Fic: Standing Tall

[avirjin]

Title: Standing Tall
Fandom: Exo
Focus: Baekhyun-centric, Baekhyun/Chanyeol
Genre: Gen, Fluff
Rating: G
Length: Oneshot, 2072 words
Summary: Baekhyun takes his first steps into a new world with the help of a new friend. Predebut fic.

The endlessly winding hallway makes Baekhyun feel smaller than usual. It really doesn't help that he can almost feel all of the eyes of SM Entertainment's biggest artists following him, as if judging him, questioning why someone like him is loitering around the same corridors they once walked. Sure, they're only posters -- the same exact ones Baekhyun has back home in Bucheon -- but it's one thing to fall asleep under a poster of Girls' Generations' blissful gazes and another to feel their cold, lifeless eyes staring him down from their privileged places on the walls of SM Entertainment.

 

Every step he takes in his brand new sneakers echoes in the eerily empty hallway, the squeaking of his shoes on the linoleum flooring unbearably loud. He can't keep himself from wincing at the noise.

 

Honestly, Baekhyun doesn't know where all of his confidence had disappeared to. Just outside of the building underneath the bright pink SM Entertainment sign, he had been bubbling with energy, bouncing on his toes and trying to steady his over-stimulated heart. It wouldn't have been good if he had a heart attack out of sheer excitement after all.

 

It's a different story now that he's finally inside. Baekhyun can feel his voice clinging desperately to the back of his throat, just as scared as he is. His hands feel gross and sweaty for once and he can't help but clench them into white-knuckled fists, his nails pricking into his palms.

 

He might just have that heart attack after all.

 

"Hey!"

 

Baekhyun freezes, feeling his entire body stiffen up as someone's heavy footsteps come closer and closer from behind him.

 

'This is it,' he can't help thinking with an anguished sigh, 'they're going to kick me out of the building and say, "It's all been a mistake, kid, we don't want you after all." I can't believe this, I didn't even make it to my first lesson or see Girls' Generation--'

 

"Are you new?"

 

The voice is husky and low and deep in a way most of the singers Baekhyun listens to aren't, and it immediately sends a tingling sensation spiking through his body. He gulps involuntarily and scrunches his eyes closed.

 

"That obvious?" he squeaks rather than asks, his voice failing him, not for the first time. Just great.

 

He's answered with loud, boisterous laughter and a large hand slapping his back with far too much force and familiarity. It sends Baekhyun stumbling forward, and he only just manages to keep from face-planting in the middle of the SM building by catching himself on the wall.

 

Only, the wall is far too smooth, too slick and when he opens his eyes, he finds his hand on the lovely, laminated legs of Sooyoung and Yuri.

 

He shrieks in mortification, snatching his hand back and clutching it to his chest as the stranger continues laughing, his guffaws louder than ever and dangerously long limbs flailing everywhere. 

 

The man -- no, Baekhyun realizes even in his dazed state, the boy -- is a giant with a child's face and a terrifying, toothy smile. He towers over Baekhyun, or he would have if only he weren't bent over laughing himself to death.

 

"Oh," the boy gasps, slapping his thigh erratically, "Oh, I think I'm gonna like you. You're a riot." He says the last part in English -- barely intelligible, heavily-accented English, but English nonetheless. 

 

"I... what?"

 

The boy wiggles his fingers in the air, as if that would be enough to wave way Baekhyun's nerves and confusion. "Just something Kevin hyung taught me," he says in-between leftover chuckles. 

 

He finally straightens up while clutching his stomach with one hand, and now that Baekhyun's got a clear look at his face, he finds himself suddenly starstruck and breathless. He recognizes that face, those ears, those eyes. That smile.

 

"You're Park Chanyeol! You were in the Japanese PV for 'Genie'!" It's a miracle Baekhyun's voice doesn't crack again.

 

Park Chanyeol -- the Park Chanyeol who had silently charmed thousands of people through a single cameo -- beams at him with the same handsome smile Baekhyun had watched for hours the day SM had released the promotional video. There's more teeth, more energy, more everything.

 

It's more stunning in real life.

 

"You recognized me!" Chanyeol says cheerfully, his eyes twinkling with transparent delight and his chest puffing up with pride, "That's really cool!" 

 

He claps his hands together rapidly, repeatedly, looking even more like an oversized child -- but Baekhyun knows from the forum boards and the internet cafes that Chanyeol is only six months younger than him, that Chanyeol's been an SM trainee since 2008.

 

Three years of training, while Baekhyun hasn't even been in the company for an hour yet. The gap between them suddenly feels so much larger than just six months or ten centimeters; Baekhyun feels so much smaller in comparison.

 

Chanyeol's friendly smile starts to slip once it becomes obvious to the two of them that Baekhyun doesn't seem to have much else to say, but his large eyes seem to stay trained on his face anyway. He reaches out for Baekhyun, clasping a large, warm hand onto his own tiny shoulders. Everything about Chanyeol is larger than life. 

 

"First day jitters, am I right?" he grins knowingly, waggling an eyebrow. He tugs Baekhyun closer until they're side by side, his arm resting comfortably around the shorter boy's shoulders. Baekhyun feels Chanyeol's fingers tightening, pressing softly into his exposed skin, and swallows nervously.

 

"You should have seen Kyungsoo when he first came in last year, we all thought his eyes were gonna pop out of his skull," Chanyeol continues, although Baekhyun finds himself listening more to the sound of his deep voice rather than his rambling words. He starts guiding Baekhyun down the maze-like interior of the SM building, one step at a time. For all of his energy, Chanyeol is a surprisingly calming presence. As Baekhyun starts to soak in Chanyeol's warmth, he feels his strength come flooding back into his body and his throat finally loosening up. If he starts to lean closer to the taller boy -- fitting snugly underneath Chanyeol's arm -- neither of them mention it. 

 

It's easy to fall into step with Chanyeol, to follow the boy's pace. As his body shakes with laughter, recalling the misadventures of this Kyungsoo's first day of training, the laughter carries over to Baekhyun's body so that he's shaking just as much, his voice finally emerging just to harmonize with Chanyeol's. 

 

"So that's what you really sound like," Chanyeol says quietly as they come to a gradual stop in both their trek and his stories. The tell-tale sounds of other trainees are muffled by a closed door, but neither of them move to approach it.

 

Baekhyun ignores the comment, instead focusing on the door number. Surprisingly, it matches the information the busy receptionist noona had provided him with when he had first entered the building. 

 

Chanyeol seems to note his confusion, and chuckles good-naturedly. "All new trainees report to this room," he explains, gesturing at the door with his free hand, "even I spent a few months in here." 

 

"Oh," Baekhyun finally says, and he watches as Chanyeol smiles even brighter, "I... Thanks, then."

 

They stand there in silence, Chanyeol's arm still wrapped snugly around small shoulders and Baekhyun's eyes still fixed on the taller boy's face. At his height, his eyes are almost perfectly level with Chanyeol's lips. He looks further up instead and wonders if this will be the first and last time they'll ever be close enough for Baekhyun to see himself reflected in Chanyeol's eyes.

 

"I'm Byun Baekhyun, '92-line."

 

He includes the addendum carefully, deliberately, offering it with less confidence than he usually possesses when meeting new people. He hopes it works nonetheless, because SM is rumored to bursting full with too many trainees to count, too many trainees for Baekhyun to get lost in.

 

Chanyeol's grin is all the confirmation he needs.

 

"Great! I am too! No need for formalities then, Baekhyun-ah!" Chanyeol cheers, his ever-present smile stretched wide across his face as he calls out his name far too easily for Baekhyun to bear, "We need more of us around anyway so we can overtake Key hyung's '91-line!"

 

Baekhyun laughs in relief, even though this tentative bond isn't a sure thing. His training schedule will probably be crazy from now on, and Chanyeol will probably never share a class with him just because of his three year head-start. There could be dozens of other 92-line kids for Chanyeol to drape himself over, and being same-age friends doesn't necessarily make you friends, especially in an environment as competitive as SM. 

 

But Baekhyun can't help but hope the way he hasn't in a long time.

 

"Anyway, you probably sing, right?" Chanyeol starts. The change in subject is abrupt, but Baekhyun finds he doesn't really mind following Chanyeol's blistering pace again, "At first, I thought you were here because of your face -- just like I was -- but your voice is actually pretty nice!"

 

Baekhyun's face heats up, and he finally looks away from Chanyeol's face in favor of the floor. 

 

"Thanks. I sing okay, I guess."

 

He can't bring up the dozens of auditions he's failed over the years, the ones that had steadily crushed his confidence in his voice to the point where even a rock festival win and praise-filled vocal lessons couldn't repair it. He hasn't been able to stop thinking about them even after having been scouted by one of the biggest entertainment companies in the country, but he can't bear to speak of them when Chanyeol is standing tall next to him, radiating sheer admiration for skills he hasn't even witnessed yet.

 

"There's a lot of room for improvement," he continues softly. The door in front of him suddenly looks so much more foreboding. "A lot of room to grow."

 

Chanyeol simply shrugs, slouching down and leaning heavily onto Baekhyun. Baekhyun can feel Chanyeol burrowing his face into his hair, Chanyeol's fingers still pressing against him. It's surprisingly, almost uncomfortably intimate for a couple of boys who had just met not too long ago.

 

"You'll be great!" Chanyeol says earnestly, the movement of his lips all too obvious against Baekhyun's head and his voice low and soothing, "I can tell. So catch up soon, okay?"

 

There is an instant in which Baekhyun swears Chanyeol presses his lips down before pulling back -- a painfully quick peck. Whether it's an accident or just his imagination, Baekhyun doesn't think he'll ever forget how he feels in that bitterly brief moment.

 

"It would be nice to debut with my first friend in the industry." Baekhyun keeps his eyes trained on the floor, feeling uncharacteristically bashful at both the admission and the kiss.

 

Chanyeol's laughter echoes around him, accompanies Baekhyun as he is pushed towards the studio door with large, gentle hands. Baekhyun opens the door on his own, but turns to look at Chanyeol before he takes another step into this new world.

 

"Fighting!" Chanyeol cheers, pumping up a fist of solidarity.

 

Baekhyun mirrors him, both his impossibly large smile and his fist pump. "Thanks."

 

He walks into the room, feeling the curious eyes of the other trainees following him. He takes a place next to a dark-eyed boy just as tall as Chanyeol, standing alone in the back of the room with an increasingly intimidating expression on his face. The atmosphere around him is twice as heavy as it is around any of the other trainees in the same room, and it's obvious why most of them have elected to keep out of the boy's general vicinity.

 

"Hi there!" Baekhyun nonetheless greets brightly, thinking of how comforting Chanyeol had been to him in the lonely hallways of SM, "I'm Byun Baekhyun."

 

The other boy blinks at him, which only emphasizes the dark circles under his sharp eyes. His smile is shaky, his eyes darting from side-to-side almost frantically.

 

"Hi. I am Huang Zitao," he replies slowly with a soft, timid voice that doesn't match his appearance and a thick accent that does. The bow that accompanies his greeting is sharp and proper and rather endearing in spite of his large size.

 

But, Baekhyun realizes as he thinks of Chanyeol gazing down at him with easy affection, maybe he just has a small soft spot for particularly tall people.

Original Post: http://seoulfulness.livejournal.com/1571.html?thread=148515#t148515
Prompt: baekhyun/chanyeol. height difference. not height jokes, but how baekhyun fits nicely against chanyeol's body and how chanyeol has to lean down a lot to kiss him
Author's Note: This was written for a Seoulfulness fill, and is actually my first Exo fic. I just procrastinated on fixing it up and posting it here. The truth is that I somehow managed to accidently misread the prompt -- specifically the "chanyeol has to lean down a lot to kiss him". I was already halfway through, and some anons at KFA encouraged me to keep going anyway. So I added the peck on his head? lol I'm very apologetic to the prompter. 

This is based on the information that Chanyeol was Baekhyun's first friend in SM (which may very well be a lie, but still), that Baekhyun and Tao are super tight and joined SM in the same year, Baekhyun's casting rumors, and that Baekhyun is an SNSD fanboy. There's a SNSD pun in there actually just because he's a fanboy and this story follows him lol