❧

For a brief moment, nobody says anything.  

The shop sits in absolute silence for what feels like forever until the sound of the cup lid hitting the floor breaks the ice.

The first thing Jongin hears is a small gasp from behind him and he blinks, never having looked up in the first place. It’s not until he does that he sees a gigantic bright pink stain, pink liquid travelling down the person he just bumped into’s coat. Jongin looks at himself and sees he’s splashed some tea on himself as well but it’s nowhere near the amount compared to the person in front of him, on whom ¾ of the tea must’ve ended up. Jongin blinks again before a sense of dread mixed with shame explodes inside of him and he proceeds to let out a string of incoherent apologies.

“Holy , I’m so sorry, ; I wasn’t looking where I was going, I’m sorry, Jesus Christ, I’ll help clean you u-” his sentence is abruptly cut short when he looks up.

And his world comes to a halt.

Once again, the shop falls back into silence, a silence that’s broken when Jongin suddenly lets out a choked, garbled noise and stumbles backwards before falling and crashing into the chairs behind him. The pain that he feels spreading across his back is soon forgotten when his body is quickly overtaken by a powerful feeling of shock and, well, numbness. Jongin stares, wide eyed and open mouthed, from his position on the floor, up at the familiar face that’s looking down at him in amusement. It suddenly feels as if his heart has stopped beating and Jongin prays to God it hasn’t. He reaches up and puts two fingers on his wrist and exhales in relief when he feels a (weak) pulse.

“Are you okay?" 

Jongin nearly suffers a heart attack when he hears those three words and he continues to stare, unable to utter a single word for his throat has gone completely dry. 

"Come on,” Sehun says, staring down at Jongin with an amused (yet extremely worried) expression. “Don’t be like that.”

“B-be like what?” Jongin stammers and he’s surprised his voice doesn’t sound all croaky given the fact that his mouth feels like sandpaper. 

“You know, all mute and ,” Sehun chuckles before walking over and bending down next to Jongin. “You can talk, I know you can.”

Jongin feels his heart race when Sehun leans in so their faces are a mere inch apart, leaning away when the overwhelming scent of artificial strawberry fills his nose. “I…uh…” Am I dreaming?

Sehun throws his head back and laughs. “No, you’re not,” he chuckles and Jongin mentally slaps himself in the face because did he seriously just say that out loud??? Jongin nearly jumps five feet in the air (which is highly impossible due to the fact that his right leg is bent at an awkward angle under a chair leg) when Sehun stands up and proceeds to pick up a chair, turning it around and carefully placing it on the floor before sliding it under the table. He then walks over to Jongin and stretches out his right hand. 

Jongin just stares at Sehun’s hand like it’s a bomb that’s about to explode. It’s not until Sehun wiggles his fingers that something snaps inside his head and he quickly sticks out his hand, grabbing Sehun’s hand in his own before he’s quickly pulled upwards and off the floor in a fraction of a second. Jongin blinks away the head rush that’s starting to settle as a result of standing up so quickly. Wow, he thinks, he really is strong. 

“Now, let’s get some tissues, shall we? It’s starting to seep into my shirt,” Sehun suggests before walking over to the counter and grabbing about a hundred napkins. He hands a few to Jongin before proceeding to wipe at his jacket. Sehun looks up at Jongin when the latter just stands there, glued to the floor. “Help?”

“Oh, right, sorry,” Jongin stammers before taking a step forward and proceeding to wipe at Sehun’s wet coat. It’s a weird shade of brown and pink and Jongin thinks it looks almost…pretty, in a way.

Neither of them say a word while they clean Sehun up, much to Jongin’s concern. They finish ten or so minutes later, having used up around fifty napkins. Sehun’s coat is nowhere near clean and Jongin groans. “I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t mention it, it wasn’t your fault,” Sehun replies before walking over and throwing the handful of napkins in the trash can in the corner before walking back to Jongin. “So, that was quite the…exuberant reaction,” he says with a giggle. “Are you alright?”

“Me?” Jongin says dumbly. “Oh, yes, me. I’m fine, hurt my leg a little in the fall but other than that, I’m perfectly okay!”

“Do you need me to call a doctor?”

“No, God,” Jongin exclaims (way too loud) and almost laughs. “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Sehun is about to ask them to sit down when his entire face falls. He slowly points to Jongin with a horrified expression. “Y-your face, what on Earth happened to your face? Did you burn yourself? And you’re so skinny, what happened to you?”

Jongin’s hands comes up to subconsciously rub at his left cheek. He forgot to cover it up before leaving the house. Damn it. “Uh, it’s kind of…complicated.”

“Do you mind me asking what happened?”

“I guess not,” Jongin shrugs. “It’s…I don’t know.”

Sehun nods slowly, eyebrows furrowed in concern, before gesturing towards the chairs to their right. “Want to talk about it?”

“Talk about what?”

“Everything, I guess,” Sehun chuckles lowly. He suddenly looks up at Jongin. “If you have time, of course.”

“No no, I have plenty of time,” Jongin hurries before walking over and taking a seat. He watches as Sehun nods again (is that…relief in his eyes?) and walks over to the table, easily sliding into the chair across from Jongin.

“So,” Sehun starts, avoiding Jongin’s gaze and playing with his fingers, “how have you been lately? Like, these past couple of weeks?”

Jongin nearly bursts out laughing. Like , my friend, absolute . “I’ve been doing well…been a little bored but that’s it. How about you?” He squirms uncomfortably when Sehun suddenly looks up and stares him square in the eye.

“Oh, I’ve been doing fine as well. Had an exam yesterday so I’m a little anxious, to be honest. Other than I’m doing pretty okay,” Sehun says before his eyebrows furrow and he points to his own face. “Now, tell me, what on Earth happened to you? You look like a beat up zombie!”

“Baekhyun happened,” Jongin murmurs under his breath.

Sehun raises an eyebrow and leans in. “Sorry, what?”

“Nothing.” Jongin is awfully thankful Sehun didn’t hear that. “I was…hit.”

“By whom?” Sehun asks and for a second Jongin thinks he sounds almost…demanding? “If you want to tell me that is. You don’t have to.”

“Eh,” Jongin stutters, right hand coming up to rub at his neck. “Baekhyun.”

Sehun’s jaw nearly hits the surface of the table. “What?”

Nodding, Jongin averts his gaze and keeps it fixated on Sehun’s newly polished shoes. “Yeah.”

“Wait, what? You mean Baekhyun? The Baekhyun? The tutor Baekhyun? As in, your best friend Baekhyun? He hit you?”

“Yeah.”

Sehun moves his chair closer to the table and Jongin shivers when he notices his eyes have darkened a tad bit. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, he did. Listen, could we ch-”

“What on Earth for?!”

Jongin swallows. “You don’t want to know.”

Sehun rolls his eyes, moving his chair even closer. “Of course I want to know. He hurt you, for ’s sake. Now tell me,” he leans in, “why did he hit you?”

“We had an argument.”

“That goes without saying. So, you had a fight,” Sehun pries, nodding along, “about?”

“About you,” Jongin blurts out and instantly feels all color drain from his face. He feels a big shiver run down his entire body and he prays to God that Sehun doesn’t notice him shaking like a leaf. Damn it. Learn to keep your goddamn mouth shut, you moron.

Sehun blinks, taken aback. “Me?” he points to himself. “You…you had a fight about me.”

Jongin feels a headache coming on but this time, he doesn’t feel like standing up and running away. In fact, he feels an urgent need to stay. He nods weakly, not daring to look Sehun in the eye.

“What the did he do to you,” Sehun exclaims, throwing his hands in the air. “It looks like you’ve been struck by a cattle prod, for God’s sake!”

“He just slapped me,” Jongin says quietly, playing with the edge of the bright pink tablecloth. “It’s not that serious, though. I put some cream on it last week so it should heal in a couple of days, don’t worry.”

Sehun nods but there’s still a disbelieving look in his eyes. “Okay. Let me know if he hurts you again, alright? That son of a bi-”

“Wait, hold on,” Jongin interrupts. He feels his heart race for reasons he can’t explain. “Listen, it was mainly my fault, I pissed him off!”

“Still doesn’t excuse the fact that he assaulted you!” Sehun exclaims. Jongin does his best to get him to lower his voice considering the fact that the lady standing behind the cashier is most definitely listening. “Has he said sorry? Has he apologized?”

Jongin gulps. Why does he care so much? “He hasn’t.”

Sehun shakes his head in disbelief before gritting his teeth. “That goddamn motherfu-”

“We’ve been avoiding each other lately, we haven’t talked in a week,” Jongin blurts out, waving his hands in front of Sehun’s face to get him to calm down. “Like I said, it’s mainly my fault since I chose to be an idiot in the first place!”

“You couldn’t have been that big of an idiot, seeing as he hit you and all.” Sehun runs a frustrated hand through his hair. “What did you even do to get him to do that?” 

“I can’t tell you,” Jongin says, shoulders slumped. “I really can’t.”

“I’m literally sitting right here.” Sehun leans even closer. “Tell me, please. I really need to know.”

Jongin looks up in surprise. “You need to know?”

“I meant I want to know,” Sehun quickly corrects himself before clearing his throat. Putting both hands on the table in front of him, he shoots Jongin a warm smile. “Sorry. Anyway, please. Do tell me.”

Jongin inhales a shaky breath before turning around to make sure the weird cashier lady isn’t eavesdropping on them. His heartbeat quickens as he reaches out and places his hand on top of one of Sehun’s closed fists. Jongin feels an electric shock course through his veins when he feels how warm Sehun’s hand is. For a second, the latter looks a bit surprised but his look of surprise quickly melts into one of pure concern. Sehun doesn’t make a move to remove Jongin’s hand, much to the latter’s relief. “What’s wrong?”

“Sorry if this is weird,” Jongin babbles, gesturing towards his hand that's resting on top of Sehun's. “I just…don’t want you to get up and walk away after I’m done telling you.” 

Sehun blinks, confusion only doubling as he leans in even closer. They’re practically touching heads at this point. “Why would I walk away?”

Why are you speaking like we’re surrounded by ten billion people? Jongin thinks before sighing. “I don’t know, I just…sorry.”

When Sehun doesn’t say anything, Jongin takes it as his cue to begin. With a deep breath, he gives Sehun’s closed fist a small squeeze before opening his mouth to speak.

“After our first meeting I was still extramely shaken up since up until that point I thought you were a girl and not a guy so I kept avoiding your messages and stopped messaging you since I needed some time and space to think everything through. I mean, I was in a pretty ty mood in general after our first meeting since I fell asleep on the bus and the damn driver missed my stop and drove me all the way to the end station. Did I mention he slammed on the brakes so hard I was literally thrown out of my seat and onto the floor? Well, that happened. It didn’t feel too good. Anyway, I was only like ten minutes away from Baek’s house so I decided to crash there for the night since I was feeling like crap in general. You know, during the time we were sitting in here, I felt like I was gonna vomit. No, really. Not because the food was gross or anything, but because I felt so damn uncomfortable and well…scared. So, after I arrived at Baek’s house he immediately started questioning me about how our meeting went; he kept calling it a ‘date’ but I wasn’t really sure if I was comfortable with using that term. He kept asking if we kissed and whatnot and I honestly got so exhausted since all I wanted to do at that point was lie down and sleep. I’m pretty sure I fell asleep before he was even done talking. Anyway, the next day I kept gushing to him about how unsure I was about the entire thing so I just kind of ignored him every time he told me to message you and see how you were doing. When you sent that selfie of you in the car with all those cute- stickers, you know, when you asked me to come with you to the salon, I just felt so scared that I declined. Truth is, I was just scared, that’s why I said no. I didn’t have a proper reason nor excuse, I was just…terrified. I felt like you were coming on too strong and had to push you away. So after I turned down your invitation, I basically drilled the idea that I wasn’t interested in you into my head and kind of lived with that mindset up until two weeks ago. I mean, I was constantly telling myself I didn’t like you at all while subconsciously doing stupid like checking out a student who looked just like you - creepy, I know - and constantly thinking about you to the point where the teachers got pissed.” He chuckles before continuing. “But I still refused to accept the fact that you were slowly taking over my goddamn life for whatever ing reason, and I guess it must’ve irked Baek a bit because at one point last week I kind of woke up in the middle of the night and had a bunch of dreams and , and I was just kinda freaking the hell out since my brain was crammed with a ton of different thoughts. Basically, I realized I was,” he lowers his voice, “gay and quickly called Baek since I felt like I was dying. Anyway, he came over and I told him and he practically jumped me,” he chuckles when he sees the freaked out look on Sehun’s face, “no, not in that way, God! I meant that he was so happy for me he kinda tackled me, y'know? Anyway, I kind of ed up five minutes later when he told me to contact you for the twelve billionth time, since I told him I was gay and all. I mean, I never flat out said ’I like Sehun’ but I’m pretty sure he managed to read between the lines, wouldn’t you think? So basically, I had a minor meltdown in front of him and said all the things I regretted about our first meeting and how much I regretted acting like I total doofus, and when I still refused to message you since I had the feeling you had forgotten about me and moved on already, he got all pissy and proceeded to yell his head off at me. I can’t remember everything he said since he talked so fast but what I do remember is him calling me a selfish, ignorant fool.” He smiles sadly. “He basically said he was tired of me and my bull and the way I was constantly shoving my responsibilities away and running away from my problems. He was basically implying you were tearing our friendship apart. I also remember him telling me I took advantage of him throughout all of this and never cared about anything he had to say about his own life, which I guess is kinda true, now that I think about it. On the other hand, I remember the books he bought at the book store! Anyway, he basically yelled at me for being a conceived airhead and that’s when he suddenly slapped me, out of nowhere.” His cheek stings painfully at the memory and he winces. “I seriously wasn’t expecting it, at all, but I kind of understand where he was coming from even though it hurt like hell, y'know? I mean, I suppose I kind of deserved it; I was a jackass, I’ll admit. After that, he kinda just stormed out of my room and my house and since then we haven’t said a peep to each other. And as for why I look like a total wreck, I spent the next week holed up in my house, or to be exact, on my couch. Seriously, had I not chosen to dye my hair earlier I most likely would’ve become one with that couch, I’m not even kidding. Speaking of that, there was this annoying- woman next to me when I was sitting in the barber’s shop waiting to dye my hair, I’m pretty sure she was a bodybuilder of some sort. Gross, huh? Anyhow, during the time I kept to myself at home, I barely ate a single thing, now that I think about it. I mean, I didn’t have the will to, I didn’t see a point in eating anything. And I was just,” he almost jumps in surprise when his voice cracks, “so ing sad and so ing emotional since I thought you hated me and found someone else and blocked me or whatever and I just…got so ing sad.” He takes a breath before nodding slowly, looking up at Sehun with an expectant look. He looks down and lets out a less-than-manly squeal when he realizes Sehun is holding onto his hand. “Hey!”

Sehun is staring at Jongin with a concerned yet understanding look, with his head cocked to the side, a telltale sign that he’s listening intentely. It’s not until the entire shop falls into dead silence that he slowly leans back in his chair. He looks at Jongin with warmth in his eyes. “I did technically only ask to you explain why Baekhyun hit you,” he says, amusement lacing his words, “but that’ll do as well.”

Jongin sits glued to his chair and for a moment he doesn’t understand what Sehun is talking about. Ten seconds later, though, he comes to the terrifying realization of what he just did and he gasps before slapping both hands over his mouth. Eyes the size of quarters, he babbles something along the lines of ’, I’m so sorry oh my God I’m so sorry what the is wrong with me oh my Gooood’ while a sense of dread washes over him. Damn it, Jongin thinks, on the brink of tears. I did it. Kill me, please. I ing did it. I screwed everything up again. He mentally prepares himself to watch Sehun stand up and walk right out the door but it never happens, much to Jongin’s surprise. Instead, Sehun leans forward and puts a hand on Jongin’s arm, nearly scaring the latter out of his wits.

“Hey now,” Sehun says in a soothing tone, “it’s okay. Don’t worry. It’s fine. It’s all fine.”

Jongin slowly removes his hands from his gaping mouth and blinks. He suddenly feels extremely exhausted and he slumps forward in fatigue. “Please don’t leave,” he mumbles.

Sehun only chuckles. “I told you I wasn’t going to, remember? I stand by what I say,” he says confidently before reaching across the table and lightly grabbing Jongin’s hand. “As touched as I am that I seem to have made such a fleeting impression, I do feel kind of ty for being the reason for you guys’ argument.”

Sighing in defeat, Jongin lets Sehun squeeze his hand. He doesn’t have the energy to pull his hand away, anyway. “Don’t mind. Like I said, it was mainly my fault. I sad some nasty things to him as well so it’s understandable that he chose to resort to violence.”

“Hey,” Sehun squeezes Jongin’s hand even harder, “it’s not your fault. He spiralled out of control, it doesn’t matter what the hell you might’ve said to him. He hit you so he’s automatically in the wrong as well, even if it did sound like you provoked him a tad bit too much.”

“Oh, trust me, I did,” Jongin groans before in agony. “, what the hell am I gonna do.”

“He’s gonna apologize, that’s what he’s gonna do,” Sehun says as a matter-of-factly before standing up and walking over to Jongin, rubbing the latter's back. “Come on.”

“Wait, what? Now? Hold on, what?” Jongin whirls around in his chair, instantly regretting doing so when his back cracks painfully.

“So what? He should. On a side note, I’ll finally get to meet him. I’ve been wanting to meet him in the flesh for a long time now.”

“You’ve already seen him,” Jongin groans before standing up and nearly falling flat on his face when his knees give in. Sehun catches him just in time. 

“I want to see him in real life, face to face,” Sehun chuckles, helping Jongin stand upright. “I’ve only seen him in those pictures you sent me ages ago. Hey,” he says, eyebrows furrowing in concern when he sees the distant look in Jongin’s eyes, “are you okay? Are you feeling sick?”

“I haven’t eaten in a week or so,” Jongin says, leaning onto the chair for support. “Save for a bowl of cereal. I’ll be fine, though, don’t worry.”

“Maybe Baekhyun can give you a little something to eat?”

Jongin lets out a small chuckle, but there’s no humor to it. “That’s if he wants to see my face.”

“You’re best friends, right?” Sehun asks while buttoning his (thankfully dry) coat. He picks up the neglected and half empty bubble tea cup that Jongin dropped while falling onto the chairs earlier and throws it in the trash can. “Hey, do you need me to hold your waist? Can you walk?”

“I’m fine,” Jongin mumbles and curses when he takes a step and his legs buckle underneath it, sending him tumbling to the floor. Thankfully, he manages to stick his hands out to break the fall in the nick of time. “Okay, notfine,” he mumbles while attempting to stand up. God, my head feels like it’s gonna explode. “A little help, please.”

Sehun is by his side a second later. With his right arm wrapped securely around Jongin’s (alarmingly thin) waist, he slowly guides them both towards the door. He thanks the woman behind the cashier (and giggles in embarrassment when he realizes he has nothing to thank her for) before swinging the door open and stepping outside.

“, it’s cold,” Jongin mutters, teeth chattering. He crosses his arms over his chest in an attempt to conserve body heat before turning to Sehun. “Which bu- hey, wait, no, you don’t need to do that, you’ll freeze! Hey!” His mind suddenly goes blank when he feels a certain (warm) weight weighing down on his shoulders and his body stops shivering. He looks at Sehun who is smiling at him and Jongin looks away with a cough when his gaze lands on Sehun’s tight blue blouse. 

“It’s alright, I’m pretty warm-blooded anyway, so it’s fine,” Sehun reassures Jongin before reaching out and ruffling the latter’s hair. He starts down the road. “Watch out though, it might still be a bit sticky. Shall we go?”

Jongin blinks as he slides Sehun’s coat over his arms, still frozen in place. “Hey, wait a second.”

Sehun turns around. “Hm?”

“How,” Jongin coughs nervously, “how did you even find me? I mean, the last thing I expected when I ordered that tea was to bump straight into you. I mean,” he blushes, “no offense or anything.”

“No, I get it. Well, by no means do I wish to come off as a creep, but I was reading in the park when I saw someone who looked an awful lot like you pass by. I figured I couldn’t let you slip away since, well, yeah. Anyway, so I kinda hid behind a tree and upon closer inspection, I realized it was you. So I kind of…followed you to the hair salon and sat next to you. I was hoping you would open your goddamn eyes and notice me but you never did, so I followed you to the shop.”

Jongin blinks before lightly slapping Sehun on the arm. “You weirdo! You were right next to me all along?!”

“That's correct, yes.”

“Wait, that means,” Jongin starts and trails off, “you were-”

“The extremely buff and annoying woman, yes,” Sehun says before bursting into laughter. “Don’t worry though,” he wipes at his eye, “it’s fine.”

“Why didn’t you just say something?” Jongin shrieks.

“Hey, that’d be boring!”

“No, it wouldn’t! Well actually, in a sense I’m happy you didn’t, since I most likely would’ve suffered a heart attack on the spot,” Jongin says before shrugging and turning around. He’s lucky it’s so cold out since the chilly weather does a spectacular job at hiding the blush that’s beginning to creep up his neck.

Sehun turns a corner and quickly whirls around when he looks next to him and doesn’t see (or hear) Jongin anywhere. “Hey,” he calls out when he sees the latter walking ahead of him (Jongin, obviously, didn’t notice that Sehun walked in another direction). “Over here!”

Jongin blinks before jogging to catch up. “Why’re we here? Isn’t the bus stop that way?” He points behind them.

“Your memory must really ,” Sehun chuckles before reaching into his pocket and pulling out what Jongin assumes are car keys. The latter breathes out a quiet 'oh, right’ before turning his face away. “I drive, remember? My car’s parked over here,” Sehun adds.

“Yeah, I know, I remember now,” Jongin groans, lightly shoving Sehun to the side. His cheeks are burning but his lips curl upwards into a smile anyway. He suddenly gulps in nervousness when he gets the overwhelming urge to hold Sehun’s hand - his fingers are itching to interlock with Sehun’s own and he quickly shoves his hands in his pockets before he does something he will end up regretting later on. He really doesn’t want Sehun to think he’s some kind of weirdo, not now; not when everything is going so well.

He walks next to Sehun in silence for the next five minutes until they arrive at a big (and spacious) car park. “Here we are, guess which one’s mine?” Sehun asks, turning to face Jongin with a smug expression.

Jongin blinks. “Uh…that one?” he points at a red BMW.

Sehun doubles over in laughter, much to Jongin’s embarrassment, and doesn’t stop cackling until he’s run out of breath. “No, silly.” he breathes, “Do I looklike a millionaire to you?”

“Yes.”

“Really? Wait, you’re serious?” Sehun gapes at him in astonishment. “Thanks.”

“Is it that one?” Jongin asks, pointing towards a black, fancy looking car with the hood down. 

“Wow, you’re good.” Sehun ruffles Jongin’s hair. “Yes, it’s that one. How’d you know?”

Shrugging, Jongin follows Sehun to said car and his jaw almost hits the ground when he sees how posh it is - there’s no mess anywhere, the newspapers, briefcase and books Sehun keeps in the back are neaty stacked together and the carpeted floor doesn’t even have a single layer of dust on it. This is somebody who obviously takes great pride in and care of their car. Sehun unlocks the doors and Jongin suddenly feels extremely reluctant. The last thing he wants to is to mess something up and for Sehun to yell at him. 

He must have been standing still for quite some time because the next thing he knows, Sehun is behind the wheel and looking at him funnily. “You gonna get in?”

Jongin rubs at his neck, not knowing what to say. “Um.”

“I won’t beat you up for sitting in my car, if that’s what you’re wondering,” Sehun reassures him in a genuine voice before patting the empty seat next to him. “Come on, hop in.”

Reluctantly sliding into the passenger seat, Jongin (carefully) closes the door shut before quickly putting on his seat belt. He makes sure not to touch anything in the car in fear of Sehun getting irritated so he opts to sit with his hands crossed in his lap while Sehun proceeds to put the key in the ignition and slowly back out of the parking space. He really hopes he isn’t wrinkling Sehun’s coat or else he’ll have to pay the ultimate price for it later today. 

Sehun successfully backs out and a second later they’re on the road, cruising down along the darkening streets leading up to Baekhyun’s place. Or at least, Jongin hopes, the streets hopefully leading up to Baekhyun’s place. He suddenly realizes he has yet to tell Sehun where Baekhyun lives. Not wanting to distract Sehun while he’s driving, Jongin opts to keep silent and face away from Sehun. Jongin can practically feel the latter’s gaze burning holes in his back and he gulps, desperately wanting to rub at his neck (he does so out of habit a lot lately) but decides against it since he figures it would look silly. He chooses to keep his gaze focused on the rear view mirror on the outside instead. He doesn’t have it in him to look at Sehun right now. He figures he would probably; no, most likely, explode in his seat.

“I’m really glad I found you again.”

Jongin opens his eyes and blinks before looking around. How long has he been asleep? Five minutes? “Hm?”

“I said, I’m really glad I found you again,” Sehun says softly as they drive through the familiar forest leading to Baekhyun’s house. Jongin slowly turns around in his seat so he’s facing Sehun and nearly gets the wind knocked out of him when he sees, for the first time today, just how handsome the latter is. At least while driving. Sehun looks so peaceful and unbothered as he keeps one hand on the wheel, slowly tapping his foot against the floor to the beat of a non-existent melody. His posture remains relaxed as he makes a sharp turn, gaze focused on the dirt road in front of them. Jongin’s gaze travels down Sehun’s body; he looks just as well-built as he did three weeks ago. His legs are bent and slightly spread apart just beneath the wheel due to him not being able to fit in the car properly (at least not comfortably) with his long limbs and all. Sehun’s legs look just as toned, despite him wearing suit pants, as they did when they first met and his shoulders look just as wide and Jongin is secretely glad he hasn’t changed that much, at least not in terms of looks. Leaning back a little, Jongin catches a glimpse of Sehun’s fancy black dress shoes and how polished they look - they’re so neatly cleaned that they’re almost illuminated by the moonlight that’s starting to peek out from behind the gray clouds above. Jongin does a full body-check on Sehun one more time and internally sighs. He’s perfect.

“See anything you like?” 

Jongin blinks and briefly snaps out of his trance. “I’m sorry?”

“Nevermind,” Sehun says in a knowing voice before turning his attention back on the road. Jongin feels himself flush again and he promptly sits back in his seat, trying his best to make himself as small as possible. He shivers and wraps Sehun’s coat tighter around his body when a gust of wind passes by. Darn, it’s cold. 

Looking to his left, a cold shiver runs down Jongin’s spine when he looks straight into the dark and seemingly endless arrangement of trees only a few feet away. He’s suffered from achluophobia since he was three years old and it’s not going away anytime soon, to his dismay. Whenever he takes the bus to Baekhyun’s house, he always makes sure to keep his face turned away whenever the bus pulls into this lane. He tries his best to look away which is a tad bit difficult considering the fact that Sehun’s car is a convertible. Opting to hide his face in his collar, he squeezes his eyes shut and hopes they arrive at Baekhyun’s house soon. The darkness creeps Jongin out and always will. Upon hearing a howl in the distance, he clenches his jaw in discomfort, the constant sound of the gigantic trees swaying in the wind doing absolutely nothing to calm his nerves.

Sehun instantly notices and Jongin isn’t sure if he’s supposed feel embarrassed or relieved when Sehun reaches across and grabs ahold of his hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. Jongin instantly feels a warm feeling surge through his entire body upon the unexpected contact and he suddenly doesn’t feel as cold anymore. In fact, he soon gets so hot he almost moves to remove the coat and give it back to Sehun but he stops himself since he doesn’t want to look ungrateful in front of Sehun. That, and because he really doesn’t want let go of Sehun’s hand. 

~~~

Jongin looks up five minutes later when Sehun pulls up in front of Baekhyun’s house. Blinking, he slowly sits up and folds the collar back up. He looks down and feels a certain sense of disappointment when he sees Sehun’s hand is no longer holding his but he quickly dismisses it as him being dramatic. He needs both hands to park the car, idiot!

Sehun, again, seems to sense Jongin’s dismay because as soon as he parks the car ten feet away from Baekhyun’s house (making sure to park as far away from the forest as possible in order not to make Jongin uncomfortable), he instantly grabs Jongin’s hand again and Jongin feels the same rush coarse through his veins when Sehun proceeds to interlock their fingers. “Sorry for taking that way.”

Jongin blinks. “What?”

“I remember you messaged me at the beginning when we first started talking and told me there are two lanes you can take to get to Baekhyun’s house; the ’usual’ way and the ’scary’ way. It seems like I took the scary way, so for that I apologize.”

Jongin’s heart nearly explodes. “O-oh. No, it’s okay. Really, it’s fine.”

“No, really, I’m sorry. I know how much you hate the darkness so that was careless of me.”

“No, seriously, it’s fine, don’t worry about it,” Jongin says and swallows when he realizes that he’s fallen for Sehun a bit more now. No, not a bit more - a lotmore.

Sehun nods before removing the key from the ignition, briefly letting go of Jongin’s hand so he can open the door and step out of the car. He quickly stretches his long legs before walking around the rear of the car, to Jongin. As soon as he spots the worried look on Jongin’s face, his eyebrows immediately furrow. It may be dark, and Jongin’s face may only be illuminated by the pale moonlight but despite that, Sehun can tell that he’s distressed. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Jongin says quickly before turning his face away.

“Is it Baekhyun? You don’t need to do this if you don’t want to,” Sehun says softly, lightly Jongin’s cheek (Sehun really hopes their relationship - if that’s what they’re in right now - is at a level that allows for face touching). “I hope you didn’t agree to this only because I said you should. If you don’t want to do this, we can leave.”

“No, no, it’s fine, I need to do this anyway,” Jongin says and Sehun internally breathes out a sigh of relief when Jongin doesn’t turn his face away. 

They make their way up the gravelled path leading up to Baekhyun’s house. At this point it has gotten so dark that Jongin can barely see his own shoes as they climb up the patio steps. Jongin is actually thankful that Sehun has chosen not to hold his hand - he’s already an emotional wreck and doesn’t want to add to it. At least not for the time being.

Ringing the doorbell, Jongin swallows and keeps his gaze fixated on the 'WELCOME’ mat underneath his feet while he waits for Baekhyun to answer the door. Baekhyun doesn’t, to Jongin’s disappointment (and relief), and he’s about to turn around and walk back to the car when the door handle moves and the door slowly opens.

Jongin nearly stumbles back at the harsh light that hits him square in the face as soon as Baekhyun opens the door completely and sticks his head out. 

“Hel-” Baekhyun starts but immediately goes silent the second he sees Jongin. Jongin is aware of how incredibly messy he looks right now - his brown hair is a mess as usual, the coat he’s wearing has a gigantic liquid stain on it and he’s a hundred percent certain that he’s shaking like a leaf. But despite that, he desperately hopes Baekhyun will give him a chance to apologize or at least explain himself. 

“The hell do you want? What’re you doing here so late?”

Jongin gulps and prays to God his voice doesn’t crack. “I really want to talk. Can I come in?” 

Baekhyun continues to stare at him with an unreadable expression on his face. Jongin nearly shivers at how intimidating Baekhyun looks in the moonlight - his cheekbones are perfectly outlined while the rest of his face is hidden in the shadows. Even his bright red hair is completely concealed by the darkness. Jongin thinks he looks terrifying. 

Jongin feels all hope slowly leave his body when Baekhyun softly shakes his head in disbelief before proceeding to close the door. 

Baekhyun doesn’t get a chance to shut the door all the way, though, and he slowly looks up in both surprise and confusion when Sehun suddenly steps into view, walking up from behind Jongin and shooting Baekhyun a stern glare. “At least give him a chance, hm?”

Blinking in confusion, Baekhyun shoots Sehun a menacing look. He doesn’t recognize Sehun given the fact that the latter is partially hidden in the shadows, just like him. “Who the hell are you?” 

“His boyfriend. And you are?” Sehun asks, staring intentely at Baekhyun. He doesn’t even need to worry about whether or not his voice sounds intimidating - his size and piercing gaze makes up for it. “His so-called best friend?”

“Boyfriend?” Baekhyun attempts to mimic Sehun’s deep voice and fails miserably (he’ll need to drop his voice by at least ten octaves in order to reach Sehun’s level). “Huh. So I guess he finally managed to get over that Sehun dude, then.” He cranes his neck so he’s looking at Jongin. “Good job. I never thought you’d get over him. Maybe I can take a shot at him now, hm?” Baekhyun chuckles low in his throat but quickly takes a step back when Sehun takes a step forward and Baekhyun’s eyes widen in surprise (and fear, Jongin thinks) when Sehun’s face is completely illuminated.

“I’m Sehun. And thanks but no thanks, I’m as happy as ever with him, so I’m afraid I have to decline your offer.” 

Baekhyun coughs, avoiding Sehun’s eyes. His jaw is clenched, Jongin can tell. “We’ll talk out here,” Baekhyun finally says after a moments silence. “What do you want?”

Jongin walks up to him and exhales a breath he didn’t even know he had been holding. “Well,” he starts and quickly trails off.

“Get to the goddamn point already!”

“I am!” Jongin exclaims before looking Baekhyun in the eye. “I wanted to talk about that…day, you know. Two weeks ago. You know, where-”

“Are you seriously asking me to apologize for -slapping you?” Baekhyun rolls his eyes just in time to miss Sehun’s scowl. 

Jongin exhales, irritation coarsing through his veins. “Yeah, actually. Listen, if you do that, I’ll say sorry for be-”

“I won’t, you deserved it big time,” Baekhyun says with a deep chuckle but said chuckle is soon replaced with a surprised yelp when Sehun takes a step forward and proceeds to grab Baekhyun's collar. "Get off me, the fuck!“

Jongin can tell Baekhyun is doing his best to sound tough despite there being an obvious glint of fear in those brown eyes of his. He runs over just when it looks as if Baekhyun is about to take a swing at Sehun and grabs the latter’s arm. 

"Look, can’t we just talk about this inside? I came here in peace, I don’t want to have to call 911,” Jongin says frantically and watches as Sehun lets go of Baekhyun's shirt and moves to stand next to him. 

Baekhyun dramatically smoothens out his shirt without as much as a word. He isn’t saying anything but Jongin can tell he’s occasionally sneaking wary glances in Sehun’s direction. 

They all stand in silence for a minute before Baekhyun slowly nods. “Fine. Since it seems like neither of you are planning on leaving anytime soon,” he says before turning on his heel and walking inside. 

Jongin takes it as his cue to follow him and he turns to Sehun. “Are you coming or staying out here?”

“Coming, obviously,” Sehun says while brushing past Jongin. “I don’t trust him.”

“Sehun,” Jongin calls after him and sighs when he sees Sehun is already making his way down the hallway. With a huff, he steps inside the warm house and slowly closes the door behind him. Jogging up to Sehun, he grabs the latter’s shoulder. “Hey, go easy on him, alright? I swear he’s not always like this. He’s a nice guy, I don’t know what’s up with him at the moment but I promise, he’s not always like this.”

Sehun sighs before nodding. “Fine, I’ll take your word for it. Where is he, anyway?”

“In there, most likely.” Jongin points to a doorway leading to what Sehun assumes is the living room. They both walk in and Jongin sits down on the couch while Sehun opts to lean against the wall in the corner near the door frame. The room feels so much smaller than it did the last time he was here and memories from three weeks ago wash over Jongin like a tidal wave. He gulps. Keep it together.

Baekhyun walks in a second later and sits on the same stool he had been sitting on three weeks ago. He doesn’t say a word and Jongin feels something tug at his heart when he sees just how broken Baekhyun looks. He doesn’t comment on it, though. 

The room falls into silence and remains quiet for roughly ten minutes before Baekhyun lifts his head and looks at Jongin. “Can we talk in private?”

Jongin feels an electric shock surge through his body and he whips his head up to look at Baekhyun. “Sure, where?”

“The kitchen.”

Jongin nods, watching as Baekhyun slowly slides off the stool and walking past Sehun. Jongin mouths a ’be right back’ to Sehun who only nods in response (Jongin doesn’t miss the worried glint in his eyes).

They wordlessly walk to the kitchen and Jongin suddenly feels his heart race but he does his best to remain neutral on the outside. Baekhyun is leaning against the kitchen counter with his gaze fixated on his socks. Jongin has never heard Baekhyun so quiet before and he doesn’t like it.

It’s not until Jongin closes the door that Baekhyun suddenly heaves a gigantic sigh and Jongin feels his heart shake because that has got to be one of the saddest and most broken sighs he’s ever heard in his entire life. It’s almost as if Baekhyun has been holding it in and waiting to let it out all this time and Jongin feels the familiar lump beginning to form in his throat.

“I’m sorry.”

Jongin looks up, not having expected Baekhyun to speak. “Sorry?”

“I’m sorry. Jongin, I’m so ing sorry, Jesus,” Baekhyun says before his voice cracks and a loud sob escapes his throat. Jongin stands glued to the floor in shock and confusion given the fact that he has never seen Baekhyun cry, ever, at least now in an extremely long time, and he doesn’t really know what to do. Jongin is about to walk up to Baekhyun when the latter opens his mouth to speak. 

“I’m sorry,” Baekhyun repeats, louder this time, “I’m sorry for doing what I did to you, holy , I know you probably think I feel super proud of myself for doing that to you but honestly, in truth, I feel ing horrible. The day I did that, and said all those things I said, I couldn’t sleep at all later at night. I didn’t have the guts to confront you about it since I was a hundred percent certain you hated me and never wanted to see me ever again. I know that’s a lousy ing excuse, but I’m a ing coward, and you know that.” He chuckles humorlessly. “I know this sounds hard to believe, but the second I slammed the door shut on you two weeks ago, I instantly regretted every word I said and what I did. But like I said, I didn’t know how to apologize without sounding like a moron, so I decided to avoid you at school. I decided to sit with people I barely even knew at lunch since I didn’t want you to think I felt ty or anything when in reality, I felt worse than . Oh, and by the way, I saw you standing there in the cafeteria last week. I desperately wanted to get up and talk to you about this whole thing but again, I chose to be a coward and stay in my seat. Basically, I didn’t talk to you about it since I was worried you hated my guts.” He takes a shaky breath before continuing. “I figured you’d come to school the day after that so we could fix this whole thing but you didn’t, so I decided to wait 'til the next day, but when you didn’t come that day either I got so ing worried. After you’d been absent from school for nearly a week I ing freaked, Jongin,” he sobs, “I thought I ed everything up for good and that you never wanted to see or talk to me again. Well, I was half right. When you didn’t answer your phone or reply to my messages I freaked even more and I contemplated going to your place to see if you were doing okay but I decided not to since I had a feeling you’d kick me out the second you saw me. I’m sorry for being such a to you out there, and to Sehun, I thought you both had come to yell your ing lungs out at me and I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle it if you did so I chose to be a total , I’m so ing sorry. Basically, I avoided talking to you about this whole…thing, because well, I’m a ing coward and because I didn’t want to do something I’d end up regretting and risk ruining our friendship. Oh, what the am I saying,” he wipes at his eye, “it’s already ing ruined isn’t it? And it’s all my fault, isn’t it?”

Jongin exhales a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding as he listens to Baekhyun ramble in front of him. He can feel tears well up in his own eyes but he does his best not to let them slide down his face since he doesn’t want both of them to break down in front of each other. That would just be weird. He takes a deep breath before looking at Baekhyun with a sincere expression. He’s about to speak up when Baekhyun beats him to it.

“I don’t know if you remember, but that guy who worked at my favorite bookstore, I actually,” he swallows and looks away, “asked him out the day you called me over to your place. H-he turned me down, Jongin, and I ing felt like a wreck for the entire day. That’s why I was so reluctant to come over since I was worried I’d lash out on you. And boy, did I ever. The thing is that I’d been mustering up the courage to ask him out for an entire week up until that point and when he said no I - God,” his voice cracks, “I felt like dying, let’s just put it that way. But I didn’t want to turn you down since I knew how stressed you were feeling about the whole Sehun thing so I chose to come over anyway. And then when you refused to listen to me, I just…I just,” he lets out an agonized wail. “I snapped. I don’t know why I hit you, I don’t know why I did that, I’m so sorry, I’m sorry. I was just tired after not having slept a wink since he rejected me - I laid in bed for hours just crying my goddamn eyes out - and feeling frustrated in general that you were in such denial so I just…I don’t know. I guess I was just jealous and in a bad mood that you had someone who was interested in you while I had no one. And the fact that you chose to still be in denial despite Sehun obviously harboring a crush on you only made me feel worse about myself. God, I sound like such a ing girl right now, .” He sighs heavily. “I know this doesn’t excuse my actions in the slightest and I totally understand if you hate me and never want to talk to me again after this but I just want you to know that I feel goddamn ing ty about it and I hope that I can at least continue being your friend. Not necessarily your best friend, but your friend. Because you’re an amazing friend and I don’t want to lose you, Jongin.” And with that last sentence, he lets out a choked sob before bursting into tears, leaning against the counter with both hands covering his face. 

Jongin clenches his fists at Baekhyun’s emotional words before gritting his teeth and shaking his head in disbelief. “Are you ing for real right now, Baek?”

“I know!” Baekhyun wails, “I know! I hate myself too, ing hell, I really do. I’m just…. I don’t know. I really don’t know.” He removes his right hand from his face so he can wipe away the tear that’s beginning to roll down his cheek. “I promise to never let my personal problems interfere with yours ever again, I swear on my goddamn soul.” He suddenly lets out a small yelp of surprise when Jongin embraces him, the latter rubbing Baekhyun’s back before pulling away. 

“ing , Baek,” Jongin breathes, running a frustrated hair through his hair. He desperately tries to hold his tears back and hopes to God that Baekhyun can’t see his eyes shine. “I didn’t mean it like that. I meant that you shouldn’t even be questioning us and our friendship, how big of an idiot are you even?” He chuckles slightly. “I’ll always be your best goddamn friend no matter how many times you sock me in the face, you know that.”

“That…doesn’t sound very best friend-like to me,” Baekhyun says in a hoarse voice. A tear rolls down his cheek but his lips curls upwards into a small smile anyway. “God, I thought you’d hate me forever, I was so ing worried you have no idea. I feel like collapsing from relief, I’m serious.”

Jongin chuckles. “I felt the same. I felt like I had annoyed the out of you; actually, I didn’t confront you about it since I was certain you’d only get more annoyed and therefore pissed off if I brought it up.”

“Well that makes sense, I guess,” Baekhyun says before running a hand through his hair. 

“Sorry about what happened with that guy, by the way,” Jongin says in a sincere voice. 

Baekhyun shakes his head. “Don’t mention it. I mean, I felt ing ty as hell and I still do, but I shouldn’t have taken it out on you, and I’m sorry again."

“It’s fine. You know, you can always talk to me if you want to.”

“Jesus Jongin, you sound like some sort of psychologist,” Baekhyun laughs and jokingly slaps Jongin on the arm. “But I appreciate that. Thanks, although I doubt I’ll be on the look-out for a relationship anytime soon. Oh, and by the way, I'll try my best to help you with your boyfriend problems in the near future.” He swallows before looking away. “Not gonna lie, I was pretty darn surprised when Sehun kinda just showed up out of nowhere like that earlier, you know, on my front porch.”

Jongin blinks at the sudden topic change before chuckling nervously, suddenly feeling extremely hot inside at the mention of Sehun. “I feel you.”

“So I take it that you took my advice then?”

“Oh, no actually,” Jongin says sheepishly. “I actually…bumped into him at that bubble tea shop, the same one. Literally.”

“Literally?” Baekhyun asks, a curious glint in his eyes.

“Yeah, I ordered a cup and turned around and before I knew it, I had walked right into someone and I looked up and he was kinda just,” Jongin smiles at the memory, “there.”

“Wow,” Baekhyun says. “Talk about a miracle.”

“I’ll say. In fact, had I not chosen to leave the house that day at the time I did, I wouldn't have met him.”

“Yup, miracle indeed. Hey, by the way,” Baekhyun suddenly smirks and Jongin groans. Leave it to Baekhyun to go from a crying mess to a dirty-minded freak in the span of three seconds. “How is he as a boyfriend?”

“Boyfriend? Who said anything about boyfriend?” Jongin asks, glaring at Baekhyun.

“Don’t play smart now. He literally called himself your boyfriend earlier, remember?”

Jongin mentally facepalms. “Oh, right. Not to start this whole thing over again, but,” he says slowly, “I genuinely only think he said that because he wanted to make it easier for us to start talking. We literally met for the first time in almost a month today anyway, so.”

“Eh, I don’t think so,” Baekhyun shrugs. “I think he likes you. The fact that he unhesitantly tried to strangle me for being a little rude to you earlier speaks volumes about how much he cares about you, don’t you think?”

Jongin shrugs, not knowing what to say. 

“Anyway, he’s pretty handsome, I’ll admit. You definitlely weren’t lying when you said he’s as tall as he said. And broad. Oh, and don’t think I bad mouthed him out there earlier because I thought I was hot or anything. I genuinely didn’t even see it was him. I thought it was a new guy you met on that app or something. Like, he was practically completely hidden by the shadows, I could hardly see him. Oh, and I also didn’t mean it when I asked for a shot, by the way.”

“I get it, Baek, I get it.”

“Glad you do. Anyway, we good?” Baekhyun asks, eyes flashing with hope.

“You didn’t even need to ask,” Jongin chuckles before walking over and giving Baekhyun a second hug. Baekhyun flashes Jongin his all-too bright smile when the latter pulls away and Jongin almost jumps with joy. Man, how he’s missed that smile.

“We should probably go back out there,” Baekhyun says, wiping at his eyes and cursing when some of his eyeliner smudges on his finger. “Your Prince Charming is waiting. Or maybe sleeping, who knows.”

“Baek, shut it!” Jongin squawks and despite feeling embarrassed, he can’t stop himself from breaking out into a big smile. Baekhyun doesn’t miss it, inevitably.

“Hey,” Baekhyun suddenly reaches out and grabs Jongin’s shoulder.

“Hm?”

“Do…do you think he’s pissed?”

“Who? Sehun? Of course not. Why would he be?”

“He just...looks super scary when he’s mad.”

“I know that he looks like a intimidating giant with anger issues at first glance but I can assure you that he’s fluffy as hell when you get to know him,” Jongin says before shooting Baekhyun a small wink. 

Baekhyun slaps him on the arm.

~~~

“That took a while,” Sehun says flatly when Jongin opens the door to the kitchen and walks out, Baekhyun following close behind. He eyes them both intentely, looking for any signs of damage on Jongin’s face or body and puts away his phone when he doesn’t see any. 

“We’ve talked it out,” Jongin says, gesturing towards Baekhyun who nods shyly, not daring to look Sehun in the eyes.

“Sounds good,” Sehun says before standing up and stretching. He looks at Baekhyun who quickly looks away, much to Sehun’s confusion. He shoots Jongin a look. “You go sit in the car, alright?”

Jongin slowly nods in understanding before turning on his heel, shooting Baekhyun a small smile before walking to the hallway, opening and closing the door behind him.

Baekhyun keeps his gaze focused on the floor and nearly jumps out of his skin when Sehun clears his throat. “Don’t!” Baekhyun blurts out. “Don’t kill me, please, I didn’t know it was you out there earlier, I could hardly see your face, I swear I wouldn’t have said what I did if I’d known it was you, I didn't mean to hurt Jongin, he's forgiven me, I promise; don’t kill me pretty please, I’m too young to die!”

Sehun blinks while looking down at Baekhyun, an amused and curious expression plastered all over his features. “Sorry?”

“Don’t kill me, please, please, please, you and Jongin look really good together and I know you love him and not me even though he needs to realize it, and I didn’t mean it when I said I was gonna take a shot at you before, I swear, don’t murder me,” Baekhyun blabbers, covering his face with his hands. 

“I was a little irked in the beginning, I’ll admit,” Sehun chuckles before giving Baekhyun a friendly shove. “But that’s only because I was worried. Hey, sorry for grabbing you like that earlier, by the way.”

Baekhyun blinks when Sehun doesn’t, in fact, murder him on the spot. “Oh? Uh, it’s fine. No harm done.”

Sehun nods before his eyebrows suddenly furrow and he chuckles when he sees Baekhyun’s eyes widen in alarm. “Don’t worry,” he says, putting his hands up in defense. “I’m not going to kill you. What I do want to know, however, is what you meant by ’even though he needs to realize it’. You know, the thing you said just now about Jongin.”

“Oh, that,” Baekhyun clears his throat. Choose your words wisely now, he thinks, don’t piss off the giant. “It’s just that…for the past couple of weeks he’s been a little…indecisive. You know, unsure as to whether or not you truly care about him as much as he very obviously cares about you. I mean, it’s obvious he’s scared of admitting it but I can tell that he likes you. Sorry if this too deep and all, but yeah. I can tell by the way his expression changes when I bring you up or when he starts talking about you and how he smiles whenever he hears your name. Since he broke up with his ex girlfriend a while ago - seriously, I had to be there for that break-up meltdown as well - I’ve never seen him so happy - I know what he’s like when he fakes smiles and happiness but when he’s with you or talking about you, he’s just so genuinely happy and it really hurts me to have to listen to him whine about you not caring about him or whether what he feels for you is genuine love or not. And I don’t know if he told you or not but after out…brief altercation he ing holed himself up in his apartment and refused to come to school for an entire week, Jesus, he’s gotten so skinny and since then, I could feel his goddamn ribcage when he hugged me earlier. I mean, , I don’t know if he’s head over heels for you or whatever, but what I do know is that he really likes you and is waiting for you to make a move since he never usually does that kinda thing, y'know? I know how he is when it comes to relationships and stuff since I was there when he had a girlfriend and all, and he can get pretty…crazy. At least when he gets super confused which I’d say he is right now. Just think about that, alright? He’s also pretty shy when it comes to relationships, not that I’ve dated him or anything! Jesus, this is getting awkward, sorry. He just needs some consolation, or reassurance, or however you’d prefer to call it, that’s all.”

Sehun nods. “I see. I mean, I know he’s the shy type but…nevermind, I’ll see what I can do. I don’t want to make him uncomfortable, you know?”

“Yeah, I know,” Baekhyun nods. “I think it’s a combination of you being a guy, he’s never dated a dude before - he very recently came out to me, by the way, so maybe he’s shying away from that - as well as the fact that you met very recently. And perhaps the fact that he thought you were ignoring him for an entire week before but yeah, I think he’s gotten over that by now, or at least I hope so.” He blinks and flails his arms around. “Jesus, don’t tell him I told you all of this, okay? I’m not trying to sound like a by telling you all of this, I hope you realize I’m only spilling all of this because I’m worried about him and want to help him! And since it’s been made painfully obvious that he doesn’t trust me very much when it comes to this, to you, I think it’s best you talk to him about it since I figure he’ll listen to you over me any day. You seem like the 'have-their--together’ type, so I think you’ll be fine.”

“I understand. I'll do my best.” 

Baekhyun suddenly chuckles. “Did you know he ogled a student who looked just like you two weeks ago, by the way?”

Sehun blinks. “Yes, he told me.”

Coughing awkwardly, Baekhyun nods before averting his gaze. “Okay, just thought you should know. Anyway, you should probably get out there and keep him company. You drive, right? I'm pretty sure Jongin told me you do."

“Correct.”

“, you should get out there and comfort him, he hates the forest surrounding my house more than anything in the entire world,” Baekhyun says. “He once suffered a panic attack after taking the bus here so I’m a little worried about leaving him out there all alone. You see, he’s ridiculously afraid of the dark.”

Sehun nods with a small smile. “I know, he told me before.”

Baekhyun’s jaw nearly hits the floor. “He told you?”

With a confused nod, Sehun blinks. “Yes. He did. Is there a problem?”

“Nothing.” Baekhyun's his right hand comes up to play with his hair. “It’s just that…he doesn’t talk to or tell anyone about his fears and phobias and stuff. Only his parents, maybe his sisters, and me - we’re the only ones who know. No one else. Well, except for you now, obviously. I was just surprised since…well, it’s a gigantic sign that you mean a lot to him.”

Sehun feels something blooming in his chest and nods for the hundreth time that evening. “That’s good to know.”

“Sorry for sounding like a total creep all of a sudden, but I think you two’d make a nice couple,” Baekhyun says shamelessly, chuckling when he sees the surprised look on Sehun’s face. “No, really! You’d be great together! You have so much in common and everything!”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Sehun says, suddenly feeling the overwhelming urge to see Jongin. He turns to face Baekhyun before leaning in and giving him a friendly hug. “Nice to finally meet you, Baekhyun,” he says after pulling away. He feels something tug at his heart when he sees the tear streaks lining Baekhyun’s face but he doesn’t comment on them.

“Same to you!” Baekhyun chirps before giving Sehun a thumbs up. “Well, let’s pretend our first meeting didn’t begin with me being rude as and you grabbing me by the collar,” he adds with a laugh.

Sighing in amusement, Sehun nods before stretching out his right hand. “Oh Sehun. Nice to finally meet you. I think we'll be good friends.”

Baekhyun blinks before a gigantic grin spreads across his face and he swoops in, grabbing Sehun’s hand and giving it a firm shake. “Byun Baekhyun, same to you! Hopefully now that we've seen each other in the flesh Jongin'll stop sending you ugly- photos of me all the time.”

Sehun gives Baekhyun a small nod before turning around and walking out of the living room and into the hallway. His hand is a mere inch away from the door handle when he hears Baekhyun’s voice calling his name from behind him. Turning around, Sehun raises an eyebrow. “Hm?”

“Take care of him, Sehun, alright?” Baekhyun asks, sincerity lacing his words. “Please? For me.”

Swallowing, Sehun nods before unlocking the door and opening it a crack. “I will. Thank you,” he says before swinging the door open all the way. “Good night.”

The door closes behind him with a dull bang and Sehun shivers when the cold air engulfs his body. Shoving his hands in his pockets, he walks down the patio steps and towards the car in which Jongin is sitting.

❧