After the gossip at work eventually died down, Joonmyun buried himself into his job. Coming in early, clocking out late, and doing the exact same thing over and over without even having a half hour break. If someone brought up that Joonmyun was on the verge of overworking himself, he would wave it away with a smile and reassurance. If Jongdae or Joonmyun’s brother pointed out that he was overworking himself, Joonmyun either simply ignored it or told them to mind their own business.

Joonmyun just wanted to work, that’s all it was. It wasn’t like he could do anything else because all of the other plans he initially had banked on him being married. And everybody knew how that went. The only way he could really forget about what had happened was to throw himself into his work; that way nobody could bother him, he wouldn’t have to see or hear co-workers gossiping about him, and he could forget- for the moment- the woman who had jilted him.

It was a shame that nobody else agreed with Joonmyun. Whilst he thought he was still working at a normal rate, his co-workers thought otherwise, sending him home a full eight hours before he would normally finish.

“But it’s still way too early for me to be leaving!” Joonmyun had protested when a few of his co-workers were gently pushing him away from his office.

“Joonmyun, trust us, we can manage. Now get out of here, go home, and rest. You need it.”

When it looked like nobody was going to listen to him, Joonmyun had no choice but to leave. Reluctantly getting into his car- with co-workers standing outside to make sure he left- Joonmyun began to drive home, trying to think of what he could do for the rest of the day. Nobody would allow him to take any work home with him, Jongdae probably had a tutoring session or two to go to, and his brother was currently away on a business trip in Japan. What was he supposed to do now?

This was why Joonmyun was currently standing in the nearest supermarket he could find. It was significantly cheaper than the other one Jongdae had taken him to, and he stocked up on foods that he couldn’t buy the previous time. If he bought the right stuff, cooking and preparing food would take some time off from his day.

“Joonmyun?”

“Yixing? Hey!”

They’re both probably taking up the whole aisle and stopping other shoppers from moving through, but Yixing’s mind is currently focused on why Joonmyun was there in front of him. Of all the supermarkets he could have gone to, why did he have to choose this one?

“Fancy finding you here!” Joonmyun says happily as Yixing laughs nervously

“Y-yeah. Small world, huh?”

Joonmyun still has a smile on his face that makes the butterflies in Yixing’s stomach work overtime. He’s about to say something else, but stop when he sees Yixing’s trolley, his smile replaced by a frown.

“You’re doing your shopping here?” he asks

“Yeah. Isn’t that why you’re here?” Yixing replies, finally realising that he and Joonmyun are blocking the aisle and moved them both to the side so other shoppers could get through, some cursing under their breath as they passed.

“No, no, that’s not what I meant” Joonmyun clarifies “It’s just that people come here for little shops, you know? Just to stock up on whatever they need. They don’t come here to do the shopping you do”

“Well this is the only supermarket closest to my apartment that I know of, so I don’t really have a choice” Yixing replies, reaching up to grab something before carrying on down the aisle, Joonmyun running to keep up with him.

“Wait, really? How long have you in Seoul now?” he asks, Yixing pausing to think but then shrugs his shoulders

“You know I’ve been here so long now that I can’t really remember” he replies, “I mean, I came here when I just turned twenty-one to attend some culinary school Kyungsoo went to. We both graduated together, and instead of returning home like I planned we ended up working together for some top pastry chef. Then Kyungsoo opened up the café, and that was fairly recently”

“And you’ve been here all this time, going to this supermarket?” Joonmyun asks

“Well, I only need to go to the relevant places, so it’s no big deal” Yixing mutters.

“Have you been anywhere in Seoul?”

“There was that one time Kyungsoo took me to Namsan Tower, but that was when I first got here” Yixing replies, “Since then I’ve been where I’m needed or I need to go, so I haven’t really had a chance to explore Seoul… or anywhere else in this country for that matter”

Joonmyun looks horrified at Yixing’s admission, but Yixing doesn’t understand why. He’s pretty sure there are others native to the country who hadn’t explores Seoul as well, so why should it be such a concern to Joonmyun? The latter doesn’t know why, but Yixing’s admission compels him to reach into his pocket to fish something out.

“Here” he says, ing his phone in front of Yixing, “And give me yours as well”

Despite having no idea on what was going on, Yixing still does as he’s told and gives Joonmyun his phone. What the heck was going on?

“U-uh… Joonmyun… what?” Yixing asks, trying to string together a comprehensive sentence

“Put your number in” Joonmyun says when he notices that Yixing still hasn’t moved since being handed his phone, “I take it you have more free days than Kyungsoo, and my workplace is bound to give me extra time off soon, so If you want I could take you out. On tours. I’ll take you for some tours around the city so you can get to know it a bit better… I mean, if you want”

“Really?” Yixing asks, sure by this point he’s been dreaming it all

“Well, yeah, sure. I mean I’m sure you would do the same if someone visited your hometown and, you know, it’s nice to be able to get out and explore somewhere new” Joonmyun explains and though Yixing is still having a pretty hard time believing it, he still puts his number into Joonmyun’s phone and hands it back.

Yixing still thought he was dreaming, ad almost pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t. Then he remembers the comment about Joonmyun getting more time off work, and he frowns at the comment.

“Is something going on at work?” he asks, and Joonmyun proceeds to explain to him what had happened at work that day. When he finishes, Yixing had finished his shop and they were moving towards the checkout.

“Well, I mean, surely this is a sign that you should start taking care of your body. It’s not just your workplace, but Jongdae had noticed this as well”

“I know, I know” Joonmyun sighs, “It’s just after everything that happened work was the only think keeping my mind off it. I’ve been working so much that having time off… I just don’t know what to do now”

“You could come hang around the café if you want. Kyungsoo won’t mind and it’ll give me someone to talk to when it gets too quiet” Yixing offers

“Really?”

“Of course, wouldn’t want you wasting away back home, do we?”

“I could have walked home you know”

“In this weather at this time? Yixing, it’s not a problem, trust me”

Yixing expected himself and Joonmyun to part once their little shopping trip was over. In fact, he expected Joonmyun to leave once he had bought and put away his own shopping. Instead, he further surprised Yixing by waiting for him and helping him pack his shopping away. Having spent a bit more than he usually would, Yixing didn’t really have enough change to catch the bus that would drop him right outside his apartment. By foot, it was only a fifteen-minute walk, and if he distributed the bags evenly then one side wouldn’t be heavier than the other.

That was the plan anyway. When Joonmyun found out his method of getting home, he refused to let Yixing do so. Instead- despite his protests that he was a fully-grown man who could take care of himself- Joonmyun had pushed Yixing in the direction of his car and was currently being driven back to his apartment.

“I still think I could have managed just fine” Yixing comments, continuing his protest from the passenger’s seat

“But I saved you a shorter journey and aching arms and shoulders because you didn’t have to carry your shopping. I think this car journey outweighs all other possibilities” Joonmyun replies, nodding his head in finality.

“Let me at least pay you back sometime” Yixing offers, but Joonmyun shakes his head with a smile

“Yixing, please stop worrying, it’s fine. I’m just doing it so you didn’t have to carry this all by yourself. It’s what friends do”

“Yeah, friends” Yixing mutters, smiling at Joonmyun when he sees him frowning. “You can drop me off here, my apartment is just around the corner” he says, waiting for Joonmyun to pull up before he gets out.

“Are you okay? You looked bothered by something” Joonmyun asks

“Just tired, you know? Work has been really busy lately and me and Kyungsoo snapped at each a bit… but I’ll be fine”

Joonmyun doesn’t look convinced, but he doesn’t say anything else apart from reminding Yixing to call him if he ever wanted a day out exploring the city. With a promise that he would, Yixing collect his shopping and quickly walks backs to his apartment, slamming the door and dropping everything in the hallway. Trudging his way over to the living room and plopping on the sofa, Yixing buries his face in his hands and lets out a long whine. Life was just too cruel to him sometimes.

By my calculations, we have around five more rewrite chapters left before we get into the new content that I am currently writing for this story. Trust me when I say you're gonna enjoy the new chapter content when he get around to it. 

Also, even though currently I am updating this every 2-3 days, that might become more sporadic starting from next week until mid-December ish. I have deadlines coming up and though I'll try to stick to the usual schedule, you may have to wait a bit longer for updates. (Not too long I hope) 

Until the next chapter!!