See you later

Jiho sighs, pondering the chain of decisions that lead him to this precise moment. Without any doubt, this is the stupidest he has ever done. He is already mortified, but this is nothing compared with what Mihno will feel later, once this crazy idea is done, gone. He is going to be so ashamed, and Jiho will make sure to recall this day every day, for the rest of their lives. Because this can only go wrong, there is no other way: Minho is going to get arrested and Jiho hasn’t the money to pay for the fine - not that he is willing to pay to rescue Minho from the police, not after trespassing, harassing and stalking, the less that he will be charged with.  But maybe this will teach him his lesson - perhaps a night in jail will make him less prone to idiocy. He deserves to be punished, publicly humiliated, really, for his silly idea that is going to flop hard.

He sighs again and, muttering his courage, rings the bell. 

It takes five seconds to get an answer from the other side. And one more for the door to open, revealing a young boy that looks up at him in surprise. 

He smiles back at the boy and pushes in a heavy, bulky box. The boy stares at it puzzled, not knowing what is going on but signs the papers as required without questioning Jiho. And, like this, without further ado, the delivery is completed and the bird is on the nest, ready to be revealed - or stuck inside of it forever. 

When the boy - Kang Seungyoon according to the papers - closes the door behind him, with the massive box inside the house, the operation “Troya” begins. Now it’s all on Minho. Which means that he will have to come back here soon, to collect Minho’s corpse. Because he is not coming out of this situation alive - not when they will catch him inside the box. Just thinking about it is hilarious. 

With a last glance, Jiho leaves the crime scene, getting back to his van, driving straight to his business - that used to be Minho’s as well, too. But not any longer. Not after what he has done; he is going to ruin their reputation.

Seungyoon looks at the box surprised. He has signed the papers but has no clue of what this delivery is about. He is sure that he hasn’t bought anything so this massive parcel must be Jinwoo’s. 

It is all darkness and silence once the door is closed again. Only the beats of his heartbreak the stillness but Minho knows he is in the right place - he has recognised Seungyoon’s voice and, in Jiho, he can trust. If Kyung or Jihoon have done the delivery, he wouldn’t be so sure - Kyung probably would have thrown him on a ditch and Jihoon would be laughing his off only by hearing his plan. His masterplan. But Jiho has faith in him - always have, always will, no wonder he is his best friend ever. Jiho knows that his assault will be successful, that he will be able to steal Kim Jinwoo’s heart - metaphorically, he has no will to kill him or sell his organs at the black market. Minho is not a robber, after all, only a man in love. A desperate man with a plan to follow. A plan that will lead him to conquer Jinwoo, if nothing goes wrong - but what can go wrong? He has it all prepared.  

From his hidden place, sitting on the cardboard floor of the box, he recalls how it all began, his first meeting with Jinwoo.

It was all an honest mistake - the first time. He was doing a delivery and handed it to the wrong person. The wrong person, though, happened to be the most alluring human he had ever laid his eyes on. He was better than an angel would. And when he spoke to him, with such a crystal voice… Minho knew he was dammed. Condemned. He couldn’t forget him, this boy named Kim Jinwoo with a diamond smile and eyes that captured the ocean, made out starfishes and pearls. 

What he forgot that time was to properly do the delivery he was supposed to do and, therefore, he had to drive back again to Mopko, in search of Kim Jihwan, the owner of a wine refrigerator that Kim Jinwoo talked to him about.  

Minho would be lying if he said that he never sneaked out of work to see Jinwoo, handing him deliveries meant for someone else. To be honest, he did it more than once - actually so many times that it was becoming suspicious even for an innocent person as Jinwoo, who always greeted him with a bright smile. And maybe Jiho told him to stop because of the bad reputation it was giving to his shipping company “KOZ”. But every time that Minho was driving around the vicinity, he stopped by to see him under the pretext of a package for him or Seungyoon - he had met his roommate, he had memorized his working shifts thanks to inquiring, subtle, Seungyoon. After a month, Minho had the worst notoriety between Jiho, Kyung, Jihoon and himself. People complained that their deliveries always got mixed up, or never arrived on time and Jiho reported to him that his extra-curricular activities had lost them a few customers.  

But Minho couldn’t care. How could he when Jinwoo existed? Jinwoo, alluring, captivating, heart taking, as beautiful as the stars, as perfect as the sky, shinier than the whole universe, with these sparkling eyes full of fireflies. He only wanted to see him and he shouldn’t be blamed for that - he was accused because none of them knew Jinwoo, otherwise, they would be doing the same (Jinwoo was a force greater than gravity, unavoidable, unexplainable, unpredictable but real). 

It took him five months to come up with a perfect plan - and, by then, his love was deeper than the ocean, as impossible as reaching for the sun, touching it with his nails. Jiho was, somewhat, convinced to help and Operation “Troya” was created. 

Stupid and childish if you asked Jiho. Brilliant if you asked Minho. Felonious and punishable if you asked Kyung. Jihoon would only laugh.

Kang Seungyoon is eyeing the packet suspiciously, wondering what Jinwoo has ordered this time around. Though Jinwoo will be back soon - and he will probably have to call “KOZ” because they got it wrong again (this massive box looks like something Kim Jihwan would get, as a new mini-fridge for wine;  it wouldn’t be the first time the get the names mixed and the delivery wrong). He contains the urge to kick the box - it looks annoying for some reason but he doesn't want to damage the parcel yet just in case it's Jinwoo's.

“Seungyoon-ah, I’m home!” the sweet voice fills Minho’s muffled ears and he is already smiling just by picturing him arriving, opening the door and greeting his friend. 

“Hyung! You got a delivery,” is Seungyoon’s answer, “did you buy something? The container is gigantic!” 

“No, I didn’t. Are you sure it was for me?” he asks, perplex. Around Minho, someone is walking. A hand is touching the surface of the box, where the delivery information is. “Well… It says my name,” Jinwoo says, finger following the letters, frowning. “But it must be for Jihwan,” he adds, convinced. “I’ll call him to confirm before reaching the company.”

From inside, Minho can hear fingers pressing keys on a phone. A few words exchanged but that he can’t comprehend. Jinwoo humming around him, thinking.

“It is neither for him, isn’t it hyung? This “KOZ” company is a mess,” butts in Seungyoon, seriously. “This man, the one that is always confusing you with Jihwan is a disaster. We shouldn’t order anything else from them,” he adds, nodding. 

“The cute one?” Jinwoo wonders. 

“Yes, the one that you like to talk to and that seems a creep, though the other one is way prettier than him” Seungyoon agrees. Jinwoo laughs.

“He is not! I find him lovable. And, beside… I think he is into me. Or so Seunghoon says. He thinks he is doing it on purpose to see me, which it's cute” he confesses, cheeks coloured in rosy. Minho’s heart is doing somersaults and tumbles. Minho’s hands are shaking, brain-melting - Jinwoo thinks that he is lovable, Jinwoo doesn't think that he is a jerk (and he probably won't end in the police station, under arrest for what he is about to do).

“You are a hopeless romantic. I bet that if this man appeared right now in front of you and asked you out, you would say yes in a heart-beat,” Seungyoon says, laughing. 

“But he is so polite and caring! Sure I would date him. He is also very handsome, with those board shoulders and that white-blinding smile!”

As if a clue, Minho rips the box open to kneeling in front of a very surprised Jinwoo. 

It is a little sloppy - because Minho has been hidden inside the box for two hours and his legs are tickling and aching, but the grand gesture means the same and Jinwoo is so shocked that can only nod to his proposition. Seungyoon is laughing hard on the floor. Minho is way too caught up on Jinwoo’s eyes to notice anything else. Jinwoo is too surprised to realise that Seungyoon is rolling on the ground but Minho holding his hands, finally. 

Jiho doesn’t get a call from the police, which translate that Minho has succeeded - or that this Jinwoo is way nicer than expected. But a text from Seungyoon answers his doubts. 

“Hyung, Minho has done it. And Jinwoo said yes - though I don’t understand what he sees in him. Anyway, it’s done and you don’t have to come back to collect this brat”. 

A  minute later, another text pops in on his phone.

“Does that mean that we won’t get wrong delivery again?”

Jiho smiles into the screen and types back.

“No, babe. Unless Kyung or Jihoon want to try to be fired”.