Strike A Pose
PG13
Kris/Baekhyun
Kris is an actual capable artist who's just having a little bit of an art block.
For
dagneo, for
exorelieffund!
Baekhyun sighs as he walks down the street, hands in his coat pocket on a cold winter morning. He’s been out of college for six months now and he still hasn’t found a job. Every single day he’s going to wherever the ads in the newspapers take him, in search of a part-time job until he finds a stable full-time one. He’s sent out his resume to so many companies but he hasn’t gotten even a single reply. He’s running low on money and he’s almost desperate.
Ask your parents, his best friend Chanyeol had suggested. That’s exactly what he doesn’t want. He doesn’t want to worry his parents even though they are more than capable of sending him money. They run a restaurant back home that’s making quite a bit of profit, but Baekhyun doesn’t want to depend on them anymore.
Baekhyun takes his hands out of his pockets and cups them together, bringing them up to his face and blows hot air into them. He spots a small café in between two bookshops and decides to grab a cup of coffee to warm himself up. His steps leave footprints in the snow as he hurries to the café, eager to get in and escape the cold for a while. The door to the café opens with a jingle, the bell at the top of the door ringing as Baekhyun steps into the establishment. The café is surprisingly full, all their small round tables accompanied by two garden chairs occupied, and Baekhyun wonders why he’s never noticed this café even though he’s walked down the same street many times.
He goes up to the counter and is greeted by a boy with bleached blonde hair and pretty pink lips. Baekhyun peers at the left side of his apron and the small white print against the black nametag tells him that the boy's name is Luhan. He looks up and Luhan beams at him, marker in his hand.
"Good morning. What would you like to have?"
"A tall hazelnut latte, please."
Baekhyun cannot help but smile back at the barista as he hands over the money for his coffee. He may be running low on money but his morning coffee is not something he can give up on. He can barely open his eyes in the morning but he needs to keep going if he wants to find a job.
He looks around the full cafe, spotting two empty seats at two different tables. He has two seating choices - with a handsome foreign-looking young man or with a grumpy-looking lady who’s shouting into her phone. Baekhyun inwardly shudders and decides to sit with the young man. He picks up his coffee from the counter and starts walking towards the small table at the back where the man is sitting, fervently hoping he would be kind enough to let him sit or he would have to go back out in the cold.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" Baekhyun asks the moment he reaches the table.
The young man looks up and Baekhyun forces himself to stay silent with a pleasant smile on his face because damn the man is even more handsome up close and Baekhyun is sure he has never seen anyone as gorgeous as the man in front of him is. The man may have eyebrows that make him look angry, but his sharp features pull Baekhyun in.
"No," he answers with a slight smile, gesturing for Baekhyun to take a seat.
Baekhyun beams gratefully and takes his seat, setting his coffee down and crossing his legs. The man has a sketchbook and some drawing materials like graphite and charcoal pencils, multiliner pens and conté crayons strewn all over the table.
"Oh, sorry," the man apologises sheepishly when he sees Baekhyun looking at the messy table and proceeds to gather all his materials save for a few pencils and slides them into the slots in his roll up pencil case.
"Are you an artist?" Baekhyun asks, trying to strike up a conversation. He is not going to pass up the opportunity to interact with a man this good-looking, even if it is only once.
"I guess you can say that," the man replies, sounding exasperated.
"I'm Baekhyun," Baekhyun introduces himself, putting his hand out for a handshake. He figures he should at least tell the man his name before they interact more.
"Kris," the man smiles, taking Baekhyun's hand in his.
Baekhyun has to resist the urge to keep on holding onto Kris' hand because his hand feels huge and warm against Baekhyun's own small one. Baekhyun feels tiny next to Kris and he probably is, judging by Kris' broad shoulders and torso. Baekhyun lets his eyes roam and Kris looks slim yet fit at the same time, muscles in the right places and his chest built.
Baekhyun drops his eyes when he sees a smirk playing on Kris' lips and he curses himself in his head for not being more discreet. He pretends to busy himself with his phone, pulling up the text conversation between him and Chanyeol.
To: Chanyeol
just got caught staring at hot guy, shit
A reply comes in almost immediately.
From: Chanyeol
lol idiot. just continue staring since he already knows. take a picture and show me while you're at it
Baekhyun looks up from his phone to see Kris still looking at him the same smirk on his lips. When Kris catches his eyes, Kris purposely raises his arms out upwards and pretends to stretch, his chest being emphasized and his shirt looks like it's about to rip apart with the way the buttons are straining against the fabric. Baekhyun gulps and tears his eyes away from Kris, choosing to look around the cafe instead. He hears Kris chuckle and he turns his head back to see Kris smiling widely at him, his gums showing and Baekhyun thinks it's plenty cute.
"Yes?" Baekhyun asks, his eyebrow raised.
"Take a picture, it lasts longer," Kris smirks.
"Can I?" Baekhyun blurts out with his eyes wide and a huge grin on his face, groaning and hiding his face in his hands after he realises what he has done because seriously what a way to be creepy.
Kris laughs, loudly this time and attracts the attention of a few customers around them and he bows his head awkwardly in a silent apology to whoever is looking at him. He looks back at Baekhyun with the same smile on his face, clearly amused and Baekhyun just wants to bury himself somewhere. He instead opts to take a sip of his latte and ignore the boy in front of him to the best of his ability, which does not work out as Kris nudges his foot under the table and causes him to choke on his coffee.
“Shit, sorry,” Kris apologises, handing Baekhyun a napkin.
Baekhyun waves it off as he cleans up the front of his shirt with the napkin, smiling up at Kris when he is done to show him that he is really okay. Kris takes this as a sign to continue with his own work and he goes back to his sketchbook after he picks up his pencil. Baekhyun finds himself with nothing to do and he feels a little out of place when he looks around as everyone else is either with a book or a laptop, so he fiddles with his phone for lack of something better to do.
However, Baekhyun gets bored after a while and sees Kris gripping onto his pencil tightly, sharp graphite tip pressed against the page of his sketchbook and his eyebrows deeply furrowed. Kris lets out a heavy sigh and releases his hold on the pencil after a few seconds and lets it drop into his lap. Baekhyun raises his eyebrow at this and wonders what’s wrong.
“Are you okay?” Baekhyun asks after a few minutes of silence.
“Huh?” Kris looks up, startled. “Yeah, I’m okay.”
“Are you stuck?”
“Kind of. I’m having a bit of an art block, I guess,” Kris shrugs.
“You can draw me if you want to,” Baekhyun says, smiling flirtatiously while leaning forward with his head resting on his two fists.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do, actually,” Kris confesses. “But I can’t. I guess I have to start from basics,” he frowns.
“Basics?”
“Yeah, like get a model to pose for me so I can draw it out,” Kris explains.
“What if I offer to do that?” Baekhyun questions out of curiosity.
“I’ll pay you, of course,” Kris answers. “Would you like to try, maybe?”
Baekhyun picks up his cup and drinks, hot liquid burning down his throat as he maintains eye contact with Kris. He considers his options since it doesn’t sound so bad. He gets paid to spend time with a good-looking man and all he has to do is to just stand there. Baekhyun would be lying if he said he wasn’t tempted.
“How much are you paying me?” Baekhyun asks, fingers running along the rim of his cup.
“Probably about ten dollars per hour for three hours.”
Baekhyun sputters and nearly drops his cup. Ten dollars per hour is a huge amount of money for someone who just has to pose. Even people working in the food and beverage industry get paid lesser and they work longer hours. Baekhyun knows this because a few of his friends are always complaining about the minimum wage they earn.
“Is it too low?” Kris raises his eyebrow.
“Not at all,” Baekhyun cleans up the side of his mouth with a napkin. “When can I start?”
“We can go now, actually. I’m not getting any work done anyway.”
Baekhyun nods in agreement and watches as Kris packs his things up. He slides his pencils into his pencil case and closes his sketchbook. Kris has three sketchbooks on the table and Baekhyun wonders what’s in them but he doesn’t ask because he doesn’t want to seem nosy. He can always see what Kris can draw after he’s done posing anyway.
“My apartment is a short walk from here,” Kris says as he slings his bag over his shoulder.
Baekhyun drains his cup and stands up to join Kris, feeling small when he realises that he comes up only to Kris’ shoulder. Kris notices this as well and quietly laughs to himself while leading Baekhyun out of the café and onto the streets outside. It’s a lot colder than it was in the café and Baekhyun shivers and wraps his arms around himself. He walks next to Kris and he decides that he quite likes their height difference. If his estimation is correct, Kris’ chin would perfectly rest at the top of his head. Yeah, that would be nice. He smiles to himself and pulls out his phone to send a text to Chanyeol.
To: Chanyeol
hot guy offered me a job and we’re on his way to his house
From: Chanyeol
damn you move fast. getting into his pants already?
To: Chanyeol
not to sleep with him, idiot. he’s an artist and he needs a model
From: Chanyeol
you shortie as a model? joke of the year
Baekhyun rolls his eyes and doesn’t notice that Kris has stopped until he bumps into his front. He would have fallen back if Kris hadn’t grabbed onto his arm to pull him up. Baekhyun’s breath hitches when he realises how close he is to Kris with the tip of his nose hitting Kris’ chest. He steps back and concludes that Kris smells nice, Baekhyun recognising the cologne as Gucci Rush.
“We’re here,” Kris smiles, turning left and walking into the compound.
Kris’ apartment building looks pretty expensive to Baekhyun. He must be earning quite a bit if he lives here because Baekhyun could never afford somewhere like this with a normal paying job unless he saved for years.
“It looks nice,” Baekhyun comments as he follows Kris to the lift lobby.
Kris shrugs and goes into the elevator, pressing the button for the 15th floor and Baekhyun stands next to him. He fiddles with the button on his coat and looks down to play with his feet and he suddenly feels nervous. He steps out behind Kris and walks down the hallway to Kris’ apartment, a few steps behind the other man. Kris comes to a stop outside an apartment at the end of the hallway and Baekhyun turns away to let Kris key in his passcode. Baekhyun’s phone rings just then and Baekhyun excuses himself, putting a foot to stop the door from closing after Kris goes in first.
“Yeah?” Baekhyun answers in a hushed tone.
“Are you crazy?” Chanyeol shrieks over the telephone so loudly Baekhyun has to hold his phone a distance away from his ear.
“No, I’m pretty sure I’m not.”
“Then why are you going into the apartment of a man you just met?” Chanyeol chides him.
“You sounded fine over text. Why are you blowing up at me now?” Baekhyun frowns.
“Because it only just hit me. Are you sure about this?”
“You make it sound like I was forced into this,” Baekhyun snorts. “If anything goes wrong, I can just hapkido my way out.”
“No, you can’t. You suck balls at hapkido,” Chanyeol says and Baekhyun doesn’t have to see him to know that he’s grinning into the phone.
Baekhyun hangs up after a hurried shut up and steps into the apartment, toeing his shoes off by the door and slipping into a pair of house slippers Kris has prepared for him. Walking into the hall, Baekhyun is astonished when he sees an actual platform in the middle of the room where he assumes a coffee table should have been. The large square platform is carpeted, about half a metre tall, and opposite it stands an easel. Kris is by that easel, mounting his paper and getting his materials ready.
“What is this for?” Baekhyun inquires as he picks up a piece of folded cloth that was sitting on the platform. He unfolds it and it’s big enough to cover him whole.
“In case you get cold in between poses,” Kris replies easily, still shuffling about.
“I have clothes on and I don’t get cold easily.”
“About that,” Kris starts, finally looking up at Baekhyun who’s standing by the platform. “I’ll need you to take your shirt off.”
“Why?” Baekhyun gasps.
“So I can see your shape better. You can leave your pants on, though, they’re tight enough for me to see the shape of your legs.”
Kris says it as though it wasn’t weird for him and Baekhyun is furiously fighting the blush that’s creeping on his cheeks. Then again, Baekhyun supposes Kris has been exposed to enough models and drawing to be completely calm about having a half-naked man standing in the middle of his house.
“Do you always bring people here for this?” Baekhyun raises his eyebrow as he peels his jacket and shirt off.
“Yeah, but they’re normally friends.”
Kris then looks up at Baekhyun who, upon the eye contact, gets up on the platform. He pushes his pants down a little, exposing a bit of his pelvic bones and hoping Kris will somehow notice them. He stands facing Kris and he honestly doesn’t have an idea about what he should do now.
“Let’s start with a simple one,” Kris leads him.
Baekhyun tries not to look like an idiot as he puts both his hands above his head with his elbows bent, spreads his legs slightly and twists his body away from Kris.
“Yeah, that’s good.”
The scraping of the conté crayon against paper is oddly comforting, Baekhyun realises. He hears rather than see Kris make a few strokes on his paper before he’s told to strike another pose. He puts his hands on his hips this time, twisting his hips and curving his upper body.
“You’re good at this,” Kris compliments and Baekhyun feels himself go red.
Over the course of the next few poses, Baekhyun tries to pose in a way that lets him watch Kris work. The furrow of his eyebrows is adorable and the way he bites on his bottom lip as he concentrates is attractive. Kris looks up often and Baekhyun takes the opportunity to flash him a smile whenever they meet eyes. He quite enjoys the shy smile playing on Kris’ lips and the blush that spreads across his cheeks.
“You can take a break now. Would you like something to drink?” Kris says after twenty minutes, setting his conté crayon down and stretching his back.
“Water would be great, thanks,” Baekhyun answers as he steps down from the platform and wraps the cloth Kris had so generously provided around himself.
He pads over to the easel after Kris disappears into the kitchen and is surprised to find that most of the drawings do look like him even if there wasn’t any facial features drawn. Kris had managed to capture his firm thighs with shading and Baekhyun isn’t disappointed with how his pelvis was portrayed. It’s the feature he loves most about himself and somehow the drawing looks as great as the real thing.
“Do you like them?” Kris suddenly asks from behind him and Baekhyun swears he jumped at least five feet into the air.
Kris apologises and hands the glass of water over to Baekhyun who accepts it with a slight nod of his head, turning his face away because damn that was embarrassing.
“So how do you find them?” Kris repeats his question.
“Really good,” Baekhyun answers with a wide grin. “You drew my pelvis really nicely.”
“Thanks, I guess,” Kris chuckles nervously, bringing his hand up to scratch at the back of his neck.
They continue with the poses after a ten-minute breaks, this time the duration of each pose getting longer with each one and Baekhyun can feel his body aching already. Kris notices and doesn’t ask, instead opting to focus on his drawings and Baekhyun scowls.
“It hurts,” Baekhyun whines.
“I guess we can stop for now, then,” Kris shrugs.
Baekhyun chooses to walk over to the sofa nearby and throws himself on it, his whole body occupying the space and leaving no room for Kris to sit.
“I see you’re comfortable already,” Kris comments.
“You just drew me half-naked, and if it wasn’t for my tight pants I would have been semi-nude,” Baekhyun retorts.
“That would be a sight,” Kris mumbles under his breath.
Baekhyun hears that even though he’s sure he’s not supposed to and he sits up, grinning at Kris and patting the space beside him. Kris raises his eyebrow and takes a seat anyway. He lets out a groan at the sudden weight that’s on top of him when Baekhyun seats himself in his lap none too gently.
“What are you doing?”
“Would you like to see me semi-nude?” Baekhyun leans in and whispers into Kris’ ear while he slides his hands up Kris’ sides to his shoulders. “Or rather, fully naked?” Baekhyun cheekily suggests as he grinds down into Kris’ hips and presses his bare chest up against the other’s.
Kris throws his head back and weighs his options. A pair of strong arms goes around Baekhyun’s waist and hoists him up after a second or two, making him instinctively wrap his legs around Kris’ hips. As he is brought to the bedroom and thrown on the soft bouncy bed before Kris comes up to hover above him, Baekhyun decides there’s no need for him to hapkido his way out of this one.