𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑻𝑹𝑶𝑳 ⨟ 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒐𝒔 .

( ` it takes little for chaos to erupt, and Adrianne is flung face-first into the action ) ( ` it takes even less to realize that this, this is fight or flight at its most awful, and she’s deadset on the latter ) ( ` even along the sidelines, no one’s safe—a sharp dodge to the left, and she narrowly misses a rivaling legacy making a lunge for their date ) oh boy. ( ` the collision sounds with a loud thud, and behind it appears chanyeol, who’d been out of her sight until right then and there, hot on her trail for the last five minutes ) great. ( ` just when she thinks this game of cat and mouse is over ) ( ` she draws back, hands up and ready in defense ) listen buddy, i don’t have time for this—

he hears her words and is immediately shaking his head, skidding to a stop right before they could collide with each other. “make time!” chanyeol insists, looking at her hands out in defense and putting his own up to mirror her actions, “look i don’t want any trouble. i just want your pin!” maybe he should be a little more tactful but he would be damned if he lost to something like this. “i’ll leave you alone for at least three weeks if you give me your pin. four, even! you won’t hear from me or see me or anything! just– please? please-” ego be damned, honestly. he’s emphasizing his desperation with wide eyes, clasping his hands together in front of him as he waits, practically buzzing from the excitement still erupting around them. “please?”

you’re such a boy. part of yeol wants to be a smartass and tell her that yeah, he clearly was, it’s great that she’s noticed but the words are dying somewhere in the back of his throat when nayeon continues, and the smile that’s been stretching across his face falters just the slightest at her words. “you really think i’m that much of a douchebag?” he asks with a chuckle, but it lacks a bit of humor, the question having been asked more rhetorical despite the deep set yearning somewhere in him that’s wondering if she did think that of him. he doesn’t get much time to dwell on the insult -- and nayeon is going to give him whiplash if she keeps up whatever she’s doing right now. one second insulting him, and the next dragging on his lewd comments.  it shouldn’t surprise him that she’s flirting back, but it does, even if he was the one to initiate it in the first place. in all honesty, half of the time chanyeol never knew what he was doing in regards to nayeon. ever since they had left their ‘past’ in the past and had decided to go along an oddly paved road towards friendship, he hasn’t been able to quite shake the odd tension between them. which, he was sure was entirely on his own part -- it was hard to be friends with the girl who was his childhood torturer for years. she wasn’t bad anymore, and the common sense was there and yeol saw it and knew he shouldn’t let the past bother him still. especially being twenty-three. but it did. it crept up on him at the oddest of moments; like now. when she’s infront of him, dressed the way she is, flirting back with him, and he’s liking it. it’s like his own mind is trying to cock block him and he has no clue how to handle it. he leaves nayeon’s first question unanswered, but only because she’s suddenly closing the space between them, chanyeol watching from behind his shades and feeling an odd tightening in his chest again as she gets close. if there had been any hesitance on whether or not she was actually intending to flirt with him before, yeol felt it dwindle away with the confidence and challenge in her expression, brow raising more at the next question slipping through pretty painted red lips. there is a moment of silence that falls over them as her words lay heavy around them. fight or flight. it really wasn’t even a question as to what reflex would always come to yeol first no matter what the situation was. fight. flight wasn’t really his thing, and the alcohol in his system currently was certainly helping whatever confidence in regards to nayeon he was currently having. large hands move to suddenly rest on nayeon’s sides and maneuver their bodies until her back is against the edge of the pool once more, hands moving again to cage her in where she’s standing, body looming over her just the slightest. “i can,” chanyeol starts, head tilting to the side a bit as he holds onto whatever little bit of restraint he still has. he’s falling into this game way too easily; but he really doesn’t care right now. “if you want me to.”

there isn’t a single thing or soul around him that can quite manage to pull his attention away from the cellphone in his face right now. it had been that way since earlier that morning, chanyeol’s attention undivided and consumed with the small device in a way that his classes just couldn’t hold. even now, as his lanky figure moves through the campus at a casual pace, his eyes barely bother to grace anyone who passes, a quick grunt the only quick verbal greeting he offers to those who speak to him, and others get a quick wave of his hand. one would think that there’s something important that yeol seems so fixated on -- and in his defense, chanyeol would claim that it is important, to him, and isn’t that the most important thing after all? it wasn’t his fault this stupid game he had downloaded from the app store was beyond frustrating and addictive. it had taken him a total of two hours to actually even understand the concept, and figure out what he was even attempting to achieve while playing it -- and now that he was aware of it all -- he hadn’t been able to put the phone down. his eyes were burning, he probably hadn’t blinked in the last three or so minutes, and the pads of his fingers were becoming sensitive to the constantly swiping he had been doing. he doesn’t know why her voice snags his attention for the first time today, but his hands are now screaming in gratitude and his eyes are squinting a little as if he’s just realizing it’s daylight and the sun is a little too bright now that he is not looking down. blinking away the stinging sensation erupting behind them, chanyeol’s gaze falls on the female now before him, her features striking and familiar and it only takes a second for him to realize why, even as she goes out of her way to remind him. and maybe he should be miffed about being called out like she was doing. maybe he should put on an act and seemed annoyed by her presence or the words slipping from her lips. maybe he should seem as if he’s bothered by the fact that she had managed to knock him on his ass while sparring with one another -- there were a lot of maybe’s in all of that, but regardless, he wasn’t any of those things. the slow grin that begins to stretch across his lips is a clear indication of that, and yeol shifts to lock his phone and then pocket it, standing up a little straighter now that she has his full attention, “no? and here i thought i had made a good enough impression that you wouldn’t of ever needed to forget my face.”

“you know who i’m supposed to be then?! awesome!” yeol can’t help but celebrate outwardly about that, hands clenching into a fist of success at others being able to note just who he had been attempting to portray. the bomber jacket and sunglasses were a dead give away, but yeol wasn’t going to get his hopes up -- at least nana had recognized it. he’d take that as a success on his own end. one would think that he’d spent ages trying to perfect the outfit judging by his reaction but in reality he had already owned the swim trunks as well as the glasses, and the jacket had been a cheap thrift store find that had just happened across him in a stroke of luck. chanyeol would still be prideful of it all. david hasselhoff would be proud too, he was sure of it. his actions enact nana’s laughter and he can’t help the grin that spreads across his face a little more, laughter spilling from his own lips as he releases his grip on her just in time to watch her swim away and out of reach. yeol watches as she pats her face, as if inspecting if everything was still in place, and he can’t help but scoff at that, “your makeup looks fine. aish, you’re in a pool for fucks sake, what did you expect was gonna happen?” he splashes a little water her way but not enough to actually wash over her like his cannonball had done; he was sure she’d kill him if he attempted that once more around her. part of him wants to register the ‘fucking’ comment that the girl lets out, brow raising visibly over the sunglasses he’s wearing, but there is only further amusement seeping through him at whatever little game was suddenly going on between them. “obviously. getting you wet is only the first part. getting you off comes later.” that came out in a way he hadn’t intended -- or, maybe he had? honestly, at this point, the way they spoke to each other left yeol in a bit of a whirlwind of confusion.  what he does know is that the swimsuit she’s wearing looks amazing, and the sudden color that comes to her face after he points it out has a heavy feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.  head tilting to the side as she thanks him, yeol is about to return the comment with his own before the word ‘tits’ is cutting off whatever words he was about to say, eyes immediately falling back to the topic of discussion. the sunglasses hide it well, but he’s sure the slight dip of his head give him away. chanyeol can’t quite find any shame just yet, though. there is an odd chuckle that reverberates in the back of his throat, the flirty grin remaining etched onto the corner of his lips despite falling just the slightest. his body has naturally shifted closer to nayeon within the minutes they’ve been separated, not noticing the distance becoming less and less as he focuses his attention back onto nayeon’s face. “you look really good, nana.” yeol finally offers, and he’s being honest. “your tits look good, too. i’m sure the pain will be worth it.”

the party has only been going on for an hour and chanyeol has already successfully managed to chug three drinks within that span of time. being well aware of how many drinks it took to knock him on his ass (type of drink considered) and have him down for the night, he had cut himself off after the last refill of the plastic cup in hand, knowing that if he tempted fate with one more he’d be pushing his luck and -- once again -- it had only been an hour. as awesome as getting plastered sounded he actually wanted to be semi-coherent. at least for the beginning of it all. the end of the night was always a little more easier to work with; he’d have a better idea on where it would be going and could finish off whatever way he pleased. granted, it was already going in a direction he hadn’t quite been preparing for. although out of sheer experience with his date, adrianne, he should of. one minute into showing up together she was gone and out of sight and after a half-assed attempt to spot her throughout the growing crowd yeol had resigned and let it go. at least she had said yes and actually showed up with him. he found himself now outside near the pool, the humidity of the air around him causing his hands to come up and finally shed off the red bomber jacket he had found just for the party. it had been the closest one that resembled the iconic one that david hasselhoff’s character wore from the original show; which he had never watched before in his life but after seeing the picture of the man online chanyeol immediately knew it would be his destiny in regards to what he would be wearing tonight. he’s tossing it on an empty chair without a second thought, left with the simple red swim trunks and the black aviator glasses now. it was dark so did he really need them on? the technical answer was no. but for aesthetics and representation of the theme of the party? he dutifully kept them on. there is a moment where he’s scanning the area, silently trying to decide what his next move would be -- and then his gaze is landing on the petite familiar figure of none other than im nayeon. there is a moment where he hesitates even considering approaching her, but ultimately, he knew what he was going to end up doing. because he always ended up talking to her despite the protests in his mind.  there is a lazy grin beginning to stretch across his face now. the people in the pool seemed rather content, nayeon included, but what was the point of a pool if no one was taking full advantage of it? fingers coming up to readjust and secure the glasses on his face once more, he’s rushing forward seconds later, long legs tucking once he leaps off the edge and loud voice announcing the cannonball he was not so skillfully performing before the cold shock of the water meets the bare skin of his torso and legs. he sinks and lingers at the bottom of the pool for only a few seconds before kicking off and finally breaking through the surface with a gasp, sunglasses having fallen off during the action but he can’t be concerned with trying to find them when he sees he had landed only a few feet away from the other girl and she was now soaking wet. that pleased grin is still evident on his face even as she throws an insult his way, chuckling deeply as he brings a hand up to push wet hair out of his eyes, “nice to see you too, nana.” he comments casually, gaze flickering away for a second when he notices the pair of aviators floating nearby and shifting to snatch them back up, slipping them back over his face to conceal his eyes once more. nayeon’s comment only brings forth more laughter, and as her feet suddenly threaten to hit him his own hands come up to grab ahold of them, giving a small pull if only to teasingly drag nayeon back under water for a moment. “i mean, it got you wet, didn’t it? i’d say if it gets the job done then it doesn't matter how i manage to do it.” he finally responds, ignoring the inappropriate thoughts that immediately begin to come to mind. instead, his shielded eyes are now looking at what nayeon had chosen to wear to the party -- the swimsuit adorning her body and hugging her curves in ways that chanyeol shouldn’t think too long about but it’s... distracting. the way it brought so much emphasis to her chest was even more so. she looked really good; drenched or not.  so much for ignoring those inappropriate thoughts. “yo-- nice swimsuit.” the compliment comes a few seconds later when he finally finds the words and manages to spit them out, grin having never faded but falling into one a bit more flirtatious. 

this frustrates me

****

Neil Gaiman, The Sandman. (via wordsnquotes)