Work Text:
Kyungsoo has a pretty odd work schedule. It might have to do with the fact that he works at a zoo.
No really, he literally works at a zoo. He cleans shit on the daily, in record time, because there’s only eight hours in a day. In those eight hours, not only does every enclosure have to be cleaned, every single individual animal must also be fed a special diet. Sometimes he eats lunch on the go but most days he ekes out a half hour in the staff cafeteria if he can. At 4 PM he finally makes it back to his desk to run through some quick paperwork.
It doesn't pay extremely well, but Kyungsoo is frugal and doesn't spend exorbitant amounts of money. Plus he gets to spend his time saving the world, one animal, one species at a time. It's real, meaningful hands-on work and that's all he can ask for.
Then he can go home and relax in his apartment, watching Netflix and knowing he's got the dream job.
And then there's Saturdays at 2 PM. Without fail, every Saturday at 2 PM, one extremely loud volunteer tromps through Amazonia with a large tour group. Kyungsoo is always somewhere in Amazonia at this point. Some enclosures are straightforward, but Amazonia always takes fucking forever because the "fun" feeding times are fixed at 2:15 PM. If Kyungsoo finishes early, he has to twiddle his thumbs and wait for the tour group.
He misses the time when zookeeping was a purely introvert activity. Less of this community engagement bullshit. Kyungsoo does appreciate the volunteers though. Without the volunteers, Kyungsoo would have to not only demonstrate during feeding times, but also do even more "guest engagement" activities. He can barely deal with people at the best of times, let alone people of all ages all at once.
The current volunteer is quite literally ancient. He'd even gotten his second gold star to celebrate his two decades of volunteering. It's quite amazing that he has the energy to dedicate his free time to conservation. Kyungsoo is sincerely grateful for it. He knows how bad the volunteers could get, cycling through five before Robert had finally gotten assigned to him.
When they had first started to work together, Kyungsoo would meet up with him half an hour before the tour. He’d let him know if anything had changed, and then let Robert start. In no time, Robert had let him know he no longer needed the prep, and that they could do the meeting ad hoc.
Today's meeting was different. First, the tour had been cancelled. Second, there’s a whole new person. Kyungsoo blinks at the... pretty young man standing next to Robert. Bubblegum pink hair, beaming smile, broad shoulders, nice thi—Kyungsoo quickly readjusts his wandering eyes. "Hi!" says the stranger. "My name's Baekhyun. Robert is training me to take over his position."
Kyungsoo immediately turns to Robert. "You're leaving me?" he asks with dismay. He likes consistency in a week full of potential medical emergencies. Koko the kiwi is one of his major pains in the ass and freaks out every other week. "Is everything alright?"
"For sure, everything's fine!" Robert exclaims, and claps Baekhyun in the back. Kyungsoo smirks at the way Baekhyun winces, smile becoming slightly strained. "I just figured the youngins should be taking these weekend gigs while I can move to Mondays. Better for everyone."
"Well, good luck with that." Mondays? Jongin, that lucky bastard. He'd just been promoted from intern to full-time zookeeper and now he gets a veteran, fully-trained tour guide? Granted, Kyungsoo had been the one to train Jongin, but still. "Nice to meet you, Baekhyun. I'm Kyungsoo."
Baekhyun's smile is blinding. Kyungsoo's not even sure if he has eyes any more. "The pleasure is all mine," Baekhyun purrs.
"I'm glad to see you two getting along," Robert chuckles. After thirty minutes of Robert's walkthrough, Kyungsoo is certain getting along is the opposite of what's happening.
Baekhyun is, simply put, fucking annoying. He can't stop chattering about the animals, David Attenborough this and David Attenborough that. Yes, Amazonia has the bird of paradise but does Baekhyun really have to do the fake British accent?
What's even more annoying though, is that Baekhyun relentlessly drags Kyungsoo back into the conversation. He doesn't want to talk this much. He enjoys lunches with his coworkers only because of the fact there is almost absolute silence every time. Even with a table of ten keepers. Unless Jongdae joins. Kyungsoo can barely put up with Jongdae. Jongdae's lucky they're still friends.
When Robert wraps up, Kyungsoo is completely exhausted, and he scoops shit for a living. “Any questions?” Robert asks, and Kyungsoo is relieved when Baekhyun shakes his head.
“Okay, I’ll leave you two to finish the volunteer paperwork then,” Kyungsoo says and tries to escape.
He almost makes it out the door when a hand tugs at his sleeve. He turns to see Baekhyun, slightly out of breath. “Um, wait!”
“What.”
Catching his breath, Baekhyun straightens. “I can see why the birds like you now. When you speak it’s as beautiful as their song.” Baekhyun blinds him with one last smile, eyes curving up into happy crescents, before walking away.
Kyungsoo’s soul has officially left his body.
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~|~“How’s the new volunteer?” Jongdae asks over lunch the next day. To save the rest of the lunch crew, Kyungsoo had beelined for an empty table with his tray. Jongdae, unable to resist his curiosity, had sat next to Kyungsoo instead of everyone else. Predictable.
“Annoying. Just like you,” Kyungsoo says, angrily stabbing his sweet potato.
Jongdae’s grin turns lascivious. “And cute like me, too?”
Baekhyun’s face flashes before his eyes, startlingly clear in its detail. Kyungsoo stabs his salad, sweet potato completely demolished. “No.”
“I could give you his number,” Jongdae suggests, and Kyungsoo glares at him.
“What. Why in the world would I want his number? Wait. Why do you have his number?”
Unfazed by Kyungsoo’s glare, Jongdae snatches Kyungsoo’s phone. Using one hand to fend off Kyungsoo, Jongdae punches in a new contact with the other. “Never mind why I have his number. Let’s just say I have to pay back a favor.”
“You traitor,” Kyungsoo hisses, finally able to grab his phone back. “I’ll delete this.”
“You won’t,” Jongdae says. “You don’t even need to call him or anything. Now you just have it.” Having finished all the food on his tray, Jongdae gets up. “Good luck, Kyungsoo. You’ll need it.”
“You’re not my friend any more!” Kyungsoo calls out after Jongdae, who lazily waves it off.
Kyungsoo doesn’t end up deleting Baekhyun’s number.
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~|~Kyungsoo should probably delete Baekhyun’s number. It burns a hole in his pocket, reminding him that the week is passing ever so slowly and that soon he’ll have to face Baekhyun again. Robert has already begun his Monday shift, meaning this Saturday would be just him and Baekhyun.
When Saturday rolls around, Baekhyun is late. Kyungsoo, ever punctual, groans when it’s five past and Baekhyun still is nowhere to be found. Sure, there’s a fifteen minute window before the tour assembles, but Kyungsoo likes having the buffer stay a buffer.
Seven minutes into the buffer, Kyungsoo finds himself dialing Baekhyun’s number. It picks up on the third ring. “Sorry, I’m in a rush—”
“This is Kyungsoo.”
“Ohfuck Kyungsoo I am so sorry I’m almost there—.” The doors to Amazonia fly open with a bang and Baekhyun is stumbling in. He’s dressed in a white button-down covered by a bright red volunteer vest and white khakis. The bright red is usually unflattering on most people, but Baekhyun makes it look good. Kyungsoo is so fucked. “Damn, the metro was delayed today.”
“It’s a Saturday,” Kyungsoo says dryly, “the metro is always delayed.” He grabs a clean towel from the back. “Here.”
“You are so sweet Kyungsoo thank you so much,” Baekhyun says in a rush, gingerly patting himself down with the towel. “God, I hate how humid DC summers get.”
“It’s even worse when you’re a zookeeper,” Kyungsoo shrugs. “Outside work doesn’t stop, rain or shine.”
“You guys do such good work,” Baekhyun smiles. “Let me do the talking today, Robert says you prefer that. And I like it too! I like talking.”
“I noticed.”
Unfazed, Baekhyun laughs and returns the towel before leading the way to the tour meeting spot. True to his word, Baekhyun leads the crowd around without forcing Kyungsoo to talk. Once in a while he falters when asked a question, looking at Kyungsoo with pleading eyes. Kyungsoo graciously helps fill in the blanks when necessary. It’s more talking than Robert had him do, but it can’t be helped because Baekhyun’s new.
The rest of the tour goes without a hitch. When everyone’s gone, Baekhyun turns to Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo’s startled to see Baekhyun blushing. “So… you have my number?”
Kyungsoo flushes an even deeper red. “...yeah.”
“Can I…” Baekhyun fidgets and then turns to pout at Kyungsoo. No male is allowed to be this cute besides his kiwis. What the fuck. “Can I text you?”
What Kyungsoo wants to do is lie and tell Baekhyun his phone doesn’t accept texts. Or maybe he should just say no. Instead he grunts, “Fine. Have work to do.”
Baekhyun is already skipping away. “Have a great rest of your day!”
“I won’t,” Kyungsoo mutters, but is smiling anyway.
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~|~Kyungsoo knew he would regret saying yes to Baekhyun. His phone is constantly exploding with unread texts. Most people stop texting Kyungsoo because he only responds with monosyllables and single letters. Baekhyun, however, seems spurred on by every single one of Kyungsoo’s replies, even though they’re only returned once every twenty of Baekhyun’s.
Right now they have an ongoing thread where Baekhyun sends Kyungsoo pictures of birds he's seen and little stories to go along with them. Baekhyun, that sneaky bastard, has figured out Kyungsoo's pathological need to be correct forces him to respond faster.
Baekhyun: bluebird.png
Baekhyun: isn't it pretty?
Baekhyun: I love blue birds. What’s your favorite migratory bird?
Kyungsoo: that’s not a bluebird, that’s a cerulean warbler. Just because it’s blue doesn’t mean it’s a blue bird.
Baekhyun: huu! I knew that. D:
Baekhyun: anyway I GUESS the cerulean warbler is my favorite
Baekhyun: it makes these pretty noises at my birdfeeder
Baekhyun: actually I lied I like hummingbirds better
Kyungsoo: I like geese
Baekhyun: boooooooo wtf geese are assholes
Kyungsoo: like me
Baekhyun: you’re not an asshole
Baekhyun: :( :( :(
Baekhyun: don’t say that
Kyungsoo: ok
Kyungsoo: geese.png
Baekhyun: nooooooooooooooooooooooo
Baekhyun: I take it back ur the worst
Kyungsoo: lol
Along with the texting, Baekhyun sticks to his word and makes sure Kyungsoo has talk as little as humanly possible during the tours. However, Kyungsoo has noticed that a new hobby of Baekhyun’s is instead name-dropping Kyungsoo’s name as often as humanly possible.
A few weeks later, one tour in particular gets out of hand.
“Zookeeper’s jobs aren’t just fun and games. There’s a lot of poop to be removed to keep everything clean. But Kyungsoo has great muscles because of this poop.” (Wow! Amazing!)
“The kiwi is an adorable brown color, just like Kyungsoo’s eyes!” (Brown is adorable?) “Yes, trust me.”
“As territorial animals, kiwis can get very aggressive. This means upset. Just like Kyungsoo if you talk to him too much, so be careful!” (Ah! Okay, then who do we ask questions!?) “You can ask me your questions and I’ll ask him, okay?”
“You say these birds look lonely?” (That one is just by itself all the time!) “Well, that’s because these birds are waiting for Mr. or Mrs. Right. They’re alone until they find the one. Just like Kyungsoo.” (Aww. Are you Mr. Right for him?) “I sure hope so, kiddo.”
Kyungsoo almost wants to throttle Baekhyun but he can’t bring himself to do so in front of the kids. They are too young to witness such gore. To calm himself down, he imagines Baekhyun asking to be strangled by him when Baekhyun turns to him, in front of the whole damn tour, and asks him, “Kyungsoo, will you be my Mr. Right?”
“Yes,” Kyungsoo says accidentally and the whole tour bursts into applause. Parents included. “Wait, no, I mean—”
“Okay, tour’s over!” Baekhyun calls. “I recommend going to Giant Pandas, they’re really cute today! Bye!”
It’s a good thing Baekhyun doesn’t tell the tour he’ll stick around for questions because he’s not. Kyungsoo drags him to one of the nearby offices and shuts the door. It’s empty save for a bookshelf and a desk with two pens haphazardly scattered across it. The chair is missing, probably being used as a makeshift stepstool in an enclosure. “Why do you keep doing this to me,” Kyungsoo says, slightly desperate. “You can’t possibly want to date me.”
Baekhyun’s mouth falls open. And then he grins, lighting up his whole face. “You noticed? Of course I want to date you! I want to date you so hard.”
“But why me?”
They’re still holding hands, Kyungsoo realizes, when Baekhyun raises their clasped hands and presses a kiss to the back of Kyungsoo’s. “You’re so sweet. Your texts tell me even more than I could see from afar. But before I got to know you, I just always saw you taking care of all these animals. You have so much love, but who is taking care of you? Let me be that person, Kyungsoo.”
Kyungsoo is speechless. When he finally recovers, he snatches his hand back. Nursing it, he glares at Baekhyun. “How are you like this all the time? How do you even think of saying these things? Aren't you embarrassed!?”
Baekhyun giggles, leaning on the bookshelf to support his mirth. “I’m not embarrassed, but you are! AWWW! I made you embarrassed!”
“Shut up! Stop it!” Kyungsoo hisses, leaning in and slamming a hand on the table, sending a pen flying. The situation is out of his control, has never been in his control. He’s not sure if he really hates it.
“Kyungsooooo,” Baekhyun starts in a cajoling voice. Kyungsoo does the only thing he can do to shut Baekhyun up. He kisses him.
It’s a sweet touch of lips, Baekhyun tasting faintly of strawberry gloss. He reluctantly pulls away, wanting to see what Baekhyun looks like now. As he’d expected, this Baekhyun is so pretty, struck speechless and eyes only on Kyungsoo. “Well, I guess I figured one way to make you stop talking.”
“Not fair!!! You cheated,” Baekhyun pouts. “Do it again.”
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes, “Not sure what I cheated at, but okay.” He kisses Baekhyun again. It’s not like he could ever say no to Byun Baekhyun.