The first time they meet is brief, hurried and completely unceremonious. Baekhyun is in a side street, finishing off a painting on the run down walls behind the food market. They’re low enough that he doesn’t need a stool this time to reach up as high as he needs. He changes his brush, nudging the green paint can closer with his foot and dips the brush in, squeezing off the excess paint along the rim. The brush is knocked right out of his hands the second he straightens up when someone suddenly hurtles right into him and sends him staggering backwards off balance. The stranger stumbles back with him, easily regaining his footing again and darting around him to carry on down the street again. “You might wanna run too!” he calls back over his shoulder, and Baekhyun stares after him, flabbergasted. He figures out what he means seconds later when an angry voice calls out from the other end where the man just came from and Baekhyun spots a pair of cops headed his way. “Shit,” he hisses, scrambling to gather whichever brushes and paints he can manage before tearing down the street. It’s hard to outrun the cops with several small buckets of paint clutched to his chest but somehow he manages to put some distance between them, desperate to get away. He’s not even sure where’s he’s running and he just barely spots the guy from earlier hiding behind the dumpster around the corner. Baekhyun changes course and rams himself into the same hiding spot just as the cops sprint by, none the wiser. Baekhyun finally breathes when the danger has passed, sagging against the brick wall behind him. He looks down at the few cans of paints he’d managed to grab, seething when he thinks about the abandoned paints and the unfinished artwork he’d left behind. He turns to glare at the guy beside him, surprised to find him glaring right back.“You nearly got me caught,” the man says, rifling through his backpack and Baekhyun spots the metal spray cans of different coloured paints. “Me?” Baekhyun splutters, incensed. “You nearly got me caught. And I didn’t even get to finish, thanks to you.” “Who are you anyway?” he asks as an afterthought, not recalling ever having seen him around anywhere within the street art community. “My name’s Jongdae,” he answers irately. “And how the hell was I supposed to know you would be in my part of town?”“Your part?” Baekhyun scoffs incredulously. This guy, seriously. “Well I’ve never seen you or your art around.”It’s true that Baekhyun doesn’t really come around to this area all that often because it’s so far away from home. Jongdae must have managed a good look at what he was working on earlier to know that he hasn’t seen Baekhyun’s work around too often. “You will,” Baekhyun says firmly, fired up and determined to change that. He sidles out from behind the dumpster cautiously, glancing around to make sure no one’s around before darting out and leaving.
☽Baekhyun goes through a stretch of quiet, undisturbed nights of painting before his next run in with the cops a week or so later. It’s not entirely unwarranted, since he was painting on the side of a government building. He’s quicker to snatch up his box of paints this time, skirting around the corner and dives into a narrow opening between two building, only a few feet in, with only enough room for him to stand up flat against one of the walls. Baekhyun lets his head fall back, chest heaving as he catches his breath after such a close call.He’s jostled suddenly when something heavy knocks into him and for a frenzied second, Baekhyun worries that he’s been found. It takes him a second before he recognizes Jongdae squirming against him, trying to squish into the space with him. He looks panicked, with the cops probably hot on his heels too. “Hey, go find your own spot,” Baekhyun says, only half seriously as Jongdae grunts, struggling to fit into the cramped space with Baekhyun in the way. “There isn’t enough space in here, what are you- wow.”Jongdae finally straightens up to flatten himself against the other wall with a knee pushed right between Baekhyun’s and their faces close enough that Baekhyun can feel Jongdae’s puffs of breath.“This is really the best you could manage?” he quirks an eyebrow, shifting in the tight squeeze they’re stuck in. “Yep,” Jongdae grins, satisfied. Baekhyun would push him out if it weren’t too risky, with the cops on the lookout for the both of them now. He’s about to pass a comment but the sound of running footsteps shuts him up and they both stiffen, waiting until it dies away. Baekhyun’s only wearing a light hoodie but he’s starting to sweat a little in this tight space, with Jongdae’s weight pressed against him. “So, what did you get busted for this time?” Baekhyun asks, nodding at the bag of spray cans by Jongdae’s feet.“Busted? I’m still here aren't I?” Jongdae retorts, blowing his hair out of his face. He peers around the corner, tentatively scanning the street. “I did central square.”Baekhyun whistles, impressed. That’s a tough spot to leave a mark on when it’s so out in the open. “Go big or go home,” Jongdae shrugs, grinning. He turns away from the street and studies Baekhyun’s face instead. “You know, you never even told me your name.” Baekhyun smirks and waggles his eyebrows. “You’ll have to earn it.” “Are you kidding me?” Jongdae laughs incredulously, digging his kneecap into the side of Baekhyun’s leg. Baekhyun manages to slide out of the tight spot lithely, checking the streets too before he emerges from the space. “Look like the coast is clear,” he says, pointedly dodging Jongdae’s question. “I’ll see you around, Jongdae!”He takes off at a run before Jongdae can say anything else.
☽Baekhyun heads out to visit central square the following evening before going back to the spot from the previous night where his work is sitting unfinished after being interrupted. The government’s pressure steam sector is usually slow to respond so hopefully his art will still be there.The square is empty as usual at this hour and Baekhyun walks around the empty stretch, scanning the area carefully. It’s hard to miss it once he finds it though, walking up to the huge piece of art stretching across an entire chunk of the floor by the main staircase. The lighting from the lampposts doesn’t do much to help him see clearly but it’s enough for Baekhyun to make out the mix of colours in the pattern. It’s an interesting picture, a drooping tree in heavy shackles, bound to base of the lamppost itself. The tag is over by the base of the tree and Baekhyun scans it closely, making out the word ‘Chen’; that must be the name he goes by when he signs off his pieces then. It’s an excellent piece of graffiti, clearly done with excellent maneuverability of the spray cans. As a street painter who works primarily with paints and brushes, Baekhyun’s impressed. When he’s done admiring it, he turns and heads out of the square, walking up another couple of blocks towards the building he’d been working on. There’s still the entire bottom half of the painting left to do. “Wha-” He crosses the street over to where his painting is; it’s been finished off for him. The paint still looks fresh and Baekhyun scans the image, finding exactly what he’s looking for by the base of the image, right under a tiny crack in the wall. Chen. Laughing in disbelief, Baekhyun wonders how Jongdae even knew this was his piece. He must have spotted Baekhyun’s own tag the first time he ran past him and recognized his style. His tag is a stylized rendition of the hangul word for light, because of the way he likes to play around with the lighting around the area to bring his pieces to life with the light and shadows. He prefers to tag his work when he’s about to begin rather than when he’s done, just in case he can’t finish it in time or he can’t go back to that spot again for whatever reason before he’s done. He’d rather leave his mark in the claimed spot anyway. Baekhyun grins, mildly flattered. Jongdae’s challenging him, that’s for sure, and Baekhyun willingly rises to the bait. He hoists his box of paints up higher and walks away, looking for another place to paint for the night.
☽It takes a while, as anticipated, but he finally stumbles across a half finished piece of art that he’s certain is Jongdae’s because of the distinctive style. It’s a good spot, right around the corner from the main road, overlooking a stretch of empty, overgrown fields. Still, Jongdae must have been discovered by the looks of the red paint trailing off untidily. Pulling out his own pot of red, Baekhyun grins and dips his brush in, sliding it up along the smooth brick, adding on to the intricate design. It doesn’t take him long to finish it off, adding his own flare to the mix and leaves his tag by the bottom, at the end of his own half of the work smugly.The consistency of the patrol cops around the streets means that chances of finding a half finished piece waiting somewhere are high, if you know where to look. It feels like they’re competing with each other’s art, racing to see how many of each other’s pieces they can finish in record timing. Baekhyun heads out in the evenings with a pleasant thrum in his stomach, eager to see what Jongdae’s made of his art and what he’ll find to work with himself.
☽It’s only a matter of time before they start actually bumping into each other again in the streets. Baekhyun arrives at his chosen site for the evening mere minutes before Jongdae appears around the corner, coming to a surprised stop.“That’s my spot,” he says, a teasing lilt to his voice. “I don’t see your name on it,” Baekhyun grins, leaving the first swipe of blue paint on the brick. Jongdae chuckles and shakes his head, setting his spray cans down on the ground by the wall, a few feet away from him to leave enough wall space. “Are you ever going to tell me yours?”Baekhyun shrugs, letting him simmer a little longer before he relents, watching as Jongdae sighs and picks up a can a little dejectedly. “It’s Baekhyun,” he says finally, and Jongdae beams at him brightly.They work on their pieces in silence for a while, with nothing but the hiss from Jongdae’s spray can nozzles between them. Eventually, Jongdae takes a break and Baekhyun lowers his own brush too, massaging his stiff wrist and arm. “Do you paint for a living?” Jongdae asks curiously, coming over to his side to look at Baekhyun’s progress with interest. “Not quite,” Baekhyun replies, finding a blank spot between their art to sit on ground, back against the wall, waiting for Jongdae to join him. “I’m a junior architect. Painting is recreational so far.”“How about you?” he turns to Jongdae, gladly holding out his hand when Jongdae offers him peanuts from the bag he pulls out from his pocket. “My mornings are packed with kindergarten kids, but I freelance sometimes, when I manage to land some commissions,” he says, munching on the peanuts thoughtfully. “I take on some evening shifts at the supermarket whenever I can, to get a little something extra on the side.”Baekhyun whistles when he’s done; his week sounds exhausting. “Whatever pays the rent, right?” Jongdae shrugs. “Besides, the good thing about evening shifts is that hardly anyone ever comes by.”The spray cans probably don’t come cheap either. Baekhyun’s own paints take quite a find hit on his savings, so he can understand picking up extra shifts to compensate.“Why do you do this?” Jongdae asks suddenly, his tone quiet but curious. He’s looking at Baekhyun carefully, genuinely expectant for his answer. Baekhyun hesitates, wondering how to piece his answer together to sum up all the reasons why he stands in the dark, cold nights for hours, risking getting caught and arrested. Every once in a while it’s to send a message, to point fingers at the whatever it is that’s at fault at the time, the government, politics, sometimes even the public itself. Baekhyun stares at his paint stained hands, knowing full well that it goes deeper still than that. It’s a part of him. “Because I want to,” he says simply, twirling one of his slim brushes between his fingers. “Because it feels right.” He looks up to see Jongdae’s expression and watches the smile stretch across his lips, his eyes lighting up with the same kind of understanding. “Good answer,” he says, getting to his feet. He holds his hand out and Baekhyun takes it, letting Jongdae help him up back on his feet so they can get back to work.
☽They don’t have any sort of fixed schedule between them by any means, even if they run into each other more often than not over the following weeks.“I leave for five minutes and you’re already hogging my space.”Jongdae barely even flinches when Baekhyun walks in on him finishing the piece on the wall that Baekhyun had started earlier. He’d stepped away for a few minutes to buy himself a drink from a nearby convenience store before heading back to continue. “I’m perfecting it,” Jongdae shoots back and Baekhyun scoffs, yanking on his scarf when he walks past him to set down his things on the ground again. It doesn’t bother him when Jongdae passes remarks like that when he himself throws the same back at him. They’ve reached a sort of understanding between them in the time spent dancing around each other, bickering only half seriously when they run into one another. It’s easy enough to pick the purely humorous teasing out of Jongdae’s words from his serious ones. Baekhyun takes over his own own piece when Jongdae moves away to work on a different part of the wall. He keeps glancing over at the work Jongdae’s doing, studying the way he maneuvers the paint from the spray cans and the way he mixes the colours. It’s riveting to watch and the product is just as fascinating. It’s very different from the style Baekhyun likes to use, but he can appreciate Jongdae’s style. A thought crosses his mind and he turns his attention back to the art in front of him. Now that he’s really studying the whole thing up close, it clicks how good it all looks put together and how well their different styles could actually mesh with a little work.“How do you feel about collaborating on a piece next time?” he asks. “You know, like actually working on a piece together from the beginning this time.”Jongdae pauses, blinking up at him in surprise. He looks back at Baekhyun’s painting, taking a step back and clearly sees what Baekhyun means. “Huh. I guess we could give it a shot,” he hums, dropping his spray can back into his bag. “This probably calls for a tour of the city.”The best part of what they do is finding how many places they’ve managed to leave their mark on, with the city laid out before them like a giant art gallery where anything can be a canvas. Baekhyun takes Jongdae closer to his side of the city, showing him his older pieces, even though some of them have been painted over or pressure steamed off by now. Still, at least he has pictures of them on his phone. The idea of a collaboration grows more solid when it becomes evident how well their styles would mesh to bring out something more unique. “You really do have a great style,” Jongdae says sincerely after stopping by Baekhyun’s work by the skatepark, finally skipping past the teasing remarks. Baekhyun smiles at him, appreciating it. “Yours could use a little work,” he starts with a tsk and Jongdae punches him in the shoulder. It takes a bit of time to actually get the flow of it going. It’s different when they need to think of something to begin with together now rather than continuing off something else their own way. They try a few practice sessions in more secluded places than usual, any back street or alley that has good enough lighting for them to work with and try some test runs. The next challenge is trying to find a good way to intertwine the spray paint and brush strokes within the same design and still make it flow perfectly together. Baekhyun picks up one of Jongdae’s cans, testing the weight out in his palm and studies the nozzle curiously. He aims it at the wall and pushes his finger down, startling at the force of the pressure when the paint shoots out. He turns to Jongdae, only to find him rifling through his brushes, pressing the tip of one to the wall to leave a messy blotch on the stone. “Maybe we should go back to the basics first,” he suggests, handing Baekhyun the brush and takes back his can. It’s a sound idea, though it proves to be as tedious as it is useful. Still, they need to understand exactly how the other works before they can work their own way together. Jongdae does his best to teach him how to use the cans and control the nozzle pressure, maneuvering them expertly. It does a number on Baekhyun’s wrist, enough that he has to ice it the next day after realizing he can’t even hold a pencil up, but he keeps trying until he gets the hang of it. He shows Jongdae how to work with the brushes, showing him how to swipe the brush properly to get the right stroke and texture according to the design. Jongdae’s frustration at the slow, detailed pace is understandable when he’s used to the swift pace of the spray cans but, to his credit, he makes an effort to keep trying. It’ll all be worth it, Baekhyun thinks, massaging his sore hand.
☽It’s easy enough to find Jongdae when he’s the only person in the supermarket, sitting on a chair behind the cash register. He’s busy sketching on a little notebook when Baekhyun walks up to him.“So this is what you do,” Baekhyun grins, tugging at Jongdae’s uniform teasingly. Jongdae snaps the notebook shut and whacks him with it, drawing up another chair for Baekhyun to sit on, as though he’d been expecting him at some point.Jongdae was right about there not being much to do at this hour of the evening, with only a couple of customers coming in before tapering off completely. Baekhyun spins in his chair restlessly while Jongdae cashes them out, doing a quick, smooth job of it. He takes a stroll through the aisles while Jongdae sorts through the cash and coins in the register neatly, to finish off the counting for the night. Baekhyun picks through the items on the shelves, grabbing a couple of random objects and snatches up a huge cucumber from the vegetable section for good measure before piling them onto the conveyer belt in front of Jongdae, who stares at him incredulously.“Well?” Baekhyun says expectantly, leaning an elbow over the counter and grins up at him. “Aren’t you going to check me out?”“You dick,” Jongdae huffs, snatching the cucumber up to smack him with it but Baekhyun leaps out of reach with the counter between them.“You need to work on your customer service skills,” Baekhyun tsks, rifling through his wallet. “Oh hey, are these still valid?”He holds out a long strip of coupons with different discount deals, wheezing with laughter when Jongdae’s nostrils flare. Punching the cash register open, he beeps through all of Baekhyun’s things and works through all the coupons, laughing helplessly by the end of it at how ridiculous this all is. Jongdae even throws in a free lollipop after bagging everything. “To keep your mouth busy,” he says and Baekhyun bats his eyelashes at him sleazily.”You’re a real pain in the ass.”“The good kind, right?”Jongdae rolls his eyes and thrusts his bag of purchases into his arms.
☽One evening, Jongdae closes up the cash register and locks up the front doors as usual but leads Baekhyun up a small staircase instead of heading out of the building through the back door.The only place they could be going is all the way up to the roof and sure enough, they get to a large door when they reach the top of the staircase. “Are we even allowed up here?” he asks, waiting patiently as Jongdae fiddles around with the ring of keys in his hands to find the right one. “Since when do you care about the rules?” Jongdae pushes the key into the lock and pulls the bolt out. Baekhyun’s chuckles is drowned out by the loud grating noise the door makes when it swings open. He follows Jongdae out onto the roof, shivering at the cold wind up here. They’re not all that high up but it’s still enough to appreciate the stretch of clear skies overhead, dotted with blinking stars. “You brought me up here to stargaze? Jongdae, I’m touched.”“Oh my god, shut up,” Jongdae groans, pinching his side. “Just follow me.”He takes him over to where the generators are, clambering to stand on top of them and nods at him to do the same. “Don’t worry, it’s safe,” he laughs at Baekhyun’s doubtful expression as he takes a tentative step up beside him. “No one ever comes up here, so I can use all the space I want in peace,” Jongdae explains and Baekhyun is confused for a moment until he follows Jongdae’s line of sight down to the space they just walked across. It may be a full moon tonight but the light it sheds is still too poor to see clearly without squinting. When his eyes adjust to the darkness, Baekhyun suddenly realizes that the entire floorspace up here is part of one giant design. “You- you painted over the entire thing?” Baekhyun marvels, taking it in. The whole picture probably can’t even be seen properly unless you’re up in the air above. The time and effort it must have taken is incredible to even think about. “Jongdae, this is amazing.”“There’s still a small blank space in that corner by the door,” Jongdae says, jutting his chin out indicatively. “I thought maybe you could fill it in. If you’re interested”Baekhyun whips his head up to stare at him, awestruck by the fact that he’s even offering him any space at all in something so huge like this. Jongdae doesn’t take it back though, smiling at him warmly and Baekhyun’s stomach swoops a little.“I’d be honoured.”
☽It’s a lot more convenient to go over to each other’s place to plan out what they’re going to do before they actually head out to do it. Especially with the way the temperature is dropping so rapidly. Sometimes they’ll even stay the night at each other’s house when it’s late and they’re all the way on the other side of town. The privacy it offers them is a huge bonus.Jongdae draws on Baekhyun’s skin with markers sometimes while they’re watching some random show on TV after a night out, eating take out because they’re both tired and too lazy to actually do any cooking. It’s nothing too grand or fancy, just a simple tree on his wrist, or some intricate design around his kneecap. Baekhyun doesn’t mind it, just sits still and feels the steady warm pressure of Jongdae’s fingers on his skin clash with the cool swipe of his marker. Jongdae sits on the floor mostly, for better access and a better angle of where he’s drawing while Baekhyun busies himself with his own sketchpad balanced on the couch armrest. Sometimes, he gets distracted off his own art and reaches down to play with Jongdae’s hair, brushing it out of his eyes while he works, playing with it and squeezing the back of his neck absently. Jongdae doesn’t seem deterred, sometimes even shifting to accommodate Baekhyun, moving closer within his reach. It gets cold enough that it’s almost hard to hold a spray can straight when their fingers are going numb and frozen. Even the thermos of soup Jongdae brings with him doesn’t really do much to thaw their fingers out. “Your nose is going blue,” he frowns, reaching out to rub his gloved hand over it and Baekhyun promptly sneezes. “You’re not even wearing a scarf,” he retorts, chastising him for forgetting it again. He thinks about his nice warm bed back at home, really starting to wish he were in it right now, but he steels himself for the present moment and the work that needs to be done. Turns out tonight also happens to be patrol night again in the area and they’re interrupted halfway through their painting when they’re spotted by a policeman just across the street. They take off before he even takes another step, already attuned to the first call of ‘stop right there!’ to start running instinctively. Baekhyun scrambles to make a grab for whatever he can before they dart around the corner, tearing down the next street to get out of sight before the rest of the patrol group arrives. It takes a few more blocks to really shake them off before they find an opening to throw themselves into a good hiding spot and wait it out. At least the exercise warmed them up somewhat, even if they’re both wheezing for air. “Next time, we’re ditching your paints,” Jongdae mutters grumpily, and Baekhyun hugs his own bag of cans smugly to his chest.
☽When it's raining too hard to get any painting done, they race back home together through the deluge, to whomever's place is closest at the time. Most times they wind up at Baekhyun's house because he's the one with the working space heater they can curl up around against the icy winter chill. His living room is already partly converted into an art space, so it barely makes a difference when Jongdae's spray cans clutter up his floorspace too. Baekhyun is almost certain he's forgotten a few brushes and buckets of paint of his own at Jongdae's house too. They'll just swap them back when they meet for another street mural.It's hailing hard this time, enough that they have to take shelter under a low balcony quickly before they try taking off again. "Ah, shit," Baekhyun groans, feeling the sudden stickiness spreading on the front of his soaked shirt under his jacket where he’s holding all his stuff against his chest. There's blue paint all over his front; one of the caps must have popped off his cans while they were running. Jongdae laughs loudly, pushing his dripping bangs out of his eyes to see the mess of paint all over him. He promptly swipes a finger through the paint and smears it across Baekhyun's cheek.Yelping, Baekhyun shoves him back and scrubs at his face roughly to get the paint off. He retaliates quickly by pressing his free palm flat against his own chest and lunges at Jongdae, grappling at his flailing arms when he dances out of reach, trying to smack his hand against his cheeks. Jongdae leaps back too far and steps right into a deep puddle, squawks loudly as the water rushes into his shoes and socks. Satisfied, Baekhyun calls it even. They wait around a little longer before finally deciding to just go for it and run the rest of the way back home. They’re both as big of a mess as they’re gonna get so they might as well get this part over with. They’re dripping buckets when they finally bundle inside through Baekhyun’s door, panting and wheezing from the run. Baekhyun shrugs off his soaked jacket and kicks off his dripping shoes before dashing off to find them some towels to dry themselves off. Jongdae takes it gratefully, mopping his face dry and dabbing his neck and shoulders once he’s slipped out of his own jacket.Baekhyun is about to do the same but hesitates before he wraps the towel around himself, sighing at the paint stained shirt sticking uncomfortably to his chest. The rain may have soaked him right through, but it’s done a poor job of washing the colour off the fabric. Dropping the towel, he fumbles with the hem of the shirt, unsticking it from his skin and raising it up, trying to find a way to maneuver it over his head without getting paint in his eyes and hair. It proves harder than anticipated because the fabric is so heavy and wet, dragging against his skin stubbornly when he tries to push it off with his elbows.“Give me a hand, will you?” he grunts, fumbling for Jongdae blindly until he hears Jongdae snort, coming to his rescue. He raises his arms straight up and Jongdae pulls the shirt off carefully, making sure the fabric stays away from his face. Once it’s off, he left standing there bare chested. Jongdae’s eyes dart down for a moment before dragging them up to look at him again and Baekhyun shivers. Jongdae’s a lot closer than he’d realized when he had the shirt covering his head. “There,” Jongdae murmurs, pushing the balled up shirt into Baekhyun’s hands. He swallows. “All done.”“You’re gonna catch a cold like that,” he goes on, still standing right in Baekhyun’s space and Baekhyun can’t breathe. Jongdae looks like he wants to say something but he seems to change his mind, stopping himself. He works up a grin instead. “Looks like you could do with some more running.”The spell breaks and Baekhyun scowls at him. Paint stained shirt in hand, he lunges at him, pleased when Jongdae backs into a corner and cries out for mercy to get away.
☽When Baekhyun’s birthday comes around, he doesn’t really have any plans for the day besides keeping busy at work. He gets held up in the office later than usual because of some extra work that needed to be done urgently. By the time he finally leaves, it’s already late in the evening and he decides against going home first, heading straight over to the supermarket instead where he’d already told Jongdae he’d meet him later.Jongdae wolf whistles the moment Baekhyun walks in through the sliding doors and he remembers that he’s still in his work suit. He takes the bait, striking a pose by the candy aisle and pops his butt out, blowing Jongdae a kiss for full effect. They only hold out a few seconds before dissolving into laughter, unable to take him seriously. He slips out of his jacket and pops the buttons on his shirt collar open while Jongdae brings a giant slice of vanilla cream cake around from the desserts display, insisting he’s already paid for it. He tops it off by actually singing happy birthday to him and claps in time with the tune. Laughing, Baekhyun blows out an imaginary candle and cuts the cake in half before digging into his piece.It’s not much but Baekhyun feels comfortable with the way it is, warm and content with the simplicity of it. Jongdae seems to remember something, setting his plate on the counter before turning to rummage through his things in the cupboard under the cash register. Straightening up moments later, he pulls out a large box wrapped in brown paper.“Here,” he says, setting it down on Baekhyun’s lap. It feels heavier than it looks. “Your birthday present.”He looks incredibly pleased with himself, jutting his chin out at the box excitedly, almost bouncing on his heels in anticipation for Baekhyun’s reaction. It’s infectious and Baekhyun feels a spark of excitement himself. He tears the paper open haphazardly and lets the paper falls away to reveal a sleek, polished wooden box with golden designer lettering decorating the top. “This is-”He gasps, lifting up the lid to reveal the vast set of neatly placed coloured pencils and pens, pulling out the compartment of paints hidden beneath them. It’s a really expensive brand, something he’s only ever mentioned to Jongdae in passing while discussing paints and colours, and the stuff he sees other people use at work. Baekhyun stares speechlessly at the myriad of colours in every possible shade in the palette, beautifully structured with the pencils sharpened to perfection. He’s speechless because this is definitely way above either of their budgets and he stares up at Jongdae, taken aback at how hard he’s grinning. “Jongdae,” he manages, not even sure where to begin because this is beyond amazing; it’s incredibly thoughtful but it’s also too much. Money is tight enough as it is, even with both Jongdae’s jobs. Baekhyun’s own job doesn’t even pay enough for him to make ends meet comfortably, the company he’s at still being too small of a startup to offer any real sort of money. “You really shouldn’t have,” he says breathlessly, touched. He slides the pads of his fingers across the polished surface of the box, feeling the smooth texture under his skin. “I got a bonus this month, it’s fine,” Jongdae waves him off, reading his mind. “And you used it on me?” Baekhyun blurts out, still in awe at how beautiful and sleek the tools are and the fact that Jongdae went out of his way to even do this just for him.Jongdae shrugs, still beaming. He hasn’t taken his eyes off Baekhyun’s and Baekhyun has nothing to say to that, or to the way there’s something deeper behind his eyes, heavy and intense. Instead, he reaches out for him, latching on to the edge of his uniform lightly, just hanging off him. “Thank you,” he says sincerely. “I love it.”
☽Tonight, they’re working on a large mural on the side of an old building by the subway station. The piece is larger than usual and they have to bring stepping stools along with them to get to the parts that are harder to reach. They’ve been planning this one for a while now, down to the very last detail until it was perfect enough to actually carry out. It’s going to take a lot longer than usual to get it done but at least it’s Friday, so they can take all the time they need with it.Baekhyun just barely catches the movement from the corner of his eye, jerking his head around in time to spot the group of cops inching their way. “Shit, Jongdae, we have to go!” he yanks at the back of Jongdae’s jacket, dragging him down from the stepping stool and sets off running. There’s a lot more cops this time than usual; they must have been ready for them after chasing them around so often in this area. “They’re going to corner us,” Jongdae wheezes, catching Baekhyun by the hand when he tries to take a left turn and drags him right instead, just as the cops show up on the other end. They hadn’t even managed to grab any of their supplies before they took off in the urgency of the moment. At the rate they’re coming up behind them, they’re going to get caught in seconds. “We need to split up,” Baekhyun says, just as they come up to an intersection in the street. He spares a second to squeeze Jongdae’s shoulder. “Be careful.”He tears down to the left while Jongdae heads in the opposite direction, effectively splitting the group of cops behind them in half. They’re fast and Baekhyun pushes himself to run even faster, feeling like his muscles are on fire and his lungs are screaming. He trips over a rock, stumbling into a wall that breaks his momentum and it nearly gets him busted right there. It’s a close shave but Baekhyun manages to skirt around another corner, shaking them off long enough to throw himself behind one of the cars parked close to the wall of a building. Baekhyun clamps a hand over his mouth to silence his wheezing, sitting frozen on the ground until there’s no sign of any more rushed footsteps or the cops’ voices calling out to each other. He waits as long as it takes to catch his breath properly, and then a little longer just to make sure the coast really is clear. He’s starting to wish he’d brought his phone with him, although on second thought, trying to call or text Jongdae might give him away if he’s hiding too.Baekhyun waits it out for as long as he can stand it before he can’t sit around any longer, prowling out from behind the car warily. It’s risky retracing his steps back the same way he’s just come from but he needs to find Jongdae. The streets are clear of cops for now, but Baekhyun is still wary, trying to stick to the shadows as much as possible. He goes back to the subway station but of course Jongdae isn’t there, not that he expected to find him there anyway. Baekhyun heads up the same way they went through earlier when they were running, checking behind cars and peering into the narrow alleys and openings between the buildings and houses but Jongdae is nowhere to be found. His stomach drops and a sudden bubble of panic rises in his throat. What if he didn’t get away in time; what if he got caught and they took him away? The thoughts spiral from there and Baekhyun feels his mouth go dry.He tears through the streets in a frenzied panic, looking in every single place his can think of but he still can’t find him. He has to stop for a moment to lean back against a wall to catch his breath, a little difficult to do with the anxious desperation rising in his throat. He flounders for a moment, unsure of what to do next and barely even realizes he’s started moving again, walking into another narrow alley up ahead. He looks up just in time to see someone show up all the way down at the other end and he flattens himself against the wall, worried that the cops have somehow spotted him again. Holding his breath, he squints through the dim light from the lampposts until he finally recognizes the face. Jongdae.Baekhyun breathes out a broken, relieved little laugh and hurries down along the path at the same time that Jongdae does. He quickens his pace and Baekhyun mirrors him, breaking into a run until he finally meets him in the middle, throwing his arms around his middle and fuck he’s so glad and weak with relief that he’s alright. Jongdae clings to him tightly with his arms around his shoulders, equally as relieved. Baekhyun doesn’t even think twice about it when he pulls back, yanking Jongdae in by the stupid fluffy hood of his jacket and kisses him. He sighs into it, feeling the way Jongdae’s jaw slackens and brings a hand up to hold the side of his face. Baekhyun coaxes his lips apart, deepens the kiss, pours all his relief and affection into it because there’s no words he could come up with for this right now. Jongdae kisses back fervently, still soft even in the rush. He pulls back first only to lean back in and press another kiss to Baekhyun’s mouth, looking reluctant to draw away completely. “We should probably go see if our paints are still there,” he sighs, dropping his hand down to ghost over Baekhyun’s collarbones. “Later,” Baekhyun breathes, reeling him back in.
☽They make it back to Jongdae’s house in record timing, dropping the paints and cans they retrieved earlier by the door haphazardly in their haste to get to the bed, throwing their clothes off piece by piece. It’s too cold to be so undressed but Baekhyun’s skin feels like it’s on fire every time Jongdae’s fingers skate across his chest, along his back, down to his thighs.“Fuck,” Jongdae gasps when Baekhyun pushes him down and drags his lips along his sternum, pressing the heel of his palm into his crotch. “I don’t have- I’m out-”“It’s fine,” Baekhyun cuts him off, working off his underwear before flattening himself on top of Jongdae again. He ruts against Jongdae, feeling him shift his hips up in response. Jongdae arches up to capture Baekhyun’s lips again, pulling him down with a hand around the back of his neck, his fingers tangled in his hair. It’s exhilarating and inelegant the way they’re grinding up against each other like a pair of horny college kids. Baekhyun slips a hand down between them to take Jongdae into his hand, hot and heavy in his palm. The first stroke makes Jongdae shudder, moaning low in his throat and Baekhyun mouth along the column of his neck, wanting to hear it again. Jongdae has some lube at least, and he rolls Baekhyun onto his back to take over, slicking them both up quickly. He leans over Baekhyun with an elbow braced by Baekhyun’s head, trying to keep both their cocks in his hand as he pumps. Baekhyun feels the arousal curl in his stomach, arching up against him and presses his own hand around Jongdae’s when he struggles to keep holding them both, adding to the tight pressure. He can feel his own release building up, his toes curling at the electricity searing through his veins the faster Jongdae jerks them off. It doesn’t take long until he spills all over their hands, groaning and going rigid as his release washes over him. Jongdae comes moments later, burying his moan in Baekhyun’s neck as he rides it out until his hand falls away and he slumps down by Baekhyun’s side, panting. Reaching out to grab some tissues off the nightstand, Baekhyun cleans them both up and throws the ball aside, shimmying in under the sheet and blankets when the cold starts to set in again. Jongdae crawls in beside him with a shiver, settling in against his side comfortably and Baekhyun has no objections, pushing a knee in between his thighs and leaning in to kiss him sleepily before he dozes off completely. When he wakes up, there’s sunlight filtering in through the window and Baekhyun squints around blearily. He stretches his back and shivers in the morning cold, tugging the blankets higher up over his chest and Jongdae’s exposed side. Jongdae looks peaceful in his sleep, soft and beautiful with his hair falling into his eyes and the curve of a smile still lingering on his lips. He laughs sleepily when Baekhyun leans over to kiss his shoulder, though he doesn’t open his eyes just yet. Baekhyun grows a little restless after a while, not quite managing to fall back asleep. He slips out of the bed after a moment’s thought, hissing at the freezing floor under his feet. He finds his socks strewn across the floor and pulls out one of the extra blankets Jongdae keeps in his wardrobe, draping it around his shoulder as he pads out of the room. He pours himself a glass of water in the kitchen, sighing when it soothes his dry throat. The sketchbook lying on the kitchen counter catches his eye and Baekhyun picks it up curiously, never actually having seen any of Jongdae’s smaller sketches in here.He flips through the pages slowly, going through the smaller, pencil versions of Jongdae’s usual art. The sketchbook is almost completely full and Baekhyun freezes when he reaches the final page. It’s an unfinished drawing of himself, with the shading and pencil strokes done to perfection. He gapes at it, taken aback because this is far from Jongdae’s usual style, never having seen him draw portraits before. He’s got him down to the very last detail, even pencilling the little mole Baekhyun has on his upper lip. It’s beautiful and Baekhyun can feel his heart in his throat, wondering how long it took to finish this. “You left me to freeze just so you could snoop around?” Jongdae’s voice comes from the doorway but he’s grinning good naturedly, his hair sticking out all over.“If I knew you liked my face this much I would’ve posed for you,” Baekhyun says, flashing him a giant smile like his heart isn’t thundering the way it is in his chest. “Like your ego needs any more inflating,” Jongdae snorts, slinging his arm around Baekhyun’s shoulders, hooking his elbow around his neck to pull him close. Baekhyun laughs, winding his arm around Jongdae’s waist, his skin still warm from the cocoon of blankets in bed and pecks him on the cheek.“It’s amazing,” he breathes, coaxing Jongdae’s face around to press a soft kiss against his mouth. “Thank you.” Jongdae kisses back languidly, and they’ve both probably got morning breath but it doesn’t deter them. Jongdae breaks off with a small smile, looking almost bashful at the praise, maybe at the fact that Baekhyun even found it. He nudges Baekhyun back against the counter so they can make out a little longer, slow and languid.“Have you ever tried painting with your body?” Baekhyun asks after a thought, sliding his hand down to rest on the curve right over Jongdae’s ass. “Can’t say that I have,” Jongdae says, grinning, already on the same wavelength. “Well then,” Baekhyun beams. “I think I can help you with that, sometime.”
☽They head out to paint again a couple of days later after Jongdae buys a new batch of spray cans.There’s been a flurry of activity lately, with increased cops patrolling the streets.There’s definitely been a noticeable improvement in their mixed style now when they attempt their combined painting again, collaborating on more and more pieces around the city. Progress is a little slower now that they keep getting distracted, making out against the wall while the spray cans and brushes lay forgotten on the side. Baekhyun’s breath hitches in his throat when Jongdae slips his fingers under the fabric of his shirt, sliding across his stomach. He laughs into his mouth when Baekhyun reaches down to grope his ass, effectively breaking the spell. They rip apart at the sudden familiar, curt call of the police headed their way and Jongdae groans, scrambling to gather whatever he can before dragging Baekhyun off into a sprint once again. They stick together this time since there aren’t as many of them as the time before, but it’s a close call nonetheless when they wedge themselves into a narrow space between the walls just as the cops skirt past. Baekhyun gulps in mouthfuls of air, hearing Jongdae wheeze in front of him. He recognizes the space immediately, as though the cramped space pressing them both together wasn’tindication enough of where they are. It the same spot they met all that time ago, squashed into a position much like this one, with Jongdae’s knee pushed between his own for lack of space. “Looks like we’ve come full circle,” Baekhyun grins at him, and Jongdae laughs, reaching over to sweep Baekhyun’s sweaty bangs off his forehead. He closes the distance again, licking into his mouth without preamble and Baekhyun hums contently, melting into it. Somewhere between the heat of Jongdae’s mouth and the weight of his body pressed against his own, he registers the way Jongdae reaches around him, tucking one of his paintbrushes into his back pocket.