⠀⠀The next day after his Law classes, Chanyeol was pushing past several groups of people and questioning others as to the whereabouts of the elusive Kim Jongdae, usually coming up with blank stares with the occasional shrug and dumb, "Eh, I don't know," and, of course, the normal shrieks of glee and groping from a variety of females. The last one would usually inflate his ego even more than it already was, but the encounter the previous day had him anxiously wringing his hands and tensing up at everything. He couldn't help but feel that his punishment for brawling with a god would strike down at any moment—like a lightning bolt would come down and smite him at that very instant. The physical condition that Cupid had left him in and the terms of the bet he was left with hadn't bode well with Chanyeol either.

⠀⠀Finally, after a long time of searching, he came across a bleach-blonde male by the name of Jonghyun who had the address of Jongdae's apartment, which was apparently off-campus as Chanyeol heard from his limited resources. Chanyeol, with a sigh, walked up to the quivering shorter man and stared down at him before uttering, "Jongdae's address, please."

⠀⠀A short silence followed before Jonghyun cleared his throat and glared up at Chanyeol. "No," he snapped, causing Chanyeol to cock an eyebrow at him—a single action that had Jonghyun squirming under the weight of Chanyeol's heavy stare. He uncomfortably shifted the shoulder strap of his bag and averted his eyes from the taller male for a split second before stammering, "J-Jongdae-ah doesn't like i-it when stuff about h-him is spread without his kn-knowledge."

⠀⠀Chanyeol scoffed as he shoved his hands into the pockets of his sweater. Jonghyun was acting like he was asking him a question rather than a command, and it was beginning to irritate him. Chanyeol leaned forward to both get into Jonghyun's face and to glare directly into the shorter male's narrow eyes with intensity, cocking his head ever so slightly. "I don't recall giving you a choice," he growled, his hand suddenly jetting out and shoving Jonghyun backwards with enough force to send him sprawling onto the ground.

⠀⠀Chanyeol squatted down next to Jonghyun and held out his palm expectantly, a sickly-sweet smile on his face. "The address now, Jonghyun-sshi." He received a begrudging scowl before a phone was placed into his palm with a contact's information opened up. Chanyeol smirked and dipped his head in a mock bow. "Much obliged, thank you very much," he said and pulled out his phone to copy the address down. It didn't take much time, and soon, Chanyeol was throwing the phone onto the ground next to Jonghyun before standing up and giving him a lazy two-fingered salute. "Ciao!" he sang before walking away and towards the direction of his target.

⠀⠀From his place on the ground, Jonghyun huffed, blowing his blonde fringe off of his face. "Jesus, he's such an asshole," he scowled as he picked up his things and his phone. He dusted himself off before shaking his head. "If he thinks that he's going to win Jongdae over easily, he is so wrong," Jonghyun mumbled softly to himself as he began the search of his friend, Kibum, to whine about the encounter with the Park boy.

—•—

⠀⠀ Chanyeol didn't quite remember when he began to sweat, but after arriving at the front of Jongdae's residence, he realized that his hands were quite clammy. He wiped them on his pants before knocking on the door with his knuckles, patiently standing on the welcome carpet. The terms of the bet rung in his head, and Chanyeol heaved a great sigh; he was so stupid. He cursed his hubris and his temper—combined together, they proved to be a possibly fatal combination. As he cursed himself and contemplated his life choices, the door opened and Chanyeol could've sworn that a slice of heaven had just been handed to him.

⠀⠀ Kim Jongdae stood in front of him, seemingly chewing on something, staring up at him with wide, innocent eyes behind his black glasses with cheekbones that must've been hand-carved by God himself. His eyebrows were drawn together in confusion with the corners of his lips pulled down in the smallest hint of a frown, and his head was cocked to the side ever so slightly. Also, his fingertips were nearly invisible due to the fact that his hands were covered by his over-sized pink sweater that read "baby boy." Oh my god, he's so cute, Chanyeol squealed mentally as he struggled to reign in his emotions and put on a cool, suave front.

⠀⠀ Chanyeol opened his mouth to shoot a confident, charming remark when Jongdae held out a hand before he covered his mouth before swallowing whatever he had been eating, Chanyeol stared as Jongdae's Adam's Apple bob up and down, and he didn't realize that Jongdae was talking to him until the smaller boy poked him in the shoulder, breaking the taller one out of his stupor.

⠀⠀ "Hey, I asked you why you're here." Jongdae chimed, his arms crossed. Chanyeol noticed that his tongue suddenly felt heavy and awkward, like some sort of weight was pressing down on it and making it hard for him to produce any sounds that were remotely coherent. Oh, fuck, why I am I like this around him? Chanyeol complained internally as he struggled to find the correct words.

⠀⠀ "I—uh, hi." Smooth, Chanyeol, he berated himself, mentally smacking himself. Jongdae raised a brow, his lips curling into an amused smile.

⠀⠀ "Salutations," he chuckled as he began leaning on the white door frame casually. Chanyeol noticed that Jongdae seemed to be analyzing him, deducing what he could from simple appearance with eyes lit up by curiosity. His lower lip jutted out almost unconsciously (which wrecked Chanyeol)  when he suddenly clapped and pointed at Chanyeol with the same wide innocent eyes. "Wait. I know you! We went to the same schools, right? Oh, what was your name. . ." Jongdae trailed off as he began tapping his lip, thinking.

⠀⠀ "I-it's Ch—"

⠀⠀ "No, no! Don't tell me." Jongdae said as he continued to ponder the name of this almost-stranger standing in front of his doorway. "Was it. . . Changmin? No, he was, like, four years older. Changyeok? Chanhyun? Chan something, right?" he was murmuring under his breath. Chanyeol stood there silently, awkwardly fiddling with his thick fingers. He was conflicted as to what he should be feeling at that moment—irritated or hurt by the fact that Jongdae didn't remember his name despite schooling together for thirteen years, touched that Jongdae even bothered to attempt to remember his name, or be totally distracted by Jongdae himself, both clothes-wise and from the fact that Jongdae was simply extremely attractive. Chanyeol found himself lapsing into the last one until Jongdae was poking him.

⠀⠀ "—yeol! Chanyeol, right? You were Baekhyun's best friend in, like, seventh grade." he exclaimed excitedly. He was smiling wide now, and Chanyeol couldn't help but note that Jongdae's smile and mouth in general had to be one of his favorite parts of Jongdae. 

⠀⠀ "Oh, um, yeah. Byun, right?" Chanyeol asked blandly as he shoved his hands into his pockets. Jongdae nodded rapidly like he was on some sort of sugar high. Cute. 

⠀⠀ "Baek's my roommate and friend now," Jongdae chirped, grinning hugely up at Chanyeol. He seemed to reign in his hyperactivity after a split-second and began to calm down. Once he did, he asked, "So, what can I do for you?" 

⠀⠀ "I was wondering if you'd want to hang out sometime?" Chanyeol asked with a shy smile, his cheeks heating up. Jongdae cocked his head in puzzlement, his eyebrows knit together, and for a brief moment, Chanyeol wondered what he had done to prompt such a reaction. He was Park Chanyeol; your average person, if asked to hang out with Park Chanyeol, would agree in an instant. It was science.

⠀⠀ "Uh, why so sudden?"

⠀⠀ Shit, he had no explanation. What was he supposed to say? Oh, there was this ancient Roman god—you know Cupid, right?—and I stupidly made a bet with him about how I could make you fall in love with me in month and if I didn't, everyone I love will perish. So, how about a date? 

⠀⠀ "Just because. We've been going to the same schools, but we've never really hung out." Mostly because of my shyness to even confront you, Chanyeol added mentally as he nervously wrung his hands. 

⠀⠀ "Sure! Here; give me your number, and we can talk about the details, alright?" Jongdae smiled. Chanyeol felt like the clouds had just opened and a ray of sunshine was beaming down on him. He lit up and instantly recited his number to Jongdae who had fetched a red pen and was currently scribbling the numbers down on his forearm.

⠀⠀ The duo bid goodbye after a while and Chanyeol was beaming, especially after Jongdae had sent him a cheeky wink along with a tiny giggle. He looked up to the sky and grinned. 

⠀⠀ Fuck you, Cupid! I've got this in the bag, he thought smugly as he cooly walked to his car to drive home, a new bounce to his step.

⠀⠀ From his place in the sky, Cupid watched with a raise brow at the poor, unsuspecting human down below. He sighed and shook his head at the kid's ignorance. 

⠀⠀ "Kid, love isn't predictable and easy. You'll wish you never met me soon. I promise."

—•—

a/n: 'sup.

so, yes i have updated rather quickly bc i <3 chenyeol so much

idk bout y'all but I'm excited for the exordium bc welcome to exoplanet and exoluxion was so good and cute omg i wanna see the new performances and outfits

but fr talk rn @ exo + sm can y'all come to seattle pls and why not europe too bc like we never see you we wanna see you in real life and fangirl and screech like all 'dem chinese/japanese/korean fans ;; pls feel bad for us international fans rip

and also sm uploaded a video of baby xiu (5 y/ old) dancing in a penguin suit and it was too cute go watch it if you haven't pls

sorry for da shit chappie but vote/comment if u liked it bc i just love reading comments and it motivates me <3