EXO FICS.

BaekYeol. Beautiful

Times are tough and finding a job is difficult especially if you’re picky and one of the many unskilled laborers in society. Like Baekhyun. He’s picky when it comes to where he’ll work. The easiest job, by far, for a poor undergraduate degree student like him to obtain is one in the food industry: waiter, host, busboy, barista, any of those. Baekhyun absolutely refuses to be all of those though and any sort of variation thereof. He doesn’t want to be anywhere near food if he can avoid it. So when he tries finding a job for the first time, he pointedly ignores all the restaurants and only applies to retail stores.

It probably takes longer because those places prefer people with job experience, but eventually he lands a job at the nearby mall at one of the outlet stores. It’s an easy job too. All he has to do is fold clothes and place them on shelves, sometimes he mans the cash registers and other times he’s in charge of the dressing rooms, but it’s perfect for him even if he’s paid just barely above minimum wage.

His friend, Sehun, likes to constantly point it out too. He gets a job at a restaurant the summer before his senior year in high school because he wants more pocket money to spend “just ‘cause.” He also happens to make much more money than Baekhyun. While he’s stuck with a meager almost eight dollars an hour, Sehun makes about ten dollars an hour - plus he has all those tips that people leave behind for him.

“I’ll hook you up,” he keeps offering Baekhyun as he takes a bite out of his bagel sandwich. “I mean, you actually need money to live on. I just want money. It’s not right that I’m making more than you.”

“Thanks,” Baekhyun says only half-heartedly, making a face at the food Sehun shoves remorsefully down his throat. Meanwhile he’s sipping periodically at a cup of water - making up some excuse that he’s already eaten when Sehun asks him why he hasn’t gotten any food. “But I don’t want to work in the food industry.”

Sehun snorts, setting his sandwich down to pick up his soda. Baekhyun turns his head away, a little grossed out. He doesn’t get how his friend can just consume all those calories so freely. Fuck Sehun and his freakish metabolism. Really.

“You know, despite what you probably think it’s really not the end of the world to serve people food. I mean sure occasionally you run into assholes, but it’s really not that bad.”

“That’s not my problem with it,” Baekhyun denies truthfully. When Sehun asks just what is the problem though, he merely shakes his head in a silent request for him to drop it.

He’s fine with it though. Even if Sehun might get paid a couple more bucks per hour than him he’s happy with his job, folding up the unfolded clothes left behind by shoppers and working with all around non-edible material. It’s better for him this way. But then he’s pulled aside one day by his manager who looks apologetic when she tells him that they have to let him go.

“Why?” Baekhyun asks completely floored by the sudden dismissal. As far as he knows, he hasn’t done anything wrong. He’s always punctual to his shifts, he does his job dutifully, and he has never been on his boss’ bad side. In fact he always figured that his boss rather liked him, so he doesn’t understand the current situation. Why are they letting him go?

She doesn’t tell him the reason why he’s let go, just says that she’s really sorry about this and assures him that she’ll send his paycheck as soon as possible. It’s a little bit of a let down, but he’s had the job since the fall of his freshman year in college and it’s now the summer before his junior year. Nodding his head numbly he says farewell to his boss and begins to wander around the mall. It’s weird to not be working and now he has to go out and find a new one and he’s not quite sure how to go about it now.

He feels completely stuck in his life.





Sehun figures out that he’s been fired about a week and a half later when they’re hanging out and Baekhyun makes a request to stop by the bank so he can cash in the check. He accidentally lets it slip that it’s his last one and Sehun gives him that look. The one he always gives Baekhyun whenever he’s about to give his talk about “hooking him up” with a new job.

“Have you started looking for a new one?” Sehun asks as Baekhyun rips his card out of the ATM machine when the transaction is all done.

“Yeah,” Baekhyun says, shoving the card into his wallet and then the wallet into his pants pocket.

“You know,” Sehun begins and Baekhyun sighs because he knows where this is going. “If you need a job I could always -”

“I’m not working in a restaurant. Ever.” And with that he walks off in a huff, not really caring if Sehun is following him or not even though he knows the younger is. They’ve talked about this numerous times already. He doesn’t understand why Sehun wants so badly to recruit him, but he refuses. Never.

His friend jogs up to him, fitting a hand loosely on his waist and then he frowns. “Have you be going to the gym?” he asks.

Baekhyun just barely stiffens beneath his gentle fingertips.

“Uh, why do you ask?”

Sehun’s fingers tighten around Baekhyun’s waist and a thoughtful expression crosses his face. His hand moves up and down a bit, squeezing here and there and if it were anyone but Sehun doing it he would have slapped him, but since it is Sehun, he doesn’t protest it.

Eventually coming to a conclusion, Sehun settles his hand down on Baekhyun’s waist and purses his lips. “You’ve lost weight.”

“Just a few pounds,” Baekhyun says nonchalantly as he bats Sehun’s hand away from him just in case. “I just wanted to shed a few pounds.”

Sehun frowns at him, waiting for Baekhyun to let his guard down before he suddenly wraps his arm around Baekhyun again, pulling him closer until their hips bump together. “Why?” He demands more than asks, eyeing his friend with an unreadable expression but Baekhyun could tell that he’s displeased. “You were fine before. You are fine. You don’t need to lose weight or anything.”

Biting his lip, Baekhyun tries to remove Sehun from around his waist, but each time his friend comes back even more persistent than before. “I just felt like it, okay? What’s wrong with losing a couple of pounds?”

“You look too skinny.” Sehun pokes him in the ribcage with his free hand.

Baekhyun quiets down and glances down at himself, body clad in a t-shirt that gives nothing away about his body, too loose to reveal anything, and jeans that don’t do much either which is a good thing because his legs are short and stubby and his thighs are fat. He hates them. But he also knows that if he says anything Sehun will just tell him that he’s being stupid and that he’s fine, so he keeps his lips tightly sealed and allows himself to be led by his younger friend.





As days go by and Baekhyun fails to find another job he begins to grow desperate. He needs money. He needs to get paid. He needs a job. The problem is he can’t find one. Places either aren’t interested in hiring or they keep passing him up for other applicants and Baekhyun can’t for the life of him understand why. He has work experience and he does his job well, but still time and time again people keep turning him down.

And then he gets desperate.

Through time he learns that a desperate Baekhyun is never a good thing. Against all his morals and belief he breaks in his desperation and asks Sehun for help who spends more time asking him what the hell he’s been eating because he looks so thin now, but eventually he relents and says he’ll do what he can. Baekhyun goes home and cries over the comment Sehun made over his appearance while he sits stupidly in front of his mirror half naked and crying because he looks terrible.

A few days later though, Baekhyun has a meeting with the assistant manager (because the manager, Kris, doesn’t show up that often apparently) at the restaurant Sehun works at. He nearly gives the assistant manager a heart attack when he comes in though, he can tell by the way Joonmyeon nearly falls out of his chair.

He has to grip the edge of the desk to steady himself as he coughs and sputters. Baekhyun looks down at his feet uncomfortably - not really appreciating the way Joonmyeon reacts to him. “Are you Baekhyun? Sehun’s friend?”

“Yeah. That would be me.”

When Joonmyeon seems to have gotten a hold of himself he folds his hands together over his desk and offers Baekhyun a sweet smile. “So, you’re looking for a new job, right? What happened with your last one?”

The younger shrugs his shoulders because he’s not entirely sure of the answer to be truthful. His last boss still never really told him what went wrong. “I was just suddenly laid off,” he answers to the best of his abilities. “I don’t really know why though.”

“Well, waiting will probably be an entirely new experience for you but,” he holds his hand out for Baekhyun to take, his nervous smile still on his face. He waits until Baekhyun reluctantly reaches out to take his offered hand. “We’re glad to have you on board.”



His training period is one week long during which time Sehun teaches him the ropes to working in the restaurant business and Baekhyun has ample amounts of time to thoroughly regret ever asking his friend for help. He doesn’t want this job he realizes every time he has to go back to the kitchen to drop off an order or pick up a dish. The smells arising there make him sick to his stomach and he turns his head down and holds his breath to try and ignore it.

He does become acquainted with one of Sehun’s work buddies though - a kid named Jongin who had been promoted from busboy to host because of his good looks and socialite behavior. He’s nice, but Baekhyun burns with envy anyways. He also meets Kyungsoo and Luhan who work in the kitchen as the head chefs but who probably spend more time scolding Yixing and Minseok who enjoy stealing food as they work.

There are other people who work here and there but he hasn’t met them yet. He’s not all that interested in making friends anyways, not when he’s too busy trying to avoid the smell of the delicious foods that Kyungsoo and Luhan
dish out in the kitchen.

It’s not long after his training period is over that Baekhyun comes to meet the resident dishwasher at the restaurant.

It hadn’t taken long for the actual manager, Kris, to start picking on him. He’d taken him off the waiting staff and made him a busboy instead, clearing and setting up tables routinely, monotonously. “Patrons have been complaining about your appearance.” Kris bluntly explained to him when he made the change. It took everything in Baekhyun not to break down and sob into his hands at the statement and he nodded his head with his eyes downcast to try and hide it.

Kris isn’t a horrible boss by any means though. He still gets paid the same but without the perks of tip. He smiles reassuringly and sends Baekhyun on his way, but not before telling him to eat some more. “You can eat the leftovers in the kitchen you know. That’s what most of the staff eats during their break.”

Baekhyun thanks him for the offer - or advice depending - but insists that he’ll be just fine.

“It’s your thinness,” his boss says, a frown on his concerned face. “It makes people a little uncomfortable. You need to put on a few pounds.”

Baekhyun almost scoffs at that. No, he needs to lose a few pounds actually. Ideally.

He meets Chanyeol working as a busboy though. Chanyeol is the freakishly tall, reddish-brown haired dishwasher. Baekhyun meets him while he’s dumping off a load of dishes, pausing because the tiled floor is covered in folded towels save for a small square of uncovered flooring where he stands. Baekhyun stares, tub full of dishes resting against his hip. Why the hell is the floor covered in towels?

Chanyeol, who at the time Baekhyun dubs The Big, Awkward Giant, must have felt his gaze because he turns around and shrieks when he sees Baekhyun, dropping a plate into the soapy suds in the sink. “You’re not Jongin!” he blurts out.

“Chanyeol, Jongin became the host months ago,” Yixing says as he passes by on his way to get a bowl for Luhan. “This is Baekhyun. He’s new,” he adds on his way back, pausing to give The Big, Awkward Giant a glare. “Be nice.” He jabs a warning finger at Chanyeol before disappearing into the kitchen again.

Pouting, the Awkward Giant (because his nickname needs a nickname) turns back to his work as Baekhyun comes up beside him, resting his tub on the counter beside the sink. He isn’t sure what to do. Should he just leave the dishes here or maybe he needs to hand Chanyeol the dishes or -

“You look scary,” Chanyeol says, eyes raking up and down his body.

Baekhyun blanches.

“Too skinny,” he elaborates. “It makes you look awkward and not right.” Then he pokes Baekhyun in the side with a wet finger, easily feeling bone and he makes a face.

Offended, annoyed, and hurt, Baekhyun grabs the side of his tub and tips it over the sink. There’s loud clattering as the dishes fall in, sending soap and water everywhere, but mostly on the Awkward Giant. Chanyeol sputters and flinches as the water splashes everywhere and he can’t even protest as Baekhyun huffs and flaunts away.

Sehun intercepts him in the kitchen, seizing him by the shoulders and asking him what happened and if he’s okay because he heard all the noise. Baekhyun doesn’t reply though as he more or less sweeps Sehun aside and storms out of the back door of the kitchen, announcing that he’s taking his break. For a moment it’s dead silent in the kitchen as Baekhyun stomps out of the door before Yixing sighs and rolls his eyes.

“I told Chanyeol to be nice,” he mutters irritably.

“I didn’t do anything!” comes Chanyeol’s deep voice from the back of the kitchen.



Sehun follows his friend out a few minutes later after Zitao reluctantly agrees to take over his tables for the time being so he can go after Baekhyun. He approaches his friend with a plate of food Kyungsoo had given to him for the friends to share.

Baekhyun is sitting on the stairs leading to the back door, head in his hands as Sehun takes a seat beside him, balancing the plate carefully on his lap. “You hungry?” he asks, motioning to the food in his lap.

The elder lifts his head up just enough to glance down at the plate Sehun is offering. His stomach twists at the sight of food. He could really go for some but he shakes his head and buries his face into his hands again. “I’m not hungry,” he mumbles into his palms.

Sehun frowns as he looks down at the plate in his hands. Something had been bothering him for awhile now truth be told, but he’s always respected Baekhyun and his privacy. That’s what he does, but not today. Not anymore.

“Have you been eating lately?” he asks bluntly, setting the plate aside and crossing his arms.

Baekhyun lifts his head up and stares at him with wide eyes. “What?”

“You don’t eat with me anymore. I’ve never seen you eat for these past few months. And now that I think about it, you’ve lost some weight - oh, my God, Baekhyun!” Sehun gasps as he connects all the dots when he speaks aloud. He covers his mouth with his hands and stares at him with eyes so filled with pain that he has to look away from guilt. “You’re starving yourself,” he whispers between his fingers.

Baekhyun stiffens next to him and does the only thing he can think of: deny. “No,” he lies quickly. “No, of course not. I’ve just been working out recently. A lot. It’s just the exercise. That’s all. I’m eating just fine.”

Sehun turns and grabs the abandoned plate of food, shoving it in his friend’s direction. “Eat it,” he demands when Baekhyun scoots away from him. Baekhyun doesn’t move and Sehun shakes it at him. “Eat it!”

The elder seals his lips shut and turns his head away. “I can’t,” he says.

“What are you doing!” Sehun yells at him. “Why are you doing this? You look fine. You don’t need to - to -” he swallows his words as he tries to avoid saying the word.

“You don’t get it,” Baekhyun fights back. “You don’t get it because you’re so fucking skinny and perfect.”

Sehun is practically in tears now, shoving the plate at Baekhyun before he scrambles back up the stairs and into the kitchen, abandoning Baekhyun who sighs and stares at the food in front of him for awhile.

Eventually, Baekhyun follows his friend inside, food still untouched on the plate. He hands it off to Minseok as he passes who practically inhales it before returning to his job. It’s worse now though because Sehun won’t even look at him and he’s never been that great at talking and his best friend just won’t look at him.

He goes home that night feeling utterly abandoned.





After their initial first encounter which Baekhyun deems as a failure on the Awkward Giant’s - he means, Chanyeol’s - part he finds that the younger is rather easy to talk to. Chanyeol chatters away about everything effortlessly when Baekhyun comes to drop off dishes and though Baekhyun rarely converses with him he doesn’t mind the endless chatter so long as the topic of his appearance is never touched upon again.

Sehun still avoids him. Whenever they pass each other, because Baekhyun has to take a collection of dirty dishes to the back where Chanyeol is and Sehun has an unfavorably positioned table, the younger ducks his head down and rushes by Baekhyun. Even when the elder tries to open his mouth and spit out something at his friend like “I’m sorry” or just simply “stop” Sehun runs away from him and Baekhyun has long since given up. There’s no point. Sehun doesn’t want to talk to him; Baekhyun can take a hint.

It just sucks because to him it seems that Sehun just doesn’t care. He wants someone to care because if his best won’t care about him and he won’t care about himself then who will care?

When he gets to Chanyeol’s little dish washing station though, completely surrounded by his towels (Baekhyun later found out from Minseok that Chanyeol is accident prone and the towels are to lessen the chance that when he inevitably dropped something it would hopefully not break), the Awkward Giant is nowhere to be found. Baekhyun stares at his spot a bit miffed and despite how strange Chanyeol can be he supposes that the guy is probably human and therefore he most likely has to do human things such as going to the bathroom.

Shrugging it off, he dumps his load of dirty dishes next to sink and decides that now is a good time to take a break. He mumbles that he’s going on his break as he passes through the kitchen and from the corner of his eye he sees Kyungsoo pushing a small plate of food towards him, but he pretends he hadn’t seen it as he makes his way to the back door.

He pauses when he sees Chanyeol resting at the bottom of the steps, munching on something of the deep fried variety. Baekhyun makes a face. It looks like a piece of squash or a sweet potato. He isn’t sure. “Gross,” he mutters under his breath.

Chanyeol turns to look at him, one of the pieces of tempura hanging from his mouth. “Oh, it’s you,” he says, quickly downing his food. “Aren’t you going to eat?”

Baekhyun crosses his arms over his chest and looks away with a pout on his face. “Not hungry,” he mumbles. He’d hoped for some peace and quiet during his break but of course Chanyeol has to be out here too.

The taller picks up another piece of tempura and shoves it into his mouth. Baekhyun resists the urge to cringe in disgust. “Are you anorexic or something?” he asks and the way he asks is rather joking but Baekhyun tenses at the accusation anyways.

Without a word, he walks back into the kitchen, allowing the door to swing shut behind him.



Jongin finishes fixing a stack of menus when he glances up and witnesses Sehun ignoring his friend for the nth time in the past week and he sighs in annoyance. He waits for his friend to pass him before he reaches out and snatches his arm, pulling him around his little podium he hides behind. Jongin was never quite sure what to call it.

“What the fuck are you doing?” he asks.

“Uh.” Sehun glances down at himself. “Working?”

Jongin rolls his eyes and tries very hard not to reach out and smack his friend across the face. “No, I’m talking about Baekhyun. What the fuck are you doing?”

“I’m not doing anything,” Sehun says dismissively.

Jongin wants to blow up - like actually, literally blow up and maybe take Sehun with him while he’s at it. “Exactly!” he whispers harshly because he doesn’t want anyone to overhear them especially when they’re supposed to be working. He has no doubt that Kris would not hesitate to kick his ass for slacking off. “I’m not fucking blind, Sehun. I know there’s something up with Baekhyun and you’re just ignoring him. Who the hell do you think you’re helping?”

“You’re being retarded -”

“Don’t you dare walk away from him,” Jongin cuts him off. “If you walk away from him and whatever the hell is wrong, I’ll...I’ll...” Jongin puffs his cheeks out in annoyance and huffs. “I’ll fucking kill you.”

Sehun scoffs this time, obviously not taking the threat very seriously. “He’s not your friend. Why does it matter to you?”

“You’re my friend though,” Jongin says. “So stop being an idiot, idiot.”

“Whatever,” Sehun says as he attempts to walk away.

Acting quickly, Jongin seizes him by the arm and tugs him back. “Seriously,” he says with a hard expression. “Don’t do this. Don’t ignore him. You have to help him.”

The younger doesn’t say anything as he pulls his arm out of Jongin’s grip and walks away.





Taking his friend’s advice to heart, Sehun does try to help. He seats Baekhyun down at one of the tables in the back of the restaurant when it’s nearly empty. He pushes a plate of food in Baekhyun’s direction during their lunch break and quietly asks him to eat “something, anything, just please eat.” At first Baekhyun looks down at the offering of food and refuses but when Sehun starts crying about it, he picks up a baby carrot and nibbles on it to oblige him.

“You have to eat, Baeky,” Sehun tells him as he wipes his eyes with the back of his hand. “It’s not healthy. You don’t look healthy.”

Baekhyun glances down at himself in distaste. He pulls at his the skin of his arm and tugs it with disgust. “Why? Because I’m fat and -” He’s unsure of exactly what Sehun does but the younger does some sort of flail, knees bumping up on the underside of the table with enough force to displace the plate; a couple of items go flying

“You’re not fat,” Sehun says. “You weren’t ever fat. What in the hell possessed you to even think that?”

“I’m fat,” the elder insists. “I’ve always been fat. Mom always said so. And those other kids said so too...”

“God -!” Sehun hides his face in his hands and lets out a frustrated groan. “She doesn’t mean it. I mean, it’s not exactly the best thing for her to say, but she doesn’t mean it, Baekhyun. She’s just trying to be modest about you. And those kids back in school...they were just trying to get at you. You’re not fat. You were never fat.”

“You don’t understand,” Baekhyun says. “Because you’re so skinny.”

“Don’t,” Sehun says in an almost whimper. “Stop it. Just stop it. If you don’t start...” He swallows hard and looks up at Baekhyun who’s frowning at his half eaten carrot. “If you don’t start taking care of yourself and eating, I’ll tell Kris,” he threatens quietly. “I’ll tell him what you’re doing to yourself and that you need help. He’ll do something then. He has to.”

Baekhyun’s eyes flicker up to his friend and as if to prove a point he drops the carrot he’s holding back onto the plate. “I don’t understand what’s so wrong about wanting to be beautiful,” he mumbles as he stands up and walks back towards the kitchen to get his tub and return to work. He bumps into Chanyeol on the way who has a frown on his face and it’s so different from his usually smiling face that it surprises Baekhyun for a moment. The taller doesn’t say anything to him when Baekhyun skirts around him and he briefly wonders what the taller thinks of him.





For the rest of the day Chanyeol is relatively quiet and Baekhyun goes about his job awkwardly because now no one seems to be talking to him. Sighing, he shakes it off. What’s it matter anyways? He doesn’t want to make friends. He just wants to do his job and go home.

Sehun gets off right before the evening shift though he lingers around for awhile, keeping an eye on Baekhyun who ignores him the entire time. Eventually Joonmyeon comes by and asks him if something is wrong with a comforting hand on his shoulder. Sehun looks at the assistant manager and then at Baekhyun who pauses in his work, body tense as he stares at his friend from the other side of the restaurant. He looks up at Joonmyeon and smiles.

“No,” he says. “Nothing’s wrong. I’ll just be going now.”

He ducks his head down and moves to the front door. He catches Baekhyun’s eyes one last time before he leaves and the elder gives him a tight smile, thankful that he hadn’t said anything. Sehun looks away. He should have told. He should have, but he was scared. The last thing he wants is to lose Baekhyun.

Baekhyun works until closing that night, picking up the used and dirty dishes and bringing them back for Chanyeol to clean who still hasn’t said much to him. He doesn’t really care though. It’s not like they’re friends or anything. It’s just weird because Chanyeol never shuts up. He thinks that Chanyeol must have overheard his conversation with Sehun or something, because that was when he started acting stand off-ish, but he doesn’t understand why he has to receive the cold shoulder either. He just wants to feel pretty and be comfortable in his own body. This doesn’t have to be anyone’s business but his own.

So he’s more than surprised when Chanyeol catches him on his way out of the restaurant and tugs him in the wrong direction home. “Hey,” he protests, nearly tripping over his feet and he flails his free arm to keep his balance. “What are you doing?”

Chanyeol doesn’t say anything as he tugs harder on Baekhyun’s arm. Again, Baekhyun nearly falls over, nearly going down on his knees before he pushes himself up and his calves ache from the effort. He scowls at the back of Chanyeol’s head, not at all appreciating the rough treatment he was receiving.

“Um, hello?”

Chanyeol still refuses to respond to him as he pulls Baekhyun with one hand and carries a plastic takeout box with the other. The smaller huffs at the blatant ignorance and plants his feet into the ground. His plan is to free himself from Chanyeol and storm off back home in the other direction; however it would appear that he severely overestimated his own strength because when he tries to put his plan into motion, he ends up actually falling to his knees when Chanyeol continues to pull him along, scraping them through his jeans on the concrete. Finally the younger pauses and turns to see if he’s alright.

“Ow.” Baekhyun winces, carefully climbing to his feet while cupping his injured knees lightly.

“Are you okay?” Chanyeol asks him, using his hold on Baekhyun to help him to his feet. He laughs a little at the wetness of the elder’s eyes. “What did you do that for?” he chortles. “You never struck me as the clumsy type.”

“I’m not!” Baekhyun protests. “But you’re just dragging me around to God knows where!”

Chanyeol cocks his head to the side in confusion. “So you fell over?”

“Well, no. I was trying to,” Baekhyun tugs at his arm in demonstration, but he still can’t manage to free himself. “And then I fell over. Where are you taking my anyways?”

“My place.”

“I don’t...” Baekhyun hesitates. “Why?”

Chanyeol pulls him into motion again. “You’ll see.”



The first thing Chanyeol does is roll up Baekhyun’s jeans to his knees and sticks a line of band aids down the wounds on his knees. He does this to both knees before rolling his jeans back down and teasingly asking if he’d like a kiss to make the “boo boo better.”

Baekhyun responds elegantly by kneeing Chanyeol in the chin, sending his long and gangly limbs flailing in all directions as he falls over backwards, clutching at his chin in pain. “I’m not five,” Baekhyun then says, crossing one leg over the other.

Chanyeol looks confused as he stands up, still rubbing at his aching jaw from Baekhyun’s cruelty. “I didn’t say you were,” he protests.

The elder fixes his eyes on Chanyeol, a hard look in them as he studies the taller boy. “What do you want?” he finally asks. “Why’d you drag me all the way here?”

The question seems to wake Chanyeol up from his daze because he’s suddenly a flurry of movements, grabbing the takeout box from the table and whisking it over to his microwave. He grabs a plate from the cabinet beside the microwave and proceeds to dump the noodly contents all over it, strings of noodles dangling off the plate as he picks it up and shoves it in the microwave. He sets the timer for a minute and then stands there next to his stove as he taps his fingers impatiently on the counter.

Baekhyun watches the whole procession quietly. What the hell is Chanyeol doing?

The microwave beeps obnoxiously when it hits zero and Chanyeol immediately opens it. Baekhyun covers a laugh with his hand when he sees Chanyeol hiss and play hot potato with the plate, carefully pulling the hot plate out of the microwave and frantically bringing it over to the table. It lands with a clatter because Chanyeol drops it more than sets it down and Baekhyun’s laughter ceases when he finds himself face to face with a full plate of spaghetti.

“Uh,” he starts uncomfortable, eyes fixed on the steaming food in horror. “I’m not hungry -”

“Eat it,” Chanyeol says softly, pushing it towards Baekhyun before it suddenly hits him that there are no utensils. He slides out from his chair and walks over to a drawer by the sink, pulling it open and coming back with one fork in his hand. He offers it to Baekhyun. “Eat.”

Baekhyun shakes his head again in refusal. “No. I’m not hungry. I’m not going to eat that.” It’s too much for him anyways.

As if Chanyeol can read his thoughts he gets up yet again, walking back over to the previous cabinet and reaching in to pull out a smaller plate. It’s one of the smallest plates Baekhyun’s ever seen and he wonders why Chanyeol has one of those. It’s cute and tiny looking, not at all like him who is tall and awkward. He brings that back to the table, sets it down by the first plate and then uses the fork to separate the spaghetti into a smaller portion which he then pushes towards Baekhyun. “Eat,” he says again, offering the fork up.

“I already said that I wasn’t hungry,” Baekhyun says, eyeing the smaller portion with just as much distaste.

“It’s small,” Chanyeol says. “Just take a bite.”

It is small. It’s even smaller than those rip off portions you get at one of those fancy French restaurants, but Baekhyun still shakes his head. No, he won’t do it.

“I heard what Sehun said,” Chanyeol tells him when Baekhyun’s obstinacy wins over. The elder gulps and looks away. Great, now Chanyeol knows too. “Kris will fire you. He’ll have to. It’s his job to take care of his employees and he’d have to get you help.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me,” Baekhyun snaps in annoyance, pushing the plate of food away from him. “I’m just not hungry.”

Chanyeol sighs as he sets the fork down beside the plate, upside down to Baekhyun with the prongs poised towards him. “There’s a huge difference between not being hungry and starving yourself. And you,” he points at Baekhyun who shrinks away on instincts, “are starving yourself.” Chanyeol’s hand drops down onto the tabletop and he lets out a deep breath. Across from him, Baekhyun is trembling in his seat, eyeing the fork and the food suspiciously. “Why?” he asks softly, quietly.

Baekhyun’s head drops down, chin to his chest as the trembling continues. “I just,” he says and then pauses. Chanyeol sits up straighter, scooting forward until he’s just barely on the edge of his chair. “I just want to be beautiful,” Baekhyun whispers. “I don’t get why that’s so wrong.” He suddenly catches a whiff of the spaghetti and it smells so good just like everything Kyungsoo and Luhan makes, but just like all their creations, the smell makes his stomach churn uncomfortably and he doubles over and clamps his hands over his mouth and nose.

Alarmed, Chanyeol reaches across the table for him, hands over just over Baekhyun unsure of what to do and how to help. “What?” he asks all panicky. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

Baekhyun takes in a few deep breaths and presses his hands harder to his face like he’s trying to mold his face and hands together. “I think I’m going to throw up,” he croaks between his fingers.

Immediately Chanyeol springs up from his seat and grabs Baekhyun be the arm, pulling him out of his chair. The elder doesn’t have much of any other choice but to follow after him. The younger leads him to a bathroom and motions to the toilet, but Baekhyun folds himself over the sink and begins to dry heave. One hand grips onto the edge of the sink while the other curls around door frame, knuckles turning white from the force of his grip. He expels nothing though he hovers over the sink for a long time, retching nothing but air into it.

Eventually, awkwardly, Chanyeol comes over and begins to gently rub soothing little circles on his shoulder blades with the tips of his fingers. He coos comforting words to him, but Baekhyun only hears it - doesn’t comprehend it. He stands there until his knees ache from locking them while he alternates between his dry heaving and panting.

When he’s done and just breathing heavily Chanyeol places his hands on Baekhyun’s shoulders and gently guides him out of the bathroom, leading him to yet another part of the apartment with the elder stumbling after him. He brings the smaller to his room and helps him down onto the bed. “You should lie down,” he says, brushing Baekhyun’s bangs out of his face because they’re matted to his forehead with sweat. Then he presses his hand against his stomach. “How are you feeling? Is your stomach better?”

Baekhyun takes in a few deep breaths, a hand on his chest, and then nods his head.

“Good.” He pushes Baekhyun down until his back hits the mattress and helps him situate himself so he’s lying down properly. Chanyeol almost laughs at how perfectly the smaller body fits on his bed. He himself struggles with the fact his bed isn’t as long as his legs. “You should rest.”

Baekhyun attempts to roll out of bed, but Chanyeol catches him before he can fall and rolls him back over. “Let me go home,” he whines in annoyance.

“No,” the younger says sharply. “You’re sick. You need to rest.”

“I can rest out home.”

“Just take a nap,” Chanyeol tells him, lifting the blanket up and draping it over Baekhyun’s body.

The elder doesn’t protest any further, pulling one of Chanyeol’s pillows down to snuggle into. Chanyeol speaks to him some more, but again Baekhyun just seems to tune him out, eyes slipping shut and before he knows it he’s out like a light.





He wakes up around one in the morning, his stomach rumbling and twisting and turning from hunger. Unable to bear the sensation he quickly rolls out of bed to search for something to just satisfy it the slightest bit. It takes him until the kitchen to remember that he’s not in his own house. And even then he only notices because the refrigerator is filled with junk Baekhyun would never eat like soda and beer and cheese and sliced deli meats. Baekhyun searches through it frantically. Where are the carrots? The celery? Anything that’s not this calorie stuffed shit.

Chanyeol doesn’t seem to have any of that though and if he does, he’s hiding it very well. Really, it’s probably a good thing that Baekhyun can’t find food except he’d been so busy avoiding Sehun and Chanyeol’s attempt at feeding him all those calories that he hadn’t found time to allow himself that stalk of celery or the whole grain cracker. He’s got nothing to run on and he needs something. Just something small that’s all.

Disheartened, he closes the door and turns to stare at the two plates of spaghetti still resting on the table. No! He can’t. But the food looks so good now and he licks his lips. Maybe if he just has a small bite - but no! Spaghetti is pasta and pasta has a lot of carbs. He glances down at himself. He can’t just sacrifice everything he’s worked for. He can’t betray his strict diet.

Even so, he finds himself picking up one of the cold noodles with his fingers and with a cringe, he stuffs it in his mouth and chews. It’s cold and doesn’t taste nearly as good and fresh as he expects, but that does it.

He hasn’t had real food for a long time now - months - and the taste of it breaks him. He doesn’t even think as he picks up the fork and begins to shove the pasta on the small plate down his mouth. Without even a thought Baekhyun moves on to the fuller, larger plate, shoveling more food into his mouth and nothing has ever tasted so good to him before.

It takes him to the last noodle before he realizes what he’s just done and his stomach churns with disgust. How much had he just eaten? All those calories. All those carbs! He feels bile rising up his throat and he really is going to throw up this time.

Chanyeol wakes up on his makeshift bed on the couch to Baekhyun vomiting into his kitchen sink. Still half asleep, he shuffles over while rubbing his eye and scratching his belly. It’s a disgusting mixture of half-eaten noodles and bile in the sink which normally would have caused Chanyeol to gag but in his half-alert state he just turns on the faucet and allows the water to wash away all the evidence of Baekhyun’s eating binge.

“What happened?” he yawns out the question.

Baekhyun cups his hands under the stream of water, swishing it around in his mouth before spitting it out again. “I tried,” he says while glancing back over at the table and Chanyeol follows his gaze. “I tried to eat.”

“You ate it all?” he asks surprised.

“Yeah.”

Chanyeol suddenly turns to him, his gaze sharp and and hard. “Did you make yourself throw up?” he asks.

“What?” Baekhyun shakes his head a bit frantically. “No. Of course not. I just felt really sick afterwards and then I started...vomiting.”

“Oh. Your body must have been rejecting it.” He shuts the faucet off when the sink is clean and then tugs at Baekhyun’s shirt. “I have a spare toothbrush. You should brush your teeth and then rest some more.” He leads Baekhyun back to the bathroom, handing over his extra brush and a tube of toothpaste and practically stands guard at the bathroom door as he waits for Baekhyun to finish up.

The elder brushes his teeth quietly as he stares down at the countertop and sink for the most part. At some point his gaze flickers up to the small mirror hanging in front of him and he freezes completely as he stares at himself. Chanyeol notices too because he looks at Baekhyun before glancing away again.

“I wonder,” he says. “What do you see when you look at your own reflection?”

Baekhyun’s eyes briefly dart towards him before fixing on the mirror once more. He bends his head and spits into the sink, trying hard not to look at the mirror and his reflection anymore. “Ugly,” he says quietly as he rinses his mouth and toothbrush under the faucet. “I see something ugly.” He throws the toothbrush back into the cup Chanyeol has set up at the corner of his counter where he keeps his own toothbrush and the tube of toothpaste. “What about you?” he asks quietly like he’s almost hoping that Chanyeol doesn’t hear him.

“Hm?” Chanyeol hums. “When I look in the mirror?”

“No. Me. When you look at me...” he trails off, allowing his question to hang in the air and silence between them.

Chanyeol leans his head back against the door frame and sighs as his eyes trail over to Baekhyun. The elder’s eyes are focused on the sink, completely avoiding Chanyeol. Annoyed, the artificial redhead reaches out and turns Baekhyun’s face towards him so that they’re looking at each other.

“You’re okay. Pretty, but...” His eyes trail down Baekhyun’s unnaturally skinny frame and he winces. “Your weight -”

Baekhyun makes an indignant noise and pulls away from Chanyeol’s touch. “I know,” he says, voice ladened with bitterness. “I’m fat, I know. But I’m trying! I -”

“No, it’s the opposite.” Chanyeol moves his hand lower to wrap it around Baekhyun’s wrist. His fingers easily encircle the thin appendage and it bugs him because he shouldn’t be able to do that. “You need to gain more weight. You aren’t healthy.”

Baekhyun furrows his brow in confusion and pulls his arm away from the younger, clearly not understanding Chanyeol’s words. And how could he? They go against everything he’s been working towards and everything he thinks. Gain weight? No. No, he has to lose weight. Why is Chanyeol saying these things?

“Do you like me?”

Chanyeol’s hand falls back to his side and he turns so his shoulder leans against the door frame instead. “What do you mean by that?” Baekhyun doesn’t answer so Chanyeol is left to elaborate on his own. “Like, do I want to date you?”

Swallowing thickly, Baekhyun stares down at the sink and nods his head just the slightest bit and only once. Just once, but Chanyeol still sees it and his lips twitch up into an amused smile. “Maybe,” he says.

“That’s not a yes?”

He shakes his head. “No, it’s not.”

It’s harder than Baekhyun would have imagined to swallow down the disappointment. “Oh.” He bites into his nails and briefly glances up at the mirror before looking away again.

“Why? Do you want to date me?”

Baekhyun tries to hide his embarrassment with a scoff. “No,” he says even as he casts a glance towards Chanyeol. “I mean, why would I? We barely know each other. We just happen to work together. That’s all. I don’t - I don’t care. Why should I?”

The smile still lingers on Chanyeol’s face and he reaches out a hand, placing it on the back of his head and petting him affectionately. “How about a deal?” he proposes, fingers barely grasping onto the short strands of Baekhyun’s hair before he returns to petting him again. “What do you say?” he presses when Baekhyun makes no move to answer him.

Impulsively, Baekhyun reaches out and turns out the lights in the bathroom, plunging the tiny room into total darkness. “What kind of deal?” he then asks.

“Work on becoming healthier,” he suggests. “Then we can go on a date.”

“What...what kind of deal is that?” Baekhyun forces out shakily. “I don’t even like you that much. I just work with you. That’s all.” He gulps audibly afterwards. “Do you like me though? Actually, I mean.”

Chanyeol pulls his hand away from Baekhyun. “Why do you want to know?”

“No one’s liked me before,” Baekhyun says. “Because I’m not...that attractive. I just want to know.”

The younger smiles but doesn’t answer as he pulls away and turns to leave. “Deal?” he calls over his shoulder as he leaves. There’s a shuffle of feet as Baekhyun follows after him.






The next day Chanyeol is stunned and then happy when Baekhyun comes over and steals one of his crackers off the plate of snacks Luhan had given him. On top of the cracker is a dollop of cream cheese and a small piece of smoked salmon. He can see that it’s hard for Baekhyun to swallow but he doesn’t complain about it as he practically forces it down his throat.

Sehun appears to have seen it too because he rushes up to his friend with a cup of water which he shoves in his hands and then pulls him into a hug. The water spills between their bodies and everyone laughs at them, but neither of them seems to care.

Later in the back of the kitchen, Chanyeol uses on of his many towels to clean up the mess on the front of Baekhyun’s shirt, soaking up the water as best he can before throwing the towel over his shoulder. “Did you throw up?” he asks, cupping Baekhyun’s face with his hands and looking at him like he’s trying to look for any lies hiding behind his eyes.

“No,” Baekhyun shakes his head. “I felt like it but I didn’t. I held it down.”

“Good.” Chanyeol leans forward and kisses the tip of his nose. “That’s good.”

“I want a dinner and movie,” Baekhyun says suddenly, his lips curling up into a tiny smile.

“Hm?”

“For our date,” he explains. He places a hand against Chanyeol’s chest and pushes him away. “You’re paying by the way.” Chanyeol smiles and pats Baekhyun on the head dotingly as he murmurs his consent. They could do that. In fact, it sounded just perfect.