Chapter Two: Attachment

attachment: a bond; fond regard

~*~

"When does the deal terminate?"

"Whenever you call it quits... or until I can't handle it anymore. You want me to hang out with you outside of school, correct?" Baekhyun glanced up at the brunet for clarification. "That means more payment." After pondering if it was worth it, Jongdae nodded. He had plenty of money; his mother was an author and his father was a defense attorney. He calculated the expenses and figured he was safe.

"10,000 won an hour," Baekhyun stated in finality. "I won't include time spent together in class because that's unfair to you. I will take care of the time, unless you don't trust me then feel free to calculate the time yourself as well." In situations like this, Baekhyun would keep the money in a safe place until his customer called it off. Then he would decide what to do with it afterwards. For Jongdae's case, he might just keep only half if he liked him well enough.

Jongdae's parents would wonder what he was blowing his money off on. What would he tell them? He'll just worry about it later... or he could just lie and say he had a secret girlfriend.

What a terrible idea, Jongdae. How can you even think that?

"I'll trust you," Jongdae said.

"Good. I'll start timing tomorrow then. You get a freebie today," Baekhyun smiled at the brunet before clicking his pen and placing the papers into his folder. He held out his hand and Jongdae hesitantly took it. Baekhyun filed the deal in his mind. "Mind you, it might take me a few days to adjust myself with... you know," Baekhyun winced, not wanting to say what he had originally planned.

Jongdae nodded but eyed him curiously, "That's it? We don't... we don't have to sign anything?"

Baekhyun blinked at the younger male, "Why would we need to? It's too much of a hassle and a sure way to get caught. We just have to trust each other." The raven-haired boy got up from the seat beside Jongdae and returned to his own. What was Jongdae thinking? Paying him to become best friends? They could have easily become best friends without the whole deal. The older male twisted in his seat to face Jongdae, "There's something else you want, isn't there?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we could have easily become friends and you could have flirted with me without me knowing. Why pay me to become something we will in the future?" Baekhyun elaborated. Jongdae averted his gaze and chewed his bottom lip, hands fidgeting above his lap. He had nothing to say. The raven-haired boy's eyes narrowed and he prodded the brunet with his pen but the brunet didn't respond back. "What, you're not going to answer me? Fine."

As long as he keeps his body to himself, I won't mind.

---

When lunch rolled by, Chanyeol ditched his friends for Jaehwa. If it weren't for Baekhyun, the tall male and his girlfriend would have stayed but Baekhyun and Jaehwa refused to see one another. Chanyeol tried his best to please the two, considering it was Baekhyun who helped set him up with Jaehwa. He sort of thought the two would rekindle their friendship if they saw another long enough. At least that's what Chanyeol hoped.

Baekhyun couldn't believe Chanyeol was still dating her. Whatever happened to bros before hoes?

When he spotted Jongdae and Kyungsoo making their way over, Baekhyun gestured for the brunet to sit beside him on his left. Jongdae left a wide amount of space between him and Baekhyun, to which Baekhyun rolled his eyes and immediately slid closer, causing their knees to brush against another.

It seems Jongdae's the one who's more embarrassed about all this.

A small smirk made its way on the raven-haired male's face as he continued writing the rough draft of the love letter a boy had paid Baekhyun to write for his crush. Jongdae took one glance before satifying his hunger, however, the moment he began to eat Baekhyun turned to him with a look of disgust. Jongdae raised a brow.

"Let's switch spots," Baekhyun stood up and gathered his belongings. Jongdae complied, taking Baekhyun's seat and sliding the plate along the table. Joonmyun passed Baekhyun the napkins and the raven-haired male vigorously wiped the table as clean as he could before setting his things down and taking a seat. Now that Jongdae was sitting to his right, Baekhyun didn't have to worry so much about his watch, but more on the usless paper he would be giving to his brainless customer.

Joonmyun and Kyungsoo chuckled at Baekhyun before resuming their own activities. Left elbow propped on the table, Baekhyun returned his attention to the paper. When he got stuck, he rested his head in the palm of his hand and looked at his three friends wordlessly. They paid him no attention, especially not Joonmyun and Kyungsoo who were so deep into their conversation their voices rose above Baekhyun's thoughts.

After he was done eating, Jongdae asked Baekhyun, "How many jobs do you usually take on at a time?"

With a sigh, the older male answered, "It all depends on the job and reason."

And now I have to squeeze in time for you. I hope it will be fun. If you don't make it fun, I will.

"Do you generally not eat lunch?"

Baekhyun groaned inwardly, wishing Jongdae would find something better to do than bug him as he was working on a favor. The older male shook his head, "Lunch for me is an opportunity to get new customers or pay off favors, depending on what it is. For example, I'm trying to finish up this love letter for a first year that knows nothing about writing a piece of romance." Taking the hint, the brunet kept quiet and tuned in to Joonmyun and Kyungsoo's conversation about a drama series.

---

As the students of Sooha high school began filing out at the end of the school day, Baekhyun halted Jongdae, "Did you want to come to my place sometime this week? I'm free every evening after 7:00 pm. I will have to visit you back of course." The brunet nodded wordlessly. He hadn't expected an invitation so soon. The two decided on Friday and Saturday evenings.

Jongdae went straight home whereas Baekhyun met up with the first year who paid him to write the letter. When the brunet stepped inside his home, he was seduced by his bed so naturally, he changed out of his uniform and crawled under the covers. He sighed in relief as his blankets caressed his bare body and he fell asleep momentarily before his mother pounded a fist on the door and startled him awake.

"Jongdae! You better be doing your homework and not sleeping."

Disoriented, Jongdae got up and threw a large t-shirt and sweatpants on. The consistent pounding actually felt like his skull was receiving the blows. "I'm up now!" Jongdae called out and his mother halted.

She asked, "Are you hungry yet, my son?" The young man paused, waiting for a sign. After several seconds of silence his mother said, "I'm guessing no. Study hard, Jongdae."

---

Baekhyun smiled in satisfaction as he stuffed his backpack with the three workbooks, two of which belonged to customers. How unfortunate for them when the time came around for the exams because the poor bastards wouldn't know a single answer... unless they planned to review and study from their workbooks but the raven-haired male doubted so.

He glanced at his watch -- 6:10 pm. He finished his work a lot earlier that evening.

Taking out a folded piece of paper from his desk, he dialed the phone number. He predicted the conversation wouldn't end well; who liked it when her friend hired someone to apologize for her? Instead of actually apologizing for his customer as he was paid to do, Baekhyun persuaded the girl to meet up with her friend. He even offered to go as a bystander or arbitrator if it came down to it. The girl said she would do it alone, thankfully.

Afterwards he went downstairs for a light dinner, joining his father who was just preparing for his nightshift at the club. Baekhyun didn't know why his father ever decided to become a bouncer for the club; it scared Baekhyun sometimes when he came home from school and saw the bruises on his father's smiling face.

The two spoke briefly, bringing up the Yoonkyu Fire and the new students. Baekhyun enjoyed chatting with his father and was disappointed once his father stepped out the door. The young man washed the dishes before returning to his den.

He glanced at his watch -- 7:00 pm. It was Baekhyun's time... or it would be if Jongdae wasn't in his life. He wasn't too disappointed.

He retrieved his cell phone from the locked box set on the top shelf of his bookshelf.

---

Jongdae sighed gratefully once he completed the workbook pages. Throwing himself on his bed, he scrolled through his phone, searching up the lastest gossip on all things K-pop. The brunet absolutely enjoyed reading through the comments of the netizens, but not once did he ever voice his true opinions unless he was dead serious. He had a separate account just for that.

He had received a long message from Baekhyun but temporarily ignored it, indulging in the debut music video of a new band first. Deciding it , he finally checked Baekhyun's message -- an unnecessarily elaborate message about himself.

Baekhyun enjoyed a clean and orderly environment; watching dramas, especially after one has been completed so he could marathon it; listening and watching K-Pop but never attending a live performance because there were too many people and the sound was way too loud; eating spicy foods; sticking to a schedule, although he could make room if necessary; helping others out especially if it meant getting a little cash on the side.

Why did he send this to me?

Baekhyun was requesting Jongdae send information about himself.

In his response, Jongdae said he loved K-pop and dramas as well, tolerated spicy foods, disliked a strict schedule because he enjoyed being flexible, and loved sleeping.

Baekhyun then replied, asking how intimite he wanted them to be.

Jongdae wasn't too sure about that...

The brunet walked out his room to locate his parents. They sat together on the couch in the living room criticizing the actors and actresses on the TV. "Mom, Dad. Is it okay if I invite a couple friends over for a sleepover Friday evening?"

"Who?" his mother instantly asked as his father smiled and nodded.

"Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. Baekhyun's a new friend--"

His mother interrupted him, "Spare me the details, son. I just wanted their names, go ahead."

Jongdae grinned and hugged his parents, kissing his mother on the cheek, "Thank you, I love you." With that he returned to his bedroom and resumed surfing the web through his hand phone.

---

The next morning, Baekhyun gave the two workbooks to their owners before heading to his seat, where Chanyeol and Jaehwa were busy making out. "Someone please kill me," he hissed, shoulders and back rigid. At least the wasn't in his seat. Two seconds later someone slapped the back of Baekhyun's head. The raven-haired male yelped in pain and whipped around, his counterattack halted when his assailant caught his wrist.

"I won't kill you, but I'll hurt you," Kyungsoo grinned before he released Baekhyun.

"This isn't your classroom, get out," Baekhyun sneered, rubbing the injury on the back of his head.

Jongdae was fighting back a smile as he walked past Baekhyun to Chanyeol and his girlfriend. He gently tapped Chanyeol on the shoulder and the younger male stopped to look at him. The brunet gestured to his desk, "I'm going to be sitting here and I would prefer not to watch you two swap saliva. Could you please find a more private location starting from today?"

Jaehwa pursed her lips as she eyed Jongdae up and down through her red-brown contacts. Chanyeol smiled and nodded, "Of course. I'm sure Baekhyun would like that too. Come on sweetie, let's go somewhere else." Jaehwa pouted but left with Chanyeol nonetheless, clinging onto his arm and whispering something about Jongdae.

Baekhyun slowly sat in his desk, "Did you send them away for good?"

"Hopefully," the brunet sighed. "They're disgusting. I'm not about to sit less than a meter behind them each other's lips off."

The older male grinned, "Well Jongdae, if that doesn't appear tomorrow I might just have to reduce your fee."

"Wait, you asked him for a favor?" Kyungsoo asked with wide eyes. He was about to speak again when the eldest male interrupted him.

"Not telling," Baekhyun smiled, "confidentiality."

The youngest male nodded, "Right. Confidentiality. Anyway, your parents are okay with us coming over?"

"Us?" Baekhyun turned to the brunet. He hadn't counted on anyone else other than him. It relieved him that he wouldn't be alone with Jongdae, yet to throw in another person, specifically Kyungsoo, was suicidal. The whole point of Baekhyun visiting was to be able to get closer -- intimate -- with Jongdae.

Jongdae nodded with a nervous laugh, "Yeah. I invited Kyungsoo for the sleepover."

"Sleepover?" Baekhyun gasped. They did not discuss about a sleepover.

"Are you uncomfortable with that?" Kyungsoo smirked. "We're not going to you or anything. Well, I'm not. I can't say the same for Jongdae. If you're going to be friends with him, you should know that he's gay."

"I am not," Jongdae hissed. Baekhyun snorted and turned in his seat, hiding his face from the two sitting behind him. His shoulders trembled as he attempted to hold in his laughter. Jongdae stated loud enough for Baekhyun to hear, "It's not funny."

"You have to be gay, I swear it," Kyungsoo insisted. He had been friends with Jongdae since elementary school before attending a different middle school and reuniting in high school. He had every right to believe Jongdae was gay.

The brunet shook his head incredulously. To Baekhyun he said, "Yes, we're having a sleepover. No, I'm not going to you." To Kyungsoo he said, "No, I'm not gay."

"Don't be afraid to embrace it, Jongdae," Kyungsoo replied before running off to his class before school officially began.

---

The next couple of days, Chanyeol and Jaehwa were no longer seen making out before school in the usual spot. Baekhyun had to hug Jongdae in eternal gratitude, even cutting the fee to 5,000 won an hour. After school, Baekhyun would have to go home and retrieve his belongings because a simple dinner had turned into a sleepover.

"Will you get there okay?" Jongdae asked as Baekhyun set his lunch beside his and sat down. For the first time, the brunet would witness the raven-haired boy eating. By then, Jongdae knew well enough to sit on the right side of the bench because Baekhyun had a strange for his watch and was always worried Jongdae might ruin it somehow.

Baekhyun nodded, "Of course. I've been to Kyungsoo's house before, I'll find yours."

Both Joonmyun and Chanyeol had sour looks on their faces, their lips twisted and brows knitted together. Jongdae suddenly felt guilty for excluding them, but the two assured they had other plans; Chanyeol was helping out at his mother's restaurant with Jaehwa and Joonmyun was going on a blind date with a girl his parents found. Jongdae was glad his parents weren't desperate enough to set him up on blind dates.

"What number is she now?" Baekhyun raised a brow, a giant smirk on his face.

"I lost count," Joonmyun shook his head. "When will my parents ever realize I'm not into dating? I've got so many workbooks to study through."

"Maybe they just think you're smart," Chanyeol suggested with a grin. "Or they're afraid you'll never have a love life because all you do is hit the books."

Baekhyun commented, "More like date the books. All Joonmyun needs is a girl that's compatible to him. The girls his parents are setting him up with are too much." After that he remained silent to finish his lunch, listening to his friends chatter on about other stuff.

---

"Jongdae, I think your friend is here!" Jongdae's father called out from the living room. Shooting a quick glance at his alarm clock, Jongdae slowly emerged from his bedroom. It couldn't have been Kyungsoo because Kyungsoo was never exactly on time, not to mention his red-haired friend sent him a text saying he would be late by about half an hour because he had to run errands for his mother.

The brunet stepped to the side to allow his friend to enter. "You're here. Right on time," Jongdae blinked in surprise. Baekhyun did say he liked sticking to a schedule, but his timing was a bit unsettling.

"I don't like to keep people waiting," Baekhyun smiled. He greeted Jongdae's parents before Jongdae dragged him away. Baekhyun frowned, "Hey, I wasn't done talking to your parents. Is Kyungsoo not here yet?" The raven-haired male looked around Jongdae's room, his body rigid and tense.

Not noticing, Jongdae replied, "You would be talking to them forever and no, Kyungsoo's going to be a little late tonight." The brunet gestured around the room, "Where do you want to sit? I'll make a spot for you; I was in the middle of cleaning up so it's a bit messy."

Baekhyun eyed the nightmare before slowly edging near the bed and sitting down, "This isn't how your room looks all the time, is it? It is highly unorganized and bad for your health."

"No," Jongdae replied, realizing Baekhyun was sitting as stiff as a rock. The older male tightly clasped his hands together over his lap, his eyes darting back and forth frantically as he chewed the insides of his cheeks. He looked... frightened. "Are you okay?"

Baekhyun's eyes landed on the brunet and he nodded. While the owner of the room began to put away his things, Baekhyun attempted to inhale and exhale to calm down his nerves. He freed his hands and began rubbing the tension from his shoulders. He would rather be out in the living room chatting with Jongdae's parents than sit there.

At least the room smells nice. Surprisingly.

Kyungsoo sent a text to Jongdae saying he was going to be even more late because the line at the store was  extremely long. It was Jongdae's opportunity to get... intimate with Baekhyun. So the brunet sat beside the raven-haired boy and smiled at him, "Kyungsoo's going to be late. Long line."

Baekhyun nodded, less anxious then because Jongdae had put away all the crap that was scattered over the room. Although Jongdae's organization and storaging wasn't to Baekhyun's liking, it was better than Chanyeol's. Baekhyun unconsciously reached for his wrist watch.

Almost better. Almost nearly better.

Jongdae eyed the older male caressing his wrist watch, "Why do you care so much about your watch?"

"It was a gift from my brother. He has the exact same one for himself, it's a custom made twin set."

"You have a brother?"

"Yeah, he's out there somewhere we just don't know where. Sometimes he comes and visits us, but then he leaves randomly. We don't know where he goes to, he doesn't tell us."

The brunet frowned as he absorbed Baekhyun's words. The older male was being sincere and honest with him, opening up about a sensitive topic, no doubt. Jongdae slowly put a hand on the raven-haired male's shoulder as a silent apology for prying. "I have an older brother too. Like you, I don't know where he is either." Jongdae pulled out his dog tag necklace from under his shirt.

Baekhyun glanced at it, a small smile on his lips, "I see. You two made it much more obvious than we did." The two sat beside one another as they waited for Kyungsoo to show up, but it seemed the youngest of the trio was delayed for an hour too long. Jongdae had thrown away any plans to get closer to Baekhyun.

When Kyungsoo finally arrived, he seemed so beat and exhausted that Jongdae's parents figured it was time for dinner. The five of them sat around the table and enjoyed whatever it was that Jongdae's mother cooked up. She didn't say what it was because it was that much of a family secret.

Jongdae was surprised at how well Baekhyun got along with his parents. He found out that Baekhyun's mother was a prosecutor and she worked in the same buidling as Kyungsoo's father. The brunet flashed a curious glance at the raven-haired male when he announced that his father was a nightclub security guard.

Kyungsoo nodded enthusiastically, "Baekhyun's father is really strong. He might not look fierce of intimidating, but he's got a powerful punch and strong defensive stance."

After cleaning up the dinner table, the boys retreated to Jongdae's bedroom, where Kyungsoo did most of the talking, shockingly. The red-haired male eventually decided it was time the other two spoke, but they remained quiet. Kyungsoo sighed, "Imagine if I wasn't here. You two are awkward around each other. Jongdae, why did you even invite him to sleep over? You two can barely maintain a conversation."

It's because you're here.

Baekhyun smiled and lightly punched Jongdae's arm, "We talked earlier when we were waiting for you." He glanced around the room and nodded, for once noticing how large the room was. Jongdae just had a lot of crap that cluttered everywhere.

"I find that quite hard to believe," Kyungsoo pursed his lips.

"Believe what you want because it's true," Jongdae muttered. He got up and beckoned to the others to help him put down the large futon.

"You don't expect us to share that thing, do you?" Baekhyun asked in alarm. He didn't share things, especially not sleeping space.

The brunet nodded, "Actually, yes. You and Kyungsoo should be comfortable enough, right?"

Kyungsoo burst into a short fit of laughter, "Baekhyun is a stingy piece of . I'm taking the futon; Baekhyun can sleep on the floor."

Appalled, Baekhyun punched Kyungsoo, "I am not sleeping on the floor while you get the futon and Jongdae gets his bed."

"Well, either join in with me or Kyungsoo then," the brunet grinned mischieviously before bounding away to the bathroom. The oldest male followed after him like a hound, reaching out and pushing the brunet against the wall. Startled, Jongdae questioned, "What do you think you're doing?"

"What do you think you're doing? We settled on a dinner. Instead, you turned it into a sleepover and invited a third person. Now you're expecting me to share a freaking bed?!"

"Like Kyungsoo said, sleep on the floor. Just charge me extra if you feel that upset, I'm not worried about money."

Baekhyun scowled. Money wasn't going to do him justice. He may have started the whole Well business for some extra money, but after middle school, it was more of a hobby. He was curious about others and their issues and while he was able to help them he managed to earn a little money on the side. To the raven-haired male money was just a bonus.

Baekhyun cursed before releasing the brunet. He decided then if by Sunday evening he was still pissed at Jongdae, he would call off the deal. "I'm raising the price back to 10,000 won you inconsiderate bastard."

Kyungsoo was setting up the pillows and blankets on the futon, "Where are you sleeping, Baekhyun?"

Baekhyun met his eyes and frowned deeply, "With you so you better make some room."

Kyungsoo smirked and whispered, "I told you Jongdae was gay. It was his plan all along to lure you into his arms."

Oh god, please don't say that.

Baekhyun simply faked a smile and nodded, "He's going to have to try harder than that."

In the bathroom, Jongdae glanced at his reflection and smiled -- it was a routine. In the mornings he would wake up, brush his teeth, look in the mirror, and smile. Then in the evenings he would brush his teeth, look in the mirror, and smile. Doing so brought happiness to his day and dreams. Or at least that's what Jongdae wanted to believe. Every once in awhile, something ruined his day and he had nightmares.

The truth was that he missed his brother. It was he who taught Jongdae the smile routine. When Jongdae was about ten, he noticed his brother's strange habit and finally asked the questions of what and why. His brother had replied, a smile a day brightens your way. So naturally, two smiles a day is better than one. Although it was stupid, he felt he could be closer to his brother if he kept the routine up. It had been several years and it was rather hard to break the habit anyway.

Perhaps he could teach it to Baekhyun. That sour- needed some sunshine in his life.

Back in the bedroom, the three got under their blankets, but as two drifted to sleep, one remained awake. He glared hatefully at the ceiling. Without the ticking of a clock and complete darkness, Baekhyun was unable to fall asleep. It was too hot to bury his face under his blanket and he had forgotten to bring his damn earphones. He remembered the music player but forgot the important piece that actually allowed him to listen to the music.

He listened to the soft snoring from Kyungsoo and it sent him on edge. He had slept over at another home several times before with Chanyeol and Joonmyun and even Kyungsoo, but after a couple of hours of closing his eyes he managed to fall asleep. Jongdae's room felt bizarre and made Baekhyun feel out of place.

It's cause Jongdae's practically a stranger... and this whole sleeping over thing was so unexpected.

It seemed Baekhyun wasn't the only one awake, however. After snoozing off for a bit, Jongdae was awake again. He couldn't shake the strange feeling looming over him. Unable to pinpoint the cause of his distress and therefore lack of sleep, Jongdae reached for his body pillow and hugged it tightly, pressing his cheek against the cool fabric.

Where are you Jongdeok? Are you getting enough to eat? Why won't you ever visit us? Don't you miss me? I miss you.

As tears began rolling down, Jongdae buried his face into the pillow.

At the same time, Baekhyun began to think of his own brother. The last time he had seen Baekbeom was on his birthday, when Baekbeom had given him the ornate calligraphy pen with a bottle of ink. Because his beloved brother had given it to him, he used it for personal letters. He had to order a new bottle of ink just last month. It was highly unusual for Baekhyun to lose his possessions, but suddenly his pen went missing about the same time he had run out of ink.

At least he still had the watch. His brother had told him that the time on his watch was the same as his. To Baekhyun, that meant his brother was living somewhere in South Korea still. He just wished he knew where. He had a whole stack of letters for his brother in the locked box on his bookshelf waiting to be read.