| XI. the aftermath (and some other things) |

 

 

When Luhan wakes up the following morning, he isn't sure if he's dreaming or not.

He blinks the remaining sleep from his eyes and squints at his closet before pressing his mental pause button—Luhan doesn't remember a single thing about going home last night at all. His gaze slowly flits around the room and sees his suit jacket hapharzadly tossed over the chair behind his desk. Knitting his eyebrows together he looks to his nightstand, but his phone isn't there where it usually is.

Very confused, he lays on his bed for a few moments, trying to recall what the happened because the only thing he could remember about Junmyeon's party is meeting the Moonlight barista Minseok and dancing with Sehun before his mind went fuzzy.

He sort of remembers passing out on someone—probably Junmyeon's—bed last night, and Sehun was there too, he was sure of it. Luhan just can't remember what the hell they were even talking about.

Oh... .

He must've drank too much champagne at the party.

Luhan throws his blanket off of him before swinging his legs over (with much difficulty, because everything hurt), and after he does so he tries to stand up—almost losing his balance in the process. He swears in Mandarin when he trips over his shoes and stumbles to the bathroom across his room, rubbing his eye.

And the moment he looks in the mirror he nearly has a heart attack, because his hair is an absolute rat's nest. Luhan had spent hours styling his hair before the party last night and it was now sticking up in all angles; the florist nearly cries at the sight of it. His dress shirt was also wrinkled, and his tie was hastily undone.

He looked like a mess. 

He needed a miracle to fix this—or a shower. 

With that thought, he walks back to his room and picks out a fresh set of clothes before going back to the bathroom. He walks into the shower and turns it on, setting it to warm. It's soothing, and Luhan nearly falls back asleep inside.

By the time he's done, he feels better; not only physically, but also mentally—and after he dresses, he yawns while walking into the living room, deciding what he was going to do for the day. His phone's on the coffee table, and just as he goes to retrieve it his eyes travel to the couch, letting out a loud gasp.

"Holy sh—SEHUN?"

Sehun surprisingly doesn't wake up from the outburst, and Luhan's secretly thankful for that. The younger had fallen asleep in a sitting position, clutching a pillow in one hand and using the other to prop his head up on the couch's armrest. He looks pretty relaxed, surprisingly.

Oh my God, Luhan places a hand over his mouth. Did Sehun take him home?

He certainly must have, Luhan frowns, answering his own question. He'll wake him up later... probably. Luhan doesn't feel like squirting him with a water gun, Sehun'll surely get pissed if his suit's ruined. He shakes his head and grabs his phone from the table, seeing that it's currently nearing noon and that he has five unread texts: two from Jongdae, two from Junmyeon, and one from Kyungsoo.

--

-sent 10:45 AM
From: Jongdaesaurus
To: Luhan

hey dude

-sent 10:46 AM
From: Jongdaesaurus
To: Luhan

ksoo said it's ok if u come in later today. he's not gonna kill u this time, promise

-sent 11:05 AM
From: Jun(mom)yeon
To: Luhan

How are you feeling? I hope you're all right, you looked very sick when you and Sehun left the party.

-sent 11:07 AM
From: Jun(mom)yeon
To: Luhan

Don't worry, you didn't really miss anything. Yixing ended up getting acquainted with the group, though, so that's good news.

-sent 11:32 AM
From: Kyungsoo is Kool
To: Luhan

Let me know what time you're coming later. I asked Jongdae to text you, but I guess you haven't woken up yet.

--

Luhan pulls a face at all the messages he missed, and he quickly types in a reply to each of them. By the time he's done, he sees Sehun stirring from the corner of his eye. He shoves his phone in the pocket of his sweatpants and fiddles with his hands as the officer gingerly lifts his head, rubbing the back of his neck while sporting an expression full of discomfort.

That position must've been really uncomfortable to sleep in, Luhan observes. He feels a little bad that Sehun didn't bother to sleep in one of the guest rooms.

"Morning," Luhan greets him with a grin, and Sehun jolts a little in surprise.

"You're awake." Sehun blinks slowly in realization, and he passes a hand through his hair. "Do you not get hangovers?"

The florist shakes his head, "Rarely, but when I do get them they're the absolute worst."

"What the hell?"

"That's exactly what Kyungsoo said in college, when I came back hammered from a party and was completely fine the next morning." Luhan sighs, studying his nails. "To be honest, I really don't know how that works. Are you off today?"

Sehun fumbles for his phone, and he squints at the screen. "Yeah, thank God."

"Well, lucky you. I have to get to We Are One pretty soon, I'm thinking of heading there in an hour." The florist tells him, wondering how the heck Sehun doesn't look like a mess at all. On the contrary, he looks exactly the same as he did during the party, save for his slightly mussed up hair. But then again, he wasn't piss drunk last night.

"Go take a shower."

"What?" Sehun raises an eyebrow, startled. "Why?"

"You can't walk around in that suit forever, and it was hot as hell at Junmyeon's party. We both know that. You can borrow some clothes in my closet... though I don't know if they'd fit? Sorry in advance if they don't."

"I'll find something else if they don't. Thanks."

Sehun stands up from Luhan's couch afterwards, pulling his suit jacket off in one swift motion before throwing it at the florist. Luhan doesn't catch it (he's always had bad reflexes), so the jacket hits him in the face ungracefully and he mumbles a quiet ow while he hears the officer's loud laugh in the background. 

"Hey, uh, Sehun." Luhan says nervously, after a few moments of silence pass. He hears Sehun's footsteps stop.

The officer pokes his head out of the hallway, hands slowly undoing his tie. Luhan finds himself staring.

"Yeah?"

"Um... thank you," He mutters, quickly tearing his gaze away from Sehun's hands, "for bringing me home. And I'm sorry if I did anything weird last night. I can't really remember if I did or not."

"You don't remember anything?"

"No." Luhan rubs his forehead. ", is that bad?"

"No, no." Sehun says, probably a little too quickly. "It's not bad. You didn't do anything weird... I was just wondering."

Eventually, Luhan does look towards his direction after a while, noticing that he doesn't hear Sehun's footsteps retreating back to the bathroom. He meets the officer's gaze, and Sehun's lips pull into a slight smile. 

"What?" Luhan blinks after a moment of silence.

"Nothing," Sehun grins. He leaves after that.

 

 

---

 

 

"I'm still not used to your blonde hair; you look like a tanned version of Sehun." Kyungsoo tells Jongin the moment the officer comes in a little before his lunch break, an amused smile on his lips as he crosses his arms. Jongin offers him a bright grin in response to that statement, bringing one hand up to his head subconsciously. 

"A better, tanned version of Sehun."

Kyungsoo scoffs, "You're pretty early."

"As it so happens, I am off today." Jongin smiles, eyes forming into twin crescents as he leans against the counter. "Miss me?"

"No."

Jongin pouts, and Kyungsoo resists the urge to giggle and squish his cheeks; that definitely wouldn't be good for his image.

It reminds him about when they were kids: how Jongin used to mush Kyungsoo's face together and call him Squishy. It angered him in the past, but now he couldn't help but feel nostalgic about it. But the officer does remind him of a stray puppy, at times.

"I'm just joking." Kyungsoo says, smiling against his will.

Jongin still pouts for a few more moments, but he beams at the florist brightly afterwards. Kyungsoo wonders why the officer's so happy today, and pictures the other's imaginary tail beginning to wag again. He internally melts. Seriously, Jongin was a huge distraction for him. Whether it was a good or bad thing, he doesn't know. Frankly, he doesn't care.

"And to think I went through all the trouble to see you today..." Jongin fakes a dejected sigh, and Kyungsoo rolls his eyes.

"You see me every day."

Jongin wrinkles his nose, "That's besides the point."

Kyungsoo smirks, but he gets momentarily distracted when the familiar tinkle of the bell goes off towards the front.

Both of them turn to look at the doors—just in time to see Jongdae stumbling inside, clad in a thick gray scarf and matching beanie with a plastic bag in his gloved hands. He utters a few curse words under his breath before he lifts his head, smiling widely when he sees Jongin and Kyungsoo at the counter.

"Hey." Jongdae says. His nose and cheeks are red from the cold. Kyungsoo frowns.

"Don't you have work today?"

"Apparently not." The barista shrugs. He sets the plastic bag on the counter and takes his gloves off, looking up at Jongin curiously. "Dude. Are you not cold? You're literally just wearing a sweater, jeans, and shoes."

"Not really." Jongin shakes his head, smiling a little. "I'm always warm."

"Lucky you," Jongdae lowers his voice to a whisper and nudges Kyungsoo subtly before he proceeds to take off his beanie, and the florist glares at him in response. Unbeknownst to Kyungsoo and Jongdae, Jongin flushes slightly.

"Is it because of the party yesterday?" Kyungsoo asks to cover up the mild awkwardness as Jongdae takes his usual seat next to him.

The barista lets out a deep sigh and nods. "Yeah. I forgot about Gramps telling us about our break, so I showed up to work and everything. I certainly was surprised to see the café closed, and that's when I remembered. I was on time today too... pity."

"What's this?" Jongin then asks, gesturing to the plastic bag.

"Oh, it's from Chanyeol." Jongdae brightens up again, propping his head up on the palm of one of his hands. "I stopped by for a quick lunch after I found out the café was closed, and then he asked me to give some food to you and Kyungsoo. And well, here we are."

"I think I'm starting to understand where Baekhyun's coming from." Kyungsoo lets out a deep sigh as he reaches inside the plastic bag and hands a takeout box to Jongin. "Chanyeol really is too nice; I swear that it's going to be the end of him one day."

Jongdae looks very amused by the statement, another smile creeping up on his face.

"Yeah, huh."

They don't talk for a while after that. Kyungsoo and Jongin are busy eating their lunch (fried chicken for Jongin and a panini for Kyungsoo), and Jongdae's uncharacteristically silent as he stares out the windows of We Are One, watching the pedestrians go by. The minutes seem to drag on before the barista mutters a huh. 

"It's going to be Christmas in a few weeks, right?" Jongdae hums thoughtfully, looking over to Kyungsoo and Jongin. Jongin nods, and Jongdae smiles. "We should throw a party. Exchange gifts. Do all the stuff we used to do in high school and college before growing up became an actual thing."

Kyungsoo clicks his tongue. "You should tell that to Luhan, I'm sure he'll think of something."

"Knowing him, he probably will."

"You've got something on your face," Jongin then says out of nowhere, frowning at Kyungsoo. 

"What?" He asks, eyes wide. "Where?"

"I've got it, don't worry." Jongin reassures him, his lips subconsciously.

He brings a hand up to Kyungsoo's face, wiping the corner of his mouth with his thumb gently. Kyungsoo feels very fuzzy, all of a sudden. Once the officer removes his hand from his face, he smiles softly at him; and Kyungsoo finds himself smiling back hesitantly, although it probably looks more as if he's constipated.

His heart's beating too fast. .

Jongdae pretends to gag upon seeing the scene unfold before him, "Ohhh, , I think I'm choking from all the sweetness."

"Shut up." Kyungsoo grumbles instantly as the tips of Jongin's ears turn red, throwing a stack of sticky notes in the barista's direction. Jongdae seems to expect this, for he manages to catch the sticky notes in time while sporting a eating grin.

"What? Don't tell me that you guys aren't dating, because I won't believe you for a second."

Kyungsoo sends Jongdae a wide-eyed glare. The barista doesn't seem to regret a thing about what he said (does he ever?) and he looks at him with raised eyebrows. . , , . everything. This was not how this was supposed to turn out. Jongin's going to hate him forever, especially now that Jongdae was the one who made things super obvious.

It's Jongin who breaks the silence by letting out a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his neck sheepishly. 

"We're not."

Thanks for reminding me, Kyungsoo mentally grumbles.

"Well, you're more than welcome to settle the deal right now." Jongdae huffs, sounding impatient. "I'll be in the back if you guys need me... you probably won't."

With that, the barista hops off of his seat nonchalantly and trudges to the back, mumbling something to himself under his breath. Kyungsoo's torn between wanting to take off after Jongdae or to begin wanting to dig himself his own grave.

Kyungsoo lets out an angry sigh.

"Jongdae's a ing idiot. I'm really sorry. God." He hides his face in his hands, preparing for the worst. Jongin's going to hate him so much after this. "Don't ever listen to a single thing that came out of his mouth, and I mean it when I say that."

Kyungsoo convinces himself to meet Jongin's gaze afterwards, and once he does he sees the slightly hurt expression on the younger's face.

"Does that mean you don't like me back?"

"What?" The florist looks at Jongin in confusion, thinking that he misheard that last part. ", no, I never said that. I... wait, what?"

As Kyungsoo was talking, Jongin's lips had stretched into a small smile.

"So... that means that you do like me," The officer says slowly, raising an eyebrow.

Kyungsoo has never wanted to bury himself six feet underground more in his entire life. He eventually gives in, sighing in defeat. There really isn't any use in taking it back now; the cat's out of the bag.

"Well, I... yeah."

After a few moments of silence Jongin breaks into the most dazzling grin, throwing his arms around the elder before he could properly gather his thoughts. Stunned, Kyungsoo's eyes widen as his heart rate slowly increases.

"I think that's awesome. I like you a lot too, Kyungsoo, I thought I made it really obvious."

"Oh." Kyungsoo mutters, remembering when Jongin said he was interested in someone else after Kyungsoo suggested that he should get with Krystal upon noticing the waitress's behavior during the time they ate at the restaurant. Jongin must've been talking about him instead. He mentally slaps himself. "... I'm really sorry for being stupid."

"Don't worry about it." Jongin says, and Kyungsoo can imagine him smiling. "Does that mean we're dating now?"

The florist clears his throat awkwardly.

"Yes? Yeah. I'd like that."

Inside, he's screaming. This was too good to be true.

"Goodness gracious."

Jongdae appears from the back at that exact moment, letting out a exasperated sigh the moment he plants himself back in his stool. When Jongin lets go of Kyungsoo, the barista shakes the florist's shoulders.

"You are so oblivious, Kyungsoo, you physically hurt me. Seriously, I can't believe that I had to be the one to be that push."

Kyungsoo's cheeks turn a light shade of pink against his will.

"...Shut the hell up, Jongdae."

The moment Kyungsoo finishes his sentence, the bell signaling that someone entered goes off again and the three adults turn to face the door, seeing Sehun and Luhan entering. The other florist's grinning as wide as ever, and it's almost like he wasn't piss drunk last night; but then again, the brunet never usually got hangovers after he drinks, which was quite intruiging.

"It's cold as outside," is the first thing the other florist says as soon as he walks into the flower shop, shuddering. He's wearing a black hoodie with a gray beanie perched over his head, and next to him Sehun's wearing a dark blue bomber jacket; which Kyungsoo knows belongs to Luhan.

The only reason why Kyungsoo knows that the jacket is Luhan's is because the brunet used to be very attached to it. Kyungsoo's pretty surprised when he sees Sehun wearing it, but he brushes it off quickly; Luhan must've figured that Sehun would be very uncomfortable if he was still dressed in the suit he wore last night since the blonde drove him straight to his house after he had passed out.

"Trust me, I know." Jongdae replies, nonchalant.

"I actually almost forgot to leave the house without a jacket and—" Luhan does a double take once he sees the barista sitting there, and he frowns. "Wait. What the hell are you doing here, don't you have work?"

Jongdae shakes his head, smiling.

"Nope." He says, popping the p. "Gramps gave us the day off, so I'm here because I've got nothing else better to do."

"Why don't you hang out with that Minseok person?"

"He doesn't like me."

"Wait, really?" Luhan looks positively baffled. "Weren't you hanging out with each other at the party?"

"That was only because he was in a good mood." Jongdae tells him, but Kyungsoo thinks that it sounds like he's trying to convince himself. "Honestly, I don't know. We're not necessarily friends. He told me himself that he thinks of me as an acquaintance."

Luhan studies him for a while.

"Damn, that ."

"Um... why?"

Sehun speaks up for him, crossing his arms. "On our way here, Luhan said that having a Christmas party would be nice, so he decided to improve his idea and texted Junmyeon, asking for Minseok's cell phone number."

Kyungsoo looks up to the ceiling, and silently wills himself to disappear. He totally forgot about Luhan's stupid idea of hosting a party to create a new friend group or whatever like that.

"If you aren't exactly friends with Minseok, I could uninvite him?" Luhan shrugs.

"Don't you think that it'd be a little rude if you do?" Jongin elbows him lightly, eliciting a surprised yelp out of the florist; and Kyungsoo appreciates his thinking. "Has he even replied to you yet?"

"Well, he did respond—though, he hasn't exactly given me an answer yet."

He holds out his phone for everyone to see, and Kyungsoo squints at the previous messages:

--

-sent 12:19 PM
From: Minseok
To: Luhan

You're inviting me to a Christmas party, even if we just met last night?

-sent 12:24 PM
From: Luhan
To: Minseok

well yes

-sent 12:25 PM
From: Luhan
To: Minseok

i know this is really out of the blue but i personally think it'd be a good opportunity???? plus u seem nice.

-sent 12:26 PM
From: Minseok
To: Luhan

Thanks?

-sent 12:26 PM
From: Luhan
To: Minseok

at least think it over :D?

--

"Oh my God," Jongdae chortles into his fist.

"I was trying to be nice, okay." Luhan shrugs again, eyes still on his phone screen. "If Minseok doesn't reply, then whatever. We'll settle with eleven people. I can't wait any longer. What's important is that all of you guys go. It'd be really fun, I swear."

Kyungsoo massages his temple in vague annoyance, "To be honest, I think this is really stupid."

"You always think all my ideas are stupid, Kyungsoo," Luhan rolls his eyes, "so your opinion doesn't count whatsoever."

"I'm not wrong."

"Don't we all have separate things to do on Christmas, though?" Jongdae points out, running a hand through his hair. "I'm supposed to be coming home to visit my family. They haven't seen me in a while, and as much as I don't really want to go, I can't exactly weasel myself out of this one."

"Same here," Sehun adds.

"Okay, fine, then the party can be on Christmas Eve instead." Luhan suggests. "How about it?"

Jongdae grins, no sign of hesitation in his tone. "Sounds great."

"I don't have anything else better to do," Sehun eventually says, and in his excitement Luhan socks him in the arm. "Ouch—what the hell was that for?"

"I think it'll be fun," Jongin muses.

Luhan breaks into another wide grin once Jongin agrees (Kyungsoo's never seen Luhan this happy ever since he passed finals), and he's still all smiles when he turns to Kyungsoo. "So?"

Kyungsoo opens his mouth to say that there's no way in hell that he's going, but he gets momentarily distracted when Jongin places a hand on his arm. He looks up to see the officer's pleading expression, and the florist drags out a sigh. 

Damn.

"Fine. I'll go." He grumbles, but he softens at once when he sees the gleeful look on Jongin's face. On the other hand, Luhan cheers so loudly that Kyungsoo thinks his eardrums are going to burst.

" YES."

"Don't feel too victorious," Jongdae produces a loud laugh and sends an amused smile towards Kyungsoo and Jongin's direction, "Kyungsoo's only going because Jongin is."

Kyungsoo pales, "Don't you ing start—"

"They're dating now, by the way."

"KIM JONGDAE."

"You two are together?!" Sehun nearly yells, covering his mouth as he begins to double over in laughter. Jongin's eyes shoot daggers at him, and Sehun lets out a loud hoot when he sees his expression. "Oh my God, about time..."

"Since when?" Luhan gapes.

"Since ten minutes ago," comes Jongdae's sing song reply.

"Damn it," The brunet scrunches his nose in slight disappointment. "I can no longer make jokes about Kyungsoo being single anymore." He does jump when his phone vibrates a second later, almost dropping it in the process. "Oh —Minseok responded."

"He did?" Jongdae's eyes widen.

---

-sent 12:34
From: Minseok
To: Luhan

Well, I thought it over.

-sent 12:35
From: Minseok
To: Luhan

And... it's a yes to your invite.

---

"HE AGREED," Luhan gasps.

"No way." Even Jongdae looks surprised; his eyes are wide, and for once it's almost as if he doesn't know what to say. He grabs Luhan's phone and squints at the screen in pure disbelief, "What the ... I guess he must be in a really good mood to be willing to accept invites from a stranger."

"Technically, I am not that much of a stranger." Luhan says. "We talked a lot last night."

Kyungsoo side-eyes him. 

"Yeah, and you were drunk. You creeped him out."

"Touché."

"It's not that." Jongdae shakes his head. He hands the phone back to Luhan and watches him type a reply back before the barista's lips spread into a slow smile, clearly thinking about something. "I guess I can say that Minseok's just a very unpredictable person."

Kyungsoo looks at the barista, eyebrows raised, but Jongdae only offers him a secretive smile.

"Oh, this is so great..." Luhan's grinning as he scrolls through something on his phone, eyes shining. "Now I just have to ask everyone else to come. Finally, something that I actually am proud of."

"That's kind of sad." Sehun snorts.

Kyungsoo and Jongin share an exasperated look, but they both end up smiling afterwards.

 

 

---

 

 

Tao's feeding Candy when his phone starts playing its usual ringtone.

He stares at it for a bit, not knowing what to do; before finally walking over and checking the caller ID. His eyebrows knit together when he sees that it was from an unknown number—someone he didn't know was calling him from the States.

Wordlessly, he rejects the call and places his phone back on the table; anger starting to bubble up inside of him. Tao forces it down and walks over to the giant windows of his apartment, placing his hands in his pockets as he looks out into the city. From here, he's able to see some Christmas decorations already put up on several buildings.

Ah, that's right; the holidays were quickly approaching. Pretty soon, it'll be a new year.

Tao used to be always very ecstatic about Christmas. He shopped a lot and bought things for himself as well as his friends. A few years ago, he spent Christmas Eve with a bunch of them—partying hard before spending time with the family the following day.

But now, he's very sure that it's not going to happen this year.

In fact, the thought of Christmas as well as New Years just makes him feel nauseous. He turns away from the windows hastily and walks to his room, throwing himself on the bed as he hears Candy scurrying around the apartment a few feet away.

If someone asked Tao why he was here, he would've lied straight through his teeth and told them that he was vacationing for a few months. If you think about it, it's not that far from the truth. The truth is that he's sort of ran away from his family—who were still in China, not giving any s about him at all.

He's basically on a temporary vacation to get away from them for a while.

It wasn't always like this, Tao remembers. A few years before middle school, everything was fine. By the time he reached middle school, however, his parents weren't pleased with him for some odd reason. They were really set on wanting him to become a surgeon (since his parents were both involved in the medical field), but Tao would honestly rather die.

He told them that he didn't want to be a surgeon, but they did not take that response well.

It got to an extent where he just couldn't stand all the "You're such a disappointment" talk anymore, so he packed a majority of his things and left for Seoul. His Korean was pretty decent anyway, thanks to a close friend who was willing to teach him the language. He recalled that the guy said it would help one day, and it truly did.

His parents do know that he "went on vacation", but they're not exactly doing much about it. If anything, they were probably having it easy back home since he wasn't there. Hell, they didn't even stop him from leaving. Tao still has a strong feeling that it was their master plan in the first place.

A small fraction of him is silently hoping for his parents to at least call him, so that he actually knows that they still care. But it just hasn't happened ever since he went to Korea, and he couldn't help but feel upset about it.

Now, Tao was just living off some of the money he earned from a few part time jobs during the time he's lived here. He has enough to be able to buy himself necessities, but Tao knew that he would need to get a more stable job soon... or else.

He really didn't want to think about that part right now.

Tao stops sulking when his phone chimes, and he stares at the screen in mild confusion before he opens up his notifications.

He realizes he's in a group chat when he sees a bunch of numbers he hasn't registered in his phone appear on the screen; all contacts unfamiliar save for two—Kris and Luhan.

That's when he starts getting suspicious.

Luhan was... interesting, to put it simply. There isn't any other way he is able to describe him, honestly. On the other hand, Kris was tall and brooding; lowkey mysterious. He's only talked to Kris probably four times now, and two of the four were not really good experiences.

He found Kris to be very annoying, especially after their first encounter. The latter knocking his drink out of his hands and spilling it on his white shirt was nothing short of a disaster. Tao was tempted to reawaken his wushu abilities and beat the guy up on the spot, but he actually offered to buy him another; which he couldn't disagree to. Who would say no to a free drink anyway?

Whether it was fate or coincidence that they would eventually meet again, he didn't know. However, Kris wasn't really as annoying anymore. Tao was shocked when Kris invited him to the party last night, but he found that the taller male wasn't too bad after all despite his horrible sense of humor.

Tao sets the 'Do not Disturb' feature on the group chat for there were too many people sending dozens of messages at the same time, but he scrolls through the most recent texts even though he doesn't know who most of people are in the chat.

--

Luhan named the conversation "Christmas party"

-sent 1:36 PM
Luhan: hey guys

Luhan: soooo i don't know if you can tell based on the chat name but you're all invited to a christmas party at my house. although it's technically not going to be on christmas since some people might be busy on that day????? and i know it's only like the first week of december but whatever

Kris: Ok but before you say anything else can y'all do me a huge favor and type in their name because I don't think I have everyone

Luhan: oops sorry i forgot about that part 

Luhan: i'm luhan btw

Kris: I know

Luhan: anyway! the party's going to be on christmas eve at my place. i'll text you all my address if you don't know it & bring whatever you want idrc 

Luhan: you guys all better go ok it's going be fun i swear

--

Tao is surprised to find that he isn't actually against the idea for once.

He muses over the invitation for a few moments, eyes trained on the ceiling, before he decides that he doesn't really have anything to lose. He knows that he's probably not going to spend Christmas or New Years with his family, so the next best thing would just to hang out with some people (even though he might barely know them) and try to make it worthwhile.

Several text messages enter the group chat, and Tao realizes that the chat includes of the people who he met last night—he vaguely recognizes a Kyungsoo, Jongin, Jongdae, and Sehun.

He hopes that none of them are creeps.

 

 

---

 

 

Baekhyun sighs as he exits the hospital a few hours later, combing a hand through his hair as he makes his way to the parking lot. It's incredibly cold outside; his teeth are chattering already and he instantly regrets leaving his jacket in the car.

The doctor walks faster so that he'd get to the vehicle sooner, for he was looking forward to taking a warm bath as soon as he got home.

Just as he unlocks the car, he hears a familiar voice a few feet away.

"Baekhyun. Hey."

The doctor turns around to face a grinning Jongdae, who's waving at him merrily with gloved hands. The barista's dressed for the weather; donned in a thick jacket, gray scarf, and matching beanie. His nose and cheeks are rosy from the cold, but his smile's as bright as ever.

"Oh, hey." Baekhyun grins. "What's up?"

"The sky," is Jongdae's reply, and Baekhyun sighs in exasperation. "Nothing much, really. Gramps was so kind to give the employees a day off today, so I went to We Are One pretty early. Kyungsoo was in a strangely good mood today, so we ended up closing the store earlier than usual. I'm betting that the real reason is because he and Jongin have a date later..."

Baekhyun's eyes widen, "Oh, so they're dating now?"

"Yep, ever since today. You can thank me for that one." Jongdae says cheerfully, but he doesn't elaborate and stuffs his hands in his pockets instead. "Anyway, I'm really bored. Want to grab some coffee?"

The bath could wait, Baekhyun convinces himself.

"Sure, did you bring your car?"

"Nah. I walked from the flower shop."

"Oh, okay." Baekhyun opens the door and slides in the driver's seat while Jongdae buckles himself in on the passenger's side. As soon as they're settled in, Baekhyun starts the vehicle and turns the heater on as the barista removes his gloves. "Where to?"

"I'll tell you the way there, don't worry about it."

Ten minutes later they arrive at a small coffee shop that Jongdae went to often; apparently, it was his third favorite after Moonlight and El Dorado (the restaurant where Chanyeol worked at). Baekhyun could see why. The atmosphere was cozy; on one side of the café there were bookshelves with plush chairs and several tables, and the other side had aesthetic paintings on the walls with more tables next to it.

Once they choose a table, Jongdae grins from behind his menu.

"I'm assuming that you and Chanyeol aren't hanging out tonight."

Baekhyun shakes his head, smiling a little.

"We're both really busy these days, so we only get to see each other when both of our schedules aren't full. The party yesterday was quite fun, though, I had a really great time."

"Yes," Jongdae agrees, slipping his beanie off. He puts it to the side and combs a hand through his wavy hair. "It was a great way to celebrate Moonlight's 50th anniversary. Gramps really does deserve all the recognition he gets; he works very hard."

He's silent for a few moments, a faraway look on his face. Baekhyun snorts.

"You know, if I didn't know better I would've thought you had the hots for Junmyeon."

The barista looks at him with surprised eyes but manages a laugh as he flips through a page of the menu.

"Oh, no. Junmyeon's more like something between a mother or grandpa to me, and plus he's already dating Yix—" he freezes and clamps a hand over his mouth, looking very nervous all of a sudden, "err... nevermind. I didn't say anything."

"Junmyeon's in a relationship?!"

"Yeah, he is." Jongdae nods, but he sighs afterwards. "Oops, I wasn't supposed to tell anyone. He's been with a bartender named Yixing for a while, but I think they're still trying to keep things slow right now since Gramps is so busy all the time. Double oops."

"I assure you that I'm not the type to blab information to the whole world," Baekhyun smiles. "I don't have anyone to gossip to anyway."

"What am I, then?" Jongdae pretends to look offended, and they both end up laughing.

A waitress comes up to them a few moments afterwards, and after they order Baekhyun can't help but notice how Jongdae looks strangely wistful today. He keeps looking out the window, his expression distant. It's very unlike him, and the doctor finds himself worrying.

"Something on your mind?" He asks, keeping his tone light and casual.

"Ah... I guess you can say that." A small smile spreads across Jongdae's lips, eyes twinkling in amusement. "Actually, now that you bring it up—I wanted to talk to you."

Baekhyun shrugs. "I'm all ears."

"Ever meet someone so complicated?" Jongdae muses. "For example, they hate your guts for no reason throughout a good few months; and all of a sudden they end up acting completely different towards you one day."

"I can't say that I've experienced that." Baekhyun says apologetically. "Is this about the employee you like?"

"You got me." The barista responds, grinning even wider now. "It's sort of weird between us right now. He used to hate me, but he hung out with me at Junmyeon's party yesterday. You might remember him... Minseok?"

Baekhyun frowns, but after a while he nods; remembering the round faced barista who Jongdae brought to the table last night. Minseok looked exactly like he did in the staff picture. 

"Right."

"I figured he was only hanging out with me because he was in a good mood. Normally, we would've started arguing about something stupid. Junmyeon's always telling me to stop teasing him, but he doesn't even know my true intentions... Though, Minseok and I haven't talked ever since. I'm not sure where we stand at the moment."

"Strange."

"What do you think?"

Baekhyun rubs the back of his neck, uncertain. "I don't know, it's a little hard to tell... I don't know Minseok that well, so I can't say anything for sure. I'm thinking that he's slowly starting to not hate you anymore, though."

"Wow."

"Isn't him not hating you a good thing?"

"Yeah, but... wow. I never thought Minseok would change his ways." Jongdae shrugs. "I guess I am right about him being unpredictable."

"You don't mind?"

"Nope," The barista flashes him two thumbs up. "If anything, I like a challenge."

The waitress arrives just then, carrying their cups of coffee on a tray. Once she places them down, Jongdae sends her a warm smile and a quiet thank you. The barista turns his attention to his coffee afterwards and doesn't see the waitress's cheeks flushing pink before she eventually walks away. Baekhyun smiles amusedly at the sight.

"I believe that's enough about me for tonight." Jongdae then says after a while, sipping some of his coffee. "How are things going with you and Chanyeol?"

Baekhyun chokes.

"In my defense, you two have been pretty chummy ever since you two met. I haven't seen Chanyeol like that in a really long time. Not since..." Jongdae trails off and shakes his head. "Anyway. Is he treating you right?"

"I feel like he's treating me too right, to be honest." Baekhyun mutters, wondering why Jongdae didn't finish his thought earlier. He groans when he sees Jongdae's knowing expression. "And before you even say anything, we're not dating."

The barista rolls his eyes, "I think you two may be worse than Kyungsoo and Jongin."

"Hey."

"But you like him."

It's not a question, and Baekhyun brushes a few strands out of his hair to stall his answer.

"Yeah."

He's known that he's liked Chanyeol for a while now; it was only a matter of time before he admitted it. Surprisingly, Jongdae doesn't react the way Baekhyun expects him to. The doctor was thinking that Jongdae was going to at least flip the table over and start screaming, but instead the barista leans back in his chair, arms crossed as he nods slowly in approval.

"Well, what now?"

"Um." Baekhyun raises an eyebrow. "Nothing?"

"No, not nothing. You've got to do something, doc."

"What?"

"If you think that Chanyeol doesn't like you in that way, think again." Jongdae simply says, stopping to drink some more of his coffee. "You said it yourself at the party. He's always treating you; that's one sign."

"...Didn't you say that Chanyeol's just really nice?"

"I did, but I do also know that he's nice to an extent. If I asked him to get something for me, he would do it. But if you asked him to get something for you, he would get the thing you asked for but also something else. Get what I mean?"

"Kind of, but—"

"Baekhyun, you're a doctor." Jongdae interrupts, eyes unusually piercing. "You know the symptoms."

Baekhyun eyes him in pure disbelief for a few moments. 

"Since when have you been the type to talk to people about their relationships?"

A wide grin spreads across Jongdae's face. 

"Since today."

 

 

 

---

 

 

The next day, Minseok feels very anxious.

It's been a while since he saw Jongdae, and he doesn't even know what he's supposed to do now ever since he hung out with him at the party the other day. He doesn't even know what to feel. Are things going to be the same between them? Will they keep arguing like there's no tomorrow? Or are they actually going to be friends now?

Minseok shudders slightly at the thought. He really doesn't know what to do, but he knows that he's tired of wasting his energy yelling at the other barista.

Maybe it was time for a change.

It turns out that Jongdae was going to the same event that the Luhan person was hosting as well; according to the group chat. He still didn't know what to expect from that, even though he decided to give the invitation a chance in the end. Minseok had surprised himself at his own decision, but he was able to recognize some of the names in the chat anyway, since he met most of the people from Junmyeon's party.

His eyes trail over to the clock subconsciously—the numbers read 9:10. Jongdae should be arriving pretty soon.

"You don't look too well," Seokjin's familiar voice reaches Minseok's ears, and he turns to see the blonde male looking at him worriedly. "Is everything all right?"

"I'm okay."

Taehyung pops out of nowhere just then, eyes wide, "Hey, I heard from a friend that inhaling through your left nostril helps if you need to calm down. Apparently, it also works when you're having a hard time sleeping. I think it's pretty cool, you should try it out and see how it goes!"

Minseok flashes them a weak smile.

"I'm fine, thanks—"

The barista stops talking when he hears the doors open, and freezes when he hears Jongdae's voice float through the room; loud and clear. It's always been impossible to ignore the barista. He was just naturally loud, which was super annoying.

Strangely enough, Minseok hasn't been bothered with it recently; which scares him.

However, Minseok is more than surprised to find out that Jongdae's actually having a conversation with someone. Which is also strange, because he usually comes to work alone. 

When he looks up, he sees Jongdae approaching the counter; along with a young woman with long brown hair and pretty features holding his arm in hers. They're both smiling and laughing at whatever they were talking about, and Minseok can't help but notice that Jongdae looks ten times happier than usual, which was saying something.

Who was that? His sister? His girlfriend? She looks like she could be his girlfriend, from the way they're looking at each other. Minseok furrows his eyebrows together, wondering why the hell he even cares in the first place.

He's still staring even after Jongdae looks away from her to smile at him in greeting, and Minseok jumps.

"Hey guys." Jongdae grins, using his free hand to wave at the three employees. "It's been a while."

Seokjin doesn't say anything for a while, but he smiles after a few moments of silence. "Hi."

"Hello!" Taehyung chirps.

Minseok blinks slowly.

"You guys must all be Jongdae's coworkers." The young woman says, eyes folding into twin crescents. Jongdae snorts.

"It sounds really weird when you put it that way."

"Don't be like that," She pushes Jongdae's arm, and soon that grin is back on his face again. Minseok suddenly feels very awkward, so he scratches the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Anyway, I want you guys to meet Sunyoung, who's a close friend of mine." Jongdae cheerfully says. He really does look happy today; his grin was wide and bright, eyes twinkling. "Sunyoung, this is Minseok, Seokjin, and Taehyung. I've been working with all of them for a while now."

"Nice to meet you," Sunyoung smiles warmly at the trio. "I'm really sorry that you have to deal with him all the time."

"Rude."

Minseok suppresses the urge to roll his eyes, and Seokjin laughs lightly. 

"Nah, Jongdae's a pretty great guy." Taehyung says. "He has an awesome voice. Seriously."

"I know, right!" Sunyoung happily agrees with him. She looks at Jongdae fondly, "I've told him that he should became an idol or something in the future countless times, but he doesn't want to—"

"I'm not that good." Jongdae cuts in, looking sheepish.

"Absolute nonsense."

"Okay, you guys must have a pretty good reason why you're not doing anyth—" Junmyeon comes out of his office at that moment with a stern expression on his face, but it goes away when he sees the two at the counter. A flash of recognition appears in his eyes, and pretty soon the manager's smiling widely at the visitor. "Oh, Sunyoung! It's certainly been a while."

"Junmyeon!" Sunyoung lets go of Jongdae's arm and goes over to give the manager a friendly hug. "I hope you're doing well."

"I am, thank you."

"I haven't seen you in ages, ever since you took over Moonlight." Sunyoung smiles at Junmyeon, and nudges him afterwards. "But you do look much happier than the last time I saw you. I can tell from your smile. Did you finally find that special someone?"

Junmyeon's cheeks slowly turn a bright red, and Minseok vaguely remembers seeing him and that other man—Yixing, was it?—last night. He notices the half-smirk on Jongdae's lips and figures that he's probably thinking about the same thing.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Come on, Junmyeon. You've always at lying. Tell me the details later, okay?" Sunyoung says before going back over to Jongdae. She ruffles his hair gently. "Well, I'll get going now. We're still hanging out later tonight, right, Jongdae?"

"Yeah, yeah." Jongdae shoos her hand away and pats his hair down himself.

"Sounds good. You know where to find me." Sunyoung pats his forearm, and she waves merrily at them as she retreats towards the entrance. "Bye guys, it was nice seeing all of you!"

She leaves after that, and Seokjin rounds on Jongdae at once. "Who was that?"

Jongdae looks back at Seokjin, puzzled.

"Didn't I tell you already? That was Sunyoung."

"Yes, but who exactly is she?"

"Her and Jongdae's parents are friends, but I met Sunyoung at university." Junmyeon explains, smoothing out some of the wrinkles in his suit. "In fact, I first met Jongdae at her birthday party a few years back. I didn't know I was going to see him again after that."

"And here I am, working for you." Jongdae slings an arm around Junmyeon's shoulders, and the latter sighs.

Taehyung's mouth falls open. "That's pretty cool."

"A little creepy, though." Minseok mutters under his breath.

"Let's all talk later; there's work that still needs to be done. Fighting." Junmyeon removes Jongdae's arm from his shoulders and smiles at them once more before heading back to his office.

Taehyung retreats towards the STAFF ONLY door (not before reminding Minseok to try the left nostril breathing method again). Seokjin's gaze lingers on Jongdae for a few more moments before he turns away to restack the napkins, and Minseok bites the inside of his cheek before turning back to the cash register.

He can't help but a glance at Jongdae after he takes someone's order, and notices how smiley the barista still is; he's humming an upbeat tone as he makes an iced coffee for the customer. He's seen Jongdae excited, but never this excited. Maybe Sunyoung was his girlfriend.

Minseok sighs.

He really doesn't know why he feels bothered by that thought.

 

 

---

 

 

A/N: hey guys, hope you're all doing well! next chapter's going to be the christmas party :-) i'm planning a lot of stuff for hunhan and chenmin.. but kaisoo's finally together now, all thanks to jongdae! sulay's still going on strong too :,D 

dw guys, everything will be cleared up next chapter. i promise!

comments, subcribes, and upvotes are always welcomed! a hugeee thank you for those who did so *throws hearts everywhere*

-seokminz