| VIII. trial and error |

 

 

"You want to do what?"

Luhan lets out a deep sigh at the question, wiping his soil-covered gloves on his apron silently before turning to Sehun with an 'are-you-serious' expression clear on his face. Sehun's not the only one who gave him that kind of reaction when he presented the idea to him; Kyungsoo frowned at him and said that there was no way that it was going to happen.

It was a good thing that Luhan wasn't one to give up so easily.

"For the last time, Sehun, I said that I want to throw a party and invite twelve people so that we could form a new friend group."

"No... I heard what you said." The police officer blinks in confusion, crossing his arms. "It's just that it's pretty sudden. A party? Where did you even get that idea, and who are you even planning on inviting?"

"Well, I got the inspiration from a friend of mine. I was planning on inviting you, Jongin, Kyungsoo, Chanyeol, Jongdae, Baekhyun, Kris, and other people you don't know yet." Luhan lists off several names, counting them off on his fingers, and then he turns away to put some petunia seeds in a pot. He's on lunch break right now, but he didn't want to leave in the middle of doing something.

"Okay... but why twelve people?"

"It's a good number." The florist shrugs, covering the seeds up with some soil. "Plus, I have eleven people on the list so far."

He could almost imagine Sehun frowning behind him, "Why are you even doing this again?"

"You ask a lot of questions," Luhan remarks as he clicks his tongue impatiently, "It's because I think that having a stable friend group would be plenty of fun. Also, all the people I want to invite all sort of know each other anyway; it's a good opportunity for us to get even closer, really."

"Huh."

"You don't sound too excited about it." The brunet sniffs, brushing past Sehun to grab the watering can from a separate table. He strolls back to the pot of petunia seeds and starts watering the plant absentmindedly, and ends up startling himself upon noticing that he accidentally overflows the object a while later. "Oh, ."

Sehun snickers when he notices, "Pay attention to your work."

"You shut up." Luhan swivels around and points the watering can in his direction threateningly, eyebrows raised as he does so. "I would be doing so much better if you weren't here at all to distract me."

The police officer feigns an expression of hurt. "Am I just a distraction now?"

"Obviously."

"Fine, I won't bother you anymore." Sehun says in amusement, palms up in defense as he takes a step back. "I'll just stay here and be quiet. Tell me when you're done so that we can go out to eat, I'm starving."

It's almost been a daily thing, going out to eat with Sehun for lunch.

It's been happening ever since the two met a while back, and it was something that he just got used to doing. Honestly, Luhan enjoys it—even though he'll never, ever admit that out loud. He only scoffs as he dumps out some of the excess water, and after he's finished he puts the pot out where the sun would be able to reach it.

"I'm done." The brunet then announces a few moments of silence later, sliding his gloves off and putting them on the planter next to him. Sehun immediately perks up at his words and follows him as he walks over to the sink and thoroughly washes his hands.

When they both walk back into the main part of the flower shop, Kyungsoo was sitting there scribbling orders onto a form as usual. Strangely enough, he looked a little out of it today. There's a dazed expression on the other's face and he kept pausing in the middle of writing sentences—something Luhan knows he never does unless he's stressed or confused.

Or both.

"Everything okay?" Luhan asks just to make sure, but he's even more surprised when Kyungsoo doesn't respond. "Earth to Kyungsoo?"

He waves a hand in front of his friend's face, but to no avail. Eventually the black haired male blinks twice when he notices what Luhan was doing, looking up at him with a seriously creepy smile on his face. Luhan shivers and makes a face at the sight; Kyungsoo's never acted this weird before, throughout all the years he's known him.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

And that's when he knows something's up.

Luhan shares a bewildered glance with Sehun before responding. "Are you okay?"

"Okay?" Kyungsoo repeats slowly, and then he lets out a nervous laugh. He looks down at once and starts twirling his pen around his fingers silently, another habit that he used to do a lot in college when he was thinking about something. "Yes, I'm okay. I'm pretty okay, I'm doing great."

"Is this about Jongin?" Luhan takes a wild guess and tilts his head to the side curiously, upon noticing that the other police officer wasn't here yet. He knows he's right when Kyungsoo stiffens slightly, so he crosses his arms and quirks an eyebrow. "What happened? Spill."

"Don't you two have somewhere to be right now?" Kyungsoo's tone is a little bitter when he asks, eyebrows furrowed and his lips formed into a frown.

Luhan drags out a sigh, because this wasn't the first time that his friend was being so difficult. It was like this back in college too, when Kyungsoo would avoid a topic with making up an excuse. He got used to it, but sometimes he wishes that Kyungsoo would trust him for once. "You better tell me what's going on as soon as we get back."

The other florist just shrugs at him, and the brunet shakes his head as he and Sehun proceed to exit the flower shop. They've only started walking down the sidewalk when the police officer bursts out into laughter besides him.

"What's gotten into you?" Luhan glances at him, incredulous.

"Jongin asked him if he wanted to 'hang out' yesterday when we were at the mall," Sehun explains, using air quotes as soon as he said 'hang out'. He grins afterwards and stuffs his hands back into his pockets in satisfaction. "I don't know about you, but that sounds an awful lot like a date if you ask me. I think Kyungsoo's pretty nervous about it."

"Wow," Luhan gapes, "ing finally."

"I know right."

"When are they going?"

"Tonight, probably, judging by how excited Jongin was at work today." The officer shrugs. "You should've seen him, he was practically jumping off the walls. He couldn't stop smiling, and he even laughed at one of the jokes Kris said earlier."

"Well, isn't that alarming."

"It sure is," Sehun snorts.

"But you know, I believe that Kyungsoo deserves someone like Jongin. They've known each other for forever anyway." Luhan hums. "He's someone who's willing to take care of him at all costs, and who will be there when he needs him the most. It makes me feel a little envious, if I have to be honest; although I don't even know if I want to be in a relationship at all yet."

It is true, though. Even though he wants to find his significant other (if he does have one), he really isn't sure if he'd be ready for that commitment at all. Taking care of himself was already difficult on its own, he really wouldn't want to disappoint his partner at all if he were to be in a relationship. Sure, he's dated a fair share of people in college—all of which ended pretty badly.

Sehun turns around and glances at him with that blank expression of his; and Luhan has to restrain himself from letting out another deep sigh in exasperation, because he can never figure out what the officer's thinking each time he makes that face.

"You don't have to rush into anything if you don't want to." The officer simply says; pausing a little before he speaks again. "If I liked someone who thought the same way as you do, I would wait for them."

In all honesty, the florist's more than a little taken aback when he hears the words come out of Sehun's mouth. To think that the stoic police officer actually had this kind of side to him? He's always figured that Sehun wasn't the type of person to pay attention to relationships, or love in general.

Then again, we all learn new things every day.

"Oh, isn't that romantic," Luhan snickers as soon as he recovers, "and who would that be anyway?"

Sehun eyes him apprehensively, "I said if I liked someone."

"Pity, I would've given you A+ dating tips." Luhan clicks his tongue in disappointment, before Sehun eventually stops walking in front of the restaurant they were heading towards. The florist's eyes light up immediately as soon as he does, lips upturned into a bright smile as soon as he spots the sign. "Oh my God, I ing love Vietnamese food."

When he glances back at the blonde officer, there's an odd sort of grin on his face. Before Luhan could pay more attention to it the smile's soon gone as quickly as it came; being replaced by another neutral expression in just the blink of an eye.

It leaves the florist positively baffled. 

"I know," comes Sehun's quiet reply, as he walks inside and holds the door open for him.

The florist doesn't understand why his heart skips a beat at the action even though it's just a gesture of genuine politeness, but he brushes it off in the end and assumes that he's probably just hungry.

 

 

---

 

 

Junmyeon's been acting pretty weird today, Jongdae notices.

He doesn't show it in a way that is blantantly obvious, but knowing someone for a long time causes you to find out how they react in certain situations.

For example, when Junmyeon's distracted he gets extremely jittery and starts talking to people even more in order to relieve his stress. He smiles even more than usual and brings up random things such as the weather, life, and just about anything in general. It usually happens when critics come to review the café, but it's never been as bad as today.

Junmyeon also tends to make other people nervous when he's nervous, Jongdae included. It was all the barista could do to tell himself to calm down and remind himself that there really wasn't anything to be worried about. 

See, now this is why his boss needs a vacation.

The manager's strange mood has been happening all day so far, which was weird because 1) he was perfectly fine yesterday and 2) he kept insisting that he was okay even though he clearly wasn't. Most (if not all) of the employees caught on pretty quickly, and Seokjin was especially worried this morning when Junmyeon mistook him for another worker.

Honestly, Jongdae was pretty worried about him; even though he didn't show it. He didn't know what the hell made Junmyeon this antsy, but he did have a sneaking suspicion about what it possibly was. Maybe it was about the café nearing their 50th anniversary next month. Or maybe it was something to do with last night at the night club. 

It was the only thing that would make sense, anyway.

"Jongdae," Junmyeon's voice alerts him at once, bringing him out of his thoughts, and he hesitantly looks up from the latte he's currently preparing.

"Uh, yes?"

"Can you go ahead and water the plants for me?" His manager asks, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "I think they might be dying."

Jongdae frowns at him and stops pouring the steamed milk over the espresso, tilting his head to the side, "Gramps. I don't know if you noticed, but you asked me to do that when I got in today—which I already did by the way. I assure you that the flowers are in perfect condition."

There's a slight pause before Junmyeon says something again, and he doesn't look or sound convinced at all.

"Are you sure?"

"I work at a flower shop; I've never been surer."

Minseok chooses to come in at that exact moment, leaving the STAFF ONLY door and holding a stack of napkins in one of his hands. He too has noticed Junmyeon's odd behavior throughout the whole day (Jongdae was surprised he did, honestly, a lot of the new workers didn't pay much attention to it) and was now frowning at him as Jongdae straightens up.

"Junmyeon, are you sure you're okay? You've been acting really odd."

Instantly, the manager pales. "Er, yes, I'm fine."

Jongdae shakes his head in amusement and returns to his latte, drawing a happy face into the foam. "I hate to break it to you Gramps, but you're a horrible liar."

"I-I'm not lying...!"

"As much as I hate agreeing with Jongdae, he's right." Minseok sighs, unable to see Jongdae's smug grin for the taller's back was facing him. "What's the matter? You were perfectly fine yesterday."

The manager shakes his head vigorously, his cheeks slowly reddening. "Nothing, I'm okay."

"Junmyeon..."

"Gramps, you don't have to be afraid to tell us." Jongdae says as he pushes the latte towards the counter, calling out the customer's name. After said customer comes to get their drink, he turns back to the other two and smiles brightly; causing Minseok to roll his eyes at him in annoyance.

"It's really nothing," Junmyeon weakly protests, wringing his hands.

Jongdae crosses his arms as if to say yeah right, and Minseok raises an eyebrow in disbelief.

Their conversation is soon interrupted when one of their fellow employees, Kim Taehyung, appears in front of the cashier; a man known for his eccentric personality and who is also close friends with Seokjin.

"Hey guys, have you seen Jun—oh, nevermind." He breaks into a wide grin when he spots their manager. "There's some guy outside."

Jongdae snorts, "Aren't there always people outside?"

"Well, he's different." Taehyung points out, looking quite serious for once. "I was outside cleaning the tables like I was supposed to, right, and then he just comes up to me and asks excuse me, do you know a Kim Junmyeon? So I said, yeah, he's my boss. And then he asked me if I can get you and his name was... uh..."

Taehyung stops himself, rubbing a hand on his chin thoughtfully.

"I just blanked out." He finally says after a while, a small frown on his face.

"Was his name Yixing?" Junmyeon suddenly asks, his eyes wide and voice an octave higher than usual. "As in, Zhang Yixing?"

Jongdae blinks at him in confusion, and that's when he's finally able to connect the dots. Of course, how could he not have noticed? Something must've happened with Yixing yesterday when they got back home together. He has to refrain himself from breaking into a knowing grin after realizing. 

"Yes, yes, that's it!" Taehyung nods excitedly, clapping his hands together. "I can't believe you got it. You're pretty something, boss, that was a very accurate guess."

"He's a... friend." The manager bites his lower lip, his eyes trained on a spot outside the café. Jongdae follows his gaze and is able to see the back of Yixing's head and his crossed legs through the large, glass windows. "I can see him sitting on one of the chairs outside."

Jongdae smirks when he sees Junmyeon's cheeks slowly starting to turn a shade of red, and covers it with a cough when his manager looks back at him. So he was right after all. Score.

On the other hand, Minseok stands on his toes so that he could see better. "Maybe you should go and talk to him... we're on break anyway."

"You're so short," Jongdae guffaws, earning a hit to the arm by the other barista as soon as he plants both feet back on the ground.

"I-I really don't know what I'm supposed to do... Should I bring a drink for him?" Junmyeon starts rambling, pressing a hand to his forehead. Jongdae holds back another laugh; it was pretty funny how easily his friend got really freaked out over something like this.

Taehyung shrugs and begins to turn away, "You do you, boss."

"Wait, Taehyung!" Junmyeon nearly yells, and takes in a deep breath when said employee looks at him with widened eyes. His voice is small when he asks, "Um, can you tell Yixing to wait five minutes?"

"Sure thing, boss." Taehyung smiles brightly at him again, sending him a two salute before rushing back outside.

Junmyeon starts muttering things under his breath as he grabs a cup and starts making a drink, leaving behind a bewildered Minseok and an even more amused Jongdae. The barista can't help but chuckle lightly as he crosses his arms, causing Minseok to send him a confused (yet aggravated) glance. "What's so funny?"

Jongdae will always feel slightly disturbed at how Minseok always seems so annoyed with him, but he just gives him a half smile and doesn't reply.

 

 

---

 

 

Junmyeon comes out of the café five minutes later holding a warm cup of green tea in his hands.

He spots Yixing immediately, and feels the nerves start to return as soon as he approaches him. The bartender's earphones are in at the moment, and he was slightly bobbing his head to the music; silently mouthing some of the lyrics as he does so. 

All day he's been dreading to see his neighbor, especially because of what happened between them last night. He was so worried that Yixing was going to think that he was weird, disgusting, or a ert. 

Or maybe all three, his mind tells him. Oh, God.

He knows for a fact that some employees have noticed. He accidentally referred to Seokjin as a different person earlier, and even Minseok ended up getting concerned. It was surprising to him because usually newer workers wouldn't have paid much attention to his behavior, but the ex-military soldier was actually very observant. 

Junmyeon couldn't even bring himself to tell Jongdae about it, even after they've been friends for so long. 

Something tells him that the barista already knows what's going on though, judging by his behavior at the nightclub last night. Although Jongdae pretends to not care, he really does. It's like he knows what's happening before it actually happens.

Honestly, Junmyeon has just been really out of it lately. There was this issue to worry about and then the fact that the café's 50th anniversary party was going to take place next month, and it was going to be a big celebration.

The manager pushes his thoughts away from work for once and he can already start to feel his cheeks warming up at the sight of Yixing. He wills himself to remain calm as he carefully sets the drink on the table that the bartender was sitting at; taking a seat in the other chair silently. 

If Yixing was here, then that means that he did read the note Junmyeon left him earlier this morning. Junmyeon isn't sure whether to feel more embarrassed or afraid by this—or both. 

"Hi," Yixing says, taking his earphones out before smiling warmly at him.

Junmyeon gulps, "H-Hello."

"I got your note, by the way." Yixing continues as he pulls a folded sticky note out of his hoodie, the object between his index and middle finger. Junmyeon nods slowly at this, wondering why the heck his voice decided to not work right now. He had absolutely no idea what he was supposed to say to this, he wasn't taught about what to do in these types of situations.

Instead, the manager clears his throat awkwardly before pushing the green tea towards him.

"I made you some tea, since it's cold outside," Junmyeon mumbles, "I'm really sorry if it tastes bad."

"That's okay, I love green tea." Yixing's dimple appears on the side of his cheek as his smile gradually grows bigger. He places the note back inside his pocket and reaches out to take the cup, taking a small sip out of it. "I'm sorry for disturbing you, you must be busy."

"It's fine, I'm on my lunch break."

Silence falls between them, and Junmyeon finds it to be a little uncomfortable on his behalf. What the heck was he even supposed to say at this point? Yixing wasn't mentioning a thing about the incident earlier this morning, and it didn't even seem as if he was affected by it at all—maybe he didn't even remember that it happened.

The silence is soon interrupted when Junmyeon finally finds the courage to say something. "About last night..."

He really doesn't want to look at Yixing and see his reaction, because he's too busy thinking about how much he messed everything up—just when everything was starting to go smoothly.

Of course fate would decide to torture him like this, he thinks bitterly.

"I-I'm really, really sorry about that." Junmyeon stutters, flushing instantly at the memory. He knows for a fact that his cheeks are turning red by the second, and there was no way that Yixing wouldn't be able to notice it. "I... was drunk, and my actions were completely irrational. I'm so sorry."

It's quiet again as Junmyeon desperately tries to relax. He tries to focus on other things, such as how nice the weather was outside and how well the café was doing recently. It doesn't work this time, unfortunately, because his thoughts keep on going back to the male sitting peacefully next to him.

Goodness gracious.

"Junmyeon," Yixing's voice is soft, and he sounds strangely amused for some reason. It makes the manager snap his head up and look tentatively over at the other male's direction, biting his lower lip worriedly. "You don't have to apologize for that."

"But it was so sudden..."

"It's okay." Yixing smiles gently at him again. "Like you said, you were drunk."

"I just feel so..." Junmyeon begins miserably, burying his face in his hands. He didn't understand why Yixing wasn't angry. He felt so hopeless, but he couldn't bring himself to say that out loud. "It was a really bad thing of me to do. Is it okay if we just start over and pretend that this didn't happen in the first place?"

The bartender raises his eyebrows at him. "I don't know."

"You... don't know?"

Yixing doesn't reply right away, stopping to take another sip of his tea.

"I kind of don't want to pretend that this didn't happen."

Immediately, the manager's eyes widen as big as saucers.

What?

What?

"What?" Junmyeon finally manages to say out loud, mouth agape. There are too many questions in his head, and not many answers. His heart is thudding dangerously in his chest now, and he isn't even sure if that just... happened. 

Was this a dream?

"I promise that I'm not messing with you or anything." Yixing's smile fades and he suddenly looks concerned, knitting his eyebrows together. "I just wanted to tell you that it felt pretty... nice."

"It felt pretty nice to me too," The manager suddenly blurts out, before he could think twice about what he was saying. He immediately slaps a hand over his mouth in mortification once he realizes about what he said.

Yixing laughs a little at this, eyes twinkling, "Well, that's great news to me."

He liked the kiss.

They both liked it.

The manager leans back in his chair, tearing his gaze away from Yixing as he tries his best to take all of this in. He pinches himself, and when he winces at the pain he knows for a fact that he's not dreaming at all. Holy... did that mean that the feelings they had for each other were mutual?

When he looks back at Yixing tentatively, he was smiling softly at him.

Junmyeon instantly melts at the sight. The bartender's smile was always so beautiful and so captivating; the manager could stare at it all day if he had the chance to. He finally manages to snap out of it when he notices that he should get working again soon, and he coughs behind a fist. "I, um, have to go back in a bit."

"Thank you for coming out to see me," Yixing says.

Why doesn't he still feel satisfied even after they cleared everything up?

Junmyeon stands up from his chair, but slightly hesitates. He was honestly still a little shocked about how everything played out; he sure didn't expect this to happen at all to him. He didn't know why he still felt like he wanted something to happen between them, whatever that was going to be. 

"Yixing," Junmyeon then starts. He doesn't know where he gets the courage, but it's there.

Said person glances at him from behind his drink, watching him slowly and carefully. It's like he was anticipating what was going to happen next as well. "Yes?"

"I'm a little too busy to be in a relationship at the moment."

Yixing tilts his head to the side, a small frown prominent on his features. He looks a little disappointed from the way his face falls, and Junmyeon immediately feels guilty for telling him this. He takes in a deep breath and clenches his fists before continuing. 

"But I think it's okay... if we take things slow."

The bartender's eyebrows immediately shoot up at his words, and he nearly chokes on his green tea—something that makes Junmyeon smile a little. Yixing continues coughing for a few moments before he finally gets his system cleared up, and that's when he breaks into a dazzling grin.

"I'm perfectly fine with that."

Needless to say, it's enough to make the manager's smile grow even wider.

And Junmyeon finds it funny how that they've only gotten to know each other just the past month and few days, when they've been living next to each other for years. It's weird how these kinds of things happen; how they didn't even bother to talk to each other until now. How Junmyeon used to not know that Yixing was a bartender and used to not know about how gorgeous his smiles were.

"Okay," Junmyeon starts to walk back inside the café, beginning to feel ridiculously giddy.

He stops when he feels a hand on his wrist, and he turns to see Yixing smiling up at him. "I'll see you later?"

"Of course."

"Good." The bartender says, and finally releases his grip. "See you, Junmyeon."

Junmyeon enters the café with his previous nerves completely gone. He tells Taehyung a genuine 'thank you' when he sees him ("Anything for you, boss!") and as soon as Minseok and Jongdae ask him what happened as soon as he comes in, he smiles and shakes his head.

"It's nothing."

 

 

---

 

 

"Do you ever spend your money on anything besides food?" Luhan asks as he and Sehun exit the restaurant thirty minutes later.

Sehun's a little taken aback by the question, furrowing his eyebrows in bemusement. He certainly wasn't expecting Luhan to ask him a question like that, but whatever. Maybe it was because the officer was usually the one who paid for their meals. "Um, what do you mean?"

"I never see you spend your money on anything that's not food."

"You saw me buy that hat at the mall yesterday." The officer protests, getting even more bewildered by the second. "I also spend my money on the flat Jongin and I live in. And you know, the generic stuff. I don't only buy food."

"Oh, okay."

"And why are you even asking me this?"

"I was just curious," the florist tells him with a shrug, and Sehun isn't the slightest bit convinced. 

"That doesn't make any sense at all."

"You—" Luhan says, before he cuts himself off immediately. His gaze shifts to somewhere else and he squints for a while in that direction, brightening up when he sees a young man walking towards them.

Said person had earbuds in and his hands were stuffed inside the pockets of his gray hoodie, shielding them away from the cold. Even though Sehun literally just gave him a brief once-over, he could already tell that the man was in a pretty good mood judging by the gleeful expression on his face.

"Yixing!" Luhan then shouts, cupping his hands over his mouth. Next to him, the officer flinches a little from the loud noise; and he's not the only one. One mother shoots the florist a death glare as she tugs her small toddler behind her, who was staring and pointing at him.

Who is he?

Sehun's never seen him before.

The music that the man was listening to must've been playing at a pretty low volume, because he was able to hear Luhan calling him right away. He looks a little surprised at first, but when he sees the florist furiously waving he flashes him a grin and removes his earphones at once.

"Hey," The man called Yixing smiles, and a dimple appears at the side of his mouth. He laughs a little when Luhan engulfs him into a light hug, patting his back comfortingly (Sehun on the other hand looks away at this, feeling slightly uncomfortable). "It's nice to see you."

"I thought you never go out during this time!" Luhan says, as he elbows him lightly.

The man smiles, eyes twinkling. "There are some exceptions."

"You certainly seem like you're in a good mood."

"Do I?" Yixing raises an eyebrow but doesn't quite clarify, and then his eyes flit over to Sehun, who's still standing there a little awkwardly. "I see that you have a new friend with you today."

The florist chuckles lightly, "He's not necessarily a new friend, we've known each other for quite a while now."

Sehun takes that as his cue to introduce himself. He puts on a friendly smile (trying to ignore the slight jealousy starting to rise inside of him) and nods curtly at the other, "I'm Sehun. It's nice to meet you."

"Zhang Yixing, and likewise." Yixing says in return, returning the nod.

"Where are you heading right now?" Luhan asks.

"Home, I was planning on getting some more rest before my shift later tonight."

"You go ahead and do that, then." The brunet tells him, as the officer wonders what Yixing does for a living. "Take care of yourself, Yixing."

"Thanks, Luhan." Yixing smiles sweetly at him again. It's a nice smile, Sehun has to admit. To the officer's surprise, Yixing also waves at him before putting his earphones back in. "Goodbye, Sehun, it was very nice to meet you today."

Sehun nods and gives him a short little wave, and somehow he finds himself thinking that Yixing's not too bad when the black haired man continues to walk past them in the other direction. He couldn't help but wonder how he knew Luhan, since they seemed pretty friendly with each other...

But no, it wasn't like that between them. He could tell.

The two continue to walk back to We Are One, and Luhan starts to tell him something about college. He's not really paying attention though, because he's too busy just looking at him. The way that Luhan blows a few strands of hair out of his eyes when he's annoyed, or how the corners of his mouth turn up into a large grin when he's laughing.

He also knows for a fact that he likes Luhan a lot, and he admits that he does—not out loud, anyway. There was absolutely no way that he was going to tell him, though, and it was especially because of their conversation earlier.

"It makes me feel a little envious, if I have to be honest; although I don't even know if I want to be in a relationship at all yet."

Sure, Sehun felt just a little taken aback when Luhan told him about how he didn't really feel like he was responsible enough to be in a relationship with anyone at the moment. He couldn't really blame him, though. You don't need to rush into something if you don't feel comfortable about it, and he really didn't want to burden Luhan with that.

It's what prompted Sehun to say that he would wait if he wanted to date someone who thought the same way as he did. He wasn't even sure if Luhan got the hint at all, but then again the florist could be so frustratingly oblivious sometimes.

The officer didn't look it, but he actually paid a lot of attention to love and relationships and all that other mushy stuff. When he dated people back in high school, he always showered them with lots of care and affection and made sure that they were happy.

It was his responsibility, to make people happy.

Honestly, he wanted to make Luhan happy too.

"Is there something on my face?" The florist suddenly asks him, frowning. "You've been looking at me weirdly for a while now."

Without really thinking, he quickly brings up a hand to slightly below Luhan's eye and brushes a stray eyelash away to cover up the real reason why he was staring, cupping the florist's cheek in his hand gently. He marvels inwardly on how soft the florist's face was (just as he imagined, cough cough), but keeps his stoic expression prominent.

"Yeah, there was." 

When he finally removes his hand from the brunet's face, Luhan looks a little confused; as if he didn't know what just happened. The brunet opens his mouth as if he was going to say something, but he closes it immediately and turns away. 

Sehun retracts his hand slowly, feeling slightly put out.

He shrugs it off, though, and eventually the two show up at We Are One ten minutes later. Sehun walks Luhan to the door and stands outside in front of his police car, which was currently parked at the curb. 

"Bye," Luhan tells him, his voice quiet for once. "Thanks for today."

When the florist walks back inside the flower shop, Sehun frowns. He wonders if he did anything that made Luhan remotely uncomfortable, and sighs to himself before combing a hand through his hair. Whatever, he'll figure that part out later.

 

 

---

 

 

Kyungsoo was nervous.

Scratch that, he was terrified.

When Jongin asked him if they could 'hang out' yesterday night, he wasn't even sure if he had heard him correctly. At first, he thought he was just dreaming again; but when he saw the young police officer's shy yet serious expression on his face he knew that it was real. It was actually happening. And after that realization, Kyungsoo felt ridiculously happy.

They discussed the details when Luhan and Sehun were blabbing away in front of them, and Jongin asked if he was okay with going to an Italian restaurant for dinner. Kyungsoo honestly didn't mind, because he was just really excited at the thought of going somewhere with the younger man. 

Even if it did sound more like a date than a 'hang out' between two friends.

His eyes keep on darting to and from the clock on the counter, counting down the minutes until he was going to come home and change.

He was excited—very excited—yet extremely terrified at the same time. Kyungsoo hasn't gone out with someone like this since college, and that was years ago. What if he messed something up? What if Jongin thought that he was too awkward for his own good? After all, this was just supposed to be the two of them "hanging out" right?

Right?

"Um, Kyungsoo."

Kyungsoo jolts back into reality at the sound of his name being called, and whips his head in the direction where it came from. Next to him, Jongdae is glancing at him weirdly, looking both weirded out and concerned at the same time. "What?"

"You're drawing hearts on the post-it notes."

"I'm—what?" Kyungsoo looks at him, bewildered, and then he finally looks down on the countertop. Sure enough, there are rows of small, inked hearts decorating one corner of the post-it. Immediately, he starts to flush in embarrassment.

, when the did that even happen in the first place?

"Oh... I, um, didn't realize."

Jongdae stares at him in awe as he leans on the countertop and rests his head on the palm of one of his hands, "Everyone's been acting so weird today. First Junmyeon, and now you too?"

Luhan walks up to them just then, brushing some strands of hair away from his eyes. He looks at his old roommate and snickers, "Kyungsoo's only acting like this because he's got a date with Jongin tonight."

Kyungsoo nearly chokes on his own spit as soon as the words come out of the brunet's mouth. , he was so sure that he didn't tell anyone about it. Unless Luhan found out from Sehun, who probably found out from... oh.

Chanyeol, who was currently carrying a large cardboard box in his hands, stops in the middle of walking and sets the materials down upon hearing the piece of news. "Kyungsoo's got a date with Jongin?"

"Really?" Jongdae's eyes widen.

Judging by the way his friends were reacting, it was almost as if Kyungsoo was back in high school again, like he was friends with a group of schoolgirls that gossiped and giggled about their crushes all day long with nothing better to do. The florist cringes from horrible memories and buries his face in his hands in embarrassment as his friends yell at him in excitement. 

"Shut up. All of you, just shut the hell up."

"In that case, you should take the rest of the day off." Jongdae supplies with a grin, wiggling his eyebrows at him suggestively. "Don't you need time to get ready for that date?"

Kyungsoo groans, voice muffled from behind his hands, "It's not even a date, we're just hanging out."

But the more the florist thinks about it, the more he questions if this was a date, or just as Jongin said—"hanging out." He stops and mulls over it for a while, thinking for a bit. It sounded awfully like one, and his friends seemed to think it was as well...

Unbeknowst to him, Luhan, Chanyeol, and Jongdae exchange a look of exasperation. 

"Date, hang out, whatever," Luhan rolls his eyes, "either way, it's still horrible for you to be late to one."

The black haired florist mentally counts to ten to calm himself down, but he doesn't remove his face from his hands. "Why would I want to take the rest of the day off, though? I still need to finalize most of the orders—"

"Kyungsoo, it's okay." Chanyeol grins widely at him. "We'll take care of the shop while you're gone."

"Are you sure?"

"Never been surer," Luhan answers for the sous chef, and pretends to look offended, "Don't you trust us enough already?" 

"Well—"

"Just go, Kyungsoo." Jongdae interrupts him, throwing a pen at him hapharzadly. Kyungsoo shoots him a death glare when the object hits his arm lightly and falls to the floor with a light thunk. "Follow your heart."

Sometimes, Kyungsoo wonders why he's friends with these people.

He does exit the flower shop five minutes later, though, after putting his apron and nametag away. The florist does his best to ignore all the idiotic things his friends are telling him ("Have fun on your date!" Luhan practically screams) on his way out, and now he's fuming, cheeks dusting with pink as he storms to his car and drives back to his place.

He makes it home in twenty minutes, and as soon as he gets inside his apartment he throws the closet doors open.

As soon as he got back from the mall last night, he searched up the place that Jongin made a reservation for. It ended up being pretty fancy, with a rating of 4.5 stars and a requirement for formal attire. 

Kyungsoo never really went out to these kinds of events in the past (besides prom in high school, but prom wasn't really that fun and was more like a disaster), but he did have a few suits that he had for special occasions like these ones.

The florist gets changed into a black suit with a white dress shirt underneath as soon as he gets out of the shower, his nerves slowly starting to return. He adjusts his tie securely fastened in the middle of his collar and touches up his hair (making an effort to actually style it for once) until he's fully satisfied with his look.

Kyungsoo paces around his room for a bit afterwards, anticipating Jongin's arrival. He's in the middle of applying lip balm (since his lips were really dry for some reason), but he stops in the middle of his tracks when he hears a soft knock on the apartment door.

He's here.

Kyungsoo draws in a sharp breath. . He so wasn't ready for this.

He convinces himself to greet Jongin at the door after a few moments, furiously telling himself to calm down before finally swinging it open.

And... wow.

The young officer is standing there, a few feet away from the door, currently on his phone scrolling through something. He looks up immediately as soon as Kyungsoo opens it, and the florist thinks he needs a moment to recollect his thoughts because holy Jongin looks seriously good. 

Maybe it was the suit Jongin was wearing, which complemented the officer's tanned skin quite well. He was wearing all black, outfit consisting of a black blazer (which showcased his broad shoulders) with a black button up underneath it, along with matching slim dress pants and dress shoes. 

Or maybe it was because of the beautiful smile Jongin gave him as soon as he saw him standing at the door, which quickly succeeds in turning Kyungsoo's insides to mush. 

Either way, Kyungsoo was having a seriously hard time trying to breathe.

"Hey. You look nice." Jongin says, his voice gentle.

You look nicer, the florist wants to say.

Instead, he keeps his composure and mutters, "You do too."

Jongin takes a few steps back to let Kyungsoo come out into the hallway, which he does. As soon as he comes out, the florist turns slightly to lock the door behind them. The nerves are still going on strong inside of him, and he does his best to not let it show as he gives the young officer a tentative smile. 

"Shall we?" Jongin asks in a gentlemanly manner, which makes Kyungsoo laugh.

"Of course."

 

 

---

 

 

The drive to the restaurant is comfortable, and the majority of Kyungsoo's nerves manage to die down along the way.

They arrive at the place about fifteen minutes later, and from the outside of the restaurant Kyungsoo can see lots of people (couples and families alike) sitting inside through the large windows, chatting happily to each other as some wait for their orders. It was pretty popular, after all. He follows Jongin inside, observing the area around him quietly.

It really was magnificent; the tablecloths were snow white with golden hems on the bottom. Waiters and waitresses were dressed similiarly, all wearing black vests with a white dress shirt underneath, a bowtie in the middle of their collar. The restaurant was filled with chatter, but it wasn't obnoxiously loud—something that Kyungsoo liked.

"Hi, I'm here for a reservation?" Jongin asks one of the waitresses politely, who stares at him in awe. Kyungsoo couldn't blame her.

She clears and tears her eyes away from him a while later, scanning the list of reservations on a clipboard. The waitress mutters a few things to herself quietly before asking, "Name?"

"Kim Jongin."

"Party of two?"

"Yes," Jongin nods, glancing over to beam at Kyungsoo. The florist's heart jumps at the action.

"Follow me." The waitress then says, looking up at the two with a friendly smile. Kyungsoo's nerves slowly start to return as he follows Jongin and the waitress through the endless array of tables, before she finally stops walking and beckons the two of them to one.

Kyungsoo sits in one of the chairs, and Jongin slides into the one opposite him. There was a small pot of orchids sitting in the middle of their table, and upon closer realization he realizes that they were fake; but honestly, he could care less. The feelings that he were already experiencing at the moment were already too real for him.

"Gentlemen, your menus," The waitress says, handing them one each, "someone will be here to take your orders shortly."

"Thank you," Kyungsoo tells her, and she smiles at him before walking away.

They look at their menus for a bit afterwards, deciding what to get. Eventually they settle on their orders, and chat with each other as they wait. The nerves go away completely just after a few more minutes, and Kyungsoo wonders what he was even worrying about in the first place. It was hard not to smile when Jongin said anything that was remotely funny.

Soon, another waitress appears at their table. She's young, probably around the same age range around he and Jongin, and she gives them both a bright smile as soon as she approaches them.

"Good evening, I'll be your server for tonight," She tells them, her nametag reading 'Krystal'. "What would you two gentlemen like to start off with?"

"I'll have the lasagna, please." Jongin says as he points at the item on the menu, smiling up at her. Suddenly, Kyungsoo feels sort of bothered by this. He forces himself to keep his expression neutral, even after he sees Krystal return the grin with an equally dazzling one.

"A good choice for someone as good looking as you," Krystal notes casually, as she scribbles the order down on a notepad.

"You're not so bad yourself." Jongin simply replies, and Kyungsoo watches as Krystal's cheeks turn slightly pink at the compliment. He refrains himself from rolling his eyes and frowns deeply instead, starting to feel a twinge of annoyance. He manages to distract himself by focusing on the fake orchids, and drums his fingers on the tablecloth impatiently.

"And you, sir?" Krystal asks him.

"I'll have the chicken alfredo, thanks." Kyungsoo tells her calmly, trying her best to hide the newfound irritation he was experiencing.

"O-kay." She scribbles down Kyungsoo's order as well. "Anything for you both to drink?"

Jongin hums thoughtfully, "Two glasses of red wine should be fine." He makes eye contact with Kyungsoo and mouths is that okay?, and the florist immediately feels his annoyance ebbing away. He sighs, and nods as Jongin smiles. The officer really had the rare ability to calm him down in just a few moments. "That'll be all, then."

Krystal tucks some of her hair behind her ear, smiling at Jongin in pure adoration as she picks up their menus; and it makes Kyungsoo want to throw up. "Got it, I'll be back with the drinks in a bit."

"Thanks, Krystal." Jongin replies, and Kyungsoo forces a smile.

As soon as Krystal leaves, Kyungsoo fiddles with his hands, the annoyance returning tenfold.

"You two would look good together," The florist then says, and this time he doesn't even bother trying to mask the bitterness in his tone. When he looks up, he sees Jongin staring at him in complete surprise, a small dash of hurt in his eyes.

"What?" He sounds taken aback. "Who?"

"Krystal. She's pretty."

Jongin continues to look at him in bemusement, "I guess so."

Kyungsoo suppresses the urge to roll his eyes again. Jongin knows so, he was the one who complimented her a few minutes back. "She likes you, you know."

"Er... what about it?"

The florist sighs. "Nevermind."

The atmosphere gets a little tense after that, and Kyungsoo instantly curses himself and his tendency to mess things up all the time. He keeps his eyes trained on a space on the tablecloth, perfectly aware that Jongin was looking at him from across the table.

They stay quiet for a while, until Jongin reaches over and places his hands over Kyungsoo's gently. The florist's eyes widen at the touch, feeling the warmth from Jongin's hands seep all the way through his fingers. His cheeks start to heat up again as he looks up to make eye contact with Jongin, who's staring at him with an unreadable expression on his face.

It's enough for Kyungsoo to feel completely flustered, and he ends up looking away first.

The food and drinks arrive fifteen minutes later, and pretty soon they're back to their normal selves. They joke and laugh with each other over their own respective dishes, and Kyungsoo does take notice of Jongin brushing against his hands occassionally. The thought of it makes Kyungsoo feel embarrassed again, but he honestly likes it, being with Jongin like this.

Being with Jongin on a... date.

Yes, that's what it was. Even though Kyungsoo was denying it earlier, it was obvious enough now. He was just curious on why Jongin referred to it as just simply "hanging out" when it was actually the opposite. 

They take small bites out of each other's meals, which was something they used to do when they were younger. It made Kyungsoo feel sort of nostalgic, and sort of fuzzy inside. The food was marvelous, and he wasn't worried about getting drunk for he was told that there wasn't much alcohol content in the wine.

Jongin and Kyungsoo finish their food an hour later, and Krystal waltzes back with the check in her hands. Jongin ignores Kyungsoo's multiple protests and ends up paying for the meal, handing Krystal the credit card. The florist's exasperated as he hopelessly watches the waitress retreat to the cashier.

"You really didn't have to do that," Kyungsoo frowns.

"It's fine," Jongin reassures him, a hint of a smile playing on his lips, "I invited you here in the first place."

Krystal comes back after a few moments and hands Jongin his credit card, along with a folded piece of paper. Kyungsoo raises his eyebrows at the sight, and the police officer smiles at her before pocketing both items quickly.

"Goodbye, have a wonderful rest of your evening!" Krystal tells them both, a big and bright smile on her face.

Jongin sends her a short wave, as Kyungsoo keeps his lips in a tight line and gives her a curt nod. The previous irritation that he had earlier returns in this instant, and he tries his best not to scowl as he follows the officer out of the restaurant.

They're on their way back to Jongin's car which is parked not too far away, leisurely walking side by side. It's chilly outside, but Kyungsoo manages to keep warm with the officer's presence besides him.

He almost trips when Jongin stops walking, the taller lingering next to a trash can.

"What are you doing?" Kyungsoo asks curiously, watching as Jongin reaches inside his pocket.

"Nothing," Jongin replies somewhat cheerily, and pulls out the folded piece of paper that Krystal gave him before they left. He unfolds it and stares at the slip wordlessly, and Kyungsoo doesn't have to be a genius to know that she gave him her number.

The florist opens his mouth to say something, but he's absolutely taken aback when he sees Jongin crumple the piece of paper into a small ball and toss it away with no hesitation whatsoever. A bunch of emotions are running wild in Kyungsoo's head at the sight, most of them screaming in happiness. He does his best to hide his growing smile (with much difficulty) and keeps his mouth sealed shut.

The officer looks at him, running a hand through his hair. "I don't like her, if that's what you were talking about earlier."

There's a short pause as the florist takes a moment to process this.

"O-Oh," Kyungsoo finally says, feeling incredibly embarrassed yet relieved at the same time. 

"Yeah." Jongin looks more than amused at his reaction, a small smile slowly spreading across his face. "I guess she doesn't know that I'm already interested in someone else."

Kyungsoo can feel his face slowly heating up at this (he was lucky that it was already dark outside), but he isn't able to find the courage to muster up a reply. Jongin stares at him for a while longer before holding out his elbow to him, and the florist rolls his eyes at the younger's attempts to act like a gentleman.

He does take Jongin's elbow anyway, hiding his smile as he wraps his hand around it.

The duo arrive back at the elder's place twenty minutes later, sharing some small talk as they make their way back to Kyungsoo's apartment. As soon as they arrive at the door, Kyungsoo takes the keys out of his pocket and unlocks the door carefully before stepping inside.

On the other hand, Jongin remains standing outside in the hallway; hands stuffed in his pockets and the gentle smile not leaving his face.

"Thank you for everything tonight," The florist tells him gratefully.

"It's not a problem."

Kyungsoo starts to feel a little self conscious under Jongin's serious gaze, not used to him staring so intensely. It's silent between them once more, until the florist somehow finds the courage to say, "This seemed more like a date than a casual 'hang out' to me."

Now it's Jongin's turn to look embarrassed, and he plays around with the sleeves of his suit jacket before answering.

"I'm sorry," He apologizes, sounding sheepish, "if I made you uncomfortable with this at all. I was just kind of scared that you were going to reject me if I said it was, so I didn't really... refer to it as one."

The florist can't help but laugh at this.

"No, no, it's okay. You didn't make me uncomfortable at all." Kyungsoo tells him, a bright smile on his face. "I sort of figured, but I thought that it was a nice experience. I really liked it."

Jongin looks extremely relieved at this, and grins. "Oh, okay. Well, that's good then."

"Yeah," The florist has to look away to hide another smile, "but I had a really nice night. Thank you."

The officer stares at him for a few more moments before he suddenly leans forward, causing sirens to start to go off in the florist's mind. 

Kyungsoo freezes, and his breath hitches when he feels Jongin grip his arm lightly, tilting his head so that his lips were barely ghosting over the florist's ear.

"Goodnight, Kyungsoo," Jongin whispers, and his voice sends multiple shivers down Kyungsoo's back. He feels his heart thud dangerously in his chest and Jongin's breath hit his neck at the same time, visibly gulping after the officer removes his hand from his arm and steps back. "I'll see you tomorrow."

When the florist looks up there's a smirk on Jongin's lips, and his eyes were shining.

Kyungsoo opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out and he's positive that he ends up looking completely ridiculous instead. He was very, very sure that his entire face was red at this point; but he manages to mumble a rushed goodnight back as he abruptly closes the door in front of him, before Jongin could see how flustered he was.

He subconsciously brings his hand up to his left ear, and turns an even darker shade of red when he replays the series of events that just happened in his head. 

Well, damn.

 

 

---

 

 

A/N: YAY an update!

summary: sehun likes luhan a lot but luhan's sort of not ready to commit to something as serious as being in a relationship, so he's ??????? right now. junmyeon was super worried abt lay freaking out but turns out that lay likes him too SO YAY. and here we have jealous ksoo too mwahahaha and KAISOO, plus a small dash of xiuchen if u squint hard enough......

also if u didn't know taehyung in this chapter is indeed v from bts :-)

ot12 gradually starts to come together in the next few chapters!! how exciting!!

yay for long chapters (9k+ words wowowow) and i really should finish my hw rn so.... goodbye for now. thanks for all the comments, upvotes, and HOLY COW we are at 100+ subs???? I'm S H O O K thank you so much holy sh i t dude,, 

-seokminz