It was Monday night and Minseok was making his way down to the IHOP where he worked at until morning. The entire weekend before that, however, the boy had been dazed over what had happened at Jongdae’s party. Heck, he still was in shock.

After the rest of the partygoers let Minseok and Jongdae out of the closet, the boy had quickly said his goodbyes and thank you’s before bolting out and heading home. He couldn’t sleep that night because all that ran through his head was Jongdae. Jongdae, Jongdae, Jongdae. The boy had collapsed into his bed and shoved his face into his pillow, trying to cool off, but no matter what he did, the thoughts were still there at the back of his mind.

Minseok felt like a teenage girl. He was getting too worked up over this, but he couldn’t find it in himself to actually deal with it normally. He was dreadfully inexperienced with anything that had to do with love.

Love. Was it really love that he was feeling? Jongdae had confessed to him and they almost kissed because of Minseok… Why did he do that? The boy’s face heated up again for no particular reason and he quickened his pace to the diner.

When he opened the doors and took his place behind the breakfast bar, his face was still red by the time Luhan swung by.

“You look like fire,” The Chinese boy bluntly stated.

“You look like a girl,” Minseok retorted, rubbing his cheeks insecurely.

Luhan looked like he was going to say something back, but he decided against it and said, “Anyways, Baekhyun is asleep because he has an in class essay tomorrow and he wanted me to tell you that he was sorry.”

“Oh,” Minseok replied, blushing a little darker having the subject brought up again.

“What happened? He didn’t tell me.”

“Ah, it’s not that important,” The boy replied. Luhan shrugged and went on with his business, leaving Minseok to cry to himself over the events with Jongdae from the other day. The boy, however, managed to push it behind himself for a bit so that he could continue to work diligently at his station.

It had been a few hours into that night and Jongdae hadn’t showed up at his normal time. Minseok didn’t know if he were happy or sad about that yet, but, for the time being, he was rather relieved since he hadn’t sorted out his feelings yet.

A customer suddenly walked in and Luhan waited on her before retreating back over to Minseok. “I’m going to cook up whatever this lady wants so you have to take whoever walks in next,” He said. The other waiter nodded, still partially dazed, and scanned the diner for any signs of Jongdae.

Just when Minseok was about to go back to cleaning the breakfast bar again for no reason, someone walked in through the door. The boy was shocked to see who it was and rubbed his eyes, just in case he was hallucinating.

“Hi, Minseok,” Sehun said once he walked over.

“Sehun?” Minseok asked.

“I didn’t know you worked here,” The weeaboo stated calmly.

“Why are you here?”

“Oh, I had to drop something off,” Sehun replied, holding up a bag.

Before Minseok could ask any more questions, Luhan popped out from the kitchen holding a plate of pancakes and milk.

“Sehunnie!” The Chinese boy cried adoringly.

“SEHUNNIE?” Minseok repeated loudly and pointed at the other.

“Hi Lu,” He replied blandly. “I got you something.”

“Hold up babe I have to serve this lady over here, I’ll be right back,” Luhan said, walking off.

Minseok turned quickly to Sehun and asked loudly dumbfounded, “YOU’RE dating Luhan?”

“Yeah,” The boy replied flatly. “For about two years or so.”

“What even is the age difference between the two of you?” Minseok asked. “Where you even legal enough to date Luhan two years ago?”

“Age is only a number,” The romantic weeaboo said, looking off into the distance.

Luhan suddenly came back and pecked the taller boy on the cheek. “So what brings you here on this fine morning?”

“Ah, I wanted to give you a present because I saw it and it reminded me of you,” Sehun explained before pulling out the deer Minseok watched him purchase a few days back. “I couldn’t wait to give it to you any longer, so I just came here.”

“Awww!” Luhan cooed, “It’s so adorable, thank you.” He smiled sweetly and held it up to his chest.

“Oh my god you two make the weirdest couple,” Minseok said, frowning. “And Sehun, how did you manage to tame the inside Luhan?”

“Sehun is very romantic,” The Chinese boy explained. “… Aside from his strange weeaboo tendencies. But anyways, how do you two know each other? Am I missing something?”

Minseok stared blankly at the other as if he were a whole new person and replied, “We met a few weeks ago when Jongdae and I ate at the ice cream parlor he works at.”

“Ah,” Luhan nodded.

“Speaking of Jongdae,” Sehun said, “Did he like the cellphone charms?”

Minseok’s face reddened and the other raised an eyebrow. “Yeah…” He replied.

Sehun waited for the other to elaborate before saying, “Is there anything else you wanted to say?”

The orange haired boy thought for a minute before replying. Should he tell Sehun about his little problem with Jongdae? Well, Sehun had proven himself pretty useful with love on multiple occasions and Minseok did respect the young boy quite a lot, aside from the fact he was a flaming weeaboo. Maybe the boy could help him sort out his feelings.

“Actually…” Minseok whispered sheepishly, “Do you think we can talk privately for a minute.”

“IF YOU ING LAY A HAND ON HIM I’M GOING TO RIP OUT YOUR—”

“Luhan, it’s alright,” Sehun said.

The Chinese boy then did a complete 180, to Minseok’s surprise, and smiled happily at his boyfriend. “Oh, okay then!”

“How do you even manage to do that,” Minseok whispered in amazement. Sehun waved dismissively.

Once Luhan was out and away doing whatever, Sehun asked, “So…”

“So… I just, ugh, I need your help,” Minseok sighed and played around with his fingers shyly before carefully moving on. “A few days ago, Jongdae and I were hanging out at a party and h-he… confessed to me.” The orange haired boy flushed a deep red and glanced up at the very much straight faced boy.

“And?”

“And… I might have tried to kiss him?”

“Finally,” Sehun said.

“YOU TOTALLY MISSED THE POINT,” Minseok yelled.

“What? He likes you and you like him back,” The weeaboo explained.

“Is it that simple?” Minseok asked defeatedly. “I-I don’t know if I really like Jongdae… that way.” He then sighed and rested his head in his hands. He felt hopeless.

Before Minseok could continue to dwell on his emotions, Sehun suddenly stood up from his chair and pushed the boy into his chest, wrapping his arms around him.

“What-” Minseok muffled into the tall boy’s shirt. He was utterly confused and wondered why Sehun smelled of cherry blossoms and pocky. But before he could process what was actually happening, the sound of Luhan screeching and dropping a pitcher of water sounded from the other side of the diner. “ SEHUN, LET GO OF ME LUHAN’S GOING TO—”

Sehun let go of Minseok and said, “I’m not too good with words,” He started choppily, “But you didn’t feel anything when I hugged you… right?”

“I felt afraid,” Minseok gulped and stared at the Chinese boy glaring daggers into his eyes, “… of Luhan.”

“Of course,” Sehun said, “But… what if you did that with Jongdae?”

The orange haired boy thought for a minute, recalling all the times that the other had gotten into his personal space. Minseok blushed and felt his heart picking up in speed.

Sehun had probably noticed because he smiled softly and replied, “See?”

“I feel like I’m having a nervous breakdown,” Minseok groaned and held his head.

“That’s what love feels like,” Sehun said.

“Really?”

“Well at first it does,” The boy stated. “But later… it feels really, really nice.”

Minseok bowed his head and looked at his feet. Was he really in love with Jongdae? And all this time, when he felt nervous, it was him denying his secret crush? The boy bit his lip in thought and shuffled nervously. “What do I do?” He asked.

“What do you want to do?”

The boy thought for a bit and said with a slight laugh, “I want my heart to stop hurting.”

“Then tell Jongdae how you feel.”

Minseok suddenly felt a jolt in his chest and realized that, he actually truly liked Jongdae. After everything that they’ve been though, Minseok finally figured it out. He had been afraid. He was afraid of being in love. The strange thought of someone liking him and him liking someone back was new and overwhelming, but after much contemplation, Minseok could finally say it. He loved Jongdae.

“I need to go tell him,” Minseok whispered.

“You should do that,” Sehun replied.

“Thank you so much, Sehun,” The orange haired boy beamed. He then sprinted over to the sleeping cook in the kitchen and rapidly tapped him on the shoulder.

“Ugh, what the -” Baekhyun groaned sleepily.

“Baekhyun wake up I need to go,” Minseok said.

“What? Why?” The boy asked, groggily opening his eyes.

Minseok was already removing his apron and putting on his coat when he said, “I need you to tell me where Jongdae is.”

“He’s probably at work,” Baekhyun replied cautiously, sitting up now and watching Minseok rush around the place. “You know, the exploratorium with that big observatory on top of it… why? Did he not come today?”

“He didn’t,” Minseok said, opening up a map on his phone and trying to figure out how far he was going to have to run. Luckily, the exploratorium was about fifteen blocks away, which wasn’t too bad.

Groaning, Baekhyun finally replied, “That ing idiot. I can’t believe I still put up with his overly emotional … what did you need him for anyways?”

“I-I think I love him?” Minseok stated and Baekhyun’s eyes widened. The orange haired boy then bolted out of the diner and began his sprint to the building while the other in the kitchen cheered.

Minseok’s lungs were on fire and his legs felt like jelly when he finally made it to the exploratorium. There was so much on his mind however, he didn’t even notice. Minseok needed to find Jongdae and confess.

The orange haired boy walked up to the glass doors and tried to pull them open, but they were locked.

“,” Minseok whispered, fumbling with his phone. His hands were shaking and his nose was red and beginning to drip snot from running in the cold. He couldn’t even manage to type in his password properly.

“Minseok?” A voice suddenly asked from behind him. Apparently, he was quicker running here than Jongdae.

“J-Jongdae,” The boy stuttered, nearly dropping his cellphone.

“What are you doing here?” He cautiously asked, watching Minseok’s quivering form.

The confidence he had suddenly vanished and the boy was left completely speechless. “I-I-I-I-” Minseok stuttered before he sneezed, teeth beginning to chatter out of nervousness and the sheer cold of the night.

“Holy ,” Jongdae whispered, striding towards the door and pulling out a key to unlock it. “Come inside before you freeze or something.” Eventually, the two walked into the building together, which was only slightly warmer in temperature to Minseok’s dismay.

The pair stood in silence for a few moments inside the dim exploratorium with only the sounds of Minseok’s sniffles keeping the awkward tension at bay. The orange haired boy felt shy again and he didn’t know how to just, say it. He could feel Jongdae’s curious gaze on him, which only added to the pressure holding Minseok back.

“How did you find out where I work?” Jongdae eventually asked.

“Baekhyun,” Minseok replied quietly and avoiding eye contact. “He told me.”

“I see,” Jongdae sighed and scratched the back of his head in thought. “So… why are you here? Did you need to tell me something? Or…”

The orange haired boy froze. He did but, every time he thought about bringing up the subject in front of Jongdae, his stomach began to knot and he felt sick. However, he knew he was going to have to get it over with sooner or later, or he’d never feel better. With Sehun’s last words in mind, he went for it.

“I-I know it took me a while to realize this,” Minseok started slowly. He balled his hands into fists and swallowed thickly. “But after everything that we’ve been through and you—you taking me on this crazy emotional rollercoaster—I just, I couldn’t believe that someone like you would have feelings for me and I guess I just tried to make up excuses and deny everything that I was feeling. I-I was scared at first to admit or face that fact for the longest time, but I suppose all I can say now is that I think I like you too…” He blabbered rather choppily. The boy felt like dying. That wasn’t exactly what he wanted to say and he wished it could have been more heartfelt, but at this point, anything was acceptable. His mind was drawing blank and his knees began to weaken as the other stayed silent. Minseok didn’t want to look up. “S-Sorry—” He murmured lamely.

But before the boy could recover from that moment, however, Jongdae stepped forward and wrapped Minseok up into his arms. The boy stiffened at first, but relaxed once he heard Jongdae’s heart beating just as fast as his. He then too hesitantly curled his hands around the other’s waist.

“Do you really mean it?” Jongdae muffled into Minseok’s shoulder. The raven haired boy squeezed him tighter, not wanting to let go.

“Y-Yeah, I do,” Minseok whispered, face buried into the other’s collar. He then clenched tighter onto Jongdae’s jacket and breathed in his scent. It was intoxicating but caused the nauseating feeling in his stomach to morph into butterflies. He was suddenly glad. Jongdae exhaled contently and pressed his lips to Minseok’s head, making the boy blush deeply. He began to feel dizzy, but in a good way.

“Can I kiss you?” Jongdae asked after a moment. Minseok gulped audibly and nodded.

Slowly but steadily, the taller boy softly held the back of the other’s neck and tilted his head upwards to face him. Minseok turned another thirty shades of red and shut his eyes tightly while his heartbeat shook his entire being. He was already practically leaning on Jongdae since his legs felt like they were going to give out soon and he paused. This kiss wasn’t his first one, but it surely did feel like it.

Their lips delicately touched and they immediately felt jolts of electricity run through their bodies. Jongdae pressed in more urgently, holding Minseok closer to him, and softly moved his lips to mold perfectly with the other’s. Minseok forgot how to breathe and kissed back, clutching the fabric of Jongdae’s jacket in his hands. The boy was paralyzed, and all that he could think about was how satisfying it was to finally be with Jongdae.

The taller moved his hands to cup Minseok's face and he grazed his thumbs along the length of his soft cheekbones. He kissed the shorter needily and Minseok tried to keep up and unconciously grasped at Jongdae's collar. He was inexperienced but Jongdae didn't seem to mind though. Just getting to kiss Minseok was a blessing.

After the moment, Jongdae smiled to himself and tried to step away, but Minseok clung on. “W-Wait, I might fall over,” He said. Minseok’s knees were still shaking and were beginning to buckle in on themselves. Jongdae snorted and gladly continued to hug the other, propping him up and swaying from side to side.

“I’ve been wanting to do that for so long,” Jongdae whispered, “And I finally did it.”

“Congrats,” Minseok said, still shakily leaning against the other. “Now I feel like pudding.”

Jongdae laughed airily and said, “I want to kiss you again.”

“You can’t or I might actually die.”

“So?”

“Don’t you want me alive? Or are you into necrophilia,” Minseok said jokingly.

“As long as it’s you, I don’t care if you’re alive or not,” Jongdae replied happily.

“That’s so cheesy, stop,” Minseok groaned, burring his face into the other’s shoulder.

“You like it.”

“I really don’t.”

“Your heartbeat is telling me otherwise,” Jongdae cooed. Minseok clenched his teeth and hit the other pathetically. “Hey, I want to show you something,” He said suddenly, “Do you think you can walk now?”

“Probably not, but I can try,” Minseok replied jokingly.

Carefully, Jongdae led Minseok up a long flight of stairs that spiraled up and up until they ended at a large iron door. The raven haired boy dug around in his pockets for a chain of keys which helped him get inside the dark room that they entered. Minseok wandered in, gazing curiously at all the machines placed along the sides of the walls when the roof began to slowly open up.

“Woah…” Minseok gasped as the night sky began to shine in on the dark room. Minseok could now see a large telescope displayed in the middle of the room and Jongdae walked up to him.

“Cool, isn’t it?” The raven haired boy asked, staring happily at Minseok’s face scrunched up in awe.

“Yeah,” The shorter replied, walking towards the telescope. “So when you said science, you meant astronomy?”

“Yup,” Jongdae replied, following after him with his hands in his pockets. “I’m majoring in astronomy so I was offered a part time job here.”

Minseok laughed. “So that’s why you can come to the diner so early in the morning.”

“Yeah,” Jongdae smiled. He then noticed Minseok touching at the telescope. “Did you want to take a look?” He asked.

“Can I?”

“Sure,” Jongdae replied, striding towards the optical instrument now prodding outside of the roof. He then took a minute to position the telescope at a certain angle before stepping back and allowing Minseok to look through.

“Woah,” Minseok said, breaking into a smile. “The stars are so pretty.”

“Aren’t they?” Jongdae said, admiring how excited the other seemed to be. The boy’s heart warmed. “Right now you’re looking at the famous big dipper and the little dipper is the one south of it.” He explained softly. “If you look a little bit to the south east, you’ll see the cassiopeia constellation and pegasus should be right under that one.”

Minseok frowned slightly and said, “I can’t see them. They’re jumbled up with all the other stars.”

“Here,” Jongdae replied, dragging a random chair over and placing it in front of the telescope. Minseok moved to the side and looked through the instrument again. He then scooted over to let the other partially sit in the small chair with him.

Minseok hesitantly sat down, breath hitching in his throat from being so close to the other, and carefully slid in right next to him. Their thighs were pressing tightly against each other and Minseok was glad that it was dark in the room or Jongdae would be able to see how red his cheeks were.

“Cassiopeia is the constellation in the middle-ish. It kind of looks like a zig-zag,” Jongdae explained as Minseok looked through the telescope again. “Pegasus is upside down. You’ll see its feet first but if you keep looking, you’ll find it’s square-ish body and its neck.” He then leaned closer as if it’d help him see what Minseok was seeing.

It took a while before the boy had found the constellations when he exclaimed excitedly, “I see them!” He quickly turned to see Jongdae before snapping back to look through the telescope, embarrassed that the other had been watching him so closely the entire time.

Jongdae snorted and hugged Minseok from behind as the boy continued to look at the night sky. “You’re so adorable,” He said contently.

“No I’m not,” Minseok denied.

Jongdae buried his face into the nape of Minseok’s neck and lightly kissed the skin there. Minseok shivered softly and felt his stomach tingle blissfully. It was an odd sensation and it left the boy feeling numb and embarrassed.

“Will you be my boyfriend?” Jongdae whispered.

Minseok gulped audibly and answered, “Yes.”

A/N: I wish i had a sehun in my life.... LMAO anyways so there u go the xiuchen pairing is now official :'D
BUT DID U GUYS SEE THE XIUCHEN KISS AT TLP CONCERT LAST NIGHT AAAh

SCREAMS AND CRIES AND EVERYTHING
anyways here is the constellation map i used for writing this if anyone was confused (i couldnt find a good september one) and promos my blog B-)
(and omg this fic is over 30,000 words now /cries)