| VI. from start to finish |

 

 

Baekhyun hums to himself as he makes his usual route towards Jongdae's room, carrying a lunch tray in his hands.

It's now been four days since the accident, and although Jongdae was certainly doing much better now the staff decided to keep him here until he had fully and officially recovered. Luckily, the bump on his forehead was starting to flatten and the bruise on his chest was slowly shrinking but Jongdae claimed that it still hurt when he laughed or took in a deep breath.

The other day, both Dr. Lee and Dr. Jung (who were orginially supposed to be the ones to take care of Jongdae but were both busy) approached Baekhyun and apologized sincerely for not being there when they were supposed to be, but the doctor told them that it was fine, because it really was. He offered to be responsible for Jongdae completely, even though he knew that he had other patients to worry about as well.

But during the two days that they knew each other, Baekhyun and Jongdae were able to form some sort of friendship. He didn't really know what made it so easy—maybe it was the fact that Jongdae admitted that he had a crush on the guy in the cafe he was working at a few days before, or maybe it was because the barista was a genuinely nice person. Either way, they enjoyed each other's company.

Luhan, Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol visited a few times throughout the past few days—sometimes the two florists came here together, and the sous chef often came alone. They would each stay for a few minutes of more, stopping by when they were on their respective lunch breaks and asking how Jongdae was doing. Soon enough, Baekhyun found himself being pretty comfortable around them.

The doctor smiles to himself at the thought and approaches Jongdae's door at last, balancing the tray in one hand and placing the other on the handle, opening it swiftly. He pokes his head in as soon as he does so, smile growing wider when he sees his friend on the hospital bed. "Hey, Jongdae. You up for lunch?" 

Jongdae was awake, back of his head on his pillow, his eyes trained on the ceiling and a bored expression on his face. After Baekhyun opens the door the barista turns to face him immediately, the ice pack on his forehead slipping a little in the proceess. Jongdae places a hand on it to stop it from falling before greeting his friend with a large smile.

"Depends, what is it?" 

"The usual." Baekhyun says as he waltzes in, placing the tray on Jongdae's lap gently. There wasn't really a wide variety of food to choose from the cafeteria, so Baekhyun usually brought him mashed potatoes (or the occassional peanut butter and jelly sandwich), with either fruits or salad on the side. Today it was a salad. "How are you feeling?"

"Much better." The barista smiles serenely at him as he takes his plastic fork and begins to stab the mashed potatoes with it. "I'm still getting minor headaches from time to time, but it's not that bad now—oh, that's gross."

He interrupts himself when he accidentally flicks some of his lunch onto the front of the new hospital pyjamas that he was wearing, grabbing a napkin and wiping it off of him at once with a disgusted expression on his face. "They're at least better than the hospital food." 

"Better safe than sorry, right?"

"I guess." Jongdae sighs. "I haven't heard from Junmyeon in a while. I'm a bit worried about him to be honest."

Baekhyun still hasn't told Jongdae about he and Junmyeon's brief interaction before, because he felt like it wasn't really necessary even though there was a chance for him to run into Junmyeon again. Instead the doctor nods in understanding, sweeping a hand through his hair before saying anything else. 

"Kyungsoo said that Junmyeon might be visiting soon," Baekhyun makes an attempt to reassure him, "so I'm pretty sure nothing bad happened."

"I hope not, he's been a little distracted lately."

Silence falls between them as Jongdae reluctantly eats some more of his mashed potatoes, his face turning sour with each bite. After a moment the doctor hears a soft knock on the door, and the instant he does he whips his head around and stares towards the direction where the noise came from. "Uh... come in?"

He wasn't sure who it could be because Luhan, Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol usually came around 12:30-ish (the clock on the wall currently read 11:56 am), Chanyeol came unusually early yesterday but it wasn't likely for him to do the same today. The doctor's still thinking about the possibilites when the door creaks open slowly and someone walks in hesitantly—but much to his surprise, it wasn't any of the three people that Baekhyun was expecting to see.

Junmyeon's head pokes in, looking hesitant. "Jongdae...?"

His eyes wander around the room for a bit, and the moment he walks in he finds the barista on the hospital bed, expression morphing into an odd mixture of worry and relief. Junmyeon was wearing the same pair of glasses as last time but a different outfit today, consisting of a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows and black jeans. Baekhyun blinks at him in slight curiosity, unsure of what to say.

"Junmyeon!" Jongdae exclaims. "What great timing, I was just talking about you." 

"Were you now? They said you were in here." 

"Yep," Jongdae replies, cheerful as ever, but he starts sputtering when he accidentally chokes on his mashed potatoes.

"Careful." Junmyeon says sharply, a mother-like edge to his tone. "But are you okay? Are your injuries serious? When are you working again? How are you feeling—?" Baekhyun can't help but bite his tongue to hold back a laugh when Jongdae wearily holds up his palms to stop the questions, remembering how Kyungsoo had done the same thing once he arrived.

"God, you're as bad as Kyungsoo." Jongdae complains as he adjusts the ice pack on his chest. "I'm okay, gramps. Really."

"How many times have I told you to stop calling me that?"

"Not enough," the barista replies smoothly, a sly grin on his face, and Junmyeon's eyebrows furrow in exasperation as Baekhyun watches their exchange in amusement (it was clear to him that the two were obviously pretty close to each other despite Jongdae's remarks). "I'm so touched that you actually came to see me; I was starting to lose hope."

"I'm really sorry for not coming sooner." The manager apologizes, as he walks over to Jongdae and gently places a hand on his shoulder. "I was busy with the cafe. Although when Kyungsoo said that you were in the hospital, I thought that you would be less carefree and more in pain."

"He's not wrong about that; I am certainly in pain." Jongdae smiles up at him. "It's not a lot, but it's still there. I was told that I would be staying here until I'm fully recovered, which should be in a few more days. Take a break, Junmyeon, you're always busy."

Baekhyun meets the manager's gaze afterwards, whose eyes widen a little in recognition as soon as he finally notices the doctor sitting on Jongdae's other side. Soon his lips eventually form into a small smile, and the doctor found himself relaxing a little at the sight of it. It was a little creepy though; Junmyeon's smile was eerily similar to his mother's. 

"Have we met?" Junmyeon asks kindly, as he removes his hand from Jongdae's shoulder and pushes his glasses towards his face more.

Baekhyun tilts his head slightly, "I think so?"

Which was sort of a lie (blame Jongdae); the doctor doesn't think so—he knows so.

"Thank goodness," Junmyeon instantly relaxes, letting out a breath of relief as his smile grows wider. "so you're the same person that I met in the elevator about a month ago. I'm glad that we've clarified that part, because I'm sure that I would've embarrassed myself if I mistook you for someone else."

"Yes, that's me." Baekhyun wonders about how many times he's going to say that. "You've got the right guy." 

"How are you doing, Dr...?" 

"Byun," Baekhyun tells Junmyeon with a bright smile, as he turns around completely to show him his nametag, "you can call me Baekhyun, though, I won't mind. And I'm great, thanks for asking." 

"Wait, you guys know each other?" Jongdae watches the two converse with wide eyes, obviously confused. He sets his lunch tray on the small nightstand next to the bed and folds his arms before saying anything else. "I feel like I'm missing something."

"Oh, we live in the same apartment building." Junmyeon explains as he runs a hand through his styled hair. "We ran into each other one day in the elevator and shared some small talk. I really didn't think that I'd be seeing him here again, and to think that he was looking after you? It's all just a mere coincidence."

Baekhyun couldn't help but agree with him; it seemed as if everyone he was getting to know was already connected to each other somehow. First he met Junmyeon who was talking to Jongdae on the phone at the time, and Baekhyun didn't know that he would end up getting to speak to (and befriend) said Jongdae from the flower shop, to end up meeting Chanyeol who delievered the flowers to him, and eventually also Luhan and Kyungsoo—who all ended up knowing Junmyeon.

It was a bit freaky, if he had to be honest.

"What, you didn't tell me about any of this! Is this what I get in return after pouring my heart out to you?" Jongdae gasps dramatically, pretending to wipe fake tears from his eyes as he proceeds to smack Baekhyun's arm harshly with his hand. The doctor's eyes widen dangerously at the impact, rubbing his arm at once as he glares at the laughing barista. 

"You do that again, and I'm going to give you another bruise." 

Jongdae sticks out his tongue in response, and Baekhyun mimics the action. He starts laughing when Jongdae pulls a clearly unamused expression, and the barista sinks back into his pillow with a pout as Junmyeon stares at them curiously with wide eyes.

"Pouring your heart out?" Junmyeon repeats, miffed.

Jongdae nods, and after a few moments Baekhyun notices that the manager's cheeks were flushing pink with embarrassment as he starts to edge towards the door, looking quite uncomfortable. There was a sheepish smile on his face and he was refusing to look at the both of them—leaving the doctor absolutely bewildered. He exchanges a look with Jongdae before Junmyeon finally says something.

"Uh, I think that I'll leave both of you to it then. Haha. Sure, I was really shocked when I found out that you guys knew each other but I didn't realize that you two shared that kind of relationship..."

"What kind of relationship?" Baekhyun looks back at Jongdae, flabbergasted, before coming to an immediate realization. "Oh."

Silence.

"Yeah." Junmyeon then mutters awkwardly. "Maybe I should come back at a better time..."

"Junmyeon." Jongdae quickly cuts in as he sets his ice pack on the space next to his lunch tray. Junmyeon looks up at last, cheeks now a vibrant shade of pink and coffee eyes wide from behind his glasses. He's probably surprised at the barista's unexpectedly serious tone, so he keeps his mouth sealed shut as Jongdae finishes. "Junmyeon. We're not dating."

The manager's gaze shifts from Jongdae to Baekhyun, and the doctor nods hastily. "You're not?"

"Nope," Baekhyun confirms with what he hopes to be a reassuring smile, "we've only known each other for a few days, we just got along pretty quickly. That's all there is to it, really. Plus, he's already very attracted to someone else already—"

"Shut up, will you." Jongdae advises, reaching out as he covers the doctor's mouth with his hand in one swift motion. "Don't even get me started on you and Cha—"

Before he could finish his sentence, Baekhyun quickly grabs Jongdae's spoon from the table and shoves a whole serving of mashed potatoes into his open mouth, causing the barista to start coughing violently. 

"I don't know what you're talking about," The doctor hisses, as Jongdae grabs a cup of water and gulps it down at once.

Luckily, Junmyeon was showing no sign of having heard their argument for he was still recovering from his incorrect assumption, his previous expression of confusion morphing into one of horror and then absolute mortification in just a few moments. He buries his face in his hands, voice muffled when he says, "Oh my God, I'm such an idiot."

"Gramps," Jongdae croaks after he finally recovers. "I'm very glad that you're finally finding more things about yourself, but there really is no need to make such a big deal out of this."

"I'm sorry, but I'm just—" Junmyeon says helplessly before the door suddenly opens from behind him, and the rest of his sentence disappears due to the small shriek he lets out. The manager quickly backs away from the door and stumbles into one of the chairs into the room as Chanyeol's smiling face makes an appearance from behind it. 

"Hi guys, what's up?" The tall male steps inside the room casually, holding a plastic bag in one of his hands. With the other, he shuts the door behind him before turning to look at the three people currently in the room, bright smile unfaltering. He looks as if he just came from work, for he was still donned in his respective uniform.

"You're early again," The doctor finds himself saying, and Chanyeol beams at his words.

"I know."

"Chanyeol?" Junmyeon says, clearly surprised. "Aren't you supposed to be at work right now?"

"Aren't you?" Jongdae sends Junmyeon a smirk before Chanyeol even gets the chance to reply. He grabs his ice pack from the table and puts it back onto his forehead with a sigh before his eyes dart over to where his friend was sitting.

"Hey... I wanted to check up on you, so I did." The manager frowns, looking mildly offended. "Minseok's been wondering where you've been."

Jongdae's eyebrows jump up instantly at the mere mention of this Minseok (whoever he was), and Baekhyun has a strange feeling that it was the name of the guy who Jongdae had a crush on, based on the barista's reaction. "You're joking, he hates my guts."

"Why would I lie to you?" Junmyeon sighs deeply, and then there's this strange glint in his eyes which is only there for about a millisecond, but it's something that Baekhyun definitely can't miss. He stares at the manager in silent awe before Junmyeon continues. "He didn't directly tell me that he was worried about you, but I can tell."

The barista doesn't say anything for once, biting his bottom lip wordlessly.

"Anyway," Chanyeol coughs to break the silence, "I brought some food from the restaurant. I'm sorry that I didn't get to bring you anything Junmyeon, I didn't know that you were going to be here today." The sous chef gestures to the plastic bag in his hand as soon as he finishes talking, where the doctor's able to see two black to-go boxes inside.

"It's okay, I ate before I came here. Don't worry about it," Junmyeon assures him with a smile, while Jongdae snaps out of his temporary silence and brightens up quickly at Chanyeol's words, a wide grin starting to spread across his face.

"Oh, Chanyeol. You're the best." Jongdae smiles gratefully at him as Chanyeol hands him one of the boxes. "I love you and your cooking, man." 

"Thanks, my cooking and I love you too."

Baekhyun blinks when one of the to-go boxes enters his vision, and he looks up to stare at Chanyeol in mild confusion. The taller's not looking at him, choosing to stare at the floor determinedly as he mutters: "I was going to bring something just for Jongdae, but I decided to make something for you too." He gives him a tentative smile before pushing the box into Baekhyun's lap. "Here you go."

"Are you sure?" Baekhyun asks uncertainly.

"Baek," Chanyeol's smile grows slightly wider at his words. "if I wasn't so sure, then I wouldn't have offered it to you in the first place."

Baekhyun does his best to hide the embarrassed flush starting to spread on his face; it was only a few days ago when Chanyeol had told him the exact same thing after all. A few moments later, the doctor finally glances up and beams brightly at him. "You're too nice, Yeol, I don't know how I'll be able to thank you properly enough." He looks away quickly afterwards, not noticing how Chanyeol's cheeks turn a light shade of pink at the nickname and at the compliment. 

"I'd like to stay much longer, but I told my boss that I'll be back in fifteen minutes." Chanyeol then says ruefully, bringing a hand up to scratch the back of his head. "I'll probably see you guys later."

"You literally just got here," Jongdae frowns. 

"I should get going too," Junmyeon states, as he stands up from his seat and straightens out his clothing. "See you all sometime. And get well soon, Jongdae, it pains me to say this but it's really not the same without you." Next to him Chanyeol hums in agreement, nodding as he props the door open. Junmyeon starts to take a step towards the door, but is interrupted when Jongdae calls him back:

"Um, Junmyeon?"

The manager turns, eyebrows raised. 

"Can you tell Minseok that I'll be back to bother him soon enough?" Jongdae asks, a hesitant smile playing on his lips. Junmyeon looks at him curiously for a few moments before nodding, and Baekhyun swears that he sees the smallest of smirks form on the manager's lips as soon as he turns away to leave, shutting the door behind him.

Baekhyun listens to Jongdae eating the ham and cheese sandwich that Chanyeol prepared for him for a few moments before staring at the own box on his lap—although he's also technically on lunch break as well, he hesitates as he looks down. The doctor feels a little more than guilty about the fact that Chanyeol was giving him lunch without receiving anything in return.

Maybe he'll treat him or something as a proper thank you.

He sighs and pops the box open at last, to see a beautiful strawberry banana crêpe with powdered sugar and chocolate syrup delicately drizzled over it sitting inside.

 

 

---

 

 

Minseok swears under his breath when he accidentally spills some coffee on the counter.

He grabs a napkin and wipes the outside of the cup carefully before moving to clean up the small puddles next to the object. It's been a little more than a month since he got hired by Junmyeon and started working at the cafe, and so far he was very satisfied with his new job—the pay was great, and he really loved the environment, which was incredibly relaxing.

The only thing that he probably didn't like about his job, Minseok thinks as he hands the customer her coffee, sending her a soft smile and a small 'sorry about that' before she walked away with her cheeks flushed, was someone who was named Kim Jongdae.

Jongdae was nothing short of annoying.

At first, Minseok thought that he was a perfectly normal person. On the first day they met, Jongdae shook his hand and flashed him a blindingly bright smile; the introduction was normal enough. Minseok didn't even mind the fact that Jongdae would be mentoring him, even though he was older. Eventually, he found out that Jongdae was unfortunately extremely talkative. He talked a lot; it tended to drive Minseok crazy, being someone who preferred the quiet.

Jongdae also did this thing where he stared at Minseok for long periods of time when he thought that the other barista wasn't aware of it, but Minseok is a  pretty observant person so it was only natural for him to catch on pretty quickly. It was a little unsettling but he gradually got used to it, and started to brush it off, thinking that it was probably nothing.

Reason #3 about why Minseok didn't like Jongdae was because he always teases Minseok about how he does certain things—not to mention that he always stuck around to watch him even after his own shift was over. Minseok didn't really know the exact reason why he did so, but he was very sure that he used it as an excuse to continue mocking him.

It was a little weird because when he heard that Jongdae was going to be looking after him, Junmyeon warned him beforehand and said that Jongdae could be pretty noisy sometimes, and when he asked several of the other employees about what he meant by that they just told him that he'll find out eventually.

To this day he still doesn't know what they were referring to, because Jongdae never really did anything out of the ordinary when Minseok was around. Maybe his fellow employees were just messing with him.

He hasn't even seen Jongdae lately, now that he's thinking about it. He was certainly grateful for the brunet's absence the past few days (because it was certainly much more quieter without him around) but now he couldn't help but think if something bad happened.

Minseok was very mistaken when he assumed that the silence would be peaceful without Jongdae's presence, on the contrary it seemed as if the atmosphere became more tense and uncomfortable. He found himself wondering about what happened to the other barista, just plainly out of curiosity.

He was planning to ask Junmyeon about Jongdae's whereabouts, but his manager disappeared about thirty minutes ago, saying that he needed to do something really quickly and left without any further explanation leaving Minseok miffed. He didn't pry, mainly because he liked his job despite a few distractions.

"Hey Seokjin," Minseok says casually, as he walks away from the counter and looks over at the handsome male with broad shoulders standing a few feet away from him. Surely Seokjin would know what's going on; he usually knew about everything before anyone else did. The blonde turns around at the sound of his name, eyebrows raised. "Do you have any idea where Junmyeon might've went?"

Seokjin frowns before responding. "Hospital, I think." 

"Hospital?" Minseok repeats, alarmed. "Is he hurt or something?"

"Oh, no, Junmyeon's perfectly fine. He's most likely there to visit Jongdae, he hasn't had the chance to do so all week." Seokjin explains to him nonchalantly, and Minseok stares at him, completely bewildered. When the blonde sees Minseok's expression, he tilts his head to the side curiously. "Wait... do you not know about what happened to him?"

"Uh, I don't," Minseok scratches his head, "should I?"

"Well, that's weird; I thought that you would be one of the first people to know about it." Seokjin notes, a small smile tugging at his lips. "Anyway, I don't know the details but apparently Jongdae got into a small accident a few days ago. One of the doctors said that he got a mild concussion or something like that, poor thing."

"A mild concussion?" Minseok gawks at him, his stomach churning for some reason he couldn't explain. "Is he okay?"

"It's probably best to ask Junmyeon about that, he's back now anyway." Seokjin nods as he starts to walk towards the door with the large STAFF ONLY sign on it. He throws a glance over his shoulder, smiling softly at the other before disappearing behind it. At the same time the bells at the entrance of the cafe jingle, and Minseok watches Junmyeon walk inside, mind spinning from the information that Seokjin told him.

"Hello, Minseok." Junmyeon gives him a smile as he approaches. "How are you?"

"I'm okay, I think."

"In that case, I hope it gets better soon."

"Thanks."

A comfortable silence falls between the two as Minseok busies himself with sorting the bills in the cashier, unsure of what to say next.

"You didn't tell me that Jongdae was in the hospital," Minseok then blurts out before he could think twice, his growing curiosity getting to the best of him. He turns his head to look at his manager, watching as Junmyeon blinks back at him with evident surprise; raising his eyebrows and opening his mouth slightly. 

"I didn't?"

Minseok shakes his head.

"That's strange, I really thought I did." Junmyeon muses as he places a hand on his chin. "Who told you?"

"Seokjin."

"Oh, okay." Junmyeon blinks at him strangely. "I have to say that this is news to me, I didn't know that you actually cared about Jongdae—"

"—I absolutely do not care about him in the slightest." The barista says firmly. "I was just curious; there's nothing more to it." He turns to toss a crumpled napkin in the trash can before addressing the manager again, hesitating a little before he asks, "Is he okay, though?"

Junmyeon doesn't reply right away, studying him for a while with an unreadable expression. Minseok can't help but feel slightly uncomfortable under the intensity of his manager's gaze. He's never really pegged Junmyeon as the intimidating type, but sometimes it felt like he was able to see right through him.

"Yes, much better than I expected." Junmyeon then answers, as he grabs a plastic cup and starts to make an iced coffee for himself. "He told me that he's not being discharged until he fully recovers, so I'm guessing that it's going to take a few more days until he's able to come back and start working again. Enjoy all the peace and quiet while you can before it gets destroyed forever."

"I see," Minseok doesn't realize that he was holding his breath until he finally exhales. He manages to let out a small laugh at Junmyeon's statement, watching as he puts a lid over his iced coffee delicately. "And I will, don't worry. I think I'm going to cry when Jongdae comes back."

Junmyeon smiles a little before asking, "Do you really hate him that much?"

"I don't hate him," Minseok confirms. When Junmyeon raises an eyebrow at him in disbelief, he adds hastily, "really. Even though Jongdae's a pain in the and pisses me off all the time with his stupid jokes and annoying personality, I don't despise him—I don't hate anyone, to be fair. He just somehow managed to be one of the people that I really don't like." 

"Hmm." His manager says thoughtfully, drumming his fingers lightly on the counter. "Have you ever tried getting to know him better?"

"Nope, not at all." Minseok lets out a small noise of exasperation at the thought of it and stares straight ahead instead, watching pedestrians stroll by the cafe outside. "I don't think I'd ever want to try. I wouldn't be able to last five minutes of being friends with him. Our personalities... they're too different."

"I used to feel the same at one point in my life," His manager says after a short pause, smiling one of his knowing, motherly-like smiles at him, "but you know, opposites attract—and Jongdae can be serious when he really wants to be. It's kind of scary to be honest."

There's a slight pause before they say anything else.

"Why do I find that extremely hard to believe?" Minseok then mutters, half to himself and half to his manager.

"Just give him a chance, I know we'd work even better if all of us were friends." Junmyeon takes a sip of his drink, waving at him with an amused smile on his lips before he approaches the STAFF ONLY door. "He told me to tell you that he's going to be back soon to bother you again, by the way." 

Minseok stares after him dejectedly for a while, only tearing his gaze away when a customer approaches the counter.

 

 

---

 

 

Kyungsoo glances at the order form in front of him as he attempts to ease his growing excitement.

His eyes kept on shifting to the digital clock on the space next to him, reading 12:34 pm. As the numbers trickled by, Kyungsoo grew more and more restless. It counted down the minutes (and seconds) until Jongin would arrive, dropping by to chat with him as usual; the florist had to admit that he was always looking forward to it every day.

It was quite a change from his usual daily routine, but he soon found that he didn't mind it at all in the slightest.

Jongin gradually started to visit him more during lunch breaks, and Kyungsoo was secretly grateful that he started to. He was gradually starting to feel a little envious of Sehun and Luhan going out to eat together for lunch sometimes.

Kyungsoo and Jongin usually shared some small talk just like they used to in the past, asking simple things like how was college and did anything interesting happen to you the past few years? Kyungsoo knew that he always was going to miss the other ever since he moved away all those years ago, but he hasn't realized how much he truly missed the police officer until they got back in touch again.

He's brought out of his thoughts when he hears the sound of the door opening, and he immediately looks up to see Jongin walking in with a small smile gracing his features. Kyungsoo smiles brightly back at him as he approaches, straightening a little when the young police officer stops by the counter. "Hey, Kyungsoo."

"How's work?" Kyungsoo asks, as he scribbles a few more words on the order form. It's the first question he's always asked as soon as the officer comes in (because let's face it, he can't start conversations to save his life), and although the florist is very sure that he's said it way too many times, Jongin still answers it nevertheless.

"Fine, ish." Jongin shrugs. "Sehun's a pain in the as always, but I manage."

"As long as you're not getting hurt." Kyungsoo chuckles lightly as he sets the order form to the side, and then frowns when he remembers something. "Oh, speaking of people getting hurt, have I already told you about what happened to Jongdae a few days ago, or—?"

Jongin looks very amused at the question. "Yeah, you told me about it yesterday. And the day before that."

Kyungsoo blinks at him in confusion. After a moment of silence the police officer starts chuckling lightly, and Kyungsoo lets out a muffled groan as he buries his head in his hands. He curses at himself inwardly as his cheeks immediately start to flare up in mortification, using one hand to start rapidly fanning himself.

"I can't believe I forgot that I already told you. I'm really sorry, I've just been pretty worried about him lately..." Kyungsoo trails off, shaking his head quickly.

"It's okay, don't worry about it," Jongin's expression softens. "It's only natural to care about your friends."

Kyungsoo opens his mouth to reply, but is interrupted when Luhan immediately walks in with soil messily scattered on his face and apron. His hair and clothes seemed like the only places that were unaffected, somehow. The black haired florist stares at Luhan, dumbfounded, as the brunet sends Jongin a wide smile and a short wave to go with it.

"Jongin! I was wondering who Kyungsoo was talking to."

"I almost didn't recognize you," Jongin glances at Luhan amusedly, "with all the, um, soil."

"What?" Luhan asks, taking one look at his attire. He lets out a dejected sigh when he finally notices the soil on himself. "Oh, damn. I was getting rid of some weeds I found in the planter at the back. There was this particular one which was a complete pain in the ... anyway. That's probably how this happened, now that I'm thinking about it."

"You should wash your hands." Kyungsoo suggests. "And your face, while you're at it."

Luhan sneezes soon after the black haired florist finishes his statement, sending bits of soil flying everywhere. Kyungsoo stares at him increduously before wrinkling his nose in disgust. "You know what... just go home and take a shower."

"Okay, okay," Luhan grumbles as he wipes off some of the dirt on his apron, "I'll go to Jongdae's, he lives much closer than I do."

"Take as long as you'd like, we're on lunch break anyway."

"Oh, I will. Toodles, you have fun with Jongin okay?" Luhan sends the two of them a bright smile after he places his apron on the coat hanger, waving merrily before walking completely out the door and earning a few strange looks from several pedestrians.

Kyungsoo watches Luhan's retreating form for a while, mildly confused by his statement, before letting out a sigh and finishing the customer's order in front of him. Once he's finally done, he places his pen down and glances nervously at Jongin, who's now staring back at him with an expression that Kyungsoo isn't able to read.

Jongin smiles as he stuffs his hands in his pockets. "So."

"So." Kyungsoo tries for a smile as well, but it probably appears more like a painful grimace.

"Are you busy?"

"Not at all," Kyungsoo shakes his head, "I just finished doing the last one for now."

"In that case, do you want to go grab some lunch?" Jongin asks, his gaze shifting to the clock besides Kyungsoo. He smiles shyly at the florist before continuing, and Kyungsoo fights the urge to reach out and squish his cheeks. "I mean... we're both on break anyway. While we're at it, we can be nice and get something for Luhan too."

"Yeah, sure." Kyungsoo agrees to the idea almost at once, hoping that his reply doesn't sound too eager (or else that would've been incredibly embarrassing on his behalf). He coughs into his fist nervously before adding, "That sounds really good to me."

"Cool." Jongin beams brightly afterwards, eyes slipping into crescent slivers. "Do you have any place in mind?" 

"I do, actually." Kyungsoo smiles as he leaves his seat and removes his apron at once, dusting himself off before looking up at Jongin; frowning a little when he realizes for the nth time that he's still shorter than the police officer. "Do you mind if we eat at a cafe?"

"I'm fine with anything, don't worry." The police officer laughs lightly. "Lead the way."

 

 

---

 

 

Jongin leans on the table with his head in one of his hands, the other drumming against the smooth wooden surface.

The cafe Kyungsoo brought him to was very cozy due to the fireplace inside, which was a perfect contrast to the chilly weather. On top of the mantel was a vase of pretty white flowers that Jongin didn't know the name of (then again he wasn't a florist like Kyungsoo was). In the space next to the fireplace there were two plush chairs surrounding a coffee table along with a chess set sitting on the surface. The walls were a dark red orange, and one of them had six clocks displaying the time in six other countries. The other walls were decorated with various pictures and paintings.

Kyungsoo politely excused himself to go to the restroom as soon as they got there, so Jongin slid into a booth and decided to glance outside the windows to pass the time. He didn't feel like going up to the register to glance at the menu at the moment.

He was just very elated at the fact that Kyungsoo agreed to go to lunch with him; he could only do so much to keep himself from engulfing the smaller man into a tight hug. Jongin will never admit it out loud, but he's always been stuck on him even after countless years of separation. It's been so long ever since they've hung out like this, too long, in fact. Jongin missed Kyungsoo very much when the elder moved away, but he was forever grateful for fate bringing them back together again.

Jongin tears his gaze away from the window when someone's voice brings him to his attention.

"Jongin?" 

Expecting to see Kyungsoo, the police officer turns around with a bright grin on his face, but it disappeares immediately when he realizes that it was not Kyungsoo but Kris who was standing in front of him instead, clutching a brown paper bag in one of his hands. The police chief looks more than amused to see Jongin sitting there in a booth by himself.

He blinks at him in surprise, Kris was the last person he was expecting to be here. "Oh, it's you."

"Hola, mi amigo." The police chief grins. "Por qué estás aquí?"

"Estoy comiendo almuerzo."

"Sí, pero... there's nothing on your plate." 

"That's besides the point." Jongin deadpans. "What are you doing here?"

"Same as you, but I was originally here to see a friend of mine." He raises the brown paper bag up a little at the statement, nodding towards the direction of a door with a STAFF ONLY sign on it. Kris wordlessly passes a hand through his hair before addressing Jongin again. "Speaking of friends, why are you here alone? Don't you have a girlfriend?"

Jongin opens his mouth to say something along the lines of I'm not alone (because he wasn't) or I don't have a girlfriend (because he really didn't despite all the rumors that went around in the station) but their conversation is soon interrupted when Kyungsoo reappears and walks up to the booth, settling himself into the seat opposite his.

"Hey, sorry about the wait."

"It's okay," The police officer says with a wide smile, because it really was—and hell, Jongin will always be willing to forgive Kyungsoo for anything and everything. "Have you thought about what you wanted yet?"

"Not yet, I've been here a few times before but I've always been a bit indecisive about what I want to get." The black haired florist chuckles lightly, and then he finally takes notice of Kris standing there. Jongin follows his gaze and glances up to look at his boss's expression, which is full of surprise and slight bewilderment.

"So you're not here with your girlfriend," Kris muses, rubbing his chin with his hand.

Jongin lets out a sigh at Kris's words, rolling his eyes, but he's even more surprised when he notices Kyungsoo's expression. The florists's eyes are as wide as ever, and he's staring at the two of them in evident curiosity. The police officer coughs in an attempt to break the tension, laughing nervously.

"Oh, haha, I just realized that you guys haven't met yet... Kyungsoo, this is Kris. Kris, this is Kyungsoo." Jongin introduces the two to each other, waving a hand. Kris looks at Kyungsoo with mild interest, as Kyungsoo nods at him in acknowledgment. "Kris is my boss, and Kyungsoo is an old friend of mine."

(Though deep down inside, Jongin secretly wishes that Kyungsoo was more than just an 'old friend of his'.)

Kris holds out his hand for Kyungsoo to shake, and the florist complies. "Nice to meet you."

"You too."

"Well, Jongin, it looks like you're clearly busy," the police chief drawls after a few moments of silence, emphasizing the last word, "so I'll leave you two to it."

With that Kris strides away, leaving behind an exasperated and sort of embarrassed Jongin, and an even more confused Kyungsoo. He clears his throat to interrupt the somewhat awkward silence between them (cursing Kris inwardly as he does so) and tries for what he hopes to be a convincing smile. "I'm really sorry about that."

"You don't have to be," Kyungsoo smiles at him, and Jongin feels his heart thud a little faster in his chest, "He seems harmless enough."

As soon as Kyungsoo finishes his sentence, Jongin hears a loud crash, two surprised yelps, and something spilling onto the floor. The police officer pales instantly when he recognizes one of the voices to be Kris's—who was currently apologizing to the person he bumped into, probably. Jongin sinks further down into his seat, feeling the second-hand embarrassment to an extent as Kyungsoo's eyes widen in surprise in front of him. 

"I, uh, take that back." 

"Let's go order something before he gets back over here." Jongin mutters, and Kyungsoo agrees with him before following him to the cashier.

 

 

---

 

 

Kris ed up. He ed up really badly.

One moment he was walking across the cafe, minding his own business, before he had somehow managed to bump into someone along the way out, causing the person to spill their beverage on themselves, Kris, and on the floor. The next thing he knew, he was awkwardly apologizing to the person's feet, completely mortified and a little annoyed at the same time, but when he looked up to face them he knew that he was completely and utterly ed. 

The guy he bumped into looked incredibly pissed off (or maybe that was just his resting face) as well as slightly intimidating, eyes narrowed and lips secured in a tight line. The glow in his eyes were menacing, and made Kris back up instantly in alarm, because he was not willing to get his kicked in front of all the people in the cafe—his self esteem was sure to go down if that ever happened.

"—I'm really, really sorry." Kris genuinely apologizes to the guy for the nth time (something that he almost never does), glancing at the coffee stain on the other guy's white shirt as he tried his best to get the stain off his own clothing as well. The guy glares at him wordlessly. It didn't take a genius to know that he was clearly annoyed.

"Forget it," He says harshly as he turns to leave, and Kris frowns in unamusement.

"Hey, there's really no need to get mad over a spilled drink, especially if it was an accident." The police chief calls after him, irritation rising because of the other guy's foul attitude. Hell, he even apologized to him and everything. "If you're really that mad about it, I'll get you another drink or something."

The other guy stops mid-stride and turns around, eyebrows raised at his words. For a moment, Kris thinks that he's actually going to beat him up judging by the expression on the other's face, but suddenly there's a flicker of surprise on his expression—so subtle that Kris starts to wonder if he imagined it.

"What do you want?" Kris mutters, and the guy's glare dies down just a little bit before responding.

"A grande caramel macchiato, please."

Well, at least he had manners.

Without another word Kris approaches the cashier and pays for the drink, handing a twenty dollar bill to the barista at the cashier as the guy stands behind him in line. Kris is too busy cursing life and fate and everything that exists when he's brought out of his thoughts as soon as the barista (his tag reads Minseok) asks, "Can I have a name for your order?"

"One moment, please." The police chief says before looking behind him. "What's your name?" 

The guy stares at Kris for a while before responding, and addresses the cashier as he says, "Tao."

Then Kris gets his change afterwards, which he wordlessly hands to the guy now known as 'Tao'. Tao glances at it for a while before shaking his head, and his previously hardened gaze actually softens a little, much to the police chief's surprise. "You paid for my drink with your own money, keep it."

"If you insist," Kris says with a shrug, stuffing the bills inside his wallet.

They wait a few more minutes for Tao's drink in a somewhat tense silence. Kris places his hands in his pockets and stares at the small stain on his shirt, frowning at the sight of it. He literally just did the laundry yesterday... what luck. Next to him, Tao was covering the stain on his white shirt by adjusting the black bomber jacket he was wearing so that it was soon out of sight.

Five minutes later, Tao's name is finally called and the other guy leans forward to take the drink on the counter.

Tao takes a sip out of it and sighs contentedly, before side-eyeing Kris and biting his bottom lip in deep thought, as if he was unsure about what to say next. Soon, Tao's lips unexpectedly stretch into a small smile—Kris raises his eyebrows slightly at the action, stunned into silence because 1) he was so sure that Tao was going to slice him in half earlier and 2) holy  his smile was actually quite nice. 

"Thank you," Tao says, voice muffled slightly from behind the drink.

Kris doesn't say anything in response and just gapes at him, taken aback. 

"Goodbye," Tao then says quickly after another awkward silence and brushes past him without another word, walking across the cafe with long strides so that he was out the door in just a few moments. Kris watches him leave, still feeling slightly irritated and miffed at the same time.

One thing's for sure, Kris has never been happier to leave the cafe that day.

 

 

---

 

 

After their lunch, Jongin and Kyungsoo walk out of the cafe and start making their way back to We Are One.

The food was absolutely delicious—he was able to see why Kyungsoo liked it so much, and Jongin was very sure that he too was definitely going to come back sometime. After their lunch, Kyungsoo introduced him to the manager of the cafe (who he was friends with), a young man whose name was Kim Junmyeon. Junmyeon was short and sweet, he gave Jongin a warm smile the instant he saw him. Apparently Junmyeon always bought the flowers in the cafe from Kyungsoo's store, which probably explained how the two formed a friendship.

There's a comfortable silence as the two walk back to the flower shop, the cold wind gently hitting their faces. Jongin shivers a little, rubbing his hands to keep them warm. The cold was tolerable now, but he knew it was going to grow harsher soon, especially in December. He wasn't looking forward to it, to be honest. Jongin preferred summer more than winter. 

After a while, Kyungsoo says, "I didn't know."

Slightly confused at the statement, Jongin raises his eyebrows and looks down to make eye contact with him. "Um, didn't know what?"

The florist doesn't say anything for a few more moments, expressionless, and Jongin starts to worry if he did or said anything wrong. He really didn't like it when he made Kyungsoo upset, it always made him feel really guilty. His mind spins as they continue walking for a few more moments until Kyungsoo speaks up again, his voice calm and steady.

"I didn't know that you had a girlfriend." 

Oh, Jongin thinks, realizing that Kyungsoo misinterpreted Kris's joke earlier as something serious. He glances sheepishly at the shorter male next to him, who was staring back with an unreadable expression on his face—was that disappointment? "Oh... about that."

"Yeah, congratulations." Kyungsoo smiles, but it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "How long have you been in a relationship?"

"No, wait," Jongin blurts out before it's too late, "I don't have a girlfriend."

"You don't?"

"I don't." The police officer confirms as he inwardly curses Kris for messing up. "Kris tends to jump to conclusions all the time, and he doesn't let things go that easily... he does it a lot at work, which is really annoying. It makes me wonder how he got his job. Don't tell him I said that, by the way."

"OH," Kyungsoo's eyes are wide again. "Oh. Oh. That's goo—er, I mean... nevermind." 

And Jongin finds it amusing how Kyungsoo stumbles over his words, cheeks starting to turn into a pretty shade of pink as he bites his bottom lip nervously. He catches himself staring and looks away (albeit with much difficulty), and the two don't say anything else until they finally reach We Are One. There's a police car parked at the curb, Jongin notices, which wasn't there when they left earlier. 

Inside, Luhan is standing behind the counter, scribbling something furiously on a post it note. In front of the counter is Sehun, who was currently laughing at whatever Luhan was doing, clutching his sides as he doubled over. The car parked at the curb was most likely his. 

The two look up in unison when the bell tinkles, and Sehun's the first one to react.

"Hi," Sehun says gleefully at the sight of Kyungsoo and Jongin, wiggling his eyebrows at the other police officer when Kyungsoo turns away to talk to Luhan. The blonde looks over at Kyungsoo and Luhan casually before he lowers his voice and mutters, "I can tell that you had a lot of fun during lunch."

"I did, especially because you weren't there." Jongin snorts, and Sehun feigns an expression of hurt, placing a hand dramatically over his chest.

"We got something for you, Luhan, courtesy of Junmyeon." Kyungsoo says as he places a small brown bag on the counter, crossing his arms afterwards. "He told me to tell you to stop drinking when you and Jongdae go out, and says it's bad for your health."

"Okay, but I haven't been drinking at all lately. I'll tell him thanks later." Luhan replies, straightening up before he grins at the other florist. His face is no longer decorated with soil, sparkling with cleanliness. That's when Kyungsoo leans forward, squinting at the post it notes on the counter apprehensively before furrowing his eyebrows.

"Um, what is that?"

"A dinosaur," Luhan says with a bright smile before he returns to his drawing. "I was planning on giving this to Jongdae, like a get well card—or in this case, get well post it. Haha. He likes dinosaurs, right?"

Sehun guffaws, "That doesn't even look like one." 

"It's the thought that counts."

"Why are you doing it on a post it when you could get an actual card instead?" Jongin asks, frowning.

"I'm being creative here," Luhan rolls his eyes, "Leave me be."

Sehun soon points out something, and soon he and Luhan are back in their own little world. Jongin smiles at the two before glancing subtly at Kyungsoo, whose eyes were still trained on Luhan's drawing. During the past few days, Jongin has been thinking a lot about asking Kyungsoo out somewhere—a voice in his head has always been nagging at him to do so, but he was too scared to bring it up. Now he was feeling confident, especially since Kyungsoo showed interest in Jongin's relationships...

"Kyungsoo," He says slowly, and Kyungsoo looks up at the sound of his name. Before he can regret it he asks, "Do you want to—"

—when Sehun interrupts him by accidentally stepping on his foot. The rest of Jongin's question is drowned out by his loud shrieks of pain, muttering a string of curses under his breath as Sehun stares at him in surprise, "Oh , sorry... I didn't know that was your foot."

"Well, you know now," Jongin winces, shooting him a dirty look.

"Were you going to say something?" Kyungsoo asks him gently, placing a hand on Jongin's arm in concern. Luhan looks up at this, eyebrows raised as he momentarily stops drawing. Jongin bites his bottom lip as he stares back at him, not having the courage to ask him when he knows that Sehun and Luhan were now listening.

"No, I wasn't." He shakes his head, and sighs.

Kyungsoo studies him for a bit before responding. "Oh, okay then."

So much for that burst of confidence earlier.

 

 

---

 

 

 

A/N: i apologize for the lack of sulay + hunhan in this chapter ;;;

in case u were wondering, seokjin is indeed jin from bts! tbh i'd like more bts x exo interactions... i'm just slipping in some cheeky cameos from other groups bc i'm lowkey running out of people to put in the story lmao (they won't be major characters, or will they? hmmmmMMMmmm but they'll pop out from time to time). we got tao & minseok into the mix though!! ain't that good

ah, poor poor jongin... he was so close to asking ksoo out, but alas sehun is an accidental er. haha gosh i love kaisoo so much

i hope u enjoyed this chapter btw, a huuugeeee huge hugethank you to those who subbed (there's 78 of you now, holy!!!! !!!!), viewed, upvoted, and also commented, i can't thank u guys enough. they all literally motivate me to actually get around and upload more chapters :-)

also, here's some more information that no one needs to know: it's actually my birthday tomorrow! wowza (although... if you're reading this and it's not oct 1 the next day then just ignore this entirely lolololol)

pls pls let me know what u think in the comments :-)

-seokminz