The shoot had finished. Kris and Sungmin were chatting with one another and were all smiles and laughs. Kris was even helping Sungmin pack his equipment.

Kyuhyun approached the both of them with curiosity as he wondered at how both of them could get along, or rather how Kris was able to get along with Sungmin given Kris’ notoriety for being hard to get along with.

And suddenly Kyuhyun felt something pulling heavily at his heart. It was as though a lever had been attached to his heart and a rock was weighing down on it.

“Hyung, would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” Kris asked.

Kyuhyun heard that question loud and clear. He froze for a moment as he secretly hoped that Sungmin would decline the offer.

“There’s this restaurant which is recommended...actually, it’s not so much of a restaurant...it’s a small eatery serves curry…I would like to take you there,” Kris offered.

Seeing Sungmin wasn’t about to respond, Kyuhyun decided to step it. “Why don’t we all have a staff dinner tonight to celebrate the completion and success of the shoot? It would be the company’s treat or we could just put in on my tab,” Kyuhyun proposed.

Kris glared at Kyuhyun with hostility for a brief moment before quickly turning his face away.

“I think the staff dinner is a good idea Kyuhyun-ssi,” Sungmin piped up before turning to Kris. “What do you think Kris?”

Kris forced a smile and nodded his head.

“So I guess I’ll see you at the staff dinner then?” Sungmin asked brightly with a warm smile.

Kris nodded.

“Great. I’ll get Donghae to inform you the time and venue,” Kyuhyun informed Kris as the model nodded. Kris then made an excuse that he needed to change and wash off his makeup off so as to slip away.

“Sungmin-ssi, do you want to take a walk with me for a while?” Kyuhyun invited in a husky tone.

Sungmin could feel his heart racing as he replied, “Ne?”

“Do you want to take a walk with me around the farm? The weather might be hot, but it is still good. You could take some photos,” Kyuhyun suggested.

“Sure.”

“Let me talk to Donghae about tonight’s dinner. I’ll be back with you shortly. You can leave some of the cumbersome equipment here. I’ll get someone to pick them up for you,” Kyuhyun suggested.

Sungmin nodded.

......

As the two took a stroll around the lavender farm, both of them took in the refreshing scent of lavender when a gentle breeze blew their way. Both of them walked in silence as Sungmin would snap photos of the flowers from time to time.

“Do you know that there is such a thing called the language of flowers or floriography, and all flowers have a meaning of symbolism?” Kyuhyun asked.

Sungmin paused in his tracks and turned to look with curiosity at Kyuhyun.

Kyuhyun also stopped his tracks and he genuflected on one knee to take a look at the lavender sprigs.

“Do you know the meaning of this flower?” he asked as he caressed the flower.

“I don’t,” Sungmin replied.

“The common meaning is devotion,” Kyuhyun said as he kept his eyes transfixed at the flower. “Yet it could also mean distrust.”

“Such opposite meanings,” Sungmin remarked. “But if I have to choose, I would see the meaning as devotion.”

Sungmin is a good-natured and optimistic person who likes to see things in a positive way. And that he still misses and loves Siwon even though Siwon is dead – this is the reason why Sungmin has latched onto the idea of devotion.

“Jam-kkan-man-yo,” Kyuhyun excused himself for a while when he spotted a farm worker and quickly dashed over to the said person. Sungmin looked on curiously at the exchange. He saw Kyuhyun and farm worker gesticulating with one another before the farm worker nodded his head and went off. Kyuhyun remained at the spot for a while until the worker came back with what looked like flowers. Kyuhyun then returned to Sungmin’s side.

“For you,” Kyuhyun handed a few sprigs of lavender to Sungmin who looked on wide-eyed with surprise.

“Gomawo...” Sungmin stuttered. “This is rather unexpected.”

“Mianhae,” Kyuhyun gushed.

“Why are you apologising Kyuhyun-ssi?”

“For this random gesture. It must have come as a shock to you.”

Sungmin laughed. “Kind of. But it is still a nice thing you did. But why flowers, or rather, why lavender?”

“I read from somewhere that when given as a gift, lavender flowers represent luck,” Kyuhyun mused. “The flowers also offer the promise of a new adventure.”

“I didn’t know that about this meaning,” Sungmin replied, looking impressed at Kyuhyun’s knowledge.

Kyuhyun shrugged. “I just felt that you could do with this gift. Somewhat, I feel you could do with a new adventure or something or you could use some inner healing.”

Sungmin was taken aback and trembled at those words.

How does he know? Does he know what happened to me? It’s impossible.

But Kyuhyun did not seem to notice a distracted Sungmin as he continued, “Anyway, we shouldn’t leave here without some lavender, right?”

Sungmin nodded quietly.

They continued their stroll around the farm for a while more in silence before they headed back to where the rest of the crew were. Everyone was getting ready to leave. Meanwhile, Donghae looked on with worry from afar as he spotted the two of them together.

I shouldn’t let them get too close. It might hurt both of them when they know about the truth.

......

The crew gathered at a designated restaurant about eight the same evening. Kris looked rather grudging that he had to come, but his face lit up when he spotted Sungmin, only to be crushed the next moment when he saw Kyuhyun following Sungmin in from behind. Kris immediately stepped forward to greet Sungmin.

“Hyung,” he beamed.

“Hey Kris,” Sungmin greeted.

“Come sit with me,” Kris said as he beckoned Sungmin towards the seats.

Kyuhyun was about to interrupt Kris but Donghae came between them and asked Kyuhyun to sit with him and Yoona instead.

Kyuhyun was silent throughout dinner, and barely touched his meal as he focused his attention with hawk-like eyes, boring down on Kris and Sungmin who were across the table and seemed to be enjoying their private conversation. Kyuhyun felt his entire body burning within but he was unable to explain why. Yoona who was on Kyuhyun’s left was chattering non-stop with Heechul who was next to her. She was trying to strike a conversation with Kyuhyun but was given the cold shoulder so she gave up and chatted with Heechul who proved to be a much more interesting conversationalist as compared to the chief editor. Donghae, who was on Kyuhyun’s right, was tensed as he was afraid that the name ‘Choi Siwon’ would come up during the conversation. But as their conversations were mostly hush-hush and quiet, he was unable to hear anything audibly.

Kyuhyun was still feeling unhappy over Kris and Sungmin engaging in their private conversation, downed a mouthful of sake before raising his noise amongst the chatter, “It’s a group dinner, shouldn’t we all find a common topic to discuss.”

The babble ceased since he was after all the big boss and the attention turned towards him.

“Does anyone have any topics to suggest?” Kyuhyun asked.

“Why don’t you kick off with something and we’ll follow,” Heechul replied.

This set Kyuhyun aback. The normally acid-tongue smooth-talker was silent and tongue-tied. Seeing this, Donghae quickly jumped in and offered, “Let’s gossip about celebrities.”

Kyuhyun slouched back in his seat, looking rather defeated as Kris smirked.

The conversation started with Heechul contributing excitedly to the conversation about an upcoming starlet who is romancing a former idol group member more than ten years her senior, and an actress who is cheating on her husband, and which models and celebrities have undergone plastic surgery. This sparked off a round of intense speculation and chatter as to who the celebrities are. Kyuhyun was bored by the conversation, and he rose from his seat and left the dining room.

Unknown to him, Sungmin followed suit as he was bored by the conversation. This also led Kris to go after Sungmin.

“Kyuhyun-ssi,” Sungmin called out to Kyuhyun who was milling outside the restaurant.

Kyuhyun turned around and was surprised to see Sungmin. “I guess you’re bored.”

Sungmin nodded. “I’m not one who’s into gossip and such. Same for you I guess Kyuhyun-ssi? But considering that you’re in the entertainment industry, shouldn’t you be at least a little interested in it?”

Kris quickly chimed in hoping to impress Sungmin, “I don’t really care about gossip either.”

But Sungmin did not seem to hear him.

“Well, gossip doesn’t concern me, unless the person in concern that we use for our shoots might tarnish the image of the magazine. But anyway, Donghae and Heechul always have their ears about. So I don’t have to worry about such things,” Kyuhyun shrugged.

“But how do you verify the information?” Kris questioned. “What if the rumours are entirely false? Wouldn’t that be injustice?”

“Heechul is pretty much spot on,” Kyuhyun replied without batting an eyelid. “He has connections.”

“But we usually don’t care about their ual orientation,” Kyuhyun continued coolly as he scanned Kris who was behind Sungmin. “A lot of them are gay. As long as their public image is good, and they don’t get caught in some scandal or drugs, we’re okay with anyone for our centrespread. We used this gay actor once. His uality is an open secret.”

Kris looked rather displeased at Kyuhyun’s comment.

“Kris-ssi, you don’t look too good,” Kyuhyun remarked snidely.

“I’m just a little tired. It was a long day,” Kris answered flatly. “Sungmin-hyung, are you tired? You had a long day as well.”

Kris then stepped forward to be next to Sungmin. Kris’ tone was warm and gentle when he addressed Sungmin.

Sungmin tried his best to stifle a yawn. It was then he realised he was feeling fatigue and sleepy. “Now that you’ve mentioned it, I’m kind of tired myself.”

“Shall we return to the hotel?” Kris suggested.

“I’m thinking of returning to the hotel myself. I rented a car. We could all go together,” Kyuhyun offered.

“Thank you Kyuhyun-ssi, but I think Sungmin hyung and I can hail a cab,” Kris declined. “Why don’t you fetch your staff instead?”

“I could send both of you back and I can come back for the rest. It isn’t a problem for me,” Kyuhyun said.

“Well, if you insist. Kris, let’s not decline his kind offer,” Sungmin urged.

And Kris grudgingly grunted a ‘yes’.

Kris ended up in the front seat next to Kyuhyun. He wanted to sit with Sungmin in the back but Sungmin felt it was not nice for both of them to do so and up making Kyuhyun appear as the chauffer. Sungmin volunteered to sit in front instead but as Kris resented the idea of Sungmin being so close to Kyuhyun, he offered to sit in front instead.

The drive back to the hotel was rather quiet and awkward as none spoke a word. When they arrived at the hotel, they said their goodbyes and headed off to their own rooms.

……

Just as Sungmin stepped out of the bathroom later that night with a yutaka on his body and a towel on his wet hair, he heard a knock on his hotel room door.

It was Kris, and Sungmin opened the door.

“Kris, what are you doing here?”

Kris gulped once he spotted Sungmin in the bathrobe.

“Sungmin-hyung, I was wondering if you have anything on tomorrow evening.” Kris mumbled.

“I don’t get you.”

“Sorry. Are you free tomorrow evening? We’ll be in Sapporo. I am thinking of taking you out for dinner,” Kris said.

“I guess...that would...be fine. I don’t have any plans.”

Kris was trying his best to contain his excitement and not break out in a victory dance of sorts. “Let’s meet at six at the hotel lobby.”

Sungmin nodded.

Kris broke out into a silly smile. “Good night hyung.”

“Good night Kris.”

Sungmin closed the door and started to towel his wet hair when he heard another knock on his bedroom door.

“It’s Kyuhyun,” the voice called out.

Sungmin opened the door. “Kyuhyun-ssi...”

“I hope I’m not disturbing you,” the taller male said.

“No. What brings you here?”

“I’m just wondering if you’re free tomorrow evening to have dinner together. Just you and me, without the rest of the staff,” Kyuhyun asked in a smooth tone.

“I’m sorry. But Kris just asked me out a little earlier,” Sungmin looked on apologetically at Kyuhyun.

“Oh...” Kyuhyun uttered disappointedly.

Sungmin could sense Kyuhyun’s disappointment and offered. “Do you sleep late? If you don’t, we could meet after my dinner. I should be done by nine.”

“That’s good. Do you like wine? We could have a drink in the hotel lobby or I could bring a bottle of wine over to your room and we could have a drink there, or you could come to my room,” Kyuhyun suggested.

“I like your suggestion. You could come over to my room,” Sungmin replied.

“Great, just let me know when you return from your dinner. I’ll swing by.”

Sungmin nodded. “Good night Kyuhyun-ssi.”

“Good night Sungmin-ssi.”

As Sungmin shut the door, he could feel his heart fluttering. He felt excited about the ‘date’ with Kyuhyun and was even anticipating it as he finished towelling his hair and lay down on the bed.

 ......

The entire crew returned to Sapporo the next day where they would stay for one night before heading back home to Seoul.

And what came as a nice surprise for Sungmin at a Sapporo hotel lobby in the afternoon was a rude shock for Donghae.

“Hyukkie!” Sungmin exclaimed.

“Monkey!” Donghae exclaimed as he slammed his palm into his fact in exasperation.”

“What are you doing here?” both Sungmin and Donghae exclaimed in unison.  

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So looks like Kris is interested in Sungmin. Would be capture Sungmin's heart?

And Eunhyuk even made the trip to Hokkaido.

And looks like Kyuhyun is getting a little jealous and competitive. 

Thanks for all the comments, upvotes and subcriptions. Please do keep them coming.

Appreciate that very much.

My other fan fics

Heaven's Boys 

KyuMin: Almost a love story

KyuMin: 60 Days 

It's You (너라고) Neorago (a YeWook fan-fic)