You can do it. Taemin closed his eyes and muttered 'hwaiting' to himself. He was going to ask Jinki out today, spend some quality time with him and hopefully get comfortable with the thought of finally confessing his feelings to him. He patted his chest for courage and stepped outside his room.

"Jinki hyung do you want to-" Taemin started but Onew wasn't in the living room anymore, where he had last seen him. He turned his head to the right and noticed a ray of light coming from the bathroom through the door cracks. He scooted a bit closer and peeked inside hesitantly. Onew was standing all dressed up in front of the mirror, putting on his favorite cologne. "A-are you going somewhere hyung?"

The leader looked at him surprised. "Huh? I'm going to the movies with Jongin, didn't he tell you?"

Taemin bit the inside of his cheek and smiled bitterly because, wow, Jongin really didn't waste any time.

"No, he didn't actually. Can I come too?"

"Sure, I kind of assumed you would be coming anyway. It's not like Jonginnie and I tend to go out together when you're not there. Maybe he forgot to tell you or something?"

Oh, he surely didn't. "Yeah, that must've been the case." Taemin grinned and ran to his room to get ready. "By the way hyung, what movie are we watching?" he asked loudly.

"Jongin said there was this horror movie he really wanted to see, I'm not sure how it was called though!" Onew called from the hallway.

Taemin snorted mirthlessly and mockingly shook his head. A horror movie? Such an old and cheap move.

Whatever plans Jongin had made for today, he was going to make sure none of them succeeded.

Kai checked his phone and wiped his clammy hands on the back of his trousers. It was about time for Onew to appear and he was getting more and more nervous with every passing second. He breathed into his hand to check his breath, smoothed down his hair and tried to quickly smarten himself up a bit.

"Jongin-ah!"

Kai's heart almost jumped out of his chest because Oh my god he's here but then he (kind of) regained his composure, beamed and turned around to wave his hand at Jinki. Someone walking behind his hyung caught his eye though, he squinted his eyes and-.... what the , was that Taemin?

"Hi!" Onew caught up to Jongin and smiled. "I hope you didn't wait long? I'm sorry if we're late, Taemin didn't know about the meet-up so he started getting ready when it was almost time to leave."

"Uh.." Kai blinked a few times puzzled before his gaze flicked at his friend who was currently sporting the most annoying smirk he had ever seen in his whole life. What kind of situation was this? What was Taemin even doing here? Did Jinki just assume there was no way Jongin wanted to hang out with him alone?

"What are you dozing off for? We have to hurry up and buy the tickets." Taemin grinned and Kai's eyelid twitched in irritation.

"Yeah, let's get going or we're going to miss the movie." Onew ruffled Jongin's hair affectionately before grabbing him by the arm and pulling him to the box office. The action and the flutter in Kai's heart almost made him forget how disappointed he was.

After they chose the movie the lady showed them her computer screen. "The green rectangles are the available seats and the red ones are already taken."

"There are sofas at the very back so let's get those hyung! Okay?" Kai asked excited.

Sofas? Taemin's eyes narrowed in suspicion. So that you could attempt cuddling with Jinki hyung or god knows what else? Over my dead body. "The sofas are the two-seater ones so unless you want to be packed like sardines I suggest getting the normal seats." 

Kai smirked. "You can feel free to leave me and Jinki hyung on the sofa and get a normal seat for yourself. I can assure you that no one is going to complain."

"What's the point of going to the cinema together if we're going to sit apart?"

"You're the one that doesn't want to sit with us, we can't force you to be a sardine if that's not what you want." 

Taemin gritted his teeth, his face flushing with anger. "Well, let me tell you something, you-"

"Hey, come on guys, what are you fighting for?" Onew asked sadly with a pout forming on his lips. "Taem is right about sitting together and we can't do anything about the two seater sofas either so I think we should really just get the normal seats." he turned to Kai with a small smile. "Would that be okay? We can get the sofa seats next time when it's just the two of us." He said and blushed slightly right afterwards. "U-uh or the two of you, it doesn't have to be us, you know, but if you ever wanted to, or, um, something."

Kai's head shot upward at the speed of light. "I would love to!" he answered eagerly and then flushed from embarrassment because his voice was way too loud and he could feel people staring at him. 

Taemin frowned at the whole scene and put his hand on his hip. "Uh, tickets?"

"Right!" Onew turned back to the lady at the box office and pointed at the screen. "We'll take those three seats right here. And three medium sized popcorn buckets please."

Kai jumped slightly, suddenly having remembered something. "I'll pay for you hyung!" he offered and took out his wallet.

The older looked at him confused. "Eh? Why?"

Ah, right. From the moment Taemin decided to ruin their meet-up with his presence it wasn't a romantic date like he had planned anymore so paying for Jinki would be plain weird. He scratched his head awkwardly. "Uh, um. I just thought I would repay you for all the times you took us out for grilled beef and stuff. I feel bad to always have you pay for our food and everything..."

Onew smiled and pinched the younger's cheek. "Aww, that's very nice of you but I really don't mind paying for you guys. It makes me happy to treat the two of you to something nice." he lightly patted Kai's reassuringly and then a cough was heard.

"Sir, if you don't mind... There are people waiting." the lady at the box office urged.

"Ah, yes, sorry about that."

"Don't think I don't know what you're doing" Taemin hissed in Kai's ear when Onew turned around to pay.

The other man sighed. "I told you I wasn't going to sit around and wait didn't I? And can you please stop spoiling the mood, I'm trying to have a date with Jinki hyung and you're ruining it."

"That's kind of the point if you haven't noticed. And you're the one who's butting in, I liked Jinki hyung first."

"Why are you being like this? I thought we were going to compete fair and square. I can be a pain in the too so have that in mind when you think of interrupting me and Jinki hyung again."

"What are you guys being so secretive about?" Jinki asked curiously and then furrowed his brows. "Don't tell me you're fighting again."

"No way hyung!" Taemin put his arm around Kai's shoulder and pulled him closer before the both of them grinned sunnily. "See?"

Onew smiled satisfied. "Okay, then let's get going guys."

They sauntered to the cinema hall and started searching for their seats.

"...Row number 12... Ah, it's here hyung!" Kai went a bit further in and sat down on the outer right seat.

"Taeminnie, it's your turn." Onew said and stepped aside so that Taemin could get through.

"Eh, why?!" Kai sprang up from his seat and then his face saddened. "Do you not want to sit next to me hyung?"

"No, it's not like that at all! It's just... Don't you guys want to sit next to each other?" the oldest asked, a little dumbfounded at how upset Jongin got over this.

"I wanted to sit with you hyung." the younger pouted and grabbed Jinki's arm in both hands, pulling him to the seat next to his and completely ignoring the glares Taemin was sending his way.

Onew smiled shyly and blushed. Somehow, being wanted felt really really nice and he probably liked it a lot more than he should.

When the lights went off and the movie started Jongin reached into his jeans and pulled out a piece of paper with some stuff scribbled on it. He squinted trying to make out the first thing from the 'Wooing Jinki hyung in the cinema' list.

Ah, yes, the 'popcorn hands' plan. He put his bucket on his lap and started gobbling down the popcorn as fast as possible, purposely spilling some on the floor to speed up the process. When he was done (and felt like a dried fish from all the salt) he turned to Onew and leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Hyung would you mind sharing your popcorn with me?"

The older looked at the empty bucket in Kai's hands and his eyes widened in shock. "You've already finished everything??" he whispered incredulously. Then he put his own bucket a bit closer to Jongin and grinned. "Help yourself."

The younger threw a mental fist in the air in a victorious manner. Now he only had to get the timing right and reach for the popcorn at the same time as Jinki so that their hands 'accidentally' touch. If everything goes right they're going to start holding hands which will lead to a hot make-out session.

After analyzing his hyung's movements he noted that Jinki dived in for a handful of popcorn every 15 seconds. He counted down in his mind after Jinki went in for the next portion and when it was time he reached out and his hand touched ---Taemin's, that was obnoxiously shoved into the bucket at the last second. His head snapped up and he sent his friend the most threatening look he could muster.

It must've not looked that scary at all though, because every each and one of his next attempts ended the same way as the first one. Jinki's popcorn disappeared in 10 minutes and Jongin had to mark the plan as total failure.

He grumbled and took a look at his list once again. OK, this one should work. The "hold me hyung" plan. 

He put the armrest between him and Onew down and moved a bit closer to his hyung before slipping his arm under Jinki's and hugging it. His heart was hammering in his chest and he felt like passing out the moment Jinki's beautiful scent hit his nostrils but he wasn't going to back down from this.

Onew looked down at him questioningly and Kai felt blood rush to his face. "I-I'm scared hyung." he stuttered out and bit his lip hoping he sounded convincing.

The older must've mistaken his widened eyes, flushed cheeks and overall stiffness as a sign of fear because then he smiled warmly and put his right arm around the younger's shoulder after slipping it out of Kai's shaky grip.

Jongin happily buried his face in Jinki's chest and wrapped his arms around the older's waist, his eyes slowly closing despite the horrendous sounds of a chainsaw and someone's screams coming from the speakers. This is heaven. He thought and inhaled Onew's scent one more time. Damn those stupid butterflies.

After a few minutes Jongin was pretty sure his body was trying to kick his soul out because every limb of his felt impossibly awkward and he was super conscious of the way his skin was getting hotter and hotter where it touched Onew's. Also his heart was pounding way too fast and his head felt dizzy and he was pretty sure he was close to reaching the out of body experience.

"Are you okay?" Onew whispered looking down at him with a concerned expression. "I can feel you trembling."

Oh, so apparently he was trembling, too. Jongin blushed and slowly unglued himself from his hyung deciding that he was going to die if he kept that up even for a second longer. "I-I'm fine, I'm just... s-scared." he muttered and tucked his pink hair behind his ear shyly. 

Onew leaned in and grabbed the younger's face in both hands, squishing his reddening cheeks slightly. "Oh my god you're so cute I could eat you up." He was looking at Jongin with those sparkly eyes of his and smiling in that breathtaking way and Jongin almost confessed to him right there and then. The words were sitting at the back of his tongue, waiting to be uttered and he really wanted to let them out, it felt like the right thing to do but then he glanced behind Jinki and Taemin's anxious eyes made him swallow them down.

, why did he even care? Taemin did everything in his power to ruin his date with Jinki today so why should he keep his promise about not confessing his feelings?

But he did care, Taemin was his best friend after all and breaking the promise seemed like a really awful thing to do. He swallowed hard and looked back at Jinki. His face was so close he'd just have to lean in a bit and pressing his lips against the older's would be the easiest thing in the world. He blinked slowly and his body moved forward by itself as if it were being pulled by a string.

Suddenly a hand emerged from the darkness, covered Jinki's mouth and abruptly pulled him back. Taemin snickered at his victim's widened eyes. "I tried to scare you hyung, did it work?"

Onew's parted in shock lips turned into a smile. He ruffled his maknae's hair intending to mess up his hair as much as possible in revenge. "You totally got me Taem... But it's not fair to do stuff like that during a horror movie!" he scrunched up his nose cutely and leaned against the backrest, going back to watching the movie.

Then Taemin's eyes locked with Kai's and he sent him the most despising glare ever.

If this was how Jongin wanted to play then so be it.

This chapter kinda got out of hand as you can probably tell. I didn't mean to write 2400 words I swear T_T

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless, see you next time! ^^