It never occurred to Chanyeol to wonder where Baekhyun usually sat for breakfast until the tour dates back in Tokyo. Sometimes, the short, growth-stunted, pessimistic brunette would eat along with the rest of the tour staff, but other times, he’d leave the hotel to eat elsewhere out on the streets. Chanyeol didn’t have the freedom to walk out without body guards accompanying him, unlike Baekhyun, but he always thought about daring to tag along, more often than not in the recent days.

His head had an aching pang. Chanyeol knew he hadn’t consumed a significant amount of alcohol the night before to feel that way, so he excused it as something his lack of sleep contributed to.

With his eyes kept on the ballroom’s double doors, Chanyeol waited with thinning patience for Baekhyun to join him. To make sure of himself, the musician replayed the memory of the brunette promising him time that very morning. It was a promise that he was keen on keeping. If Baekhyun decided to go back on his word, then that’d be an annoying issue to deal with.

Time began to tick farther and farther away from him, and Baekhyun still hadn’t made an appearance despite being the one honey-dicking about giving the giant an opportunity to talk over breakfast. Chanyeol ate his fruit and took a bite out of his toast, hardly the breakfast the nagging brunette would’ve approved of if he was actually there. Spotting Kris about to pass his area, Chanyeol raised his hand, halting the manager.

“Do you happen to know where Baekhyun is this morning?”

Kris looked down, thinking. “I saw him a while ago. He said he needed to make a quick run to a convenience store. Jongdae was with him.”

It dawned on Chanyeol then that the brunette probably never had the intention of even speaking to him. If anything, Baekhyun might’ve even jumped at the first chance to leave the hotel. Waving Kris off, Chanyeol dismissed him, returning to his silent sulking, thinking of ways to approach the little cunt on the subject of lying and giving false promises, eyes constantly darting at the ballroom doorway.

-

-

Baekhyun’s arrival was unpleasant and pleasant at the same time. Appearing forty-five minutes past the time Chanyeol expected his company, the brunette walked into a room that was nearly empty besides the hotel help bustling to clean the mess left behind by the crew. The only individual there who had no purpose of staying was the musician himself, fingers lazily tapping on the screen of his phone until he glanced up and threw the brunette a searing look of utter displeasure. “Nice of you to finally come.”

Looking frustrated, Baekhyun ran a hand through his hair, lips drawn into a thin unhappy line. “The staff said they need you out to the van right now.”

Ignoring the other’s words, Chanyeol leaned far back in his seat. “What’s your excuse?”

“What?”

“You said you’d talk to me about the songs.”

“Mr. Park, I told you to write your suggestions down and I’d review them,” Baekhyun responded, closing his eyelids in a tired fashion before meeting Chanyeol’s eyes again. “I made that clear this morning when I was in your suite.”

“Then you should’ve sent me a text or some visual reminder, because who the hell has the capability to remember anything at five in the morning? And to be honest with you, short cake, I was too busy thinking about how good you fucking looked to listen to anything you were saying.” Rising from his seat, Chanyeol cocked his head, silently intimidating the brunette with the look in his eyes. “But I guess I’m sorry...for paying more attention to your mouth than to a words you said."

Irked, Baekhyun called his name once, following after in quick strides after Chanyeol began walking out. “Chan--Mr. Park. I won’t be riding in the same vehicle arrangement as you.”

“And why is that?” Chanyeol asked without turning back or slowing down for the coordinator to catch pace with him.

Miffed by his unconscious attempt to keep up, Baekhyun stopped in his tracks just outside the ballroom and stood in the middle of the hall. “I’ll be going at a later time. I have some things to take care of, so I’ll be arriving at the venue with a few other people.”

“What other business do you have besides overseeing my needs?” Chanyeol replied sharply, snapping as his annoyance grew back.

Offended, Baekhyun stood appalled. “Your needs? Park Chanyeol, my contract with the company concerning this tour has nothing to do with you apart from your safety and the safety of the public. In simple terms, the only job I have that involves you is making sure your tour runs as smooth as possible. Not one word said anything about your needs, so don’t you dare confuse me with your manager. If you want something, take it up with him, not me.”

“I know what your contract says,” Chanyeol said, “but I think I’ve made it clear that every interaction I have with you isn’t with a professional mindset. It’s more, what do you call it--personal.”

“Then maybe we should get you a personal assistant, Mr. Park, so I can get on with my job and less with your personal wants.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

Baekhyun sighed defeatedly. He looked off to the side for a moment, hearing people in the distance approaching. Then, he gave Chanyeol a jaded expression. “I’m done speaking about this to you. The crew’s waiting and I can’t be here anymore. I’m already late for business I have to attend to, and you...I don’t want to deal with you right now. The van’s in the front. Make sure you get people to walk with you.”

He left without another word, using the other hall to leave instead of having to pass the musician. Chanyeol kept his temper in check, brushing the feelings he felt off as he pivoted around.

The lobby was, as expected, busy. Security was on hand and normal guests stopped to watch him as he walked by with his security team. A staff called his name from behind, lugging his guitar case, and Chanyeol gave him no smirk or smile. Just a nod, which didn’t seem to settle well with the individual who muttered a remark as Chanyeol walked off.

Outside the hotel doors, the girls who had camped out all called him either by his name, his stage name, or just a nickname that was circulating around the web. Chanyeol grinned at them, taking the time to sign a few notepads and cellphone cases with a sharpie handed to him, but eventually got inside the van where he received looming attitudes.

“We’ve been waiting for over twenty minutes for you.”

Turning his eyes to his manager, Chanyeol shrugged. “Terribly sorry,“ he said, not sounding sorry at all. “I had a run in with Baekhyun.”

Kris rolled his eyes, dragging the guitar case on the van floor to a more comfortable position. “You need to stop bothering him, Chanyeol. He does enough already.”

“Like what?” Chanyeol put on his seatbelt, then drew out his phone.

“For one, he went to the store to buy to get us all standing upright without tumbling over.”

“So, he’s your work horse, and not mine.”

“Chanyeol, that’s not the point.” Kris sounded frustrated. “He’s looking over everyone. You’re not...Don’t get offended, but you’re not that special.”

Chanyeol didn’t take the remark to heart. His snapped his earphones in, uncaring for the way Kris was watching him.

“Do you understand?”

It was a stupid question, one that wasn’t even worth answering. Ticked off, Chanyeol didn’t reply directly. “Are we going or not?” he bluntly shot.

Spent, Kris sighed and signaled for the driver to go on.

-

-

The band sounded tired despite the assistant director’s appraisal. It was bullshit to say something was good when it sounded terrible, and Chanyeol didn’t know if the bastard was trying to kiss his ass. He was boiling over the fake compliments for an hour until he realized he missed the runt’s barking and insults. When it came to him, he cursed loudly, scaring his makeup artist as he stood up abruptly to snatch a bottled water from a cooler. As he was drinking, his attention was caught when he heard the sound of humming around the corner. When he went to investigate, he only saw the young drummer hired by the company.

Jongin played the drums and it always seemed like he was lost in his own world. More often than not, he was humming to himself, tapping his drumsticks on any surface he could find. Thinking he needed a distraction from that morning, Chanyeol walked over, sitting in a chair nearby.

“Practicing?

“Just warming up,” Jongin said. “I’m working off the hangover to be honest.”

“Aren’t we all…” Chanyeol leaned back, heaving his shoulders. “This tour needs to stop drinking.”

Laughing, Jongin stopped tapping his sticks and gave Chanyeol a look. “I don’t think we will, but it’s good that the company hired Baekhyun.”

“Because he doesn’t drink.”

“Well, that,” the drummer said, shrugging as he began tapping again, “but he always gives us something for the hangover the night after.”

Drawing his brows together, Chanyeol took an interest. It was the second time someone mentioned the runt’s early morning run. Since when did Baekhyun go around playing as a saint? If anything, he was far from a saint. “He didn’t give me anything for mine this morning.”

“I don’t know about that, but he went out with Mr. Kim to buy some things at a store. You should’ve gotten one. He was looking for you this morning.”

Maybe that’s what ate up Baekhyun’s time up that morning, but nonetheless, he said he’d talk and he didn’t. Chanyeol wasn’t one to hold grudges, and Baekhyun was more than lucky that he let a lot of things slid with all the orders that he gave out, but that didn’t stop the giant from being overly pressed about the issue.

“Hn. He must’ve forgotten.” In the midst of their argument that morning, the window of opportunity to offer him anything to help with the ailments must’ve fallen through the cracks. Chanyeol groaned. “This is your first tour, right?” he asked, changing the subject.

“Yep,” Jongin replied proudly. “It’s been a nice experience working with you, Mr. Park.”

“You’re good at what you do,” Chanyeol complimented, crossing his legs. “Who’ve you worked for before?”

“I used to work for Do Kyungsoo, lead singer for D.O Mania.”

Raising a brow, Chanyeol folded his arms. The name was more than just familiar to him. It was etched in his memory. “You used to work for Kyungsoo?”

Nodding, Jongin grinned. “Does that bother you?”

Thinking about it, the musician fiddled with his hair, whisking it away from his face. So the kid used to work for Do Kyungsoo… It was an interesting thing to know that the latter was affiliated with his former music partner and, currently, nemesis in the music industry, but that didn’t cloud his judgement too much. As far as he knew, Kyungsoo was an idiot for letting a drummer like Jongin slip through his fingers.

His silence dragged on for much longer than he anticipated. Jongin stopped what he was doing, frowning. “I promise you I’m not a spy for him or anything like that.”

“Hm? Oh...I believe you,” Chanyeol assured him, waving the concern off.

“You know, Baekhyun used to work for him, too, but he left before I did.” Jongin yawned. “What do they have at the food station? I’m still hungry…”

“The usual stuff,” Chanyeol replied, eager to address the first part of Jongin’s statement. "You said Baekhyun worked for Kyungsoo?”

“Yeah. They were close when I used to work for Kyungsoo’s label. When Baekhyun left, there were rumors that they broke up and that’s why Baekhyun decided to resign. Want anything from the station?”

“No, I’m alright. Go help yourself.”

“Okay. I’ll see you later then!”

While Jongin made his way to the food station, Chanyeol was right back where he started and that was with his mind stuck on the coordinator. After a few minutes, he pushed himself off his seat and began walking towards a backdoor exit to light a cigarette.

The early morning air hit him in the face as he pushed out. The surrounding area was closed off to any unauthorized person so there was hardly anybody lurking around. It was just the kind of privacy he wanted.