The next Saturday comes too soon and Kyungsoo fidgets as he sits on his unmade bed, waiting for Jongin to buzz in.  Though a week had passed, it hadn’t weakened the promise he’d made to himself and today, while courage (and strings of adrenaline) is still flowing steadily through his veins, he’ll push through the nerves to talk to Jongin. He just hopes his tongue will cooperate this time and not curl in on itself like it had done for countless, embarrassing times before when it’s Jongin he’s faced with.

He looks at his watch and starts to worry that it’s several minutes past five and still no Jongin. Right now he should be at Yixing’s party helping out with the decorations, but he can afford to be late for this, he’s sure the guys would be forgiving enough.   

Standing up, he steps to the mirror and checks himself for about the tenth time today. His clothes aren’t what he’s accustomed to wearing -- too tight and too… flashy, for lack of a better word -- but Baekhyun had handed it to him a few days before, folded and crammed into a brown paper bag, your old-man ensemble is banned from the party, just so you know,  he’d said. Kyungsoo had grit his teeth as he put the outfit on just to humor him.

Your thighs look glorious in those jeans, he recalls Baekhyun saying and now, as he checks his reflection, he can admit that Baekhyun wasn’t lying. “I can get used to this”, he mumbles approvingly. He checks his watch again and wishes Jongin would come soon.

A soft tune suddenly plays and Kyungsoo doesn’t need to look over at his phone to know who it is. He looks at his watch again and decides he’d better take the call, expecting a thorough tongue-lashing with him being forty minutes late. Walking to his bed, he feels through the sheets for the phone, swiping to answer when he finds it, and his ears are met with not one but two shrieking voices.

I’m sorry, he keeps repeating like a broken record, though the shouting doesn’t die out and he’s pretty sure his eardrums are cracked, if not bleeding. Only when he swears to leave right now that the angry screams fade out to a few huffs and he says one last apology before the other line goes dead. He slides the phone into his side pocket (a snug fit with how tight his pants are) and massages his temples to keep himself from freaking out.

Finally he surrenders to the fact that today will not be the day he’ll get to wear his heart on his sleeve for Jongin to see.  He can’t help feeling dispirited, a sad sigh escaping his lips as he walks out of the room, picking up his keys and bag along the way before walking  to the couch to pick up his mammoth of a gift. It’s a huge cardboard square wrapped in pretty silver paper, occupying both of his hands and the entirety of his arms to hold as he makes his way to the door. Though it’s not heavy, it’s still a bit of struggle but he manages to exit his apartment without dropping it, remembering to leave the spare key for Jongin with the front desk before he heads down to the parking lot where his car is.

His knee comes in handy as he balances the box on it while opening the rear door, grunting as he carefully maneuvers it inside the car and onto the seat. Just as he straightens up and closes the door, his heartbeat starts to race because he hears the sound of a motor running right behind him and he quickly turns around to see a helmeted Jongin line up his scooter three parking spots away from him.

He feels the corners of his mouth tug up as he watches Jongin get off his scooter and walk straight in his direction, not even bothering to take off his helmet, only lifting the visor up to look at Kyungsoo as he nears.

Before he can call him out for being extremely late, Jongin says something that makes him forget anything and everything that had happened for the past hours.

“You should only wear that,” he says, tone very appreciative as his eyes travel from his fitted shirt down to the visible shape of his legs through the tight skinnies.

Oh. Oh. Kyungsoo scrambles for something to say and can only manage a tiny ‘Yeah?’ as he feels his whole face burn up and it’s a miracle he doesn’t melt into the pavement with how intense Jongin is gazing at him.

His eyes travel back up to meet Kyungsoo’s  and says, “Yes, definitely.” Kyungsoo sees the smirk playing on Jongin’s lips and he’s positive it’s because his face is probably as red as a baboon’s .

“I… uh… I’m heading to Yixing’s party.” Ask him out, ask him out. To dinner, to lunch, for coffee, even for a freaking sip of water. Just ask him out goddammit! his brain screams at him.

Jongin nods at that and says, “Ah, so that’s why you look so… nice.” He clears his throat then before continuing. “Anyway, sorry for being so late. Dance practice got intense and I kinda lost track of time.” He removes his helmet in one fluid motion and once off, softly shakes his hair full of sweat and Kyungsoo bites back a groan because  he looks too tempting like this, his dark hair lightly tousled, bangs sticking cutely to his forehead and Kyungsoo aches to reach out and card his fingers through the strands.

“Well, have fun at the party Kyungsoo,” he says, bowing shortly, then turns on his heel and darts through the parking lot and into the apartment building, too fast for Kyungsoo to even get a word out.

He slumps heavily on the closed car door, shoulders sagging. “Have dinner with me,” he mutters to the breeze blowing lightly against him, cooling his still heated cheeks.

_______________

Yixing passes him a glass of green-colored punch which Kyungsoo accepts with a smile. He sips at it and feels an arm wrap around his shoulders and he looks at Yixing and finds him looking apologetic.

“Sorry for screaming at you earlier. Too much stress gets to me y’know. Considering that the higher ups were on their way here and the decorations weren’t done, well, could you blame me for losing it?”

Kyungsoo lets out a small laugh and shakes his head. “Nah, I should be the one who’s sorry. But the place looks good, yeah?” They'd hung all the decorations just in time before the guests arrived and Kyungsoo's amazed that a lot of people actually came, the small rented space filled up mostly with people from work, all milling around.

“Still. Sorry you didn’t get to ask Jongin out.”

“It’s fine. The timing was off, really. And it would’ve been awkward asking him out in the parking lot of all places.”

Yixing lets go of his shoulder and his dimple appears again as he smiles at him, roving his eyes along Kyungsoo’s body. “You look kinda hot ‘soo. I'm loving the outfit. You should try wearing this style more often."

“You should only wear that.” Jongin's voice echoes in his head and Kyungsoo smiles. “I’m considering it.”

“Anyway, thanks a lot for the help. I gotta go welcome the guests.” Kyungsoo watches as he walks over to the corner table where their bosses are seated.

He stands around for a few minutes, drinking his punch when he catches sight of Sehun, the intern, chatting it up with a very attractive guy who Kyungsoo has never seen before. He walks over to the b