IMPORTANT A/N: Okay I’m introducing some more exo members for this chapter and I made some of them straight to make it more realistic /laughs sadly. (even tho homouals are very looked down upon in korea and there is no IHOP there either but let’s just ignore those two things ahem) 
SO ANYWAYS! THEIR GIRLFRIENDS ARE JUST RANDOM PEOPLE I MADE UP oKAY don’t be mad at me (they won't show up in anymore chapters ;;)

A few days later, Minseok was sitting on the bus and riding it to the mall he were to meet Jongdae. The entire trip there, however, left Minseok nervous out of his mind and wanting to just turn around and go home. Although he had been around Jongdae for quite some time already, considering the boy eats at IHOP every morning and they’ve hung out a few times, Minseok still couldn’t get himself to relax over him. There was something about Jongdae that made his heart beat faster in a very uncomfortable way and Minseok didn’t know how to control it, which was highly frustrating.

Luhan and Baekhyun had told the orange haired boy countless times that he was in love, but wasn’t love supposed to feel all sweet and bubbly? Definitely. So obviously, Minseok was experiencing something more extreme and dangerous, like a nervous breakdown. Yes. Jongdae made Minseok nervous. That was all.

But why did the boy make Minseok nervous? He had never really been nervous around anyone else before—well, with the exception of his boss, but everyone was  at least a little afraid of Kris. Minseok thought for a bit before concluding that Jongdae was just a suspicious character. He wasn’t suspicious in a bad way, but in a way that left the orange haired boy with a lot of questions. Why had Jongdae been nice to him since their very awkward meeting? Maybe the boy was just very straightforward? Who knew? Now that Minseok thought about it, he didn’t really know that much about the other. He knew that his name was Kim Jongdae and he lived by himself. He had a job in science that required him to wake up very early in the morning. Minseok knew a few of his hobbies, some likes and dislikes, but, other than that, he was pretty much clueless.

The orange haired boy puffed out his cheeks in thought and looked out the window. He was almost at his stop and he’d have to face Jongdae. Minseok tried to compose himself but that was kind of hard since, Jongdae. The boy made a face when he thought about the other and his stupid cat-like mouth that tried to kiss him the other day—

Minseok’s face snapped red and lit on fire. He had erased that little moment from his mind like it had been a car accident. The entire memory, however, quickly rushed back to him like a hurricane and made the boy dizzy and sick.

The bus slowly came to a stop at the mall and Minseok wobbled off of the vehicle and scooted to the entrance. He was still pretty brain dead by the time he realized Jongdae had been waving at him for a while now, trying to get his attention.

“Hey, Minseok,” the raven haired boy said, leaving his motorcycle in a parking space and walking over. “What’s wrong? You look like you’ve been standing around in a volcano.”

“Huh?” The red faced boy yelped, rubbing his cheeks frantically as if it’d get the rosiness off them. “A-Ah, it’s nothing…”

Jongdae smiled and shrugged. “Okay,” He simply replied, tugging at Minseok’s arm. “Let’s go inside.”

“R-Right.”

When the pair had walked into the mall, Minseok was very surprised to see it packed with so many people on a Wednesday evening.

The orange haired boy blinked in confusion and asked, “Is there something going on today?”

“I don’t know,” Jongdae replied, grabbing at Minseok’s hand. The other flinched and pulled away quickly, staring up at the other with wide eyes. “Hold on, we might get separated!” He insisted. Then, much to his surprise, Minseok easily complied and cautiously held onto the sleeve of Jongdae’s jacket. The taller smiled to himself and tugged Minseok into a random store where it was less crowded.

“What are we doing here?” Minseok asked, highly amused. The store that Jongdae had managed to sneak them into turned out to be a plushie shop. Minseok picked up a fat cat doll and squished its face.

“I… don’t actually know,” Jongdae laughed. “It wasn’t crowded in here so why not?”

Minseok shrugged and held the cat doll up to Jongdae’s face. “Make the cat face,” the shorter commanded.

“What?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” Minseok replied, pulling out his phone and ready to take a picture. “That annoying face you make when you’re being an .”

“Oh, but that’s only something I do out of habit,” the raven haired boy chuckled. “It’s weird now that you ask me to do it.”

Minseok rolled his eyes playfully and smirked. “Just do it or I’ll be sad.”

Jongdae groaned but obeyed eventually, allowing the other to take the picture. Minseok ended up laughing for five straight minutes because of the resemblance being so similar.

“Why don’t you shut the up, Minseok?” Jongdae asked, trying to hide his smile over how hard the other was laughing. He then grabbed a mochi plushie and held it up to the other’s face and took a picture.

“What was that for?” Minseok asked, wheezing still.

“You look like it,” Jongdae explained, smirking playfully as the other did before. “It’s got your big cheeks.”

“My cheeks aren’t that big,” Minseok pouted jokingly, holding his face.

“They’re pretty big.”

“Well at least the mochi is cuter than the cat,” Minseok retorted, holding the mochi plushie. He then placed the cat doll on Jongdae’s head. “See, it’s ugly. Just like you.”

The latter dropped his mouth open and yanked the doll of his head, chucking it at Minseok who was trying oh-so-hard to suppress his growing smile behind pursed lips. “I am very much offended,” Jongdae snickered softly while trying to frown. Minseok nearly lost it and clutched his sides as he laughed himself into oblivion. “, and I was going to buy that mochi doll for you too! I’m never spending another cent on you!”

Minseok pouted as Jongdae pulled the mochi doll from his grasp and ushered him out the store. “I’ll come back for you, my brother,” the smaller yelled to the doll, reaching dramatically for it, “With Jongdae’s head in one hand and his wallet in the other, I swear, I will come back for you!”

“Please don’t.”

“Don’t tell me how to live my life, savage. It'll take more than that to tear me away from my family," Minseok said, referring to the mochi doll. The other rolled his eyes at how ridiculous Minseok was acting. At least he wasn't a blushing mess anymore.

Jongdae whisked the other away and led him down the escalator. As they were riding it, Minseok jumped up and pointed to a random store in the distance.

“JONGDAE!” Minseok said, grabbing at the other’s jacket sleeve to get his attention. “It’s a Givenchy store! I didn’t know they had those! We have to go!” He squealed like a little girl.

“ NO.”

“Why not?” Minseok frowned.

“Because you might break something,” Jongdae said. “Besides, what’s an IHOP waiter going to do in a Givenchy?”

“I’m expensive,” Minseok smirked and the latter rolled his eyes again.

When the pair had gotten off of the escalator a small group of people around their age approached them.

“Hey! Jongdae!” One of them smiled, patting the said boy on the back. “What’s up? Who’s this?” He asked, motioning towards Minseok. He then smiled knowingly and added, “Are you guys, like, a thing?”

“NO.” Minseok yelled, eyes widening.

“At least not yet,” Jongdae added, smirking. He then earned himself a hard punch in the shoulder from the shorter, who was now blushing madly yet again.

“Aw, I thought you guys were here for the couples competition today,” Another said.

“Is that why it’s so crowded?” Jongdae asked. The others nodded. “Why are they even holding it? And why on a Wednesday evening?”

“I don’t know it’s some sort of tradition they have, I suppose. It’s all for charity though. You have to pay 5,000 won each to get in and people take bets on which couple they think is going to win. At then end you just get a simple trophy, but it’s still worth all the fun,” One of the boys explained.

“Minseok, let’s do it,” Jongdae exclaimed, smiling down at the other and shaking his shoulder.

“NO WAY,” Minseok replied firmly.

“Bull you just don’t want to help the African children in need,” Jongdae retorted.

“That’s not it—!”

“A few minutes ago you wanted to go into a Givenchy store and now you can’t spend just 5,000 won to play some games for charity?” Jongdae asked, shaking his head in pretend disappointment. “I thought you were better than that.”

Luckily, Jongdae’s friends got the hint and played along. “Wow what an ,” One whispered to their partner.

“I know right,” Another said. They then continued to whisper amongst themselves as Minseok got progressively redder in the cheeks.

Then, after a few moments, Minseok snapped and yelled, “Fine! I’ll do it! But only because it’s for charity.”

“That’s the spirit!” Jongdae grinned and threw his arm around the smaller boy’s shoulders. “For charity!” He chanted as they signed up. Minseok hid his face into his hands in embarrassment.

They were all handed a ticket each, saying which competition they were going to take part in.

“We got C,” Jongdae said. That meant their competition wouldn’t take place until another hour.

A few people within Jongdae’s group of friends got other competition groups and only one other pair got C as well.

“Hey, Jongdae, me and Kyungsoo are going up against you!” A tall boy exclaimed, holding up his C ticket.

“Wow really? Then I suppose we’ve already won,” Jongdae smiled, patting his partner who then bat his hand away grumpily.

“Shut up, Jongdae, you’re scrawnier than Kyungsoo and he’s the little spoon in this relationship.”

“Hey—” The boy named Kyungsoo snarled threateningly.

“I love you, baby, I was just kidding.”

The two boys continued to argue while Minseok was still very much confused with the entire conversation. It probably showed on his face too because a nice boy suddenly spoke up, saying, “Minseok, right?” He then nodded. “Ah, hi, you probably don’t know us but we’re all Jongdae’s friends from college.”

The orange haired boy blinked in confusion. Jongdae goes to college? Well, the boy was only 21, so it wasn’t that unusual, but Jongdae had never mentioned he went to school still. “Oh, hi,” Minseok replied rather shyly.

“Let me introduce everyone. I’m Yixing and this is my girlfriend, An,” The dimpled boy named Yixing then gestured towards a pretty girl with long, black hair. He then pointed to a boy with a gentle aura and light brow hair holding the hand of a studious looking girl with thick glasses and frizzy hair, saying, “That’s Joonmyun and his girlfriend Minhee.” He turned to another couple consisting of a scary looking tall boy with a very fashionable girl wearing a pretty, dark blue sundress, “That’s Zitao and his girlfriend Eunri.” And finally, he pointed to the only gay couple in the group and said, “That’s Jongin and his boyfriend Kyungsoo.”

“Ah, it’s very nice to meet you guys,” Minseok replied politely, nodding at them all.

Suddenly, an announcer called for competition A couples to line up for the small tournament to start.

“Well, that’s us!” Yixing said, grabbing An’s hand. He and Zitao with Eunri then ran off to join the games while the others stayed to watch.

“We should go eat something to gain some energy,” Jongdae stated, dragging the other to the food court. “We have to kick Jongin and Kyungsoo’s asses or I’ll never be able to live it down.”

“Fine,” The orange haired boy said, “But you’re paying for the food,” Minseok smirked evilly.

Jongdae groaned loudly and shoved a few wons into Minseok’s hands. “FINE, just don’t get anything too big or you’ll get a cramp or something equally terrible.”

The two then separated to go get different foods and came back to sit together to form a strategy as they ate.

“Okay, so I just got a text from Joonmyun. He says that each competition group is doing something different so we don’t have any leads as to what we’re going to be doing,” Jongdae explained.

“You’re getting very into this,” Minseok smirked.

“This is a life or death situation.”

“Oh really?” The orange haired boy asked, very amused.

“Yes, we must win.”

Although Minseok didn't even want to be apart of this event, he still didn't want to end up losing. “All right then what’s your strategy, captain.”

“Well, the other part of Joonmyun’s text says that they take the ‘couple’ thing very seriously,” Jongdae said cautiously.

“And?”

“And you still have a problem whenever I touch you.”

“No I don’t.”

Jongdae then tried to poke Minseok’s nose, resulting with the boy flinching noticeably and slapping Jongdae’s finger away. The raven haired boy raised a brow and Minseok coughed loudly in embarrassment.

“Okay that’s just second nature to me, what do you want me to do about it?” The boy retorted harshly, cheeks flushing pink and fumbling with his fingers.

“I have a plan and we’ve got twenty minutes to execute it,” Jongdae replied. “You ready to win this thing?”

“I guess…”

The boys then quickly ate their food and Jongdae led the way to another part of the mall. They didn’t have to walk far until the pair was standing in front of a store that Minseok didn’t even want to be 10 feet from. His mouth dropped and he stared at the other with wide eyes.

“You’ve got to be ing kidding me right now,” Minseok said. “Victoria’s Secret?”

“Yes, we’re going to go in and act like a gay couple looking for lingerie to spice things up in the—”

“DON’T say anything more,” Minseok cut. “This is a stupid ing plan.”

“No it’s not,” Jongdae explained, smiling at how shaken the smaller looked. “You’re going to learn to hold my hand in public without slapping it away. You’ve got to get into the mood.”

“That last statement could have meant so many things considering the situation we’re in right now.”

“Yes, and I’m sorry. I didn’t realize that.”

“You’re not forgiven.”

“But will you still do it?”

“No.”

Jongdae frowned. “Come on,” He said, taking the guilt trip. “I bought you food, I took you out, and I even nursed your cut back to health. And, look, it’s all healed thanks to me.”

Minseok huffed and grit his teeth. He couldn’t believe he was actually considering doing this. It was such a dumb idea and he was starting to get a feeling that Jongdae just wanted to do this for the fun of it, but Minseok did need to make himself feel less nervous around the other. Who knows? Maybe this would cure the anxiety that the raven haired boy gave him.

“Fine.”

“Really?!” Jongdae exclaimed. Minseok raised an eyebrow and the other cleared his throat. “I mean, of course. Good. Let’s go!” He then quickly intertwined his fingers with the shorter boy’s and began to walk into the store. Minseok flinched instinctively in his grasp and tried to pull away at first, but Jongdae held on tighter, sending shocks up the boy’s fingers and all throughout his body. Minseok gulped.

“Hello boys, welcome to Victoria’s Secret! How can I help you?” A worker in her late thirties asked.

“Hi!” Jongdae smiled brightly while Minseok looked like he was about to die. “We were just looking for some lacy lingerie for my adorable boyfriend here.” Jongdae gave the shorter boy’s hand a squeeze and Minseok jumped.

“I—uh—hi—err—I—” Minseok stuttered, standing up stiffly and looking around frantically.

“Aw, he is the cutest thing in the entire world,” The lady said, grabbing Minseok’s cheeks and pulling them. The boy’s eyes widened, clearly frightened, but the woman didn’t seem to notice. “It’s okay, baby doll, no need to be shy here! The first time is always a little scary.” She winked at Jongdae who then nodded knowingly, trying to suppress a smile. Minseok was going to kill him.

“I—um—okay,” The orange haired boy managed to choke out.

“So something lacy, right?” The lady said, smiling and thinking about what she could show to her potential buyers.

“Yup!” Jongdae grinned.

“I think I have the perfect thing for you, honey cheeks!” The worker then started to walk deeper into the store, motioning for the ‘couple’ to follow after her.

“Jongdae, I swear to god I will ing destroy you if she makes me try anything on,” Minseok growled, digging his nails into the other’s hand as they walked after her.

“They won’t make you try anything on in an landray store, that’s unsanitary,” Jongdae chuckled. “And be a good boyfriend and stop hurting me.” Minseok shot the taller a glare and loosened his grip.

As the pair walked, stares from other customers followed their trail and Minseok wanted to just turn around leave, but he knew that would be much more embarrassing than what he was about to do now. Or was it? She was just going to show them a pair of underpants and leave them be, right?

The lady suddenly stopped and raked through a few pairs of underwear before pulling out a pair of sky blue, frilly . “These would look perfect on you!” She exclaimed, holding them up for the world to see.

Minseok shrunk in on himself and Jongdae grinned wildly. “Oh really?” The raven haired boy asked.

“Yes, why of course! Your adorable boyfriend here would look splendid in these !” She announced. Minseok began to feel dizzy with embarrassment as the lady elaborated. “Well, don't you think so? The frills add a hint of childness while everything else is pure seduction. I mean, look at this boy, his face pleads innocence but his body screams me, am I right?”

Jongdae almost lost it and Minseok nearly passed out.

“Sure! You are the expert after all,” Jongdae agreed once again he trusted himself to speak without bursting into laughter.

“So, do you like them?” The lady asked, beaming.

Minseok felt like crying as he held the in his free hand. “I-I think… th-they’re… lovely.”

“Of course they are! Imagine all the dirty things you can do with a pair of those,” The woman said, grinning and nodding. She bit her finger and scanned Minseok up and down, shamelessly checking him out. The boy stiffened and shuffled closer to Jongdae for protection, clutching his hand tighter.

After a few moments, the lady snapped out of her trance and said, “So will that be all for you two?”

“I think so,” Jongdae said, looking at the price tag. “Oh, dear. 41,000 won?” Minseok flinched at the sound of that price. Even though he had no intention in buying lingerie in the first place, he was still very shocked by the amount of money fancy cost. “I’m sorry baby,” Jongdae apologized to Minseok, putting the underwear back. “We’re going to have to wait until I get my paycheck to buy you this beauty.”

“Aw, how unfortunate,” The lady said sadly.

Jongdae nodded with much sarcasm, but the woman didn’t seem to notice. “I’m sorry for wasting your time.”

“Oh, it’s perfectly fine,” She replied. “See you next time and have a nice rest of the day!” She called as the boys walked out the door, still hand in hand.

Once they were at least three stores down from Victoria’s Secret, Minseok ripped his hand from Jongdae’s grasp and slapped him on the arm.

“If you’re really that upset about not getting those , we can go back,” Jongdae stated.

“You’re lucky if I don’t ing choke you to death in the next five seconds,” Minseok whispered harshly, face burning red.

“Come on, it wasn’t that bad!” Jongdae laughed. Minseok hit him again.

“I—I—” The smaller boy stammered before slamming his face into his hands. “My dignity as a male in today’s society has been ruined.”

“Awww,” Jongdae said and wrapped his arms around Minseok. They stayed that way for a few moments before the raven haired boy added, “See? At least you’re not hitting me away when I touch you now, right?”

“I’m on the verge of murdering you,” Minseok muffled through his hands. “I’m going to have to live with this trauma for the rest of my life.”

Jongdae shrugged and enjoyed his time holding the shorter boy as he sobbed endlessly. Suddenly, there was an annoncement on the intercom, stating, “Competition C couples, please make your way to the center of the mall! The competition will start in a few minutes!”

A/N: wow I hope my writer’s block isn’t showing lmao

anyways sorry for making some of exo straight hAHA I know its unfortunate but that group of people will only be appearing one more time unless I decide to make this fic longer than planned :’D plus i needed to make jongdae's group of friends bigger than just 5 other guys lmao

and sorry for the boring intro too lmao im so bad at writing from minseok’s perspective so i had to get all that over with. its easier for me to write in jongdae’s perspective because I just get to gush over minseok and that’s basically what I do all day anyways.

and lmao look at this cute gif of chen eating xiumin :’D

and then jongdae's cat smile for those who aren't familiar with it
(more exaggerated than what i mean in the fic sometimes haHA)

(also! do i make things move too fast when i write? idk if its just me or not hAha /cries im sorry im so bad at writing /weeps some more)