9.

It’s quarter past ten on a lazy Sunday morning. Minseok’s cafe has been open for business for about an hour now and the steady morning crowd that comes in before weekend shifts and church services has died down. The winter weather has been bringing more and more people as of late. It’s just him this morning as he wipes down the tables nearest the windows with the knowledge that the crowds won’t pick up again until much later, nearing the afternoon. He’s humming to himself when he sees a familiar figure walking past the glass and he smiles at the boy who enters the shop.

“Good morning, Jongin.” Minseok grins as he turns around to face him, leaning back against the table and folding his arms across his chest, “How can I help you today?”

Jongin looks like he’s just rolled out of bed. His hair is a bit messy and Minseok thinks it’s kinda cute how he tries to brush his fingers through it to try and tame it. He’s wearing a wrinkled hoodie, a pair of worn jeans and lopsided smile on his lips as he waves shyly in return.

“I’m,” Jongin shifts on his feet and his smile fades slowly as he tries to piece together what he practiced asking in his mind on the way over, but the words seem to have escaped him so he has to try again, “I’m looking for some,” he pauses and Minseok smiles patiently, “Advice.” he finishes with almost a sigh.

Minseok’s mouth makes that little ‘o’ shape again and he pulls out one of the chairs from the table he’d been cleaning to take a seat, gesturing to the one ahead of himself for Jongin to take. He waits for Jongin to take his seat, and it doesn’t take too long as the boy practically stumbles over his own two feet to get there. Minseok easily conceal the giggle that tries to escape him due to the flustered look on his face. There’s a part of him that wonders if Jongin knows how cute he is.

“So,” Minseok says after Jongin has rearranged his seat for the third time, “What sort of advice are you looking for?”

“I,” Jongin takes a deep breath, “I was wondering if you could…” he chews the inside of his cheek and Minseok waits patiently, “I have… this… friend,” he says slowly, eyebrows knitting together in frustration.

Minseok is possibly one of the nicest people that Jongin has come to know over the last few months since he changed and while he’s not exactly sure that they can consider each other friends yet, he’s almost tired of annoying Sehun with his problems. There are three reasons for this. The first is that Sehun is very straight and while he’s good at wooing the girls, he’s not exactly the best person to ask for advice on men. The second is because Sehun is still trying to process the whole ‘Jongin loves Yixing’ thing - he’s a bit slow at it, and Jongin doesn’t really blame him for that considering it was a bit of a surprise. The third is that Sehun doesn’t really know Yixing the way Minseok knows him and if there’s anything that Jongin wants more, it’s to do this thing right.

The problem right now is that Jongin is not sure if he and Minseok are close enough to discuss his own love life and about courting Minseok’s best friend. He has no one else he can turn to, though, as he runs through a mental list of friends. Most of them live too far away for a face to face conversation, they don’t know about his ual orientation yet exactly or they’re generally just really awful at giving advice. And if there’s anything that Jongin has come to learn about Kim Minseok, it’s that he’s a great listener and fantastic at giving out advice. However, he’s not sure if asking for dating tips too woo Yixing is an entirely acceptable thing to ask Minseok out of the blue.

“This is about Yixing.” Minseok laughs almost, “Isn’t it, Jongin?” his eyes crinkle at the corners as he smiles happily.

Jongin nearly chokes on his spit, because of course Minseok-hyung knows, “How do you-”

“I see the way you look at him, Jongin, you’re anything but subtle.” Minseok leans forward across the table and gently pats Jongin’s hand, “What can I do to help you?”

“You’ll help me?” Jongin blinks in surprise and his mouth almost falls open.

Minseok leans back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest, “Of course. I want Yixing to be happy as much as you want to make him happy. I’m willing to help that, because if there’s anything I know, Jonginnie, it’s that you do make him smile a lot more than he used to. Since you started dancing with him and all.” he waves a hand around as if to express everything that Jongin’s done for Yixing in emphasis.

Jongin scratches the back of his neck idly as he thinks, “I really like him, hyung, I mean… I love him. I love Yixing-hyung,” he hiccups and his face burns red as Minseok’s grin grows by the second at the endearing confession, “And I want to show him, but I’m afraid it’s too soon. I mean, how do I know that it’s the right time to tell him how I feel? How do you know, hyung?”

“How do I know what?” Minseok’s eyes widen in questioning.

“You know,” Jongin fidgets with his fingers, “Luhan-hyung, you like him and he likes you, so why haven’t you guys…?”

“Ah,” Minseok smiles shyly, “I love Luhan, I do.” he confirms with a quick nod, “Luhan is someone I hold dear to my heart and I want to be with him. I don’t think that he is ready to admit that yet. He avoids me a lot and gets flustered easily when I about kissing and dating. He’s not ready to give in yet.” he sighs softly, “I have to be patient. But each case is different, Jongin. You and Yixing, you’re different from Luhan and me.”

“So, what do I do?” Jongin asks, chewing his bottom lip now, “It’s been months,” he sighs and thinks about how summer turned to autumn and autumn to winter, “I’ve been patient, I waited for him to kiss me. I keep waiting and… I’m afraid that he doesn’t want me.”

Minseok scrunches up his nose cutely as he suppresses a laugh, “Yixing isn’t one of those people whose bold enough to make his own first move in a relationship, Jongin. He’s nervous and shy, but if you show him exactly how much you want to be with him, I think he’ll take the hint. The anxieties he has about dating you will disappear like they never existed in the first place and he’ll shower you in affection. That’s just how he is.” he explains with a giggle, “That’s how he’s always been.”

“So,” Jongin thinks for a moment, “If I were to confess to him…” he says slowly like he’s unsure if he’s heading in the right direction.

“Take a chance,” Minseok says with a firm nod of his head, “Do what your heart tells you, even if you’re scared. Sometimes you just have to risk it."

Jongin gets the feeling that Minseok might just be right.

❦❦❦

It’s nearly Sunday afternoon and Yixing is still in bed dreaming of something that makes him smile softly in his sleep. The smile fades the second that his phone goes off, buzzing and ringing next to his head so that he’s forced from his slumber. He blinks at it in disapproval and sighs as he picks it up off of his pillow, forgetting for a moment that it’s plugged in and he nearly pulls the charger out of the wall so that it almost knocks over his glass of water.

Frustrated now, he sits up and yanks the plug from his phone staring at the blurry screen, eyes still full of sleep. He yawns and notes that it’s just Jongdae, a member of his dance crew, calling. It seems odd for him to be calling so early, Yixing decides, because noon on a Sunday is early for anyone on the team. He swipes his finger across the screen to answer the call and his greeting comes out hoarse and scratchy.

“Good morning, sunshine,” Jongdae says and Yixing can just feel the sarcasm dripping from his tone, “We had an unexpected visitor at the apartment last night.”

“We?” Yixing reiterates, “Oh, that’s right, you and Yifan moved in together, didn’t you? How are things going?”

Jongdae snorts with laughter, “Good, I guess.” A muffled ‘hey!’ is heard in the background - Yifan’s voice.

Yixing chuckles and swings his legs over the side of his bed, deciding it’s probably time he got up, “So what was that about a visitor?”

“Ah yes, he came looking for you actually.” Jongdae says and Yixing can hear Yifan grumbling in the background after Jongdae’s orders to put some pants on.

“Me?” Yixing asks curiously as he slips out to the kitchen to make some toast for himself, “Why would someone come looking for me at the old apartment?” he asks as he wedges the phone between his ear and his shoulder, trying to multitask putting bread in the toaster and turning on the coffee maker at the same time.

“Well, obviously someone who knew you used to live here before you rented this place to me," Yifan sighs in the background and Jongdae corrects, "Us. Think, Yixing.”

Yixing groans, “I’m not in the mood for one of your games Jongdae,” he sighs as he moves the phone to his other side to wedge it between his other shoulder and ear as if this position might possibly be any more comfortable - it’s not, “It could be anyone.”

“Oh, but this isn't just anyone, Yixing.” Jongdae laughs and Yixing swears he can hear the faint thump of a pillow and Yifan huffing a ‘just tell him already!’ in annoyance.

Yixing is barely paying attention to the phone call anymore. Jongdae and Yifan are bickering and Yixing can sort of tell that Jongdae is doing his best to cover up the receiver so that he doesn’t hear the argument about their obvious ual deprivation. He sighs as the toast pops from the toaster and it’s perfectly golden brown. He’s rather pleased with it as he pulls it out, muttering an ‘ouch, hot’ before tossing it onto a small plate. The two lovers are still arguing when the doorbell rings.

“So, listen-” Jongdae starts again, but Yixing shushes him.

“One sec, someone’s at the door.” Yixing interrupts.

Yifan groans again, louder this time in Yixing’s ear, “He’s probably there by now!”

“Shut up!” Jongdae yelps and Yixing rolls his eyes as the phone falls from Jongdae’s hand - he assumes by the way it’s thudded against something hard, because the noise is even louder than Yifan’s voice in his ear. Then again, Jongdae could have easily thrown phone at Yifan.

“I’ll call you guys back in a bit!” Yixing shouts into the receiver, hoping that it was enough for them to hear, but he figures they’re probably making out by now as he hangs up the phone and reaches for the doorknob of his front door.

His phone buzzes with a text message from Yifan, something that Yixing doesn’t see until he’s standing face to face with the person that the message warned him about. His phone slips from his fingers and falls to the floor with a clatter.

The tall man in the doorway smiles sheepishly, “Hey, stranger.”

❦❦❦

Jongin stares deeply into a set of brown eyes that blink back at him in apprehension. He takes a deep breath, trying to control his breathing - he can do this. He’s convinced that he can do this.

“Hyung,” he starts, but coughs and clears his throat - this doesn’t sound right, “Yixing-ah,” 'better' he decides as he gulps.

“I know that in the past I’ve hurt you… I let my pride get in the way. I let jealousy get in the way…” he looks down at his hands that are suddenly much more interesting to look at, “You’re going to think I’m crazy and maybe I am…”

He laughs lightly at himself, because he is crazy - crazy in love, “But, I-” he stops and wets his lips with his tongue before staring back at the eyes looking at him, “I love you.” he whispers and his entire face flushes.

“Oh god,” he mutters and hides his face in his hands, quickly turning from his bathroom mirror, “So embarrassing…” he mumbles before facing the mirror once more.

“You can do this Jongin, you’re just telling Yixing how much you love him.” he pep talks himself into rehearsing his confession again and again.

“Yixing-hyung, I love you.” he says it with such sincerity this time that it makes his heart skip a beat and he giggles and blushes at the thought of a flustered Yixing gaping at his words.

“I really am crazy,” he chuckles before picking up his phone and checking the time. It’s Sunday and today is the day.

❦❦❦

Sehun checks the time on his phone and then frowns even more as he looks back at his best friend standing in the doorway of his apartment. Sehun’s hair is disheveled and having just rolled out of bed to the incessant knocking on his door, he’s not wearing a shirt. He blinks in disbelief at Jongin and leans against the doorframe, running fingers through his hair with an annoyed sigh.

“It’s eleven am on a Sunday,” he deadpans. “Yes,” Jongin nods his head, because Sehun is correct, “How long were you planning on sleeping in today?”

Sehun groans, “How long have you been awake?” he steps aside, “Come in.”

Jongin follows Sehun to his kitchen where the younger immediately starts making tea for himself. He offers some to Jongin who politely declines, pointing to the warm cup of hot chocolate in his hands that Minseok had prepared for him before he left. ‘It’s on the house,’ Minseok had said with a wink, ‘For the man who is about to sweep my best friend off of his feet.’ Jongin could only blush and accept.

“I need your help.” Jongin says once Sehun has seated himself at the kitchen table.

“It’d better be important for waking me up.” Sehun grumbles in discontent over being awake on what was supposed to be a lazy Sunday.

“I’m going to confess to Yixing today.” Jongin says casually and Sehun is suddenly fully awake now.

“Pardon?” Sehun coughs, “You’re going to do what?”

Jongin takes a deep breath, “It’s been a long time coming, I think, and I want him to at least know how I feel. Even if he rejects me,” he smiles shyly, “I’d rather tell him exactly what I think of him than bottle it up.”

“This is a very big step,” Sehun says slowly, taking a sip of his tea as if that’ll help calm his nerves - it only does for a brief second, “Are you sure you want to do this?”

“Yes.”

“You sound determined.”

“I am.”

“You’ve been thinking about this for a while, haven’t you?” Sehun asks with a sigh of almost relief, because it was driving him insane to see Jongin fawning over someone without making a move, “What if he does reject you, hyung?”

Jongin clenches his fist and unclenches it again, “I’ve thought about that too and,” he takes a deep breath, “I’m willing to take that risk.”

Sehun wipes a fake tear from his eye after a moment of staring at his cup, “You’ve grown up so fast, Jonginnie.”

“Oh, shut up.” Jongin cracks a smile again and pushes Sehun’s arm.

“So, what do you need from me then?” Sehun asks finally realizing that Jongin had come here with a purpose, “You said you needed my help.”

“What do you think?” Jongin asks biting his bottom lip, “I need something to wear. And flowers.”

Sehun snorts, “You woke me up to help you pick out an outfit?”

“And flowers.”

“And flowers,” Sehun repeats under his breath with a sigh, “You’re lucky I love you, ya know.”

“I know.” Jongin beams.

“Why today of all days?” Sehun asks trying to pull a shirt over his head as Jongin waits anxiously by the door, “Seems a little out of the blue if you ask me.”

“Yixing will know why… Today’s the day.” Jongin smiles to himself and Sehun quirks an eyebrow in mild concern for his friend.

“The day?” Sehun asks slipping into his shoes, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Jongin giggles and thinks back fondly on that day before shrugging, “Bring your scarf, Sehun, it’s snowing.”

Sehun thumps the back of his neck off the headrest of the driver’s seat several times, nodding and humming in response to all of Jongin’s inquiries. They’re sitting in the parking lot of Yixing’s apartment complex and Sehun isn’t sure how many times his rearview mirror can be used as Jongin’s personal compact to check his hair. A puff of air escapes Sehun’s lips and it condenses in the air so that he can actually see his own breath in the car. He looks over at Jongin and sighs louder so that his best friend can know exactly how annoyed he’s getting.

“Get out there,” Sehun huffs after a while, “I’m starting to freeze in here!”

“Turn the car back on,” Jongin suggests, brushing back the hair of his bangs again.

“I’ll run out of gas,” Sehun groans, “I told you this six times already.”

“Four.” Jongin corrects, picking up the bouquet of flowers in his hands - roses, the kind that Yixing likes.

“Whatever!” Sehun throws his arms up in exasperation and then rests a hand on the other’s shoulder, “Jongin, you look fine.”

“Are you sure?” Jongin turns to look at Sehun and he bites his lip in hesitation, “I’m just-”

“Nervous,” Sehun smiles coyly, “I know. But you’ll be fine. Yixing... He loves you. He must love you to still put up with you even after the way you treated him.”

Jongin cringes.

“Sorry,” Sehun mumbles, “But it’s true.”

“I know,” Jongin sighs, “I’m going to do it,” he decides, “I’m going to tell him I love him. I didn’t spend hours in front of my bathroom mirror confessing for no reason.”

“That’s right- wait, you did what?”

“Wish me luck,” Jongin says breathless, because his heart is already practically beating out of his chest. Jongin slips out of the car and Sehun yells ‘good luck!’ after him as he follows the fresh tracks of footprints in the snow to the apartment complex’s door. He takes a deep breath and enters just as he watches the elevator doors closing. He frowns and frantically pushes the button to go up, but it’s hopeless since the elevator has already started to move.

He’s too nervous, too jittery, too anxious, too excited. He can’t wait for the elevator any longer, because he’s afraid he might second guess himself if he does. He doesn’t even stay in front of the metallic doors a second longer when he sees the staircase winding upwards and with the adrenalin currently racing through his system, he sprints upwards. The determination in his body is thrumming just under his skin and he can feel the tingling sensation spreading through his system like a drug. Being in love is like being high and Zhang Yixing is the substance that Jongin wants so desperately to overdose on.

He’s addicted.

He’s addicted to the scent of Yixing’s sweat in the dance studio after intimate practices during the late nights. He’s addicted to the sweet dimpled smiles reserved for him on lazy afternoons in Minseok’s coffee shop. He’s addicted to soft, brown hair, pale skin and alluring eyes. He’s addicted to the movements in Yixing’s muscles as he dances, shifts position, jumps, starts again and again. He’s addicted to airy laughter and the melodic voice that follows. He’s addicted to late night conversations in the shower room, on the weekends, over the phone, via text message, everywhere. He’s addicted the wonder in Yixing’s heart and the beautiful soul that he is. He’s addicted to Zhang Yixing.

He’s in love.

The smile the finds it’s way to his lips is the widest one yet and his heart feels as though it were soaring, a leap across the stage as he dashes up the stairs two, then three, at a time. Jongin huffs as he makes it to the fourth floor and almost regrets not taking the elevator, because now he’s covered in a sheen of sweat, but Yixing always sees him like this so he figures it’s no big deal. He holds the bouquet tighter in his hands and feels the bubble of nerves in his system again as he catches his breath and bites into his bottom lip.

The hallway looks the same way it did the first time he’d come here with Yixing to his apartment. It was only for a short visit, but the visits progressively grew longer after that and he smiles to himself at the thought of never having to leave Yixing ever. The thought is as fleeting as his unsteady heartbeat, a life with Yixing. Suddenly, he realizes that he wouldn’t mind spending forever with him - visions of a lifetime together flash before his eyes and it only makes him giddier as he turns down the hall towards Yixing’s apartment.

But,

Something is wrong.

It’s almost half past noon on a Sunday. Yixing’s apartment door is wide open and Jongin comes to a standstill at the end of the hall - out of sight, out of mind. There’s a man standing there with a sheepish grin on his face and he’s whispering words that Jongin can’t hear. He sees their lips moving, watches as Yixing drops his phone in what looks like shock and then-

Well,

Then it all happens too fast.

The way Yixing throws himself forwards and wraps his arms around that man. The way that man laughs and reciprocates the hug. The way Yixing nuzzles his face into the stranger’s neck and sobs. The way the man kisses the top of Yixing’s head, says something that’s charming. And the way that Jongin drops his bouquet without second thought before dashing down the stairs.

His heart shatters with every step, the tears fall down his face heavily and join each piece of his broken heart on the floor as he moves. Moves to get away from them. Moves to forget his feelings, to forget everything he’s just left behind. This wasn’t supposed to happen this way. This was supposed to be the happiest day of his life. This was supposed to be the start of something new.

Getting high had felt so good, but no one had told Jongin that coming down from his stupor would hurt this bad.

An update for you all! I somehow managed to write this during my breaks between studying and researching for my papers. I didn't have enough time to go back and edit this, so I hope you don't mind! If you see any mistakes, I'll probably be fixing them all after exam week so no worries ^^; As for the update itself: who's the mystery man? anyone have any guesses? I dropped hints in earlier chapters on their relationship, so you should know ;) I hope you enjoyed! xo