⠀⠀Thankfully, there were only two classes the next day—Literature and Law. Chanyeol was thankful for such because he found it ever so slightly difficult (read: absolutely impossible) to sleep the previous night while Sehun and Jongin fucked each other in the next room.

⠀⠀When Chanyeol had gotten home, he had found them doing Netflix and Chill (no, just actual Netflix on the couch while eating popcorn) and he had made a beeline to take off the mountain of makeup he had put on himself. Next thing he knew, it was 3:49AM and loud moans and things he'd rather not remember was still heard through the walls. Chanyeol had personally taken it upon himself to get dressed and get the hell out of the door and the entire complex in general at 6:45—there was no doubt that their neighbors had heard Sehun and Jongin—before high-tailing it to the nearest coffee shop. He needed some caffeine in his blood if he was going to walk three steps without collapsing into a three-month slumber.

⠀⠀The coffee shop he had ridden to, Cocoa Delight, happened to be the one that Lu Han worked at. Conveniently, it was one of the days that Lu Han would be working a morning shift, and Chanyeol was in desperate need of somebody to grumpily bitch to about all of his problems. He tiredly pushed the glass door open, the hood of his black hoodie pulled over his head as he shuffled towards the register that Lu Han was manning at the moment.

⠀⠀"Let me guess," Lu Han drawled with a shit-eating grin as he leaned forward and rested his chin on his hand, "Sehun and Jongin banged?"

⠀⠀Chanyeol scowled. The older Chinese man had the uncanny ability of knowing everyone, thus knowing the ins and outs of everything, and was slyer than a fox despite his name meaning Deer of the Dawn. Chanyeol fished out his wallet as he grumbled, "Just make me a goddamn cappuccino, Lu Han."

⠀⠀"Call me Lu-gege and I will," Lu Han sang with his sparkly eyes flashing with mischief. Chanyeol threw his head back and groaned before massaging his temple and facing the older man again.

⠀⠀"Lu-ge, for fuck's sake, make me a cappuccino," Chanyeol growled as he tossed his card onto the counter. It was too early, he was running on approximately two hours of sleep, and he was not going to deal with anyone's bullshit until he was caffeinated. Lu Han winked.

⠀⠀"Sure thing, Yeol-baby," he said playfully as he turned around and began making the desired coffee. Meanwhile, Chanyeol loped over to the nearest small table and slumped into the wooden chair before gazing tiredly around the small coffee shop. It had the feel of a wooden, rustic cabin in a forest with round wooden logs making up the walls and a brick fireplace pushed towards the back of the shop. Shelves of coffee beans, ceramic and clay mugs, and random potted plants were strategically placed around the walls of the shop in an aesthetic manner. It had a cozy sort of feeling with a light mood that generated easy small talk between all customers that entered through the doorway. Come in as strangers, leave as friends, was the saying of the shop, Chanyeol dimly remembered.

⠀⠀He buried his head in his arms before closing his eyes. Class was in an hour, at 8:00AM, and he needed to catch some shut-eye if he was to get through the day at all.

⠀⠀Chanyeol was just moments away from falling into the arms of deep sleep when he felt a hard slap on his back, causing his body to jerk up, his hood to fall off, and his eyes to flutter. He turned and squinted up at a smiling Lu Han holding a mug of steaming coffee. He balled up his fist and rubbed his eyes as the Chinese man placed the mug in front of him.

⠀⠀"Have a good day, baby," Lu Han said fondly with a genial smile and a couple pats on Chanyeol's red hair before walking back behind the register. Chanyeol gripped the handle of the coffee mug before slowly bringing it up to his lips and sipping. Fuck, it's hot, Chanyeol thought grumpily as he winced at his scalded tongue.

⠀⠀He gazed out the window into the gloomy, rainy now-November weather. It was about time for everyone to get going to work, and cars were beginning to roam the streets as rain splattered against hoods and windows. Chanyeol twiddled his fingers while he watched cars drive by as he waited for his coffee to cool down to a drinkable temperature.

⠀⠀Soon enough, he had downed his coffee and bid goodbye to Lu Han. Chanyeol hopped onto his bike and drove to the campus, the caffeine buzzing in his veins. After his classes, when he got home, he was totally going to give Sehun the bitching of a lifetime.

—•—

⠀⠀At 1:00PM sharp, Chanyeol got out of his classes. His bag slung over one shoulder, he stretched his back, wincing as he heard a loud crack. Classes seemed especially boring today and the buzz from the coffee had worn off midway through Literature, causing him to nearly pass out sitting up.

⠀⠀His phone buzzed. Chanyeol pulled his phone out of his hoodie pocket and examined the text he received with a frown. All he wanted to do at the moment was face plant into his bed—it just seemed like an inconvenience until he saw the contact name.

Jongdae <3: hey, do you mind if you go to church with me in about half an hour? my mum is nagging @ me to go. ;;

⠀⠀The frown returned to Chanyeol's face. If he was to speak technically, he was Catholic, but the only times he ever went to church was on Easter and Christmas with his sister and only due to his mother and father's nagging. As a kid, of the choice to not go ever arose, Chanyeol would take it in an instant because, hey—Church gets boring after a while. Plus, it was rather ironic nowadays since he made a bet with a god that he was raised to not believe in (Life has gotten complicated, he eventually decided). Chewing on his lip as his Jongdae-lusting side fought against his selfishness, he sighed.

Chanyeol: sure.

⠀⠀Chanyeol figured that he might as well head over to Jongdae's apartment right then because he had no idea where the church was. A crucial detail he probably should've asked for before agreeing but whatever. He readjusted his bag strap as he walked to his motor bike, soon driving away to Jongdae's residence.

⠀⠀Once he pulled up to the complex, he parked his bike and made a beeline to Jongdae's front door. Chanyeol rapped his knuckles on the door and waited until the ever-familiar and friendly face of Kim Jongdae opened up. He looked great and adorable per usual, clothed in a white button-down with the sleeves rolled up his elbows and black skinny jeans, as well as brown leather dress shoes, his hair styled up to keep his fringe from covering his forehead. Chanyeol instantaneously felt underdressed in his black hoodie, blue skin-tight jeans, Jordans, and messy red hair and self-consciously pulled his sleeves to cover his hands in a sweater-paw sort of fashion.

⠀⠀Chanyeol was about to voice out his fashionable mistake when Jongdae shook his head as he fiddled with his watch while saying with a tiny smile, "Don't worry about it. Plenty of people dress like that and nobody really cares." The Park boy gaped at Jongdae who was now walking past him, mystified that Jongdae had answered his silent issue. Jongdae seemed on catch onto his shock and playfully winked at him before taking his large hand into his own. "Now, come on. I'm too lazy to drive there myself, so you're my ride. I'll show you the way."

⠀⠀Chanyeol was 200% sure that Jongdae was holding his hand in a totally platonic way but that didn't stop the electric current that seemed to shoot up his spine once their hands made contact. He let Jongdae pull him down the stairs and to Chanyeol's motorcycle, quickly letting go of Jongdae's hand in favor of handing the other man a spare helmet before putting on his own. 

⠀⠀Soon, they were zooming off, Jongdae's  arms tight around Chanyeol's waist (which Chanyeol freaked out about) as he called directions into Chanyeol's ear. They made it to the church within six or so minutes, and upon the sight of the large wooden building with it's steeple and bell, Chanyeol already felt the stuffiness creeping into his veins. For Jongdae, he reminded himself as he steered his bike into a parking space.

⠀⠀"Thanks for coming with me, Chanyeol,"Jongdae said happily as he took off his helmet, his hair only messed up slightly. Chanyeol shrugged as he stowed away the helmets in his bag. "I'll treat you to some lunch after, okay?" Jongdae grinned handsomely before shoving his hands into his pockets and walking towards the church. Chanyeol scrambled after, not before checking his reflection in a random car window to make sure he didn't look homeless.

—•—

⠀⠀It was as boring as he remembered, and he couldn't have been more relieved when the priest did the final Sign of the Cross and dismissed all of the people in the large church. Chanyeol grabbed Jongdae's hand, ignoring the sudden heat in his cheeks and ears, and began pulling him through the crowd of departing people in the aisles and exit. 

⠀⠀Jongdae seemed to be holding back laughter when Chanyeol looked back, the corner of his lips quirked up as he bit his bottom lip. When Jongdae saw that Chanyeol was staring at him, with a bright smile, he jested, "Is my beauty too much for you to handle?"

⠀⠀Is this boy a mind reader or something? Chanyeol thought to himself as he walked to his bike. He really hoped Jongdae wasn't, because it would be horribly embarrassing, though it wouldn't be absolutely impossible since he had come to face to face with an ancient deity of love.

⠀⠀"So, where are we going, Jongdae?"

⠀⠀"A ramen shop," said boy chirped as gratefully took the helmet Chanyeol had been holding it out to him. "Hope you don't mind that," Jongdae said sheepishly as he rubbed his nape.

⠀⠀Chanyeol shook his head quickly. "No! Of course not." He flashed Jongdae his brightest smile before taking him by the hand and pulling him towards the bike. "Now, c'mon. Lead the way, Jongdae."

⠀⠀As they drove, Chanyeol could've sworn he heard a voice in his head saying, "I can see what you're trying to do, Park, and for being so valiant, I'll grant you this info: Jongdae has reconsidered what kind of people he's attracted to before."

⠀⠀Cupid? Why the fuck are you in my head? Chanyeol mentally growled. The idea of a destructing ancient love god camping out in his head wasn't appealing in any way whatsoever. Though he honestly did appreciate the newfound information, it also irritated him that the damned love god had also been prying into Jongdae's love life.

⠀⠀"It's not like I can just appear in a mortal form when you're surrounded by people," Cupid said in a duh sort of voice with that lazily arrogant voice of his that was oh-so annoying (Chanyeol had been told that he occasionally lapsed into the same voice, but surely it wasn't as bad as this). "Anyways, Park, you have 26 days left. I hope you fail so I can smite you into little pieces, but my wife is sadly on your side of things. But then again, she was a mortal once upon time. I guarantee you that you're not going to win, because Jongdae and Liyin are the dream couple. I ship Jongyin, not Yeoldae."

⠀⠀Chanyeol figured it was Cupid's overwhelming presence that was firing up his emotions, but that didn't change the fact that his grip on the handlebars had tightened and that he had almost ran a red light. Shut up—you can't see the future, he snapped to the god in his head.

⠀⠀"Oh, how I wish I could interfere and truly solidify your chances of certain death, but I'd rather not get in trouble with Zeus," Cupid sighed as Chanyeol gritted his teeth. "Any who, hope you fail! Ciao, darling," the god sang before the voice ceased.

⠀⠀Chanyeol was taking deep breaths to calm his boiling rage. It wasn't really working, to be completely honest, and he wondered if he could snap the steel handlebars he was holding onto until he felt Jongdae bury his head into the taller's hoodie and the arms around his waist tighten. One look at his dashboard and Chanyeol realized he was speeding a little. He eased on the gas ever so slightly before calling back to Jongdae, "S-sorry, Jongdae!"

⠀⠀He decided to push the warning of his impending doom to the back of his mind to fret about later, making sure to remember the piece of information from Cupid. Chanyeol was going to enjoy this lunch date with Jongdae and he refused to let anything ruin it for him or Jongdae.

—•—

a/n: hi hi hi hi hi hi hi

now i know this is quite late but i couldn't get the chapter out in time for the concerts in seoul ;; but there's no time like the present! comment your fav moments of the exordium (artificial love cane grinding, lay going shirtless, byunabs / chanabs debut, back as a girl etc.) one of my favs was the xiuchenbaek vcr with "black light" byun baek, "mad ice" daddyseok,  and "thunder boy" chenniechenchen + baekhee debut

what did you think of the chapter? i know its very very very filler but know I'm trying not to rush this like all of my other stories rip me

comment/vote if you enjoyed! y'all know i love spams bc i read every single comment and i get so happy :') <3