Hidden in plain sight

Baekhyun doesn’t look up as his director slips into his office. He doesn’t look up still even as the other man comes and stands half-beside him – half-behind him. He keeps focused on the letter of authority that he’s processing and remains as though blissfully oblivious to the other man’s presence – as if that had ever been possible.

The director leans down, and as he does his hands slips down Baekhyun’s back, teasing at the strip of skin that Baekhyun’s jumper doesn’t quite cover when he’s sat at his desk. The other man has made it clear he enjoys Baekhyun in the jumper. “Stripes suit you” he’d said the first time Baekhyun had worn it to work only a month ago, the man’s eyes had dragged over him as though he were something delicious waiting to be devoured.

“Working hard?” his director says softly as he looks over Baekhyun’s shoulder towards the monitor on the desk – the left one, since there were two, angling his face more towards Baekhyun’s.

Baekhyun finally gives, turning to see that his director’s face is a lot closer than he had anticipated, he can feel the man’s soft, steady breath against his lips and chin. “Always am, Chanyeol. I always am” he says easily, proud of himself for keeping his voice steady despite the nervous thump of his heart.

Chanyeol’s thumb begins to rub gentle circles against Baekhyun’s lower back, “Good. Will you be going to bowling night?” he asks conversationally.

“You know I will. Someone needs to keep losing to make the rest of you look good” Baekhyun shoots back playfully, a smile playing over his pretty lips.

Chanyeol smiles, “Who’s giving you a lift?”

“Jisoo” Baekhyun says easily enough, leaning into Chanyeol’s touch ever so slightly.

Chanyeol smiles, he likes this back and forth that they have going on, the unspoken teasing of knowing that they shouldn’t really be flirting, but on the border of it so that it’s not strictly obvious.

They both know that if anybody caught wind of this, it would be bad for both of them. It’s a risk, a big risk, but that’s what makes it so… y, isn’t it?

“Jisoo. Nice girl,” Chanyeol says conversationally, “Who’s giving you a lift home?”

Baekhyun pauses for a moment, “I was going to ask Jisoo, but…”

“But?” Chanyeol presses forward slightly, nose nudging against Baekhyun’s.

“But, I suppose if you’re headed that way?” Baekhyun answers, his breath slightly stuttered as he nudges back playfully, eyes closing ever so as he does.

Chanyeol laughs quietly as though there’s a joke passing between them, “You know I am” he says, “I’ll drop you off. Tell Jisoo not to worry”

“Alright,” Baekhyun says, “Now go away. I have work to do, and Jennie will be back in a minute” he reluctantly turns away from Chanyeol and back to his monitors, fingers back on the keyboard as he types away and continues processing the piece of work.

Chanyeol sighs softly, pulling back and leaning against the empty desk that’s across from Baekhyun’s, “What are you working on?” he asks easily, falling back into their usual working routine.

“One of your bloody lofas” Baekhyun tuts, “You always know when to bring them in – when I have the most work on” he shoots Chanyeol a pointed look, ignoring the way they director laughs in return.

“Oh, hey Chanyeol” Jennie says as she comes into the room with two mugs of hot coffee. She places one on Baekhyun’s desk, smiling as he thanks her before moving to her own which is opposite his, peaking over the short partition to grin at him, “Which is it?”

Baekhyun lifts the mug and gives it a sniff, “I’m going to say…. Smooth” he guesses.

“Dammit! How do you do that?!” She demands.

“I know my coffee, Jen. Don’t beat yourself up about it” Baekhyun laughs, and then turns to grin at Chanyeol, “She’s adamant that she’ll catch me out one day”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes, “You didn’t even taste it!” he objects.

“Don’t need to taste it when your nose is as good as mine” Baekhyun says seriously, shooting Jennie a teasing wink.

She rolls her eyes and looks at Chanyeol with an unamused expression, “You see what I have to put up with?”

“I feel for you, Jennie” Chanyeol chuckles, “You bowling tonight?” he asks.

Jennie nods, “You know it, boss. Jisoo’s taking me and Baek. She’s dropping me off after too,” she looks at Baekhyun with a raised brow, “Are you riding home with us?”

“Nah, gonna get my chauffeur to take me” he gestures with his head in Chanyeol’s direction as he continues on with his work, hitting print on his cover letter, “You wanna grab that for me?” he turns and gives Chanyeol his best puppy-eyed look.

Chanyeol gives him a mock exasperated look in return, but complies anyway, grabbing the piece of paper from the printer and handing it to Baekhyun, his fingers brushing over the administrators as he does.

“Thanks, doll” Baekhyun grins.

Chanyeol shakes his head fondly in return, “Anytime” he says, “Anyway, you two have fun with your admin stuff, I’m going to do the real work”

“I you not, I will literally fight you if you say that again” Baekhyun deadpans, met with an agreeing nod from Jennie, who narrows her eyes playfully at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol holds up his hands in defeat, “Alright, alright. I don’t want any trouble, you two” he laughs, “See you later”

“See ya” Jennie laughs back before turning back to her work.

“See you later” Baekhyun says softly, and then Chanyeol is gone from the room, headed back to his office and leaving Baekhyun and Jennie to get on with their work in piece.

Jennie waits for a moment before looking up at Baekhyun, “So… You and Chanyeol are close. When are you gonna make good with that and get us some cool stuff for our office?” she asks with a grin.

“Oh my god, Jen!” Baekhyun squeaks in amusement, “I’m not his friend to get stuff out of him! Besides, I think he’d probably tell me to shove it”

“Baek,” Jennies says seriously, “How am I supposed to make use of your youthfulness if you’re not going to try and seduce our bosses to get stuff out of them?”

“Okay, one – I’m only a few years younger than you. Two – does that mean you’ll have me try and seduce Kris and Junmyeon too? And three – Chanyeol is literally ten years older than me, that would be weird!” Baekhyun pretends to gag, though secretly he kind of likes the between himself and Chanyeol, it’s weird, he knows that, but to feel like he’s wanted by someone with so much more life experience that him just seems so… tempting.

Jennie rolls her eyes at that, “Lame” she says, “You’re twenty-one, live a little!”

“And you’re twenty-five, you should live a little too!” Baekhyun shoots back.

“I am living, I’m going through a divorce, I think that’s pretty impressive for someone my age” She snickers, “Pass me a piece of headed paper, please”

Baekhyun reaches behind him and complies easily, handing over to her, it’s a bit of stretch since they’re both pretty short, but after much practice, they’ve perfected the ‘great handing over of paper’.

“How’s that going, by the way?” he asks, “You said it would be finalised soon, right?”

Jennie nods as he gets up and puts the paper in the printer, “Yeah. Next week” she says, “I have to say, I got pretty lucky with it all. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great guy, but it was just never right for us to be together”

“Well, soon you won’t have to worry about it” Baekhyun says, finishing up the piece of work he’s working on, “Soon you’ll be free as a bird”

“You’ve really got to stop quoting Beatles songs at me, you know” she snorts.

Baekhyun beams, “Never” he promises.

--

It’s after lunch when Baekhyun hits an all new level of bored. He’s finished up most of his important bits, and staring at the computer is giving him a headache. So he does what any good worker would do. He locks his computer and tells Jennie he’s going to bother people around the office for ten minutes before delving back in.

He leaves their office and pops in next door where Jisoo, Lisa and Rose are sat, tapping away with pension work that he has no interest in learning about, because honestly that hurts his head more than investments do.

“Hey Baek” Lisa grins at him, turning in her chair so that she can talk to him properly.

“Hey” Baekhyun grins back, “How’s life in the world of pensions?”

“ing dull” Jisoo pipes up, “I can’t wait until later so that I can thrash you at bowling again” she teases.

Baekhyun snorts, “You’re not that much better than me!” he objects, “And besides, I’m pretty sure you only beat me by like… Five points last year”

“Still counts” Jisoo says, “Did you need a lift home later?”

Baekhyun shakes his head, “Nah, Chanyeol is gonna drop me off, since he goes that way anyway”

“Fair enough. What are you wearing later?” she asks.

“Jeans and a t-shirt as per usual” Baekhyun replies, “How about you?”

Jisoo shrugs, “Jeans and a nice top. Need the right outfit to be able to move in. Besides, if we’re eating first I don’t need anything stopping me from putting it away, you get me?”

“I’m so glad we’re not going to the same place as last year, the food was ” Rose puts in. the others nodding in agreement.

Lisa sighs, “Baek, you wanna finish this work for me?” she pleads.

“Not even a little bit, Lis” he laughs, “Anyway, I only popped in to say hi. I’m gonna have a little walk around the building before I get back at my own ”

“Have fun with that” Lisa sighs, “See you in a bit”

“See you” Baekhyun gives them a wave as he continues through the door on the other side of their office, leading him to the next part of the building where Chanyeol’s office is.

He leans against the door frame of Chanyeol’s office, making sure to be quiet as he watches Chanyeol working something out on paper before putting his results into his computer.

“Working hard?” Baekhyun says after a while of just watching.

He’s a little pleased when Chanyeol looks up with a bright smile at hearing his voice, “Always am” he breathes, “Come in, don’t just stand there like a dolt”

“Alright, but only for a minute” Baekhyun agrees, moving into the office and perching himself on the desk, knee knocking against Chanyeol’s arm purposely as he does.

Chanyeol hums, his hand coming down to grip Baekhyun’s calf loosely, stopping him from swinging it, “So, got nothing better to do than distract me?”

“I do, actually, but that computer is giving me a headache” Baekhyun sighs, “Can it just be five already?”

“Well, only an hour to go” Chanyeol says easily, his thumb gently rubbing against Baekhyun’s leg, “Then we’re free to get our bowling on”

Baekhyun hums, his hand moving down to cover Chanyeol’s wrist, “I think I’m just looking forward to the ride home” he says, smirking slightly before he adds, “So I can judge you awful driving”

“I’ll have you know I’m an amazing driver” Chanyeol gasps in mock offence, “But I’m looking forward to that too”

Baekhyun grins, lifting his hand to knock his knuckles affectionately against Chanyeol’s cheek before hopping off the desk, “Alright, well I’ve been here long enough. I’m gonna go get some more work done before Siwon realises I’m dossing about again”

“Work hard” Chanyeol says as he watches Baekhyun walk away from him.

Baekhyun peers back over his shoulder for a second, “Always do” he smiles and then he’s out of sight and grinning brighter than he should be.

--

By the time the end of the working day rolls around and Baekhyun is changed into his casual clothes, he’s never felt more ready to get out of there and just let loose.

It’s been a long day, and he’s had a million things to do, so the fact that he can pack it all away and not have to worry about it until Monday makes him feel a lot calmer and like a weight has been lifted.

He loves his job, he really does, but sometimes it can just be so stressful.

“Baek, you ready to go?” Jisoo pops her head into the room as he’s putting on his jacket and slinging his backpack over his shoulder.

“Yeah,” he says, grabbing his phone and walking over to her, “Jennie down stairs?”

Jisoo nods, “Yeah, she was talking to Kyungsoo about something or another” she tells him, “Nice of her to wait.”

Baekhyun chuckles as Jisoo rolls her eyes, the pair of them walking together down the stairs until they reach the foyer and meet up with the others.

“Are we off, then?” Chanyeol asks, looking around to see if everyone is there. When he concludes that they are, he gestures for everyone to head out.

Baekhyun smiles to himself as he and Jennie clamber into Jisoo’s car, he’s got the front seat, which suits him, since he has a better view of Chanyeol climbing into his own car.

“Oi, what are you staring at?” Jisoo asks as he buckles up and starts the engine.

Baekhyun blinks, giving him the look of a confused owl, “What?” he says in return.

“Christ, Baek, you’re all over the place today” Jisoo laughs, “Let’s just go, shall we?”

“YAAAAS!” Jennie cries from the backseat, “I’m gonna show you es how it’s done”

Baekhyun snorts, “We’ll see, Jen.”

They chatter easily between them as they drive, laughing at stupid things and playfully bad mouthing their colleagues.

And some ten minutes later they’re pulling up outside of the bowling place and getting out of the car, waving and flipping off the other team members as they drive past them looking for a place to park.

“I don’t know who’s worse out of the three of you” Chanyeol says, walking up to Jisoo’s car so that the four of them could walk down to the restaurant together and wait for the others to all arrive.

Baekhyun rolls his eyes, “Easy” he says back, “It’s none of us, because you’re the worst”

“Watch yourself,” Chanyeol threatens without malice, “Remember who approves your pay rise”

“Kris does” Baekhyun smirks, poking Chanyeol’s cheek playfully before skipping off ahead to walk with Kyungsoo, who had arrived shortly before them.

“Finished flirting with our boss?” Kyungsoo asks, raising a brow.

Baekhyun choked on nothing, “I am not flirting!” he hisses, “Jesus, he’s married, Soo.”

Kyungsoo scoffed, “Sure,” he says, “I’m sure you act like that with everyone…”

“I do. And you know I do” Baekhyun rolls his eyes, playfully shoving Kyungsoo before linking arms with him so that they can walk and talk like a pair of teenagers playing grown up.

Kyungsoo smiles at him easily, “So, you been practising or are you gonna win the losers trophy for a third time?” he asks.

Baekhyun pouts slightly, playful but there’s a little truth to how much he really doesn’t want to lose again. “I haven’t been, but I’m really hoping that someone is just way ter than me this year. Maybe Jisoo, since we’re both pretty bad…”

“I mean, Jisoo didn’t almost take out the entire team by swinging too far back last year…” Kyungsoo grins.

Baekhyun scoffs, “It isn’t like I was actually gonna let it go backwards. I was just… working on my swing”

“I think you’ve perfected the way you swing by now,” Kyungsoo says cheekily, the double entendre clear in the way his voice drops and his eyes meet Baekhyun’s in a teasing manner.

“Oh, hah hah. Make all the gay jokes you want. At least out of the two of us, I’m getting some” Baekhyun laughs easily.

Kyungsoo raises a brow, “Oh yeah? And who’s wanting to come near your ugly mug?” he asks.

Baekhyun grins, wide and carefree as they walk into the restaurant to join the other, “ugly, huh? Funny, I had no complaints from your mother last night.”

“My ma has standards, thanks very much” Kyungsoo snorts.

They move over to the bar and each order a drink before joining the others. It’s only a couple of minutes before they’re all there and they move to the table.

Baekhyun sits with Jennie to one side of him and Chanyeol to the other. The conversation is already raring and Baekhyun throws himself into it wholeheartedly. He loves these work nights out.

Not only does it give him the chance to get to better know the people he works with, but it gives him a chance to do so without the stuffy members in their work place making things too serious.

They can joke and curse and drink to their hearts content – or the non-drivers can drink – and it’s like one big family in a way, which fills Baekhyun to the brink with warms and an overwhelming fondness to the close friends he’s made there over the past three years.

“You’ve been quiet for almost a whole five minutes now, Baek. Are you feeling alright?” Chanyeol teases from beside him, fork halfway to his mouth with pasta threatening to fall back to his plate if he isn’t careful.

Baekhyun blinks slowly then looks around to see that Jisoo, Kyungsoo, Jennie and Chanyeol are all grinning at him.

He rolls his eyes, “I’m capable of shutting up from time to time,” he says, “But if you must know, I was thinking about Soo’s mum and what a great night we’ve got planned” he grins impishly at Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo is quick to throw a piece of pasta at him, “Shut your trap, . My mother would never stoop so low as to get near your tiny .”

“Now now, Soo-yah!” Baekhyun laughs, “Don’t be mad. Besides, we both know that my wang could knock someone out with how big it is.”

Jisoo snorts into her drink, “Has Kyungsoo seen your that often, then?” she grins.

Kyungsoo goes red for a moment before regaining himself as Baekhyun’s grin grows wide enough that it seems as though his face might split in half.

“Oh, he’s seen in plenty” Baekhyun leers, “You wanna know a little secret about me and Soo?” he asks.

Kyungsoo shoots him a warning looks, “Say it and I will literally castrate you in front of everyone here” he threatens, but Baekhyun knows it’s an empty threat. Kyungsoo loves him too much.

Jennie’s eyes widen, “No ing way? You two?!” he half squeaks, “When?!”

Kyungsoo sighs relenting, “Not anywhere near recent” he says, “It was a loooooong time ago, alright. Can we just leave it at that?”

“I took his ity!” Baekhyun says, puffing out his chest proudly. He pays no mind to the fact that Chanyeol has remained oddly quiet throughout the exchange, and the hand that he has on Baekhyun’s knee has become slightly ridged.

Kyungsoo looks at Baekhyun in sheer bemusement, but he rolls his eyes good naturedly after a moment and then they move onto another topic, and then another. And then before long they’ve paid for their meals and head over to bowling, where they change their shoes, split into teams and get the balls rolling.

Baekhyun is all in all pretty terrible, but he keeps everyone entertained and Junmyeon cheers him on like a good boss, telling him that he’s doing great, whilst Chanyeol heckles him and tells him that his grandmother could play better than that and she’s bed ridden.

Baekhyun bites back easily that the reason she’s bed ridden is because Baekhyun pounded into her too hard, and then he has a face full of Chanyeol’s hand as he’s being shoved backwards out of the way so that Chanyeol can go and take his turn.

In the end Baekhyun comes second to last. Only two points above Jisoo, who is livid that she’s lost to Byun ing Baekhyun.

She tells him that she’s glad he’s not riding back with her and Jennie, because she might have just tossed him out of the car on the motor way, but the way she gives him a hug and a kiss before her and Jennie depart tells him that there aren’t really any hard feelings.

--

Baekhyun finds himself sat in the passenger seat of Chanyeol’s car as the latter drives them home. He fiddles with the radio until Chanyeol gently bats his hand away and tells him that if he isn’t going to pick a song and stick with it then he’s lost his DJ-ing privileges.

“You’re such a spoil sport” Baekhyun laughs easily, placing his hands neatly on his lap and turning slightly so that he can watch Chanyeol.

Chanyeol glances at him before his eyes are back on the road, “What?” he asks.

Baekhyun lets out a soft breath, “Nothing. Just like to watch you drive” he answers. It’s a simple enough response. An innocent enough answer.

It’s only twenty  minutes later that they’re pulled up just around the corner from Baekhyun’s house. He’s still living with his parents, so it’s a little awkward if they park in front. The street they’re on is dark save for one street lamp that lets them see each other.

Chanyeol turns off the engine and unbuckles his belt.

Baekhyun follows suit and turns slightly in his seat, waiting for Chanyeol to speak. But his boss doesn’t, he just watches Baekhyun with a fond interest.

Baekhyun feels stupidly self-conscious and has to stop himself from fixing his hair.

Instead he grins and asks, “Can I help you?” in a rather cheeky manner.

There’s an atmosphere in the car now, one that’s new. They’ve not broached into this kind of atmosphere before, it’s uncharted waters, and the thickness makes Baekhyun’s breath catch in his throat.

Chanyeol leans in slightly, “I don’t know,” he says quietly, “Can you?”

Baekhyun swallows, a little surprised at the closeness, but there’s a strong part of him that is yearning for the gap between them to be smaller. To be nothing at all.

“Depends,” Baekhyun breaths, “On what you want…”

Chanyeol quirks a smile, “I think you know what I want.” Is his answer. It’s simple, and it’s not. Because nothing about this situation is simple anymore.

It had been, when it was just harmless flirting. But Baekhyun’s answer to this is going to either keep things in the neutral territory that they’ve been in for the last year or so, or it’s going to make things terribly complicated.

More than complicated , it’s going to make things a complete mess.

He knows this. He knows that he should make a joke, wave it off and let things go back to how they were only five minutes ago.

He knows this, and still what leaves his lips is; “Then I think I can help you.”

And that’s all it takes for harmless flirting to slip into something completely different as Chanyeol closes the space between them and meets Baekhyun’s lips with his own.

The kiss is soft at first. A little unsure, but then Baekhyun’s lips move against Chanyeol’s in response and Chanyeol presses into him harder, firmer and the kiss turns from gentle to a little frantic.

Chanyeol’s tongue darts out over Baekhyun’s lips, causing him to gasp slightly and it’s all Chanyeol needs before his tongue presses into the warmth of Baekhyun’s mouth.

Baekhyun keens as Chanyeol’s large hands come up to touch him, one resting on his cheek, the other on his neck, and all Baekhyun can do in return is reach out and clutch at Chanyeol’s t-shirt, the material bunching up in his hands. He knows that it’ll leave wrinkles in the fabric long after he lets go, but he can’t find it in himself to care.

He can’t find it in himself to care about a lot of things. Like the consequences of what they’re doing. About the wife that Chanyeol has sitting at home, probably watching ty night time TV as she waits for Chanyeol to return.

He doesn’t care that his is his boss, or that if it ends badly they’ll both be in a lot of trouble and Baekhyun could even lose his job, something he has worked really hard for.

Chanyeol pulls back after what feels like forever, but his hands stay on Baekhyun like they’re magnetised. Baekhyun can’t seem to let go of Chanyeol’s t-shirt either.

They’re both breathing hard and heavy, and there’s a flush on Baekhyun’s cheeks as he meets Chanyeol’s eyes.

“” Chanyeol says softly, “, you have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to do that.”

Baekhyun laughs in spite of how ed up this all is, “Me too. God, this is so messed up…”

“Let’s not think about that for now, okay?” Chanyeol says, voice slightly raspy and it makes Baekhyun want to swoon, but he controls himself.

Baekhyun nods, because god he really doesn’t want to think of how ing ridiculous this is, of how bad of a person this makes him, because in spite of his better judgement, he likes Chanyeol. He likes him a lot, and Chanyeol clearly likes him too, because why else would he risk ruining the life he’s build for himself.

“Can I kiss you again?” Chanyeol asks after a minute.

Baekhyun doesn’t say anything, instead he removes Chanyeol’s hands from him, and before Chanyeol can ask what he’s doing, he reaches under Chanyeol’s chair to find the lever that moves the seat back.

He pulls it and pushes Chanyeol’s chair back as far as it will go before he swings a leg over him. Chanyeol gasps a little as Baekhyun straddles his lap.

It’s not a great position, in that the car is kind of small, so the bottom of the steering wheel digs into Baekhyun’s back, and the roof is slightly too low for this to be overly comfortable, but neither of them care, because in the next moment, Baekhyun’s hands are in Chanyeol’s hair and they’re kissing again. Hot and heavy, ad Chanyeol’s fingers dig into Baekhyun’s hips and it elicits a purr out of Baekhyun, that only spurs them on all the more.

--

Baekhyun finds himself walking dazedly to his front door an hour later, a dopey grin on his face and a love bite the size of an apple on his collar.

He bites down on his already swollen lip as he thinks about what he’s just done with Chanyeol in the back seat of that stupid Beemer, and feels his cheeks flush with colour.

Maybe this was going to be too complicated. But even if whatever this was ended come Monday, Baekhyun couldn’t quite bring himself to regret one moment of it.

His phone beeps as he slides his key into the front door. He waits until he’s inside to look at it, then grins when he sees what it says.

[Chanyeol; 11.49pm]

You have no idea how beautiful you looked tonight.

Meet me tomorrow for lunch to discuss what happens next?

PCY x

So maybe it wasn’t the best idea in the world.

But Baekhyun wasn’t really the smartest guy in the world either.

So he tells Chanyeol he’ll be there, and lets himself fall down the rabbit hole of bad choices.

Because from now on, they’re going to have to hide in plain sight.

Fin.

A/N: Would just like to say I in no way agree with cheating.
It was simply for fictional purposes.
Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed :)
TTFN.