| VII. sweeter than sweet |

 

 

Minseok's tired.

No, tired was an understatement. He was absolutely exhausted.

He hasn't been getting much sleep the past few days, mainly because he just couldn't. It was pretty odd, because Minseok usually fell into a deep slumber the moment the back of his head hit the pillow. He still wasn't sure what it was that made him stay awake til five am the past few nights because he knows that he's not doing anything different, but he sure wishes that it would stop soon because it was starting to affect his ability to think recently.

The weather outside seemed to match how he was feeling; the air was very chilly (it was the middle of September after all) and the sky was filled with gray clouds. Minseok shivers despite the thick jacket he's wearing and stops walking as soon as he reaches a traffic light, before realizing that he actually forgot the way to the café—even though he's always went this way ever since he got hired.

He manages to remember the directions about five minutes later, sighing at himself in disappointment as he takes a left and crosses the street. Today wasn't off to a good start, he knew that for sure. This morning he woke up a little later than usual, forgot to eat breakfast, accidentally left his phone at home, and almost took off without his house keys. All in all, Minseok was a mess.

The barista combs a hand through his hair before finally reaching his destination, pushing one of the café doors open as soon as he got there; exhaling gratefully when the warm blast of air hits his face as soon as he steps in. 

Usually Junmyeon is at the counter, greeting Minseok with a polite "Good morning." However, since Minseok was a little late today, Seokjin was already there standing at his usual spot behind the register. The blonde smiles winsomely at him in greeting, before turning his attention back to the customer who was currently ordering something at the moment.

Minseok takes his apron from the hook, hangs his jacket and pins his nametag hapharzadly to his chest as he makes his way to Junmyeon's office to apologize for being late. He fixes his hair nervously again before approaching his manager's door—where he could hear two people already talking inside, which was a little odd; Junmyeon never really spoke to anyone inside his office unless it was extremely necessary.

The barista swings the door open hesitantly, and you can imagine how surprised he is when he sees two people inside the room. Junmyeon's sitting in his chair with his glasses perched on his nose (Minseok never really saw him without them, now that he was thinking about it), and a stack of papers were on the desk—that was normal enough.

The only thing that wasn't normal was Kim Jongdae, who was currently standing at the opposite end of the table, his back facing Minseok. It seems like he didn't notice the other barista's arrival yet, because he was still speaking to Junmyeon when he entered: "Yeah, I know. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you that I was coming today."

"Wasn't Baekhyun supposed to let me know when you were being discharged?" Junmyeon frowns, pushing his glasses back. He leans to the right slightly and gives Minseok a bright smile as soon as he sees him standing in the doorway. "Oh, good morning Minseok."

And that's when Jongdae finally looks over his shoulder, the smile on his face faltering a little when he sees the other. His expression morphs into one of slight surprise, lips parted and eyes widened.

Minseok forces himself to maintain a neutral expression, in a valiant attempt to hide his own confusion. "You're back."

Jongdae looks the same as he did the last time Minseok saw him, except now that he was slightly skinnier and his hair was a little shorter. Even so, Minseok couldn't help but stare; he definitely hasn't seen him in quite a while.

"I sure am." Jongdae shrugs nonchalantly, as if he wasn't in the hospital for the past few weeks. He does wince a little at the action, but is well enough to be able to send the other barista a teasing smile. "Did you miss me?"

"Not in the slightest."

Jongdae looks more than amused by his response, his smirk growing ever so slightly. Minseok on the other hand has to restrain himself from strangling him, although he already knows that it won't be long until he got used to this again. Junmyeon coughs awkwardly at his desk, crossing his arms over the table as he glances at the two in front of him. "Um, Minseok, did you need anything?"

"Oh... right." Minseok remembers himself. "I was going to apologize for being late this morning."

"Oh, you don't have to say sorry. It happens, don't worry about it." Junmyeon says kindly as he looks down to smooth out some paperwork, and Minseok will always be thankful that his boss is so incredibly considerate. "Just go and work hard to make up for it."

Minseok respectfully nods to his manager and leaves the room quickly without looking back once (knowing that Jongdae was watching him), storming over to Seokjin to calm his rising temper instead. The blonde raises his head as soon as Minseok arrives, and gives him another one of those sweet smiles of his, "Good morning!"

"Hello," Minseok replies, but it sounds a little harsher than he intended.

Seokjin seems to notice this and looks at him curiously, "Having a rough day so far?"

"Unfortunately." Minseok covers his face with his hands and groans in exasperation. "I almost forgot half my things at home, didn't get much sleep the whole week, and now I just found out that Jongdae's back from the hospital... my peace is destroyed forever. Today is just getting worse by the second."

"You poor thing." Seokjin's gaze softens as he places a comforting hand on the other barista's shoulder. "Don't fret, Minseok. Jongdae's really not as bad as you think he is."

Minseok shakes his head wordlessly before looking over to the cashier.

Jongdae's already there manning the area, a wide smile on the younger's face as he chats with another customer across the cash register. Minseok really wasn't expecting him to recover so quickly; he will always wonder how he could already have that much energy even if he was just recently released. Seokjin chuckles lightly from behind Minseok, before he removes his hand from his shoulder and retreats to the STAFF ONLY door again.

Minseok busies himself with organizing the stack of plastic cups, until he hears his name being called. "Hey, Minseok."

"What?" Minseok sighs, because it was impossible to be able to ignore Jongdae. 

"The customer ordered something, it's your job to make the item remember?" The other brunet simply laughs at his irritation, and that only makes Minseok's annoyance skyrocket. He's still smiling when he offers Minseok a copy of the receipt, and the latter gives him a pointed glare before swiping it out of his hands.

He reads over the order silently before handing the receipt back to Jongdae, who takes it back from him. Minseok takes a plastic cup from the stack and proceeds to make the drink, the recipe clear in his mind. At least there was one thing that was going correctly so far. He knows Jongdae is watching, and that only makes him more determined to get this right—he absolutely hates it when Jongdae teases him for doing things wrong.

Minseok finishes making the drink eventually, and he calls out the customer's name when he's done. He puts on his best, friendly smile as he hands them their drink, but his grin morphs back into a neutral expression when he looks back at where Jongdae was.

However the other barista wasn't looking back at him for once, a hand to his forehead with a slightly pained expression on his face. Minseok can't explain the pang of uncertainly he suddenly feels inside of him, all previous irritation disappearing as soon as he saw him like that.

A bunch of questions spring up in his mind, but he couldn't bring himself to ask since he knew that Jongdae was sure to say something about it.

"Are you alright?" Minseok startles himself when he ends up blurting out one of the questions he had, covering his mouth at once after he did. He prays hard that Jongdae doesn't notice, but luck is most definitely not on his side today because the brunet looks up at him with wide eyes.

"Uh, yeah, I'm okay." Jongdae answers after a few moments of silence, shock once again evident in his expression. He removes his hand from his forehead, and stuffs it in his pants pocket instead. "Are you sure you're okay though? You never ask me what's wrong." 

"S-Shut up." Minseok stammers, feeling his cheeks heat up in mortification. He covers the lower half of his face and absolutely refuses to meet the other barista's eyes, finding the floor incredibly interesting. "I'm fine. I was just curious."

When he looks back at Jongdae, unsure of what to expect, he's glancing back at Minseok with a small smirk on his face and his arms crossed. Minseok's frown deepens at once, and as he takes a step towards him to give him a piece of his mind he accidentally slips over a napkin on the floor.

He's cursing life and everything as he attempts to stablize himself, and feels a hand gently enclose over his wrist in the process.

When he looks up there's a serious glint in Jongdae's eyes; something that Minseok is definitely not used to at all. There's nothing in his expression that hints to this being a joke, and Minseok starts to feel incredibly anxious as Jongdae continues to observe him in silence. It's so unsettling for him to be in this situation, and the barista finds himself thinking about what Junmyeon told him a few weeks ago: "Jongdae can be really serious when he wants to be."

Was this what Junmyeon was referring to?

"Hey," Jongdae says, his voice laced with concern, "you might hurt yourself."

Minseok jolts his wrist away Jongdae's hand afterwards, mind spinning violently. What has gotten into him lately? Normally Minseok would've thrown a harsh retort back to the other barista without missing a beat, but for some reason he couldn't think of anything to say today. One thing's for sure: he really needed to sleep more. That was probably the reason why he was so out of it today.

He doesn't say anything else as he picks up the napkin and tosses it in the trash, before firmly turning back to the cash register to hide his slowly reddening face. "Don't tell me what to do, who's the one that got a concussion here in the first place?"

"That wasn't even my fault!" Jongdae pouts. "And who even told you that I got a concussion?"

"Seokjin, but that's besides the point." Minseok grumbles, as he sorts out some bills in the cashier to distract himself. He finally looks back at the younger, whose eyebrows are raised in apprehension. "What are you looking at?"

"Nothing."

"Yeah, right." Minseok snorts and trains his eyes on the floor next to him, before muttering, "You should be more careful, idiot."

He doesn't even know if Jongdae hears it or not, so he chances a glance over his shoulder. He's greeted with the sight of Jongdae's eyebrows raising even higher, and that action causes Minseok's cheeks to start flushing in embarrassment once more.

This causes Minseok to look straight ahead, and even though he knows that Jongdae's still looking at him, it gives him all the more reason to ignore it.

Seriously, he needed more sleep.

 

 

---

 

 

Baekhyun frowns at his phone for the nth time ever since he got home that evening.

Ever since Jongdae left earlier, he's been feeling the need to give something back to Chanyeol ever since he brought him food a few days ago. Even though said sous chef said that he didn't mind doing it, Baekhyun still ended up feeling unreasonably guilty. He's been thinking about asking the other to lunch or something so that he wouldn't feel bad anymore, but he still was hesitant to ask him about it.

Hmm, watching a movie might actually be a much better idea; Baekhyun used to do it all the time when he hung out with his friends back in college, after all. The doctor nods in approval, the idea appealed to him the more he thought about it. It would be a good time for the two to get closer too.

Baekhyun shakes his head as he crashes on the loveseat, relaxing into the soft cushions as he observes the small plants sitting on his coffee table. He hasn't ordered anything from We Are One lately ever since Chanyeol and the others knew about him ordering so much things in a couple of days, and he feels like this has already set a new record for him. 

The doctor pulls out his phone after a few moments of hesitation and goes through his contacts, stopping over 'Park Chanyeol.'

Come to think of it, he and Chanyeol never actually texted after giving each other their numbers. It was probably because both of them were too busy to, which honestly made a lot of sense. Baekhyun stares at the contact in his phone for another few minutes, taking in a deep breath before making a new conversation and typing slowly in the text box.

To: Park Chanyeol
hi yeol it's baekhyun :-)

Baekhyun slaps himself and stares at the words on the screen, because of course Chanyeol would know it's him consdering the fact that they exchanged numbers; but it was too late to back out now. He throws his phone on the other side of the loveseat, about to get up to make something to eat to distract himself, when his phone vibrates a few seconds later.

From: Park Chanyeol
Hey Baek, what's up?

From: Park Chanyeol
Srry in advance if I don't reply right away i'm still at work rn

Just reading his latest text makes Baekhyun chuckle, because Chanyeol replied to him only a few seconds after he sent his text message. It was ironic, but it was also sort of endearing in a way. He's still smiling when he sits back down to send a reply.

To: Park Chanyeol
oh crap, sorry abt that... didn't realize that u were still at work, but anyway I was wondering if u would u like to go watch a movie sometime? it'll be my treat!

To: Park Chanyeol
think of it as a nice gesture from yours truly ^_^

To: Park Chanyeol
I still haven't paid u back properly for that crepe (which was super good btw I'm impressed)

Chanyeol doesn't reply right away, so the doctor stands up from the loveseat (bringing his phone with him) and goes to the pantry to grab a cup of instant ramen. He really wasn't the best at cooking, so he decided not to risk burning the whole apartment building down and settled for something he could actually do instead. Baekhyun sits at the kitchen island after he makes it, swirling the noodles with a fork absentmindedly while he waits for the chef's message.

From: Park Chanyeol
Naw you're okay! Ty, I worked hard on it

From: Park Chanyeol
also yes to that movie, it sounds great! u don't need to pay me back though TT_TT

To: Park Chanyeol
dw I don't mind

From: Park Chanyeol
So when are we doing this?

To: Park Chanyeol
whenever we're both free I guess lol

From: Park Chanyeol
I can do tmrw after 7 ;)

Baekhyun chokes on his food at the sight of the winky face, grabbing the glass of water he so conveniently prepared next to him and gulping it down at once. Holy , he sure wasn't expecting that at all. 

From: Park Chanyeol
SORRY I MEANT **:)

From: Park Chanyeol
I just made this really awkward

To: Park Chanyeol
no no you're fine haha. I can do tomorrow too, we're lucky it's a Saturday. cinema at 8? I'll get u the directions

From: Park Chanyeol
Looking forward to it. See you tmrw ^_^

To: Park Chanyeol
don't be late~

From: Park Chanyeol
If it's for you, I definitely won't be

The doctor decides not to reply to Chanyeol's message, pretending that he didn't see it yet. In reality, he really didn't know what to even say to that. Instead Baekhyun touches his mouth softly with the tips of his fingers, feeling a light blush spread across his cheeks; at least there was now tomorrow to look forward to.

 

 

---

 

 

If there was one thing that Junmyeon found extremely tiring, it was continuously declining Jongdae's invitation to go to the nightclub.

"I told you already Jongdae," he was saying as he straightens his glasses with one hand and uses the other to grab the remote and switch channels, "I have mine and the café's reputation to uphold. If I go out tonight, then tomorrow is going to be a mess for sure."

The both of them were currently in Jongdae's apartment, because the café closed hours ago and the two decided to 'catch up' after Jongdae visited We Are One for the first time in forever. They didn't really do much, honestly, the day mostly consisted of them catching up on TV shows and making a batch of chocolate chip cookies as a 'Thank You' gift for Kyungsoo, Luhan, Baekhyun and Chanyeol for taking care of Jongdae while he was in the hospital.

Jongdae, however, wasn't intent on letting him go tonight. He leans back onto the couch, turning his head to give Junmyeon a serious glance (Junmyeon shivers a little, he's still not used to this). "Gramps, I'm not telling you to drink. I'm telling you to have fun."

"But having fun usually leads to drinking."

"You have enough self control to be able to not do that, I assure you." Jongdae yawns, stretching his arms over his head. "When was the last time you even saw Luhan and Kris in person?"

"Actually, I saw Kris a few days ago when he came to visit at the café during his lunch break." Junmyeon mutters, passing a hand through his hair. "And I saw Luhan when he came to the hospital to give you that note or whatever that thing was the other day."

"You mean, the one with the dinosaur drawing on it? It was a get well soon post it, if I recall correctly."

"That's... unique. Why didn't he get you a card?"

Jongdae shrugs before responding, "I dunno, Luhan's cheap like that. I do appreciate the thought of it though, I still have the drawing in my wallet. What I don't appreciate, though, is you not having fun."

"Jongdae—"

"Listen to me, Junmyeon. When you're much, much older I know that you'll definitely regret not having fun. Just let loose today, enjoy yourself while you still can. No one's going to hurt you there, I promise. And before you say something again, I'm going to tell you that I'm doing this because I care about you and your mental state." 

"Thanks... I guess?" At long last, Junmyeon sighs in defeat; there wasn't any use arguing with Jongdae any longer. "Fine, I'll go."

Jongdae kicks and punches the air happily before breaking into a wide grin, " YES." 

"Don't get too excited, you're going to use up all your energy before we even get there." Junmyeon mutters and smacks the other with a pillow lightly, suddenly understanding why Minseok's so annoyed by him. "I don't even have anything to wear."

Jongdae peeks out from behind the pillow and gives him a quick once-over. Today, Junmyeon was wearing a gray blazer with a black dress shirt, along with matching pants and dress shoes (which were near Jongdae's door). To his surprise, his friend nods in approval. "Just wear what you're wearing now, you look fine. Lose the glasses, and you'll almost look like a cool mom."

"A cool mom." Junmyeon repeats, as he tugs his glasses off and sets them on the coffee table. His can still see a little clearly after he removes the lenses, since his vision isn't really that bad in the first place. "I don't know how to feel about that."

"Well, I sure hope it feels nice." Jongdae smiles at him cheerily before getting off the couch with one swift motion, shutting the TV off and walking inside his bedroom afterwards. "I'll be ready in a bit."

Sure enough, Jongdae emerges out of his room fifteen minutes later clad in a black bomber jacket with a white dress shirt underneath and black skinny jeans to top it off. His hair was also styled, revealing his forehead—the bump that used to be there had flattened completely and disappeared.

"Okay, let's go," Jongdae grins, "You're about to have the time of your life, gramps."

Junmyeon just shrugs and follows his friend out the door after the two both put their shoes on. As the two take the elevator downstairs, Junmyeon can't help feel incredibly antsy; his nerves were gradually increasing and he couldn't stop thinking about what might happen at the nightclub as soon as he arrived. He wasn't sure if he'd be able to make it past the door without fainting, despite the fact that he knew that some of his friends were going to be there too.

Soon they both exit the elevator and leave the building, the cold air whipping Junmyeon's face as soon as he walks outside. He shivers slightly and rubs his two hands together in an attempt to keep them warm as he follows Jongdae through the night, who seems to be the complete opposite of how Junmyeon was feeling right now.

Jongdae stops walking in front of a shady looking place where a small line of people are waiting, and Junmyeon gulps. He could already hear the music all the way from outside, and the bouncer did not look the least bit friendly. 

Eventually the line dwindles and it's their turn for the bouncer to check if they're of legal age. Once they get let in, Junmyeon follows the barista in the nightclub hesitantly, taking a deep breath in the process.

The music is absolutely deafening, and the atmosphere is hot, stuffy, and all in all very uncomfortable. He sighs, it reminds him too much of his college days; when he and Kris would go out to drink after finals were over. He has to squint a little to be able to see Jongdae's outline moving through the mass crowd of adults since he left his glasses back at the other's apartment.

Jongdae finally stops walking when he reaches a bar, where the area was just slightly less noisy and a little less crowded. Junmyeon is able to see the back of Kris and Luhan's heads as soon as he gets there, who were currently both conversing about something.

"—and Sehun told me about the time when you almost stepped on a really important piece of evidence found at a crime scene," Luhan shakes his head in disapproval. "Seriously, Kris, I thought you were much better than this." 

"First of all, Sehun ing pushed me in that direction the last time I checked." Kris snaps, and then he finally takes notice of Junmyeon and Jongdae standing behind them. "Junmyeon? And Jongdae, you're finally out of the hospital?"

"Yep, I'm back and better than ever." Jongdae waggles his eyebrows, as Kris shoots him an unamused stare.

"Junmyeon, it's so nice to see you here." Luhan smiles serenely at him, slinging an arm around his friend's shoulders. "I thought you had your and the café's reputation to uphold?"

Jongdae slides in the seat besides Luhan, flashing the florist a grin. "He does, but I convinced him to go tonight."

"I could be doing much better things right now." Junmyeon mutters dejectedly, as he gently removes Luhan's arm from around his shoudlers and sits down next to Kris. "I could be asleep, watching TV, having a bath..."

"Stop whining," The police chief snorts.

"Where the hell is Yixing?" Luhan raises his head slightly to look around and lets out a deep after a few moments, resting his head in his hands. "He's never this late before." 

Junmyeon's eyes widen at the mention of his neighbor, and he leans forward to address Luhan: "Wait, you know Yixing?"

"We all know Yixing." Kris corrects. "Doesn't he live next to you?"

"How do you even know that?"

"He told us," Luhan grins.

Junmyeon reels; mind drifting off to the conversation he had with said person when they had breakfast that one time. If he recalled correctly, Yixing asked if he knew Kris, Luhan, and Jongdae, and it definitely caught him off guard when he mentioned his friends.

Anyway, he's been on better terms with Yixing lately. It turns out that he was using the wrong key to get into his apartment the day when Junmyeon found him dozing outside early that morning. He told Junmyeon about it as soon as he came back, and he couldn't help but burst out laughing.

The manager feels his heart jump in his chest just at the thought of his neighbor, which was incredibly embarrassing. He bites the inside of his cheek as his face slowly starts to warm up, and it wasn't because it was so hot inside.

"Junmyeon. Junmyeon, are you okay?" Luhan was saying, snapping his fingers under his nose.

"Huh? Yes, I'm fine." Junmyeon brings himself out of his thoughts and massages his temples, starting to feel a headache kicking in. Fortunately, he manages to get distracted when he hears a new, yet familiar, voice: "Sorry I'm late."

"Yixing!" Jongdae exclaims, smile growing wider by the second. "Did you miss me?"

The bartender's wearing a light blue dress shirt with the top few buttons undone and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows (as usual). His hair was also styled—something that Junmyeon's never seen on him before, but it suited him extremely well to be honest; he looked seriously good like this. Junmyeon can't help but feel a blush threatening to spread across his cheeks at the sight of him.

"I missed you," Yixing's eyes widen a little in surprise, but he's smiling when Jongdae leans forward to pull him into a hug. When they let go, Yixing crosses his arms and stares at him in amusement. "I heard about what happened from Luhan, it's good to know that you're doing well."

"Likewise," The barista nods, and then he tilts his head towards Junmyeon—causing the manager to freeze at once. At the corner of his eye, he can see the sly smile starting to grow on Jongdae's face. "Also, I brought a friend with us today."

Yixing follows his gaze slowly, and his eyes widen even more when he finally lays eyes on him. "Junmyeon?"

Junmyeon opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out. After getting his voice back, he mumbles a small "Hello," and Yixing's mouth forms into a small smile, bringing his hand up to give him a short wave. Junmyeon immediately tears his gaze away in embarrassment, heart thudding dangerously in his chest.

"So what can I get you guys tonight?" Yixing asks, eyebrows raised.

"Three beers, please." Luhan smiles, holding up three fingers with his right hand.

"Actually... make that four." Junmyeon says timidly, and when he looks back up he's met with three pairs of shocked eyes. Yixing's too busy cleaning glasses to notice, but he does quirk an eyebrow while he's looking down.

"What?" Jongdae sounds legitimately surprised, almost falling out of his seat. He straightens up again before continuing, "Gramps, I thought you said that you didn't want to drink tonight."

"I know, but if it's just beer then I think I'll be okay."

Yixing glances up and looks at him for a while with that blank expression of his, before he wordlessly hands all four of them glasses and four beer bottles to go along with it. Junmyeon pours about a third of the drink into his glass and tilts his head to drink it, the bitter taste a little familiar on his tongue.

After they clink glasses Kris, Jongdae, and Luhan start talking about something that Junmyeon doesn't bother taking part in, choosing to watch how Yixing moves to other customers and hands each of them their respective drinks. Yixing stops to chat with a few of the customers, probably sharing a joke, judging how the other side of the bar erupts in loud hoots of laughter after a few moments.

Sometimes Yixing would flirt a little with some of them; Junmyeon can tell because of how flustered people always seem after the bartender comes around. It also makes Junmyeon's heart thud dangerously in his chest again so he ends up taking in the rest of the drink in one go, his mind just starting to feel a little fuzzy.

He's totally caught off guard when Yixing suddenly moves toward him, another small smile on his lips and a clean and empty glass in his hand. "I didn't know that I'd be seeing you here tonight."

Junmyeon shrugs, trying to remain calm. "I didn't either, Jongdae kind of convinced me to come last minute."

"Well, it is nice to see you."

"You too."

Yixing nods slowly, drumming his fingers on the table. Without warning, he reaches for Junmyeon's beer and gives him a questioning glance. "May I?" He asks, and Junmyeon bites his lower lip before finally mumbling a shy 'yes'. He watches how Yixing smiles at him softly, pouring himself a glass of beer and taking a sip out of it afterwards. 

"There's something on your face, by the way." Yixing mentions after he finishes his share of beer, grabbing a napkin from the dispenser and wiping the corner of the manager's mouth with it gently.

The smile on his face soon morphs into a small smirk, dimple appearing at the side of his cheek. Junmyeon can't help but flush a deep red (he was lucky that the lighting was so dim in the nightclub) after Yixing straightens up again and walks off to collect other people's finished drinks.

When he turns to join the conversation his friends are in (deciding that it would be a complete waste of time if he didn't do anything), and is surprised to already see Jongdae already glancing at him. Luhan on the other hand was far too busy drinking, and Kris left to go to the bathroom. The smirk's back on Jongdae's face, and Junmyeon starts to feel a little scared.

"What?" Junmyeon asks defensively, feeling slightly more flustered now.

"Cute," Jongdae comments, snickering behind his glass of beer.

"What's cute?"

"Nothing."

Junmyeon raises an eyebrow at him in confusion, but Jongdae already turned to Luhan to talk about something else.

The manager's really not sure why Jongdae, Luhan, and Kris like going here so much. The atmosphere is too loud for him and he's already starting to get another headache because of the music being played. Ten minutes later, Jongdae's on his third cup of beer. That's when he says, "We should dance or something."

Junmyeon takes a short glance at the dance floor, where he could see many adults grinding against each other from here. The sight makes him feel a little sick to his stomach, and he abruptly turns away. "Um, no thank you."

"What about you, K—"

" off, Jongdae," The police chief says before the barista could even finish his sentence. He returned from the restroom a few minutes ago and was already helping himself to another glass.

"Okay, fine. Luhan?"

"No can do, my dancing skills are incredibly inadequate."

"Ugh." Jongdae huffs in disappointment, but his eyes brighten up again when Yixing moves back to them. "Hey, Yixing, want to dance? You haven't in forever, right? Unleash the dancing king inside of you."

Junmyeon almost chokes on his beer when he hears that statement, because Yixing dances? Holy...

The bartender smiles ruefully at him. "Maybe next time, when I'm not working."

"That's what you said last time, and you're always working." Finally, Jongdae sighs in defeat and rests his head in his hands. "Next time, we should just go out and throw a party with our group of friends."

"I can think of more people to invite, too." Luhan agrees, and then his eyes sparkle. "We can bring Chanyeol and Kyungsoo. Baekhyun too, he's cool. And maybe Sehun and Jongin, if they're up for it..."

"I haven't met two of the people you mentioned." Kris tells him. "I know Kyungsoo though, Jongin introduced to me."

"What, when did he do that?"

"I know Jongin too," Junmyeon adds, when Kris completely disregards Luhan's question. When Kris throws a disbelieving glance at the manager he adds, "It's true! Kyungsoo introduced me to him a few days ago too. He's a really nice guy."

"I know none of the people you listed," Yixing points out.

"That's okay." Luhan rubs his chin with a hand. "In that case, I think that we should all create a new friend group. I can think of when to arrange a party or something, and we can invite them over. I think twelve is a good number, let's aim for that."

"Two people left to befriend," Jongdae shrugs, downing the rest of his beer. "sounds like a plan."

Five cups of beer and five hours later Junmyeon ends up being sort of drunk, but he's still aware of what he's doing.

At least he's much better off than Jongdae and Luhan, who are currently both slumped against the bar. They were guffawing over a stupid joke that Jongdae said (which was completely hard to understand because he was slurring half of his sentence), and besides Junmyeon Kris was shaking his head in disappointment.

"They're hopeless," the police chief notes matter-of-factly, gulping down the rest of his drink afterwards. Junmyeon will always be amazed on how well Kris holds his liquor, even though his face is now a noticeable shade of red.

Junmyeon agrees, staring at the empty glass in his hand. "I don't know what I'm going to do about Jongdae. Carrying him home is going to be such a major pain, and I don't know the way back to his apartment from here."

Kris hums thoughtfully, tapping the glass with a finger. "I can take him back. I took Luhan here anyway, and they won't be as annoying knowing that they're going to pass out in the car."

The manager brightens up immediately, "You're the best."

"I know." He answers with a grin, and glances at his phone. "It's pretty late, we'll probably get going now. Did you have fun tonight?"

"I mean... I sort of just sat here for five hours."

"I'll take that as a yes, then, you slurred half of your sentence. Take it easy, Mr. Reputation." Kris scoffs, and then he turns to shake Jongdae and Luhan a little too violently. "Hey, wake up you two. I'm dragging your asses back home; both of you owe me big time."

Luhan lets out an incoherent groan, while Jongdae raises his head and gives him a weak thumbs up. Kris rolls his eyes before forcing the two of them to stand up and follow him toward the exit, and Junmyeon watches them go before pouring himself another drink for good measure. He brings a hand up to subconsciously push his glasses back, before remembering that he left them at Jongdae's before he came here.

Oh well, he had a spare pair at home anyway.

"You're still here."

Yixing's voice brings him back to reality, and he swivels around on the stool to face him. He looked tired, eyes drooping and hair a little messier than it had been when he got here. His nametag is still on his chest even though he wasn't behind the bar anymore, which read 'LAY.'

Junmyeon's starting to feel dizzy from the amount of beer he drank. He clutches the edge of the bar stool in an attempt to stabilize himself, and tries to force himself to stay awake for a while longer. Gosh, he hopes that the hangover he'll have tomorrow won't be too bad.

"I was just about to leave," Junmyeon tells him, words slurring slightly.

There really would be no point in staying after his friends left; not to mention that he still had work later that morning. He checks the digital clock on one of the walls in the nightclub, which read 3:10 AM.

"My shift's over." Yixing smiles gently at him, and Junmyeon has to remember to breathe. "Let's go back together, then."

The manager nods slowly before he can think twice and soon he's following Yixing out of the nightclub. The bouncer nods at them as the two exit, and Junmyeon welcomes the cold air outside gratefully, thankful for not being stuck in the stuffy environment any longer.

It turns out that the building they both live in isn't as far as Junmyeon thought it would be, and before he knows it he's standing in the elevator. The two haven't exchanged a single word throughout the way back, and when the elevator opens with a small ding the two walk out slowly until they're at their respective apartments.

"Goodnight," Junmyeon mumbles before staggering forward, but he feels a hand close over his wrist before he could unlock the door.

"You looked nice tonight," Yixing whispers once the shorter turns back around, and Junmyeon begins to feel the blush slowly creeping back on his face despite the drunken state he's in. It was like he was in middle school all over again; freaking out over something as simple as just a silly crush.

And he was a grown man, for goodness sake.

They stare at each other for a while, and Junmyeon has to take a hold of the doorknob so that he wouldn't fall over; so much for trying to not drink tonight. Through his tired mind, his eyes flit over to the other's lips.

They were really pretty.

Maybe that was what prompts Junmyeon to reach forward and grab Yixing's collar hastily, leaning in to close the distance and to crash their mouths together in a chaste and short kiss—but he's worn out and tipsy and no one will know anyway.

Besides, the bartender's lips are so incredibly soft, and they just feel so incredibly right being attached to his.

"You do too, by the way." Junmyeon breathes as soon as they break apart, feeling the exhaustion starting to take over his brain. He's able to see the surprised expression on Yixing's face before he finally blacks out.

 

 

---

 

 

Dragging Luhan and Jongdae's drunk asses home past 3 AM on a Saturday morning is not Kris' idea of fun.

Before they got out, they were totally fine. They were walking—well, staggering, more like—but at least they were still up. However, before they got to where Kris parked his car Jongdae immediately collapsed, bringing an equally exhausted Luhan down with him.

"Holy," Kris draws a breath in and swears. "."

When Kris walks over to the two laying on the sidewalk with an exasperated expression set on his face, he does his best to try and get them back up. He prods Jongdae's limp body with his foot, tries tickling Luhan, but nothing happened. It was no use; they were completely unconscious.

"Oh my God, why didn't you guys wait until you actually got in the ing car?" Kris lets out a frustrated groan, running a hand through his hair before squatting back down again. He really was starting to regret offering to take Jongdae home, but it was too late to go and tell Junmyeon that he changed his mind.

Sighing, he drags both Luhan and Jongdae's bodies and props them up in a sitting position. He stoops down and slings Jongdae's arm over his right shoulder, and Luhan's over his left. God, he probably looks absolutely ridiculous like this.

The things he does for his friends...

Before he can get a chance to actually start moving, Jongdae slips out of his grasp and falls back into the previous position he was in. Kris lets out another sigh, his patience slowly dissipating, and tries once more to pick them up; but to no avail.

He's about to lose all hope when he hears a quiet voice ask, "Do you need some help?"

Kris turns around, a little surprised that there were actually still some people who were out around this time doing whatever. He can't see the person since the guy isn't directly under the lampost he's standing under, and he narrows his eyes in suspicion. "If you don't mind."

The person finally takes a step in the area of light, and once Kris sees his face his eyes widen. There was no way he'd not be able to recognize those sharp, feline eyes and that unamused expression at once.

It's the same person from the café, the same one he bumped into: Tao, was it? His blonde hair was tucked neatly inside a black cap, and he was wearing a dark gray sweater with black ripped jeans and white shoes.

Kris wants to shake his fist at the dark sky and cry, because of course fate would curse him like this. But instead of complaining (because Tao looks even more unamused as he did last time), he relaxes his shoulders and exhales; at least he was better than a creepy stranger. "Uh, hi."

Tao says nothing, his eyes flitting over to his briefly before glancing at the two sleeping adults next to him. "Which one do you want me to carry?"

Kris blinks, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "I'll carry Luhan," he finally decides, picking said male up from the ground and slinging an arm back around his shoulders. "You can get Jongdae."

Tao walks over just then, stooping down to pick the barista up with no hesitation.

"Careful," Kris calls out in alarm, "That one's just got out of the hospital."

Tao shoots him a pointed glare, before finally settling to carrying Jongdae bridal style. Kris holds back a guffaw when he sees Jongdae's head lolling from side to side slowly before stopping, lips parted slightly.

Tao's eyes narrow, "What's so funny?"

"Nothing." Kris covers his amusement and hides it with an cough. "Let's go, I'm not parked too far away."

They walk together in the night, and on the way Kris wonders why he always ends up in the worst situations. This is probably karma biting back at him, honestly.  He adjusts his grip on Luhan (he's not heavy but he's not that light either) and once they finally reach his car (he brought his own, not the police one) he grabs his car keys and unlocks the vehicle at once. 

Kris opens the door leading to the two middle seats and seatbelts Luhan in, watching how his head droops instantly. Tao goes to the other side of the car,  opening the car door on that side and putting Jongdae inside in a much more gentler fashion. Kris stares at the action increduously; to think that Tao was actually a soft hearted person.

He's more than surprised, however, when Tao walks back to his side of the car and sits in the passenger's seat. Kris stands there for a few moments with his hands in his pockets, tilting his head to the side in curiosity. "Um, what are you doing?"

"Aren't you going to need help taking them back to where they live?" Tao asks, raising his eyebrows.

"I barely even know you."

Tao gives him another unamused look. "I'm really not going to do anything."

Kris raises an eyebrow before getting in the driver's seat and starts the vehicle, trying his best to ignore the other male—who is still practically a stranger— sitting comfortably in his car seat. Kris pulls out of the small parking lot after a few moments and enters the equally quiet road, which is oddly peaceful to him to some reason.

Although, he does get scared less when Tao lets out an earsplitting scream out of nowhere, "STOP THE CAR."

"WHAT." Kris shouts back, slamming hard on the brakes. He stares at the road with wide eyes, heart pounding, only to see a white puppy about to cross the street in the view of his headlights. "You scared the out of me, what the hell? You can't just do that—"

Tao doesn't reply, unbuckling his seatbelt and stepping out of the car at once.

"And where exactly are you going?" Kris shouts, before burying his face in his hands and silently wondering why the hell fate likes to make him suffer.

His question is soon answered when Tao returns a few moments later, holding the puppy gently in his hands. "I'm going to keep it." He says, staring fondly at the small animal squirming in his grip.

"Wait," Kris starts, ogling the puppy suspiciously. "What if it has rabies?"

"It doesn't have rabies."

"And how do you know that, exactly?" Kris says in disbelief, starting the car again. Man, he was so lucky that no one is usually up around this time. He's especially grateful that he can already see Jongdae's apartment building from here, since it was pretty close to the nightclub. 

"I trust my instincts. Plus, it hasn't bit me yet."

"What if that was someone's pet?"

"It isn't," Tao frowns, "There's no tag or a collar on its neck."

Kris stops arguing at that point, because honestly he could care less and it was Tao's dog now, not his. He gives him a half-hearted shrug and the two fall into silence again while Tao pets his new puppy. Pretty soon, Kris is brought to his attention once more when he hears Jongdae swear quietly in the backseat.

"Kris," Jongdae starts, fighting a yawn. "Am I in your car?"

"Mhm." Kris confirms, taking a left as he does so. "We're now here at your place, you and Luhan passed out before I could even manage to put you inside. You owe me big time."

"I feel like ," the barista groans.

"Now, whose fault is that?"

"Ugh." Jongdae rests his head in his hands, and then he raises his head to look in the passenger's seat where Tao was still silently sitting in. "Oh, um, hello."

Tao's new puppy excitedly barks at him, and besides Jongdae Luhan stirs a little in his sleep, muttering something that suspiciously sounds like "daises" before shifting into another position. Tao looks back at the barista, unfazed. "Hello."

"I don't mean to be rude, but who are you?" 

"I'm Tao," Tao clarifies. "I ran into Kris when he was struggling with you and that other guy."

"He let you in his car?"

"We've met before, and he wouldn't have been able to handle you two by yourself anyway."

"I guess." Jongdae raises his eyebrows when Tao mentions that they've met before, but he doesn't say anything about it. "Well, I'm Jongdae, and you have a cute dog."

"Thank you, I just got it." 

"Okay, okay." Kris cuts into their conversation before anything could get even more awkward, stopping the car abruptly at the curb in front of the apartment building. "Goodni—er, well, good morning. See you around Jongdae, and stop giving Junmyeon such a hard time."

"I am not," Jongdae protests, but he gets out of the car. "Where is he anyway?"

"Went back with Yixing, I think."

"Nice," Jongdae nods in approval, and then waves. "Bye, Kris. Bye, Luhan. Bye, Tao." Kris rolls his eyes and Tao nods at him, while Luhan just continues on snoozing peacefully in the back. Soon the barista walks off, tripping twice along the way, and when he finally gets inside the building Kris sighs and drives off towards Luhan's.

The drive to Luhan's place is much shorter since there's no traffic, and once they get there Kris kicks the doormat to the side; grabbing the spare key from the mat and entering, Tao and his puppy following slowly from behind him. He locks the door behind them afterwards.

Kris sets his shoes to the side as he makes his way to Luhan's room with no difficulty (he's been here so many times that he knows the place like the back of his hand) and Tao places the still sleeping florist on the bed gently. The corner of Luhan's mouth twitches a little as he mutters something and turns to his side. The remaining two walk silently into the living room instead.

"How far do you live from here?" Kris asks, breaking the silence.

Tao's sitting on the armchair, his puppy already fast asleep in his arms. "It's a little far. It was closer to the nightclub."

"Damn." 

"What about you?"

"I'm far too, and I really don't have the energy to drive anymore," Kris admits with a scowl, "Do you mind staying over here at Luhan's?"

The other male looks alarmed, eyebrows furrowing. "I don't even know this guy."

"You barely know me either," Kris points out. "What if I was an assassin?"

"But you're not one, so that doesn't count."

"Point taken." The police chief grumbles. "Luhan will mind, but not that much I think. As long as we don't get the carpet dirty. He always gets pissed when I leave trash on the floor."

"I wouldn't like it if you were leaving on my floor either."

Kris gives Tao a weary glance, and the other lifts his hands in surrender. 

"Also, Luhan hates it when people sleep in his guest rooms if we don't tell him beforehand because he always has in there." Kris tells him, crossing his arms as he sits down on the couch. "So I guess we can stay here in the meantime. I'll get some blankets." 

Five minutes later, Kris emerges from one of the guest rooms holding said blankets in his hands. He tosses one to Tao, who catches it swiftly after placing his dog on a cushion on the floor. The police chief can't help but watch as Tao proceeds to cover himself in the blanket, shifting to a more comfortable position before shutting his eyes and letting out a soft sigh.

Kris shuts the lights off in the living room and lays on the couch, pillow propped at a comfortable angle. The exhaustion is already taking over his mind already, and he glances at the clock before knocking out completely: 4:15 AM.

He is definitely not doing this again, that's for sure.

 

 

---

 

 

The next morning, Junmyeon wakes up in his room.

The first thing he notices is that he has a headache, but at least it's not as bad as he expected it to be. The second thing he notices is that he doesn't remember walking into his apartment at all earlier this morning.

The manager fights back a wide yawn and splashes water on his face to wake himself up, before strolling into the living room. Everything's normal, nothing looks touched. Did he really walk in last night? He tries to think but doesn't remember if he did or not...

Although, he does stop in his tracks when he sees Yixing asleep; curled up on the couch in the living room.

Junmyeon's cheeks flare up instantly, because holy crap how did Yixing even get in here in the first place what the heck before finally recalling that he walked back from the nightclub with him. 

He kissed Yixing.

He brings a hand up to his lips subconsciously, faintly remembering how he leaned forward and pressed his lips against his neighbor's. 

The manager's cheeks turn a darker shade of red at the thought, and starts to feel the intense mortification settling in. Oh my God, he is such an idiot. A huge idiot. What if Yixing thinks he's a complete weirdo and avoids him for the rest of his life? Junmyeon knew that he saw how surprised the other male was after the incident.

He curses his previous drunken self, but at the same time he wanted to feel Yixing's lips against his again—wait, what.

"No." Junmyeon tries to convince himself, before turning around a little too quickly and running into his room. He distracts himself by deciding what to wear to work today, and after he gets ready he grabs his spare pair of glasses from his nightstand, putting them on in one swift motion.

A set of sticky notes is on Junmyeon's coffee table, so he decides to leave Yixing a message in case he wakes up soon.

I'm sorry about last night.
If you read this, I'm probably at work.

                                        - Junmyeon

It sounded a little too stiff, but it would have to do. Junmyeon tries his best not to overthink it, but he can't help but blush violently at the sight of Yixing sleeping on his couch—and he still looked really good even in this position. How could someone be so ethereal?

He shakes his head firmly, before slipping on some shoes and grabbing his apartment keys. The manager takes one long, last look over his shoulder before he brushes those weird thoughts aside and walks out, shutting the door quietly behind him.

 

 

---

 

 

That same morning, Kris is woken up by ice cold water splashing him in the face.

Naturally, he lets out a loud scream; sputtering and struggling to breathe as he sits up abruptly, wiping his wet face on the blanket he was sleeping in. He looks around wildly, fuming, before finally meeting Luhan's eyes. The florist was doubled over in laughter, a water gun held loosely in one of his hands. 

"You little ," Kris finally says, breathing heavily.

"Good morning! Do you feel refreshed?" Luhan smiles ridiculously sweetly at him in return, shaking the water gun in his hand. "This is thanks for bringing me back, by the way."

Kris grumbles and throws the blanket off of him, brushing some of his wet bangs out of his eyes. "Your methods of doing things will never cease to amaze me." He looks up and realizes that Tao wasn't in the armchair anymore, and his puppy was nowhere to be seen either. 

"Tao's in the kitchen, by the way." Luhan tells him, like he read his mind or something. He sets the small water gun on the coffee table and crosses his arms, although he was still beaming. "I got acquainted with him and Candy while you were still snoring away on the couch."

"Who the hell is Candy?"

"His dog, didn't you know? It's the cutest thing."

"Oh, that's what it's called?"

Luhan nods before walking back to the kitchen, and Kris slowly follows behind him. He's able to spot Tao already playing with his dog as soon as he gets there, looking well rested. His cap was on the table, and his blonde hair was a bit disheveled. "Good morning."

"Morning." Kris replies, and it's stange because it somehow feels like he's known Tao for years.

"Tao is pretty great," Luhan tells him. He's grinning as he walks over and ruffles Tao's hair, mussing it up even more. "I thought he was some creepy weirdo when I first saw him, but he's actually very good company."

"Lu made me answer so many questions that I thought I was being interrogated." Tao states as he shoos Luhan's hands off of his hair, giving him an unamused glance towards Luhan's direction as he pats it down and places his hat back on his head. The florist frowns and crosses his arms, as Kris wonders how they became friends that quickly.

"Of course I needed to! You were a stranger in my house."

"Well, at least now you two know each other." Kris points out, sitting down on one of the chairs. "I dropped Jongdae at his place before we came over here, so sorry about staying over with no warning. You were knocked out before you even got in the car."

"My bad. Remember what I was saying about a new friend group last night, Kris? We can drag Tao into this!"

"What?" Said person looks up from petting Candy, incredulous.

"No. This is a very bad idea," Kris deadpans, burying his face in his hands.

"Why? We have eleven out of twelve people now, just one more and I can finally throw that party." Luhan insists, wringing his hands. He turns to Tao expectantly. "Last night I basically came up with the idea of making a more stable friend group since our friends somehow know each other through other people that we also know too."

"And what exactly do I have to do with this?" Tao blinks.

"Luhan wanted to have twelve people in a group." Kris shakes his head. "Forget it, this is completely pointless and a waste of time."

"Kris, when was the last time you properly hung out with an actual group of close knit friends that was more than three people?"

He actually has to stop and think about it for a while, eyebrows furrowed together as he drums his fingers on the table. "Not since college. Junmyeon and I shared the same group of friends but we sort of drifted apart with them after we graduated and started working."

"My point exactly."

"Aren't we all too busy to properly 'hang out'?"

"We'll find a way." Luhan shrugs. "So how about it, Tao?"

Tao still looks extremely weirded out, staring from Kris to Luhan doubtfully. He bites his bottom lip as he says, "Uh, I really don't know if I'd like to do something like that. I still technically don't know you guys well enough to trust you, not to mention your friends."

"You know Jongdae too, that makes three of us. And you already know stuff about me."

"I know, but still." Tao shakes his head. "I'm sorry." 

Luhan looks slightly put out, but he smiles nonetheless and clamps a hand over Tao's shoulder comfortingly. "It's okay, we'll convince you to join us eventually. Can I have your number, by the way?"

"Uhhh."

"You shouldn't force him, Luhan," Kris frowns. 

"Shut up, Kris." Luhan advises, smile growing wider when Tao reluctantly hands his phone over to him. He takes it and types in Tao's number in his own phone as he continues, putting his number in Tao's. "Honestly, I think that this is a good opportunity. Make new friends, have some fun. It's like college all over again."

Kris rolls his eyes at the statement, and he and Tao also end up exchanging numbers after Luhan hands him the other's phone. Soon, Tao mentions that he should be getting back to his apartment soon; on the other hand the police chief silently thinks that it's just an excuse to escape Luhan's grasp.

"Bye, guys." Luhan waves at them excitedly when they leave. "See you."

Tao lets out a breath of relief as soon as he gets in the passenger seat of Kris' vehicle, and Candy nuzzles up to him affectionately, tail wagging. Kris stares at the animal in his lap in awe. "Do they even allow pets where you live?"

"Yeah." Tao nods, his mind seemingly somewhere else. 

He decides not to ask and drives off, listening to the address Tao gives him. Strangely enough, the place sounds really familiar to him. He just doesn't realize it until they actually arrive at the building thirty minutes later, eyes growing wide as he slows down at the curb. 

"Wait a sec. Junmyeon and Yixing both live here, I brought Junmyeon home once a while back." Kris blinks, squinting up at the building. "You live here too?"

"Obviously not," Tao says sarcastically, before climbing out of the vehicle. He shuts the door with his leg since his hands are full with Candy, who looked like a fluffy white cloud in the other's arms. They don't say anything for a while, and Kris finds it strange that they're at least now on better terms ever since they met for the first time a while back.

The police chief clears his throat, "You know, I think Luhan has a point."

Tao raises an eyebrow.

"Being in a friend group was pretty fun back in college while it lasted," Kris muses, peering over at Tao through the car window. "I don't know. As much as I'm against the idea, it also might be worth a try."

"I guess." Tao studies him for a bit, the ghost of a small smile on his lips. "Bye, Kris. Thanks."

Kris just nods, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu at his actions and words. After Tao turns around and walks away, he watches his retreating figure until he enters the building. He relaxes a little as soon as he turns back to the road with some sort of smirk on his face.

Maybe fate wasn't cursing him, after all.

 

 

---

 

 

"Wow, that was a really good movie." Chanyeol notes later that evening, rubbing his hands together as the two proceed to exit the cinema. The cold wind hits Baekhyun as soon as he walks outside, and he stuffs his hands in his jacket pocket in order to keep them warm. 

He wasn't kidding, the movie was pretty amazing. The actors all knew what they were doing, and the plot line was magnificent. The audience let out gasps at all the suspenseful moments, some screamed in surprise (including Baekhyun) when there were a few jumpscares, and he even heard some people stifling sobs when a remotely sad scene occured.

"I know right?" The doctor looks up at him, envying Chanyeol's height. "Are you hungry?"

Chanyeol laughs, "You read my mind."

"There's a mall not far from here, we can eat in the food court and go shopping afterwards." Baekhyun grins, slowly speeding up ahead of the other male. "Come on, you giraffe. You're walking too slow." 

Chanyeol eventually catches up to him thanks to his long legs and Baekhyun ends up breaking into a sprint, the taller yelping in surprise and dashing after him. They're both laughing once they reach the mall entrance, hunched over and absolutely winded, but happy all the same.

"Damn, I hate running." Baekhyun complains, and Chanyeol places his elbow on the shorter's head casually. "I'm never doing that again."

"That's why you just have to grow taller, Baek."

The food court is on the second floor, and they both end up getting ramen because of how cold it is outside. The two chat over their dinner about anything and everything; the ramen they ordered successfully warming them up. Chanyeol makes Baekhyun laugh a lot with stories from his workplace and back in college, and Baekhyun does the same.

"Yeah, college was absolute hell," Baekhyun was saying as the two stood up to throw their empty bowls away and put the trays on top of the trash bins. "I had a teacher who taught us a bunch of stuff that I didn't get, so I ended up having to teach the whole lesson to myself."

"Sounds tough," Chanyeol sympathizes, "I used to party a lot in college, and sometimes it got out of hand."

"Seriously?"

"Yep, college was pretty wild. A whole lot of happened, and it was basically a hot mess. It's surprising how I still managed to pass classes and graduate, but I'm not complaining at all."

Baekhyun nods, eyes fixated on the glass windows of the shops in the building. "That's pretty interesting." 

They stop at a few stores along the way, mostly window shopping. Baekhyun does end up buying the both of them ice cream though (strawberry for Baekhyun and vanilla for Chanyeol), and they're now sitting on a bench as they eat their dessert.

He's finishing up his cone when Chanyeol states, "Hey, that person looks an awful lot like Kyungsoo."

"Where?" Baekhyun's eyes widen. 

"There, near the hat shop at the corner." 

The doctor follows his gaze, and he looks at the person's back for a while; which does look a little familiar. There's another person standing next to him, who is taller, and it seems like they were talking about something. Baekhyun squints a little, and then the shorter finally turns around.

He's quickly able to recognize Kyungsoo's heart shaped lips and wide eyes as soon as he does so.

"Huh, that is him. What's Kyungsoo doing here?"

"Beats me." Chanyeol shrugs. "Should we go and say hi?"

"Sure," Baekhyun agrees, wiping his hands on a napkin before the two start to head over there. Chanyeol cups his hands around his mouth and shouts his friend's name a little too loudly, startling both Kyungsoo and the other guy standing next to him.

 

 

---

 

 

"Er, Kyungsoo, I was wondering..." Jongin mutters, as they wait outside the hat shop.

Kyungsoo turns around and faces him, eyes wide. "Hmm?"

Luhan and Sehun were still inside, probably arguing about what to buy and irrelevant like that. But that part really didn't matter to him, because now was the perfect time to go and finally ask Kyungsoo if he'd like to go out sometime. There was no annoying Sehun or Luhan to him this time, and he was absolutely certain that he couldn't wait any longer.

"Would you like to—" Jongin starts, but he's cut off by a deep voice yelling "KYUNGSOO!"

Are you actually kidding me.

Jongin hides his frustration and glances over at the person who called Kyungsoo's name, who was very tall with a blindingly bright smile. There's a shorter guy tailing him, who had light brown hair and soft facial features. He's never met these two before, so he stands by and pushes his irritation away; wondering what their relation to Kyungsoo was.

"What are you two doing here?" Kyungsoo asks, astounded.

"Hanging out, we just came from a movie." The shorter guy smiles at him in greeting. "You're here too?"

"Yes, per Luhan's request." The florist sighs. "He's inside with Sehun by the way."

Tall guy then looks at Jongin, a curious expression on his face. He approaches him with another one of those bright smiles, friendliness etched on every corner of his face. "Hi, I don't think we've met before."

"We haven't." He smiles back, and gives the guy his hand for him to shake. "I'm Jongin." 

Tall guy seems to recognize his name, because his eyes widen and his mouth shapes into an 'O' shape as he takes Jongin's hand and grasps it firmly. "I've heard a lot about you. I'm Chanyeol, We Are One's delivery man."

Jongin nods and lets go of his hand, interested of what Chanyeol meant by 'hearing a lot about him'. "From who?"

"Uhhh," Chanyeol hums, "Kyungsoo, Luhan, and also Jongdae."

Kyungsoo looks a little embarrassed at this, for he purses his lips and stares firmly at the floor; but Jongin's already starting to feel his smile getting brighter. It was really nice to know that they've all mentioned him at one point.

"I'm Baekhyun by the way," the other guy says, "I took care of Jongdae when he got hurt."

"Nice to meet you." Jongin nods at him, and Baekhyun smiles serenely before telling him the same. Pretty soon, Luhan and Sehun exit the store; both holding similar looking shopping bags in their hands.

Luhan spots Chanyeol and Baekhyun first, and the moment he does so he breaks into a bright grin. "Hey guys."

"Hey, Luhan." Baekhyun's eyes shape into twin crescents as he gives Luhan a friendly pat on the back and smiles, before looking as if he was expecting to see someone else with them. "Jongdae's not with you?"

Kyungsoo shakes his head and brushes some of his bangs away from his eyes. "He was interested in coming at first but then he decided not to in the end, I think he wanted to go rest more at home, or something like that."

"It's always hard to tell with him and Kris." Luhan shrugs, adjusting his grip on the shopping bags he's holding.

"That's true, especially with Kris." Sehun speaks up at last, resting a hand on Jongin's shoulder. "I don't even know where Kris is half the time out of work. Right now, he's probably at home doing whatever."

(At home, Kris shivers.)

"I don't think I've met you either." Chanyeol then says, amusement in his tone. "I'm Chanyeol, and this is Baekhyun."

"That's Sehun." Luhan jabs a thumb at the blonde. "He's annoying and likes bubble tea."

"Emphasis on annoying," Jongin adds with a snort, and Sehun socks him lightly in the arm in response. The group erupts in laughter, and for some reason Jongin finds himself liking being around them. It's comforting.

"Well, we'll see you around." Chanyeol smiles as he hooks an arm around Baekhyun's shoulders, waving at them with his other free hand. Jongin doesn't miss the slightly flustered look Baekhyun gets from the contact. "Later."

They walk off after that, and Luhan stares fondly after them. "Wow, they look good together."

Kyungsoo nods silently in agreement, and then Luhan turns away to speak to Sehun; the two blabbering about something again as they move on to other stores. Jongin sighs and runs a hand through his hair, before Kyungsoo turns to him.

"Were you going to ask me something back there, before Chanyeol interrupted?" Kyungsoo asks, eyes widened in curiosity. He's slowed down a little bit, and they were now a little far from where Luhan and Sehun were.

Jongin draws a breath in, "Yeah, I was."

"You can tell me," Kyungsoo chuckles, "There's no one to bother you any longer."

And he was right; there really was no one. Even though Jongin didn't quite have his confidence back, he knew that it was now or never. He finds the motivation to ask just by looking at him and smiles a little at the black haired male before rubbing the back of his neck shyly.

"I just wanted to ask if you wanted to hang out sometime."

Kyungsoo looks vaguely confused, head tilted to the side. "Aren't we doing that right now?"

"No, I mean," Jongin laughs from behind his sleeve. "It'll just be with the two of us."

"Oh." At long last, Kyungsoo seems to get it; to Jongin's surprise, his smile grows bigger and brighter. "In that case, I'd love to."

Jongin blinks at him for a while as the words settle in, before his lips stretch out and form into a wide grin. He's smiling so hard that it's beginning to hurt the sides of his face, but at this point he really could care less. Kyungsoo just ing accepted. This may as well be the best day of Jongin's life. "That sounds really awesome."

"Of all the words you pick and you choose awesome?" Kyungsoo pushes him lightly, but he's still beaming. "Come on, we should go and catch up to them."

"It's okay, they won't mind." Jongin smiles down at him.

And before he regrets it, he slings an arm around the other's shoulders.

 

 

---

 

 

 

A/N: goodness this chapter is so long.. it's a literal word vomit, 11k+ words

..also i'm so sorry if there are spelling errors everywhere lmao i'll fix them eventually

anyway everyone's starting to know each other more!! yay @ chanbaek meeting jongin and yay at luhan & jongdae meeting tao. and wow @ luhan's idea of creating a stable friend group.. here's some more taoris and sulay and kaisoo and chanbaek and a little bit of xiuchen : - ) lol when will xiumin stop pushing chen away????

for chanbaek's 'hangout', just imagine whatever movie you want. i was indecisive
also YES this title is from blood sweat & tears.. i am so shook 

though, i promise i'm not neglecting hunhan!! i haven't decided what i want to do w/ them yet but.. soon. promise

in fact next chapter should be from luhan's pov, and plus we got that kaisoo date B) ohoho yes

thank you so so much for reading this! and thank you so much for subscribing (86 subscribers HOLY ), commenting, and upvoting! i still don't get what the upvoting thing is though lmao but thank you so much anyways <3 let me know what you think so far in the comments!

-seokminz