| X. can you feel it? |

 

 

A month flies by, and pretty soon the day of the party arrives.

At six o' clock precisely, Kyungsoo checks his reflection in the mirror, making sure that he looks decent for tonight's event. He went out two weeks back to buy a new gray suit, which fitted him quite nicely. Kyungsoo straightens his matching tie, making sure that it's not crooked, before dusting off some invisible dust off his shoulder.

He combs a hand through his styled hair and straightens up before he hears a quiet knock on his apartment door. It must be Jongin; for the two had agreed to arrive at the party together. The scene brings a familiar sense of déjà vu to Kyungsoo, and he smiles to himself at the thought.

Kyungsoo tucks his apartment keys in his pocket, walking to the door and opening it at once—only to stand there frozen when he sees Jongin standing a few feet away from the doorway.

Jongin's wearing the classic black and white suit tonight, which looks seriously good on him—though, his bowtie is slightly askew. Kyungsoo mentally scoffs when he sees it, and reaches forward to tie it more properly.

"You look good." Jongin tells him as he's doing so, and Kyungsoo tries his best not to blush.

"Same goes to you."

When Kyungsoo steps back to admire his handiwork, he feels like there's something's different. It's not the bowtie, he knows that now, but when Jongin subconsciously brings a hand up to brush some of the hair out of his face that's when the florist realizes that the strands were blonde. 

And holy , Jongin looks really handsome with his new hair; it compliments his bronze skin very nicely.

"You dyed your hair," Kyungsoo blinks. 

"Huh? Oh, yeah," Jongin smiles nervously as he puts his hand back down to his side, "I wanted to try something new for today, just to see if I liked it or not. Does it, um, look bad?"

Hell no. Kyungsoo shakes his head immediately, "It looks amazing on you."

"Thank you." The officer grins bashfully. A light blush spreads across his cheeks, and the taller looks away in an attempt to hide it. "We should head out, the others might be waiting already."

Kyungsoo walks out of his apartment and Jongin soon follows afterwards, the officer's hand resting on the small of the florist's back. It's comforting and warm to the touch, and the florist doesn't mind it in the slightest.

 

 

---

 

 

The party was going to be held inside the Kim's mansion. Kyungsoo vaguely remembers Junmyeon telling him about his parents one time a few months back; about how they were both very successful in what they did. His mother was a wealthy businesswoman, and his father the owner of Moonlight Café. Needless to say, their hard work earned them the luxury they have to this day.

The Kim's mansion is of course grand and beautiful, and Kyungsoo is already incredibly mesmerized on the outside alone. The guards at the gates ask for their names, and soon enough the two are checked off on the guest list.

Jongin parks the car where the guards tell him to and the two begin to head inside the mansion afterwards. Kyungsoo starts to feel increasingly nervous for some reason, probably because he knows that a lot of well known critics will be here (and possibly several celebrities), so he holds onto Jongin's arm to feel more secure.

They're directed to a large party room once they walk in the mansion, and... wow.

It's truly magnificent. 

Round tables with white tablecloths take up half of the room, and guests are already sitting in chairs, chatting amongst each other, all dressed beautifully. At the other side, there is a small stage with an empty space in front of it, possibly for dancing room. Kyungsoo winces slightly at the thought of it, he's never been fantasic at dancing.

"Wow." Jongin breathes, voicing Kyungsoo's thoughts. "Junmyeon's parents really went all out for this."

Kyungsoo nods, "Moonlight's really important to his dad, I can see why they put in a lot of effort for the 50th anniversary party."

"I wonder where everyone is?" Jongin asks, turning his head to search for some familiar faces. "I can't help but feel like I'm sort of out of place, I really wouldn't want to embarrass myself."

"Yeah, same here."

The florist does smile when he sees vases full of flowers on the middle of each table in the room, feeling a wave of satisfaction wash over him. Junmyeon had asked Kyungsoo a few weeks back if they could do the flower arrangements at the party, and he had happily complied (even though it did mean more work). He, Luhan, Jongdae, and Chanyeol did their best to make the flowers absolutely suitable for the occassion.

"Are these the flowers from your shop? They look beautiful."

Kyungsoo straightens up from the compliment, and beams. "Yes, they are. Thank you."

Jongin smiles softly at him, but he looks away when he sees someone approaching them quickly. Kyungsoo squints in the same direction, and eventually notices that the person is Junmyeon, who's smiling and waving at them vigorously.

The manager looks handsome tonight, dressed in a wine red suit with a black dress shirt underneath; his brown hair was up, and his glasses were gone. 

"Jongin, Kyungsoo!" Junmyeon sounds a little out of breath, but he grabs both of their hands (one of Kyungsoo's and one of Jongin's) and shakes them at the same time. "You guys look amazing! Nice hair, Jongin. It suits you."

"Thank you," Jongin says, his tone genuine.

Kyungsoo smiles, "You look great too."

"Thanks, Kyungsoo." Junmyeon grins, and lets both of their hands go. "If you guys were wondering, I think I saw Chanyeol and Baekhyun earlier. I'm not too sure about everyone else... Jongdae texted and said he's going to be a little late, though."

Kyungsoo nods thoughtfully, as Jongin gets distracted by the chandelier hanging above them.

"The flowers look absolutely beautiful by the way," Junmyeon mentions, "a lot of people have been asking me where I've got them from. I gave them some business cards, so you can expect a lot of calls tomorrow."

The florist's eyes widen, "Seriously? Wow... that's really amazing."

"I've gotta go now, I think my mom's calling me." Junmyeon waves at them again, flashing them a bright smile before walking away quickly, greeting some people along the way before he disappears into the crowd.

Jongin then tells him that he needs to use the restroom ("Why didn't you go beforehand?" Kyungsoo sighs) so he leaves, and Kyungsoo is left standing awkwardly near the wall, hands clasped tightly in front of him. 

He's only brought to his attention when an unfamiliar voice reaches his ears.

"Oh, hello."

Kyungsoo turns, startled by the noise, to face a young man looking at him. He's wearing a black suit jacket with a white dress shirt underneath, a multicolored pin on the right side of the suit's lapel. His black hair is brushed back neatly, forehead exposed, and he would probably look intimidating if it wasn't for the blank expression on his face.

"Er, how may I help you?" Kyungsoo asks, raising an eyebrow.

"You must be Kyungsoo." The man states, tilting his head to the side. "You look exactly how Luhan described you."

The florist's eyes widen in surprise at the mention of Luhan's name.

"Yeah, you must be him." He smiles softly at him, revealing a dimple on his cheek, and he holds out his hand for him to shake. "I'm Zhang Yixing."

Kyungsoo eyes Yixing's hand a little apprehensively before he takes it, deciding that the other man doesn't appear to be unfriendly, creepy, or dangerous in any way. "Do Kyungsoo, but you already know that. How do you know Luhan?"

"Luhan and Jongdae visit the nightclub I work at often." Yixing explains, and Kyungsoo opens his mouth as if to say oh. "It's called Exodus if you're unfamiliar with it. They talk about you quite a lot."

The florist eyes him warily, "All good things?"

"Some." Yixing smiles.

"I see."

"You are a florist?"

"Yes, I own We Are One."

Yixing nods, his eyes on the crowd before them. "Ah, that's right. I always hear good reviews about your place. Junmyeon buys flowers from you guys all the time, doesn't he? He told me once that you also arranged the flowers here as well."

"Yeah, I did," Kyungsoo responds with a smile, "You must be good friends with Junmyeon."

"I guess you can say that." Yixing supplies, a mysterious smile spreading across his lips. He straightens up slightly before replying, "We're neighbors after all. I always run into him when I would leave for work later in the evening."

Kyungsoo has a strange feeling that there's something much more to Yixing and Junmyeon's relationship (judging by how the bartender was acting), but before he can ask him about it he sees Jongin walk back from the restroom, searching for the florist before he sees him and Yixing standing by the wall.

"Hi, sorry, I got lost." Jongin apologizes, and then his gaze shifts to Yixing, who's now staring at him curiously. "Oh, um, hello."

"Hello, I'm—" Yixing begins to say, but before he can properly introduce himself he sees something that distracts him. He glances back at Kyungsoo and Jongin, and smiles apologetically, "I'll catch you guys later. It was nice to meet you, Kyungsoo."

Yixing leaves after that, and Kyungsoo stares after him in bewilderment.

"Who was that?" Jongin asks, frowning slightly as he runs a hand through his hair. He looks slightly disgruntled, for some reason, and Kyungsoo blinks at him.

"His name's Yixing," Kyungsoo answers, "He's a friend of Luhan, Jongdae, and Junmyeon's."

"He's handsome."

"I guess?" Kyungsoo sees Jongin pouting slightly, and he nudges him lightly. "Don't be like that. He's attractive, but I'm sure that he has someone already. I think that it's Junmyeon, to be honest."

"Junmyeon?" Jongin's eyes widen. "I thought he'd be too busy to be in a relationship with someone."

Kyungsoo hums thoughtfully.

"I guess Yixing serves as a good distraction of some sorts."

 

 

---

 

 

Minseok stands by the wall, holding a glass of champagne loosely in his hands. He hasn't really seen anyone he knows personally yet, so he's been hanging out in the corner for the time being. He smooths out his black suit jacket with one hand as he waits for the celebration to officially start, listening to the music pouring out of the speakers in the meantime.

"Minseok!"

Relieved, the barista turns to the sound of the familiar voice, smiling when he sees Seokjin approaching him. The blonde has a very wide smile on his face, and he does look incredibly stunning tonight; dressed in a pink suit (of course) with a white dress shirt underneath, and a black tie with white dots on it. 

"Hi, Seokjin, you look wonderful." Minseok greets him, as the taller male rushes over to engulf him in a friendly hug. "For a moment I thought you were either a celebrity or a model."

"Thank you, I was aiming for that." Seokjin winks at him when they separate. "You look handsome as well."

"I'm very glad to see you, there's a lot of important people here and I can't help but feel out of place..."

Seokjin chuckles, resting a hand on his shoulder. "It does feel slightly intimidating, huh? Did you hear that Amber's coming to the party?"

"Amber Liu?" Minseok's eyes widen when Seokjin nods. "Oh my God, she's one of the most famous food critics in the country!"

"I guess it sort of makes sense," The blonde shrugs, straightening his tie, "Junmyeon's parents are big money, and Amber is definitely a fan of good food. She loves the stuff we make at the café, not to mention that she's good friends with Junmyeon as well."

Minseok shivers, "Just the thought of celebrities being here makes me nervous."

"Aww, don't worry too much about it. I'm sure they're all very nice."

"I really hope so." Minseok smiles nervously at him. "Where is your date, by the way?"

"Oh, he went to go use the restroom a few moments ago." Seokjin shoots him a sly grin, as Minseok's curiosity peaks. "You'll see him soon, promise. Speaking of dates, where's Jongdae? Weren't you two going together?"

Minseok almost chokes on his champagne, face slowly starting to turn a bright red against his will, "Where did you even hear that from? Jongdae and I were never going to the party together!" 

He doesn't know what happened the past month after hearing Jongdae sing, but Minseok has been getting jumpier whenever the barista would do anything lately—just his presence began to make Minseok increasingly uncomfortable.

Seokjin raises an eyebrow. "He isn't here yet, then?"

"Nope."

Seokjin nods slowly, and before he's about to say anything else a bunch of people in the crowd gasp in surprise. Minseok, now confused, turns his attention to whatever the people were now muttering about. His eyes land on a person who was slowly making his way through the crowd—towards them. 

"Oh my God!" Minseok hears one of his fellow employees whisper, her eyes wide. "Is that really Kim Namjoon?"

Did he hear her correctly? Kim Namjoon, aka Rapmonster, was a very famous rapper—a celebrity—having a huge fanbase. He received many awards for the songs he produced. Minseok knew and was a fan of Namjoon's music for a long time now, but he couldn't help but frown disbelievingly.

The supposed Kim Namjoon was tall, with dark gray hair in a side part. He was wearing glasses, along with a black and white suit; he walks with a confident and slightly intimidating aura that makes Minseok's mouth fall open. It was him. 

But what was he doing here?

To his and about everyone else's surpise, Seokjin beams brightly at the sight of Namjoon.

"Babe!"

Minseok almost drops his glass of champagne at the statement, but he catches himself before he does so. He glances at the two with wide eyes, and watches how Namjoon snakes an arm around Seokjin's waist; trying to frantically connect the dots.

"Hello," Namjoon greets Minseok, a warm smile on his lips. "You must be Seokjin's friend. Minseok, right?"

Was this a dream? Kim Namjoon, one of his favorite idols, knew who he was—

"Yes, that's me." Minseok smiles back as soon as he regains his composure, and then he looks back at Seokjin in utter shock as soon as the excitement soon dies down. "Seokjin, your date is Rapmonster... and you didn't even tell me about it!"

Seokjin smirks, "You didn't ask."

"It never even crossed my mind! Even if I did, you wouldn't have said anything."

"Touché," Seokjin laughs. "I told you it was going to be a surprise."

"Well, I'm definitely surprised." Minseok says, and turns to Namjoon, who's currently watching the two with a very amused smile on his face. "I've always been a very huge fan of yours, Mr. Kim, but I'm seriously having a hard time trying to figure out how Seokjin managed to date you..."

"Please, just call me Namjoon," The rapper chuckles, "Seokjin and I met when I stopped by Moonlight a few years back, just to buy several sweets for some friends; but it turns out that the real sweet thing was behind the counter."

Seokjin rolls his eyes, "You and your stupid pick up lines."

"You loved it though."

They laugh afterwards, and Minseok can't help but find that everything did make sense after all. How Seokjin said that he wouldn't have believed him if he told him. It was so fascinating on how that turned out, and it couldn't help but make Minseok smile. At least Namjoon was clearly treating Seokjin well.

"Attention everyone," Junmyeon's voice booms through the speakers, startling Minseok a little. He leans forward when the chatter dies down and sees his manager on the stage, beaming, "Dinner will be served in a few moments, but I would like to personally thank all of you for being here beforehand."

Seokjin looks at Minseok, "Would you like to join us at a table?"

"You two go on ahead, I'll just find somewhere else to sit later." Minseok tells them, because he didn't really want to be the third wheel. "Don't worry, I won't be a loner forever."

"If you say so."

"See you around, Minseok," Namjoon bids him a polite goodbye before he and Seokjin walk over to join Taehyung, who was sitting next to one of their newer employees, Jungkook. Taehyung's eyes widen when he sees the idol, jumping out of his seat and greeting him at once (nearly knocking his champagne over); it was obvious that he too was a fan.

Minseok tears his gaze away and leans against the wall as he sips more of his drink, listening to Junmyeon make his speech.

"I'd like to say a genuine thank you to everyone for making time to come to Moonlight's 50th anniversary party tonight." Junmyeon says. "Moonlight has always been important to my family and I, and I'm extremely proud to be a big part of it. I will always be glad because of how many people love the café, and without your support we wouldn't be what we are today."

He stops talking when the audience applauds him, and Minseok does too, watching his boss with a smile on his face. 

"I'll do my best to keep Moonlight's popularity rising, and I hope I won't let any of you down." The manager continues. "And with that, dinner is served. We also have desserts later, entertainment, and also dancing if you'd like. I hope you enjoy the party, and thank you all for coming once again!"

Minseok's just about to go find a table when someone whispers, "Psst!"

Surprised, Minseok whirls around to face Jongdae, who's looking at the stage thoughtfully instead of at him. Minseok glances at the other barista with wide eyes; his hair was pushed up tonight, forehead exposed. He's dressed in a beige suit with a white turtleneck underneath, and to top it all off he was also wearing a pair of glasses.

Jongdae's gaze flits back to him after a few moments, and that's when Minseok realizes that he was staring. 

"Holy , don't do that." Minseok then exclaims, a hand over his heart as he tries to slow down his increasing heart rate. He starts to feel uncomfortable again, and he moves aside to maintain a safe distance between them. "You scared me."

"Sorry," Jongdae grins, not sounding apologetic at all in the slightest, "What'd I miss?"

Minseok blinks, "Junmyeon just gave his welcoming speech, so we're free to eat dinner now."

"Oh, not much then." Jongdae hums, and then he glances at the champagne in Minseok's hand, which was almost finished. "Where did you get that?" 

"They're passing some around," Minseok replies, and just as he says that a waiter passes by, holding a tray with glasses of champagne on the palm of his hand. Jongdae stops him and picks one off the tray, sending the waiter a smile before turning back to the other barista.

They stand in silence for a few moments, which has honestly never really happened between them before. Usually, Minseok would be shouting at Jongdae or telling him to go away or something; but today, he didn't feel like doing that.

"Since when did you have glasses?" He asks instead, not wanting the silence to become awkward.

Jongdae looks surprised to be asked this, eyebrows raised slightly, and he drinks some of the champagne before replying, "I've had them for a long time, but I've never really wore my pair because I don't like them. It just so happens that I was in a rush to get here, so I didn't have time to put my contacts on."

Minseok finds himself thinking that Jongdae should forget to wear his contacts more often, but he frantically shoves that thought in the back of his mind and looks at the floor, completely horrified.

"Oh."

"Yeah." Jongdae supplies, looking at him thoughtfully. "You know, we've never really had a proper conversation before."

"Yes we have." Minseok frowns. "We've talked plenty of times; too many times."

"If arguing counts, then fine." Jongdae chuckles, and Minseok always will wonder how he never seems to be affected by anything. "But we haven't really gotten to know each other properly yet, you know? I know loads of stuff about the people working in the café besides you."

"I don't know if I can even hold a proper conversation with you without arguing."

"Hey, not all of us are perfect," The barista shrugs. "You'll get there. You're lucky that I'm a really patient guy."

Minseok snorts, "I highly doubt that."

Jongdae opens his mouth to say something when Minseok sees a brunet with doe eyes wearing a black suit and tie approaching them. There's a smile on his face as he slings an arm around the other barista's shoulders. "Hey, you."

"Luhan!" Jongdae's smile grows bigger at the sight of the newcomer. "Is Sehun here with you?"

"Yep, he's getting food right now." Luhan responds, and then gives Jongdae a once-over, nodding in approval as he pats the other's chest. "You look nice, by the way; I totally forgot that you had glasses."

The barista ducks his head in embarrassment, "Thanks, you don't look bad either."

Minseok glances at him in pure wonder, noticing how Jongdae gets so shy receiving compliments. And yet, he has a side of him where he's loud and boisterous; the barista has always assumed that Jongdae would brush these off like it's nothing, but he doesn't. He obviously does take them to heart, and it's strangely intriguing, in a way.

"Did you just get here?" Luhan then asks. "I didn't see you earlier."

"Yeah, about five minutes ago."

"It's not like you to be late, what were you doing?"

Jongadae chuckles lightly, sipping some more of his champagne before replying. "Nothing too exciting. I was taking a nap, and I overslept by accident."

"Truly iconic."

"You're the one who's late almost of the time."

"Not today." Luhan snickers, and Jongdae shoots him an unamused expression. Minseok watches their exchange in silent awe; realizing that Luhan and Jongdae had pretty similar personalities. It was probably why they even got along in the first place.

Soon, Luhan notices him standing there, and his eyes widen in surprise.

"Oh, hey, it's the fluff!"

"Excuse me?" Minseok sputters, nearly dropping his glass for the umpteenth time that evening. "'Fluff'?"

"Oops, that was a little rude." Luhan quickly says, smiling at him nervously. Minseok stares at him in disbelief, unsure on how he's supposed to react. "I'm Luhan, very sorry about that. I've heard about you from Jongdae. I saw you on the staff picture a few weeks back and I was just wondering who you were. I'm familiar with mostly all of Moonlight's employees, but I didn't recognize you at all. What's your name?"

"Minseok...?"

"Well, Minseok, pleasure to meet you."

Minseok raises his eyebrows. Earlier, wasn't Jongdae was just telling him that he knew nothing about him? He eyes the other barista suspiciously after Luhan's statement (even though it sounds like a reasonable excuse), and for once, Jongdae looks mildly embarrassed.

Before Luhan could open his mouth to say something, a tall blonde looking sharp in a navy blue suit approaches the trio; hair slicked back neatly and his face completely expressionless. He taps Luhan's shoulder with one hand (the other hand is holding a plate of food), and the brunet whirls around in surprise to look at him.

"Everyone's waiting at the table." He says monotonously, and Luhan sighs.

"But I was talking to—"

"Hi, Sehun." Jongdae smoothly interrupts, sporting another smile. "Nice seeing you here."

"You too." Blonde guy replies, nodding at him. He looks over to Minseok, and nods slightly at him too, before he tugs on Luhan's sleeve. "Come on and leave them in peace."

Luhan rolls his eyes, but he waves at Jongdae and Minseok. "I'd love to stay and chat, but l've gotta go. Feel free to join our table if you'd like; we wouldn't mind your company."

He looks like he wants to say something more, but Sehun lets out a bored sigh and starts dragging Luhan away from them before he could, earning a surprised yelp from the brunet. Minseok watches as Luhan stumbles into a more proper posture, hitting Sehun on the arm lightly as they join a table with more young men sitting around it.

As soon as he's gone, Minseok glares at Jongdae, "You talk about me to strangers?"

"Inn my defense, Luhan is not a stranger... I've known him for a very long time now." Jongdae says, stuffing his free hand inside his pocket. "He usually gives out nicknames to people he doesn't know the name of. Don't worry, he's completely harmless."

"Still." Minseok mutters, and honestly, he doesn't even know why he's talking to Jongdae right now. He must be insane, holding up a conversation with someone he doesn't like. 

But then again, Seokjin seems plenty busy with Namjoon (and all the other people sitting at their table), and Minseok really doesn't know anyone else here. He doesn't know if he wants to take up Luhan's offer and sit with them, because the brunet already made him mildly uncomfortable.

He doesn't know why Jongdae is here talking to him either, since he knows for a fact that the other barista has friends here... maybe he just wants to keep bugging him for the rest of the night. 

Minseok wrinkles his nose at the thought, disgruntled.

"Why don't you like me?" Jongdae then asks out of nowhere, his eyebrows furrowed. He doesn't look angry; just curious. 

Surprisingly, Minseok has to stop and think. He would never admit this out loud, but honestly, he really doesn't know why anymore. He's always thought of Jongdae as a loud and annoying individual (which he was), but recently, he's been thinking a lot about what Junmyeon told him a few months back.

Just give him a chance.

The thought started to become more appealing to him, for some reason. Minseok knew that he said he would always dislike Jongdae, but now he wasn't even so sure anymore. He admits that he was sort of tired of being so fed up about him all the time, when Jongdae was just being himself. Maybe it would be easier just to be friends.

Maybe...

"You don't have to answer," Jongdae explains quickly, giving him a sideways glance as he takes in more of his champagne, "I was just surprised that you didn't shout at me at all tonight. You must be in a good mood tonight, or something like that."

Minseok eyes him warily after a few moments, "I guess. I don't know."

Jongdae then looks at him, expression unusually blank. After a while, he smiles, but it's not one of those teasing grins that he always gives Minseok. It's almost fond, and Minseok subconsciously takes a step back; his eyes wide.

"You want to get food?"

Minseok relaxes a little, and manages a tiny smile.

"All right."

He'll humor him, just for tonight.

 

 

---

 

 

Kris drags out a sigh as he waits for Tao to finish getting his food, holding his plate in his hands as he looks around to see some familiar faces. He was sure that he saw Jongin a few moments ago, but maybe it wasn't him... he didn't remember Jongin having blonde hair, after all. Maybe it was Sehun, he muses, but Sehun was as pale as Snow White.

Oh well, not like it matters much anyway.

"Sorry for the wait." Tao's voice interrupts his thoughts, and the police chief turns his head to look at him. "There was so much food, I had such a hard time choosing."

When Kris opens his mouth to say something in response, he thinks he sees someone familiar in his peripheral vision and looks to see a smiling Luhan approaching them from a distance.

"Hey, found you guys." Luhan remarks cheerfully, and Tao immediately looks at Kris with help written all over his expression. "Come join us at the table."

Kris gives Tao what he hopes to be a reassuring glance (because he knows for a fact that Luhan won't take no for an answer), and follows the florist to a table where four young men are already sitting and chatting with one another there.

"Kris, so nice of you to join us." Sehun's sarcastic drawl catches his attention, and he raises his eyebrows as soon as he sees him. There's another blonde next to him, and when he raises his head he realizes with a jolt that it's Jongin, who's currently stuffing chicken inside his mouth. Next to him is that Kyungsoo guy, but the fourth one he doesn't even recognize.

He's dressed in a navy blue suit with a black dress shirt and pants. He's also wearing eyeliner, which actually suits him quite nicely. His brown hair is separated in a side part, and he looks up at the two curiously when he and Tao approach the table.

The chair next to the guy is empty, but Kris knows someone else is sitting next to him for there was an untouched plate of food on the space in front of it. The chair was also pushed out slightly, as if the guy recently left.

"Hey guys, I brought some friends. This is Kris," Luhan gestures to the police chief, who nods. The brunet then places his hand under Tao's chin, rubbing it slightly, "and this is Tao."

"Hi," Tao supplies, but he shrieks when Luhan starts tickling his neck.

Sehun, Jongin, and Kyungsoo all introduce themselves (for Tao's benefit, because Kris knows them already), and pretty soon it comes down to the male wearing eyeliner. 

A friendly smile spreads across the guy's face, "I'm Baekhyun."

"Call him Dr. Byun," Luhan whispers loudly on purpose, and Baekhyun frowns when he hears it, "He's a doctor."

"Don't listen to him, just Baekhyun's fine."

"All right, Just Baekhyun—"

"We're missing Chanyeol, by the way." Kyungsoo interrupts Luhan midsentence, and the brunet wrinkles his nose before sitting on Sehun's other side. "He went to the restroom a few moments ago."

Kris sets his food down next to the empty chair (Tao sets his plate next to his) before clearing his throat slightly. "I'll be right back; I've got to use the restroom too."

Before he could actually get the chance to walk over there, Tao tugs on his suit sleeve. Kris turns back to him with an eyebrow raised, watching as the younger mouths please help me. Kris stifles a loud snort, and he shakes his head before he makes his way to the restrooms. He knows that Tao will be okay; they're all good people if you look hard enough.

He's about to swing the restroom door open when the person behind it does it first, nearly smacking Kris's nose in the process. The police chief lets out a mini yelp of surprise before tripping over his feet to avoid getting hit, somehow managing to stay standing without horribly embarrassing himself. 

"Oh, crap, I'm so sorry!" Comes the person's deep (yet familiar) voice, and Kris steps back with wide eyes when he sees the person slowly walk out of the restroom, looking incredibly worried. "Did I hit you?"

Kris's jaw slacks when he recognizes the person—large ears, hella bright smile—it's the chef guy from a month ago. He's never saw the chef guy ever since their encounter, so you could imagine how shocked the police chief was to see him here at Junmyeon's party.

Pretty soon, a flash of recognition appears in the other's eyes before his mouth falls open too.

"It's you!" They both say at the same time, pointing at each other in surprise.

They step away from the restroom door to avoid getting hit, and Kris blinks at him, mind running wild. Chef guy cleans up pretty nicely; his dark hair is gelled back and he's wearing a black turtleneck under a black suit jacket with matching pants and shoes. 

"Wow. I guess this was the party you were talking about."

Kris nods, still surprised. "Well, yeah. I really didn't expect to see you here, though... small world, isn't it?"

"Very true," Chef guy grins again this time. "So how did it go with the acquaintance?"

"Great, surprisingly. He's here with me now, sitting with some friends of mine." Kris responds, smiling back at him. "What about you, did you bring anyone here?"

Chef guy's grin grows wider at his question. "Yep, do you want to meet him? He's a doctor, and he's a pretty great guy. He's sitting with a few of my friends too, and they're also good people."

Kris remembers Luhan mentioning that the Baekhyun guy was a doctor earlier, but he doesn't really pay much attention to it and gives him an apologetic grin. "I'd be glad to, but I have to use the restroom right now."

"Oh, right." He laughs, loudly and cheerfully. "I can wait outside, no worries."

"You sure about that?"

"Definitely." Chef guy assures him, and Kris nods at him before grabbing the door handle.

Five or so minutes later, Kris emerges from the restroom and to his surprise, he still sees the chef standing there. The other's looking around aimlessly, but as soon as his eyes land on his he breaks into one of those smiles again before they start heading over to wherever his friend was.

Kris waits as the other guy searches for his friend, and is brought to his attention when the chef exclaims, "He's over there."

As Kris follows him through the crowd, he realizes that the chef was walking in the same direction where Luhan and the others were seated. Moments later, Kris is able to see all of them talking amidst one another; Tao was conversing with Sehun and Luhan while Kyungsoo, Jongin, and that Baekhyun guy were laughing at something. 

He gets even more surprised when chef guy stops in front of the table.

"Chanyeol's back," Sehun announces when he sees them approaching the table, his expression as stoic as ever. Kris's eyes widen as he turns to the chef, who was currently talking to the Baekhyun guy.

"Wait," Luhan starts, looking from Kris to Chanyeol before anyone could say anything. "You two know each other?"

"Holy ." Kris blurts out, and he faces the chef with wide eyes. "Are you telling me that these are your friends, too?"

"Yes." Chanyeol blinks. "I had no idea that we had the same group of friends."

Luhan snorts, "What are the odds?"

"I don't even know anymore." Kris mutters, as he watches as the chef slides into the seat with the untouched plate of food in front of it.

"Same here, to be honest." The chef guy—Chanyeol—laughs. He's smiling even wider now, with a grin that could rival the sun. "This is Baekhyun by the way, but I think you've already met him. He's the doctor I told you about. And you're Kris?"

"That's me." Kris grins as he sits down on Chanyeol's other side. "This is Tao."

Tao raises his eyebrows at Kris slightly before returning Chanyeol's small smile and wave, and turns away to continue talking to Sehun afterwards. Kris watches them for a while, before turning back to the chef, who's still grinning at him. 

He gestures for Kris to grab a glass of champagne, and once he does the chef holds up his own to him.

"Well, that was certainly unexpected." Chanyeol chuckles. "But it's nice to see you again."

"Likewise."

The two men clink glasses.

 

 

---

 

 

As soon as Yixing was about to introduce himself to that blonde haired guy who was friends with Kyungsoo, he spotted Junmyeon a distance away. The manager instantly gestured for him to come over, which of course, Yixing did (after he made sure to apologize to the other two). He wonders what this was about; he hasn't really seen Junmyeon since the party started because the manager was too busy greeting people.

"Hey, you." Yixing says with a smile on his face, when he walks up to Junmyeon. "What's up?"

"My parents want to meet you," Junmyeon tells him, as if he was expecting the question. Yixing's eyes widen as soon as he hears the statement, and immediately starts to feel a little anxious.

"You told them about us?"

The shorter man shakes his head, "I told them about you a few weeks ago, and they were really looking forward to seeing you here. Is that okay with you? I really hope they won't be weird or anything."

Yixing wrings his hands. "What if they don't like me?"

"Don't worry about it, really." Junmyeon insists. He's pouting a little, and Yixing smiles at the sight of it. The manager's cheeks turn slightly pink before he says, "I mean, they should. Because I like you a lot."

The bartender has to bite his bottom lip to keep the smile from spreading across his face. "All right, then. Where are they?"

Junmyeon smiles at him—nervously, Yixing notes, it turns out Junmyeon too was worried about how his parents would think even if he tried his best not to show it—and tugs lightly on the end of his jacket sleeve as he pulls him across the room, to where his parents were seated.

Mr. and Mrs. Kim are both dressed very nicely for tonight's event; both are just a little bit intimidating. Maybe it was the fact that they were Junmyeon's parents, the people who raised the person Yixing was lowkey in a relationship with. Yixing didn't want to leave a horrible first impression, so he mentally prepares himself as Junmyeon approaches them with a smile on his face.

"Mom, Dad, this is Yixing." Junmyeon introduces him, and the Kims look up to face the bartender.

"It's nice to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Kim." Yixing puts on the best smile he could muster, bowing his head a little in the process. He shakes Mr. Kim's hand first, but as soon as he gets to Mrs. Kim the woman lets out a quiet gasp.

Alarmed, Yixing's head snaps up, only to see Mrs. Kim staring at him with a hand over . Next to him, Junmyeon looks slightly more worried at his mother's reaction, his eyes widened.

"Oh my," Mrs. Kim exclaims. "Junmyeonnie, you never told me how handsome this boy is!"

Yixing feels his cheeks instantly warming up upon hearing the statement—he is not used to people complimenting him so openly and easily like this.

"Mom, please." Junmyeon interrupts, and Yixing can't help but be amused to see Junmyeon's cheeks turning pink in embarrassment.

"Thank you, Mrs. Kim." Yixing mutters shyly, but Mrs. Kim waves him off.

"I'm just telling the truth, dear." Mrs. Kim breaks into a dazzling smile (which looks eerily similar to Junmyeon's). She reaches out to Yixing, and caresses his cheek gently, her gaze softening in the process.

Yixing mumbles a quiet thank you once more, while Mr. Kim chuckles lightly (his laugh sounds like Junmyeon's) as the corners of his eyes crinkle from grinning. "Don't scare him, sweetheart."

"Relax, dear." Mrs. Kim huffs at her husband, but she removes her hand from Yixing's cheek, still smiling at him. "I can already tell that you're a good person. Are you in a relationship at the moment?"

"Mom, stop making him uncomfortable." Junmyeon quickly interrupts, saving Yixing from responding.

"Okay, okay," Mrs. Kim laughs, "I hope Junmyeonnie doesn't give you too much trouble... he tends to stay up each night even though I tell him that he doesn't need to. Oh, our Junmyeonnie was always such a hard working person even throughout school, he cried once when he made such a silly mistake on a test he studied for the whole week—"

"Mom." Junmyeon cuts in, looking incredibly mortified.

"I'll take care of him, Mrs. Kim." Yixing reassures her, knowing the underlying meaning behind Junmyeon's mother's words. She really was worried about Junmyeon because the manager was so constantly caught up in his work. "You can count on me, I promise."

Mrs. Kim looks at him for a while before she breaks into another bright smile. 

"That really means a lot, Yixing. You must value Junmyeon's friendship, am I right?"

Yixing glances at Junmyeon, who's staring at him with an adorable blush on his cheeks and his mouth open slightly. The bartender half-smiles at him before nodding back at Mrs. Kim. "Yes, that's right."

"Thank you." Mr. Kim tells him genuinely. He then turns to the side for a bit, sighing in content as he watches the crowd. "Enjoy the party, boys. It's a big night for Moonlight tonight. Let loose, but don't have too much fun, okay?"

Yixing smiles.

"And Junmyeon," Mr. Kim adds, a soft smile on his lips. "Your mother and I will always be proud of you. Just remember that."

Junmyeon does smile at this, happiness etched all over his face. It's clear that he's always wanted his parents' praise, they obviously meant a lot to him. The manager bows his head slightly before he turns to Yixing and wraps a hand around his arm gingerly, making their way through the crowd before they stop near the wall.

"I'm so sorry." Junmyeon mutters when they get there. "My mom's always been like this. Whenever I brought friends over back when I was still in middle school, she'd always interrograte my friends, bombarding them with countless questions and giving them really embarrassing trivia about me."

"You cried when you got one thing wrong on a test?"

The tips of the manager's ears turn red. "It was a reasonable thing to be upset about! I was one point from an 100 because I forgot to round my answer."

Yixing chuckles slightly when he sees the look on Junmyeon's face. He watches as the manager turns his head to look at the crowd (where some people were already attempting to dance near the stage). He smiles when the corner of Junmyeon's lips curl up into a small smile, eyes softening as he does so.

He leans in quickly to press his lips against Junmyeon's cheek softly, and straightens up as he keeps his eyes firmly on the crowd before them. At the corner of his eye, he sees Junmyeon whirl around and glance at him with wide eyes, face as red as a tomato. The bartender's amusement grows when Junmyeon presses a hand to his cheek in surprise.

Yixing pretends to not have done anything, clasping his hands together in front of him as he lets a small and smug smile spread on his lips.

However, he is caught off guard when Junmyeon gets on his tiptoes and presses his lips to Yixing's cheek in a similar manner. Now it's Yixing's turn to be surprised as he whirls around, eyebrows slightly raised when he sees Junmyeon smirking at him.

Yixing shakes his head in mock disapproval, but he grins when the manager squeezes his hand lightly.

 

 

---

 

 

Luhan's bored out of his mind.

Yes, the party's wonderful. It's fantastic. Lovely. It's everything that Luhan expected it to be, and the food is so ing delicious. His tablemates/friends were all very entertaining, yes, but a lot of them were involved in their own conversations that the florist didn't feel like joining at the moment.

The brunet gets up from the table with a mildly quiet excuse me and doesn't notice Sehun watching him as he leaves to grab a new glass of champagne so that he could feel less stiff. He doesn't know why he's so tired either, he was so hyped for everything when he and Sehun arrived earlier. 

Speaking of Sehun, he did sort of miss him when the officer disappeared for a week, like Jongin. He wasn't really expecting to not see Sehun the next day, which was strange now that he was thinking about it. He knew the fact Sehun had a job like he did, a more important one in fact.

When Sehun did come in the day after Jongin reappeared, he looked more tired and a little skinnier, but the same neutral expression was stuck onto his face. And Luhan did feel happier than he'd like to admit the moment he saw Sehun come in.

Tonight, Sehun looked pretty nice in that navy blue suit he was wearing. His hair was pushed back for the occassion (as well as everyone else's, but whatever) and he looked incredibly sharp in his outfit, not to mention a little intimidating because of his usual expression. When he showed up at Luhan's door before they left for the event together, the elder had to do a double take when he saw him for some unknown reason. It was pretty weird.

Luhan shakes off his thoughts and walks up to what he thinks is a waitress before tapping her on the shoulder lightly. When the young woman turns around, the florist cringes immediately. She wasn't holding a tray of champagne in her hands.

"Oh, , sorry." Luhan quickly apologizes. "I thought you were a waitress."

To his surprise, she smiles. She's young and pretty, straight black hair to her waist. "That's all right. I'm not one though, sorry to disappoint you."

"It's fine, I'll just go and find someone else."

Just as he's about to leave, he feels something enclose around his wrist. Looking back, he sees her smiling at him before she releases her grip. "I'm sorry about that. It's just that you're pretty cute, I didn't know Junmyeon had such attractive friends."

"Uh, thanks." Luhan blinks twice and feels slightly uncomfortable now, because now it feels like he's in some kind of Korean drama by the way the events played out. "Same with you, I guess."

He instantly regrets saying that because the moment the words left his mouth, she bites her bottom lip shyly and looks at him through her lashes. "Want to dance with me?"

.

Before Luhan could politely reject her, he suddenly senses someone hovering behind him. When he turns around, he's met with Sehun, who's looking at the girl with raised eyebrows. When did he even get there?

Sehun doesn't say anything, but the smile on the girl's face wipes away completely after she glances at them for a short while.

"Oh." She says in a small voice, before she walks away with her face completely red. Luhan stares after her in confusion. What the just happened? Sehun didn't even say anything, and she left just like that—he feels like he's missing something.

"You scared her away." Luhan wrinkles his noise in disapproval, once he turns to face the police officer again. 

The blonde shrugs, "I didn't mean to."

Somehow, Luhan has a strange feeling that he did, but he keeps his mouth shut and decides not to say anything.

"Did you want to dance with her?" Sehun then asks, sounding completely nonchalant. It sort of bothers Luhan, for some reason, but he sighs and shakes his head instead. 

"Not really. Thank God you came in time."

Sehun snorts before he wordlessly hands him a glass of champagne. Luhan glances at it in surprise at first; he didn't even remember telling Sehun that he wanted one. The brunet disregards this and smiles as he takes the drink anyway, downing half of the glass before starting to feel just a little more energized albeit a little fuzzy. 

"Don't drink too much," Sehun tells him, but Luhan waves him off.

"I'll be fine." When Sehun raises an disbelieving eyebrow, the florist grins. "Honestly."

Sehun continues looking at him for a few more moments with that look on his face—the same look where Luhan can't ever tell about what he's thinking—and Luhan squints at him, half-curious and half-annoyed. "What is it?"

"Nothing, why?"

"You're making that face again."

The officer looks vaguely bewildered, "I thought you told me that all the faces I make look the same."

"Most of them," Luhan corrects. He frowns after a while, "But you always make this face, it's just different from all the others. I don't know."

"I don't think I know what you're talking about." Sehun blinks at him in mild confusion, eyebrows knitted together, before brushing a loose strand of hair back. Luhan eyes him for a while, uncertain. He really doesn't know why he doesn't believe him when he says that.

Nevertheless, he sighs.

He takes Sehun's unfinished glass of champagne out of the younger's hands instead and drinks it all despite the protest he hears from him, placing the two empty glasses on a waiter's tray when he passes by.

"Hey, let's go dance." Luhan tells him, another wide grin spreading across his lips. He's feeling much better now, incredibly lighter. "Jongin told me you two were in the dance team back in high school, so you should at least know a couple of moves."

Sehun slaps a hand to his forehead, "That bastard."

"Aw, come on, you know you want to."

"Uh, do you know how long ago high school was?"

"Mine was longer, I'm older than you," Luhan rolls his eyes, "Stop fussing and just have fun. Dance with me. Please."

Sehun looks like he wants to argue some more, but Luhan knows he gives in when he eventually lets out a defeated sigh. "One song."

"Five."

"Three," Sehun shoots back. He crosses his arms.

The florist grins widely, wrapping his hand around the other's wrist before tugging Sehun to the dance floor with him. He turns around too soon and doesn't see the police officer smiling a little at him, too focused on getting there fast. 

"Deal."

 

 

---

 

 

"Let's play a game."

Minseok looks up from his tiramisu, eyeing Jongdae warily. "What?"

Surprisingly enough, Minseok found himself becoming comfortable in Jongdae's presence. They didn't really talk much when they ate their food, mostly distracted by the music playing and the loud chatter of the crowd before them. Minseok was beyond grateful that Jongdae didn't seem intent on bothering him tonight, and listened silently as the other barista made side comments from time to time.

"A game." Jongdae clarifies, turning to him with a wide smile on his face. 

"Um, why?"

"To get to know each other better, obviously."

"Hell no, I hate icebreakers." Minseok shakes his head. "And technically, we aren't strangers."

Jongdae grins at this, "Does that make us friends, then?"

Minseok almost chokes on his dessert as soon as the words come out of the other barista's mouth, and sputters as Jongdae laughs loudly from besides him, "We're not friends."

"What are we then?" Jongdae looks at him in amusement. "Something like more than strangers, less than friends?"

Minseok raises an eyebrow.

"Isn't it 'more than friends, less than lovers'?"

Jongdae snorts, "Yes, but we're neither aren't we? So what is it?"

"Acquaintances." Minseok decides, nodding. He smiles to himself at the thought. "Yes, we're just acquaintances."

"All the more reason to try to get to know each other better." Jongdae tells him, grin growing wider when he sees the incredulous look on Minseok's face. "What harm can it do? We've been together ever since the party started."

Minseok half shrugs, "...I guess."

Jongdae opens his mouth to say something but stops himself from doing so, his gaze shifting to the dance floor instead. He grins wider when he looks in that direction, and Minseok watches him in slight confusion when the taller starts guffawing.

"What's so funny?"

"Sehun and Luhan." Jongdae smirks, pointing. "They're dancing. Hold on, I have to get this."

As Jongdae pulls out his phone to take a picture of the two males Minseok briefly met earlier, the shorter barista looks at the direction he pointed in. Sure enough, Sehun and Luhan are dancing—having a blast on the dance floor despite the poker face Sehun was sporting (seriously, does that guy ever express any emotion at all?).

Though, Minseok can't help but smile a little at the sight. 

It was honestly amusing.

"This is so great." Jongdae shakes his head. "I'm definitely keeping this for blackmail purposes. And hey, won't you look at that. I spy a wild Junmyeon and Yixing not far from here."

Curious, Minseok glances over there again. He has to squint a little to see Junmyeon, and there's another man next to him standing a little too close for comfort—he must be Yixing, the guy that visited the coffee shop a month back. So Junmyeon and Yixing had something going on? That was pretty interesting as well.

Jongdae snaps a picture of them too, grinning at his phone screen afterwards.

"They're cute," Minseok comments.

"I suppose." Jongdae replies, stuffing his phone back in his pocket. "You ever dated anyone before?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Getting to know each other better, remember?" Jongdae reminds him. "I've dated two people. The first one went pretty badly, it turned out that she only dated me for a bet. Second one was a little better, but not everyone has happy endings."

"Were you that bad of a boyfriend?"

"Oh, no." Jongdae laughs. "The second one cheated on me."

Minseok's eyes widen, "Holy ... I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I sort of knew that she was and I was sort of falling out of love with her anyway. What about you?"

"I've only had one, back when I recently graduated from college." Minseok bites his lip, hesitating. "We ended things because of the distance. He got a job offer way out of the country, and I wanted to stay here. The bad thing was that he already had a lover there, he was just waiting for me to make the first move and break it off."

"I'm sorry."

"It's fine." Minseok says, because it really was.

Jongdae nods slowly, before turning to him with a small yet uncertain smile on his lips. "Do you want to meet some of my friends?"

Minseok blinks at him. Does he really want to? It would be nice, to befriend more people so he doesn't have to hang around Jongdae 100% of the time at the party. Yet again, he doesn't know what Jongdae's group of friends are like. Honestly, he's a little scared. Sehun is sort of intimidating, and Luhan is weird. Maybe it was worth a try, though.

"Okay."

Jongdae looks very surprised by his answer, he was probably expecting a no judging by the expression on his face. He brightens up when Minseok accepts and the shorter barista follows the other to the a table where a couple of young men were already sitting, talking amidst each other.

"Jongdae, we've been looking all over for you!" A man with dark hair and large ears exclaims as soon as they reach the tabe. "Luhan told us you came here late, or something like that."

"Sorry, Chanyeol." Jongdae grins sheepishly at him, then gestures to Minseok. "I was with an acquaintance."

Minseok smiles a little at that, albeit against his own will.

Chanyeol glances at Minseok, and his eyes widen a little in slight recognition. "Oh, it's the fluff."

"Why does everyone keep calling me that?" Minseok stares at him in confusion.

"I'm Chanyeol," Chanyeol doesn't answer his question and grins instead, nearly blinding Minseok with his smile. "I'll provide the introductions. The one next to me with eyeliner is Baekhyun. On my other side is Kris, and next to him is Tao. Next to Tao is—er, was—Sehun, but he's with Luhan dancing right now. And then we have the other blonde—Jongin—and next to him is Kyungsoo."

They all smile/wave at him in a friendly matter, and Minseok nods. "I'm Minseok, a barista at Moonlight."

He sits next to the one called Kyungsoo (wide eyes and heart shaped lips), while Jongdae takes the seat next to him, immediately turning to talk to Baekhyun and Chanyeol. Minseok's not really sure what to do at the moment (he feels a little awkward), so he just drums his fingers against the tablecloth and watches Luhan and Sehun on the dance floor quietly.

Soon Jongdae gets coaxed out of his chair to dance, and he retreats to the dance floor with Chanyeol and Baekhyun.

Minseok watches as the three of them start to get hyped from the music playing from the band that was now on the stage, each of them mouthing the lyrics to the song. He doesn't notice Luhan sliding into Jongdae's seat, and gets scared less when he hears the other male's voice close to his ear.

"Minseok, right?"

With one hand over his heart, Minseok swivels around to face Luhan, who's currently panting lightly. He grins when he sees Minseok's expression and grabs Baekhyun's glass of water in front of him, downing it in one gulp.

"Yes." Minseok awkwardly replies.

Luhan nods. "Some party, huh."

"I guess?"

Luhan nods again, keeping a hand on Baekhyun's glass as he stares off into the distance.

"It's okay." Kyungsoo speaks up from besides him, and Minseok jumps in surprise; Kyungsoo has been quiet the entire time. "It's only natural to be weirded out by him. I won't be surprised if Luhan already managed to creep you out beforehand."

"I guess it happens a lot then?"

"Too many times." Kyungsoo smiles ruefully at him. "I've known him since college, it's only natural that I've gotten accustomed to his habits."

Minseok's eyes widen, "You knew Luhan since college?"

"Unfortunately." Kyungsoo replies, and Minseok laughs. "We were roommates, but we didn't really pay much attention to each other at first. He went out to party every Friday while I stayed in and studied. It was a routine, we memorized each other's schedules effortlessly so that we wouldn't ever cross paths."

"It happened, though."

"That's true. I was having big trouble with something, and he helped me out with it." Kyungsoo stabs his steak with his fork. "That's when we became friends, but the rest of it is history. I didn't really see him after college until he called and asked me if I could hire him after hearing about We Are One."

Minseok blinks in confusion; he knows Junmyeon and Jongdae have mentioned it before.

"I'm a florist," Kyungsoo tells him.

"Oh, right."

"Minseoooook." Luhan then says, and when Minseok turns around he's met with the brunet grinning brightly at him, holding yet another glass of champagne in his hands (seriously, this is probably his 6th glass tonight). "Hey, Minseoooook. You want a drink?"

"Uh, I'm good, thanks."

"I insist," Luhan tells him, shoving the drink in his hands. "You look like you need one."

Minseok stares at him for a while, before looking back at Kyungsoo helplessly. The black haired florist simply shrugs before taking a small bite of his steak, and Minseok sighs before taking in some champagne. In a way it leaves him feeling less exhausted than before. His gaze shifts to the dance floor, where Chanyeol, Baekhyun, and Jongdae were still at.

He manages a small smile when he sees Jongdae bust out a few horrible moves, and stops himself. Minseok shakes his head before drinking more of the champagne to take his mind off of it.

"Jongdae... he's a good choice." Luhan muses, which snaps Minseok back into reality. "Well, I sure hope he is."

"What?" Minseok blinks.

Luhan looks at him. "He's a good person at heart, though he's a pain in the most of the time."

"What?"

"I'm not kidding." The brunet says, sounding more certain now.

"What do you—" Minseok knits his eyebrows together in confusion, before frowning in realization. "You're drunk."

"Damn, you got me." Luhan grins, and then he rests his cheek against the tablecloth, closing his eyes peacefully before opening them seconds later. "Where's Sehun, have you seen him anywhere? I was just with him... he's a great dancer by the way, but don't tell him I said that."

On Luhan's other side, Sehun lets out a deep sigh and shakes his head. "I'm right here."

"Sehun!" Luhan nearly yells, and he turns to the vaguely disgruntled blonde. "Hello."

"See, now this is exactly why I told you to stop drinking for tonight." Sehun frowns, watching with a bored expression as Luhan starts laughing. "Honestly, I thought you'd be used to this by now."

Jongdae comes back a few moments afterwards, panting, but still appearing as energized as before he left. Jongdae flashes a grin at Minseok as Luhan groans and moves himself to his seat, before brushing his hair back. "Sorry for leaving you alone for a bit, I hope they didn't scare you off."

"Where's Chanyeol and Baekhyun?" Minseok asks instead, noticing the two weren't with him.

"Having the time of their life. I didn't want to interfere, so I left."

Minseok looks over to the duo, watching how they're both dancing and smiling at each other in front of the stage. He leans forward, placing his elbows on the table and his head in his hands. "Are they...?"

He doesn't finish his thought, but Jongdae seems to understand.

"Nope." Jongdae says, amused. He adjusts his glasses. "Not yet, anyway."

Minseok glances at him for a while in confusion, until Jongdae turns his head and makes eye contact with him. The other breaks into a wide, knowing grin once he does; and Minseok feels really warm, all of a sudden. He looks away after a few moments, feeling flustered, and tries to ignore the way his stomach flipped just now.

Kyungsoo watches them silently, a tiny smile on his lips.

 

 

---

 

 

"Yeol, I'm going to sit back down." Baekhyun raises his voice a little and wipes the sweat off his forehead, hoping that Chanyeol would hear him over the music. "I'm exhausted."

"Oh, all right." Chanyeol replies, but there's really no need for him to raise his voice for he's just a naturally loud person. "Do you want to get some desserts? They still have some available."

"Don't feel obliged to come with me, you can dance if you still want to." Baekhyun blinks.

"It's no fun if I'm doing it alone," the chef says with a smile that makes Baekhyun's heart thud dangerously in his chest. "I was planning on stopping anyway; I feel bad for stepping on people's shoes and nearly whacking them in the face."

He mimics punching Baekhyun in the nose afterwards, and the doctor shakes his head in mock disapproval before pushing the chef's arm down. "Don't make me become my own patient tonight, Park."

"My bad." Chanyeol grins, a teasing glint in his eyes.

Baekhyun smiles back before he follows the taller man out of the crowd, finding it easy to breathe once they escape the mass of moving bodies. His mind drifts off to his and Chanyeol's friendship instead; they have been hanging out a lot lately when they found time after work, usually seeing each other every Saturday the past month. The chef usually brought food with him when he'd see Baekhyun, a different dish every time.

He was always so nice to Baekhyun, going as far as buying things for him at times. The doctor always felt bad when he does, even if Chanyeol brushes it off and tells him that it's perfectly fine.

When Chanyeol does those things, he can't help but feel like he's a character in a cliché romance movie or novel because of the continuous sweet gestures. It makes Baekhyun feel really flustered at the thought, so he tries his best not to think about it.

Either way, the party was extraordinary. Baekhyun's never really been to these kind of events, and he was really amazed by the decorations and the food, oh, the food. It was so delicious (but not as delicious as Chanyeol's cooking, in his opinion). He chose to put eyeliner on tonight because why the not, he was always told that it looked good on him.

As soon as he starts towards the desserts, Chanyeol grabs his arm.

"What?" Baekhyun tilts his head to the side in confusion despite almost falling over.

"You go ahead and sit down, I'll get the desserts."

Baekhyun stares, "No, no, it's fine. I can do it."

"I insist; I know you're tired."

"I reverse insist?" Baekhyun tries to argue, but Chanyeol laughs and ruffles his hair before walking off towards the desserts, leaving Baekhyun helpless. He bites his bottom lip, feeling increasingly guilty as he makes his way back to his spot at the table.

He sits down next to Sehun, who looks half annoyed (probably because Luhan was leaning on him, singing something in Chinese as Tao watches with a judgemental expression on his face). Upon Baekhyun's arrival, Sehun nods at him. "Where's Chanyeol?"

"Getting desserts." Baekhyun answers, and reaches out to find his glass of water. He frowns when he notices that it's empty, knowing that it was full before he left to dance. "Did someone drink out of this?"

Sehun coughs, "Luhan did."

"Damn."

Luhan looks at Sehun with clouded eyes and a mildly concerned expression, "I did what?"

"Nothing."

Jongdae leans forward, interested. "You don't look too happy about it."

"It's not that." Baekhyun shakes his head. "He's the one who always does everything for me, ever since we started hanging out. I just feel bad even though he tells me not to worry about it. I don't have anything to give to him in return."

A few beats pass, and Jongdae frowns thoughtfully.

"I've known Chanyeol for a while, and he's just really, really nice like that. He always gets us the things we want for our birthdays, and for Christmas. It's just what he does, man, so there's really no need to feel bad." Jongdae hums, drumming his fingers on the tablecloth. "This sounds stupid, but I think the only thing he wants from you is your attention."

Sehun nods slowly in agreement, and Jongdae elbows Minseok, who was looking at them. "What do you think?"

"I don't know." Minseok purses his lips. "As much as I don't want to say it, I think Jongdae's right. Chanyeol... he's a nice person, I can tell. His kindness is just a part of him; and there's really nothing you can do to change that, I think."

Baekhyun really doesn't know what to say to that. 

"Hi, sorry for the wait, there was a long line and someone almost knocked over the cheesecake." Chanyeol appears out of nowhere just then, holding a plate with six small desserts on it. "Is it all right if we just share?"

Once Chanyeol finishes his sentence, Luhan slumps face first against the table, muffled groans coming out of his mouth. Concerned, Sehun rubs his back before the brunet mutters something about 'fresh air.' Sighing, Sehun stands up from his seat and slings an arm around the elder.

"I'll take him outside."

"Have fun on your date." Jongdae jokes, and Sehun looks at him, unamused. "Get it? Because you're taking him outside—"

Minseok shakes his head. "You are so stupid."

"Um, yeah, we can share." Baekhyun confirms after Sehun and Luhan leave the room temporarily, smiling warmly at him as the chef gets in a seat. "Thank you so much, Chanyeol, really."

Chanyeol grins at him, ruffling his hair again. "Anything for you."

Baekhyun ducks his head to keep a smile from spreading across his face.

 

 

---

 

 

As soon as Sehun brings Luhan outside of the room, the officer feels loads better already. 

It's not hot or mildly uncomfortable anymore now that they're out of the room. It's definitely colder, but Sehun greets it gratefully. The unfortunate thing is mainly Luhan's condition; he keeps mumbling to himself in Chinese, knees almost touching the floor. Just as Sehun is about to adjust the elder's position again, Junmyeon walks out from behind them, looking a little more than worried.

"Is he all right?" Junmyeon asks, sounding similar to a fretful mother.

"Yeah, he's just smashed." Sehun wrinkles his nose. "I thought he'd be used to this by now, but Luhan's never been a good listener."

"He's most definitely not." The manager agrees. "He does look like he's going to pass out soon... I think you two should head to my room if that's the case. It's upstairs, the first one on the right; but you two better swear to not do anything uncivilized."

Sehun snorts, "We won't, Gramps."

"I see Jongdae's rubbing off on you." Junmyeon sighs at the mention of his nickname, and Sehun snickers. "That is not a good thing. Anyway, I'll see you later. Tell me if you need anything."

He leaves after that, and Sehun drags out a sigh before making his way up to the second floor (which is extremely difficult especially if you're hauling a drunk person) before he finally makes it to Junmyeon's room.

The officer opens the door, and the instant he spots the bed in the middle of the room he dumps Luhan on it a little ungracefully, taking a seat at the edge of the bed. Luhan grumbles something in Chinese, before kicking his shoes off and nearly whacking Sehun's balls in the process.

"Hey, take off your suit jacket." Sehun tells him, tugging his sleeve. "You might wrinkle it."

"I'm not some ing... stripper."

"I never said you were one."

Luhan lays there for a few more moments (apparently, he could still argue) before eventually obliging and throwing his suit jacket off, throwing it at Sehun, who catches it instinctively. 

Sehun stands up after admiring Junmyeon's room for a few moments (it doesn't look like it's been used in ages due to the dust on his cabinets and the spiderwebs in some corners, but it still looks beautiful) before opening the doors leading to the small balcony outside. The cold air hits Sehun's face immediately, but it does feel quite nice in his opinion.

Sehun sits on the floor next to the bed, leaning against it and closing his eyes as he hears Luhan stirring slightly above him.

"Sehun... hey. Where'd you go?"

Sehun does his best not to sound exasperated, eyes still closed. "I'm here."

It's silent for a few more moments before Sehun starts to hear quiet sniffling. Confused, Sehun stands up and sits at the side of the bed, eyebrows knitting together as he makes eye contact with Luhan—oh, no.

He's crying.

Luhan is crying. 

"Luhan, what the f—why are you crying?" Sehun frowns.

Luhan glances at him with incredibly teary eyes and a trembling lower lip, small hiccups escaping from his mouth as he desperately tries to wipe his tears away. "I-I just feel so... sad."

"Care to elaborate?"

"I h-haven't," the tears escape his eyes and fall down his cheeks, "f-found my s-soulmate yet. Everyone has someone and I don't have anyone. I feel so ing... lonely, you know? I feel so l-lonely all the time. I feel so lonely when I see Jongin and Kyungsoo, and t-they're not even together. It hurts a little, but I-I can't commit to a relationship, I'm so exhausted. It's b-been so long since I've dated someone, Sehun. I'm going to d-die alone."

Sehun bites his lip, feeling a wave of uncertainty wash over him; he's never known how to cheer someone up while they were crying—not to mention drunk. Either way, his words are still bothering him just a little bit; maybe it's because of the fact that he actually has a big crush on this idiot.

"Luhan, listen to me. You're not going to die alone, okay? There's going to be someone out there who'll take care of you, and I know that." I want to be that person.

"I don't u-understand."

"You don't have to right now." Sehun rolls his eyes, but he manages a tiny smile. "You're drunk."

"I swear to drunk I'm not God."

"Luhan, seriously."

A sob. "I really don't want to d-die alone, Sehun."

"You won't, now go get some rest."

Silence.

Sehun lets out a relieved sigh, but he's caught off guard when Luhan struggles to get into a sitting position, still sniffling. The florist looks up at the officer helplessly, and Sehun purses his lips. "Are you sure?"

"Never been surer." Sehun tells him, his gaze softening.

Tears still fall from Luhan's eyes, but he wipes them quickly before scooting towards the edge of the bed. Frozen, Sehun stands there, heart thudding dangerously inside his chest as the brunet gets gradually closer to him.

Eventually, he stops moving when his head is near Sehun's shoulder; and he slowly pulls the younger into an awkward hug, patting his back. "Okay."

"You'll be fine." Sehun isn't really sure what to do because of the way his heart freaked out right now, so he returns the embrace. "I promise."

It's silent again, the only noise coming from the gentle rustling of leaves outside the window. Sehun thinks he could probably stay like this forever, even though it's slightly uncomfortable and Luhan's tears are staining his suit.

But it's okay, he thinks, as long as he's with Luhan everything will be all right.

"Hey." Luhan's gaze is still watery, but his grin's crooked. "Tonight was really fuuun. You dance nice. Nice dancer."

Sehun manages a laugh at that statement, and the elder falls back onto the bed the moment he lets go of him. He's still sniffling a little, but as his breathing slows the tears soon disappear; expression visibly relaxing as sleep takes him.

He watches Luhan for a while silently, smiling a little when the elder wrinkles his nose in his sleep.

You do have someone, Luhan; he's right here.

 

 

---

 

 

A/N: wow, this is a really long chapter.. 12k+ words HHHGHDHHS i'm rly sorry i didn't include the name of the café in earlier chapters (and other details if i missed any), i literally forgot to mention them. my memory is no bueno.

also i am SO sorry for the lack of taoris in this chapter /cries eternally/ there will be more in the future, promise. and i'm rly sorry if u feel that no one's getting together fast enough~ i don't want to rush anything ^^ at least minseok doesn't rly hate jongdae anymore amirite

hope u enjoyed, thanks so much for the subscribes! comments & upvotes r very appreciated also~ merry christmas eve eve, hope u guys have a good one! i'm really sorry for a late update though, finals ed me over rip

-seokminz