Wedding Affair
Title: Wedding Affair
Pairing: Chanyeol/Jongdae
Rating: PG-13
Length: 3775w
Summary: Chanyeol meets Jongdae at their friends' wedding and wants to try again.
A/N: Written for the 2014 round of yeolliepopday.
Chanyeol is nervous. He looks down at his shirt and wonders if he’s overdressed for the occasion. He looks around and figures out that no, he’s not because there are many men walking around in their shirts with pretty ladies by their sides. However, the one thing that makes him different is the bowtie around his neck that he had meticulously worn before leaving the house. It seems like a waste if he were to take it out when he spent so much time on it, so he decides to leave it on and think of it as a fashion statement.
He goes up a flight of stairs to where the reception would be held in the wedding hall, stopping in his tracks when he sees people hanging around the entrance with a long table beautifully decorated with white lacy table cloth and flowers at the side. He recognises most of them, seeing how the couple getting married, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun, are both from the school Chanyeol went to and were in the same circle of friends. He tugs at his bowtie slightly and walks forward to the long table where he signs his name and leaves the gift envelope, bowing to Kyungsoo’s parents as he leaves to enter the wedding hall.
When Chanyeol enters the hall, he’s greeted by more familiar faces mingling and he approaches a group of friends he was on good terms with back in school, joining their conversation effortlessly and it makes Chanyeol feel like nothing really changed even though it’s been a few years since they all graduated high school.
They start talking about their love lives and how they’ve all got someone to come home to and Chanyeol starts feeling a little more than uncomfortable because unlike them, he doesn’t have anyone to greet him with a kiss and a hot meal when he comes home from a long day at work. He turns around, suddenly feeling thirsty and looks around to find where he can get a glass of water when he spots a familiar someone walking towards the altar.
It’s been years but Chanyeol can tell who he is in one glance even if they’re in the middle of a crowd. He’s always been able to.
Throughout his four years in high school, there was only one guy Chanyeol could say he was in love with even though he’s had a few relationships. He’s never been able to win the guy’s heart and while he’s sorry to his past boyfriends, he never had stronger feelings for anyone else but Kim Jongdae. Of course, when in a relationship he does genuinely like his boyfriend but once it ends, Jongdae is the one he immediately looks at again. Nothing ever blossomed from his huge crush on Jongdae and by the time they graduated, Chanyeol had accepted that nothing will ever happen between the two of them.
Except now that he’s seeing him again after quite a while, Chanyeol wants to try again.
Chanyeol excuses himself from the group and takes quick steps to the front, nearly reaching Jongdae before the MC’s voice is heard over the speakers asking everyone to take their seats because the ceremony will be starting soon. Chanyeol figures that he still has time to approach Jongdae but then he looks around and realises that nearly everyone is already sitting and he’s one of the few who isn’t. He groans loudly in his head and heads back to his table, sitting down in between Luhan and Yixing who only give him knowing looks and he flips them the finger.
Chanyeol is determined to meet Jongdae and have a decent conversation with him, even if it doesn’t lead to anything else.
The guests are all standing and clapping when it’s been announced that Kyungsoo and Baekhyun are legally wed. Chanyeol’s eyes shift to the side and he sees Jongdae, smiling brightly and it’s the same as Chanyeol remembers it to be. The way the ends of his lips curl up has Chanyeol’s breath hitching in his throat and his heart starts beating a lot faster when Jongdae’s eyes form crescents as he whistles at the newlyweds. It’s starting to feel a lot hotter in the room and Chanyeol tugs at his collar and bowtie, wishing that his bowtie was one of those already tied with the elastic bands so that it’d be easier for him to take it off.
“You are going to talk to him, right?” Luhan asks from his left.
“If I get the chance, yes,” Chanyeol replies, eyes still on Jongdae’s face despite the distance in between them.
“He’s free now. It’s your time to shine,” Yixing pushes him from behind forcefully.
Chanyeol stumbles forward and turns behind to glare at Yixing before straightening himself. He takes a deep breath to calm himself and takes a few steps towards Jongdae, halfway to him when suddenly someone tall and slim appears in front of him and it turns out to be one of his juniors, Sehun.
“Long time no see, hyung,” Sehun greets with a grin.
Chanyeol entertains the idea of abandoning Sehun and telling him that he’ll be back soon while he goes talk to Jongdae, but decides against it because he doesn’t want to leave a bad impression on his junior. He inwardly sighs and he can even hear Luhan and Yixing groaning disappointedly in the background but he focuses on Sehun because that’s the least he can do.
“How have you been, Sehun?” Chanyeol asks, smile as wide as he can possibly muster.
Chanyeol and Sehun engage in small talk, with Chanyeol telling Sehun about his mundane work life while Sehun complains about his new job that he got right after he graduated high school. Sehun’s working with a design company and making quite a bit, so Chanyeol doesn’t get why he’s complaining but to each his own, he figures, when he finally notices the dark eye bags beneath Sehun’s eyes and just how exhausted Sehun looks overall.
“You look like you need some rest,” Chanyeol blurts out, cutting Sehun off mid-sentence.
“You’re not the first to say that,” Sehun sighs.
Sehun lingers around for a while before he bids Chanyeol goodbye. Chanyeol has never been more relieved to end a conversation but it’s not that he dislikes Sehun, it’s just that he has more important people like Jongdae to talk to. At the thought of catching up with him, Chanyeol’s throat tightens and it’s ridiculous how his heart starts beating faster at the mere mention of Jongdae’s name.
He starts looking around for the boy again, spotting him sitting at his table with a plate full of food already. Chanyeol smiles to himself because Jongdae hasn’t changed. Jongdae used to eat a lot even back in high school but he never gained any weight and Chanyeol was always amused. Chanyeol makes his way over to Jongdae now, clearing his throat and adjusting bow tie as he walks, eyes trained on Jongdae shoving food into his mouth.
With his eyes on the boy he’s looking for, he doesn’t pay attention to his surroundings and he certainly doesn’t noticed the waiter coming his way with a tray full of empty champagne flutes. He only knows of the waiter’s presence when they collide and Chanyeol is forced to tear his eyes away from Jongdae, horrified at the turn of events as the waiter nearly loses his balance. Chanyeol grabs onto him before he could fall, but the glasses on the tray are a lost cause and in pieces by the time he looks down. If Chanyeol hadn’t looked, he wouldn’t have noticed the glasses breaking because they make minimal sound against the carpeted floor.
“I am so sorry,” Chanyeol apologises, bending down to pick up the pieces.
The waiter tries to stop him but Chanyeol insists on helping, picking up the pieces with the tips of his fingers and trying not to hurt himself in the process. There are luckily more big pieces than small, and Chanyeol stands by while the waiter gets a hand vacuum to clean up the smaller bits. He tries to spot Jongdae at the table he was at, but Jongdae isn’t there and his shoulders drop when he doesn’t find him even after scanning the entire room.
The lights dim as the waiter is cleaning the last of the glasses and Chanyeol feels himself being dragged back to the table. The grip is too familiar to be anyone but Luhan. Luhan shakes his head at him and clicks his tongue, looking like he disapproved of something and Chanyeol scowls at him. It’s not his fault he was so busy admiring Jongdae that he bumped into a waiter.
“He’s going up now,” Luhan says after the two of them are seated with Yixing next to them.
Chanyeol’s confused for a moment but then he turns his head to the stage and sees what Luhan’s talking about. There’s a single spot light on the stage and even Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are by the side, although they’re still standing and Chanyeol can almost hear Baekhyun bitching about sore feet. The boy he’s looking for goes up on stage and bows to a clapping crowd, moving to stand beside the piano where a pianist is already seated.
“Hello, I’m Jongdae and I’m here to sing a song by request from the grooms,” he introduces himself and smiles.
Chanyeol perks up and sits up straight in his seat, eyes fixed on Jongdae. He turns back and gives the pianist a nod as a signal to start playing. Chanyeol recognises it as Jung Yup’s Nothing Better and he gulps, because he knows exactly what Jongdae will sound like. It’s a song that Jongdae loves to sing, even back when they were in high school and it’s no surprise to him now that Jongdae would sing it at their friends’ wedding ceremony.
“Please don’t go crazy,” Luhan warns Chanyeol as the first notes of the song play.
Chanyeol only elbows Luhan in the stomach and doesn’t bother turning back even as Luhan groans in pain because Jongdae is opening his mouth and his melodious voice is filling the hall. He starts off slow, closing his eyes and slightly swaying his body to the song and he looks so adorable that Chanyeol has to hold himself back from clapping and cheering loudly. Instead, he closes his eyes as well and imagines that it’s him Jongdae is singing to, and only him. He smiles to himself and he can hear Yixing giggling at him but he ignores him, choosing to listen to Jongdae only. As he closes his eyes, he thinks back to all the memories he shared with Jongdae in school although there are unsurprisingly little since Chanyeol was too much of a coward to confess.
Chanyeol remembers when he first saw Jongdae in the school corridor, smiling so widely that Chanyeol swears his heart skipped a beat. He remembers meeting Jongdae for the first time, introduced to each other by none other than Luhan. He remembers the smile that Jongdae had put on for him, ends curling up. Other than that, there was nothing much that they shared. Chanyeol only remembers observing him from then on, and while he insists that it’s only observing, Baekhyun insists that he’s a stalker. Baekhyun ended up getting a jab in a shoulder that he whined about for the next couple of days but Chanyeol regretted nothing.
The four minutes end way too fast for Chanyeol’s liking. He could listen to Jongdae sing forever and he wouldn’t get tired of it. He opens his eyes and fixes them on Jongdae immediately, freezing in his seat when Jongdae looks in his direction and he swears that Jongdae is looking straight at him too. The eye contact breaks when Jongdae comes down from the stage but then he’s walking in Chanyeol’s direction and Chanyeol panics a little inside.
He doesn’t know whether he’d grateful or upset when the other guests start standing up and walking around to socialise again, blocking Jongdae from his view.
“Was he staring at me?” Chanyeol asks Luhan, eyes wide.
“Yes,” Luhan answers positively. “This is your chance.”
Chanyeol takes a deep breath and tries to compose himself even though he feels like crying because finally Jongdae has noticed him. He stands up and because he’s a head taller than everyone else, he can see Jongdae coming towards him. He sees the brown hair coming in his direction and he doesn’t know what to do with himself.
“God damn it, Chanyeol,” Luhan groans when he sees Chanyeol fidgeting.
“Hey, Chanyeol.”
Chanyeol turns around so fast, ready to greet Jongdae but he’s disappointed when he sees Jongin smiling at him instead. He looks behind Jongin and sees Jongdae stopping in his tracks, smiling apologetically and Jongdae does some weird gestures with his hands that Chanyeol assumes means ‘meet me later’.
“Hi, Jongin. It’s been quite a while since I last saw you,” Chanyeol greets, reluctantly tearing his eyes away from Jongdae’s retreating back.
Jongin is one of Chanyeol’s past boyfriends in high school. It was one of the longest relationships that Chanyeol has ever had and he was a little more than just sad when they broke up. Jongin is sweet and caring, but Chanyeol takes more than he gives and Jongin got tired of it after two years. Chanyeol still feels apologetic now that he’s standing in front of Jongin, but Jongin looks happy and Chanyeol figures that’s all that matters.
“Do you still like him?” Jongin asks after they catch up, filling each other in with small details about their jobs and lives.
Chanyeol’s smile drops. All this while, he’s been thinking that Jongin doesn’t know about his crush on Jongdae but now that he knows, Chanyeol feels even worse.
“It’s okay, Chanyeol. I knew you really liked me,” Jongin smiles, patting his arm when he sees Chanyeol’s panicked expression. “He’s over there now. Go talk to him.”
Chanyeol turns his head to where Jongin is pointing and sees Jongdae by the dessert table. He looks back to both thank and apologise to Jongin but he’s already walking away, smiling and pumping his fist in the air to cheer Chanyeol on. Chanyeol grins back and pumps his fist too, waiting until Jongin disappears into the crowd before turning his attention back to Jongdae who’s still by the dessert table. He doesn’t waste any time, walking straight to Jongdae and determined to not let anything get in his way. He carefully dodges waiters and the other guests, making sure that nothing can stop him from getting to Jongdae now.
“Hey,” Jongdae greets him with a smile when Chanyeol finally stops in front of him.
“Hi,” Chanyeol managers to reply, hands getting sweaty and he’s nervous.
“You’ve been busy the entire night,” Jongdae comments with an eyebrow raises, teasing smile on his lips. “It was Sehun, the waiter, me and then Jongin.”
“You’ve been observing me,” Chanyeol notes, jaw dropping.
“Yeah,” Jongdae shrugs, as if it’s not a big deal.
It is a big deal and Chanyeol’s close to freaking out because his long time crush has been observing him since the start.
“We only have an hour before they’ll chase us out,” Jongdae continues. “Do you want to get out of here?”
Jongdae doesn’t give Chanyeol a chance to answer before he’s grabbing his hand and Chanyeol tries his best to breathe properly. It’s the first time he’s having any physical contact with Jongdae and his hand is small yet warm in Chanyeol’s own. Chanyeol unconsciously tightens his grip as Jongdae leads him out of the hall and down to the main street where he hails a cab. When they finally get one, Jongdae looks at Chanyeol expectantly and Chanyeol ends up blurting his address out to the cab driver.
The ride back to Chanyeol’s apartment is silent and Chanyeol is grateful because it gives him time to calm down and compose himself so that he won’t look like a fool in front of Jongdae. He wants to impress him. He wants him.
They pull up outside Chanyeol’s apartment building and Chanyeol pays for the ride, pushing Jongdae’s wallet away when he tries to pay. Instead he pushes Jongdae out of the cab and towards his building, keeping his hand on the small of Jongdae’s back when he doesn’t pull away as they take the elevator up to his unit. Jongdae turns to smile up at him and Chanyeol swears his heart skips a beat like the first time they met. His legs are turning into jelly from the contact but he keeps himself upright, walking out of the elevator and pulling Jongdae with him when they reach his floor.
“Your apartment’s nice,” Jongdae compliments as they walk in.
“Thanks,” Chanyeol starts, pushing Jongdae towards the couch. “Have a seat and I’ll be right back.”
Chanyeol goes into his kitchen and pulls out a bottle of red wine from the chiller. He stands in the middle of the kitchen and looks around for snacks to serve with the wine, deciding on cashew nuts and a cheese platter that he recently bought. He’s been planning to eat it himself but it’s even better now that he can share it with Jongdae. Chanyeol grabs a tray and reaches for two wine glasses in the cabinet before he sets everything down on the tray and carries it out.
Jongdae is walking around his living room when he comes out, observing the pictures on the walls. Chanyeol likes to hang them up because it gives his living room life, but now he feels a little embarrassed because Jongdae is in front of a picture of him when he was a kid, chocolate smeared all over his face as he devoured his first ice cream.
“Come have a drink,” Chanyeol says, motioning Jongdae over after he sets the tray down on the table.
Jongdae unbuttons his suit jacket and loosens his tie as he takes a seat on the couch and Chanyeol gulps at the skin peeking from underneath the collar. He undoes his bow tie too, putting it aside before taking a seat next to Jongdae. He leaves some space in between them but Jongdae scoots closer until their arms are brushing and alarms are going off in Chanyeol’s head.
Chanyeol leans forward to pour the wine into their glasses, handing one to Jongdae who takes it with a smile. Relaxing against the soft couch, Chanyeol feels himself letting go with each sip of wine. Jongdae settles in beside him and they start to talk. It’s kind of boring at first, talking about their current jobs. Chanyeol finds out that Jongdae’s just starting out as a music teacher at a high school but he already has a few kids that keep getting into trouble. He also finds out that Jongdae is single and lives alone in an apartment on the other side of town, which is why he chose to come to Chanyeol’s which is closer to the wedding venue.
“So what have you been doing lately?”
Chanyeol tells Jongdae stories from his workplace and how it’s not that easy working for a top architecture company. He complains that he’s mostly stressed from all the pressure the bosses give him and Jongdae’s hand come up to rest on his thigh, fingers tightening to comfort him. Jongdae’s hand never leaves his leg, warmth seeping through the fabric of his trousers and Chanyeol likes it.
Two glasses of wine, half a cheese platter and many small conversations later, Jongdae gets up and does up the button of his suit jacket. He looks at the clock hanging on Chanyeol’s wall.
“It’s nearly 1am. I should go,” Jongdae says, straightening his suit jacket.
“Jongdae,” Chanyeol starts.
“Yeah?”
Chanyeol figures it’s now or never, if he wants to try get with Jongdae because they will probably never meet again unless there’s another wedding or a reunion.
“I like you, kind of,” Chanyeol finally confesses, still sitting on the couch while Jongdae stands up beside him.
Jongdae doesn’t say anything and Chanyeol doesn’t know if that’s good or bad but he continues anyway.
“Since high school, actually. From the first day we met, I think.”
Chanyeol finally looks up and Jongdae’s staring down at him, face emotionless and Chanyeol assumes he’s been reading the little touches wrong. Now that he thinks of it, Jongdae has always been touchy and the touching he’s been doing all night is nothing unlike what he did to their friends back in school. Chanyeol wants to hide because he probably just made a huge fool out of himself.
“I’ve said what I need to. The door’s that way. Goodnight,” Chanyeol mumbles dejectedly as he stands up and walks towards his bedroom, closing the door behind him.
He throws himself on his bed face first, head landing into his pillows and he groans. He just screwed up his one chance of getting together with Jongdae and now it’s going to be awkward between the two of them because of him. It wasn’t what he was hoping for but now that it’s happened, Chanyeol wants to reverse time so he could have kept his mouth shut. He kicks his legs in frustration, thrashing around on the bed.
There’s a dip on the bed beside him and Chanyeol turns his body sideways, looking up to see Jongdae smiling down at him. Jongdae’s hand pushes Chanyeol on his back. Chanyeol’s too shocked for words, even as Jongdae is climbing on top of him and caging him in with his knees on either side of Chanyeol’s thighs.
Jongdae’s straddling him and Chanyeol doesn’t know why.
Chanyeol doesn’t get a chance to say anything before Jongdae’s leaning down and grabbing Chanyeol’s face gently with his hands, sealing his lips with his own. Chanyeol gasps in surprise and Jongdae’s tongue licks into his mouth, causing Chanyeol to respond just as eagerly and Jongdae withdraws his tongue to suck at Chanyeol’s bottom lip. Chanyeol moans lowly, biting at Jongdae’s lip before running his tongue over it which elicits a mewl out of Jongdae.
They pull apart and Chanyeol’s hands rest on Jongdae’s hips. They stare at each other and Chanyeol is just waiting for Jongdae to say something but Jongdae only grins.
“Do you…?” Chanyeol trails off, not daring to complete his sentence.
“Like you? Yeah, I do,” Jongdae grins, pecking Chanyeol on the lips and Chanyeol doesn’t regret confessing so much now, not when Jongdae is still on top of him and slowly undoing the buttons on his shirt.
Pairing: Chanyeol/Jongdae
Rating: PG-13
Length: 3775w
Summary: Chanyeol meets Jongdae at their friends' wedding and wants to try again.
A/N: Written for the 2014 round of yeolliepopday.
Chanyeol is nervous. He looks down at his shirt and wonders if he’s overdressed for the occasion. He looks around and figures out that no, he’s not because there are many men walking around in their shirts with pretty ladies by their sides. However, the one thing that makes him different is the bowtie around his neck that he had meticulously worn before leaving the house. It seems like a waste if he were to take it out when he spent so much time on it, so he decides to leave it on and think of it as a fashion statement.
He goes up a flight of stairs to where the reception would be held in the wedding hall, stopping in his tracks when he sees people hanging around the entrance with a long table beautifully decorated with white lacy table cloth and flowers at the side. He recognises most of them, seeing how the couple getting married, Kyungsoo and Baekhyun, are both from the school Chanyeol went to and were in the same circle of friends. He tugs at his bowtie slightly and walks forward to the long table where he signs his name and leaves the gift envelope, bowing to Kyungsoo’s parents as he leaves to enter the wedding hall.
When Chanyeol enters the hall, he’s greeted by more familiar faces mingling and he approaches a group of friends he was on good terms with back in school, joining their conversation effortlessly and it makes Chanyeol feel like nothing really changed even though it’s been a few years since they all graduated high school.
They start talking about their love lives and how they’ve all got someone to come home to and Chanyeol starts feeling a little more than uncomfortable because unlike them, he doesn’t have anyone to greet him with a kiss and a hot meal when he comes home from a long day at work. He turns around, suddenly feeling thirsty and looks around to find where he can get a glass of water when he spots a familiar someone walking towards the altar.
It’s been years but Chanyeol can tell who he is in one glance even if they’re in the middle of a crowd. He’s always been able to.
Throughout his four years in high school, there was only one guy Chanyeol could say he was in love with even though he’s had a few relationships. He’s never been able to win the guy’s heart and while he’s sorry to his past boyfriends, he never had stronger feelings for anyone else but Kim Jongdae. Of course, when in a relationship he does genuinely like his boyfriend but once it ends, Jongdae is the one he immediately looks at again. Nothing ever blossomed from his huge crush on Jongdae and by the time they graduated, Chanyeol had accepted that nothing will ever happen between the two of them.
Except now that he’s seeing him again after quite a while, Chanyeol wants to try again.
Chanyeol excuses himself from the group and takes quick steps to the front, nearly reaching Jongdae before the MC’s voice is heard over the speakers asking everyone to take their seats because the ceremony will be starting soon. Chanyeol figures that he still has time to approach Jongdae but then he looks around and realises that nearly everyone is already sitting and he’s one of the few who isn’t. He groans loudly in his head and heads back to his table, sitting down in between Luhan and Yixing who only give him knowing looks and he flips them the finger.
Chanyeol is determined to meet Jongdae and have a decent conversation with him, even if it doesn’t lead to anything else.
The guests are all standing and clapping when it’s been announced that Kyungsoo and Baekhyun are legally wed. Chanyeol’s eyes shift to the side and he sees Jongdae, smiling brightly and it’s the same as Chanyeol remembers it to be. The way the ends of his lips curl up has Chanyeol’s breath hitching in his throat and his heart starts beating a lot faster when Jongdae’s eyes form crescents as he whistles at the newlyweds. It’s starting to feel a lot hotter in the room and Chanyeol tugs at his collar and bowtie, wishing that his bowtie was one of those already tied with the elastic bands so that it’d be easier for him to take it off.
“You are going to talk to him, right?” Luhan asks from his left.
“If I get the chance, yes,” Chanyeol replies, eyes still on Jongdae’s face despite the distance in between them.
“He’s free now. It’s your time to shine,” Yixing pushes him from behind forcefully.
Chanyeol stumbles forward and turns behind to glare at Yixing before straightening himself. He takes a deep breath to calm himself and takes a few steps towards Jongdae, halfway to him when suddenly someone tall and slim appears in front of him and it turns out to be one of his juniors, Sehun.
“Long time no see, hyung,” Sehun greets with a grin.
Chanyeol entertains the idea of abandoning Sehun and telling him that he’ll be back soon while he goes talk to Jongdae, but decides against it because he doesn’t want to leave a bad impression on his junior. He inwardly sighs and he can even hear Luhan and Yixing groaning disappointedly in the background but he focuses on Sehun because that’s the least he can do.
“How have you been, Sehun?” Chanyeol asks, smile as wide as he can possibly muster.
Chanyeol and Sehun engage in small talk, with Chanyeol telling Sehun about his mundane work life while Sehun complains about his new job that he got right after he graduated high school. Sehun’s working with a design company and making quite a bit, so Chanyeol doesn’t get why he’s complaining but to each his own, he figures, when he finally notices the dark eye bags beneath Sehun’s eyes and just how exhausted Sehun looks overall.
“You look like you need some rest,” Chanyeol blurts out, cutting Sehun off mid-sentence.
“You’re not the first to say that,” Sehun sighs.
Sehun lingers around for a while before he bids Chanyeol goodbye. Chanyeol has never been more relieved to end a conversation but it’s not that he dislikes Sehun, it’s just that he has more important people like Jongdae to talk to. At the thought of catching up with him, Chanyeol’s throat tightens and it’s ridiculous how his heart starts beating faster at the mere mention of Jongdae’s name.
He starts looking around for the boy again, spotting him sitting at his table with a plate full of food already. Chanyeol smiles to himself because Jongdae hasn’t changed. Jongdae used to eat a lot even back in high school but he never gained any weight and Chanyeol was always amused. Chanyeol makes his way over to Jongdae now, clearing his throat and adjusting bow tie as he walks, eyes trained on Jongdae shoving food into his mouth.
With his eyes on the boy he’s looking for, he doesn’t pay attention to his surroundings and he certainly doesn’t noticed the waiter coming his way with a tray full of empty champagne flutes. He only knows of the waiter’s presence when they collide and Chanyeol is forced to tear his eyes away from Jongdae, horrified at the turn of events as the waiter nearly loses his balance. Chanyeol grabs onto him before he could fall, but the glasses on the tray are a lost cause and in pieces by the time he looks down. If Chanyeol hadn’t looked, he wouldn’t have noticed the glasses breaking because they make minimal sound against the carpeted floor.
“I am so sorry,” Chanyeol apologises, bending down to pick up the pieces.
The waiter tries to stop him but Chanyeol insists on helping, picking up the pieces with the tips of his fingers and trying not to hurt himself in the process. There are luckily more big pieces than small, and Chanyeol stands by while the waiter gets a hand vacuum to clean up the smaller bits. He tries to spot Jongdae at the table he was at, but Jongdae isn’t there and his shoulders drop when he doesn’t find him even after scanning the entire room.
The lights dim as the waiter is cleaning the last of the glasses and Chanyeol feels himself being dragged back to the table. The grip is too familiar to be anyone but Luhan. Luhan shakes his head at him and clicks his tongue, looking like he disapproved of something and Chanyeol scowls at him. It’s not his fault he was so busy admiring Jongdae that he bumped into a waiter.
“He’s going up now,” Luhan says after the two of them are seated with Yixing next to them.
Chanyeol’s confused for a moment but then he turns his head to the stage and sees what Luhan’s talking about. There’s a single spot light on the stage and even Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are by the side, although they’re still standing and Chanyeol can almost hear Baekhyun bitching about sore feet. The boy he’s looking for goes up on stage and bows to a clapping crowd, moving to stand beside the piano where a pianist is already seated.
“Hello, I’m Jongdae and I’m here to sing a song by request from the grooms,” he introduces himself and smiles.
Chanyeol perks up and sits up straight in his seat, eyes fixed on Jongdae. He turns back and gives the pianist a nod as a signal to start playing. Chanyeol recognises it as Jung Yup’s Nothing Better and he gulps, because he knows exactly what Jongdae will sound like. It’s a song that Jongdae loves to sing, even back when they were in high school and it’s no surprise to him now that Jongdae would sing it at their friends’ wedding ceremony.
“Please don’t go crazy,” Luhan warns Chanyeol as the first notes of the song play.
Chanyeol only elbows Luhan in the stomach and doesn’t bother turning back even as Luhan groans in pain because Jongdae is opening his mouth and his melodious voice is filling the hall. He starts off slow, closing his eyes and slightly swaying his body to the song and he looks so adorable that Chanyeol has to hold himself back from clapping and cheering loudly. Instead, he closes his eyes as well and imagines that it’s him Jongdae is singing to, and only him. He smiles to himself and he can hear Yixing giggling at him but he ignores him, choosing to listen to Jongdae only. As he closes his eyes, he thinks back to all the memories he shared with Jongdae in school although there are unsurprisingly little since Chanyeol was too much of a coward to confess.
Chanyeol remembers when he first saw Jongdae in the school corridor, smiling so widely that Chanyeol swears his heart skipped a beat. He remembers meeting Jongdae for the first time, introduced to each other by none other than Luhan. He remembers the smile that Jongdae had put on for him, ends curling up. Other than that, there was nothing much that they shared. Chanyeol only remembers observing him from then on, and while he insists that it’s only observing, Baekhyun insists that he’s a stalker. Baekhyun ended up getting a jab in a shoulder that he whined about for the next couple of days but Chanyeol regretted nothing.
The four minutes end way too fast for Chanyeol’s liking. He could listen to Jongdae sing forever and he wouldn’t get tired of it. He opens his eyes and fixes them on Jongdae immediately, freezing in his seat when Jongdae looks in his direction and he swears that Jongdae is looking straight at him too. The eye contact breaks when Jongdae comes down from the stage but then he’s walking in Chanyeol’s direction and Chanyeol panics a little inside.
He doesn’t know whether he’d grateful or upset when the other guests start standing up and walking around to socialise again, blocking Jongdae from his view.
“Was he staring at me?” Chanyeol asks Luhan, eyes wide.
“Yes,” Luhan answers positively. “This is your chance.”
Chanyeol takes a deep breath and tries to compose himself even though he feels like crying because finally Jongdae has noticed him. He stands up and because he’s a head taller than everyone else, he can see Jongdae coming towards him. He sees the brown hair coming in his direction and he doesn’t know what to do with himself.
“God damn it, Chanyeol,” Luhan groans when he sees Chanyeol fidgeting.
“Hey, Chanyeol.”
Chanyeol turns around so fast, ready to greet Jongdae but he’s disappointed when he sees Jongin smiling at him instead. He looks behind Jongin and sees Jongdae stopping in his tracks, smiling apologetically and Jongdae does some weird gestures with his hands that Chanyeol assumes means ‘meet me later’.
“Hi, Jongin. It’s been quite a while since I last saw you,” Chanyeol greets, reluctantly tearing his eyes away from Jongdae’s retreating back.
Jongin is one of Chanyeol’s past boyfriends in high school. It was one of the longest relationships that Chanyeol has ever had and he was a little more than just sad when they broke up. Jongin is sweet and caring, but Chanyeol takes more than he gives and Jongin got tired of it after two years. Chanyeol still feels apologetic now that he’s standing in front of Jongin, but Jongin looks happy and Chanyeol figures that’s all that matters.
“Do you still like him?” Jongin asks after they catch up, filling each other in with small details about their jobs and lives.
Chanyeol’s smile drops. All this while, he’s been thinking that Jongin doesn’t know about his crush on Jongdae but now that he knows, Chanyeol feels even worse.
“It’s okay, Chanyeol. I knew you really liked me,” Jongin smiles, patting his arm when he sees Chanyeol’s panicked expression. “He’s over there now. Go talk to him.”
Chanyeol turns his head to where Jongin is pointing and sees Jongdae by the dessert table. He looks back to both thank and apologise to Jongin but he’s already walking away, smiling and pumping his fist in the air to cheer Chanyeol on. Chanyeol grins back and pumps his fist too, waiting until Jongin disappears into the crowd before turning his attention back to Jongdae who’s still by the dessert table. He doesn’t waste any time, walking straight to Jongdae and determined to not let anything get in his way. He carefully dodges waiters and the other guests, making sure that nothing can stop him from getting to Jongdae now.
“Hey,” Jongdae greets him with a smile when Chanyeol finally stops in front of him.
“Hi,” Chanyeol managers to reply, hands getting sweaty and he’s nervous.
“You’ve been busy the entire night,” Jongdae comments with an eyebrow raises, teasing smile on his lips. “It was Sehun, the waiter, me and then Jongin.”
“You’ve been observing me,” Chanyeol notes, jaw dropping.
“Yeah,” Jongdae shrugs, as if it’s not a big deal.
It is a big deal and Chanyeol’s close to freaking out because his long time crush has been observing him since the start.
“We only have an hour before they’ll chase us out,” Jongdae continues. “Do you want to get out of here?”
Jongdae doesn’t give Chanyeol a chance to answer before he’s grabbing his hand and Chanyeol tries his best to breathe properly. It’s the first time he’s having any physical contact with Jongdae and his hand is small yet warm in Chanyeol’s own. Chanyeol unconsciously tightens his grip as Jongdae leads him out of the hall and down to the main street where he hails a cab. When they finally get one, Jongdae looks at Chanyeol expectantly and Chanyeol ends up blurting his address out to the cab driver.
The ride back to Chanyeol’s apartment is silent and Chanyeol is grateful because it gives him time to calm down and compose himself so that he won’t look like a fool in front of Jongdae. He wants to impress him. He wants him.
They pull up outside Chanyeol’s apartment building and Chanyeol pays for the ride, pushing Jongdae’s wallet away when he tries to pay. Instead he pushes Jongdae out of the cab and towards his building, keeping his hand on the small of Jongdae’s back when he doesn’t pull away as they take the elevator up to his unit. Jongdae turns to smile up at him and Chanyeol swears his heart skips a beat like the first time they met. His legs are turning into jelly from the contact but he keeps himself upright, walking out of the elevator and pulling Jongdae with him when they reach his floor.
“Your apartment’s nice,” Jongdae compliments as they walk in.
“Thanks,” Chanyeol starts, pushing Jongdae towards the couch. “Have a seat and I’ll be right back.”
Chanyeol goes into his kitchen and pulls out a bottle of red wine from the chiller. He stands in the middle of the kitchen and looks around for snacks to serve with the wine, deciding on cashew nuts and a cheese platter that he recently bought. He’s been planning to eat it himself but it’s even better now that he can share it with Jongdae. Chanyeol grabs a tray and reaches for two wine glasses in the cabinet before he sets everything down on the tray and carries it out.
Jongdae is walking around his living room when he comes out, observing the pictures on the walls. Chanyeol likes to hang them up because it gives his living room life, but now he feels a little embarrassed because Jongdae is in front of a picture of him when he was a kid, chocolate smeared all over his face as he devoured his first ice cream.
“Come have a drink,” Chanyeol says, motioning Jongdae over after he sets the tray down on the table.
Jongdae unbuttons his suit jacket and loosens his tie as he takes a seat on the couch and Chanyeol gulps at the skin peeking from underneath the collar. He undoes his bow tie too, putting it aside before taking a seat next to Jongdae. He leaves some space in between them but Jongdae scoots closer until their arms are brushing and alarms are going off in Chanyeol’s head.
Chanyeol leans forward to pour the wine into their glasses, handing one to Jongdae who takes it with a smile. Relaxing against the soft couch, Chanyeol feels himself letting go with each sip of wine. Jongdae settles in beside him and they start to talk. It’s kind of boring at first, talking about their current jobs. Chanyeol finds out that Jongdae’s just starting out as a music teacher at a high school but he already has a few kids that keep getting into trouble. He also finds out that Jongdae is single and lives alone in an apartment on the other side of town, which is why he chose to come to Chanyeol’s which is closer to the wedding venue.
“So what have you been doing lately?”
Chanyeol tells Jongdae stories from his workplace and how it’s not that easy working for a top architecture company. He complains that he’s mostly stressed from all the pressure the bosses give him and Jongdae’s hand come up to rest on his thigh, fingers tightening to comfort him. Jongdae’s hand never leaves his leg, warmth seeping through the fabric of his trousers and Chanyeol likes it.
Two glasses of wine, half a cheese platter and many small conversations later, Jongdae gets up and does up the button of his suit jacket. He looks at the clock hanging on Chanyeol’s wall.
“It’s nearly 1am. I should go,” Jongdae says, straightening his suit jacket.
“Jongdae,” Chanyeol starts.
“Yeah?”
Chanyeol figures it’s now or never, if he wants to try get with Jongdae because they will probably never meet again unless there’s another wedding or a reunion.
“I like you, kind of,” Chanyeol finally confesses, still sitting on the couch while Jongdae stands up beside him.
Jongdae doesn’t say anything and Chanyeol doesn’t know if that’s good or bad but he continues anyway.
“Since high school, actually. From the first day we met, I think.”
Chanyeol finally looks up and Jongdae’s staring down at him, face emotionless and Chanyeol assumes he’s been reading the little touches wrong. Now that he thinks of it, Jongdae has always been touchy and the touching he’s been doing all night is nothing unlike what he did to their friends back in school. Chanyeol wants to hide because he probably just made a huge fool out of himself.
“I’ve said what I need to. The door’s that way. Goodnight,” Chanyeol mumbles dejectedly as he stands up and walks towards his bedroom, closing the door behind him.
He throws himself on his bed face first, head landing into his pillows and he groans. He just screwed up his one chance of getting together with Jongdae and now it’s going to be awkward between the two of them because of him. It wasn’t what he was hoping for but now that it’s happened, Chanyeol wants to reverse time so he could have kept his mouth shut. He kicks his legs in frustration, thrashing around on the bed.
There’s a dip on the bed beside him and Chanyeol turns his body sideways, looking up to see Jongdae smiling down at him. Jongdae’s hand pushes Chanyeol on his back. Chanyeol’s too shocked for words, even as Jongdae is climbing on top of him and caging him in with his knees on either side of Chanyeol’s thighs.
Jongdae’s straddling him and Chanyeol doesn’t know why.
Chanyeol doesn’t get a chance to say anything before Jongdae’s leaning down and grabbing Chanyeol’s face gently with his hands, sealing his lips with his own. Chanyeol gasps in surprise and Jongdae’s tongue licks into his mouth, causing Chanyeol to respond just as eagerly and Jongdae withdraws his tongue to suck at Chanyeol’s bottom lip. Chanyeol moans lowly, biting at Jongdae’s lip before running his tongue over it which elicits a mewl out of Jongdae.
They pull apart and Chanyeol’s hands rest on Jongdae’s hips. They stare at each other and Chanyeol is just waiting for Jongdae to say something but Jongdae only grins.
“Do you…?” Chanyeol trails off, not daring to complete his sentence.
“Like you? Yeah, I do,” Jongdae grins, pecking Chanyeol on the lips and Chanyeol doesn’t regret confessing so much now, not when Jongdae is still on top of him and slowly undoing the buttons on his shirt.