Gravity Doesn't Work on Us (But Music Does)
Gravity Doesn't Work on Us (But Music Does)
Chanyeol/D.O, brief!Kai/Suho, PG-13, ~14,4000 words
Kyungsoo finds his peace in 8tracks, the online playlists web, until an anonymous account comes and crashes his life.
Written for Round 2015 of onemorechansoo. This version is a bit improved than the original one posted on the comm.
The frown on Kyungsoo’s forehead increases as he scrolls through his ongoing paper. He is supposed to make at least four pages for the morning class tomorrow, but he is only at the second page and already exhausted. He bites on his lower lip, tapping his index finger on the ‘I’ button on the keyboard to the tune of the Sam Smith song he has blasting through his headphones.
‘In the contrary of…’
He pauses writing as the song comes to an end and plays another song. The starting beat is easily recognized as The Weeknd’s current hit song which Kyungsoo quite likes, but getting bored of since it is somehow getting overplayed. He opens up his browser and quickly types down his usual study playlist on the search bar and presses play, IU’s sweet voice interrupting the English lyrics. Kyungsoo feels a bit sorry for the vocalist, but he needs to finish the paper tonight and Earned It wouldn’t help him thinking any clearer.
The song gives him more push to finish down at least three more paragraphs before it switches to a Clazziquai upbeat song and it distracts Kyungsoo from his paper for a minute before he realizes that he has a paper to do.
8tracks, Kyungsoo has found, is both effective and ineffective in helping him studying.
He found the online playlists web through a post on a Naver cafe, and he has been hooked to the website since last term. Thanks to it, Kyungsoo’s taste of music has broadened. Not only does he like, Maroon 5 and Ed Sheeran, but he has taken a liking to Imagine Dragons as well. Under the username of simple ‘dokyungsoo’, he has uploaded a total of 10 playlists with three playlists awarded gold and one platinum. His taste is not bad, it seems.
When he is finally done with the paper, the digital clock at the corner of his laptop screen shows that it is almost two in the morning . He yawns, clicking the save button twice just to be careful. He is supposed to have it printed, but it’s so late now that he might disturb his roommate’s sleep with the sound of the printer. Instead, he opens up the browser again and goes to his playlist drafts.
He has been saving a draft of playlist that is meant to be posted tonight after he finishes his papers. It is inspired by a quote he found while looking for references for the assignment. The words have a nice ring to his ears, and he easily translated the feeling into some songs he has in his iTunes, included some new ones. He types in a title, and clicks the publish button. He listens to it just to make sure that the arrangement of the songs is really okay.
Halfway through the songs, he climbs up to bed, leaving the playlist playing through his laptop’s speaker. Kyungsoo sighs as his head meets with the pillow; he is really tired, and the songs helps him feeling more relaxed. Just when he is about to dream, though, the loud notification of his phone rings, signaling that he has a message.
Stupid me, he curses in his head, how could I forget to silent the damned phone?
After one minute of struggling to look for his phone in the sea of his blanket, Kyungsoo pulls his phone up.
hey, i hope you’re not asleep yet. but can we meet tomorrow to start working on the project?
It’s not long before another message comes in.
oops. i meant it’s today! hehe
He groans. Of course, he has a project for the composition class he is taking for extra credits. Out of the people in the class, the teacher has to pair him up with Park Chanyeol, the loud student who is actually quite popular from the music department. Unllike Kyungsoo, who takes the class just because he thought it would be fun, Park Chanyeol does it because he wants to pursue the career.
Don’t disturb my sleep. And yes, we can.
you’re still awake after all! see you tomorrow!
good night :)
Of course Park Chanyeol is the type that is even louder in the texts. Why the other man is still awake at this ungodly hour, he doesn’t even want to know. He doesn’t bother to reply, opting to go to sleep right away after he puts his phone in a silent mode instead. He can deal with Park Chanyeol tomorrow.
♪
Kyungsoo arrives at the class exactly fifteen minutes before it starts. He takes his usual seat four rows from the back, near the window. He takes out his earphones from his bag. It is a routine he picked up back in high school; he would come to class early and spend his time listening to music to keep up his mood. He has tried skipping it once, and become grumpy for the rest of the day.
His closest friends understand this, and they never disturb him and his morning ‘ear yoga’ anymore. Well, except one.
“Did you finish the paper?”
Kyungsoo jerks from having his earphone suddenly pulled off. He sends his best death glare to the culprit, but what he gets is innocent grin instead.
Byun Baekhyun is the first person he socialized with when he first entered the university. They have the same major, share the same classes, and take the same student club. He never stops talking; even when he does, his other part of body would make the noises instead. Baekhyun wasn’t Kyungsoo’s first choice of best friend, but they surprisingly connect well.
Kyungsoo scoots over, making space for his friend to sit next to him. “Yeah,” he answers, putting back the earphone piece into his ear. “Did you?”
“Only this morning,” Baekhyun pats on his own chest like he is proud of it. He reaches out to pull out Kyungsoo’s earphone again, this time placing it in his own ear. “What are you listening to?”
“I downloaded new stuffs last night,” he says, adjusting the volume so they could enjoy the music better. “I like this one.”
Baekhyun frowns, paying attention to the song. “I think I have heard this song somewhere. It’s quite good now that I listen clearly.”
“Park Chanyeol again?”
The other grins widely at him. It’s cute how Kyungsoo looks a little dejected everytime he mentions Chanyeol. “It’s not my fault that my childhood friend blasts songs from his iPod everyday.”
Kyungsoo sighs. It’s not the first time said Park Chanyeol has beaten him in this inexistent competition of introducing songs to Byun Baekhyun. “You loud people hang out with each other too much. That Park Chanyeol, I can’t believe he even manages to be loud in his texts.”
“He texts you?” Baekhyun quips up. The corner of his eyebrow twitches up when something gets him interested, but Kyungsoo is not going to tell him about this.
“Yeah, last night when I was going to sleep. He asked about the composition project.”
Baekhyun laughs. He slaps Kyungsoo’s shoulder lightly, “I can’t believe you’re really doing that with him.”
“Shut up, Byun,” Kyungsoo sends him a death glare. "You were the one telling me to partner up with him.” It sounded like a good suggestion back then, when Kyungsoo didn’t know much about the said partner. He seemed like a good person-well, he is a good person-but Kyungsoo could do without his stupid grin and little pranks he knows he has plotted with Baekhyun.
“Well, you asked if I knew someone from music department that shares the class with you. Chanyeol fits the requirements.”
“I should have asked for someone more normal and less loud, too.” Kyungsoo groans. “He was like, exclamation marks everywhere, and I haven’t even worked with him. It’s going to be awkward, I swear.”
Baekhyun pats his shoulder. “Hey, it’s not that bad. You survived three years of friendship with me, you could start another with Chanyeol, too.”
He wants to fight, to tell Baekhyun that he is incapable of dealing with another extravert because he is tired of keeping up with their energy. He leans back in his seat instead. “I hope you’re right.” He gives up. After a while, he turns back to his friend and looks at him in the eyes. “But if this turns out bad, you know whose pretty face I’ll destroy first.”
“At least you said I’m pretty!” Baekhyun beams up at him, batting his eyelashes three times in a way that makes Kyungsoo regrets ever having crossed paths with him.
He jabs his elbow on Baekhyun’s left thigh, making sure it hurts like hell so the other knows how much he wants to take his words back.
♪
Kyungsoo feels guilty as he walks towards the practice room. He is already prepared to explain one hundred and one reasons why he was going to skip today’s practice, I have something really important coming up, but Jongdae just dismisses them with a wave of his hand. The club vice president’s signature permed locks bounce lightly around his face as he goes through the club’s papers.
“No practice today, Soo. Didn’t Baekhyun tell you that?” He says, not looking up from the papers.
That little bastard. He was the one that insisted that Kyungsoo should skip today’s practice to meet up with Chanyeol. He didn’t even give him a hint that the practice is cancelled when Kyungsoo went on the guilt trip in front of him.
“No, he didn’t tell me.”
Jongdae laughs that high-pitched laugh Baekhyun dubs as seal-laugh. “How typical of him. Were you worried?”
Kyungsoo wants to strangle that laugh out of Jongdae, but in his dictionary, violence only applies for certain Byun Baekhyun. Besides, Jongdae is harmless. Kyungsoo likes having Jongdae around, especially because he is the only one who could keep up bantering with Baekhyun until he stutters and surrenders. All hail Lord Kim.
“I kinda forgot about today’s practice and agreed to meet my partner today,” he admits.
“Let me guess. This partner is Park Chanyeol from Music, and Baekhyun told you to meet him instead of having practice because he wants his most favorite people to meet and engage in friendship?”
Kyungsoo frowns, “What favorite people? I’m not on that list for sure.”
Jongdae barks a laugh, “Don’t be so sure, Soo. Who knows if you are even on top of that list?”
“Don’t speak nonsense, Jongdae. How am I being partners with someone from your kind is still beyond me,” he mutters. “I shouldn’t have trusted that Byun Baekhyun in the first place.”
“Soo, you are also a part of us. Stop denying that, it’s not like we’re monsters.”
Kyungsoo shakes his head, folding his arms in front of his chest. “No, not monsters, just wild animals. Werewolves? I should be careful being around you.”
“Actually, none of us is more of a monster than you. Right. We are just cute little lambs playing around with your sharp eyes trained on eyes, ready to eat us out. Or do you think three little pigs is better?”
Kyungsoo laughs. This is why he likes Jongdae; while every little thing Baekhyun says to tease him annoy the hell out of him, the witty retorts Jongdae throws back only amuses him. “Okay, three little pigs it is.”
Jongdae smiles, the edge of his eyes curving up, making him look sweet. “You should give it a try, though. Chanyeol is not a bad guy. And he is much softer than Baekhyun is, believe it or not. A very sweet guy.”
“I hope so,” he sighs. “I just don’t like meeting new people.”
“Stop being such an introvert. This is why you don’t have a date.” Jongdae pokes his shoulder.
Kyungsoo shrugs. “I don’t date unless necessary.”
“Which is why you don’t date at all!” Jongdae groans.
“Whatever.”
♪
Kyungsoo picks a seat on one of the long tables in the central library's discussion room. There are some other students around him, most of them with their earphones connected to their laptops. Some of them are alone, but some come in groups. They mostly keep quiet to whatever they are working on, though.
Kyungsoo briefly wonders if it is a wise decision to invite a Park Chanyeol to the library. There are more secluded spots around the library, in case said Park Chanyeol goes wild and needs to be hidden. But he figures it would be easier for them to meet in a more open room. It should be easy for him to spot the other man if he is coming through the door this way.
He pulls out his mp3 player, putting in the earphones and starting to listen to the a new playlist he downloaded last night. He takes out the project brief from the composition class next, trying to understand beforehand what the teacher is asking them to do. But the words only cause him another confusion. He is in the choir, yes, but he is still only a Psychology major who has taken an interest in music. It doesn't mean he understands music theoretically. He frowns, flipping the paper over and over.
"Do Kyungsoo!"
When Kyungsoo looks up, it is all wide grin and silver hair staring back at him. Is that even legal to have that kind of hair in college?
"Park Chanyeol," Kyungsoo acknowledges him, nodding slightly as the taller man takes the seat across to him.
"It's Chanyeol, just Chanyeol." he says, smiling. “Thank you for having me as your partner," Chanyeol beams up at him. His hand is supporting his chin. The silver Rolex watch wrapped around his wrist flashes before Kyungsoo’s eyes.
"No, I’m the one supposed to thank you. I'm the one at disadvantage here," Kyungsoo shrugs. It's true, he is the one who's going to get a lot of help from the other man. This is why he asked Baekhyun in the first place.
"I think Psychology is very fun to learn," he says earnestly. "I like music, but sometimes it becomes too much for me when I just want to have fun with it instead of getting all serious and wrinkled for it, you know?"
Kyungsoo hums, but it's a new knowledge for him. Judging by the stories Baekhyun shares on how an airhead Park Chanyeol is, he couldn't imagine him as the serious type. But people could be serious for whatever they like, Kyungsoo learns. Baekhyun is always a changed man whenever he steps up in practice and sings their song.
"Do you, Kyungsoo?" Chanyeol asks, that gets Kyungsoo's attention on him again. His eyes are almost twinkling with excitement. "Do you like music too? Is that why you are taking the course?"
"I don't hate it," Kyungsoo pauses, hesitating to answer. "I need the extracurricular credits to pass my major."
"But you don't like it either?" The other asks further.
"No, I like it." Kyungsoo shakes his head. He honestly doesn't know how to answer the question. He likes music, but perhaps not to the extent Park Chanyeol the music student does. "I like listening to songs," he shrugs.
Chanyeol smiles again, "Well, I'm glad my partner is at least liking music. What kind of songs do you like?"
"It depends," Kyungsoo remembers the playlists he listens to and he creates. They vary, not only stuck to one genre. It’s difficult to explain that to anyone else sometimes, so he usually just take one artist that generally sums up his music taste. "I listen a lot to Eric Benet, and Jeff Bernat too."
"Yeah?" Kyungsoo couldn't miss how Chanyeol's face is lit up even if he wants to. "I like their music, too. We're on the same ground, then. It shouldn't be difficult to do this project." Chanyeol clasps his hands together, feeling excited.
"Be careful, it's three of my credits we're talking about," says Kyungsoo, teasing.
Chanyeol laughs. "It's three of mine, too. Don't worry, I don’t plan to make a mess of it either."
Kyungsoo couldn't help but smile. "Good. I'm sorry, if I’m offending you. I'm afraid I have been traumatized by Byun Baekhyun a lot."
"Baekhyun is a wonder, isn't he? I'll admit that he and I are the perfect combination when it comes to pranks, and I'm sorry you have to deal with me too," he says, "But I guarantee you, Do Kyungsoo, that I don't fuck up my music."
Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows. He has to see about that later.
♪
He throws himself onto the bed as soon as he finishes dressing. His hair is still wet from the shower he had earlier, and he didn’t even bother to leave the towel at its designated place. The drops of water falling from the tips of his hair are seeping through the pillow cover, and it’s going to stink later if he doesn’t move away soon. Kyungsoo heaves a sigh, closing his eyes as he rests himself on the soft material.
It is not even a tiring day, but Kyungsoo feels like all his energy has drained out. Having Park Chanyeol to keep him talking more than he usually does is going to tire him more. The days he has to spend with the other man are not the ones he exactly looks for. He just wants to listen to music, drown himself in it and never resurface if he could.
He almost slipped into a deep slumber when his stomach suddenly makes a sound of protest. He groans, remembering how all he had eaten today was the sandwich he bought at the canteen. He should have taken Baekhyun’s advice to grab the meal coupon and have donkatsu, but of course he refused because the tuna sandwich the mini mart was selling was more tempting at that very moment.
Kyungsoo finally pushes himself off his bed, patting his pillow to check its humidity before he gets up from his bed. He walks towards the compact kitchen installed in his tiny apartment, wondering if he should cook himself ramyun or instant curry. Forgetting to do the grocery shopping for the month, his mini-fridge is now empty from food ingredients. His stock of instant food is also going thin; this means that he is forced to go some shopping after classes tomorrow.
He grabs the instant curry, tearing the packaging apart with ease. It is now easier for him to cook his own meals, even if they are just instant food. His parents bought him the small apartment once they heard about how he got accepted into the university. It’s their parenting style, but it’s also because it takes more than forty-five minutes from their home to the university. Kyungsoo is okay with it, cutting his journey short means he has more time for himself.
He takes out his favorite plate from the rack and serves the food for himself, humming to the tone of If I Ain’t Got You. He doesn’t have a dining table in his apartment, so he always eats at the table in front of the television. Glancing at the clock, Kyungsoo feels slightly relieved that he is not late for his favorite show. He switches the television on, and quickly surfs for the channel he wants to watch. It is a game show, where a group of people has to solve a murder case with one of them acting as the detective. He has always liked trying to figure out who the murderer is, even if he fails sometimes. It gives him thrills.
Kyungsoo is almost finished with his meal, only halfway through the show, when his phone suddenly rings. He grabs it with his eyes still fixed on the television screen.
“Hello?” His voice is a bit awkward since he hasn’t swallowed the food he has in his mouth.
“Where the hell are you?” Baekhyun’s voice is easily recognizable even over the loud thumping of music coming over the line.
Kyungsoo grabs the glass of water and drinks some. “Home. Why?”
“Did you forget that I asked you to come to The Lark? I told you that Jongdae’s band is playing tonight, right?” Baekhyun sounds pissed off, and a bit desperate. But Kyungsoo is immune to that tone.
Of course Kyungsoo didn’t forget. Jongdae has always invited him to his band gigs at local clubs since the start. “It’s Crime Scene tonight,” he answers shortly. Baekhyun snorts into the phone. “Tell Jongdae to sing nicely today for me.” He grins, poking over the last bit of his curry rice.
There is a shuffling noise over the phone, and suddenly it’s Jongdae’s voice talking, “You’re so dead tomorrow when I see you.” Kyungsoo laughs, none of Jongdae’s threat actually means danger. “Can’t you just come over? We’re not starting until nine.”
“Just do gigs on weekends, Jongdae. I will definitely come,” he says.
Jongdae sighs. “Fine. If you don’t come next time either, I’m kicking you off the choir club.”
“That’s Joonmyun’s to decide.”
“I can persuade him!”
“Try it.”
Jongdae makes noises of protest that start distancing until Baekhyun’s voice takes over again. They chat up a bit, mostly Baekhyun complaining to him how it’s very hot in the club and his eyeliner is smudging off due to his sweat.
“You’re not going to attract anyone anyway,” Kyungsoo says, finishing his meal. He glances at the television, checking if they have found any decisive clue for the case.
“Watch your words! I’m going to hook up with someone tonight while you pathetically rot in your room, hear that Do Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun fusses. Kyungsoo gives him a snort, unable to answer since he is still chewing. “I’m hanging up, Jongdae is being whiny again.”
Kyungsoo hears a series of complains in the background. Yes, definitely Jongdae.
“Don’t busy yourself with the playlist website too much, okay?”
Kyungsoo splutters. He really shouldn’t have told Baekhyun about that particular secret of him. “I was just going to upload a playlist about you,” he lies.
“Yeah? What’s the title?”
“Little shit.”
Kyungsoo hangs up on the call without waiting for his friend’s answer. That reminds himself, though, that he hasn’t checked the response for the playlist he posted last night. He is confident that there would be some likes already, but he doesn’t know if it would pull at least gold rate from the website. He hurries finishing his meal and does the dishes so he could check his account.
He retreats back to his bedroom after they announce the criminal for the episode and explain the overall plot for the murder, feeling satisfied that he guessed the correct murderer. He brings over his laptop to the bed and turns it on.
It turns out that he has indeed received several notifications on his latest playlist. There are a total of twelve likes and some comments about how the listeners could relate themselves to the playlist. Twelve likes aren’t bad for a day, Kyungsoo could get more later. What gains his interest is how there is a new follower among the others with an username Kyungsoo couldn’t help but get embarrassed of.
for-dokyungsoo followed you.
He clicks the link that leads to the user’s profile and laughs when he sees what the user has for the description section.
for do kyungsoo,
and his round eyes,
and his heart-shaped smile,
and his golden voice.
It’s so embarrassing that he has to bury his face on his bed’s cover. Is it a prank? Who was behind the account? He thinks of the possibility of people knowing him both in real life and on 8tracks, but only could think of Baekhyun. Perhaps it is Baekhyun.
But it couldn’t be him since he is still at the club with Jongdae. Must be someone else.
His heart pounds hard as he scrolls down the page and finds that the user has uploaded a playlist. It’s titled ‘i, for you’, and Kyungsoo couldn’t help but getting curious over the songs. He doesn’t know that him clicking the play would only mean the start of his life change.
♪
Baekhyun manages to block Kyungsoo in front of the class before they get home the next day. The pressure he puts on Kyungsoo’s arm is not that powerful, but the annoying smile on his face is what gets him all struggling. He drags Kyungsoo over to the cafe where Jongdae works at for their study session.
It is something they usually do on Thursday evening, where everyone has their time to finally gather together and study. Mostly it’s only Kyungsoo and Joonmyun who do, Baekhyun prefer to spend his time playing or disturbing the studying ones until Jongdae is free from his shift.
The bell rings when they enter the cafe, signalling their arrival to the cafe. Kyungsoo walks towards the tables while Baekhyun goes to Jongdae at the cashier to order for them. He grabs a seat at their usual table at the corner of the cafe where the lighting is the most appropriate for them to study. He pulls out his phone and texts Joonmyun to let him know about their arrival. He usually would join later after he finishes his other club activities.
“Jongdae gets off at five today,” Baekhyun says, placing a cup of hot caramel macchiato in front of Kyungsoo's, which he gratefully takes. He pulls at the chair across to him and sits down. “Do you want to watch a movie tonight?”
Kyungsoo frowns. He has another paper that isn’t due until next week, and movie sounds really tempting. “We have morning class tomorrow, why not on weekend?”
“What’s for weekend?” Another voice adds.
“Joonmyun!” Baekhyun beams up at him, patting on the chair next to him so Joonmyun could sit there. His face falls when the said man chooses to sit next to Kyungsoo instead. “Want to watch movie tonight?”
Joonmyun takes a sip from Kyungsoo’s cup, raising an eyebrow. “What is there at the cinema?”
“Jurassic World."
The raise of the corner of his lips is the very indication that Joonmyun is interested with the offer. Kyungsoo silently takes his cup back, rolling his eyes.
“Kyungsoo wants to watch it on weekend though.” Baekhyun sends an accusing glare in his direction.
“But I have morning class tomorrow,” he says in defend.
“Before you forget, I do, too.”
They eventually stop bickering with each other and start to work on their laptops, completely ditching the previous topic. Kyungsoo connects to the cafe’s wifi immediately and is very satisfied to find the speed. He has finished the artwork for his newest playlist, and planned to upload it with the cafe’s internet since last night. He tunes out the hushed conversation between Baekhyun and Joonmyun by plugging in his earphone and wearing them. The playlist from for-dokyungsoo is surprisingly what he aches to listen to.
He takes a glance at his friends, making sure no one is really paying attention to him before he clicks on the play button after his own playlist is starting to upload. It’s kind of embarrassing when he is found out to be listening to a playlist by a user with his fucking name on the username.
Kyungsoo quickly moves to his word window to continue working on his homework, acting like he isn’t actually paying attention to the lyrics in the songs. It’s rather difficult to do, though. He has to hold himself from singing along the lyrics of songs he is familiar with. He ends up with pathetic finger tapping against the keyboard. His body unconsciously sways to the melody.
Joonmyun seems to catch this. He raises an eyebrow, as if asking why are you so distracted today? To which Kyungsoo shakes his head off, quickly hiding behind his laptop’s screen to hide his embarrassment.
This for-dokyungsoo is really going to be the death of him.
♪
He meets Chanyeol again on the next Tuesday. They agreed to meet at the cafe this time, allowing both of them more freedom to discuss about their project further. Kyungsoo has done some researches Chanyeol suggested him to do, and he starts to understand where this project is going.
Kyungsoo is about to press the button that allows the cafe’s door to open when another finger has come to press it first. He turns his head, glaring at the pair of bright eyes and goofy smile that towers him.
“Let’s go,” Chanyeol says, placing both of his hands on Kyungsoo’s shoulders and pushing him towards the cashier. Kyungsoo tenses up under the touch, but Chanyeol’s grip only gets tighter as they reach the counter.
“Kyungsoo!” Jongdae happily exclaims from behind the cashier. The corners of his lips almost reach his eyes; the signature Jongdae’s smile. “And Chanyeol. I knew I would live to see you two hanging out together real soon. What’s the order for today?”
Kyungsoo tries hard not to roll his eyes. He still doesn’t get why his friends think it is good for him to befriend Chanyeol, all he gets is another headache from another loud mouth. Chanyeol fits Baekhyun and Jongdae like a piece of puzzle that is meant to be placed together with them, and Kyungsoo is just another piece laying next to them. He doesn’t like it.
“Two iced caramel macchiatos, one with extra shot.” The sudden words surprise Kyungsoo. Chanyeol’s eyes gaze over the food display, scanning the available menu briefly. “And one bagel, please. I’m paying.”
“Anything else?” Jongdae asks as he punches the order codes into the machine.
“I’m still paying mine.” Kyungsoo insists, pulling out a few cash from his jeans pocket.
“No,” Chanyeol hands over his card to Jongdae, ignoring Kyungsoo’s questioning stare. “Consider me thanking you for agreeing to be my partner in this project.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Why? I thought I should be the one thanking you.”
Chanyeol smiles at him, shrugging. Kyungsoo is not used to this kind of Park Chanyeol. he has always pictured him to be more aggressive--wild. More high-spirited. But he looks pretty tame so far, so unlike the childhood friend Baekhyun has always tells him of. “You have a good taste of music.”
Kyungsoo wants to ask him how he would have known about that, but Jongdae has ushered them with the buzzer that would alert them if their order is ready. Chanyeol leads him to a table for two at the window line of the cafe, allowing a brighter atmosphere than the usual seat Kyungsoo takes with his friends.
“So, have you looked over the things I told you last week?” Chanyeol asks when they are finally seated. He has taken off his cap, revealing brown strands of hair instead of silver like Kyungsoo saw on him last week. They are shorter, too. Perhaps Chanyeol has changed his hairstyle in the seven days they didn’t meet.
“I have,” he answers shortly.
The taller man nods enthusiastically. “How did you find them?”
He considers lying, telling him that it’s boring and he doesn’t want to do composition anymore. But this is music, and Kyungsoo doesn’t want to lie about music. “It’s interesting.” He admits, can’t help but break into a smile.
Chanyeol beams up at him, looking earnestly relieved. “I can show you some of my past composing stuffs. We can make something from the scratch, something more, you know, us.” He flushes when he says the last word, but Kyungsoo doesn’t think it’s a big deal. “But you can listen to my stuffs to know which style I prefer.”
“Sure.” Kyungsoo nods.
Chanyeol takes out his iPod and headphones from his ransel. He gives the headphones to Kyungsoo, telling him to wear it while he scrolls for the song list. The nervous smile he gives him before he finally presses the play button is rather endearing and so unlike the Chanyeol he knows.
The buzzer on their table suddenly beeps, alerting them that their order is ready. Chanyeol, still flustered from the soft shock, quickly takes the buzzer. “I’ll take that, you listen to the song,” he says before he walks away.
Chanyeol’s composed songs are pretty short. They don’t even reach one minute, but Kyungsoo could understand the music. He can sense how much the man experiments with his music, pulling around to find the right melodies. They are easy to listen, not anything too heavy or too light for his liking. Kyungsoo finds himself easily falling for the songs, and it’s a good thing, right?
Chanyeol comes bringing the tray with their order on it. He places the one without extra shot in front of Kyungsoo, stealing a nervous glance in the process. He must have been worried if Kyungsoo would like his stuffs or not. It would be a big deal for their project together, syncing their style of music.
Kyungsoo takes off the headphones when he’s done, placing it on the table near Chanyeol’s iPod. “You make great stuff,” he says, grabbing at his drinks. “I like them.”
The outright laughter from the taller man is unexpected, it surprises Kyungsoo. He watches as Chanyeol laughs hard, hands clutching on the edge of the table. The sound sends flutters to Kyungsoo’s stomach. Must be from the surprise, he tells himself.
“I’m glad,” Chanyeol says, his eyes turning crescent. The kind of stare he has on Kyungsoo now kind of makes him flustered. “It means a lot to me when someone likes my stuffs, you know?”
He nods. “I understand.” It is the same with singing. It matters whether people like his voice or not, or the way he brings the songs on the stage.
“So, what kind of song would you like us to compose?” Chanyeol asks, picking up his bagel from the plate to eat it. He looks very hungry.
“Like I said, I enjoy a variety of music, so I wouldn’t mind much.” He pauses. The way Chanyeol eats is very distracting. Perhaps he should get his own food, too. But he has planned to cook some pasta tonight for himself. “But I prefer something that would be easy to sing along to.”
Chanyeol chews his food, nodding. “I was planning for that, too. If it’s possible, I would like you to sing if we get to perform at the final recital.” Kyungsoo looks at him, surprised. Chanyeol grins sheepishly, “I knew you can sing. I heard one of your performances when I visited Baekhyun at the choir practice. I’m sorry if I sound like a stalker, but I’ve known you since last term.”
“You heard me singing?” Kyungsoo asks.
He nods, trying to hide his nervousness behind his food. “Yeah, and I really like it.”
“Thank you,” he says. “But I still have a lot more to learn from Baekhyun.”
Chanyeol blinks. He hesitates around his cup of coffee, looking unsure. When he finally looks up and meets Kyungsoo’s eyes, he says, “Honestly? I like your voice better than Baekhyun.” There is a bit of color on the tip of his ears, but Kyungsoo pretends he doesn’t notice that. “And don’t let him know, he will rage if he knows,” he adds, just to make the awkwardness between them go away.
Kyungsoo grins, couldn’t help the giddy feeling he has in his chest. It’s always good to have people telling him that they like his voice, but the way Chanyeol said makes him even happier. “Oh, I will. Just for the sake of making him rage.”
The brown haired man laughs, placing down his cup before he could spill the content from the vibration. “I now understand why you have kept up with Baekhyun for so long now.”
“I don’t look like the type, right?” he asks sheepishly.
“No. You look too reserved for someone close to Baekhyun.” Chanyeol admits, his arms folded on the table in front of him. “Not that it’s bad; I like it.”
♪
Don’t you see me now?
I think I’m falling, I’m falling for you
♪
It is not even eight when the loud knock coming at his door. Kyungsoo is still in the middle of dressing up, contemplating if wearing polo shirt would be okay for him. Baekhyun has made him promised his friends to come to Jongdae's gig at the club today, he even said he would come to pick him up and make sure that he really is going.
He follows Baekhyun into the club. It's darker inside, few strays of colorful lights washing the wall and carpet they pass. Baekhyun brings him towards a table, and Kyungsoo can make out Joonmyun’s face under the dim light. There is another man sitting next to him, but Kyungsoo can’t recognize his face.
Kyungsoo sits down on one of the chairs, dragging it closer to the table so he could place his elbow comfortably. He scans the club, noticing how it is not as packed as he expected to be. Normally he would prefer to drink in more quieter place, but the atmosphere feels great here. He can see the stage clearly from his seat, not exactly at the middle but it’s quite upfront.
Baekhyun slides in to the vacant spot next to Joonmyun, leaning in to whisper something in his ear. Joonmyun has a drink in his hand, probably beer. He doesn’t drink wine unless it’s in his house. He listen attentively to Baekhyun, even bringing his ear closer for him to listen better. It’s not long until he nods his head and sits upright, gesturing for the other man to come with him.
Kyungsoo stares at the two of them as they walk in the direction of the bar. “Who is that?” He lowers his voice, careful so no one would catch that but Baekhyun.
“Kim Jongin, a freshman. He has been following Joonmyun around since last month. I think the kid has the hots for him.” Baekhyun says easily.
Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow. It is not rare for him to hear about people having interests on his friends, especially when they are basically social butterflies who hang out with people and be cool about it. Kyungsoo has had people asking him out too, both guys and girls, but he is quite picky about it. Not everyone could match with him.
“He’s handsome,” he admits. “Is Joonmyun going for it?"
Baekhyun looks at him curiously, “Why? Is he your type?"
“I don’t have a type.” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes.
“Don’t lie. I know that you-”
Their conversation abruptly ends when Joonmyun comes back with glasses of drinks in his hands. He smiles, placing each one of them in front of bickering men. “What were you talking about?” He asks, sitting down on his previous seat. Kim Jongin, who has also been bringing in drinks, hands over a glass him before he sits next to him.
“Nothing,” Kyungsoo answers shortly.
Baekhyun grins. “Kyungsoo wants to know who the handsome young man we have here is."
Joonmyun turns his head towards his companion, amusement twinkling in his eyes. “Right. Kyungsoo, this is Jongin. Jongin, this is Kyungsoo. He is older than you, so you have to call him hyung."
Jongin laughs; his voice is deep and sweet like chocolate. Kyungsoo wonders what he sees in Joonmyun. “Nice to meet you, Kyungsoo hyung."
Kyungsoo nods, acknowledging him. “Nice to meet you, too."
He watches how Jongin pulls his chair closer to Joonmyun and subtly presses their shoulders together. He almost misses it, but Joonmyun's smile grow fonder as he lifts up his glass to hide it.
His thoughts got interrupted once there are noises coming from the stage. He could see Jongdae, hair specially permed for the performance, and his bandmates starting to enter. Kyungsoo doesn't know much about Jongdae's bandmates, only knew how they were formed by mutual interests in music performances. He could recognize the guitarist, as he has volunteered to help their choir practice a few times. He doesn't know about the bassist though, and the drummer... Wait.
"Is that Chanyeol?" Kyungsoo leans closer to Baekhyun, covering his mouth so his words couldn't be read.
Baekhyun nods. "Yeah. He started to play with them since last month."
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are The Firebolt!” The crowd shouts and claps to support them. He starts introducing each of the members and what instrument they play. The jokes he slips in are really refreshing, he even makes people laugh. “We’re starting with the first song, Blind.”
The band starts off by covering the hit song of TRAX three years ago. The song surely brings a lot of memories to the audience, considering how big it was in its era. Jongdae manages to pull a great performance by twisting the song into his own style. Surprisingly, it sounds even greater this way.
The performance ends with the guitarist finishing smoothly with his adlib. Jongdae lets his members take care of their equipments as he interacts with the audiences, engaging them with small talks.
"Last performance would be a solo acoustics from our special music prodigy," which gets laughter from their own bandmates, and Baekhyun, of course. He even slaps his own thigh hearing that. "Park Chanyeol."
Chanyeol is grinning as he steps into the front with his guitar. He adjusts the mic stand, tapping the receiver to make sure his voice comes alright. "Hello, I'm the prodigy," he laughs into the mic, making people laugh, too. "If you know the song, I would like you to sing with me. Please enjoy, Creep."
He starts the song with the intro music, captivating the people into his slow, but not boring music. Kyungsoo doesn't know Chanyeol plays guitar, and sings at that. He didn't even know he could play drum until today. Kyungsoo feels awed.
The song is familiar to him. He recently heard it in one of the playlists he keeps replaying on 8tracks. In fact, he knows it well that it's a playlist his secret admirer has made for him.
Chanyeol pulls the song well. His vocal is nothing near Jongdae's, but his voice suits the song well. He closes his eyes as he hits the long note, opting to bring it out with low, steady voice to make it smoother.
When he opens his eyes, they meet with Kyungsoo's, like he knows how he has been entranced by his performance. Their eye contact stays as he sings the last lines, sending chills over Kyungsoo’s body. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, not when he feels like he would miss out something big if he does. He listens attentively to the song, letting the sound of Chanyeol’s guitar wash over him.
Chanyeol ends the performance with a big grin and claps from the audiences. He shouts a loud thank you and bows before he exits the stage.
To Kyungsoo, it leaves a big hole in his heart because why does he feel like Chanyeol has sung the last lines for him?
♪
You're so fucking special
I wish I was special
But I'm a creep
♪
The next Friday, Kyungsoo finds himself sitting in the train going to Chanyeol's house. The other man has offered him to take a look at his instruments and start trying them out for their composition project. Kyungsoo agreed almost immediately after he offered that, having extra curiousness of what the music prodigy has hidden in his house.
Chanyeol sounded delightful this morning, when Kyungsoo called him to make sure he has the correct destination in mind.
"I'll see you at the station, then. It's quite a long walk from there to my house." Chanyeol ended the call before Kyungsoo even consider the offer.
Kyungsoo leans back in his seat, earphones in his ears. Summer is coming, and summer playlists are starting to dominate the front page of 8tracks. He, too, is preparing a summer playlist. But his choice of songs aren't those upbeat house mixes like people have uploaded so far. He has a range of preferred summer songs, but he doesn't think they're good enough.
He honestly thinks Chanyeol would fit the theme better. He has learned how the taller man likes songs with exciting beats just by a glance of the song library he has in his iPod. Kyungsoo has thought asking for his assistance for this particular playlist, but he doesn’t feel like revealing his little secret just yet.
The intercom announces that he has arrived in his destination and that the doors will open on his left. Kyungsoo gets up and walks towards the door. The station isn't much crowded. He checks on Chanyeol's text again, making sure he gets off on the right exit. Chanyeol said he would be waiting at the exit.
But Kyungsoo didn't expect to see him sitting on his motorcycle, wearing a bright red helmet over the streaks of his brown hair.
"Kyungsoo!" Chanyeol waves.
"Hey," Kyungsoo smiles, walking towards him. He yanks away his earphones and rolls it around his mp3 player before dumping them in his bag. "Did you wait for long?"
"No, I just got here five minutes ago." He takes out another helmet and hands it over to Kyungsoo. "Wear this first."
Kyungsoo obliges. He wears the helmet as Chanyeol turns up the engine. It is rare to see someone who prefers riding motorcycles. Kyungsoo hasn’t even ride one except for that one time he needed money and took a part-time job as chicken place delivery man. He likes it, though, the way the wind slaps nicely against his face as he rides.
Chanyeol pats on the back seat, urging him to hop on. He doesn’t give him any choice but to complies anyway.
"Hold tight!" The taller man shouts as he presses on the gas, bringing the motorcycle to go forward with a surprising starting speed.
They arrive in front of a house with white fence and beautiful flowers in the front. Kyungsoo thought Chanyeol would be living in an apartment complex, but he was wrong. He takes off the helmet and lets Chanyeol park his motorcycle in the garage.
"No one is home," Chanyeol explains as they climb up the stairs that leads to his room. "Mom is running a restaurant in Myeongil, dad works, and my sister also works. Besides, they would just complain if I make too much noises in the house."
Kyungsoo nods, listening. He likes the feeling of Chanyeol’s house; it’s spacious but filled well with furnitures so it doesn’t feel empty. The white color on the wall in the contrast of wooden parquette floor gives him a neat and clean impression.
"Here we go." Chanyeol opens the door of his bedroom, letting him in first.
Chanyeol's room is not vast, but it’s arranged well. The bed is placed near the window, and next to it is his desk with a mixer and keyboard on it. There are guitars on the other side; one acoustic and electric. Kyungsoo has seen the acoustic one at the gig. There is a rack full of books and CDs near the guitars, and Kyungsoo is intrigued to find out what kind of music Chanyeol has there.
He grabs a chair from the desk and gestures Kyungsoo to sit on it. "I'll fetch the drinks first. Is cola okay?"
Kyungsoo nods, still too distracted to answer properly. He only notices when the door closes and the sound of Chanyeol's running down the stairs starts to fade.
He puts down his bag on the floor near the bed and starts to roam around the room. He walks towards the racks first, skimming over the book titles. He knows some of them, and they are a bit of heavy read for him. It amuses him how someone like Chanyeol could have such choices of read, when he thought he was just a taller copy of Byun Baekhyun.
Under the books, there are CDs piling up. They are sorted by the artists names. There are local artists as well as foreign singers. Kyungsoo definitely sees Coldplay's newest album there. He smiles a little, it definitely feels good to meet someone who has the same taste of music as yours.
He goes to the table next, curious of what the tall man has. He plays with the keyboard a bit, trying to remember the chords he learned in his young days. Too bad he didn't continue the lesson as he grows up. There are music sheets and CDs on the right side, some with scratchy doodles that Chanyeol must have done when he felt frustrated.
Kyungsoo scans around the CDs, most of them are named by dates. There are even ones from two years ago. He wonders how much Chanyeol's music has grown since then. He stops at one CD, one that has actual title instead of date marks. The title is familiar, too. He picks it up.
I, for U
"Whoa whoa whoa," Chanyeol enters the room with a tray full of food and drinks. He places it down before he quickly strides to Kyungsoo's side and snatches the CD from him. "I'm embarrassed," he smiles sheepishly. He places the CD in a drawer, where more CDs seem to have placed. "How much have you seen?"
"A bit," Kyungsoo says. "I thought I saw something familiar."
"They are mixtapes, something I'm still working on," he blurts out. "If you're interested, I could show you when it's finished."
Kyungsoo breaks out a grin, amused on how much the taller man is getting nervous. "Okay, show me when you're done." He nods acknowledgingly.
Chanyeol grins as well, relief clear in his face. He places his hand on Kyungsoo's shoulder, startling him, and maneuvers him towards the drinks.
"Okay, should we start with Matilda?" Chanyeol clasps his hands together.
"Matilda?" he asks, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
Chanyeol blinks at him, realizing something. He scratches on his nose, something Kyungsoo learns he always do in awkward situations. "Oh, it's just, um, my guitar?"
Kyungsoo laughs. "You name your guitar?"
Chanyeol looks flustered, his neck is starting to redden. “Well, there is Sam as well." he points at the keyboard.
“Oh,” he says, looking back and forth between the guitar and the keyboard. Keyboard would be easy for him, but he wants to see Chanyeol playing his guitar more. What a selfish thought. "Okay, Matilda it is, then."
♪
next
♪
Chanyeol/D.O, brief!Kai/Suho, PG-13, ~14,4000 words
Kyungsoo finds his peace in 8tracks, the online playlists web, until an anonymous account comes and crashes his life.
Written for Round 2015 of onemorechansoo. This version is a bit improved than the original one posted on the comm.
The frown on Kyungsoo’s forehead increases as he scrolls through his ongoing paper. He is supposed to make at least four pages for the morning class tomorrow, but he is only at the second page and already exhausted. He bites on his lower lip, tapping his index finger on the ‘I’ button on the keyboard to the tune of the Sam Smith song he has blasting through his headphones.
‘In the contrary of…’
He pauses writing as the song comes to an end and plays another song. The starting beat is easily recognized as The Weeknd’s current hit song which Kyungsoo quite likes, but getting bored of since it is somehow getting overplayed. He opens up his browser and quickly types down his usual study playlist on the search bar and presses play, IU’s sweet voice interrupting the English lyrics. Kyungsoo feels a bit sorry for the vocalist, but he needs to finish the paper tonight and Earned It wouldn’t help him thinking any clearer.
The song gives him more push to finish down at least three more paragraphs before it switches to a Clazziquai upbeat song and it distracts Kyungsoo from his paper for a minute before he realizes that he has a paper to do.
8tracks, Kyungsoo has found, is both effective and ineffective in helping him studying.
He found the online playlists web through a post on a Naver cafe, and he has been hooked to the website since last term. Thanks to it, Kyungsoo’s taste of music has broadened. Not only does he like, Maroon 5 and Ed Sheeran, but he has taken a liking to Imagine Dragons as well. Under the username of simple ‘dokyungsoo’, he has uploaded a total of 10 playlists with three playlists awarded gold and one platinum. His taste is not bad, it seems.
When he is finally done with the paper, the digital clock at the corner of his laptop screen shows that it is almost two in the morning . He yawns, clicking the save button twice just to be careful. He is supposed to have it printed, but it’s so late now that he might disturb his roommate’s sleep with the sound of the printer. Instead, he opens up the browser again and goes to his playlist drafts.
He has been saving a draft of playlist that is meant to be posted tonight after he finishes his papers. It is inspired by a quote he found while looking for references for the assignment. The words have a nice ring to his ears, and he easily translated the feeling into some songs he has in his iTunes, included some new ones. He types in a title, and clicks the publish button. He listens to it just to make sure that the arrangement of the songs is really okay.
Halfway through the songs, he climbs up to bed, leaving the playlist playing through his laptop’s speaker. Kyungsoo sighs as his head meets with the pillow; he is really tired, and the songs helps him feeling more relaxed. Just when he is about to dream, though, the loud notification of his phone rings, signaling that he has a message.
Stupid me, he curses in his head, how could I forget to silent the damned phone?
After one minute of struggling to look for his phone in the sea of his blanket, Kyungsoo pulls his phone up.
hey, i hope you’re not asleep yet. but can we meet tomorrow to start working on the project?
It’s not long before another message comes in.
oops. i meant it’s today! hehe
He groans. Of course, he has a project for the composition class he is taking for extra credits. Out of the people in the class, the teacher has to pair him up with Park Chanyeol, the loud student who is actually quite popular from the music department. Unllike Kyungsoo, who takes the class just because he thought it would be fun, Park Chanyeol does it because he wants to pursue the career.
Don’t disturb my sleep. And yes, we can.
you’re still awake after all! see you tomorrow!
good night :)
Of course Park Chanyeol is the type that is even louder in the texts. Why the other man is still awake at this ungodly hour, he doesn’t even want to know. He doesn’t bother to reply, opting to go to sleep right away after he puts his phone in a silent mode instead. He can deal with Park Chanyeol tomorrow.
♪
Kyungsoo arrives at the class exactly fifteen minutes before it starts. He takes his usual seat four rows from the back, near the window. He takes out his earphones from his bag. It is a routine he picked up back in high school; he would come to class early and spend his time listening to music to keep up his mood. He has tried skipping it once, and become grumpy for the rest of the day.
His closest friends understand this, and they never disturb him and his morning ‘ear yoga’ anymore. Well, except one.
“Did you finish the paper?”
Kyungsoo jerks from having his earphone suddenly pulled off. He sends his best death glare to the culprit, but what he gets is innocent grin instead.
Byun Baekhyun is the first person he socialized with when he first entered the university. They have the same major, share the same classes, and take the same student club. He never stops talking; even when he does, his other part of body would make the noises instead. Baekhyun wasn’t Kyungsoo’s first choice of best friend, but they surprisingly connect well.
Kyungsoo scoots over, making space for his friend to sit next to him. “Yeah,” he answers, putting back the earphone piece into his ear. “Did you?”
“Only this morning,” Baekhyun pats on his own chest like he is proud of it. He reaches out to pull out Kyungsoo’s earphone again, this time placing it in his own ear. “What are you listening to?”
“I downloaded new stuffs last night,” he says, adjusting the volume so they could enjoy the music better. “I like this one.”
Baekhyun frowns, paying attention to the song. “I think I have heard this song somewhere. It’s quite good now that I listen clearly.”
“Park Chanyeol again?”
The other grins widely at him. It’s cute how Kyungsoo looks a little dejected everytime he mentions Chanyeol. “It’s not my fault that my childhood friend blasts songs from his iPod everyday.”
Kyungsoo sighs. It’s not the first time said Park Chanyeol has beaten him in this inexistent competition of introducing songs to Byun Baekhyun. “You loud people hang out with each other too much. That Park Chanyeol, I can’t believe he even manages to be loud in his texts.”
“He texts you?” Baekhyun quips up. The corner of his eyebrow twitches up when something gets him interested, but Kyungsoo is not going to tell him about this.
“Yeah, last night when I was going to sleep. He asked about the composition project.”
Baekhyun laughs. He slaps Kyungsoo’s shoulder lightly, “I can’t believe you’re really doing that with him.”
“Shut up, Byun,” Kyungsoo sends him a death glare. "You were the one telling me to partner up with him.” It sounded like a good suggestion back then, when Kyungsoo didn’t know much about the said partner. He seemed like a good person-well, he is a good person-but Kyungsoo could do without his stupid grin and little pranks he knows he has plotted with Baekhyun.
“Well, you asked if I knew someone from music department that shares the class with you. Chanyeol fits the requirements.”
“I should have asked for someone more normal and less loud, too.” Kyungsoo groans. “He was like, exclamation marks everywhere, and I haven’t even worked with him. It’s going to be awkward, I swear.”
Baekhyun pats his shoulder. “Hey, it’s not that bad. You survived three years of friendship with me, you could start another with Chanyeol, too.”
He wants to fight, to tell Baekhyun that he is incapable of dealing with another extravert because he is tired of keeping up with their energy. He leans back in his seat instead. “I hope you’re right.” He gives up. After a while, he turns back to his friend and looks at him in the eyes. “But if this turns out bad, you know whose pretty face I’ll destroy first.”
“At least you said I’m pretty!” Baekhyun beams up at him, batting his eyelashes three times in a way that makes Kyungsoo regrets ever having crossed paths with him.
He jabs his elbow on Baekhyun’s left thigh, making sure it hurts like hell so the other knows how much he wants to take his words back.
♪
Kyungsoo feels guilty as he walks towards the practice room. He is already prepared to explain one hundred and one reasons why he was going to skip today’s practice, I have something really important coming up, but Jongdae just dismisses them with a wave of his hand. The club vice president’s signature permed locks bounce lightly around his face as he goes through the club’s papers.
“No practice today, Soo. Didn’t Baekhyun tell you that?” He says, not looking up from the papers.
That little bastard. He was the one that insisted that Kyungsoo should skip today’s practice to meet up with Chanyeol. He didn’t even give him a hint that the practice is cancelled when Kyungsoo went on the guilt trip in front of him.
“No, he didn’t tell me.”
Jongdae laughs that high-pitched laugh Baekhyun dubs as seal-laugh. “How typical of him. Were you worried?”
Kyungsoo wants to strangle that laugh out of Jongdae, but in his dictionary, violence only applies for certain Byun Baekhyun. Besides, Jongdae is harmless. Kyungsoo likes having Jongdae around, especially because he is the only one who could keep up bantering with Baekhyun until he stutters and surrenders. All hail Lord Kim.
“I kinda forgot about today’s practice and agreed to meet my partner today,” he admits.
“Let me guess. This partner is Park Chanyeol from Music, and Baekhyun told you to meet him instead of having practice because he wants his most favorite people to meet and engage in friendship?”
Kyungsoo frowns, “What favorite people? I’m not on that list for sure.”
Jongdae barks a laugh, “Don’t be so sure, Soo. Who knows if you are even on top of that list?”
“Don’t speak nonsense, Jongdae. How am I being partners with someone from your kind is still beyond me,” he mutters. “I shouldn’t have trusted that Byun Baekhyun in the first place.”
“Soo, you are also a part of us. Stop denying that, it’s not like we’re monsters.”
Kyungsoo shakes his head, folding his arms in front of his chest. “No, not monsters, just wild animals. Werewolves? I should be careful being around you.”
“Actually, none of us is more of a monster than you. Right. We are just cute little lambs playing around with your sharp eyes trained on eyes, ready to eat us out. Or do you think three little pigs is better?”
Kyungsoo laughs. This is why he likes Jongdae; while every little thing Baekhyun says to tease him annoy the hell out of him, the witty retorts Jongdae throws back only amuses him. “Okay, three little pigs it is.”
Jongdae smiles, the edge of his eyes curving up, making him look sweet. “You should give it a try, though. Chanyeol is not a bad guy. And he is much softer than Baekhyun is, believe it or not. A very sweet guy.”
“I hope so,” he sighs. “I just don’t like meeting new people.”
“Stop being such an introvert. This is why you don’t have a date.” Jongdae pokes his shoulder.
Kyungsoo shrugs. “I don’t date unless necessary.”
“Which is why you don’t date at all!” Jongdae groans.
“Whatever.”
♪
Kyungsoo picks a seat on one of the long tables in the central library's discussion room. There are some other students around him, most of them with their earphones connected to their laptops. Some of them are alone, but some come in groups. They mostly keep quiet to whatever they are working on, though.
Kyungsoo briefly wonders if it is a wise decision to invite a Park Chanyeol to the library. There are more secluded spots around the library, in case said Park Chanyeol goes wild and needs to be hidden. But he figures it would be easier for them to meet in a more open room. It should be easy for him to spot the other man if he is coming through the door this way.
He pulls out his mp3 player, putting in the earphones and starting to listen to the a new playlist he downloaded last night. He takes out the project brief from the composition class next, trying to understand beforehand what the teacher is asking them to do. But the words only cause him another confusion. He is in the choir, yes, but he is still only a Psychology major who has taken an interest in music. It doesn't mean he understands music theoretically. He frowns, flipping the paper over and over.
"Do Kyungsoo!"
When Kyungsoo looks up, it is all wide grin and silver hair staring back at him. Is that even legal to have that kind of hair in college?
"Park Chanyeol," Kyungsoo acknowledges him, nodding slightly as the taller man takes the seat across to him.
"It's Chanyeol, just Chanyeol." he says, smiling. “Thank you for having me as your partner," Chanyeol beams up at him. His hand is supporting his chin. The silver Rolex watch wrapped around his wrist flashes before Kyungsoo’s eyes.
"No, I’m the one supposed to thank you. I'm the one at disadvantage here," Kyungsoo shrugs. It's true, he is the one who's going to get a lot of help from the other man. This is why he asked Baekhyun in the first place.
"I think Psychology is very fun to learn," he says earnestly. "I like music, but sometimes it becomes too much for me when I just want to have fun with it instead of getting all serious and wrinkled for it, you know?"
Kyungsoo hums, but it's a new knowledge for him. Judging by the stories Baekhyun shares on how an airhead Park Chanyeol is, he couldn't imagine him as the serious type. But people could be serious for whatever they like, Kyungsoo learns. Baekhyun is always a changed man whenever he steps up in practice and sings their song.
"Do you, Kyungsoo?" Chanyeol asks, that gets Kyungsoo's attention on him again. His eyes are almost twinkling with excitement. "Do you like music too? Is that why you are taking the course?"
"I don't hate it," Kyungsoo pauses, hesitating to answer. "I need the extracurricular credits to pass my major."
"But you don't like it either?" The other asks further.
"No, I like it." Kyungsoo shakes his head. He honestly doesn't know how to answer the question. He likes music, but perhaps not to the extent Park Chanyeol the music student does. "I like listening to songs," he shrugs.
Chanyeol smiles again, "Well, I'm glad my partner is at least liking music. What kind of songs do you like?"
"It depends," Kyungsoo remembers the playlists he listens to and he creates. They vary, not only stuck to one genre. It’s difficult to explain that to anyone else sometimes, so he usually just take one artist that generally sums up his music taste. "I listen a lot to Eric Benet, and Jeff Bernat too."
"Yeah?" Kyungsoo couldn't miss how Chanyeol's face is lit up even if he wants to. "I like their music, too. We're on the same ground, then. It shouldn't be difficult to do this project." Chanyeol clasps his hands together, feeling excited.
"Be careful, it's three of my credits we're talking about," says Kyungsoo, teasing.
Chanyeol laughs. "It's three of mine, too. Don't worry, I don’t plan to make a mess of it either."
Kyungsoo couldn't help but smile. "Good. I'm sorry, if I’m offending you. I'm afraid I have been traumatized by Byun Baekhyun a lot."
"Baekhyun is a wonder, isn't he? I'll admit that he and I are the perfect combination when it comes to pranks, and I'm sorry you have to deal with me too," he says, "But I guarantee you, Do Kyungsoo, that I don't fuck up my music."
Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows. He has to see about that later.
♪
He throws himself onto the bed as soon as he finishes dressing. His hair is still wet from the shower he had earlier, and he didn’t even bother to leave the towel at its designated place. The drops of water falling from the tips of his hair are seeping through the pillow cover, and it’s going to stink later if he doesn’t move away soon. Kyungsoo heaves a sigh, closing his eyes as he rests himself on the soft material.
It is not even a tiring day, but Kyungsoo feels like all his energy has drained out. Having Park Chanyeol to keep him talking more than he usually does is going to tire him more. The days he has to spend with the other man are not the ones he exactly looks for. He just wants to listen to music, drown himself in it and never resurface if he could.
He almost slipped into a deep slumber when his stomach suddenly makes a sound of protest. He groans, remembering how all he had eaten today was the sandwich he bought at the canteen. He should have taken Baekhyun’s advice to grab the meal coupon and have donkatsu, but of course he refused because the tuna sandwich the mini mart was selling was more tempting at that very moment.
Kyungsoo finally pushes himself off his bed, patting his pillow to check its humidity before he gets up from his bed. He walks towards the compact kitchen installed in his tiny apartment, wondering if he should cook himself ramyun or instant curry. Forgetting to do the grocery shopping for the month, his mini-fridge is now empty from food ingredients. His stock of instant food is also going thin; this means that he is forced to go some shopping after classes tomorrow.
He grabs the instant curry, tearing the packaging apart with ease. It is now easier for him to cook his own meals, even if they are just instant food. His parents bought him the small apartment once they heard about how he got accepted into the university. It’s their parenting style, but it’s also because it takes more than forty-five minutes from their home to the university. Kyungsoo is okay with it, cutting his journey short means he has more time for himself.
He takes out his favorite plate from the rack and serves the food for himself, humming to the tone of If I Ain’t Got You. He doesn’t have a dining table in his apartment, so he always eats at the table in front of the television. Glancing at the clock, Kyungsoo feels slightly relieved that he is not late for his favorite show. He switches the television on, and quickly surfs for the channel he wants to watch. It is a game show, where a group of people has to solve a murder case with one of them acting as the detective. He has always liked trying to figure out who the murderer is, even if he fails sometimes. It gives him thrills.
Kyungsoo is almost finished with his meal, only halfway through the show, when his phone suddenly rings. He grabs it with his eyes still fixed on the television screen.
“Hello?” His voice is a bit awkward since he hasn’t swallowed the food he has in his mouth.
“Where the hell are you?” Baekhyun’s voice is easily recognizable even over the loud thumping of music coming over the line.
Kyungsoo grabs the glass of water and drinks some. “Home. Why?”
“Did you forget that I asked you to come to The Lark? I told you that Jongdae’s band is playing tonight, right?” Baekhyun sounds pissed off, and a bit desperate. But Kyungsoo is immune to that tone.
Of course Kyungsoo didn’t forget. Jongdae has always invited him to his band gigs at local clubs since the start. “It’s Crime Scene tonight,” he answers shortly. Baekhyun snorts into the phone. “Tell Jongdae to sing nicely today for me.” He grins, poking over the last bit of his curry rice.
There is a shuffling noise over the phone, and suddenly it’s Jongdae’s voice talking, “You’re so dead tomorrow when I see you.” Kyungsoo laughs, none of Jongdae’s threat actually means danger. “Can’t you just come over? We’re not starting until nine.”
“Just do gigs on weekends, Jongdae. I will definitely come,” he says.
Jongdae sighs. “Fine. If you don’t come next time either, I’m kicking you off the choir club.”
“That’s Joonmyun’s to decide.”
“I can persuade him!”
“Try it.”
Jongdae makes noises of protest that start distancing until Baekhyun’s voice takes over again. They chat up a bit, mostly Baekhyun complaining to him how it’s very hot in the club and his eyeliner is smudging off due to his sweat.
“You’re not going to attract anyone anyway,” Kyungsoo says, finishing his meal. He glances at the television, checking if they have found any decisive clue for the case.
“Watch your words! I’m going to hook up with someone tonight while you pathetically rot in your room, hear that Do Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun fusses. Kyungsoo gives him a snort, unable to answer since he is still chewing. “I’m hanging up, Jongdae is being whiny again.”
Kyungsoo hears a series of complains in the background. Yes, definitely Jongdae.
“Don’t busy yourself with the playlist website too much, okay?”
Kyungsoo splutters. He really shouldn’t have told Baekhyun about that particular secret of him. “I was just going to upload a playlist about you,” he lies.
“Yeah? What’s the title?”
“Little shit.”
Kyungsoo hangs up on the call without waiting for his friend’s answer. That reminds himself, though, that he hasn’t checked the response for the playlist he posted last night. He is confident that there would be some likes already, but he doesn’t know if it would pull at least gold rate from the website. He hurries finishing his meal and does the dishes so he could check his account.
He retreats back to his bedroom after they announce the criminal for the episode and explain the overall plot for the murder, feeling satisfied that he guessed the correct murderer. He brings over his laptop to the bed and turns it on.
It turns out that he has indeed received several notifications on his latest playlist. There are a total of twelve likes and some comments about how the listeners could relate themselves to the playlist. Twelve likes aren’t bad for a day, Kyungsoo could get more later. What gains his interest is how there is a new follower among the others with an username Kyungsoo couldn’t help but get embarrassed of.
for-dokyungsoo followed you.
He clicks the link that leads to the user’s profile and laughs when he sees what the user has for the description section.
for do kyungsoo,
and his round eyes,
and his heart-shaped smile,
and his golden voice.
It’s so embarrassing that he has to bury his face on his bed’s cover. Is it a prank? Who was behind the account? He thinks of the possibility of people knowing him both in real life and on 8tracks, but only could think of Baekhyun. Perhaps it is Baekhyun.
But it couldn’t be him since he is still at the club with Jongdae. Must be someone else.
His heart pounds hard as he scrolls down the page and finds that the user has uploaded a playlist. It’s titled ‘i, for you’, and Kyungsoo couldn’t help but getting curious over the songs. He doesn’t know that him clicking the play would only mean the start of his life change.
♪
Baekhyun manages to block Kyungsoo in front of the class before they get home the next day. The pressure he puts on Kyungsoo’s arm is not that powerful, but the annoying smile on his face is what gets him all struggling. He drags Kyungsoo over to the cafe where Jongdae works at for their study session.
It is something they usually do on Thursday evening, where everyone has their time to finally gather together and study. Mostly it’s only Kyungsoo and Joonmyun who do, Baekhyun prefer to spend his time playing or disturbing the studying ones until Jongdae is free from his shift.
The bell rings when they enter the cafe, signalling their arrival to the cafe. Kyungsoo walks towards the tables while Baekhyun goes to Jongdae at the cashier to order for them. He grabs a seat at their usual table at the corner of the cafe where the lighting is the most appropriate for them to study. He pulls out his phone and texts Joonmyun to let him know about their arrival. He usually would join later after he finishes his other club activities.
“Jongdae gets off at five today,” Baekhyun says, placing a cup of hot caramel macchiato in front of Kyungsoo's, which he gratefully takes. He pulls at the chair across to him and sits down. “Do you want to watch a movie tonight?”
Kyungsoo frowns. He has another paper that isn’t due until next week, and movie sounds really tempting. “We have morning class tomorrow, why not on weekend?”
“What’s for weekend?” Another voice adds.
“Joonmyun!” Baekhyun beams up at him, patting on the chair next to him so Joonmyun could sit there. His face falls when the said man chooses to sit next to Kyungsoo instead. “Want to watch movie tonight?”
Joonmyun takes a sip from Kyungsoo’s cup, raising an eyebrow. “What is there at the cinema?”
“Jurassic World."
The raise of the corner of his lips is the very indication that Joonmyun is interested with the offer. Kyungsoo silently takes his cup back, rolling his eyes.
“Kyungsoo wants to watch it on weekend though.” Baekhyun sends an accusing glare in his direction.
“But I have morning class tomorrow,” he says in defend.
“Before you forget, I do, too.”
They eventually stop bickering with each other and start to work on their laptops, completely ditching the previous topic. Kyungsoo connects to the cafe’s wifi immediately and is very satisfied to find the speed. He has finished the artwork for his newest playlist, and planned to upload it with the cafe’s internet since last night. He tunes out the hushed conversation between Baekhyun and Joonmyun by plugging in his earphone and wearing them. The playlist from for-dokyungsoo is surprisingly what he aches to listen to.
He takes a glance at his friends, making sure no one is really paying attention to him before he clicks on the play button after his own playlist is starting to upload. It’s kind of embarrassing when he is found out to be listening to a playlist by a user with his fucking name on the username.
Kyungsoo quickly moves to his word window to continue working on his homework, acting like he isn’t actually paying attention to the lyrics in the songs. It’s rather difficult to do, though. He has to hold himself from singing along the lyrics of songs he is familiar with. He ends up with pathetic finger tapping against the keyboard. His body unconsciously sways to the melody.
Joonmyun seems to catch this. He raises an eyebrow, as if asking why are you so distracted today? To which Kyungsoo shakes his head off, quickly hiding behind his laptop’s screen to hide his embarrassment.
This for-dokyungsoo is really going to be the death of him.
♪
He meets Chanyeol again on the next Tuesday. They agreed to meet at the cafe this time, allowing both of them more freedom to discuss about their project further. Kyungsoo has done some researches Chanyeol suggested him to do, and he starts to understand where this project is going.
Kyungsoo is about to press the button that allows the cafe’s door to open when another finger has come to press it first. He turns his head, glaring at the pair of bright eyes and goofy smile that towers him.
“Let’s go,” Chanyeol says, placing both of his hands on Kyungsoo’s shoulders and pushing him towards the cashier. Kyungsoo tenses up under the touch, but Chanyeol’s grip only gets tighter as they reach the counter.
“Kyungsoo!” Jongdae happily exclaims from behind the cashier. The corners of his lips almost reach his eyes; the signature Jongdae’s smile. “And Chanyeol. I knew I would live to see you two hanging out together real soon. What’s the order for today?”
Kyungsoo tries hard not to roll his eyes. He still doesn’t get why his friends think it is good for him to befriend Chanyeol, all he gets is another headache from another loud mouth. Chanyeol fits Baekhyun and Jongdae like a piece of puzzle that is meant to be placed together with them, and Kyungsoo is just another piece laying next to them. He doesn’t like it.
“Two iced caramel macchiatos, one with extra shot.” The sudden words surprise Kyungsoo. Chanyeol’s eyes gaze over the food display, scanning the available menu briefly. “And one bagel, please. I’m paying.”
“Anything else?” Jongdae asks as he punches the order codes into the machine.
“I’m still paying mine.” Kyungsoo insists, pulling out a few cash from his jeans pocket.
“No,” Chanyeol hands over his card to Jongdae, ignoring Kyungsoo’s questioning stare. “Consider me thanking you for agreeing to be my partner in this project.”
He raises an eyebrow. “Why? I thought I should be the one thanking you.”
Chanyeol smiles at him, shrugging. Kyungsoo is not used to this kind of Park Chanyeol. he has always pictured him to be more aggressive--wild. More high-spirited. But he looks pretty tame so far, so unlike the childhood friend Baekhyun has always tells him of. “You have a good taste of music.”
Kyungsoo wants to ask him how he would have known about that, but Jongdae has ushered them with the buzzer that would alert them if their order is ready. Chanyeol leads him to a table for two at the window line of the cafe, allowing a brighter atmosphere than the usual seat Kyungsoo takes with his friends.
“So, have you looked over the things I told you last week?” Chanyeol asks when they are finally seated. He has taken off his cap, revealing brown strands of hair instead of silver like Kyungsoo saw on him last week. They are shorter, too. Perhaps Chanyeol has changed his hairstyle in the seven days they didn’t meet.
“I have,” he answers shortly.
The taller man nods enthusiastically. “How did you find them?”
He considers lying, telling him that it’s boring and he doesn’t want to do composition anymore. But this is music, and Kyungsoo doesn’t want to lie about music. “It’s interesting.” He admits, can’t help but break into a smile.
Chanyeol beams up at him, looking earnestly relieved. “I can show you some of my past composing stuffs. We can make something from the scratch, something more, you know, us.” He flushes when he says the last word, but Kyungsoo doesn’t think it’s a big deal. “But you can listen to my stuffs to know which style I prefer.”
“Sure.” Kyungsoo nods.
Chanyeol takes out his iPod and headphones from his ransel. He gives the headphones to Kyungsoo, telling him to wear it while he scrolls for the song list. The nervous smile he gives him before he finally presses the play button is rather endearing and so unlike the Chanyeol he knows.
The buzzer on their table suddenly beeps, alerting them that their order is ready. Chanyeol, still flustered from the soft shock, quickly takes the buzzer. “I’ll take that, you listen to the song,” he says before he walks away.
Chanyeol’s composed songs are pretty short. They don’t even reach one minute, but Kyungsoo could understand the music. He can sense how much the man experiments with his music, pulling around to find the right melodies. They are easy to listen, not anything too heavy or too light for his liking. Kyungsoo finds himself easily falling for the songs, and it’s a good thing, right?
Chanyeol comes bringing the tray with their order on it. He places the one without extra shot in front of Kyungsoo, stealing a nervous glance in the process. He must have been worried if Kyungsoo would like his stuffs or not. It would be a big deal for their project together, syncing their style of music.
Kyungsoo takes off the headphones when he’s done, placing it on the table near Chanyeol’s iPod. “You make great stuff,” he says, grabbing at his drinks. “I like them.”
The outright laughter from the taller man is unexpected, it surprises Kyungsoo. He watches as Chanyeol laughs hard, hands clutching on the edge of the table. The sound sends flutters to Kyungsoo’s stomach. Must be from the surprise, he tells himself.
“I’m glad,” Chanyeol says, his eyes turning crescent. The kind of stare he has on Kyungsoo now kind of makes him flustered. “It means a lot to me when someone likes my stuffs, you know?”
He nods. “I understand.” It is the same with singing. It matters whether people like his voice or not, or the way he brings the songs on the stage.
“So, what kind of song would you like us to compose?” Chanyeol asks, picking up his bagel from the plate to eat it. He looks very hungry.
“Like I said, I enjoy a variety of music, so I wouldn’t mind much.” He pauses. The way Chanyeol eats is very distracting. Perhaps he should get his own food, too. But he has planned to cook some pasta tonight for himself. “But I prefer something that would be easy to sing along to.”
Chanyeol chews his food, nodding. “I was planning for that, too. If it’s possible, I would like you to sing if we get to perform at the final recital.” Kyungsoo looks at him, surprised. Chanyeol grins sheepishly, “I knew you can sing. I heard one of your performances when I visited Baekhyun at the choir practice. I’m sorry if I sound like a stalker, but I’ve known you since last term.”
“You heard me singing?” Kyungsoo asks.
He nods, trying to hide his nervousness behind his food. “Yeah, and I really like it.”
“Thank you,” he says. “But I still have a lot more to learn from Baekhyun.”
Chanyeol blinks. He hesitates around his cup of coffee, looking unsure. When he finally looks up and meets Kyungsoo’s eyes, he says, “Honestly? I like your voice better than Baekhyun.” There is a bit of color on the tip of his ears, but Kyungsoo pretends he doesn’t notice that. “And don’t let him know, he will rage if he knows,” he adds, just to make the awkwardness between them go away.
Kyungsoo grins, couldn’t help the giddy feeling he has in his chest. It’s always good to have people telling him that they like his voice, but the way Chanyeol said makes him even happier. “Oh, I will. Just for the sake of making him rage.”
The brown haired man laughs, placing down his cup before he could spill the content from the vibration. “I now understand why you have kept up with Baekhyun for so long now.”
“I don’t look like the type, right?” he asks sheepishly.
“No. You look too reserved for someone close to Baekhyun.” Chanyeol admits, his arms folded on the table in front of him. “Not that it’s bad; I like it.”
♪
Don’t you see me now?
I think I’m falling, I’m falling for you
♪
It is not even eight when the loud knock coming at his door. Kyungsoo is still in the middle of dressing up, contemplating if wearing polo shirt would be okay for him. Baekhyun has made him promised his friends to come to Jongdae's gig at the club today, he even said he would come to pick him up and make sure that he really is going.
He follows Baekhyun into the club. It's darker inside, few strays of colorful lights washing the wall and carpet they pass. Baekhyun brings him towards a table, and Kyungsoo can make out Joonmyun’s face under the dim light. There is another man sitting next to him, but Kyungsoo can’t recognize his face.
Kyungsoo sits down on one of the chairs, dragging it closer to the table so he could place his elbow comfortably. He scans the club, noticing how it is not as packed as he expected to be. Normally he would prefer to drink in more quieter place, but the atmosphere feels great here. He can see the stage clearly from his seat, not exactly at the middle but it’s quite upfront.
Baekhyun slides in to the vacant spot next to Joonmyun, leaning in to whisper something in his ear. Joonmyun has a drink in his hand, probably beer. He doesn’t drink wine unless it’s in his house. He listen attentively to Baekhyun, even bringing his ear closer for him to listen better. It’s not long until he nods his head and sits upright, gesturing for the other man to come with him.
Kyungsoo stares at the two of them as they walk in the direction of the bar. “Who is that?” He lowers his voice, careful so no one would catch that but Baekhyun.
“Kim Jongin, a freshman. He has been following Joonmyun around since last month. I think the kid has the hots for him.” Baekhyun says easily.
Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow. It is not rare for him to hear about people having interests on his friends, especially when they are basically social butterflies who hang out with people and be cool about it. Kyungsoo has had people asking him out too, both guys and girls, but he is quite picky about it. Not everyone could match with him.
“He’s handsome,” he admits. “Is Joonmyun going for it?"
Baekhyun looks at him curiously, “Why? Is he your type?"
“I don’t have a type.” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes.
“Don’t lie. I know that you-”
Their conversation abruptly ends when Joonmyun comes back with glasses of drinks in his hands. He smiles, placing each one of them in front of bickering men. “What were you talking about?” He asks, sitting down on his previous seat. Kim Jongin, who has also been bringing in drinks, hands over a glass him before he sits next to him.
“Nothing,” Kyungsoo answers shortly.
Baekhyun grins. “Kyungsoo wants to know who the handsome young man we have here is."
Joonmyun turns his head towards his companion, amusement twinkling in his eyes. “Right. Kyungsoo, this is Jongin. Jongin, this is Kyungsoo. He is older than you, so you have to call him hyung."
Jongin laughs; his voice is deep and sweet like chocolate. Kyungsoo wonders what he sees in Joonmyun. “Nice to meet you, Kyungsoo hyung."
Kyungsoo nods, acknowledging him. “Nice to meet you, too."
He watches how Jongin pulls his chair closer to Joonmyun and subtly presses their shoulders together. He almost misses it, but Joonmyun's smile grow fonder as he lifts up his glass to hide it.
His thoughts got interrupted once there are noises coming from the stage. He could see Jongdae, hair specially permed for the performance, and his bandmates starting to enter. Kyungsoo doesn't know much about Jongdae's bandmates, only knew how they were formed by mutual interests in music performances. He could recognize the guitarist, as he has volunteered to help their choir practice a few times. He doesn't know about the bassist though, and the drummer... Wait.
"Is that Chanyeol?" Kyungsoo leans closer to Baekhyun, covering his mouth so his words couldn't be read.
Baekhyun nods. "Yeah. He started to play with them since last month."
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. We are The Firebolt!” The crowd shouts and claps to support them. He starts introducing each of the members and what instrument they play. The jokes he slips in are really refreshing, he even makes people laugh. “We’re starting with the first song, Blind.”
The band starts off by covering the hit song of TRAX three years ago. The song surely brings a lot of memories to the audience, considering how big it was in its era. Jongdae manages to pull a great performance by twisting the song into his own style. Surprisingly, it sounds even greater this way.
The performance ends with the guitarist finishing smoothly with his adlib. Jongdae lets his members take care of their equipments as he interacts with the audiences, engaging them with small talks.
"Last performance would be a solo acoustics from our special music prodigy," which gets laughter from their own bandmates, and Baekhyun, of course. He even slaps his own thigh hearing that. "Park Chanyeol."
Chanyeol is grinning as he steps into the front with his guitar. He adjusts the mic stand, tapping the receiver to make sure his voice comes alright. "Hello, I'm the prodigy," he laughs into the mic, making people laugh, too. "If you know the song, I would like you to sing with me. Please enjoy, Creep."
He starts the song with the intro music, captivating the people into his slow, but not boring music. Kyungsoo doesn't know Chanyeol plays guitar, and sings at that. He didn't even know he could play drum until today. Kyungsoo feels awed.
The song is familiar to him. He recently heard it in one of the playlists he keeps replaying on 8tracks. In fact, he knows it well that it's a playlist his secret admirer has made for him.
Chanyeol pulls the song well. His vocal is nothing near Jongdae's, but his voice suits the song well. He closes his eyes as he hits the long note, opting to bring it out with low, steady voice to make it smoother.
When he opens his eyes, they meet with Kyungsoo's, like he knows how he has been entranced by his performance. Their eye contact stays as he sings the last lines, sending chills over Kyungsoo’s body. He couldn’t tear his eyes away, not when he feels like he would miss out something big if he does. He listens attentively to the song, letting the sound of Chanyeol’s guitar wash over him.
Chanyeol ends the performance with a big grin and claps from the audiences. He shouts a loud thank you and bows before he exits the stage.
To Kyungsoo, it leaves a big hole in his heart because why does he feel like Chanyeol has sung the last lines for him?
♪
You're so fucking special
I wish I was special
But I'm a creep
♪
The next Friday, Kyungsoo finds himself sitting in the train going to Chanyeol's house. The other man has offered him to take a look at his instruments and start trying them out for their composition project. Kyungsoo agreed almost immediately after he offered that, having extra curiousness of what the music prodigy has hidden in his house.
Chanyeol sounded delightful this morning, when Kyungsoo called him to make sure he has the correct destination in mind.
"I'll see you at the station, then. It's quite a long walk from there to my house." Chanyeol ended the call before Kyungsoo even consider the offer.
Kyungsoo leans back in his seat, earphones in his ears. Summer is coming, and summer playlists are starting to dominate the front page of 8tracks. He, too, is preparing a summer playlist. But his choice of songs aren't those upbeat house mixes like people have uploaded so far. He has a range of preferred summer songs, but he doesn't think they're good enough.
He honestly thinks Chanyeol would fit the theme better. He has learned how the taller man likes songs with exciting beats just by a glance of the song library he has in his iPod. Kyungsoo has thought asking for his assistance for this particular playlist, but he doesn’t feel like revealing his little secret just yet.
The intercom announces that he has arrived in his destination and that the doors will open on his left. Kyungsoo gets up and walks towards the door. The station isn't much crowded. He checks on Chanyeol's text again, making sure he gets off on the right exit. Chanyeol said he would be waiting at the exit.
But Kyungsoo didn't expect to see him sitting on his motorcycle, wearing a bright red helmet over the streaks of his brown hair.
"Kyungsoo!" Chanyeol waves.
"Hey," Kyungsoo smiles, walking towards him. He yanks away his earphones and rolls it around his mp3 player before dumping them in his bag. "Did you wait for long?"
"No, I just got here five minutes ago." He takes out another helmet and hands it over to Kyungsoo. "Wear this first."
Kyungsoo obliges. He wears the helmet as Chanyeol turns up the engine. It is rare to see someone who prefers riding motorcycles. Kyungsoo hasn’t even ride one except for that one time he needed money and took a part-time job as chicken place delivery man. He likes it, though, the way the wind slaps nicely against his face as he rides.
Chanyeol pats on the back seat, urging him to hop on. He doesn’t give him any choice but to complies anyway.
"Hold tight!" The taller man shouts as he presses on the gas, bringing the motorcycle to go forward with a surprising starting speed.
They arrive in front of a house with white fence and beautiful flowers in the front. Kyungsoo thought Chanyeol would be living in an apartment complex, but he was wrong. He takes off the helmet and lets Chanyeol park his motorcycle in the garage.
"No one is home," Chanyeol explains as they climb up the stairs that leads to his room. "Mom is running a restaurant in Myeongil, dad works, and my sister also works. Besides, they would just complain if I make too much noises in the house."
Kyungsoo nods, listening. He likes the feeling of Chanyeol’s house; it’s spacious but filled well with furnitures so it doesn’t feel empty. The white color on the wall in the contrast of wooden parquette floor gives him a neat and clean impression.
"Here we go." Chanyeol opens the door of his bedroom, letting him in first.
Chanyeol's room is not vast, but it’s arranged well. The bed is placed near the window, and next to it is his desk with a mixer and keyboard on it. There are guitars on the other side; one acoustic and electric. Kyungsoo has seen the acoustic one at the gig. There is a rack full of books and CDs near the guitars, and Kyungsoo is intrigued to find out what kind of music Chanyeol has there.
He grabs a chair from the desk and gestures Kyungsoo to sit on it. "I'll fetch the drinks first. Is cola okay?"
Kyungsoo nods, still too distracted to answer properly. He only notices when the door closes and the sound of Chanyeol's running down the stairs starts to fade.
He puts down his bag on the floor near the bed and starts to roam around the room. He walks towards the racks first, skimming over the book titles. He knows some of them, and they are a bit of heavy read for him. It amuses him how someone like Chanyeol could have such choices of read, when he thought he was just a taller copy of Byun Baekhyun.
Under the books, there are CDs piling up. They are sorted by the artists names. There are local artists as well as foreign singers. Kyungsoo definitely sees Coldplay's newest album there. He smiles a little, it definitely feels good to meet someone who has the same taste of music as yours.
He goes to the table next, curious of what the tall man has. He plays with the keyboard a bit, trying to remember the chords he learned in his young days. Too bad he didn't continue the lesson as he grows up. There are music sheets and CDs on the right side, some with scratchy doodles that Chanyeol must have done when he felt frustrated.
Kyungsoo scans around the CDs, most of them are named by dates. There are even ones from two years ago. He wonders how much Chanyeol's music has grown since then. He stops at one CD, one that has actual title instead of date marks. The title is familiar, too. He picks it up.
I, for U
"Whoa whoa whoa," Chanyeol enters the room with a tray full of food and drinks. He places it down before he quickly strides to Kyungsoo's side and snatches the CD from him. "I'm embarrassed," he smiles sheepishly. He places the CD in a drawer, where more CDs seem to have placed. "How much have you seen?"
"A bit," Kyungsoo says. "I thought I saw something familiar."
"They are mixtapes, something I'm still working on," he blurts out. "If you're interested, I could show you when it's finished."
Kyungsoo breaks out a grin, amused on how much the taller man is getting nervous. "Okay, show me when you're done." He nods acknowledgingly.
Chanyeol grins as well, relief clear in his face. He places his hand on Kyungsoo's shoulder, startling him, and maneuvers him towards the drinks.
"Okay, should we start with Matilda?" Chanyeol clasps his hands together.
"Matilda?" he asks, raising an eyebrow in confusion.
Chanyeol blinks at him, realizing something. He scratches on his nose, something Kyungsoo learns he always do in awkward situations. "Oh, it's just, um, my guitar?"
Kyungsoo laughs. "You name your guitar?"
Chanyeol looks flustered, his neck is starting to redden. “Well, there is Sam as well." he points at the keyboard.
“Oh,” he says, looking back and forth between the guitar and the keyboard. Keyboard would be easy for him, but he wants to see Chanyeol playing his guitar more. What a selfish thought. "Okay, Matilda it is, then."
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