It had been a few days since Taemin had gone to church with Jinki. They had kept in contact after and had been texting one another every day since then. They always seemed to find things to talk about that entertained the other, and they never seemed to want to end their conversations. Well, at least that's how Taemin saw it. He was over the moon every time he saw the elder's name pop up on his phone. He would immediately reply back and he noticed the elder did the same. The younger's friends seemed to take note of this and instantly figured out, with Minho's help, that he and Jinki were starting to become somewhat of a thing.

     Taemin, Krystal, Minho, and Amber all went to the cafeteria for lunch. After a few minutes of seeing the youngest tapping away on his phone, they decided to a bit. 

     "Aw, are you and your new boyfriend still texting?" teased Amber. "That is so cute!" Hearing this, everyone laughed.

     "He is not my boyfriend, Amber," replied Taemin. "He and I are just friends, and that is all. We just like to talk to each other a lot."

     Minho just rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah. You two have been texting nonstop for about two and half hours now. And not only that, but this happens every single day. Ever since you came back from church, it's like you two just haven't even stopped texting each other."

     Krystal decided to join in. "Oh my gosh, really? I knew they were texting a lot, but if you say that they've been texting nonstop, maybe there is something there Taemin. Don't you think?"

     The younger decided to wave it off. "No. He does not like me in that way. We are just friends. He works for a church! There's no way."

     Everyone just scoffed. "Those are the worst ones!" exclaimed Amber. "Plus, you just never know nowadays. He does seem to be very invested in you anyway. I- not even just me, but WE all noticed it that day at the coffee shop."

     "Yeah," said Krystal, "he was giving you a lot of attention. Now that I think about it, I don't remember seeing you two apart from one another after he came up to you. There's something happening here, Tae. I think someone has a crush on you."

     Taemin was about to respond to Krystal's absurd statement when he saw he was getting a call from none other than Jinki.

     "Speak of the devil," said Minho.

     Taemin excused himself from the table and went outside of the cafeteria to answer the phone call. "Hello?"

     "Hey, Tae!" answered Jinki.

     "Hey! What's up, Jinki?"

     "Nothing yet. What are you doing right now? Are you busy?"

     Taemin felt a smile creep on his face and he felt his heart race a little faster after hearing the question. He was hoping that the elder would ask him to hang out that day. "No, I am absolutely free." 

     "Alright cool. So, I just got out my last class for the day, and I am actually headed your way. I was wondering if today could be the day we go out and talk. You know, just to get to know one another better. That sound cool?"

     The younger could barely contain himself after hearing the elder ask him to see him. "Yes! That's totally cool."

     "Great! I will call you when I'm close to SM. Are you in your room?"

     "No, I am actually in the cafeteria. There's a parking lot near it. You can park there. I'll more than likely still be in the cafe by the time you get here."

     "Alright, I know where you're talking about. I'll call you when I'm close, okay?"

     "Okay. I'll see you when you get here, Jinki." Taemin couldn't hide his smile. 

     "Okay, Tae. I'll see you in a few."

     After hearing Jinki hang up on the other line, the younger rushed back inside and sat down at the table with his friends. They were all eyeing him suspiciously. Curious as to what went on outside the cafe, Krystal decided to investigate further. 

     "Um, Tae, was that Jinki?"

     The younger just nodded his head in confirmation. 

     "Okay," said Minho, "what did you guys talk about? Why did he call you?"

     Everyone just stared at the younger until he finally cracked a smile and told them what the conversation was about. "Okay! So apparently, he's on his way to pick me up for our 'date'."

     Hearing this, everyone's jaws dropped to the floor. They then cheered up and semi-celebrated the younger's evening with Jinki. After a few minutes of talking amongst one another, Taemin's phone vibrated. He saw he had received a message from Jinki that read:

     I'm outside the cafe.

     Upon seeing this, the younger excused himself from the table and walked out of the cafe to search for the elder's car. When he found said car, he also found a Jinki standing in front of the car, waving his hands, jumping up and down, and yelling the younger's name in order to get his attention. Seeing this made the younger laugh and approach the car. "Oh my goodness, hi Jinki."

     "Hey. You ready to get going?" asked the elder.

     Taemin had nodded his head and they both hopped in the vehicle. After they were settled, they left the parking lot. They had started conversing about various topics for a while before the younger realized that they had never talked about where they were going to go. He decided to ask the elder. "Jinki, where are we going? We never set a place up to go."

     The elder just smiled and responded, "Don't worry, Tae. I already planned everything. You're gonna love this place, I promise." 

     This made Taemin smile. He felt happy hearing that Jinki had already planned a day for them to just simply spend time together. He began thinking that maybe the others were right and that he might have some kind of feelings for the younger. This made him smile every time he even thought about it.

     It was another fifteen minutes or so when they finally arrived at what looked to be a Japanese restaurant. This made Taemin excited because he absolutely loved Japanese food. As he was reaching to open the passenger door, Jinki stopped him and rushed to the other side to open it for him. Seeing the elder do this made the younger's heart race slightly. 

    "Uh, thank you, Jinki," Taemin said with a hint of embarrassment. He was hoping he wasn't blushing. 

     As they approached the door, the younger noticed that the elder even held the door open for him. He thanked him again and they both went up to the front to see what they wanted to order. 

     "You can get whatever you like, Tae," said Jinki. "Everything is on me."

     Taemin looked over at the elder and tried to decline his offer to pay for his meal. "No no! It's okay. I can't ask you to do that. I can pay for it. It's fine really."

     "It's okay. I'll pay. I set this date up anyway, so it's only right that I pay for everything. Don't worry, it's fine, really."

     Taemin's heart almost stopped after hearing the word date being used. 'He said date. That must mean he feels something, right?' he had asked himself.

     After they ordered their food, they found a spot to sit and talked for a while until their food had arrived at their table. They both ate for a little bit with a comfortable silence between them. After a few moments, Jinki decided to revive the conversation. He had asked generic questions about school, hobbies, friends, future plans, etc. They both shared with each other different aspects of their lives.

    "You know why I picked this place?" asked Jinki. Taemin had nodded his head. "It's because you said you really liked Japanese food more than anything else. So I thought why not treat you to the best in town, right?"

     "You remembered I liked Japanese food? I only told you that like once. How did you remember that?" asked a now bashful Taemin.

     Jinki just smiled. "I remember things easily if it's someone I care about." He had noticed the younger began to blush after hearing him say that. "You look cute when you blush, you know," teased the elder.

     Taemin didn't know what to do with himself anymore after hearing those words from the other. 'This has to be definite proof that he likes me' he thought to himself. "You care about me?" he asked the elder.

     "Yeah, of course. I seriously want to get to know you more. I also hope that one day we can be close because you are one of the nicest and coolest people I've ever met. Even if you don't feel the same now, I'm gonna change your mind, 'cause you're worth it."

     Hearing this coming from Jinki's mouth only made Taemin's heart beat even faster. He didn't know what to say. He honestly felt speechless.

     Jinki looked down at his watch and noticed how late it was getting. "Wow. We stayed here for almost two hours. The time sure did fly. You ready to head out?" he asked Taemin.

     "Uh huh. Whenever you're ready," the younger responded. 

     "Alright. I gotta use the restroom before we leave. I'll be back in a second." 

     After the elder left for the restroom, Taemin hastily pulled out his phone and noticed he had a bunch of messages from his friends. He replied to them all and told them he had something big to tell them when he got back to school. A few moments passed and Jinki was out of the bathroom and ready to leave. 

     "You ready, Tae?" asked the elder. Taemin nodded and was escorted back to the elder's car. They talked to one another the whole car ride back. Once they made it to Taemin's dorm, Jinki had stopped the younger before he was able to get out of the vehicle. "I really enjoyed tonight. We need to did this again sometime, okay?"

     The younger smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'd like that." 

     Jinki smiled. "Okay, good. I really appreciate you, Tae. I'm glad I met you. I'll see you later, okay?"

     Taemin just smiled and waved as he saw Jinki pull off. When he made it back to his room, he was instantly bombarded with a barrage of questions from Minho. 

     "What happened tonight? Are you guys going out again? Are you guys like a thing now? Did he tell you he liked you because I bet Amber $20 he would tell you tonight."

     Taemin wasn't paying any attention to his roommate. He was off in his head thinking about the events that happened today between him and Jinki. But he was stuck on one specific thing the elder had said to him. "He told me that 'I was worth it.'"