[exo] dispute resolution; baekhyun/chanyeol; r
Title: Dispute Resolution
Pairing: Baekhyun/Chanyeol (slight Chanyeol/Kris, Kris/Lay)
Rating: R
Summary: Baekhyun has a boyfriend. His name is Chanyeol. Baekhyun comes back from a business trip to find said boyfriend snug in bed-with another man.
Word Count: ~3,800
dispute resolution;;-
// is particularly difficult when the dispute is your own relationship //
When Baekhyun comes home from a two week business trip, exhausted from showing prospective business partners around a deer farm in Jeju-do, he’s hoping for a warm welcome home. Despite their little disagreement, Baekhyun’s hoping for Chanyeol to open the door in anticipation before he has to keycard himself in, and he’s hoping for maybe a nice breakfast of maple-syrup pancakes, but really, all he’s expecting is Chanyeol sprawled across their double bed snoring his head off, because that means Chanyeol’s forgotten about their fight-and also because Chanyeol’s just superbly unromantic like that.
What he’s not expecting is Chanyeol sprawled across their double bed snoring his head off-on top of another man.
“What. The fuck.” Baekhyun drops his bag in the hallway with a thud. The man stirs. Baekhyun stares. “Chanyeol. Park Chanyeol.”
There’s a flurry of movement, and Chanyeol jerks awake, stretching. He lifts his head to see Baekhyun standing a metre away from the bed, slack-jawed. Chanyeol’s eyes widen. “Baekhyun,” Chanyeol says, voice hoarse with sleep. “I-I thought you were coming back tomorrow.”
“No,” Baekhyun says slowly, “I told you I was coming back today, but-Chanyeol, what the fuck is going on? Why are you on top of-” Baekhyun motions to the man, who’s now bunched up the sheets to his chest, yawning lazily, “-this stranger?”
“‘morning,” the man says. Baekhyun frowns. The man turns to Chanyeol. “Hey, Yeol, who is he?”
Baekhyun blanches. “Who am I?”
“Wait,” Chanyeol says, scrambling off the bed. Baekhyun notices that Chanyeol’s only in his underwear, and the other man is quite naked too. His pulse pounds in his ears. “Wait, Baek, I can explain-”
“-I don’t think that’s necessary,” Baekhyun says tersely, cutting Chanyeol off. He grabs Chanyeol by the wrist, fingernails digging in, and drags him out into the corridor, slamming Chanyeol against the wall. “I’m going to kill you,” Baekhyun grits between his teeth. “Park Chanyeol, I’m going to shoot this guy in the crotch, and then I’m going to shoot you in the crotch.”
“Baekhyun, let me explain, I didn’t-”
“-what’s going on?”
Baekhyun turns. The mysterious tall man who’d been in Chanyeol’s bed-Chanyeol and his bed-is standing at the doorway, blankets draped around him. Baekhyun gulps. The man’s tall, taller even than Chanyeol, with angry eyebrows, and he looks absolutely unperturbed by the whole sequence of events. A hand runs through unkempt blonde hair. “Yeol, isn’t this your place?”
“Well,” Chanyeol says, scratching his head. “Um. Yeah, kinda.”
The man frowns. “Who’s he then?”
“Me? I’m Byun Baekhyun,” Baekhyun says very softly. He throws Chanyeol’s wrist out of his grip. “Chanyeol is my boyfriend. This is my apartment. And I would like it very much if you could get the fuck out of here by the time I’m back from work this evening.”
“Baek-”
“-both of you. Leave your keycard in the fruit bowl, Chanyeol. Take all your stuff with you. Good day.”
With a sigh, Baekhyun picks up his jacket and briefcase and slams the door shut behind him.
---
Missed Call From: Channie~
Baekhyun switches off his mobile phone after the 11th message and the 17th missed call. He sits at his desk listlessly, playing basketball with pieces of scrunched up paper and the metal bin in the corner of his office.
“Okay,” Jongin says during their lunch break, wading through an office full of yellow and white paper balls, “something’s wrong. What’s up?”
Baekhyun sighs. “Chanyeol.”
“…’s dick? Are you going to tell me about your sex life? Because you know I’m always-”
“-no.” Baekhyun places his head down on the table. “No, Chanyeol, he-I think he cheated on me.”
“Oh.” Jongin yawns. “Ow. Well. Sucks to be you.”
“Goddammit, Jongin,” Baekhyun mutters, rubbing his temples. “Can you be a little more sympathetic here? I get home from a two week business trip to a fucking deer farm-which is totally not my department, okay, Sehun owes me big time for that-to find my boyfriend in bed with another man. And not just any man.” Baekhyun flops down on his desk again, feeling a horrible churning in his stomach. “A really tall, really handsome man, with the body of Adonis.”
“So? Just get him back,” Jongin says easily. He smirks, licking his lips and sidling up to plonk himself on Baekhyun’s desk. He slams his hands down on top of a pile of papers, and Baekhyun cringes a little as Jongin’s inky hands smudge the paperwork.
“And how do you propose I do that?” Baekhyun asks. “God, take your dirty hands off my work.”
Jongin leans towards Baekhyun, eyebrow arched. “You could always sleep with me. Eye for an eye.”
Baekhyun rolls his eyes and whacks Jongin on the arm. “Jongin.”
“What? I’m young, fresh, and available.” Jongin tugs at his tie. “And I’ve been told I have a body like Adonis, too.”
“By who, Sehun?” Jongin shrugs. Baekhyun snorts and kicks Jongin under the desk.
“Hey, don’t kick me!” Jongin protests indignantly. He winces, clutching at his shin and giving Baekhyun a dirty look. “You’re the one who handles dispute resolution. Can’t you figure something out? I mean, you deal with this shit all day.”
“Not when it’s happening in my own life,” Baekhyun mutters. He buries his head in his hands again. Sure, Jongin’s a great friend and co-worker, and generally keeps Baekhyun in check when he’s dying under a load of paperwork, but he’s completely useless at times like these, when Baekhyun needs actual advice. “And thank you for the…offer, but I think I’ll pass. I have more decency than that.”
“Your call.” Jongin chuckles as he retreats out of the office. He pokes his head back in. “Hey, but seriously, my friend owns a…specialty shop downtown. Just give me a shout if you think you’ll be needing some cheering up anytime soon. Or some torture devices. Maybe you could use it on this Adonis guy.”
“Kim Jongin.”
---
Baekhyun fiddles with the power button of his phone for fifteen minutes after leaving the office, before he finally turns it back on.
Missed calls count: 17. Unread messages: 11.
It means Chanyeol’s given up trying to contact him, and somehow, selfishly, Baekhyun feels a bit disappointed. The breath Baekhyun didn’t know he’d been holding leaves him in a sigh. But, he thinks wryly, turning the corner of the busy street, it’s not like this was out of nowhere.
It’s not like he hadn’t noticed it-the cracks forming in their relationship.
Baekhyun and Chanyeol had been together ever since their second year of college, after they’d both gone through painful breakups, and while their relationship had sailed smoothly while they were just dating, living together-actually living under the same roof-was a completely different matter. The first week or so of Chanyeol moving into Baekhyun’s apartment had them mucking around and building forts from pillows and blankets and fucking in their home base for hours, but that bliss couldn’t last. There were things they needed to take care of-groceries, bills, taxes, cleaning, laundry-that Chanyeol, the brilliant but irresponsibly absentminded Ph.D student, was entirely unaccustomed to.
Pillow fort fights turned into real fights.
Fights about the empty fridge and the state of the bathroom and how the electricity bill and internet bills hadn’t been paid; fights about Chanyeol ignoring Baekhyun’s nagging to eat right and proceeding to stock their cupboards with bags of chocolate and other things that Baekhyun had deemed Unhealthy Useless Junk; fights about Chanyeol’s student debts and college parties while Baekhyun worked his ass off.
“You’re so inconsiderate sometimes, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun had yelled the night before he left for his trip. “Why don’t you help out with the chores or get an actual fucking job so I’m not the only one working here?”
There’s no one in the apartment when Baekhyun gets home. Chanyeol’s clothes and toiletries are all gone. The only thing that’s left behind is a half unfinished pack of Pepero sticks that Chanyeol had given Baekhyun on Valentine’s Day.
Yeah, Baekhyun thinks, bile rising in his throat, it’s not like this was out of nowhere.
But he hadn’t expected Chanyeol to really leave him either.
---
There’s someone loitering in front of the apartment block when Baekhyun leaves for work the next morning. Baekhyun’s heart jumps in his chest, thinking that maybe the tall figure standing in the shadows is Chanyeol, but-
“My name is Kris,” the mysterious tall figure says, striding up to Baekhyun as Baekhyun pushes open the double doors, “and I was in your apartment yesterday.”
Baekhyun’s heart sinks. Adonis. Kris. “I’m aware,” Baekhyun deadpans, “because you were in bed naked with my boyfriend.” His voice comes out more bitter than he’d intended. “What do you want?”
Kris shakes his head. “You’ve got it wrong. Me and Chanyeol-we didn’t sleep together.”
“Right,” Baekhyun says. “Right, and that explains why you were in bed naked with my boyfriend. Thank you, by the way, Chanyeol always needed something long and hard thrust up his ass, because god knows he’s been spoiled enough. Maybe you taught him a thing or two.”
“You’re misunderstanding the situation,” Kris repeats slowly. “Look, about Chanyeol, he was…” Kris chuckles, reaching up to scratch the nape of his neck. “There was a party at college. I just took him home, nothing else. I mean, he was pretty pissed off his face on Sunday.”
“And I’ll piss on your face if you don’t go away,” Baekhyun snaps. Kris raises an eyebrow, looking bewildered, and Baekhyun feels both stupid for his comeback and ridiculously short standing in Kris’ shadow. “Whatever. I don’t want to talk to you.” He pushes past Kris and starts walking down the road.
Kris chases after him and blocks Baekhyun’s path. “Aren’t you going to talk to Chanyeol?”
Baekhyun glares at Kris. “What’s it to you? I’ll decide when I want to talk to him.”
“Well,” Kris says in resignation, “if you’re wondering where he is, he’s staying temporarily at my place.” Baekhyun frowns. Kris sighs. “He’s really sorry, you know, but there’s a reason for all of this; there’s a reason I was there yesterday morning-I mean, I’m sorry, you probably don’t trust me because I’m his ex, but we really didn’t sleep together.”
Baekhyun blanches. “Wait, you’re his ex?”
Kris quietens. “Oh,” he says, tilting his head. “Oh, so Chanyeol...never told you about me?”
“He-” Baekhyun shakes his head. No. He can’t deal with all this today, not at seven in the morning. “Right,” he says tiredly. “Okay. Whatever. I don’t care who you are, or if you slept with Chanyeol or not, or where Chanyeol is right now, but please stop blocking my way, because I’m going to be late for work.”
“My address,” Kris says, pushing a card into Baekhyun’s hand. “Chanyeol should be there.”
“Okay. Good day.” Baekhyun grabs the card, shoving it into his pocket, and pushes roughly past Kris, biting his lip.
Kris.
The nameless ex-boyfriend that Chanyeol had cried over more than once, when Baekhyun had first met Chanyeol in college. The nameless ex-boyfriend that Chanyeol had taken six months to forget before he was ready to date Baekhyun. The nameless ex-boyfriend who Baekhyun always regarded as a competitor for Chanyeol’s affections in the back of his mind.
That ex-boyfriend.
---
Baekyun’s not normally a jealous person, but with someone like Kris back in the picture, he can’t help but feel a little-a lot-inferior.
Honestly, Baekhyun wants to believe Kris’ words, wants to believe the voice from deep down telling him that that Chanyeol loves him and wouldn’t cheat on him, but he’s insecure all the same, especially since Chanyeol had actually left the apartment without so much as putting up a fight.
Baekhyun spends the day picking apart his own flaws and second guessing himself.
He lists things that could’ve driven Chanyeol away. He finds too many. For one, Chanyeol shouldn’t have to put up with his incessant nagging. Chanyeol shouldn’t have to calm Baekhyun down every time his workload got too much and he wanted to sharpen pencils and stab out the eyes of the higher-ups in the dispute resolution department. Chanyeol shouldn’t be the object of his misplaced frustrations, or have to bear the brunt of his bitter snappiness at having to shoulder their economic burdens.
How ironic that he spent ten hours each day resolving disputes in the company, yet he couldn’t resolve the dispute in his own relationship.
“So,” Jongin says. “You’re looking very gloomy again. Need those torture devices yet?”
And that’s how, against his will, Baekhyun ends up at Jongin’s friend’s specialty shop. Baekhyun walks in, flanked by a cackling Jongin, only to see the assortment of chains and whips, the “torture devices” and he punches Jongin in the arm, hard.
“Jongin. A sex toy store? How is this meant to help?”
“Sex toys are the best way to relieve your frustrations,” Jongin says wisely. Baekhyun punches him again on the arm, even harder this time. “Ow! It’s true!”
“We’re leaving right now,” Baekhyun says quickly, trying to exit. He should probably go to Kris’ place and let Chanyeol explain himself. He’s stopped by a very familiar face at the counter. “…Kyungsoo?”
“Baekhyun?” Kyungsoo looks at him, wide-eyed. “Jongin. What are you…?”
Jongin cocks his head. “Hyung. You two know each other?”
“Yeah,” Baekhyun says, “yeah, same high school-what are you…?”
“I…own this store.”
Oh. Baekhyun laughs. Do Kyungsoo, angelic high-school choir boy, the owner of a sex shop ten years later. Baekhyun smiles wryly. How time could change people. How time, even a few meagre months, could deteriorate relationships completely.
“Say, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun mutters. “You don’t sell guns here, by any chance, do you?”
“Well,” Kyungsoo says, rummaging through the display cabinet, “no, but we do have these gun-shaped dildos-just press the trigger, and the dick attached to the barrel moves in and out according to the pressure!”
“…right,” Baekhyun says. Jongin sniggers, patting him on the back. Baekhyun kicks Jongin. “Not the type of gun I was looking for. Um. I…better go. But thank you.”
“Hey, Kyungsoo-hyung?” Baekhyun hears Jongin saying. “If he doesn’t want it, I’ll take it.”
---
Over the next few days, Baekhyun notices little things. Little things that he took for granted before, but misses now. He notices that the apartment is really, really silent with just himself. A few months ago, he would’ve been fine alone, because he was alone here, but without realising, he’s gotten used to Chanyeol and all the noise he brings with him.
By Wednesday, Baekhyun’s really missing Chanyeol’s laughter, the nose-wrinkling, uneven peals of laughter that emanates from Chanyeol whenever he’s watching a particularly amusing variety show.
By Thursday, Baekhyun wants to eat Chanyeol’s sunny-side up eggs, complete with the eggshells mixed with the white and all. Extra calcium would help him grow, Chanyeol’d say whenever there was a particularly loud crunch from Baekhyun’s mouth as he was chewing.
By Friday, when Baekhyun’s in the bathroom, he realises that he even misses Chanyeol’s annoying singing at the top of his lungs and offbeat dancing in front of the mirror as he brushes his teeth. Girls’ Generation songs always sounded better with Chanyeol accompanying them at the top of his lungs.
By Saturday, Baekhyun’s fishing Kris’ card out of the rubbish bin.
---
Kris’ house is really big. Baekhyun looks up, holding his breath. Really big. And white. And shiny. And Baekhyun didn’t know he could feel this inadequate as a human being, but he does now. He’s almost tempted to turn back, because Chanyeol could have this instead, but he grits his teeth and musters up the courage to knock on the door.
“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun shouts through the door. “Hey, Park Chanyeol?”
The door opens. It’s Kris, drying his hair, only clothing a towel wrapped loosely around his hips. Baekhyun averts his eyes. “Uh. Hi. Where’s Chan-”
“-Baek.” Chanyeol appears from behind Kris. He’s fully dressed, thankfully, and Baekhyun notes how haggard he’s looking. There are dark circles under his eyes, and he’s unshaven. “Baekhyun. Let me-I can explain-”
“Uh, would you two like to take this inside?” Kris asks. Baekhyun nods, and Kris steps aside to let him in. “First door to your left.”
Chanyeol and Baekhyun sit in the living room, opposite each other. There’s a beat of silence.
“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun says, “I should’ve let you explain first, instead of-kicking you out like that.”
“Well,” Chanyeol says, with a light chuckle, “I’m sorry. It did look pretty compromising. But we didn’t actually do anything-”
“-I know,” Baekhyun says. Chanyeol might seem sneaky and wily to others, but he’s always been transparent to Baekhyun. Baekhyun’s willing to believe him, and believe in him. “I know. I believe you. But tell me, why did you leave? And to your ex-boyfriend’s house, of all places? Are you trying to make me jealous?”
“No, I-” There’s a silence. A sigh.
“Chanyeol?”
“You know how you were saying I didn’t do enough?” Chanyeol starts, fidgeting. “You had me thinking. I was thinking. In the two weeks that you were gone.”
Baekhyun nods slowly. “And?”
“I decided I was being too unfair.” Chanyeol looks down. “Baekhyun, I’m basically freeloading off you, and that’s not right.”
Baekhyun leans forward. “Chanyeol, hey, I didn’t mean it when I-”
“-so I went to that party, and I got really drunk, and I was apparently shouting out things about someone finding me a job and making a huge scene, and Kris-Kris was coincidentally there. And he was talking to me about a job but I wasn’t coherent, so he took me back to the apartment, and it was too late for him to go back, so he just stayed.”
“And then I found you in the morning like that.”
“I don’t like him anymore, you know,” Chanyeol says. “That was years ago, and you’re all I need now. I’m sorry, Baek, I don’t mean to make you feel like that, or burden you like that. I thought you were sick of me hanging around and being annoying and useless-”
“-how could I ever be sick of you?” Baekhyun asks. “Why would you think that?”
“You seemed like you were. We were fighting every second day.”
“Because I was scared you were getting sick of me.”
And Baekhyun thinks back to Chanyeol’s vibrant laughter colouring his life, Chanyeol messing around with the fireworks after classes, almost getting them kicked out of college grounds, Chanyeol and his ability to make Baekhyun happy. Sure, things were sometimes difficult to communicate with Chanyeol, especially on days when he refused to cooperate, but overall, Chanyeol lights up his life. Baekhyun doesn’t think that he could ever give Chanyeol up.
“Anyway. Kris found me a job,” Chanyeol says with a grin. “I’ll be starting next week, on top of my studies, so you won’t have to do everything alone.”
“All good?”
Both Baekhyun and Chanyeol jump, startled. Kris is standing at the doorway, arms folded. A man Baekhyun’s never seen is beside him, waving daintily, a dimpled grin on his face. Kris loops his arms over the man’s shoulders.
“Um,” Chanyeol says, “this is Kris’ boyfriend. And my future boss, I guess.”
“Hi,” the man says, “I’m Yixing.” He turns to Chanyeol. “Hey, if you’re free now, how about I show you around the studio, so you know your way around next week?” Yixing grins at Baekhyun. “And you’re his boyfriend, right? Do you want to come along too?”
Chanyeol claps and drags Baekhyun off the sofa. Baekhyun sighs contentedly, letting himself be ushered out of the room.
Dispute resolution has never felt so good.
---
“So,” Chanyeol breathes into Baekhyun’s ear as he puts his toothbrush back into the glass cup. “That’s the last of it. And tell me, were you seriously going to buy a gun and shoot Kris in the crotch?”
“No,” Baekhyun mumbles. He pauses. “I was just going to grievously wound him. But then I realised that I was probably too small to do any real damage.”
“You’re not small where it counts,” Chanyeol mutters, and Baekhyun grins widely, licking his lips.
It had taken an hour for them to get everything back to where it was, and Baekhyun thinks that maybe, if it was anything like the first time Chanyeol had moved in, they’d have time for some mucking around in a pillow fort.
“Delivery!”
Baekhyun groans. “I’ll get that.”
It’s a plain brown paper package, and the return address is Baekhyun’s office. Baekhyun squints, regarding the package with great distrust, before opening it-and lo and behold.
I know you wanted this. Enjoy! the accompanying note says. Baekhyun groans. Chanyeol bounds up behind him, all curiosity.
“What the hell is that?” Chanyeol asks, taking the package from Baekhyun. He examines it, then fits his finger over the trigger, breaking out into peals of laughter, and sniggers even more when the contraption actually starts moving. “Oh my god, it’s a dick gun. Who the hell sent you this?”
Baekhyun sighs. “Motherfucking Kim Jongin. I’m going to kill him.”
Chanyeol rubs up against Baekhyun, nibbling on his ear. “Hey, don’t do that. I can't believe that this exists. You gonna shoot me in the crotch like you said you would?”
“Well,” Baekhyun says, turning around and pressing a kiss to Chanyeol’s lips. “For my sake and yours, I think I would like your crotch very much intact.”
“Good decision.”
“But,” Baekhyun adds, taking the gun-shaped toy away from Chanyeol, smirking. He pushes Chanyeol down onto the floor, whacking Chanyeol with a pillow. “I think maybe I’ll shoot you in the ass instead.”
a/n: originally a fill at seoulfulness. i was severely sleep deprived and trying to write an essay at the same time please excuse this tragedy.
Pairing: Baekhyun/Chanyeol (slight Chanyeol/Kris, Kris/Lay)
Rating: R
Summary: Baekhyun has a boyfriend. His name is Chanyeol. Baekhyun comes back from a business trip to find said boyfriend snug in bed-with another man.
Word Count: ~3,800
dispute resolution;;-
// is particularly difficult when the dispute is your own relationship //
When Baekhyun comes home from a two week business trip, exhausted from showing prospective business partners around a deer farm in Jeju-do, he’s hoping for a warm welcome home. Despite their little disagreement, Baekhyun’s hoping for Chanyeol to open the door in anticipation before he has to keycard himself in, and he’s hoping for maybe a nice breakfast of maple-syrup pancakes, but really, all he’s expecting is Chanyeol sprawled across their double bed snoring his head off, because that means Chanyeol’s forgotten about their fight-and also because Chanyeol’s just superbly unromantic like that.
What he’s not expecting is Chanyeol sprawled across their double bed snoring his head off-on top of another man.
“What. The fuck.” Baekhyun drops his bag in the hallway with a thud. The man stirs. Baekhyun stares. “Chanyeol. Park Chanyeol.”
There’s a flurry of movement, and Chanyeol jerks awake, stretching. He lifts his head to see Baekhyun standing a metre away from the bed, slack-jawed. Chanyeol’s eyes widen. “Baekhyun,” Chanyeol says, voice hoarse with sleep. “I-I thought you were coming back tomorrow.”
“No,” Baekhyun says slowly, “I told you I was coming back today, but-Chanyeol, what the fuck is going on? Why are you on top of-” Baekhyun motions to the man, who’s now bunched up the sheets to his chest, yawning lazily, “-this stranger?”
“‘morning,” the man says. Baekhyun frowns. The man turns to Chanyeol. “Hey, Yeol, who is he?”
Baekhyun blanches. “Who am I?”
“Wait,” Chanyeol says, scrambling off the bed. Baekhyun notices that Chanyeol’s only in his underwear, and the other man is quite naked too. His pulse pounds in his ears. “Wait, Baek, I can explain-”
“-I don’t think that’s necessary,” Baekhyun says tersely, cutting Chanyeol off. He grabs Chanyeol by the wrist, fingernails digging in, and drags him out into the corridor, slamming Chanyeol against the wall. “I’m going to kill you,” Baekhyun grits between his teeth. “Park Chanyeol, I’m going to shoot this guy in the crotch, and then I’m going to shoot you in the crotch.”
“Baekhyun, let me explain, I didn’t-”
“-what’s going on?”
Baekhyun turns. The mysterious tall man who’d been in Chanyeol’s bed-Chanyeol and his bed-is standing at the doorway, blankets draped around him. Baekhyun gulps. The man’s tall, taller even than Chanyeol, with angry eyebrows, and he looks absolutely unperturbed by the whole sequence of events. A hand runs through unkempt blonde hair. “Yeol, isn’t this your place?”
“Well,” Chanyeol says, scratching his head. “Um. Yeah, kinda.”
The man frowns. “Who’s he then?”
“Me? I’m Byun Baekhyun,” Baekhyun says very softly. He throws Chanyeol’s wrist out of his grip. “Chanyeol is my boyfriend. This is my apartment. And I would like it very much if you could get the fuck out of here by the time I’m back from work this evening.”
“Baek-”
“-both of you. Leave your keycard in the fruit bowl, Chanyeol. Take all your stuff with you. Good day.”
With a sigh, Baekhyun picks up his jacket and briefcase and slams the door shut behind him.
---
Missed Call From: Channie~
Baekhyun switches off his mobile phone after the 11th message and the 17th missed call. He sits at his desk listlessly, playing basketball with pieces of scrunched up paper and the metal bin in the corner of his office.
“Okay,” Jongin says during their lunch break, wading through an office full of yellow and white paper balls, “something’s wrong. What’s up?”
Baekhyun sighs. “Chanyeol.”
“…’s dick? Are you going to tell me about your sex life? Because you know I’m always-”
“-no.” Baekhyun places his head down on the table. “No, Chanyeol, he-I think he cheated on me.”
“Oh.” Jongin yawns. “Ow. Well. Sucks to be you.”
“Goddammit, Jongin,” Baekhyun mutters, rubbing his temples. “Can you be a little more sympathetic here? I get home from a two week business trip to a fucking deer farm-which is totally not my department, okay, Sehun owes me big time for that-to find my boyfriend in bed with another man. And not just any man.” Baekhyun flops down on his desk again, feeling a horrible churning in his stomach. “A really tall, really handsome man, with the body of Adonis.”
“So? Just get him back,” Jongin says easily. He smirks, licking his lips and sidling up to plonk himself on Baekhyun’s desk. He slams his hands down on top of a pile of papers, and Baekhyun cringes a little as Jongin’s inky hands smudge the paperwork.
“And how do you propose I do that?” Baekhyun asks. “God, take your dirty hands off my work.”
Jongin leans towards Baekhyun, eyebrow arched. “You could always sleep with me. Eye for an eye.”
Baekhyun rolls his eyes and whacks Jongin on the arm. “Jongin.”
“What? I’m young, fresh, and available.” Jongin tugs at his tie. “And I’ve been told I have a body like Adonis, too.”
“By who, Sehun?” Jongin shrugs. Baekhyun snorts and kicks Jongin under the desk.
“Hey, don’t kick me!” Jongin protests indignantly. He winces, clutching at his shin and giving Baekhyun a dirty look. “You’re the one who handles dispute resolution. Can’t you figure something out? I mean, you deal with this shit all day.”
“Not when it’s happening in my own life,” Baekhyun mutters. He buries his head in his hands again. Sure, Jongin’s a great friend and co-worker, and generally keeps Baekhyun in check when he’s dying under a load of paperwork, but he’s completely useless at times like these, when Baekhyun needs actual advice. “And thank you for the…offer, but I think I’ll pass. I have more decency than that.”
“Your call.” Jongin chuckles as he retreats out of the office. He pokes his head back in. “Hey, but seriously, my friend owns a…specialty shop downtown. Just give me a shout if you think you’ll be needing some cheering up anytime soon. Or some torture devices. Maybe you could use it on this Adonis guy.”
“Kim Jongin.”
---
Baekhyun fiddles with the power button of his phone for fifteen minutes after leaving the office, before he finally turns it back on.
Missed calls count: 17. Unread messages: 11.
It means Chanyeol’s given up trying to contact him, and somehow, selfishly, Baekhyun feels a bit disappointed. The breath Baekhyun didn’t know he’d been holding leaves him in a sigh. But, he thinks wryly, turning the corner of the busy street, it’s not like this was out of nowhere.
It’s not like he hadn’t noticed it-the cracks forming in their relationship.
Baekhyun and Chanyeol had been together ever since their second year of college, after they’d both gone through painful breakups, and while their relationship had sailed smoothly while they were just dating, living together-actually living under the same roof-was a completely different matter. The first week or so of Chanyeol moving into Baekhyun’s apartment had them mucking around and building forts from pillows and blankets and fucking in their home base for hours, but that bliss couldn’t last. There were things they needed to take care of-groceries, bills, taxes, cleaning, laundry-that Chanyeol, the brilliant but irresponsibly absentminded Ph.D student, was entirely unaccustomed to.
Pillow fort fights turned into real fights.
Fights about the empty fridge and the state of the bathroom and how the electricity bill and internet bills hadn’t been paid; fights about Chanyeol ignoring Baekhyun’s nagging to eat right and proceeding to stock their cupboards with bags of chocolate and other things that Baekhyun had deemed Unhealthy Useless Junk; fights about Chanyeol’s student debts and college parties while Baekhyun worked his ass off.
“You’re so inconsiderate sometimes, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun had yelled the night before he left for his trip. “Why don’t you help out with the chores or get an actual fucking job so I’m not the only one working here?”
There’s no one in the apartment when Baekhyun gets home. Chanyeol’s clothes and toiletries are all gone. The only thing that’s left behind is a half unfinished pack of Pepero sticks that Chanyeol had given Baekhyun on Valentine’s Day.
Yeah, Baekhyun thinks, bile rising in his throat, it’s not like this was out of nowhere.
But he hadn’t expected Chanyeol to really leave him either.
---
There’s someone loitering in front of the apartment block when Baekhyun leaves for work the next morning. Baekhyun’s heart jumps in his chest, thinking that maybe the tall figure standing in the shadows is Chanyeol, but-
“My name is Kris,” the mysterious tall figure says, striding up to Baekhyun as Baekhyun pushes open the double doors, “and I was in your apartment yesterday.”
Baekhyun’s heart sinks. Adonis. Kris. “I’m aware,” Baekhyun deadpans, “because you were in bed naked with my boyfriend.” His voice comes out more bitter than he’d intended. “What do you want?”
Kris shakes his head. “You’ve got it wrong. Me and Chanyeol-we didn’t sleep together.”
“Right,” Baekhyun says. “Right, and that explains why you were in bed naked with my boyfriend. Thank you, by the way, Chanyeol always needed something long and hard thrust up his ass, because god knows he’s been spoiled enough. Maybe you taught him a thing or two.”
“You’re misunderstanding the situation,” Kris repeats slowly. “Look, about Chanyeol, he was…” Kris chuckles, reaching up to scratch the nape of his neck. “There was a party at college. I just took him home, nothing else. I mean, he was pretty pissed off his face on Sunday.”
“And I’ll piss on your face if you don’t go away,” Baekhyun snaps. Kris raises an eyebrow, looking bewildered, and Baekhyun feels both stupid for his comeback and ridiculously short standing in Kris’ shadow. “Whatever. I don’t want to talk to you.” He pushes past Kris and starts walking down the road.
Kris chases after him and blocks Baekhyun’s path. “Aren’t you going to talk to Chanyeol?”
Baekhyun glares at Kris. “What’s it to you? I’ll decide when I want to talk to him.”
“Well,” Kris says in resignation, “if you’re wondering where he is, he’s staying temporarily at my place.” Baekhyun frowns. Kris sighs. “He’s really sorry, you know, but there’s a reason for all of this; there’s a reason I was there yesterday morning-I mean, I’m sorry, you probably don’t trust me because I’m his ex, but we really didn’t sleep together.”
Baekhyun blanches. “Wait, you’re his ex?”
Kris quietens. “Oh,” he says, tilting his head. “Oh, so Chanyeol...never told you about me?”
“He-” Baekhyun shakes his head. No. He can’t deal with all this today, not at seven in the morning. “Right,” he says tiredly. “Okay. Whatever. I don’t care who you are, or if you slept with Chanyeol or not, or where Chanyeol is right now, but please stop blocking my way, because I’m going to be late for work.”
“My address,” Kris says, pushing a card into Baekhyun’s hand. “Chanyeol should be there.”
“Okay. Good day.” Baekhyun grabs the card, shoving it into his pocket, and pushes roughly past Kris, biting his lip.
Kris.
The nameless ex-boyfriend that Chanyeol had cried over more than once, when Baekhyun had first met Chanyeol in college. The nameless ex-boyfriend that Chanyeol had taken six months to forget before he was ready to date Baekhyun. The nameless ex-boyfriend who Baekhyun always regarded as a competitor for Chanyeol’s affections in the back of his mind.
That ex-boyfriend.
---
Baekyun’s not normally a jealous person, but with someone like Kris back in the picture, he can’t help but feel a little-a lot-inferior.
Honestly, Baekhyun wants to believe Kris’ words, wants to believe the voice from deep down telling him that that Chanyeol loves him and wouldn’t cheat on him, but he’s insecure all the same, especially since Chanyeol had actually left the apartment without so much as putting up a fight.
Baekhyun spends the day picking apart his own flaws and second guessing himself.
He lists things that could’ve driven Chanyeol away. He finds too many. For one, Chanyeol shouldn’t have to put up with his incessant nagging. Chanyeol shouldn’t have to calm Baekhyun down every time his workload got too much and he wanted to sharpen pencils and stab out the eyes of the higher-ups in the dispute resolution department. Chanyeol shouldn’t be the object of his misplaced frustrations, or have to bear the brunt of his bitter snappiness at having to shoulder their economic burdens.
How ironic that he spent ten hours each day resolving disputes in the company, yet he couldn’t resolve the dispute in his own relationship.
“So,” Jongin says. “You’re looking very gloomy again. Need those torture devices yet?”
And that’s how, against his will, Baekhyun ends up at Jongin’s friend’s specialty shop. Baekhyun walks in, flanked by a cackling Jongin, only to see the assortment of chains and whips, the “torture devices” and he punches Jongin in the arm, hard.
“Jongin. A sex toy store? How is this meant to help?”
“Sex toys are the best way to relieve your frustrations,” Jongin says wisely. Baekhyun punches him again on the arm, even harder this time. “Ow! It’s true!”
“We’re leaving right now,” Baekhyun says quickly, trying to exit. He should probably go to Kris’ place and let Chanyeol explain himself. He’s stopped by a very familiar face at the counter. “…Kyungsoo?”
“Baekhyun?” Kyungsoo looks at him, wide-eyed. “Jongin. What are you…?”
Jongin cocks his head. “Hyung. You two know each other?”
“Yeah,” Baekhyun says, “yeah, same high school-what are you…?”
“I…own this store.”
Oh. Baekhyun laughs. Do Kyungsoo, angelic high-school choir boy, the owner of a sex shop ten years later. Baekhyun smiles wryly. How time could change people. How time, even a few meagre months, could deteriorate relationships completely.
“Say, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun mutters. “You don’t sell guns here, by any chance, do you?”
“Well,” Kyungsoo says, rummaging through the display cabinet, “no, but we do have these gun-shaped dildos-just press the trigger, and the dick attached to the barrel moves in and out according to the pressure!”
“…right,” Baekhyun says. Jongin sniggers, patting him on the back. Baekhyun kicks Jongin. “Not the type of gun I was looking for. Um. I…better go. But thank you.”
“Hey, Kyungsoo-hyung?” Baekhyun hears Jongin saying. “If he doesn’t want it, I’ll take it.”
---
Over the next few days, Baekhyun notices little things. Little things that he took for granted before, but misses now. He notices that the apartment is really, really silent with just himself. A few months ago, he would’ve been fine alone, because he was alone here, but without realising, he’s gotten used to Chanyeol and all the noise he brings with him.
By Wednesday, Baekhyun’s really missing Chanyeol’s laughter, the nose-wrinkling, uneven peals of laughter that emanates from Chanyeol whenever he’s watching a particularly amusing variety show.
By Thursday, Baekhyun wants to eat Chanyeol’s sunny-side up eggs, complete with the eggshells mixed with the white and all. Extra calcium would help him grow, Chanyeol’d say whenever there was a particularly loud crunch from Baekhyun’s mouth as he was chewing.
By Friday, when Baekhyun’s in the bathroom, he realises that he even misses Chanyeol’s annoying singing at the top of his lungs and offbeat dancing in front of the mirror as he brushes his teeth. Girls’ Generation songs always sounded better with Chanyeol accompanying them at the top of his lungs.
By Saturday, Baekhyun’s fishing Kris’ card out of the rubbish bin.
---
Kris’ house is really big. Baekhyun looks up, holding his breath. Really big. And white. And shiny. And Baekhyun didn’t know he could feel this inadequate as a human being, but he does now. He’s almost tempted to turn back, because Chanyeol could have this instead, but he grits his teeth and musters up the courage to knock on the door.
“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun shouts through the door. “Hey, Park Chanyeol?”
The door opens. It’s Kris, drying his hair, only clothing a towel wrapped loosely around his hips. Baekhyun averts his eyes. “Uh. Hi. Where’s Chan-”
“-Baek.” Chanyeol appears from behind Kris. He’s fully dressed, thankfully, and Baekhyun notes how haggard he’s looking. There are dark circles under his eyes, and he’s unshaven. “Baekhyun. Let me-I can explain-”
“Uh, would you two like to take this inside?” Kris asks. Baekhyun nods, and Kris steps aside to let him in. “First door to your left.”
Chanyeol and Baekhyun sit in the living room, opposite each other. There’s a beat of silence.
“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun says, “I should’ve let you explain first, instead of-kicking you out like that.”
“Well,” Chanyeol says, with a light chuckle, “I’m sorry. It did look pretty compromising. But we didn’t actually do anything-”
“-I know,” Baekhyun says. Chanyeol might seem sneaky and wily to others, but he’s always been transparent to Baekhyun. Baekhyun’s willing to believe him, and believe in him. “I know. I believe you. But tell me, why did you leave? And to your ex-boyfriend’s house, of all places? Are you trying to make me jealous?”
“No, I-” There’s a silence. A sigh.
“Chanyeol?”
“You know how you were saying I didn’t do enough?” Chanyeol starts, fidgeting. “You had me thinking. I was thinking. In the two weeks that you were gone.”
Baekhyun nods slowly. “And?”
“I decided I was being too unfair.” Chanyeol looks down. “Baekhyun, I’m basically freeloading off you, and that’s not right.”
Baekhyun leans forward. “Chanyeol, hey, I didn’t mean it when I-”
“-so I went to that party, and I got really drunk, and I was apparently shouting out things about someone finding me a job and making a huge scene, and Kris-Kris was coincidentally there. And he was talking to me about a job but I wasn’t coherent, so he took me back to the apartment, and it was too late for him to go back, so he just stayed.”
“And then I found you in the morning like that.”
“I don’t like him anymore, you know,” Chanyeol says. “That was years ago, and you’re all I need now. I’m sorry, Baek, I don’t mean to make you feel like that, or burden you like that. I thought you were sick of me hanging around and being annoying and useless-”
“-how could I ever be sick of you?” Baekhyun asks. “Why would you think that?”
“You seemed like you were. We were fighting every second day.”
“Because I was scared you were getting sick of me.”
And Baekhyun thinks back to Chanyeol’s vibrant laughter colouring his life, Chanyeol messing around with the fireworks after classes, almost getting them kicked out of college grounds, Chanyeol and his ability to make Baekhyun happy. Sure, things were sometimes difficult to communicate with Chanyeol, especially on days when he refused to cooperate, but overall, Chanyeol lights up his life. Baekhyun doesn’t think that he could ever give Chanyeol up.
“Anyway. Kris found me a job,” Chanyeol says with a grin. “I’ll be starting next week, on top of my studies, so you won’t have to do everything alone.”
“All good?”
Both Baekhyun and Chanyeol jump, startled. Kris is standing at the doorway, arms folded. A man Baekhyun’s never seen is beside him, waving daintily, a dimpled grin on his face. Kris loops his arms over the man’s shoulders.
“Um,” Chanyeol says, “this is Kris’ boyfriend. And my future boss, I guess.”
“Hi,” the man says, “I’m Yixing.” He turns to Chanyeol. “Hey, if you’re free now, how about I show you around the studio, so you know your way around next week?” Yixing grins at Baekhyun. “And you’re his boyfriend, right? Do you want to come along too?”
Chanyeol claps and drags Baekhyun off the sofa. Baekhyun sighs contentedly, letting himself be ushered out of the room.
Dispute resolution has never felt so good.
---
“So,” Chanyeol breathes into Baekhyun’s ear as he puts his toothbrush back into the glass cup. “That’s the last of it. And tell me, were you seriously going to buy a gun and shoot Kris in the crotch?”
“No,” Baekhyun mumbles. He pauses. “I was just going to grievously wound him. But then I realised that I was probably too small to do any real damage.”
“You’re not small where it counts,” Chanyeol mutters, and Baekhyun grins widely, licking his lips.
It had taken an hour for them to get everything back to where it was, and Baekhyun thinks that maybe, if it was anything like the first time Chanyeol had moved in, they’d have time for some mucking around in a pillow fort.
“Delivery!”
Baekhyun groans. “I’ll get that.”
It’s a plain brown paper package, and the return address is Baekhyun’s office. Baekhyun squints, regarding the package with great distrust, before opening it-and lo and behold.
I know you wanted this. Enjoy! the accompanying note says. Baekhyun groans. Chanyeol bounds up behind him, all curiosity.
“What the hell is that?” Chanyeol asks, taking the package from Baekhyun. He examines it, then fits his finger over the trigger, breaking out into peals of laughter, and sniggers even more when the contraption actually starts moving. “Oh my god, it’s a dick gun. Who the hell sent you this?”
Baekhyun sighs. “Motherfucking Kim Jongin. I’m going to kill him.”
Chanyeol rubs up against Baekhyun, nibbling on his ear. “Hey, don’t do that. I can't believe that this exists. You gonna shoot me in the crotch like you said you would?”
“Well,” Baekhyun says, turning around and pressing a kiss to Chanyeol’s lips. “For my sake and yours, I think I would like your crotch very much intact.”
“Good decision.”
“But,” Baekhyun adds, taking the gun-shaped toy away from Chanyeol, smirking. He pushes Chanyeol down onto the floor, whacking Chanyeol with a pillow. “I think maybe I’ll shoot you in the ass instead.”
a/n: originally a fill at seoulfulness. i was severely sleep deprived and trying to write an essay at the same time please excuse this tragedy.