekhyun doesn’t go out” he answers passively. Oh no, this is bad for two reasons; a small one, which is that Chanyeol will be disappointed when he finds out about that, and a major one, which is Kai’s plan crumbling down.

There are small voices heard from the other end of the line and Kai realizes that Kyungsoo hasn’t hung up yet; there’s still hope!

“Um, listen, can you call me back later?” Kyungsoo suggests curtly. Kai wants to start dancing in delight!

“Sure, sure, anytime; how about in half an hour?” he doesn’t really need to set a time for the phone call but he wants to make sure that Kyungsoo will be expecting it and he will pick up. He’s pretty desperate, in case you haven’t noticed.

“Okay, yeah” the line goes off. Kai detaches the device from his ear and looks at the crowd, feeling stunned.

Chanyeol is hopping on his heals with fists clenched in front of his chest in anxiety, looking like a child with round eyes, Luhan looks bored, sitting in Chanyeol’s chair and taping his fingers on the desk, and Lay is fixing some papers on the desk with minimum interest in his crazy employers’ business.

“So?” Chanyeol urges impatiently. Kai feels a smile spreading on his face.

“There’s hope!” he exclaims and Chanyeol collapses on the couch, Luhan starts laughing and Lay shakes his head, pressing his lips to contain his smile.

Hope is the best thing right now. Kai crosses his fingers and prays to Baekhyun’s infinite kindness, that he might finally land a date with Kyungsoo…

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a/n. Hello everyone! I know this was an uneventful chapter, but the next one will be more interesting; you’ll see! ;)

I don’t know if poisonous mushrooms have anything to do with biochemistry, I just wrote that on top of my head. But yeah, who knew Sehun is a genius?

Kai is obviously failing with Kyungsoo, but his luck might turn around with the next chapter. Stay tuned!

Oh, and thank you everyone for subscribing!! (Your numbers are going up and that makes me suuuuuper happy! I promise I’ll work hard and bring lots of friends to you so that you won’t be lonely! Thank you for caring about my story!) kitty~