The week passed by extremely slowly, one uneventful day painfully dragging into the next, yet Jongin didn't want it to end. He began to feel a growing sense of anxiety as the weekend approached, but much to his frustration, he couldn't place why he dreaded it so much. Taemin was quiet all week, which, Jongin supposed, was fairly normal, but for some reason it made him all the more unsettled. Finally, it was Friday, and Jongin felt an ever irritating mixture of relief and dread. He went about his day, functioning on autopilot the entire time. It wasn't until it was nearly closing time that he snapped out of his dazed, mildly distressed state, when he was in the staff room, putting something away.

"Jongin?" Taemin's voice made him jump. He turned around, previous thoughts leaving his mind.

"Yeah?" The other boy was standing in the doorway, looking hesitant to fully enter the room. 

"Are you alright? You've been in a weird mood this whole week. Like, really weird. Even Jongdae's noticed at this point." 

Jongin sighed. Was it really that noticeable? 

"I'm fine, just feeling a little off, I guess." 

Taemin opened his mouth to say something in response, but was cut off by Jongdae's loud voice shouting into the staff room.

"Hey, Taemin, Jongin, you guys coming out for drinks tonight?" 

Taemin's expression shifted to a look of annoyance, but his tone revealed nothing as he answered back, 

"Not tonight, Jongdae," He turned back to Jongin. "I'm glad you're fine, though, I would've felt guilty going out tonight if you didn't."

"I thought you just told Jongdae you weren't going with them."

"I'm not. I'm going out later though, I'm meeting someone. I'm sure you won't even mind the fact that I'm gone." Taemin flashed Jongin a smile. To be fair, most of the time they were at home together, Jongin ignored Taemin, so it wasn't like he was completely wrong. But tonight, Jongin did mind. 

"Who are you going out with?" Jongin couldn't help himself, he had to ask. 

Taemin shrugged. 

"Just someone," he said, the vagueness of his response bothering Jongin more than it should have. The worst thing though, was the soft smile on Taemin's face when he said it. That look, Jongin knew, was the look of someone just beginning to fall in love. Who was this 'someone' who'd captured Taemin's heart so fast? And why did Jongin feel sad about it? 

***** 

He was going to see who Taemin was out with. He didn't want to, and he felt creepy doing it, but he had to. The logical part of him screamed that he should just stay at home, enjoy the fact that he was finally completely alone, but at this point, Jongin was well beyond listening to logic. As soon as Taemin left the apartment, Jongin got his coat, waiting a minute before slipping out after him. Locking his door, he glanced around to see where the boy had gone, pleased when he saw the stairwell door swinging slightly, indicating where he'd left.  

Jongin hurried to the stairs, slowing once he reached the landing, as he didn't want to rush down the stairs and give away the fact that he was following Taemin. He couldn't help but wince as he pondered why he was going after him, it was so weird. Jongin didn't like feeling as if he were some creepy stalker. He sighed, continuing on his way. 

Once he was out on the street, it took him a moment to find Taemin in the crowd of people rushing by, but he managed to spot him walking next to a shorter man, who was smiling up at him as he talked about something. Unfortunately, Jongin was out of earshot and didn't have any clue as to what Taemin was saying. A knot of jealousy twisted in Jongin's stomach, but he quickly pushed it aside. He shouldn't be feeling jealous, he knew this for a fact. He shouldn't even be out there, following Taemin. But, he shouldn't feel anything for him in the first place, he realized. And yet, here he was. 

So what was he going to do? Was he going to stand idly by and let Taemin slip through his fingers, or was he going to take this chance, even though he knew he would regret it later? 

Jongin continued following Taemin. He wouldn't let his doubt and guilt hold him back now. 

*****

They were in a bar, much like the one Jongin had gotten drunk in just a week before. It was crowded, people packed in closely on all sides, giving Jongin a mild feeling of claustrophobia. He'd lost sight of Taemin and the short man once they'd entered the bar, and now he was desperately attempting to find them. Live music pulsed in the background, nearly drowned out by the many voices of people talking, all trying to be heard over the others in the noisy space. 

Jongin neared the bar counter, but he knew to steer clear of alcohol. Not spotting Taemin or the man there, he wandered around the bar, searching to no avail, until he caught a glance of a familiar smile out of the corner of his eye. He whirled around, spotting Taemin and his companion seated at a table tucked into a small corner of the bar. No wonder it had taken him so long to find them, they were in probably the least visible place in the room. 

Now, he froze. What was he going to do now? He'd never even thought he'd get this far, he didn't plan for what he'd do once he got here. He gulped. 

, Jongin thought. 

There were some times when Jongin especially hated himself. This was one of them. 

Taemin looked so happy talking to that man, he was smiling and laughing, just seeing him so cheerful made Jongin's insides heat up. He didn't want to interrupt them, if that other guy made Taemin happy, why should he ruin it? 

But Jongin knew he couldn't just stand there. He took up a position where he could still see their table, but where he hoped they wouldn't be able to see him. He unlocked his phone, opening his messages to text Taemin. But what would he say? Jongin stifled a groan of frustration, leaning his head back against the wall behind him. Why did this have to be so difficult? 

Finally, he bit the bullet and typed out a message. 

<Hey, where are you rn? I'm bored at home alone and I want to go out. You wouldn't care if I met up with you, would you?>

He waited a few moments before looking over at Taemin. He was looking down at his phone, but Jongin couldn't read his expression. The man across from him said something, and he looked up, replying with a smile before looking back down at his phone. Three dots, signifying that Taemin was typing, appeared on Jongin's screen. 

<Can't you go out with Sehun or something? He's always free.>

Jongin sighed. Did Taemin really just turn him down like that? 

<Sehun's busy tonight. Plus, I'm already out, I'm probably near you anyway...>

That was a stupid thing to say, but he figured Taemin wouldn't catch on to the fact that he was literally sitting in the same room as him. 

<Jongin... you're really stupid, you know that, right?>

<What?>

Jongin's blood ran cold. How could Taemin know? He thought he was discreet throughout the entire trip there...

<I have no idea what you're talking about...> 

"Don't dig yourself in deeper." 

Taemin's voice startled him, and he tore his eyes away from his phone screen to meet the annoyed ones of the boy standing in front of his table. 

"Taemin, I..." Jongin put his phone down, resting his head in his arms. 

"Care to explain yourself?" 

Jongin sighed into the wood of the table underneath his head, wishing he could disappear into the ground. 

"I'm sorry, Taemin. I just- you wouldn't understand." 

"Oh? And what exactly wouldn't I understand?" 

Jongin raised his head, looking at Taemin now. 

"I can't tell you, you can't know. I barely even know myself exactly what it is." 

Taemin raised an eyebrow. 

"Jongin, something's obviously going on, you've been acting weird all week, and now you're here. I'm not sure what's going on, but you need to give me some sort of reasonable explanation for this."

"But I already said I-" Jongin started.

"-Don't give me that. I know you know, you just don't want to say it for some reason." Taemin looked irritated. Jongin couldn't blame him though, he wouldn't want to deal with himself right now either. He bit his lip. What did he come here to do? He knew it now. There was no going back, Taemin knew he was here, so why not go for it? He could think of a million reasons not to. 

"Taemin... it's because I- I'm... interested in you. God, that sounds bad. What I mean is, I like you. A lot. A-and..." Jongin trailed off, putting his head back down on the table. A few moments later, there was a hand on his arm. He looked up, finding that Taemin had sat down in front of him. Taemin's eyes were soft, urging him to continue. 

"And...?" Taemin let the question hang in the air. 

"And I had to tell you because you went out with someone tonight, and if I didn't tell you now, I don't think I'd ever get the chance to again. I know you're probably not interested, but I really like you, and it's the first time I've felt interest in anyone in two years, and I'm so scared..." 

Jongin felt tears coming and put his head back down on the table, feeling vulnerable and exposed in front of Taemin. 

Suddenly, there was a hand his hair, surprising him, but he was too worried to move. Over the noise of the bar, he could just barely hear Taemin murmuring, 

"It's okay, I know, I know." 

There were lips pressed against his head where Taemin's hand once was, and Jongin felt himself relax, heating warm at the sensation. Maybe he'd made the right decision. For the first time in ages, Jongin allowed himself to think that maybe it was all going to be okay. 

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

OMG I am so so so so so sorry that I didn't update last week, this is actually last week's chapter that I'm posting now, this week's chapter goes up tomorrow (hopefully). :((((((((( 

I've had a lot of writer's block and then I've been so busy, omg I'm so sorry it's taken me this long... I swear next week's will be on time. If I don't get the chapter for this week up by tomorrow, you'll be getting a double post next week, again, I'm so sorry. D:

On a lighter note, look at what happened this chapter! It was longer than the last two chapters too, haha. 

Sorry for any mistakes, it's late at night and once again, unedited. I hope you enjoyed it! :D

Thanks so much for all the support, I'm so grateful... I feel so bad for updating so late...

Anyways, I should go to sleep now :/

Thanks for reading! <3

-H