exo: maybe you're hoping for a fairytale, too

[rustle]

Maybe you're hoping for a fairytale, too
— Baekhyun/Chen. PG-13. 1683 words.
— Baekhyun is the last member to be included in EXO. In an effort to climb to the top as quickly as possible, he runs into Jongdae. (AR, in which EXO is all of K + the Korean members of M)
— I HATE YOU, LUCY gdgdbaby ♥

i. Baekhyun has been included in EXO's roster not too long ago. It's unplanned — one minute, he's rehearsing with Jino and the others; the next, he's being dragged to practice room B to be introduced to a group of people he has barely had any interaction with. So it's no surprise that he isn't able to find his voice at first when he's asked for an introduction, especially when there are seven pairs of eyes fixed on him, all expectant, maybe a little welcoming. "Byun Baekhyun," is the only thing he's able to say. His lips and throat are too dry for a sentence much longer than that, but he rushes, "I sing." The tallest guy at the back is the first to offer Baekhyun a smile. "Park Chanyeol," he says, introducing himself, then adds, "I think we'll be good friends." Baekhyun doesn't understand until thirty minutes after, when he finds himself casually engaging in a conversation with Chanyeol about the most random of things. Kyungsoo is quiet, for the most part, but his eyes are always moving, looking for something to be transfixed on. Joonmyun, meanwhile, is everything a leader should be — too accommodating, a bit too controlling, but easy to get along with. Minseok is Joonmyun's voice of reason and maybe even his conscience, while Sehun and Jongin are these silly boys trying to find fun in the mundane and stressful ins and outs of pre-idol life. Jongdae is polarizing. Jongdae is a bit of everyone. He has his quiet moments, but sometimes gets too worked up about every single thing. He's young and fresh and has the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old kid. When he sings, all of these traits dissolve into one character that Baekhyun can only describe as "idol-worthy". Jongdae is a character, his very own stage persona. Jongdae is exactly what — who — he wants to be. The first few weeks are spent forging a bond with the rest of the group and catching up on the many years of training that he has missed. Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, he stays behind for a couple more rounds of dance practice; Tuesdays and Thursdays, he asks for extra vocal lessons. When Kyungsoo becomes much more unavailable than ever, he has no choice but to seek help from Jongdae. He takes a deep breath. ii. Vocal practices with Jongdae are usually torture. He spends half of the session gandering at Jongdae's facial expressions; the other half, he spends wondering how wide Jongdae's vocal range is, and how he can do much better. Each session, he tries to do things differently as if to challenge Jongdae, trying to see if he can outdo himself and, in turn, outdo Jongdae, but Jongdae is unrelenting — every song Baekhyun sings, Jongdae can sing better and with much more emotion. "I think that's it!" Jongdae stretches his arms behind his back. "So, we're good?" Baekhyun gulps down hard. He doesn't say, You're good, but I want to be better. Instead, he answers, almost choking, "One more run? Please?" Jongdae nods without a second thought and even offers a smile. Jongdae only gets better with each passing week, only gets on his nerves all the more. It's frustrating because just when Baekhyun thinks he's gotten so much better at his craft, there Jongdae is, hitting all the right notes, tugging at his heartstrings with his voice. He finds himself clenching and unclenching his fists when Jongdae sings his parts in an effort to keep himself from bursting into song. Only one of them can own the spotlight at a given time. Baekhyun wants more — more singing exposure, more lines, more people who can appreciate him. He wants more of himself and less of Jongdae. It's not easy when he spends nearly every waking moment with Jongdae, though. They're recording the ballad for their mini album today. Joonmyun has just finished recording his parts and Jongdae's up next. Kyungsoo and Minseok have already excused themselves. "I'll be waiting for the two of you in the van," Joonmyun says, and Baekhyun nods and offers Joonmyun a smile. If there's anyone in the group who needs more rest than the rest, it's Joonmyun. Baekhyun clasps his hands and rests his chin on them. He watches Jongdae sing. He's heard Jongdae a hundred, maybe even a thousand times before, but every single time Jongdae sounds different, like there's something to be discovered about him everyday. Today, Jongdae employs techniques in vocal calisthenics more than the usual, and Baekhyun finds himself reworking his strategy yet again. It's difficult, having to recalibrate himself every single time. Sometimes, he wonders if he's still improving himself or if he is, in fact, simply improving his perspective of Jongdae; in most cases, the better half of his senses tells him that it must be the latter. Jongdae reaches the highest point of the song and his voice breaks for a while. Baekhyun sees the faintest glimpse of disappointment in Jongdae's eyes before Jongdae turns to the sound engineers to apologize, a small and sad smile on his lips. Jongdae turns to him and mouths, "I'm sorry, have to re-record the whole thing." Baekhyun sticks out a tongue at him. He bites back the Take your time threatening to spill from his lips. It's what idols do. Three weeks until debut and Baekhyun still doesn't know if he's good enough for this. In the company of the other members, he speaks highly about himself, but in the silence of his room — when Chanyeol is not yet around — the thought of not being cut out for idol life plagues him. His voice often betrays him in times of need; he blames it on puberty but he knows very well it's his body's way of saying, there's always someone better than you. Three soft knocks on the door tell him that he should probably just sleep it off. Another tells him that it's not Chanyeol, because Chanyeol would normally just come in without warning. "I'm surprised you're here," Jongdae says when Baekhyun opens the door. "This is my room." "No, I mean— I thought you were practicing—" "Ah, no. Not today." A hitch of the breath, then, "Do you? Do you want to practice, I mean." Jongdae offers a small smile. "If you want to." Baekhyun is not a man of long-winded excuses and reasoning, so he nods and bites the inside of his cheek to keep himself from grinning. He snatches his phone from his desk and ushers Jongdae outside. They don't talk for the rest of the trip; instead, they hum a song, as if harmonizing. Baekhyun lets the music ring in his ears, play in his mind on repeat until he cannot think of anything else anymore, until the only song he can sing is that of Jongdae's. iii. The road leading up to the day of their debut is filled with fanfare and attempts at harmonizing with Jongdae. Their synchronization is off in the morning, but they make perfect harmony in the evening, when they're alone in the recording booth and Jongdae is guiding him as he runs through the lines he'll be singing for their new song. "I think this line suits you better," Jongdae casually mentions. "Can you try—" "But that's your line." Jongdae shrugs. "It's okay. You deserve it." Baekhyun parts his lips, taking in as much air as possible, when Jongdae suddenly leans in too close. Baekhyun holds his breath. "Sing," Jongdae says, the last letter ringing in Baekhyun's ears. He can feel Jongdae's breath on his skin, and maybe if he's stupid enough to lean in he'd be able to feel Jongdae's ragged breathing, the hurried rise and fall of Jongdae's chest against his. He wills all his voice to slip from his lips — a clumsy performance. When he finishes, Jongdae leans back, then nods in approval. "Good," Jongdae comments. "But you can do better." Baekhyun grips Jongdae's wrists tight and slowly moves closer, their chest only a few inches from each other. It's strange;from where Baekhyun is, Jongdae looks so much bigger, much more intimidating, even with his small frame and his small face and that tiny curl at the curve of the lip. There's something in the way Jongdae crinkles his eyes that spells "trouble", but Baekhyun pays no heed to it, leaning much closer until their noses touch. "Is this your idea of a duet?" Jongdae asks. Baekhyun scoffs. "This is my idea of revenge." Jongdae's lips hover. Baekhyun closes his eyes. He waits for that moment, that crazy, frenzied moment you only see in afternoon telenovelas where two young people get a bit too caught in the moment and end up making out in the classroom, any cramped space, a sound booth in one of the country's top entertainment companies. He waits until their breathing evens out, the rise and fall of their chests rhythmic, until Jongdae lets their foreheads touch. Baekhyun bites his lip. He's been outdone again. After debut, things do not change. Baekhyun still stays up late to practice until he can feel his throat burn. Jongdae still pushes him to the edge and makes him do unimaginable things. Jongdae still wins, and by a long mile even, so if and when there are times when Baekhyun wants to sing with Jongdae or to pin him on a wall and kiss him senseless, he waits for Jongdae to come to him. If he's going to lose, he might as well go down in style. When Jongdae kisses him, he kisses back, and bites on Jongdae's lower lip a bit too hard for Jongdae's liking. Jongdae licks the part that stings and kisses him again. This is what a duet is.

Comments

[gdgdbaby.livejournal.com]

I ALREADY TOLD YOU THIS ON TWITTER BUT i love you so much I LOVE THIS SO MUCH ♥______♥ man, i didn't even realize it was an alternate reality, all your details are so lovely and realistic *__* i really love how unsure baek is in this and how he approaches jongdae with this mixture of rivalry and fascination. and JONGDAE IS SO GREAT. i love the last two scenes a stupid amount ;~~~; thank you so much for writing this for me, ahhhh you're the best ♥♥

[onyu.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much, Lucyyy ♥ And idk why, but I've always seen Jongdae as a fascinating to a fault, haha!

Again, thank you! :D I'm really, reaaally glad you liked this :)

[airplanewishes.livejournal.com]

This is really lovely.

[onyu.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :D

[scarredknees.livejournal.com]

sooo beautiful ugh i ship this ♥

[onyu.livejournal.com]

More people need to ship BaekChen, yes ;____;

Thank you for reading! :)

[onyu.livejournal.com]

Thanks for reading :)

[izon-no-niwa.livejournal.com]

bam. this is just like how i see it, just like how i felt baekhyun hold back and look lost during their runs in the last parts of wolf. like chen is the only other person in the group who can make baekhyun take the back seat.

[onyu.livejournal.com]

He does seem like the type who'd like to show off, doesn't he? Then Chen starts singing and bam! Baekhyun can't find his voice anymore.

Thank you so much for reading! I'm glad you enjoyed it :)

[baeklights.livejournal.com]

ahhh, thank you for writing this ship and for writing them so well.

Jongdae is polarizing.
ugh. YES. ;~;

[onyu.livejournal.com]

Thank you! This is the first time I've written them so I'm really glad I got the dynamics right :)

♥♥♥

[(Anonymous)]

lovely duet ♥
thank you for writing! now i'm gonna ship Baekchen!

[onyu.livejournal.com]

No, thank you ;) BaekChen is such an unloved pairing; it needs to be written more!

[ka-chuus6.livejournal.com]

Well yeah...
That was just awesome.

Damn.
Now I want to read more of it!!!
Baekchen is my new favourite now~

[onyu.livejournal.com]

Such kind words! Thank you! :D