ABOUT THIS PLOT
I've written 6.8K words for this story already, and as I've said you can take it or scrap it, whatever you want.

This story is meant to be Romance, Fluff, Humour, Angst, the whole shebang. Baekhyun is a volleyball ref and Chanyeol is this cute freshman at his university, and Baekhyun sees Chanyeol playing (completely failing) and doesn't expect much till Chanyeol asks to be taught by him. Basically Chanyeol's smitten but Baekhyun thinks he's too young for him, a classic age-gap difference story where the young one is pining all the time. I originally planned for Baekhyun to reject Chanyeol's first confession but slowly be roped in, which is where the following blurb occurs (the person who first speaks was, in my mind, Jongdae)

Have fun!

Blurb:

"Baekhyun, you've already watched him get hit in the face with a volleyball at least thirty times. What could you possibly be afraid of?"

"Um. His balls?"

◦•◦❊◦•◦

Baekhyun blew the whistle, his arm pointing left as he heard cheers of victory and the crowd booing. He shifted his feet as he waited for the teams to settle down, making sure that he didn't step off of his referee stand in the process.

He had told Jongdae to take this volleyball game for the day, but the idiot had chickened out last second, leaving Baekhyun to referee when the black-haired man should've been at home, studying for his bachelor's. Now, he had to stand a few feet taller than everyone else (something he secretly enjoyed because of his normally short height), and overlook a court filled with pretentious, newly-joined college girls that thought they knew everything about the sport.

Yeah, Baekhyun internally rolled his eyes, Because you totally know more than someone who has 9 years of experience on you.

Just as he was about to blow the whistle to allow the winning team their serve, the home team decided to mess with him to gain a point back in their last moments of despair, the setter yelling out how he was being unfair. "The other team made contact with the net! I saw it!" the girl said, trying to seem intimidating as she glared her dark eyes, failing to do anything of the like.

Baekhyun shook his head and told the girl a warning to not go against the referee's words, but she just persisted, acting like a five-year-old. He tried to get the coach of the team to help him out but it appeared that the home team didn't want to admit their near-defeat, the coach turning a blind eye even when Baekhyun knew he saw him.

Kids these days, Baekhyun tsked in his mind, returning his gaze to the fuming newbie who looked on the verge of exploding.

"Blue team did not touch the net, nor did they break any rules. The ball landed on your side; you lost that round," he answered as briefly as he could, bringing his whistle up to his lips again only to be stopped.

"You're lying! You're just favouring the other team right now!"

"You're off," Baekhyun said harshly, the girl's eyes widening.

"W-What?"

Baekhyun turned to the coach and promptly said, "Sub this one out." The mentioned player was near tears and fuming because of Baekhyun but he honestly couldn't care less. He was the referee. He was the one who called the shots. Some college freshman shouldn't be trying to get in the way of that.

(You could say that being a volleyball ref for four years has gotten to Baekhyun's head.)

After that, the blue team served again, and again, and again—until Baekhyun swore that the girl from earlier was bawling because their team lost a game (it wasn't even championships!), so the short referee snorted as he stepped off of the stand, preparing to leave for the day.

Baekhyun was oddly aggressive and grumpy for a twenty-six-year-old, but the past few years had been nothing but shit. He was switching majors back and forth, because his mom (the only family he had left) kept saying that this was better than that and that was better than this—and so on. He had the privilege to switch all the time because his mom was the owner to a few hotels here and there, so money wasn't the problem, but the fact that he had spent three years working toward being a teacher only to back up and start again as a psychologist, was really not nice. But Baekhyun loved his mom, and he just wanted to get a job that would make her happy.

Nonetheless, he currently hated everything involving school. Which meant homework, people, loose leafs, pencils, and volleyball.

Baekhyun had started volleyball when he was twelve years old and he had gotten a love for the sport. Originally, he wanted to be a professional volleyball player, but those dreams went down the drain the first time he broke his arm (and he was simply diving for the ball, but he didn't seem to think about the poles of the net and well... crack). When he entered college, his dream of being a volleyball player was gone but he still loved the sport; so after studying about it, refereeing for elementary schools and a few written and practical examinations, he had become a local volleyball referee. The pay wasn't charming but Baekhyun usually didn't mind—people usually weren't assholes but hey, sometimes, especially that girl that told him he was favouring another team, people were. And Baekhyun understood that.

Sometimes.

"I should get paid more," he said under his breath, taking off the referee shirt that he currently adorned and shoving it into his backpack. Just as he was about to start walking, he heard someone yelling.

"Hey!" the person called, stopping him from his task of uncapping his water bottle. "I don't know if this is too much to ask..." Baekhyun stared at him, prompting for him to continue before he wasted more of his time. "Well, first, I would like to introduce myself. I'm Kim Junmyeon, and my team, EXO, are playing next... Our ref bailed on us last second," he said sheepishly and when Baekhyun registered the words, he resisted the urge to throw his bottle on the ground in a childish fit, reminding himself that he had stopped being a child eight years ago.

"I don't really think—"

"Please!" Junmyeon exclaimed, alarming Baekhyun who glanced around him at the spectators of their little exchange, watching as Junmyeon nearly got on his knees to plead the ref. "I know you won't get any profit from this but my boys have been so excited for this game and if we don't have a proper ref then the magic of the entire game would disappear and I don't want to see the sad looks on their faces when they realized their coach lied about it being a professional game and—"

"Please stop," Baekhyun said, holding a hand up to silence the guy who had begun to ramble. "I'll do it, as long as none of your players speak back to me. If they do, they're off the court without a warning."

Junmyeon nodded eagerly and he ran off to his team, Baekhyun's gaze following his retreating figure.

He sighed.

He really should be paid more.

~

The team with the coach that begged him—EXO—really wasn't good. Well, most of the players were adequate, but there was this certain player that kept messing up every single time. The opposing team always used this to their advantage and targetted the kid, and even Baekhyun was starting to feel bad for him.

Number sixteen, the one losing it all for his team, kept getting hit in the face.

Baekhyun saw and knew that it was because the tall, awkward giant kept standing straight whenever the ball was going to the far corner. He was currently playing as an attacker so he stood in the middle, his stance generally ready. The other team had started off serving at the corner, and with his abnormal height, the ball meant for the back always hit him in the face. It was like he was intentionally trying to get hit in the face, else he would back up and bump the ball, or leave it to the people in the back (instead of, you know, suddenly straightening up super tall and getting it in the face).

It was a pitiful sight, seeing him getting hit in the face a fourth time, but somehow Baekhyun couldn't feel sadness when number sixteen always laughed and smiled this big smile. He would say that he was okay to his teammates, who either joked that he was going to die at this rate, or were looking worried for their own faces.

It was after another five serves (and one more face-hit) that the game finished with 25-13, in favour of the other team.

Baekhyun was oddly inclined to go and whack number sixteen on the back of the head and teach him a thing or two, but it would be weird and extremely unprofessional.

That last word could also describe the following situation.

"Hey, Baekhyun, right?" the coach of the team questioned, having taken a look at the little pin on the corner of his shirt. Baekhyun nodded and before he could even say goodbye and run away, he was talking again. "I'm really, really thankful for your sudden cooperation, and I was wondering if you wanted to come and have a team dinner with us—"

"No, I'm okay."

I would rather not mingle with a ton of freshmen—

"It's on me!" the man exclaimed loudly and Baekhyun wanted to sigh when he noticed that the loud coach caught the attention of his volleyball players, who all came running over.

They started thanking Baekhyun and prompting him to come with them even if Baekhyun denied multiple times with a polite "No thank you," and "I'm busy," but they just didn't get the message.

"Why not come along, Baekhyun?" number sixteen spoke up, a towel hung on his neck as he took a swig of his water bottle, his forehead comically swollen because of the number of times he was hit. Baekhyun swore the guy didn't look at his name tag before saying his name—but he chalked it up to the fact that the taller heard him and Junmyeon earlier.

"I'm... good," Baekhyun denied one more time.

"Just come with us," 16 prompted.

Baekhyun decided that fine, whatever, he'd listen this one time. He wasn't necessarily a hard-ass (Jongdae would disagree) but he just didn't like spending his time with people who have minds obviously less developed than his own.

"Fine."

And that's how Baekhyun ended up squished against the wall and number sixteen, in their local diner that stayed open everyday all day.

They were all crammed into an eight-person booth—an eight-person, not twelve—and the team members were all laughing and joking around, throwing fries around and stealing each other's food. Baekhyun only sat there without a word, poking at his burger as he took off the sesame seeds on his bun.

Baekhyun learned that the guy sitting way too close to him was named Park Chanyeol, and he was loud when he wanted to be, laughing so hard at a joke that Baekhyun was about to toss his drink in his face along with him.

Chanyeol seemed nice, and he poured everyone a drink and offered the condiments even when it was reachable from all sides. He had offered Baekhyun mustard and Baekhyun had scrunched up his nose and shook his head, amusing the volleyball player who then proceeded to put a blob of it on Baekhyun's fries—so, not really nice. More of a tease, than anything else. A polite tease.

"What's your name?" the owl boy (Kyungsoo) asked.

Baekhyun didn't notice that he was talking to him until everyone became quiet and he looked up to see Chanyeol staring at him, his arms and legs pressed even closer when the other tall one, Sehun, scooted in to hear better.

"Baekhyun."

"Are you in college too?"

"Yeah."

"What are you majoring in?"

They all took turns asking questions after that, and each one of them gasped when they found out that Baekhyun was 26. The only exception was Chanyeol, who barely had a reaction. It was a little embarrassing for him to be twenty-six and only two years into his bachelor's degree, but all of them didn't seem to know that or acknowledge it.

Everyone had asked a question now but Chanyeol, who had been sitting there and staring at Baekhyun with this unreadable look the entire time.

Baekhyun was definitely squished against the wall more than normal but he didn't let it bother him, because he shouldn't be bothered, period. It was just a first-time meeting in a hugely packed booth—and he somehow ended up beside the player he wanted to punch an hour earlier. Even through his supposed nonchalance, he was getting a little annoyed because that kid Jongin kept scooting in every single second.

Figures, since a second later, when Sehun lightly shoved him, he had easily fallen off of the seat and landed on the ground.

This was so weird. He was a full-fledged adult and these were teenagers who just turned adults. None of them knew what they were doing.

"How's my volleyball playing?" Chanyeol suddenly spoke up and Baekhyun, squished in the corner and looking frustrated—and unbeknownst to him, incredibly cute—furrowed his eyebrows.

Was this a trick question?

"It could use some improvement," Baekhyun answered honestly.

Chanyeol, instead of looking offended, only surprised Baekhyun further as he grinned widely.

"Then... will you teach me?"

~

"Jongdae, can you shut up?"

"I'm sorry it's just—he got hit in the face five times?" Jongdae questioned, cackling to himself when Baekhyun nodded. "And he asked you to teach him?" Another nod. "Oh man, I can just imagine how you denied him. You probably said it in that one voice: no, I actually have a life, unlike you, you stupid cute fucker—"

"Okay, I'm not that mean. And when did I ever say that he was cute?"

"I can see it on your face," Jongdae waggled his eyebrows but stopped the moment Baekhyun glared at him, "Alright, alright. But you did say no, right?"

"Of course," Baekhyun said simply, remembering how he had swiftly replied 'no'. It felt a little bad, watching Chanyeol's smile slip so quickly off of his face and turn into something like a pout, but Baekhyun just didn't have the time to coach a volleyball player who already had their own coach.

"He definitely likes you, Baek."

Baekhyun scoffed, stirring his strawberry milkshake absentmindedly as Jongdae went on and on about how Baekhyun always attracted the weirdest of people (but a lot of people, nonetheless) and that Baekhyun never said yes to any of them.

"You've dated a total of two people," Jongdae deadpanned.

"And I don't care when the next person comes," Baekhyun said, just as he did every time. "If I find someone that I like, well, then I'll date them."

"But Baekhyun!" his best friend whined, attempting to steal his food but getting his hand slapped the moment it even approached Baekhyun's sushi. "You keep pushing away every opportunity! How are you supposed to like someone when you don't even find out what their personality is?"

Baekhyun shrugged.

"Love is weird," he began, flicking Jongdae when he was about to cut him off.

Baekhyun thought about his past two relationships, a bitter smile slipping onto his face when he remembered how both of them ended.

"It'll find me somehow."

Later that day, when Baekhyun was peacefully studying for his exam, his thoughts drifted to Jongdae's words.

He was right—of course he was, because out of the two of them, Jongdae was just... more.

He was smarter, funnier, he took bigger chances, he was admittedly more annoying, but all in all, he was just everything that Baekhyun was not.

Baekhyun was boring: he followed his mom's words and didn't make choices for himself, he didn't like doing risky things, he was definitely the biggest teacher's pet, and he was always cooped up at his place doing stuff for the future, and not the present.

That was probably the reason why both of Baekhyun's relationships had ended the way it had; deflated, like a balloon left in a cold room.

The two people that he cared about dearly had both thought the same thing about him. They both grew bored and tired.

"There's just no... spark."

"I don't know... I guess I'm just kind of... tired? Of our relationship?"

They hadn't hated Baekhyun, but they simply didn't love him. His relationships were sweet for the first couple of weeks but eventually, they mellowed out, becoming empty shells of what could've been.

Baekhyun wasn't necessarily afraid of getting into another relationship, but he was definitely afraid of the past repeating itself. Who wouldn't have been?

That was probably why Baekhyun wasn't seeking love nor a relationship. He stayed back and did what he was supposed to do, knowing that one day, someone would come to him. In one way or another.

And if not, then sucks to be him.

Baekhyun sighed and dropped his pencil, deciding that a sweet drink was long overdue. He had been meaning to save his money to get a new laptop but decided that $5 wouldn't kill him in any way, picking up his coat from his bed.

His walk to Starbucks was short and the wait in line was even shorter, the black-haired man honestly feeling disappointed because of how much time he had somehow saved (when he was meaning to waste all of it and blame it on the long wait or something of the like). He got his drink from the worker and thanked the man, making his way to sit down.

As he was maneuvering around the other tables, he made eye contact with a familiar pair of brown eyes, stopping midway through pulling out a chair when the owner of those eyes waved. It took Baekhyun a moment but he eventually waved back, hoping the smile on his face wasn't as awkward as it felt.

He thought he could've just sat down and minded his own business afterward—but instead, the man had to call him over, the smile on his face a little too captivating to reject.

Baekhyun convinced himself that he went over because he needed something to waste time on.

Once he sat down at the spot across from the volleyball player, the taller immediately started speaking.

"Hey Baek," he greeted simply, before moving his gaze back to the papers scattered across the table.

Trying not to make it obvious, Baekhyun pushed aside one of his papers to set his cup down, observing the man in front of him (was he really considered a "man", or was he a kid?). Currently, Chanyeol's dark brown hair wasn't styled up in any way; falling into his eyes and looking undeniably soft. He looked exactly like a high-school-senior turned university-freshman, finishing the look with a pair of round, thin-rimmed glasses.

He looked cute, Baekhyun admitted that (in his mind, he was cursing Jongdae). But he couldn't think anything more of Chanyeol. Because he was 18. He just entered University while Baekhyun had been there for 8 years.

"Do you ref any sports other than volleyball?" Chanyeol soon asked, putting his pencil down as he focused his attention on the shorter, elbow resting on the table to allow his chin a resting place on his palm.

"No, I only really focus on volleyball. I know nothing about other sports, to be honest," Baekhyun admitted, and he didn't expect the smile to appear on Chanyeol's face.

"I have an idea then, how about you teach me volleyball and I teach you all the other sports?"

The shorter furrowed his eyebrows, taking a sip out of his drink to put off answering Chanyeol right away. "I don't have time. And I don't need to learn the other sports, either."

In the past, Baekhyun used to be someone who had a hard time saying no, but after living more than a quarter of his life he learned that he just had to say it sometimes... Even if the person kept pushing.

Like now.

(Plus he had already given away his "fine whatever" to the food after their volleyball game.)

"Why not? It would be beneficial for both of us."

"I just said that I don't need to learn those sports."

"It could be a good form of exercise."

"Are you saying something?" Baekhyun questioned, raising an eyebrow when Chanyeol started laughing, his right eye twitching as a whole set of perfect teeth showed.

Baekhyun rolled his eyes soon after, wondering why high school kids thought everything was funny—or, just-turned-college kids. Whatever.

"Technically, yeah, I'm saying something. I'm telling you to coach me," Chanyeol pointed out, his eyes strangely persuasive. Baekhyun didn't take any of his nonsense nonetheless, shaking his head.

"I won't coach you."

"Why? Is it because you're scared of me?" Chanyeol asked, the question seeming as if he was mocking Baekhyun—but his tone was genuinely curious.

The brunet scoffed. "Quite the opposite. It would just be a waste of time for me to coach you when you already have a coach."

"But you've seen my coach. Do you honestly think that he could adequately teach every single one of us the proper skills?" Chanyeol countered, his homework apparently forgotten as he set his pencil down.

"Not someone with your skills..." Baekhyun trailed off, and before Chanyeol could say anything he added, "And why do you want me out of all people to teach you? Get one of the millennial coaches to do it."

Chanyeol paused for a second, pursing his kissable lips before saying: "Because I think you're attractive."

Baekhyun paused in his quest of stirring his drink, giving Chanyeol a long hard stare before he spoke again. "And why does that have anything to do with volleyball?"

"Because I'll eventually get to ask you out."

This made Baekhyun laugh—only a little—under his breath. He didn't think he'd have a freshman confessing to him like this at Starbucks, a few days after meeting him. Granted, it wasn't a full-blown "I love you" but it was a confession either way.

"Listen," Baekhyun began, a piteous smile gracing his face, "I'm eight years older than you. Trust me when I say that only finding interest in someone because of their appearance isn't going to take you anywhere in life."

Baekhyun stood then, deciding that this period of "wasting time" was over, patting Chanyeol's shoulder like he was a toddler Baekhyun was babysitting.

"Talk to me the next time you have something important to say."

~

After that, every time Baekhyun saw Chanyeol in the hallway he'd simply ignore his presence, talking away with Jongdae or with one of his acquaintances. And then, as if Chanyeol disappeared off the face of the earth, he just didn't see him anywhere anymore.

It kind of made Baekhyun laugh, because he believed Chanyeol was avoiding him now. Maybe he avoided him out of spite for rejecting him in that way, or he felt a tad bit humiliated. Either way, Baekhyun didn't really care.

"How's volleyball boy?" Jongdae asked randomly, as they were studying in their dorm. Baekhyun looked up from his papers and raised an eyebrow.

"He's old news. I haven't heard anything or seen him in more than two weeks now."

"Well my friend Kyungsoo—in the same class as Chanyeol—"

"Oh you know owl boy—"

"He's not an owl and yes. I do know him. He told me they had this big test they were preparing for so most of his friends have been cooped up in libraries and dorms. Chanyeol's probably just busy," Jongdae stated, glancing at Baekhyun's reaction to see if he could gauge anything.

"Jongdae, I'm not studying psychology for nothing. I know what you're trying to do and I really don't care about this kid. I had dinner with his team, not even just him, once," Baekhyun waved his hand and Jongdae laughed, saying something about how Baekhyun knew too much about him.

After that, the topic about volleyball boy seemed to be a closed case, because they both knew Baekhyun didn't mess with kids, and he effectively had a stick up his ass more often than not.

The next time Baekhyun saw Chanyeol was at another one of the volleyball games he was reffing. It was for a different group of girls this time, and luckily there was none of that rebellious act that he had been seeing in players a lot lately. He just figured that as time went by, the people of different generations just became consistently worse at life.

Apparently, Kyungsoo's class had just finished their test and now the taller was there watching. He didn't do anything to stand out from his spot at the bleachers, but Baekhyun could feel a pair of eyes on him the entire time. This didn't necessarily bother him; it was just another thing to ignore.

When the game finished with a perfectly aimed spike that even Baekhyun whistled in awe at, he pulled off his ref shirt as if it was a disease.

Volleyball reffing was great and all but Baekhyun didn't like how it was always during the time of the day that he usually kept for studying. He didn't like school but he knew that he had to do stuff to survive and so he did it. It was simple, really. Life was simple to him.

He packed up to leave, wanting to get away from the stuffy place before he actually suffocated. He remembered when he used to love the gym but now it was merely a place for him to work, and sometimes he even envied the people who stayed after games to practise as if their life depended on it.

As he was ignoring the ogling of the girls, his eyes flitted over to where Chanyeol sat and found the taller standing on the court now, mindlessly playing with one of the volleyballs. Just as Baekhyun was leaving the gym he noticed that the other mass of girls were ogling Chanyeol and he laughed shortly, finding everything ridiculous. Considering Chanyeol's immature way of thinking, if he found any of the girls attractive then one of them was scoring a date with him tonight.

Baekhyun ended up meeting the person he liked the most on campus—or the thing he liked the most. It was a vending machine that was a few hallways away from the gym, usually stocked to the brim at night because of its inopportune placing. He knew most people liked the ones with chips and candies more, as it was in popular places like the cafeteria, but to Baekhyun this was his sanctuary every time he finished working a game. It had all of his favourite juice and his loveable strawberry milk, along with sweet tea that he liked to indulge in more often than not.

He heard a pair of footsteps as he was drinking his milk leaned up against the wall next to the machine, ignoring it as he continued to scroll through his phone.

He only really bothered with it when he heard the telltale sign of a drink dropping into the bottom compartment of the vending machine, his eyes flicking up just to check whoever else liked to use the desolate thing.

Baekhyun didn't even know why he was surprised when he saw Chanyeol, nearly sighing. Instead of saying anything, Baekhyun merely went back to his phone, hoping that Chanyeol would take his silence (even after noticing him) as a sign.

Instead, all Chanyeol did was stand at the other wall of the relatively narrow hallway, popping open the cap of one of the sweet coffees.

"If you're wondering, yes, I do have something important to say," the taller broke the silence, not bothered at all when Baekhyun didn't even look away from his phone. "I think you misunderstood me."

"How so?" he nearly deadpanned, still not giving Chanyeol his full attention.

"I didn't mean that I was going to ask you out only because your appearance is nice. I wanted you to coach me volleyball because I wanted to get to know you better." He took a gulp of his drink before continuing, glad to see that Baekhyun was at least staring at him now. "And attraction has to start somewhere, you know? You look cool when you're reffing, and you're pretty cute when you're angry."

"Complimenting me isn't going to make me accept."

"It was worth a try."

Baekhyun pondered on his thoughts for a little while, wondering if Chanyeol just took a long period to come up with an excuse to save his pathetic seeming ass, or if he was actually genuine. He thought about it a little bit and examined Chanyeol for a little bit longer than that, finding Chanyeol's posture too relaxed for someone trying to convince another that they weren't actually trash.

"So that volleyball offer..." Chanyeol spoke up, a mischevious smile on his face.

"For something only driven by physical attraction, you're really trying for that date," Baekhyun pointed out, a little amused now.

"Hey, when I go in, I go in hard," Chanyeol shrugged, as if what he said couldn't be taken a different way. "I'll probably keep bothering you now, if you don't mind."

"Obviously I mind. The word 'bother' definitely means that I mind."

"You're really uptight, you know that? It's probably a bad idea for me to date an old man."

Baekhyun snorted and then nodded, leaning his head back on the wall, eyes still kept on Chanyeol. "You shouldn't."

"With the way you're staring at me? I definitely should."

Baekhyun shook his head and didn't say anything, and then he smiled a little in spite of himself (of course when Chanyeol wasn't looking) because he didn't expecting for the taller to confront him like this. He wasn't as immature as he seemed—what with his wide innocent eyes and his funny looking ears. Back in the day if Baekhyun was him, he would've done the whole "avoid, ignore, die inside, repeat" but Chanyeol evidently acted differently and Baekhyun kind of appreciated that.

Baekhyun admittedly did feel a little bad for assuming all of Chanyeol's motives, and it was with a shift of his feet that he said, "If you manage to make me feel like I'm not wasting my time, then I'll accept."

It took a few seconds, but Chanyeol's eyes lit up at that moment and he almost looked like an excited puppy, quickly speaking. "How 'bout this. If I can get you to have fun during our first lesson, you'll continue with this."

Baekhyun shrugged. "You're starting something you can't win, Chanyeol."

"I'm not known as the Happy Virus for nothing, Baekhyun. I know how to charm my way through things." He winked and Baekhyun really wondered if he was going to regret this.

"Don't ever ask me out though, because I guarantee I'll say no every time."

"What—come on!" Chanyeol exclaimed.

"Just saying."

"You know what—it's fine," Chanyeol waved his hand, "I also know how to charm my way into people's pants."

"Well, I already hate you. Our first lesson is going to be our last."

Chanyeol was laughing the entire time it took for Baekhyun to turn the corner and head back to his dorm.

~

"You're finally going to tap that?" Jongdae questioned, when he saw Baekhyun changing into gym clothes. He knew the brunet was heading to the gym for his first "lesson" with Chanyeol, almost snorting when he thought of all the sexual stories he read about situations like this.

"No, dumbass. I'm just going to teach him what not to do, because he evidently loves having his face smashed by a volleyball." Baekhyun grabbed his backpack right after that, waving goodbye to Jongdae sarcastically before he was out the door.

The walk to the university's gym was short, and when he arrived he was glad to see there was only a small group of people playing volleyball on the other side of the gym, leaving one court open. Before Chanyeol got here he set up the poles and the nets, making sure it was the appropriate height. None of that elementary net-height.

They had scheduled to meet up at 7, which was in another couple of minutes. After the night that Baekhyun left Chanyeol at the vending machines, he realized that he had no way to contact Chanyeol. After that, he got Kyungsoo's number from Jongdae and Chanyeol's number from Kyungsoo, sending a quick text.

It was funny how much Chanyeol apparently flirted on texts, their conversation littered with smooth one-liners or tacky winky faces. Baekhyun was having none of that, of course.

baekhyun 6:58 PM
You're going to be late in
approximately 2 minutes.

chanyeol 6:58 PM
Jeez sorry coach, I just didn't want to arrive
at the gym butt-naked after my shower

Unless you know, you wanted me to ;)

baekhyun 6:59 PM
Why did you even take a shower?
You'll just be getting sweaty right after
playing for a bit

chanyeol 6:59 PM
What can I say? Gotta smell good
for my man

Baekhyun didn't answer after that, and at exactly seven on the dot Chanyeol arrived, hair still damp and loose gym clothes hanging from his body.

"Finally."

Chanyeol grinned and grabbed a ball from the big bin, staring at Baekhyun who was standing on the other side of the net.

"I'm expecting to learn a lot during my first lesson, coach," the taller said, boucing the ball and looking way too smug for someone who got hit five times during a game.

"You will learn, mostly about how to not look like an idiot on the court—bend your knees Chanyeol! Get into ready position because I'm not going to be playing against a rigid stick!"

And that was how their lesson started.

Halfway through it, Chanyeol learned that Baekhyun had some ruthless jump serves, the shorter man jumping higher than he had anticipated. He also looked hot too, so that was a bonus.

Baekhyun on the other hand, swore that he wasn't aiming for Chanyeol's face (okay maybe only a little), but he had already hit him 3 times. Chanyeol was still smiling though, and he looked like he was enjoying himself. He was even getting competitive, and it was granted because he had a pretty good spike. Baekhyun even admitted that he felt good playing again—maybe it was because it was with Chanyeol, or it was just generally volleyball—but he didn't show it on his face.

All they were doing was passing it back and forth, the shorter teaching him a few things about form and telling him what he noticed from the first time he saw him play with EXO.

Chanyeol evidently wasn't going to improve right away, because old habits die hard, and Baekhyun was afraid Chanyeol's face was going to die after this lesson.

It was only when Chanyeol was hit in the face with a particularly hard spike, almost falling over in the process, that Baekhyun decided to stop.

"What are you doing?! I told you to either back up and bump it or pretend like you have teammates and call for help!" Baekhyun barked, watching as Chanyeol rubbed his nose sheepishly. "Stop straightening up by the way, it's only making it worse."

"But what if my teammates don't manage to get it because it's actually meant for me? I can't just hand them the ball every time."

"You also can't expect it to always be yours because it's slightly near you. There are five other people on the court Chanyeol, and more often than not there are some behind you, ready to go," Baekhyun explained, sighing as he saw Chanyeol checking if he had a bleeding nose or not. "Anyway, that's it for the volleyball lesson today."

"Damn, only an hour and a half? That's weak, Baekhyun!"

"Hey!" Baekhyun called, "I'm your senior so you better say my name with respect!"

Chanyeol merely shook his head, not saying anything else as he served the ball right into the bin, moving to the equipment room.

"And now, basketball," Chanyeol grinned when Baekhyun groaned.

Chanyeol's soap smelled nice.

That was one of the first things Baekhyun noticed when their basketball session started, the taller standing unnecessarily close, arms almost touching as he showed Baekhyun how to position his arms.

"I'm not sure I trust you with any sport, after seeing you play volleyball," Baekhyun mentioned, as he watched Chanyeol prepare to shoot a supposed "example shot". To his credit, he made the shot effortlessly, the swish of the net making Baekhyun raise an eyebrow. "I see you're evidently made for basketball, and not volleyball."

"You should see me play tennis," Chanyeol whistled, "Way too good at that game."

Baekhyun scoffed and aimed the ball himself, remembering Chanyeol saying something about his forearm being 90 degrees in relation to his upper arm. When he threw it, the only thing it did was a mini rainbow in the air before landing on the ground.

Behind him, he heard a snort and muffled laughter. Baekhyun turned with a scowl on his face.

He didn't say anything after that, deciding to take the "criticism" like a true adult.

"You're supposed to bend down before you shoot. Only using your arms would make the throw too weak. You need something to push off of and that'll be your legs," Chanyeol explained and Baekhyun listened, pleasantly surprised that Chanyeol was giving actual good pointers. "All sports are kinda the same, y'know. Just like how you gotta be in ready position for volleyball, you have to do the same for basketball."

The next hour was spent with Chanyeol's muted laughter or his small, approving smiles, the shorter catching every one of the latter signs and feeling some sort of accomplished feeling whenever he saw it. He just liked being praised, is all.

"You're going to become better than me at basketball one day, with the rate you're going at," Chanyeol speculated, watching as Baekhyun did a layup easily.

"Actually, you're taller so you'll always be at an advantage. You're faster too," Baekhyun answered, catching the ball and dribbling it somewhat messily.

Chanyeol grinned, "Hopefully. Don't want my crush to be better at everything compared to me."

When it was well past 9 PM, they finally decided to stop, getting drinks from Baekhyun's favourite machine.

"Don't—oh my god," Baekhyun whispered the last words, "Banana milk?"

Chanyeol let out a loud bark of laughter when he saw Baekhyun's reaction, picking the drink out of the compartment.

"That's the one I never get. It tastes like mouldy yoghurt."

"Uh no, I've had this before. It's better than your strawberry milk," Chanyeol shrugged as he opened the drink and took a long swig.

"I am banning you from this vending machine," Baekhyun said as he stepped in front of Chanyeol, blocking the machine, "No more drinks for you."

Chanyeol smiled, lowering his arm that was just about to tip the drink into his mouth again. "For a supposedly 'really mature adult' you sure love your drinks."

He thought he saw Baekhyun pout for a second and his heart almost died, but the moment disappeared as fast as it came. Instead he watched as Baekhyun spun and bought himself one of the teas, the shorter turning back around when he had his drink in hand. Chanyeol watched as Baekhyun's pretty fingers fiddled with the pull-tab, as if contemplating his next words.

"Today..." Baekhyun began, glancing up at Chanyeol.

"You had fun?" Chanyeol asked, none of the "hah I was right" tone in his voice because he genuinely wanted to know.

"I guess you could say that."

"Nice," Chanyeol said with a grin on his face. He checked his phone when they heard a buzz, and before long he put it back in his pocket.

"This—"

"Same time on Wednesday, then?" the taller questioned and Baekhyun furrowed his eyebrows.

It was as if he knew Baekhyun was going to say that they probably only needed a few lessons before it'd eventually turn into hangouts instead of lessons. Baekhyun didn't want hangouts sessions, which means he was going to cut it short.

Instead, Baekhyun only sighed.

"Fine."

"You do that a lot, don't you?" Chanyeol questioned and Baekhyun merely raised an eyebrow. "The whole 'sighing' and then saying 'fine' as if you weren't going to, before."

"Because I'm never going to. But I guess I'm just too nice."

"Yeah. Byun Baekhyun, nice. Funny joke."

Baekhyun scowled and Chanyeol laughed, downing the rest of his gross drink before tossing it into the recycling bin. "Anyway, got to go. My buddy Jongin is screaming S.O.S. through texts."

The shorter nodded and Chanyeol patted his head, ruffling his hair as if their age differences were flipped.

"Wednesday," Chanyeol said, with a hint of finality.

Baekhyun glowered at his messed up hair, but he simply nodded again.

~

Wednesday didn't come very fast, in Baekhyun's opinion. He was doing who knows what at who knows where, his life merely