| XIII. you're so fly |

 

 

The next day, Jongin doesn't wake up with a hangover—surprisingly—but he is, however, extremely fatigued.

He lays in bed for a few more moments, unwilling to leave the comfort of his blankets. The officer observes the ceiling for a while before he finally reaches out to the nightstand, blindly searching for his phone. Once he locates it, he pulls it to his face and squints at the screen, which currently reads 11:36 AM. Jongin groans inwardly at the thought of having to attend a family dinner that night, but he shoves that thought far back in his mind and sits up on the bed, sighing.

When he looks back at his phone screen, he realizes that there were two unread messages that he had missed.

--

—sent 7:35 AM
From: Kyungsoo
To: Jongin

Good morning, I hope you slept well.

—sent 7:40 AM
From: Kyungsoo
To: Jongin

Merry Christmas :-)

--

Upon seeing those text messages, Jongin couldn't help but break into a huge smile before clutching his phone to his chest. Damn it all, why was Do Kyungsoo so freaking adorable? In fact, he's still grinning when he texts his boyfriend(!!!!!) back.

--

—sent 9:20 AM
From: Jongin
To: Kyungsoo

Good morning and merry christmas <3 I slept really well, hope you did too :-)

--

He leaves his phone on the bed after that and goes into the kitchen to eat breakfast. He feels relaxed for once; he doesn't have to worry about arriving to work and dealing with the stress that comes with his job for a while. As he opens the refrigerator to find something to eat, he realizes that there's no milk inside—damn it, Sehun.

"Sehun," Jongin says a little loudly, assuming that his friend's still in his bedroom. "Did you finish the milk?"

When he hears no response, he frowns. Normally, Sehun responds right away—regardless whether he's in the room or not. Jongin sighs, closing the refrigerator door, figuring that Sehun was probably still asleep. It was either that, or he was ignoring him on purpose.

He's about to go back inside his bedroom (and text Kyungsoo some more) but he stops when he hears a strangled noise.

Blinking, Jongin turns around, but there's no one there.

"Uhhhh, Sehun? Is that you?"

The strangled noise comes again, and Jongin takes that as a yes. Now a little worried, Jongin rushes over to the living room, peeking over the sofa cautiously.

He's met with Sehun lying on the carpet next to the couch, staring up at the ceiling. The other blonde's hands are clasped on top of his chest, and his face is void of any expression. He looks downright miserable—there are prominent eye bags under his eyes, and he's still wearing the same clothes that he wore last night.

"Um... what the hell are you doing?" Jongin asks, mouth falling open at the sight of him. "Are you all right?"

"I'm totally fine." Sehun doesn't move his gaze from the ceiling. "Just leave me here to disintegrate, please."

"What the—okay, let me restate that." Jongin rubs his forehead, and then moves from behind the couch to sit on the furniture, staring at Sehun, who was still lying there on the floor. "Dude. What happened? Did you even sleep last night?"

"Seriously, I'm okay. And sorry about the milk, I'll go get another one later."

Jongin stares at him, completely astounded. Sehun never apologized about finishing the milk. He never even offered to buy another carton, either. 

"No, something's definitely wrong. Come on, man, you know you can trust me."

"...You're going to hate me for doing this."

"Look, if this is about Kyungsoo—"

"NO. No. No, I swear this is not about Kyungsoo. God."

"If that's the case, then I'm not going to hate you for you doing whatever you did." Jongin frowns. Then, a sudden realization hits him. "Wait. Don't tell me, is this about... Luhan?"

Sehun visibly flinches, and Jongin knows he hit the jackpot.

Jongin's sort of had an idea about Sehun's liking towards the florist. At first, Jongin thought that Sehun got along pretty well with Luhan. They became friends pretty quickly, and he and Luhan always went to get lunch together too. Jongin really didn't think much of it. It wasn't until a little recently when he found out—when they were both on duty, away from home for a week.

-

"How're you and Kyungsoo?" Sehun had asked, kicking some rock to the side. "I heard your date went pretty well."

"Oh, it was pretty nice, actually—" Jongin began, but he stopped mid-sentence when he saw the smug expression on the other officer's face. "I mean, uhhhh, what are you talking about? It wasn't a date."

Sehun looked at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Right, and my name's not Oh Sehun."

"Shut up, dickhead." Jongin looked at the floor, embarrassed. "Who even told you about that?"

"Luhan."

"Of course he did." Jongin sighed, because honestly, what was he expecting? "And for the last time, Kyungsoo and I aren't together."

"Yeah, yet. He obviously likes you back."

Jongin wrinkled his nose in response, "I highly doubt that. He deserves someone better." At the corner of his eye, he saw Sehun give him an are-you-actually-kidding stare, and he frowned. "Hey, I'm serious."

"Whatever you say, dude."

A slight pause came between them.

"What about you?" Jongin then asked, plainly out of curiosity. "Don't you like someone?"

"I do, actually."

"Wait, seriously?"

"What did you expect?" Sehun rolled his eyes. "For me to say no?"

"Well... yeah. But who is it? Jongdae? Junmyeon? Baekhyun? Chanyeol?" Jongin guessed, rattling some of their friends' names one by one, and then his face fell almost immediately. "It better not be Kyungsoo."

"First of all, I'm offended that you would think I have a crush on Kyungsoo. Listen, he's your man, okay? I'm not going to go after him. And I don't like Jongdae, Junmyeon, Baekhyun, or Chanyeol. They're all just friends."

"Oh God..." Jongin stared at him in horror. "Is it Kris?"

"For 's SAKE," Sehun groaned, as Jongin started to snicker, "NO, it's not Kris, I like Luhan, okay? Seriously, I thought you were much better than this."

"You like LUHAN?"

"Why don't you say that louder? I don't think all of China heard you from here."

"For how long?"

Sehun shrugged. "Ever since I met him, to be honest."

-

Jongin's frown grows deeper. "So...?"

Sehun doesn't move for another five minutes or so; his eyes were still trained on the ceiling. He finally looks at Jongin after a few moments, letting out a deep sigh.

"I, well, I told him that I like him."

"Ohhhh, ." Jongin raises his eyebrows in surprise. "How did that go?"

The other blonde officer makes another strangled noise and covers his eyes with his hands.

"I don't even know anymore. It just sort of slipped out. It was late, and Luhan and I were the only ones outside—he was a little drunk, things just sort of happened, and I ing confessed to him. I wasn't even supposed to do that. That wasn't even supposed to happen. I made a huge mistake, and I'm regretting all my life decisions right now."

"Wait... but you said he was a little drunk. Do you think he even understood what you said?"

Sehun removes his hands from his eyes. His face is still quite expressionless, and it leaves Jongin in awe. He would always be surprised about his friend's ability to not show what he was really feeling, but because he's known him for a while now Jongin is able to see the distraught underlying that stoic exterior.

"Who knows, all I know is that I don't ever want to move from this spot."

"Come on, don't be like this. Even if he did hear you, I'm sure that there's nothing to be worried about. Sure, he'd probably feel a little uncomfortable knowing that one of his closest friends likes him, but if he's truly your friend then he's going to look past that and you'll move on too without knowing, right?"

"I don't know if that's going to happen."

"Only time will tell, I guess."

"I'm in some deep , Jongin. I really like him." Sehun covers his face with his hands. His voice is muffled when he says, "I just don't want to ruin anything between us, you know? He told me that he can't handle a relationship at the moment, and I respect that, but... I just don't know anymore."

Jongin looks at him for a while, frowning. He's never really seen Sehun like this before, even though the younger has been in a relationship in the past. Then, he clears his throat.

"Go get changed. Let's go get some ramen and ice cream."

"Ice cream?" Sehun asks, exasperated. "In this weather?"

"It's never too cold for ice cream, you know that."

Sehun removes his hands from his face, glancing back at him before his lips stretch into a small smile. "...Thanks."

"Of course." Just as Jongin stands up, Sehun's phone begins to buzz in his pocket. He watches as the officer fumbles for his phone (almost hitting his head on the corner of the coffee table) before pulling it out and squinting at the screen. Jongin observes how his friend suddenly freezes, face drained of all color. "What's wrong?"

"It's... Luhan."

"Speak of the devil." Jongin says, but when Sehun doesn't pick up, he tilts his head in confusion. "Why don't you answer him?"

"Because what if he wants to talk about the thing!"

"I don't know, just act like nothing happened until he brings it up."

"Damn it all," Sehun whispers, before finally deciding to answer the phone. "Errrr. Uhhh, hello?"

"Hey, Sehun." Luhan's cheerful voice greets him on the other side of the receiver. "Want to go out for breakfast? I just woke up."

"Ohhh, um," Sehun mouths  to Jongin, who shrugs in response, "I'm sorry, I'm already going to get something with Jongin."

There's a slight pause on the other end of the line before the florist responds.

"Oh, okay. Tell him that I said hello. I just wanted to see you because I'm stupid and I forgot to give you your Christmas gift yesterday. I don't know how I forgot, honestly, I gave everyone else theirs. I guess I was pretty out of it last night."

"Um, that's okay." Sehun combs his hair with his hand, letting out an evident sigh of relief. Jongin rolls his eyes. "I can stop by later. Is seven okay?"

"Sounds great to me. See you later then! Merry Christmas, man."

"Merry Christmas."

"See, that wasn't too bad," Jongin comments, as soon as Sehun hangs up. He outstretches his hand to help his friend get up from the floor. "I'm sure that nothing's going to happen to both of you guys, just don't worry about it too much."

Silent, Sehun takes his hand. After he stands up, he shakes his head.

"I hope so."

 

 

---

 

 

"So, he said he was busy?"

"Yes." Luhan says, crossing his arms and looking outside the window. He observes the ton of snow outside the restaurant they were at (some children were throwing it at each other, how exciting) before turning back to look at Kyungsoo, who was glancing back at him with confusion evident on his face.

"...And?"

"Kyungsoo, you don't understand how much this is worrying me." Luhan massages his temples slowly. "Sehun has never said no when I ask him if he wants to go get lunch with me. Never. He would always come with me, even if he already had plans in advance. That's just who he is."

Kyungsoo sighs.

"There is a first time for everything, you know." The black haired florist tells him, after drinking some more of his coffee. "Personally, I think you're worrying over nothing. Maybe because Sehun went out with you so much, he felt bad for not going with Jongin to go eat. It's just what friends do."

Luhan hums in response, tapping his fingers on the table.

"I guess that's a possibility, but it's weird. What if he's mad at me? ."

"Don't be ridiculous."

"Did I do anything stupid or weird last night? Something I wouldn't usually do?" 

"Hmm," Kyungsoo says, thinking for a while before taking a bite out his chocolate muffin. "Besides singing karaoke, no."

Luhan nearly chokes on his yogurt upon hearing his response, "I SANG KARAOKE?" When Kyungsoo nods emotionlessly, Luhan buries his head in his hands, complete dread washing over him. "Oh my ing... I hate myself. Why did I even—"

"—To be honest, it wasn't that bad. If you really want to see for yourself, ask Tao."

"ing hell, Tao recorded me?" Luhan groans, as Kyungsoo nods once more. "Oh God, now I don't even want to watch it anymore. But other than that, are you sure that nothing else happened? I swear that Sehun told me something before he left last night, and I don't remember if you were there with me or not, but I'm pretty sure that it was important. I know he said something, but he said it so fast... he left before I could ask for him to say it again."

Kyungsoo stares at him in confusion, eyebrows furrowed.

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

"Either way, it's driving me crazy," Luhan tells him, pointing his spoon at his friend as he talks. "Sometimes I wish I was able to replay events so that I would know to listen more carefully next time."

They lapse into silence for a few moments. Luhan takes a few more spoonfuls of his yogurt (nearly finishing it) and watches Kyungsoo pull out his phone from his pocket, a small smile tugging on the other's lips as he types. The brown haired florist can't help but grin at the sight of it; it's obvious that his friend's currently texting his boyfriend.

"Y'all make me want to puke," Luhan then says, and Kyungsoo looks up, eyes wide.

"What?"

"You and Jongin," Luhan points at him and at the other's phone with the utensil in his hand. "You're really smitten with him, I can tell."

"...Shut up."

"You're not denying it."

"Shut up," Kyungsoo repeats, now pointing his butter knife at him.

"Okay, okay." Luhan holds his palms up, although he's still grinning as wide as ever. "Anyway, this is sort of a weird question, but do you ever feel jealous when Jongin hangs out with his friends instead of you?"

"No. I don't mind, I know most of his friends." Kyungsoo blinks at him. Sort of as an afterthought, he adds, "And I trust him, too."

"I see."

"Why?"

"I thought you'd be more of the jealous type."

"Are you asking me this because you're jealous that Sehun's with Jongin right now instead of you?" 

"WHAT," Luhan exclaims, so loudly that some of the people in the restaurant send odd looks towards their direction, "I am not jealous! Why would I even—what the hell gave you that idea?"

"Well, gosh, I don't know." Kyungsoo takes a few more bites of his muffin, frowning. "I mean, it's not like you keep talking about how weird it is for Sehun to reject your offer."

"But it is weird! This has never happened before."

"You're seeing him later, aren't you? Why don't you ask him then?"

Luhan ponders this for a few moments before eventually shaking his head. He takes a final spoonful of his yogurt before responding.

"I mean, I don't know, maybe not. He'll probably make fun of me if I ask him, and I don't want to seem too dependent on him. You're probably right; maybe I'm just overreacting."

The waiter comes to their table with the check just then, halting their conversation, and Luhan hands him his card before Kyungsoo gets a chance to pull his out of his wallet. Once the waiter leaves again, Kyungsoo glances at the other florist in mild shock, eyes widened slightly. 

"I thought you told me that I was paying."

"Well, I changed my mind." Luhan smiles, amused at the expression on Kyungsoo's face. "I invited you, anyway."

"Yeah, but that was only because Sehun was busy."

Luhan snorts, "Okay, that's true, but I've known you for much longer. And plus, I still owe you for a lot of the favors you've done for me in the past. It's just my way of saying thank you."

Kyungsoo's eyes get wider. "Damn, did the Christmas magic get to you?"

"Perhaps."

After the waiter gives Luhan his credit card back, the two head out into the cold, walking towards the Seoul station; Kyungsoo was going to head home for the holidays and was going to stay there for a couple days. He was supposed to leave much earlier in the morning, but because Luhan invited him to breakfast he ended up staying for a couple more hours. He would be coming back to Seoul a few days before the new year. Luhan on the other hand was just planning to stay here, his parents were away from China and were vacationing in America at the moment.

"I'll see you soon." Kyungsoo says, as he approaches the ticket station. He looks back at him, a hint of a smile on his lips. "Don't do anything stupid."

"I will not, rest assured." Luhan grins. "Take care."

Kyungsoo smiles this time before he gets on the correct tram, hand held up in a short wave. Luhan waves back, continuing to do so until the tram finally leaves. After that, he sighs and stuffs his hands in his pockets.

As he walks home, he continues to think about why Sehun didn't go out to eat with him this morning. Honestly, he probably was worrying over something that wasn't even a big deal, but he couldn't even figure out why he was in the first place. He also couldn't stop wondering about what it was that Sehun told him last night.

Oh well.

Luhan'll be seeing him soon anyway, he'll ask him then.

 

 

---

 

 

Chanyeol sighs, the back of his head resting against the couch.

He can't help but think about how long it's been since he and Baekhyun got to hang out together—yesterday not counting, because that was a group event. The chef finds himself missing Baekhyun a lot nowadays; he misses poking fun at him and making the doctor burst into fits of laughter.

Chanyeol sighs again at the thought, eyes trained on the ceiling.

He'll admit it to anyone that's not Baekhyun; he's had a "huge crush" (which is what Jongdae likes to refer it as) on the doctor for a while now. He has no idea when it started—he knows that he found the young doctor cute when they met for the first time.

It must've escalated from there though, because ever since then he's been the only thing on his mind.

And yes, that was why he enjoyed buying things for Baekhyun and doing him favors. Hell, he'll do anything for the person he likes.

He's been trying to drop several hints about it, but the doctor could be so frustratingly dense sometimes. There were times when the chef ranted a little about it to Kyungsoo, Luhan, and Jongdae because he was starting to get a little tired of how slow his and Baekhyun's relationship was going.

Kyungsoo had sighed deeply. He said that Baekhyun was probably someone who didn't really pay close attention to these things since he might have other more important things on his mind. Luhan had shrugged and said that he'll try and help, but he also said that he was really bad at anything that had to do with relationships. Jongdae, on the other hand, pat Chanyeol on the shoulder and assured him that he would do everything in his power to help him out with this problem.

Now, don't get Chanyeol wrong—he would trust Jongdae with his life (or maybe not, now that he's thinking about it more carefully), but Jongdae has a small tendency to spill secrets. Chanyeol knows that it wasn't on purpose, but still, secrets are secrets.

It's been a little hard to keep his liking for Baekhyun on the down low, because he was just... an amazing person, really. It hurt Chanyeol's heart every time the other laughed or smiled.

There were some times where he thought that Baekhyun was looking at him a little differently—but that was most likely wishful thinking. Baekhyun sent him mixed signals sometimes, and Chanyeol didn't know how to interpret them. Despite his crush on the doctor, Chanyeol's sort of hesitant to tell him about it, mainly because he didn't want to risk their friendship.

That, and there wasn't a really good time to do so anyway.

Chanyeol checks the time on his phone: 5:24. 

He vaguely remembers Baekhyun telling him at the Christmas party last night that he had to work the next day. Chanyeol was let off easy; the restaurant he works at is closed during the holidays. Unfortunately, Chanyeol forgot to ask what time the doctor would be heading home.

Well, there was only one way to find out.

Chanyeol stands up from the couch, changing into casual clothing before leaving his house. As he gets in the car, he hopes that Baekhyun's still at the hospital, because it would be seriously upsetting if he wasn't.

Twenty or so minutes later, Chanyeol pulls up at the hospital. He parks his car in the lot and walks inside the building, searching for the doctor. His hope deflates when he doesn't see him, and he sighs in disappointment. 

Chanyeol's just about to walk back to his car when a black haired doctor approaches him, a friendly smile etched on his face.

"Hello." The doctor says, his smile growing wider. "You must be looking for Baekhyun."

It wasn't a question. Chanyeol blinks, staring at the guy in total confusion. First of all, how the hell did he know that he was looking for Baekhyun? Second of all, who even was this guy? The chef's eyes flit to the guy's nametag, which read: Dr. Lee Taemin. Well, at least that answered one of his questions...

"I am...?"

"He'll be off at six."

"Oh, really?" Chanyeol smiles, relieved.

"Yes, you came at a very good time." Dr. Lee nods, and then he tilts his head to the side. "I hope you don't mind me for asking, but are you his boyfriend?"

Chanyeol blanches, feeling the tips of his ears grow warm all of a sudden. "Er... no."

"But you want to be, huh?"

"Uh..." The chef blushes in embarrassment, and Dr. Lee chuckles lightly.

He nods at him in farewell before walking off in the opposite direction, leaving Chanyeol to stand there in total bewilderment. Chanyeol, still embarrassed, clears his throat awkwardly before taking a seat in one of the chairs in the main waiting area, deciding to observe the Christmas decorations around the place in the meantime.

Each time someone with a white coat passes by, Chanyeol perks up instantly. When he finds out that it's not Baekhyun, he sighs dejectedly and goes back to scrolling endlessly on his phone. A few moments later, Chanyeol's observing the automatic glass doors opening and closing when he sees someone familiar walking toward him out of the corner of his eye.

Sure enough, it's Baekhyun. The doctor smiles widely once the chef turns to look at him.

Of course, this makes Chanyeol break into a wide grin as well. How could he not? The doctor looks as beautiful as always, even though you can sort of tell that he didn't really get much sleep last night.

"Hey, Baek." Chanyeol says, and Baekhyun punches him in the shoulder lightly in greeting. "Merry Christmas."

"Hey, you. Merry Christmas." Baekhyun flashes him that box-shaped smile, and Chanyeol feels a familiar warmth spread throughout his body. "How did you know what time I got off?"

"Actually, I didn't. I was bored at home so I decided to come to test my odds and walked in around 5:40 ish, and then some guy came up to me, asking if I was here to see you." Chanyeol crosses his arms. "I said yes, even though I was really surprised, and he told me that you were going to be off soon. So, I waited."

Baekhyun laughs nervously, scratching the back of his head. "Ah, that was probably Taemin."

"He also asked me if I was your boyfriend."

Baekhyun doesn't look all too bothered by the statement, but he looks a little irritated as he closes his eyes and pinches the bridge of his nose.

"That person was definitely Taemin, then."

"It was pretty strange," Chanyeol laughs a little at that, even though he's slightly put down by the shorter's reaction. "Anyway, want to go and eat something? I didn't come all this way here for nothing."

"Sure thing, I'm famished."

"Great, I know the perfect place."

The two leave the hospital, the cold air biting. When they get in Chanyeol's car, the chef observes how Baekhyun rests his face on his hand as he leans against the car door, watching silently as the cars on the streets pass by. Chanyeol can't help but smile at the sight of it as he grips the steering wheel and pulls out of the parking lot.

Baekhyun was too damn adorable for his own good.

After a few minutes, Chanyeol pulls up at his and Jongdae's third favorite coffee shop. He's about to tell Baekhyun about it, but he's surprised when the doctor excitedly turns around to face him. 

"Ooh, I've been here before!"

"Oh, that's cool." Chanyeol grins, unbuckling his seatbelt. "I thought that not a lot of people knew about it. In fact, I think Jongdae's the only other person that I know who visits this place regularly."

Baekhyun's smile grows wider at the mention of the barista, "I came here with him, actually."

"Oh. You did?" The chef asks, a little disappointed and a little worried. His smile falters, but luckily the other doesn't notice it for he was staring at the building in front of them. Crap, what if Jongdae exposed me? He can't help but wonder what the two talked about, but he doesn't say anything about it. "Should we, er, eat somewhere else then?"

"Nah, we're here anyway. I don't think any other place is open on Christmas day."

"Yeah, huh."

"...Do you want to go somewhere else?" Baekhyun asks, and Chanyeol detects a hint of hesitation in his tone.

"Oh, no, it's really okay. Like you said, we're already here."

The two walk inside after that, choosing a booth at the corner of the shop. As the two sit down, Chanyeol spots a familiar head of mint green hair making his way towards him, and he grins widely at the sight of him.

"Oi, Yoongi!" Chanyeol says loudly, waving at his friend vigorously, not caring that there were a few other people inside as well. "Why are you working on Christmas?"

"Why are you here on Christmas?" Yoongi scoffs, pushing his glasses further up the bridge of his nose. "I'm here since I have nothing else to do. I get paid more too, so it doesn't that much." When he sees Baekhyun, he gestures towards him with a tilt of his head. "Is he a friend of yours?"

"Oh, yeah." Chanyeol's still grinning when he looks back at Baekhyun. "That's Baekhyun, I've known him for a few months now."

"Nice to meet you," The doctor says.

"Min Yoongi, and likewise." The waiter introduces himself, a hand on his hip. "What do you guys want? I'll save you guys time and take your orders right now so that you don't have to go up later."

"Hot chocolate and chicken noodle soup for me." Baekhyun says after taking a short glance at the menu, and Yoongi nods.

"And you, Chanyeol? The usual?"

"Actually, I'll get hot chocolate and the macaroni and cheese tonight." He then adds, "I'm paying by the way."

"Wait, no, Chanyeol—" Baekhyun protests, but Chanyeol swiftly kicks him under the table before he gets to finish his sentence. He smiles brightly at Yoongi as the doctor yelps in pain. Yoongi's gaze flits from Chanyeol to Baekhyun, a hint of amusement on the waiter's expression.

"Sure thing." Yoongi says, taking their menus after that. "They'll be out in a bit."

After he leaves, Chanyeol steals a glance at Baekhyun, who was staring after Yoongi with a lost expression on his face. Baekhyun eventually lets out a small, resigned sigh a few moments later.

"Damn it, Chanyeol, you always—" The doctor grumbles, as he turns back to face him. His eyes widen slightly when he sees that the chef was already staring at him. He blinks, looking a little flustered. "W-What?"

"Nothing." Chanyeol says, smile growing wider by the minute. "You were saying?"

"You always do this." Baekhyun scrunches his nose, a guilty expression on his face. "It makes me feel really bad."

"I don't mind."

"Well, I do. You're spending all your money on me."

"Just don't worry about it, Baek."

"If you say so..."

They fall into a comfortable silence after that. Baekhyun busies himself with staring outside the window, eyes following the cars passing by once more. He looks like he's deep thought, and Chanyeol wonders what the doctor's thinking about. He decides not to pry, though, and he plays with his phone as they wait for their orders.

"Your hot chocolate." Yoongi's voice scares the out of Chanyeol, and he nearly drops his phone on the floor. Yoongi notices this, and he stares at him. Chanyeol manages a grin, even though he knows that the waiter can see right through him.

"Oh, thank you." Baekhyun says gratefully, taking the drink.

"And this is yours, Chanyeol." Yoongi points to the other cup. "The food's going to take a little longer, hopefully you don't mind."

Baekhyun gives him a thumbs up. "It's fine, don't worry about it."

"Cool. Just let me know if you need anything else."

"Thanks."

Yoongi gives him a curt nod before retreating to the back. Chanyeol clears his throat once he leaves, and Baekhyun turns to look at him.

"I was meaning to ask," Chanyeol begins, but his voice cracks as soon as he said 'meaning'. , he thinks, but he immediately feels a little better once he sees Baekhyun smirking at him because of it. "Um, sorry. I was meaning to ask, when did you and Jongdae come here?"

"Uh, a few weeks back? He said he was bored and wanted to do something." Baekhyun replies, folding his hands on the table. "Why?"

"He's always bored. And um, I was just wondering."

"Well, this is Jongdae we're talking about."

"That's very true." Chanyeol agrees, blowing gently on his hot chocolate. He drinks some of it before continuing. "Speaking of Jongdae, did he go home for the holidays?"

"Yeah. I was planning to go back too, but I had to work today."

"Aw, I'm sure you'll get to see your family soon."

"Hopefully, yeah."

Their food eventually arrives, and conversation flows easily between them (not to mention that the food was delicious as always). As they talk, Chanyeol starts to feel more and more content just being here with the other male. He's always felt that, but today it felt much better, for some reason. Maybe it was the fact that he was actually spending his Christmas with Baekhyun.

Like it was a dream come true, or some cheesy  like that.

"You seem like you've known Yoongi for a while," Baekhyun then remarks. "How did you two meet?"

"Oh, yeah. We met because of how often I went here." Chanyeol replies, smiling at the memory. "I came really late once and he was about to close the shop, but he recognized me so he let me stay. We ended up talking after that and became good friends ever since. He's a pretty talented guy, honestly. He plays piano and produces some music in his free time. I've listened to several of his stuff; it's amazing."

"Whoa, so he's like an underground artist?"

"Something like that. I'm not sure if he's planning on doing it professionally one day, but in the meantime he's working here." Chanyeol shrugs, drumming his fingers on the table. "I have a strong feeling that he's going to make it big one day. You heard it from me first."

Baekhyun smirks slightly at that, and Chanyeol finds himself grinning too.

It did feel too soon when they left the coffee shop an hour or so later, after bidding Yoongi farewell. When Chanyeol pulls up at the front of Baekhyun's apartment building, the doctor lets out a despondent sigh.

"So, this is where it ends."

"This isn't the last time we're seeing each other, dummy." Chanyeol says, amused. He cracks another smile when Baekhyun turns to look at him, and the two maintain eye contact for a little longer than necessary.

Baekhyun ends up looking away first, and the chef grips the steering wheel tightly.

"I know, but it'll be a while until we see each other again."

"What are you talking about?" Chanyeol scoffs. "I can hang out tomorrow, and the day after that. And the day after that, and the day after that—"

"—Okay, I get it." Baekhyun shoves him lightly, and the two burst into fits of laughter. "Gosh."

They sit like that for a while, not saying anything; there wasn't anything that needed to be said, anyway. Chanyeol hasn't felt this content in years, and he never wanted the feeling to end.

"If I stay here any longer, the police might be after me." Chanyeol then jokes, and Baekhyun rolls his eyes. "I mean, loitering and all."

"Are you trying to get rid of me, Park?"

"Why on Earth would I get rid of you, you're one of the best people that I've ever met." The chef snorts, lowkey meaning it when he says that.

Baekhyun hesitates a little before replying, and Chanyeol sees the unreadable expression on the other's face. The anticipation starts to build up inside of him as they both don't say anything for a while.

"Calm down, Yeol, I'm just messing with you." Baekhyun then says, laughing, and Chanyeol screams inwardly. Why was this so difficult? He watches helplessly as Baekhyun unbuckles his seatbelt and climbs out of the car, stretching as soon as he steps outside.

Just as Chanyeol's about to drive off (and rethink his life choices), Baekhyun abruptly spins around. He taps on the window before he walks back to the building.

Chanyeol rolls it down, looking at him expectantly.

The doctor looks a little nervous. He's wringing his hands, and it seemed as if he was trying to avoid eye contact.

"Look... I just wanted to thank you for everything."

"Really, it's no sweat." Chanyeol replies, giving him a thumbs up.

"Okay, but I'm being serious, here." Baekhyun combs a hand through his hair, sighing. Chanyeol could see his breath in the cold. "I don't ever think I can thank you enough for everything that you've done for me. How the hell can I ever repay you?"

Chanyeol opens his mouth to laugh and say something along the lines of 'there's no need to repay me', but that's when he realizes that Baekhyun was waiting for a serious answer. Now feeling extremely conflicted, Chanyeol turns his attention back to the steering wheel, gripping it tightly. His mind kept telling him, do it, do it now. Chanyeol's heart's beating so loudly that he thought that the other was able to hear it.

Well, here goes nothing.

Chanyeol silently counts to three and exhales slowly.

He was going to regret this so much.

"...By being my boyfriend."

At the corner of his eye, he sees Baekhyun place a hand over his mouth in surprise.

Chanyeol's heart rate escalates again, and he clenches his fists so tightly that his knuckles start to turn white. He knows his face has flared up as well, but there's nothing he could really do about it. It feels like years as he waits for an answer, even though only a few minutes has passed by.

The silence is suffocating. It feels ten degrees hotter, for some reason.

"Chanyeol, open the door."

Of all the things he was expecting, that certainly was not on the list.

"S-sorry, what?" Chanyeol nervously asks, his voice coming out in a raspy whisper. Wow, how attractive, Chanyeol bitterly thinks to himself. Baekhyun doesn't reply, however. Chanyeol watches as the doctor suddenly reaches inside the car, unlocking the door by himself before he sits back on the passenger seat, shutting the door behind him.

The doctor doesn't look at him, and Chanyeol stares at the back of his head in confusion.

"Baek—MMMPH" Chanyeol starts, concerned, but he's soon interrupted when Baekhyun immediately grabs his collar and pulls him in for a kiss.

Chanyeol's eyes widen at the sudden action, feeling his emotions running wild. His mind was screaming, and it felt as if he was on a roller coaster that was just going higher and higher. It was exhilarating, and he didn't want this feeling to end.

The kiss doesn't last that long, but he honestly didn't even care because Baekhyun just ing kissed him—was this even real? Chanyeol pinches himself just to be sure, and words can't explain how overjoyed he is as soon as he feels pain.

"I wouldn't mind that at all," Baekhyun smiles widely, his eyes folding into twin crescents. He caresses Chanyeol's cheek gently before climbing out of the car once more.

Dazed, Chanyeol stares after him, touching his lips softly with his fingertips.

They're still pleasantly tingling.

"See you tomorrow, Yeol!" The doctor shouts, cupping his hands over his mouth. He blows a kiss at him before finally walking inside, and Chanyeol's heart jumps in his chest.

As he heads back home, he finds it difficult to wipe the giant grin off his face.

 

 

---

 

 

Seven o' clock rolls by, and Luhan's walking back and forth in his living room.

He doesn't understand why he's so nervous; this isn't the first time that Sehun's been to his house. Maybe it was the fact that he couldn't stop wondering what it was the younger male told him last night. Luhan wasn't able to stop thinking about it, for some reason. It was really strange.

The florist sighs and collapses into the armchair, rubbing his eyes.

He looks at his watch—it's 7:10 now. Sehun's late. Nothing new, but still.

Just after he rests the back of his head on the furniture, the doorbell rings. Luhan jumps out of his seat when he hears it, and he nearly trips over himself when he rushes to go get the door.

Sure enough, Sehun is standing at his doorstep, hands stuffed in the pockets of his black skinny jeans. He's wearing a dark blue button up with the sleeves rolled to his elbows tonight, along with converse.

"Hey, you." Luhan smiles widely as soon as he sees him, but it falters when the officer doesn't seem to return the gesture. He does smile, but it doesn't reach his eyes as it normally would. Luhan disregards this and gives him a once-over, deciding that he was probably just hallucinating. "Looking forward to seeing family tonight?"

"Not really," Sehun scrunches his nose in mild annoyance. "They're going to ask me a lot of questions, and I'm not willing to be interviewed. By the way, I'm sorry for not being able to grab breakfast with you earlier, Jongin invited me."

"Well, good luck. And it's fine, really, I got Kyungsoo to go with me instead." Luhan smiles, leaning against the doorframe. Kyungsoo was right after all; Luhan was just overreacting. "Is Jongin going home tonight, too?"

"Yeah, he has some family dinner to attend or something like that."

"Fascinating." Luhan answers, and then he reaches out of his pocket to give Sehun his gift. "Here you go. I'm sorry that it's late."

"Don't worry about it."

And for the first time ever since he and Sehun met, Luhan feels a slightly awkward silence seep in. It's really unusual for that to happen between them, and soon Luhan begins to feel uncomfortable about it. He doesn't know why today feels different, out of all days. Sehun's a little quieter than usual, and the florist doesn't know what to make of that.

Eventually, he remembers what he was going to ask him.

"Hey, uh, about last night..." Luhan starts, but he immediately stops talking when he sees Sehun freeze after placing the present in his pocket. "Oh, , did I really do something weird at the party? I asked Kyungsoo to confirm it, but he said no—"

"—No, no, you didn't do anything." Sehun interrupts him before he gets to finish his thought. The officer purses his lips before continuing. Luhan gapes at him, completely bewildered by his reaction. "Sorry, I... nevermind. What is it?"

"Er," Luhan furrows his eyebrows, confusion growing by the second. "Did you tell me something important last night? I've been trying to remember it all day, but I just can't. It's really frustrating me, it's times like these where I wish that I wasn't drunk at the time."

Sehun doesn't say anything for a while.

Luhan stands there, waiting, unsure of what to expect.

"I did."

The officer makes eye contact with the florist, and Luhan has a really hard time trying to look away.

"I told you that I like you."

And with those seven words, it feels like time stopped. Luhan's mouth falls open upon hearing his statement, and he gapes at Sehun, whose cheeks are turning a shade of light pink at his now official confession. The florist's mind whirls as he replays Sehun's words in his head multiple times. 

I told you that I like you. I told you that I like you.

"Y-you like me?" Luhan finally utters after a few moments of agonizing silence. "Like... like like me?"

"Uhhhh." Sehun mumbles, now looking and sounding extremely mortified. His cheeks were beginning to turn a shade darker, and he was stuttering. "I-I... well, er, yeah."

"Holy ." The florist mutters, as he proceeds to slowly drag his hand across his face. "Holy ."

"Uh...?"

"I'm really sorry," Luhan manages to say, feeling terribly guilty that he wasn't able to realize any of this sooner. He began to feel even worse when he realizes that Sehun had to do this a second time because he wasn't able to understand what he said at the party.

The florist wasn't even sure about what he was supposed to feel about this whole thing, but one thing's for sure—he wasn't ready for this at all.

When he looks back at Sehun, the officer wasn't meeting his gaze.

"Sehun, I..." Luhan mutters quietly, clenching his fists. He can't stop thinking about all the reasons of why he didn't want to be in a relationship at the moment, anxiety building up inside of him. "I can't—I can't do this right now. I'm so sorry."

After he says that, a flicker of disappointment and hurt flashes on Sehun's face. It's so subtle that Luhan nearly fails to notice, but the younger slowly nods and bites his bottom lip before beginning to turn away.

"Okay."

"I'm really sorry."

"It's fine." Sehun replies, even though he really doesn't look fine. He inhales, and Luhan hears his breath tremble a little. Upon hearing that, Luhan begins to feel much more worse, if that was possible. "I... sort of expected that."

Well, . Luhan dreadfully thinks, but he's unable to come up with a reply.

They stand in a tense silence for a while.

"I—" The florist begins, but he cuts himself off when Sehun makes eye contact with him. He falters at once, because the stare is so intense that he nearly falls over.

"You don't need to apologize," The officer eventually says. "It's not your fault."

"It's not yours either," Luhan protests weakly.

Sehun stares at the ground.

A few more moments of silence pass by, and Sehun turns back to face him again. His gaze softens a little, and he gives him that look again—that one look where Luhan was never able to tell what he was thinking.

"Well, um, Merry Christmas."

Luhan wants to slap himself in the face dozens and dozens of times and never stop. That's right—it's ing Christmas. It's Christmas, the holiday where everyone is supposed to be happy, and he ing broke Sehun's heart.

What the hell was he thinking? 

The officer turns away, starting to head back to his car. Luhan's mind spins frantically as he desperately searches for something to say.

"Wait, Sehun—"

Sehun glances back at him, expressionless.

"I..." Luhan looks at the ground. "I'll see you around."

When he glances up again, Sehun nods slowly, but the officer avoids his gaze. Luhan continues watching him silently until the blonde finally gets to his car and pulls out of his driveway—just as he's done earlier this morning.

He leaves Luhan at the door, the florist's heart terribly aching.

Feeling like such an absolute , Luhan shuts the door with his hands slightly trembling. He doesn't even bother getting back to his armchair and sinks down to the floor as soon as the door closes, staring at nothing in the distance.

Well, what the was he supposed to do now?

He desperately wanted to vent to someone about this, but ironically, the only person who he wanted to talk about this with was Sehun, which made no sense, considering that said male just left his house seconds ago. 

Alternatively, Luhan grabs his phone and quickly dials in Kyungsoo's phone number. He does not give a if he is busy right now.

The phone rings several times, and on the fourth one his friend finally picks up.

"Luhan?" Kyungsoo sounds vaguely disgruntled when he picks up the phone. "What do you want?"

"Kyungsoo, I—" Luhan exhales, voice trembling. He combs a hand through his hair before continuing. "I ed up."

"Give me a minute."

Luhan waits, hearing Kyungsoo politely excuse himself on the other end of the line. He was probably having dinner right now, it was seven o' clock anyway. The brown haired florist waits some more until the background noise starts to grow quieter, and he can hear his friend's voice much clearer when he speaks into the receiver.

"Sorry. What were you saying?"

"I ed up," Luhan sighs dejectedly, resting the back of his head against the door. "I ed up big time, and now I feel like ."

"What happened?"

Luhan shakes his head, even though he knows that Kyungsoo couldn't see him. "It's a long story."

"I'm all ears."

"So you know how I was telling you earlier about Sehun telling me something important at the party? Well... I found it out. I think it would've been much better if I didn't."

"Really?"

"Kyungsoo, Sehun, he..." Luhan trails off. "He likes me. And it's not in that friend way."

"Oh." Kyungsoo pauses. "I'm guessing that you rejected him, then?"

"I did." Luhan bites his bottom lip. "I did, and now I feel really horrible. I mean, it's Sehun. I didn't even have the slightest idea that he liked me. I feel even worse knowing that he had to go through this twice just because I didn't understand him the first time. I just feel really miserable, you know? I totally messed everything up."

"Hey, it's not your fault that you don't return his feelings. You can't really force yourself to like someone back, even if it is someone you're really close to. Don't blame yourself for this."

Luhan remains quiet for a while, absentmindedly playing with the string on his jacket. "I'm just really confused. I don't know how to feel about this."

"Well, do you like him?"

The florist opens his mouth to say no, but he finds himself hesitating. He furrows his eyebrows, realizing that he didn't even know the answer to that question. Of course he liked Sehun has a friend, but as anything more...?

"...I have no idea."

Kyungsoo's silent for a while. Luhan can almost see him pursing his lips on the other end of the line.

"Give it some time, then."

"I just don't feel like I can handle the responsibility of being in a relationship." The brown haired florist admits, looking up at the ceiling. "I feel like I'm going to mess everything up more if I was dating somebody, and I would end up making them more miserable. I don't want that to happen. Yet, I also don't want to be alone for the rest of my life. I'm confusing the out of myself, Kyungsoo, I don't even know what I want anymore."

"You decide when you're ready. It doesn't have to be today, or tomorrow, or this week. Just at least think about it."

"...Okay."

"Okay." Kyungsoo says, voice quiet. In the background, Luhan can hear somebody calling his friend's name. Kyungsoo sighs. "Well... I've got to go. Call me later if you still want to talk, okay? Don't stay up worrying about this, though. Go and eat something or watch TV to get your mind off of it—"

"—Kyungsoo?" Luhan interrupts him quietly.

"Yes?"

"Thank you. Really. I appreciate it."

"No worries." Kyungsoo replies. "Bye, Luhan."

"Bye," Luhan mumbles.

Kyungsoo hangs up first, and Luhan brings his knees to his chest. God, he's never felt so miserable before. He didn't understand why he felt so conflicted with himself all of a sudden; he always knew that he wasn't looking to be in a relationship. Now that this happened, he doesn't even know how or what to think anymore.

It's as if someone slapped him in the face to give him a reality check.

Luhan stares at his phone for a while, biting his lip as he scrolls through his contacts list. He presses Sehun's contact and can't help but smile to himself when he sees the derpy picture set as the other's contact photo.

His finger hovers over the call button, but in the end he lets out a deep sigh and shuts the device off before burying his head in his hands.

 

 

---

 

 

A/N: YAY CHANBAEK! poor hunhan tho :(

exo's comeback is approaching! i'm super super excited, honestly, but i'm rly sad that yixing won't be promoting with them :-( i really miss him a lot, he would've looked so dang handsome with this concept too. on a happier note, EVERYONE looks amazing! i was incredibly shook with baek's mullet AHAHAHA not my cup of tea, but ngl that boy can pull anything off

support exo on their comeback guys!! i wish i had money to buy the album LOL

+ sorry for not including everyone in this chapter, it would've been 10x longer in that case... i think it's safe to say that xiuchen will be in the next one, along with taoris! thanks for all the comments, upvotes, and subscribes! 

-seokminz