Kyungsoo stared at the black second hand, mesmerized as he watched it slowly make its circuit around the navy blue face of his wristwatch. It was 7.24. Six minutes to go. Just as he completed that thought, he heard two tentative raps on the door and Kyungsoo had to restrain himself from shooting off the sofa. He stopped in front of the door in an effort to calm himself down, because he refused to surrender all control over his runaway feelings. He checked his reflection in the hall mirror, impatiently straightening the hunter green cotton shirt that he'd bought on sale at Gap a few weeks ago, and making sure his hair looked presentable. Then he inhaled sharply, unlocked the door and pulled the steel handle towards himself.

As soon as he saw Jongin, his lips formed an involuntary smile. Dressed in a black linen short-sleeved button down shirt and black jeans, Jongin was even more handsome than he could have imagined. He'd only seen him in the really casual clothes he wore while out on deliveries and those few sightings had ill prepared Kyungsoo for how devastating Jongin looked all dressed in black. He was devastating. Truly. And Kyungsoo really, really, really had to calm the hell down.

"Hi." Kyungsoo smiled.

"Hi." Jongin smiled back, his eyes crinkling and laughter lines showing, and Kyungsoo felt the last few threads of precarious control snapping. He hoped he'd remember how to breathe that night.

"I booked a table for 8pm and the restaurant is a 15-minute drive from here so we should probably get going," Kyungsoo locked the door behind him and ushered Jongin towards the lift. All their encounters together so far had taken place in the vicinity of an elevator but this was the first time they'd actually be getting into one together, and lifts were so ... cramped and this thought was making Kyungsoo a touch nervous.

"So how did you find this gamjatang place?" Jongin asked a little self-consciously as they waited for the elevator to arrive.

“It’s a really boring story, trust me, you don’t need to hear this story,” Kyungsoo gave a pained smile but Jongin urged him to carry on. “Well, when I was a sophomore at college, I had to go to Springvale to collect data for an Observational Behavior paper – are you snoring yet?”

“Nooooo! This is riveting, trust me.” Jongin grinned and Kyungsoo had to think really hard to remember what happened next because Jongin’s smile – not a shy, tentative smile but a wholehearted grin - just chased all his rational thoughts away, leaving behind disorderly, messy feelings. And yet … Kyungsoo found he didn’t mind … but how did he find the Potato Palace again?

“Okay, you asked for it. So anyway it was really late by the time I finished interviewing people and taking photographs of the research site. To cut a long and boring story short, I missed the 6.30pm bus and found myself stranded in Springvale with 35 bucks in my wallet. To make things worse, I was dying of hunger. So I started wandering around, trying to find a place to eat which wouldn’t blow my budget because I had to have some money left over for bus tickets too. Then, as I was walking along Jarvis Street, I saw a gigantic potato. I mean it was a guy dressed in a potato suit and he convinced me to go inside and try their famous gamjatang. And this was how I ended up walking into the Potato Palace for the first time and discovering the most delicious gamjatang I’d ever tasted. I’ve been going there ever since.” Jongin didn’t say anything but watched him quietly as he told his story and Kyungsoo felt his cheeks warming under his silent gaze. Fortunately, before there was a chance for an awkward silence to develop, the elevator reached their floor.

There were six other people in the elevator and Kyungsoo and Jongin had to gingerly manoeuvre their way inside so that they wouldn’t have to wait for the next one. They were standing just inches apart and Kyungsoo was hyper aware of Jongin’s bare arms beside him – olive skinned, long and leanly muscled arms which were beautiful to look at and which Kyungsoo had to force himself not to look at. Jongin shuffled his feet intermittently and Kyungsoo figured he, too, might be nervous.

On the fifth floor, a thin, jittery looking woman moved to the door from the back of the lift. But just as she was about to reach the exit, she tripped and somehow fell sideways, knocking into Kyungsoo - effectively shoving him into an unsuspecting Jongin, whose hands shot out to steady him.   

“Are you ok?” Jongin’s voice was concerned and Kyungsoo smiled, assuring him he was fine. But honestly, he wasn’t fine at all. And now he was even more conscious of Jongin than he had been earlier and that had already been bad enough.

***

The summer night air would have been warm if not for a gentle breeze that breathed in just the right amount of coolness, so that Jongin and Kyungsoo were comfortable without getting sticky. They had chatted about fantasy novels again in the car and it had turned out Kyungsoo thought Robin Hobb was one of the best writers that ever lived and that he loved The Farseer and Tawny Man series, while Jongin hated the way the series had ended.

“I don’t know if I’ll ever forgive Robin Hobb for not giving Fitz and the Fool a way to be together.” Jongin had announced emphatically, forgetting for a moment that he was supposed to be shy. Kyungsoo was silent for a moment before he looked up at Jongin, studying his profile as he drove carefully through the well-lit streets.

“You’re a romantic.” Kyungsoo finally said.

“I … me? Why would you say that?”

“You wanted Fitz and the Fool to have a happy ending. You like happy endings.”

“I don’t like happy end- … well, maybe ... ok yeah, I guess I do, huh?” Jongin continued looking straight at the road ahead, avoiding eye contact with Kyungsoo. Even in the semi-darkness of the car, Kyungsoo could tell the other man was blushing and more than a little flustered.

“I think it’s a good thing that you’re a romantic and that you like happy endings. I’m too much of a pragmatist. I really need to start believing in happy endings. When I read the closing of the series, I didn’t even think anything much of the fact that things didn’t work out for them. I was more focused on the story and what was happening and how Robin Hobb had such an incredible way of working everything out. That was what I was concentrating on and I didn’t think enough about how Fitz and the Fool had to give up so much.”

“I felt so bad for the Fool. I was depressed for days after finishing the Tawny Man series. It was embarrassing, really.” Jongin chuckled self-deprecatingly.

“I think it’s sweet.” Kyungsoo insisted and Jongin hadn’t protested but Kyungsoo could tell he felt self-conscious about the comment. They had ridden the rest of the way to the restaurant in a companionable silence.

At the Potato Palace, they had shared a large pot of gamjatang and their tummies were now replete with a kind of sizzling warmth. The potato soup had been deliciously spicy and aromatic and the conversation had been interesting for them both as they discovered more about each other – where they’d gone to school, what their favourite tv shows and movies were, and what their favourite foods were. Kyungsoo loved Italian food while Jongin wasn’t a big fan as cheese gave him “tummy problems”. Kyung soo had a feeling this was code for cheese gave him diarrhea but he'd decided not to ask for more details in case he made Jongin blush again. As for Korean food, they both loved galbi and sundubu jjigae, and of course, gamjatang. One thing they hadn’t discussed, however, was music. Kyungsoo had opted not to bring up his passion for grunge music because most people he knew found his taste in music downright strange. He wasn’t ready to scare off Jongin just yet, so he shelved that discussion for another day. At some point, Kyungsoo had suggested they visit one of his favorite haunts in Springvale after dinner – a music store called TuneStop which was about 5 minutes’ walk from the restaurant. Jongin had nodded his head enthusiastically, saying there were some CDs he wanted to get.

The conversation had flowed and ebbed like most conversations did, and while there had been small pockets of silence during dinner, they hadn’t been awkward ones. Maybe it was the gamjatang, maybe it was the bottle of makgeolli they shared, or maybe it was a combination of both, but Jongin seemed more relaxed than he had in their previous meetings. It was nice, Kyungsoo thought. Spending time with Jongin was nice.

***

They were about ten feet from TuneStop when Darth Vader's theme started playing dramatically. The sounds were emanating persistently from his jeans pocket of course, and Kyungsoo cursed Kim Jongdae yet again for his exquisitely bad sense of timing. He knew that if he didn't answer the call, chances were high that Jongdae would continue to hound him with phone calls approximately 3.5 minutes apart until they actually spoke. That was his usual M.O. anyway.

“Sorry, Jongin, I’m going to have to take this call. Why don’t you go on ahead and browse first? I’ll join you inside after I find out what Jongdae wants.” Jongin nodded, giving him a quirky little hand wave before heading into the music store. Kyungsoo sighed as he watched Jongin’s lean, retreating figure – that little wave was just one of the many things he found irresistible about Kim Jongin. He gave his still ringing, still buzzing phone an evil look. He shook his head. Even when Jongdae wasn’t anywhere nearby, he could still manage to interrupt a perfectly good night out.

“Hello?” he just barely managed to keep the irritation out of his voice as he greeted his ebullient colleague.

"Kyungsoo, where are you, man?! At home?! You'd better not be watching a National Geographic special on the mating habits of the Lesser Anteater or I will personally drive over to your apartment and smack you upside the head! Hard! Cos dude, you need to get out more!" Jongdae was shouting to be heard over the booming house beats in the background but even if Jongdae’s words weren’t easy to make out, Kyungsoo could hear the sarcasm loud and clear.

“I’m out.” Kyungsoo remarked tersely, then added, almost as an afterthought, “With a friend.”

“You’re out on a weeknight with someone other than us?! How did this even happen?! Oh that’s right, it doesn’t! AND WE’RE YOUR FRIENDS TOO SO WHY WEREN’T WE INVITED?!” he yelled that last question really loudly.

“It’s just dinner with a friend. He doesn’t know you guys and more importantly, I don’t want you guys to scare him away. It’s not a big deal.”

“Highly doubt that! So are you having fun?!” David Guetta’s Platinum was pulsating at a painfully loud volume wherever Jongdae was – Sia’s nasal vocals weaving in and out of the electronica rhythms. Kyungsoo flinched a little because dance music was something he tolerated and rarely ever enjoyed.

“Yeah, I’m having fun, actually. You know gamjatang never disappoints.”

“And you know I’m not asking about the damn food, Do Kyungsoo! So why don’t you guys come join us? Everyone’s here!” By everyone, Jongdae meant Baekhyun, Yixing, Junmyeon and himself, “The music is great and the beer is cold and our company is as always, OUTSTANDIIIIIING!”

Kyungsoo had to laugh at his friend’s habitual, unabashed lack of modesty.

“Unless they’re playing Pearl Jam or the Stone Temple Pilots, I’m not interested. Tomorrow is going to be a long day for me and I’d rather not be hungover and useless if you know what I mean.”

“Pearl Jam? Stone Temple Pilots? What are these strange names of which you speak?” Jongdae liked to tease Kyungsoo about his unusual predilection for grunge music, which was a genre of music Jongdae could not comprehend at all. Actually none of Kyungsoo’s friends understood grunge music at all and Kyungsoo had resigned himself to the sad fact that he was never going to find another grunge fan in his lifetime.

“Good. Bye. Jongdae. Have fun and don’t get too wasted because I won’t have time to cover for you and Baek tomorrow if you guys come in all living dead-like. Tell Yixing and Junmyeon I’ll try and catch up with them this weekend.” Kyungsoo was a little wistful about missing Yixing and Junmyeon because he didn’t see them all that often and they were good friends. Yixing was a graphic designer who worked in a huge advertising firm across town, while Junmyeon was an architect. He was often exhausted from visiting work sites during the day so he didn’t come out on weeknights much. Kyungsoo did regret not seeing him tonight, but on the other hand, he did not regret asking Jongin out tonight. The evening had been both exciting as well as restful and Kyungsoo was impatient to be in the other man’s company again.

“Are you sure I can’t entice you to bring your friend over?” Even with the music blaring in the background, Jongdae’s voice managed to drip with innuendo and Kyungsoo would have punched him in the arm – really hard – if only it had been physically possible.

“Ah, no, I don’t think so. Seriously though, you guys have fun and I’ll see you and Baek at work. Assuming you guys manage to drag your sorry asses there. Stay off the Sambuca!” Kyungsoo warned amusedly.

“But where would be the fun in that? Ok, I guess we won’t be seeing you then. Enjoy your friend. Oops, I meant to say enjoy your time with your friend.”

“Oh my God, what are you? Twelve?!” Kyungsoo groaned and Jongdae cackled with glee before hanging up. Kyungsoo gave a disgusted sigh before making his way to the entrance of the music store. Before he could reach for the chrome door handle though, his phone vibrated energetically in his pants pocket.

Text from Zhang Yixing: You’re on a date? Who? Where? Can we come over?

He’d barely had a chance to curse Kim ‘Just call me Loose Lips’ Jongdae when he was interrupted by another buzz.

Text from Kim Junmyeon: Is he cute? Picture!

Then there was a text from Jongdae himself:

Text from Kim Loose Lips: Don’t hold back with the details tomorrow. WHAITINGGGG!

Kyungsoo grimaced in half frustration half amusement, making stabbing motions at his phone. A blonde woman happened to walk by just at that moment and looked at him apprehensively as if he was mental. He raised his hands sheepishly in apology. She walked faster to get further away from him. Buzz. Kyungsoo peered suspiciously at the screen.

Text from Byun Baekhyun: Just delete the last 3 texts and have fun lol. Remember, a bit of mess in life is good sometimes.

Kyungsoo chuckled. However frustrating they could be at times, his friends were never boring. He bit his upper lip in contemplation, then quickly typed a reply to Baekhyun:

Tell them NO. TO EVERYTHING. Except Junmyeon – the answer to his question is hell yes. Switching my phone off now. Don't let them order Sambuca!

He always enjoyed walking into TuneStop. The neatly stacked CDs, the pine flooring, the bright store lighting, and the customers browsing in the aisles with serious faces deep in consideration as they studied a CD cover or two – all these things made him feel safe and at home somehow. A creature of habit, Kyungsoo had been frequenting this store for three years now, ever since he discovered that they had the most extensive range of grunge and alternative music in town.

Instinctively, his feet brought him to his favourite section. As he neared the rack that housed Alice in Chains, Blind Melon, Foo Fighters and Green Day CDs, he heard a male voice singing softly. It wasn’t a melodic voice like his own but it was deep and low and smoky and it did funny things to his insides. He’d stopped his progress through the shop when he heard the voice because he didn’t want to interrupt the singing, especially when he realized that whoever the singer was, he was singing words that were more than familiar to him:

Black hole sun,

Won’t you come and wash away the rain,

Black hole sun

Won’t you come …

Now, he began searching for the source of the singing - he had to know who it was. He walked closer to the CD listening station. Then, frozen in mid-step, Kyungsoo stared openly as he saw the tall, tanned guy before him. Large, black over-ear headphones covered his ears and his eyes were shut as he sang the lyrics softly. Kyungsoo struggled to say something but he couldn’t because it was just too surreal that his shy Delivery Guy was singing one of his favorite grunge songs ever. 

***

A/N: Hi guys! Sorry this update is so late but real life was insanely busy and then the rest of the time EXO was bloody distracting! First, the Idol Olympics and then the Rookie Award. Idek if I got any sleep this week, lol! So anyway, here's Chapter 12 where our heroes get to know each other better and Kyungsoo discovers that he is not the only person he knows who likes grunge music, dun dun dun dun.

If anyone is curious to know what song Jongin sings in the CD store, the song is called Black Hole Sun by Soundgarden (Chris Cornell was their lead singer) and it's truly one of the best grunge songs ever, naturally :). I hope you guys will check it out - it's about as far as you can get from kpop but it's an amazing song. Tell me if you like it! I'd really like to know.

I'll try not to make you guys wait as long for the next update but things are pretty hectic irl right now. If EXO can just lie low for the next week, I'll try to update sooner lol. Who can resist them if they're all over tumblr. Gosh the kaisoo moments from the Seoul Music Awards! *fangirls and dies* 

Please comment because one, I love reading your comments and 2, they really encourage me to write lol. 

love and hugs, LotusK!