"Baekhyun, would you mind training the new guy for me?" Kim Joonmyeon asked hopefully, looking up at his employee with wide eyes. Byun Baekhyun sighed and leaned against the door of the small office, taking off his hat and running long fingers through his black hair.

"I guess not. When does he start?" Baekhyun asked, holding back a yawn.

"Today, actually," The older man replied as he shuffled through his files, making a small "aha!" sound when he pulled a single page from the stack. Baekhyun took it and did a double take when he saw at the name at the top of the paper. A sense of horror filled his chest. Was this real? It couldn't be. There was no way. It had to be some kind of mistake.

"He left a really good impression on us after his second interview. I think he'll be a great addition to the team," Joonmyeon stated happily, leaning back in his seat.

"When did this interview happen? Why didn’t you  warn--er, tell me about it?" Baekhyun stammered, scanning the paper for more information (not that he didn’t know most of it already).

"It was this past Sunday. I guess I should've mentioned it to you sooner, but I didn't want to bother you on your day off," Joonmyeon said apologetically.

One day.

Baekhyun had been gone for one day and somehow all hell had managed to break loose within those mere 24 hours.

"Ah, speak of the handsome devil!" Joonmyeon's cheerful greeting interrupted Baekhyun's thoughts.

"Joonmyeon, please, I'm anything but handsome."

A chill ran down Baekhyun's spine at the sound of the visitor's voice. He slowly glanced over his shoulder, eyes widening in disbelief.

He was dreaming.

This was a dream and nothing was real and all he had to do was punch himself and he'd wake up and everything would go back to normal.

Except this was real because Joonmyeon was laughing and clapping the visitor on the back, chatting with him as if they were best buddies and all Baekhyun could do was wonder what he'd done in his past life to deserve...this.

"And this is your trainer and our trusty kitchen manager, Byun Baekhyun," Joonmyeon was saying, motioning to Baekhyun.

Do Kyungsoo looked up and smiled at Baekhyun warmly, as if he'd just now noticed him standing there.

Baekhyun just stared back with dread. Everything about this situation felt wrong. His brain was screaming at him to run, to escape, to get out. But he could barely take in a breath, much less move.

"No need for introductions, Joonmyeon. I know exactly who he is," Kyungsoo replied, his voice all silk and syrup and secrets and a bunch of other words beginning with the letter s.

Baekhyun felt like throwing up.

"Oh, really? Is that why you were so excited earlier, Baekhyun?" Joonmyeon asked with a chuckle.

"You were excited to see me?" Kyungsoo asked, a smirk teasing the corners of his heart-shaped lips.

"No, I was just surprised. I didn't know you still lived around here," Baekhyun said carefully.

"I don't," Kyungsoo answered, and the smirk turning into a nasty grin. Baekhyun could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. This was slowly getting worse by the second.

"You two are talking so causally. How do you know each other?" Joonmyeon inquired.

Baekhyun could practically predict Kyungsoo’s comeback by the way he was holding back an even nastier grin.

Oh, you know, we dated for five years, but for a while we were just fụckbuddies. No big deal.

Yeah, not exactly something Baekhyun wanted to bring up in front of his boss.

Luckily, he spoke before Kyungsoo even had the chance to open his dirty mouth.

"We're just old friends."

The smile on Kyungsoo's face dropped into a frown, which was exactly the reaction Baekhyun had been going for.

Crisis averted.

"Ah, is that so? What a small world. Well, Baekhyun, go ahead and get Kyungsoo his uniform. Start with the general tour, and then have him work the line. You know the drill. I expect an update within the next few hours," Joonmyeon instructed. Baekhyun nodded grimly. His worst nightmare was coming true, but the last person he’d expect to bring it to reality was goofy old Joonmyeon.

“And again, welcome to the team, Mr. Do. I expect only the best from you,” Joonmyeon beamed, shaking Kyungsoo’s hand firmly.

After the two left the small office, Kyungsoo looked expectantly at Baekhyun, arms held “respectfully” behind his back. Respect, my ạss, Baekhyun thought bitterly, fighting back the urge to kick the other man in the shins.

Instead, he pulled down the brim of his cap and shoved past Kyungsoo.

"Come on," Baekhyun muttered, going towards the supply closet at the back of the kitchen.

"So I'm guessing "Hi, how've you been" is something you still don't know how to say," Kyungsoo stated, following after Baekhyun.

"Or maybe I just don’t give a flying fụck about how you’ve been," Baekhyun replied curtly, opening the closet doors and taking down a small t-shirt and cap. He threw them over his shoulder in Kyungsoo’s general direction. He didn’t check to see if the shorter man had caught it.

"It's great to know you're still an ạsshole after all these years," Kyungsoo mused, and Baekhyun turned around to glare at him. Instead, his jaw dropped when he saw Kyungsoo pulling the hem of his t-shirt out of his jeans.

"Um, what the hell are you doing?" Baekhyun interrupted. Kyungsoo scoffed and took his shirt off, tossing it to the ground.

"I'm changing," he replied calmly.

"Do you know how many health code violations you’re probably breaking? We have a restroom for a reason," Baekhyun hissed as Kyungsoo pulled the uniform over his head.

"Oooh, a restroom. Is it soundproof? Maybe we should go test it out," Kyungsoo suggested, winking at Baekhyun.

"You're disgusting," Baekhyun spat.

"Just the way you like it," Kyungsoo shot back.

“If you don’t shut up, I swear I’ll—”

“You’ll what, Byun Baekhyun? You’ll fụck my brains out just liked you used to do whenever you got upset at me?” Kyungsoo retorted. Baekhyun felt his face flare red, and Kyungsoo smirked in victory.

"Why. Are. You. Here?" Baekhyun asked in a controlled tone. 

"Guess," Kyungsoo said with a shrug.

Baekhyun snorted. "Because you're a crazy shịthead who wants to ruin my life. Again."

"Dramatic as always, I see. You left out the part where you stop hating me and we end up working things out," Kyungsoo added, a hint of irritation in his voice.

Baekhyun narrowed his eyes at Kyungsoo. "First of all, I don’t hate you, but I'd really rather you just go back to whatever hellhole you crawled out of and leave me alone. Second of all, there is nothing to work out. I have nothing left to say to you,” he said.

"You make it seem like everything is my fault," Kyungsoo pouted.

"That's because it is."

"Why can’t you just let it go already? It was two years ago," Kyungsoo muttered. Baekhyun looked at him with a stunned expression. He pushed Kyungsoo's shoulder to get his attention.

“Do you think this is some kind of sick game? That none of what we had mattered? Yeah, it was two years ago, but you…you broke everything. You broke me. I can’t forgive you for that. I won’t,” Baekhyun said firmly. Kyungsoo looked distraught, and he bit his bottom lip out of habit.

A terrible habit that, in the past, would have usually ended with Baekhyun throwing Kyungsoo against a wall and that tempting lip right out between his teeth. 

“I know what I did, and I’m sorry. But I miss you, Baekhyun. I miss you so much,” Kyungsoo sighed, reaching for the other’s hand. The sudden tenderness in his voice and the familiar feel of Kyungsoo’s palm against his made Baekhyun temporarily forget everything his psychotic ex had put him through.

“Give me another chance, Baek…please. I promise I won’t mess up this time. I was so young back then; I didn’t know what I was doing. Things are different now. I’ve changed, but my feelings for you haven’t,” Kyungsoo said as he stepped closer, reaching up to brush Baekhyun’s hair out of his eyes and letting his hand rest on his cheek.

Baekhyun gazed at Kyungsoo, his chest swirling with emotions. His brain was whispering, but his heart was screaming. He wanted to believe his words, he really did. He hated to admit it, but he still had feelings for Kyungsoo. Yes, their relationship had been nothing but painful. Yes, they had destroyed each other and everyone around them. But they’d been in love; miserable and broken, but in love nonetheless. And then to have suddenly thrown it all away…Baekhyun had barely now just started moving on.

And yet, here was Kyungsoo, apologizing, begging for a second chance, and bringing back all the feelings Baekhyun had thought he’d gotten rid of.

No, this couldn’t happen, it just wasn’t right—

Kyungsoo’s other hand wrapped around his waist as he pressed their foreheads together, catching Baekhyun’s gaze with his dark eyes, and all logic flew out the window.

Baekhyun felt like he was running out of oxygen, out of common sense, out of life.

“Let’s start over,” Kyungsoo whispered, kissing the corner of Baekhyun’s mouth. Baekhyun closed his eyes as Kyungsoo dropped small, gentle kisses along his jaw.

God, he’d missed this ạsshole.

“I don’t know, Kyungsoo…” Baekhyun murmured breathlessly. Kyungsoo’s quiet laugh was warm against his neck. It sent shivers down his spine. He didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

“Come on, Baekhyun. What have you got to lose?” Kyungsoo murmured.

The reality of the words hit Baekhyun like a ton of bricks, and his eyes snapped open.

What did he have to lose?

Everything.

He had everything to lose. Baekhyun had struggled to put himself back together again. He wasn’t about to let two years’ worth of repair go to waste. Baekhyun quickly pushed Kyungsoo away. Kyungsoo looked at him with surprise.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” he asked.

“Just...stop,” Baekhyun mumbled, holding up his hands. Kyungsoo frowned, his eyebrows furrowed.

“But I thought—"

Baekhyun glared at him with all the strength he could muster. “No. I'm not doing this with you again. I’m not going to let you control me. When I walked away that day, I walked away forever. Just because you're here now doesn't make anything that happened between us okay. I’m sorry, but I can't do this,” he finished, roughly pushing past Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo stood motionless as he stared at the wall with a blank look. This was not how things were supposed to go. Baekhyun was supposed to say yes. They were supposed to be together. He had meant every word he’d said, and Baekhyun had simply brushed him off, as if he was a mere fly.

Two years he'd waited. Two years he'd done everything in his power to become a person Baekhyun would want to spend the rest of his life with. And for what? A ten-second rejection? No. No way in hell.

Kyungsoo clenched his fist. “Byun Baekhyun,” he growled.

Baekhyun stopped in his tracks and turned around. Not surprisingly, he was unphased by the familiar glare of intimidation Kyungsoo was firing at him. 

“It wasn’t a suggestion,” Kyungsoo warned, glaring at him darkly.

“Don’t fụck with me, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun spat.

Kyungsoo watched as Baekhyun disappeared around the corner, his anger growing stronger with each second.

He didn't deserve to be treated like this. He had changed. He had become a new person for Baekhyun, and Baekhyun only. And to think that Baekhyun thought he had the right, the audacity, to just say no without even listening?

How typical of him. 

Taking a deep breath, Kyungsoo adjusted his hat and straightened out his shirt. There was a reason he'd wanted this job. He wasn't going to give up so easily. This was just the beginning. Kyungsoo plastered a smile on his face. 

"No, Baekhyun, don't fụck with me."

*

A/N: oooooh so mystery, much intense, very scare!! how did you guys like it? were you intrigued? bored?? hungry??? comment and let me know! This is part 1 of 3 (or 4? hmm) in this mild horror/angst oneshot. Now that summer classes are winding down, I'm hoping to spend more time on this and ultimately finish it before the new semester. Thanks for reading!!