Jongin glanced at Kyungsoo’s sensible brown suede Timberland chukkas, then at his own blue Vans as they strolled leisurely along Tilson Avenue. Staring at his Vans again, it crossed his mind that maybe he should get a pair of more grown up shoes too. Why the hell am I contemplating shoes again? Oh, that’s right, because it’s better than gazing, moonstruck, at Kyungsoo every time he opens his mouth to say something. Jongin sighed. Yeah. Shoes were good things to look at. Boring. And safe. They didn’t make your heart beat faster and they didn’t make your face feel hot. He was now staring at the other man’s chukkas - Kyungsoo’s stride was inherently graceful and he took neat, economical steps which Jongin found quite hypnotic.

They had left the Potato Palace almost five minutes ago so they would be arriving at the TuneStop any moment now, and Jongin’s body felt pleasantly warm and relaxed from the bottle of makgeolli he’d shared with Kyungsoo. If there was one benefit to drinking, and it was that the alcoholic buzz usually made him feel less inhibited and act more like himself around people he didn’t know very well. And he didn’t know Kyungsoo very well. Technically, anyway. But Jongin felt like they’d known each other much longer than 6 days. So it was probably thanks to the makgeolli that Jongin hadn’t stared into his soup throughout the entire meal as he normally did on first dates (was this even a date?). He had really enjoyed their conversation and they had both smiled and laughed a lot during the meal as he and Kyungsoo had filled in the blanks about each other’s lives.

It was probably the makgeolli.

Or maybe it was Kyungsoo?

Maybe it was the makgeolli and Kyungsoo.

Either way, Jongin was glad.

As the glowing deep purple sign for TuneStop came into view, the opening bars of Darth Vader’s theme dramaticaily interrupted their conversation. Kyungsoo’s face puckered briefly with annoyance as he took out his phone. Then, he was saying he had to take the call, and he asked Jongin to go inside the store and browse first – he’d join him once he was done. Jongin nodded and tried his best to give an elegant kind of wave but ended up giving a small wave that was all kinds of clumsy. Why couldn’t he be confident like Luhan and urbane like Tao or Kris? Jongin rubbed his forehead with the back of his hand in frustration. Kyungsoo probably thought he was such a derp.

TuneStop was brightly lit and clean and filled with rows upon rows of CD racks, but Jongin was more fascinated by what was happening on the brightly lit sidewalk outside the store, rather than what CDs he might find inside the store. Stealthily, he peeked at Kyungsoo behind the glossy edges of a gigantic poster of the Gym Class Heroes. He was pretty sure Kyungsoo wouldn’t catch him at it as his eyes were mostly turned to the ground, pacing every now and then as a whole range of expressions chased themselves across his face – everything from irritation to amused exasperation to outright mirth.

Jongin loved that Kyungsoo’s face was so expressive. He reminded himself that Kyungsoo had nothing to hide right now though since he was alone on the sidewalk with no one to impress. But then again, Kyungsoo’s face always seemed to map his emotions when they spoke together. It mirrored his excitement when he was describing a fantasy novel he loved - his eyes wide and eyebrows climbing up his forehead. Or it would assume an interested earnestness as Kyungsoo asked for Jongin’s opinion about how to care for his gardenias and tulips. Jongin could probably stare at his expressive, handsome face for hours – but unfortunately, he couldn’t. He sighed and moved away from Travie McCoy and company. Jongin sauntered over to where the CD racks were and managed to locate a slightly harried looking, pimply teenager who wore a purple t-shirt printed with the TuneStop logo.

“Do you have a grunge or alternative rock section?” Jongin asked briefly because he never liked prolonging any kind of interaction with strangers. He also never wasted time in CD stores. Jongin might be more than a little dreamy and laidback in the way he lived his life but when it came to music, he knew what he liked and could be uncharacteristically intense about getting it. And Jongin was all about grunge and alternative rock music. The shop boy guided him to the relevant section before beating a hasty retreat into the recesses of the store.

Jongin glanced around curiously and as he was walking past the listening station, he saw the distorted image of a man singing against a black background, with white letters which spelt out Soundgarden. It was the poster for the album Superunknown, which contained one of his favourite grunge songs, Black Hole Sun. Although a copy of the album resided comfortably in his CD rack at home, Jongin could never resist listening to that one track if he came across it in a store. Just one of his things, he guessed. Carefully, he pulled on the large over-ear headphones and within moments, his ears were flooded with moody guitar rhythms and Chris Cornell’s deep, gravelly vocals. Unconsciously, his foot tapped and his eyelids shuttered as he let the music take over his senses.

Jongin didn’t usually sing along to songs except when he was alone, but tonight had been a really good night. Spending time with Kyungsoo had been incredibly nice and the gamjatang really had been the best in town, and spending time with Kyungsoo had been really, really nice. He was feeling really happy and his body hummed with makgeolli-induced warmth as well as the attraction he felt for him – and all these things added up to Jongin wanting to sing. And so he did.

-------

As the final notes of the song faded away, he felt a subtle warm pressure on his shoulder and his eyelids opened wide to reveal Kyungsoo standing before him.

“Kyungsoo? It’s you. I – I was just um … singing.” Jongin could feel the inevitable reddening of his cheeks. Then, belatedly, he became aware of an expression of almost awe on Kyungsoo’s very expressive face.

“You know Soundgarden’s music? You like it?” Kyungsoo’s voice sounded curiously urgent and he didn’t seem as calm as usual. He continued to look at Jongin intensely, his hand still clasped on the taller man’s shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah I do. Why?” Jongin was confused and it probably showed in his voice.

“What other bands do you like?”

“I … Nirvana? Pearl Jam? Stone Temple Pilots? They’re old bands from the 90s. I’m weird like that. My friends give me a lot of crap about my taste in music.You ah – you’ve probably never heard of them, huh?” Jongin laughed a little nervously as he answered Kyungsoo’s question.

“Pearl Jam. Stone Temple Pilots. Smashing Pumpkins.Those are my favorites.” Kyungsoo recited, eyes blazing with excitement and a kind of emotional intensity.

“Smashing Pumpkins? Wait … you mean you listen to grunge music?” Jongin’s eyebrows shot up in disbelief, “I’ve never met anyone else my age who liked grunge music. But you listen to grunge, Kyungsoo? I don’t understand.”

“It was my next door neighbor, Ethan. He was 8 years older than me and Stone Temple Pilots used to boom out of his bedroom window. It was soooo loud,” Kyungsoo chuckled, “It was survival really. If I didn’t learn to like his kind of music, I would have gone mad or deaf or both. How about you? What’s your story? I’ve never met anyone else our age who knew grunge existed let alone liked it.”

“Remember I told you I had an older brother Jong Ho? He’s 10 years older than me and when he left for college, he’d outgrown grunge music so he left his Soundgarden, Nirvana and Pearl Jam CDs behind. When I was about thirteen, I started listening to them and that was it for me. Grunge all the way."

“You sang it really well, Jongin. Black Hole Sun, I mean. It’s one of my favorites.” Then Kyungsoo suddenly realized his hand still gripped Jongin’s shoulder and he withdrew it sheepishly.

“One of mine, too.” Jongin’s eyes were bright and he seemed a little less self-conscious all of a sudden, “I don’t even sing outside my own home usually, ‘cos I’m yeah, kinda shy. You probably figured that out by now. I must have been in the mood tonight, I guess.”

“I’m so glad you sang it. I can’t believe I actually found someone else who gets grunge music.”

“Me too.” Jongin smiled, and for the first time, he didn’t turn away when Kyungsoo made eye contact.

“Are you done looking? I was thinking maybe we could take a walk? Have some coffee? I mean if you don’t have to be anywhere else or be at work really early tomorrow?”

“Yes!” Jongin blurted out as usual and he groaned inwardly at how he was about as articulate as a three year old.

“Yes you’re done browsing? Yes to the walk and coffee? Yes, you have to be somewhere? Or yes, you have to work early?” Kyungsoo’s eyes twinkled with amusement.

This time Jongin groaned out loud for real and covered his face with both palms in abject embarrassment  as he mumbled, “How about yes, I need to sign up for a basic conversational skills course.”

Kyungsoo laughed, and reassured Jongin by gently pulling his hands down away from his face, “You shouldn’t change a thing about yourself. Jongin, you’re perfect.” Kyungsoo’s eyes were sincere as he held onto Jongin’s hands just a few moments longer than he had to before letting them go. Jongin’s hands had felt secure in Kyungsoo’s and he felt a pang as Kyungsoo allowed them to drop from his grasp. But before he had a chance to dwell on the loss, Kyungsoo placed his right palm in the middle of Jongin’s back and asked, “Now how about that walk?”

They stepped out of the shop, their feet landing on the sidewalk at the exact same moment. Jongin was very quiet and Kyungsoo wondered if he should just take the direct approach and ask him if he was seeing anyone and if not, then how about considering him.  But it was too soon. Kyungsoo wasn't one for moving fast, preferring to mull over things for days, weeks even. So the fact that he was even thinking about doing it was scaring him a little. As it was, he was already having enough trouble grappling with the fact that the first person he'd ever met who liked grunge music as much as he did had turned out to be none other than the young man strolling beside him. Unbelievable. That's what it was.

Two minutes into their walk, Kyungsoo realized he still had his hand on Jongin's elbow and withdrew it quickly - apologizing sheepishly.  Jongin's cheeks went a little pink as he smiled warmly at him, almost as if to say he would have been perfectly fine with Kyungsoo leaving his hand where it'd been. They walked along, enveloped in a silence that was not uncomfortable.  

It was a balmy summer night and the clear skies were starlit - as starlit as skies could get in the city,  anyway.  Lots of city dwellers were out enjoying the mild weather. The street was a hive of activity - alive and teeming with couples taking romantic strolls, teenagers zigzagging across the sidewalk on skateboards and in line skates, tense looking professionals dressed in suits striding purposefully with notebook bags slung over their shoulders. And then there was them. A boring accountant and a shy delivery guy.  Kyungsoo soaked in the atmosphere, letting the sensation of contentment flood his senses. Then he turned his head towards Jongin, asking him which Nirvana songs were his favorites.

Kyungsoo and Jongin chatted sporadically as they made their relaxed progress towards the nearby boardwalk, which Kyungsoo had told Jongin was really pretty at night. But mostly, they just enjoyed being with each other. Everything was bathed in the somewhat harsh light of the street lamps but it didn't matter to either of them that they looked a little pale and sickly in the light. It certainly didn't stop Kyungsoo from stealing glances at Jongin every now and then, admiring his strong jawline and his warm mocha eyes. 

"Wow." Jongin's voice was filled with wonder as he took in the breathtaking sight of multiple strings of fairy lights draped all along the boardwalk. There were fewer street lights out here so the fairy lights were able to cast a soft, almost magical gold-kissed glow over everything. It really was quite stunning. But Kyungsoo was more fascinated with Jongin's awed reactions to the view than with the view itself. The other man may have been enthralled by the fairylit scene before him but Kyungsoo was undeniably enthralled by Jongin.

Further down the boardwalk, they stumbled upon an Amorino gelateria and Jongin insisted on getting Kyungsoo some gelato. 

"But I had too much to eat already." Kyungsoo protested.

"One is never too full for ice cream. My wise old halmoni told me that once." Jongin ignored his protests, and much to Kyungsoo's surprise, Jongin took his arm and dragged him in through the glass doors. His grip was gentle though, and his fingers were long and slim and warm, very warm.

"What flavors do you want, Kyungsoo? You've tried Amorino gelato before, right? You know how it works?" Jongin's face had lit up with a kind of boyish excitement. 

"I hardly ever eat ice cream, Jongin. It's fattening."

"Fattening?" Jongin's eyebrows shot up in surprise, then he scrutinized Kyungsoo's figure and gave a wry smile, "I don't see the problem? But if it makes you feel any better, gelato contains a lot less fat than ice cream. Now what flavors do you want? You can choose as many flavors as you want and they'll build a flower for you. I read somewhere that it's supposed to be a chrysanthemum but it's always reminded me of a rose." Jongin guided him to the glass counter which beheld a dizzying array of candy and pastel colored gelato. They looked so tempting, but ... no, he couldn't.

"I'll have the lime sorbet." Kyungsoo told the young lady behind the counter. His voice was a shade grave as it hurt just a little to turn his back on all those delicious flavors.

"What else would you like, sir?"

"Just the lime sorbet." 

The lady nodded wordlessly and started scooping the crystal white sorbet into the semblance of a rose. Kyungsoo studied the ice-cream petals perched daintily on a waffle cone. He had tried to trade the cone with a cup but Jongin wouldn't hear of it.

"Kyungsoo, are you sure?" Jongin sounded worried and just a tad mortified, "It's LIME." He said it like it was his worst nightmare.

"I'm sure. Don't worry, Jongin. Just pick your flavors."

"If you're sure. Miss, can I have pistachio, hazelnut and pecan, please?" 

Jongin's gelato rose was a gorgeous confection of pale green, ivory and chocolate colored creamy petals. Kyungsoo tried not to groan in regret as he looked askance at his own colourless rose. Jongin paid for their orders before they exited the shop - deciding to savor their gelato al fresco, in front of the gelateria.

Somewhere along the journey between TuneStop and the boardwalk, Jongin's shyness had evaporated and he seemed very much at ease now with Kyungsoo. He  pressed his elbows against the edge of circular table and leaned towards Kyungsoo, "If the flavor of ice cream you chose could say something about your personality, what would sorbet say about you?"

"Hmm ... Lime is sour so ... I'm cranky?"

"You're not cranky!" Jongin laughed in sheer disbelief.

"Okay, you're right. I'm not really cranky. But I can be too serious. My friends complain all the time that I'm a control freak. I don't even like lime to be honest, but I always have sorbet because it's less fattening. I dislike mango, raspberry and boysenberry more than I dislike lime though, and those were the only other flavors they had so I chose lime." 

"But there are so many other gelato flavors in there, why'd you have to choose sorbet?" Jongin looked almost perplexed but at the same time determined to understand.

"Good question," Kyungsoo pondered, "Honestly, I tend to get sorbet because it's got a lot less sugar and fat. Diabetes runs in my family so I guess you could say I'm really careful with my sugar intake."

"So you don't take sorbet because you actually like it?" Jongin's face was 
creased into the most adorable frown and Kyungsoo had to force himself not to reach out and smooth away the wrinkles.

"When you put it like that ... I guess not. Taking sorbet is my way of having some control over my health? And whoa! How middle-aged do I sound?" Kyungsoo groaned in embarrassment.

"You don't sound middle-aged. Buuuuut ..." Jongin dragged out the word 'but' in the most endearing way before declaring, "I do think you need to let go a little - have an ice cream once in a while, y'know? I mean a REAL ice cream."

"My friend Baekhyun says I need a bit more mess in my life," Kyungsoo chuckled.

"Well, I wouldn't say mess exactly, but you are definitely going to have a real ice-cream tonight. Here, you have mine, and I'll take your sorbet. I've never tried sorbet and tonight's a good time as any to change that." Jongin offered his multicolored rose in exchange for Kyungsoo's monochromatic one. Kyungsoo hesitated for all of five seconds before surrendering his citrusy sorbet. 

"On the count of 3, okay?" Shy Jongin was bad enough but playful Jongin was killing Kyungsoo because he was truly charming and irresistible once he forgot to be shy. "3-2-1, EAT!" And they their ice creams simultaneously. Kyungsoo's features were transported by ecstasy while Jongin's puckered up like a prune.

"Sour!" Jongin's features were contorted with anything but ecstasy. "You can't be serious?!" He held up the sorbet in horror as he glared accusingly at Kyungsoo. In response, the other man grinned - making a big show of savoring the gelato Jongin had given up.

"What did I just get myself into?" Jongin groaned good naturedly before making Kyungsoo promise to start eating real ice cream after tonight, "I don't know what this is but it's definitely not ice cream. I don't care if it's better for your health. Just. No."

"I have to admit this is delicious - especially the pistachio. I'm not even sure I could go back to sorbet after this. Hmm, what's in yours again? Pistachio, hazelnut, pecan? So what do those flavors say about you, Jongin?"

"I have a sweet tooth?" Jongin grinned sheepishly, "I truly do not know what those flavors say about me. What do you think?"

"You like nuts?" 

"Hey! Just for that I should take back my gelato!"

But Kyungsoo laughed, shaking his head exaggeratedly and the creamy confection with relish. Jongin laughed too and then they leaned back in their wicker and steel seats and enjoyed the now cool summer night air, eating their ice creams in a not-at-all-awkward silence which was punctuated every now and then by Jongin's half-hearted complaints about how sour the sorbet was and that sorbet was not ice cream.

A few minutes had lapsed when Kyungsoo's phone vibrated. He hadn't switched it off in case of emergencies - which his friends well knew. He was far too cautious a person to ever actually switch off his phone, no matter how badly he wanted to go incommunicado with them. Transferring his cone to the left hand, Kyungsoo fished his phone out of his right pants' pocket.

It was a photo from Kim Loose Lips. Of course! Kyungsoo winced with apprehension before opening the image and then found himself laughing out loud. There were four shot glasses messily arranged around a small, black circular table covered in water rings. Kyungsoo knew those glasses had to be filled with Sambuca or Jongdae wouldn't have bothered, the cheeky bastard. Next, a message arrived from Baekhyun: 

I tried but the force is strong in Kim Jongdae. As you well know. J & Y were too tired to argue with Darth. Hope you're having fun ;) 

Before Kyungsoo could reply Baekhyun's text, his phone buzzed again. This time it was a message from Jongdae: 

Come NOW! Bring your ***FRIEND***! 

Kyungsoo ignored Jongdae's text and replied Baekhyun's instead: 

Fun, yes. I'm having gelato. He's really nice. Tell Jongdae to piss off lol.

Baekhyun replied within seconds: 

You? Eating ice cream? I need to ask this guy how he managed to get you to do that. Loose Lips says piss off yourself.

Yixing was next:

Save Junmyeon and meeee. Come nowwwwww.

"My friends are idiots." Kyungsoo informed Jongin who'd been watching with bemusement the whole time. He showed Jongin the picture of the Sambuca - but not Baek and Jongdae's messages, obviously. "They asked me to join them earlier. You know when I had to take that call outside TuneStop? Well, Jongdae is always heinous when he's hung over from too much Sambuca. I told him to stay off it and this was his answer." 

"They sound like fun," Jongin chuckled, "Why didn't you join them though?"

Kyungsoo really wanted to tell the truth and say it was because he'd been having such a great time with Jongin and he didn't want to share him with his friends just yet. But instead he said, "I've got a lot of work to get through tomorrow and makgeolli and gelato will give me way less of a hangover than Sambuca. That stuff is toxic."

"It's not so bad. Not that I erm ... know much about drinking. I don't really get out much."

"You've obviously never had too much Sambuca," Kyungsoo grinned, "It's like being in the seventh circle of hell, I swear. I hope Jongdae and Baek aren't going to be dragging their corpses around the office tomorrow because I've got a lot to do and I won't have time to babysit them. You know, you should join us for drinks someday. You can meet my friends and find out firsthand what idiots they are. Okay, I'm being mean. Baek and Junmyeon and Yixing are cool but Jongdae is a complete troll."

"I'm sure they're great. And Jongdae should meet my friend Luhan. He's a complete troll too so they should get along just fine. Erm ... Do you need to get back now? I mean if you have a lot of work and all? I should take you home,"

"I'm ok. Let's just walk for a while." Kyungsoo suggested and Jongin nodded. They got up and carried on strolling along the boardwalk. Soaking up the magical ambience created by the fairy lights, they walked together from one end of the boardwalk to the other. Kyungsoo's heart skipped a beat whenever Jongin said something particularly endearing, and it raced when he happened to steal a glance at Jongin just as the younger man was stealing a glance at him too.

"Jongin?"

"Yeah?" Jongin turned slowly to face Kyungsoo and that was when he realized how sensual Jongin's half-lidded eyes were.

"Thanks for the ice cream. And I'm er ... sorry about the sorbet."

"No you're not!" Jongin chuckled - only a little self consciously, "But at least now I know I'm not a sorbet kinda guy. I'm glad you brought me out here though. It's just ... wow." 

Maybe it was Jongin's shy smile and deep voice and sensual sleepy eyes. Maybe it was summer madness. Maybe it was the gelato. Maybe it was the makgeolli. Maybe it was their shared love for grunge. Maybe it was the spellbinding fairy lights. Or maybe it was all these things combined that made Kyungsoo abandon caution and control as he suddenly took a few steps closer towards Jongin ...

-----------

A/N: So so sorry for the late update, and for the excessive use and subsequent abuse of the words "smiled", "chuckled" and "laughed" in this chapter. This update is pretty much wall-to-wall with Kaisoo interaction so naturally, everything's so damn awkward, orz! And embarrassingly cheesy :(. Hope you guys don't hate it. Please let me know what you think, ok? Your comments are always loved ;). Thanks!

P/S: I tried Amorino gelato in Paris a few months ago, so when I started writing this fic, I knew I had to mention it somehow. A fic about a florist is just screaming for flower-shaped gelato, right? 

Leaving you guys with some gifs of awkard Jongin, which imo is the best kind of Jongin :)

(Source: exofeelings)

Isn't he adorable?

Love and hugs, LotusK