Chapter Text
“Can you do me a favour and not seat anyone in these three tables surrounding mine?”
Chanyeol’s smile falls off his face, and he blinks at his customer’s face.
He knows he hasn’t worked as a waiter for long, but he has never received such a request before. He hasn’t gotten any proper training for this situation, and it leaves his mouth hanging open as he’s unable to muster a response to the customer clad in black.
“I’m kind of on the run here…” The customer says, his words slightly muffled by the mask he has on. “So can you please grant me my request~?” He asks.
On the run…
“I—” Chanyeol finally lets out. “Excuse me for just one moment, sir.” He says as he quickly shuffles to the counter at the front of the café, where the manager has been greeting customers all morning.
He clears his throat to announce his presence, still dumbfounded by what the customer said, and he is greeted with his manager’s straight face.
When he first started working at this café, he was surprised to know that the manager in charge of him — and the rest of the waiters, was almost the same age as him. Then he was informed by the other employees of how hardworking Do Kyungsoo was, and that there was a reason he was assigned as the manager of this branch.
Chanyeol is reminded by said reason as he faces him.
“Uh… That customer over there has asked me to keep the tables near him empty.” Chanyeol says a bit too fast, surprised that he hasn’t started stuttering yet at the look he was receiving from his manager. “He told me he was on the run, should we call the police?”
This caused one of the manager’s brows to raise in question as he glanced in the customer’s direction. “Give me a second.” Kyungsoo says.
Kyungsoo started walking over to the customer at the back of the shop, and Chanyeol watches as he fidgets by the counter near the door.
As soon as Kyungsoo got to the customer, he starts taking his mask off, leaving it hanging from one of his ears and Kyungsoo actually laughs. Then after a short exchange of words, Kyungsoo bows, turns around, and places what Chanyeol could make out as a glare on his face as he walks towards him.
What just happened?
Chanyeol immediately looks away from the manager’s gaze and starts to admire the decor in the ceiling in hopes of forgetting the feeling of being under the shorter’s stare.
When Kyungsoo is by his side again, he reaches out to hit Chanyeol on the head, causing him to wince.
Every time!!
“Place these on the three tables around him and get back to work.” Kyungsoo says as he hands him ‘reserved’ place cards, and pushes him in the direction of the only customer in the section he was waiting on.
Chanyeol rubs the back of his head, not daring to ask his manager what that was about. He turns around and stops to look at the customer for a few seconds, who is happily kicking his feet underneath the table as he browses through the menu and takes a sip of the water Chanyeol had given him earlier.
He places the cards on each table before returning to the customer.
“Are you ready to order, sir?” Chanyeol asks, a piece of paper resting on a small clipboard and pen in each hand.
“Yes—“ The customer says as he flips through the menu to get to the dessert section. “Which cake do you recommend the most?” He asks as he points at the cakes and looks up at Chanyeol expectantly.
Chanyeol looks at the menu instead, and points at one of the desserts. “The chestnut tart, definitely.” He says.
“Alright then, I’ll have two chestnut tarts and one of all the other cakes you have right now.” The customer says, resting his chin on the palm of his hand and keeping his eyes on the waiter, a playful smile evident on his lips.
Is this guy serious?
Chanyeol widens his eyes for a brief second but composes himself as he nods and writes that down. He hears the customer snicker.
“Can I g—get you anything to drink?” Chanyeol asks, feeling slightly embarrassed at the way he reacted. He smiles sheepishly.
The customer hums playfully. “No thank you, just make sure to give me a refill in-between cakes.” He says as he lifts his glass of water to Chanyeol.
Chanyeol nods. “Should I bring all the cakes at once? Or would you like me to bring them one after the other?” He asks.
“All at once.” The customer says as he smiles.
“Is that all I can get for you?” Chanyeol asks.
“Yes, thank you!”
Chanyeol bows and turns around, letting out a breath he wasn’t aware he’s been holding, and feeling the tension that was built up in his shoulders loosen up completely as he walked up to the display of cakes near the entrance, where his manager was standing.
The café is always empty early in the afternoon, but it is bound to fill up soon enough after lunchtime. A part of him is glad, that if his only table stayed long enough, he wouldn’t have his hands full during rush hour. Kyungsoo is pretty strict about his employees switching tables, or waiting on each other’s tables, unless it got too busy around the shop.
Chanyeol doesn’t need to check the customer’s order as he takes out a tray and places as many plates on it as it can hold.
“Take this to the table.” He suddenly hears as he looks up to see his manager holding a small basket filled with cutlery, tissues, and wet napkins. “I’ll take care of the order.” Kyungsoo adds, motioning for Chanyeol to get going as he starts placing a different piece of cake from the display on each plate.
He takes the basket, and makes his way out of the counter with the cake display, walking straight back to his only table.
The customer is busy staring at his phone, and Chanyeol could finally get a proper look at his face. Small face, sharp jawline, and beautiful eyes. He could easily be an anime character.
Chanyeol catches himself before he spaces out too long at the customer’s face. He quietly places the basket on the table, receiving a low ‘thank you’ from the customer as he kept his eyes fixated on his phone’s screen.
He bows slightly and walks back to where Kyungsoo is finishing up plating the first tray.
“Take this for now.” His manager says, gesturing to the full tray. “The table will get too crowded if you serve him all of the cakes at once, so give him some time before serving him the rest.” He adds as Chanyeol nods, takes the tray, and hurries back to his table, making sure not to accidentally drop it.
Chanyeol swears he has never heard that many words from his manager since he started working here three months ago. He’s at a loss for words at the situation, but chooses to ignore it and keep working.
He has a busy day ahead of him after his shift, so he is kind of thankful.
When he arrives at the table, he places the tray at the edge of it, and starts unloading it using his other hand. The customer finally looks up for his phone, putting it down on the table.
“Your order is too big for the table, so I’ll bring the rest of it once you clear these out. Is that okay?” Chanyeol says as he picks up the empty tray off the table and clutches onto it with his hand by his side.
“It’s fine, thank you!” The customer says as he picks up a fork and a spoon, pulling the plate with the chestnut tart in front of him first.
“Enjoy.” Chanyeol says, bowing before turning away and heading back to where his coworkers were.
“Park Chanyeol.” One of his female coworkers says as she approaches him.
Chanyeol is slightly startled at her use of his full name. “What?” He asks.
“You have to switch tables with me.” She says.
Chanyeol frowns. “Why?” He questions.
“Oh my god, you don’t even know who that is, do you?” She asks as she rubs her temples.
“Am I supposed to?” Chanyeol says. “Anyway, you should know better than to try to switch with me while Kyungsoo is still here.” He adds as he sighs.
His coworker groans. “You really do live under a rock…” She says. “That’s Byun Baekhyun, one of the most famous idols right now. Please switch with me! I’ll handle Kyungsoo!!” She adds as she claps her hands together and closes her eyes, practically pleading Chanyeol.
Ah… She must be a fan.
“No.” Chanyeol hears from behind him as he jumps up and moves to stand next to his coworker. “There will be no switching of tables. It’s best that this guy handles Mr. Byun’s table.” Kyungsoo says as he points his chin in Chanyeol’s direction, all the while keeping his glare at his coworker.
“And if you happen to tell any of your friends about Mr. Byun’s current whereabouts and news happens to get out, consider yourself fired.” Kyungsoo adds as he walks back to his usual post near the door.
Ouch.
Chanyeol finally exhales and looks back at his coworker, who was left stunned in her position. “You heard the little man.” He says.
She pouts and says, “Fine…” before walking back to wait on her own tables.
Chanyeol can’t say he’s ever heard of him. He doesn’t think he lives under a rock, it’s just that he doesn’t have time to spare on catching up with all the idols that were debuting nowadays, as his interests lay elsewhere.
He takes a look at his customer, watching as he devours one cake after the other. Such a big appetite for such a small man — he wasn’t that small, but compared to Chanyeol’s figure, he kind of was.
Byun Baekhyun, huh?
——————
Chanyeol is surprised, to say the least, to see the idol, Baekhyun, leaving after five whole hours of eating desserts and drinking coffee, and teasing Chanyeol when he had forgotten to refill his glass with water like he requested.
And just as he was about to finish his shift, too. He thought he was going to stick around until closing time.
Finally…
The idol packs his laptop and the notebook that he had taken out at one point back into his backpack, and gets off his chair, pushing it back under the table as he slings his bag over his shoulders.
He watches as Baekhyun marches up to the front of the store, where Kyungsoo was manning the register, and he takes his wallet out to pay.
Chanyeol sighs, and walks up to the table Baekhyun’s been occupying to clear it out. The four plates are stacked up neatly, and his cutlery and the napkins he’s used sat on top.
When Chanyeol picks the stack up, something catches his eyes.
Blinking, he finds a piece of folded paper tucked underneath the plates, with his name scribbled on it.
What’s this?
He puts the plates back down on the table and picks the paper up to unfold it, watching as something that was tucked inside fall to the ground. He ignores it for now, and allows his eyes to skim over the contents of the note.
“Park Chanyeol,
Apologies for my strange request! I hope your boss didn’t hit you too hard!
This is for all the trouble I caused you today~
- Byun B.”
Chanyeol frowns and looks down at his feet to pick up what has fallen from the paper earlier.
Is this guy serious?
The waiter’s frown only deepens, more in confusion than in anger, at the two ₩ 50,000 notes in his hands. Is this guy really from here? Is he aware that tipping isn’t really a thing here in Seoul— no, South Korea?
He doesn’t know whether to be offended or not. Sure, he needs the money for certain things but all he did today was wait on about four tables, including the idol’s.
Chanyeol’s head turns to face the entrance, where he finds Baekhyun and the manager in yet another exchange of words. Should he walk over there and ask for an explanation?
Or should he just pocket the money and sell the note to some fans? If he’s as big as his coworker claims he is, then this should earn him enough money to last him a lifetime.
“Is something wrong, Chanyeol?” He hears, and he turns his head to face his other side where his coworker, Kim Minseok stands carrying the plates he was supposed to be clearing out.
Chanyeol shoves the letter and money into his pocket, and takes half the stack off of his senior coworker.
He sighs. “Do you know this Baekhyun guy?” He asks.
His coworker nods once. “Everybody does.” He says. “You just live under a rock.”
“Why does everyone keep saying that?” Chanyeol asks. “He left me this big tip… I don’t know what to think of that gesture.” He says.
Minseok shrugs. “Keep it. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened at the café, you know.” He says.
“Really?” Chanyeol raises a brow. “Guess I will, then.” He says.
“Good for you! Now get back to work.” Minseok says as he does so himself.
Chanyeol stands there for a couple of seconds, turning his head back to Baekhyun, only to find that the other, as well as Kyungsoo, have been staring at him for who knows how long.
Baekhyun doesn’t look away without smirking at him before putting his mask back on, and turning back to Kyungsoo to say something, to which the latter bowed to.
Then he turned around to exit the shop, leaving Chanyeol yet again dumbfounded at the idol’s actions.
——————
“Park Chanyeol, are you really still whining about what happened today? You already used half the money to buy an expansion pack!”
Chanyeol groans as he lowers the voice chat’s volume, his friend’s voice still ringing in his ears.
“Kim Jongdae, speak, don’t screech!” Chanyeol yells over his headphone’s microphone.
“Stop complaining and focus on the gameplay!” Jongdae continues shouting, only now his voice is a bit drowned out by the game’s sound effects. “Look, Yixing is running out of magic points and patience with you!”
“You’re the one who keeps taking hits and causing him trouble!” Chanyeol shouts.
Jongdae snorts, the sound coming out a little distorted from Chanyeol’s headphones. “That’s because you’ve been going on and on about that guy from work today!!” He shouts.
“This is only the second time I’ve brought him up!” Chanyeol shouts.
“English please!” Yixing shouts, in Korean, before switching to said language. “Let’s focus on the raid and you can continue shouting later.”
Chanyeol sighs and focuses on the game, allowing his mind to drift elsewhere, losing focus on Jongdae’s broken English as he tries to communicate with Yixing, poor guy.
Over ten years of friendship has taught him not to argue with Jongdae for too long, or he is bound to destroy his vocal cords.
He and Jongdae were acquaintances throughout the majority of their childhood, but sometime when they were in middle school, they bonded over their unhealthy addiction to this video game.
And here they are now.
They actually haven’t seen each other physically in months. They live near one another but go to different universities, so it’s hard to meet out. Not that they do go out much, anyway.
The moment Chanyeol got back from work, he slipped into something more comfortable, wrapped himself in his blanket, put his headphones on and dived right back into the virtual world of this game. And he’s — they’ve been at this for the past 8 hours.
He swears it’s going to be the death of him someday.
Jongdae, Chanyeol and Yixing are all high ranking players, characters maxed out, and co-leaders of one of the most elite guilds in the game. Although Chanyeol kind of lives on the edge in-game, playing in hardcore mode without any backup levelled up accounts.
They met Yixing online a few years back when they first started recruiting people for the guild. He’s Chinese, speaks perfect English, understands basic Korean, and is slowly speaking it with the help of Jongdae. They haven’t met him in real life yet, but have had video chats with him before, and it helped erase the images Chanyeol had of Yixing in his head, induced by Jongdae as he kept going on about how Yixing might be a creepy middle-aged man.
Needless to say, Chanyeol was relieved.
“Chanyeol-ah,” Yixing’s voice sounds through his ears, prompting him to turn the chat’s volume back up, but moving one side of his headphones away from his ears in preparation for the inevitable yelling. “What were you saying about that idol Byun Baekhyun earlier?” He asks.
Chanyeol’s ears perk at this. He was about to answer Yixing when Jongdae beats him to it, nothing out of the ordinary.
“Do you know him?” Jongdae asks.
“Yes. I’m a fan.” Yixing says.
Chanyeol raises a brow. Is Baekhyun that well-known? Or is Chanyeol really that clueless and oblivious to what was going on in his own hometown?
It’s not that he doesn’t listen to music, because he actually does. Although he isn’t sure how long it’s been since he’s downloaded any new songs, bought any new albums, or turned on the TV to see if there were any new interesting or promising artists.
He felt like it’s time to start catching up soon.
“Whoa, Yixing hyung, you’re amazing! You know everything!” Jongdae says in Korean as he laughs. “Seriously though, even I didn’t know about him until Chanyeol told us today.” He adds. “I researched him, and apparently he’s gained a lot of popularity recently after his appearance on a popular show~”
“English, Jongdae-ah.” Yixing reminds. “I still don’t understand what he said about Byun Baekhyun…”
“Chanyeol said he met him today at the café he works at, and then Baekhyun paid him generously before he left.” Jongdae says.
“Chanyeol-ah, you’re so lucky!!” Yixing says, suddenly more enthusiastic than he’s ever sounded before. “Baekhyun is really famous here in China. Next time you see him, call me!”
“Don’t know about lucky, but he feels guilty about taking the money.” Jongdae says. “Even after he happily spent some of it on his way back from work!”
“Jongdae, please give your lungs a rest… It’s 3AM, and I’m pretty sure I just heard you less through my headphones and more through my window this time.” Chanyeol mumbles as he pushes his round, — and a tad too big for his face — framed glasses up to rub his tired eyes.
“Guys, I can smell victory!!!” Jongdae shouts yet again, in English this time, ignoring Chanyeol completely.
Chanyeol brings his attention back to the game to see that yes — they’re almost done with the random raid they decided to take on when the night was still young.
He’s been playing this game for as long as he can remember, to the point that sometimes he doesn’t need to put his full attention into whatever he had to do to win. Unless of course, it was one of those raids, for which weeks of planning would take place beforehand.
A rush of energy runs through his body as he switches from lying down on his stomach, to sitting up with his back straight and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
Chanyeol got tired of having to sit on his desk chair for long periods of time a while ago, and thought it would be more convenient if he moved his desk against his bed frame instead, with his keyboard and mouse placed over a bed tray in front of him.
Of course, he would put everything back to its rightful place whenever he finished, but only because of the bruised knee he received one morning a while back, courtesy of a certain misplaced desk and a restless night.
Just a couple of more hits…
If he could survive this raid, he would be able to sleep peacefully for a couple of hours until it’s time for his morning shift at work.
“A~nd done!” Jongdae announces, still full of energy for someone who has been up for over 24 hours now. “Good job guys, I'm logging off. Gotta catch up on some beauty sleep!”
“Sleep well, Jongdae-ah!” Yixing recites the Korean phrase he’s learned from Jongdae.
“See ya tomorrow!” Jongdae says before leaving the chat.
“I’m going to sleep too, hyung. I have work in a couple of hours.” Chanyeol says as he yawns and logs off the game. “I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“Good night, Chanyeol-ah~ sweet dreams!” Yixing says cheerfully.
“Good night, hyung!” Chanyeol says as he turns off the chat as well.
He immediately moves to turn his computer off, pushing his desk back against the wall in front of him and placing the bed tray on the floor before turning the lights off.
Chanyeol crawls to bed, taking his glasses off and placing them on his bedside table. He then grabs his phone and earphones from there. He puts his earphones on, and unlocks his phone’s screen, squinting at the brightness. He lowers it, and opens his music app.
Thankfully, this month’s subscription is already paid for. After all, he does listen to music on his way to work and class.
He opens the search tab on the app, tapping the letters to the name he’s been curious about all day.
Alright, Byun Baekhyun… Let’s see what you’re all about.
——————
Chanyeol is used to having little to no sleep on a daily basis by now. If he ever did sleep anything more than 6 hours a day, he would feel weird and drowsy throughout it.
Still, he finds himself stifling a yawn to smile brightly as he shows some customers to their table near the back of the shop.
3 more hours!
The café he works at is a pretty big Japanese style one, in which they served a larger variety of desserts and food than they did coffee and other drinks. Most people who come here are pretty chatty and loud, even at the mornings.
He works 4 days a week, taking the morning shifts from 7AM to 1PM on the days he doesn’t have morning classes during the week, and on the weekend. And everything has gone smoothly up until now.
On the weekends, he would usually go back home and go straight to bed to charge up for the rest of the week. Then when he woke up, his eyes would immediately get glued to his computer screen until late at night — or morning.
A voice at the very back of his head — which he has recognised to be his father’s voice as it kept getting more clear throughout the years — has been constantly nagging at Chanyeol about how unhealthy his habits were, and how he should be focusing on other things at this point in his life. He never really paid much attention to it.
He shrugged his thoughts away, and sat his customers down, handing them the menus he has carried with him, then bowing and walking away to get them the complimentary glasses of water.
From the corner of his eyes where he stands against the counter pouring water in 2 glasses, he could see the same black-clad figure he had gotten somewhat accustomed to the day before.
He’s here again?
Chanyeol stares as the one he recognised to be Byun Baekhyun speaks with Kyungsoo, who was smiling. Had Chanyeol not memorised the cups’ measurements by now and known exactly when to stop, he would have spilled the water and that smile would have turned into something else aimed directly at him.
Kyungsoo is nice and a bit misunderstood, in Chanyeol’s opinion. But seeing him smile like that, so genuinely, is still a rare sight. At least to Chanyeol.
He looks down for a brief second at the other cup, and starts to pour water in it as well, looking back up to continue watching the two near the entrance.
And all he can see is their eyes on him as he widens his own, nearly dropping the pitcher in his hand when he flinches.
This is the second time he’s caught them staring at him like that.
Surprisingly enough though, Kyungsoo has a soft look in his face as he stares at him and continues speaking with Byun Baekhyun.
Chanyeol immediately looks down and focuses on the task at hand, putting the pitcher down and picking the glasses up to take them to the customers.
Wary of the eyes that are still on him, he clears his throat and puts the glasses down on the table. “Here you go.” He says with a smile. “Are you ready to order or do you need another minute?” He asks.
“Give us a few more minutes please.” One of the customers says.
Chanyeol nods and says, “Of course” then steps back to the counter he was standing in front of a few moments ago.
While he was speaking with the customers, Kyungsoo had shown Byun Baekhyun to his table at the back of the shop, the section Chanyeol always worked.
Upon noticing that, Chanyeol begins to pour a glass of water for him, then takes it there along with the different menus the shop has to offer. He needs to say something about the large tip Byun Baekhyun has left him the day before.
So he puts a smile on his face as he approaches the table, just as Kyungsoo was bowing slightly to the idol, indicating that he was going to walk away now.
“Good afternoon, sir.” Chanyeol says as he puts down the cup and the menus, turning it over to the lunchtime section. He smiles as Byun Baekhyun looks up at him and thanks him. “I hope cake isn’t all you’re eating for lunch again!” He adds as he chuckles, remembering the number of plates he had to move out of the idol’s table the day before.
What am I doing?
He usually never jokes around with the customers like that. What if he takes offence in that or something?
Heck, though Chanyeol is really talkative once he gets going, he doesn’t usually start speaking like that with other people until he’s gotten used to being around them. He’s shy, so it always takes him a while to warm up to others.
Chanyeol bites the inside of his cheek in anticipation to his reaction.
Baekhyun laughs as he flips through the menu and Chanyeol couldn’t be any more relieved. “Why, are you worried I’m not eating well?” He asks.
“Can’t really tell if you are with these loose clothes.” Chanyeol says, the words just flowing out of his mouth before he could even think. “But it wouldn’t be good if you weren’t, am I right?”
“I see you’ve done your research this time!” Baekhyun says as he takes off his mask and picks up his glass of water to take a sip.
Chanyeol tilts his head in confusion and brings his hands to his back, interlocking them. “What do you mean?” He asks.
“I mean, you know who I am this time, right?” Baekhyun says, looking up at Chanyeol with a smirk on his face.
“Ahhh!” Chanyeol says as he nods. “I know you’re an idol now, yes.” He says.
“Yes, yes I am.” Baekhyun says. He looks quite amused and it made Chanyeol confused as to where to direct his own eyes, especially with Baekhyun looking at him like that.
This is how he is with people he just met.
Baekhyun laughs, shaking his head from side to side as he looks back down at the menu. “What do you suggest I eat for lunch today, then, if not cake?” He asks.
“Hmm… Excuse me.” Chanyeol says as he starts flipping the menu to get to the right page. “This beef rice omelette.” He says as he points at the dish.
“Beef, huh?” Baekhyun asks as he chuckles again. “Okay then, since I liked the chestnut tart you recommended yesterday, I’ll trust you with my meal again~” He says.
Chanyeol smiles, taking out a pen and little notebook from the pocket of his apron, and starts writing his order down. “Is that all I can get for you today?” He asks.
“A chestnut tart after I’m done with the omelette would be great.” The idol says. “Save one for me, okay?” He adds, smiling to the point that Chanyeol was sure he is completely obstructing his own vision, trying to act cute, and kind of succeeding.
The waiter can’t help but chuckle at the sight. “We do sell out fast, so would you like for me to bring you one right away?” He asks.
“That would be even better!” Baekhyun says.
“Okay!” Chanyeol says. “Would you like anything to drink?” He asks.
“Just the water is fine, thank you~” Baekhyun says.
Chanyeol nods and bows. “I’ll be right back with your order.” He says with a smile on his face.
He turns around and gets to work with Baekhyun’s order right away, forgetting whatever it was he wanted to say to him about yesterday. Along with the other customers in his section, who, strangely, Kyungsoo had already attended to while he was busy with the idol.
——————
Baekhyun has visited the café quite frequently in the past 2 weeks. The third time he had visited, he took the liberty of seating himself in Chanyeol’s usual section at the back of the shop. And he kept getting more daring with his words towards Chanyeol with each visit.
Chanyeol, in response, caught himself letting loose around the idol, even though he wasn’t supposed to be like that with customers. Thankfully, Kyungsoo hasn’t noticed yet — and if he has, he hasn’t said anything yet, which left Chanyeol uneasy whenever he was at work the same time his manager was.
It’s a Thursday afternoon, and the café was unusually busy. Chanyeol had to seat more customers in his section, surrounding Baekhyun.
He made sure to apologise to the idol in between serving the other tables. He suggested that Baekhyun faced the wall instead and put his black baseball cap back on, to which the idol nodded to and done — very smoothly, might Chanyeol add.
Tired as he was, Chanyeol kept a bright smile on his face as he served his customers. His shift was nearly ending, which made him gladly serve his last couple of dishes so that he could run back home already. He had a busy day ahead of him, after all.
The moment Chanyeol spots the co-worker that would be taking over his section for the next shift, his face beams even more as he dashed over to Kyungsoo near the entrance to let him know.
What he sees isn't a peaceful manager near the entrance.
Kyungsoo had that look on his face. And he was surrounded by girls… A whole bunch of them.
Is that…?
They're holding cameras.
Oh.
How fearless must they be not to cower in fear at the look Kyungsoo has on his face as he speaks with them. Chanyeol wishes for even a fraction of their courage.
Instead of approaching Kyungsoo while he is in that state, Chanyeol opts to tracing his steps back and going to the backroom instead.
In there, he takes off his apron, and opens his locker to take out his hoodie and puts it on, grabbing his backpack and slinging it over his shoulders before closing it.
Just as he was about to leave through the backroom’s door, his forearm is grabbed rather harshly.
Chanyeol turns around, ready to give whoever it is a piece of his mind. Unless it’s Kyungsoo, of course.
He finds himself blinking in confusion instead. “Byun Baekhyun?” He asks.
“YOU!” The idol shouts. “Do you have a car?” He asks quickly. “Do you live nearby? Tell me!!”
“Uh… I live about a 10 minute walk from here.” Chanyeol says.
“You gotta help me!” Baekhyun says frantically. “News leaked that I was here and the café is swarmed with fans!”
Chanyeol’s mind immediately drifts to the plans he has for today. “Can’t your manager pick you up or something? You can stay here in the backroo—“
“No!” Baekhyun says as he lets go of Chanyeol’s arm. “My manager won’t be able to make it in time. They’ll come back here, trust me..."
“My co-workers would stop them from coming back here, you know.” Chanyeol says.
“Yeah, just like they stopped me from coming back here just now.” Baekhyun says as he sighs.
Chanyeol thinks about it for a few seconds.
He would just stay at his place for a while until someone comes to pick him up, right? Chanyeol could just tell him to make himself at home while he locks himself in his room to start up the game.
He had people waiting for him, after all.
“Alright.” Chanyeol says.
“Alright what?” Baekhyun asks.
Chanyeol doesn’t say anything.
Instead, he grabs Baekhyun’s arm in the same manner the idol grabbed his a few moments ago, and starts pulling him out of the building.
What could go wrong?