E2 Yibo x Zhan

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ "Nghh, hyunggg," Yibo whined, grabbing Baekhyun's hand when the older wouldn't look at him, much less give crwdit to his concerns. "I'm gonna do it again," he muttered under his breath, though it meant he'd have to save up for a period of time before he could do something as extravagant as today. "Alright...alright, I'm done," he pouted back, still swinging at Baekhyun's hand, "But it's because we have our schedule this afternoon. We need to get bacl before manager hyung thinks we got kidnapped!" With their date successfully completed and the cuffs as evidence of their friendship, Yibo had done his best to pamper his best friend that day, and he hoped with all his heart Baekhyun could feel the love Yibo had for him.

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ "Whatever," Baekhyun said. Did he ever give off the feeling that he would count things down to the cent like that? He avoided looking Yibo right in his pleading eyes. "Just don't do it again." It wasn't to brag or anything, but Baekhyun had significantly more money than Yibo, so why would he let Yibo squander away their hard-earned money when Baekhyun could easily cover it? The math didn't make sense today. "Okay... you're done spending for today?" Baekhyun asked, half-jokingly (though more serious than not), hoping Yibo wasn't going to pull him to yet another expensive destination.

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Yibo tried not to think about the monetary aspect to their day out. It was just important that they had fun together. Baekhyun's one word of compliment was enough to justify all the money he spent, and Yibo knew he'd just earn back the money in a matter of time. "I will be hyung, just today!" he argued back with a puppy gaze. "You and hyung are /always/ paying for me. You know he won't even let me treat him to coffee anymore right?" Yibo huffed, "I'm reslly lucky to have you both, but I really don't want to be known as a freeloader in your hearts, even if you don't consciously think I am." Baekhyun had never once asked Yibo to pay for anything before, or to even split their bill. He'd always given without questioning, and Yibo wanted to acknowledge that before Baekhyun thought he was just an ingrate.

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ "I love it," Baekhyun agreed, though the moment was interrupted when he noticed the total price displayed on the computer screen. They both earned about the same from their work, and he knew Yibo's wallet was taking a hard hit from this. Baekhyun frowned, but he waited until they were outside to scold Yibo. "You need to be mindful of how you spend from now on," he said, as though this were an everyday occurrence. As he spoke, he admired his bracelet, and the way it glittered under natural light. "If you want to do something or eat something, just take me and let hyung handle it. You don't have to pay for it just because you invited me."

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ The sparking process probably took less than a minute if Yibo were to time it. It happened so quickly, and before he could even fully process the sparks coming from the machine, the technician had finished. Yibo stared at the chain in awe. It looked brilliant against his skin, shimmery and a clear stand out from the rest of the other large and loud jewelry he was asked to promote. Yibo trained his gaze on Baekhyun's procedure, and gasped as he caught the shock better than when he was getting his own done. "It's done," he announced for the technician when Baekhyun's was completed. Holding his wrist up to Baekhyun's, Yibo murmured, "Perfect match," he told the older. "I love it hyung, do you?" Of course, Yibo had to interrupt his moment of awe to pay for the actual chains, but once he finished, he couldn't take his eyes off their matching cuffs (as he liked to call it now) anymore.

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ To that, Baekhyun had nothing to say. It was hard to find friends like this these days, especially in the industry, so what else could Baekhyun do but appreciate it? Once Yibo was finished, they switched seats, and Baekhyun nervously offered up his left arm. The technician explained how to break the chain in the event on an emergency or a medical procedure, and Baekhyun relaxed a little. That was, of course, until the realization that he was still afraid of commitment hitting him like a truck. He stared, wide-eyed, at his wrist as the chain was hooked together at its two ends before it was welded together, the only indication of it being a flash from the machine. Once his hand was released, the dainty white chain was there until he died, probably. Baekhyun wanted to cry. Was there really such a person who wanted to be stuck with him for that long? "It's really pretty," he said, his voice thick as he tilted his wrist beneath a ray of sunlight to examine it further.

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Once they had settled on their bracelets, Yibo beamed proudly as he brought their samples over to the technician. He was happy to go first, being the one to suggest the idea and all. As Baekhyun sat besides him, Yibo offered up his wrist to be measured. "Oh, he's my best buddy, and I wanted this as a little reminder of that," Yibo answered, stepping up to address a question for once. He looked over at Baekhyun and smiled warmly, "Today, I want to treat him to everything, since he always takes care of me." The technician seemed to like the story and she went ahead with the sparking, explaining that it wouldn't hurt at all.

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ Baekhyun held back a sigh. How could he bear to be anything but enthusiastic "Yeah, we are," he said, draping the two metal options over his own wrist to confirm that he would go with the white gold as well. The shop assistant confirmed their choices, and they were led over to a small workshop table with an intimidating machine positioned over the centre. "Hello," the technician greeted. "Who's first?" Baekhyun angled himself to let Yibo slip past him, gesturing to the chair closer to the machine first. The technician began to unwind a bit of the chain to measure Yibo's length. "Any special reason you're getting them today?" she asked as a way of making conversation, eyeing Baekhyun and Yibo back and forth, clearly not wanting to suggest anything too out-of-pocket.

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Yibo kept his wrist out obediently for Baekhyun to test the new band around him. His eyes seemed fixated on the clean silver color that was apparently not silver. "Huh. I didn't know there was such a thing as white gold. I would've called this silver too..." he murmured. It looked nice against his skin though, and he nodded, "I like it! Do you hyung? Are we gonna match this one then?"

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ "Silver will tarnish quicker," Baekhyun agreed, giving the strand Yibo selected and draping it over his wrist to see how it would look once welded on. It was pretty, but too girlish with how thin it was. At the same time, if Baekhyun was going to keep it on his wrists forever, he didn't want it too thick or bothersome, either. Picking up a second chain, this time in little rectangular links of bright white gold, Baekhyun put it over Yibo's wrist this time. "What about this one?"

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ "Hm, we can do same design and different color, if you'd like that hyung," Yibo suggested, picking up a tiny string of silver that was curved like a DNA strand. "What do you think of this one? It's called...Singaporean gold?" He held it over his wrist, then wrinkled his nose, "Silver isn't really my thing though." Baekhyun usually had a good eye for these things, so Yibo figured he'd just take the older's advice.

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ Forever? Baekhyun swallowed, hard. Why did Yibo want such a permanent mark on them all of a sudden, less than twelve hours after Baekhyun tried to make a move on him and was turned down right away? He ran his fingers along the delicate chains on display. Despite all his worries and his thoughts, he would still do almost anything to make Yibo happy. “Which one do you want? Should we so the same design? Thats how it makes it matching, doesn’t it?”

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ A ring? Yibo didn't often wear rings in his daily life unless he was attending a schedule. And even then, it had to be a fashion-concept that he was abiding by that day for him to actively seek out rings to wear. He wrinkled his nose and pointed to a rack of small chains instead. "I was hoping for matching bracelets," he told Baekhyun instead, "The special thing with these bracelets is that they're sparked on...that means they'll stay on you forever. You can't slide them on and off." He said the last part cautiously and gauged Baekhyun's reaction. Would his best friend think this was too far of a stretch to prove their friendship? Yibo certainly hoped not, since he had already paid a deposit for the sparking appointment.

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ Instead of leading him to the reception, Yibo took a turn toward the jewelry store set up in the lobby of the hotel. Okay... Yibo wanted matching jewelry. It was not only a girl thing, but a couple-like thing, which only continued to throw Baekhyun off some more. What exactly did Yibo want with this? "Sure... like a ring or something?" Baekhyun almost regretted it immediately after he suggested it. Xiao Zhan was going to lose his mind once he realized Baekhyun and Yibo had /matching/ jewelry.

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Yibo was a lone wolf, one that didn't need a counterpart to shine. Or so he thought. When Baekhyun became his bandmate, Yibo had unknowingly and so willingly latched onto the older. It was like he craved to close their bond, so that everyone would know he and Baekhyun had a special place in each other's heart. This was something he couldn't keep to himself, and so he hoped Baekhyun would do this with him. "It really is part of my bucket list," Yibo explained, pulling Baekhyun past the check-in counter and around the corner and into a small jewelery store, "I know usually only girls do this...but can we match hyung?" he asked hopefully.

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ Baekhyun blanched when Yibo pulled him before the Grand Hyatt. There was only really one reason to go to a hotel, and between the two of them that wasn't even necessary either, since they had their own dorm room. Baekhyun opened his mouth to turn down the offer, but Yibo was pulling him in already. Between their clasped hands, Baekhyun's was beginning to dampen. He thought Yibo was the one who didn't want this, anyway. "I-" he began to protest, before giving in as he trudged in with the younger, his mouth dry. "I guess..." He'd just hear Yibo out first.

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Yibo felt very accomplished to be paying for Baekhyun. At least his best friend didn't fight him as much as his boyfriend when Yibo wanted the bill. Zhan had the bad habit of always shoving Yibo aside, or denying him at the very last moment. They left the dark restaurant and went back out to the bright outside, where Yibo was still grinning from ear to ear. "Not quite," Yibo said, taking Baekhyun's hand again so he could call one more cab. "We're going to go do one more thing together, so hang on tight with me okay hyung?" This was the longest cab ride by far, taking them deeper into Seoul. They were dropped off in front of a hotel building, tall and grand. "Ready?" he asked Baekhyun, as if the older already knew what to expect.

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ Baekhyun had chanced a glance at the total, and with that premium cut of beef it was not cheap. He hesitated, but figured Yibo really wouldn't back down right now. He'd just slip cash into Yibo's room or bag later today or the next day. "Fine," he said. "Thank you." They made their way out back onto the street. Baekhyun waddled, a little bloated from the fatty meat and the cheese from their side dish. "That's all, right?" he asked, suspicion lacing his voice. He didn't want Yibo to spend so much money just to prove they were still friends or something.

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ At least the tension between them seemed to have lifted at this point, and Yibo ate the rest of his meal without feeling the overflowing burden on his shoulders from last night. The food was delicious, but it seemed to taste even better with the stress gone. The bill came though, and Yibo shot down Baekhyun's idea really quickly. "No hyung, you stay seated," Yibo insisted, snatching the bill from the center. He wasn't going to let Baekhyun touch his wallet at all today. "You must not have been listening when I was telling you that I'm treating you today." Reaching into his wallet, Yibo pulled out a wad of cash, and counted out the majority of the bills to place on the tab.

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ "Dunno," Baekhyun answered vaguely. He had no doubt Jackson would come with him if he asked (that clingy one would follow even if Baekhyun didn't say anything about it), but he didn't want to let on too much in front of Yibo. "Right, they're good. We can talk to them about it once we have more of an idea what's happening." Flipping the melting cheese around with the corn, Baekhyun gave the eggs a scramble with his spoon as well. They finished the rest of their meal without much more talk about treason within the company. When it came time for the bill, Baekhyun waved away Yibo's hovering hands. "Let hyung get this."

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ "Of course, I'm coming with you," Yibo answered rapidly, this decision being one of the easiest he could make. Being an idol had many perks, but it was also quite lonely when one didn't have others to rely on in the business. Yibo didn't believe in the concept of making acquaintances though, so he would be perfectly happy to latch onto Baekhyun for the rest of their lives. "But I like that we get to do albums together. I think Jackson and Henry hyung are really good producers though. I wonder if they'd still write music for us if we went to another company?" As he pondered this question, he ate two whole pieces of pork belly and chased it with some steamed egg - delectable. "They're such a powerful combination...like us, right hyung?"

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ They continued to eat as they lamented their situation. "We could leave," Baekhyun said. "I'm sure there's some clause of the contract they've broken, even if it isn't as obvious as withholding wages or anything like that. We'd just have to look..." But the thing was, where would they go if they left? Baekhyun knew of no other reputable label, and they were far from ready to create one themselves. "We'll just hang on a big longer," Baekhyun decided, loading Yibo's plate with crispy pork belly. "When the time is right... you'll come with me?"

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Yibo had to admit that if the fans weren't so outrageously supportive of their duo, they probably would've sunken long ago from the amount of exposure the company was willing to give them. DSF continued to crank out many groups, though they didn't stay relevant for very long. If it weren't for Zhan and Vic noona (since when did a duo ever have two managers?), they would've drowned too. "I know," he scoffed, rolling his eyes as he tried to recall what scandal he'd read in the news about Hoseok. "At this point, we're pretty much carrying."

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ “Eung. Siwoo and Seoyul missed you. They keep asking about you.” Baekhyun ate slower than he usually did. The little hangover still hadn’t gone away fully, and he didn’t want to puke up all this fatty beef later. Pacing himself by wrapping the bits of hanwoo into lettuce wraps, Baekhyun lay down the pork belly to cook whilst they ate their first round of beef. “Yeah, that’s right. We had so much time, and now we’re…” Baekhyun didn’t finish. They were busy because against how he’d originally envisioned it, they had their own lives. “Now we’re being milked by the company,” he finished with a scoff, directing his irritation to the CEO and upper management instead.

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ When their hanwoo was finally grilled, Yibo was expecting it to taste like the best cut of meat he'd ever had. His first bite didn't disappoint. His eyes widened in surprise as he chewed minimally, letting the meat melt in his mouth. "Mmm!" he moaned, "I love it." An instant approval later, he was listening to Baekhyun talk about his family. "Yeah!" he agreed, since he always loved amusement parks. "We haven't gone to one before right hyung? Let's go together!" He beckoned for Baekhyun to try the Hanwoo, "I miss when we were trainees sometimes. We had a lot more free time."

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ Rather than launch into a recount of his days, Baekhyun was silent for a moment as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to say to Yibo. Outside of their shared schedules, Baekhyun was either training or spending time with his boyfriend, visiting his family or friends on the occasional weekend when his schedule was a little less packed. "Not much," he said, wondering exactly how much the younger knew about his recent weekend disappearance. He decided to keep it vague. "I saw my family recently. My nephew wants to go to Lotte World. Want to come with us?"

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ "No don't worry about it," Yibo said, staying firmly rooted in his seat. He shooed Baekhyun back and prepared his cash to pay at the end of the meal when the waiter would drop by. Their food was brought out quickly and Yibo still had to defer to Baekhyun when it came to cooking. Neither of them wanted to eat burnt meat, even if that was a gesture of kindness on Yibo's end. Besides, they were paying good money for this. "So hyung, tell me what you've been up to!" Yibo asked, watching as the hanwoo seared before them.

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ Baekhyun nodded along when Yibo spoke. "That's good," he said, figuring even if they were having issues, Yibo wouldn't say anything to him. The thought of that hurt a little, but on the other hand it wasn't as if Baekhyun was telling Yibo everything either. He looked up when Yibo drew his attention to the valve above Yibo's bench, which was dripping water directly over the table, a little off ways from where Yibo's plate was. The wait staff had no idea what was going on with it, either, so Baekhyun gathered his phone and stood at the end of Yibo's bench, gesturing him out. "I'll switch with you."

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Of all the things for them to break the silence with, Yibo didn't think Baekhyun would think to start it off with Zhan. After all, wasn't Zhan pretty much the reason why there was tension between them? Yibo loved his boyfriend dearly, but he couldn't deny how tense it was whenever he spoke of Zhan to Baekhyun, or vice versa. If only he had been better about keeping his mouth shut the first time Zhan had rejected him. "Oh, it's going well," Yibo said, "He's very thoughtful. I did talk to him about being nicer to you," Yibo said, "He's your manager and our hyung. He needs to be more mature about his emotions." Right as Yibo said this, he felt a drop of water on the back of his hand that was resting on the table. "Huh- what's this?" he interrupted himself, looking up to find the water valve above him dripping slightly.

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ Before Baekhyun could interject and demand an explanation why their most ordered cut of meat was out of stock by /lunch/ time, Yibo had ordered something else. He could tell by the look on Yibo's face that it was probably a little out of scope, and he couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt in his chest. Why was Yibo trying to go so far for him? Baekhyun would just pick up the tab later. "That premium meat better be good, then," he said lightly, pouring out two cups of water for them. While they waited for their food, silence settled again, and Baekhyun racked his mind desperately for something to fill it. "So... how are things going with manager hyung lately?"